Disclaimer: I do not own the series Naruto or any of the characters or related themes to it. Nor do I make a profit off of the fanart that I make.

This is an extra chapter, not particularly relating to the main story but still holding it's own importance. I hope you enjoy.

"Thank you, Ichiro-kun. And will the next person introduce themself to the class?"

The dark-haired child placed his palms flat on his desk as he rose himself for the whole 2nd grade class to see. He didn't pay any attention to all the eyes on him or the nervousness in his belly. All he did was focus on how to present himself to the people around him and show that he was a strong person, not just by his name or by his appearance alone.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke."

And that was the beginning of everything going downhill.

It was said that it would be better for him to go to a school with other children rather than being homeschooled alone. It would help his social skills so he knew how to react towards different types of people. Not to mention it would look better when he would graduate at the top of his class, higher than the other hundred or so kids that attended the same place as him and received the same education as him. So the only thing standing in the way was the decision to send him to a public or private school for his education.

And so, Sasuke showed up for his first day of public school.

Just his appearance alone grabbed the attention of all the kids around him. And his name was what made the faculty notice him more than any other student that walked by. Sasuke was the star of the school. And what made him even more outstanding were his high grades, his good athletic skills, and his mature attitude even for someone his age. There was no one around that didn't want him.

But what did they want him for?

"Sasuke-kun!"

The young raven turned his head and saw he was suddenly surrounded by the girls of his class. Some were even from a different class from him.

"We were wondering if you would like to play with us."

All of them looked so eager for his answer. And Sasuke was always taught to be nice to girls. Besides, they never did anything that looked dangerous. All they did around recess was sit around and talk. Occasionally, they played with dolls, but they knew better than to ask Sasuke to do something like that. Deeming it safe, Sasuke gave a small smile and agreed to the girls' request.

He quickly found that he shouldn't have done so.

Right when they said they were playing house and a brunette said she was the mommy, with Sasuke being the daddy, the shouting fight soon turned into a cat-fight with girls tackling each other and pulling at each other's hair, all claiming that they were the ones married to the young Uchiha. When everything finally settled down and it was the end of the day, those same girls ran up to him and asked him a dangerous question: who would he prefer to be married to?

Luckily for him, his ride was there and he didn't have to answer.

Sports weren't any different than the "Playing House" incident between the girls.

Well, it was different only because he was playing sports and it involved boys, not girls. But when teams had to split up, there was always a fight about which team Sasuke should be on. Eventually, Sasuke did bring a bit of peace saying he should be a team captain and would choose his team. But that only lead to the boys being nice so they could be on the winning team since Sasuke never lost at anything. But it got to the point that they all decided that Sasuke couldn't play. Being who he was, it would be an unfair advantage to any team.

So Sasuke spent his free time at school in the library, studying without anyone else around.

It was the longest walk home he could remember. Technically, it had always been a long distance from his school to his house, but there was always someone there to distract him from the time. Generally, about three people would accompany him along the sidewalk until they got to his house to where he would entertain them until dark before they would copy his homework since it always got so late.

It became a routine for the young raven for a few months. But at least he was getting attention and people were always so happy to hang around him.

But lately, he wasn't in the mood for that kind of thing.

His home became suddenly so empty, bordering the lines of "creepy." And he didn't want to stay inside that place for so long. No one that was so close to him was waiting there anymore. Now, he was by himself at might silently crying himself to sleep. No one was there to tuck him in anymore or to comfort him until he flew off to dreamland.

But those boys were continually persistent. Sasuke was given a month of grieving, but that was as long as they could wait until they wanted to come over again. They continually asked him if he still owned those sweet cookies or if he had gotten any further from that shooting game on his expensive game system. And when it would be a good time to come over again.

Not a single question of how he was holding up or if he was sleeping well.

No. He was hardly sleeping. The dark always seemed to keep him up.

And no, he wasn't doing well. He was terribly lonely at home.

But they kept egging him on. Over and over. He knew he had to put a stop to it, but he didn't want to be so mean about it. He told those group of boys there were no more sweets since he never liked him. He stopped playing games since he wanted to study more. And his house wasn't the best place to hang out anymore.

Why didn't they hang around one of their places, instead?

It was impossible and a lame idea, they said. And they called him a bad person for not inviting them over anymore. Apparently, what had just happened to the young boy meant nothing if he wasn't able to provide games and food as well as other neat toys for the boys who were nice enough to grace him with their presence. And if he couldn't do that for him, then what was the point of them hanging out with him in the first place?

He was always alone anyways. If he didn't want to be, he should just open his big empty house to everyone.

It was then Sasuke realized how long the walk was without them chatting up a storm. Or how quiet it was when nighttime came and how he seemed to have plenty of food for the week now that he didn't have to feed so many people.

His house was empty. His heart was empty. And it hurt.

