WINTER STORY
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Naruto, but Mr. Kishimoto Masashi sure does. This story has been fabricated only for recreational purposes, and no monetary gain is produced from it. In other words: no point in suing, right???
NOTE: Sorry about a couple of errors that appeared in the first chapter. "Jay" and "Jen" are two characters from another story I'm working on-and coincidentally, they're somewhat similar to Sasuke and Saskura. That's most likely why I accidentally inserted their names into this fanfic (in my heroin-induced haze). So embarrassing! *Clutches hands to face.* But I fixed those mistakes in the first chapter, plus I also tried to make up for some of the bland formatting.
CHAPTER TWO
NARUTO
Fingers laced together, hands behind head, Naruto jauntily ambled slightly ahead of his two other teammates on their way into the village. Today, not even the crappy weather was bothering him, and they could take a break from training, which was constant for a couple of months now. Behind him, he could hear Sakura make an inquiring noise and say, "Mm, Sasuke? What's the matter?"
Naruto felt that weird, strange twinge tweak at that pumping organ in his ribcage called a heart, when he heard Sasuke's name. It was probably because he hated the boy so much.
Sasuke took his time in answering, which was typical.
"Hmm. It's only Kakashi's business. He's never neglected his duties as sensei before. What's so important that he decided to quit instruction for today?" His voice was full of suspicion.
*How annoying,* Naruto thought. Sasuke always had to talk big about something.
"He's probably just working on some jounin-level decisions, Sasuke!" Naruto said, sounding enervated. "Who cares? Let's just get this boring crap over with!" For some reason, Naruto almost felt like he could detect two narrowed eyes glaring holes into the back of his head.
The three already finished inspecting the house. Sakura was the one to figure out all the details for the shopping. Yet, the walk back to the village was at a leisurely pace and they didn't feel like they were on a mission--probably due to Kakashi's absence.
The shopping area of Konoha Village was business as usual. As they entered the district, Sakura patted Naruto on the shoulder and pointed at the Hokage Memorial. "Naruto! Hey, doesn't the Fourth kind of look like you? You have the same hair!"
Naruto narrowed his eyes into slits and observed the Fourth Hokage's visage. As a matter of fact, she was right. . . He felt a strange tremor. He remembered looking up to the Fourth for saving the village from the Kyubi, the demon fox. Suddenly, Naruto felt a strange sense of unease. He abruptly saw a flash of a foggy bridge and multiple icy mirrors. . .
"Naruto ni-chan!" a young voice cried out from behind them.
There was only one kid in the Hidden Leaf Village who addressed Naruto as "older brother."
"Ah. . . Konohamaru," Naruto greeted. He cheesed at the young kid.
Behind the grandson of the Hokage were his two affiliates.
"Ni-chan?" Sakura inquired, switching her glance from the boy to Naruto.
"Sakura-chan, this is Konohamaru," Naruto said. He pointed to a little girl with an unusual hairstyle and large blush dots on her cheeks. "And this is--"
The girl suddenly struck a pose. "The one who possesses the sex appeal of an adult, and the female ninja from the senior group, Moegi!"
"Uh, and this is--"
The third one of the young triad, a boy with round glasses, hunched himself into an unconvincing posture and said, "The one who loves dividing numbers, Udon." A silver tendril of snot was escaping one of his nostrils.
Naruto looked annoyed. He turned to Sakura. "I play with these brats." He jumped when he looked at her face. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"
Sakura's eyes widened and she shook her head. "Oh. Nothing. It's just- -" She stopped and Naruto cocked his head at her. "Oh, it's just nice that you take time out to play with them. That's all."
"Hmm?"
Meanwhile, Konohamaru's eyes shifted from the cute, pink-haired girl to the sullen-looking young man in dark blue. His hands were pocketed and he was staring at Naruto.
"Who's that guy?" Konohamaru asked, pointing at Sasuke.
