A/N: Another edited chapter for this story. Enjoy ^_^

Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine

Warning: foul language, violence, hints SasuNaru shounen ai


Chapter 3: The School After, Acknowledgment


"Uugh, my head huuurts…!" Naruto whined slightly when he walked alone to school.

Oh no, of course he was not with Sasuke. Hell, he would never let the entire school know about the marriage between his father and Sasuke's mother. Fuck no! What would they say if they knew that Naruto and Sasuke were brothers now? They were the bosses of East and West buildings for God sake! There was no way in hell would their followers accept such news with open arms!

This morning Mikoto had insisted them going to school together, and along the way to the bus stop they bickered nonstop again. Fortunately, there was none of their schoolmates (since they took the much earlier bus than usual), and when they took off at the bus stop near the school, they immediately parted ways with silent agreement to keep their secret just for them. They had talked about it last night and settled that it was best not to mention anything about their current situation to anyone else ever.

However, Naruto didn't know if he had to laugh, cry, or faint when his father told him this morning that he had notified his most favorite teacher, Umino Iruka, about Arashi and Mikoto's marriage. Naruto was positively horrified though, and could only pray to God that Iruka would be sensible enough not to tell a single soul about that matter.

Naruto didn't really want to imagine what would happen if the news got out. He would probably get murdered by Sasuke's fanatic fans or worse, his own followers. Despite being their boss, if East Building students thought in the slightest that Naruto had fallen into Sasuke's clutch (being step brothers and all, even though it would never happen), they would make Naruto's life a living hell. Naruto didn't need that. Living with Sasuke in the same house was torture enough. Thank you very much.

Naruto sighed deeply when he passed the school gate to the front yard of Konoha Academy. Many people (read: black uniformed schoolmates), greeted him with respect while some (read: white uniformed ones) immediately averted their gazes and moved away from him (or his path). Naruto greeted the blacks with his usual infamous rascal grin, not letting them read into his cloudy mood and pretty much ignored the whites after that.

It was just unfortunate (or fortunate?) that Sasuke showed up right after Naruto, successfully dragging everyone's attention (including Naruto's) to him when he stepped inside the school vicinity. The whites immediately welcomed him while the blacks sent a mixture look of wary and antipathy, but Sasuke seemed to ignore both uniforms as his eyes locked with Naruto's instead.

Both Naruto and Sasuke looked at each other rather intensely for awhile in total silence. The other students gulped slightly, probably thinking that both bosses would start a brawl first thing in the morning. However, since Naruto and Sasuke had agreed not to make any suspicious sign that could give their shared secret away, they just looked away from one and another before taking separate routes, right and left, not bothering to pass the center building to go to their respective buildings.

Alas, both Naruto and Sasuke didn't see the surprise in their followers faces when they saw that unexpected scene.

#

Sasuke was pissed. He was shocked and mortified when he learned that his mother had informed his least favorite teacher (shit, Sasuke even felt mostly irritated with that teacher's act in daily basis!), Hatake Kakashi, about their recent family condition before he went to sleep last night.

Of course it caused Sasuke to have a headache. After all, Sasuke had to rake his brain all night long to look for something nasty enough to blackmail Kakashi and shut the perverted silver haired man's mouth about the secret. Obviously, because that guy loved gossiping very much. Sasuke definitely couldn't stand the thought if his (mostly) perverse teacher accidently (or on purpose, just to spite Sasuke) spread the HUGE news to the entire school.

Don't laugh, damn it! It's not funny!—Sasuke refused to be dragged down into Naruto's level. Imagine what all his friends would think if they knew Sasuke was brothers with Naruto. His image as a perfect student would be instantly shattered for sharing a living space with that outcast. There was no way Sasuke could live with such injured pride.

It was the wisest to just ignore (and change the subject if ignoring was impossible) everyone for awhile if they asked about why both Sasuke and Naruto took the same day to leave school early or the same time off from school a few days prior their parents' remarriage. He would definitely compel Kakashi to cooperate with him to make some kind of cover story no matter what, even if he had to resort to threats of bodily harm to get it.

I have to prevent any damage while I can!—Sasuke swore silently and gravely, as he kept walking to his building without a single glance at anyone else after.


~Sasuke x Naruto~


Naruto sighed in relief after entering in his comfort zone, passing the inside gate of East Building, where no one would poke their nose in his private business. But his relief didn't last that long when he saw some people, girls precisely, who weren't supposed to be there, at East Building side garden, since they were wearing white gakuran.

Why are those girls there?—Naruto thought oddly. He was curious of what they were doing, so he decided to check on them. He peeped slowly from the corner of the gate. There…he saw three girls smoking.

Hmm… So, it's not only Temari who likes smoking, huh?

Naruto chuckled lightly, shaking his head, and he was almost letting them be. He didn't give a shit to something as trivial as that. He didn't care if they were East or West Building students, as long as they didn't bother him and didn't create a mess in his territory. He would not sniff on their problem.

However, Naruto stopped walking away when he heard a voice, stuttering as she spoke.

"E, um… everyone please… Please stop doing this. Smo-smoking is stri-strictly prohibited in-in our school ground…" The voice sounded small, hesitant, worried and somehow cute.

Naruto turned back to look at the girls again. Now there were four of them. The newcomer was a petit girl in white gakuran, with smooth, straight long midnight colored hair. She had pale grayish colored eyes and said eyes seemed to look at her friends with concern in them.

Naruto blinked. By some means, he felt that he had ever seen that girl. Those hair and eyes… and wow did she look sweet. She seemed shy, though, judging from her cautious voice and expression.

Where have I seen her before?—Naruto couldn't help feeling inquisitive, and was pretty distracted from the scene when suddenly he heard a pained yelp that Naruto recognized as the pale eyed girl's. Naruto snapped back from his train of thought and saw the smoking party bullying the cute girl. What the fuck?!

Naruto felt the anger rising to his head as he saw the unfair one sided battle (no, actually it was not a battle at all, but it sure felt like it when the bad girls surrounded the nervous girl), and he didn't even realize that he was taking action to protect the pale eyed girl from her -not so friendly- friends as he walked out from his hidden spot to greet them.

"Heeh, I didn't know that the girls from West Building like smoking here too," Naruto said a bit noisily announcing his presence with a smirk on his face, surprising the party.

"Haah? What did you sa—?!" The tallest girl sneered in a very impolite way before she turned around only to meet Naruto's sky blue eyes. She widened her own immediately and dropped her jaw almost litreally in a complete shock. So un-lady like! Her friends, excluding the pale eyed girl, set their horrified expression as well noticing Naruto there.

"B-boss of East Building!"

Frankly, Naruto felt great when they screeched in unison and stared at him in horror. It meant he really did have an influence in how the rules work.

"You really have guts trying to create problem in my territory, even without my permission. Such gutsy young ladies…" Naruto purposely widened his smirk, adding the evil tone and spreading dark aura while he was cracking his knuckles in total intimidation.

