[Fic] "No Wasted Deed" -- Naruto
This is not the fic I owe aishuu, but it sets the stage for that fic. Set a month or two after Naruto enters the ninja academy, probably mid-autumn. (In case you have forgotten, Shinnin is the girl Naruto tentatively befriends in the epilogue of "The Way of the Apartment Manager." He is still friends with her at the start of "The Guardian in Spite of Herself.")
Uzumaki Naruto is the most interesting person Kigaru Shinnin has ever met. She has no regrets for her lost popularity. (925 words)
[The revised and expanded final version is now up on ff.net.]
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No Wasted Deed
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Remember there's no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end. -- Scott Adams
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Kigaru Shinnin had always been a popular girl -- partly because she was cheerful and outgoing, but mostly because she listened to anybody who had an interesting idea, and then helped make those ideas turn real. If nobody had an idea to whisper in her ear, she would make one up herself. When Shinnin was in a group, things happened.
But coming up with good ideas was hard, which was why Shinnin liked Naruto. He never ran out of ideas, and when he was around, the world was somehow twice as interesting.
Sometimes Naruto got Shinnin into a lot of trouble, but he never made her bored.
The weird thing was, her mama and papa thought Naruto was the worst person on earth. Papa even said sometimes that it would be better if Naruto had died at birth. Papa was the nicest and best man in the world -- Mama said so, so it was true -- and he smiled at everybody, but when Naruto was around he stomped and frowned and looked like he wanted to hit something.
Shinnin didn't bring Naruto to her house anymore. They just played in the parks, or in the big yard behind his apartment building.
If they were at school or in a park, Shinnin could usually talk people into joining one of Naruto's games, but they always whined about having to play with that idiot, why do you like him, Shinnin, he's a jerk, everybody knows he's bad. It was like Mama and Papa all over again, and it made Shinnin want to yell at everybody for being stupid. Naruto usually stopped her, though, and came up with games and jokes that only needed two people.
Shinnin wasn't the most popular girl anymore. Yamanaka Ino was, or maybe Zenryou Haruka. Ino was just as outgoing as Shinnin, while Haruka was twice as pretty, and they didn't spend their afternoons pretending to be giant centipedes and climbing trees and jumping in mud puddles with Naruto.
Shinnin didn't mind not being popular. Ninja got dirty all the time, she bet, and she was sure climbing trees would be useful later on -- it was a lot easier to spy on people if you were above them and hidden by leaves. Besides, it wasn't like she had no friends. She had Naruto and he had her, so they were okay.
Some people weren't so lucky, though.
Shinnin lay on her stomach along a wide branch with scratchy, folded bark and watched Haruno Sakura huddle against the wooden fence that separated the playground from the rest of the park. "Why doesn't Haruka like Sakura?" she wondered. "I know she hates Ino because Ino's pretty and doesn't pay attention to her, but Sakura's not that pretty and she's always following Haruka around like a lost duckling. Usually Haruka likes it when people do that."
"Sakura-chan is so pretty," Naruto said, swinging his feet dangerously close to Shinnin's head. She twisted onto her side and pinched one of his toes. "Ow! Stop that; I wasn't gonna kick you." Shinnin started tickling the bottom of his foot instead, until Naruto pulled his legs up onto his own branch.
"Spoilsport," Shinnin said. Then she realized what his protest meant. "Hey! You like Sakura. I'm going to tell your sister!"
Naruto stuck his tongue out at her to pretend he didn't care. Shinnin was about to tease him again when his eyes widened the way they always did when a new idea hit him. "Hey, hey, maybe I know why Haruka was being mean to Sakura-chan. Did you know Sakura-chan got a perfect score on the test yesterday? Iruka-sensei told Yukiko-neechan when they didn't think I was listening. I bet Haruka's jealous."
