Disclaimer: This disclaimer applies for the entire fic as I don't feel like having to repeat the same thing every chapter. I do not own Naruto, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make money by writing this story. Naruto and all of it's characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto etc.
Well, I decided to re-re-write this thing after all. This fic was originally supposed to be a practice run, it's still the first fanfic I've ever written after all.
Summary: An indecisive young shinobi and an emotionally uncertain young samurai find themselves stumbling head first into what could be described as a rocky relationship at best. Throughout history shinobi and samurai have never been on the best of terms, what will happen to the two while dependent on one another? SasuNaru, AU.
Chapter 1
"Of beginnings and meetings"
It was a beautiful spring morning, regardless of the vast amounts puddles created by the seemingly endless falling rain. The warm and gentle sun radiated brightly enough to shine through the dark clouds. Several rainbows painted the skies with their beautiful colors, paling in comparison however to the fields of wild-flowers within the area. Their fragrance alone would be enough to light up ones day.
With the ground covered in puddles of freshly fallen rain, it caused the sun to sparkle all around. Small animals of sorts scurried around in order to find their first meal of the day. After such a harsh winter, this gentle spring seemed like a reward. What nature took in winter, it returned in spring after all.
Several animals looked up out of fright, vigilance was the key to survival after all. It went as fast as it came, a human form covered with a large cloak ran across the clearance within record time. The figure allowed itself to slow down upon nearing a hill, it had reached it's destination.
The figure crouched down and looked at the small village in just below him in the midst of a perfect green valley. The figure pulled down the cloth that hid most of it's face, revealing several odd markings on it's youthful face.
Naruto POV
And the hag had said that it would have taken him at least three weeks to get here, judging by his so-called clumsy nature. So far this mission had been one of the easiest he'd been on so far. He still couldn't believe this was ranked as an A-class assignment.
The young man watched the villagers go about their daily lives. No matter how innocent these people seemed however, they were by no means harmless. The sounds of steel hitting steel diverted his attention, a primitive but nonetheless admirable blacksmith was forcing an elongated piece of metal into it's desired shape by the use of a rather heavy looking mallet. The rather burly looking man seemed to work hard and diligently as he brought down the heavy object time and time again only to stop upon turning the battered steel around and repeating the process.
A little further up ahead a large group of women were busy planting something in the midst of a primitively cultivated area. Most of the women were wearing hats made out of straw, to protect them from the sun no doubt. The ones who were unfortunate enough to have misplaced theirs would probably get a nasty sunburn later on.
The young man sighed. Was everything about work to these people?
He had been sent here to spy on this secluded village due to a threat of war. Tsunade-baba wanted to be prepared for anything and believed that observing the enemy would be the easiest approach in this situation. He had refused to believe that a bunch of dress-wearing, sword waving lunatics were any kind of threat, hence why Tsunade decided that he would be 'perfect' for this assignment. He was obviously lacking in observational skills, or so she had said.
'Darned old hag. Making me do all the boring stuff while the others go out and face powerful opponents. Meanwhile I'm stuck sitting on my ass while watching a bunch of workaholics shuffle their asses around. I bet they don't even have ramen here…'
He silently fumed as he recalled the amused expression on Tsunade-baba's face. Somehow he doubted she'd like the 'present' he left behind for her back home. Let's see her expression then!
Not only would he get a good laugh out of it upon his return, he'd ace this mission and show her that his 'observational skills' were just fine. His original mission stated that he wasn't supposed to get any closer then this, he was meant to play it safe and hide in the shadows. There was no way he'd be lurking around freezing his ass of until either something interesting happened or it was time for him to go home. He'd go where none of his kind had ever gone before and in his backpack he carried just that which he needed to do so.
Feeling somewhat empowered by the thought of his 'welcome home present' and what was going to be the most daring stunt in history, he got up in search of a place to wash up. Normal travelers didn't smell this heavily of sweat after all, neither did they wear this specific kind of gear. He'd doubt that remaining dressed like their enemy would make him very popular.