"Hmm?" Naruto said. He peered over at his other teammate. "Oh, him. He's a baka [idiot]! The kind of guy who always needs help." He said this with confidence, but he knew instantly that Sasuke was going to return with a rebuttal.
As guaranteed.
"Total moron," Sasuke muttered. "*You're* the one who always gets in the way." Naruto didn't react like he usually would. He thought about how Sasuke stepped in the path of harm to prevent Naruto from getting killed. Or at least they both thought at the time that Haku was serious about killing them. Naruto felt a pang of guilt as he recollected his awe- inspiring rage from seeing Sasuke's lifeless body, and his pain when he felt Sakura run past him to see Sasuke. On that bridge.
"Naruto ni-chan. Is this your rival?" Konohamaru asked with interest.
Breaking out of his thoughts swiftly, Naruto grinned as a reflex. "Yes. You can say that."
Udon, from behind Konohamaru, suddenly flipped out a notepad. "Please, can you three answer our questions for the school newspaper? Our article is about 'teamwork!' "
The three looked at one another, not sure. But Naruto beat the other two to a reply. "Ah, I guess. But make it quick, OK?" he said. He knew he couldn't say 'no' to these kids.
SAKURA
It was a bit of a pleasant surprise that Naruto was a sort of an older brother to these kids. *Come to think of it,* she thought, *he is the number one ninja in surprising.* She remembered experiencing this odd feeling when she witnessed Naruto coming up with that plan against Zabuza to free Kakashi from the Hydro Prison Technique. It was one of Naruto's rare, genuinely *cool* moments.
Unfortunately, she was paired up with Konohamaru. And she wasn't liking his line of questioning.
"So what kind of relationship do you have with Naruto ni-chan?" he asked.
"Oh?" She was taken aback by his question. "Why, we're teammates, of course." She paused. "We're friends, too."
Konohamaru suddenly bared a toothy grin that was Naruto-esque in nature. "How long have you been *friends*?"
Sakura made a face. The little boy's emphasis on "friends" was too obvious. "We're *only* friends. What has Naruto told you?!"
From behind her, she could hear Naruto tell in his confident voice to Udon, "Ah, well you know, our missions are classified and very dangerous. I would tell you about them, but you'd probably have nightmares about exiled ninjas!"
A little further away from Naruto, she could hear Moegi lose her professional, journalistic cool as she screamed, "Stupid-head! What's wrong with natou [fermented bean curd]?! It's so delicious and my mom makes it all the time!"
Sakura giggled at the sight of Sasuke's irritated expression. Nevertheless, he patiently answered the girl's question. "I don't like the smell and taste. And how it's so sticky and stays in your mouth forever. I can't take that." (1)
"Hmm?" Moegi said. Suddenly, her face changed to child-like wickedness. "Ano sa [well then], what did the kiss with Naruto taste like? Natou? Lemon?" she queried.
Sasuke looked lost in thought. "Hmm. . . like Miso, I guess. . . I mean. . . like I remember! Damn Naruto, why would he do something like that?" (2) His face suddenly lost its blankness and it gave way to aggravation. Moegi giggled.
Sakura felt a tugging at her dress. It was Konohamaru. "Hey! I asked what you guys did when you were away. I remember Naruto ni-chan was away for a few days. . . was it a mission?"
"Oh, yes," she responded. "We were at the Country of the Wave, on a C- ranked mission. We were protecting someone, er, I guess that's all you need to know?"
"Protecting someone! Wow! Did you get into any battles?"
"Ah. Quite a few," she answered unenthusiastically, recalling all the trouble that was in the Country of the Wave.
"Did Naruto ni-chan save anybody's life?!" Konohamaru asked, absolutely excited. His face faltered a bit from disappointment. "I ask because he wouldn't really talk about it."
Sakura was not entirely surprised by that. They had suffered much, and almost lost much. "Uh, well," she began, uncertain. She thought for a moment. Actually, she wasn't sure what happened in the final battle against Haku. Nobody in Team 07 discussed or recapped what had happened on the bridge with each other. Kakashi didn't ask any questions. Neither Sasuke nor Naruto made any comments about it. Well, that's a little strange.
