Disclaimer: This is a fanfiction based on the novel Daddy-Long-Legs using characters from the series Naruto. I own not the novel nor the series so, if you please, do not sue me for I own nothing but my computer. SASUNARU.

"The Letters of Naruto Uzumaki to Sharingan Rooster-Head-sama"

Naruto blinked his eyes then stretched as he greeted the morning sun. He slowly stood up and saw his sketchpad near his bed. He frowned then pulled out a thick pad of writing paper out of his bag. He went to his study table and stared at the blank sheets.

And stared.

And stared.

Someone knocked on his door, interrupting his staring. Tsunade popped her head in.

"Oi, brat, come down to breakfast. You still have chores to do."

Naruto heaved a relieved sigh and obeyed. He changed out of his pajamas and pulled his crazy nightcap off. He opened his door with a smile but froze when he saw Sasuke stepping out of his own room. He scowled, lips pulling down further when Sasuke smirked and produced—a packet of soy sauce crackers.

Naruto's eyes widened. "So early and he's already trying to show off!" he fumed silently. "I bet he won't share either!"

The two walked down the hall silently. Sasuke opened the packet and took out one cracker, relishing the salty taste. Naruto twitched as he heard the loud crackle and the crunchy snap of Sasuke eating. They reached the ground floor before Naruto lost his cool. He suddenly grabbed the packet of snacks.

"Give me that! You shouldn't eat something like that before breakfast!"

"Give that back" Sasuke snatched the plastic back to himself. "And I'll eat it whenever I want to!"

Naruto lunged to steal it back but Sasuke held it away from him. The older boy ran with Naruto chasing and grabbing until they reached the dining room where they were stopped by Tsunade's glare.

"What the hell are you two arguing about so early in the morning?"

"Sasuke's eating something unhealthy even before breakfast!" Naruto tattled.

"Says the ramen freak!" Sasuke retorted. "I'd like some tea with this please," he said to Tsunade, calmly sitting down.

"Don't mock my ramen. It has nutrients and vegetables and—"

"And too much salt," Tsunade finished for him, dumping a plate of food in front of the blonde. "It's unhealthy to eat too much salty food Naruto."

Sasuke harrumphed smugly.

"And you Sasuke, eat a normal breakfast. You can finish that for snacks later on."

"But—"

"Ever since you started living alone, your eating habits have become worse! While you're here, you will eat normally at the normal time. I want to see that food going into your mouth, young man."

Sasuke snapped his mouth close mutinously. When Tsunade used that tone of voice, there was just no arguing with her. Naruto snickered.

After breakfast, everyone went their separate ways to finish some chores. Naruto was gratified to see that even Master Sasu-chan was not spared from doing a task.

Later that morning, just as he was passing by the garden, Naruto saw Sasuke bent over Tsunade's herb garden. His eyes roamed the area and rested on the garden hose coiled nearby. Muffling a laugh, Naruto crept forward and slowly reached for the hose. He turned it on a bit and pointed it towards the dark-haired boy who was pruning the leaves of one shrub. Naruto suddenly opened the hose's throttle in full force. The water rushed forward drenching Sasuke thoroughly.

Uttering an undignified squawk, Sasuke slipped sideways and fell on his butt. He glared around and saw Naruto giggling madly at him. He growled and leapt forward. Naruto eeped and opened the hose again. By the time Sasuke managed to move forward, the blonde was gone and the hose was flooding the little garden.

"That little—" Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "I'll get him!"

"Come on boys, we're going to do a little fishing expedition!" Jiraiya announced after a mid-morning snack.

Naruto whooped in delight.

"Go pack something you'll want to take and meet me at the front gates in 30 minutes."

Naruto ran all the way to his room. Looking around he decided to just take a small backpack and fill it with his sketchpad, some pencils, the tackle that Iruka's dad had given him before and a few odds and ends. He rushed out again and saw the others already at the gate.

He blinked. "Tsunade is not coming?"

"Nah," Jiraiya replied heading out. "She's brewing some medicines. That's why she allowed this expedition. This way you guys won't get in her way while she works."

They hiked all the way to a mountain several kilometers from the farm. As they trekked onwards, Jiraiya pointed out trees and animals to keep the boys occupied. Sometimes, Shikamaru would help him out, interjecting some trivial info about this or that plant.

Halfway through their journey, Naruto began to lag behind. He had whipped out his sketchpad and started drawing things that caught his fancy.

