A/N: This will be a lengthy note, because I feel that I need to explain myself... Basically, I have this original character that I've had on my mind since 10th grade (I'm a sophomore in college now). I've spent the past six or so years developing her character and coming up with story after story after story. She's become really important to me, for some reason. I just needed to get her out there. This will be like a very, very, broken-up story. Each chapter will be at a different point in her life. The themes of these chapters are going to be events of the canon story, with a twist. (This is why I stuck that "AU" in the summary, so don't get mad at me for changing a few things that happen in the manga...). Before you say anything, yes, she will be on team 7 instead of Sakura. Fear not, however, because I am not writing her off. She will be placed elsewhere and be an important character in Tori's life. Ok, so why the heck am I writing this haphazard, unorganized story? Well, I've put myself in a corner. I have created her entire life, full of different hardship and things, buuut it all takes place in the canon timeline. On the other hand, I have a ton of story ideas that stray completely from the original story-line, but make more sense, and probably seem better (I guess, I don't really know yet, this is an experiment _) if you understand her life and character prior, because within these other stories, what happens to her during the canon timeline, remains relevant. This is why I'm calling it Prologue. Make sense? No? Ok... Well anyway, if you're still alive after reading all that, this collection is what happens to my character over the majority of the course of the canon timeline. I didn't want to just write the entire story of Naruto but with a different character (bleh), so I broke it up into these short stories that all tie-in with each other. This will mostly focus on Tori and Sasuke's relationship (as friends and breifly-sort-of-kind-of-not-quite lovers) and I wanted to really put all the emotion that I've felt about my character and her relationships with the canon characters into this,which, I feel like I have satisfied so far. I could go on for like an entire novel, but I won't... this time.
If Naruto OC stories are not your cup-o-tea, this isn't for you. However, I do take the creation of mine very seriously, so I hope that, if you're skeptical, you'll give her a chance.
Disclaimer (do I even need to do this? Idk, I'm doin it): I don't own Naruto or it's characters. I DO, however, own Tori Saito.
"My name's Tori. Saito Tori."
An eight-year old Sasuke stared at the small hand that reached out to him. He looked up to see a green-eyed girl smiling. Her hair a short little brown mess of waves. He furrowed his brow as he looked at her hand once again.
"…Uchiha Sasuke," he replied without taking her hand. She blinked, not even noticing his lack of advancement.
"Oi, you're Sasuke?" she inquired. "…Yeah," he replied. She paused, but then plopped down on the dock next to him. "I've heard things about your brother. He's really cool!"
Sasuke kicked at the water with his feet, though he was too short to reach its surface. "Yeah… sure."
There was a short silence as Sasuke looked at the water's reflection with a frustrated expression, watching as the ripples distorted the image of his face.
"You don't think so? To be honest that makes me pretty mad," Tori replied eventually. Sasuke gave her a look of defense. "What do you mean? I try my best to catch up to him and all I ever get is a look of disapproval from my father. I can't stand my brother! Everyone thinks he's so great," he grumbled.
"At least you have your brother. I'd give a lot to have my brother around…" Tori trailed off. Sasuke blinked. "Why? Where is he?" he asked.
"…He's dead." Tori deadpanned. She then smiled sadly. "It's ok though, it wasn't my fault. He got sick and since he was always weak, he didn't make it." Tori looked down as the wind picked up. "My father is the only one who believed that my brother and I would be strong one day. Everyone in my family looks down on us because my dad married someone who's not a ninja. Something about inheritance…" She said the last word carefully, not fully comprehending its meaning. She waved her dainty hand as to brush their words away. "I don't care though. I just want to make my father and brother proud. I'm gonna be a ninja, y'know?" She looked back at him again. Sasuke was staring at her, processing her words in his underdeveloped mind. "You are too, right? Let's get strong together!" she reached her hand out again and this time Sasuke took it and smiled slightly.
