Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Not that you care, but, it's nice for you to be aware of.
Hello, all! I'm glad that you've stumbled upon this fanfiction. It's something I've working on, lazily, bit by bit.
In this story, the main characters are seniors highschool, with some a year above or below and some as teachers. This is an AU, alternate universe, fanfiction, so things will not be the same as in the actual Naruto-verse. I've tried to incorporate some things into this story, as you will see, but not all—so it won't be going exactly by the anime or manga. Demoror means linger in Latin—or, it should, as my source isn't exactly reliable.
This story will contain a small amount of shounen-ai, so if you don't like that, then don't read! There will be cussing, violence, and bloody scenes in the future. Yes, some angst looms ahead in upcoming chapters.
YOU HAVE BEEN FOREWARNED.
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DEMOROR
Prologue — of Uncalled-for Knives and the New Kid
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Sasuke had missed the first day of school. He had reasons, too. One of them being the fact that his brother, Itachi, had come home... and the other being that Itachi had decided to chuck knives at him, right as Sasuke was emerging from his shower (towel in place, of course). Two out of five hit him. One on the palm of his left hand (he had lifted it up to protect his face) and one got him on the upper arm.
Well, it wouldn't have been so bad... if the knives hadn't been goddamned butcher knives. Why did they have so many butcher knives? Was it legal to have five of them in a single house? Sasuke thought that it shouldn't be... Itachi, because Itachi always has an excuse ready, told him it was to help him 'brush up on his reflexes.' The only reason Sasuke actually needed reflexes was because of Itachi in the first place! He sometimes thought about calling social services, and seeing if they'd arrest his idiot of an older brother.
No... Itachi was the only person he had left. Even if he wasn't deserving of the whole brotherly/sibling affection thing. He was still... family.
Family... yeah, right.
Anyway, now he was walking to school. He didn't really like school. It was so stupid, the whole concept... No, not of school (which was also stupid). The whole concept of identification. The school didn't require uniforms, which Sasuke supposed they really should all be thankful for, but instead, using identification methods? This wasn't much better. Stupid little navy blue bands with the silver leaf that was the symbol of Konoha... And it wasn't just Konoha. The whole country! Fire, sand, sound, water, leaf, all and the rest of them.
It had something to do with that fact that a long time ago, the states (if you want to call them that) of the country were at war. It was a huge war, and they used similar bands to tell who was on what side. Traditions died hard in those 'states', and so, even to this day, the school students had to wear the band. Even if you go on to college. The only way to get rid of it was when you left any kind of school or school system completely (for even teachers had to wear them—Sasuke vowed never to become a teacher). The school officials were always saying that the bands had something to do with remembering their past, showing patriotism, and school spirit... A load of crap, basically.
Sasuke sighed, forlornly. He estimated that he only had one day without wearing the stupid thing at school. He had used his other to bind up his hand (it was the first thing to grab, lying on the floor of his room, stomped on and forgotten). For his arm he had gotten a normal bandage, and that's what now adorned his hand, too.
When the school came into sight, he slowed his pace. Other students were now in view, all walking in the same direction. Some walked with a group of friends, chattering loudly and obnoxiously; others walked alone, hands shoved in their pockets, looking at the sidewalk without any real interest.
The school seemed to loom ahead, like a daily, daytime prison that you had to go to five days a week out of seven—except on holidays and teacher work days—and it's brick body was of many shades of brown and rusty red. The school's lawn was in full swing with bright green grass that almost seemed neon. Students milled about lazily, dreading when the bell rang and they would be forced to enter the glass doors to their doom.
Maybe that was a bit on the dramatic side... but it was close enough to the truth. At least no one had come up to him and started to—
"SASUKE!"
—screw that thought.
"Sasuke! Hi, Sasuke. How are you?" Sakura.
Don't get him wrong, he liked the girl as a friend, but sometimes she was just a tad bit on the annoying side. He wasn't sure if he didn't have the heart to tell her, or if he just didn't want to hear her go on and on about how she would try to fix this 'problem' that bothered him. He personally wasn't fond of either option, so, he chose to simply keep his mouth shut.
