Sasuke's POV

It had taken Sasuke most of the night to pick up after Hikitsuko's madcap fun. Needless to say, he was not in the best of moods when he awoke the next morning, having gotten very little sleep. He sighed over breakfast. It was painfully obvious to him now that Hikitsuko could not be left alone while he was at school. The only option he could think of was to take the fox with him. It seemed like a fairly good idea until he realized he'd forgotten two things: Haruno Sakura and Yamanaka Ino.

He needed some sort of plan, some way to smuggle Hikitsuko into school with him without either of the two girls knowing about it. He contemplated bringing along a pack with him and hiding his fox inside. But that wouldn't work. Hikitsuko would probably get scared and make a racket. How could he make sure that the fox kit understood the need for silence?

That was how Uchiha Sasuke found himself knocking on the door of one Uzumaki Naruto's home.

The blonde boy appeared, rubbing his eyes sleepily. "Thanks for the wake-up call, Sasuke," he mumbled, "but I'm already awake..." As he spoke, he yanked the comical nightcap off his head and tried to hide it behind his back. Sasuke rolled his eyes. Yeah...he was definitely awake.

"Look, Naruto, I was up all night cleaning up after Hikitsuko," he hissed. "I'm not leaving him home alone again after all that. I need your help getting him to school with me."

"Whaddya want me to do 'bout it...?" Naruto yawned.

"I need you to tell him that he can't make a single sound."

Naruto opened one sleep-glassy eye and yawned. "All right. Where were you planning on hiding him?" Sasuke held up the bag. Naruto opened the other eye, then shook his head. "You don't want him in there. He'd get pretty roughed up, no matter how careful you were with it."

"What do you suggest, then?"

"Tuck in your shirt. I'll slip him in the collar and tell him to sleep through the day."

Sasuke took a step away from the other boy, holding Hikitsuko off to the side as if to keep him out of Naruto's grasp. His dark eyes narrowed suspiciously. "No. I draw the line at hiding him in my clothes," he shot back angrily. Naruto blinked and leaned on the doorframe.

"Well, it's either that or home alone," he replied. "Take your pick, Sasuke."

Sasuke lifted Hikitsuko up to study him closely. The fox kit was half-asleep, his black eyes just as glassy as Naruto's. He was still fairly skinny, although his backbone no longer poked up like the teeth of a comb. He could stretch himself out and sleep. And if he did that, I wouldn't have to look pregnant. "Fine." He handed the fox to Naruto. "Tell him not to curl up when he sleeps."

Naruto gave himself a brisk shake and nodded. He took the fox and began to bark and growl. Hikitsuko picked up his head and listened intently. Finally, he nodded. Sasuke tucked his shirt into his shorts, and Naruto slipped Hikitsuko down through the high collar of his shirt. The Uchiha boy studied himself. "Great. You can barely see he's in there. Although, I think people will notice I've tucked my shirt in."

"They'll just tell you it looks nice," Naruto said.

"Oh, does that mean I don't always look 'nice'?" Sasuke asked, surprising himself by the gentle sarcasm in his voice. He hadn't expected himself to sound so...friendly. Naruto hardly seemed to notice as he smirked.

"What if I am?" He whipped around and darted back into the door of his house. Hikitsuko poked his head and paws up out of Sasuke's collar curiously. Sasuke tapped his foot impatiently. Naruto reappeared a few moments later, fully dressed and ready to go. With a cry of "Race ya!", he bolted in the direction of the academy. Pushing the fox kit's muzzle back down his shirt, Sasuke followed at a more reasonable pace.

;-:-;-:-;

"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto shouted as he shoved the door aside and burst into the classroom. "Sorry I'm late!" He looked around just as Sasuke walked up behind him. The room was full of boys and girls, yes, but none of them were familiar. Every eye turned to stare. Whispers broke out.

"Isn't that that Uzumaki kid?"

"Heard he's a real screw-up."

"Kinda cute, though."

"That's Sasuke, isn't it? Behind him? The last of the Uchiha Clan?"

"Must be."

