Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Those rights belong to Masashi Kishimoto.
The Savior That Can't Be Saved
Chapter 6:
A Genin Once Again: The Tearing of Two Friends…
Naruto grinned, holding tightly to the metal plated fabric that was his headband, rushing to his abode from school. Iruka told him that he could meet Naruto up at Ichiraku Ramen and he even invited the Third Hokage there as well. Naruto couldn't wait, so much that he accidently bumped into a tall gentleman who was with his family. The blond Uzumaki softly cursed at not looking at his surroundings as he got up and was about to apologize when he saw who he bumped into and who was around him, Uchiha Fugaku and his wife, Uchiha Mikoto, along with their sons, Uchiha Sasuke and Uchiha Itachi. Some of the civilians began to even stare at what happened, stopping to watch the scene.
Naruto bowed his head, knowing better than to anger the Uchiha clan head, knowing of Sasuke's temper firsthand. "I'm sorry, Uchiha-san. I just was in a rush and didn't look where I was going. This was my fault entirely."
Fugaku looked a bit questionable, curious even, underneath the clear hatred that Naruto could see. Something about Naruto angered the Uchiha, Naruto could tell that much. It seemed to be an even bigger anger than in his old timeline. He also seemed to slightly narrow his eyebrows when he looked into the boy's eyes, or spot the almost shoulder length blond hair, or the whisker marks that were displayed on his cheeks.
Fugaku grunted at the display. "Next time, do better at watching where you are going. Some people aren't as generous as I am." He, then, noticed the fabric sticking out of Naruto's hand. "What is that inside your hand, boy…?"
Naruto flinched as he looked to his hand, seeing the blue fabric of his forehead protector. "Ah, this is…"
"A forehead protector…," Itachi finished for Naruto, causing Naruto to flinch at the voice and look up to Itachi. Itachi smiled lightly, even chuckled a bit, surprising the Uzumaki. "After all, I can't think of anything else a young shinobi in training can get that would make them so eager to rush out of the Academy. Plus, if I remember right, today was one of the days for testing for the new genin squads. It makes perfect sense, right, Uzumaki Naruto-kun?"
Naruto just grinned, rubbing the back of his head, "Heh heh, yeah…, it kind of does…"
Fugaku glared back at his younger son, Sasuke, and, then, back at the blond, who kept looking at Itachi.
"Oh, if you guys are here with Sasuke, then you're his brother, Itachi-san, correct?" Itachi lightly smiled, shifting his eyes to his little brother, before turning his attention to Naruto, and nodded. Naruto smiled widely. "Cool, Sasuke has told me so many things to me about you like how strong you were and how you became a genin at age 7 and how you are going to be an ANBU commander soon!"
Itachi glimpsed at Sasuke to see a light blush of embarrassment on his face and smiled once again before looking back to Naruto with a chuckle. "True, but it seems that you have graduated the Academy at the age of six, a year before me. It seems that you are a lot stronger than what other people think from what I've seen. Though I've learned to never judge anyone's strength based of someone's feelings or opinions, I learn someone's strength by seeing them in combat or even going into combat with that person."
Sasuke scowled at Naruto, at the headband that lay inside his hand, feeling angry and jealous that the Uzumaki passed him, an Uchiha, up and became a genin so fast. He could tell his father wasn't pleased that the boy before them became a genin before his own son. Sasuke knew that his dad would drag his spirit down even more. He just wanted to be acknowledged by his father! Sasuke gritted his teeth. How was Naruto able to pass him up? How was this boy, of no clan, without a kekkai genkai, able to become a shinobi before an Uchiha, a member of an elite clan? How!
"Yeah," Naruto chuckled, "that's true. You're pretty smart, Itachi-san."
"I am sure you have some smarts if you were able to turn into a genin at your age, Naruto-kun." Itachi said, softly, noticing that his father was only getting angrier the longer they were standing with the boy before them.
"Eh, I don't really think tha-"
"Oh, aren't you modest, Uzumaki Naruto…" Fugaku interrupted the young boy with his dark voice, showing that he was obviously angry at the boy. "But I think it's all just an act, eh, jinchuriki…?"
Naruto's eyes widened, not staring at Fugaku, not allowing him to see that he already knew of his burden. Naruto changed his look into a look of puzzlement, of confusion. "What is a jinchuriki, Uchiha-san…?"
Mikoto's eyes widened, no longer in her state of sadness over the death of her old friend, Uzumaki Kushina, knowing of what her husband was going to reveal. "Fugaku, no! You know that you cannot speak of that to the boy! What are you even thinking?"
"Shut up, Mikoto! I know what I am doing! Don't ever say that to me!" Fugaku yelled fiercely while looking, glaring down upon the young boy with a deadly smirk. "Oh, but that is what you are, boy… You are Uzumaki Naruto, the jinchuriki of Konogakure, the host of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox! You hold that damned demon that attacked Konohagakure in your body! Didn't you see the glares, Uzumaki… The hatred on the villagers' faces… Do you see the hatred on my face, Uzumaki Naruto… Do you see the anger that has built up to this very day… the anger that you, boy, have caused… You made me like this, boy! You made the village like this…"
Mikoto gasped at the look on Naruto's face as he merely looked at Sasuke, eyes wide, body shaking, gasping breaths, and tears that started to flow down his eyes… She knew of how much the Kyuubi made the Uchiha clan angry. She knew how much that demon destroyed and marked the fate of her family, her clan, but, yet, she could not help but feel pain for the very boy that held the demon inside his body, the boy of her deceased friend, the boy who was breaking right in front of her. She wanted to do something, but she knew that would anger her husband even more. Once more, she knew that Sasuke would not want to be around this boy, this boy that he was once so attached to, because of his father. It was like Naruto's pain was her pain. She held her hands to her chest, trying to keep her heart from breaking completely.
The villagers were stunned, but some knew that they would tell their sons and daughters. After all, the clan head revealed it to some of Naruto's classmates right here, right now. Naruto stepped back, looking at the world around him, and started shaking even more. He saw a wide-eyed Shikamaru, muttering something to his father, who wore a frown. He saw Choji, no longer eating chips, mouth agape. He saw many other unknowable faces that whispered to their parents, scared looks on their faces. But, most importantly, he saw a shocked Sasuke in front of him.
"No…," Naruto whispered, "I'm not a demon…" Naruto shook with anger and glared at the clan head of the Uchiha. "You think that all you want, Fugaku-san… Because the way of thinking is going to lead you to an early death…"
Fugaku grew a calm look as Naruto began to turn and walk away. "No, Uzumaki Naruto, my way of thinking will bring Konoha into a new era, just you wait…"
Naruto just kept going, knowing that in a year, Fugaku would be laying on the ground, covered in blood.
AN: I know this chapter was very short, but I wanted to put something out at the very least. And, yes, I know Fugaku is really acting like a douche in this fic, but I think he is in too much anger about what is happening to his clan. He is angry at the village, at the Hokage, at the Kyuubi, at Naruto. It all adds up to Sasuke becoming close to him, and then Naruto becoming a genin to put him over the edge. I just think that while Fugaku may be calm most of the time, he lets his anger fester and then lets it all out at one moment, kind of like Sasuke in the series. How sometimes the anger just takes control of them. Anyway, the next chapter will be Naruto getting into his team and knowing who his sensei is. Plus, a confrontation between Hiruzen and Fugaku. After all, he did just tell some of the village, including some of Naruto's classmates, that he holds the Nine-Tailed Fox... That's kind of a big deal... I hope you enjoy the fic so far and what it holds in the future.