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DISCLAIMER: I DON'T own Naruto. Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto and TV Tokyo. This is a work of pure fiction for my amusement and for those who read this.

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Better than Ramen Chapter Two: Two Guys One Umbrella (It's not what you Think...)

I never would have thought that I'd ever arrive home with a kitten before, but that's what happened that day. I had left Sennin with a kitten in my arms and I was on my way home, already imagining my mom and dad's reaction when I walked through the front door holding a blind kitten in my hands. I knew I would regret it immediately, and sure enough, my dad was the first to speak up. He had been sitting at the table reading a newspaper for the second time that week (Dad liked to be on top of things) when he spotted me and the kitten, but before I go any further, it's best to give a little background information on the Uchiha family. First on the introductory list is Fugaku Uchiha, my father. He's a stout man with a permanent scowl on his face, making him appear irritated all the time. He's the current owner of the Uchiha Corporation, which manufactured everything from missiles to make-up. Naturally, Dad was a busy man and was hardly ever home. Unfortunately, he was home that day.

Mikoto Uchiha is my stay-at-home mother. She was somehow able to clean the entirety of our large house--with three floors, I might add--every day. Mom used to be a world-renowned dancer and opera singer before she met my dad and decided to be a mother. She's very beautiful and was often offered jobs as a model, but she turned all of them down because she was too busy at home. She's very meticulous in the way she holds her household and her children. Speaking of which, it's time to move onto my older brother.

Itachi Uchiha took after our dad in the physical department and had brains clearly inherited from our mom, but had his own personality that was completely different from both of our parents. He's very kind and it shows whenever he's with me. He's next in line to take charge of the Uchiha Corporation and was busy just like Dad because of this. He was always so sweet to me, his little brother, and always helped me with whatever I needed. Unlike our father, Itachi would drop everything he was doing if I had requested it. It was a great mystery as to why my brother hadn't gotten married yet.

Something my parents had in common was having high expectations of me. I went through many things because they wanted me to excel, some examples being violin lessons, advanced after-school classes, calligraphy, karate, piano lessons, archery, and many other things that I didn't see the point in learning. They expected me and Itachi to be nothing less than perfect, which is why my bringing a kitten home without asking first was such an outrage.

"Sasuke, what is that?" Dad demanded harshly, speaking to me as if I were an insect.

"A kitten," I replied calmly.

"Obviously! I meant why do you have it?"

"I...adopted him from Sennin today. His name's Naruto."

Mom joined in the conversation after she had dried her hands from washing the dishes. "You didn't even ask us?"

I fidgeted with the kitten and stared at the top of its fury little head to distract myself. "Sorry, okay? It just sort of happened--"

"Take it back," Mom ordered as if she was asking me to take out the trash.

At this, my head snapped up in annoyance. "Take him back? I can't. I adopted him."

"There should be a box in the cupboard. Put it in there and take it to the back alley. Someone will take it eventually."

I knew better than to yell at my parents, so I did my best to bury my anger and speak calmly. "Why can't I keep him? He can get rid of mice when he's older and cat's aren't messy--"

"'Aren't messy'," barked Dad. "They mark their territory, they shed fur all over the place, they claw the furniture, they knock over vases and glasses. How is that not messy, Sasuke?"

"That's not--"

"Besides, that thing's eyes aren't even open. How in the world do you expect it to catch mice?"

"Naruto's not completely useless without his eyes. He has his sense of smell and touch, and he can be trained to behave."

"Unlikely, dear," Mom said, returning to the dishes in front of her. "Now, I know you like animals, but this thing isn't a house pet. Why don't we get you some fish for your birthday next June?"

"My birthday isn't next June," I corrected irritably. "It's in July."

"No, no, it's next June. Now, just put that in one of the boxes and take it outside. You still have trigonometry to study."

"But--"

"Off you go, then."

My feeble attempt at an argument dissipated like smoke and I retrieved one of the boxes in the cupboard, not saying a word to either of my parents as I stalked past them. After I went to my room to change, I spent the next half hour debating what to do with the kitten that my new classmate had practically gift-wrapped for me. Some time later, Itachi entered my room to find me feeding Naruto bits of my untouched dinner that Dad had insisted I eat in my room. I had a feeling that my mom was trying to punish me because she made natto and she only ever made that whenever I messed up because it's my least favorite food.

I paid no mind to my older brother as he took a seat on my bed behind me while I sat opposite him at my desk with my back turned. I didn't feel like a pep talk that day.

"What made you adopt a kitten?" Itachi finally asked after several minutes of agonizing silence.

"I'd say it was peer pressure, but that wouldn't be right," I replied languidly.

