Just read it, give it a chance, if, after a couple of chapters, you don't like the way things are going, just stop reading, if however you are enjoying this story, please, continue to...

Following the Painful Path

Sasuke stood atop the Hokage mountain, leaning against a spike of the 3rds hair. He squinted against the glare of the sun and looked down on the hidden village of the leaf. Everyone milled about, continuing their relatively pointless lives, doing whatever they could to simply continue to exist. His life had a true purpose. What would he have done though, if his brother hadn't have given him such a purpose? Just who would he be? All because of his brother...

The old anger rose inside him as memories came flickering back. Leaves whirling in the darkness, his brothers indifferent, apathetic gaze. His parents, lying with glazed eyes on the floor... His brothe'sr rock hard punch to his gut.. the fear as he ran away, from his brother, from his dead parents... just to live... His muscles tensed, he stood, poised atop of the thirds head, and tilted his head up savouring the rage. He would use this against him, it gave him strength, to train harder, run faster, to ignore those around him, the distractions. He still didn't understand the reason his brother had given... To measure his container?

Anger... What.

Energy shot through his body...

The.

Eyes glared, seeing his brother's face, his indifferent,emotionless... .

Fuck!

His hand slammed into the rock surface, leaving a slight indentation in the surface. His arm ached as the chakra that had shot through it left just as quickly. His wrist felt wrong. He turned and began the long walk back down the mountain. He would go to the hospital. He had meant to go for a long time anyway, his eyes occasionally itched, and recently it had started to hurt. Trudging down the mountain Sasuke continued to remember, because these memories helped him... he wasn't going to lose them.

Anyway, tomorrow he needed to be at his best, for the next stage of his ninja tuition. He wondered who he would be put in a team with. Probably some losers who needed protecting. He was the best rookie in his year, after all...

A child with blonde hair sobbed, as his arm, with bone sticking out of, was kicked one last time. Blood seeped around him. Whose was this blood? He looked down his body, uncurling as he heard the mob run away. There was a knife protruding from his chest, and his orange jacket was stained. Every breathe made the knife inside him tear a little bit more, working its way into him...

He lurched up, and stumbled down the alleyway. Their was a channel in the mud, indicating where he had been dragged. He sobbed again as he fell slightly, bouncing away from the wall. He felt something grate...

His bone was sticking out of his arm... his bone was...

Getting out of bed, Naruto tore himself away from musing about his path to becoming a Genin. It had only made him stronger. When the old man had asked him, after one particularly vicious beating( his collarbone had been shattered from the swing of a hammer, and he now bore a scar down his flank, after attempting to dodge a thrown butchers knife), if he would like to get stronger, by training as a ninja, Naruto had almost cried in gratitude. There was a way. To strike back. To escape. He had felt something lurch in his stomach as he pondered what he would do to those particular people who had picked on him incessantly over his childhood; Those who had started the beatings as soon as he got out of the orphanage and was given an apartment of his own. That lurch had changed into a burning pain. It 

felt good, it felt like something to take power out of. Power in which he would train harder, run faster, to ignore the looks of hatred around him...

Slipping into his black top and slipping into his blue calf-length trousers, he looked at himself in the mirror. When Mizuki had nearly killed him the day before, something had slipped inside him. Something that coursed through his veins, set them afire, and sent a shock of rage through him. As soon as he had felt that anger, he had turned around and looked at himself. REALLY looked. An orange ninja? Who was so weak he could not protect his friends? Was that the sort of person he wanted to be? No. He wanted power. Power which he would use to protect those who he held close to him. Looking up at Iruka, feeling hot blood drip onto him, Iruka's blood he had felt only fear. Next time his only feeling would be anger, and he would exact vengeance where it was due.

