(Standard disclaimer applied throughout the whole story.)

PROLOGUE

"I know you killed her," said the man just across him.

He stood motionlessly with lips dry and pursed.

"I could not believe that girl alone could make a poltroon out of you."

"What… do you want?" He finally spoke.

"If you do not want anyone else to know, serve me." The man smiled.

The other could not think properly anymore. There was no choice left but to agree.

- - -

ONE

He was a typical guy who was currently walking along a tree-lined path leading to the front hall. His hands were in his pockets, his chin was slightly up and his onyx eyes—forever defined as gorgeous—were watching how the vivid autumn leaves fell about. But even though he was typical, he earned popularity because of his looks and his smile.

He was a genius in every sense and he was cunning. His imperfection was his arrogance and more often then not, he would jump into action before thinking—which was, as mentioned, seldom. At times, he lusted for sarcasm especially when he was triggered well. (Not to mention that only a few managed to do so.) But lately, his name was overshadowed by his brother's growing fame. He couldn't care less though. All he needed was to graduate and leave school… leave the city and never come back.

For some seconds, he looked up and saw familiar faces peering down from the fourth floor windows. A couple of girls were waving at him and their faces were showing several shades of red.

He smirked to himself.

He didn't really like women (and men) that much yet he found both sexes attractive at times.

Another year. He noted and approached the front doors. He pushed them open and headed for the stairs. The fourth year classrooms were located at the fifth floor. The corridors were newly painted and the smell was intoxicatingly fresh. Several early birds gathered in cliques and they watched from the windows how students came and went. Other students waved at him and continued on their way to the other side of the path.

He scanned the corridor for his designated room. Upon finding it, he slid the door open for entrance. By the time his face was exposed by the open door, a blonde boy bounced off from his place and appeared before him. His whiskers were emphasized due to his extremely wide grin. "Sasuke-teme! Long time no seeeee!"

Sasuke, the onyx-eyes guy, inclined his head a bit and then said, "what 'long time no see'? You came to my house every morning to ask for a ramen treat." Seconds after that statement, both of them smiled. They were worst of foes and yet best of friends.

The blonde placed both his hands behind his head and said, "You're rich anyway so a bowl of ramen would not cost you much."

"A bowl? You eat a minimum of three bowls a day, baka." Sasuke moved past his friend and placed his bag on a seat beside the blonde's. For some reason, only that whiskered teen managed to get more than one response from the Uchiha.

Once they were seated, the blonde faced his chair towards Sasuke and asked. "Where have you been Sasuke? You were gone for two weeks."

"Hn." That was Sasuke's usual response.

"Oi… Sasuke-teme…"

"Naruto…" the raven head glared at him at the corner of his eyes. Naruto, the blonde, immediately let go of the topic. The two had a moment of silence until a split-eyed classmate of theirs came into view.

"Naruto! Sasuke!" He sat on the blonde's desk. "Did you hear that the school still accepted a transferee even if she's an upcoming fourth year? Normally, schools are not considerate."

Chouji, who was slightly intrigued by the issue, moved forward to ask, "Do you know why, Kiba?"

"They said that she was really clever. Some even said that she was the constant top ranker." Kiba added enthusiastically. "They said her surname is Haruno."

"A girl?" Shikamaru, a slouching guy seated in front of Sasuke, muttered aloud. "How troublesome."

Sasuke gave a little smirk to what he heard from his front mate. Really troublesome.

"Too bad Shikamaru is the effortless top one. He has to work for his grades now that the girl is here." Naruto mumbled to the others who nodded in agreement.

"And since when did you have an interest in women, Kiba?" Chouji raised another inquiry.

"Who said I am interested?" Kiba crossed his arms. "I just told this to tinge Naruto's life."

"So she's pretty?" a guy who was in green attire popped behind Sasuke.

"You got the gist of it." Kiba snapped.

"All Naruto ever cared about is the girl's looks." Sasuke spoke at his sides.

"I heard that!" the blonde enunciated as he pointed a finger at the Sasuke, who was smiling because of amusement.

"As if it isn't true." Shikamaru nonchalantly added.

"But you've got one problem though." Kiba uncrossed his arms and raised his eyebrows to Sasuke's direction.

Sasuke, on the other hand, caught that gesture so he cocked his head to the right and said. "I never had intentions of 'stealing' any of your crushes."

