No Way, Another Sasuke? (Siblings Apparently Look Alike)

XxX

Sweat dripped from my forehead, running down my cheek to land on the gym floor beneath my feet. I was nearly out of breath, but still I crouched down into a defensive position as I prepared to fight for what the man in front of me had.

He was almost out of breath, too. One cool bead of sweat ghosted over his chin, dropping down to the floor. Despite the exhaustion, his dark eyes were locked in a fierce determination that accurately mirrored my own. His eyes swept around me, the soft thud of the basketball reverberating through the empty gym as he calculated his next move.

I tensed the muscles in my legs, prepared to strike like a cobra the second he made a move. And... wait for it... there it was! A slight narrowing of his eyes, his unconscious signal told me what was about to go down.

He darted forward then, but I knew better than probably anyone else in the world that the Uchiha Sasuke would never try such a direct approach. We were exact opposites when it came to things like that.

So it came as no surprise when he tried to fake me out by banking left at the last second. But I bet surprised him - he went to shoot, the ball rolling off the tips of his fingers only to be met by and overzealous hand movement that slammed it back into the ground with vigor and purpose.
Of course, a normal person wouldn't have done that with quite as much enthusiasm as I just had. But this was Uchiha Sasuke! Mr. Perfect-In-Every-Frigging-Way. And I just managed to block his shot!

"Hn," he said, noting the sparkle I can only assume was present in my eyes. "Dobe."

And there it was. He's always gotta shoot me down! "Come on, you can't just let me bask in my moment of glory teme?"

"I don't think a single blocked shot is a reasonable cause for a celebration."

"Aw, now don't be like that!" I said, tossing my arm around his shoulder as we made our way to the locker room, "You're just pissed that I'm finally better than you."

"Ha," he actually allowed a small smile to grace his features as he slipped out from under my loose grip to take a sip from his water bottle, "In your dreams, moron. And don't touch me."

I just rolled my eyes at him, knowing his stupid pride wouldn't allow him to verbally admit that he was impressed with my skill. But I knew he secretly was. Even Sasuke himself may not know that he was impressed with me. But I could tell. There's no hiding things from Uzumaki Naruto!

I moved into the attached showering area, grabbing my clothes and a towel along the way so that I didn't have to make the trek back to the gym lockers stark naked again, like I had the other day. Man, that had been embarrassing. I mean, no one was there, since it was early in the morning and all, but still! It just felt so wrong, walking around a section of the school (despite the fact that the locker rooms are their own isolated section of said school) in all of my glory. Like, here I am world, look at me!

I suppose it's a bit like having sex in a church - you just don't do it. Pushing that extremely random and repulsive thought out of my mind, I undressed and turned on the shower to wash away the stickiness of the sweat covering my body.

Workouts like this were always intense. Sasuke and I had been coming to the school gym early in the mornings for two years now, but only in the few weeks before basketball season started up. To get some extra practice in and such. At first, it started out as and even more intense rivalry than we have now. back in freshman year he had rubbed me the wrong way right from the start. He just, you know, sat there and took up space! Nothing bothers me more than people who don't really seem to have a purpose. Not to mention the fact that ALL the girls in school seemed to adore him. For no apparent reason I would like to add.

Sasuke didn't do anything (well, he still doesn't do anything). At all. He was broody, and Mr. Popular, but he still never said anything. So I called him out on it a few times, and he ignored me for a while. But then he started to fight back, somehow sports got dragged into it. I seriously couldn't believe his arrogance; he really thought he could own me, Uzumaki Naruto, in basketball. Ha, as if!

...Well, he actually did beat me in a one-on-one. But I so demanded a rematch. It was just luck on his part, after all. So that's when we went to Coach Gai to ask if we could use the gym before school on Monday morning. He said of course we could, and then he spewed something about how he was glad we were embracing our youthful nature or some other crap like that. Honestly, I learned to tune out Bushy-Eyebrows Senior a long, long time ago. The second the word 'youthful' comes out of his mouth, my ears decide to take a break.

But anyways,I lost the second match too. So I challenged him again, for Wednesday. That was a loss as well. Now, I wasn't just gonna throw in the towel when it came to a bastard like Sasuke, so I challenged him again, for the following Monday that time. After a declaration like that, he just turned to me with that bastard-like smirk on his face and said, "You know what? Fine. I'll take you on any day of the week, dobe. Next Monday, the Monday after that, and every other day following. You know why? Because I know you'll lose."

