Hello again! Yes, this was fast. No, I did not rush it. I've simply had this idea for quite a while now, so the start might be kind of easy for me to write. I still have a life though so I highly doubt this will keep going as quickly as this. Now enjoy, and don't let my quickness stop you from reviewing! VD signing out.

Chapter 1: Meeting

Sasuke couldn't feel anything around him anymore. The mental images, the memory of his own hands tearing into Itachi's eye sockets forced him to his knees. Tears wouldn't stop coming out of his eyes, eyes he now knew belonged to his brother Itachi. His big brother was dead. He was living proof of it. He was the killer, and Sasuke thought of punishing such an evil being. Hatred like nothing he had ever felt surged from within him, and a kunai found its place into his hand.

But he couldn't do it. Itachi's last words echoed in his mind, and he cried even harder at hearing them. This was too much. He was so close to cutting his own throat or piercing his heart with the ninja tool. Every part of him desperately asked for his own blood, but it wasn't his decision. Itachi had spoken, and after what seemed like an eternity the kunai fell to the ground.

Flashback

"O-otouto…" Itachi wheezed out, blood dripping from his now-empty eye sockets as well as his chest. He didn't even have the strength to lift his own hand, something Sasuke himself did with a blank look in his eyes. Itachi soon remembered what he had done to his younger brother, the pain making him forget momentarily. But he fought through it, one last time, and smiled at his younger brother.

"Live… Live for the… both of us… my dead… little brother…"he spoke in a whisper, the green glow in his hands key to healing jutsu fading out. His head slid downwards, and nothing stopped its crash into the ground. Sasuke simply stared devoid of emotion, not even aware of what was going on. But even Itachi's genjutsu and Will of Fire couldn't stop a single tear coming out of Sasuke's lifeless eyes. The older brother died with a smile on his face, in the arms of a brother that didn't even realize what just happened.

Flashback End

Sasuke could only cry, as he ran those words in his head over and over again. There would be no escape in death, he knew. His sin was much too great for that. He had to live, his life was no longer his. He didn't have a right to such a thing, he didn't deserve to live. The boy knelt in the floor of his room for countless hours, crying and sobbing. At one point he trashed every single thing in it, starting with his mirror. The cuts from its shards didn't hurt him. Nothing did. He should be dead, but he wasn't. And the worst part was that he was already betraying his brother, again. He instinctively knew what his brother wanted for him. But he still wished he had never gotten those eyes.

The next day found him lying under covers that had miraculously survived his rampage. His bed's mattress had been torn here and there, but a kunai couldn't cut it all the way. He didn't feel very sore, but a part of his mind told him he was. He ignored it in favor of yawning and looking around at what he had done as if it was just the way it should had been.

Downstairs, he heard the first genin team arrive to do chores at the compound. The Hokage had ordered for Sasuke to be kept fed and taken care of, at least for a while. He had refused being treated as a child, but even he had to admit kitchen duties were not his specialty. The Uchiha's fortune was his to live off on, and though the Hokage himself stopped him from misusing it he could still use it for pretty much anything a civilian could ask for.

He didn't care for any of it. Happiness wouldn't come, but he would be better off with no one around him. No one needed him around, and he just wanted to be alone. 'To die alone' he thought morbidly, and there was no thought in his mind that said otherwise. But he knew he couldn't die just yet. Death was too good for him.

As he looked himself in the mirror, he debated whether to activate his new Sharingan. He hadn't seen it, not since the day earlier. The shattered pieces of the mirror could barely reflect anything now, but it was enough to catch a glimpse of his own eyes. There was a time when he would had given anything just to activate his Sharingan. It would had let him surpass Itachi, at least in some way. It would had made his father proud of him. It would had made him so happy…

He wiped tears away and cast away those thoughts. Nothing was the same anymore. He was unworthy of the Sharingan he possessed, and so he swore never to use it. "At least I won't soil your memory by mocking you, nii-san" he muttered while picking up his blindfold from the hospital. Sasuke put on his blindfold and tied it to the back of his skull firmly. He couldn't see a thing, and that wasn't something he was used to. 'But I'll get used to it' he swore in his mind, and tried to stumble to the door.

