Author's Rant: I have no excuse for being so unbelievably late except that I honestly, genuinely, was discouraged and un-inspired to continue. But, the spark is back, and school has ended and-

God, for anyone still interested, I'm so sorry. Really sorry. Extremeeeeeeeeeeeely. Excuse to hit me now. Go ahead, take a few whacks.

The Bad Idea

A steel rod flew past a disgruntled man in his early fifties, telling him he could expect to miss another dinner that night. Pinching the bridge of his nose, the Chief of police lightly scratched the long scar that ran down his forehead before shaking his head in dismay. He could feel all the hairs on his head, scrunched into a top knot, stand on end as another terrifying scream shook the station.

'About two hours ago,' Shikaku thought grimly, staring at the source of the ruckus with critical eyes. 'It all started about two hours ago.' The head of the Nara Police Department didn't know what was more frightening. Was it the fact that the jail bench had been ripped from the wall with bare hands? Or was it the sight of long time officers, inched into a corner in prayer, that made him take a step back to re access the situation. It was debatable at this point.

Wrestling in the middle of the cell, two pairs of hands were clasped together, tugging and pulling at the others fisted palms in some pointless battle for power. A vein fluctuated on the temple of a frightening train wreck, and as Tsunade's nails dug into Naruto's knuckles, their smiles disturbingly grew in size.

"Give it up granny." The male voice hissed out among tremors, never loosening his hold on the abnormally strong woman's hands. Tsunade gave the youth a look that would make grown men piss themselves before readjusting her stance. She had an expression akin to that of a killers.

"You don't know who you're messing with you brat," she gritted out, "I'm way out of your league!"

"Like hell you are...!"

Naruto was livid. He was pinched for time and he didn't know when Kiba would get there: but that didn't weaken his resolve. In fact, he was more determined now then ever to get the information he wanted from this old hag; even if he had to rip it out from her half-done boob job himself. This trivial tug o' war had begun after the Nara Police department unhinged a swollen head from its metal prison.

After the two haughty individuals, fuming in their own way were asked to move to different sides of the jail cell, Naruto caught sight of it. Around the other blonds neck was a necklace. Now, he wasn't as crazy about jewelry as the next guy, but this particular necklace snagged his attention for reasons he wished it hadn't: it was his uncles.

He couldn't, wouldn't, and would never mistake one of his uncles prized possessions for a fake or subtle likeness. He'd seen it way too many times when he was younger to the point where he memorized every detail in craftsmanship, every arch, and every smooth crevice. He might as well call himself an expert. Ignoring the orders that were given from the officers guarding the cell, he rushed to the woman's side and grabbed the crystal by his thumb and pointer finger, lifting it up to the light. The light blue, luminous object shone strikingly, reminding Naruto of the numerous times Jiraiya would hold it up to the sun and become lost in a funny daze.

The necklace had extreme sentimental value to his uncle, even until the day he died. And when Jiraiya passed on, he'd remember it'd been missing from the open casket where it once hung stunningly around the geezers aging neck. Naruto's voice was hoarse with rage when he finally said, "How did you get this?"

With an arrogant huff, Tsunade slapped his hand away. She tucked the piece of jewelry inside her abnormally large jugs and proceeded to walk further from him. Naruto wouldn't allow that.

"Hey- I'm talkin' to you!"

"I advise you not touch me again, kid. It's none of your business anyways."

"Of course it's my business!" Naruto yelled, "That's my uncles necklace, there's no way I wouldn't recognize it!"

This seemed to pique Tsunade's interest. She turned around and placed her manicured hands on her hips, lifting a elegant eyebrow. "I've had this for eight years, so I doubt your uncle would have anything like this, it's one of a kind."

Now Naruto was positive they were talking about the same necklace, but before he could open his mouth to voice it he was halted by the sight of a broken women, staring into the distance with a grave expression on her face. Reaching in between her breasts, Tsunade took a small flask that was so cleverly hidden inside her beige blouse and popped the orifice open in one fluid movement, sneakily taking a quick whisk. Wiping her mouth of the excess liquid with the back of her hand, Tsunade then let out a ragged sigh, stuffing it back inside her shirt before lowering her head wistfully. What happened to the shrew from earlier? The one who seemed to mirror him in perseverance and strength was now a ghost of her former self, withering away right before his eyes.

