A/N: As you've probably noticed, I've been playing with Sakura's character a little. I'm trying to keep her pretty in character, but if I made her exactly how she was at the beginning of the series I would kill her. Brutally kill her. Yes, she frustrates me that much. So, I have adjusted her character a wee bit. Once again, thanks for all the reviews! You guys rock!

Chapter Three

The day had come. Today Sasuke would be assigned to a jonin instructor.

It was a day that came with much uncertainty and even a bit of anxiety. Sasuke was not so concerned about his teammates; there were some people he did not want on his team, but there were bound to be some unsatisfactory members on any team. Sasuke was concerned about his jonin instructor. This man or woman would be vitally important throughout the next few years. He or she would be responsible for directing his training as a ninja, for deciding when he was ready for the chunin exams, for nominating him for the jonin exams after that, and for numerous other important tasks. Yes, the question of who he would be assigned to weighed heavily on his mind.

From what Sasuke had gleaned, Hatake could be difficult to work with, but then, so was he. According to Shisui, Hatake Kakashi was perpetually late and occasionally obnoxious, but he was, as Shisui put it, "one damn good ninja".

Yuhi Kurenai was an undistputed genjutsu master, nearly as gifted as Itachi. Genjutsu was invariably a huge part of any Uchiha's bag of tricks, and Sasuke knew his needed improvement. Yuhi's strongest suit was not ninjutsu, an essential part of his necessary training, but he could receive knowledge from others if he had to. Overall, Yuhi was an excellent kunoichi. Sasuke wouldn't mind her as a teacher.

Sarutobi Asuma was the only candidate that Sasuke was comparatively uneducated on. Asuma had had a reputation as a child, but that told Sasuke little. The most recent years of his life had been spent mainly out of the village, completing an unspecified mission, the type of mission that was so common to Konoha's upper crust of ninja. Unfortunately, that didn't tell Sasuke much at all. No, to him Asuma was a blank page.

And there was the question of the other sensei. There had to be several more. The identity of the jonin instructors was often kept a secret until the day of assignment. His mother was excellent at gathering information/gossip, so her revelations had not surprised him. But she had not learned anything else, and Sasuke lack of knowledge bothered him immensely.

The day was bright and clear, and Sasuke walked slowly to the Academy. There was no need to rush. When Sasuke reached the Academy, he was a bit taken back by the difference. All the younger classes were dismissed for the day, and the Academy was far quieter without the shrieks and howls of the unruly younger children. Sasuke enjoyed the change.

The classroom was already full when he arrived. Sasuke slid into his usual bench, folding his hands on the desktop. Surreptitiously he studied the room, examining the different students. Who would be on his team? Who would he want if he could chose? Shino is powerful; he could be a valuable asset. However, his ego was almost as large as Sasuke's; that could cause a problem. Shikamaru was highly intelligent, but his extreme laziness was impossibly frustrating.

Ino's shrill voice interrupted his musings. She was standing behind Sakura. The two were obviously engaged in a heated discussion over some unknown topic. "Sasuke would never want you, Forehead!" Not again. Their constant fight over him had gotten old years before. "Your crush on him is so pathetic!" Look who's talking.

"That's not true, Pig!" Sakura yelled back. "You have no idea! The other day I-"

She's going to tell. That incident had been a fluke, an entirely random event that had panned her way. Sasuke was thankful for her help, but that was it. He would not have her spreading it around Konoha so she could wear it as a badge of honor. He looked harshly at her and fiercely shook his head, hoping his mental NO! would resound across the room and stop her. She's not going to listen. Her reputation's more important than-

"Never mind," Sakura said. Sasuke didn't let his surprise show, although it was a battle to not let it show on his face. "I'm going to sit next to Sasuke-kun!" She cleanly redirected the conversation as she sprinted for the seat beside him. Ino protested loudly over the unexpected development.

"Hello, Sasuke-kun," she said, glaring victoriously at Ino. "How are you?" Sasuke didn't answer immediately, and she didn't bother to wait. "I'm excited! I can't wait to find out who's on my team. I hope Ino isn't; she's so annoying! Not Naruto either; he's almost as bad as Ino is sometimes. Don't you think so, Sasuke-kun? Well," she amended. "He's not a bad person, just annoying. Shikamaru- he's super frustrating too. And-" She inhaled again, and Sasuke stopped her before she could fly off onto another tangent.

"Do you always act like this?" Sakura jolted; his voice had caught her completely off guard.

"Uh, I don't know," she said uncomfortably. "I'm sorry. I can be-"

"If you really want to be friends with someone, you should listen instead of endlessly prattling on and on." It's no wonder you don't get along with that girl. Kami, the two of you, trying to a have a conversation? "You're very annoying."

