Sasuke stretched his arms and rubbed his eyes. He heard a familiar voice outside and jumped out of bed running out of his room toward it. Sasuke wrapped his little arms around his brother's legs and smiled. Itachi was home.

"Nii-san! You're home! Can you watch my shuriken practice now? I've gotten a lot better!"

"Later, Sasuke. Don't you have to go to the Academy?"

"All the classes are so easy. Besides, you're so better than the senseis at the Academy," Sasuke pouted.

"I'll oversee your training when you get back then."

"You promise!"

"I promise. Now go get ready for school."

Sasuke nodded and got ready for school. He grabbed his weapons and slid them into his bag. He waited at the front door, wanting to say goodbye before he went off to school. Sasuke heard him talking to their mother and followed their voices into the kitchen.

"Here's your lunch, Sasuke."

"Thank you, Mother!"

"Oh, and Sasuke. You should finally invite Sakura over, now that Itachi's home. I'm sure we'd all like to meet her."

"Really? Okay! I'll tell her right away when I get to the Academy!"

"I'll walk you to the Academy," Itachi said.

"Okay!"

Itachi and Sasuke left and walked toward the Academy. Sasuke told him all about his training and how he's able to hit every single target, and how he's ranked the top in his class. Itachi never had any doubt that Sasuke would excel, just as he did during his Academy days. When Sasuke started talking about Sakura, his interest piqued. Uchiha's weren't known to be affectionate people. In fact, despite his feelings for Izumi, he only saw her a handful of times, mainly at the nighttime meetings. Nothing more came out of it since he stopped attending them, using missions assigned by the Hokage as reasons to opt-out. He knows how the clan perceives his absence. He wondered how she was doing.

"Sasuke-kun!"

Itachi didn't realize they already reached the Academy. He turned his head to notice the pink-haired girl with a red ribbon on top of her head. Finally a face to the name.

"So this must be girl Sasuke's been talking about."

"You must be Sakura."

"Y-Yes."

"I'm Itachi, Sasuke's brother. It's nice to meet you, Sakura."

"N-Nice to meet you, Itachi-san!" Sakura bowed.

"Oh, Sakura. Mother said to invite you over to our place. You should come over tomorrow!" Sasuke said.

"Really? I'll tell my mother after school! I can't wait, Sasuke-kun!"

"You two should get to class now."

"See you later, nii-san!"

"Goodbye, Itachi-san."

Itachi watched as they walked to class. The only time he's seen Sasuke like this was when he was with their family. Sakura's clearly special if she can bring out the more child-side of Sasuke. Sasuke smiled and laughed. There was something there. Itachi saw the light and innocence that surrounded his brother while he was with Sakura, and he hoped that she would always be by his side. He was going to need it.

Sasuke and Sakura chatted until class started. Sasuke couldn't wait to go back home and have his brother oversee his training. He wanted to show his brother just how much he's improved over the past few weeks. More than his father's approval, he wanted his brother's. Sasuke wanted to be like Itachi.

It's been two months since they entered the Academy and so many things had changed. Sakura began speaking up in class and answering questions. She's become acknowledged as the most intelligent kunoichi in their class. Her self-confidence improved greatly since she met Sasuke. Sasuke in turn learned to form ties with his peers. While he may not spend time with the others without Sakura, he began to learn to at least be civil and converse with the other students.

Now that Sakura became more sociable, Sasuke felt uncomfortable with the sudden influx of people around him. By people, they were mainly other girls. He was used to the people in his clan, but the kids at school were a different story. One by one they started to approach Sakura, and thus their two-person circle became five then seven and so forth. They would watch him train and cheer him on. It was definitely annoying.

"Hello, class!"

"Good morning Iruka-sensei!"

"Today, we're going to do something different. Please leave your belongings and follow me outside."

The class did as they were told and followed Iruka to a big space on the training grounds. They gathered around and waited for Iruka to tell them what was going on. They always had class inside, except when the girls went off to their kunoichi classes and sharpened their undercover skills, while the boys engaged in weapons training. Today, something different was going to happen. Iruka observed his students for a moment before clearing his throat.

