Hey guys! For all of you who don't already know, I adopted this story from the very generous Lerryn! I have made some minor changes [such as the main character's name] but besides that, nothing else has really changed. ^~^ I'm excited to see what you guys think, because I'm excited to see how this story turns out! Usually I plan it all out, but I'm going to be spontaneous with this story and just see where it takes me. I hope everyone enjoys it!
3 Kago of the Funk
Enter Maho Igashowa
One girl walked alone down the streets of Konoha. Her light green eyes squinting in the sunlight, making the black eye-liner around her eyes look thicker, bright orange hair falling down her back, ending at her elbows, slowly swaying side to side as she walked; her bangs were braided together at the right side of her forehead and tucked behind her left ear, black sandals which came up to her mid-calf gathering dust behind her as she took each step. She wore what she wore everyday a black combat skirt with fish-net shorts underneath and a bandage wrapped around her right leg and a black tube-top that stopped at her waist where the skirt began. Over the top of this was a black pull-over with elbow length sleeves; two orange stripes ran from the back, around her shoulders, the whole thing stopped just below her chest, a simple fingerless fish-net glove on her left hand. This was Igashowa Maho. Everyday she suffered the same abuse from the other girls, but she didn't mind; she liked her orange hair; it made her stand out from the crowd. It made her different. Nobody at school seemed to really like her apart from Inuzuka Kiba, Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Chouji; of course they were all boys so they didn't find what she looked like important, none of the other girls liked Maho as she didn't have a crazy fan-girl obsession over one certain boy. In fact she hated this certain boy. Everywhere she went somebody would be talking about him, it made her sick to her stomach. 'Yeah so he's had a rough past, he needs to grow up and get over it' that may have sounded harsh to other people, but it's what she thought. Maho could understand almost all of Sasuke's pain; she'd experienced losing her parents, but she didn't dwell on the past. She'd learnt to suck it up and move on and she thought this was exactly what that boy needed to do. Hyuuga Hinata was the only one out of the girls that liked Maho and that was because she too didn't have a crazy fan-girl obsession over Sasuke. No, instead she had a crazy fan-girl obsession over Uzumaki Naruto. Maho realised she'd never really spoken to this boy before, he'd sit in the row in front of her everyday at school, but he just seemed to blend in; apart from when he would mess up on jutsu's and everyone would laugh at him. Hinata and Maho found this cruel and would usually be the two to tell everybody to shut up. Then afterwards Naruto would give the two a warm and thankful smile which Maho returned, even though it would be quickly forgotten among other things in her mind. This was the place that Igashowa Maho was headed now; Konoha Ninja Academy. She didn't mind school, apart from the teasing she actually found it interesting and enjoyed being praised by Iruka-sensei when she managed to maintain chakra or perform a jutsu; she didn't get complimented much anymore. She had reached school now and had been rudely pulled out of her day-dream; which was overcoming the realization she was late. Maho was ready to be yelled at as soon as she walked into the classroom; she was late today because as she was walking down a back alley to avoid a gang of girls who usually picked on her, she got caught in the middle of two drunken men fighting. She escaped from the men and the alley, only then to realize she had been accidently hit a few times; now there was a purple bruise occupying her cheek, she knew because as she touched her cheek to check for scratches a throbbing pain hit her. She also saw the bruises on her arms and the scratches too. 'Great how am I going to explain this to Hinata, Kiba, Shikamaru and Chouji, they'll get all worried…Iruka-sensei too…' She pushed open the two big doors to the academy and walked down the hall until she saw the other door for her classroom. She slowly approached it and cautiously put her hand on the handle 'Cue screaming in three…' she grasped the handle 'two…' she began to slide the door 'one!' the door was fully open and she had stepped inside the classroom.
"Igashowa Maho, where do you think you've…been…?" Iruka had begun to scream at Maho only to turn around and see the bruises and scratches making his voice soften and slowly stop.