But that last year. Wow, it seems like forever ago now... so long in fact, that I can't even remember when our relationship went from being hostile towards each other to being friends. Ever since that day, we came to the gym in the mornings, every Monday and Wednesday, just like he said. And for a while, I did keep losing to him. But those losses just pushed me further and further... I worked my ass off doing it, but I was finally able to keep up with him. No longer was he all high-and-mighty, I-The-Only-Good-Player-On-This-Team. So when time came along to try out for the school team, I sure as hell wasn't just going to sit back and let him get all the attention. We tried out and, even though it was only the freshman team, it was obvious we were good. Now, here we are, already on the JV team. I guess... that's when my animosity shifted.

Even though we were rivals, we were also on a team. And I couldn't let my selfish thoughts consume me during a game - even though he was the one I wanted to go up against, he wasn't my enemy on that court. And I guess, when I stepped back for a second, I saw how well he managed the team, and how well he worked with others. Admitting it to myself back then would have been about as enjoyable as shoving a rusty nail in my eye socket, but I guess I... sort of respected him. And I could tell, underneath all of that bastardness, that he respected me too.

I turned off the water and grabbed the towel I had placed on the nearby rack. I quickly put it over my head and shook it, drying my blond locks before drying off the rest of my body. Then I quickly put on my (clean) set of clothes before heading back into the locker room where my backpack was located. I shoved my sweaty garments back in my designated gym locker, making a mental note to take them home to be washed after practice today. There was absolutely no way I would be able wear them any longer than that, knowing everything they had been through. The thought was just repulsive even for a boy like myself.

Pulling my backpack from its place within the locker, I flung it over my shoulder as I walk towards one of the only two exits available in this room - this one being the one leading to the hallway. I stopped walking when I saw a freshly-showered Sasuke leaning against the door, effectively blocking this available escape route. That could only mean one thing... I checked my watch just to be sure. Yep, three minutes before the school officially opened. All of the doors - minus the gym doors, which we were given a key to be able to access from the outside - were on an automatic lock system. At exactly seven thirty, all of them would unlock simultaneously. Until then, entrance was virtually impossible without a key. And seeing as how the one we had only worked for the the boys locker room and the double doors that connected the gym to the outside world, we weren't going anywhere until that bell rang.

Did I ever mention that Sasuke almost never talked? Ever? Well, there you have it. He doesn't. And for me, someone who craves conversation and utterly despises silence for a number of reasons, these three minutes were pure torture.

But of course, we were polar opposites in almost everything - not just our speaking habits. He was cool, calm, and had an almost permanent scowl on his face whenever more than one or two people were in the same room as him. Social interaction just wasn't his thing. He was the strong, silent type... Okay, it was beyond silent. Like I said, he just didn't talk, not really saying anything unless it was either a teacher directing a question at him or an opportunity to demean my intelligence. Not that it bothered me; I stopped taking those comments seriously quite a while ago. Just like he didn't feel offended when I called him a bastard. But other than that, he just replied to nearly everything with a varying range of glares or smirks. When a verbal response was absolutely necessary, and not in the same category as the two exceptions above, he gave his signature 'hn'. He gave off the dark, loner vibe and always kept a mask over his emotions. He hid them well around other people, but I knew him well enough to be able to read the subtle things he hid. It sometimes it made me feel special that I was the only one he really talked to, his only real friend. Actually, that having been said, it's safe to say that no one had ever cracked his outer exterior enough to get under his skin, where all of those hidden emotions lived.

That was until I came along. Really, I'm like a walking ray of light. And I swear I'm not being conceited in saying that; I know I am, because that's what I try to be. I reach out to everyone, because I know what it feels like to be alone... and I don't want anybody else to experience that. For that reason alone, I walk around with my emotions playing out on my sleeve for everyone to see. Whereas Sasuke wants to push people away and live in his own little emo bubble, I crave being around my friends and I make sure that I laugh more often than I don't. I'm stubborn, as Sasuke learned the hard way, and that goes hand-in-hand with my unyielding determination to never give up on people. I try to help anyone I can, for no real reason at all. Empathy, maybe? I don't really know. I'm loud, talkative, and basically everything Sasuke would peg as "obnoxious".

But still, somehow we managed to be friends despite all of these differences.

And the difference don't end there. Even our appearances were yin and yang! He was tall, with dark hair, dark eyes, and a pale complexion that offset all of that darkness. And I was pretty sure his wardrobe only consisted of clothes that came in various dark shades of blue, black, and gray. All in all, he was basically the poster child for anti-depressants.

Whereas I, in all of my sun-shininess, have a mop of golden blonde spikes that frame my round face and bright blue eyes. My tan skin offsets those features, making them look even brighter in contrast. On either side of my round face were three whisker-like scars that, oddly enough, are positioned perfectly on both sides. I've constantly looked for a flaw in their formation, but I've yet to find one. See, even my flaws are amazing. And our styles were totally different as well - Sasuke always tells me that I must be colorblind to be able to walk around with so much orange on and not be embarrassed about it. Well, he has no right to knock orange (a.k.a., the most amazing color to ever exist) when the colors he wore made him look like a child on constant suicide watch.

