Author's Note: Hey guys and welcome to "Teach and Learn". Please note that this is an AU and hence some characters will be slightly OOC because they haven't lived through the same experiences as the canon-verse. Other than that, have fun and enjoy!

Disclaimer: Naruto and its awesome characters aren't mine.

Title: Teach and Learn

By: Silverceil

Anime/Manga: Naruto

Rating: T, but might go up to M (I will warn you if it does)

Pairing: Sasuke and Naruto

Summary: Sasuke, heir to the world famous Uchiha Enterprises, is to meet his new piano teacher, a blond musical genius of the same age as himself. Sparks fly as their meeting changes their lives for the better or worse. Sasuke/Naruto AU.

Updated on 07/01/2012

Teach and Learn

By: Silverceil

Chapter 1: The Meeting

Sasuke Uchiha, heir to the world famous Uchiha Enterprises, sat at his desk fiddling with his pen. His dark obsidian eyes slowly skimmed through the track list of the disc in his other hand. Turning the case back to its cover, he peered down at the picture of a beautiful blond boy with bright blue eyes who looked no older than seven or eight. He then gently put it down to pick up another disc with the later works of the same pianist and placed it inside his stereo system.

After a few moments of contemplation, he pressed on the play button and let the music flow through the room and fill its quiet corners with its soft melody. As he thrummed his fingers to the beat, the raven lift the new disc case up to read the description, all the while appreciating the beautifully played accelerando passage of the piece.

His father had recently told him of his change in piano instructors and, being a true Uchiha, he felt the need to inform himself on this new arrival, not that he was not secretly thrilled with the news. He could honestly say that his last instructor, Orochimaru, was slightly unpleasant with his obsessive need to breathe down his student's neck while preaching about "feeling the music in one's body", emphasis of the "body" part.

The research hadn't really been that difficult, considering that he already knew a little about his new instructor. It was also, according to the Uchiha, a total coincidence that he so happened to own a few of the pianist's CDs and the music scores to his better known compositions.

As the first piece ended, Sasuke flipped open a file he'd recently received from Kankuro and glanced down at the picture of a handsome blond musician. The sound of the CD churning filled the silence before the next piece began to play. He traced a finger across the whisker-like scars marring the man's otherwise impeccable face and leaned back in his office chair. Bringing his hand up to his chin, he rested his face on his palm and let his elbow weigh on the seat's arms.

From what he'd gathered when he'd previously scanned the file, the blond was a mysterious piano prodigy who rose to fame at the tender age of nine, when his musical talents enchanted thousands during his first major concert. Not much was known about his past beyond his musical achievements, but it had been rumored that his lack of background was due to being orphaned at a young age. He was then taken in by his current manager and traveled the world ever since.

Sasuke paused in his thoughts when a sudden rise in dynamics caught his attention. He slowly let his lashes flutter close and enjoyed the brilliantly played passage, secretly loving the passionate style that had gained the blond the nickname of Kyuubi. The unique whisker marks adorning his sun-tanned cheeks, as well as the way his cerulean blue eyes was said to flash red during emotional plays, only added to the effect.

The piece stretched out into a dramatic ending with multiple turns and leaps until it finally died down into the peaceful silence that followed. The Uchiha stayed relaxed in his chair for a few more moments before his eyes fluttered open. He then reached for the stop button before the next piece could start, abruptly ending his short musical session.

Beside the open file and laying face down on his large office desk was a document printed on blue sheets. He glared at it for a second, as if hoping it would simply combust from the intensity of his stare, but gave up when it didn't seem to happen. 'Only works on people,' Sasuke noted and refrained from heaving a sigh.

Reluctantly, he picked the sheets up and flipped them over. On the top left corner, the logo of Konoha's famous School of Music took up a decent amount of space. Under the flashy symbol, his name was neatly printed in black ink, as well as the title: "Chunin Level: Piano Exam".

Under each piece's name, the evaluator described his performance and often criticized his lack of flexibility and perceivable emotions. He concentrated too much on technical details and too little on actual interpretation, thus making his grades suffer. They were decent, but Sasuke still felt like crumbling the paper. Instead, he put it back down and placed it in the open folder on his desk.

