A/N: It's my birthday today--I'm sixteen! And to celebrate, I wrote this story. :D I'M A YEAR OLDER THAN I WAS YESTERDAY!

That's Life

It seemed like Sasuke was always surrounded by a crowd of faceless people. They jostled to get a good look at him as he walked by, whispered in his wake. Told him they cared, but let him go home alone. It was such a big house, and it was so empty.

He kept busy; he worked and trained until he was so tired he could hardly make it home. When he was exhausted--when all he could do was stumble down the hall and fall into bed--he didn't have to think, or to remember. If he kept busy, pushed aside everything but manual labor, he'd be just fine.

He had to keep himself going. If he stopped, if he lingered--those thoughts, those memories would overwhelm him. He strove to become the ideal ninja. A human tool. Emotionless and mechanic.

The class was always filled with mindless noise. The boys joked and the girls giggled. He wished they'd grow up. He held onto the teacher's every word, committing it all to memory, itching to be outside where he could practice what he knew.

He loved it outside. He loved it when the fields were empty but for him, and he walked by himself in the tall grass--because when it was just him, when he stood silently, kunai idle in his hand, he could bring himself to believe that he was not alone. That somewhere, somewhere in the vast world that surrounded him, there was a person who understood exactly why it felt so lonely to be in a crowd.

But when he was inside, when the door shut and he was alone with the darkness pressing in around him, that person seemed much too far away to be real.

When it rained, he went on walks. He liked the sound of rain. It came down with a gentle roar that soothed the world to rest. It kept people indoors, animals in the forest.

He ventured into the forest quite a bit, disregarding all the warnings he'd ever received from his teachers. It was nice in the forest. He didn't mind all the trees, because they weren't like people; with empty smiles and hollow laughter. They didn't change form, they didn't deceive. They didn't turn their backs and walk away. He wished people could be more like trees.

The days passed by, each taking a piece of him with it. He found that little things no longer bothered him. He didn't mind it when older boys teased him anymore. He didn't mind that gaggles of girls peered at him from around corners anymore. When he cut his hand on a kunai, or caught a star wrong, he only registered the pain after blood made his fingers slippery.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, he was happy; because with each day, he was becoming more of a machine, less of a human. He didn't want to be human.

What did the Universe have in mind, when it came to humans? Why did It have to make humankind so weak, so needy? People were so dependent on one another--because it was hardwired into them, the need not to be alone. It was so unfair.

A lot of things were unfair. If one was going to go through the trouble of creating life, shouldn't one at least make it fair?

One day, relishing the solitude a light drizzle allowed him, he made his way slowly through the village. Everyone was indoors, and he was free to walk at his own pace, not hurried along by the crowd, or by a need to escape the prying eyes and the noisy silence. Listening to the hush of the rainfall, he quietly made his way down the dirtier streets, past unkept building and vacant lots, where the bright and bustling Konoha faded into a darker, poorer one.

As he rounded one corner, sandal-shod feet making no noise against the wet ground, he found that this street was not as empty as the others had been. A small boy farther up the road was crouched barefoot in the muddy gravel, gazing down at a puddle with what appeared to be great interest. Sasuke frowned inwardly, wondering who would let their child wander about in the cold so poorly dressed, but betrayed nothing in his expression.

As he drew nearer, he saw a small bird fluffing out its feathers in the puddle, splashing lightly under the boy's watchful eye. It didn't seem to mind the rain, or the boy's presence. The child looked up as Sasuke approached and snatched the bird up quickly, rising to his feet with the creature tucked carefully against his chest.

"M'not hurtin' nothin'," the boy said at once, mindful of his delicate charge as he backed a few paces away. His bare arms and legs were cut and bruised; he had three scars on either side of his face that curved across his cheeks like whiskers on a cat. "I din't steal nothin', I was on'y--"

"Who are you?" Sasuke had never seen him before. Up close, he and the boy appeared to be about the same age, even if the boy was smaller.

"Naruto." He said it like a curse, voice heavy and resigned. "My name's Naruto. M'surprised y'din't know a'ready, see'n as..." He cut himself off, as though he'd said too much, and watched Sasuke carefully. He clutched the tiny bird still, holding it gently with fingers that trembled in the cold.

Sasuke had definitely heard that name before. He'd heard whispers of a wolf in sheep's clothing, a demon who took the appearance of a child. Almost at once, though, Sasuke found himself discrediting the rumors as nothing but simple village gossip. What kind of malevolent and powerful demon shivered in the rain and watched birds play in puddles?

Nevertheless, it was strange for a child to carry around a bird with him--and stranger still that the bird allowed him to. Sasuke, surprising himself, asked, "Why do you have that bird?"

