Dani: mew… Dani ish in love… with you people and her new bf!
Shicora: ….again… ignore her and just read on….
WARNINGS: Read past chapters for more info please! Thank you!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto; it would be great if I could though!
Two months…
Two very eventful and hilarious months have passed.
Well… at least for two little boys with almost nothing in common.
Naruto was still vibrant and cheerful, Sasuke was still calm and cool, until he was alone with Naruto that is.
At this moment, they were alone near the bank of the lake. Empty bentos were above their heads and scrolls were scattered about. Their new teacher, and Naruto's brotherly friend, had heavily supplied them with homework. Iruka was nice, but strict, Naruto said he like him better outside of the school. Sasuke was taking a cat nap, his hands linked together behind his head and his face towards the sky.
His black shirt was darkened with grass stains and his face sported a few scratches that Naruto had made from tackling him countless times. Naruto was curled up next to him, wide awake, his small hand clutching a small portion of Sasuke's shirt.
The two of them would have been considered brothers in others' eyes if they hadn't been so closed minded. Where ever Naruto was, Sasuke was beside him, looking at him like he was an idiot whenever the blonde did something terribly stupid. But the whiskered boy knew better, it was just a mask that Sasuke was given and temporarily wore it, instead of all the time like his older family members did.
A small smile graced Naruto's baby face. So much has happened and made him one of the happiest children in the academy.
Naruto had to stay hidden in Uchiha Itachi's room for one more day after the ordeal caused him to be unconscious for a while. Twice he was nearly seen by Hiro, Sasuke and Itachi's father, when he left the safety of the colorless room to use the bathroom. Several times, he wondered if all the Uchihas, excluding Sasuke and their generation in his large family, were distant and stone faced. Though Naruto only caught a glimpse of the man, he always shivered from the cold presence he felt.
When Itachi came home at midnight, Naruto had watched him change from his ANBU garb, smelling the thick coppery blood upon the Uchiha. The blonde boy whimpered and clutched the blanket tight to his quaking body, recollecting what had happened to him the other day. Itachi had tried to comfort him, but Naruto only scooted farther away from him, saying that the blood was too much. Naruto felt much better when the Uchiha came back from his bath and cuddled up to him on his lap.
He didn't know what was wrong with him cuddling next to Itachi. The Uchiha stiffened when he did and tried to pry Naruto off of him. Didn't Sasuke cuddle to him when he was upset or afraid? Or was it just because he was a stranger? Naruto didn't know but he had fallen asleep instantly.
Kalya stayed with him for a bit, saying that he was fun to be around. She nearly gave Itachi a long tongue lashing for not taking Naruto home, but instead, to his house. Unfortunately, she never got the chance after the blonde boy was placed in her arms. Itachi left like the wind without a word, leaving the two blue eyed people to stare at the spot he once occupied.
That small incident didn't seem to disturb the girl's lively personality and attitude though. But Naruto somehow felt she was lying to herself. Kalya had taken a mission not to long ago; she had said it would probably last a whole month, leaving Naruto all alone in his empty house.
Before her mission, that was confidential mind you, Sasuke's birthday had come along! But sadly, for the girls crushing on Sasuke and Naruto, they were restricted from the party. Uchihas were the only ones to celebrate the raven-haired boy's birthday. Naruto was especially restricted from going to the party. So he sat in the sand box that was behind the academy with his plushies and Sasuke's present. He sat there till the sun went down; the poor blonde boy was quite forlorn. He didn't get to give Sasuke his present.
On his way home, Naruto spotted his said friend knocking on his door. He was dressed in a blue kimono with golden dragons stitched all around it. Apparently, Sasuke had left his birthday party early.
"It was boring! Everybody was just sitting down and staring at me and comparing me to aniki!" were the pouting Uchiha's exact words. Naruto only laughed. Laughed like a hyena until Sasuke tackled him and a tear had been created on his kimono.
Sasuke was somewhat ecstatic when he received Naruto's gift. Naruto told him what Reno had told him and the raven haired boy just stared at him funny for a while, before smiling brightly and hugging his best friend. Naruto was just as happy as Sasuke was. He was never thanked for something, a wonderful turning point for him.
