So, here's the next chappie! Much longer than the other one.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

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Home is Where the Heart is

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Chapter Two: Spoiled Brat

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'Why can't I remember what happened after I left Konoha?'

The thought seemed to bounce around in my head. It must have been a while until I was brought out of my musings when the nurse came back with fresh, clean clothes. She smiled at me one last time before setting them in front of me and left.

I automatically checked to see if she or anyone left any "surprises" there for me. None. Nothing. They were just regular, black, clean clothes. Since when did anyone have time to clean clothes with the war going on…? I found a few items in the clothes. Wires, a shuriken and two kunai. I also found a key. Why were they in there…? And the Third…I frowned. This was confusing.

When I looked down, I realized that I had put the clothes on. Wait, why was I so short? Ok, I was always a little short for my age, well, I like to think everyone else is just tall but…

I froze. By chance I caught sight of myself in a mirror. Slowly, very slowly and carefully, I turned around and stared. Only years and years of training kept me from screaming.

I was twelve again.

'And short,' I couldn't help but think. I took a full look of myself, looking up and down and behind. I never noticed I had such a firm butt before…er-moving on.

I couldn't help but make a small whimper as I ran my hands through my hair. My fully blond hair. No familiar silver streaks. My hair was short again, not the long hair I was used to. Sure it was a bit girly (I cringed at the thought) but it was handy for some of the jutsus I performed.

"Uzumaki-sama," the nurse said as she knocked, entering the room. "Are you ready to leave now?"

"Y-yeah…" I accidentally said. Shit, I was stuttering. Why was I stuttering? And what was with the Uzumaki-sama?

She gave me a curious look before smiling brightly, again. "Right this way then, Uzumaki-sama."

I was confused. Why did she continue to smile at me? I checked her out when she wasn't looking. She looked old enough to remember the Kyubi attack. So why was she so…nice?

'The…hell…is…going…on?' I thought in a daze.

"Please sign here, Uzumaki-sama," the person behind the desk said respectively.

I swear, Orochimaru must have a tumor or something if he thinks I'll fall for this. The snake bastard probably tried to think and it overloaded. I glared coldly at him and signed the paper. He ignored my glare, as if it was nothing new.

I left the hospital and walked to my apartment. At least, what was supposed to be my apartment. I walked right past it when I realized someone was inside it. A couple that were doing…unmentionable things. Could have at least closed the curtains.

I noticed during my walk that Konoha…was just how I remember it before the War. Except, no one glared, sneered, or spat at me. They smiled, waved, and greeted me. What was Orochimaru's point? What was he trying to do?

Ok, I was seriously starting to get unnerved with their politeness. The hate, anger, and despair I can deal with. I grew up with them, they were like my childhood friends (since I didn't have child hood friends) and I knew how to deal with them. But…what they're doing to me now, I don't think I can take much more…

I sighed. It must be so stupid. I had always wanted to be accepted, always wanted to be respected and admired and most of all…loved. But here I am with all these people who seem to be doing just that and I can't accept it! I bled, suffered, and risked everything for Konoha and this place seems to be giving everything I ever wanted but…I can't accept it. I can't get used to it, it's so strange…so foreign. I don't know how to react to this.

"What's with the eyes?"

I stopped walking out of surprise. What the hell? I'm supposed to be an ANBU captain, I shouldn't have been surprised. I wiped all emotion out of my face and turned to look at the person who spoke.

No…way…

"Kakashi-sensei?" I blurted out. I mentally flinched at the slip.

The masked shinobi smiled under his mask. "Aw, I'm honored to be called sensei by you! You seem to be in a good mood. You're not glaring!" He chuckled.

My shocked face was replaced by my emotionless mask again. I get it now. Orochimaru wants me to be in a happy place. I'm not sure why. Maybe to get me out of the way? Or maybe to distract me…or to get something out of me, drop my guard and kill me. I won't fall for it, you snake loving bastard.

"What do you want?" I asked in monotone.

