He just lay there.

Within eyesight, the only things in view were the dark hairs on his belly. There also existed a spinning fan, and it twirled with the speed of a snail. It was a wonder he could afford electricity at all, but he returned to the view of his depleted stomach. It was all he could look at, really, as it was the constant reminder of the reason for his self-pity: his failure to provide for himself.

He woke up hungry, and went to bed hungry. If there was anything to eat, it was probably yogurt past its expiration date; there were times when he forced to eat such a thing. His lack of a food bank in his refrigerator was mainly due to the need to pay off Ino's ever-piling debt. He paid whomever she owned whenever he could, and the majority of money made went towards that debt. He was a character in an illustration, and while the surrounding environment was bleak, the emaciated and dull look of the man spoke volumes.

But today, he would change his destiny.

Today, he would beg for food stamps.

He never enjoyed the walk up to the tower of the Hokage. Each step was a painful reminder of all the things he wasted, just for the sake of vengeance.

He walked within the main entrance to the lobby. The humidity swamped the area with an air of laziness, rude behavior, and suggestive themes; these attitudes could be found within the secretary of the Hokage, Shizune, the former secretary of Tsunade. Although Shizune to wander wherever Tsuande set her feet, Tsunade's current status drained the youthful Shizune into a weary, sickly, and bitter woman. Her hair brittle and oily, and her face lined with wrinkles as in a sea of sand, her eyes were the colorful aspects of her face. Sasuke walked to her reception desk.

"Ahh, Shizune, you reme-"

"I am Shizune-sama," she replied sternly, cutting him off.

"Ah, yes, Shizune-sama. My apologies. Yes, you remember the application I turned in for foo…" Sasuke could not continue his sentence. Along with his unforgiving hunger, his eyes were captivated in disgust and human curiosity towards Shizune's mouth. Shizune had a habit of licking her lips in the same manner as a dog in heat, but very quickly and almost as if she were a fish, as her tongue swam out only a little. She only did this in the humidity. Her eyes swam back to the protagonist in mindless confusion and apathy. "What?" she could only ask.

"My application, miss."

"Oh, that. Ugh, good lord, the fifth one. I don't even…" She found a telephone, spun within her chair, and it, not her, faced Sasuke. As the phone rang, a greasy fly buzzed with the same amount of noise. Finally, a click ended the constant beep.

"Hokage-sama…yes, well, I'm doing whatever, I guess…don't give me that tone Sir, I'm quite older than you…oh well, my call...ah, it's Uchiha…Hokage-sama, I can't bar him from entry…no, no…you know what it's about! Those crazy food stamps! Why didn't you just give your stamp of approval? Hokage-sama, it's the fifth damned application, he just comes here all the time and…oh you, just like that woman!" She ended the trail of words with the slamming of the phone. She returned to Sasuke's gaze with stiffness and annoyance.

"Just go."

Sasuke's stomach could have lit up just as much as the smile on his face. Finally, he could find a decent meal to eat, just with some foo-

"HURRY UP AND GET OUT!"

"Oh, but Shizune-sama, I can just go?"

"FUCKING ASS, JUST GO."

He wished to be polite, but his stomach told him it was insignificant, and he just walked to the room of the Hokage.

The room matched the one of the Hokage's youth: ruly, unorganized, and chaotic. Material items lay scattered across the floor, along with food, eating utensils, manga, and sultry magazines. He sat in a wide chair and looked on to the sunset. As he heard his visitor's foot-steps, he swung the chair around.

"SASUKE, WELL, I'LL BE DAMNED!"

"Ah, Hokage-sama, yes, it is very-"

"God damn it, you don't have to do that formal shit with me. Uzumaki Naruto, and you'll never forget it," Naruto beamed.

"Ah, yes, Naruto."

"Well, don't just stare at me, sit down pal! Take a seat!"

Sasuke tried pulling a chair, but he had trouble due to the flood of materials on the ground.

"Haha, yeah, lotsa stuff on the ground, but Shizune keeps all my papers so I don't lose them. Damn it, Sasuke, did some put a stick up your ass? Sit down! Anyhow, what can I do for you? What did you come down for? It's been a long time!"

