C.M.D: Yay for quick updates! Let's hope I have more of these, ne? Anyways, on to the thank you's. THANK YOU FOR REVIEWING: Ichi Hime-Sama, Mina Hikari, -siarafaerie-101-miss, SasunaruHOLIC, Chaos Dragon-Fox, Utena-Puchiko-nyo, The Only Love For Soujiro Seto, mochiusagi, blugirlami21, qurie, kai, Sutzina Zion, cluelessninja65, reflex, Shy-Hime, Gohanzgirl, sasodei-iz-awesome, The 17th Requiem, DarkestFlameUchiha, 11OneDone2Many, FallenAngel Sayu. As always, I love reading all your reviews and they sure can motivate a person... if writer's block doesn't get in the way. Thanks for reviewing and thanks to everyone whose reading but hasn't reviewed yet. I hope you're all enjoying the story as much as I enjoy writing it. Alright, enough rambling... read on!
Baa, baa Black Sheep,
Have you any Wool?
Naruto hummed merrily as he drew fighting ninjas in the dirt, using his stick to add some awesome lightning to one of the shinobi's attacks. Hinata sat crouched beside him, watching her classmate doodle. She was silent, as was common, but this time out of contemplation. School was out for the day now and she was waiting for her Neji-nii-san to get out of class, so that the two of them could go home. Naruto too was waiting for someone to come pick him up, most likely Kakashi-san. Her colorless orbs flickered up as other children walked by them, heading to the gates to reunite with parents or older siblings. The girl caught sight of Kiba, stomping out of the Academy, dragging a reluctant Akamaru behind him.
The brunette didn't even turn to look at them, and the raven lowered her head in sadness. It had been almost two weeks since Naruto had returned to school and she had lost Kiba's friendship. To her young mind, that was a long time, and she found herself unable to get over it. Picking at her nail, she raised her head a little to see what Naruto was drawing this time. The blonde had moved on past ninjas and was drawing big snakes and dogs. He muttered little sounds as he doodled, which sounded like hisses and puppy barks. The image brought a tugging to the Hyuuga's lips, and she felt her cheering up a tiny bit.
She was sad that Kiba no longer wanted to be around her, but she was happy that she still had Naruto.
Hinata glanced at the school, hoping to see her cousin by now, when out of the doors came Sasuke. The Uchiha stopped, shifting his bag, staring over at the pair of younger children. There was a sound beside her and the girl looked to see that Naruto was staring up at Sasuke too. But after a moment, the blonde returned his gaze back to the ground, his drawing stick wiggling as he created another image. Hinata felt her mouth open in shock, and she turned her attention back to Sasuke. The older boy was frowning now, and angrily he turned and walked away. The raven watched as the Uchiha left too, and felt her chest tighten.
She hiccuped, and Naruto stopped what he was doing, turning his full attention to her. "Hinata-chan?," he asked worriedly. "It's okay. Don't cry. Your cousin will come out soon."
Hinata shook her head, tiny fists coming to her eyes as tears started to form. "T-that...n-not it," she stuttered, feeling her tears start to flow stronger. Naruto looked puzzled, and inched closer to the raven. The little boy tried to comfort his friend but the Hyuuga shrugged him off, inching away from the Uzumaki.
"Y-you-you're not N-naru-to!," she exclaimed.
Naruto looked shocked for a second, then he huffed irritably. "Yes I am," he protested.
"N-noo!," Hinata sobbed. "Th-the N-naruto i-I know w-wants to be Sa-suke-san's fri-iend. B-but you a-are meee-ean to h-him now. Y-yo-ou're always g-ood... a-and you p-plaaay wi-ith j-just me..."
"Y-you do-don't want t-to be my ...fri-iend?," the Uzumaki whispered, staring heart-brokenly at the raven. Hinata tried to speak, but could only cry louder. She shook her head furiously, until her neck started to hurt. Naruto had been avoiding Sasuke for as long as Kiba was ignoring her. She couldn't stand it anymore. "H-hina...," Naruto hiccuped, "P-please... d-don't cry an-anymore. I-I... I'm go-gonna... crrrr-ry too!"
