Author's note: Hi, everyone! This is my first time writing fanfiction in english and also my first time writing NaruSasu. It will be a longfic. I hope you enjoy!

Sasuke wasn't much of a fast learner.

Everybody seemed to think he was, though. They'd only ever seen his results, skills too close to perfection, very steady hands as he painted portraits, grasping the very soul of anyone who posed for him.

He practiced everyday, too many hours to count. Loud progressive rock playing incessantly on his headphones while he drew the same faces - mostly his favorite musicians - over and over until he felt they made them justice. The feeling of accomplishment usually didn't last long after the painting was finished, but it was worth it. He lived for this tiny moment where something inside of him made some sort of sense.

He'd been painting for quite a long time, since his childhood. At age of seven he had asked his big brother to buy him one of those kits with lots of crayons, colored pencils and cheap cans of paint. By fourteen, he had already read all the books of the local library's art section. Sasuke thought of himself as someone who would someday appear in one of those books. Two entire pages: at the top of the first page, one black and white picture of him in his forties, sitting inside his art studio with a cat on his lap, beside a wooden easel sprinkled with paint - he was messy when he painted like he was with nothing else. The second page would feature his masterpieces - which he would, hopefully, paint soon. He liked to think that his first real painting would be there as well, as flawed as it was.

Sasuke's first portrait was of his mother's face, smiling tenderly as he would always remember her. He was eight when both her and his father were killed in a car accident. His mother worked at home so they spent a lot of time together. He probably started drawing trying to mimic her - she was an architect. The house where he and his brother Itachi lived was projected by her. It was huge. Four rooms, one small office - once his father's, now Itachi's - and one big office - his mother's, as she very much appreciated having a lot of space.

Since their mother had made a small fortune drawing houses for the bourgeois, Itachi and Sasuke had no trouble living without working through their teenage years, and would often spend their money on anything they found interesting. When Sasuke turned sixteen Itachi told him: "you can buy anything you want, as long as it's legal," so he got a motorcycle. His sibling didn't like the idea, but only said that as long as he kept his good grades he could also keep the vehicle.

He loved his motorcycle. Loved riding it, the speed, the wind, the feeling of power. Everyday he got up early so he could explore the city while it was still waking up. That day wasn't different. He got up, grabbed his keys and backpack, put his boots on and went out. Once again, he got to university thirty minutes before his first class. It was fine. At least now he had time to grab a smoke before having to face Mr. Wilson, the annoying Sculpture teacher, and his boring lecture on how Sculpture was the most subtlest of all the Fine Arts. He sighed just by thinking about it. After the motorcycle was neatly parked, Sasuke checked his jacket's pocket for his mobile and was getting ready to leave the parking lot.

That's when he first saw him.

He wasn't the first person Sasuke saw. There was a bunch of people socializing near the huge tree in the middle of the campus - known as The Tree - and he could spot some familiar faces right away. This guy clearly stood out from the crowd. First there was his looks, of course - bright orange hoodie, really? -, but the thing that shone the most was his bright yellow hair.

He wasn't just blond, Sasuke noticed, his hair was yellow like the color yellow. Like yellow paint, yellow bees, yellow marmalade, yellow custard, something alive; yellow anything-but-hair. Sasuke didn't have the habit of looking at anyone more than once if he didn't have to - which was rare - neither was he friends with them - which was even rarer. He actually avoided eye contact, especially at university - that hell of a place! But this guy had somehow caught his eye. He was confused; he didn't understand why.

He put his helmet under his left arm, adjusted his backpack and started walking, headed to the arts building. As he passed by the group of excited people by the tree, he lifted his gaze and abruptly slowed his pace to try and see some more of the guy-with-bright-yellow-hair's features. Said guy was talking about something to the people in front of him and then suddenly burst out laughing, throwing his head back and closing his eyes. Sasuke was staring right at his face when the guy stopped laughing and a millisecond later stared back at him, a hint of a smile still on his face. The amused look turned into a surprised one as he noticed he was being observed. Sasuke looked away as quickly as he could and felt his face getting warm as he stumbled towards his destination.