The girl's face crumpled. Sasuke almost regretted what he had said. Almost. "I," she began, but she never had a chance to finish her thought. As she opened her mouth to speak Naruto, who had been previously perched in front of them arguing with another boy, fell forward. Naruto's face smashed onto Sasuke's face. For a fraction of a second their lips collided. It was a fraction of a second too long.

Sasuke jerked his body back and turned his head to the side, wildly spitting and swearing. Naruto mirrored him; for several minutes both boys convulsively coughed, sputtered, spitted, and cursed.

"NARUTO!" The crowd of Sasuke's admirers was furious.

"Get him!" Ami screamed. The swarm of girls descended on the hapless boy.

Sasuke sat back up, leaning against his seat. Hardly an auspicious start to the day. At least Sakura was- oh, wait, she was still there. She was noticeably angry, but she hadn't risen from her seat. "Why aren't you with them?"

She looked at him. "It's not his fault. That stupid kid down here shoved him. And they wouldn't want my help anyway." Mood swings much? Sasuke didn't comment. There was no need to.

"That's ENOUGH!" Iruka screamed. He charged into the middle of fight, pulling random girls off Naruto. "You are all genin now! I expect you to act better than this!" Do you really? Don't be so delusional. A headband alone is not going to drastically change anyone. After several minutes, Iruka finally unearthed Naruto. "In your seats! All of you!"

As soon as the girls were in their seats, Iruka began to read off the team names. Sasuke waited, tuning out the droning of Iruka's voice, listening only for his name.

"Team 7," Iruka continued. "Uchiha Sasuke," said boy stopped spacing and paid more attention. "Uzumaki Naruto, and Haruno Sakura."

Sakura glowed happily. Naruto was less enthusiastic. "Iruka-sensei!" The orange-clad boy yelled. "You can't put me on the same team as him!"

"Shut up, Naruto!" Sakura yelled obnoxiously, slamming her fist on the boy's head. He quieted immediately. "Yelling's not going to change anything." She peeked at Sasuke. "Not that I'd want it to."

Ino was glaring evilly at Sakura. Sakura didn't pay any attention to her. Iruka sensei resumed his reading, assigned more and more children to teams, ignoring the occasional protests and groans.

Less than ten minutes later all the teams had been fixed. The genin split up into groups as they left the room; some were loosely arranged into their actual teams, but the majority was moaning about their respective fates to their friends.

The great divergence occurred outside. Some had to return home, some wanted to go home, some were heading to the center of the village, and all wanted to enjoy the last day of freedom. Sasuke felt Sakura approach him from behind.

"Sasuke-kun?" Sakura said apprehensively. He regarded her wordlessly. "I was thinking that since we're a team and all we should eat lunch together."

We? Where is the we? You want to eat lunch with me. Naruto isn't in the picture. "Why?" Sasuke asked in a monotone voice.

"Why?" Sakura repeated, puzzled. "Because we're-"

"No, it's because you want to eat lunch with me." There was no sense in beating around the bush. Sakura blushed furiously. "It has nothing to do with the team." Even if it did, I probably wouldn't do it. "You're annoying, Sakura, and your skills are too weak." He picked up a spare kunai that some careless child had dropped and pocketed it. "If you actually cared about the team, you'd be working on them."

Sasuke didn't wait for an answer, mainly because listening to her trembling voice mutter out an apology would be far too much of a guilt trip. He didn't need that, and he didn't want to run the risk of feeling responsible for her and her rapidly shifting emotions. But even as he left her behind he could still hear her.

"Sakura! Why're you upset? What did teme do?" The blond brat was back.

"Nothing, Naruto," Sakura said, her voice lacking its usual strength and irritation.

"Hey, Sakura-chan, do you want to eat lunch together? I have anko dumplings! Come on, you know they're your favorite! Please? I'll give you all of them!"

"Well…okay. But only for the anko dumplings."

Naruto cheered happily. Sasuke could feel the girl's eyes boring into his back. He had been a little harsh, but the girl needed to hear it, didn't she? She had to know in order to get better. Sasuke pushed any lingering doubts away. He was right.

Mikoto was starting dinner when Sasuke arrived home. As was routine, he fell in step beside her and helped her prepare. Mikoto flashed a grateful smile his way as they chopped and sliced and mixed. They didn't need words; after twelve years together they could communicate using body language alone. Mikoto loved Itachi dearly, but, understandably, she did not have the bond with him that she shared with her younger child.

"So," Mikoto said as she slid some vegetables into the stir-fry they were cooking. "Who are your teammates?"

