A/N: Here's the next chapter! Enjoy!
"Another early start today?" Sakura asked as soon as he flopped down onto the bench the next morning, a tangerine in hand.
He nodded and began to peel the small fruit, glancing over to see her sitting, not with a medical textbook in hand, surprisingly, but with an Algebra II book, as well as a sheet of college-rule paper and a pencil.
He picked off a section and nodded to the page. "Are you working ahead?"
"Yeah," she replied, tucking a strand behind her ear as she leaned forward, scribbling an answer down. "I wanted extra credit to make up for that geometry test I bombed last Friday."
"You got an eighty-nine," he said flatly, eyes narrowing.
"I have to be the best," she defended, giving him a frown. "If I'm gonna get into medical school-"
"You got an eighty-nine," he repeated. "The rest of the class averaged out a seventy-six."
She said nothing to this, only raising her eyebrows at him.
He himself had gotten a ninety-two, one of his lowest scores in the quarter so far, but he hardly cared anymore. He knew he could easily beat out the top contenders, but he didn't want unnecessary attention on top of his reputation of being a nerd. (He was lucky they didn't bother to notice that he'd stopped wearing glasses in middle school after the bite.)
He heaved a tired sigh. "You're taking a ton of classes this year. I really don't think universities are gonna care that you got less than a perfect 4.0 for one quarter."
"Well then you obviously haven't been checking admittance requirements for Ivy Leagues," she shot back, irritation creeping into her tone. "If I'm gonna get into a top-league school, I need to be the best. Otherwise I'll never be able to become one of the country's best. Not like-"
She paused, cutting herself off from finishing the sentence. She looked away, focusing on her book now.
He knew what she was going to say. It had been a sore spot for her ever since middle school.
He was always competing for the best grades with her and Shikamaru, another in their grade. He had been certified as a prodigy early on, causing him to skip third grade when he quit homeschooling. They had grown up together, him the prodigy child and her the average bookworm. Somewhere along the way she completely shut in on herself and studied much harder than anyone else he knew, and by the time they were in eighth grade they were neck and neck for valedictorian of their graduating year. But he'd won it, leaving her the salutatorian and incredibly bitter. Still, she congratulated him and vowed to beat him in high school, and so far, she seemed to be winning that declaration.
Not to mention that she was going to graduate early, just like him. Even though she'd skipped a grade, she wasn't satisfied with staying in high school that long, and with her cousin backing her up, she managed to get the school to let her graduate in two years in opposed to four. How on earth she'd managed to get the school to agree, he'd never know. Still, he had to applaud her diligence.
She was determined; perhaps too determined. Already he had noticed her cheeks had become more sunken in and her clothes seemed to hang off of her even more now than in the summer before high school. Her hands trembled the slightest bit if you focused on them, and she oftentimes fell asleep in the lunchroom. He often had to go wake her up, lest she be late to PE.
"Not taking care of yourself is more annoying than your insistence to be the best," he mumbled, and he knew she heard him when he saw her jaw clench. He pulled out another tangerine from his bag and handed it to her, commanding, "Eat it."
"I'm not hungry," she replied dismissively, but when her stomach rumbled her resolve weakened. She looked longingly at the fruit and then to his face.
He rolled his eyes and sat it down on her book. "I'm not gonna say it again, Sakura."
She stared at it for a moment before shaking her head, chuckling quietly. "If anyone here's being annoying, it's you." Nevertheless, she took the fruit with an even quieter thank-you and slowly peeled it.
He looked away as she ate the fruit. He could run back up to the apartment to get another, but... no, Izumi only went shopping one day out of the week, and fruit was fairly pricey. He shouldn't take more than his fair share. He could just buy something later to keep his strength up. That's what the money on the counter nearly every morning was for, of course. Some of her savings, which didn't make the decision to use it feel any better.
"Dammit," he thought irritably, clasping his hands together and resting his chin atop them. The food at school was decent at best, but he had learned on the first day of freshman year that whatever the hell the lunch ladies served them every day and his stomach absolutely despised each other. The last time he'd had what looked like meatloaf, he'd spent the next half hour throwing up in the nurse's office. How much of it was the spider bite and how much of it was the food, he didn't know, nor did he want to find out.
He felt a nudge at his arm, and he looked over to see Sakura handing him half of the orange. She gave him a tight smile. "Take it. I figure you'll need it more than me."
His eyes narrowed at her, but he took the fruit. Of course Sakura would rub that fact in his face. Sometimes it was tiring having to deal with her knowing his secret identity, but at least he was secure in the fact she wouldn't tell anyone. From his experiences with the girl, if you told her a secret and commanded her to keep it to herself, she'd go through hell to keep it to herself. (He found it out the hard way in seventh grade, when he had to inquire about Hyuuga Hinata's feelings towards a certain blond idiot. It took him twenty minutes of probing her, and yet when he walked away he still didn't have a clue. It was also the last time he let Naruto bribe him into doing favors that involved Hinata.)
He put the orange in his hoodie pocket, uncaring about the fact that it was peeled. He'd eat it in class later - the teachers didn't care about whatever he did anymore. All they ever cared about were his grades. Having his last name thrown in his face every time he got less than an eighty got exhausting awfully fast.
