I'm hurrying, I'm hurrying, geez...

One loooooong story broken up, updates are definite until I reach the spot I left off at on the master version.

Sigh- Writing disclaimers is a pain in the ass...Masashi Kishimoto's story doesn't belong to me.


After his victim found his way to his respective classroom, Sasuke found the rest of the morning hard to deal with. For some reason, (probably due to more budget cuts, no doubt) the connected room was given to the A.M. Kindergarten class. He was used to the silence of the formerly-empty room, and the sudden noises and life that floated into his class sometimes caught him at the most unexpected moments, making him jumpy and paranoid.

At one point Sasuke was writing a series of questions on the chalkboard, his back to the class, when a bunch of the girls starting giggling and making cooing noises.

They better not be staring at my ass again.

Turning around, he discovered the girls not looking at his glutes, but at a little kid who had wandered into his room.

He stared down at the brat.

The kid stared back, clutching a homemade pinwheel in one hand; a stuffed animal in the other.

"OI-! INARI, I'VE BEEN LOOKING EVERYWHERE FOR YOU!" The blonde-
victim-teacher barreled into the room, ignoring Sasuke's gaping mouth. He enveloped the child in a relieved hug, then lifted him onto his shoulders. During the whole scene, the little boy looked around the class with shiny-eyes, a look of wonder plastered on his face. Shocked for a moment, the students froze before launching a bunch of excited questions.

"Hey... uh... Hey... uh..." He smiled, rubbing his head nervously with his free hand. "I'm the new Kindergarten teacher. I teach in the classroom next door." Some of Sasuke's female students smiled in rapture at the bashful man, the boys snickered at his antics.

"Naruto-sensei, I have to use the paaahhhhty." Inari drawled.

"Ah-! Ah-! Don't go on my shoulders! Just wait a minute for me to take you to the bathroom!" Naruto zipped out of the room through the closet, leaving Sasuke glaring at his dust and the kids in hysterics.

"Hey, Uchiha-sensei, can we call you by your first name?" One of the girls asked mischievously.

"NO." Sasuke turned back to his task.

When the bell signaled the end of the period and time for lunch, Sasuke slumped into his desk in tired relief. From his open window he could see Naruto leading his students to their waiting parents, like a mother hen. Near the end of the line a child tripped, and Naruto was at her side in an instant; picking her off the ground and brushing the dirt off. Kneeling down, he tied her shoelace, saying something Sasuke couldn't make out, but assumed had something to do with tying laces properly.

The children were gone quickly enough, and when the last was safely with his parents,
Naruto swiftly turned around, catching Sasuke's eyes with his own. "HEY, SASUKE! LET'S GET SOME LUNCH, HUH!" Even at a distance, Naruto's voice was loud enough to nearly shatter Sasuke's eardrums.

Picking himself off the floor, Sasuke stuck his head out the window and scowled. "Hey! Who said you could call me by my first name!" He shouted just enough to reach Naruto. "And why would I want to eat with you!" He added as an afterthought. Frowning in indignation,
Naruto ran across the lawn and reached Sasuke in mere moments.

Speedy bastard.

Naruto poked his head into Sasuke's classroom, almost into Sasuke's face. "Is it because we haven't properly been introduced? My name's Uzumaki Naruto, but you can call me Naruto. I just graduated with my teaching degree, and this is my first teaching job. It's pretty fun, a lot easier than I expected it to be, but then again, I do really well with kids and-"

"Uzumaki-"

"Naruto." He grinned.

"Naruto... why would I want to eat lunch with you?" Sasuke turned away from the window and Naruto, heading to his door, fully intending to ignore the dummy for the rest of his life.

"Sasuke-"

"It's Uchiha."

"Uchiha, that's not very nice!"

A firm hand gripped his shoulder before he could slide the door open. Spinning around,
Sasuke found himself looking slightly up to a pouting Naruto, who had climbed through his window. He couldn't help but notice the looming figure was not only taller than him, but had a slightly built frame that easily outsized him.

"What kind of teacher are you?" Sasuke yelped, fighting back a vibrant blush.

"What? I'm a new teacher, and I don't know my way around the school yet. You're the only guy I know, so it seems pretty reasonable that I ask you to show me the way to the teacher's lounge."

Sasuke quietly cursed Naruto and his rationality before leading him out of the classroom,
willing his face to return to its usual impassive expression. All though the school wasn't very large (it held only Kindergarten through eighth grade in a small town), it felt like an eternity and beyond had passed listening to Naruto's jabber-jawing. The idiot just wouldn't take a hint and stop!

Once in the teacher's room, Sasuke had every intention of leaving the blonde so he could eat in the privacy of his own room, like he usually did. However, Naruto insisted he stick around, if only to introduce him to the other teachers.

