I don't always know what I'm writing. I just know I need to...get thoughts down.

Dedicated to YOU!

Enjoy!

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Stubby legs wobbled.

Tiny feet shuffled.

Scenery flew by.

A child helplessly stumbled forward in haste, purple hair swishing to and fro over pale eyes—alarming the toddler more. She squeaked and sobbed, desperately trying to escape the pursuing figure.

Her tormentor—the being pulling forth this intense fear—was a giggling, blubbering toddler with dark hair and darker eyes who could walk no better than she.

The girl stopped, her stubby legs turning to face this threat. "N-no!"

The boy stumbled to a stop, an oblivious smile adorning his features. He stared at his new playmate and waited for her to do something else.

The girl tried her hardest to glare, her feeble, trembling hands fisted, but her hardest was wasted on trying not to sob. "G-go!" she cried.

The boy's smile remained, his breathing endlessly coming out in huffs. He didn't know what was being said—he wasn't used to this voice—but he knew she must be having fun as well.

The girl wiped her eyes, making sure to not lose sight of her stalker. She didn't know where he came from or what he wanted, but she couldn't get him to stop following her. "Go h-home!" she said. "Na-na go home! You home!"

The boy squealed, laughing to himself.

"No laugh!" She pointed at him, her body shaking. "G-go 'way! Go 'way!"

The boy continued to stare, his face radiant, and took a jiggling few steps in her direction.

"No!" she nearly screeched. "Y-you home! I-I-I g-go my home! Not you!"

He bounced in place, allowing his energy to build to its breaking point. The girl watched in a confused state of paralysis, wanting nothing more than to be parted from this dark-haired horror.

The boy began his wobbly chase.

The girl continued her frightened flee.

"No!" she sobbed. "K-Kō! Kō!"

The pudgy boy squealed in excitement and tried to imitate the odd sounds she was making.

The chase went on for another few seconds before he stopped, red faced, huffing. He watched as the girl continued to run until she fell, sliding forward a bit. He giggled and screamed, waiting for her to look at him again so they could start another game.

The young girl looked up, tears gleaming in her eyes and grass sticking to her face. "N...Na-na want Kō!" she wailed, her hands grabbing the grass. "Na-na...want...home!"

The dark-haired boy gnawed on his tiny fist as the girl continued her yelling. He wished she would turn around; he was ready to play again. She usually didn't take this long. He gurgled to himself, attempting the odd words she was saying. "Nnnnnnna," he said messily. "Nnnnnn-nnnnnna."

"Lady Hinata!"

A young man appeared from above, crouching in front of the girl. She looked up, halting her tears, eyes sparkling and wide.

"Oh, thank goodness!" he exclaimed as he gathered the girl in his arms. "Do not wander off, my lady. I told you to wait."

Her face scrunched, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, crying. He rubbed her back, sighing and walking on.

"I shall not let you out of my sight again, Lady Hinata. And...please do not tell your father about this incident..."

The boy continued to gnaw his fist until the two could no longer be seen. He began to walk forward, intending to go home but not able to understand he lived in the other direction.

After a moment of reflection, he stopped, then fell over. He lifted his head, looking around, but saw nothing. He stood, waited a moment, then fell down again. After that didn't work, he stood, ran forward, and tripped over his own feet. When he still saw no one, he stared in front of him, scrunching his face like he was about to cry.

"Sasuke!"

It worked.

The person he recognized as his "brother"—as been said to him many, many times—seemed to appear from thin air and ran in front of him, looking him over.

"What are you doing?" the older boy huffed, a bit bewildered he found this as he returned home from a mission. "Get off the ground."

Sasuke hastily scrambled to his feet, laughing joyfully. His brother knelt in front of him, placing a hand on his shoulder; he looked him over closely, brushing grass and dirt off of him, and tried his best not to have a panic attack.

"How did you get out of the house?"

Sasuke replied with jibberish.

"I don't know what you're saying to me." He sighed, forcing his fearful heart to calm down. "You're insane." Standing, he took his brother's hand and guided him. "We'll play at home, okay?"

"Nnnnnnnnna!"

"Nah? No?"

"Nnnnnnnna-na!"

The eldest smiled, shaking his head. "When will you use real words?" He grimaced, feeling his hand take on moisture. "Sasuke... Please, stop biting me."

"STOP STARING AT SAKURA, YOU JERK!"

Sasuke blinked slowly, shifting his eyes to look at a glaring Naruto. He was aware he had said something—mainly because all the kids were giving them that look—but wasn't going to entertain the notion. His eyes rolled back to their original position.

"You're doing it again!" the blond yelled.

"What are you talking about?" the dark-haired muttered.

"Stop staring at Sakura," Naruto growled. "Just 'cause everyone thinks you're cool, you think you can just stare at her like that?"

"No one is staring at Sakura." But the Uchiha's eyes finally focused on what was in front of him, and, across the field, he saw a red bow that just so happened to be in unusual, colored hair.

Which...just so happened to belong to Sakura.

...Who just so happened to be in his line of sight.

The pink-haired girl sat in a sandbox with Ino, glancing his way and blushing. He wondered how long she had been there.

"Gah!" Naruto screamed. "Look! You're doing it right now!"

Sasuke groaned. "Lavender flowers."

"What?"

"I was looking at flowers," Sasuke snapped, glaring at him. "Not. Sakura."

Naruto scrunched his nose, looking over in the offending direction. "There aren't any flowers over there."

"Yes, there are." Sasuke searched the area, but he didn't see flowers either.

But...there had been flowers.

Lavender flowers.

"The hell...?" he muttered to himself.

"Stop lying!" Naruto lunged at him. The boys fell to the ground, grappling and punching taking over. All the kids rushed to see the latest showdown.

