Chapter Text
Uzumaki Naruto
Uzumaki Naruto - loud, obnoxious, rebellious. Those were what his peers and elders perceived the troublemaker to be. Those were what the child thought he wished to be too. It was better than to be called a fox, a demon, a monster, a murderer. None of those labels made sense to the blonde, and his attempts to find answers rarely if ever bore fruit.
Occasionally… there were promises. The old man in the funny hat had always put time aside from his busy schedule. Hokage-sama, everyone insisted, but to Naruto he was just grandpa. Whenever those words left Naruto, that leathery face exposed to many an element seemed to soften with paternal love. The old-man had a son, but Naruto never met him. He never gave an answer why, just like he never explained who the blond's parents were or why everyone hates him.
Well, that's not completely true. If Naruto became a Ninja, if he had proven his maturity…
Maybe it was true. It will be true if that stupid clone won't stop being lame.
"Unfair!" cried the brat, and laughter reverberated through the classroom.
Smack, smack, smack. Poof!
The laughter rose louder. Sounds of a raven scoffing and mumbling something in disapproval.
A shout.
"That's enough!" yelled Iruka-sensei.
Nothing, it continued.
"BEHAVE!" repeated the chunnin-instructor, his head growing disproportionate and finally the children settled down. That always seemed to work.
Shame. Fear. Desperation. Can't show them. Grandpa never shows them. The funny dog-masked ninja following Naruto around never shows them. So he started laughing, not even hearing Iruka's advice.
It's just a prank. I didn't fail. I meant for it to happen. Believe it!
Ninja arts are nothing but imposing your reality upon the world, right?
"Anyway. I hope you all took notes as in one month, there will be no second tries. You either make it and go on to form genin teams, or back to remedial for another year."
Shit.
It wasn't a prank. Try as he might, pump his chakra as he might, focus as he might. Nothing. It was a dud. A failure. A lame.
But he tried. For hours he tried. Moment class was out, Naruto Uzumaki ran to the public training grounds (ones near the Uchiha compound - nobody can see his weakness there as people avoided that haunted ground) and spent his efforts until the nearby lake turned a warm orange beneath the setting sun.
This wasn't going to work. Not even a child who forced smiles even as shopkeepers sneered at him could delude himself into such fantasies.
Think, Naruto, think! He could always find ways to best the villagers and even ninja. He could always get into places he shouldn't. He could escape, plot and pull impossible pranks. Why is this so diff-
It wasn't!
Yes!
There's rumours of a kid who graduated who couldn't even use kawarimi due to his skills with taijutsu!
This is it! Naruto you're a genius!
Uchiha Sasuke
Uchiha Sasuke. The prodigy. The Heir. Every academy and civilian girl's crush.
All meaningless though,
for it came from frivolous, pathetic mouths.
He missed his dad.
Would he have been proud? Would big br-. No. Don't think about him. He's not big bro anymore.
He's a monster.
Tears.
He can't be seen with tears.
The clown. Focus on the clown. What's he laughing about so much? Does he have no shame?!
Pathetic.
Loser.
But at least, useful.
The raven-haired boy didn't have it in himself to head home after class.
The demons skirted beneath the lake's surface, threatening to flood and wash away all that helped him
move on from one day to another and to taunt them was too dangerous.
One day, he will slay the demons. One day, he will avenge his family. One day… things will not be alright.
But there shall be peace.
The last uchiha did what he could to distract himself.
Of course, he justified it was all part of the greater goal.
To admit otherwise is to admit weakness,
and that weakness is why his family had to die.
Weapons. Pouches. Explosive tags. Chakra pills. Food pills.
Check, check, check. Oh, and check.
Did he need this many? Of course! He had to train hard to take revenge on Itachi.
He could also get some more clothes. He'll make genin, that much is a given.
Training will be harder, and with that he'll go through more garments than he can repair.
Could he afford all this?
. . .
He didn't need luxuries. Of course he could.
What's this noise? Poof. Poof. Poof. Was someone trying to break into his home?
Steal what little he had left?!
Had people no decency these days to rob from the dead?!
He ran.
… Naruto? What is he doing so far from the village?
Is he… practising?
Hrmf. Pointless. He should just keep going home. He should, yet he stayed and watched.
It was to avoid being noticed by the clown, he reasoned.
The useless idiot thought they were friends.
. . .
He can't afford to be friends with someone like this.
Yet he continued to watch.
Did he miss the imbecile?
Nonsense.
What? Genius?
What is that moron doing right now?
Ah. Henge.
Uzumaki Naruto
If Naruto wanted to pass by having special skills, he needed something special. Something to make even Jounin jealous! Something that would also help with his pranks! Henge is awesome, but it has one big problem. It fails when touched. Even if he can maintain it - which amazingly - he can! It remains obvious.
He needed something deeper. Something quasi-real! No! Semi-! No! Truly real. A true transformation, not an illusion.
Can he? What question is this? Of course! He'll be hokage, believe it!
Plus, he already did it before. Not intentionally. But it happened. Nights he wished for grandpa, he could feel his teeth sharpen. Nights he wished for his unknown parents, he occasionally clawed himself. The teeth and claws always disappeared once he calmed down. But they were real.
