Hey everyone! I once again decided to give this story a rewrite / makeover after looking at my recent stuff like House guest then back to this, It just really bothered me that this story wasn't the best it could be. Hopefully I've been able to improve it, especially grammatically, as there was just commas everywhere causing the story to be incredibly broken up and almost painful to read... still i'm happy with the way it turned out!

Chapter 1- Konoha Blues

The blonde sighed miserably while slumping down in his poor excuse for a chair. He sat there in the silent kitchen of his dull, one bed room apartment while idly scratching the back of his head, still far too sleepy to be properly awake just yet. He kept his cerulean eyes closed not quite ready to face the day. The young Uzumaki, in his daze had decided on something, today wasn't going to be like every other day. He had a lucky feeling that something important was going to happen.

He didn't know what brought on this premonition, still, it filled him with a sense of relief as a cheeky grin washed over his face, honestly he was sick of the way the village treated him, it didn't make sense to him, it wasn't as if he had attacked them or anything, and his pranks were harmless enough.
'Well...I know the real reason they treat me so badly...mhhh well there's no use on thinkin' bout this stuff!' Naruto thought sadly but managed to pick himself up, today he was going to try to avoid being beat up by the villagers again.

First off he'd set out and grab some ramen from Ichiraku's, that was always a great way to start the day, well at least in Naruto's mind, the friendly company and warm welcoming he always received really kick started his mood, the small stall always managed to feel like home away from home. Then was his training, Naruto had been pushing himself for quite a while now and today would be no different, he had a set routine to follow after all. So far the blonde had mainly based his training around taijutsu, fitness and informing himself on other areas such as ninjutsu, healing techniques and how to care for wounds or sickness and then his favourite subject, battle tactics.

As he happily indulged in such thoughts, he absent-mindedly knocked over his early morning cereal, it only took milliseconds for his eyes to snap open and witness the disaster as the bowl clattered and landed on his lap. With a heavy sigh of defeat he looked down at the remains of his breakfast that covered him as the bowl rolled away from the crime scene.

"Great…so much for being lucky!" He huffed with irritation; it was always easier to annoy him on a morning. Naruto quickly moved to clean up, deciding he wouldn't let it get the better of him, he was determined that today would be a good day in one way or another. Being a seven year old child the blonde was still rather optimistic in his day to day life, no matter the hardships, everything would get better eventually; in fact the boy didn't think they could get much worse, so things could only improve.

The young Uzumaki casually rolled his shoulders in circles, attempting to remove the dull ache from the excessive training that the Kyuubi tortured him with day in and day out, he was more than thankful for his tenant and personal tutor but he had to admit the gain sure came with a lot of pain, not that he wasn't used to that. He had to admit, even he was startled that the Kyuubi was so different to how the legends made out but soon came to terms with it when he realised the villagers treated him badly with no good reason even though he was far from what they imagined him to be, maybe it was the same for the Kyuubi?

At first the training was mostly educational, focusing on developing the boy's mind and intelligence rather than his brute strength or stamina, he was an orphan after all and there were a lot of things he didn't understand, things like dieting and nutrition is important at a young age and there's no way Naruto could have known how to properly care for himself. Kyuubi helped to clear up some of the basics then went on to teaching him at what the demon considered would be academy level, despite Naruto's pleading claims that the kids from the academy were never pushed so hard.

After a while Naruto had begun to grasp tactics and strategy, though he stubbornly didn't apply himself to studying all that much at first, the blonde had shown that his battle intelligence was nothing to be made light of. In the end Kyuubi managed to settle him into a routine of studying, her cunning plan was to exaggerate just how strong that studying such things would make him, once the young Uzumaki figured he'd be gaining strength he took to the books without hesitation, still it was partly true that the knowledge would make him powerful.

Now Naruto had been forced into hellish regime, initially he couldn't fight his eagerness to learn and was far too excited by the thought of learning a new technique, the blonde had been all too easy to win over for the fox. It was then that the Kyuubi had taught him one of the many forbidden techniques that it had witnessed during its time, though it was difficult to recall the seals for most of forbidden arts, this jutsu had but one hand seal.