"Sakura," he grunted. "Fine."
"That's good, I was worried since you weren't at school yesterday, it being the first day and all... Hey. Where's your band?"
"Lost it." Sasuke was a pretty good liar, he needed the skill, but sometimes the lies came out before he even realized it. Oh, well, too late now.
"You lost it," she repeated, raising a brow. "You'll have to pay for another one."
"So then after this I'll have spent nearly a hundred dollars on those stupid things, since elementary school."
"You've lost that many? They're, like, five bucks a piece!"
"I know," Sasuke frowned. "I guess I have the talent of losing things."
"I guess so... Sasuke! Your hand... what happened to your hand?" Now Sakura's smooth face adopted a worried expression. He looked her over quickly before answering, pretending to think. Today she was wearing her old, pink hoodie and an apparently new pair of blue jeans, complete with black flip-flops. Her own band was in her unusual pink hair, as it always was, acting as a rather useless headband. Her green eyes gazed at him inquiringly.
He looked at his bandaged hand. He thought of his bandaged upper arm.
"Oh, that..." He said, trailing off, as if trying to remember. He let his left hand fall to his side, like he had suddenly recalled what had happened. "Right. That. Had a bad day; knife slipped. Got another one on my arm... walked too close to a metal edge."
"Really, all in the same day? They're not infected, are they?" Sakura was looking to go into the nursing field. This was a very typical reaction. Sasuke thought that being a nurse would suit Sakura extremely well. She was always fussing over you, even if you had merely tripped.
"Yes, and no," a truth and a lie. He did acquire both injuries on the same day, but were they infected? He didn't know, but he doubted it. He had cleaned the cuts. But, knowing Itachi, he might have put poison on the knives' sharp edges... That was a thought to look into...
"That's good! Oh, I forgot to ask you, who's your first teacher?"
They were now at the school's glass doors—no, now they were inside—and walking down the hall. Sasuke turned, heading toward the main office. Sakura followed along beside him, watching their fellow students chatter in the halls noisily. Five minutes until the bell rang...
"Iruka," he told her. He'd only glanced at the piece of paper showing their new teachers, and the only thing that interested him was that he didn't recognize his first teacher's name. Sasuke had figured that the person this unfamiliar name belonged to was new. He couldn't even remember who his other teachers were, but he had his schedule in his backpack somewhere. "Yours?"
Sakura beamed at his effort to converse, "That's great! So you start out the day with the same class as both Hinata and I! Oh, and there's someone else who we've (Hinata and I, I mean) made friends with, and he lives—"
"I have to go in here," Sasuke said as they came up to the school's main office. "To order a new band."
"But there's only a few minutes left, Sasuke, you'll be late... Do you want me to wait for you?"
"No, besides, I'll get a pass. Go on, or else you'll be late too."
"Oh... okay, then. I'll see you in class, Sasuke."
He gave her a short nod, then opened the door to the office. He walked up to the front desk, and looked evenly at the woman sitting there, saying bluntly, "I need a new identification band."
The woman, well acquainted with Sasuke Uchiha, sighed. "This is your ninth missing band since you've started highschool. I don't even want to know how many you lost during junior high and elementary school."
"I lost them less often then," he offered. He was well acquainted with the woman.
"Well, here's the form, fill it out. We've already got to send others. Some other students lost theirs, and then we've got the new students."
"I hate these."
"They're necessary."
Sasuke frowned, glaring at the form he was filling out with a pen that had been lying on the desk.
"There's no point in it."
"Possibly, though they do show how many new bands we need," the woman said, simply. Sasuke tried to remember her name... it was on the tip of his tongue. He'd probably remember it when he was just falling into sleep at night; exactly like his luck. He finished filling out the form (standard things; name, age, grade, things that had nothing to do with identification bands) and shoved it along with the pen across the desk at the woman.
"I'll need a pass," he told her.
