Chapter Text
It's Not Fair
Chapter One: Work Sucks
A week had passed since he first started working as a teacher at a primary school, and if there was one thing he was one hundred and twenty percent sure about at this point was that he still hated teaching kids with a passion.
People around him always said he would make a great teacher for some reason he couldn't fathom no matter how hard he tried. Just because he was good at languages and had occasionally tutored a few people here and there didn't make him good at teaching, at all, and he knew it.
Fresh out of college, Uchiha Sasuke was still looking for his dream job at an editing company where he could be constantly surrounded by the two complementary things he loved the most – books and words; but since he still hadn't been lucky enough, he was stuck teaching English to kids during their after school Extra Curricular Activities.
If it didn't pay well, considering the few hours he worked a day (always the longest ever), he definitely would've quit long ago. His mother had encouraged him to at least give it a try at teaching to see how he'd do, so he had applied to several job offers of the kind just to indulge her and prove himself, and everybody else, that he wasn't suited for the job.
The school was considerably small compared to others; colorful, clean, and very organized. After a few days, he became familiar with the hallways fairly easily, which was a plus because he hadn't been particularly happy in asking this blond guy (a teacher, maybe, or a relative of one of the kids?) where the freaking bathroom was on his first day, considering things hadn't exactly been going well, to begin with.
Completely inexperienced with children, Sasuke had been thrown to the wolves on day one. He hadn't been trained to deal with kids, and the coordinator of the ECA, Anko, hadn't given him any tips, simply telling him to find his way of handling the kids and he'd be fine.
Of course, he would. Sure.
He had been assigned three different classes: first, second and fourth years and neither of them had known they were going to have a new teacher, and a young one at that. This to say that he was taken to meet his students, simply being dumped unceremoniously in the respective classrooms and introduced as the new English teacher before Anko closed the door behind him and left him to deal with the bomb that had just been dropped.
The kids were shocked and immediately overdramatized. Sasuke had never seen so much snot and tears in such a short amount of time, and they had asked many questions he had no idea how to answer. Those kids somehow seemed aware that he was a novice and decided on making his life a living hell from then on. He was completely lost and knew, simply knew that, on his first day, he had completely blown his chances of being friends with these kids.
Over the next few days, he had tried everything: from being nice to being evil-which didn't work half as well considering they supposed he was a good guy playing bad–to blackmailing and bribing. The latter, it seemed, was what did the trick with the kids, so he used it as much as he could, even if he knew it was far from an ideal solution. But he just wanted to teach what he was supposed to teach and get it over with. It wasn’t as if he planned on sticking around for long, anyway, since he was still looking for another job and would be out of there in a heartbeat.
Sasuke supposed that sometimes (very rarely) the kids were kind of funny and cute. Sometimes they hugged him during breaks or jumped him. They also drew things for him that made his eyebrow twitch at the poor art. When these things happened, he almost liked working as a teacher. Almost .
His co-workers were difficult people to deal with. There were four teachers for each ECA, namely, Music, English, and P.E. A few of them he would encounter at the teacher's lounge once in a while, but he could barely remember their names or faces because he rarely lingered long enough to socialize unless it was strictly necessary. The other teachers were mainly as young as he was, some younger. He particularly disliked the P.E. teachers (Anko being one of them) because they acted arrogantly and tended to exude this over-energetic aura that demanded everyone's attention; attention Sasuke didn't want to pay. He suspected they didn't like him very much for that, either. They tried to make conversation with him, but the topics rarely interested him, so it was hard for him to offer some kind of polite or encouraging comeback.
His lack of social skills never really bothered him.
Sasuke didn't care about what other people at work thought. They all knew each other already, so he was just a gloomy extra.
Still, he had grown weary of teaching, and those three hours he had to spend at school every day were the most excruciating of his day. Sasuke wanted to find another job, and he wanted to find it fast.
000
On the previous night, Sasuke had received an email from Anko announcing a meeting with all the ECA staff concerning the upcoming preparations for Father's Day, the reason why he was currently sitting in a corner at the large rectangular table in the teacher's lounge, quietly watching as his co-workers arrived and sat down around him, chatting good-naturedly among themselves. Sasuke took notice of some familiar faces he had seen here and there passing the hallways, as well as some that he had never seen before–or probably had but hadn't bothered to memorize.
