Hola! Kimi speaking. I promise to update faster on this story than my last one, but I'd still like to say that I was not to blame. If there had been SOME sort of internet connection up there, I might have been able to get onto Fanfiction, but Fairmont is this puny little town where barely anybody lives and I highly doubted anyone in the nursing home was going to have wireless internet. Anyway, here is my second story which is going to be 10 times better than the first as I am going to be having my friend Rachel commenting on it. So, enjoy A Lighthouse's Tale!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything relating to it, nor do I own the song this story is based on, A Lighthouse's Tale by Nickel Creek. I do however, own this plot. So ha! … oO

ENJOY!!!


SASUNARU SASUNARU SASUNARU SASUNARU SASUNARU SASUNARU SASUNARU SASUNARU

A Lighthouse's Tale

Sasuke's POV

Sasuke sat, staring out the bus window into the starry night sky. Street lights breifly illuminated his face as the silent night bus drove on down the desolate road. Gravel was kicked up from underneath the wheels, whipping the windows and leaving a layer of dust on the clear surface. The bus driver sat unseen by the silent black-haired boy as the tall seat covered his body. But he, on the other hand, would glance up occasionally into the mirror to study the quiet boy sitting 4 rows back.

It was strange that anyone would be riding out this way, towards Rock's Edge, but seeing this 16 or 17 year old boy, sitting alone at that, was just plain baffling. He seemed good-looking enough to be able to get a girl and maybe even a guy if he ran that way. It didn't seem like he was lacking in the money department either, considering his flawless ivory skin and neatly pressed clothes. Yet… there was something off about him. Like… an ominous presense, yet… it didn't seem foreboding or dangerous or anything like that… It just seemed… depressing.

"Hey, kid, where're ya headin'?" the driver questioned finally, pulling up at a stop sign before continueing on down the dirt road. Sasuke sat silent for a moment before turning forward in his seat to face the man.

Those eyes… god, those eyes. What were they? Black holes? They seemed like bottomless pits, so empty and cold. The driver looked away, scared that looking into them any longer would cause some sort of omen to arise.

"Rock's Edge…" He replied, his low, smooth voice sliding out like soft, sweet velvet. Such a beautiful boy, the driver thought, shivering a bit as he thought he felt the temperature drop at least 10 degrees from the young boy's cold stare.

"Well, I fig'red that!" he laughed nervously, thrumming his fingers against the steering wheel. Just call it a nervous tick. "But where? I mean, there ain't no place up here 'cept that damn ol' lighthouse over by the ocean."

Sasuke turned his head back out the window, his eyes seemingly staring at nothingness. "That's where I am going." He replied icely, his back straight and firm against the cushioned, pleather bus seats.

"No way a young'n like you can be goin' down that way. What about yer school, or yer friends. Ain't ya gonna be leavin' those behind? Ya don' look much older than 16. Ain't ya got a girly back home too?"

Too many questions, Sasuke thought bitterly, annoyance flickering in his eyes. The bus driver, who was still drumming his fingers repeatedly on the steering wheel, much to Sasuke's exhasperation, completely missed this due to his nervousness. "I don't have any friends and girls are just a waste of my time."

Short, not-so-sweet, and to the point; that's how the bus driver would describe this kid. Smooth looks but his attitude seemed to have some rough edges. A diamond in the rough, some might call him, but the driver, judging from the boy's bad temper and anti-social aura, decided to call him a bad egg or a black sheep. Either way, he didn't seem like he would ever be changed. But… maybe… an thought suddenly struck the driver. Turning quite quickly for his body build, the older man asked, with some sort of excitement in his voice, "Ye did say you was goin' to the lighthouse down by the rocks, right?"

"Yes," Sasuke practically hissed, his patience already running low.

"Well, all-be… You gonna be staying with Umino-san and his son, ain't ye?" Sasuke stared at the now laughing man in disgust. What a waste of my time. Probably doesn't have anything to do with me, damn stupid old coot, he thought, ignoring the sudden laughter. Little did he know, it had everything to do with him.

Maybe… jusy maybe this kid's got some hope left. It's all up to Naruto. The old driver cackled joyously, turning up the driveway towards the old lighthouse. "Alright, sunny, take care." Sasuke looked at him with distrust in his eyes, but continued to descend the bus stairs, his black suitcase slung over his shoulder.

