And They Were Seatmates
-9-
When the bell finally announced the lunch break, Madara grabbed his bento and opened the window, letting the cold wind inside.
"Hey! You shouldn't-" Sakura cut herself off when he just vaulted outside. She scrambled after him onto the roof, closing the window behind her. "Would you listen to me?" she huffed. "Your hair's still wet, you're going to get a cold if you don't go inside!"
"I'll be fine," Madara said with his back to her, pouring something from a big bag into… a trashcan? She walked up to him curiously.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"I'm getting back our lunch space," he answered with determination.
Sakura looked inside the metal bin. There was a pile of charcoal on the bottom. "You're making a fire? Out here?" she guessed.
"Yeah, I had the idea yesterday, so I brought everything in the morning."
Sakura bit her lip. "Is this even allowed?" she asked uncertainly.
"I don't care, I want to be warm here. Stand back," Madara said and she hastily stepped away from the brazier. Madara made a handseal, sucked in a deep breath and released a small gust of fire into the brazier. The dry charcoal immediately lit up, flames flaring up high and bright before going down again and burning at a steadier pace. Madara smirked in satisfaction.
"Now we can finally have some goddamn privacy in this school," he said and sat his butt down on the tiles. He flinched at the cold and changed the position to a low squat in front of the heater.
"You really hate being cooped up in the classroom, don't you?" Sakura commented, shivering as she sidled up to his side. She was getting cold in her cute outfit. She cursed herself for not putting on at least tights under her skirt, but all she had to protect her legs from the weather were thin kneesocks. Her arms, exposed in the short-sleeved white blouse, were covered in goosebumps. She hugged herself and got closer to the brazier. It was radiating pleasant heat, but even though her front was warmed from it, her back was still freezing in the elements.
"Here," Madara said and dropped his jacket over her head.
"Hey!" Sakura cried out in protest and took it off, so she could see. Then she looked at Madara with a frown. His hair was still slightly damp and he only had a shirt on. "You shouldn't give this to me, you'll really get a cold," she said.
Madara rolled his eyes. "I said I'll be fine. Uchihas don't get a mere cold. We have fire in our blood," he told her arrogantly.
Sakura eyed him dubiously. "Really?" That was the first she'd heard of it. And she remembered well that Sasuke had gotten sick last winter. The unfortunate loss of his presence gracing the school halls had been bemoaned quite loudly by all the girls.
"Really," Madara replied. Before she could voice her doubts, he changed the subject. "Besides, you need a jacket more than me. What's gotten into you to dress up like this in winter?" he asked.
"I guess I just felt like it. Every girl likes to look pretty," Sakura replied nonchalantly.
"You realize you can look pretty and not get a frostbite?" he pointed out.
Sakura blushed in embarrassment. Madara had a knack for saying things that made her look stupid in hindsight. "Shut up, it's a sacrifice for fashion, you wouldn't understand," she grumbled.
"Oh?" Madara perked up at that and looked her up and down with a devious spark in his gaze. "So you are trying to run for Miss Konoha then?" he asked with amusement. "I didn't know you'd take my words so literally, Sakura. I was just joking."
She was red in the face from anger and mortification. He was supposed to be awed and dazzled with her stylishness, not tease her for going so far! Madara was too good at turning tables on her, but she wasn't going to let him have the last laugh this time. She thought furiously and then something clicked for her.
"Look who's talking—you're the one who washed your hair just because I said you looked weird!" she retorted and watched in satisfaction as he reddened and scowled, studiously avoiding eye contact. That served him right!
"That had nothing to do with you! I had to wash that crap out of my hair, it was making me itchy," Madara defended himself but Sakura didn't believe him even a little bit.
"Uh-huh," she made a doubtful sound. "Whatever you say," she said flippantly and finally opened her lunchbox. "Itadakimasu."
Madara gave her a sullen look and followed suit. At least it got nice and warm next to the brazier enough so that she could sit in seiza. She tucked her skirt under her knees so she wouldn't touch the roof with bare skin. Madara just sat cross-legged. He was stabbing his food with chopsticks a little too hard. Sakura chewed and swallowed her own lunch, thinking. She didn't like when he was in such a mood, it just didn't seem right after all he'd done. He reclaimed their spot, didn't he?
"You know what, I always liked your hair the way it normally is. It's much better than that Mister Slick hairdo. It just suits you the best," she remarked, then glanced at him. For a second, he stilled with chopsticks halfway to his mouth, then he huffed.
