This is the first chapter so far that I've actually written in actual portions. In truth, I've had it typed for a while, I just never got around to posting it. I certainly did have quite a few ideas for it; it's my favorite one so far! I'm not a soccer player myself (I only chose it because it was the first fall sport that came to mind) so I had to do some research (this was when I was procrastinating…in reality I should've been looking up topology and the knot theory for my math project…) and I hope everything's accurate.

Hope you guys enjoy it!

Chapter 6: It's Undeniable

---

"You wanted to see me?"

Kakashi looked up from his "novel" to see his star pupil standing before him.

"Ah, the period's over already?" The man had been so caught up in his reading that he had simply lost track of time. Besides, he had piled so much busy work on his students that it was guaranteed to last them the whole class time, most likely more. That had been his lesson plan of the day.

"It ended ten minutes ago," Sasuke drawled in a bored, almost lazy, tone. "I've been standing in front of your desk this whole time hoping that you might take some notice of the outside world, but I guess I had to actually try and get your attention."

"Well…when you put it like that…"

"What exactly am I hear for?" Sasuke had some time to kill before practice, but that in no way meant he wanted to be at this little after-school get-together with, most definitely, one of the oddest teachers in the whole school.

"Oh, right. I want you to organize those books over there," Kakashi stated in a sing-song voice, pointing to a cart near the left corner of the room, with at least thirty books stacked high on it.

Sasuke stared at him for a good minute.

Then, it occurred to him that his teacher was actually being serious.

"Y-you can't really expect me to waste my time doing that right?"

Sasuke could've sworn Kakashi's lips twisted downwards, forming a pout.

"Actually, I'm quite positively sure."

Sasuke twitched.

"No!"

"Oh Sasuke, have a heart!" Kakashi pleaded with false desperation. "I still have all those seven page essays to grade from your class! I really can't waste my valuable time organizing books!"

Sasuke sighed and rubbed his temples harshly. "Why me?"

"Because I felt like picking on you today!" Kakashi answered, again with his usual cheery tone.

Sasuke felt like strangling the man.

"Why the hell are you even organizing books anyways?"

"Ah," Kakashi scratched the back of his head nervously, "I guess you can say…I lost a bet of sorts…"

"You lost a bet. Of sorts." Sasuke didn't even want to know.

He shook his head. "How did you of all people even become a teacher? No, wait, how did you of all people even become a full-grown man?"

"Oh Sasuke, don't be mean!" Kakashi cried out. "Why did you think I wanted to see you after school? It's not as if you need the 'your grades are slipping, better pull them p fast' lecture. Besides, I just started to look over your essay last night, and let me say, it's certainly not up to par with all your other work that you've done." Kakashi held up the packet of paper and Sasuke saw a whole bunch of pen corrections, on just the first page alone.

He thought back as to what he had been doing that night while he wrote it. Normally, his papers would have close to no markings on it whatsoever!

Oh…that was the night I drugged myself on vodka…

"So what exactly are you saying?" Sasuke growled out.

"I'm not saying anything! What I'm implying though, is that if you help me, I'm willing to overlook a few errors, if you know what I mean…" Kakashi grinned.

"W-what?!" Sasuke sputtered. "That's blackmail!"

"Ah," as if that thought had just hit Kakashi for the first time, "I suppose it is."

"That's illegal!"

"…So?"

Sasuke was just about ready to maul his teacher over.

"Aw, it's not such a big deal is it? It'll take a mere twenty minutes and then you'll be out of here before you know it! I assume you were one of the only ones to finish all the class work I gave you today? Perfect, so you won't have any additional homework! Plus, you won't get a bad grade on your essay and you'll get to spend some quality time with your favorite teacher!" Kakashi's grin got even wider, if possible. Never in his life would he dream of actually blackmailing a student, but whenever he played that card, especially with someone who cared about their grades way too much, it worked every time.

