It was fall in Konohagakure. The trees were brilliant shades of yellow, orange, and red; the leaves that littered the ground were equally bright, though also brittle. It was in this picturesque scene that Sasuke found himself most irritated.

Crunch.

Sasuke's eye twitched.

Crunch. Crunch crunch.

The entire left side of his face twitched.

Crunch crunch CRUNCH.

"Naruto!" Sasuke finally yelled. The blonde looked up at him.

"What?"

"Stop stepping on those leaves!" Sasuke replied, annoyed. He had just spent the last few minutes trying to ignore the other boy as he danced across the sidewalk, stepping on every dead leaf he could see. Naruto grinned and stomped on a particularly crunchy one. Sasuke's eye twitched again.

"Come on, Sasuke, don't you like crunching leaves?" Naruto asked him.

"No."

"But Sasuke, it's fun! Here—you try it!" Naruto attempted to steer Sasuke toward a pile of leaves that hadn't been trampled on. Sasuke dug in his heels and refused to budge.

"You're such a spoilsport," Naruto complained. Sasuke shrugged and continued walking as if nothing had happened. Naruto performed an odd sort of jig beside him as he tried to reach every single leaf; Sasuke pretended that he didn't know the obnoxious blonde. Finally, the two reached the road where they usually parted ways; Naruto waved happily and continued on towards his apartment. Sasuke turned to make his way to his own house.

Along the way, Sasuke couldn't help but notice how many leaves littered the ground. As he came within sight of the Uchiha mansion, he looked down at his feet. There, as if it had been waiting patiently for him, was a dried-up brown leaf. Sasuke glared at it. It stared innocently back. Sasuke glanced around to check that no one was watching him, then stepped on it with gusto. It made a satisfying crunch and lay quite flat. Sasuke smiled. Perhaps crunching leaves was fun, after all.