His top went down to just passed his elbows, the silky material felt weightless on him as he moved, perfect for the swift, silent kill. The swirl had stayed onto his back, except now it was blue, and also adorned his blue calf-length trousers, to the side of his right thigh in black. Stepping out the door, he tied on his hitai-ate. Patting the kunai and shuriken pouch pinned onto the back of his trousers he sighed. He was ready, to gain power, to learn how to kill, to learn how to protect. He wondered who he would get on his team. They would probably laugh at him as they always had, assuming that he was the same, happy, puppy Naruto. They would sigh that they got the weakling in their team. He would prove them wrong. He would prove every one of them wrong. Even if he needed to show his power, by besting them, he would show that he was strong. With that thought, Naruto set out for the academy, where he would find out who he would have to protect, who he would have to beat, and who he would have to gain recognition form.

Waking, bleary eyed, he looked up at the blurry front of the classroom. Rubbing the sleep from his sticky eyes, he looked once again at the front of the class. Focusing his gaze on an unrecognizable black back he wondered who would have all the Kunoichi craning to get a look at. Turning around to the sniffing Kiba next to him he asked, 'Hey, who's the new guy?'

Kiba continued to sniff the air curiously for a few seconds before turning to Shikamaru, ' It smells like... like... Naruto.. but it cant be... the guy hasn't spoken for the past ten minutes, and he's just nodding. Dammit, I wish he'd just turn around already, he must have noticed that the entire class has stopped talking, ever since he walked through the door and up to Iruka-sensei's desk.'

Sasuke walked through the door to the classroom, thinking about what the hospital had told him. A doctor, with an inane smile plastered across his irrelevant features had told him to find a man named Hatake Kakashi, who would have "all the answers"... what an idiot. His attention snapped back to the classroom. Something wasn't right, he couldn't put his finger on it but there was something definitely missing...

None of the girls were looking at him. Not one. Sakura and Ino had glanced at him as he walked through the door, but that was it. He didn't get even a cursory glare from Naruto. He would miss him, he admitted to himself fleetingly. Naruto had failed the exam, predictably. He wouldn't be distracted, though, as he needed to train harder than ever, if he was going to catch up with his brother.

What was up with his morning? There was another enigma. A complete stranger was standing at the desk of Iruka sensei, having what seemed to be a private conversation, considering the hushed tones. Whatever, he decided that he didn't care, he just wanted to be stuck in his team and given his first mission.



'So it's agreed, Naruto?' Iruka asked in a quiet enquiry, 'What happened yesterday will remain a secret, as intel on THAT scroll needs to be kept to a bare minimum, to prevent it falling into enemy hands.'

'Sure sensei, no need to worry about it. So... how's the back?' Naruto's gaze lowered.

'Fine, well, not fine, but I'll live. Now I think its time you gave everyone who's trying desperately to find out who's the new guy a shock, right?' Iruka arched an eyebrow.

Naruto chuckled, 'sure sensei, but don't wait too long, I want to find out who'll be in my new team, they better not be too weak...'

With an ironic laugh from Iruka Naruto turned around, keeping his face down. He quickly made his way to the back of the classroom, where he sat next to the moody raven-haired rival. He wondered how the famous Sasuke would fare against a thousand clones...

Sasuke's eyes widened slightly when the loser finallyraised his head. When did Naruto get so... serious? It was definitely Naruto, but... it wasn't. The loser had finally thought seriously about being a ninja, and had opted for a change of clothes. The loser flashed him a grin, letting the old Naruto shine through the new colder person for a second...

Then suddenly the look changed, and Naruto's visage suddenly hardened into a frown as he turned to the rest of the class, who were looking at him with obvious contempt.

'What are you all looking at!' Naruto shot a defiant look around the classroom, at all the stares, all the sneers, all the doubters, all the people who had ignored him his entire life... The boiling anger in his gut flared, just like yesterday, 'something' just permeated into his head, this something, it felt like it had its own will, it felt like a different being alarmingly, this something spoke, within him, to him, and it gave him anger along with it, and power... ' TELL them, SHOW them who YOU'VE become, show them'

Sasuke saw the blonde, head bowed and shaking. He couldn't see his eyes, through the hair... Sasuke frowned, he hadn't realised Naruto had grown his fringe, he was sure when he sat down he still had the same old spiky look...