"Everyone, this is Uzumaki. Uzumaki, everyone." His piece said, Sasuke turned to leave.

"Hey, wait! Don't be like that- I only just started working here, and I really don't want to make enemies on the first day-"

Sasuke couldn't help but think the other should have thought of that BEFORE almost getting squished by his car that morning.

"-Anyway, stay and have lunch. You're the only one I know here-"

"You don't know me." Sasuke muttered flatly.

"Aw- Don't be like that. If it's about this morning, I'm not mad about it any more."

"What happened this morning?" Asked a curious teacher whom Sasuke knew to be a horrendous gossip. Oblivious, Naruto turned to her, rubbing the back of his head.

"Sas- I mean, Uchiha almost ran over me before school!" He laughed like it was no big deal.

"It wasn't my fault. YOU ran in front of ME."

Naruto smiled mischievously. "Then make it up to me by staying for lunch."

"That doesn't make sense." Sasuke glared, taking a seat. Naruto grinned, squinting, and made a peace sign to the others. They chuckled appreciatively, no one had ever gotten the better of Ice-teacher Uchiha. The school year was looking in their favor.

Through the lunch period, Sasuke had to admit Naruto was an interesting person,
although he pretended he wasn't listening to the crazy stories. Besides being an engaging conversationalist, Naruto used unusual word combinations that normally wouldn't belong together, yet made them fit. He also twisted and moved and made facial and hand gestures that made him seem more animated.

"-Yeah! And my first summer out of high school I got a job as a shoe salesman, and hoo boy, was that short lived! My very first customer was this really huge guy, and while I was helping him into some size twelves, he lost his balance! I swear, the only thing running through my mind was 'Is this what cow tipping is like?'. Of course he landed on me, but I got fired anyways."

Naruto picked himself off the floor, where he had been simulating being crushed. "Right after that I got a job on a tuna boat, but that only lasted two weeks because I kept falling off. Believe me, a boat full of stinky fish and greasy floors is no place a guy can keep his balance. The Coast Guard had a real laugh this one time my crew accidently left me behind."

At this point, most, if not all of the present teachers were rolling in hysterics at Naruto's comical interpretation of being stranded in water. Sasuke himself had to bite the inside of the cheek to keep himself from laughing. Naruto had a strange sense of pride and humility that attracted others like a beacon. It wasn't long before the rest of the teachers seemed to gravitate to their table.

Naruto's antics put Sasuke at ease, but it wasn't enough to offset the closeness of so many others that did not mix well with his loner personality. Before the bell signaled the end of the lunch period, Sasuke vacated his chair and hurried out of the room. Naruto stared at his back,
frowning, before rejoining the conversation.

As soon as the Uchiha returned to his room, he sat heavily in his battered chair (thank you, cheap school administration) and began eating his lunch.

Not too long after the lunch period ended, Sasuke started grading papers. Every once in a while he'd stop to sip some coffee or shake his head in wonder at completely inept students, but other than that he payed complete attention to the task at hand.

"BOO!"

Which is why he flew back from his chair and smacked his noodle soundly against the chalkboard behind him when Naruto's face popped into view.

"Argh- You sunnova-" Sasuke trailed off, fighting back tears as he cradled his aching cranium. Naruto clutched his sides in jubilation.

"Man-oh-man..." The blonde wheezed when he was finally able to draw breath without laughing. Who'd have thought the Mister-I'm-So-Cool would be so jumpy?

"What are you doing here? Don't you have lunch to finish or something?" Sasuke glared at the un-affected Uzumaki.

"Oh, I'm already done. I'm just wondering why you left without saying anything."

Sasuke muttered something unintelligible.

"What was that?" Naruto leaned in closer.

"I SAID I DON"T DO WELL WITH CROWDS, OKAY!"

"Oh." Naruto responded, rubbing his ears. "Sorry."

"Sorry?"

"Yeah." Naruto grinned sympathetically. "If I had known, I wouldn't have made you stay." Well, this was interesting. Mister Uzumaki could be quite understanding when he felt like it.

Before long, the two had gone into a truce of sorts. Naruto would talk, Sasuke would grunt once in a while in response. The first period after lunch was Sasuke's planning period, and Naruto didn't teach the P.M. Kindergarten class, because as he put it: "I was hired to replace the old biddy that was supposed to have retired by now, but she's clinging to this job like a leech. So until she either finally lets go or breaks a hip, I'm only working half-duty."

Surprisingly, a month passed and the two stayed on good, if a bit shaky, terms. And then came along the bachelor party, the night that opened Sasuke's eyes.


That's all for today, folks.