I smile up at the flashing colors, enjoying the vibrations from the booms. The pops, the sizzling, the smoke, this was the perfect night, the last night before summer ends. The last night before I would move away from Kusogakure, away from my home, and away from my gang. Surprised, well you should be I don't look like I would be in a gang. I'm Four feet, eleven inches, not very tall but I get by ok, I have short brown hair slightly spiky and I usually have a braid going through it. I have Green eyes, big, I get compliments on them a lot, people call them cat like. Then add in some piercings, one in my nose, about five up my ears and a bar through my right, and yes a belly ring. I'm thin, I am filled in all the right places, now imagine that everything I where is black, green, and purple then you have me, Mayumi. My full name is Natsuyo Mayumi, and I am the baby of my family and my gang. My older sister's name is Nori, and she is one of the original founders of the gang I am a part of, The Purple Vendetta's. Back when she was in high school the school was split into a series of different cliques that morphed into gangs at night. There are the Pink Ladies, they were the preps, they mostly did thefts, drug deals, and the occasional drive by, but they are dangerous. The Green Giants were the jocks; they did all the gambling, prostitution, selling steroids, and distribution of alcohol to minors. The Black Crows were the Goths, and they helped pass around drugs and alcohol, found locations for raves, and hooked up every gang with their weapons of choice, for the right price. The Teal Cyborgs were the geeks but they had the intelligence to destroy any gang that got in there way, but not the brawn. They could hack computers, get weapons, drugs, just about anything on the black market. My Sister never had a group, she wanted to be a black crow but they said she wasn't dark enough. Apparently the initiation into the Black Crows was to kill a cow or something creepy like that, my sister is a diehard vegetarian. So after that she decided to form her own gang, a gang that was a mix of all the other cast offs. Her best friend Oki who couldn't get into the Teal Cyborgs joined her in her dream. They gathered together twelve people, three people who wanted to get into a group and could not. They had difficulty picking a name at first, they all wanted something different. The Pink wannabe's wanted something cool like fashion bots, the Cyborgs something clever, a boy who wanted to be a Green Giant came up with Vendetta. His name was Rei and he is now my sisters Fiancé. But the gang needed a color, something that the boys would be ok with and the preps wouldn't bitch about. They finally decided Purple, The Purple Vendetta's were born on October 30th, and the first thing they did was get tattoos. My Sister designed the logo, a black mist with a purple mask with a sword behind it. I am happy to say I also have this tattoo hidden on my left hip. I joined the gang at this same place I am now one year ago. My initiation was simple; I was to steal as much as I could from the Kusogakure fair, then I would get my knife, my tattoo, and my ring. I stole as much as my pockets could carry, about five silver chains, a few pocket knives, a couple of rings, and a pocket full of lighters. I knew how to pick out the nice people from the assholes, my sister told me all about it. Never steal from a nice person, always take things from people who are rude to you. So I asked them the time and if they gave it to me I would walk on by and if they said if you're not going to buy anything go away, then I would swipe stuff from them. The members, none of them the original twelve, were impressed with the amount I had acquired and I got in. My sister gave me the knife herself, pretty black steel, our gangs symbol on the hilt, easy to open and use. I got the tattoo after the fireworks, Daichi; one of the original Purple Vendetta's became a tattoo artist and branded all of us minors who joined. It was painful, but worth it, I was one of them and for those short twelve months I was a part of many painful battles for drugs, money, and territories, but I was also part of a family. Then about a month ago mom announced that we were moving to Konoha. I was devastated; I had so many wonderful friends, Sachi, Rui, Seiki, and Ketsui, I am going to miss them so much, I would miss my sister. She's 24, and is going to start her family in our grassy town. But more than being sad I was angry, angry because I would never lead the Purple Vendetta's, angry to have to leave my family, and to leave everything I know and love. I still am angry, but I can barely think of it, not when my friends are all around me, watching the last of the colors fade from the sky. We needed to take the new recruits to get they're tattoo's done; unfortunately this was where we part ways. I had to drive to Konoha with my parents. My junior year would be lonely, I had a feeling I would have trouble making friends, but I would have to endure.