"Maho…"
"I'm fine Iruka-sensei, gomenasai for interrupting,"
"Make sure you stay behind after to catch up, I need a word as well." She simply grabbed her bruised arm which had started throbbing and made her way to the third bench and took her seat next to Hinata who had a worried look. She noticed Kiba and Shikamaru had that same look as well, Chouji of course was eating. She gave them a reassuring smile and mouthed 'no-biggy' to each of them, then looked to the front to try and catch up on Iruka's lecture. Even though her arms were throbbing she managed to cross them on the desk and place her face in her arms. She made a loud sigh and then lifted her head up so her chin was resting in her crossed arms and she could see the front of the class-room. 'This is going to be a long day; oh Naruto's looking at me, never notice.' She waved to him and smiled, he then smiled back and got yelled at for facing the other way. He then turned back to the front, Maho could hear Sakura and Ino snickering to her right and turning, she simply gave them death glares and they stopped, but not before mouthing 'whatever orange head!' Sighing once again, Maho tried to refocus on Iruka, only to hear movement behind her. Kiba had now stood up and slammed his hands on the desk, he was clenching his teeth with his fangs showing and slightly growling at Ino and Sakura.
"That's enough! Haruno Sakura, Yamanaka Ino, Inuzuka Kiba, Uzumaki Naruto and Igashowa Maho, you five will all stay behind during lunch-break," All five groaned at Iruka and then turned to the front again, Maho slightly giggling at Kiba who smiled. As she turned around, she noticed Sasuke who was sitting in the front, had quickly turned around to view the commotion. He was looking directly at her though. They both caught each other's eyes for a second before returning them to their sensei. 'What's his problem?'
"As you know tomorrow is your last day at Konoha ninja academy, you will all be taking your exam tomorrow to gain your head-band, and then when you do you will go onto to be put into groups the day after. If you fail this exam you will repeat your last year of school again!"
"Oh boy," Naruto piped up from in front of her, and then Maho turned to Hinata.
"Crud, I haven't revised or anything! What do we have to do for it?" Hinata shrugged her shoulders and as if to answer her question Iruka carried on.
"For the exam you will have to create two perfect clones of yourself,"
"I'm the worst at that," Maho and Naruto said at the exact same time.
"Whoa, freaky," They both said this at the same time again and grinned and laughed at each other.
"As not to do the exam today, as practice you are to transform into me. Please line up at the front here and get in a single-file line. You will each step forward and perform it individually."
Maho stood up, ignoring the pain in her arm and walked to the front with all the rest of the class. As they walked down the steps it seemed as though Ino purposely shoved into her so Maho simply spat back. "Get a life Ino!" The blonde grunted and then walked to the front of the class. Soon after that, everybody was in a line. At the front was Sakura followed by Sasuke, Naruto, Shikamaru, Kaede, Hinata, Chouji and Kiba with the rest of the class behind him. Maho saw Sakura get called up and saw her say something to Sasuke.
"Watch me Sasuke," Maho crossed her arms slowly and rolled her eyes, Shikamaru saw this and grunted in response.
"Pathetic isn't it, girls are so troublesome,"
"Hey!" Maho shoved Shikamaru slightly, though a small smile lifted her lips, "I'm a girl in case you didn't realize!"
"Oh right, gomen. See what I mean, you're troublesome! Now I have a bruise on my arm as well,"
"Ha!" Maho said victoriously as she watched Sakura perform the technique perfectly 'Kiss-up' Then Sasuke was up, he did the technique with no hassle and afterwards walked boredly back to his seat, trying not to look interested in the others. Then it was Naruto.
"Good luck!" Maho said encouragingly and watched Naruto nervously step up.
"Transform!" A blue light encircled Naruto and in a puff of smoke he was revealed. However, Naruto hadn't turned into Iruka-sensei, of goodness no, instead he had turned into a nude girl with blonde hair and only puffs of smoke covering her to make her decent. Maho's eyes widened at the surprise that Naruto had given them all, watching as their sensei flew into the wall with blood shooting from his nose. Naruto turned back into his twelve year-old boy self and was laughing very hard.
"How do you like that? I call it the seduction technique!"
"Don't make up stupid techniques!" Iruka yelled, towering over Naruto as he began sweating and mumbling to himself about 'stupid techniques' and then went back to his seat. Naruto smiled again and turned to Maho who was trying to stop herself from laughing. When she caught Naruto's eye, she stuck her thumb up as if to say 'nice-one'.
"Shikamaru, go," He stood forward and mumbled tiredly, turning into Iruka with no flaws.
"Woot, alright Shikamaru!" Maho cheered he just went back to his seat.