That was a month ago.
Today they were practicing: Sasuke teaching, and Naruto practicing and failing more than once. A lot more. Sasuke teased him and Naruto, red faced from anger, started throwing the weapons at him instead of the dummy hanging from a tree. Naruto was forced to stop after the girls of his class started beating him into a bloody pulp for hurting their 'precious Sasuke'. The raven haired boy sure had a great laugh, until the girls started squealing how cute he was and started chasing him all around the school. Naruto had the last laugh.
Yawning quite rudely, Naruto sat up from his position on the grass and stretched to the skies. Sasuke sure liked sleeping. Cause he would not have glared daggers at Naruto for waking him from his nap if he didn't.
"What?" Naruto asked cutely, tilting his head to the side.
Sasuke didn't answer, he just shifted a bit and stared up at the orange sky.
"Sasuke" Naruto whined, poking the soft porcelain doll face.
The hyperactive boy yelped in surprise when Sasuke bit his finger. He never did that! No fair! Naruto's eyes narrowed, making Sasuke bite down harder. Although, it was funny that they stayed that way for a while. Naruto's eye twitched every time Sasuke bit down harder. The Uchiha had a laughing smirk growing on his face. His onyx eyes glittered with mischief making Naruto gulp silently. That was never good. As long as he has known him, that glint in his eye meant no good was coming from him; it was always a bad sign for anyone. And he blamed himself, after Iruka had told him he was influencing his wily personality to Sasuke, only Sasuke had the potential to be a hell of a lot more crafty than he was and ever will be.
"Hehehe… You can let go now Sasuke," His free arm flailed about, a sheepish grin on his face.
Sasuke snickered and mocked him by pretending to think. His eyes averted to the sky and his face scrunched up in thought. Naruto whimpered and pulled at his finger. Sasuke only stared at him with a warning look.
"But Sasuke! That's not fair! I was just trying to wake you up 'cause I'm bored! And it's getting late." He added quickly, eyeing the sinking sun.
Sasuke looked at the sun behind the trees. It was getting late… With a small shrug he let go of Naruto's finger. The whiskered boy inspected his finger for punctured holes or scratches and found none. He sighed with relief then glowered at his friend who just smirked and propped himself up on his elbows. The younger one wrinkled his nose and looked at his finger again. He stuck his tongue out.
"Eww! Sasuke germs!" He stuck his hand in the water and laughing inwardly. A poor joke but still a joke.
Sasuke however, didn't take it too nicely. A twitch in his eye and he shoved the fox boy head first in the lake with his foot. He watched Naruto sputter and splash about in the warm water.
"Sasuke! It was a joke!" He climbed out of the water and mumbled under his breath. "Stupid cat…"
"Dammit Naruto I'm not a cat!" The raven haired boy jumped to his feet and shook his little fist.
"Kitty cat! Kitty cat!" Naruto teased and ran off, giggling. Sasuke ran after him, but quickly caught him since the boy ran around in obvious circles.
Naruto continued to laugh and call out 'Kitty cat!' as Sasuke attempted to choke him. Sasuke never took his jokes--that revolved around him—very lightly. He only did so when it was on one of their fellow students. But at times he got controlling and rude.
Naruto hated it when ever he told Sasuke about a prank he had in mind and the Uchiha would poke holes in the prank, telling him all the flaws by asking questions about it. The blonde would always end up being stuck thinking over on how to improve it. It irritated him to no end… But he mentally admitted that his plans would sometimes fail if Sasuke had not pointed out the flaws.
After escaping the mad cat's clutches, the hyperactive fox ran off into the woods. Naruto was just squealing and giggling while swinging from limb to limb. His ears perked up as the sound of Sasuke's feet landing hard on the branches grew closer and closer. Jumping once more, he touched the mossy floor of a clearing. As he was about to jump for joy…
He was caught like the noisy fox he was…
Naruto dangled from a vine wrapped around his ankle. His small arms thrashed everywhere as his screams of surprise echoed throughout the thick woods.
