Author's Note: Unlike in the U.S. in Japan the school year begins in the spring, in January. With the first break coming in the summer. The second semester comes in fall with the school year ending in winter. That is how the academy will work as well.
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A couple weeks later the first semester was winding down and the long hot summer was approaching. Sasuke had not changed; he remained a loner who deliberately isolated himself from his fellow students. For most of the girls the disappearance of his smile and the lack of any sort of warmth did nothing to discourage them. They saw his constant silence as evidence of a, 'deep' soul. If anything his refusal to acknowledge any of them only spurred them on even more to win his approval.
On the other hand it had caused Naruto's rivalry to sharpen and become more intense. Naruto did not understand the reason for why Sasuke was behaving the way he did. To him the constant disregard and silence reminded him of how many of the adults still treated him. Coming from someone he'd counted as one of his very few friends this hurt and made him even more determined to show Sasuke up.
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It was Friday, the final day of the spring semester. The class standings had already been determined. The top student was Uchiha Sasuke; a close second was Uzumaki Naruto. (Chichi had come in right in the middle of the pack at 15th.) Though the standings were set they were having their regular sparring sessions. In one of the last matches the top two students of the class faced one another.
Naruto took up the unusual starting position for hebi style, standing upright with his body appearing to be much too stiff. "I'm going to beat you this time Sasuke," Naruto promised.
Those words brought out just the tiniest of smirks. Sasuke had won every single spar, including all the ones against Naruto. "Like that'll ever happen second best."
"Don't call me that!" Naruto shouted. "I'm going to be Hokage someday so don't treat me like I don't matter!"
"You don't matter Naruto," Sasuke said coldly. "If you want my respect earn it."
As Chichi watched she saw a look in Sasuke's eyes that scared her.
"Begin!" Iruka signaled.
As always Naruto rushed forward, aggressive and determined to land the first hit.
Too predictable, Sasuke thought. He slid to the right avoiding Naruto's opening lunge and tapping him on the shoulder.
"Point for Sasuke," Iruka chimed.
Growling Naruto came straight at Sasuke again, his only thought to hit him and make Sasuke acknowledge him.
As Chichi watched she had a dire look, she already knew Naruto was going to lose. More than most styles hebi required precision and careful body control. As soon as Naruto began letting his anger take over he became sloppy and lost all the advantages of his style. In the end it wasn't much of a match as Sasuke easily dodged and scored off counters.
When the three minutes had elapsed Iruka called a stop to it. "Sasuke wins eight points to zero."
"All right Sasuke-kun!" Ino shouted.
"Cha! You're the best!" Sakura yelled.
Sasuke walked past his fan girls without acknowledging them.
"Better luck next time Naruto-kun," Ayako said. Homaru barked his approval as well.
"Thanks," Naruto muttered dejectedly.
"Well," Chichi said brightly. "It's easy to see who's number one and who's number two. Maybe when Sasuke's Hokage you can be his assistant."
That snapped Naruto out of his moping. "No way am I losing to that teme!" He shouted furiously.
"Then I guess we'll have a lot of hard training to do this summer."
"I'll do whatever I have to if it means being number one!"
She grinned and nodded. Well, keeping him motivated shouldn't be a problem.
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"I want all of you to have a safe and happy summer break," Iruka told them. "Don't let up on your training though or you'll regret it come September! And remember to complete your summer homework; I'll be counting it as your first test grade!"
"Man what a drag," a certain lazy boy said. "Trust Iruka to try and spoil summer break."
As most of the children made a bee line for the door and freedom one student approached her sensei. Iruka stood before his desk and eyed her warily. "Yes Chichi?"
From out of her pack she produced a shiny red apple. She presented it to him with shining eyes and a huge friendly smile. "This is for you sensei!"
Iruka took the proffered apple with care and held it out at arm's length. "Is it poisoned or should I expect it to explode?"
"Awwwww, don't be like that sensei," she said with a pout. "I know the gaki and I have played a couple pranks on you but it was all in good fun you know."
"You've played at least twenty pranks and because of them I've had to buy new pants six times," Iruka said flatly. He'd started to keep spares in his locker.
"Maybe I went a little overboard," she admitted. "Think of this apple as a peace offering."
Iruka eyed it and began to sweat. "It's going to explode isn't it?"
"Iruka-sensei, I give you my word that there's nothing wrong with that apple," she said with a merry wave and headed for the door. "Have a good summer sensei."
As soon as she was gone from sight Iruka expertly tossed the apple into a wastebasket on the other end of the room. When it did not explode he sighed with relief. He sank back into his seat and relaxed as he gathered up his things. Three months without those two harassing me, thank kami.
As Iruka stood the wooden chair came up with him. As soon as he saw it he groaned.
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From a classroom window Chichi and Naruto giggled. Naruto still had the jar of glue in his hands.
