Hello Friends! This is my first fanfiction, so please be nice to me! This is unbeta'd so please do not mind any grammar/spelling mistakes!

This fiction is not Yaoi, and will never be. It won't have any main pairings either. Side pairings can be suggested, though! The most it will
contain is a bit of bromance.

Disclaimer: The characters and settings are not mine. They belong to Masashi Kishimoto-Sensei. Please Enjoy!

Chapter 1- Contrast

"Monster"

"Demon Child"

The curses and screams rang on and on repeatedly inside my head. Was I really what they said I was? Was that what I was? What I should believe myself to be? A monster, a demon? Should I be shunned? Hunted? Left alone in the dark?

I knew but one thing, only that I will forever be subjected to this endless loneliness; a horrible punishment for a horrible monster.

Was I that monster?

It was night-time in the village of Konohagakure no Sato. Dark shadows casted by streams of moonlight covered every visible surface. No-one but the shinobi population and the extremely drunk civilians were still active at this time of the night.

The alley was dark and desolate. There was naught there but a young boy crouched near where walls met walls and formed a dead end, casting dark shadows over his little body. He appeared still, but if one was to look closer, they would find that tremors often racked his small frame and sobs escaped his mouth. But nobody would look any closer than as far away as possible.

This boy deserved it. He deserved the loneliness. He did not need pity.

Small hands clenched raven hair, eyes squeezed shut and face scrunched, trying desperately to conjure up a world where this terrible loneliness did not exist. Thinking on his stupidity, he let out a short, humourless chuckle. Even at his tender age of three summers, he knew that a world like that was nothing but a fantasy entertained in the mind for a short time, or maybe a while longer, if the thinker was a brave person.

Where humans existed, peace did not. He was a living testament of this statement. After all, what had he done but exist, to be hated by all who surrounded him? He was naught but a small boy, who had never known love, who had experienced things no-one, no matter the age, should experience.

Gradually, the sobbing reduced and the tears subsided.

The boy was left hunched the corner with a red nose and dirt-stained hands, as well an aching heart, a desperate heart, reaching out with a pitiful voice to anyone who would accept him, an empty heart.

Slowly, fingers unclenched and unfurled, and little hands were placed on the alley floor as the child picked himself up from the cold ground. Bearing a dirty face, excluding the two clean lines running from the corner of his eyes to the tip of his chin, carrying a slight limp and bruised knees, he slowly, dejectedly trudged back to his small, dark apartment, the alley-cats peering at his retreating figure.

The last thing they saw of him was the small symbol of a red-and-white fan stitched onto the back of his shirt.

Sasuke was an Uchiha. He was proud of this fact. Even if he did not properly know what that meant, it gave him something to hold on to. He had been told that the Uchihas were once a mighty clan. It was a clan that was feared and a clan that was admired. Once upon a time his father was a hero of this village. He was a great man, known for his intelligence and quick thinking, along with his impressive array of katon and ocular jutsu. Skills fitting for the head of Konoha's police force. Now, the man was a pile of bones buried in the ground, topped by a grey stone headstone stating only his name and profession.

His brother had been a brilliant fighter and he had excelled in everything that he did. Everyone had loved him, the famed weasel-masked ANBU, protector of the village. He was now resting under the same patch of dirt as his father.

His mother was a beautiful woman and a medic that had saved countless lives. But she had not saved Sasuke's. Yes, he was living, but at the same time he was not. He was a mere husk, a shell of what he could have been. The mirth of the villagers had seen to this.

And that was that. The proud Uchihas, once a clan set to dominate the world, now nothing more than a memory, save for one small boy who always cried and never laughed, and was treated more like a sewer-rat carrying a highly contagious, incurable disease than anything else. And they had all died for him.

And that one small boy was now standing in front of the leader of the merciless village.