"You have no idea how unbelievably sketchy that sounds," Sasuke muttered before, with a scowl, making his way to the bookshelf. He picked up the first book he saw and shoved it into its proper place.

"Gently, gently!" Kakashi chided before returning to his reading (although if Sasuke looked over, he was prepared to whip out that correcting pen) while the raven let out a mild snort before "gently" shoving the second book beside the first.

After about fifteen minutes had passed, Kakashi was the first one to break the silence in the room.

"So Sasuke, I hear the soccer team has their first game of the season tomrrow."

"Yep," came Sasuke's clipped reply. He only had a few more books left…

"Who is it you're playing again?"

"Sand Academy."

"Hmm," Kakashi said thoughtfully, "they any good?"

"No," Sasuke informed him flatly, "they suck. Last year we played them, the game was a joke."

"Ah well, don't go underestimating the opponent too much now…"

"All I know," Sasuke said while trying to squish a particularly fat book into place, "is that they've got a new coach. But that doesn't matter. The whole team had absolutely no skills. No coach in the world is going to save them." He moved the last book in. "Done."

Kakashi peered at the shelf and let out a clap. "Well done Sasuke! It's so beautiful; I'm almost moved to tears!

"Yeah, yeah," Sasuke began to grab his bag. He couldn't understand why it was so "beautiful." It was only a stack of books. If there was one thing he learned today, it was that Kakashi was definitely, at least a tad, messed up in the head. Just a little.

"I would've expected no less than perfection from someone of the Uchiha family! Speaking of which, how is Itachi by the way?"

Sasuke's mood was instantly dampered and his hand clenched into a fist.

"He's fine," the boy spat out.

Kakashi, oblivious to Sasuke's desire to never mention his brother's name again, continued his little rant. "I remember when I use to teach Itachi…he was a fine student, just like yourself. But he was never the captain of the soccer team right? He never did like sports too much…"

Sasuke felt himself swell with pride just a little. His brother had never particularly had an interest in sports, but it made him feel better if he just pretended his brother sucked at them.

"…But then again, he was the student body president and president of student council, is that right?"

Sasuke felt his pride die. He forced himself to nod.

That was something father was proud of.

"Well," Kakashi smiled widely, "good luck at the game tomorrow Sasuke! And thanks again for your help!"

Sasuke barely let a 'bye' escape from his lips as he stomped out the door.

Oh, his team was going to get hell at practice.

---

Sasuke paced around the locker room, trying to loosen up his nerves. No, he rarely got nervous. Especially since they were playing, without a doubt, the worst team in the whole league. He blamed his nervousness due to the fact that it was simply the first game of the season, nothing more.

"Are you trying to dig yourself into a hole, Uchiha?" Sasuke's pacing immediately ceased as he eyed Gaara who was sitting on one of the benches, eyes closed and looking as relaxed as ever. Was he really moving so loudly that Gaara could actually hear his steps? Not that that was too hard though, after all, they were the only two in the locker room. The rest of the team was already out on the field, warming up. Sasuke sighed and sat down as well, reaching for the tape.

"Not nervous at all, Gaara?" he asked as he began to wrap his ankles.

Before the redhead could respond, the locker room burst open and a tall, slim boy walked in. His hair looked somewhat like Sasuke's, though not as spiky, and there was a certain twinkle of a certain something in his eyes.

Right off the bat, Sasuke didn't like him.

"Can we help you?" Sasuke asked coolly. The other looked Sasuke up and down, as if he was trying to size him up. Sasuke suddenly felt blatantly uncomfortable without his jersey on. He was shirtless and this guy kept staring at his chest! Then, the guy had smirked.

"Sorry boys, if I was interrupting anything," he scanned the room quickly. "I was looking for the rest of my team but I suppose they're not here, hm?"

"Does it look like they're here, dumbass?" This guy was irritating Sasuke beyond relief.

