Chapter 3: Birth Of New Legends
It has been a while since the Uchiha Maasacre but the village was still talking about the tragedy.
There were a few rumors on why Uchiha Itachi killed off his clan. Some say that Itachi was a product of inbreeding and was naturally subject to the mental defects one would expect from such a incestous relationship. Others say that it was ambition for it was no secret that Itachi was widely expected to be the next Uchiha clan head and it was probable that Itachi wanted the position sooner.
Still, only the lone survivor of the massacre knew the whole truth about the incident. But of course, Uchiha Sasuke was given time off from school to recover from his loss.
Imagine the chunin teachers's surprise (and the fangirls's pleasure) when the last Uchiha showed up in class just a few weeks later. But gone was the inquisitive and attentive little boy and in his place was a quiet brooder. He was still as brilliant as ever but now he mostly kept to himself, preferring to spend his time alone studying and training.
But fate seems to have other plans for the dark haired avenger for assigned to a seat besides him in class is our favorite blonde loudmouth.
When he was still alive Fuguku always told his son to stay away from Naruto, even going so far as to describe him as a 'monster'. But at that time, Sasuke attributed it to the fact that Naruto was something of a problem child who always likes to pull pranks on almost everybody on a daily basis.
Yet despite the fact that a lot of the older villagers seemed to hold a grudge against the blonde, Naruto always had a smile in his face and was still able to easily make friends with some of the younger generation. It didn't seem fair that Naruto always seemed so happy despite his adversities in life This irritated Sasuke to no end.
Currently, the said blonde was narrating his exploits to a small circle of friends coming from families who didn't hate him.
Inuzaka Kiba and his canine partner, Akamaru. The Inuzaka scion was just as loud and as brash as he was which made it easy for Naruto to get along with him. And as a friend, nobody was more loyal then him.
Aburame Shino. Though the silent Aburame boy creeped him out sometimes, he was easily the most mature of the bunch and was the person whom Naruto goes to whenever he had to vent or needed someone to talk to.
Nara Shikamaru. A lazy assed bum who likes nothing more then to sleep or to stare at the clouds. But he also had a genius level IQ and if it weren't for his laziness, he'd be considered as one of the academy's top students.
Akimichi Chouji. Shikamaru's best friend who is a typical Akimichi in every aspect. Gentle and loyal as hell, ikes to eat a lot and very fat. Just don't tell Chouji he's fat lest you're looking for a world of pain courtesy of his Meat Tank.
Yamanaka Ino. The only girl in Naruto's little circle who can be downright bossy and domineering at times. But Naruto knew that Ino's nagging nature was simply her way of looking out for the welfare of those close to her.
But right now, she was simply scary.
"You did WHAT?!" Ino asks incredilously, staring at her friend in disbelief. "Have you finally lost what little brains you've got up there?"
"You heard me. I re-styled a couple of chunins hairs and even dyed their uniform." Naruto said with a wide grin. "And no I haven't lost my mind yet. I know exactly what I'm doing."
Shikamaru groaned as he massaged the bridge of his nose with a muttered. "Troublesome." Before turning to Naruto and asking. "And why, praytell, would you do something like that?"
"They had it coming to them for a long time. Besides, I thought it'd be funny." Naruto answered, his grin growing even wider.
"It IS funny." Choji said. "Though I kinda doubt those chunins you pranked would agree with me. I bet they'd probably laugh a lot if they get their hands on you and pound you to the ground."
"Chouji's right you know. Dude, I'd hate to think what they'd do to your sorry butt if you hadn't ducked into our house or if they caught up to you." Kiba said with Akamaru barking his assent from his position on top of Kiba's head.
"Aww you know they'd never be able to catch me. I'm way too quick for them." Naruto said confidently.
"But there's always a first time." Shino pointed out. Shino almost never spoke except when he had something meaningful to say. "You can't elude them forever you know."
Naruto gives the bug user a level look as Ino cuts in. "Listen to Shino Naruto coz you know he's right. You'll seriously get hurt if you keep this up. We're just worried about you." She said.
