The Only One That Walks Beside Me

by Zeida-and-Maria

Shortly after Naruto goes into the academy, he suffers from a mental breakdown, and makes a deal with Kyuubi, resulting in a completely different world, and a completely different adventure, following a very similar timeline. AU Kaka, Saku, Sasu, Naru,Hin

1. Ch 1: Uzumaki Naruto

Title: The Only One That Walks Beside Me

By: Zeida and Maria (Zeida)

Rating: T

Summary Shortly after Naruto goes into the academy, he suffers from a mental breakdown, and makes a deal with Kyuubi, resulting in a completely different world, and a completely different adventure, following a very similare timeline. AUPossible YaoiKaka, Saku, Sasu, Hina and Naru-centric

Pairings: Nothing definate, but it's likely to be either SasuNaru, or NaruHina for the main. Will most likely also contain InoSaku, and ItaIru (Betcha never seen that before…) This story is not, however, based around romance, so none of these will take an overly important part, and there won't be any of it until at LEAST the Chuunin exams.

Main Characters: Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, Hyuuga Hinata, Haruno Sakura, and Hatake Kakashi

Warnings: Possible Yaoi/Shonen ai, Possible Yuri/Shoujo ai, violence, my first attempt at violence, and my first attempt at a dark-ish fic. It's personality manipulation, really… Also, I had no help from Maria on this one at all, because she doesn't like the idea, so if it's bad, I understand, and, well, I won't continue it, if people don't like it.

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto, or any of the songs that I may put in the beginning of this fic. If I owned it, would this be a fan fiction? Huh? Would it?

Note: Ok, this was (amazingly) originally a project for school, so it has an over-developed plot line, and a bunch already started. BUT I'm not planning on actually doing anything with it, unless people support me, because Maria, and my parents, and my COUNCILER don't like it, and I have low self-esteem on the story.

This is one of those character development stories, where they get better over time. So, if you don't like the change in Naru-chan's personality right now, well, he gets better, as he gains companionship.

Also, PLEASE give me feedback on the pairings, and the way you want to plot to go. There are two ways. Darker, and most likely longer, or shorter, fluffier, and a lot less angst. (Not that there isn't any, it's just a lot less)

Also, Most songs are likely to be Pink Floyd songs, just so you know… Listen to some, they're really good!

-:- -:- -:- -:-

Did you know...it was all going to go so wrong for you
And did you see it was all going to be so right for me
Why did we tell you then
You were always the golden boy then
And that you'd never lose that light in your eyes…

Hey you...did you ever realize what you'd become
And did you see that it wasn't only me you were running from
Did you know all the time but it never bothered you anyway
Leading the blind while I stared out the steel in your eyes

The rain fell slow, down on all the roofs of uncertainty
I thought of you and the years and all the sadness fell away from me
And did you know...

I never thought that you'd lose that light in your eyes…

- Pink Floyd, Poles Apart

-:- -:- -:- -:-

Chapter one: Uzumaki Naruto

It was dark out; the last lights of the setting sun had died out hours ago, leaving the night to be the darkest he had ever seen. Of coarse, Naruto had never been out on the new moon before. It left nothing out of the shadows. Nothing out of the dark, the cold. He shivered slightly, rubbing his hands up and down his bare arms in hopes of warming them, if only slightly. But it wasn't only cold in the alley, which separated the Raman shop, Ichiraku's, from the Hokage's tower.

It was also very lonely.

He hated being lonely, more than anything else, he hated the way people looked at him, as if he were the most disgusting thing they had ever seen, he hated the way everyone ignored him, ignored his accomplishment, ignored his problems, ignored his life, his existence…

But now he knew why.

He knew why the villagers glared; the shopkeepers gave him the worst quality of food for the highest price. Why the Shinobi tried to kill him in his sleep, why the children called him a freak, a monster…

"Bakamono!"

It was because of what was inside of him. No, it wouldn't really be fair to blame this on Kyuubi, who hated the situation as much, if not more-so than he himself… In fact, after some thought, and a few bits of input from Kyuubi, they had decided on a culprit of which they could place all of their problems on. Although he wasn't quite sure he knew this person, it was his fault. Kyuubi had proven it.

It was Orochimaru's fault, for releasing the Kyuubi from his den, and setting him on the village. It had to be his fault, because he was a snake, and he had never liked snakes much. In fact, both he, and Kyuubi hated them…

But, he wasn't in a dark, dirty, lonely, and cold ally to contemplate his overly depressing life. He was here to make a decision to, which would probably change his entire life forever.

