A/N: Yes, I realize that in the anime/manga, "Konoha" is short for "Konohagakure" which means "Village Hidden in the Leaf". I don't care. I'm taking poetic license with Naruto's hometown here.

An Alternative to Drugs

Naruto didn't see Sasuke anywhere around during lunch the next day, but for once he didn't mind. He ate at a leisurely pace with his three best friends, glad to be together with them after a week of seeing hardly each other.

"So how's the persuasion of the ice prince coming?" Shikamaru asked in such a way that suggested he didn't give a shit about the answer.

"You didn't know?" Kiba replied before Naruto could, tearing into a slab of meat that looked slightly too rare. "Yesterday he finally got Sasuke to agree to partnering. How did you manage that, anyway?" Looking at Naruto.

Who shrugged and gave them his trademark fox grin. "I'm very persuasive. I just explained to him how awesome I am, and he jumped on board."

"Hm," Choji said, working on rapidly-disappearing mashed potatoes. "Is that really what happened? Do people change their minds so easily?"

"Hey, it was not easy," Naruto protested. "It took me a week!" And he wasn't about to relax, either. If he couldn't improve on a couple fronts, Sasuke wouldn't agree to partner with him anymore, regardless of his dirt on the other teen.

He didn't want Sasuke to keep agreeing because of that, anyway.

"Well, it is the squeaky wheel that gets the grease, I guess," Kiba mused.

"Hmph. What a pain," Shikamaru muttered.

"Man, have you even sparred once?" Kiba demanded, looking at the unmotivated teen.

"Several times," Choji answered for him. "He fought with that girl Karin. They were really impressive together. I wouldn't be surprised if they bond at the end of the year."

"Ugh," Shikamaru grunted. "Who'd want to pair with a girl? Too troublesome."

Naruto couldn't help it and laughed. "Do you want to pair with anyone?"

"Maybe not," Shikamaru said. "I only came because my dad pressured me. But it's even more of a pain than I thought it'd be." He waved a lazy hand.

"I love it," Kiba enthused. "I've fought with probably a dozen Coordinators now. Have any of you guys fought with that friend of Sasuke's? Gaara? I've heard he's pretty good."

The other three shook their heads. Naruto's thoughts wandered, then he suddenly jumped up. "I'll see you guys later, okay? I'm gonna go find Sakura-chan."

"What?" Kiba said. "Why? You got the hots for her?"

"Nope," Naruto replied. "I'm gonna ask her for help. She's really good at chakra control. Figure she could give me some pointers."

"Oh?" Shikamaru said, not sounding interested at all. "Gotta impress that jerk of yours?"

"He's not a jerk," Naruto defended without thinking. Then he couldn't help snorting. "Well, he can kinda be a jerk, I guess."

"Maybe I'll partner with him," Choji said, attacking his grilled meat with gusto.

"He's pretty fucking awesome," Kiba said as Naruto waved and trotted out of the cafeteria.

Tracking Sakura down took a bit of patience. She wasn't in the sparring halls, and eventually he found her and her best friend Ino in the enormous campus library. A place Naruto would never voluntarily go. He waved and made his way to the table where they sat.

"Hi, Sakura-chan!" he greeted her.

She smiled. "Hi, Naruto. You doing a little studying, too?"

"Me? Hell no," Naruto said, shuddering. "Actually, I was gonna ask for your help, but I guess you're probably too busy."

She closed her books. "Not at all. What is it?"

"I was hoping you might have some pointers for me," Naruto said. "I'm not the best at chakra control, and you two are pretty fucking awesome at it."

Ino immediately straightened, looking pleased to be included. "You bet we are! And we can give you plenty of pointers. What do you say, Sakura? Should we help out our handsome fellow Controller?"

Naruto couldn't help grinning at the compliment.

Sakura's pretty smile returned. "Of course. Come on. There are always a few private sparring rooms open this time of day."

"You two are the best!" Naruto enthused. "You been getting in a lot of practice with various Coordinators?"

"More than you," Ino teased. "I partnered with one of Sasuke's close friends. Suigetsu? He's really good. He's actually got higher averages than Sasuke, though not as high as Gaara."

