Chapter 1

Stuck in a locker on the first day of his Senior year in high school; what a perfect way to start the morning. That prick thought it would be hilarious to knock his school books from his hands and onto the floor before shoving him into his open locker. The people around them had laughed and went on their way as the most popular kid in school picked on the loser of the school. Others were upset with the bullying but said nothing and left in hurry, not wanting to be subjected to the same misery.

What happened between them? They were such good friends once upon a time until they started their freshmen year in high school. It first started off with becoming rather quiet around him before it started to gradually get worse to the point where they started throwing fists. Him, Sasuke, and Sakura were as thick as thieves until then.

Sasuke Uchiha was his best friend from birth. His father and Sasuke's father were work partners and were friends as well, along with their mothers. Sasuke was socially accepted mostly because of his looks and money while he accepted the Uchiha because he liked him as a person.

Sasuke had raven black hair, eyes such a dark blue they looked black, and skin almost as pale as a sheet of paper. He was quiet most of the time, making him mysterious and one of the most wanted boy in school. He was intelligent and made sure to never use it against his best friend, until now that is. Now he uses it to belittle, mentally hurt, and scar him.

"He was never your friend, Naruto," the young man stuck in the locker said to himself, letting a few tears fall from his face. "He was only pretending. And Sakura is just too in love with that asshole to ever tell him what he's doing is wrong and unjustified. I think I hate her the most."

Sakura Haruno had been his and Sasuke's friend since elementary. She was beautiful with her green eyes and dyed pink hair that she had to cut short last year because of some kid who had accidentally gotten his large wad of gum stuck in her hair. She had admitted to him once that she was in love with Sasuke back in junior high, crushing his hope of ever dating her. Naruto was in love with her and charming ways a long time ago. Now he hated her with a passion, not because she was mean to him, no. She knew what Sasuke was doing was horrible and wrong, but she was too in love with Sasuke to tell him and turned the other way, pretending she hadn't seen anything. She kept her distance as well.

And because Sasuke was so popular and was always seen beating up Naruto, all the other bullies decided that it would make them look good in the Uchiha's eyes. That lasted for only week before they started keeping their distance. Whatever happened, Sasuke was the cause of it; he was the only one who as allowed to torture him. That didn't mean it kept everyone from muttering hurtful words or moving as far away from him as fast as possible.

He had no friends to make him smile anymore. No friends that made him laugh, ask how his day was, help him feel better about himself. Now he felt like an empty shell of who he used to be. And he couldn't fight back anymore, lest he get in trouble while the Uchiha got off scott free; even when Naruto just sat there and took it, he still got in trouble. The teachers never believed him, telling him that Sasuke would never do such a thing because he was an honorable student and had perfect manners. So he stopped trying.

"Honorable my ass," Naruto mumbled. He weaved a hand through his short, light blond locks of hair while his sky blue eyes tried blinking away his tears. He used the sleeve of his light brown shirt to wipe his nose and dry his face.

"Hello?" a woman's voice called quietly from outside the locker.

Naruto peeked through the slits near the top of the locker door and saw it was a teenage girl, but he couldn't get a good enough view of her. "In here," he answered.

"What the hell?" She sounded pissed off, which made the blond wince, thinking that maybe she was mad at him for some unknown reason. She walked over towards the locker he was in and opened it, catching him as he stumbled out. "Holy crap, are you ok?"

Naruto was surprised by the worried question and nodded slightly, pulling away from the girl and standing upright once again. Now that he was out, he could see that he had never seen this girl before and realized that was probably why she wasn't running from him upon seeing his face. It wouldn't be long until she too would start avoiding him.

"Thanks," he mumbled and made to go, but a gentle hand on his arm stopped him.

"You sure you're alright? 'Cause I can beat up the guy who did this to you," she said with a smile.

Once again he was surprised by the act of kindness and shook his head. "No, I'm ok. Just some light teasing." He laughed nervously as she gazed at him in disbelief, but said nothing more on the topic, much to his relief.

"Well ok, then." The smile returned to her face. "Oh wait a second!" She began searching through her black and lime green shoulder bag.