So he sat down. His short legs curled up in front of him a fetal position. Light, spiky blonde hair fell into his large blue eyes, just as he was closing them. He leaned against the cement wall behind him, and took a deep breath. When he next opened those large innocent eyes, he was in a strange area, which he had only seen twice, both times during drams.

He was in what seemed to be a sewer. There was water up to just below his knees; it was darker here than in his little ally. It was colder too. But it wasn't nearly as lonely as it was in the outside world, the real world. Above his head, about fifty feet up, there were pipes, of all different sizes, and colors.

There was what looked like a makeshift hall, which led up to a large cage. Long thick and obviously strong bars lined the cage, although they were quite old, and even a bit rusty. A tattered slip of paper was attached to a cement pillar that looked like a closed door. The paper had a few kanji letters on it, written in a brownish red ink, which looked suspiciously like blood.

The strange aura that was coming in waves from beyond the bars was chilling, he could just barley make out two glowing red eyes in the darkness be hind the cage.

"Have you made a choice?" asked a deep and powerful voice, although it sounded more like a growled.

"Yeah." He answered with a slight nod toward the cage. He stepped up towards the slip of paper, and placed his hands on it. "I, Uzumaki Naruto, vessel of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, do except the offer made." I was quite obvious that the little six-year-old named Naruto had rehearsed saying that line.

Loud animalistic laughter filled the sewer-like area, as a small and closed around the paper, and roughly pulled it from the cage.

Naruto stepped back quickly from the bars as the door swung slowly open, and a blindingly bright light shone through the large area, and even a bit out into the ally. If anyone was there to see it, but they weren't, the only on there, was a small boy, no older than six, who was currently trapped within his own mind, and fusing with a demon.

And then everything was dark, once more. But not nearly as lonely…

-:- -:- -:- -:-

Nearly six years had passed, since Naruto awoke in an ally, with Anbu surrounding him, asking him where he thought he was, and if anyone had attacked him. Six years, and in that time, so many things had happened. The cheerful, almost shining boy who he used to be was gone, although in his opinion, he had never really been there at all.

He was still alone, but no longer lonely, he was content with the people around him fearing him, and hating him, as long as they were looking at him, as long as he was always in the thoughts of the people around him, as long as they knew he existed, he could exist.

So he did, and along the way, he got another reason to exist, through the promises he'd made. Even if he didn't care for his village, Konohagakure, in fact, he hated the stupid village. They had made him what he was. And, although he didn't hate what he was, he did hate his life.

But that didn't change the fact that he had to live on, for her… She was also he reason he hadn't simply killed the whole village in a wave of vengeance. He had to protect them, because he promised…

And he would NOT break a promise; he could not break a promise, on penalty of death. It was, as Kyuubi had said, because 'A fox's promise will last a life time'. Of course, that was before the fusion. He wasn't even sure if Kyuubi was still there, he doubted it, since he hadn't heard from him since that night. But he had to wonder, because he never got his memories. And they had to go somewhere, right?

But, in any case, he couldn't break a promise. So he didn't hurt the village, he didn't wreak havoc on it, he just tried to become a Shinobi. Although he did play pranks on the village, none of them permanently harmed anyone directly, and they were funny. Not that he actually laughed. He had only laughed once, and he never planned to again. Ever.

It had sort of scared some of his classmates in the academy. They had even pitied him, although none came near him. Their parents had told them not to. They had told everyone not to go near him, to fear him. But he didn't mind the fear anymore, in fact, in a way, he fed on it.

Everyone in the class showed it when they neared him, well, almost, there were two people who didn't show any signs of fear, or anything negative towards him at all actually…

They both had black hair, although one had white eyes, and the other pure black, their personalities seemed to contrast greatly too. Black, and white, light, and dark, good and evil. Well, he wouldn't go quite that far. Maybe Superiority complex and Inferiority complex, that fit them perfectly.

But they both had one thing in common. They were both freaks. What else could they be, when they didn't fear him? Heck, he even sometimes got the feeling they might enjoy his company. The Uchiha-freak always sat near him, ever since people started avoiding him. And the girl, the Hyuuga-freak, who always smiled, and blushed when he was around. She also watched him with what he could only explain as endearing eyes, when she thought he wasn't looking.

It was rather annoying really, to have a popular boy always wanting to sit next to him. Well, actually, he seemed to always sit one seat away from him. For some reason.

And it was really annoying. Like… REALLY annoying.