"We-we're very sorryyyyyyy!" The three girls stumbled around from their spots and immediately scrammed away from him in tears, apparently very terrorized, leaving the cute girl alone with Naruto.

"Bunch of useless women," Naruto scoffed patronizingly before he turned around to face the remaining girl there. She was seated on the ground, luckily unhurt, and gawking at Naruto with a perplexed look. "Hey, you alright?" Naruto smiled slightly and gave her a hand to help her stand.

The girl yelped slightly, looking at Naruto's eyes with part fear and part wonder. "Ye-yes…" The response was so faint and the volume so small, almost whispering. Still, Naruto could make out her adorable soprano voice. She tentatively took Naruto's hand before standing slowly while dusting her uniform.

"How odd… I can't help thinking that I have ever seen you before… where is it again?" Then Naruto decided it was okay to invade the girls' personal space, scrutinizing her face intently that immediately seemed to cause her to flinch and flush bright pink.

Huh? What a reaction…

"Ah, m-maybe you s-saw my cousin, N-Neji-niisama (1)," she said almost in panic, and apparently tried a step back to get away from Naruto while trembling like a chary kitten. How endearing.

"Ah!" Though, Naruto immediately caught her word and punched his palm, remembering it. "That's right! You're that pretty boy's cousin! Hyuuga Hinata, was it? I'm Naruto, Uzumaki Naruto," Naruto offered her a handshake, smiling friendlily now since he recalled who she was.

"Eh?" For a second, Hinata looked surprised, still flushing, but then she gave him a small happy smile. "N-nice to meet you too, Na-Naruto-kun," she beamed slightly and took Naruto's hand. "H-how did you know m-my name?"

"Well, you're in student council too, right? I've had enough dealing with Sasuke and his cronies in student council, particularly Neji since that pretty boy is hellishly annoying with his ground rules. Besides, he patronizes black uniforms more than Sasuke, and if I remember right, you stood up for us once when he decided to exclude all black uniformed candidates to enter election for student council administrator's position. Of course I know you," Naruto said ruefully while thinking about the older guy.

Right, that Neji… even if he is a senpai, he always tails Sasuke wherever he goes (well, it's normal since he's the vice-president, but still…). He's not only a freak that treasures his hair like a gem, but also a religious fanatic that always talks about destiny and blah-blah-blah fate. I really can't get what he is thinking. He's totally odd. Maybe because he's genius… he probably lost his mind when he thought too much.

"Oh," Hinata's blush intensified. "Y-you remembered… t-that's so embarrassing…!" Now she covered her face. "Ah… b-but Neji-niisama and I… we're so different. Neji-niisama is-is great with his words a-and many people respect him. He-he is good at sp-speech and his leadership is-is also outstanding. On-on the other hand, I… am too quiet and d-don't have many friends. I also c-can't speak smoothly. M-moreover, at that time I-I really humiliated myself in-in front of the entire s-school…"

Hinata looked very ashamed and seemed about to cry so Naruto immediately seized her hand and looked at her in the eye. "That's completely untrue. You stood for us, blacks, despite wearing white uniform, for the fairness and the right mean. Nobody in our building laughed at you that day. Besides, you're better than Neji, a lot better. Trust me." He smiled reassuringly now.

Hinata widened her eyes in astonishment before she wiped her almost falling tears with her free hand and nodded, smiling. "T-thank you…" Then she seemed to see Naruto's hand on her and she flushed again furiously. "A-ah, N-Naruto-kun too, is s-surprisingly… very kind… des-despite being… the boss of East Building…!" She seemed afraid when she commented, but she still said it anyway. Naruto instantly liked her honesty.

"Eh, really? Ahaha. Honestly, I myself don't understand why the whites hate me so much. Ah, but I do like fighting and pulling pranks, maybe because of that… since my targets are usually the whites…" Naruto mulled it over slightly, but then he shrugged. "Well, it doesn't matter. I know not exactly I'm a bad person, anyway… just slightly outlaw to make our school life more interesting!" Then he laughed optimistically at that positive thinking.

Hinata was apparently fascinated watching him for a few seconds before her face suddenly turned crimson for some reasons.

"Huh?" Naruto instantly realized that there was something wrong with the girl. "What's wrong, Hinata-chan?" He was concerned.

"H-Hinata…-chan…?" She looked shocked, and for some reasons, her face flushing much darker, looking about to combust.

WHOA! Her face is steaming! What happened?!—Naruto was very confused seeing such strange reaction. The heat from Hinata's face was radiating like a furnace.

"Hi-Hinata-chan? Are you okay? Do you have fever or something?" Naruto pulled the girl closer and leaned in to put his forehead on hers. Hinata without delay shrieked and fainted; her face still totally scarlet, to Naruto's utter horror.

"Hi-Hinata-chan!? Wa-wait a—! Why did you suddenly pass out?!" Naruto immediately caught Hinata's body before it hit the ground.

Oh my God…, what's wrong with her!? Why did she faint!? Did I say something wrong or she indeed has caught a fever?!–Naruto unquestionably panicked. He quickly lifted Hinata in bridal style and carried her to infirmary, so Tsunade could check on her.

#

However, when Naruto was in his way of bringing Hinata to the heath office in center building, Shino saw him.

Naruto, the boss of East Building… Did he knock somebody out again?—Shino huffed. He had to note that on Naruto's breaking school rules record since Shino was the head of Executive Committee. But seriously, Naruto always breaks school rules one way or another. Every. Single. Day. The paperwork was a total hassle. Maybe he would make Naruto fill out the form himself later under duress…

Hmm? That's…!?—Shino widened his eyes in surprise (even if no one actually could see that because of his sunglasses and his high collar) when he saw the victim's figure on Naruto's arm. Isn't that Hyuuga Hinata? Why is Neji's cousin with Naru—, no. Why is Naruto carrying her like that? Is she unconscious? Is she hurt? But who would hurt…? Impossible, did Naruto injure her?—Shino couldn't believe this. He knew that Naruto was a trouble magnet and had a tendency to get violent, but he thought Naruto had a code or some short.

"I should tell Sasuke and Neji first before taking action. Besides, Naruto is bringing her to infirmary. Maybe it's just a huge misunderstanding." Shino turned around before walking away to the student council office. Neji and Sasuke might have been there.

Furthermore, even though Naruto was taxing to deal with most of the time, Shino quite respected that East Building boss. They were from the same middle school after all, and Naruto wasn't a bad guy even though he was a delinquent and a gang leader.


~Sasuke x Naruto~


Later in infirmary—

"Naruto…! What in the world did you do to a mere defenseless girl like her!?" Tsunade growled and deadly glared at Naruto, feeling her veins throbbing one by one on her entire head and face, as she saw the teenage blond entering her office with a girl, out cold and steaming in his arms.

Tsunade stood and cracked her knuckles menacingly, ready to give Naruto a severe painful death if he indeed had done something to render a girl unconscious like that.

"W-wait a second! It's not what it looks like!" Naruto visibly paled and flailed frantically after he put the girl down on the bed.

