Wind
A/N: This first chapter is set when they're children under 13. The next will begin from their meeting and lead to the Zabuza mission, followed by the Chunin exams, Itachi's visit, Sasuke leaving, the start of Shippuden etc. It will jump in multiple places to keep things interesting, focusing on mainly the Naruto and Sasuke interactions.
Please Enjoy and share! I'd love to revive the Naruto fandom a bit!
There was a bright light above Naruto. So bright, the sky around it looked vivid blue. So bright, his tiny hands were lit, appearing yellow under the harsh gaze of sunlight. He sat alone, so small the grass came up to his neck, snaking around him and reaching to the sky like a forest.
It hid him and him alone, leaving the boy to curl up in it and hide from the rest of the world. If he could, he'd lay here forever. He'd love to. To enjoy the strange comfort of feeling truly and utterly alone, insignificant. Where he could pretend he didn't exist. The orphan played this game quite often. He laid right here on the grass quite often, on days where he'd woken to a dark, empty home, not knowing what to do with his life and how to pass his hours.
His body took him to the fields, far from the glares and whispers and sharp words of the adults that hated him. They called him a monster and threw him from shops, making him feel like less then the dirt on the ground for no reason. Naruto didn't ponder it. He didn't like to wonder why all the other children got to be happy, smiling and laughing with their families, but him.
When he laid in the grass under the volume of the wind, he forgot it all. Watching the stray leaves of tall green trees blow and watching butterflies float away to a freedom he craved. Sometimes he tried to follow it, wondering where it might lead him. If it could take him to a better life.
He ran far and wide, through forests and fields, to places he shouldn't be at such a young age. Places where snakes could swallow him whole or his tiny legs could run right off the sharp edge of a cliff. Nobody cared enough to stop him or make sure he was safe.
Nobody cared as he snuck out the back door every day, unable to handle sitting alone in a class of children that avoided him like he was a disease. Why did they hate him? He thought as he ran, tears in his eyes until they became sore and dry.
Why do they go quiet whenever he spoke but laugh for everyone else? Why did they run and shove him when he just wanted to ask how they were, or see the toys they were playing with?
Naruto's foot hit a rock sharply and suddenly he was tumbling. He fell down and he was in the grass again, knees trembling and rough and scratched. Warm blood dripped down his skin but he didn't feel the pain.
As he got older and tripped harder, it hurt even less. His skin is numb. The sky was vibrant blue, but Naruto's eyes grew dull.
One day he ran, determined to catch the lonely butterfly this time. He ran and ran only to discover that the lonely butterfly had a family too. Dozens of butterflies that flew above his head and out of reach. Naruto was left alone, the only one without a family, the companion he'd thought was just like him had gone.
Naruto's life was one trapped in a heavy cage. He laid back down on the grass, alone.
Did you hear?"
The whispers prick his ears because he knows their kind all too well. That tone of voice is easy to predict. Naruto figures that whatever evil they're about to whisper will be about him. It will be cruel. The kind of thing they should keep a secret but never had the respect to do so. They had no idea how much their words hurt Naruto and didn't fear that they would get in trouble. So they said their words out loud, blaming him, hating him and cursing him. It wasn't just the children but their parents too. Their grandmas, grandpas, even their pets barked at him with hatred.
Naruto couldn't bare to hear anymore that day, so in a fit of anger he turned sharply to glare at the boys on the desk above but-
But their eyes weren't looking at him.
To the right of the room in the furthest corner there was a girl. A classmate that Naruto had heard of because it was impossible not to hear about her.
What he heard next was something he'd never forget.
They were cautious, hateful, bitchy whispers, words full of sympathy but spoken as gossip. Words letting him know that there was someone else in this village who knew hurt the way Naruto knew it. There was someone who was alone.
Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto thought, looking up at the girl and trying to catch her gaze. She sat alone and aloof. She used to be quite energetic, quite cheery and definitely popular. Naruto remembered clearly.
