~Change of Heart~
Chapter 1: Running Away
Pairing: SasuNaruSasu
Genre: Friendship/Romance (and drama)
Warnings: YAOI, some violence/child abuse, cursing, OOC
Notes from the KIT-chan XD: Okay—so I'm in a hotel at Rochester, NY for my little brother's swim meet (Eastern Zone Short Course Championships, they call it XD). As usual, I was bored as hell and had absolutely nothing better to do but daydream and flip through the channels on TV. So I come across the HBO HD channel and saw that they were playing "Changeling". You know, that movie with Angelina Jolie where she like loses her son and the police like claim to have found him and try to return him to her, but Angelina argues that it's not her son and gets thrown into the nuthouse for challenging police authority n.n" …and then there's this guy who claims to have murdered like 20 boys on his little torture ranch or something and Jolie's son was presumed to be one of them = / Anyway—I saw this movie for like the first time and I found it to be really interesting. So the movie's done and I'm just sitting there…when all of a sudden, this giant plot bunny like jumps into my head and mercilessly rapes my brain O///O …hey—Easter Sunday…haha XD My brain getting raped by the Easter bunny XDDDDDDDDDD HILARIOUS! XD Anyway...hope you like this for my first multi-chapter fic evah! X3 (fireworks exploding) Yup! That's right! This is my first multichapter so pleeeeaaaaasssssseee let meh know what you think at the end or otherwise I'll never write a multi-chapter again...
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Just kidding! XD But please--I am serious about you letting meh know what you think of this for the first chapter. ^_^
Okie I'll shut up now! XDDDDDDD On with the story! X3
.::~*Kitsune*~::.
Disclaimer: Nope—don't own Naruto…or Changeling ^^"
Once upon a time on the countryside of Konoha, there was a short, raven-haired boy named Sasuke Uchiha. He lived on a big farm with his rich family and was the younger of two siblings, having one older brother named Itachi, who seemed to always be the favorite in the family (especially his father, Fugaku). This often caused problems in the family, for Fugaku would always favor Itachi over Sasuke, and would scold him a lot more than an average parent—up to the point where he would end up beating poor Sasuke for every single mistake he made so far in his eleven-year-old life, in the hopes that this would teach the boy a lesson and bring him up to becoming just like his older sibling. However, this did just the opposite, and later on, Sasuke ended up hating his father for the pain he caused him. He also hated his older sibling for being the cause of his misery, but at the same time, he unconditionally loved Itachi, not just because of their strong brotherly bonds, but for the times when he would stand up for Sasuke whenever Fugaku would go too far. In addition, he loved his mother, Mikoto, who always did stay at his side and care for him, no matter the issue. But even this…couldn't stop the unfortunate event that happened on June 20, 1922.
It was bright and sunny that day--ironic, yes? Anyway, let's get back on track. It was a day when the two Uchiha brothers had come home from school, report cards in hand. Sasuke was literally sprinting to his home, excited to show his father the straight A's he had received on his first report card of the year. He worked extra-hard this time, hoping that his father would give him at least a few words of acknowledgement.
On the other hand, Itachi was…well…sulking behind his younger sibling and taking his time. It just so happened that this marking period, Itachi really didn't do that well in Trigonometry (he got an F—let's leave it at that ^^" and…let's just say…triangles are like number two on his late list—so yeah n.n").
So here we go. Sasuke was er…in his father's face, waving the small yellow sheet of paper in his hand.
"Father? Did I do well this time?"
But Fugaku only grinned and shifted his gaze towards his favorite son. This upset the younger raven a little, and stood there, sulking and glaring at his older sibling.
"Itachi."
The latter looked up. "Yes, Father?"
Fugaku extended his arm out to retrieve the report card. Itachi hesitated, and reluctantly placed the small piece of paper in his father's hand.
Fugaku ran his finger down the card and scanned it.
This made Sasuke even more upset. He pulled at his father's sleeve.
"Father…" the younger Uchiha whined.
"Hm." Fugaku grunted. "What is it, Sasuke?"
The latter pouted. "How come you always pay more attention to Itachi's grades? I've got good grades, too, you know…"
No response.
"Sasuke," Itachi whispered, nudging his little brother's shoulder.
"Hmph," he pouted again.