"SASUKEEEEE!" he hollered.
Oh… he was going to get Sasuke for this! This was pure humiliation for a great prankster such as himself! Sasuke was in trouble! He was such a jerk! He was… rather good at this… but! He was going to pay! Regardless of whether or not others were around. Uchiha Sasuke was-
"What?"
…
Naruto looked at the branch next to him. Sasuke was in a crouching position, staring at his friend. Confusion and concern graced his smooth pale face. He tugged at the thick vine around Naruto's ankle and chuckled a little.
"Who caught you?" 'This is rather stupid… how could you get caught so easily Naruto?'
"Don't play innocent with me! You caught me! How did you do it?" Naruto pointed an accusing finger at his friend and glowered deeply at him.
Sasuke just tilted his head to the side. "I didn't do this…"
A surprised 'eep!' came from the bushes below them. Both younglings looked down. One silently rocked slowly with the vine as the other reached for ashuriken in his pocket. The bushes shook gently and something crawled out. A little creature… Possibly as small as Naruto was.
"Who are you?" Sasuke questioned, his cold mask that his father made for him slipped into place.
Another surprised squeak came from the creature. It quickly stood up and poked their fingers together. Naruto blinked. He knew that movement… a girl that sat in the far end of the class room with them always did that!
"Hey, hey! You're that girl in our class aren't you?" Naruto asked excitedly.
The small girl stiffened and but nodded. Sasuke's mask slowly melted away as his hand moved away from his pocket. A girl from class? Which girl? One of his fangirls or…
The little girl lifted her head up at them. Eyes as white as the moon that could not be blocked by the long darks bangs that escaped from the small ponytail at the nape of her neck stared up at them.
"…Hyuuga?"
The girl jumped at Sasuke's voice and nodded again.
"Hyuuga?" Naruto crossed his arms and had a thoughtful expression on his face.
The Uchiha stared at Naruto is disbelief then shook his head. How in the world did these two become friends you wonder? Sasuke wonders himself at times.
"U-Uchiha-san… N-Naruto-chan… W-what are y-you two doing h-h-here?" She stuttered out. A light blush spread over her cheeks.
"Studying," Sasuke said bluntly.
He stood up straight and crossed his arms, looking rather intimidating to the Hyuuga girl. She shivered then hastily averted her gaze to the blonde boy. Naruto still was thinking. Loud 'Hmmm…'s came from him, which was starting to infuriate the raven-haired boy next to him. Sasuke's brows furrowed when he noticed her blush growing strong as she continued to stare at Naruto. He let out a laugh. Well what do you know, that bratty friend of his had someone crushing on him. Yay for Naruto.
The Uchiha quickly untied the vine holding Naruto and jumped down, landing with a soft 'thump' whereas Naruto landed hard and loud.
"Owwwww! Sasuke!" the blonde boy whined, holding the growing bump on his head.
"You're Hinata, right?"
Hinata nodded and giggled a little. Naruto looked so adorable when he pouted. And he was already adorable enough! His eyes were so blue, his smiles were so bright and his chibi-ness only made him look so cute. The girls in her class would find her more unusual than they already did if she told them she liked Naruto better than Sasuke. Sure Sasuke was cool, smart, and tough, but there was something about him that didn't interest Hinata all too much. Naruto on the other hand, was loud and open to the world. Something a ninja shouldn't be. She found Naruto smart, in his own way. Naruto was someone that you could get along with and he wouldn't judge you too quickly or by what others say. Hinata didn't know when she started to like him… maybe it was when he came to class all loud and bright, the first day everybody noticed him. She giggled inwardly as she remembered the teacher threw a book at him but missed. Everybody was laughing at how funny he was. His pranks and jokes always made her laugh, small quiet laughs though, and when he smiled at her, she could not help but blush.
Sasuke's nose wrinkled. He was happy that Naruto had someone like him, he really did but he didn't want Naruto to-
"Oh yeah! Hinata! I remember now! Hey, you're kinda cute! Isn't she cute Sasuke?"
…end up becoming attached to her like he already was with him.