The black-haired girl swallowed back her next sob, looking at the blonde through her teary eyes. Indeed, he looked like he was about to cry too. His bottom lip was trembling and his eyes were all watery and red-rimmed. Sniffing loudly, Hinata wiped at her eyes. She didn't want Naruto to cry too, because then she'd cry more seeing her bawling friend. The Uzumaki too was rubbing at his eyes, trying to get rid of the unshed tears.
"I-I still want to b-be you friend...," Hinata sniffled. "B-but... I want t-the old N-naruto-kun back...."
Naruto blinked, looking at the grass between his sandals. "I...I don't understand," the blonde mumbled. Hinata looked down at her own feet, unsure of how to continue you.
"I l-liked it better...," she attempted, "when Na-naruto-kun didn't speak right. Naruto then tried harder, he even wanted to be Sasuke's friend. N-now he doesn't want to be Sasuke's friend. Wh-where is Naruto's bravery and niceness? And it makes me feel s-sad... because if N-naruto turns away from Sa-sasuke so easy... will N-naruto not want to be m-my friend later on?"
"No!," Naruto shouted, shocking the raven. She looked up at him, eyes tearing up again. The boy desperately tried to get his words out, arms flailing about wildly. "I will always be your friend, Hina!," he proclaimed. "So...so you don't have to cry anymore."
But the Hyuuga was not appeased still. She frowned, and pinched at the whiskered cheeks. The Uzumaki let out at an ouch, staring shocked at the girl. Hinata had never done anything like that to him before! The pale-eyed girl looked at Naruto seriously. "B-but what about Sasuke-san? Don't you want to be his friend s-still?," she asked.
The small boy stared into the raven's colorless orbs, before glancing back at the school. Unaware to both of the other children, he had been watching as Sasuke left. And it kind of made him sad. He still really wanted to be Sasuke's friend, but he thought it would be better not to. He didn't want to upset his daddy or Kakashi-nii-san anymore. "Yes...," he answered reluctantly. "But it doesn't matter."
Hinata pinched Naruto again, and the boy turned his attention back to her. Hinata was looking sad again, and her bottom lip jutted out with anger. "It does matter," she said. "If Naruto still wants to be Sasuke's friend, then he should try! Be-because... it, it hurts w-wanting to play with someone.... and they don't want to even l-look at you...."
Naruto touched the girl's hand, as a couple tears silently dribbled down her white cheeks. "Hina....?"
"I-I w-want to be K-kiba's friend," she wailed, "b-but h-he stays aw-away from m-meeee! I-I don't li-like it; i-it hur-urts!!"
The Uzumaki hugged the crying girl, patting her back. "Don't cry, Hina," he soothed, "Don't cry. I will be Sasuke's friend, and then... then you can be Kiba's friend too, 'kay?"
The Hyuuga calmed down a little, cuddling with the blonde. "B-but what if he doesn't like me anymore...," she breathed worriedly. Naruto chuckled a bit.
"How can he not like you, Hinata-chan," he assured. "And if he doesn't then he's a big dummy. But I will still be Hinata's friend." The raven smiled against the boy's shoulder, squeezing him tightly.
"Hinata!!," called a voice.
The two children parted, both turning to the voice. It was Neji, finally finished talking to his teacher. He stood only a few feet away from them, looking a little impatient. "Come on, Hinata. Let's go home!"
The dark-haired female scrambled to her feet, turning to Naruto one last time. "P-promise me you'll be Sasuke's f-friend?," she asked Naruto. The blonde smiled at her, displaying his growing in tooth.
"I promise."
Smiling, and feeling better now, Hinata turned and ran to her cousin's side. She took his hand, waving back at Naruto one last time, and letting Neji lead her out of the gates. "Hinata... ," he began, concerned. "Were you crying?"
The girl shook her head, cuddling closer to her relative. "It's okay. Naruto didn't do anything. But... I-i do want to be Kiba's friend. I'm going to be his friend... is that alright?" Neji glanced down at the younger child, sighing. "Take care," was all he said.
The shurikens zipped through the air, most digging into the tree's trunk with a thud, a couple bouncing off the wood and hitting the floor. Sasuke huffed angrily, noticing that many of his stars had missed the center of the target. Slowly he walked to the abused tree, pulling the shuriken out and gathering them into one hand. The little boy looked to the treeline, seeing the blue sky beginning to bleed at the edges. It was nearing sunset and his mom would want him to come home soon. Usually she didn't mind that her youngest son was out training, but if Itachi wasn't around she didn't like Sasuke to be out after sundown.
