A Fated Meeting by Silente Faerie64

A/N: Thanx for the reviews peeps! Remember, this takes place when the characters are 8. Enjoy, & please leave a review to let me know people are reading this.

Iie- no

Ano- um

Gomen- sorry

Discaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Chapter 2: Fate

One month later

The sun was shining brightly. All of the children of the village were outside. Everyone was laughing except for one boy with vivid blue eyes. He sat alone on the swing, watching the other kids play as their parents watched. He didn't bother trying to ask if he could play with them; their parents would just scowl at him, and tell their kids that they weren't to go near him. But that didn't bother him; he was used to it now. He would just scowl back; he would just smirk at them all. He yawned then got back up. He pondered for a moment. Wasn't he supposed to be somewhere, meeting up with someone….the name slipped his mind.

He looked at his watch. "Oops…" he muttered, and then got up angrily. He was going to be late! Sasuke's gonna be mad, oh well. He began to run out of the park as fast as he could until he ran into someone. "Oomph!" When he opened his eyes, he saw a girl with pale blue eyes having her hand outstretched. "Gomen,' she began. "…For running into you. Do you need some help?" He gladly took her hand, and then thought for a moment.

"Aren't your parents going to be mad at you for helping me?"

The girl pondered for a moment, running her fingers nervously through her raven hair. 'Ano…iie, Naruto-kun." She said, her cheeks dyed crimson, most likely from the heat.

That girl was named Hinata, Naruto thought as he neared the bridge. He already sighted Sasuke a mile away. Always has and will be the impatient one, he mused. Especially for his only friend.

Naruto and Sasuke walked across the bridge, engaged in an argument. For the villagers, this was a common sight. They sighed and walked away, wondering how Sasuke-chan could stand that boy. But headstrong, they ignored the critics, the harsh whispered threats, and continued their way to the park.

"Was not!"

"Was too!"

"Was not!"

"Yes you were, dope…"

"NO! TEME…!"

"Hmm…"

As they walked, they came across two boys, engrossed in a board game. To Sasuke, they looked familiar, so he asked out of curiosity:

"Hey guys, have I seen you before?"

Shikamaru turned around.

"Why yes," he said. "It's you, boy genius. Everyone in our class knows your name."

Sasuke stared. 'Have I gotten this popular? Wow…'

Shikamaru then added "By the way, my name's Shikamaru. And this," he said, indicating the fat boy on the other side of the board, "Is Choji."

Naruto interrupted. "It's you, my comrades! Let's run out of class again sometimes, it sure got on Iruka-sensei's nerves…FUN!"

"Um, I would apprehend you, but I'm too lazy. Would you guys be interested in learning how to play Go? We could play sometimes. That would be nice, because all I have to play with is Choji at the moment."

Choji smiled shyly while Shikamaru saw how Sasuke and Naruto didn't know what 'apprehend' meant. That whole afternoon, Sasuke and Naruto stayed at the park, listening to Shikamaru's lecture on the rules and basic plays of go. They liked it so much that they decided to meet at the park every Saturday at 4:00 AM until 6:00 PM to learn more, to play from time to time with Choji and Shikamaru, and to enjoy the shade of the trees.

One day, Sasuke told Naruto, "I'm going to practice my kunai throwing."

"Can I come too?" Naruto would ask, saddened on being left out.

"No, I have to beat onii-san by myself. It's good to have friends but, I must work at it alone for today. See ya tomorrow!"

Friends shared secrets. Sasuke frequently told Naruto about his onii-san, his accomplishments, and was told of Naruto's. He told him of the weird things going on with Itachi, and how he was worried over it. But he passed it off as a phase.

Sasuke waved and ran off to the training grounds. Naruto sighed. For some reason, he felt something bad was going to happen today. He shivered, then ran back home for it was growing dark. When he reached his apartment building, he looked to the sky. It was a full moon tonight.

(The Uchiha Massacre)

If you want to kill me, curse me, hate me, and live a long and unsightly life…run away, run away, and cling to your pitiful life…And someday, when you have the same "eyes" as me, come before me.

Sasuke ran from the Uchiha compound the next week. He had to see Naruto to tell him of his plans, and most importantly, not to get in his way. He knocked on the front door.

"Naruto, NARUTO!" he knocked harder, his fist growing sore.

"Yes, I'm coming, stopp yelling already!" A voice from inside grumbled, and then opened the door. "Come in," Naruto said, stepping aside.

Sasuke sat down on his sofa for a while before he started to speak, tears freshly on his cheeks, "Naruto, you know what happened to my family, right? Okaa-san.." He started to cry again.

"Yes, I know," Naruto said and sighed. He shyly hugged Sasuke until he calmed down a little. "Every last bit, including the part about your brother doing it. Some of the villagers went so far as to say I made Itachi do it! I've never seen him in my life, though I would have liked too, before…Oh it's ok Sasuke, I'm here!"

"It's not okay!"

"Listen, I don't know how it feels to lose a family, because I've always been alone, but I can guess. I'll always be there for you Sasuke. I promise!"

"I've decided…I'm going to kill Itachi for what he's done. I will avenge my family!" Sasuke said sternly, before whining again. "Okaa-chan, Tou-san, Jii-san, Baa-chan..."

"What! It's not your job Sasuke, it's not your fate…Your family wants you to be happy, not kill your brother. He'll suffer..."

"It is my fate! Grr…Naruto, no matter what path I have to take, I will get stronger, and I will defeat my brother!"

"Sasuke! You're crazy because you're angry and sad! Sure, it wasn't a nice thing that your brother did, but you can't go taking fate in your own hands! Leave it to fate to prick and sting him!"

"Ugg…Naruto, getting advice from poetry…"

Naruto rubbed the back of his head, smiling sheepishly. Sasuke was fuming, but soon calmed down, and stopped crying for the most part. He knew Naruto was right. As he got up to leave, he said:

"You know what Naruto? You're a great friend."

"I know, I know. Hehe, well, remember to seek me out before you decide on something stupid, I'm here to help. Friends help friends."

"Right."

Sasuke walked down the street, is heart content. He felt fate take charge, and anticipated that very moment.

Four years pass...