Chapter Text
The leaves rustled beneath heavy footsteps.
"Sasuke!?", a small voice shrieked. It was a blonde-haired boy with big blue eyes, now staring at him, eyes wide with shock. The boy was sitting on a swing, shoulders dropped, face puffy, a slight tint of red on his cheeks and in his eyes, making it seem like he had been crying. The sky behind him was a bright shade of blue, forming a stark contrast to his blonde hair that appeared even brighter now. It was a beautiful day out, yet the blonde was sitting on the swings alone. Nobody else around.
Sasuke’s P.o.V
"What?", the one whose name was called asked annoyed. His almost black-colored eyes narrowed. He was visibly dissatisfied with being called out to.
“Why was this boy talking to him?” He had just been minding his business and was about to move out of the blonde’s sight in a few seconds anyway. He did NOT want to be addressed by anyone right now. It was bad enough he was forced to socialize with his Sensei at the Academy, let alone with the head of the village, the Hokage, outside of it.
He wished they would all just leave him alone, especially the other kids from the Academy – they were all so annoying, he thought.
All the dark-haired boy meant to do was collect the shuriken that the wind just had to have blown in this direction… couldn’t they have landed anywhere else, where nobody was gonna be? Where Sasuke could just be in peace? And nobody would try talking to him?
He had enough of that. Of people trying to make him open up to them. Of people scurrying around him, acting like they knew him. He hated that. Their fake sympathy. He didn’t need it. So why was this guy, Naruto, now trying to talk to him? They didn’t know each other. They were simply the same age, attending the same class at the same Academy. That was it!
"Uh… nothing, never mind”, the other boy’s voice cut through Sasuke’s pestering thoughts.
“…I didn't mean to say your name out loud...", Naruto trailed off, avoiding eye-contact with him.
"Okay, whatever", Sasuke dismissed, confused by the blonde’s behavior, but acting indifferent on the outside.
Naruto’s PoV
Naruto contemplated striking up a conversation again but quickly stopped himself. The brooding dark-haired boy whom he knew from seeing him around the village and around the Academy seemed to want to be left alone. And he was feeling embarrassed anyway. Why did he have to be caught crying? So, he let it go and watched Sasuke quietly pick up his Shuriken before stomping off.
Sasuke’s PoV
He had been practicing his target skills in the woods ever since the sun had risen. He couldn’t afford to slack off. He had a goal to reach and for that he needed to become much stronger.
Walking back to his usual training spot, he couldn’t help but think of the blonde-haired Naruto again. The boy with the whiskers… what a weird boy he was, always sitting on that old swing by the tree and just... staring off into space, looking all sad and depressed…
Sasuke knew Naruto didn't have any friends. He didn't know why – not that he cared, but to him, it seemed like Naruto was someone who cared about that. He didn’t know the boy very well, but he could tell from his constant need for attention, his loud mouth and his bubbly energy that having friends and talking to others was important to him – which made him the complete opposite of Sasuke who didn’t want to talk to anyone. Everyone he had ever cared for was gone. He did not need nor care for anyone ever since.
“Ugh, enough with this”, Sasuke interrupted his own thoughts, getting irritated by himself. “He’s an annoying brat. Who cares that he’s always sitting on that swing, crying??? He’s just looking for attention, what would HE have to cry about anyway?”.
Sasuke didn't particularly have anything against Naruto. All he knew was that he hated seeing him. Not because he hated Naruto… something about the blue-eyed boy just pissed him off.
It wasn't the fact that Naruto was an orphan. Nor was it the fact that he had a big mouth and never shut up... Sasuke did not care about any of that. Sure, it was annoying to hear about Naruto's shenanigans and witness his rebellious acts firsthand, but that was all there was to it. He couldn’t care less about what the other kids did in their free time. It had nothing to do with him, after all.
So, what was it that agitated him about Naruto so much? He didn't know…
Narration (insights on Sasuke and Naruto that they would never admit to themselves, at least not at this point in the story :))
Sasuke didn't know the reason he felt agitated by a certain blonde was because Naruto seemed to be doing really well for someone who was all alone. He made being alone seem… somehow effortless even… Despite being all alone, he could still smile. He could still laugh. He could still play pranks. He could still run his mouth.
