Broken (SasuNaru / NaruSasu)

1. Konoha High School

Naruto sneezed that morning, he had a weird feeling. A feeling he had just yesterday too as if someone was talking about him. It had been too frequent that week, why would anyone be talking about him? It was more plausible that he was just coming out with a cold. He tried not to think much of it as he went back to his manga.

He was alone at home. Apart from the scratching of his pencil on paper, there was not a single other sound. When the time was right he wore his jacket and left to school.

A quiet walk, even his mind was quiet. That is until he reached the school vicinity. Loud cheers echoed in the empty space and with those questions filled his mind. A sense of dread, excitement and bewilderment washed over him. He wasn't one to get nervous but there he was.

He watched them from afar, a sea of bodies; smiles on their faces. He found himself feeling eager to start studies; though they were still a couple of weeks away. 'Geniuses, Naruto-Kun, just like you so you're going to love it' his mother's warm smile popped in his head.

He liked the challenge, yet he also knew this was a very expensive school. His mother studied here before him with a scholarship and his father was previously 'Minato Ogata', the son and heir of Tsunade and Jiraiya Ogata. The latter was a famous author, so there was no surprise there that they could afford the tuition.

His heart pounded loudly when he saw a group of students, fairly isolated from the rest, ganging up on a girl. His legs moved with a mind of their own, and he found himself in front of the mystery girl. His arms were stretched protectively.

"Who the fuck are you?" Their eyes full of hatred, their bodies tense and angry, clenched fists ready to fight. But Naruto stood his ground. He was alright with being bullied, but he could never sit still when seeing someone facing the same. He did not realize their intention was more sinister than simply bullying her.

"Leave her alone" he ordered, he didn't mean to sound so authoritative but it simply happened. His eyes shot a glance towards her, her lavender eyes meeting his for a second.
A pure gentle face, and he wondered how anyone could be so cruel as to hurt anyone let alone someone as fragile as her.

She had a busted lip and was bleeding. Naruto's eyes softened at the sight. He ignored the assailants and offered his hand to her.

It was something they did not appreciate because they decided to attack. The Namikaze genius was not at all surprised.

He did not like to fight but this was self-defence. Adding to that, he was not allowed to within the school grounds according to his scholarship terms. So he did not attack, he would only block their movements forcing them to move back away from the girl and into view.

Eyes, as dark as night, were quick to notice, and they were ordered to stop; Naruto did so almost instantly and gracefully backflipped away from the range of their next attack.

"Namikaze-san, getting in trouble are we?" The stern adult voice eyed the unscathed boy and then the attackers who seemed to be breathless but suffered no other visible injuries.

"Uchiha-san, he attacked us!!" One of them exclaimed. There was no reaction from Naruto. It was then when the beautiful girl emerged from behind the trees. Holding her side as their force might have fractured a rib. She was breathing heavy. It wasn't the first time she was attacked but it was the first time anyone stood for her. She was grateful, knowing their intentions. The thought very much terrified her.

"He protected me" she softly explained before giving up to the pain. Naruto had noticed her weakness and inched towards her. She expected to meet the tough ground but instead, warm arms were around her. Her voice, he thought, was just as pure as her face.