The Challenge

Chapter Seven: “Back To School”

“Goodnight Sasuke.” Itachi poked his head in as he crawled into bed.

“Goodnight Itachi.” His brother turned off his overhead light but left the door open slightly. He sighed and turned off his lamp. After Naruto left they spent most of the night in silence. He gave Hinata’s parents a call about working on the project and she called him back after she got out of school. They agreed to meet after school on Friday to make up for it. Before dinner Itachi made several phone calls. He recognized the tone of voice Itachi used and knew that his brother must be speaking to their social worker. There was a suppressed rage in him that was evident from the white knuckle grip he had on the phone receiver. Itachi only got that way when he spoke to their social worker.

Sasuke curled on to his side trying to clear his mind of thoughts of the uncomfortable questions he’ll have to answer for both his social worker and therapist. He already knew he was going to give them the same story he gave Itachi. His social worker would be harder to put at ease than his therapist. Anko-sensei processed the sense and knowledge to know from talking to him that he was okay. He had been telling her his secrets since he left the foster home. As embarrassing as it was he liked it more then having to deal with Ebisu-sama. For some reason their social worker refused to believe that at their ages they could take care of themselves.

Unfortunate events at the foster home played the biggest role in putting him into Itachi’s care, more so then their money and them being family. But that was something he’d rather not think about. Instead he thought about Naruto. It never occurred to him that the blond could be a nice guy. Up until getting a ride home he always pictured Naruto as a self-centered jerk sleeping his way through the female population. He’d heard rumors of him with certain boys but he never actually saw him with anyone. Most likely he kept that on the down low even though his two best friends, Kiba and Shino, were together openly.

Thinking about Naruto brought his mind back to them in the kitchen before Itachi interrupted. Naruto seemed so sad talking about his absentee guardian. When ever he felt sad Itachi always held him. Before he could think better of it he pressed himself to Naruto’s back and wrapped his arms around the taller boy’s waist. Naruto was warm, his skin radiated warmth through his clothing. He didn’t know if Naruto was warmer than usual or his own body temperature made him seem warmer.

Itachi and his doctors always worried about his circulation. He got cold easily and it was hard for him to warm up once he got cold. During the summer it seemed like he was the only student who didn’t take off his uniform jacket. They suspected it was because of him being underweight and having a thin body type. He didn’t see a problem but Itachi and his doctors were always fussing over his diet and exercise regiment. They never went out to eat and he wasn’t even allowed to eat the school food. Itachi read labels and counted calories like a women losing wait for a hot new dress. The only different was he was being fed more calories instead of less.

He brought his hands to his face and inhaled. All he could smell was his own soap and skin. It wasn’t until then that he wished he hadn’t showered. Naruto smelt so different than anyone else around him with his dirty uniform and the lingering scent of cigarettes. His brother always smelt fresh and sterile while Hinata smelled like the soft soap and rose water.

Not only did Naruto smell good it felt wonderful hugging him. His warmth, wide back and strong stomach all drew him in and made it hard for him to pull away when he heard Itachi come home. If there was ever a time when he didn’t want to see his brother it was then. That small amount of time spent with his arms around Naruto was a terrible tease. Maybe they would be able to be in that position again. He turned in his bed to face the door knowing that sometimes Itachi liked to look in on him in the middle of the night. He really didn’t need Itachi to walk in and see him now.

He closed his eyes imagining Naruto standing in his kitchen looking on the verge of tears. Remembered warmth spread through him as he thought of the heat that radiated off of Naruto’s body and seeped into his own skin. A sensation that he had very few good memories of spread across his body making his chest tight and groin twitch. With Naruto fueling it, it didn’t seem as scary as before.

Slowly he slipped his hand in to his sleep pants and boxers. His fingers wrapped around warm flesh while picturing blond hair. He turned his face into his pillow to muffle his noises; Itachi had excellent hearing. It didn‘t take long, only a couple strokes before he came in his hand. He whimpered into the pillow biting down on the cotton fluff. Soft afterglow trembles raked his frame relaxing his body after his climax. Carefully he pulled his dirty hand out of his pants and out from underneath the covers without getting any incriminating stains since Itachi did the laundry.

