Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, but then you already knew that. : )
Hello everyone, I'm so sorry!

Weirdest greeting ever, but it's true. Sorry for not updating. But even though school is out… I have… SUMMER SCHOOL! DX (I guess I deserve it though, because my Math grade is nothing to be proud of. Besides, it's not that bad… most of my friends are going, and we don't have to wear our uniforms, yay!) Oh wait, most schools outside the Caribbean never have to wear uniforms. Oh well. That just sucks for us.

Anyway, I'm sure you're sick of me ranting, so enjoy the chapter!

(.s.)
Said I'll always be your friend
Took an oath, I'ma stick it out till the end,
Now it's raining more than ever,
Know that we'll still have each other,
You can stand under my umbrella,
You can stand under my umbrella...
(.s.)

After Physics class was over, Sasuke found himself waiting at the door while Sakura spoke with Tsunade.

"Let's see," he thought as he looked at his watch, "next class is I.T., and Kakashi is always late anyway…"

"Sorry for making you wait," Sakura said hurriedly as she held Sasuke's arm. He flinched at the sudden gesture, but didn't push her off.

"Hn. What were you talking about, anyway?"

"Tsunade thinks I'm good at Physics, and she wants to put me in a more advanced class," Sakura said offhandedly. Sasuke raised his eyebrow. Tsunade was a tough teacher. The fact that she would want Sakura to switch classes could only mean that Sakura was brilliant…

He glanced at her through the corner of his eye. Because of his fangirl-extermination plan, he hadn't had much of a chance to get to know her…

"What is she really like?" he found himself wondering.

"… um, Sasuke?"

Sasuke was brought back to reality when he saw that they had stopped walking, and the colour of Sakura's face matched her hair.

"You're kinda staring at me…"

"Hn," Sasuke said, and started walking again. Dammit, what was wrong with him? It was as if he went mental when she was around. "What's your next class?"

"Math," Sakura said, and Sasuke nodded as he remembered. When he had I.T., she had Math, and Gai would leave his History class to disrupt them both.

"History," Sasuke grumbled, and Sakura looked at him. "We forgot all about that project."

"Right!" Sakura said. "When can we meet at your house again—"

"Not. My. House," Sasuke growled, and Sakura shuddered at his tone while remembering what happened last time.

"Well, then, where are we going to meet?"

"Your house."

"What!?" she turned to look at him. "Sasuke, I live at least an hour away—"

"The limo can take us after school today," he said matter-of-factly.

"All the stuff we'll need—"

"—is in my locker," he finished her sentence.

"My parents will be home!"

She regretted that as soon as she said it, knowing her parents were one of the few things she possessed that Sasuke would never again have.

"… that won't be a problem." He said after a while.

"Okay," Sakura said, and wondered whether or not she should apologize.

Sasuke broke her thoughts. "Your class is here, and you're late."

"Right," Sakura nodded. "See you after class?"

"Hn," he said, giving a brief wave before he walked into the I.T. lab, which was back up the hall.

Kakashi had to do a double take when Sasuke-- secretly his favourite student-- walked in. "You're late, Sasuke. Even later than I am."

"Sorry," Sasuke muttered as he opened the text book and turned on the monitor, starting the handout of classwork that had been left on his desk.

"KAKASHI!" Gai yelled as he poked his head in.

"Gai," Kakashi sighed. "What is it now?"

"… I'm really not sure," Gai said, and all the students snickered. Sasuke twitched. What the hell was Gai smoking?

"Good job, youthful teacher Gai!" Lee yelled. "You do not need a reason to come and youthfully challenge another teacher!"

Sasuke groaned. It looked like it was going to be a long class.

Finally, the bell to signal the end of class rang. The students quickly filed out of the classroom, and Sasuke got his stuff together. As soon as he was going to pass Kakashi's desk, though, the silver-haired man stopped him.

"I need to speak with you, Sasuke, he said, and the black-haired boy raised his eyebrow.

Sasuke stood by Kakashi's desk until everyone was gone. Kakashi took a deep breath, and Sasuke waited for him to start talking, wondering what this was all about. When Kakashi did speak, though, his words were surprising.

"I think you should drop Chemistry."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Why? It's not like I'm failing it."

"Sasuke, you don't understand," Kakashi said, the one eye not hidden by his bandana was staring deep into Sasuke's face. "Orochimaru is not an ordinary teacher; and you are not an ordinary student."

Kakashi saw the confused look on the said student's face and sighed. "I couldn't possibly expect you to know what I'm talking about. But Orochimaru isn't normal. He's as close to hellspawn as you can get. And Prinicipal Sarutobi is too kind. He was playing right into Orochimaru's hands when he hired him to teach here."

Sasuke was not convinced. He narrowed his eyes. "If he's so bad," he said slowly, "why only warn me?"

"Because you're exactly what he wants," Kakashi stated, earning a confused look. "Look, Sasuke. Drop Chemistry, at least until the regular teacher comes back. I'll get you into a new class—Accounts, Art, Geography, something. Just not Chemistry. Please."

Sasuke raised his eyebrows. Kakashi looked sincere; but he didn't see what could be so bad about this teacher. Why was he so horrible that he had to be out of the subject entirely? He'd have to see a legitimate reason first.

"I'm not switching out of Chem," Sasuke stated, now seeing a defeated look in Kakashi's eyes. "At least not until I see what this is all about."

Kakashi looked as if he was about to speak, but stopped himself. "I see," he said tentatively. "What class do you have now?"

Sasuke mentally went over his timetable. "Biology."

"With Jiraiya," Kakashi nodded. "You should hurry, you may be late."

"That means a lot coming from you," Sasuke said wryly, and Kakashi gave a small smile. "Get going, Sasuke."

As soon as the raven-haired boy was out of the room and off the corridor, Kurenai was inside.

"Did it work?" she asked, and Kakashi shook his head. "In trying to get him to avoid Orochimaru, I only piqued his interest."

"Ugh, that's not good," Kurenai muttered. "You're the only one who even had a shot at persuading him. He doesn't seem to show any kind of respect to anyone else."

"Not entirely true," Kakashi said, and Kurenai's turned to him. "You're speaking in terms of teachers. I think he trusts his friends a little more. Especially Naruto. Aside from Naruto, though… I think there's a growing relationship between Sasuke and Sakura."

Whew, finally done! Even though I never updated, you guys have no idea the hell this one put me through. (I wrote like, 3 totally different versions. This one was the best.) The song was 'Umbrella' by Rihanna. Which I'm sure everyone knew already.

Now, for the chapter length: sorry guys, but you're gonna have to quit complaining about it. Really, I have very little time on my hands to write, and I'm doing my best. Also, for a fact, I know that there are people who update slower and have even shorter chapters than I do. So maybe there'll be one or two long chapters, but this'll be the standard length. Besides, with what I have planned, this story will be going on for a long time. : )

Anyway, Kakashi tries to get Sasuke to drop Chem—and fails! Sasuke's got no idea what's in for him, and they have Biology for the first time! What's new teacher Jiraiya like… and what'll happen next? Review for the next chapter!