Naruto: Emolette does not own my show, my friends, or my story.

Emolette: 'Cuz if I did, everything would be screwed up.

Sasuke: Much like yourself?

Emolette: -snuggles Sasuke- Yup. . . Sasu-kun, did anyone tell you that you look like a rooster because of your hair?

Sasuke: -angry vein-

Naruto: -laughs- Finally, a fangirl with some constructive criticisms.

Emolette: -snuggles Naruto- When did you learn to say big words Naru-kun?

Naruto: -angry vein-

Emolette: On with the story!!!

Chapter One

" The Meeting "

Uzumaki Naruto got home late, as usual, after a long day of training in the forest. He slammed the door behind him as he entered his apartment and, ignoring the growling protests of his stomach, he proceeded to his bathroom.

Training with Kyuubi exhausted Naruto of chakra and strength, but what he didn't like was getting dirty. He just hated the feeling of dirt on his skin, that's why he always takes a shower immediately after coming home. He wasn't a germaphobe or anything. He just liked being clean better then being dirty.

Naruto entered his small bathroom and stripped down to nothing as he stepped into the tub. He turned on the shower head and turned up the temperature to the hottest he could handle. Seeing that he could now endure Kyuubi's burning chakra without showing pain on his face, the water was pretty hot. Naruto soaked himself in the shower, feeling the hot water all over his small body and letting it soothe his aching muscles. He loved the water. It just washed everything away.

I wish water could wash troubles away as easily as it does dirt.

That's some wish kit.

Kyu, I thought you were sleeping.

I got bored sleeping.

Naruto sighed. In the two years he had known the demon, he could never figure the kitsune out and he was sure he never will. The blond ignored his demon and continued with his shower, scrubbing himself with vanilla-scented body wash (he hated using soap) and washing his hair with some sweet-smelling shampoo (that DIDN"T contain any fruit extract). After rinsing himself free of any irratating soap suds, Naruto got out of the shower and dried himself with a fresh towel. Wrapping the towel around his waist, Naruto went to his room and dug through his closet for some clothes.

Most of Naruto's bright neon-orange clothes were now in the laundry. He only wore those clothes in public and to sell his "village idiot" image. He absolutely hated orange, but it was the only color that appealed to him and looked stupid enough. What kind of ninja would wear "kill me" orange right? So, since it was evening and barely anybody would be out in the streets at this time, he decided that it was the best time to do his laundry.

Naruto pulled on some clean underwear, a black shirt, and black shorts that hung loosely around his knees. He then gathered his dirty laundry and trudged out the door, locking and slamming it behind him.

Help! Please help me!

Uchiha Sasuke ran through the village, tears streaming down his face and his heart beating painfully against his chest. His lungs were burning for he had been running for who knows how long. The poor boy had just witnessed the murdering of his clan by none other then his older brother, Itachi. He was confused, oh so confused. The person who he had looked up to his whole life, the person he wanted to surpass, the person he loved with all his heart, had killed their whole family, leaving no survivor save for the young Uchiha running throught the dark village streets.

Where is everyone?! Help! Please help me! Please help!

But no one could hear Sasuke's screams of help that were only inside his mind. Sasuke was too scared to speak, afraid that Itachi would hear him and kill him because he was weak enough to go running for help. He was too afraid to even think that the thought was too silly.

Sasuke was afraid, seriously afraid. He had never felt so much fear in his whole life, until now.

Itachi used his mangekyou sharingan on his own brother to make him experience the pain that their family members felt when they were killed. Sasuke could still see the images and feel the pain that his family felt.

Sasuke was so confused. So scared and confused.

Why wasn't there anyone on the streets?!

Thud!

"OOF!!!" cried two voices, the sound of them colliding resounding in the empty air.

"Watch where you're going!"

Sasuke looked around and saw a blond boy around his age sitting a few feet away from him with a laundry basket that had a fraction of its contents spewed onto the ground. The blond boy glared at Sasuke with amazing blue eyes, eyes that looked like an ocean even in the darkness of the night, but they immediately dropped the glare when they saw Sasuke's tear-stained face.

"Hey, why're you crying?" asked the blond boy.

Sasuke couldn't take it anymore. Before he could stop himself, he lunged towards the boy with sun-kissed hair and buried his face into his chest, tears falling freely from his eyes. The blond was surprised at Sasuke's sudden sobbing, but he didn't push the brunet away. In fact, the blond wrapped his arms around Sasuke and hugged the boy, comforting him.

"Don't worry, everything's okay," said the blond, hugging Sasuke even tighter. Sasuke just cried even harder bacause he knew everything wasn't okay.

