First days were the creation of Satan.
They were complete and utter devil spawn.
At least, that was the conclusion that Rika had come to.
Her small hands were in her lap, the hem of her emerald green skirt caught between fidgeting fingertips as she sat adjacent to a female behind a large, mahogany desk.
Tsunade Senju: Principle of Konoha Academy.
She was a stern looking woman, with slanted eyebrows and blonde hair that was tied neatly into a low ponytail. She sported a navy pant suit, smart heels and an aura of power that had hit Rika the moment she had walked into her office.
Despite her demeanour, however, there was the permanent memory of a smile that ghosted over her lips.
And no matter how hard you tried, it was impossible not to notice just how big her chest was.
Rika had learned that very quickly, indeed. As had all the other students in the school.
It wasn't the most comfortable of realities, considering the woman - as good as she looked - was in her fifties.
"Alright, it seems everything is together here." Tsunade began, handing Rika a small book with the school emblem on the front, and a sheet of paper with a table on it. She pointed to the book first. "This is your school diary, you will use it to record important dates, homework and assessment. And that is your class time table; you have Literature Studies first with Mr. Hatake."
Rika looked at the two items now in her hands and nodded. "Thank you, Principle Senju."
She dropped a polite nod in return. "I'll show you to your class now, if you're ready."
"I think I'd get lost otherwise." She laughed nervously, rising to her feet when Tsunade did.
As they both stood, Rika looked considerably smaller due to her slim figure, despite her 5"6 of height. She quickly dropped her diary and time table into her blue backpack before picking it up and slinging one of the straps over her shoulder.
The older woman shared in the quiet laugh. "You'll learn your way around pretty quickly but until then, I'm sure you'll have no shortage of people willing to help you out. Our school really does have a lovely community, you'll see."
The brunette didn't even bother pretending to look forward to finding out; this school was going to be like any other school. Sure, it'd have its good kids, but it'd also have its shitty ones.
Following the principle out of the main administration building, she was taken down a brick path surrounded by grass, trees and tables. "This is our common area, you'll find that a lot of students like to spend their breaks here."
"When are the breaks?" Rika questioned as she looked around, spotting a table further off to the side underneath the shade of a large tree. It didn't look like a particularly bad place to sit.
"You'll have a half an hour recess at 10:30, after first and second period, and a forty-five minute break at 1, after third and fourth period. Fifth period goes until 2:45 and then you'll be with your homeroom teacher until the day concludes at 3:05. Your homeroom class will be made up of the same students that are in all of your core classes." Tsunade explained, leading the way out of the extent of the commons until they were walking through blocks of classrooms. "Ah, here we are. This is your literature studies classroom on the right, C6." She checked her watch quickly. "Classes only started fifteen minutes ago, so you shouldn't have missed too much."
Before Rika could even get a word in, the principle had already opened the door of the classroom and stepped inside, motioning for her to follow her inside.
She resisted the urge to pick at her nails as she did as she was instructed, feeling all eyes in the class fall on her. Excluding that of the silver-haired teacher, who was leaned back in his chair, book in his lap and leather shoes kicked up on the desk. What surprised her the most was that Tsunade didn't even seem phased by his very relaxed position.
"Kakashi." Tsunade addressed him, causing him to lazily place a bookmark between the pages of his novel and close it before looking up at both females. "This is Rika Amaya, she'll be joining your class for the remainder of the year. I expect you'll make her feel very welcome."
Kakashi's otherwise expressionless face took on a slight smirk, as if he were sharing in a private joke. "Of course. Thank you for escorting her, Principle Senju."
Tsunade nodded, leaving Rika with a small smile of good luck before she closed the door behind her.
The classroom was quiet, save for a few quiet whispers that she was sure were about her.
As if enjoying the sight of the girl standing awkwardly at the front of the class, Kakashi waited a few moments before doing anything about it. Eventually, he dropped his feet from where they had been resting and stood up. "Rika, is it?"
"Uh. Yes, sir." She tucked a strand of short brown hair behind her ear, relieved that he was finally acknowledging her. Though, it was fairly short lived.
Without so much as seeming to register her reply, his attention turned to the class. "Can I get a volunteer to share their copy of Romeo and Juliet with Rika?"
There was a mixture of girls and boys that raised their hands, including Tenten and Hinata up the front, Chōji and Lee in the middle and Kiba down the back. Kakashi shifted his mismatched eyes over the class, a scar running vertically down and over his left. Despite the number of students that had their arms up, he stared towards the back right hand side of the room, to a bored looking girl that was sat next to a bored looking boy.
She glanced up to meet her teacher's gaze and immediately groaned, as if she knew exactly what he was about to say.
Which she did.
"Shik, I'm so glad you could volunteer your services."
Beside her, Shikamaru chuckled underneath his breath. Kakashi didn't miss a beat, though.
"Mr. Nara, if you would please move your belongings to a seat up the front, Rika will be taking your place."
This time, it was Shik's turn to chuckle.
"And Miss. Natsuki, seeing as you are feeling so generous, you can also take it upon yourself to show our new student around today."
"I haven't even put my hand up-"
"That will be quite enough, thank you."
Needless to say, as soon as his back was turned, she made a point to give him the finger.
Rika watched the whole interaction with wide grey-blue eyes.
She wasn't sure why Kakashi would put her with someone who didn't want to do it in the first place. What if Shik didn't like her? What if she was a massive bitch?
She looked at the blonde as she walked down the rows of desks to get to the back, stepping past Shikamaru who didn't even have the effort to look annoyed at giving up his seat.
