Wander

by Pawn Of Synchro

Sometimes when you fend for yourself, it makes you wander to new places. You meet new people, learn new things and can even take it as a chance to make an effort with the person of your dreams! But, it's not all a picnic! Oh. One question... How are children so good at being criminals? NO YAOI!

1. Plan

Author's Notes: Another Naruto story! I should really try to finish something, but sometimes when you think of something, you need to write it! Otherwise, you begin to think about it more and more, and then next thing you know, you have a detention from every subject teacher you have! So, here we go!

Title: Wander

Anime: Naruto

Summary: Sometimes when you fend for yourself, it makes you wander to new places. You meet new people, learn new things and can even take it as a chance to make an effort with the person of your dreams! But, it's not all a picnic! Oh. One question... How are children so good at being criminals?

Genre: Hurt/comfort, Drama

Rating: T

Characters: Naruto, Gaara, Sasuke, Kiba

Pairings: None as of yet. NO Yaoi!

Word Count: 6278

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. The Great Masashi Kishimoto does! I only have like... 20 bucks! So... Yeah. Also, T.V. Tokyo and Madman Entertainment does too!

Chapter one:

"I CAN'T TAKE THIS PLACE ANYMORE!" Naruto screamed as he stormed into his room, shared with his friends who all stared at him.

"What happened this time...?" Shikamaru asked.

"DAMN IT!" Naruto screamed again as he punched the wall. "WHY IS THAT GUY EVEN HERE?"

"Did he have his princess moment again at lunch?" Kiba asked.

"MORE THAN A 'PRINCESS MOMENT'! IT WAS A FULL-ON RAGE FIT! DO YOU REALLY THINK I GAVE MYSELF THESE BRUISES FOR THE FUN OF IT?" Naruto replied.

Shikamaru and Kiba looked at each other, while two of the other boys in the room remained silent, still staring at the newcomer to the room.

"Just quiet down, Naruto." Shikamaru said as he climbed down from his bunk and walked towards the enraged kid. "We don't want anyone to come in here and start to ask questions."

"YOU WOULD BE SCREAMING TOO IF SOMEONE HAD DONE ALL OF THIS TO YOU!" Naruto yelled as he gestured to his bare arm, covered only by more bruises.

"He's really gone at it this time..." Shikamaru commented.

"If only everyone else here weren't such jerks, then we wouldn't even be having this problem..." Kiba stated as he climbed down from his bunk on the other side of the room. "Everyone has been getting pretty cocky lately..."

A moment of silence filled the room and then it clicked.

"Hey," Naruto said, calming down a little. "If everyone else is getting cocky around here, why can't we?"

"What?" Shikamaru asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"Well, we haven't done anything about the stuff that's been happening! I mean, it's all because we're too scared to do anything about it!" Naruto replied.

"Dude, we're ten! Of course we don't do anything about it!" Kiba told him.

"Look, we are all facing these guys as if we are in the dark! And you even hide your dog and give him half of our meals – which, might I add, are very small! You're practically starving yourself! Not to mention that it seems that our faces are like fist magnets to the guys here!" Naruto stated.

"He... Does have a point..." Sasuke added, now finally joining in the conversation from the corner nearby.

"Look, if we've handled it this long, we can hold out a little longer..." Shikamaru said with a small frown.

"And besides, I've been giving Akamaru half of my meals ever since we've been here. I'm used to the feeds I get." Kiba added.

"Come on!" Naruto shouted. "You can't be serious!"

"It's just the facts..." Shikamaru replied. "We just have to wait until we get adopted."

"It's either that, or we wait until the day that everyone else leaves and we can finally take this place for ourselves..." Kiba joked, half-heartedly.

"And what... What if say, three or four of us gets adopted? What's going to happen then? They'll become bigger targets, that's what!" Naruto shot back.

"What happens... Happens." Shikamaru said. "We can't change it."

"But... What if we can...?" Sasuke asked.

"What?" Shikamaru asked.

Sasuke stood up and walked to the group. "I think our knucklehead of a friend is onto something." He said, Naruto pushing off what he had just been called.

"What?" Kiba asked. "You're agreeing with him? So, what do you suggest we do, Sasuke? Run up to the nearest bully and say, 'hey, I have suddenly gained super powers and now I can beat you' and hope for the best that they buy it and run for the hills?"

"No." Sasuke replied. "There's a simple solution to this if you think about it. After all, we don't have to be here."

