This way to the stars

AN:
I will again remind the readers that this is an AU fic, and although the characters of the anime are relatively unchanged, they might be slightly OOC to best fit the story line. But I'll try my best to stick them the way they are as much as possible. ^.^

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~~Fly
"He clipped her wings so she couldn't fly
And she couldn't escape while she watched him die..."
-Clairvaux

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Konoha's soccer team had been the League Champions for 5 straight years. They were fast, they were vicious, and they were basically just good. And they also had a brilliant team captain by the name of Uchiha Sasuke.

Girls fell at his feet, while boys took off running in the opposite directions. You do not want to piss the Uchiha- that would almost be as bad as pissing off Gaara who is, by the way, one of the soccer team's very able striker.

Uchiha Sasuke was perfection. Always a straight-A student, always the best at everything, always the one to score the winning goal... If only he was a little bit more amiable. Sometimes, one felt like one was talking to a slab of cold stone when facing the Uchiha. But no matter... that was part of his charm too. The 'cool' exterior, as the girls would often squeal, was just 'irresistibly hot'.

You can start wiping the drool off your face now.

As the captain of the said soccer varsity, Sasuke had certain responsibilities. And one was attending a certain League meeting that required all captains of all competing schools to attend. Incidentally, that day was also the start of class- not that Sasuke cared much. After all, his absence was perfectly excused.

"Ohayo, Sasuke-kun!!!"

Sasuke didn't bother to look up at the slightly breathless giggling- er, greeting, as a small form brushed by him. Tch- annoying girls. He brushed his dark hair away from his equally dark eyes as he calmly made his way up the second floor of the school building. His class was 1-D, room 208...there. He flicked his eyes lazily over the crooked sign declaring said section just to double check. The door slid open.

"OH! Sasuke-kun!!!"

"Sasuke-kun is back!!!!"

"OHAYO, SASUKE-KUN!!!!"

Sasuke quickly schooled his face into a grim smile and swore silently to himself as he tried to make his way over to an empty seat all the way at the back. He had hoped for a silent entrance... apparently though, this was too much to ask. He forced himself not to snap at the girl who (boldly) latched onto his arm, and calmly pried it away. She pouted. He didn't care.

"How was your meeting, Sasuke-kun?" a girl- he didn't know (didn't want to know) her name- sweetly asked, fluttering her lashes in what he supposed was a cute gesture. It just made him grimace.

"It was fine."

"Did you meet any girls there?" another innocently asked.

Yet another girl, not to be undone, elbowed said girl away. "Are you starting training soon?"

"Did you have fun, Sasuke-kun?"

"Did you miss me, Sasuke-kun??"

Sasuke scowled. But then, there was a loud BAM of books hitting on the floor, and there, by the doorway, stood one flabbergasted Sakura. The girls murmured something along the lines of 'oh no' as they realized there was going to be another rival in their midst. Haruno Sakura had that decidedly prowess gleam in her eye, and it seemed Sasuke was the prey.

"Oh my gosh, you are HOT!" Sakura squealed, quickly pushing herself up to the stoic boy. "My name is Haruno Sakura, and I'm your new classmate!" she giggled, holding out a hand.

Sasuke gazed boredly at the offered hand but did not budge, silently thinking that everyone was a new classmate as far as first day of school was concerned. He hoped the annoying girl would leave him alone- but even his icy glare didn't seem to daunt her. If anything, she looked more dangerous.

"I've decided!" Sakura positively said. "It's you! It has to be you!"

"...."

Sakura clasped her hands in excitement and sighed dramatically. "You are my prince charming! And you're going to be my boyfriend."

"What ARE you?" Sasuke flatly said, his temper rising. How dare she!

"It's decided then." Sakura giggled, ignoring Sasuke's dark look. "Oh, you are one lucky guy... Sa-su-ke!"

Sasuke snapped. He opened his mouth to bite back a scathing retort (hopefully make her cry), but was beaten to it by a loud, decidedly annoyed voice.

"Cut it out, Sakura-chan. Give the guy a break!"

Naruto walked inside the room, an annoyed look etched on his small face. He had heard Sakura's ecstatic squeals all the way down the hall and pitied the poor unsuspecting guy. Sakura can be viciously persistent it was almost scary.

Ignoring the many stares he was receiving, Naruto shrugged off his backpack and pulled out Ino's now neatly mended skirt. He marched grimly towards her and silently threw the skirt at her surprised face and turned around before he could hear a response. Sasuke's dark eyes followed the blonde as Naruto calmly went over his claimed desk and sat down, rummaging around his bag once again, this time fishing out a pen and a notebook. It was blue with a shiny cover. He opened it and started writing.

Sakura opened his mouth to retort when Sasuke determinedly stepped away from her and made his way over to the blonde. Everyone watched in silent confusion as the Sasuke stood over the blonde's desk.

