Kei-Kei Yuki: Hello~! Hope you enjoyed the last chapter!
Beta by: Ana-DaughterofHades
A/N: Featuring Academy Naruko and Sasuke
Drabble Five
Sasuke: Uzumaki Naruko and Jealousy
When the name Uzumaki Naruko came to the mind of Uchiha Sasuke, he would feel this overwhelming sensation of irritation that ate at him. Everywhere you looked there she went, causing trouble time and time again, along with declaring her ridiculous dream out loud. She was an annoyance that seemed to never go away, though, the two things that stood out to him was her determination and strength. Naruko was one of the only girls in the class who could go head-to-head in taijutsu sparring matches against the boys and win as the girl was known to pack a punch.
A reason why most of the girls refused to practice with her was that during the first time she broke the Yamaka girl's nose and knocked out the tooth of another girl during a sparring match. Another reason he could testify to this was because she was the only one who could put up a good enough challenge when they were assigned to face off against each other or during the times she called him to one of their daily matches, ignoring her kunoichi classes.
Though a winner could never be declared since their match either ended in a tie or she was hauled away by a fuming Iruka-sensei back to her kunoichi classes but not before yelling out how she would defeat him next time. Having a habit of calling him girly-boy to his face for some reason or another, aggravated Sasuke's nerves, especially when hearing snickering that came from some of the boys in the class whenever she made this proclamation about his appearance.
Despite her remark, Sasuke managed to maintain his cool and ignore her, though even he would admit that ignoring Uzumaki Naruko was quite the challenge. The energetic blonde would burst into the class the next day, throwing insults about his coldness, questioning his popularity, before once again making a remark about his appearance by calling him girly-looking.
Sasuke, of course, coolly threw in a few insults of his own that got the blonde's blood boiling as the two almost got into a fight, until Iruka-sensei appeared in the classroom. Naruko grumbled as she took a seat, but not before showing him the middle finger of course. Everyone in the academy was aware of Naruko's self-proclaimed rivalry with him. Though, Sasuke could honestly care less about this one-sided rivalry. At least that was what he told himself.
Not wanting to admit it, but deep down inside, he sorta liked it whenever she would seek him out for their daily taijutsu matches that in the end would cater the attention of the rest of the boys, while the girls were in their kunoichi classes, the class that Naruko was currently skipping. It always started off the same way, with her saying, "Are you ready to get your ass kick, bastard?!" By now a large circle had formed around them.
Hands stuffed in his pockets, he cockily followed by saying, "As if I would lose to a loser like you." This would get Naruko fumingly mad, clenching her fist as she bared her teeth at him.
"What was that you girly-looking jerk?! You better say your prayers because there's no way I'm gonna let a cocky jerk like you win!" Then she would charge forth, throwing wild punches and kicks that Sasuke could easily avoid and counter with hits of his own. Neither of the two held back, ignoring the cheering crowd around them as they exchanged blows and kicks. Sasuke had to hurry and block an incoming punch that was targeted at his face, though that left his stomach unguarded as she kneed him in his gut. Sasuke would admit that the blow hurt, but he wasn't going down just yet, aiming a hard punch to the left side of Naruko's jaw and another kick to her waist.
Their punches were beginning to draw blood from the other, but neither let up nor were they about to stop. No, because they both got a thrill out of beating each other senseless. Sasuke secretly counted it as their bonding exercise. It soon came to an end, like always, as Iruka-sensei appeared and promptly separated the two, dragging off Naruko while scolding the blonde.
"But, Iruka-sensei, that teme started it!"
"You always say the exact same thing, and it doesn't make it any better! Sasuke-kun, head over to the nurse's office. She should be awaiting you," Iruka called out to him, by now used to these daily sparring matches between the two. She dragged a struggling Naruko to the nurse's office first, before dragging her back to her kunoichi classes. Sasuke stared after the two with a bored expression, before wiping away a trail of blood that had run down from the left corner of his lips. Only Naruko's punch could draw forth blood from him.
It was an honorable routine, so on that sunny evening, Uchiha Sasuke sat underneath a large tree that offered him shade while he read over his lessons. Patiently waiting to hear the aggravating voice of a certain loud-mouth blonde who would come marching up to him any minute now to issue him a match, he was surprised to find that she did not show up. He closed his books, ignoring the voice of Inuzuka who began questioning him about Naruko's whereabouts, before getting up on his feet and setting out for class.
Dismissing the small ache of pain in his chest, he told himself that it made no difference that Naruko did not show up, that he did not care about her absence nor did he badly want to see her. He was unaware that a certain Nara had taken notice of the slight change in Sasuke's expression; the boy had a feeling that it was most likely caused by Naruko not showing up for their daily sparring match.
"Troublesome," he muttered, before continuing his nap.
Later that day, when the class had ended, Sasuke was about to leave, but before he could step out of the door, one of the teachers asked him to deliver some paperwork to one of the instructors. Walking down the hall after handing over the stack of papers, he was about to pass by a classroom that was mostly used for kunoichi classes, when he detected a shade of bright yellowish hair and orange clothes Sneakily taking a peek inside the classroom, Sasuke was surprised to see her standing by a stove, animatedly chatting with the Hyuuga girl, who smiled and blushed at everything Naruko had to say.
"Thanks, Hinata, for teaching me to make onigiri! I bet Ruka-nee is going to love them!" smiled the blonde, wearing an apron that did not make Sasuke blush. He was simply just surprised to see her in one, as the last time he checked, Uzumaki Naruko was a tomboy who had no skills other than pranking, swearing, and fighting. That was basically it. She had horrible academic skills, no manners, and detested her kunoichi classes.
"Y-You're w-welcome, N-Naruko-kun, and I hope Iruka-sensei g-gets better soon." The Hyuuga girl blushed, helping Naruko pack the onigiri into a bento box. This was another thing that confused Sasuke; the majority of the girls in the school hated Naruko's guts. Not just because of her rude attitude, but for always picking a fight with him.
They isolated her from their groups and said mean, sometimes cruel, things behind her back. Some were even delusional enough to think that Naruko may be harboring a crush on him and was only behaving this way to catch his attention. They had obviously never seen the cloud of anger or irritation that filled her eyes whenever she looked at him.
Seeing the blonde animatedly chat with the blushing Hyuuga girl, he ignored that strange feeling that was crawling its way to his chest, causing him to wonder why he felt so much anger directed towards the weak and timid Hyuuga girl. It made absolutely no sense. It wasn't like she had stolen the blonde away from him. Sasuke could care less about Uzumaki Naruko. She was merely a good sparring partner that put up a decent fight against him.
So what, the two were friends now? It did not hurt Sasuke one bit. He had other matters to concentrate on, like revenge. He had no time getting himself caught up in other useless things such as Uzumaki Naruko. Her presence meant absolutely nothing, he told himself before leaving to go home.
It wouldn't be until a long after for Sasuke to realize that the emotion he had been feeling that time was jealousy. Jealous that Naruko had made a friend with someone else and had forgotten all about their sparring match. Jealous that someone was taking away the sole person who was beginning to mean something to him. Jealous that someone was given the opportunity to walk up to the blonde and offer her their hand in friendship. He was jealous of Hyuuga Hinata for she formed a special bond with the blonde that might break the one Sasuke had with her... and that thought frightened him.
End of Drabble Four