"Naruto, hurry up! I'm starting to get hungry!" Chouji called out.

Naruto ran forward. Just as he reached the group, his tummy emitted a loud growl.

"Guess you're not the only hungry one here Chouji," Shikamaru commented.

Naruto was about to reply when they heard the unmistakable popping of a packet of snacks being opened. All eyes turned to Sasuke who clutched a bag of chips.

"What?" the dark-haired guy blinked at the other three.

"You bastard, share some of your food!" Naruto yelled.

"Hmp!"

Knowing that a mean fight was about to commence, Jiraiya quickly opened Sasuke's bag and threw several snacks towards the other boys.

"Old man!" Sasuke protested.

"Listen," Jiraiya whispered, "it's okay to fight a hungry Naruto but you do not want to tease a hungry Chouji!"

The old man nodded at said boy wolfing down his snack at mach speed. Sasuke's eyes widened.

"See what I mean?"

Sasuke nodded. The group moved on. Soon after they reached the river. Naruto announced his presence by laughing loudly then squatting beside the water and wriggling his fingers to the fish living there.

Jiraiya quickly put down his pack and produced fishing rods for everyone.

"All right people, fish for your lunch or you'll go hungry. No fish, no lunch."

"Wah that's mean!" Chouji protested.

"Don't worry, there's plenty of game here," Jiraiya said. "I'm sure even Shikamaru will catch something even if he just sits there."

Everyone laughed and proceeded to follow Jiraiya's example as he prepared his fishing rod. Then they all picked their spots and waited. Silence encompassed the place. Even Naruto became focused on his line, which was why he was unprepared for what happened next.

Sasuke was the first to catch something. He quickly pulled it in then, exhibiting a devious and accurate aim, flung his fishing rod backward in preparation to casting it a second time. His eyes slid sideways and he smiled evilly. He took a deep breath and heaved.

One minute Naruto was happily fishing, the next he found himself propelled in the air straight into the water.

"Waaaaahhhhh!"

He struggled underwater for a few minutes before he felt his shirt tugged upward.

"Hn! Looks like I caught a very big but disagreeable fish," he heard Sasuke say.

Naruto looked around and saw everyone else laughing at him. His eyes also caught the hook firmly fastened into his shirt.

"SASUKE YOU BASTARD!"

Sasuke reeled Naruto in.

Naruto sneezed.

"Old man, when's that fire gonna start?" he whined. "I'm cold."

He shivered violently.

"Che! You're so weak," Sasuke commented, dumping a pile of dried twigs on the ground.

"This is all your fault!" Naruto yelled, standing up and facing Sasuke.

"Well I was just paying you back for getting me wet this morning!"

"You deserved it!"

"You deserve this more!"

"Boys, boys," Jiraiya interrupted, placing a hand on one shoulder each. "Naruto, take off your clothes while I start the fire. Look carefully how I do this so you'll be able to make a fire too in the future. Sasuke help me once I get it started."

Naruto started taking off his shirt and pants while eyeing Jiraiya as the old man rapidly twisted a piece of twig atop a big piece of dried wood. Slowly smoke began to emit from the point where the twig and wood touched, then a small fire erupted.

"Woah! That was cool!"

"Hmp! That was nothing. Even a kindergartener would be able to do that," Sasuke muttered, settling down in front of the fire and feeding it some leaves.

Naruto ignored him as he laid out his sopping clothes near the fire. Then he helped Shikamaru and Chouji clean their catch and place fishes into stakes Jiraiya had brought. After his impromptu bath, Naruto had opted to stay in the water and try to catch fish with his bare hands. Surprisingly he had managed to catch three big and slippery fishes that way.

"Fish! Fish! Fish!" he chanted as the stakes were placed above the fire.

"Shikamaru, Naruto, you two stay and watch the fish while Sasuke, Chouji and I get some fruits," Jiraiya announced, standing up.

Naruto jumped to his feet. "I wanna go too! Me! Me!"

Jiraiya eyed the boy clad only in his boxers.

"I can climb trees better than Chouji!" Naruto insisted.

"I'll stay then," Chouji said, drooling over the fishes being cooked.

"I guess that makes sense, you do look like a monkey sometimes," Jiraiya teased, ignoring Naruto's protest. "Oh well, come on boy. Chouji you stay. Shikamaru make sure Chouji doesn't eat even a single one before we come back."

"Hey!" Chouji protested, sounding both insulted and guilty.

