Authoress' Note: Hello, one and all! This is a short project (should be about 6 chapters of 4,000-5,000 words each) that I decided to take up after receiving some inspiration. This fic is inspired by both the song 'All-American Girl' by Carrie Underwood, and all the shoujo manga I've been reading. You will undoubtedly notice a more feminine and romanticized approach to writing this story. Nevertheless, I hope that you can enjoy it, and if not, then I have sealed my fate! This is one of my first character POV fics, so I'm really curious as to how the change will turn out, and despite what it may seem like at times, this is an ObiRin fic! Any concrit is greatly appreciated, as are reviews in general. Flames however, are not, as they are very unhelpful. Enjoy! :)
PS. Readers of Living Arrangements, please don't hate me! Oh, and there may be a little bit of OOCness here and there, but this is an AU.
Discliamer: I do not Naruto.
All-American Girl
"Will all students of Konoha High please report to the auditorium immediately? The annual opening assembly is about to start," the bored tone of the school's vice-principal echoed through the halls, "Also, if Honoka Aoi is in the building, could you please report to the main office? Your locker is missing."
Hearing the announcement from the vice-principal over the PA system, all the students of Konoha High bustled rapidly through the halls, each one trying to make sure that they secured seats with their friends at the assembly. Just like me. I hurried through the hallways, pushing my way past people while scanning the crowd for any sign of my best friends. I'd overslept this morning, so I missed walking to school with them. Right when I thought it was hopeless, that I'd never find them in this huge mass of students, I heard my name being called.
"Rin!"
The face of one of my best friends, Obito Uchiha, was made visible in the crowd. I recognized him immediately; he was one of the tallest guys in the school, so his head was at least one head above everyone else's. I sighed with relief; seemed like I wouldn't be going to the assembly alone after all.
"Come on Rin," his voice called again anxiously, "we're going to have to stand at the back if we get there late!"
I chuckled, knowing that the anxiousness in his voice came from the fact that he was finding it hard to recognize me. I wasn't one of the shortest people; I was pretty much average height, but I knew that with all the students around me, I was hard to spot. Finally, I reached to where Obito was only to see him still searching frantically. I giggled; that was so like him. He was so much taller than most of the girls that he barely saw when one was right in front of his face. I hugged him as a greeting, and he immediately noticed my presence.
"Hey!" he greeted, returning the hug, grinning sheepishly, "sorry I didn't notice you there."
"It's ok," I replied smiling, "so how was your summer?"
He groaned. "Ok…I guess. Dad sent me again to football camp, hoping I'd get serious about it. Honestly, after all these years, you'd think he'd give up. But no. How about you? How was your summer?"
Oh yeah, here's the thing with Obito. Ever since he was little, his dad has taken advantage of his natural hand-eye coordination and made him play football. Obito loves sports, so he doesn't really complain about it all that much, and he's really proud that he's able to do something well; this year, grade 11, he's the senior star of the team and they're hoping to win state championships and then national. "Eh, same as usual," I replied, "Dad had me work at the hospital with him, feeding patients and such. We also went on a tour around to see the university choices."
Obito made a face. "I don't know how you can stand to be in hospitals so long; they really creep me out. Anyway, we've made it to the assembly; now to find the others." Obito used his height advantage to search for the rest of their group of friends, but was dismayed to see that the majority were not there.
"Have you found them yet?" I asked, not being able to see anything but the backs of unknown classmates.
"I don't see Kakashi at all…I see Anko and Asuma over there though," he pointed over to the far right.
"Let's go sit with them then; we'll find Kakashi and the rest later," I suggested.
Obito nodded and grabbed me by the arm, pulling me along with him; he wanted to make sure I didn't get lost in the crowd of students. He was always caring like that; that was what made his so popular. He had talent in some areas and he knew a lot of people through his extra-curriculars, but many liked him as well because he was always kind to them.
Just as we got to our seats and managed to sit down, greeting Asuma and Anko politely, the vice-principal came on the stage of the auditorium.
"Good morning students," he spoke tiredly, "hope you have all had a good summer and are ready to work hard now!" His words became enthusiastic towards the end, but the response from the student body was one of utter silence. That was the problem with Jiraiya-sensei; he always got overworked about the wrong things. That, and he never seemed to have any desire to teach or be at the school; he always wore the most bored and impatient expressions on his features.
"Oh goodie, our hippie vice-principal is back," Asuma said sarcastically, sending the four of us into fits of laughter. Jiraiya-sensei was commonly referred to as the hippie vice-principal for his "eclectic" choice of clothing and his white hair that reached all the way to nearly his ankles.