"Huh," Naruto said. "You like him for a potential partner?"

"I think so," Ino replied. "Sakura partnered up with Hinata Hyuga for the first time yesterday, and they fought really well together."

"She's got a shy personality off the sparring mat," Sakura said, "but she's very skilled and moves with incredible speed. And her control is excellent. We are meeting up tonight after classes to see how long we can maintain a bond."

Pleased they had good potential partners already, Naruto chatted amiably all the way to the east wings. The girls talked a little about their classes, but Sakura was more book smart than him so he sort of lost interest. Ino seemed to notice and changed the subject, asking how he'd enjoyed his first partner-up with Sasuke. He was plenty happy to talk about that.

The trio picked one of the empty sparring rooms. The girls looked around, and Ino nodded. "Okay, let's sit down and get to work."

"Let's just see where you're at," Sakura said as the three sat in a circle, "and then we can see what tricks to teach you. So go ahead and channel your chakra into a ball in your palm. Try to make it as steady a size as you can."

Nodding, Naruto shook his hands out and took several slow, deep breaths. Then he cupped his palms. Thanks to exhaustive exercises last night, he managed to start the chakra flow relatively fine. It wasn't probably as good as it should be, but there was improvement from yesterday. And like Sasuke had said, the trick was to start slow. It took a lot of concentration to maintain it, though. He kept it up, trying to guide the flow into a ball.

Most Shinobi students learned this exercise, but Naruto's training had been different, to say the least.

"Hm, okay," Ino said, her pink chakra glowing around her, "you can stop. Based on what I can see, you haven't received proper instruction on this skill. Would you agree, Sakura?"

Sakura nodded. "Definitely. It's a difficult skill to learn when you're just getting started, but you have a big advantage in that you can already channel chakra at will. So, Ino and I will do it, you watch. Then you try it again, and we'll coach you through it."

"Awesome," Naruto said, shifting to get more comfortable.

The girls each channeled their chakras into a pink and jade green sphere. It was about the size of a baseball, and they both maintained them for sixty seconds before slowly unraveling them.

"So the best tip we can give you for starting out," Ino said, "is to start slowly. The faster your flow, the less your control."

"The easiest way to form a sphere," Sakura added, "is to think of it as a ball of yarn. Just wrap a thin flow around and around until you have a sphere."

"Wow," Naruto muttered. "You make it look so easy."

Sakura smiled. "If it was easy, anyone could do it. Your sense of accomplishment will be all the greater when you succeed."

Damn, she's so much nicer about this than Sasuke. Naruto groaned and stretched his arms. "Okay. Let's do this."

~o0o~

Naruto ran full-tilt down to the individual training rooms, and he broke into a grin both apologetic and excited to see Sasuke already waiting for him. The raven-haired Coordinator was leaning against the wall by the door, arms folded, expression very cross. When he saw Naruto he straightened, unfolding his arms and glaring at him.

"I've been waiting for twenty minutes," he snapped.

Naruto scratched the back of his neck. "Sorry! I had some questions for my instructor last class. You ready to get started?"

"Hn."

Naruto ushered him in first, closing and locking the door behind them. As he watched, Sasuke kicked off his boots, socks, and the long arm covers of his uniform. For some reason, seeing him like that made him look totally different, and Naruto noticed things he'd never really noticed before.

"You sure are skinny," he blurted.

Sasuke threw him an icy glare, but it thawed after a moment. He shrugged. "Side effect of the drug. I lose my appetite."

Talking about Sasuke's . . . habit . . . didn't seem safe at all. They were hardly friends. But Naruto's self-control had always been iffy.

"Why do you use?" he asked.

In the middle of stretching, Sasuke's spine stiffened. He didn't look at Naruto. "Come on. Can't you guess?"

Naruto stared blankly. "How the hell should I know? I don't exactly know many junkies."

The term made Sasuke shoot him a dark look. "I meant because of who I am."

"Yeah . . . ?" Naruto said, starting to feel annoyance at having to drag every little thing out of Sasuke. "And that's important because . . . ?"

Sasuke's countenance abruptly clouded. "You don't realize. Never mind then."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Realize what? You can't just start saying shit and then stop in the middle. It's a rule."