A grief stricken, tired smile graced her lips. Naruto could only watch in a mixture of confusion and sadness as her aurous orbs remained downcast on the floor, and deep creases formed between her eyes, making her look a lot older then she was. Tsunade seemed torn about something. Was it the possible guilt of having stolen jewelry from a helpless, dead pervert? No- Naruto knew it was wrong to make assumptions like that, but he still couldn't piece together why or how she had gotten that necklace. What was her relationship with his uncle? He needed to know.

"...'Sunade?" Naruto tried awkwardly, not knowing exactly what to say. He was positive he'd never seen anyone so heartbroken before; and it made him feel sort of guilty for prodding. However, a minute later, the boy decided to break the eerie atmosphere. He didn't know what was going on, but Naruto was definitely going to find out. And he figured that as long as he treaded carefully, he was sure he'd get the answers he sought.

"...Granny?" He tried again.

There was a loud snap.

"WHAT–"

Well, so much for treading carefully.

" –DID YOU JUST CALL ME?!" She roared monstrously, honeyed locks slithering menacingly in different directions. Jumping back Naruto quickly added, "I-it's just that my uncle died eight years ago too, yanno?" When suddenly, without warning, Tsunade fell alarmingly silent. Her posture slacked, shoulders drooped down comically before a bitter smile encompassed her raw features. Naruto didn't know whether she was about to smack him or break down and cry, but either way he braced himself for the former and took a defensive stance, swallowing hard. Tsunade stared for a while before whispering, "Is that so..."

She leaned against the wall, fiddling with the chain.

"Then I'm guessing you're Jiraiya's nephew, am I right?"

Naruto's eyes widened, his suspicions confirmed. Nodding his head fervently his brows scrunched together, jabbing a finger her way like she had committed some heinous crime. And for all he knew, she probably had. "You bet I am. And who are you?"

"I already told you, kid. Or are you deaf and stupid?"

"That's not what I meant." He huffed. "What were you to the geezer? Were ya friends or something?"

Tsunade scoffed.

"I thought maybe he'd have mentioned it to you."

"Huh?"

Tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear, the mysterious woman's lips upturned into a wicked sneer.

"But I guess the fool never had a chance to tell you, not that it would've mattered anyways."

Now he really wasn't following. Just what was she going on about? Naruto was sure that Jiraiya would have told him about her. It was just in the weirdo's character to mention any functioning vagina within a five foot radius, but the fact that it was his first time hearing about Tsunade tripped him out. Jiraiya had never been the type to keep silent about woman, especially ones like Tsunade with crazy curves and humungo beach balls for boobs. Hours listening to the creep rant about that 'hot soccer mom at the convenience store,' and the 'sexy stores clerk' who handed him his change, made Naruto confident that Jiraiya would never forget a pretty face.

Not discussing a female for even a second would have undeniably been the first signs of dementia, or an unexplained rip in the universe, because there was just no way. So what was this? Folding his arms across his chest in thought, the blonde tried to remember his past conversations. If there was any mentioning of a Tsunade. Anything at all. But he came up with nothing. To say he was getting frustrated would be an understatement at this point. In fact, this whole day really wasn't turning out too great for him, considering he almost died for gods sake and his favorite place in the entire world was being shut down by Lucifer himself.

"Hah," Tsunade smirked, leering back in her seat smugly to watch him. "I'm guessing he really didn't tell you."

"Tell me what?" Naruto snapped. His patience wearing thin. But instead of answering, Tsunade leaned against the wall and shut her eyes, yawning a bit before settling comfortably against it. Her chest moved ever so slowly, expression laxed in mock sleep. Naruto's fisted palms open and closed. She had the nerve to try to take a nap? Right now of all times? The boy balled up his fists and gaped as she continued to stay that way until Naruto exploded and stomped his leg on the ground like a little kid, completely and irreversibly pissed. He forgot all about Kiba in that moment. Right now, it was him versus the shrew.

In high school, Naruto had a rather nasty temper, which usually involved him ending face down in the school's garbage bin, or possibly face up with a detention slapped to his forehead. Since then, or rather, since Sasuke, he'd learned to control that temper. To be honest he didn't find it all that hard. Sasuke had been the only one to really ruffle his feathers, pluck them out, and jab him in the sides with the pointy ends (if that description even made sense). So composing himself, whether in the face of a nasty employee, evil manager, or just a bitchy grocery cashier, turned out to be a piece of cake. Though it didn't mean he didn't speak his mind under his breath.

