Disclaimer: my powers of ownage could never even rival those of Kishimoto-sama...

Author: Sokushi

Date Written: 12/10/07

Date Modified: 12/11/07

Chapter: (1- Prologue)

Warnings: yaoi ( more like shounen-ai for now), violence, language, blood and gore, all around weirdness, Shippuden(spoilers), crappy writing.

Pairings: NaruSasu so far, but not for a bit…

Authors notes: A bit vague in this chapter, but it is a prologue so I didn't want to give everything away. The idea for this fic just hit me when I thought about all the possibilities there are after Sasuke's betrayal, and I got stuck on one in particular.Happens during Shippuden...so no 12 year olds left in the Rookie nine. This chapter is ...a little longer than wthat I wanted for a prologue...but considering it's practically a third of what will probably come out in the next parts...pretty reasonable I think.

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Naruto Uzumaki had witnessed the impossible, and was sometimes an impossibility within himself. He had seen a boy move through a land of mirrors, and played host to the most fear inspiring of all demons, Kyuubi no Kitsune.

On a lesser note, he had also witnessed the fabled Uchiha-Sasuke-Smile (way different from the Uchiha-Sasuke-Smirk), defeated the Sandiame through use of his own original jutsu (Hokages really should be prepared for anything!), seen first hand the paradox of Kakashi's mask (can't even explain that one…), and had shattered the Ichiraku Ramen Record ( 21 bowls).

There was a first for everything – and Naruto had seen most of them.

Still… even he'd never thought he'd see the day Jiraiya's face managed to match his hair colour.

Murphy's Law was a bitch.

So, maybe he shouldn't have had that sparing session with Lee...again.
Maybe he shouldn't have allowed himself to be bribed by a certain Sannin for help with 'research'. Maybe he should've just made sure he wasn't caught…he was a ninja after all.

But Naruto had done it all before; had crashed, burned and basically smashed his way through everything. He'd fought against countless foes, sometimes friends, and lived (with a little help of course from a certain demonic tenant).

Maybe other ninja's couldn't do it , but Naruto could, he had and you could be sure he'd do it again.

In the end the milk had done it.

That one carton of god forsaken milk that seemed to always defy every law of physics and continued to exist at the back of his fridge! Naruto couldn't even remember the last time he'd bought any milk...which might have been the reason why it had gone expired. Nonetheless, this was obviously some form of cosmic revenge! Some cruel joke played on him by one sadistic bastard called fate.What could he have done to deserve this: a day wasted sleeping, a fitful night's sleep and one hell of a stomach illness.

The circumstances had conspired against him, had obviously confined him to this situation. They'd forced him to this hospital, chained him to this bed and imprisoned him in unconsciousness for the next day.

….okay, so maybe he should just learn to check the expiry dates.

Either way, it was all because of Murphy's-god-damn-Law that all of this had happened all at once, that he had been completely knocked out, that he had missed the commission outside his door that very night.

If there was one thing Uzumaki Naruto wouldn't have missed for all the ramen in the world, it was what had just been wheeled into the high security, ANBU guarded room down the hall.

----

The cool breeze flowed into the heavy, stifled air of the room.Soft sunlight trickled in, bringing colour to the plain white walls.

"Mou…no flowers…not even a get well card. You sure no one came at all to visit me? Not even a big, leering, weird guy with white hair?" Naruto mumbled as he haphazardly shoved on his sandals, while the young nurse opened his window before moving to the door with a few charts held tightly to her chest. She tried to keep her eye from twitching as she saw, from the corner of her eye, the boy gesturing wildly at his own hair and pulling a few 'leery' faces.

" I'm sure. Now, Naruto-kun please try to rest. You have to wait until later for us to release you before you can leav-", the nurse turned back, glimpsing the empty bed and open window, "eh?!...," a sigh, "well, at least he stayed longer than last time…"

----

Ramen had always been a comfort to him. As far back as he could remember there had always been at least a few villagers who had given him side glances, and kept their children away. As a child, a smile was a gift, a token like no other. The other children would stay away from him, and he was always suffering those cruel looks from the adults, unsure of what he had done.

So when he was short on cash one day, stopped by a little stand across the street and was welcomed by a hearty looking man and his daughter, he had known what his favourite food would forever be.

Though the soup had warmed him on chilly winter nights when a cold, empty apartment had been the last place he had wanted to be, Naruto knew that that had never been the reason he loved ramen.

It reminded him of his first welcome among the villagers, recognition of his existence and of the acceptance he craved. Sakura always muttered that he ate ramen as though he had been starved. And he had been...emotionally. He slurped his noodles so ravenously because he could just taste the care put into them, for him. That alone made them the greatest meal for him. He ate so quickly because he couldn't wait for the day that he would feel the same way about Konoha itself. The day he would see every citizen look at him with trust, and respect.

Today he could not eat.

From the moment he had walked onto the street, he had felt all the glances on his back. Not the ordinary, oh-look-its-the-demon-look, but one full of fear, of hesitation, of anxiety. Of something hidden. He practically sprinted over to the ramen stand before plopping himself down to his usual seat.

"Na, gimme a large miso ramen, Oji-san!" he split his face with his customary grin, "the largest ya got, ne!" When he didn't hear any response he cracked open one eye form its crescent and glanced upwards, only to be greeted by the same hesitant stare.