"Well, we all looked after each other," she finally responded in an honest spirit. "We handled our battles, but we were always looking out for one another. That's the spirit of a team," she said lamely, suddenly feeling a jolt of her own helplessness. She remembered distinctly how little she did any of the fighting. *Well, at least I was concerned for them when I was standing in front of the old man the whole time,* she thought sullenly.
She suddenly caught adrift of the ongoing interrogation between Moegi and Sasuke.
"So. . . like, do you like Sakura-chan? How do you feel about her?" Sakura looked at Moegi. The girl's large dots were growing on her face. *Ha, just like every other girl in this entire village, she's falling for him,* was Sakura's bittersweet thought.
"I think of Sakura as an important comrade. . . since she's helped me out a lot," he added quickly. (3)
Sakura didn't know what to make of that.
"And Naruto?" Moegi asked. "He sees you as a rival but what about you?"
"Naruto. . . eh?" This time, he took his time in answering. Then he responded slowly, as if he were answering more himself than Moegi. "At first I thought he was just a moron who gets in the way but frankly he's been impressing me lately--just a bit," he added quickly, catching himself. (4)
"My favorite is miso, of course! And I like lots of pork, too." (5) Sakura looked to Naruto. He was pleasant as usual. . . but she still could not be that interested in his answers as she was in Sasuke's.
SASUKE
Hours later in the day, the three were in the old house again. It was around four o' clock. Soon, it would be dark as it was a time of short winter days.
After their grueling interviews and shopping for materials, they settled into their tasks inside the house. Naruto excitedly swept the floors, only to incite a dust cloud that nearly suffocated them all. From time to time, Sasuke noticed Naruto glaring at him, either waiting for a chance to pounce on his rival or observing his rival's progress. He remembered Naruto growling something about "not letting Sasuke take all the good parts."
Sasuke, by this point, secretly enjoyed pissing off the obnoxious shinobi. It made things more interesting, at least.
Sakura would hum from time to time, during her job in beautifying the little shack. He noticed her sometimes watching him, too, although she had an expression entirely different from Naruto's.
So, was the girl in love or what? What nonsense. Those girls from the Academy could never understand. . .
How could he even entertain thoughts of adolescent romance when he wasn't even close to achieving his pledges, his promises?
Uchiha Itachi, Sasuke's older brother, graduated the Academy at the top of his class at the age of seven. He became a Chuunin a mere two years later at the age of nine, and then he was promoted to an ANBU captain when he was thirteen. And then Itachi killed their parents at the age of seventeen. . .
Sasuke shook his head. This was ridiculous. When Itachi was his age, he was an ANBU captain. And the so-called genius clan ninja, Uchiha Sasuke, at this moment in time, was cleaning house.
He suddenly noticed Naruto's presence by his side. Apparently, Naruto was trying to get his attention for a few seconds. "Uh, Sasuke?" the boy asked awkwardly.
Sasuke couldn't bring himself to even look at him. He was too full of emotion, clutching broken pieces of furniture in his fists.
"What. . . are you thinking about?" Naruto asked stupidly.
". . . My brother. . ." Sasuke barely heard himself say. He kept seeing red Sharingan eyes burning in his mind.
Naruto's cornflower eyes widened. He remembered Sasuke mention his brother when Haku placed Sasuke in a near-death state. Naruto recalled. . . Sasuke's brother killed off his clan.
He didn't know what to say at that moment.
Sasuke stared at the furniture bits in his hands. Was he going to feel this way forever? All this intensity directed at nothing in particular, his frustration clinging to him in some sick aura?
And Naruto. He looked at Naruto. The yellow-haired boy looked lost and a little sad, which was rare.
