C.M.D: This fanfic's popularity just keeps growing. Well, I hope this holiday chapter can live up to the rest. Thanks for reviewing: Great Karyee-sama XD, Cross- The Damned Alchemist, ButterflyOnna77, qurie, Maximum, lightdark54, -siarafaerie-101-miss, TKM, darksone, no name, ubiko, catkittyneko, kai, cluelessninja65, Broken Sexed Up Bloody Kitten, Chaos Dragon-Fox, FallenAngel Sayu, puretsubasa. Virtual Christmas cookies to everyone who reviewed, and to those who might review in the future.
Ci, Ci, my playmate,
Come out and play with me.
Bring your dollies,
Climb up my apple tree.
Slide down my rainbow...
Naruto dashed about, laughing as he ran past a clustered group of children. There were still several minutes left before the bell rang for the beginning of school, but the blonde was determined to enjoy his free time. He paused for a moment, looking back at the gates where Kakashi stood, waving at the jounin before bounding off again.
Blue eyes snapped back and forth as the tiny boy ran, landing on the person he was looking for. Grinning broadly, Naruto ran over to Hinata, wrapping his arms around her. "'Orning Hina!," he yelled, even though she was trapped in his grip.
The Hyuuga girl blushed terribly, and nodded her head in reply, her lips quivering too much for her to even form a sentence. The Uzumaki released her, only to grab her hand and pull her over to the jungle gym. The raven said nothing, but kept in pace with the blonde.
It had already become an unsaid agreement between them that they would meet each morning before school, and play at the Academy's park until the bell rang. This let Hinata spend more time with Naruto, and it let the boy burn out some of his energy. As was per usual, Naruto headed to the see-saw. In the mornings, the see-saw area was less populated, as more of the kids chose to play on the slide or swings. After getting knocked about accidentally by a couple of the older kids, Hinata had decided that maybe the two of them should play somewhere safer. Cradling a skinned-knee that day, Naruto had huffingly complied.
"Hina, you do work?," Naruto asked, as he led the raven toward their spot.
The Hyuuga lifted a hand and brushed a strand of black hair out of her eyes. "Y-yes....," she stuttered. "D-didn't y-you do yo-yours, N-naruto-kun?"
The blonde frowned, squinting as he looked back at her. "'Kashi make me do work, but I no wanna," he answered. Hinata felt a small smile tugging at her lips at the boy's reply. One, because it was cute, and two because it meant that the Uzumaki wouldn't get into trouble with Mizuki-sensei. Their teacher didn't like Naruto much since the child pranked him.
Naruto turned his head back around, to check they were heading in the right direction, when he bumped into something solid. His collision caused the Hyuuga to bump into him, and both kids were knocked back onto their bottoms.
"Watch where you're going stupid!," a voice growled.
The blonde blinked, staring up at the brunette in front of him, before it clicked what the older boy had just called him. Jumping to his feet, Naruto clenched his fists and glared up at the brown-haired boy. It was the same one that had pushed him down.
"I no stupid!"
Kiba snorted, narrowed eyes taking in the Uzumaki. It was so annoying that this kid had ran right into him, making him drop his chips on the ground and ruining his morning snack. "You are stupid. Still talking like a baby. You shouldn't even be in the Academy," the Inuzuka replied.
Naruto took a deep shuddering breath, fighting back the angry tears that were beginning to rise. He really hated this boy. "'Ose-picker!," he shouted back.
Kiba seemed to choke on his own salivia, his eyes shooting open in surprise. Akamaru popped his head from over his master's collar and growled at the blonde. "Shorty," the brunette retaliated.
"Butthead!"
"Bed-wetter!"
Naruto flung himself at the Inuzuka, intent on hurting the older boy, but a grip on his shirt kept him from going any farther.
"N-no, Naruto-kun!," Hinata cried. The blonde froze and looked behind him, surprised. He had forgotten all about the girl. The Hyuuga's brow was crinkled as she looked at him worriedly. "P-please d-don't fi-ight....," she pleaded.
