Drabble: Naruto - The Wrong Conclusions
Title: The Wrong Conclusions
Fandom: Naruto
Characters: Naruto, Sasuke
Warnings: None
Summary: Two drabbles (well, not technically, over 100 words but jotted down quickly before I went to bed) from Naruto and Sasuke's POV pre timeskip.
Sasuke was easily the best student in the class. Naruto had known this when he was eight, known this when he was nine and ten - known this always. At the academy it was painfully obvious that the other boy was his superior in everything; no matter the task, Sasuke excelled. These were daily facts for Naruto, constant and unchanging the same as his breakfast diet.
And Sasuke himself was constant and unchanging too. Always gruff, never communicating more than was needed...never letting anyone in. So when Naruto had found out that not too long after their class had enrolled at the academy Sasuke's entire clan had been slaughtered, he'd been at a loss. He couldn't understand how Sasuke had stayed the same.
It's only years later, as his rival yells at him against the backdrop of a crashing waterfall, that he realises how wrong he was. When the anger and bitterness is flung in his face (What the hell do you know about me?!) he finally sees for the first time just what changed when Sasuke's world was destroyed. And when Naruto realises that Sasuke is deadly serious, is leaving Konoha, leaving him, then a part of his world is destroyed too.
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Naruto was easily the worst student in the class. Sasuke had known this when he was eight, known this when he was nine and ten - known this always. The blond boy never failed to prove his incompetence with every single task they were given, and managed to screw up in ways that made even patient Iruka despair. These things were a part of the set routine of daily life for Sasuke.
And Naruto, too loud and annoying (and ORANGE) for anyone to possibly ignore, made sure he was a part of everyone else's daily routine too. So when Sasuke discovered that Naruto was an orphan, the cries for attention all made sense. But he was still jealous that the other boy had been alone from the start; that he didn't understand the full extent of what he was missing.
It's only years later as Sasuke has to ask "Why do you go this far for me?" (Do I really mean that much to you?) that he hates himself for ever envying Naruto. Naruto, who stands there brokenly confessing more sincerely than Sakura ever could, that his bond with Sasuke was his first, his most precious. And it's then that Sasuke admits his bond with Naruto is precious, too. He also admits with great reluctance that he has another more precious bond that came first, and leaves Naruto unconscious on the ground as he follows the path that will eventually lead him to Itachi.
Comments are greatly appreciated!