Disclaimer: Again, I do not own Naruto.

Oh! The Fate of the Unfortunate Little One

By: Snotty Chim-Chim

Chapter Three: Tender Moments…?

As night comes, darkness engulfs all streets of Konoha, making it hard to roam around the grounds.

Naruto, still in his chibi form, is seen wandering around the whole Konohagakure searching for something… or someone.

'Did something happen to that teme? He didn't come back to have some lunch at all! Not that I'm worried about him or anything.'

And rain started to fall. It started as few droplets falling from the darkened sky until it became a steady, heavy rainfall.

Yet, Naruto couldn't find Sasuke anywhere nor is he giving up on trying. He began searching the outskirts of Konoha, hoping that Sasuke is there. He caught the sight of a large manor, situated near the forest. Curiosity began to overwhelm his senses and he soon found himself staring at a large, gigantic gate embedded with the famous Uchiha clan's symbol. He pushed the gates open and walked towards the main door.

'I hope Sasuke's here.'

"What are you doing here, dobe?" a voice said behind the shadows.

Naruto whirled around to face the owner of the voice.

"Sasuke!" Naruto blurted out.

Naruto felt relieved to finally see Sasuke although Sasuke is sopping wet with rain just like him.

"What are you doing here, dobe?" Sasuke repeated monotonously.

"Why? I'm looking for you, of course! I've looked all over Konoha for you! You haven't returned at your house since morning! Where the hell did you go?"

"Why do you care?"

"Because I'm your friend!"

"And what if I told you you mean nothing to me?"

"…"

"I can't kick you out of my house, even if I so wanted to, due to the Hokage's order. So, I just thought of spending the remaining days here." Sasuke continued.

"But Tsunade-baba's order includes you taking care of me!"

"Come on, dobe. You're no longer a child. You can take care of yourself just fine. Anyway, you don't want an ice cube taking care of you, do you?"

"But my body's still small! What if some gangsters attacked me, eh?"

"But you're still a ninja; the only difference is your body is too small for your liking." Sasuke smirked.

"Why you ASSHOLE!"

Another smirk.

"I can't believe I let myself get wet just to look for a bastard like you!"

"I didn't ask you to look for me, did I?"

"No! Fine! Fine! Be like that. I'm going back to your house. I hope a lightning hit you!"

"Hn." was Sasuke's only reply.

Then suddenly…

ZZZZZZZZZZZZTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!

A lightning stuck a tree nearby and it caught fire.

Naruto caught Sasuke's eyes and he grinned; then he heads back to Sasuke's house.

As Naruto disappeared from Sasuke's sight, Sasuke sighed. He thought that he shouldn't be that harsh on Naruto esp. if the blonde cares for him. He doesn't mean to offend the dobe but he still has an image to keep up.

'Damn that image.'

Sigh.

'Oh well… Might as well go home and apologize to the dobe. He might be sulking right now.' Sasuke thought as he heads towards the route Naruto has taken earlier.

As he was walking to his house, he thought of how the villagers treat Naruto. It isn't fair. Naruto is just as innocent as he is but why did the villagers hate him like he's done something wrong?

'Probably because of the Kyuubi.'

But it's not enough to hate him. So what if the Kyuubi's inside him? It's sealed.

Sigh.

He probably needs someone to acknowledge him… to treat him as a person… and as a friend.

His thoughts were cut short as he stands in front of his house. As he stepped inside his house, he saw droplets of water on his white tiles.

'Probably from Naruto's wet clothes.'

But these droplets of water aren't normal. It has some sort of red blood too…

'What happened? Why are these red droplets here? Water isn't supposed to be colored red… right? Did something happen to Naruto while heading back here?'

He called for Naruto.

"Dobe!"

And called some more.

"Oi, Dobe! Where are you?"

Still, no one answered.

Panic started to sink in Sasuke's stomach.

He searched Naruto's room, no trace of the blonde. Bathroom, still none. Kitchen…

Sleeping with his head atop the dining table is Naruto.

Sasuke sighed, mostly out of relief rather than annoyance.

Beside him lay an empty bowl of ramen.

'Where did he get the ramen?'

Naruto's clothes are still sopping wet from the rain and so is he. Then, Naruto unexpectedly sneezed.

'Colds, eh?'

"Hey dobe, wake up." Sasuke poked Naruto's small shoulder with his forefinger. Naruto stirred but didn't open his eyes.

"Dobe, wake up!" Sasuke said again, starting to get annoyed.

After ten years… err… a few minutes of waiting, Naruto opened his eyes blearily. He looked around and saw, to his horror…

An empty bowl of ramen.