*It's probably because he's had such an irregular childhood.*
*Oh yeah, you know he doesn't have parents, right?*
*That's why he's so selfish.*
He suddenly remembered Sakura's comments about Naruto's reckless behavior. She didn't understand. . . she didn't know that was just how Naruto handled his placement in life, without his parents.
*The solitude. . . You can't even compare it to the level of where your parents get mad at you.*
It had made him so angry. The villagers didn't understand what it was like to go to an empty home and then see your classmates with their parents. Every year, there were plenty of families moving together at village festivals. There were kids who complained about their parents all around him.
*So, I am selfish too,* he thought. *Selfish with my desire to kill that man. Naruto is selfish with his wild dreams of becoming Hokage, too. We orphans make up a selfish lot. Sakura, why do you want to be in this kind of crowd?*
Suddenly, he snapped out of his thoughts and glared at Naruto. He did it again. He'd done it before with Sakura, when he talked about his pain briefly.
*Only I can kill that man.*
*That time, I was crying. . .*
*I am an avenger.*
Sometimes, he suddenly would be lost in thought while talking to Sakura--now Naruto this time--and he would zone out, and release a sliver of his pain. He had to stop showing this weakness.
Talking to yourself was a bad side effect of constant loneliness.
"Sasuke-kun," Sakura suddenly said loudly. Her voice quivered. "What-- what do you mean by that?"
"What are you talking about?" Sasuke asked sharply. He whipped his head around to look at her.
"I mean. . . You said, 'Sakura, why do you want to be in this kind of crowd?' " Her eyes shook. "What are you saying? I don't belong in this ninja team?" She shook her head and she suddenly looked as if she were about to cry. "Sasuke-kun! What did you mean?"
(1) This is an actual question and answer from the *Naruto Fanbook.* This was from Sasuke's interview. I think the question came from a fan and then Kishimoto answered it as he imagined the character would! The translation was found on the website "Toriyama World," . (2) This question and answer comes from the same source as the first! Quite a thought-provoking answer, eh? *Wink, wink.* (3) Same source as (1) and (2). (4) Same source. (5) From Naruto's interview in the same book.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Naruto, but Mr. Kishimoto Masashi sure does. This story has been fabricated only for recreational purposes, and no monetary gain is produced from it. In other words: no point in suing, right???
NOTE: Sorry about a couple of errors that appeared in the first chapter. "Jay" and "Jen" are two characters from another story I'm working on-and coincidentally, they're somewhat similar to Sasuke and Saskura. That's most likely why I accidentally inserted their names into this fanfic (in my heroin-induced haze). So embarrassing! *Clutches hands to face.* But I fixed those mistakes in the first chapter, plus I also tried to make up for some of the bland formatting.
CHAPTER TWO
NARUTO
Fingers laced together, hands behind head, Naruto jauntily ambled slightly ahead of his two other teammates on their way into the village. Today, not even the crappy weather was bothering him, and they could take a break from training, which was constant for a couple of months now. Behind him, he could hear Sakura make an inquiring noise and say, "Mm, Sasuke? What's the matter?"
Naruto felt that weird, strange twinge tweak at that pumping organ in his ribcage called a heart, when he heard Sasuke's name. It was probably because he hated the boy so much.
Sasuke took his time in answering, which was typical.
"Hmm. It's only Kakashi's business. He's never neglected his duties as sensei before. What's so important that he decided to quit instruction for today?" His voice was full of suspicion.
*How annoying,* Naruto thought. Sasuke always had to talk big about something.
"He's probably just working on some jounin-level decisions, Sasuke!" Naruto said, sounding enervated. "Who cares? Let's just get this boring crap over with!" For some reason, Naruto almost felt like he could detect two narrowed eyes glaring holes into the back of his head.
The three already finished inspecting the house. Sakura was the one to figure out all the details for the shopping. Yet, the walk back to the village was at a leisurely pace and they didn't feel like they were on a mission--probably due to Kakashi's absence.
The shopping area of Konoha Village was business as usual. As they entered the district, Sakura patted Naruto on the shoulder and pointed at the Hokage Memorial. "Naruto! Hey, doesn't the Fourth kind of look like you? You have the same hair!"
