A/N: Sorry, forgot to introduce myself. High Rhulain, at your service! bows I hope you're enjoying Alley Oop so far! I know there are probably a million other fics similar to this one, but please, bear with me. I hope to make it worth your time. Oh, and I have NOTHING against gays!! See you at the bottom!

Rhulain

Sakumo's Dorm

"What do you want?" the boy repeated. Sakura was speechless. He was getting irritated.

"Fine. Stop stalking me. Geez, you gay creeps." He slammed the door in her face.

"Cat got your tongue?"

Sakura whirled around to see Neji leaning against the hall wall and smirking.

"Sasuke's a jerk. Don't mind him. Just stick up for your rights." Neji nodded at the door. Sakura nodded, gulped, and hammered on the door again.

"What DO you want, gay freak?!" Sasuke growled, opening the door. Sakura stuck out her hand.

"Hi, my name's Hayaro Sakumo, and I'm your new roommate!"

SLAM.

Neji chuckled. "Heh, he's stuck-up, alright."

The door opened a crack and Sasuke's head poked out.

"I heard that!" he snarled. Neji stood up and glared.

"Yeah, well get used to it. Come on, Sasuke, you've come here since first grade. Show some respect and sympathy to the newbie, eh?"

SLAM.

Sakura sighed.

"Wish me luck. I'm going into the jaws of the lion, here."

Neji laughed grimly.

"Eh, you'll need it."

The door next to Neji opened and a head poked out.

"NEJI! I need your youthful advice on how to arrange the room!" the boy said. Sakura's eyes popped. The boy in Neji's door had a bowl-shaped hair cut and strange looking eyes. He winked and saluted at her.

"Rock Lee, at your service! What might your name of youth be?"

"Sa-Sakumo," Sakura stuttered. Rock Lee shot her a dazzling smile.

"Pleased to meet you, Sakumo!" he said. He popped back into the room. Neji grimaced at Sakura.

"He's an…interesting roommate."

And with that, he turned and went into his dorm. Sakura sighed and turned the handle on her own room door.

Sasuke must have been in the bathroom, unpacking his stuff, because there was no one in the dorm room itself. It was painted a lovely shade of blue with gold trim. Two beds stood against the wall, two wooden dressers stood side-by-side, and a pair of curtains hung over the window. Sakura's eyes traveled to the dresser that was already occupied.

The drawers were open, filled with uniforms and casual clothing. A few keys sat on the top of the dresser, next to a few trophies and a basketball on a stand. Sakura picked it up and turned it over.

It was a plain old basketball, brownish-orange. She tossed it- it was a little larger than a woman's basketball, but she didn't care about size. She twirled the ball on her finger, making it go faster and faster. Then she stopped it and turned it over. And there it was.

On the far side of the basketball was an autograph, written in pen. The letters looked vaguely familiar.

A hand on Sakura's shoulder made her jump and turn around. Sasuke was there, glaring at her with every inch of his being. He relieved her of the ball with one flick of his hand.

"Don't" –he replaced it on the dresser- "EVER touch my stuff. Got it?"

Sakura nodded tremblingly. Sasuke kicked her bag to the far side of the room with his foot.

"You're over there," he said gruffly. "Just don't bug me, or you'll regret it."

Sakura nodded nervously, then started unpacking swiftly. Sasuke dusted off his basketball and replaced it on its stand. Then he pulled out a poster and began pinning it to the wall. Sakura recognized it as a basketball poster.

"Like the Fire Ninja?" she asked, trying to make conversation. Sasuke shot a glare at her, and she shut up. After putting her clothes away, Sakura pulled out a few personal effects and laid them atop her dresser. There was a photo of her friends on the basketball team, a photo of her mom and brother, and a photo of her dad. Sakura placed the ones of her friends and family on the dresser, but looked sadly at her dad in his uniform.

"Sorry, dad, but I can't put you up," she whispered.

"Shut up," Sasuke growled. Sakura glared at him.

"Look, this isn't YOUR room! You can't just tell me what to do…"

She drifted off as Sasuke actually took a step towards her.

"You wanna try and rule this roost, give it a go," he sneered, looking her over. "You don't look strong enough to move that bed."

"Sure I am," Sakura retorted. "I'm just not…"

"Not what?" Sasuke taunted. Sakura shrugged.

"Forget it."

"I will, thank you."

Sakura tucked her photograph of her dad away in her drawer. It would definitely make people suspicious. Then she pulled out her own poster of the Fire Ninja.

"That one's too old," Sasuke pointed out as Sakura stood on the bed to tack it up. "Those guys are from '63!"

"Yeah, and I liked that team," Sakura snapped. "What's wrong with that?"

Sasuke's eyes roved over the old players. "I can't believe you've still got that. It belongs in an antique shop!"

