Sour guy
(ふかいなやつ)
They were left alone.
Over and over again, Naruto tolerated the name calling, the faces, and the dejection. And now, he was thrown in a backyard ritual for the do-nothings, the duds, those who would get their village kin killed. The Loudest Idiot of Konoha was pinned against a tree trunk, clinching his jaw as his robe collar was pulled up by someone's grasp.
"Hit me as much as you want, talk shit to me as much as you want, but I say what I mean: I will become amazing one day!" Naruto pledged with his everyday assertive quality. His soon-to-be assailant was a boy in a blue nagajuban, a blue like an ocean.
"This again? Don't talk so high when you're stupid. I won't accept a stupid leader." Black hair, black eyes, a sour voice, a scowl that was physically lodged in his face; the boy rarely looked friendly any time in eyeshot. He had an air that radiated pride, and somewhere else, there was a gloomy feeling too. That's how Naruto easily recognized one of the most popular kids in the academy.
That kid Sasuke Uchiha pulled Naruto closer to his face and balled his other hand into a fist. "And you have no talent because you won't train for talent." The fist rose.
"That's what you think!" Naruto spat. The gloomy boy's fist shuddered, and Naruto squeezed his eyes shut, preparing for the hit.
"Sasuke!"
Naruto, hearing another voice, opened his eyes. An arm stretched out in between the two boys and Sasuke's fist was caught. Iruka appeared.
"Let him go now." The chunin from the Gaki-Shiro ordered. Naruto puckered in his face; in his heart he felt relieved, and yet at the same time, a little displeased.
Sasuke Uchiha looked over his shoulder, and gave his sensei a callous stare from his black eyes. "This guy needs to recognize his faults." From his gloomy look came his disregard for seniority; there was an anger that made him full of himself.
"I don't know what kind of game you guys play back here," Iruka said, "but enough. This is not a form of discipline. You are brothers and upcoming ninja." He gave both children a stern look, first Naruto, and then Sasuke. The sensei and the Uchiha froze in a staring contest. It was a challenge between the pride of instruction and the pride of being justified.
Eventually, Naruto was released. Sasuke clicked his tongue and turned away. Iruka sighed, and then focused back on the troublemaker.
"Naruto, come with me. You do as I said: Clean up the Monument!" he said.
"Oh come on!" While Iruka dragged Naruto towards the source of his mess, Sasuke Uchiha seemed to stare long at the Monument from the courtyard. To look upon their faces, their sacrilege, provoked his deep dark thoughts. Naruto treated the elevated faces of the once leaders of the village like jokes, like they were little games to play along with his mischievous day-to-day thing. Just like that, the faces lacked substance. He sensed a deeper meaning. He wouldn't be able to explain, but he felt offended.
No, a leader carries many things. Even secrets.
Naruto was dragged away, and Shikamaru and Choji left long ago. No one would realize Sasuke's body shaking, nor the change of color in his eyes.