All characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto :D
Prologue
Light spilled across the land in a steady stream of glowing orange, spreading across the land quickly, flooding the land and filling up even the darkest crevices. The tall spires and glass window panes caught and reflected the light, creating blinding flashes now and then as the sun continued to climb up the sky.
Early as it was, people were already milling around the busy city of Konoha, most in business suits, hurrying to work armed with black, professional briefcases. They all hurried along minding their own business, never regarding each other, other than an occasional nod or a muttered "sorry" or "excuse me". So engrossed they were in getting themselves to work on time, that they all failed to notice a small bundle of red and yellow, curled up in a dark street corner the sunlight seemed to have missed. All except one.
Business executive Uchiha Fugaku, head of the leading law firms Uchiha and Hyuuga, was a busy man. Sitting across of him in his sleek black limousine was his youngest son, Sasuke. The five year old raven haired boy was currently staring out of the tinted windows, wondering why nobody waved back when he waved at them.
"Aniki! Why are they ignoring me?" Sasuke whined, crawling into the lap of his older brother, Itachi. "Shhh," Itachi shushed him. "If you continue being so noisy, otosama won't bring you along anymore."
Sasuke's eyes widened, and obligingly put a finger over his lips, turning back to stare out the window. As the limo came to a stop at a traffic light, something caught the eye of the youngest Uchiha.
"Otosama! Aniki! There's someone over there!" Sasuke said, jumping up and down on the seat. Itachi frowned.
"Didn't I tell you to be quiet? Don't disturb otosama."
"I'm serious! There's someone lying over there!" Sasuke insisted obstinately, pointing with a chubby finger. "See?" he asked, pulling Itachi over. Itachi sighed, and obligingly took a quick glance to pacify his brother.
To his surprise, he saw a young blonde boy, dressed in a shabby red jacket, curled up in the corner of 1st street.
Itachi turned to his father. "Otosama, there's a boy – "
"Don't bother," his father interrupted. "We can't go around saving all the beggars in Konoha."
"– I don't think he's any older than Sasuke, otosama." Itachi continued, looking at his father, as the man frowned and glanced at his watch.
"I'll be late for the board meeting…"
"Please, otosama?" Sasuke asked, looking at his father pleadingly. "He looks lonely, like how I feel when Aniki doesn't have time to play with me."
Fugaku caved in, unable to refuse his youngest son's request.
"Itachi, could you take Sasuke –"
"Sure," Itachi said, opening the door and carrying an excited Sasuke out, crossing the road quickly before the lights changed. He walked briskly over to where the young boy lay, Sasuke in tow. The blonde's eyes were shut in what he hoped was sleep. He knelt down, and checked for a pulse, sighing in relief when he found a strong steady one. The boy stirred, and his eyes opened sleepily, revealing two shockingly brilliant blue eyes.
Blinking sleepily, his fuzzy vision came into focus on a pale face framed with long dark hair, bending over him concernedly.
"Mmm… who're you?" he mumbled, rubbing his eyes as he tried to sit up. Opening them again, he saw another face behind the first one, who looked exactly like the mini version of the big one, with shorter hair.
The smaller one was saying something, but he was really really tired, and couldn't hear anything. His vision began to swim, and he felt blood rush to his head, tinting his vision in a reddish hue before the world suddenly became dark.
Sasuke gasped as the boy's eyes rolled back and collapsed on the pavement.
"Aniki! Aniki! What happened?! He's not dead, is he?!"
Itachi frowned. "No; he fainted. And we're bringing him home now. Come along," he said, as he picked up the small boy. He was actually even smaller than Sasuke. Itachi frowned deeper when he wondered why such a small child was left to fend for himself.
He flagged down a taxi back home, and in a matter of minutes, the taxi pulled up outside the Uchiha estate with the help of a fifty dollar bribe to break the speed limit. He quickly carried the boy into one of the guest rooms in the east wing, settling him down into the bed before calling for the family doctor. He didn't know how long the boy had been out there, and did not want to take chances.
