Disclaimer: I own nothing but the story. If I did own Naruto (That would be awesome!) Naruto and Sasuke would have gotten together long ago and Itachi would have never died!

This is my first Naruto fanfiction. So, please be nice. (Yes, I have another account. However, this one only contains Sonic the Hedgehog fanfiction.) Now, on with the story!

What if Kyuubi was never sealed inside Naruto? What if Madara decided to attack Konoha before Naruto was born? What if Naruto couldn't be the jinjuriki and someone else was chosen instead? What if the Third Hokage sealed Kyuubi and died instead of the Fourth Hokage?

So many what ifs, but what would have happened if they did happen? This is the story of would have happened if those 'what ifs' were real.

*The Choices We Make*

"You can't just disown him, Fugaku! He's your son!" Minato, the Fourth Hokage, shouted in anger and disbelief. He should have been celebrating. Kyuubi had been stopped and the village was saved. Yes, he was saddened that the former Hokage, Sarutobi, had been sacrificed to save the village, but this was the choice that he had made to save everyone he knew and cared about.

Now? He was shocked beyond belief by the head of the Uchiha clan, Fugaku. His youngest son, Sasuke, was used as the vessel to hold the nine-tailed fox, Kyuubi. The head of the Uchihas had refused to take back his son after the sealing and was currently disowning the young child. Minato couldn't image how a father could just leave his son just because of something like this.

Minato would have wanted his own son for the sealing instead of Sasuke, but it couldn't have been done since his wife was only seven months pregnant. The Fourth Hokage knew that Sasuke would have a long life ahead of him. He would be hated and feared by many. Pains that no one should be given will have happened to him before he would even be able to walk on his own. However, Minato had thought that Sasuke may have been saved by some of these pains by the Uchihas since they have always taken care of their own. How wrong he had been.

The Uchihas were a proud clan and they strived for perfection. Fugaku's other son, Itachi, was proof of the perfection that they strived and demanded for. Itachi had far surpassed everyone in his year and even the years ahead of him. He was the pride and glory of the Uchiha clan. However, Sasuke was now the vessel of the Kyuubi; that made him less than perfect in the eyes of the Uchihas. Maybe perfection was forever out of reach for him because anything that was even related to the Kyuubi was scum. Fugaku would have nothing of it.

"That thing is not my son. My son had died as a sacrifice for the village and nothing more. My son is forever gone from the Uchihas," Fugaku replied in a monotone voice. The head of the Uchihas couldn't even look at the monster crying in the arms of the Fourth Hokage.

"What are you talking about, Fugaku? Your son is right here!" Minato held the crying baby in his arms and Fugaku turned away in disgust. The only reason that the head of the Uchihas was still in the room was because the Fourth Hokage had asked him to be there. If it was any other reason, Fugaku would have left the room that the monster was in long ago. He would stay until he was dismissed by the Fourth.

"I thought we already went over this; that thing is not my son." Fugaku turned away from the shocked Hokage and the now sniffling baby. He placed his hand on the door handle and turned his head to look at Minato. "May I be dismissed, Lord Hokage?"

Minato's blue eyes fell to the ground and sadness replaced the shock that was in them. He cuddled the baby to his chest and Sasuke looked at him with his watering, coal black eyes as if saying, 'please don't leave me too.' Minato took one look at those eyes and completely melted under the stare. "You are dismissed, Fugaku."

The Uchiha bowed, "Good day, Lord Hokage." He opened the door and strode out of the room.

Minato sighed and sat down heavily into his chair behind his desk. He placed Sasuke in his lap and looked at the young child as if he was trying to figure out how to do his next mission. What could he do with Sasuke? He couldn't adopt him; it would only make him even more hated by the villagers.

Sasuke's coal black eyes drooped and closed shut. He fell asleep in Minato's lap, softly breathing in and out. Minato's blue eyes darkened in sadness and he got out of his chair. "I'm sorry, Sasuke…" and he jumped out of the window.

