Rating : K

Because in the end, Sasuke and Naruto are still just children lost in an adult world.


The square root of Innocence


As a toddler, Sasuke was innocent.

He was the epitome of a little boy who did nothing more and nothing less than learn to love with all of his achingly innocent heart.

He wandered in a daydream, eyes wide and heart free, jumping from moment to moment with the childish impulse that is the driving force behind the most powerful feelings in the world.

The epitome of happiness to the naive young Sasuke was to be allowed to accompany his prodigal brother to shuriken practice.

The feelings of his mothers arms, his brothers smile, his fathers laugh, were all enough for to make all seem right in his one-dimensional world.


As a child, Sasuke grew guarded.

He watched his brother grow farther and farther away, breaking his heart inch by devastating inch, when all could have been fixed with three simple words.

It became all Sasuke could do to desperately try to adhere to the parental expectations which dictated the highs and lows of his emotions to the point where he became a twisted marionette in their cruel games.

Itachi stopped letting Sasuke come with him to shuriken practice.


As an adolescent, Sasuke was alone.

He lived in an empty house with an empty heart and empty eyes and it was all he could do to shut the memories out of his pathetically vulnerable heart.

He no longer lived moment by moment, becoming a creature of cruel habit whose only solace in life was to set all his still child-like determination towards the ultimate goal of vengeance.

As an adolescent, Sasuke never expected to fall in love. The feeling reminded him of those precious seconds of exhilarating free-fall experienced after jumping heart first off a cliff.

Sasuke had never expected to love someone again so much thTat letting them out of his sight was a test of his faith in their ability to keep themselves alive. He never expected to look at another person, especially someone this loud and obnoxious, with anything less than indifference.

Contrary to the entire personality he had so carefully crafted for himself, he craved Naruto. Naruto's attention, his infectious love of life, his smile that could pull Sasuke out of the deepest depths of misery. Everything about Naruto drew Sasuke to him; like a hapless moth to a flame.

All because one day, on a foggy morning in the middle of the bleakest month of the year, Naruto had grabbed Sasuke's arm after practice, shuffling his feet and biting his lip anxiously.

"Want to practice shuriken with me?"

And Sasuke had felt his broken heart begin to truly mend for the first time in six lonely years.


à continué


Sasuke and Naruto are too often overanalyzed.

Constructive criticism appreciated, second part coming soon at a fanfiction site near you.