"I thought you were different from the public trashes…! How dare you roughing up a girl like that…! Your father will surely cry hearing this!" Tsunade couldn't listen to Naruto's reasoning because she was so angry. So disappointed. Naruto had violated his own code!

How could he…!?—Tsunade grabbed Naruto's collar and glared daggers directly at Naruto's frightened eyes.

"Whoooaaaa! I said wait, wait, waaaai! It's not like what you think, damn it! And whom are you calling a public's trash!?" Naruto immediately shut his eyes and covered his head, apparently in instinct, to protect it lest Tsunade decided to hit him despite still protesting.

"Spill. If your explanation matched what I thought, I would call your father to prepare your funeral!" Tsunade threatened him gravely and fiercely, though while giving him a chance to defend himself.

Naruto squeaked in shock before groaning in trepidation, totally unable to defy her since it was 100 years sooner for him to even think about it, unless he wanted to die so very young in Tsunade's hand.

So, Naruto (nervously) explained what actually happened. "…that's why, I don't know either why she fainted out of the blue. It's not my fault, really. I was just trying to check if she had fever or not. When I touched her forehead with my own, she abruptly shrieked and passed out," he huffed then, looking annoyed.

"Hmm… Don't you think she fainted because you scared her too much?" Tsunade was still suspicious.

"Eeeh? But she talked with me just fine before. Well, she was timid and stuttering, but she even confided her problem to me! If she had been really terrified, she would have escaped with her friends, that bullied her by the way, when she saw me," Naruto complained.

"Well, I supposed so…" Tsunade sighed slightly in relief. "So… it means that you actually saved her, huh? That's good, as I expected from you, brat!" Now she ruffled Naruto's soft spiky blond hair while smiling, feeling pleased.

"Shees, stop treating me like a child, already!" Naruto pouted slightly then, face faulting while sending her a dirty look.

Okay… she probably fainted because Naruto invaded her personal space so suddenly. On top of that, she 'closed up' on that cute face of his, huh? No wonder, Naruto and his father are indeed quite similar in that respect!—Tsunade grinned, slapping Naruto's back repeatedly hard enough to make the blond cringe and wince.

"Ouch! Ow! What was that for, you—!"

Suddenly the door of infirmary was opened, cutting Naruto's speech. "Excuse me; can I have a band aid?"

Naruto and Tsunade looked upward at the same time to see a man in his late twenties with dark brown hair and a kind looking face enter the health office. "Oh, Iruka?" Tsunade immediately recognized him as one of the teachers in Konoha Academy, mainly teaching Japanese Literature, as well as Naruto's homeroom teacher, Umino Iruka.

"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto's face instantly brightened tenfold. He immediately stood and greeted him with happy wide adorable smile. "Good morning, Sensei!"

As usual, Naruto loves this guy—Tsuna chuckled, seeing Naruto turning into such an angel when the brunet teacher was around.

"Ah, good morning, Naruto," Iruka greeted Naruto back with a nice smile. "How is it with your new house and family?" he suddenly asked. Tsinade blinked as Naruto jerked and snapped in alert at the question. Bullets of sweat suddenly broke out from his entire face.

"New house and family?" Tsunade frowned slightly, confused.

Naruto made an 'Oh, crap!' like face and Iruka answered.

"Yeah, Naruto's father remar—"

"Aaaaaah! Aaaaaah! Aaaaaaah!" Naruto shouted in total alarm, effectively cutting Iruka's words before he could give Tsunade any response.

Tsunade raised her eyebrows, wondering what the hell Naruto's problem was, while Iruka threw the blond a bemused look.

"Se-sensei! Here's your band aid! Oh, the bell almost rings! It's Japanese Lit for the first period, right?! Let's go to the classroom now!" Naruto gave the band aid, which seemed to magically appear on his hand, to Iruka before the blond kid pushed the older man to walk out of the infirmary in such a hurry. "See you later, Tsunade-baachan!" and then turned to wave at Tsunade who immediately took an offence of how he called her.

"Whom the hell did you call baachan(2), you stinky brat?!" Tsunade yelled and threw a syringe at the insolent blond that had dared to call her so rudely. She wasn't sixty yet, damn it!

"Gyaaaa, that's dangerous! Jeez you-... old hag!" Naruto shouted back before he dashed away while pulling the bewildered Iruka to run with him as Tsunade decided to curse him some more.

"What a rude, boorish brat, sheesh…!" Tsunade slid the door close with unnecessary power until it slammed and rattled dangerously.

#

"Sheesh, Naruto… that's a really impolite way of talking to Tsunade-sama!" Iruka scolded with frown on his face.

Naruto groaned morosely. "It's beyond me why my father, even you, addressed that thick make-upped old hag with hime or sama…" Naruto paled. He was still freaking out to think that there was a woman who had such monstrous power as Tsunade and was probably stronger than any man in the surface of earth. Moreover, she still looked like in her twenties even though she had passed fifty.

What kind of makeup is she using everyday actually…?

"You can say that because you've never heard about the legend of Sannin, Naruto." Iruka apparently was on the lecture mode now, to Naruto's dismay. "Tsunade-sama, along with our head master, Jiraiya-sama, and the head of biology lab, Orochimaru-san are the originators of Konoha Academy. They built this school together with their own wealth to discipline the ordinary (West building) and unordinary (East building) teenagers, so they can properly face the world and society when they become adults. Tsunade-sama is really professional in handling health problems. Jiraiya-sama is very good at leadership to lead the school as the principal and Orochimaru-san is an expert at research. The three of them complement each other to create a perfect educational system in this school. That's why they're called The Legendary Sannin of Konoha City." Iruka explained with a fervent look.

Naruto only stared at him in disbelief. "That perverted old man Jiraiya is so great? Even that freaky Biology teacher Orochimaru?" He understood if it was Tsunade because she was a real genius, but those two old men as well? How unbelievable!

"That's harsh, you brat," suddenly someone spoke from behind, surprising both Naruto and Iruka.

"Ero-Jiji (3)! Don't freak us like that, jeez!" Naruto recognized the middle aged man instantly as he saw him. Untamed long white hair with Kabuki-like fashion (which was mysterious how he was allowed to wear such clothing without raising uproar from the students and the board), frankly Jiraiya annoyed the hell out of Naruto, almost as bad as Sasuke did.

"Ah, Jiraiya-sama, good morning," Iruka greeted the older man politely.

"Oh, good morning, Iruka-kun, where's Kakashi? I don't see him with you," Jiraiya greeted Iruka back, seeming to ignore Naruto on purpose. That damned perverted old man. Naruto was cursing him nonstop at the background when Jiraiya talked to Iruka.

"Umm… why must Kakashi-sensei be around me, exactly?" Iruka asked, slightly sweat dropping, looking a bit nervous.

"Eh? I thought you're together now," Jiraiya said with his not so innocent face, causing Iruka to blush slightly at the leer.