Sure, there were times when Sasuke caught Naruto being sad and gloomy like right now, but that wasn’t often. And Sasuke was pretty sure he was the only one who caught a glimpse of it. Whenever people surrounded him, Naruto had a big goofy grin plastered on his face. No sign of the sadness Sasuke had seen in his eyes numerous times before… The way Naruto carried himself through the village made it seem like he was alright with being alone.
But Sasuke? Being alone was new to him. He hated it, but he couldn’t allow himself to get even remotely close to anyone. Ever since his brother Itachi had killed off his Clan, his entire family, there was nobody Sasuke was close to anymore. There was nobody he ever wanted to be close to again either. So, in a way he was jealous of Naruto for being okay with not having anybody to come home to, for embracing the loneliness with a smile on his face, for being fine regardless- unlike him whose heart had grown dark and cold during the years...
Sasuke’s PoV
Not too long ago, there had been a time when he had experienced love every single day… at least until that dreadful night on the full moon…
He missed his old life. The gentle and caring love of his mother, the distant yet steady love of his father, and the unwavering, unconditional love of his brother Itachi.
Itachi- who had once been Sasuke's favorite person in the whole entire world... before he had cold-bloodedly killed his family, and only spared Sasuke for some twisted reason…
Ever since then, everything had changed. The love and admiration he had once held for his older brother was now replaced by burning rage. He wanted to kill Itachi for everything he had done. Apart from this, nothing else mattered to him.
Sasuke gritted his teeth. "I need to get stronger to beat him. I'm too weak!".
He threw his Shuriken all in one go, all aimed at different targets. This time, almost all of them hit their goal. Only three of them landed on the cool forest floor with an underwhelming thud.
It was progress, yet to Sasuke, it didn't feel like it. To him, it felt like failure. “Itachi could hit all of these even blindfolded”, he thought to himself, “I’m so pathetic”.
His older brother had been a child prodigy. Some had even called him a genius. He had been known throughout the whole village – the Uchiha boy who was so skilled he graduated early and joined the special organization, Anbu, at merely 9 years old. The youngest to ever be recruited. He was a legend, Sasuke's brother. And Sasuke had looked up to him his entire childhood. He had wanted to grow up just like Itachi…
Thinking back at it, the memories flooded in. Happy memories of his childhood. Sasuke trailing behind Itachi, Itachi carrying him on his back. Sasuke begging him to help him with his training and Itachi giving in despite being busy…
“Why?”, Sasuke thought clenching his jaw, his heart pounding hard in his chest. “I'm going to kill you. Just like you told me to. You just wait!”
With that thought Sasuke continued his target training, not giving himself any breaks, so that his mind wouldn’t be able to wander again.
Naruto’s P.o.V
“That Sasuke...!”, Naruto thought on his way home, frantically tugging at his hair. “Why does he have to be so unapproachable? And he's so rude, too?!”
"AAHHHH!", Naruto groaned, making the people in the streets turn their heads. Once they saw who the sound came from, they quickly turned away again, taking off in a hurry.
“And what's up with all of them???”, Naruto thought, now getting even more frustrated. “Why does everyone always treat me like this? Why does everyone always avoid me??? What have I ever done? They act like I'm invisible, like I don't even exist... and the way they look at me… why do they look at me like that? With so much contempt in their eyes. I don’t understand at all.”
Tears welled in his eyes, and he quickly dried them off before they could fall. “All I want is to be accepted. To be SOMEONE.”
Narration (because Naruto, too, would never admit to these insights himself)
It was true the village hated him. Naruto was being punished for a situation he had no control over. One he never chose and one he knew nothing about…
And so, Naruto had made it his life’s goal to become the greatest Ninja (Shinobi) to exist. Then, everybody would have no other choice but to recognize him, to respect and accept him. If he just became the strongest, if he just became the next Hokage, then everyone would have to like him.
He would finally be needed. He'd be a hero. That's all Naruto wanted. To become the greatest Shinobi in Konoha, be named Hokage, and to make as many friends as possible along the way. To be somebody people accepted.