"Itachi," Fugaku called sternly.
The latter looked up.
"What…is this?"
Itachi opened his mouth to speak, but no words could come out.
"Itachi."
"…"
Sasuke turned to look at his brother, whose head was drooping at this very moment. Then he shifted his eyes towards his father, whose face was flushing redder every second that passed.
Fugaku exhaled sharply, then scratched his head and furrowed his eyebrows. "Do you have any idea at all…why I'm even sending you to this school? Do you know how much money your mother and I have to spend every year on your tuition?"
"…"
"…well?"
"…"
Fugaku Uchiha sighed and scratched his head again. "…and…this…this is what you give me in return?"
"…"
"…Itachi…you know perfectly well that in the future, you will become the leader of this family, do you understand me?"
"…"
Big brother… Sasuke thought, taking pity on poor Itachi, and looked again at his angry father.
"Itachi…answer me."
"…"
"…Itachi Uchiha—I need answers…now."
The younger raven shifted his gaze alternatively from his infuriated father to his sulking older brother. He frowned. It wasn't fair that his father always had to put so much pressure on his older brother, especially because he always worked twice as hard as he did every day. …and then…it wasn't even fair that Sasuke worked hard as well, to try to share the burden with Itachi…and yet…never got any appreciation for it…from his father, that is.
"ITACHI."
"…"
At this point, Sasuke couldn't take it anymore and stood between his older brother and his father. This really wasn't fair.
"That's enough!" the younger raven yelled.
Fugaku and Itachi froze, and looked down at Sasuke.
"You've already put Big Brother through so much!"
Itachi's eyes widened. "Sasuke…"
"NO!" the younger Uchiha shouted. "I'm sick of all this! It's always Itachi this and Itachi that! Do you even have any idea how Itachi feels? Or how I feel?" He clenched his fists and exhaled sharply. "And you never pay attention or appreciate anything I do! NEVER! Even if I dug up a gold mine right now, it'd be stupid Itachi," He panted, then continued. "But you know what you do pay attention to? …my screw-ups. Every single one of them. And then…and then…you'd hit me, your youngest son, any time I made one, no matter how damn small…"
Itachi looked at his younger sibling with a solemn expression on his face, then looked up at his father, who couldn't believe what he was seeing or hearing from Sasuke. All the man was doing now…was staring at his youngest son, not moving a muscle.
"Sasuke…" Itachi muttered again, reaching his arm out to comfort his younger brother. But he stopped when Sasuke suddenly whipped his head up to glare straight into his father's eyes. "How could you do this to me!? What kind of father are you!? I—"
Slap. All were silent and immobile. Itachi was staring at his father, eyes bulging—the same with Mikoto (Sasuke's mother), who had just come into the room to find out what was causing all this commotion. Fugaku was staring at his hand, which was now bright pink from the impact, his mouth gaping.
Sasuke was on the floor, his eyes bulging as well and his mouth gaping. He slowly placed his hand on his numb cheek, which was now swollen and an angry red. Then, he paused and stared at his father.
There was silence in the room, until finally...it was broken.
"Sasuke…" Fugaku muttered, still astonished by what he'd just done.
Suddenly, the young raven stood up and sprinted out of the house.
"Sasuke!" Itachi shouted.
No response.
The young Uchiha only continued to run faster and deeper into the forest in front of him. He never looked back.
~O~
Sasuke panted. At this time, he had almost reached the heart of the woods.
I don't need them, he thought to himself. I don't need any of them! He closed his eyes and sprinted even faster…until he bumped into something…or someone.
"Hey! Watch where you're goin', kid!" a gruff voice spoke.
The young raven panted and gasped for air, then looked up at the one who had spoken.
It was a tall, burly man, dressed in farmer's clothing: overalls with what looked like a handmade cowboy hat. His muscles were about as big as watermelons, and his face was covered in a scarlet red bandanna, only revealing eyes that were almost as black as Sasuke's, although there was something…different about them.
"Hey—you all right, kid?"
Sasuke was speechless, too shocked and surprised to even speak a word. "Uh…"
Suddenly, the man smiled, his black eyes gleaming. "Hey—wait a sec—you're an Uchiha, aren't you?"
The raven gulped. He really didn't know how to respond to this guy, more or less because he was a stranger. All he could do was slowly nod.
