Uchiha Sasuke was a gifted ninja, a genius, a prodigy as called by his teachers. People saw him as perfect and that was not true. Because a perfect person did not carry regrets, a perfect person did not do or say anything stupid. Sasuke however did have something he deeply regretted and what he deeply regretted was saying something incredibly stupid.
Nine-year-old Sasuke rubbed his forehead in annoyance as he remembered the dumbest thing he'd said in his life. No, it wasn't dumb because it was meaningless drivel, it wasn't dumb because at the time it was a perfectly reasonable response. His words were dumb because he was unaware exactly of the repercussions that those words would cause.
For a boy his age, Uchiha Sasuke had many admirers, many many female admirers. In fact, it was not beyond his knowledge that over half the school, including older and younger girls were very much infatuated with him. To them he was God's greatest gift, to him they were the worst thing since the plague. It was not surprising that his indifference to them had gone to the point where in he didn't really even bother listening to them anymore. Whenever they spoke or rambled he would just shrug or grunt out a response which he'd always used and they'd still think he was paying attention to them. This automatic response system that he'd developed was to be his downfall. Just yesterday, a girl had gone to him and asked what kind of girl he liked. The Uchiha avenger, more keen on his training didn't think hard and just spouted out, "I don't really care. Long hair I guess.".
Resisting the urge to groan, Sasuke hid his face in his palms as if to ask the Heavens "why?". Well, why indeed, because when he went into class that morning and took his regular seat by the window near front of the class, he noticed every girl in the class room had their hair hanging down. Too dignified to inquire about the sudden influx of straight back hair, his training as a shinobi saved him the unnecessary trouble as his honed hearing eavesdropped on a couple girls. Sasuke barely suppressed the urge to groan at exactly how stupid the situation had turned out.
Right now he was on his way home. Hopefully, he could pick up a small snack, stow his bags away and lose himself in training for his grim aspirations.
Hope, however, didn't seem to want to grant his wish. Because as he neared the Uchiha district which was the raven-haired boy's ancestral home and current live in home, the sounds of sobbing could be heard floating about.
Confused, Sasuke observed his surroundings for anyone other than himself on the old beaten path. It was very out of the way from the town and near the private lands of the Uchiha clan. It almost never had anyone wandering around there. Looking harder, Sasuke only confirmed that there was nothing around but rolling grass and a river with a hunched up figure shaking on the riverside.
Raven brows furrowed over squinting onyx eyes. Wait, a hunched up figure on the riverside?
Curiosity getting better of the boy, that and the fact that whatever or whoever it was, was on his property. Young Uchiha Sasuke jogged towards the unknown figure.
When Sasuke was close enough, he realized with a scowl that the figure was a girl. Souring his mood further was that the sobs he'd heard were actually coming from her. Trepidation in his steps, Sasuke hoped not to alert her of his presence as he slowly stepped away. He could only assume for his sanity that this was another one of his admirers.
But it was during his evaluation of possible escape plans that he noticed something that wasn't quite right. The girl in front of him was carrying a lot of ninja gear. As in the girl just seemed covered head to toe in them seeing as how her short sleeved jacket had a pouch wrapped around the sleeves over the upper arms. Her jacket itself held a multitude of pockets while her thigh high shorts poofed out with the extra storage space. And her legs, for what he could not imagine how she moved with them, were wrapped in a layer of bandages before being lined with a series of bags reminiscent of the ones tied to her upper arms. This ensemble gave him the idea that maybe she wasn't one of his admirers after all. Surely one who would try to get his attention by going to his home would wear something prettier? The thing that proved how she wasn't a fan girl was that she looked roughed up. With her blonde hair hacked away messily as if someone took a pair of scissors and had made her barber practice.
Sasuke shook his head clear of any thoughts other than escape. This was a ploy, he could feel it! It was definitely a ploy by this girl. She would make him feel sorry for her then he'd feel obligated to take care of her. He was not a stranger to this round-about way of getting his attention because many had tried it before. It was fortunate that he caught on quickly enough to send them away without feeling guilty at all. Coming to a decision, he turned and crept.
Crunch
The sound of fresh grass crushed underfoot disturbed the garbled harmony of the flowing river and tears.
Horror etched in his eyes, Sasuke watched as the girl snapped her head back to face him. Her eyes a brilliant blue that burned themselves into his memory at their brilliance, wide, shocked, scared and absolutely mortified. The girl turned away from him and let her sobs transform into full blown cries. Sasuke stood there petrified, normally they would lunge at him with a vice grip of a hug before they cried.
His perplexed mind not understanding what was going on at all, decided for the boy that pretending this whole event never happened and head home would be the smartest course of action, Sasuke agreed. Not ten steps were taken when the Uchiha realized that he could not move. He looked down at himself, he wasn't tied down, nor was anyone clinging to him. He looked to the girl and saw she was too busy crying to ensnare him in a trap. Why was he not strolling home without a care for the world?
Incessant cries and pitiful sniffs told the Uchiha exactly why he couldn't move. The boy felt guilty, for whatever reason or another. Brutally and with as much ferocity as he could muster, the nine-year-old stamped down the painful tug on his heart. Pity was for the weak and he was not weak, therefore he did not pity. His eyes strayed to the crying girl. Did not feel pity. He watched as her whole body convulsed with each shaky breath she took. Did not-...
Sasuke grumbled as he palmed his face. He made a one-eighty towards the girl as he grumbled, "Oh what the hell.".
He knelt down beside her, clueless as what to say in these kinds of situations. Normally he'd just tell them to stop crying, but that was only when talking to his more shameless admirers. There was a sense of pride in this girl that told him it was a bad idea to be flaunting his Uchiha ego. "Hey.", he tried, "Why are you crying?".
The blonde girl looked at him for a second, trying to piece together enough composure to speak from the looks of her heaving chest, which Sasuke discreetly noticed was rather shapely. For a second, awkward silence fell over both of them. Then the girl's cheeks turned scarlet as she bawled out much louder than the last time.
Hands, inevitably slapped over his ears, Sasuke grit his teeth at exactly how loud and annoying this particular girl could be. He was sure he'd done nothing wrong, well he'd done nothing wrong for her to take notice but for the love of all that was good and sacred what did he do wrong? He just asked her why she was crying. Sasuke scratched his head after a few minutes as he came to the conclusion that women did not want to be asked why they were crying. Stowing the piece of information away for future use, he turned back to the problem at hand. How was he going to solve this?
The boy frowned, first he needed her to look at him, as in look at him without bursting into tears or plain scream like a banshee. Unfortunately for the girl, there was only one way he knew how. Konoha's heart throb grabbed the girl roughly by her shoulder and directed her to face him. "Look at me.", he commanded the blonde.
She didn't comply, keeping her face parallel with the ground. She shook her head, tears still continuing to fall.
Frown practically chiseling itself in, Sasuke tightened his grip on her which made her wince. "Look, I just want to help you okay? Now stop being a pain and maybe I can do something to make you feel better.", Sasuke practically shouting this statement to her.
Sasuke felt the girl stiffen in his hands, wondering if she was finally calming down. He didn't expect her to shove him off screaming, "Who the hell asked for your help? I am perfectly fine!". Her eyes, those eyes so blue they practically burned staring into his own inky gaze. The way her eyes glared through her tears, the way her voice roared over sobs, Sasuke understood her plight. His thoughts only confirmed when she chanted, "I'm fine, absolutely perfectly fine. Just fine, just f-f-f-i-ine.", the girl crumpled up again. She pressed her face against the soft earth, probably praying that all this pain she felt would just go away.
For a single second, Sasuke sympathized. He had been there before, that spring of despair. Powerlessness, weakness taunting you and all you had to offer in resistance was stubborn defiance. Sasuke grabbed his head as a stabbing pain from darker memories assaulted his mind. As if they were punishing him for even thinking that this worthless female's worries were anywhere near his own. Disgusted with himself for even approaching this girl, Sasuke got up with the resolution to leave. That is until he heard the girl mumble something unintelligible. That is, something unintelligible along with his name.
He paused, waiting for a repeat just so he did not feel mistaken. He was taken aback when the girl looked absolutely livid and roared to the skies, "Goddamn you Uchiha Sasuke and your stupid fangirls! I'm going to beat you up! Cut your manhood off in front of your fangirls and make them watch while I shove it down your throat!". Snapping her gaze onto him, Sasuke fell on his butt in irrational fear of the proclamation of feminine wrath. She pointed one finger in his direction before saying, "You!".
"Yeah?", Sasuke managed to squeak, something he didn't really imagined himself doing nor did he notice himself doing.
"You will tell no one of this. You hear!", the terrifying blonde hissed demonically at him.
