Chapter 2
Naruto, after pulling his usual pranks, was running through the streets of Konoha, with several furious villagers hot on his heels. When he thought he had no escape left, he slipped behind the ninja academy, only for his body to crash against the wall as he turned the corner.
There, under the shade of a tree, Sasuke was training alone. His movements were flawless, almost as if he hadn't noticed Naruto's presence.
Naruto leaned against the trunk, watching in silence. Sasuke hadn't stopped training for even a moment. His face was focused―nothing seemed to distract him.
With a goofy smile, Naruto spoke, as if the only way to break the silence was to interrupt him.
"Hey, Sasuke, why do you train so much?" he asked, rubbing his head as he caught his breath.
Sasuke, without looking at him, responded in his usual dry tone.
"Because I want to be the best. I don't have time to waste."
Naruto thought that was really cool, and if he himself wanted to become Hokage, then he'd have to work just as hard as Sasuke.
The sound of a kunai cutting through the air interrupted his thoughts, but in his chest, a new determination had begun to burn.
"Then you won't mind if I join you," Naruto declared with more confidence than he actually felt.
Sasuke looked at him with an indifferent expression, but his response was direct.
"Do what you want. Just don't distract me."
They kept training in silence until the sun began to set. Naruto, exhausted and with his stomach growling in hunger, felt reluctant to return to his empty apartment. He had been ignoring his hunger just so he wouldn't be the first one to stop training. But now, something inside him pushed him to take a break.
"Hey, Sasuke," he suddenly said, surprising even himself with the idea. "I don't know about you, but I'm starving. Do you know Ichiraku? It's the best ramen in the village. I'm going to grab a bowl before heading home―honestly, I don't feel like cooking. Want to come?"
Sasuke looked at him, surprised by the offer. He didn't usually eat out, but his own attempts at cooking always left him unsatisfied. Truthfully, he despised his own food. His mother had always told him to eat something healthier, that ramen wasn't suitable for his lifestyle.
But of course, now there was no one left to scold him.
That thought hit him hard, a weight in his chest that left him momentarily silent. However, without showing any vulnerability, Sasuke simply nodded and started following Naruto without another word.
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At Ichiraku, both boys devoured their bowls of ramen eagerly.
Sasuke, on the other hand, began to realize something he hadn't felt in a long time―the simple pleasure of a warm meal. As he sipped the broth, his thoughts tangled in a corner of his mind he had been ignoring. It wasn't just the food he had missed―it was also the feeling of not being alone.
The murmurs of the restaurant, the presence of someone beside him―it all made him feel a strange warmth.
A little embarrassed, Sasuke averted his gaze, thinking that he never would have imagined Naruto's company could be anything more than an annoyance.
And yet, here he was, eating in silence, enjoying a moment he rarely allowed himself.
After they finished eating, they started walking through the village, and suddenly, Sasuke had an idea.
"Well, Naruto, this was nice, but I need to go home."
Naruto seemed disappointed for a moment, but then Sasuke continued.
"You should go home early too. After all, you don't want me to leave you behind in training tomorrow, do you?"
Naruto's big blue eyes locked onto Sasuke's, incredulous, before a huge grin spread across his face.
"You wish! Tomorrow, I'm going to make you eat dust!" he exclaimed with enthusiasm.
"You? Impossible. You've still got a long way to go before you reach my level," Sasuke said with a smug smirk.
Naruto, of course, didn't stay quiet and crossed his arms with a defiant expression.
"Still, I might be willing to teach you a thing or two... if you pay for ramen tomorrow."
Naruto looked happy but uncertain. He pulled out a small frog-shaped wallet from his pocket and counted his coins before nodding to himself.
"Fine! But don't get used to it, okay?"
Sasuke, unintentionally, smiled. The expression felt strange, but he couldn't help it. Even though he didn't fully understand it, he didn't find any reason to regret it.
Both boys went their separate ways.
The moment Sasuke stepped through the gates of his clan's district, the heaviness returned to his body. He quickened his pace toward his house, but that only made the feeling worse.
Loneliness settled over him like an invisible shroud, heavier than ever.
He knew it was stupid, that ghosts didn't exist.
And yet, somehow, he felt like they did―in the way the district was frozen in time, as if everything was suspended in the past.
He felt like one of those ghosts, trapped between being and not being, an existence that still remained but could never complete its cycle, unable to find its place in the world.
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Sasuke woke up early in the morning and decided to eat some cereal, lacking the energy to prepare anything more elaborate.
Wow, if his mother were alive, she would hate his eating habits.
He headed to the training field only to find that Naruto hadn't arrived yet, so he started practicing by throwing kunai while he waited.
Hours passed until, finally, the blond boy came running.
"Took you long enough," Sasuke said, barely concealing his irritation.
"Sorry, geez, I had to go buy some milk at the store, but they wouldn't sell it to me."
Sasuke froze. "What do you mean they wouldn't sell it to you...? Was it out of stock?"
Naruto looked embarrassed for a moment. "No, no, that's not it. Please, just forget it."
"Naruto," Sasuke said firmly, staring at the other boy, waiting for him to give in under the pressure.
"Well... it's not really a surprise, but for some reason, everyone hates me. They won't sell me anything most of the time, and when they do, it's almost expired. But it's better than nothing," Naruto said, shrinking in on himself.
Sasuke felt a knot of anger begin to form in his stomach. "That's ridiculous. How can the Hokage allow something like this?"
"Come on, it's not that important," Naruto replied.
Sasuke decided to let the matter rest. He opened his backpack indifferently and, after pulling out an apple, tossed it to Naruto with a casual gesture.
"It's not much, but it'll keep you on your feet, idiot."
Naruto caught it mid-air, surprised by the gesture, and stared at it for a moment.
For a second, he felt a little less alone.
"Tch. Thanks," he muttered, looking at Sasuke with a small smile before taking a bite.
Sasuke watched Naruto in silence.
The atmosphere in the training field felt heavier than usual.
And for the first time, Sasuke realized something―he couldn't just let Naruto deal with this alone.
And wasn't that ironic? That no teacher, no adult had stepped forward before him to stop the injustice surrounding the other boy’s life.