A/N: Hey guys! So this is a semi-prelude to Mixed Messages (check my profile for this story!) mostly from Sasuke's perspective. Though it could be a standalone story in itself. Still slightly AU (school, ninjas with some technology!)

Cover image does not belong to me.

I do not own Naruto in any way.

Annoying!

It was a warm Thursday afternoon as the final bell for the Konoha academy rung loudly throughout all the classrooms to signal students to start heading home. Sasuke Uchiha however, was going through his locker in search for the text books he would undoubtedly need to revise for several upcoming tests the following day. Mentally groaning to himself as he shoved more books into his backpack, slinging the heavy bag over his shoulders with a grunt.

The raven haired teen was not looking forward to pulling another all-nighter cram session, sadly it came with the high school territory...and being a ninja, but that hectic part of his life was annoying in a different way. The only upside was that were no missions this weekend, which meant after the exams he could actually have a relaxing weekend for once.

With a quick flick of his wrist, his locker door shut as he began his trek back home. He hadn't made it very far from his locker before a petite female decided to walk up to him, he clenched his jaw knowing full well where this was going. The girl was not perturbed by his glare as she smiled determinedly up at him, an air of confidence surrounded her small form.

"Sasuke-kun! Go on a date with me this weekend! I already bought movie tickets!" The brunette girl exclaimed though it sounded more like a demand, she waved said two tickets in front of his face, as if having already obtained the tickets would entice him to agree somehow. A few seconds later another girl stepped in front of her and tried to bat her eyelashes in a flirtatious manner, which proved ineffective.

"You should team up with me next mission Sasuke-kun! You won't regret it!" A red head purred as she tried to push the brunette away from him. The petite girl pushed back with a huff of indignation.

"Please! Who would want to go on a mission with you!? Movies are way more enjoyable!" The first girl quipped, they both began to bicker amongst themselves. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

It was sad to say that this was a common occurrence for him, nearly every day after school. Girls that would fight or turn on one another to vie for his attention, not quite grasping that he wasn't going to give them any. Fangirls were annoying. At first he would just say no but for some reason they enjoyed when he would speak to them, even if it was a rejection. He changed tactics pretty quickly, and had since given them all the silent treatment. Yet they still persisted to his ire.

Sasuke walked past both of them without sparing either of the girls a glance, to their dismay, and turned around a corner.

Another set of lockers came into view and he noticed a flash of short pink hair partially hidden by an open locker door. The unique hair color belonged to the only female member of his team, Sakura Haruno. The young kunoichi shut her locker and was obviously surprised to see him walking nearby. She raised a hand in greeting.

"Good luck on your exams tomorrow Sasuke-kun." A small blush appeared on her light skin as she smiled at him in a friendly manner. He quirked an eyebrow at her behavior, silently surprised she wasn't being overly fanatic today. His dark eyes locked onto green eyes briefly.

"Hn." Was all he said, then proceeded towards the exit.

"Oi! Teme!" An annoyingly familiar voice called out from behind him. Sasuke didn't bother to turn around as he continued to walk down the path. Naruto caught up to him in a few short strides to walk beside him, both of his arms bent behind his blonde mop of hair. His bright blue eyes narrowed. "What do you think you're doing!?"

"Walking home. I thought that was obvious enough dobe." Sasuke stated as they walked down a short flight of stairs.

"Did you forget already about Sakura-chan?" The blonde asked as he lowered his hands to his sides.

Sasuke halted and turned to regard Naruto with a questioning head tilt. "What about her?"

"It's her birthday this Saturday!" Naruto exclaimed as if it was the most obvious answer in the world.

"And?"

"And!?" Naruto repeated incredulously, then frowned as he raised a fist. "Baka! Team Seven is going to Ichiraku's to celebrate! So go buy a present for her!" The blonde hissed as he made to punch Sasuke in the shoulder, the Uchiha blocked it instinctively and grabbed Naruto's fist. Sasuke sent him a warning glare, as if threatening retaliation if the blonde tried to strike him again, he flung Naruto's arm away roughly. Naruto returned the glare which didn't faze Sasuke in the slightest. These types of fights weren't serious. Most of the time.

"Why should I?"

"Because she's your team mate!" Naruto sighed, clearly exasperated, before he muttered lowly to himself. "That and she has a stupid crush on you." Sasuke still managed to hear that statement and ignored it, all too aware of the pinkette's feelings towards him.

"I don't buy presents. For anyone." Sasuke stated, and emphasized the last part of the sentence for Naruto to take the hint. Buying gifts for people was annoying.

"I've freaking noticed! You never get me anything either!" Naruto complained. "You still owe me heaps of missed birthday ramen by the way!" He sulked as he crossed his arms. Sasuke scoffed.

