AN: I think I'll stick with 3500 words from now on

AN: I think I'll stick with 3500 words from now on. –nods- much more easier to play out a plot. Plus, I'm not 14 when I started off with this account, I'm 16, so I think I can up the word count now. Also, I HATE my stupid voice at the moment with my fricking advair. Warning: may cause hoarseness of voice. I didn't realize…!! –unamused face- Anyways, because the chapters are way longer and due to the lack of time such as school and doctors, it can take some time to update. Gomen.

Surprise?

Sasuke went home that day, a smile tugging constantly at the corner of his lips. He wanted to tell everyone about everything that happened between him and Naruto, but he didn't want to disappoint his foster brother. He needed to keep everything a secret but he knew that people would start asking questions if they saw his smirk. He approached the household to find Hinata leaving for ballet practice and Choji trying to play chess with Shikamaru but failing miserably. Kiba was obviously playing with his dog, Akamaru and Gaara was reading a book while glancing occasionally towards the chess players.

"Oi, Sasuke, how'd the student council meeting go? Any new events gonna take place soon or what?"

"Halloween events are being planned, basically. We're trying to decide on whether or not we should make a school festival out of it or individual class events."

He replied in a toneless voice, Kiba throwing the Frisbee for Akamaru before turning to Sasuke again.

"Meet with our favorite blonde again?"

This time, everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at him intently. Being Sasuke, he didn't feel obliged to give into pressure and shrugged.

"I didn't bother to talk to the ass today. He'll talk to me when he's good and ready."

He retreated into the vacant house and went to his room, turning on his music to full blast before doing something un-Sasuke like. He pumped his fist into the air and grinned like an idiot before looking around quickly to make sure no one had really seen him. Once he was satisfied, he fell on his bed and began to study his economics, the grin on his face, however, resisted to disappear on the raven-haired boy's face, economics seemed less important at the moment.

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"-and for homework today, I need you to complete your novels and have a ten page essay by the end of the month. Have a good day."

"But the bell hasn't even run yet…"

"Free time."

Hayate replied to the girl, coughing in his hand as students approached him and began asking him questions. Sasuke averted his gaze from his stupid English book and up at the clock, tapping his foot impatiently on the ground as the final two minutes were passing ever so slowly. He looked over at Naruto, who seemed to be very calm about the situation and couldn't help but sigh loudly, Gaara looking over to him. Sasuke looked back and shrugged, closing his books and packing them away as he held his bag on his lap, knowing that no one had clean up duty that day so it was alright for them to meet up. How would Naruto make his entrance, though? Would he be loud or very calm…? Quiet or invisible? Yes, there was a difference between the two…at least in Sasuke's mind at the moment.

"Before I forget, the motivational speaker that was here yesterday will be staying here until the end of the year as your new guidance councilor. Make sure to drop by him if you have any troubles."

Naruto groaned under his breath, rubbing his shoulder as he remembered the pain that he caused him. For a quick moment, he glanced over at Sasuke and Gaara, turning his head back around quickly and laying it on top of the desk, looking up at the clock. Only forty-five seconds left…crap…why was it so slow…? He couldn't help but let out another sigh, looking up at the ceiling. How would he approach the house? 'Hey look guys, here I am,' wouldn't do too well…Hinata was probably at ballet class again…maybe he should walk there with Sasuke..? No, everyone else goes to the school, they'd be walking with Sasuke as well unless…he turned his head to Sasuke, wondering if he had a student council meeting and could use that as an excuse to walk with him towards the Umino household. But that was only if Sasuke had a meeting to attend to. He looked back to him and motioned with his head for Sasuke to see him. There was a slight nod but they waited until the bell FINALLY rang, Gaara getting his supplies together and walking out of the room, leaving behind Sasuke and Naruto. Hayate coughed in his hands a final time before getting out, only the clean-up crew stayed behind. Naruto looked back to Sasuke and began walking, the other boy knowing that he wanted him to follow.

"What is it?"

"Do you have a meeting to go to for student council?"

"No, that was yesterday. Why?"

"Does Hinata still go to ballet?"

"Yeah, but not today."

"Is Shikamaru in the chess club?"

"No, he's in the shogi club on Saturdays. What do you want?"

