Those Mistakes We Make

A/N: First of all I dedicate this chappie to my friend Aurelie-chan, who inspired me to finish it off satisfactorily. Love you, Aurelie!!

Chapter 3: Uchiha Sasuke

The first time Uchiha Sasuke saw an Uzumaki… the only Uzumaki left, actually, he thought the girl was a very stupid, albeit very beautiful, blonde nuisance.

He didn’t want to admit it, but when they came to blows, she could hold herself quite well, and that convinced Sasuke that the girl was one annoying but strong opponent. One that could become a good bride should the time come he was forced to choose a kunoichi. He had muttered her ridiculous name while Itachi tended his sore nose enough times to make sure he knew which blond girl he would marry one day.

That idiot, however, had to squash all his little fantasies.

He had walked purposefully towards her after another day at the academy, his eyes narrowed with determination and his fists clenched at each side.

“Hey,” he had called the blonde who had been, until then, comfortably sitting on a nearby swing, waiting for someone.

Blue eyes met his own black ones.

“What do you want?” Naruto snapped, her eyes narrowing to mirror his own.

“Wear this,” Sasuke had explained, holding out a silver ring with the Uchiha crest on it. Naruto took it curiously and tried it on. It was a perfect fit, of course, since Sasuke had been measuring Naruto’s hand meticulously and without her notice all week prior.

Naruto had stared at Sasuke then, her eyes full of confusion.

“Thanks, I guess…” she muttered. Sasuke grinned.

“Well then, from now on no other man can touch you, got it?” he stated, his hand firmly holding Naruto’s own. “Only I can touch you now, until we grow up.”

The blond had blinked, tilting her head to the side.

“Why is that?” she had asked.

Sasuke snorted.

“Because you are my fiancée, you idiot. It wouldn’t do for you to be touching other men when you have me.”

It was then that Naruto understood the implicances of Sasuke’s actions. It was almost similar to the pendant Itachi’niichan had given him, he guessed.

“Sasuke, I can’t be your bride,” he told him seriously, the same seriousness he had used on the other Uchiha.

Sasuke was taken aback. This had never happened! Any other girl in the village would have jumped at the chance to be engaged to an Uchiha, especially him!!

“What?” he snapped, his eyes angry, if not a little teary, he was six years old after all. “Why!?”

Naruto had taken his hand in his for a second, and gently patted Sasuke’s ebony locks.

“Because, Sasuke, boys cannot marry other boys, Hokage Jii-chan said so.”

Sasuke’s world came tumbling down before him.

“You…” he gasped as he grabbed Naruto’s waist and stuck a hand into the other boy’s shorts.

“KYA!! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!!!” Naruto shrieked, struggling. Sasuke stood before him, frozen.

“You are… a boy…” the older boy whimpered, not too sure what to do now.

“HEY! SASUKE! NARUTO!! ARE YOU TWO FIGHTING AGAIN!” called a voice from the Academy. Naruto’s eyes teared up as he raised his arms and whimpered.

“IRUKA-SENSEI!!! SASUKE IS MOLESTING ME!!” just like Hokage Jii-chan had taught him to do in case someone touched one of his most intimate parts.

It was then that the young Uchiha heir realized his hand was still inside Naruto’s shorts.

Iruka gapped at the boy.

“UCHIHA SASUKE!! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING!” he roared, grabbing the boy by the back of his shirt and pulling him away from the blond.

When the enraged teacher had explained what happened to his mother and father, Sasuke had been sent to bed without supper and denied delicious deserts for almost a month.

But what he had hated the most was his mother’s and Itachi’s giggling as they remembered the event, each and every single day.

“Sasuke-chan should bring his bride one day,” Mikoto giggled occasionally, while slipping a desert by his bedroom’s window. “I’m sure he’s a very nice boy.”

Sasuke had sulked until the matter was forgotten.

“He’s not pretty, mama, he’s a moron.”