Slowly he got out of bed and put his feet into his slippers. Somehow he needed to get to the bathroom to wash his hands without alerting Itachi. Using his clean hand he pulled the door open just enough for him to slip out into the hallway. Luck, however, was just rarely on his side. Half way to the bathroom Itachi’s door opened. “Sasuke, what are you doing up his late?”

“I need to go to the bathroom.” He hid his soiled hand at his side then slightly behind his back as he turned just enough to look at his brother’s disheveled appearance.

“Okay, don’t stay up too late.” Instead of going back into his room Itachi stood in the hallway watching him. Carefully he turned while successfully hiding his hand and hurried to the bathroom.

In front of the sink he looked at himself in the mirror. There was a time, that he could barely remember, when he couldn’t stand the sight of himself in a mirror. Others saw something like beauty but he just couldn’t place it. Right now his normally pale face was flushed making his cheeks rosy.

Good thing it was dark in the hallway or Itachi was to asleep to notice because he definitely would have said something. It had already been hard enough to convince Itachi to let him go back to school the next day. He won him over with his argument that if he missed anymore school then Ebisu-sama would have more ammunition against their living arrangement. His bouncing back quickly from an episode proved he was getting better and that was what they wanted to prove to Ebisu-sama.

Something warm dropped on the part of his foot not covered by his slipper drawing his attention back to what was going on. With his clean hand he turned on the hot water and soaped up his hands. After rinsing the soap off he smelled his hand and scrunched his nose at the lingering smell of semen so he washed them again. Before leaving the bathroom he whipped of his foot.

In the hall his brother had gone back into his room but his door was still open. He ignored it and went to his own room. Crawling into bed he checked the alarm clock then laid down. It was surprising but even with how much he slept that day he was still able to go out like a light.

XX***XX

Naruto had never enjoyed school. It was a great place to meet and hang out with his friends but everything else he could barely stand. Now that he had mornings to look forward to with Sasuke he found himself waking up early. Getting out of bed used to be the hardest thing he had to do. This morning he woke up earlier than usual and couldn’t get back to sleep. Instead he got up and showered.

Neither he nor Sasuke made it to class the other day so there was no homework to take up their tutoring time. After that morning with Sasuke he never returned to school like he should have. If he could get away with skipping then he would especially with the memory of Sasuke’s cool body trying to comfort him. There was no way he would be able to concentrate. What he did have to do was meet with Principal Tsunade and then Iruka to get chewed out. When he got home from Sasuke’s there were several messages on his phone from her, Iruka, and even Kakashi. He didn’t answer any of them knowing he would have to deal with all of them at school the next day.

When he got to school he checked in at the main office but Tsunade was in a meeting. The vice principal assured him that she would call him down sometime during the day. Naruto knew that the VP didn’t like him. Most of the administration felt the same way about him. It was considered an injustice that he wasn’t expelled long ago. His relationship with the principal and Iruka and Kakashi kept him in school. If anyone else had pulled the pranks he did they would have been out on their ass.

He would think about that later though because he turned the corner and spotted Sasuke sitting on a bench reading. Whatever the book was about it must have been funny. Every once and a while he would smile or even laugh out loud. Just the sight made him smile too. That smile was definitely better then his sad smile or that scary lost look he got the other day

Sasuke interested him like no one else ever had before. At first all he wanted was to get laid but now he found himself wanting to be around Sasuke. Most of the people he pursued would have been to his bed by now. With Sasuke he wasn’t actually trying and with out him noticing he had stopped pursuing others. He still had contact with Sakura and Ino but turned them down for dates. Sasuke was the only one on his mind.

The raven haired boy was just so small and frail. It sparked something inside of him to protest the other boy. When he carried Sasuke to the nurses office he couldn’t help but notice how incredibly light he was. His arms easily held his weight and felt how cold he was even through all their clothes. At first he assumed it was from panicking and fainting but later in Sasuke’s kitchen he was just as cold. The weight that was on his back and the arms around his waist were barely there but left him wanting it to continue forever. He decided that next time he would be the one to hug Sasuke.

He was lost in thought when Sasuke put his book down and looked over him. A smile lit up the pale face making Naruto smile back and walk over. “You reading a good book?”

“Yeah.” Sasuke blushed and put the book in his bag. “I wanted to apologize for Itachi, he sometimes gets carried away when my health becomes an issue.” He folded his hands in front of him and bowed. “I’m sorry.”

