Disclaimer: I do not own naruto
Chapter 1: Painful
"Dobe!"
"Teme!"
"Naruto! Stop fighting with Sasuke!"
Sigh. 'This has been going on for half an hour now. Things sure haven't changed in five years.'
That's right you heard him. It has been five years and Sasuke had finally came back to Konoha exactly a years two weeks ago. However, with all he fighting the Uchiha and Naruto had been doing you couldn't really tell.
Sasuke finally gave up on the blonde haired ninja, who was now a chuunin, and turned his back to him; mumbling something about 'a waste of time.'
Naruto, still pissed, puffed out his checks in a child-like manner and turned his back as well. He closed his ocean blue eyes and blocked out all the sounds around him, trying to penetrate his ears. He slowly took deep breathes, allowing his lungs to expand and fill with air. Slowly but surely he was calming down.
"Well that's enough training and arguing for one day." Kakashi finally stated breaking the silence that had creped upon them. "You are all fine to go; remember to be here at six am sharp tomorrow morning." With that said he disappeared in a cloud of gray smoke.
Sakura only sighed but instantly cheered up with the thought of the rest of the day with Sasuke. She undid her hair, which she put up in a bun for training, to fall down to her shoulders. "Sasuke-kun! You want to go out to eat. You must be hungry.
"Not really." Came the cold reply to Sakura.
"I'll go!" chirped the cheerful Naruto once again.
"Forget it Naruto!" she yelled at zed ninja and gave him a glare that instantly shut him up.
Sasuke, figuring he had had enough drama for today, started walking away towards the Uchiha's estate.
"Sasuke! Where are you going?" asked a now puzzled pink-haired kunochi(sp?) All she got though was the sound of his footsteps slowly walking away.
Naruto watched as Sauke slowly walked away. 'Wonder what went up his ass this morning.' He thought before he himself started walking off back to town. His mind wandering on what to do when he got there. He finally decided that first he would go home, shower, change his clothes than go and eat ramen. Just the thought of ramen made his stomach growl in anticipation, bringing him to the conclusion that he had to hurry.
He broke out into a swift run, people becoming blurs beside him. His stomach growled once again making run even faster. It wasn't long till he bumped into a lady in a pretty light-blue kimono and light brown hair that stopped just below her shoulder blades.
Both fell quickly to the ground with a loud thump. Naruto quickly stood up, rubbing his ass to make the throbbing stop. Once he did he looked to were the lady was supposed to be only to find no one there. He looked around till his blue eyes came across her walking away hand in hand with a man. He stood there shocked; usually he would be spit at, kicked or beaten in anyway for his stupidity. Now that he thought about it, when he came into town, no one glared at him with ice cold eyes or whispered hateful names at him.
Another growl from his stomach interrupted his thoughts. He pushed the thoughts to the back of his mind and ran back home to his dear ramen.
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Sasuke arrived back home later than he expected due to his annoying pink-haired, wide-forehead problem. She kept nagging and nagging him to go out to eat with her. At first he replied no but she was too stubborn for her own good. Even Naruto's stubbornness couldn't rival hers. He let go of a breathe he didn't know he had, and walked into the kitchen which was shining with the setting sun's scarlet rays. He went straight toward the cabinets, of course he was hungry; he just wasn't going to tell Sakura that.
When he pulled open the cabinets he's mouth lowered slightly in disbelief. He had no food.
"That's odd, I always have food. Unless…!" It suddenly hit him. Tonight was the beginning of the festival. "The festival of the Eight Guardians." He said to himself. He stood quietly for a moment than walked back to the door and out of it, heading to town.
'Note to self: stop talking to self!'
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'What the fuck!' was all that would come to Naruto's mind as he stared helplessly at his empty refrigerator. He let his head hang down, his blond bangs finding their way off his face. He sighed as he lazily walked back to his room; settling himself on the bed. He slowly lifted his head u to star blankly at his clock which read 10:17. He sighed again as he looked at his calendar, only to find a red circle around today's date.
He narrowed his eyes, trying his best to see in his now darkening room but to no avail. With another exasperated sigh; he got up and walked over to the calendar still squinting his eyes in order to see. "The festival of the Eight Guardians." He read out loud. It took awhile but it eventually clicked in his brain and he went nuts. "How the hell did I forget!" he screamed at himself.
Quickly he ran in the shower and out with a towel tied tightly around his waist. He opened his closet door not so quietly and looked at what he had. He stared at his regular orange and black attire and scowled. The festival of the Eight Guardians was a celebration of the inner self. For eight days, one was suppose to find the inner self and try to express it to others without the others disapproval.
He soon spotted something in the far back and decided to give it a try. Five Minutes later a five foot eight inches tall, dirty blond hair, which had lost its spikes and was now silky smooth and fell right down to the bottom of his neck, with blue eyes looking at himself in the mirror. His hair went right down to his eyes and folded around his cheeks, only allowing a little bit of his whisker marks to show. On him, he wore a black button up shirt with the sleeves pushed up to slightly below the elbows. He had a pair of black denim jeans with a short metal chain attached to two belt loops. Around his neck was a red tie with black stripes running down diagonally. He starred at himself a few more seconds till he forced himself to look away and at the clock.
"Crap!" he screamed. It was 11:00 and the opening ceremony began at midnight; he still wanted, needed actually, to eat something. He had training in the morning you know. He quickly threw on a white dress jacket and ran out the door.