Crouching to pick up the last few of his shurikens off the floor, Sasuke thought about how he wished his brother was here. At least then maybe he could ask the older Uchiha what to do about Naruto. The raven frowned, grabbing the last star and glaring at the steel projectile. "It's not as if I care or anything....," he mumbled to himself. But even Sasuke knew that was a lie. He had thought the blonde annoying in the beginning, possibly might of hated him, so he couldn't understand how the situation had gotten so turned around.
He was upset now that the Uzumaki was purposely ignoring him, and had been for the past two weeks. When the school year started, he'd grown so accustomed to being pestered by Naruto, that when the other boy disappeared for a week, the raven had.... unadmittingly... missed the other's presence somewhat. Then the little blonde had shown back up again, and Sasuke thought things would go back to normal. But they hadn't. Instead, Naruto was pretending like the older child didn't exist. And the raven felt weird... It seemed something had been missing with Naruto gone and with him back, and despite how angry he was at the blonde, he had felt better knowing that at least the Uzumaki was okay.
But still... to be this bothered by the fact that he had finally gotten the peace that he had so craved, frustrated the Uchiha to no end. He didn't want to think about Naruto, he didn't want to be bothered at all by the fact that the younger boy had finally learned his place.... but he did, and it was bugging him! Sasuke whimpered a bit, glaring up at the tree. The red ring of the target stood out brightly, the center point carved out deeply from Itachi's many well-aimed shuriken throws. Blinking back heated tears, Sasuke wished again that his brother would return back from his mission soon.
Everything was just too confusing to the black-haired child and he knew that Itachi would have all the answers that he was looking for. And he needed those answers soon, because Sasuke didn't know how long he could take being brushed off like this. Today especially had been almost unbearable. He had wanted to stomp over and separate Naruto from the Hyuuga girl, all just to make that idiot look at him; to get the blonde to stop avoiding him. With a huff, Sasuke got to his feet, patting off the dirt on his shorts.
He needed to get home now, or else he'd worry his mom. He'd think about these weird feelings later, hopefully when his aniki came home. If not, then he'd tackle the problem head on, like any proper Uchiha. He wouldn't back down, and he definitely wouldn't give in to Naruto.
Naruto scribbled messily across his page, drawing a picture to go along with his two sentences. Mizuki-sensei walked past his table, and the blonde glanced up, in time to see the silver-haired teacher glare at him before turning away. The child stuck his tongue out at the man, but didn't bother to further retaliate. Secretly, the boy smiled to himself. Ever since he came back to school, Naruto had pulled up his grades and classroom participation, he wasn't pulling any pranks either. Now Mizuki-sensei was unable to say anything mean to him, though the man still glared at him hatefully when noone was looking. The blonde wondered why that was, but he was still feeling smug anyways.
Naruto colored in some more blue on the sky, turning his head to look over at Hinata sitting at the other table in the room. The raven was focused on her own paper, her tiny fingers carefully coloring her page in with care. It had been a couple days since he had promised the girl after school about befriending Sasuke, and the Uzumaki had yet to act on that promise. He didn't want to break his word to his dear friend, but the little boy had the chance to see Sasuke. And he was suddenly feeling nervous about it.
Chasing after Sasuke had become like a second nature to him, and when he decided not to do it anymore, he was finding it hard to get back into the swing of things. He was hesitant all over again, and he feared he might anger the Uchiha more than he had the last few times when he tried to approach the raven. He'd be lying if the boy didn't say he was somewhat ...scared. Naruto's smile slowly turned into a frown, and the blonde turned to his writing assignment. He stared dismally at the messy picture of him with his daddy, the caption saying how much fun he had when they went for ice cream. 'I wonder what it would be like to have ice cream with Sasuke...,' the child thought distantly. Placing his chin into his hands, Naruto turned to look out the window. Now he just had to wait until school ended....
Sasuke fidgeted in his seat for the seventh time that day, obsidian orbs darting to the clock then back to Iruka-sensei's lesson. The brown-haired man glanced slightly in the Uchiha's direction, before turning to the rest of the class and fully explaining the problem on the board. Sasuke thought for a moment that the brunette might have noticed the child's restlessness, but he brushed it off quickly. Iruka-sensei was a bright man, but the Uchiha didn't think that even he could see how much the boy wanted this class to be finished with.