Naruto swung his head around embarrassed. “Oh don’t worry it’s okay.” He grabbed Sasuke’s shoulders and pulled him out of his bow. His shoulder bones seemed thin under his hands almost as if he could break them with a little pressure. “He was just worried I understand that.”

Sasuke smiled shyly and stepped back blushing. “I got you something.” Turning around the shorter boy got into his bag and pulled out a scarf wrapped box. “Here I made you a bento. It took me five tries to tie the scarf correctly. Itachi makes me one every day but this one I made for you.” He held the box out towards him. “I don’t know if you’ll like everything in there but there’s probably something good. Sorry but there‘s no ramen.”

“Thank you.” He took the box slowly. This wasn’t the first time he’d been given a gift but it was the only one he really wanted.

“You’re welcome. Now I promised Hinata that I’d meet her before our first class to discuss our project. Itachi won’t let me go to her place after school so we decided to meet this morning.” Sasuke put his back pack on and smiled at him. “I’ll see you after school okay.”

“Yeah.” Naruto felt a coldness as he watched Sasuke walk away.

“Still pining for the virgin I see.” The voice was cold, hard, and unmistakably Gaara’s.

“Something you want?” He didn’t want to deal with the other boy right now. Everything was going well and he didn’t need Gaara ruining his happy mood.

“Just wondering if you’ve managed to get into the cutie’s pants yet.” Gaara circled around to stand next to him.

“It’s none of your business.” He practically growled.

“So the answer’s ‘no’. You must be losing your touch. Normally you would’ve already had him spread eagle and would be bored with him.” Gaara shifted and pressed against his side breathing in his ear. “I had a taste of him when I cornered him in the bathroom. The inside of his mouth is so warm even if that beautiful body is so cold.” The red haired boy had enough sense to pull away before Naruto could throw him off.

“I hope it was good because you are never touching him again.” He hissed turning on the boy who was slowly backing away.

“I’m not interested in him. The only reason I bothered with him at all is because you want him. It’s fun seeing you struggle.” Gaara smirked and turned to walk away. While still in ear shot he called over his shoulder. “When you realize Sasuke’s not worth all the trouble you know how to find me.”

XX***XX

There was still twenty minutes left before the bell rang when Sasuke entered his science classroom. Hinata was already seated at the lab table they shared. He took his seat next to her and she smiled over at him. “Look at this.” She handed him two Polaroid pictures. They were front and side view of a small white mouse. “I named him Kurai. It’s the letters in Iruka scrambled around.”

“He’s cute.” He handed the photo’s back. “This weekend I’ll bye another mouse and it will be our control.”

The only part of the project they could work on was what would go into the maze. Except they had already decided on everything so all that was left was to draw a blue print for her father to build. To draw it they would need more time then this brief get together. Instead of talking about the project she changed the subject. “So I heard Naruto took you home yesterday?”

Her voice was low and wavered a bit on the blonde’s name but she didn’t full out stutter. He had listened to her speak to other where it took forever to get her thoughts across through her stutter. Every time they spoke in length either on the project or as lab partners she never really stammered over her words. Now he understood that it was because she didn’t feel embarrassed around him.

“I started tutoring him in the morning. Yesterday I got light headed and fainted. He’s friends with the principal so he said it was okay for him to leave school. He brought me home.” Telling her about it made his mind go back to what happened in his kitchen. That unfortunately made him think about what he did with the image later that night making him blush.

“Are you okay now?” She asked timidly.

“Yeah I’m fine.” He could sense the worry in her eyes as well as the envy. At lunch he’d often heard Neji warning Naruto to stay away from his cousin. Hinata often blushed madly whenever she saw the blonde and looked like she might faint when she had to talk to him. He smiled at her and touched her hand. “You should talk to Naruto.”

“What?” She gasped and he thought she might faint at the speed of which all her blood rushed to her face.

“You know what I mean. I’ve seen the way you look at him.” He smiled knowingly. “He’s a nice guy I bet he’d spend time with you.”

“You think so?” Her blush faded going from red to pink. “I don’t know, you’ve seen the girls he dates. That’s not me.”