The jounin smiled and said, "Oh, I just saw you and you had this really sad look in your eyes. So I stopped to say 'hi'."

I turned my back to him and I said without looking at him, "I don't need you baby sitting me."

Kakashi followed me and said, "If you tell your problems then maybe it would help you feel better. It's not good for a little kid to keep things bottled up."

"Or maybe I don't trust you," I responded smoothly.

He looked at me in surprise and studied me for a bit.

I stopped completely and glared at him, my frustration building. "Do you feel some twisted sense of duty that you have to protect me? Look after me? If you don't, maybe you just get some sick pleasure from stalking me. Then again, I shouldn't expect anything more from a pervert. But I didn't know you were a pedophile, too." He looked at me in surprise, shock, and sadness. Maybe even some guilt.

I turned away from him. 'Orochimaru is going all out on this delusion.'

I didn't notice the glares people sent towards Kakashi.

-.-.-

Kakashi looked at Naruto as he walked away from him. He felt sad and guilty over what the young blond said.

'Naruto always said hurtful things before, or at least things that were meant to be hurtful. I never bothered with them. No one really cared if he insulted them…because we all just thought he didn't mean them or was just frustrated with life. But what he said right now…it hurt. But why?' Kakashi thought it over.

The silver haired jounin sighed. 'Do I really feel the need to look after him…just because he's the son of my dead sensei?'

Kakashi whipped out his Icha Icha Paradise and pretended to read it as he walked the opposite direction Naruto took.

-.-.-

I'll admit, I do not have any idea where I am going. Not one clue. I knew where I was, but I definitely didn't know where I am going. I don't even know where I live. My apartment was, apparently, taken over by a horny couple.

I sighed in defeat until I stumbled with the sudden weight of someone on top of me.

"Ah! Naruto-kun!" someone whispered in a supposedly seductive way into my ear. "I was looking all over for you!" She wrapped her arms around my neck.

I shrugged the girl off me. When I turned around, I found the girl was Ino. Ok, I suppose someone should just shave off my eyebrows and draw fake ones on my forehead. That way I won't have to always raise my eyebrows all the time in this place. I had expected to find her still alive, but what is she doing with me? She should be off chasing Shikamaru or, obviously, Sasuke.

"What do you want?" I asked, letting annoyance hint through my words.

Ino struck a thinking pose, one that was meant to be cute. It wasn't. "How about we go on a date?"

Ok, if Orochimaru was trying to make this my "perfect" place, why would he make Ino chase after me? I showed no interest in her before. At least not like that. Could have done Sakura, though I long out grew my crush on her.

"Ino-pig! How dare you bother Naruto-kun like that?"

Speak of the devil and he will show up.

I turned my head slightly to see Sakura in all her pink haired glory. Her hair was long like when we were kids. Ino whirled angrily around to her. They glared angrily at each other.

"Well, well, forehead-girl. I see the only thing oversized about you is your brow and your attitude!" Ino yelled.

"And I see only your ugly, pig shaped snout!" Sakura countered.

"Naruto-kun wouldn't want to date a girl with a big forehead!"

"He wouldn't want to date a girl with such an ugly face!"

I thought, 'This is getting weird. Fighting over Sasuke…sure, ok, I can understand. The guy's a walking wet dream. (But me and my homophobic tendencies that are a part of every male don't think so, of course!) Fighting over me is just weird.' I stealthily sneaked away as they argued with each other.

"Man, women are so troublesome." I heard when I turned a corner. I saw the person who spoke. It was Shikamaru and Chouji sat next to him on the grass, munching on a bag of chips. Just like old times, too.

I debated weather or not to approach them. I finally decided to leave them be until an idea hit me. I walked over to them and stood at their feet. Shikamaru gave me a what-do-you-want look while Chouji looked at me curiously.

"Is there something you need, Naruto-san?" Chouji asked politely.

I raised an eyebrow. This really was weird. "Yeah," I heard myself saying. "I need your help on something."

