Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ What Is Love Like? ❯ Team 7 ( Chapter 1 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

SilverKyuubi says: Whoo! I'm on a roll! Anyway, my dad was watching a movie that happened to be pretty gory, and that's where I pretty much got the idea for this story from. This will be a yaoi, I think, although I haven't completely made up my mind yet, and if it will be a yaoi, then I don't really know of a good couple. SasuNaru might be on my list...

Warnings: This is kind of sad, and it's basically my remake of most of the other episodes. Severe torture, violence, and other stuff....and this is most likely gonna be a yaoi.

Pairings: SasuNaru (?) ~I have other pairings in mind, but I might just focus the entirety of the story on Naruto and Sasuke.

Disclaimer: Me no own Naruto. Kishimoto-sama just lending Naruto over to me for a while so I could have my way with him. XP

Enjoy.

_________________________________________________________________ ______

~*What Is Love Like?*~

Chapter 1- Team 7

______________________________________________________________ _________

Drip.

He didn't think it would ever stop. That consistent dripping noise would echo in his mind especially when he didn't expect it. He hated it. He never wanted to hear it again. He hated it. He hated his life. He hated them...

They did this to him. Now all he wanted was for all of them to die. He wanted to be left in peace.

But then again, what kind of monster is left in peace?

Monsters have no feelings...or so they thought. So they assumed it would be harmless to try and completely destroy him from the inside out.

Literally.

He knew pain. He knew it so well, they might as well be related. They always did this to him. They gave him pain, gave him every type of pain they knew of.

Even the type that didn't allow him to find peace in sleep at night.

They took all hopes and good dreams away from him before he was given a chance to even know what such things were.

He was reminded of it every night.

_________________________________________________________________ ______

The pink-haired new kunoichi looked very happy at the thought of being paired up with Uchiha Sasuke-kun. She hoped and prayed to the kamis above that they would grant her wish as she sat in the classroom with all other 27 graduates. She also prayed that Ino-pig would be set up with some people that she hated, so then it would put a very nice icing on the cake when she rubbed in how being with Sasuke-kun for a very long time is so much more awesome.

She never thought she could be happier when she heard her name and Sasuke's name being read off the list that Iruka-sensei was holding to be on Team 7 under the wing of Hatake Kakashi-sensei. Now nothing could spoil her day! She would be able to try to get close to Sasuke, hopefully win his affections, be married off to a wonderous house in a beautiful field of flowers. She would be the most popular kunoichi ever, her Sasuke-kun would protect her from the dangers of ninja life, and they would have many children, and live happily-ever-after!

"Also in Team 7 will be Uzumaki Naruto, under Hatake Kakashi," Iruka continued after reading off Team 7's last member.

That was when Haruno Sakura's non-spoiling day just got...well...spoiled.

She took a hesitant glance over to the boy that she reluctantly sat next to in order for her to sit next to Sasuke.

Uzumaki Naruto...Sakura didn't like him one bit. He was currently laying his chin on his forearm and his expression looked far-off. He had shocking blonde hair, he had an orange jacket that was tied around his waist at the time, a black shirt with a red swirly, and orange pants with the traditional ninja sandals and hitai-ate Leaf headband. He was pretty much just like any other ninja, seemingly normal.

Although he wasn't.

You could see it in his dull, blue eyes; an unusual color for the Japanese, though not unusual on a blonde.

He was just down right creepy in new-born kunoichi's mind. He was always pretty much hated by everyone else, although she failed to know why exactly. She heard a rumor that something really bad happened to him when he was hardly half a dozen years old. Something that made him hate everyone else. He never let anyone come within too close a distance, and so he never let anyone touch him. He always had that spaced-out look, like his mind was always on something else. Not like daydreaming, just....not here.

