Shadowed Sun

Interlude - Naruto

Naruto loved his sister very much.

From the very beginning, Naruto knew his sister was bright. She grasped things quicker than he could, and she always went out of her way to teach them to him, as well. The time at the orphanage, he knew she hated that part the most. Naruto also had to admit, the time at the orphanage was his least favorite part of his childhood. Nearly every adult there spared them very little time, and the time they did give them was usually riddled with sneers and lectures—even when they had done nothing wrong. When they finally managed to grab their own apartment, Naruto was thrilled.

They had a garden—a damn good one, if you asked Naruto—and they had furniture and it was warm and best of all, it was just the two of them. Sure, Naruto definitely wouldn't have minded if, you know, they had parents, but living with his twin was just as good... at least he thought so. He didn't really know any other way, so he'd like to imagine it was.

Anyway, they managed just fine on their own and then Oji-san enrolled them in the academy. Naruto could remember he was so stoked because he always wanted to be a shinobi and he remembered Miwako's own excitement, as well. He could remember how the two of them had stayed up all night the night before their first day, talking avidly about what they were expecting.

He could remember the absolute shock about finding about Kurama. On one hand, he was a little sad his sister didn't introduce the two sooner, on the other hand he was alright with that. He didn't really like the fox, and the only reason he put up with him was because Miwako seemed to like him.

Really, really like him. It was weird. That didn't mean Naruto would grow to like the fox, too, though. Some part of him actually resented it—him—because it was his fault he and his sister were hated. If it wasn't for that fox, who knows what kind of lives the two of them could be leading? They might have even had loving parents! So he was just fine with Miwako keeping that secret to herself because at that time, he wanted nothing to do with it.

After graduating the academy, Naruto thought he got put on an okay team. On the bright side, he was with his sister—which was awesome!—but on the down side he was with the bastard. At first he thought the only good thing that was going to come out of that team, was that Miwako sure as hell wasn't the bastard's fan girl. Things started off a bit roughly, but thanks to Miwako's idea about the whole 'truth always' and 'like ripping a band aide off—really fast' idea, things seemed to be going a lot smoother than it could have been. They also got a pretty cool sensei.

He knew Miwako was getting special training for tracking when she was younger. He even met the man a handful of times, though it was only ever in passing. Miwako seemed to absolutely love those sessions and Naruto was glad. Naruto was very glad. And while he loved sharing time with his sister, he held no love for learning to track and despite Miwako offering dozens of time, he declined each time. But he was still happy for his sister because she finally seemed to find someone she really admired and that made her happy.

On their first mission, Naruto had to admit he was scared. Terrified, actually. If it wasn't for the bastard's words, Naruto would have remained absolutely frozen during the battle. But then he and the ba—Sasuke teamed up and they kicked serious ass. They dominated their opponent, knocking him out before Kakashi even finished his! Kakashi was pleased with both of them—and praised both of them! Naruto couldn't even remember anyone else, besides Oji and Iruka, who praised him and damn it felt fantastic. He could see why Miwako seemed to like Kakashi so much then, because he was a cool sensei.

He was hurt that his sister had fared little better, and felt guilty that he couldn't be there for her. The mission was quiet and worrying for the rest of the time, because she was oddly subdued and he wasn't sure what he could do, but by the time they made it back to Konoha, she was her old self and assuaged Naruto's worries.