But today she was quiet as a raindrop and when her onyx eyes looked straight ahead, they were unfocused and dull as if the world before Sasuke had faded to grey.
As if the girl was feeling numb.
Naruto could understand that feeling. He recalled the blunt pressure of numbness against his chest. His eyes turned back to Iruka sensei. The lesson came to a start.
That day in the field, there was another butterfly, trapped on the ground with him. Another butterfly with broken wings, sitting on the tip of a tall, extended strand of grass. Its wing was injured, so Naruto sat before it, legs crossed and head tilted. He watched in fascination as its wings changed from dark violet, to blue, to yellow in the waves of sunlight.
The next day he found himself looking over his shoulder again. Sasuke was quiet again. The look in his eyes hadn't healed. Naruto turned back to face the Sensei again.
Something wasn't right in the classroom. The atmosphere had switched but nobody else seemed to notice. Something was missing. Someone.
The old Sasuke had answered every question right and made everyone cheer or gasp with amazement. Sasuke today was silent, the whole energy of the class knocked out of balance as a result. He was silent today. And the day after that. And the day after that. A curiosity settled into Naruto's stomach, mixing with intrigue.
When Naruto chased after Sensei after class he was met with annoyance. He tried to ask about Sasuke, tried to point out that something was wrong and get this awful, muddled feeling off his chest but no words he let could do the feeling justice. It was so frustrating, so alarming that the teacher just didn't understand no matter how hard he tried to express himself with words.
Naruto was about to cry, the Sensei's words harsh, when there was a break through.
"I just- I just I feel like Sasuke's sad!"
The older man's eyes changed. He kneeled down, put his hand gently on Naruto's hair and for the first time, said something with genuine kindness in his voice. Naruto had never felt kindness before. It was like discovering a new colour he'd never seen. It felt good, so good it almost distracted him from his purpose but the words ruined it all.
"Sasuke is going through something that you couldn't understand Naruto. I think it's for the best if you leave him be."
The words meant well, but kept Naruto up at night.
He didn't like them.
He didn't like that Sensei thought he didn't know pain. If someone was in pain surely they should try to understand them. Surely they should try to help rather then leaving them. If being 'left' felt as awful as Naruto felt everyday, then he wouldn't wish that on his worst enemies.
The next evening as he approached the injured butterfly and held out his hand to comfort it, it flew away. Naruto stopped coming to the field after that. He stopped ditching class and instead, chose that day to sit beside Sasuke.
His heart was racing the whole time.
His hands were fiddling under the table, heart stuffed with emotion that couldn't come to his lips as he rehearsed over and over in his mind how he would try to approach Sasuke. How he would try to help the girl who was just as alone as him.
He found the Uchiha made no words of greeting to him and no acknowledgement of his presence. Fine, he'd have to make her notice him. Naruto would have to fight. He was about to open his lips and whisper a 'psst!' to get her attention, when for the first time in weeks, Sasuke Uchiha raised her hand.
"Sasuke." Sensei seemed to notice it just as fast, choosing the girl and allowing her to answer his question. Correct. Suddenly Naruto's stomach twisted and he glanced back at the board, daunted by the difficult problem he couldn't dream of understanding. His confidence fading fast.
Sasuke was talking again. More than just talking, she was fighting. Learning hard, fighting harder and never, never playing. There were no more victory smiles and no more laughs of joy or skips of excitement as he told other classmates about what she and her family planned to do when she got home.
All of that was gone and in it's wake, a new Sasuke.
He could feel more and more people around them noticing as Sasuke scored the highest in the class. As Sasuke answered questions right and destroyed every obstacle in her way. It gave Naruto shivers, to see that someone so hurt, someone with nothing, someone like him, become so... amazing.
It gave him hope that he could be strong too. It had never occurred to Naruto that people like them could succeed. That he didn't have to hide but that he could be confident. That he could be the best at something when everyone looked at him like he was the worst. Motivated, he threw kunai and practised punches, kicked high and learned his hand signs.