"Now, for your announcements, here's your student body president, Kurenai Yuuhi," the voice of the vice-principal droned on.
Once he was off the stage, there was a series of whoops and cheers as Kurenai emerged out onto the stage. "Welcome back Konoha High! Hope everyone's had a great summer! The student council has a great year planned out for everyone, with lots of fun activities and events; our main event will be a carnival in about a week, so you all should look forward to that! Ah, and the sign-up for intermural and team sports is outside the main office. Tryout dates and the team lists will also be posted there. Now, those are all your announcements today, so senior students, it's time for lunch, and freshmans, you're going to be waiting here to get the tour of the school and our teachers! Have a great day everyone!" With a hop, Kurenai leaped off the stairs and made her way to the front row seats, where a large group of freshman were awaiting their tour guides.
Obito and I turned towards Asuma and Anko. "You guys coming to lunch?" I asked them.
"Sorry Rin," Anko replied, "but Kurenai got us involved to be tour guides to the fresh meat. Oh, how those niners in my group are going to get the scare of their life," she grinned micheviously.
I laughed at her antics; Anko was always fooling around and pranking others. She was a good person though, and a driving force of our athletics. For the female sports, she took over the top spots in track and field, as well as in rugby, hockey, soccer, and volleyball. I was on the volleyball and soccer team with her, but I also participated on the swim team as a lifeguard.
Since they wouldn't be coming with us, Obito and I bid Asuma and Anko goodbye and we left to go look for the other missing member of our pack: Kakashi.
"Where do you think he could be?" I questioned Obito, although I had a pretty good idea of where Kakashi was.
"Well, it's Kakashi…so I've got a pretty good idea of where he is…" Obito grinned, and then started running. "I'll race you there!"
"Hey, no fair; you got a head start!" I called after him, picking up speed and sprinting across the school grounds. I was nearly out of breath when I finally caught up to Obito, and by the time we reached our destination, my face was all red from running. Both of us had our hands on our knees, panting, and Obito held out a hand, palm-up. "High five, you've gotten a lot faster," he congratulated.
I smiled, giving him a high-five, and stood up fully, surveying the area. The school's track arena didn't seem to have changed much; the grass was still a lush green, contrasting the maroon of the jogging track. I ran my eyes along the lines of the jogging track until they came upon two figures; both of which I recognized immediately. This first figure had on black shorts and a white t-shirt; the signature athletics outfit of Hatake Kakashi.
Kakashi was one of those students who was popular because of his talent, and not because of his attitude. He was the star of the track team, three years running, and he also did a little soccer on the side, playing on the team alongside Obito, but no one really cheered for him outside of the arena. Truth be told, by the cold way he acted towards most people, they were all too afraid of him to really try to be his friend. Only the females really attempted to talk to him; they were all really dazzled by his athletic build and handsome face. He'd gotten confessed to countless times and he'd turned down the girl confessing every time. Still, even I, his friend since the age of nine, often felt like one of those girls who idolized him. Despite his cold and somewhat arrogant demeanour, once he let you in, Kakashi was a pretty nice guy.
Beside him, panting heavily and grinning like a mad man, was Maito Gai, Kakashi's only real rival when it came to track. Gai was a fairly nice person, but his exuberant personality and weird catchphrases –
"Kakashi, my eternal rival! I will beat you, for I am in the spring of my youth!"
- like those, were what drove many classmates away.
"Hey Kakashi," I called over Gai's boisterous voice. "Come eat lunch!"
Kakashi's brow furrowed in frustration as he looked over at where Obito and I were standing; he really did hate being interrupted from his training. "I'll eat lunch later! Can't you see I'm training right now?"
Obito frowned, obviously displeased with his negative response. "Hey jerk! We spent all morning looking for you; the least you can do is have lunch with us! There's plenty of time to train later; it's only the first day of school! Besides," he grinned, "if you keep running up such a storm, you're going to break something!"
"But I – " Kakashi began to protest; then, seeing it was absolutely useless, he conceded. "Alright fine…give me a minute."
"Kakashi, my eternal rival! Where are you headed?!" Gai cried after him when he started retreating off the track.
"…Lunch. You should eat as well."
"Yes, Kakashi! I will take your cool advice to heart!"
Once he finished changing, Kakashi joined Obito and I on the track field. We decided to go eat at our favourite place: the roof. There was always plenty of shade to shield us from the hot, summer sun and no other people to disturb our peace. Almost as soon as we sat down in our regular spot, Obito jumped up, all panicky. "Aw man! I forgot my chocolate covered rice ball on the field! ARGH!"