Naruto turns his gaze to his other friends and found the same expression on their faces. He knew they were right and sighs in resignation. "Fine. I suppose my pranks DO tend to draw a lot of unwanted attention towards me. I don't really need that since I've got more then enough..."
Ino nods her head in approval, glad that her friend finally got the picture. The attention that Naruto was getting from a lot of the villagers were already bad and his pranks weren't helping his reputation.
"Next time, I'll just have to make sure that NOBODY catches me doing the deed." Naruto declared.
"THUD!!"
Naruto turns at the noise and found that Ino and Kiba had facefaulted to the floor with their legs twitching up in the air while Shikamaru and Chouji sported large sweatdrops on the sides of their heads. Shino looked mostly indifferent except for a raised eyebrow of disapproval.
"NA-RU-TO!!" Naruto gulps nervously as he sees his female friend looming over him menacingly doing a passable version of Iruka Sensei's big head jutsu.
"Ahhhh!! Someone save me!!" Naruto cried comically as he did the only thing he could to save himself from this situation which was to run away as fast as he could with Ino hot on his heels. All of a sudden, he could feel someone trip him and he was sent crashing down face-first onto the floor. He picks himself off the floor and glares at the person whom he believed tripped him which happened to be one Uchiha Sasuke.
"You better have a damned good reason for doing that Uchiha." Naruto growls angrily, clenching his fist tightly. "Otherwise, I'll mess up that pretty boy mug of yours so bad that your fanclub won't even recognize you."
"Che... As if you could dope." Sasuke said with a smirk. "Besides, you've no proof it was me who tripped you. It's not my fault you're so damned clumsy."
"If that's a challenge punk then I'll be glad to oblige you." Naruto stated, walking up to Sasuke and stood face to face with him. "Just coz you're an Uchiha doesn't mean you can do anything you want and just because other people treat me like crap doesn't mean you can."
"What the hell do you know about suffering?" Sasuke growled at Naruto. "Just because I am an Uchiha doesn't mean I had an easy life. Do you know how it feels to lose your whole clan at the hands of your own brother?"
"At least you HAD your family." Naruto retorted. The argument was rapidly becoming personal between the two. "I NEVER knew what it felt like having parents who loved and protected me."
"You know, we can stand here and argue all day. But we both know there's only one way we can settle this." Sasuke said, clenching his fist.
"For once, I agree with you." Naruto said. "We could do it here and now if you want."
Though the tension from the two boy's confrontation inside the classroom was so thick that you could cut it with a knife, the students seemed interested in seeing who was stronger. Uchiha Sasuke had all the makings of a fine shinobi and possessed his family's Kekkai Genkai, The Sharingan. But Naruto was no slouch himself. Even though most of the chunin instructors either ignored him or outright refused to instruct him, he was, contrary to what a lot of people thought, actually quite knowledgable in the ways of a shinobi at such a young age. The fight promised to be entertaining at least.
"Stop it Naruto." Ino pleaded with Naruto not just because he was a friend, but also because she didn't want to see him or her crush Sasuke, get hurt. "You'll get in serious trouble."
"You should listen to her dope. You might really be way out of your league against me." Sasuke said with smirk.
Naruto narrows his eyes at Sasuke then looks back at Ino. "Don't worry about me Ino. It's not like I've never been in serious trouble before. Besides, it's about time this arrogant prick gets knocked down a couple of pegs."
Sasuke frowns at this as he and Naruto prepared to fight. But as both boys charges towards one another, Iruka suddenly appears between them and catches both their punches in mid-swing.
"What in the world are you two boys doing?" The scarred chunin asks as he glares at both Naruto and Sasuke who managed to look abashed at being caught by their instructor. "Why are you fighting each other here?"
"HE STARTED IT!! STOP COPYING ME!!" Both Naruto and Sasuke said at the same time, pointing at each other, much to Iruka's extreme annoyance.
