Naruto stared off at the sunset. It was always the same, just after the trees. The leaves would shed the beams of light in such fascinating ways that it always astounded Naruto.
He pumped his feet weakly, the swing beneath him feebly lurching forward and back, forward and back. His feet scraped the ground and dirt got into his sandals. Lovely.
Well, it was almost time to go home. Not that anyone would be waiting for him. But he did have school tomorrow, and for once he didn't feel like wasting the night away with video games. He just wanted to free himself of his meaningless life in the escape of dreams.
Without a word, he pulled himself up heavily from his seat and trudged depressedly out of the playground, and started down the path that wound around the pond and toward his apartment.
The sun had almost disappeared, but he didn't lift his head to watch it. He just stared at the ground, feet dragging against the dirt, hurting his toes. But he didn't care.
"Who's there?" a voice called.
Thinking the voice was directed toward him, Naruto turned his head toward the dock, where the voice had originated. He opened his mouth to say something when he noticed several shadowy figures exiting the foliage across the pond.
They were walking on water! They must have been ninja.
Naruto quickly dropped to the ground, having enough sense to hide himself. Those ninja did not seem friendly, seeing as they were dressed all in black even though the sun was still shining slightly behind the curtain of trees.
Sasuke! He realized the raven-haired boy had been the one to ask the question, sitting at the end of the dock. Now he was standing, in a defensive stance.
"Come here, kid," said the leader, a tall man standing in front of his two cronies.
"No thanks," answered Sasuke darkly, and he didn't point out that he couldn't walk on water.
The ripples the men made on the water softly lapped the dock, and the water nearly blinded Sasuke with the reflection of the sun. Still, he could see the men, and he was starting to feel uneasy.
Naruto shivered, where he was. The ground was cold, but that wasn't what caused it. He was afraid.
"You an Uchiha?" asked the small, lanky man to the right of the leader person.
Naruto could visibly see Sasuke shiver. "What's it to you?"
They shared a glance that seemed to be made up of wicked and triumphant grins.
Suddenly, they ran forward, with such speed Naruto couldn't keep up. Sasuke was quicker, though, and swung backward as they reached the dock's edge. The two in back stayed where they were while the leader leaped upon the dock. He swung at Sasuke, but he dodged and jumped backward twice, and let rip three shuriken.
The man ducked easily and pivoted his leg around to trip Sasuke, and he immediately went down. Sasuke struggled to get to his feet but the man quickly brought his elbow down onto his back, extracting a painful screech from Sasuke.
Naruto quivered with fear where he was, unsure of what to do. Go get help? It could take too long. Jump in? He'd surely be killed, or beaten up, too. What should he do?
Sasuke lay motionless atop the dock, and the two cohorts of the leader, dressed all in black so only mouths and eyes were visible, stepped forward to bound and gag Sasuke.
Then they flew off into the night. All of this happened so fast, Naruto was unsure it even happened.
But he knew he'd heard Sasuke's pitiful cry, and that wasn't the sort of thing Naruto could make up, in all his dreams of defeating the stuck-up Sasuke in front of legions of girls.
But what was he going to do?