Sakura watched him put it away, and when he looked over with a raised eyebrow, she wrinkled her nose and gave him a grin.
"You're so gross," she giggled with a shake of her head.
Same day as always, same classes, same people. Same dick-wads that decided he was a good target to wale on.
He slipped a piece of his tangerine into his mouth and chewed quietly, the sour-sweet taste overwhelming his tongue. Nobody really cared about you unless you drew attention to yourself in some way. For him, he supposed the reason he was bullied was because of his intelligence. Even when his parents were still alive, there had been kids that didn't have anything better to do than antagonize him for his smarts and family name. Those same kids were even more merciless when his parents were killed. He'd heard just about every insult that came with being an orphan, and at this point it didn't faze him anymore.
That's probably why Naruto became such a close companion. When his parents died, he was ten and angry. He just wanted to be alone, so that he could grieve their deaths in peace, but the second day of class after he went to live with his cousin, his brother, and his brother's girlfriend, Naruto Uzumaki, class clown and general annoyance, bounced over and introduced himself. Of course, he'd been rude to the boy. He'd snapped at him to leave him be, but Naruto was stubborn as all hell. For days afterward he hounded Sasuke, demanding his friendship in that sunny way he always seemed to live his life.
It was only after Sasuke finally relented and accepted the offer of friendship that Naruto confided his own orphan status. For him, his parents had died of a home invasion when he was a baby. Since he had no other living relatives around, he'd become a ward of the state until his godfather could come and claim him. Ever since, Naruto had been living with his godfather Jiraiya, an eccentric old writer who Sasuke usually caught perving on some of the single mothers of his classmates. He was goofy, though he had a wisdom to him that seemed unfitting of the old pervert. Oftentimes the man slipped extra food for him in Naruto's lunch, his way of caring for the boy. Sasuke had come to care for him too, although his choice in literature was questionable at best and downright fucking awful at worst.
He snuck another piece, glancing over to where Sakura sat a few seats away. Of course she sat directly in front, and right now she was scribbling away at her paper determinedly. She always got the assignment done in class, never after - she claimed she had an easier work environment in class. Comparing a fairly quiet classroom with her apartment, he could understand. A few strands of hair fell into her eyes, and she mindlessly brushed them away with her pencil, a momentary pause before she flipped the page and kept going.
He watched her for a few moments more before turning back to his own page. History was never one of his strongest subjects, though he didn't mind it. He scribbled down the answer to the question and continued down the page slowly. The note on the table this morning said that Izumi would be working some overtime, so he'd have some extra time to finish tonight if he had to.
"So what's on the agenda tonight?" She asked, hooking her hands under her knees and leaning forward in her spot on the balcony. Her posture was less rigid than usual, and her eyes were half-lidded.
"You're going to take a nap, first off," he ordered, folding his arms across his chest. "As for me, I'm going to the North Side to investigate."
She pouted, scrunching up her nose. "I'm not that tired, Spidey."
"I can tell," he flatly replied. "Where's Sasori?"
"Eh, he's out doin' something with Akatsuki," she shrugged her shoulders loosely, reclining against the chair. "He'll be gone until late, I think."
"Che." He shook his head, extending his hand. "C'mon, go take a nap. You look fifteen seconds away from fainting."
"I'm fine!" She protested. She gently smacked his hand away and made to stand up. "See?"
The second she was up on her feet, her eyelids fluttered and she began to fall forward in a dizzy spell. Luckily, Spider-Man was right there, so she fell into his chest, the breath leaving her lips.
His lips pressed into a thin line as she looked up at him. "Clearly."
"That was a false positive," she mumbled, closing her eyes. "I'm fine."
"Sakura," he sighed.
A blush pinked her face as he grasped her shoulders and pushed her up. She scowled at the ground, raising her hands to grip his. Her skin was cooler than usual, and it made his frown deepen.
"Fine," she relented with a frustrated sigh. "Since you're being so anal about it, I'll go take a fifteen-minute power nap. Happy?"
"Make it half an hour and I won't stick around to babysit you," he bartered.
"Fine, deal." She rolled her eyes and pulled his gloved hands off, lingering for a moment before she let go. She went to the sliding glass door and paused, sending him a sardonic half-smile. "Have fun on patrol."
He nodded. He waited until she was inside before flinging himself off the balcony, swinging on a web up the streets. The wind was colder than usual and he briefly shivered before he landed on the side of an office building, surveying the area. The endless lines of cars looked like something a child would play with. New York was a lot smaller up here; the people were ants, the cars mere toys. He smirked beneath his mask. It was thrilling to be so high above it all. It made him feel like he was a king looking out upon his country from the safety of a fortress, not some scrawny angst-ridden teenager looking to escape his shitty excuse of a life.
He shook his head, allowing himself to take in the view for a few seconds more before turning and jumping away, crossing between skyscrapers. The tall buildings increased in frequency the closer he got to the rich haven of the north side, due to the businessmen and women that occupied them. His own mother had been a part of that life once, pushed up from her humble beginnings until she married his father. He still faintly remembered the nights she'd spend after he and Itachi were put to bed, sitting in her office and going through spreadsheets and calculations.