Naruto took this time to take in her appearance. She was short, at least 5'3", and was rather skinny but fit. Her white hair on the sides of her head was almost buzzed cut short while the top was left a little longer with her bangs almost falling over her right eye. Her eyes were such a light blue that they almost looked silver with only a slim line of eye liner marked around them with a light shade of brown eye shadow covering her eye lids. Her boobs... she had no boobs, she was completely flat chested and he thought for a second that she might really be a he, but he mentally slapped himself at that.

Her cloths were cute and showed off her curvy hips and plump butt. She wore a lime green hoody with the brand name Volcome stitched in cursive over the left side where her breast should have been. White skinny jeans adorned her legs while girlish combat boots adorned her feet. Size 2, spiral gaged earrings made from ivory hung from her ears, a flower of some kind hanging off the ends in the front. She had no other accessories adorning her hands, wrists, neck, or face, just the earrings.

She was cute, he had to admit, but he had no hope of ever dating her or even being her friend. As soon as the rumors about him starts to fly towards her, she'll start ignoring him like everyone else.

"Awesome shorts, where'd you get them?"

Her question had knocked him back from his mind and made him look down at his black cargo shorts that barely reached his knees. "Uh, they're my dad's." He expected her to start making fun of him for wearing his dad's clothing but was astonished when she replied back with:

"Looks like he's got some good taste, lucky." She grinned up at him before going back to scrounging through her bag. "My mom had some really cute clothes but she's a few sizes bigger than me. Ah!"

Naruto jumped at the sudden exclamation as she pulled out a sheet of paper.

"Do you have your schedule with you?" she then asked.

The blond bent down to where his books were still on the ground and picked them up with the help of the new girl and placed them in his backpack that he pulled from his locker, keeping his schedule out. She took the paper from his hand and gazed back and forth from her schedule to his, her smile gradually increasing.

"Well it looks you and I have our first class together as well as 4th and 6th. Would you like to become my tour guide for the day?" She beamed up at him with hopeful eyes as she handed his schedule back to him.

There was no way in hell that he could say no to such a cute face. "Sure." He stuck out his hand. "I'm Naruto Namikaze."

She took and shook his hand, amazing him by her strong grip. "Bamey Berry."

Naruto tried to hold back a laugh at the name as she rolled her eyes, most likely used to this kind of reaction. It was cute though and it fit her. He cleared his throat to recompose himself and motioned for Bamey to follow him.

Their first class was math, his worst subject. Not because he was bad at it, no, he actually did fairly well in it. It was because it was the only class that he had with Sasuke. The little prick made it his mission to make Naruto look like a fool in front of the class and teacher. What made it worse was that Sasuke's desk was right behind his. At least it was one class and not all.

Upon reaching the door, he gave a small sigh and prepared himself and opened the large metal door. He was met with his favorite teacher, Iruka's, disappointed gaze. Getting these kinds of looks from other teachers was fine with him, he could brush them off. But from Iruka, the only teach that actually listened to him and helped him with his work, he couldn't brush it off and it made him feel like a terrible person.

"And why are we late Naruto Namikaze?" the brown haired, brown eyed man with the scare across his nose asked with his arms crossed.

Naruto could see Sasuke smirking at him and almost glared hatefully back. Almost.

"I-"

"Well you see teacher," Bamey cut the blond off and stood beside him. "I found him locked in his locker with his books on the floor in front of it."

The disappointment was gone and replaced with worry. "Are you alright? Who did this to you?"

"I'm fine, it was just a little teasing gone to far," Naruto reassured the man and went to sit down so that the subject could be dropped and refilled with questions for the new kid, who stayed up front next to Iruka.

"I'm Bamey Berry," she started, ignoring the giggles, "and I'm from Alaska. Anyone who tries to pick on me and my new friend Naruto will get punch to the face." All this was said with a smile as everyone in the room became quiet at the mentioning of the blond's name. She sat in the only empty seat of the room, which she was happy to find was on Naruto's right side.

"Uh, thank you Bamey. Now let's continue from where we left off."

And class began once again.

It was lunch time and he was sitting alone, looking around for Bamey. He had yet to see her and his dream of finally having a friend was starting to die with each passing minute. She probably heard all the rumors already and no longer wanted to see him. At least she made math a little more bearable for him today, because every time Sasuke made to shove his chair with his foot or flick a pencil at him, one glare from Bamey made him stop and look away with a scowl.

