I had... absolutely no inspiration for this. It's dead. Sorry, sorry, you waited over a month for... this.

~sSs~

"Uchiha-san is still there. What'll we do, boss?" asked a gruff man.

Hidden in shadows, a muffled voice lashed, "It's fine. Just wait for him to leave. We'll get the fox brat, yet." Sneering eyes looked back onto the light coming from the window. "But I hate waiting!" Shadows shifted passed the open window every now and then, each carrying bits of trash and scraps that the man and his group had destroyed days earlier. "Sure, ruin our hard work, why don't you? Took time, getting it that trashed." Finally, they got sick of waiting for the Uchiha, deciding to try the next night. If there was anything they didn't need, it was a prodigy young ninja on their case.

Besides, there were plenty of nights in a year, plenty of opportunities to mess with the demon. "We'll be back. Uchiha-san won't always be there to protect that demon."

~sSs~

They both laid there on Naruto's bed for a few more minutes, staring at the bare ceiling. Naruto could believe a lot of things, but one thing that he couldn't believe was that Sasuke was his worst enemy just last week. Now, here they both were, resting on his bed, simply thinking. Naruto was here with his friend, his best friend. And he was happy. Naruto sighed once again. Even if his home had been torn through, he didn't have to clean it alone, this time. "Thanks."

"Hn?"

"For helping pick up this place," he said. "So, now what? Gonna go home, or stay here longer?" Naruto flinched. It wasn't supposed to sound like that. "Not that I want you to go! I just meant… anou…"

Sasuke shrugged it off. "Doesn't matter… If you want, you could come sleep over… and we could finish fixing your home tomorrow."

Naruto looked puzzled. "Really? Is that okay? Maybe I should stay here. Then, I can be sure that no one else comes back tonight and tries to mess up stuff, again."

Sasuke nodded slowly from his position on his back. "That may be best…"

~sSs~

In fact, Sasuke and Naruto finished the bedroom, and majority of other little places, like the ramen across the kitchen floor, or random bits of toilet paper and torn towels in the bathroom.

Sasuke didn't know why; it was too unlike an Uchiha to suddenly care for anyone, let alone that blonde idiot. I wonder what happens in his mind, when he can talk to that Kyuubi, or understand so much more than anyone gives him credit for. I wonder what it feels like to always pretend to be the moron when you have so much more skill than anyone knows. He's always criticized, always taunted, now I know he was even beaten… Ugh, this pisses me off more than I should let it! Get a hold of yourself, Uchiha! Let the dobe deal with his own problems, and stop intervening…

"Sasuke, it's kinda late, you know." Sasuke grunted in response to Naruto's obvious speculation. "I doubt anyone's coming back, tonight. Probably since they only did it because I was gone. No one's ever tried to break in while I was here, so…"

"I'm gonna stay."

Naruto sat up, quickly. "Eh?"

"I just feel like it. You don't really know…" Sasuke excused himself by muttering, "The villagers that did this might think you're still missing."

"Yeah, sure…" Naruto held back a snicker. "Unless you're worried for me. Aw, see? I told you that you cared!" Sasuke leaned forward and rested his head on an open palm. He sighed, as Naruto started a new ramble to lighten the mood. "… used to be such a jerk, but now we're all good. But still, I promise I'll be your rival, as you're the only person worthy to… and that Kakashi guy, since we'll have to meet him tomorrow. Do you know anything about… Ichiraku's, never will you find such a tasty, delicious, yummy ramen in your entire life. It's always…" And it didn't seem as annoying at Sasuke used to think it was, Naruto's voice. In fact, as scratchy and high pitched it was for a boy, Sasuke liked it. But, he also knew that the happy demeanor was nearly always just a cover for Naruto, so that even Sasuke couldn't tell just what was happening inside that blonde head. "… how it happened. Anyway, guess you're gonna sleep here. Not much point going home at this hour, right?"

"Anou… I…" Sasuke didn't expect Naruto ask him to stay. Well, he didn't but he also didn't tell him to leave, but it counted as asking, right? Yeah. It was a question in statement form.

"Here, you can take the bed. I'll sleep on the floor, since you're the guest and stuff." Honestly, Naruto was pretty excited. I mean, he'd never had a friend close enough to have a 'sleepover' with, nor would any parents want their child alone with the demon in broad daylight, so he doubted night was any better. Even if it was Sasuke, the teme that's probably too cool for such things, even if he was only here because he had helped clean his apartment, even if they would only get about two hours of sleep, he didn't mind.

"Uh, no, that's fine! We can… both be on the bed. It's room enough for us, right? You don't need to sleep on the floor, or anything." The both of them had slept on the ground for four nights straight… Sasuke didn't want to make him sleep like that again, so soon. And for that reason exactly, they were used to sleeping by each other, now. The first decent sleep they had was when they found themselves in the forest, when in Amegakure, and Sasuke climbed up a tree and rested in the branches, and Naruto kept on the ground. But during the night, Naruto had climbed up next to his nemesis, claiming that he wasn't tired enough, and was going to train, but fell asleep in the process. But after that night, and no one died in their sleep, they were fine with it. Remember, it only takes on success to brave a fear… when you're a ninja.

Naruto muttered quietly, "Alright, then." He nodded, and fell into slumber almost instantly.