After god-knows-how-long, Sasuke's sobs were reduced to hiccups and sniffles. He gently pushed himself away from the blond and wiped his face, his cheeks a little pink and his eyes bloodshot.

"G-Gomen," whispered Sasuke, his voice barely audible but the blond boy heard it.

"Don't apologize," he said, plucking on his shirt that was damp with Sasuke's tears. "You were sad, you couldn't help it."

Sasuke nodded, but didn't say anything. The blond gave him a curious look, then stuck out his hand.

"Uzumaki Naruto," he said.

"H-Huh?" said Sasuke.

"My name's Uzumaki Naruto. What's yours?" said Naruto with a kind smile.

"U-Uchiha Sasuke," said Sasuke, shaking Naruto's hand although hestantly.

"Hey, I think we're in the same class at the academy."

"Y-Yeah."

Naruto noticed that his attempts of making Sasuke smile were not working, so he had no chioce but to face the problem.

"So," said Naruto with a small cough."Why were you crying Sasuke?'

At that, Sasuke's eyes filled with tears once more and he covered his face with his hands and started crying again.

"M-My f-family's been m-m-murdered and I-I d-don't know what t-to d-do!" wailed Sasuke. Naruto's eyes went wide at this and he grabbed Sasuke's hand, wrenching it away from the brunet's face.

"Why didn't you say that in the first place instead of crying on my chest?!" he cried, making the Uchiha wince. "We have to go to the Hokage!"

Sasuke couldn't remember what happened next. He just suddenly felt himself being pulled by the blond boy - Naruto - and they were suddenly at the Hokage's office. Sasuke didn't know what was happening around him. He vaguely remembered Naruto talking to the Hokage about something, then some ANBU appeared and the aged Hokage barked orders at them before they left. Sasuke felt a stinging on his left arm and he looked down to see a cut on his tricep. The memory of hearing the screams and feeling the pain of his family flooded into him and Sasuke's started to feel faint.

"Sasuke? What's wrong? Sasuke!"

At that, Sasuke blacked out.

Where am I? What's that sound?

Sasuke slowly opened his eyes and found himself standing in his home, right outside the room he found his brother with his dead parents. Fear struck Sasuke's heart when he remembered opening those double doors and finding his mother and father dead on the floor, swimming in a pool of their own blood.

Wh-What am I doing here? Why am I here?

Sasuke looked around again and noticed that something was different. Everything was red. It was the same kind of red that Sasuke saw when Itachi used the mangekyou on him. But why was he seeing this way? Was he dreaming? Was the mangekyou still affecting Sasuke even when he slept?

There was only one way to find out.

Sasuke grasped the handles of the doors in front of him. Even though he knew he was dreaming, even though he didn't want to experience it again, even though his body was shaking with fear, Sasuke pulled the doors open, his heart beating frantically against his chest.

Sasuke was met by the same darkness he saw that night, but there was an unfamiliar sound and he was sure he heard nothing of the sort that night. Sasuke wandered into the room, listening to the sound. The doors slowly closed behind him, but he didn't notice it. He was only focused on the sound, the sound that he just realized was what he heard before opening his eyes.

Sasuke's eyes adjusted to the darkness and he was greeted with the same sight of his parents laying dead on the floor, but there was a third figure crouching on the floor next to his parents. This figure was shaking and Sasuke knew that the sound was coming from this figure.

The sound of crying.

Sasuke slowly approached the figure, but the figure looked up at Sasuke just as the young Uchiha was five steps away from it. Sasuke drew back in horror when he recognized the face.

The tear-stained face of his brother.

"You!" cried Sasuke, glaring at his brother with all the hate he could muster.

"S-Sasuke," whispered Itachi, looking at his younger brother with pleading eyes. Sasuke was taken aback.

Why was he crying? And why is he looking at me like that?

"Sa-Sasuke!" cried Itachi and Sasuke jumped. Itachi's eyes now showed fear and desperation, foreign emotions that Sasuke has never seen on his brother's face before. "Sasuke! Forgive me! Forgive me for killing them! Please forgive me!"

Sasuke glared at his brother, who was kneeling on the floor with fresh tears falling from his eyes.

"Why should I forgive you?! You killed our family! I will never forgive you! I hate you!" cried the younger Uchiha, fighting back tears of his own.

"I'm so sorry Sasuke," said Itachi, fighting back sobs. "Th-They ordered me to kill them. The Elders ordered me and they said that if I didn't do what they ordered, they'll kill you. I did what I was supposed to do to save you."

