WARNING: Story contains copious amounts of SAP! Thou hath been warned(eth) and I claim no responsibility for the ensuing stickiness that entails. Read at your own risk!

Author Note: I got this idea in my head while having a conversation with my good friend Teresa. So I dedicate this story to her, wherever she may be. God love ya Shanae-nae!

Variables-Part 1

Naruto didn't really like to think too much or too hard. He was act now act later kind of guy. Besides making his head hurt, thinking sometimes got his heart caught in the melee. So he didn't think about his dwindling bank account. A shinobi really couldn't be expected to live on D-rank commissions; they were hardly more than supplemental spending cash for the teenaged Genin, roughly about as much as an average allowance distributed by one or more parental units. However this, as stated previously, was not enough for someone to live on. Most Genin had parents or other family members to take care of the big things. Or were Uchiha Sasuke, heir to an ungodly amount of money as the sole survivor of a prestigious clan. Naruto was neither most Genin nor The Bastard, and the piddling stippend he was grudgingly given by Konoha every month just barely got him by at the best of times.

Now it was even worse. Sandaime had always made it a habit to accompany Naruto to the market and his landlord's at the beginning of the every month to make sure neither the surly merchants nor the landowner tried to take him for a ride by raising their prices. Predictably, now that the Third was dead those people had taken malicious glee in doing just that. It had cost twice as much the past two months to buy the usual amount of cup ramen, and his rent was raised by nearly half. Arguing hadn't helped and he would be damned if he was going to lower himself to beg the assholes. He would have to forgo Ichiraku's and milk this month again just to break even, and that was with what he had managed to save up from before. Kami-sama help him next month.

Oh, Tsunade-baachan would probably help if he asked her to, but with all the other problems she had to deal with in the after-math of the Chuunin exams, he didn't want to add any more stress. Well, not a lot of stress anyway. And he really, really hated to sound like he was whining, which in every scenario he pictured he ended up doing. He would just have to make sure to pester her into giving his team more C-rank missions. He looked down at the two grocery bags he carried and sighed. Ninety cups of instant ramen the same as the past four years-- since he had been in charge of his own money. Everyone thought he was crazy, but there was a method to his madness. Besides being one of the best things he'd ever tasted, (hey, he wasn't a martyr!) it was the absolute cheapest thing at the market, as well as non-perishable so if he bought ninety he could eat for a month without worry. In the past it had left him some cash to spare so he could swing by his favorite ramen stand once in a while and buy the other necessities throughout the month. The difference these past few months was that he couldn't afford anything else, like meat, vegetables, or milk. The prices of these things were already pretty steep, in a place like fire country, which had very little usable farmland, therefore had to be imported. The tarriffs alone were more than three cups of ramen! He shuddered to think of what those things would cost him now.

Predictably, his thoughts turned were turning bitter when just as suddenly he veered to guilt. There had been a time when he just couldn't understand why everyone hated him and so had wished with all his heart that he could become Hokage just so he could rub it in those people's faces. Once he found out 'The Reason,' his priorities had shifted slightly, though the goal remained the same. Now he wanted to become Hokage to prove to them, as well as to himself, that he wasn't some monster or demon. He wanted to be somebody they couldn't ignore and didn't want to hate. He wanted to be worthy.

Sometimes, and only sometimes, he thought that that might be a very unattainable dream. Walking home then, with the sky angrily overcast and thunder sounding ominously in the distance just happened to be one of those times. Gods, he hated storms.

As he turned onto his modest street, the sky decided it was a good time to open up and spill copious amounts of water onto the unsuspecting populace. Naruto made a mad dash for his front door, swearing loudly and violently when he was unable to get his key into the lock at first. Finally, he was able to get the demonic door open and stumble into his small, cluttered, but blessedly dry flat only to slip on his own drippings and fall ass over tea kettle on his back.

Ramen went flying.

Had anyone else been in the vicinity said person would have learned some very creative four letter word combinations made that day.

As it were, the only person who was there had already heard most of them before and was too busy trying to keep from laughing outright, much less show any amusement, as a very sodden, very pissed Naruto struggled to his knees and dove to save his precious carbohydrates.

This person stopped one of the rolling cups with a well placed shoe, just as Naruto's hand closed around it. The blond looked up at the owner of the shoe with a comical expression of surprise, while said owner of said shoe continued to subdue his humor, raising one delicate eyebrow instead.

"Lose something, dobe?"