Minato Namikaze was a man whose mere name struck fear into the hearts of all his enemies, no matter who they were. Also known as Konoha's Yellow Flash, he blazed around the battlefield with his cloak flowing in the wind, using the jutsu he had created using only his brilliant mind. His yellow hair almost too bright in the sunlight and his blue eyes flashing, he was able to decimate an entire army of iwa-nin in a matter of seconds. To the people of Konoha, he was a just and fair ruler, who made decisions according to the best interests of his people. He was a loving husband, a caring father and a trustworthy friend.

And now he was sitting in front of a young, raven haired boy, the last Uchiha, no less.

"How is your apartment, Sasuke?" His mouth curled into a half-smile," I know that you do not want to stay at that orphanage for a minute longer."

"It's okay." Sasuke peered at the ground and shuffled his feet. He was uncomfortable around any other form of human life, no matter how nice they appeared to be.

"No-one has hurt you?"

"Hn." His speech was reduced to monosyllables.

Minato sighed and rubbed his temples. How different Sasuke was to his own son, who was only a few months Sasuke's junior. Assuming the boy's answer meant a 'yes', Minato shuffled his papers around. He wanted to protect this child, he really did. He knew this boy had suffered at the hands of the Konoha people, although he did not know exactly to what extent, and he did everything in his power to make sure he was all right. He had made laws that had forbidden anyone from mentioning the monster that was sealed inside the young boy. He had forbidden anyone to attack him, or abuse him. That did not mean that every person respected these laws. Once, after a particularly bad case in which the boy was nearly beaten to death, he had tried adopting him.

Needless to say, that plan had failed badly. The boy was already scarred too deeply. He seemed unable to trust another person.

So Minato did the only other thing he could think of. He gave the boy his own apartment and constantly left him food, a few clothes and paid for his bills. He also tried to see the boy often and ask of his well-being, just like he was doing now.

Minato sighed once again. He could feel the beginnings of a headache forming.

"Sasuke, I'm going to have to decide something very important regarding your future. That is, I need to decide whether you are going to be attending the shinobi academy or not. Do you wish to?" Minato concluded his monologue and glanced expectantly at Sasuke.

"Hn,"was the not-too-surprising answer.

"Why not, Sasuke? You're five, Sasuke. This is usually the time you'd enrol. You'd be able to learn many skills and it may impact you positively. I know you'd love it."

Sasuke contemplated for his answer. Minato smirked. At least it wasn't going to be another one-word answer. Sasuke, for once, thought it over extensively. He did want to make use of his life. If he became a ninja, he would no longer need to worry about being attacked. He would be able to defend himself. But, he thought, there would be people there. To him, people were an uncharted territory; they were completely off his maps.

"Fine."

Damn. It was just one word. Minato ran his fingers through the long yellow strands of his hair. And just when he though Sasuke was going to start a soliloquy too.

"Great choice, Sasuke. You can go now. Take care. I'll register your name in the new academy student file for next year."

Wordlessly, the boy turned around and exited the door. No less than five seconds after he had exited, the door burst open once again to reveal someone similar, yet completely different to the previous person who had exited the room.

A flash of yellow flew into the office and landed on the desk of the esteemed hokage, knocking over more than just a few stacks of paper, hence the room looking like it was caught in a blizzard to anyone who just happened to walk past at that moment.

Minato sat, gaping and shell-shocked as the last vestiges of the paper snow-storm floated gently to the ground. And unlike the paper, what happened after that was not gentle.

Far from it.

From the mouth of our yellow haired hokage, came out three strangled syllables. A few seconds after, a scream of the same three syllables could be heard reverberating throughout the normally peaceful village.

"NA-RU-TO!"

The cause of the miniature disaster sat in the middle of the now empty desk.

"A-ah Dad. Y-you don't wanna t-talk? 'kay I-I'll just be g-going now then. Bye!"

And with that, the hurricane on feet disappeared out the door as quickly as he came in, a rather wise move.

Minato groaned and pushed his anger aside. His hands almost unconsciously formed the seals for a certain jutsu. As copies of himself popped up around him in the office, he slapped a hand to his forehead.

Thank god Sasuke was so different to his own son.

