Naruto walked down the path by the lake, hands in his pockets. His stomach ached, but he couldn't afford to get food right now; he was low on money and didn't get his allowance until tomorrow. Though the old man would probably give him free ramen if he asked, Naruto didn't want to take advantage of his kindness. No need to make the best ramen chef in the world hate him, after all. A free bowl here and there, after he'd already ordered a few, was one thing, but going to him and expecting a free bowl would just be rude.

He looked up and smiled. The sky was turning orange, which meant he could probably sleep as soon as he got home and eat after he got his allowance in the morning. Mmm, ramen for breakfast. Ichiraku was normally open by the time old man Hokage gave him his allowance, so it should work out. Teuchi always told him he needed to eat more than ramen, but ramen was the best food and he didn't see any issue with eating it for breakfast. Ayame told him he needed to 'eat more greens' or he'd get sick, but he'd never been sick so he wasn't really worried.

Tearing his eyes away from the sky — it was so amazing and orange — he looked down at the pier. It'd be nice to sit there and wait for it to get a little darker before he went home to-

Oh. Sasuke was sitting there, staring off into the water. Naruto sighed, smile dropping. He'd only really seen Sasuke at the academy, something that usually involved everyone obsessing over Sasuke, severely limiting any chance Naruto had to talk to the other boy. Not that he wanted to talk to Sasuke! He just wanted to beat Sasuke up and prove he was cool too, but… Sasuke always won when they sparred. Always.

Maybe he could try to talk to Sasuke now and maybe get some tips? Naruto immediately shook his head at the idea; Sasuke would just brush him off, or berate him, or push him into the-

Sasuke's head turned to face him and Naruto immediately looked away. The glimpse he got of Sasuke's face was expressionless, like always, but Sasuke was probably annoyed. He was always annoyed for, like, no reason.

When Naruto looked back, Sasuke was once again staring into the lake. Naruto frowned. Sasuke seemed… lonely. Naruto knew what it felt like to be lonely; he'd always been lonely, except for when old man Hokage hung out with him. He didn't know much about Sasuke's family, but he heard something about them dying. That made him an orphan, just like Naruto.

Naruto looked down at his feet, kicking a rock. He could at least try talking to Sasuke, right? Sasuke didn't react to any of the other kids in their class, but all of the other kids had families. They probably didn't understand what it was like for Sasuke. Naruto didn't understand what it was like to lose family, since he didn't have one in the first place, but at least he knew what it was like to be alone. That had to count for something, right?

After a minute of just standing there, Naruto shrugged. Worst thing Sasuke could do was get mad and Naruto was used to that. He looked at Sasuke again, still staring at the lake, and decided to make his way down the hill. Nerves made his heart beat a bit faster, but he ignored it. He tried to make as little noise as possible, but that only worked on the grass; as soon as his foot hit the dock, the sound of a footstep broke the peaceful silence.

Sasuke turned to look at him, face still unreadable. "What do you want?" he asked, voice dull.

Naruto scratched the back of his head, plastering on his signature fake grin. "Uh, to say hi?" he tried. "You look lonely."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "I don't want company," he said, turning forward. "I'm used to being lonely."

Naruto frowned, lowering his hand back down to his side. Sasuke didn't actually say to go away, though. Naruto walked forward more and sat by Sasuke's right side. "I'm used to being lonely too," he admitted, dangling his feet above the water, "I never knew my parents." He stared down at the water, and could see Sasuke staring at the water through his reflection. "I don't even know if I have parents."

"Everyone has parents, idiot," Sasuke said, face still unreadable. "Everyone knows that."

Naruto shrugged. "Everyone calls me a monster, so I dunno."

Sasuke frowned, looking up and turning to him. "You don't look like a monster," Sasuke said. "I've never seen someone with whiskers, but you look human."

Naruto's eyes widened, and he looked over at Sasuke. "Really? You don't think I'm a monster?"

Sasuke shrugged. "An idiot, sure. Not a monster, though." Sasuke's face went unreadable again, and he looked back at the water. "I know what monsters look like," he mumbled, his voice so quiet that Naruto barely heard it.