Naruto shivered, his muscles felt weird, his eyes began to itch. His muscles began to tense up. His eyes weren't itchy anymore, they were dam painful. He squinted against the harsh light. Everything seemed... sharper...

A growl reverberated around his skull, it grew louder. He bowed his head lower, felt hair brush against his eyelids,

'SHOW THEM!' Naruto's head snapped up at the command. Now all he felt was anger coursing through him, every muscle was ready

Naruto abruptly stood up, and glared at the class around him, all those staring faces, looking at him, judging him, hating him, fearing him, for no goddam reason...

'Why the hell are you here, when you failed the exam!?' a shout came from the front of the classroom.

This brought a visible flinch from Naruto; they still thought he didn't belong? They still didn't acknowledge him?

' You don't deserve to be here!, who'd you rob the hitai-ate from?, get out, loser!, yea!, get lost'

They were all around him, shouting at him, Iruka had tried to stand up, but had collapsed with a grimace, his face as pale as the glaring full moon, the one he had spent the last night huddled atop of his roof under, wondering what the next day held for him, new adventures, team mates, the advancement 

in his new aim. He had shivered in anticipation as he sat, wondering, at the stars, what his next day held for him.

Two kunai appeared in both hands, quick as a flash. The anger was coursing, brimming, threatening to spill out from him, and was literally giving him the energy. The voice was shouting in his head to 'prove yourself' and Naruto's eyes were still blue, but the pupils were more animalistic, his pupil an intimidating black slit.

Everyone tensed as the weapons appeared. Sasuke smirked; Naruto couldn't hit a 4 foot target, let alone accurately get anyone from the sort of distance he was at the moment, lethally anyway. He continued to smile, though the said grin vanished when Naruto moved. fast.

Naruto's chest heaved, the voice screamed for blood, and the kunai pressed at the throat of the faceless embodiment of his tormentors drew blood... He glanced around him and the anger wavered, fear peeped through, he faltered.

There were a lot of people around him, pulling kunai out, shurikens, even senbons. Apparently this guy had been some kind of leader... Sasuke got up and strode over to the fight, silently slipping through to the front. He looked to the front, and saw Iruka struggling to get up off his desk, there was a lot of blood running down the back of his jacket...

Naruto was in the middle of a ring of armed ninja, all supposedly at his level, and his brain was in a confused whirl... He was going to get beaten, probably worse than ever before, and this time everyone would see, see him as weak, see him as a complete loser... Red Chakra flared around Naruto, not a lot of it, not enough to see unless you had very good eyesight, but Sasuke's eyes had always been the best in his class, and as everyone advanced on Naruto Sasuke could see just a glimmer of red start to seep out of Naruto's skin. Still, he was surrounded, and he was going to be beaten to a pulp, for being different, for standing up to the class bully. Sasuke grinned, inside counting, grabbing hold of a kunai, he set his feet apart, steadying his centre of gravity, he felt like getting into a good fight anyway... It had been so long, and this many would be a challenge even for him. Plus he was different.

Everyone was jumping at him, weapons drawn

'C'mon he started it!' 'He'll regret that!' 'Fucking die, freak!' Naruto felt the anger flare, felt his skin burning. His hands came together, to form the last weapon he had, against numbers, you fight with numbers. Too late he noticed the shuriken seconds from embedding itself into his throat. His hands were too far down to effectively block the weapon, and he stood, immobilized by fear...

