Chapter Text
The hillside was a night sky, constellations of houses with porches scattered across it, all of which faced the raging Pacific beneath them, and most of which had families on the porch, swings occupied with elderly and infants alike.
Like a heavy blanket on the small town of Konoha, a dense fog laid across it more often than not, shrouding the night sky underneath it. On days like these, the grey sea was just out of view from Naruto’s window.
Naruto’s swing always remained empty; the townsfolk couldn’t even remember the last time they saw the small boy with honey-hair laughing on the porch. It’s for the best, they say.
Someone like that, someone like him, should not be given the same porch-luxury as a good person like you and I.
But the ocean's song is so loud for a young boy. The ghostly forms of fishing ships cruising to the port and the glint of the sun as it lies to rest sing to him a ballad of escape.
The fog was constant, like the ocean itself was stretching her thin fingers to the golden-haired boy, reaching and stretching to pull him under her vastness.
She called, and Naruto yearned to answer, to let himself fall into the currents as the world turns prussian blue.
The porch swing swung towards the ocean, but Naruto would never sit in it.
Sometimes, the cruel jeers of his own neighbors were enough to drown out her never-ending cries.
He didn’t kill them; he knows he didn’t.
The court said so, the detective said so, Naruto's own memory said so. But the townsfolk don’t bother with fact or fiction when they point their fingers and narrow their eyes.
And soon, corner store gossip manifested itself into broken windows and cold glares on the street. The court ruling was nonetheless forgotten. The view to the sea from the shattered window was a lot less appealing than from the porch.
Naruto did not kill his parents, but his small grey house on the hill with the white porch and a wooden swing, and now boarded up windows, remained empty as ever.
But the townspeople in Konoha would rather harass an orphan boy than accept that the real killer might still be on the loose. That their beloved police might have let this one slip from their fingers.
Naruto did not kill his parents.
For that is certain because if he cannot trust his own mind, he cannot trust anyone, and that would be a terribly lonely world to live.
It was now ten years since his parents were killed. Naruto was now 18, and his windows were boarded up with plywood and nails, and he hadn’t sat on his porch in years.
Naruto did not kill his parents, but he will find out who did.
He will clear his name, and he will bring justice to the slaughter of his youth.
Breaking into the library was really not one of his finer moments, however.
In his defense, the librarian turned her nose towards him and hastily put the ‘Closed’ sign up when he tried to enter during the day, so really, it’s not his fault.
He shuffled through the archived newspapers; he’s been there for a while, probably an hour at the very least. His shoulders ached, stiffness pulling through them as he painstakingly unfolded another article.
He groaned and threw a newspaper down. You would think that the murder of two adored and respected citizens would’ve at least made local news. Instead, the headlines detail the weather and the opening of a new coffee shop.
A series of small metallic clicks broke him from his concentration, and he scrambled up to his feet. He knew the librarian's husband, a burly man with a shotgun, oh God, Naruto was screwed if someone heard him.
He really didn’t want to die, not yet, at least.
He hastily shoved the newspapers into the file cabinet he found them in, not bothering to reorganize them. He heard the door swing open, and he darted towards the open window he entered.
The floorboards creaked underneath his fast feet; he swore under his breath.
He was a goner; the town had been looking for a good reason to get rid of him for ages, a bullet to the face was really not the way he wanted to die.
A shot echoing in the fog, no one confirming or denying who killed him, a funeral with no attendees. His hands shook slightly.
The door to the archive room swung open, and his blue eyes opened wide, meeting those of his soon-to-be-killer.
“What the hell?” His mouth fell open, and he dropped his foot from where it was halfway through the library window. “Sasuke?”
The boy in question froze, a look of sudden surprise breaking through the indifferent facade that normally masks his face.
His expression, eyes blown open, mouth slightly open, was so stupidly hilarious that Naruto’s mouth couldn’t help quirking up in a jeering smirk. Noticing Naruto’s change in demeanor, Sasuke’s shocked expression quickly settled into his normal "I don't care about anything, especially not you" look.