"I'm sure you're wondering what we're doing out here. So we're going to do something new today. You're going to split up into teams of three. Just like you would if you were a Genin Team. I'm going to hand around this bag and each of you is going to reach in and grab a piece of paper with a number on it," Iruka handed the first student in line the bag. "Once you find the other two members with the same number, that will be your team. Then I will hand each team either a green or a red flag. Your goal is to grab the other. Come back here once you've accomplished the goal with your team, or if time has been called. You will have one hour for this exercise."

Everyone started looking for their partners. Sasuke hoped that Sakura would be on his team, but instead he got Naruto and Shikamaru. Sakura ended up with Chōji and Shino. He could see the look on her face as bugs started to crawl up Shino's face. The Aburame clan, famously known for their usage of bugs, could not be an effective teammate for Sakura. Not when she's terrified of bugs.

After everyone found their teammates, and Iruka handed each team their flag. Sasuke held the green flag in his hand and turned to see Sakura holding a red one. Not only were they not on the same team, but they were also supposed to be "enemies" for this game as well. Well, he could find some other team with a red flag.

"Sasuke-kun, we got the same color. Let's help each other out!" Ino smiled.

"How troublesome. Getting paired with the genius means we're actually going to have to work," Shikamaru sighed.

"I'll do all the work and get the flag all by myself!" Naruto puffed his chest, grinning.

"Naruto, face it. You're no better."

"What did you say Shikamaru! I'm going to be Hokage! I can easily grab the green flag!"

"We're supposed to grab the red flag..."

"That's what I meant!"

Sasuke stared at his teammates and realized this was not going to go well. At all. If he was with Sakura, they'd grab the other flag quickly. He took pride in their teamwork, but for now, they were on opposite sides.

Sakura kept staring wide-eyed at the bugs crawling on Shino's face. She tried not to be freaked out, but her fear of bugs made it difficult. Chōji, on the other hand, was easier to get along with it. He kept eating out of the bag of chips in his hand so she wasn't sure whether he was going to be an active participant in this activity.

As soon as Iruka said go, everyone dispersed.

As they scoured the grounds, Sasuke looked at his teammates and wondered whether they'd be effective in obtaining another team's flag. Naruto was running out in the open, and sticking out in plain view, giving away his position to the other teams. Sasuke grabbed his arm and dragged him over to where he and Shikamaru were moving from bush to bush.

"You're going to give away our position!" Sasuke hissed.

"Even so, I'll still grab the flag from the other team anyways!" Naruto grinned proudly.

"Tch. I'm assuming we can't just give up, can we?" Shikamaru asked.

"No," Sasuke said.

Shikamaru sighed and looked up at the sky. Sasuke looked from one teammate to the other and tried to figure out the best solution to work with them to grab a flag. One was loud-mouthed and hyperactive, and the other was so lazy. How on earth did he manage to get teammates who were so incompatible with the other? Sasuke just hoped Sakura was having a better time than he was with his teammates.

After a while, Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Naruto stopped as they found their target. Sasuke knew their best shot was using Shikamaru's Clan's Kagemane no Jutsu and freezing them in place. That is if he didn't think it was too troublesome to do so. Then they can easily grab the flag. Then all he or Naruto needed to do was grab the flag from whoever had it. Just as Sasuke was about to tell them what to do, Naruto was gone and in front of the other team.

"What is he doing?" Sasuke hissed.

"How troublesome. That Naruto," Shikamaru said.

Naruto stood, with his arms crossed right in front of them. The other team looked at him like he was stupid. Of course, who would approach the enemy in the open like that? Especially without a plan.

Sasuke and Shikamaru sighed and knew that any plan they created in their head was officially ruined. They came out of their hiding space and joined Naruto on the field. The kids flinched as Sasuke appeared before them. It wasn't a secret that Sasuke and Sakura were now close friends, so they only hoped that Sasuke wouldn't remember them. Sasuke took a closer look and realized they were the ones that bullied Sakura when he first met her.

"You guys-" Sasuke said.