Naruto narrowed his eyes into slits and observed the Fourth Hokage's visage. As a matter of fact, she was right. . . He felt a strange tremor. He remembered looking up to the Fourth for saving the village from the Kyubi, the demon fox. Suddenly, Naruto felt a strange sense of unease. He abruptly saw a flash of a foggy bridge and multiple icy mirrors. . .
"Naruto ni-chan!" a young voice cried out from behind them.
There was only one kid in the Hidden Leaf Village who addressed Naruto as "older brother."
"Ah. . . Konohamaru," Naruto greeted. He cheesed at the young kid.
Behind the grandson of the Hokage were his two affiliates.
"Ni-chan?" Sakura inquired, switching her glance from the boy to Naruto.
"Sakura-chan, this is Konohamaru," Naruto said. He pointed to a little girl with an unusual hairstyle and large blush dots on her cheeks. "And this is--"
The girl suddenly struck a pose. "The one who possesses the sex appeal of an adult, and the female ninja from the senior group, Moegi!"
"Uh, and this is--"
The third one of the young triad, a boy with round glasses, hunched himself into an unconvincing posture and said, "The one who loves dividing numbers, Udon." A silver tendril of snot was escaping one of his nostrils.
Naruto looked annoyed. He turned to Sakura. "I play with these brats." He jumped when he looked at her face. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"
Sakura's eyes widened and she shook her head. "Oh. Nothing. It's just- -" She stopped and Naruto cocked his head at her. "Oh, it's just nice that you take time out to play with them. That's all."
"Hmm?"
Meanwhile, Konohamaru's eyes shifted from the cute, pink-haired girl to the sullen-looking young man in dark blue. His hands were pocketed and he was staring at Naruto.
"Who's that guy?" Konohamaru asked, pointing at Sasuke.
"Hmm?" Naruto said. He peered over at his other teammate. "Oh, him. He's a baka [idiot]! The kind of guy who always needs help." He said this with confidence, but he knew instantly that Sasuke was going to return with a rebuttal.
As guaranteed.
"Total moron," Sasuke muttered. "*You're* the one who always gets in the way." Naruto didn't react like he usually would. He thought about how Sasuke stepped in the path of harm to prevent Naruto from getting killed. Or at least they both thought at the time that Haku was serious about killing them. Naruto felt a pang of guilt as he recollected his awe- inspiring rage from seeing Sasuke's lifeless body, and his pain when he felt Sakura run past him to see Sasuke. On that bridge.
"Naruto ni-chan. Is this your rival?" Konohamaru asked with interest.
Breaking out of his thoughts swiftly, Naruto grinned as a reflex. "Yes. You can say that."
Udon, from behind Konohamaru, suddenly flipped out a notepad. "Please, can you three answer our questions for the school newspaper? Our article is about 'teamwork!' "
The three looked at one another, not sure. But Naruto beat the other two to a reply. "Ah, I guess. But make it quick, OK?" he said. He knew he couldn't say 'no' to these kids.
SAKURA
It was a bit of a pleasant surprise that Naruto was a sort of an older brother to these kids. *Come to think of it,* she thought, *he is the number one ninja in surprising.* She remembered experiencing this odd feeling when she witnessed Naruto coming up with that plan against Zabuza to free Kakashi from the Hydro Prison Technique. It was one of Naruto's rare, genuinely *cool* moments.
Unfortunately, she was paired up with Konohamaru. And she wasn't liking his line of questioning.
"So what kind of relationship do you have with Naruto ni-chan?" he asked.
"Oh?" She was taken aback by his question. "Why, we're teammates, of course." She paused. "We're friends, too."
Konohamaru suddenly bared a toothy grin that was Naruto-esque in nature. "How long have you been *friends*?"
Sakura made a face. The little boy's emphasis on "friends" was too obvious. "We're *only* friends. What has Naruto told you?!"
