"Am I not destroying my enemies
when I make friends of them?"

-Abraham Linconln


Naruto sat sullenly in what was now dubbed 'his spot' in the infirmary. He was around so much, Tsunade had even gotten him his own cup, since their tea-time chats had become a thing.

Despite the fact that he was hurting all over and he suspected broken ribs—Naruto had refused to go to the hospital. Besides, Gaara was efficient with bandages. It was Kakashi-sensei who had forced him to go to the infirmary, asking him to deliver a note.

The school nurse may be rough and sometimes downright violent, but when Naruto had appeared at her office, bruised and looking dead on his feet, she ushered him in without a word and patched him up, handing him a cup of steaming chocolate afterwards. Naruto appreciated the fact that she did not ask any questions.

After that, Naruto escaped to the Infirmary whenever he needed to think or hide from overbearing people.

Tsunade sauntered into the room.

"Bee in your bonnet?"

"What does that even mean?" Naruto mumbled, accepting his tea. Something hot, red and smelled of flowers.

"Haven't the foggiest." Tsunade stretched out in her seat, sighing. "Why do you look constipated?"

Naruto pondered his tea for a moment.

"I had a talk with Kakashi-sensei."

Tsunade snorted, like that explained everything. "And? What did he have to say?"

Naruto blew on his tea, staring at the ripples that flowered on the surface as he looked back at what happened just moments ago.

"Naruto Uzumaki. My, haven't we been busy!"

He had been called out by Kakashi-sensei right after the bell had rung for lunch. He had tried to avoid this confrontation—questions from the teachers regarding his bruises were going to be a pain in the ass. And he had just narrowly escaped being suspended a week ago!

But Gaara had looked like he was about to pick a fight with a teacher, so he waved the red-head off and begrudgingly allowed Kakashi-sensei to lead him away from the hallway.

A few curious passersby stopped to gawk, but Naruto kept his eyes firmly to the floor. He passed by Sasuke on the way and avoided his glare as he walked past. Recently, the boy had taken to boring holes into him with his eyes. A few days ago, all that attention from the Uchiha would have probably made him (secretly) happy. Now, all Naruto wanted to do was crawl up in a hole and hide from him forever.

Kakashi-sensei led him to an empty room on the third floor and invited him to sit. He didn't seem like a bad guy but Naruto found him sort-of creepy, with his face mask and nose permanently buried in an erotic novel. His only saving grace was that he seemed to be good friends with Iruka-sensei.

"Relax, I'm not here to lecture you or anything." Kakashi waved a hand. "I'm sure you know better than anyone what kind of deep shit you're in."

"Thanks, sensei." Naruto replied dryly.

Honestly, why were all his teachers so strange?

"Personally, it's always been my policy to let the kids go around figuring stuff out for themselves. Gives them character, you see?"

"You mean you're just lazy."

"Unfortunately," Kakashi-sensei ignored him. "A higher power dictates that I address the issue of your extra-curricular activities. Or, your lack thereof. Are you aware that it is mandatory for all students to engage in a worthless endeavor for the betterment of themselves?"

Naruto vaguely remembered Neji mentioning something like that.

"As it stands, the school has noted that you have yet to join a club, and have sent me to ensure that you stop slacking off. So." Kakashi waved something in the air and Naruto recognized it as an Application form. "Stop. Slacking off, I mean."

"Sensei," Naruto began, already feeling a cold sweat coming on. "I… kinda don't have the time for extra-curriculars? Could you, somehow, make an exception?"

"No can do." Kakashi-sensei replied. "The school is very strict about the… er, well-rounded education of their students."

"My guardians—" Naruto blurted out, and immediately regretted it.

"Oh, all parents and guardians have been notified of this. You'll find that your guardians, are already well-aware of what you must do in order to maintain a pleasant stay in Konoha Academy." Kakashi had a slightly dangerous gleam in his eye.