"H-Hey, no hard feelings, right?" One of the kids asked.

"You know them, Sasuke?" Shikamaru asked.

"Something like that," Sasuke replied.

"I don't know what's going on, but I will take that flag from you guys!" Naruto grinned with his arms crossed.

"H-Here, take the flag! We're sorry!" The kid with the flag tossed the flag and they ran off.

Naruto stared at them in disbelief. Clearly, it had something to do with Sasuke. Sasuke raised one eyebrow at where the group once stood, before picking up the flag. Looks like it ended up much easier than they would have thought. Naruto walked over and stared at Sasuke up close, glaring at him. Sasuke stared at him wondering what was wrong with him. Shikamaru sighed and shoved his hands in his pocket, not wanting to get in the middle of something troublesome.

Naruto wondered what was it about Uchiha Sasuke that got the attention of all the girls. Or made guys either scared of him or jealous of him. Why was he the top student in class while he was at the bottom?

"Are you going to continue staring at me, or are we going to make it back before another group tries to steal our flags?" Sasuke asked.

"Whatever," Naruto snatched the flag from Sasuke's hand and walked back towards where they started.

Sasuke and Shikamaru followed Naruto as they found their way back to the training grounds. Every time Naruto wanted to prove himself, Sasuke took that spotlight. Even when he wasn't trying. Naruto gripped the flags tighter, determined to beat him and prove himself to everyone that he wasn't the loser they thought he was.

Iruka scanned the field, waiting to see who would be the first group back. He noticed one group heading towards him. He squinted as he noticed that it was Naruto and his group finding their way, and earning the spot of first in the group. Iruka smiled, proud of Naruto for doing so well.

"Congratulations, you guys. You are the first to make it back! Can I have your flags?"

Naruto handed him their flags and Iruka noticed how their group's atmosphere wasn't as ecstatic as he thought they'd be, especially from Naruto himself. This would be the time that Naruto would be jumping and laughing at his achievement. He made a note to ask Naruto about it over some Ichiraku Ramen later today.

"It hasn't been very long so you guys will just have to wait for the other teams to make it back here. Take a seat over by the shade or something."

They nodded and did as they were told.

Sakura, Chōji, and Shino ran from bush to bush to find a team with a green flag. Shino sent his bugs to sense whether another group was around. Sakura acknowledged their usefulness and effectiveness, but she could never get past how insects made her skin crawl. She couldn't imagine having them all over her body. She shivered at the thought. They followed Shino's bugs until Shino raised his hand. Chōji and Sakura halted to a stop.

"What is it? Did they find something?" Chōji asked.

A few bugs crawled on his finger, communicating with Shino. "A team is very close by and they have a green flag. We should create an attack plan first."

"Is there no way to get it without confronting them?" Chōji asked.

"Chōji... We have to attack to grab a flag. They won't just hand it to us," Sakura said.

"But what if they're stronger than us? Shouldn't we find a way to get it easily?" Chōji asked.

"While it would be ideal to grab a flag easily without confrontation, this activity is about teamwork and using the skills we have to find a way to complement each other so we can achieve the goal, which happens to be grabbing a flag that is the other color than ours, as well as not losing our flag in the process," Shino explained.

"Right..." Chōji said.

"So we should discuss our strengths and weaknesses to fight the enemy," Sakura said.

Sakura, Chōji, and Shino created a plan while the bugs kept a watchful eye on the other team, and their scroll. While neither of them was used to working as a team, nor were they even familiar with the other, they were able to come up with a plan, finding a way to use their skills together. They nodded in agreement and walked out of their hiding place. They approached the other team and saw the green scroll in one of the kid's hand.

"You guys must be dumb to approach us in the open like this!"

On cue, Shino's bugs headed toward the group. As they yelled and started trying to swat away the bugs, Sakura threw a rock hitting the hand of the student who held the scroll, and Chōji used his Partial Expansion Jutsu to grab the flag as it fell out of their hand. They ran away to get somewhere safe as Shino's bugs continued to surround them until they were far enough away from the group, before returning to Shino.

