AN: This was initially written for MadaSaku Weekend 2019, but it's already 2020 and the story got much longer than expected so I decided to post the first part now.

Prompt: Same Age AU

Summary: Sakura's school life dramatically changes when she becomes the seatmate of Uchiha Madara.

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And They Were Seatmates

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All Sakura wanted was to impress Sasuke-kun and show Ino-pig who was the better kunoichi. She trained as hard as she could, while carefully maintaining her appearance, she read all her textbooks from cover to cover, listened to Iruka-sensei's every lecture and made detailed, colour-coded notes. With all her diligent work, it came as no surprise that the mid-term Academy exam was a piece of cake to her. She didn't even need to pull those all-nighters, Sakura thought smugly, tossing her hair back.

"Excellent work, Sakura," Iruka-sensei gave her the results—a perfect 100!—with congratulations, but his smile didn't reach his eyes. He looked tired though, with heavy bags under his eyes from grading the tests until late, so that must have been why.

"Thank you, sensei," she replied demurely, shooting a triumphant look Ino's way. She just knew her rival didn't get a perfect score.

"Could you stay for a bit after class? I have some news for you," Iruka-sensei said.

Sakura cocked her eyebrow, intrigued. "Sure, sensei!" she replied and he moved on to the next person.

She wondered what Iruka-sensei had to say to her in private. It had to be something to do with her score. Was she getting a reward? Maybe a stipend for scholarly achievements from the Hokage? She heard there were such things in civilian schools, so why not the Ninja Academy?

Her eyes lit up. Maybe she would be gifted with a special jutsu only she could learn? Then Ino-pig could no longer lord over her that she had a secret clan technique and Sakura had nothing. Ha!

Now Sakura really hoped it was a jutsu.

At recess, she approached Sasuke, her grade report clutched in hand. "Hi, Sasuke-kun!" she chirped. "How did you do on the exam? You must have done great too!"

"Forehead girl!" Ino interrupted before Sasuke could answer. "Did you come to him to rub in your perfect score?" she said with a mocking tone and an eyeroll. Sakura saw red. How dare that pig make light of her achievement?!

"Shut up! You're just jealous I'm better than you!" she snapped.

"Better at swotting?" Ino asked sweetly with an arched blond eyebrow.

Sakura puffed up in anger. "Well, I'm the one getting a special reward from Iruka-sensei after class, not you!"

"Reward, as if! All he said was that he had news for you. That doesn't mean the same as a reward!" Ino was quick to point out. It also proved that she was listening in to that conversation. Nosy pig!

"Reward? Sakura-chan is getting a reward?" Naruto, the resident idiot and class clown, came up to them.

"She's not getting any reward!" Ino corrected him with a bellow.

"Sure I am!" Sakura countered.

The girls glared at each other so hard the sparks flew. Meanwhile, Sasuke slinked away, discreetly stuffing his report in his bag. If anyone around was fast and eagle-eyed enough, they could have noticed a big 99 on the paper before he'd hid it.

After the recess, Sakura took back her seat in class with a miffed air around her. Not only Ino-pig had belittled her achievement and sown doubts about sensei's reward, she'd prevented Sakura from talking to Sasuke-kun! She bemoaned that lost chance internally.

When the last bell rang and everyone else left for the day, Sakura hopefully approached Iruka-sensei's desk. She clasped her hands behind her back to contain her nervousness. "Sensei, you wanted to tell me something?" she inquired.

"Yes, Sakura," Iruka sighed and brushed a hand over his hair. "This won't be easy. Tell me, do you feel bored in class?"

She stared at him in puzzlement. "No, your lessons are really interesting!" she replied enthusiastically, deciding that perhaps her favourite teacher needed to be cheered up. That she already knew all the material perfectly from studying ahead shouldn't matter.

Iruka smiled. "Thank you, but that's not what I was asking about. Tell me, when was the last time you learned anything new in class?"

