Chapter II
"Ahh, so good of you to finally join us, Mr. Uchiha. You're even later than I was."
The normally well-kept, together boy glared at his smug teacher, with a beautiful case of bed-head, barely noticeable bags underneath his eyes, and wearing the same jeans as the day before, not that anyone noticed.
"My, don't you look pretty. Very well rested," the Sociology professor said as the rest of the class giggled.
"Shut up Kakashi, be glad I even showed up," the boy muttered darkly while taking his seat in the back of the room, after he had passed in his paper.
"Anyway, what I was saying before I was rudely interrupted, is instead of another boring paper for me to have to grade, I've found the perfect alternative! Community Service!" he waited for the assignment to really sink in before dropping the bomb. "With partners!"
A simultaneous groan was heard throughout the class. Sasuke, however, eyed his teacher suspiciously; he really didn't like the look in the man's eye directed towards him.
"I have," the man in the front continued, "already chosen your partners, and where you will be working. Now, won't this be fun!?"
Insert cricket chirping here.
"Anyway," Kakashi coughed after a lengthy silence, "After you complete the assigned thirteen hours, I expect you to write a brief paper on what you did, what you learned, so on and so forth."
"Sir?" a pink-haired girl, that she swore was natural, from the very front of the room raised her hand. "That's all we get, "what we learned?" Nothing else?" At Kakashi's nod, she huffed in her seat, but perked when she remembered something. "Who are the partners?" she hopefully, eyes darting to the back of the room where the Uchiha sat.
"Right! Let me just find them," he muttered, shuffling around his desk for the piece of paper that was in his hand. "Oh. Ha! Here we go!"
He began reading names, and groans were heard across the room. Sasuke's head perked when he heard his name, and Kakashi paused slightly to look the boy in the eye and smirk. "Uchiha and… Uzumaki, hospital volunteers."
Sasuke's vision swam red, he was that angry with the gray-haired pervert. His boiling blood was pounding in he ears so that he wasn't able to hear the indignant squeak coming from the sun in the room, nor the comment of, "Why do I have to work with that bastard?!"
Eyes promising nothing less than massacre, Sasuke watched as Kakashi finished the lecture, getting more and more nervous as the time passed, from the killer intent in the back of the room. Not that the nervousness was visible to any of his students save one, because the very hesitant quaver in his voice when his eye wandered to the back of the room was virtually non-existent to anyone who hasn't known the teacher longer than a semester.
It wasn't that Kakashi was afraid of the Uchiha, per say. It's just not a wrath he would enjoy having evoked on himself. He'll admit that the initial shock on the boy's face was priceless, almost worth the wallop he was about to get. He may be small, but he can pack quite a punch, that was a lesson he wouldn't soon forget. And the Uchiha rage unleashed against you is not a pretty sight. The last time he had made a flippant comment about the boy's growing hair was about a month ago and for the next week he was sporting a brilliant shiner.
But, in all fairness, Sasuke wasn't one to anger easily. Quite the contrary actually. Even for an Uchiha, he was more laid back than others, but when he was angry, really angry, his temper was just as explosive as the name he wears so proudly. His scrawny figure was in direct contrast to his anger; when he was angry, he could be as intimidating as a pro-wrestler.
Even Kakashi, clearing a cool 6'4" was slightly intimidated by the boy in anger, even when it wasn't directed at him, because he know the extent of the boy's strength an willingness to punish, if they cross a line.
"Oh, and before you go, class, if I'm not here on Monday, tell my wife and kids that I love them!" Kakashi said to the departing class, trying to make a beeline towards the door to his office so that he could lock himself into it while Sasuke cooled down.
A couple of the students had heard the comment and snorted, knowing full well that Kakashi was a bachelor and would never give up his one true love for a woman, his porn.
Kakashi's escape route was so close when Sasuke barred the door shut just before it could open, wearing a pissed expression.
"Care to explain what the hell you were thinking?" the boy said in an eerily calm voice, promising pain and destruction with the edge.
"Well, you see…" Kakashi said while backing up slowly, mentally searching for an escape route. "I, uh, thought it'd be funny?"
"Funny?" he said incredulously. "Funny? I'm afraid I don't see the humour in any of this."
"Well, it was funny to me," the nervous man popped out without thinking, then slapped a hand over his clothed mouth. "No, I didn't mean it!"
"Right," he said sarcastically. Then much more serious, "Why? And how?"