Laughing a bit at his own joke, he proceeded in mapping out the area. Always important in case one needed a quick getaway. It didn't matter how primitive these people seemed, he was dealing with samurai after all.
Sasuke POV
It was safe to say that Uchiha Sasuke was not in the best of moods right now. Even though all the scowling wasn't doing much good to his usually handsome face, village girls all around still seemed to go out of their way to wish him a happy birthday.
It was just another damn morning in this damn village to him. Yet another day for the world to rub in his face that he was no match for his 'beloved' brother.
He'd no doubt be getting a scolding later on because of his rude and childish behavior. Not that he cared, it wasn't any different from usual after all. His parents – especially his father – seemed to take pleasure in reminding him of the 'simple facts in life'.
Valuable lessons like 'Your brother would never do a thing like that!' and 'It's alright not many can measure up to someone of your brother's status.'
For some reason they always succeeded in making him feel completely insignificant. His brother was the prize winning addition, he was the dead weight. One born lucky, the other lucky to be born. He was sick of it, sick of that feeling of not fitting in with the rest of the family. All he was there for was to ensure the preservation of his 'noble bloodline' while his older brother was allowed to leave this backwater place to do whatever the hell he wanted. In the mean time his parents hosted huge feasts in honor of his brother becoming yet another year older. Apparently there was no need for his parents to remember the fact that the son who was still around – unlike the other – grew older as well. Today was the day he turned 18, an important age for any young man. Yet this fact paled in comparison to his parent's devotion to their oldest son.
He would truly give anything to leave this place, just as his brother did several years ago. Even when he had been a child the idea of heading out into the vast world beyond the village borders seemed like life's greatest adventure. But clearly this was not meant to be. Once his father did finally remember that from this day on he was old enough to get married and start a family, he'd be stuck to the fist willing woman that came knocking. Which wouldn't take long, in fact he wouldn't be surprised if he'd meet the one he was to marry this very day…
His anger soon made place for depression. At least a marriage would mean he and his future wife would be getting out of that damned house. Or at least he hoped so.
His thoughts were interrupted as yet another blushing female approached him in order to congratulate him. He was not in the mood to deal with this. Deciding it better to steer clear of the village for a while, he headed to-wards the one place he'd been visiting for nearly every day upon discovering it. This area was known for it's abundance in hot springs after all.
But this particular one he had stumbled upon as a child. It was a generally secluded area where he'd be able to get away for a while, a place where he could be alone to do whatever he wished. When his brother had announced his departure, he had rushed there and gazed upon the full moon. He had been eight years old at the time and full of dreams.
'Dreams. More like delusions.'
At the time he had wanted nothing more then to be noticed. He had thought that with his brother gone, maybe the adults would start noticing him. Oh how he had been wrong. When his brother had left, he had been kind enough to leave behind the tall-tale stories which seemed to grow more spectacular every day.
Deciding that his current track of thought were not exactly helping his foul mood go away, Sasuke climbed up a tree which overlooked the entire area in case of one of those ridiculous villagers – especially the women – stumbled upon this place by accident.
The sight that greeted him however, was not at all what he had been expecting…
Naruto POV
For some reason the mysterious young man couldn't shake the feeling of being watched while he finished undressing himself. It was probably all of the damned steam playing around with his mind. Being unable to properly keep watch of his direct environment automatically raised his hackles after all these years of being a shinobi.
The thick steam simply reminded him a lot about smoke-bombs like the ones often used by his kind. They served as brilliant distractions in order to get away, or could be used to disorientate ones opponent and sneak up on them in order to catch them unawares.
Shivering he shook of those kind of thoughts. They weren't exactly helping.
Refusing to give the matter any more attention, he discarded his underwear, completely unaware of the completely mortified tree-bound young man…
TBC