Sasuke stared down at Itachi, disbelief on his face. Was Itachi telling the truth or was it another lie? What was the truth? What was Itachi trying to do?

"O-Otosan was planning a coup de etat against Konoha." said Itachi, not breaking away from Sasuke's gaze. "The Elders learned about it somehow and they ordered me to kill everyone so that it will never happen. They expected me to make a fresh start, to rebuild the clan so that they'll be loyal to Konoha, but I couldn't do that. The guilt prevented me from eventually turning that goal into a reality. That's why I left you alive."

"To rebuild the clan?" said Sasuke despite of himself.

Itachi shook his head. "Not just that. I want you to forget everything I told you about killing your best friend to gain the Mangekyou Sharingan. You already have it."

Sasuke's eyes went wide. He already had the Mangekyou Sharingan? But he didn't even have his sharingan yet.

"I know how you can activate your sharingan," said Itachi, as if reading Sasuke's mind. "It will require skill, determination, and trust. Do you still trust me Sasuke?"

Sasuke looked down at his brother. Tears were still leaking from the older Uchiha's eyes and they looked sincere enough, honest enough. Sasuke's heart wanted to believe in his aniki, but Sasuke's mind didn't. Then, he remembered what his mother told him once.

"Sasuke, you must always trust your heart no matter what."

"What about our mind okasan? Ninjas should use their mind to think up of plans to survive and make traps and -"

"I know that Sasu-chan, but you use your mind for thinking. You must use your heart to make decisions."

Use your heart for decisions. . .

Itachi watched Sasuke as his brother thought about it. Itachi's heart sank when he saw Sasuke glare into space.

He doesn't trust me anymore. I really don't blame him. I should have told him instead of putting him through this pain. Did I make a mistake?

Anyone else would have a hard time believing that the Uchiha Itachi makes mistakes, but Itachi was human. He makes mistakes like everyone else. He wasn't a god after all.

Itachi snapped out of his own thoughts when he felt arms wrap around him. He saw it was Sasuke's arms and Itachi tensed.

". . . Okasan and otosan would be sad knowing that I hate my aniki," whispered Sasuke in Itachi's ears.

Itachi's body shook and he felt his eyes burn with tears, but he held them back and smiled.

". . . Arigato, otouto," he whispered back.

And the two brothers hugged. Even though it was in a genjutsu, it was real enough for them.

Naruto jerked awake when he almost fell off the roof he was sitting on. Last night, he had met Uchiha Sasuke, a boy whose whole clan had been killed by his older brother. He was worried for the boy, even though they had just met. Sasuke fainted right after they went to the Hokage for help and he has been in the hospital all night. They didn't let Naruto in to see him or sleep with him, so Naruto just waited on the roof all night. Because of his training with Kyuubi, he was able to endure the cold winds, After all, he endure far worst then that.

"Uzumaki Naruto," said a voice and Naruto looked around. Standing behind him was an ANBU with a cat mask. Naruto could sense it was a female.

"You're new aren't you?" asked Naruto but the ANBU didn't answer. That was all Naruto needed anyway.

"Hokage-sama is at the hospital," she said. "He said that if you want to come with him - "

"Let's go," said Naruto. standing up quickly and behind her mask, the ANBU smiled.

She wasn't one of those shinobis who hated Naruto because she was one of the few who understood that Naruto wasn't the Kyuubi.

The ANBU and ninja-in-training jumped off the roof and landed in front of the hospital. They stepped inside and Naruto immediately got glares from everyone in the room, but the Hokage, who was waiting for Naruto, approached them.

"Are you ready to go see your friend Naruto?" he asked and Naruto excitingly nodded at him.

Naruto still had to keep up his fake happiness. Not even Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Sandaime Hokage, knew what Naruto was really like.

But he was suspecting something, especially when he noticed that Naruto was wearing black instead of bright orange.

Sarutobi brought Naruto to Sasuke's room. It was all white, like most hospital rooms are. Sasuke was sleeping peacefully in his bed next to the window and Naruto saw that his arm was already bandaged.

"Ne, ojiji, is he going to be okay?" asked Naruto.

"He'll be fine," reassured Sarutobi. "He was just exhausted. He should wake up soon."

Naruto gave Sarutobi his patented fox grin. "Ne ne, is it okay if I stay with him until he wakes up?"

"I don't see why not," said Sarutobi, returning Naruto's smile with his own.

"Sir, the council," said the female ANBU and the aged Hokage nodded.

"I'm getting too old for ths job," mused Sarutobi to himself and he ruffled Naruto's hair before leaving. "Be good."