He must have crashed with every wall of his house, but finally made it outside to the grass. The boy, in his determination, had forgotten there was a genin team still in the compound and even forgot about his own breakfast. But it didn't matter to him as he stubbornly tried to find his way to the family dojo. He had to train, he had to become stronger. That was the only reason he had to live. He had to become as strong as his brother and take his place.

The training turned into an odyssey. Finding the dojo itself forced him to swallow his stubbornness and take off the blindfold. He had gone an entirely wrong way to it. The frustration nearly drove Sasuke to run head-first into a wall, but in what many would call "typical Uchiha fasion" he simply kept his cool and fumed on the inside. The dojo was just as he remembered it; spartan-like in decoration, all the weapons neatly stored either inside cabinets or storage seals and a few targets here and there for kunai practice.

Sasuke was very angry at how it took him what felt like hours to reach it, but he didn't put much thought into it. He simply stepped in the middle of it and started his katas. Each of his stances weren't perfect, but he knew practice would make him a master of one of the most deadly taijutsu styles in Konoha. The Uchiha's Sharingan was no easy matchup for any close combat expect, as only the Hyuuga clan was known to evenly match or perhaps even surpass them in that area.

Eventually, he tired of repeating the same moves he had already practiced for years. He felt he needed something new, something much more powerful for him to train on. Still, there was no one he could ask for such a thing. All he had were the katas left in the Uchiha archive, and he knew everything there was too advanced for him. All he had was the Katon: Gokyako no Jutsu and that was pathetic in his eyes. Any other shinobi in the Uchiha clan could do more.

Feeling tired and frustrated beyond his limits, he finally let out a scream and rushed out of the dojo, and out of the compound. His feet took him everywhere in the village, with some people even recognizing him. They all knew about the tragedy, and whispered. But none would dare talk to him directly; such a thing was too rash so soon since the massacre. Eventually he arrived at the riverbed, walking next to it aimlessly. His eyes scanned his surroundings but he wasn't really looking. It was by chance he paid attention to a small pier, and he quickly sat on it.

Looking out at the river, he sighed and hung his head back. There was a cool breeze blowing that kept him from feeling too warm, and he soon hugged himself to not feel cold. Or so he told himself. He was holding back tears again. They were forming all around his eyes, and he knew they'd soon start falling on his shirt. He hated how the moist shirt felt against his neck, as if he'd drooled on himself. But Sasuke couldn't bring himself to care about something like that.

He was weak. He was so weak, a mere genjutsu made him kill his brother in cold blood. What kind of person would let something like that happen? He was an Uchiha, yet he killed his own brother! He was no different from whatever masked man killed the rest of his clan. 'But Itachi made me do it…' a part of his mind said, and the endless crying started. The memories just didn't stop tormenting him, as if the breeze had turned into a hurricane.

In the middle of it all, he again remembered Itachi's words. It was as if he had been slapped, and Sasuke quickly stood up. "I'm just wasting the life I must live for us!" he yelled to himself, even though he started crying harder. The boy pulled out kunais from his pouch, but the tears had made his sight much too blurry. He threw the kunais while trying to hit random targets: that blade of grass over there, that rock, that orange mop – wait, orange mop about 4 inches tall or more? The kunais missed the target, who yelped and jumped in surprise. The "mop" then glared at Sasuke and pointed a finger at him.

"Hey, what's the big idea huh? What the hell you throwing kunais at me for?" said an obnoxious voice coming from an orange-wearing blond boy.

"Hn, I missed so you're alright." Sasuke grunted, trying to hide long enough to hide all traces of his tears.

"You bastard! You coulda killed me and all you say is I'm alright 'cause you missed?" the blond boy continued, his face growing red by the second. Sasuke was about done cleaning up however, and half turned at him so he only showed his right shoulder.

"At least you didn't die right? What more do you want from me?" the Uchiha asked with a level voice, still a bit broken from his crying earlier.

"Well I want an apology! You gotta make it up to me too!" the blond said.

Sasuke nodded and turned to him completely. "Very well, what do you want?" he asked, staring at the blond in his eyes. The obnoxious boy blinked in surprise, not expecting the other boy to give it up so easily.

"You… you really mean that? You'll make it up to me? For serious?" he asked, not able to keep any excitement out of his voice.