"Ooh, touchy aren't we? Well I suppose that's ok," the boy took a step closer to Sasuke, "I like the feisty ones. Mmm, wanna play?"

"Hell no! I wouldn't come within a mile radius of you if you were the last damn person on earth! Now, fuck off!" Sasuke's patience was beginning to slip, not that he really had any in the first place. He saw a flash of anger go through the stranger's eyes before it was gone just as fast as it had come.

"Aw, are you sure about that? I'm sure I could make you change your mind…"

"Sai," a quiet but demanding tone interrupted, "I suggest you leave now. It's not in your best interest to piss Uchiha off, though you've already seemed to do that quite nicely."

Sai turned his attention to the other captain in the room. "Gaara…it's been a while, hasn't it?"

Sasuke rounded on the redhead. "You know this prick?"

Gaara chose to ignore both of their questions. "I didn't know you played soccer, Sai."

Sai grinned widely. "Well wouldn't you know? I try out for the team and bam! Just like that, I'm a natural. Guess I'm taking over your legacy. After all, you sold us out to come here. I'll show you that was a mistake." He was half-joking, but his voice lacked amusement.

"I heard you guys got a new coach."

"You heard right."

"I assume you're a captain?"

"You got it," Sai responded. He turned his gaze back to the raven glaring daggers at him.

"Uchiha…Sasuke Uchiha?" Sasuke nodded, not saying a word.

"I've heard about you; the only freshman to make varsity. You single-handedly led your team to quite a few victories. Now, senior, you're a captain most definitely. Hmm, interesting indeed…you clearly won't be a pushover. Guess I should be worried, huh?"

"Yes you should," Sasuke hissed, "if you don't get the fuck out of this room within the next five seconds!" Sai feigned hurt at Sasuke's words but turned to leave anyways.

"Adieu to both of you," Sai said in a light, breezy voice, blowing a kiss to Sasuke. "Next time we meet shall be on the field. I do hope we'll have a good, clean game, now won't we?" His eyes glinted something dangerous as he, not even waiting for an answer, left the room, leaving a disgruntled Gaara and one very ticked Uchiha.

---

When Sasuke first stepped outside, he was greeted by cool air, as well as the screams and shouts of practically the whole student population. The breeze felt good, weather conditions were perfect. Scanning the crowd quickly, the first thing to catch his eye was a huge poster that was being lifted in the air by Sakura and her fellow followers of the 'I love Sasuke fan club.'

Oh…my…god…

The poster had a picture of him, blown up to huge proportions, and the whole thing was covered in pink hearts. There was an "I LOVE YOU SASUKE!" written on it, along with a few other things such as "YOU'RE THE BEST!" and "KICK ASS SASUKE!"

Sasuke was completely mortified, desperately trying to ignore the artwork. Had he the time, he would've dashed up the stands and destroyed the whole thing with his teeth.

If they break out in a cheer like last year…argh, this is so embarrassing!

Ripping his sight away, his eyes were seeking a certain someone else. It surprised Sasuke a little that instead of looking for his father like he usually did, although he knew his father wouldn't be there, he was looking for a cute, little blonde by the name of Naruto.

There! Sasuke spotted Naruto's blue eyes in between Kiba and Neji's within a few minutes of people gazing. He smirked when he saw the blonde turn to gaze at him, giving a smile and almost shy wave. He waved back and felt his spirits were lifting considerably from his run-in with Sai.

Turning his attention back to the field, Sasuke caught a glimpse of the other team's new coach. He was tall with greased-back hair and a set, cold expression. Sasuke thought he looked kind of sleazy. Right next to him was their referee of the game. Sasuke swore quietly under his breath. He was the oldest referee in the entire league, basically meaning his hearing and sight sharpness was not as good as it had been. Yet for some reason, he hadn't chose to retire yet. Sasuke had had him before and, well, he was too slow to call just about anything. Someone could seriously get away with punching someone else in the face, and that ref would let it go.

Well…this sucks.

