Disappointed? Let's Fix That! - SasuNaru

Disappointment.

It was becoming an expectation of his and honestly it left him feeling angry and a bit lonely. Not that he wasn't used to his recent loneliness but that didn't stop the pain caused by the damn disappointment. It really was pathetic that he was forced to feel something like the crushing disappointment he felt at such a young age. He had felt it before when his older brother had always told him 'not now Sasuke, maybe next time' but at least then he had hope. It was different now that his whole family was gone. Now all he had to hope for was that he could get stronger on his own and avenge them by killing the brother he so admired. For the young academy student though it was still a far-off goal. He refused to call it a dream, because you had to wake up from dreams and he was already plenty awake, thank you very much.

Getting back to his current disappointment issue though, he was faced with a hoard of young pre-pubescent girls all screaming and squealing like pigs off to the slaughter for one, very stupid, reason.

His birthday.

His tenth birthday.

He really didn't see the appeal in all of it. It was only a number, but even the adults were making a fuss over it. Heck earlier the local baker dropped by to give him a double chocolate fudge cake layered with strawberries and whipped frosting. Didn't that stupid baker know anything? His mother always told him that too many sweets would give him cavities and that chocolate would be the biggest cavity giver of all. Sasuke hated chocolate with a passion, unless it was dark mint chocolate, and he never wanted a birthday cake. So that was disappointment number one. He wasn't naïve enough to think that anyone in this sorry excuse of a village would pay attention to him enough to see that he wanted to be left to his own devices on his birthday, but his little now ten-year-old mind still held the hope of it all. That ushered in the second disappointment of the day when he showed up for at the academy later that morning. His hope of being left alone died quickly when he saw his name written in large block style letters colored in different colors of chalk on the board with an equally large 'Happy Birthday' above it.

Sasuke scowled at the board as two girls in particular were waiting for him to see it from the front row of seats in the classroom. Blonde and pink colored heads bounced up and down slightly when they saw him and he predicted that they would be coming over to him shortly to ask 'did you like what we made you?' He had only heard it twenty times on his way to his class from the other girls that gave him useless things like cards or sloppily wrapped presents. Disappointment number three; the bombardment of useless things never ending. Didn't he get enough gifts as it was from all of those things that wore dresses and skirts? Honestly, if they were in the ninja academy, shouldn't they be focusing on their studies and honing their skills to be useful to the village? It may have just been his own mind but he saw no point in picking flowers for boys or buying presents to try and win over something like 'love'. Sasuke saw that as shallow and cheap; it was basically telling somebody 'if you spend enough money on me, sure you can hold my hand and say we're together!' or something like that.

Just like he predicted, the two girls came over to him since he had yet to move from his spot in the doorway to take his seat. Sasuke wasn't even sure what their names were. Something-Brow and whatever-pig if he was correct.

"Sasuke-kun, good morning! Did you see what I wrote on the chalkboard for you?" the pink one giggled. Sasuke wanted to cringe at the sound but didn't show it on his face.

"What you wrote?! I was the one who spelled it out and colored it, Sakura!" the blonde yelled at the pink one. So her name was Sakura and not…whatever, he didn't care either way.

"Shut up Ino-pig, Sasuke-kun clearly appreciates my work over yours! I do have the best grades in the class! Oh but they're nothing compared to your grades, Sasuke-kun!"

Sasuke hadn't even bothered to stay to hear what she said. He sighed and went to his seat while the two girls argued. He got into his satchel and pulled out his homework, notebooks, pencils and erasers, and pleaded that the clock would move faster so that class could begin. He was again, disappointed. The rest of the kids filed in one by one but the teacher, Iruka, was running a bit late. In that span of time, more girls came up to him with birthday wishes and presents. At that point, all he wanted to do was run and hide; as uncharacteristic as it was for him but he didn't want to be surrounded by all these useless and disappointing people! Even some of the boys wished him happy birthday, even though some of them hadn't known prior to today. But thanks to those two dumb girls that constantly fought each other over him, the whole class knew about it!

When the minute hand of the clock was past the four, when class was supposed to start when it hit the twelve, there was a poof of smoke in the room to reveal Iruka holding a struggling Naruto. Naruto…now that was a kid he just couldn't get his head around. He was different from everyone else, but he didn't realize just how different and it bothered him. Sasuke didn't understand why the guy was ignored all the time, or why he always acted out and got in trouble but he had a feeling that there was a deeper meaning to it. And that brings him to disappointment number five; he didn't know what made Naruto tick. His mother told him a long time ago that Naruto was hurting but nobody wanted to help him because they were afraid of him. Sasuke remembered the look of pain and regret when he asked why she didn't help him if no one else would.

