Chapter 2: Clans

With the Final Exams of the academy on the horizon, Sasuke Uchiha tries to get as much training as possible, it's just too bad that a particular 'rival' annoyed him to no end.

The new genin group with the most clan heirs was in their final year of the academy. After they successfully passed the last exam, they were officially genin. Well, not quite, but they didn't need to know that yet.

And every year there was also a title a student could get. It was called "Rookie of the Year." That meant that this kid had the highest grades of the entire class he was in. It was separated by gender, meaning that a girl and a boy could get the title.

Something that also existed, although not officially, was the title of "Deadlast". It simply meant that this child had the worst grades in his class.

Sasuke Uchiha rarely cared what others thought of him. After the massacre of his family caused by his insane and murderous brother, he cared even less what people thought of him. The way the whole village looked at him with pity actually made him sick, but he simply ignored their stares whenever possible.

He didn't care that he got the title. Someone else could get it, as much as he cared. Even his 'rival' could get it.

But he would talk about it all day and make the title something that told him he was stronger.

Now that he thought about it, it was probably better that he got the title. It wasn't that he wanted it, as clearly stated, but giving up the title would mean that someone else would get it and then Naruto would tease him all day about not getting it.

Ever since that one day at the lake when he was thinking about what to do with his life, the loudmouth wouldn't leave him alone. Not even for a second.

Sure, he had his peace and quiet when he was in his apartment, and by the gods, he treasured those brief moments, but as soon as he so much as set foot outside the door, Naruto was there to greet him.

He tried countless times to sneak out, from the windows, from the roof, and once even from the sewers, but each time he was found by Naruto. He didn't even know how he knew he was in the sewers in the first place, and it honestly scared him a little because he knew he was being watched the whole time.

Of course, he yelled at the annoying blonde that he definitely didn't want to be a rival and hated him more with every second that he harassed him almost every day.

Well, not almost and not daily.

It was always and hourly.

At least the brick knew where to cross a line and left him as soon as he closed the door. At least, that's what Sasuke hoped. He was already paranoid that Naruto lived within his walls, and so he always knew when he was leaving, he didn't need confirmation of his paranoia and conspiracy theory.

And when he trained, the little imp was always there to train with him. Whether it was constitution training, skill training, or jutsu. He was always there trying to outdo him.

And that's where the problem lies, he realized that he was training harder and harder to outdo him, and that's why his training was progressing more than it had in a long time.

He now had another reason to train, to be stronger than Naruto. Because contrary to what everyone said, contrary to what his grades said, he was by no means the very worst. His intelligence left something to be desired in some areas, especially in the strategic area he would not make a good team leader, but his stamina and physical strength as well as his constitution made him sweat almost every time.

He had never actually noticed how physically skilled Naruto was until he trained with him every day. And to say that Naruto wasn't improving was an understatement. His grades at the academy weren't much better, but both he and Sasuke were running circles around the others in every other area. And Sasuke really had to try hard in every subject or he would be overtaken by Naruto.

Sasuke was in a dichotomy between a hard place and a rocky place. On one hand he has a really annoying stalker, worse than his fangirls to be honest, but on the other hand his performance has improved a lot since training with Naruto.

It was hard for him to realize it, but he has accepted Naruto as a rival. Not yet as an equal, he needed to improve his intelligence and defeat him in a sparring match on equal terms before he would accept that designation. But for now, he was more than surprised that Naruto had managed to change his mind about him.

Sasuke was once again near the lake where he was training his fire jutsu. He wasn't doing much, mostly just standing there watching his reflection ripple in the small waves in the water.

And he thought.

About many things, his clan, his brother- that man, his mother...

Anger rose in the young Uchiha's thoughts and his body reacted accordingly, clenching his fist and clenching his teeth harder. A glare appeared in his eyes, and a grimace made its way across his face.

"HEY SASUKE!"

Before it could escalate further, a loud shout behind him brought him out of his thoughts. Sighing inwardly, he knew all too well who that voice belonged to. He wasn't even surprised that the blond boy had followed him all the way inside the Uchiha district. Before the massacre, hardly anyone had entered it, almost not at all, and afterwards it had become practically an empty shell. All the villagers consider it cursed and the ninjas do not enter it out of respect.

And perhaps also out of fear that Itachi might appear out of nowhere and kill them with one blow.

When he turned around, he found himself facing Naruto, who was looking at him quizzically. "What?"

He ignored him and walked closer, making sure to keep a distance of one meter between them.

"Well, I was going to ask what you were doing looking so gloomy."

He frowned and turned his head away to stifle a shout. "What do you care?" he said through clenched teeth.

