Naruto Parallels: Series 1-2

Hey There!

I'm a huge Naruto fan! I love the entire series, but I'm mostly a watcher of the anime (subbed never dubbed because I can't STAND the dubbed voices). I do know the outcome of the series and I've played around with Fan Fiction before, mostly with filler stuff that isn't shown, but right now in the most recent episodes on Hulu where I watch, everyone is trapped in Madara's Infinite Tsukuyomi and the series is showing depictions of everyone's dreams. I find it interesting that a lot of the dreams ultimately end up having some truth to them, but I really loved TenTen's dream and how instead of it being her wildest desires, it was more "dream esc" and depicted what the class and village would be like if the class had these vastly different personalities. I also loved Jiraiya's book in Tsunade's dream and how it depicted things if Naruto and Sasuke's families never died. Thus my new fan fiction series was born where I take different prompts and write a Fic based on if the prompt were true or false. If you have any fun prompts feel free to let me know! I'm looking for fun suggestions and I would love to flex my writing skills and see just how creative we can get! I hope you enjoy them!

Prompt: What if Naruto and Sasuke's roles were reversed?

Story Tangent: Unlike the actual series where Sasuke knows who killed his clan, and is driven by anger. In order to flip Naruto's roles, I changed that detail so that, while Sasuke did lose his entire clan, he has no idea it was his brother's doing (though he is still the one who did it in my parallel universe). As a means of giving his brother a better life, Itachi asked the third Hokage, Lord Hiruzen, to appoint Sasuke to his old ANBU Captain, Kakashi's team after the academy, and asked Kakashi to look after his brother as a friend and fellow Sharingan user. He also left behind a letter (contents revealed in the story) that managed to quell Sasuke's anger and convince him to serve Konoha honorably as a shinobi. Hiruzen was so busy with the impending Uchiha overthrow, and later Itachi's requests, that he took no interest in Naruto or helping improve his life and as a result he succumbed to his anger and loneliness early in his life, and the Nine-Tails regularly stokes the fire.

CHAPTER TWO: AGING

After spending so much time in the Academy over the last several years, everyone had begun to make friends except Naruto. Sasuke got along best with a boy named Neji. They both had mature dispositions and were strong and at the head of their class. Sasuke had made several attempts to reach out to Naruto but nothing really seemed to work. He recalled a time when Sasuke overheard several students whispering about Naruto and discussing how their parents said they weren't to play with him.

"They whisper about me too." Sasuke remembered telling him, but Naruto ignored him.

On several occasions Naruto would jump the fence and skip class and a few times he got caught sending Shadow Clones to class instead of actually going. Sasuke was always a little impressed compared to everyone else's annoyance, because it must take a lot of chakra to keep a shadow clone present for an entire class period.

"What's wrong with that boy?" Neji asked Sasuke as they sparred one time after class.

"Which boy?" Sasuke asked, dodging Neji's blows.

Sasuke began to swing a kick towards Neji, but he grabbed his ankle and tossed it back to the ground. "Nice kick. It's going to have to be faster though."

Sasuke grumbled. "Which boy, Neji?"

"Naruto." Neji said strained as he failed to block Sasuke's punch. "Your kick was a diversion?"

Sasuke smirked ducking a swing, but getting hit by a stomach blow. "I don't think anything is wrong with him. He's lonely."

"Lord Hiashi said he's dangerous and to stay away from him. No one told you that?" Neji asked, as he spun away from a barrage of kicks from Sasuke before going back on the offensive.

Sasuke had to think quick about avoiding Neji's quick onslaught of slices with his open fist. He grunted as he blocked the first few but the next consecutive blows hit him directly and he fell backwards and hit the ground. Neji reached out his hand to Sasuke who grabbed it and stood dusting off his shorts.

"Alright, that ties us up again." Neji huffed as he pulled up Sasuke.

"No." Sasuke responded.

Neji looked into the sky as he thought. "I won the first two but then you—."

"No, I mean no one ever told me to stay away from Naruto. When I asked about him my brother said he was orphaned and that people feared and hated him but he never told me to do that. Actually my brother sounded like he felt bad for him. Even if he had told me to do that I wouldn't have. I think we should only pass judgment on others once we've met them and form opinions of our own. Listening to others is what muddies the waters." Sasuke explained.