"No. No, no, no, no, no! NO!" Shikamaru replied. "We are not doing that!"

"Have you got any other suggestions?" Naruto asked. "That don't totally blow?" He added.

"I agree..." The silent red-headed boy on his bottom bunk said.

"Not you too, Gaara!" Kiba said, followed by a groan. "This isn't going to work!"

"Yeah... There are people that are incredibly dangerous out there." Shikamaru agreed.

"Have you even thought about the kinds of things they can do to kids like us?" Kiba asked.

"And we're would we even go?"

"Far away from here." Naruto answered. "Come on! Haven't you wanted to see the world? You know, besides on flat maps."

Kiba blinked. "Well, I haven't had the chance to take Akamaru on a walk... Maybe it will be good for him..." He said in thought.

"Kiba, don't you start!" Shikamaru told him.

"Sorry, I have nothing else to defend. This place blows dirt balls..." Kiba said with a shrug.

"Shikamaru, you are either in, or you're out." Naruto said.

"I'm out. There's no way I'm going to break rules, and windows to-"

"You hear that? He wants out!" Naruto interrupted.

"You little-You tricked me!" Shikamaru yelled.

"I knew that would work!" The blonde and bruised boy smiled.

"The question is, when and how do we do it...? Without alarming any of the others?" Sasuke asked.

"I say we smash stuff!" Naruto said.

"We aren't doing that..." Shikamaru said.

"Didn't you hear that last part?" Kiba asked. "No smashing, Naruto!"

"I'm not a three year old, Kiba." Naruto replied.

The five children heard the door slowly creak open and they froze – well, not Gaara. In fact, he didn't move an inch.

'Oh! Me and my screaming!' Naruto thought in panic.

As the door creaked open more, a figure of a small girl – who looked around their age – with short light blue hair, dark blue eyes and damaged material made for a dress was revealed out of the shadows.

The boys – minus Gaara, of course – let out a breath that they had been holding for a while now in relief.

"It's only you, Haruhi." Naruto said as he held his chest.

"Who'd you think it was?" The girl – Haruhi – whispered as she closed the door behind her. She paused for a moment. "Don't answer that."

The boys stared at her for a moment.

"What?" Haruhi asked and gently touched the side of her cheek in realization. "Oh that? It's nothing."

Shikamaru glanced at Sasuke who said nothing, but moved over to bedside table and opened the drawer and grabbed some creams out and closed it, signalling for Haruhi to come over to him. She didn't argue and walked over to him.

"Whip?" He asked as he twisted the cap off.

"Whip." Haruhi replied with a small nod.

The other children looked at each other. Naruto and Kiba with almost begging looks as Akamaru gave Shikamaru the cute eyes. Shikamaru rolled his eyes, but eventually nodded.

Naruto casually, but at the same time carefully, strolled over to Sasuke and Haruhi. "Hey, Haruhi," He whispered to the girl. "Are you sick of this place?"

"Duh." The blue-haired girl replied.

"Do you want to leave?" Naruto continued.

"Of course I do." Haruhi answered. "Who wouldn't want to leave this hell of a place?"

"Well, we were thinking about getting out of here."

"Okay, it's either that you know someone who will adopt us, or you been banged on the head one too many times." Haruhi stated as she turned to face Naruto with a raised eyebrow, hissing in pain as the cream didn't go in right from her sudden action.

"Stay still." Sasuke told her sternly.

"Sorry." Haruhi apologized as she turned back to him.

"But, seriously, do you want to come with us? Get out of here?" Naruto asked.

Haruhi thought for a moment and spoke. "How do you suggest we get out then?"

Naruto's eyes sparkled with delight. "I guess that means that you want to come?"

"Want? I need to get out of here!" Haruhi corrected.

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Uh... Yeah... You see... I have only just had my speech, so I haven't really planned that far yet..." He admitted.

Groans were heard around the room.

"Look, it's simple. We just need to run out without making any noise!" Naruto stated.

"And have you ever once thought that there are cameras hidden outside in case any kids before us have tried?" Shikamaru asked.

Naruto's eyes were jolting from one side to the other. "Look, I'm an action person! I don't need to think! Besides, as if any ten year-old kid can figure out how to-"

"All we have to do is locate the cameras and find a way to stop them from seeing us," Shikamaru interrupted. "I doubt that they'll have any facing the wall, because they would never expect kids our age to think about it. They would think that we would just run blindly. So, by staying quiet and leaning against the wall, we should be able to avoid any of the cameras,"

"I like it..." Naruto replied.

