Don't you remember how you got those scars?
Summary: Naruto's just your average teenager. Besides the fact that he's quickly becoming YouTube famous, he met his closest thing to a friend online, and he's undeniably convinced his neighbors a psychopathic murderer. Well, maybe he's not so average after all. AU.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or anything in this fic besides the plot.
Warnings for this chapter: Very mild language.
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Chapter 1: This Means War
Naruto stared quietly at his plate of chicken parmesan, his brows furrowed in anger. Swiping his fork back and forth over the cheese and sauce covered noodles; he allowed the occasional sigh or huff to escape his lips. Of course he was hungry, heck, he was starving, but no way in hell was he going to give his father any satisfaction by eating his food. As of thirty minutes ago, he was officially on strike.
Running a hand through his spiky blond hair, he held in a chuckle at the thought of himself standing outside his home holding a picket sign, marching back and forth while chanting some moronic phrase. His father would have to reconsider his decision before such an event ended up on the news. What would the neighbors think? Better yet, their distant but respectable relatives? It seemed like a dumb idea, but if came to that, so be it.
Naruto hoped to the Gods that it wouldn't.
His father, Minato, continued to stare at him in dismay from across the table, the look hadn't left his face since the days earlier events. Since when had his son become such a trouble maker? He sat there deep in thought, wondering where he went wrong as a parent. Rubbing his finger across the edge of his glass, he began to open his mouth, quickly closing it and repeating the process. Finally deciding on how to approach the situation he simply asked, "Is something wrong with the chicken?"
"Phase one." Naruto knew this was coming, so he might as well go ahead and get to the point. His father, unlike him, was one to beat around the bush. He hated confrontation. Not that Naruto disliked that quality about his father. He loved it, actually.
Minato used a strategy he like to call 'the cool down period', in which he'd wait at least twenty minutes before confronting someone about a problem that could potentially cause an argument. He justified his strategy by simply stating that it allowed both parties to calm down and get a hold on their thoughts. In many cases, this allowed Naruto to get away with tons of things, seeing as before the twenty minutes were up, Minato had usually already forgotten all about the problem at hand.
Too bad for Naruto, that didn't happen this time.
The blond wasn't what most people would call a bad kid. He was respectful under most circumstances and usually never got in trouble over anything big. But lately, things were going wrong for the teen left and right. Ever since they moved to this town, Naruto seemed to be getting in more and more trouble.
"Enlighten me."
"Starvation."
Minato looked up at the ceiling and groaned, his eyes glancing over the rough mountain-like texture. "We both know you can't go without food for more than an hour or so."
Naruto definitely couldn't argue with that, but it didn't mean he was going to give up so easily.
"Was moving here really that bad of a decision?" His father aimed the question more at himself than his son. "You were never such a problem before we moved here."
Those few words hit Naruto like a ton of bricks. "I never realized I was such a burden to you…" he whispered just low enough that his father couldn't understand what he said.
"What's that?"
It took everything Naruto had to not jump up and start shouting like a mad man. He knew his father didn't deserve to be yelled at, but neither did he. "I didn't do anything wrong."
"You call completely trashing an innocent mans lawn not doing anything wrong?" Minato forced himself to keep his voice at a reasonable volume. The last thing he needed was a reason for Naruto to go wild. "I just don't understand it Naruto. He said he saw you running away from the scene as soon as he pulled back the curtains. You're not exactly hard to recognize." The older of the two blonds waved a hand towards the others attire. The orange leather jacket with two black stripes he was sporting could potentially blind the average person. On most people the unusual colored jacket would look horrendous, but the orange color did wonders paired against his sun kissed skin and bright blond hair. Not to mention his stunning oceanic eyes.
"He's out to get me, dad! I don't understand it so I don't expect you to either, but you have to believe me. I was here all day, in my room, on the computer. Just trust me on this, I didn't do it."
"You said that last time." Minato exclaimed, reminiscing over the last two times he'd received a phone call about Naruto. "Trust me, I want to believe you. His word just outweighs yours. The man has no reason to hold a grudge on you."
Naruto sighed in defeat. He wanted to argue that his word should always outweigh that of a strangers, seeing as he was his son, but knew that once Minato made up his mind, arguing was pointless. "Fine, whatever. I know I'm innocent. So what's the punishment this time?" The blond was pretty smart when it came to psychology. He knew if he admitted defeat and asked for his punishment, he'd either get none or a small one, instead of if he'd begged not to receive one at all.