Suddenly, his cell phone buzzed and pulled him out from his inner musings. Taking it out of his pocket, he glanced down at the screen that read "Puppet Dude" and answered it.

"What is it, Kankuro?" he grunted in his usual dismissive manner.

On the other side of the line, he could almost hear his puppet obsessed friend chuckling. "So? Didya see his picture?" Kankuro asked with a laugh. "Quite a looker you've got there."

Sasuke almost sighed. The other man had an unhealthy obsession with matching good-looking people with outrageous outfits. Hopefully he would refrain this time around. "What's your point?"

"I bet he'd look great with fox ears," purred the puppet master.

Dark eyes twitched at the words, "I'm hanging up."

"No, wait! Whoa man, chill," he heard his friend stutter before clearing his throat. "Just wanted to ask 'bout that part with him rarely accepting students," he continued. "Wonder what made him change his mind, ya know?"

Sasuke frowned at that and thought back at the documents. He'd skimmed over it fairly quickly, so he must have missed it. "I don't know, why does it matter?" he finally replied.

"Not curious? He might be in debt or in serious trouble," Kankuro reasoned, sounding almost believable with his worry.

"I doubt my father would hire such an irresponsible man," the raven retorted and heard the other man sigh. Looking down at his phone, he pressed a button and noted the time: his teacher was due in a little more than an hour. He decided to wait and see if his friend had anything else to say, but the man was quiet. "If you're done wasting my time, I'm hanging up," he finally said.

"Aww," Kankuro immediately whined, but gave up on teasing the Uchiha since he was done anyway. "Alright man, but don't forget to get me that raccoon puppet in that auction."

"Already done," said the heir and hung up.

Naruto leisurely made his way out of the airplane with a frog-shaped bag he affectionately called "Gama-chan" loosely hanging over his shoulder. His wheat-blond hair fell in their usual disarray and large orange sunglasses framed his sun-kissed face. He'd roughly smudged on some concealer onto his six whisker-like scars in a nearby washroom, but noticed the discoloration it caused. 'Better a burn victim than being recognized,' he'd reasoned at the pale stripes across his cheeks and shrugged.

As he made his way to the belt conveyor system, children pointed to his strange bag with various degrees of awe and were either chastised by their parents for staring or ignored when they whined about wanting one too. The blond grinned when a particularly stubborn kid stomped in place and refused to move lest his parents agreed to procure him a frog-themed bag. The pianist shook his head and basked in all the attention Gama-chan received. It had been his first gift from his godfather when he was six and he'd never parted from it since.

Soon, Naruto found his luggage and dragged the large case towards the exit, all the while enjoying his moment of anonymity among the crowd. Outside the airport's doors was a sea of color and sound. All around him, travelers bustled about, making their way towards various locations. He halted his steps when he finally reached a less horded corner and took out his cellphone to check the time. According to the Uchiha CEO's last message, an employee would come pick him up near the entrance once his flight landed.

He leaned his luggage against a nearby wall and blend into the background as best he could. He'd been instructed to stay as inconspicuous as possible and to leave the employees the fun task of finding him. Of course, Naruto had wondered whether it was a good idea at first, but hide and seek had always been one of his favorite games and he'd never deny the poor workers the joy of squeezing through crowds.

The blond chuckled at his own joke and crossed his arms when a loud commotion suddenly began a few meters away and the crowd began to coagulate towards an undetermined spot. People pushed and squeezed through the human barriers to get through as more and more onlookers followed the deafening squeals erupting near an arriving car. Naruto, thanking genetics for his recent growth spurt, tilt his head towards all the excitement and took in the sight of a long limousine coming to a stop in front of the airport's doors.

Closely behind the fancy vehicle, another larger car parked at the entrance and its doors quickly opened to free a few dark-vested men from inside. The black sunglasses sporting men shuffled into the crowd and positioned themselves in front and around the more expensive vehicle.

Confusion and excitement bubbled in the air when dozens of reporters suddenly popped out of the crowd, as if having just discarded their normal citizen disguises. Cameras came out of too-large traveling bags and notepads were pulled out of breast pockets or purses. Before long, camera flashes blinded every person on site and millions of questions were shot out at the still-closed doors of the limousine.