Kakashi cocked his head and let his hands fall to his sides. Was the big, bad Uchiha almost, dare he say it, pleading? "I have my resources. It just so happens that I have a few connections at the hospital, mainly Tsunade, and when I mentioned you to her, she told me you worked there," he said, trying to shift the blame and anger onto someone else's shoulders. He almost a mental jig when some of the fire left the boy's eyes, but refrained for his own safety. He continued, "And as of why? It was Tsunade's idea." It wasn't, but the way things were going, he'd be off scot-free when he left.
"Tsunade?" Sasuke said, mulling this over. "No, this sort of thing isn't her style. She isn't into psychological torture, much more the physiological warfare. No, this just screams 'Kakashi.'"
Kakashi's mental jig stopped short and he began backing away again. He put his hands up in a placating gesture, "Calm down. I bruise like a peach!" 1
"I know."
Sasuke was in a much better mood then he'd been in a while. Kakashi, now bruised, battered, and locked in his office with no way out, was thoroughly dealt with. Though Sasuke still wasn't happy with his position.
Out of all people in his Sociology course, he disliked the blonde menace the most. He was just so… happy. And he was loud. The very converse of Sasuke. They were complete opposites, which was why, he was sure, that Kakashi stuck them together.
The man was sick in that sense; that he enjoyed causing people psychological anguish. 'But,' he thought to himself, 'he doesn't know why I like to keep this a secret.'
He sighed and ran steady fingers through his air as he thought back.
It was way back, he was about eleven years old, and his foster mother/6th grade teacher just announced to their class how absolutely darling it was that her "son" to visit sick kids in the hospital. So they were to follow his lead and make cards for homework that night. Suffice to say, the kids in his class were not happy about their assignment, they were sixth graders, and didn't make cards for homework anymore. And they let their unhappiness known in the form of ostracizing the poor boy, causing him to be even more introverted than before.
He was made fun of, by the males, for being so unmanly as to do something good for someone else. But the girls, they loved him for it, saying how cute it was for him to be so sensitive, causing the boys to get angry.
So when he moved to Konoha, he was sure to keep this tidbit of information about himself as under wraps as possible. He didn't want to be known as the sensitive pansy, and being chased even more than he already was. He covered his real personality with layers upon layers, if only to keep others at bay.
Now don't get him wrong, he most definitely wasn't a pansy or overly sensitive, but he was just slightly more in tune with the needs of others, and if he were in the position to help rather than hinder, he'd help. Usually.
But sometimes, only rarely, was he a serious bastard and actually meant it with every fiber of his being. And in his vocabulary, the term "hatred" was used very seriously, not nearly as fast and loose as most teenagers use it. There were, however, many people he disliked, but the feeling still wasn't as tall as hate.
He could remember clearly, every person he'd ever hated. The first was an old man, a neighbor, when he was six years old. The man had cats, so many cats that were so loud, causing his TV to blare well into the night. He always treated Sasuke like an extension of Itachi, and if he were ever alone, the man would ask about the elder brother, never the one standing in front of him. And that wasn't even the worst part to little Sasuke. The worst part was his smell. Sasuke was six, and therefore can't be blamed for his feelings towards the old man just because of his scent.
The second person he hated, was his brother. The man just left him alone, after he had promised to stay. This only lasted a little more than a year, when he finally accepted that the fact he hated his brother was that he just didn't want to believe he was dead.
The third was a boy in his seventh grade class who, Sasuke assumed, hated him because all the girls were hanging around Sasuke and not him. So he said something derogatory, Sasuke couldn't remember exactly what, about his family. And because of the boy's small frame, everyone thought that Sasuke was an idiot for trying to take on a boy almost a head taller and twice his body weight. Less than a half-hour after the comment was made, the boy was trussed up in an ambulance heading for the hospital.
And Naruto was close to making that list.
Sasuke checked his watch, and barely restrained a yawn. He had two hours before his next class started, and he figured sleep sounded like an amazing thing to do.
Five o'clock rolled around, signaling the end of classes for Sasuke. He had planned on taking a few night classes, but quickly realized he was just way too overbooked.
He was supposed to be working tonight, but the night before a girl he worked with at the restaurant called and asked if they could switch shifts, and he said it was fine. So, as he really had nothing better to do, he headed to the hospital.
He remembered that when he was younger, he would go to the local hospital, and just get to know the sick kids. After a while he'd bring books, or any other small gifts, to them, but he still didn't feel like he was doing enough.
