DISCLAIMER: Naruto is not mine... if it is, I wouldn't pull that thing about Karin.


+ NARUTO +

BESTFRIEND, NOT SIDEKICK

Bangarang - Skrillex


Sasuke's in a bad mood. He usually is but I can tell that it's something really bad. I don't know what it is exactly. I have a feeling it has something to do with that Hyuuga Hinata, though. I mentioned her earlier and he gave me the evil eyes. I don't get it. I mean, the guy's crushing on her and he's supposed to have this starry-eyed look in him whenever his lady's name is mentioned but he didn't. Instead he looked ready to chop my head off. He is so weird.

Whatever. His lovelife is the least of my problems. But his performance on today's tryouts is my problem. We're the ultimate tag team, Sasuke and I. We kept our high school on the top. Fuck, not just the top, we were number one in the country for 3 years! I am planning on bringing Todai – no, scratch that – I will bring Todai to number one. So Sasuke better not screw this up over some girl.

The gym is already packed when we arrived, most of them are girls. I'm not surprised. Words spread fast among Sasuke's fangirls and damn, some of them are already cheering for him. That did not help his mood one bit.

"Fucking fangirls," he mutters under his breath.

"The noisier the better," I say, grinning. I love a noisy crowd. It energizes me. "I am so ready to dunk, believe it!" We approach the members of the Basketball Team and bow to them respectfully. "Senpai! Uzumaki Naruto, point guard! One of the mythical five from last year's Nationals."

The long-haired blond is the only one who pays us attention. "You fucking moron! Locker rooms are over there! Go change!"

"YES, SENPAI!" I salute. What a dick, though. No one calls me moron and gets away with it but he's a senpai from the Basketball Team so… I follow Sasuke to the locker room. "Oh yeah, oh yeah~" I chant excitedly. I'm in such a fucking good mood right now nothing will make me – what the fuck? "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING HERE, DOGBREATH?"

Dogbreath's standing in front of a locker, changing into a sportswear. He smirks at me. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm joining the Basketball Team, you moron!"

"I mean," he mutters with a bark of laughter, "what is an idiot like you doing in a university like this?"

I drop my bag on the floor and would've lunge at the moron if Sasuke didn't hold me back. By my collar, the asshole. "WHAT DID YOU SAY?"

"Is everything alright here?" a soft voice from the door asks.

I turn around. A beautiful lady is standing there. "You can't be here. This is the men's locker room." She just rolls her eyes at me and goes at the other side of the room. I follow her. Is she here to see her boyfriend? My jaw drops as she takes off her shirt. "YOU-YOU'RE A… A GUY?"

She, I mean, he just smiles at me and continued changing his clothes. I feel someone pulling me back. By my collar, the bastard.

"Let go!" I grumble at him. "I can't fucking breathe, you bastard!"

"Are you going to watch him change? I didn't know you like pretty guys, Naruto."

"You know fucking well I don't!" I lower my voice to a whisper as we change into a shirt, shorts and rubber shoes. "Did you see him, though? He looks like a girl… And his hair… Is he a member of the Basketball Team? So many members have long hair… Is that a trend here or what?"

I give a start as I hear him again. "All of you should be outside in 1 minute."

"Yes, Senpai!" the freshmen answer obediently.

"He even sounds like a girl," I shake my head. But now is not the time to think about other stuff. I put on my dark blue headband round my forehead. It's basketball time! "COME ON! I'M READY TO KICK SOME ASS, BELIEVE IT!"

We walk out of the locker room to an uproar. Looks like Sasuke's fanclub doubled in size while we were inside. The bastard scowls but I wave at everyone. I spot Shikamaru and Chouji at the other side of the court. I didn't know they'd be here so I wave energetically and blow them kisses as though they were my fans. The assholes don't give a crap. Shikamaru yawns and Chouji keeps on munching chips as he stares at me with boredom. Standing beside Shikamaru are Blondie and Pinkie and beside them is…

"You have quite the cheering squad, Uchiha," Dogbreath murmurs mockingly as he smirks at Sasuke. "But there's one girl here who's not cheering for you. She's cheering for me. Hey, Hinata!" The blue-haired girl standing beside Pinkie turns her head, breaks into a smile and waves at dogbreath. Sasuke stiffens as he sees her. She didn't even spare Sasuke a glance. "Oh, and stay away from her, Uchiha."

