chapitre 2: the feeling of being the same

..and yet, deep down, Sasuke and Naruto were and still are the very same.

They both have a messed-up childhood: Sasuke had to watch his brother slaughter his parents as well as the entire clan right in front of his eyes. Naruto was detested for a reason he didn't understand, for something he had no control over, a destiny he could not fight against - being the chosen one for the vessel of the highly feared Nine-Tails demon.

They both know the same pain of loneliness, of solitude, of growing up alone. The only difference now is, one desired isolation, while the other frantically tried to escape it. One had chosen hate as his path of getting stronger, the other one love - and this major difference right next to the fact they couldn't be anymore similar, makes the series' crucial point.

When they were young, they immediately realised how similar they were - that they had to withstand the same pain and knew the same kind of feeling of being lonesome. Naruto himself stated at that time, he was relieved having found someone like him.

They might not have talked as children, but at heart, there were also no words needed to understand the other one.

Both of the boys had early to experience what the worst kind of pain means- and even if their past is definitely different, the result still had been the same. Naruto indeed, had nothing to begin with and never had any bonds similar to the ones a family form, while Sasuke's clearly got taken away from him - but in the end, this is exactly how the tie between the two came into being. Without realising it, they had already shared their very first bond- a bond that didn't exist of mere words.

After all, they just couldn't talk to each other. From the outside, the surface, they were too different, being born in different worlds and walking towards a completely different direction. While Sasuke originally was the one who kept Naruto going, who inspired him and therefore, provided him with the direction he would head into - the ironic point is, Sasuke had stopped walking long before.

He didn't need a future - his past was everything that mattered to him. Sasuke was still clearly marked and also deeply wounded by the events of his past and tried his best to avoid all kinds of affection, which could distract him from his ambition - and he almost succeeded. Almost.

Because, despite all of his attempts, he was defenseless against a light, which was shining so bright and warm and even found a way around his cold barrier to his soul. A light, that Sasuke himself had made shine, without realising it.

A light that spent comfort and care - a light that was Naruto.