Naruto yawned as he collapsed into his favorite chair at Ichiraku, sleepily ordering two bowls of miso ramen. He had been up late the other night, training until even the owls stopped calling in order to be ready for the final portion of the chuunin exam. It wasn't that he particularly needed the training, he told himself sniffing the air contentedly as the scent of spices wafted across his nose, he just couldn't let Sasuke-bastard get too close to his level of power.

He gave a happy cry as the old man placed his ramen in front of him, snapping apart his chopsticks and hurriedly digging into them, the wonderful taste washing over his tongue. He slurped up the noodles, not noticing anything beyond his bowl until a flash of pink hair entered the corner of his vision.

"Sakura-chan!" he cried, wiping his mouth on his sleeve.

The girl paused, turning to face him with what looked to be a pretty painful smile.

"Hello, Naruto." Why did he have to notice me? she thought angrily. I saw Sasuke-kun coming down this way.

Naruto ignored the falseness in her expression and asked, "Do you think maybe you'd want to have a bowl of ramen with me, Sakura-chan?"

Immediately her expression fell into a frown and she said simply, "No."

"But Sakura-chan…" Naruto continued to whine. "Just one?"

"No way. What would Sasuke-kun think if he saw me eating with you?"

As if conjured by his name, the dark shinobi sauntered around the corner, hands buried in his pockets, methodically clenching and unclenching, and eyes constantly flickering around in what would be called nervousness if he were anyone else. Seeing him, Sakura squealed happily, not noticing the minute changes in his posture and ran up to him, leaving Naruto to glare and wonder what was wrong with the other boy.

Sasuke forced himself not to jump as Sakura threw her arms about his neck, squealing in his ear. Instead, he shoved her off, pretending everything was the same. Pretending he didn't feel eyes watching him everywhere he went. Pretending he couldn't hear the whispers of something lurking about him.

His eyes caught Naruto's and a silent exchange passed between them.

"Let's spar, bastard," Naruto said after downing his second bowl, standing and ignoring Sakura's screechings of how he should be more polite to Sasuke and how he was so inconsiderate, telling Sasuke to fight him after just being released from the medic-center.

Sasuke just smirked and leapt onto the rooftops, hearing Naruto curse and follow quickly, screaming curses at his back.

---

Sakura growled and watched as Naruto aimed a punch at Sasuke's face only to have his fist caught and a kick placed in his stomach, sending him flying back into a tree. She had followed after them as they ran into the forest area on the east end of the village, the rising sunlight bright in her eyes and blinding all three of them. She stood out of the way, beyond the trees that Naruto was crashing into every few minutes and pouted, felling that now-familiar longing to be as strong as them so that she wouldn't have be left out of such things.

She watched as Naruto stood on the side of the tree, kunai held in one hand. He leapt at Sasuke, small blade ready at his side and, for a moment, Sakura had the disconcerting double-image of a ghostly sword in his hand shaped, oddly enough, like a large golden key, the handle creating a heart about his palm. She blinked and shook her head, turning her eyes to Sasuke and stifling a gasp as she saw his shadow distort, lengthening and wavering, golden eyes peering out of it. Creatures, no taller than her knees began to emerge and she shrieked, causing both boys to falter, turning to her worriedly.

The key and the creatures vanished, but she could feel something hovering about Sasuke's shadow, waiting for… something.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto cried, breaking into her thoughts. "Are you all right?"

"I-"

A second scream filled the air, from within the village itself. Without bothering to check up on Sakura, Sasuke took off, leaping into the trees to avoid unnecessary confrontation. Naruto couldn't be bothered to glare at him, as he glanced over Sakura to check for injuries.

"Go!" she shrieked at him, frustrated with her visions. "Help Sasuke-kun!"

Instead of flinching away like he normally did at her raised tone, he nodded once and took off, rushing out of her sight and, for a flash of a moment, she could have sworn he was holding that key again.

---

Since I don't have much time till I have to get back to work, I'll just say it: I don't own any of the anime/games this thing touches.