Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Hey y'all! This is my second oneshot, and I decided to do it on Sasuke, 'cause he's the only anime character that's 'good at everything' in academic terms. This is back then when they were all still kids. It's a SasuSaku pairing, sorry if anyone doesn't like it!
Falling Grades
Sasuke felt nervous. And that was unusual, because Sasuke never felt nervous.
NEVER.
Why? You ask.
Ever since he'd joined that blasted Team 7, somehow his mind was usually less intense than he'd like it to be. It took him quite a while to realise what it was: he'd started to remember less about his hatred of the murderer of his family (he refused to call him 'brother).
Once, more, the 'W' word popped up in his mind (as well as yours, probably). Why?
Well, there were several answers, but the one that caused it all the most were formed in the space of two words: Uzumaki Naruto.
His person could be described with a bit more credit, in three words: an utter idiot.
Well, if Sasuke wanted to elaborate on that, he could, but it would probably take half a day, so he decided to spare himself the bother.
And thus, with his mind's rigid discipline decreasing, his intuition told him something else was depleting. They were none other than his grades.
His taijustsu remained satisfactory, but his ninjustsu and academic grades were a different matter.
In the recent three tests, he'd gotten a B, an 87 and worst of all, 7 out of 12, which meant a C.
Trust me; these do not bode well for Sasuke, who's normally known as the 'cool genius' or a 'prodigy'. For somebody like Naruto, the previously mentioned grades were impossible – but for Sasuke, it was a complete nightmare.
He'd lost several winks of sleep at night from thinking about this haunting subject, which was also highly unusual.
He really had no idea how he was going to handle the situation. It was impossible to travel back into time to repeat those tests.
And now, the small yellow envelope which held his biannual profile report lay in his hands on his lap.
He had secluded himself from the rest of his classmates – sitting on a stone bench along the path that led to the nearest Konoha exit from school.
With steady fingers, he slowly opened the tab. His normally quiet heart started thumping, although his well-trained shinobi body remained undisturbed.
Then, with one swift fluid movement, he drew the single sheet of paper out.
His eyes scanned its contents with a reluctant urgency, and for once, Uchiha Sasuke displayed his emotions outwardly.
"DAMN IT!"
Sakura was sitting all by herself in the groves near where she knew Sasuke was sitting. She'd planned to casually saunter over and see what his grades would be. Of course, she really didn't need to, as Sasuke always had and will have the perfect grades, but it was a good excuse to talk to him.
She felt startled when she heard that voice express such frustration. That hott voice was undoubtedly Sasuke's, but what was he doing shouting things like "Damn it!" in broad daylight?
She decided that it was now or never to talk to the love of her life.
Now, I suppose it is, she thought.
She got up and casually walked in the direction of the shout. As she approached, she automatically knew that Sasuke would know of her presence, and she made no attempt to disguise it.
"Sasuke-kun!"
He made no response; but that was expected. He was a tad on the egotistic side, but Sakura forgave those faults.
She walked around until she was about a metre in front of him. He had his eyes closed and his head held low, arms and legs crossed in a nonchalant manner.
"Hey, hey, Sasuke-kun! Did you hear someone shout over here earlier? I'm sure I did."
Was it her imagination, or did a single vein pop on the side of Sasuke's handsome face?
"I wonder what it was. It sounded like your voice, though."
Another vein pop?
"Oh! I see you got your grades back. How was it? Perfect, as usual, right?"
She expected him to answer her on this occasion – he normally would. But to her utter surprise, he didn't. If anything, his head dropped even lower than it already was.
"Well, I got 'Above Average' as usual. I guess I'll never match up to you, huh?"
He was unnaturally quiet today. Was it because they were alone, and that he didn't mind her being close as long as no one saw? Tentatively, she sat down next to him on the stone bench.
There was still no reaction. Inside, Sakura could hardly contain her excitement, Oh my God! I'm sitting next to Sasuke! I wonder what's happened to him though. A bit quiet today…
She sat there for about ten minutes in total bliss; just relishing the slight warmth that emanated from beside her.
"Well, I guess I won't bother you and all. Congratulations on the 100 in everything, as usual!"
That last remark made Sasuke's eyes snap open. It was so instantaneous that Sakura jumped.
Snobby he was, he did not like being dishonest when it came to compliments.
First her turned his back on her, before saying, "I didn't get a 100 in everything."
He could almost hear her brain click in amazement. Great, that just made him feel all the better.
"You…didn't?"
"No. See for yourself."
He heard the slight rustle of paper, then closed his eyes to await the gasp, or gasps, that would surely follow.
After about 15 seconds, he opened them again raised one eyebrow. Why wasn't she gasping in disappointment? Where was the hurtful comment about her taking him for a different person?
Slowly, he got up and turned around to see Sakura holding out his report at him, with an innocent grin on her face.
"Just because your grades dropped by a little bit doesn't mean the end of the world. It just means that you have to try harder next time, right?"
Somehow…
As he whisked the paper out of her hand and walked slowly away, Sasuke felt his hardened heart soften a bit more.
The combination of that sincere smile and those strangely soothing words put him at ease, almost immediately.
Had he really been waiting for someone to pat his head and tell him what a good boy he was?
That night, he finally settled on the solution: he'd been forgetting about that murderer and his grades had dropped…but he'd also gotten something back in return.
Happiness, maybe?
And maybe Team 7 weren't such inferior people after all.