Sakura thought hard. "Last year?" she guessed. That had been before she'd begun studying ahead.

Another deep sigh came out of Iruka. "That's what I thought."

Sakura shifted nervously, wringing her hands. "Sensei, did I do something wrong?"

"No," Iruka said, shaking his head. "The news I have for you is that Hokage-sama reviewed your scores and he made an important decision."

Sakura's heart pounded. Hokage-sama himself saw her merits?

"Starting tomorrow, you're going to attend classes with the graduating year."

She stared wide-eyed at her teacher after that announcement, feeling faint. "You mean… I'm moved up a grade?" she asked, her mind working out the implications.

"Yes, it's a great honour. Hokage-sama saw your potential as a student. He thought you're ready for more challenging work."

"Is Sasuke-kun getting moved up too?" she asked hurriedly.

Iruka frowned. "Sasuke? No."

"But he's top of the class! If I'm getting into the higher grade, then he should too! He's more talented than I am!" Sakura argued in panic. She didn't want to be separated from her crush!

"Sakura," Iruka said authoritatively, "it's true he's top of the class, but he's not as far ahead with academic material as you are. I'm sure I won't be able to teach you anything new for the rest of this year." His eyes softened. "I know it would be hard leaving behind all your friends, but you're a smart girl. You will adapt and become a great kunoichi, won't you?"

"O-Of course," she mumbled, nodding, but she didn't feel like any of that was true.

"Great! Here's your new schedule. Goro-sensei will await you tomorrow in his classroom."

Sakura automatically accepted the piece of paper and scampered out of the class. She returned home like in a trance, feeling shell-shocked as she grappled with this unexpected turn in her life.

After entering her house, she headed straight to her bedroom, threw herself on the bed and finally let the dam burst. Sakura curled up and sobbed into her pillow.

All she wanted was to beat Ino-pig and impress Sasuke-kun! Now she'd never see them again. Just the thought that she wouldn't share the class with everyone she knew, even that idiot Naruto, made her burst into fresh tears. She was so scared! What if the older kids wouldn't like her? The possibility was very high. Sakura had never had a good track record making friends. She'd once had Ino, but she'd broken it off.

"Sakura! Dinner!" she heard her mother's call.

Sakura lifted herself up and went to the bathroom to freshen up. She splashed cold water on her puffy eyes and red cheeks to hide that she'd been crying. If her parents got worried, they'd try to make her stop going to the Academy and that wasn't something she'd ever give up. She wouldn't let all her hard work go to waste! Pasting on a cheerful smile, she skipped downstairs.

Getting through the dinner wasn't so bad, Sakura just kept her head down and focused on eating. Then she helped with dishes and excused herself to her room to resume freaking out. After a few rounds of giving herself pep talks then plunging into despair, she fell into uneasy sleep.

Next day, Sakura headed to the Academy full of apprehension. The closer she got, the more her stomach clenched from the nerves. She was dragging her feet but when she noticed Ino coming over, she picked up her pace to avoid talking to her rival. Out of habit Sakura almost ran to her old classroom but she remembered in time to turn right and enter the one on the other end of the hallway.

The teacher made her stand in the front of the class while he addressed the students. "This is Haruno Sakura, she was moved up a year and will be joining us from now on."

Twenty pairs of curious eyes bore into her.

Sakura forced a smile and bowed politely. "H-Hello. I'm Sakura, please take care of me," she gave a customary greeting, hating herself for how her voice stumbled on the first word.

"Sit down and let's get started," the teacher instructed.

Sakura looked around in search for a free spot or even better—a friendly face, but to her dismay there were none. One girl even moved to take up more space on her bench on purpose. Sakura gritted her teeth, then noticed space in the last row. A dark-haired boy was sitting there all by himself. Relieved, she scurried up the stairs and took a seat next to him.

"Hi," she whispered.

