Naruto wondered how it would feel to be Hokage, to have the entire shinobi world look up to him, to command respect and be untouchable.How would it feel to not have a name synonymous with dead last and failure?

To fight great battles with legendary shinobi wielding powerful ninjutsu-

— — — — — —

"Uzumaki!"

Naruto's head snapped upright, the force knocked his body into the desk behind him. Disoriented, he had barely regained his composure before Iruka called him again.

"Naruto Uzumaki!" His head pounded in his skull-

"Come and demonstrate the clone technique to your classmates!"

He dragged himself out of his seat, sluggish as he descended the steps to the front of the class. Embarrassment bubbled within him with everyone's eyes on him. The disparaging looks from his classmates quickly turned to jeers when he came face to face with Iruka. Iruka, who did nothing except wave him on to present the technique.

Naruto gritted his teeth and proceeded with his attempt. A plume of smoke clouded his vision and cleared to reveal a limp clone barely holding itself together.

A flood of shame pushed itself to the forefront of Naruto's mind and he felt the buildup of a new wave of laughter from the desks in front of him. He cringed and shuffled back to his seat, not wanting to be a sitting duck at the front of the class.

As he sat back down the loud whispers of his classmates reached his ears.

"What did dead last think was going to happen?"

"Maybe he thought Iruka-sensei would give him a pass?"

"Is he the one who thinks Sasuke-kun is his rival?"

Suddenly all Naruto's thoughts turned to static. Why did they always have to bring up that Bastard?

Sasuke Uchiha was at the top of Naruto's class. He had the best grades out of everyone, including some of the older students.

He was everything Naruto wasn't, although not for a lack of trying on Naruto's part.

Now with his mind focused on Sasuke, he turned his gaze towards him. He was two rows over and half-hidden behind one of their classmates. He sat silently at his desk with both of his hands tightly folded under his chin. He seemed to be lost in thought, paying no mind to the lesson taught by Iruka sensei. It struck Naruto at that moment how it seemed as if everything came effortlessly to Sasuke.

Maybe, Naruto thought, that was the reason why they were treated so differently.

Naruto swore that when he catches up with Sasuke he will make everyone laugh at him.

—-

Several hours after class ended, Naruto was on his way back to his apartment. The sun was starting to set, reflecting off the clouds and casting the sky in a golden-purple hue. The beautiful sight juxtaposed with the broken and battered building Naruto called home The rundown building barely fit the definition of a house, but it definitely did not fit the definition of structurally sound. He carefully made his way up several flights of cracked stairs until he finally reached his apartment door. The door itself wasn't in much better shape than its surroundings but it served its purpose well.

When Naruto finally made it inside he was immediately hit with a wave of heat. The humidity was intense for this time of the year and it was only amplified by his poorly ventilated apartment.

He weighed the pros and cons of staying.

On one hand, he could stay and find something to occupy his time with. On the other hand, he could venture back out into the village and…. he wasn't sure.

He had already been to Ichiraku Ramen earlier and used the rest of his monthly stipend.

Naruto, lost in thought, didn't notice how late it had gotten. If he wanted to go out he needed to make his decision soon.

Naruto shook his head, no point in wasting time he thought. He turned on his heels and walked out of his apartment, he barely managed to make sure his door closed behind him. As he leaped down the steps he decided on going to a nearby training ground, now was as good a time as ever to get last-minute training in.

The sun had nearly completely waned by the time Naruto had made his way back outside. He forced himself to speed up his pace, he wanted to be back home before sundown.

Speeding wildly through the village, Naruto paid no mind to any of his surroundings.

without the feeling of the village dirt path changing to unkempt grass, he wouldn't have noticed his arrival at Training Ground 74.

This training ground was the closest to his apartment, which also meant that it was not in the best condition compared to the ones closer to the village. Naruto shrugged off the sudden sour feeling and began to work on chakra control exercises.

Forming his hand into the Ram seal he flared his chakra.

Instead of a gradual increase in output, the chakra tore from him in the form of a shockwave. Naruto rocketed several feet back, narrowly managing to remain standing. He gasped as the breath was forcibly removed from his lungs, with blurry vision he managed to right himself before falling to his knees. He gripped the grass in front of him while paralysis wracked his body. Unable to move he kneeled frozen while his legs stung from the impact. The smell of copper overwhelmed his senses before he wrestled control back into his limbs. Immediately he felt a horrible burning sensation throughout his entire body followed by a ripple of exhaustion.

He dragged his body off the ground and stumbled his way out of the training ground, slowly making his way back home. He never was good at chakra control and his turbulent emotional state did him no favors.

"Damn it…." Naruto groaned, so much for making progress. His mood stubbornly remained in its sour state from earlier.

Limping his way out of the grassy plane he started to make his way back. He stuck to the back streets to avoid any unwanted attention, especially since he wouldn't be able to make a quick escape due to his injuries.

He walked in time with the faded sunlight and made it nearly three-quarters of the way home before his body gave out on him. It seemed to happen suddenly, from having limped along the path to having his bones prick with pain and vision spin. HIs body wobbled backwards and he felt the ground no longer.

He willed away disorientation and nausea and took stock of his surroundings. The first thing he notices is the lake. The second thing he noticed was the shinobi gear Scattered across the ground. Putting two and two together he knew that he tripped into another training ground. Halfway through pushing himself up, he heard something?... Someone? Naruto shook his head, it was dark, and no one would be out this late.

"Go away Dead Last'"

Naruto bubbled with fury. He snarled, "You bast-"

Naruto turned to Sasuke and grabbed his shoulder, forcing him to make eye contact. He expected to see disgust or anger on Sasuke's face, not whatever this was. His eyes had sunk into his face, casting dark shadows over his cheeks and jaw. Naruto flinched out of reflex before righting himself. He had never looked this bad during class. Glancing up at his eyes, Naruto saw that they were listless and a cold pit settled in his stomach. He recognized those eyes.

They bore a striking similarity to his own, and all at once Naruto understood.

He had heard the rumors of what happened to Sasuke's family. How his entire clan was slaughtered in the dead of night with himself being the only survivor. Naruto even overheard some of the other children in his class say Sasuke's brother was the one to deal the killing blows.

Naruto released his grip on Sasuke and backed away. After getting a respectable distance away from the other boy he opened his mouth to apologize. As soon as the words started to leave his mouth the other boy's face retracted into a hate-filled snarl. The gloominess seen before had completely vanished and was instead replaced with resentment.

"I don't need pity," Sasuke said lowly. "Especially from someone like you"

Naruto's response was to have him tackled into the lake.