He really slacked in his grades, she didn't think anyone ever saw him perform jutsu in front of the class. He was pretty much just there to take up space. Average grades, although a little below the belt, and she was for sure he was going to fail the final exams in the Ninja Academy. She didn't even know why he was there in the first place....or why anyone let him into the Ninja Academy for that matter. But when she found out that he did indeed complete the finals to pass as a ninja, she was shocked...and when they heard they were to be paired off in teams, she not only prayed to be in the smae team as Sasuke, but she prayed to not be in the same squad as Naruto.

Unfortunately, the kamis only gave her half of the deal, but she was content with being in the same team as Sasuke. Love wins! Cha! cried Inner Sakura.

_________________________________________________________________ ______

Things were getting more interesting he had to admit, despite how much he disliked the idea of having other members added to his training as a ninja: He assumed that additional members to training would only slow him down and get in his way.

When he heard that Haruno Sakura was going to be in his squad, he cringed on the inside while keeping a cold indifference mask on his face. He hated all of those stupid fangirls always chasing after him. It was so annoying, because they knew nothing. They all claimed to be in love with him, but his Uchiha looks were the only thing they saw. He held more power than usual, and his status as the last Uchiha also got in his way. He just wanted to have a mentor to train him so that he would be able to take him down. He didn't care about anyone else, let alone some little pink-haired fangirl. She would slow him down immensely.

When he heard that Uzumaki Naruto was also going to be on his squad however, his interest was spiked, though only a little.

He had been told from his admired one from a long time ago how the Uzumaki kid was tortured excessively at the age of six...about his age. It had given him nightmares because his Aniki had deliberately told him all of details. He could imagine it so well, and it scared him. Although he ws never told why exactly he was tortured. He just assumed it was for fun, or someone was extremely sick in the head, or both. He could imagine what it might have looked like, but he couldn't imagine what that pain felt like. Also, no one even seemed to care about what happened to him. It made the other children stay away from him, claiming that he was evil, but Sasuke couldn't understand it at that age; so he left him alone, like everyone else. He guessed he never really cared for the boy either.

Naruto didn' scare him, but on the few occasions that their eyes met, he could see something inside of them. His blue eyes were so dull, so iced over. So empty...his heart hardened to the pain.

Kind of like he was.

He never payed attention to how much they were alike, only to how much they were different. The difference in their power. Naruto seemed to slack in grades alot, and whenever Iruka-sensei asked him to perform a jutsu, he would just sit in his seat, staring at Iruka as though he was looking right through him. Sasuke could sense how tense the room always became when he did that, so he just gave him a failing grade. Iruka-sensei never bothered to talk to Naruto about it. It seemed that the kid was a lost cause. Sasuke, though, was not surprised when he saw Naruto sit down two seats over from him, a hitai-ate Leaf headband across his forehead. Sasuke always assumed that Naruto was after his own goal, and willing to do anything to get it. Even though Uzumaki never spoke, he could feel something always rolling off of him in waves, something so noticeable that it would brush against his conscience.

It was pure, distilled hatred and anger.

It was never shown on his expressions, but it would vibrate from him. Somedays more noticeable than others.

Sasuke knew what that was like. He knew that Naruto was different than his grades told when Sasuke first felt that wave of hatred roll off of him. He knew Uzumaki was smarter than he let on, but it was like he didn't even need to prove it to anyone else how good he was. The raven didn't want to think on it too much though. All in all, Naruto was probably just messed up in the head.

It would be interesing however. He wished he could have someone train him personally...the idea of someone professional training him to kill him was always enticing. But he would get it accomplished one way or another. He would become strong. Strong enough to beat him.

The whole team arrangement deal was still annoying though...

_________________________________________________________________ ______

A silver-haired jounin took a look around the small apartment complex: a mere one room. It was neat and tidy, bed made military-style, the room and floors seeming to collect dust. He must not spend much time in here.