"…Idiot." Came the reprimanding voice of Kakashi, who was gazing amusedly at Obito running frantically down the stairs for his rice ball.
While Obito was gone, everything went silent, as if he was the one who was holding the connection between the three of us, and Kakashi and I were really strangers, too frightened of weirdness and rejection to attempt a conversation. It's wasn't that I minded the silence, but more that I minded the fact that I could never seem to think up anything to say; at least, anything worth opening my mouth for. As soon as Obito got back, his face alight with excitement, the heavy atmosphere seemed to lift immediately and it left me feeling a little frustrated. Why was Obito able to start conversations so easily, when I couldn't even utter one coherent phrase when Kakashi was around?
"Heyyy buddies! Guess what? Guess what?" Obito asked us, his face lit up like a kid in a candy store. And that was when it hit me. I wasn't comfortable enough around him to make myself sound so exuberant and well, to be honest, stupid. Obito never had any worries of what we would think of him; he always said and expressed what he felt, and I still really envy him for that.
"What?" Kakashi interrupted my thoughts with his voice; he always tried to appease obito when he was so excited like this (I think more for his own sanity than Obito's happiness).
"I was passing by the main office on my way here – "
Kakashi shot him a look. "The main office is on the other side of campus. What were you doing there?"
Obito ignored the interruption, contuining unfazedly, "- and I looked at the billboard where they said the sports teams would be posted, and I saw that along with the carnival student council is planning, there's gonna be a dance! But not like a regular one, you know? One where the girls have to do the asking!"
I nearly choked on the peach nectar I had been drinking. One where the girls asked the boys?! This was the worst! …I always had a partner to dance with at all the other school dances because I'd been asked; but I hardly had it in me to do the asking! Something like that took confidence, and to top it off, I didn't really have anyone I really wanted to ask! I sighed dejectedly. School dances were always one of my favourite events, despite all the public crowding and strange dancing, so if I couldn't work up the guts to ask someone out, I'd have to just go by myself and look like a loser!
"Oh," Obito interrupted again, "Minato-sensei also said that he was looking for you, Rin. Something about discussing what you and Anko are going to do for soccer this coming season."
"Ah, thanks Obito," I told him, "but I have sensei right after lunch in P.E. anyway, so I'll just wait until then to seek him out."
He look dumbfounded when I told him that. "Eh, you have P.E. too? That's what Kakashi and I have after lunch! Give me your schedule; I wanna compare classes!"
"Uh…ok…" I handed my schedule over to him, noticing the immediate lighting up of his eyes when he looked at it.
"Hey Rin, Rin!" He called, and I couldn't help but think that he looked somewhat like a puppy dog what with his happy expression and bright eyes. "We have all the same classes this year!"
"Ah, is that so? That's good; it means I'll have someone to partner up with. I'm really happy you noticed that!" I smiled over at him and felt glad when I saw his smile in return. It was so easy to feel at ease when Obito was around; he was the type of person who would never make you feel awkward no matter what stupid thing you'd done.
Just when I was starting to get comfortable around everyone again, the bell rang, signalling the end of lunch, and I had to sprint through the halls just to get my stuff from my locker and be in class on time. Our P.E. teacher, Minato-sensei or Mr.Namikaze if you really wanted to show some respect, was one of those young teachers who was both really cool and really strict. He was willing to give you high marks even if you had little skill but were trying, yet tardiness was something he could not stand at all; if you were late once, you got a warning. If you were late twice, you got three extra laps after class, and if you were late a third time, you got an automatic five percent decrease in your grade.
I managed to make it through the doorway into the gym just as the final bell rang. Minato-sensei allowed me a few seconds to catch my breath, before interrogating me about soccer. Mostly, he just wanted to make sure that I was mid-fielder again, so that Anko could have the position of striker. She was easily the better player, even though I'd had more experience playing her position, so for me it was a no-brainer. I wanted my team to win after all, didn't I?
Once Minato-sensei was sure that I had no problems with giving over my spot to Anko, he left me alone for the rest of class. Today, since it was the first day back, we were just spending our time doing laps around the track. It was a good thing too, because I really didn't have the mental ability to concentrate; I was too busy spending my time thinking about who to ask to the dance, or if I should ask anyone at all.
This problem plagued me through my final period for the day, English, in which I paid no attention and had to settle for asking Kakashi for some notes. Just as I was about to go over to see if I could borrow the notes from him, a brilliant idea popped into my head. Even though the girl had to do the asking, she could still just ask one of her guy friends! That's what I would do. It was much easier than asking some other boy I hardly even knew. Determined, I walked over to where Obito and Kakashi were sitting and chatting.