Shinnin studied the pink-haired girl with fresh interest. Climbing trees and throwing knives was easy. Iruka-sensei's tests, on the other hand, were hard. If Sakura could get a perfect score, maybe she could help Shinnin and Naruto do better. (Well, help Shinnin. Naruto was hopeless; he always got distracted halfway through problems, and he was awful at math even after Shinnin taught him Mama's addition song.)
"Do you think she'd help us study?" Shinnin asked.
Naruto made a face. "Maybe you. Nobody ever wants to help me."
Shinnin tore a handful of leaves off a side branch and threw them up at Naruto. "Hey! Don't I count?"
"Well, yeah, but..." Naruto trailed off and shrugged. Shinnin threw another handful of leaves at him, but she knew what he meant. Everybody else got stupid the minute they heard Naruto's name. So Haruno Sakura probably wouldn't help him.
Except, wait. "Maybe Sakura won't be mean to you," Shinnin said, testing the edges of her new thought. "Haruka got everybody to call her names, so she doesn't have any friends. That means she really needs a friend, right? So if we're nice to her, she'll be nice to us even though everybody else thinks you're weird. Maybe she'll even like you."
Naruto picked leaves off his orange jacket and pants and threw them back down at Shinnin. "I dunno. Nobody but me talked to Kiba the first week, and he still hates me."
"That's because Kiba's a stupid jerk," Shinnin said firmly. "If Sakura can get a perfect score on Iruka-sensei's tests, she's too smart to be a jerk." She sat up and tugged on Naruto's leg. "Come on, let's go talk to her. I'll ask what's wrong and you think of a fun game we can play when she's done crying."
Shinnin jumped down from the tree and ran across the playground, trusting Naruto to follow.
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End of Story
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I had the damndest time thinking of a title for this fic, and I am not wildly enthused by the one I finally settled on. If you have a better idea, please tell me!
Also, since Shinnin and Naruto have already 'adopted' Sakura in this world, when Ino goes looking to practice random acts of kindness on less popular girls, she picks Hinata as her project. As you might guess, by the time Naruto's class reaches graduation, the patterns of interaction among the kids are noticeably different from canon. :-)
You can also read this entry on Dreamwidth, where there are currently (
comments)
Uzumaki Naruto is the most interesting person Kigaru Shinnin has ever met. She has no regrets for her lost popularity. (925 words)
[The revised and expanded final version is now up on ff.net.]
---------------------------------------------
No Wasted Deed
---------------------------------------------
Remember there's no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end. -- Scott Adams
---------------
Kigaru Shinnin had always been a popular girl -- partly because she was cheerful and outgoing, but mostly because she listened to anybody who had an interesting idea, and then helped make those ideas turn real. If nobody had an idea to whisper in her ear, she would make one up herself. When Shinnin was in a group, things happened.
But coming up with good ideas was hard, which was why Shinnin liked Naruto. He never ran out of ideas, and when he was around, the world was somehow twice as interesting.
Sometimes Naruto got Shinnin into a lot of trouble, but he never made her bored.
The weird thing was, her mama and papa thought Naruto was the worst person on earth. Papa even said sometimes that it would be better if Naruto had died at birth. Papa was the nicest and best man in the world -- Mama said so, so it was true -- and he smiled at everybody, but when Naruto was around he stomped and frowned and looked like he wanted to hit something.
Shinnin didn't bring Naruto to her house anymore. They just played in the parks, or in the big yard behind his apartment building.
If they were at school or in a park, Shinnin could usually talk people into joining one of Naruto's games, but they always whined about having to play with that idiot, why do you like him, Shinnin, he's a jerk, everybody knows he's bad. It was like Mama and Papa all over again, and it made Shinnin want to yell at everybody for being stupid. Naruto usually stopped her, though, and came up with games and jokes that only needed two people.
Shinnin wasn't the most popular girl anymore. Yamanaka Ino was, or maybe Zenryou Haruka. Ino was just as outgoing as Shinnin, while Haruka was twice as pretty, and they didn't spend their afternoons pretending to be giant centipedes and climbing trees and jumping in mud puddles with Naruto.