One year later
It didn't always rain in Konoha. There were showers in April and some in the fall, which felt somewhat normal, but there was something eerie about rain in August.
Thunder rumbled in low, baritone waves, rather than in loud, crackling bursts. The gloominess on days like these always made it difficult to remember the sun existed. Especially when it made the yellow florescent lighting of the academy classroom hurt Tori's eyes even more.
"Iruka-Sensei… do you know where Sasuke is today?" Tori asked in a small voice. Iruka paused to glance at the empty space beside her, furrowing his brow. He closed his eyes and sighed a distressed sigh. He opened his eyes and gave her a sorrowful look.
"I… think you should talk to me after class."
Chatter began to spread around the room, much like the burning sensation in the pit of Tori's stomach began to hurt and make her feel anxious.
Something is definitely wrong, she thought. She tried and succeeded at ignoring the chatter and pouring her focus on the clock just above the chalkboard.
"OK, OK! Class! Quiet down. There is no need for gossip." Iruka eyed them with a disapproving look. "Let's begin with some review of the…"
Tori lost the sound of Iruka's voice, only hearing the 'tick' 'tick' 'tick' of the clock that filled her eyes and ears.
The bell rang with a high-pitched trill, breaking Tori of her revere. She looked around as kids let out sighs of relief and low chatter filled the air before tapering off into silence as the last student left the classroom.
"Tori… you're most likely going to find this out sooner or later, so I suppose I'll take it upon myself to tell you first." Tori gave her teacher a confused look, not quite understanding the situation; however, the feeling in her stomach gave her a sense of wisdom that something serious had happened and she wouldn't like it.
Iruka took a few steps between them and kneeled before her tiny form. He placed a hand on her shoulder.
There were those sad eyes again. Those same eyes she'd seen on the medic's face when her brother died. The same eyes that represented death; the same eyes that tried to make things ok, when they most certainly were not.
"The Uchiha clan… everyone was murdered last night." She lost the breath in her lungs. Iruka's eyes widened.
"N-not Sasuke," he said, flustered by the realization that she assumed her friend was dead. Tori sighed in relief, blinking away the stinging in her eyes.
"Sasuke, he was spared. But Tori…" he spoke slowly. "Itachi, his older brother, was the one who committed the crimes…" He watched as her face filled with horror and disgust. "I know this is going to be hard for you to understand, but you need to give Sasuke some space. Let the adults handle it for now. He lost everything, and may not be emotionally stable. I think you should-" Before he could finish she had moved from under his light grasp and sprinted out the door.
She ran. Rain soaked her to her skin. She didn't care. She just had to find him.
It was dark, and the streets were dimly lit. The ground was muddy, causing a thick layer of it to build up on Tori's shoes.
She ran. Suddenly, however, she stopped in the middle of a street. The sun had mostly faded behind the clouds. Looking in all directions, she wondered where she was supposed to be going. Her gaze stopped in one direction and she started again, skipping down some cobbled stairs. The Uchiha district was in her line of sight.
She slowed her pace when she noticed the caution tape strewn across the respected uchiwa symbol, except now it only produced feelings of sadness and pity. It was just too quickly stripped of its former glory that it seemingly held just twenty-four hours beforehand, she briefly thought.
Tori, now full-on panting, made her way through the tape, using caution as it suggested.
She didn't even fully understand her desire to find him, necessarily. He was important to her, she realized, but did she really know what to do once she did discover him? It just made sense to do so, and she found comfort in the idea that he would do the same if their roles were reversed.
She continued to run. Run like the second fastest in her class…
"Who's next?" Tori questioned with a confident smile on her lips. Kids lined up haphazardly at the forest's edge. A make-shift sprint-track, with a line drawn in the dirt with a stick as the starting point, was clouded with dust.
"We'll go next," a boy with shaggy brown hair, and the eyes to match, spoke up. Two boys, one with a bandana around his head, the other with sandy-blond hair, trailed behind him, both with smug looks. Tori's smile widened.