"I don't care who started what. You two aren't supposed to fight in here." Iruka said as he lets go of both boy's hands. Truth be told though, Iruka wasn't sure if he could really break up a serious fight between Naruto and Sasuke. He knew better then anyone else of their capability and despite the other chunin instructors's and many villagers's claim that Sasuke is supposed to be a genius while Naruto is dead last, he judged their skill level to be roughly the same. "As punishment, you two will be staying behind after dismissal to clean up the classroom."
The two buys glares at each other and grumbles under their breath but were smart enough not voice their complaints as it might lead to stiffer penalties.
For his part, Iruka sighed in relief at seeing that both boys seemed to have quietly accepted their punishment. He was glad then this incident didn't lead to a situation where he had to choose between them because if he did, he'd most probably side with Naruto. And while it was true that the demon sealed within Naruto was responsible for his parents's deaths, he didn't actually blame Naruto for it because he knew that the blonde was as much a victim as he was and he empathized with the boy's predicament.
He then calls the rest of the students to order and starts the class.
(After class)
Both Naruto and Sasuke were cleaning the room in silence and pointedly ignoring each other for a while before the dark haired boy spoke.
"How do you do it?" Sasuke asks.
Naruto stops what he was doing and looks at Sasuke curiously. "How do I do what?"
Sasuke also stops what he was doing and looks at Naruto. "You ARE aware that a lot of the villagers hate you, right?" A nod from the blonde. "Yet despite that fact, you always seem so happy and even made quite a number of friends." Another nod from Naruto. "So why is it that the villagers are angry at you for some reason anyways, dope?"
Naruto thought about this for a moment, not really minding the fact that Sasuke called him a dope before answering. "You know what? I keep asking myself that question because for as long as I can remember, they've always been that way to me. They even went so far as to pay staff members or some older kids of the orphanage I used to be in to bully and hurt me. There were only a few people who truly cared for me and ironically, the old man Hokage and a few of the clans head are some of them. I mean, it's nice that I've got some people with a bit of pull who watches my back but I'd like to one day walk down the street without somebody trying to kick my butt."
Sasuke was startled into silence. He never knew that the adults's hatred of Naruto was that deep. It made him wonder to himself if he himself how far he himself would go in order to get his revenge on his older brother Itachi. It also made him feel somewhat guilty for his earlier tirade against the blonde and felt obliged to share his own story since Naruto did open up to him.
"I wasn't kidding when I said I didn't have an easy life either." Sasuke said and at Naruto's quizzical look, continues his story. "I've always lived in fear of my father because he expected so much from me. He kept reminding me that I wasn't as good as my brother, Itachi. Ironically, he was the only person from my clan apart from my mother who was ever good to me so you could imagine how I felt when I came home from school one day and found the blood of my entire clan staining his sword."
Naruto nodded in understanding. Of course he hadn't felt the sting of betrayal yet but he could understand the pain Sasuke was going through. He wouldn't know how to react if this were to happen to him.
"In retrospect though, I shouldn't be too surprised at what he did." Sasuke continued with a unreadable expression on his face. "My father pushed Itachi just as hard as he pushed me. Maybe even more so. I guess even prodigys have their limitations and Itachi reached his and eventually snapped. But that doesn't excuse his actions. Eventually I will find him and kill him."
"For whatever it's worth, I'm sorry about what happened to your clan. But you shouldn't let your anger and quest for revenge consume you coz I think that's exactly what Itachi Teme wants." Naruto stated.
Sasuke was silenced by Naruto's words and the blonde took this as his cue to continue. "While it's a given that you'll be after his head if you ever meet up with him again, you should also show him that you're not like him. You should try to be the best damned ninja you could be not because you wanna grow stronger to get your revenge on him but because you wanna honor the memory of your clan. You owe that much to your family and yourself."
Naruto then extended a hand towards him and said with a grin. "I was taught that being a shinobi of Konoha means helping each other out in their difficulties. I'd be more then happy to help you out if you'd let me."
Sasuke stared at the proffered hand for a while, thinking long and hard about Naruto's offer then with a small smile shook the blonde's hand.
