Naruto stared at his bowl of ramen, waiting for the hot water to complete its job and make the noodles edible.
With tired eyes, he turned his gaze to the empty chair across from him, imagining Arashi digging into his plate of food, telling him he needed to eat more than ramen if he was going to become a ninja. He thought of how Arashi departed on a mission a few nights ago.
"Naruto, wake up." Arashi's voice whispered into his ear.
With a groan, the young child pulled his blanket over his head.
"Five more minutes Arashi," he pleaded while curling into a ball, "I promise I won't be late for school."
"I only need a few minutes, Naruto." Arashi bargained, a small smile on his face, "Then you can sleep for the rest of the day."
Dazed, Naruto pulled himself up to a sitting position.
"Alright, alright," he yawned, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. When his vision cleared, Naruto finally noticed Arashi was wearing his ANBU gear. "You're going on a mission?"
"Something's happened," Arashi started, "something terrible. I can't tell you what, but you'll find out soon enough."
Naruto opened his mouth to protest but Arashi cut him off. "Here's what I can tell you, Naruto. Sasuke is hurt. He will be needing someone to support him."
"What's wrong with Sasuke?" he asked, remembering their competition just the day before.
Arashi considered telling him the details, but kept his mouth shut on the subject and went to the door. "Goodbye Naruto, I'll see you when I get back."
And just like that, he was gone.
It'd been about 4 days since, and Arashi and his team still returned from their mission to capture Itachi Uchiha.
Arashi was right; he learned about the terrible act committed by the man the next day when Sasuke didn't show up to class. Remembering Arashi's words that Sasuke would need someone to support him, the blond had kept an eye out for him as he went about his days, but he hadn't put much of an effort to search for him.
As Naruto started to slurp up his ramen, he decided that if Sasuke wasn't at school today, he'd go out looking for him.
Naruto fidgeted in his seat while Iruka gave his lesson about the transformation jutsu and its uses in various situations.
However, he ignored most of it due to the fact his attention was drawn to the empty seat at his right. Everyone was more or less in agreement Sasuke should take a few days off with all things considered.
Of course, most of the girls in the class were hoping that the heartbroken Sasuke would try to come to them for comfort. Surprisingly, Naruto found himself agreeing with the idea. Sasuke probably needed someone to talk to. Arashi even said as much.
"Iruka Sensei?" Naruto called out, raising his hand.
"Yes, what is it Naruto?" Iruka responded, more than a bit surprised the blond actually raised his hand instead of his usual outbursts.
"I'm not feeling too well," he lied, placing a hand on his stomach to appear convincing, "may I be excused?"
Iruka shot him a skeptical look, "Nice try Naruto, but you're not fooling anyone."
"But I'm not…" Naruto started, doubling over and throwing up all over his desk.
About five minutes later, he was sprinting through the streets, wondering if they realized he'd purposely triggered his gag reflex to make himself barf yet.
"Alright Sasuke, where are you?" Naruto muttered to himself, turning into an alley.
He tried to recall places he and Sasuke used for their competitions. The first one that came to mind was the spot in the forest where they practiced throwing shuriken a few days ago. When that lead turned out to be a dead end, he tried a field where they used to spar, only to find it empty as well.
And so, Naruto began to systematically check every place they ever sparred, argued, practiced, or hung around. Finally, he came to the docks where they'd practice their ninjutsu. It was where he found his friend, sitting at the edge of the dock, staring down into the water.
Naruto smiled as he approached the dock and called out to Sasuke. His smile faded as soon as he saw Sasuke's heartbroken expression. As he turned back to the water, the blond quietly sat down beside him. After a moment of awkward silence, Naruto spoke.
"Everybody's been missing you at the academy," he started shakily.
Sasuke said nothing, so Naruto continued. "They're all really worried about you. I am too."
The Uchiha's eyes flickered downward to his reflection.
"I heard about what happened with your brother and the rest of your family, and I just wanted to say that you're not alone."
Sasuke turned to face him. The young blond was shocked by the sheer hatred in his eyes. They'd changed to scarlet red, gaining a comma-like mark rotated around each pupil.
Naruto shuddered as, even if it was just a brief moment, he thought Sasuke would try to kill him where he sat.
"Naruto," he said, his voice seething with anger. "fight me."
Sasuke carefully watched for Naruto's reaction as he waited for his answer. The initial reaction was shock, followed very quickly by eagerness and what seemed to be moderate understanding.
