"That kid, the demon fox."
It was a simple sentence that had first begun its circulation around the village seven years ago. Whenever the words were spoken, either seething anger or fear filled the air. But it was always hate that drowned them out—hate for the kyuubi, the nine-tailed demon fox. It had destroyed their homes and their people, and still, for some reason, it was still allowed to run amok in the village within that child. As if the frail body of a good-for-nothing boy could ever restrain the demon. Inevitably, the kyuubi would free itself once again; the child was the demon fox. Everyone knew it.
Everyone except the boy. The Sandaime Hokage had made sure of that. While the hatred for the child was rampant among Konahagakure, the old man made sure no one would speak of it to him, lest they be punished—and so while the villagers still tried their best to avoid the child, they tended to drop the last part of that sentence when addressing him. Regardless, the boy did have a name, however: Uzumaki Naruto.
It was almost a miracle how, thus far, Hiruzen had managed to keep it a secret from Naruto, especially since the boy himself wasn't unaware of the large berth villagers tended to give him on the street. But if there was one thing his Anbu members were good at, it was keeping a secret, even if it was a secret the entire village knew.
And despite this mind-shattering secret resting just beyond the boy's earshot, Naruto was oblivious to it all, as he sat upon one of the faces of the Hokage Monument. The Yondaime's to be exact—like he did most of the time he was there. He wasn't quite sure why, either; it just felt right to him.
The village beneath him sparkled in a sea of lights, like stars in the sky. He could make out the soft droning of city noise he heard every day, and yet he couldn't quite distinctly discern exactly what sound was what, but that was okay with Naruto. Nights like these were probably the only thing he loved about this village. Especially in comparison to the people who lived in this village.
"Stupid people... I'll show them," Naruto muttered to himself, propping himself in a sit against one of the Yondaime's spikes of hair. "Once I'm Hokage, they'll acknowledge me, dattebayo!"
They'll have to.
He knew it for a fact. The Hokage were the best shinobi Konoha could ever produce, where only the strongest and smartest could ever hope to wear the hat. Because of that everyone loved and praised the Hokage everywhere he went, and when he spoke, no one dared to speak over him. At least, that's what Naruto noticed about Old Man Hiruzen, anyways. While the current Hokage didn't look like much, the blond boy was surprised at how much respect someone could really receive. Hell, Naruto was sure that half the people in the village would jump at a chance to wipe the old man's behind if they had a chance to.
Still, Naruto wouldn't undermine his own respect for the Sandaime Hokage. For as long as he could remember, the old man was the only one who didn't look at him like the other villagers did, as if they wanted him dead or something. In fact, Hiruzen was the only one who seemed to actually enjoy having Naruto around, despite all the boy's antics; and while Naruto had no parents and certainly would refer to the old man as his father, he could still feel some sort of connection with the man. After all, the Hokage's the one who really took care of him, paying for the bills and crap.
And especially since the Sandaime Hokage had enrolled Naruto in the academy just a few months ago, the boy was wholly indebted to him—even if he wouldn't directly come out and say it. He was finally on his way to becoming a shinobi.
"Old man Hokage," Naruto whispered under his breath, shaking his head with a smirk. "I will do it."
Unbeknownst to the boy, somewhere else in the village, a certain someone with certain red eyes spoke those same words.
Sometimes, Naruto wondered whether becoming a shinobi was worth enduring Iruka's lectures.
"...and mathematically, that's essentially the method at figuring out the force and direction you'll need to throw a kunai, factoring in wind and air humidity!" the chunin instructor beamed at his class, gesturing at a convoluted math equation on the board behind him. His eyes narrowed when he saw one of his students in particular. "Naruto!"
"Gah!" the young boy shook awake. Immediately, he jolted to his feet, leaping so high into the air, a few test proctors would even be impressed. "I didn't do anything!"
A couple of his classmates around him snickered. He felt his face flush hot and squinted his eyes at his instructor. "What gives?"
Naruto didn't know his face could get any hotter until Iruka called him out. "It's only been a month and you're already dead last! If you keep sleeping, you're going to stay last!"
"Wha—but what about Shikamaru?"
Even without looking, everyone already knew the Nara boy was fast asleep.
"Shikamaru!"
Immediately, the boy in question shot his head upwards, his eyes wide. For a moment, his eyes scanned around, until he saw his sensei glaring right at him.