"Sorry I'm late everybody, but let's not waste any more time! Get out your books and turn to page thirty-seven and get out your homework for me to collect."

After Iruka said that he put Naruto down and told him to get in his seat before he got detention. Naruto grumbled at the man before he began to walk up the stairs, passing Sasuke and giving him the usual glare and settled into the last row window seat behind him. Naruto laid his arms down on the desk and got out the required items Iruka asked the class to get out. Iruka was about to start class but when he turned around to look at the board Sasuke was again disappointed. That feeling was getting really old, really freaking fast. Iruka turned back around and looked toward him smiling and Sasuke could feel the embarrassment from what he knew was going to happen.

"Well class, it looks like was have to give Sasuke a big birthday wish today! Sasuke, stand up so that the class can see you."

Reluctantly he stood, not wanting to upset the teacher but he kept his head down and balled his hands into fists. To him, this wasn't the least bit fun; it was embarrassing and unwanted. He was an Uchiha! Uchiha's don't get embarrassed! Sasuke was about to voice his opinion on the matter before Iruka could tell the other kids to start singing 'happy birthday', but he heard a loud scoff from behind him. He raised his head and turned back to see Naruto had a scowl on his face and a glare settled on him.

"Why should we celebrate this stupid guy's birthday? It's not like he's done anything to deserve all the praise he's showered with."

That one statement was enough to set off the whole classroom against Naruto. Sasuke however couldn't help but feel like he owed Naruto. The blonde was right – Sasuke hadn't done anything to make them like him, so why did they all want to celebrate a useless event for him? Not only had his words made Sasuke feel a bit better, but Naruto also saved him the embarrassment of having the other kids sing to him.

"You all think he's so great?! I'm way better than him, and I'll prove it! Fight me, Sasuke! If you don't show up in the shuriken practice yard after school, you forfeit to me and prove to everybody how superior I am to you!"

"You're on idiot. Just be prepared to eat those words."

"Why you-!"

"Naruto, that's enough! Take your seats, all of you! Sasuke, I'm sorry about all of that, you must be disappointed."

Oh the irony.

"It's okay, sensei."

Class went on normally after that but as a 'present' Sasuke was exempt from the homework that night and was allowed to skip shuriken practice and leave school early. He politely declined the offer to skip practice since he needed to get stronger fast so that he could one day challenge his brother. All throughout class though, he was looking forward to the end of the day so that he could fight Naruto. The kid wasn't much of a challenge, not like Itachi, but he provided some form of entertainment for this dull, disappointing day. The boy gave Sasuke something to actually look forward to, and nowadays that was rare. Sasuke thought back to what Naruto had said earlier and couldn't help but feel that the blonde was trying to help him in some way. While the two were rivals, Naruto hadn't exactly insulted him when he challenged him to the fight, but instead taunted him. If Naruto wanted to, he could have said Sasuke was weaker than him but instead he said 'prove I'm superior' which meant Naruto didn't see him as 'weak' but as 'fair', since neither would recognize the other as their equal. At last, the final bell rang and the students all filed out of the room to go to the shuriken practice yard – no doubt to witness the fight between Naruto and Sasuke. When Sasuke arrived, Naruto was standing on the other side of the yard with his arms crossed over his chest and a look of superiority on his face.

"So you showed up after all! You're no coward, I'll give you that much!" Naruto sassed.

"Let's just get this over with. I have better ways to spend my time." Lies. Subconsciously he knew that but right now, he needed to focus on the fight.

Naruto charged at him, fist pulled back and body twisting to deliver the blow. Sasuke easily evaded the punch and hit him with an uppercut to the jaw. The blonde stumbled back but regained his stance. Girls were cheering at Sasuke to 'beat this loser into the ground' and yelling 'you're so cool! I love you!' over and over again, and Sasuke found it all extremely annoying. At least for now he wasn't disappointed. Naruto, unlike the rest of the boys in their grade, always got back up after he was hit. It didn't matter how many times he was knocked down – he always got back up and fought his hardest. True to his expectations, Naruto came at him again but at the last second he rolled on the ground and shot out his leg to knock Sasuke off balance. Surprised, Sasuke felt Naruto's fist make contact with his shoulder and he was sent to the ground. Sasuke was quick to get up and lower his stance more to the ground but he was again surprised to see that Sakura and Ino were now beating on Naruto.