"But it would mean going past the rooms of all of the older kids." Shikamaru stated.

"I don't like it..."

"It's either that or we go past the head's office."

"Sneaking past the older kids sounds good, are we good?"

"Yep."

"Good."

"..."

"Hn..."

"Okay, we're good!"

"But Naruto, we're going to have to be extremely quiet about this... We can't make a sound..." Haruhi told him. "While we're going through with this, we're going to have to follow Shikamaru's orders."

"Yeah! I know that!" Naruto replied. "I can be quiet whenever I want!"

"I wonder when that'll be..." Kiba muttered with a small whimper from the small, white puppy in his shirt.

"I can be quiet! I'm just... A very... Fun-loving person!" Naruto countered.

Kiba just rolled his eyes at the blonde's comment, but decided not to say any more in worry of waking any other of the orphans up.

As Sasuke finished up with Haruhi's wound, Shikamaru walked over to his bed and reached under the pillow and pulled out a paperclip and began to bend one side until it was straight and proceeded with trying to unlock the window.

"I don't see why we just can't break it..." Naruto said. "They probably won't care if we're gone anyway. I mean, if they haven't gotten any money off of us yet, why would they want to waste more by paying for food and stuff for us...?"

"We can't take any chances, Naruto..." Shikamaru told him as he continued to turn the paperclip. "They are very strict and would take many risks for money..."

"Well at least hurry it up!" Naruto replied. "I'm getting tired of waiting...!"

"It doesn't just take two seconds to pick a lock, you know..." Haruhi replied.

"Well, it should..."

"Well, it doesn't...!" Kiba told the blonde.

"Hey! Don't start with me, Dog Boy!" Naruto shot back.

"What's wrong with having Akamaru around?" Kiba growled along with Akamaru.

"Be quiet you morons...!" Sasuke hissed at the two – three if you count Akamaru – causing them to remain quiet, but decided to have a glare-off.

A click was heard when Shikamaru finally picked the lock and shoved the paperclip into his shorts' pocket. "There we go..." He said as he slid the window open and faced the others. "Alright, now we have to stay cautious. Only move on my signal while we're out here. Got that?"

Everyone else nodded.

"Good. Now, let's move." Shikamaru said as he carefully jumped through the window with the others following close behind.

The kids leaned their backs against the brick wall and followed Shikamaru's lead, not once moving their backs off the wall. As they moved, the noticed that there were hidden cameras around the outside.

'How is Shikamaru so smart for being a lazy ten year-old kid?' Haruhi thought with a slightly raised eyebrow.

They reached the corner and stop for a moment. Shikamaru faced the rest of the group. "Alright, on my signal we have to run as fast as we can without stopping. If we stop for even a second, there is a huge possibility that we can be caught. Do you get that?" He whispered to them, which was replied with a round of nods. Shikamaru nodded back and stared up at the camera as it continuously turned around the area. When the camera had just turned to go to the opposite side, Shikamaru gave the signal and they all began to run towards the nearby forest. Lucky.

They had only just got there...

The kids were panting as they all hid behind either a tree or a bush and out of the reach of the cameras. Their legs were tired, not being aloud much time to do really anything that they want to at the orphanage. They remained like this for a while, but Shikamaru was the first to speak.

"It looks like the cameras didn't notice us. We're safe... For now..." He stated. "But, we should keep moving. They might send out a search party for us when they notice that we're gone."

"Right." The others said in unison as they followed Shikamaru.

"That was amazing!" Naruto told the others, his voice filled with joy. "I can't believe that we actually got out of there!"

"We're not out of trouble yet. We still need to find out where we're going..." Shikamaru stated.

"Yeah, yeah... I know that! Why do you always need to ruin the moment, you wet blanket?" Naruto muttered with a pout.

Shikamaru just shook his head. "Troublesome..."

"Do you know if there are any villages nearby, Shikamaru?" Haruhi asked.

Shikamaru sighed. "So, I make one little plan and suddenly I have to know where a village is... Troublesome..."

"I'm going to take that as a no by your attitude..." Haruhi said. "It looks like we're going to be wandering aimlessly until we stumble upon a village by luck."

"So, should we just keep walking all night?" Kiba asked with folded arms. "I mean, until we get far enough out...?"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "I guess so... But if we are too fatigued then we'll have to stop. There's no use in collapsing from exhaustion. We will just need to take watch shifts if we do though..." He replied.