He pushed those thoughts away and focused on the objective. One of the warehouses near a famous clothing retailer had been mentioned in passing by one of the criminals he'd webbed up the night before, and he was eager to check it out. He squinted, seeing a few people shamble inside before the heavy door closed. He jumped down to stick to the wall in an alley nearby, glancing around. He found an open window and slipped silently inside when he figured the coast was clear.
Faint voices could be heard, and he tensed. The room he was in was dark and cramped - was he in some kind of storage closet? He cursed himself as he reached out and felt a broom handle. He was in a storage closet!
The voices grew closer, and he shrank back against the wall, mentally patting himself on the back for going with a darker gray suit. One of the voices let out a laugh, and his frown deepened.
"-it'll be fine! All we gotta do is go get the guy and we're done!"
"What about that Spider-Man?" Another questioned.
Another bark of laughter. "Whaddabout little ol' Spidey? Ain't he a vigilante or somethin'? He goes for the little guys, not some bigwig widda multi-million mansion!"
Who were they talking about? He leaned in closer to hear, but his heartbeat grew louder the closer the voices got to the closet.
"But if we're gonna go after him, of all people..."
"Pah! It's gonna be totally fine! Shimura's not gonna be a hard catch anyways!"
Spidey's eyes widened. Shimura? As in, Danzo Shimura? Head of the police department Danzo Shimura? What were they planning...?!
The voices began to fade away. "We're gonna have to strike soon. Perhaps on the..."
Shit! They were getting away! If only he could exit the closet without attracting unwanted attention...
He grit his teeth together and forced back the urge to sigh. He could just follow them, but he'd already gotten the information he was looking for so far.
He leaned back against the wall, shutting his eyes. Danzo Shimura was a feared man by many circles, rich and poor. The rich envied him for his money and fame, while the poor hated him with a burning passion for his policies. He'd run for governor nearly two decades ago and had lost quite handily to Minato Namikaze, the previous governor's successor. Apparently the governor had favored him quite heavily, and Danzo was so embittered with the election result that he swore off politics for good and chose instead to focus his time and money into the police force. There had been some rumors for a while among the adults about him (especially between Shisui, Izumi, and Itachi), though Sasuke had been too involved with his own life to listen in.
"Perhaps I should tell Izumi about it..." he thought. "I know she doesn't like Shimura, but if there really is going to be a plot involving him, she deserves to know."
His eyes snapped open when he heard approaching footsteps. He lingered for a second longer, unsure, but when he heard the doorknob shift, he darted out the window, hiding beneath it as he listened, breathing quickly.
The door to the closet opened and someone grabbed the broom, whistling a tune to themselves. They moved about the room for a moment before the door shut, and Spidey let out a relieved sigh. That was a close one.
Distantly, he heard a young woman scream for help, and he nodded firmly to himself. He'd have to tuck away that info for later. For now, he had people to help.
When he got home, he quickly undressed, took a shower, and got into his pajamas. One glance of the clock told him that it was about 10:20 PM, so he decided to go around the apartment one last time to fix a snack and check if Izumi was home yet.
He walked through the living room, ignoring the television in the background. He went to the fridge and fixed a sandwich with some leftover chicken and got a water bottle. When he went into the living room again, he noticed the person sitting on the couch.
Izumi had fallen asleep sitting upright, her head against the back of the ratty old sofa. Her face was peaceful as her chest rhythmically rose and fell. Although she was only twenty, she was getting wrinkles about her eyes, much like his brother had. A twinge of guilt went through him as he realized that she'd been here for a while. "Was she waiting for me?"
He sat the plate and bottle down on the coffee table and went to the hall closet to grab a blanket. He came back and covered her with it, tucking her in gently.
As he was fitting the blanket around her shoulders, her soft snores paused, and her eyes fluttered open. A sleepy smile graced her pretty face as she looked up at him. "Oh, Sasuke... you're home. Sorry I fell asleep without cooking you something. I wanted to take a quick nap. Heh... guess I slept a little too long... what time is it?"
"It's after ten," he replied, glancing up at the television. The volume was on low, but his lips pressed together at the news anchors. "You should head to bed, it's already late."
She processed it for a moment in her sleep-hazy mind before nodding slowly. "Yes... I suppose I should. Thank you for waking me, Sasuke."
He simply nodded and watched her get up from the couch, flipping the blanket so that it covered her back. She folded it around herself and gave him another smile. "Good night. Don't stay up too late; you've got school."
"I know."
Her coal eyes searched his for a moment fondly before she turned and shuffled down the hall to her room. As soon as the door clicked shut, he took the plate and bottle back to his own. First on the agenda was finishing the homework he'd forgotten about due to his patrol, and then off to bed.
He stopped short of his desk, remembering about the information on Danzo. He'd forgotten to tell her, but now he didn't feel like springing info like that on her while she was still so tired. He let out a breath through his nose, sitting at the chipped wooden desk and covering his face with his hands. He'd have to tell her tomorrow.
A/N: Please tell me what you thought! See you in the next chapter!