The shrill sound of an alarm clock pierced the crisp morning air, and Naruto stirred in his bed. Groaning, he flipped himself over, and reached out a hand, shutting the alarm clock off. He tried to get back to sleep, but a ray of sunlight had invaded his apartment, and was stubbornly shining in his face. His eyes snapped open.
"I need curtains." Naruto muttered to himself, scratching his head, blinking and trying to get his eyes to focus. Something felt... different about this day, but Naruto couldn't quite place his finger on it. What made this day different from any other day? It had always been the same thing for him each time he awoke; he would get out of bed, eat ramen, wander around town looking for people to talk to and to play with, eat some more ramen, play some pranks on unsuspecting townspeople, eat even more ramen, visit Iruka after he returned from teaching at the academy, convince Iruka to treat him to supper, and head to bed.
It was starting to get rather boring for Naruto. He had played almost all pranks that was humanly possible, gotten into more trouble than all the other kids his age put together, and eaten enough ramen to tally up a tab that would probably last him into retirement.
So why was it that today he felt far happier than he had felt in ages? As the fog of sleep faded from his mind, and his brain started to work more quickly, Naruto suddenly conjured up a face in his mind, and recalled a name.
Uchiha Sasuke.
Naruto grinned. That was it. After years of having only Iruka he could safely call a loved one, Naruto finally had a friend. It wasn't to say that Iruka wasn't a friend, no, he was more than that. He was a brother, a guardian, someone Naruto could look to for guidance, someone who could Naruto could look up to as a fatherly figure. Regardless, Iruka was still far older than he was, and sometimes tended to berate Naruto for his pranks and cheeky nature. The blond-haired boy had always wanted the company of someone his age, someone who could and probably would understand and partake in his tricks better than Iruka.
Now, it seemed, Naruto finally had that.
Then, Naruto frowned. He did not know where to look for Sasuke, and Konoha was ridiculously huge. Sasuke was very reluctant to reveal where he lived, and Naruto had completely forgotten to tell Sasuke where his apartment was located. Maybe he would find Sasuke back at the riverbank where they first met?
"No point staying here!" Naruto declared cheerfully, years of solitude imbuing in him the habit of talking to himself, to banish the overbearing silence. "I'll go get some ramen, and then look for Sasuke!" In his excitement, Naruto burst out of his apartment, completely forgetting that he was still in his boxers until an old lady living a few blocks down saw him, screamed something about indecent children, and chucked a shoe at his head with deadly precision.
----------
Sasuke wanted to scream in frustration. He wished the Uchiha compound wasn't so big, and he wished his brother had given him at least a clue as to what to look for. He had prodded around in the section of the estate where his family had lived, and even after almost four days of searching, he had yet to finish combing the section. He despaired as he remembered that the section he lived in made up but a tiny portion of the entire Uchiha estate.
"This is impossible." Sasuke growled to himself, chucking a kunai at a straw doll in anger. His aim, affected by his anger, wasn't precise; it barely scratched the side of the doll. Sasuke sighed. He hated staying in this place; it was silent, dark, and cold. Not in the sense where the temperature was low, but because this place was so... so devoid of life, of activity. It seemed even the birds avoided this place, and the silence was so overwhelming that Sasuke often hummed to himself just to make sure that he had not gone deaf.
Deciding that a walk would help sooth his nerves, Sasuke left the estate, and walked down the same path he had followed the day before. How was he going to prove that his brother was innocent? It didn't seem likely; the estate was so massive that by the time he actually searched the entire place, he would probably be old enough for a wheelchair. The wind picked up and played with his long raven hair, and Sasuke found a tiny amount of enjoyment of the coolness in his face. At least, out here, things were more vibrant, out here, there were no spirits that would haunt him, leaving him feeling so paranoid that he would look over his shoulder every once in a while to ensure that he was very much alone in the estate.
"Hey, Sasuke!" The mentioned blinked. The voice was vaguely familiar... Sasuke turned around...
