WAIT!

The real story starts next chapter! -

This chapter has nothing to do with that actual story or it's plot, and occurs chronologically before the start of my story. Think of it as a preface, or a oneshot. If you're not interested, go ahead and skip to the next chapter. If you do read this preface, then you get a gold star! It is somewhat relevant to the story, so I do consider it to be canon, if anyone is wondering. Enjoy the read!

'Thunk!'

An empty soup can soars through the air past Kakashi's hiding spot on a large branch of a tree, bringing him back to reality. He peers over the top of his orange book. The kids from Academy class C were still playing 'kick the can' in a grassy clearing of a forested park. Kakashi hid in one of the trees on the edge of the small field, watching the children play.

"Hey! No fair, Sasuke!" The kid Kakashi recognized as Minato's son yells.
Sasuke turned around to the yellow-haired child with his hands in his pockets, cooly.
"What's not fair?"

"You can't just shove me! That's against the rules!" Naruto screeched, making wild gesticulations and pointing an accusatory finger towards Sasuke.

"Everything is fair for ninja, Naruto. You want to be a ninja, right? Although… I doubt you'll ever be one. Besides, when have you ever followed the rules?"
An infuriatingly smug sneer jumped onto the little Uchiha's face.
"Just you watch, Sasuke! I'll be the strongest ninja around, and then you'll have to respect me! You'll see!"
Sasuke turned around. "Whatever. You better go get that can, or it'll be dark before you get back."

Naruto let out a loud groan and jogged off into the woods in search of the can. The other kids from Class C had formed a circle around the two arguing children and were now walking away to find new hiding spots. Ino and Sakura looked like they were trying to hide vicious nosebleeds.

Kakashi was very experienced on the subject of nosebleeds, and he felt like he was in the mood for another one. Kakashi lifted his book up to his eyes. He was just getting to the good part… Too bad he already knew what was going to happen. He mentally recited every single word on the next page, and then he flipped to that page. He was right- he remembered every single word of it. He knew the entire book by heart now. Kakashi slumped against the tree trunk behind him and reclined his head against a soft piece of moss that was juuust in the right spot. He closed his eyes. Aaaahh, peace…

"HEY! GUYS! I FOUND IT!" Screeched an orange blur as he ran back towards the field.
"Whaaat? Already? Aww, come on!" mumbled Sakura. "Kick it farther next time, Sasuke!"

Kakashi blearily looked down at the latest developments as Naruto took his place by a park lamp and carefully placed down the can. The boy sat down on the park bench next to the lamp and covered his eyes.
"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven…"
Naruto counted to thirty and the other kids hid, with the exception of Shikamaru, who had fallen asleep in the shade before the game even started, discounting the game as a waste of energy.

Naruto opened his eyes and looked around. Everyone was fairly well hidden, but unexplainably, Naruto had a gut feeling that Kiba was hiding behind a tree to his left. Naruto snuck around to the tree. Kakashi snorted. He was about as sneaky as a rampaging buffalo. Then again, he had never actually seen a buffalo with his own eyes. Maybe they were actually very sneaky. Who knows? Kakashi let his thoughts wander to other jumped around the side of the tree. "Tag!" he shouted, poking Kiba on the shoulder.

"Aargh! Naruto! Don't scare me like that!"
"It's your own fault for not finding a better hiding spot!" Joked Naruto.
"Hey! My hiding spot is great! It was only luck that you found me."

While Naruto and Kiba deliberated, a rustling was heard from a bush on the opposite side of the clearing. A kid with a dark green trench coat and sunglasses jumped towards the can. Naruto sprung to action and sprinted towards the speeding Aburame. Shino leaped for the can, but he was too slow. Naruto tagged him with glee.
"Out!" Naruto proclaimed, pointing to the jail. Shino adjusted his glasses and obediently walked to the 'jail' where Kiba was already standing.