They caught their breath and Chōji raised and waved the green flag in his hand. Sakura beamed and jumped up and down at their success. They managed to finish the task within thirty minutes and now they needed to head back towards the group before they had a chance to lose their newly acquired flag.

As they reached the training grounds, Sakura noticed that Sasuke and Ino were waiting for the other teams to arrive. She waved the green flag in her hand, grinning at her victory. Sasuke gave a thumbs-up. She chatted with both of them as the rest of their classmates came back.

"Alright! It looks like everyone's back! The first team back was Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, and Nara Shikamaru. Great teamwork you guys!"

Everyone clapped while six of them knew the truth of how they acquired their flags first. They went back inside for the rest of their classes. Iruka talked about how effective teamwork is when completing missions, and the importance of the activity they participated in.

After classes, Sasuke waved goodbye to Sakura before heading home. He raced through the village to the Uchiha compound and found Itachi training in their usual spot in the woods. Sasuke set his bag down and watched as Itachi threw his kunai at the targets. He aspired to be a great ninja prodigy just like his brother.

"Oh, Sasuke. Are you ready to show me how you've improved in the last few weeks?"

Sasuke nodded and grabbed his shuriken and took his stance in the middle, before jumping into the air and throwing each one. They hit the bullseye and as he landed on his feet, he looked back to see his brother's expression. It was rare, but it was one of the few times his brother smiled at him.

Sakura ran home excited to ask her mother and father to allow her to go to Sasuke's tomorrow. She opened the door and found them in the kitchen setting the table.

"I'm home!"

"How was school today, Sakura?" Mebuki asked.

"Fun! We were put into teams and had to grab a flag with the other color than ours! My team and I did it!" Sakura grinned.

"Great job, Sakura!" Kizashi grinned, proud of his daughter.

"Oh, can I go to Sasuke-kun's tomorrow? He invited me over!" Sakura asked.

"Oh, it's so last-minute," Mebuki said.

"Please!" Sakura clasped her hands together. "I want to go so much!"

"Alright, remember to be very polite and respectful," Mebuki said.

Sakura gave her mom a big hug. "Thank you, Mommy!"

Sakura ran upstairs, to get ready for dinner. Kizashi looked at Mebuki, figuring they should discuss how close their daughter has gotten with Sasuke.

"I think I should take Sakura there."

"Oh, I'm not leaving you guys alone. You'll probably end up terrifying the boy. He's eight. Not some teenager."

"Still, it's a date isn't it?"

"A playdate. Not a date-date."

"It's the same thing to me. She will always be my little girl. Even when she's married and have kids of her own one day."

Mebuki rolled her eyes. She grabbed the utensils, setting the table. They're just sweet, innocent kids. She could already see in the way Sakura talked about Sasuke, that this was just the beginning. Kizashi was going to have a hard time when Sakura becomes a teenager and starts dating. She chuckled at the thought.

Mebuki was just glad to see the huge improvement Sasuke brought to her life. She went from such a quiet, timid girl to a beaming, talkative girl. It was an improvement she loved seeing in her daughter. She, unlike Kizashi, was curious and wanted to meet Sasuke, the boy who changed Sakura's life.

A/N: This took a lot longer to write than I would've liked. Been busy with watching Naruto and a bunch of other shows. So in return, I guess this turned out much longer than I expected. (3,200+ words!) Also, sorry if there are any grammar mistakes. I wanted to do a more thorough check, but I feel like I worked on it for so long it just all kinda blends together.

So I've officially planned out what's happening in the next chapters. I went through and completely changed how this story was going to go. I scrapped my original ideas and chapters, some of which were already written out too (boo all that hard work), and I'm going in a different direction.

After chapter 10, I was going to create a new story to write the sequel, but why do that when I can just continue here. So 5 more chapters until we hit the next part.

Also, is it weird that brother is nii-san while Mother and Father are in English, and not Japanese? I feel like it could be a weird inconsistency. Thoughts?

Finally, SasuSaku month has begun! If you want to see some SasuSaku gifs, my Tumblr is foreheadpokesoflove!