"Why would I willingly waste my money on you dobe? Especially on ramen." The raven haired teen taunted, a superior smirk graced his features which made the blonde instantly bristle.

"Because we're best friends you baka!" Naruto lashed out another fist and was yet again blocked. This time however Sasuke stuck his foot out to kick one of the blonde's legs, who darted back and jumped onto a nearby roof out of Sasuke's reach before he shouted down at the Uchiha. "Seriously though teme! Go buy Sakura-chan a present or Kakashi and I will make you regret it! Believe it!"

"Hn."

When Sasuke finally entered his home, he snatched a few tomatoes from the fridge then headed up to his room. He swiftly withdrew his textbooks from his bag and placed them on his desk as he sunk into his chair to begin his revision, making sure to cover everything.

Because knowing Ibiki, the exams were going to be brutal.

There was no room for any distractions.

Friday reared its ugly head sooner than Sasuke would have liked it to, irked that he only got four hours sleep, he was tired as hell.

The first two tests were prepared by Iruka, and were extremely easy to finish. He noticed quite a number of students had finished before the allocated time had ran out, they all wore smug grins, proud of their accomplishment.

Until it was time for Ibiki's exams.

And true to Sasuke's prediction, Ibiki had been absolutely ruthless with his exam papers. There were so many trick questions riddled in each test he was not surprised at all to see quite a few students crack under the pressure. Some had been desperate enough to try and cheat as a last resort, which was met with a well aimed kunai that was thrown on top of the desk of the cheater, which meant an instant fail. He felt he was pretty safe though.

The end of school came sooner than he thought, much to his relief. He promptly arrived back home, ate, showered, got changed and instantly crashed as soon as his head hit his pillow.

It was fairy early on Saturday morning when Sasuke was rudely woken up by the sound of his phone, it vibrated loudly on top of his bedside table. Onyx eyes snapped open as he released a deep growl at the offending object, half tempted to end its life right then and there.

If he had it his way, he wouldn't even have a phone.

But Kakashi had explained that it was more practical to alert them about upcoming missions this way. He didn't give his number to Sakura though, as he was still wary of her fangirl tendencies. While Naruto just wanted to bug him to go out and eat ramen, or when he was feeling particularly juvenile, prank the dark haired teen in the middle of the night which resulted in many fights. Since loud noises annoyed him, and were dead giveaways in missions, Sasuke was wise enough to never use ringtones.

Naruto on the other hand, seemed to have missed that memo, as there were many times that the obnoxious blonde's phone had gone off and given away their position when his ringtone, 'Fighting Dreamers' chimed loudly. Though speaking of the dobe, he was probably the source of this call. Sasuke sat up and snatched the shiny black object, not bothering to check caller ID as he tapped the answer icon and held it to his ear.

"What?" Sasuke bit out menacingly.

"Well good morning to you too Sasuke." Came the voice of his team leader. "I see you aren't a morning person either. And what a way to answer your phone! So rude! Kids these da-" Sasuke interrupted him.

"Why are you calling me Kakashi?" Sasuke snapped as his other hand pinched the bridge oh his nose. 'So much for sleeping in.'

"Do you know what day it is today?" Kakashi inquired casually.

"My day off from school and missions, which you are interrupting." Sasuke growled.

"Try again," The older man hinted, a more serious tone laced in his voice. "Think birthday."

It took Sasuke a moment before he remembered what Kakashi was referring to.

He had completely forgotten Sakura's birthday.

Which was today.

'...Shit.'

"Sasuke..." Kakashi trailed off, he didn't need to say anything, Sasuke already knew roughly what he was going to say next.

"Tch." Sasuke's response was met with a tired sigh.

"You really need to work on building a better relationship to your team mates, especially Sakura. Buy her a present." Kakashi chided.

"Fine." Sasuke conceded.

"We're meeting up in front of Ichiraku at 4pm, don't be late or show up empty handed."

Not bothering to say anything further Sasuke ended the call and tossed his phone onto his bed as he went to get changed while he tried to think of a gift idea.

He would not be caught dead buying make-up, jewellery or any other horribly overly girly items. But what else do you buy for a girl? Let alone a team mate. Realistically he could purchase more kunai or senbon for the kunoichi, however he had a feeling that sentiment would not be appreciated. Sasuke ran his hands through his dark hair in frustration. He didn't want to admit it to himself but it was pretty obvious...

He needed help.

TBC

A/N:Dun dun dunnnn! Who is he going to ask I wonder? And will they even help him?!

So what did you think? Hopefully I didn't make it too drawn out/or too ooc, I'm not good with guy perspective. Though might revise this again.

:D I would love to hear your thoughts! Please review if you can! And don't worry, Mixed Messages will be updated soon!

See you in the next chapter!

-KC