"All you have to do is ask, Uchiha," she said, already filling out a small rectangular slip and handing it to the dark-haired teen. "I suppose I'll be seeing you again soon enough."
"Maybe," Sasuke said, without mentioning any thanks. The woman, however, was quite used to this, and shook her head slightly, then answered the phone as it began to ring, taking her eyes off of the boy exiting the office, bookbag slung over one shoulder carelessly.
"Hello, this is Konoha High! How may I help you? You would like to speak to the principal? Well, he's not here at the moment, but will be returning shortly. May I take a message, or would you like to call back? Of course I can take down a number! Alright, let me get a pen and paper... okay, now—"
She used the back of Sasuke's form.
- - - - -
Sasuke entered the class room just as school announcements were ending. Not that he ever actually listened to the voice over the intercom, so it wasn't as if he had missed much. He walked over to the teacher; he was a new one. Sasuke didn't know anything about him. He gave him—Iruka—the slip of paper the woman had written on, and the brown-haired man nodded.
"Okay... Uchiha, is it? Well, you sit over there, in the back by the window." Sasuke nodded and walked back to the desk, sat down, and listened as the teacher began the day's lesson.
Iruka had his brown hair pulled back, and a scar across his face. Despite that evident sign of some hardship in his life, his face was kindly. Sasuke had already drowned the man out unintentionally by the time Iruka started saying what they would be doing today. Since yesterday they had really only just discussed what would be going on this year, today they would be telling everyone about each other. After Iruka told everyone a little bit about himself, he put the class into pairs saying, "Tell each other anything about yourself that comes to the top of your mind, and then when time's up, you'll tell the class about your partner. Go."
Of course, Sasuke failed to hear any of this. Naturally, he jumped when somebody poked him on the arm, hard, and said in an enthusiastic voice "Hey. I'm Naruto Uzumaki, and you're Sasuke Uchiha, aren't you?"
"Wha—?" A swift glace around the classroom, and Sasuke nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm Sasuke, you're Naruto."
"You're the one Sakura and Hinata were talking about, aren't you?" The teen Sasuke supposed was his partner had blonde hair and blue eyes. And sat at the desk next to his. Oh, yeah! Alphabetical order...
This fellow student had the strangest scars on his cheeks; like three, thin whiskers on either side. He wore a black shirt, with an orange coat, and khaki pants, and he was smiling.
"Most likely. How do you know...?"
"Them? Yesterday, you weren't here, we ate lunch together by that old tree outside."
"Oh, really?"
"Mmhm, and Sakura said that we could probably all be friends—all four of us, I mean. Anyway. Erm... I'm Naruto. I live with him, yeah, the teacher. He's like my parental guardian. Something like that. We just moved here. Oh, and I love ramen, all the flavors, too. My favorite color is orange, and... um... that's all."
"Right. I'm Sasuke, I live with my brother. I like blue, and I've lived here all my life. I hate ramen."
"How can you hate ramen?" Naruto demanded, "It's the best food out there!"
"What, do you eat it every day or something?"
"Well, not every day, but close enough to it!"
Sasuke eyed the blonde-haired teenager. "That's a lot of noodles."
"Yeah, but I like the noodles," replied Naruto, in an off-handed manner. "But sometimes they don't exactly stay with the chopsticks."
"Fascinating," drawled Sasuke.
"Are you being sarcastic?" Naruto asked, raising a brow.
"Maybe."
"You know what I think?" Naruto put one of his arms on his desk, and propped his head up with it. "I think that you're an asshole."
"It thinks... amazing."
Naruto rolled his eyes, huffing. "Of course I can think, asshole."
"Couldn't tell by looking at you, idiot."
"Stupid."
"Bastard."
"Retard."
"Faggot."
"Time's up!" Iruka announced. "Now, let's start with... you, Naruto. Stand up. So, what did you learn about Mr Uchiha?"
"Well, for starters—"
Sasuke looked out the window, ignoring all around him. Another little 'specialty' of his. He wondered...
Where'd you come back from this time, Itachi? And was it really so bad that you had to throw goddamned butcher knives at your only surviving blood relative?