But then there was Sasuke… Naruto wanted to talk to him because he knew they were similar. They were alike, yet so different. They were both alone, but while Naruto was hated and excluded by everyone Sasuke was loved and adored. To Naruto, it seemed like Sasuke always got all the attention, love and support. And instead of being grateful for it, the gloomy black-haired boy always looked like he hated everybody.
Naruto’s PoV
He couldn’t stand Sasuke at all. What was his deal anyway? If Naruto were in his shoes, he would love all the attention and admiration Sasuke always got. But Sasuke was so full of himself, always grumpy, and never appreciative. Just like this afternoon, when stupid Sasuke had just dismissed him! He had just wanted to talk, but how was one supposed to talk to someone who was as stone-cold and distant as Sasuke???
It was bad enough that the dark-haired boy had seen him crying after Naruto had flunked Sensei Iruka’s test to finally graduate from the Academy…
It wasn’t Naruto’s fault the test had been on the one technique he had always struggled with the most… Making clones of himself. He never could quite figure it out. So, it wasn’t that much of a surprise when he failed again. Still, he had tried his best and was disappointed that his best had turned out to be not enough…
Naruto looked up at the sky. The sun was beginning to set, part of it had already disappeared behind the horizon, leaving only a bright shade of pink and orange behind.
Narration
Naruto knew that Sasuke wanted nothing to do with him – or anyone for that matter. It was obvious to tell by the way he acted, and as much as Naruto told himself he hated that moody raven-haired boy, he secretly kind of liked and admired him, too. After all, Sasuke was the only one in the Academy, and in the village who didn’t act differently towards him.
While everyone, including Sensei Iruka, looked at Naruto as if he were a nuisance, Sasuke was the only exception. He was simply rude to all, treating everyone with the same cold indifference. He had never looked at Naruto the way everyone else looked at him. There was never contempt in his eyes, just the usual annoyance he showed towards everybody.
So, despite telling himself that he couldn’t stand Sasuke, Naruto liked the way the dark-haired boy never treated him any differently. In Sasuke’s eyes, Naruto was just normal – like everyone else. So, unbeknownst to himself, seeing the boy with the grumpy face always made Naruto feel relieved, like he was finally able to breathe.
Naruto’s PoV
He had somehow ended up walking in a circle and was now back in the forest... Naruto looked around, confused, then turned back to go in which he hoped was the right direction. Every tree looked the same, and even though he sat by the swing almost every day, it was hard to make out the way when it was already dark outside…
“Naruto!”, the silver-haired Sensei who had assisted Sensei Iruka with the Academy test this morning suddenly appeared.
“You know, if you want to become stronger, there is a scroll in the Hokage’s office where there are tons of jutsus written down. If you learn them all by yourself and show them to your Sensei Iruka, he will have no other choice but to let you pass and graduate from the Academy!”, Mizuki Sensei told him.
“Oh, wow really?!? That’s awesome!!”, Naruto squealed in excitement. “Thank you, Sensei!”
“Oh, no worries”, Mizuki chuckled, and once Naruto had happily run off to obtain the scroll, he added, “No worries, at all. In fact, thank you”, a mischievous smile on his face.
It was a long night that held many surprises, but Naruto getting his hands on the scroll sure wasn’t one of them. He had sneaked into the Hokage’s office many times before, so getting in there again was no hassle. The scroll was easy enough to find, too.
Back in the forest, Naruto was eager to learn the secret jutsus written in the scroll, but by the time he was found by a worried Sensei Iruka, he had only managed to learn one of them.
“Naruto! There you are!”, Sensei Iruka looked upset.
“Sensei!!! If I show you what I’ve learned, you will have to let me pass, right??? That’s what Mizuki Sensei said!”
Before Sensei Iruka could react to those words, he registered a kunai flying directly towards them. Iruka pushed Naruto out of the way just in time, taking the hit himself.
“Sensei!”, Naruto yelled out. “What’s going on!?”
Mizuki appeared from behind the trees, a sinister laugh escaping his lips.
“Naruto, be a good boy and hand over that scroll, unless you want your Sensei here to die.”