Everyone froze as the number 1 rookie darted into the centre of the ring, a kunai in one hand, his other one forming a half tiger seal. The shuriken threw at Naruto by the bully's second in command was directed back, and sunk into the shoulder of the brash young would-be ninja. Sasuke dropped his kunai, and his hands flicked through seals, tiger, ram, horse, sheep, and then, as Sasuke was about to form the last seal, he stopped, and looked up, into the eyes of the apprehensive Genin, sparks of flame flickering out of his mouth, and spoke, low, with not a hint of compassion, as this was not a plea,

'Please leave now... or I will be forced to incinerate all of the pathetic, useless, dead people standing around me.'

A man with silver spiked hair opened the door, to ask for a word concerning Sasuke and his eye problem and froze. Fire was spitting out of Sasuke's mouth in flickers, as smoke poured out of him, there 

was the village troublemaker crouched with his kunai against a boy's throat, and red chakra was seeping out of every pore...

Kakashi growled, 'Everyone to their seats NOW!'

Kakashi glanced at Iruka, seeing the man incapacitated he strode over and lazily read off the teams from the sheets of paper, completely unfazed by the earlier incident, ending with 'Team 7, under myself, Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura. Everyone remain until their Sensei arrives, my team, with me.' He was getting too old for this. All the teams so far had been rejected and he wondered if the newest ones assigned to him would have the ability, let alone the intelligence it needed to pass the first exam. Just because you were an Uchiha and knew a few handy jutsu's didn't automatically qualify you as a Genin unless you had the intelligence to see past your own ambition...

Walking out of the classroom Kakashi turned to his team. Sakura was first through the door, looking slightly shaken, glancing back at her other team mates with fear in her eyes. Naruto was emitting a guttural growl, his fists tightening around the two Kunai still in his grasp, and Sasuke, last through the door, shot a small jet of fire at someone as he walked out of the door, to a response from, 'You're all talk and no action, coward Uchiha!' With all his team lined up in front of him Kakashi, with his eyes on Naruto and Sasuke opened with,

'What can I say? From first impressions, I think I like you.'

This elicited a grin from Sasuke, a nervous laugh from Sakura, and an almost feral lopsided smile from Naruto.

'There will be an examination in a week. You three will participate as a team. You must pass. You will get the details of said exam on the day. I shall see you by vector 3 training grounds, near to the stump at 6 am sharp. Depending on the exam result, we will have a team discussion and our first mission assigned to us in the after noon. If I may make a suggestion, I think all three of you need to train for the upcoming exam, as if your very future as a ninja depended on it.'

With that the strange curt man with a mask that covered his mouth and nose, lopsided hitai-ate that covered his left eye and lazy cheery demeanour disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Coughing Sakura looked around at her two team-mates. She was with Sasuke-kun! Of all the things that could have happened, this was the best. True, she was stuck with that loser Naruto, but so far he seemed to have changed. For one even his stance was more feral. She felt a pang of attraction and started. Did she like Naruto? She turned round to Sasuke, who stood there, looking thoughtful. Not as much as she did Sasuke, anyway.

'The test coming up seems very important, so I'm off to train, Naruto I want a chat, d'ya mind? See you, Sakura...' Sasuke dismissed her? And was going off to talk with Naruto? She stalked off towards the training grounds east of the village. Sasuke would notice her in the upcoming exam... she would make him!

Sasuke kept walking... he wondered how to phrase his first question, how he could ask without actually asking. Naruto beat him to it,

'Sasuke, why did you step in there when I was about to kick all their asses? Why do you always have to show off, and show me up? Can't you just let me deal with my own problems? I know what you did when I first entered the academy, and I'm grateful, but... ' Naruto was talking in an almost hurt tone. Sasuke checked himself, and came to a stop. Naruto knew?

'Since when did you find out? I told them I'd kill them if they ever told you what I did'



When Naruto had first entered the academy, with the recommendation of the hokage no less(this was because of the academy's teachers refusing point blank to train 'a monster'), he had attracted a lot of attention. He was constantly being challenged to a fight by all the show offs, wanting to see if the boy all their parents blanched at, when the topic was brought up, was so special for. They had soon found out he wasn't too special, but he was a good punch bag.