The three moved into the forest. True to his words, Naruto managed to scale the tall trees effortlessly. Unfortunately, Sasuke was also good at it so another match was staged. Jiraiya would just point to a tree and the two would try to outdo the other in gathering the fruits. Naruto would crow loudly whenever he won while Sasuke would just smirk mightily whenever he got more fruits.

They returned laden with a good harvest. As they prepared everything, Naruto noticed a little frog hopping towards their spot. The frog stopped a few feet away and just eyed them. Naruto stealthily walked over and squatted in front of the frog. He squinted down at it. The small creature, undaunted by the scowling boy, stared up at him.

"Oi, idiot, we're eating your share if you don't stop gaping there stupidly."

"Wah! Sasuke-bastard!"

At Naruto's eruption, the small fog hopped away.

Of course, their lunch would never be peaceful with a hyperactive blonde, a taunting Uchiha, an always-hungry fatso (but don't tell him that to his face!), and a lazy boy who even found stretching his arm to get food annoying. There was also the addition of an old man who kept regaling his charges with stories either of mighty battles or of lecherous pursuits.

Naruto's shouts of "Pervert!" would alternate with "Sasuke-bastard stop stealing my fish/fruit/water/dessert!"

"Okay people of Chidori, do whatever you want while I take a nap," Jiraiya said after their meal.

"Old man needs to nap so much 'cause he's getting on in years," Naruto quipped, earning a bump on his head for that comment.

Jiraiya picked a spot while the boys wandered off to different directions. Shikamaru followed Jiraiya's example and settled down to watch clouds. Chouji decided to see if he could find more fruits. Sasuke was going to taunt Naruto into sparring with him but the blonde, clad in his dried clothes, had quickly pulled out his sketchbook and climbed a branch hanging over the water.

Sasuke frowned. What was he supposed to do now!

Then he noticed a small frog hopping along the branch Naruto was perched on. It stopped beside the boy who was sketching furiously on his pad, not noticing anything but his work. The frog croaked. Naruto stopped a moment then blinked at the small creature. A grin spread over his face and he patted the little thing on the head then went back to his drawing.

Sasuke decided to just take a walk.

Mid-afternoon, Naruto poked Jiraiya awake.

"What do you want, boy?" Jiraiya grumbled.

"Can you teach me that move you told us about during lunch?"

"You woke me up just for that?" the old man cracked one eye open.

Naruto nodded. Seeing the boy's eager expression, Jiraiya muttered something under his breath but he stood up. As he stretched his muscles, he noticed Sasuke coming towards them from the river, and Shikamaru and Chouji sitting quietly together. They were all looking at him with interest.

Jiraiya grinned. "Come on everybody. It's time for Jiraiya's Lessons."

Shikamaru and Chouji stood up and joined Naruto and Sasuke, who had planted himself beside the blonde.

"Okay, first you have to…"

The rest of the afternoon was spent in this way. Jiraiya was glad to see that even though they were a bunch of clowns most of the time, the four boys had the grace and talent to follow his instructions perfectly.

The sun was setting by the time he called a halt to their lessons. The boys protested, Naruto more so than the others.

"If you want to face Tsunade's wrath then by all means, continue," Jiraiya said, hefting his pack up. "But I'm going."

Grumbling all the while, Naruto gave up. When the old man put it that way, there really was no choice at all!

Jiraiya made sure that they had completely banked the fire and had not left any trash behind. Then he moved forward and the boys tramped obediently behind him.

They never noticed the small frog hopping behind Naruto.

The next days followed the same pattern. Sasuke and Naruto would come down to breakfast bickering with each other. After eating they would all do chores. Sometimes Naruto would be able to play a prank or two on an unsuspecting Sasuke. However, the older boy would retaliate with finesse and mischievousness that surpassed Naruto's small jokes.

In the afternoons, Jiraiya would haul them towards some predetermined activity: horseback riding towards the market to sell some vegetables, collecting plants for Tsunade, even camping out one night just to watch the stars.

The little frog that had followed Naruto home became an official household pet after it made its intentions of staying plain to everyone there.

Everyone's fun was interrupted when it suddenly rained one morning.

Naruto watched the rivulets of water on the window.

"Naruto are you even listening?" Shikamaru asked impatiently. "If you want me to stop helping you with your homework, just say so."

"Ah! Sorry! Sorry! I'll pay attention!"

Naruto turned back to his notebook and to Shikamaru's tutoring.

"Hey idiot."

Shikamaru sighed as they were once again interrupted.