"He's right Naruto. Girls voluntarily fall into his embrace." Kiba sniggered, followed by chuckles from the listeners.

"Hey Lee, you seem interested too." The attention directed to him deviated after he spoke those words.

Lee, the green clothed guy nodded in response.

"But you know you have two more rivals in this room for her hand." Chouji smiled. "Hyuuga Neji and Aburame Shino."

Hmp… Hyuuga. Sasuke leaned against the back rest of his chair and eyed the long-haired guy two chairs away from him. He hated that white-skinned teen for as long as he could remember. What he didn't know was he hated that man because he had the same personality as he had.

They were both egotistical.

Well, how about Shino? He was enigmatic in a sense and the only things most people knew about him were: one, he loved insects and two, he was smart. Moreover, he didn't care about the guy.

When the bell rang, the room was immediately filled by students. Kiba and Chouji bade them good bye and got back to their seats. Lee hurried past Shino and sat beside the Hyuuga. Shikamaru appeared to have just awoken from a short nap and was scratching the back of his neck. Naruto, after staring at the board for some time, began babbling about how his two weeks went without ramen. He also noted that Sasuke's brother had taken authority of the school.

"What?" Sasuke, who was supposedly impassive, looked at the blonde out of the blue.

"What 'what'?" Naruto slumped back in his chair.

"About that jerk buying half of the school."

"Shouldn't you know? You're his bro—"

"Do not remind me."

"…whatever you say Sasuke-teme…"

"On with the explanation."

Naruto grumbled about the Uchiha commanding him like a dog and then he spoke within ear shot. "Rumor says it that he bought the school for investment. He predicted that the population of students will increase as years go by. So whatever he commands and plans are to be followed."

What is he thinking now? I can't really understand that dork. Sasuke uncomfortably leaned back and let his left arm hang at his side. His onyx eyes focused on his desk surface before transferring to the wall clock. The murmurs and the suppressed laughter whirred past his ears. Even Naruto noticed his apathy so he decided to chat with his other seatmate instead.

Minutes passed.

"Where the hell is our adviser?" one student commented.

The Uchiha's brow went up when he noticed that ten minutes had passed. He eyed the door and coincidentally, it gradually moved. The others observed it too so they sat properly. Naruto stretched and yawned before moving into a presentable position. The others fixed their shirts for the sake of a good first impression. Sasuke straightened up and examined the teacher who emerged from the open door.

The teacher had a mask covering half of his face and a band concealed his left eye. A small red book was clasped by his left hand while his right was in his pocket. His hair was shaded silver and his eyes were handsomely sheepish.

"Yo." He withdrew his hand and raised it to show some sort of greeting.

Sasuke fought the urge to roll his eyes. He's going to be my teacher? He's fucking late for starters.

The professor eyed the whole class before smiling. "I am Hatake Kakashi and I will be your adviser for this school year."

Sasuke's orbs moved to his left and saw his female classmate scribble "Hatake Kakashi" hastily on her notebook of crushes. He even caught sight of his name listed there, making him look away in irritation.

"Anyone volunteering to be the temporary secretary to check the attendance?" Kakashi inquired.

A hand immediately shot up in the air, causing a fuss among the students. The Uchiha slowly looked over his shoulder and saw a girl, defined by her rich pink mane and lovely emerald eyes, with her porcelain arm raised. Never seen her before. A tad curious about this, he turned to Naruto only to find that he was blushing and his marble-like eyes were directed to the girl. Love at first sight? The crap… He did not pursue asking the blonde.

"Hmmm…" Kakashi took the attendance sheet from the teacher's table and flipped the pages until he saw the girl's picture and her name. "Haruno Sakura?"

Sakura, the volunteer, nodded. More whispers stirred in the class. Who would have thought that a new student would jump into a position?

So she's the one. Sasuke thought casually.

"Alright Haruno, take this."

The Uchiha watched her slim figure move through the aisle; her arm slightly brushed his as she passed. Her footsteps were showered with authentic grace and her movement was smooth. (The raven head was sure that Naruto was checking her ass.) Her hair swayed as she claimed the attendance sheet and turned to face the class. Her lips formed a smile before proceeding to the first name.

Not at all charming. That was Sasuke's first impression of her. Pretty, yes, compared to most ladies he encountered but she lacked the "explosion" to blow him away with one wink. Well, no one had been able to strike him with awe. After pondering on her impression on him, he crossed his legs and the interlaced his fingers. He half-listened to the names and statements of his classmates.