"That was a dirty trick you loser! You couldn't compete with Sasuke fairly so you had to cheat!" Sakura yelled.

"You're nothing but scum, leave Sasuke alone you idiot!" Ino yelled as well.

Sasuke was about to yell at the both of them but Iruka stepped in and stopped them. He separated the two girls and picked Naruto up and took him inside. Sasuke's gaze followed the two of them until he couldn't see them anymore and Ino and Sakura were in front of him in the next instant.

"Are you hurt Sasuke-kun?" Ino fussed.

"Did that stupid loser injure you at all? That was a really bad fall," Sakura said as she tried to touch his shoulder.

"Shut up," he growled. The two of them stepped back a little and the rest of the crowd could feel the chill of his icy voice. They all started to move away from the Uchiha and they didn't feel the slightest bit brave enough to save the poor girls who upset him.

"Sasuke-kun, what's wrong? We only wanted to make sure you won."

"That loser didn't fight fair, so why are you acting like this?"

"I said shut up. What he did was fair, and if you're stupid enough to think it wasn't then neither of you is going to last long if you become shinobi."

"What are you saying, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked tilting her head in what she thought was a cute way.

"I'm saying that if you two are the kinds of people I'm going to be forced to work with, I'm disappointed."

Sasuke walked away after that, too angry to focus practicing his shuriken throwing and grabbed his bag to leave the academy. He didn't care anymore; he just wanted to go home and forget the whole day. But he had to make sure that Naruto was alright at least. He made his way to the infirmary to see the blonde but the nurse said that he wasn't there. Sighing and thanking the woman, he decided to just wait at the entrance and hoped Naruto was still there. If he was then Sasuke could catch him before he left. An hour passed and he was about to give up and go home but the door suddenly opened to reveal said blonde, a white bandage on his forehead and a Band-Aid on his cheek.

"Sasuke? What are you doing here?"

"Waiting for you."

"Why?"

"I wanted to ask you something."

"…okay? What is it? It's not like you to actually talk to me," Naruto said suspiciously.

"Why did you do that in the classroom earlier?"

"Do what?"

"Interrupt Iruka-sensei when he was about to make everyone sing to me. And why did you challenge me to a fight?"

Naruto looked at him surprised for a minute but then his face went blank and his eyes dulled a bit. Sasuke was taken aback; he had never seen Naruto look like that. It scared him a little if he was honest.

"I'm not like the others, Sasuke. And at least this time I can say that's a good thing. I can read people's emotions a little bit better than they can and your face screamed that you just wanted to be left alone. I did that so that you wouldn't have to be the center of attention, for once," Naruto finished with a bit of an agitated look on his face.

"And the fight?"

"It gave you something to do, didn't it? Training with someone else is always better than just throwing shuriken at wooden stumps."

Realization dawned on Sasuke that Naruto was indeed trying to help him. Naruto didn't want Sasuke to feel as though he was held on a higher plane than everyone else or like he was all alone. He wanted him to feel normal again.

"But why would you do that for me? I've only ever made fun of you, so why would you want to help me?"

Naruto paused for a minute as he gauged Sasuke's posture and expression to see if he could detect any mal-intent. Finding none, the blonde boy gave Sasuke a wide smile and tilted his head cutely to the left.

"Because you made me feel like I wasn't invisible anymore," Naruto said without hesitation. Sasuke's eyes widened a bit at the confession but he didn't say anything.

"I have to go now. And I know you don't want to hear it, and maybe you especially don't want to hear it from me, but happy birthday."

Naruto ran away after that and Sasuke could only stare after him. He was now ten years old but Naruto, in that instant, felt so ancient to Sasuke. It was as if he understood things that even the adults in the village couldn't understand about him. Sasuke smiled a tiny smile and thought to himself that maybe it was a happy birthday after all.


