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The power of the Pineapple compels you! (Or else-!)

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In our previous episode:

"WANNA PLAY TOMORROW?!" The boy shouted.

"SURE...NARUTO!" Sasuke called back, adding the name just to get the feel of it.

He stood by his window even as the other boy disappeared again, and in the distance, he could

have sworn he heard the barking calls of two animals.

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The night went normally for the Uchiha family; dinner by seven, Sasuke in bed by eight,

Itachi an hour later (even though he was already a chunin and a Sharingan user, he was still only

ten), and their parents usually drifted off to bed by ten thirty.

However, Sasuke couldn't sleep. The excitement of the day was still going strong, and he

lay tossing and turning, hoping tomorrow would come sooner. Giving up, he made his way to

the window Naruto had jumped through. Sitting on the frame, he spent a good deal of time

staring out at Hokage Mountain

Finally, he slipped into slumber, his back to the window frame and his face pressed

against the glass.

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The next morning Sasuke woke with a sore back and a serious case of denial. Him?

Meeting the Sunshine Boy? The Sunshine Boy actually having a name, and a weird one at that?

Groggily, he started his daily Uchiha routine, which consisted of dressing in an outfit that

looked exactly like the one he had worn the day before, washing, brushing hair and teeth, eating,

then brushing teeth again.

Absolutely BORING.

(Boring, boring, BORING...) Sasuke's brain repeated like a mantra.

Breakfast was usual. The inane chatter between the adults was the same topic as usual.

His mother coyly asked Itachi if so-and-so was his girlfriend, and as usual, he winced, there was

laughter, then back to the usual chatter.

(Boring, boring, BORING...)

Even his mother's teasing of Itachi was a routine performance. Why did everybody still

laugh when it was probably done to death? Whatever.

Of course, what else would complete a typical Uchiha morning than his brother breaking

another promise by blowing him off? A flick to the head, and his brother was off. Usually,

Sasuke would grumble about this to his parents, but today his mind was occupied with thoughts

of a certain wild child with the name of Naruto.

For a little while, he toyed with the idea of telling everyone.

But on second thought, it would be better to keep his friendship a secret.

His own secret, in fact. He'd never kept a secret of his own before. The mere idea

thrilled him to the core, which only served to remind him just how boring his life really was.

Which brings us back to:

(BORING, BORING, BORING...)

"Sasuke?"

His head jerked up. By the look of his mother's face, she'd been calling him for a while.

"If you don't hurry, you'll be late for school." She frowned. Since when did Sasuke

space out? He was normally a very punctual person, which was strange for a five year old boy.

Then again, her sons weren't typical boys, a fact that gave her pride and uneasiness at the same

time.

Argh! How had he forgotten about school? And today his class was learning how to

summon chakra, something he had waited ages for. Oh well. School first, then he could finish

off the day playing with Naruto.

"And don't forget you have shuriken practice today." His mother deftly reminded him,

ruining his plans.

Once again, Argh!

Murmuring his ritual goodbye, Sasuke pulled on his knapsack and headed out the door,

growling internally. If he was a lesser man, he would have immediately chucked his school junk

and run for the hills, or more specifically, run to a raucous blonde dumbnut.

But he wasn't. (Sigh-)

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Class went by interestingly enough. NOT. The usual teacher was absent, so Sasuke's

class was stuck reviewing all the stuff leading up to summoning chakra, with extra emphasis on

the boring stuff. The teacher's assistant, a man with a scar running across his nose whose name

Sasuke didn't care to remember, stammered and mucked his way through the course.

While the other kids snickered and giggled, Sasuke stared off into space. By chance he

glanced out the window (which he was lucky enough to be seated next to), and saw Naruto

nonchalantly stomping in a mud puddle left behind by the crappy school sprinkler system.

SAY WHAT?!

"Sasuke? Is there something out there that would interest the class?" For once the

assistant didn't stammer, but his tone suggested a severe reprimand was just dying to be let out.

Sasuke quickly turned his head while the other kids craned their heads to see what distracted the

cool and calm Uchiha.

(Please don't recognize him-! Please, oh, please don't recognize him-!) His mind moaned.

"Aw- there's nothing there." Someone grumbled, and pretty soon everyone returned to

their seats.

Peeking slowly over his shoulder (when he shut his eyes he wasn't even sure), Sasuke

saw absolutely nothing out of the ordinary. The school yard was as empty as ever, save for a lot

of displaced mud. Not wanting to draw anymore attention than he already had, Sasuke continued

to pretend to pay attention to class.

"Psst.. Sasuke!"

Snapped out of his reverie, Sasuke turned to the closest kid next to him.

"What?" He whispered.

Nara Shikamaru merely shifted in his seat and grunted, not waking up the slightest bit.

Turning in his chair, Sasuke noticed that the people in his hearing range were either sleeping or

about to drop off. None of them had called him, maybe he was hearing things.

"Sasuke... over here!" Certainly he didn't imagine that! And it most definitely came

from the window. Looking out, Sasuke saw no one in the yard.

"No, up here!" The voice continued.