The boy turned away from the window and she was taken aback by just how similar he looked to Sasuke-kun. His hair was different, more spiky in the front and he had droopy lower eyelids but his face and high collar of his indigo shirt were all Uchiha style. They had to be related.

Sakura wanted to ask for his name, but Goro-sensei ordered everyone to stop talking. They were starting the day with math. After a short explanation, the teacher made them work on problems he wrote on the blackboard. Sakura was thrilled with the lesson as she finally encountered something new to learn.

She carefully solved the math problems and checked her work to make sure it was absolutely correct. Then she allowed herself to look around the class curiously. Everyone else was still working.

She sneaked a glance at her seatmate. She couldn't help herself, he looked so much like Sasuke-kun! But there was a different air around him that she couldn't quite put her finger on. She'd need to observe him and learn more. Good reconnaissance was a fundamental skill for a ninja.

The boy next to her narrowed his eyes and furiously scribbled. He seemed to have some trouble with the math. Sakura unobtrusively scooted closer and looked over his arm. With a quick glance, she spotted where he made a mistake in his calculations.

"Here," she whispered and tapped her finger on his paper to indicate the incorrect equation. "You need to fix this first," she told him.

The boy gave her a surprised look, then checked what she showed him. With his mistake pointed out to him, he was able to swiftly correct it.

"… Thanks," he muttered to her.

Sakura smiled, pleased that she helped him. "You're welcome," she whispered. "I'm Sakura. What's your name?"

"I'm-" His hand shot out in front of her face and caught two pieces of chalk, one meant for himself and the other headed straight at her forehead. "… Madara." The boy looked to the front of the class. "Hey, teach, your hand slipped. You need that back?" he asked nonchalantly.

The teacher's gaze narrowed. "Madara! If you have time to talk, why won't you come here and solve the first problem?"

The boy stood up and ambled down the stairs. At least the view from the back confirmed that he was indeed an Uchiha as he sported their crest on his shirt. Sakura frowned, noticing how other students subtly shifted away in their seats when he passed. She didn't understand why—he didn't smell bad like Naruto or Kiba often did.

Madara grabbed the chalk and wrote down the solved equation on the blackboard without stopping for calculations. It dawned on Sakura that he wrote the long, complicated sequence entirely from memory.

"Is that all, sensei?" he drawled after he finished.

The man visibly bristled. "Go back to your seat," he said with a grumble.

Sakura watched the whole exchange with fascination. Madara already proved himself completely different from Sasuke-kun. Her crush would've never acted so disrespectful to a teacher. He was also rather well-liked among their class despite his standoffish attitude. Madara on the other hand… She didn't know what to think of him yet. She didn't approve his attitude towards sensei but he also thanked her for her advice and saved her from the chalk attack.

The lessons continued uneventfully and Sakura lost herself in the new coursework. She almost forgot she changed classes if not for the lack of Sasuke-kun to ogle, Ino-pig to make faces at or Naruto to get annoyed with. She might have been grateful for the lack of distractions, but all it really meant that majority of fun from going to school was gone.

She didn't dare attempt to speak to her seatmate during morning classes again and when the bell rang, he was instantly gone through the window. Sakura blinked in surprise, but she had no desire to follow him. Instead, she grabbed her lunch and decided to try mingling with the rest of her classmates. After a moment of indecision she approached a group of girls settled in a good, shaded spot on the Academy grounds.

"Yo. New girl," their leader acknowledged her.

"Hi," Sakura began, shuffling on her feet. "Can I eat lunch with you all?"

"Ohh, can she?" one of the girls mocked.

Sakura glared, but the leader patted the ground. "Sit down. I'm Emi."

"Thanks." With no small amount of relief, she plopped down on the free spot.

"So, what did you do to get pushed up like that?"

"What do you mean?"

"Did you piss someone off? We have peace time, no one's allowed to graduate early."

"Which is a bummer. We could get rid of some real jerks that way," another girl commented.

"Like Madara!" the third put in and all laughed.