The whistles blew, and after a quick pep talk, both teams went to their set places on the field. As the ball was released, Sasuke felt a familiar sense of adrenalin rush through his veins and he knew, in that instant, that he simply couldn't afford to lose this game. It was their opening game of the season, he had to impress Naruto, and plus, he wouldn't let Sai get his damn satisfaction.

With tremendous noise of approval from the crowd, the game had begun.

The ball was immediately then taken by a member of Sasuke's team with ease. The boy dribbled for a few seconds before sending the ball way up the field to Gaara. The captain moved fast, dodging his way past defenders. He was nearing scoring distance…

This is a joke, Sasuke thought, backing up a bit, as Gaara weaved gracefully in between people. There was no need for him to be this close with the way things were going now. Gaara was steadily increasing speed and Sasuke knew he was ready for attack. Being experienced with him, Sasuke could read his movements and one thing he knew for a fact was that Gaara had one of the deadliest shots out there. One big defender moved up to protect the goal, the type of person Gaara could evade easily. The redhead was getting closer to him…

From his angle, Sasuke couldn't clearly see what had happened, but all of a sudden, Gaara was on the ground and the ball had been stolen away by the defense. They flung it to one of their other teammates, who then changed the direction of the field.

The hell?

It appeared that Gaara had tripped…that was the only logical answer Sasuke could've thought of. And yet…Gaara was within twenty feet of the goal. He wouldn't trip. Actually, Gaara doesn't fucking trip. Ever.

A murmur went through the stands as well. Everyone had seen Gaara play before. They knew he would not have let a little mishap like that happen. He was always so graceful…

"Yo!" Sasuke shouted as Gaara pushed himself off the ground, "what the hell just happened?"

"Later Uchiha," Gaara began sprinting towards the other end of the field, "we have more important things to deal with." At those words, Sasuke turned around to see the other team well into their area. He squinted to see who exactly was dribbling.

Fucking Sai.

He was close to their goal too. The boy was very versatile, as much as Sasuke hated to admit. He was about ready to take a shot, and Sasuke realized, with a troubled feeling in his gut, that there was no way their goalie would be able to block his shot. Just as he was about to shoot though, the redheaded captain appeared out of nowhere, stealing the ball from right under his nose.

Sasuke blinked in surprise. He had known Gaara was fast, but to get up, run the length of the field, and single-handedly stop the ball from being scored, that had to be some kind of record.

As Gaara moved up, Sasuke ran with him this time, partially to draw off defenders and partially to watch if anything else weird happened. Gaara was closing in again; Sasuke could practically feel the goal coming…

BAM.

For the second time, Gaara lay on the grass. This time though, Sasuke had seen clearly, and it certainly wasn't an accident. A defender had gone up on him, but instead of aiming for the ball, he had aimed for Gaara instead, basically smashing into him with all his might. The ball had once again been picked up and stolen.

"Call the damn charge!" Sasuke yelled in anger and desperation. But then, remembering who exactly the ref was, he knew they wouldn't have a chance with cards.

This is fucking ridiculous!

"Shut up Uchiha," Gaara ground out as he got up again, this time slightly shakier.

"Gaara—"

"I said shut up!" Gaara began to pick up his pace again. "Let me deal with this!"

Sasuke let out a sigh of frustration. He knew there was nothing he could do to change Gaara's mind. That was just the type of person he was. He noticed that his coach was trying to signal a time-out but apparently that wasn't coming across clear enough. He let out a snort, remembering Sai's words of a 'clean game.' What a goddamn hypocrite.

"Clean" game my ass! I swear if this happens again…

Over in the crowd, every person except for the referee could hear the roars of "FOUL! FOUL!" Naruto shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Turning to his right, he could see Neji gripping the bleachers underneath hard, knuckles turning white. He had a frown and his face was tight with worry, the only time Naruto had actually seen emotion in those pale eyes. Over to his left, Kiba was swearing loudly.