Naruto looked down at the creature in his hands. "He fell outta tree some time ago. Broke 'is wing. I been doin' s'much s'I can t'help, but tha's not much, really..." Once again, he trailed off uncertainly, glancing back up at Sasuke. Realization dawned on his face. "I know you," he said. "The Uchiha kid, yeah? The village's been buzzin' 'bout you for some time now. They all pity you pretty good, huh? Bet that does it for you." He moved dripping blond hair out of his eyes; they were very blue.

Maybe a few months ago, Sasuke would've fired up at Naruto's words; as it was now, he felt mild irritation and asked him what he meant.

Kneeling to deposit his bird back into the puddle, Naruto said, "Well, f'it were me, I'druther not have the entire village trailin' aroun' after me every day askin' if I was okay, 'cos there's no way I could be." He looked over at Sasuke. "S'just what I reckon. Then again, s'not like I'd know, I s'pose."

Sasuke was held by those eyes; and then Naruto's attention was returned to his little charge and Sasuke's head was cleared. The gentle rush of rain was now a steady roar; Sasuke pulled his jacket tighter around him. Naruto was wet through, his thin clothes doing nothing for him in the cold and wet.

Awkwardly, Sasuke said, "You'll catch cold out here."

"I don' get sick easy. Lucky thing, too, s'prob'ly jus' as wet at home's it is out here. Ceiling's full o' holes."

Frowning, Sasuke asked, "Why doesn't anyone fix them?"

Those eyes were peering up at him again, bright blue through a gray curtain of rain. "Like who?"

Sasuke fell silent, realizing too late that there was no one; Naruto was orphaned, and the villagers thought him a monster. Who would care enough to buy the boy a coat or fix his roof? Saved answering by a noise in the distance, Sasuke turned and saw a group of men lumbering down the street; probably coming home from the bar.

"Uh oh." Naruto quickly scooped his little bird up into his hands. "Y'might wanna consider leavin', Uchiha," he told Sasuke. "They don' think straight comin' home, an' they're a'ready none too nice."

The young heir drew himself up straighter. "They wouldn't touch me."

"They would." Naruto trotted back a few steps. "Jus' be careful, 'kay?" He spun on his heel and disappeared into the rain. Sasuke stared after him, although Naruto was already long out of sight, before remembering himself and ducking swiftly down a sidestreet. He hadn't missed the bruises littering the boy's pale skin, and decided not to present himself as a target to those men.

He didn't see the boy again for a long time after that, though he thought of him enough. He thought of the boy's frank way of speaking, his matter-of-factness about the things he said. Naruto hadn't smiled once in the short time Sasuke saw him; because there was no reason for him to smile, and he wasn't going to waste his energy acting cheerful when he wasn't.

It was such a change from being surrounded by fake-happy people. Sasuke looked for him, even ventured down crowded streets to find him, but couldn't. The boy wasn't anywhere--and then Sasuke realized that of course he wouldn't be in town. Everyone hated him. He'd be somewhere remote, somewhere safe.

The next time they met was in the forest; Naruto was hunched over, digging with a kunai at the base of a large tree, and Sasuke, who'd found him almost by accident, stood by without saying anything.

When Naruto finally sat back on his heels, wiping hair back from his forehead, he noticed Sasuke leaning against a tree a few yards away. "Oh," he said, unsmiling, "hello."

It was such a relief to be with him again--Sasuke adored his honesty, would gladly spend every day in the company of a person who didn't lie with their voice or attitude. "What are you doing?"

"Buryin' my bird."

Spirits falling as quickly as they'd risen, Sasuke drew up short. "...It died?"

Naruto was twirling the kunai around his finger with an ease that surprised Sasuke. "Yeah. Stopped eatin'. S'to be expected, I s'pose."

"What do you mean? It was just a baby."

"Everythin' dies. Dunno why babies have to, but tha's life." He tossed the knife aside and stood up, sliding his hands into his pockets and starting away. Sasuke followed after him.

"Shouldn't you make a grave marker or something?"

"Wha' for? I doubt anyone'll be lookin' for it." Naruto's eyes were trained ahead. "It was jus' a little bird. The world'll go on without it. It din't mean a thing."

There was no bitterness in his voice, only resignation. The blond didn't look upset, either, merely contemplative. Sasuke ventured another question; "Won't you miss it?"

"O'course I'll miss it. But mopin' around ain't gonna do no one any good. 'Sides, tha's not the first bird I've come 'cross like that, an' it prob'ly won' be the last. If I cried over all of 'em, I'd be exhausted. But sometimes I save 'em." He smiled now, a grin that lit up his face and made the blue in his eyes shine. "And I love watchin' 'em fly away."

They reached the edge of the wood; Sasuke made to continue into the grass, but Naruto remained within the shelter of the trees. Turning around, he saw Naruto watching him.

"If y'ever need anything," the blond said, "come find me. I'll help."

It was the last time he saw the boy for years.

End.

A/N: I'm sure there was a meaning behind this. Really. Somewhere.