"Igashowa Maho, your up,"
"Crap, crap, crap!" She said quietly to herself as she stepped up. She performed the hand seal and closed her eyes ready to concentrate. 'Concentrate, it's not your best jutsu but you can do it. Concentrate' a blue light began to slowly surround her and circle her.
"Transform!" Iruka looked expectant as the smoke cleared but only sweat-dropped at her attempt. She had transformed into her sensei okay but he had two fluffy dog-ears on top of his head.
"Maho, how did this happen! You're as bad as Naruto!" He yelled at her making her cower back a bit, she turned back into her normal self and began to reply.
"Gomen! I was just thinking about if everyone else passes and I just happened to be thinking of Kiba at the time and then I thought about how ADORABLE Akamaru is, so you've obviously…somehow…accidently…got Akamaru ears," She rubbed the back of her hair with her hand and laughed nervously. She could hear Akamaru barking and Kiba laughing, so she turned to them and smirked.
"Very well, take a seat, don't forget to stay behind at lunch and after school finishes,"
"How could I forget, Iruka-sensei," She slumped back in a different seat this time, now sitting next to Naruto.
"Are you sure you want to sit here, Maho? People will tease you for hanging out with me."
Turning in her seat to face Naruto, Maho grinned and stuck both of her thumbs up,"That's the thing, I don't care what people think of me. I get teased all the time, plus I don't care what anyone else thinks! I think you're a funny, cool kid." She smiled to Naruto and noticed that in front of her Sasuke had lifted his head a little to listen. Maho scrunched her nose up in distaste at the raven-haired boy, 'Someone's being nosey today'.
"Arigato Maho, by the way your transformation was hilarious, I think Iruka-sensei should have Akamaru's ears permanently!" The glum expression which had settled over Naruto's face almost instantaneously disappeared as he beamed at the girl.
"You thought mine was hilarious? I thought yours was funnier. I had to bite both my cheeks and my tongue to stop my self from laughing out loud. I'm already in a ton of trouble today and I so didn't need to get Iruka mad at me for laughing. But I never figured Iruka-sensei for a closet pervert!" Maho had to bite down on her lip once again to try and keep herself from laughing at her last statement. Too bad they were graduating, if she had known that bit of information earlier, it would have been wonderful blackmail material.
She noticed that Hinata and Chouji had both done there transformation and had gone back to their seats. Now it was Kiba's turn and he was up the front. She turned to Hinata and Chouji. "Nice job you guys," They both smiled in return, although Chouji's face was half in a packet of some sort of food.
"Alright Akamaru!" Maho turned her attention to the front again and noticed that Kiba had made two transformations and turned back into himself and Akamaru, he then decided to go and take a seat next to her.
"Kiba that's cheating! You used Akamaru to get more marks!"
"Earth to Maho, you used Akamaru too!" The Inuzuka teased back, a smirk adorning his lips and allowing his enlarged canines to poke out from behind his lips.
"Good point…but I didn't use him on purpose; he was just in my mind!"Maho retorted with an un-amused snap, tapping her forehead to emphasize her statement.
"Yeah, whatever, Maho." The boy huffed, crossing his arms in front of his chest, earning a small bark from Akamaru. "By the way, nice going Naruto. I can't believe you actually did that."
"Heh, it was pretty awesome wasn't it!" Naruto said smugly, kicking his feet up to rest on the top of the desk. All Kaede could do though was sit back and roll her eyes as the two boys on either side of her conversed in the funny way that boys do.
"Alright now that everyone's done, you may have your lunch break, the five that I mentioned earlier will stay behind ." Sakura, Ino, Kiba, Naruto and Maho all groaned as everyone stood up to leave. Sakura and Ino watched with longing eyes as Sasuke got up and jumped out of the window.
"Wow he's so cool!"
"If I get out of here before the end I'm eating lunch with him!"
"Shut up forehead girl, I'll be the one eating lunch with him!"
"Want to bet Ino-pig?"
"Man, those two need to get over him," Maho grumbled to herself, or so she thought because Naruto and Kiba grunted in agreement. Those three sat staying together where as Ino and Sakura separated; Ino closest to the window, obviously planning to jump out and Sakura sat closest to the door; ready to run out when they were dismissed.