God! What the hell was that? For a moment he could swear he heard someone calling him - which he decided to ignore right away, too embarrassed to even look back.

"He has blue eyes," Sasuke thought to himself as he sat down - now safe - alone in the classroom. All red cheeks and pounding heart. He grabbed the cigarette pack inside his pocket and decided to go out for a smoke, avoiding the main door of the building.

Naruto was one of those people that made everyone believe in him.

Three days by his side and anyone would be taking a bullet for the guy without even thinking twice. That was just who he was. People gravitated around him naturally, he didn't have to ask for their friendship, he earned it by being himself, dependable and loyal. But if you asked him why people liked him, he'd probably say "I have an awesome sense of humor!" - and he wouldn't be lying.

High school had been a wild fucking trip. It wasn't that he didn't take his studies seriously - because he did, very much -, he got As in art classes and Cs in pretty much everything else.. But he wasn't very good at choosing priorities. Everything was first on the list. Lots of parties with his friends - by partying they meant, actually, driving to the middle of nowhere and getting pissed drunk as an excuse to make out with everyone in the group.

He was determined to make every year the best of his life, and he thought that the only way to achieve it was by trying everything at least once. So by the time he graduated school he had already had a lot of firsts. First time traveling with no parents, first kiss, first time, first time smoking pot, first tattoo, first lip piercing - which made him terrified of needles... - and, of course, first time dying his hair.

The first color he picked out was red. His mother was a redhead, after all, and he was thinking about her a lot that week. Her birthday was getting close and he would soon travel to the city where he was born, to leave flowers on her grave as he always did. When he got home with his brand new hair, Sarutobi looked at him as if he had just seen a ghost.

Naruto's biological parents died when he was just a baby. Hiruzen Sarutobi was his father - but was more of a grandpa, since he was already in his seventies. When Naruto's biological dad, Minato, was alive, he and Sarutobi kind of had a father and son relationship - since Minato was an orphan too. When Naruto's parents passed away, Sarutobi required his custody in a heartbeat. He already had adopted a child before, Iruka, Naruto's brother. He raised the boys as well as he could, making an effort so that their age gap wouldn't be a problem to any of them.

He didn't say anything when Iruka got a huge tattoo on his back, or when Naruto got home with his lower lip the size of his head after the failed piercing attempt. But when Naruto got home that day, his hair a vivid red, he felt something inside him break. "I wish you had more time with them, your mother and father," he said as he gave Naruto's hair a gentle pat. And once again, Naruto reassured him "I already have a lot of time with the best father in the world, dad."

Naruto always thought of himself as nothing more than a hard working guy, so it took him by surprise when he found out he got selected for a scholarship in one of the best art schools of the state. Gosh, was he talented after all? Sarutobi couldn't be more proud of his son, the kid could be a little trouble - and, sometimes, a whole lot of trouble - but there had never been any doubt in his heart that his boy would make it.

Naruto packed his things almost immediately, kissed his dad goodbye and got inside his car in record time. He threw the backpack with his most precious belongings (a journal, a little notebook, fingerless gloves and, of course, his drawing material) at the backseat, checked his pocket for his cellphone and a couple minutes later he was getting to the highway.

He slept inside his car that night - and the next one - and, as he was already there, he was the first to arrive at school on monday.

He walked towards the first crowd he saw and immediately got his brilliant no-shutting- up-until-I-make-a-friend plan working.

That's when he first saw him.

He was just finishing telling that one story about the fish when he felt a very familiar tingling, that someone is staring at me tingling. He got that a lot since he started dying his hair bright colors and was almost at peace with it, so he finished the story fast enough not to get interrupted by his own laughter - the fish story always got him. He had such a blast his head tilted backwards and everyone who was paying attention laughed with him. As he recovered, he turned his face east a little by instinct. And there was the source of the tingling.

A tall guy, all combat boots and leather jacket, was staring right at him. And a second later he was not anymore. The guy was now walking fast towards the nearest building. Someone tapped Naruto's shoulder to get him back, and he smiled and tried to pay attention, but he was too... distracted. The encounter lasted just a couple of seconds but the brunette has made quite an impression on him - why was he staring at him like that, for God's sake? The moment the mystery guy looked away was the moment he decided to figure out who the hell he was and become his friend. And once he decided to win someone over and be friends with them you could consider it done.