With a sigh, he picked at his spaghetti with his fork, no longer feeling hungry. Fifteen minutes into lunch and his dream was gone. He was about to stand up, throw his food away, and go sit outside when a familiar head of white hair squeezed through the crowd, looking around until she spotted him and walked towards him with a warm smile. She sat down across the table from him and opened her lunch bag, pulling out PP&J sandwich and a pink can that said Peace Tea in the front; pink lemonade on top.

"Hey," she greeted before taking a large bite from her sandwich. "Sorry, I got a little lost trying to find my way here."

"Hey," Naruto greeted back slowly. "Uh, why are you sitting with me?"

She looked at him in confusion and swallowed before answering. "Because that's what friends do, they sit next to each other."

She still wanted to be friends with him? Naruto became little skeptical at this and thought maybe she was only playing with him, leading him along to his next assault. The reason why she was late to lunch was because she was planning with some other kids, or maybe even with Sasuke, to pull a cruel prank on him. Apparently, his distrust showed on his face.

"Look, Naruto," Bamey started gently, putting her sandwich down. "I'm not like those other assholes and pricks here. I truly want to be your friend if you'll let me. I want to get to know you and I'll let you get to know me. I've heard the rumors running up and down the halls, but I know from the look on your face that they're not true. I don't think you're a loser, I don't think your stupid, and I don't believe you're gay, but if you were who the hell cares. Who you love is no one elses business but yours."

She stood up and walked around the table to sit next to him. She held his gaze and gave a half grin. "If that one pompous asshole with the duck butt for hair bothers you again, let me know and I'll give him a a taste of his own medicine." She gave his forehead a light kiss, making him blush, and pulled her food towards her so she could stay sitting next to the blond.

What felt like a long time, he grinned in pure happiness. He thanked her and started eating as well. She nodded back and handed him a bag of fruit snacks which he gladly accepted.

The rest of the school day went by better than expected. After she declared loudly in the hallway that Naruto was her friend and she didn't give a shit what anyone else thought and if they had a problem then they could bring it up with her and she'll gladly beat their ass, she held his hand and let him lead her to her next class before going to his. Let's just say that he was left alone after that and was protected from Sasuke. She even defended him in the classes they had together and made the teachers look like fools. And if they tried to fail her or give bad grades that she didn't deserve, she wouldn't lay down and take it and would most likely have them fired since the principle was a fair and respectable man.

The two were walking out together, side by side and planning on spending the day together to strengthen their new found friendship. Naruto had already called his parents to let them know he was going out with a friend, to which his mother squealed in excitement.

"Oh shoot, I forgot my Ipod! I'll be right back!" Bamey said and hurriedly went back into the school, leaving Naruto alone on the concrete steps.

The blond couldn't help but smile as his eyes followed her until she disappeared through the doors. He wasn't expecting a fist to his face though and tumbled down the stairs and gripped his jaw in pain. Looking up, he tensed when he saw dark eyes glaring back down at him. He glared back and stood up, hand still on his jaw.

"Want do you want Uchiha? Came to torture me some more?" Naruto hissed as he dropped his hand back to his side. He was fed up with his once best friend's attitude. He didn't care if he got kicked out of the school, he was going to show that stuck up asshole a thing or two.

"Seems like someone got their courage back. Looks you need to relearn your place," Sasuke said with a smirk, chuckling when Naruto raised his fists. "You think you can fight against me and win?"

It was Naruto's turn to smirk. "You know I can. You know I'm a lot stronger than you." And he was. He may not be as tall as the Uchiha, but he had more muscle and was quick on his feet. "That's why you're going to make this an unfair fight." He knew that a couple of the raven's lackeys were sneaking up behind him, getting ready to jump him.

"You touch him duck butt and I won't hesitate to break your face that girls seemed so fond of for some reason!" Bamey's voice cut from behind Sasuke.

The raven raised an eyebrow as turned towards the white haired girl. He chuckled and stepped towards her. "And what is small thing like you gonna do, hm? Or are you even a girl?" He looked down at her flat chest before placing a hand where her right breast should have been. "What's a flat chested girl like you gonna do?"

Without answering, she gripped his wrist with her right hand and started pushing his thumb in a direction it shouldn't go with her left hand. This had Sasuke kneeling down on his knees to try and pull away from the pain, but the more he tugged the more she pushed. The crowd that had gathered around them were astonished at the sight of their king down on ground, hissing pain while the new kid barely had to move a muscle. The lackeys that had been approaching Naruto quickly turned tail when Bamey turned her glare towards them.