The shadow clone jutsu worked well with Naruto's attributes after all, it would be stupid to not have him learn it, at least the kyuubi thought so. Then it happened. Kyuubi told him of the shadow clone training programme and the gates of hell opened for the young blonde. Naruto would spend hours working out, sparring and running laps to build his stamina, all of this being alongside his clone comrades of course. The gains were high but unfortunately so were the aches and pains.

Thankfully some of the stubborn stiffness soon subsided leaving the blonde to laze comfortably on his old brown couch, it was still too early for him to begin his busy day. He lazily sprawled out, making himself comfortable on the aging brown sofa,
"There's still plenty of time 'till I gotta set off." He happily mused with a grin while he laid on the soft, comfy couch, it was still only early morning and the sun had only just finished rising though he could tell it was going to be another beautiful summers day in Konoha, birds sang happily by his window while gentle fluffy clouds painted the tranquil deep blue sky, no wonder he felt so good today. Letting himself relax further, his hand behind his head serving as a make shift pillow, he fell deep into thought.

It was strange he mused with nostalgia, how as a four year old, he was able to meet the giant fox demon that resided with in him. Naruto still remembered his first encounter with Kyuubi vividly; after narrowly escaping a violent crowd of villagers who had angrily chased him through the entirety of Konoha, he had managed to securely seal himself in his apartment. After making sure he was safe, the young blonde proceeded to pass out on the tired brown sofa that decorated his lonely living room.

Then he had woken up enveloped by a deep darkness forcing him to reach out his hands blindly in order to feel around for something he could use as a guide, the sound of dripping water that eerily echoed around the place seemed to be coming from all directions, intimidating him nearly as much as the old, moss covered sewer walls that he leant against. To his instant displeasure, he completely soaked his tiny feet as he trudged through the unpleasant, murky water below him, he didn't know where he was, and definitely had no interest in staying.

"H-Hello? ..." A confused young voice muttered weakly, not expecting a reply, he looked around the eerie environment that he found himself in, the blonde had no clue how he'd managed to get here when just a moment ago he was peacefully laid on his comfortable couch after escaping the villagers.
"Is anyone here?..." He grimly called out again in mild confusion, by now he was beginning to sweat nervously, the feeling of desperation suddenly washing over him as he began to tremble in fear. He wanted to go home.

His ocean blue eyes widened in alarm as he heard a terrifying grumble. Whatever had made that sound must've been huge, even the walls around him vibrated from the low growling noise. Naruto gulped with fear, he really didn't want to investigate what was at the end of the hallways.
'Am I dead? …' He sadly wondered, now much to afraid to speak aloud in case he was heard.
"Come here boy." A deep booming voice ordered, Naruto shuddered as he realized that, whatever it was, was addressing him, it wanted to see him, he gulped again, there was no way he could listen to it!

Naruto suddenly glared down at his feet as they took one step after another against his will, he had no idea what he was doing, cold sweat raced down his cheeks as he realised he was no longer in control, his shocked blue eyes began to water as tears threatened to form from fear alone,
'S-Stop! If I go there I'll really die!' He desperately pleaded in his head, only hoping that his body would listen to him, he had never felt so afraid in all his life, all he could think of was his impending slow, painful, death.

To the blonde's relief he suddenly stopped. In his confusion, the young Uzumaki slowly looked up as the overwhelming presence he now felt caused shivers to run down his spine, his eyes danced with fear as they slowly took in the enormous golden bars in front of him, he paled in terror, where was this place? To Naruto they looked solid and impenetrable, that is until he saw the thing they were imprisoning.

"Hmph. To be contained in something so small, I should be offended." The kyuubi spoke calmly, though to a tiny, terrified Naruto it seemed as if the tailed beast was aggressively bellowing due to the sounds echoed around the room at a deafening volume.
"W-Why am I here?" Naruto questioned bravely, hoping that the bars would at least stop the colossal beast from ripping him apart and killing him on the spot.

"It would appear you've lost consciousness." The giant nine tailed fox stated flatly while swishing its nine mighty tails in a bored, casual manner, the fox leaned closer to the golden bars of the cage, the great kitsune studied the small infant in its presence with hardened gaze.
"Do you realise who I am? I am the Kyuubi, a powerful demon that once threatened to destroy your home. Do you not fear me?" The enormous beast gently asked the young blonde that had entered her holding cell, a look of confusion fell over the blonde at Kyuubi's question.