The other teen's lips twitched a teeny bit, and Naruto felt his pulse give an odd little jump. Was that a grin?

"It is not, dobe."

"Oy, don't call me that, bastard! Just because I graduated at the bottom of my class doesn't mean I'm somehow worse than you or inferior -"

"Why did you graduate last?" Sasuke interrupted, now looking genuinely curious. "You said your training was different somehow."

Talking about that was sort of painful, but Naruto sighed and didn't protest. After all, if Sasuke knew more about him he might thaw toward him further. He sat down on the padded floor and gestured the other to sit. Which he did.

"My family situation's kinda complicated," he began. "My parents died when I was really little. Not even a year old. I grew up in this shitty little town where everyone knows everybody else and everyone judges everyone else. You know, the usual."

A soft snort. "Yeah."

It was the mellowest sound Naruto had ever heard him make. "Anyway," he said, "the circumstances of my parents' death was really strange. I was . . . well, I was kinda blamed for it. The people in town basically treated me like shit all through my childhood. I really had to fight to get anyone to acknowledge me. But there was this one teacher. Iruka-sensei. He believed in me and gave me private lessons. I managed to learn just enough to graduate so I could come here."

The faintest hint of a smile curved Sasuke's lips. "You're from Konohagakure."

"Yep - wait! How did you know that?"

"Iruka-sensei," Sasuke said. "I know him. His partner is my legal guardian."

"What? Oh, you mean his Controller?"

"No, I mean his life partner," Sasuke corrected. "Well, Kakashi is Iruka-sensei's Controller, too."

"Whoa, whoa, what?" Naruto said. "Kakashi-sensei is your legal guardian? Our bad-ass Program Director of the Shinobi training program?"

Something strange flickered over Sasuke's face. "Yeah."

It gave Naruto pause. This was the most human he'd ever seen Sasuke, and he really wanted to keep up this rapport, so he asked as gently as he could, "What happened to your parents?"

"You should know," Sasuke said after a moment.

Naruto frowned, studying Sasuke's face, trying to read between the lines. Whatever the other teen wasn't telling him clearly pained him. Naruto recognized that expression perfectly well. Okay, what do I know about Sasuke. Not much. I don't even know his hometown. His family name is Uchiha. Family trees aren't exactly listed in the student files -

Then it occurred to him.

Oh. OH. Suddenly Naruto felt like a jackass. "Sasuke, I . . . I'm sorry," he finished lamely. "I didn't realize . . ."

"It's fine," Sasuke cut him off. "I like it better when people don't treat me differently."

It was four years ago now. In fact, Naruto couldn't believe he hadn't realized sooner. After all, the Uchiha family were also from Konohagakure, though they hadn't lived there in years. They were wealthy and prominent, and its members had many successful Shinobi who'd graduated from The Academy. In fact, the head of the family had actually married his Coordinator.

I think Fugaku was Sasuke's father's name, Naruto thought, mind racing, and Mikoto his mother's. That's right. They had two sons, one a really damn powerful Controller and the other a Coordinator with massive potential.

It wasn't common for a family to have both Controllers and Coordinators among the children, but the Uchiha family had always been exceptional in every way.

And then, in the middle of the night, one terrible night, the oldest son had killed every member of the household. On that particular night several extended family members had been there, including Fugaku's sisters and nephews and nieces. Itachi Uchiha had slaughtered every single one of them. Police had described the crime as "unnecessarily brutal".

The worst part was Sasuke. Him, Itachi had spared. But it wasn't as though the twelve-year-old child had slept through the carnage. No, according to the media, Itachi had dragged his little brother into the main room where he'd gathered their family and proceeded to murder them all right in front of his brother.

The terrible crime had been splashed all over the news for a year. And Naruto vaguely remembered hearing that Sasuke had spent months and months in the hospital, completely catatonic. Every muscle in his body tightened in sympathy. Then he shook his head and put on his fox grin.

"Well, don't think I'll go easy on ya just because you have an angsty past," he warned.

As though Sasuke hadn't witnessed the most horrible thing a child could witness.

