Chapter 4

Naruto was startled when he came face to face with his angry teammates. Apparently, it had been very bad for them that he had missed school the previous day.

"Where the hell were you?" Sasuke demanded.

"That's none of your damn business!"

"It became our business when we got stuck with you in our team." Sakura snapped.

"It was an emergency."

"Really. Care to expand on that?" Sakura sneered.

Naruto growled. "It's not something you would understand, okay? Little miss perfect."

Ebisu came over to listen to the argument.

"You can't just miss school when other people are depending on you! And don't try to pull the 'it's personal' card! Give us a decent excuse!"

"I don't have to give you anything! My life is none of your damn business!"

"Detention. All three of you." Ebisu suddenly interjected.

"What!?!" Three angry voices rang out.

"Detention. Today. Be here at 3:05 sharp."

"What for!?" Naruto challenged.

"In the work place, a dispute among colleagues is detrimental. If you can't work it out in a civilized manner, you will serve detention until you get it right."

Naruto scowled. "I have to work this afternoon. I can't serve your stupid detention."

"Now, now, Uzumaki. Your future is on the line. You will show up to detention or-"

"Screw the future! I have to show up to work! If I don't, I get fired and then I don't eat!" He was shouting by this point, and every eye in the class turned to look at him. "I'm sorry that I'm not 'privileged' enough to have food served to me on a silver platter whenever I need it! I'm sorry I'm not part of your future-oriented reality! I'm just stuck in my own reality, and that reality means I need to show up for my present job rather than the training for a future job I'll probably never have anyways!"

He was breathing heavily and glaring at Ebisu, who stood there dumbstruck. After a while, he cleared his throat and went back to his desk. Slowly, people went back to what they were doing before he lashed out.

Sasuke and Sakura were looking at him, but he ignored them, instead glaring down at the desk.

"Naruto?" Sakura asked timidly.

"What!?"

"I'm sorry."

Naruto glanced up at her. She looked genuinely apologetic. Sasuke was avoiding his glance.

"Whatever. Don't worry about it. It's not your problem."

"Do you need food? I could-"

"I don't need charity!"

"It never occurred to me… I mean, you didn't touch your food at my house, so I assumed you had already eaten…"

Naruto gave her an incredulous look. "I didn't touch it because it was green."

There was silence for a minute, which was broken by Sasuke laughing. He couldn't believe it. Sasuke was laughing. "That's because they were made out of cucumbers, moron."

Naruto glared at him. "Who makes sandwiches out of cucumbers!?"

"They're a delicacy." Sakura sighed.

Naruto snorted. "I'll stick to ham, thank you."

There was more silence.

"So. You missed a lot yesterday." Sakura broke the silence, opening up her binder. "We were given a list of the work you missed."

Naruto frowned. "I don't see why it's such a big deal. I miss school all the time and no one cares."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Oh yes. That makes a lot of sense. You are going to one of the best schools in the country and no one cares if you don't show up. I'm sure your parents have a problem with it."

Naruto gave him a blank stare. "My parents are dead."

Sasuke actually looked taken aback. "Oh."

There was more silence, this one more awkward than the other two combined.

"I'm sorry." Sasuke finally muttered.

Naruto raised an eyebrow. As far as he knew, the great Sasuke Uchiha never apologized to anyone. He didn't think the words 'I'm sorry' were in his vocabulary.

"Don't look at me like that! I'm sorry, Damnit, I didn't know."

Naruto laughed. "It happened a long time ago. Don't worry about it."

The truth was that Naruto's mother was dead. He had never met his father. He didn't even know his father's name. He had never met anyone on his father's side of the family, and his mother had never mentioned him. Jiriaya didn't even know who he was.

"Who do you live with, then?" Sakura asked.

"No one. I live by myself."

"You have your own place?" Sasuke asked. "Nobody there breathing down your neck and telling you what to do?"

Naruto shook his head. "It's not as great as you make it sound."

Sasuke didn't reply.

"Alright. Well back to the work you missed." Sakura quickly changed the subject. "If you don't get it in, we all lose point for this class."

Naruto groaned and took the list from Sakura. There was no way he was going to be able to get everything done by the next day. Not when he had to work until closing.

Naruto was dead tired as he walked home from work. It was past midnight, and it had been a busy night, so he hadn't even started on his homework.

"Hey Naru-Chan."

"Hi Kabuto." Naruto replied mechanically.

"Awwww. Why so blue?" Kabuto stood in front of the blonde, an eyebrow raised above his thick glasses. "Did you have a bad day?"

Naruto hated the fake sincerity in the guys' voice. "Yeah. A very bad day. I don't have any money for you."

Kabuto tutted. "Why would you think that's all I'm interested in? I'm hurt Naru-Chan."

"Because that's all you're ever interested in, Kabuto." Naruto knew he was being rude, but he was in a bad mood. "Now, if you don't mind, I would like to get to sleep before dawn."

He had taken his rudeness a little too far.

"What's that, Naru-chan? You don't like spending time with Kabuto?" Orochimaru's voice sent shivers down the blonde's back.

Kabuto was smirking. "That cuts deep, Naru-Chan."

Naruto gulped. He had definitely put his foot in his mouth, and he knew Kabuto was about to shove his foot up his ass. It definitely wasn't his day.

Naruto picked himself up off the sidewalk. It had been a rather bad beating, by Kabuto's standards. But Orochimaru was a cruel, sadistic bastard, who liked to watch Kabuto beat people to a bloody pulp. If it hadn't been for the creepy old man's presence, Naruto was sure he would have gotten away unscathed.

He gingerly felt his jaw as he walked the remaining distance to his apartment. When he was safely locked in, he made straight for the bed. Homework be damned, he just wanted to sleep.