(Much later at Ichiraku Ramen)
"You mean to tell me that you eat this stuff every single day?!" Sasuke asks incredilously, looking at his own large bowl of ramen. "This seriously can't be good for you." The blonde had invited him for dinner along with Iruka to the ramen stand and seeing that he had nothing else better to do, Sasuke decided to join them.
"That's what I keep telling Naruto here but of course he never listens." Iruka said with a sigh.
"Hey! Don't diss the food till you've at least eaten some Teme. You'll know what I mean when you've tried it." Naruto protested, slurping up his own large bowl of ramen like a vacuum cleaner.
Sasuke watches the blonde eat with disapproval and eyes his own bowl critically before shrugging his shoulders and digging in. He was pleasantly surprised at how good the ramen tasted but chose to keep the comment to himself.
For his part, Iruka was relieved that Naruto and Sasuke seemed to somehow get along now. He half expected the two boys to be tearing into each other when he checked on their work in the classrom but thankfully, there had been no incident. And to his credit, Naruto even invited Sasuke to have dinner with them.
"Please stop that!!" A girls voice cuts through their thoughts. The voice along with a number of other masculine and snickering voices can be heard from the outside. A moment later, old man Ichiraku can be heard saying. "Hey!! Leave the girl alone you ruffians!!"
"Mind your own business you old fart!!" One of the masculine voices said. "This little bitch bumped into us and we simply demand compensation." This was followed by a thud and an ooff from old man Ichiraku as well as a high pitched scream from the girl.
Naruto and Sasuke looks at each other and nods once before getting off their seats and walking to the outside.
Iruka notices the look that both boys gave each other and understood it's meaning. But before he could stop either of them, they were already gone.
In the alley near the ramen stand, Sasuke and Naruto could see a group of young teenagers crowding around a fallen and bleeding Ichiraku Teuchi who was shielding a pink haired girl with his own body. The teenagers seemed to be getting ready to do another round of beating to the ramen stand owner so Naruto and Sasuke decides to jump in.
"Is there a problem here?" Sasuke asks in a bored tone of voice as he looks over at the teenagers. "Hmm... None of these guys seems to be in great shape and I don't see any hiate so they're not shinobis."
"Get lost kids. This isn't your problem." One of the teenagers said.
"It wouldn't have been our problem if you weren't stomping old man Ichiraku's face into the pavement or bullyin' some 6 year old girl." Naruto said lazily, tucking his arms behind his head. "Whatsa matter? Running outta people to push around?"
"Why you..." The teenager growled as he and his companions attacked Sasuke and Naruto. Needless to say, the two shinobi academy students were able to beat back their opponents due to their superior training and proceeded to check on the ramen stand owner and the pink haired girl.
"You ok old man?" Naruto asks with concern as he helped him back to his feet.
"Yeah. Those young punks caught me off guard but I'll live." Teuchi said.
"You should get those cuts and bruises checked though." Sasuke said then glances at the beaten down teenagers. "And maybe some anti-rabies injection just in case these boys haven't had their shots yet." He then looks at the pink haired girl and after a while, recognizes her. "Hey. Aren't you Haruno Sakura from our class?"
"H-Hai. And you're Uchiha Sasuke and you're..." Sakura looks at Naruto with her brows furrowed in concentration. "...Uzumaki Naruto, right? Thank you for your help."
"Oh you mean against these jerks?" Naruto said, jerking a thumb at the teenagers. "Think nothing of it. They deserved to get their butts kicked."
The leader of the teenagers who managed to stay conscious slowly gets up and pulls out a switchblade. "Don't you ignore us!! You brats have no idea what you've gotten yourselves into."
Sasuke looks back at the teenagers and eyes the switchblade he had in his hand. "On the contrary, you're the ones who don't know what you're getting yourselves into. And seeing as you've already got that blade in your hand, I suppose you're ready to play for keeps."
"Maybe you should drop that thing before you hurt yourself." Naruto suggested. "It doesn't seem like you really know what you're doing with it."