Sasuke's eye twitched. "The one who won't be going easy is me, usuratonkachi." The words were sharp, but the tone held a hint of gratitude.

Naruto smirked. "Bring it."

Was that amusement in Sasuke's black, black eyes? He held out his hands. "Astonish me."

Hopping up, Naruto grabbed Sasuke's hands and spun him around to embrace him from behind. "Let me transform this time. I learned a new trick."

"Hn."

Sasuke opened up his chakra, and Naruto felt deeply impressed by how quickly and easily the Coordinator linked them up. It allowed Naruto to transform in about half a second. It was a sensation, losing his physical body. He could still see as though he were floating right behind Sasuke, could see his Coordinator holding the long black katana sword. He took a moment to admire how sexy he looked in Sasuke's skilled hands.

"Okay," he said, thrumming with excitement, "you just do whatever moves you want."

The slightly smaller teen dropped into a fighting stance and flowed into motion. He wasn't, Naruto thought, any shorter than the blonde. Maybe a millimeter. But he felt so much smaller thanks to how skinny he was. Maybe I can find a way to help him so he doesn't have to use anymore.

Slow and steady, he began to channel chakra from them both. He controlled the flow much better than yesterday, and he curled the strands around the blade rather than just surrounding the blade with a haze.

"Hn," Sasuke said again. "I guess even idiots can learn."

"Enough with the idiot talk!" Naruto protested. "Could an idiot do this?"

The strands of chakra began to vibrate wildly, changing the air pressure around the blade. Sasuke seemed to understand before Naruto could offer explanation, because he spun with incredible grace and made a wide slashing motion. Miniature blades of pressurized air flew outward in a hissing arc, blasting little bits of plaster from the walls where they struck.

"You've gotten a little better," Sasuke said, his tone suggesting he would rather gargle glass. "Ask someone for help, did you?"

"Sure did," Naruto had no problem admitting. "I want to be the best I can for you."

A very slight pause. "Why?"

"Because you're the best," Naruto said. "It's obvious."

Another twitch of his lips, and Sasuke resumed those wonderful motions that looked like a deadly dance. Naruto could seriously watch him all day. He kept the flow to his blade constant, powering up that wind attack now and then.

"Do it again," Sasuke abruptly commanded, dropping into a crouch.

Curious, Naruto obeyed. When he was ready, Sasuke abruptly sprang up, sprinted halfway across the mat, then launched himself into the air. The katana swept wide and vicious through the air as if slashing through an enormous foe. Naruto released his new attack, and as he did so, they burst into flame. The damage they caused when they struck the wall this time was more severe.

Sasuke landed and straightened, wearing a very small smirk. "A little more practice and that could be an impressive attack."

"Whaddaya mean with practice?" Naruto demanded. "It's already impressive! Especially when you added your fire. You and I are amazing together, even you have to admit that was awesome!"

"Hn. Your control has gotten a little better," Sasuke said, making a few graceful slashes, "but you're still wasting quite a bit of my chakra."

Unable to help it, Naruto chuckled. "You are such a critical bastard. You ever gonna cut me some slack?"

"Once your control is perfect," Sasuke said. He abruptly sighed and carefully unraveled their bond. "I'm tired."

They'd only been practicing for maybe half an hour. Once he transformed, Naruto quickly headed Sasuke off. "Are you gonna use tonight?"

Looking slightly cornered, Sasuke gave him a faint glare. "None of your business."

Naruto reached out and grabbed his arms. "Don't," he said, squeezing gently. Sasuke's skinny arms seemed so fragile. "Don't use anymore."

Sasuke wrenched away, all the hostility returning to his face and posture. "You said you wouldn't tell anyone about it if I partnered with you once," he snapped, "so unless you mean to break that promise, stop trying to control me."

"It's not that," Naruto insisted, once again cutting Sasuke off again before he could reach his boots. "It's not good for you, Sasuke."

Backing out of reach as if expecting an attack of some sort, Sasuke started pacing, looking for all the world like an agitated cat. "Don't talk about it as if you have any idea what it's like for me."

"You're right," Naruto said, spreading his hands and shrugging, "I don't. But I can help you, Sasuke. I know I can."

