"Why not share some candy between friends?" Said one of the school punks.

God, is there ANY night that they don't pester me? I'm starting to think that they're like flies stalking a heap of shit… hehe, no pun intended. Thought Uchiha Sasuke, who was sitting at the bottom of the cold steps of the park, enjoying the half-consumed sour mango lollipop that he was trying to finish for the last hour. He'd cursed more if the candy melted too soon but at least the man in the store kept his word, it'll last until you got in trouble and trouble did get to Sasuke before he could finish.

"Sorry guys" he stood from his position and cracked the candy, destroying it to pieces and gulping the partly melted treat down before spitting the white plastic stick in to the ground "Go buy your own, I'm off for the night" The boy placed his hands in his pocket and took a step.

BLAG!

A bag was thrown at him, hitting him on the top left of the back of his head. Sasuke would've frowned if he wasn't already frowning at the moment, just what did he do this time? Oh right, he doesn't need to do anything to get in trouble. Just being him made him a deserving target for trouble. Our black haired hero took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

Alright, just tonight… No fighting for me. Thought Uchiha Sasuke, taking his few brave steps towards temperance.

All would've gotten well.

If it weren't for the second bag that was thrown at him.

"You're going to die" Sasuke made a sharp turn and jumped towards the wall, gaining momentum and kicking himself off and kicking the nearest kid in sight. Fortunately for him, they were all lined up, creating a domino effect. His little 'friends' groaned as they fell on each other, bruised as they are but nevertheless alive.

That's what's important, right? As long as they're alive he won't get into much trouble with the grown-ups.

Sasuke he reached through one of the boys' pockets and took a lollipop from him, a smirk escaping his mouth "Jeeze, and here you are having your own candy" he said and unwrapped the candy before placing it on his mouth and walked away "And get the right flavor next time! This thing's cherry" he remarked at the sweet treat but shrugged as a cold wind passed by "Well, if you get any serious injuries, tell Ms. Inuzaka I said Hi..." he stopped for a second and thought things more deeply.

Whoops, wrong type of doctor. Chuckled Sasuke as he walked into the dead of night.

**

Uchiha Manor, a place of utter importance and an image of ancestry. More than 12 years ago, the manor was more than just that. It was a place filled with people, kind living people. Some of them, Sasuke loved, and some, he hated. All in all, it was a place that he called home. Now, it was nothing more than an empty place where people used to live, a place where only one soul resides in the confines of the cold walls.

"I'm home" Sasuke entered his house and turned on the lights, throwing his bag to the side without care. The boy went to the living room and bowed to the picture of his dead parents before walking towards the kitchen, opening the cupboards and taking out a bowl of instant noodles. As he was going to open it, Sasuke gave out a low sigh and turned his head slightly to the side.

"Does it really hurt if you knock first… hokage-sama?" Sasuke then threw the plastic bowl without warning and hit something hard with a loud THUD! Causing Namikaze Minato to groan and come out of the shadows, clutching his nose in pain "I know you're all powerful and all mighty and stuff but that doesn't give you the excuse to come into my house whenever you feel like it. Keep this up and I'll press charges for stalking" Sasuke uncaringly said as he went to find a clean cloth and handed it to Minato in case he suffered a nosebleed.

"That may be, but it pays to monitor your health… do you know how bad it is to the body if you continue to eat things like these?" Minato asked, taking up the instant noodle bowl and showing it to Sasuke.

"Oh so you're my nutritionist now… wait, that shouldn't be right… How did you know about my food list?" Sasuke asked, getting creeped out by Minato's knowledge of his frequent lunch and dinner.

"Don't take it that way, I'm just a concerned citizen that's watching over a kid who doesn't know the difference between real food and fast food" Minato said as he looked at Sasuke go over the cupboard again and prepared some tea for him. At the sight, Minato went over to the table and waited for Sasuke to come back.

"It's not much but help yourself" Said Sasuke, giving Minato the glass of hot tea before sitting down in front of him.

"Thank you!" Minato smiled and took a sip, raising a brow at the taste.

"Well? Don't tell me it's too strong again" Groaned Sasuke but he was assured by Minato with a cheeky smile.

"It's great! A little hot but it's perfect this time" Minato complimented him then placed a medium-sized lunch box on the table before pushing it gently towards Sasuke "I hope you like sukiyaki" said Minato.

Sasuke looked towards the lunch box and placed a hand on it, this was the 200th time that he was given a home-made meal by the Hokage himself, not adding the innumerable times that he was invited into the Uzumaki residence for lunch as well as dinner. He had wondered all these years why does the Hokage perform these acts of kindness towards him. Sure he was the last of the Uchiha clan but Sasuke knew that there was more than just that. He never cried nor confessed anything to Minato before but deep inside, he accepted the fact and believes that Minato is one of the very few people that understood him. The rumors of him following his brother's murderous footsteps not only killed his reputation but also left him devoid of any social interactions although there were few kids of his age that overlook those rumors and see him as he is.

With a bow of gratitude, Sasuke thanked Minato and started eating in silence. The food was utterly delicious and it had an aroma that couldn't be found in any food that he bought or tried to cook. He savored each bite, letting the flavor of the sumptuous beef roll along his tongue. Sasuke always appreciated Kushina-san's cooking, he wouldn't complain if he got the same thing over and over again as long as it's homemade and made by Uzumaki Kushina. An hour later, after Sasuke finished with the hearty dinner, he found himself standing at the front of his house, watching the great 4th hokage leave.