"Wh-what are you saying!? We're only friends!" Iruka protested. "Anyway if you're looking for him, he must be in West Building! He's teaching math there!" he quickly changed the subject, his face still rather pink and he pulled Naruto to go with him to their classroom. "We still have a lesson to do, so I excuse myself," then he huffed, apparently annoyed even though he looked embarrassed as well.

"Ooh, how poor of Kakashi for falling in love with a man who is so dense. He even can't understand the depth of his feeling…" Jiraiya cooed shamelessly, making Iruka flush even redder in embarrassment.

"Jiraiya-sama!" Iruka yelled at him, actually looking irritated and totally mortified, probably because the old man teased him so easily. Jiraiya cackled and snickered as he walked away after that.

"Jeez, that old jiji…!" Iruka grumbled, still somehow pissed.

"Sensei, that's not a polite way of talking about our head master," Naruto didn't pass the opportunity to use the same lecture Iruka gave him as the teacher twitched hearing that.

"Naruto—!" Iruka sent him a death glare. Naruto only laughed amusedly.

"Sensei, you're so funny!" Naruto said between his laugh.

"Shut up!" Iruka snapped at him in exasperation.

After at least five minutes, Naruto stopped laughing and only chuckled once in awhile. Suddenly, he thought about what Jiraiya and Iruka's conversation earlier. "Ne, sensei, how is your relationship with Kakashi-sensei?" Nope, he wasn't trying to pry into the matter. He was just… innocently curious about the state of affair.

At first, Iruka's face reddened again, but then he sighed and answered "We're good together."

"That's great, then!" Naruto smiled childishly, genuinely feeling happy for them.

Oh yeah, Naruto actually knew about his teachers' controversial love affairs. A few weeks prior, Naruto caught Iruka and Kakashi kissing in teacher lounge when he was about to return the report book in the afternoon after class had ended. At first, Naruto freaked out and desperately blamed Kakashi for corrupting Iruka's innocence. But then, Iruka explained to him that Iruka was the one who confessed his love towards the masked silver haired teacher. After Naruto heard the entire situation, he slowly warmed up to the idea that his favorite teacher was together with Kakashi.

Naruto still didn't understand why Kakashi of all people, though. He was just as perverted as Jiraiya after all. Look at his AV and porno books collection! He even read the confiscated stuffs from the students!

Naruto knew he was straight since he had ever only liked girls before, but he didn't have problem with gay or lesbian. The fact that he chose to be placed in East Building had proven his open mind. He was just afraid that his precious teacher would get hurt and didn't know whether Kakashi was the right person for Iruka. However, apparently Naruto was too overprotective, since Iruka himself looked better-off each day recently. Kakashi must have made him happy.

"Are you worried about us?" Iruka asked softly, smiling buoyantly at Naruto.

"Yeah well… it's because that man had a history for making a lot of women cry, sensei! He's the most perverted person in this school after that ero-jiji!" Naruto huffed, remembering something he didn't want to.

"You're still cautious of him." It wasn't a question.

"What do you expect? It's Kakashi after all. Thank God Iruka-sensei is my home-room teacher instead of him. Or else I'd go crazy if I had to deal with him every day. I pity West Building students in his class. Must be tough for them," Naruto said, face faulting and sweat dropping.

Iruka only smiled ruefully at him. "Well then, instead of worrying about me, why don't you fret about your own situation? You meet Sasuke everyday now, at school and at home. Are you okay?" Now, Naruto knew he was trying to change the subject, but the concern in his tone was genuine, so Naruto scratched the back of his head, sighing.

"Well, I think it's still fine so far since we haven't tried to kill each other yet. But…I got to admit that I suffered more mental damages since we started living together. I don't know what happened, but somehow… I think about him more these days and it's frustrating because I can't seem to get him out of my mind," Naruto was agitated. At a time like this, he just wanted to get into a fight to calm his nerves.

Iruka lifted one of his eyebrows. He looked rather strange when he gazed at Naruto, making him rather curious of what the teacher was thinking when he was being silent like that. Then, a small knowing smile bloomed on Iruka's face. "So… you think about him a lot… everyday?"

What was that? Why is he smiling like that?

"What? Why are you asking me that?" Naruto couldn't help feeling suspicious. He didn't like being oblivious, but he didn't want to think too deeply about this stuff either. He got a bad omen that he would find something that would bring nothing but trouble if he obsessed over it after all.

"Oh, nothing… I'm just wondering why you guys hate each other so much. After all, there's no plausible cause for your resentment towards Sasuke in the first place. Did he do something to you?" Iruka asked.

"Well, that was…!" Naruto blinked and stopped walking immediately.

Huh…? I wonder why…?

"That was… what?" Iruka also stopped walking, raising his other eyebrow in reaction.

"Eh, well… I'm not…sure," he said slowly, mulling over the reasons.

Now that I think about it… I'm not exactly sure as well why I hate him except for his disagreeable and conceited personality. Actually, I don't have any reason to hate him other than because we have to hate each other since it's some kind of rule to be the bosses of East and West Building. Sasuke never starts anything. Besides, it's always me who creates trouble just to get a reaction from that Ice Prince. Man, why did I do that?

Naruto was getting confused by now. He really didn't have a particular reason of holding abhorrence towards the dark haired boy. Sasuke had never done anything worth holding a grudge for Naruto after all. But then, there was one time… one time that Naruto vividly remembered.

A flash of memory entered Naruto's mind, bringing him to the time when he first met Sasuke…

It was when Naruto stepped inside the gate of Konoha Academy ground for the first time after he was enrolled, and because he was so excited the night before, he couldn't sleep and overslept the next morning. He tried to catch the welcome ceremony for new students; that's why he ran to school. When he entered the school, Naruto saw him; the beautiful raven haired teen in white gakuran that looked upward at the fluttering cherry blossom petals dancing around, a soft appreciative smile adorning his gentle stunning face.

Naruto widened his eyes, not knowing how to describe his feeling when his sight was completely caught by such almost surreal scene. In his mind, the view was extraordinarily gorgeous that even the chatty Naruto lost words. Soon after, the raven seemed to realize that someone was watching, so he turned aside slightly facing Naruto's direction, his deep obsidian eyes meeting Naruto's baby blue and Naruto felt his breath catch for a moment.

"Ah, are you a new student too?" Naruto couldn't help asking awhile later, flushing slightly at the instant intense feeling he felt for him, completely intending to befriend this absolute beauty.

The dark haired boy who later he knew as Uchiha Sasuke only stared at him blankly for a few seconds. Then, like a switch, his expression turned cold and stoic, an absolute antipathy in his gaze. "Hn," was his only icy answer before he left Naruto alone, feeling somewhat hurt even though he should have been used to such attitude thrown in his face…

HUH?!—Naruto snapped out of his recollection as his inner self panicked. Whooaaaa, wait, wait, waaaiiit! What the heck!? Who—who the hell got hurt by Sasuke's instant rejection of friendship offering?! (Eh, did anyone say something about rejection?)