But he didn't care, even if they were both in love with him. He had given up on positive emotions when she left. It had just proven that. Of course, he still kept it, but that was his reminder that he had given up, and his vessel. And, among other things, it wanted him to protect the village. More specifically, it wanted him to become Hokage, which was a rather stupid in his opinion to want to protect a village, a thing, with your life.

But then, he didn't have a choice in the mater. So, he would become Hokage, and he would protect the village, and, now that he thought about it, he was probably taking his first steps toward keeping his promise. He had finally passed the Genin exam at the academy, and he was about to be assigned a team and a Jounin sensei.

Which was the reason why he was in a classroom about half-full and waiting for the rest of the students to file in and Iruka-sensei to come in.

He didn't much care for the idea of teams; it was easier to work alone on some things, which are what his whole life had been based on. But that didn't change the fact that he needed to be on a team to pass the Chuunin exam.

He didn't really even care whose team he was on, as long as it wasn't with one of the freaks who seemed to like him. He didn't want to half to deal with something that could lead to another betrayal of trust. So he didn't want to e on the same team as either of the two who seemed to want to make a bond with him. He couldn't afford it.

Speaking of the freaks, one of them had just entered the classroom. The Uchiha-freak.

Uchiha Sasuke slouched into the room, followed by a gaggle of fan girls, and headed straight for the two empty seats next to Naruto. Taking the seat farther away from the blonde, Sasuke smirked.

-:- -:- -:- -:-

Uchiha Sasuke was the last member of the esteemed and powerful Uchiha family. He was top of the class, handsome, talented, and over all perfect in almost everyone's opinion. He always did things with a grace and finesse that made all the girls in the area swoon. He had already mastered many powerful Justus that were reserved for the Uchiha clan, and no one else. He had a fan club that had more than half of Konoha's female population, and he was the soul heir to the Uchiha clan, and its fortune.

And Uchiha Sasuke hated his life. He hadn't always, it had started a long time ago, at around the time when everyone started acknowledged him as 'The last Uchiha' which he really wasn't, his brother was still out there, somewhere.

One of the things he hated most about his life, was however the fact that he had fan girls. They were everywhere. It was something that many boys envied him for, but he hated it. Who wanted high, shrill voices to be screaming-

"Sasuke-kun!" Said a shrill voice from behind him. He ignored it, and kept his steady pace toward the academy. He had just become a ninja, the other day, after passing the Genin exam.

"Sasuke-kun, wait for us!" Screeched another girl. Sasuke twitched. How many were behind him? He didn't think he wanted to know…

Sasuke hurried his pace toward the academy, which had just come into sight from behind a hill. The girls all giggled, and ran to try and catch up to him.

"Please wait, Sasuke-kun!" He had just reached the door, just as the girls caught up with him, and he was able to slip inside without getting mobbed by his fan girls.

Once inside, he looked quickly around the room for a seat, and was gratified to find his favorite seat, two seats away from Naruto, was still open. Not that anyone else really dared to sit next to him. Cowards. He obviously wasn't as dangerous as he made out to be…

He quickly headed in that direction, and took the seat. A smirk spread on his lips as the girls stopped dead in their tracks at the sight of Naruto.

The smirk widened, when the girls settled for sitting in front of, and behind him.

Sasuke, who had been planning to brood until the rest of the class filed in, gave a small start, as he heard two twin shouts.

Oh no…

"Out of my way, Ino-pig!" The first voice said in an angry growl.

"You get out of mine, big forehead girl!" The other snarled back. "Today's the day I'm going to get Sasuke-kun on my team!"

Oh god no…

"You wish!"

Haruno Sakura, long pink hair windswept from running, and large forehead glistening very slightly with seat and all ran up to his row, squealing "Sasuke-kun!" as she went, and pushed past Naruto without a thought, which annoyed the blonde demon enormously, and took the seat next to him.

Uchiha Sasuke, twelve years old, last Uchiha resident in Konoha, number one rookie, protégé of the village, and girl magnet, hated his life.

-:- -:- -:- -:-

Haruno Sakura was a very shy girl, or rather, a very coy girl. She didn't enjoy being outrun, in anything. She was exceptionally adept at learning, and memorizing everything that came her way. Genjutsu came easily to her, and although her combat skills could just a bit of work, she had still managed to get a rather good score of the final exams.

She had beat Ino, at least.

But as she had said, she did not enjoy being outrun, which was exactly what was happening, quite literally, actually.

"Urge! I wont let you win, Ino-pig!" She screamed, and hurried her pace through the Konoha streets to catch up with her.

