Hi all. This is my first, so lets be nice! No flaming! I really hope you enjoy it! The title is not yet permanent… it may be changed! Any ideas would be great!
Naruto felt bloated. Those nine massive bowls of ramen were kind of crossing the line, even for him. And he was supposed to train in twenty minutes… Maybe Ero-sennin wouldn't notice if he skipped this session? He'd find some girls to spy on perhaps. "Hey, Old Man? I think I've had enough ramen now. I need to go train."
Teuchi grunted, as Naruto dug through his pockets for money. "Uhm… just a sec, I know I have money somewhere," Naruto let out an uneasy chuckle. "Gee… money gets lost so easily. Heh, heh, heh…" Naruto abruptly stopped digging through his pockets, and scratched his head. "Well… that's kind of… odd… maybe someone took it?" Teuchi responded with an unfriendly glare.
"Oi! Naruto!" Naruto turned to see Sasuke walking towards the Ichiraku Noodle. "That weird guy you train with is looking for you. Says its urgent," said Sasuke, smirking as he sat on a stool beside Naruto. "You'd better go. I'm sure it's very important."
"That boy isn't going anywhere until I get the payment for the eight bowls of ramen he just ate." Teuchi fixed Naruto with an impatient stare.
"Eh… heh, heh. Gee, Old Man… I, uh…" Naruto looked down.
"Here," Sasuke said bluntly, as he slammed money onto the bar. "Naruto, you're pathetic… how do you always get yourself into these situations? I'm off, I'm supposed to meet Kakashi-Sensei. I was going to grab a bowl of ramen- that's why that freak sent your message with me. But you disgust me so much that I've lost my appetite. Sasuke slid off of the stool, and walked off. Naruto just stared, left surprised by Sasuke's abruptness, and sudden attitude change. He was angry, too. Angry that Sasuke ended up paying for his mistakes again.
Walking along the road, seething with fury, Naruto made a very life- changing decision. Instead of going to see Jiraiya, he followed Sasuke. He didn't know what he planned to do. Vent his frustration, maybe. But he followed him, completely unaware of what was about to happen to him.
Naruto followed Sasuke through the forest to where he, Sasuke, and Sakura had trained for the first time as a team, with their new sensei, Kakashi. That seemed like it had taken place years ago. Or maybe in a distant dream. So much had happened since then. Kakashi was training Sasuke now. This thought made Naruto even more bitter and furious. For a man who couldn't dodge an eraser, he was pretty impressive. Naruto had really looked up to him. And Kakashi-Sensei had chosen Sasuke over him.
Naruto knew these thoughts were infuriating him more, but couldn't stop. He craved reasons to hate Sasuke, and let memory after memory fly through his mind. The anger, the rage was building, and becoming addictive. He wanted to scream wordlessly at Sasuke, just to see the shock on his face, but still he followed, quiet as a mouse. Half hidden behind a tree, he looked into the clearing. The rage had stopped building, but it was there, waiting. Naruto watched, anticipating, looking for the perfect moment to confront his long-time rival. Enemy. But he didn't need one.
Sasuke walked over to Kakashi. Kakashi bent over to hear, as Sasuke whispered into his ear, smirking. Kakashi straightened up. "Naruto. Come here, I have something for you." He said it so seriously, that Naruto temporarily forgot his pent up anger and left his hiding spot, discovered, and curious.
From the time he left the tree, his memory of this event seemed to move in slow motion. One foot in front of the other, he walked. Heading straight, curious; his body seemed to stand still as Kakashi and Sasuke seemed to move closer. But Naruto knew it was he that was moving. Breathing steadily, he walked forward, memories of this place flooding through his mind. A lot had happened here. The most vivid of his memories: Sasuke and Sakura sharing their lunch with him.
Kakashi moved fast, lunging at Naruto, and before he could cry out, he was tied to the very log he had been tied to when Sasuke and Sakura shared their lunches with him. The same log. The same people staring back at him, minus Sakura. A screw up. He hadn't needed their lunches. But if not for them, he wouldn't have become shinobi. The fury built. How many times had they covered up his mistakes?
And it occurred to him then, that he wasn't strong. Before he had learned to harness the power of Kyubi, he had been nothing. And even with Kyubi's power he was weak. It wasn't him who beat Gaara, to protect Sasuke. It was Kyubi. All those times… it was Kyubi. He wasn't strong. Kyubi was. Kyubi. Kyubi.
Beneath all these thoughts, he heard the voices of Kakashi and Sasuke. "Naruto, how many times have I had to tell you, don't fall into obvious traps!" It was Kakashi's voice, and it was full of good-natured laughter. He hadn't meant any harm; obviously, they just wanted to put him in his place. Sasuke friendlily punched Naruto's bicep. Still in slow motion.
"Geeze, Naruto. I can't believe you fell for it." Sasuke was tittering maniacally, too (I'm joking- actually he was laughing, hard as that may be to picture). "You're such a screw up." Sasuke had meant that in the usual, familiar way… but beneath Naruto's thoughts, those words stood out the most. Kyubi.
Naruto struggled for a moment as Kakashi and Sasuke laughed. He couldn't hear what they were saying, just their laughter. And it infuriated him that they thought this situation was funny. That him being tied to a log was funny. Somewhere inside, he dimly realized he would find it funny too, but that thought slipped through him like water through one's hands, as hatred pumped through his veins. Hatred of Naruto. He also, dimly realized there was no sense in that thought; why would he hate himself? But that thought, too, slipped away. Time moved back to regular speed. The ropes containing Naruto burst forth, and Naruto was let loose. (cue intense instrumental music!!!)