"It's only been a week," Sasuke squeaked.

Naruto stared at Sasuke sheepishly, but returned to his previous sentiment.

"What did you come down for, buddy? It's been a long time! Heck, I know, you want something?"

"Well, yes."

"Hehe, yeah, I know you! You want some diapers! I bet Ino's going to kick it into gear and pop you a son!"

The whole phrase of sentences killed Sasuke's hunger only momentarily, but only because of his disgust with Naruto's chain of words. He could only look down and squirm out words.

"I don't really want any right now."

"Awwhh, shucks! You never know, one day, you just might do it!"

Sasuke's thoughts raced back to the time when Ino came home, knocked up from a guy she met around the dumpsters. She was forced to have her sixth abortion in the same dumpster area.

"Anyway, I know what you want buddy. You want to hang out! Well, why didn't you just say so! Or maybe you just want to get a drink! We can do that…Oh baby, I know what you want – you wanna get some action before the baby! I know a stripclub not far from here. Class act, yeah! Or maybe you wan-"

Perhaps the lines of nonsense irritated Sasuke, or perhaps it was just his belly, but one thing Sasuke did not lack some brain cells of common sense. He could only sternly say:

"I came for approval of my application for food stamps."

Sasuke's sentiment was a killjoy; Naruto smile turned to a frown, and his eyebrows arched. His face grew in annoyance, like a swelled pimple.

"You punk, you fucking punk."

"Narut-"

"I'm the fucking Hokage, shut up. You come up here, interrupting me with my business, and you know, I was just being polite, because we go way back. WAY BACK. And you come here asking for some food stamps?" Naruto's arms arched parallel to the table.

"I've sent in my request for the fifth time, Hokage-sama."

"Boy, do you know why you don't get a response? I deny those requests, every single one! Sasuke, I'm the Hokage, but my power goes only so far. It cost me an arm and a leg to even allow you to stay here! Nobody wanted to live next to a killer! But me, I got you some shelter, you kept your wealth, and you even got some girl to marry you, isn't that enough?"

"But Hokage-sama!"

"Sasuke, let me tell you something: there are tons of people, out on the street, with no food, no nothing – right here in Konoha! There are people in this world, in other countries who've got nothing, and you've got the nerve to…Sasuke? What's wrong?"

The Hokage could not finish with the manner he started with, as he realized he had reduced his childhood friend to tears. Globs of snot ran down his mouth a trail from a snail, and four lines appeared on his forehead. He could barely speak.

"Sasuke…"

"I…just…wanted…some…food stamps…"

"Well, darn Sasuke, I just don't understand why you need them so damn bad?"

"…because I can't live with myself."

"Sasuke, you've got food at…"

"I've been in debt for seven years of my life, and I've starved for ten days. I just drink the water in the lake."

"Sasuke, you don't drink the water in the lake; I piss in it every sunrise."

Within the darkness, Sasuke trailed home with a meal, even if it meant sacrificing his self-worth. It didn't matter though; he had none in the beginning of this tale.

As he walked, he could her a familiar sound in a conversation. As he walked a bit closer, he could make out two women, and one just happened to be his wife.

"Girl, I just don't know what to do anymore. I eat the food to grow some hips. I get my nails done. I put in extensions every Tuesday, and still he don't notice me. Girl, all I want to do is look pretty for my man, that's it. I just wanna be his wife, and do stuff with him, but he be always working and shit man. I just want some loving," Ino wailed.

The woman around her was abhorrent, but not as much as her words; they drunkenly spilled out, pathetically.

"Heehee, there's this boy, and he's at the shopping center everyday at 11. Anyhow, he touch me. He kissed my nipplez. He love me long time."

Even this frustrated Ino. "Girl, I was a prostitute years ago. Never again."

"He be good!" her friend retorted.

Sasuke was now aware of why Shizune had become bitter: Tsunade had joined a long line of Konoha's distressed and disturbed.

I finally updated this. Enjoy.