"That kid at least shows some promise. Using an extremely confrontational Inuzuka as a distraction…" Kakashi mumbled.
He brushed a silver strand of hair out of his eyes and yawned. A cool breeze fluttered through the trees and pushed the limp strand of hair back into his eyes again.
Suddenly, Ino and Choji scrambled for the can from a hiding spot behind Naruto. He pretended not to notice, but then suddenly put on a burst of speed and lunged for Choji. The Akimichi was slow to move out of the way and was tagged. Ino ran past Naruto for the can but suddenly the blonde was already there to tag her. She wrinkled her nose in disgust and wiped her arm where the little jinchurriki had touched her against the lamppost. She too walked over to the 'jail'. Shortly afterwards, Sakura made a run for it but also fell prey to Naruto's superior speed. She pulled back her arm to punch him across the face, but decided against it.

She didn't want to seem un-ladylike around Sasuke. Her victim audibly gave a sigh of relief.

Kakashi wanted to step in and tell Sakura off for even considering hurting Naruto, but he knew that if he became friends with the little boy, he would die just as his father did. Anyone that Kakashi became close to died. He couldn't allow that to happen to his sensei's son. Nobody would fall victim to his curse again. Kakashi sighed. The sun was beginning to set, and he was tired after the difficult S-Rank mission he was assigned yesterday.

A few civilian children that Kakashi didn't recognize ran towards the can but were tagged, just like everyone else. Everyone else except for Sasuke, that is. And Hinata, but she wasn't playing. The Hyuuga clan was stifling as ever. Kakashi spread out his senses. The missing Uchiha was hiding in a tree directly behind Naruto.

"Hey, where's Sasuke?" Kiba said aloud.
"That's right, how could I ever forget Sasuke-kun?" Sakura screeched. "Sasuke, save us!"
In a blur of black and navy blue, Sasuke sprinted towards the can and stopped right behind Naruto. Naruto turned around in surprise, and was shoved to the side by Sasuke.

'Thunk!'

The can flew away into the distance for the fourth time that day.

"HEY! I thought I told you not to shove me, you jerk!"

"YAAAY, Sasuke-kun, you saved us!" screamed Sakura and Ino at once, incredibly synchronized.

"Oh yeah? And what are you going to do about it?" teased Sasuke.
"I'm gonna fight you! Right here, right now!" yelled Naruto.

Sasuke shrugged with fake sadness. "Well, if that's how it's gotta be… but don't forget, you asked for it." He said, smoothly shifting his stance into the Uchiha taijutsu style.

Across the field, Shikamaru opened one eye and looked at the situation. He sighed. Those two are such a drag… He sighed and stood up with the help of the tree trunk he fell asleep next to. The Nara slouched over to the two fighting children.

Those two are exact opposites, Shikamaru thought, which is interesting because one wears orange and white, but the other blue and black. Blue and orange are widely considered to be opposite colors. Same for black and white. Naruto should really get a new outfit… Shikamaru shrugs to himself apathetically. oh well.

A pair of hands separated the fighting academy students and pushed them apart. Choji stood in between the two. Naruto attempted to sidestep the Akimichi, but the peacemaker wouldn't let him through. Naruto stormed away and sat on the park bench, fuming.

"Our parents are here." Intoned Sikamaru, mostly to distract his squabbling peers. The other kids looked to the stairs at the entrance-way and saw that he was right. Inoichi, Shikaku, and Choza stood by the red arch that resided above the stairs, happily chatting about this and that, and life in general.

Shibi Aburame stood over to the side, silently watching Shino interact with his friends. Even Sakura's mother was there, nervously standing by Tsume Inuzuka, who was sending her menacing glares.

One by one the children filed over to their parents and walked away happily after saying goodbye to their friends. The sky lit up with pink and yellow as the kids and their parents left. But after all the mothers and fathers had walked away with their children, two still remained. In the grassy field, Naruto sat on the bench, watching the sunset. Wistfully, he thought about how he would like for his parents to come pick him up at the park. Sasuke was sitting on the ground, leaning on the back of the bench behind him so he was facing the other direction. He was having similar thoughts.

Soon the sun took it's nightly fall over the horizon. It was too dark for Kakashi to read anymore. Naruto and Sasuke had been sitting there for at least two hours, silently. He climbed to his feet and prepared his chakra for a massive ninja jump that would land him on the roof of a house just outside of the park when he heard a quiet noise. Under the yellow glow of the park lamp, he saw that both were softly crying. A terrible feeling settled in Kakashi's stomach. But instead of consoling them, he leaped through the trees toward the sleepy streets.

Sorry, Minato.

As always, reviews and any other support/ constructive criticism is highly appreciated!