Naruto whined in agony. He was currently sitting in a stuffy aired clown-car, watching the cloud slowly roll past, as if taunting him. He had been sitting in the car for at least an hour, breathing in the compressed, hot air. Of course, Iruka had sworn it wasn't that long.
He was a big-fat liar in Naruto's book. After bribing him with a trip to Ichiraku's (Ramen… that stuff could cure cancer.), Iruka convinced the poor Kit into going to the new park, instead of the old one, which, in Naruto's mind, no other playground could surpass. Of course, only after they drove past the Ramen Bar did Iruka mention that they would go after.
See? Big-fat liar.
The new park was supposedly 15 minutes away, an eternity in Naruto-years.
At first he was patient, he thought it wouldn't take that long. He was being a good sport, which he thought would score him an extra bowl of ramen. He then found out about Iruka's treacherous betrayal, and after that the car seemed to be moving backwards. Plus, He could've sworn they were driving in circles.
After they passed the old park, he was infuriated. Why couldn't they have gone there? It was closer and easier to get to, not to mention his favorite! So what if the monkey bars are rusted and the swings groan, he'd rather listen to groaning swing then have to be stuck in the car for hours.
"Irukaaaaa," He whined. If he had to sit in the car for that long, as least he should make Iruka miserable. "Are we therrreee yeeeett?"
Iruka glanced back at him. "Yes."
"What?" He shouted, immediately sitting up from the back seat (since no boy his age would ever be allowed in the passenger side while they were in Iruka's car.) to look out the windows at the glistening sign of Hidden Leaf Park. All his past annoyance soon disappeared when they turned into the parking lot, and he caught a glimpse of the shining green slides on the playground. He. Loved. Slides.
He eyes widened when he got a full view of it. "Oh my gosh! Iruka, they have rock-climbing walls! Rock-climbing WALLS!" Iruka chuckles at his adoptive son, and had no complaints when he was dragged over to the play set. Naruto was so easily swayed.
Iruka settled on a bench while Naruto raced off, although he was sure to keep a watchful eye on the boy. He knew the kind of mischief Naruto could get in to.
Naruto raced across dark green mulch to the slides, but not without admiring rest of the playground. There was a bright green and yellow swing set, which stood little bit a ways from the rest of the playground. The main area was made of light green fishnet floors, which connected to yellows bars and finally dark green castle-like plastic roofs over each platform. On one side there were stairs leading up to an area split into two slides, one short and curvy, and one slightly longer and strait. That area was connected to a set of monkey bars, along with a higher platform for larger slides that he couldn't see clearly from the side he was on. Both sets of slides were connected by a bright yellow tunnel with holes in the sides. The whole place seemed to shine and sparkle, and smelled of new shoes, or the air freshener Iruka used when guests came over. Naruto faintly saw a small sand pit off in the distance, and made a quick note to check that out later.
Once he reached the play set, he climbed up the stairs to the short slides, decided they were too small for his tastes, and started through the tunnel. Once there, He checked out the two slides available to him, one a covered curly slide, and the other was a set of two slides, one ridged and on that swerved back and forth. He made a quick decision to slide down the covered one, and set himself at the opening. He put his legs out in front of him, grabbed the sides of the entrance, and pushed. He let out a squeal of excitement while slipping down and around in the long tube, and was breathing hard with excitement when he shot out of the end. He stood up of the end of the slides and turned to go again, when he saw a small figure step into the sand box. Another kid? He hadn't seen any yet, and he supposed there had to some.
He ditched the idea of going again, and approached the suspected child. As he got nearer, he could make out the child's black hair and dark outfit of sneakers, jeans and a short sleeved, dark blue shirt. The other child had started to mold some sand with his hand. When he reached the sand box, he determined it was a boy, and decided to say hello.
Sensing his presence, the boy looked up.
Naruto's thought of speech was momentarily impaired as he caught sight of the other boy. His spiky yet tamed hair blew in the wind, and sweeped into obsidian eyes. Those eyes pierced him, almost too mature for such a young boy, and threatened displeasure if he stayed.
Over looking that look and his fear, he spoke. "Hi." He flashed the boy a grin, overlooking the ice-cold persona.
The boy continued to glare, so Naruto spoke again. "My names Naruto… what's yours?" Silence. Naruto sighed, and sat down on the low plastic fence that contained the sand. The other boy continued to sculpt his mound as if not interrupted. Naruto was getting impatient with the boy. "Hellooooo? Anyone home?" He reached over to poke him, only to be batted away by a small, sandy hand.