Naruto pondered over his words. If what Kakashi-sensei said was true, then the Harunos would have no choice but to let him stay out later. After all, as long as he came back before Sakura did…

"Fine, whatever." Naruto sighed.

"Excellent. Now, for your club activities, may I suggest the Soccer—"

"No." Naruto quickly said. "I… I don't do sports. I'll… I'll just join whatever Gaara's in."

It was alarming how much Kakashi's maniacal grin could be seen despite the ever-present face-mask.

"That works out perfectly, as Gaara's in the Soccer Team."

Naruto startled in his seat.

"What?!"

"And Uchiha had just sent me an official request for a Team Manager. So! Congratulations, Naruto. You are now the Official Manager of Konoha's Soccer Team

Tsunade burst out laughing.

"It's not funny!"

Tsunade was too busy clutching at her stomach to hear him.

"He totally planned that!" Naruto complained, leaping to his feet. "What a scary person. He's all smiles and carefree attitude but inside, he's a demon!"

"Congratulations, kid."

"Don't mock me." Naruto dropped back to his seat with a huff. "Me? Join the soccer team? Give me a break. I'll find a way to get out of it, just you wait."

"No can do. I already received your application for the team, it's all been processed." Tsunade grinned wickedly.

Naruto paused, looking at her suspiciously.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm the moderator of the Soccer Team. Surprise!"

"Lies." Naruto scoffed. "What's a nurse doing playing coach to a varsity team?"

Tsunade hit him across the head. "For your information, I am a licensed medical professional and I specialize in sports therapy. You'd be surprised by how much these idiots hurt themselves running around chasing after a ball."

"I'm not joining your stupid club! I won't!" Naruto cried, rubbing his head.

"Are you a child?!" Tsunade glared, kicking him out of the bed. "Break is almost over; get your ass back to class."

"You're a disgrace to the medical profession!" Naruto cried over his shoulder, running out of the office. "You stupid old hag!"

He slid the door open and ran smack into a solid wall of chest.

"Oof!"

Naruto looked up and felt his stomach dip.

"Er, hi Kiba."

Well, this was bound to happen sooner or later.

The morning after that fateful night on the playground, after Gaara had dragged him out of (his) bed and forced him to go to school; Naruto hadn't been in the right state to deal with people. Gaara had reasoned that by not showing up at school, Naruto was conceding defeat. At that time, however, Naruto did not feel very much like fighting the world, and so he had stayed within the comfort of Gaara's presence and blocked out the outside world.

Kiba, who had braved Gaara's death glare in his concern, had grabbed Naruto by the shoulders and shook him like a rag-doll, alarmed at his lack of response. Gaara nearly broke his wrist for that.

They had not spoken since.

The taller boy looked down at him with an unreadable expression on his face. Naruto couldn't help the guilty clench in his stomach as he looked away.

"Look, I'm… I'm sorry for…" Naruto's words caught in his throat and he felt stupid as he realized he couldn't find the words. What could he say? Nothing he could say would ever sound right.

"Sorry." Naruto said again in a small voice. "You should… just stay away from me."

He stepped aside and walked away, feeling his heart grow colder with each heavy step he took. Behind him, Kiba made a loud, exaggerated noise.

"Ahem," Kiba shuffled his feet, scowling at the ground. "I need a partner for Gym class."

Naruto paused, ruthlessly suppressing the hope blooming in his chest.

"Er… What about Shikamaru?"

"I can't count on someone half-dead for gym class." Kiba scoffed, and it was all so familiar that Naruto wanted to cry.

"But… I'm…"

Kiba made a frustrated sound.

"Do you want to be my gym partner, or not?"

This time, Naruto allowed the grin to eat up his entire face.


Gai-sensei was another strange teacher to add to Konoha's long list of instructors. However—Naruto stared avidly at the blinding green jumpsuit shining mysteriously under the sun—the enthusiastic Gym teacher was probably in another league altogether. For one thing, everything about the man was… there was no other word for it… blinding.