Sakura ignored him and lovingly stroked the creases out of the paper. Her eyes stopped on the player in the front, crouched, holding the ball. It was her father, Saki Haruno.

"There you go, Dad," she whispered. "You get to watch over me."

She didn't notice it, but Sasuke's eyes stole to the red-haired man immediately after she sat down.

Lunch

"So who's your roommate, Sakumo, dattebayo?" Naruto asked as Sakura joined them at the lunch table.

"Sasuke Uchiha," she said. Immediately, all the guys groaned.

"What?" she demanded.

"Unlucky!" a boy with fang-like teeth answered her. "Sasuke HATES having a roommate. They're almost always gone by the second week."

"Where to?" Sakura asked nervously. Another boy with black glasses shrugged.

"Home. Another dorm. Either way, he gets a whole room to himself." He leaned in conspiratorially. "You're the only one who's stood up to him so far."

"Oh, sorry, Sakumo!" Naruto apologized. "This is Kiba, and that's Shino." The boys nodded respectively.

"You know Shikamaru," Naruto said, "and that's Chouji there."

Chouji waved a hot-dog at Sakura before continuing to eat.

"Um…where's Sasuke sitting?" Sakura asked. The boys pointed.

"Over there, by himself. He gets a whole half table to himself, the brat," Kiba chirped.

"Move over, Shikamaru," someone said. Sakura looked up to see Neji and his roommate Rock Lee descending at their table.

"Hello, youthful Sakumo!" Lee greeted Sakura. She smiled nervously.

"Don't worry, he's always like that," Naruto whispered in her ear. Sakura immediately felt grateful.

"What's your first class?" Neji asked them.

"Math," Shikamaru said.

"Math," said Kiba.

"Mff," said Chouji.

"Math," said Sakura.

"Youth numbers, yes!" shouted Rock Lee.

"Math, dattebayo," grumbled Naruto.

"Guess it's all us sophomores," Neji said, sighing.

"What've you got?" Shino asked. Neji tossed his schedule on the table.

"Math," Sakura read off it. Neji nodded.

"Yup. We're the sophomores of Fire, we've gotta stick together."

"Why?" asked Sakura, immediately curious. Kiba pointed at the far table.

"See those guys?"

Sakura nodded.

"They're from the Leaf Building," Shikamaru said, his head propped on his hand. "And the guys there are from the Sarutobi Building."

"What's your point?" Sakura asked, trying to sound like a guy again. Shino looked at her as though she had a bug in her throat.

"Traditionally, the buildings have always been in competition," Naruto said. "We compete in lawn games, have races, compete for grades, that sort of thing. Classes do it together. So we sophomores of Fire have to get great combined scores against the sophomores in Leaf, or we suffer disgrace."

"What's wrong with that?" Sakura asked. She immediately knew it was the wrong thing to day. All the guys looked at her like she was stupid.

"It's a CONTEST, dattebayo!"

"A YOUTHFUL challenge!"

Kiba shook his head. "Gosh, Sakumo, is something wrong with your head?"

"Oh, right, right," Sakura said, waving her hands apologetically.

Geez, all this testosterone, inner Sakura groaned.

"What about Sasuke?" she asked, changing the subject. "Isn't he a Fire sophomore, too?"

Neji glanced over at the lone boy. "Yeah, but we don't worry about him. His scores are always at the top, so he only helps. Every year, the other buildings hope they get him. But we always do. Somehow, we've all been in the same building since we first got here."

"Except me," Shino said coolly. "I was in the Yondaime Building once."

"Yeah, but we've forgotten about that," Naruto said, waving him off. "The point is that we stick together all the time."

"So you're one of us, now!" cried Chouji, squeezing Sakura. "Like pieces of meat all grilling together!"

"UURF!"

"Knock it off, Chouji," Shikamaru said lazily. He turned to the others. "I'm his roommate again."

"I've got this kid called Sai," Naruto said, wincing. "He was in Leaf last year, never fails to remind me that they won last year."

"Only cause you failed almost every major test, Naruto," Kiba said snobbily. "If we just had one more perfect scorer…"

"Kiba and I are together," Shino said, cutting across his roommate.

"Youthful Neji and I are together!" Lee chirped.

"It was destiny," Neji growled at himself. "Just destiny…not that stupid receptionist who's mad at you for refusing a date…"

"And Sakumo here's got our ice cube Sasuke!" Kiba said, punching Sakura's arm. She rubbed it ruefully.

The bell rang.

"Whoops, we gotta get to class!"

Math Class

Sakura tapped her pencil on the desk and looked around. None of the other sophomores were disturbed by the fact that the teacher still had not arrived. Naruto was scribbling note after note and chucking them at Neji's desk. He, in turn, was dropping every single one of them into the wastebasket in sucession, unopened. Sasuke was right next to Sakura, having come in at the last minute before the bell. Finally, twenty minutes after the period had started, the teacher came in.