Naruto wanted to protest the idiot remark, but the second part of Sasuke's statement stopped him. I know what monsters look like. Naruto may not know what happened to Sasuke's family — no one bothered to tell him things like that — but he wasn't an idiot, he could guess that the monster was related to how Sasuke lost his family. He settled on, "Thanks."

"Thanks?" Sasuke echoed, raising an eyebrow. "For what?"

"Not thinking I'm a monster."

They sat in silence for a while — longer than Naruto even realized he could sit still — just staring at the lake. The sun kept getting lower, but neither of them moved; Naruto thought it was nice to just sit with someone. Maybe Sasuke felt the same.

Eventually, Naruto's stomach rumbled. He blushed, and Sasuke turned to him with a smirk. "Hungry?" Sasuke remarked.

Naruto shook his head. "No, I'm fine." His stomach rumbled again, but he ignored it. "I'll eat tomorrow," he added.

Sasuke frowned. "Don't you love ramen or something?" he asked. "Why don't you go to that ramen place?"

"I, uh," Naruto scratched the back of his head, putting on a fake grin, "can't afford it?"

Sasuke's frown deepened. "Really? Shouldn't you have an allowance from the Hokage?"

Naruto shrugged. "I had to buy new clothes pretty recently," he tugged on his new-old shirt, "so I don't have enough left."

"Shouldn't your allowance be enough for food, clothes, and extra stuff?" Sasuke pressed, still frowning.

"I dunno," Naruto lied; he didn't want to tell anyone about people overcharging him, or they might get mad and call him ungrateful. He turned back to the lake, hoping Sasuke would do the same. "I get more money tomorrow, so I'll just eat then."

Instead of turning back to the lake, Sasuke stood up. Naruto turned to look at him, and Sasuke held a hand out. "Up," Sasuke commanded.

Naruto raised his eyebrows. "Huh?"

"Up," Sasuke repeated. "I'll get you food."

Naruto frowned, shaking his head. "I'll be fine, you don't need to waste money on-"

"I have plenty of money," Sasuke cut him off, hand still out. "I have more than enough to pay, even without my allowance from the Hokage."

Naruto kept shaking his head. "Really, I'm fine. I'll just sleep-" his stomach rumbled, cutting him off. Sasuke raised an eyebrow and Naruto sighed. "Fine," he relented, grabbing Sasuke's hand.

Sasuke pulled him up with a smirk. "Ichiraku, right?" Sasuke asked, putting his hands in his pockets.

"Uh, if you want," Naruto said, also putting his hands in his pockets. "I'm fine with whatever."

"Ichiraku sounds fine." Without another word, Sasuke turned and started walking off the dock. Naruto blinked a few times, until Sasuke raised one hand and motioned for him to follow.

Naruto quickly caught up to Sasuke, and they started walking side-by-side in the direction of Ichiraku.

Sasuke glanced at Naruto as they reached the ramen stand. He seemed… unusually normal. Sasuke knew the blond wasn't really an idiot, but it was weird to see him not acting like one. Deciding not to dwell on it, he ducked under the curtain to the ramen stand and walked up to the counter.

"Welcome!" the chef greeted, then looked past him. "Oh, Naruto! It's great to see you again, who's your friend?"

Sasuke turned around and Naruto gave him a questioning look. Was Naruto asking if he could say they're friends? Sasuke shrugged, turning back to the chef. "I'm Sasuke," he said, hopping up onto one of the stools.

Sasuke looked to his right as Naruto hopped up on the stool next to him, a blinding grin plastered on his face. "Sorry I haven't been here in a bit, I've just been a little busy, y'know!" Naruto told the chef, then turned to Sasuke. "Have you had ramen before, Sasuke?"

"Of course I have." Sasuke looked at the chef. "May I have some miso ramen?" He didn't eat ramen often, but miso was what his mother used to make. It was something her friend had liked, apparently.

"Miso, eh?" the chef asked, smiling and turning to Naruto. "Same for you?"

"Yeah!" Naruto agreed cheerfully. "Thank you, old man Teuchi!"

Old man Teuchi? Figured that Naruto would be on a first name basis with the ramen chef.

"You like miso too, Sasuke?" Naruto asked, speaking softly again. "And thank you for this."

