Warnings: Blood, Gore, Violence, Hetero, Lemon Scented
I put hetero in there because I am very grateful to all the writers who take the time to label their yaoi fics as such and assume that as I don't want to read yaoi they don't want to read my stuff.
Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING other than plotlines or OCS
Story Starting, Kupo- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Chapter Starting, Kupo- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Chapter 1: (I've Got a Friend in Me, and You Too!)
Naruto Uzumaki, a boy destined to be the hero of the world in all but the most tragic of realities, Jinchūriki container of the demon Kyuubi no Kitsune, and currently, four years old and settling down for bed. It had been a good day, Kuma and Neko had taken him and bought him the best food he had ever had: Ramen. The man running the stand had been really nice too, and before they had left Naruto had asked "Are we friends?" the old man had smiled down at him and told him that yes, they could be friends. Naruto lived in the Konoha orphanage on the edge of the village, in a small room that was empty save for a small nightstand, a lumpy, stained mattress, and a rod stretching from one side of the room to another from which he hung his orange jumpsuits he wore everywhere.
Neko appeared by his bedside, her porcelain cat mask now forgotten, hanging from her waist. "Will you be alright now, Otouto1?" The blond sat up with such speed that only her Anbu training kept her from flinching and wrapped her in a big hug. Yūgao froze for a moment before returning the gesture. Her recruiter had told her that she was to be looking over the reincarnated demon fox, but she just couldn't reconcile the image he had given her, a cunning, evil being that would kill her the moment he had an opening, with the small boy in front of her, desperately wanting to be loved. Without even thinking about it she came to her decision: she would take this boy in, Anbu status be damned! "Otouto, would you like to live with me and Kuma instead of this orphanage?" The boy stared at her, wide-eyed, drawing slightly away, and clearly wary of it being a trick, and that was the last straw. "Please, Otouto?" The boy began to nod vigorously and Kuma appeared at her side, removed his mask, and picked the boy up before turning to her.
"Commander is not going to like this, Yūgao." The purple haired woman shook her head, Hayate was always worried. However, he caught her off guard by smiling, "The hell with him though, this is our Otouto, and he can just deal with it." Yūgao gave him a quick peck on the cheek and they took off towards their civilian home. Neither noticed Naruto's eyelids twitching in his sleep.
Naruto's Mindscape
"Wow! What are you?" Naruto stared at the dog sized Kyuubi trapped under the jungle gym. Then he looked around, trying to figure out where he was. He was surrounded by a vast playground with everything you could imagine, slides, swings, and all kinds of rides.
"Kit" the Kyuubi spoke, getting Naruto's attention "This is the inside of your mind." To Kurama's shock the boy reached right through the bars and started petting him as if he really were just a dog! "I- You- Stop that Kit!" The boy pulled back and looked at him for a moment before asking the most shocking thing Kurama had ever heard.
"Can we be friends?"
"I am the Kyuubi no Kitsune, the Demon Fox. I was forcibly sealed inside you to save your village. I've killed thousands of shinobi and I regularly change the landscape on my bad days. What say you to that?" Kurama gave him a knowing look, certain that the boy would either cower in fear or run away in disgust now.
"But can we be friends?" Kurama gawked at the boy for nearly a minute before regaining himself. He couldn't take advantage of the boy, no matter how much he wanted to. People had the wrong idea about Kurama, yes he could be murderous, sure he would kill those who challenged him, but he wouldn't just kill some small child who hadn't wronged him in any way. Not of his own free will…
"Kit… I'll make you a deal. We can play a game, and if you win I'll be your friend, but if you lose you have to leave me alone." The boy nodded his agreement "The game is like tag, but I'm always it. I have to tag you nine times before time is up to win." He pointed his snout up and a timer, with three hours on it, appeared in the sky. Naruto nodded and asked if there was anything else before they started. "You need to let me out of here Kit." Naruto ran over and opened the fence gate holding the bijuu in before running off. Kurama grinned "Let the game begin."