"Good morning, I'm Hatake Kakashi, sorry I'm late, I ran across a black cat…"

"LIAR!" yelled half the class. Neji actually threw Naruto's latest note at him. Naruto looked outraged that all his notes had been discarded so swiftly. Sakura giggled.

"Who's this?" asked Kakashi, pointing at Sakura. "Come up front and introduce yourself."

"Yeah, 'Hi, I'm a girl,'" one of the Leaf building sophomores behind her sneered. Sakura had jumped, then realized he was referring to her effeminate appearance. Oh well, it couldn't be helped. She took the front and faced her new class.

"Um, I'm Hayaro Sakumo, I live in downtown Konoha. I'm really glad…uh, psyched to be here at Firestone High," Sakura babbled, just desperate to keep her cover in a roomful of staring boys. Kakashi nodded.

"Great. Take a seat. Everyone get out your textbooks and read the first chapter."

It was, all in all, the absolute weirdest class Sakura had ever been in. There was no math to be described in this book, it appeared to be a porn story…

She glanced around, but no one else was reading. Sasuke had unearthed a real math textbook from somewhere and was doing the real problems. Sakura glanced over at his book and wiggled her pencil nervously. Then she summoned her courage and tapped him on the shoulder.

"What?" he hissed, glaring at her.

"Um…can I take a look at your book?" Sakura asked, pointing at his real textbook. Sasuke pulled it towards himself.

"Not now," he whispered.

Not now…does that mean he'll give us the book? inner Sakura asked.

Who knows? Sakura replied.

Sakumo and Sasuke's Dorm

"Wow, that was a long day," Sakura said, flopping down on her bed after dinner. "I'm tired, how about you?"

Sasuke was too busy with his History homework to answer. He pushed something across the floor at her.

"Here."

Sakura picked it up curiously. It was a heavy tome, entitled 'Algebra II'.

"You said you wanted it," Sasuke said without looking up. Sakura opened the book. It was full of the REAL math stuff.

"Wow, thanks…"

"And you might want to use this, too."

Sasuke unearthed a Biology text from his bag and tossed it with ease at Sakura. She caught it with a well-practiced hand.

"The teacher's rather…but he does put the real information on his tests," Sasuke said, not finishing his description of the teacher. "Almost every guy in the grade's gonna get one of these. I came prepared."

"OK. Anything else I should know?" Sakura asked, turning to the first chapter of the math book and pulling out a piece of paper. Sasuke glanced up from his History assignment.

"Steer clear of the Biology teacher. You're the type he looks for." And he returned to his work.

Sakura shivered. 'You're the type he looks for'…did that mean the Biology teacher was a pervert?

"Oh, and Art can be a bit…strange sometimes," Sasuke said lightly, turning a page in his text. "The teacher's strange there, too."

Sakura was beginning to have her doubts about the "great, learned teachers" the pamphlet for Firestone had mentioned.

"How many perverts has Firestone employed?" she demanded. Sasuke looked up and allowed a smirk to cross his face.

"You've got the gist of it."

"OK, then try this: how many NON-perverts teach here?" asked Sakura. Sasuke shrugged.

"Asuma's not bad, Ebisu's not an open perv, Gai is not pervy but he's odd, and Kakashi's not TOO bad, he just makes us read Icha Icha instead of math."

"Three out of seven…" Sakura murmured, examining her schedule. "Oh, this is gonna be a LOOONG year."

"Hnn," was Sasuke's reply. Sakura jumped as he slammed his textbook shut with a loud thump. Sasuke threw all his stuff back into his bag. He crossed to his dresser, pulled out some clothes, and went into the bathroom to change. Seconds later, he came out wearing a blue T-shirt and khaki shorts.

"Where are you going?" Sakura asked curiously as he bent over to lace up his Vans. Sasuke looked at her oddly.

"Has anyone told you you sound like a girl?"

"What does that have to do with my question?" Sakura burst out. Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"Basketball," he said, before trotting out of the room. It took only a second for his words to register with Sakura. She dashed over and grabbed her own change before shouting something out into the hall.

"Wait for me!"

When she emerged seconds later, Sasuke was nowhere to be seen.

"Jerk," Sakura muttered as she dug in her bag for the map of the campus. "Come on…"

"Where are you going?"

Sakura spun around. In the doorway of her dorm was Neji. He was spinning a basketball on his finger.

"Me?"

"I don't see anyone else around, do you, Sakumo?"

"Are you going to play basketball?" Sakura asked him. Neji shrugged.

"Yeah. You coming?"

Sakura nodded. Neji chestpassed the ball to her, she caught it like a pro. Neji motioned.

"Come on."

Basketball Courts

"Why aren't we indoors?" Sakura asked Neji as they trotted into the fence-enclosed cement basketball courts. He shrugged.

