Right In Front of Me

Naruto and Sasuke were very good friends when they were in preschool. Sasuke always staying by Naruto's side. Beating the kids, who would bully Naruto, half to death.

It was adorable to see them sleep very close together during nap time. Naruto's head was always on Sasuke's lap while he slept sitting up.

Sakura and Ino were very close too (they fought for Sasuke then also). They would play house and force Sasuke to be the child and Naruto to be the cat.

When he would complain about being a cat, Sasuke would grab a marker and draw whiskers on Naruto. After that, he would tell him cats get to sleep on people's laps and he didn't complain after that.

Shikamaru was always the postman or the guest that would drop by to say hello. He would bring plastic cakes and hot dogs for them to have a picnic before Ino left to work.

Ino was the father who worked as a secret agent on an invisible boat and Sakura was the angry mother always telling Sasuke to get the cat out of the house. Of course Sasuke would ignore her so Sakura would start yelling at Ino to get another job for more money.

At the end of the day, Naruto would thrash around not wanting to leave Sasuke. Kicking and screaming Sasuke's name. Though Sasuke didn't want to leave Naruto either, he would tell him to have a race and the first one who got to Naruto''s house won. Of course Naruto felt for it and hurried Iruka to start the car.

In kindergarten Shikamaru made friends with the new student: Gaara. His eyes looked like those of a raccoon and his hair was gorgeously red with his clear blue eyes.

Ino eventually made him the burglar that she had to defeat with her ray gun and throw him off her invisible boat. Sakura would yell at her that she finally was doing something to bring food on the table. Shikamaru became the henchman of Gaara (which he would always want to be killed so that he could take a nap) and they were glued together also.

Sadly just before first grade, Sasuke was moving away. His parents had jobs in another part of town and he had to leave Naruto.

On the day before he left, Sasuke was allowed a last playdate with Naruto. They were underneath a small dome, Naruto blushing as Sasuke drew whiskers on his face. "Eh, Sasuke?" He asked trying not to move.

"What?"

"Why are you drawing whiskers on my face?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke stood silent and finally finished his work. "…"

"…?" Naruto tilted his head, "Sasuke?" His eyes weld up in tears and he clenched his fists on his lap.

Sasuke panicked. "D-Don't cry, dobe! They'll come off!"

Naruto wiped away his tears. "I'm sorry." His head drooped.

Sasuke stared at Naruto for a long while and parted his lips to say something, but he immediately closed them.

"I don't want you to leave." Naruto finally said.

Sasuke's heart sank. "I… Have to." It hurt his chest to say that to Naruto.

Again, silence loomed in between the two and Sasuke hatched an idea. "Naruto," He grabbed the marker and began retracing the whiskers.

"What are you doing Sasuke?"

Sasuke pulled back again. "The whiskers are so you won't forget me."

Naruto touched his blushing cheeks and smiled. "I'll keep them forever!"

"Sasuke! Time for us to leave!" Itachi, Sasuke's older brother, called.

He turned to his brother and then to a sad Naruto. "Well… I have to go." He got up and dusted his knees.

"Wait!" Naruto grabbed his wrist.

"What is it?"

Naruto pulled out a navy blue ribbon from his pocket. "I took it from the arts and crafts bucket." He handed it to Sasuke. "Its so you wont forget me either." He smiled.

Sasuke looked down at the ribbon and a smile urged at the corner of his mouth.

"Sasuke!" Itachi called again.

Naruto stood up and looked straight into Sasuke's eyes. He smirked and said: "First one to find each other when we grow up is the best in the world!" He challenged.

Sasuke returned the smirk and nodded his head. "Deal."