Three Hours Later
Three Hours flew by, and by the end of it, though he had failed to tag the boy once, Kurama had had fun. "Three hours is up, you're my friend now right?" Kurama was a man… fox… being of his word and nodded to the panting boy right before they both flopped down, exhausted. Kurama reached his fist out to the boy. "Bump your fist with mine Kit. Being my friend has more benefits than you know about right now, and this is how we make it official." The young boy eagerly returned the gesture before collapsing the rest of the way and passing out. Kurama looked at the boy musingly. He didn't know why, but the way the boy treated him reminded the fox of the Sage and his kindness. "Don't lose that Kit, don't disappoint me and make me hate humans again." Kurama curled up for a nap as Naruto's mental avatar faded away, but he could swear that he heard the faintest 'I won't' come from the shimmering boy.
Kurama smiled.
ONE YEAR LATER
A young boy, no older than five sat under a tree, eating some tomato slices and thinking about, well, everything. This boy is Sasuke Uchiha, destined to make a choice of fate, to walk into the heel-face revolving door and get stuck in all but the best and worst realities, to be the rational calm to his best friend's wild emotion when the time came. Currently though he is being bullied by people who hate him for his clan.
"Come on then fag, use your eyes to beat us up Mr. Clan Bigshot" one boy taunted, finishing off the tomato slices he had taken. "Yeah, hurry up and use that reputation of yours to get rid of us." A second continued. The third boy got a nasty smile on his face "Hold him down, the only thing he's gonna use his clan for is to get a good hospital room." The bully stood over Sasuke and swung his fist down… Then he promptly flew across the clearing when he took a punch to the face instead. The remaining two bullies jumped away in shock. "Y-you?!" "What're you doin here?" The boy who had nailed the ringleader ignored the other two and walked over to the panting Uchiha instead.
"Hey, you alright?" Sasuke nodded shakily, himself slightly afraid of the inordinate power he had just seen. "I'm Naruto, who're you?" The boy looked back and forth between Naruto and the fallen bully before taking a calming breath and answering.
"My name is Sasuke, Sasuke Uchiha." Though he would never admit it, his initial fear was quickly turning into admiration for the blond… But Naruto really didn't need to know that…
"Well Sasuke, you know any Taijutsu?" The Uchiha nodded hesitantly "Don't worry, you won't get in trouble for defending yourself, or others." Naruto had been in this situation before, he had saved a pale eyed girl a little younger than him from these same bullies, handed their asses to them actually. "Let's go get em!" The pale boy looked at him then nodded, he knew some Uchiha Style Taijutsu and fell into the Lion Form easily enough. They each charged their opponents. Sasuke stopped short and made a taunting gesture, the Lion Form was counter based. His opponent took the bait and Sasuke caught his aggressor's wild haymaker before even started, stepping into extreme close combat and driving his elbow several times into the older boy's solar plexus. He stepped aside quickly as his opponent lost his lunch and the tomato slices he had stolen all over the dirt. He turned to where Naruto had just finished pummeling his opponent into the dust when he felt a presence appear behind them. He turned and gave a joyous shout.
"Itachi-nii!" He enveloped his big brother in a hug. Causing Itachi to chuckle lightly at the sudden change in mood.
"Care to explain what just happened?" Itachi gestured to the prone forms and the boy in orange, "Those three are Genin, fresh yes, but still ranking ninja. You're skilled, but even if there were two of you I…" Itachi froze while staring at Naruto. "You're… Naruto Uzumaki aren't you?" the boy nodded and Itachi smiled "So that's how." Sasuke gave him a confused look and Itachi decided to clarify "Uzumaki-kun here has been living with two former Anbu members for about a year now, and I'd reckon he has a few tricks from them. Tell Yūgao-chan and Hayate-san that Itachi2 says hi would you Uzumaki-kun?" With that Itachi Uchiha vanished in a swirl of leaves.
"Hey, wanna be friends?" Naruto was held his fist out to Sasuke expectantly. Sasuke stared at it numbly for a moment before smiling and nodding. He met Naruto's fist with his own and just like that, their destinies were decided.
Chapter Ending, Kupo- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1 Otouto: Little brother
2 A little joke, Itachi means "Weasel" in Japanese, and Itachi wore a Weasel mask in Anbu
Well, the first chapter. I haven't written in such a long time… The second should be up in a day or two. Don't know how long this story will go, lets just see the interest yeah?
UPDATE: Okay, I've decided that every three chapters I'm going to go back and comb for mistakes again, at least until I get a beta-reader. If you would be interested in doing so please tell me in a review or send me a PM.
At Your Service,
Qwertyus Samson