"Did you do it to defy Mother and Father?" Itachi pressed.

I shrugged and absentmindedly scratched Naruto's fuzzy ear. "I don't know…."

"Do you like Naruto?"

I gave a little jerk at the question before remembering that my new classmate and the kitten which he gave me shared the same name. I then proceeded to say, "Yeah, I guess. I've never had a pet before and…"

"And?"

"I have a new classmate. He's the one who was at Sennin and he gave me Naruto--oh, my new classmate is also named Naruto--because he said nobody wants a blind cat and he said that I seemed to need a pet that would make me smile."

Itachi laughed lightheartedly. "Well, your new classmate--'Naruto' was it?--isn't too far from the truth, Sasuke. You are a bit reclusive more times than you should be."

"I get that," I murmured.

"I'm just saying that maybe this Naruto friend of yours is right, in which case, you should keep Naruto. Er, not the person, the kitten."

"You heard what Mom and Dad said," I returned, turning to face my brother. "I'm already in trouble as it is. And how could I hide a cat from them? I'm not home all the time and Mom's bound to find him if I keep him."

"I never said it would be easy, but considering how much you've told me, you've given this some thought yourself. You really want to keep Naruto, don't you?"

I opened my mouth for a rebuttal, but closed it silently when I realized that there was truth behind Itachi's words. I pondered over this for a fair amount of time, in which Naruto had taken to finishing off my dinner for me. For a long time, the only sounds were Naruto's eating and my breathing. Finally, I stood up, scooping a mewing Naruto in my arms as I did so. "I'm going for a walk."

"I won't tell them," Itachi assured with a caring smile.

"Thanks for that."

I left the house with Naruto in my arms and he occasionally clawed at my hair as if it were yarn. I didn't have the slightest idea where I was going on my spontaneous walk that night, but I did know that once I had stopped thinking and started observing, I was in uncharted territory. It was dark and the only thing I could see was a small playground, complete with two swings, three teeter-totters, one slide, one merry-go-round, and one person lying on said merry-go-round. I couldn't quite make out any definite features on the person at first, but Naruto seemed to recognize the person because he jumped off of my shoulder and bounded happily toward the merry-go-round as if he could see. I chased after the kitten, afraid he might hurt himself while running blind, and the person on the rusty playground equipment came into view. Lying on the unmoving merry-go-round with the cat on his chest was Naruto Uzumaki.

Naruto (the person, not the cat) had looked up at me when he heard my footsteps and sat up while holding the cat, a curious smile on his lips.

"What are you doing in a place like this," I questioned.

"I could ask you the same thing," Naruto returned. "And you brought Gato* with you!"

"Yeah, I was--wait, 'Gato'?"

"Oh, didn't I mention when you were at Sennin?" He held up the cat with pride. "This little guy's full name is Naruto the Gato, Gato for short. The old perv thought of it so we wouldn't get confused, dattebayo."

"Right…."

"Anyway," Naruto began, standing and placing "Gato" in my hands again, "what brings you here, Sasuke?"

I looked down and I was sure he was wondering why I looked so nervous. I'm sure he was about to ask because he opened his mouth, but stopped whatever he was doing when his stomach growled rather loudly. Before I knew it, we were both chuckling at the awkwardness of it all.

"Wanna head somewhere for a bite?" Naruto asked politely, scratching the back of his head nervously.

"Yeah," I agreed. "Naruto the Gato sort of ate my dinner for me, but I wouldn't have eaten it anyway."

"Why?"

"I don't like natto."

Naruto shrugged thoughtfully. "Eh, I'm not the biggest fan of it, but I'll eat it."

The two of us decided to walk a few minutes until we stopped in front of a food shop and then Naruto lurched in excitement upon reading the neon sign of Ichiraku. He practically screamed in giddiness when he dragged me inside without warning, shouting, "We have to eat here!"

Naruto sat us down at a table for two in the corner (it was the only table left and we had to hide Gato so we wouldn't get thrown out) and ordered the extra large pork ramen and I decided on a salad with extra tomatoes. When we got our food, Naruto dug in immediately and I was led to believe that he breathed food instead of actually eating it. Naruto paused, however, after a few seconds of gorging to notice my choice of food.

"Are you part bunny or something?" he asked incredulously as I munched on yet another slice of tomato.

"No," I replied carefully. "Why?"

"I've just never seen someone eat so many vegetables other than the bunnies at the pet shop, 'ttebayo."

"And I've never seen someone eat so quickly other than the Americans on those stupid eating contest shows. Your food isn't going to run away if you let it set for more than two seconds."