- - - - -
Since Sasuke and Naruto's initial meeting of each other, Sasuke was beginning to dread lunch. He had figured it all out—Sakura and Naruto had practically told him anyway.
Sakura, Hinata, and Naruto expected to eat lunch together. By the tree. His tree. Sasuke's tree. Sakura and Hinata would still be eating their lunches in the school cafeteria if it hadn't been for Sasuke and one hell-of-a-long-and-annoying project in their freshman year that had forced them to collaborate forces and develop a... friendship, if you wanted to call it that.
So, Sasuke decided to skip the cafeteria (he wasn't in the mood for food, since that reminded him of butcher knives, and butcher knives...) and just went over to the old tree out in the school's front yard.
It was the perfect tree, great climbable branches, with those two or three low ones that helped you get higher or offered a nice place to sit, and Sasuke felt a bit of pity for it. To be so perfect, and yet become marred because you were stuck in some school's butt-ugly front lawn. Hell, to be planted on school grounds at all. Sasuke hated being there, and he wasn't even stuck there for as long as he lived! ... Poor tree, indeed.
Sasuke was sitting on one of those oh-so climbable branches, watching with a slight bit of displeasure as he observed three of his peers tramp across the green grass, stopping to sit underneath the tree's protective limbs adorned with healthy leaves. The blond-haired Naruto, pink-haired Sakura, and black-haired Hinata. Each had a distinctly unique personality—none of them in this new group of four had the same traits.
All of them were like opposites.
Opposites attract... Indeed. Four of them, nearly all polar opposites.
North. East. South. West.
"Sasuke!" Sakura called up from below, opening a cold soda can that was dripping with condensation. "What're you doing way up there? Didn't you eat anything for lunch?"
"Sitting, and no." Sasuke replied shortly, looking at the three other students underneath his perch.
"Lunch is an important meal," the pink-haired girl told apparently no one in particular, "but breakfast is the most important of them all. Did you guys eat breakfast?"
"I did," spoke Hinata in her customly soft voice. "I had french toast..."
"I did!" Naruto said, shoveling a handful of chips into his mouth. "Cereal, and regular toast. And orange juice. Maybe a poptart, but I can't remember."
"Well, Naruto," remarked Sakura, "you certainly seemed to have had a nice breakfast. What about you, Sasuke?"
"Skipped it," the dark-haired Uchiha said in monotone. He knew that in three... two... one...
"Sasuke—how many times do I have to tell you! Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and that's saying something! Do you think they called it the 'most important meal' for no reason?"
"I suppose not," mumbled Sasuke, raising his gaze to look through the green leaves of the tree, at the blue sky.
"Sasuke, you're going to die early. And then I'll be sad, because died you early—unnaturally-like. Wanna know why?"
"Why?"
"Because you didn't eat anything; of starvation! When you die, you'll practically be a skeleton! All because you didn't eat the food in front of you, or the food that was easily attainable. What about the people in China?" Sakura demanded, taking a bite of her turkey sandwich and chewing furiously, waiting for the reply.
"It's not like the food's gonna do them any good in my stomach."
"Well, yes, but there's always the... Er..."
Sakura opened her mouth, closed it, opened it again, and paused. Damn, she sighed mentally, I haven't worked out a comeback for that one, just yet... And, so she didn't look stupid, she took another bite of her sandwich, washing that down with a gulp of soda.
"You just got told," the blond-haired teen sitting beside her and Hinata told Sakura, giving Sasuke one quick, unnoticeable glance of admiration.
"Naruto," Sakura replied, "shut up."
"That's no way to treat the new kid!" Naruto all but squawked indignantly.
"Yeah, well, get over it. Things aren't always nice." Sakura looked up from her food to eye the blond, and gave a half-smirk at his put-out expression. "I was only kidding, Naruto."
As realization shined it's heavenly glow upon his head, Naruto scratched the back of his neck and tilted his head to the side a bit. "Oh... Well, I totally knew that, Sakura."
