Work Text:
The academy was buzzing with life, voices of children filled their classrooms with excited discussions of what today's events would be. It was finally Family day, which allowed one to two family members come by the academy to observe them as they each participated in various different exercises.
Two students sat at the back of the class away from everybody else. Sasuke, a boy with navy hair and obsidian eyes kept glaring at any girl who got too close. The boy beside him laid his head on the table, unbothered by the strange looks being sent their way. His sky blue eyes hidden away as he tried to catch up on his sleep. He had stayed up late again last night practicing his taijutsu with Sasuke. If he didn't get a nap in now, his guardians will be able to tell when they see him later today.
“I told you we should have called it quits early enough to get some rest. I don’t want to hear you use it as some sort of excuse when I beat you.” One of Naruto's eyes popped open.
“How the heck are you going to win with that stick up your ass?” Sasuke’s eyes narrowed and he kicked him in the ankle. Naruto yelped in pain but kept his head down.
“Tch. Whatever. If you mess up any of the demonstrations today, they're going to think it was their fault for coming and making you nervous.” Giving up on getting any sleep, Naruto sat back up. A yawn came out before he could stop it, causing his friend to yawn right afterwards. He giggled at Sauke’s annoyed expression before reassuring him that everything would be fine.
“Look, we could do these exercises in our sleep. I’ll be fine. Plus, I didn’t hear you complaining when I asked you to keep going. After today, they’ll file a request to take us on as apprentices. Plus, we get ramen for dinner! What’s better than that?” Sasuke looked at Naruto’s excited smile and couldn't help the small one that slipped out in response. It wasn’t his fault. Naruto's smiles were infectious and even he couldn’t fight them. He rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to reply when their teacher entered the room. Everyone took their seats and Iruka began to explain the day's schedule before letting them know their family members were currently waiting outside. The second Iruka gave them the go ahead, all of the students ran out the door excited to see their family. Iruka waited until all of the children left the room before locking up. He was surprised to see Naruto and Sasuke walking together. It made sense in a way, since they were the only kids without family. He winced at the thought and made a note to himself to pay extra attention to them. Maybe he would even take them out for some ramen afterwards.
The field was filled with people, the majority with standard shinobi outfits. They each waited patiently for their children to come out. Some were socializing while others opted to stay a ways away with their partner. All of them however, kept shooting glances at the two famous shinobi. Who could they be here for? Weren’t they a little too young to have children in this age group? The two shinobi in question just kept to themselves, seated under a tree reminiscing their earlier days, excited to see their kids.
Sarutobi Asuma and Yuuhi Kurenai were only 17 when they first started taking care of Naruto. They had been out on a date when a blur of yellow hid under their dinner table. When the angry stand owner came rushing in asking if they had seen a brat pass by they had pointed at a random direction. He thanked them before running off. Naruto popped out only a few seconds afterwards and promised not to prank them as a thank you. Before he could run off his stomach growled out in hunger. Kurenai laughed as she scooped up some of her rice and offered it to him with a smile. Naruto stared at her in shock before opening his mouth and letting her feed him. He beamed up at her with one of his rare genuine smiles. They never stood a chance.
The sound of running children snapped them back to the present. Kurenai stood up first while Asuma took his time, laughing at his fiance's eagerness. Her blood red eyes quickly moved side to side in search of her two boys. She spotted Naruto first. His bright yellow hair sticking out amongst the black and brown. It was Sasuke that saw them first though. He grabbed onto Naruto’s hand and pulled him through the crowd of people. When they were close enough he let go of his hand and stopped in front of Asuma. He held back a blush when his teacher’s hand ruffled his hair, a grin on his face. Next to them, Naruto was in Kurenai’s arms, not at all shy about showing affection. She had opened her arms the second they burst out of the crowd. Neither of the four cared enough to pay attention to the group openly gawking at them. The two young students took turns asking their guardians about their latest mission. They knew they weren’t allowed to know everything but they appreciated the time the shinobi took to explain the parts they could.
Once the children had enough time to talk to their parents, Iruka called them all to gather in the middle of the field and asked the adults to move to the sides. When everyone was seated he began to explain what their first exercise would be. While he explained the necessary requirements to pass, the children formed a line, having already heard all of this just moments before. One by one each student took a turn showing how much they’ve improved this year. When the last loyal Uchiha walked up the target, it was to the screams of all the girls in class wishing him good luck. He scoffed at their desperate attempts to gain his affection, still he turned to where he knew Kurenai and Asuma were and couldn’t help a burst of happiness bloom in his chest to see them both giving him their full attention. They both smiled at him and he took in a deep breath as he turned to his side to lock eyes with Naruto. He smirked as he hit a bullseye with each Kunai without so much as a glance at the target. All the girls screamed once more and even the adults seemed to be impressed. Whispers could be heard all around.
“As expected of an Uchiha.”
“That’s pretty impressive for an academy student.”
“Graduation is next year, why hasn’t he graduated yet.”
“It’s a little scary though, isn’t it? What if he ends up like his brother?”
Sasuke could care less about what was said about him. All he cared about was the smile Naruto sent his way, the clear challenge accepted and of the cries of praise he could hear coming from Kurenai and Asuma. He walked towards his friend as he came to take his own spot in front of the target. They bumped fists as they passed each other and Naruto waved over at the pair of Jonin. Widening his grin, he positioned his hands in the forms he was taught without turning around. All the kids began to laugh.