Shikamaru and Chouji looked at each other warily. "What is it?" Shikamaru asked cautiously.

I motioned for them to follow me. They obediently did, which surprised me. What surprised me more was the fact that they didn't complain. I led them away, to an ideal place with no one around.

"Naruto-san, why are we-"

I cut off Chouji's question by slamming them both against two trees, my gripe on their necks strong. Chouji, who was physically stronger than me would have easily thrown me off but the chakra in my arms kept him at bay.

"What are you doing?" Chouji asked as he struggled.

Shikamaru growled out, "Just because you're supposed to be a great hero and all you think you'll get away with this?"

I looked at him with confusion on my face. "Hero?"

Shikamaru looked at me like I was stupid. "Yeah, being the carrier of Kyubi and-"

"How did you know about that?" I hissed out. They clawed at my arms as my gripe tightened in my surprise. "Wait…" I relaxed slightly, confusing them even more. "I forgot…Heh. Of course Orochimaru would know. Man, this genjutsu is really convincing. I almost fell for it…"

"What are you talking about?" Chouji asked.

I quickly jumped back and used the wire I found in my clothes earlier to tie them up. They struggled against the wires that bounded them and glared at me. I poured chakra to strengthen the wires.

"Why are you doing this?" Shikamaru asked me. "What are you doing?"

"You can stop playing this game, Orochimaru. Whatever the hell you want from me, either just take it or stop this nonsense and torture me for it." I looked at both of them in the eye. They only held confusion. Hmm…This genjutsu was really good. I concentrated to try and find the core and dispel it but it didn't work. I was never good at genjutsu anyway.

"You're crazy!" Chouji declared. "Nuts! What's wrong with you?"

I sighed. I guess I should play along…for now. "Alright, what is 'normal' for me?"

"Don't answer, Chouji!" Shikamaru suddenly said. He studied me. "He could be an enemy ninja trying to infiltrate Konoha."

"You always were pretty smart, Shikamaru," I said. "But I'm not. I guess this was one of the few times you were wrong, huh?"

Shikamaru gave me a surprised look. Chouji said, "How could you know Shikamaru was smart? His grades in the academy are the lowest."

Wait a sec…I brought my hand up to my forehead and frowned. There was no forehead protector. "We're still in the academy?"

They both gave me alarmed looks. "Did you bump your head or something?" Chouji asked. Shikamaru continued to look me over and see what was wrong.

I wiped all emotion off my face. I never was good at it like Neji or Sasuke. "Alright, tell me…what happened after the Kyubi attacked. My life history."

"You could still be an enemy ninja," Shikamaru stated flatly.

I whipped out a kunai and pressed it closely to his neck, faster than he could see. I didn't draw blood. "If I am, I can kill you right now. So tell me, what is 'my' life history here? What kind of sick story did Orochimaru come up with? I'll admit, I'm curious."

"Leave him alone!" Chouji yelled out, renewing his struggles.

"You're supposed to be a genius," I said, ignoring Chouji. Shikamaru was sweating and looking at me in fear. "You should know what the possible out comes are. Now tell me. Chances are, talking will buy you time and someone may find us before I can kill you."

He thought about it for a moment and then nodded. I pulled the kunai away.

"When you were born, the Kyubi no Kitsune was sealed inside of you because demons are immortal and the only way to beat one is sealing it away," he began. Chouji calmed down and looked at us intently. "The Yondaime wished for you to be a hero. Everyone respected him and granted his wish. You were seen as a hero for having to carry the burden of the Kyubi."

I frowned. Well, that explained quite a bit. "How did 'I' grow up?" I asked quietly.

Shikamaru tried to keep emotion off his face but his eyes told me everything. He was still scared but now he was also curious. "You were trained to be a great fighter, everyone respected you and told their children to do the same. Everyone wanted to be your friend or to help you out. You were loved, admired, and you were given everything you ever wanted. No one treated you badly."

