Аннотация: Naruto remembers the conversation with Shisui and his race with Sasuke.
Part 1. Chapter 9. Selection
Naruto opened his eyes and rubbed his face. It's too light. So, he had overslept the Academy, which he had recently attended with great pleasure. Because his friend studied there. The guy he mistakenly thought was an upstart and arrogant, but he turned out to be very good. His first true friend is Uchiha Sasuke. Naruto jumped out of bed and realized that he was not sleeping on the bed at all, but on the floor, on a mattress called a futon, and several other children of different ages were lying side by side on the same mattresses. It was like he was back in the orphanage he had lived in before entering the Academy. Naruto stared at Sasuke sleeping next to him and looked around at the others, who were also dark-haired, determining that Sasuke and another boy had the blackest hair.
Memories of the past day flashed like lightning.
***
At break, he told Sasuke about Inuzuka Kiba's record, the cherished three minutes and thirty-seven seconds, which he could not beat in any way. However, Inuzuka himself had not been able to break his latest record for several weeks either.
Naruto was able to buy himself a stopwatch to train, and he wondered how fast his friend could run and if he could win the race, which was again planned by the guys on the weekend. Sasuke became interested in the route, and after studying, they went to the outskirts to the mountain path that led to the very finishing spruce.
"It's exactly one kilometer from here to that spruce tree on the mountaintop", Naruto drew a line with the toe of his shoe. "Almost every weekend in the summer, the guys organized candy races. When I had something to put on, I also participated several times," He looked away, sighing, remembering how hard it had been for those candies to feel not alone for a few moments. And how quickly those moments ended with another loss. He believed that if he had won, they would have become friends with him...
"Do you want to practice to win candy?" Sasuke asked.
"Nuu...", Naruto rubbed his neck, embarrassed. "It's not just about candy. However, it would be great to get this prize. But I... In general, it's like a great speed and endurance workout, and I promised myself that I would definitely beat Kiba's record. So that he wouldn't get cocky. I'll prove it...." He bit his lip as he looked at Sasuke, who was staring at him intently. He abruptly stopped wanting to talk about his dream of becoming Hokage, so that his friend would not think that he was just talking, but in fact could not do anything. As Naruto had already realized, Sasuke preferred actions to empty words.
"Well, let's try," he shrugged his shoulders. "Do you have a stopwatch with you?"
"Yeah," Naruto proudly showed off the device.
"Then let's count down."
They stood at the line, and he pressed the button and commanded:
"March!"
Sasuke arrived a couple of seconds ahead of him, but he didn't beat Kiba's record either. However, Naruto thought that it was because his friend didn't know the route. No wonder he was the best student in the class. Even better than Kiba. For some reason, Naruto was not upset by Sasuke's victory over himself, he only mentally promised himself that he would catch up with him in order to always be there and keep up.
They decided to practice here. They threw shurikens, held several sparring sessions, during which Sasuke showed him several new grips and ways to get out of them.
"We need to run along the route of the "candy race" again, but one at a time, because when you spot yourself, it's not the same at all." he proposed to Sasuke after stretching and warming up, and then climbed to the very top of the spruce and waved his hand from there.
Naruto took off abruptly. He had never run like this before. It was as if there were wings on his legs. The feeling that he was doing this workout with a friend and that he was waiting for him and, perhaps, rooting for him, gave him strength. He touched the tree and saw Sasuke's smiling face, who turned the timer towards him.
"Three minutes and thirty-five seconds?" Naruto whispered, not trusting his eyes. My heart calmed down and stopped pounding, and all the fatigue instantly disappeared from happiness.
"Here," Sasuke handed him a kunai. "Record your high score."
Naruto cut out his name and time above Kiba's record. The record didn't last long because Sasuke ran in three minutes and thirty-four seconds. But Naruto was not upset by this fact again. He had a strange feeling when he saw their names written next to each other. And he wished that he and Sasuke would always be friends and never be separated, like these inscriptions carved on an old fir tree.
"It's getting dark," Sasuke said. "Maybe we'll have something to eat in honor of our records, and I'll go home?"
"Yes! I saw that a new ramen room was opened not far from the Hokage's Residence! Ichiraku Ramen, there's an old man who looks kind..." Naruto agreed without hesitation.
"Then let's go," Sasuke nodded.
