These Bonds

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An original NaruSaku Story.

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(A word of warning; this chapter is really just setting everything up for the later chapters, so a lot is going to happen at once. I apologize if you get lost while reading.)

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"Please, I didn't even do anything!" a young blonde-haired boy yelled as he ran from a few bigger kids, who kept shouting and throwing rocks at him. This was Naruto, and this was his life. He was able to dodge whatever rocks were thrown his way, though the insults were more of a challenge. Naruto skidded across the ground, and then shot down an alleyway. He dove behind some trashcans, and the bullies that were following him took a wrong turn down another alleyway that let off into a crowd of people.

"Phew…" Naruto said, dragging his palm across his forehead and flicking the sweat off. Naruto took a left down another alley, and ran off towards his apartment. After all, it was getting dark, and those bigger kids would be the least of his problems if he was caught walking down an alley at night. For some reason, Naruto was like a magnet to danger. During the day, he was harassed by Academy bullies and bigger kids. At night, he was tailed by adults, who called him a monster.

Naruto high-tailed it into his apartment, and flicked on the light. He stared at his ratty apartment, littered with empty ramen cups, unopened books and scrolls, and some sort of green slime in the corner, that he refuses to go near. That stuff could be radioactive, and Naruto was pretty sure he couldn't live with having an octopus tentacle for an arm. He'd clean it, one day, just not tonight. For now, he went to bed, longing for tomorrow to come.

The sun set, the moon rose, and then set again, only to be replaced by the rising sun. The sunlight shimmered through the curtains, and onto Naruto's eyes, which woke him up, just before his alarm clock –actually- woke him up.

"Oh dangit! Why can't I remember to set this thing earlier?!" Naruto yelled, literally punching the snooze button on the alarm clock. It read 7:45, fifteen minutes from the start of the academy. Naruto pulled on a pair of pants, threw on a black tee-shirt, and rushed into the bathroom. He went through his morning routine, which included ranting to himself about the damned alarm clock, brushing his teeth, getting dressed, resuming his ranting, cleaning up, doing some of the dishes that piled up in his sink, and ranting until he left his apartment.

As he left, he locked the door behind him. Sakura Haruno, the girl who lived in the apartment next to him, had coincidentally just left her apartment. The two of them had a very close bond, ever since Naruto had done a cliché hero rescue, and helped Sakura get away from some bullies.

"Morning, Sakura-chan!" Naruto said enthusiastically, using what the adults would call his "outside voice". Sakura smiled, though. His obnoxious antics and annoying behavior no longer bothered her. She actually thought it was cute.

"Hey, Naruto." She said, returning the greeting. The two walked to the academy, for their first day. Naruto introduced her to all his friends, and Sakura introduced Naruto to some of her friends. The two were inseparable, all through their days in the academy. When Sakura was teased, Naruto defended her. When Naruto felt alone, Sakura comforted him.

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I hope you guys like this. I apologize for not updating The Break Up, and I probably won't. The entire story wasn't going anywhere, so I figured it'd be best to just start fresh with a new story.