From behind her, she could hear Naruto tell in his confident voice to Udon, "Ah, well you know, our missions are classified and very dangerous. I would tell you about them, but you'd probably have nightmares about exiled ninjas!"
A little further away from Naruto, she could hear Moegi lose her professional, journalistic cool as she screamed, "Stupid-head! What's wrong with natou [fermented bean curd]?! It's so delicious and my mom makes it all the time!"
Sakura giggled at the sight of Sasuke's irritated expression. Nevertheless, he patiently answered the girl's question. "I don't like the smell and taste. And how it's so sticky and stays in your mouth forever. I can't take that." (1)
"Hmm?" Moegi said. Suddenly, her face changed to child-like wickedness. "Ano sa [well then], what did the kiss with Naruto taste like? Natou? Lemon?" she queried.
Sasuke looked lost in thought. "Hmm. . . like Miso, I guess. . . I mean. . . like I remember! Damn Naruto, why would he do something like that?" (2) His face suddenly lost its blankness and it gave way to aggravation. Moegi giggled.
Sakura felt a tugging at her dress. It was Konohamaru. "Hey! I asked what you guys did when you were away. I remember Naruto ni-chan was away for a few days. . . was it a mission?"
"Oh, yes," she responded. "We were at the Country of the Wave, on a C- ranked mission. We were protecting someone, er, I guess that's all you need to know?"
"Protecting someone! Wow! Did you get into any battles?"
"Ah. Quite a few," she answered unenthusiastically, recalling all the trouble that was in the Country of the Wave.
"Did Naruto ni-chan save anybody's life?!" Konohamaru asked, absolutely excited. His face faltered a bit from disappointment. "I ask because he wouldn't really talk about it."
Sakura was not entirely surprised by that. They had suffered much, and almost lost much. "Uh, well," she began, uncertain. She thought for a moment. Actually, she wasn't sure what happened in the final battle against Haku. Nobody in Team 07 discussed or recapped what had happened on the bridge with each other. Kakashi didn't ask any questions. Neither Sasuke nor Naruto made any comments about it. Well, that's a little strange.
"Well, we all looked after each other," she finally responded in an honest spirit. "We handled our battles, but we were always looking out for one another. That's the spirit of a team," she said lamely, suddenly feeling a jolt of her own helplessness. She remembered distinctly how little she did any of the fighting. *Well, at least I was concerned for them when I was standing in front of the old man the whole time,* she thought sullenly.
She suddenly caught adrift of the ongoing interrogation between Moegi and Sasuke.
"So. . . like, do you like Sakura-chan? How do you feel about her?" Sakura looked at Moegi. The girl's large dots were growing on her face. *Ha, just like every other girl in this entire village, she's falling for him,* was Sakura's bittersweet thought.
"I think of Sakura as an important comrade. . . since she's helped me out a lot," he added quickly. (3)
Sakura didn't know what to make of that.
"And Naruto?" Moegi asked. "He sees you as a rival but what about you?"
"Naruto. . . eh?" This time, he took his time in answering. Then he responded slowly, as if he were answering more himself than Moegi. "At first I thought he was just a moron who gets in the way but frankly he's been impressing me lately--just a bit," he added quickly, catching himself. (4)
"My favorite is miso, of course! And I like lots of pork, too." (5) Sakura looked to Naruto. He was pleasant as usual. . . but she still could not be that interested in his answers as she was in Sasuke's.
SASUKE
Hours later in the day, the three were in the old house again. It was around four o' clock. Soon, it would be dark as it was a time of short winter days.
After their grueling interviews and shopping for materials, they settled into their tasks inside the house. Naruto excitedly swept the floors, only to incite a dust cloud that nearly suffocated them all. From time to time, Sasuke noticed Naruto glaring at him, either waiting for a chance to pounce on his rival or observing his rival's progress. He remembered Naruto growling something about "not letting Sasuke take all the good parts."