The owner of the Ichiraku, who introduced himself as Teuchi-san, said that he had recently been in Konoha, although he had previously lived in the village and worked in his father's ramen, but had left for several years to study the art of cooking and now opened his shop. His noodles were delicious and relatively inexpensive. Naruto really wanted to treat Sasuke, because he had money left after the purchases that his friend made, but he did not allow it. After hearing their argument, Teuchi-san said that he greatly respects friendship and young Shinobi, and gave a discount. It turned out that Naruto paid for one serving, but they ate two, and Sasuke did not have to pay. Naruto thanked the kind old man for his resourcefulness and said that when he had money, he would always come to him.
They walked slowly through the dark streets of Konoha, talking. Naruto accompanied his friend to his clan's quarter, and they said goodbye until tomorrow.
After a hundred meters, Naruto froze. Something was wrong. A bad feeling settled in the chest area and made his heart beat rapidly. He remembered that when he had seen Sasuke off earlier, it had been light on the streets of the block and there had been a buzz of people. But this time they didn't come so late, and the Uchiha was surprisingly quiet. And the darkness.
Naruto ran back. A clear sense of trouble was pounding in his temples.
Without hesitation, he flew through the open gate and stumbled, tumbling several times on the hard pavement. When he got up, he saw the face of an elderly woman. She was dead, otherwise she wouldn't be lying in the middle of the street in an unnatural position. Looking around, Naruto saw several more bodies. He thought about Sasuke, and everything went cold inside. Where could he have gone?
"Wait, Naruto," a man's voice called out. Turning around, he saw a silhouette with two red eyes.
"Where is Sasuke?!" fear for his friend overcame fear of this creepy creature.
"Don't worry, he's safe," the red-eyed man replied. "I'm his cousin, and I saved those I could from the massacre."
"From the massacre?" Naruto repeated hoarsely.
"Yes, the Third Hokage and the elders ordered the killing of all Uchiha" The deep voice was full of sadness.
"That's not true!" Naruto shouted as the meaning of what was said dawned on him. "The third one couldn't! He's kind! It's some kind of mistake."
"Look around, does this look like a mistake? These people lived, dreamed, they had loved ones whom they loved, but now they are dead. And Sasuke could have died too. All Uchiha were sentenced to liquidation without trial", The red-eyed man uttered bitterly.
"And Sasuke..." Naruto repeated, looking into the eyes of the dead woman under his feet.
"I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to erase your memory of this conversation. And everything about Sasuke. I can't take any chances. We have to hide so that the Third and his men don't find us and finish what they started."
"My memory?" He ran his hand over Naruto's face.
The past two weeks flashed before his eyes. The happiest days of his entire life. And this man wants to take them away? As if they had never happened? It was as if he had never had a real friend. Erase their names side by side. To make him forget Sasuke. The best friend they had a prank with, who bought him groceries, protected him from teachers, and taught him everything?"
"Yes, your memory," The red-eyed man confirmed. "You're unlikely to agree to come with us from your beloved Konoha to share your exile, so I don't see any other way out. Sorry..."
"No! No need!" Naruto raised his hand, shutting out those creepy eyes that could rob him of his brightest memories. "I don't want to break up with Sasuke. I don't want to live in Konoha without my best friend! I'll go with you."
"Are you sure, Naruto? There will be no turning back", The red-eyed man warned him. "I don't want to force you. I only gave you a choice because you're my brother's friend. Think about it, you won't remember anything, which means you won't suffer, miss, or be sad. Your life will be the same."
Naruto shuddered at the prospect.
"I don't want any "old life"," He whispered. "I'm coming."
"Then I have to tell you something else." A heavy sigh came from the shadows. "Don't think that I'm trying to talk you out of it, but I don't want any ambiguities or accusations that I didn't tell you everything or, Kami forbid, used it for my own purposes, and so on. You're old enough to find out the truth about yourself and make an informed decision."
Naruto swallowed, wondering what else his frightening companion was going to tell him....
"In fact, you're already in my illusion, so I can show you what I know. There is still time, and here it stretches the way I want it to...."
***
"I am the jinchuuriki of the nine-tailed yokai fox," Naruto whispered, coming out of his memories and focusing on his sleeping friend's face again. The black eyelashes fluttered, and Sasuke opened his eyes."