Taiikusai

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters, nor profit from my small ramblings about them

A/N: Hrm, to address a few people that reviewed-

Luthien Wildglen: Thanks for the input. I try not to dip into any type of heavy angst.
As for the formatting, I will mark a major time change or change in location, and let's see if that helps. Otherwise a bigger gap between paragraphs will be either a short time lapse or change in pov. Sorry for any confusion.

Rasengan22: Whoa, calm down. The Sasu/Naru is more of a one-sided deal. But the story has to work off of some type of conflict =P

And those of you asking for Naru Uke or Seme- considering there has been no anal sex of any sort so far, I'd say that question is best left for later. ;)

Now, let the story continue...


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Naruto had never been so anxious to see the results of his exams. It was the last day before summer vacation and the only thing standing between him and bliss was dreading the results of his bio exam. His um… distractions were a little more disruptive than he had anticipated. He chuckled at the thought of Neji’s expression had he known
the edge he’d been given.

He practically bounced out of his seat the moment Kakashi-sensei strolled in.

The class buzzed with nervous excitement.

Now, now, settle down. I have all your exams to pass back and the answer keys. Please retrieve your packet when I call your name.

“Aburame-san, Inohara-san, Uzumaki-san, Uchiha-san, Endo-san, Ohtani-san.”

Naruto snatched his pile from the teacher’s podium and practically raced back to his seat. He checked his scores, smiling at his English results and cringing a little at biology. Jotting down his scores on a piece of scratch paper, he quickly calculated the average.

“82.4!” He gave a loud cheer, earning a glare from a few classmates.

He tried to settle down, but continued wiggling in his seat, impatient for his homeroom teacher to begin explanations. Some five minutes later, Kakashi-sensei cleared his throat, ready to begin.



As soon as the bell rang, Naruto nearly pounced on the unsuspecting brunette behind him.

“So how did ya do? Huh, huh? How was English? Are-you-gonna-make-up-the-exams-soon?”

Sasuke held up two sheets in front of him.

Naruto blinked a few times before looking at them a little closer. “Hey! That was fast!” He peered at it closely. “So whatdidja get?”

Sasuke snatched them away. “None of your business.”

“Oh COME on! I worked my ASS off! At least give me the satisfaction of knowing that I scored higher than you in something!”

Sasuke shook his head, quickly pushed away from his desk and rose to leave.

“Come oooon. Pleeeease? Pretty please with miso and ramen on top?”

Sasuke ignored him. He didn’t even wave as he left the classroom.

Sakura strolled up, trying to hide a smirk. “Still trying I see.”

Naruto grinned. “You know how bad I am at quitting.”

“All too well. Does that mean you have a backup plan for finding out your ranking?”

“Of course!” He rubbed his hands together. “Someone has to record all our grades after all. I’ll see you in the art room. Catch you later!”



Naruto pushed the door open and strolled into the large communal office. “Shitsurei shimaaasu! Is Kakashi-sensei here?”

“Yo,” the silver haired teacher answered from behind an orange book. “Oh, Uzumaki-kun. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Naruto inched closer to his teacher and leaned in intently. Trying to keep his voice down, he whispered, “How did I do?”

Kakashi blinked in surprise. “What do you mean? You saw all your scores.”

Naruto grimaced. “I know *how* I did, but I want to know how I did *overall*. You know?”

“Not sure I follow.” His eyes twinkled in merriment.

“Like, did I score high compared to some of the class, or like, did better than the Uchiha?”

He tried to play it off casually, like it was merely an off handed suggestion. But the seed of doubt was in his eye and that look of dire curiosity.

“Ah. Why don’t you ask him how he did?”

“BECAUSE HE WON’T TELL ME!” He clapped his hand over his mouth. “Sorry.”

Kakashi-sensei chuckled. “As your teacher, it’s my responsibility to take care of all of you. Meaning, I must also respect everyone’s privacy.”

Naruto seemed to deflate at that one. “I could promise not to tell anyone?”

Kakashi smiled. “Heard that one before.”

“You won’t even have to tell me what rank I am! I just wanna know if I beat Uchiha!”

“Ah. Sou ka. But if Uchiha doesn’t want you to know, I must honor those wishes.” Naruto pouted, glaring at his teacher sulkily. “Is there anything else I can do for you?” Kakashi picked up his orange book and flipped it open to an illustrated page. He was careful to hide it from Naruto.

“You’re still reading that one? That’s so last year!”

Kakashi quirked an eyebrow. “You’re familiar with this series?”

“Of course. Who do you think the old perv Jiraiya used as bait to start talking to some of the cute nee-sans? He made me quote unquote help him with his research.” Kakashi was listening. “He turned in the script for the final book months ago.” Kakashi’s eye turned sparkly- if such a thing was possible. Naruto stretched out, hands behind his head and yawned. “There are some advanced copies floating around… but it’s boring stuff so I know *you* wouldn’t be interested.”

Kakashi-sensei looked around before leaning in intently. “You get me the book, I hand over the grade book. Equal trade. No one has to know.”

Naruto grinned. “Deal! And since I happen to just have a book on me…”

Kakashi-sensei laughed. “I can see why Jiraiya-sama took an interest in you. You certainly are good at surprises.”

Naruto snatched up the grade book and quickly skimmed down the list of average scores, starting from the top.


Rank 1- Haruno Sakura

Rank 2- Nara Shikamaru (that bastard!)

Rank 3- Uzumaki Naruto (!)

Rank 4- Uchiha Sasuke (!!)


Naruto’s eyes grew as wide as saucers. He DID it! He knew he had worked hard, but he didn’t think he’d actually manage to beat Sasuke.