"Sasuke?" Surprise transformed into a scowl, which was much less than formidable, by the way, considering he was trying to blink water out of his eyes and his hair was drooping over his forehead protector. He jerked the cup from underneath the other's foot and scrambled after the rest of his food. Finally, seeing no more cups on the ground, he turned his full attention to glaring at his team mate slash arch-rival slash best friend. "What do you want, asshole? And don't call me that!"

Sasuke merely gave him that bored look that seemed to say, 'You're so stupid, why am I wasting my breath and time talking to you when I could be doing worthier things like staring out a window and thinking about how much better I am than you?'

Imagining this made Naruto scowl harder and his tone a little more waspish than was strictly necessary. "Sasuke, teme, I said what the hell do you want?"

Sasuke ignored him. As per usual. "Aren't you going to go in? You're soaked." He smirked, and that little curve clearly stated, 'At least I had the presence of mind to bring an umbrella. Look how nice and mostly-dry I am, while you, dobe, are soaked to the skin,'

Naruto decided he would have to quit assigning insults to the dark haired boy's facial expressions before he punched the smug jerk in the face for no other reason than the made-up monologues in his head. Yeah, that would go over well. He'd be punching the guy every other minute instead of every third. He settled for an original, "Asshole," before sulking into his apartment and setting the now-soggy grocery bags on his table.

Sasuke followed and made a quick, inconspicuous perusal of the cramped, though unaccountably neat, space. He was faintly startled at that, as he'd more than half expected the place to be as messy and chaotic as it's owner was. Number one at surprising people, indeed.

More pouting than scowling now, Naruto sniffed primly and informed his companion "I'm going to change," His blood boiled when he noticed Sasuke settling on his couch like it belonged to him, and looking around his apartment with that same bored all encompassing expression. His tone turned bitterly sarcastic, "Go ahead, make yourself comfortable, you know, because you were invited in and all," Then he disappeared into a miniscule hallway, missing the tiny grin that graced his rival's features.

Moment's later, he emerged, cursing once more because he'd forgot to do the laundry(again) and the only clean clothes he could find were a pair of slightly oversized jeans(he hated jeans passionately and he could have sworn they'd at least fit the last time he wore them!) and a t-shirt with the swirly symbol he liked so much. He'd owned these clothes for ages and was disgusted by how little he'd actually grown. He thought absently, that he might even be shrinking.

Naruto happened to look over at his 'visitor' as he was putting away the many styrofoam cups of noodles and caught the other boy's dark eyes scrutinizing with an intensity that made the younger boy vaguely uncomfortable. It was as if he was looking for something and was unable to find it. Looking around himself and not seeing anything, the blond momentarily forgot he was peeved and asked curiously, "What? Is my shirt dirty or something, cuz I coulda swore it was clean. I haven't worn it--"

Sasuke finally pinpointed what it was about his team-mate that seemed off, and it was his turn to scowl menacingly. "You've lost weight, usuratonkachi," he interrupted. It was glaringly obvious without the thick orange jumpsuit the other boy was so fond of.

Naruto gave him a look that clearly said, 'Are you crazy?' before snorting much less elegantly than Sasuke had earlier. "No I haven't."

"Yes you have. I saw you during the Chuunin exams, remember? When you were catching the fish. You've lost a considerable amount of weight since then." In fact, if he looked just right, he could almost count the other's ribs through the shirt he was wearing. This made Sasuke's brow furrow a bit in concern-- if he recalled correctly, Naruto had been bordering on thin even then.

The toothy trademark grin finally made an appearance as the blond waved dismissively. "You're imagining things. I mean it's been, what, two months? Your memory's just screwed up."

But Sasuke was nothing if not persistent, especially when he knew he was right. "I happen to have an excellent memory, and you are definitely much skinnier now than you were then" he corrected coolly.

"Asshole, who asked you anyway? And by the way, did you actually have a reason for invading my home and harrassing me, teme?"

Sasuke was mildly disturbed at himself because the truth was he had, forgotten the purpose of his visit until then. Naruto had a way of making him do things like that. He opened his mouth to answer when he was side tracked once again. He noticed with a dawning sense of horror that the only thing the other boy had taken out of the grocery bags so far was cup ramen.

He looked on incredulously at the sheer volume of the unhealthy snacks. "Is that all you eat? Dammit, dobe, no wonder you've lost weight. You idiot, must be even more mentally challenged than I originally thought. Honestly, what the hell are you thinking?" he berated, walking over to observe with a sort of awed kind of disgust.

He watched the way the shorter boy's shoulders hunched, then relaxed as he replied flippantly, "I'll eat what I like, jerk. What's it to you?"