"Destroy my home? Why?! Why did you wanna destroy Konoha?" Naruto angrily replied, a little confused by the demon's questions. To his surprise the kyuubi seemed to be deep in thought for a moment before answering.
"Do you not care that I destroyed most of your village?" It slyly taunted, a feral grin blessing its features, causing the blonde to scratch his head in a desperate attempt to help him think.
"Well…why did you wanna attack Konoha? Did they try to hurt you or something? They try to hurt me sometimes. I hate it!" Naruto answered innocently, he cautiously peered up at the colossal beast with all the determination he could muster, the poor blonde could only imagine he was having another nightmare.

Kyuubi slowly closed its fire red eyes, as if processing the blondes answer; it wasn't what the powerful demon had been expecting to say the least, the nine tailed fox growled in mild defeat, the sound reverberating around its prison and throughout the sewers. Naruto continued to patiently look up at the huge monster like creature, slightly less afraid than before as it began to softly speak.

"I had no intentions of attacking this place Kit; a man with those damn cursed eyes cast a genjutsu upon me…Madara Uchiha." Kyuubi explained gently with its eyes closed as if regretting its actions that fateful night, to the beast's surprise a humming noise resounded throughout her cell.
"But doesn't that mean that it wasn't your fault?" Naruto wondered aloud, he didn't really get it, sure he wasn't the brightest child around but anyone could see that the Kyuubi at least felt bad for the way it had acted.

The nine tails suddenly opened its crimson eyes in surprise, slowly it studied the blonde, looking at the boy with interest, a human with his way of thinking was rare, a toothy smile spread across the kitsunes features.
"It doesn't matter who's fault it was. It happened. Now I'm trapped here till the day you die." Kyuubi angrily scoffed, the fox let out a hollow chuckle that boomed around the sewers, frightening the young blonde even more, still he wished there was something he could do, the kitsune didn't seem so bad to him, and to be trapped in a place like this seemed awful!

"You said that this is inside of me…right?..."Naruto quietly asked with a slight amount of disbelief while looking around the place then continued, he hated this place, it was terrifying to him.
"Does it have to look so…depressing?" Naruto questioned with embarrassment, rubbing the back of his neck nervously, surely inside his own mind should be much friendlier than this horrible setting.
"I guess you probably don't like it in here huh?" he wondered aloud, not quite sure where he was going with any of this.

"Yes, this is in your mind, you can make it appear however you want it too. Look around you kit, of course I don't like it in here, it's an over sized kennel stuck in a sewer!" The Kyuubi raged at the seemingly idiotic question letting out a heavy hearted sigh at the thought of residing in such a place for the rest of its days. The feeling of being trapped behind a cage like some common street animal had greatly injured the huge beast's pride, despite all of its power it would be stuck here to rot forever.

"Hmm…then…like this?" Naruto wondered, softly speaking aloud as he closed his eyes tight while trying to picture something. As he did the disgusting sewer walls began to dissolve, fading into nothing, luscious green grass grew from the water below, tall trees reached up from the ground to the heavenly blue sky above, lazy white fluffy clouds decorated it along with the new glistening sun that shone down on the fresh forest clearing and nature provided a calming wildlife soundtrack. Not all of the water had disappeared, instead a crystal clear tranquil lake could be seen in the distance, its trickling tide only added to the gentle sounds of nature that surrounded the boy and the beast.

Naruto suddenly opened his eyes and immediately laughed happily with the results, he took in his surroundings with a cheeky fox like grin, and his gentle blue eyes held a deep warmth,
"This is just like the place that old man Hokage took me for a picnic!" he bellowed happily. To the Kyuubi's horror, the great demon seemed to be shrinking in size. The cage sealing it had vanished from view, and now the fox was now only around eight feet tall.

"What the? ... What is this?" Kyuubi asked irritated, wiggling its paw angrily, but the new golden bracelet around it refused to shake loose from its front paw, it looked like an ancient accessory.
"This is the seal?" It asked rhetorically then began looking around at its new surroundings with wide fiery eyes, even for a thousand year old beast, it was impressed by the sudden change of scenery.
"You did this for…me?" The nine tails questioned delicately, somewhat taken back and confused by the young blonde's kind actions, could humans really act this way?

