I can't say I wasn't expecting this to happen. My complete non-knowlege of the Naru-verse has dropped me into a black hole. For those who have seen every episode twice in Japanese, English, and Finnish (there are probably people out there that obsessed), you'll just have to grit your teeth and bear my ignorance. In other words, this story is so AU that it doesn't even follow the actual rules of the Naruto series.

After talking with my friend Hayley, I was able to see just how...well, un-canonical my story would be before I finished writing it. Well, I can't possibly make it follow the series completely. So, bear with me and don't give me flames with "THAT'Z NaWT H0W T3H S3RI3Z GOEZ!11!!!" I know it's not. I would also appreciate if you didn't tell me how the series goes. Thanks! Enjoy the fic! --Ruthie

Oh, and as a PS, Hikory, this isn't directed at you. ;D I already talked with you, so this isn't badmouthing you at all. This is just for the future, in case anyone decides to flame me because this story is going to be so AU.

Well, he couldn't say smuggling Hikitsuko into school with him hadn't been interesting. Every day had been an adventure, with the fox causing new trouble each day. Naruto assured Sasuke after each mishap that it was only accidental and Hikitsuko was just getting adjusted to his new life. Sasuke found this much easier to believe on some days than others.

On Tuesday, while sleeping, Hikitsuko had started to dream. For reasons unknown to Sasuke, he had flicked his tail and little paws all over the boy's ribs. Sasuke had been forced to bite his lip the whole day to keep from laughing out loud. He knew that his discomfort had not gone unnoticed by his classmates. The boy sitting behind him had asked him if something was worrying him, saying Sasuke had been very twitchy the whole class.

On Wednesday, Sasuke got a rather rude reminder of his secret "seat-mate." Hikitsuko, under the influence of dreams, had given Sasuke a rather sharp, jolting kick to the stomach. The accidental strike had hit his diaphragm, causing him to let out a choking cough and have trouble breathing for the next few minutes. Everyone had turned at the sudden noise to stare curiously at Sasuke. The Uchiha boy refused any offers of help, claiming he had merely tried to breathe in some spit and would be perfectly fine.

On Thursday, Hikitsuko couldn't sleep, try as he might. Without sleep to occupy his mind, he had turned to Sasuke for entertainment. Secretly, Sasuke dropped slips of paper down his collar, hoping to give the fox something to play with. No one noticed the soft crinkling sounds of looseleaf being crunched between fox paws, or, surprisingly, when Hikitsuko tossed a piece up to catch, only to launch it out of Sasuke's shirt like a cannonball.

Friday had been, by far, the worst day of the lot, so far as the danger of the fox kit being revealed went. When he got up to go to the bathroom, Sasuke forgot the Hikitsuko was cradled in his loosely-tucked shirt. The fox was awakened by this movement and thought the class was over. He stumbled to his feet without thinking and slipped down into Sasuke's shorts. He managed to grasp the waistband of Sasuke's underwear to keep from falling onto the floor. Sasuke felt the awkward tug and prayed over and over that the fox would have the presence of mind to keep his tail from dangling down. Even Aburame Shino, with his dark glasses, would have seen the flash of sunset red. Thankfully, Sasuke managed to make his way to the bathroom and rescue his fox friend without anyone noticing anything out of the ordinary.

To keep anyone from even accidentally seeing Hikitsuko, Sasuke left the fox in his shirt until he walked through the door of his house. Usually, at this point, the kit would pop his head up and peek around. Then he would look up, lick Sasuke's chin, and gaze at him as if to say That was fun, wasn't it?

Oh yes, it had been fun.

;-:-;-:-;

"AAAAAACK!!"

"Good morning to you, too, Sasuke," Hatake Kakashi murmured cooly in response to Sasuke's startled outcry. The boy sat up, rubbing his backside tenderly as Hikitsuko let off a shrill volley of yaps. Sasuke looked up out of one narrowed eye, a little angry at being roused from bed so suddenly and rudely. "Who's your little friend?"

"That's, uh...well, his name's Hikitsuko," Sasuke replied, studying his sensei with both eyes open now. "Any...particular reason you decided to drop by this morning? Did you want me to cook you breakfast or something like that?"

"Get back in bed and wake up on the right side, why don't you?" Kakashi asked with a tinge of amusement. "I came by to see the newest member of Team 7."

