Yosh! Yay! I'm updating again! Lol! I'm on crack today! Hahaha! It's been a few days since I got on crack! Lol! Being hyper is fun! Lol! Okay, I can't stop laughing! Lol! Omigod, I'm going to suffocate! The smell is killing me! Lol! It's actually the smell of my Dad's perfume! I really really hate the smell... (gasps for air) Okay, I'm back to normal! Yay! Lol! Woot!

Yori: So, what are you gonna do in this chappy?

Koneko: Hm...dunno! (grins)

Gaara: (sweatdrop) You can be such an idiot at times, can't you?

Koneko: I guess! (grins more)

Both: (sweatdrop)

Hehe... Anyways, actually I already has an idea for this chappy...but I'm not gonna tell you! Read it to know it! Lol! Woot!

Chappy Four

"O-hayo, Koneko-chan...!"

The girl mumbled something under her breath before she covered her face with the pillow she used to rest her head on. Upon seeing this, the boy puffed his cheeks and tugged on the pillow hard. The redhead let out a warning growl as she pulled the pillow back towards her. After a few tugging, the kitsune sighed and rolled his eyes in defeat, knowing nothing would be able to get the neko moving.

"Geez..." he scratched his head, thinking on how to wake the girl up.

Suddenly, he got an idea - a very smart yet wicked idea. Quickly, he scurried like a rat into the bathroom, all the while snickering like a sly little fox that had just set a trap for its prey. The redhead meanwhile, was completely out of idea that she was about to get into trouble, rolling herself on her bed happily. Unknowingly, the blond returned to room after a few minutes.

'This will wake you up for sure...' he grinned cunningly.

In a few seconds, Koneko was awoken - with a squeal and a yelp and a scream that when combined together it would be something that only the girl would be able to define what. And it was all because she had been poured by a pail of cold water by the heartless boy! (1) As soon as she finally cooled down - or in this case, warmed up, she slowly turned to her 'brother'.

"Na...ru...to...!!"

It did not take long for the kitsune to be bashed into pieces for making the neko waking up cold and very wet - which she really disapproved of. Being a person that is very much influenced by feline, she absolutely hate being all chilly and soggy. After she was satisfied with beating the boy blue and black, she snorted and got into the bathroom immediately, muttering something under her breath.

Meanwhile, Naruto had already gotten up and was currently sitting Indian style on the woody floor of the redhead's bedroom. He pouted and had his arms crossed in front of his chest, exhaling loudly through his nose that it almost sounded like a sigh. "Really...Koneko-chan is never the one to wake up early...hm... I can still remember the old days where we first met...'

(Flashback)

The boy sat alone on the swing (2). Nobody wanted to play with him. Nobody wanted to befriend. Nobody even cared to at least talk to him. He was alone. All alone that it was very tiring and saddening. He looked at all the other kids that were playing around the playground happily. Some of them tried to approach him, but they were stopped by their parents and older friends who told them not to come close to him.

He was sad. He was very sad. Slowly, he got off the single swing and started to walk away. It was not before long that a rock was thrown to him. Hurt, he picked up the rock and turned around to see a group of boys, probably five of them, mocking and laughing at him. Furrowing his brows, he felt like crying. They continued to tease and be mean at him until suddenly...

"Leave him alone, you big fat idiotic good-for-nothing bullies!"

He widened his eyes and turned towards where the voice came from. There, not far from him, stood a red-haired girl with big bright eyes that were bluish-green in colour. For once in his life, the boy thought he had seen an angel. The girl was very cute and lovable, with her short scruffy locks, chubby round face and slightly tanned skin, she was actually glowing with a beauty of her own.

"Brave words...for a girlie girl," the biggest boy in the group said. "Get her, everyone!"

In a matter of seconds, the girl was surrounded by the bullies. The boy watched in horror as one of the stepped forward and started attacking the girl. Not wanting to watch the rest of the 'show', the boy immediately ducked and covered his head with his arms as he shut his eyes tightly and started crying, his body trembling like a leaf as tears streamed down his whiskered cheeks.

After about ten minutes, the noises that were caused by the fight stopped all of a sudden. Afraid that the gang might have bawled the girl, the boy did not dare to get up from his ducking position. He just prayed that the girl would be safe as he continued to cry and tremble. Then, he heard someone walking towards him and crouching in front of him, placing a hand on his head.

"Ne, you're okay?"

Widening his eyes, he immediately looked up and met eyes with girl's turquoise ones. "Y-you..."

"Don't worry about me, I'm done with them!" the girl grinned. "Are you okay?"

"Um..." the boy just nodded as the girl offered to help him to get up.

He then looked past her shoulders at the bullies - and to his shock, they were all lying on the ground, panting for air. Slowly, each and every one of them got up and scampered away like dogs running away with their tails between their legs. The boy widened his eyes once again while the girl just laughed as the both of them watched the five rushed away from the place.

"Serves them right for treating smaller kids like their playthings," the girl snorted. "Anyways...I'm Koneko, what's your name?"

The boy stared at her for a while, then he shyly reached out for her hand. "I'm...Naruto..."

"Oh...that's a cute name...and not to mention you're cute as well!" she grinned.

"...um...you...you're cute...too...Koneko-chan..."

Koneko giggled. "Arigato ne, Naru-chan!"

(End of flashback)

'And to think that I actually fell for her right there and then...'

"Naru-chan, if you don't get out of my room right now, I assure you that you won't ever see the daylights again!"

