Author's note: "Plus Ten", meaning ten years later.
Disclaimer: Naruto and its characters belong to Kishimoto Masashi.

CHAPTER FIVE:

PLUS TEN

“Sakura!”

“No.”

“Sakura!”

“No.”

“Come on, Sakura!”

“No.”

“Lend me your homework!”

“No.”

“I forgot to do it, come on, lend me your homework!”

The rosette-haired girl stopped abruptly and Naruto quickly embraced her from behind, his arms around her neck and his lower lip sticking out in a pout.

“Come. On. Sa-ku-ra!”

“No. Way.”

“Aah! You're too cruel!”

She turned around in his embrace and stared at him, his face just inches from her own. Her forehead was in level with his chin so she had to tilt her face upwards to even meet his gaze. His blue orbs were glazed with fake tears and there was something very childish about his whole face. By chance was it the whiskers on his cheeks, or that stupid expression.

“You look like a little kid”, she finally pointed out and expected him to cry and make a scene but he just leaned his forehead against hers and sighed in defeat.

“And you two look like a couple so break it up”, Sasuke commented as he passed the two.

“That's because we're going out. Right, Sakura?” Naruto grinned and peered at Sasuke over the young woman's shoulder.

“No we're not! What kind of lies are you making up in your head? Idiot Naruto!” Sakura fumed and broke free from the blonde's death grip. “Wait for me, Sasuke!”

With a depressed frown Naruto picked up his bag from the ground and threw it over his shoulder before following his two comrades. One of them was his childhood crush and the other was his rival but both were special to him. They were the first to accept him for who he was, even though Sakura tried hard to make it look like she didn't care about him at all. When she first found out about his true feeling for her, he had been so afraid she'd push him away but she remained by his side, loyally.

“Naruto, hurry up or we'll be late!” he heard her scream from the entrance gates to the school.

Every day was the same. Sakura's house was the farthest from school so she always picked Sasuke up on her way, and then the two of them went to Naruto's apartment to fetch him. Thereafter the blonde and the emerald-eyed girl would bicker until the destination was reached.

Once Naruto reached the school gates Sakura was long gone, off to her own classes, and he walked side by side with Sasuke, who was in the same class as the blonde. They weren't exactly in a rush since their homeroom teacher, Kakashi, always - without fail - showed up fifteen minutes late every morning. In a way, he was very punctual.

“Hey, Sasuke-bastard.”

“What?” asked the teen who had long since stopped questioning Naruto's nickname for him.

“Can I borrow your homework?”

“You can't.”

“Aah, you're just as bad as Sakura! Just not as pretty...”

“It's like this every day, you total moron. Do your homework for once.”

“But I was busy last night!”

“And the night before that?”

“Of course!”

Sasuke wasn't going to ask what his idiot friend was busy doing, he was afraid the answer would cost him too many braincells. At times the jet-haired teen was surprised he hadn't gotten stupid, what with hanging around Naruto so much but then again, who knew what kind of super genius he could've been if the blonde hadn't been around during their childhood?

The bell rang eight times and the principal's voice echoed through the corridors thanks to the speakers. She was greeting them and wishing them a studious day, although it came off more like a threat rather than encouragement.

“That old granny. Oh, hey, Hinata!” Naruto called and waved his arms like a madman, signaling to a girl a few yards away. She was standing outside classroom B, one of the rooms used by the freshmen.

“You total moron, that's our classroom, why would you call for her to get over here when she's obviously right where she should be?”

Even so, the small girl hurried over to them and smiled shyly. “Good morning, Naruto, Sasuke.”

The latter nodded and brushed by her while Naruto, being a complete flirt, threw an arm around her shoulders and started a conversation, or something along those lines. By an onlooker it would most likely be referred to as a monologue.

“Hey, Hinata, could I possibly copy your homework?” the blonde grinned sheepishly while guiding her through the classroom.

“Ah, um...no, you mustn't do that”, she finally stammered and blushed prettily while at the same time looking away.

“Aw, you too Hinata? Geez, what's wrong with the world today?”

“I think what she's trying to say is that you should accomplish your goals by your own means”, a dry voice commented from behind.

“Gaara!” Naruto called and them threw himself towards the boy, who simply stepped aside. “Can I borrow your-”

“All right, class, to your seats, I don't want to dirty my hands today”, Kakashi demanded and sat down on his desk. “Pass down your assignments and then we'll continue from where we left off yesterday.”

Naruto raised a hand.

“And if you haven't completed your assignments”, the teacher continued and sent a meaning look Naruto's way, “you will be rewarded with an hour's detention during which you will clean up in my office.”

Hinata looked sad on her blonde classmate's behalf and Sasuke rolled his eyes.

“That's unfair!” Naruto yelled. “The reason I couldn't do my homework was because you gave me detention yesterday!”

Kakashi sighed heavily. “And why did I give you detention yesterday?”

“Because I hadn't done my homework.”

“Right. Then, let's move on to page 48, piece three. Hinata, read it to us.”

And Naruto was forced to accept his cruel fate and the fact that he'd be late for dinner yet another day.

In the classroom next door, 1-A, Shizune had just smacked Nara Shikamaru on the head with a textbook to wake him up. He was also rewarded with detention and an malicious smile from Ino. Sakura, who sat on Ino's other side, silently mused that some people simply don't learn. This was the fifth time this month that Shikamaru fell asleep during class. Stupid Ino's boyfriend.

“If everyone's awake now”, Shizune snapped and inspected her class with threatening eyes, “I will introduce our transfer student. Enter.”

All members of Konoha High School's class 1-A stared silently as a young, unusually good - yet strangely familiar - looking man strode into the classroom. He had the appearance of a noble version of Uchiha Sasuke and he smiled. Sakura noted with a twitch that the girls, Ino included, were staring like he was an animal at the zoo.

“Nice to meet you all”, he greeted politely while his smile freaked the pink-haired freshman out. “Please be gentle with me.”

The only seat available was in the front row, between two other boys, so it ended up being a situation no one approved of.

“Shizune, I demand we rearrange our seating arrangements!” a girl shouted and more, similar, demands arose. In the end the poor teacher had no choice but to oblige and in turn all the students had to go pick up a note from a basket by the teacher's desk. On that note was a number connected to one of the desks in the room.

The idea was very simple but the result apparently dissatisfying. This time Sai, which was his name, got the seat between Shikamaru and a window. Furthermore, it was in the far back so he wasn't in range of the girls' view.

“I can't believe these people are sixteen years old...” Sakura muttered and then glanced at the girl to her right. “And how come I always end up next to you?”

“Fate”, Ino smiled cutely and peered at her best girlfriend. “It's been like this since elementary school, hasn't it? It's a wonder you're still surprised. We can't be separated.”

Sakura chuckled. “Isn't Shikamaru jealous? Hey, Ino, you should give up on him and date me. You already said it's fate, didn't you?”

The blonde stretched out a hand and caressed Sakura's cheek while the latter trailed the blonde's arm with a finger.

“Such a naughty girl, forehead.”

“You say the most foolish things, pig.”

“A-hem!” Shizune coughed and glared at her two loudest students. “I don't care about your sexual preferences and whatnot but will you please keep it out of my classroom?!”

“Yes Ma'am!”, the two girls, who immediately parted, replied simultaneously. Before the lesson started again, they looked at one another and giggled.

Next chapter: Of kittens and hiccups