"Troublesome..." Shikamaru muttered under his breath.
To be honest, it wasn't a scene that was entirely new to the class in particular. As Iruka had brought up, although it had only been a month since the children had joined the academy, every day someone did something that demanded the reprimanding of Iruka. It just so happened that Naruto happened to be the one at the center of the trouble.
Today was no different. For what seemed like an eternity (but in reality was only a few minutes), the two students soaked up their instructor's words. Naruto just sat there with a sly grin on his face, and though he wasn't quite listening, he could make out bits and pieces of what his sensei was saying. Something about proper shinobi behavior and dancing for money—Naruto didn't really understand what the two had to do with each other.
"Anyways..." Iruka sighed, rubbing the scar on the bridge of his nose. "My point is, take this seriously. Why can't you be more like Sasuke?"
Naruto's eyes followed to an empty seat at the side of the room where his instructor's finger was aimed.
"At least I show up to class..." Naruto grumbled to himself. "Sasuke's been skipping for the past week."
Iruka's eyes narrowed at the boy, his face suddenly growing red. The instructor clenched his fist and was about to give Naruto another earful about making a joke at the expense of another classmate's circumstances, before he stopped himself at Naruto's blank expression. The chunin studied the boy's face for a moment, before a thought popped into his head.
He doesn't know what happened to Sasuke, does he? In fact, none of these kids...
"I hope my Sasuke isn't sick," came a peppy voice from the front of the room. Iruka turned to see a blonde girl smirking. "It's been really lonely these past few days without him."
Another girl with an unusual shade of pink hair glared at her. "Ino-pig, he's not your Sasuke!"
"Well, he's not yours!"
"Yeah, but he isn't yours either!"
Iruka's head dropped, as the two girls began to argue over the Uchiha. Most times, when Ino and Sakura decided to go at it, there was really nothing he could do to calm them down. At the best, it would take a few minutes until one of them just ignored the other. At the worst, Iruka would need to be ready for hair to be pulled.
"Alright, Naruto, Shikamaru..." Iruka turned to the boys, shaking his head. "You two, stay after class today. I'm not done with you."
"Iruka-Sensei—" Naruto began to grumble.
"Troublesome..."
But the instructor was already marching off towards the front of the class, where Ino and Sakura had decided to entangle themselves into a hairpulling match.
"Stop it right now! And hey, stop betting on who will win!"
Usually, for Naruto, time went by really slowly. The next few days, however, went by in a blur
Academy lessons were the same for the most part, and despite Iruka's yelling at them after class, neither Shikamaru nor Naruto had felt any dire conviction to change their habits. It wasn't anything personal against their sensei, of course. It was simply that, between the duo, one of them could be called the laziest kid in all of Konoha, and the other... well, he really just didn't care about math. Iruka didn't stop lecturing them though, but eventually, they began to reach a balance between a healthy amount of goofing off and being reprimanded.
A week later, Sasuke returned to class, and while he'd never really talked to him, Naruto could tell something was off about him. While physically, the Uchiha boy looked the same: coal eyes and equally dark hair, there seemed to be something misplaced about him. The way he walked, how he looked at people, and even the tone of his few words were different. Naruto couldn't exactly place a finger on how he had changed, but it was definitely more... intense.
But really, Naruto didn't care. Sasuke was still Sasuke, and Naruto knew that he could beat him up. And today was the day to show it.
"As you all know, today we will be evaluating your taijutsu," Iruka's voice echoed across the Academy courtyard, as the students sat on the dirt, expectantly listening. Even Naruto was wide-eyed and half-grinning, and even though he knew everything the instructor was explaining, it was hard not to be excited for this. After all, it was the first time they were actually going to do something real shinobi did: fight.
"I'm going to beat all of you guys, I'm awesome!" Naruto exclaimed as he squirmed. After a sharp glare from Iruka, he turned his eyes to his fellow classmates, wondering who he was going to be sparring against.
Most of his classmates didn't really look like much, and he was pretty sure they didn't have as much experience as Naruto in fights—most interactions with other kids didn't usually end well. However, he did notice a few people he thought could give him a good fight.
There was Inuzuka Kiba, who was, at least in comparison to Naruto, a pretty large kid. He thought it was pretty weird how the boy always wore red paint on his face and growled at everyone like he was an animal, but Naruto couldn't really say anything—the whiskers on his face made sure of that. He wondered, though, if Kiba was his opponent, was he going to have to fight his dog, too?
