Sasuke was completely and utterly bored.

He was walking around the village in search of something to do, a job to complete, or someone to spar with. He dreaded days like this one, where his brother was out on a non-paying job (he never really told Sasuke what he went to do), and the idiot was out training with his perverted mentor. He had nothing to do, no one to train with, and he hated it.

He supposed he should just wait until noon. That's usually when the idiot finished his training and dragged him to Ichiraku's to refill his bottomless tank with him and then go for an afternoon training session.

He settled for going back to the compound and read a couple of scrolls that could help him out with his hand-to-hand technique. They lived in Konohagakure, which ranked four out of all the villages. That means Kirigakure -what Itachi liked to call Command Central- still sent them enough resources, scrolls included. Since the Uchiha's were the most well-known clan in the village, they got first dibs on whatever information scrolls they wanted.

On his way home, he felt something latch onto his arm. He inwardly sighed, knowing already what it was. "Get off me," he grumbled.

Ami Watanabe was one of his many, many 'suitors'. It was customary for young men of eighteen years of age to already be engaged to a woman, but since Sasuke had absolutely zero interest in any of the girls in this village, he didn't see that happening anytime soon. Clearly, Ami could not see that.

She let go of his arm, and as soon as she did, Sasuke continued his trek. She sighed in annoyance and continued to follow him. "Come on, Sasuke! Let's go out! We're both not getting any younger, and we're both from respectable families, it makes sense for us to be together!"

Sasuke stopped, causing her to bump into his shoulder. Her turned and fixed her with his most heated glare. "I said no," he said between gritted teeth. He ignored her shocked features and turned back towards his home, leaving Ami, who was gaping like a fish, in his wake.

Once he stepped through the threshold of his house, he took off his sandals and tried to pass quietly into the library without being noticed by his parents.

"Sasuke?" a masculine voice he recognized as his fathers called out.

He inwardly sighed and made his way to the kitchen, where his father sat, reading and analyzing a variety of scrolls and his mother prepared a meal for her husband.

"Yes?"

"Did Itachi say when he was going to be returning?"

"Yes, tonight."

"Okay, thank you. You may go."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. His father didn't ask as many questions as he normally did. Most of the time, when his father stopped him when Itachi wasn't home, he made it into an interrogation, trying to gather any information Sasuke knew about his whereabouts and when he would arrive back home. It was complete waste of time, considering, Itachi always told Fugaku, but he never paid attention. Sasuke learned to just avoid his father when his brother was away.

He chalked the lack of questions up to the fact that he was probably busy with the scrolls. Back in the day, his father was one of the head guards at the Capitol Building in Kiri, where some of the 'most important' people lived and operated from. Even though he's retired, they still seek him out for his intelligence and quick-thinking when needing help for safety procedures and strategies. When he retired, they sent him to live in Konoha, where they send almost all the ex-guards. Sasuke was lucky, he supposed. If his father had done things to upset the higher-ups, they could have sent them to one of the lower villages, where they don't send as many resources and supplies to and leave them to fend for themselves.

With a barely there shrug, he moves towards where the library is, but before he could even get his hand on the door knob, there's a knock at the door.

"Honey? Could you get that?" His mother called out, and as soon as she did, he immediately turned to get the door. He would do anything for his mother.

He hoped to God that it wasn't another one of his 'suitors' here to proposition him again. The last time that one of them had done that, his father had gotten it into his head that maybe it was a good idea for Sasuke to start looking for a life-long partner.

'As if,' hethought bitterly. All the girls he knew -he uses that term lightly- were self-obsessed and self-serving.

His prayers had been answered when, instead of a petite teenage girl, there was a large blonde. He supposed that that really wasn't any better.

"What do you want, idiot?"

Naruto let out a toothy grin. "The perv let me go early." A quick glance at the clock on the wall behind told him that it was indeed only eleven.

"So?"

The blond rolled his eyes. "Iruka gave me the cash that came in today, and I'm really hungry, and you're gonna quit being antisocial and come eat with me."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, but nevertheless complied, telling his parents he would be back before nightfall. As they walked to the ramen stand, Naruto had felt the need to relay every detail about the day's morning sessions. He overexaggerated greatly, causing him to make some side remarks, which led to Naruto punching his arm a couple times (he keeps telling himself that they didn't really hurt).

"Anyways bastard, today, it's my treat," Naruto proclaimed pridefully.

Sasuke resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Every single time he got some income, he insisted on paying for everything, not that he minded. But that always led to him spending way too much and not having enough by the end of the month, which meant Sasuke had to pay for everything.

Naruto was an orphan, and he always blamed Kiri Law for it. Years ago, the ones in charge of maintaining the villages issued a decree that any child conceived out of wed-lock had to be either 'taken care of', or given away to any village below the top three. They ranked villages in population, individual intelligence and skill, and the best ones would get the most resources and supplies -Kiri, of course being at the top-, while the ones at the bottom were left to rot with their own devices. Naruto's parents had decided to give him to Konoha when Iruka, a teacher in the academy was assigned as his caretaker. After a village is chosen and approved, the parents are forced into cells for disobeying the law and sleeping together before marriage. Since Naruto was, for the most part, on his own, the officials at the Capitol Building sent him a monthly allowance until he turns nineteen.

The idiot always complained that money didn't make up for what they did, but he didn't seem to complain whenever he got it.

Once, in a fit of anger, Sasuke had mentioned that it was his parents own fault for not being able to control their hormones, and Naruto punched him and didn't speak to him for two weeks. After a healthy dose of persuasion from Itachi, he managed to swallow his pride and apologize. Sasuke always reminded himself that that topic was off limits.

When they got to the stand and ordered, Naruto started up another conversation. "Did you hear that there was another attack in Kiri?"

That got his attention. "Really?"

"Yup, apparently they burst into people's houses and started taking jewels. Some people were even killed."

Sasuke shook his head. People who left the villages and refused to comply under Kiri law were deemed rouge, and left to fend for themselves. Rouges often went to the top villages and tried out their own personal form of justice, trying to eliminate the ones who set up the village systems. They never made it into the Capitol Building, and settled for taking out innocent civilians. Sure, Sasuke was aware that there was a social bias, and that the rich and wealthy were the ones who got all the nice things and special attention, but he doesn't know what would possess people to think that just confronting them and murdering people did any form of justice.

"Idiots. All of them."

"You're telling me."

After lunch, him and Naruto did some light training until the sky had turned a light purple. After saying their goodbyes, they parted ways and he headed over to his house.

He entered the compound, and looked around, not seeing his parents and assumed they had gone to sleep. After a quick bath, he had gone off to bed, sleep coming easily to him, especially since his muscles were undeniably sore. Sasuke, not unlike the other members of his family, failed to notice that his brother had not yet returned.