"That was excellent, Sasuke-kun," Ueno-sensei praised him. "Please collect your shuriken and rejoin the rest of the class."
"Hai, sensei."
"Next, may I please have…" His lip curled slightly in disdain as he read the next name. "Naruto Uzumaki."
"H-Hai!" Naruto stepped forward woodenly. Titters spread through the group of students as he fumbled with his shuriken and nearly dropped them. Sasuke saw one girl mouth the word "loser" to the girl standing beside her.
Naruto made a sloppy throw, and the wayward shuriken embedded itself in a tree several meters to the right of the board. Sasuke resisted the urge to cover his face with his hands. What was the idiot doing?
"In case it wasn't clear, you're aiming for the other tree, Naruto-kun," his sensei informed him primly. "You know, the one with the bright red bullseye on it."
Several of the students snickered, but Sasuke was unamused. He met Naruto's eyes and gave the barest of nods. The other boy looked surprised for a moment, before his face settled into an expression that Sasuke knew well.
The idiot wouldn't be missing again.
By the time Naruto finished, the training ground had fallen deathly silent. All eyes were fixed on the shuriken-laden target board. Sasuke counted with satisfaction—three in the center and the remaining six scattered around the inmost ring.
Naruto turned to his sensei with hopeful expectation.
"Well? What are you waiting for?" Ueno-sensei snapped. "Collect your shuriken and get out of the way."
Naruto's face fell as he moved to obey. Sasuke, meanwhile, clenched his fists in his pockets to keep from doing anything he would regret. There was a limit to how prejudiced someone could be. Even with his first miss, the idiot's accuracy score was the second highest in the class. Not to mention his technique was good enough to earn the approval of even the most hard-lined of the Uchiha.
His bitter thoughts were interrupted as the last student finished and Ueno-sensei started speaking. "This concludes our shuriken exam. Most of you did very well. We will begin learning kunai technique on Monday. Everyone will take part with the exception of Inoue-san, Kenji-kun, and Naruto-kun, who will need to take remedial classes before proceeding. That is all. You are dismissed."
Sasuke felt himself go hot with indignation as he watched his sensei reenter the Academy. He glanced at Naruto, but if the other boy was upset, he didn't show it.
"It's alright," Naruto assured him. "I just need a little more practice, I guess." A small sigh escaped his lips.
"I just realized I forgot something," Sasuke mumbled. "I'll be right back."
He stalked into the Academy and caught up to their teacher. "Ueno-sensei."
His sensei turned to him with a pleasant smile plastered on his face. "Yes, Sasuke-kun?"
Sasuke appraised him coldly. "Why did you fail Naruto?"
His sensei's smile faltered, but he quickly covered it up. "I'm afraid that Naruto-kun's performance wasn't adequate," he replied smoothly.
"Don't give me that," he hissed. "He was better than all those other kids you passed, and you know it. What do you and everyone else have against him?"
Ueno-sensei's eyes turned to ice. "Tread carefully, Sasuke-kun. You would do well to stay away from that monster. He's a danger to everyone around him."
And with those words, he pivoted on his heel and strode down the hall.
Sasuke stood there for a long time before heading back. He turned the corner, only to run straight into Naruto.
"What are you doing here?" he asked sharply.
"Heheh, sorry." The blonde rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I realized I forgot something, too." He held out his bag for him to see.
Sasuke relaxed slightly. "Idiot."
"Did you get what you forgot?" Naruto asked.
"Yeah," he lied. "Let's go."
"'Kay!"
Sasuke watched carefully as they walked back to the apartment, but the idiot's demeanor was as annoyingly sunny as ever.
So, he hadn't heard. Good.
Author's Note: Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed today's chapter. The next one will be up tomorrow, but until then, please leave a review to let me know what you think.