"That one's the really nice one that the team uses. The rest of the time, we chill out here."

Sakura went over to the rack and pulled out a ball. It was much larger than the one she used in women's basketball, almost the size of her head. But her father had taught her to play using a man's ball, and it didn't take long for Sakura's hands to adjust to the larger size.

Flashback

"Steady, steady, now, Sakura, hold it," her father warned. A tiny, pink-haired girl was dribbling a ball larger than her head around her legs and in between them- all with a blindfold on. It was too much…she lost the ball. Her father retrieved it and pulled the blindfold off.

"Maybe you're not ready for this," he said. The little girl looked up at him curiously.

"Can YOU do it, Daddy?"

Her father smiled and put the blindfold around his eyes. With his little girl watching bug-eyed, he dribbled back, forth, between, under, around, and every possible place he could dribble a basketball while keeping his pivot foot still.

"Will I REALLY be able to do that?" the girl breathed. Her father pulled off the blindfold and smiled.

"With my help, and a little luck, you will."

End Flashback

"Hey, LOOK AT SAKUMO!" Naruto bellowed. All the guys on the court stopped and turned to see what Naruto had seen. Sakumo had his eyes closed, and he was dribbling like a maniac: back, forth, around his body, behind his head…

It was almost beyond belief.

"Sakumo!" Naruto shrieked, "how are you DOING that?!"

Sakura came back to earth with a jolt.

"Huh?" She noticed everyone gaping at her. "Oh…just muscle memory," she confessed. "I don't do that very often on the court."

"Huh, and neither do the Harlem Globetrotters," she heard Neji mutter.

"HOW YOUTHFUL, Sakumo-kun!" Lee cried, anime tears running down his face. "You must teach me!"

"A basketball player is more than just fancy dribbling," a cold voice interrupted. Sasuke was at the free throw line, gazing at the rim, but he still spoke loud enough to be heard by the court. "A real basketball player can pass, run, and shoot."

To accent his point, he shot a perfect penalty. All net.

Sakura came up to him.

"A REAL basketball player can back up his words," she said tauntingly. The boys began to gather.

"Ooh, Sasuke, looks like you just got CHALLENGED," Kiba grinned. Sasuke glared at the brown-haired Sakumo. Sakumo grinned at him.

"Wanna shoot?"

Sasuke smirked.

"You're on."

Sakumo threw away his ball and headed for the goal, first stopping to give his glasses to Naruto. Sasuke dribbled up to half-court, where he turned around.

"Well? What are you waiting for?" Sakumo taunted. Sasuke's eyes narrowed.

"Don't get cocky," he warned.

Sakumo was good…he wove in front of Sasuke, suddenly appearing right where Sasuke wanted to drive. He forced Sasuke to weave, change hands, dribble with all his skill. Sasuke was forced to pull up way outside the 3 point line and shoot.

There was a thunk as it hit the metal that attached the hoop to the backboard. The ball shot straight up with a bit of backspin on it. The whole group watched as it descended…

And went right through the net.

Everyone was shocked.

"Lucky shot," Sakumo said, trying to pass it off. Sasuke caught his own rebound and passed it hard to Sakumo.

"Hnn. Your turn."

Sakumo, if possible, was as good if not even better than Sasuke. The ball was moving so continuously that if Sasuke took his eyes off it for a moment Sakumo made a move to get by him. It was tough, defending this good of a dribbler. But Sasuke finally managed to get Sakumo to pick up his dribble. It was a mistake.

Sakura was close to panicking. Sasuke had forced her to stop dribbling a little too far away from the 3-point line. It was almost the same shot she had had to make at the City championships. She ducked, pulled the ball back, keeping her pivot foot steady, anything to give her a bit of time. But Sasuke was good- he pressed his advantage, leaning in for the ball. Sakura leaned back for a fadeaway shot. She jumped…the ball left her fingers, spinning backwards perfectly…it was GOING to make it, after all…

Then she saw Sasuke leap up, his muscles moving in perfect harmony. His hand went high, reaching for the ball…

And the ball slammed down on the pavement behind Sakumo. The onlookers groaned.

"Nice try, Sakumo, dattebayo!" Naruto said, draping an arm around Sakura's shoulders.

"Yeah, I've never seen anyone play like that. You almost beat the home champ!" Kiba said, punching Sakura's arm. Naruto handed Sakura back her fake glasses, which she put on.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes as he watched Sakumo receive the adulations of his friends. When they had played one-on-one, Sakumo had had no trouble seeing the ball. In fact, it was almost impossible to tell if he was near-sighted or far-sighted – he never squinted once.

There was definitely something different about his roommate.

So, how am I doing? This is the first fic I've posted here, so no flames, plz! Again, I already know that some ppl probably already have stories like this, I promise, I DID NOT PLAGIARIZE. More to come:P

Rhulain