#2 - The Trio: Part 2

Their friendship was an unlikely one, Tsubaki was aware of this. And honestly, it hadn't started out well either.

The first time she had really interacted with Naruto, was 2 years into her career at the Academy; where she was quickly beginning to understand how awful kids her own age could be.

She would watch, mildly irritated, but not enough to intervene, as they would soak his shoes in water, or steal his clothes, or rip up his homework with smug looks on their faces.

She hadn't thought it had anything to do with her, and really, couldn't the boy stand up for himself once in a while?

But soon she realised that he did, ineffectively and to little result, but he never took anything lying down - he would bristle at every glare, shout back to every insult and almost constantly got into fights that he never initiated.

She could respect that.

And so after two years of minding her own business and watching with some morbid interest, she decided that enough was enough - because these boys, who were planning to lead Naruto on a wild goose-chase outside of the village gates under the pretence of friendship, were taking it too far.

This wasn't just about ruined clothes or getting scolded by teachers anymore, this was going to legitimately endanger Naruto's wellbeing.

So she stood up from her desk and slammed her book down in front of them and all three boys - average students without much potential, the lot of them - snapped out of their conversations with startled expressions. They were about square up to her, but the cold glare she was giving them, had them hesitating.

"Satou Kouki, Yamazaki Kenta and Murata Souji," She said, listing their names one by one, they gulped, "I suggest you stand down. Or you will regret it."

"Ha! Mind your own business!" Satou Kouki jeered, he was apparently more ignorant than he let on, so she smiled,

"Shall I show you then? Maybe if I made an example out of you, no one else will doubt my threats," She mused, and the other two boys, who had apparently heard of her, and her Clan, grabbed their friend by the shoulder and slammed him back down on his seat.

"We won't do anything to Naruto! We swear!" They promised earnestly, and she drew back, picking up her book from where it had been sat in front of them, on their desk, before returning to her seat.

She didn't like speaking to anyone in class because of this very reason - they thought of her clan, of what would happen to them if they accidentally isulted someone from noble clan. Using her Clan's influence or her parent's name - she hated it - but she knew she could, and they knew she could.

As long as her step-mother never found out about it, she was safe.

She realised there were eyes on her, and glanced to the side. She caught Uchiha Sasuke's curious gaze and smiled pleasantly, he was far enough away to not have heard everything clearly, but she would still prefer if he kept his mouth shut about it - she didn't need rumours going around of her flaunting her Clan's name and power.

A rumour did spread though - not one of her abusing her power - but rather the rumour that if you were going to pick on Naruto, you risked incurring Tsubaki's wrath.

It wasn't exactly accurate, she had stepped in that one time because the bullying was going a little too far, it wasn't like she was going to step in to protect Naruto at every turn.

She would have done the same for anyone else. (It was starting to sound like excuses even to her own ears)

But Naruto heard the rumour - and he didn't have a subtle bone in his body, so now Tsubaki was subjected to stares drilling into the back of her skull at all hours of the day, because for some reason, Naruto always chose the seat directly behind her.

Eventually, a few days into Naruto's new-found obsession over her scalp, with her nerves set on edge constantly, she turned around and shot him a glare.

"Quit staring." She snapped,

"I was not!" Naruto sputtered, he was a bad a lier as he was obvious.

"You were. It's distracting. Stop it. If you have something to say, you can talk to me after class," she told him before turning back around, not giving him the change to respond.

She had hoped that would make Naruto focus less on her and more on class, but now not only was he staring, he was also fidgeting, kicking his legs and tapping his pen and doing all those other things that slowly built up until Tsubaki was itching to hurt him.

By the time class ended and everyone had cleared out for lunch - save for one or two of the usual people who ate their lunch in class - Tsubaki was irritated and impatient and more than a little angry. Some vague part of her was aware that her hunger played some role in that, but honestly, who was ever rational when they were hungry?

"Well?" She demanded, she was stood up, with her back to the front of the classroom, leaning against the table, arms crossed over her chest.

Naruto looked hesitant and somewhat defensive - he steadied himself and a determined glint entered his (admittedly pretty) eyes.

"Why did you help me?" He asked, bracing himself for the answer like he was awaiting a physical assault. Tsubaki's instinctive response would have been to deny everything and act like she had no clue what he was talking about - but with how stubborn she knew Naruto could be, she figured it would be easier to just answer honestly.

"I didn't do it to help you, per se. I would have done the same if anyone else was involved. I don't care about bullying generally, but as a human being with morals, I can't allow a classmate to get mortally injured if I can prevent it," she told him.

It had been her subtle way of trying to insinuate that Naruto wasn't special or important to her in any way and she had only helped him because his life was in danger - but she had forgotten that subtlety didn't work with Naruto, because he digested what she told him, then beamed.

