Konome studied Sasuke's tense face, unsure what tack he was taking.
Unwilling to accept defeat?
Looking to challenge her again?
Either way, she needed to head downstairs to scrounge some leaves for training, so she might as well see what he wanted.
"Fine."
Relief visibly washed over him. He exhaled and led the way out.
Naruto's eyes trailed Konome to the door, a tangle of feelings he could not name. It felt like something that belonged to him was being taken by someone he disliked.
Sakura and Ino felt the same jolt.
"What was that."
They glanced at each other, equally lost. Two desperate clowns.
Why would Sasuke call Konome out. Surely he was not going to confess.
Remembering his nervous face, two romance-addled minds reached the same horrifying thought at once.
"No way."
Ino clapped both hands over her ears like a meme made flesh.
Sakura's green eyes flushed red. "How could Sasuke like her. She stomped him into the dirt."
Outer Sakura stayed barely civil. Inner Sakura was already roaring.
So he is into the violent type after all.
The guesses got wilder. They exchanged a look and, with perfect unspoken coordination, formed a temporary alliance and bolted.
Seeing them sprint, Naruto set his bag down with a clunk and tore out after them.
Across the desks, a blue-haired, white-eyed girl rested her cheek on folded arms and said nothing. Hinata Hyuga watched, thoughts hidden.
Crunch.
Crunch.
Kiba and Shikamaru each pinched a handful of Choji's chips and chewed loudly.
Now this was entertainment.
"Shikamaru… crunch… should we follow and see," Choji puffed, round cheeks full of salt and curiosity.
"Arf arf," Akamaru stamped impatiently on Kiba's head.
Shikamaru did not want to move, but curiosity itched. With Kiba and Choji needling him, temptation won.
"Let's go."
Kiba, done asking the world's laziest genius for permission, hooked both of them by the collar and dragged them out.
Down the stairs they found one pink head and two blond heads poking from the hedge around the flowerbed, teeth clenched, watching two figures in the distance.
Three more heads popped up at once.
"Shikamaru, Choji, why are you here," Ino hissed.
"Shh."
Kiba raised a finger.
Even Akamaru went silent as they all focused downrange.
"What is it," Konome asked Sasuke.
He had not said a word since the stairs, just towed her well past the practice yard. She had not even had time to pluck a leaf.
Sasuke checked the area. Satisfied they were alone, he wrestled with himself and finally said, "Konome… I need to apologize."
"Huh."
Konome arched a brow.
His face went cherry red the moment the words left his mouth. What game was this.
"I am sorry. I used a jutsu during sparring and put you at risk. It was against the rules. This is my apology letter. I hope you will… forgive me."
Stammering, he thrust a dog-eared note at her, then turned his face aside like a cat refusing treats.
Konome nodded as if a piece clicked. "Iruka made you."
"Yes."
The moment he said it, his shoulders loosened.
For breaking the rules and firing a Fireball at Konome, he had been hit with three thousand words of self-critique and told to apologize in person.
Apologize to the girl who had beaten him and then mocked him.
For proud Sasuke Uchiha, it was worse than death. But he could not refuse Iruka. He had shamed the clan using a forbidden tactic, and even so lost miserably. If Father heard, the disappointment in his eyes would be unbearable.
Thinking of that look, apologizing to Konome did not seem quite as impossible.
"All right. Noted."
Konome's voice was flat. She had half expected a rematch. An apology was boring.
What a waste of time.
Sasuke froze.
He had braced for humiliation. He had rehearsed stoic replies. Instead she brushed it off, not even bothering to take the letter.
Relief collided with a hot flare of anger.
He had agonized over this. Tossed and turned all night. And to her it meant nothing.
This was not forgiveness. It was indifference.
From the very bottom of her heart she dismissed him. The duel, the sneak-attack Fireball, all of it was kiddie play.
Being ignored stung worse than being despised.
Infuriating.
As the clan head's son, the forever Number One, idol of half the class, he had never been treated like this. His self-respect crumpled.
What is your problem.
His face darkened to beet red. He glared so hard his teeth clicked as if he might awaken the Sharingan by force.
Konome could not tell if he had rabies or was genuinely about to sprout tomoe. In the canon he had needed a massacre and Itachi's Tsukuyomi to wake even one. She had never rated his talent.
Not after learning what chakra owed to raw life force.
Without chakra to feed them, Sharingan eyes were shockingly underwhelming. Below Mangekyo they were worse than the Byakugan. Mangekyo invited blindness. Obito's almighty Kamui was propped up by Hashirama cells. Even Madara with Eternal Mangekyo got dunked by Hashirama without Nine Tails as a battery. The vaunted Rinnegan was only terrifying because Nagato had Uzumaki stamina to burn. On anyone else, the cost would turn you into jerky in minutes.
"You done."
Impatience crept into her tone.
Sasuke at this point was an unfinished product. The avenger genius of the story was still a long way off. Hard to stay interested.
Rustle.
He fished out a second letter.
This one was pristine, tucked in a proper envelope. In fat brushstrokes across the front: Challenge.
Apology in his left hand, Challenge in his right, Sasuke lifted his chin. "Konome Taketori, I challenge you. In the name of Uchiha."
Pfft.
The sight was so painfully chūni that Konome could not hold it in.
She had the sudden urge to record him and set it to loop at his future wedding to Sakura. He might never dare set foot in Konoha again.
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