"Poor Iruka," Chichi said sympathetically. "I guess that's seven pairs of pants we ruined."
Naruto laughed. Doing pranks with Chichi always put him in a good mood.
"Well, be sure to get a good night's sleep gaki, we start training tomorrow at 6 sharp. I'll meet you in the park."
"Hey, you're leaving? Aren't we going to eat together?"
"Not today gaki, there's something I need to take care of." She took off before he could start to whine.
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Sasuke had managed to lose his fan girls and was almost back to his apartment. He couldn't stand to live in the Uchiha compound anymore so had gotten himself a luxury apartment in the best section of the village. Since he was the last Uchiha (his murderous brother did not count) he had access to the Uchiha fortune so money was not an issue.
As he was approaching home he cut through an alley that was a short cut. He was surprised to spot a certain figure in her familiar fishnet and trench coat at the opposite end of the alley. "What do you want?" He asked gruffly. "I'm not interested in seeing a stupid movie or getting something to eat."
"Relax Sasuke," Chichi said. "I'm not one of your fan girls and I'm not here to ask you on a date."
"Then what do you want?"
"I want you to fight me," she said pleasantly.
He stopped and gawked at her. "You're kidding right."
Like all the rest of his class he'd beaten her in every spar. After the way she'd taken down those three older kids on their first day he'd thought she was amazing. Now though he'd put that to freakish luck, or more likely the three boys had held back for some reason. She was just an average fighter and an average kunoichi. She did use that same weird fighting style, but wasn't nearly as good at it as Naruto.
"No, I'm not kidding," she entered the strange opening stance of her fighting style. "If you want to go past me you have to fight."
"Is this because of what I did to your boyfriend?"
"Okay, first off Naruto is in no way anything more than a friend to me. Second I have no problem with you beating him in that spar. You were better, you deserved to win."
"So what's the point to this?"
"The point is you Sasuke," she told him. "I saw something in you that I don't like and I'm going to change it. I think you need to be humbled, I think you've got too many people telling you exactly what you want to hear. I think you need to be reminded that you're nothing special." She saw him stiffen and a look of disbelief crossed his face. "Oh, you don't like hearing that do you? Don't like being reminded you're just one student ninja in a village full of real ones?"
"I'm an Uchiha, of course I'm special!"
She smiled sweetly. "You mean like Itachi? He's real special too. Do you want to be like him Sasuke?" She saw fury fill him as he tossed down his books and pack. It figures that would be his weak point.
"Fine then! I'll show you just what I am!" He raced towards her.
She stood perfectly still and waited for the moment to strike.
Now, she thought with perfect calm. With all her strength she delivered a punch right into the middle of his face.
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He never saw her move. One second she was nothing but a target, then the next he felt as if he'd run face first into a brick wall. He went flying and landed in a pile of garbage. He cried out in sudden pain and tasted blood. Reaching up he touched his broken nose and felt it throb.
"Yeah, you showed me what you are all right," Chichi said dismissively. "A weak little boy."
He stared up at her only to see contempt in her eyes. "How… how did you do that?" He struggled back to his feet shaking off the bits of stinking trash that stuck to him.
She ignored his question. "Do you think being alone makes you strong Sasuke? Are you that stupid? Not being able to trust and work with others is a weakness you idiot! Having people you care about and who care about you, that's the greatest source of strength there is! When a ninja must fight to protect the people dear to him is when his true strength comes out. If all you care about is yourself then you'll never become really strong!"
"That's a lie! My brother never cared about anything and he was strong!"
She stared into his eyes. Eyes that were filled with that look. "Does that mean you want to be just like him?" She asked quietly.
"No! Never!"
"But that's what you're doing Sasuke! Stop and look at what you're becoming. Do you really want to be someone who has no friends and cares about only himself and his own power? Is that the man you want to become?"
"I…" he hesitated. "I'm an avenger; I have to do whatever I can to acquire power."
"Do you really think you're the only one to ever be betrayed and want revenge?" She asked him coldly. "I know more about wanting revenge than you do! That's fine; seek your revenge and work hard to get stronger. But don't let that be all there is to you. If that's all you have in your heart it'll start to poison you until you become exactly what you hate. Think about it." She left him standing there bloodied and covered in bits of garbage.
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Walking back to her apartment she knew that if the Hokage or the Council ever found out what she'd just done she'd be arrested and likely put in prison. Everyone was desperate to coddle and please the last Uchiha. None of them seemed to see the dangerous sense of superiority this was breeding in him.
"Ordinary laws and morals only apply to ordinary people little Anko." Orochimaru had told her.
She shivered at the memory. Sasuke needed to remember he was a part of the village, not that he was somehow above it.
She knew that if Sasuke told anyone what had happened she was in serious trouble. But she was sure that his pride would never let him admit he'd gotten his ass kicked by anyone, especially not by a female classmate.