Notes: The last one wasn't humorous, I know. This one isn't quite related to the last one, but... you know what? I'm just going to number these by the way I write them. A lot of times I start something... and I never finish it. They will be out of order, but at least you'll get an idea of how many I end up skipping... and it's easier on my filing system to do this.

Yay, AU's are fun.

Stage 05: Boys Are Like Puppies; They Get Into Everything (And You Love Them For It)

The boy with blue eyes peeked up at him as Sasuke tried to concentrate on correcting the latest quiz papers. He did pretty well, until eventually the stare became too much and he sighed, stopping his pencil for a short bit. Even then, he didn't bother to look up -- it would just encourage him. Which he really didn't need.

"When are you going to be done with that?" It was almost a whine, but also tinged with curiosity. Almost like a little kid, Sasuke thought.

"Not anytime soon. When are you going to be done with your homework? I know you have it -- it's due at the end of this week. That's tomorrow, if you can't see the calendar."

He couldn't see the pout, but he could certainly hear it in his voice. "I'm done already... I just need to... kinda sorta complete it..."

"You can't call that done." Sasuke's didn't even bother to sound upset. It was the same thing, after all. Every single time, every single class. It was a wonder that Naruto didn't actually fall behind, especially considering that this wasn't the easiest school to get into. He had to have studied like crazy to pass the entrance exams... which at least spoke for dedication and commitment.

Except now Naruto seemed to be focused more on watching him grade papers than actually studying. Sasuke sighed irritably as he looked up to see the eager face of Naruto staring at him. "If you're not done, what are you doing here? Don't you have a store to shoplift or something?"

Naruto made a face. "I may get in trouble all the time, but it's not like I /steal/ or anything, geez."

He sounded offended and hurt. Sasuke ignored it as he marked more papers, although he did admit with a grimace that it was uncalled for. It wasn't like Naruto was a bad kid or anything... just... rambunctious. Still, he trusted that his most unusual and troublemaking student would just forget about it, like the umbrella he never seemed to remember on even the rainiest of days.

The only noises that were heard for a while was the sound of papers shuffling and pen scribbles.

Until... "Congratulations, you got a 41 out of 50."

Naruto beamed like sunshine. "I've had a great teacher!"

Sasuke snorted and looked back at the rest of the papers, dampening the effect. "With how much I've been helping you, you shouldn't even be getting anything lower than an A. And I know Hinata's been coaching you too... as well as Sakura. How can you get a B with an A student, the teacher's aide, and even the /teacher/ tutoring you? I guess it proves that with enough training, even a monkey can learn to talk."

That was probably the real reason why Naruto didn't get held back any. Naruto practically lived at school, with how much he was getting tutored. In all classes. With Math, it was with Shikamaru and Kiba. In Japanese, it was Jiraiya and Hinata (again) helping him out.

Physical Education was the only one he didn't have any trouble with, but considering how hard it was to keep up his grades, Naruto didn't have the luxury of joining any of the clubs. So here he was, pestering Sasuke like he did every other day, hoping to get a free meal for his troubles.

"Hey! I'm not /that/ bad! I just don't get all this English stuff... thatandIkeepgettingdistractedandstuff..."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "By what?"

Naruto didn't answer that... instead, he was quiet. Sasuke paid this no heed, even if it looked like he was chewing on something difficult. He didn't wonder what the problem was, either -- it wasn't like Naruto could stay shut up for too long anyway. Best to enjoy the silence while it lasted.

Until finally, three minutes later:

"If you finished, how about dinner?"

It wasn't an unexpected question. Naruto only asked for dinner from his favorite (or so he claimed) teacher, Uchiha Sasuke, every other day... which was every single day that he wasn't over someone else's house or in another classroom getting tutored. And if Sasuke was tutoring him that day, then all the more opportunity for a free meal. It was almost tradition by this point.

"If you are finished," Sasuke corrected. "And no I'm not finished. And no, I'm not going to feed you dinner. Again."

"What? Come on, you can try to teach me English! It's like extra credit work!"

"Naruto, that's the lamest excuse I've ever heard. I teach Advanced English, not Elementary Grammar. Not unless you want to learn how to read a newspaper article during dinner, you're not going to get any extra credit points for free food."

"Come on, buy me dinner... please?"

Sasuke repressed a twitch and scribbled more notes on a paper. "Why do I have to treat you? You should be treating me for putting up with you."

"But you're old! Like 22 or something! So you have to treat me!"

"I'm not old! That's only five years older than you!"

"But that's so far awayyyy..."

"You're seventeen, not seven! At least act like it! And you're the one asking me out, for crying out loud!"

Sasuke opened his mouth again, then stopped, until finally hurriedly putting all his papers together, trying to hiding a slight flush. Luckily for him, Naruto had simultaneously decided suddenly that he wasn't sure if his shoelaces were tied correctly. The uncomfortable silence went on for several more minutes, until Naruto seemed to have decided that awkward silence wasn't enough and had to prod the question again.

"...So you're buying me dinner, right?"

"Only if you promise to eat all your vegetables."

"What! No way!"

Despite the avid protesting, Sasuke bought Naruto dinner again, just like he did every other day of the week.