Neji eyed him as they began to walk back into town. "That famous Hokage dream talking?"

Sasuke smiled. "This village deserves better than it's had. I heard that the Third and Fourth Hokages were there when the nine-tails rampaged and they couldn't prevent so many casualties. Besides, Lord Third hasn't gone to bat for Naruto. He didn't choose to become what he is, just like I didn't choose what my family did."

Neji bowed his head. "I'm embarrassed. You've been more compassionate than me. I'll admit I've given in to all of the rumors about Naruto, but maybe you're right. Once we're sorted into teams tomorrow, I'll try a bit harder."

Sasuke smiled proudly at himself. He was already changing the course of Naruto's loneliness just as he had planned.

The next day as they sat at their desks awaiting their team assignments Sasuke felt conflicted. He knew that teams were typically divided by two boys and one girl. He wanted to be on a team with Neji but he also knew that he would better be able to help Naruto if they were on a team together. Iruka had begun reading the teams some time ago but Sasuke was distracted, he refocused his attention in time to hear the last four teams read.

"With Guy; Lee, TenTen, and Neji." Sasuke bowed his head, that was out. "With Kurenai; Kiba, Hinata, and Shino."

"THE BUG KID!?" Kiba shouted out from the back row. A nearby student hushed him.

"With Asuma—." Iruka kept going but was cut off.

"Ah, you don't need to tell us, it's me, Shikamaru and Choji right?" Ino cut in.

Iruka nodded and smiled. "You know your families' histories well Ino."

The class slowly started to whisper and turn their eyes towards the three sitting at Sasuke's desk. Sasuke hadn't heard all the teams read, so he didn't entirely know who was left, but as he glanced around he could pretty much guess.

"With Kakashi; Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto." Sasuke blushed. It was even better than he'd expected. He turned and looked at Sakura and she was staring back at him smiling cheerily. He knew he wanted to focus on Naruto but this was a nice bonus.

A few days later they were sitting at one of Konoha's lookout points with their new sensei, Kakashi.

"Well then, let's start with introductions and tell us what your dreams are as well." Kakashi smiled. "I'll start. I'm Kakashi. I once dreamed of becoming the strongest ninja in all of Konoha, one who would never fail a mission. Over time I learned and grew, and now my dream is to always protect my comrades."

Kakashi turned to Sakura who was sitting on the right edge of the trio. "You?"

Sakura smiled. "I'm Sakura Haruno, and um… I like um…" Sakura glanced over at Sasuke and Naruto and blushed. Kakashi smiled and turned his gaze to Sasuke.

"I'm Sasuke Uchiha. In a single night my entire clan was killed and no one in the village knows who did it. I feel very strongly that it was the Hokage's job to protect my clan and he couldn't. My dream is to become Hokage. One that can adequately protect this village from danger and evil."

Kakashi nodded, though apprehensively and then dropped his gaze on Naruto who was glaring back at him. "And you?"

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki. I come from nothing, I have nothing. I want nothing. To survive is my only goal."

Everyone stared at him nervously. Kakashi, who's face had fallen into a stern one, returned to a smile. "Well, I can help you survive, but I think you'll find as you get older that your goals will change too."

The next day Kakashi challenged the team to the bell test which they originally failed. Though they got close several times to getting them but Kakashi proved to always be once step ahead. Sasuke was excited to learn that he had a Sharingan. While he didn't know why he had it, he didn't unlock his own until after his clan died and now he had someone to train with it with. It was a level of belonging Sasuke never thought he'd achieve once he lost his brother.

The happiness he felt was ultimately what drove him to offer Naruto lunch when he was tied to the post after not even trying to get a bell. The punishment for losing was no lunch but Sasuke felt that Kakashi would forgive him and offered some anyway. He originally refused to take it but his stomach growled and gave away his true nature and Sakura was beginning to force feed him a little bit when Kakashi popped out and revealed that true teamwork was the point of the exercise and their refusal to let Naruto go hungry earned them a pass. They were officially Kakashi's first passing team.