Adolescence

Chapter One

"I'm Tsubaki Kaizuki; it's a pleasure to meet all of you." She looked fairly bored with the current scenario, but who could blame her? She had transferred schools four times in the past four years, and she was a little too good at the whole introduction thing at this point.

"There's a free seat beside Juritsu," the teacher, Mr. Kirkland, indicated a seat beside a tanned girl with a blue shirt on. Kaizuki walked over to the indicated seat silently, settling herself in and dumping her bag on the floor beside her chair.

"Kaizuki, since it's your first day, I'll let you off this time, but carrying around your bag isn't allowed. You have a locker for a reason." Mr. Kirkland said, turning to face the board and writing down some nonsense about the Japanese language that they would have to remember for college.

She glanced up at him, eyes blazing with anger, before returning her attention to her artwork or writing, depending on what page she flipped to.

Juritsu glanced over at the newcomer briefly before turning her attention to her notes, namely her multiple college applications. She was nervous but excited. She was eager to meet up with Sasuke after school and collaborate with him on choosing a university to attend together. She had been with him since the beginning of her second year in high school.

Kaizuki's eyes wandered the crowd, before settling on the girl beside her. She was a pretty girl, her proportions just well enough that they would be fun to draw. She started the sketch, curving the lines as she occasionally glanced at her out of the corner of her eye. She was very pretty; the sexy, gorgeous kind of pretty. A good type to practice drawing.

The bell rang, signaling the end of homeroom, and the class got louder than believable in a split second as they grabbed their things and headed for their first actual class. Kaizuki stood up, stuffing her notebook into her bag. She wondered if this girl, Juritsu, would be in any of her classes. It didn't look promising, though; she looked a bit older, so she might've been a 3rd year student. However, the probability of seeing her later was likely.

She rounded the corner out of her homeroom, speeding down the halls with her head slightly lowered. The feeling of being watched was as clear as ever, making her nerves on edge. She saw someone's foot, and her ankle wrapped around theirs, and she tripped, never hearing the "watch it!" as she slipped forward.

Luckily, someone was standing close enough to catch her, and they didn't dodge her either. That was pleasant, what a nice person, how nice of them to catch her. She readied herself and looked up into a pair of coal black eyes. She blinked, staring up at him.

"Are you alright?" he asked in concern, helping her to steady herself on her feet.

She blinked, taking a few seconds to completely register what had just happened. Trip, fall, catch. That was good; it warranted a grateful word of appreciation.

"Thanks…" She replied, "Sorry for taking up your time… Gotta get to class. See you later." Why did I say, see you later? What am I, stupid? I don't even know him! Stupid habits.

She really needed to stop switching schools.

She walked past him, glancing habitually out the window as she walked by. She sighed, and continued on her journey to… where was she going?

...

Juritsu scanned the crowd habitually, trying to locate her boyfriend. The past few days he had seemed to be avoiding her, and she was hoping to be able to talk to him and find out what was wrong. I hope I didn't make him angry or something, she thought to herself worriedly as she rounded a corner and bumped into some. "Ah, sorry…"

"Juritsu?" It was Sasuke.

The girl's heart was in her throat and she promptly flushed crimson. "O-oh… hey, Sasuke…" she stammered, looking down at her folded hands.

"No, it's okay… are you alright?" he asked. Juritsu was beginning to wonder the same thing; why the hell am I acting like we haven't been dating for a year?!

"Oh, no! I'm fine," Juritsu forced herself to look at him and smile, "It's been a weird day, that's for sure. But, um, yea… So are you going to class?"

Sasuke stared at her for a very long moment before snapping to attention, "Oh! Right! Class! Sorry, I'll talk to you later!"

With that he hurried off. Juritsu watched him go, a forlorn look in her eyes, before she turned around and headed off in the opposite direction.

...

The day was slow and tiring, even though it was only the first day of school, and everyone should've been well rested. The lunch bell rang, and everyone was more than excited to get out of their class and to the lunchroom, a little ways away from the stress that was building up from the pressure of first-day-of-the-year tests and do-you-remember-this quizzes.

Kaizuki stared around the lunchroom, letting out a soft sigh and finding an empty table to sit at. Sure, switching schools was easy, but sitting alone at a table was never any fun. It was the most awkward thing ever, and until she made a friend of some sort, she would have to deal with it.

"Um… can we sit here?"

Kaizuki looked up and found herself staring at the pretty girl she shared homeroom with. She was standing next to the man who had caught her earlier that day, and a boy who looked just like him.

The younger-looking boy leaned over to the girl and whispered "Isn't that where we usually sit?"

The girl waved him off, reassuring that it wasn't a big deal, and smiled warmly at Kaizuki.

