DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto, Kishimoto does. I don't own Hikari Aino.
A/C: Constructive criticism is warmly welcomed and appreciated, as well as readers' suggestions/ideas. (Particularly when it comes to Lemons – I really suck at those! :S) Flames and mean comments are not welcome – saying 'no offence' means squat. If you don't like what you're reading don't leave a comment!
THE RING
These violent delights have violent ends
And in their triumph die, like fire and powder,
Which as they kiss consume.
The next time I saw Sasuke was when I was walking home from the Academy.
It was a sunny day and the sun felt too good to pass up, including the pleasant wind that brushed against my skin and fanned my hair out behind me. So instead of rushing home to get started on my homework for Iruka-sensai, I darted out into a nearby meadow and reclined myself on the soft grass and shut my eyes, smiling when I felt the sunlight warming my face.
I must have fallen asleep from the sunlight because I didn't hear the sounds of something rustling in the bushes behind me – at least not until a bird swooped past calling out so loudly that I sat up right, startled and looked around frantically. Seeing nothing, I sighed and rubbed the sleep from my eyes before deciding to get up and head home.
Sitting on my knees, I pulled my backpack towards me and stood up, but froze when the rustling happened again. I panicked, thinking I was about to be attacked, and I had no way of protecting myself because I wasn't a qualified kunoichi yet and was likely to be beaten down quickly. But nothing happened. Frowning, I continued moving, but the bushes moved again and I froze with fear.
But then an unknown boldness took me over.
"Hello? Is someone there?" I called out cautiously.
Nothing happened.
Must've been an animal... I thought.
I got up and walked away, and again the bushes moved. This time I got angry.
"Okay, stop it! This joke isn't funny!" I growled, annoyed and turned to stride forward and pull the prankster out by the scruff of their neck – and instantly an image of Naruto, one of my new friends, came to mind.
"Naruto, if this is you pulling a prank on me, you've got another thing coming!" I warned, still walking towards the bush.
A pale hand parted the foliage and my eyes widened when Sasuke Uchiha stepped out into view – a stoic expression on his handsome face. I blushed without thinking.
"Oh." I breathed and looked at the ground, mentally kicking myself.
"Don't compare me to that idiot." He murmured and crossed his arms over his chest.
When I heard this, I looked up at him with anger in my eyes – Naruto may be a prankster and sometimes REALLY annoying, but he's not an idiot.
"Please, don't insult my friend. He might not be as popular as you may be, but he doesn't deserve that kind of treatment." I said, glaring at him and then turning on my heel and heading back home.
But found my path blocked by Sasuke. I stopped just in time before I thudded into him and fixed him with a confused look.
"I'm sorry. I sometimes say things before I think about it first." He admitted kinda reluctantly.
I fought back a giggle.
"I'm...Sasuke." He said looking and sounding awkward.
"I'm Hikari, nice to meet you." I replied, smiling radiantly at him.
I looked back at the bush he had emerged from and cocked my head in confusion before looking back at him.
"So...uh...why were you hiding in the bushes?" I asked.
He shrugged and sat down on the ground, inviting me to join him. I sat down waiting for him to answer my question.
"I was walking home and a couple of annoying fan girls spotted me. So I ran for it and ended up hiding in these bushes – waiting for them to run past. Then I could go home." He explained.
"How do you know I'm not a fan girl?" I teased, jabbing him with my fist.
He flinched slightly when I touched him but didn't comment on it. Instead, he just sighed and stretched out his legs and balanced back on his hands, his eyes staring up at the clouds in the sky rushing past. He looked me over with a calculating gaze.
"Because you don't hang out with the usual ones I have stalking me 24/7. I would know if you were one, because we wouldn't be talking right now. I'd still be hiding in those bushes waiting for you to go home." He said matter-of-factly.
I flushed a little bit - feeling slightly hurt.
"Hey, where did Sasuke-kun go?" A voice suddenly rang out, really close.
Both Sasuke and I tensed up, before he suddenly muttered 'shit' and seized my wrist, pulling me back into the bushes. I landed hard on my back with an 'ooof' and then blushed brighter than a tomato when Sasuke suddenly landed on top of me, covering my mouth with his hand. We waited impatiently as the sound of two people sprinting towards us suddenly reached our hiding place.