Quickly, he left the room and slammed the door shut. A yell was heard from inside the room, telling him to close the door properly and not to slam it. 'It can't be helped...even a brute would be doing this just to run from you - if he meets you, that is...' He let out a sigh as he slowly walked down the stairs towards the living room. 'She really has some inhuman strength inside her...'

When the kitsune got inside the living room, he looked at the clock and it showed that the time was already a quarter past seven. He waited for the redhead to finish dressing up so that they could go to school together - in which she had only about thirty minutes left or else they would be late to school. As he waited, his mind started to wander back to when they started growing up together.

'Hm...she was much more like a tomboy then, wasn't she?'

(Flashback)

"If you can't catch up with me, there's no use of you being a boy, Naru-chan!"

"But..." the boy panted. "I really...can't...make it anymore!"

"Come on, you can do it!" the girl yelled.

His legs not able to hold him up straight anymore, he fell knee first on the ground. Upon seeing this, the girl's eyes widened and she immediately ran towards the boy lying on the grassy field. As soon as she got there, she found out that he was already unconscious. Panicked, she quickly lifted the boy onto her shoulder so that he was lying like a bride in her embrace.

As fast as lightning then, she ran towards her house which was not faraway from the field they were playing at - or rather, the field where the girl was training the boy to be strong and fit at. As soon as she reached the two-storey bungalow, she immediately rushed inside and placed the boy on the couch as she ran into the bathroom quickly, knowing one way that would surely wake the boy up - or at least, it would surely wake her up.

After a few minutes, she returned to the living room with a pail of water. Without any further thinking, she poured the cold water onto the boy, causing him to wake up immediately with a startled yelp. Before he managed to pick up what exactly had happened to him, the girl gave him a bear hug, giggling as she continuously exclaimed the sentence 'You're alive!'.

"Ko-Koneko-chan?" the boy blinked in dizziness.

"You're alive, Naru-chan!"

"W-what happened?"

Upon this, the girl made a squealing sound. "Gomenasai, Naru-chan! It was all my fault! If I didn't ask you to run around the field ten times nonstop, you wouldn't faint just now! Gomenasai...!"

"I...fainted?"

The girl nodded. "But you're okay now! I'm so happy!"

Again, she hugged the boy. He just giggled back, seeing the girl's funny behaviour when she was being hyper and all. Then, the two of them continued to play in Koneko's house until it was almost night time. The boy thought it was time for him to leave as he knew it was not good if a male and a female stayed under the same roof at night - only married couples were allowed to do that.

"Um...I better get going now, Koneko-chan," he said.

"Aww..." the girl pouted. "Not so soon, Naru-chan?"

"Gomen ne, Koneko-chan? If I don't go now, your mommy and daddy would be angry to see me alone with you," the boy smiled weakly.

"...I don't have my mom and dad anymore..."

Naruto blinked. "You don't?"

Koneko shook her head. "They left me with my brother, Tamaki-nii-chan when I was three. I used to live with Tamaki-nii-chan, but when I turned six, he left me alone in this house because he had to live in Tokyo because he had entered a school there. I've been living here since then...and it's already been four years...um... You...don't have your mom and dad too, right?"

"Iie..."

"Um...where do you live then?"

The boy then brought the girl to his 'house'. To her surprise, he actually lived in a small hut made by cardboard and some other stuff by a river. She felt very sorry for him, but he told her not to as he was used to living inside the place he called home. He somehow wanted to invite the girl into his home, but he did not want to do so as well because he did not want the girl to be uncomfortable.

"Ne, Naru-chan?"

"Hai?"

"Do you mind if I ask you to live with me?" the girl suddenly asked.

"Eh?" the boy blinked a few times. "Demo...won't your brother-"

Quickly, she cut his words. "Don't worry about my brother, he probably won't come home until much later! Maybe he won't even come hom ever! Besides, I need a friend too. It's really boring staying in such a big house all by yourself, you know..."

"...I suppose then," the boy smiled.

"Yay! Naru-chan's living with me!"

(End of flashback)

"...ne, Naru-chan?"

"Hm?" the blond looked up. "Oh...you're done already?"

The redhead rolled her eyes. "What do you think? I've been standing here for more than five minutes and you didn't even realise it? What are you daydreaming about?"

"Just stuff," the kitsune smiled.

"Oh, really?"

"Yep!" he grinned. "Anyways, we gotta get going now! Or else we're gonna be late!"

((to be continued))

Yay! I can't believe this! I actually managed to finish this in two days! Yay! Woot! I'm really proud of myself today! Lol! Anyways, this chappy is really about Naru-chan's and my past, about how we managed to be friends and how we came up to living together! And yeah, Naru-chan actually developed a crush on me when we were younger, but it faded as we grew! Anyways, woot!

Yori: That was cute and sweet!

Koneko: You think so? Arigato ne, Yori-chan?

Gaara: ...don't tell me you actually had a crush on Naruto as well?

Koneko: Hm? ...are you jealous, Gaara-kun?

Gaara: (blushes) So what if I'm jealous? Just tell me, did you?

Koneko: (giggles) No, silly! (kisses Gaara) I only like you! (giggles)

Well, that's a surprise! (giggles) Okay, now I can't stop behaving like a girlie girl! Somebody help me! Lol! Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this filter-in-some-sort-of-way chappy! Lol! Thanks for reading! Woot! Ja ne, minna-san!

(1) Yep! Naru-chan is a very heartless boy! But I'm the same too! Lol!

(2) Yeah, I kinda stole one of Masashi-sensei's ideas, so what?