Back to School

A/N: I would have had this up sooner, but it didn't turn out right. But anyway, thank you soooooooo much for the reviews! Everyone was so nice and... nice. And supportive. So I'm gonna answer some reviews here, you can just skip them EXCEPT if you reviewed, then I want you to read.

Tokyo-Princess: Thaaaaank yoooou, and I'll update... now. :D And because you were my first reviewer ever, you get a daisy. (don't have any cookies)

Kurai Kisu: I was wondering where I was going with this too, and thanks to you, I actually started plotting again. And because you and Tokyo-Princess reviewed about the same time, I'll give you a daisy too. (still out of cookies)

ShikaChouFan4Life: You don't have to wait! It's here! ^^

ChaliceOfBlood: Oooh, my first critical reviewer! Thank you for it :) The italics are supposed to be thoughts (which I should have mentioned), but I'll try putting them in parentheses, tell me if it's any better, ne?

Noir: I SHALL! ^^

mina: *gasp* I know! But it was just something I had scribbled out some time ago in a spur of inspiration, no idea where it came from though.

ursweetheartless: Yeah, when I uploaded it, it didn't put up the whole chapter, so I decided to try again later. ...like now.

KyuubiKit: Thank you thank you, it's nice to know it's liked. And I hope I can keep it up, and the plot doesn't spiral down to complete destruction... *dramatic pause* ne!


(thoughts)

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Sasuke sat slumped on the chair, lazily carving the Uchiha clan symbol on the desk with his kunai. The whole day had been fairly uneventful, the exitement reaching its peak when Karin dropped the books she was carrying on Kabuto's desk, making him spill his coffee.

In between carrying books and spilling drinks, Karin had been trying to engage Sasuke into a deep discussion, on several occasions, but they had all ended with a firm 'hn' from the raven's part. She had also stolen glances of the pale boy, trying to be sneaky about it, but Sasuke was completely aware of them.

The fact that Karin was, yet again, inching closer to him didn't escape the Uchiha, and Sasuke was patiently waiting for her to just ask him, so he could tell her no and get it over with. Sasuke didn't have time for this, he needed to be training and/or plotting revenge.

Karin had finally reached her destination, the seat right next to the stoic shinobi, and from the corner of his eye, Sasuke saw her gather courage and open her mouth. Sasuke mentally rolled his eyes, (they just never learn).

”Would you like to-”

”Not interested.”

Karin's face fell and she let out a disappointed sigh, although that was the answer she had expected.

”Well then, how about coming with us to the Sound and training under our master?”

Sasuke blinked, turning his head a little more towards the girl. ”What are you talking about?”

Karin shrugged and leaned on the table with her elbow, bringing the other hand to play with her lips. ”You see, our master, Orochimaru-sama, is very powerful and he could give you the means to defeat your, wait, brother, was it?” Sasuke responded with a slow nod, being careful not to show any additional emotions, if it even was possible for him.

Karin let out a wicked smile as she felt a sudden jolt of joy. She had Sasuke's complete attention, and she was loving every minute of it. Now, all she had to do was to-

”Sasuke, come here for a bit.”

Sasuke gave the girl a calculating glance before standing up and making his way to Kabuto, leaving Karin to stare desperately after him.

”Did you fill out that report I asked you to?”

”Hn?”

”...the experiment. With the perfume.”

Sasuke couldn't help smirking, but quickly replaced it with his impassive mask. ”No.”

Kabuto looked at the boy in disbelief and groaned. ”What are we going to do now?”

Sasuke shrugged, not really caring. He absently stared at the wall when Kabuto started lecturing him, trying to come up with ways to get out of the classroom unnoticed, which could certainly prove a difficult task with Karin constantly checking him out.

Then it hit him. ”I could redo it.”

Kabuto looked up from the paper pile he had been rummaging through. ”You could?” He didn't wait for response, not that he'd ever receive it, taking out the bottle from the safe. ”Okay, give me your hand.” Sasuke complied, watching as Kabuto sprayed some of the liquid to his hand, while covering his mouth and nose, and Sasuke instantly rubbed it to his neck.

”You know what to do.” Sasuke nodded and started walking to the door, only to be stopped by Karin, who had glued herself to his right arm. ”Sasuke-kun, we were on the middle of-” Sasuke watched, almost fascinated, as Karin's eyes slowly became unfocused and her breathing erratic. He leaned closer, his breath ghosting over the girl's skin.

”Go hump Kabuto's leg.”

As he entered the hallway, Sasuke felt a satisfying surge of power when he heard Kabuto's loud yelp.

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Naruto waved his hand at the last kids leaving the class, exhaling slowly and stretching his aching muscles. Iruka hadn't been joking, teaching really did wear you out. But nonetheless, Naruto was enjoying the chance of helping his old sensei out, even if it meant having to grade papers and clean up afterwards. But as Kakashi had said to him, it was all good practice towards becoming the next Hokage!

He was wiping the teacher's desk clean, humming to himself, when the sound of the door opening caught his attention. Naruto looked over his shoulder to see who it was, and froze.