Sasuke didn't answer. This earned him a hit in the head with a stick from the loud boy beside him.
"Sasuke you're being mean!" the Uzumaki boy glared, then smiled brightly. "What are you doing out here? Shouldn't you be at home now?"
The Uchiha rolled his eyes when Hinata started stuttering. He then blinked when Naruto's attitude didn't change at all. He was still cheery and receptive; did he not notice that Hinata was having a hard time talking because of him?
"Huh? What? What's making you talk like that? Do you always talk like this?"
Of course not.
"Hinata," Sasuke said firmly. She froze then looked up at him. "Speak clearly, you come from a family like mine, you should be talking like you know what you're saying."
Hinata gulped and held her head down. It was true… She should be. But it just wasn't her. She couldn't help it. Naruto however looked like he wanted to hurt Sasuke. He wasn't being very nice. In fact, he was acting like all the other older Uchihas.
"S-so sorry Uchiha-san… Um… I w-was saying that… I was playing with the others… When I got lost… N-Neji-niisan m-must be worried… I-I don't know where to go… A-and I'm sorry N-N-N…" She inhaled deeply. "Naruto-chan, for not removing the trap that my cousins set to catch animals…"
"Ahh it's ok Hinata! Want us to help you find your cousins?" Naruto jumped up and held out a hand, rubbing the back of his head with his goofy smile. A snort came from Sasuke. "Sasuke loosen up! She's not going to kill us or anything! Come on Hinata!"
The blonde boy bolted through the woods, with little Hinata being dragged behind him. Sasuke crossed his arms and glared at the back of the shy Hyuuga girl. He already didn't like her... Sulkily, he followed after them, back to their spot next to the lake.
What was he so angry? It was a just a girl… Why should he be angry? It was alright for Naruto to make more friends. The more friends, the happier Naruto gets. That's what he wanted right? To make sure Naruto was happy, really happy! But he was just itching to rip Hinata away from Naruto…
When he reached the spot, he watched Naruto show Hinata his plushies and scrolls. The girl was blushing harder. She liked him that much, huh? An eye twitch came from Sasuke. Why the hell did he feel so….
Jealous…
The Uchiha shook his head. No. He was not jealous. No way, no how. Shrugging the feeling off, he walked to the chattered boy and blushing girl and gathered his stuff.
"Ne, Sasuke! Why are you packing?" Naruto asked, tilting his head to the side.
"If we're going to find Hinata-san's cousins and get home without being in trouble we're going to have to pack," he pointed out, picking up his scrolls and putting them in his pack.
"Oh really? But," Naruto linked his hands together behind his head. "I was hoping we could play with Hina-chan." Hinata squeaked softly and her eyes squinted close, her face turned redder at the nickname Naruto had so quickly made for her.
Sasuke sighed and slung his pack over his shoulder. "We could play after school… Maybe. I know Hinata's father would not be very happy if Hinata didn't come home until midnight." Knowing Naruto, that's how long he would last with all that energy of his… Hecks no, he would last longer.
"Nyah… Sasuke you're acting like a grown up!" Naruto just pouted and pulled at a lock of Sasuke's hair. "Grown ups aren't fun!"
"Um… Naruto-chan… S-S-Sasuke-chan is right…" Hinata had pondered over calling Sasuke by his first name the whole time the two boys were talking. She had been calling all the Uchihas 'Uchiha-san' no matter what age for a long while. "Otou-san would be… not very happy if I came home late."
"Mmm… But… What if we can't play tomorrow?" Naruto cried out.
Sasuke just pushed him playfully. "Of course we'll play silly… I suppose Hinata would want to hang out with us, right Hinata?"
Hinata blinked then nodded her head vigorously. "Yes! Yes o-of course!" she squeaked.
Naruto smiled and grabbed her hand. "So! Where's your Neji-niisan?"
OMG! I am so sorry for the damn delay! O.O I never meant for it to last this long! I am so sorry readers but my creativity was really low for the longest time with all that cramming and party planning and everything that was draining me dry of happiness and my free time. Well... Please review…
And don't kill me –sweatdrop-