7 Years Later

Naruto

I glared heatedly after Sasuke's retreating back. Arsehole! How dare he tell me I'm useless? Sakura was silently angsting over whatever it was he had said to her, she was so pretty when she was sad. I scuffed the ground with my shoe angrily. Something caught my eye; a rock. Waiiit, that wasn't a rock. I took a few steps and glanced back over my shoulder. The 'rock' had moved. Haha! I knew it!

"Rocks don't move, they're not square and they don't have eyes you baka!" I yelled.

"Exactly the kind of deduction I'd expect from you!" The rock replied and suddenly glowed blindingly. It exploded into three puffs of coloured smoke and I was left with three annoying kids sat coughing on the ground in front of me.

"Konohamaru what are you doing?" I sighed. Jeez, wouldn't that little brat ever leave me alone?

"Aww c'mon Naruto, you said you'd play Ninja with us today!" He replied, pouting.

"What's the point of a ninja playing at being a ninja?" Sakura muttered miserably, obviously still angsting. Jeez why does she like Sasuke so much anyway? He's such an arsehole and he has all the girls fawning over him. What's he got that I don't?

"Hey, who the hell's this cow anyway?" Konohamaru muttered, then seemed to think of something. "Ohhh, Naruto you're a real smooth operator!"

"I am?"

"Yeaaaah… so, she's your…" he held up his little finger "Girlfriend!" I grinned like a fox.

"Oh yeah! You can so tell she digs me eh?" I chuckled but regretted it instantly as Sakura's fist slammed into my face. Damn, for such a skinny cow she's got a pretty good punch on her.

"What the hell kind of girlfriend are you anyway?!" Konohamaru yelled only to be rounded on by the pink monster of DOOM! (aka Sakura) He bolted off around the corner and the next thing I heard was a loud yell from that direction. I picked myself up off the ground and ran after him.

"You know, I really hate little brats like you." Konohamaru was being held off the ground by an older guy wearing a black pyjama-like-thing and a shitload of purple lipstick all over his face. He was carrying something that looked like a giant toilet roll with a brush stuck out the top.

"HEY! Put him down you asshole!" I yelled as I rounded the corner. The guy smirked.

"Nah, I don't think I will. I think I'm gonna have a little fun first." I tensed, ready to fight, but a rock came flying out of nowhere and hit the guy's hand. He yelled and dropped Konohamaru. I looked up in the direction the rock had come from, my face dropping into a glare as I realised who had thrown it. Great, Sasuke.

"You have a lot of nerve, coming into someone else's village and causing trouble." He growled, crushing a second rock into dust with his bare hands. Tch, show off.

"Well, why don't you come down here and do something about it!" the guy growled, removing the toilet roll thing from his back. The girl who was with him gasped. "Kankurou, you're not going to use that are you?"

"Well why the hell not?" the guy snapped.

"Kankurou." A voice cut through the tense atmosphere like a knife. "Enough. You're a disgrace to our village." The guy looked scared and stared at the tree where Sasuke was sat. There, standing upside-down on a branch was a shortish, red-headed guy with light green eyes with dark circles around them. A guy that looked really familiar.

"Sorry, Gaara. We were just-" Kankurou murmured."

"I don't care what you were doing. Save it for the exams." The redhead snapped. Gaara… damn did that sound familiar…

He turned to Sasuke, his eyes cold and calculating. "I apologise for any trouble my siblings caused. We are here for the Chuunin exams; they are a little… unruly."

"Chuunin exams huh? Who are you exactly?" Sasuke asked.

"They call me Sabaku no Gaara. And you?" The redhead replied. Sasuke's eyes registered surprise, but only barely.

"Uchiha Sasuke." Gaara's eyes narrowed

"An Uchiha… I look forward to fighting you." He said, turning to leave. A thought hit me like a ton of bricks.

"Hey, Gaara! Remember me? It's me, Naruto!" I called. He looked at me with cold disdain.

"I have never seen you before." He growled before walking away with his siblings in tow.

I stared after him in shock. How could he not remember me? Okay, I hadn't recognised him straight away- he'd changed a lot, but once I heard his name I knew him! Heck, even Sasgay recognised him. And what was with the attitude? Okay, he'd been a bit shy and untrusting when I'd known him, but his response then was just icy.

I kicked a can by my foot absentmindedly, so absentmindedly in fact that I didn't notice Kakashi-sensei until he was right in my face. I jumped back in surprise, yelling something obscene.

"Yo, thanks for the great greeting Naruto." He drawled sarcastically. "Great news, I just entered you all for the Chuunin exams."

"Wha-?!" I yelled

Sasuke smirked in his usual cooler-than-thou way

Sakura looked worried.

"I have great faith in all of you; don't let me down." Kakashi smiled, well, I think it was a smile, the mask makes it hard to tell, ya know? We nodded and he disappeared.

"Hear that guys? The CHUUNIN EXAMS! We finally get to prove how good we are!" I cried in delight, receiving a glare from Sakura and a disapproving look from Sasuke.

"I just want to fight that Gaara character." Sasuke muttered.

"You already fought him once, remember?" I smirked, trying to avoid laughing. Sasuke glared, but I saw the embarrassment.

"No." He stalked off back towards his house, leaving me alone with Sakura. I pulled my foxy smirk and laughed.

"He just doesn't want to admit he got his ass handed to him, eh Sakura-chan?" She glared at me irritably and marched off in the direction of her own house. Greaaaaaat, alone again. I wandered home slowly, lost in thoughts and memories of that few months when I'd thought I had a real friend.