Nodding without dignity or restraint Sasuke nodded vigorously, wishing that he could placate her before she actually made good on her earlier promises.
The blonde eyed him critically for a second, making the Uchiha freeze up. The second passed and the girl slumped down to her knees. Her face no longer sad nor angry, only weary. She cupped her face in her hands and screamed into them in frustration.
Careful as a hunter trying to escape a deranged bear, Sasuke got on his knees as well and worked himself to sit in a seiza position. Almost half a minute passed and neither had moved an inch, the girl from how tired she was and Sasuke gauging how safe it was to leave.
Peeking at him from between her fingers, the girl regarded him gruffly, "What are you still doing here?".
Sasuke sat there for a moment. Honestly he didn't know why he wasn't running away for the sake of future generations of Uchiha to come. Why wasn't he walking away with as much apathy as he had for any other girl that he'd come across? Sasuke ran his observant eyes over her and finally understood, Ah, this is the first time I'd met a beaten up girl.
There wasn't any thought, nor was there instinct. It was probably the years of watching his mother fix his clothes that made Sasuke reach out and take the blonde's collar. She stiffened once again under his hold, but relaxed when she realized he had just straightened out her collar. He reached out again, this time pulling her sleeves. She froze. This process repeated for a number of times until finally Sasuke felt the girl was presentable enough.
He looked her up and down, trying to find what was missing in the image he had of her that made still made her look like she'd been assaulted. It was then the setting sun reflected on her hair that he understood. Sasuke wordlessly pulled her close with a surprisingly strong resistance on the blonde's part, arms flailing to hit him. He spun her to face away from him before she could take a proper swing. He pulled out on of his training kunai and stared at her butchered uneven hair. The blonde looked back and fear took hold of her when she saw the weapon in his hands along with the look of deadly concentration. She pulled away but Sasuke held her down by the shoulder. His grip so strong that even as the girl tried to lift the hand keeping her captive with all her strength it still would not budge.
Annoyed at her squirming, Sasuke absently compared her failing trials to escape to a cat he'd own when he was just five. Whenever he'd tried to give it a bath. He smirked, he knew just what to do. He stabbed the kunai in the ground and grabbed the girl to keep her from moving. "Don't move.", he told her with a voice that was deadly quiet.
She shook at the sound of his voice. "P-Please.", her voice stuttered, "no more.". She closed her eyes as her body shook.
Not really understanding, but not really caring either way Sasuke took the kunai in his hands again and began hacking away at the mess of blonde.
Sasuke worked in silence, his face screwed up in concentration any normal nine-year-old wouldn't have had. Underneath his touch, the girl shivered, fear holding her down to the spot and yet still urging her to run if her continued twitching was any indication.
"I'm done.", Sasuke announced the completion of his task. He roughly brushed off some errant cut strands of hair that fell on the girl's shoulders while one hand returned the kunai to its rightful place in his bag.
The blonde quickly laid her hand on her crown. Moving her hands around, trying to see how much worse the boy had made her already ruined hair.
Rolling his eyes in exasperation, the boy advised the girl, "If you want to know how it looks, why not just check in the river?".
Her face lighting up, the girl did as she was told and scrambled for the body of water meters away from them. She was amazed at what she saw. Her golden blonde hair was shorter than it was awhile ago. It had one side had reached her shoulders then while the other barely reached the nape of her neck but now they were cut evenly in boyish layers. Her bangs which had been made even at some parts were now a wild fringe with two slightly shortened side bangs to frame her tanned whiskered face. The most curious part of her new hair were the two tufts of hair cut in a way that reminded her of cat-ears. Honestly with the Blue, eyes and the whisker marks now with the hair, she felt that she looked truly and honestly like a cat. Like a gag out of a bad comic she quickly turned her attention to Sasuke and hissed in disdain with hackles raised, much a real cat would.
The boy shrugged as he approached the river to wash his hands in it. "Hey, it's better than it was before.". He quietly dunked his hands in the water to let the flow carry away all the dirt and hair his hands accumulated from cutting the unkempt mass of golden tangles. "How'd you end up like that?", he asked the blonde in curiosity more than any form of concern.
She bit her lips in hesitation. Her eyes fell on him, judging him whether he was trustworthy or not but sighed in the end. She did perfer her hair now to how it was awhile ago. "It was this afternoon.", she started narrating, "Some girls came at me and surrounded me. I thought they came to bully me like always, so I didn't mind them.".
