AN: Sorry about the wait... Was writing two updates at the same time.

-Not sure if I like this one...oh well.

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Being Sasuke Uchiha right now wasn't a good idea. The boy just had his entire family wiped out by the brother he always adored and now wanted to kill the man. He was in a constant state of either anger or irritation and didn't take it too well when people out did him. That and this orange wearing kid would just not leave him alone. Naruto Uzumaki, the class idiot and all around annoyance had, for some reason, declared a rivalry with the brooding boy. The difference between in skill was so big that Sasuke couldn't even be bothered to care.

Which was why he took notice when Naruto actually did something right. Granted it was academically so not really important to his goal of revenge.

It was an odd move, to open negotiations with a village that had bad blood with yours for ages. So it was surprising when Hiruzen started doing exactly that with Iwa, even more so when the Tsuchikage agreed to talks. Of course there was an underlying reason things went so smooth. Okay, technically there were two and they were blonde but that was classified information. Hell, as a sign of good faith, the Hokage had visited Iwa in person for one of the talks. Now Onoki was doing the exact same thing in a few weeks. Iwa shinobi had been in and out of Konoha making some preparations. Things were slow going (a several generations long grudge will do that).

Iruka (ever the diligent teacher) decided to use this as learning opportunity.

What caught everyone by surprise was when he asked what the class knew about Iwa. Naruto seemed to be the only one who had any information.

"Oh! I know this one! They're located in the Land of Earth. Isn't the village also built into a mountain or something? I also heard their kage is older than the old man! And he's short."

Ignoring the disrespect, the information was actually correct. Yeah, nobody expected him to know anything about that village. Suffice to say, this got Sasuke curious as where he was learning this stuff.

So when he saw the blonde haired kid outside the academy a few days later, it was natural to follow him and find out his secret. It wasn't stalking at all...nope, not one bit. Just a bit of recon.

Now here he was at his apartment looking impatient and bored. What was he waiting for?

The answer to that question would probably be this older blonde who showed up. Yeah, the tackling hug Naruto gave this guy kinda gave it away.

"Big bro!"

"Miss me that much pipsqueak?"

"Yeah. Oh! You ready to teach me dad's super awesome technique yet?"

The Iwa ninja (and apparently Naruto's older brother) held up his hand.

"Hold on there short stack, first you gotta show me the notebook I gave you."

With that, Naruto ran back into his apartment and came out with a small red notebook. When the older blonde took a look inside he laughed a bit.

"Hn, you still too much of a idiot to get this technique. Look here, you got this entire section wrong."

Naruto pouted. Wasn't his fault he was no good at math, numbers where stupid.

"...But I guess I can show you a few basic things. Can't have my little bro being a helpless idiot, that just looks bad on me. Maybe I'll even pay for ramen later if do good enough, yeah?"

"Awesome! You're the best!"

"And don't you forget it kid. Now come on let's go, we're burning daylight."

As they left, Sasuke could only stare at their forms with pure hatred. It was just so damn unfair. Why did Naruto get something he himself was denied?

He was starting to see how parallel their lives ran. Naruto had no one from the very beginning and now had an older brother who probably came in late. Sasuke had pretty much everything and now was all alone. It was like a damn mirror, similar but everything backwards.

At the training ground (after explaining chakra for the fifth time) Deidara was going over the tree climbing exercise.

"Now remember kid, too much and blast right off the thing, too little and you won't be going anywhere. You got it?"

"Yeah, I got it."

"You better, because if you want ramen you have to reach the top of the tree before sundown."

"What!? Why didn't you say that earlier?!"

"A good ninja must have his secrets. Plus, it'll motivate you to do better."

Naruto then ran at the target tree at full speed... And proceeded to launch himself 50 feet back with the first step. His brother proved to be of no help when he just laughed at him.

"I told you to be careful about how much you put into it. Thanks for the show shorty."

"You made me do that on purpose!"

"What? I didn't do anything. That was all you. Feel free to do that again, I wouldn't mind seeing you fail again."

"Man, you're just being a big jerk! A big fat jerk!"

"First off kid, I'm pretty sure I'm not fat. Second, that's exactly what we big bros are supposed to do. Now hurry up and finish this...you wanna eat don't you?"

With that dismissal Naruto just grunted and ran at the tree again. This time he made it five steps before blowing back. Deidara deliberately made it seem like he didn't care knowing that it would drive his little bro into pushing himself.

Currently he was reading the Tales of a Gutsy Ninja... A book recommend to him by Onoki because it was written by his dad's sensei. In his opinion it was the only one worthy of being called art (his mom's family were artists at heart). It had an interesting main character but it ultimately fell into many cliches and failed as an overall writing piece.

Eh, literature wasn't his forte anyways. No, that would be sculptures.

Looking up from the book, his little brother was still at it and the sun was almost down. Deidara decided it was a good time to call it a day, he had night duty today... Stupid alliance agreement...

"Hey pipsqueak! Time to call it quits for today! I got a job to do."

"Aw, I almost had it."

"Let me see."