It wasn't so much about escaping from the stupid girls. With each passing day, Sasuke was getting more and more frustrated. He wasn't used to be people ignoring him, and he knew that this wouldn't go away until he did something about it. Which meant making sure that he wouldn't be ignored any longer. He looked to the clock again, and the raven felt himself frown at the moving hands. There was still ten minutes left to the school day. How much longer was this going to take!?
Sasuke huffed slightly, instantly looking out the window when Sakura turned to him with concerned eyes. He didn't want her care or worry, he just wanted the bell to ring so he could go find that little blonde before he left. But obviously, he couldn't make time go faster no matter how much the raven wanted it to, so he turned back to his notebook; quickly making a small note of something that Iruka-sensei said. If he only focused on his work, than perhaps the rest of the day would go by quickly and he'd be able to get out of this classroom. And then he was doing his homework, and was shocked when the shrill ringing of the school bell began, signaling that school was over.
Sasuke scrambled to collect his things, surprised he had zoned out long enough that he was unprepared for when the bell rang. So far things weren't going to plan and he felt himself get angry at his own incompetence. Sakura was chatting by his side, evidently talking to him, but the raven simply threw his things into his bag and pushed past her to the door. Kiba was already there, looking back and forth down the hall, before racing off with his mutt yipping from his hood.
The Inuzuka had been extremely sulky the past while, and even refused to acknowledge his two desk mates. Most likely that had to do with Hinata choosing Naruto over the brunette, not that Sasuke cared much about the dog-lover. He, himself, had his own problems to deal with involving the blonde and could care less about some pathetic bully. Turning at the corner, the Uchiha quickly dashed down the teacher's hallway, checking that the coast was clear before opening the hallway window and crawling outside. He liked to take this route because the window was directly next to the Academy trees, and he would be able to slip away from his crazy fangirls without any of them following him home. Today he wasn't heading straight home.
Sasuke jogged through the trees, circling about the school, slowing to a walk and sneaking a little closer to the tree line. Now he could see the gates of the school, and over to his far left was the large maple with the single swing. There was Kiba again, purposefully striding out of the gates, past the other children and parents. But he didn't care about that. Black eyes continued to scan the field. It was pure luck, or maybe it was Fate working, but Naruto came out of the side doors with Hinata, only feet away from where Sasuke was hidden.
With bated breath, the raven watched the pair walk closer to him, hearing their conversation but not actually absorbing anything that was said. His mind was racing, and his palms felt somewhat clammy. He didn't know exactly what he was going to do but he was going to do something no matter what. And then suddenly Naruto was right there in front of him, unaware of the Uchiha hiding in the trees. How strange that the blonde didn't notice him, considering the boy's uncanny sense of zoning in on the black-haired child's presence. But no matter.... The Uzumaki's bright blue eyes were wide open, his mouth stretch wide with a smile as he talked to the Hyuuga, who was shyly nodding her head and smiling softly in return.
"And then, Kakashi-nii-san was li-," Sasuke didn't give Naruto the chance to finish his sentence, reaching out of the safety of the trees and yanking the smaller child into the bushes.
Hinata had been casually talking with Naruto, both of them heading to the gate to be picked up by their respective family, when suddenly a pale arm reached out from behind a tree, grabbing Naruto and pulling him out of sight. The girl couldn't help but 'eep!' in fright and shock, hurrying to the spot her blonde friend had disappeared at and looking into the bushes. She was surprised to find herself face to face with Sasuke, who was looking overly annoyed trying to keep hold of a struggling Uzumaki.
"Go ahead," the boy said, cutting the Hyuuga off before she could start. "I'm just going to have a talk with him." Her pale eyes looked from Sasuke, to Naruto trying to bite the Uchiha's fingers off from around his mouth, back to Sasuke again.