The third Hokage briefed him about Team 7 and Naruto, although Kakashi, son of the White Fang, knew enough about the 12-year-old. Kakashi had been one of the Anbu Black Ops sent to retrieve the boy 6 years ago. What those bastards who called themselves ninja did to the boy was absolutely unforgiveable...and it had permanently scarred the blonde forever. Regardless of the fact that he was the Kyuubi's vessel, the actual boy had nothing to do with the attack that had been layed upon the village almost 13 years ago. But people didn't understand, and didn't see this, and so they believe him to be the monster. They thought that Naruto being the Kyuubi's vessel excused them from taking out their frustrations on him, and giving them the pleasure of holding a sort of power over the boy by hurting him.

He thought about the boy in pity. He would most likely never have the chance to live a normal life now, and he would probably never smile again, however rare a smile was even before the incident. Apparently, it was supposed to be kept secret from the village about what happened to him, but someone obviously had a loose tongue and told someone about what happened to him. It didn't make the people look at him in pity though. No one felt sorry for him. They believed he deserved it. They believed he deserved every bit of pain he received.

That tore at Kakashi. He didn't think he would be able to look straight in the boy's eyes. He would only be reminded of how they looked then.

Kakashi left the apartment. He was scheduled to meet his new team after lunch, which was almost over, but he still had somewhere to go before meeting his new team. He had yet to do his daily routine in exchange for the new genin assignments they were given.

He would be late, for sure, but he would make an excuse. Just like Obito used to.

_________________________________________________________________ ______

'Sensei! Where the hell are you?! Cha!' Inner Sakura was getting majorly impatient, while Outer Sakura was as patient as a nun. She was starting to get pissed though. This was ridiculous! They've been waiting for half an hour already for their new sensei to come and introduce himself to his new team. This wasn't exactly how first impressions were supposed to go. Come on! Every other team got to meet their senseis. This was so unfair! She wasn't making any progress on Sasuke either, every time she tried to talk to him, he would glare at her and say nothing in return. She still kept her hopes high though. During lunch, she tried to win his affections again, but he was no where to be seen: he had run off too quickly after the orientation. She had ended up eating lunch alone. Naruto wasn't around either, not that she wanted anything to do with the creepy boy....

Speaking of Naruto, he was sitting again with his chin resting on his forearm, staring straight ahead, a barren look on his face. There was just no emotion there. It could almost rival Sasuke's cold facade, although Sasuke's was so much more cool.

Finally, the door slid open, revealing their new sensei. The silver-haired jounin had a mask covering the lower half of his face while his hitai-ate covered his left eye. He was clothed in the traditional chunin flap jacket and he wore fingerless gloves. He actually looked really cool, but his one revealed one eye was extremely bored looking, as though the three students in front of him weren't even worth his time.

"Well, I know I was late...but there was this old woman that needed help across the street, but then some kids rushed past her and she fell over. She was quite heavy, so it took longer than I expected to pick her up..." Kakashi stated with his eye curved in a half moon shape. That must have been the biggest bull shit that Sakura has ever heard. She sweatdropped, and then glanced at Sasuke to see his expression. His eyes screamed annoyed, and he looked just way too awesome with his chin resting on his folded hands like that. Sakura couldn't help herself, she just thought that way about him all of the time. She was surprised at Naruto's expression though.

His lips twisted upward, a wry smirk of amusement. He was still staring straight ahead, but the expression was almost alarming. Naruto thought it was funny? She thought the boy never really payed attention to what happened in the real world, since he always looked like he was staring into Mars, but apparently he did pay some attention to what happened around him. Though it did tick her off that he saw their new sensei's tardy-excuse as amusing...She didn't find it funny at all! Her sensei was supposed to be a role-model for younger and new ninja. They were supposed to be puntual. But the difference in expression did bring some tension relief...

Atleast she knew the boy was human afterall.

_________________________________________________________________ ______

Naruto wasn't a person who seemed to have much going on for him. No one ever really understood what went through his mind, the reasoning behind his actions, and so forth. He never really revealed that kind of information with expressions or words. He hardly spoke, he kept a barren face, his eyes were dull and almost a deep blue, and he never tried to stand out.

Not anymore, anyway....