Sasuke woke up from his pleasant slumber with a small smile on his face and breathed in the scent of the warm morning air and the comforting scent of his mate that lingered on their bed. Opening his black eyes he was assaulted by the rays of the sun in the room and a note on the pillow next to him. Sitting up slowly, he read the note and yawned while scratching the back of his neck before he smiled and stretched. Shoving the covers off himself, he grabbed a pair of boxers from the dresser drawer, pulled them on and made his way downstairs to the kitchen, not bothering to put more clothes on. The delicious smell of bacon, toast, eggs and waffles met him at the bottom of the stairs and he could hear his love rummaging around in the refrigerator. Upon his entrance to the kitchen, he saw his Naruto preparing some fresh squeezed orange juice and a clone arranging a plate on a tray. The real Naruto looked up, sensing Sasuke's chakra, and his eyes widened slightly.

"You teme, you were supposed to stay in bed."

"Now why would I want to stay in bed when you're not in it with me?"

"Bastard, it's your birthday and if you read my note it specifically told you not to get out of bed until past nine."

"Since when have I ever listened to what you told me to do?"

"I told you to buy more lube last week, and you also took it upon yourself to buy more condoms for us."

"That's a different matter entirely. So this is my birthday breakfast?"

"It was going to be served in bed and I would have been feeding you, but you decided that you didn't want to wait for it."

"I'm sorry, love. Look, I'm heading back to bed now."

"Too late now teme, get back here. I can still feed you on the couch at least."

Sasuke smirked and headed to the living room to wait for his love to bring him his breakfast. It had been five years that they had been together and ten years since that disappointing birthday at the academy. Sasuke could honestly say he had never been happier and he could only beat himself up for not getting together with Naruto sooner. Naruto wasn't perfect, but he was perfect for Sasuke.

"Okay bastard, are you ready?"

"Yeah, seated and waiting my soon-to-be wife."

"I told you we're still negotiating that term but I guess I can let it slide for today."

Collecting himself, Naruto walked into the living room with a bright smile on his face with the tray of food in his hands and placed it in over Sasuke's lap.

"Happy twentieth birthday my Sasuke! I hope this year brings you happiness as well!"

Sasuke smiled and brought his hand up to cup Naruto's cheek lovingly before he drew Naruto closer to him to plant a gentle kiss on his lips. Naruto hummed happily and kissed back just as lovingly before they separated.

"Thank you, love. I hope I'll continue to be happy this year as well."

"Heehee, time for breakfast! Say 'ahh'."

Sasuke let Naruto feed him happily, the two exchanging kisses and Sasuke feeding Naruto as well until the food was gone and both of them were satisfied. Naruto then stood to take the tray away but Sasuke stopped him by pulling him back down to sit beside him.

"Sasuke, what are you doing?"

"Basking."

"Okay, but at least let me clean up here. You can bask all you want today after that."

"I had a dream last night."

"Oh yeah? What about?" Naruto asked resigning himself to sit beside his fiancé.

"It was about my tenth birthday. The day you told me that you could tell I wanted to be left alone."

"Oh yeah, I fought with you that day too."

"You got a good jab in too but then Ino and Sakura had to butt in and ruin the whole fight."

"I still remember how mad Iruka was at them the next day. We spent that whole class learning about combat tactics and that in a real fight, courtesy meant nothing and that anything goes. For the rest of the week we practiced 'dirty fighting'. That was possibly the best week of academy training ever!"

"Yeah well it didn't help them much when we actually formed teams and went on missions."

"Ino was better at a lot of things than Sakura though, even though Sakura was our teammate."

"I can't say I'm upset that she hasn't spoken to us since we got together though. It makes me quite happy if I'm honest."

"You don't need to remind me. I don't miss being hit over the head all the time, that's for sure, but I do sort of miss her company."

"Am I not enough for you love?"

"Of course you are. Hell sometimes you're too much."

"Hn. Hey, I've got something to tell you."

"And what would that be."

"Do you remember when Neji called you a failure?"

"Yes, but he has since changed his mind. What're you bringing that up for?"

"He was right about that, in one aspect."

"Teme, if you want birthday sex later tonight, then I suggest you try a little harder to make me not hit you."

"Hear me out darling. You always fail to do one thing for me."

"And what would that be?" Naruto asked getting angry with his future husband.

"You always fail to disappoint me."

Naruto blinked in surprise as Sasuke smiled up at him tenderly. Naruto slowly smiled back and leaned into his lover, pressing his forehead against his before pecking his lips.

"You may be getting that birthday sex early."

True to his expectations, Sasuke wasn't disappointed.