And wrinkled his nose in disgust. There, hurtling towards him, was a bright orange blur, so horrendously bright that Sasuke wanted to turn around and flee. But he recognized the mop of golden hair, and cracked a smirk instead. As he stood there, he suddenly had a strange sense of foreboding, and a little voice in his head screamed at him to move out of the way. Trusting his instincts, Sasuke hurriedly sidestepped, just as Naruto came dashing...
Past him...
And right into a roadside fruit stall.
Seconds later, Sasuke and Naruto found themselves fleeing from an enraged stall owner, brandishing and swinging a kitchen knife around in a dangerous manner. They were fast approaching a tall brick wall, and Sasuke turned his head around.
"We're stuck, Naruto!" He yelled, but Naruto grinned at him.
"A ninja is never stuck, Sasuke!"
"But we're not ninjas yet!" Sasuke yelled again, confused. That wall was getting awfully close...
"Well... believe you're one, then!" Naruto hurtled ahead, and with a burst of agility, leapt up the wall and caught onto the top of it, clambering over. He stood on top of the wall and stared at Sasuke, who was slowing down and gaping at him.
"Jump!" He shouted, flailing his hands wildly. "The fruits guy is coming!" Sasuke snapped out of his reverie, nodded curtly, and jumped as high as he could. He reached for the top of the wall, stretching his hand out as far as it could go... but he missed. Just as he was resigning himself to a fate of being hacked to death by the fruit stall owner, Naruto's arms darted out and grabbed his own, pulling him onto the top of the wall, just as the stall owner came running, panting heavily. He glared at them, and started hopping up and down at the base of the wall, but could not get to where the two kids were staring and grinning at him.
Swearing and shaking his fist at them, the man beat a retreat, much to Sasuke's relief.
"That was a close one." He breathed, and then caught sight of Naruto's grin. "What's so funny?"
"Wasn't that fun?" Naruto laughed uproariously. "Let's go do it again!" Sasuke stared at him.
"Are you crazy?" The raven-haired boy asked incredulously. Naruto shook his head vigorously, the grin still plastered to his face. Sasuke couldn't help himself – he began to laugh.
"Moron."
----------
"Aren't you tired yet?" Sasuke complained, wondering where Naruto got his infinite energy. They had already spent the entire morning running around playing pranks on others, and fleeing for their lives, and Sasuke was feeling more exhausted than he normally did after training, and that was saying something. Naruto was walking along, his hands clasped behind his neck, that same cheerful look ever present on his face.
"Nah, but I am hungry, though. Let's go have some ramen!" Sasuke blinked.
"Why ramen?" He involuntarily took a step backwards as Naruto froze in mid-step, and turned to stare at him with a look of utter disbelief on his face.
"Why ramen? Why ramen?" Naruto asked, his voice hitting a high pitch that made Sasuke wince. "Ramen is the BEST food in the whole wide world! I mean, it's served fast, it keeps you warm, it tastes awesome, it has tons of ingredients and different tastes, it has many different flavors, the soup tastes great, and it's cheap! How could you not eat ramen?" Sasuke swallowed and nodded slowly, sensing that this wasn't a good time to argue, not when Naruto had such a feverish look in his eyes, and certainly not when his arms were flying around in such a potentially dangerous manner.
"C'mon, I'll show you the best place to get ramen! It's just down the street!" Sasuke sighed and started to follow Naruto. Both of them ran down the street, Naruto with an eager look on his face, and Sasuke wondering if Naruto's claims about ramen were true. He had never eaten ramen before in his life, after all, and didn't know what it tasted like.
Suddenly, Sasuke noticed that Naruto had slowed down considerably, and had a curious look on his face. Looking to his right, he saw a playground, and at its center, a group of children, all of their age, huddled in a tight circle. They had looks of glee on their faces, and were jeering at something.
"What do you think they're doing?" Naruto asked.
"Beats me, let's go look." As they approached the group, their ears picked up the sounds of the kids' voices.
"Stupid!"
"Big forehead!"
"What's with your ugly hair?" One of the children raised a stick and started attacking whoever it was in the middle of the circle, laughing.