The young blonde laughed nervously, showing a foxy grin to the great beast before speaking
"Well…we live together so, maybe we could be friends…" He let out another nervous laugh until he saw the now much smaller fox's tails swishing around happily, it made him want to grab them,
"Friends? …You want to be friends…with me?" The fox asked incredulously looking at the small boy with a tiny but hopeful smile, Kyuubi hadn't spoken to anyone in four long years.

To the kitsune's surprise she was soon engulfed in a hug from the small boy who was now laughing and giggling merrily for a reason that was unknown to the great demon.
"Y-Yes…well, t-there's a good human…" Kyuubi awkwardly wrapped up the boy in one of its tails, effectively returning the loving hug as it recovered from the somewhat embarrassing moment. To her surprise the boy just snuggled against the tail wrapped around him.

"When I grow up I want to be the Hokage! Oi!…Kyuubi? You must be really strong right? You must know something about ninjas!" Naruto shouted with enthusiasm leaving the kyuubi pondering something.
"Hmmm…well as it were, I was in fact sealed inside of a human woman; she reached a high rank as a ninja…besides who do you think I am? I once knew the sage of six paths you know." The kyuubi declared with a certain amount of pride clear in her voice, her tails dancing around her with joy.
"What!? That's awesome! You have to help me get strong!" Naruto pleaded childishly while wrapping the fox up in an even tighter hug, he didn't feel so lonely with Kyuubi around him.
"I shall do my best kit." Kyuubi replied seriously, feeling a sense of duty almost,
"No one has graced me with kindness in so many years after all."Kyuubi thought solemnly but didn't let it show to the young blonde held in her embrace.

"What's a kit? My name is Naruto" The young blonde asked confused by the nickname, the kyuubi just giggled in response to his innocent behaviour, she had no idea human children could be cute,
"A kit is a fox cub." The great beast taught, causing Naruto to hum in thought with a cheeky grin,
"Does that mean you'd be like a fox mom?" He asked laughing to himself as he did
"I suppose it would, yes." She answered happily while letting out a small chuckle of her own.
"It's decided, I shall make you the strongest ninja possible, my container shall be feared throughout the land as a powerful force to be reckoned with." Kyuubi seriously declared to the young boy that was currently snuggled against her, she felt a warmth pass through her that she had longed for, the loneliness of the past years seemed to slowly subside as she lovingly cared for the young blonde.

Thanks to his reminiscing, time had unfortunately escaped the blonde's attention, like on most mornings, leaving Naruto hurriedly pulling on his black, high collared jacket. Its burnt orange trim was the only eye catching feature other than the silver zip that ran down its centre, the coat was a little too long for the blonde leaving it hanging down to his hip. Underneath the open jacket was a loosely fitting, black tank top, decorated with a burnt orange Uzumaki clan swirl insignia proudly displayed in on the centre of simple shirt.

Matching his jacket, he wore black,combat standard pants that missed the burnt orange trim. The combat pants had bandages wrapped neatly around Naruto's left thigh, used for his weapons pouch, which he had just recently stocked with kunai and shuriken. After wearing the combat pants for a few days he found that the loose material was hindering his movement somewhat, causing him to tie the bottom of them with bandages. To complete his outfit he had decided on the standard black ninja sandals along with a long black head band, which would eventually be replaced by his hitai ate.

With one final look around the small one bedroom apartment, he nodded his head, satisfied that he hadn't forgotten anything. Unable to resist, he stretched his arms up high into the air while letting out a yawn that filled silence of the apartment for a brief few seconds, now relieved of the lingering fatigue he headed out of his apartment ready to face the day. Well he considered himself to be ready at least.

The angry raven huffed, aggressively slamming the door shut while letting out a low growl of frustration, a deep frown dressed his face. Needing to vent further the Uchiha seethed, he let out another frustrated growl of annoyance.
"Everyone's the same around here! Annoying!" His day had been the same as usual, everyone was fussing over him, telling him how deeply sorry they were for his loss, like they understood anything about him or what he was going through. The gentle smiles they forced upon their faces made him want to throw up, why did everyone treat him like he'd shatter at the lightest touch.

"Hmph!" The obviously irritated Uchiha complained as he huffed towards his living room, the huge empty building feeling somewhat lonely now that the other members had all been heartlessly murdered. Just a few months ago the proud clan's living areas would be buzzing with life, now they were desolate like a ghost town, which was essentially what the Uchiha compound could now be considered.