Kiba nodded. "Sounds good." He said, followed by a yip from Akamaru.

Haruhi turned to face the two silent boys who were following on behind. "Anything you want to add, guys?" She asked, which was replied by the silence. She scrunched up her nose. "I guess not..."

"Well, I'm glad that I'm finally out of there after being in there for most of my life..." Naruto said, starting a conversation.

"That's true, but Gaara was in there first and has been in there longer." Haruhi stated with a small smile.

"But, I was a close-second." Naruto replied.

"You're actually bragging about who has been in there the longest?" Kiba asked. "I don't know about you, but that doesn't seem like a very great position..."

"Well, we're still in one piece, is what I'm saying." Naruto told him. "It's an achievement to me!"

Kiba rolled his eyes. "I don't understand that you've turned out to be a sane-happy guy after being in that place for most of your life. I mean a lot of orphans that were at that place turned out to be happy kids, but that's just because they got out of there before the abuse got serious." He said aloud.

"What can I say? I'm just one of those people who make the others around him feel really special and lucky to have around!" Naruto boasted.

Everyone else groaned.

"What a loser..." Sasuke – finally – mumbled.

"That was just... No, Naruto... No..." Kiba said, unable to find the right words.

"Come on! I've been holding in all of my jokes ever since I've been in there. I just had the perfect time to tell one. You can't just miss out on that!" Naruto stated.

"I regret saying what I said to make him say that..." Kiba mumbled as he shook his head, Akamaru copying his motion.

"Yeah! Thanks a lot, Kiba!" Haruhi added. Kiba raised an eyebrow at her. "What?" She asked. "You heard what Naruto said!"

"Oh brother..." Kiba muttered.

'It sure is good to be out of there though...' Naruto thought. 'Especially getting away from that Bash guy! He was the worst!'

*Flashback*

"Hey pipsqueak!" Bash screamed as he stormed over to Naruto.

Gaara tugged on Naruto's torn shirt and tried to pull him away from the table where he sat, but Naruto wouldn't listen. Being new to the orphanage was understandable, but it was best to do what Gaara said, otherwise a few bones could be broken.

"Dude... I have no idea what you're telling me, but-"

Naruto was grabbed by the collar of his shirt and brought only inches away from the face of an older kid who looked like a typical high school bully. And for some reason, his clothes looked as if they were brand new. Naruto looked at his tray of food which looked way more edible than the pile of garbage that most of the kids got.

'Must be a favourite...' He thought.

"Listen here! You're new, so you don't know how things work here!" The brown-haired teen yelled. Naruto could've sworn that he could feel the guy's spit fall onto his face as he spoke. "You do as I say or you will feel a world of hurt! Got that?"

Before Naruto could do anything, Bash spoke again. "In fact, I might just give you a test shot!" Naruto's eyes shot closed, but didn't feel any pain... Actually, he was dropped to the ground. He slowly opened his eyes, to see Gaara in front of him and Bash's arm was covered in sand.

Bash growled as the sand slowly left his now bleeding arm and into the gourd on Gaara's back. "You got lucky this time, kid!" And with that he left.

Naruto just stared at Gaara with wide eyes. "What-"

Gaara turned to face him. "You were supposed to move..."

*Flashback Ends*

Naruto slowly shook his head. 'Yeah... The worst...! No... That's a lie... Everyone there was as bad as each other...' He thought.

Haruhi sighed. 'The first day there was horrible...'

*Flashback*

Haruhi walked around the small eating area, lost in her thoughts until she fell face-first onto the ground. But she knew better than it was an accident... Someone had tripped her over. She turned her head to face the small group of boys that had just made her fall. She scrunched up her nose as she stood up.

"What's the big idea, pal?" She yelled at them. "Do you want karma to be a pain in your behind?"

"It's your fault for not looking where you were going, new kid!" The pale boy at the front of the group shot back with a smirk across his face.

Haruhi's hands curled up into small balls as she narrowed her eyes at them.

"You know, I could continue doing stuff like this, or I could stop if you do something for me." The boy said.

Haruhi turned to face her back to him. "If you think that I'm going to do anything for someone like you, you're nuts!"

"You'll regret it, toots!" The boy yelled as Haruhi stormed off, rolling her eyes at the boy's stupidity.