Naruto watched as the door clicked behind the Hokage and he returned to staring at Sasuke.

He looks so peaceful when asleep.

All people do kit, even me.

I kinda find that hard to imagine, but I'll take your word for it.

This brat's been through alot. It makes me wonder if it's worth having a family when they're just going to be taken from you one day.

You can't live without them though. . . We both know that.

Kyuubi nodded in Naruto's mind. Naruto was wiser then those his age. He understood things better then normal kids should. Maybe he was a genius, maybe he was just talented at that. Who knows.

Naruto reached over and brushed away a strand of hair that fell over Sasuke's face. Naruto then put a hand on Sasuke's forehead to feel if he was gaining a fever, but then Sasuke's eyes fluttered open and Naruto withdrew his hand.

"Sasuke!" he said. Sasuke attempted to sit up but got dizzy, so Naruto put a hand on his chest and forced him to lay down again.

"You shouldn't be moving around too much," he said, laying Sasuke down on his pillows again.

"N-Naruto?" said Sasuke, looking up at the blond. "What're you doing here?"

"I'm here to look after you of course," said Naruto with a smile was real and genuine that was rare for the kid. "We're friends after all right?"

"Friends?" said Sasuke. Then he smiled at Naruto, which was also rare for the child. "Yeah, we're friends."

Naruto was taken aback. He expected Sasuke to say "Maybe" or "No way! You're a demon" but he actually agreed with the blond.

What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?

Relax kit. Just go with the flow.

Naruto gave himself a mental shake and leaned towards Sasuke.

"So, Sasuke, are you alright?" he asked, worried about the effects last night had on Sasuke.

"I'm feeling fine," said Sasuke with a smile that wasn't fake and Naruto raised his eyebrows. "I mean, I'm sad that I don't have a family anymore, but my brother's still out there right? I trust that he'll come back."

"You know, if I were you, I'd hate my brother right now," said Naruto, looking warily at Sasuke.

Has he gone loco?

Sasuke shook his head. "I trust my brother. I love him. He told me the truth earlier, the reason why he killed our clan."

Naruto's ears perked up at this (not literally) and he stared at his friend.

"What do you mean by that?" asked the blond and Sasuke turned his head to look at him.

"Naruto, we hve to talk about something." he said.

"About what?"

"About Kyuubi."

Emolette: Woot! That was long. It took me a few days to finish that and there was a couple of revisings.

Naruto: Good job Emo-chan! You did great for your first fanfic!

Emolette: Yeah, I know. . . but I wonder how other people might think of it. Please review!!!

Sasuke: Even I applaud you Emolette.

Emolette: Yay! -snuggles Sasuke-

Naruto: Hey! Don't I get a snuggle?

Emolette: -snuggles both of them-

Naruto: Yay! -snuggles back-

Emolette: And just to fill in the blanks, Naru-kun and Sasu-kun are seven years old here, meaning Naruto acknowledged Kyuubi's existence when he was five. How you ask? Find out in the next chappie^^!

Naruto: Ya' know, you don't really act like an emo Emo-chan.

Emolette: Just because I'm not an unemotional brooder like Mr. Duckbutthead over there, doesn't mean I'm not an emo.

Sasuke: You love me, you hate me, make up your mind!

Emolette: I will love you and hate you Sasu-kun. Anyway, emo's are actually shy and are kind of socially-inept except around their own peeps. We're into arts and music and love skulls and dark stuff and lock ourselves up in our room with the radio on turned up so loud that no one hears us screaming. . . Oh wait, that's a song, hehe.

Sasuke & Naruto: -sweatdrop-

Emolette: We have our own unique style which is unlike punk and goth and we like to rock out loud!!! Except Sasuke. . .

Sasuke: Well excuuuuuuse me for being a total jerkass and devoting my life into killing my brother only to find out that he was actually protecting Konoha which I am now bent on destroying with the help of a long-lost and assumed dead ancestor and the Akatsuki which I am only using to my advantage and isn't really loyal too.

Emolette & Naruto: O.O -shocked silence-

Sasuke: What?

Emolette: . . . Dude, you just spoiled it for those who haven't read the manga and only watch the anime and have yet to find out the truth about you and your brother. . .

Sasuke: o.o; Oh

Emolette: Well, who cares? Let's just end this before the people get bored. Please review and I'll try not to put in anymore spoilers. . . or at least these two dunderheads won't.

Sasuke & Naruto: -turned heads and pouts- Hmph!

Emolette: TTFN! Ta ta for now!