I Never Thought To Love You

Training

Sasuke's POV
As Naruto runs away with tears in her eyes, I stand frozen. Her chakra... How did I not notice the power it held until now? I thought she was a Chunin based off of that signature, but still in the Academy?
By the time I snap out of it, Naruto is gone and I mentally scold myself for not doing anything to try and help her.
But what was I supposed to do anyways? I don't know her at all, I probably would have just made her feel worse.
I tell myself that, and yet at the same time, I feel like it's not entirely true.
Whatever the case, I decide to let the matter drop and go back home to sleep. I had a bunch of training ahead of me, and I didn't need a girl like her to distract me from that. Dammit, I shouldn't let her distract me from anything.
And with that decision, I pull my covers over my body, not even remembering when I made it home, but not really caring either.

The Next Day

Hit the target, dammit! Three isn't enough. You have to hit it with all four!
After another hour of thinking that, I finally hit the target with all four kurinai in one shot for the tenth time in a row and call in a break. I'm sweating bullets, and part of being a good shinobi is knowing when to stop.
So that's exactly what I do, pouring water down my throat and laying down on my bed. It's not being weak, I tell myself. It's just being smart.

3 Hours Later

"Good morning, Mr. Uchiha!" a storekeeper outside shouts happily at me.
I send her a wave, recognizing her as the woman I bought some cheap training blocks from about a week ago.
"I'm having a sale on some of my items of you are in need of anything. I know how hard you train," she says with a laugh.
I clench my jaw, knowing full well that she has no clue how hard I push myself. Yet, I answer honestly and politely, never dropping my act. "No ma'am. Not right now. I might next week, but I don't want any extras filling up my room at the moment."
She nods in understanding and sends a smile my way, which I don't return. I just walk away calmly, as would any Uchiha do.
My mind wanders to the thought of school as I walk around the town aimlessly and I sigh. Next week is the last week of school before we leave the Academy. After that, we get assigned our teams that we'll be stuck with for a long time. Knowing my luck, I'll probably end up with the worst team I could possibly ask for, but I'd deal. I'm used to keeping my cool.
That was, until I saw Naruto. Now, her alone was not enough to bother me. It was the fact that the man running the booth was screaming at her for being there. As I watch, all she does is ask for a mask, yet he starts yelling at her and throws one of his cheap masks her way, telling her to never come back again.
Naruto falls to the ground from the impact, since it hit her square in the chest without her expecting it. She looks up at him with a look that could only described as pure disgust and then walks calmly away from the stand, heading in the same direction I was walking.
Luckily, she didn't see me, so the plan I was slowly forming could work out perfectly.
I follow her quietly for a while, until she reaches a run down apartment building and walks into a door on the second floor. I take note of the door and went back towards the town, finding the man who had thrown the mask at her.
He was currently selling something to a kid about half my age whose parents were standing off to the side telling him how to buy the mask. I wait until the kid walks away before looking at the man calmly and pointing to the mask the I had noticed Naruto point at earlier.
"How much?"
After I buy the mask, I head towards Naruto's house and climb the stairs to the second floor. From there, I find the door Naruto went into and set the mask on the welcome mat.
With a simple, yet loud, knock, I shoot into the air and land on the roof, getting out of sight.
When I hear the door open and Naruto bust out laughing and crying at the same time, I feel something swell in my chest and my face grows hot.
Pride. I'm totally just proud of myself.
"Believe it!" Naruto shouts through tears, and I can't help but smile.