NOVEL NEXT Chapter 10: Hope
"Wake up! Class finished 5 minutes ago!"
"Huh?? What?"
I wiped my eyes and looked up at the person in front of me.
"You know how Mrs. Warren gets if we're late to science class. Let's go!"
"Where… am I? Who are you?"
"What?! It's Kasumi! You're going to be late again. Ugh, sorry, but I'm leaving without you!"
"Ka…sumi?"
The person slowly faded off into the distance as they exited the room. I opened my eyes a bit more to see my 10th grade art classroom.
Why am I here?
"Hey… is everything alright?"
A hand tapped my shoulder, it was my art teacher. I hadn't seen her in nearly 20 years. She looks the same. Is any of this real? Am I in the past, or am I dreaming?
"Yeah, sorry. I… didn't get much sleep last night."
"Oh, well, you'd better get going, but… if you need any extra time to complete the 'still life' drawing assignment."
"Thanks, Miss."
As I left the room, my reality began to blur and I woke up once more in a new location. This time, it was my bedroom. The barren walls where most would hang up posters of their favourite fictional characters or musicians. The dusty pile of books I had purchased, but never read. I knew this time period all too well, I was in my 23 year old body. But why?
Why am I reliving all of these random moments?
"Dinner's ready!" my mom shouted.
Some would be shunned for living at your parents' house as an adult, but it was one of the few things I didn't let bother me. It saved money and it gave me a simpler life in many aspects. I do wish I had friends though. Then, I'd at least have something to do other than sleep on the weekends. But I was shy, so making friends was always a struggle. Even the ones I had from school, we slowly grew apart as the years went on. Different priorities, different interests.
I hadn't found my person; a friend that fit the personality and habits of my adult life. So I just kept to myself. In some ways, it made things a lot easier. I had less expectations, no arguments, no events to remember. I could still find happiness in small interactions online or out and about in public. Ultimately, though, my existence… It was incredibly lonely.
I got up and walked out my bedroom door to have dinner. It's odd how seamlessly I've adjusted right back into walking after being a refrigerator for what? 3 years now? As my body passed by the door frame, the walls in the hallway began to dismantle, cracks formed along the baseboards. The floor softened and my feet slowly sank into the now melted terrain. My eyes dulled and I could feel myself slipping out of this dimension again.
"Hey, what's wrong? Did something happen at school?" Mom said.
I opened my eyes and I was at the dinner table. This time, however, I was much younger. I couldn't have been older than 10 at this point.
"They… didn't pick me to play basketball at recess. They never do!" I said, my mouth moving on its own.
I guess I'm back to being a passenger again. Jokes on you, universe! I have 3 years of training in this field now. I'll just sit back and let my younger self take the wheel.
"Aww, sweetie. It's okay."
"It's not! Nobody likes me!"
"Remember what I told you… this world is full of mean people, but it's not all bad, you know? It has ice cream and beaches and fireworks and-..."
"And superhero movies?!"
"Yes, and superhero movies. It's full of wonderful things. That's because no matter how bad it gets, there is always an equal or even bigger amount of good in the world. And you know what? Nobody can see the world's beauty better than a child."
"Really?"
"Yes. Us adults are burdened with all that boring stuff like jobs and electricity bills! We don't have the time to appreciate the world for what it truly is. That's where you come in!"
"Me? What can I do?"
"Be good. That's it. Be good. Have hope. Laugh. Smile. It's up to us to balance out all the bad with good, and sometimes, all we can do is just be nice to others and have a positive outlook on things."
"That's it. Be good. Have hope. Laugh. Smile." Those words kept ringing in my head. It was unavoidable, even as a passenger in this body. As a kid, I can't remember how I took any of these "life lessons," but I think I understand now why I can't stop hearing her voice at this moment.
It feels so familiar, that undying sense of hope, the desire to see the good in things… It's just like…
"Naruto!" I jolted awake, back in my refrigerator form.
A burst of chakra projected out of my body, disconnecting me from the statue siphoning my energy. In the blink of an eye, I was transported away to a forest.
"Where am I now?" I groaned, still weak from all the chakra depletion.
"A small forest, right outside the old Uchiha clan district of Konoha." a voice said, "Look, before you say anything. Yes, the Squirrel Sage stuff was all a lie, BUT… we do have summoning abilities, hence why you're here."
I glanced upward to see a scurry of squirrels perched on the branches of the surrounding trees.
"One of my pals here noticed your name fading away on my scroll. We couldn't access your chakra, but whatever you did gave it a large enough boost to let us reverse-summon you to our base of operations."
"I see…"
"Here, take some of these acorns. They're not much, but maybe you can get some chakra off them."
I thanked my squirrel friends and took the rest of the day off to recuperate. They insisted on treating me in any way they could, but I politely declined.
I couldn't stay for long, because something had been bothering me the moment I got poofed into this forest. I couldn't pinpoint it for a while because I was weakened and I figured any remotely bad feeling was just a product of being stuck in an Akatsuki lair for who knows how long. But I think I'm starting to realize it now…
That dark chakra I had sensed all those previous times…
That creature in the valley…
Whoever that was or whatever that was…
It's back, and it's… right here.