The next day, Naruto went to school in a bad mood, even his friends thought it was strange. He didn't say a word about the tutoring he was supposed to have with Uchiha Sasuke, it was too humiliating for him.

After the last class of the day, Naruto went in the classroom Iruka-sensei had booked for their tutoring sessions. The room smelled like it had been freshly cleaned. Sasuke was already seated at a table at the back, next to a window, books displayed on the table in front of him. He looked up from the books when Naruto sat on the chair of the row before. He crossed his arms over his chest, glaring at Sasuke with disdain in his eyes. They remained like this, watching each other for several minutes.

Then Sasuke finally sighed and finally remarked: "Look, the sooner we begin, the sooner we finish this... So would you please stop glaring at me and start studying?"

"Aren't you mad about this situation? You could have refused... You have your track club activities right?"

"I don't like this but Umino-sensei said I don't have the choice, so... And I can train for the club on the weekends, don't worry." Sasuke replied calmly. "Now please come seat here and let's start."

Naruto pouted but did as he was bid; Sasuke had left a space for a chair right next to the window so he sat there.

"So I prepared a sort of test to see where you're at in all the subjects, I will see what to help you with once you're done."

Strangely, Naruto didn't argue and did the tests. Sasuke revised them and was speechless by the results.

"How could you even pass the entry test for this high school? This is terrible..." He finally said, perplex.

"Hey shut up! I DID study to pass the entry tests but this high school is so high-leveled, I'm not really..."

"Then why come here in the first place?"

"I...wanted to be with my friends from junior high school...Most of them came here." Naruto admitted, lowering his head.

Sasuke stared at Naruto, not believing what he just heard.

"Well, since you did pass the entry exams, there is still hope I guess..." He said.

It was Naruto's turn to stare at the black-haired boy, but seeing the seriousness in Sasuke's eyes, he just looked away and whispered: "Whatever..."

The next day, Sasuke came to the tutoring session with a study plan for Naruto.

They started studying right away and Naruto learned quickly that Sasuke had pretty peculiar way of teaching: Every time the blond boy had a wrong answer, Sasuke would smack him on the back the head.

"Hey! What's wrong with you dude?!" Naruto yelled after the first blow.

"I'll do that every time you get a wrong answer." Sasuke answered.

"W-Why the hell would you do that?"

"Maybe this way the correct answer will enter faster in your brain." Sasuke replied with a wicked grin on his face.

"The fuck!" Naruto barked; but he continued the studying nonetheless.

***************************************

As strict as this method was, it seemed to work efficiently on Naruto. They spent 2 hours a day alone together and were getting more used to one another. As a matter of fact, they even found common points, such as their love for athletics.

The 2 boys had known each other for a long time, as they lived in the same neighborhood. They had gone to primary school and junior high school together, but had never been friends due to their (apparent) complete opposite characters. And they both were part of the athletics club in junior high, both as sprinters.

"So Uzumaki, why aren't you in the track club now?" Uchiha inquired one day.

Naruto raised his head from his books, surprised by the sudden question.

"Why do you ask that, all of sudden...?"

"I don't know... You were pretty good, so I think it's a waste to stop." Sasuke answered.

Naruto slightly blushed, not expecting a compliment from Uchiha.

"I...err... I was completely depressed when you beat me in the final competition in junior high." He said, turning his head to the window. "I felt I just couldn't compete against you anymore... So I just stopped."

Sasuke frowned, stood up and smacked Naruto on the back of the head.

"The hell man!" Naruto exclaimed, rubbing his head.

"You gave up just for that?! Are you stupid? I thought you had more willpower than that! I always looked forward to compete with you; it was the main reason I was in the track field club!"

Naruto's mouth gapped open, his eyes wide open, and his cheeks were very red. He couldn't take his eyes away from Sasuke's angry eyes.

"W-Well it wasn't like that for me, okay? ! I just couldn't stand your face anymore!"

"Liar." Sasuke retorted in a low voice.

"What?"

"I said 'liar'! I've seen the way you look when you go by the track field every day, Uzumaki! You're dying to run again!"

Naruto lowered his eyes, he couldn't deny it. "Maybe...But I still can't come back."

"Why?" Sasuke insisted.

"Because I'm not at the same level anymore, you would be disappointed to run against me!"

Sasuke raised his eyebrows; he started saying something but stopped. He closed his eyes and said slowly: "You want to give it a try?"

"What?"

"I can run against you once to see you current level if you want?" Sasuke repeated, looking straight into Naruto's eyes.

"I just told you I don't want..."

Sasuke frowned again, stood up, grabbed Naruto's arm and led him out of the room.

"Hey! What are you doing? Let me go!" Naruto exclaimed.

Sasuke led Naruto to the track field, where the athletics club was still in training. As they stopped, Sasuke blurted:

"Run against me now, Uzumaki! Let's find out if you really are as bad as you say."

He started taking off his shirt (to the girls' pleasure) and started to warm up his legs.

Naruto stood there, frozen; he looked around and looked at the tracked field he loved so much. He was shaking, as if having a withdrawal. He looked back at Sasuke for a minute, and suddenly took off his shirt too.

Sasuke smirked at the view of his classmate warming up. Naruto glared up at him.

"You watch and see, you arrogant bastard!" He barked.

The boys took position on 2 lanes of the track field, and one of the club members gave the start of the race. Both of them gave their maximum, running shoulder to shoulder until the end of the 100 meters.

In the end, Sasuke won the race, but Naruto was not far behind.

Everyone congratulated Sasuke, some even praised Naruto for being able to compete so close against him. The club captain even offered him to enter the club, but Naruto refused.

Back in their classroom, the 2 boys sat in their seat.

"You are still really good Uzumaki, you really should come in the club with me." Sasuke said.

"No, I lost against you AGAIN! I can't do it!" Naruto complained.

"For god sake, would you shut up and just TRY? You will never beat me if you just give up! I want to train with you like before!" Sasuke burst out.

Naruto didn't know what to reply, he blushed again; he had never seen the Uchiha boy so obstinate before.

"Why is it so important for you anyway?" He finally asked. "We're not even friends, we are rivals at best!"

"And can't rivals be friends?" Sasuke replied, looking intensely into Naruto's eyes.

"N-Nevermind let's go back to studying!" Naruto said, still blushing and averting his eyes.

Sasuke smirked, pleased with himself for putting his friend back on the track field.