He was sick of all the secrecy and he'd make sure that he knew just what the heck was going on. If she wanted to mess with him, then two can play it that game.

"Granny!"

Tsunade's lip twitched.

"Can't you see I'm trying to sleep here? I have a terrible migraine."

"You didn't answer my question," Naruto growled. The other occupants of the cell were watching the exchange like it was a Japanese soap opera, and a very faint, "Tell him," was uttered by one of the colorful group of spectators, which in turn earned them all an icy glare by the leading lady herself.

"Stay OUT OF THIS!" Tsunade hissed at them, and in turn made them further acquaint themselves with the wall. Naruto immediately glared right back at her and pointed at the inmates, who then wished they hadn't gotten involved at all.

"They're right! TELL ME WHAT'S GOING ON!"

"They have nothing to do with this, it's ancient history." Her tone was clipped, reluctant.

If it was ancient history then why was she having such a hard time telling him? What was their to hide? Naruto felt sick to his stomach because Jiraiya's death had been so sudden, and all of his uncle's things had to be sold to pay back the people he owed. The only thing Naruto was able to keep were the stories his uncle had written. But that too was taken away one day, during an unfortunate incident.

Naruto's eyes darkened a bit. He wouldn't think about that event right now. He'd spent too much time trying to put all those things behind him and he'd be damned if he let Sasuke, or anyone else for that matter, help them resurface. Still, right in front of him, around an undeserving neck was one of the only things left that belonged to his uncle: and he wanted it back. He found all that he worked for these past few years crumble away, his big mouth once again doing the talking this evening as he burst out shouting,"THAT THING WAS THE PERVERT'S PRIDE AND JOY. DID YOU STEAL IT FROM HIM OR NOT?!"

Tsunade looked appalled, standing up and angrily storming towards Naruto at a brisk pace. He didn't shy away as her face almost pressed against his and they could smell each others breath. One reeking of alcohol and the other of pork broth, Naruto stared on with concentrated focus. The other men in the vicinity cringed. Their crimes, from drunk driving to sexual harassment, seemed now not worth the time spent in the presence of these two psychos. They all solemnly swore they'd never mess with the law again, and as they all took their time to contemplate on what they'd done, Naruto and Tsunade were this close to ripping each others throats out.

"How dare you..." Tsunade whispered lowly, grabbing him by the collar. The hurt in her eyes and the shock of the question still didn't deter Naruto from finding the final piece of the puzzle. And even as the officers nearest them screamed, "Hey! Knock it off you two!" Neither hesitated. It was like they were both cut from the same stubborn cloth and the tailor sold them to different merchants. Now that they met a clash was inevitable.

"You heard me..." Naruto challenged. "Or did ya seduce his corpse or something to get it."

"How DARE YOU." She said back, this time exceptionally more loudly, and Naruto didn't have time to brace himself as a sudden, brute force met the skin of his cheek, knocking him backwards and into the pile of deadbeats. The crunch of his jaw, quite possibly cracking from the impact, the sounds of keys jingling to open the jail door, and the moans of the bodies caught in the crossfire were the only sounds he heard as he flew into the concrete surface. If he weren't delirious from it all Naruto would swear he saw her hands smoking a bit from the hit, but in between consciousness it was a safe bet that he'd been probably imagining it.

Citric, crazy female eyes fell on the policemen so quickly and deadly that they couldn't help but freeze mid-task, their blood chilling in their veins; but they still tried to not let it get to them. They opened the door and very cautiously stuck a foot inside, rambling nervously that if she didn't stop their would be more charges and serious legal repercussions, but Tsunade didn't seem to be listening.

"..Ahh..wha, wha, what?" Naruto garbled stupidly, unable to process what people were saying and why he was seeing three of her. Tsunade stormed towards him in that moment and, after barely gathering his wits, he made to roll out of the way with a less than manly shriek. Another fist punched a dent in the wall, about an inch from where he was slouched. Naruto was confident he shat himself but now wasn't the time to check.

"GET BACK HERE BRAT!"