"Yesterday you said I look like an angry porcupine," he muttered accusingly.
"Well, I didn't say it was a bad thing," she reasoned.
Madara gave her a considering look. "I suppose it is better than pink," he allowed.
"What's wrong with pink?" Sakura asked in affront, touching her long locks protectively.
He shrugged. "It's like a neon targeting board for the enemy. That's going to suck when you'll go on missions outside the village," he remarked.
"You think so?" she asked worriedly. She didn't think of this before, but if it was going to be a problem… "I could dye it then," she said with a grimace, hating the idea. She liked the pink!
"Don't," Madara said firmly.
"But you just said…"
"That's only one side to it. Think about it. Even if your enemies will see you easily, so will your allies. So it's not all bad," he explained.
It sounded reasonable to Sakura. "You're right," she agreed and smiled in relief that she didn't need to dye her hair after all.
Madara smirked. "Of course I am."
Then a shrill sound of a siren went off in the school. They looked at each, then ran to the railings and looked down to see what had happened, but everything seemed normal. However, confused students and teachers started pouring out onto the school grounds. Sakura turned to Madara. "It must be a false alarm. Should we go down there?" she asked.
Before he could give a reply, a stream of water came out of nowhere and hit the brazier, dousing it, and a group of ninjas jumped onto the Academy roof. Sakura froze in place. The one in charge was an Uchiha police officer and he looked pissed as he took stock of the situation.
"What do you brats think you're doing here? We've got a report that the Academy was on fire!" he yelled at them. Then he barked orders at his men and when they dispersed to do their tasks, he came at the kids with murder in his eyes.
Sakura was standing ramrod straight, glued to the spot and terrified out of her mind. It all happened so fast! If her parents found out that she got in trouble with the police… What would they do? Would they pull her out of the Academy, no ifs or buts? Or maybe the Hokage-sama would kick her out for this? Either way, it was all going to be over for her, all her dreams and hopes crumbling into dust… Tears gathered in her eyes and she was just barely holding back the urge to fall apart.
Fortunately, the officer's ire bypassed her for now. "Uchiha Madara!" he shouted. "Don't you know you're not allowed to light fires inside the village?! If you're not careful, you could burn down the whole building!"
Madara crossed his arms defiantly. "First of all, it's not a fire, it's just a brazier. Get your eyes checked, Inabi-san. The fire is safely contained, there was no danger. It's not my fault you ran all the way here because you got scared of a little smoke."
"You insolent, little…" the officer growled in frustration. He looked like he was going to breathe fire. "That's it, you're going with me to the station!" he snapped. "And you, girl, don't think I can't see you! What do you have to say for yourself?!" he rounded up on Sakura who flinched and wilted under his fearsome glare.
"She had nothing to do with this. I only invited her up here. Leave her alone," Madara cut in, stepping in front of her to shield her from the officer.
Sakura looked at his back with surprise and a great dose of relief. With the heat taken off her, she could pull herself together. I promise if we get out of this mess, I will never make fun of your hair ever again, she thought, hoping fiercely that they both would be let off the hook.
Inabi wasn't inclined to do so. "So she's a witness? She needs to testify then."
"Witness of what? I didn't do anything wrong," Madara outright denied any culpability, making her gape in astonishment at his brazenness.
"You lit the fire!" Inabi accused.
Madara didn't even blink. "I already told you it's a brazier, not a fire. It's not forbidden to use them," he justified with exasperation.
"And, pray tell, how exactly did you light it?" Inabi asked, tone seemingly calm, but Sakura noticed a dangerous gleam in his eyes.
Madara looked at the officer like he was an idiot. "Obviously, with my fire…" He frowned, realizing the trap too late.
"With your fire what?" Inabi prodded with dark amusement.
Madara scowled. "My fire jutsu," he finished. "But it was perfectly safe, I mastered it long ago. I knew what I was doing," he insisted stubbornly and turned to her. "Right, Sakura?" he asked with a pointed look.
"R-Right!" she backed him up against all common sense. She felt faint. Her head was spinning and her stomach was in knots. She was going to hurl her lunch all over the roof. Now that Madara admitted to everything, it was all over for them, he broke the law and she was his accomplice, and there would be no more excuses, this was not going to work, they would not be believed, and oh, her mother was going to kill her, and she would definitely get kicked out of the Academy for this and she would never be a kunoichi… and yet, Madara's steely gaze buoyed her up and gave her the courage to keep going. She took in a deep breath.
