Words from yours truly: this is a SasukexNaruto fic and that means YAOI (boy+boy lovey dovey sugaryness 3) and~ in the future there will be lemony content so if you don't like. Don't read! It's also my first Naruto so fic so go easy on me, okay? ^^

Summary: Sasuke is a troublemaker sent to Naruto's school to start fresh and try to stay out of trouble. Naruto is a boy who struggles to endure the cruel fate that he was dealt all the while trying desperately to cling to himself and his sanity. Sparks fly, hearts are broken and love begins to bloom in the most unlikely of ways.

Raging passion

.  .  .  .

Today was the day that school started up again. Naruto Uzumaki breathed a heavy sigh as he began to dress in his uniform. The closer he got to being ready to head off to school the more depressed he felt. In the world outside his safe haven, the one place he felt protected, he was considered public enemy number one and not just by kids his age but by people of all ages. If Naruto had just happened to meet the gaze of someone on the street he would be often be faced with hatefulness and bitterness in its prime. Sometimes he would feel resentment, he couldn't deny that, but he knew why people hated and feared him. Somehow it felt like other people had a right to despise him though it didn't make much sense all of the time. They didn't know him. What right did they have to judge him?

As far as Naruto knew he was the only living heir to the Uzumaki bloodline. Everyone else had either died or been killed. Naruto's parents had died shortly after his birth. He couldn't say he missed them because he had never known them but there are always times where he wished they wouldn't have died. Naruto had been left in the care of a man named Iruka after his parents died. Iruka was perhaps the only soul that Naruto could really trust or talk to. Iruka had been a friend of Naruto's father and he had told Naruto that he had sworn to look after him no matter what happened and for that Naruto was grateful. When Naruto had had questions or a difficult day he would always come running home to Iruka for comfort. Little things like that were some of the only things that kept Naruto going from day to day.

Naruto would never forget the first time he had tried to approach a group of children to play. He had simply walked up to them and told them his name and before he had even realized what was happening the children had started throwing rocks at him calling him a monster. Monster! Naruto had run home bloodied, and in tears. He didn't understand why the other children didn't want to play with him and why they had thrown rocks at him and hurt him. "Iruka-sensei, why do the children hate me?" he had sobbed while his guardian had tried his best to patch the boy up. "It's complicated…" Iruka would say to him as he applied some alcohol to Naruto's cuts. "Why do they hate me? Why? I didn't do anything wrong…I didn't!" Naruto flinched and tried to swat Iruka's hand away. The medicine stung a lot and made his eyes water even more. Iruka looked at Naruto with the most serious expression on his face. He set down the bottle of alcohol before he knelt down in front of Naruto and let out a sigh. "Naruto, do you know that mark on your stomach?" he asked gently. Naruto blinked and lifted his shirt, examining the large, strange mark. He knew the mark all right. He had been born with it and Iruka had told him it was a birth mark. "This?"

"Yes. That mark is…well, it's a seal. It's special. Your father, his father and his father's father all carried that same mark with them to their deaths. This mark is apart of your destiny and you must learn over time to endure your fate and live the best life you can. People will hate you and resent you because of this mark but no matter what happens you cannot give up hope." Iruka hadn't told him more than that until a few more years had passed. At that time Naruto hadn't understood much of what Iruka had told him being so young but he had tried his best to sort it out by himself until the time came when finally Iruka had decided to answer his questions once more. He had been ten years old when the full weight of his cruel fate had come crashing down onto his shoulders.

"A spirit is sealed inside my stomach?" Naruto made a face and stared at Iruka in disbelief. "Yes, a spirit. But it's not just any just any spirit. It is an ancient evil. One that must never under any circumstances be allowed to roam free again." Iruka reclined back in his chair and had his head turned to the side so as not to meet Naruto's gaze. Naruto was always irritated when Iruka refused to go into detail about what the spirit was and why exactly it had been sealed in the first place. Iruka constantly avoided the subject by using the 'I'll tell you when you're older' phrase. 

"I told you a few years before that your father had the same mark and before him his father and so on. Legend says they are chosen for pureness in heart and for their courage to bare this painful task of keeping the evil spirit inside of them; to sacrifice themselves for the good of everyone even if the face of so much hardship. Your father lived his life as best he could but it was hard for him." Iruka paused momentarily. "He suffered greatly. I tried to help him as much as I could but there was a void in his heart that I knew I could never fill…then your father met your mother." Naruto laid his head chin on the table as he listened intently to Iruka's recollections of the past. It was so odd. Hearing Iruka talk about his mother and father didn't seem real at all, it just seemed like another one of those fairy tales about princes and princess and happy endings. They're nice to think about but things that happen in those stories have no truth to them. They are only fantasy. The real truth was that life was hard and a lot of the time there were no happy endings.