"That's right! I am your classmate! Just like the others!" He declared, nodding vigorously. Tsubaki wasn't sure what that was supposed to mean, she just... waited for him to be done. Except he wasn't, because he was now sliding into the empty seat next to her, with a plastic bag of what she assumed was the lunch he had brought for today.

"Um...?" She stared blankly at him, trying to comprehend what she had said to make him assume they would be having lunch together, but honestly, whatever, it's not like it mattered. She sat down and brought out her own meticulously prepared, layered bento that the housekeeper had made for her.

"Wow! That's so much!" Naruto exclaimed as he watched her unpack, there was a flash of envy in his eyes that had Tsubaki pushing her lunchbox to the middle.

"Have some," She sounded resigned, even to her own ears. It wasn't like she ever finished her lunch, there was always tonnes of leftovers, so sharing was obviously the natural action here. (And again, they sounded like excuses, even to her own ears.)

Naruto beamed at her and plucked a maki roll from the bento, popping it into his mouth and chewing with a happy hum.

Does that mean they were friends now?

In Naruto's eyes, it did.

* * *

For Sasuke, it had been a little bit more of a wide-spread process that had started not long after they joined the Academy.

When Tsubaki had first met Sasuke, he was a little naive, a little spoilt but still skilled and a lot more friendly than most people remembered. They had been 5, and Sasuke still had his parents and gushed about his amazing older brother to anyone who would listen.

Tsubaki had been someone who would listen - simply because she had started etiquette training, and telling people you didn't care was considered rude - or so she had been taught. They became friends a little naturally since they were the top students and often ended up pairing together for sparing and at the end of the day, she and Sasuke would walk in the same direction, until Tsubaki would turn into the Amaya clan's compound and Sasuke would have to walk little further down to reach the Uchiha district.

It was natural and easy. And then the massacre happened.

Sasuke didn't show up to class for a long time, and the Uchiha compound was blocked off with a constant guard around its perimeter so Tsubaki couldn't go to see him either. He didn't show up for the rest of the year.

On the first day of their 4th year at the Academy, when most kids had started turning 9 - Sasuke came back. It had been 6 months since she had last seen him, and Tsubaki was hesitant to say hello, especially because he was already surrounded by people.

She waited until everyone had dispersed for lunch, before going to him, with a hesitant smile. He glanced up, and something like recognition flashed in his eyes. He was different, that much Tsubaki could from the first glance.

The Sasuke she knew would have smiled, though it would be a small smile, and ask her why she looked so scared. But this Sasuke didn't, just stared at her, waiting for her to say something, and his black eyes that once sparkled like the clear night sky, with stars and hopes and dreams - looked dark and unending.

She didn't approach him again after that, and although they would still spar, and acknowledge each other - they didn't talk like they used to, or walk home together, or have lunch together.

It was one day when they got their results back for their practical assessments, and Tsubaki had dropped from her usual 2nd to 3rd, that she realised she needed to start putting in more effort.

She knew she probably wouldn't reach Sasuke's level, she wasn't exactly a prodigy, but among average students, she was well above average - even if she couldn't beat Sasuke, she would definitely beat everyone else.

So that day she decided to add in an extra 2 or 3 hours after class, on polishing her skills at the training grounds. She let the housekeeper know she would be late and headed there with the hope that it wouldn't be in use.

It turned out that luck was not on her side, because Sasuke was using one of the wooden dummies to practice his round-house kicks. She hesitated by the trees for a moment, wondering if she should head to a different practice ground - but that was a 20-minute walk away - 20 minutes she could spend training, so she stepped out from the shadows and dumped her bag by a tree trunk.

Sasuke paused, glancing her way, but she was determined to not make it awkward - she wouldn't have been able to handle the embarrassment, she steeled herself and nodded at him, acknowledging him, before getting to work on her own training.

Sasuke watched her for a moment, before resuming what he had been doing, and it became a routine, every day, to come to the training grounds and polish their skills side by side, without speaking a word to each other.

It wasn't until a few weeks passed that they finally spoke - because Tsubaki's pride refused to allow her to be the first one to speak - it was Sasuke who broke the silence.

"Raise your leg higher," the advice left her frozen in her movements, a little unsure whether she had actually heard him speak or not until he spoke again,

"If you raise your leg higher, you'll have more momentum when you kick," Sasuke said, he was determinedly not looking at her, and if they had been more friendly towards each other, she would have made fun of him for the way the tips of his ears were burning red.

Instead, she smiled softly and nodded.

"Thanks, Sasuke," she said. And it wasn't just for the advice.

After that, it only took another few weeks of awkward conversations and trading advice before the two of them was on casual speaking terms again - much to Naruto's utter horror.