Sasuke pretended he hadn't heard, and continued on his rant. "It has virtually no nutritional value whatsoever and if it's all you're eating you'll keel over from malnutrition long before you die in any battle. Or you'll faint during training. I'm serious, Naruto. I don't want your eating habits to compromise our missions! A shinobi should strive to be at full capacity at all times... Oi, dobe, are you listening to me?" When he saw that the other boy wasn't paying attention, he cuffed him across the back of the head.

Naruto growled. He was really, really getting tired of this. All he wanted to do was eat a bowl of noodles and go to sleep. Was that too much to ask?

Apparently it was.

It seemed that Fate, fickle as she was, was conspiring with whatever deity to give him one of the worst days in his memory. He didn't have the energy for this. Not today. So he simply sighed. "Just say what you need to say, and leave, okay Sasuke? I don't feel like dealing with you right now."

Sasuke frowned. Naruto, back down from an argument? No way. And where was the 'teme'? He took a good look at the blond in profile and noticed the sullen set of the features and the dullness in his usually bright eyes. The unconsciously defensive set to the shoulders, all the sighs. It was then that he had an epiphany. Naruto was depressed.

And Sasuke was completely and utterly bewildered. Naruto depressed was as foreign a concept to him as… well he couldn't really think of anything that was quite as foreign as a depressed Naruto, but wasn't that say something in and of itself?

The wrongness of the whole thing sat in Sasuke's gut like a pound of lead. So he turned to what he knew, and tried to look bored.

In the flattest voice he could muster, he said, "Kakashi-sensei ordered me to let you know that we have a mission tomorrow and to meet him at noon at the bridge."

The other boy merely nodded and resumed what he was doing. For some incomprehensible reason this aggravated Sasuke. He was the one that was supposed to be all angsty and subdued; not sunny, bright, cheerful, effervescent, and a bunch of other adjectives that mean the same thing, Naruto! For all the blond's inherent buoyancy was annoying at times, there was something about this other side of him that rubbed Sasuke's nerves raw.

"Oi, dobe, what the hell's the matter with you?" He just barely bit back the rest of what he was going to say--'You aren't supposed to look so sad…'

"What are you talking about now, Sasuke? I'm tired and I'm hungry and I want to go to sleep before this damned storm hits--" he broke off like he'd revealed more than he'd meant to. Another sigh and the dark-haired boy's nerves chaffed a little further. His brow was beginning to twitch—never a good sign.

Fine, if the stubborn little dip-shit didn't want to talk, maybe taunts would get him out of his slump. He didn't let himself wonder why it was so important for him to get Naruto back to normal, he just knew that it was and went with it. Shinobi learned early on to follow their instincts.

"Afraid of storms are you, dobe? What kind of a weak ninja is afraid of a little rain?"

Nothing.

"Of course such an immature fear should be expected from someone who lives on ramen and took three years to master a simple bunshin no jutsu,"

Ah, there; the other boy's fists were clenching and he was starting to tremble. Just a little bit more…

"You're still just a silly little scaredy-cat pretending to be a ninja." He scoffed, watching closely. "Once dead-last, always dead-last, ne…?"

Almost faster than he could follow, the fist was flying at him wildly. But wild fists were easy to dodge—all he had to do was twist his head a little. The next attack was harder to avoid. With a battle cry, Naruto tackled him to the ground. "Don't you call me that, teme!" he screeched while they twisted on the floor. They each got in a punch here, a kick there, but mostly it was a grappling contest to see who would come out dominant.

It was a dirty fight, with much biting, scraping, and even hair-pulling. And through it all, Naruto raged. "You don't know what it's like! I never had a chance to do my best because no one wanted to give me chance! I can't afford anything but ramen anymore because the stupid landlord upped the rent and the bastards at the market raised all the prices! But only for me because they hate me! But you wouldn't know anything about that, would you, asshole? No because everyone loves you! Why? It's always 'poor Sasuke-kun'this, and 'isn't Sasuke-kun brave?' that, and why? I don't have any parents either! But everyone hates me because of something that isn't even my fault! I didn't ask for it! No one ever thought to ask me what I wanted! No, because I was a baby and convenient so I no one cared that it was my, Uzumaki Naruto's, life they were ruining! No one cared that I would grow up the most hated person in Konoha. No one even cared enough to tell me why! Why, Sasuke? Why, dammit? Why do they hate me for something I had no control over?"

