Heh, Naruto thought, I don't care if they don't want me in the academy, they're gonna get me one way or another. Then I'll become hokage, believe it! Naruto had been about to register for the academy since he turned six in a couple of months. Normally it would be the kid's mom or dad that took care of it, and Naruto didn't have any parents.
The old man had tried to explain to the ninja why he should be in the academy. He'd said something about keeping an eye on him, Naruto just guessed that he was talking about all the tricks he'd pulled so far. Wait a second. If the old man thinks I can get into the academy by pulling off a bunch of pranks, then I should go crazy…er. He thought, adding the er as an afterthought.
He raced down the street, dodging a bunch of people along the way. The brightly colored signs went by him in a blur, and soon he was in a dirtier part of the village. This place looked as if it hadn't been lived in for a couple of years. Some of the windows in the buildings were shattered, and other doors had yellow police tape on them.
Naruto stopped in front of one of said doors, and grinned as he looked at the warning in front of him. He'd put the tape on his door a couple months ago, and people had stopped coming in and taking his stuff. He'd also started hiding his more valuable items, like his ramen, under one of the less-loose floorboards. Plastic trash bags were on the windows, but they were just there because the place was really drafty, he still slept with an orange hoodie on.
Once inside, he raced to the secret compartment he accidentally had made, and looked at what weapons he had available. Marbles? Nah, I've used those at least twice now. More graffiti? Maybe. His eyes suddenly caught on something, and he knew just what he was going to do.
Sasuke was getting kinda hungry. He'd not been able to get anything from the market today, and was now hanging out in his camp in trashy downtown. He didn't think anybody lived near this part of the village. He'd only ever seen a few ninja walking around, and they were even more drunk than that one guy he had seen in green spandex, running around, calling himself the blue beast of Konoha. Whatever that meant.
He was nodding off when he heard footsteps coming. The person was practically stomping, so Sasuke assumed it was another off-duty ninja. Then he heard muttering. He couldn't quite make it out, but it sounded like somebody was planning a trap. He was about to leave when the voice got a bit closer. He was a bit surprised, it sounded like a little kid.
Looking out, Sasuke saw another kid about his age going into one of the run down houses. Huh, Sasuke thought, never seen him around. He decided to go check it out. He left the camp he had made a couple months before and walked over. Looking at the building, Sasuke thought the kid could be a squatter. The place was trashed, with everything that would deter a person covering it, and then some. He could hear someone, likely the kid, banging around in the house.
Sasuke knocked, and all sounds coming from the house immediately quieted. He was about to walk away when someone cautiously opened the door. A head full of messy blonde hair peeked around the other side. "Hey," the kid said. "Sorry not to open the door earlier, but I wasn't sure if you were safe or not." Sasuke thought that was smart. He had to say that the guy had some survival skills. The inside of the house looked far more livable than the outside. Sasuke was willing to give the kid the benefit of the doubt and say that it was meant to be a disguise.
"Hey," Sasuke said back. "I was uhh, well, living down in that corner there. I was wondering what you were doing here." Sasuke wasn't going to tell him what he was doing in the trashy neighborhood, but he felt that the kid would trust him more if he gave him some trust. "Well, I live here," he said back. "I'm Naruto. Nice to meet you. Wanna come in? I think it's a bit better than out here," Naruto said in what Sasuke hoped was a joking tone. He wasn't really used to hearing jokes though, so he couldn't be sure. "Alright. Thanks."
Naruto opened the door and let Sasuke through. "I'm Sasuke," he said as Naruto led him into what he thought was the living room. "You hungry?" Naruto asked. Sasuke opened his mouth to respond, but Naruto had already moved to a loose part of the floor. Sasuke watched cautiously, worried that Naruto might have weapons stashed in there, but he just pulled out a couple instant ramen. "Gotta keep my good stuff hidden," Naruto said with a sneaky grin. Sasuke couldn't help but roll his eyes at him. Naruto motioned to a table with a few chairs in the middle of the room, and Sasuke sat down. He didn't really like ramen, but he felt like he would insult Naruto; he'd seen in that small cubby under the floor, and it was chock full of ramen. And on the other hand, he was really hungry and didn't have the money to pay for anything.
Three minutes later, Sasuke was eating ramen at the table. Naruto was eating too, but he looked more like he was breathing it in. "So," Naruto asked. "What are you doing here? I'm usually the only sober person you see in this place." Sasuke shrugged, somewhat uncomfortably, though Naruto didn't seem to notice. "I don't really have a family," he said at last. Nobody knew that a single Uchiha had survived the massacre. He'd left the compound before anyone could find him. He didn't use his last name, and no one outside the compound had ever had a good look at his face, so he hoped that no one would recognize him.
"Really?" Naruto said brightening. "I mean, that's awful of course," he amended, "but I don't have a family either. Never did. Wanna live here?" The question was sprung so suddenly that for a minute Sasuke couldn't answer. Then he slowly nodded his head. Naruto laughed and fell out of his chair."Dobe," Sasuke said, "you'd better be careful." He was smirking as Naruto got off the ground, rubbing his head. "Hey, Teme! I don't see you trying to become a ninja!"
"You want to be a shinobi?" Sasuke asked, perplexed and hopeful at the same time (though he didn't let Naruto know).
"Yea!" He answered, pumping his fist into the air. "I'm gonna be the best, then I'll be hokage, and everyone will like me and not trash my house and stuff!" Sasuke was happy that Naruto wanted to be a ninja. Maybe then he had a chance of getting into the academy himself without people finding out who he was.
"Well," Sasuke said, smirking again. "You're going to have to work on your balance if you want that to work out for you." Naruto indignantly pointed a finger at him. "And you think you could do better?" he challenged. "Actually, I know I can." Naruto looked even more mad, before an idea came across his face. "Then you've gotta teach me! I've gotta get into the academy as soon as possible! They're about to stop letting kids get in! Hey, how do you know stuff anyway?" Sasuke nearly let it slip, but then he amended himself. "I watched the students practicing everyone once in a while."
Naruto nodded, appeased with the answer. Sasuke let out a mental sigh of relief. This just may work, he thought to himself. Even if he is a big Dobe.