"Please, officer, don't be mad, we didn't want to make any trouble! We thought that it was alright to stay and get warm with the brazier. I didn't know it was wrong for Madara to use the fire jutsu, because he's so good at them. He would never burn something by accident! I would've brought matches if I knew! I'm so sorry! We only wanted to get warm, I swear!" she pleaded with tears in her big, green, innocent eyes, hands clasped together in front of her chest in supplication.
This must have been her best acting performance up to date, because the suspicious look on the officer's face lifted. He made a grunting sound and crossed his arms. "We'll see what your teachers will have to say about it. Let's get down there."
Sakura gave him a tearful smile. "Thank you, sir!" she said with a polite bow.
"Don't thank me yet," he replied and gestured for them to go down the staircase.
Madara made a disgusted face. "We're not little kids, we can climb walls just fine," he grumbled.
Inabi made to cuff him, but Madara deftly dodged. "Did I ask you for your opinion, brat? We're going inside," he said with a grunt.
Sakura and Madara were escorted back inside, which was a relief to the girl as she was trembling all over from the cold and nerves equally. Her better mood disappeared when they encountered people going back to their classrooms. She shrank under the intensely curious stares, wishing for a mask or at least a scarf to hide her identity. This was going to get out fast.
Inabi brought them to the teachers' lounge. Sakura was filled with a new hope when she saw Iruka-sensei came along with Goro-sensei. She really needed to see a friendly face around.
She repeated her version of events, trying hard to imply that Madara was as much in the dark about the law as she was. The adults looked at each other doubtfully and she knew it didn't work. When they went to an adjoining room to confer, she and Madara crept up to the door to listen in.
"Well, what do you think? I ought to haul these two off to the arrest," Inabi said first.
"Seems like that," Goro-sensei agreed and Sakura's heart plummeted. They didn't buy the story.
"Wait, we should give them some benefit of the doubt. We really don't have any proof Madara and Sakura did anything wrong, at least knowingly," Iruka argued and Sakura's heart soared. She knew her favourite teacher wouldn't let her down! "I don't know your student well, but I've been Sakura's teacher for a few years. She's an excellent student and I don't believe she would lie about her involvement in this incident," Iruka said. "I don't think there was any malicious intent at play, just ignorance."
"Doesn't matter to me, whatever the case, they roused half the defense forces because of their irresponsibility," Inabi countered sharply.
"Iruka has a point, I don't believe Sakura was at fault. She seems like she got mixed into this by Madara," Goro-sensei said. "They are thick as thieves though, so she could've been onto this."
"Well what do we do with them?"
"I think you should do nothing," a fourth voice interjected.
"Hokage-sama!" they exclaimed.
Sakura and Madara looked at each other in surprise and excitement.
"What do you mean 'do nothing'? We need to punish these troublemakers!" Goro-sensei said and the others made sounds of agreement.
"Ah, but there was no harm done. Yes, their actions inconvenienced everyone a little, but the fault could be placed on any of your shoulders. Maybe they weren't taught the shinobi conduct properly. Maybe we need to upgrade our fire alarm systems. Maybe there really should be a heater on the roof and Madara-kun just got fed up and took matters into his own hands," the Hokage said with a chuckle. "I don't believe we should punish children for showing initiative and ingenuity in solving problems. That would just stifle their growth."
Sakura was floored. The Hokage-sama himself took their side! Things were looking up for them.
"Very well, then I will see about disciplining Madara within the family," Inabi said sourly. "And the girl's parents will be informed as well."
"That's perfectly fine," the Hokage gave his agreement and the meeting was adjourned.
Sakura and Madara quickly stepped away from the door, pretending like they hadn't been eavesdropping, and the adults came out of the room. But the Hokage wasn't among them.
Inabi announced the decision to them, then turned to Madara.
"Don't look so smug, this isn't over for you. Your father will hear about this incident."
Madara rolled his eyes, unimpressed. "When? After I make genin?"
Inabi ground his teeth. "Get your things, you're coming with me to the station for your punishment," he ordered.
Madara shrugged uncaringly and ambled out of the lounge with his head held high. Sakura silently trudged to the classroom after him, her shoulders hunched up as she worried about her parents' reaction to the incident. When Madara grabbed his things, she stopped him.
"Are you really going to be alright?" she asked in concern.
Madara flashed her a reassuring grin. "It's just Inabi. The worst he can do is make me do chores and stupid errands. I'll manage."
Sakura nodded in relief and let him go. Then she realized she was still wearing his jacket, but he was already at the door.