But he figured, since he suffered through something much worse earlier, then this pain was nothing in comparison.

At least he was able to get his homework done faster without the distractions.

"We're missing a guy! Just this once! Please!"

He was older, and so were his classmates. And at this age, hormones started to kick in. The girls took a huge interest in the opposite sex, and the boys soon did as well. Sasuke, at the age of 12, was a little close to the other boys in his class. He wouldn't exactly go as far as to call them "friends", but they were on some pretty good terms. The boys lately talked about how some girls kept talking to them and finally wanted to have a goukon (1) with them. Sasuke never said he was interested, and he really wasn't, but he somehow ended up getting pulled into it.

"Please? You'd be an awesome friend if you did this!"

Friend.

That word struck chord. He had never been called that before, all because of complicated situations, and he never found a reason to call anyone else that, either. And so, despite his best judgment, the young Sasuke finally agreed to accompany them.

...

"What the fuck, Uchiha?"

Sasuke heard this when he was punched in the face and landed straight on his ass.

He knew this would happen. And he should have said it would.

When they got to the meeting place, the girls just wouldn't take their eyes off of Sasuke. He grew up to be pretty good looking, but it was something completely overlooked by the boys. And to top it all off, he had an aloof attitude, so the girls were just going crazy over him.

No one else. Just Sasuke.

Sasuke spat the taste of iron from his mouth as he glared at the three other boys surrounding him. He knew there would be trouble from here on out, so there was no point in holding back. He could faintly hear all the girls yelling at the faceless boys to leave the raven alone since he never did anything wrong. But it was all for nothing. Sasuke already had the whole thing under control.

The fight was short. But in the end, the boys stood no chance in winning. The young Uchiha came out almost unscratched, minus the sucker-punch from earlier, and the girls were swarming all over him.

He knew, from that point on, things would only get much worse from there. There was no hope for the boy to find someone he could seriously get close to.

If it wasn't the un-Uchiha thing to do, Sasuke would have screamed. And he probably would have screamed like a girl. But just as stated, it was not an Uchiha's place to scream like a little baby, so he kept it in. But there was plenty to be afraid of.

There, on his bed, straddling him and peeling off his sheets, was his math teacher from his school. There was nothing wrong with the way she looked. Hell, this probably would have been any school boy's dream to have a hot teacher crawling into their bed and wanting to be taken. But that wasn't Sasuke's dream because he's been followed and attacked by so many girls that security questions run to his head faster than the thought of losing his virginity with an experienced and attractive woman.

For instance: how the hell did she get in his room?

"Sasuke-kun~" she cooed.

This only made Sasuke stiffen more. He heard that voice so many times before, just under her breath for only him to hear when the classroom was filled with other people. He saw the looks she gave him and the way she seductively licked her lips as he looked directly in his eyes from time to time. Her constant suggestions for "private tutoring" made him get the hell out of the classroom faster than any other student.

Now, his body may have been reacting the way a normal fourteen-year-old body would be, but his mind was past that age. So even with her hand slowly ran over his crotch as a way to provoke his member, his head was screaming for a way to get rid of her.

He saw the way he looked at her. It was the same way she looked at every other attractive student and teacher within the school. It was no secret how she wasn't interested in her husband any longer and was looking for someone else to be with. But that was the thing: Sasuke was just an outlet for her (sexual) frustration.

She had no interest in the raven as a person.

Sasuke made that very clear when he used the phone to call the police, right after he used it to clonk the psycho teacher.

"Are you sure?"

Sasuke slowly nodded his head without looking away from his textbook.

Truth was that she was the only person left that he would go near or talk to normally. Everyone else had been such a pain over the years and she was the only one left that was tolerable. But even with this, he knew that simple bond they had was already beginning to break.

It was the final straw and Sasuke wanted out. He was sick of the school. Sick of that part of the city and he wanted to get away from it all. There was no one for him to think of and no reason for him to stay. He heard of the all-boys private school that was getting a lot of praise over the years and he saw it as a way to help his image. The only thing left for him to was find a great reason to leave.

That whole incident with Ami-sensei was his ticket out.

After a bit of silence, the curiosity got the better of him and he looked up from the text and saw emerald eyes filling with tears. Despite him hardening his appearance over the years, he still seemed to soften up when people began to cry. Even if the girls were doing it because of rejection or faking it for a date, Sasuke still seemed to be sucked in. But after a bit, he still found a way to resist.

But it wasn't so easy for this girl here.

"Sasuke…kun…"

Sasuke closed the book and looked at the girl straight in the eye.

"I'm sorry, but I have to do this. Besides, it's a better school there and I should be able to get a higher GPA and education. Besides, you're too smart for this school and should think about going somewhere else as well. Being at this school after something like that is not going to look good for anyone still attending here."