When he was younger he used to do those things. Those childish things, with a happy, glowing face and bright sky-blue eyes, always a happy grin stretching those poor whisker marks on the sides of cheeks. But that was a long time ago. He was kind of reminded about the way he used to be when the pink-haired kunoichi would scream her head off to the equally childish silver-haired sensei. It wasn't any special feature about them that sparked his interest, just their behavior. He found it all amusing. For once, he tried to smile, for what reason he wasn't entirely sure. It was like he was trying to give hope he could ever be normal again, though he knew he couldn't. He would never be accepted in the human world again, the people were traitors to their own kind. But he was different...but that wasn't the point. But it didn't matter anymore. The smile ended up a little awkward, but it was there none the less. He didn't know why he was trying to hold on to...whatever it was, but he so desperately grasped at it only by a thread. Naruto felt that if he didn't attempt to do something, it would vanish from him forever...Well, he was just happy that he was more human than he appeared. Fellow students thought him a freak while older ones thought him a monster. He let them think what they may.

It's not like he was new to that or anything...

Kakashi's voice brought Naruto out of his musings and back into reality. He said something about introducing themselves...

"Well, you introduce yourself first sensei, you know, to show us how it's done." Sakura asked of the one-eyed sensei. Naruto had to admit though, while she did bring some hint of a feeling back to him that has long since past, she was becoming annoying...

"Okay then. My name is Hatake Kakashi. As for what I like...well, I like a lot of things. I have many goals too...and hobbies...? I have lots of hobbies." Sakura sweatdropped, Sasuke and Naruto remained impassive. He heard Sakura whisper to Sasuke about how Kakashi-sensei didn't say anything much other than his name. Sasuke looked unchangingly throughout the whole ordeal. Kakashi-sensei seemed unperturbed by his strange, unreaveling answers. He turned to Sakura, silently asking for her introduction, as she was on Sasuke's right.

"Well, okay, here we go! My name is Haruno Sakura! Um...I like...uhm...." she squealed in a completely girly fashion, Naruto noted with a wrinkle of his nose. Sakura's crush on the Uchiha was all but obvious, especially since she pretty much proclaims that every single day in hopes of attaining the Uchiha's attention. Naruto, on the other hand, was never really into such things as girlfriends and whatnot. It all seemed pointless to him. It just never sparked an interest, although he had subconsciencely pushed all silly dreams aside. He never desired such things as a wife, mate or whatever before. Incidents did occur before he was even supposed to become interested in such things, and also influenced his decision to never put something like trust in the hands of another person again, but also he just found the whole thing stupid. Leave it to a female ninja to get her hormones in the way of training...With a quick glance to Kakashi told him that he was thinking the exact same thing. "My dreams for the future...umm..." Another squeal. She better cut it out. This is just annoying now. Although Naruto didn't really see the point of this whole ordeal anyway.

"And, what about your dislikes?" Kakashi cut in, saving Naruto the trouble of having to send her a glare to just shut up.

"Dislikes? Well, I know I hate that Ino-pig! And I also don't like...ugh..." she sent a hesitant glance toward Naruto. Naruto wasn't even bothered with these sort of things anymore...he receieved too many of these looks that Sakura was throwing his way to be perturbed by it. It was just another rock on the road, a small trouble. He ignored it.

Kakashi snuck a glance at Naruto, noticing his blank face, apparently not disturbed by Sakura's confession for the obvious dislike for the blonde. He then turned to Sasuke, again silently asking for an introduction. Kakashi was always curious about Sasuke. He was, after all, an Uchiha, just like his former best friend was. He was curious about just how strong Sasuke could become, and was silently cheering that he had gotten such a favorable student under his care. He was interested to see his potential. He knew the last Uchiha wouldn't let him down, if his ambition would be anything to go by. He was fairly certain about Sasuke's intent, it was obvious to the other jounin what he might want, but he would now here it from the raven himself. Sasuke continued to look impassive as he rested his chin on his folded hands, his eyes narrowing in a heated glare for no one in particular, as he spoke.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I don't particularly like anything and I hate everything." Sakura cringed at this. "What I have is not a dream, for it will be a reality. I plan to restore my lost clan, and kill a certain someone..." Sasuke's glare turned even more hostile, and the atmosphere became tense. Naruto was watching him from the corner of his eye.