Minato knew of this technique all too well, but decided to play along anyway. He hated punishing his son, so any way to lessen the tension was welcomed. "There isn't one this time. But I'd appreciate it if you took some time to think about your actions from now on and how they affect others, not just yourself."
"Fine."
Naruto stood up and placed his plate inside the refrigerator before pushing his chair in and walking to his room. Closing the door behind him, he walked over to his computer and pressed the power button, willing it to go faster by drumming his fingers across his cheek. Deciding it was too bright inside his room he closed all the blinds and sat back down while the computer finished starting up.
Once the monitor showed the appropriate desktop images, the blond turned on his webcam and fiddled with the settings in order to get a better resolution. After everything on the screen fit his standards he walked over to his bed and picked up his guitar. After making sure it was tuned he began to lightly strum over the far too familiar strings. Letting the soft music linger in the air, he mentally searched his brain for an appropriate song.
Inwardly smiling at his decision he cleared his throat and began to sing.
My ship went down in a sea of sound
When I woke up alone, I had everything
A handful of moments, I wished I could change
And a tongue like a nightmare that cut like a blade
In a city of fools, I was careful and cool
But they tore me apart like a hurricane
A handful of moments, I wished I could change
But I was carried away
The room filled with the heavenly sound of his voice mixed with the soft strumming of his guitar. Not even the cheerful melodies of a songbird could compare to the music he was now creating. The peacefulness of the whole act warmed Naruto. He loved the feelings he got when he picked up his guitar and sang for no one unparticular. Once he began singing, nothing else in the world mattered. No one could get him down, he was invincible.
If only life were always like this; so simple, calm, and peaceful.
Give me therapy, I'm a walking travesty
But I'm smiling at everything
Therapy, you were never a friend to me
And you can keep all your misery
As he continued to sing he began to think about his old town, school, and friends. He never really cared about where he lived until he realized how strong the bonds he'd made with the people in his old town had become. Of course, he chatted via webcam with them occasionally, but it was the midst of summer, no one had enough spare time to just stop and have an innocent conversation with an old friend and texting was out of the question, seeing as he didn't own a phone.
After wrapping up the song, he walked back over to his computer to stop the recording. Once he was done editing and saving the video he began typing the address to his favorite video streaming website and signed in, quickly uploading his video for everyone to see.
As soon as he was done filling out the appropriate information about said video, the blond decided to check his profile for any comments or messages. He wasn't like most teens that uploaded music covers in hopes to get attention and possibly become famous, instead, he did it for himself. Music made him happy and he wanted to share that happiness with everyone else.
Every once in awhile, though, he'd get a comment from someone telling him he had a wonderful voice. He'd even received a few saying he sucked and should stop making videos altogether, but it never fazed him in a negative way. Just the fact that they cared enough to take the time and reply to his video made him smirk to himself.
As soon as the web page finished loading Narutos eyes widened in shock. One of his videos was being put on the sites home page, under featured videos. It seemed a lot of people had watched his video, commenting and giving it high ratings. A smile worked its way onto his lips as he realized other people had actually liked something he did.
'Don't let it get to your head Naruto. You have more important things to worry about.'
With that, his mood changed completely. He began to remember why he was in his room and on the website in the first place instead of downstairs, enjoying dinner. The reason being: his lame excuse of a neighbor.
Oh how he was beginning to hate that man.
Naruto still couldn't seem to fathom what was going on in his neighbors head. Ever since he moved here, the man had been blaming him for all sorts of impractical things. He'd never even met the guy, what reason would he have to terrorize him like this? Maybe the man did this to all the new residents, in order to set boundaries from the get go.
'He's insane, simple as that.'
The blond absentmindedly rubbed his fingers over the keyboard, deep in thought. "Ugh, why does everything have to be so frustrating?"
Deciding to take his mind off of things, he clicked on the comments button and began reading in hopes that the simple praises would help cheer him up. Most of the comments said something along the lines of "Wow you're cute", "Upload more videos soon", or "Can I request a song please?" Naruto frowned at all the generic comments. Couldn't they see that the things they were saying had already been said at least twenty times before? Any other time Naruto wouldn't have cared if they all said the same thing, he was just in a terrible mood, and all the lame comments were adding flame to the fire.
Just as the blond was about to give up and log off, a comment near the bottom of the page caught his eye. It was short and simple, but different from all the others.
How did you get those scars?