Naruto stood at his spot, dumbfounded at the sudden turn of events. Here he was, in a now quiet corner, waiting for his lift when an army of reporters suddenly made an appearance. As if on autopilot, he grabbed his baggage and immediately began walking away, trying to subtlety stay within the shadows. He had no idea why they were there or who was in the limo, but he had no desire to be accosted by journalists in case one of them had very keen eyes.

He was making good progress, having already gotten a good head start in case someone had recognized him, when a hand suddenly grabbed his shoulder. Out of reflex, he twisted out of the grip and elbowed the stranger in the guts, hard. A small grunt was heard but before he could react, his arm was yanked away from his target. Along with his trapped limb, he felt his body tilt and he fell into a hard chest.

"Hello to you too, Mr. Uzumaki," a deep voice greeted him with a hint of amusement.

Naruto tried looking up, but he was trapped against the other man with his arm twisted behind his back. As he struggled, he debated whether ramming the other person with his head would be a good idea, but his thoughts were interrupted by the stranger again.

"Don't think about it," the taller man warned and tightened his grip. "I'm just here of the behalf of Uchiha Enterprises," he added and Naruto paused his thrashing. The stranger chuckled and his chest vibrated against the blond's cheek. "I'll let you go if you promise to stay calm."

Naruto frowned at that, but reluctantly nodded in assessment. Slowly, the older man softened his hold on the blond's arm and Naruto sprung backwards. He took a few steps away from the stranger before tilting his head up and taking in the sight of grey-silver hair.

The man was a good inch or two taller than the blond and was masked all the way up to his nose. He had a black eye-patch on his left eye and looked eerily relaxed with his hands in his pockets. He wore all neutral colors and had a slight slouch in his stance. All in all, he did not look like what Naruto would have expected of an Uchiha employee.

"Can you prove it?" Naruto finally asked and took another step back.

The man quirked an eyebrow at him and pulled out an ID card from his vest pocket. He casually closed the distance between them and handed the proof to the blond.

"Kakashi Hatake, Chief Security Officer at Uchiha Enterprises," the man graciously bowed as he spoke, "a pleasure to meet you."

A blond woman with an unusually large chest heaved a sigh as she watched a young man stroll into her office and plop down into the chair in front of her wooden desk. She took a second to look him over, noting the cerulean blue shade of his eyes and the distinct fox-like scars on his cheeks. His hair was a golden blond and it fell messily around his face, softening his strong jaw line and contrasting well with his sun-tanned skin. 'Just like the rumors,' she thought before finally taking her computer mouse in hand to click his file open.

"So Mr. Uzumaki," she began, scanning through the information on screen. "I take it you've agreed to the conditions?"

Naruto gave his future principal a wide grin, "Yes, ma'am."

The woman frowned a bit at the "ma'am" part, but let it slide for now. Reaching down to the bottom drawer of her desk, she pulled out his contract sheet and laid it out in front of the blond man. "Alright then," she said before marking a few lines with an X. "I'll need you to sign on these spaces and it will be final. Your donor has already completed the contract on his end."

Blue eyes skimmed through the text for a few moments before he nodded his ascend and grabbed a nearby pen. When he finally finished scrawling an illegible design on each line, he put the pen back to its original place and hand the contract over to the woman.

She checked that all was completed, slightly winced at the young man's horrible handwriting and put the sheet away in her folders. Looking up again to the grinning blond, she could not help but smile back. "Welcome to Konoha University, Mr. Uzumaki. My name is Tsunade Senju and I will be your principal for the duration of your stay," she said pleasantly before giving him a stern stare. "You may call me Tsunade and Miss Senju only, am I understood?"

Naruto cocked his head to the side at the informal designation and opened his mouth to ask when a small cracking sound pierced the tense silence. He glanced down at the principal's table and took note of the paper weight tightly clenched in her fists. With every silent second he wasted, the more damage the unfortunate object took. He could also have sworn that it looked like solid glass.