Up till that point, they had still been wrestling viciously, but with the last of those words, all the anger seemed to drain out of the smaller boy, and he went absolutely limp. Sasuke was straddling his thighs and had his wrists pinned to the floor at his sides. They were both panting heavily from excursion. Naruto turned his face away and the older boy could see his struggle to keep the tears at bay.

Sasuke made a conscious decision then and there and before he could overanalyze it and probably change his mind, he sat up and pulled the blond against him by the wrists he still had trapped. "Come on, dobe, let the rest of it out. It's not doing you any good where it is," he commanded roughly.

Apparently no further prompting was needed, for almost before the last words had even left his mouth Naruto had his face buried in his rival's chest and was grasping that same rival's shirt for dear life. Harsh, wracking, heartbroken sobs shook the boy's slight frame one after the other with no end in sight. At first all Sasuke could do was hold on while his team mate clutched at him like a lifeline.

They stayed that way for a long time, with Sasuke's arms firmly fixed around the disconsolate boy's deceptively frail-looking shoulders. Then, without realizing he'd began to in the first place, he became aware that he was crooning soothing sounds of comfort and rocking slightly, lead by a not-quite-remembered memory of someone doing the same for him when he was very young.

After what felt like an eternity, the heart-rending sobs gradually died down into hiccupping whimpers, but even then Sasuke continued because it was almost as much of a comfort to him as it apparently was to Naruto. With one last shuddering exhalation they stilled. Neither knew how long they stayed in that same quiet position, only that when it ended, they both regretted the loss.

Naruto was the first to lean back, a blush staining his whiskered cheeks, and eyes red from the force of his weeping. He used his shirt to wipe his face clean and couldn't quite meet his friend's eyes while they disentangled themselves. As they stood, neither commented when Naruto had to steady himself by grasping the darker boy's shoulders. He let go the instant he got his balance back and the blush unaccountably spread.

Surprisingly, Sasuke was the first to speak. "Feel better?" he asked with a distinctly bored tone of voice. The shorter boy's still-watery blue gaze snapped up to see the other smirking, but with a single eyebrow raised in a questioning way.

For a reason he didn't care to look at too closely, Naruto flushed even darker and looked away. "Yeah, I do. Thanks…"

Sasuke made a non-committal sound in his throat and shoved his hands in his pockets.

They stood there for a minute, neither knowing quite what to say to break the slightly stiff silence. Naruto was expecting a barrage of questions, and got somewhat impatient when they weren't forthcoming right away.

"Well?" he bit out a bit querulously. Sasuke looked surprised for a split second, then confused.

"Well what?"

Naruto scowled at what he took as the other boy being deliberately dense. "Where're all the questions? Don't you want to know why everyone hates me so much?"

Sasuke snorted for the second time that night. "Don't be ignorant, dobe. Everyone doesn't hate you."

He made as if to leave, but a very confused Naruto blocked his way. "But the villagers… I know you've felt it. Haven't you ever wondered why?"

Sasuke shrugged eloquently. "Maybe, once or twice. But it's not important. The people whose opinions actually matter don't hate you and that's good enough for me. Why should I waste my time wondering why people I don't know or particularly like in the first place have a grudge against you? I know you, they don't, so I don't care." He shrugged again.

Naruto looked closely, searching for any trace of deception; for any sign that he wasn't telling the truth. When all he saw was that bored look and, after a moment, a hint of annoyance, he beamed the brightest smile he'd smiled all week. "Thanks for that. And for, you know…" he gestured, encompassing the events that had transpired that night. Then he tried a glare. "If you tell anyone about this I'll kill you," he warned.

What might have been a chuckle or maybe just indigestion escaped the taller boy's lips and he made to swipe at the shorter, ruffling already-wild blond locks in the process. "I'm not gonna promise about the whole you only eating ramen thing, because I meant what I said about you being at full capacity... but the rest... consider my lips sealed."

Sasuke grabbed his umbrella and stepped outside. The weather had calmed considerably, but it was still drizzling.

"So, was it tomorrow at noon, teme?" Naruto was grinning at him.

"Right," he affirmed over his shoulder as he walked away.

Sasuke didn't think the rain was so bad. In fact, he kind of liked it. Just like he kind of liked Naruto.

But only kind of.

Owari

Phew, after about three hours of nonstop typing…I dunno. I still haven't decided what I think of it. I thought it was really cheesy, but...shrugs

It turned out as more of a friendship piece than anything, but if you look with a magnifying glass you can see the hints of shounen-ai. It's not so bad for my first completed Naruto fic, eh?