Okay I know Zaku's a bit of an ass, but I promise it gets better! This story is about his inner journey as a person but there are some action parts in future chapters.

Chichi - father

Hahaoya - mother

o.O.o

Chapter 3

Zaku arrived home from his Saturday morning shopping and stared at the young boy leaning against his apartment door. The kid looked a lot like him with spiky brown hair and black eyes, though his face was rounder and younger without the tired lines. He wore a knitted blue scarf, a long-sleeved yellow shirt, grey trousers and bright red canvas shoes, implying that he was middle-class.

The two stared at each other for a long moment before Zaku moved forward with his key. "Are you Konohamaru?" he asked wearily as the kid scrambled out of the way.

"Hai. Are you Zaku?"

"Hai."

"Is that your shopping?"

"Hai." He opened the door and moved inside, dropping his schoolbag on the bench and unpacking all the food. "No, you can't have any. It's hard enough feeding myself."

"Where's your hahaoya?"

Zaku quickly formed a practiced lie. "She's at work. She always eats out so I mainly cook for myself."

"Why's there only one bed?"

What a nosy kid. "The couch folds out but… the sheets are in the wash." He shoved the milk in the fridge and slammed it shut, moving onto the pantry. If Konohamaru was going to keep asking questions it didn't matter how much Zaku liked his old neighbour. "How old are you kid?"

"I'm four."

"How old am I?"

"You look about twenty."

His eyebrows disappeared under his headband. "I'm fourteen kid, though I'm flattered you think I'm older."

"Well you can't be as old as chichi so you have to be younger than thirty." Konohamaru beamed widely, revealing a chipped front tooth. "What games do you play?"

"Um, well I don't really play games. On Saturday's I do the shopping and cleaning and I work in the afternoons and I work all day Sunday so there's not really time for games." The kid would learn that when he was older.

"No way! So you don't watch any anime? Or play video games?"

"Do you see a TV around here?"

"No…"

He hesitated. "Well, there's a big yard outside. I'm sure we can think of something." A long moment passed in which Zaku scratched the back of his neck, pondering what could be done. How could he entertain a four-year-old boy? He was out of practice with the whole entertaining aspect of life. Maybe if… "You play an instrument?"

"Nope. Chichi says I'm not big enough to handle an instruments." True, the boy was incredibly small.

"Not all instruments are big. There are quite a few small ones like reed pipes. I work at the music shop if you want to go and take a look."

"I'd have to ask." Konohamaru darted from the apartment and practically screamed at Sarutobi, "Can I go to the music shop? Please?!" Zaku didn't hear the old man's response but it didn't really matter since he was in his bedroom anyway, tucking his schoolbag into the bottom of the wardrobe amongst his hidden jars of money. "He said hai! I can go!" Konohamaru appeared in the doorway, grinning, and grabbed Zaku's hand in preparation for dragging him from the apartment.

"Hey!" Zaku yelped, wrenching his arm back. "Don't squeeze so tight. That hurt."

The little kid grinned like a demon. "Sorry about that." He didn't look sorry. Not one bit. "Can we go to the music shop now?"

Zaku glared at the obnoxious boy irritably. "What's the magic word?"

"Please."

"Let's go."

They paused at the door to pull on their shoes and made their way down a flight of concrete stairs and out the heavy glass doors. Konohamaru ran in front of Zaku (did he know where they were going?) and stopped and looked back in confusion.

"Come on slowpoke!"

Zaku suddenly remembered a small ten-year-old boy running along these paths with a backpack slipping off his shoulders. He blinked to dispel the image and gazed over at the excited Konohamaru, seeing a similar energy inside him. The older boy grinned.

"Let's race."

He shot forward, arms pumping and legs straining. Konohamaru yelled in shock before tearing after him, his little legs working fast to keep up with his senior. Zaku began to laugh as the cool morning wind whipped at his face, hair and clothes, peppering his skin with icicles. This was freedom. This was wonderful.

With Konohamaru trailing behind, Zaku made sure to look both sides before running across the street and waited at the other side for the other boy to catch up. They were panting heavily when they reached the two blocks of shops and Konohamaru's eyes were wide with delight.

"This is awesome!" he exclaimed.

"Haven't you – uh, ugh – ever been to the… the shops?"

"Hahaoya never takes me. She says I'll get lost."

"O-okay… ugh… well, the music building is the blue one."

"What's the red one?"

"The butchers."

"The green one?"

"The grocery."

"The yellow one?"

"The bakery."

"The pink one?"

"The coffee shop."

"The orange one?"

"The clothes shop."

"The purple one?"

"The general store."

"The red and white one?"

"The post office."

"The maroon one?"

"The bookshop."

"The yellow and green one?"

"The sushi shop."

Konohamaru jumped up and down excitedly. "Can we get sushi? Can we?"

"No! I… don't have a lot of money." Zaku clapped the boy's back. "We're here to look at music. Come on." He led his companion past all the shops, underneath the front arches, and pushed through the glass door to the music shop. Suigetsu was manning the counter.

"Morning Zaku. Who's your friend?" He eyed the young boy strangely.

