Warning for possible italics abuse, and lack of imagination when it comes to daemon names.
Naruto hunched his shoulders and glared at the desk in front of him. Tahani crept nearer, unnoticed, only to panic and flee back to Hinata when he huffed and sat back. Most of the class was ignoring him, but he could hear a soft mutter of "Freak!" and knew they were talking about him.
Everyone called him a monster, and he knew why, but there was nothing he could do about it. It wasn't as if he'd chosen to be the only person in the village without a daemon. He'd just never had one, and while he wasn't aware of any lack in himself, how would he know? If it weren't for the Old Man's assurances, he'd probably have believed everyone who said it proved he had no soul.
He turned resentful eyes on Sasuke, who was determinedly ignoring everyone in the room, including his own daemon. Naruto had seen Sasuke trying to leave his daemon, and while he could never get very far before the pain forced him to stop, he'd tried more than once. And yet everyone loved Sasuke and wouldn't hear a word against him - okay, not everyone, Naruto corrected himself with a slight grin and a glance towards Kiba, but almost everyone. What made trying to separate from your daemon so much better than simply not having one in the first place?
The question forced him out of his chair, and he climbed onto Sasuke's desk, hoping that a closer look at the boy and his daemon might help him finally answer his question. His intent gaze switched between Sasuke and Ekusa, who changed from the snake she'd been coiled up as to a wary housecat.
"Hey! What are you trying to do to Sasuke-kun?" a fangirl shouted, and tried to push Naruto off the desk. Knocked off-balance, he tried to catch himself on his hands.
One of them landed on Ekusa's back.
Shocked silence filled the classroom, everyone staring in frozen horror. Touching someone's daemon was touching their soul, the ultimate taboo. There was no worse violation. Naruto knew that on the same instinctive level as everyone else, but - he couldn't make himself move away.
It didn't feel like a violation. Sasuke and Ekusa weren't acting like it was a violation. It felt like - like Sasuke, and Naruto knew Sasuke better than anyone. It felt familiar. It felt good.
Naruto and Sasuke stared at each other, silently daring the other one to be the first to pull away.
"Get your hand off her!" yelled Raksu, changing into a heavyset dog and leaping at Naruto, breaking their strange stalemate. Thrown to the floor, Naruto flailed wildly.
It was a total accident that he touched Raksu's fur.
Different from Ekusa, but still no sense of violation - shock and wonder, a feeling of 'This is you?' and 'This is me' all bound up in 'I didn't know you'.
His hand fell away.
They stared at each other as Raksu carefully stepped away from him, back to Sakura, who was similarly dumbfounded. The room was so quiet that everyone heard the daemon mutter in confusion, "He didn't feel like a monster."
Team Seven Daemons Ficlet 1
Naruto hunched his shoulders and glared at the desk in front of him. Tahani crept nearer, unnoticed, only to panic and flee back to Hinata when he huffed and sat back. Most of the class was ignoring him, but he could hear a soft mutter of "Freak!" and knew they were talking about him.
Everyone called him a monster, and he knew why, but there was nothing he could do about it. It wasn't as if he'd chosen to be the only person in the village without a daemon. He'd just never had one, and while he wasn't aware of any lack in himself, how would he know? If it weren't for the Old Man's assurances, he'd probably have believed everyone who said it proved he had no soul.
He turned resentful eyes on Sasuke, who was determinedly ignoring everyone in the room, including his own daemon. Naruto had seen Sasuke trying to leave his daemon, and while he could never get very far before the pain forced him to stop, he'd tried more than once. And yet everyone loved Sasuke and wouldn't hear a word against him - okay, not everyone, Naruto corrected himself with a slight grin and a glance towards Kiba, but almost everyone. What made trying to separate from your daemon so much better than simply not having one in the first place?
The question forced him out of his chair, and he climbed onto Sasuke's desk, hoping that a closer look at the boy and his daemon might help him finally answer his question. His intent gaze switched between Sasuke and Ekusa, who changed from the snake she'd been coiled up as to a wary housecat.
"Hey! What are you trying to do to Sasuke-kun?" a fangirl shouted, and tried to push Naruto off the desk. Knocked off-balance, he tried to catch himself on his hands.
One of them landed on Ekusa's back.
Shocked silence filled the classroom, everyone staring in frozen horror. Touching someone's daemon was touching their soul, the ultimate taboo. There was no worse violation. Naruto knew that on the same instinctive level as everyone else, but - he couldn't make himself move away.
It didn't feel like a violation. Sasuke and Ekusa weren't acting like it was a violation. It felt like - like Sasuke, and Naruto knew Sasuke better than anyone. It felt familiar. It felt good.
Naruto and Sasuke stared at each other, silently daring the other one to be the first to pull away.
"Get your hand off her!" yelled Raksu, changing into a heavyset dog and leaping at Naruto, breaking their strange stalemate. Thrown to the floor, Naruto flailed wildly.
It was a total accident that he touched Raksu's fur.
Different from Ekusa, but still no sense of violation - shock and wonder, a feeling of 'This is you?' and 'This is me' all bound up in 'I didn't know you'.
His hand fell away.
They stared at each other as Raksu carefully stepped away from him, back to Sakura, who was similarly dumbfounded. The room was so quiet that everyone heard the daemon mutter in confusion, "He didn't feel like a monster."