Vaguely, he noticed that the blond guy he had asked for directions on his first day was there as well, talking to two of their most eccentric-looking colleagues who Sasuke knew were Music teachers. As soon as said guy entered the room, though, his eyes–which were probably the biggest and bluest Sasuke had ever seen–seemed to look for something until they landed on him. When the other offered him a simple, friendly smile, Sasuke felt a little confused but bowed his head slightly in acknowledgment. The blond ended up sitting across from him and kept flashing him tiny smiles and stealing glances his way for some reason. It was a little awkward, but it also made Sasuke have the distinct feeling that someone had taken a liking to him. It made him feel unexpectedly lighter, and that meeting didn't feel like such an uncomfortable event anymore.
By the time everybody had sat down, he was already used to the feeling of empathy coming from his blond companion.
"As I explained in the email I sent you yesterday, the P.E. teachers are going to organize various sport-related activities for Father's Day," Anko began from Sasuke's right, once the group had settled down. "As it is, ECA classes will be suspended for the day in favor of some good father-child bonding. The headmaster has already approved, so our job is to get everything ready for the day."
Murmurs of approval could be heard from all around, and even Sasuke allowed himself a small smirk of relief. A work day without having to teach moody brats sounded like heaven to him.
"However, we created a map of activities that will have to be followed with precision so things don't get messy," Anko proceeded. "Every class and respective parents will take turns participating in said activities, but we need to work together to keep things rolling smoothly and according to plan. For this purpose, I have paired you guys up and assigned three classes for each pair. I will now distribute the map of activities and the sheet with the respective pairs and classes assigned to them."
Well, working in pairs was just another bonus, Sasuke thought, feeling his mood brightening up even more. Less responsibility on his shoulders. Unless the person he was going to work with was an ass, but he could handle that just fine.
Anko got up and started distributing the sheets of paper.
When the map and charts were given to him, he quickly read through everything and noticed that he would have his fourth year as well as two third-year classes he didn't know. He also noticed that his partner would be someone called Uzumaki Naruto, but the name didn't ring a bell at all.
His colleagues were already exchanging waves and exclamations of joy with their assigned partners, but Sasuke had absolutely no idea who was his.
"Please, pair up with your partner for the day and organize yourselves as best as you can," Anko finished, before leaning in to talk to her fellow P.E. teachers.
Sasuke looked around curiously, not knowing how to approach someone he didn't know. He wondered if the guy knew who he was. Well, even if he didn't, Sasuke would just wait until everyone had paired up until only one, confused individual remained and then he'd approach the person.
Someone slumped heavily on the chair Anko had previously occupied, making him jump slightly and look to the side, only to find the blond guy he’d been exchanging glances with smiling goofily at him. Sasuke curled an eyebrow at the other man before noticing the extended hand.
"Sasuke, right?" the blond inquired with a charming smile. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, nice to meet you!"
Feeling a little surprised at the odd coincidence, Sasuke stretched out his hand and shook the one offered to him, saying a simple "Yeah, nice to meet you, too."
"It seems impossible that we haven't spoken to each other, yet!" Naruto said jovially, showing a row of pretty white teeth that were absurdly straight. "I mean, how long have you been working here?"
"A month and a half," Sasuke answered plainly, noticing that Naruto's suddenly radiant energy made him feel all sorts of confused feelings and he didn't know if he appreciated the friendly manner or if it made him want to tense up in annoyance. "And we met once when I started working here. I asked you for directions."
Naruto's smile faltered slightly. "Really? I don't remember at all. I do know that I see you around often."
"You do?" Sasuke inquired suspiciously.
"Yes; your second-year classroom is straight across from where I teach my third years," Naruto explained. When Sasuke's eyebrows rose in disbelief, he let out a small chuckle. "You never noticed? Well, I think it's normal, you're always the last one to arrive at work and the first one to leave. I could never catch up to you to say hello."
