SPELLBOUND

Disclaimer: Characters don't belong to me, but their OOCness certainly does. ;)

Pairings: NaruSasu, NaruHina, SakuLee, and maybe others

Warnings: Boy x boy, student/teacher relationships, language, citrus, some dark themes.

Rated: M

Chapter One

I don't remember why I had been standing here. But those eyes had kept me spellbound. Arms wrapped loosely around a collared neck, fingers threading dark brown tresses, he was smiling slyly at me with every thrust, every soft moan he let escape as if inviting me to come closer, tantalising, seducing. They lay behind the teacher's desk in an empty classroom filled with thin shadows, a lattice work across the tables and chairs, almost concealing. There was no one around, just them and me and their strained breathing, the muffled sounds of flesh on flesh, and dark, dark eyes holding mine.

I couldn't move.

He turned his gaze, knowing I would follow the curve of his back as he arched into the large hands that held him. He pressed the head closer to his pale chest, muffling the guttural groans as he got himself into a sitting position. I could see only his head behind the desk as it bobbed up and down, quickly, frantically, his teeth biting at his bottom lip, his eyes closed as if in deep concentration. When he turned to look at me again, those eyes were hazy but an eyebrow was raised at me salaciously.

I snapped out of myself and ran.

-o-o-o-

"So Naruto, did you end up finishing the worksheet?"

"How come you didn't come to practice on Friday?"

"You forgot to collect the game from me last night."

"Naruto, are you even listening?"

I looked up from the Econ book I was reading to see Sakura, Kiba and Shikamaru's faces peering into mine. I switched on a dazzling smile.

"What?" I asked innocently.

"Dude, we were talking to you," Kiba groused, walking back to his seat located right next to mine. Sakura was about to slap me upside the head but I dodged it, thankfully. She ended up crossing her arms and spun her seat back to face the front. Shikamaru just rolled his eyes.

"Guys," I pleaded. "Give me a break. I haven't been in this class since forever. At least give me some time getting used to seeing the word... 'economics'?" I looked critically at the book before shutting it loudly, waving the white flag. I was kidding myself anyway. I'd been reading the same paragraph three times and didn't understand a thing.

"And whose fault is that?" Sakura asked self-righteously, turning slightly to glare at me.

"Mine," I conceded again. "But you know," I added brightly, "As the future captain of Konoha High's basketball club, I'll be bringing pride and glory to all the people in this school, so something as tiny and insignificant as Economics won't tarnish me!"

My laughter was cut short by Sakura's whack on the head. That woman had strength.

"Oww... Sakura-chan," I whined.

"Stop making excuses for you cutting classes!" she admonished.

"It's not like I don't do anything with my time," I defended. "I practice."

"Go practice now then, loser," snickered Kiba by the side.

I gave him a glare. If I could, I'd be out on an empty court practising my shots too, but he knew, in fact, everyone knew that in order to attend the interhigh tournaments, a student needed to prove that their game wasn't a detriment to their studies. And gosh, were my studies detrimental.

The interhigh tournament is only a month away and I'm on the verge of failing five of my seven subjects. Five! The two subjects keeping me afloat were PhysEd (obviously) and Maths because the teacher Iruka never has the heart to fail me. But aside from them.. man, I'm honestly just praying that the teachers would be lenient with their supplementary exams come the end of the month.

I sighed despairingly. Sometimes I wished I was as smart as Sakura or Shikamaru, then life would be a complete breeze.

"Don't worry, Naruto," Sakura said in a comforting tone. She probably saw the helpless look in my eyes: I've been told I'm as easy to read as an open book. "Do well for this month and I'm sure you can make up for it. Besides, you have me and Shikamaru to tutor you if all else fails."

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"

"I didn't even offer."

I couldn't help laughing as Kiba and Shikamaru made to dodge an irritated Sakura fist. It's been a while, I realised, as I stared at the familiar scene before me. I've been missing a lot of classes due to the Konoha championships that went on for the past two months, and haven't seen these guys nearly enough. We'd been together since second year grade school and now ten years have gone by as quick as the bloom of sakura flowers outside. A bit over a year left and we'll be in our final year and working towards our separate paths. Sakura is going to be a doctor, that much I'm sure. Kiba despite his complaints, would end up taking care of his family pet business; while Shikamaru, well, that guy could be anything he wanted, that genius asshole. Me? I've always bragged that I'd be the second Japanese basketballer to make it big in the NBA after Yuta Tabuse, but for some odd reason, now that our team has won our prefectural games and are the no. 1 representatives, I was becoming less and less sure of that idea.