"Or what?" I ask challengingly. "Are you her boyfriend?"

"What if I am?"

"Tch, I wonder what she sees in you. Compared to Sasuke you're nothing."

"You have quite the sidekick here, Uchiha."

"W-what?" I sputter in indignation. "I'm not his sidekick!"

A whistle sounds and the blond-haired senpai raises his voice. "Freshmen! Warm-up, come on! We don't have all day!"

"What are you going to do now?" I ask Sasuke quietly. He's still staring at the Hyuuga girl. "Looks like she has a boyfriend. And a weird taste, too. Who would want that dogbreath for a boyfriend?"

Sasuke starts stretching his arms. "He's not her boyfriend."

"How'd you know?"

"Hn."

We do warm-up drills for 10 minutes. When we're done, the members ask us to form a line facing them. I gulp as I somehow end up facing the senpai I've mistaken for a girl earlier. He smiles at me and I smile back weakly. Is this awkward or what?

The long-haired blond steps forward. Maybe he's the captain. "Our coach is having an important meeting right now. I trust you all know Coach Ibiki, right?" We shout back a yes. The fuck is with the noise? We can barely hear each other. "Good! You're not some stupid dumbasses then. Captain?"

He looks to his right and the girly guy gives a nod. "Thank you, Deidara. My name is Yuki Haku, your captain –"

"CAPTAIN?" I yell in shock. It's weird enough that he's in the Basketball team and now he's the freaking captain?

"Is that a problem, Uzumaki-san?" he asks, smiling softly.

I can feel my face heating up. "N-no… Wait! How did you know who I am?"

"Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto," he mutters, looking at me and Sasuke. "The Double Trouble of Rakunan High School who kept the Nationals to Kyoto for 3 years in a row. Universities all over Japan clamoured to have the two of you in their teams but you chose Todai. We are honoured."

I grin sheepishly. "We're flattered… er, Captain."

"Fuck this," a bored voice says. It was the tall guy standing beside the captain. "Who the fucking cares who these fucktwits are. They're all just snotty freshmen."

"This is Hidan, our center," Haku explains. He claps his hands and smiles again. "Let's have a practice play, 5 on 5 freshmen first to see their abilities. Is that alright with you people?" he asks his members and they all give a grunt.

"It'll be boring, though…" the blond guy mutters grudgingly.

"And then we'll choose the 5 who makes it to the team," Haku announces cheerfully.

"5? I say no one makes it," the tall guy smirks. Oh, how I want to wipe that smirk off his face.

"Uchiha! Uzumaki!" Haku calls out.

"YES, CAPTAIN!"

"I want you both in the same team. I wasn't able to watch any of your games. I'd like to see how you two play."

"YES, CAPTAIN!"

"You're sucking up, are you?" Sasuke asks me when we approach our team-mates. They're the snotty freshmen, not us.

"I have to make up for earlier," I say seriously, arranging the headband on my forehead. "And I have no intention of being a benchwarmer throughout freshman year. Do you?"

"Of course not."

I grin at him. "Let's rock then!"

Looking around at my fellow freshmen, I say we are the best in here. That dogbreath may act all cocky but he's no match for us. We are the best. No doubt about that… So imagine my surprise when I toss the ball to my left and it lands on the hands of the opposing team. What. The. Fuck. See, the best thing about me and Sasuke's teamwork is that we can read each other's minds. I don't have to look to see if he's right there. He just automatically is. He knows exactly where I'm going to pass him the fucking ball. So what the fuck just happened?