The Uzumaki clenched his fists, glaring at Kiba one last time, before stepping away from the boy. The raven let go of Naruto's shirt, relieved that the blonde wasn't going to get into a fight. That would only get the Uzumaki into trouble, and the blonde was too good a boy to be getting punishment. Kiba had yet to walk off, standing in the same spot still, arms crossed over his chest in aggravation. He expected Naruto to jump at him again, and was hoping that the blonde would.
Hinata glanced at her friend, before stepping toward Kiba. "I-i'm so-orry, s-senpai," she whispered, bowing her head. A small red dust appeared on the Inuzuka's cheeks as he turned his head to the side.
"Yeah, alright," he replied, accepting the Hyuuga's apology. Akamaru peered at the black-haired girl, then at his owner. The pup yipped happily, sensing that Kiba liked the girl, which meant that he could like her too. Hinata's head snapped up when she heard the merry bark, and she smiled a tiny bit, pale orbs fixed on Akamaru.
"M-may i-I pet h-him?," she asked. The Inuzuka looked at her, reaching back and lifting his dog out of his hood. Akamaru was wiggling in his grasp, eager to get close to the Hyuuga.
"Sure," he answered.
Naruto, who had been standing off to the side, gasped in shock. "'Ey! I wanna pet puppy too!," Naruto protested. Both children looked at him, Kiba frowning in annoyance. He held Akamaru against his chest, away from the blonde's grasping fingers.
"I don't-"
"Can N-naruto-kun p-pet him to-too?," Hinata asked, interrupting the Inuzuka. Kiba, frowning still, glanced at her, then back at the Uzumaki. Naruto was holding his hands out, pouting at the brunette. Grumbling to himself, Kiba slowly held out Akamaru. He didn't mind the Hyuuga petting his dog, but he didn't want the blue-eyed baby to be touching his friend. Not like he had any other choice, the Inuzuka didn't want to disappoint the raven.
Hinata smiled shyly, reaching out and petting Akamaru's white fur. The canine rumbled in gratitude, his tail wagging. When the black-haired girl tried to pull her hand back, Akamaru leaned forward in his master's hands, licking at her pale fingers. Hinata giggled in suprise, petting the puppy one last time before dropping her hand back to her side.
"Me, me, me!," Naruto cried, leaping forward excitedly. His tan hand shot out, heading for the top of Akamaru's head. At that moment, the playground noise was split by the peeling of a sharp bell, the signal of the start of the school day. Immediately, Akamaru was pulled away from the blonde's reach.
"'Ey!"
"Sorry, loser!," Kiba taunted, grabbing his bag and jogging away from the Uzumaki. "You snooze, you lose." Akamaru barked in response, back in his spot inside Kiba's jacket. Naruto stomped his feet, crossing his arms over his chest with a huff. His eyes were all warm again, and he rapidly blinked them to keep the tears from forming.
"N-naruto-kun-n...," Hinata quietly spoke up from the blonde's side, "W-we need to g-go in nn-now...." She lightly touched the Uzumaki's shoulder, and after first tugging away, he let her grab his hand and pull him into the school.
Sasuke spied the little gold-haired boy ahead of him, and not wanting to be bothered, twisted on his heel and turned down the next hallway. It meant he would most likely be late for class, but Sasuke didn't want to have to deal with fangirls, or worse, Naruto at this moment.
After finding out that the rice crackers had been from the Uzumaki, the raven had become upset that day. It angered him that his brother would trick him like that, and that the stupid blonde had managed to find a way to bug him without even leaving his class. And now, there was rice crackers in his bento every lunch. They were nothing more but a sore reminder about the stupid, snot-nosed blue-eyed boy in the first grade.