*Flashback Ends*

'Thinking that I'm going to go on a date with him! Ridiculous!' Haruhi thought as she held a hand up to her forehead.

'No memories, but one... No one to be able to talk to... It was hard to deal with...' Sasuke thought as he stared sadly at the ground.

*Flashback*

"So, what's your name, new kid?" A blonde haired boy asked. Sasuke sighed. He could already tell that this kid was going to get on his nerves.

"...Sasuke..." He replied softly.

"I'm Naruto! And that's Gaara and Haruhi!" The blonde stated. "So, where did you originally come from? You know, before you became like us?"

Sasuke thought for a moment in silence. He slowly shook his head, but could barely be seen. "I don't remember... It's not clear..."

Naruto blinked and looked at the others.

"Do you remember anything? Any other details? Other than your name?" Haruhi asked.

Sasuke muttered something under his breath and remained silent for a while. "No... Nothing..."

Haruhi gave him a sympathetic look while Naruto and Gaara didn't seem to sympathize with him as much, being at the orphanage for so long...

"Well... You can eat with us, you know..."

*Flashback Ends*

'Hiding Akamaru was difficult... I wasn't even able to tell my friends...' Kiba thought as he stroked Akamaru's head gently. He glanced down at the small puppy in his shirt who returned the glance, which caused Kiba to bring out his toothy grin.

'But still...'

*Flashback*

"You know, there's something not quite right about you..." Naruto said to Kiba.

Kiba cringed as he tried to cover his tracks of his secret.

"Um... Are you going to leave me alone, or are you just going to act creepy for a while?" Kiba asked, playing dumb.

"Why do you smell like a dog?" Naruto asked, ignoring Kiba's question.

"Have you got something against dogs?" Kiba asked.

"You ignored my question..." Naruto muttered.

"You ignored mine too, but I'm not whining like a little girl..." Kiba growled.

Naruto began to walk towards the door, but looked back at the brunette. "Okay... You win the battle, but I'm keeping my eye on you..." He turned back and walked out the door, closing it behind him.

Kiba let the air that he had been holding onto for that entire time and he lay on his stomach and looked under the bed.

"It's okay, boy... He's gone now... You can come out..." He whispered and out came a small, white puppy that immediately licked Kiba's cheek. "It's no problem...!"

*Flashback Ends*

'...Being ignored... When just becoming an orphan... Or even being talked about... They talked badly...' Gaara thought back. '...Hell is the word...'

*Flashback*

"That boy is a monster! We can't keep him here anymore! Who knows what he could do to those other pieces of trash? That will be big money we'll lose!"

"Stay calm... If anyone wants to adopt him, then let them... They won't know..."

"But they will!"

"Don't worry; if he causes any trouble, then I can always solve things the quick and easy way..."

"You better..."

Gaara listened in from the corner and clutched onto his slightly torn teddy bear. He stared down at the ground in silence for a moment, but soon walked away and into his dark and empty room. It was only him. Alone... As always...

He walked over to his bed and sat down. His eyes wandered around the room – the empty room. It was so lonely in this room. Even just one more person in here wouldn't be bad...

He would cry if he could...

*Flashback Ends*

'How troublesome that place was...' Shikamaru thought as his eye twitched. 'It's not my fault that everything that they tried to get us to do was a total waste of time...'

*Flashback*

"Bash, can you please show this boy what happens when someone dozes off while I'm talking?"

"Of course!"

Shikamaru was whacked across the head and fell flat on the ground. He groaned as he wondered why he couldn't be bothered to try and dodge that one.

"What a drag..." He mumbled softly. He stared up at Ms. Jones with a raised eyebrow and a new bruise forming on his forehead.

"Now, if you ever try that again you will receive a punishment far worse! Get it?" Ms. Jones yelled.

"Got it..." Shikamaru muttered.

"Good. Now stand up before I have to punish you for that too!"

Shikamaru stood up and felt his sore head. 'That's going to look bad in the morning... Troublesome...'

*Flashback Ends*

'Troublesome...'

"I'm hungry..." Naruto said to the group.

"Well, we're all hungry. Wait... Most of us..." Shikamaru began as Kiba's eyes narrowed. "But we're going to have to deal with it until we can find anything edible."

"Edi-what?" Naruto asked.

"Edible." Haruhi replied. "It means that you are able to eat it."

"Oh. That makes sense..." Naruto said. "But, that will take forever!"

"Just... Try not to think about it." Haruhi stated as her stomach rumbled, her face glowing red. "Y-You're making us all – most – of us hungry!"