“Woohoo! Yahoo! Oh yeah!” He danced around the desk to celebrate his victory. Kakashi-sensei was still too enthralled with the shiny black book now clenched tightly between his fingers to care.

“Thanks Kakashi-sensei!” The blond placed the grade book back down on the desk and practically skipped away.

“Oh, Uzumaki-kun.”

“Hrm?”

“Congratulations,” the silver haired teacher smiled.

Naruto grinned. “Shitsurei shimashita!”

Naruto raced to the art room. He threw open the door, bouncing in and hugging Sakura. “I did it! I did it! And I have you to thank!”

Sakura blushed a little. Her inner ego gloated while she physically maintained some semblance of modesty. “Well… I maybe helped a little… it was all your hard work really.”

Naruto pulled away. “Don’t be modest. You’re a stud and you know it.”

Sakura chuckled. “Well if you put it that way, why yes, I am.” She laughed. “So did you tell your girlfriend yet?”

Naruto grinned. “Naw, I’ll see him after school when he’s done with all that student council stuff.”

“Ah, so that’s where Sasuke-kun went.”

“Yeah…”

Sakura sensed his unease. “Hey, don’t stress it. Things are gonna be fine. If you can reform a school terror AND manage to jump from class clown to class genius, you can do just about anything.”

“Thanks, Sakura-chan.” He smiled sincerely before giving her a cheeky grin. “Does that mean you’ll go out with me one of these days?”

She punched his shoulder lightly. “Don’t push your luck. Now, back to this poster… what were you saying about new ideas last time?”

The meeting had been productive. Slowly, Naruto was forming an image for this year’s poster board. It was a rare honor for a first year to be in charge of designing it. He didn’t want to botch it up. As his father’s son, he had expectations and he’d be damned if he let his old man down.

Sakura looked at the rough sketch and agreed to it. She would fulfill her part of the deal and start collecting reference materials to help design it. They had a month of summer vacation before them and already plenty of stuff to do. They agreed on a schedule for meeting and let themselves out early. Naruto bounced around giddily and set off for the roof.


It was mid-afternoon and yet the sun still beat down on him like it was noon. He could feel the sweat rolling down his back as the cicadas hummed noisily from the trees down below. The rainy season was indeed over.

Naruto sheltered his eyes with one hand, grateful that he wasn’t one of the small running figures below, slaving away at their club activities. He knew it looked bad that he hadn’t joined a school club, but for the moment, he didn’t care. Maybe next year.

The door opened and two figures stepped out from the shadowed doorway. Long, black, silky hair clashed with bright red curls.

“There you guys are! I’m melting!”

“Sorry to keep your highness waiting.”

“Good to see you too, Neji-sempai. Shall I interpret your Uchiha impersonation as a sign of defeat?”

He glared. “We tied.”

“Oh…. So, what does that mean?”

“It means we compromise,” Gaara offered. “Right?”

“Right,” Neji seemed to agree begrudgingly.

Gaara slid up to his boyfriend and took his hand into his. “I can’t dress you, but I request that you not wear orange. Consider it punishment for distracting me.”

Naruto had the decency to blush and nodded at the request. Neji quirked a brow, but didn’t ask. “So when’s the date,” he prompted instead.

“Sunday.”

“Saturday.” Naruto’s face split into a grin. “I’ll pick you up at seven.”

Gaara regarded him skeptically. “Does that mean you succeeded?”

“Pin pon.” He pulled Gaara into an embrace. “Which means you, little lady, better wear something pretty.” Naruto smacked his ass before darting away from any retaliatory measures.

Gaara shot a look at Neji. “Saturday it is.” He glared at Naruto. “And NO orange.”

Naruto stuck out his tongue. Gaara refrained from commenting… for Neji’s sake.

“Oi! What are you kids doing up here!?”

“I…. IRUKA-SENSEI?”

“You know students aren’t supposed to be up here! If you have no club activities, please leave the premises immediately!”

“My apologies Iruka-sensei, but the roof is simply the best place to enjoy the sound of the cicadas. I fear they’re rather deafening from the ground level, but it’s a rather gentle melody up here, don’t you think?”

“Oh,” the flustered teacher seemed to be listening a little carefully, “… why, now that you mention it, it is rather lovely.”

“I apologize profusely for causing you any concern, but I felt I simply had to share this experience and convinced my fellow classmates to join me.”

“Oh, I know you probably didn’t mean any harm, but be careful in the future.”

“My apologies. Our high school days are simply too precious and I was caught up in the notion of creating a few summer memories to take back with me once I graduate.”

“Ah! No, no! I’m sorry to interrupt. I should have known a good student like you wouldn’t be up to anything bad. Just don’t dawdle too long.” He was smiling at them and heading for the door. “Enjoy yourselves boys.”

The door closed after him and Naruto stared in open mouthed disbelief. “How the hell did you DO that?”

Gaara smirked. “Spending time with Lee again?”

“He has his talents. Besides, the cicadas do sound nice from up here.” He smiled. “It wasn’t a total lie.”

“Temari is in the club room practicing her guitar. Solo.”

“Enjoy the cicadas fellows. I’ll be going now.”

“What? No more time for your precious summer memories?” Naruto laughed.

“Oh no, plenty of those.” Neji winked. “I can hear the cicadas from the club room too, remember?”

“But won’t it be *deafening*?”

“Precisely,” Neji grinned. “Enjoy your summer, boys.”


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A/N: For those of you unfamiliar with the Japanese school system, students take about 8-11 exams and the average is usually about 50-60%. Hence the average I gave Naruto is actually quite high. Usually, it's their proficiency exams that are ranked, but those are usually in September, so I tweaked it a bit ;)