Just then, the 'diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing' of the school 'bell' (which was really only an extremely high-pitched beep that dragged on for a couple of seconds) pulled me from my thoughts and I watched as Sasuke turned around to open the door he was leaning on.

Moving out into the hallway, we knew that by no means would we be the only people filtering in. Class started in fifteen minutes, and the majority of the student body filtered in at the remaining thirty seconds of that time, but there were still people who managed to make it in with time to spare. Like my good friend Kiba, who was walking down th- waitwaitwhat? Kiba? No way! He was never here this early!

"Hey man, what's up?" I heard him say, but I still couldn't believe that dog-boy was here. In school. Before he needed to be. Was the world ending? Apparently the shock was evident in my expression because he smirked before answering my silent question, "If that blank look on your face is there because you're surprised to see me this early, it's just 'cause I got up and couldn't get back to sleep." he shrugged nonchalantly before continuing, "So I decided to show up a little earlier to see how your match with Emo Princess over there went."

Only a year ago, Sasuke wouldn't have taken too kindly to Kiba's comment. He would have probably sent a glare his way that would either

A: freeze all of his inner workings

B: make him cry, running away screaming for his mother in a very un-dignified way,

or

C: both of the above.

Many other possibilities could have been considered, but I didn't really want to dwell on any of those thoughts... But Sasuke was so used to it now that it probably didn't even register in his mind. Shaking my shock away that Kiba was fully awake before noon, I told him exactly how practice with the teme went down. "Ha, I kicked his ass, of course. What else would you expect from Uzumaki Naruto?"

"Idiot," Sasuke said, sending a glare my way. Okay, so fine, maybe I stretched the truth a little. "You only blocked one shot."

"Yeah, well you didn't score either!"

"That's because your giant empty head kept getting in my way."

"Hey, at least it's good for something," Kiba cut it, ruffling my hair like I was one of the puppies at the pound his family takes care of. I narrowed my eyes and attempted to scowl at the two of them, but it didn't really work out. I mean, with a face as cute as mine, I definitely couldn't pull of the icicle-up-the-ass look as well as Sasuke could. Hell, if there was at least one thing I was going to give him credit for, it'd be for always managing to look like something died in his anus and refused to come out. Nobody but him would be able to keep that expression permanently plastered on their face with that much skill. But, just as you guessed, that mask always slipped when I was around - then the real Sasuke, the fun Sasuke (who was about as fun as a wagon with no wheels. But hey, it's a start) would come out and he'd joke and act a little bit like a semi-normal teenager. Kind of. Maybe. A little bit.

But, I guess I could give him some more credit... I'd never say this out loud, though. He wouldn't take it too kindly, and my pride would take a huge, bigger-than-the-sun blow, but there are some things that I really -gag- admire about the kid. As much as I make fun of him and tell him he needs some anti-depressants to take away his emoness, I think I'm more impressed that he never actually needed them. He told me that, after his parents were killed in a robbery-gone-wrong, everything in his life went downhill. I got the short version of it, but I didn't pry for details because I could tell that it... talking about it actually hurt him. And to see someone so strong, so reserved, come so close to tears was a... a really humbling experience, to say the least.

Plus, it's only fair... because I never told him about my past either. Some things are better left behind us; I can understand what he's going through. I still make fun of him and his anti-social ways, but there's a huge difference between being antisocial and being detached. And, thinking back, he was definitely detached during those first few weeks of school. If I was being honest with myself, I'd even say he looked depressed. Hell, I of all people, would be able to tell. Not that I'd ever admit that fact... But really, that's why I really revered his strength - no matter how hard he fell, he found the strength to get back up on his own. I'd like to think he had a little help from me, but the teme would never say something like that out loud so I'd never know for sure.

Either way, I could tell he was finally starting to heal. Like I said, for those first few weeks... he didn't even respond to my taunts. After a few days, I just thought he was deaf. That was until he lashed out at me one day, breaking away from his silent, stoic mode if only for a second. From then on, knowing I could crack that shell of his, I continued to pester him until it gouged a reaction out of him. It was basically the only way I knew how to interact with people... to be loud and rude and to try and get everyone to notice me. Well hey, it worked.

"Dobe? Anybody home?" I blinked furiously to push away the thoughts that figuratively clouded my vision to see a pale hand waving in front of my face. "Oh, good," he said as soon as cognition appeared on my features, "For a second I thought what was left of your brain had turned to mush. The bell rang two minutes ago." I looked down at the books in my hands, then up at the clock, then back down and up again as if trying to process what was going on. Where had the day gone? Was I really on my way to the last class of the day already...? Funny, I don't even remember anything from today. Eh, Mondays tend to have that affect on me.