"Haruno Sakura," Sasuke started. He paused to check the temperature of the water for the rice. It was too hot, and Sasuke took the time to lower it slightly. He hated overcooked rice.

"Haruno…oh yes, I've met her mother. Nice woman, although she's a bit reserved sometimes." Too bad she didn't pass any of that particular trait onto her daughter. "And your other teammate?"

"Uzumaki Naruto."

The two words hung in the now deathly silent air. The absence of a reply told Sasuke much more than an actual answer would have. Mikoto recovered after a moment or two. "Oh, he is?"

Sasuke nodded. The unspoken question, the question that he had mulled over for years, was between them. Mikoto knew he questioned the common hatred of Naruto, but she had never offered any answers. Sasuke would never ask her outright. There was an underlying reason, and Sasuke was fairly sure it had to deal with the boy himself. "Yes, he is."

"Well," Mikoto stalled, searching for a safe comment. "Your team will certainly be an interesting one, that's for certain."

Sasuke agreed noiselessly. An unexpected smile spread across Mikoto's face. "What?" Sasuke couldn't help but be curious.

"Nothing, Sasuke," she answered immediately. Sasuke raised an eyebrow at his mother, and her smile deepened. "I was just picturing Hiro's reaction to the news."

"And that made you smile." Sasuke's sentence was half inquiry, half sarcastic jab.

"Hiro can be funny when he's angry, Sasuke, especially when there's nothing he can do about the thing that made him angry. Watching him simmer and eventually boil over might be enjoyable." Mikoto studied her son's serious face. "What are you thinking?"

"I wasn't aware you were a sadist." Sasuke was rewarded with a deep, genuine laugh from his mother.

"Do me a favor, Sasuke, and run and wake Shisui."

"Shisui?"

"Oh, did I forget to mention him? He somehow managed to drag his sorry hide back to Konoha on time for once." Mikoto's tone did not convey the annoyance her words did. "He got here this morning and passed out upstairs. He's sleeping, but I know he'll be hungry. He always is."

Shisui's mother had died in the Kyuubi attack, and his father, who held a high position within the police force, had little time for his son. As a result, Shisui had joined their slightly dysfunctional little family unit. His father had died six years after the attack, and by then Shisui had basically moved in with their family.

Sasuke pushed open Shisui's door. As he had expected, Shisui was collapsed face down on his bed, face buried in his pillow. His shirt had been abandoned on the floor, and his back was covered dirt, blood, and bruises, but Sasuke didn't see any major injuries.

When Sasuke was younger, he would jump on Shisui to wake him up. If he was sure Shisui was sleeping deeply enough not to hear his approach, and if Itachi was preoccupied enough to not stop him, he would open the door, step backwards until his back hit the wall of the hall, and run at Shisui. It had been rather fun, especially the part when Shisui would wake up, screaming and wailing for Mikoto to come and get her "demon spawn child" off him before he killed him.

Of course, one outgrows such childish practices. Sasuke hid a rueful smile as he tread carefully towards his cousin. Sliding a kunai out, he pressed it to Shisui's neck in a firm motion, just barely cutting the skin at the nape.

Startling awake abruptly, Shisui caught Sasuke's wrist and flipped him onto the bed. Sasuke jerked out of the way of the kunai that Shisui tried to slit his throat with and rolled down towards the foot of the bed. Shisui cursed at Sasuke and lunged for him, trapping him the moment before he got away. Grabbing Sasuke's shirt, Shisui pulled the younger boy towards him until he was almost eye to eye with him.

"Sasuke, you idiot!" Shisui yelled, sitting up on his bed. "Do you know I almost killed you?"

"Shisui, you couldn't kill me if you tried," Sasuke lied.

"Only because Itachi would kill me afterwards!" True, Sasuke admitted. "Why the hell are you in my room?" Shisui demanded.

"Mother told me to wake you up. Dinner's ready." Shisui's face changed immediately. He smiled and let go of Sasuke's shirt.

Shisui closed his eyes. "Food. Yes, that's worth waking up for, even that means being waken up by the evil child." He stretched, and Sasuke used that opportunity to dart out the door before Shisui could remember that he was pissed at him. Shisui's dojutsu was impeccable, and an angry Shisui was quite irrational.

"Did you wake him?" Mikoto asked.

"Yes," Sasuke answered, satisfied with his work. Mikoto stopped and stared at Sasuke, clearly torn. She knew was supposed to rebuke her child for harassing his cousin, but she found Sasuke's antics too humorous to ask him to stop. Sasuke was nothing if not loyal to his mother, and if she truly wanted him to stop he would. And if it brings her enjoyment, Sasuke reasoned. It's perfectly acceptable.