~Chapter 2: Life~

Sasuke and Naruto walked into the classroom and took their seats, the former in front of Sakura and the latter behind her.

The Uchiha rested his arm on her desk, staring at her as she wrote in her journal.

"What're you doing?" Naruto asked.

He looked over her shoulder.

As soon as she realized her two friends arrived, she quickly closed her notebook.

Her information-gathering hobby was a secret between her and her closest friends.

She wanted to tell her two best guy-friends, but she was afraid they'd think she's weird and ditch her.

She cleared her throat.

"It's nothing…" Sakura whispered, running a hand through her hair.

"Don't worry, Saku, if you like writing porn, we won't judge. In fact, I would be more than happy to read them for you-"

Sasuke reached over and whacked the idiot's head.

"God, if she doesn't want to say, then she doesn't want to say. Don't make things awkward, baka…"

The girl blushed and looked away.

She always loved the arguments between these two because they were hilarious, but seeing as it was about her this time, she felt self-conscious.

"Geez, violent much! I'm not making things awkward, I'm just letting our good friend know that I am here for her…" Naruto continued.

The other boy simply rolled his eyes and said, "Just drop it, baka."

Sasuke already knew what the notebook was about.

He had found it once and, recognizing it was Sakura's, thought he would be allowed to read it.

But of course, she never found out.

The teacher entered the room and the school bell rang, signifying the start of class.

-Later = Lunchtime-

The pair made their way up the stairs to the school's roof.

Although normally they would be laughing and teasing, today they were silent, serious.

"I don't think this is a very good idea, leaving during the day. What if you don't get back in time for class? What will I tell the teacher?" Naruto asked worriedly.

He opened the door to the roof.

"Relax, I'm sure you'll come up with something. Chances are I'll be back anyway."

Sasuke opened the portal hole.

I'll be back soon, geez…"

And he disappeared.

His friend stood nervously, eventually pacing around the area.

-In the Warp-

The Uchiha quickly changed out of his school uniform, pulling on his black underclothes that were floating around in the emptiness.

The black uniform he wore when he was the Hooded Thief nearly blended in with the dark, along with the mask.

It was one piece, the front zipping up diagonally.

As he pulled on his mask, the portal hole opened revealing the downtown, an apartment building on fire.

-At the Same Time = The Front of the School-

Sakura sat with her lunch on her lap, her friends surrounding her on the front steps of the school.

"Ino, how's the math test so far?" one of the other girls asked.

Ino, Hinata, Tenten…

The best three friends any girl can have.

They were the only ones who actually knew everything about Sakura, even though Sasuke and Naruto were her best friends.

The girl sighed and turned her face to the sky, content and relaxed.

She closed her eyes for a moment, just a moment, and when they opened again, her breath was caught in her throat.

A small spark of light darted from the school rooftop.

It quickly ran over the trees to the city.

A small spark of light…

The symbol of the Hooded Thief.

At our school?

"Guys! Look!" Sakura exclaimed as she jumped to her feet and pointed towards the star just before it disappeared.

"Did you see that?"

All of the girls looked up, just in time to see the tail fading away.

Ino stood.

"Was that the… the… the thing? Of the Hooded Thief's?" she asked, going on her tippy-toes to see if she could see more.

"Yeah, and it came from the roof…"

Sakura's eyes narrowed.

Suspicion filled her mind.

"I'm gonna run up to the roof real quick. Maybe there's someone up there."

Ino nodded and sat down again on the steps.

The girl ran up the stairs and into the school.

After three flights, she reached the roof, swinging the door open loudly.

Naruto jumped to his feet.

He had been sitting in the shade, still worried about Sasuke.

Quickly, the boy sent him a message.

"Sasuke! Sakura's up here for some reason. I'll try to get rid of her, but be careful when you're coming back…"

Moments later, a response came.

"Ok, try to get rid of her quick, I'm almost done here… By the way, next time, you are so coming to help me…"

Naruto grinned, but it changed to a frown when the girl noticed him.

"Sakura, what're you doing up here?" he asked, taking a step towards her.

"I should be asking you the same thing…"

Sakura walked up to him.

She seemed angry, a frown on her face and the two wrinkles between her eyebrows appearing.

"Did you see the spark?"

Naruto jumped in both surprise and shock.

"Spark? What spark? Do you mean the Hooded Thief?"

However, she wasn't fooled; instead her eyes narrowed more.

With her hands on her hips, she began.