"Really?" Kiba asked, slightly annoyed. "Again?"

"It's a good thing that we all know the meaning of quiet." Shikamaru stated sarcastically.

Kiba and Akamaru lifted their noses into the air and sniffed. "Guys, I can smell something..." Kiba said.

"What is it?" Shikamaru asked as everyone stopped dead in their tracks.

"It smells like... Someone's cooking... Meat..." Kiba answered.

"So you mean it's something other than onion and who-knows-what-else?" Naruto asked.

"Yep." Kiba replied with a yip added by Akamaru.

"I don't think that we should go there... If it's cooking, then someone must be there too. We have to be cautious; we don't know who it can be..." Shikamaru stated with Sasuke and Gaara nodding in agreement.

"Well, I guess we can always find some fruit to eat then..." Haruhi stated.

Kiba stared down at Akamaru with sympathy. 'Sorry boy...' He thought as Akamaru whimpered.

The group waited for someone to object, but realized that Naruto wasn't there.

"We better go after him! Let's go, Akamaru!" Kiba said as he ran after Naruto's scent, Akamaru barking in reply.

"Kiba! Wait! We don't know if there are rabid squirrels out there!" Haruhi called out as she ran after the partners.

"Haruhi-" Shikamaru tried to call her, but just groaned. He turned to the other two that were left with him. "Any more takers?"

Sasuke and Gaara looked at each other for a moment, then both turned back to face Shikamaru. Sasuke sighed.

"I'll be right back with them." He said as he chased after them.

Shikamaru just shook his head. "So troublesome... They just make my job harder... At least you're quiet, Gaara..." He said as he sat against a tree. "Now I can get some well-deserved rest."

Gaara just stared at him, but didn't say anything and soon turned to face the direction where the rest of the group had just run off in.

-Bar Line-

Naruto had just found the place that Kiba was talking about and found a spot to hide in the trees. He looked around and smiled happily, seeing no one around. He stared at the large amount of meat that had been cooking on a stick over a flame. Naruto was about to lunge at the meat until he was grabbed from behind.

"I told you there would be no rabid squirrels out there, Haruhi!" Kiba told the blue-haired girl. He turned to Naruto. "Oh and uh... WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?"

"I WAS TRYING TO GET SOME ACTUAL FOOD!" Naruto screamed.

"Just be quiet and let's get out of here..." Haruhi whispered. "We can't just steal that! Someone might see us!"

"I'm sure that the guy wouldn't mind if a little bit was missing... I mean, look at that thing! It's huge!" Naruto replied.

"Come on, Kiba... Let's get him out of here..." Haruhi said, but with no reply. "Kiba...?"

Kiba and Akamaru shook their heads as they just realized that they were drooling. "Ah... Whoops!" He said, embarrassed. "Uh... Yeah let's-"

"Quiet...!" A voice hissed from behind. The three kids looked over their shoulders to see Sasuke behind. "Someone's coming..."

Akamaru sniffed the air and then whimpered softly. "He's right..." Kiba whispered.

The kids watched as a man made his way through the bushes below and walked towards the cooking chunk of meat. He sat down on a log as he brought out a kunai knife from his pocket and tore some meat off the bone.

"Look at what he's wearing..." Sasuke whispered to them.

"What he's wearing?" Naruto asked in confusion.

"Why does it matter?" Kiba added.

"It does look familiar..." Haruhi mumbled.

Sasuke sighed. "He's... A ninja..." He stated.

"A ninja?" Kiba asked, stunned.

"Are you serious?" Naruto added.

"That would make sense..." Haruhi mumbled with her thumb and forefinger ascending to her chin.

"Yes... So, we have to be careful and sneak away as quietly as possible." Sasuke told them.

"SO YOU'RE TELLING ME THAT THAT GUY IS A NINJA? NO WAY!" Naruto screamed. He quickly covered his mouth, realizing what he had just done. "Uh... Sorry..." He said nervously as the others looked at each other.

The ninja from down below stood up and stared up at the kids, who all gasped.

"Damn it, Naruto...!" Kiba hissed.

"I said I was sorry!" Naruto replied.

"We don't have time for that right now!" Sasuke told them. "Let's go!" And he quickly ran off with the others following close behind.

"Hey kids! Wait a minute!" The man called out, but with no reply as the kids ran away. "Hold on!" He shouted and ran after them.

