Naruto Parallels: Series 1-1
Hey There!
I'm a huge Naruto fan! I love the entire series, but I'm mostly a watcher of the anime (subbed never dubbed because I can't STAND the dubbed voices). I do know the outcome of the series and I've played around with Fan Fiction before, mostly with filler stuff that isn't shown, but right now in the most recent episodes on Hulu where I watch, everyone is trapped in Madara's Infinite Tsukuyomi and the series is showing depictions of everyone's dreams. I find it interesting that a lot of the dreams ultimately end up having some truth to them, but I really loved TenTen's dream and how instead of it being her wildest desires, it was more "dream esc" and depicted what the class and village would be like if the class had these vastly different personalities. I also loved Jiraiya's book in Tsunade's dream and how it depicted things if Naruto and Sasuke's families never died. Thus my new fan fiction series was born where I take different prompts and write a Fic based on if the prompt were true or false. If you have any fun prompts feel free to let me know! I'm looking for fun suggestions and I would love to flex my writing skills and see just how creative we can get! I hope you enjoy them!
Prompt: What if Naruto and Sasuke's roles were reversed?
Story Tangent: Unlike the actual series where Sasuke knows who killed his clan, and is driven by anger. In order to flip Naruto's roles, I changed that detail so that, while Sasuke did lose his entire clan, he has no idea it was his brother's doing (though he is still the one who did it in my parallel universe). As a means of giving his brother a better life, Itachi asked the third Hokage, Lord Hiruzen, to appoint Sasuke to his old ANBU Captain, Kakashi's team after the academy, and asked Kakashi to look after his brother as a friend and fellow Sharingan user. He also left behind a letter (contents revealed in the story) that managed to quell Sasuke's anger and convince him to serve Konoha honorably as a shinobi. Hiruzen was so busy with the impending Uchiha overthrow, and later Itachi's requests, that he took no interest in Naruto or helping improve his life and as a result he succumbed to his anger and loneliness early in his life, and the Nine-Tails regularly stoked the fire. Instead of entering the Academy determined and kind, he entered angry and closed off, resulting in no relationship being formed between he and Iruka. Sasuke lives honorably to fulfill his brother's wishes for his life and Naruto lives in obscurity, not caring about much at all.
CHAPTER ONE: THE ACADEMY
Sasuke could sense the hatred of the boy who sat at the desk next to Sakura. Though he wasn't sure he wanted to start his Academy days with someone with such bad energy, he really wanted to sit next to Sakura. His face flushed red as he tried to make his decision when Iruka walked up behind him and patted him gently on his back.
"Come Sasuke, you can sit here."
He pushed Sasuke toward the empty seat next to Sakura, though she wasn't paying any attention to him as he approached. He sat in the seat on Sakura's right side. As he slid his chair closer to the desk, Sakura turned and looked at him. His face flushed with embarrassment; he couldn't believe how much more beautiful she was up close. She suddenly began to twist her head between Sasuke and the boy on her other side. She started smiling and blushing before standing up with excitement and pointing at a girl sitting behind them a row with long blond hair.
"TAKE THAT INO! I'M SITTING BETWEEN SOMEONE REALLY COOL AND SOMEONE REALLY HANDSOME! CHA!"
The girl, Ino, stood up and began shouting back. Sasuke blushed and smiled at the compliment peeking around Sakura to see if the other boy had the same reaction. He could barely see his face as he stared out the window, but his expression was harsh. He had spiky blond hair, and three slash marks on his face that almost looked like whiskers. That's when he remembered who this boy was.
He thought back to the time he was walking through the park with his older brother Itachi, and noticed him sitting alone and crying on the swings. He remembered that all the other children were avoiding him and his brother told him that he was a boy whose parents had died in a great calamity in the past. The calamity caused many people to hate and fear the boy. He always told Sasuke he would tell him more when he was older, but now he's gone.
Sasuke's thoughts faded away as the familiar pain in the pit of his stomach returned and he suddenly felt very sick. Though he could kind of hear Sakura and Ino shouting, in his mind their mindless yelling reminded him of the screams of his clan.
He shook his head as if to knock away the memories and did his best to pay attention to Sakura again.
"JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE SITTING BETWEEN THEM DOESN'T MEAN ANYTHING!" Ino shouted out.
"Now, now, calm down." Iruka waved his hands at the girls. Both of them blushed at his beckoning. Ino seemed to pout, while Sakura smiled excitedly.
"Okay, welcome to your first day at Ninja Academy! I'm one of your instructors Iruka, and my job is to each you all about what it means to be a shinobi with a successful career here in Konoha! Over the course of your time here you'll learn and practice many things. I've no doubt that many of you have practiced different things with your families, but here it's important to focus on learning the same things as everyone else and apply them successfully! These others in this class are now your comrades, and it's your job to do your best as both their rivals and their friends!"
Iruka smiled brightly, and Sasuke smiled back. Something about his spirit was very calming and it made Sasuke feel much better from just a few moments before.
"Now then. Today will be just about meeting one another and understanding why we're all here! To that end I have a question for you!"
Iruka sensei started to pass out pencils and small scraps of paper to everyone. "This question may seem silly but I want you to think about it very carefully. It's actually very important."
Everyone looked at him with increased curiosity as he finished passing out the materials and returned to the head of the class.
"If the moon was falling from the sky, and today was the last day you had to live on earth, who would you spend it with?" He asked finally.
There was a hushed mumbling over the class as everyone contemplated the question.
"It can be as many or as few people as you'd like, but be prepared, we'll discuss why you selected your answers."
Sasuke stared down at his paper. He knew exactly who he would want to spend his last day with. As he considered it, the pain grew in his stomach again. He could feel his eyes begin to water with sadness but he knew he couldn't show those emotions anymore, if he wanted to be strong he had to get over the pain of the past. That's what Itachi told him, and that's what he would do.
"If I only had one day left to live, I wish food would fall from the sky instead of the moon!" A porkier kid said from the front row, and everyone began laughing at him. Sasuke thought it was funny but he was in no mood to laugh. He glanced over at Sakura who was smiling brightly. Sasuke blushed, he really loved her smile. Glancing past her he noticed that the boy was bending and folding his paper.
Sasuke looked back at his own paper and began to write out his brother's name. He jumped slightly when Iruka suddenly started yelling.
"AH NARUTO, DON'T THROW YOUR PAPER OUT THE WINDOW!" He marched over to Naruto and placed another piece of paper on his desk.
"I don't have anyone or anything. What would I write on this paper?" The boy grumbled out at Iruka.
Iruka stared at him in sadness for a moment. Sasuke could tell that he didn't really know what to tell him. Sasuke didn't have anyone either but he had memories of ones he loved. Though his brother was gone, he knew him once, but if this boy that Iruka called Naruto never knew his family, it was true to wonder what he would put. Sasuke suddenly felt very selfish. He actually felt better knowing there was someone else in a similar situation to his own.
"Well it may not make much sense to you, but I don't have anyone either. We can spend our last day together." Sasuke smiled brightly.
"That's the spirit Sasuke!" Iruka praised.
For the first time the entire class period, Naruto looked over at Sasuke. He stared at him for a minute under a cold glare and then looked down at his paper.
"If you don't' have anyone why did you write someone down on your paper?" Naruto questioned.
Sasuke's face flushed red as his sadness grew again. "It's my brother Itachi, but he's dead now."
Naruto shifted his glance back to Sasuke who returned the gaze with a half-smile. Finally, Naruto looked away from him. "I would rather spend my time alone because that's what I'm used to." Naruto whispered out.
Sasuke watched him sadly. He hadn't had the love of a family. Sasuke suddenly felt grateful for the chance to know his family before they were killed; his memory of them is what kept him strong. Even though he had no one left, his understanding of loneliness was very different from Naruto's. He looked back down at his paper and scratched the name out, re-writing Naruto in it's place. He wanted to give Naruto a reason to want to spend his last day with someone other than loneliness and until Naruto picked someone of his own, Sasuke knew he would just have to do.
Iruka walked back to the head of the class. He hesitated for a minute before he kept going. "Well does anyone else want to share?"
Students excitedly began to share their answers but Sasuke couldn't stop staring at Naruto's name on his paper. He would fix his loneliness if it was the last thing he did.