The last remaining Uchiha kept his own expression grim as the blond agreed to his challenge. The two of them walked off the dock onto the road.
He glared at Naruto while he stood across from him, making the one-handed tiger seal Iruka had them make when they first sparred two years ago.
Naruto followed suite, and the two of them settled into their fighting stances. Something about the way the blond moved was off in Sasuke's eyes. His movements were slow, almost mechanical.
Predictable.
As he expected, Naruto was the first to move, charging forward with a straightforward punch. Sasuke took a half step to the left, avoiding the punch and ducking under the kick he anticipated.
Moving swiftly, Sasuke swept Naruto's leg out from under him, straddling him while lying on his back. Before Naruto could roll him off, the Uchiha grabbed his shirt's collar to punch him as hard as he could across the cheek.
Sasuke's sharingan allowed him to easily avoid the blond's flailing arms, landing another blow across his face.
And another, and another.
At this point, Naruto had stopped struggling, opting to focus on protecting his face instead.
Sasuke let his anger and hatred boil to the surface. Why? Why did it have to be him? Why did his brother have to betray him? How come Naruto got a loving brother who cared for him and he got a familicidal psychopath? What made him so damn special? As his rage built, Sasuke moved to wrap his small hands around Naruto's throat, but at that moment he remembered his father's words.
"Don't follow your brother."
Sasuke ceased his beating, getting off of Naruto with nostrils flaring. He glared at the blond boy nursing his bruised, bloodied face, trying not to cry. Itachi's words flashed through his head, telling him of his potential, and of the terrible price he would have to pay for it. Now the opportunity practically gift wrapped itself for him.
Yet, instead of tearing the proverbial wrapping paper, the Uchiha found himself wanting nothing to do with it.
Naruto swore loudly as he got to his feet, but Sasuke wasn't listening. His eyes returned to normal while the other boy pointed an accusing finger at him, fighting to keep the tears from flowing.
The bitter anger he'd felt toward the blond but a few short seconds ago sputtered and died. He felt the tears before they emerged from his eyes. Like Naruto, he fought to hold them back, but they couldn't be stopped. So Sasuke turned and ran, as fast as he could. He wouldn't let Naruto see him cry. He wouldn't appear weak before him.
Sasuke sat in the center of his living room, hugging his knees to his chest and sobbing uncontrollably. In front of him were the taped outlines of his parents.
Again, he was hoping that everything that transpired was just a nightmare; hoped he would awaken soon and find his parents and brother enjoying breakfast in the kitchen. But he knew it wasn't a nightmare: he wouldn't awaken, his parents were dead, and his brother was still a monster.
So he cried, and cried, and cried some more. Sasuke cried so much that by the time he finally stopped he'd be surprised if he ever cried again.
When the tears finally stopped, he wiped his face clean, recalling his assault on Naruto.
"I almost killed him," he murmured, trembling in realization, "I could've killed him."
Sasuke glanced to the side, catching his reflection in broken shards of glass. He blinked slowly and when his eyes opened, he was shocked to find his eyes had turned red with a single tomoe at the corner of each pupil. His sharingan had awakened.
Sasuke was a true Uchiha now.
"With these eyes, I'll kill you Itachi." Sasuke swore, his hatred for his brother boiling to the surface.
He remembered his father's words about an even stronger set of eyes than the Sharingan: eyes that Itachi now possessed. Eyes that, according to his treacherous brother, Sasuke could possess as well.
If he killed his best friend.
Just a few short hours ago Sasuke almost murdered Naruto. But he hadn't. Sasuke stayed his hand and spared Naruto. Itachi told him to come for him after Sasuke obtained the Mangekyo Sharingan.
"No, Itachi. I'm done following your path." Saying the words aloud all but convinced Sasuke he was right.
His heart resolved on his goal. He would attain a power greater than Itachi's, but he would do it his own way.
'But first,' Sasuke thought, 'I should apologize to Naruto.'
Naruto scowled, walking down the street to his home.
His eyes were blackened and swollen from Sasuke's beating, with blood flowing freely from his nose. The young boy cursed lightly under his breath, fumbling for his key.
Once he was inside, Naruto washed his face in the sink and shouted bloody murder as his eyes stung fiercely. After pulling out an ice pack to place over his eyes, Naruto flopped onto the couch. The boy continued to curse Sasuke as he drifted to sleep.