“Are you serious.”
Naruto snickered, “Are you serious? What are you, stalking me?”
His facade broke again, Naruto was having way too much fun bothering him for someone who thought he was going to die less than two minutes ago.
“I’m not-” He started incredulously, then suddenly regained his composure, “I’m just looking for something.”
“Got a sudden desire for some late-night reading, Uchiha?”
His nostrils flared, but he didn’t respond, just kinda stood there, and if Naruto didn’t know Sasuke, he would say he looked a bit awkward.
“Could ask the same question to you, Uzumaki,” He responded finally, arching a brow towards the boy.
Naruto snorted, “That’s none of your business, idiot.”
Sasuke’s eye twitched, and he looked five seconds away from bursting a blood vessel. He crouched down towards the file cabinet with the newspapers, opening it slowly and rifling a few of them with a slightly perplexed look on his face, before turning to stare at Naruto.
“Did you really unorder these and leave it?”
Naruto huffed, “Well I would’ve reorganized it if you didn’t interrupt me.”
Sasuke didn’t dignify that with a response, he just stared at him blankly, sighed, and continued looking through the papers.
The silence stretched. Naruto’s nerves buzzed, and of course his mouth ran before his brain.
“Don’t tell me you’re hooking up with the librarian.”
He whipped his head around, “What?”
Naruto shrugged, “Cmon don’t look at me like that, you obviously have some sort of key to get in here and she’s like, totally crazy protective over the books and stuff.”
“So you immediately assume I slept with her? What is wrong with you? She’s married, and over 50.”
He scoffed, “Okay, I mean it’s not that crazy the whole town is practically on their knees for you. How’d you get a key then?”
Sasuke glared at him sharply, “I don’t have a key.”
Naruto stared at him for a moment before his eyebrows shot up, “No way you picked the lock. I always thought you were like totally goody-two-shoes.”
Sasuke didn’t answer him again and just continued searching the cabinet.
Naruto chuckled to himself, to which Sasuke whipped his head over, “What the hell is so funny?”
Naruto hummed, “Hmm, nothing.”
Sasuke opened his mouth to argue with the blonde again, but seemingly thought better of it. They were both silent for a couple moments, and Naruto was struck with the absurdity of it all.
“I can’t believe the Sasuke Uchiha broke into the library of all places, you know when people say you’re a ‘bad boy’ I always thought they were just saying that, but no, Sasuke you’re the real deal.”
Sasuke’s jaw tightened in irritation, “Do you ever shut up?”
Naruto laughed, “No, not really. How’d you even learn to pick locks? That’s like, crazy, I just went through the window like a normal, not crazy, criminal would.”
The other boy just stayed silent, concentrating on his methodic task, Naruto took a second to just stare at him as he worked.
He looked about the same as he did in high school, with inky black hair that stuck out awkwardly in the back similar to a duck’s behind. His skin was pale and disgustingly flawless, and he wore all black, which wasn't uncommon for him but Naruto figured at this point it was more of a tactical choice rather than a fashionable one.
Naruto opened his mouth to say something about Sasuke being allergic to fun, when he heard a familiar metallic clicking sound of a door unlocking, followed by heavy footsteps that caused the aching wood underneath them to groan.
Naruto’s smirk fell and his heart began to race, the air was thick with tension. He glanced over at Sasuke who looked way calmer than Naruto felt, carefully putting the newspapers back as if they both weren’t about to get murdered by the librarian’s second-amendment-abusing husband.
He was half way out the window when he caught Sasuke’s gaze again, “Sasuke, cmon we’ve gotta go, like now.”
Sasuke glared at him and rested a finger against his lips in a universal sign of “shut up idiot”.
“You can’t be serious,” He hissed, jabbing his thumb towards the door where they could here someone walking, “You’re cleaning up now?”
“I don’t want them to know we were here,” he muttered, voice betraying the nerves he so carefully hid.