Naruto had felt the shadow that fell on his desk as whoever decided to bother him stood before him, blocking the light. He sighed, snapping his notebook shut. He didn't want to deal with this... really, he didn't. Finally, he raised his eyes up to face the adversary. He was wholly unprepared though, for the black, stormy eyes that stared back at him with such fierce intensity. Naruto's voice stuck in his throat, as whatever words he was about to say promptly died in his mouth. He couldn't help his wandering eyes as they landed on nicely tanned arms and athletic build. Naruto realized in dismay that, fuck, this guy was hot. Naruto opened his mouth.

"What are you staring at?"

Sasuke kept his gaze firmly on him, which was starting to get really unnerving. Naruto cleared his throat, shifting uncomfortably.

"Uh, hello?" Naruto unconsciously raised his hand to his face. "Is there dirt on my face or something?"

Sasuke ignored him and marched to the seat beside him, silently and gracefully taking it. Naruto was not pleased.

"Hey! I'm TALKING to you!"

Sasuke glared at him. "Shut up, dobe."

"What?!" Naruto stared at him, scandalized. Okay, so a weird guy (who he totally does not know) comes up to him, stares at him, ignores him, and now tells him to shut up. How weird was that?! "You have serious issues, man." Naruto huffed, turning away.

Sakura's lip curled in disdain as she watched the interaction. How dare the monster speak to her beloved prince charming?! Never mind that said Uchiha hadn't spoken a word to her.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura pouted, opting for the cute image. She planted her hands firmly on Sasuke's desk. "Don't site beside HIM." She threw Naruto a glare. "You might catch idiot germs! Why don't you sit beside me? I can sit wherever you want to-"

"Go away."

Naruto stifled a snigger and hid it behind his notebook.

"Sasuke-kun, listen to me." Sakura clasped her hands to her chest. "I don't think you understand but he-"

"I think it's you who doesn't understand." Sasuke interrupted, all patience evaporating. "I don't like repeating myself so I want you to GO AWAY. Do I have to spell it out for you?"

Sakura flinched as if stung, her eyes watering artificially. "B-but Sasuke-kun!"

"I don't ever remember giving you permission to call me by my name." He coldly said.

Sakura huffed, finally backing away. But she was far from giving up. Sasuke would be hers soon enough. He was just a little shy. Yes, she nodded, satisfied. Sasuke-kun was just shy. But not for long. Cackling and scheming, Sakura gave a hearty 'I'll see you later, Sasuke-kun!' and bounced away, making sure to give Naruto a dark glare that swore vengeance later on. Naruto pretended not to have seen it. He was still busy hiding a grin lest Sakura came back and see it. That would be too bad though, because Naruto didn't think he could hold on a laugh anymore.

"Dobe..."

Scratch that thought. The laughter immediately disappeared, and was replaced by a small frown.

"Don't call me that." Naruto snapped. "It's not nice calling people names, bastard!"

The Uchiha had to roll his eyes. "You just contradicted yourself."

"Whatever." Naruto dismissed, waving a hand.

"Dobe..."

"I have a NAME!!" Naruto hotly said, his face coloring. Man, this guy was getting under his skin. "Na-ru-to! Uzumaki Naruto! And don't you forget it."

"Naruto." Sasuke tested the name as if it was some foreign word. Naruto blushed.

"Yeah! That's my name."

"Hn." Sasuke smirked. Ooh! Naruto wanted so much to wipe that self-assured smirk right off that gorgeous face. "You're still a dobe."

Naruto glared at him. "Oh yeah? Well you're just a right bastard, aren't you? You think you're so great just cuz you're pretty-"

"You think I'm pretty?"

Naruto blushed an indignant red. "D-don't flatter yourself, teme!" He ignored the wide smirk. "Why are you sitting there anyway?! Don't you have anywhere else to be- like with your fan girls over there?"

"Why do you care?"

"Because your annoying!"

"Don't you want to sit beside a pretty person?" Sasuke slyly said.

Bastard.

"That seat's already taken." Naruto snapped.

Sasuke raised a brow. "By who?"

"By me."

Naruto jumped as a wonderfully silky voice from behind him replied. He recognized that voice... That same dangerous voice that reminded one of broken skulls and bloody parchment. (Weird, but true!) That silky, silky voice could only belong to one person... Sasuke looked up to see who had spoken and immediately frowned as he recognized the blood red hair.

"Gaara."

"Captain." Gaara acknowledged, still not losing his edgy tone. "You're in my seat."

"I've realized." Sasuke replied.

A non-existent eyebrow twitched in slight annoyance. "Move."

"No."

"This is MY seat." Gaara gritted out, his annoyance escalating. "Move." The Uchiha may be his captain and he did respect him in some way... but then-

Sasuke calmly eyed him. "I don't see your name on it."

Gaara scowled heavily, not pleased to hear the same words all over again. (*cough*Naruto*cough*) But this time... this time he will not be so easy.