"This is Konohamaru. He's my neighbour's grandson."

"Hello!" The scarf-clad boy waved cheerily until a set of bongos caught his attention. "Cool!" He rushed over and sat down cross-legged with the bongos in his lap, banging away at the surface.

Suigetsu glared at his employee. "I'm not running a kindergarten. Get the kid out of here."

Zaku shook his head. "It's just for a little bit, I need to entertain him just for the morning and I'll still be here this afternoon." He shot his boss a pleading look. "Please, Suigetsu. It's just for today. I'll make sure he doesn't break anything."

The blue-haired man suddenly snickered. "He better not or it's coming from your pay." That turned Zaku's face white. "Thought so. Keep an eye on him."

"Okay." He joined Konohamaru numbly. "Hey kid," he said softly, "I need to ask you a favour."

"Hai?"

"Please be gentle with all the instruments or… you'll grow smaller with everything you break." Hopefully that did the trick. Zaku couldn't afford to lose any money otherwise he wouldn't be able to pay the fortnightly bills and get kicked out of his apartment.

Konohamaru's eyes widened. "Okay. I'll be extra careful." He gingerly lowered the bongos and slid them along the floor to where they'd originally sat.

"Um…" What could they do now? There was sushi… Zaku grabbed out his wallet and checked the coins inside. He might have just enough for a plate and that should keep the boy busy for a little while. "How does sushi sound?"

"Sushi!" The boy leapt to his feet and tried to drag Zaku from the shop, only to fall hard when Zaku proved heavier than he looked. Grinning, the teenager stood and bent down, prompting Konohamaru to leap onto his back. He piggybacked the younger boy from Oto Music to Kohona's Grand Sushi Bar feeling happier than he'd been in a long time. There was something about this boy's energy that cheered up the pessimistic teenager.

The sushi chef glanced up as the two boys moved under the curtain-like flaps and took their seats. Konohamaru couldn't sit still and wouldn't stop chattering about how delicious sushi was, while Zaku selected the menu and peered at the cheapest options.

"How does the sake nigiri sound?" Zaku asked, showing Konohamaru the picture.

"Salmon!" he cried excitedly. "Yes-yes-yes-yes-yes!"

"Okay…" The senior smiled at the sushi chef. "One sake nigiri please." He watched as the chef expertly sliced a beautiful pink salmon fillet and used the fillet to cover a small roll of rice, tying the two together with a strand of seaweed. Four were made and the plate was placed in front of Konohamaru.

"Oh hai!" He grabbed his chopsticks and picked up the first piece, opening his mouth wide. Zaku had looked away, unable to watch that beautiful sushi disappear, and was surprised when the piece was shoved in his face.

"What?" he jumped in alarm, raising a hand to swat the sushi away.

"Eat up!" Konohamaru thrust the sushi at his nose, prompting Zaku to snatch the piece from between the chopsticks. "There. Now that's all you're getting. The rest is mine." The boy dug in and Zaku chewed absently, eyes resting on the kid that looked similar to him.

Something about that kid reminded Zaku of what it was like to be a kid himself. Such a light personality made the world seem… better. His attention turned to the two teenagers that had been attempting to befriend him for a week and he couldn't sense that same carefree personality from either of them. However they had honest attitudes and guileless behaviour. Zaku cursed Konohamaru before smiling widely. Who knew what a day with an optimistic young boy could do to his attitude?

o.O.o

"I trust Konohamaru wasn't any trouble," old Sarutobi said as Zaku and Konohamaru entered his apartment.

"He was fine. We took a look at the music shop and I got him some sushi."

Sarutobi heaved himself off the couch and crossed to the kitchen, its layout identical to Zaku's. An old jam jar of loose coins was tucked in the corner and Sarutobi reached inside, plucking ¥100 and hobbling back over to Zaku with his hand outstretched. "For your troubles," the old man said simply.

Zaku waved his hand and stepped back. "I don't want your money. Watching Konohamaru was my decision and… a real eye-opener." He moved back further, a smile sneaking onto his face. "Thanks, but no thanks. Konohamaru, I'll see you around."

"Bye Zaku!" the young boy chirped, waving happily. Zaku glanced at old Sarutobi's confused faced and backed from the apartment, closing the door behind him. He stood in the hallway and cursed.

"Dammit I haven't done the washing!"

He rushed into his apartment and tore off his jacket, t-shirt and jeans, replacing them with a knitted jumper and another pair of jeans. The jumper was very thick, warm and beige-coloured with the kanji for 'death' knitted down the front in red. While the kanji might unnerve him, the jumper had been free and he'd jumped at the chance.

Grasping his clothes, several pairs of socks and underwear, he darted downstairs to the darkened basement and shoved everything into one of the machines. It was easily midday and he had three hours before work so this needed to get done. On Saturday's he worked from three to seven o'clock at night and on Sunday's his shift was twelve hours long, beginning at seven and finishing at seven. A full fifteen hours of boredom at the music shop, but at least he had his music and got paid.

As Zaku waited for his clothes to be washed, he cleaned the apartment and cut up vegetables for dinner. After this he had work to look forward to. Yay.