Shikamaru was too lazy, and though didn't really know what to think about Choji, he didn't want to count them out too quickly. There was also that Shino kid, who was really quiet and weird.
Naruto looked at the girls too but just shook his head with a smile. It wasn't like he hated girls or thought they were weaker than boys or anything, but most of them always gushed over Sasuke, and Naruto doubted they took any fighting seriously. The only one who didn't seem to have a crush on Sasuke was Hyuga Hinata, a girl whose eyes almost reminded Naruto of glass. Apparently, she was from the Hyuga Clan, and although he didn't know what that was, it sounded cool. Besides, Hinata seemed really nice. He didn't want to fight her.
Naruto wasn't too worried; he could defeat anyone he went against. But he really wanted to wipe the floor with Sasuke.
It isn't personal, Sasuke. But when I beat you, everyone will have to acknowledge I'm the strongest.
And yet, Naruto's grin slid off his face when he heard a whisper.
"Whoever fights Naruto's lucky. It's a free win."
And then another.
"I don't know... my mom says to stay away from him."
"Yeah, I don't want to be paired with him."
Naruto spun his head towards the voices, his face burning with heat. "Hey, shut up, Iruka-Sensei's talking!"
The kids, a bunch of no-names who rarely even talked were taken aback at his outburst. They stared at him wide-eyed for a moment, before one of them, Sara, spoke up.
"Don't talk to us..." she whispered to the boy.
"What the hell are you talking about, you're the ones who are talking!"
"Yeah, my mom says you're bad!" said another boy, Kai. He raised a crooked finger right into Naruto's face. "Bad!"
"Shut up, I'm not bad!"
"You're bad!"
"Shut up!" Naruto's blood began to boil, and his skin began to burn. The kids just looked at him, and for a moment, Naruto felt his heart nearly skip a beat. That look. I know it. They're looking at me just like everyone else.
They hate me.
He couldn't control himself. Naruto leaped to his feet, and with his fist clenched, took a step toward the kids, before he heard Iruka's voice.
"Naruto, what are you doing? Sit down!" the chunin yelled at him, annoyance written all over his face.
"Tell them to stop!"
"We didn't do anything, Iruka-Sensei!" Kai protested. Despite the innocence in his voice, Naruto could see the venom behind the boy's eyes.
The girl, Sara, nodded in agreement. "Yeah, Naruto's getting mad for nothing. I don't think he should participate today."
"But I'm not doing anything!"
"Yeah, don't let him fight!"
"You'll get beat up anyways. We're doing you a favor, Naruto," came Sakura's voice. "It's nothing personal,"
Someone else said, "Yeah, everyone here would beat you."
Naruto's chest was like a furnace, growing hotter with each passing second, and soon, it would explode.
"You guys don't know anything about me—I'm going to be the Hokage!"
Laughter surrounded him.
"Not again with this..." Ino muttered.
"Naruto? The Hokage? Yeah, right!" Kiba snickered from beside him. His dog, Akamaru barked in agreement.
Sakura turned around to face Naruto, his green eyes piercing into him. "You know, all Hokage were smart."
"Yeah, so? I'm not?"
"You're dead last, idiot!" Kiba laughed.
Naruto shut his eyes and growled. He didn't want to hear this, not again. No one believed in him. His heart was racing and it took everything inside of him to keep him from lashing out.
"Look, he's gonna cry!"
"Shut up, no I'm not!"
Iruka-Sensei, who'd been at a standstill until this point, glanced at his student. His breath caught in his throat. At this, the instructor's eyes widened. His gaze darted to the blond boy, noticing for any indication that... his prisoner was influencing him.
Is the kyuubi making him angry?
"Ah... Naruto," Iruka began, scratching the back of his neck. "Maybe you should calm down."
Though the instructor was trying his best to keep his voice neutral, there was a tenseness behind his words that Naruto could pick up on. He knew it. Iruka was just like everyone else. This wasn't new to Naruto by any means—the boy rarely cared about what anyone thought about him, pretty used to everyone harboring negative feelings from him. But for some reason, looking at Iruka, he didn't know why, but it caused his entire body to shake. Maybe because the man was the first man other than the Hokage to not actively avoid him. Maybe because he was a man who actually acknowledged him.
