Long Summary:

Sasuke's mother has just been re-elected as mayor, his father is the head of police, and his brother is a successful business man that works for Konoha Corporation. The city has never been better. Crime rates have never been lower, and the corporation that Itachi has been at has never been more profitable. Meanwhile, Sasuke is just there, just trying to get by in school and just trying to meet his family's expectations.

Nothing else matters to Sasuke except making his family happy, and he doesn't care what he has to do or who he has to leave behind to do it.

Which is why his self-proclaimed best friend Naruto makes his life so impossible.

Naruto's father is the CEO of Konoha Corporation and his mother is a world-renowed archeologist. He has spent his childhood traveling the world with them, never staying in one place, and never really knowing how to make any friends. The only constant he has ever had in his life was attending the Leaf Summer camp with Sasuke, his best friend, and the only person that has made Naruto feel like he actually belonged somewhere.

When Naruto finally gets to live where Sasuke is for a year, Naruto thinks his life might finally be looking up. He wants nothing more than to hang out with his best friend, date his pretty tutor Sakura, and maybe make some more friends to hang out with along the way. But more than anything Naruto just doesn't want to feel alone anymore.

Which is why his self-proclaimed acquitance Sasuke makes his life so impossible.


"I can't believe you'd disappoint us like this." His mother's hands were nervously tapping at the table. She was frowning down at him. Sasuke had his backpack with him, he was sitting across from her at the kitchen table."I called the principal this morning to thank him for his participation in my campaign, and you know what he tells me?" Her perfectly manicured hands momentarily stopped moving.

She looked at Sasuke expectantly. "He told me that he had offered you a paid tutoring job, but that you rejected it." Her scowl deepened making her look older than her years. She began tapping the table again.

"Do you think you're too good for work?" His father's voice cut in. He was in uniform. "You know how important our family image is." He sighed in frustration.

Sasuke didn't want to look at them. He squeezed his left hand with his right and stared at them intently, he put pressure on the hand until he saw parts of it turn white and then slightly purple.

"Well?" His mother's impatient voice snapped him back to reality.

He couldn't answer. Or he didn't want to answer. He knew what he had to say, but he hated having to say it.

Just say it.

"I asked you a question." His father pulled out a chair and sat down next to his mother.

He didn't want to answer.

Don't be prideful.

"Sasuke, we're talking to you." His mother's voice was frustrated and tired.

It doesn't matter. Just say it and make this stop.

"I'm sorry." Sasuke's voice sounded uncharacteristically soft. "I'm not like Itachi, if I had taken that job… I wouldn't be able to keep up with my grades."

There. Was that so hard?

He hated seeing the look of pity on his parents faces as he said it.

He hated everything about this.

Mikoto sighed, the nervous tapping on the table finally stopped, and she looked at her younger son with pity. "It's okay son. You're doing your best." Her voice softened almost as if speaking to a baby. "You were ranked first academically. You were first in archery, track, and violin too. I know you're doing your best."

His father said nothing. Sasuke knew that in his head he was comparing him to Itachi. "You have to talk to us before you make a decision like that, son." He said finally as he ran a hand through his hair. "You know how important it is that you make good decisions."

"Yes sir." His voice was still soft, almost a whisper.

"Yes son, you can't make brash decisions. Especially not when election season begins." His mother stood up and started walking towards the door. "Which reminds me, I won't make it home for dinner tonight either, so be sure to heat up something healthy for yourself. You need to stay handsome for the pictures!"

Sasuke nodded and stood up. "I'll be heading off then." He put on his backpack.

"Have a good day at school!" Mikoto's voice was back to her usual calming tone. The voice of a seasoned politician.

"Don't disappoint me." His father said before turning to the newspaper in front of him.

"Yes sir." He said and nodded as if appreciating the reminder.

But Fugaku didn't' have to tell him. Sasuke already knew.


He heard a group of girls whisper his name as he walked through the front door, but he chose to ignore them. In fact, he ignored everyone. He always had. At this point, he wasn't sure why he avoided everyone, but he knew that he preferred it that way. It made him feel at ease. This morning, however, he felt sick. He had a bad feeling about today. He walked into the classroom earlier than the rest. He was usually the first to arrive, but today he was surprised to see Sakura already in the classroom with a small box of chocolates.

As soon as he walked in, she stood up from her desk in the middle of the classroom and he saw as her face turned a bright pink. He stopped walking once he saw her stand up and he placed his hands in his pockets.

"S-sasuke." Her voice cracked. She cleared her throat and walked over to him.

He raised an eyebrow at her and gave her the same cold stare his father gave him. He was pleased when he saw that it made Sakura shudder.

She turned away from his stare and held out the candy. "I wanted to thank you for… for…" She took a deep breath and then turned to face him and his cold stare. "I wanted to thank you for not taking the tutoring job." Her face was still pink, but her eyes were strong and determined.

Sasuke's eyes met hers, then he slowly looked down towards the box of candies in her hand. He saw as her face went from pink to red.

"I didn't do it for you." He walked past her and her outstretched hand to sit at his desk in the front row to the leftmost corner, isolated from the rest of the students.

"You say that, but the principal told me you suggested me instead." She walked over to his desk with a determination he had never seen in her before.

He looked up at her as he took out his book for their first lesson.

"You're ranked second." His voice was distant and bored. He shooed her away with his hands.

Sakura once again took a deep breath. She looked down at Sasuke, who looked incredibly annoyed. She looked conflicted as she stood over his desk and held the box in her hands. It wasn't until she heard laughter approaching the classroom that she stopped staring at him, and she hurried over to her desk to hide the box.

Sasuke let out a small sigh in relief and turned his head to look out the window.

"Thank you."

He turned to face her without realizing it, she was sitting at her desk. "Even if you didn't do it for me… I really needed the work." She smiled at him. "So… thank you, Sasuke." Her face was a pleasant shade of pink, and her tone of voice was kind. It was obvious to anyone how she felt about him.

It was obvious to him too, so he scoffed and looked at her as if she were a fly in his soup.

Without another word he turned back to the staring out the window as the group of kids entered the classroom.