Konoha : Naruto's playground

TenTen slipped smoothly into her chair at the Higurashi residence. She had been living there long enough now for it to be a comfortable procedure, eating and drinking and living with Naoto was like an everyday thing for her since Naruto had left.

Naruto...his name left a sour taste in her mouth, just from thinking of him.

Two years...two years and she had not seen hide nor hair of him apart from once, when he came to the Weapon store to purchase some rubber; no doubt for another crazy stunt of his. TenTen couldn't even understand her own feelings. She knew she felt betrayed that Naruto couldn't share anything with her, and yet...

And yet, no matter how much she tried to deny it, he was always there for her, his shining smile and glowing blue eyes at every corner of her metaphorical thoughts.

'No! It was his fault! I'm not going back there again!'

"...saying you should eat your food. TenTen?"

"Huh?" Naoto sighed.

"TenTen, I was saying you should eat your food before it gets cold, how long are you going to leave it there for?"

TenTen stirred her Miso soup absently, her mind remaining in the cascade of thoughts she so often tried to escape. Life with Naoto wasn't bad, it was pleasant and calm, each day blending with the next to make a seamless weaving pattern of training and school. TenTen had come far in her studies both at the Academy and in her apprenticeship under the middle-aged weapons-master. She was becoming very proficient in weapons use, scoring bulls-eyes with almost any weapon that could be named in Konoha, yet there was something missing.

And for the life of her, she didn't know what it was.

She looked up as the elder Higurashi sighed again.

"Look TenTen, I know what's wrong and there's no point in beating yourself up about it. Naruto's not even in the village at the moment."

TenTen's eyes widened.

"He's not?! " the brown-haired store owner raised a rough eyebrow.

"He's been gone for about a year now. Didn't you know that?"

A year. TenTen breathed out slowly. He'd been gone for a year and she didn't even know it. Wait...it wasn't as if she even cared. Why should she, he wasn't even ready to accept her as a friend even after all that they had been through.

Unbidden, a memory from their time together rose to the forefront of her mind.

"So you've been betrayed before and you still can't trust me? When have I betrayed you? I heard about the Kyuubi or whatever it is you know!"

"I can't trust you, not with this."

Tears prickled at the corner of her eyes. Even now those words still stung her to the very core of her being. She was a 10 year old, and yet she had witnessed some of the harshest experiences that life could offer; growing up in an orphanage where everyone around you was an opponent, where you had to work for your food clinging to your sanity in ways only a child could. Even as a child, she knew this instinctively, she couldn't put it into words, but the pain in her chest was enough to convince her that something was very wrong.

"Thanks for the food, Naoto-san." The weapons-smith could only look on in sympathy and worry as the young girl stumbled out of her chair, a mere whisper of the grace she had displayed just a few minutes prior.

He was a good judge of character; he had been serving the Shinobi population for years first as a ninja himself, and now as a provider of arms. He could tell that whatever it was that was bothering his 'guest' was not something Naruto had done; rather it was something far deeper and lingering than that. He could only watch from the sidelines and hope that whatever it was that was affecting his apprentice would eventually take its leave.

As the young brown-haired girl made her way out of the room, Naoto caught a small sob which echoed like a gong to his senses.

He hoped Naruto would come back soon.

For all their sakes.

XXXXXXXXX

Droplets of water hit his face as the wind surged, blowing huge waves of the clear liquid high into the air, dull greys of water-spray decorating the two enormous statues that stood parallel to each other; a roaring waterfall cascading down among the rocks scattered like clouds in the sky.

It was a historical place, that Naruto could deduce without being told. He didn't quite know what the statues were for, but one looked vaguely like the first head on the Hokage Monument. What would the Shodai Hokage be doing over here?

As Naruto gazed balefully at the endless torrent of water around him, he attempted to remember some of the brighter memories of his recent escapades to lighten his dreary mood. His escape from Suna was a sad one. Gaara hadn't wanted to let him go, his friendship growing stronger every minute he stayed in the blonde's company. Naruto knew that Gaara was warming up to him; his fellow prank-master was carrying Naruto's legacy to his own part of the world, given he had a slightly vicious mindset when it came to pulling things on people. Yet Naruto was proud to say that Gaara was his friend.

At that thought, the Konoha Jinchuuriki completely forgot the day's weather-woes. Oh he had left something terrible in Suna. They would feel the wrath of a lonely boy's devious mind now that he had a correct outlet for it. One glaring incident came to mind, and Naruto couldn't help the guffaw that tore from his wet lips as he wallowed in nostalgia.

"Is that...a wall?!" Naruto stared incredulously at his red-haired friend. Where was he going with this?

"A wall of sand." Even though Gaara was pulling a prank all on his own this time, he still spoke in a monotonous voice. It was slightly lighter than how it was when Naruto had first spoken to the Suna boy, but he still needed to show some emotion. It was like staring at a dead fish at times...

"Yeah, I can see that. What are you going to do with a wall?"

Gaara stared at the blond. They remained staring at each other for a few minutes.

"Now what?!"

Gaara turned to stare through the crack in the Kazekage's lounge door.

"Watch."

Naruto almost gave up right there and then. It was one thing pulling a prank, but it wasn't fun if the one doing it was as dull as a doornail.

'Dead as a doornail too...' Naruto snickered slightly at that thought, only to shiver and wave his hand as his companion turned his soulless stare on him once again.

The two kids stayed silent, watching and waiting for another ten or so minutes. Gaara started slightly as if the thing he had been waiting for had just happened.

Almost immediately, the walls sectioning the five offices attached to each other simply disappeared. The Shinobi sat at their desks frozen; one had a pen halfway through scrawling a word, no doubt working on another mundane administration job that most ninja seemed to get caught up with every now and then.

Seriously, what were ninja for? State protection or library work?!

As Naruto stared from his vantage point he felt Gaara's sand begin to vibrate. Over the past few weeks Naruto had come to realise that when the Suna boy's sand did that, it was the only sign that he was laughing. Trust Gaara to be the only person to laugh by not laughing.

Dead as a doornail indeed.

Turning, the blond-haired Jinchuuriki tried to locate the source of his friend's humour.

He froze.

He stared.

Scratch that, Gaara was a genius of untold prank-proportions.

The Kazekage was sitting slouched in his cushion-backed chair, the index finger of his right hand stuck up his nose and his left scratching a...shameful patch of skin in his nether regions.

Naruto laughed.

Of course the two had to hightail it out after that. Yet the fearsome leader of Sunagakure no Sato's image would be tarnished forever when his secretary would display a photo of the incident to her friend.

THAT was priceless. Naruto was so proud!

Cackling in glee, Naruto sprang forward from his perch, blue Chakra pervading from the soles of his feet. He landed neatly on the opposite statue's fingertip that was raised in the 'Ram seal' position. Naruto was curious about these statues. Maybe he'd ask someone later.

For now, he had a mission to perform. He had overheard a Suna Chuunin talking about a certain 'snake-like Orochimaru'. Naruto wanted to know what all the fuss was about and when he had heard the words 'Jutsu master' and 'traitor' in the same sentence, he had rushed to his next location, pilfering a few Elemental Ninjutsu scrolls along the way. Gaara's sand was SO useful!

His next destination was Rice Country.

As he sprang from his position, heading north, he disregarded the team of Konoha Chuunin running through the trees along the opposite bank of the waterfall.

They however, didn't disregard him.

Nor did they disregard the direction he was travelling in.

ZZZZZZZ