"He was the happiest he had ever been around her and finally they decided to get married." Iruka began again. "The union was considered an outrage to everyone else but your father and mother didn't care in the least what anyone else had to say about their plans for marriage. It was their decision and no one was going to stop them. A year later your mother became pregnant with you." Naruto straightened himself and looked at Iruka. "What really happened to my father and mother?" he asked carefully. He wasn't even sure he really wanted Iruka to tell him right now. Of course, he had been told before that his mother had died giving birth to him and his father in some kind of accident. Iruka seemed reluctant to answer at first but after a few moments of uncomfortable silence he finally replied: "You're father ultimately became possessed by the spirit. He went insane and nearly a group of the townspeople. In the end someone had to shoot him to get him to stop. Your mother died giving birth to you, you know that. 'Such is the consequence for bringing yet another cursed life into existence' as you're father had told her. Your parents were two very courageous people, Naruto. No matter who or what stood in their way they were determined to live a happy life and provide a future for you, they wanted to overcome every obstacle but unfortunately they couldn't conquer everything."

"…will I die like my father? Will I become possessed by this…thing that lives inside of me?"

"I don't think so."

"But I will die because of this seal, won't I? Why don't I just kill myself and save everyone the trouble of having to deal with." The table suddenly jolted upward a bit when Iruka quickly got to his feet and glared at Naruto, startling him. "Never say anything like that! You have a duty to your parents to keep yourself alive no matter what. If you die…and if you have no heir to continue to contain the spirit you will just end up releasing the villain and all of the suffering of your ancestors and your parents will have been for nothing!"

That was one of the first and only times that Iruka had raised his voice like that. Afterward Naruto could remember running from the table and hiding away in his room for the rest of the evening. He could remember being so angry and confused, but by the next morning he had decided that he wouldn't run away. He would try his best to accept the fate dealt to him, even if it did cost him his sanity or his very life. It was true that he had never known his parents but he wasn't about to shame their memory by taking the cowardly way out and ending his life. He would fight and he would overcome.

.  .  .  .  .

Naruto felt an overwhelming sense of fear rise up inside of him as he approached the school. Once he had made it up to the main gate he stood there for a long while trying to work up the courage to keep going. He managed to make it a little farther inside the gate with but great difficultly. He didn't get far before he felt like he was going to be sick. Naruto laid his hand over his heart and began to breathe deeply to try to calm his nerves.

It's okay…I'm going to be fine…

He tried to tell himself little things like that every morning but he knew what was going to happen to him. He felt like someone offering his head to an executioner with an axe in hand. He felt helpless.

.  .  .  .  .

Today was the day. The day Sasuke Uchiha would have to start in his new school much to his disappointment. He had been completely against going to a new school, but unfortunately he wouldn't be able to have a say about it. Anyway, it was already too late. He had already been enrolled and today was the day that school started up again. "Don't look so pissed off. If you glare any harder out that window you might shatter the glass," Kakashi, Sasuke's guardian, mumbled as he steered the car towards the school parking lot. Kakashi was an unusual man but he was probably the only person that Sasuke could trust.

Kakashi had once been a cop before he had met Sasuke and decided to be his legal guardian. He finally quit after a routine arrest turned deadly when the suspect had decided to resist by pulling out a knife and attacking Kakashi and his partner. Kakashi suffered an injury to his left eye and it still has long scar over it from where he had been cut; he's also blind in that eye. Kakashi's partner wasn't quite so lucky. He was killed by their suspect's accomplice who had been armed with a hand gun, shooting the unsuspecting cop in the back of the head. After that Kakashi quit the force and somewhere along the line met up with Sasuke. Sasuke had been abandoned by his mother at a young age along with his older brother. They had stuck together and watched out for one another, and yet in those years Sasuke had spent living on the street with his brother he still felt like he was alone. Sasuke's brother, Itachi, wasn't at all what you would have called caring or loving. He always seemed to act like Sasuke was a burden to him and finally one rainy afternoon Itachi just left him behind. Sasuke had been abandoned again. Sasuke had managed to get along by himself, but naturally he had had to steal to keep himself alive. He did so until he finally got caught and that's when he had met Kakashi for the first time.