Hinata, probably the only one concerned for the blond's well-being, abandoned her flower pressing activity by the sandbox to find a teacher.

Team 8, along with their sensei, gathered outside the gates to talk about an upcoming mission. After they were briefed on the basics, Kurenai left them under a nearby tree to gather a bit more useful information.

"Get a load of this, guys." Kiba grinned with Akamaru perched on his head. "That crap Naruto was spouting about being Hokage wasn't all hot air. He really wants to do it."

"He aims high," Shino commented.

"High?" Kiba laughed. "Aiming to be a ninja was high. Participating in the Exams is high. Hokage? That's a league of its own. Especially for him."

"I...I think he can do it."

The males looked at Hinata.

She peeked at them, pushing her index fingers together. "U-um... That is... N-Naruto works hard...at everything he does. Becoming Hokage would be...e-easy for him."

"Easy for him?" Kiba scrunched a brow. "How do you fig-?" He blinked, grinning as realization dawned on him. "Eh?" He leaned close to her, placing his hand on her head and shaking it a bit. "Don't tell me you really do have a crush on Naruto, eh, Hinata?"

The Hyuuga blushed, her face a bright red. Her lips trembled as she tried to squeak out a response. "I-I-I-I th-think h-h-he's strong."

"Strong?" Kiba laughed. "You do like him! And here I thought your weird behavior around him was 'caused you were scared of 'im!"

Hinata brought her hands to her face, bowing her head, eyes veiled by her bangs. "B-but a-anyone who is a-able to...t-to become Hokage would be impressive."

"Ah? So you'd date whoever became Hokage, huh?"

Her fists balled at her collar, distressed. "Th-that's not it at all!"

Kiba laughed heartily, patting her on the head. "Don't worry, Hinata! We'll see what your Hokage is capable of in the Chunin Exams. Ya know, if he can make it that far."

"N-Naruto isn't mine!"

"Hm? Did I say anything about Naruto?"

Hinata blanched before she pulled her hood over her head, shrinking into herself.

"That's enough of that, Kiba," Shino said.

Kiba promised (through his laughter) he'd stop and tried apologizing (through his laughter) to his thoroughly embarrassed teammate.

Akamaru grumbled, taking notice of a scent he hadn't readily identified. Kiba paused, his eyes rising to his faithful companion.

"What is it?"

Akamaru grumbled to him.

"He...? What the-?" Kiba looked up into the tree. "Ugh...that's creepy."

Shino looked up just as Hinata peeked from under her hood, following their gazes.

"Was...he always there?" Hinata questioned, surprised.

Shino found it a bit odd himself.

Kiba grimaced. "How can he sleep like that?"

o0o0o

Kakashi eyed the two students that were waiting. They stared up at him, both aware of the oddity.

"Sensei," Sakura said, looking around the gates, "where's Sasuke?"

"It seems he's late." The man shrugged, pulling out his beloved novel. "Unusual, isn't it?"

"Unusual?!" Sakura yelled. "This isn't like him at all! What if something happened to him?!"

"Hm." Kakashi nodded. "Let's hope he's not dead. Really, how rude it would be of him to die without warning us first."

"That's not funny, sensei! Sasuke might need our-"

"WAKE UP, YOU LAZY JERK!"

Kakashi and Sakura looked over to find Naruto glaring up into a tree. He dropped his bag, picked up a rock, and chucked it into the thick leaves.

"Dammit," he cursed, searching for another.

Sakura sighed, putting her hands on her hips. "What are you doing, Naruto?"

He turned to her, pointing into the branches. "That bastard is-!" A rock shot out of the foliage and collided with Naruto's head. The blond screeched, falling to the ground and clutching his abused cranium.

"Idiot," a voice muttered.

"Sasuke!" Sakura screamed in delight, rushing over to gaze into the shadows. "I should have known you were already here."

"Aa." He rubbed his head, forcing himself to fully awaken from his nap.

"Well then." Kakashi closed his book, walking over to his students. "Now that we're all present, we should get going."

Sasuke jumped down, pocketing his hands; Naruto climbed to his feet, shooting him a glare.

"It's your favorite kind of mission, Sasuke."

The Uchiha looked up at the man grinning beneath his mask.

"We'll be chasing down quite a few people."

Hinata was aware of the name circulating the battlefield.

Sasuke.

Uchiha Sasuke.

Everyone was put into a tizzy over his appearance: Ino and Sakura seemed flustered; Kiba was displeased, and the others were rightfully cautious; Naruto was not as riled, like she had expected, but she...didn't know what to make of the situation. She looked to the newly arrived stranger.

He was a threat, but Naruto valued him.

He abandoned the village, but he returned at a crucial moment.

She didn't know what to think or feel as she looked at the Uchiha, but she was intrigued in the turn of events.

"Why are you here?" Sakura asked.

For a while, he said nothing, as though he was contemplating whether or not to answer at all. "Many things happened," he responded, "but I decided to protect the village. And-"

Everyone tensed.

"-I-"

She saw Kiba whisper a warning to Akamaru.

"-will become Hokage."

And this, he knew, was just reasoning; there should have been no other assumption in his being back.

The response to his declaration was delayed.

He scanned over the shocked faces: There were only two that were not like the rest.

Naruto.

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"Sasuke!"

"That's my nindo! My ninja way!"

"Some day, I'll become Hokage!"

"I'm your friend!"

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And...

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Black and white met, eyes locking for a mere second...that conjured up odd scenes.

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"I was looking at flowers. Not. Sakura."

"G-go 'way!"

"It's your favorite kind of mission, Sasuke."

"...a-anyone who is a-able to...t-to become Hokage would be impressive."

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He blinked, frowning a bit.

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Hyuuga Hinata.

Thank you for reading!