"So why weren't you at practice on Friday, anyway?" asked Sakura.

"Yeah," Kiba chimed in. "You never miss practice."

"Something happened?" Shikamaru asked, as inquisitively as he could make his voice convey.

They weren't a part of the club, no matter how many times I tried to get them to join, but from time to time, they would come to see me practice and cheer me on. Fridays, especially, considering the weekend meant they didn't need to rush home to study - well, Sakura typically; Shikamaru being so lazy would probably just end up sleeping, while Kiba would be playing with his breed of dogs.

I racked my brains trying to think of Friday. What did happen? I wondered. Friday I was at school after receiving a lecture from old man Sarutobi that if I didn't pick up my slack, I wouldn't be able to participate in the interhigh competition - not that I hadn't learnt from last year. But I ended up skipping periods three and four anyway because I hadn't finished a Biology assignment that was due and Anko's face is super scary when she's mad. Then I decided to skip English as well because I hadn't read the chapter on Nouns and Noun Phrases or something equally stupid, but went back to class at the end of the day anyway to get the textbook for the weekend when...

Oh.

That's right. No wonder I couldn't immediately recall what happened on Friday: I'd spent the whole weekend trying to forget about that damn boy and those dark dark eyes in the empty classroom with that...that teacher. Was it Shinosaki-sensei? Or was it Urahara-sensei? Why had they even -

"Naruto? Earth to Naruto?"

I quickly shook my head, trying to snap out of my reverie. Right now was definitely not the time to think back to that damn afternoon. I didn't even know what had possessed me to stay standing like that, staring like a gaping fish. I just hope I don't ever have to bump into that guy in the school halls or something because I have no idea how I'd be reacting if I saw him again.

"You're so out of it today," Sakura remarked with a curious stare.

I tried to laugh it off. "Oh, I'm fine!" I said in between my chortles, hoping it would convince her.

Her eyes didn't seem to believe me but just then the teacher walked in, and being the good student she was, quickly spun around. I sighed a quick sigh of relief. It's hard to get Sakura off your back sometimes. When she gets worried about you, she probes and probes until you kinda just have to give up and lay your heart out on your hands for her to inspect. Sometimes it was comforting. Other times it was just annoying, like recounting your school day to your own mother when you were already in high school.

And right now, the last thing I wanted her to know was that I'd accidentally spied on someone doing it in a classroom, with a teacher no less. She'd probably get me to report it to the principal or the board of teachers or something, but only after lecturing me about common decency and everyone's right to privacy.

Yeah, she's that kind of annoying.

"Good morning class," greeted the teacher who entered. I'd forgotten his name, maybe Nobu, or Nobuta or something - I hadn't seen him for a while. I quickly decided that I should re-open my book, an attempt to give a good impression.

He walked in with easy strides then immediately stopped when he saw me.

"Oh, Naruto? Finally cared to join us?"

I gave him a sheepish grin. The class decided to laugh at my embarrassment.

"Guess that could only mean that the tournament is approaching then," he continued with a sigh. He placed his books neatly on his desk before looking at me again, a little glint in his eyes. "Well, Naruto. Good luck! Hope you can do Konoha proud."

My grin widened at that and I stood to give him a two finger salute. Anyone who was remotely excited about basketball was a friend to me. "Yessir!" I said, only to be met with more laughter. He chuckled softly before starting the class.

Sakura turned to roll her eyes at my antics. I sat down and gave her a wink.

"I've got some good news for you guys today..." he began.

I started tuning out his beginning speech. It was a bad habit of mine I know, but I just could not get myself to pay attention to those first ten minutes when a class begins. When I was twelve, I'd come up with the theory that everything that was important was always spoken about at the end of class. I managed to get Shikamaru to agree with me and, considering that that guy is pretty much a genius, it's as good a fact to me then as it is now.

I turned to look out the window, fingers tapping absently and wondering how long till recess. As I peered out towards the large yard, past the cherry blossoms and towards the front entrance, I saw a lone figure enter the school grounds. His shirt was ruffled by the slight breeze and I could make out the skinny frame and pale skin his shirt exposed. The dark hair was slightly long and messy, jutting arrogantly by the back as if he hadn't bothered brushing it at all.

