[A/N: So I just watched Road to Ninja, and then this happened. There might be another (much sillier) RtN-inspired fic later, too. Also, first time with Naruto's POV! This will be interesting.]

Naruto stared absently into his bowl of ramen, using his chopsticks to poke at the last lone noodle floating in the remnants of the broth. Ever since he'd arrived back from the alternate world Madara had shipped him off to in an attempt to acquire the Kyuubi, he hadn't had much of an appetite; this was only his eleventh bowl and already he'd had enough.

Sighing, he pushed the bowl away, paid for what he'd eaten, and headed back out into the street. While he had asked Sakura if she would come with him, she had already made plans to go out with her parents, so Naruto was by himself.

Naruto put his hands in his pockets, kicking at a can as he took a shortcut through an alley near his apartment building. Even for just a little while, it was nice...parents, a family...but it's not so bad here, with Iruka and Sakura and everyone.

It was still a bit lonely, to open the door of an empty apartment. Naruto didn't get that far though, as he caught sight of a note that had been thrust under the door.

"What's this?" Naruto said curiously as he picked it up and unfolded it.

Naruto:

Park. 9:00. Very urgent.

~Hinata

"Hinata-chan? Why would she want to meet me? Wait, what time is it now?"

Naruto didn't have a watch, so he opened the apartment just long enough to duck in and check the clock on the kitchen wall. It was already 8:45, so he locked the door again just as quickly and headed back down the stairs, looking the note over once more as he ran.

He'd always thought that Hinata would use a lot more words when writing a letter, but then he'd never received letters from anybody, really, so who was he to talk? The handwriting was hers, though, he remembered it from the Chuunin Exams when she had offered to let him copy off of her. Maybe this was just the way people wrote letters nowadays, or maybe she had been in such a rush that there hadn't been time to write more.

Naruto wasn't quite sure why Hinata would come to him if she was in trouble, but he wasn't about to let her down. Darting through alleys and over rooftops, he arrived at the park with a few minutes to spare.

Hinata was nowhere to be seen, so Naruto sat down on a bench to wait—she would probably turn up at exactly the time the note had said.

He didn't have to wait long before there was a soft rustle as someone jumped down from one of the trees near Naruto's bench.

Naruto jumped up and ran towards the sound. "What did you need—okay, you're not Hinata-chan," he cut himself off, pulling out a kunai and pointing it towards the newcomer. It was too dark under the shadows of the tree for him to see them clearly, but whoever it was was too tall to be Hinata, and their hair was too short. "Come out of there," Naruto ordered, backing onto the pathway running through the park and motioning for the other to follow. Once they were on the well-lit path, he would be able to see who he was up against.

"If you insist," the other said quietly, in a very familiar voice.

Naruto gasped, the kunai dropping with a metallic clatter onto the path. "Sasuke?!"

"Not quite," the other replied, stepping fully into the light. It only took Naruto a few seconds to recognize his former teammate's appearance from the alternate world. "Sorry to disappoint."

[A/N: I don't know how long this will be, but probably not terribly so. 15-20 shortish chapters, maybe?]