Chapter Text
“And there you go, ladies and gentlemen, we are reporting to you straight from the paddock as the first race of the F1 season begins in just about two hours-”
“Can you please turn it off?” Naruto asks Iruka as he zips up his racewear. Iruka has been like this ever since McLaren announced that Naruto would become their driver, showing his excitement as much as he could. At first, Naruto found it strange. Iruka was not the type of person to wear his emotions on his sleeve. He doesn’t hide them on purpose. He is just mostly nonchalant about the good things in life and acts as if they are everyday matters.
Yet it seems that the man has an exception. No matter where Iruka goes, he brags about Naruto getting into Formula 1. Doesn’t matter if the person is a close friend or just a saleswoman in a supermarket. Everyone should know about it and if you don’t, he will tell you for sure.
However, right now, as much as Naruto normally appreciates it, he would appreciate even more if Iruka toned it down. Naruto hates to admit it, but he feels nervous. He knows that he shouldn’t be, really. After all, he is one step closer to achieving his lifelong dreams. He led his whole life towards this moment. Those long trainings since he was six years old. He recalls every single one, not because of how draining they were, which they were a lot of times, but the excitement he felt during each. Somehow, the six-year-old already understood how big of a luxury it is, to be in that position. He tried to make the most of it and use every source he had to accomplish his ultimate goal; to be the best out there.
So, perhaps calling this as “making one step” is an understatement. This is a big deal. And Naruto can’t mess it up. This is the biggest opportunity he has ever gotten in his life. It's these thoughts, that are causing him these uncharacteristic nerves.
Listening to that broadcast about what’s going to happen today is the last thing he wants to hear. It’s one thing to understand what he needs to do today, and that is to do his best, but whole another is to listen about it from every corner.
Iruka can sense that something is different about Naruto. That he isn't acting as himself. So he doesn’t ask why Naruto would want the radio to be turned off. He can read between the lines. There is no need to put more pressure on him by asking. Instead he does as the boy asked. Then, he stands up from where he was sitting and rests his palm on Naruto’s shoulder.
“You’re good,” Iruka starts off. “And the best driver out there. All you have to do is to simply show it.” Iruka then sighs and squeezes Naruto harder. This silent action reassured him more than the words. Whether Iruka did it intentionally or accidentally, it doesn't matter. What does, is that Naruto can feel understood. “Which everyone with eyes will see immediately,” Iruka adds more words of encouragement to put Naruto’s mind at ease. Naruto isn’t paying that much attention to them. All he needed was to confirm that he’s not the only one feeling the pressure.
Naruto nods, and Iruka lets go of him. He then picks up his helmet that was on the coffee table by the straps and opens the door of his trailer and walks down. Iruka follows him. What is waiting for Naruto are now the mandatory things. There isn’t much time left before the race, and his schedule is strict, no longer giving him time for self-doubt. He joins the team in the pits where Jiraiya, the team principal, is. Jiraiya moves his hand to signal for Naruto to come over to him. He then summarizes the key points of the strategy that they went over yesterday. No rain, medium tires, p10, clear mind. That’s at least how Naruto simplifies it in his head. After each sentence, he just answers with a simple “right“.
“Hey!” Jiraiya seems to notice that Naruto isn’t listening. Or rather, he is in his own way, just not properly. Jiraiya knows that reminding all of this to the boy will be pointless. He has been doing this job for long enough to quickly understand the driver’s mind.
“Don’t mess it up, and don’t worry about the race. We know that this is your first time, so we won’t switch you up with another driver immediately.” Jiraiya explains. The ’immediately’ part isn’t as comforting as he thinks it is. “Just enjoy it.”
Naruto now wishes that Iruka were next to him. He would have said something along the lines, ‘I told him the same thing’. But Iruka is now far away in the pits, making sure that he won’t get in anyone’s way as they adjust and prepare the last necessary things for the race. It’s just Naruto now.
“I will, thanks.”