Actually curling his upper lip away from his teeth in a snarl, Sasuke turned away from him. "How? Can you chase away the images of blood? The smell of bile and spilled gut? The sounds of screaming and my brother's -" He cut himself off, throwing another glare at Naruto.

But it wasn't hostility in his eyes, it was torment. Naruto felt his heart bleeding. He forced it to stay out of his expression. It would only push Sasuke away. He took the few steps necessary to once more grab Sasuke's upper arms. "Stay here," he insisted. "Spar with me. Spar with me all night. Until we're exhausted and you can't even think. Until you can't dream."

Sasuke gazed at him intently for long moments, expression unreadable. Then he relaxed. Well, no, Naruto corrected. He didn't relax. He gave in. "Fine, I'll try it. But if it doesn't work, we're not doing this again."

"Fair enough," Naruto didn't argue, plenty happy to have even a single night. He only needed one to convince Sasuke. He just knew it would work.

~o0o~

Hours and hours later, even Naruto's legendary stamina had waned. Sasuke was all but asleep on his feet, eyes drooping with exhaustion. Naruto couldn't exactly say his control had improved, but his rapport with Sasuke had. It was a natural process when a Coordinator and Controller paired up over and over again. They began to understand each other's fighting styles and anticipate each other's moves.

It was a good sign, and Naruto was more than pleased with the night's progress. Sasuke had become less and less hostile as the night wore on, and while he wasn't exactly being friendly, he was no longer being deliberately mean.

Sasuke didn't protest Naruto grabbing his arm and slinging it over his shoulders and hauling him to his feet. In fact, he sagged weakly against Naruto. He leaned against the blonde, accepting his help to put his boots back on. He didn't shake Naruto off as the Controller helped him walk out of the sparring halls and back to the dormitories. He didn't even protest when Naruto helped him right inside his dorm and into the bedroom.

Lowering Sasuke onto his bed, Naruto pulled Sasuke's boots off. The raven Coordinator flopped backward, eyes closed.

"Go to your own room," Sasuke commanded, voice a little slurred.

Grinning, Naruto straightened. Cute. "G'night, Sasuke. I'll see you tomorrow."

Little more than a grunt answered him, and Naruto let him be. He had a feeling Sasuke was asleep before his dorm room door clicked shut.

~*o0o o0o*~

Getting up early had never been easy for Naruto, but he made himself get up an hour earlier the next morning. He hurried through his morning ablutions, and he was almost done when Kiba shambled into the bathroom.

"Man," he grumbled, "why the hell are you up so early?"

"Gonna go talk to Kakashi-sensei," Naruto replied. Then he grinned. "You look like shit."

"Thanks a lot," Kiba grunted, slugging him in the arm. "Why are you so lively? You came back really fucking late last night."

Naruto shrugged. "Dunno. Yesterday was a really good day. Today's gonna be even better."

"Yeah?" Kiba said, standing in front of the toilet to take a piss. "Gonna partner with Sasuke again?"

"Nah, not today," Naruto said. "He could use a break. He's the reason I came back so late last night. Got a few other things planned for today."

"Oh? Gonna finally partner up with someone else?" Kiba asked.

"Mm hm. I'm gonna ask Sasuke's friend, Gaara. His scores are basically perfect. I think it would be good for me to practice with someone who has perfect control."

Kiba nodded, finishing and tucking himself back in. "Good idea. That what you gonna see Kakashi-sensei about?"

"Yep."

"That guy's a royal badass," Kiba commented. "I read about him. He and his Coordinator are really high up the military chain of command, did you know that? He's really fucking powerful."

"Cool," Naruto said, grinning and feeling excited. "He's Sasuke's legal guardian. Did you know that?"

"Um, yeah . . . I think I remember reading about that. Kakashi-sensei was pretty close to Uchiha family, as I recall. I think he was in the same division as Fugaku Uchiha. They were both Division Generals."

"Whoa, no shit!" Naruto exclaimed. "I had no idea."

"How did you have no idea?" Kiba demanded, slugging his shoulder again. "They're both from Konohagakure!"

"I know, I know," Naruto said. "But you know me."