“Don’t listen to him, Naruto. Run, and don’t let him have the scroll under any circumstances!”, Sensei Iruka heaved under pain, blood spilling out of his wound.
Naruto didn’t know what was going on, but he knew he couldn’t just leave his Sensei all by himself. He was injured. And that Mizuki seemed scary now.
While Naruto was thinking hard about what to do, the silver-haired fake of a teacher started running his mouth again. “Hey now, he’s obviously lying to you. Want me to tell you the truth about why the people in this village hate you so much?”, he smirked, “Poor you, they’ve lied to you all your life!”
“Don’t you dare!”, Sensei Iruka glared at Mizuki, making Naruto grow even more confused. All he could do was stand there frozen in place.
The silver-haired man simply laughed, ignoring Iruka’s warning.
“Twelve years ago…”, Mizuki started, “an evil fox spirit killed Iruka’s parents and wreaked havoc on this village. That nine-tailed fox spirit was sealed inside of you, Naruto. You are a monster!!!! That’s why the entire village, including your dear Sensei Iruka, hate you!!! Hahahahha!”, he laughed evilly.
Naruto felt sick to his stomach. So, that’s what it was. There was some monster inside of him, and the village hated him for it. Did Sensei Iruka hate him, too?
Before he could finish that thought, Mizuki pulled out a big Shuriken he had tied on his back, “DIE!!”, he screamed, aiming it at Naruto.
Sensei Iruka moved quickly. “GET DOWN!”, he yelled at Naruto who barely managed to follow his orders. When he looked up, he saw Iruka hovering over him, the Shuriken sticking out of his back. Sensei had taken the hit for him again.
Tears welled in Naruto’s eyes. “Why?”, he asked staring at the one who had saved him in shock.
“You’re my student”, Iruka managed to bring out, “I know how hard you work. And I know you’re not a monster. So, don’t listen to his crazy talk.” He coughed, the blow of the shuriken had weakened him.
Naruto didn’t know whether to believe his Sensei’s words or not, so instead of saying anything, he ran deeper into the forest. Did he really mean it? But Naruto had killed his parents, so there’s no way Sensei Iruka didn’t hate him…
While Naruto was hiding behind a tree, he heard Mizuki and Iruka following after him. They were talking along the way- well, more like aggressively yelling at each other. Mizuki kept repeating how much of a monster Naruto was and that he would use the scroll to take revenge on the village for mistreating him all those years. But Sensei Iruka denied his claims and kept saying how much he believed in Naruto and that he wasn’t the monster everyone thought he was.
“He’s Naruto Uzumaki from the village Konoha!”, Iruka’s voice echoed from the clearance of the forest where Mizuki and him were now circling each other.
“Just shut up, Iruka. I think it’s about time you died!”, Mizuki had enough of the kind-hearted words. He pulled the second Shuriken from his back and aimed it at Iruka who had sunken against a tree, already wounded and short on strength.
Before Mizuki could hurt him, Naruto jumped out of his hiding place and kicked him away. Sensei Iruka’s words had touched his heart. He didn’t see him as a monster. He believed in Naruto. He had protected him, and now Naruto wanted to protect the first person who believed in him, too.
Naruto used the moment Mizuki was caught off-guard to dispatch the shadow clone jutsu he had just learned from the scroll. Clearly outnumbered, Mizuki didn’t stand a chance against the amount of clones. Sensei Iruka was dumbfounded. “How did you learn such an advanced jutsu in such a short time?”, he asked perplexed, but Naruto didn’t hear him. He was too busy beating the fake-of-a-teacher who had tricked him.
After the fight, Sensei Iruka proudly passed him the headband, the symbol of their village, a leaf, engraved in the metal. “You’ve done a great job, and you deserve this”, Iruka smiled. “Congrats on passing the test, Naruto. Now you get to graduate from the Academy, after all.”
“Thank you-”, Naruto threw himself at his Sensei, crying. “THanK- you… so- much-”, his voice caught in his throat. Sensei Iruka rubbed his back until Naruto’s tears stopped falling, and for the first time in his life, Naruto felt like he belonged.