For all of you who are reading this, we all know the story of Naruto and Sasuke's rivalry. We all remember how Sasuke's hatred had grown when he lost to Itachi in Tanzuku Town, how he challenged Naruto to a fight on the hospital rooftop, how he left the village of the Hidden Leaf, and all the events that led up to the current Naruto Shippuden. But there was an interesting thing Naruto said about Sasuke. He said that THEIR ROLES COULD HAVE BEEN REVERSED.

What if the roles had been reversed? What if as kids Naruto gave into the pain and hatred and Sasuke remained pure? What if for a slight chance, you could have a look into what might've happened if the story of Naruto went a different direction? Please enjoy the following fanfic story: Naruto vs Sasuke: Roles Reversed.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

The wind blew peacefully outside the boundaries of the Hidden Leaf Village. The air was peaceful as the leaves blew within the wind. The air brushed against the hospital rooftop as the door opened. It revealed to the team of Kakashi, Squad 7.

It had been at least a week since Itachi had beaten Sasuke at Tanzuku Town and recently just woke up from the help of the new Hokage Tsunade. But the anger of what had happened to him still burned inside of him as he walked onto the rooftop. How his older brother paid more attention to Naruto than him turned his stomach raw and angry. He looked at the orange-wearing boy, who had a grin in his face and excitement that could be spelled out across him.

Sakura felt nervous as she stood at the door and watched the two boys face off on each side of the rooftop. She and Sasuke watched Naruto slowly and cheerfully giggle as he grinned at the Uchiha.

"What's so funny?" Sasuke asked.

"I'm not laughing cause it's funny; I'm just psyched," Naruto said, grinning, "because I know today's the day where I finally beat you."

Sasuke gritted his teeth in anger as he remembered Itachi's words with Jiraiya.

"I know he's the one you're really after."

"You're right; Naruto is the prize that the Akatsuki want, and we will have him."

He activated his Sharingan and said, "What did you say? Don't talk nonsense, you worthless loser."

Naruto gritted his teeth in a smirk and replied, "I won't be such a loser after I win today, will I?"

Itachi's words could be heard ringing over and over in Sasuke's ears.

"Go away; I have no interest in you at the moment."

Sakura could definitely tell that her crush was starting to look more and more aggressive and furious. His eyes showed an intense fierceness she had never seen from him before. She watched as Naruto and Sasuke continued talking back and forth.

"You… an idiot like you has no business talking all high and mighty!" Sasuke pointed and yelled.

"Haha, what happened to the calm and controlled Sasuke we know? Am I making you nervous?" he heard Naruto say.

Although he was absolutely furious at the knucklehead, he stopped to think… he had a point. This was the first ever time Naruto ever got to him and shook him. Every other day, Sasuke would shrug him off as an immature doofus. But now that Itachi and this Akatsuki group was after Naruto, it made him feel that this loser… might be stronger than he ever gave him credit for. After all, it was him who defeated Haku on their mission to protect Tazuna. He went on to defeat Kiba and the strongest Genin, Neji, and even saved him and Sakura from Gaara's rampage. And to top it all off under Itachi, he fought in a battle that had Orochimaru and Kabuto involved, as all three of the Sannin were present... while he was in a hospital bed, recovering... from being too weak.

"Seems to me you picked a fight with me and now you're too scared to go through with it. Is that it?" he heard Naruto finish.

"Let's just do this," Sasuke replied, finally smiling at the thought of fighting him.

Naruto got serious and stretched out, saying, "Put on your headband and we will. Don't worry; I'll wait."

Sasuke smirked and shook his head, "Not to worry; I don't need that thing."

This caused the blond hair boy to lose his grin instantly and become angry, "Just do it! Come on!"

Sasuke looked at Naruto, realizing he was getting to him by not giving him complete satisfaction of a perfect fight. He grinned, thinking of the perfect opportunity to take control of the match. Naruto was always so easily riled up about everything, so maybe using this to get him blinded by anger could serve his purpose. He smiled and pointed to his forehead with his thumb.

"There's no reason to put it on, for you won't be able to ever land a scratch on my forehead," he taunted.

"That's not the point!" Naruto yelled, holding his headband that was secured on his brow, "Come on! You know that putting on your headband on means a testament to fighting on equal terms as a Leaf Shinobi!"

Sakura gasped at Naruto's words. Although he was a goof and a stupid moron at times, the boy knew and lived by honor and allegiance. He slowly let go of his headband and watched as Sasuke pointed angrily at him.

"There you go again, talking all high and mighty! You don't honestly believe we're equals, do you?" the Uchiha yelled.

"Heck, yeah, I do! I don't feel inferior to you in any way!" Naruto yelled back.

"Oh, please, don't make me laugh! You're an embarrassment!"