Somehow it was fun. Somehow Sasuke became stronger and stronger, as if she wasn't a weak little girl without a family but royalty. A Hokage in the making. That was pretty cool.
But the more Sasuke bounced back the further Naruto fell behind. Sasuke got further and further away from him, making it harder to talk to her. Every time he thought that he and Sasuke where the same, the girl did something so cool, it made Naruto Naruto back to his place.
At school she was this amazing, surreal person. Naruto was forced back from her, no longer able to sit beside her as all the others in the class would battle for that spot. So he sat behind. Several seats behind, watching not Sensei, or Sakura with her cherry blossom hair, or even Kiba and the other boys he once longed to be friends with. No.
He spent his hours looking at the back of the long navy silk of Sasuke's hair.
One night, unable to bare staying at home in the dark he headed to the park. It was an odd day. A day where children had played with him and not treated him like a monster.
He knew it would be short lived. he knew it would be too good to be true. When their parents snatched them away and their eyes turned to contempt Naruto stood still, smile slowly falling down. He watched them leave. Felt the warmth of the sun leave too, draining the park to a cold and silent cage.
His heart would break if he stayed any longer. Naruto could pretend he had places to be. Naruto could walk with purpose, head held high as if his home wasn't empty and as if he wouldn't spend the nights crying alone. As if he was loved.
The new park had been opened as a memorial, a large part of the village had been opened up. The buildings demolished and the park opened to bring life to the area. It was calm. Silent. It was a nice new part of the leaf to explore, he lied in his head, as his skin grew cold. As his mind betrayed him and wondered why he was so hated?
Naruto finally made it to the top of the hill where he could stand tall, looking down at the river that flowed just beyond. His heart raced, the sapphire sun reflecting off the water and making the entire park very bright. It was big and bright enough to remind him that he was alone.
That no matter how beautiful the village may be, he would never have anyone to share it with.
So Naruto ran.
He would have ran all the way home.
He would have thrown himself onto the bed to cry.
But when he followed the river's twists and curls along the lonely banks of the village's park, a small deck stretching out to the see came into view. It wasn't the deck that made Naruto skid to a halt. It was the girl that sat ever so still on the very edge of it. She was small. As small as him; her back but a dot of darkness against the wide horizon, where the skyline kissed the shores of the river.
There was a beautiful view Naruto could stare at. Photographers would photograph it, painters would paint it. But to Naruto, the entire view was overshadowed by Sasuke.
The back of long, straight, black hair, the same hair he stared at day after day. That he knew very well. That he could never get bored of. Somehow, it would never get old. There would always be something to stare at. Perhaps the way the dark waves blew gently in the wind from the water. Perhaps the way it caught the light and became royal blue, a colour so inky it reminded him of storybook drawings of oceans and seas.
As if sensing him, Sasuke turned.
Their eyes met and Naruto was so caught back he pulled a face. The girl pulled one right back, a look of disgust shared between them. As if to say, Ew, not you? why are you here? I wasn't looking at you!
Suddenly he was so embarrassed, convincing Sasuke that he wasn't staring became his top priority.
His head turned away sharply and he hurried away down the path. It wasn't until he got home and caught sight of his reflection, that Naruto realised he'd been wearing a genuine smile. It seemed so insignificant, but Naruto would never forget that day. The first day he and Sasuke locked eyes.
Naruto was ten years old when he worked up the courage to go to her. It was another day, one of many when Naruto was walking the path above the hill of the park and Sasuke sat alone on the deck.
There was no reason for it to be this day at all. There was no trigger or change.
It was Naruto's body not his mind that walked slowly up the deck, close enough to see the last Uchiha's feet swinging several inches above the water, back and forth in a calm, gentle sway.
She must have noticed him coming, her skills as a ninja way to refined not to. This time she let him draw near, only turning to glare sharply up at Naruto when he was close enough to touch. The look was powerful, those eyes so strong he froze and didn't know why he was here.