Naruto nearly strangled himself literally as he shook his head curtly, his face heating at the stupid, idiotic thought that was suddenly evoked from his memory. "Damn it! It's not because of that! T-that's a FALSE memory! It didn't happen like that at ALL! Besides, it's just because he's a cocky bastard that always pisses me off! I HATE him because of that and nothing else!" he had to shout it out, to no one in particular actually, because he needed to establish that fact to himself.

Besides, that happened months ago. His memory was fuzzy (really?). Yeah. He didn't have to think unnecessary thing by remembering useless stuff like that.

"Hmm… is that all?"

Iruka's voice jolted Naruto out of his self-convincing as he looked upward at the teacher who stared at him rather inquisitively. "Ye-yeah! That's all!" he raised his voice, not knowing why he felt very defensive so suddenly. "What, do you think there's more to it?"

"Well… are you absolutely sure? Aren't you just trying to deny something?" Iruka seemed very amused now.

"Of course I'm sure, sensei! Anyway, what do you mean by denying something?" Naruto growled, his face heating even more for some reasons, and he absolutely had no idea what was going on. Why was his heart beating harder anyway? This was so very odd!

"Oh, nothing," Iruka chuckled. "Well, it's ok if you're sure that that was your reason for hating Sasuke, but maybe you can try to think it more deeply, Naruto. Sometimes it's really difficult to understand your own feeling after all." He ruffled Naruto's hair gently after that, while smiling softly as if he was talking about his own experience with something precious.

Naruto couldn't protest when Iruka made such expression, even though he was positive that nothing deeper should be thought over, especially if it included Sasuke in it. "Tsk, alright, whatever," he felt like acting disagreeable about it, but he only appear to sigh in resignation.

There's nothing to think about anymore. Yeah, it must be it. I hate Sasuke because he's an annoying, arrogant bastard and nothing more… right?


~Sasuke x Naruto~


Later in Student Council—

"Sa~su~ke~," Kakashi called, not; he actually sang Sasuke's name with such irritating tone.

Sasuke's eyebrows twitched in reaction when he heard that silver haired teacher's voice. Had Kakashi not been a teacher, Sasuke would have thrown his sharpened pencil to the guy's visible eye. "What do you need, sensei?" Despite his annoyance, Sasuke still smiled politely towards his teacher. His image was important after all.

"Hmm, such creepy smile really doesn't suit your face," Kakashi commented, his visible eye curving downward in a hidden smile since he wore a mask all the time. He seemed completely amused at the way Sasuke tried to maintain his anger with his fake 'nice' expression. Sasuke involuntarily snapped his pencil into two parts in a surge of rage he couldn't contain with his crumbling self control.

Seriously, Sasuke HATED the guy. No matter how much Sasuke tried to act nonchalant to him, Kakashi seemed to know all the buttons to make Sasuke angry and lose all his coolness, driving him nuts every single day, just like Naruto. It seemed that the teacher wanted to aggravate him on purpose and Sasuke had no idea how to deal with him without screaming at him in frustration.

"Sensei, if you're here only to piss me off, please leave. I'm a bit busy here," Sasuke said counting to ten to calm his wrath, not wanting to start violence against his own home-room teacher. He should ignore Kakashi and got back to his works.

Yes, let's do that.

"Ah, so it's alright if I spread the big news to the entire school about—"

Kakashi couldn't finish his words because Sasuke immediately slammed the table hard, stood and stumbled noisily and as fast as he could to grab his teacher and pulled him to run with him, away from the crowd (Neji) in the office.

#

Neji blinked once before he looked at the sudden abandoned post, face faulting. "What the heck was that…?" He was rather dumfounded. It was the first time he saw Sasuke in such a panic. What the hell was going on? What was the news Kakashi was talking about anyway?

Neji was very curious, but getting involved with Sasuke's personal matter was equally asking for a disaster, so he didn't really want to know. As long as the student council could run the school program properly, he shouldn't complain at all even though there were tons of things to nag about.

A few minutes of comfortable silence in the room later, Shino walked into room. "Shino, you're late," Neji scolded, not really looking at the tall boy, but he knew it was Shino from his peripheral vision.

"Neji, where's Sasuke?" Shino asked slowly even though he was slightly out of breath, like he had just run for sometime or someshot. Still, apparently he didn't mind Neji's rebuke.

Neji frowned, not liking being disregarded. "He's with Kakashi-sensei somewhere. What, something happened?" he lifted his eyebrows now, silently demanding an answer. He could always give the message for Sasuke later if this had to be handled by Sasuke after all, but in Sasuke's absence, he was in charge.

Shino looked slightly hesitant, but then he sighed. "Well, actually…" then he told Neji what he saw.

"Eh…?" Neji widened his eyes, his face paling slightly.

"Neji, it could be just misunderstanding," Shino said. "We should wait for Sasuke to look into—"

But, Neji couldn't hear the rest of Shino's words as fury were slowly filling his head. "As if I could wait that long—! Uzumaki Naruto—!"

Honestly, Neji had never had personal odium towards the boss of East Building other than for his obnoxious and vulgar personality, but this was crossing the line. The son of a bitch had touched his cousin. He was a dead man!


~Sasuke x Naruto~


At the storage room in West Building—

"What the hell do you think you're doing, you degenerate sensei—?" Sasuke clenched at Kakashi's collar and glared daggers at his visible eye, apparently not bothering to mask his antagonism anymore.

"Ah, that's more like the Uchiha Sasuke I knew," Kakashi grinned, not intimidated in the slightest. Sasuke was one of his favorite students (to tease). Though, he could get extremely annoying when he decided to hide behind his mask of stoic prince when the real Sasuke was so much fun to rile up. Kakashi understood why Naruto tried to bait Sasuke all the time. His real personality came forward when he was furious after all.

And compared to that blank, cold zombie-like teenage boy, the fuming Sasuke was better.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Sasuke growled, shoving Kakashi away before scratching his head curtly in frustration.

Kakashi smiled in amusement. "Never mind that. Anyway, here." Then he offered some papers to Sasuke.

"What is it?" Sasuke let out a deep sigh, looking resigned and tired all of sudden when he received the papers.

"Exchanged schedules. I want you to send these to Iruka-sensei in East Building," Kakashi smirked inwardly.

3…2…1

"An ERRAND?!" Sasuke exploded, staring incredulously at Kakashi who wanted to laugh at Sasuke's super odd expression. Sasuke seemed to catch up that Kakashi was trying to suppress his laughter and ended up popping some vicious irate veins on his head. "You could have sent anyone else with a lot of free time in their hands for this! I'm busy, you know!"

"I just gave you an excuse to visit East Building for some bonding time." Oh, this was so interesting.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Sasuke seemed to want to play innocent, but his face flushed slightly as he continued complaining about Kakashi abusing his power to order Sasuke around for petty tasks. Even Sasuke's brutal criticism cracked Kakashi up. Man, he was just so adorable sometimes.

After some grumbling though, Sasuke only sighed in defeat. He kept the paper obediently as Kakashi stared at him for awhile. "What now?" the raven glared at him again, looking impatient for some reasons.