The blonde boy stood openmouthed at the door for a while before backing out slowly and awkwardly. Sasuke chuckled wryly as he slid the door shut once more.

"Smooooth," he murmured sarcastically. Naruto growled at him, running his fingers angrily through his spiky hair in frustration. Hikitsuko ventured a black paw up, which Sasuke quickly put back down below. "Oh, you're in the zone today, aren't you, Naruto? That's only the second classroom you've busted into since we got here. Are you game for one more try, or should I navigate for now?"

"Shut up, Sasuke!"

"It's your fault for not memorizing the room number we're in."

"I'm dyslexic, I swear!"

"I can understand if our intended destination is numbered 121 and you choose 112, but not even the worst of dyslexics can confuse numbers like you have been." He scratched absently behind Hikitsuko's dark ear before pushing his head back down. "And didn't you tell him to stay hidden?"

"I did, but that doesn't mean he'll listen to me."

Sasuke sighed. "Look, we're late now. About twenty minutes late. Any later than this and I'll pound you into the ground. Now, would you kindly fire two brain cells in the same direction and make reasonable decisions?"

"If you're so sure of where we're going, why don't you make 'reasonable decisions'?" Naruto demanded hotly. Hiding a smirk, Sasuke pointed to a door close by. Naruto flung himself at it. "Iruka-sensei! I'm—!" There was a brief silence, and a furious Uzumaki slammed the door shut and whirled on Sasuke. "YOU DID THAT ON PURPOSE!!"

"All right. I admit. I did." Sasuke grinned. It was nice to manipulate people sometimes. Especially if the person being manipulated was a senseless, obnoxious loudmouth. "I had to have some kind of fun. How often do I get to walk to school with someone like you?"

"I'm never walking with you as long as I live."

"Good." Sasuke selected the appropriate door and stepped inside before Naruto. Without a word to Iruka, he made his way up to the bleacher-like seats and sat down.

"Ah, Sasuke!" the man sighed, throwing up an arm in a welcoming gesture. "Good to see you finally made it. Thank you for pulling Naruto out of bed this morning." Sasuke nodded silently and folded his hands under his chin to watch the lesson. Grumbling under his breath, Naruto flopped down in a seat nearby.

Iruka turned back around and started sketching figures on the board to accent his lesson. Sasuke heard a whispered "Psst!" behind him and turned his head slightly. "Sasuke-kun!" Sakura hissed, grinned and waving discreetly. "Hey! I was worried you weren't going to come! What made you so late?" Without waiting for an answer, she glared down at the blonde head below. "It was Naruto, wasn't it? I bet he made you stop for ramen on the way here, didn't he?"

Sasuke didn't answer. Naruto hadn't made the stop for ramen. On the contrary, he had shot past the Ramen Bar without a second glance. No, it had actually been Sasuke's fault that they were late. While Naruto had resisted the ramen, Hikitsuko could not, and leapt from Sasuke's shirt towards the scent of food. The tiny fox's escapade seemed to have tired him out, though. Sasuke felt rather than heard him heave a tired sigh and settle in on a gentle pattern of breathing.

He found it hard to focus on what Iruka was saying. Between Sakura and Ino pestering him with whispered questions, Hikitsuko's sleepy breathing, and the unaccustomed feeling of fur against his skin, he couldn't pay attention to the lecture. He was glad when a break was called for lunch. If he chose a secluded corner, one where no one else would see him, he might be able to slip Hikitsuko something to eat.

;-:-;-:-;

"Is anyone looking?"

"Nope. Coast is clear."

"Great."

Sasuke reached down the front of his shirt and produced the bright-eyed fox kit. Hikitsuko wriggled around, tongue trying to slurp at the boy holding onto him, eyes flicking left and right, ears twitching at every sound. Sasuke set him down on the ground, pressing a firm hand down on his back to keep him there while he one-handedly pulled a sandwich from his bag. Naruto helped him tug a bit of the somewhat warm lunchmeat out from between the bread, which he then fed to Hikitsuko. "The little furball woke up right near the end and started squirming around," Sasuke muttered darkly as he watched the fox tear his food apart. "It's a wonder Sakura and Ino didn't notice. I bet you could see him through my shirt."