He continued angrily stomping through the house to the living room, the pristine white couch not tempting him even the slightest bit, the sound of his heavy footsteps slapping the wooden flooring continued to echo throughout the house as he marched upstairs. He just wanted to get away from everything, this hollow shell of a compound only served to remind him of what he had lost and when he left every damned person who saw him felt the need to apologise to him, again reminding him of his pains. Shaking his head in an attempt to calm himself Sasuke decided he'd do what he'd done every day since the massacre, train until he passed out, drown himself in pushing his body to the limit to forget about everything that was haunting him.

The small raven knew he should have waited until his eighth birthday as instructed by his parents to collect his new training clothes though that was when they were still alive, he considered that by now it was close enough. He needed to train and his now tightly fitting clothing was holding him back from doing so, his movements had been stiff and forced due to the way the fabric pulled at his muscles, at one point Sasuke thought he was definitely going to tear his small, aging clothes.

Sasuke now more than ever felt the need to be stronger, he had a purpose; he had to get revenge for his clan. In the past he had simply felt the need to be noticed, to be someone other than just 'Itachi's little brother' it made him frown at just the thought, it didn't matter what he did, Itachi seemed to have done the same, only better in every single way, Sasuke had trained himself to be able to show the world just how strong he really was yet it never seemed to be enough.

Initially he was going to be trained by his father at a later age, he was to be brushed aside until Itachi had finished his training, though in secrecy he began to take from the clans library, studying whatever he could get his hands on, anything that would give him an edge over the other academy students when he attended, he'd be the best in his class at least.

Sasuke was intelligent and it shown almost immediately, complex battle tactics and theories about physical fitness and training schemes came naturally to him, leading him to even create a training regime of his own. He had worked tirelessly both mentally and physically in order to stand out from his brother even a little, but in comparison to the elder Uchiha who had been thrown into war at a young age and forced to adapt, he was just a sheltered child.

Ever since the night of the Uchiha massacre Sasuke had begun pushing himself further than ever before, sometimes even passing out from chakra exhaustion as he attempted to master his family's signature Katon jutsu, he smiled solemnly, the only time his father had shown him any praise was after he completed the jutsu to an acceptable standard. Now though he was in desperate need of his new training gear even though he was supposed to wait until his eighth birthday.

"Hn, not like anyone can stop me anyway." The small raven mused coldly while heading to the wardrobe situated in his parents' room, he passed the grand double bed, noticing that it had been made with the loving care that only his mother could seem to achieve. Sasuke shrugged off useless thoughts of his family turning his attention eagerly to the large oak wardrobe in front of him, the wooden double doors were the only thing coming between him and his new training gear.

Only feeling a sense of duty to listen to his deceased parents for a few more moments, he willed himself to pull open the large cupboard doors and reveal his training gear; he had important things to do today after all and couldn't afford to hesitate. The raven slowly pulled open the doors with a slight creak, excited to see his new clothing. To his surprise he heard a soft thud, seeing a rather large scroll rolling by his feet. Sasuke was intrigued, following the scroll with his onyx eyes as it rolled away from him, leaving him momentarily forgetting about his combat purpose training gear.

Picking it up from the floor he noted that 'Dear Sasuke.' Was all the scroll had written on it.
"Strange." Sasuke thought in confusion, he had not expected a scroll, perhaps it was a birthday message. He slowly opened it, not hiding his curiosity he immediately began to read, his eyes widening in horror as he did, the scroll documented the truth of the clan's slaughter. What shocked him most was that it had been written and predicted by his own father; right down to the time and date to the place he would meet his end, not missing a single detail.

Everything was there, the truth about Itachi's orders, the plans for an uprising against Konoha, Shisui's death, Itachi's higher level of Sharingan and lastly plans for a civil war that shown that the Uchiha were plotting to become leaders of the village. Reading on, despite his emotions, the scroll finally came to the end. The bottom of the document had been decorated by a seal. Sasuke pushed chakra into it, his brow furrowing as he watched glow a deep blue, revealing a small Uchiha crest that fell on to the palm of his hand. To the raven's surprise, extra writing appeared on the scroll in place of the newly removed seal, there was a final message left by his father.