"No, just a thought…are you okay with your new house and family?" Kakashi finally asked what he was dying to ask. After all, that was the sole reason why he wanted to talk to Sasuke today.

"That's not your business!" Sasuke snapped, looking extremely wary. Still so defensive about his family matters, huh?

"Aw, that's mean. I am just worried, you know? You look rather stressed out today and it's not even noon," Kakashi faked a hurt look, and Sasuke flinched slightly at his genuine concern.

Sasuke slumped with a weary expression. "Sorry, sensei, it's because, like you guessed, I'm stressed out because a certain annoying blond boy enters my life. Since we live together, I can't ignore him at all. It's stressing enough to see him at school, now we have to face each other at home too. I don't know why I think about him so much, and it's infuriating like hell because I can't get him out of my mind!" Sasuke shouted now, even though he didn't seem to realize it.

Kakashi was dumbstruck at the sudden outburst of his favorite student. It was the first time he saw such priceless bothered expression on Sasuke's usually calm face (except when he was fighting). He wondered what made Uchiha lose his composure to the extent of cracking his cold mask. "Hmm…can't get him out of your mind, eh…?" Kakashi was getting more amused as he realized what this was.

"What's with suspicious look?" Sasuke grunted warily now, looking at Kakashi as if he were thinking something absolutely horrendous. Well, Kakashi wanted Sasuke to think about it, though. So he could be more aware of why Naruto occupied his mind so much.

Ah, youngsters. How endearing—Kakashi chuckled slightly.

"What?" Sasuke seemed getting apprehensive, so Kakashi decided to give him a hint.

"Oh, nothing, Sasuke… It's just strange, you know; if you think about someone so much without reason." Kakashi said slowly.

"Isn't it obviously because I HATE him?" Sasuke scowled.

"Hate, huh… well, what makes you hate him anyway?" Kakashi asked again.

"That's because he…! …?" Sasuke paused. His face looked confused for a moment, before he frowned. He was silent for a long time and still hadn't showed any indication to continue his words, until Kakashi was getting impatient himself.

"That's because he… what?" Kakashi pushed.

"I'm thinking about that, damn it!" Sasuke snapped at him in frustration now.

Sasuke was silent again, seeming to contemplate it seriously. The reasons of his irritation whenever Naruto was around, Kakashi could actually guess because it happened to him when he didn't realize that he was crushing on Iruka-sensei before the younger man confessed to him. Well, it wasn't necessarily the same thing, since Sasuke was young, but it was possibly very close to it. Anyway, it would be better if Sasuke realized it himself. Though, it was probably difficult at this stage because Sasuke was too prideful sometimes. He probably wouldn't want to admit it even though he realized what it was. Such a difficult boy…

Sasuke suddenly flushed for some reasons, and he made a gesture as if he was berating himself mentally for thinking something so stupid. "I hate him because he's stupid and annoying!" Then he animatedly yelled, as if he were trying to convince himself. Kakashi shook his head.

"Ooh, he's stupid and annoying… Is that all, really?" Kakashi prod more deeply.

"Yes, that's all." Sasuke hissed. His tone was hard and cynical, and Kakashi knew how people sounded when they were in denial of some short.

"Are you sure? Or…don't you just deny something else?" Kakashi was seriously having fun with Sasuke's reaction, really, because then Sasuke jerked and shouted right away.

"I'm sure about that, damn it! What do you mean by denying something!?"

Well, Sasuke sounded very irritated. Maybe Kakashi had gone too far. It was time to retreat. He could always tease Sasuke again another time. "Alright, if you say so…" He shrugged. "Just be careful, sometimes our pride can cloud our judgment. Unless you think about it more deeply and objectively, it's easy to overlook some possibilities, Sasuke." Kakashi ruffled Sasuke's hair slightly before he turned around and waved dismissingly as he walked away.

Let this be a predicament for Sasuke to think. He's a smart kid. He'll catch up soon enough—Kakashi smiled. It was so interesting playing with his student. He'd tell Iruka about this matter later at home.

#

"The hell does he mean?" Sasuke was fuming. He didn't understand a single thing Kakashi said. Why was his teacher so strange anyway? Spouting such nonsense like that about the reasons of his hatred towards Naruto…!

"Are you a new student too?"

Sasuke remembered the way Naruto smiled when they met for the first time at the opening ceremony. It was so bright, like the sun. So innocent and pure, untouchable. He wore black gakuran without a care of the world, flaunting his free spirit so foolishly. Such person always recklessly spoke about love and friendship, their promises uttered without meaning and responsibility to keep. An ignorant personality that knew nothing about hardship and pain… As if Sasuke could like someone like that. His very existence was just an eyesore, grating Sasuke's nerves.

That's right… such polar opposite of me, there's no wonder that we're meant to hate each other—Sasuke reached his hand up to his chest, clenching at his uniform tightly. He didn't know why, but even though he was convinced that that was the reason of his hatred towards Naruto, his heart throbbed more painfully, squeezing his chest slightly.

Right?

"Sasuke!"

Sasuke snapped out of his confusing train of thought at the sudden call from outside the door. He looked upward only to find Shino panting slightly, looking rather frantic. "Shino?"

"It's emergency. Neji is…!"

Sasuke widened his eyes. "What did you say?!"


~Sasuke x Naruto~


Meanwhile, in Naruto's classroom….

"Aaah, how boring…!" Naruto whined when he flipped his text book. It was a free study time because Iruka only gave them a task to write a classical poem before leaving, since he had to attend some meeting. No one in his class was stupid enough to pass the time to laze around instead of doing the task. After all, they could always do that at home. Obviously, it was Iruka fault for not deciding the deadline of submitting the work. Seriously, their teacher was very naïve sometimes. Or he just plainly forgot about it.

"Why isn't there anyone picking a fight today?" Naruto asked, looking totally bored out of his mind.

Naruto's classmates looked at him as if he were a lunatic.

Only Naruto would think fighting as 'fun' approach to kill boredom….

"What is it, Naruto? Bored? Why don't we spar for a bit then?" Gaara offered tonelessly, just in time when he was itching to hit something.

"Heeh, sparring with Gaara? It's been awhile," Naruto smirked; his sky-blue eyes alight with mischief.

"Yeah, once in awhile I need some exercise too," Gaara's mouth twitched up slightly while he cracked his knuckles. He knew he looked scary and only Naruto would beam at him when he was like that.

"Ooh, what a confidence! Don't blame me if you're bruised later, Gaara-kun!" Naruto stood, and immediately all of his classmates moved away to give them space to fight.

"I won't hold back today, Naruto," Gaara was serious. He needed an outlet for some of his repressed energy after all.

"Heh, bring it on!" Naruto seemed excited. Well, he probably was. Only Naruto and a certain Uchiha had ever seen Gaara getting serious in a fight after all. Most East Building students regarded Gaara's fighting skill legendary for his brutality even though Gaara's body was small enough and he didn't look like someone who could pull such thing. Though, everyone knew with the right button to push, Gaara was capable of murder.