Sasuke shrugged and sat back in his seat, not saying anything. It was typical of him and Kakashi was more than used to the teenager's behavior. "You know you can't blame anyone except yourself. Honestly, Sasuke, what were you thinking?" Kakashi sighed. Sasuke had been expelled from his last school for getting into a fight with the principle. The way Sasuke looked at it the bastard had deserved to get his ass kicked, but that was in the past now. "Not only did you beat that man senseless but you also ruined his car…you're lucky he just settled to have you kicked out of the school and didn't press charges," Kakashi chuckled, finding it amusing for some reason. He glanced at Sasuke as he pulled up in front of the school. "Am I going to have to drag you kicking and screaming or are you going to be a good little boy and go quietly?" Kakashi asked sweetly, smiling a devilish smile. Sasuke gaped at his guardian and eventually got out of the car, muttering curses. Kakashi waved to Sasuke then drove off down the street. Sasuke followed the car with his eyes and waited until it was gone completely. As he walked up to the school's entrance he didn't see any other students so he guessed that he was late. Sasuke shrugged, Kakashi was always late for everything. It was amazing that the man could keep down a job, but then again Kakashi was a weird guy. He seemed like he could manage anything if he concentrated hard enough on doing so.

Oh well…

.  .  .  .  .

"Oh, look who decided to show up today. It's the demon child," a voice howled. Naruto flinched and straightened himself before he quickly looked up ahead of him only to find a group of his classmates standing there, waiting. Instead of going through the main entrance Naruto had decided to try and sneak around the back of the school, but unfortunately it seemed that this plan of action had been anticipated. This scenario was all too familiar to Naruto. Every day he would come to school at the very last minute just after everyone else had gone inside the school and every day his plan to avoid everyone else at least for the first few minutes in the morning were destroyed by this group of boys. There were five boys in all and they lived to torture Naruto. At first Naruto had stood up to the boys but it was five against one and usually Naruto wouldn't be able to fend them off successfully alone. The only thing he could try was to run to class if he could in once piece.

Naruto stared at the boys and without waiting for them to get their chance to advance on him he bolted, running as fast as his legs would carry him. He could hear the thunder of footsteps behind him but didn't look back; instead he concentrated on where he was going. Naruto had found a dark corner to hide away in and tried as hard as he could to keep quiet but he was breathing so heavily. He covered his mouth with his hands to snuff out the noise, his lungs felt like they were on fire. Naruto listened intently but didn't hear any noise from around him. He relaxed and allowed himself to breathe again, coughing and gasping as he did. Naruto grabbed his bag and carefully looked around the corner of his hiding place just to make sure he was safe. He didn't see anyone so he moved to expose himself completely when he felt someone grab a hold of him suddenly and jerk him to the side. Naruto let out a yelp before he found himself face to face with one of the boys who had been chasing him. "Trying to run, eh?" the boy sneered. "When are you going to learn, demon? You have nowhere to run." Naruto was thrown violently thrown onto the ground. He looked up and found that he had already been surrounded by the group of boys. There was nowhere to run.

Naruto was kicked, punched, cursed, spat on…in the beginning when the boys had first started to gang up on Naruto he had screamed and cried when they had hurt him. They had enjoyed his cries of pain and it only seemed to encourage them further so after a while Naruto learned to hold everything in. No matter how much they hurt him he wouldn't make a sound if he could help it. He really didn't care if he was beaten, he didn't care how cruelly they treated him or what they said to him, it didn't matter anymore…this was his fate, why should he try to fool himself and hope for a better future?

One of the boys grabbed Naruto by the collar of his uniform and tried to yank him to his feet, but instead he only ended up ripping his shirt half open. The boy let out a gasp and released Naruto suddenly, stepping back. The other boys followed his lead and just stared Naruto as if he had suddenly grown two heads. Naruto stared at them momentarily before looking down and noticing that the top of the seal on his stomach was slightly exposed. It was odd that the very reason for his suffering had managed to frighten away his tormentors.

"Joel, i-it's nothing…what are you getting so worked about? It's just the mark…" one of the boys huffed. The head tormentor half grinned, shrugging his shoulders as he tried to casually hide his embarrassment at his sudden retreat. "I-I know…I've just never see it up close before, that's all."