Sasuke just couldn't get Naruto. Hadn't he made it quite clear, many times now, to the blonde that he didn't want to be friends? Then why was the whiskered child still trying? The raven glanced up, spotted his class, and just as the last bell rang, slipped inside.
He sighed silently, taking his seat, dropping his bag onto the floor beside him. Resting his chin in his palm, the Uchiha stared out the window. Once again, the male's thoughts were swamped with the blonde, and Sasuke found himself getting agitated once more. There was a barely a day now where he didn't think about Naruto, to the point he was almost afraid of running into the other child, because he just didn't know what would happen. Yeah, that would be classified as paranoia. And Uchiha's were never paranoid.
Stewing to himself, Sasuke nearly growled when he heard Kiba start talking off to his far right, because Kiba's voice once again reminded him of the Uzumaki. Normally it wouldn't, but the raven had seen the Inuzuka with Naruto this morning, so there was now that whole memory linking thing going on. Speaking of this morning.... the raven's mind went to work editing his previous image of Kiba from a loud-mouth irritant, to a boisterious coward and bully. Honestly, who picked on small, weak kids younger than them? Obviously never a Uchiha. Stuff like that was just a pride killer.
Wait, where were his thoughts going? Sasuke had to restrain himself from screaming when he realized he was still busy dwelling on that bone-headed blonde when their teacher had already begun the lesson. Hurrying to catch up with the things he just missed, Sasuke swore that he would get that Uzumaki idiot out of his head soon. He didn't want to have to keep thinking about pointless things.
Kakashi tried not to sigh, but something must of shown on his masked face, because Naruto only peeked at him before bowing his head in shame. Not wanting to upset the child further, the jounin warmly patted the golden head, thanking the chunnin sitting in the desk; exiting the room with the boy following after. This had been the third time that week that Naruto had gotten a detention, and Kakashi had to wait before taking the child home.
If his sensei heard just what was happening with his son, Hatake was sure that Minato wouldn't hesitate to pull Naruto out of the Academy. And that wouldn't be good. Despite what the Yondaime's paternal feelings were, the blonde boy really needed to be in this sort of environment. It was already obvious that Naruto's development was a little behind the others. Which everyone noticed, but never did anything to change. Afterall, Minato never took any action in trying to help his child grow up, in fact the man preferred to have his son stay a baby forever.
And Kakashi couldn't blame his sensei for doing nothing. After what happened to his wife, Kushina...... The silver-haired man stopped his thoughts right there. 'It's understandable that he wants to keep Naru-chan a baby forever. A baby is easier to protect....' Kakashi sighed out loud this time, looking down at the Uzumaki.
Naruto still had yet to raise his head, or even say a word for that matter. It was just so sad. The blonde was just so fixated on becoming Sasuke's friend, that it overwhelmed all other thoughts, and the raven's rejection only spurred the tiny boy on more. But this continous course.... it was only getting Naruto into more trouble, as the Uzumaki took things into his own hands, using pranks and the such to get near Sasuke.
'Uchihas....,' Hatake huffed. That whole clan was a gene-pool of stupidity and retarded pride. Well..... Itachi wasn't so bad. But Sasuke had better wise up soon, or Kakashi was going to ditch this plan of trying to get the two boys to be friends. After all.... there was no point if in the end him and Itachi failed, and Naruto was forever marked an ignorant deliquent.
Patting the child's head again, the jounin knelt down and picked the blonde up, lifting him into the air. "Don't frown so much," he said, looking at Naruto's face. "You're going to get big ol' wrinkles like Uncle Jiraiya!" Pink lips quirked a bit, before blooming into a full-blown smile, giggles slipping through the clenched teeth. Kakashi smiled too, happy that for now, Naruto was feeling better.
C.M.D: I realized that there isn't many people talking in this chapter, but I guess that's ok this time. I really didn't know what to write, and I needed to have something to get the story moving from point A to point B. Next chapter will definitely be 100 times better.
So, be nice please. Afterall it is christmas. And remember to review!