"God, Sakura – can we call it a night? My parents are probably wondering where I am." whined a girl that I recognised as one of my friends, Ino Yamanaka.
I felt Sasuke freeze and I looked up at his face which had hardened and his eyes suddenly looked moist like he was about to start crying. I felt horrible and wished that they would shut up.
"Besides I have homework to do." Ino added.
Sakura sounded put out but reluctantly agreed.
"Yeah, I guess you're right. On the bright side, we'll see him tomorrow at school." She reminded us and I heard poor Sasuke groan in frustration. We stayed like this until we heard Sakura and Ino's footsteps fading away and then we sighed in relief. But Sasuke hadn't moved off me yet.
I poked him in the shoulder.
"Uh, Sasuke?"
He looked down at me as if remembering that I was there.
"Can you get off me now?" I asked smiling in embarrassment.
Sasuke frowned slightly before remembering where we were and our compromising positions before he blushed and hurriedly rolled off me and stood up.
"...Sorry" He muttered and turned away.
I sat up, watching him then stood up and dusted myself off, before approaching Sasuke to see if he was okay. Cautiously, I reached out a tentative hand and gently touched his shoulder. He harshly jerked away and looked at me with a questioning glance and I pulled back my hand like he had electrocuted me and felt immense hurt at the steeliness of his black eyes.
"Sorry. I'll see you later, Sasuke." I mumbled and walked through the bushes before the tears I could feel welling up in my eyes could fall down my cheeks, thus embarrassing myself even further in front of Sasuke. I just made it out into the sunlight when I felt someone's hand clamp onto my shoulder.
"Wait."
I looked back and saw Sasuke with an apologetic look on his face – and for a moment, he looked exactly like he did back when I first saw him sitting on the gangplank.
I nodded inviting him to continue what he had to say.
"Can I walk you home?" He asked, looking awkward.
I nodded again and he shoved his hands into his pockets and waited for me to start walking.
Every now and then we would look around for signs of Sasuke's fangirls and prepared ourselves to start running for it. Luckily, nothing happened. During the walk, Sasuke began to ask me questions about myself – such as how old I was. I told him that I was going to be turning eight soon, which prompted him to ask when my birthday was (September 6th). It turned out that Sasuke was older than me by a few months – he was born July 23.
He asked who my friends were – I giggled when I admitted that Ino was one of my friends and watched as his face went even paler than it already was, but he allowed me to continue. He seemed surprised that I was also good friends with Hinata Hyuuga – which wasn't surprising because she was just as shy as I was and had a bad stutter that seemed to get really bad around Naruto.
But what really stumped me was the fact that he avoided asking me questions about my family, not that I particularly liked talking about it either – but I didn't mind saying who was in my family, even if half of them had already died. I decided not to ask him questions about his family either and instead stuck to the types of questions he randomly asked me. By the time we reached my house, Sasuke and I had accumulated a lot of information about each other.
And to my surprise, Sasuke was even smiling a little. I had no idea I had that impact on the normally quiet and broody Uchiha.
"Well, I'll see you tomorrow, Sasuke. Thanks for walking me home." I thanked him politely and bowed before turning.
But then stopped as an overwhelming urge came over me – especially when I saw how Sasuke's face fell when I had to leave him for the evening. I turned and then without warning gave my new friend a hug. Sasuke jumped as though he had been shot as I wrapped my arms around his thin but muscular waist and squeezed tight. Eventually, I felt his arms wrap around me and return the hug.
"Please don't be sad, Sasuke. You're my friend now – and from now on, I won't leave your side unless I go home or I'm unwell. Okay?" I asked looking up at him from where my head had been buried in his chest.
Sasuke's face softened at my words and that smile that I was just growing accustomed to reappeared on his face.
"Okay." He replied and buried his face in my hair before releasing and moving away.
I watched as he walked down the street, and turned to go in, but not before feeling him taking my hand and sliding something onto my finger. I looked back in surprise but he had already disappeared. I looked down at my hand and saw a homemade daisy ring around the ring finger of my left hand...