Crap!

"Ma'am, we are going to ask you to STOP immediately! Or we WILL be forced to use-GAH!"

And then there went a bench.

He wasn't kidding, a fucking BENCH flew right over his head, ripped clean off from its hinges, and knocked the officer out. This caused him to stumble into a few more of his brethren who were now requesting backup in their own precinct.

Swollen red from exerting so much physical labor, Tsunade tsked. Naruto stood up quickly and tried to reason with her, because he just couldn't, wouldn't hit a girl. However, as the situation would have it, he didn't have much of an option in terms of defending himself. He was shit out of luck with police protection and he was certain that if he tried to block her attacks he'd be left with a inch deep hole in his hands. But just what was he to do?

Things just really weren't looking good today, he couldn't help but think. And where was Kiba when he needed him?!

"Look, all I wanted was an answer. You don't have to go TEARING THIS PLACE APART!" He said, staring around them at the damage, trying to save his hide.

"You're an idiot!" Tsunade spat, "How DARE you accuse ME of something so low!"

"Well I didn't have much of a choice! You were actin' all shady, lady."

Another fist flew, but this time he was able to catch it with his hand. He didn't have time to rejoice though when the other free limb extended to finish the job it's partner couldn't, and Naruto was out of breath when he blocked it, both hands now locked in battle. She was almost ripping his arms off.

This was insane.

Beyond insane.

He felt like he was fighting with a gorilla. No, scratch that- a Bull that was twice it's size. Naruto hadn't felt a rush like this in well, FOREVER, and a part of him, the old part that used to always get into fights was loving it. His adrenaline was pumping, his heart was racing, and as the two of them stared into each others eyes a faint smile tugged on both of there lips.

Neither of them intended on giving up anytime soon: and for almost two hours, they didn't.

The damage was bad, but it could've been worse.

"Sir, we have eight officers down. And five civilians inside the cell were taken to the Lee medical hospital with three broken ribs, and a fractured skull."

"I see." Shikaku responded exhaustedly, calculating that to be minimal of what he originally thought. As he stepped towards Naruto and Tsunade, now looking worse for wear but neither breaking their hold, he shook his head and sighed. "I hoped I wouldn't see you here," he said directly to the ill-tempered female. "This is the seventh time in two weeks."

In the background several uniformed bodies littered the floor, all groaning and warning the chief to not come any closer to the deranged woman, but he merely grunted. Can't say they didn't try. Naruto poked his head to the side to regard him curiously, but didn't loosen his grip. So this was the head hancho of the Nara police department, huh. For some reason the name 'Nara' sounded familiar, but he had bigger things to worry about right now: like beating this witch.

Still, what the other man said didn't go over his head in the slightest. Seven times in two weeks? What was that all about?

"Seventh time for what, granny?" Naruto asked between haggard breaths, but the other blond ignored him and glared, giving him a rough push forward before letting go. This resulted in a not-too-cushioned fall on his ass and the whiskered man threw his head back and moaned in pain. "What was THAT for?" He cried.

"It wasn't like the last time. I just had a quick sip and was wrongly accused with speeding," Tsunade rebutted haughtily, ignoring Naruto all together. "And besides, rather than wasting your time with me I thought your department had more important things to take care of, like drug lords and criminals." She blew her bangs out of her face. Reaching between her breasts once more Tsunade threw the empty flax at Nara's feet, sporting a smug look on her face despite being in the presence of someone with much higher authority. Shikaku could only sigh once more at this.

"Watch it. Just because we went to school together doesn't mean you won't get the same treatment as any other woman who breaks the law. Besides, there aren't too many criminals left on the street since my department stepped in, and I can't keep covering you every time you do something like this. . ." Shikaku leaned against the cell bars and frowned. "Jiraiya wouldn't have wanted to see you like this."

Naruto's eyes widened. Did he just say what he thought he said?

"Hey!"

The Chief looked at him.

"How did you know my uncle?" Naruto asked, shifting his gaze back and forth from Tsunade to Shikaku. Shikaku smiled slightly. "How'd I know him? Me and your uncle used to be classmates in our younger years."