"I want my seat, captain." Gaara dangerously said, a warning underlying his tone. Sasuke met his challenging glare, refusing to back down.

"I think I rather like it here."

Staring contest. A really, dark, and scary staring contest. Both teams refused to back down, and it was really starting to get into Naruto's nerves.

"Really, both of you!" he huffed, standing up with a loud scrape of his chair. "You are so stupid!"

Sasuke and Gaara stared as Naruto grabbed his bag, slinging it over one shoulder. "You can HAVE the seat, Gaara. Geez."

Naruto stomped over beside Kiba's seat and sat down, pointedly ignoring the two by engrossing himself with a book.

Gaara blinked, but slowly took the now empty seat. His face schooled once more into its original stern gaze and looked out the window. He refused to comment. Sasuke's brow furrowed, but did not open his mouth to speak. Awkward silence reined, disturbed once in a while by the flipping of pages and an occasional mutter from the blonde. No one said anything more.

The door slammed open once again, and Kiba came bounding in.

"OHAYO!!"

A few people scrunched up their faces at the sheer decibel of his greeting. He grinned widely when he spotted Naruto. "Oi, Naruto! What's kicking?"

"Shut up." Naruto glumly said, not really able to concentrate on his book. He realized with an embarrassed frown that he had been reading it upside down. Dammit.

"Eh? What's got your pants in a twist?" Kiba scratched his head. "And what are you doing sitting there- oh..."

He fell silent as he spotted the two silent (and intimidating) figures. When did the Uchiha get here??

"So... um..." Kiba shuffled his feet, looking back and forth the three silent boys. He looked adorably confused. "Did I miss something?"

Naruto groaned, slamming his book shut.

"Sit down, Kiba. And don't say a word. Not an effing word."


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Review Response!
I love all you beautiful darlings... I really do. (beams) I hope you continue to support this fic and review! Tell me what you think and if there are any problems, and I'll try to fix them. If you have a problem not regarding the fic, well, tell me anyway, and we'll try to sort it out... all right? Reviews mean the world to all authors. ^_^

Sasuke_Naruto_Lover1025: Thank you dear. (beams) I purposely tried to make them a little different than their original characters to best fit the AU. But im still trying hard to keep them the loveable people that they are! ^_^
tic tac: I'm really sorry.. and i understand that strictness part. But I cant be sure of pairings yet... stick around a bit longer and i hope i can settle it... gomen! As for the updates, thank you for the appreciation.. i really try my hardest to update as soon as possible. i hope i wont disappoint!
KaiwaiiKoneko: Aww, its you two again! ^_^ I'm sorry for the wait... here's a chappie just for you! Go glomp sasuke! ^_^
Trekiael: Thank you... its all appreciated. ^_^
losthimagain: (giggles) I'm glad you like it! Aww, im sorry about disappointing you by not updating the next day after... school's just started again and the finals are coming soon, and its getting really really hectic. But i'm trying my best to update quickly... ^_^ Thank you so much for the support! This ones for you!!
Little Kitsune: Hear hear! ^_^
Sora Jr: Thank you.. hope to see ya more of you too!
Kativachan: Hey, its my first reviewer! ^_^ Thank you for reviewing again. I regret not puting the warning about Sakura before hand, so i must apologize... however, i'm also sorry to say that Sakura-bashing will not change... (sorry!) :(
ShiroiGardenia: Thank your for your review! It made me smile. I'm glad you like how this is going, and i hope i wont disappoint... thanks also for your support!
blood water: I'm glad. ^_^
chi no hana: *stares at screen then falls of laughing*
Carrot: You have such a cute name! Thank you for reviewing- it's very much appreciated! Make sure you vote for your fav pair later on... ^_^
Mochi~: Arent you just a dear! ^.^ Thank you for taking time to review... and i WILL try my best to update despite the schoolwork!
Vox: Gaara and Lee... interesting pairing... but I'm not sure i can pull it off... ^_^ Thanks for reviewing!
mgp: Oh yes, i've read that one! ^_^ It's AU as AU goes... I cant really help it if some scenes would look so typically AU, because this IS an AU. Lols... But now that you've mentioned it, i WILL try my best to pay attention and avoid certain similarities like that one...
Tamara: I admire how you think, and perhaps you may be right. ^_^ As of now though, I'm just planning to keep readers happy by letting them chose the pair. I'll keep it in mind though. ^_^
lulu: its faint, but its there! In the anime... You just have to look into it! ^_^
Reyn: (laughs) *pat on the back* you can do it.
SakuraHaruno23: ...you know, your name confuses me a bit. ^_^ Are you a Sakura fan? Uhm, i hope then i'm not offending you by all that Sakura-bashing..
seph: *stares at the screen and laughs* Dear, you crack me up. ^_^
fire: Yes, yes... ^_^ Thank you for the time!!! See you in class!