The cool droplets enveloped Naruto as he laid in the grass. They skeetered down his cheeks before splatting onto the ground below. The fresh, sweet smell of the rain comforted the blonde like nothing else did. Suddenly there was a deep shout of thunder. The boy bolted upwards with wide eyes. A huffing wind rose up, it whipped everything that was loose.

Naruto shivered as a flurry of icy waves slapped his face. His soaked clothes clung to his skin, pressed there by the howling wind. Lighting lit up the dark clouds for mere seconds before the heavy shadows returned. It had never been easy to live out in the rain, but nobody was willing to house 'the demon' who couldn't bring back the village's precious 'Last Uchiha'.

Naruto hid in his vibrant orange jacket that could be seen from a kilometer away. It was a birthday present from an unknown sender, not that it mattered. The twelve, soon be thirteen, year old continued to shiver, even with the extra protection. Maybe he deserved this, after all; he did let his 'best friend' leave the village. The blonde soon withdrew into his thoughts, ignoring the pelting water from the heavens.

"Sasuke! You don't have to do this!" Naruto yelled, "Let's go back to our friends in the village!" The raven haired boy just sneered at the golden blonde that he thought was beneath him. He wouldn't let anything stand in his way, not even his rival.

Naruto drew in a shuddering breath as he remembered the weather of that fateful day; wasn't it raining, just like today? A hand firmly grasping his shoulder drew the boy from his thoughts. The blonde looked over his shoulder to see his perverted sensei, Jiraiya. The man gave him a reassuring smile before motioning for him to follow. Maybe he wasn't alone after all, for he did have... his trusted master by his side.