In attempt to get Naruto to leave, the boy spoke his name. "Sasuke."
"Whaaattt?" Naruto inquired, momentarily confused. Then, realizing 'Sasuke' had spoken his name, he beamed. "Watcha building?" He sang, swinging on his feet.
Sasuke didn't look up, and stayed quiet long enough for Naruto to consider if this boy had a hearing deficiency. "A sand castle." Oh. Maybe not.
"Ooooh, Can I help?" Naruto asked, his interest spiked.
Sasuke glanced at his pile of sand, then back up at him. "No." The idiot would probably mess it up.
Naruto smiled again and ignored Sasuke's rejection. He bent down into the sand box to help. Sasuke glared even harder, hid silent prayers for the boys to give up were smothered. After the young blonde started sifting through the grainy sand, he decided to go back to ignoring the boy. A few moment of silence passed, Sasuke rounding off the top of the castle. However, the blonde was determined to make a new friend, and poked Sasuke again.
Sasuke glanced up to the boy, only to have his vision blocked by a small, sandy leaf. The leaf was a light gold, a few shades darker than Naruto's hair, and had small lines of brown running through it, like veins. "It's for your castle."
"I know that." He said indigently, snatching the leaf from Naruto and carefully placing it on his the highest point of his castle. Almost done.
Naruto beamed again, sootching over to the boy. "So who ya here with?" He asked, nodding at the small collection of adults sitting on the benches. Some were reading books or magazines, while others were glancing around the park, watching their kids. Naruto followed their gaze, and noticed other kids he hadn't seen before. Most of them were playing together, rolling down hills in colorful rollerblades. He could see a pair of kids that were situated at the top of a small hill, ready to ride down. They were both boys, one looked around his age while the other seemed at least 2 years younger. The younger one had his hand tightly wrapped around the other's wrist, who was looking down at him and was gesturing. He seemed to be comforting the boy. Even from a distance he could see the similarities between the two boys, almost the same shade of fire truck red hair, with light freckles dotted all over their faces. Seeing the two made Naruto wish for a brother.
Sasuke turned around and pointed to a dark-haired man, sitting on a bench in the distance, watching him and the boy like a hawk. "That one."
"Oh, he seems… friendly." He commented, taking in the older boy's (he couldn't of been older then 25.) clean cut and dark appearance. "Well, I'm with that one." He motioned with sandy hands (now that he had fumbled with some sand) towards Iruka. Sasuke just nodded.
They lapsed into silence, Naruto thinking over his new friend, and Sasuke working on his sand lump, ignoring him. Sasuke had a brooding air around him, but he could tell they would be good friends. Naruto knew things like that.
"It's done." Naruto jumped a little, having been distracted.
"What?" He asked rather stupidly.
Sasuke rolled his eyes, "My sand castle, stupid."
Naruto's temper flared, "Don't call me stupid, you… you… jerk!"
"Stupid."
"JERK!"
"Hn." Sasuke didn't bother to say anymore to the idiot. Instead he stood up to leave.
Naruto noticed this, "W-wait, don't go!" He said, even surprising himself.
Sasuke regarded him, miffed at the boy's ability to stay unaffected by anything he said. "Why not?"
"'Cause you're my friend! And friends stay and play with each other, even if you are a meany-head." He said stubbornly.
Sasuke rolled his eyes at the boy's insult. This boy was interesting, annoyingly so. Though, he guessed the blond wasn't so bad. "Idiot… My brother's calling." He said simply. His sentence was exaggerated when Naruto heard a deep voice calling to the other boy from a distance.
"O-oh…" Naruto sighed, deflated.
Sasuke paused before he walked away. "I'll… see you around."
Naruto's head shot up from its hanging position, "Okay!" He shouted with jubilation.
Sasuke rolled his eyes again, and walked towards his waiting brother. Naruto watched him retreat, but not before yelling a 'BYE', to which Sasuke just waved.
Once he could no longer could see his new friend, he glanced down at the finished sand castle he had yet to look over. It was squared off, and had a crumbling tower on top, with his leaf poking out of it.
He smiled, and raced off to tell Iruka of his new friend.
He would definitely come again tomorrow.
-x-
And thus, they begin.(:
(Edited 6-29-10.)