Naruto opened his eyes and noticed how the sun had woken him up. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he went into the kitchen.
"Kakashi?" Naruto called. No response. He looked at the table and saw a cup of tea (this time genmaicha) and a paper under it.

He drank the tea, not wanting to have to drink cold tea, quickly and read the note.

Sorry, Naruto. I was called on a mission. I'll be back within two weeks or so. Do well on the test tomorrow.

"What test?" Naruto frowned. "Does he have inside knowledge?" Naruto shook his head and ate the miso soup, the only other thing Kakashi had left him.

He washed the dishes and got dressed. He wore a pair of blue shorts and an orange shirt Kakashi had somehow agreed to, but had not agreed to the orange jumpsuit. Strange.

He put his new kunai in a bag and walked out.


"Nee-chan?" Sasuke walked around the house looking for Akane.

"Sasuke, she was called on a mission," Mikoto said and pulled him to eat breakfast.

"What about nii-san?" Sasuke asked, fearful. He remembered the state both his siblings had come back in.

"Him too," Mikoto said, washing her hands.

"Are they going to be okay?" Sasuke asked as he poked his chopsticks in a piece of roasted salmon.

"They're with Kakashi-san," Mikoto smiled as she handed him two bento.

"Two?" Sasuke ate the fish, remembering how it was delicious. Then he quickly ate his rice.

"Well, since Kakashi-san is gone, Naruto-kun doesn't have anyone to make his lunch, right?" Mikoto smiled.

"Thanks, kaa-san," Sasuke grinned and grabbed the bento. He ran to put them both in his bag and ran out.

"Bye, kaa-san!" Sasuke yelled. Mikoto waved from the doorframe.


Sasuke and Naruto were bored, again. Akane had already taught Sasuke the basics and Kakashi often saw Naruto reading his book. It made Kakashi feel a bit more assured Minato wouldn't skewer him in the afterlife.

"Naruto, Sasuke, please pay attention," Iruka's words came out as plain, a bit flat though.

Naruto and Sasuke's eyes drifted to him for a moment. Iruka seemed satisfied with that. He turned his back to continue teaching them about whatever lesson it was. Naruto and Sasuke exchanged looks.

"Thanks," Naruto muttered.

"No problem," Sasuke smiled.

"Oi, don't you take Sasuke-kun's attention from the lesson," a girl with pink hair hissed. She whacked Naruto on his head. Naruto acted as if she didn't exist.

"Don't ignore me!" she growled and raised her arm to hit him again. As it neared his bright blonde hair, Sasuke caught the arm.

"Don't hurt my friend," Sasuke glared.

"Sasuke-kun, I was just kidding!" Sakura's eyes went wide with surprise and fear.

"No, you weren't. You think you can hurt him without getting hurt. You think you can make everything go your way by simply looking at me. You can't hurt him without very bad things coming your way," Sasuke let the threat hang in the air.

Sakura began to cry.

"Sensei! Naruto is bullying me!" Sakura cried out.

Iruka gave Naruto a level look. He paused, as if remembering something.

"Sasuke, is this true?" Iruka's tone of voice was bland, as if reciting a protocol.

"No, Sakura hit Naruto. I protected him and then she acted as if it were an accident. I warned her that if she continued to hurt him, there would be consequences," Sasuke stated.

"I see. Sakura, I will be talking to your parents today. For the meantime, please sit in the chair in the back," Iruka said. Naruto gave Sasuke a surprised look.

"I was fine, really. You didn't have to do that," Naruto said.

"Yes I did. If you were in my place, wouldn't you have done the same for me?" Sasuke gave a small grin.

"Y-yeah…" Naruto mumbled and looked back at the lesson.


"Do you have lunch?" Sasuke asked.

"Not really. I just have a few sheets of nori…I really couldn't find anything else in Kakashi's house," Naruto admitted.

Sasuke grinned.

"Here," Sasuke handed him a bento.

"Your mom made this?" Naruto opened it and saw how delicious everything looked.

"Yeah! She knew you didn't have lunch, so she made this for you," Sasuke said.

"Tell her I said thanks," Naruto said and started eating. Sasuke nodded, having already started eating.

The two sat at their usual table, alone. The other boys wanted nothing to do with them, already had friends, were jealous of their grades, or were afraid of the boy everyone hated and the boy of two prodigies.

Naruto felt eyes burning in the back of his head. He turned and saw…no one. He sensed chakra nearby and got up.

"Naruto?"

"I think we're being watched. I'm going to check it out," Naruto glanced at Sasuke. He nodded.

Naruto used a chakra-enhanced jump to get to the upper level of the building. Behind a tree, a girl ate her lunch, alone.

"Hello," Naruto greeted.

"H-hi," the girl turned another shade of darker pink.

"Calm down," Naruto said.

"S-sorry, I…" Hinata couldn't find a reason for her actions.