I could tell he wasn't lying, I was always good at telling if someone was lying. As a child, I had to be good at it. If I wasn't, I wouldn't be alive. Many wanted to hurt me and I didn't want to die. Even though he wasn't lying, I could tell he was keeping something from me. Something was off. "How did I react to this? What was my attitude?"

Shikamaru hesitated, but answered slowly. "You were a brat and treated everyone like crap. You didn't appreciate it and you always wanted to be left alone. You…resented the burden. When your fan girls came after you, you would either ignore them or say hurtful things to them. Even to the adults, but they ignored it and still came flocking after you."

"And how…why do people take that from me?"

"Because…they think that you need to vent. They think you might need the time to adjust. They think…you'll get better."

"What do you think?"

"…I think you're a spoiled brat."

I wasn't looking at him anymore. I was looking at the sky, lost in my memories.

-.-.-

"Sasuke-kun!" a pink haired girl yelled out. "Want to go out on a date with me?"

"No. Leave me alone." Sasuke walked away, leaving a devastated girl behind.

The girl perked up immediately and declared, "He's just playing hard to get."

"Sakura-chan! Why don't you do out with me? Leave that loser alone!" I said loudly.

Sakura glared at me and said, "Who'd want to date a loser like you? Humph."

-.-.-

"Demon brat! You don't deserve to kiss the ground we walk on!"

"Yeah! How dare you let your filthy feet touch our beautiful home?"

"Moron!"

"Filth!"

"Brat!"

"Nothing more than trash that wasn't taken out."

"Then maybe we should take it out for the moron who forgot to."

Pain.

-.-.-

"Sasuke-kun is so great! He' so amazing!" a girl cooed.

"No one can beat him!" another said.

"Yeah! Yeah! He's incredible!" a third joined in.

"Unlike that loser Naruto, he doesn't know anything! Can't even pass one test!"

"Ha! Can't even walk without tripping!"

"What a moron!"

"A complete and utter loser!"

"Hahaha! Yeah."

-.-.-

Sasuke glared at everyone, clearly disgusted. They, in returned, looked at him with adoring eyes.

He was perfect.

The prefect ninja.

The perfect fighter.

The genius.

Nothing was imperfect about him. He was the ideal ninja. Everyone knew he would be great.

I sat from a roof top and stared at him, and I wondered what he could possibly be thinking.

-.-.-

"See that kid there? Yeah, he's the demon."

"Why is he out? He should be kept in a cage!"

"No, Hokage-sama just wants it to think it's normal."

"So he won't kill us all?"

"Yeah. But one day he'll snap!"

"Then we should kill it now!"

"No, there are too many people watching right now."

-.-.-

"Naruto?"

I was jerked out of my thoughts and stared wide eyed at the two in front of me. "Oh…I guess I zoned out. Sorry…" I said dully. I didn't know what I was doing. I felt sluggish and I needed something to wake me up. I brought the kunai I was still holding and quickly sliced my wrist, making Chouji yell out in surprise and Shikamaru to look at me in horror. I didn't let the blood drip down. I tore a piece of my shirt off and wrapped it around my wrist. I was wide awake now.

"You…why did you…" Chouji tried to say, baffled by my erratic behavior.

I shook my head. "I wasn't myself. I guess…here I'm supposed to be some sort of jerk, huh? A guy with a stick up my ass." I laughed without mirth. I thought, 'Like Sasuke…'

They didn't share my humor and looked at me strangely.

"Anyway, is that all?" I asked. They didn't respond. "Oh well, I guess if I need anything I could just ask someone else. Sorry about this, but I can't take any chances." I formed hand seals for a jutsu. "Nothing personal, it's just business." I slammed the palm of my hands to their foreheads, causing them to tense up and then fall to unconsciousness.

"It'll make you forget what happened today…" I said. "Though this is just a genjutsu, my gut says differently…and a fighter should always trust his gut, right?"

I looked sadly up at the sky.

'This place…really is perfect…right…?'