*The Choices We Make*

A six year old Sasuke Uchiha yawned and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He sat up in his bed and he scanned his perfectly clean apartment. It might have been clean, but the light tan paint was peeling off the walls and cracks riddled through the room. Sasuke slid out of his bed covers and softly landed on the wooden floor. The old wooden boards groaned under his weight as he made his bed.

Nodding in approval at his perfectly made bed, Sasuke strode over to his dresser and picked out his outfit for the day. Today was his first day at the Academy and he wanted everything to be perfect. He pulled out a black, collared shirt and slid it over his head. Clean white shorts were slid on and he wrapped both his legs in white bandages. He combed his hair back into its usual duck style and approved his appearance in the cracked mirror inside his bathroom.

Sasuke was excited to get to his first day at the Academy, but he carefully hid it behind his usual mask of no emotion. This was something that Sasuke had learned when he was still very young. He had to put this mask on to show the villagers that he wasn't affected by their abuse. However, he was actually very affected by everything they did. He didn't trust anyone; he wouldn't trust anyone.

He had trusted someone once. He had gotten close to him; became his friend. Sasuke had thought that he had finally found a friend that wouldn't hurt him. However, this was just a ploy to get Sasuke to trust him and send him into his a trap to kill him. It was a good thing that Kyuubi had caught on to the trap and Sasuke was able to get away.

Yes, Sasuke knew about the demon living inside him and could talk to him. No one had known that Sasuke has awakened his Sharingan long ago and, in turn, had sensed Kyuubi's presence inside him. Kyuubi was usually silent except for the occasional helping comment or teaching him a new jutsu. Sasuke had long ago started training; he had to to survive the endless abuse from the villagers.

"You should start eating breakfast, kit. You have to be at the Academy in exactly one hour," a deep voice rumbled in Sasuke's head; pulling him out of his thoughts.

Thanks, Kyuubi, Sasuke thought and entered his kitchen. He heard a deep chuckle from the demon and he pulled out the leftover rice patties from the fridge along with two fresh tomatoes. Sasuke sliced his two tomatoes and started to eat his breakfast. Sasuke's mind started to drift off again and, whether he knew it or not, his legs started to swing back and forth against his chair.

Who was going to be in his class at the Academy? He knew that the Hokage's son, Naruto was going to attend this year. I mean, who wouldn't know he was since he was always proclaiming that he was going to be an even better ninja than this father one day and he was going to start school in nth years. Sasuke had walked past the loud-mouthed child several times at the market and Naruto always seemed to be surrounded by his admirers. However, for the life of him, Sasuke couldn't remember anyone else in his grade. He vaguely remembered a dog-like boy always talking with the blond and two girls, one blond and one pink haired, fighting over Naruto's affections.

Despite himself, Sasuke shivered. He may not even remotely like the blond, but Sasuke had to feel bad for Naruto with all his fangirls. They truly were the worst species known to man, especially when angered. A fight had broken out at the market that day between the blond and pink haired girls and when dog-boy tried to break it up he had instead gotten the wrath of the girls. The dog-boy was beaten to a pulp and the girls had acted like they had done nothing wrong and continued to flirt with Naruto. Sasuke had continued on with his walk but he couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched.

It could have been the person who spied on him from time to time. He or she would watch him for an hour or so and then leave. Sasuke had ignored this person and continued on like any other day except that he put on his usual mask of being emotionless and weak even during his private time. Sasuke wasn't, per say, scared of this person, but he was just cautious. He or she hadn't attacked him in anyway yet and he shouldn't hold a grudge against the spy unless something happened.

"You're going to be late if you don't hurry kit."

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I get it you stupid fox. Sasuke got up from his seat and cursed when one of the legs fell off again. Great, another thing he had to fix later. Sasuke placed his dirty dishes in the sink and went to his front door. He slipped on his old, black sandals and walked out of his apartment. Sasuke closed his door and locked it with his key.

Sasuke shoved his hands into the pockets of his white shorts and walked down the staircase leading to his apartment. Halfway to the Academy the feeling of being watched returned to Sasuke's body. He would have thought it was his usual spy if it weren't for the obvious way that the other couldn't hide his chakra very well.