"It's okay. I just felt someone watching me. Do you know who it was?"

"N-no…" Hinata squeaked.

"Okay then. Have a nice lunch," Naruto grinned. He jumped back down and sat next to Sasuke, talking some more.

Hinata felt faint. She had a small grin. His smile is so happy…even though he's the village's pariah…I want to be as strong as him. And…he has such nice blonde hair and blue eyes.

Hinata slapped her cheeks. What am I thinking?!

"So, who was it?" Sasuke asked.

"The Hyuuga girl. She seems nice, unlike the other Hyuuga who beat up Akane," Naruto sat down.

"Well, change of topic. I asked tou-san if I could graduate early last night and he said that I had to be at the top of my class for all this year. What did Kakashi say?" Sasuke finished his lunch.

"I didn't ask…" Naruto smiled sheepishly.

"You forgot, didn't you?" Sasuke asked, annoyed.

"Sorry," Naruto laughed a little.

"Hmph…what am I going to do with you?" Sasuke shook his head dramatically.

"…" Naruto grinned.

"Whatever. You're my friend. Nothing is going to separate us," Sasuke glanced at him. Naruto nodded, keeping tears back. He knew he was old enough not to cry, but sometimes he just felt so happy that he was able to have a friend.

Naruto didn't think about what would've happened if Kakashi hadn't adopted him or if Sasuke wasn't his friend. I'd be really lonely…


"Class is ending early today since the teachers have to hold a special meeting. Please study your notes and I'll see you all tomorrow," Iruka dismissed them.

Naruto and Sasuke ran off. They knew they had to get out fast or the girls would block the exit and fawn over Sasuke and bully Naruto with harsh words.

"Sasuke-kun!" the mob of girls ran after them. Naruto grabbed Sasuke and jumped up onto a building.

"Naruto, you meanie! Don't separate us from Sasuke-kun! Everyone knows you're a bad influence on him! My mom even said so!" a girl yelled.

"Sasuke-kun, why aren't you friends with me?"

"Sasuke-kun, how come you eat lunch alone with him?

"What if that Naruto poisons your lunch?!"

The girls went into an angry frenzy. Naruto and Sasuke exchanged looks and sighed. They ran across the rooftops and ended up at Ichiraku Ramen.

"Hello!" Teuchi greeted.

Naruto grinned and pulled Sasuke into the stand.

"Naruto, is this your friend?" Ayame put down two glasses of water.

"Yeah! He's Uchiha Sasuke," Naruto sipped his water.

Ayame smiled. Sasuke told Teuchi what he wanted and after a minute, two bowls of ramen were served.

"Itadakimasu!" the two boys said and dug in.

"This is really good," Sasuke noted.

"Right?" Naruto sipped his broth, already done.

"What?! How're you done so quickly?!" Sasuke stared at him, shocked. Naruto shrugged.

"Do you want another bowl?" Teuchi asked.

"Nah, Kakashi didn't give me enough money for that. I'm only paying for two bowls," Naruto said.

Sasuke finished his bowl after a few minutes.

"Thanks," Sasuke and Naruto walked away.


Naruto and Sasuke waved goodbye. Sasuke went into his compound and Naruto walked past to get to Kakashi's residence.

He took out his spare key and turned to knob. Sighing, Naruto went to his room and lay down on his bed.

The silence was heavy. Naruto, feeling its weight, didn't move. The darkness had a small comforting feeling to it. He smiled a little. I'm grateful that things have begun to get better.

Naruto had a feeling that things were going to change. He didn't know how or why he knew, but he knew. The darkness and silence was about to lull him to sleep until he remembered two things: he hadn't eaten dinner and he should probably study. Even though he's read the book cover to cover twice.

He got up and warmed up some rice and found some eggs in the fridge. He had no knowledge of cooking, but he knew there was a first for everything. He cracked an egg onto the rice in the pan and used some chopsticks to move it around. Soon, the egg began to harden into a solid of two colors: yellow and white.

"Is that why they call it an 'egg white'?" Naruto frowned. Once it was solid, he grabbed a bowl and put it in.

Grinning, he ate it.

"Huh…maybe it needs salt?" Naruto frowned at its blandness. He found the salt and sprinkled it on. Taking another bite, he frowned again.

"Maybe spicy rice is good?"

He sprinkled some pepper and took another bite. It was good, at least for a child. Maybe he'd go to the library to look up some things tomorrow.

After finishing, he read the book again. Once he'd finished the book, it was nearly midnight.

He smiled a little, surprised at how late it was, and changed into his sleep clothes.

Yawning, he went to sleep on his bed.

A/N I have such interesting plans for everyone~ Think Orochimaru kind of 'interesting'. XD
Thanks to Turmanarmo and KoreanKid for reviewing!

Btw, I know more than them read. So review. This is your mission. The fate of Konoha relies on your review. Lol, jk. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading!