Love and Misadventure
by mirajens
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"Do you love me?" I ask.
In your hesitation I found my answer.
—Lang Leav, Love & Misadventure
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KIBA
He woke to the sound of rain pelting the glass of his bedroom window.
His room was cast with a gloomy air, lending him that Monday morning drag. It was time for the first day of school, and Kiba could think of a billion reasons to stay at home rather than sit for eight hours in a classroom listening to his teachers drone on about one mundane topic or another. With school came the promise of the daily stress and time that was slowly taking its toll on him.
He sighed and got up anyway.
No less was expected of him.
HINATA
She walked out of the registrar's office with her schedule in one hand and hesitance in her step. Nervous about the first day didn't even begin to cut it on how Hinata Hyuuga was feeling. She thought that she'd at least have one friend on the first day but Neji quickly abandoned her the moment the first bell rang.
And so she was alone in navigating her way to homeroom.
INO
She strode through the halls of Konoha High; high ponytail swishing about behind her and the short hem of her skirt brushing against the back of her thighs every so often. She could feel eyes on her, appreciation and intrigue rolling off of her for no particular reason other than she was beautiful, rich and the popular. She was magnetic and alluring; people wanted to know her, naturally.
The busy crowds parted for her, and she didn't even need to say a word to make it so. That was the beauty in wearing her power as seamlessly as she did any outfit. Her presence demanded so much attention that she didn't need to ask people to move, they simply subsided. It was a compelling feeling, but also a lonely one.
Who wanted to be able to say that people feared her more than they loved her?
SAKURA
She spied her ex-boyfriend, Sasuke, by his locker, a dark look on his face and a redhead on his arm.
Sakura knew of the girl, of course. Red hair, bad eye sight and an evil grin; Karin Uzumaki was a shitty bitch tit who still thought Boyce Avenue and unprotected sex were cool. She was one of Sasuke's top groupies and a huge factor in the controversial Sasuke-Sakura Breakup 2k14. Sakura remembered Sasuke saying how annoying Naruto's cousin was, but what stopped Sasuke from 'hanging out' with anyone with a vagina?
Seething, Sakura slammed her locker door shut and walked away.
NARUTO
The first time he laid eyes on her was on the first day of senior year at homeroom.
She was a stunner, definitely, with milky eyes that refused to look up from the toes of her Italian loafers, a waterfall of straight, inky hair, skin that looked supple and flawless and a body that was evidently rocking even in her baggy cardigan. Goddamn, she was fine. She looked so different from all the women Naruto knew, and damn if that didn't appeal to him.
"Sweet God," he whispered to himself, loud enough to have his best friend, Sasuke Uchiha, spare him a glace. "Have you ever seen anything so beautiful?"
"Do you even know how to spell 'beautiful'?" Sasuke joked, his tone dry.
"Teme, I'm serious." Naruto whined. "She looks a bit like Neji, don't you think? Except she's prettier."
"You think? They're cousins, of course they'd look similar." Sasuke replied as he inspected his cuticles. Perfect, of course. Just like him.
"She's the cousin Neji said was transferring here?" Naruto was not even deterred by the fact that hitting on the fearsome Neji Hyuuga's cousin would result in tasteless repercussion. Like castration, maybe. "She's... wow."
Naruto had never been one who was shy with his emotions so he stared at the beauty with his jaw agape and his heart in his eyes.
"You're hot!" He suddenly cried out while the principal, Tsunade, was mid introduction. His bold statement was greeted by laughs from his classmates and a blush from the new student. He grinned cheekily when she finally looked up to meet his eyes.
TENTEN
"Ino," Tenten whispered to her seatmate. "I'm gonna ask her to sit with us at lunch."
The blonde, unable to take her eyes off the new girl, nodded. "I have to know where she got her skirt from. I have to."
SHIKAMARU
Ignoring his laughing classmates, Shikamaru rolled his eyes at Naruto's bold declaration. Some days, he really wished he could outright tell the woman he loved how he felt about her, but no, Shikamaru Nara was never going to be so audacious.
So there he sat on his desk, his head down on his hands, looking for all the world as if he was preparing to fall asleep in class yet , but in his vision was the back of Ino's head.
SASUKE
He could feel Sakura glaring daggers at him all the way from her seat. It was getting annoying, all of Sakura's passive-aggressive bullshit. Didn't she remember that it was she who broke up with him in the first place?
Not that it mattered, since Sasuke had his mind made up that they were getting back together by lunch time. No one walked away from actual sex god Sasuke Uchiha.
NEJI
Neji watched his cousin amble over to the empty seat next to his. She was already causing a fuss in the form of Naruto Uzumaki, and it wasn't even second period yet. Jesus. He told her going to Konoha was a bad idea because it was a host to horny pests like Naruto who would only hurt her in the end. And God knew Neji didn't have the time and patience to look after someone so fragile.
And now she was his fucking responsibility. Unbelievable.
Author's Note: I finally sucked it up and made a multi-chapter fic. I know that technically this isn't my first multi-chapter, but this is the first one to have a plot divided by chapters ok. As you can see, this is an AU!High School fic. So tread softly. This will either suck hardcore or turn out okay.
I know nothing is clear with this chapter yet (it being vague was my very intention), but this is just the intro of all the involved (?) characters so calm your beautiful souls. this story will include multiple pairings, featuring a new favorite, ShikaInoKiba. I've been meaning to do a ShikaInoKiba love triangle for some time now because I ship it like hell, and ultimately I decided to make it a high school AU because those are like crack to me. Not to say that this will be exclusively ShikaInoKiba. Naw gerl, this will have multiple pairings (SasuSaku, NaruHina, NejiTen, ShikaTema and maybe some more) and ergo multiple plot lines. So please be patient with me. I struggle with explaining long plots (which is why it would be helpful if you reviewed and let me know how I am doing) and trying to keep it relevant. If you know me at all, you know I veer away from writing multi-chapters because they can never sustain my interest but this is me trying.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. The title is borrowed from Lang Leav's Love & Misadventure. Quote from the summary is Kami Garcia's Beautiful Darkness. I also do not think Karin is a shitty bitch tit.
Please don't add this to you Favorites/Alerts if you're not going to review.