Iruka pulled up to the Wushu Academy and parked in the front row of the building.

"Six-thirty," Iruka confirmed, glancing at the clock. He turned the keys to shut the car off and pulled them out of ignition. "I still have thirty minutes to speak with the owner about the fees for the first few lessons. In the meantime, you should meet with whoever is available to talk to. Itachi had said that his younger brother would most likely be the one teaching you most of the time."

Naruto opened the car door and got out to stretch. He stifled a yawn before responding, "Yeah, yeah."

With that he shut the passenger door and followed Iruka into the large, red building, not paying much attention to the location scenery.

They entered a small white room with a narrow passageway that assumedly led to the initial training room. To the right was a reception desk and behind it stood a woman with long, bright red, waist-length hair. She wore black-rimmed glasses and her eyes were an eerie red color.

"Oh, hello. I came to speak to Itachi Uchiha, the owner of the academy?"

'Uchiha… that name sounds familiar… meh, prolly just my imagination,' Naruto mused.

The redhead looked up from her paper work. "Iruka Imino?"

"Yes, and this is my… son… Naruto. He is supposed to watch the lesson today."

Naruto did not flinch at the title Iruka introduced him as.

The woman nodded in understanding and offered a friendly smile. "Head into the training room through that door. 's office will be the door to the far left of the room."

"Alright, thank you, Miss. Let's go Naruto."

Naruto nodded and followed his guardian into the training room.

"I'll be back, Naruto. It looks like there is someone here already. Maybe you should get to know him. I'll see you in the morning, okay?"

Naruto nodded wordlessly and watched as his guardian walked off to Itachi's office.

The room was pretty big. The floor was covered up entirely by blue training mats and the walls were covered in mirrors all the way around the room. In one corner of the room there were racks that carried a selection of various weapons that Naruto couldn't hope to ever name. In another was an assortment of training equipment like weights, punching bags, and some other things that Naruto also couldn't put a finger on.

"Woah…" Naruto gaped in awe.

"Hey, what're you doing with your shoes on the mats?"

Naruto yelped in surprise and flipped around to the source of the inquiry.

"Y-you scared the piss outta m—"

Wait.

He knew that face.

The man was tall and lean. He only had socks on and wore a black training uniform that appeared to be made of silk. The top snapped up at the front and the sleeves reached to his elbows. The matching pants were loose and reached slightly past his ankles. The blonde's eyes traveled up to examine his face. He was pale, with black emotionless orbs and perfectly groomed eyebrows. His hair was long and black, with side swept bangs that rested over his brow line. The back of his hair was spiked up in a familiar style that reminded him of a duck's ass.

This was him.

Though, instead of a smug look, his expression carried an uncharacteristic look of confusion. He seemed to be calculating, and Naruto noticed this but did not think much of it. He was more worried about confronting the bastard.

"YOU," he shouted.

The Uchiha appeared startled by the outburst. He pointed to himself in question. "Me?"

"YES, YOU."

The Uchiha quirked an eyebrow, "Do I know you?"

"OH, DON'T PLAY DUMB, BASTARD. YOU CONNED ME OUT OF A THOUSAND GOLD."

The Uchiha furrowed his brows, questioning the blonde's sanity. "Conned you…?"

"YEAH, AND YOU BITCHED ME OUT! I'D RECOGNIZE THAT STUPID FACE ANYWHERE."

Sasuke gripped his chin with his thumb and the knuckle of his index finger thoughtfully. "Hmm…"

Naruto twitched in annoyance, suddenly feeling as if the brunette was mocking him.

Seconds passed and…

"Oh!" Sasuke tapped his fist against the palm of his hand as if he'd just remembered something of relevance.

"Rameneatingloser..."

"Ramen-eating-stud," Naruto growled, putting emphasis on the last word that Sasuke had taken upon himself to change.

"Right, right. What a coincidence. I didn't realize that you were in the same area as I, let alone attended this academy. Unless, you don't that is…"

Naruto crossed his arms childishly. He didn't really want to have a decent conversation with someone he deemed as indecent himself. But, nonetheless, he responded in a semi-decent manner. "What's it to you?"

Or not.

The Uchiha shrugged. "Might as well ask since you're here. Although you'd have to be just signing up, otherwise I'd have definitely recognized you."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. He couldn't help but feel as if there were some kind of double meaning behind that statement. "Why is that exactly?"

The brunette turned his gaze away from the blonde momentarily. He contemplated whether he should answer with a cocky jeer or just answer the question truthfully.

Much to the blonde's displeasure, he chose the latter.

"You don't see much people with that weird bright blonde color around here, or that vibrant of eyes."

Naruto glared at him, "It's better than looking like a broody asshole."

Sasuke smirked. "Hey what happened to being good-looking?"

Naruto opened his mouth to retort, but then turned his gaze away, pink tinting his cheeks slightly. "I have no idea what you're talking about, bastard."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "In all seriousness, did you plan on enrolling here, or what? The class is filling up pretty fast, so you'd better make up your mind and sign up quick. I can only teach so many students at a time, and Itachi hasn't really been talking up lessons lately."

Naruto's eyes widened fractionally. "You're… the instructor…?"

Sasuke smirked deviously and crossed his arms in a smug manner. "That's right, blondie. I'm a second-degree black belt and a senior disciple. I've been training since I was a kid."

Naruto felt a mixture of respect and jealousy towards Sasuke. He respected his position, yet he was pissed by how much more experienced he was than him. He swallowed dryly and licked his lips before responding.