"Alright, Naruto…" The bus driver mused aloud to himself once Sasuke had walked out of hearing distance. "I wish ya luck with this one. It'll take a miracle to cure this'n. And that miracle might jus' as well be you."

Sasuke trudged up the hill, stepping carefully onto the stone steps. As soon as the house was in sight, he began to size up the place; the wooden house sat somewhat lopsided on the undulating hills, resting in the nook in between. A rickety old deck curved around the outside where a couple of seats and a make-shift table were placed outside. There was an old and worn-out soccer ball sitting in the corner of the unstable outer deck and something that Sasuke assumed must have been a goal at one point in time. The whole place was in bad need of a new layer or two of paint. Heck, it probably wouldn't even be worth it to do that much. That's how utterly crappy this place was. Beyond the roof of the house, Sasuke could see the tip of the lighthouse peeking over, the light already shining brightly, breaking through the night fog. There was a huge hunk taken out of the top side and a part of the railing was missing. Not the safest place either, Sasuke thought moodily. Deciding that criticizing his new living area was not going to do him any good, he shoved his hands in his pockets after readjusting his bag ans set off towards the door. A small light in the window let him know that someone was indeed up inside the house. He stopped in front of the door and hesitated knocking.

I mean, was this such a good idea. Taking off from home like that so unexpectedly. It's not like anyone would care… or even notice for that matter, but still… Sasuke shook his head, hoping to clear the cobwebs from his mind. He was away from home now and it would be no use thinking of it. Slowly, he raised his hand to knock on the door…

Only to have it swing open before his hand had touched the splintering wood. A cheerful blond stood in the doorway, a pleasant smile plastered on his face. "You're HERE!" His smile grew to where Sasuke got a look of his pearly white teeth. Good hygine, he mused. "OI!!! IRUKA, OUR GUEST'S HERE!" The over-enthusiastic boy turned back to Sasuke, holding out his hand in a welcoming gesture. "Hey, you must be Sasuke, ne? The name's Naruto."


Naruto's POV

"Iruka-senpai, Iruka-senpai, Iruka-senpai, Iiiirrruuuukaaaa-seeenpaaaiii!!!" Naruto hollered, accenting each call with a bounce as he hopped over to his brown-haired gaurdian. Naruto was a cute, short, mischevious blond-haired boy of about 16 years of age (though he rarely acted like it). His bright, lively cerulean eyes held a sense of beauty and life, almost like they were smiling at you. His skin was lightly tanned from working outside everyday, his hair a mess as he never bothered to take the time to tame it. His nails were short and stubby because, if he were to grow them out, he'd just break them anyway while working with the lighthouse, so why bother, was his thought. Another thing about Naruto was that he could basically get anyone to talk, no matter who the person. He was just good at doing that. Sometimes it would result in a fight due to his bothersome talking or laughter from his crazy antics, but either way you looked at it they would be talking. His smile was like the sun, lighting up the room with its pure happiness and innocence, dripping with sincerity. Once couldn't help but be filled with joy whenever they laid eyes on this boy; he was just that sort of person. And when he cried, one felt like crying to. His large, shining azure eyes would shimmer as tears built up on his lower and upper lashes, his mouth would set in a pout and his entire demeanor would practically scream 'help me! pity me!' He was full of such joy and curiousity and hope for things, he was like a medicine. Though sometimes he may be stubborn and other times he may be a nuisance, his good traits always won you back over.

Iruka, on the other hand, was a sweet, quiet, goody-goody, brunette who was only about 29 years old. He was almost everything Naruto was not. While Naruto was a ticking-time bomb, Iruka practically had enough patience to make up for both of them. And Iruka was also one to always follow the rules while Naruto, on the other and, was created to break rules. There was not a single one Iruka had heard of that he'd never broken. But then again, those were written rules. Ones that good citezens were expected to follow. And while, no, Naruto was anything BUT a good citizen, he was naturally a good person. No, he was an amazing person, almost like a fallen angel. Iruka had seen this when he had paid a visit to the orphanage about 11 years back. He remembered the incedent quite clearly. There had been so many little kids, running around, laughing and playing with eachother, but one, a little boy of about 5 sat on the swing at the very back of the playground, his eyes trained on the ground as he slowly rocked back and forth. And Iruka, being the goody-goody he is, felt a pang of sandness overwhelm him as he stared at the lonely boy. Without a second thought, he walked towards the boy, sitting down beside him on the other swing.