The four kids lined up on the track, Tori taking place on the outside. The "spectators" all began hollering and cheering. Shikamaru, one hand in his pocket, the other raised in the air, gave a pregnant pause before letting his arm fall and half-caringly called out "Go".
The four runners took off in a sprint, kicking up another dust cloud behind them. The brown-haired boy held first place, as the other two boys held third and fourth. Tori poured her focus into her feet as she watched the brown-haired boy's back. Sweat rolled down her face. Then, she suddenly smirked and picked up her pace. Without missing a beat, she passed the boy, relishing in his surprised expression and crossed the finish line.
The cheering increased as the boys collapsed from exhaustion and defeat. Tori stood tall, knowing her winning streak was still intact.
"Tori wins… again," Shikamaru said.
Sometime in the midst of their race, a dark-haired boy watched with slight interest from the sideline.
"My turn," Sasuke said. Everyone's mini celebration came to a halt as they turned to look at the new competitor.
As soon as Tori saw who it was, she smiled widely. "Sasuke! Think you can beat me?" she taunted. Sasuke gave a look of determination. "I know I can."
They took their places. Shikamaru sighed, and repeated the same motion. "Go," he said, even more lazily than before, if that was possible.
It was a close race from start to finish. Sasuke was on Tori's heels at one point, and hers on his at another. Most of the kids watched nervously, some hoping Tori would keep her streak, others wishing she would finally lose.
Some got their wish as Sasuke sent one last burst of energy through his legs and crossed the finish line, Tori trailing slightly behind.
Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "Sasuke is the winner, then. I'm going home… troublesome."
Tori panted, hands on her knees. She glanced up at Sasuke giving her a triumphant look.
She smiled.
"Good job," said Sasuke. "Maybe one day you'll be as good as me."
She laughed lightly.
She ran. The cobbled paths were so dark and cold, void of people and chatter and life. She tried to ignore the faint blood stains and battered doors.
She didn't realize she had been crying – the rain blended with the salty substance cascading down her small, red cheeks. For the first time, she was crying for him. Something wise told her it wouldn't be the last.
Suddenly, she skidded to a stop as a small figure came into view when she rounded the corner.
"Sasuke?" She approached him apprehensively, as if he were an unpredictable wild animal. He remained unmoving, or at least it seemed like it. It was hard to tell in a torrential downpour.
As she got closer and closer, she saw that it was indeed Sasuke, and his small shoulders were shaking. Shaking with sobs, she presumed. She was at arms-length when she reached out to him.
"What do you want…" he spoke and she flinched. "What the heck…" He shook again with sobs. "Do you want?" He tried to sound condescending, and failed completely. Tori lowered her arm and gave a saddened look. She then circled around to view his face.
She saw his face for the first time since he lost everything. In a way, it was like seeing his face for the first time again, but different. A new face. A face of death, of suffering, that would inevitably last a life-time. It began to erase previous memories of what that face represented. Carefree – never again. Child-like – never again. Loving – never again…
Sobs erupted from her chest and his alike. She instinctually grabbed him and held him as if to keep him from falling apart. The fragile boy gave up and let his weight fall partially on hers. She, in a sense, could feel the pain, anger, and horror that mixed together in the pit of his stomach.
The rain fell, refusing to let.
"I will never leave your side," she promised with a shaky breath. And in that moment, she knew – no pain, no suffering in her life would ever compare to this.
A/N: So there's the first part! I have absolutely no idea the type of response I'm going to get out of this. But if you hate her, you hate her (though there isn't much to go off of just yet...) if you don't, great! I plan to keep updating. I have an outline of all the different points I want to touch on. To be honest, I'm terrified. This is my baby O_O. I realize that the feelings I have about this character may not be reciprocated, and that's ok. I couldn't keep it all in my head for much longer. It is what it is.
Thanks for reading~