Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything associated with it. All rights to Naruto belong to Masashi Kishimoto and the other proper entities.

Summary: Sakura had been by his side since he lost his family, following him around since they were seven years old, trying to ease his loneliness in whatever way she could. He didn't even know why he allowed it. He just silently allowed her to claim the seat next to him at the beginning of every term.

Rating: M

Genre: Friendship/Romance

Pairings: SasuSaku / eventual light NaruHina

Rays of Spring Sunshine

Chapter Six

Sasuke took approximately five seconds to process what Sakura had just said.

"What?"

Sakura blinked at him. "I… I thought you knew?" She frowned. "It was when you were in the hospital. Remember that time the Hokage came to see you?" She side-eyed Naruto, and Sasuke stiffened. He remembered. That was the day he'd cried all over her. "When you shoved me, your eyes were red. They looked like Kakashi-sensei's… what did he call it? Sharingan?"

Sasuke glared at her with all the vehemence he could muster. "And you never mentioned it?!" He snapped. All these years, he could have been training with his sharingan, if only someone had told him. So much wasted time.

"I thought you knew!" She defended. "I asked Kaa-chan about it that day and she said it'd been happening all week and not to bring it up!"

Sasuke scowled down at the table. If he'd had the sharingan back then, it must have been triggered by… by his anger at his clan's destruction. The logical part of his brain knew that Sakura was only six and couldn't have known the significance of what she'd seen, but still. "You should have told me." He grumbled.

"I'm sorry." Sakura whispered.

"What are you two talking about?" Naruto whined. Sasuke stiffened in his seat; he'd forgotten the moron was even there.

"None of your business." He snapped. The sharingan and its workings were an Uchiha clan secret. He was going to have to drill Kakashi for everything he knew, but like hell was he going to share information about his clan's kekkei-genkai with Naruto of all people.

"But—"

"He doesn't want to talk about it, Naruto." Sakura cut him off. "Leave it alone. We can ask Kakashi-sensei when he wakes up."

Before anyone could speak again, Tsunami slid the door open and came into the kitchen, smiling at the three genin. "I've set up futons for all of you in the room with your sensei. I'm sorry we don't have another spare room for you, Sakura-chan."

Sakura smiled brightly. "It's okay." She promised. "I have to get used to sharing with them sooner or later. As long as Naruto doesn't try to peep on me." She levelled a glare at the blonde.

Naruto spluttered, going red. "I wouldn't peep on you, Sakura-chan! I'd be more worried about Sasuke-teme doing it! He's the one who likes you!"

"Oh no, he wouldn't!" Sakura brained Naruto before Sasuke could lunge at him. "And no he doesn't!" He settled for glaring at the idiot and trying to force down the pink in his cheeks. Like hell he'd ever be caught dead peeping on Sakura! Or any girl, for that matter!

"You're a fucking moron." He spat, turning away before either of them noticed the blush. He stood abruptly and stalked to the door. "I'm going for a walk." He said as he slammed the door behind him.

He was sick and tired of people assuming that there was something between him and Sakura. They were twelve, for goodness sake. The number of shopkeepers or older kids that called her his 'little girlfriend' over the years drove him crazy; like for some reason the fact that they were a boy and a girl meant they couldn't just be friends. He wasn't interested in Sakura like that. Hell, he wasn't interested in anyone like that. He had more important things to worry about.

And now Naruto was fucking accusing him of planning to peep on her.

He clenched his fists and stalked across the wooden walkway toward the trees. He had the presence of mind not to go too far—he was in unfamiliar territory and his squad leader was out of commission—but he just needed to get away from everyone else. He hadn't had the chance to be alone in two days now.

Sakura sighed as Sasuke slammed the door and vanished.

"What's with him?" Naruto grumbled, crossing his arms and pouting.

Sakura shook her head. "You're an idiot." She intoned sagely. "He doesn't like being around people for so long." It was something she'd learned early on in their friendship; he put up with her presence most of the time, but he really did prefer to be alone. She supposed it was now her job to distract Naruto from tearing after him when he needed space.

"Why not?" Naruto complained. "No one ever wants to be around me. I'd love it if people never left me alone like they do with him."

Except that wasn't really true. The kids their age all admired Sasuke, sure, but she'd noticed some of the adults giving him weird looks over the years. She supposed it was because he was the last of his clan; everyone knew that the Uchiha had all been wiped out in a single night, leaving Sasuke as the only survivor. That sort of reputation wasn't exactly a comfortable one, she was sure.

"Whatever." She said, instead of voicing those thoughts. She was sure Naruto wouldn't get it anyway. "Just leave him alone."

Kakashi was awake the next morning. As soon as Sasuke heard the news, he grabbed Sakura's arm and dragged her back upstairs.

"Sasuke-kun, what—"

"Hey, you jerk! Let her go!"

"Kakashi." Sasuke pulled her into the room and shut the door in Naruto's face. The blonde had followed them upstairs—they ignored him pounding on the door as Sasuke held it closed.

"And a good morning to you, too, Sasuke." Kakashi said mildly. He was conscious, but still not strong enough to sit up. "Good morning, Sakura."

"Good morning, Sensei." Sakura rubbed her arm where Sasuke had pulled on her. He'd let her go as soon as she'd entered the room. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired." Kakashi sighed. "But I don't think Sasuke came up here to ask after my condition." He turned his eye back to the boy. Naruto had finally been steered away by Tsunami, who had likely come upstairs to see what all the shouting was about.

"You have the sharingan." He said accusingly.

"I do."

"How?" Sasuke demanded. "That ability is only passed down through the Uchiha bloodline. You're not one." Sakura gasped at his side.