Naruto ignored my comment and declared, "I'm just really hungry! And at least I eat, unlike those girls who were at Sennin with you. I saw them at lunch and all they had was water!"

"They think it's fashionable to starve themselves," I sighed, "though I don't know why. Oh, speaking of them, I've been meaning to ask you something ever since I got home."

"Hmm?" Naruto couldn't speak because he had food in his mouth.

"Didn't they offend you at the pet shop?"

He blinked in confusion. "No. Um, should I have been offended?"

"Well, yeah. They insulted you at least three times to your face."

"I didn't really notice."

"…Wow."

"You never answered my question from before, Sasuke. Why were you at the playground?"

"Oh, that." I set down my fork even though I wasn't finished eating because I knew this was going to be a long story. "I needed to get away from my house."

"Why?"

"My parents said that I couldn't keep Gato and went off about all this stuff. You know how parents are, right?"

There was one flicker of hesitation before he hastily answered, "Uh, yeah. So, what were they saying?"

"They just said cats are useless and messy. I swear, they want me to be a lawyer/banker/conductor. Ugh, I hate them."

Again, Naruto paused and pretended to have lost his grip on his chopsticks to cover it up. "Have you ever thought that they just want what's best for you?"

"That's a lie," I laughed. "They always confuse me with Itachi--he's my older brother--and my mom swore my birthday was in June, but it's actually July twenty-third. She even messes up sometimes and called me Itachi."

"…"

Naruto seemed to be lost in his thoughts instead of pausing to consider and reply. I studied him silently for a while until I couldn't take waiting for him to say something.

I prodded his shoulder and called his name. His eyes lost their glazed appearance and met mine. "Huh?"

"Are you okay? You spaced out for a second there."

"Uh…yeah, I'm fine." He looked down at his ramen and I somehow knew he wasn't going to finish it, even though there was still a good portion of it left. "It's, um…"

"Is something wrong?"

"No, I'm just tired," Naruto grinned. "I only just moved here and I had a lot of unpacking to do today, so…you know, 'ttebayo."

"You should probably get some sleep then, especially since we have that A&P test tomorrow."

At the mention of the upcoming test, Naruto's head snapped up and I saw a huge grin plastered on his face, his eyes alight with glee. "Really?! We have that kind of test tomorrow?!"

I was taken aback by his sudden burst of happiness, especially since the reason behind his cheerfulness was a test that was supposed to be over one of the most difficult chapters of the entire book. "Yeah, we have a test in A&P tomorrow. Why are you so happy over that? You don't seem like the kind of guy who gets excited over any kind of test."

"I normally don't," Naruto admitted, remembering his ramen and taking a few bites before continuing. "At my old school, I always got the worst grades in history, literature, and all that other stuff."

"How could you do poorly in history," I asked in shock. "History** has got to be the easiest subject of anybody's life!"

"I'm not so good with memorizing dates and stuff, and I don't really get the English language because of how it's all backwards, and I don't like literature because every classical dude always writes about depressing stuff."

"But you excel in A&P?"

"Not just A&P." Naruto leaned over the table to talk to me with more enthusiasm, as if it were his first time actually speaking to someone in years. "Any type of science like biology, chemistry, physics--oh, and anything dealing with math is super easy for me! I don't even need those graphing calculators! But, yeah, everything other than science and math isn't all that important."

"What makes you say that?" I criticized.

"You heard me in class today, didn't you? I'm gonna be the doctor who cures cancer and diabetes, so all that other stuff doesn't matter, dattebayo!"

He stared at me for a long time with that wide grin on his face before I finally laughed lightly and returned with, "Usuratonkachi. You'll never get far with that attitude."

"Nonbeliever," Naruto carped and quickly finished his ramen while Gato tried to jump out of my lap.

Naruto decided to be nice and paid for both of our meals once we had finished. In reality, thought, I left my wallet at home and had no way of paying.

"Sorry about this," I apologized at the counter. "I'll pay you back tomorrow."

"Don't sweat it," Naruto urged me after he had pocketed his change and added with a laugh, "I'm used to covering the bill since the Old Perv always leaves whenever we eat out."

"He always leaves?"

"Well, not always. He just has a lot of work to do, you know? He's a novelist and he also works at the pet shop!"

"I didn't know he was an author. What kinds of books does he write?"

Naruto blushed and turned quickly to disguise it, but failed miserably. "U-uh, nothing special, dattebayo! Just, er, cliché romance stuff! A-anyway, it's late. We should get going."

And right as he had said that, thunder clapped loudly overhead and it started to pour buckets of rain. Naruto stared out of the window of Ichiraku with a glum expression, obviously upset that neither of us had an umbrella.