“Good,” Jiraiya answers and nods for Naruto to go back in the pit and motions at someone standing behind. He turns around and notices that it was meant for the number one driver of the team, Killer Bee. They change, and as they do, Killer Bee fistbumps Naruto on his shoulder. It wasn’t a mean gesture, but an encouraging one. Perhaps even kind. It was a way for the driver to silently say that he is thinking of the other. Killer Bee is such a star that he has no need to concern himself with his teammate, but he still does. It’s good to know that one’s humanity won’t fade even after winning the championship. Naruto recalls his father telling him that not many people remember that. There will be drivers who never even won a podium and would be carrying their heads up in the sky despite their lack of achievements. Naruto never understood that mindset, and luckily, it seems that his teammate didn’t either.
The remaining preparations come to an end, and Naruto can finally set foot on the racetrack where most drivers already are. Even this place is crowded, as expected. He glances to the side to have a good look at his surroundings. He went over the positions of all the drivers with Iruka last night. He knows where everyone should be right now. But just in case, he checks the people in the front.
As expected by everyone, Itachi got the p1. When it comes to Itachi, this kind performance isn’t even surprising, but expected. The man is a genius, an impossible and unattainable force. Itachi was not only the youngest f1 rookie ever, the youngest champion ever, but also now even the youngest three-time champion. There is no way of stopping him. If he wins this year, it would make it his fourth consecutive win. The embodiment of F1 driving, Itachi Uchiha, in his black Mercedes.
Next to him, in the blazing red machine, would be Kakashi or one of the not many drivers Naruto knows personally. If there is one thing that Naruto regrets not doing today, because he didn’t have enough time for it, it would be to wish Kakashi good luck. Not that Kakashi needs it, but Naruto wants to tell him that he is thinking of him.
If Itachi is currently the number one, Kakashi is close second. Despite being older than Itachi, he is still beating him in the number of won championships. He can still hold up decently and be a strong enough opponent, rival even.
In the remaining places in the front are no rookies or anyone that Naruto would know. He did talk to each, but that was far from enough to understand them. The only surprise in the front would be Gaara in his Sauber. Gaara isn’t exactly a rookie, but it can’t be denied the amount of skill one would need to get that tractor in p6. If Gaara could manage to keep his position the entire race, it wouldn’t be ridiculous to predict that he won’t be driving that car for too long and eventually would be bought by a much better team.
Then Naruto turns his head to the back. There, he sees plenty of familiar faces. This year, just like many other years, was full of rookies. Five in total. For F1, such a thing isn’t strange. Most of the time, the new drivers come in these packs, multiple at once, as a generation. Then the teams see which of them carry the talent, are beneficial or at least can hold their position, and the remaining ones would be kicked out, and new, more talented drivers would replace them. For most drivers, their F1 career is awfully short. Naruto can’t let such a thing happen to him.
It’s already an honor that he got his place in McLaren. Their history is almost unmatchable, yet in recent years, McLaren has been lacking something. The engineers seem to be incapable of adapting to the changing rules each season, and the team is happy if they end up at least fifth in the constructors’ championship. The glory days are long over. The brand tries to carry its legacy as the second-oldest remaining, but everyone knows how the team currently looks, that they are just pushing the reality away, and the only thing that is keeping them together is the pride of the past. Luckily, Naruto benefited from it, and he admitted it not only out loud but even many times in the press.
If a reporter asked if he was happy with McLaren choosing him as their driver, he always answered with ‘more than happy’. To some reporters and tabloids, it may have seemed like an almost sarcastic remark. Not to Naruto. He, too, carried that strong idea of McLeran’s legacy. Not because he would care for the brand that much, no. It was because Naruto’s father won in that car multiple times. To him, it isn’t the brand’s legacy that he wishes to carry, but his father’s.
That’s why Naruto must win. To keep up. And to accomplish something that Minato couldn’t. Hopefully, it would be in this car.
Then Naruto’s gaze traces a path back to the only remaining driver he hasn’t looked at today yet. The one next to him is the younger Uchiha. In the same way as Naruto, he is a rookie except in a much more promising car. Naruto would love to say that Sasuke got the position because of his connections. His father being a world champion in the 90s, and his elder brother is the current world champion. But Naruto can’t. He knew Sasuke since he was six, and he had to grit his teeth while admitting it, that the boy has talent. Out of all of the five rookies, Sasuke is the only one who could easily match Naruto. From always sharing podiums in F2, F3 and junior leagues, to now. The point is that Sasuke has a far better car than him. The thought of Naruto not being the only competition on the grid that Sasuke has is unbearable.