"You five all know why you're here: starting fights," He turned to look at Sakura, Ino and Maho. "and interrupting class whilst in the middle of a lecture," He then turned to Kiba and Naruto who h averted their eyes from Iruka's line of sight by staring out the window.
"Iruka-sense, I didn't even say a word! Why the heck am I in trouble? It's not my fault no one keeps Kiba on a leash!" I called out, leaning forward in my chair and pointing an accusing finger at our sensei.
"Maho, do you want to make those two days to stay behind after school?" Iruka threatened, holding the punishment over her head. Maho had no choice but to sigh in defeat.
"No sensei,"
"Good, now sit here in silence for ten minutes and then you will be able to leave." She heard Sakura and Ino silently whisper a 'Yes!' So the group of five sat and waited for ten minutes; the longest ten minutes of Maho's life. Of course she'd been in trouble and kept in before, but somehow it seemed different today. 'Don't get too excited Maho, you get to stay behind after as well. I suppose it keeps me away from home for longer! Which brings me back to the whole 'becoming a ninja' thing I need to pass this exam, I can't stay at home…I just can't…'
"Time's up, you five are free to leave and I hope you've learned your lesson. Tomorrow is your last day of school. Also let me just give an extra good luck to you, I don't expect this behavior again." Iruka scolded, walking back into the room as the allotted time had passed.
"Yes sensei." All five chorused together. Then as soon as the two girls had been released, just as predicted, Sakura had run out the door and Ino had jumped out the window. Also before she knew it, Kiba had run out after Akamaru, and Naruto had jumped out the window also; leaving Maho and Iruka alone. 'Well this certainly isn't awkward. Thanks guys, thanks a bunch.'
"Don't forget about seeing me after school," Iruka called out as she slowly turned towards the window.
"Oh, yay! I can't wait, Iruka-sensei," She said sarcastically, pausing at the window, but deciding to walk out the door instead. Jumping would only make her aches and injuries worse. Maho wandered around for a while trying to find Hinata until she spotted her on a bench eating her lunch quietly and watching Naruto as he tried to perfect his clones again and again.
"Hey Hinata, is it okay if I eat my lunch with you today? I don't really feel like eating on my own today and my only other options were with the boys…" She pointed to the group of boys who were acting like complete idiots and stuffing noodles up their nostrils, which somehow they found hilarious. "Or the Sasuke fan-club," She then pointed to all the girls surrounding a very annoyed Sasuke, who was just trying to eat his lunch in peace. Somehow it seemed as if the raven-haired boy had heard Maho speak his name, quickly glancing at the orange-haired girl. When he saw her looking at him, he gave her an irritated look, huffing and turning back around to finish his lunch. Maho simply rolled her eyes at his reaction and sat down as Hinata shuffled over and let her sit down. An amused smile lifted her lips as Maho watched the dark-haired girl at her side, the pale lavender eyes watching the blonde boy before trying to look away. However, her eyes would always wander back to the boy, "So why are we watching Naruto?" Hinata's face went bright red and she began to stutter.
"I…uh…well…I was sat here and…"
Laughing lightly, I patted the poor girl on the back, using my other hand to try and smother my laughs, "It's okay Hinata, I don't mind watching him. He's so determined I really admire him, I wish I could be like that,"
Hinata's blush seemed to fade, but not disappear completely, and she began to nervously fidget her fingers. "Me too. I hope I can get confident enough for him to notice me."
"Hinata, I know you can." Maho said with a smile as she opened her Bento and began eating noodles out of it. An idea struck me though, and after finish chewing, I looked up at Naruto, "Oi Naruto, you've been practicing for a while. How about you come an eat something?" I called out to him.
"Sure," He called back with a smile, finishing up what he was doing and taking a seat in the middle of the two girls. From the corner of her eye, Maho could see Hinata's face beginning to turn red, but her attention was quickly turned to Naruto as he let out a groan.