Sasuke's mind wandered off to a certain beach at night. He recalled how lax he was as he stood by the shore. The waves crashed and formed foam against his bare feet. His eyes were closed so that he could concentrate on the cool whisper of the sea breeze. His face was tilted up as if absorbing the faint rays of the moonlight. He felt coldness all over his body except for his palms that were drenched in something warm.

He was tired… and nonplussed… though it wasn't the evident.

The Uchiha's sense came back when he felt a sharp jab at his side. He saw Naruto staring at him with a certain pissed expression. He also noticed that most of his classmates were eyeing him intriguingly.

"Uchiha Sasuke?" Sakura seemed to have repeated his name twice.

"Present."

More people looked at him.

"Sasuke-teme!" Naruto murmured. "Didn't you hear—?"

"Uchiha, Kakashi-sensei gave us an additional instruction. He told us to describe ourselves in a few words." Sakura said in an in-case-you're-not-listening tone.

Sasuke finally understood why Naruto grew so vexed. First, the blonde wanted to show off through the proclamation of his greatness but since Sasuke was the student (alphabetically) before him, he was delayed. Second, he noticed that he was receiving Sakura's full attention for a number of seconds.

"Hn." Sasuke stood up and said in quick words, "Uchiha Sasuke," he paused and glanced at Sakura. "I don't like to be disturbed." When he saw her smile, he decided right away that he didn't like her.

Sasuke sat down, back relaxed against his seat, and listened to Naruto's babble about his prominence.

- - -

Sasuke went off to the roof top right away when the second subject ended. (Luckily, no sweet couple was there or else he'd suffer because of the sound and view of a wet lip lock.) He ambled towards a walled structure at the near corner of the roof top and sat there with his back against the wall. The scenery of him at the beach and the sight of that warm crimson liquid on his palms kept on playing back in his head. That was your first night Sasuke; better get used to it. He told himself.

Sasuke closed his eyes for a moment, remembering someone with such a sweet face. Her eyes were his cerulean sea and her hair was his sunlight. He recalled how the tip of her fingers touched the back of his palm whenever she laughed. He thought of the way she sat by the window, singing to him of her love. And when he caught her in that lovely position, she'd stop, look at him and then smile.

Despite his daydream, he clearly heard the door leading to the rooftop open. "Sasuke-teme," that voice, he reckoned, was Naruto's. "Your brother is here."

At first, the Uchiha's head was still dazed with all that fancy. He did not move and waited for the blonde to repeat what he said.

"Sasuke-temeee…" and yes, Naruto did repeat his statement. "Itachi-san—"

It only took a quarter of a second for Sasuke to bolt upright and half a second to get inside the building. While he moved he asked himself, what the hell is he doing here? Actually, he did not fully comprehend why he was terribly annoyed. He didn't want to see his brother so he could simply take the farthest path away from him. But why go down and meet him? (And to think of it, without even asking, he already knew where to find his neesan.)

The Uchiha appeared to have flown all his way down to the first floor for he reached it in about a minute. He headed for the lobby doors and pulled one open. But upon entering, he could not move any further. The place was cramped up with squealing girls and all of them were trying to get to the entrance. He's there. Sasuke thought before taking a step, unfortunately, on a student's foot. The girl glared daggers at him and hissed.

Too late, they were not humans anymore. They have transformed into monstrous predators in disguise.

Sasuke's brain voluntarily thought of another plan, that was, to imitate the paralytic man in the bible. He needed to be raised up on the roof and be lowered in front of Itachi. The only difference was he has no companions to lower him down. Great. He ran back upstairs thinking how the hell he remembered a certain gospel event.

If recalling a religious event were out of his system, what more was his desperation to get near the person he hated the most?

Sasuke moved out through the first floor window in a painstaking and gradual way. His foot touched the extended cemented ledge for support before letting go of the window. His skills were impeccable—proven by the way he moved horizontally over the ledge. There. He moved further as the noise of the women and the thousand flashes of cameras filled his ears. The raven head stopped at a spot directly in front of Itachi below. He sighed and slightly slipped his foot off the ledge for a smooth drop but unfortunately, his brother caught sight of him and smiled.

