Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Roses Among the Ashes ❯ Prologue ( Chapter 1 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Disclaimer: I do not and never will Naruto.

Title: Roses Among the Ashes
Author: Greenie
Prologue
Rating: Undecided
Pairings: It’s a surprise! ; )
Summary: When good things go bad and bad things go good then bad again and then back to good.

[align=center]Roses Among the Ashes
Prologue[/align]

So... That’s what it felt like...

[i]‘No! No! Be okay! Be okay!’[/i]

I’d always wondered.

[i]‘Don’t worry! Yer okay! Yer gonna be okay!’[/i]

I’d heard of it b’for, but din’t believe it could be so bad.

[i]‘No! No! Keep em open! Keep yer eyes open!’[/i]

But there t’was... Eating away at my gut...

[i]‘No! No! Please! No!’[/i]

Guilt... Knowin’ some’n... Was suffrin’...

[i]‘Oh Sasuke... No... Don’t die... Please... don’t die...’[/i]

And it was entirely... my fault...

Well, now that’ve good’n confused ya’s. I’m guessin’ that I should start back at the beginnin’, bein’ as that’s where most stories start, ya know? Now... Ow’ does that line go... Oh yah... Once upon a time... There was an alley bout’ two blocks down from ere’....


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Flickering eerily in the waning light of the day was a single lamp post. It was old, the black pant chipped and scraped away. Initials and words carved into its surface and the lightbulb, a dull orange threatening to break at any given moment.
Like a lonely guard, the lamp stood at the entrance of a dark, dank alley emitting sickening sweet smells of rotting garbage and flesh. It’s dull light blinking on and off acting almost like a warning to those who would draw too near the dark alley, whether in curiosity, recklessness or even supposed want or need. Ushering them away for the only thing that awaited them down this dark alley, was nothing more then people hardened and made cruel by a impoverished life and an unkind world.

No matter where one travels; in every city, town and village. There is one place that all the inhabitants are ashamed of. The proverbial pimple on their otherwise perfect face. For this flourishing city of Konoha, what lie through that dark alley, was the large, pulsating zit; the slums.
The very scum of the city lived there and no one of decent family and living dared to draw near it for fear of being mugged, killed and raped. Not necessarily in that order. Every new comer and young person in the lighter part of the city were warned to never stray near this place, for it was a cursed place, hell within the city. And every person warned, though they sometimes gave it curious looks, would shortly hurry away, not wanting to find out if the stories told there were true.

However, this night was a strange night for certain, strange because drawing nearer to the post was a young man. About seventeen years of age and smartly dressed in Konoha’s famous Academy uniform. Black pants, crisp white shirt, black blazer and a black tie emblazoned with the school emblem; a white tree decorated with falling green leaves.
There was, one particular problem with this boys uniform. Being that he lacked the black blazer and the dark look on his face, told whomever looked on that he was not pleased by this.

“I think it’s gone Sasuke. It’s not worth chasing after him, just order a new one.” Standing a short distance away from the young man with dark hair and pale skin now beside the lamp post, were two other boys, also wearing the school uniform. With one final look down the alley and sigh of irritation, Sasuke shoved his hands in his pockets and walked away from the lamp post, back towards his fellow school mates.

From the shadows of the alley a figure stood up from where it had been crouching and slowly stepped out and into the light. It was another boy, about the same age. His blonde hair which perhaps, at one point had been a glorious shining gold, was dirty, faded and hung in a greasy, scummy locks. Sparse patches of dull skin could be seen beneath the grime on his face, arms and hands and the tattered garments he wore hung off his wiry frame; hiding deceitfully strong muscles. To live where he did, you had to be strong.
Hanging loosely in his left hand, was the missing black blazer and after the boys vanished around the corner, the dirty blonde boy sighed and leaned against the side of the building, raising the blazer to look at it, his fingers touching the fabric almost reverently before he slung it over his shoulder and disappeared into the misty depths of the slums.

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“Christ Naruto! Wer’d ya git it!” Emitting a low whistle, a dirt covered boy with messy brown hair that may or may not have at one point been a different colour grinned. He had two large triangles tattooed on either side of his face and his grin, though rather yellow with two teeth missing was grand and showed an excitement.
The thin clothes he wore were obviously too small for him, but he wore them with a comfortable ease that said he was quite used to it.

“Nicked it off a richie.” The dirty blonde boy replied, squatting down, his own frayed orange pants threatening to tear at the knee a little more. With a loud sniff he wiped his nose with the back of his wrist, inadvertently rubbing some dirt off his left cheek, allowing a thin scar along his cheek to just be seen. “Ran afta meh fer a bit.” He stated with a sly chuckle. “Buh gave up when I got ter the alley.” Barking out a laugh, Naruto stood and stretched, his dirty t-shirt rising as he did so. “S’what he gets fer leavin’ it on the bench!” Grinning again, he reached down and pulled the blazer out of his friends grasp and held it in his hands, bringing it to his face and inhaling deeply with closed eyes.
“Aww-The smell of rich!” He said almost dreamily as the lingering, rain like scent of the former owner wafted into his nose. “S’good....” He added, sighing happily. “S’good smell Kiba.” He told his still grinning friend before walking over to an old, lumpy mattress laying on the floor. It was covered in little patches of dark stuff and springs were poking through the covering in several places, but Naruto looked at it as though it were the greatest thing in the world.

“Got lots ter do tomorrow!” Kiba suddenly said, getting to his own feet and walking over to the mattress as well. Blinking, Naruto gave him a confused look, when did they ever have lots to do?
“Lots of nothing!” The messy brunet guffawed, clapping Naruto on the back before falling onto the mattress. Naruto, grinning soon followed suit, pulling the blazer over his body like a makeshift blanket.

The only thing they ever did was what everyone did; survive.



TBC....

Okay guys! There’s the Prologue! The following chapters will be much longer, so don’t worry about it being short. Tell me what you think and if I should carry on! ^^