Naruto had mixed feelings about the Uchiha. He never really ever had a chance to talk to him when they were younger, although Naruto remembered admiring the Uchiha immensely. Naruto kept his admiration hidden though; he was afraid of rejection like most of the others he tried to be friends with and kept it hidden. Over the years, he pretty much forgot about him. Naruto found it interesting how when Sasuke had his family murdered, everyone gave him sympathy and pity over the fact that the famous clan had left only an 8-year-old boy as the heir, and was all alone. Naruto knew the pain of being alone among others, but had never received such a thing as sympathy. He later found the Uchiha to be arrogant and spoiled and Naruto never associated himself with Sasuke. They never really existed to eachother unless the raven would make an occasional comment on his grades being low or him being stupid or something. It would make Naruto feel better rather than feel mad for some reason though. He never retorted to Sasuke's taunts. He had a feeling that Sasuke knew he was lying to everyone.

Kakashi narrowed his eye in pity at Sasuke's statement. 'I knew it...' Kakashi was aware of the 'certain someone' Sasuke was referring to. He felt sorry for him though. He knew the path that Sasuke had chosen to take, and he was afraid things might not go as planned if he continued. The path of revenge was a delf-destructive one. Sasuke would most likely end up killing himself because he was still living in the past.

Kakashi lastly turned his attention to Naruto, again silently probing for an introduction. Naruto narrowed his eyes at the man slightly in annoyance: he didn't really feel like saying anything about himself, especially in front of these people.

"I think I'll pass..." was his answer to Kakashi's stare. Kakashi merely sighed and stood from his lax position on the rail he was leaning on in defeat of Naruto's answer. He obviously wasn't going to force anything from the blonde. He saw Sasuke spare him a glance from the corner of his eye before looking away. Sakura was fidgeting nervously.

"Well, now that that's over with, I'll give you the information for Team 7's first mission: a survival exercise." Kakashi stated while he looked at his students bored-like.

"What?! A survival exercise? But sensei, I thought that these exercises would be over now that we're ninja!" Sakura said, confused at the situation. Naruto was a bit confused as well, though he didn't show it. But it only perked his interest a little bit. He had the knowledge from a very reliable source, so it didn't surprise him much that their sensei would give them something like this. Sasuke remained outwardly impassive, but the question was dancing around in his bedroom eyes.

"Well, let me explain what this is about. Out of the 27 ninja that had graduated from the Academy, only nine will actually qualify to become ninja. So, we use this survival test to wade out the newbies who most likely can't handle themselves as future ninja. Those who can't handle themselves get sent back to the Ninja Academy. Get it?" Kakashi said, still looking bored, but there was a seriousness in his eyes. This guy meant business. Naruto guessed he wasn't as aloofed as he appeared to be at first.

"Then what was the point of the whole graduation at the Ninja Academy if we were just going to have the risk of coming back?" Sakura asked. She was becoming nervous. She didn't want to be separated from her Sasuke-kun! They were supposed to be in the same group for a long time! Now she ran the risk of never getting in the same team as him. Now what was she going to do? Inner Sakura started to panic slightly.

Sasuke was annoyed, but he was sure he would be able to pass this survival exercise. He could handle himself just fine. Although, he supposed it depended on what exactly the survival test would be about. He decided to voice his inner question.

"What is the survival test exactly?" he asked with a grimace on his face. Anyone who had class with Sasuke knew he didn't talk often. They assumed he was naturally anti-social, but he did talk however. You know, to answer questions and stuff. Which only got him more popular with the girls...not that he wanted that or anything. He wondered then why he couldn't be born a mute.