"The fuck, teme?" I ask as I run past him. He ignores me, the bastard.

Maybe he didn't see me or something. But whatever. He must focus. He can't screw this up. We've been playing basketball since we were big enough to walk and I can see us still playing when we're middle-aged. We're not going professional but basketball is part of our lives so the desire to be the best at it is there. We were the best in high school. We must prove that we are still at the top of our game right now. We can't screw this up. Our reputation is at stake.

I get the rebound again and I hightail toward the basket. This time, before passing the ball, I make sure that Uchiha fucking Sasuke is there to get it. He is, catches the ball and throws it. He misses. I wasn't worried that much when he didn't see my pass earlier but now I'm really worried. I look at Sasuke and I can see his eyes widening a bit, as surprised as I am. What the fuck is wrong with him? He never missed a shot before. Not even during practice and especially not an easy fade-away shot like that. I look at the Basketball team members at the side and notice how that tall guy is smirking while the blond one is laughing and pointing at Sasuke. They know. Looking around, it seems that everyone knows too. Even Sasuke's fangirls. Their cheering is not as loud as it was a few moments ago. Shikamaru and Chouji are looking at me questioningly. I just shrug. I don't know what's going on with Sasuke.

Halfway through the 2nd quarter, Sasuke attempts another 3pts. He misses again. I don't know how many times he attempted anymore. I stopped tracking after his 10th fail. But! I am keeping track of our score. We are 20pts behind. Awesome. Great. Fan-fucking-tastic. I call a timeout.

"Fuck!" Sasuke swears loudly.

Oh, he's angry? Good, because I'm angry too. I grab him close by the neck. "What the fuck is wrong with you, Sasuke? If you're having a bad day and can't shoot, pass the ball!"

He shoves me away as he takes a seat on the bench. I'm not as good a shooter as him but I know I can shoot. The dogbreath runs past with a smirk.

"Why does she have to be here?" Sasuke murmurs, glaring at – I turn around – Hyuuga Hinata. "And why the fuck is she wearing a short skirt?"

I frown. I've seen girls wear skirts shorter than the one Hyuuga is wearing – it reaches her mid-thigh and there's nothing eye-popping about it at all. And she seems more interested in watching the cheering fangirls on the bleachers than the game. "Teme, concentrate! Just ignore her." Sasuke slams his fist on the bench. Everyone looks at him. "Should I ask her to leave or something?"

Sasuke thinks for a second before getting on his feet. He grabs a towel and wipes his sweaty face. "I'll do it."

"What are you going to do?" I ask but he's already walking towards the Hyuuga, the towel dangling in his hand.

Everyone stops what they're doing to stare at Sasuke crossing the court. The fangirls are going wild. Hyuuga Hinata notices his approach and her eyes grow wide in… fear? When Sasuke is close enough, she takes a step back but Sasuke grabs her hand. All the noise and smiles die when Hyuuga Hinata raises her other hand as though to strike Sasuke. He catches it and says something everyone has no trouble hearing. "I told you… you can't punch me again."

Then he kisses her.

Everyone screams. Well, the fangirls are. And it's not a 'cheering' scream. It's more of an 'agonized' screaming… as though they're watching a very gory movie. Sasuke finally resurfaces. Wow, Hyuuga Hinata's face is pale. Maybe the bastard's a bad kisser. The Hyuuga covers her mouth and runs out of the gym. So that's Sasuke's way of getting rid of her – kissing her in front of his fangirls. I wonder if he knows the danger he just put his crush into. I'll tell him later. Basketball's more important. And that bastard better start playing seriously now.

"Is Uchiha done flirting? So we can, you know, carry on with the game?" the blond senpai asks sarcastically.

I was about to make a retort when I see dogbreath walking angrily towards Sasuke. I approach them hurriedly.

"What the hell was that, Uchiha?" Dogbreath growls right in front of Sasuke's face.

"Naruto said you're stupid," Sasuke mutters snidely, "but who knew you're that stupid."