"Ok, then, everyone! I, Inuzuka Kiba, will be commentator of the match between Gaara the Dessert and Naruto the Nine Tails!" Kiba shouted as if he were a reporter or something.

Immediately, there was hullabaloo in the entire East Building and even students from other classes gathered around Gaara and Naruto to watch. There were students cheering for Gaara and some others for Naruto. However, there were also some students who just sighed at their infantile stupidity and ignored them, including Shikamaru who was still innocently sleeping at his desk.

"3…2…1… Begin!" Kiba shouted again and Naruto almost hit Gaara in a preliminary attack when there was a sudden loud bang from the door direction. Someone apparently opened it harshly and forcefully. Everyone, excluding Naruto and Gaara, turned to face the intruder who just entered the room.

"UZUMAKI NARUTO!" That intruder shouted Naruto's name so loudly and fiercely, such that surprised almost everyone in the room, but mostly Naruto because he almost fell in his shock, losing his equilibrium when he attacked Gaara. Luckily, Gaara had ungodly reflex. Aside dodging the attack, he even caught Naruto's body before he could kiss the ground.

"Uwaaa, that's dangerous…! Thanks Gaara," Naruto said when he was balancing his body again.

"It's nothing. Besides…" Gaara replied coolly before he turned to face the intruder of their match, narrowing his eyes slightly at him, sending out his aura of hostility instantly. "What do you want, Hyuuga?" He didn't even bother to call him 'senpai'. He didn't deserve it anyway.

Neji flinched slightly as Gaara's killer emerald eyes seemed to pierce him like a knife. Neji also narrowed his eyes at him, but somehow he looked rather uncertain. Well, Gaara couldn't blame him. They had a very bad history after all and the only thing that kept Gaara from killing the older boy was because Naruto told him not to. His argument was even Gaara's father wouldn't be able to keep Gaara out of jail this time around, especially if it was premeditated.

"Step aside, Gaara. This does not concern you." Neji replied with a bitter tone, anger and resentment barely kept in check, but there was a hint of something else in his voice when he spoke to Gaara. Anyway, he didn't hide his disgust at all when he glared at Naruto afterwards. "I have business with you, Uzumaki Naruto!"

Still, Gaara didn't intend to do what Neji told him to do. The one who could order him around was himself, and maybe Naruto, but the latter had to beg first before Gaara relented. "Hmm… big words, as expected of Hyuuga Neji, the Vice President of Student Council. But too bad, everything that concerns Naruto concerns me too."

Gaara stood in front of Naruto who only blinked in confusion as he was defending him from Neji.

Neji hissed. "I'm telling you to back off, Sunano Gaara, or I won't be held responsible for what I'm about to do. Not even you can defend that scum behind you this time!"

Apparently, Neji was enraged enough about something because he, who was usually a reasonable person, actually raised his fist. Gaara didn't see this coming at all and was too late to dodge the sudden attack, when unexpectedly Naruto grabbed Neji's wrist to stop him.

"Whoa-whoa! Wait a sec! What the hell, Neji! You do know picking a fight without reason is violation of your own rules, right? What is wrong with you?" Naruto gripped Neji's fist hard, seeming oblivious to why Neji was so angry until he lost his reasoning and succumbed into violence.

Neji shoved Naruto's hand harshly. "Huh. And you of all people could say that? As if you had any reason for fighting… You even don't have any right to call my first name! And I believe that fate had decided that I am older than you, Uzumaki, so give me some respect by calling me 'senpai'!" Now he shoved at Naruto's chest furiously.

There is it, his fate….

The others thought incredulously, sweat dropping. Even Naruto's face faulted slightly, probably thinking that this was foolhardy. Naruto seemed able to keep his temper in check, though. That was new. Usually he would lash out if people got physical without reason.

Naruto took a deep breath now. "Alright, Hyuuga-senpai, what happened actually? Why do you look for me?" he asked, seemingly trying to be patient.

"What happened?!" Neji's voice rose in shrill disbelief, "You HURT my cousin! That's what happened! Shino told me you brought her to infirmary this morning! What did you do to her?! How dare you lay your finger on defenseless girl, you degenerate asshole!" Now, Neji grabbed Naruto's collar and yanked him hard.

"Your cousin…?" Naruto seemed dumbfounded. "Ah, you mean Hinata-chan?"

Neji's last string of patience seemed to snap (they could almost hear it literally) as he growled "Calling Hinata-sama so casually like that… you insolent bastard!" Then he raised his fist once again, while Naruto still looked confused, and then he immediately punched Naruto hard, square on his left cheek, shocking the entire class, including Naruto.

"Wha-…what the hell are you doing, you-bastard!?"

Kiba (and Naruto's other subordinates including Gaara) immediately tried to jump Neji in boiling wrath when they realized what Neji had done. Naruto hadn't even had a time to defend himself because he seemed still thinking about what Neji was accusing him done even though everyone should have known that Naruto had a code that forbade him to (physically) hurt any women and weaklings.

However, before they could really rough Neji up, Naruto spread his arm to stop them. "Naruto?!" Kiba looked at him confusedly. Why did he stop them?

"Hold it, Kiba. He's mine," Naruto snarled in dangerous tone when he glanced at Kiba. His irises were changing color, from clear blue sky into red crimson, his pupils constricting into thin diamond slit, like foxes'.

Kiba and probably everyone else shivered when he saw those blood-red eyes. Those creepy evil looking orbs which cause everyone to acknowledge Naruto as the boss of East Building in the first place even though Naruto was just a freshman, overtaking everyone, even the previous boss, Temari. While he was using those beastly eyes, no one could resist Naruto's words because they knew the terror of those eyes if they dared to disobey him; those frightening blood-lust eyes when Naruto was still 'brutally active' in his 'Kyuubi Gang' during his middle school.

Everyone, including Neji apparently, gulped slightly seeing the hazardous look.

Hyuuga Neji is dead!—they thought in unison now.

"Hyuuga-senpai, may I know why you suddenly hit me? If your reason makes sense, maybe I won't kill you and only send you to hospital for a week, but if it doesn't…well, you'd better call your parents now to prepare your funeral," Naruto said, his voice sounding composed, but everyone knew it was like a calm before a storm. Naruto's smirk was threatening enough for people to run away screaming, when he was wiping the blood from the corner of his slightly busted mouth.

Neji was a total idiot because he still got a nerve to talk back instead of running away. "Still playing innocent, huh…! How preposterous! Rendering Hinata-sama unconscious like that…! There's a line for cowardice, Uzumaki! I misjudged you!"

"I didn't do anything to her," Naruto argued seriously.

"Liar! Shino saw you bringing her to infirmary!" Neji shouted at him irately.

"That doesn't mean I hurt her!" Naruto snapped impatiently.