The teenager snarls in anger at Naruto then, studies the blonde's features for moment before he cracks a broad, cruel smile. "I know you. You're that monster that everyone's been talkin' about."
Naruto growls at the teenager, clenching his fist tightly.
"If I get rid of you, the village will hail me as a hero." The teenager said, brandishing his switchblade at Naruto and company. "All I've gotta do is say that you killed your friends before I managed to kill you. Get ready to die!!" The teenager said as he charges forward but a kunai embeds itself on the ground between him and Naruto/Sasuke.
"That's as far as you go loser." Looking up, the teenager pales as he sees a familiar looking young kunoichi wearing a tan trench coat and fishnet undershirt standing on a rooftop.
"Anko Neesan." Both Sasuke and Naruto exclaimed before looking at each other in surprise.
Anko lloks down and smiles at seeing both Naruto and Sasuke standing below. "Oh, hey guys. I guess you two know each other eh?" She then notices the teenager with the switchblade trying to sneak away so she jumps down and quickly knocks the boy down with a swift chop to the back of the neck then looks at his cohorts who were still unconscious and in a heap. "So is this both of your handiwork? Impressive."
Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the person he considered his surrogate sister. "I don't believe you. How long have you been watching there?"
"Since you started beating the tar outta those punks." Anko admitted.
Naruto groaned at this. His Anko Neesan had a quirky sense of humor and it was evident in the way she casually admitted that she had been spying on them. "And the reason why you didn't help us earlier was...?"
Anko shrugs her shoulder. "I didn't think you brats needed it." She said. "Besides, I can't be wasting my time on small frys like them."
"Typical of Anko Neesan." Sasuke muttered. "So I guess we could leave these clowns with you then?"
"Don't worry squirts. I'll take REAL good care of them." Anko said with a vicious grin, making Naruto and Sasuke shiver involuntarily. Whenever she had that creepy smile on, it usually meant big trouble. "You guys take the old man and pinky over there to Tsunade Sama and Shizune Chan."
"Will do. Try not to have too much fun with them, ok Anko Neesan?" Naruto said with a foxy grin as he helped the ramen stand owner walk.
"I'll try." Anko said and thought to herself as she watches Naruto and Sasuke walk away. "Those two have grown. I can't wait to see what they can do in the future."
Meanwhile, after dropping off Teuchi at the hospital, the three young soon-to-be shinobis were chatting away as they walked towards Sakura's house. The boys discovered that the pink haired girl was extremely smart and was just hampered by her lack of confidence.
"Well I can see only one solution to your problem." Naruto said. "We can help each other out with aspects which we're not too good at while we're still in the academy."
Sasuke looks at Naruto with a raised eyebrow. "That's actually a good idea coming from you dope. I'm surprised." Naruto retaliates by taking a playful swipe at Sasuke who dodges it easily. "But seriously though, you may have something going there. Each one of us have something we're good at and we could cross train with each other to improve our skills."
"I-If you think I can help you with anything, I'll be happy to do so." Sakura said hesitatingly.
"You should be more confident in yourself Sakura. If the three of us work together, there's nothing we CAN'T do. Believe it!!" Naruto said with a foxy grin then holds out his hand with the palm facing down. "So what do you guys say?"
Sasuke simply nods in agreement with Naruto's statement and places his own hand over Naruto's hand. After a moment's hesitation, Sakura's hand joins theirs in the symbolic gesture of unity.
The next day, the entire village are treated to a sight that they never thought they would see. The container of Kyuubi No Kitsune, the sole survivor of the Uchiha massacre and the meek, pink haired girl from the otherwise fiery (due largely to the tempers of their inner personas) Haruno clan walking to school together and chatting away like old friends.
To most of the villagers, they treat this spectacle as an ominous sign of trouble ahead. But to a select few whose ranks includes a certain Hokage and his ex students who were currently watching the scene through a crystal ball, it was the start of new legends in the making.
Author's Notes: Ok, chapter 3 is now history. Tell me what you guys think