Wouldn't You Like To Know

Happy New Year to all! I hope things are treating everybody well, and that you're finding plenty of time to do the stuff you want to do. As always, thank you for the reviews!

I do not own Naruto, and the fact that I don't both relieves and deeply disappoints.

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Most, if not all, people are a combination of factors. The debate of how people would either behave as they were raised or how they were born to be was a hotly-debated issue, but everyone would agree to the idea that people are made up of personality quirks, a personal arsenal of knowledge, learned skills, and the most important ingredient, a body to put them all to use.

Uchiha Sasuke knew he was handsome, but it did not affect his performance of duties (and I do not see why it should affect others’, yet it does). He was a genius of rare ability and one of the most effective shinobi in Konohagakure. His skills when working in concert with other ninja proved near invaluable. He completed every mission he was on.

However, despite his many good points, his personality traits of intense paranoia, stoicism and tendency to strike out on his own made him rather difficult to work with.

One of the factors that made him especially difficult to deal with was his rather extreme lack of people skills. Having been brought up (before the death of his clan) in one of Konoha’s premier families, it was common knowledge that children learned manners for all types of society before they were deemed old enough to hold dangerous weaponry.

Uchiha Sasuke...disregarded those manners. If someone did not have information for him, and compounded that error by taking up his time, than he simply dismissed them without consequences.

The one factor, however, that made him damn near unpleasant to work near were his looks.

He gave women zero encouragement. He paid equal attention to any woman who he worked or spoke with on a regular basis. When sparring with female, higher-ranking jounin (or even the Hokage herself), he treated them as he’d treat any other sparring partner; brutally, but with limits. To put it simply, he preferred no woman over any other.

That did not stop his fan club from shadowing nearly every movement he made.

“Uchiha, your puppies escaped their kennel again.”
“Shut up, Hyuuga,” Sasuke grumbled, pouring himself another serving of the sake. “I’ve been trying to ignore them.”
“It is just as well. Shall I call Kiba over to...lead them back to the compound?”

How is it that Hyuuga can make even extreme sarcasm sound civilized? “It is appreciated, but no thanks,” Sasuke said, taking a moment to consider it. “I’m sure that the Inuzuka dogs could teach them a few things about manners and privacy, though.”

Hyuuga Neji cracked a small smirk. “Or those women could teach the bitches in the kennel what true heat is about.”

Sasuke was careful not to let the shock he felt at hearing the so-cultured Hyuuga’s use of crude language show.

In a rather sizeable village such as Konoha, it was possible to go for days without seeing a single face one recognized. Were it not for friendships, prior arrangements and the ever-present messenger birds, the quiet each ninja felt was indispensible to his or her existence would be near undisturbed.

For someone like Sasuke, whose looks had garnered him a fan club of frightening proportions, saying that he never truly got a moment where no one was looking at him was akin to stating that Hatake Kakashi owned a lot of questionable reading materials.

“Hyuuga, if you asked me here just to tell me that I’ve got girls following me, I am not going to be happy.” Having said that, Sasuke indulged in a long sip of the warmed alcohol, feeling it burn its merry way to his stomach.
”When are you ever happy?” Neji asked, gazing at Sasuke with shadowed eyes.
“That’s a personal question,” Sasuke said, making his voice neutral. He is not trying to play counselor for me...

Neji made a vague gesture. “I had the same problem a few years ago, Uchiha,” he said softly, sipping from his own small saucer. “In case you haven’t noticed, I don’t have a lot of skinny girls hiding behind even skinnier trees just so they can get a glimpse of me.”
“No,” Sasuke said, keeping his voice at its current level. “I believe they now take pictures of you and squeal about their undying love to you in public. Indeed, you have the better situation.”