"Oh... Right, I knew that."

Sasuke scoffed, but gathered his books and started to move for the door anyway. Still in a daze, I did the same. As soon as I left, that's when I realized I was heading towards the art room. And suddenly the fog completely lifted and I found myself walking with a slight bounce in my step down the hallway.

You see, it was the middle of January(or beginning, or end; one of those three. The first month of the new year always just blur into one long, gray Monday for me). Which meant only one thing - the start of the new semester. I had my schedule re-done, but not much changed. In fact, the only difference was that one of my study hall periods had been switched out for the place I was headed to now. I don't know if it was just because our principal, Tsunade, had it out for me or what, but the dumbfucks who arranged my schedule didn't include art in my first semester class assignments. And since art is the only class I've actually liked, you could probably picture how pissed I was when they tried to pin it on me. Saying stuff like 'Oh, blah blah, you didn't get your class selection sheet in soon enough blah blah and the class was filled'. Yeah, like I'd buy that bowl of crap.

But whatever, no sense in getting mad at the advisors now. I was on my way to my favorite class, and nothing would've stopped the grin that spread across my face at that knowledge.

"Ah, Naruto," a calm voice said as I entered the room, "What a pleasure to have you back in my class." I couldn't tell... but I think he might have meant that to be slightly sarcastic.

"Yo, Sasori-sensei!" I threw up my hand and waved to my stoic teacher, the eyes of everyone in the room turning to see who'd made such an entrance.

Sasori just shook his mop of bright red hair slowly before looking back up at me. "I see you haven't gotten any quieter."

I smiled sheepishly before scratching the back of my head with my free hand. Then I made my way to an empty seat in front of an easel, placing my other books on the floor beside my seat. Sasori talked a little about thinking about entering a piece for the annual Winter Arts Showcase, which reminded me that I really needed to get moving! The date was closer than I thought; only the end of February! If I wanted to get something good in, I'd have to kick it into gear. There was no way I'd miss a chance to show off my amazing artwork.

Yeah, I was good, and yeah, I'm okay with saying that. I'd been into painting and drawing ever since I was young, and just loved it. Art was a way to let go, to free myself from everything going on and just delve into my own little world. I painted with feeling and emotion, giving myself completely to the canvas. And I didn't like people viewing my work because I enjoyed my ego being stroked, I did it because... well, all art is something that each person sees differently. A single person may look at all of my emotions splayed out on the canvas and connect it to something in their own life. That's what I want - for people to be able to see that my emotions are telling a story through the colors.

Speaking of which...

"Art is an explosion of emotions, yeah!"

"Idiot. Art is about telling a story by visual means."

"Yes, with feeling!"

"No, as long as the story is told accurately, no one cares about 'explosive feelings'."

"How 'bout I burn your art and we'll see how much of a story it tells then, yeah?"

"Oh, it'll tell a story alright. A story about a delirious blond idiot with a speech impediment who went tragically missing."

Ah, how I truly missed this class last semester... Sasori and Deidara, the other art teacher (Deidara works with 3-D art, Sasori works more with the painting/drawing/ect), always broke out into arguments like this. Since both of the art rooms were connected through a side door, the walls were consequently thinner and Deidara often would overhear Sasori. To which he would then enter through said door and correct him on whatever he could possibly find to correct him on. But no matter what his reason for coming into the room was, they'd always have the same conversation anyway. 'My art is better!' 'No, mine!' 'Feeling over story!' 'Story over feeling!' It was comical, really. They just couldn't see that art could be both; and I tried my hardest to incorporate both ideals into my work everyday. Which caused many more fights between the two; Sasori arguing that my work told a story while Deidara said it had emotion.

But while they constantly (I think that bears repeating- constantly) argued, I could tell that they secretly respected each other underneath it all. They held each other in the highest respects, though neither would ever outright admit that. ...Kind of like me and the teme.

Realizing my eraser had worn out, I removed myself from my seat and made my way to a table off to the side that held all the essential artist's supplies. I quickly snagged another eraser, choosing that option over grabbing a whole other pencil. Having gotten what I came for, I turned around on my back heal and-

What the hell? What was Sasuke doing here...?

No. There's no way that's Sasuke. But it looks just like him! And really, he's even off in the corner all by himself!

...Come to think of it... he really does resemble Sasuke...But it's not the Sasuke I know now.

No, this kid looks just like Sasuke did... back when I first met him.

A/N: Yes, there were a couple minor changes. Please don't kill me. And, as with myonewish, reviews are much loved. Because they make me feel like my writing is actually worth reading.