Fucking shit! For some reason, Sasuke panicked and tried to regain composure but his foot was not upon the ledge any longer. He gritted his teeth as his body slipped down in a rough manner. Luckily, he held onto the ledge before completely slipping but his hand was sweaty and slippery. Dammit!

Too late, his fingers gave up and he fell down towards the crowd, hitting someone directly below.

"AAAH!"

THUD.

Seconds after the collision, Sasuke opened his eyes and clapped his hand to his forehead. His head seemed to have hit something hard but he was sure it was not cement. He looked up and saw that his body was on top of a person wearing a uniform—in fact, a girl's uniform. Oh shit. He recoiled and bounced back to see who he had hit. Naruto is going to mince me. He actually fell on Sakura, the new student. Her forehead was extremely red maybe because Sasuke's head hit hers. Her eyes were squinted but she was not unconscious.

That fall was fatal to the one who was hit. Thank god she was alive.

Uchiha Itachi, whose lips was pursed but smiling called Sasuke with a soft otouto. "You better bring her to the clinic, foolish brother."

Sasuke swore he could have sold his soul just to employ death to kill Itachi. But he wasn't his priority now, who knew if Sakura was already having a hemorrhage?

The Uchiha looked away from his amused brother and carried the attenuated girl in his arms. The crowd, tacit and observing, paved way for the younger Uchiha until he exited the lobby. Why did I even have to fall on someone—especially a girl? Sasuke mused helplessly as he carried his so-called burden up the stairs to the clinic. His steps were slightly dragging due to the fall he experienced. He only planned to see his damned brother face to face and this is what he got?

Sakura murmured words of pain as she gradually placed her hand on her swollen forehead. "Oh god…" was what she uttered.

Sasuke was confused with the battle of guilt and pride. What if the new comer lost her muscle control? What if she developed a brain and spinal damage? What if he were to reach the clinic late because of his weariness?

Great. He had fucked his life well.

Sasuke saw a glimpse of hope when a nurse rushed to him and helped him with Sakura. Why didn't the people down there even bother to call a nurse?

Maybe he's really employ death to kill not only Itachi but all of them.

He laid her on a bed and unconsciously sat on a cushioned chair. He closed his eyes and he suddenly felt giddy. Sasuke slightly opened his eyes and saw Sakura blinking at him with a question in her eyes. "W-what happened?"

"I fell on you."

Sakura's eyes rounded and then she felt pangs in her head.

The Uchiha became irritable because of the recent event and the worst part of that was, he was humiliated in front of his brother. He didn't like how Haruno looked at him. Her look seemed to nail in him the idea that he did that to her.

"Well it was your fault for being there." He abruptly said in a haughty manner.

Sakura just couldn't believe it! There was this man who gave her a fatal hit and now he was blaming her for that? This man who messed up her head was being obnoxious towards her?

"What did you say?" Based on the way she spoke, her anger overpowered the pain of the encounter. "You're telling me that this happened because of me?"

"Hn."

"You're actually blaming me?" Her sweet face turned into pure abhorrence. "And you couldn't even say sorry?"

Sasuke knew she was holding her temper as long as she possibly could but his dearest pride, in all its shining glory, dictated what words his lips formed. "Why should I?"

He didn't have to employ death. Death was right in front of him.

Sakura, despite her weakness, sat up, her eyes blazing with fury. "Uchiha…too bad… I even thought… you were cute… and nice…" she stopped and yelled. "BUT IN REALITY YOU ONLY HAVE AN OVER-INFLATED EGOOOOOOO!" She raised her fist and punched him. Her clenched fist jammed right against Sasuke's perfect jaw line sending him right to the wall.

Ouch.

No, that was not the word.

More of 'am I in heaven?'

Sasuke couldn't remember when he regained consciousness and how he was placed on another bed. His mind was in daze and the thoughts swirled in his head. It was memorable, really…

It was only the first day of classes, and he already had a bone to mend.

- - -

END OF CHAPTER

Hm, as you've noticed (of you are my reader even before) that my style here is some kind of lighter than my dark writing in Confessions and Angels. I'm trying to test my versatility… harhar.

Thank you for reading this fic and I hope you stay tuned for more chapters!

Oh, here, I have an old joke that I heard again recently:

Chu, Bu and Fu were Chinese brothers.

One day, they went to America and so they had to change their names.

Chu became Chuck, Bu became Buck and Fu went back to China.

Did you get it? Hahaha. Well, thanks for reading and reviewing!