"Hey," Iruka broke the silence, looking expectantly at Naruto. The little blond boy's eyes flicked up from the ground and landed on Iruka's. They seemed to light up in hope as he slowly broke out into a hesitant smile. "The name's Iruka. What's yours?"

"Naruto..." he'd said quietly, almost meekly, yet that smile continued to grow. "Naruto Uzumaki." His voice begain to grow with his smile.

"Nice to meet you Naruto." Iruka said, breaking off into silence once again. "Say," Iruka started suddenly, "What're you doing all the way over here? Shouldn't you be playing with the other kids?"

Naruto's smile never faltered and he answered in a somewhat confident voice. "Nah, I get in trouble to much by pulling stupid pranks. Their parents don't want them to hang out with me." Iruka's smile turned into a frown at this. How could they...? I mean, he's just a little boy. And almost as if he could read Iruka's thoughts, Naruto smiled once again, saying "Don't worry Iruka-sama, it's their parents that are asking them to do it. I know it's not their fault. They're not the ones I should blame. Besides, as long as I can have fun on my own, I'll be alright. Honest, Iruka-sama, honest."

"I don't doubt that Naruto. However..." Iruka hesitated, debating briefly over whether or not this was the right choice. But he quickly over-rode any doubts when Naruto tilted his head to the side, reminding him of a lost puppy. "I know you can make it on your own, however... what do you think of coming home with me?" Naruto's face brightened at the word home.

"Really? Are you serious Iruka-sama?!" He leapt off the swing, bouncing on the heels of his feet eagerly.

"Of course. Why would I kid?" Iruka smiled, stretching out his hand towards the large-blue-eyed little boy.

Once he'd told the orphanage workers about which child he would like to adopt, they burst out into laughter, giving him an 'are you crazy?' look. Iruka just glared at them, clutching Naruto tighter to his side. The little boy's smile had faded and his face was now buried into Iruka's shirt, his fists clenching onto the fabric tightly. One eye peeked out to watch the scene before him.

"You do know what you're getting yourself into, right? That kid's uncontrollable. You'll be back here within a week, if not days. He's a monster, that one." Naruto clung tighter to the taller man, looking up at his face to gauge his reaction. Iruka seemed appalled, his eyes narrowed in disgust.

"You people are sick. Treating an innocent child like this, how could you? I am fully aware that he may be hard to deal with, all kids have their downfalls. But I'm still unsure as to why you continue to treat him in such an ill manner. Maybe, if you didn't treat him like a monster, he wouldn't act like one towards you guys." Iruka yanked the release papers from the bewildered chairman's grasp, not even bothering to sit down as he signed the last of the papers. "I'm leaving, and if you have a problem with it, you can find me at that address." Before anyone else could utter a word, Iruka dragged Naruto out of the wretched office, pulling the wide-eyed little boy up to his chest, wrapping his arms tightly around the shivering blond.

"Don't worry Naru-chan..." he said soothingly. "We're going home." And with that, Naruto smiled, resting his head in the crook of Iruka's neck as he let himself be carried away from the orphanage. And they had never heard from those orphanage workers either.

Iruka smiled, reminiscing about the past. He was brought out of his reverie however by one very cute, but very loud, Naruto. "IIIRRRUUKAAA-SEEENPAAAIII!!! Iruka-senpai!!!" The brown-haired man sighed, turning around in his seat to face the bouncing boy who was acting immature for his supposed age of 16. Still, he smiled fondly at the over-hyper boy, knowing full well that without his little companion he would be completely isolated and alone out here as no one ever came to this lighthouse. It was an oldfashioned one that still required manual labor and most people just weren't into that kind of stuff these days. Which is exactly why Iruka was shocked that someone had answered to his ad in the paper about a helper needed. He had talked to the boy who had told him he was 18 years old, old enough where he wasn't required to have his parents say in the matter. The boy hadn't spoken much on the phone, just said that he would do everything Iruka asked as long as he was given a room to sleep in and food to eat. It seemed like the perfect plan. He would get the help he needed (Naruto helped out a lot, but sometimes it just wasn't enough with all of the labor the old lighthouse took) and Naruto would be able to have a friend his age. Finally, Iruka thought.

"When's he gunna get here!?" Naruto asked, bouncing on the balls of his feet. Iruka laughed, shaking his head in wonder at the boy's curious amount of energy.

"Soon Naruto. He said he would be coming tonight by the bus. And you know how late that bus arrives here from when we ride out to town, right?" Naruto sighed, nodding his head slowly.