"Bastard, don't call me that! What's that you got?"

"Mail," Sasuke replied, sitting down across Naruto.

He held up one thick envelope from which he extracted several sheets of paper.

"I didn't know you had sent some stories to magazines. Looks like they think it's trash."

"Waah! Why the hell are you opening other people's mails!"

Naruto tried to grab the papers but Sasuke held them away. Shikamaru edged his chair towards Sasuke and peeked at the papers.

"Hn, no wonder they returned this," Sasuke continued. "This story's crap. You obviously don't know what you're talking about."

Naruto stood up but Sasuke was one step ahead of him, holding the papers high and continuing his perusal.

"You shouldn't let your imagination run away with you without checking your facts. And —" Sasuke read the last story about Naruto's bad day in high school.

"Give those back!" Naruto screeched.

Sasuke shoved the papers towards the blonde.

"You shouldn't read other people's mail or their works," Naruto pouted, clutching his stories to his chest.

"Idiot. How can you be a writer if you can't take some constructive criticism."

"What's constructive about what you said?"

"Che! Whatever! You're obviously too stubborn to listen properly."

Sasuke turned and walked out of the room as Naruto read the response from the magazine. Both had forgotten that Shikamaru was even there with them, which was why only the lazy boy was able to see Sasuke pocket one piece of paper—the last story that Naruto had written.

"Where is that pervert?"

Naruto scanned the road for a sign of Kakashi's car.

"He should've been here by now," he muttered. "Even he wouldn't be this late."

Behind him, Jiraiya and Tsunade were helping Sasuke load his bags into his car.

"Old man, are you sure Kakashi didn't phone or write a letter to you about being late?"

"I already told you that I didn't receive anything," Jiraiya replied.

"If he won't come then I'll just go ahead take the train by myself," Naruto declared, bouncing over to the old couple.

"No!" Tsunade said. "The ride will be too long for you to take all alone."

"I know, you can ride with Master Sasu-chan," Jiraiya suggested.

"What? No!" two voices protested loudly.

"That's not a bad idea," Tsunade said. "Sasu-chan will pass by Naruto's area anyway so he can drop the brat off."

"You're not listening? I said no!"

"What if some highway robbers suddenly waylaid Sasuke and killed him…"

"Good for them!"

"Idiot!"

"Or some pervert felt up Naruto while he's sleeping on the train…"

"Then he'll get his ass kicked!"

Everyone looked at Sasuke for his comment. The dark-haired boy scowled at Tsunade, glaring at her for all his worth. He suddenly grabbed Naruto's arm and dragged him into the car.

"Wah! Leggo!"

"Moron, those two will never stop until we agree," Sasuke hissed, shoving Naruto onto the passenger seat. "I would like to reach my house before midnight."

"But—"

Naruto's protest was cut off by the slamming of the door on his side of the car. He saw Jiraiya cheerfully lugging his bag towards the compartment at the back. Before he could utter anything, Sasuke had seated himself in the driver's seat and started the car.

"I'm only doing this because old Tsunade said so," the blonde muttered, finally giving up.

The back compartment was closed and the couple stood aside to wave at the two.

"Whatever. Buckle yourself up."

The car moved out leaving behind a silent but widely grinning Tsunade and Jiraiya.

"Hey, take care of Gamukichi for me!" Naruto yelled, sticking his head out of his window.

"Get inside you idiot!" Sasuke roared.

"Idiot, oi idiot."

Naruto moaned then rubbed his eyes open.

"Whaaat?"

"I need to rest a bit from driving. Come on let's go there for a while."

The blonde blinked and followed Sasuke's finger. His eyes widened. They were parked in front of a local festival.

"I want some takoyaki and taiyaki!" he yelled getting out of the car.

"Then you'll have to buy some," Sasuke retorted, locking his car.

"What! If Kakashi were here, he'd buy me something."

"Well your guardian isn't here so tough luck."

"Uwah! You're so stingy and mean!"

"And you're so loud."

They continued bickering even as they ogled the colorful booths. Of course, with the two, no day would be complete without some challenges and fights. In the end they stayed at the festival until night had fallen and a fireworks display was in full bloom.

"Woah! That one was so cool!"

"Shut up idiot!"

By that time the two were laden with various stuffed toys and snacks enough for twenty people. They took a spot on a grassy knoll which had a perfect view of the pyrotechnics display.

"Here, just eat this and shut up."

Sasuke shoved a box of taiyaki to Naruto then proceeded to stuff his face with some takoyaki.

