Empty

Naruto was already halfway finished with his first bowl.

He was eating like someone was about to snatch it out from under his nose, and for all he expected, it might just happen. Sasuke was watching with mild concern for his new friend's dietary habits, and had completely and utterly forgotten what he had wanted to say.

"More." Naruto mumbled semi incoherently, then grabbed Sasuke's barely touched bowl, and started wolfing that down too.

"Um…. Purely out of curiosity, have you ever eaten before?" Sasuke commented.

Naruto looked up, paused, slurped up the noodles in his mouth, and shook his head.

"That's… um, not good."

"No, it's not, but this is." Naruto tilted his head back, draining the bowl of it's contents. He looked around for another.

"Hey, 'nother bowl please." Sasuke called to one of the cooks.

"Thanks, Sasuke!" Naruto said, suddenly very appreciative, "I never knew you could be nice before."

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"it just means a preppy rich guy like you shouldn't be randomly nice to people- oh, hey, thanks-" he said, grabbing for the new bowl of ramen, "-I mean, you got all the girls in school following you like lost puppies, tends to make people pretty conceited." He slurped loudly, and gave the cook a compliment that would have sounded over-the-top had it come from anyone else.

"Yeah, well, I'm not really interested in any of them." Sasuke commented idly, receiving his own new bowl.

"Hm? Why not?" Naruto asked casually, stealing Sasuke's second bowl.

"You haven't even finished that one yet…" Sasuke mumbled, and Naruto smiled brightly through the noodles.

"Honestly," Sasuke continued, "I'm more interested in you."

That was when Naruto stopped eating. Sasuke had realized from the time Naruto got his first bowl that he was practically starving himself, and was then justly surprised when Naruto shoved the bowl away, eyes dark and averted.

"Thanks for the ramen." He whirled away, to Sasuke's shock, and disappeared into the twilit town.

Surprisingly enough, the next day was completely normal. Sasuke said nothing to Naruto, Naruto didn't act uncomfortable in any way; Sasuke's obsessive fangirls followed him like normal.

After school that day, Sasuke waited, hoping to catch his blond friend before he could leave, and offer him another ride. Naruto didn't show.

Naruto, against his better judgment, had taken the back route out of school that day. To the average person, it was as safe as any other route. To Naruto, it meant a ninety-five percent chance of getting jumped.

He was betting on the five percent. Of course, it didn't work out that way.

"Hey, Kitsune! You're in Snake territory-" Came the low growl from a dark alley, Naruto stopped, instinctively shouldering his bag, getting ready to make a break for it.

"How many times do I have to tell you jerks-" he said as one stepped in front of him, "I'm not a Kitsune. My dad was. I'm not him."

"Ninth generation gang, sure your not." One of the paler ones said, licking his lips. Naruto's lips twitched, revolting, he thought.

"I guess you're not just going to let me go, huh." Naruto said darkly, dropping his bag.

"Not until after we teach you not to step into our territory again…" they were blocking all the exits he could take, Naruto noticed. Damn you, Dad… why the hell did you pass on the Kitsune name to me, anyway??

"I'm in no mood for learning today."

"That's not really your choice, now, is it?" The Snakes attacked.

The next day, Sasuke noticed Naruto was wearing a long sleeve shirt, even though it was summer. More disturbingly, there was a large bandage on both sides of his face, and just the tiniest dots of blood had seeped through.

That day, Naruto went out the front way.

He passed Sasuke in the parking lot, who did, as Naruto had expected, stop him.

"Do you want a ride home?"

Again, Naruto's first impulse was to say yes. "No." He said, as if he were stomping on his own heart in the process.

"Now I just don't get it." He commented, when Naruto failed to keep walking, "You already admitted you liked me. And now I've said I liked you-" There was a squeak of horror behind them, and Sasuke had the feeling he'd just broken some poor girl's heart- "So why won't you even talk to me?"

"Of course you don't get it. I already told you- you don't know anything about me." Naruto's thoughts strayed toward yesterday's jump. He was a good fighter… but he had nothing against five guys. And if he ever got close to anyone, the Snakes wouldn't hesitate to hurt them, to…

Naruto tried to make a break for it, but Sasuke had been expecting it, and literally jumped on the escaping blond, tackling him to the ground.

"You're getting a damn ride home!"

Of course, Naruto ended up politely accepting the ride.

"Alright. Spill." Sasuke said, glancing sideways at his stubborn passenger.

Naruto was silent for a moment. "Okay. I'm secretly a ninja."

Sasuke was not amused.

"Okay, okay, fine. Will you buy me more ramen if I say something?" Naruto said hopefully.

"Yes. Yes I will."

"Okay. Something."

"Elaborate. Right now."

"Sorry, sorry- nevermind. Where do I start…?" He trailed off quietly.

"I guess…" Naruto said finally, "The best place would be…

"The beginning…"

Thanks for reading!!

And thanks for the reviews! They make me happy inside. :3 It's so nice to know people actually READ the crap I regurgitate onto my computer.

Naruto: ew. That's nasty, draik.

Me: Aw, shaddup. You make the writer mad, and I'll have you beat up again!

Naruto: Eep! Nuuu!

Sasuke: I'll save you, mah love!! *leaps into action*

Me: Wait! If you kill the author, you'll never lose your virginity!

Sasuke: *pause* Am I going to lose my virginity in this story?

Me: Well… erm…. No, actually, I rated this one T….

Sasuke: … *kills draik*

Me: X_x