"Why you –"

"Hey, hey!" I squeeze myself between them. "We're in the middle of a tryout. I don't mind you not getting in the team, Dogbreath, but you're not dragging Sasuke with you."

"Keep your nose out of other people's business. This has nothing to do with you," Dogbreath snarls at me before turning back to Sasuke. "And you keep your hands off her."

And with that he walks away. "He's all threat, really… Are you alright now? You're not nervous anymore?"

"Idiot," Sasuke mutters rigidly. "Who said I was nervous?"

"Isn't that why you're having epic fails?" I ask him as we run into position. "You're nervous because your crush was here?"

"She's not my crush," he replies firmly. I was about to open my mouth when he silences me with a glare. "Drop it."

Asshole. He was definitely nervous. And I don't get why he's denying that he has a crush on Hyuuga Hinata. It's fucking obvious! It's as obvious as my hair. As obvious as our obvious dominance. We totally slammed the competition. We were able to bounce back and defeated dogbreath's team – 94 to 80. We made it to the basketball team (how can we not). So did Dogbreath but who cares about him. Although… I must admit, he's quite fast. Not as fast as I am, of course. He can also jump real high. Not as high as I do, obviously. I still am, after all, the best rebounder in Japan. High School division, yes, but I will snag that title in college. Just wait and see.

I switch on Sasuke's huge plasma TV. Me, Chouji and Shikamaru are all in Sasuke's place right now. We're doing a group report for Economics class tomorrow. Well, Sasuke's doing it. Chouji and I are sprawled on the floor watching TV. Shikamaru's beside Sasuke on the couch. I don't really know what he's doing but they would discuss about something every now and then. This is the best thing about group reports and being in the same group with two geniuses. They do all the work while we do nothing. But I'm no slacker! I'll be damned if I let them have all the attention. I am the one who reports in front of the class just because my voice is really loud and heck, I have a good voice.

"They're really pretty," I murmur, awestruck at the Korean girl group singing and dancing on MTV. "And their legs! Hot damn! They can't be real, right?"

"They look real to me," answers Chouji. I don't know if he's drooling because of the food beside us or because of the legs that we're watching oh so attentively. "It looks so smooth…"

"I've seen their concert last month and I was there right in front and they're not even that tall – I say they're about as tall as Sasuke's Hyuuga – but look at those legs! So long… it goes on forever!"

Sasuke snorts. He takes his eyes off the laptop to look at the TV. "Hinata's legs are much better than theirs."

I smirk. "Speaking of Hyuuga Hinata. This bastard here was nervous because she was there at the tryout."

"Shut up."

"Aw, come on. You were self-conscious the entire time and won't stop looking at her."

"How did you two meet?" Shikamaru asks Sasuke curiously.

"Yeah, how did you meet Hinata-chan?"

"You know her?" I ask Chouji in surprise. I forgot. This is the first time we've hang out since the entrance ceremony. Blondie and Pinkie were stalking Shikamaru, hoping to get a chance to hang out with Sasuke.

Chouji gives a shrug. "She ate at our restaurant a couple of times with Ino and Sakura. I like her. She eats a lot. She finished 5 orders of barbecue by herself."

I noticed that Sasuke glanced sharply at Chouji when he said he likes Hyuuga Hinata. I smirk at him knowingly. He glares at me.

When neither I nor Sasuke answered his question, Shikamaru then asks, "What's going on with you two anyway? You guys dating?"

"She didn't look like she was dating you," Chouji comments. "She looked terrified after you kissed."

Sasuke says nothing but goes back to work and types some more. I change the subject. "Did you see the fangirls' reaction?" I ask them laughingly.

Chouji guffaws. "You'd think they were watching their worst nightmare!"

"It was their worst nightmare!" I correct him. "Sasuke-kun was kissing someone else and it broke their fangirl heart. I swear I saw someone sobbing. Might be your friend Blondie."

"Ino? Nah, she was really quiet," Shikamaru says with a frown. "Actually, both Ino and Sakura were quiet. They even left without saying anything to us or to each other."

