Sasuke was late.
He felt the cooling air of the setting sun around him as he felt his way quickly down the road. He knew the path by heart, every rock, every tree and every grove in the road. He had finally started the ninja academy and had awaited the day he could finally walk this path alone.
Now that day had come and he was late.
His cane tapped the stone steps of the academy.
He paused, holding his breath.
"Hey!" a raspy young voice shouted from within the building, beyond Sasuke's sense of space.
"I've seen you walking around in front of the academy before." Suddenly there was an arm around Sasuke's shoulders and Sasuke flinched, startled. Was this guy an idiot or something? You don't just jump on top of blind people like that.
"Are you finally going to come inside or what?" the boy continued. Sasuke guessed they were probably about the same age.
"Naruto!" an exasperated voice interjected. There was a sigh.
Sasuke fidgeted uncomfortably. Were they staring at him? He lifted his head towards where he guessed the new speaker was standing.
"Uchiha Sasuke," he said after a moment. "I'm um a new student."
"Right!" Another hand grabbed his wrist. "Your brother came in yesterday to say that you were starting school."
Itachi? Sasuke thought his father had come.
A knot formed in his stomach. That wasn't good. Itachi and father were already at odds and Sasuke didn't want this to end up being just another fight.
He swallowed hard.
"I'm Iruka."
He bowed. "Hajimemashite, Iruka-Sensei."
He heard a smile in the teacher's voice. "Hajimemashite, Sasuke-san."
"Saucegay-kun…" the loud obnoxious voice said.
Sasuke frowned. This guy was an idiot.
"This is Uzumaki Naruto," Iruka-Sensei said and paused. "Would it be alright if Naruto leads you to the classroom? We're starting a little late today."
Sasuke looked down. "Yes."
This was great. He was starting school and already he had to depend on other people. What did he expect? He depended on people all the time, why would attending the ninja academy change that?
The kid named Naruto grabbed his wrist. "I'll show you around. Why aren't your eyes open?"
Idiot. "I'm blind."
"Oooooooooh. That's unfortunate." He was yanked up the stairs roughly. He stumbled but Naruto held him steady. Itachi was never this rough but then his niisan would know better than to yank him.
He could do this.
He had to prove father wrong after all. he had to prove his niisan right. He could do this. There was a reason Itachi would enroll him into the academy without his father's knowledge.
There had to be.
…
"That kid's an Uchiha. Look at his shirt."
"Wow. I wonder if he has the Sharingan."
"What's that?"
"I guess they're able to copy almost any move just by looking at it."
"That's lame."
The other kid scoffed. "Beats having to see something and then just continually fail at it like I do with these tests."
Sasuke wanted to throw his books at the kids behind him. This had been going on for hours now. Naruto had been reprimanded by Iruka-Sensei about fifteen times, falling asleep, yelling randomly, failing yet another pop quiz. And the other kids wanted to see his Sharingan.
He didn't think they realized what a blind Uchiha meant.
"Did you hear about his brother?"
"No. What about him?"
"I heard a rumor that Itachi had activated his Sharingan at age 8. Supposedly he's becoming one of the ANBU Black Ops."
"Who told you that? That's ridiculous. He's only thirteen."
"My dad."
"Your dad's an idiot."
No, Sasuke thought. You both are idiots.
Naruto was snoring again. Sasuke thought about nudging the obnoxious boy but then decided against it. He was getting tired. They had been talking about knife work all day. He was sick of this theoretical nonsense; it would do nothing for him anyway. Sasuke was more of a hands-on kind of a kid.
His shoulders were tight.
He felt an urgency to go home suddenly.
…
"Very good, Sasuke!"
He heard the knife hit the wooden target with satisfaction. He could hear the other kids behind him 'ooo' and 'awww' wondering about his Uchiha power once again.
He smiled to himself. He didn't need the Sharingan for this. Itachi was right. He could still be a powerful ninja the Uchiha Clan could be proud of despite his lack of vision.
There was a slap on his shoulder.
"How'd you do that!?"
It was the obnoxious boy screaming in his sensitive ears…again.
Sasuke turned away. He smelled like ramen. He didn't feel like explaining how to pinpoint something by sounds. He had heard other kids hitting the same target and simply focused his chakra to do the same. It was easy.
He shrugged. "Didn't you hit any?"
The boy quieted. "Ummmmmm…"
Some of the kids behind them were whispering about the loud boy and wondering why Sasuke was talking to such a weirdo. Knots formed in Sasuke's stomach. This was his first day. He had been waiting for this for a long time, he couldn't be brought down by this kid.
"NARUTO!" Iruka-Sensei yelled for the loud kid as if answering Sasuke's prayers. "Have you been practicing the clone jutsu. We have another test tomorrow and from what I've seen, you better be training."
"Niiiii-channnnn!"
The sun was beginning the set. The class had gone over. Sasuke could feel the cooling temperature around him indicating night.
Oh no! He thought. His parents would panic if he wasn't back in time. Besides he had to tell them his accomplishments for the day.
And Itachi. He needed to thank his niisan for all he had done. Sasuke was so happy to finally be out of the compound and working towards becoming a ninja.
He smiled.
Hopefully Itachi was back from his mission…