A knock at the door awoke him a few hours later.
He glanced at the clock, seeing that it was 9 o'clock at night. Grumbling, the blond rose from the couch to open the door. He was less than happy to see Sasuke standing at his doorstep.
The Uchiha opened his mouth to say something, but Naruto planted his fist over it in the form of a suckerpunch. Sasuke's head snapped back as he fell, the railing preventing him from crashing to the floor below.
His eyes flashed red for a moment or two before they returned to normal. Naruto cocked his fist back for another punch, halting when Sasuke offered the symbol of harmony.
Naruto's scowl subsided at the gesture and the little boy put his fist down. With a sigh, he locked his fingers around Sasuke's and completed the gesture.
"I guess you won that one." Naruto said, gesturing to his bruised face with a rueful smile.
Despite everything that happened recently, Sasuke found himself smiling as well.
"Naruto Uzumaki," a voice called from the street below.
The two boys glanced over the rails, spotting a young man dressed in a Chunin uniform.
The Chunin looked directly at Naruto, "Lord Third Hokage wants to see you immediately."
Naruto shared a worried glance with Sasuke before he followed the Chunin to the Hokage's manor.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was at his desk when the report came in.
He'd been dreading it ever since Arashi Uzumaki and his team left in pursuit of Itachi Uchiha. He'd done all he could and sent what reinforcements he could spare: another ANBU team led by Kakashi Hatake.
From what the reports said, they were too late. Now he found himself doing the one thing he truly despised about his position: notifying the next of kin.
When Naruto was ushered into his office, the elderly Hokage offered him a friendly-if somber- smile. He couldn't help but still see Naruto as the sleeping baby he gave to the twelve-year-old Arashi seven years ago. The boy seemed wary of being called here at such an hour.
"Hello Naruto," Hiruzen greeted, gesturing for the boy to take a seat, "I apologize for calling you at such a late hour, but I felt you needed to hear this as soon as possible."
"This is about Arashi, isn't it?" Naruto asked, his voice surprisingly flat.
Hiruzen had to hide his surprise. He thought about what Naruto's teacher Iruka told him about the boy: loud, hyperactive, a bit abrasive at times, and a definite prankster on par with his old student Jiraiya, but also well meaning, and intuitive.
Naruto was the kind of student who would fail a test on paper because it was boring, but would succeed when physically doing what the test covered.
With all this in mind, Hiruzen realized that trying to sugar coat this news would do Naruto a disservice, so he was honest.
"Yes, I'm afraid it is."
And so Hiruzen told Naruto the unvarnished truth. Hokori Hyuuga and Ayame Kazan were found in a small battlefield, alive but unconscious. Hokori got stabbed in the spine, and would likely never walk again, while Ayame seemed to be all but unharmed save for a few scrapes and bruises.
Arashi on the other hand was nowhere to be found.
"What do you mean they couldn't find him?" Naruto said, leaning on the edge of his chair, tears threatening to break from his eyes.
"The recovery team split in two," Hiruzen explained, "One group got Hokori and Ayame to the nearest town for medical treatment while the other followed Itachi's trail. They thought that Itachi might've taken Arashi captive as a hostage."
Naruto was stunned into silence. Hiruzen walked around his table, placing a comforting hand on his shoulders. "I'm sorry Naruto, but until the other half of the team reports back, we have to assume the worst."
Tears flowed freely down Naruto's face as he stared at the floor.
Hiruzen pulled the boy into a hug and the blond proceeded to cry into his shoulder. The Hokage didn't offer comforting lies of reassurance, simply patting the young boy's back as he sobbed. Once he ceased crying, Hiruzen gently pushed him back into his seat.
"Your brother left something for me to give to you should anything happen to him," he turned to pick up a sealed box off his desk to hand to Naruto, "he said it was your inheritance as a member of the Uzumaki Clan."
Naruto stared down at the box, running his fingers over the swirling circle carved into it.
"It will only open for you, Naruto. All you need to do is give it some of your chakra."
Naruto looked up at Hiruzen, who gave him a warm smile.
"Thanks, gramps." The young boy told him with his head bowed.
A year passes after Arashi's team failed their mission. Naruto and Sasuke are training hard for the future. Meanwhile a certain pink haired girl will make her presence known to her "future husband". Next time Inheritance of the Clan