Unbearable is even the fact that the guy pays him no attention at all. Does Sasuke think that because Naruto has a worse car, there is no point in paying him any mind at all? Is Naruto no longer a worthy of his gaze? Sasuke should at least notice him. Especially since, despite the car difference, Naruto is still only one position behind him, or next to him, to be exact. He’s just so arrogant, acting as if he had already accomplished something. If anything, Naruto has accomplished far more than Sasuke.
He has to snap out of it and sit down in his car as the warming round is about to start. He sits there, the engine is turned on, so all he has to do is wait for the signal. When it comes to that point, Naruto has to let Sasuke get ahead of him. The zig-zaggy motions the drivers have to do are always so boring. He understands why they are necessary, but he would much rather just start the race immediately. Especially if it would mean that he wouldn’t have to see the back of Sasuke’s car ahead of him.
They get into their positions. Naruto’s p10. His foot is touching the pedal impatiently as he looks up and observes the five red lights in the front. He waits, it’s just a few seconds, but it feels like an eternity. The first one lights up. Then the second, third, fourth, fifth…
Naruto quickly pushes down the pedal to the floor immediately as the lights turn black.
“Good, good, now faster,” he hears in his headphones, so he knows that he is doing a great job. All the cars start off immediately, but what concerns Naruto the most is that he managed to leave Sasuke behind him. Or at least it seems so because when they reach the first turn, he sees the black RedBull in his rear mirror. It seems like Sasuke’s strategy was to overtake Naruto right here.
He can’t let that happen. He mustn’t. Losing to Sasuke in F2 was different from losing to him here. This is much more serious, even if it’s just the first race. These guys here are professionals, and he can’t allow them to think that Sasuke is the best among the rookies. So, in an attempt to secure his spot, Naruto decided to turn the wheel less, making him not take the turn in a way that would keep no space for overtaking. That way, Sasuke would be forced to slow down and for Naruto to keep his p9.
But Sasuke didn’t do that. As if he didn’t expect Naruto to turn this way, he kept the same curve, which caused the contact of their wheels. Naruto tried to keep the front wheels at the same angle, but the back wheels did a circular motion and bumped into Sasuke’s car.
What happened next, Naruto isn’t quite sure, because the next second he was fully rotating off the track right into the grass.
“Are you alright?” Naruto heard Jiraiya’s voice on the radio once the car stopped.
“Yeah,” Naruto’s answer was brief. He wasn’t as concerned for himself as much as he was for the car. He can’t allow this to be over before he even got the chance to race properly.
“Is the car okay-” As Naruto asks that, he sees the black smoke coming from the engine.
“No, I don’t think so,” Jiraiya answers as a matter of fact.
“But what if I pushed the car in the pit lane, wouldn’t you be able to repair-”
“Naruto, it’s over. Don’t bother.” Jiraiya’s voice is now firmer, and at that, he turns off his connection with Naruto and most likely gets back to Killer Bee, who is the only remaining driver in the race.
“Damn it!” Naruto mutters under his breath, gets up from the car, and takes off his helmet, which feels like is choking him. He doesn’t even get a chance to realize what fully happened when he feels his racewear being pulled by a strong hand.
“Are you insane, idiot!” That wasn’t a question. But why is Sasuke here and scolding Naruto? He wasn’t the one who should be yelled at. Sasuke’s wheels made contact with his, he was the one who caused the accident. But still, why is he also here?
Then Naruto turns his head to the side and sees the RedBull being in the grass, the same way Naruto’s McLaren is.
Oh.
So Naruto wasn’t the only one who had to end the race. Sasuke did too.
Sasuke shakes Naruto by his collar as he repeats in a louder, more enraged tone. “Answer me! Are you really that stupid?”
But all Naruto could do was grin. This crash wasn’t for nothing after all.
“Why are you yelling at me? You are the one who made contact!” That grin doesn’t leave his face.
“Maybe if you knew how to make turns, I wouldn’t have.”
“Maybe if you knew how to drive, I wouldn’t have to-” At that, Sasuke loses his temper, and he punches Naruto right in his face.
Naruto can’t pretend that he wasn’t expecting that. In fact, he was anticipating because immediately he strikes back, but idiotically, with his head, smacking his forehead against Sasuke’s, since there is no way he would be expecting that attack.
