Title: Awaking from a Dream

Summary: Sasuke had always felt that he was living in a life that was not his own. That his reality was not one shared by the rest of his classmates. Until Uzumaki Naruto re-entered his life and shattered his insecurities one by one. A different kind of high school story.

Pairings: None for the time being. This is probably going to be a genfic.

Chapter 1- Tenkousei

"Ittekimasu." Sasuke drawled monotonously.

"Itterasshai." The expected reply followed immediately.

Sasuke didn't deign to offer a smile goodbye, nor even a curt nod of acknowledgment. Why should he even bother? It was a repetitive routine. A daily occurrence. A sign that a dreary day laid ahead of him. A day that would leave him infuriated with his insipid life.

Sliding shut the well-oiled wooden door behind him with a snap, Sasuke winced slightly as bright sunlight immediately blinded his view for a few moments. Not even giving his eyes anytime to adjust to the change, he started trudging out of the house's gate, and towards the general direction of his school. It had only been a year, but his feet had already committed the path to memory.

His house wasn't in the outskirts of this little town, but it wasn't exactly very close to the school, nor to the shopping districts either. Bracing himself for a long walk to school, Sasuke took his headphones out from his school bag and put them on, deftly untangling the knotted wires, and browsed through his mobile phone for the playlist he wanted. The music playing into his ears were the only change in his daily walk to school. The roads he walked through were a daily fixture.

The neglected shrine at the end of the road. The Shidareyanagi waving its leaves gently to the wind. The abandoned cardboard boxes that were now the new home of a litter of stray kittens. Everything had remained the way it had been as it was the day before, weeks before, months before. Changes were minute and bored no impression. Sasuke wanted more. He wanted more meaning in his life. He wanted to make an impact in this dry, uninteresting world.

Before he knew it, he was well out of his neighborhood district and was already walking through his school gates. Spring was still around the corner, and the Sakura trees in the yard were still in bloom, its petals scattered all over the ground, blanketing it a soft pale pink. Already, he could feel numerous pairs of eyes landing on his person. If he took off his headphones, he would probably hear murmurs and whispers with himself being the main topic of interest.

Uchiha Sasuke. Prodigy son of the famed Uchiha Company. Top Student of the level for two years and running. Star player of the track team. Ace. Genius. Talented. Gifted. Natural. Tensai.

It had all led down to one meaning- freak. The girls swooned and gushed over his intellect and looks, but none of them ever ventured out to hold a proper five minute conversation with him. The boys scorned at his arrogance and skills, and shunned him aside from themselves. He was alone. He had always been alone, ever since he entered junior high school. Everyone looked and gossiped, as though he was an interesting exhibit, but no one had reached out for him.

Quickly swapping his sneakers for his indoor shoes, he trudged up to the third floor; bag swung nonchalantly over one shoulder, his usual deep frown fixed upon his face. 2-A. Sliding the back door open, Sasuke headed towards his usual seat- the last column from the left, and the last row from the front, with the window to the side. He liked seating near windows the most- the gentle breeze was refreshing, but the occasional downpour was a nuisance to handle.

Several of his classmates were already present in the classroom. Hyuuga Hinata, who sat a row and two seats away from him, met his roaming gaze with her pale, almost white pupils, but glanced away almost too swiftly, fidgeting nervously with her pens and markers. Nara Shikamaru lay, as per usual, slumped over his desk, which was located at the other end of the classroom. In front of him sat his best friend, Akimichi Chouji, he was snacking on a bag of barbecued flavored chips despite the fact that it wasn't lunch hour and that the homeroom teacher might be coming in any minute.

Those three were the only ones who paid him no heed- they didn't adore him, nor do they dislike him. But then again, they didn't make any moves to befriend him either. Sometimes, he would catch a curious stare of two from them, and they would avert their eyes quickly and carried on with whatever they were doing. So he ignored them as well. The Hyuugas were a company on par with the Uchiha- as much as his father tried to deny this fact- and it would not do him any good to be caught with their heir.