"Madara, wait! Your jacket!" she called to him, taking it off in haste.
He waved her off. "You can give it to me later! After you learn how to dress for weather!" he replied with a smirk and left her fuming. He could have left off teasing her!
The classes resumed, but Sakura's mind wasn't on it. She was getting anxious about going home and facing the music. After the last bell, she reluctantly headed off for home, dreading what she'd find there. The only reason she hastened her steps was the biting cold snapping at her ankles.
At home, using all her powers of persuasion she was able to convince her parents the whole incident was an honest misunderstanding. They still grounded her, so she had to give up on practice after school for the foreseeable future, but she counted that as a pretty light punishment. At least she'd have the time to revise for the final exams.
Her plans to talk with Madara next day were postponed as he didn't come to school. Sakura sat alone in class, often glancing at the empty seat next to her as if she was expecting Madara would magically appear there when she wasn't looking. His absence stirred up her fears. What if he said those things the previous day just to not make her worry? She had no idea what kind of punishments clans used on their kids. Maybe Uchiha clan was stricter than most? They ran the police force, after all… Sakura shook her head, banishing horror visions of Madara beaten black and blue and locked behind the bars without food or water. They wouldn't torture him… would they?
During lunch hour, she went out to the girls' bathroom, but on her way back she was accosted by two of her old classmates.
"Sakura!" Ino ran up to her. "Is it true?"
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto cried out, skipping to her. "Please tell me it's true!"
"What are you talking about?" Sakura asked in confusion.
"Don't pretend you don't know, you were there!" Ino said sharply.
"I really don't know," Sakura replied.
"Is it true that Madara tried to burn down the school and you helped him?" Naruto asked impatiently.
Sakura gaped in shock. "W-What makes you think that?" she stammered.
"Oh my god, it is true," Ino gasped. "Forehead, seriously?!"
"No way, that's so wicked! I never expected that guy to have that in him!" Naruto said in awe, then furrowed his brow in thought. "Wait, I can't let him be better at pulling pranks than I am!" he exclaimed. The others also started buzzing with their own comments.
"No! It wasn't like that! Stop!" Sakura cried out. "No one was trying to burn the school!"
"But I saw Madara was arrested by the police. So he must have done something," Ino reasoned.
"Nothing happened! The policeman was his relative!" Sakura defended.
"Duh, of course, every Uchiha has family in the police. Who else is going to arrest them?" Ino replied. "So, is Madara getting suspended, expelled, what? Spill."
Sakura felt like tearing her hair out. "Look, you should stop listening to stupid rumours! This was all just an accident, even Hokage-sama said so, so why don't you let it rest?"
But her words had the opposite effect to the intended.
"Hokage?!" Ino's eyes bugged out. "It was that serious?!"
"The old man let you off? Oh man, oh man, you're amazing, Sakura-chan!" Naruto was impressed once again. "You need to teach me how to do that! Hey, we could plan a new prank together!"
Sakura threw her hands up. "I give up! Talk to me when you learn to listen to what I'm saying!"
She stormed off, agitated beyond belief. This explained the weird looks she was getting all day long. She was now known as some… some hooligan! Sakura the Arsonist. Her good reputation was in tatters and the only boy she would ever have a chance with was that moron Naruto. She wanted to cry and punch something, or someone, in her frustration. The training dummy had to take the brunt of it.
The following days were pure torture. Sakura was actively avoiding people, though she still got judgmental looks and whispers wherever she went, while Madara was still missing. What's worse, she couldn't go check on him after school because she was grounded. Her worry for him grew even more frantic to the point that she considered going regardless of consequences. At home, she took his jacket and hugged it to herself for comfort. It was warm and smelled nice.
On the weekend, she finally asked her mother if she could visit Madara to give him his jacket and assignments he missed out on. To her surprise and joy, she was given a permission, so she immediately headed to the Uchiha district.
Sakura rang the doorbell. It took a while before the door opened. Madara was wearing warm pajamas, his hair was matted and wilder than usual and his nose was running.
Sakura took a moment to process that, then she smiled widely. "You're sick," she announced, feeling a great weight come off her shoulders.
"Yeah, so what?" Madara rasped and blew his nose.
"Whatever happened to 'Uchihas don't get sick'?" Sakura asked deviously.
Madara scowled and she laughed out loud. She was technically still grounded, but she'd never felt any happier. Her worries were put to rest, she finally saw her friend and to top it all, she could take him down a peg! This was indeed a great day for her.
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AN: Happy New Year 2021!