"Call every chance you get ok?" Ketsui shouts, holding me tightly to his chest, "And if you see any cute gay boys send them to me, ok?"
"Alright Ketsui-chi I will," I say, trying hard not to laugh and cry, "Bye Seiki, be nice to the newbie's ok?"
"Yeah right, like that will ever happen," She shouts, tucking a strand of green hair behind her ear, "Just don't go joining a new gang right away ok?"
"I doubt I would do that," I say, hugging her, she hugs back, "I'll miss you Seiki-chan."
"Hey, it's going to be ok, once a vendetta always a vendetta," Rui states, patting me on the shoulder, "We won't let this family end."
"You're a strong boy, and everyone will be honored to call you the leader, take care of this for me, Rui-kun," he pulls me into a tight hug, and I hold tight to him.
"I will." He whispers.
"Sachi-chan are you going to be good?" I ask the shy gray haired girl.
"Yes, I won't let you down Mayumi-chan." She says, putting her hand over her heart.
"Good," My parents pull up and honk the horn at me, "Bye guys, call me, and take videos of all the new kids crying, and don't forget about me ok?"
"How could we, now get out of her before your mom starts yelling." Seiki shouts.
I ran to my parent's car and jumped in the back, looking out the window at all my friends, waving to me as my parents started to drive away. I waved back, feeling tears start to leak out of my eyes. I would miss the grassy plains of Kusogakure, and I would miss the gang I was a part of but I guess I would find a new gang in the future. The idea of joining a different gang sounds taboo to some but to the vendettas if one of our own wanted to join another gang, they could, and if that gang ditched them, they could come back. Once a Vendetta, always a vendetta, and that rule was not going to change anytime soon.
The drive to Konoha took seven hours and two thirty minute bathroom stops, my Dad drove the whole way. When we finally arrived at our new house I could have fallen over if I had not been sleeping. My mother moved us into a large mansion; I never knew we could even afford such a large place. Two floors, both filled with large glass windows, a large green door, with a deck out front, it is so beautiful. I run all the way to the door once the car came to a stop, I open the door, gasping at the double staircase. A crystal chandelier hangs overhead, making the opening to this place seem like entering a castle.
"Mom, Dad, are you loaded?" I shout, turning to look at them.
"No honey, your great aunt left this house to me in her will, so I decided we would come live here instead." Mom says, "Now please stop shouting, its 4:30 in the morning."
"Whatever, the neighbors are like a mile away from us."I say loudly just to annoy mom.
"Honey I know this is a big change for you but can we talk about this later, I am tired." Dad yawns, placing a hand on my shoulder.
"What Bedroom is mine, where is my bedroom?" I ask, taking a few steps into the house.
"Go up the right hand staircase keep going right and you're the last day on the left. Your mother and I are the exact opposite." Dad says, "Your bed is already made up and later today we will move in the rest of the furniture."
"Can I paint my room purple?" I ask.
"The room is already purple, but if you want to paint it more I can take you to a hardware store in town later, let's just go to bed ok?" Dad sighs, pushing me up the stairs.
"Fine," I grumble, "Hey what about my suitcase?"
"The purple duffel bag on your bed, it has your pajamas in it now sleep!" Mom groans, from the top of the stairs.
"Night." I shout, before walking up the rest of the stairs and to my new room.
The walls are purple but not the dark kind that I usually go for; it's more of a lavender. I actually kind of like it, the bed is placed against the left wall of the room with two windows on each side. It's a four poster bed, with a dark set of sheets folded on top; I have to make my own bed, lame. My dark purple bag is placed on top of the mattress next to the sheets and two pillows. The room is three times bigger than my old one, and it even has a private bathroom and a walk in closet. I guess I could get use to this; it will be my home for the next three years. I pull the duffel bag off the bed and put my clothing away in my closet. It's only three outfits and a set of pajamas, the rest of my wardrobe is on the moving truck. I make my bed next, smiling because my mom had brought my favorite bed spread. The black with the green and purple paint splatters, my mother had it custom ordered for my birthday a few years ago.