"Awww man, I forgot my lunch,"
"It's okay, you can have the rest of mine. I'm full anyway, and oh wait a second…I just remembered I have to…go…somewhere else, ja ne!" Maho, of course, didn't mean this she just thought it would be funny to leave Hinata sat next to Naruto. With that she ran off and smiled as the two began to talk, although Naruto was probably concerned because her face was flushed. 'Great didn't think this through. Where am I supposed to go now? I really don't want to sit with Kiba and his friends, boy's are idiots when there together and I don't want to be with the boy I hate and the girls that hate me. I'll probably end up dead if I did that…What about the swing at the front of the school?' Walking around until she came to the old swing shaded by ancient trees, she went and sat on it; swinging lightly. There wasn't really anybody around this part so she was just staring at the birds through holes in the trees. That was, until a figure caught her eye. Upon closer inspection it was none other than Uchiha Sasuke and he seemed to be running swiftly. Maho wondered why, but didn't second guess it when she heard a rumble and girls screaming. Sasuke had escaped and the girls were after him so he was trying to find a place to hide. He obviously saw the trees and he had to have seen Maho sitting on the swing, but he ran in her direction anyways, hiding behind the tree that Maho was next to on the swing. The fangirls followed the Uchiha towards the tree and began to head in Maho's direction. Maho's eyes looked from the rabid mob to Sasuke, who looked very out of breath, leaning on the tree. Meeting her gaze, Maho could have sworn Sasuke had given her a pleading look, as if to say 'help', but why should she help him? He's never helped her before, in fact he's done the opposite; the majority of her being picked on was because she didn't fall all over this guy. The girls headed towards the trees and came to a halt in front of Maho who was swinging gently on the tree, making sure not to give away Sasuke's hiding place, though she wasn't quite sure why she even bothered.
"Oi baka, have you seen Sasuke?" Ino spoke up, dramatically pointing an accusing finger at the orange-haired girl.
"I have a name: it's Maho."
"Yeah whatever. Have you seen Sasuke come this way?" Sakura asked, stepping in front of the blonde.
Their persistence was beginning to annoy Maho. Honestly, why would they ever ask her in the first place? It was a common fact that Maho had no positive feelings to the Uchiha. "Maybe I have, maybe I haven't. But even if I had, I wouldn't tell you skanks." She spat, making the others look rather insulted at this and tried to think of a good come-back.
"Trying to act all cool and non-caring like that is just because you're trying to be like Sasuke so he'll notice you!" She didn't know who said this but it was a random girl in the crowd.
"I'm really not. I just don't happen to like people with crazy obsessions so I'm defending myself and trying to annoy you at the same time!" She replied with a smirk, she'd had plenty of practice at making comebacks and these girls obviously hadn't.
"Fine, but don't expect us to ever be nice to you. Even when I'm married to Sasuke and become Uchiha Sakura!"
"Or Uchiha Ino," Maho simply laughed in their faces, louder than she wanted to in fact, but that comment was too funny from her point-of-view.
"I think Sasuke would be rather scared to marry one of you. Think about it, you'd bring all your sad little pictures of him, which are covered in lipstick, and stick them all over the wall. Then there's your possessiveness over him; that might be enough to drive him mad. By the looks of it, he's not even interested in girls at the moment. I'm sure he's got more important things to be worrying about."
"Oh…j…just shut up orange-hair, you're just jealous because Sasuke doesn't look twice at you!"
"Oh, now I'm really offended! Don't say anymore, I might cry! Last time I checked, he hasn't looked twice at any of you either!" She faked shock and opened her mouth wide, placing her hand on her chest. She could see Sasuke from the corner of her eyes smirk slightly from his hiding spot. It was obvious that the crowd of girls was angry for what Maho had said, but she couldn't have cared less. Watching them all grumble and trudge off in defeat, they quickly became re-motivated and ran off to look for Sasuke once again. With that, he came out of his hiding place. 'Wow, I've just lost my chance of ever making friends because of this baka' she internally grumbled to herself. But then again, did she really want any of those girls as a friend. They were just too….pathetic. Hopping off of the swing, Maho's feet landed softly on the ground and she blankly looked up at Sasuke.
"You owe me," Was all she said and with that she walked away from the swing and jumped as high as she could through the window to her classroom just as the bell went off. She sat at her desk next to Hinata again and noticed as Sasuke walked in -through the door this time- that he looked at her with a peculiar expression on his face. 'What was that about Sasuke not looking twice at me, Ino?' She smirked, leaving Hinata, Kiba, Shikamaru and Chouji looking very confused. Oh this had definitely been an interesting day, and it wasn't even half-way over.