"I love freshmen class! Ah, smell the vigor of youth! We are the peak of our vitality, we are invincible!"

Even his teeth were blinding.

"NOW! GO FORTH WITH THAT ENERGY AND GIVE ME TEN LAPS AROUND THE FIELD!"

Naruto cried in outrage along with the rest of the class, but quickly leapt to action when the man began to chase around students with an enormous paper fan.

"He's insane!" Naruto gasped, falling into step along Kiba, who was watching the teacher warily.

"Anyone wearing that much green spandex has got to be hiding something—"

Naruto jumped in alarm as Kiba keeled over, the ball bouncing off his back.

"LET'S GO! LET'S GO! LET ME HEAR YOUR VOICES, YOU PUNKS!"

Naruto clapped his hands to his ears and sped up, unwilling to get caught in the vortex of Gai-sensei's presence. He spotted Gaara, who was several feet away, jogging leisurely as if there wasn't a green monster in a bowl-cut, hot on their tails.

"You," He caught up, panting. "Why didn't you tell me you were in the soccer team?!"

Gaara glanced at him. "You never asked."

"To begin with, why the hell are you even in the soccer team? That makes no sense at all!"

He shrugged, and Naruto hated the easy way he kept his pace at the turn of the second lap, when his own ribs were starting to protest under the strain.

"They told me they'd exempt me from all in-class homework if I joined."

"What?!" Naruto found it so unfair, he stopped in his tracks.

Gaara did not even pause. Naruto stomped his foot in indignation. He'd be damned if he was forced into the soccer team, when Gaara fucking Sabaku was exempted from fucking homework.

Ten minutes later, Gai-sensei finally blew his whistle to end their torture.

"All right, gather up!"

Naruto gasped, clutching his knees as he attempted to get as much oxygen into his lungs as he could. His ribs were on fire, still not fully recovered from the beating it received, and sweat had gotten into his eyes. A few feet away, Kiba was lying on the ground, boneless against the hot sun while Shikamaru—that bastard—hadn't even broken a sweat. Did the guy even run?!

"That was ten laps, I'm sure that's got you warmed up enough!"

Burned out was more like it.

"Good! Because we're playing a team sport today. I hear the captain of our very own soccer team is here. This will make my job much easier."

Naruto looked longingly over at the other side of the field, where the girls half of the class were sitting in the shade, listening to the female teacher lecturing on the principles of gymnastics. He'd gladly do cartwheels if he could just get out of this mind-numbing heat—

"You're on my team."

Naruto blinked confusedly at Gaara, who was looking at him impatiently, a red jersey on hand.

"What do you mean?"

"We're playing a game."

He glanced around and realized half the class was accepting blue slip-on jerseys from Gai-sensei. Ugh. A soccer game? In this heat? Kill him now.

"Who's on the other team?" Naruto groused, slipping on the jersey.

Gai's whistle blew and Gaara stepped forward to shake the hand of—Sasuke. What? That was so not fair. He was the freakin' captain of the varsity team, why were they making him play with mere mortals?

"We're gonna get clobbered." Naruto muttered, sidling next to Kiba who had the most serious expression Naruto's ever seen on his face.

"Naw, don't underestimate Sabaku. On this team, I'm gonna show that great Uchiha Sasuke that Soccer isn't a sport played by one great man!"

"What in the world—"

Naruto was not able to process anything else as the game began in earnest, and he found out just how into soccer Konoha Academy really was.

This was the school with the top soccer team in the league after all, and Naruto couldn't help but be swept away by the energy, pushing his legs faster to keep up with the hard pace of the mock-game.

"Naruto!"

Kiba passed him the ball and without thinking, Naruto kicked it towards Gaara, who had miraculously appeared in his line of sight. The sound of the ball flying into the goal was exhilarating and Naruto cheered along with his classmates and ran towards the red-head.

"That was amazing!" Naruto grinned, raising his arms for a high-five.