Sasuke shoves Naruto in defense, Naruto shoves him back, and at that Sasuke lands a right hook on Naruto, eventually making him stumble backwards right on the grass.
✻✻✻
The teams’ crew eventually pushed the two away from one another despite how difficult it was. Naruto’s arms were held behind his back, yet he was still attempting to land at least a few kicks towards Sasuke. Sasuke did the same.
With a broken lip and black eye, Naruto storms off into the paddock, ignoring everyone else, just trying to make his way to his trailer, only to be stopped by a bunch of reporters. They were seeking answers, and Naruto knows that he shouldn’t be giving them, but blinded by rage, he pushes logic aside as he often does when it comes to Sasuke.
“Naruto! Naruto! What happened out there?” One reporter asks, shoving his mic towards Naruto’s bruised lips.
“I’ll tell you what happened, that prick can’t for the life of him take the blame, and he lashes out as if we were still in junior league!”
“So you think Sasuke caused the crash?” The reporter brings the mic to himself for a brief moment, only to put it up to Naruto’s lips again.
“Of course, he did. A good driver would have predicted what I would do.”
“So you are calling Sasuke a bad driver?” The reporter asks for confirmation.
“No, I’m calling him stupid,” Naruto corrects him and opens the door to his trailer and hides there. Naruto sits down on the sofa, rests his head on the back of it and looks at the ceiling. He isn’t like that for too long, because the door opens again, and Naruto doesn’t have to look in that direction to know that it’s Iruka.
“What happened there?” By that question, Naruto doesn’t know if he is going to be scolded or not.
“I did nothing wrong. He crashed into me.” Naruto tries to explain through gritted teeth, still visibly angry.
“I’m not asking about the crash. I’m asking about why you’re storming off, giving interviews like it's nothing?”
Naruto finally shifts and firstly looks at Iruka, then the wooden floor of the trailer because he doesn’t want to keep an eyecontact with him out of embarrassment.
“Right… Sorry.”
“I’m glad that you are alright, but you can’t be causing PR problems right now.”
“Sorry,” Naruto apologizes again. He feels Iruka’s frustration. At least he isn’t getting yelled at.
✻✻✻
“A skilled driver wouldn’t turn his wheel that way” Sasuke’s brows are furrowed, twitching in frustration, the camera caught that.
The last thing Naruto expected was that Sasuke would do the exact same thing, and that was to recklessly answer reporters without thinking. It’s not like this was the first time that Sasuke and Naruto had crashed into each other. Back in F2, it happened twice. And in juniors league, it happen far more. The two were on each other’s throats, both on and off the track. It never mattered to them. They simply didn’t like each other.
Normally when Sasuke was asked about their crashes, he always answered the reporters briefly by saying ‘no comment on that’. Clearly, that wasn’t the case now. This crash must have really made Sasuke’s blood boil, because he is answering those questions as if he wasn’t media-trained. Or worse, as if he was Naruto himself, who was always answering honestly and ignoring any PR training he had.
“Shouldn’t you be prepared to react even if a driver makes a mistake?” The reporter asks back and then shoves the mic towards Sasuke’s lips. Naruto didn’t go easy on Sasuke. His lip was bleeding, and his left cheekbone was bruised. Naruto was sure that that wasn’t the only bruise on his body. He recalls landing a couple of hits at Sasuke’s stomach, chest, waist… He was throwing fists everywhere he could.
Sasuke wasn’t soft with Naruto either, leaving a black eye that Naruto had to press an ice pack, a broken nose and bruised lip as well.
“If he makes a mistake like that, there is no place for him in the F1 to begin with.”
As those words came out of Sasuke’s mouth, Naruto paused the interview and groaned. Kakashi is watching it with him from the couch. The two are sharing an apartment this race week. It’s nothing new to them. Kakashi has been at his house a lot ever since he was a kid, and even more after the accident with his father.
“It’s not good,” Kakashi says, and Iruka hands him a cup of warm jasmine tea, to which Kakashi whispers a quiet thank you.
“Right! Who does he think he is!” Naruto complained.
“Not him, you,” Kakashi clarified.
“What? But he did the exact same I did!”