'Sasuke, this is the crest of the Uchiha, it is something that only I am able to hand down to the heir of the Uchiha. If you are capable, this crest will awaken your Sharingan.'
Suddenly an unpleasant burning sensation attacked the palm of his hand; he stared at the Uchiha crest in amazement as it dissolved away into his skin causing him to bite back the sudden pain.
Soon the agony was overwhelming, forcing Sasuke to close his eyes. As he did, he felt a strange surge of warm energy rushing to his eyes, and upon opening them he could see things clearer than ever before as he glanced around the master bedroom as if seeing for the first time.

Trudging into the bathroom next door, Sasuke ignored the cold, white floor tiles against his feet as he looked into the long horizontal mirror hung above the matching white ceramic sink. Seeing his new crimson eye colour made him feel a strange wave of satisfaction wash over him, to the raven it seemed more like he was a real Uchiha now, as he gazed at the one tomoe Sharingan looking back at him somehow they made him look like a threatening shinobi rather than a mere child.

Other than his eyes Sasuke was a ghostly white since he had finished reading the unexpected document, even paler than usual. He was living in some sort of crazy nightmare all over again; his own brother had been turned against him? Worst of all it was his own village who were to blame.
Cold sweat raced down his face as he stared into the mirror, gripping the ceramic sink below him tightly in attempt to deny the truth of what he had just read.

"It couldn't be true…could it?!" Sasuke questioned in shock, the massacre had never made sense to him, Itachi wasn't a cold blooded killer that would simply murder his whole family just to test his strength…at least; Sasuke didn't want to believe so. Itachi had always been kind and loving up until Shisui's death, just as his father's scroll had mentioned, this was the beginning of the end for the Uchiha.

A strong case of paranoia formed in his head, forcing him to unconsciously glance out of the window, looking for anyone who may be watching him. The sudden feeling that everyone was against him began to overwhelm him, he couldn't help but feel completely trapped. His village had ordered the death of his clan and his father's last message told him that he was the only person that Itachi simply couldn't kill, still Itachi wasn't here anymore. Anyone from the village could attack him to finish what they started.

He pushed his worries aside for now, mostly the young raven was still devastated from what he'd read, Sasuke felt the crushing hurt of the loss of his clan all over again and now had even become frightened of his own village. It now seemed that his survival was merely a loose end of a mission. They pretended he was some sort of prince, treating him like royalty, the precious last of the Uchiha.
'They want me dead…just like the rest of my clan.' Sasuke suddenly decided in his paranoia, clenching his fists in anger and denial. He looked around frantically to see if anyone had saw him, he felt like he was being watched, glared at from all directions! If he acted any different they would know…they would know for sure that he had found out they were after him and it would take more than just a new set of eyes to save him.

More potent than any of the feelings the boy was going through, was his anger, his rage flared as he relived the priceless moments with his brother. His brother that was forced to choose between stopping a war and killing his own family…he violently punched a hole through the sturdy wooden bathroom door, attempting to relieve some of his rage; the loud bang from the strike echoed through the empty house that only reminded him that the compound was empty. He gritted his teeth angrily while pulling his arm free from the punctured sliding door, his paranoia was coming back in force.

"I have to get the hell out of here!" He raged inwardly before shaking off the idea, he scanned the area with his now red eyes, cautiously looking for anyone who could be monitoring him, those ANBU he had seen around the compound must be there for a reason.
"I won't get very far if I leave by myself…I need someone else, anyone is better than nothing! Hell I can even leave them behind to save myself! I just...I have to get away from here at any cost!" He plotted desperately. Taking a deep breath Sasuke forced himself to be calm, choosing to head downstairs in a stoic manner that made even his usual behaviour look sociable, he attempted to act 'normal'.

It wasn't long before he found himself planning; vivid scenarios would appear in his mind, starting with what he'd take with him on his journey. He had limited himself to a specific weight, any more than that and he'd be weighed down when moving or in his case escaping this prison. Countless lists of options went through his head on just his equipment alone, ranging from the best chance to fend off an opponent to the least amount of weight which would allow him to escape from a battle alot easier.

Sasuke wisely began thinking that a way of treating injuries would be essential to his survival no matter what, if he couldn't treat his wounds or manage to stay alive then all would be for nothing. He'd have to have a way to at least patch himself up as best he could. Soon he had collected whatever medicines, bandages and first aid materials that he could find from the Uchiha compound, and stored it in his original place of planning, the underground secret Uchiha hideout which had become the only place he felt safe right now.