Naruto threw his hands into his pockets, feigning disinterest and poking out his bottom lip.
"You're always hogging this place. What if I want to stand here too?" He grumbled, never going to admit that he was here for Sasuke, not the view or the wind or the river.
"Fine. Have it to yourself, loser-"
"Wait!"
Sasuke stood to leave but Naruto was twice as fast. Their eyes locked again and it was like a spark charged through them. They were close this time, so much closer than usual. It took too long to register that the look in her dark eyes is asking why? Realising he needed to give an answer, he stepped towards the Uchiha and said, "You're always here so I wanted to know what's so good about the spot. Now that I'm here, it's pretty cool right?"
Sasuke's expression was blank and silent. Her eyes were so big, blinking towards him and listening to his words. Naruto was uncertain and excited. He'd never spoken to Sasuke Uchiha before. He didn't know how she would react or what words she would like.
"It's almost like there's no road if we stand on the very edge of it, it's like we're on a boat or standing in the middle of the water, right!?" He rambled. His voice was chipper, excited and enthusiastic.
Sasuke looked back at him and nods. The movement was subtle, but her weight had changed. She was no longer ready to spring away at the nearest moment. He wasn't sure if she shares his enthusiasm or not. She certainly didn't offer anymore words.
Now with both of them standing, a new kind of pressure fell on Naruto's shoulders. Pressure of them having to stand so close to both fit on the deck, of their eyes being level and the soft smell of Sasuke floating towards him on the breeze.
The feeling was so overwhelming he ran from it quickly by jumping to walk along the very edge of the deck.
"I think this is a pretty great spot for playing," he started, not standing still for a single second as his chest pounded with energy. "A pirate game maybe, or a game where we see mermaids coming towards us on the horizon. Or maybe a game where you and me are ninjas and our mission is to-"
"Don't fall, idiot." Her voice was low and warning. Naruto just has to spin on his heel to face the girl with the widest grin, hands out wide with confidence and one leg in the air.
"I'll be fine!" He giggled, as his leg buckled and his whole world dropped fast.
Naruto gasped, breath hitching in sharply but a strong grip held him just above the water. He was in ankle deep. Sasuke was strong to hold him up by the shirt, their eyes locked and frantic but Sasuke reacting with calmness. She had no choice but to pull him over her head, flipping him in the air and sending an array of water kicking up to the sky. His back slammed down on the deck and he lay in shock.
Sasuke wobbled and fell to her knees beside him, recovering from having to lift a boy equal to her weight. For a moment they stared, then Naruto chuckled and it was so infectious, Sasuke's musical laughter jittered into his ears. The sound was soft but it was effective. Her smile wasn't big. In fact, her lips were sealed shut, but there was a pretty smile to them, a pretty smile Naruto couldn't help but look up at with big blue eyes.
Then the water he'd kicked up fell down on them in cold droplets and they both winced out loud.
"Hey," Naruto said, sitting up once their laughter had died down, "There's a park nearby, do you want to come and play?"
His heart raced at the offer of the words, as if they meant so much more than what they sounded. Naruto had never had a friend to bring to the park with him. He'd never had someone to play with when the sun went down. Sasuke would be perfect, someone who lacked a home or parents to tell them when to come home just like him. Playing with Sasuke would be so good! Naruto could imagine it now. Could fantasise about having a friend, about the two of them going into the academy laughing together as he saw so many of the other children do with their friends.
Sasuke's smile fell. She sat up straight and turned her face away.
He knew before she even spoke that he'd said something wrong.
"I have to go."
This time it was final. Naruto's heart twisted into a tight ball as the girl stood and wondered down the deck. This time he didn't object, only watching until she was so far, he had to suck in a breath before he yelled.
"Well... I'll see you in class, Sasuke!"
It sounded strange to say the name. Strange in that awkward, new way because they weren't quite friends.
Thinking back to the look in those dark eyes, he realised with great warmth that despite not being friends, Sasuke didn't look at him with hatred.