"Oh and tell Kushina-san I said hi!" Sasuke added before Minato could get too far for him to hear.

In confirmation that he received Sasuke's request, Minato raised a hand and waved it gently, causing the youngster to smile and go back inside.

**

Last night's movie marathon didn't do well on Sasuke, one minute he's watching exaggerated ninja scenes and the next morning he found himself yawning every five minutes.

"I hate monda…" He stopped himself from finishing his sentence and blinked at the gang of kids that blocked his way to the academy "Now what? It's eight in the morning!" Sasuke scratched behind his head, sure he was a genius but fighting eight kids at the same time would just earn him a nasty set of injuries.

"We want revenge for last night" Said the leader-looking-type of the group, taking a brave step forward.

"My point exactly" Sasuke crossed arms, he needed a few more hours of sleep before he could settle this little skirmish that he partly caused "Which is why we should settle this at the same time, same place of our little misunderstanding"

"I don't think we could wait by then" Said the shortest of the group, following the leader who was now cracking his knuckles, making the others follow his lead.

Dropping his bag to the side, Sasuke scratched behind his head and readied himself. Eight against one was not a fair fight at all but this could end very badly or end with good results, hopefully on his side.

"AND YOU CALL YOURSELVES CITIZENS OF KONOHA?!" Shouted a voice that Sasuke was very familiar with, and in a split second, a yellow haired boy wearing an orange jumpsuit appeared in-between of Sasuke and his attackers.

"Naruto…" Groaned Sasuke, watching the great son of the great hokage come to his aid... alright, maybe not-so-great son of the great hokage. This carefree stubborn genin-to-be spends most of his time either eating ramen at the ramen place or pestering the last of the Uchiha clan. Most of the time it was the former but to Sasuke, having Naruto trying to spend time with him just once in a day was equal to a hundred bonding moments with the ramen-obsessed person in history. Of course, having Naruto around would make Sasuke invincible towards the bullies of the town but Sasuke wasn't that kind of person. If he wanted things done as planned then you'll have to do it yourself; and using someone's status to protect you violates Sasuke's personal moral code.

"Eight against one?! You guys have no sense of honor! All of you are a shame to the jounins of the village! They try very hard to teach us the honorable ways on how to become ninjas and you go and use your powers for your own gain!" Shouted Naruto, lecturing the bullies with the pride of being the 4th hokage's son "If you dare cheat in a battle then I'll make sure that you won't live another day to eat the ichiraku ramen's special ever again! BELIEVE IT!"

"Erm... Naruto-kun… Sasuke just left…" Said the leader, pointing at the spot where Sasuke used to be but that didn't help him from preventing the headsmack that Naruto had in store for him.

"Honorifics! Why can't you respect Sasuke-kun the way you respect me?" Naruto asked, starting to lose his temper.

"Alright!" Whined the leader who was now afraid of getting Naruto and the 4th hokage pissed "Sasuke… kun just left" he said bitterly, though he kept his tone a bit lighter to appease Naruto's temper.

A sigh escaped Naruto's mouth "Whatever, do this again and I'll bust your ass" he warned, glaring at the kids like how Sasuke used to glare at him, causing them to run away. "Just what is with these people?" he asked himself with disappointment, it seemed that it was mandatory for everyone to bully and show Sasuke that he isn't welcome in the village.

"Now where did he go?" Naruto asked himself again, turning his head from side to side.

"Right here" Sasuke said from the corner, buying a can of orange juice from the nearby vending machine and making Naruto run to his side "You didn't have to do that, Naruto, I could've beaten them up anytime I wanted" Said Sasuke, opening his can and drinking its contents.

Naruto walked beside him, hands behind his head and a smile on his face "Hehe! Don't say that Sasuke-kun, I know you that you're saying welcome in the inside"

Sasuke choked on his drink and coughed the orange juice up from hearing Naruto's words "That's why we don't get along! Stop making stupid assumptions for once and maybe I'll see you as a person… and I assume you studied for today's exam?" Asked Sasuke, turning to look at Naruto, seeing him silent and blinking in disbelief and was followed by a loud scream that was heard throughout town. The next thing that Sasuke knew was that Naruto was kneeling at the ground, head low and was using a panicked voice.

"SASUKE-KUN! Please let me copy your answers! Just for today! I'll treat you out for a full-course barbeque meal in return! I promise!" Naruto begged, bowing back and forth in an attempt to convince Sasuke.

"IDIOT!" Shouted Sasuke, disbelieving Naruto's idiocy "Didn't you study all week!? I tried to offer you tutoring but NO! You said you had it all under control… not to mention you topped it off with another BELIEVE IT!"

"Come on, Sasuke! Iruka sensei's going to kill me!" Naruto begged again.

"Can't you just use your… Sexy Technique to knock Iruka out?" Sasuke asked, not feeling entirely confident with letting Naruto copy.

"Oh…"Naruto looked up to him then gave out a nervous smile "Sorry, the elders banned that technique… So does that mean you'll allow me to copy?"

"… You're hopeless Naruto" Sasuke said with a shrug, leaving Naruto behind.