The next day dawned bright and clear as my mother came into my room to wake me up for school.
"Hikari? Time to wake up for school."
My mom stroked back my hair to wake me up from sleep and I stirred groggily and sat up blinking like a newborn at Mom.
"Breakfast will be waiting for you downstairs, love." Mom promised as she lent forward and kissed my forehead before getting to her feet and walking out of the room.
I groaned in frustration, I don't particularly like school but the prospect of seeing Sasuke today, brightened me up tremendously and I pulled aside my doona cover and sat up, grabbing my baby blue fighting dress and black spandex shorts and shuffling to my bathroom to get ready. Standing under the spray while I let the hot water work out the kinks in my back, I looked over at the daisy ring on my finger and felt myself blush as I wondered why Sasuke decided to put that there.
I pulled my Cherry Blossom and Vanilla scented body wash down from the shelf and thoroughly cleaned myself with it before stepping out of the shower and drying off.
"Hikari? How's it coming?" calls Mom from downstairs.
"Coming!" I called back and made up my bed and shoved my Pjs into the clothes hamper before dashing downstairs to the breakfast table where a bowl of Miso soup was waiting for me, as well as a large glass of Orange Juice. While I was eating, Mom came up behind me and started combing out my hair – expertly relieving it of tangles and knots before tying back my fringe and assessorising with my baby blue ribbons.
"Thanks, Mom." I said sweetly and got up from the table to wash my breakfast dishes. Mom snuck a look at the Kitchen clock.
"You better hurry, Iruka-sensai won't like you being late sweetheart." I was reminded.
I nodded and hurried to my bathroom to brush my teeth and grab my backpack – which was full of my completed homework from yesterday that we were going to be presenting for the whole class today. I felt knots forming in my stomach at the thought. Swallowing my fear, I hurried back down the stairs to find my Mom waiting patiently at the door with my Bento ready in her hands.
I grinned at her and sat down to put my navy blue sandals on.
"Don't be too late coming home tonight, sweetie. I've got a couple of things to finish for that party tomorrow night, and I need your help." She instructed.
My Mom is a retired Jounin who decided to become a successful party planner and caterer. Every now and then when I'm not busy training or doing my homework, I will help her with her planning.
"Sure, Mom. See you later." I promised and kissed her cheek.
As I made my way through the marketplace, I spied a bunch of Sasuke's fan girls plotting their next move and felt a wave of anger bubbling up inside me. It was shameful what they were doing to poor Sasuke and I felt that their actions were very foolish.
"Hikari-chan?"
I looked around for the person calling me and saw Ino rushing forward from the mob of lovestruck girls. I paused in my tracks and gave my friend a small smile.
"Hey, Ino. What's going on?" I asked politely.
"Nothing much. Just gossiping. What about you?" she replies tossing her blonde ponytail back over her shoulder and preening her fringe.
"Just heading for school. Are you ready for that test Iruka-sensai has for us?" I asked nervously. Ino pulled an understanding face.
"Yeah, I think I have the gist of it. But we'll just have to find out if I pass or not." she replied wrinkling her nose. I nodded but made no reply to that.
Suddenly, Ino brightened.
"Hey, you haven't happened to see Sasuke-kun have you?" she asked hopefully.
I bristled slightly and absently fiddled with the ring on my finger before answering.
"No. He might be at the Academy already." I suggested, hoping he really wasn't yet.
Ino looked a little sad, but brightened when she realised that she'll see him there regardless. I frowned.
God, why can't you leave him alone?
Ino waved a hand over my face.
"Hey Hikari? Are you alright? Why are you frowning like that?" she asked concerned.
I blinked.
"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm alright, just going over something in my head." I said, then turned to continue walking to school.
"I'll talk to you later, okay?" I asked. Ino nodded and gave me a hug.
"Sure. See ya at school."
She jogged back to her friends who squealed when one of them said something about Sasuke. I shuddered, not wanting to know what private thing they found out about him.
As I reached the Academy, I spied Naruto sitting on a swing and staring sadly into space. I frowned with concern and came over to my friend.