Wait. Sasuke paused and looked at the wall clock. Eight twenty-four. Okay, so maybe their teacher may not be coming in so soon yet. Having nothing to do till class starts, Sasuke dug out his notebook, textbook and pencil bag from his bag and arranged them neatly over his desk. Then he slung the half-empty bag over the hook at the side of the desk, not before dumping his headset into a side pocket. The electronic speakers chimed, a repetitive ring, and the rest of the class filled into the room in hordes and droves, their chatter inconsistent and garbled.

It took awhile for the class to get settled. Boys were discussing the latest video games that had just been released over the weekends. Girls were giggling over the tickets they had obtained for a pop idol's concert. A group of jocks were hyped out about the baseball match that was going to take place in the afternoon. Some cheerleaders were nervously skirting around him, phones clutched in their hands, whose nails were highly manicured and polished. Lastly, boys and girls alike were scattered loosely around the room, all furiously copying homework- obtained from friends- which they hadn't finish the night before, due to varied reasons. Five minutes passed. Then ten.

"Sasuke-kun!"

An extremely high-pitched and offending girly voice. Sasuke didn't feel like turning his head, but he did so anyway, out of politeness's sake. It was the leader of the gaggle of cheerleaders. Sakura. Sasuke don't usually remember the names of his fan girls, but this one was practically impossible for him not to. Firstly, she had hair the color of her namesake. Secondly, she was the president of his unofficial fan club. Lastly, she had managed to beat him by two points in a history test six months and five days ago. Once. Sasuke's father had never let him live that embarrassing defeat down, and Sasuke himself, having never felt so humiliated before, gave that girl his coldest glares for almost two months. Until he emerged top-scorer for the mid-year examinations.

Wishing that she could just take the hint and disappear with her cluster of bimbos- who had to be quite smart to be able to get into 2A- Sasuke fixed her his blankest stare. "What?"

"If you don't mind, would you… err… would you…" Sakura paused and fidgeted with the helm of her too short and obviously tailored skirt. Sasuke continued staring at her blankly, silently willing for her to get her words out before he could send her away with a rejection. It wasn't her first, and from the looks of it, it wasn't going to be her last either.

"Well, we were wondering if you would… eh… you see, there's this competition going on, and I, uh…" Aww, to hell with politeness. Sasuke was just about to open his mouth to reject her offer- whatever it was, be it a date invitation or a love proposal. But the vice president took the reins and cut in for her friend-rival.

"There's a photo competition going on in the newspapers, so we would really love to get a few shots of you if you allow us to, Sasuke-kun." Yamanaka Ino gushed out breathlessly. " I mean, you don't even have to dress-up or anything, just sit still over there and we'll just snap some shots really quick, you look good regardless, and I bet you might even win this thing-"

"I'm sorry Yamanaka-san, but I'm a little busy with my work here." A blatant lie, but Sasuke said it out with a straight face. His notebooks lay closed and untouched on his desk, and his pencil bag was still tightly zipped. "Another time maybe." That was yet another lie, if anything; it was just to make them go away.

"Aww, but Sasuke-kun… Just one quick snap, please?" Ino whined, waving her phone camera in front of his face. Sasuke had the sudden urge to lunge for it and snap it into two, but it was an unrefined action, so he held it in. Ino's pleading got the other girls into whining and begging along with her, and soon they were making a small commotion as each one of them waved their phones at him. Sasuke felt himself internally melting at the attention they were causing.

'Kami-sama, if you won't make them disappear, why don't you make me disappear instead?' He thought broodingly. 'At least I won't be as bored as I am now when I'm in the afterlife. Probably.'

A long, sufferable sigh- that did not come from him- cut Sasuke out of his musings. "Ino, get your cluster of girls and get away from that poor guy." The drawl in the voice was easily recognizable. "Go away. Disappear. Shoo. The bell has already rung, and sensei might be coming in any minute now. Troublesome women."

