Reflected Scars

ok now aff.net is all up to speed on my fic .. hold tiigh! the next chapter is on the way!


Chapter 12

Running in circles.

“Ok, ok... I can handle this,” Naruto mumbled, shaking his head to himself as he walked down the warm sunny streets. The citizens of Konoha had been up and going about their daily routines for a while now. People chatted with friends and relatives as kids ran in circles around them screaming. The smell of baked goods and fresh cut fruit surrounded him as birds sang in the trees, but the blond was too caught up in his own thoughts to notice much of the beauty. He had been wandering up and down the crowded market streets for what seemed like hours shaking his head and deciding to make the most of this new day.

‘I remember reading.. or hearing somewhere that what you experience in a day can have an effect on your dreams. So maybe if I just try and have a good day, and be positive, the dreams will end.’ Naruto thought with a smile as he changed direction and headed to the noodle bar for the first step in his ‘have-a-good-day-to-sleep-better’ plan.

The old man smiled at Naruto when he turned around and saw his number one customer once again waiting impatiently to have his order taken. The blond prodigy sat and ate till he felt he was going to explode.

After recovering enough to move under his own power he went off into the forest for some lazy training. He knew it wasn’t good to train hard on a full stomach; he had learned that the hard way long ago when he ended up with cramps and couldn’t move for the rest of the day, so this time Naruto decided it was probably best to just stick to some target training and simple low level chakra exercises.

Slowly the hours slid by and the fullness in his stomach vanished leaving him hungry again. His feet walked him away from the training ground and back to the village streets still full of people buying and selling goods and services. Finally he opened the door to his little apartment and walked in. He tossed his weapon holder onto the counter and raided the fridge for leftovers. A baloney sandwich and a hand full of cookies later he was out on the sunny street again to enjoy the rest of the beautiful day.

He walked blindly through the crowds of people till his feet touched the white marble stone of a step. The sign at the top of the white steps proclaimed in large black letters, ‘Library’.

‘Well it wouldn’t hurt to take a look I guess.. maybe I’ll find ...something.’ he thought. Removing his hands from his pockets, he climbed the steps and entered the building.

The old library was a place that Naruto rarely visited out of his own free will. Perhaps it was because every other time he’d been forced into the place, it was for a school field trip. Those times had always been nothing but hours filled with looking up historical facts about this and that and everything no one in their right mind would ever care to know. The loud blond never could find anything interesting enough to keep him still for more then a few minutes at a time. It also hadn’t been updated in a few years either, leaving most of the books and furniture old and tattered. The place smelled of dust and rotting paper.

The library was quiet and dark, with a few tables scattered around in corners lit by hanging ceilings lamps and surrounded with soft plush chairs. Naruto handed his library card to the women at the desk who swiped it and handed it back without moving her eyes from the cheap romance novel her nose was stuck in.

As he walked through the long rows of books and scrolls, his fingers brushed over the old paper leaving a light trail through the dust. He stopped at the far end of the book case and started to skim through the titles. After a while he held about a half dozen books on various illusion techniques, and old ninjutsu. The tired blond sat down at the farthest corner table and opened the first book.

Hours passed as the suns rays walked across the walls and floor of the building around him, but he scarcely noticed. Shadows of other people around him drifted in and out. It was only when the words on the scrolls blurred and melted together that Naruto decided it was time to take a break. Leaving the last book on the pile open so no one would touch it, he exited the library and sat on the cold marble steps. The outside light blinded him momentarily as he walked threw the open doors. The street was the same as he had left it a few hours ago; bright and full of happy people, talking and walking past. It seemed such a contrast to the quiet darkly lit building he was just in. Brushing off one of the steps of the white marble stairs, he sat down and took his meager meal from the pocket of his bright orange jacket. He was nibbling on a cookie he had brought with him, when he noticed the shadow above him.

“What are you doing here?”

“What’s it to ya?” Naruto replied, finishing off the first cookie and starting another.

“Since when can you read?” Shikamaru sat down next to him and shoved his hands in his pocket.

“Shut up,” the blond grumbled through a mouthful of half chewed cookie and held up the third and last cookie for his company. The other shook his head so Naruto ate it in one bite, and wiped his hands on his pants. They sat there in silence for a while, neither knowing what to say.

“Well it’s as good a place as any.” Shakamaru stood up stretching his arms over his head.

“Huh?”

“You done?”

“Ya..”

“Good, come on before she finds me.” The boy turned and entered through the doors of the library before Naruto could blink. Quickly he scrambled to his feet and gave chase.

“What’s going on Shikamaru?” he finally asked as they walked down one of the long book lane hallways toward the back of the building.

“Ino is moving across town and wants me to help carry her stuff... how troublesome.”

Naruto grunted in response as he sat down in his previous chair and continued to flip through the books, while his companion sat in another chair hiding behind the growing pile of books. A few minutes passed in silence before Shikamaru asked, “What are you looking for?”

“Umm I’m not really sure,” Naruto answered quietly.

“Hum.”

“Well it has something to do with dreams. Like a ninjutsu that gives people bad dreams when they fall asleep.”

“Never heard of such a thing. Where did you hear it?”

“Oh! Umm... I was just training the other day and the thought hit me?” ‘Or rather, grabbed me by the leg, starved me to death, then drowned me, then skinned me alive,’ he thought bitterly.

“How troublesome.” He picked up a book opened to the first page.

“I’ve been through that one.”

The book closed as Naruto handed him another.

“It’s better then work.”

Hours passed and the sun had vanished form the sky.

‘I can’t believe Naruto has been here most of the day reading. It’s a side of him I’ve never seen before,’ Shikamaru thought with a yawn.

“I’m heading out now, you coming?” Shikamaru closed his book and placed it in the pile they had already been through. The only light in the building came from the hanging lamps, because the sun had set hours ago. It was eerily quiet, even more so then before. No noise drifted in through the open windows or door. The only sound to be heard was the occasional flip of a page.

“I’m almost done.”

“How troublesome,” he commented, walking away down the long dusty halls.

“Later.”

The pony tailed boy waved without looking back and vanished into the darkness.

Naruto relaxed in the soft chair and closed his eyes thinking, ‘Just a second so my eyes won’t hurt’ as everything went black. The librarian scanned the rooms quickly and, seeing the pile of books, frowned. ‘Stupid kids never put things away. Oh I’ll get it in the morning.’ With a flick of the lights, everything was dark and she closed the door behind her with a soft click.


End ch 12

Running in circles