Looking up, Sasuke cupped his hands over his mouth to keep from gasping in shock. An

upside-down Naruto grinned back at him through the window, his gravity effected hair only a

little spikier than usual. Glancing quickly at the instructor, Sasuke quietly shifted in his seat to

see exactly how Naruto stayed in that position.

As far as he could see, Naruto used no restraints or devices or even suction cups to stay in place.

Rather, his feet seemingly magically sticking to the bottom of the roof overhang. The fact that

Naruto could do that irked Sasuke, although he had no idea why.

"So, wanna play now?" Naruto inquired, tilting his head in question.

"Not now." Sasuke whispered through clenched teeth. Did that idiot want to be caught?

"Sasuke? Are you feeling okay?" The assistant's voice cut in, jolting the young Uchiha.

"Yessir." He squeaked.

(Way to not be obvious, dummy.)

The assistant gave him a funny look, then turned to the window. Once again Naruto had

vanished from view.

(Safe!)

Turning back to Sasuke, the assistant didn't seem all that convinced. "Are you sure

you're all right?" He frowned.

"Yeah." Sasuke shrugged, feeling some of his confidence returning.

"Then why haven't you gone out to lunch like everyone else?" Why not, indeed.

Sure enough, a quick glance around the room revealed it to be absolutely empty except

for the assistant and himself. Even the lazy Nara kid was gone. There goes that confidence.

Picking himself off his chair, Sasuke shrugged and made his way out of the room. As

soon as he shut the door behind him, he skedaddled as fast as he could up to the roof. As though

he was a mind reader, Naruto stood waiting for him, his back facing Sasuke.

Hoping to catch him off guard, Sasuke quietly crept up behind the blonde.

"Can we play YET?" Naruto pouted, turning to face Sasuke just as he was preparing to

surprise him.

"Wha-? I can't! Not yet at least.." Sasuke let out in surprise. Naruto scowled and

scrunched his eyes together, conveying his annoyance in any way possible.

And before further word could be said, the bell signaled the end of lunch.

"What?! How could lunch be over already?"

"The other kids were out a loooong time before you came out." Naruto grumbled in

annoyance.

"Argh- Naruto, I'll play with you later, right now I have to be in school, okay?"

Sasuke headed back down to his class room, leaving behind an unhappy Sunshine Boy.

When Sasuke said later, he had really meant after school and his shuriken practice. What

he definitely didn't intend was for Naruto to pop up every fifteen minutes asking if it was time to

play. But at least it added some spark to an otherwise boring day of school.

While walking from school to practice with a group of 'friends' (actually his fan club

who just wouldn't leave him alone), Sasuke couldn't help but notice that Naruto followed at a

distance over the rooftops of houses and businesses lining the streets of Konoha.

Sasuke couldn't run over roof tops yet, and he was pretty positive his parents wouldn't

allow him to even if he could.

Yet another thing to be bothered by.

During aim practice out in the forest, Naruto would pop up at the most inconvenient

times. Once Sasuke was almost positive he had actually nicked Naruto's cheek, but no, he must

have just barely missed (much to his relief) because Naruto was perfectly fine, although he did

continuously squeal in outrage. Sasuke was just glad that because of the dangers of projectiles,

each student was put on a separate field, insuring no one would discover Naruto.

Finally, good gracious, finally Sasuke had the rest of the day to himself until dinner.

After a quick stop at home to drop off his things, he ran back into the forest to his designated

meeting spot with Naruto. There was a small lake that lay hidden among the trees that both boys

knew of, so it was unanimously agreed to meet there.

Upon arrival, Sasuke found the other boy no where in sight.

"N-Naruto?!" He called. Figures. Just when Sasuke is able to play, Naruto decides to go

off on his own.

"UP HERE, SASUKE!" Roared a familiar voice above his head. Looking up, Sasuke

had to crane his neck to see Naruto smirking above him, standing on a skinny, skinny branch that

reached over the lake. Without warning, Naruto jumped like it was a diving board and dove into

the lake. While Sasuke stood gaping, Naruto emerged a few seconds later with a large fish firmly

held between his teeth.

"Hngwy?" He bluttered, not letting go of the wiggling creature.

(Chakra!) The one word popped into Sasuke's head. Only one other thing came to Sasuke's

mind.

"Teach me how to do that!" He shouted, startling himself.

"What, how to fish? It's pretty easy, all you need is you teeth, really-"

"No, no! Teach me how to use chakra! Sasuke interrupted before Naruto could go on.

Huh?

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Wah-! I broke a finger, so this chapter writing is going slower than I normally do it! Wah wah-! I graduated high school! Wah wah wah-! I need a job to support a car that I don't want! (I'm happy being stuck in my rut, thank you very much.)

Sniffle From what I understand, many people think this story is very cute... but in all honesty,
I'd say the reviews are even cuter! Heh heh heh, fuh-NEE.

Oh, and for those of you who noticed the wacked-out recap in the previous chapter, I put that in because the name Eclipse sounds like either a soap opera or one of those hard-core police TV dramas, doesn't it?

Oh! Oh! Oh! One more thing! Starting around or after the next chapter, some time is going to
pass. (It's because I'm getting antsy.)