"Naruto told you, didn't he?" Sasuke heaved himself to his feet and grabbed the still-yipping Hikitsuko from the floor. He scratched behind the fox's ears to calm him. Hikitsuko relaxed, but only briefly. Before long he was squirming and wriggling. Sasuke set him down on the floor again, and the tiny fox sniffed Kakashi's foot in curiosity.

"Oh, no. I figured it out on my own. You see—" The jonin pulled something from Sasuke's nightclothes. "—you've got hairs on your clothes, animal hairs. I figured it had to be something that you could find either in or around Konoha; judging by the color of the hairs, it would have to be either a cat or a fox. Also—" Here, he held up a finger "—it seems you've lost a bit of respect. Anyone with eyes could have seen that Kiba's pup, Akamaru, hasn't come within two feet of you without snarling and snapping his fangs."

"And that left it as either a cat or a fox," Sasuke told him. "So how'd you guess it was a fox?"

Kakashi smiled. At least, as far as Sasuke could tell. He'd learned to read what his sensei's mouth was doing just by looking at his eye. "I didn't," he said simply. "I didn't guess one way or the other. I just invited myself over to see for myself."

Hikitsuko, throughout the conversation, had done a thorough investigation of Kakashi's left foot. He had sniffed it, prodded it, looked at it from near and far, tried to entice it to play with him, and even gone so far as to lick it (which was something he resolved never to do again). Psychologically, he was still at the oral stage, in which everything new must be put into the mouth for further investigation. He opened his jaws as wide as they could and tried from various angles to bite Kakashi's shoe. After a few minutes, he claimed defeat and backed off. Who wanted to nibble something that smelled like dirt, anyway?

Sasuke reached down just as Hikitsuko stepped back and held the fox to his chest. "Stay," he muttered, and Hikitsuko's struggles slowed somewhat. "So, really," he began, speaking to Kakashi, "I picked him up because I wanted to try having him as a fighting partner. Like...well, like Akamaru." He sighed. "Would it work?"

"Possibly."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it would be a little difficult for you to pull off."

"I could train him!"

"It's not that. Well, not entirely that. It goes a little deeper than that, Sasuke. You're an Uchiha, and there are no records of the Uchiha clan fighting with anything other than themselves. You'd have trouble convincing people that you could fight in synchrony with Hikitsuko."

"Would they allow it?"

"I don't see why they wouldn't." Kakashi shrugged. "I'm sure that if you could train him, you could fight with him. I'll see if there's any paperwork involved and get back to you later today." Again, he smiled with his eye. Sasuke couldn't help smiling back. It wasn't a goofy, all-out grin that he'd seen so many times on Naruto's face. Really, it was more like a smirk, with only half the mouth involved. It was a smile that suited him—a little happy, but mostly serious. He waited until Kakashi was gone before looking down at his little fox.

"Hikitsuko, we've got a lot of work to do."

;-:-;-:-;

At Sasuke's signal, Hikitsuko darted ahead, his black paws skimming the ground, and hurled his skinny body at the wooden post. He bared his needle-sharp fangs and started nipping and slashing at the dummy. After a few seconds of assault, he skipped back nimbly and made the leap onto the crouching Sasuke's shoulder. He slipped a little as the Uchiha boy stood, but kept his perch, teeth still bared.

"Good job!" Sasuke praised, scooping the fox kit off his shoulder to give him a quick hug and a ruffle behind the ears. Hikitsuko yipped happily, wiggling around in the embrace as his pink tongue flashed out again and again. "You're really coming along, Hikitsuko!"

Hikitsuko braced his forepaws against Sasuke's chest and licked the boy's chin. He barked a few times. Sasuke turned again to Naruto, as he had done all morning. "Translation?" he asked.

"He says it's all thanks to you," Naruto replied. He was crouched like a cat on the branch of a tree, watching the training session and translating Hikitsuko's words. The glossy-furred fox barked again. "Oh, and he says he's hungry, and that ramen sounds like a good idea for lunch."

"You said that, or he said that?" Sasuke asked, smirking slightly. Naruto laughed.

"Okay, okay. I said that, but he actually did say it's time for a lunch break."

"I don't think just yet. It's barely noon. A few more hours and then we'll break for lunch, Naruto."

Naruto groaned and rolled off the branch. He lay spread-eagle on the ground and gazed pleadingly up at Sasuke. "No fai-hair-hair!" he complained, whimpering like a struck dog. "Translating Fox is hungry work, you know. C'mon, Sasuke! Pleeeeease?" He clasped both hands in front of him.

"Act your age, not your shoe size."

"My age is my shoe size!"