"We can't wait until it stops," I told him. "This place will be closed by then, right?"

Naruto nodded in agreement and glanced around until the owner called us over from behind the cash register. We approached it curiously and he held out an umbrella that Naruto stared at before asking, "What's this for?"

"You can borrow it until you come back," the owner said. "I know a ramen lover when I see one, so I won't be missing it long, will I?"

Naruto beamed and saluted the owner. "No, sir! I'll bring it back tomorrow, I promise! Oh, wait--jeez, I hate to be a bother, but do you have another one for Sasuke?"

"Sorry, but that's the only spare we have. Some knucklehead brats keep on borrowing our others without returning them. Anyway, you two boys better be heading out before it gets any worse. It says on the news we're supposed to be seeing a lot worse than this."

"Okay. Thanks again, Old Man!"

"No problem."

Naruto cast a glance my way before fixating his eyes on the umbrella in his hands. I knew there was no way around it, so I sighed and muttered, "You can hold it since I have Gato with me."

"You sure?"

I nodded hesitantly. Before leaving, however, Naruto shrugged out of his bright orange and black jacket and handed it to me. I looked at him questioningly since I already had a jacket and he answered, "It's for Gato. You can't keep warm and keep him covered from the rain, can you? Oh, that reminds me! You have to sleep with him tonight since it's gonna storm. If you don't, he's gonna claw the ever living crap out of you, dattebayo."

"Yeah…."

And so, Naruto and I left Ichiraku and trudged into the downpour with him holding the only umbrella and me holding a shivering Gato. I was glad there was no wind to make the rain even worse to deal with, but that doesn't mean I was thankful for it to begin with. First of all, the close proximity I had to keep with Naruto in order to shield myself from the rain reminded me of those shoujo mangas the girls in my school were always reading. Naruto, however, didn't seem to mind the closeness, or he just didn't notice at all. For now, he was concentrating on holding the umbrella in such a way that I received full protection from the rain while it provided little defense on the rain on his side. Barely two minutes had passed when we started walking and his shoulder was already soaked so his black shirt clung to him like moss on a log. To make matters worse for him, the rain drops became thicker and fell faster as time went by. Still, he made no open complaint about the increased nuisance of the rainstorm. We just continued walking in silence until we reached the gate to my house.

Upon seeing my house, Naruto nearly dropped the umbrella and his mouth was agape in amazement. "Y-you actually live here?!"

"Yeah," I replied nonchalantly once we were in the safety of the porch. "My mom and Dad are pretty wealthy, so…yeah."

He whistled his approval after checking his watch. "Impressive! I'd really love a tour of this giant place, but the Old Perv's probably wondering where I am right about now. I really need to be getting back."

"Do you plan on walking?"

"I got legs, so I guess I am walking."

"Not in this weather. My brother's home, so maybe he could give you a lift back home--"

Naruto made an x with his arms and shook his head. "Nope. Uh-uh. No way, Sasuke. I don't wanna put anybody out. Besides, he's probably already in bed, right?"

"It's not that late, Naruto. I'd drive you myself, but I don't have a license. Just let me get Itachi and I'm sure he'll say it's alright with him if he drives you back to your house."

"I don't wanna ask him that," Naruto protested sternly. "It's not that much of a walk and I like the rain anyway."

"Then think of this as a thank you for paying for my meal and holding the umbrella on the way here. Does that sound good enough for you?"

"I already told you that I'm not gonna accept an offer that'll bother your brother, dattebayo."

"If you won't do that much, then at least come inside and call your grandpa to pick you up."

Naruto looked confused for a few seconds before he started laughing heartily. "Are you talking about the Old Perv? Nah, he's not my grandpa at all!"

It was my turn to be confused. "Eh? But I thought he was. If he's not your grandpa, then is he your uncle?"

He laughed again. "No way he's my uncle!"

"What is he then?"

"Hmmm…well, if I had to choose, I guess he'd be a close friend of Pa's."

"Wait, so then why did he--"

"I'm leaving," Naruto declared, bouncing down the walkway and calling over his shoulder. "See you later!"

"Sasuke," I heard Itachi call from behind the front door a few seconds later. "Are you going to stand there all night talking to yourself or--" He had stopped talking because he had opened the door to find me standing before him with an expression of the most completive kind. "Mother and Father are already upstairs, but if you don't come inside soon, they'll start to wonder."

I looked down. "Yeah, I know."

"Is everything alright?"

"Yeah," I lied. "Just…very odd."

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* Gato is Spanish for cat.