-.-.-

I left the two where I found them, making it look like they just fell asleep. I was thinking again and didn't know where I was going. I was just wondering around. The sun would set in another hour, I noticed absent mindedly.

I looked around, my habit of looking around Konoha kicking in. It was so…perfect. It wasn't the broken beauty that was my home. It was perfect, beautiful. To add to that, no one was glaring at me. But the stares were still there, so maybe it wasn't so perfect. None of the buildings were missing, everyone was still alive. In both ways. They were living and they were happy and just enjoying being alive.

It made my heart ache. I looked at the ground, depressed. Why was I here? Was there a purpose? What if…dear Hokages…this wasn't Orochimaru's trick?

I stopped walking, angry at myself. That's just what Orochimaru would want me to think. This is a good trick, almost fooled me a few times, but I won't, I refuse to fall for it! But I can't seem to shake off the feeling it was only kidding myself…

I continued to walk. I'll play this game of his for now. When I find a way out, I'll jump at the chance. I looked around the area again, hopelessly looking for a sign that would tell me what to do.

I still didn't know where I was supposed to "live."

I guess I should have asked Shikamaru and Chouji. Oh well, too late for that. I stopped in front of a sign.

"Uzumaki Residence." It read.

Well, if that wasn't a sign, then I was more dense than I thought. But…I looked at the house that…was…whoa.

I stared without caring if anyone saw. Ok, that was a very, very big house. Mansion. Whatever.

An incredibly large house was in front of me, beyond a gate. Was this where I lived? It was…extravagant. It looked to be a place where one of the old clans like the Hyuga would live.

"Why are you just standing there?" a familiar voice asked.

I turned around and this time, I made sure there wasn't any emotion on my face.

"Naruto-san," Uchiha Sasuke greeted me. I had to resist the urge to pound him into the ground. "Why are you just standing in front of your house?"

"I was thinking," I said simply. The simple answers were always the best ones.

"About what?" He asked me, coming to stand next to me.

"A lot of things." I didn't look at him. His behavior was strange to me. Almost like he was a normal person, not the ice prince I knew.

"What sort of things?" He asked me.

"…Why do you want to know?"

He sighed. I don't think I ever heard Sasuke sigh like that. "You should open up more."

"You should mind your own business." I said it as I opened the gate with the key I found. I locked the gate and walked away from him, I left him watching my retreating back.

I entered the house with the same key I just used on the gate. I closed the door behind me and I leaned against it. Today was strange…and new…I wondered if I would ever find my way home. This place was perfect, but I guess I didn't want perfection. Perfection was…not perfect for me.

I just seemed to thrive in a world of pain.

I sighed and wondered around the complex, memorizing the lay out. No one was here besides me, it was a little unsettling. Some places had a thick layer of dust covering things and the picture frames were down, so I wouldn't see what picture there was. I got curious and turned one of them over.

It was the Yondaime and a woman…and he had his arms wrapped around her. She had one hand holding the Yondaime's and the other on top of her bulging belly.

Then it clicked. It made sense now. The questions why he chose me as the sacrifice, why I had to suffer so much…why I was alone. My father, the Yondaime, died to save his village. I already knew my mother died from child birth, Tsunade told me when she found the records. I had just thought my father abandoned me because he also thought I was a monster. I accepted it, but it left a hollow feeling inside me. To know he wanted to save me, wanted me to be a hero…The hollow feeling wasn't so hollow anymore.

I smiled a soft smile without really knowing it yet knowing full well I was smiling. I gently blew the dust off it and placed it upright. I left it there.

Eventually, I found my room. At least, I assumed it was my room. It was the only one that was relatively clean and had clothes, weapons, and other things that were somewhat taken care of. I laid on my futon. I couldn't fall asleep, too many thoughts plagued my mind. I was forced to use a sleeping jutsu on myself after a while.

I hope nothing bad happened to Konoha while I was away.

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Ok! That's the second chapter! Review!