"Yeah," Chouji affirms, opening another bag of chips. "It was their fault we were there in the first place. They dragged us with them. Like we even wanted to be there."

"Yeah, I could tell," I mutter sourly, remembering the expression on their faces earlier when I was waving at them. I look around. "Teme, do you have beers?"

"You can't drink, Naruto," Shikamaru reminds me. "We have classes tomorrow. And we have this report."

"Geez, I just want a bottle! Sasuke only has one juice – tomato juice! There's no tea, no coffee, no milk, no soda! All the bastard got are gallons of tomato fucking juice!"

"I don't even have beers, you idiot!" Sasuke retorts in annoyance. He gets really touchy about his tomato juice. He won't even let anyone near them. As if we even liked tomato juice.

"Fine! I'll go buy beverage downstairs!" Half an hour later, Sasuke's already done with the report. He's standing by the windows when I arrive with the beverages. "Rootbeer for everyone!" I put the cans on the table. Chouji immediately grabs a can. Shikamaru hands me a – let me see – 4 pages of paper. "This is our report?"

"Yeah," Shikamaru nods as he helps himself to a can of rootbeer. "Your report. We have one topic each. The first to discuss is Chouji."

"How many pages do you have?" I ask Chouji who's still busy eating.

"2," he answers between mouthfuls.

"How come he only has two pages?" I complain to Shikamaru. I flip through the papers on my hands. There's a graph on the third page. "Am I supposed to understand this shit?"

Shikamaru sighs. "Just read it and you'll understand," he sees the doubt on my face. "You just have to summarize them. If the professor asks questions, Sasuke and I will answer them."

I grumble as I toss the papers aside. Economics is becoming my least favourite subject. "I'll read it later," I look at the lone figure by the window. "How many pages do you have, teme?" No answer. "TEME!"

"Get over it, Naruto," Shikamaru says quietly.

"What's it like?" Sasuke suddenly asks out-of-the-blue, still gazing down at Tokyo's city lights. "To be rejected?"

What's he talking about? "I got rejected? With the report?"

"I was rejected," he oh so clarifies. Fuck, what is he on?

"What are you talking about?"

"You mean who," Shikamaru puts in, staring curiously at Sasuke's back. "She rejected you?"

To my astonishment, Sasuke's back droops a bit. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?"

Shikamaru opens his mouth again. He's feeling very un-lazy tonight, is he? "Hyuuga Hinata rejected him."

Chouji's jaw drops and so did mine. "You're joking!"

"Yesterday, I asked her to be my girlfriend and she said no," Sasuke explains without facing us.

Shikamaru, Chouji and I are all quiet. Wow, I can't believe this. The almighty Uchiha fucking Sasuke was rejected? This is unprecedented! Unbelievable! Completely out of this world! This should be in Guinness Book of World Records or something. If I tweet about this, Sasuke will trend worldwide for days! But of course I'm not going to do that. I can't even imagine what the word 'no' did to Sasuke's amazing ego. He must hate the Hyuuga now. Oh, wait…

"Then why did you kiss her?"

Sasuke's back stiffens. "I was mad. She rejected me just over 12 hours ago and she showed up in the gym as though nothing happened. As though I, Uchiha Sasuke, did not ask her to be my very first girlfriend. She should have been ecstatic. But, no, it didn't matter to her. Not one fucking bit." He finally turns to face us. "And you know what else?" We shake our head. "She called me a pervert."

"She didn't!" Chouji gasps in outrage.

"She even accused me of groping her," Sasuke continues. "Tell me, Naruto, did I grope her in that bar?"

"What bar?" Shikamaru asks in confusion.

I shake my head to clear it from all these awesomeness. I explain to Shikamaru and Chouji what happened that night. "Last Saturday night we went to this bar. There was a party some senpai threw for freshmen. Anyway, I don't know exactly what happened. I just saw Sasuke walking to the dance floor and he came behind this girl and did this…" I demonstrate by putting my arm round Chouji's huge belly. I pull him against me and put my other hand on his arm.