Sasuke, by this point, secretly enjoyed pissing off the obnoxious shinobi. It made things more interesting, at least.
Sakura would hum from time to time, during her job in beautifying the little shack. He noticed her sometimes watching him, too, although she had an expression entirely different from Naruto's.
So, was the girl in love or what? What nonsense. Those girls from the Academy could never understand. . .
How could he even entertain thoughts of adolescent romance when he wasn't even close to achieving his pledges, his promises?
Uchiha Itachi, Sasuke's older brother, graduated the Academy at the top of his class at the age of seven. He became a Chuunin a mere two years later at the age of nine, and then he was promoted to an ANBU captain when he was thirteen. And then Itachi killed their parents at the age of seventeen. . .
Sasuke shook his head. This was ridiculous. When Itachi was his age, he was an ANBU captain. And the so-called genius clan ninja, Uchiha Sasuke, at this moment in time, was cleaning house.
He suddenly noticed Naruto's presence by his side. Apparently, Naruto was trying to get his attention for a few seconds. "Uh, Sasuke?" the boy asked awkwardly.
Sasuke couldn't bring himself to even look at him. He was too full of emotion, clutching broken pieces of furniture in his fists.
"What. . . are you thinking about?" Naruto asked stupidly.
". . . My brother. . ." Sasuke barely heard himself say. He kept seeing red Sharingan eyes burning in his mind.
Naruto's cornflower eyes widened. He remembered Sasuke mention his brother when Haku placed Sasuke in a near-death state. Naruto recalled. . . Sasuke's brother killed off his clan.
He didn't know what to say at that moment.
Sasuke stared at the furniture bits in his hands. Was he going to feel this way forever? All this intensity directed at nothing in particular, his frustration clinging to him in some sick aura?
And Naruto. He looked at Naruto. The yellow-haired boy looked lost and a little sad, which was rare.
*It's probably because he's had such an irregular childhood.*
*Oh yeah, you know he doesn't have parents, right?*
*That's why he's so selfish.*
He suddenly remembered Sakura's comments about Naruto's reckless behavior. She didn't understand. . . she didn't know that was just how Naruto handled his placement in life, without his parents.
*The solitude. . . You can't even compare it to the level of where your parents get mad at you.*
It had made him so angry. The villagers didn't understand what it was like to go to an empty home and then see your classmates with their parents. Every year, there were plenty of families moving together at village festivals. There were kids who complained about their parents all around him.
*So, I am selfish too,* he thought. *Selfish with my desire to kill that man. Naruto is selfish with his wild dreams of becoming Hokage, too. We orphans make up a selfish lot. Sakura, why do you want to be in this kind of crowd?*
Suddenly, he snapped out of his thoughts and glared at Naruto. He did it again. He'd done it before with Sakura, when he talked about his pain briefly.
*Only I can kill that man.*
*That time, I was crying. . .*
*I am an avenger.*
Sometimes, he suddenly would be lost in thought while talking to Sakura--now Naruto this time--and he would zone out, and release a sliver of his pain. He had to stop showing this weakness.
Talking to yourself was a bad side effect of constant loneliness.
"Sasuke-kun," Sakura suddenly said loudly. Her voice quivered. "What-- what do you mean by that?"
"What are you talking about?" Sasuke asked sharply. He whipped his head around to look at her.
"I mean. . . You said, 'Sakura, why do you want to be in this kind of crowd?' " Her eyes shook. "What are you saying? I don't belong in this ninja team?" She shook her head and she suddenly looked as if she were about to cry. "Sasuke-kun! What did you mean?"
(1) This is an actual question and answer from the *Naruto Fanbook.* This was from Sasuke's interview. I think the question came from a fan and then Kishimoto answered it as he imagined the character would! The translation was found on the website "Toriyama World," . (2) This question and answer comes from the same source as the first! Quite a thought-provoking answer, eh? *Wink, wink.* (3) Same source as (1) and (2). (4) Same source. (5) From Naruto's interview in the same book.