"Why did you have to do that, Naruto?" Sasuke asked.

"IT WAS YOUR FAULT FOR EXPLAINING THAT TO ME!" Naruto bellowed.

Kiba sniffed the air once again and looked back over his shoulder. "He's following us!" He told them. "If we don't hurry, then he's going to catch us!"

Haruhi sighed. "That's just great..." She muttered.

"There's Shikamaru and Gaara..." Sasuke said as he stared at the two boys below. "Let's get down!"

"Guys! Let's move!" Haruhi called out to the two of them as they jumped down from the tree.

"Let me guess, there's someone chasing you?" Shikamaru asked with a bored expression on his face.

"How did you know that?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I heard you guys screaming..." Shikamaru replied. "And a ninja out of all people... You are so troublesome..."

"Well, we should really get going now... Before that guy catches up to us!" Haruhi suggested.

"Relax..." Shikamaru said. "I thought that you guys would've done something like this..."

The others – excluding Gaara – blinked and stared at each other. They heard a rustling sound in the bushes and stared at the same man from before. Kiba whispered something to Akamaru and the dog yipped in reply.

"Hey! What are you kids doing out here alone?" He asked. "You shouldn't be out this late..."

"Sorry... We were just going now..." Shikamaru told him.

"Do you need any help?" The ninja asked.

"No. So, can you leave us alone now?" Shikamaru asked.

"Look kid, I just want to-"

"We don't need your help!" Kiba snapped. "Go get him, Akamaru!"

Akamaru jumped out of Kiba's shirt and ran up to the stranger and snatched the ninja tools' bag from the ninja and began to run back to his master.

"Hey!" The ninja screamed as he began to run after the dog, but triggered a trap, being caught up in the net that hung from a nearby tree. "What the-"

"It was so troublesome trying to set this trap up." Shikamaru stated. "But having troublesome friends means that you always need to think ahead. It's like a game of shougi."

"What did he say...?" Naruto asked.

"I... Honestly have no clue..." Haruhi admitted.

"Really...?" Shikamaru asked.

"Even I got it..." Sasuke added.

"Okay, now I'm just lost!" Kiba said.

Shikamaru sighed in defeat as he looked back and forth between Akamaru and the ninja. "Well, thanks to this guy, we've got protection..."

Akamaru dropped the small bag into his master's hands to be opened. Kiba smirked.

"Looks like there's some pretty good stuff in here. Kunai, shuriken, smoke bombs..." He stated. "Would this be good to keep?"

"I'd say so." Shikamaru answered.

"But wait... Isn't that... Stealing?" Haruhi asked.

"Of course it is! But, we deserve it after being put through all of that torment!" Naruto replied.

"I hate to say this, but he's right. For a change..." Shikamaru said as his shoulders slouched down.

"HEY!" Naruto screamed.

"Anyway, let's go... We've gotten rid of the problem. We should really be on our way." Shikamaru said.

"Right." The others replied as they began to walk away from the trapped ninja.

"Hey! You damn brats! Get over here and get me down!" The ninja yelled.

Naruto, Kiba and Haruhi turned around to face him.

"Ooh..." Naruto began.

"Yeah..." Haruhi added with sarcasm.

"Uh..." Kiba continued.

"NO!" They said in unison with grins on their faces. They all turn back around laughing like five-year olds.

"Do you really have to provoke ninja like that?" Shikamaru asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Um..." Naruto began.

"No..." Haruhi continued.

"Well..." Kiba added.

"Yeah!" They said in unison.

"So troublesome..." Shikamaru muttered as he shook his head.

Out of nowhere, Akamaru began to growl. Everyone turned to face him and Kiba. "There are others... I'd say..." Kiba began and sniffed the air. "Around three people..."

"That's a basic platoon for a ninja squad if you count this guy..." Shikamaru stated.

"Wait a minute! How did you know how many people are in my squad?" The ninja shouted. "Don't tell me that you're an Inuzuka?"

Kiba's eyes narrowed as he sent his death glare over at the ninja. Well, being ten, it looked like more of an adorable pouting face.

"Do you have to go, Hana?"

"Yeah... But, I'll be back real soon, okay?"

"Okay..."

"Take care of Akamaru while I'm gone."

"Are you kidding me? I have just grown up dog-like. It's none of your business anyway!" Kiba replied

The others stared at him for a moment before Kiba turned back to them. "Well? Do we want to be caught? Let's go!" He said. The others looked at each other, but Shikamaru soon led the way.

