"Is Kakashi still in the house?"
Itachi doesn't even bat an eyelid. His eyes stay on the road. He's not answering.
"Did he stay the night? I mean, I didn't hear him leave…"
Enough.
"Okay." I fumble for the words. "Is Kakashi your boyfriend?"
Itachi pulls up in front of school. "No."
I take off my seatbelt and open the door. "Don't wait for me. I'm going home with Naruto."
I throw the information in his face. Itachi remains impassive. I watch him drive away around the school to the parking lot. I walk up the steps and push the doors open. I go to homeroom.
I see familiar faces, faces from my childhood. Shino, Kiba, Gaara, Shikamaru. They're just standing around. Except for Kiba, who's doing some last minute homework, pen scribbling furiously. Shikamaru raises his eyes from his laptop for a moment and waves.
Shikamaru: "Yo."
Shino: "Morning."
Kiba: "Hey, Sasuke."
Gaara: Grunt.
I nod back at them. "Hey."
An arm is thrown over my shoulders. "What's up guys?"
I take a step to the side and the arm falls. Everyone stares at the person behind me. I turn.
The boy is taller than me by about an inch. His dark brown hair is long, longer than Itachi's. It's in a pony tail yet falls straight to his waist. His jeans are black and tight enough to suggest he plays for the other team. He wears his confidence openly, strange pale eyes observing all and missing nothing.
"What are you doing here Neji?" Kiba stops writing and looks up. He shows his abnormally long canines.
Neji tilts his head to the side and stares Kiba down. "I heard Uchiha was back."
"Both of them Neji. Now why don't you scram?"
"Itachi's back?" Neji's back straightens at the mere mention of my brother's name. What the hell?
"What do you want with Itachi?" My voice is sharp.
Neji simply stares at me, looking amused. It's sort of like the look Itachi gives me when I ask something he thinks is obvious. It's fine if Itachi gives me those looks. He's my brother and I can't stay mad at him. But Neji…Neji's just some guy I vaguely remember from my past. I don't know what his deal is.
I repeat my question.
"I've got business with him."
It's probably not normal, but I've always been possessive of Itachi. And if this guy Neji, who I vaguely remember from my past, wants anything to do with my brother, he'll have to deal with me first.
"Like what?"
It's not me that asks. It's Kiba.
"Just catching up," Neji replies casually.
"Neji!"
We all turn. Naruto stands in the doorway, eyes surprised.
"Oh, Sasuke, you're in our homeroom? That's awesome." He flashes a grin at me. I look away, hiding a smile.
"Why're you here, Neji?" Naruto enters, unbuttoning his coat. "You're not in our grade."
"Nothing. Nothing. I just wanted to see Sasuke."
"That's nice." Naruto's furrows his brow in confusion. Then continues, "I dunno where our homeroom teacher is; he's supposed to dismiss us. He's late, anyway. We've got to hurry if we don't wanna be late."
Immediately everyone begin gathering their stuff. I sling my bag over my shoulder. Naruto comes to my side.
"What do we have first?"
"English."
"Okay! Let's walk together."
Naruto nods at the others. "Save us seats at lunch!"
"Whatever. So troublesome," Shikamaru grumbles somewhere behind us.
"He says that, but he'll do it."
I turn and see Kiba has caught up with us.
Naruto asks, "Kiba, you have math right?"
"Yeah, but I thought I'd walk you."
"That's okay. Math's on the second floor. You've gotta go. Sasuke's here."
Kiba looks like he wants to refuse. But instead he backs off. "Okay, see you guys later then."
Morning classes pass in a blur. I don't bother taking notes and Naruto notices. I explain in a flat tone that I have a photographic memory and I learned everything on the curriculum already. Which is just as well, since Naruto insists on sitting next to me in every class and I can't pay attention to anything but him.
Wait. Rewind. Thoroughly unnerved, I become very quiet. If Naruto notices, he doesn't say anything. Then it's lunch time and Naruto dashes off to the library to print something. Finally, some peace and quiet. My head is on my lunch tray and I'm quite content to sleep for the next thirty minutes.
"Didn't your mom ever tell you to not to sleep in your food?"
Or not. I look up and Kiba's face grins down at me.
I sit up, and push my hair off my face. Then I lean backwards a little until Kiba plops down across from me with his own tray. I breathe out a sigh of relief. Except for Itachi, I can't stand anyone in my personal space.
"So, you going to try out for the swim team?"
"Sure." I've always been fast. I learned how to swim because Itachi insisted that I learn. He taught me himself. We race occasionally, and I never win but I'm getting there.
"You should. Sunny runs the swim team." Shino slides into the seat next to Kiba. They bump fists.
"Who?"
"Me." Naruto answers my question, entering the room with a broad smile. "Hey, what's up guys?" His eyes travel around the room, pausing on me. Or I could be going crazy, which is entirely possible.
"We're trying to get the Uchiha in the pool."
"Sure, we always need a few swimmers." Naruto turns that smile on me.
"Okay," is what I say but really I'm thinking I really need to get over my soft spot for Naruto.
