I really dislike the "Oh, give me all your techniques and I am of a superior clan" type Sasuke. Thus, I have decided to "turn" him early on, right after the massacre. That's why Naruto got through to him so easily, Itachi's words haven't entirely transformed his mind yet. I'm also
Book I : Adamantine Dreams
Arc : Birth of the Dream
Sasuke was having a very bad day. First, he practically flunked the test today. Irrelevant thoughts, or so had he deemed them, plagued his mind.
After the incident with Naruto a week ago, he couldn't help but ponder over their conversation.
"Why did I chase him away like that? It's just like he said, he was just trying to be nice."
"Because emotions and bonds are useless, I need hatred. I need to hate him!"
Even as Sasuke declared this to himself, he couldn't help but notice how empty it felt.
"I need to train more," he thought as he walked to the training grounds.
Sakura was very mad. They had just taken a test, and somehow, Ino-pig got a higher score than her! Even if the difference was only one question, or 2.38%, it was still humiliating! Ino-pig had rubbed Sakura's defeat in her face over and over! Unacceptable! How was she to get her dear Sasuke-kun if she doesn't do well? She needs to study more!
After heading to the library and grabbing some good supplementary material, she headed for the training grounds. Her parents would probably tell her to put her books down and join them for family time if she read at home, so she went to the quietest place she knew : the training grounds. Most genin are either taking the Chunin Exams or resting at this time, so the training grounds are the perfect place for some extra curricular reading.
"Jiji!"
Hiruzen sighed. There goes his peace and quiet. "What is it, Naruto-kun?"
"Did… my mom leave anything for me? At all? I want to become stronger, so I can live up to her name!"
Hiruzen allowed a small smile to creep onto his face. The similarities between Naruto and Kushina were beginning to show. Their unwavering determination, bright smiles, and optimism were nearly mirror images of each other.
"Unfortunately, Naruto, your mother's death was spontaneous, and she wasn't able to leave a will or anything behind. However, I believe she would've wanted you to have some of her possessions. I thought you would ask, so here they are."
The Hokage then handed Naruto a sealing scroll. "Simply channel some of your chakra into the matrix, and it'll open."
Naruto laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head, "Soooo, how do you channel chakra again? Also, what's a ma-treeks?"
Hiruzen could feel a headache coming along already.
After a very long lecture, drawn out by Naruto's cluelessness over anything theory-related, the Sandaime finally managed to teach Naruto how to channel his chakra. The results were astounding, to say the least. For some reason, Naruto had not unlocked his chakra. Hiruzen was going to have a very nice chat with the instructors; for Naruto to miss the class was not a big deal, what was a big deal is the fact that nobody cared to ask why Naruto couldn't utilize the very energy that defined a shinobi.
After his chakra was unlocked, it was only a matter of minutes before Naruto got the hang of channeling it to various body parts. Hiruzen was astounded, as channeling chakra is something that may take days for a person to familiarize themselves with. For Naruto to achieve it so quickly … His potential is off the charts.
"Naruto, you said you wanted to become stronger. Why? And don't say it's for your parents. Although it is a nice idea, you need a real, solid, concrete goal to work towards."
Naruto scrunched up his face in concentration, and shouted, "To become Hokage! I'll become Hokage, and then, maybe people will acknowledge me for who I am, not the demon inside me! I'll show'em!"
"So, you don't hate the village?"
Naruto's grin faltered, "Well, if I hate them for hating the Kyuubi, then wouldn't that be like them hating me because I contain the demon? I don't want to be like that."
"Either he's very mature for his age, or he's very childish." thought Hiruzen. Either way, he was glad Naruto does not crave revenge. "Kami knows what two obssessed avengers would do."
"Why did you ask, jiji?"
Hiruzen smiled, and beckoned for Naruto to come closer. He stood up, and pulled the boy towards the central window.
"What do you see?"
Naruto looked down at the village, confused. "I see lotsa people, a ton of buildings, and trees."
Hiruzen smiled, "When I look out here, I see a village. A village filled with defenseless people, a village that I'd die to protect.
"I was taught by the founder of this village, Shodaime-sama himself. He taught me to love and care for this village. The strongest shinobi in this village are not strong because of their techniques or chakra, or how much they train. They are strong because of their Will of Fire."
Naruto looked up, confused. "What's a Will of Fire?"
"The Will of Fire is the very ideal this village was built upon. It is the idea that we, the civilians, the shinobi, all of us, are family. We work together, we love and cherish our bonds, and we fight to protect our village, our family."
"Everyone's family?"
"Everyone," nodded Hiruzen. "For that is the job of the Hokage, to protect the village, to treat every villager as family, to fight for the next generation. To place the well being of the village and its future above all else. That is what it means to be Hokage. Do you think you can do that?"
Naruto listened, and looked down at the village, as if in a trance.
Could he do that? Place the village above all else. He pondered this.
"My entire clan was killed a month ago. I'm the only one left."
"I get sad too. I'm also lonely all the time, but most people just care about my family name, so their care is never genuine to me."
"Jiji," Naruto started quietly, "Even if the village isn't perfect, I'd still protect it. I have a feeling that's what my parents would've wanted.
"I know the village is not perfect. It has lots of bad people in it. But, I can change that! Once I become Hokage, I'll protect, I'll spread this Will of Fire to everyone, then everyone will be happy, everyone will work together!
"... I'll make sure no one else has to feel what I feel."
Yet again, Naruto surprised the Hokage with his maturity. The pure determination in his eyes shone as bright as the sun as he turned and ran to the training grounds with his new scroll in hand.
Hiruzen smiled. The future of Konoha was in good hands.
Sakura arrived at the training grounds first. She sat down, got comfortable, and read.