Kakashi struggled to sit up. Sakura darted forward to help steady him. "It's a long story. The short version is a friend died and left it to me." He said with finality, indicating that he didn't intend to discuss the topic further.

Sasuke didn't care. "Who was this friend? How did he die? When?"

"Uchiha Obito. Battle. In the war." Kakashi said in clipped tones. "I'm not discussing it any further."

"But—"

"Sasuke-kun," Sakura put her hand on Sasuke's arm. "Does it matter? It's obvious that he doesn't want to talk about it."

No, Sasuke supposed. No, it didn't matter. There were other, far more pressing concerns. Besides, if Kakashi had been in possession of the sharingan since the Third War, then he couldn't have stolen it from the compound that night. "Teach me how to use it."

"I beg your pardon?" Kakashi's voice betrayed surprise.

"I have the sharingan." Sasuke insisted. "Teach me how to use it."

That seemed to take Kakashi aback. "I was unaware that you'd awakened it. It wasn't in your file." Their teacher peered at him.

Sasuke shot Sakura a look. "Tell him."

"It's true, Sensei." She nodded vigorously. "I saw it once, a long time ago. So did my mother. It looks just like yours."

Kakashi peered between them for a few, tense moments. Sasuke could practically see the gears turning in his head. "Can you call upon it at will?" He asked eventually.

Sasuke scowled. "If I could I wouldn't be asking you to teach me." He snapped.

Kakashi sighed. "Then there's not a lot I can do for you at the moment." He said apologetically. "I don't have to call upon it; the eye is always active. Once you figure out how to call it up, then I can help you."

"Isn't there anything you can do, Sensei?" Sakura pleaded, cutting off Sasuke's temper. "Anything at all? If it's an Uchiha clan ability, Sasuke-kun should know how to use it. It's only right."

Kakashi hummed thoughtfully. "I suppose I can teach you chakra control techniques." He shrugged. "It'll help all three of you, actually. And when you figure out how to call on the sharingan you'll be able to regulate how much chakra it expends, allowing you to use it for longer periods of time."

"Will it make him exhausted like you?" Sakura asked, a hint of unease in her voice.

"No, I have the Uchiha bloodline to draw on." Sasuke dismissed her concern. "My body is made to handle it."

Kakashi inclined his head. "It exhausts me the way it does because I'm not an Uchiha." He agreed. "You'll still need to build up stamina with it," he said to Sasuke, "but you're right. You have a chance of becoming far more proficient at extended use of it than I am."

"Fine. When do we start the chakra training?" Sasuke demanded.

"I should be able to move about tomorrow. Take today to rest up after our travelling. It's been a long few days." Kakashi frowned, going silent for a moment. "For now, go get Naruto. There's something that's bothering me…"

Sasuke spent the rest of the day outdoors. Evening found him sitting on the edge of the wooden deck that surrounded the house, trying to recall anything he remembered about the sharingan and its workings. He'd been very young when that person had awoken it, and didn't remember very much about the circumstances or how he used it. Because he'd never had it back then, he was never privy to all the secrets surrounding it; now that he was alone, he was flying blind. It was so frustrating, knowing that he had access to the secret power of his clan, but not knowing how to use it.

He heard Naruto approach a few times, only to be intercepted by Sakura who demanded that the idiot leave him alone. He was grateful. He really didn't want to deal with Naruto today. He was already on edge from Kakashi's realisation that Zabuza was still alive and could be back at any minute. Unfortunately, the moron slipped by her while she was helping Tsunami make dinner. Sasuke stiffened, preparing to leave when Naruto took a seat next to him, dangling his legs over the edge of the deck. "What do you want?"

Naruto scowled at him. "What're you all pissy for?" He demanded. "Is it because of what I said last night? About you liking Sakura-chan?"

"Tch." Sasuke refused to look at him. "You piss me off in general. And I don't like her."

Naruto spluttered for a moment. Sasuke didn't care. He simply stared out into the horizon, watching the sky change colours as the sun began to set.

"You're an asshole, you know that?" Naruto eventually accused. Sasuke glared at him. "No, really. I don't know what kind of stick you've got up your ass," Naruto wrinkled his nose, "but you're upsetting Sakura-chan."

"Whatever." Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Besides, she's fine."

Naruto gave him an incredulous look. "Right. And I've just been imagining her looking at the door and sighing all day." He rolled his eyes right back. Sasuke was surprised he'd noticed anything, considering his chronically bad observation skills, but he refused to comment.

"Not my problem." Sasuke dismissed.

Naruto looked like he wanted to punch him. "I don't know how she puts up with you." He said eventually, anger in his voice. "She's pretty and nice and she obviously likes you, but you treat her like shit!"

Sasuke stamped down the warm feeling in his cheeks at the mention of Sakura's feelings for him. No, he wasn't unaware of them. But she'd never forced the issue and seemed happy to be friends. It sometimes made things weird, but they both ignored it when it happened until things went back to normal. "You don't know what you're talking about." He snapped instead of addressing it.

Naruto's fists clenched. "I know that if I had a friend like Sakura-chan," he spat, "I wouldn't be such an ass to her all the time!"

"But you don't." Sasuke stood, tired of the conversation. Maybe it was a low blow, but he didn't care. "Leave me the hell alone."

"You bastard—" Naruto scrambled to his feet and took a swing at him.

Sasuke ducked and swept his feet out from under him, sending him toppling over the edge of the deck and splashing into the water. "Instead of lecturing me," Sasuke sneered down at other boy, "you should be training for when Zabuza shows back up, Dead Last."

He turned on his heel and stalked back inside, ignoring Naruto's splashing and cries of "Get back here, you bastard! I'm gonna kick your ass!"