Sasuke shrugged. "Not as much as you probably do, but yeah," he admitted, looking at Naruto again. "And it's nothing. My m-" he cut himself off. My mom would've killed me if I let another kid starve. "It's nothing."

Naruto shook his head. "It's not nothing," he argued. "Most people wouldn't do something this nice. So thank you!

Sasuke frowned again, turning forward. Most people would help an obviously starving kid if they had the money, or should, at least. Part of Sasuke wasn't surprised that Naruto wasn't used to it, though. The sun was going down on the way here, but people were still out; he noticed the glares people were sending Naruto's way, far worse than the occasional glare he got. But Naruto didn't mention it, so he wasn't going to.

They sat in silence while they waited — Sasuke was kind of surprised Naruto could sit in silence — with only the sound of Teuchi cooking ramen to fill it. Eventually, Teuchi placed their bowls in front of them. "Enjoy your meal," he said kindly. "And Naruto, I'll get started on seconds right away."

"You don't need to," Naruto said, already digging into his food. "One is good."

Teuchi raised an eyebrow and Sasuke got the feeling Naruto always had seconds. Or thirds. Or fourths. "If you want-" Sasuke started.

"One is good," Naruto repeated, not looking up from his bowl. "I'm not that hungry."

Sasuke knew that was a lie, so he turned to the chef. "Can you bring another bowl for both of us?" he asked. He honestly wasn't that hungry, but had a feeling Naruto would adamantly refuse if he was the only one who got another bowl.

"Sasuke-" Naruto started.

"I'm hungry," Sasuke lied without looking at the blond. "I wanted a second bowl, and figured you would too."

"You haven't even touched your first," Naruto pointed out.

Oh, yeah. Sasuke responded by digging into his bowl. He was hit by a fresh wave of grief, and the hate that always followed, when the taste hit his tongue — it reminded him of his mother's ramen — but he pushed it away. If he couldn't eat his food, Naruto would know he was lying. He wasn't sure why that made him feel so determined, but Naruto apparently believed him and went back to eating his own food.

They ate in silence, which was only broken by quiet thanks once Teuchi came with their second bowls, and Sasuke was still a little surprised by Naruto's ability to stay quiet.

Eventually, both of them finished their food. Sasuke wordlessly paid for all four bowls, not even paying attention to the low cost, and left the booth before Naruto could say anything.

As he started towards his apartment, he heard a surprisingly quiet "thank you" from Naruto, but decided to ignore it. He didn't need anyone's thanks. It was just… convenient, is all. Now he didn't have to make food when he got home. He only offered to get Naruto food because Naruto was right there when he was already hungry.

The next day, after getting his allowance and buying food, Naruto decided to go into the forest and try to train. He knew they had a test on something coming up, though he wasn't really sure what, so he wanted to make sure his skills were at least passable. So far, the only thing he really did well at was detecting people or things that needed a lot of stamina, like running. He didn't really know why he was good at those, but mostly figured he shouldn't think about it too much. Something something gift horse, right?

He went to the forest mainly because he wasn't sure whether or not he was actually allowed at the training grounds, but also because it was nice to be around all of the trees. Sometimes, though he wouldn't tell the Hokage, he decided to sleep in the forest because there was no one around to look at him weirdly and he always felt safe. He usually slept in the trees themselves, and somehow he never even fell off of them. It was nice and, when he really focused, he could sometimes feel one of the shadow people watching him and making sure he stayed safe.

Today, he was trying to work on his accuracy. He strapped a target to a few of the trees and made sure to sharpen his kunai and shuriken before coming out. They weren't perfect, but he wasn't going to waste money on getting new ones so the slightly dull edges would have to do.

He held the shuriken the way Mizuki-sensei told him to, one eye closed so that he could aim more accurately. He threw for the center of the first target, but it was immediately obvious that it wouldn't even hit the tree.

Naruto groaned.

He ran over to pick up the shuriken, laying in the grass a few meters behind the tree, and ran back to where he was standing before. "Attempt two," he muttered. He made sure to hold it the same way and-

"You're holding it wrong," someone said.

Naruto nearly dropped his shuriken, spinning around to find the source of the voice. Whoever it was was hidden, but he could feel them behind the tree. "Who's there?" Naruto called out. When they didn't respond, Naruto walked over to the tree. "Hello?"