"Of course you did," the pink-haired teen huffed, closing her eyes irritably when she heard Hinata's politely muffled laughter at their antics. "Anyway. It's time to go back in for school."
"How many classes are left," asked Naruto.
"Three," sighed Sakura. She pulled her schedule out from the back pocket of her pants. "Hey, guys, who's your last teacher?"
Hinata bit the inside of her lip, trying to remember, before she nodded, "Oh, right, I have... Kakashi next... Didn't we—?"
Sakura nodded, cutting her off. The two girls looked expectantly at Naruto. The blond pulled a well-looked at and folded piece of paper out of his own pocket. Unfolding it, he ran his eyes until he found the name of his last teacher of the day. "Some guy named Kakashi, same as you, Hinata. Who've got you, Sakura?"
"Ditto to you." Sakura looked up at Sasuke, who was gazing out across the green lawn, looking slightly agitated.
"Who's your last teacher, Sasuke?"
"Don't even ask, I'm sure you already know." Sasuke muttered.
"I see... four years in a row is pretty... non-coincidental."
"He keeps moving up," Hinata added.
"And he's always our last teacher, and we're always in his class together, and he's been moving up with us since our freshmen year." Sasuke was fuming on the inside, but on the outside he managed to look reasonably ticked off. "This is insane. Fucking asshole."
"Well... it is a bit suspicious... but you don't have to go and call people names—" Sakura was promptly cut off.
"This'll make four years in a row."
"Yes, I know that, but—"
"Four years. Of him. Him."
"He is a bit... strange, I suppose, but that—"
"Strange doesn't begin to cover it."
"Maybe not. At least after this year—"
"What, we won't have him anymore? He'll probably follow us to the damn university! And at least he's not an old family friend of yours!"
Sakura sighed, "Okay, Sasuke, we get it. You're tired of him."
"Sick of him."
"Okay, you're sick of him. But at least it's him and not Orochimaru again... right?"
"I... guess."
"See, it's not so bad."
Sasuke snorted, and jumped down from the tree's branches. "It's time for the next class," he muttered.
"What was that all about?" A bewildered Naruto asked, looking confused, and standing up.
"Oh, we've just had this Kakashi guy since our freshman year. Guess he likes us," shrugged Sakura.
"You said he was strange...?"
"He's a little out-there," Hinata offered. "I like him, though..."
"I do to... on good days." Sakura nodded, "Sasuke says he doesn't, but you can tell that it's his favorite class. The Kakashis and Uchihas have a historical 'family friendship'. After the 'Unsolved Tragedy' it was Kakashi who looked after Sasuke while Itachi handled all the inquiries and the like."
"Who's Itachi?" By now they were walking towards the school. When they entered, they threw their trash away.
"Sasuke's older brother," Sakura paused slightly, "but they don't get along, at all."
"Oh... and the 'Unsolved Tragedy,' what was that?"
"You'll find out," Sakura said, waving it off. "It was years ago... but... Oh! Here's my locker... I don't think I have my next class with any of you, so I'll see you later in Kakashi's, okay?"
The other two nodded.
- - - - -
Meanwhile, Sasuke had gone to his locker and located his own next class.
He looked at the nameplate beside the door.
He blinked.
Right there and then, he smacked himself on the forehead with his books.
His next teacher?
Orochimaru.
And he was the only one out of that group of four with him. Suddenly, Sasuke wanted to be in Kakashi's class. At least Kakashi wasn't a gay pedophile.
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There's that. Bit of a long prologue, wasn't it? Nearly ten pages. Well... I expect all the chapters will be about this length; possibly longer. It depends on how far into my 'writing stride' I am when I start the next chapter.
Like I stated before in my other story, I'll be updating monthly. I just don't have the time to do it otherwise. At least you know you'll end up with a nice, long chapter though, right? Unless something serious happens, anyway. Looking forward to seeing you next time!
Oh, and please review! It means so much... you honestly have no idea. Reviews are like an ego boost that helps to produce good-quality upcoming chapters. Hint, hint?