"Hey I want some of those too!"

"I already gave you your snack."

"I'll share mine."

"I don't like sweet stuff."

"You're so mean! Share just o—"

Sasuke shoved one piece of dumpling into Naruto's open mouth.

"There. Happy now?"

Naruto just munched in reply.

Dear Daddy Sharingan Rooster-Head,

It's been a long time since I last wrote. I know, I know I've been a bad boy again and not very nice. But then I haven't really liked you much this past month. Don't hate me for saying that. I'm just being honest.

If I had been Daddy and you would have been Naruto, I would have said, "Bless you my boy, go and have fun; see lots of new people and learn lots of new things; work hard towards your goal of turning Gaara into your friend and getting Sakura's affections."

But you never said anything like that. I just received a very short note and nothing more. You really can't imagine how disappointed I was not going with Iruka to his family's vacation. We've exchanged stories since we got back to school and he's been telling me about all the good things he and his family and their guests had done during the two weeks they were together.

Then again, my summer vacation wasn't totally wasted. I learned a lot too. Jiraiya taught me to fish and to ride horses. Tsunade allowed me to watch her make medicines. Shikamaru helped me with my homework. Chouji introduced me to several new types of food. Ino…I didn't really learn anything from Ino except not to piss her off. My vacation would have been really peaceful too except—you won't believe this but Sasuke Uchiha actually came to Chidori farm the whole time I was there! Arg! talk about bad luck. He totally ruined my time there. He would always pick fights with me and talk down at me and generally act like the bastard that he is! And everyone there would go "Oh Master Sasu-chan is so strong!" or "Master Sasu-chan is so good looking!" Bleh! Some people really have bad taste.

Which brings me to a very serious topic: please punish Kakashi for me. Smash his face and tie him to a stake just like a scarecrow. That guy didn't pick me up from the Chidori Farm at the end of my vacation! I was waiting for so long. He didn't call or even write a letter! Because of him I had to hitch a ride with Sasuke Uchiha! I wanted to just take public transportation but Tsunade and Jiraiya insisted that I go with that bastard. Do you know how humiliating that was? It was torture, pure torture to be alone with a guy you hate for several hours! And since he was driving he insisted on stopping lots of times! Hmp! Good thing I managed to make him as miserable as I was during the journey. We stopped by a festival and I challenged him to all the games there. But that bastard cheated! Or else the games were rigged. I just know it. No one could win as much as he did if the games were clean. And the bastard didn't want to clutter his house with his winnings so he gave all of them to me! My baggage tripled by the time I arrived at my dorm. Ha! But I got back at him. I gave away most of what he gave to my friends and said that I won them! The guys loved it. And I had enough food to last all of us for a month. I'm the hero right now in the dorm.

I only kept a few things like this cute white stuffed fox and some other odds and ends, oh and a little froggie that looks like my pet frog Gamukichi. Gamukichi followed me when Jiraiya took us fishing. I had to leave him at the farm because the dorm doesn't allow pets. Too bad because Gamukichi is really sooo cute!

Okay, that's enough updates. I now come to the other main topic of this letter. I've had a lot of time to think about what happened before vacation. So far you've done your end of our bargain—more than your end of the bargain really. And all I've given you are my whiny letters. Although I do try to work hard so you'll be proud of me. But Daddy, just think, here is a poor orphan who has suddenly been given the key to a whole new life. Wouldn't you expect him to party just a little?

But enough of that. That's all in the past. I promise to try to be less demanding and rude. I only promise to try. I know enough about my behavior to know that I'll probably go back to my usual naughty self when presented with something I don't like. But, well, what I'm trying to say is you'll always be the one person who will come close to being my family. Even though I may not like you once in a while, you're still the only one who will remain the closest to me. So, let's both work hard together.

Striving hard,

Naruto

ARC: I just had to put in that cute frog that Naruto keeps summoning during his early days with Jiraiya.

Again, I thank everyone who reviewed my last chapters. You're encouraging words keep me going even though I'm soooo lazy to write anything sometimes.

Also, I would like to make a confession: I just learned that the word naruto refers to those steamed fish-paste cakes that have swirling red designs, used in so many Ranma ½ gags. No wonder the swirl is Naruto's sign and he adores ramen so much!

More food translations in this chapter: Takoyaki are dumplings with bits of octopus or cuttlefish in them. Taiyaki is a fish-shaped bread with sweet red bean paste in it. Yum!

Dragon