Summary: He's a nobody to everybody; an outcast. Even the gods hate his guts. Yet, there's still someone who is willing to protect him?
Warnings: Rude thugs who don't know when to shut their pie holes, angst-y with a dash of WAFF, un-beta'd, subtle SasuNaru loving (or friendship, whichever).
Notes: This was irritating to write, one of those stories that demands to be perfected… but it's finally adequate. It's supposed to act as loose interpretation of the relationship between Sasuke and Naruto. Woo~
Also, I'm still working on my other story, in case anyone is wondering. No worries!
Advocate
The rain continued to pour as it had for the last twenty-four hours. Torrents of wind and water whipped around in the sky relentlessly, before finally pounding down into the asphalt streets below. It was only around six in the evening, but the unfavorable weather darkened the sky portentously. Thick, gray clouds shrouded the sun from sight and cast never-ending shadows upon the gloomy city.
Naruto, a young blond boy of only sixteen, rushed through the back alleyways of the city, deftly navigating through the confusing back roads. He was eager to escape his cold, shivering wet state, but simultaneously reluctant to return home to solitude. Another grueling day of school—torture, his mind supplied—had ended, but what was there to show for it? Only pitiful grades, feelings of inadequacy, ridicule and worse: loneliness.
His desperate pace slowed to a light walk as he mulled over his empty shell of a life. No family or friends, no known relatives to speak of. Abandoned as a mere child. Barely enough money to survive and pay the rent. Forced to settle for a run-down apartment in a dangerous backwater neighborhood. It was as if God himself was against him.
Naruto sighed lightly as the precipitation continued to pour, soaking his clothes. He was surprised by his acute depression, but felt it was not unwarranted considering the circumstances. The wind blew harshly, and a coldness Naruto had never before experienced seeped into his bones. He moved to lean against a brick wall, hoping to relieve himself from the chilling wind if only a little bit, but it provided next to no protection. Closing his eyes, he could faintly hear the rush hour traffic coming from the nearby roads, but it soon became drowned out by the sound of freezing rain slapping the pavement.
Naruto was usually a happy guy, all grins and jokes, or so it seemed, but for once he was able to remove his pretenses and ponder things, alone. Alone in this cold, dark alley.
Lightning struck soon thereafter, jolting the boy from his reverie. The thunder echoed throughout the streets, the sound bouncing off nearby trash cans and reverberating against pipes and windows to further rattle his fragile state of mind.
Deciding it best to get home before he caught pneumonia, but not able to summon the strength to care, the blond began walking again, very slowly. He tensed as he suddenly heard footsteps approaching him from behind.
"Look what we got here," a cruel voice mocked. "You're that Uzumaki kid, right?"
Turning around to face the strangers, Naruto glared defiantly into the eyes of the man speaking to him.
"Not talking, eh? That's alright though, because I'm sure an outcast like you has nothing of worth to say!" Then the man began to laugh as others who stood behind him laughed along with him. The sound was lost to Naruto in the downpour, though.
"Come on, dude," another guy called out, still smiling maliciously. "Let's show him what happens when he dares to show his ugly face."
The leader sobered up then, a look of utter contempt appearing on his face as he looked into Naruto's eyes.
"Yeah," their leader responded, voice filled with unfounded scorn.
It was irrational, the boy mused lightly, their hate, but life was anything but rational. You could try to make sense of it, and in the end you'd just end up trying to give meaning to chaos. Pointless.
The blond steeled himself for what was coming next, but even being used to ambushes and a skilled fighter, the odds were still against him. His shoes slid against the wet pavement, squeaking as he dodged and lunged with precision, trying to escape certain demise. The six men came at him from all different angles, not stopping their attacks for anything, and before he knew it, the blond was slammed up against the wall in a chokehold. He coughed and sputtered blood, struggling for air even as the cold rain continued to penetrate his skin.
The man trapping him against the wall looked at him squirming, and snorted.
"You're worthless," he sneered, spitting in the boy's face. Naruto vaguely noted he couldn't feel the difference between it and the water droplets that were bombarding him.
He was then punched in the gut mercilessly and his knees threatened to give out. His vision blurred, and the strangers continued to mock him. He was soaked and hurt. But he didn't care. Naruto certainly wouldn't give them the satisfaction of seeing him break.
"Leave him alone," a forceful voice called out, the sharp tone promising pain if not heeded.
Naruto's cloudy vision cleared enough for him to make out a face in through the distorting showers and dim light. It was an adolescent, no older than him. He had ghostly pale skin, black hair and even blacker eyes. His face was the picture of apathy and stoicism, but his eyes... they were filled with a reckless passion that was bound to breed destruction. He could see life and death in those searing eyes.