"I'm going to knock that ref's fucking lights out if he doesn't make a fucking call!" Kiba snarled, while punching the air and wishing it were the referee's face. Naruto mentally agreed.

Back on the field, Sasuke saw again how Sai had the ball, was close to scoring, before Gaara used some god-like speed to steal it away. This time, Sasuke went down, meeting with Gaara in the middle, who had Sai right on his tail. Gaara kicked the ball to Sasuke and the two of them started a "give and go" sort of thing, just like they had been working on in practice. After Gaara had delivered the first pass though, Sasuke, out of the corner of his eye, saw the redhead fall to his knees, though no one was currently near him. He began coughing, violent hacks erupting from his throat along with a few specks of blood.

He's pushing himself past his body capabilities…Sasuke paused in running, concern flooding his body. His slowing down though resulted in Sai being about to get in front of him.

"Come and see if you can get past me Sasuke," Sai whispered with malicious eyes. Before Sasuke could say or do anything, he felt his jersey being pulled harshly in the front, and before he knew it, his face made impact with the grass.

Fuck this!

Getting up, Sasuke spat dirt out of his mouth before turning around to see Sai's smug gaze. Not giving a damn about the rules, the game, or basically anything, Sasuke let his fist fly, making sure to nail Sai. Hard.

Whatever happened next was a blur. All Sasuke was aware of was the fact that he was rolling around, wrestling with Sai, and out of the corner of his eye he saw Gaara beating down some other guy, obviously feeling a little better. The only sound that could be heard was the screeching from the spectators, while somewhere in the background whistles were going off. Before Sasuke's vision completely faded, he was almost positive, even half-rolling on the field, he could see Naruto's worried eyes staring at him.

---

"I can't believe you actually did that!"

"Yeah well, believe it! That guy was fucking retarded I swear!"

"Aw, wanted to save your precious Uchiha?"

And that was the conversation Sasuke woke up to.

His head felt kind of groggy; his mind in a haze. A distinct shooting pain was making itself known through his hand. He looked down to see bandages wrapped around his knuckles. Looking up, he saw Kiba in a headlock.

"Lemme go! Lemme go! L-look!" Kiba choked out, "He's awake!"

With that, Naruto instantly dropped his arms, leaning against the wall. It was then that Sasuke took aware of surroundings, realizing he was in the school's infirmary. He wondered how ugly the fight had turned.

"W-what happened?"

"Ok so basically you punched that kid who was playing dirty the whole time and then Gaara saw what was happening and he took out the closest person to him cause I guess he was just pissed like that and then the fight started to escalate and both teams just started knocking each other out, I mean the coaches were fighting too, and Naruto was all worried about you and shit so he came tearing down those bleachers and onto the field and he pulled that kid you were fighting off of you, but he still managed to get you pretty good, and then Naruto finished beating the crap out of him before he started flipping out, saying you were hurt and you needed to get to a nurse and Tsunade was trying to calm everyone down and tell them to stay where they were but Naruto didn't care and he carried you all the way up here and we've been waiting for you to wake up ever since," Kiba let out, all in one breath. He cringed and added a 'please don't hurt me!' to Naruto who had gotten redder and redder as Kiba's story went along.

Sasuke blinked, surprised at Kiba's word rate. He hadn't understood a word of that besides the last part.

Naruto…brought me here?

"You really came down to help me?" Sasuke asked curiously. In most cases, he would feel embarrassed. He was Sasuke Uchiha after all. There wasn't anything he couldn't handle and getting assistance during a fight clearly counted as needing help in the first place. But…he was glad.

"Oh man you should've seen him! I've never even seen him run that fast before! He started running down right when he saw you get tugged!" Kiba cut in before the blonde could say anything.

"Oi! Shut up!" Naruto let out a heated puff.

"Didn't know you cared, dobe." Sasuke teased just as he thought Naruto's face reached its peak of redness.