"Only cause next to me you're embarrassed of your strength! Isn't that right, Sasuke!?"

THIS IS WHERE THE ROLES REVERSE.

Sasuke scoffed as he gritted his teeth under his lips and said, "Tch, please. You honestly think I'd be embarrassed… by a MONSTER like you? You're pathetic, Naruto."

Those words caused an eerie silence as Naruto slowly widened his eyes and gave him a horrified expression on his face. The whole boy's body just shut down with disbelief as he slowly looked as if he was going to cry. Sasuke immediately lost his anger and blinked in confusion… and a bit of regret. He looked at Sakura, who looked concerned at the boy. He slowly closed his eyes and realized he went too far in his insults. He looked at Naruto to see something that prepared him for a battle.

Naruto slowly gritted his teeth and clenched his fists as he glared angrily at him. There were no words, just anger and hatred towards Sasuke. He slowly bared his teeth furiously at him and with his rage over boiling, he slowly inhaled. With a bloodthirsty roar, Naruto charged at Sasuke, with Sakura helpless on stopping her teammates.

The boy threw a right punch at the Uchiha as he did the same. Both blocked their punches and struggled for an advantage. Swiftly, Sasuke let go and flung his right foot towards his opponent's ribs. Naruto caught his foot and slowly flew him off his feet by swinging him in a huge circle. Realizing he would be thrown if he didn't stop, he slowly put his hands on the floor and twisted the momentum, stopping Naruto from his plan. The boy grunted in shock as Sasuke took his free foot and flung it into his chin. The boy grunted in pain as he was flipped into the air and Sasuke jumped after him.

Soon, the boys traded blows as they fell down from mid-air, but the Uchiha got the advantage of knocking Naruto into several sheets being hung to dry on racks. The Uzumaki became entangled with the clothes as Sasuke took opportunity. He ran over and started to pummel the boy from the outside. Sakura watched in horror as Sasuke continued to pound on Naruto.

"Come on, you loser! Fight me!" Sasuke yelled as he readied another punch.

Suddenly, he heard, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Suddenly, multiple forms of Naruto flew out of the blankets and kicked Sasuke back, causing the Uchiha to roll across the rooftop. As he got to his feet, he was surrounded by a crowd of Naruto's shadow clones. He watched as several of them at a time charged at him.

Sakura gasped as she watched multiple shadow clones poof into smoke. She watched in horror as several minutes went by with Sasuke took out clone after clone with his taijutsu. Suddenly, she gasped as multiple clones suddenly rushed Sasuke from all angles.

"NA-RU-TO!"

Sasuke grunted as all Naruto clones kicked him into the air. He widened his eyes to see the real Naruto and a clone come down, attempting to kick him towards the rooftop.

"UZUMAKI BARRAGE!"

Sasuke growled as he grabbed the ankles of both and flung them to the ground. The clone smashed into the solid surface, poofing into smoke as several clones caught the real Naruto. As they all looked up, they saw Sasuke with a handsign and inhaling.

"Fire-style! Phoenix Flower Jutsu!" Sasuke yelled as he blew out a huge flame.

Naruto slowly widened his eyes in total fear as he and his clones stood in horror. They looked up at the face of the hateful Sasuke, setting a huge danger their way. It was too late to run as the flames engulfed them. They all shrieked in total pain as the fire shrouded any vision of Naruto and his clones. Sakura suddenly gasped as her friend was then contained in a fire and set ablaze to the point where it could be fatal. She let out a blood curdling scream that made Sasuke suddenly stop and widened his eyes.

"W-Wh… what am I DOING!?" he immediately thought.

He looked at Sakura who stared terrified at the screaming chorus of Naruto and his clones. Suddenly realizing what he had done, Sasuke deactivated his Sharingan and ran to the flame once he landed on the ground.

"NARUTO!" he yelled in a concerned voice.

It was too late. The flame quenched its thirst as all the clones had exploded into smoke, causing a huge smokescreen, blinding both Sakura and Sasuke. They coughed and gagged as the black smoke blinded them. The Uchiha waved all of nearby smoke out of the way as he looked around with blinded eyes. He regretted using the fire jutsu and going too far as he tried to find Naruto. Soon enough, he and Sakura both saw the only Naruto burned to a crisp but alive. His skin and clothing were all burned and singed badly as both ran over.

"NARUTO!" Sakura yelled as she didn't dare to touch him.

"N-Naruto, are you okay?" Sasuke dared to ask as he motioned to touch him.

Suddenly, Naruto poofed into smoke, shocking him! It was a clone. Sasuke suddenly heard footsteps running towards him from behind as Sakura gasped. He turned around to see Naruto charging at him with a weird ball of chakra in his hand.

"SAAAASSSUUKEEEEEEE!" Naruto roared as he came closer.

