Disclamer: I don't own Naruto

Naruto: 5 years old

Sasuke: 5 years old

Itachi: 10 years old

Only Time Can Tell

"Hey Mommy, how long are you going to be gone this time?" Naruto asked while playing with his black and orange fox that he called Kyuubi. Kushina reached down and ruffled her son's hair. "I don't know, but I promise I'll send you money and when I get back we can go to the carnival you love so much." A wide smile broke out across Naruto's face as he registered the news.

"Really, you promise?" Kushina nodded her head in recognition. Naruto hugged his mother's leg as he looked up at her while smiling.

She smiled back at him as she said, "I have to leave now." Naruto released his mother's leg and picked up her suitcase for her. She gladly took it while saying, "Thank you. I'll see you later and remember to feed Kyuubi. This time you better eat something other than ramen young man." Naruto nodded.

"Don't worry I'll feed Kyuubi, I can't make a promise to the other thing though." Kushina gave her son a scolding look and put her hands on her hips. Naruto knew that wasn't a good sign, so he said, "Okay, okay I will," Kushina smiled at her son, "Bye mommy." Kushina waved goodbye to her son before opening the door and leaving. Naruto waited until he was sure his mother was gone before he picked up Kyuubi and walked out the door. 'I can't wait to get to the lake. It always looks the prettiest at sunset,' Naruto thought as he walked to the lake.

"Kyuubi wait for me!" Naruto yelled as he ran after Kyuubi, "I knew I shouldn't have put you down." After some time Naruto had finally caught up to Kyuubi and when he did he picked Kyuubi up. Naruto held Kyuubi and made sure he was secure in his arms. Naruto stopped on the hill to catch his breath. He looked down at the lake and saw a peculiar sight. He saw boy with black hair, styled like a duck's butt, wearing a blue shirt and white shorts sitting on the dock of the lake. 'I haven't seen him here before. I should go say hi.' Naruto walked down the hill and towards the boy. Once he was a foot away he asked, "Are you watching the sunset?" The boy Naruto questioned jumped nearly a foot in the air from the sudden noise. "Sorry I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's okay I just wasn't expecting that," he said as he turned around to look at Naruto. Naruto smiled at him, "I can see that. Anyway as I asked before were you watching the sunset?"

"Yeah it always makes the lake look its best."

"I know what you mean, that's why I'm out here. Can I sit?" The boy nodded and Naruto plopped down next to him. "I'm sorry that was kind of rude of me. I'm starting a conversation with you and you don't even know my name. I'm the one and only Naruto Uzamaki."

"That wasn't rude of you at all. By the way my name's Sasuke Uchiha. It's nice to meet you." Naruto smiled at him and Sasuke smiled back. "Who's that you got there?" Naruto stopped smiling and blinked questioningly at Sasuke before he looked in the same place Sasuke was. Naruto realized he was referring to his fox that he was holding.

"Oh this is Kyuubi; he's my best friend in the whole wide world."

"Really that's so cool! You're lucky I don't have a best friend."

"Well you can be Kyuubi's best friend too. You want to hold him?" Naruto asked as he held out Kyuubi to Sasuke. Sasuke stared into Kyuubi's red eyes before he shyly shook his head.

"You think he's a freak because he has nine tails, don't you?"

"No it's not that. I'm just not used to animals."

"If that's all it is, then you don't have to worry. Kyuubi's been trained and he's really nice, he doesn't bite or anything." Sasuke looked at Kyuubi one last time before he agreed; he took Kyuubi from Naruto and held him. Surprisingly Kyuubi didn't struggle, but instead made himself comfortable in Sasuke's arms. Sasuke blinked surprisingly at the fox's behavior and started to smile as he watched Kyuubi rest his head on his hand. "I told you he wouldn't bite and look, he likes you."

"Yeah," Sasuke said rather distractedly because he was too busy petting Kyuubi.

"Hey Sasuke look the sun's almost done setting." Sasuke looked at the lake to see that the sun's vibrant colors shimmered off of the blue of the lake. Naruto and Sasuke watched the lake in awe as it changed colors. They continued to watch until the sun was almost completely gone and the moon came to trade places with it. "Wow, Sasuke it's pretty late shouldn't we be getting home?"

"Yeah I should be getting home." Sasuke started to get up and Kyuubi mewled in protest, since his nap was interrupted. "Sorry Kyuubi." Kyuubi mewled again to show that he accepted Sasuke's apology.

"Let me take Kyuubi off your hands." Naruto gently lifted Kyuubi off of Sasuke's lap and cradled him in his arms. "So I guess I'll see you tomorrow." Naruto began to walk off, but stopped when he didn't hear Sasuke say anything. Sasuke face became troubled as those words escaped Naruto's mouth.

"Am I not going to see you tomorrow?"

"Well I don't know. This was the first time I've been out of the house so late. I just came out here because I didn't get to see the lake earlier."

"So I won't get to see you tomorrow?"

"I'm afraid not." Naruto saddened at that statement and Sasuke instantly felt bad. "You know, now that I think about it I can see you tomorrow. I'll come see you around noon tomorrow."

"Are you sure?"

"It's a promise." Naruto instantly hugged Sasuke and giggled in glee. "Okay, see you tomorrow!" He ran off before Sasuke could process what happened. Sasuke smiled none the less and started to walk to his own house as he thought about the joy of having a new friend.

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this! Btw Itachi doesn't come in until next chapter. Please bare with the story I promise it will get better.