"Yeah, whatever. What's your name anyway?" he asked, wanting to get rid of this kid as quickly as possible but not able to simply go away and leave himself in debt to him. The blond gave him a toothy grin and made a silly superhero pose.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto, nice to meet ya dattebayo!" he said with such a high pitch voice, Sasuke instantly regretted asking.

"Uchiha Sasuke." the raven haired boy said and extended his hand almost automatically. He regretted it when he thought about it, but by then the blond had shaken it and was now dragging him off into the heart of the village.

"C'mon, you got money right? I know how you can make it up to me!" he said with a boisterous voice while Sasuke was almost literally being dragged by the shirt. 'Who the hell does he think he is?' said Sasuke whose scowl was already a mile long. He roughly pulled his shirt out of Naruto's grip and made the blond look at him in confusion.

"Don't pull on my shirt like that!" said Sasuke, an icy glare directed at the other boy who flinched then grinned nervously.

"Ahh, sorry sorry! I just got overexcited, that's all." Naruto said while scratching the back of his head sheepishly. There was no trace of deceit in him however, and Sasuke let it go (though not without a huge scowl staying in his face). The two made their way to a ramen stand just at front of the Hokage Tower, the smell of delicious noodles making Naruto drool harder the closer they got.

"Ahh, Naruto! You brought a friend today? That's so nice of you!" greeted an old-looking man that looked like a chef, smelled like a chef and acted like the chef. As if that wasn't obvious enough, Naruto grinned at him and then at Sasuke.

"Hehe, this old man Teuchi is Ichiraku Ramen's one and only chef! I swear, this ramen has to be a gift from Kami himself!" Naruto explained, completely overlooking the fact Sasuke flinched when Teuchi called him a friend of Naruto's. The old man noticed however, and he looked slightly wary of the raven hair while talking again.

"You always say that kid, now what will you two order? Uchiha-san is ordering something, right?" he asked while already moving around the pots and frying pans in the kitchen to prepare the delicious ramen. A new client was a new client, and Teuchi couldn't help but nudge Sasuke into becoming one.

"Oh yeah, and he's paying. Just gimme one of everything!" Naruto said without an ounce of shame or restraint, making Sasuke sweatdrop and Teuchi chuckle.

"I see, so he's treating you" the man said while silently regretting being wary of the boy. Anyone willing to treat Naruto to a meal deserved their own piece of Heaven just for that.

"Yep! Uhh, what are you getting Sasuke?" the blond said while looking at the other boy curiously. Sasuke had been observing both the old man and the absolutely loud blond while trying to figure out just what kind of mess he had gotten into. Being caught with a question, he quickly said the first cool thing that came to mind.

"What he's having." he answered while pointing a thumb at Naruto, who grinned from ear to ear. It was the same grin Teuchi had as soon his hands were barely visible.

"Coming right up!" the chef said while Sasuke actually felt tempted to use his Sharingan just to keep up with the old man's movements. A pang of shame shot that idea down, and he quickly looked to the side in case his face showed anything else. However, it was too late as one curious blond had noticed something off.

"Hey, you alright?" he asked as he edged a bit closer to the raven-haired boy.

"Hn" was Sasuke's non-committal response, and he would had been forced to say more had the ramen not arrived just there and then. It was like Christmas came early for the blond as he dug in with gusto, ignoring everything and everyone around him. That included a certain flabbergasted Sasuke who didn't think Naruto had ordered that much.

"Here you go kids! Dig in, I'll bring the other plates once you're finished with those." said Teuchi and Sasuke felt like burying his head into the counter.

'There's no way I can eat all of this…' Sasuke thought while looking at all the bowls at front of him. Looking at his side didn't help, as Naruto put down bowl after bowl after bowl. But that sight stirred something within him. The blond stopped eating just for a moment and glanced at Sasuke.

"Oi, you're not gonna let good ramen go to waste right? Don't worry, if ya can't eat it all I'll do it for ya!" he said with a grin, then continued eating. A tick mark appeared on Sasuke's forehead as he stared down at his own row of bowls to eat.

'So, this is how it is…' the raven haired boy thought as he took his first bite, and then another. Then another. He really liked it! But that wasn't all. With determination set in his eyes, he started eating faster and faster until he picked up on Naruto's speed.

