Chapter 2: The Persona Non Grata

"Isaac will you never learn

That a father's love must be earned

Or your mother need not learn

Isaac I have never seen you look so afraid

With your head pressed so hard against the stone

You look so alone" - Isaac : Bear's Den

Naruto decided a long time ago that being him is hard. Twelve years of cold glances and outright hateful glares eventually weighs down on a person's shoulders. The isolation that comes with the role of 'village pariah' is a soul-wrenching thing, and he wouldn't wish that life upon anyone.

In a way, Naruto can understand. He's a reminder. A walking memory of a dark day where people died and loved ones were lost, and the reason for all that destruction trapped inside of his stomach, only skin and ink holding the demon back. Once upon a time, though, he didn't know. He didn't see what he could have possibly done wrong to garner such alienation from the villagers, and he hated them for it. Hated their stares and whispered words.

So he adopted the idea that negative attention is better than nothing, and made his already loud personality even louder. He pranked and failed and smiled through it all, with a grin so big his eyes narrowed shut. The lines between Naruto Uzumaki and the dead last began to blur, and he lost himself in the effort of trying not to let the world affect him.

Earlier, sitting in an uneven circle with his team, that line sharpened. The grin faded, and Naruto got angry. It's been a long time since he let himself let go like that, a long time since he felt his chest get warm and his throat constrict. Naruto hates being angry. He hates how everyone looks at him after seeing his eyes flash and his teeth bare. He hates how scared they look, because anger is a dangerous thing, and the thought of the container being dangerous is more frightful than anything.

The blonde walks into his apartment, eyebrows furrowed and a frown on his lips. It's silent, as always, and not for the first time he wonders what it's like to have someone waiting for you.

He still doesn't know what came over him, and as he leans against the door with a sigh, he's a little scared of what might happen because of it.

Sakura doesn't greet her mother when she comes home. Emotionally exhausted, she trudges up the stairs to her room, plops down on her bed, closes her eyes, and thinks.

'you can't have members falling behind.'

The words twist and turn in her head, and she knows they're right. She doesn't come from a shinobi clan. She doesn't have any family jutsu to learn and give her an advantage. No, Sakura's smart, and what good is that if she has no skill to back it up? What good is memorizing facts and maps and all sorts of things, if she can't hold her own in a battle?

Ever since she was a little girl, Sakura wanted to be a shinobi. She wanted to learn to fight and protect and be more than just a merchant's daughter. Looking back, she sees that somewhere along the way she lost that. That determination, that mindset of 'I'm going to do this and succeed and no one can stop me'. Somewhere between losing Ino and finding Sasuke, she became less fixated on proving people wrong and more fixated on trying to fit into what they thought she should be.

'they're weak.'

'you can't have members falling behind.'

Those words hurt. For so long she has strived for that boy's attention. Watched him and admired him, looking for any sort of acknowledgment. Sasuke Uchiha. Rookie of the Year, strong and confident in a way Sakura doesn't think she'll ever be, and she wants to be. Even Naruto, always smiling and always trying, is racing ahead of her, and she wants to catch up so badly. She doesn't want to stand in back, ever constant and never moving, to be left behind. It's hard, and a challenge that she might not be, but she has to at least try.

Her bed is soft beneath her, and Sakura drifts away dreaming bigger than she was before.

Sometimes Sasuke talks to himself. Not the manic chattering of a mind teetering on the edge, but simple comments that fill the silence that echoes throughout the Uchiha compound. It's a small comfort, anything to distract him from the dark spots that still stain the floors of his home. He doesn't need to be reminded of what he lost.

He picks up a tomato with his chopsticks, watching as the flesh bleeds into his bowl of rice. It's a simple dish. Easy to make and a common meal for the Uchiha to have. Learning to cook was a hard lesson for him to learn, he loathes to admit. Most days are bowls of rice and whatever he picks up at the market that doesn't require more than five minutes in a pan.

He finishes, muttering something to himself about needing more rice, sits back in his chair, and ponders.

'Saskue hates us.'

It isn't too far-fetched to say Sasuke doesn't particularly like his team. The girl is a pest, his sensei is lazy, and Naruto is a walking ray of sunshine, hot-headed and blinding. Hate, however, is a strong word that boy only reserves for one person. He doesn't hate a lot of people, and while he doesn't allow himself to love anyone either, he doubts he could ever hate someone as much as he hates Itachi.

How dare Naruto accuse him of that, with his laughs, and his foolish behavior, and his always smiling.

'Everyone treats me like I'm just a waste of space!'

He scoffs. So what is the blonde was angry? So what if there's more than there seems to be to his teammate. The boy has never experienced the pain Sasuke has.

Then he remembers how the adults stare at the idiot, cold and dismissive. He remembers how his father would tell him to stay away from the boy, if only just to save face for the clan. He remembers the boy doesn't have anyone either, and never has, and that he knows loneliness just as well as Sasuke has.

He curses, chastising his habit of relating to the boy.

He doesn't want connections. He doesn't want friends. He needs powers, and he needs it quick for all the blood that still spills behind his eyes. He needs revenge for the ghost that still wander in the corner of his eye, and maybe it will ruin him in the end. Maybe the hate will consume, and he'll sink into an abyss so dark he'll never come out, but right now he has to risk that.

Then someday, after he's won and Itachi's blood cakes his hands, he'll try. He'll attempt to connect, but how can he when the man who killed the family he wasn't strong enough to protect is still out there.

Yes, it's best he stay alone, despite the want coiling in his chest.

Three sleepy genin, Kakashi decides, is a very amusing sight.

For that past week Kakashi had been waking up his students in the morning, just when the sun began to rise, and trudged them along to training ground thirteen. Sasuke and Naruto, much to his shock, were very silent when sleep deprived. The boys barely spoke, trailing a good distance behind. At some point they seemed to form a truce for these mornings, leaning against one another as they walked, trying to keep the other upright and awake. It was a very hopeful sight the first Kakashi noticed.

Sakura however, was absolutely murderous. The girl never strayed too far from her place behind the jounin, keeping a constant glare set on his back as her feet dragged through the dirt. He smiled at her once and got a prompt kick aimed at the back of his knee. She even snapped at Sasuke in one memorable moment, irked when the boy dared to accidentally step on the back of her heels. Both of her teammates made sure to keep their distance after that.

Her glare only grew stronger when he told them to start running laps.

"Sakura, run." She turns toward the Uchiha, hair flying, and jade eyes hard. It's quite an intent stare off that occurs between the two, until the girl looks away with a blush and begins a light jog with her teammates.

"I hate him." Naruto, finally awake and aware, nods his head. Sasuke, slightly ahead of the two, huffs in agreement.

"I'll dye his hair pink." Kakashi overhears the blonde mutter, the other smiling and beginning to, what Kakashi imagines, plot.

It seems he'll have to keep an eye on all of his hair products for a while.

AN: This is way shorter than the last chapter, but I wanted to post something that showed a little progress for the characters. Third chapter should be posted soon, as I'm almost done with semester exams.

Disclaimer: All rights of Naruto to Kishimoto.