"Am I clear?" Tsunade repeated, slightly more threatening and Naruto whipped his attention back to her. He quickly nodded in agreement and the paper weight was immediately spared. Relief pooled into his system and he unknowingly relaxed his shoulders. The woman then sweetly smiled at the pianist and showed him out.

Naruto walked away in a daze and passed by the secretary who waved him goodbye. He entered the elevator after a short wait and blinked at the closing doors. 'That was…strange,' he thought as his head cleared and he leaned against the wall. When a chiming sound soon filled the space, he stepped out and entered the ground floor.

Immediately, bright sunlight filled his vision as his eyes took in the luxurious sights of his new school-to-be. Konoha University was arguably the most prestigious educational institution known worldwide and also happened to contain one of the most impressive musical establishments in history.

Making his way down the long hallway, he glanced around at the beautiful gardens outside the large ceiling high windows on either side of the walls. The floors were of white marble and the ceilings were decorated with exquisitely designed chandeliers. He would have whistled in awe, but the place was eerily quiet without the bristling of students and hence he stayed unusually quiet as he admired every detail.

Kakashi had left him the afternoon free to visit Konoha after explaining the whole commotion at the airport. As it turned out, information had been leaked, through an airport employee, that the famous pianist Kyuubi had boarded a plane for Konoha that evening. Despite it being last minute, many reporters called up their inner ninja skills and quickly assimilated themselves into the usual crowds. Kakashi, being responsible for the successful retrieval of one Naruto Uzumaki, caught wind of the movement and immediately ordered for a staged scene to be used as a distraction.

It was quite a good show, but now the agent had other work to do and the blond had a ramen shop to find after his school building admiring session.

Sitting in the large music room of the Uchiha mansion, Sasuke ran his fingers lightly across the keyboard of his handcrafted Steinway grand piano. He readied himself to play a few more scales when a blond man burst into the large room where Sasuke sat and quickly ran his hand through his golden locks to fix the wind-blown state of his hair, just as dark eyes glanced his way.

Taking in his appearance, Sasuke concluded that the man must have run a fair distance before arriving. His orange tie, despite the blond's fumbling, was crooked and his hair stayed messy no matter how much he combed his fingers through the strands. What caught his attention, however, were his expressive blue eyes and the fine parallel lines on either side of his face. An Uchiha would rather be caught dead than come to a meeting in such a dishevelled state, but he found it strangely fitting for the blond. He would have wondered why, but he thought it better to leave analyzing to a later time.

As the raven shook his head to clear his thoughts, Naruto stepped forward towards his new student and brought a hand up, his trademark grin in place. "Hello, my name is Naruto Uzumaki and I'll be your piano teacher from now on."

Taking the blond's hand, Sasuke let a small smirk curl his lips. "Pleasure to meet you," he said before a mischievous gleam shined through his dark eyes. "You're late."

Blue eyes blinked and the blond lift his wrist up to check the time. A frown soon marred his face as he looked up again. "By three minutes," he said, the question clear in his tone.

"I expect you to be on time for next class," the Uchiha replied nonchalantly, enjoying the surprise written all over the blond's face.

Naruto stared at him incredulously for a second before finding his composure again. He lift his palm up in a stopping motion and frowned in thought. "I thought I was the teacher here?"

Sasuke's smirk grew wider. "Well, can't help it if you're not up for the job, dobe," he teased and was pleased when the other man turned an interesting shade of pink.

"Fine," Naruto grumbled, finally getting over the slight shock of being berated by his future student. Walking over to the grand piano, he pulled the nearby chair closer to the keyboard. Slumping down onto his seat and stretching his hand out, he patted the piano's bench with a playful grin stretching his lips.

"Show me what you've got."

Sasuke felt a thrilling chill run up his spine at the rousing gleam in the blond's bright blue eyes and immediately accepted the challenge.

"Hn."

A/N: I won't be updating on a regular basis until I say I will (I might, who knows). My motivation greatly depends on the reception, so the completion of future chapters really do fall on your shoulders, dear readers! Leave me a comment and cheer me on! :D

By the way, there are quite a few hints in this chapter about where the story's going. If anyone can guess or at least come close to getting why Naruto accepted the job, I'll dedicate the next chapter to you. Good luck!