"How am I supposed to present myself to dad when everyone is walking beside us after school? It'll be a little hard to surprise them if I walk with them…"

"Yeah…well, I have to get home to prepare some things. It's better if you catch the train right after we do. It'll be easier that way with a fifteen minute interval."

"Alright then. See you later."

He watched Sasuke walk off, he sighing in relief, stress bubbling on the surface made it too hard for him to think properly. He started to head towards the track area outside, watching the soccer players getting warmed up for practice. He looked towards the boy whom he helped yesterday only to give him his ball back, but still helped nonetheless. He was passing the ball back and forth with another player, Naruto watching in awe as he showed more skill than anyone else as he bounced the ball a few times in the air on each knee before kicking it high into the air and again with his opposite foot towards his partner, making it soar just above his head. He sat down and watched for a while before he proceeded towards the street, crossing it but came to a stop when a loud screech resonated, he turned his head to see a ball bouncing away to the other side before feeling the impact of something hit him, making him skid five feet on the street before coming to a halt, his body crying out in pain. Tears sprung to his eyes as he kept them tightly shut, something heavy lain on top of him. He opened his eyes to the sound of shouts and stampeding feet. He looked up and saw black hair dangling in front of his face, blood dripping from it onto his flesh.

"LEE!"

There was a shout as he managed to get up, holding Lee in his arms on his lap. The boy was unconscious with blood covering his face and lower half of his body, more blood matting his hair to his face. Lee…Naruto quickly realized that this was the skilled person he saw earlier playing soccer. He looked around; trying to see whatever vehicle had hit him only to see more skid marks and nothing more. It was a hit and run. Naruto felt a wave of dizziness wash over him as he came to his senses—there was a boy in his hands that was probably dying. He quickly checked for a pulse and removed his vest, seeing that his legs were bleeding more severely than his head. He placed his vest under his feet in hoped of keeping the blood from going to his legs. He became slightly annoyed at not finding anything better, but there were a few people now rushing to his side. He pointed to a person and began to give orders.

"Call 9-1-1 and I need someone here to raise his legs!"

He shouted, instructing someone to sit down and place Lee's legs on top of their laps as they kneeled, Naruto taking back his vest to rip it up and begin to wrap a strip around his arms, realizing that his own arms were all scratched up from the asphalt. He checked again for his breathing as he tilted his chin skywards, trying to remember the first aid that he was taught the year before. Everyone around began asking questions while trying to direct him at the same time, Naruto's brain going into overload.

"Just shut up! I'm doing my best!"

He shouted, tapping Lee's collarbone to try and see if he could wake him up. It didn't work, so he pulled up his eyelid to see if they were dilated incase of concussion but wasn't so sure if he really knew how a person's pupil looked like when they were supposed to be asleep nor when they had a concussion. He began growing impatient with himself, not knowing anymore what to do. He began brushing his hair aside, trying to check how bad the bleeding on his head was only to hear the ambulance coming down the street, he looking at them before seeing them jump out of the ambulance, he quickly standing up and backing away, replacing his torn vest over his shoulders and watching the scene begin to unfold before him. The paramedics urging everyone away, Naruto biting his lip as he backed away, remembering he had to be at the Umino's household. He was about to run but was stopped short as a paramedic held onto his shoulder, she holding a stern face.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine…is he going to be alright?"

"We don't know yet. What's his name?"

"I don't know. I just came to this school yesterday, you'd better ask his teammates."

"What's your name in that case?"

"Uzumaki Naruto…"

"How old are you?"

"I'm serious, I'm not hurt or anything."

He repeated himself in an annoyed voice, knowing that she was headed in the direction to make sure he hadn't anything wrong with him as well.

"Well, you're bleeding from your head. Sit down, I'll get that fixed."

Naruto was about to protest but she kept a firm hold onto him and parted his front hair a bit, making sure that there wasn't any debris inside.

"Nice scratches... you don't need stitches, but let me clean it up."

Naruto nodded, she hovering towards the ambulance as they still tried to get Lee on top of the carrier while placing a neck brace at the same time. She finished wiping the blood away from his head but had to get back into the ambulance when they were done.

"Make sure to get yourself checked, Naruto. I can't stay any longer and there's no more room in here."

