THE WILL OF FIRE: 1. The Serpent (A Naruto Fanfic)

The Serpent, Chapter 3

Chapter Three

I woke up before dawn. I was never a big sleeper and I needed a mere four hours of sleep to get through the day. I changed into my usual outfit and searched the fridge for some food. It was all instant ramen and something that was growing mold. I sighed and thought that Naruto had some shopping to do. But I was starving and I made myself some instant ramen. I made some for Naruto too, guessing he wasn’t much of a cook himself. Well, I wasn’t either but desperate times call for desperate measures. Afterwards, I sat on the windowsill, watching the sun rise and throwing my new headband from one hand to another. I still wasn’t sure if I should wear it. When the time came, I slid of the windowsill to go wake up Naruto. We had a meeting with the Hokage and I hated making someone else wait. Naruto was sound asleep and didn’t even respond to my nudges. I decided to pull him out of bed, instead. The moment his head hit the floor, he was fully awake and looking around, confused.

“Get up and get dressed,” I said, “We have a meeting with the Hokage and I hate making people wait. Oh, and I also heated up some breakfast for you and first thing after the meeting I’m taking you shopping for some real food.”

I left him in his room, looking al confused. And the first thing I needed to do after the meeting was look for a place to stay. Naruto came thumping down the stairs looking like he was still half asleep. He sat down at the kitchen table and started munching on his ramen. It looked like he was doing it subconsciously.

“So, what does the Old Man want from us?” he asked through half-closed eyes.

“Beats me.” I was just hoping it wasn’t about the thing we discussed yesterday. He did promise he won’t tell anyone.

“Why do we have to go then?”

“Have some respect,” I said while I was pending where I should tie my headband. “He is your superior. You wouldn’t want people ignoring your orders when you’re going to be Hokage.”

He stopped eating and looked at me. He was fully awake now. “You really think I could do it? Ya know, become Hokage?”

“Yes, I really think you could.”

And it was the truth. Naruto wasn’t that strong yet, not from what I could tell. He also wasn’t the wisest amongst the Villagers. But all those things…you aren’t just born with them. Experiences, they make you wiser. You learn from your mistakes but you can’t learn if you haven’t made any. And he has what most people lack-heart. And a big one.

“Wow, you don’t even know me. I’m a moron-I can’t do anything right.”

“Is that what people tell you?”

“That’s what they all think.”

“Well, then you have to do your best to prove them wrong.”

He smiled at me, a big, genuine smile. You don’t get a lot of those these days.

“Now hurry up! We’re going to be late.”

When we were walking, I could almost feel their looks on him. Monster, their minds screamed and it made my head hurt. Naruto was probably the nicest guy on the planet and these people were trying to break his spirit. I stopped focusing on them and sighed in relief. My mind was way quieter now. Naruto was explaining something about the Village and I just tuned in when he said,

“…and this is the Yamanaka flower shop. Ino Yamanaka is in Team Asuma and is Sakura’s rival. They’ve been fighting over Sasuke for as long as I can remember. Personally, I don’t know what all the girls see in that guy.”

“Maybe they like the silent mystery type,” I suggested but that didn’t make him feel any better. He frowned.

“Don’t tell me you like him too!”