That was Eighteen years ago, the day he was discovered by Rusl. He had learned on his 12th birthday that Rusl wasn't his father, but rather, he was an orphan. He was quiet for a few days, but he soon accepted his past and moved on. Naruto became well-known throughout the village of Ordon, and was especially liked by the children. It wasn't really a surprise though as Naruto had a special thing for kids. He loved watching their faces become ones of awe or astonishment when he showed them his swordsmanship skills. Yes, Rusl had taught Naruto swordsmanship, and he was now in line for becoming the heir to Rusl's fighting style. He called it the 'Horn of the Goat'.
A really stupid name in Naruto's opinion, but he didn't say anything about it. While Naruto liked to show off, he was actually a really quiet person, aside from being a loudmouth. He lived by himself and worked at Asuma's Ranch as a ranch-hand. It may not have seemed like much, but it was how he made a living.
However, no matter how popular he was with the children, there was alway one girl he could never get, not even in a hundred years.
Sakura.
The Mayor's adopted daughter was beautiful, to say the least. She had pink hair, which he'll admit, WAS pretty wierd, but she had the voice of a thousand birds singing a song in perfect harmony. The Mayor had once suggested they get together, but Sakura was COMPLETELY against the idea of getting married to an idiot.
Naruto WAS a smart young man, but it just took alot of time for him to figure out simple things. He had this ability to solve the most difficult problem for the village, yet when it came to something simple, like how to trick the kids into going to bed early, he just didn't get it. He actually got the fastest record for getting all of Asuma's Goats into the barn because of some rediculous plan that had actually worked.
Bo however had seen past his problem, which was why he had suggested his idea. Although it didn't work out, Naruto decided that it was probably for the best. She had always gone after Sasuke, a young man that had disappeared from the village a few years ago. Naruto and Sasuke were actually good friends, (despite the way they acted at times) but Sasuke was anger-prone, and tempted to lash out at people who got in his way.
Naruto remembered the time where he actually started hitting one of the children because he bumped into him. Naruto had become enraged at the guy, but still didn't actually use his sword-skills to fight. He always carried a wooden sword with him, but instead, Sasuke had taken it and started using it against HIM.
True, the reason he was able to take it was because Naruto LET him take it, but Sasuke never seemed to realize it. At one point, Sasuke had actually started calling himself the strongest of the village. Most of the villagers rolled their eyes at that, but let him have his fun. They all knew that if he took it too far, he would be pummeled into the ground by Naruto. And that came to be eventually.
*Flashback - Three years ago*
Naruto was outside watering his plants, a hobby that he enjoyed doing, when he heard a scream. He was at the scene in a moments notice, and saw that one of the children lay back on the ground, his left arm bleeding. Sasuke stood above him, snarling at the boy. He pulled back his hand, revealing a knife used for cutting rope and such. Naruto caught the small knife and stopped him dead in his tracks before Sasuke could stab the boy again. Konohamaru, as the boy's name was, scrambled back towards some of the villagers while someone came out with a first-aid kit.
Naruto glared at Sasuke with such rage his eyes seemed to turn a purplish color, on the brink of losing control of himself. Sasuke stumbled back a bit, or, at least he tried to, but Naruto had his hand clenched firmly on Sasuke's. His grip tightened as he growled out in a low voice, "Answer this question. What. Happened." Sasuke started shaking in fear before he remembered his self-proclaimed title. He grinned as he smugly said,
"I'm doing what I want. Besides, what are YOU going to do about it weakling?" Sasuke had seemingly forgotten that Naruto still had his hand holding Sasuke's knife-equiped hand. A loud CRACK sounded throughout the village, quickly followed by a loud and painful scream.
Sasuke now looked at the young man before him in terror as he fell to his knees, tears falling from his face as he shivered in pain. Naruto easily took the knife from Sasuke's now broken hand as it fell limply to it's owners side before Sasuke shot his other hand and clenched the arm before scrambling away from the blonde.
Sasuke's back hit a house, yet he continued to try and get away from the blonde-haired young man. Naruto simply walked up to him, glared down at him, and spoke to him in a dark, gutteral voice.
"You have two hours to leave this village, if you fail to do so, I will break every bone in your body until you'd prefer death." His tone was laced with venom, and Sasuke knew he wasn't bluffing.
The dark-haired man jumped up and ran to his house before quickly packing his things and splintering his hand. As he he got to the edge of the village, everyone, save Sakura, Ino and Sera who were all out collecting herbs, stood there glaring at him. Konohamaru glared at him with pure hatred. He no longer saw him as someone who was strong. He saw him as a coward.