"Naruto, you and Sasuke have been hiding something. From me. Me! I thought we were all best friends, that we told each other everything," she paused, realizing the notebook was something she kept from them, but she shook it off and continued. "And like a year ago, you guys just… just…! Agh! I don't know! What's going on, because I can't take it anymore!"

There was silence.

Naruto couldn't meet her stare, and kept his head down.

"To be honest…" she added quietly, "when you guys started eating lunch up here…" A pause. "Ino said you guys must be gay."

Immediately, Naruto's mouth opened wide.

At first, he was speechless, but then he started gagging at her.

"SAKURA! HOW COULD YOU THINK THAT! YOU KNOW WE'RE NOT LIKE THAT! EWWWWWWW!"

He covered his eyes and hit his head against the wall.

"Get the image out of my head! AHH!"

Sakura took a step back and put her hands up in front of her.

"Hey there! I never said I believed her! But if that's not what you guys are hiding, then what is?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head and frowned.

"I'm sorry, Saku… I wish there was something I could do, but… I mean… You're the last person I'd ever want to lie to…"

The girl sighed.

"Anyway, since you were up here, did you happen to see where the spark just went?"

He looked at her sadly.

"Ok… so I kinda lied. I was on the third floor when I heard something on the roof and saw the spark, so I came up to see if I would find someone or something…"

Sakura stared, tilting her head with a frown on her face.

"Why would you lie about that…?"

Naruto shrugged and said, "I guess I was afraid you'd think I was involved… or thought you caught me doing something, I don't know… But anyway, the spark went straight to the downtown. From the smoke, we can assume there's another fire…"

She took a few steps forward and put a hand on the fence.

There were a few moments of silence.

Naruto sighed.

He came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist, pulling her into a tight, comforting hug.

"Saku… you know… I would never willingly lie to you… I love you so much, like a sister, and I'm the one who's supposed to be protecting you, not hurting you… And I mean… you have trouble telling people who are close to you and love you certain things… you find them embarrassing or weird… and you get a little worried that… maybe if they knew… they'd love you less… that things will change…"

Sakura said nothing, only thought of her notebook.

He went on, "Don't worry though. We're going to tell you, once we get the courage… we don't want to shock you either…"

He paused.

"Oh God, I made it sound like we're gay again, aghhh…"

This statement made Sakura giggle.

"We're not gay, damn it, ok? For the love of all that is good and decent, never think or ask us that again!"

The girl turned around and hugged her friend tightly.

"Ok," she said, "I trust you. I'll be patient. But don't think I won't bother you a little!"

She headed for the door.

Naruto laughed.

"I'm gonna go down and finish my lunch. If you see anything else, will you tell me?"

She turned back for a moment, half way out the door.

"Of course!" he exclaimed, grinning.

His arms went up behind his head as he stretched.

"I'll see you in class!"

"Bye!"

The door closed behind her.

Naruto's grin quickly vanished now replaced with a saddened frown.

He sent Sasuke a message.

"I hate lying to Sakura… Anyway, coast is clear, you almost done?"

A response came moments later.

"Yeah, I'm wrapping it up here, and I'll be back in just a few minutes. What happen though?"

Naruto paused.

"I'll explain when you get back. Just hurry."

-Downtown Konoha-

Sasuke jumped from room to room in the burning apartment building.

Flames and debris were everywhere.

Smoke was starting to make breathing hard.

The Hooded Thief moved to the next room.

After convincing the firefighters to explain the situation, he found out there was only one person left inside: a little girl.

He jumped over a burning chair that blocked the doorway.

"Hey!" the boy exclaimed, panting, "Is anyone in here? Anyone?"

He rushed into what was once a living room.

As he paused, sobbing quietly filled the room.

The Hooded Thief advanced slowly.

He crouched down to find the little girl hugging her pet cat.

Tears were running down her face and she gasped when she saw him.

"Hey there, love. I'm here to get you out."

Sasuke pulled her from under the table and picked her up, the cat hidden between them.

He took a step forward, realizing too late that the floor had weakened there.

The two came crashing through.

The landing was graceful enough, but not without numerous cuts and bruises for each.

Shouts were heard from the window.

"Hood! Hood!" one man's voice called.

Sasuke tightened his grip around the girl and approached the opening.

"Thief!" another voice exclaimed.

Looking down, he found two police officers standing in front of a forming crowd.

"There's a gas leak! The building's gonna blow! You gotta get out NOW!"

Sasuke's breath felt caught in his throat.

He took a step back and coughed.

He pulled up the girl again, fixing his grip.

"Listen…" he began, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, "We're short on time… and we need to get out… this is the third floor…"

He paused.

"Do you trust me?"

The girl nodded.