“Yeah but you’re you and that’s great.” The redness was fading at the compliment instead of brightening but she tapped her fingers in her usual nervous way. “I could invite you to study with us in the morning.”

“I don’t know, Neji really doesn’t like him hanging around me. Whenever he comes over Neji confines them to his room.” The sadness in her voice made him frown.

“Who cares what your cousin thinks. From what I’ve seen Naruto’s a really great guy and Neji’s just being over protective. You know that I have experience with that.” He smirked at her and they both laughed. “Anyway if you came to the library in the mornings with Naruto and me then there is nothing he could do about it.”

She shook her head and smiled but didn’t respond. Before he could prod her Iruka walked into the room and smiled at them. “Hi Sasuke, how are you feeling?”

“I’m good yesterday was a one time thing.” He hoped he wouldn’t have to put up with this all day.

“That’s good. Just remember if dealing with Naruto becomes too stressful let me know.” Iruka turned to his desk and started empting his briefcase and preparing his lesson plan.

“Actually.” This got his teacher’s attention. “I’ve been feeling run down lately. It would be nice if I could get some help tutoring him.” He elbowed Hinata gently getting her to look up. “In fact, Hinata said she wouldn’t mind helping us out.”

“Is that right Hinata?”

“Um yes sir.” Sasuke laughed a little as her blush came back full force.

“Well then, I’ll talk to him.” Students started entering the room distracting Iruka with questions. The bell rang and the class began not giving Hinata a chance to refuse what Sasuke offered her.

The idea of the two of them together made him smile. It was an old story; good girl with the bad boy but he thought they would be cute together. Naruto deserved someone nice and sweet considering his lonely home life. From being Hinata’s lab partner he’d learned a lot about her relationship with her parents. She’d hinted at her father preferring her sister over her. When they were working out a schedule she told him about her piano lessons and dance lessons. It seemed that her parents planned out her every move which reminded him too much of his situation with Itachi.

It wasn’t that he didn’t like Naruto’s company and he was trying to pawn him off on Hinata. Itachi had been acting stranger than usual and that was before the fainting incident. In his opinion he needed to spend a little less time with the blond while Itachi got back to normal. He suspected that Itachi still thought that Naruto was responsible for his attack or at least had something to do with it. Technically Naruto did trigger it with his questions but when it came down to it he blamed Gaara. Shaking the thought from his head he concentrated on Iruka’s lesson.

XX***XX

Naruto pulled a chair away as an underclassman tried to sit down causing him to fall to the floor. The other students sitting at both tables laughed making the kid turn angrily towards Naruto. When he saw who it was he changed his mind about yelling and turned back to his own lunch. Naruto didn’t even pay any attention to the other kid’s plight. Instead he sat backwards in his stolen chair at the table with all his friends.

”Your mommy pack your lunch for you today, Blondie.” Kiba mocked him attempting to pull at the scarf around the bento.

Naruto slapped his hand, hard. “No this was made by my special one.” He untied the wrap and picked up the chopsticks sitting on top of the boy.

“I thought you broke up with Sakura.” Kiba rubbed at his hand and returned to his own school bought lunch.

“No that isn’t the work of Sakura.” Shikamaru leaned over and inspected the contents. “This is all home made and way too neat for Sakura. I had science with her and watched her dissect a frog. She ripped it a part. Delicacy is definitely not in her language.”

“You’re right,” Naruto said hauntingly. “This was made by Sasuke.

“Jeeze, not only do you fuck the hottest chicks but pick up cute boys who can cook.” Kiba poked at his cold lunch clearly wanting Naruto’s instead. Suddenly he jerked in his seat and turned to Shino. “What did you do that for?” Shino didn’t answer but bumped his shoulder.

Naruto looked from one to the other before turning his attention to his box lunch. It was best not to try to understand communication between lovers.

“You still barking up that tree?” Neji looked up from his own homemade bento. It was one of the only things he liked about living with his uncle and aunt, home cooked meals.

“Yeah, what’s it to you?” Naruto turned to his friend. Neji had been acting strange towards him lately ever since he announced that he liked Sasuke.

“Nothing it’s just that Hinata has become very close to Sasuke. Hinata likes you.” The members of the table fell silent and regarded each other nervously. Everyone knew Neji’s feelings towards his younger cousin. He might not like her very much but still sometimes behaved like a protective older brother.