He ignored the clearly seen way that someone was using a sheet to hide against the fence he was walking by and allowed the other to sneak up behind him. Sasuke had figured out right away that his little stalker was none other than Naruto Namikaze. Why he was following him, Sasuke could only guess.

The raven felt Naruto come up from behind him and Sasuke acted surprised and jumped when the blond suddenly jumped him. They fell to the ground and Sasuke allowed the blond to pin his arms above him head. "Ha! I got you! Another win for Naruto Namikaze! Once I get everyone else I'll be the greatest ninja ever! Believe it!"

Great, not only did I have to get tackled to the ground, but now he's giving me a migraine. I really hate this guy. Sasuke narrowed his eyes and pushed Naruto off him. The blond gave a small 'oof' as he fell to the ground and the raven got up. Sasuke brushed off the dirt he gained from the ground and Naruto jumped up and gave him a stink eye. "That would only make you the best ninja in our class, dope. You still have to beat everyone else in the village and beyond to accomplish your goal."

Naruto pouted and crossed his arms across his chest. "You really are a teme like everyone says you are." A mischievous glint formed in Naruto's blue eyes. "But I still beat you, teme! So you can't act so high and mighty anymore!"

He was tempted; he was so tempted to show just how wrong the blond was. However, the years of abuse, pain, blood and scars prevented him from doing so. He had to keep the image of being weak and helpless or else the villagers would be back with full force. Sasuke sighed and stuck his hands back into his pockets. Then, without another word, left Naruto where he was standing.

"Oi! You can't just leave me, teme!" Sasuke ignored the annoying blond and continued walking. He had ten minutes to get to the Academy and he wasn't about to let Naruto make him late on his first day. "Oi! Are you even listening to me, teme? You can't treat the son of the Hokage this way!" Naruto ran back up to the raven and forced Sasuke to face him.

Sasuke knocked the hands away and glared at the blond. "Just because you're the son of the Hokage doesn't mean you get to have special treatment, dope. If you want to beat your father like you always said you would than stop using him to get ahead." Coal black eyes meet bright blue ones. "If you always use the Hokage to help you, you will always be dependent on him, dope."

The raven turned around and continued on his merry way. Naruto's eyes darkened slightly, "Maybe that's why you don't have any friends!" He shouted, "Because I sure wouldn't want to be friends with such a teme!"

They both walked to the Academy; both of them taking different routes. However, the whole way there, both of them replayed the other's words over and over in their heads.

*The Choices We Make*

Sasuke had made it just in time for class that day. He looked around the crowded classroom and scanned each of his classmates' faces. Dog-boy was talking to a very timid looking female Hyuga. She seemed to stutter with each word and dog-boy had to lean to hear her. However, this move seemed to only make it harder for the girl to speak and a small flush formed on her face as well.

The blond haired fangirl was arguing with the pink haired fangirl and with the way they were acting it was about Naruto again. A… larger looking boy was munching on a bag of BBQ chips at one of the desks and another boy with pineapple like hair sat next to him muttering how troublesome the crunching of the chips was.

"Are you just going to stand there all day or are you going to go in?" Sasuke glanced to his left and found a dark haired boy with a very high collared shirt. He wore circular shades and bugs seemed to be buzzing around his head and crawling up his body. Sasuke repressed a shiver at the sight of the bugs crawling on the other's body. The way the other just seemed to pop out of nowhere and had bugs all over him creeped Sasuke out.

Sasuke walked in and made sure to stay as far away as he could from the bug-boy. He took a seat at the very back so he could see everything and he would be hidden by everyone unless they looked back. This worked to Sasuke's advantage; if someone randomly did look back at him he knew that they must not be up to anything good and it would, most likely, be about him.

The bell rang through the classroom moments later and Sasuke had yet to see their Sensei and Naruto. Sasuke furrowed his face together. It didn't make any sense; Naruto had left the same time as him and he seemed to be very determined to beat everyone in the classroom. He should have been here already.

Sasuke shook his head to clear his thoughts away. Why was he so concerned about the dope? He was just some annoying kid who got everything handed to him on a silver platter. So… why was there a nagging feeling in his chest that something wasn't quite right?