"Then act it. No lunch breaks just yet." Hikitsuko wormed his way out of the gentle grasp and dropped down. All four paws landed squarely on Naruto's stomach, causing the Uzumaki boy to let out a whooshing stream of air in a breathless "Oof!" The fox grinned cheekily before bounding back to Sasuke. The boy crouched down, and Hikitsuko hopped back onto his shoulder. Naruto looked up into two face, one human, one vulpine, smiling the same smile at him with the same look in their dark eyes.

"God, Sasuke, he looks just like you!" Naruto muttered, pushing himself up gingerly and rubbing his sore stomach. Sasuke and Hikitsuko turned as if on cue to study each other. "Just look at him, grinning like he's all that. You've got the same superiority complex to boot!"

" 'Superiority complex'?" Sasuke repeated. He pushed Naruto back down with a foot and pushed gently on the boy's belly. Naruto let out a second gasp. "I'm offended, Naruto. I thought you were better than that." He stepped back to let his teammate up. "Fine, I'll break. Give me a few more tries, then we'll get lunch, but no ramen!"

"What?"

"You heard me. There's more to life than Cup Ramen."

"Sure. There's the Ichiraku Ramen Bar, Maruchan Ramen..."

"You didn't understand me. I meant there's more to life than ramen noodles, period, the end." Naruto looked like he was ready to protest. "If you want, we can just keep training without a lunch break. I need to get everything with Hikitsuko perfect. I don't want any screw-ups, you hear me? Iruka-sensei likes to spring things on us. So does Kakashi-sensei."

"Not a noodle?"

"Nope. Not even a drop of the broth. Come on, Naruto, I want to be as coordinated with Hikitsuko as Kiba is with Akamaru."

Naruto sighed and jumped back onto the tree limb. "Fine," he relented. "But the next time we train like this, I get to pick what we have for lunch, okay? Besides, Hikitsuko likes ramen, too. It's not just me."

Sasuke only half heard him as he focused back on the wood post. "Ready?" he whispered into the fox's dark ear. "Wait for it...on my signal..." He felt Hikitsuko's wiry muscles tense against his neck. The Uchiha boy turned slightly to the side and flung out his arm. That was Hikitsuko's signal. The young tod sprinted down the length of the boy's arm and leapt off towards the dummy. Again, he attacked it like he would a foe. Sasuke watched for a few minutes before whistling sharply. The skinny fox kit sprang backwards and darted to Sasuke. He bounced back onto the boy's shoulder and managed to hold his perch without sliding when Sasuke got back to his feet.

"Another perfect strike!" Sasuke cheered. "All right, I think that's enough of that for today. Now we get to do something a little less physical." He nodded to Naruto and held Hikitsuko in front of him. The fox squirmed briefly, but after a while realized how tired he was, and settled down. "Naruto, I'll need you for this part. I've already taught Hikitsuko how to smell for chakra, and he's done a good job of locating it and sensing how strong it is. What we need now is a way for him to warn me of just how strong it is."

"So you want me to work out some signals for you two to use?" Sasuke nodded. "All right. What kind of signal?"

"Probably something silent. Maybe he could prod me or something like that. However strong the chakra flow is determines how strong the poke would be."

"Let's see what we can do." Naruto took Hikitsuko and stared at the fox. He started barking and yipping. Hikitsuko pricked up his ears and listened intently, then nodded. Sasuke marveled at how quickly the fox had picked up on human mannerisms and expressions. He nodded, shook his head, smiled, pulled faces, and even (and Sasuke was sure it wasn't just a bark or a cough) laughed when things turned funny. He panted and waved his fluffy tail at Naruto. The boy returned the kit. "He says he'll use what you suggested and that he'll do his best to be accurate when he signals."

"That's good. Thank you." Naruto's blue eyes flashed something like surprise, and Sasuke wondered if he had ever thanked Naruto before. "What?"

"Nothing."

"Come on, Naruto. Let's go get something to eat. I'm a little hungry myself."

Hikitsuko perched himself back on Sasuke's shoulder and, until they reached the village streets, Sasuke let him stay there. The two boys started back together, saying little but every so often glancing at each other. Sasuke realized that he hadn't spent this much time with Naruto, even though they were on the same team, in a long time—maybe even never. He had never really thought of the blonde prankster as being a "friend" or anything remotely like that. And now, as he studied the playful youth, he realized that all that was changing. Because of Hikitsuko, he was starting to come to know Naruto better, and even respect him as a friend.