Hinata didn't really want to leave her friend with the Uchiha, but this was the perfect opportunity for Naruto to finally befriend Sasuke. So, despite her anxiety, she nodded her head; looking up at the bigger raven fiercely. "D-don't yo-you d-dare hurt h-him tho-though," she threatened him. Blushing with embarrassment and surprise at her own bravery, Hinata quickly turned away from the two boys and scurried to the gates. Getting over the shock of having the Hyuuga heir actually attempt to threaten him, Sasuke let go of Naruto, watching as the blonde turned around to face him angrily.
"What was that for!," he shouted, trying to glare at the raven.
Sasuke thought the Uzumaki wasn't doing it properly but wasn't going to mention it to the irritated blonde. Instead he crossed his arms over his chest, refusing to respond to the other boy's question. Naruto scowled at that, crossing his arms over his chest as well, respectively waiting for Sasuke to answer his question. They stood like that for a few minutes, not either one saying anything.
When Sasuke huffed angrily, Naruto did too. If Sasuke happened to shift a bit on his foot, then Naruto ended up doing the same not too long after. "Stop copying me," Sasuke ordered, having the blonde mirror his action again.
"I'm not," Naruto snapped back. The raven bit his lip, placing his hands on his hips. The Uzumaki did exactly what he did, and finally Sasuke couldn't stand it anymore.
"You're doing it again!," he shouted.
"Doing what?"
"Copying me!"
"Am not!"
"Yes, you are!"
"No, I'm not!!"
"Arghhh, I didn't stop you so you could bug me!"
"Then why did you stop me?," Naruto questioned, leaning closer to the older boy.
Sasuke frowned, lightly pushing the other boy back a bit. "Why does it matter to you? What if I don't want to tell?"
"Well, that would be kinda stupid than," the blonde retaliated. "But if you're not going to say anything, I'm going home." The Uzumaki started to step out from the bushes, but the raven grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him back, pushing the child against one of the trees.
"You're not going anywhere until I'm done talking," Sasuke said.
"What?! As if!," Naruto yelled, struggling wildly against the pale child's grip.
The Uchiha tried to get the other child to stop fighting but he couldn't do anything more than hold the blonde against the tree, and even then Naruto was struggling so hard that Sasuke didn't think he could hold the boy down for long. It was now or never... to say what he had wanted to say in the beginning.
"I, I'm not staying... here! If you have ....nothing to... talk to me ab-"
"My friend!," Sasuke shouted over Naruto's voice. "You're going to be my friend! I demand it!"
The Uzumaki fell silent, and so did Sasuke. He was so shocked by his own words. That hadn't been what he had meant to say, but the words had fallen out of his mouth anyways. Those cerulean orbs blinked up at him, Naruto's lips pursing into a pout.
"You pulled me here to order me to be your friend...?," the blonde asked.
Suddenly self-conscious, Sasuke let go of the little boy, tucking his hands in his pockets and looking off to the side. "So? Your point?"
"I'm not going to be your friend because you demand it."
Sasuke turned back around to face the smaller child. "Of course you are!," he replied. He already dug himself a hole now by demanding that Naruto be his friend. Might as well carry on through with it, instead of backing down. But he didn't like the way that the blonde was refusing to obey him. "If I say you're going to be my friend, then you are!"
Naruto shook his head. "That's not how it works, you know," he said. "You can tell me as many times as you want, but I won't be your friend just because of that." The Uzumaki was starting to make him really angry now. Sasuke didn't want to stand here wasting his time any longer on the other boy. If Naruto didn't want to do as he said, then he was done with the child. He wouldn't think about the blonde from this day forward.
The raven turned away, starting to step out of the trees. Naruto couldn't believe it! Sasuke had been the one to first approach him and was suddenly demanding that the blonde be his friend. He wasn't even considering the boy's own feelings in this. And just because he wasn't going along with what the Uchiha wanted, the older male was getting all upset about it. Now he thought he was just going to leave?!
Naruto reached forward, and grabbed hold of Sasuke's arm, pulling at the limb. "Wait!," he shouted shrilly. The black-haired boy looked back in surprise, eyebrows arching into the ever familiar expression of annoyance. He looked up and frowned at Sasuke in return. "I'm not going to be your friend just because you demand me to...," he started. He stopped for a second, smiling brightly up at the raven. "But I will be your friend because I want to."