"You're holding the shuriken wrong," they repeated, and Naruro realized it was Sasuke's voice. Sasuke stepped out from behind the tree, holding his own shuriken. "And you shouldn't be closing your eye."

Naruto defensively crossed his arms. "Well, Mizuki-sensei told me-"

"Then Mizuki is wrong," Sasuke interrupted, walking to where Naruto stood before. "You need to throw a shuriken like this."

Naruto followed him over after a few seconds, arms still crossed, and watched as Sasuke raised his shuriken. It was definitely nicer than Naruto's, a lot sharper, and Sasuke held it in a way that was nothing like what Mizuki-sensei showed him. Sasuke barely even seemed to aim before throwing it at the tree, hitting the center of the target without any obvious effort.

Sasuke turned back to Naruto, face unreadable. "See?"

"But Mizuki-" Naruto started.

"Is an idiot," Sasuke finished. "He's only a chunin. And if he can't even throw a shuriken, I'm surprised he made it that far."

"Why are you out here?" Naruto asked in lieu of a response.

Sasuke shrugged. "Training. I assume that's what you're doing."

"Uh, yeah." Naruto awkwardly scratched the back of his head. "But why here?"

"I didn't want to deal with anyone so I came out to the forest." Sasuke looked down at Naruto's shuriken. "Are you going to try again?"

Naruto stopped scratching the back of his head and asked, "Why are you helping me?"

Sasuke shrugged.

Naruto waited for something more than a shrug, but got nothing. "Uh, okay."

"Try again," Sasuke said, stepping a little bit away.

Naruto crossed his arms. "Don't tell me what to do." Sasuke just gave him a blank stare until he sighed and uncrossed his arms. "Fine."

Half keeping an eye on Sasuke, Naruto walked back over to the spot in front of the tree. Sasuke's shuriken was still lodged in it, looking even more irritatingly perfect as Naruto stood in front of it. Fighting a grumble, Naruto brought his own shuriken up and aimed it at the tree. His gut instinct was to aim the way Mizuki-sensei always told him too, but the sensation of Sasuke's gaze on his back reminded him not to. Instead, keeping both eyes open this time, he did his best imitation of the stance Sasuke used and threw the shuriken.

To his surprise, the shuriken actually hit the tree this time. It was extremely off-center, a relatively large way away from Sasuke's shuriken, but it hit the tree. Even Sasuke's now-smug gaze on his back couldn't keep the grin off of his face. "I did it!"

"Hn," Sasuke grunted. "Of course you did. That's how you're supposed to throw a shuriken."

Naruto crossed his arms, turning back to Sasuke. "Well, that's not what I was taught!"

"Hn." Sasuke walked over to the tree and grabbed his shuriken. Then he looked down at Naruto's with a frown. "Your shuriken looks wrong."

"Well not everyone can afford nice ones!" Naruto snapped, stomping over to the tree and pulling his shuriken out. "This is the best I can afford!"

Sasuke looked disdainfully down at Naruto's shuriken. Just as Naruto was about to snap at him a second time, he said, "Try mine," and held his out for Naruto.

Naruto blinked. "What?"

"Just try it," Sasuke said.

Naruto looked suspiciously down at the shuriken. "Why?"

"Your throw wasn't terrible."

"Thanks?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, holding it out even more. "I want to know how accurate you'd be with a better weapon."

Naruto really had no idea what was happening. He hesitantly grabbed the shuriken from Sasuke after putting his in his pouch. "Again, why?"

"Just do it," Sasuke said with obvious annoyance, turning around and walking back to where they threw from. "Stop being annoying."

"Hey, you're the one who came here after me!" Naruto retorted, storming over to him. "You can't call me annoying!"

Sasuke stared at him blandly. "Just throw the shuriken, idiot."

"Bastard," Naruto mumbled, half tempted to throw the shuriken at Sasuke just to shut him up. But at the same time he could feel how much better weighted Sasuke's shuriken was, and he was kinda curious to see if his aim would be better too.

A little reluctantly, he turned back to the target on the tree. The red lines stared back at him as he raised the shuriken, both eyes trained on the target. Positioning his hand the way he had the last time, he aimed for the dot in the center he could still see the mark Sasuke left in. Then, he threw the shuriken.

