Chapter Text
SASUKE
Uchiha Sasuke doesn't steal.
He borrowed—and only when absolutely necessary.
The university library was buzzing that Thursday afternoon, cloaked in its usual finals-week frenzy. The scent of printer ink, dry wood polish, and over-steeped black coffee lingered in the air. Pages turned in rushed, uneven rhythms. Voices murmured in corners as overcaffeinated students huddled around group projects and half-eaten sandwiches.
Sasuke ignored it all.
He sat alone near the far window on the third floor. A strategic spot—quiet, hidden behind a tall shelf of psychology textbooks no one touched. He pulled his hoodie up over his dark hair, the rim shadowing his sharp gaze as he stared blankly at the notes in front of him and groaned in irritation.
Scribbles. Nothing coherent.
He was two reports behind—his fault, technically, for spending most of the semester buried in independent projects. He was usually ahead of the curve. Not this time.
He needed Dr. Hatake’s Philosophy 303 lecture notes. Needed them to pass the paper that would count for 40% of the final grade.
Sasuke ran a hand through his hair in frustration. He had nothing. Nothing usable, at least.
That’s when he noticed it.
A notebook on the next table—left behind, slightly askew.
Yellow cover, worn and creased, the corners curled in like it had been handled a hundred times.
Sasuke stood up from his seat and went right in front of the table. He contemplated for a minute before muttering a 'screw it!' and moved to fully open the notebook.
Lecture 10 – The Ethics of Deception
“Sometimes lying is not about evil—it’s about survival.”
Sasuke’s eyes lingered on the handwriting.
Loopy but legible.
He flipped the first page open.
Inside, scrawled in all-caps blue ink:
“Uzumaki Naruto.”
He blinked.
That name...he’d heard it before.
Spiky blond hair and a voice that carried like a drumbeat across the walls.
Always surrounded by people.
Always moving.
Sasuke looked around.
No sign of him.
He hesitated.
Then, slowly—deliberately—slid the notebook into his own bag.
Just for a few days.
Just until he finished the paper.
Right?
NARUTO
“Alright—who stole my brain?!”
Naruto slammed his tray onto the lunch table, startling half the food court and nearly knocking Kiba’s drink over. He flopped down with a dramatic groan, arms flung over his face like he’d lost a championship match.
Ino didn’t even blink, already used to the blonde's theatrics, “Which part of your "brain", exactly?” She quotes.
“My notes!” Naruto cried. “Philosophy 303. My notebook. It’s gone. Poof. Vanished. Robbed.”
“You sure you didn’t leave it in your dorm?” Ino asked, sipping her green tea.
“I checked twice! Someone took it, I swear!”
Shikamaru yawned. “Maybe it grew legs and ran off to escape your handwriting.”
Kiba snorted.
Naruto sat up and ran a hand through his messy blond hair. “It’s not funny! I worked hard on that notebook. It’s not just notes, it’s—like—my thoughts, doodles, ideas, my entire philosophy rant about pineapples and truth—GONE.”
“Wait.” Kiba blinked. “That’s the notebook with the ramen stains on page five?”
“Yes!”
Ino winced. “Ew.”
Naruto pouted. “It’s part of the charm.”
They laughed, but Naruto didn’t join them this time.
He leaned forward, elbows on the table, hands laced in his hair. His usual grin faltered.
It wasn’t just frustration.
It was disappointment. That notebook was his.
And someone had just taken it.
SASUKE
It took Sasuke two days to copy what he needed.
Two days where guilt nipped at the edge of his thoughts.
And the more he read, the more he felt it...
Naruto’s notes weren’t just informative—they were alive.
Sketched margins. Puns in parentheses. Off-the-cuff debates with himself. They weren’t perfect, but even without knowing the blonde personally, It's like he can see him on each scribbles.
Each pages screams the kind of personality the owner has...and for a moment, he mused how it felt more like a diary instead of lecture notes.
He made only one mark:
A sticky note, neatly placed on the last page he read.
A quiet apology.
A reluctant compliment.
Or something in between.
And tomorrow, he decided to finally return it.
It was noon.
Warm sunlight bathed the open plaza between the Humanities and Science buildings. Students lounged across benches and concrete steps. Laughter and shouting rippled across the air.
Naruto was right in the center of it—loud as ever, animated as always, retelling some dramatic story with wild hand gestures.
Sasuke approached quietly.
Notebook in hand, a small bundle wrapped in a single strand of brown string.
He cleared his throat.
Naruto turned. Mid-sentence. Mid-laugh.
And froze.
Sasuke held it out. “Here.”
Naruto blinked. “That’s—mine.”
“Yes.”
“You...had it?”
Sasuke said nothing yet his hand remained extended.
There, looped into the string, was a crooked pack of strawberry Pocky.
Naruto took the notebook gently. Like it might vanish if he touched it too fast. He flipped through it. Everything was there.
And then he found the sticky note.
“Used your notes. They helped. Your handwriting made my eye twitch. It’s annoying.
Don’t lose it again.
—U.S.”
A smile tugged at his lips. “U.S. huh?”
Sasuke turned to leave.
Naruto called after him, “Hey—Sasuke, right?”
Sasuke paused, half-glanced over his shoulder.
“Thanks,” Naruto said. “For returning it. And not...y’know, trashing it. Or pretending it wasn’t you.”
No reply aside from the stiff nod and a soft, "Hn."
And then Sasuke walked off like nothing happened.
Naruto blinked as the black-clad figure of Uchiha Sasuke walked off like nothing happened, then looked down at his notebook thoughtfully.
Notebook returned. Check.
Pocky gifted. Check.
Sticky note left behind. Check.
He ran his thumb across the cover, eyes tracing the faint creases and bent corners like he’d never really seen them before. It looked... worn, sure. The kind of worn that meant someone actually read through it. Maybe more than once.
His gaze flicked to the sticky note.
Naruto huffed a soft laugh, heart thumping a little too eagerly. It wasn’t exactly a compliment. Not really. And yet he got the feeling that...it kind of was.
Sasuke had read it—actually read it. He could’ve just tossed the thing on a table and walked off.
But he didn’t.
“What. The actual. Hell,” Kiba hissed, leaning over the table as if Sasuke might come back and bite him.
Ino was slack-jawed. “That was Uchiha Sasuke . You guys. Sasuke freaking Uchiha just—talked—to Naruto.”
Even Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, though his tone stayed lazy. “Wasn’t expecting that today.”
Naruto tilted his head. “Is he really that big a deal?”
Hinata, who had been sipping her tea quietly beside Shikamaru, peeked up through her bangs. “Sasuke...doesn’t really talk to anyone. He’s in my Bio lab. He just...kind of exists. Like a ghost in a leather jacket.”
“He’s in my Econ class,” Shikamaru added. “Top scorer. Never asks questions. Never answers them, either. He just shows up, solves problems, leaves. Kind of a genius jerk.”
Naruto scratched the back of his head, flipping through his notebook again. “Huh. Guess he’s got good taste.”
Kiba snorted. “Dude. He gave you snacks.”
Shikamaru tilted his head. “That was strawberry Pocky.”
Naruto looked up. “Yeah?”
Hinata offered gently, “That’s his favorite. People say he always picks it when they restock the vending machines.”
The blonde looked at the mentioned snack thoughtfully.
He grinned.
A/N:
First ever NaruSasu/SasuNaru Fanfic!! This is a multi-chapter University AU. Hope you liked it!
The first 2 chapters are up!