"Oh, let him be, Sasuke," Naruto replied breezily. "He's still young. Let him be unpredictable and crazy while he can. He'll grow out of it soon enough."

"Not soon enough for me," Sasuke muttered. He waited until Hikitsuko had finished eating before slipping the fox back into his shirt. Just in time, too. Right as he was taking his hand away from his collar, a familiar voice asked, "Hey, Sasuke! Little help?"

Sasuke turned towards the speaker. Inuzuka Kiba, his tousled brown hair shifting in a slight breeze, had a paper in one hand, obviously his notes. Kiba, Sasuke knew, ranked fairly low in the class. Perched atop his head was his ninken, Akamaru. "What do you need, Kiba?"

"All right...What exactly was all that about? That whole lecture? I didn't catch a single word of it."

"Sleeping through class again, Kiba?" Naruto asked. Kiba's black eyes narrowed angrily.

"Oh, like you're any better, Uzumaki?" he shot back. "You're not exactly Iruka-sensei's favorite student either."

"Enough, enough." Sasuke put himself between the two boys. "Kiba, I can't help you. I wasn't paying too much attention, either. I'm tired today...I was about ready to fall asleep myself. Check around, see if anyone caught what you missed."

Kiba, looking distinctly disappointed, turned to leave. Just as he turned, Akamaru hopped down onto his shoulder and gave Sasuke a suspicious sniff. His brown lips curled back angrily as he let off a salvo of sharp barks, some directed at Kiba, others at Sasuke. Kiba turned, studied Sasuke carefully, then said, "Akamaru says you smell like fox. And not like you stopped to pet it on the way to school. He says it's so strong, the fox must have been sleeping on your clothes."

Before Sasuke could open his mouth to answer, Naruto butted in. "It must have been from me. He was studying with me last night...you probably know what I'm getting at, don't you?"

Kiba looked the pair of them over for a while, then glanced over at Akamaru. The tawny pup grunted and barked a few more times. The Inuzuka boy nodded. Naruto glanced at Sasuke almost nervously. They waited on edge until Kiba turned and started to walk away. Just as he did, and at the same time Sasuke and Naruto were heaving sighs of relief, Akamaru whipped around and snarled. He bared his sharp white teeth in a scowl of suspicion. Kiba may have accepted Naruto's excuse, but Akamaru had too good a nose for that.

"Sometimes I wonder if it's going to be worth it," Sasuke murmured after Kiba was out of hearing. "Sometimes I wonder if this fox is just going drive me mad and be completely useless to me." He sighed. "But then...then I just look at him...and see that unconditional love and admiration in his little eyes. And it's then that I stop wondering."

"I'm glad." Naruto's response caught him off guard. Sasuke jerked his head sharply to get a better look at the boy standing beside him. "He really thinks a lot of you, Sasuke—Hikitsuko, I mean. You might not think so, but you're really doing a lot of good for him." He smiled slightly. "I think it'll work out between the two of you. Something tells me you could do more with Hikitsuko than Kiba ever could with Akamaru."

Sasuke couldn't help returning the grin. He leaned back against the tree and took a bite from his sandwich. It was a beautiful day in Konoha, with a light wind just strong enough to keep the sun from being too hot. Spring was in full burst, just waiting to give way to summer. The last of the Uchiha clan felt the gentle tickle of Hikitsuko's kit-soft fur brush against his chest as the skinny fox tried to make himself comfortable. Beside him, Naruto started in on a bowl of (What else? he wondered) ramen noodles. All in all, it was peaceful. At that moment, it seemed to Sasuke that nothing could go wrong, that his world was right...He glanced down at Naruto, feeling a sudden burst of friendship towards the blonde youth. And in part, it was all thanks to the ultimate troublemaker of the Hidden Leaf Village.

By the way, Kiba (MINE!!!)'s appearance wasn't entirely random. I have something planned for him. I'll just warn all you Kiba lovers out there that he is a real jerk in this fic. However, I know that's not the real Kiba, so no flames later!