"You should stop smoking, it's terrible for your lungs and you know it," the girl said.

"Good morning, Sakura," Sasuke replied, closing his eyes and exhaling slowly.

"... Gosh, you're such a show off."

"Dunno what you're talking about," his voice so low it was almost a whisper as he offered his cigarette pack to her.

She sat by his side, took one cigarette and tapped it against her thigh before bringing it to her mouth with a sigh.

"Come the fuck on," she mumbled, the words coming out funny because of the cigarette between her lips. She grabbed the cigarette and exhaled. "Leather jacket, dark jeans, expensive boots. You even got a motorcycle! And don't pretend that your ear piercing was just born with you."

Sasuke remained silent, so she continued. "Look at your haircut!" she pointed. "Is that... hair gel?"

Sakura was almost sniffing his hair when Ino suddenly appeared making a statement. "That's definitely hair gel. And that's disgusting." She sat down next to Sakura and pulled her smartphone out of her bag.

Sasuke shrugged and lit another cigarette - with his zippo! Come. On. – and Sakura started again. "You see, that's what I mean." she pointed at him with her hand open to exemplify. "He doesn't even pretend he's not trying to get all the freshmen. And freshwomen!"

"I'm not trying to get any-!" he didn't finish the sentence, sighing exasperatedly. "I'm just naturally stylish. It's not my fault if you're not." he stated simply, proud as he was of his looks. He was a Leo after all. Sakura opened her mouth in shock. Ino started laughing loudly and Sakura turned to face her. She was laughing at something on her phone, clearly not interested in the conversation.

Sakura turned her face back to Sasuke and eyed him furiously. "You see, the only reason why I'm not putting your cigarette out on your pretty pretty face is because you would turn it into some tragedy for your art." She grabbed his cigarette anyway and put it on her mouth, leaving him empty handed.

"I didn't mean it." She didn't look at him. "Where did this all come from anyway?" He asked. If he knew her well enough, she just wanted some attention and an opportunity to talk. They were friends after all, it wouldn't hurt to treat her nicely.

She adjusted herself on the grass and started. "So... some people were chatting near The Tree today. Lots of freshmen, some sophomores - anyway, you surely saw the crowd on your way here." She coughed twice - probably because of the smoke - and continued. "Hinata was trying to talk with this cute and loud guy, and was almost ready to say something - or so she told me -, when he suddenly stopped talking and turned his head to look at something. She followed his gaze and BAM, who was there?" Sakura turned to face him, waiting for an answer.

Sakura sighed. "Who was there, Sasuke?" she asked again, impatiently. "How am I supposed to know?" He asked back, frowning lightly. "Oh, you do know, you jerk, 'cause it was you, staring at her guy! And don't pretend you don't know because she told me Kiba even called out your name!"

His heart skipped a beat. Sasuke fought the urge to deny, knowing it would only put him in a worse position than he already was. Instead, he said. "Do you mean the guy with yellow hair?" Just saying this out loud made the blood start to rush to his face. He tilted his head forward so his hair would cover his face a little but he was already doomed.

"Sasuke, are you... blushing?" She sounded amused. "I am not." He replied quickly, giving himself away. "Oh my god! Do you like him, Sasuke? Is he your type?" Ino asked, suddenly very much paying attention. Sakura was trying not to burst into a laughter and failing miserably. "I was starting to think you were some kind of devil, breaking people's hearts by never looking at them twice. Yet here you are, blushing because of some cute guy." Ino had no mercy at all - it was Sasuke's fault for stealing the attention from, like, everyone she had a crush on. "So, Sasuke, tell me. Does the devil have a heart?"

At this point Sasuke had lost all hopes of having any peace for the months to come. "I don't know what's wrong with you two." They started laughing harder. "I merely gazed at the guy, his hair is yellow for Christ's sake." He frowned at them to no avail then closed his eyes, defeated.

Sasuke rested his elbows on his legs, brought his face to his cupped hands and sighed deeply.

This was going to be a very very long term...