"N-Naruto-kun…are you sure you feel like eating right now?" his daughter mumbled next to him, looking shocked. "I mean…we thought for sure that you'd be at the hospital…"

The blond boy lost his grin altogether, "…hospital? Eh?! That stupid ero-sennin just had to go and tell everyone, didn't he?! Couldn't keep anything to himself!?" That's why everyone had been looking at him with that face; no doubt the Sannin had embellished the story of a simple stomach illness. Naruto wasn't sure he wanted to know all the details.

He tried not to let that oncoming pout form as he looked back at her " Mou, it wasn't that bad, really, I mean- " He jumped a bit as a bowl of steaming miso pork ramen was slammed down in front of him by the chef who had by now plastered a fake smile on.

"Naruto, eat up! Hurry up before it gets cold," and with a lastwarning glance to Ayame, he turned back. She hurriedly turned from Naruto and began to quickly chop some vegetables.

The smell wafted up to his nose, but it didn't have to same effect as usual. He didn't smell, warmth and comfort... just ramen. The jinchuuriki looked once more to both of them, noting the forced ease in their movements. What the hell had Jiraiya told everyone?!

Chop, chop, chop.

He picked up his spoon, and lifted some of the soup to his mouth, sipping it quietly. It was ramen, the same as always.

Chop, chop,…chop.

He tried to ignore the sound, the shaky movement of the knife in a hand so used to deftly chopping. He instead took a bite of the noodles, chewing slowly, but not savoring the taste at all.

Chop…chop….

He could barely taste sweet flavour, or the balance of the liquid. He looked up again at them, and saw what was wrong, what had ruined this perfect picture.

Ch……chop, chop.

He didn't want anymore. And it wasn't because of his stomach.

"Ne, 'ji-san, I just remembered I promised I'd help Sakura-chan with something," he slid quietly off the seat, and began to walk smoothly down the street," I'll just have to come by later tonight!"

He felt the tension leave their shoulders when they thought he couldn't see anymore and tried not to care

----

"Stupid, lousy pervert. First he kills me," Naruto walked up the steps to Hokage tower, hands shoved into his pockets, the very picture of a dejected child, "then he goes and tells everyone I had stomach problems, and he probably made up nasty details to get everyone to stare at me too!"

He spotted the Godiame's pretty dark-haired secretary walking down the hall, "Oi, Shizune-chan! Have you seen ero-sennin around, he owes me a ton of ramen."

As she looked up at him, he noticed her look of shock across her already pale, strained face, and everything clicked into place.

"He's inside hiding isn't he ?! Him and Baa-chan, they came up with this whole thing together didn't they, probably all of yesterday too! Got poor Lee to agree to train, and then planned fake research….well, actually no...he just likes the research, that sick pervert," he ran towards the end of the hall, "and the milk! They planted it there didn't they, to get me sick!"

"Naruto, no! Wait-"

The blond demon vessel just barely managed to dodge her hands as they tried to grab hold of him, " What?! Shizune! Don't tell me you were in on it too?! I thought you were above Baa-chan's schemes!" He made a quick dodge past her as she tried to block him, and spun around to the door, noting off-handedly that it was free of guards for some reason, "Did you put the milk in my refrigerator? That's just low, using my trust like that!" He grabbed the doorknob, slipped inside and slammed the door shut before she could get in.

Turning, he noticed what seemed to be a full ANBU team by either side of the door. A little much, but it was the office of the Hokage.

"Baa-chan! How could you?! I mean, I know that I'm loud and all, and that you're just a bit jealous of my awesome Hokage abilities," Naruto planted his hand firmly on his hips, a pose he had picked up from one of his less pleasant encounters with Iruka, and turned to face the rest of the room, " but how could you sink so low as to help that Jiraiya?! He's just some no-good, perverted au-"

…his hands fell limply to his sides

----

His breath caught in his throat.

Silky black hair….

His mouth tried to form the words, his heart pounding in his chest. How? His fingers twitched, limp at his sides, how?

Stoic expression…

The rushing sound in his ears grew louder. He vaguely registered chakra pulsing at his finger tips, pushing out. Ero-sennin's face painted white, a faint gasping sound from Sakura, Kakashi out of the corner of his eye making a gesture at the two ANBU now directly behind him, Baa-chan's furious expression as she stood up from her chair.

Pale skin…

Redness at the edge of his vision spreading until it all bled down slowly, dripping into his sight, and heat. More and more against his fingers; the chakra burning, hot, old…not his this time.

His mouth was dry, but a sound escaped him, harsh and rasping. Here was the only thing...that had ruined everything.

Red eyes…

"…Bastard."

His hands caught against something cold, sharp, and familiar, but had no chance to launch it as his arms were grabbed forcefully from behind.

"YOU!" his voice boomed, along with another in sync with his own, both rumbling from his chest. He lunged forward, face twisted in an animalistic snarl.

Red eyes, that one true shade…

"Naruto! Stop it-"

He struggled forward again, and felt the explosion of chakra in the air, red and ancient.

All wrong.

Naruto never thought he's see the day Jiraiya's face matched his hair colour…

He also never thought he'd see the day Uchiha Itachi willingly walked into Hokage tower

TBC...

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