**

Description
DISCLAIMER: I DON'T own Naruto. Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto and TV Tokyo. This is a work of pure fiction for my amusement and for those who read this.

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Better than Ramen Chapter Two: Two Guys One Umbrella (It's not what you Think...)

I never would have thought that I'd ever arrive home with a kitten before, but that's what happened that day. I had left Sennin with a kitten in my arms and I was on my way home, already imagining my mom and dad's reaction when I walked through the front door holding a blind kitten in my hands. I knew I would regret it immediately, and sure enough, my dad was the first to speak up. He had been sitting at the table reading a newspaper for the second time that week (Dad liked to be on top of things) when he spotted me and the kitten, but before I go any further, it's best to give a little background information on the Uchiha family. First on the introductory list is Fugaku Uchiha, my father. He's a stout man with a permanent scowl on his face, making him appear irritated all the time. He's the current owner of the Uchiha Corporation, which manufactured everything from missiles to make-up. Naturally, Dad was a busy man and was hardly ever home. Unfortunately, he was home that day.

Mikoto Uchiha is my stay-at-home mother. She was somehow able to clean the entirety of our large house--with three floors, I might add--every day. Mom used to be a world-renowned dancer and opera singer before she met my dad and decided to be a mother. She's very beautiful and was often offered jobs as a model, but she turned all of them down because she was too busy at home. She's very meticulous in the way she holds her household and her children. Speaking of which, it's time to move onto my older brother.

Itachi Uchiha took after our dad in the physical department and had brains clearly inherited from our mom, but had his own personality that was completely different from both of our parents. He's very kind and it shows whenever he's with me. He's next in line to take charge of the Uchiha Corporation and was busy just like Dad because of this. He was always so sweet to me, his little brother, and always helped me with whatever I needed. Unlike our father, Itachi would drop everything he was doing if I had requested it. It was a great mystery as to why my brother hadn't gotten married yet.

Something my parents had in common was having high expectations of me. I went through many things because they wanted me to excel, some examples being violin lessons, advanced after-school classes, calligraphy, karate, piano lessons, archery, and many other things that I didn't see the point in learning. They expected me and Itachi to be nothing less than perfect, which is why my bringing a kitten home without asking first was such an outrage.

"Sasuke, what is that?" Dad demanded harshly, speaking to me as if I were an insect.

"A kitten," I replied calmly.

"Obviously! I meant why do you have it?"

"I...adopted him from Sennin today. His name's Naruto."

Mom joined in the conversation after she had dried her hands from washing the dishes. "You didn't even ask us?"

I fidgeted with the kitten and stared at the top of its fury little head to distract myself. "Sorry, okay? It just sort of happened--"

"Take it back," Mom ordered as if she was asking me to take out the trash.

At this, my head snapped up in annoyance. "Take him back? I can't. I adopted him."

"There should be a box in the cupboard. Put it in there and take it to the back alley. Someone will take it eventually."

I knew better than to yell at my parents, so I did my best to bury my anger and speak calmly. "Why can't I keep him? He can get rid of mice when he's older and cat's aren't messy--"

"'Aren't messy'," barked Dad. "They mark their territory, they shed fur all over the place, they claw the furniture, they knock over vases and glasses. How is that not messy, Sasuke?"

"That's not--"

"Besides, that thing's eyes aren't even open. How in the world do you expect it to catch mice?"

"Naruto's not completely useless without his eyes. He has his sense of smell and touch, and he can be trained to behave."

"Unlikely, dear," Mom said, returning to the dishes in front of her. "Now, I know you like animals, but this thing isn't a house pet. Why don't we get you some fish for your birthday next June?"

"My birthday isn't next June," I corrected irritably. "It's in July."

"No, no, it's next June. Now, just put that in one of the boxes and take it outside. You still have trigonometry to study."

"But--"

"Off you go, then."

My feeble attempt at an argument dissipated like smoke and I retrieved one of the boxes in the cupboard, not saying a word to either of my parents as I stalked past them. After I went to my room to change, I spent the next half hour debating what to do with the kitten that my new classmate had practically gift-wrapped for me. Some time later, Itachi entered my room to find me feeding Naruto bits of my untouched dinner that Dad had insisted I eat in my room. I had a feeling that my mom was trying to punish me because she made natto and she only ever made that whenever I messed up because it's my least favorite food.

I paid no mind to my older brother as he took a seat on my bed behind me while I sat opposite him at my desk with my back turned. I didn't feel like a pep talk that day.

"What made you adopt a kitten?" Itachi finally asked after several minutes of agonizing silence.

"I'd say it was peer pressure, but that wouldn't be right," I replied languidly.