"Please don't hurt him!" Sakura screamed from the side, eyes brimming with tears. "Let him go!" Her cries went ignored.

Ever so slowly, Bamey leaned down to whisper into his ear. "Whatever your problem is with Naruto, get over it. He has better things to do than be your play thing. And if I ever hear or see you hurting him again, I won't be coming to break your thumb." With that, a nice loud snap echoed through the crowd, making them wince, which was soon followed by Sasuke screaming out in pain and holding his thumb after she let go. "I had breast cancer you jerk."

Naruto stood there in shock and felt a little bad for the raven haired boy, but cruel delight over flooded it, making him grin slightly. But that was soon replaced with shock again when he realized that was happy Sasuke got his thumb broken, making him feel sick to his stomach. Yes, he wanted Sasuke to feel pain, but he never thought about breaking anything. Bruising yes, breaking no. He watched as the Uchiha stood up, cradling his left hand to his chest, Sakura worrying over him, before Bamey started to lead him away and towards her car.

He got into the dark blue GMC Sonoma and stayed silent as she drove out of the parking lot, only speaking to give her directions to his house. He could feel her eyes on him every so often, but he was happy that she chose not to say anything.

When they finally reached his home, Bamey finally opened her mouth. "I can tell that you're not happy with me."

"..."

"And now I know that those rumors about you and Sasuke being friends is true."

"..."

"I'm sorry, I overreacted."

Naruto snorted. "We've known each other barely a day and you go and break someone's thumb because you don't like how they treated me. You do know you're gonna be in so much trouble."

Bamey nodded, not wanting to look at his face. "Yeah. I just... tend to overreact when it comes to bullying. I used to be bullied as kid because of my acne and then because I had no breast. And it makes me sick seeing others not do anything about it." She let out a harsh sigh and dragged a hand through her hair. "And I know you can very well handle yourself, but from what I saw today the teachers don't believe you and think you're a troublesome child that needs to be disciplined. And that ass knows that and uses it to beat you so he won't get in trouble."

It was quiet for a few moments.

"When you guys were friends, did he ever complain about something constantly?" Bamey asked quietly, finally looking over towards Naruto who was looking back her.

He thought for a bit before answering. "He used to complain about his dad all the time. Saying that Fugaku hardly spent any time with him because he was always busy with work. Hell, he hardly even spoke to him unless he was in trouble."

Now that he really thought about it, Sasuke didn't start becoming distant until after his dad had given his brother Itachi a job at the office, spending loads amount of time with him and completely ignoring the younger son. Even though it was mostly to show Itachi the ropes, it took away what little time Sasuke and his father had together. Every time Naruto would try and ask him what was wrong, Sasuke would just brush him off and become more drawn in; he hardly said anything to Sakura as well. He didn't stop though, and kept bugging the Uchiha until the other finally snapped and hit him. At first Sasuke seemed surprised that he had hit his best friend, but then it fell back into his normal stoic face as he came at the blond and two rolled around on the ground, throwing punches.

Naruto had won that round but both of them had gotten into so much trouble by his father Minato. It would make sense though if Sasuke had kept the other bullies away from him, which meant that deep down the other still cared about him.

"Hm," the blond hummed to himself. "Could it be that's he's taking his frustration out on me?"

"Maybe," Bamey replied with a shrug. "Shit, I should probably apologize to him." She winced at that, obviously not wanting to. "Listen... maybe you should try talking to him."

He scoffed. "And talk about what? And how can I talk to him without him trying to break my face in?"

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever's on your mind and I can tie him down to a chair if I have to." Naruto chuckled at that. "Listen, I'll see you tomorrow maybe and let you think over what you might want to say to Sasuke, ok?"

He nodded and hopped out of the truck, pulling his pack back from behind his seat. He waved goodbye and walked up the driveway to his quaint two story house. He was glad he didn't see any of his parent's cars in the driveway, giving him the alone time he wanted. Kicking off his shoes as soon as he entered and taking off his jacket, he made his way into the kitchen to fix himself a snack before working on his homework in his room.

A/N: chapter 1 completed! I hope you all are enjoying this so far. Pleas read and review, constructive criticism is welcomed. I'll try and pop out some more chapter soon when I'm not very busy and am in the mood.