"Heh, I wonder if it's a fate. You often babble about justice of your own way, but you hit an innocent girl. Is that the boss of East Building? No wonder, if the boss is trash then his subordinates are worse than trash!" Well, Neji was already on the edge of a cliff, but insulting all the East Building students was a definite, suicidal move because now Naruto seemed ready to explode.

Naruto immediately grabbed Neji's collar while hissing. "Senpai, you may insult me as much as you want, but I won't stay put doing nothing if you insult my friends! Take that back, you asshole!" Naruto raised his fist, ready to send Neji to hell when suddenly someone stopped his fist.

"That's enough!"

Everyone gasped, very surprised because they didn't see him before he made his move. Since god knew when, he already stood so near Naruto's spot and now he was holding Naruto's wrist tightly. They were all too caught up in Naruto and Neji's conversation, apparently, that they actually missed Uchiha Sasuke's entrance.

Naruto glanced at the dark haired Student Council President and growled lowly. "Sasuke…."

"Sasuke, don't interfere!" Neji seemed very emotional that he even yelled at Sasuke. "I'm here to ask for this scum's responsibility for causing harm to Hinata-sa—!"

SMACK!

Neji widened his eyes in total shock when his line was cut by Sasuke's hard slap connecting to his left cheek. Naruto and all of his friends gaped at this turn of event.

"Ah… it's too late…" Shino sighed just a few meters behind Sasuke, looking troubled.

"Shino?" Kiba looked at the head of the Executive Committee, getting even more confused.

What's going on here?—everyone couldn't help feeling very baffled at this.

#

Somehow, when Naruto saw Sasuke slap Neji, his anger instantly drained away along with the red-color of his irises. He blinked his baby blue orbs once now, flabbergasted and dumfounded.

"Sa-…Sasuke…?" Neji covered his left cheek, eyes looking betrayed and hurt as he stared at Sasuke's onyx ones in bewilderment.

"Cool your head, Neji. How immature. Judging people without evidence is strictly forbidden not only in our school, but also in the entire world. I have heard from Shino and I've brought Hinata with me. Ask her if you want to know the detail of what happened," Sasuke's voice and tone was frosty when he spoke to Neji, not even regarding him as a senpai, causing everyone to gasp because Sasuke wasn't usually so ruthless to his own people.

"But—!" Neji seemed still about to protest, but when Hinata hurriedly came over to calm him down, Neji shut his mouth.

Sa-Sasuke… What are you doing…?—Naruto was still very confused of what just happened. Sasuke suddenly defended him? Was the world going to end tomorrow and only Naruto didn't realize that?

Then, Sasuke unexpectedly turned around, facing Naruto now. He stared at Naruto's eyes for awhile before he bowed in front of him. "I'm so sorry for Neji's rudeness. I will definitely punish him later, so if you don't mind, please release him without any harm," Sasuke said politely with his eyes closed, and bore the shame for bowing in front of Naruto.

Naruto dropped his jaw in a shock while his classmates and all of the students in south building "EEEEEEEEEEEEH!?"-shrieked at him in utter disbelief. Soon enough there was uproar echoing through corridors in south building, announcing the defeat of the boss from West Building to the boss of East Building.

Holy CRAP! Sasuke is…! Sasuke is…bowing in front of meeeee!—Naruto didn't know if he had to jump dancing in joy or to faint because of the too much shock.

"And if you still felt dissatisfied to release him unharmed, I will take a responsibility of his action. You can punch me as much as you want," Sasuke added, still not lifting his head, his voice calm and collected and Naruto was truly impressed with how Sasuke handled this situation.

To think that that pompous Sasuke actually lowers his head… and to ME of all people!

Naruto could only gawk in admiration. Suddenly, he was greeted by the realization that this was how Sasuke led the West Building all the time. If it was for the greater good of his group, he wasn't ashamed of lowering his head when he was in the wrong. As a leader, he not only protected his subordinates, but also took the responsibility for their action with his own body. Somehow, it looked….

So cool…!—Naruto acknowledged him instantly. He smiled slightly before then grinned happily.

"It's ok, Sasuke!" Naruto said in lightened mood while he pulled Sasuke's body to straighten it up, so he could lift his head to look at Naruto in the eye. "I'm fine, and it's enough for me if you show your determination as a leader! Somehow…it looks cool! I like it!" He exclaimed while smiling cutely and gazing cheerily at Sasuke's rather widened obsidian ones.

Sasuke looked surprised before his cheeks visibly redden, but he seemed to try not to show that in front of the others, even though Naruto could see it clearly. Sasuke must have been embarrassed. However, Naruto also noticed his gaze shifting to the bruise on the left corner of Naruto's mouth.

"You're injured," Sasuke said slowly, absentmindedly, and as if it was a reflex, he reached his right hand up at Naruto's chin and then, his gaze eventually fell onto Naruto's lips before Naruto could feel the soft gentle caress of Sasuke's thumb on his bottom lip.

It was like… time stopped moving. Naruto widened his eyes as Sasuke kept his mindless ministration. Sasuke's lowered gaze was very enticing; his obsidian irises seemed glowing softly, almost trapping Naruto's own completely. He even didn't realize that he was holding his breath—

Well, until he heard the girls around them suddenly squeal at the surprisingly awkward scene.

Sasuke snapped and pulled his hand away from Naruto as if he was on fire, and looked upward in surprise to meet Naruto's face which instantly flushed hot like a furnace. Both were unable to say anything while the girls were still busy squealing, some boys face faulting, and some even fainting to see the suspiciously intimate state of affairs between them.

Then like a cue to run away from the gossips, Sasuke immediately grabbed Naruto's hand and pulled him to walk out the classroom.

"EH?! W-wai—! Sasuke!? What the hell are you doing, bastard!?" Naruto couldn't help squawking, still very hot and embarrassed and he didn't understand what had just happened at all as he panicked. Moreover, Sasuke wasn't helping at all because he kept silent as he was dragging him away from his class.

Sasuke…?—Naruto wondered immediately when he caught a glimpse of Sasuke covering his face with his free hand. Naruto still could make out that Sasuke's face was still reddening in darker color. Even his ears turned red! He was blushing like mad! No way…, have I seen an illusion?—Naruto gaped again, totally in disbelief. He was astonished and freaked out a little bit when he felt Sasuke's grip tightening on his arm, forcing him to follow the raven to wherever he headed to…

What… what the hell is going on with us…?!

End of Chapter 3

Tbc…


Side Notes:

(1)Niisama: one of the ways to call older brother in Japan. Aside this there are also Oniisan, niichan, aniki, aniue etc based on the politeness

(2)Baachan: one of ways to call a grandmother or elders. Aside that, there are also: Obaasama, obaasan, obaachan etc based on the politeness

(3)Jiji: one of ways to call a grandfather or elders. Aside that, there are also: Ojiisama, ojiisan, ojiichan etc

A/N: This is insane. This was originally 7000 words kind of chapter, but when I remake it, it turned into over 11000 words. No wonder it took so much time to edit this one. Well, whatever. Hope you enjoy this chapter. See ya in next!