In fact, she was so engrossed, and that failed to notice Sasuke arriving. Even when she saw him, she simply nodded at him, and continued reading. Nothing is going to stop her from digging into a good read.
Sasuke seems puzzled by this turn of events, but quite pleased. And as such, he stayed at this training ground. He went over, and started going through taijutsu katas, and began punishing the training dummy for its sins.
Naruto was the last to arrive. Although there were more training grounds, he opted to stay at this one, as he didn't want to be lonely. After all that talk about working together, he didn't want to work alone! Thus, he plopped himself down in the middle, unsealed everything, and began sorting it through.
Everything remained quiet for a good while, and Sakura was beginning to think something was wrong with Naruto and Sasuke. They usually fight within five minutes of seeing each other!
However, the peace was not meant to last, as the boys finally got into a fight.
Sasuke grumbled about Naruto being in his way, and Naruto did not seem to hear him.
Getting annoyed at the lack of a response, he hurled some shuriken in the general direction of Naruto to get his attention.
This did not only get Naruto's attention, but his rage. To Sasuke's surprise, his shuriken had pierced one of Naruto's items. Namely, a green … apron? Why would he have that? And why was he so mad about it?
Unbeknownst to him, that article of clothing is one of the few tangible things Naruto had left of his parents.
Sasuke was bewildered, as Naruto came at him with a fury so great, it was intimidating. Not taking any chances, Sasuke went all out, and the two had a fierce taijutsu bout.
It was after a few minutes that Sakura got fed up. What's wrong with boys? Can't they just be quiet? She marched over, and yelled, "SHANNARO! Will you two be quiet and not fight for once in your life?" and struck them both, leaving them dazed on the floor.
After they both quieted down, Sasuke due to shock, and Naruto because he didn't want to get on the bad side of his Sakura-chan, Sakura huffed and turned away.
"Geez! What's with these idiot boys who don't know how to be quiet?"
"We got beat by Sakura."
"Hn."
"We were fighting each other for so long, but she just comes and immediately beats us."
"Hnn."
"Can you not grunt, and instead talk like a normal human?"
"... Why were you so angry over the apron?"
"... It's one of the only things I have of my parents. The apron was my mom's."
"Oh, sorry. I only meant to get your attention."
"It's fine. I'll repair it later."
Sasuke raised an eyebrow at this, "You know how to sew?"
"Well, not sew, but I do know how to mend tears and stuff."
"D-do you think you could teach me?"
Naruto's eyes bulged. Had he heard the other boy correctly?
"You want me to teach you?"
Sasuke had a faint blush, "Nevermind, ignore what I said."
"No, I'll teach you. It's just that you, the genius, is asking me, the outcast, for help. It just feels weird."
Sasuke frowned, "Outcast?"
"Haven't you noticed? Everyone hates me for some reason."
"Because of the Kyuubi, but I'm not going to tell you that."
Sasuke frowned yet again. He did notice. After their fight the other week, he kept an eye out, and did indeed notice the way everyone treated Naruto with disdain.
"Oh yeah, why did you chase me away that day? Did I do something wrong? If so, I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"
Sasuke interrupted, "L-look, the other day, the words you said reminded me of my brother's, and it made me angry. I didn't mean it. Sorry." He turned away, ready for Naruto's outburst.
It never came.
"Your brother? Why would that make you mad?"
Sasuke's eyes turned dark. "He was the one that did it."
Naruto's eyes widened in realization, and he let out a sigh.
"I see. And you want to kill him."
"Yes. It's my duty. I have to avenge my clan."
"You don't have to do it alone though."
Sasuke's head snapped around, a wild look in his eyes.
"Yes I do! I have to avenge them! It's my job…"
"Why? I can help, ya know. We can grow stronger together. There's no way he can take on the two of us!"
Sasuke was speechless.
"... He said that in order to kill him, I had to live with hatred, and face him when I had the same eyes as him."
Naruto looked at him in disbelief, and shouted, "Are ya dumb? Why are you listening to your clan's murderer? He probably just spared you for fun, and wants to see you go down the wrong path and struggle before his eyes! Why would you listen to HIM of all people?
"Jiji told me that the strongest shinobi in Konoha are strong not because of hatred, but because they love the village and would die to protect it. He says that's why they're strong, because they see the village as family, and are willing to work together to protect it."
Naruto stopped, and looked at Sasuke.
"We can work together, and kill your brother, okay?"
Sasuke's mind was reeling. Everything Naruto said made sense. It all made sense. If so, why was he so hesitant to accept Naruto's offer?
Then, Sasuke realized the reason. He was scared.
He closed his eyes, recalling the events of that night. He recalled the eyes of everyone's dead bodies. He recalled the blood oozing from every corner. He remembered everything.
Naruto's words reached him, somehow knowing what he was thinking.
"You aren't alone anymore. You have me."
Sasuke raised his head.
"Why would you go so far for me?"
Naruto turned his head away.
"I-I feel connected to you. We both are orphans who lost everything. We don't have anything left.
"I want to be Hokage, and that means taking care of everyone in the village, and I'll start with you. Like I said, you aren't alone anymore. If you agree, then neither am I."
Sasuke felt a smile creep onto his face.
It was a small smile, but the action felt so natural, that moments later, he was full on smiling.
"Naruto … let's go."
"Go where?"
"I'm not living at the compound anymore. I'm not going to drown myself in the past. I'm going to look to the future."
Sasuke looked at his new friend, "Can I stay at your place?"
Naruto beamed, honest and bright.
Sasuke had a thought. He remembered everything that night, down to the littlest details.
Had he awakened the sharingan that night?
And why does he remember Itachi crying?