As his sleepy eyes searched for the culprit, his eyes traveled over the empty bowl, and then at the kitchen… until his eyes landed on someone, which is, to say the least, glaring at him. Slowly, his vision focused and the one standing beside him took the form of Sasuke.

"Sasuke…?" Naruto said groggily.

"Hn."

His eyes suddenly changed from curiosity to one of an accusation.

"Why did you eat my ramen?"

Surprise! Surprise!

"…"

Sasuke couldn't believe what he's hearing. His ears are probably malfunctioning…

"Hey teme! Answer me! Why did you eat my precious ramen?"

No, no. He heard right. His ears aren't malfunctioning. It's Naruto's head that's probably malfunctioning…

An idiot will always be an idiot.

"You ate it yourself," said Sasuke.

"I did not! Don't accuse me of such act! I know you ate my precious ramen to torture me some more!"

"Look who's talking." Sasuke replied.

"Give me back my precious ramen!" Naruto whined.

'No point arguing to an overly emotional, hyperactive, stubborn idiot.'

"I'm going to change if I were you, before I catch colds." Sasuke stated.

As if on cue, Naruto sneezed. And Sasuke smirked.

"I'll only change my clothes if you'll promise to buy me ramen! I don't want to eat onigiri forever."

"Don't start acting like a real child because it doesn't suit you! We'll eat onigiri for only two weeks, not forever. Besides, we can always resolve to tomatoes." Sasuke said.

"Excuse me? Tomatoes? What kind of person are you?"

"It's none of your business."

Naruto pouted.

"Fine! But you still owe me my ramen!" And he started to head for his bedroom.

After he changed his clothes, he went back to the kitchen only to find a newly showered Sasuke sitting on the table.

"Oi dobe, what are those red droplets in the hall?"

"They're called blood."

"I know where it is! Where did it come from?"

"None of your business."

'What the h-! That's my punch line! It's playtime!' Sasuke thought.

"Why? Do you have your menstrual period today?" Sasuke said.

"What the-! What do you think I am? A girl?" Naruto screeched.

"Judging at how you screech, I'd daresay, yes."

"Argh! For your information, the blood comes from my injured knee!"

"Oh, injured knee, you say?"

"Are you deaf or something?"

"How did you get it?"

"I… I… tripped over a root while I was running back here. So, here I am, with an injured knee." Naruto said, unconsciously acting like a child whining at his mother… or rather father.

"…" Sasuke tried not to laugh but somehow, this showed on his face.

Naruto pouted.

"It's not funny. It hurts!"

"…Let me see." Sasuke offered.

And Naruto showed him his injured knee. Sasuke surveyed it.

"Come on, dobe. It's pretty big. We need to disinfect it and put some medicine on it. Then we'll bandage it."

Wow. Can you believe it? The bastard turned into a… caring one? The world must be coming to an end!

They went to the bathroom to clean the wound. As Sasuke was gently wrapping the bandage around Naruto's knee, Naruto couldn't help but gape at him. Sasuke noticed this and scowled. Soon, his gentle hands turned into cruel ones.

"Ouch!"

"Don't move too much."

"I'm not moving!"

After a few agonizing minutes…

"Finished."

Naruto looked down at his small knee which was now cleanly wrapped with bandage.

"Arigatou."

Lo and behold! Is this kid really Naruto? The world must really be coming to an end!

"…" Sasuke can't think of a reply. He didn't expect Naruto to thank him.

"I'm going to sleep." Sasuke said after a few moments of silence.

With that, Sasuke heads to his awaiting bedroom and so as Naruto.

As he lay on his bed, Naruto couldn't help but think of what was happening to his usual attitudes towards Sasuke. They didn't rant much this evening unlike this morning. Then, something crossed his mind.

How come he isn't hungry?

Then, some of his previous conversation with Sasuke entered his mind.

'Hey teme! Answer me! Why did you eat my precious ramen?'

'You ate it yourself.'

He doesn't seem hungry… In fact, his stomach is not rumbling…

And as realization hit him, his eyes widened with horror.

'Sasuke's telling me the truth!' his mind screamed at him.

He looked at the clock placed on the bedside table. 11:00 pm.

'Too late.'

"I'll apologize to him first thing in the morning."

And sleep finally consumed him.

Author's Note:

Here's the update. Sorry if it took me so long to update. I don't have my CPU at home, so it is kind of difficult for me to update. I've already started writing chapter four and I'll post it as soon as I can.

Once again, I'd like to extend my gratitude to those who reviewed.

I thank you.

So… I'm going now… it's late and I still have to attend the PTSI tomorrow… err... later.

Hope to see you in the review section!

Review and review!

Ja ne!