Hood hugged her hard.

Suddenly, noise were heard from the outside of the room.

The boy cursed, turned to the window and jumped.

He felt the explosion following behind him, the gasp of the crowd, the tensing of the girl's body in his arms.

However, his mind felt blank.

Moments later, he realized he was laying on the grass, his leg muscles sore and his back numb.

A piercing stab of pain came from his side.

A police officer leaned over him; another stood behind him.

Sasuke felt himself groan.

A fuzziness covered his eyes.

"Hood! Hood!" the one crouching said.

This man…

He was his friend…

Oh…

What was his name…

Uh… Rotsu…

Yes, that's right, Rotsu.

Hood turned to the other man.

He had a tense frown on his face.

Right.

That one isn't as supportive.

Haku.

That bastard.

Sasuke sat up, grimacing at the stab of pain.

The two officers made him lay back down.

"Where's the girl?" was the first thing he said once the pain subsided a bit.

Rotsu nodded towards an ambulance, where the girl was sitting on the edge with the cat beside her, generally unharmed.

He sighed in relief.

"How's my side?"

His hand moved to grip it.

"Umm…" the man started, scratching his head, "It's not bleeding, and it doesn't look like anything is broken. Looks like it's just a bruise, probably from the girl hitting you in the landing."

"Ahh…"

Hood closed his eyes and tried to relax.

He heard voices talking to his secret friends.
When they weren't looking, the portal was opened and the boy fell in, leaving the fire scene behind.

-Rooftop at School-

Naruto paced back and forth.

There were five minutes left to lunch.

"Come on buddy…" he messaged to his friend.

Just at that moment, the warp opened, Sasuke stumbling out, still in his Hooded Thief uniform.

The teen jumped forward.

"Sasuke! Are you ok?"

Naruto helped him sit up from where he had fallen on the floor.

"I'm exhausted…" the Uchiha responded as he sighed sleepily, "I just want to sleep…"

"No, no, no. You need to get dressed."

He pulled the boy up to his feet.

"We need to get to class."

"Ehh…"

Sasuke walked back into the warp with a sigh.

A minute later, he reappeared in his school uniform.

"Fine. Let's go."

They started down the stairs.

Naruto glanced around and, when he noted no one was nearby, started speaking, "Sasuke, Sakura came up to the roof…"

"So I've heard," the boy responded, tucking in his shirt, "What happen?"

"Oh… well… First of all, she thought we were gay, and-"

Sasuke stopped dead in his tracks and stared forward with a blank expression.

"I KNOW! But don't worry, I set her straight. Anyway, she was saying how we're keeping something from her, and I don't know… I'm starting to feel bad…"

They were silent as they walked into the empty classroom.

"Yeah… we need to tell her…"

Sasuke said nothing, but nodded.

They sat down at their desks.

"… how could she think we're gay?" the Uchiha exclaimed a few minutes later.

"I KNOW! But sadly, it adds up…"

He shook his head and gagged.

"Anyway… I think we should wait a little to tell her," Sasuke continued, taking out his water bottle and taking a sip.

Before Naruto could open his mouth to complain, his friend explained, "You need to make your appearance and have the media used to having another mystery hero."

Uzumaki frowned.

"Why would you wait? Wouldn't she feel better, maybe grateful, knowing the secret?"

He shook his head.

"If we tell her now, we'll give her the opportunity to stop us. So long as we're both in and well-known, she won't be able to get us out."

The other was silent, but understood.

-Konoha Downtown-

Rotsu and Haku were leaning against their police car, talking.

The building fire was pretty much out, and no one got hurt.

It was quite an achievement.

They were watching a news reporter and her cameraman.

"According to witnesses, the Hooded Thief appeared just twenty minutes ago when the fire was still going strong. He entered the building looking for a five-year-old girl who was still inside. The firefighters then realized the fire was caused by a gas leak in the empty side of the building, and there was going to be an explosion. The Hooded Thief jumped out the window just in time, falling from the third floor. Here is a quick slip of what happen…"

At this moment, the police chief walked up to the two cops.

"Looks like we have control over here. You two are dismissed."

Rotsu nodded and said, "Thank you, sir. We'll see you tomorrow."

The chief left and they climbed into the car.

After a few minutes, he spoke.

"Haku, have you thought about what I talked to you about…?"

There was a pause.

"…yes…"

Another pause.

"What do you think…?"

Haku sighed.

"I think it's the stupidest plan I've ever heard of in my entire life and that it's gonna get us both arrested…"

Silence…

"…so you in…?"

He sighed.

"Yeah, I'm in."