"Hn," Sasuke partially laughed. "And who was going to stay up make sure no one snuck in and ransacked the place, again? Night, dobe."

In his unconscious state, Naruto automatically mumbled in a slurred voice, "Shut up, teme. Goodnight."

~sSs~

"Ahhh!" Naruto yawned and cracked open an eye. looking over, he noticed a blonde Sasuke staring at the ceiling. Couldn't have been a long sleep, but it was something, and long enough for them to switch in their sleep. "Mornin', teme."

Sasuke continued to gaze tiredly at the ceiling as he sighed, "You dream about ramen."

Naruto chuckled, "You just noticed?"

Not responding to this, Sasuke said, "We have to meet our sensei, today… along with that pink-haired, loud-mouthed, over-obsessed-with-me, annoying as hell— " Naruto had no idea how Sasuke managed to deadpan that.

"Yes, I know. Kakashi-sensei and Sakura." Naruto wasn't surprised that he didn't automatically add '-chan' to her name. She kept getting more distant, and he got closer to Sasuke, his only, and best, friend; well, the people at the ramen stand, Ayame and Teuchi, were his friends, and Iruka, maybe even the Hokage, but as far as kids his age, it was only Sasuke.

"We should leave, soon, or else we'll be late. The last thing I need is to hear how worried Pinky was, thinking we'd been kidnapped again."

Naruto muttered something about 'you mean you'd been kidnapped…' Still, he sat up and stretched, and ran for his ramen… before he realized that he had to eat tomatoes… "Hah! You have to eat instant ramen for breakfast!"

Sasuke shrugged. Ramen wasn't so bad. As long as it wasn't his body, he was fine with eating ramen; Naruto's sense of taste made that possible. "Whatever, but we better hurry."

"Hn!"

~sSs~

Naruto put on his best, what he dubbed 'icy prick face,' much to Sasuke's disapproval, and walked towards the grounds. Sakura was running up behind them, and chimed her normal "Ohayo, Sasuke-kun!"

Both teens ignored her, and the three spent about twenty minutes in silence, before Sasuke broke it, when Naruto started giving him the 'dude-you're-not-doing-what-I-would-be-doing-at-all-so-start-talking'eye. "Hey, hey, where's sensei? We spent, like, a week getting back here, and he doesn't even bother to show up? Sasuke, are you bored? I'm bored. Why can't sensei get here sooner? How come— ack! Ow, ow! Sakura-chan! What was that for?" Sasuke was currently on the ground, holding his blonde head in mock pain. As bad as it was, her fists were more tolerable than Naruto made them out to be. Luckily for them, they had a switch right then, so Sasuke wouldn't have to pretend for long. "I was just asking a question…" Naruto whined perfectly.

"You're so annoyi— Uh, I mean… uh, sorry, out of habit. You aren't annoying at all!" she exclaimed, with a fake smile. "Not any more! It's just how you kept pulling pranks in the Academy, and all…"

Naruto stood up, acting as cheerful as usual. "Ah, uh, yeah? I'm a lot more mature, I guess, huh? Yep. Uzumaki Naruto is definitely serious about being a ninja! He's gonna be Hokage!"

Sasuke sighed. Honestly, he couldn't tell what Naruto meant, and what was acting. Then, he heard something. Hardly anything, and neither Sakura nor Naruto seemed to notice it, but he knew. He was always aware of it, at the first sign.

Naruto noticed the dazed look on Sasuke's face and waved a hand in front of him. "Eh, all right, Sasuke?" he asked, edging in.

Sasuke blinked and stepped back. "Hn. I'm fine, dobe." He crossed his arms and leaned against a tree, looking away. Dammit, I haven't shown weakness to anyone for years! This isn't the place, or time to end that streak! Still, the distance roaring was working its way into his mind.

"Yo!"

"Gah! Wh- When did — ?" Naruto fell backwards at Kakashi's sudden appearance. "You're mean, sensei!"

Kakashi ignored this and went into his routine, which hadn't changed, despite the delay. "Let's introduce ourselves, why don't we? Something like your name, likes, hobbies, what you hate, dreams, stuff like that. I'll go first," he chimed. "Hatake Kakashi, I don't like much, same for dislikes… Eh, I have many hobbies, and I don't dream. Stuff I hate… well, you don't need to know that." The jounin sighed and pointed to Naruto, saying, "All right, you in orange."

"Uh, uh, I'm Uzumaki Naruto! I like instant cup ramen, and especially the ramen from Ichiraku's! I like to try different kinds of ramen, compare different flavors, mix them together, and I will for sure be the next, greatest Hokage!" Sasuke sighed, glad that he didn't have to do that. It was good that Kakashi came just a few minutes after the switch. "And, I like orange, definitely!"

Kakashi nodded to Sakura, "Pinky." Sasuke felt an ache in his head, and cursed, that dobe better not mess up. Similarly, Naruto was quickly thinking up Sasuke's introduction. Oh man, oh man, why now? I can't think! What am I allowed to say?

Sakura wanted her first impression to be good, but she couldn't really introduce herself properly… "I'm Haruno Sakura. Um, what I like… my dream… er, hobbies… What I hate…" She couldn't say she hated Naruto. Sasuke wouldn't like that, at all. "Um…"

Kakashi waited for more, but then turned to whom he 'thought' to be Uchiha Sasuke. "… Well?"