I found myself wondering vaguely who he was. I hadn't seen him before.

"... 60% of your total mark."

My head snapped at that. That would be my cue to pay attention.

There were groans before the teacher continued.

"Yeah, I know, I know, you all hate working in groups. Too bad I've already decided on them." A smile. "I'm handing the assignment sheets around so you know what is required. Now, for the groups..."

I turned to poke Kiba in the arm.

"What's this 60% thing?" I whispered none-too-softly.

He gave me a small shrug of his shoulders. "Beats me."

I couldn't help chuckling. Kiba was as hopeless as me.

"...Tezuka and Miko. Shitsui, Ran and Kiba."

Immediately Kiba gave a little fist pump. He gave me a wink when I shot him a confused look. "Ran is a babe," he whispered.

"...Shikamaru and Totsu. Chie, Yumi and Matsumoto. Rumi, Takasaki and Jun."

Idly, I wondered if Sakura's name had been called. Then, realising the situation, I quickly smacked my two hands together and started to pray that she hadn't and that she'd be paired with me. I'd feel sorry for anyone else otherwise because I sure as hell didn't know what I'd have in myself to contribute. I may not care too much about school generally, but I knew more than anything that I needed to do well in my subjects for this current month. And 60% is clearly more than half. (Yeah, I did pass elementary school maths.)

"Naruto."

My ears pricked at my name.

"Sakura."

My eyes snapped open and I whooped, almost loud enough for Sakura to spin around and whack me on the head again. So I am with Sakura. God was definitely on my side today.

"And Sasuke."

I was almost dancing in my chair before I caught Kiba's curious gaze. I stared back, raising my eyebrows.

"What?" I asked, but he didn't say anything. The teacher cleared his throat and spoke again.

"Okay, move to your groups. You have the whole period to discuss what you'll be doing."

I decided to ignore him and was on my way to pushing my table forward to meet Sakura's when the door slid open. I swept a careless glance to the right where the entrance was and accidentally dropped my hold. The table rattled slightly against my absent hands.

A tall, thin student entered with his shirt untucked and his belt hanging dangerously low on his hips, movements oddly graceful. I recognised him as the guy I'd seen just outside, but from this distance I could make out the ridiculously skinny frame and the rough collarbones that jutted from his shirt, the top two buttons having not been fastened. I was almost positive that I hadn't seen him before, not in this class anyway, but something in the way he held himself made me feel as if I must have some other time in the past.

The teacher approached him to explain something but the noises from the room had muffled their sounds. Belatedly, I turned to see Kiba nudging at my arm.

I'd been staring.

"Good luck," he whispered thickly, a vague look of pity filling his eyes. "I haven't spoken to him, but I heard from others he's a bit of an asshole."

I stared blankly at him, not knowing what he was saying.

Kiba sighed dramatically. "Sasuke," he said. "Your new group mate. He transferred here a month ago."

"Sasuke?" I asked dumbly.

"Yeah," said Kiba, "doesn't talk much, that guy. Some of the girls are crazy about him. But he just gives me the creeps."

He shuddered as he walked away.

I turned to look at the boy again, slowly trying to register what Kiba had said, when he turned to see me. And my heart instantly fell.

Black eyes locked with mine. I could recognise those eyes from a mile away, those dark dark eyes, staring at me as if he knew what I was all about, that I could hide nothing from that piercing, knowing gaze. I couldn't stop the images that were flashing through my mind: the pale skin, the long fingers, the clean arch of a skinny back, the soft, muffled moans, and I felt my cheeks instantly heat up.

Oh shit, I found myself panicking, please don't recognise me.

I broke the gaze, looking down. Then despite myself found my eyes searching wildly at the room, almost frantic until they landed on Sakura. She was rummaging through her bag trying to find something and I swore as I couldn't contain my gaze on her, my eyes reluctantly being pulled in his direction again.

He was walking towards me now, very slowly, every step languid as if he had all the time in the world. I wasn't sure if I was breathing heavy but I could hear the pulse in my chest echo with every stride he made, almost mocking my sudden nervousness. Then just as I finally decided that it was best that I turned away from him now, his mouth quirked upwards into a wicked, wicked smile.

My heart stopped.

He remembered me.

TBC?