Bullies?, Sasuke thought to himself.
"They usually left if I ignored them.", the girl huddled up one her knees. "But there was something different today. They suddenly accused me of being a tramp, said something about me trying to steal away some boy named Uchiha Sasuke by growing my hair out way before they did.".
At the mention of his name, it was the raven-haired boy's turn to stiffen.
"They accused me of liking him and said that I didn't deserve someone as great as Sasuke-kun.", she sneered at the impression of those girls pronouncing the Uchiha's name. "They grabbed me. I didn't like it, so I fought back. Something told me that today I couldn't let them have their way. I would lose something important to me if I did.". She buried her face in her knees. "They got their way and I lost something precious.".
Sasuke barely heard the last part. But he was ninja, shinobi. He heard the muffled words clear as day. "What did they do?", he questioned. Righteous anger boiling beneath his onyx gaze as the thought of someone using his name, his words to commit cruel acts irritated him to no end. It made him sick to think that he had hurt someone without meaning to.
"They cut my hair.", she clenched her arms over her knees. "They cut my hair.", she repeated as if doing so would explain exactly how great an offense it was. "It took me years to grow my hair out like that you know.", her voice was cracking now. "I never got more than a trim since I was four. I always brushed it, and cared for it. I never let a strand out of place.", sobs now began to force her to pant again.
Unable to comprehend girls, Sasuke just shook his head. "It's just hair.", he told her.
"It was my pride!", the blonde vehemently screamed. Her face still not emerging from her knees. She continued to ramble on, "My hair was my pride. Wherever I go, whoever I met, people would hate me, look at me with eyes that told me how they wished I was dead. I had no friends, I have no family. I have nothing! Nothing but old man Hokage.". She was crying, Sasuke could hear her crying. "Old man Hokage said that my hair was pretty.", she sniffled. "That time, I really felt special. Felt that for once I could hold my head up high. So I let my hair grow out. Long, longer, longer and even longer still. Till it reached my chest, till it reached my waist, till it reached my knees and even till it passed my ankles. I let it grow, along with my pride.".
Listening to her broken sobs, Sasuke decided that he'd heard enough. Her problems didn't really matter to him and to be honest he still couldn't really understand. She talked about pride, but it was just hair! The nine-year-old sighed as he got up to leave. He approached her first and nudged her from her cocoon. "What's your name?".
The girl sniffled a bit before looking up at him through thick lashes that where tears still clung on. "Naru, Uzumaki Naru.", she told him.
"Well.", Sasuke stepped away from her. "If that long hair was your pride because the Hokage called it pretty, then hold your head high Uzumaki Naru, because even without your long hair.", the boy looked away from her with a light tint of rose on his cheeks. "Even without your long hair...", Sasuke repeated in vain as his cheeks continued to glow red. He grit his teeth and closed his eyes shouting out, "I still think you're cute!". Burning with embarrassment, the young Uchiha cracked an eye open to see his companions reaction. He was somewhat relieved to see the surprised look on her face. The fact that she was blushing with the cat-ear bangs standing up gave her the impression of a surprised feline. It made him blush harder, he'd always been a sucker for cats.
Naru looked down at herself, and then away when she found herself incapable of even looking at Sasuke's feet without her face bursting into flames. "That's really rude you know.", she tried to sound indignant. "Saying weird things like you said and doing weird things like you did, all without telling me your name.", she forced out the words without stuttering.
Sasuke's face burned just as bright at the implications of Naru's words. "Don't say it like that!", he grumbled out, "people will get the wrong idea.".
"Then just tell me your name!", Naru half-screamed in annoyance.
"It's Uchiha Sasuke alright?", the boy yelled back.
A pregnant pause suddenly pierced the heated atmosphere of embarrassment. In its place tension thick enough to cut up and slather over bread permeated the air.
"What did you say your name was?", Naru repeated her question with a darkening grin and a twitching brow.
Sasuke paled as his memory kicked in. "Uchiha Sasuke.", he squeaked.
On that day, Sasuke realized that he really was imperfect. He realized that he had the instinctual fear all men had of castration, as evident by how he shivered in fear everytime the girl chasing him down screamed, "Come back hear so I can chop them off and feed them to you! Come back here!".
Author's Notes: Hmmm... It feels both creepy and refreshing to write a femnaruto story. Oh well I hope this has been an enjoyable read. Please feel free to drop one word as a "theme" challenge for the next femnaru one-shot.