"Sure," Kaizuki finally replied, "You can sit here." She pay them little attention as she pulled out her drawing pad and flipped open to her newest drawing, feeling rather glad that she had been able to score a seat with the pretty girl that she had been drawing.

Ah, She thought in irritation to herself, I forgot my bento again. It never fails; first day of the year, every time.

She glanced around the lunchroom, staring out each window in turn for a moment before staring back at the half-started drawing.

"Did you already eat?" the older man spoke up suddenly, catching her attention.

"Huh? Oh, no. I left my bento at home; I always do on the first day of school. Kind of a creepy ritual." She replied half-heartedly. The doors to the lunchroom opened and she looked up. She returned back to her drawing immediately.

"Are you hungry?" the girl interrupted.

Kaizuki had to think about that for a few seconds, before shrugging, "It's nothing that I can't deal with."

"Well, I have some extra cash on me; I could buy you a lunch from here, or at least a snack," she offered.

Kaizuki thought about that for an even longer moment; was it too risky? What the heck kind of thought was that anyway? Too risky? It wasn't like she was a freakin' mafia boss or wanted for murder or something! Not yet, anyway.

She finally looked up, a slight smile gracing her features, "If it's not too much of a trouble for you, I wouldn't mind."

"It's no problem at all!" The girl stood up and walked over to the lunch line. The two brothers (at least, that's what Kaizuki assumed) watched the girl go before turning their attention towards the new student.

"So, what's your name?" the younger one asked, "I'm Uchiha Sasuke. This is my older brother, Uchiha Itachi."

"I'm pleased to meet you," Itachi greeted with a polite bow of his head.

Ah, I was right, Kaizuki thought needlessly as she looked around again before replying, "Tsubaki Kaizuki. Nice to meet you, too. Also, thanks for earlier, Itachi… I didn't thank you properly." She made her best nice girl face, before letting out a sleepy sigh and glancing back down at her drawing. It was coming along nicely, thankfully. As of recent, her drawing skills hadn't been very good. It had been frustrating her to no end.

"It's okay. It's good to know that you weren't hurt or anything," Itachi replied.

"Itachi's studying to be a doctor, but he works part time as an aide to help pay for school," Sasuke explained, glancing at the notebook, "What's that you're drawing?"

Kaizuki looked up, her eyes practically glowing at his comment, "Well, I'm attempting to draw that girl you were with. I first saw her in homeroom, and she looked like she'd be fun to draw. Was her name Juritsu?"

Sasuke smiled slightly. "Son Juritsu. She's a third year, like me. It looks like your picture's coming along nicely though. Does she know you're drawing it? Maybe she could pose for you."

Kaizuki couldn't help but chuckle, "I don't have the nerve to ask anyone of something like that." The doors to the cafeteria opened; she looked up again. Nothing dangerous, she looked back at her book. She wondered if she was making Itachi and Sasuke think yet. She regretted wondering that in an instant.

"Well I could ask her if you wanted…"

"Why do you keep glancing at the door? Are you waiting for someone?" Itachi asked curiously, "I can go find them if you'd like."

Kaizuki froze, and chuckled half-heartedly, "N-no… I'm not waiting for anyone." I'm keeping watch, actually. She returned to her attention to her drawing, staring at it for a long moment as she forced herself to remember what she had been working on. Upon recalling that she was on the legs, she returned to the artwork. The doors opened, she looked up. Oh, fuck me. I need to stop looking up.

Sasuke and Itachi shared a look before looking over at Kaizuki. There was a brief silence before Juritsu abruptly returned, carrying a tray of hot and delicious-looking food.

"Here you go!" Juritsu placed the tray near the notebook, but not too closely. "Sorry it took me so long; there was a really long line."

Kaizuki, rather glad that someone who hadn't been watching her repeatedly look at the door had arrived, smiled gratefully, folding her notebook over so that it wasn't taking up as much space, and slid the tray into its place. She put the notebook back in her bag, and picked up a set of chopsticks.

"Thank you very much; I really appreciate it." She wondered if being so polite was really a good way to make friends. Apparently, from what she had learned from one of her previous schools, it made her seem distant. Then again, Itachi seemed colder than she, so maybe that wasn't altogether true. She mentally shrugged, and started the hot meal.

She didn't think that she usually ate as fast as she ate then; first day of school she tended to freak out with her meals. Then again, she also usually skipped lunch on the first day of school, so that was a little bit natural.

Juritsu smiled slightly as Kaizuki finished her meal, then took the tray up, promising that she'd show the younger student what went where.

"I've got to leave early. There's a student council meeting," Juritsu said apologetically.

"I'm also a member," Sasuke added as he stood up. Itachi smiled at them both.