The second time Sasuke saw Naruto. REALLY saw him, they were in the middle of a fight. Their enemy had trapped them both inside his ice mirrors technique and none knew how to get out. Naruto was staring around, disconcerted. Sasuke had finally gotten his Sharingan and he made the mistake of turning to warn Naruto off. Their enemy was going to attack him from behind.

What he saw, however. , was something he would never forget.

Naruto stood there, trying to find a pattern of movement, trying to follow the enemy with his eyes.

He stood there so… so terribly beautiful.

Almost like an angel.

His angel.

Haku peered from a mirror, ready to attack the blond.

Sasuke couldn’t stand the thought of someone harming his Naruto. To hell with the consequences, to hell with Itachi.

So he got in the way.

He almost died because something inside of him told him he could not live anyway, if Naruto wasn’t there.

He was almost frightened by the control Naruto had over his actions.

Then the blond wrapped his arms around him, and whimpered on his shoulder, soaking it with his tears.

And Sasuke felt the world had just settled around him.

“I’m sorry,” Naruto had whispered between sobs. “I’m so very sorry. Please don’t die on me again, Sasuke.”

Sasuke had put a hand on Naruto’s golden locks and allowed a small smile to curl his lips.

“Idiot,” he mumbled his cheeks aflame.

He had thought then, that the matter would be settled, now that he and Naruto were… sort of friends. But the urges inside of him only got stronger; the passion that burned his skin at night almost consumed him.

He grew scared.

What did Naruto have to make him feel this way? The blond shouldn’t have so much control over his emotions, his reactions. He felt like the idiot was his owner, his master, and he in turn, was Naruto’s.

It was an overwhelming thought.

He couldn’t let the other boy rule his every thought, he had to concentrate, he had to be the best.

He pushed Naruto away with all his might, it was better to be his rival, the sole center of his thoughts, than his friend.

The Chunnin exams came.

He spent most of his time saving Naruto’s life.

Then Naruto spent the rest of the time saving his own.

Orochimaru came.

Kakashi grew wary of him, he knew.

He was not concerned; however, something inside of him ached with hate every time he saw his sensei. Kakashi was a threat, he knew.

Kakashi had to be kept as far away from Naruto as he could.

The man was a pervert, he was a pedophile, and he was going to harm any children he came across.

Specially Naruto, of course.

Because Naruto was the most beautiful, the most charming, the most caring.

The best.

And most importantly.

Naruto was Sasuke’s.

Then Gaara and that demonic fat… cat… thing attacked.

He stayed more time at the hospital than he had ever been before.

He dreamt of his future with Naruto, once Itachi had been killed.

Naruto would obviously become Hokage, he secretly had devised a plan to make the blonde’s dream come true, even if he had to force, bribe, steal and black mail every single citizen of Konoha to achieve it. Naruto would be so happy he would almost cry with joy. And once Sasuke told him he had done it, the other boy would fall into his arms without a second thought. They would be together forever.

He, of course, would stay by his side as his bodyguard and most trusted advisor. Both would lead the village into a golden era and would also do the most wicked things on the Hokage’s office when no one was looking.

It would be paradise.

But in his dream, Naruto had turned to him after making love, his eyes sparkling.

“You know, Sasuke?” he had whispered as he interlaced their fingers together. “I asked Sakura-chan to marry me, she said yes.”

Sasuke’s heart had thundered in his chest.

“Sakura?” he had asked, a hint of disgust in his voice. “Why?”

“I love her,” Naruto had answered. “I just want to be happy, have a family…”

Sasuke had immediately thought that it was ok to live his life around Naruto’s happiness. That the blonde’s smile was enough to make him want to tear the world apart and then re-shape it into something of the other’s delight.

But that was, as long as Naruto was his.

Slowly, he had gotten up in his dream and ran to Sakura’s apartment, where he had proceeded to rip her throat out with his bare hands. Laughing maniacally to her shrieks of agony.

Then he had gone back to Naruto, thrown Sakura’s head at his feet and embraced him from behind, still soaking in her blood.

“You are mine,” he had whispered hotly. “No one else can have you.”

During the rest of his dream, he had locked Naruto inside the Uchiha complex, where he was held prisoner until the blond killed himself.