"Hey guys!"
"Hi Rin!" Obito greeted me back.
"Hi," came Kakashi's quiet greeting after.
"Obito, could I talk to you for a second?" I inquired, heading to the opposite side of the room.
I must have looked nervous or something, because Obito's face suddenly turned concerned. "Yeah sure," he followed me to the other side of the room, "what's up?"
"Well, you know how the dance is coming up…I'm too shy to really ask anyone to go with me, but I don't want to go alone…will you go with me?" Damn. This was still embarrassing even if it was to a friend. I stared down at my feet the entire time.
He smiled apologetically at me before replying, "Sorry, Rin-chan, I can't."
I looked up, stunned. "What, why?" I asked him, wondering why he'd reject me like this. I thought he'd be happy enough to go just with a friend, but I guess I had thought wrong.
Seeing me look so downtrodden after his response, he quickly explained, "It's not what you think! It's not that I don't want to…but someone already asked me, and I felt bad saying no." He smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck.
Typical Obito. Say yes to something just so you don't hurt someone's feelings. I wasn't mad anymore now that I understood, but I realized that his answer still left me without a partner, and I wasn't really sure who else I could ask. We walked back over to where Kakashi was waiting for us, at which point in time I asked if I could borrow his notes. He lent me them without a second thought, and for some reason, I felt a surge of pride to know that he had this much trust in me. We were all about to walk home together, as had been the tradition since we were ten, when the door to the classroom burst open and a younger student ran in.
"Obito-senapi!" the student yelled through the classroom. "Obito-senpai! There's an emergency meeting for all members of the football team right now! It's in room 120, so hurry up!"
"Coming!" Obito yelled back. "Sorry guys," he said, turning to Kakashi and I, "guess I won't be walking home with you today."
We both nodded to show that we had heard and understood what he was saying, and then slowly, Kakashi and I left the classroom to head home. The walk was filled with the usual silence, not that I minded all that much for right now I needed to think of a partner for the dance, but I was (pleasantly) surprised when Kakashi initiated a conversation himself. "So," he started, "what did you need to speak with Obito about?" He sounded vaguely offended, as if I'd told him that I couldn't trust him, despite the many years we'd known each other.
"Oh," I looked down again, embarrassed to have to tell him, "I asked him to the dance coming up next week. I'm really too shy to ask anyone but my friends. Come to think of it, I guess I could ask you, but I'm not sure if you're into going to dances, or anything; maybe you just consider it a waste of your time. And you're about as popular with the girls as Obito is, if not more, so you've probably already got a partner if you're going."
He turned to look at me again with that offended face, although his eyes were tinged with amusement. "Why are you so uneasy around me?" So it hadn't just been me that noticed. He'd caught on too.
"Eh?! I didn't mean to offend you, Kakashi…I don't know why it is…" I continued to stare down at my shoes, my cheeks increasingly reddening from my shame and embarrassment.
I heard him sigh; he knew I wasn't going to provide a more in-depth explanation than the one I'd already given. "Well…if it makes you feel any better…I don't have a partner to the dance either."
"Really? But you're so popular, Kakashi!" I exclaimed, surprised.
"I got offers," he confirmed, scowling, "plenty, but like you, I didn't want to just go with someone I barely knew."
"Ah, I see; then would you mind going with me?" I smiled up at him, hoping for a positive response.
"Yeah, sure."
I was so happy that I finally found a partner, that I was about to cry! Feeling a surge of hyperactivity coming on, I temporarily forgot about my uneasiness and started bouncing around, cheering. From the corner of my eye, I could see Kakashi chuckling to himself, probably about my weird behaviour, and part of my self-consciousness came back. I started walking again like a normal human being; aware of my surroundings and the company I was in. Swiftly and suddenly, Kakashi turned around, startling me.
"I have a condition for going with you."
Uh…ok? How was I supposed to reply to that one? "Um…alright. What is it?"
"You have to try to be less uneasy around me."
"Ok!" I agreed, determined to keep my promise. "Say…you said that you got asked by many girls but turned them down, yet when I asked you, you agreed to go with me. Why is that?"
The next thing I felt was the rapping of knuckles on the top of my head. "Baka," Kakashi scolded, staring down at me with a mockingly stern face, "it's because it's you. You're my friend."
In the moment after that, when he rapped his knuckles on my head one last time, I felt a strange sensation fill me from head to toe, my stomach began to become uncomfortable, and my heart began to thump erratically in my chest when I looked up at him. I halted – he didn't seem to take notice – and put my hand over my head.
What was this feeling?