Naruto didn't want to look. He didn't want to see the eyes that his teacher was using to look at him. It would be the same eyes as all the others. Anger. Fear. Hate.
He didn't know why, but Naruto turned to meet gazes with his sensei, and his thoughts were confirmed. They all blamed him for something—something he didn't even know what for. They all hated him.
And maybe he hated them too.
But before anyone else could say anything, a voice spoke up, causing everyone to stop and turn.
"You're all so annoying," Sasuke said, brushing off his clothes as he stood up. "I'll take the first match, I'll fight him."
All the other students watched intently as the Uchiha crossed over to the middle of the yard, and even Iruka, the so-called instructor was taken aback at the boy. Sasuke, even after what he'd gone through was still all-business, it seemed. Even after what his brother did. The chunin shook the thought from his mind and stole a glance towards Naruto, who, though still seemed tense, was steeling and unreadable gaze at the other boy. After a moment, Iruka relented.
"Well, that's not how it works. You don't really pick who you want to fight, but... Okay, then. The first match will be between Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto."
At his words, Naruto felt a large weight lift from his shoulders, though he made sure not to show his elation. The entire scene just went to prove again to Naruto that people didn't care. People hated him for no other reason than they thought he was weak and stupid. He took a deep breath and forced his mind to settle like he'd done many times before.
"Just watch me, I'm gonna beat him, dattebayo!" Naruto beamed at the rest of his classmates, shaking his earlier thoughts from his head. In return they began cheering—albeit, cheering for Sasuke, who simply stared at him, expressionless. Naruto couldn't help but feel a pang of annoyance in his stomach, returning the gaze. He didn't know why, but just the way Sasuke acted, as if he was too good, too cool to be here, rubbed him the wrong way.
Damn it, I'll take down Mr. Popular.
After Iruka reiterated the rules, the two opponents completed the Unison Sign.
"Remember, if any of you step outside of the circle—" Iruka reminded them, gesturing at a circle drawn in white paint around the two boys. "—then the match is over. Ready?"
Sasuke agreed with an indifferent shrug.
"Hell yeah!"
"Start!"
Immediately the two boys shot towards each other, fists raised into the air.
I just have to make the first move. I have to hit harder and faster and then I win—
Before he could even blink, Naruto felt a sharp pain in his stomach, throwing him to the ground. He felt his breath escape his body. White stars began to dot his vision. He found staring up at the sky, watching the clouds roll by.
The hell?
Sasuke was on top of his opponent, his hand pressed into the blond's chest, keeping him from moving. His other free hand was extended in a fist, mere inches from Naruto's face. The Uchiha didn't utter a word, and if Naruto had anything to say, the thoughts were out of his mind. This was one of the rare times Naruto was speechless.
"Sasuke! He won!" the girls squealed in delight, as they saw their crush hovering over his opponent.
The boys, on the other hand, were staring with their mouths agape and eyes widened. A few of them verbally expressed their impression, and others simply watched in disbelief at the boy's speed. The fight had only lasted for only a second, and already it was over. Even Shikamaru, as if he'd seen a ghost, stared at the duo in the center of the courtyard.
"Wow..." was all the Nara boy could manage.
But Naruto was petrified, frozen in place. His muscles screamed for him to move, but his gaze and mind were locked in one place.
Sasuke's eyes... that look. It's the same as everyone else's.
They were like two voids glaring into his soul, reeking of pure hatred. Burning fire lined his irises, and even deeper resided a frozen stare, devoid of anything but anger. Naruto couldn't breathe. Even for him, the boy everyone seemingly hated, he'd never had anyone look at him with this type of intensity ever.
For what seemed like an eternity, the two stared at each other, before Naruto realized something.
No. The look in his eyes is worse. Stronger than everyone else's... but it's not for me.
Naruto understood now. He knew how Sasuke had managed to get so strong that he could beat him with barely an effort. He knew why the Uchiha boy possessed such drive and skill. He was strong because of his hatred.
And at that moment, Naruto knew what he needed to do to become strong, too.
Author's Note:
Hey guys, so this... bear with me, is a new story. Without giving too much away, it's focuses more on the village's hate for Naruto, and how that focused hate affects his character. So a major theme for this will, in fact, be hate, and will drastically change the outcome of many things from canon. I hope you guys enjoyed, and if you have any feedback, feel free to leave a review!
- boringfirelion