"I… I see…"

Sasuke was surprised by the lack of insults and childish remarks in his response.

There was a prolonged awkward silence.

Sasuke cleared his throat to break it. "So … how old are you anyways?"

Naruto blushed slightly and looked away once again, not wanting to respond. He knew that Sasuke would make a snark comment that implied his superiority over the blonde because of the age difference.

"Well…?" Sasuke quipped.

"None of your business."

Sasuke chuckled at that. "You do realize that I will find out anyhow, considering we will have to have your personal information if you do choose to sign up."

"You'd actually look into it if I didn't answer your question?" Naruto asked in a manner that screamed 'Are you a fucking creep?'.

Sasuke merely smirked in response. "Sure."

For some reason, Naruto felt himself blush at the response. He couldn't tell you why he did, but he did. 'Probably just the heat…'

"Y-you weirdo…!" he stuttered.

Sasuke shrugged impassively. "I've been called worse."

"Tch… fine I'm seventeen."

Naruto was avoiding the raven's gaze but he could just feel the smug look that began to manifest onto his face.

"Seventeen…" he drawled, his deep voice silky smooth.

"Don't even start…" Naruto growled lowly.

"No, no. Nothing bad. I just can't help, but reminisce on those days when I myself was seventeen," he said innocently.

"Bullshit. I know exactly what you're doing. That 'OH I REMEMBER, WAY BACK WHEN I WAS A KID. GOOD TIMES, GOOD TIMES! I WAS SUCH A RECKLESS DUMBASS HAHAHA, DON'T YOU END UP THAT WAY'," Naruto mocked, wagging his finger. He paced and began doing exaggerated hand movements while continuing his rant."'YOU CRAZY KIDS! YOU CAN NEVER BE SURE WHAT THE LITTLE SHITS ARE GONNA DO NEXT'."

Sasuke watched Naruto amusedly at his impression of the common adult. He understood exactly what Naruto was talking about and hell, when he was under eighteen he felt the very same about the arrogance of adults. They always underestimated him based on a generalized opinion of his age group.

Once Naruto had finished with his raving, he turned back to Sasuke with a determined look on his face. "You'll be sorry if you go underestimating me just because I'm a couple of years younger than you."

"Four, actually. A couple is two," he jabbed snidely.

"Whatever, you know what I mean," the blonde growled.

Sasuke chuckled and responded with an unexpectedly benign undertone. "More than you know."

The blonde stopped and stared blankly at the raven-haired male.

'Was he just… teasing me?' he thought incredulously.

Perhaps the two had more in common than once thought.

Suddenly, the door opened from the office and Iruka had exited, a taller man behind him leading him out. The man next to Naruto's guardian looked much like Sasuke except he appeared to be older. His hair was also a little bit longer, and he had large bags under his eyes, as if he hadn't slept in days, maybe even weeks.

Naruto assumed the man to be Itachi. He recalled what Iruka had said about Itachi's younger brother instructing him, so he assumed he must have been talking about Sasuke. That made Itachi Sasuke's older brother.

Huh.

Sasuke glanced at Iruka, and then at Naruto with a questioning look as if to say 'Do you know him?'.

Naruto nodded, seeming to get what the raven-haired man was asking. "That is my… guardian."

Sasuke's gaze lingered on Naruto. Realization flooded to his face after a moment, he opened his mouth to say something, but then shut it again. He looked contemplative for a moment again.

Naruto couldn't quite put a finger on it, but he swore that he saw a flicker of sadness in those black orbs of his. He must have been imagining things. Why would the brunette be sad? It didn't make sense.

Naruto shrugged it off, and turned to Iruka. "See ya in the morning, Iruka!" he called, waving at his brunette guardian.

"Bye, Naruto! Have fun!" He called back with a smile. With that, he exited the training room, leaving the three in silence.

The Sasuke look-alike glanced at Naruto. He smiled crookedly. "Welcome to the academy, Naruto. It is good to meet you." He approached the blonde and handed him a package.

Naruto eyed the wrapped item curiously, but accepted it. "What is this?"

"Your uniform. You should try it on and see if it fits properly. If not, I will have it adjusted," Itachi answered.

"Oh, uh, sure. Where is the bathroom?"

Itachi wordlessly pointed to a door on the far left side of the room from where they were standing.

"Sweet, thanks!" Naruto replied eagerly. He then scurried off to go get changed.

Once he had entered the bathroom and closed the door behind him, Itachi turned to his younger brother. "Little brother, you must have noticed it too."

Sasuke began walking towards the weapon rack with an impassive expression on his face. "Noticed? Noticed what?"

"Don't play the fool, Sasuke, you know what I'm talking about," Itachi said calmly.

Sasuke ignored his brother and picked up a Kantana from the shelf. He wordlessly began practicing his form with it.

"He bears a close resemblance to him… doesn't he?"

Sasuke came to a halt and lowered his sword.

"Yeah…"


DUN, DUN DUN. CLIFF HANGER~! SOOO, what the hell is that little shit Itachi talkin' about anyways? Resemblance to who? What was that sadness about anyways with Sasuke, how uncharacteristic, dontchya think? If you wanna find out, keep reviewing bbies~ I don't have much of a life and I actually am into this story, so I'll fill all your fanfiction yaoi needs all you want. That is... if you give me feedback o_o. So don't forget! Or intentionally forget! Or whatever! If you want smut or lemon or whatever, I'll give ya it. I'm not against writing anything really. Jack of all trades, ace of none, that's me! Love you all who bother to read this, and thank you again, it's much appreciated my little sex kittens. *heart*