“I already told you I won’t do anything to hurt Hinata. She’s nice I like her.” Neji grunted and ate a piece of vegetarian sushi.

“Whatever.” They sat for a while in an uncomfortable silence until Shino asked Kiba about some assignment. He grunted in frustration about not finishing it and Shikamaru offered his up to be copied. “Remember to answer a couple wrong because you know Shikamaru is smarter than you or you’ll get detention like the last time.” Neji rejoined the conversation sounding less angry.

Naruto relaxed some. He hated when his friends were mad at him. Just to test the water he added his two cents to the conversation. “Yeah remember when you got a 100% on an assignment on that lecture you weren’t even in class for.”

Everyone at the table including Neji laughed an Kiba. His face turned red and he put his head down to copy answers in earnest. “You fuckers suck,” he growled at them.

XX***XX

The rest of the day went pretty fast and was ordinary compared to the other day. There was some strangeness as Iruka gave Naruto a dirty look and demanded to see him after school. He raked his brain in an attempt at figure out if he’d done anything lately to warrant punishment. When he couldn’t think of anything he put it out of his mind until after school.

After his last class he went back to Iruka’s classroom. “You wanted to see me.”

“Yeah and don’t look at me like that you’re not in trouble.” Iruka sat on his desk and pointed at the desk in front of him.

“Oh thank god.” He too sat on the desk not in the chair. “So what’s up?”

“I spoke to Sasuke today and he said that he’s been feeling a bit tired lately. He was wondering if you wouldn’t mind Hinata joining you for tutoring. What do you say?” Iruka beamed at him.

“No,” he almost yelled. “I asked Sasuke for a reason.”

“You’re not planning to do anything to him are you?” Iruka was one of the few people who was around to see his whole pranking and bulling past.

“No I’m not planning anything. I can’t believe you’d think that of me after how good I’ve been.” Iruka had convinced him that a person could change and here he was accusing him of going back to his old ways. “I have to go now. I have homework from yesterday.” He got up and stomped to the door.

“About Hinata?” Iruka called after him.

“Don’t worry I’ll think about it after I talk to Sasuke.” He was angry and confused. Why didn’t Sasuke want to tutor him anymore? It probably had something to do with Itachi. He expected that because of yesterday but how did Hinata fit into the equation.

Quickly he made his way to the back of the school to see Sasuke but he was too late. Itachi must have picked him up while he was dealing with Iruka. The answers to his questions would have to wait until later.

XX***XX

Story Notes:

1) At first Sasuke is going to misguidedly try to hook Naruto up with Hinata but it will quickly turn to Hinata helping Naruto snag Sasuke.

2) I didn’t really mean for it to turn out this way but Neji comes off acting a lot like Itachi. In the next couple chapters Neji’s intentions become more clear. He really isn’t protecting Hinata from his player friend but wants Naruto for himself.

3) The title “sensei” isn’t just for teachers but artists and doctors.

4) Gaara is like Naruto in the way that he is going after a challenge to relieve the boredom of easy scores. Instead of a someone shy and withdrawn he chooses someone who doesn’t want anything to do with him. I like to think that Gaara would rather sleep with someone who knows what they are doing instead of someone who doesn’t.

5) I’m glad people understood and accepted the reason behind Itachi’s behavior. Another fandom of mine is Yu-Gi-Oh and it always seemed odd to me that an emancipated miner would be given custody of another miner. I added a social worker to make it more realistic and to add some more complications.

6) The best way to understand Itachi’s feelings for his brother is to think about it this way. No matter how old Sasuke gets when Itachi looks at him all he sees is the small 8 year old that he left behind in a burning house.

XX***XX

Extra Notes

Thank you so much for the reviews; those who have reviewed for the first time or those who are reviewing again. I love every one.

1) Yes, the word “obstacles” in the summary was misspelled. I fixed it. If they are pointed out I will fix spelling errors. Thank you Yagami Raito.

2) Thank you for putting up with my little rant in the chapter before. I was just really upset at the deadness of one of my favorite stories.

3) I feel this chapter was a little boring but the next chapter is full of information. Sasuke goes to his therapist and that will bring to a brighter light most of Sasuke’s past that I have been hinting at. Some things with still be vague.