Gaara blinked at him for a second, cocking his head, before Naruto high-fived him in the face.

"Don't pretend you didn't know what that was." Naruto snickered, patting him on the back as they ran back towards the defense. The ball was on the other team now, and Sasuke—

Whoosh.

The whistle sounded as a point was awarded to the other team.

"Whoa," Naruto gaped at the still quivering net where the ball had nearly ripped through. "I didn't even see the ball."

"Wonderful shot, Uchiha." Gai-sensei said, admiring the abused net where the poor goal-keeper was shaking in his gloves.

Naruto couldn't help but agree. So this was Konoha's pride and joy?

They played another ten minutes where Gaara seemed to have taken it a personal mission to put in as many goals as possible, while Sasuke refused to lose. In the end, Gai-sensei had to end the game as the poor goal keepers burst into distraught tears.

"Why did you have to do that, geez." Naruto chided as they walked back to the bleachers.

"I didn't want to lose."

"It's just a game."

Gaara ignored him but Naruto was used to that already. He paused instead to tie up his shoelaces, which proved to be a terrible mistake as he got roped into clearing up the field by Gai-sensei. Naruto didn't want to sound whiny, but his ribs were really killing him now. But Sasuke was there too, silently gathering stray balls at Gai-sensei's orders, and somehow, Naruto didn't feel like losing either. So he hunched his shoulders and began to collect the orange cones scattered around the area.

The hour spent running around in the heat was starting to get to him and Naruto fought the swaying as he stooped to pick up the last of the cones. That was probably why he hadn't noticed the presence coming up to him, until he felt the icy shock of a bottle pressing against his face.

It was Sasuke, and Naruto couldn't help but accept the water bottle as he was caught completely off guard. He held the bottle, the coolness feeling great on heated skin, as he stared after Sasuke's retreating back.

Slowly, he twisted off the cap and took a drink, the water giving him immediate respite as he felt some of his fatigue washed away by the fluid entering his body. That was definitely the only reason why he was grinning like an idiot.

And he totally didn't keep the bottle.


Sasuke tried to tamp on the embarrassed flush that crept up the back of his neck as he walked away from the blond. Whatever possessed him to give that bottle, it was gone now, and in its stead was the angry voice in his head calling him an idiot.

He wasn't watching the dobe. Not at all. He didn't notice the way he winced through the whole class, carefully avoiding strain on his left side. The way the blond was heated and dehydrated and yet forced to put more strain on his injuries by joining the clean-up. He totally didn't jog all the way up to the lockers to retrieve the coldest bottle he could find, and he definitely didn't intend to give it to the blond at all.

Who the fuck was he kidding?

Sasuke paused in the safety of the bleachers, a hand rising up to cover his face.

This was getting out of control.

"Sasuke-kun."

It was like a switch had turned off, and Sasuke was snapped back to reality as he looked up to pinkness and dear god

"Go away."

Seriously. She was the most annoying of them yet.

"Are you busy over the weekend?"

"Yes."

"It's for our science project." Sakura crossed her arms, a slight smile on her face. "We're in a lab group together, remember?"

"I'm busy." Sasuke repeated, already turning to walk away.

"We can talk about it over at my house. You know the place. I'll make sure the other guy's there too."

Despite himself, Sasuke froze mid-step as he processed her words. The other guy? Her house? So many questions, so many theories that he didn't like the sound of, and what was he to do?

"What do you want?" He finally said, not turning around to look at her.

"Come over for tea, Sasuke-kun." Sakura laughed, flipping her hair to the side. "And I'll show you something really interesting."

Sasuke frowned, squared his shoulders and walked away.

"You've got a terrible personality, Haruno."

Sakura simply smiled at his retreating back, watching him disappear into the locker room. The sun was beginning to sink to a more comfortable spot in the sky, and Sakura leaned back slightly to glance back at the blond figure standing in the middle of the field, grinning like an idiot.

"Terrible personality," Sakura mused. "Aren't we just a perfect match, then?"