"I'll see you both later then," he replied, watching at they made their way to the entrance of the cafeteria.

Kaizuki fished her notebook back out of her bag, thinking deeply about her current predicament. She flipped to the drawing of Juritsu, tilted her head to the side, holding her pencil over the paper steadily for a long moment. Finally, she started to sketch the outside of the right leg that she hadn't finished earlier. Itachi contented himself with quietly watching the younger girl draw, until it was time to go to the next class.

"Kaizuki-san," Itachi spoke up. He had already stood up and was ready to start walking. "Class will be starting soon."

Kaizuki looked up at him, slightly startled by his sudden voice. She hastily stuffed her things into her bag and jumped to her feet, smiling sheepishly, "Sorry for ignoring you for so long… I get like that when I draw." She figured that the quiet hadn't bothered him, but still, ignoring people was rude, unless they really didn't matter in your life.

Itachi smiled reassuringly. "Do you need any help finding your next class?"

She blinked, before fishing her schedule out of her pocket and staring at it carefully, "Actually, yes I do. Next is History, and I've got Mr. Karpusi for that class…" She tilted her head, wondering if she had even pronounced that name right before shrugging it off and returning her attention to Itachi. The older man nodded, and set off toward the history classroom, pointing out various classes that she would need to remember as time went on.

"Thanks again, Itachi-san." She applied a smile, which was a little harder than usual - - that food must've had sleeping pills in it or something; she was exhausted to the point of wanting to faint.

She bid Itachi farewell, entering her classroom, which, for some reason, felt like entering another dimension. Mr. Karpusi had apparently been to every country in the world.

...

Juritsu absentmindedly jotted down notes as she half-listened to Mr. Kirkland's history lecture. She was more looking forward to the end of the day. She had a lot of admissions applications to go over with Sasuke, and besides that, they were going to spend the afternoon out on the town together. She was positive it was going to be a lot of fun.

Just as she thought that, her cell phone vibrated in her pocket. Discreetly, she took it out, checking the text message.

Hey Juri – can't make it today. Something came up. Maybe tomorrow? – Sasuke

Her heart sank. Again? What was going on? Carefully, Juritsu texted back "It's okay. Tomorrow then," and pocketed her phone before she was caught (Mr. Kirkland was eyeing her suspiciously). She rested her cheek in her left hand while she continued to take notes with the other.

It was starting to really bother her. And it was looking more and more like he was avoiding her. But why? Had she really done something to anger him in some way? She just wished he could tell her what was going on so they could figure out a solution.

What are you thinking, Sasuke? Juritsu thought to herself.

...

Kaizuki stood up as the bell rang, slinging her bag over her shoulder and heading for the door. Today, she had to go to the dojo and practice, as usual. She had achieved a brown belt in Karate, but that wasn't good enough; he was a black belt, if not a little better than one. She had a long way to go, which was going to be the end of her if she didn't pick up the pace. Maybe she would stay behind and practice until dawn or something.

She looked up and spotted Itachi, who was probably waiting at the door for his brother. Absentmindedly cracking her knuckles, she wondered if she should sneak past him or something. That would be odd though, so she decided against it. Why was she having so many weird thoughts lately? Paranoid much?

Ugh, I'm going to hang myself by the end of the week. She approached the older of the two Uchiha, picking up the pace as if someone were chasing her or something. She glanced over her shoulder; maybe someone was following her. That would explain the creepy feeling in her gut.

"Hey," She greeted, waving half-heartedly.

Itachi glanced over as she caught his attention. "How was your first day?" he asked.

She smiled slightly, "I'd have to say it's been swell so far." She glanced out the door and heaved a sigh of relief, "I am so tired right now I might faint. I ought to get going. I'll talk to you tomorrow, I guess."

"I'll talk to you tomorrow," Itachi smiled slightly, "I'm glad you enjoyed your day."

She nodded in reply, and walked out into the ridiculous amount of sunshine. She was blinded by the light, and spent a few seconds rubbing the sun out of her eyes.

Okay, if the sun is going to be this bright, then the school should have brighter lights. My god, I can't see anything.

...

Juritsu had a freshly freed up afternoon to spend alone; Itachi had to go study at home, and Sasuke wouldn't tell her what he needed to do. So, she decided to do a little shopping for some clothes. A little self-spoiling wouldn't hurt, after all.

As she was walking across the street, she happened to look into the windows of the nearby café. She had to stop and rub her eyes in disbelief. That was really Sasuke, sitting across from Sakura, sharing an ice cream with her, and hanging all over her.

The two of them leaned in close, and Juritsu looked away, not wanting to see anymore of the betrayal. She turned back around and took off at full speed, sprinting back towards her home, where she intended to fall into her bed and cry for the rest of the night.