Sasuke had always envied Naruto.
The blue-eyed child had so much of nothing, and yet, he still smiled. He grinned and laughed and joked and almost never cried. Sasuke still had a family but he always felt like breaking down and curling into a ball.
Naruto doesn't have friends, he doesn't have a family, and the entire village hates him.
Sasuke doesn't have friends, he only has his mother, and the entire village hates his clan.
They had so many things in common, but it still seemed Sasuke has more than Naruto, even though they share the same solitude.
Maybe Sasuke was just weak.
Maybe that's why as Sasuke sits here with a blonde-haired loser, he wants to run away from Konoha and never come back.
"Yo, Sasuke? What's with that face? You look like you're constipated." Naruto stared at Sasuke, genuinely concerned, and it only angered Sasuke more.
How can he just sit there, and have the heart to care about anyone else but himself? How can Naruto care about someone who constantly insults, degrades, and ignores him?
Sasuke huffed and diverted his attention to the ramen in front of him. It was still steaming and untouched. "Sasuke? Come on," Naruto groaned and buried his face in his arms," You're so confusing! One minute you're all laugh-fy and smile-ly, and then you're all like 'Grrr, I hate the world and I hope you all die in a never-ending fire and rot in somewhere worse than hell'." Naruto stated. "I swear, people are gonna start thinkin' your Bi-polar or somethin'."
There was a short silence when Sasuke sighed and then smirked. "I was just shocked you used a big word like 'constipated'. Do you even know what it means dobe?"
Naruto perked up at the tease and moved his eyes to Sasuke. "There he is!"
Sasuke rolled his eyes and hid his smile. Naruto was always able to make him laugh. "Whatever, idiot. Just eat your food." Sasuke ordered. Naruto just grinned with his sparkling white teeth and returned his attention to his food. Gobbling it down in one bite.
Sasuke's face contorted into one of disgust.
Sasuke slowly pushed his bowl away. He had suddenly lost his appetite.
Naruto and Sasuke walked side by side. Naruto's arms locked behind his neck and Sasuke's hands in his pockets.
"Yo, Sasuke?"
"Hn?"
"How come you never want me to come over to your house. We don't ever hang out at either of each other's houses. Can't really go to my place, we both know why my apartment has been…removed from the list."
Sasuke chuckled," Removed as in 'I can't come over because you're a total slob'?"
If this moment was months ago, Naruto would have gotten defensive and would start insulting the raven-haired boy, but because this is now, Naruto simply smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. Shrugging as if to say, 'Hey, what can ya' do?'.
Naruto stopped walking once they reached the Uchiha compound.
"You never answered my question." Naruto pointed out.
Sasuke just waved his hand in dismissal. "And?"
Naruto sighed and turned to stare at the Uchiha crest, big and bold as a sign in front of the compound.
"Really though, Sasuke. You've been acting weird lately. Is everything okay? Is it…is it Itachi?"
"No."
"Are you in trouble? I can help."
"I'm fine."
"Is your dad ignoring you again?"
"I'm fine, Naruto." Sasuke grounded out.
"What is it Sasuke?"
"Drop it, Naruto."
"But-"
"I said, drop it!"
Sasuke had snapped.
Naruto lowered his head in surrender. The Uzumaki backed away carefully, looking at Sasuke with a look of pure worry. Since when does Sasuke snap? Naruto's hands fell to his sides and he made his way to his home.
"Fine. See you later Sasuke."
Sasuke ignored him and returned to walking to his home.
Sasuke opened the door and took his sandals off. "I'm home!" He yelled.
"Welcome back!"
Mikoto replied from the kitchen.
"Just in time for dinner." She said as she peeked at him from the doorway.
Sasuke winced and bit his lip. "I ate out." He stated.
Mikoto's eyes lowered, then she blinked and brightened. "That's fine! I'll just save it in the refrigerator for later." She offered.
Sasuke smiled softly. "Sure."
Sasuke headed for the stairs, glancing at his mother from the corner of his eye.
"I'm going to my room," Sasuke informed.
"Okay." Was his mother's response. She stood at the beginning of the stairs, hands locked together in front of her, eyes watchful and observing. Sasuke seemed down. Everything is changing.
As Sasuke was walking on the balcony to get to his room, he saw Itachi studying a scroll. Sasuke hadn't conversed with his sibling for some time, so the child decided to pay his brother a visit.
"Hi, big brother." Sasuke greeted as he walked into his sibling's room.
Itachi gave Sasuke a quick smile (which turned out to look more like a grimace) and continued to work on a scroll.
Sasuke stood on the very tip of his toes to see what his brother was hunched over. "I didn't know you wrote scrolls, big brother." Itachi merely grunted.
"What's that particular scroll for?" Sasuke questioned, fiddling with things around the room.
Itachi paused, eyes searching for something, what, Sasuke had no idea. "It's…for father," Itachi stated.
"Oh." Sasuke acknowledged. Of course, everything's for father. "What kind of scroll is it?"
Sasuke knew there were many different scrolls; chakra scrolls, sealing scrolls, chakra nature scrolls, Ninjutsu scrolls, Genjutsu scrolls, Tai- "It's a sealing scroll."
Itachi had cut Sasuke's thoughts off.
Itachi sighed and turned his chair around to face Sasuke, "I think it's about time you leave little brother."
"I-" "I'm busy. Yeah, yeah. I get Itachi." Sasuke grumbled in annoyance, feeling rejected.
Sasuke wouldn't argue with Itachi this time, he knows how this goes, he's tired of fighting.
"Goodnight then, brother." Sasuke made it to the bedroom door, closing it behind him.
Itachi stared on, something has changed.
Sasuke laid in his bed staring at the ceiling, he felt slightly guilty that he had yelled at Naruto. His friend was trying to be just that, a friend, and Sasuke pushed him away. There was no time to worry about that now, he was going to earn Naruto's forgiveness, by making him proud. He was going to make everyone proud.
Sasuke's relationships were breaking, shattering, deteriorating, Sasuke knew this. But it was fine, it was all going to be fine. He was going to make everyone he has ever cared about proud of him, nothing is going to get in his way. Nothing.
There is going to be a change.
An envelope flew in from the breeze coming through the open window. On the front of the envelope stood a single letter, D.
Sasuke ripped open the envelope, reading the letter.
Uchiha Sasuke,
Meet me at training grounds at 4:00 A.M., Bring your Sharingan.
, you know this is.
The raven-haired child immediately figured out who the anonymous writer is.
Sasuke smirked.
Yes, everything will change.
So very sorry for my absence. I do not want to list excuses, so I simply apologize. This chapter is not very long, and I can't really promise every chapter after this will be longer, but I will try, it all varies on my time, hope you understand.
Either way, hope you enjoyed,
Love, R.A.