Naruto raced out of the Hokage building. His black shirt, decorated with an orange Uzumaki swirl, fluttered lightly. His feet lightly tapping the floor at every step he took. He took a leap upwards and settled onto a telephone pole, wires protruding haphazardly from its centre point. He took another bound, landing with both hands and feet on top of a red-tiled roof, before dashing accelerating forward once again.

Since it was such a beautiful day today, Naruto decided he would go visit a wily old scarecrow. He was in the mood for playing with the dogs. Pakkun, the lazy pug, always made him laugh.

His kaa-chan and his aniki might be worried if he didn't tell them where he was going. He shrugged the thought off. Oh well, even though he was only four, they should know perfectly well that he was a ninja. He could take care of himself. He dashed forward, arms held loosely behind him, with even more resolve. As he ran, he glanced up at the mountain in which the hokage faces were carved, and at that moment, he felt the abrupt, unquenchable urge to laugh.

So laugh he did. His father's face had been priceless. His small hands gripped the cloth covering his stomach and his back hunched, shoulders quivering, giggles escaping his mouth before turning into full-blown howls. He bent over, tears threatening to spill from his eyes. Eventually, they resided, and he was left with a sore stomach and civilians wondering why there were strange sounds, sounds that would best be described as coming from a hyena on a soldier pill, coming from the general direction of their rooves.

Seriously, though. He was going to be up there someday, immortalised as a carving in a mountain with his dad. He was going to be the greatest hokage ever and he'd kick enemy ninja butt!

He was already considered an amazing ninja for his age, a prodigy if you must, just with an unfortunate bit of an immature streak. He'd already learnt to use chakra and do simple exercises, like the henge and the kawarimi, courtesy of his dad, and he was going to be attending the academy next year! He couldn't wait! Even though he already had many friends, both his age and older, Naruto was always up for meeting new people. After all, what was a hokage without his acquaintances? He nodded his head resolutely. If he was going to be hokage, he was going to be a popular one, more popular than his dad ever will be.

He was going to be superior to his dad in any, and every, way possible.

And so there was Naruto, dashing to the house of his father's student, yellow air flowing in the speed-generated wind, the orange of his sweatpants the only thing the civilians could catch a glimpse of as he swept by. Suddenly he stopped, his ears perking up. He could hear something, but it was extremely faint. Stopping for a moment, he channelled chakra to his ears and cocked his head, listening intently.

Yes! There it was again, that strange, sobbing cough. Was an old lady being attacked by thieves? Well, she wouldn't be soon. Not if he had anything to say about it! Never fear, Uzumaki Naruto is here! He flexed into a heroic pose, accentuated with a fist pump, and with calculated, chakra-enhanced steps, he dashed to the scene of the crime.

Short legs pumped as he ran. Left right left right. Jump up, jump down, land, duck. Bright cerulean eyes glanced around, trying to detect the source of the sound. Chakra-enhanced ears identified faint sobs and his nose picked up the slight scent of tears. Estimating where the next landing was, he performed a leap, ending with a skid, causing the red tiled roof to groan out in protest.

Naruto peered over the edge of the roof, eyeing every possible place, unconsciously looking for a poor old woman. His gaze finally fell onto the alley directly below him. His eyes slowly widened, and he gasped. This would have to be the last thing he was expecting.

"M-Mizuki-san?"

Le gasp! Who is Naruto's mysterious brother, and why is Mizuki there? The first person to guess both right before the next chapter is posted, I'll reward them with a one-shot dedicated to them! Any pairing and does not have to be Naruto fiction, just not R-18, please!

Since this is my first fanfic, I'd love any constructive criticism. I'd love it if you could review!

Notes: Kakashi means scarecrow, therefore the scarecrow Naruto is going to visit is Kakashi. Just remember that. Kaa-chan is an affectionate way of saying 'mum', or 'mother', and aniki means older brother. Henge is the body changing jutsu(sexy no jutsu is a form of henge) and Kawarimi is the body-switching jutsu.

I tried to keep the personalities on all the characters and not make them too OOC.

Thanks for reading my fic!

Ja!