Sasuke peered round the doorway, staring at the soon-to-be newest occupant of the Uchiha household. Itachi saw him, and beckoned for him to enter.
"Stay with him until the doctor comes, alright?" he said, standing up. "I have to get back to work."
Sasuke nodded solemnly, and sat by the blonde boy's side as instructed as the tires of his older brother's own car squealed and left the estate.
While waiting for the doctor, Sasuke took the opportunity to really look at the blonde. His hair stuck out all over his head in a messy heap of blonde spikes, but yet seemed to fit his tanned face. He noticed that on each of his cheeks, there were three faint lines that looked rather much like whiskers. Reaching out a hand cautiously, he traced the whisker-like markings with the tip of his index finger, jerking back quickly when the blond twitched slightly.
Then, Sasuke heard one of the help open the door, and a tall woman in a traditional white doctor's coat entered the room.
"Thank you," she said, dismissing the maid, before turning to Sasuke. "Hello, Sasuke. I hear you got a new friend," she asked, smiling.
"Shizune!" Sasuke beamed. "Can you make him better?" he frowned. "He's been sleeping a lot."
"I'm sure there isn't anything wrong with him, but I still have to do a check up. You go outside and play for a moment, then I'll call you back in, okay?"
Sasuke frowned and was about to protest, but Shizune gave him a stern look.
"Now, you want the best for your friend, don't you?"
"Yes…" Sasuke frowned. "Okay."
"Don't worry," Shizune laughed as Sasuke sulked out. "I won't be long, really."
True to her word, Sasuke was called back into the room after only about 10 minutes. He ran ahead of the maid who'd been sent to call him, and eagerly flung open the door. The first thing he saw was the boy, sitting upright in the bed, leaning on the headboard, propped up by pillows.
Excited yet curious, Sasuke approached the boy enthusiastically.
"You're awake!"
The blonde stared at him for a moment, head titled to a side before he broke into a dazzling sunny grin. "Hello, I'm Uzumaki Naruto. Who're you?"
Sasuke grinned. "Uchiha Sasuke," he replied, extending a hand.
Naruto stared at the cool, pale, outstretched hand, and looked up at Sasuke quizzically.
"You don't know what's a handshake?" Sasuke asked. Naruto shook his head slowly.
"Here," Sasuke said. "You stretch out your hand too, and hold mine," he said, taking Naruto's hand. "Then, you shake it slowly up and down," he continued, demonstrating.
"Whaddyou do this for?" Naruto asked, still confused.
"I dunno…" Sasuke said, letting go of Naruto's hand. "I never thought of that before. I guess it's to show that we're friends now!"
Naruto grinned again. "Friends!" It sounded nice. Friends. Nice ring to it, too.
And it was as such, that led to the coincidental meeting of Uzumaki Naruto, and Uchiha Sasuke, and how the former came to live in the Uchiha estate.
It all seemed like a fairytale, perfectly story-like was the manner in which Naruto had entered the lives of the Uchihas. But then again, since when was life sweet and charmed all over?
No more than a year later, Sasuke's parents were murdered in cold blood in the dead of the night. It was a great shock to the six year old, and he was never the same again. Who could be, after finding out that the killer was someone none other than someone he trusted, someone who had been close to him; his own brother?
He became cold, and uncaring, the warm smiles and laughter that he used to share with his best friend, Naruto, was now replaced by a cool, aloof mask, to hide the blood-thirsty want for revenge underneath, never really suppressed nor dormant.
Their fairytale life had shattered before their eyes, and there was nothing he could do about it.
A.N. So... how's it? College has been hard on me, so I couldn't write more often. I decided to write more Naruto fics, and well, here's one I thought up on a whim! Haha :D
I've got an idea too, anyways. I think I won't waste time writing things that are boring, or not appealing or anything, so share in a review what you think, and I'll see if I should continue this one, or set about writing a new one, kay? :D