"Yeah yeah... I just hope he's nice. Then we can become the BEST OF FRIENDS and do EVERYTHING together. And then, maybe I can show him my secret place, ne, Iruka?" Iruka smiled.

"You haven't even shown ME that place and yet here you are, considering showing some stranger this unknown thing of yours Naruto? Oh, I'm hurt!" he said in a warm tone, laying a hand dramatically over his heart as if to show that it was breaking. Naruto, however too this seriously.

"No, no Iruka, don't think of it like that! It's not like that, REALLY! I mean, it's not exactly a secret. I know you've been there before. Plenty of times actually. But there's something special about it that only I know. And it's not that I don't want you to see it, it's just that..." Naruto sighed, feeling defeated as he tried to express his thoughts in the right words. It was just so hard to do for the little blond. He could never get them just right. Either the other person would take it the wrong way or they would just brush it off as if it were nothing. Expressing things throug words were never Naruto's strong point. "Hey, Iruka? I have an idea. I'll make it up to you tomorrow night, okay? I'll show you something just as cool, though it won't be the actual secret place, okay?" Naruto reasoned, looking hopefully at his father figure.

"Naruto, I didn't mean it like that. I know that it's special to you, so I'm not complaining about who you show. I was just playing around." Iruka stopped in the middle of his sentence, catching that slightly dejected look on Naruto's face. "But... I would love to go see this other place of yours tomorrow night... If that's alright with you." This must have been the right choice to say because Naruto excitedly threw his arms around Iruka's neck, squeezing him tightly as he sang, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" over and over.

"Alright Naruto, but if we're going to be able to do this tomorrow night, we're going to have to wake up and finish our work a bit earlier so we will have time. That means you have to go to bed now, alright?"

"But, Iruka..." Naruto whined, pushing out his lower lip in a pout. "I wanted to see the helper first..." Iruka gave him his 'no-nonsense look, killing any hope Naruto had of staying up late. "Alright, alright.. I'll go to bed..." slowly, Naruto stood from his chair, taking his time just in case Iruka were to change his mind. "Okay... I'm going to bed now." He slowly began meandering towards the kitchen door which led out to the staircase. "I'm... on my way to bed..." he said again, looking expectantly back at his father, waiting for any sign or indication that he would give in to Naruto's pleas. "I'm... out the door..." Naruto called, dragging his feet in an attempt to slow his journey.

"Naruto!" Iruka called. Naruto shot back into the kitchen, staring hopefully into the older man's honey colored eyes. Iruka just smiled and said, "Go to bed." Naruto sighed again in defeat, trudging back out the kitchen door and up towards the stairs. As he was passing the main entrance, however, he caught a glimpse of something just outside the window. He stopped in his tracks, blinking repeatedly as he tried to quickly adjust his eyes to the night's darkness. Slowly, he could see the from of a boy... about his age, standing outside the door, almost as if he were comtemplating whether to knock or not. Naruto beamed excitedly. This had to be him, the boy he was going to befriend and the helper Iruka had hired. Without a second thought, Naruto swung the door open, the hinges groaning in protest.

"You're HERE!!!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly, a large toothy smile spreading over his face. Finally, a kid his own age!!! Naruto couldn't wait to get this friendship thing started. "OI!!! IRUKA! OUR GUEST'S HERE!!!" Turning back towards the now slightly bewildered boy, Naruto held out his hand, welcoming the boy with a handshake. "Hey, you must Sasuke, ne? The name's Naruto." Slowly, but surely, the boy grasped Naruto's outstretched hand as Naruto bobbed their hands together up and down in a violent manner, totally missing the other boy's hesitant and wary expression. Iruka appeared in the door frame, smiling warmly at the boy standing outside in the darkness. That's when Iruka noticed something off about the scene. The boy... wasn't smiling. In fact, he seemed quite detatched and out of place, standing there with his hand in Naruto's over-enthusiastic grasp. Maybe... maybe this wasn't such a good idea.


Hey!!! Kimi here! If you want me to update sooner, review! Actually, either way I'm most likely going to update in a day or two, but reviews ARE greatly appreciated!!! this is only my second story so still be easy on me. My fragile emotions can't take too many flamers. I've got the basic storyline set up, so it won't take too long to update. Thank you for reading and I hope you keep checking back for updates on A Lighthouse's Tale!