Sasuke casually glanced over at the goods he had gathered on the table, nodded to himself, and then started storing them into his backpack. The medicines such as painkillers, vitamins, soldier pills and bandages were the first items to be packed away, though he was not sure what would follow. The Uchiha looked back at the small wooden table in the centre of the room with irritation; the two ancient candles that barely lit the room caused him to squint just to see the items he had gathered. In a burst of rage he knocked the remaining items off the table with a swipe of his arm.

"It's all useless! Everything changes depending on who I leave with…dammit!" Sasuke roared angrily with loud growl escaping him, he sighed heavily, pushing his hands through his hair. He felt pressured into getting this right; he'd only get one chance at this, from then on he'd be hunted down. He soon recognised the importance of having someone to rely on all over again. New plans and scenarios were easy to form but before he could lose himself even further with pointless day dreams, he decided he needed to get out of the compound for a while, he would usually go down to the river around this time anyway. Giving in to his paranoia decided he had better stick to his schedule.

Naruto groaned tiredly as he forced himself to stand, the small cuts and bruising that were littering his body had already begun fading away as if they were never there, though his body was still aching from the pain. The blonde found that he really had to hold back today, after nearly snapping at the villagers who were attacking him; he barely resisted the urge to kill them. He really couldn't take it anymore.

"Every single day…" He grumbled with a heavy heart, memories of the beatings he had received over the years got the better of him, leaving him rolling his shoulders, hoping to remove some of their new found stiffness. Naruto didn't understand the villagers, but to him it was worse that they didn't give him a chance to understand; to them he was nothing more than a means to get revenge on the kyuubi.

"I'm supposed to be one of them, to fight on the same team as them, so why does this always happen?" He groaned sadly, perfectly aware of his 'situation' with the Kyuubi. The way he saw it was that the nine tailed fox was forced into attacking the village. If it wasn't for him suppressing the beast then there really would be a demon in Konoha, a real one, and not an innocent seven year old boy that didn't defend himself.

He walked aimlessly around the village outskirts trying desperately to distract his mind from the growing displeasure of life in Konoha. The only things he managed to look forward to was his time alone, sitting on top of the hokage monument on the Fourth's head, his father's head.
"I don't know how people can't tell… they must really be stupid, or just refuse to believe it." He vented with annoyance, exhausted from the day, his tired legs would barely lift themselves towards the destination that he didn't have.

From the corner of his eye he saw a boy sitting on a small wooden pier, he had pitch black hair and was wearing dark clothing, from what Naruto could see, the boy had an athletic build to him. The blonde was willing to assume that the boy had trained from a young age. Much to Naruto's surprise the raven quickly turned around as if on edge and had pin pointed the blonde in moments.

Naruto saw something in his eyes as the two looked curiously at each other, this boy was desperate for something, like he wanted an escape. This intrigued the blonde; it was as if the boy was mirroring his own feelings. Without noticing it Naruto had continued walking and slowly the unknown boy got further and further away. Naruto turned his head, snapping back to reality, as he looked back towards the direction of his apartment.

"Weird…" Naruto thought lazily to himself before mentally shrugging, he was tired, his daily training session had really done a number on him, it may have even been worse than the beatings he got afterwards. What he did notice though, was that the dull pain from the assaults seemed to be less and less notable each time the beatings happened, as if he was slowly adapting to it.

Sasuke looked down thoughtfully at the small, tranquil lake that surrounded the pier, coming here always helped him to collect his thoughts and calm him. With the revelation from his father's scroll in his mind he couldn't help but feel incredibly nervous, it felt like there were people watching his every move though whenever he snapped around in an attempt to catch them in the act, there was never anyone there except for the blonde that had just passed him.

"Strange…I don't remember seeing him around the other children…" Sasuke pondered a little intrigued as he gazed at his reflection in deep thought. Crimson eyes were staring back at him and he couldn't help but feel proud of his bloodline, he had activated his sharingan in act of defiance, here he was sitting calmly in the village that wanted his clan dead, showing off his clan's signature bloodline.