“Naruto, I don't care about what Sasuke did or not,” Kakashi sighs, “What is my priority is that you shouldn't be having open conflicts with other drivers.”
“I thought that out of all people, you would be on my side,” Naruto complains his arms crossed.
“No.” Kakashi takes a sip of his tea and continues now that he had expressed his opinion. “What did Jiraiya say?”
“That, at least it was mutual and could be good for marketing.”
“It’s childish, and you shouldn’t lash out.”
“I know, I know…” Naruto keeps his head low. “It’s just, you wouldn’t get it, it infuriates me.”
“I do get it,” Kakashi rebukes that. Even as Naruto was saying it, he knew that his claim was incorrect. Many good drivers faced rivalry. Kakashi did too, even before the Itachi F1 era. What Kakashi has with Itachi would hardly be considered a rivalry. In his past, he did face a big and long one with his teammate Obito. “I’m not saying that your feelings aren’t justified. What I’m saying is that you should think about the consequences of your actions.”
“Right, sorry,” Naruto acknowledges his mistake. He does feel a little guilty after Kakashi’s monologue. Not because of what he did but because he assumed that Kakashi has no idea of what he is talking about. Of course, Kakashi would know. Kakashi always knows.
“What do you think I should do then?” Naruto’s voice is filled with uncertainty.
“Apologize.”
“Hell no!” Naruto dismissed it immediately.
“At least to the public,” Kakashi suggests, now more keenly.
“Kakashi, I won’t do that,” Naruto retorts.
“You should. It’s not good for you, and it may close some doors in the future.”
“But he crashed into me!” Naruto holds onto this belief.
“It doesn’t matter,” Kakashi’s voice is still calm. It always is, he never yells.
“I won’t do that, and I won’t change my mind even if you bring up what dad would do in this situation.” Kakashi sometimes does so when he lectures Naruto and wants to nudge him towards the choice he sees as correct. He doesn’t do it often because it’s an immoral technique to bring a dead parent into the conversation.
Kakashi doesn’t react to that, even though Naruto had stood up while he was talking, demonstrating his stubbornness. Instead, he says something more hurtful to Naruto. “I don't have to. Your father wouldn’t get in this situation in the first place.”
✻✻✻
The hotelroom's bed started to feel uncomfortable. It’s strange, it didn’t feel that bad yesterday. Naruto keeps shifting on it, thinking about what Kakashi said.
If it were anyone else, he would have apologized already. But also, if Sasuke was anyone else, he wouldn’t get in this situation. It’s always with Sasuke that Naruto acts irrationally. It happened so often that it now feels like a natural reaction to lash out. Sasuke just knew how to bring that side out of him.
When they were six, Naruto remembers their dads shaking hands at one of the kids’ training race tracks. Sasuke was standing beside his father, and Naruto was beside his, holding onto his hand. Sasuke didn’t hold his father’s. Many people shook his dad’s hand. That’s why Naruto didn’t think much of it, other than it was a gesture of respect. It was easy to respect Naruto’s dad. Even now, he is so admired that his legacy has not faded and is still carried on in the sport.
It was their first practice, in which all that was being done was that they were being timed as they drove in karts. Naruto didn’t catch the grasp of it at all at first. He kept going off the track, bumping into things and confusing the speed and brake pedals. Then he looked over at Sasuke, who was natural in it, not making a single mistake despite also driving for the first time, just like Naruto.
It was the first time that Naruto felt this emotion. It was a strong urge of jealousy. Especially when Sasuke got so good on his first day that they even put him in one of the permanent boards that shoved the best times anyone had on that circuit. To Naruto, it was an unbelievable accomplishment that seemed unachievable.
For some reason, Sasuke didn’t seem satisfied, or even happy. After the training, Naruto ran out to his dad, who kept on reassuring him about how great he was. Naruto knew that he wasn’t and that his dad was lying. He didn’t mind it.
As his dad was saying all that, he caught a glimpse of Sasuke leaving, with frustrated expression. Sasuke’s father seemed to carry something equal to that.
Till this day, Naruto doesn’t understand what he did that caused Sasuke to get so angry with him. But the very next day, they were already fighting.
These memories kept Naruto up.
He thought again about Kakashi’s advice. To simply apologize.
He once again came to the conclusion that he won’t.