"Hey Naruto, you okay?" I asked. He looked up at the sound of my voice and instantly grinned.
"Hey Hikari-chan! Yeah, I'm alright – somebody broke into my house again and stole all my money, but it's cool." he replied in a kind of resigned way.
I growled in anger.
"Why would they do such a mean thing?" I asked rhetorically.
Naruto shrugged and drew an orange sleeve across his eyes before standing up and shoving his hands into the pockets of his orange tracksuit pants. I stood up too and grabbed onto my friend's hand, stroking it with my thumb to try and comfort him.
"It's okay, Naruto. You can share my lunch today." I offered.
Naruto brightened, he loves my Mom's cooking.
"Thanks, Hikari! You're the best." He yelled and tried to smother me in a hug.
I giggled and we walked into the classroom together. Sitting down at one of the desks, I pulled out my homework and spread it out in front of me so that I could easily pick it up and hand it to Iruka-sensai when he asked for it. Naruto then engaged me in a conversation that I eagerly listened to and responded appropriately. Every now and then, the door would slide open with different groups of classmates walking in either chatting or reading over their notes.
At one time, the door slid open and in stepped a thoroughly annoyed Sasuke, followed quickly by a large group of fangirls who were talking at the top of their voices and trying to get Sasuke's attention. I looked up when the door opened and instantly blushed – Sasuke, sensing another person looking at him looked up with a glare ready and looked right at me. His glare mellowed and I gave a tentative wave at him.
He nodded and continued walking towards a nearby desk and sank down into it – ignoring the usual questions coming at him from all directions.
"Humph. That teme thinks he's all that." mutters Naruto from beside me. I aimed a sharp kick to Naruto's shin which caused him to grunt in pain.
"What was that for?" he demanded.
I smiled innocently at him before responding.
"Don't be so mean to him. He's not that bad." I replied, causing Naruto's eyebrow to disappear into his hairline.
"How do you know that?" he asked.
I lowered my voice and lent in closer to him so that he was the only one who could hear me.
"Sasuke walked me home when I bumped into him on my way home from school yesterday." I explained.
Iruka-sensai chose that moment to come in and fixed us all a pleasant smile.
"Good morning, class!" he said.
"Good morning, Iruka-sensai." We replied robotically.
Iruka-sensai frowned at the tone.
"Aw, come on. You can do better than that. Good morning, class!" He scolded.
A few of us rolled our eyes, while most of the girls giggled.
"Good morning, Iruka-sensai!" We said a little more enthusiastically.
"That's better!" He beamed at us, before standing behind his desk and shuffling around some papers.
"Now I hope you're all prepared for the practical test today. It will be one of a few that you will need to take before the final test to determine if you are ready to become qualified ninja." He announced to the horrified groans of his students.
At lunch time, Naruto and I were sitting underneath a tree and eating the lunch Mom had made for me.
It was a common situation where Mom always made me too much food, claiming that I was a little too thin for her liking. I disagreed, claiming that I always ate enough until I was full. I looked over at Naruto affectionately, who was busy chewing away at some strawberry Onigiri my Mom had packed for me, while I ate some steamed pork dumplings.
"Wow, this is fantastic! Tell your Mom her food rocks!" complimented Naruto with his mouth full.
I winced but nodded in agreement. Sensing somebody looking at me, I looked up and glanced around for the person and saw Sasuke walking by with a broody look on his face. I put down my Bento, catching Naruto's attention and went over to Sasuke who stopped walking when I approached.
"Hey, Sasuke. How are you today?" I asked brightly.
"Hn. Fine I guess." He replied without smiling.
I held out my left hand to Sasuke and he glanced down at the Daisy ring, a barely noticeable smile appearing on his face.
"Thanks for the ring, it's lovely." I said smiling and tilting my head with some confusion.
I still didn't know why he had given it to me in the first place and was interested in finding out. He discreetly took my hand in his and held it firmly.
"You're welcome." He replied before letting go of it just as quickly.
I glanced over my shoulder at Naruto who was staring at us curiously and had pieces of sticky red coloured rice dotted all over his face. I giggled.