Sakura tilted her head. "He doesn't seem so bad…" she said cautiously.

They looked at her as if she had three heads.

"Madara, not bad? He's the worst!"

"It's like he's constantly plotting to murder all of us!" a girl shuddered and the others nodded.

"New kid, you should stay the hell away from Madara if you value your life," Emi told Sakura seriously.

Sakura felt herself paling. "Why?"

"You didn't hear it from us, but he almost beat a kid to death on his first day in the Academy. The kid was lucky to survive but he had to give up on becoming a ninja," Emi informed her.

"It's because of that crazy clan training. That must really screw up your mind. Make you into a ruthless killer," someone speculated.

"I heard Madara once beat a teacher!" Another girl added.

"Idiot, that's not true!"

The group devolved into bickering while Sakura tried to wrap her mind around what she'd just learned about her seatmate. Was he that dangerous all this time and she didn't notice anything amiss? No wonder no one wanted to sit next to him!

Now she wanted to find a different spot in the classroom, but… what if Madara got offended? Wouldn't angering him be worse?

When the recess ended, Sakura headed back to the classroom like to the chopping block. Her seatmate wasn't there yet, so she cast a hopeful look around and realized with dismay that everywhere else was really taken. With a sigh, she took her seat.

Madara returned through the window. Sakura stiffened, but he just sat down, ignoring her. She looked at him anxiously, trying to figure out if he'd really done those things the girls had told her about.

"What," he said, noticing her stare. He didn't seem angry, but the way his dark eyes seized her up was… slightly intimidating.

Sakura gulped. "Nothing!"

"Hm."

The teacher wasn't back yet so she decided to risk talking. "It's just, Madara-kun, I was wondering…"

His eyebrow shot up incredulously at that.

"… where you went for lunch," she finished weakly before she completely lost her nerve. Even if this wasn't on the top of the list of what she really wanted to know about.

"First of all, don't call me that," he replied with a disgruntled look.

"What? Madara-kun?" she asked in confusion. Why wouldn't he want her to use a honorific? She didn't bother with it for most boys anyway, but it was weird that he didn't like it.

Madara rolled his eyes. "Yes, that. Just Madara is fine. And second, you can come and see where I went next time. If you can follow me, of course," he said with an infuriating smirk. Like he thought she couldn't do even that!

"Alright," she agreed stiffly, then shrugged. "If you can do it, it can't be too hard. It's not like it's advanced algebra," she remarked with eyes narrowed at him.

Madara did a doubletake, reddening slightly, before regaining his composure. He gave her an approving look. "Heh, so you do have some bite. Sakura, right?"

She nodded with a small smile.

Only later did she realize that she's forgotten her apprehension of him pretty quickly once they'd gotten talking. Sakura pondered her seatmate as he scribbled something with a bored expression while the teacher grilled some hapless student about political hierarchy in the Land of Fire. Madara wasn't so bad, she decided.

And strategically speaking, he might be what she needed to get closer to Sasuke-kun. To her dismay, Ino-pig had now the distinct advantage over her by sharing a classroom with the boy of her dreams. Sakura would have to step up her game to win him over.

After the whole day of classes, Sakura trudged out of the Academy, but she was accosted right outside the entrance.

"Sakura-chan, where were you?" Naruto whined.

"I was in class, where else?" she replied with an eyeroll.

"No, you weren't! I thought you were sick."

"Naruto, the Hokage put me in the upper year. I was in their classroom," she explained with a sigh.

"The old man did that? Why didn't he put me there too? I'm an awesome student!" Naruto got offended at the perceived injustice. Sakura just sweat-dropped. He was such an idiot. Getting him in her new class would have been a nightmare. On the other hand, her wicked side chimed in, it would have been interesting to see what Madara would make of Naruto.

to be continued...

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AN: It was hard to find the right place to cut it. Thanks for reading and please let me know what you think about the story.

The story is written in around 80% so I'm planning regular updates. Until next time! :)