"You're my rival for one-" "We're not-" "And second; I know what it feels like," Naruto continued. Sasuke turned his head back and looked at the blond. "You're lonely."

Sasuke stared at the blond a little longer. That such a thing could come from him was amazing in itself, but what was even more amazing was the look the blonde wore.

His black eyes were dull and empty, Naruto really meant what he said.

"How would you know how I feel if you never had a family!" shouted Sasuke. He didn't need pity, and certainly not from someone like Naruto. He accepted him as a good training partner and had a somewhat pathetic respect for him, but that respect certainly didn't give him the right to talk to him about things he didn't even understand.

Startled by Sasuke's indignation, Naruto was stunned for a few seconds, enough time for Sasuke to walk past him.

Naruto looked behind him and saw Sasuke disappear into the setting sun. Meanwhile, he was still standing there, not really knowing what had happened.

Slowly, he turned around and put his left foot forward. He did the same with his right foot and walked back to his apartment, completely done with the day.

Hiruzen was still in his office, even though most of the population of his village was already asleep. It wasn't like anyone was waiting for him at home.

At least not anymore.

He stopped his train of thought at that point and focused on something that had been bothering him for the past few days. Especially the situation with the Uchiha massacre. With his information and the ANBU he had left behind to watch Sasuke, a more friendly relationship and an even stronger rivalry was developing between him and Naruto.

This in itself was not a bad thing, in fact it would have been good news for him after all the isolation the boy was experiencing from most of the villagers and shinobi. It was just bad timing that his whole world was turned upside down and that Naruto had to befriend the only person in the entire village who had anything to do with his illness.

Hiruzen took a long puff from his pipe after that thought.

After getting the medical files back and making a few more for good measure, it was now inevitable.

Naruto Uzumaki is a pure-blooded Uchiha.

And that was the mystery that had been gnawing at his brain for several days. And what made it worse was that he had no idea how he was one.

He was pretty sure that the Naruto who walked around the village, who he celebrated his birthdays with, was the same Naruto that Minato and Kushina had left in his care. And unless he's going senile, he clearly remembered Minato saying that he was his son.

And what about his biological father now? Shisui, of all people? Was Minato lying, or was the test lying? But why would he lie, if he had lied to him?

Maybe he was infertile and they used a sperm donor? That theory alone had too many holes in it to be viable. The Uchihas definitely did not approve of giving their sharingan, no matter how slight the changes, to an outsider, even if she was the Hokage's wife. Not to mention Minato would have told him about something like this. And that wouldn't explain the same hair color he and Naruto had shared.

Shared was the point, as his color had been getting darker lately.

No matter what angle Hiruzen looked at Naruto from, he couldn't find a suitable answer, let alone a good enough theory. The only theory he had was that Minato meant "He's my son" figuratively and not biologically. That would clear up that point, but it wouldn't explain why Naruto's hair color was yellow a few weeks ago. And it certainly wouldn't explain why he had Uchiha blood.

Sighing, the Hokage leaned further back in his seat. Things like this made the endless paperwork at least a little more bearable. But he was the highest authority in the village and had his duty. He picked up a pen and shuffled a few papers, setting them aside.

Sasuke all but stormed back home, smashing the door shut. Gritting his teeth, he forced himself to calm down. It would do him no good to lose his cool, especially since it was over.

Despite his attempts, a small frown had found its way to his face. He was angry at Naruto, and despite that, he wasn't really sure why. Maybe it was because Naruto had lectured him, or because he had tried to sympathize with him without him wanting any.

'They were the same?' No, they were not. Sasuke couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt at the thought. He couldn't bring himself to acknowledge it, to admit that he and Naruto were alike in any way.

He couldn't allow himself to see Naruto as anything more than a rival, as someone to surpass and prove himself against.

And every step he took to his room was filled with memories of a better time. A time a few weeks ago.

Naruto opened his door to his apartment. The smell of ramen was still lingering in the air. He probably should have opened a window or something.

Closing the door he made his way to his bathroom. Normally he would have something to eat for the night but he wasn't really in the mood to be awake for any longer than necessary.

Reason was the outburst with Sasuke of course. He was still trying to figure out what he had said wrong.

Suddenly scowling he thought about how Sasuke probably didn't consider his feelings to be real. What did he say? "How can you know how I feel if you never had any parents in the first place?!"

That was a low blow, even for Naruto. Especially after he only wanted to help him.

Tsk, fine! If the jerk doesn't want him as a friend then he doesn't need him!

With his mind and teeth cleaned he jumped on his bed and covered himself in his blanket. He's gonna show him that he doesn't need him!

That night Naruto didn't sleep very well.