"Come over and sit down." I demanded politely tugging on his hand and dragging him over. He sighed, but followed reluctantly and sat down beside me. He glared at Naruto with some annoyance.
"Dobe."
"Teme." Naruto responded, wiping his face with his sleeve.
Both Sasuke and I winced at the move. It was really bad table manners, but I let it go over my head. Spying the Onigiri Naruto hadn't yet consumed, I picked up the plate and offered it to Sasuke who looked down at the plate hesitantly.
"Would you like some Onigiri?" I offered.
Sasuke frowned deliberating his answer. He looked like he was about to say no, but I continued talking.
"My Mom sometimes likes to make 'Lucky Dip Onigiri' for me for my lunch." I explained causing both Naruto and Sasuke to raise their eyebrows at me in confusion.
"Lucky Dip?" asked Sasuke, curiously. I nodded.
"Yeah – different types of fruit."
Sasuke stared at the plate of Onigiri again.
"Try one." I offered again.
This time Sasuke didn't hesitate, he gingerly picked one up at random and with a short glance at me, bit into it. Instantly, Sasuke's eyes lit up in delight and he swallowed his mouthful.
"Plum." He confirmed and bit into the treat again, leaning back into the tree truck.
Naruto reached over and picked up another one, biting into it.
"I think I got a peach." He said with his mouth full and swallowed before taking another large bite.
"Dobe, finish what you're eating BEFORE talking to us. We don't want to see what you're eating." Sasuke complained sternly, before turning away and finishing off his Onigiri. Naruto scowled at Sasuke before turning to me and smiling.
"What one did you get, Hikari-chan?"
I picked up an Onigiri and closed my eyes thinking what it could be.
"I think mine's going to be a Pineapple one." I predicted and bit into it. Chewing for a moment, and felt my shoulders sag in disappointment before swallowing and confirming the fruit.
"Nope, Kiwi."
Sasuke, Naruto and I sat around eating the rest of the Onigiri and listening to Naruto going on about something important to him, when a shadow descended over us and we looked up curiously to see who the person was. Each of us had a different reaction:
Naruto smiled brightly and tried to tidy himself up as best as he could.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes in annoyance and looked away to stare at something else.
And I deflated slightly under the glare of Sakura Haruno who was standing there with a whole pack of Sasuke fangirls. I was surprised to see that Ino wasn't standing next to Sakura as usual. The bubblegum pink haired girl directed her attention towards Sasuke, ignoring Naruto and I completely.
"Hey Sasuke-kun! You wanna hang out with us?" she asked hopefully.
"No thanks." Sasuke replied shortly.
Naruto took this chance to talk to Sakura.
"Hey Sakura-chan!" he said grinning like a fox.
Sakura looked at him disinterestedly, like he was a piece of chewing gum she had found on the bottom of her sandal.
"Hi..." she replied carelessly and returned her attention to an uncomfortable, irritated Sasuke.
I frowned at Sakura's rudeness.
"That's not very nice. He was just saying 'Hi'." I said to Sakura disapprovingly.
Sakura glared at me in a very bitchy way.
"Was I talking to you?" she snapped – causing Sasuke to snap his attention back to her and my eyes widened in shock when I saw them flash violently.
"Now, I'm most certainly not going anywhere with you." He retorted angrily.
Sakura's eyes widened with hurt.
"But why, Sasuke-kun?" she asked in disappointment, probably hoping Sasuke would say 'Just kidding' and get up and leave with them.
"I don't have to give you a reason. Go away!" He ordered sternly and picked up the last Onigiri from the plate.
"But-"
"Leave!" He growled and we watched as the mob of frightened girls quickly left.
Sasuke looked down at the Onigiri he was chewing on and a small smile spread across his face as he recognised the flavour.
"Tomato. My favourite."
Naruto and I looked at each other and then at Sasuke with opened mouths – impressed, but a little bit afraid of the last Uchiha heir. The bell rang and the three of us stood up and walked back to the classroom together. For the rest of the day, Sasuke sat with Naruto and I as we each stood up to do our practical tests. We became close friends ever since...
Even if Naruto frequently pissed Sasuke off...