The footsteps drew closer. Floorboards groaned, the sound vibrating in the fog-heavy silence outside.
Naruto swore and without much thought grabbed Sasuke’s wrist, “Cmon.”
Sasuke froze, glared at Naruto and wretched his wrist from his grasp. But then the creaking drew so near that Naruto wouldn’t be surprised if he could smell the gunpowder of a shotgun.
They ran towards the window, Naruto shoving Sasuke out of the way so he could escape first, because Sasuke is less likely to be shot, not because he was scared or anything obviously.
He landed on the damp grass, falling clumsily, Sasuke followed not long after, swearing under his breath. His hand was cut from where he swung off the window, its old wood tearing into his palm raw.
Naruto and Sasuke didn’t stop running until the building was a shrinking silhouette. Their breath came ragged, footsteps pounding against wet asphalt, until Naruto veered toward the old playground at the edge of town.
It was a rundown thing, kids never played in it anymore and they certainly wouldn’t be there at this hour.
He bent over, clutching his knees, sucking down the salt-heavy air in short wheezing breaths. Beside him, Sasuke leaned against the rusted monkey bars, as calm as if they’d only jogged across the street.
Naruto glared at him between gasps. “Seriously, what is wrong with you?”
Sasuke’s eyebrow twitched, “Is that a rhetorical question?”
Naruto’s nose wrinkled in disdain, causing the freckles on it to squish, “No one cares that you took Honors English, idiot.”
“Wouldn’t you be the idiot for not taking Honors?”
Naruto huffed, “You’re insufferable, no wonder you have no friends.”
Sasuke stared at him blankly before sighing.
Naruto’s ears turned red, “Whatever.”
The air went awkward, pulling him back to all the times he’d fought Sasuke, how easily his fists cracked against the pale, unbothered face, how it felt to clash with someone both infuriating and revered.
“You’re an idiot,” Sasuke muttered at last, low and sharp. “Slamming drawers, stomping around like a bull. If you’d kept quiet, I might’ve actually found something.”
Naruto’s head snapped up. “Excuse me? You were taking your sweet time reorganizing newspapers while I was trying not to get us shot.”
“Hn,” Sasuke scoffed, crossing his arms, he turned around like he was about to leave.
“It doesn’t matter anyway, there wasn’t anything.”
He turned towards him, his onyx eyes were narrowed slightly, as if he didn’t know exactly what Naruto was talking about.
“Oh cmon, don’t play dumb. Not a single article talked about the murders, my parents or yours, not a single word.” He scowled and shoved his hands deeper into his pockets, “Figures, ‘ya know.”
Sasuke went very still, and the air around them seemed to sharpen like glass, his expression was dull and unreadable.
“Guess that makes both of us screwed, huh?” He said, smiling towards him sheepisly.
Sasuke didn’t answer. Just turned his face back toward the street, silent, unreadable, as though the night might swallow his thoughts before Naruto could get near them.
Naruto kicked at the gravel, the sound loud in the emptiness, and muttered under his breath something about the time and wanting to go to bed.
Sasuke didn’t respond, he just walked off into the night, holding up a hand to wave back to him.
Naruto had always been aware of Sasuke, from the days they were born, their paths were interwoven. His mother would go on hikes with Sasuke’s mother, their fathers would talk about politics or something. Then, the string binding them tightened even further when Naruto’s parents were killed and he was left alone, he would act out in class, desperate for a lick of the town’s attention, but it all seemed to fall onto the beautiful prodgious outsider, Sasuke Uchiha.
They would fight often, mostly physically Sasuke’s parents even went to Naruto’s house to apoligize once or twice.
Then, Sasuke’s parents died, and everyone in the town knew of Naruto’s disdain for the Uchiha, as well as his track record. Even though Sasuke’s brother was the clear harbinger of this death, it was much easier to blame an ugly and loud orphan like Naruto.
And the fact, the fact that there was another boy like him, all alone, who was held with such reverence by the town.
It made him sick.
Why, why couldn’t they look at him that way?