"Heh…I see—Fugaku's son, aren't ya?"
"Uh…huh…"
"Hm…I see. From the looks of it, you must be the youngest, right? Running away, aren't ya?"
…how did he know that? …oh no…he's probably one of Father's co-workers…he'll take me back there for sure…shoot…what do I do?
Before the young Uchiha could reply, the man raised his hand. "Say no more, kid." And at that moment, he lightly touched Sasuke's swelling cheek. "…huh. Should put some ice on that, eh? What happened here? …you, uh…fall on your face or something?
…no… Sasuke thought—and at the same time, that memory popped back to the surface of his mind. Immediately, the raven clenched his fists and he winced. "…I—"
The young Uchiha stopped mid-sentence when the man placed his hand on his right shoulder. He looked down at the raven with a solemn expression on his face. "You don't have to answer that if you don't want to, kid." The man then shifted his eyes towards the direction where Sasuke had come from.
Suddenly, the man bent down to hug the young Uchiha, which had caught him off-guard. Sasuke's eyes widened. After a few minutes, he finally pulled back to look at the latter. "Sorry about that, kid. Just get a little emotional there, you know?"
The raven gulped.
The man smiled. "Anyway, what kind of gentleman am I?" He extended his hand. "…name's Norbert Kyuubi, but you can call me Kyuubi. Put 'er there, kid."
Sasuke hesitated, then shook his hand.
Kyuubi raised an eyebrow. "Well…you got a name, kid?"
"…Sasuke. Sasuke Uchiha,"
"Heh—glad to meet ya, Sasuke Uchiha—or would you prefer just Sasuke?"
The raven couldn't help but smile a little. "…just Sasuke."
Kyuubi smirked. "Well, Sasuke—I must say you got a lotta spunk there running away from your parents like that…they didn't hurt ya or anything, did they?"
The young Uchiha's slight smile suddenly turned into a frown. He shifted his eyes down towards his feet.
Kyuubi raised the raven's chin with his thumb and stared at him with that same solemn expression on his face. "…say no more, kid—I understand you ya feel." He then gestured behind him, pointing to a bright red pickup truck the color of his bandanna. "How's about you come with me for a while, you know—till your folks cool off?"
Sasuke opened his mouth to answer, until Kyuubi broke in again. "And don't you worry your little head—it's perfectly safe back at my ranch."
"…"
Suddenly, Kyuubi grinned again, his black eyes gleaming once more, but Sasuke didn't notice. "..and besides…got even a few kids down there who'd really enjoy a new playmate. I'd really appreciate it if you'd come down at least to join us for supper, especially since you're…an Uchiha and all." He chuckled to himself. "It would really help my self-image…"
The raven raised an eyebrow, confused by that last remark.
The masked man stopped laughing and looked back at the young Uchiha. "Whoops—sorry, got lost there in my train of thought—hehehe—I kinda tend to do that a lot…" He scratched his head. "Anyway, you gonna come along? Don't worry a bit—your parents won't hurt ya no more, and I won't say a word to them about you."
Sasuke pondered for a minute. Well…he doesn't really look that hostile…and he did say he had kids back at his home, so he must be a father as well…I guess it's safe to come along with him, and he did say it was just until everything's okay again at home… The raven sighed and kicked a pebble at his feet. Besides…maybe he'll actually understand me…or even appreciate me for what I do… And upon thinking that, the young Uchiha looked back at Kyuubi.
"…all right."
Kyuubi grinned and put his arm around Sasuke's shoulder. "Well then—we better get going. It's getting late, you know." He turned to smile at the raven, who slightly smiled back.
The two turned to walk in the direction of the sinking sun.
Notes from the KIT-chan XD: …again, I warn you all about ehh…some OOC here and there ^^" (Don't mock meh! X3). But yeah…this is only the beginning, so if that didn't interest you that much…you just wait for the second and third chapter. …ohh…you just wait… OwO
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Ja ne! ^~^ Please let meh know what you think! (It would really encourage me to post more so if I don't get any reviews for this...ehh...I'll just think of it as an epic fail ^^" Just kidding! But seriously...PLEEEEEAAAASSSSSEEE REVIEW! :bows: XD)
.::~*Kitsune*~::.