"Did you do it to defy Mother and Father?" Itachi pressed.

I shrugged and absentmindedly scratched Naruto's fuzzy ear. "I don't know…."

"Do you like Naruto?"

I gave a little jerk at the question before remembering that my new classmate and the kitten which he gave me shared the same name. I then proceeded to say, "Yeah, I guess. I've never had a pet before and…"

"And?"

"I have a new classmate. He's the one who was at Sennin and he gave me Naruto--oh, my new classmate is also named Naruto--because he said nobody wants a blind cat and he said that I seemed to need a pet that would make me smile."

Itachi laughed lightheartedly. "Well, your new classmate--'Naruto' was it?--isn't too far from the truth, Sasuke. You are a bit reclusive more times than you should be."

"I get that," I murmured.

"I'm just saying that maybe this Naruto friend of yours is right, in which case, you should keep Naruto. Er, not the person, the kitten."

"You heard what Mom and Dad said," I returned, turning to face my brother. "I'm already in trouble as it is. And how could I hide a cat from them? I'm not home all the time and Mom's bound to find him if I keep him."

"I never said it would be easy, but considering how much you've told me, you've given this some thought yourself. You really want to keep Naruto, don't you?"

I opened my mouth for a rebuttal, but closed it silently when I realized that there was truth behind Itachi's words. I pondered over this for a fair amount of time, in which Naruto had taken to finishing off my dinner for me. For a long time, the only sounds were Naruto's eating and my breathing. Finally, I stood up, scooping a mewing Naruto in my arms as I did so. "I'm going for a walk."

"I won't tell them," Itachi assured with a caring smile.

"Thanks for that."

I left the house with Naruto in my arms and he occasionally clawed at my hair as if it were yarn. I didn't have the slightest idea where I was going on my spontaneous walk that night, but I did know that once I had stopped thinking and started observing, I was in uncharted territory. It was dark and the only thing I could see was a small playground, complete with two swings, three teeter-totters, one slide, one merry-go-round, and one person lying on said merry-go-round. I couldn't quite make out any definite features on the person at first, but Naruto seemed to recognize the person because he jumped off of my shoulder and bounded happily toward the merry-go-round as if he could see. I chased after the kitten, afraid he might hurt himself while running blind, and the person on the rusty playground equipment came into view. Lying on the unmoving merry-go-round with the cat on his chest was Naruto Uzumaki.

Naruto (the person, not the cat) had looked up at me when he heard my footsteps and sat up while holding the cat, a curious smile on his lips.

"What are you doing in a place like this," I questioned.

"I could ask you the same thing," Naruto returned. "And you brought Gato* with you!"

"Yeah, I was--wait, 'Gato'?"

"Oh, didn't I mention when you were at Sennin?" He held up the cat with pride. "This little guy's full name is Naruto the Gato, Gato for short. The old perv thought of it so we wouldn't get confused, dattebayo."

"Right…."

"Anyway," Naruto began, standing and placing "Gato" in my hands again, "what brings you here, Sasuke?"

I looked down and I was sure he was wondering why I looked so nervous. I'm sure he was about to ask because he opened his mouth, but stopped whatever he was doing when his stomach growled rather loudly. Before I knew it, we were both chuckling at the awkwardness of it all.

"Wanna head somewhere for a bite?" Naruto asked politely, scratching the back of his head nervously.

"Yeah," I agreed. "Naruto the Gato sort of ate my dinner for me, but I wouldn't have eaten it anyway."

"Why?"

"I don't like natto."

Naruto shrugged thoughtfully. "Eh, I'm not the biggest fan of it, but I'll eat it."

The two of us decided to walk a few minutes until we stopped in front of a food shop and then Naruto lurched in excitement upon reading the neon sign of Ichiraku. He practically screamed in giddiness when he dragged me inside without warning, shouting, "We have to eat here!"

Naruto sat us down at a table for two in the corner (it was the only table left and we had to hide Gato so we wouldn't get thrown out) and ordered the extra large pork ramen and I decided on a salad with extra tomatoes. When we got our food, Naruto dug in immediately and I was led to believe that he breathed food instead of actually eating it. Naruto paused, however, after a few seconds of gorging to notice my choice of food.

"Are you part bunny or something?" he asked incredulously as I munched on yet another slice of tomato.

"No," I replied carefully. "Why?"

"I've just never seen someone eat so many vegetables other than the bunnies at the pet shop, 'ttebayo."

"And I've never seen someone eat so quickly other than the Americans on those stupid eating contest shows. Your food isn't going to run away if you let it set for more than two seconds."