Neji stared down at the counter before locking gazes with the Uchiha. “Quit being a dick, Sasuke,” he said, the speech pattern making Sasuke jump despite himself. That’s something I’d expect Naruto would say to me, not Neji--

A small smirk flew across the Hyuuga’s features and disappeared before Sasuke could properly analyze it. “This is getting dangerous to people near you as well. These girls follow you around whereever you go. They’re a danger to security, and to themselves, especially with the way they love to follow you when you train, in the hopes that you’ll remove some article of clothing--”

Sasuke interrupted the speech with a growl. “Oh, I know,” he said softly.

”Weapons, taijutsu, ninjutsu...?” Sasuke asked, his voice a calm purr.
“Weapons and ninjutsu today,” Naruto said decisively. “Ten kunai and five shuriken each. Picking them up after they’re thrown is okay. No stealing. Taijutsu allowed but discouraged. First one to five hits wins.”
“Deal, dobe.”
“You’re on, bastard!”

Facing each other, they smirked and then disappeared. Small, sharp weapons flew through the air, two of which sliced skin.
“Hits for me!” Naruto said cheerfully.
“I got you too,” Sasuke pointed out softly.
“What are you talking about, bastard? I didn’t get hit.”
“But I heard---”

A shriek was then heard, slowly escalating in volume, until anyone near it had to slap hands over ears.

Naruto and Sasuke met eyes, and Sasuke was pretty sure that the blond was thinking the same thing he was; shit.

“The girl had gotten hit right in the thigh,” Sasuke said sourly after he’d related the story to his drinking partner. “From what Sakura taught us about vein placement, had it hit about three centimeters to the left, the idiot would have died in minutes.”
“Naruto healed her, I presume?”

Sasuke smirked. “Not only that, but he pinned the girl’s ears back, too...”

It was a good thing Naruto was a fair medico-nin in his own right. Sasuke didn’t feel like chalking up another dead body on his record because of an accident, however fortuitous.

With an utter lack of delicacy, Naruto grasped the shuriken, held down the sobbing girl, and pulled it out in a slow, precise movement. The idiot girl shrieked again, but Naruto didn’t appear to hear it. Frowning in concentration, he unhooked his water flask, poured some of its contents into the wound (during which the girl shrieked again), and put it aside. He formed a few seals with his hands, then spread them apart, the red-tinged blue of his chakra becoming visible between them.

He put his hands to either side of the injury and slowly dragged them together. When his hands overlapped, he took them away from her thigh. Except for a cut in her clothing, there wasn’t even a scar to show where the injury had been.

“You fucking idiot,” Naruto said softly, glaring down at the still-sobbing girl. “What were you thinking, coming this close to the training grounds?”
“Well, I--”
“--wanted to see ‘Sasuke-kun,’, yes, I know,” Naruto cut her off, rolling his eyes. “Sure, great, good job. You just got injured by him because he was focused on other things. Want him to be the last thing you see when you die because you accidentally got between him and someone he was fighting?” He snorted. “Sure sounds romantic, but trust me, your family wouldn’t be pleased with him after an ANBU--not Sasuke--drags your corpse to your parents with an explanation.”

“That makes for one less follower,” Sasuke concluded, draining his saucer.
“Naruto did always have a way with words,” Neji said absently. “It is something you might consider cultivating if you want this problem to go away.”

Sasuke refrained from sighing, but the impulse was still there. “I’ll...think about it.”
“Then this meeting is over,” Neji said, rising to leave. Sasuke followed him. “I am glad we had this chat.”
“I wish I could say likewise,” Sasuke replied.

After seeing Neji part ways from him, Sasuke took his time returning to his own home. He had just been given a lot to think about.

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Anyone ever work with a genius who just happens to be really good-looking? I have, and quite frankly, when I was working with him, I couldn't stand him. Other girls in the group were just going tamely along with whatever he said while staring at him with these big "oh please shoot me because I'm a cute doe" looks while I was arguing with him (when he was wrong) or suggesting things (when we agreed). Geniuses are good people, but they're just hell on legs when they have the looks and know it.

I'm not sure why I wrote this chapter since I seem to be working off the seat of my pants, but I'm sure something in it will become useful.

Won't you encourage me to continue?