Teuchi could only watch with wide eyes as the seemingly squeamish Uchiha looked ready to hurl at first, then started to put down bowls so fast he was giving Naruto a run for his money. Then something incredible happened; Sasuke started going faster than Naruto.

Ayame chose this moment to arrive with groceries, and the sight made her drop them in astonishment. "N-no way… He's going faster than Naruto?" she said with a mixture of amazement and glee. Her eyes slowly turned into money signs and his father sighed, but secretly agreeing heavily with his daughter. 'These two might just make me a millionaire' he thought while imagining mountains of ryo covering him and Ayame.

By now, Naruto had noticed how Sasuke was taking it as a competition and smirked. 'No one takes on the great Uzumaki in an eating contest!' he thought with determination and his speed picked up with Sasuke's. The two ate as fast as Teuchi could put bowls at front of him, and he took to give them food only when he had enough for both of them. They were at a draw so far, but eventually Sasuke nearly fell forward into a bowl of pork ramen and Naruto yawned but held himself straight, making him the victor.

"Why did I even do this…" said Sasuke through bubbles in his soup, more than half of his face covered in noodles. Naruto flashed him a grin and patted his belly, now full without the shadow of a doubt. Maybe.

"Don't feel down, nobody beats me in a ramen eating contest!" Naruto said boisterously which earned him a glare from the Uchiha and a giggle from the girl behind the counter. "Ayame-neechan! When did you get here?" he exclaimed, to which she suddenly stopped giggling and sweatdropped.

'It's like they're in their own world when they eat…' she realized, but quickly shook off the surprise and smiled warmly at them. "A while ago. Who's your new friend Naruto?" she asked, her eyes already looking Sasuke over.

"Oh, he's Uchiha Sasuke and he's paying for the meal." the blond said with a toothy grin and Sasuke could only sigh. He had a rough idea on how much this would cost, but it was within what the Uchiha fortune would pay for him. It's not like money mattered to him anyways.

"Hn" he said, already cleaned up from the mess with the soup. The boy didn't feel like refuting what Naruto said. He just didn't have the strength to bother, to tell them he didn't have friends and didn't plan on having them. That he couldn't take having anyone close to him ever again.

The raven haired boy managed to escape the store with just a few waves of goodbye and courtesy. He hadn't particularly liked how the store owner's daughter looked at him either. It felt weird, but he didn't have words for it. Naruto had followed him, saying something about Sasuke doing a lot for him so the least the blond could do was seeing him to his house. The Uchiha felt gravely insulted, but he just couldn't bring himself to care.

"Woooooow, you live in a place like this? It's huge!" Naruto exclaimed while looking around. The Uchiha compound was not absent of beauty, even if the disrepair from the massacre was already obvious in the streets. Sasuke walked through it all in silence, then turned around when he reached his house's door.

"Alright, you got me here. Now leave." he said, looking directly at the blond who recoiled at the tone.

"Okay okay! Deal's a deal, you made up with me. Jeesh, no need to be such a stick in the mud..." Naruto said, but was already turning to leave. He didn't go all the way though, before turning and locking eyes with Sasuke. "You're an okay guy to me, so I think you're my friend. Later friend!" he said and waved, then ran out of the compound. Sasuke was left speechless for a while before balling his hands into fists and shaking his head angrily. Whoever Naruto was, he didn't deserve a friend such as him.

I did say the start will be character development... I think that's how Naruto was as a child. He clams down on Jiraiya but he was the same but in chibi version. And minus the manlihood xD Anyways, Sasuke wasn't nearly as prideful about being an Uchiha and so superior that he had to look down on Naruto. He feels as the worst monster in the world. Sure that doesn't mean they'll be all friends and cuddly right away, or ever, but it will greatly change the rivalry they had in cannon. Sasuke kept his cool there because he could focus all his hatred towards Itachi. Now, all that hate is going against himself. But Itachi's words forbid him to die... And things become so much harder for him to deal with. Anyways, hope you enjoyed! I can't stress enough the need for reviews. Although I cannot promise that I will change my writing ways to please each and every single one of you (you can't please them all people, and I need to keep my style here xD) your opinions matter and can help me improve. I'm a reader first and writer second. So I do learn from things y'all write, and that means I can write better stuff for people to read. Giving and taking, get it right? Right? OKAY! NOW BRING ON THE HATE!