"Loser!" Immediately, Naruto's face registered a furious look. The children were bullying another, he supposed, and the jeers were enough to remind him of what others had often called him. That sort of pain, the misery that came with such words... Naruto knew it all too well. And just as Sasuke had helped make him feel better, Naruto decided that he was going to do the same. Sasuke, too, was ready to jump into the fray, disgusted at the way people treated others.
With a yell, Naruto pounced on one of the children, tackling him to the ground. The boy, startled, did nothing to stop the attack. The two of them rolled away, screaming at each other. Sasuke quickly rushed in just as the group of children dispersed, confused, and he grabbed hold of the victim's hand, pulling the person up and running. The children started to follow, but Naruto, returning from his scuffle, ran in front of them and mustered up the scariest look he could manage.
"Hey! That boy!"
"Mom said that he's a monster!"
"Monster! Monster!"
"Run!" Screaming in terror, the children fled, and Naruto grinned. For once, his unwanted nickname had done something good. He quickly chased after Sasuke, who had come to a stop at a bench near the playground. Sasuke released the person's hand, and stood still, trying to catch his breath. As Naruto came skidding past, yelling, he turned around to get his first good look at the victim. He gawked.
It was a girl, with long pink hair and emerald green eyes. Her face was bruised, and there were dried tear streaks running down it. Her clothes, a long red dress with slits at the sides, were dirty. She didn't look frightened, but she stared at her two saviors instead with wide eyes.
"Hey! It's a girl!" Naruto said in surprise as he jogged over. Sasuke nodded numbly. How could they bully a girl, and one so young? He watched as the girl put a hand to one of the bruises on her forehead gingerly, and wince in pain.
"Ow..." She moaned, and promptly dumped herself onto the bench. "That hurts..."
"Hey, you okay?" Naruto asked, planting his face in front of her, causing her to yelp. Sighing, Sasuke grabbed Naruto by his collar and pulled him away despite the latter's loud protests.
"Yes, I'm okay..." The girl said shyly, averting her gaze, "Thanks for helping me."
"Why were they bullying you?" Sasuke asked curiously.
"Because I have a big forehead." She answered glumly. Naruto blinked, and went closer again, examining her forehead, much to the girl's surprise. Then he stood back and flashed her a grin.
"It looks okay to me!" The girl looked at him.
"You mean it?"
"Yeah! And I think your hair's really cool, too! It looks a whole lot better than those other kids'! Theirs looked like bird nests!" The girl smiled happily, and Sasuke smirked. Naruto, while having no tact whatsoever, was unbeatable at cheering other people up.
"I'm Uzumaki Naruto! And I'm going to be Hokage!" Naruto thumped his chest, inciting a giggle from the girl in front of him. Then he pointed at Sasuke. "And that's Uchiha Sasuke. He's a great guy!" Sasuke tried to stop Naruto, but was too slow, and inwardly groaned as his name came forth. He watched the girl carefully, wondering if she had heard of the Uchiha Massacre, and then heaved a mental sigh of relief as the girl smiled at him, apparently blank about the incident.
"I'm Haruno Sakura," The girl said chirpily, "Pleased to meet you!"
"Likewise." Sasuke smirked. He was just about to say more, when Naruto suddenly slapped his cheeks in horror.
"Oh no! Ramen!" He groaned. "C'mon, lunch hour is almost over!" Without waiting for a response, he grabbed both Sasuke and Sakura's hands, and dragged them down the street.
"What's so special about lunch hour?" Sakura asked, trying to regain her balance unsuccessfully.
"Ramen is cheaper during lunch hour at the store! Quick! No time to lose!" So saying, he charged down the street, leaving a cloud of dust in his wake, screaming wildly, Sasuke following closely behind. Sakura stood still for a moment, staring at the two figures rapidly fading into the distance. Besides Ino, the two of them were the only ones ever to help her whenever she was bullied. There was certainly nothing to lose from following them, was there? With a giggle, she ran after the Naruto and Sasuke.
"Wait for me!"