"Or what, Uchiha?" one of them taunted.
The dark-haired boy shrugged nonchalantly. "Deal with me," he murmured, a small smirk playing at his lips.
The gang chose that moment to change targets. The older man that had latched onto Naruto's throat let him go, and he sunk to the ground.
"We'll deal with you first and leave this trash for later then," the leader called out. The others chorused in agreement. A moment of silence passed in the alleyway. Then they charged.
Naruto watched in awe as the mysterious boy made quick work of all six men. He evaded them skillfully, kneeing one of the more bulky ones, which sent the jerk flying back into another as they stumbled to the ground. Another couple of thugs made moves to punch the dark-haired male in the jaw but he ducked and they ended up punching each other like the morons they were. The boy and the leader of the group went at it for a minute, before Uchiha caught his shoulder in a grab and made a swift move which was shortly followed by a sickening pop-clearly a shoulder dislocating. Naruto winced as the dark-haired kid flipped the last man over onto his back and then kicked him causing him to skid over into the wall. Noticing one of the men near him was still conscious, groaning in pain, and not to be outdone, Naruto delivered a well aimed punch to his head, which cracked as it hit the pavement.
He sat against the wall for a moment as he heard water cascade down from the gray heavens, and was snapped back to reality when an object appeared near his face. Dazed, he blinked to find a hand offered out to him. Looking up into the face of the boy, whose dark hair was dripping wet and plastered to his forehead, Naruto felt irritation at his clearly amused smirk, but then when he gazed carefully into sinful dark eyes, he felt a strange stirring in his stomach.
Interesting, Naruto thought.
Reaching out through the curtain of mist to grab the hand, Naruto was confused when his hand only grasped at raindrops. He stared, slightly befuddled, when he realized the boy had removed his hand and placed it in his damp pocket. Naruto scowled, feeling indignant at the bastard who was now glaring at him-or was it through him?-sizing him up. His eyes were black abysses that bore into the blond's blue pools unflinchingly.
Even more interesting…
A minute passed, and there was no sound except for a vortex of rain soaking the earth, and the harsh breathing of two schoolboys-one looming close by, the other against a brick wall at his feet.
Finally, the dark-haired Uchiha outstretched his hand again, and though still a bit irascible, when Naruto strained up to grab the boy's outstretched hand for the second time, he felt warmth radiate through him. At that moment, Naruto felt the seemingly unshakable cold of the rain recede and he saw the world with renewed clarity. He felt surprised, but content in that grip: as if he could always have confidence in it, even in its absence.
If anything was irrational, that notion definitely was.
Brushing himself off and wiping the blood from his face, he muttered a reluctant thanks to his "savior".
He looked again; saw the boy stepping over the bodies and starting to head off.
"Wait!" Naruto called, and he winced at the sheer volume of his voice. It contrasted brightly against the muted sounds of the alley, which were gray like the sky.
The Uchiha stopped then, and turned around to regard the boy silently.
"Your name?" he asked, a bit annoyed with him, but still thankful for his help.
"Sasuke Uchiha." His steady, deep voice reached Naruto's ears without fail.
"Naruto Uzumaki! Don't forget it!" he shouted back, suddenly feeling invigorated, his depression lessened considerably, despite still being sore and soaked.
The other boy nodded stiffly, and then turned to walk off into the rain from the direction he came without so much as a parting word. Then he was gone.
Naruto stared after him for a moment, surprised by his sudden appearance and disappearance. Why did the kid even bother to save him if he wasn't going to stick around? Scoffing, the Uzumaki brushed himself off again. Some savior. Still, the blond figured this... Sasuke had helped him out of a sticky situation, putting his indifferent attitude aside. Recalling those pitch black eyes, Naruto shook his head, as if warding off a haunting spirit. Not indifferent then. His eyes had spoken otherwise, at least.
Vaguely, Naruto wondered where the dark-haired male had come from. Would he see the Uchiha kid again? Glancing at the unconscious men laying on the cement, the weary (but not broken) boy smiled slightly and determined that he definitely would, if only to show his gratitude—someone had been there for him, if only once—more properly. He would make sure of it.
Leaving the thugs behind, Naruto walked off, feeling significantly lighter. He was still numb from the cold rain, and the sky was still gray but at least one disaster had been averted.
The rain continued to pour as Naruto continued his trek home... but somehow it didn't seem to fall quite as heavily.