A/N: Wow, I'm doing some more fluff for once! I was re-watching Episode 1, and…yeah. This could be thought of as either mild shounen-ai or just a friendship fic.

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto, not me.

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Creak. Creak.

The swing was swaying slightly in the wind, although the small boy sitting on it did not notice. He was too preoccupied with watching all the other children come and get picked up by their parents. He felt a new pang in his heart each time he saw a parent and their child or children leave, all with smiles on their faces. He felt a new tear roll down his cheek each time their conversations wafted over to him, whether it was a mother asking what they had learned, a father saying that they needed to behave better, a son bragging about a bulls-eye he'd made in kunai practice, or a daughter gushing over the cute boy sitting next to her.

Uzumaki Naruto was 8, an age that should've been a lot more fun for him. But right now, all he could feel was the loneliness and the pain that was surging through him. The loneliness never went away, so he'd started pulling pranks. Today, he'd stolen Chouji's chips and replaced them with a bag of dried fruit. Everyone had laughed when Chouji had sputtered and gagged excessively on the fruit, and it had temporarily filled the empty place in his heart when he's been told what a good prank it was. But then everyone had gone back to ignoring him, and the void in his heart had returned to its former state.

His parents wouldn't be there to get him; he didn't even have any. So he watched and waited, until finally, everyone was gone except for one person. The boy was in his class, Uchiha Sasuke. He was a quiet person, the exact opposite of Naruto, and he did everything perfectly. He was part of the Uchiha clan, from what Naruto had heard, but he was the only one left. The others had recently died in a mass slaughter, although the culprit had never been announced. Naruto felt bad for Sasuke, since he knew just how bad it was to have no parents.

Then, surprisingly, the boy got up from where he was sitting and walked over to Naruto. The blonde was slightly afraid, which showed in his movements as he clutched the rope on the swings a little tighter.

"Naruto, right?" Sasuke questioned quietly. He wasn't looking at him; his eyes were on the ground. Naruto realized that Sasuke felt shy and grinned, no longer afraid.

"Yep! And you're Sasuke, ne?" The raven-haired boy nodded, and Naruto asked, "Do you want something?" A slight pink tinge crossed Sasuke's ivory cheeks, and he nodded again.

"Can I sit next to you? I don't…I don't want to go home yet…" The Uchiha said softly. Naruto's grin faded into a soft smile, and he nodded.

"Sure." He shifted a bit so that there would be room, and Sasuke climbed up beside him. They sat like that in silence for a bit, the wind gently rocking the swing. Naruto felt warmth fill his body, and he wasn't as lonely as before.

"Why do you sit here all the time?" Sasuke finally asked, turning his head to face Naruto. "After school is over, you always sit on this swing…why?" Naruto was a little taken-aback by this question, and he looked down.

"I…I do it because I don't really have a place to go after school. There's no one waiting for me at home, so I just stay here for a little while. Sometimes Iruka-sensei walks with me on the way home though," Naruto added perkily, looking back up at Sasuke. "He says that he doesn't mind it, since he has to go that way anyways. And sometimes, if I wake up early enough, I walk here with him too!" Sasuke seemed a little surprised, and his charcoal eyes never left Naruto's.

"That sounds nice…being with Iruka-sensei, I mean…" Sasuke closed his eyes. "My older brother used to-" He stopped, and Naruto could sense a certain pain in Sasuke's voice.

"What?" The blonde urged gently. Sasuke swallowed.

"Sometimes, my older brother used to come by the academy and pick me up…and then he'd take me somewhere, like a restaurant, and he'd get me whatever I wanted. Or sometimes, he'd take me to the park and play games with me. Either way, it was always really fun…" Sasuke trailed off wistfully. Then a look of sadness crossed his face, and Naruto figured that his brother had probably died as well.

"I'm sorry," Naruto said earnestly. Sasuke shook his head.

"It's okay." They were quiet again for a few minutes, then Naruto turned towards Sasuke slowly, his eyes flickering between Sasuke and the ground.

"Sasuke…are we friends now?" Naruto asked, curiosity and hope present in his cerulean eyes. Sasuke blinked, and he looked a bit surprised by the question. Then, a small smile formed on his face, and he nodded.

"Yeah…I think so…" He was more than a little shocked by Naruto's response, which was to tackle him off the swing in a fierce hug.

"Yaaay! Sasuke-kun is my friend!" Naruto shouted excitedly. Sasuke rolled his eyes, but the smile on his face only grew larger.

"Yes; now get off of me before I suffocate," Sasuke said, pushing the blonde off of him. Naruto grinned, sitting up on his heels and bobbing back and forth. Sasuke got up as well, rubbing the back of his head. Naruto couldn't help but be so happy; someone finally accepted him as a friend! The sadness and pain he'd felt earlier came back, however, when Sasuke looked at the sky with a frown. It was beginning to glow with an orange and red light, the sun going down slowly.

"I have to go home," Sasuke said reluctantly. Naruto nodded, a pained expression on his face. Sasuke looked down and turned to walk away, but was stopped when Naruto yelled, "Wait!" and grabbed his arm.

"What?" Sasuke asked, turning to face him again in surprise. Naruto looked away shyly, a light pink blush spreading across his cheeks.

"Umm…do you…do you want to come eat ramen with me, instead? We'd have to go by my house, so I could get my money, and I could probably only get about three bowls for each of us…I was saving it up for awhile now…and I'd like to eat with a friend, because ramen always tastes better when you eat it with other people," he said softly, the pink tinge turned red. Sasuke's eyes widened; other than his family, he'd never been out to eat with anyone, and no one had ever asked him. Although Sasuke preferred salad (with a lot of tomatoes) to any other food, he simply smiled and nodded.

"Okay, that sounds nice." Naruto's face lit up, and he hugged Sasuke again, although without tackling him this time.

"Thank you, Sasuke-kun!" Sasuke blinked a few times, a blush staining his pale face. He returned Naruto's hug, and was reluctant when he had to let go. He'd almost forgotten how nice it was to hug someone…

"Well, let's go!" Naruto said cheerfully, grabbing Sasuke's hand and jauntily walking out of the academy grounds and onto the main roads. Naruto was grinning from ear to ear, and Sasuke himself couldn't stop smiling.

Later, while at the ramen shop, Sasuke thought that the ramen tasted better than anything he'd ever eaten, even tomatoes. And he realized that what Naruto had said earlier was true; ramen always tasted better when you were eating it with other people.