Naruto sat there and thought about whether he should answer the question or not. Most people wouldn't think anything of such a simple observation and easily answer said question, but not him. He quickly clicked on the person's username in order to get a little insight on who was asking such a personal question. It's not that Naruto cared about what the person looked like, but someone who watches a music video and ask something potentially personal like that instead of saying something about the singing, intrigued him. Yes, the comment was about his looks, but it wasn't someone calling him cute or anything like most of the other users did.
As the page popped up he quickly glanced at the person's name before looking at his picture. The boy, Sasuke, looked normal enough. He was a little paler than most people, but his complexion mixed well with his dark colored hair, even if it was an odd cut. He also looked a tad older than Naruto, only a year or two. Scrolling down he realized Sasuke hadn't filled out any information about himself or uploaded any videos. All he had were a few videos added to his favorites and one sent comment; the comment he sent to Naruto.
How did you get those scars? Naruto read the question again, finally deciding to give the boy an answer. After pulling up a new message he began to type: Well, to be perfectly honest with you, I'm not sure. My dad told me that when I was real little, we were in a car accident, and that's how I got them. But he always acts kind of weird when I bring it up. I was too young, so I don't remember anything myself. It's odd, I know.
Naruto waited for a bit after sending the message for a reply, since the boys profile said he was online also. Sure enough, it came in a matter of minutes. You could have just said that you didn't know.
The blond allowed his face to scrunch up before typing up a quick reply: Yes, but then I would have looked like an idiot.
Deciding he'd already wasted enough time on the internet, he logged off and headed downstairs to finish his meal in peace.
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"This is really good!" Naruto was on his forth plate of chicken parmesan, almost ready to go get another, when his father walked in. "Man did I miss out earlier today."
"I can tell." Minato pointed at his sons face, with a smirk.
"Huh?" Naruto stood up and picked up the toaster in order to see his reflection. His cheeks tinted in embarrassment, matching the color of the sauce covering his nose. Wiping it off, he turned towards his dad, noticing the package tucked under his arm. "What's that?"
"Oh, this? That's actually what I was coming to find you about. It's our lovely neighbor's mail; seems as though the mail man made a mistake once again. I'd appreciate it if you took it to him." He smirked at his son and laid the package on top of the kitchen table.
"Oh come on, dad. If I step foot at his doorstep he'll go mental for sure." The blond looked towards his dad in despair and flailed his arms in the air for emphases. "Heck, he already is mental!"
"You shouldn't talk about people you've never met, personally, that way Naruto. With that in mind, maybe if you both officially meet and at least try to get to know each other a little better, all of this craziness will end."
"Of course you take the reasonable approach to this. But what makes you think he wants to get to know me? You've never even seen him before either! I know we haven't been here that long but don't you think it's sort of weird that we never see him outside? He could be running a cult or some kinky shit like that inside his basement, for all we know. How did he get our number anyway?"
Unbeknownst to Naruto, Minato had been taking advantage of his sons rant by slowly backing away from the kitchen, making his way closer and closer to the doorway, in order to make an easier escape. If he continued to banter back and forth like this, Naruto would end up winning and he'd have to go take the mail to its rightful owner himself. He wouldn't admit it to Naruto, but he did secretly agree that the guy was sort of creepy. And on top of that, he wasn't sure of how the man got their phone number either. He knew there was probably a very logical explanation to how he acquired it, but admitting that he didn't know would just rile Naruto up even more. "Just do it, alright? And remember that I didn't punish you earlier. I could always take that back, you know. Besides, he's probably just lonely or something, give the man a chance, and show him your signature charm like you do everyone else. Im sure you two can work things out. He can't be that unreasonable so there's no reason for you to be either."
"But dad!"
"No buts! Now go before I decide to make you invite him over for dinner tomorrow, also." With that he stalked out of the room, leaving the younger blond to stare at the spot he was just standing in, in anger.
Naruto was officially the world's unluckiest teenager.
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A/N: Help please! I had somewhat of a problem trying to word this sentence: Better yet, their distant but respectable relatives? It's still considered a fragment and it's driving me crazy. I'm just not sure how to word it. Also, short sentences like: Fine, whatever. (When a characters speaking). Do you just leave them like that since it's in conversation form?Any help/advice with this sort of grammar problem would be greatly appreciated for now and future reference. Thanks!
On another note, this isn't going to be a song fic. This will be somewhat of a mystery type thing.
-Sorry if the formatting is strange, I'm uploading from my phone.