video | 004

[thinhammer]

Hey! Does anyone know how to set off fireworks?

[ No context, no explanation, that's all you're getting unless you ask. It's early in the morning, but for once Naruto is wide awake; bright eyed and bushy tailed and full to bursting with animated ideas of what he's planning. Luckily for Naruto (unluckily for everyone else) Naruto isn't all that familiar with the community at large and therefore this request may appear quite a normal one.. There's just the small detail of Naruto's reckless personality that might ring alarm bells, and the fact that he hasn't an ounce of common sense. The way he's staring intently and excitedly into the camera might also be a little unsettling. ]

Comments

[thinhammer]

Didn't ya just say you got rid of yours, too? You should know how it feels already.

[ Maybe he's learning, maybe he's just sore. ]

[restingstitchface]

Our circumstances are different. So are our monsters. Likewise, so are our experiences. I'm asking you to describe yours.

[Don't be so rude.]

[thinhammer]

[ A long pause, then... ] My monster was me. All the hate and fear I felt because of what I'd been through, everythin' that havin' Kyuubey's weight pushin' down on me made me feel.. it was all of that, the true side of me. I had to overcome it to move on, and I tried to beat him down with force but I couldn't.. Only once I saw how Octopops didn't let anythin' get him down or hold him back did I finally get it. Even when people are mean to Octopops, even when they try to kill him he doesn't turn on 'em or seek revenge or anythin' he just takes it in his stride and carries on being the best he can be all because he has faith in the people who believe in him. And it's the same for me, y'know. The people in my village believe in me, and I have to believe in the me they believe in. I had to let the negative part of me become the Naruto Uzumaki who saved the leaf village, the guy who everyone trusts to protect them.

[ Another pause. He'd been livid with Crane when he'd heard about what he'd done.. and even moreso when he'd heard his reasons. Now, thinking back to his mentor and fellow jinchuuriki, he almost feels guilty for letting himself get carried away with rage. ]

.. I don't think you really overcame your monsters, y'know. You might not have to face 'em anymore, but they're still there, I can tell. [ Kyuubey can tell. ]

[restingstitchface]

[Hold up, wait, what?]

... Octopops?

[Is that some secret language of Konoha's youth?]

Anyway, I'm fascinated to learn you understand me better than I understand myself. And with your rustic education, at that. Thank you for enlightening me to something I never could have imagined.

[So much scorn. Oh wow.]

[thinhammer]

Yeah, Octopops! [ He says like that makes it any clearer. ] He's a jinchuuriki, like me! 'Cept he's got the eight tails, and I got nine.

[ He bats a hand, not picking up on Crane's scorn in the slightest, though Kyuubey stirs in response. ]

Ah, it's alright. Don't sweat it. I just kinda get it, y'know, how it feels to have people not treat you right. It ain't gonna be forever, though.

[restingstitchface]

[Right.

He speaks softly with a clipped tone. Meanwhile, he's swallowing the urge to punch this boy through time and space.]

No it's not. It might end sooner than you think.

[But not for the positive reasons you're thinking of, child!]