Shinnin didn't mind not being popular. Ninja got dirty all the time, she bet, and she was sure climbing trees would be useful later on -- it was a lot easier to spy on people if you were above them and hidden by leaves. Besides, it wasn't like she had no friends. She had Naruto and he had her, so they were okay.
Some people weren't so lucky, though.
Shinnin lay on her stomach along a wide branch with scratchy, folded bark and watched Haruno Sakura huddle against the wooden fence that separated the playground from the rest of the park. "Why doesn't Haruka like Sakura?" she wondered. "I know she hates Ino because Ino's pretty and doesn't pay attention to her, but Sakura's not that pretty and she's always following Haruka around like a lost duckling. Usually Haruka likes it when people do that."
"Sakura-chan is so pretty," Naruto said, swinging his feet dangerously close to Shinnin's head. She twisted onto her side and pinched one of his toes. "Ow! Stop that; I wasn't gonna kick you." Shinnin started tickling the bottom of his foot instead, until Naruto pulled his legs up onto his own branch.
"Spoilsport," Shinnin said. Then she realized what his protest meant. "Hey! You like Sakura. I'm going to tell your sister!"
Naruto stuck his tongue out at her to pretend he didn't care. Shinnin was about to tease him again when his eyes widened the way they always did when a new idea hit him. "Hey, hey, maybe I know why Haruka was being mean to Sakura-chan. Did you know Sakura-chan got a perfect score on the test yesterday? Iruka-sensei told Yukiko-neechan when they didn't think I was listening. I bet Haruka's jealous."
Shinnin studied the pink-haired girl with fresh interest. Climbing trees and throwing knives was easy. Iruka-sensei's tests, on the other hand, were hard. If Sakura could get a perfect score, maybe she could help Shinnin and Naruto do better. (Well, help Shinnin. Naruto was hopeless; he always got distracted halfway through problems, and he was awful at math even after Shinnin taught him Mama's addition song.)
"Do you think she'd help us study?" Shinnin asked.
Naruto made a face. "Maybe you. Nobody ever wants to help me."
Shinnin tore a handful of leaves off a side branch and threw them up at Naruto. "Hey! Don't I count?"
"Well, yeah, but..." Naruto trailed off and shrugged. Shinnin threw another handful of leaves at him, but she knew what he meant. Everybody else got stupid the minute they heard Naruto's name. So Haruno Sakura probably wouldn't help him.
Except, wait. "Maybe Sakura won't be mean to you," Shinnin said, testing the edges of her new thought. "Haruka got everybody to call her names, so she doesn't have any friends. That means she really needs a friend, right? So if we're nice to her, she'll be nice to us even though everybody else thinks you're weird. Maybe she'll even like you."
Naruto picked leaves off his orange jacket and pants and threw them back down at Shinnin. "I dunno. Nobody but me talked to Kiba the first week, and he still hates me."
"That's because Kiba's a stupid jerk," Shinnin said firmly. "If Sakura can get a perfect score on Iruka-sensei's tests, she's too smart to be a jerk." She sat up and tugged on Naruto's leg. "Come on, let's go talk to her. I'll ask what's wrong and you think of a fun game we can play when she's done crying."
Shinnin jumped down from the tree and ran across the playground, trusting Naruto to follow.
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End of Story
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I had the damndest time thinking of a title for this fic, and I am not wildly enthused by the one I finally settled on. If you have a better idea, please tell me!
Also, since Shinnin and Naruto have already 'adopted' Sakura in this world, when Ino goes looking to practice random acts of kindness on less popular girls, she picks Hinata as her project. As you might guess, by the time Naruto's class reaches graduation, the patterns of interaction among the kids are noticeably different from canon. :-)
You can also read this entry on Dreamwidth, where there are currently (
comments)