Ino turned around with a pout, tossing back her long blond ponytail. "Aww, you're no fun Shikamaru. Since when did you take over as class president?" She huffed. "You didn't even use to care if you stayed back for an entire year- until you came back from spring vacation."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes, his form hunched and slouching as he eyed Sasuke contemplatively. Sasuke met his gaze evenly. Ino was right. Why the sudden interest? "I don't even know that you read newspapers- until today." Shikamaru replied Ino mildly. "Besides, I read this morning's papers, and there isn't a single advertisement about a photo contest. What, are you gonna pin the Uchiha's photos in the girl's locker room? Not all the ladies in this school are into him, in case you haven't noticed." Shikamaru continued drily. "You keep this up and tomorrow, the Uchiha's gonna come to school with a paper bag over his head-"

"Why, you…" Ino growled, voice rising to a shrill. "You're just jealous because Sasuke-kun's twice as smart as you and four times more handsome-"

"Sensei's coming. Let's go Ino. You can continue this later."Sakura hissed, and dragged her irate friend back to their seats. The president had already dispersed the rest of the girls, leaving only a relieved-looking Sasuke and a slouching Shikamaru. The staring had stopped too, as the rest of the class got ready for lessons proper- some poor blokes still trying to squeeze in a scribble or two into their uncompleted homework, their hands furiously flying over the worksheets.

"The paper bag statement was uncalled for." Sasuke said grudgingly, as he dug out his wallet from his pants pocket. It was, as usual, stuffed full with yen banknotes. "How much?"

Shikamaru looked down at him with something akin to amusement flickering in his black eyes. "I'll accept your gratitude, but I won't need anything either then that." The taller, lankier boy said, lips curling into a smirk. "But you really should try standing up to them yourself next time, Sasuke. I'll be seeing you around." He left, shuffling back to his seat and trying to get Chouji to keep his chips lest they get confiscated by the approaching teacher.

Before Sasuke even had time to ponder on the Nara's words, class 2-A's homeroom teacher had finally decided to make his much delayed appearance. Nonchalantly sliding the door open and sauntering to his desk without even bothering to close the door shut behind him, the homeroom, as well as English teacher dropped a pile of marked test papers from the previous week on his large oaken desk, and smiled down at the irritated, sullen faces that greeted him at the start of the week, through his white and absolutely ridiculous looking cough mask.

"Good morning, everyone." Hatake Kakashi beamed cheerfully at the bunch of antsy looking seventeen year olds. Sasuke could never understand how Kakashi's silver hair could stand up on its ends it that manner it did every single day. Kakashi himself didn't seem like the kind to empty a bottle of hair wax each morning, so maybe it was bed head? If so, it was a really bad and recurring case of bed head.

Sasuke realized that his sensei was now staring at him, waiting for him to give his commands. 'Right, I was- am the class president.' Sasuke remembered bleakly. 'How the heck did I even get myself that job in the first place?' Hoisting himself up and resisting the urge to rub his forehead in frustration, Sasuke sighed, and followed protocol. "Kiritsu. Rei. Chakuseki." There was lot of din- from the scraping and banging of chairs- as the class did as they were told. Well, at least Kakashi was pleased now.

"Okay kiddies, let's look through the register. You know the procedure, I call your name, and you announce your presence to the class. You can sing, dance, rap, anything, but just make sure that I can hear you- oh, wait-" Kakashi began, but cut himself off as he glanced at his wrist watch. "Oh dear, look at the time. Homeroom is already over. I guess this is goodbye kiddies, I'll see you for English later." He lamented on his lack of time- which was ninety-nine point nine entirely his own fault, and swept through the class with his pair of lazy grey eyes swiftly, before writing down a slapdash number on the attendance list.