Then the older blonde walked over to the tree his younger brother was practicing on. The highest cut was about halfway up.

"Hm, considering you're an idiot that's actually pretty good work. I'd say about two bowls worth, yeah."

Naruto jumped for joy.

"Yes!... Wait, did you just call me an idiot?"

"No, no, not at all."

"Hm, could've sworn you did...oh well. Ramen!"

'What an idiot. Could not sense the sarcasm at all... Well, I guess he is still just a kid.'

With that, they left to the ramen stand with Naruto eagerly leading the way. He never knew it would be this great to have a brother (even of he was a gigantic jerk most of the time). Plus, it was nice to finally have anyone to call family. It sucked they were from different villages, which limited their time together. Maybe when they got these talks (as Deidara called them) over with then they could see each other a lot more.

Now came the part where they had to play nice...or suffer the wrath of Ayame and her ladle. Seriously, that woman could be scarier than any missing-nin with that thing in her hand.

Whatever, it was time eat and make sure the brat didn't go over his limit (it's happened a few times...dark times for his wallet). She greeted them as they entered the small stand.

"Hey boys, usual?"

Before Naruto could answer, Deidara's hand was pushing his head down a bit.

"Small stuff only gets two bowls!"

Well, there went the master plan of ordering more more when he wasn't looking. He was getting better at this, which wasn't a good thing for his appetite at all.

"Do you have to starve the poor boy?"

Yay! Ayame always had his back.

"Well I'm paying and he didn't complete the training I gave him. The only reason he's getting any is because he got some of the work done. Two bowls! No more."

She sighed, "I guess that sounds fair."

This was a betrayal of the highest order. If was anyone else it would warrant extreme judgment. All he could do in this situation was pout like the child he was, damn that kitchen utensil.

Ever since that first time at this particular ramen stand the trio had began to form some weird sibling dynamic.

Ayame was the eldest sister (they found out that she was a year older than Diedara) who tries to balance out the boys. Ultimately, however, she tended to to take the the side of the youngest, in this case Naruto (just like most older sisters). It became Diedara's job to provide endless teasing and...alternative (cough*bad*cough) advice to things Naruto had been told. So, instead of being reprimanded for his pranks, the little blonde was now being given tips on how to not get caught. One their training sessions was about how to skip school. Yeah, not the best influence the kid could have. Then again, when are big brothers ever completely on the level in that regard?

It was a patch work of a family but for Naruto it was more than enough. After being all by himself for a few years this was heaven.

Unfortunately for him, it turned out to be hell for one of the two figures following him around (both completely unaware of each other). Well, actually, it was more like 6 people... but there were only two who weren't on the job. Yes, Konoha's last Uchiha had taken to following the pair around for the day. Why he tortured himself like that remains an unsolvable mystery. He doesn't even know the reason he did that.

It really caught him off guard when he found out someone else was following the duo. Turned out the idiot had a fangirl of his own and didn't know it. Hinata Hyuga was her name. Sasuke caught her as the two entered the ramen stand. That pole wasn't a good enough hiding spot (he preferred trees). He wondered how she hasn't been spotted by the duo yet before dismissing them as idiots (because if you're related to Naruto you had to be an idiot in his mind).

She was a mousy little thing who was painfully shy.

Slowly his focus shifted from them to her. Why was she so interested in him? She seemed rational and reasonably cute so the idea that the idiot somehow caught her eye (pun intended) seemed so illogical to him. She was an enigma that needed to be solved.

He vaguely recalled her from the academy. She got good enough grades on the paperwork and stuff. Her potential in combat was a different story. In his judgment she'd be better in a support position rather than a front line kind of role. He wondered what kind of training she does at home. Was it actually helping her or was it worthless?

Sasuke was so caught up in his thoughts he totally missed it when the brothers bid each other farewell and parted ways. He also almost accidentally followed her into the Hyuga compound only to be stopped by a guard.

His curiosity had grown large enough that he was now following her around. He even started sitting next to her in class, which he found kept his annoying fan girls away (bonus!).

Normally she was cordial with him but his newfound interest in her was making things awkward.

She was too kind for her own good and couldn't bring herself to stop him. Too afraid of coming off as rude.

The next day the brothers were training again when Naruto asked Diedara if he ever trained anyone else. Their two shadows watching the whole thing (or rather, one watching the other watch them).

"No, I haven't. Though there is this little girl who follows me around like a lost puppy claiming to be my student. It's very annoying and stuff. Doesn't help at all she's the old man's granddaughter."

This information caused Naruto to loose his concentration and fall off the tree. He was quick to let loose with his laughter.

"Yeah, yeah, go ahead an laugh it up short round. Wouldn't be as funny if it was you."

Years later and this was prophecy, except for the part were Naruto actually enjoyed his mentorship. It was just something about the Namikaze men that made people wanna learn from them. The blonde hair? The eyes? Maybe the crazy shit they all happened to pull, who knows?

"Big bro, I think we're being watched."

The two watching tensed up, thinking they were caught.

"We're always being watched shrimp. It's just a fact of life. Get use to it."

Cue the relief.