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Sasuke walked casually through the streets, blocking out the blaring sounds of couples, families and friends partying in nearby restaurants or in their housed. His sighed briefly closing his eyes which he instantly regretted as he rammed head first into someone. Sasuke held his feet firmly to the ground but he heard to distinctive sound of the other person hitting the ground and a mumbled response that sounded like 'not again.' He opened his eyes only to se his blond-haired team-mate sitting on the ground rubbing his throbbing head.
"Dobe! Watch where you're going!"
Naruto quickly opened his eyes, glaring at the person whose voice he instantly recognized. He stood up in no less than a second and went face to face with the bastard who dared call him a loser.
"Look it wasn't my fault I was in a hurry! You should of saw me and moved out of the way anyway!" Naruto yelled.
Sasuke stepped back a little but still glared at him full force. That is until his eyes wondered down Naruto's body, his eyes absorbing the new look of his.
"What are you staring at!" broke Sasuke out of his trans and back up to the blonde's eyes. Before he could reply however, he heard a high pitch scream which somehow sounded like his name. Somehow. Before he knew it, the cold clammy hands of death were around his neck and arms; the shrill voices screaming at each other as to who was going to kill him.
"Sakura, Ino, Shikamaru, Chouji!" he heard Naruto yell, completely forgetting his fight with Sasuke.
'Damn!' thought Sasuke. 'I was hoping it was death.'
"What are you guys doing here?" asked a puzzled Naruto.
Everyone stared blankly at Naruto for a minute before Shikamaru finally spoke up.
"Its 11:30 Naruto, the ceremony's gonna start soon. We'd figured we head up to the Hokage faces and watch it from up there. I guess since Ino and Sakura found Sasuke, you two are coming too." He explained.
Sasuke only looked at Shikamaru with emotionless eyes when Naruto's eyes curved up and his mouth expanded into a wide goofy grin, showing all of his teeth and some of his gums. Without another word, the group was off, Sakura and Ino still holding a death grip on Sasuke.
Naruto glared at them for a second before continuing on in silence, staring ahead with blank, emotionless eye. He never noticed but his invisible mask that kept him sane was cracking. What was left to keep the darkness out of his heart? Pain, memories?
Memories. That thought itself snapped him out of it. Eventually the arrived at the Hokage faces, sitting on the fourth's head. Sakura and Ino were of course on opposite ends away from each other and away from Sasuke who was in the middle of everyone. Next to the Uchiha sat the blond ninja and the one that envied the clouds. Next to Naruto sat Kakashi who has joined them on the way, trying to calm down a steaming Sakura down. And last but not least was Chouji who sat next to Ino, not really caring about her but more about his food.
"Why are you here Kakashi-sensei?" asked a still puzzled Naruto.
"What I can't be with you guys outside of missions and training." 'also it looks like none of you are willing to keep Sakura from going on a rampage.' He added in his thoughts.
Everyone got his hidden message and sighed at the still look of puzzlement on Naruto's face. It seemed like his blond hair reflected all thoughts of logic or commonsense known to man.
"Idiot" mumbled Sasuke.
"I'm right here you know!" Naruto yelled. His anger slowly rising.
"Hn..." was all the reply he got from the midnight eyes prodigy
"You know if you've got something to say, you should say it to my face!" yelled a now medium-pissed Naruto.
"Hn..." was again his only reply.
Naruto's eyebrow twitched as his self control now completely snapped. He opened his mouth, drawing in air to yell a comeback at the Uchiha but was interrupted by a loud band and cheering from down below.
Sakura and Ino were the first to stand up as a few more fireworks lit up their faces blue and green.
"Looks like its midnight." Pointed out Kakashi as he too stood up and went over on top the fifth Hokage's head for a better view. Sakura and Ino soon followed.
"Come on Sasuke-kun. Come over here with me!" yelled Ino getting Sakura's undivided attention.
Sasuke only sighed and got up to on them along with Chouji and Shikamaru who was mumbling 'how troublesome girls could be.'
Naruto watched as everyone stood on the fifth's head, their faces lighting up every time a firework went off. An odd sense of peace took over Naruto at everyone's smiling faces, or as best as he could ever see from Kakashi and Sasuke.
'Would their faces still hold that happiness if I disappeared?' he questioned himself as he sat alone on the fourth Hokage, no one seeming to notice his presence missing among them.
His eyes narrowed half way as a soft and delicate sad smile adorned his lips as he thought, no, that's the wrong word. As he prayed, hoped, daydreamed what he wanted their reaction to be.
He slowly turned his eyes back to the opening ceremony fireworks' grand finale. He watched with that same sorrowful smile that could almost make your heart wretch in pain.
Almost. There was just something in that smile, something…
He watched as the last firework soon became one with the sky, through blank eyes, imagining the friends he wish he had had before and the family he never had. His thoughts slowly drifting to his childhood. Hate for everyone who ever abandoned him when he was little and had to take care for himself at such a young age. The sorrow and helplessness he felt that no child should have to feel ever. Yet, he found one person it that mob that he could never come to hate, sure he pretended, but like they say, you only hate people because you want to be like them.
Sasuke. It was too painful for him to see how pitiful he had become.
Me: wow that was a lot and kinda boring sorry it will be better next chapter i promise!
Naruto: hiding behind a chair what are you going to do to me
Me evil smile you'll see