Even with that kind of explanation, it still didn't seem to help her tears. Instead of agreeing with him, she lunged forward and wrapped her arms around the dark-haired teen and cried softly in his chest. Her grip was surprisingly tighter than that of any other normal girl, but he quickly brushed it aside thinking of it as her way of not wanting to let go. He turned his eyes down and saw nothing but pink, the top of her hair tickling his nose, threatening to make him sneeze.

And there, he heard her mumble something. He couldn't make out what it was, but her body messages were clear enough. Her grip became tighter and she pressed her whole body against his. She was trying to get as close to him as possible, trying to tell him something without actual words. But it was as clear as day to him, even if she didn't what she meant for him to hear.

She wasn't his friend. She was trying to win his heart. And in the sneakiest way possible. All those years together where she didn't bother to be direct and just ask him to go out with her. She was trying to make it to where he would ask her out. What annoyed him the most was the fact that he didn't even bother to think of that earlier.

No. He knew. But he just wanted to hang onto the thought of having at least one person to count on.

Having one friend.

He wanted to violently pull away from her embrace and start yelling at her. He wanted to pour out all his anger, all his built-up frustration of betrayal and loneliness from the past ten years and just shout it out to the world. But he knew that it was all too late. Ten years of this, and nothing would change. Nothing would iever/i change. So instead, he just drew back on what good times they did share together, tricking his heart to believe they were actually friends at those times.

He slowly wrapped his hands around her body and rested his chin on the top of her head.

"Thank you," he whispered.

It was a cram semester he was attending before the next semester of his new school. Registration was already done for the fall, but he still had a chance for the spring. And since his old school didn't have the same level of academics as Konoha Shonen High, he had to gather as much knowledge as possible before testing for a chance to be a student there.

"Okay. Listen up," Sasuke commanded.

They were broken into groups and Sasuke was grouped with a few interesting people. The first was a boy with short light blonde hair, almost the color of snow. His teeth looked abnormally sharp and he always had a drink in his hand while slacking off from his work. Next, God forbid, was another female. But this redhead just tried to hide her desire for the raven behind her glasses and her loud and obnoxious attitude that got on his nerves. It also got on the white-haired boy's nerves as well, since he always took every opportunity to tell her about it. This always followed by some kind of physical abuse. Finally, there was a really tall boy who almost never talked. "Don't speak unless spoken to" seemed to be his choice of attitude. But even with such a hard exterior, he always looked at the birds outside the window with such gentleness.

Oh yeah. This looked like a great group of people.

"Listen. There's only one goal at this cram school and it is this: to get good grades. I'm not looking for companionships or to make any ties of any kind. I only plan to learn the material and will only work with you if it has something to do with our assignments. Don't break these terms and don't get on my nerves and everything will go swimmingly. Got it?"

The whole group was quiet for a second before the sharp-toothed boy broke out in a fit of laughs.

"Straight to the point, aren't you Uchiha?" he laughed. "Well, I don't mind too much. But I have one condition. I get bored and distracted pretty easily. You find some way to keep me entertained and I guarantee things won't turn out as bad as they could be."

An argument broke out between that boy and the girl while the taller one found a red bird to keep his mind from the fight. Despite the rough start, things turned out pretty well for that semester.

Why? Because Sasuke didn't have any "friends" to worry about.

The alarm went off and the raven quickly slammed his hand on the machine to shut it up. He didn't sleep for that long and, surprisingly, he didn't seem that tired. He made his way down the hall to the kitchen and ate a light meal before washing up. Afterwards, he changed from his tank top and boxers and changed to his swimming trunks and a white T-shirt.

This was the day he was forced to spend time with his classmates.

No academic reasons or benefits for him to see behind it all.

It was going to be hell.

He slowly took a breath to try and wash away his annoyance as he grabbed his bags and headed out the door.

The only thing he knew for certain was that this trip wasn't going to be anything close to relaxing.

TUC GAIDEN END

(1) Goukon is a meeting of many students from different schools who will get together in hopes of finding a boyfriend/girlfriend. Generally, these meetings are made by college students and by tow separate groups - boys and girls.

I know people have been in in this position sometime before. And quite possibly, you may have been the one to do the harm in the relationship. I know I have been the one that's been hurt in most relationships, but I may be guilty for hurting someone as well.

But even so, if you're aware of the harm you are causing others, then you can try and prevent it in the future before you lose those friends. And if you are the one being hurt, it's best to just tell people up front about the problem rather than having them feed off of you like a leech before it's too late. It will save you the time and possibly money.

If you are friends with someone just because you or him/her only want one thing out of it, mostly a materialistic item or event, and do not even worry or consider about other people as a person, then the relationship will never last and it's best to go your separate ways. Because it's better to have someone close for who you are and not your status or what you have. Otherwise it has negative consequences on people in the future.

Sasuke had to learn the hard way about this.