This surprised Naruto. Not so much that Jiraiya went to school, but that the guy even had friends. From his memory, Jiraiya had always been a solid hermit. He'd come back from long trips to exotic places (the nearest Women's spa) and just sit in his office and write. It kind of made Naruto happy to know that the sexual harasser was acquainted with actual human beings, and not just court ordered injunctions. He was learning more and more stuff every day, and getting some answers right now was like a breath of fresh air.

"It's nice to finally meet you Naruto. My name is Shikaku Nara, I run this department."

Glancing at Tsunade, Shikaku continued in a gruff voice, "And Tsunade over there also used to be a friend of his. Well, I guess you could say much more than a friend."

"Eh?" Naruto tilted his head, "Whaddya mean?"

"You didn't know?" The Chief said, confused. "They were due to be married before he—"

"—That's ENOUGH!" A spiteful voice burned like acid, causing everyone to fall silent. Flaxen hair fell over darkened yellow orbs, Tsunade's entire frame shaking with the ferocity of an earthquake. Instead of taking her anger out on Naruto, which he was ready for since he was the closest, he watched in shock as a single, lone tear fell down her cheek. "Just...Just shut up..." She hissed through clenched teeth, turning her head away with a gentle slur.

Naruto didn't know how to react; wrapping his head around Jiraiya being engaged was like trying to accept that pluto wasn't a planet. It just wasn't right. Didn't freaking make a lick of sense.

Thankfully, a cough from behind saved him a response as a younger man, around the same age as Naruto, appeared leaning against the doorway. He had a stack of papers in his hands and a police badge shone proudly on his vest, well kept and polished. Like Shikaku his hair was in a spiky ponytail, save for the scar or the bags that came with old age, and as dark eyes analyzed the entire scene with a sufficient amount of boredom, realization swept over said features, causing the faintest trace of a grin to grace pale lips. "Well, well, if it isn't Naruto. It's been a while hasn't it."

Crisscrossing his eyes to see who it was, Naruto's lip jutted out in thought; but once he did figure it out, his aquatic eyes sparkled with recognition.

"Pineapple head!"

The other boy rolled his eyes.

"Ugh, that old nickname? I told you it's Shikamaru. Sheesh, even after all these years you're still the same lamebrain."

Naruto laughed. It was awesome to see him after all these years. In high school Shikamaru was one of the only decent guys in a place surrounded by cliques and labels, and to this day Naruto still didn't know why the lazy genius bothered to go to a school like Konohagakure. He'd been way too smart for it anyways.

He remembered how Shikamaru would sleep through all his classes but still get A's on all his tests! That honestly used to piss him off since it took all his will power to study, and Naruto remembered having one sided arguments about it while the other dozed off.

But he wasn't complaining. If anything he should be grateful Shikamaru had been there. Although Shikamaru didn't mean to be, nor did he strive to be (because it was too much work), he had been an unlikely hero to Naruto in the face of utter chaos. That smack in the head of common sense when things went south was always easily administered when he needed it, via a simple "Don't be stupid," or "Calm down." Very simply put. Always very short.

And albeit he never voiced it, and Shikamaru didn't for that matter, Naruto always thought of them as good friends. He blamed himself for never keeping touch after high school. The only one he stayed in contact with (and ended up living with) was Kiba. Well, there was also Hinata, but he hadn't gotten an email from her in weeks and that was especially strange; she usually responded immediately.

Everyone else from that old place, well, just speaking to them brought unpleasant memories. Though he recounted a few others that were pretty nice to him, like bushy brows, fat ass, and bug boy. He heard some crazy story that Rock Lee moved to the mountains to wrestle bears with his dad. As for Choji and Shino, Kiba told him Choji went overseas to try every food in the world; and Shino just disappeared. Which didn't surprise him, since Naruto was 100% certain he'd turned into an insect and ran off with his own kind.

High school wasn't something the young man had planned on thinking about until he was a hundred and crippled, but too many things had happened today, and that dream was unfortunately shattered. Breaking out his reverie he noticed Tsunade slumped against the wall, looking anything but okay. The blonde felt an ache in his chest still from the mind boggling news, and as he walked towards her to see if granny was going to combust, his view was blocked by Shikaku who shook his head, motioning for his son to come forward.

"Shika, take Naruto to the lobby. His friend is waiting for him."

"Okay, got it."