The class, all too used with his usual antics, simply carried on with their work, and prepared themselves for the next teacher that was about to come in, namely the strict science teacher, Uzuki Yuugao. Sasuke leaned towards the window, gazing outside onto the Sakura filled courtyard, and braced himself for yet another life-sapping, uneventful day. He will prove himself worthy of the Uchiha bloodline by emerging the top in the finals, and eventually clinch a good degree from the University of Tokyo just like his brother had done. His future was practically written out for him by his father; life couldn't get any more surprising than it already is.

But then he had always wondered why he had this feeling of discontentment buried deep within him. He had achieved everything he wanted- no, needed to – for now. He had everything life had to offer- riches, looks, intellect, fame. All he had to do now was wait each day to pass patiently, no matter how mundane they may seem to be. But Sasuke couldn't keep still. He was still displeased. He wanted to go out to the world, and accomplish something- but what? Sasuke wondered if this feeling he felt was his imagination, or if it was just himself being unreasonable, greedy and selfish.

The door snapped open once more, and Sasuke looked blearily at it, almost expecting to see the long amethyst mane of Yuugao-sensei streak past the whitewashed wooden frames, but all his sight met was the messy silvery spikes of Kakashi-sensei. Sasuke blinked. As did the rest of his classmates.

"Ahahaha… Sorry kiddies, but I seemed to have forgotten to tell you something really important." Kakashi chuckled nervously has he headed back to his desk. "You see, today, our class will be having the honor of inviting a new student into our tender loving care." Kakashi looked as though he was beaming, but behind his mask, nobody could really tell. "He's born in Japan, but he's been whisked away to America for some family business to attend to see, but now that everything's all wrapped up there, I guess it's safe to say that his stay in Japan is permanent." Kakashi shrugged, as though he couldn't care less- which probably wasn't a lie- and gestured at the door with one hand while patting his pockets down with the other.

" Yeah, but since he can speak Japanese, and he did spend the first few years of his life in Japan, I don't see why he can't fit in with you guys. So be good to him and show him around, okay?" Kakashi finished, and with much triumph, pulled out a whiteboard marker from inside his sleeves. Then he turned to the doorway. "Hey squirt. Come over here and introduce yourself to your new class quickly. You know, write your name on the board, and tell us your likes, dislikes, and dreams for the future… that sort of thing. Hurry up, I'm already late for my next class. I'll disappoint my other kawaii students."

"You were never early for any of your classes anyway, Kakashi-sensei. At least now you have a valid reason to give that class." Came the snide reply as the new transfer stepped into the classroom. All of Sasuke's sullen thoughts- regarding the lost of time due to showing some English-speaking moron the ropes around a Japanese high school- was thrown out of the window, as Sasuke found his eyes transfixed on the newcomer, widening with each detail it soaked in. Spiky hair the color of sunshine. Mischievous cerulean eyes. Whisker markings etched onto the cheeks. And that wide, foxy grin that revealed too-sharp canines.

Sasuke stood up, dumbfounded.

"…Naruto?"

Sasuke's a little brooding prick over here. Hopefully Naruto will be able to snap him out of it.

Vocabulary:

Tenkousei- Transfer student
Ittekimasu- I'm leaving
Itterasshai- Have a safe trip
Shidareyanagi- Weeping Willow
Tensai- Genius
Kami-sama- God
Kiritsu. Rei. Chakuseki- Rise. Bow. Take your seat.

Note 1- Japanese students change their usual outdoor shoes to indoor shoes whenever they're on school grounds. They have cubby holes to store each student's shoes.

Note 2- Depending on the school, there is homeroom at the beginning, or/and at the end of the day. It involves a short meeting with students regarding announcements or concerns. The meetings can be conducted by either the homeroom teacher himself, or by the class's respective president and vice president. The morning homeroom is usually used for the homeroom teacher to take attendance. Homeroom periods usually lasts for about fifteen minutes.

I am not Japanese. I do not live in Japan. And being a writer isn't my job occupation. So if you spot any mistakes in my story, fact-wise or grammar-wise, please do drop me a note so that I can correct the mistakes.

Thanks for reading,

TenkuuBatsu