'Is there something I missed, or did he just look as if he wanted to really hurt that guy?' Shikamaru thought in disbelief, shocked at how quickly Kiba's usual laid-back attitude change. 'I'm going to have to keep my eye on him...'

"Kiba, where are they at now?" Shikamaru asked.

"Just give me a minute!" Kiba yelled back and sniffed the air. They've almost made it to their pal! So, we don't have much time..."

"Great... They've put us into check. We have to make a move and it had better be a good one." Shikamaru said in worry.

The group thought for a moment and Naruto grinned.

"I know what we can do!" He said.

"Now I'm worried..." Haruhi muttered.

"No, seriously! You know how I would sometimes disappear and they could never find me?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah..." Everyone – minus the silent Gaara – replied.

"Well, it turns out that they never had their cameras on during the day, so I could always go there! Follow me!" Naruto said as he made a sharp turn, dashing in front of the others.

"I sure hope that we're making the right move!" Shikamaru said as they all raced after Naruto.

A few minutes had passed and they skidded to a stop when they reached a field of flowers and a cave.

"Whoa...!" Haruhi gaped in awe.

"Here we are! My own little hang-out!" Naruto announced.

"If you knew about this the whole time, why didn't say something before?" Sasuke asked as he folded his arms.

"I didn't think about it at the time, and besides you guys didn't ask." Naruto replied.

The group walked into the small cave and relaxed inside.

"It looks like we lost them..." Haruhi observed.

"For now..." Shikamaru added.

The group looked at the weapons that they had just stolen.

"I guess in a way this makes us thieves, right?" Haruhi asked softly.

"Well really, Akamaru was the one who stole this... If you think about it..." Naruto replied.

"Don't put all of the blame on him!" Kiba shouted.

"Right... I guess that we can split it fifty/fifty since you told him to do it." Haruhi said.

"BOOM!" She and Naruto shouted as they high fived.

"Tch. Whatever... That means if Akamaru and I steal anymore stuff, I guess we can keep it all to ourselves!" Kiba shot back.

Naruto and Haruhi were on their knees now.

"NO! DON'T DO THAT!" Naruto begged.

"THE FOOD WILL GO STALE BEFORE YOU EVEN EAT IT!" Haruhi pleaded.

"Oh! Ha ha! You guys should be comedians!" Kiba yelled sarcastically.

"BOOM!" The two on the ground shouted again as they high fived.

'Well, this is sometimes normal..." Shikamaru thought.

'Idiots...' Gaara thought.

'Losers...' Sasuke thought.

"Well, whatever the case," Shikamaru began and all eyes were on him. "I think that we're getting the right idea. But, I want to make a decision with you guys though..."

"A decision?" Naruto asked.

"About what?" Haruhi added.

Shikamaru sighed. "Maybe, in order to survive we'll need to steal. And that will make us criminals, even if we are children. So, I want to know if you guys want to go through this. If one of us doesn't feel comfortable with the idea then we won't do it. It's as simple as that. So, what do you guys want to do?" He asked.

There was a moment of silence as the group stared at each other.

"Well, it seems as if we won't have any other choice but to steal." Sasuke said with a small smirk. "I'm not going to be reduced to begging on the streets."

"There's no way that I'm going to let Sasuke outdo me! Believe it!" Naruto screamed.

"Hey, if he's in it then I've got to do it too!" Haruhi stated.

"Akamaru and I might get a thrill from all of this!" Kiba said with a cocky smirk along with a bark from his partner.

"So... Gaara...?" Shikamaru asked.

Gaara stood there like a statue for a moment until he gave an almost unnoticeable nod, which made Shikamaru grow a rare smirk on his face.

"Then it's settled..." He stated.

"...We're thieves now..."

Author's Notes:

Okay, so that was the first chapter. I worked my butt off doing this, so I hope that it was good to read!
So, I may as well have the order of who came to the orphanage so then we're clear on this... First – Gaara – Second – Naruto – Third – Haruhi – Fourth – Sasuke – Fifth – Kiba – Sixth – Shikamaru. There we go...
This is the first time I have done an orphanage story... So, this took a while to figure out. I had to do so much research, because I really haven't had to study anything like this... But, in the end, it is worth it, because it's going to be great when we finally get into the good parts!
So, you can favourite, follow and review! Please...? I need to know if I have done a good job or not... So... Can you please... Review? And do the others...?