The raven hadn't elaborated any further on the missing Naruto as his new sensei slid the door open and stepped inside. "Settle down everyone! I'm going to take roll call!" The mummer of voices slowly settled down; the only noise left was the crunching of chips being eaten by his classmate. Their new sensei walked up to the chalkboard and picked up a piece of white chalk. "My name is Iruka Umino, but you can just call me Iruka-sensei." To prove his point, their new sensei wrote his name largely on the board.

He placed the chalk back on its holder and clapped his hands together to get rid of any extra chalk dust. "Now for roll call. When I call your name give a simple 'here' for me."

"Hai!" The entire class calls out in recognition and Iruka picked up his student list. He walked in front of his desk and scanned the first name on the list.

If anyone had bothered to notice, Sasuke had slightly leaned forward in his chair. He knew all the clans in the village he wanted to evaluate his classmates. Was there someone from the Nara clan? Was there another Uchiha in here? Sasuke greatly doubted that considering none of them looked like one. Uchiha tended to have dark eyes and hair; as well as porcelain white skin.

"Shino Aburame!"

"Here," said the bug guy from before. Sasuke nodded in understanding. Why hadn't he seen it before? The Aburame clan was famous for dealing with different types of bugs. So much so that they even allowed the bugs to live inside them. Sasuke then had to stop himself from imagining them crawling around Shino's insides.

"Choji Akimichi!"

"Here!" called the larger boy with chips stuffed in his mouth. Another understanding. The Akimichi clan used up a lot of stamina in their attacks and constantly needed to eat to keep up that stamina.

"Sakura Haruno!"

"Here!" Finally! The pink haired fangirl finally had a name attached! Now he could actually say the girl's name instead of 'pink haired fangirl.' Now… just the blond one and I can stop with these ridiculous nicknames.

"Hinata Hyuga!"

"He-here!" So I was right; she is part of the Hyuga clan. But aren't they just as proud as the Uchiha clan? So what is up with that stutter? I highly doubt that this girl will make it as a ninja if she keeps acting this way.

"Kiba Inuzuka!"

"Here!" Inuzuka, huh? He does have the dog-like features that one of the Inuzuka clan has. But I thought they all had a ninja dog with them? I must look into this… especially since he seems to be the dope's best friend.

"Shikamaru Nara!"

"Here… Man this is so troublesome…" A Nara this time. I need to watch out for this one. He does seem to act like he would want nothing but to stare at the clouds all day. However, the Nara clan is known for their quick-wit and strategies.

Iruka seemed to pause on the next name on the list and Sasuke couldn't help that his frown turned into a scowl. He had seen that look before; whatever had caused their sensei to pause had something to do with him. Sasuke got ready for the worst.

"Sasuke… Uchiha." Iruka's black eyes locked on his own and whispers started throughout the room. Sasuke Uchiha? The one that their parents considered a demon? What was he doing here?

"Here," and as soon as he said it all heads turned in his direction. Everyone wanted to see what the so call 'demon' looked like. Sasuke clenched his fists in an attempt to keep his emotionless mask on. It seemed to work and the heads started to turn back towards the front. Whispers of, 'That's Sasuke Uchiha? He doesn't seem that scary; I can take him on anytime,' reached Sasuke's ears.

He would show them; he would show all of them. But first he had to keep his weak image and just barely pass the Academy. Then, they would all know never to mess with Sasuke Uchiha again.

When the class finally settled down, Iruka cleared his throat. "Naruto Namikaze!" Silence. "Naruto Namikaze!" Still, nothing. Sasuke sighed; he knew this was going to happen. The whispers started up again, but this time is was where the famous son of the Hokage was.

This time Iruka sighed and was just about to mark Naruto absent when a large crash sounded in front and to the left of Sasuke. The girls in the class screamed in fright and Sasuke could feel another migraine coming on when he saw a flash of yellow hair. Naruto landed at the front of the classroom and gave everyone a thumbs up and a flashing grin. "Naruto Namikaze is here! Believe it!"

