#11)
Requested by: the leviathan
Characters: Naruto and Sasuke.
Situation: A moment between the two when they were kids.
Pairings: No Pairings.
A/N: Dear God, this was hard! You owe me for this, leviathan! Lol... Well, you beta for me, so I guess we're square. Hope you like it! I made them about nine in this, cause Sasuke's clan was killed when he was seven or eight, I think. So, this is either one or two years after that.
Uchiha Sasuke let his feet dangle over the water as he sat on the end of the dock, staring at his reflection in the water below him. The wind kept making the water shift, causing his reflection to distort and change in the most gruesome of ways. He frowned as he noticed a few similarities between himself and his older brother, angrily kicking at the water to make it disappear.
He heard shuffling behind him and turned to see a blond kid coming down the steep hill that led to the dock, stumbling as he went. Moron, the Uchiha thought with a snort. There's stairs for that. The blond boy didn't seem to care either way as he continued to make his way down to the dock. Sasuke recognized him from his class at the ninja academy. Uzumaki Naruto was his name, and back when his parents had been alive, they'd told Sasuke to stay away from him. The raven had never understood why.
He turned back to stare out at the water again as he heard the other boy muttering, probably rubbing his head from his ungraceful stumble down the hill. Sasuke shifted uncomfortably and let a scowl cross his features as he heard light footsteps on the wood behind him, leading up to his position. Great, just what I need. Company, the raven thought with an inward sigh. His outer appearance betrayed nothing.
Naruto stopped behind him and Sasuke didn't acknowledge him. So, shrugging, the blond sat down on the dock as well, perpendicular to where Sasuke was sitting. He, too, looked out over the water in silence. The two sat like that for a long while, Sasuke not minding the other boy so much now that he realized he wasn't going to bother him.
The Uchiha's ears perked up as he heard movement at the top of the hill again, the young children there whispering. He ignored them, not at all interested in interacting with them. He hoped it wasn't people from his class, because then it meant they were going to bother him to help them improve in their shuriken throwing or something.
Sasuke let another scowl cross his features as he heard them descending and readied himself to glare at them and tell them to go away when instead, all he heard was a dull 'thunk' and a 'splash'. Startled, he turned to see the blond sputtering as he surfaced, shaking his head to rid the hair from his eyes.
"My mom says you should go and die somewhere, you stupid loser." One of the three boys at the end of the dock screamed at the blond as he walked slowly down the wooden structure, a large rock in one hand. Sasuke realized one of them had thrown a rock at Naruto, sending him into the water.
He looked down at the blond and saw his head bowed, his wet bangs covering his eyes as he swam to the side of the dock and began to climb out. A foot suddenly appeared on the blond's hand, crushing it painfully against the wood. Naruto cried out.
"Why are you bothering to get out? You know we'll just throw you back in, you big loser."
Sasuke watched the scene in silence, the other boys ignoring him, as if knowing he wouldn't do anything to help Naruto. This caused the Uchiha to frown. They shouldn't assume he wouldn't help the other boy; they didn't know anything about him! This angered Sasuke, so when one of the other boys still further down the dock threw a rock at Naruto, hitting him in the head, Sasuke stood up and turned his dark gaze on him.
The boy froze, his eyes wide as he stared back at the Uchiha, the pudgy boy at the complete end of the dock turning and running. Sasuke turned his glare to the boy crushing Naruto's hand. He looked a little nervous, too.
"You interrupted my calm. Leave." he stated monotonously, but added in with a glare, it sent the two remaining boys running, their shoes pounding against the wooden dock as they retreated hastily.
Sasuke turned his attention back to Naruto, noting the knuckles on the blond's right hand were bruised and bleeding slightly. The other boy didn't seem to notice as he pulled himself from the water, grunting with difficulty due to his heavy clothing, now that it was wet.
Without a word, he shifted position and sat down the same way he had been sitting before the boys had come to interrupt them, staring out at the water, letting the sun dry him. Sasuke watched his back for a few seconds before also retaking his seat at the very end of the dock, looking out over the water.
The two sat in silence once again, both silently enjoying the other's company, even though neither spoke. When the sun began to lower, Naruto finally stood up, his hair and pants dry, but his heavy jacket still a little damp. He had to meet Iruka-sensei for ramen soon, and he didn't want to be late.
As the blond turned and walked back down the dock, he stopped briefly as he considered something. Without turning around, Naruto took a deep breath. "Thanks." he said simply before taking off at a run, bolting up the stairs on the side of the hill and rushing down the street.
The Uchiha allowed a small smile to form on his lips once he knew the blond was gone. "You're welcome."
END.
