The first day of school is always filled with mixed emotions. Some students are excited about the new year, with new prospects for both love and heartache. Some are just grateful that they are one step closer to being done with the daily grind of books and teachers. Either way, the students of the Hidden Leaf High School were busy chatting in their seats and uniforms, still excited from the summer break. It was the last year for this class with their ages spanning between 16 and 18 years old. Some had turned into legal adults over the break while others had birthdays later in the year. Naruto Uzumaki, who was going to turn 18 in October, was one of those students. He was also busy staring outside from his window seat, not really paying attention to the chatter. It was obvious that his nearly adult mind was elsewhere.

"Ne, Ne! Naruto!" Snapping out of it, Naruto finally noticed that his childhood friend, and ongoing crush, was extremely close to his face with her pink hair and lips painfully teasing him. This sudden togetherness forced a flustered blush from his scarred cheeks.

"Ne, yourself, Sakura...What do you want?" Giggling, she only gave a shrug before turning her back as she took in her own desk two rows over from him. She made sure to smooth out her pleated skirt before sitting down then rested her attractive round face on one of the palm of her girly manicured hands. Naruto could only blink as he watched, running his own hand through the cropped cut blonde hair that was on top of his head. Turning from the seat in front of him, Shikimaru gave a smirking grin.

"Rumor has it that she's ready to ask you out this year, Naruto. Get ready to be confessed too." Again, Naruto blinked just before waving his other friend off.

"I confessed like five times already. She always said no because she liked Sasuke."

"Well, Sasuke transferred like three years ago when his yakuza brother came and got him. Women are fickle."

"Don't compare Sakura to Hinata, Shiki..."

"Hey, we've been dating for two years now. Take my advice on some things."

Sighing, Naruto then moved back to look out the window again, but his blue eyes did wander to look over at Sakura after only a few seconds. Indeed, she was looking at him. She was even smiling and waving. It was...very odd. "If I can get your attention class?" The homeroom teacher, Mr. Iruka, tapped a ruler on his desk to quiet down the noise. "We have a new student, in a manner of speaking." Eyes focusing, the class instantly recognized the 'new' student. With spiked black hair and overgrown bangs, Sasuke Uchiha took a deep bow.

"Good morning..."

"Sasuke, you can have a seat in the back for now. You remember Naruto, right?"

"Huh?" Naruto turned, wondering why the seat next to him was empty. He suddenly remembered that Neji had graduated early from taking summer courses. Sasuke nodded, finding himself in the middle between Sakura and Naruto. The dark eyes looked straight ahead before moving to look as he fiddled with his set of books and new sitting area. Naruto constantly stared only to stiffen up when Sasuke actually looked back. Unexpectedly, he gave a polite smile and a soft bow of acknowledgement. Naruto instantly nodded back, his gaze softening.

"Alright class, let's get your Japanese History books open. Choji, would you please read from chapter 9?"

And just like that, life went on as usual. The day of the class moved forward just like every other day. During the lunch break, the girls moved to gossip in the corner as Sasuke left to eat his boxed lunch outside in a secluded area. "Hey, hey, Naruto?" One of the girls called to him though he couldn't tell who it was from the flock of women. "Can you believe that Sasuke would show his face again?"

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"You know! His brother is in the Yakuza!" Another anonymous female voice spoke up. "He left Sasuke in the orphanage just like you when his parents were killed in that gang thing! Then he came back and took Sasuke to be in the gang with him!"

"What? That's crazy...Sasuke would never..."

"I bet he has a tattoo now! Tattoos are so cool", the third voice chimed in.

Rolling his eyes, Naruto left the chattering to the females and headed out of the room. He never ate lunch outside, but suddenly had the urge to do it today. It had been three years since Sasuke left him, despite Naruto begging for him to stay. They even got into a fight about it. Naruto was also an orphan, his parents dead from a car accident soon after he was born. Being put in the orphanage, he was only around six when he met Sasuke. Apparently, his parents were in the Yakuza and got killed in a territory dispute that was all over the news. His elder brother had to leave for the business and Sasuke was just left clueless. Being in the orphanage since he was practically born, Naruto took Sasuke under. Despite their constant bickering, they really were best friends. When Sasuke's brother, Itachi, finally came back, Naruto didn't want him to leave.

But what could he do? That was Sasuke's real family, not him. They left on bitter terms, though Naruto did try to write but Sasuke never wrote back. With all these old memories, Naruto found himself around the corner, facing an old wooden bench from the school's abandoned track yard. It wasn't in use anymore. There were only bits of overgrown equipment leftover from what wasn't taken up from the building's expansion. Sitting on the ledge of the bench was Sasuke, holding his bento and chopsticks with a piece of tomato being slowly chewed on. "You...still like tomatoes, huh?"

Sitting down next to him, Naruto opened his own boxed lunch. Inside was a small salad, which he used his own chopsticks to transfer his slices of the red fruit to Sasuke's box. "I don't eat mine, but since you left, I had no one to give them to, so it's good that you came back." Suddenly, the distance that was between them closed as if it was never there in the first place. Picking one up, Sasuke popped it into his mouth.

"It's good. You're missing out."

"Well, give one back then."

"No, you gave them to me."

"Come on, Sasuke. Don't be selfish!"

Pulling the box back, Sasuke continued to eat them off and dodge Naruto's failed retrieval attempts.

"All gone."