Chapter Text
If you're reading or listening to this on an app or on Youtube or anywhere other than AO3 or FFN, it is against this author's will, so if you have any respect for the person who wrote this story, please read it on AO3.
May these thieves step on a lego. Amen.
I only gave my permission to the translation in Russian on ficbook and the translation in Spanish on wattpad linked in my profile.
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Prologue
"You don't love someone for their looks, or their clothes, or for their fancy car, but because they sing a song only you can hear." — Oscar Wilde.
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It was another boring day at the Academy.
Seated on her swing, Naruto watched as her classmates played together. While most children played tag, she couldn't join them. They would actually mock her if she tried.
They said that their parents told them that she was a bad girl. But how would they know? What did they know about her? She just needed a chance. Just a single chance and she would show them that she was a good person and that she just wanted to play and have fun like them.
Not too far from her, she heard giggles and squeals. She turned her head, casting her attention to the side and saw two girls from her class talking to each other, their cheeks red and their eyes sparkling. She wanted a friend with whom she could be happy like that too.
"And if the words appear on the skin of the person you love, that means that he's your destined one! That's what my grandma said," the blonde one chirped.
Naruto's ears focused on their conversation.
"So, if we write something on our skin, and it appears on Sasuke-kun's, that means we're going to marry him?" the little girl with pink hair asked, visibly excited.
Her friend nodded with a smile. "Um! But, Sakura, we have to write different words, so that we'll know for sure who Sasuke-kun's soulmate is!"
Despite her best efforts, Naruto was now staring at them in a far less subtle way. What were they talking about?
"Here, I'm writing the word Flower for me. Which one did you choose?"
"Hm," Sakura pouted cutely, "Ribbon, maybe?"
"Alright, here, write it!"
"Okay," Sakura grinned, before taking the marker and scribbling something on the palm of her left hand. "And now?"
Her friend smiled, her cheeks rosy. "Now, we ask Sasuke-kun to show us his hand!"
Sakura's blush deepened, and she lowered her head shyly. "Ah, do we have to?"
"Of course! How else would we know? Come on, Sakura!" Her blonde friend grabbed her by her arm, trying to force her to her feet.
"W-Wait, Ino!"
"I can check for you!" Naruto blurted out.
Both girls turned their heads towards her. Naruto gulped. If she was nice, maybe they would be her friend too?
"Um, you want to know what word is written on Sasuke's hand right? I can... I can ask him for you," she repeated, a bit unsure. She was rewarded by the brightest smiles she was ever graced with. A warm feeling started to spread in her chest. Okay, she wouldn't mess this up!
It turned out that both of Sasuke's hands were devoid of any writing. Following behind the two mopping girls, Naruto confronted them curiously. "What's the big deal about those writings anyway?"
The blonde girl, Ino, she recalled, sighed. "My grandma told me about this story, you see. Everyone has a soulmate, a person that you will love and who will love you always and you will be very happy with them. Grandma said that not a lot of people know it, but when you write or draw something on your skin, the same mark will appear in the same place on your soulmate. But…" she sighed again, glancing toward Sasuke sadly. "It's not him."
Naruto's eyebrows knitted together doubtfully. "Are you sure you did it right though? Maybe he is but it just didn't work."
"Grandma said that's how she found Grandpa!" Ino retorted with a frown. "Usually people don't believe it or they forget it, but, that's how she knew it was him, and that's how he knew it was her! I know she's not lying!"
"I didn't say that! But, maybe it has to be done with a special pen or something?"
Ino's eyes widened. Oh. Maybe… That would mean she still had a chance with Sasuke-kun.
Before she could answer Naruto, though, a hand grasped her shirt tightly. "Um, Ino…"
Both blondes looked at Sakura, who was staring at her right hand, shocked and red in the face. "My, my hand, look…"
They approached her and saw that, in very neat and clean handwriting, the word Dog had appeared on her right palm.
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Lying on her bed, Naruto was staring at her ceiling. In the afternoon, Ino had gone completely crazy. Forgetting all about her disappointment concerning Sasuke, she kept going on and on about the fact that Sakura's soulmate had answered her. He must be an Inuzuka, she had declared, before running to check both Kiba's hands (which informed them that he wasn't the one). Or maybe he just likes dogs, Naruto had then suggested. That didn't exactly help in finding Sakura's True Love, but he had answered her! It had worked!
Naruto sat up, before grabbing the brush on her night table.
People always avoided her. They whispered mean things about her as if she wouldn't notice. She was prohibited from entering some stores, and the parents asked their children not to approach her because she was dangerous. Yes, she did pull some pranks at times, but so did Kiba. Was it because she was a girl? Was it because she was blonde with blue eyes? Ino was like that too but she heard that her colouring was different from Ino's family. Some people said she must be a brat brought by accident from Kumo. Was her family in Kumo? The old man who brought her monthly allowance told her that her parents were Konoha-nins though. However, he never gave her any more information than that. Or was it because of the marks on her face? But many ninjas had marks on their faces too. She thought they were cute, just like a kitty's.
She soaked the brush in ink, before proceeding to write on her arm.
If her soulmate didn't know that she was Uzumaki Naruto, the Dangerous Brat, maybe he wouldn't run away from her? Could someone really love her like Ino had said?
Ceasing her train of thoughts, she inhaled deeply.
Maybe she wouldn't get an answer, like Ino. Maybe she would just have one word and wouldn't be able to find out who it was, like Sakura. But, she would at least give it a try.
Hello. Will you be my friend?