Sasuke noticed that Naruto started to come into school later, and that he was even more beat up than usual. More disturbingly, when sitting on the end of the pier, thinking about his first ever goukakyou no justu, and the look on his fathers face, he would sometimes see Naruto trudging home from the general direction of the academy. Naruto looked, well scuffed and beaten, not to mention the various wounds, inflicted by Shinobi, that much was obvious. There would be bruises around his temples, he would have precision cuts on his arms and torso that would make him bleed, but no more, and occasionally burn marks. Sasuke had fought a battle with himself, between compassion and the need to train every day -that compassion had won. He stayed around the academy the next day and saw Naruto being beaten quite easily by a gang form his year. When this gang appeared at the academy they would laugh and point at Naruto, who would find the quickest route out. So one day Sasuke sat, after watching Naruto being subject to an earth jutsu, where the user caused Naruto to flip high into the air, as the very ground he stood on exploded upwards, whilst flying through the air Naruto was then subjected to the battering of hundreds of rocks that hurtled from all sides, he landed in a defeated slumped form, unconscious.

As soon as Naruto hit the floor the insidious chakra of the Kyuubi would instantly start to mend him, but would not finish doing so until a week later. He had sustained hairline fractures to several bones in his body and a cracked rib. If force healed in a short time said injuries would heal, however the bones could possibly be damaged further, So Naruto spent a whole week in terrible pain as he trained, every day, in order to attain the strength he needed to defeat those Bastards.

However, he was never beaten again by that gang. The earth jutsu user was the leader, and the rest knew only the standard replacement justu's that any decent ninja could see through. So Sasuke had melted the earth intended to flip him up, had melted the rocks hurled at him, and had even melted the rock barrier the earth jutsu user had used. He then set about taking apart the entire gang, a shuriken to one shoulder, a kunai lightly in one back, a firm fist to the cheekbone, feeling the bone itself break... Afterwards he had warned them. Naruto was not alone, and that anyone who intended to fuck with Naruto were going to meet with him again. No one was to know of this encounter, or everyone would know what the gang had done to Naruto. With that he had left them, stunned, defeated in the melted dirt. Naruto was like him. Completely alone, defenceless, with no family to watch over him. So Sasuke had decided to get involved. Anyway, he felt like a fight, and that earth user was a good measure of how far he had advanced in the last few years. That's what he told himself anyway, it was all just a test, because he needed to know he was the best he could possibly be, there was no way anyone in his year was going to beat him. Absolutely none.

'I don't need you Sasuke! If you keep getting involved how am I suppose to get stronger? Get involved next time and I will kick your ass!'

'Shut-up, loser...' there was a pregnant pause, 'I was wondering, as we're on the same team and all..' Sasuke looked away, hands in his pockets, too embarrassed to ask. He decided to give up and go practice at the kunai set up, he was so close last time, half an inch...

'Whatever, I'll see y-'

'Sure I'll train with you Sasuke, I'd like to see how easy it would be to kick your ass'

'What? Hey shut-up, loser!'

Naruto laughed in the indignant Uchiha's face, and strode down towards Ichiraku's Ramen stand, indicating to Sasuke that he could join him if he felt like it.

Sasuke followed, clenching his fists but smiling inside, despite himself.



That's my revised first ever stab at a fanfic. I wont bore you.

Constructive criticism, anything, except downright hate, welcome.

Any ideas, ? review, tell me about them!

Naruto is Naruto, but different. Why the big change? He has a DEMON inside him! The demon is talking to him! He is cursed for the rest of his life? Or is he? Anyway, its a big deal, and should be reflected in his personality! Not just brushed over, for the 'moral of the story' hard work, blah blah

Thankyou for reading. Kishimoto, plz don't sue, i don't own your fabulous creation.

But i have a better idea about what to do with it...