"Who says I—"

"Uchiha."

The three turned to the doorway to see Gaara, being supported by Neji on one side. The redhead had a large cut on his cheek, followed by several smaller bruises. Sasuke was sure that there were more bruises hidden beneath Gaara's jersey.

"I told you to let it go."

"Yeah, and I told myself that I wasn't going to watch you get beat up out there." Sasuke said with a light sarcastic tone. He knew Gaara wouldn't be one for foul play simply because the other team was doing it. No, Gaara had more honor than that.

"You didn't have to get involved."

"I wanted to," Sasuke shrugged. Gaara simply gave him a look before turning away.

"I can fight my own battles."

With that said, he walked away. Neji remained for a moment longer, also giving Sasuke a look. Sasuke nodded and Neji gave a small smile before following Gaara.

"Your welcome Gaara," Sasuke called out softly.

Turning back to the two in the room with him, he met Kiba's gaze and shot him a look. That was all the initiative the brunette needed before uttering some nonsense excuse about going home to feed his cat and heading out the door. Right when he left, Naruto rounded on Sasuke.

"Agh! How do you all do that?"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Do what exactly?"

"That stupid invisible eye language!"

"Eye language." It was more of a statement though Sasuke was confused as to what the hell Naruto meant.

"Yeah! So first Gaara gives you a look and leaves, then Neji gives you a look and leaves, then you give Kiba a look and he leaves too! I don't get it! Why doesn't anybody give me a look, huh? Why am I left out?" Naruto let out a pout and Sasuke thought it was probably the cutest thing he had ever seen.

"Trust me dobe, there's nothing to feel left out about."

"But—"

"Who won the game?"

"Oh," Naruto paused in thought, obviously not having a one-track mind. "I think it ended in a draw…or maybe a postponement. Either way, neither team won exactly. But I'm pretty sure whoever that referee was is going to get fired."

"And how did Sai look afterwards?"

"Sai?"

"The kid I was beating up."

Naruto let out a laugh. "I think you smashed his nose in, which would explain your fractured knuckle."

Sasuke felt good. He would take a fractured knuckle for breaking Sai's nose any day.

"So dobe, tell me. Were you really running your ass off to come and rescue me?" Sasuke asked with a grin. He heard the blonde mumble something inaudible.

"Come again?"

"I said I wasn't running my ass off! Leave it to Kiba to exaggerate things! I…I just didn't want you to get hurt too bad. I mean I'm sure Mr. Perfect couldn't deal with a bruise scarring his stupidly pretty face!" Sasuke's grin got wider. He was definitely satisfied with the answer.

"So…you think my face is pretty?"

Naruto's jaw dropped, realizing his insult had turned into a weird compliment in a way.

"S-shut up! I do not!"

"Admit it, you think my face is pretty!"

"Teme!"

"Just say it…"

"No!"

"You know it's true…"

"FINE! I think your face is fucking pretty. Ok? Happy now?" Naruto looked as flustered as could be and Sasuke loved it.

"Yes."

"God, you're annoying," Naruto let out while Sasuke gave a quiet chuckle. "But Sasuke?"

"Hm?"

"I…I'm glad you're ok." The blonde said before turning away, the familiar pink flush adorning his cheeks.

Sasuke's eyes widened. Then, he smiled. "I'm glad you came dobe."

There was a moment of hesitation. And then…

"Hey…you know what I just realized? Kiba doesn't have a cat!"

Sasuke felt like smacking him.

Way to ruin the moment.

---

All right I know there wasn't a lot of SasuNaru action in there but I felt this chapter was necessary. I'm trying to keep things going at a realistic pace here. And then there was a little fluff at the end! (They're falling for each other!) Don't know when I'm going to update next. I have that huge math project I mentioned above that I haven't even really started, plus four lacrosse games this week! I'm getting this out there now so I'll be able to focus on those this week and in the time to come.

Reviews make me happy (the review count has fallen :( )