She told him while motioning inside the ambulance. She waved him off while closing the door, the ambulance zipping off towards the hospital. All the pain seemed to rush toe the boy now, his eyes rolling to the back of his head for a split second before he composed himself as best as possible, staggering back to stay on his feet. He still had to go see his family…he checked his watch to see that it was nearly time to eat for the Umino's, making him frown. He looked on the ground, seeing blood splattered every which way. His head swirled and he could feel a headache begin to nag at the front of his head, he holding his forehead in his hands before going over to pick up his bag, looking at the soccer players talk amongst themselves. In an instant, they turned over to him as if he had done something wrong. He backed away and made a run for it, slightly limping. His hip was killing him and both knees screamed out in pain as he remembered the contact he made with the ground. He made a mental count of what hurt on his body and planned to check it when he came close to getting to the Umino's. Then another thing came to mind…which train went where? Sure, he could remember vaguely where they lived, but he wasn't too sure. He made his way to a pay phone, pulling out the phone book and opening it up to look for Umino I. His finger scanned down until he found the number, scrounging around in his pockets as he placed in a few coins to dial the number with shaky hands. He waited for the phone to ring, hearing a voice answer.

"Hello…?"

"S-Sasuke please…?"

He hoped Iruka wouldn't recognize his voice. He did hit puberty and all….

"Just a minute."

He could hear Iruka calling out for Sasuke to answer the phone while in the meantime, he grabbed a pencil and a sheet of paper to take down a few notes.

"Hello?"

His heart almost leaped into his throat, a faint smile almost visible on his face.

"It's Naruto…"

"What are you doing? You're late…!"

"I…got held up…listen, could you give me the house number and the transportation numbers of the buses and trains?"

"Yeah…you should have asked earlier if you didn't know."

He proceeded to give Naruto the instructions, he writing as clearly as he could while trying to keep in tears. He didn't want to cry, but everything was bubbling over. Everything of the day. Supposed to go over to the Umino's, knowing that there was still homework that he had forgotten about until now and wouldn't have the time to finish, the accident in particular and getting injuries that he still didn't really know how to explain to Sasuke, and what topped it off was asking for directions because he didn't know. It was such a stupid thing to get upset over, but he was. He blamed it on the shock for not crying when helping Lee. In truth, he was scared. Really scared. He didn't know what would have happened to him.

"-you still there, Naruto?"

"Yes…"

He croaked out, sniffling as he wiped his eyes on his wrist, realizing that it too, was covered in scratches.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm alright. I don't know what time I can make it there…"

"It's only going to be around 5:30 before you make it here, about. It takes around an hour to get here. Did you have anything to eat?"

"Yeah…"

"Alright, see you then."

"Yeah…bye."

He hung up the phone and let everything loose, holding his head in his hands as he thought back to the accident and to all the blood. He didn't know how he himself managed to help another human being. Slowly, his eyes closed, wanting to sleep off the shock but he opened them back up and stood up slowly, falling against the window of the booth. It still wasn't dark outside…he still had a chance to make it. He could make it there at 5:30 and then back home hopefully a little after 8 (he told Arashi that his afterschool 'activities' ended at that time). He got out of the phone booth and began to make his journey to the train station, frowning at his luck he was having that day and was, by far, one of the worst days he'd ever had.

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Naruto paced a few times on the front porch of the household, looking at his watch to see that it was exactly 5:30. He didn't want to make it seem as if he scheduled everything so he could get there at the specified time, but at the same time, he didn't want to appear later. He realized that he was only putting off the inevitable and knocked on the door, about to run away but it was only pure willpower that allowed him to stay on the porch. He waited a few seconds to realize that no one was answering the door. He sighed and started to make his way back down the driveway, not wanting to press his luck. His legs carried him down the side of the road before the door opened, revealing Choji.

"Naruto…?"

It was as if all time stopped, Naruto's head perked up as he stuck his hands into his pockets, lowering his head before making it up the driveway again, a grin crossing his face and there was nothing he could do to wipe it off his face.

"Choji…hi-oompf!"

He was locked into a bear hug before Choji's deep, bellowing voice was sounded off to warn the entire household.

"NARUTO'S HOOOOOOME!"

The hefty boy shouted, this leading to Iruka's head popping out of the side of the house, a pair of hedge cutters in his hands. The sharp instrument fell to the ground as Iruka walked over to Naruto in a ghostly manner, his eyes wide.