"See? That's not groping!" Sasuke exclaims indignantly.

"Then what happened?" asks Shikamaru.

"Then Hyuuga Hinata punched him and yeah, called him a pervert," I rest my head on Chouji's shoulder. "You remind me of my teddy bear, Chouji."

"Shut up and snuggle into me, Naruto!" he says, imitating a transvestite. We collapse on the couch, laughing our asses off.

Shikamaru ignores us. "So she gave you that bruise?"

"Yes," Sasuke turns back to glowering at the scenery below. "Is that a normal behaviour?"

"Teme, if I do that to a random girl, she might even get me arrested."

"If I do that, she'll call me a pervert too."

Chouji and I turn to Shikamaru, waiting for his answer. "I will never do that. Girls in general are way too troublesome. But in regards to it being a 'normal behaviour', yes. She's not your fangirl. Surprisingly, she seems immune to you."

"No one is immune to me." Sasuke mutters darkly.

"Hyuuga Hinata is," I point out to him dryly. He glares at me again.

"So she rejected you," Shikamaru states, staring at Sasuke as though he's trying to make sense of everything, "and still you kissed her this afternoon. Without her consent?"

"Do I have to ask permission every time I kiss a girl?" Sasuke returns arrogantly.

"Hyuuga Hinata seems a little different from a normal girl," muses Shikamaru. "A little conservative, if you may."

"She was from an all-girls high school," Chouji adds. "And an heiress to a really traditional family, too. Of course she'll be old-fashioned."

"Yeah, she would not want to be associated with a known playboy such as Uchiha Sasuke." I glance at Sasuke's taut profile. "What's your next move? I'm guessing she hates your guts right now but… you really, really like her, do you?"

"No one is immune to me." Sasuke repeats his previous statement with clenched fists.

Being the arrogant, conceited bastard that he is, he will never admit to needing help. But I can see it in his eyes. The uncertainty. He absolutely has no idea what to do with Hyuuga Hinata. Inwardly I am laughing my ass off. Am I laughing at him because of what he's going through? Yes, I am. But I'm not that cruel. I'll just do my laughing inside.

The bastard deserves it.

I've known him my entire life. We have pictures of us in a crib wearing nothing but diapers, in a bathtub, in a playpen. There was this picture when we were two years old in a park. I looked ugly there. My face was blotchy and I had a runny nose. I was throwing a tantrum because my mum won't let me have a Popsicle. But Sasuke looked as poised as a two-year old could be. He didn't cry, didn't throw a tantrum. And so he got the fucking Popsicle. He was smirking in that photograph. Now, I'm not bitching about an incident that I can't even remember. Point is, Sasuke gets whatever he wants without effort. Everything is handed to him. Just because of his face. He doesn't even need the name Uchiha and the power and privileges that come with it. He just needs his face.

I thought I'd never live to see the day that someone out there is immune to Sasuke – his face, his charisma, his wealth, his influence. Kami, I so want to laugh right now. But as his best friend, I shall reserve the gloating at a later time. You know, when he comes crawling to me and begging me to help him. I offered him help a few days ago but he threw it in my face. So yeah… it'll be freaking amusing to watch Uchiha Sasuke struggle with emotions he never felt before.


April 02, 2012 – DONE! I wasn't sure if I could finish this chapter this week. It seemed to go on forever. But I know my readers like them chapters long, right?

I was pumped to finish this chapter but had difficulty with it. See, my writing gets influenced by what I read and these days I've been reading a lot of yaoi. I don't even know why… oh gosh, I took a long while when I wrote about Naruto and Sasuke's interactions because I felt like they were flirting with each other. Seriously…

Anyway, I'm excited about the next chapter! Wooooooooooooooo~

Thanks to those who reviewed and to my silent readers out there who are soooo patient. You guys inspire me, it is known.