Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Nor will I ever. That right belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.
Author's Note: I am well aware of my other two Naruto fan fictions sitting there. Rest assured I am working on Walking Backward, and it will be my priority after I get a few chapters down of A New Childhood. One Character, Another Story is currently on hiatus. Sorry. I will update all of these as soon as I can.
Anyway, some sort of explanation – this fan fiction actually came about from an idea I had at school which I gained from other fan fictions (thanks to those fan fictions and oneshots, by the way) and the idea was to change the relationship between two characters, and see what happens. Whose relationship am I changing? Why, none other than Sasuke's and Naruto's! This chapter is quite short. I didn't have many ideas. Oh, and Naruto and Sasuke are eight years old here, but you should see that later anyway. Oh, and also, "nii-san" means "brother-san", basically. And san is an honorific. Which, from there, one can assume "nii" means "brother". And then, nii is actually a smaller version of onii. Arigatou also means thanks. So that's just to tell you. And of course, Jinchuuriki is obviously somebody with a demon sealed inside them! Enjoy, R&R. :3
I'd rather be dead!
Naruto ran and ran. He ran so much that his feet ached like fiery hell. He didn't want to be swallowed up by the shadows cast by the endless insults he received. He didn't want to be beaten up by those demons of people. But he had to come back here, to help someone out. But there was a wonder on what he really was. Why was he their scapegoat?
"Monster! Good for nothing! Demon! Baka!"
Why?
His feet finally touched the edge of the forest on the outer edge of Konoha. It was his only sanctuary. Unfortunately, he always had to come back in for training and the likes, plus to help out his friend get away from it all as he had just done. And he had to face them. Those words, that cut like a knife. Those people, who wanted him dead. Naruto came, and someone was already waiting for him. Who knew, the eight-year-old Jinchuuriki actually had a friend.
"Hi, Naruto-niisan," the raven-haired boy greeted, walking over to his friend. "Thanks for grabbing their attention."
"Anything for you, nii-san," Naruto said in reply. The blonde sat down, his back to a tree, and looked back at his friend, whom he obviously thought as a brother.
"I wish they would leave me alone," the kid said, sitting next to Naruto, his back toward the same tree. "I mean, I know it's weird that I'm the only Uchiha alive, well, besides Itachi, but... it hurts, ya know?" The kid turned his hands into fists.
"Do you want me to leave you, Sasuke-nii?"
The kid, obviously named Sasuke, looked to Naruto in surprise. But the surprise wasn't from Naruto calling him a brother; they had been doing that for ages now. It was Naruto's offer to leave him. Sasuke's surprised face turned into a warm smile. "No, I don't mean you. If anyone, I want you to be with me."
"Okay," Naruto replied instantly, relaxing. "It's just, well, I don't wanna be a burden to you. I don't want to bother you, or get you upset, or..." Naruto stopped as Sasuke gazed at him oddly. "Sorry..."
"Why are you apologizing so much?" Sasuke asked. "You didn't do anything wrong."
"I... I must have," Naruto whispered, his voice starting to crack. "I mean... why..."
Sasuke put an arm over Naruto's shoulders. (A/N: Please don't take this as Yaoi. It's brotherly, remember that.) "You're the kindest guy I know, Naruto-niisan," Sasuke said respectfully. "Don't say you did anything wrong. 'Cause you didn't." It was the truth. Naruto had been the kindest to him out of all people that had ever talked to Sasuke. In a poll on the "nicest person ever", if Naruto was an option, Sasuke would pick. If he wasn't, he would pick "other". And if there wasn't an other, he would take it up to the author.
"Th-then..." Finally, something happened with Naruto that he didn't expect. Naruto openly sobbed, like Sasuke had done many times. "Why, Sasuke-nii!? Why do they hate me so much!?" All the things that the villagers had said to him came crashing down into his head. Why? Why was he hated more than anyone else in this village? Even Sasuke was more popular than him, and Sasuke did nothing to gain it. Plus, he was only popular to the freaking fangirls. Stupid fangirls.
Sasuke certainly was shocked. For a while, Naruto was strong – he took it and took it, and he never cried. Now, here he was, right in front of Sasuke, openly crying. Sasuke knew, he was more fortunate than his brotherly-like friend. Nobody hated him, except for Itachi, of course. While everyone, except for Sasuke himself, hated Naruto. Sasuke pulled Naruto into a hug. (A/N: Once again, no Yaoi. I don't support the pairing.) "I don't know, Naruto-nii... I don't know."
Naruto cried into Sasuke's shoulder. Sasuke was probably the only person he would cry in front of. He didn't trust anyone else nearly enough. "I'm just their scapegoat! A... a..." Naruto gasped and shuddered before continuing. "... a monster."
Comfort, at this point, was Sasuke's strong point, especially since his heart went out to Naruto. "You're no monster," Sasuke said soothingly and evenly. "And I'm always here for you... always."
"Arigatou, Sasuke-nii," Naruto whispered in a raspy voice, which was muffled by Sasuke's shirt. Despite that, however, Sasuke heard him.
"No problem, my misunderstood friend."