Naruto ignored my comment and declared, "I'm just really hungry! And at least I eat, unlike those girls who were at Sennin with you. I saw them at lunch and all they had was water!"

"They think it's fashionable to starve themselves," I sighed, "though I don't know why. Oh, speaking of them, I've been meaning to ask you something ever since I got home."

"Hmm?" Naruto couldn't speak because he had food in his mouth.

"Didn't they offend you at the pet shop?"

He blinked in confusion. "No. Um, should I have been offended?"

"Well, yeah. They insulted you at least three times to your face."

"I didn't really notice."

"…Wow."

"You never answered my question from before, Sasuke. Why were you at the playground?"

"Oh, that." I set down my fork even though I wasn't finished eating because I knew this was going to be a long story. "I needed to get away from my house."

"Why?"

"My parents said that I couldn't keep Gato and went off about all this stuff. You know how parents are, right?"

There was one flicker of hesitation before he hastily answered, "Uh, yeah. So, what were they saying?"

"They just said cats are useless and messy. I swear, they want me to be a lawyer/banker/conductor. Ugh, I hate them."

Again, Naruto paused and pretended to have lost his grip on his chopsticks to cover it up. "Have you ever thought that they just want what's best for you?"

"That's a lie," I laughed. "They always confuse me with Itachi--he's my older brother--and my mom swore my birthday was in June, but it's actually July twenty-third. She even messes up sometimes and called me Itachi."

"…"

Naruto seemed to be lost in his thoughts instead of pausing to consider and reply. I studied him silently for a while until I couldn't take waiting for him to say something.

I prodded his shoulder and called his name. His eyes lost their glazed appearance and met mine. "Huh?"

"Are you okay? You spaced out for a second there."

"Uh…yeah, I'm fine." He looked down at his ramen and I somehow knew he wasn't going to finish it, even though there was still a good portion of it left. "It's, um…"

"Is something wrong?"

"No, I'm just tired," Naruto grinned. "I only just moved here and I had a lot of unpacking to do today, so…you know, 'ttebayo."

"You should probably get some sleep then, especially since we have that A&P test tomorrow."

At the mention of the upcoming test, Naruto's head snapped up and I saw a huge grin plastered on his face, his eyes alight with glee. "Really?! We have that kind of test tomorrow?!"

I was taken aback by his sudden burst of happiness, especially since the reason behind his cheerfulness was a test that was supposed to be over one of the most difficult chapters of the entire book. "Yeah, we have a test in A&P tomorrow. Why are you so happy over that? You don't seem like the kind of guy who gets excited over any kind of test."

"I normally don't," Naruto admitted, remembering his ramen and taking a few bites before continuing. "At my old school, I always got the worst grades in history, literature, and all that other stuff."

"How could you do poorly in history," I asked in shock. "History** has got to be the easiest subject of anybody's life!"

"I'm not so good with memorizing dates and stuff, and I don't really get the English language because of how it's all backwards, and I don't like literature because every classical dude always writes about depressing stuff."

"But you excel in A&P?"

"Not just A&P." Naruto leaned over the table to talk to me with more enthusiasm, as if it were his first time actually speaking to someone in years. "Any type of science like biology, chemistry, physics--oh, and anything dealing with math is super easy for me! I don't even need those graphing calculators! But, yeah, everything other than science and math isn't all that important."

"What makes you say that?" I criticized.

"You heard me in class today, didn't you? I'm gonna be the doctor who cures cancer and diabetes, so all that other stuff doesn't matter, dattebayo!"

He stared at me for a long time with that wide grin on his face before I finally laughed lightly and returned with, "Usuratonkachi. You'll never get far with that attitude."

"Nonbeliever," Naruto carped and quickly finished his ramen while Gato tried to jump out of my lap.

Naruto decided to be nice and paid for both of our meals once we had finished. In reality, thought, I left my wallet at home and had no way of paying.

"Sorry about this," I apologized at the counter. "I'll pay you back tomorrow."

"Don't sweat it," Naruto urged me after he had pocketed his change and added with a laugh, "I'm used to covering the bill since the Old Perv always leaves whenever we eat out."

"He always leaves?"

"Well, not always. He just has a lot of work to do, you know? He's a novelist and he also works at the pet shop!"

"I didn't know he was an author. What kinds of books does he write?"

Naruto blushed and turned quickly to disguise it, but failed miserably. "U-uh, nothing special, dattebayo! Just, er, cliché romance stuff! A-anyway, it's late. We should get going."

And right as he had said that, thunder clapped loudly overhead and it started to pour buckets of rain. Naruto stared out of the window of Ichiraku with a glum expression, obviously upset that neither of us had an umbrella.