”Hey, usuratonkachi, you busy?”

Naruto wanted to say yes and tell the boy to scram, but he couldn't move. There was a reason he had been avoiding him the last few days. After talking to Shikamaru and deciding to get things straight, Naruto had realized that there was something definitely wrong with Sasuke. Everyone was swooning over him more than usual and not to mention the thing that DID NOT HAPPEN between them.

So, after thinking about it, he decided against talking to his idiot teammate and went on ignoring him and IT. Cos it didn't happen.

”Dobe, when someone asks you a question, they expect an answer.” Sasuke closed and locked the door behind him, making his way over to the desk, on which the blond boy had been moaning his name just days before. Naruto seemed to realize it too, his cheeks showing some pinkish color.

Naruto swallowed the lump that was forming in his throat and threw the rag at Sasuke, who caught it with ease, and used the moment's distraction to move the table so it was between them. ”Teme, don't come any closer.”

Sasuke smirked, continuing his advance.

”Bastard! I'm serious! Don't. Come. Any. Closer.” There was slight panic in his eyes, which only succeeded in urging the raven on. He'd reached the table, and was now leaning in, his hands in his pockets, regarding the blond with his eyebrow arched. ”You look pale, are you feeling well?”

Naruto scowled at Sasuke. ”Idiot, don't act like you care. Just say what you came here to say or leave, before I beat the crap out of you!”

Sasuke tsk'ed, getting back to stand on his feet properly. ”Like you could, DOBE.” Naruto drew his eyes to slits and growled as a warning, but Sasuke ignored it. ”I bet you're the only one who still hasn't realised that we're here because the teachers and Hokage are too lazy to do this shit themselves.” The growling intensified. ”You probably think this is a part of training, idiot.”

There were only few things in the world that were difficult for Uchiha Sasuke, and infuriating Naruto wasn't one of them.

Before the blond had time to consider his actions, his body had already launched itself over the table, towards Sasuke, feeling the need to wipe that superior smirk off his face once and for all. Unknown to Naruto, this was exactly what Sasuke was counting on. And true enough, the raven caught Naruto's arms and twisted him around so that he landed on the floor on his back, and straddled the tanned boy's lap. Sasuke chuckled darkly, (they just never learn).

Naruto tried to wiggle his arms free, but Sasuke quickly pinned them to the floor, bringing their faces closer to each other. Naruto started to shout something, but the words died in his mouth, his brain slowly losing all intellectual activity, if there even was any to begin with.

Sasuke smiled slyly as the bright blue eyes were one again staring at him, filled with lust. ”Now that's a good boy.” He got off the boy and stood up, pulling the blond onto his feet too. There was a long silence, during which Naruto just stood there, mesmerized by the man standing in front of him, and Sasuke looked around, thinking about his next step.

The onyx eyes landed on the cd-player Iruka had left behind, resting on the table. He smirked, knowing exactly how to further test Kabuto's invention.

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Shikamaru sighed in contentment, the day at the academy was finally over, not that he had actually been in any of his classes, physically or mentally. But not having to go anywhere was completely different from not going anywhere. Because then, if you get caught, there's nothing to get caught for... so it probably can't be called getting caught, now can it? (Beside the point, seriously.)

Chouji was fishing out the last chips from the bottom of the bag, grumbling in disappointed when he found it empty. ”There's never enough chips.” Shikamaru mumbled something incoherent for a response, laying on his back, staring at the clouds. The sun's rays felt nice against his skin, and he distantly wondered about putting on sunscreen, but decided that it was far too bothersome, and the clouds would shelter him well enough.

”Shika, why am I always hungry?”

Shikamaru exhaled, obviously he wasn't going to be left alone today. ”Cos you always eat.” Chouji blinked, scrunching up his nose. ”That doesn't make any sense.”

Shikamaru sighed and propped up his upper body, giving Chouji a stern look. ”Everytime you eat your stomach full, it stretches, making more room for the food you're stuffing there. And as a result, you have to eat more to fill it, so you get more fats, proteins and so on and your body gets used to larger amounts of nutrients and you get hungry faster.” Shikamaru finished his explanation and rested his head back on the patio they were sitting on.

Chouji regarded his friend and then looked down at the bag of chips he was about to open and then back at Shikamaru.

”Shika, you're so smart.” Chouji said, smiling, and ripped the bag open, getting a handful of chips.

Shikamaru smiled back and took some himself from the offered bag. Their BFF moment was interrupted when the door flew open and a half naked Naruto burst out, looking distraught, holding his clothes tightly against his chest.

”Shikamaru, thank god you're here! I really need your help!”

Shikamaru let out a resigned sigh, (what is this, ask the Nara-day?) and brushed off the crumbs from his shirt.

”So, what did he do now?”

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A/N: Hope you liked! I'm willing to keep on writing, but it's gonna take longer this time cos I'm gonna be busy. Anyway, thanks again for the reviews! Oh, and if someone doesn't already now, BFF stands for Best Friends Forever. Like Shika and Chouji ^^