Up close, Shik wasn't the most unfriendly looking girl; especially when she made the effort to give a smile, showing straight white teeth and curious brown eyes. She had dark blonde hair with bangs, tied up into a loose ponytail with a black ribbon. Like Rika, she had a smattering of freckles on her pale face, mostly over the bridge of her nose and the apples of her cheeks. They weren't as dark in contrast, however, but didn't quite blend in. She wasn't like some of the girls that Rika had seen so far, where their appearances demanded to be noted, she was naturally pretty in a way that left just as much to be appreciated if you took the time to look.
At the time, Shik was thinking the exact same thing about Rika, with her abundance of inky lashes, dark hair that framed her face and clear skin. Not to mention how willow thin she was, looking as delicate as a tiny sparrow.
Once she was settled in her seat, she looked to Shik again, finding that the girl was already looking at her, almost sizing her up.
"Uh, so... where are you up to in the play?" She asked tentatively, casting her eyes to the closed book on Shik's desk.
The blonde shook her head immediately. "Don't bother. It's first period on a Monday. Kakashi won't really do anything until Wednesday, at least."
Rika raised a dark eyebrow. "You call him by his first name?"
"We've got history." Shik shrugged before catching the look on the other girl's expression and chuckling. "Not that kind of history. Dude, he's like 30." She paused. "Okay, more like late twenties and really hot in that older guy kind of way, but no. Not that kind of history."
Rika looked to the front of the room where the teacher was reading his book once again. Maybe Shik had a point, he was very attractive.
She turned away before anyone could catch her looking, deciding to change the subject. "What are we supposed to do for the rest of the lesson then?"
"Shikamaru and I usually just talk. Or sleep."
"And Shikamaru is..."
Shik cut her off, knowing where she was going. "The guy that moved to the front for you, yes."
"Sorry about that."
Shik grinned. "Don't mention it, doesn't bother me. He'll probably just have a bitch to Temari later about how much of a "drag" it was."
Rika smiled, relaxing at the knowledge that Shik wasn't harbouring any anger over it. "Who's Temari?"
"She's a senior that we hang out with. Her and Shikamaru have a thing, but she's too stubborn to act on it and he's too oblivious. And lazy. He likes her too, though. Plus, even a nun could feel the sexual tension between them. A couple of us have a bet going about when they'll finally get their shit together and date. Or at least screw."
She was slightly surprised with how blunt Shik was when talking about these kind of things. She didn't mind though, at least she said things how they were. "Oh, I just guessed that you and Shikamaru had a thing."
Shik was laughing as she spoke, the idea of her and Shikamaru almost too much to bear. "Oh, no. God, no. Shikamaru's like a brother to me. I can't even think of him like that. Just, no. I don't have a thing with anyone."
"Other than Kankūro." Another voice joined in on the conversation, belonging to a boy on Shik's left.
Kiba Inuzuka.
He rocked back on his chair to look across at Rika.
At the other end of the row, a brown-haired boy looked up at the mention of his name. As soon as he realised where it had come from, he rolled his eyes and went back to the book in his hands.
Shik scowled at Kiba's words. "There's nothing going on between us. We hate each other."
"Do you really?" Kiba asked, giving her a knowing look.
"Fuck off."
"Language, Shik."
Her head snapped upwards to the front of the room where Kakashi had spoken, not even looking up from his page. She scowled once more, mumbling some other choice curse words under her breath before her attention went back to Kiba.
His, however, was on Rika. "And what about you, are you currently attached to anyone?"
Before she could respond, Shik cut her off once again, a smirk on her lips as she glanced between Rika and Kiba, her stare resting on him. "Point that thing somewhere else, Inuzuka. New girl's off limits."
"It was an innocent question." He defended, pretending to be offended.
"I'm sure."
"Do you really think so lowly of me, Shik?"
She thought for a moment before nodding. "I think you're like a dog in heat."
"You wound me so."
"That was the idea."
Rika watched intently as the two seemed to be engaged in a staring contest, neither of them blinking. She hadn't really been paying much attention to Kiba as they bickered but she was quick to change that, taking in the boy's appearance. She found herself immediately admiring how good looking he was.
He had straight, messy brown hair and dark eyes. It was hard to see his pupil in the almost black iris, but she could've sworn it was a vertical slit. On his lips, he wore a boyish smile, showing off slightly pointed teeth.
He was unlike any guy she had ever seen before, striking and somewhat wild looking.
As if he could feel her eyes on him, he broke his gaze with Shik and looked behind her at Rika. She could feel her cheeks heat up as she dropped her stare and turned her attention the front.
"Quit staring, Kiba. You're going to make her uncomfortable." Shik chastised.
"I can't help it, she's cute."
Rika's cheeks went even more pink at his words and she tilted her head forward until her hair had fallen forward, obscuring her face from view.
It was just above shoulder length, slightly longer in the front while still brushing the bottom of her collar at the back. It was hard to tell whether the hair that usually sat on the side of her face was part of the cut, or a fringe that had began the process of growing out. Either way, it suited her.
"Shit, you're so charming, Kiba." Shik commented, pretending to gush.
"Shik. Language." Kakashi murmured, barely hiding the smirk on his lips.
"You've got to be friggin' kidding me..." She complained.
"I heard that."
"I said it loud enough-" She began before catching the look on his face and sinking back into her seat, arms crossed over her chest in defeat.
Even Rika had to laugh at that.
Dear Rachel,
This chapter is not finished. The only reason I decided to even post what I've edited so far is because I was afraid you were going to eat me if I made you wait any longer - even if I was having a lot of fun driving you insane.
Either way, here's Part I.
Have fun waiting for the other half.