"Dad…"

"Naruto…you're…covered in blood…"

It was at this point in time, Choji pulled away, seeing that some blood now covered him. Naruto tried smile, but failed miserably.

"What a way…to come back to…"

He started his sentence, but finished in a way he didn't like. He wanted to say 'what a way to come home to, but the blue-eyed boy had to remember that this wasn't his home anymore. Iruka stood in front of Naruto, grasping the boy's arms.

"Choji…go get the others…Naruto, follow me."

He nodded, walking with Iruka whom still hadn't said a word. They walked past the threshold of the house and Iruka turned to Naruto, hugging him closely, tears leaking from the corner of his eyes. Naruto felt, for the first time in years, the warmth and protectiveness that he had longed for from Iruka. He missed everything and everyone that was under the household, and hugged him back, feeling completely depleted of his strength. He wanted to stay with his caretaker and father forever, but he knew he only had a few precious hours before having to return to hell.

"You're hurt…what happened?"

"Someone was hit in a hit and run and he flew into me. I fell on the ground with him, that's all."

Naruto felt obliged to reply, not telling him his scratches and bruises that he knew were only beginning to form. He felt one of his cheekbones were tender as well as his hip, but his headache was really beginning to bother him now.

"I wanted to surprise you by coming here. Sasuke said that it was alright."

"By all means, why wouldn't it be?! Are you sure you're alright from the accident!?"

"I was only hit by a body, he was the one actually hit by the vehicle. Though I didn't get to see what it was…"

He tried reasoning, Iruka about to protest when the others came into the room, Kiba playfully slapping Naruto on the back, a gruff grin plastered across his face. There was running coming from the hallway, Naruto being knocked onto the ground as a large dog was licking his face, Kiba pulling Akamaru off Naruto.

"It's alright, boy."

"Naruto…"

Shikamaru and Hinata came into view, Hinata walking up to Naruto and hugged him, Naruto gingerly wrapped his arms around the female as he held her, pulling away. He didn't really have a good chance to look at her last time at school, but now was the time. "You look well."

A blush crossed her face as she looked down.

"Thanks…"

Shikamaru looked at Naruto up and down before smiling, exhaling through his nose.

"You look like shit."

"Shikamaru…"

Iruka began, but the boy then finished his sentence.

"You were better off staying here with us. Glad to see you back."

Sasuke stood at the top of the stairs, his head laid against his arm as he smiled, hearing Gaara begin to go down and Choji appearing from another room.

"You aren't happy, Gaara?"

"I don't really know him except for the few times in the past and what you told me"

"You should be grateful, Gaara…he's done a lot to ensure you became part of the family."

Gaara didn't reply to Sasuke. He had nothing else to say that wouldn't hurt either him or Naruto. Who in their right minds would do something nice to a complete and total stranger without a certain aim?

"I can't stay long…my real dad is expecting me home around 8."

Naruto spoke, Sasuke's head perking up as he remembered that he had to go back home.

"Well…we'll make the best of today as we can, right?"

Iruka spoke, smiling as he placed his hand on Naruto's head, the boy forcing himself as much as he could to not flinch from the touch before giving him a nod.

"So what should we do now…?"

Naruto looked up, tilting his head to the side as Kiba spoke. He now had tattooed red stripes on his cheeks, Naruto knowing that Iruka must have disapproved of that. He began to speak.

"Well…my dad and I…we don't have movie night…?"

He suggested, grinning out of the corner of his mouth. Iruka gave a smile and nodded.

"I'm going to go out to buy snacks in that case. I'll be back in a few minutes. Choji, wanna come along?"

The boy slowly nodded, wanting to stay but not wanting to disappoint his father. Iruka chuckled.

"Alright, I'll go alone then."

The chubby boy's eyes' sparkled, and nodded more quickly this time, Iruka slipping on his light jacket and got his keys, exiting the house.

"Now, it's time to tell us what you've been doing all these years."

Hinata smiled, grasping Naruto's hands as she led him to the living room, a radiant smile plastered on her face. Naruto finally felt like he came back home, but that time would only be shortly lived.

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AN: -Yawns- It's past me bedtime. I hope you're happy. –is happy myself- Well, I finally saw a doctor today. Got off the advair. –dances- but school started…I'm a fool for taking world history and leadership classes…-skulks- it's hard…anyways, goodnight all, for before I faint from exhaustion, I'm going to bed!