"Ha! Like you could defeat me at anything, Forehead-girl!" Shot back the blonde girl who was now right beside her. "You're just not cut out for this."

Sakura snorted. "Right, and that's why I beat you in the exams." A thick lock of long, silky pink hair blew into her face, as she picked up her pace once again.

"You were lucky!" She snarled. "If I hadn't been too busy winning Sasuke-kun over, before the test began, I would have done a bit better, but I still have more points than you!"

Sakura gave the girl a furious glare with her emerald eyes "Like you would have done any better, even if you hadn't been bothering Sasuke-kun before the test!" She spat back. "I bet he would have gotten even higher marks, if he'd not been bothered by you before hand!"

Ino rammed into her, returning her glare with her pale, pupil-less blue eyes. "What do you know!"

"More than you do, Ino-pig!"

"Shut up, big forehead girl! You're so annoying, you can't even realize Sasuke-kun doesn't like you at all! It's probably the foreign blood, messing with your tiny brain." Ino bit back.

"You're infuriating!" Sakura screeched. It was true, Haruno Sakura wasn't originally from around here, or from fire country at all, really. She wasn't old enough to remember at the time, but she thought she might have been from Suna, or wind country at least. Her parents wouldn't talk about why they left on their own, and she wasn't very partial to asking, as it might be the wrong thing to say.

"So are you!" Ino shot back.

A squeal of 'Sasuke-kun, wait for us!' seemed to jar them out of there in-run glaring contest. They both faced forward, and started to run flat out, hoping they would get there first.

Just as they reached the academy, there hips both got lodged in the door frame, stopping them from trying to get the their precious Uchiha before the other.

"Out of my way, Ino-pig!" Sakura growled out in obvious anger. Why was Ino always trying to sabotage her attempts at her soul mate?! Hadn't they once been friends?

"You get out of mine, big forehead girl!" Ino snarled back. "Today's the day I'm going to get Sasuke-kun on my team!" She said it with such confidence, Sakura almost got worried. Almost. How could she be really, though? Ino was such an idiot where Sasuke-kun was concerned. She couldn't do a thing right around him. At least, in Sakura's opinion.

"You wish!" She snarled, before making a mad dash for the chair beside her Sasuke-kun. She bumped into someone on her way, but she didn't care to look, at the moment, all that mattered was getting to Sasuke-kun before Ino did.

And that was quite easy, since Ino had stopped before coming into the row.

-:- -:- -:- -:-

Naruto's eyebrow twitched, and he sent a glare over to the freak that always sat near him. Why did he have to sit near him? He didn't want company! Was that so hard to understand? Wasn't the raven-haired boy supposed to be a protégé?

Sasuke's ever-present smirk seemed to widen, as he felt Naruto glare holes into the side of his head. That, of course, just infuriated the blonde even more.

It was about a minute, before he finally stopped glaring at the egotistical Uchiha. He huffed, and laid his head on his hands, in the intent of taking a nap until the rest of the class came in. He probably would have succeeded in his quest, if not for the fact that the two most annoying girls in existence hadn't just barged loudly into the classroom, disturbing his sensitive ears.

"Out of my way, Ino-pig!" The first annoyance yelled, her long pink hair was slightly windswept from running across Konoha.

"You get out of mine, big forehead girl!" The second annoyance shouted back. "Today's the day I'm going to get Sasuke-kun on my team!"

"You wish!" The pink annoyance yelled, making a mad dash for the seat between both him and the freak. The blonde annoyance right behind.

Naruto's eyebrow had developed a distinct twitch, as pinky crashed passed him, and settled next to the freak she so adored. The blonde one, had spotted him, and stopped before she could enter the row.

Instead of trying to push Sakura out of her seat, as she would have, Ino turned and sat down next to the second freak, Hyuuga Hinata.

The Hyuuga freak.

As usual, she had a pink blush powdering over her cheeks as she watched him, pale, white eyes half lidded, mouth parted slightly, her fingers pressing together in a nervous habit she seemed to possess. When she saw him turn his head toward her, she quickly looked away, and he rolled his eyes. He would never get girls.

"Hello, Sasuke-kun!" squealed the pink annoyance, and it seemed Sasuke's eyebrow was gaining a twitch of it's own. Good for him. "Won't it be wonderful, if we're placed on the same team?" She seemed to be making a poor attempt at flirting, but what did Naruto know, really?

"Hn." Was all the response the girl got from the Uchiha freak, but her determination didn't subside.