"Well, there's a low probability that you'll pass. About 66%!" Kakashi stated with his one eye curving into a smile. The three were shocked though. 66%? "Anyway, it's a make it or break it test. Pass this test or go back to the Academy." It made them all the more determined to pass the test. None of them desired in the slightest to go back to the Academy. Not after so long. Naruto gave a curious look at the sensei. He was so weird...

"Well, anyway, be sure to get to the training grounds at 5:30 A.M. sharp, and don't be late. You're dismissed." As Kakashi started to walk away, he turned back to them, his expression obviously in an amused one. "And one more thing...you had better not eat breakfast, or...you'll puke." He walked away.

That got their attention loud and clear. Naruto was wiser, he might know what this whole thing is about, but he wouldn't take any chances. Freak or not, he didn't feel like puking all over himself. Jounin were more experienced, whether he liked to admit it or not, and they weren't all that they appeared to be. He learned that the hard way. He was much wiser than he would have been for a normal genin, but he the memories he had weren't enough to be able to predict a talented shinobi's tacted in complicated situations such as this.

The other two got up to go back home or wherever they needed to go. Sakura immediately asked Sasuke if he wanted to do something with her, which he immediately declined. They walked off out of sight and hearing while Naruto remained to think some things over about the survival test.

He decided to take the safe path and not eat anything in the morning. He loved to eat, but he wouldn't for this matter. Actually, it didn't matter whether he became a ninja or not: he would still get what he wanted. He was just trying to make a final attempt to play it by their rules. If he failed this test, Naruto would be chased after the very type of people he was trying to become. He would kill the ones he needed to kill, ninja or not. It no longer mattered to him. But he would try to do it by Konoha's rules one more time. But just one. He silently got up and decided to go into the forest. Maybe he'd sleep out there again.

Naruto loved to go into the forest in familiar territory where the animals wouldn't judge him for being different. They sensed that he was much like them, and they accepted him. Naruto believed them to be the only ones. He would most likely spend all day there and talk to the other animals to see which dangers were lurking outside the village. They sensed danger much faster than the ANBU ninja assigned to the posts there. The animals were his family, the only one he ever really had, they were the only ones he was sure would never hold ill will against him. He wanted to protect the animals from harm more than anything, because they housed him when no one else would. One of his favorite friends that he liked to visit was a curious little fox cub, barely 2 years old. Naruto called the male fox Tenshi, because the green eyes were like the forest, so he called the fox the 'Forest Angel'.

But as much as the forest and its animals offered him comfort, they would never be able to ease or take away the nightmares that haunted him while his mind was consumed by darkness under the moon. He always dreamnt about that time long ago, the memories would never leave him be. Each time he saw the images, the more real they seemed to get in each passing sleep.

And he would always hear that noise echoing throughout his head long after he has woken up and screamed in terror.

Drip.

Do you want to play a game, Naruto-kun?

______________________________________________________________ _________

Okay, I know that this is kind of weird. And I decided that this WILL be a yaoi, so if ya don't like boy x boy love, too bad. Naruto needs some lovin'. This might also be a little drawn out too...I promise I won't go into every detail and word that was put into the story. i just needed to lay out some information about the characters personalities, which everyone is pretty much the same except Naruto. I know he's extremely OOC, but this is how i want him. In other words, he kinda keeps more to himself than sasuke does.

In the next chapter, I will start working on maybe a brief summary of what happens in the survival test and then cut to the Zabuza/Haku arc. This will be the first time that Naruto reveals his strengh, and it will also show what i mean by naruto's 'reliable source' of memories and knowledge. It is sort of obvious though...

Well, anyway, here ya go. I hope you enjoy, this took some time to do cuz i was never satisfied with some stuff...but anyway. please note that this is un-betaed (LOOKING FOR A BETA!!) and if there are some grammer mistakes, i'm sorry. leave a review and tell me, cuz i don't feel like reading over this again >.<

Byez! ~Cole-chan~