𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓. 𓃠 𝒏𝒂𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒐 𝒗𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔

一 「 One 」

𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈(𝒔); depictions of bullying.

𓃠

"Catch me if you can!"

The air itself,  felt heavy.

Patterned footsteps of worn-in, rubber soles guided whomever it was through the thickness of a vast forest.

"Oh trust me, I will!"

She was young;

Clammy hands peaking through the under-brush and hollow shells of what used to be lively trees, their crooked forms weighing in on the petite girl as she chased after another.

"What's wrong, {y/n} giving up already?"

"You're so dead, Taro."

"The only way for you to make that a reality is to catch me first,"

Unlike 'Taro',  {y/n}'s feet were bare.
Her toes parting through the earthy soil with ease the longer she ran in his direction.

She was fast, yes;
Yet Taro had always been faster.

Despite his age and lack of muscle, he always was the fastest of the two.

"What's wrong, {y/n} giving up already? Should've known coming from a girl like you."

"Shut up!"  She whined.
Open palms encasing her shaking knees in hopes to regain some of the endurance that'd been lost.

Taro frowned;
his bruised tongue slithered along the bloodied cracks in his lips out of aggravation for the loss of  {y/n}'s enthusiasm which she held onto prior.

"You're so boring, I don't like playing with you anymore."

The girl huffed in response, turning her cheek out of resentment and shame. Unknowingly a rise in heat raced its way up the back of her neck, only stopping at the high points of her ears.

"You.. you don't mean it, do you, Taro?"

"Yeah, I do."

𓃠

"{y/n}!"

In response, she'd snort. A puddle of drool making its way past the corners of her lips until it'd been swallowed— the girl's sleeve awkwardly taking care of the rest.

Obviously she hadn't been paying attention.
Coarse {e/c} eyes gazed off into the distance, her vision somewhat blurry yet understanding.

Silent snickers had been passed around the classroom in response.
The students around her feverishly waiting in anticipation for what was to come next.

Although they found her dilemma quite amusing, their sensei: Iruka, did not.

The pink flesh of his upper lip curled in aggravation— his eyes deep-set and heavy whilst he watched her.

'How annoying.'

The longer Iruka stared, the farther {y/n} sank. Her knees now becoming visible to the naked eye from underneath her birch wood desk.

"I said, what are the basic hand signs to perform the Transformation Jutsu?"

"Oh..."
She knew the answer. Yet refused to speak, her voice catching itself halfway before she could utter a response.