Debate Team (sasunaru/narusasu)

|| Chapter One ||

Naruto was fast asleep in his room, tired from the night before's sleepless night. While he knew many of his classmates, he was understandably nervous. He hadn't seen several of his classmates over the summer, so seeing them again would almost certainly be awkward. When he and his classmates saw each other after the summer each year, it was always like this for them.

"Naruto, wake up!" As he heard his grandfather's voice, the blond's eyes flitted open. Naruto sat up and rubbed his eyes a little, attempting to wake himself up.

"What the heck, Jiraiya!" As he called out, he grumbled tiredly. He hated getting up in the morning, particularly if he hadn't gotten enough sleep the night before.

"You missed the bus. Hurry and get ready before you get marked tardy."

"What!?" Naruto grabbed his phone and turned it over. It was late. His eyes widened in surprise, and he sprang from his bed in an instant. He dashed to the bathroom, clutching his clothes, to brush his teeth and comb his bed head quickly.

He quickly stripped, hopping on one leg while putting his the pants to save him from falling down, and then dashed towards the door, doing something similar with his shoes. "After school, Jiraiya, I'll see you!"

The white-haired man laughed, delighted by his grandson's quickness in getting dressed. You could tell he'd gotten up late several times before.

Naruto recalled that he and his best friend, Kiba, had planned to meet at the bus stop and ride the bus together as he walked, no, ran down the street towards his school, which happened to be close to his home.

He got to the bus stop just in time to see the brunette waiting for him. He came to a halt in front of Kiba, his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath.

Kiba noticed Naruto and began yelling at him for being late for their meeting, which resulted in them missing the bus. "Naruto, you moron!" He yelled angrily.

"Yeah, I know! Sorry, let's just go!" Naruto said between breaths of air which caused Kiba to stop yelling. He nodded wordlessly and they began running towards the school in a rush.

"So, what was the matter with you being late? Didn't you say you'd be here on time?" Kiba asked as he ran alongside Naruto.

"I know, it's just—I don't even have an excuse." He let out a sigh. "I think my alarm didn't go off or something," He shrugged his shoulders.

Kiba huffed and rolled his eyes. "You better be glad I was loyal to you."

Naruto laughed. "Loyal? Seriously?"

•💙🧡•

Like every other day, the raven awoke to his alarm. He was, after all, the sort of person who was punctual in his morning and night routines. After getting his uniform and getting out of bed he started a shower for himself.

He walked out of his room after finishing his shower to see his mother, Mikoto, preparing a delicious breakfast for him, just like every other day, for which he was grateful.

Mikoto caught a glimpse of Sasuke out of the corner of her eye and smiled as she turned to greet him. "Good morning, Sasuke. How did you sleep last night?"

"It was fine." Mikoto put a plate of eggs and bacon in front of him, and he muttered a thank you.

"Good morning, little brother and Mother," As he walked down the stairwell, Itachi grinned. He served himself some food and sat beside Sasuke.

After a short moment of silence, Itachi spoke up. "Dad said I should tell you, Sasuke, that you should join a club,"

As Sasuke realized that the "should" wasn't really an option, but rather a necessity, his brow twitched in annoyance. His father had a habit of doing stuff like this to him, and he was tired of it.

When the raven's phone vibrated, he pulled it from his pocket to see a message from his friend, Neji, informing him that he was waiting for him outside.

"I'm leaving." He announced as he pushed his stool back to get up, making it screech against the wood floor.

"Are you sure you don't need a ride?" Itachi asked, his eyes bright with hope. He seized every opportunity to spend time with his younger brother. Especially since he had begun to distance himself as he grew older. Itachi didn't like that.

"Neji is going to take me." He said before the door slammed shut. Itachi's babying bothered him. He wasn't the same fragile little boy he used to be.

He walked outside and raised his eyes from his phone to see Neji's car parked out front. After putting his phone away, he walked over to his car. With a scowl on his lips, he sat down on the seat, slammed the door behind him, and buckled his seatbelt.

He raised an eyebrow and turned towards Neji when he realized he wasn't driving. "Are you going to drive or not?" He took a quick look at his phone to check the time. "We're going to be late,"

"Lose the attitude. I'm just wondering what got your panties in a twist. Did daddy cancel your credit cards?"

Sasuke sighed and rolled his eyes. "Haha," he mocked drily. "Of the two of us, you're the spoiled brat."

Neji chuckled. "So what happened? Your dad, again?"

Sasuke shrugged his shoulders. "I don't want to discuss it. Just dive." He averted his gaze, the pressure bothering him.

Neji rolled his eyes and re-started his vehicle, speeding away to Konoha High.

•💙🧡•

Kiba and Naruto walked into the crowded school, their schedules in hand, having obtained them a week before. Kiba's shoulders fell as he pouted, "I'm pissed we don't have any classes together..."

"Don't worry; we'll figure out how to rearrange our schedules!" As he patted his friend on the back, Naruto expressed his confidence.

Kiba's glum look didn't alter. "I don't believe you,"

Naruto chuckled at the expression on his friend's face. "You'll see,"

They split up before heading to their first class of the day when the bell rang. Mr. Hatake was on Naruto's schedule, so he went there. He saw some new faces as well as people he wasn't close enough to sit with when he entered the classroom, so he chose to sit in the back, away from anyone else.

Naruto spent the majority of the class either sleeping or daydreaming. In a few minutes, the class would be over. "All right, that concludes today's lesson." The students groaned when the gray-haired teacher continued with a brief, "But..."

"I would like to extend to you all an invitation to join our debate team! At Suna High School, we'll be competing against students from all over the area. You'll need to practice after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays, of course."

Naruto was not paying attention because he had never joined a club and was simply waiting for the teacher to finish. "I need all of the debate team members to be with me for the last class of the day because you'll all be staying after school for rehearsal, so everyone's schedules will be very identical." Mr. Hatake smiled and moved his hand to wipe the whiteboard clean.

Once the words registered in Naruto's mind, he grinned. He knew how he was going to get his schedule changed.