"Naruto-kun?" Blue eyes opened, and the boy made a soft noise of protest. "Naruto-kun, wake up!" He rolled over to see his best friend's face, pale with worry-well, more pale than usual. "I think something is wrong. I heard Itachi-onii come in, but I can't hear he and Mama and Papa in the kitchen…" The seven-year-old blinked a bit, and his eyebrows furrowed. "Do they ever just…stay asleep?" The Uchiha shook his head, and murmured, "No, they always talk about his mission. I'm scared…" The younger of the two pulled the shaking eight-year-old closer, letting him bury his face in his neck.
"Don't worry, okay? Didn't they have a fight earlier that you told me about? That might be why." The other nodded, sniffling a bit but not moving away, instead cuddling closer. With a soft sigh, the blonde held him tighter, smiling as he teased, "If you wanted to snuggle, you coulda just asked, Sasu-chan." The ravenet kicked him under the covers, both for making fun of him and for calling him a girly pet name, making his cheeks flame, but buried his face back in Naruto's neck as rain poured down outside, lulling them both back to sleep.
Two months later
The boys laughed as they ran about, tagging each other and teasing. They reached the gate to the Uchiha complex, and took a moment to catch their breath after running and playing for so long-they'd managed to get invited to a birthday party, and so it was night. They walked in and Naruto contributed to Sasuke's chatter, but both stopped when they saw the first two bodies. "Aunt?" Sasuke gasped, "Uncle?" He bent down to them, trying to get them to respond, and started to cry, pain piercing his system. Naruto dropped to his side, putting his hands on his shoulders and guiding him to his chest, where he clung and sobbed.
"Shhhhh, it's okay. I promise it'll all be okay…" The younger of the two rocked the ravenet, but he doubted his own words so highly. The other nodded, using the back of his wrist to wipe his eyes as Naruto pulled him back to his feet and pulled him forward, heading for his house. He winced each time another soft, gasping sob would leave Sasuke, and shushed him, trying not to tremble at the sight of the corpses laying along the path.
Reaching the oh-so-familiar paper panel door, Naruto flung it open and felt himself becoming sick. He whirled Sasuke around and covered his eyes, holding his head to his shoulder and not letting go. But the elder of the two had seen, and was crying harder now than before. A motion from the corner of his eye made the blonde jump-there was Itachi, soaked in blood, but without a single scratch. Blue eyes grew wide in realization, and he grabbed Sasuke's hand, tugging him along quickly in the darkness.
He yelped as he ran into Itachi's chest, and cold red eyes looked down on him as Sasuke bumped into his back. "Foolish child, you cannot run from my eyes." Blue eyes glared upward, and the blonde possessing them yelled, "How could you do this? Your own family…?" The thirteen-year-old shook his head and looked past Naruto to the ravenette clinging to his arm. "Brother, if you want to get your revenge, from now on, you'll have to train and focus…focus on your hatred of me."
And then he was gone, and Sasuke cried out to the heavens as his world came crashing down.
Two or three days later, after the funerals
Naruto sighed as he watched his friend drift into the classroom, pale face tearless for the first time since the massacre. Blue eyes widened as he walked straight past, and he stood, tugging on Sasuke's sleeve. "Hey… you alright, S'ke?" The ravenette turned unsympathetic grey eyes on him and replied, "You lied to me." "What?"
With a sigh, Sasuke turned to face him all the way, and replied, "You lied. You said it would be okay, and it isn't. They're all dead. You lied to me, and friends don't lie. You're…" A few tears pooled in the eldest's eyes, and he continued shakily, "You're not my friend anymore, Naruto." He spun around, raising an arm to his eyes as Naruto stared after, flabbergasted.
Five years later
The blonde kept his gaze away from his male teammate, blue eyes narrowed. "Kakashi-sensei said to practice, dobe. We have to listen, weather or not we like it, and you're my partner." He nodded, but still looked away, though the other would never know it was to hide the hurt he felt around him-he was still the first friend he'd ever had, and the best, and to be honest…though he hadn't known it then, he'd loved him.
They went to opposite sides of the field, and got in their stances, Naruto's gaze raising to Sasuke's piercingly. "On three." "Right." Sasuke's lips curved up, and he muttered, "Three," before disappearing completely, leaving a log in his place. Naruto rolled his eyes, and went through the cycle of left-right-front-behind-below-above, looking up a millisecond too late. Sasuke hit him hard, and he fell to the ground, coming up with a kunai and nicking the other's cheek, blood sliding down the blade as well as the pale skin.
Sasuke frowned, glaring a bit as he yanked out a shuriken, using it to cut Naruto's cheek, the two springing apart and coming back together with knives, clashing with loud, metallic noises. "Why?" Naruto growled as they sprung apart again, and Sasuke asked, "Why what, idiot?" "Why did you really push me away?" Sasuke raised his hand before they re-entered the fray, stopping both their movement as their knives thudded against the ground. "I'm quite sure I explained. You lied to me. I was hurt, because I trusted you. End of story."
Naruto glared. "I was seven! You were-damnit, you were crying! What the hell was I supposed to say? I wanted them to be alive too!" The ravenette let out a soft, 'tch' noise, and replied, "You could've just said that you were there. But no, you gave me false hope." Tears were pooling in his eyes despite his flippant attitude, and he let them fall, knowing Naruto was too far away to see them anyway.
"I'm sorry." The words were soft and sincere, but Sasuke turned away, calling over his shoulder, "That's not enou-" He bumped into a slightly smaller form and found Naruto there, sun-darkened hands raising to brush his tears away. He'd transported-well, damn. "It's all I have, and we need to be able to stand each other again. You're still my best friend, even if I'm not yours."
Grey eyes met blue for a long, silent moment, and he nodded, letting the blonde push his bangs back as he had when they were children, cheeks reddening when he pulled away and turned back to their fallen kunai, face almost normal when he faced the other and twirled the metal around his finger, asking, "Are we going to train, or are we going to lie to Kakashi?" The blonde smiled and rushed forward for his knife to be returned, and they began again, the stress gone.
Naruto knew that around the others, they would have to act normal, but even then they slipped up often, acting like they used to while staying the same, their rivalry more like friendly competition than fierce contests. And Sakura noticed, clinging to Sasuke in a sickening way, oftentimes pressing against him tightly just to piss the blonde off, to make him simmer in silence.