Sasuke felt his jaw drop open in shock. He tried to turn around to properly face Naruto, but ended up tripping over his own feet and landing on his bottom. He blinked up at the blonde, still having not gotten over his surprise. Naruto smiled down at him, chuckling with a whistle because of the gap in his teeth. "Why the face?," he laughed. He held out a hand to the raven, and mutely Sasuke accepted it, getting back up.
He wanted to say something, anything, to at least not make him seem so dumbfounded by the turn of events, but he couldn't find the words and then there was someone calling Naruto's name. "Naruto, Naruto!!" Naruto looked out of the trees, looking back at Sasuke for a moment.
"Time for me to go home," he said softly. The Uzumaki let go of the older boy's hand, and quickly pushed past the bushes. "See you tomorrow, k?," Naruto called over his shoulder. Not waiting for the Uchiha's response, he waved and ran out of sight. Still a little stunned, Sasuke leaned back against one of the trees, gazing down at the hand that had been clasped with the blonde's moments before.
Kakashi had been so terrified, waiting at the gate with no Naruto in sight anywhere. Kids were coming out constantly, but the jounin had yet to come across a familiar head of gold spikes. At first, that was alright, because he figured that the boy was just taking his time. But then the number of children coming through the gate slowed down to a trickle. Then he was a little worried. The Hatake didn't start panicking until a few minutes after he saw the Hyuuga girl come out and head home with her cousin.
Where was Naruto? He tried to keep rational about it all, but after the month's recent events, Kakashi wasn't able to keep himself level-headed. He went into the Academy, asking the teachers if they had seen the Uzumaki, but none had and the dog-nin felt his anxiety sky-rocket. He was so dead.... There was no doubt in his mind, no doubt within his soul, that his sensei wouldn't murder him cruelly and viciously for losing Naruto. While examining the school's beams (were they good enough to rope a hangman's noose from, he wondered) there was a tap on his shoulder, and Kakashi spun on the individual. "WHAT?," he screeched. Yeah... the panicking wasn't doing much for his social skills.
The brown-haired man flinched a bit, but held his hand out in any case. "Hi... I'm Umino Iruka. I heard you were looking for someone?" The man's soft voice calmed the jounin a bit, and he nodded his head. Iruka's eyebrows crinkled in concern. "If it's a child, I'd be more than glad to help you look for him or her," he offered.
Kakashi nearly wept for joy. None of the other chunnin that he had questioned offered to help in his search for the Hokage's son, and having this Umino-san come was like a blessing. "Thank you, thank you so much!," the grey-haired shinobi cried, shaking the brunette's hand vigorously. "I.. I'm looking for my sensei's son. Umm, five years old, about nay high... blonde, blue eyes, whiskers on his cheeks...."
Iruka gasped, hand flying up to his mouth in horror. "You lost the Yondaime's SON!," he hissed at Kakashi. He slapped the jounin upside the head with his file folder. "Are you stupid!! Do you have any idea of what you've done!?"
The Hatake blocked the next slap, holding his hands pleadingly in front of him. "Yes, I'm fully aware! But, but... it's not like I did it on purpose!!," he protested. "I was waiting at the front gate, but he never showed!"
Iruka frowned, slipping his folder under his arm, biting at his nail nervously. "Oh god... the Hokage's son," he whispered. "To lose the Hokage's only son is the very epitome of irresponsibility." Kakashi decided to ignore the glare from the brunette, knowing he deserved it very much right now. The Umino shook his head, sighing. "Alright, well... first things first. We'll sweep the school. If we're lucky, Naruto-kun will not have left the building. And if he has, let's pray he hasn't gotten very far."
That sounded like the best plan in the whole wide world. Like an accurate map to the Holy Grail. Kakashi quickly nodded his head, agreeing to what the chunnin said. Hell, he probably would have agreed to anything any rational person ordered him to do. His nerves were so shot, he just wasn't able to do any critical thinking himself. S-class nins he'd take on.... at least he knew he could handle that without losing his mind. Iruka pushed at him roughly. "Well, what are you waiting for?," the teacher demanded. "Move it. We've got a whole school to search!" Kakashi scrambled to move, following the brunette's lead.
The pair had swept half the school, stopping outside of the teacher's lounge, and still there was no sight of Naruto anywhere. Kakashi was seconds away from a nervous breakdown, and Iruka was starting to feel a little anxious himself. A cold breeze made the brunette shiver, and he turned to see that the hallway window was open. "Sasuke-kun," he sighed. "I really wish the boy didn't constantly use this window."