Sasuke cleared his throat in embarrassment. He was never late for work, but it wasn't as if he made an effort to arrive early and chat with his co-workers. Admittedly, it was true that, as soon as the last bell rang, he made his way towards the exit as fast as humanly possible, chasing the sweet freedom of the world outside, kid-free and with an impending nicotine craving.
However, he never would've guessed that someone had noticed it, least of all this Naruto person.
Naruto laughed again at Sasuke's lack of response, slapping his arm amicably. "Chill out, man, I'm not attacking you." His voice dropped a little, conspicuously. "I know some of our co-workers are kind of stuck up, but there are cool people around here, too. Namely, me, of course. And Shikamaru and TenTen over there, too."
Sasuke almost snorted at the arrogance but instead ended up smirking. "Yeah, sure." Noticing that his blue-eyed colleague was eyeing him intently, if not a little curiously, he cleared his throat. "So, what is it that you're teaching?"
"Music," Naruto replied, beaming happily at him again. "Just like Shika, TenTen and Genma. You're teaching English, right?"
"Right," Sasuke muttered.
"You're the first male English teacher that we've had in a while," Naruto informed, matter-of-factly, supporting his elbow on the table. "It's a good thing, though; there are too many women here. Apart from the two of us, there are only three other guys. Not that TenTen counts, really, 'cause she's… you know… not really into guys."
"I'm not sure that you should be providing this kind of information to a stranger," Sasuke said, frowning. “She still counts as a girl if she wants.”
"Ah, whatever, it's not like she keeps it a secret, anyway," Naruto dismissed, with a gesture of his hand. "And I didn’t mean it like that, I’m the most open-minded person you’ll ever meet, trust me. But well, she has a thing for one of the P.E. teachers, Temari, but Temari is so into Shika it's ridiculous."
"Again, that’s not information I need," Sasuke said, with a shrug, but Naruto didn’t seem off-put.
“Come on, I’m just making conversation.”
Why was this person talking to him like they knew each other?
Sasuke wasn't exactly a people person, which meant that probably (or not) he was missing the point of Naruto's interaction. Maybe the blond just wanted to make him feel at ease. Still, talking about other people's lives seemed like a stupid way to do it.
Not that Sasuke knew anything about it, anyway since he didn’t enjoy small talk. Regardless, he did appreciate Naruto’s effort in keeping the conversation going.
"So, shall we get started then?" Naruto suggested energetically and, without waiting for Sasuke's reply, began arranging the small sheaf of papers he had brought with him, setting it in front of them so they could take a look at it. "Okay, so the third year, Class B is mine, and the fourth year, Class A, is yours, right? I think that the other third-years are Yugito's or something. We should probably talk to her and see if the kids are well-behaved and if there are things we should take into consideration. Some kids can be troublesome when handed to a different teacher, you know?"
As they worked together, Naruto did most of the talking, which was fine by Sasuke, since the other seemed to have a mouth big enough to talk for a mob of people. While he babbled on and on and pointed at the maps, Sasuke looked at him in a dissimulate way, noticing just then that, despite how weird and naïvely open the other was, his bright, easy-going nature allowed him to slowly, but consistently, relax around him and open up.
Maybe it was his imagination, but there was some kind of mutual empathy there, and it was something that surprised Sasuke because he was picky when it came to the people he liked, and never in his life had he felt connected to another person he had just met so quickly.
It also fascinated him a bit, even if it was hard for him to admit.
It was the strangest of feelings, Sasuke mused. Naruto wasn't exactly the kind of person he'd usually like to hang out with, and yet, something about him made Sasuke take a liking to him.
Naruto had bothered to be nice instead of trying to start a forced conversation, and while Sasuke had the distinct feeling that Naruto was the kind of person capable of embarrassing the people around him with his personality, he felt, deep down, that the blond was… well, a nice guy. Plus, it felt good to socialize with someone from work for a while, at least, even if, after Father's Day, they'd go back to being strangers.
Hopefully not. It'd be nice to have some kind of an accomplice in that kids' battleground that was that school.
The thought alone was surprising.
TBC…