He'd played Akira Touya before.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Hikaru no Go and I am not making any sort of profit by writing and posting this story.

Warning(s): Language. (It's Sasuke. What else?)

He'd played Akira Touya before. They were almost-friends, actually, and he was just as famous in Go circles, even if he wasn't quite as respected. Being an Uchiha did that, especially if your estranged older brother was the most infamous cheater of all time. Itachi had been what, a 7-dan? He didn't remember. Sasuke himself would be an Insei now and not playing in some middle school tournament if his foster parents weren't so anal. Except that, if he were an Insei, he'd have never joined Konoha's Go club.

And if he'd never done that, then he never would have met Naruto.

Naruto, who was standing there with his mouth open like a fish, staring at something over his opponents left shoulder and not at the impossibility that was his Go board. Shindou had started out sloppy, sure, but when it became obvious he was loosing he'd paused, stared at the board like he wasn't seeing it, and then placed a stone with a –ting– that changed the tide of the game.

He'd thought Akira was loosing it. Shindou was nothing, and he certainly shouldn't be enough to beat the son of a Meijin. But he could see it, now, what Akira had meant. His eyes, he'd tried to explain uselessly. You could see it in his eyes. Sasuke paused, wasting precious seconds to glance up, hoping to glimpse the thing that had sparked fire in his fellow for the first time in years.

Sasuke's breath caught in his throat. His eyes, eyes just like– Sasuke glanced to the right where Naruto was hanging over their game, upset that Kiba had his spot in the top three.

Eyes like Naruto's.

Sasuke placed his next stone with greater resolve. In the moves that followed, something else occurred to him. This was like playing Kakashi-sensei. It was like playing Kakashi fucking Hatake, the private tutor from hell, after a handicapped start. And that made him angry.

"I resign." Sasuke heard from his left, and didn't bother looking over when he knew Shikamaru had won.

"Still playing, Sasuke?" Their Captain asked lazily, before glancing at the board. He pulled up short. Fuck yeah. I'd like to see you try playing this guy. Sasuke placed another stone, and another, and another, and the game spiraled on.

"Ha! Wait 'till Sakura-chan hears her Sasuke-kun got beat in one of our 'stupid tournaments'."

"Shut up, dobe."

"Teme!"

"Naruto," Iruka-sensei chided. "Now is not the time."

"Sasuke," Shikamaru interrupted, placing a hand on his shoulder. "End this."

Sasuke knew what Shikamaru wanted him to do. He almost didn't want to think it was necessary, but he knew it was if he wanted to win against this boy. Still, Sasuke avoided using it too often, incase somebody figured it out. It wasn't an outrageous thought; Kakashi had learned it from years of watching Uncle Obito play, even if he didn't get it quite right sometimes. And really, what did it matter if they lost this tournament? He didn't care, and protecting his family oseki came before his pride. Except that, well, Naruto cared – a lot. And it wasn't like there was anybody videotaping this.

Besides, he needed to use the Sharingan if he wanted to learn the Mangenkyou.

–ting–

Sasuke slammed his hand down on the timer and stared challengingly at Shindou. Take that. My Sharingan oseki will win me this. He'd never dreamed of using it in one of these stupid middle school tournaments, but then he'd never thought he'd find a potential like Naruto or a genius like Shikamaru in some nobody Go club either. When Shindou met his gaze, Sasuke was ready for those eyes. He wasn't ready for the counter move.

With a disbelieving gaze, Sasuke tried to find a different route. There was none. He looked to see if he could use Chidori, but that had been out of the question a long time and he knew it. He could try the Mangenkyou, but on top of still learning it he had to have the Sharingan in place first to build off of.

So this was it. He'd lost. Naruto was never going to let him forget it, that's for sure.

"I resign." Sasuke stood without thanking Shindou for the game, and turned to leave.

"Hey, wait, what the hell? You can't quit!" Naruto grabbed him by the shoulder and turned him around. Sasuke swung with the momentum and punched him.

"I'm not you." Sasuke threw at the stunned boy on the ground, viciously. "I don't stick out hopeless games to the end trying to get one more chance to win, like some moron. Look at that board. When you figure out a way I could have won, then talk to me about not quitting."

As he stalked out of the room – not caring to see if Kiba won them the tournament or not and trying to ignore Sakura's green eyes burning into his back from where she was playing across the room – his eyes landed on his gray-haired tutor standing at the door. Sasuke couldn't figure out if the man looked grave or amused, and decided it didn't matter. He barked out 'Not a word' as he stalked past. He wasn't going to talk to anyone at the moment.

He'd waited too long. That was it. If he'd used the Sharingan sooner, Shindou wouldn't have been able to cut him off. Next time, he wouldn't make that mistake. No matter how bad the opponent seemed at first. Whether they were giving him a handicap or they just suddenly . . . got . . . better . . . in the middle of a game . . . shit!

Naruto had been staring at empty space over the boy's shoulder, as if someone was there. Just like he had when they'd first met Gaara. And because of Gaara, Sasuke knew that there was more then one Go Spirit – as he'd come to call them – out there. Naruto had never told him, specifically, about Hinote no Kitsune, or Kyuubi as he had been called in ancient times, but Sasuke had figured it out on his own.

The fox-like spirit/Go master had been with Naruto since before he'd met Sasuke, as far as he could tell, but Naruto rarely relied on his help. Only in cases where it was important he win, and then Naruto would call for help that nobody could see or hear. Sasuke had seen Naruto play people where the blonde would start out normal, weak even, and suddenly become fierce and talented right when it seemed like he would loose. Just like Gaara. Just like Shindou.

The fucking cheat!

Sasuke spun on the spot and started back towards the tournament room, before catching hold of his anger and re-inserting logic into his thought process. It was one thing to lay out Naruto. It was entirely another to hit an opposing club member. Iruka-sensei would have no choice but to kick him off the team. After a few moments of indecision, Sasuke settled on beating the kid up if he ever saw him again.

Now he just had to figure out how to explain Go Spirits to Akira. Ah, sweet revenge.