Sasuke sneered at the villagers.
"Leaving this place will be the greatest thing for me. I'll become a wealthy prince, and you'll all be wishing you were me!" He grinned, trying to make everyone envy him.
"I wouldn't wish I were you even if you were the prince of darkness, coming to destroy us all. In fact, I'd be feeling down-right sorry for you." A voice spoke behind him. Turning, Sasuke saw Naruto leaning against a tree, his eyes covered by his bangs. "You can have all the money and power you want, but you'll always be treated as a traitor here, as well as anywhere else that hears of your actions in this village." Sasuke shuddered before the blonde Swordsman, his hand throbbing in pain.
"You are no longer my friend. If you somehow find a way to repent for your actions, then maybe, just maybe, you may find acceptance in this village once more. But even then, you will still be looked at as a traitor, a murdurer, a criminal, and a monster." Naruto said as he finally made eye-contact with Sasuke, who shivered under Naruto's cold stare. Sasuke said no more as he walked towards the forest, leaving behind his home, his place of power, his village.
*End Flashback*
No one had heard of him since, most expecting him to be dead. Naruto had wondered once every so often if he was dead or not, but usually ignored the thought, even though he felt as if it was going to impact him someday.
Back to the present, Naruto was sitting next to his foster father, Rusl. They were sitting at the springs where Rusl first found Naruto, and it seemed like things were peaceful. In reality, they were. Rusl spoke up, the peaceful silence drifting off into nothing-ness.
"In a few days, I will be going to Hyrule to deliver a sword as a gift." He started.
Naruto turned to him, wondering why he had brought up the subject again. Rusl had been working on the sword for months now and it was finally ready, just in time to be presented to the Royal Family as a tribute. Rusl turned to him suddenly.
"But, I want you to go in my stead." Naruto's eyes widened upon hearing that sentence. He looked at Rusl, his jaw dropping. "I know you havn't been outside of the forest, but I know how it looks like out there in this vast, beautiful world we call our home. I'd like you to see it as well. It would be a great experience for you." He then got up, Naruto following after him, before heading over to Epona, Naruto's horse.
Epona was raised together with Naruto, so it was natural the two bonded quickly. Naruto had become even more helpful at the ranch because of his and Epona's teamwork. That was something Naruto had learned people needed early in life. Without someone else's help, it would take forever to get things done. It was much easier for the sake of the village if everyone worked together.
That was the reason the Mayor, Bo, didn't really like Sasuke. The Raven-haired 'Prince of Power' felt he was all that was needed to keep the entire village running, and demanded he become the village's Mayor, which, obviously, Bo denied to him. He had become even more furious when, instead of him, Bo asked Naruto to become the Village's Mayor, which Naruto politely declined after Sakura finished her outburst of getting married to him.
Naruto was smiling brightly the entire way home. After they un-loaded the fire-wood to all the houses in the village, Naruto began walking Epona back to their house. It may not have looked much to the normal eye of a citizen, but to Naruto? This was Paradise. He could be completely alone for his own enjoyment, not having to deal with any of the villagers' problems...so he wished at least. He still had people running up to his house in the morning calling for his help at times, but even still. He walked Epona back to a small barn that he had built next to his house. He had asked Asuma for some help with it so Epona wouldn't get stuck out in the rain. He patted the horse, smiling.
"Good work today girl, get some rest and be ready for Asuma, should he come running again." Naruto chuckled. The blonde climbed that ladder that led to his house before stretching and walking inside. He was just about to undress when he heard a shout from outside his window.
"NARUTO! I NEED YOUR HELP!" Naruto peeked out the window to see Asuma calling up to him.
"The herd, they won't listen to me! They're becomin' more and more skittish lately! Give me a hand will ya?"
That was all Naruto needed to hear. He jumped down from his bed, still dressed, and strapped on his sandals. He opened up the door and jumped from his door to the ground. He looked up to see Asuma with a confused expression on his face, his cigarette bobbing up and down in his mouth. Naruto returned the confuzed gaze with one of his own.
"What?"
"Where's Epona?" Asuma said pointing to the empty barn.
Naruto blinked before turning to where he had just placed Epona. His eyes nearly fell out of their sockets as he ran around the piece of land that Bo had given him for his fifteenth birthday, searching for Epona; calling out her name, whistling, anything to get the horse's attention. He almost gave up when the face of a person came to his mind.
"Sakura." He growled, knowing exactly what had happened.