"Sure do," Kiba said, shambling back to bed.

A light drizzle fell from the gray sky when Naruto jogged outside to the central building. It felt cool and refreshing against his face, and he didn't mind one bit. It was light enough not to get him wet, much. He trotted to the instructors' offices, peeking through the window to make sure Kakashi-sensei was in before knocking and pushing the door open.

"Good morning, Kakashi-sensei!" he chirped. "Can I talk to you a sec?"

"Good morning, Naruto-kun," Kakashi returned. "Of course. Are you here about Sasuke?"

"I wanted to talk to you about - wait! How did you know?"

Kakashi's only visible eye squinted, indicating his smile. "Well, you've been partnering with my kid a lot for the last two days. I always monitor Sasuke's scores."

"Oh, right," Naruto said, grinning sheepishly. "Yeah, I kinda had my eye on Sasuke right away. We're getting a little better, but I was wondering if you had any advice. You're one of the best Controllers in the country."

"True," Kakashi said, nodding. "Advice, hm? No, I don't have any advice. I do, however, have an idea. A training tool designed to help Controllers who struggle with controlling chakra. I could obtain one, I'm sure, if you want to give that a try."

"Really?" Naruto said, enthused. "Yeah! I'd love that. Thanks a million, Kakashi-sensei!"

The older man's eye squinted again. "You're welcome. And I do have a suggestion. Try partnering with other Coordinators. It isn't a good idea to limit yourself too much in your first year."

Leaning back a little, Naruto folded his hands behind his head. "Yeah, I'm gonna give Sasuke a little break. We worked really hard the last two days. And I've been working with the best Controller from this year, trying to improve."

"Ah, Sakura-chan?" Kakashi said, nodding. "A good choice. She will be a formidable Controller when she expands her repertoire of skills." He rested his elbows on his desk and folded his hands. "You should also practice more with your second form. That particular form is very difficult to master, but it can be immensely powerful. It is best suited to a Coordinator with both excellent control and a deep well of chakra. Sasuke only fits one of those criteria."

That sounded a lot like an attempt to dissuade Naruto from pursuing Sasuke, so he did the best thing. He ignored it. "Thanks again, Kakashi-sensei. I'll be back when you have that training tool for me!" Waving, he trotted out of the office.

The soft sound of the man's chuckle followed him out.

Spirits lifted, Naruto jogged down to the cafeteria. He found Choji right away, no surprise there. His friend had heaped his plate full of sausage and eggs, and Naruto grinned to see Sakura and Ino had joined him. And sitting next to Sakura was a dark-haired girl Naruto had never met but recognized.

"Hi!" he greeted her brightly, holding out his hand. "You must be Hinata. I'm Naruto."

She looked flustered as she slowly took his hand. "Hi," she all but whispered, quickly retracting her hand and looking down, pink rising in her cheeks.

Naruto plopped down beside Choji with his own breakfast. "You guys got plans for lunch?"

"Yep," Choji replied around his mouthful. "Me and Ino are gonna partner up with some Coordinators and spar with Sakura and Hinata. Shikamaru promised to join us. You should, too."

Nodding, Naruto swallowed his mouthful of pancakes and syrup. This place had amazing food. "You bet! Which sparring hall?"

"The big one in the middle," Ino replied. "You should see if you can get someone other than Sasuke to pair up with you."

"I'm gonna ask Gaara," Naruto told her.

"Good," Choji said, stuffing an entire sausage patty into his mouth. "You shouldn't limit yourself during our first year."

Naruto clapped him on the back. "You guys are good friends, so concerned about me."

"That guy Sasuke's an ass," Choji stated.

Naruto gave him a weak glare. "He is not. Well, okay, he kinda is. But he hasn't had it easy, so give him a break."

"Neither have you," Choji said around a mouthful of eggs, "and you're not an ass."

Unable to help it, Naruto started laughing. "You're a good guy."

"You're also disgusting," Ino groaned. "Can you please stop talking with food in your mouth? It's really gross."

"Sorry," Choji said, munching on his toast.

"Clearly not that sorry," Ino muttered.

Still chuckling, Naruto turned his attention to finishing breakfast.