Hatake perked at the raven's name, turning to the chunnin. "What do you mean?," he asked. Iruka closed the window, putting down the lock. "Sasuke-kun often uses this window here to leave the school. He does it to avoid the girls. You know they always take to bo-" Kakashi waved off the rest of what the man was going say.
"How does Sasuke get home?"
"Huh? Well, he usually walks along the trees and then when he's close enough he leaves through the gate, but -Hey, wait a second! Where are you going?" Iruka chased after the grey-haired male, running to catch up with the taller man's long strides. Kakashi didn't heed to the Umino's calling, instead he walked quickly down the school hallways, heading to the closest exit. He hadn't seen the Uchiha leave at all, and he's been standing at the gate long before school let out. That could only mean one thing: That the raven was still inside of the Academy grounds. And aware of the previous interactions between the black-haired child and a certain blonde, it wouldn't surprise the nin if Naruto had gotten side-tracked after running into the Uchiha.
The door hit the wall with a crash as the Hatake hurried outside, scanning the surrounding area intently. He only hoped that during the time he had spent searching for Naruto inside of the school, the blonde hadn't left the Academy grounds. Pin-pointing where the window that Sasuke crawled through was, Kakashi jogged to the closest trees, yelling Naruto's name. Behind him, a panting Iruka tried to keep pace with the jounin. There was a rustle among the bushes not too far away from the sharigan-wielder, and suddenly a gold-haired bundle was plowing its way into his side.
"Kakashi-nii-san!!," Naruto cried, jumping eagerly at the man's side.
Kakashi sighed with relief, scooping the child up into his arms. He hugged Naruto tightly, despite the boy's protests. "You're safe....," he said. Naruto wrinkled his nose, eyebrows drawn up in confusion.
"Of course I'm okay," he said. "Why wouldn't I be?"
Iruka came to a stop beside them. "N-no... reason...," he huffed. He gave himself a second to catch his breath, before smiling at the blonde. "Hello Naruto-kun. Do you remember me? I was here when you came to the Academy to play before summer started." Naruto's face brightened up in recognition, and he nodded his head.
"Yep! I remember you. You are Sasuke's sensei!," the boy declared.
"Well, yes I am...," the brunette agreed. He glanced worriedly at Kakashi but the jounin only shrugged. Naruto was safe and unharmed. At this moment in time he could care less about the Uchiha kid.
"Anyways, we need to be getting home Umino-san. Thank you for all your help," Kakashi said, bowing slightly to the chunnin. Iruka blushed a bit, the scare across his nose darkening.
"No, no...," he assured, " no need to thank me. Just promise you'll keep a closer eye on Naruto-kun, and I'm good." Kakashi smiled under his mask, and the other man smiled in return. "Have a good evening."
Naruto said his goodbyes to Iruka-sensei, and Kakashi turned them in the direction of home, glad that the day was nearly over with. Watching until the pair had disappeared, Iruka turned back to the bushes where Naruto had come out of, peering past the shrubs and into the shadows of the trees. "Sasuke?," he called softly.
The raven stepped out into the open, staring distantly up at his sensei. Iruka, who had just been about to lecture the Uchiha, shrugged and smiled instead at the boy. "It's okay to want to talk with Naruto-kun... but please be considerate, Sasuke-kun. Naruto is the Yondaime's son, and he worries often about his son."
Sasuke flushed a little and stared down at his feet. "...sorry...," he mumbled softly. Iruka smile grew softer, and he ruffled the Uchiha's hair. "It's gotten a little late now. Your brother is still away on a mission right? May I walk you home?" The child nodded, and together the two walked towards the clan district.
C.M.D: Well.... now Naruto and Sasuke are friends. Yay!
....so, where will the story lead next? I dunno, but I guess I'll continue writing until I got nothing left in me. Definitely there'll be more chapters to talk about the beautiful friendship between our two favorite boys. ....yea... I've got nothing left in me to say. I really liked writing this chapter myself. Wanted to do something a little different with the beginning but it turned out alright all things considering. Ok... done talking now, so remember to review guys and tell me your thoughts. And hopefully, I'll get more out soon. Fingers crossed for inspiration!