“I knew the kid was stupid but this is ridiculous. He’s not even facing the right direction.”
“What did you expect from that boy?”
“How has he not been kicked out of the academy by now?”
“What could the Hokage’s son possibly see in him?”
Naruto was used to these comments by now, but this time he genuinely didn’t care. Kurenai and Asuma had finished their mission as fast as they could just to make it here on time to see him. It shouldn’t surprise him anymore but Naruto would never stop marveling at the amount of love they gave him. He could sense the annoyance coming from the bastard on his behalf, there wasn’t a single thing he couldn’t accomplish with them by his side. All the noise cut off once he began to throw his kunai behind him. Every single one of them hit their target, he didn’t even bother looking back. He giggled as Asuma sent him a wink and he waved at them once more before running to stand by Sasuke. The only noise that could be heard was Asuma and Kurenai’s cheering.
The rest of the day continued much the same. Every exercise Naruto and Sasuke took turns one upping each other. They were having fun and neither could wait until it was all over so they could spend the rest of the day with their guardians. A part of them knew it wouldn’t be so simple, but it was easy to get distracted when they got wrapped up in their competitions. It was the final exercise of the day, Sasuke had just finished his spar with Iruka and sat at the back of the group to wait for Naruto to finish. It was obvious Mizuki was getting frustrated, he wasn’t expecting Naruto to actually be able to fight. Sasuke grew nervous as Mizuki began to fight back with a little more force than was allowed. His eyes widened and his mind slowed down as a boiling rage began to fester deep inside him when out of nowhere Mizuki landed a full force punch across Naruto’s face. It wasn’t enough to knock him out but when he spit out a tooth with a good amount of blood Sasuke was suddenly forced back to the day he and Naruto first began their friendship.
Sasuke was running away from a group of girls who just wouldn’t take no for an answer. Usually he would just ignore them until they gave up or even yell at them on one of his bad days, but he was just too tired today. All he had wanted was to get out of the house for a while, he couldn’t handle the quiet anymore. So lost in his thoughts he failed to successfully fight against the arm that snatched him into a dark alleyway. A hand covered his mouth before he could scream and he quit fighting back when the horde of girls ran past him. He let out a quiet sigh of relief, momentarily forgetting about his savior. A cough made him freeze and he slowly looked over to find Naruto Uzumaki, the dead last of our class, shifting awkwardly where he stood. Before he could spit out his usual insult and let him know he most certainly did not need his help, a flash of light revealed the frazzled boy's appearance. He had a gash on his forehead, a nasty purple bruise coloring his cheek, and when he began to speak there was a gap from a missing tooth, fresh blood spilling out of his mouth after every word.
“Stop talking, you idiot, before you get any more blood on me.” Naruto frowned. He knew they weren’t exactly friends, but even for him, that was harsh.
“Come on, you can come over to my place. I’ll stitch up your forehead and get you some ice for that bruise. What the hell happened to you?” Naruto grinned and Sasuke had to stop himself from laughing at the ridiculous way he looked with his missing tooth. He couldn’t help his yelp of surprise though, when instead of heading to his place, Naruto dragged him in the opposite direction.
“We’re going to Asuma’s place! I’m sure that’s where Kurenai is and she’s the one who takes care of my wounds. You’ll love them, they're so cool and strong!” He kept gushing over the two Jonin and Sasuke was too stunned to really fight back.
He tells himself that, but really he just didn’t want to go back to a cold and empty apartment.
A shout of fear brought him back to find Asuma Sarutobi with a kunai in his hand, pressed up against Mizuki’s jugular. Sasuke blinked and jumped up to run to Naruto’s side.
“I’m okay Teme don’t worry. Your punches hurt ten times more than his. How pathetic right?” He didn’t have it in him to smile back at his best friend this time.
“He shouldn’t have hit you with that much force, he's a teacher!” Naruto’s forced grin turned soft and tender, ignoring the pain he felt he pulled the raven in for a hug placing his cheek against his own until he got his rage under control. He cursed, remembering Asuma was currently threatening to kill an academy teacher.
“Give me one good reason, as to why you felt the need to hit an academy student so hard he lost a tooth!” Naruto winced, but not in sympathy, cause honestly? The bastard deserved it. He was brought out of his thoughts by Kurenai carefully pulling the boys apart and bringing his face in between her hands.
“Naruto, honey, let me look at you. How bad does it hurt?” He blinked, once, twice, three times and smiled.
“Don’t worry Kurenai! I’m okay. I just gotta wash the blood out with some water. Like I told Sasuke, his punches are pretty weak! My tooth must have been loose.” When the worry wouldn’t leave her face, Naruto took her hands in his before closing his eyes and leaning into her.
“Really, I’m okay. I promise.” He felt her breath in deeply before pulling him in close and placing a quick kiss on top of his head. When she let him go she gave a quick kiss to Sasuke’s cheek before making her way over to her raging fiance. Both boys stood up and were suddenly surrounded by their concerned classmates.
“Yo Naruto, you okay man? That was so uncool!” The blonde looked over to the worried faces of his classmates in awe. Then he turned to see the adults all looking at Mizuki with disapproval, Asuma had yet to remove his Kunai while he and Kurenai took turns spewing out insult after insult, even Iruka looked at fellow teacher with unhidden anger. He turned to Sasuke who was busy brushing off the girls asking him if he was okay too, and interlocking their fingers, smiling when the raven didn’t pull away.
“Yeah we’re okay,” he beamed.