New Places, New Faces
Chapter One
"Huh…" I thought to myself, "I don't remember that part…" I sat up to listen more closely to the music booming from my stereo only to see my parents stood at my door. I mentally laughed at myself before looking up at my Mum and Dad. "Err… yeah?" They walked in. My father's arm hung around my mother. We shared the same prematurely white hair, and like all the men in the family; red facial tattoos, which are unfortunately defining. He was tall, well built, something else I would inherit when I got older. My mother, on the other hand, was a small, delicate woman, but she was both physically and mentally strong. "What do you want?" I asked, then my mother sat beside me.
"Jiraiya, we have some news for you." She spoke softly.
"What?" I snapped. I was getting impatient. My mum started stroking at my hair, and from that moment, from the instant she laid her hand on the tangled mess that was my hair, that she was trying to tell me some bad news.
"Honey… we're moving house…."
"What?! What the fuck!? No way! Not again!" I yelled.
"….. in a weeks time." She finished.
"Fuck off! Do you hate me or something? I'm not moving again!" I fell back off onto my bed, turning away from my mother. "Wait… a week? How did you get a house and sort a move in a week!?"
"Wel-" My mother soft voice was interrupted by the intimidating voice of my father.
"Because it was one thousand percent more efficient to do this behind your back." He sighed, leaving my room without another word.
My mother moved closer, and began rubbing my back. "Jiraiya, there are too many bad influences around here! Those friends of yours! You curse, and that is something we have never done in this house! You have no respect, for anyone! You always get into fights! The headmaster calls me way too often! Your grades are awful, and I don't think you have any friends your own age. This will be good for you. I promise." She was only trying to make me feel better, and hindsight is a wonderful gift. I wish I hadn't yelled at her.
"This is shit! It fucking sucks!" I sighed, "Whatever…"
"Fine!" She got up and started away. "I tried, Jiraiya. I guess your father can deal with you."
"Shit." That was the only thought in my head for too long after that threat. I mean, it's not like my dad was abusive or anything, but he always knew how to throw his weight around. He could be really scary, especially to an angry, confused and confusing teenager.
I lay on my bed, silently. On a bed, in a room. A room that was no longer mine, my stereo still playing crappy music, which, at that moment, only served to irritate me. We had moved four times already. We moved when I six, a major move over to the other side of the country. I didn't fit in too well and never really made any friends. I became really shy. We moved again shorty before my eighth birthday, out of the Fire Country completely to the Land of Waves. I was bullied for a while, and started getting into a lot of fights as a result. About two and half years later we made another move, but this time around it wasn't so bad. I made friends, hell, I had a best friend: Tsunade. It was great. Then she moved. About 3 years later, during Easter of third year. Then the next year we moved again, what my parents promised was the final move. I was angry with my mum and dad for it, so things really went downhill. I lost all interest in school, staring hanging around with a bunch of seventeen year olds, who encouraged me how to fight and taught me how to take a punch.
"Jiraiya! Get down here." My heart almost burst out my chest as I heard my dad call up to me. "JIRAIYA!" I jumped up as he called the second time, but never made to move. It took me a minute before I decided it would be a good idea to move, and even when I did, it was slow.
He was stood by the living room window, looking out to the garden, and my mother who was pottering about in the flowerbed.
"Dad?" I was very quiet, to the point I think he didn't hear me, but then he turned, slowly, an angry look in his eyes. As he stared to walk towards me, all I could do was look down at my toes nervously tangling with the fibres of the rug underneath my feet. He couldn't have stopped any closer to me without touching me.
"I am not a pushover, like your Mother. I'll say this once, Jiraiya: We are moving, and you will be happy about it. If I have to drag you by your fucking hair, I will boyo."
I turned around and stormed off, and once I was far enough from my father, I shouted back. "You will have to!" All he had to do was take a single step to send me running to my room.
That week was the quickest passing of time I have ever experienced. Before I knew it, my room was empty, the car and moving van were full and we were leaving. The only slow part was telling the people I had thought of as friends for the last two years. It wasn't emotional, it wasn't a difficult parting. It was a punch, which led to a black eye and the four of them laughing at the thought of me; thinking that they would miss me, or be even a little upset by my leaving. I am such a wonderful judge of character you see. So when it came time to leave, to actually get in the car and go, I was actually kinda glad.