Sasuke, of course, woke up with a start, soaked in sweat.

His immediate reaction was to look for Naruto, but could only find Sakura sitting by his bedside. He felt so shamed for his dream, that he didn’t snap at her.

“Where’s Naruto?” he asked.

Sakura smiled.

“He was here just a few minutes ago, but the sand siblings came and asked him to join them for a while,” she explained. “I guess he’s talking to Gaara.”

Sasuke’s eyes had narrowed, and ignoring Sakura’s protests, he had gotten out of bed and dashed towards Naruto’s chakra signature. Determined to find his idiot before that monster Gaara hurt him again.

He had not expected, however, to find Naruto sitting by Gaara’s bedside, their hands joined as they whispered to each other.

“I know you can do it, Gaara,” Naruto said encouragingly.

Gaara stared into the blonde’s eyes, hesitant.

“How can you manage… ?” he whispered. Naruto grinned.

“Because I have precious people by my side, people that I love and want to protect. Even if my body is ripped apart, even if I have to give my life a thousand times for them, I will still do it, because that makes me happy.”

“… you will get hurt when they don’t love you back with as much intensity,” Gaara warned, his eyes cold.

Naruto smiled sadly.

“I know they do, he.. I mean… one of them almost died for my sake, I thought I would die with him if he did.”

Gaara looked away.

Naruto stared at him before wrapping both arms around Gaara’s chest and resting his head on his shoulder.

“I think, you feel it too, you know what I’m talking about,” he said conspiratorially. “Your aneki and your aniki would die for you, and you know it.”

He grinned when Gaara’s green eyes turned towards the couple standing by the window.

Sasuke clenched his fists.

Naruto had found another to protect him, another to love him, if Gaara’s twitching left hand, laying innocently by Naruto’s waist could be accounted into the equation.

No matter, the redhead had to leave as soon as he was dispatched from the hospital. Then Naruto would only have him again. He had to be the strongest, so Naruto kept needing him.

It was a perfect plan, so perfect.

His obsessive training even kept Kakashi apart from Naruto.

His life was going great.

And then, Itachi appeared in their lives once more.

Itachi who cornered Naruto against a wall. Itachi who used his Sharingan to make everyone forget.

Itachi, who had not let him forget the fact that during those brief minutes he was around Naruto, he had seized the boy in his arms, inhaling his heavenly scent…

… And kissed him.

He was really going to kill that man.

But first he had to get away from Naruto, he had to focus all his energy into being stronger, faster, stealthier than any other shinobi in the world, then and only then, he would come to claim Naruto, with his brother’s head as a trophy.

He had not expected Naruto to get in the way of his plans though.

Each blow, each insult, each time he saw hurt in those soulful blue eyes, it was like his brother had driven a kunai into his chest over and over again. He felt unworthy, inferior, something that should be put down.

But he had to do it.

He had to get away or he would not be worthy of Naruto.

Itachi would defeat him again.

Someone was aiding him, he knew, someone was lodging chakra weights to Naruto’s legs and wrists, someone was slowly siphoning Naruto’s strength.

He wished he knew who wanted him away from Naruto…

… but he guessed he knew anyway.

As Naruto laid there, unconscious, so weakened and pale, Sasuke decided he would not deny himself any longer.

Slowly, he knelt by the boy’s side and kissed his pink lips hungrily, devouring that mouth that had haunted him since age 6.

Taking that flavor and committing it to memory.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered then, his eyes full of tears. “I wish it was different, but I need to be the best, you deserve the best.”

… Maybe just another kiss, for the road.

“I’ll be back, Naruto, wait for me,” were his last words as he left Naruto behind, his heart breaking at every step.

To be Continued.

A/N: So, here's the chapter. I don't know if I like the mood swing this chapter in particular has. Maybe I will do something special for the following one. I think the one that's coming is the most dificult I have done so far. I have it half-writen but I have to admit I don't like the product so far and I really don't want to write something hurriedly just to get it out of the way.

Next Chapter: Hatake Kakashi.