"Hmph." Sasuke huffed proudly as he stood up, he had better things to be doing than staring into a lake all night, he had to plan if he was going to succeed after all, there was alot he had to do.
"I don't know how…but I'll get out of here for sure!" he declared to himself as he clenched his fists with determination, Konoha was no place for him anymore, he didn't feel safe, the raven knew that this place had little to offer him now that his family was all dead, sure he could grow into a standard ninja, take the academy and maybe eventually peak at a jounin but Sasuke wanted more, he wanted to be known across the world, he wanted to be more than just 'Itachi's little brother'.

Sasuke wore a pained frown for a moment as he stopped walking, he glared angrily at the ground,
"Itachi...' He thought with confusion, overwhelming feelings struck him as he tried to clear his clouded mind, his brother was innocent, his brother was still the loving, kind, gentle man that he had always seen him as. Itachi had even killed the whole clan just to make sure that Sasuke was spared, there was no way Sasuke could simply just kill him now...but he still murdered the clan,
'Tch!...Why, Itachi!? Why didn't you tell me the truth!...' Sasuke desperately clenched his fists as his brow furrowed deeply, he tried to calm himself, these foreign feelings were making things even more difficult right now, they would have to wait.

Naruto sighed loudly as he pushed open the creaking door to his apartment, things could be better that's for sure, but he didn't complain about it; instead he walked inside and proceeded to lock the door behind him, like he did ever since the villagers started beating him. He was soon sat comfortably at the kitchen table, the steaming smell of ramen gently warming his face, intoxicating him as he looked down at it.
"It's no Ichiraku's but still…" the blonde thought happily before slowly eating the meal. He took the time to enjoy it; at home he didn't have to pretend like he was some bottomless pit, the only reason he ate like that in public was so that he could finish the meal as quickly as possible. He was sure that there were fewer customers at Ichiraku's when he was around.

Naruto began carefully thinking about his day, he usually did this after coming home, always trying to be unbiased to pointing out the good and bad points to himself. He would have to admit he did try not to name all the negatives, just to put a positive spin on things, even if it was slightly cheating at his own game.

Still the young Uzumaki couldn't help but think things would be better somewhere else, after all, he was a loner who had no responsibilities and no ties to Konoha. The only thing holding him back was what held him back in many other ways, the nine tailed fox. Naruto had to admit he appreciated Kyuubi after meeting with her in his mindscape three years ago, without her he doubted he would be as capable as he was right now, her teachings in general knowledge and combat were priceless to him. However he was still a jinchuuriki, something that a hidden village like Konoha wouldn't simply let walk away a free man.

Still, what did Konoha have to offer him? He was probably more capable than he would of been if had simply entered the academy without any training from Kyuubi, he had seen the fresh genin around the village, doing mindless chores like petty workers, he was going to be a ninja not some labour slave! He wanted to be powerful, for people to recognise him for who he is, Naruto wanted respect, if he became powerful, more powerful than even the Hokage, then people would have no choice but to acknowledge him.

He didn't hate Konoha though, the thing that upset him the most about the way he was treated was that he loved this village with all of his heart, it was beautiful to him. He wished Konoha would just give him a chance yet deep down he knew they would always resent him, even if he grown powerful and defended the village, wouldn't they become more weary of his strength? They didn't trust the blonde, they knew what he held and growing stronger would probably only scare them. Naruto shook his head glumly, he didn't want that kind of life, to be constantly treated like a wild beast.

The blonde knew that he was even monitored from time to time yet he was sure he could at least escape the village; it was after he'd escaped that was the hard part. The young Uzumaki didn't know how long he'd be able to flee from trained hunter-nin, though he imagined himself to be able to do quite well in locations he knew as the advantage would be his.
"I guess running from the villagers is good for some things." He considered with a huff, adding his positive spin to things. Naruto continued to think about leaving the hateful village like he usually did, sprawled out comfortably on his bed as the moonlight poured in from his large window, the old radiator producing just the right amount of heat to make the room have relaxing warmth to it. The small moments of this peaceful activity quickly became Naruto's personal sanctuary in everyday life.

He dove deeper into his thoughts, his imagination getting the better of him as he wondered what it would be like travelling the world and meeting friends who wouldn't discriminate against him. He dreamt of becoming a strong and praised ninja that people could look up too, but the parts that came after that discomforted him a little. With him being a runaway he doubted people would look up to him, in the end he guessed that it didn't matter after all. If he did what he believed was the right, then he'd have no regrets.

Naruto sighed heavily.
"I doubt I could do it alone."