"Tch, yeah right, you're just afraid to admit you're a coward. You're just as afraid of this damn mark as I am but you aren't stuck with carrying it with you for the rest of your life. I am!" Naruto bit out. He couldn't stand the sight of these guys any longer. He couldn't take these kinds of situations anymore…he wasn't just going to lie down and die. He had made a promise to himself to overcome any obstacle in his path and these boys were just another of a long series of obstacles. Joel, the lead man, clenched his fist and held it up as he attempted to punch Naruto but before he could get the chance he was knocked flat on his face.

"What the hell?!" one of the other boys exclaimed before he was also knocked to the ground. Naruto looked up and blinked in surprise when he saw a boy dressed in a black t-shirt and a pair of worn jeans. He had jet black hair and sharp eyes which had a touch of crimson to them; they were unlike any eyes Naruto had ever seen before.

The unknown boy had his foot set squarely on one of the other boy's heads as he squirmed beneath him. "Bastards, you'd think guys like you would have something better to do than pick on some weak kid. Get out of here." The words were filled with malice, it was even enough to make even the toughest boy, Joel, speechless. The group of boy's collected themselves quickly before sprinting away, leaving Naruto behind with the dark haired boy. After he was sure they were gone Naruto picked himself off of the ground and adjusted his torn shirt just enough so at least the mark of his stomach was hidden. He picked up his bag and frowned when he noticed the footprints all over it, the group of boy's had trampled all over when they had run away, a small parting gift he supposed. Naruto dusted his bag off before he turned and looked at the dark haired boy who was staring directly at him. Unnerved by the other boy's intense gaze upon him Naruto quickly looked at the ground before he bowed slightly. He opened his mouth to thank the other for helping him but before he had the chance to the other boy spoke up: "Don't bother thanking me. I didn't do it for you. I just hate seeing people start fights with people who obviously don't stand a chance." Naruto stiffened and gripped his bag, frowning. Well, that was awfully blunt of him. Oh well.

"I-I didn't ask for your help, but I still appreciate what you did. I know you said not to thank you, but I want to. Thanks."  He bowed again and walked away. He headed inside the school and immediately retreated to the nearest bathroom to get himself cleaned up a bit before he had to go to class. Naruto cleaned up his cuts and scrapes but he still looked awful, not to mention that his uniform was now torn. He sighed and stared at himself in the mirror. Oh well, this was just another thing he would have to learn to deal with…at least for today. Naruto made his way out of the bathroom and towards his first class. By the time he had finally reached it he was thirty minutes late but even if he had been a minute late it still wouldn't matter to the teachers he had at this school. He opened the door and was met with absolute silence, at first anyway. The teacher turned and faced him with an indifferent expression on his face. "Oh, well, look class. It seems like Uzumaki finally decided to join us. You're thirty minutes late, you know." Naruto nodded and bowed his head. "Yes, I'm sorry…I was delayed."

The teacher snorted and faced the black board once again. "That's no excuse. Christ, what a pain in the ass you are. Just go take your seat, will you? You're holding up the lesson." There was some laughter and sarcastic remarks hurled at Naruto as he quietly took his seat in the corner in the very back of the room, separated from the rest of the class. The teacher knew exactly why Naruto had been late for class but the well being of a monster like Naruto was obviously the least of his concerns. Naruto sighed and immediately tried to focus his attention on what lied out the window which was right by his seat. He tried his best to ignore the pain nagging at him from his aching limbs, but today the routine beating he received in the mornings had been a little more vicious than usual. Naruto knew it would get far worse as the day dragged on. This would not be the last of his torment for the day, no, it was just the beginning. Naruto was oblivious to the pair of eyes fixed directly on him, watching him ever so carefully. The eyes belonging to a boy named Sasuke Uchiha, the dark haired boy with crimson eyes.

~ To be continued ~

A/N: woo-hoo! First chapter is up. Yayness~ *cheers* to tell the truth I had three other alternative beginnings to this story of mine but in the end I settled with this one…I hope it's not too horrible. ^_^ I know this chapter is very vague and just…blah! But I'm going to work harder to produce better quality chapters in the future…um…that is if anyone reads this. *laughs nervously* okay I'll shut up now. ^.^;

P.S: I spaced out the paragraphs a bit more. Sorry to those of you who read it before and got a headache from all my sentences being crammed together like that. .;