The tanned man frowned. He wished Kiba stayed MIA for just a little bit longer, but began to follow Shikamaru out nonetheless. If Tsunade was the perverts wife to be, than no wonder she was so reluctant to talk about it. They were supposed to be married and...that asshole, like any commitment, clocked out early.

Naruto sighed. He would be lying if he said he didn't feel like an ass right now, but he figured that after he got out of here and found a way to stop Sasuke (still number one priority) he would look her up and see if he could talk to her again. He wasn't letting this go that easily. There were still too many unanswered questions. Things that needed to be said, and he was determined to see to them.

"And Naruto."

Naruto stopped in his tracks, looking over his shoulder.

"Yeah?"

"We'll keep in touch."

Nodding slightly Naruto waved with a nervous type of half smile. He hoped that the next time he'd see the officer of the law he wouldn't be in a jail cell, but if Sasuke didn't give up soon, he could quite possibly end up in prison for manslaughter.

They came to the main office where Kiba was moving around like a mad man. Trying to remain inconspicuous with his worry, the brunet dug his hands into his pockets. Took them out. Stuffed them back in. Took them out again and visibly shifted on his heel with an embarrassed cough, noticing many intrigued eyes on him. Shooting the cops a dirty look he roughed up his hair a bit and grumbled something under his breath from embarrassment. Upon seeing Naruto, however, the words became painstakingly clear.

"You know you're dead right?"

"Nice to see you too!" Naruto beamed cheekily, not flinching when a pair of twitchy limbs lifted him off the ground by his shirt.

"You have any damn clue how freaked out I was? Jesus man I about near had a fuckin' stroke!"

"Sorry Kib's," he chuckled, "when we get home I'll go straight to my room."

"Dude, I'm not joking right now you moron."

Putting his sore best friend down, what with being tossed around all day, Kiba looked straight at the floor, a bunch of words dancing on his tongue but much too proud to voice them. He'd almost lost a brother today, and even if the handicapped drop out was too stupid to see it, Akamaru wasn't his only family. Naruto was just as important if not, dare he say it, more.

Scrunching his hands in some deformed ball (he really didn't know what to do with them), Kiba let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding and sucked up his oh-so-manly pride. Any bystander would think, from a glance, that the toothy ruffian was having a seizure, what with his contorted expression and jerky arms as he embraced Naruto in a very warm hug. Naruto stood their awkwardly as Kiba held him before uncomfortably holding him back. As close as they were, there was only one other time where the two males engaged in such intimacy; but that was a story for another day, a story they swore on their souls they'd never speak of.

"So uh..." Kiba cleared his throat, pulling away fast. "How was the big house? Ya drop the soap?"

"Well he did almost die in a holding cell." Someone piped from his spot on the wall. "Seems like only Naruto would get into situations like this."

"No way!" Kiba exclaimed in surprise, rushing up to Shikamaru who he'd hadn't even seen come in until now, "Nice to see ya bro! Been a while ain't it?"

Shikamaru smirked, kicking off the wall.

"Yeah, three years. It seems today I've been seeing all kinds of familiar faces." His eyes drooped down, a loud yawn escaping his throat. "It's honestly wearing me out..."

"Heh, you never change. So you're a cop eh? Never expected you to be a hard worker."

"I'll pretend that wasn't an insult. And ya, I'm planning on taking over this place when the old guy retires." Shikamaru said pleasantly, "But it doesn't look like that's anytime soon. Dad still has a lot of stamina left, apparently." If the mess inside were anything to go on.

Naruto's face twisted painfully as they talked. As much as he loved standing around and catching up, there was an even bigger problem he had to take care of. Way bigger than Sasuke, than granny, or Kiba and Shika for that matter: and that problem was his stomach. An odd combo of a motorcycle engine and an oil machine digging into the earth erupted from a certain delinquents tummy, making him noisy with obvious need. With big eyes, much too big and wide for Naruto, he stared up at the two nearest victims in the room, the question blatantly clear. "So, eh heh...you guys got money?"

Both males groaned unanimously.

This would really take up half of their paychecks.

"Aaah, much better!"

Five bowls of curry rice later (and that was no exaggeration), Naruto was stuffed, laying his head on the table in the restaurant booth with a satisfied expression. Kiba and Shikamaru, unfortunately, were mourning the loss of their hard earned cash as they poked pathetically at their small bowls of white rice. All the while Shikamaru wondered how he was even dragged into this.