He held his breath as it flew through the air and gaped when he saw where it landed. It wasn't perfectly in the middle, but it was close; a centimeter to the left and it would've intersected with Sasuke's mark. He did it! He actually-

"I knew you weren't completely terrible."

Naruto spun back around to face Sasuke, half tempted to punch the smirk off Sasuke's face on instinct. But he didn't, if only because Sasuke had kinda earned it. For now. "What?"

"I could tell your first throw flew off course because the shuriken was bad," Sasuke explained, hands in his pockets. "Your throw really wasn't that bad, which is surprising considering you'd apparently never thrown that way before. And because you're an idiot."

"Hey, don't call me an-"

"For some reason, I've always had the feeling your terrible performance in class wasn't entirely your fault," Sasuke continued. "You always hit harder than anyone else in every spar."

Was this what whiplash felt like? Sasuke was insulting him one second and… complimenting him the next? Naruto didn't know what to think. "Okay? I still don't get what you're tryna say."

Another eye roll. Naruto was getting tired of those. "I think you could be a… decent fighter with some help," Sasuke admitted, sounding like he was forcing it out. "And I need someone to spar with more often. If you're any good, you'd help me get better."

Naruto blinked. "Are you offering to help me get better?"

"Hn." Sasuke didn't look like he wanted to admit it. "Only so I can use you to get stronger."

"Wow, uh." Naruto genuinely didn't know what to think. Barely anyone ever voluntarily helped him out, and Sasuke was offering him help with training? After buying him ramen the day before, too. It was weird. "Thank you? I'm surprised you'd wanna help."

"If you get good enough to actually challenge me, I'll just be helping myself get stronger by helping you," Sasuke said. "That's why I'm doing this. Not to be nice."

"Still…" Naruto awkwardly scratched the back of his head. "Thanks. And I will get strong enough to kick your ass, believe it!"

A glint appeared in Sasuke's eye. "You better." He pulled another shuriken out of his pouch, then threw it at the tree with a flick of his hand. Like before, it landed perfectly in the center. "You can have those two shuriken. I can grab some more for you tomorrow."

"You don't have t-"

"You won't get any better if you keep throwing faulty shuriken," Sasuke said blandly. "And I have plenty, so it's not like I'll miss them."

Naruto sighed. "Yeah, I guess. Thanks."

"Anyways." Sasuke slipped his hands into his pockets again. "Why're you even practicing your shuriken throwing right now? You should be working with your kunai; that's what our next test is on."

Naruto slapped his head. "That's what it's on!" he groaned. "I couldn't remember! Ugh, I'm totally gonna fail."

Sasuke silently stared at him for a drawn out few seconds. Then, he pulled a kunai out of his pouch and held the butt-end out for Naruto. "Not if you get better now."

Still a little suspicious but willing to accept the help, Naruto grabbed the kunai from Sasuke. Like the shuriken, it was weighted better than what he had; maybe grabbing kunai and shuriken that were abandoned on training grounds so he didn't have to actually buy them wasn't the best plan.

Sasuke wordlessly demonstrated a kunai throw, and Naruto could see how different it was from what Mizuki taught him at a glance. When he tried the same throw, the better-weighted kunai soared through the air to slice into the line just outside of the bullseye. Sasuke helped him train for a couple more hours with only occasional insults, and by the time they finished Naruto was actually throwing bullseyes.

Excitement surged in his chest. Maybe he wouldn't fail the test.

Author's Note:

So, it's been like two years or something since I've posted on FFN. I'm sorry about that, but the two stories I have are both effectively discontinued as they are now because I'm working on rewrites (if kind of slowly).

I'm a college student who's very easily distracted, and can't really promise consistency or give any solid date for when I'll be posting Authority stuff again. Authority was the first fanfic I ever wrote so the idea itself is pretty special to me, but the writing and execution aren't things I'm really proud of. I already have a few chapters done for the Authority rewrite, but I'm most likely not gonna post until I have as much done for the rewrite as I have in the original.

This story is one that just came really easily to me. I already have a lot done for it and it's probably the most consistently I've written for basically anything. The Mokuton!Naruto in the desc comes into play in the next chapter & beyond