"We can't wait until it stops," I told him. "This place will be closed by then, right?"

Naruto nodded in agreement and glanced around until the owner called us over from behind the cash register. We approached it curiously and he held out an umbrella that Naruto stared at before asking, "What's this for?"

"You can borrow it until you come back," the owner said. "I know a ramen lover when I see one, so I won't be missing it long, will I?"

Naruto beamed and saluted the owner. "No, sir! I'll bring it back tomorrow, I promise! Oh, wait--jeez, I hate to be a bother, but do you have another one for Sasuke?"

"Sorry, but that's the only spare we have. Some knucklehead brats keep on borrowing our others without returning them. Anyway, you two boys better be heading out before it gets any worse. It says on the news we're supposed to be seeing a lot worse than this."

"Okay. Thanks again, Old Man!"

"No problem."

Naruto cast a glance my way before fixating his eyes on the umbrella in his hands. I knew there was no way around it, so I sighed and muttered, "You can hold it since I have Gato with me."

"You sure?"

I nodded hesitantly. Before leaving, however, Naruto shrugged out of his bright orange and black jacket and handed it to me. I looked at him questioningly since I already had a jacket and he answered, "It's for Gato. You can't keep warm and keep him covered from the rain, can you? Oh, that reminds me! You have to sleep with him tonight since it's gonna storm. If you don't, he's gonna claw the ever living crap out of you, dattebayo."

"Yeah…."

And so, Naruto and I left Ichiraku and trudged into the downpour with him holding the only umbrella and me holding a shivering Gato. I was glad there was no wind to make the rain even worse to deal with, but that doesn't mean I was thankful for it to begin with. First of all, the close proximity I had to keep with Naruto in order to shield myself from the rain reminded me of those shoujo mangas the girls in my school were always reading. Naruto, however, didn't seem to mind the closeness, or he just didn't notice at all. For now, he was concentrating on holding the umbrella in such a way that I received full protection from the rain while it provided little defense on the rain on his side. Barely two minutes had passed when we started walking and his shoulder was already soaked so his black shirt clung to him like moss on a log. To make matters worse for him, the rain drops became thicker and fell faster as time went by. Still, he made no open complaint about the increased nuisance of the rainstorm. We just continued walking in silence until we reached the gate to my house.

Upon seeing my house, Naruto nearly dropped the umbrella and his mouth was agape in amazement. "Y-you actually live here?!"

"Yeah," I replied nonchalantly once we were in the safety of the porch. "My mom and Dad are pretty wealthy, so…yeah."

He whistled his approval after checking his watch. "Impressive! I'd really love a tour of this giant place, but the Old Perv's probably wondering where I am right about now. I really need to be getting back."

"Do you plan on walking?"

"I got legs, so I guess I am walking."

"Not in this weather. My brother's home, so maybe he could give you a lift back home--"

Naruto made an x with his arms and shook his head. "Nope. Uh-uh. No way, Sasuke. I don't wanna put anybody out. Besides, he's probably already in bed, right?"

"It's not that late, Naruto. I'd drive you myself, but I don't have a license. Just let me get Itachi and I'm sure he'll say it's alright with him if he drives you back to your house."

"I don't wanna ask him that," Naruto protested sternly. "It's not that much of a walk and I like the rain anyway."

"Then think of this as a thank you for paying for my meal and holding the umbrella on the way here. Does that sound good enough for you?"

"I already told you that I'm not gonna accept an offer that'll bother your brother, dattebayo."

"If you won't do that much, then at least come inside and call your grandpa to pick you up."

Naruto looked confused for a few seconds before he started laughing heartily. "Are you talking about the Old Perv? Nah, he's not my grandpa at all!"

It was my turn to be confused. "Eh? But I thought he was. If he's not your grandpa, then is he your uncle?"

He laughed again. "No way he's my uncle!"

"What is he then?"

"Hmmm…well, if I had to choose, I guess he'd be a close friend of Pa's."

"Wait, so then why did he--"

"I'm leaving," Naruto declared, bouncing down the walkway and calling over his shoulder. "See you later!"

"Sasuke," I heard Itachi call from behind the front door a few seconds later. "Are you going to stand there all night talking to yourself or--" He had stopped talking because he had opened the door to find me standing before him with an expression of the most completive kind. "Mother and Father are already upstairs, but if you don't come inside soon, they'll start to wonder."

I looked down. "Yeah, I know."

"Is everything alright?"

"Yeah," I lied. "Just…very odd."

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* Gato is Spanish for cat.

**