"So," the cop said, continuing where they left off between Naruto's loud chewing, "What you're telling me is, the reason you got arrested was because you wanted to save some noodle place?"

"Yup."

"And so you went there and found out it was Uchiha, am I right?"

"Pretty much..." Naruto muttered numbly, feeling all that pent up aggravation from earlier come to life again. Putting his hand to his chin, Shikamaru set his fork down and closed his eyes.

"If it's Uchiha than I'd say the chances of saving that place are slim to none."

"Ya Naru," Kiba agreed. "And this is coming from genius over here. We all know that asshole too well. There's no way he'd let up on this, especially if it means screwing with you. The guy's always had it out for ya from as long as I remember. Like that time during the school pep rally, where you were that retarded ass frog mascot, Gamabunta, punta- fuck if I know, and Sasuke was on the basketball team? Threw that ball straight at your head and knocked ya right into Ms. Kurenai's boobs."

"Don't remind me..." Naruto whined. "I got detention for a week because I couldn't pull myself off!"

"The point is, I don't think talking to Sasuke is going to change his mind. If anything, it's going to make him eager to go through with it." Shikamaru finished, fiddling with his badge. "But you could talk to his brother, Itachi. He's always seemed like the more reasonable one to deal with, and I heard from outside sources that he's more open to suggestion."

"Yeah well how's he gonna do that? I bet Sasuke's got that place on lock down because of Nar's stunt. There's no WAY he'd get within a mile of there."

"Wow Kiba, thanks a lot for the support," The blonde said sarcastically, but Kiba was serious this time. Pushing his bowl to the side Kiba shook his head.

"As much as I'm all for sticking it to the man and fighting for the cause, I think you should really let this one go. And I can't believe I'm saying this but...after today, I don't think this is worth it. Especially now that you know who it is, of all people it's Sasuke? How fucked up is that?! I mean, after what he and Neji DID to you at the end of senior year-"

"-I get it." Naruto was quick to cut him off, suddenly feeling sick from just the mentioning of that. But still, even though Kiba and Shikamaru were right, he couldn't just let Sasuke take this away from him. He'd let that happen too many times in the past, and he'd bite off his own fingers before letting it happen again.

"Maybe you should find some other place...I heard there's this new shop opening, close by, with some pretty decent ramen."

Now he was just tuning Kiba out.

"What more can you do?" His roomie said dejectedly, "Chain yourself to the restaurant?"

Naruto's lips practically levitated on their own.

"Anyways, you burned a hole in my pocket. Before worrying about more food, you should be worrying about how you'll pay me back. 'Sides you just quit your last job so whaddya' gonna do now? All this defender of justice shit and you still don't know what you're doing with yourself. Get a grip! On top of that, I almost had a heart attack today jackass, there's my medical bills you gotta cover. I swear my blood pressure spiked some."

"Kiba." Shikamaru interupted.

"What?"

He motioned towards the empty seat where Naruto once was.

It took about a minute for Kiba to realize what he'd done, or rather, what he'd said. Kicking the table he slapped a hand to his forehead and cursed.

"Shit!"

Author's closing notes:
Longest. Chapter. Ever. And all, to hopefully, make up for my absence and my complete jerk-ness of not updating sooner.

This was Un-Beta'd so I might've typo'd or made a few mistakes. If so, I ask for your utmost patience and understanding, and please Review to let me know your thoughts! I've finally gotten back into this story and I'll really try to remain like this for as long as I can. A recent review made me really motivated into finishing this chapter, and I'm sure you know who you are but if you don't it was a commenter named FTR.

Thank you !

I'm also working on 2 more Naruto fics right now, so that's coming soon.

Thank you guys soo much for reading. So many unanswered questions? What happened between Sasuke and Naruto in high school, huh? It must've been pretty bad for even Kiba to second guess himself like this. In the next chapter we'll see where Naruto ran off too, but I'm sure you all have some pretty good guesses. I /will/ update two weeks from now, on the 1st, because it's a reasonable time for me to write the next chapter and I'm trying to be realistic. But it WILL happen. No monthly waits. Two weeks. Maybe even earlier.

Poor Kiba needs to keep his mouth shut. Till next time!