Naruto rolled his eyes. The pink annoyance hadn't noticed his presence yet, a bad quality for a ninja, but he didn't really care, it made the look of horror that would pass her face all the sweeter.

He was about to whisper a quiet 'hello' in her ear, or something, to get her attention, when Iruka-sensei came into the room, saying 'settle down, settle down!' even though no one was really doing anything worth telling that to.

"Alright, Beginning today, you are all really ninja. But, you are merely still Genin, and the hardest journey lies ahead." Iruka started, immediately switching into lecture mode, as he addressed the room.

Naruto yawned, glaring lightly at his sensei. Why did he have to make a stupid speech, when they could be learning who they would be forced to work with, until they became Chuunin. Blue eyes flashed red once, and he could feel his chakra spike. But, he pushed his anger down, because the stupid village would do anything to kick him out of the academy. And if he wasn't allowed to become a ninja, he would never become Hokage, and he had to, because that, and to protect the stupid village, were the two things he had promised her he'd do. And her promises carried even more weight than a normal promise did.

While Naruto fought to keep his temper down, Iruka continued although faltering when he felt the spike in chakra. "Now," he said coolly. "Soon you will be being assigned work by the village." Naruto's eyebrow twitched again. He was getting rather worried it might be permanent.

"So, we have split you all into three man teams," Naruto's eyebrow twitched. "And a Jounin Sensei to help you." His eyebrow continued on, and he let out a light growl.

The pink Annoyance seemed to take that moment to realize who was sitting on her other side.

Her eyes had gone wide, and her face pale. Mouth hanging open slightly in horror and surprise, knuckles white from the grip she had on her shirt. She could feel cold sweat running down her neck, and her body gave a slight shiver of discomfort.

Naruto smirked inwardly, and looked over toward the girl, raising his none twitching eyebrow in question.

'You just noticed?'

She had reacted just as he had hoped. Fear… He loved the smell of fear… He just wished the freaks would show him a bit of fear, a hint of hate, anything that registered as a negative emotion. As long as they had no intention of coming any closer than arm's distance, no. Legs distance away from him.

He didn't want to risk getting close to someone again, only to have them leave soon after. Just like her…

"You will follow all of your sensei's instructions, as you complete the assigned duties." Iruka continued, sending Sakura a slightly worried look. "We have tried to balance out the teams, according to your abilities and grades." Iruka looked down at the clip boars in his hands, before continuing. "And, team one consists of…"

Naruto, having already tuned the kind man's words out, took to looking carelessly around the room, watching as team, after team, was called.

Uchiha freak just brooded. Both of the annoyances were listening, in hopes that they would not be on Naruto's team, and that they would be on Sasuke's team.

Of course, with the exception of the two freaks, everyone was hoping to be spared from his team. Not that he cared, he didn't want to be on their team, either.

Naruto's ears perked slightly, as Iruka's voice showed some traces of anxieties, and Naruto started to listen. "Next, is team 7, which consists of Uzumaki Naruto,"

The room had gone deadly silent, all as one, some, those already placed on teams, rejoiced at their luck. Students still open, waited in rapped attention to hear who to pity. Or, in either of the freak's case, hope their name was called, for some weird reason he couldn't understand, and didn't think he ever would.

Naruto drank in the mixtures of fear, anticipation, and broken hope that seemed to fill the room as Iruka opened his mouth slowly, ready to read the final two names to the waiting class.

"Haruno Sakura," Sakura gasped audibly, her face horror struck, tears threatened to spill from her eyes. "And Uchiha Sasuke."

The room had gone deathly quiet.

-:- -:- -:- -:- -:- -:-

This isn't my first Naruto Fanfic, even if it's the first posted. I am, just so everyone knows, ZEIDA not Maria, and I've got something to say to all of the people who read my other stories. My Mom's laptop broke down, and all of my kingdom hearts stories died tragically with it, and now I can't find my Plot bunnies, but I'm trying…

But, anyway, as said at the top, I HAVE LOW SELF-ESTEAM! I got a B on this project at school, so that stabilized me a bit, but if you like the story, REVIEW!

Zeida

PS: The title was a piece of a song called 'Boulevard of Broken Dreams' By Green Day.

Also, PLEASE tell me which pairings you guys would like? I'm fine with Yaoi, Yuri, Het., Incest, and just about everything, even some Shouta, although it's not likely to appear here… But like I said, Naruto is going with Hinata or Sasuke, or no one, because they have a special part in the story, the both of them.