Second in series :) Enjoy!
Once again, do not own Naruto or any of its characters.
.(B).
He remembers a time when the symbol on his back was a source of awe and respect from villagers. A time when their eyes would look upon him and his brother, proud that it was their village that would produce such promising (and perhaps legendary) nin. A time when his mother's own obsidian orbs would glow as he proudly showed her a picture he had painted at school.
Then, just as a candle is quickly snuffed out, the warmth in everyone's stares vanished.
After the massacre, needless to say, everyone changed. It's not that their gazes held any contempt or discourtesy. THey didn't hold any less hospitality. Instead, their eyes held something worse. Something Sasuke came to hate almost as much as the person he refused to even name.
They held pity.
He understood their thoughts perfectly through those gazes. "Poor boy," they all seemed to say, "The shock must be getting to him. What a tragedy! Such a shame, such a shame..."
He shouldn't have expected anything else, really. If it had happened to anybody else (on his worst days... Sasuke wishes it did), he probably would have pitied them too. But for just once, he would have given anything for things to be somewhat... normal. For people to smile (and mean it) at him again. For them to look at him with true pride, instead of anxiety. For someone to at least imply it would be all right.
Meeting him was the closest to normal he had ever gotten.
For once, someone wasn't afraid to blatantly tell him he was a rival and would be defeated (dattebayo!). Here was a person who didn't care about Sasuke's past, as his own also held its painful memories. This was someone who's azure eyes held his in a steady, determined gaze.
Most importantly though, they held hope.
Of course, Naruto still wasn't able to deter Sasuke's need for revenge. But he gave him a new security that... things would turn out, just for now. He could live a normal life at the moment, free to enjoy this boy's company and feel the short fleets of happiness.
And perhaps, after his goal was done, he could have a life like the one he had in the past.
Just maybe.