Yup, defiantly a migraine. Sasuke started to massage his temples in an attempt to relieve some of the pain in his head. Why did the dope always have to make a show of himself? It was just plainly not necessary; he already got everyone's attention as soon as he walked by. Better get ready to see Naruto get praised instead of punished for this. If he had done what Naruto just did, he would have been given a month of detention. Maybe even thrown out of the Academy; Sasuke knew that they would now find any chance to get him thrown out of here.

"Naruto…" Sasuke perked up at the deathly quiet voice of their sensei; would Naruto actually get punished for this?

Naruto's smile was turned down a notch, "Yes, Iruka-sensei?"

Iruka takes a deep breath and, "If you ever do something like that again, Naruto, I won't hesitate to give you a week's detention!" Everyone was suddenly deathly quiet; even Choji had stopped munching his chips. Iruka sighed and started to talk normally again. "Do you get what I'm saying, Naruto?"

"But-" Naruto started to protest.

"No buts, Naruto! Now go sit down or I'll give you the week's detention right now!" Naruto nodded his head enthusiastically and scurried over to find a seat. He sat down in between Sakura and Blondie, much to their satisfaction, and pouted in his chair.

Sasuke smirked and leaned back in his own chair. Maybe Iruka-sensei wasn't that bad. Yeah, he acted like the other villagers but he also wouldn't let Naruto get away with things. Iruka-sensei may not have given him a punishment this time but, Sasuke coal eyes glittered slightly, Naruto would be punished next time. The raven didn't know why he wanted the blond to be punished so badly but it had to do something with the other never getting punished.

"Not to mention that you're always the one being punished."

Kyuubi! What did I tell you about listening in on my thoughts?!

"What?! It's boring in here; I have nothing better to do!"

Then you shouldn't have let Madara control you like that and none of this would have happened! Sasuke heard Kyuubi growl inside his head and felt the demon leave his mind. The raven let out an inaudible sigh and listened back in on Iruka-sensei.

"Ino Yamanaka!"

"Here!" Now Naruto's other fangirl has a name. She's from the Yamanaka clan and can use different kinds of mind jutsu. I really need to stay away from her; it wouldn't go down well if she heard Kyuubi inside my head. It was a good thing she is always stuck like glue to Naruto's side.

Iruka-sensei was finally done with his roll call and everyone was now moving on to their first lesson. In truth, Iruka-sensei had called out more people than the nine that were mentioned but Sasuke didn't bother to remember these names. They were practically nobodies.

Iruka-sensei called for everyone to open their textbooks to the first page so they could get started. Sasuke reached back and took out his obviously second hand copy of the ninja handbook and turned to the first page. Sasuke had already read the entire book multiple times, but he had to open it up anyway so he wouldn't get in trouble for not listening to his sensei's order.

"Alright, now can someone answer me what would consider you worse than scum in the shinobi world?" Iruka-sensei scanned the faces of all his students and stopped on Sasuke's. The raven glared at the adult as if daring him to call on him. Iruka-sensei turned away at the last moment and fixed his black eyes on Sakura. "Miss Haruno, could you please give us the answer?"

"I know this one! You're considered worse than scum when you abandon a mission or direct order by a superior!" Sakura looked to her left to see if her crush had seen how smart she had been and frowned when she saw that Naruto was still pouting in his seat.

Iruka-sensei nodded, "Yes, you would be considered scum if you did that but I was looking for something else." Sasuke furrowed his face; what else could it have been? It said right on the first page of the textbook that she was right in her answer.

Sakura raised her hand in confusion. "But, Iruka-sensei, it says right here that I had the right answer."

He nodded, "Yes, you were right but there is something else that would make you scum." He waited for anyone to raise their hand with the right answer. When Iruka saw that no one knew the answer, he sighed. "If you abandon a friend in the middle of a mission, then you are seen as scum and no one will ever want to work with you on missions again."

Friends, huh? Well, it was a good thing he didn't have one and probably never would. The rest of Sasuke's first day at the Academy continued on without any more unusual acts. However, the raven wished he could say the same thing about the rest of his Academy years.

Yay! First chapter done! If anyone is interested, this is the longest chapter I have ever written! XD Don't worry, I know the first chapter is kind of dull, but it will get better! I promise!

Read and Review please!