He could learn how to invoke these at will, and surely that will help him pass! But… Even the knucklehead ninja could recognise this was a bad idea. Occasionally, villagers did see the fangs and the claws when he was scared and afraid they'd hurt him - they manifested. It made them more scared. It made the dog-faced ninja show up and bring him home.
Even he could recognise it'd cause issues.
No. He needed something like the claws and teeth but without the whole… monster part. He wasn't a monster. He was Uzumaki Naruto - future Hokage!
Think. Think.
The claws and fangs always came when he was worked up. When he was overflowing with emotion.
He looked like a monster when he was sad, scared or angry.
He wondered…
He sat.
He dreamt. Sakura. Sakura always made him happy! Grandpa always made him happy! Duckbutt… He used to make him happy, but he's been acting strange these last few years.
Not enough.
There had to be something. He knew there was something. He could feel it.
Focus.
Focus.
Dog.
Boar…
Dog again? But thumb and pinkie splayed out, almost like whiskers. Where did that come from?
Ram.
Pain. White-hot, all-encompassing, overwhelming pain.
Uchiha Sasuke
A girlish scream. Hah, embarrass-
Wait.
That… That didn't look like a Henge. What did the clown do? Why is he laying on the ground? Fuck!
Reckless idiot!
He didn't need more people from his life disappearing!
Fuck!
What even was that? How could this moron make his chakra visible?! What was wrong with that chakra?
Were the villagers right? Orange?! It makes no sense.
Maybe he should stay away, if Naruto really is a mon-
No. No more people disappearing.
Doesn't matter. Wake up!
"Wake up you useless clown!" snarled Sasuke, not even realising he wasn't shaking Naruto.
…
"WAKE UP" he pleaded. Fuck this! Fuck this all!
Just before his breath escaped him like on oh so many nights, he heard his name.
He didn't recognise the voice, yet felt breathing.
The clown isn't dead.
Onyx eyes closed and stillness came over them.
Breathe.
Neither Uchiha nor Uzumaki moved.
Okay. He's alive. He owes me an explanation. Owes me? Never mind.
What even happened?
The answer is obvious, Sasuke had but to open his eyes.
It wasn't Naruto.
It was a girl. Hair red as Konoha's flames, or perhaps more like… a tomato?
If not for the shock and the demons beneath the lake, he'd snicker.
Tomato.
But if it wasn't Naruto, who was it?
… Nobody he had ever seen had hair this red. Not even Sakura.
… Nobody he had ever seen had… whiskers?
Wait, Naruto had whiskers.
But this felt real. He could feel the girl's hair.
It was… Nice. It felt different to the clown whenever he grabbed and yanked him by his locks.
He could feel her breathe.
There was no distortion, there was no sign of genjutsu!
(or if there was - it was far more advanced than the clown could ever conceive… especially after
that night.)
What's going on?
Uzumaki Naruto
Everything hurt. The claws and fangs hurt when he manifested them. Sasuke was holding him. What? Why was duckbutt here? Why was he… crying? What the hell happened? Sasuke never cried. At least, not in public. Naruto saw him by this lake but.. This is different.
"Sasuke?"
No response, no explanation. Just quiet. Fuck, it still ached. Fuck, if he passes out like this he'll never pass the academy. Fuck. Fuck. Ouch. Moving hurts. His voice sounded wrong.
No matter. This felt nice. Like grandpa or Teuchi. He has no idea what's happening, but he's going to enjoy it a while longer. The uchiha didn't seem to be in a hurry. He was exhausted.
Why did this feel so nice though? He used a transformation. The claws and fangs always felt… wrong. He always felt wrong. He should feel more wrong, not less! It didn't make sense.
He latched onto that which made him happy.
It feels nice. He wants to see. He needs to look strong, hokage are strong! Grandpa is strong!
He forced a victorious smile, trying to sound his usual self - "Did it work?" - it sounded weird again.
It looks like the Uchiha had shut down. Growling, "Hey, b-bastard! Let me go" and he wiggled out of his grasp. Maybe calling him bastard was too much but… Dammit! He wasn't gonna move otherwise and… Calling him a bastard made it feel less weird.
Naruto wiggled free and looked to the nearby lake. Its orange had given way to growing hints of silver. Ah well, it will work.
A girl looked back. Nothing unusual. Nothing weird, 'cept the whiskers and the hair.
Nothing weird.
It should be weird! They told him in the orphanage when he …
Nope.
This is a dream.
Nope. This is a nightmare, yup!
Nope.
"DON'T TELL ANYONE YOU BASTARD! I'll tan your hide if you do, believe it!" and he ran off, not even trying to dispel the transformation.
On the way home, not even crashing into crowds uncoordinated and clumsy could dispel the jutsu. Not even tears and mind racing a mile a minute. It worked. But why this? Why did it feel right?
Home. Empty. Desolate. Undecorated. Maybe he should've gone to the hokage's tower. He could use a hug. No. Can't have grandpa see him like this. Can't have a repeat of… that.
Nope.
He focused.
Pain. Searing, all-encompassing white hot pain.
A thud. Panting.
He was back to normal.
He felt wrong.
He was back to normal.