So he spoke to someone there to find out if he could do anything more, but because he was still too young, he couldn't. So the visits continued, and the day after his fourteenth birthday, he signed up for an auxiliary course to become a "candy striper," so he could do more. He'd run labs, do a lot of footwork, and was only rarely asked to do medial cleaning chores. But he still visited wit the kids, for hours at a time.
And he was just as sad as they were when he moved. The staff there continued to send him updates, maybe once a month, of the kids' conditions, just as some of the kids would send him little notes, letters, cards, anything to which he would reply to each and every one of them.
"Sasuke? What are you doing here?" Tsunade asked, breaking off Sasuke's train of thought. The woman was startled to see the boy, because of the hours he'd clocked in the previous day, and he'd said he was working.
"I switched shifts with Temari; she has something to do tomorrow morning, so I said I'd cover her shift if she covered mine."
"Oh? That makes sense…" she trailed off, seeing the piercingly intense look she was receiving from the boy. "What?"
"'Community Service Projects?'" he said pointedly.
"Eh?" she asked confused. The metaphorical light bulb, and, "Oh! What'd Kakashi assign you?" The look she received was dull and dry, as if acting if she was serious.
"Did he now? What a stingy old man!" she laughed, never picturing the man to have quite the balls to pull something to dirty, so underhanded. She soon stopped, however, at the glowering face of the boy.
In a strangled voice, obviously trying to stay calm, he replied, "I had asked you not to tell anyone."
"Well, I just assumed that you had told him. He didn't even seem surprised when I mentioned it." She then had a most out of character impulse to say that she was sorry, because the boy just looked so angry. But she bit her tongue; wouldn't do to break her image, now would it?
"Oh, and before I forget, I was sent to run these, but since you're here, you can take these to the main desk," she said as she shoved the papers in her hands towards the boy. "Thanks! If you need anything from me, ask Shizune, I am officially off duty!"
"Lazy ass," he muttered after making sure the woman was out of earshot.
He hefted the papers and charts into a more comfortable position and walked for the main desk; all the while mentally maiming both bane's of his existence; Kakashi and Tsunade.
By midnight, Sasuke was sure he had mentally killed Kakashi a million times, each more violent than the last. His favourite was arson. But, he realized belatedly, that he wasn't as angry as he was (or wanted to be), and felt a little bad. Not enough to apologize, not even, but enough to consider letting the pervert out.
The man didn't have any classes on Friday, so nobody would think to come and check on him until Monday. Sasuke sighed and cursed at his damn conscious, which at the moment, ironically sounded like Kakashi.
So he sneaked stealthily onto campus and into the Sociology room.
And the scene he saw floored him then caused him to almost uncharacteristically fall to the ground laughing.
Kakashi, freaked because he had assumed he was alone, lost his grip on the ledge, dropping over twenty feet, right onto his bum. "Owww…" he moaned.
He had, somehow, managed to crawl out of the small window at the top of the room that connecting his office and the room. And the word small was used graciously; it was maybe two feet by two feet. Why it was there, he had no idea, but it was his only route to freedom, so he took it.
Sasuke, having composed himself after his little outburst, looked at the man, infinitely amused. His amusement turned to shock when he poked his head in to office and noted nothing was tall enough for Kakashi to stand on to reach the ledge. "How did you make that?"
Kakashi stood up, brushed off the back of his pants, and replied mysteriously, "With my mad ninja skillz." 2
Sasuke rolled his eyes at that, and again when the man slung an arm around his shoulders.
"You care! You were coming to let me out, weren't you?! I knew you couldn't hold a grudge!" he said as they walked out, favouring his right leg where Sasuke knew on his left was very bruised.
"Heh," Sasuke smirked, "That's what you think. I'm like an elephant, I never forget."
1. Not my line. Saw it on FRIENDS. (Which, by the way, is the best show)
2. Again, not exactly my line. Borrowed it after reading "Love, Shakespeare" by sha La La. oh my-my.
A/N: My sad attempt with humour... Pah, I'm wicked sorry for not getting this out any sooner, I had it written by Monday, but couldn't find it in me to type it up. Also, school has been wicked bad lately, so much work!
And I got myself a new video game Wednesday. Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 2. And in that silly fight between Itachi and Kakashi, Itachi pwns my soul every time. I played for two hours yesterday and two hours this afternoon, just that one fight, and I still can't beat it.
Thanks for all the great reviews! And, I dunno when I'll update again, I'm taking a class after school for the next month, Monday through Friday, 3-5. So I'll try to get it up by Wednesday? But please don't hold it against me if I'm lying to yah!