Sasuke saw nothing more than pure rage in Naruto's eyes. The desire to kill, the want to cause others pain; the same look he used to have. He quickly and gently pushed Sakura out of the way as Naruto stepped right in front of him. He gritted his teeth as he tried to evade, but the blond-haired ninja was too quick this time and began to strike him with the new attack.

"RASENGAN!" Naruto shouted.

"SASUKE!" Sakura yelled as she landed and watched in horror.

Suddenly, the boy was jerked off his feet and flipped backwards as his intended target blinked in shock. Soon, he was brought down hard on the ground as the Rasengan dispersed out of his hand. The three Genin looked to see their sensei, Kakashi, pinning Naruto to the ground.

"That's enough, both of you," Kakashi said, "You've gone too far with this fight. I'm ending it here."

He turned his head to Naruto and said, "Naruto… that jutsu of yours is a highly dangerous technique that should only be used against enemies… were you trying to kill Sasuke?"

Naruto gritted his teeth and grunted angrily at him.

"No! Kakashi, let him go," Sasuke said as he hurried over.

"Sasuke?" the Jonin asked for verification.

"I challenged Naruto to a fight, and I lost my temper. I said things that I don't mean, that I shouldn't of. I got him furious to the point where he used that jutsu. If anyone's getting in trouble for this, it's me. Let him go; this isn't his fault," Sasuke said.

Sakura smiled as she stared at him adoringly. Seeing her do this made Naruto even more furious as he closed his eyes. Kakashi slowly nodded and sighed.

"All right, Sasuke," he said, getting off Naruto, "For now, you two need to stay away from missions… and each other. For now, I want you t-"

Before he could finish, Naruto took a running start and jumped off the rooftop. The three immediately saw him running away in a hurry.

"Naruto! Come back!" Sakura called out to him, but soon the orange-wearing ninja was gone.

Kakashi sighed and rubbed his neck, "I better go after him before he starts another fight. He can get pretty reckless at times."

"No, Kakashi… this was my fault," Sasuke said, clearly catching Kakashi off guard, "I… I was angry for losing to Itachi, how he and the Akatsuki are after Naruto, and how he's gotten stronger recently. He's… he's almost near my strength; he's catching up to me."

Sakura looked amazed at Sasuke as he continued, "I respect and admire Naruto's recent growth, but because of Itachi's appearance, I was angry at him. I challenged him to a fight and I… I went too far. I called him what every person in the Leaf called him: A monster. I must've hurt him a lot, cause he looked like he would break down right there. Then he got enraged and we fought. That's when you showed up, Kakashi."

Kakashi took this in with total surprise. Sasuke started a fight? He looked off into Naruto's direction as he nodded.

"All right, then I better double it trying to find him. If you did really hurt him, he's gonna be on edge and unstable. Sasuke, for now, I need you to stay away from him; because to be honest…. You hurt him more than you think."

Sasuke blinked as Sakura asked, "Huh? What do you mean?"

"I've overheard some of his chats with Iruka at Ichiraku Ramen, and Sasuke: You're his idol," Kakashi said.

Sasuke widened his eyes as he continued, "He's viewed you from the first day of knowing you as a challenge to get better. Ever since that day, he's sworn to get you to notice him as a worthy ninja. I'm guessing since you called him a monster, you got to him greatly."

Sasuke slowly looked down with a sad and regretful frown. He slowly closed his eyes as his heart wished he could take back what he said. He looked up when Kakashi spoke again.

"All right, Sasuke, I'm going to go talk to Naruto. Once I do, I'll find you and let you know how it went. See you later, you two," he said with a smile, "I promise you two everything will be fine. There's nothing to worry about."

With that, Kakashi jumped off the rooftop and ran after Naruto. The wind blew peacefully as Sakura looked at Sasuke, who kept staring off into the direction his sensei and teammate ran. She looked down until she finally had the courage to speak.

"S-Sasuke… are you all right?" she asked.

Sasuke sighed and looked at her, "No, Sakura… I've hurt Naruto badly and I feel regret for every second of it. "

As he looked up at the sky and clenched his fists, Sakura said, "Do you think Naruto's okay? What will you do?"

Sasuke slowly pulled out his headband from his pants pocket and stared at the leaf symbol. He slowly held it to his face and then tied it on his head. He looked at Sakura with a look that caused her to love him more and respect him.

"I will apologize to him and," Sasuke said as the wind blew, "when Naruto and I fight again, I will fight him… as a fellow Leaf ninja and a friend."

/\/\/\/\/\/\

Once again, this is just some random idea I had on the fly. I always thought it would've been cool to see an alternate fight of what happened with the Naruto vs Sasuke battle. Tell me what you think and keep reading. ^^