"Hey honey," Dad says, walking into my room.
"Hey pops what's up?" I ask, sitting down on my now made bed.
"I know you hate us for having to move away from everything you've known but you have to understand. Your mother loved her aunt and this house meant everything to both of them. Your aunt was your mother's last living relative so you have to understand how hard it was for her to lose her." Dad says, sitting beside me.
"I guess I understand, I just miss Kusogakure, everyone I know lives there, and I don't exactly fit in well." I mumble.
"Your unique, you and Nori both and that's why people like you. You will fit in just fine, just be yourself." Dad states, throwing his arm over my shoulder and pulling me into a hug.
"Alright but if I have to where uniform I will hitch hike back home." I say, hugging him back.
"I doubt it, goodnight Mayumi, sleep tight."
"Night Daddy," I whisper as he leaves the room, closing the door behind him.
I change into a loose fitting gray tank top and a pair of purple boxers, my usual type of pajamas. I pull the braid out of my hair, smoothing out the wavy tendrils, adding them to the rest of my hair. I brush my teeth quickly in the bathroom and shut off the lights before leaping onto my bed. Its soft and I feel myself slip quickly into a deep sleep.
"Mom, did you really need to buy me this vanity?" I ask, looking up at the new item in my room.
The mirror is huge and three times taller than me with a mahogany wood wrapped around the oval. It stands elegantly attached to the desk which covers half of the wall to the right of my bed. Mom always said when she was going up she wished she had a vanity, so she bought me one.
"Don't you just love it; I thought it was exactly your style!" Mom cheers, hugging me tightly.
"Yeah mom it's great, does it come in lime green?" I ask, looking at it.
"Oh you're such a kidder; Dad will be up with the rest of your boxes soon." Mom says, walking out of my room.
I sigh and sit down at the chair in front of my new vanity. My hair is pulled back into a loose pony tail today but I still have a braid running through it. I am wearing my favorite black shirt; it buttons up the front but then makes a diamond over my cleavage and wrapping around my neck. The spot is covered with black lace and a bit of ribbon from the collar around my neck. Then I am wearing my favorite dark purple skirt that goes to my knees with a pair of dark green fishnets and black flats. I adjust my hair brush and makeup around the mirror, my perfume and lotion is still in the box by my window. I skip back over to the box and pull out my perfumes; I really should reduce the amount I have.
"Hey babe, how about a hug?" a voice asks from behind me.
"Nori," I shout, running into my sister's arms, "I missed you!"
"I missed you too, I brought you a present," She says, handing me a green container.
I open it to reveal a scroll of rice paper; I carefully unroll it and squeal with delight at what I see. On the delicate paper is a watercolor painting of the purple vendetta's on it with all of the member's names, old, current, and new on it. It looks wonderful, the purple cloudy and dark almost blending into the black mist around it. The sword looked like it would come out of the page and stab you if you tried to touch it. I look up at her and then look back down on it, it's beautiful.
"You painted this?" I ask, finally forming words.
"Yeah Rei and Daichi helped me a little with mixing the colors and everyone else signed it." she says, gazing down at the piece.
"I love it, it's so beautiful Nori!" I gush, "I'll hang it over there." I point towards a bare part of wall on the left side of my bed over my side table.
"I'm so happy you like it," She says, jumping up and down, her skirt fluttering everywhere.
Nori doesn't look like me, she is taller like my father and has her hair dyed black with purple stripes. Her eyes are green more of a jade, and she is a little more rounded than me, she has curves. She has the same kind of style as me only she likes blue instead of green. She's wearing a pretty purple blouse today with a loose black skirt and a pair of pumps. She turns to me and pulls me into another hug, grinning from ear to ear.
"Hey how did she like it?" Rei asks, walking into my room.
Rei wanted to be a Green Giant in high school which was the jocks, so he is pretty well built. He is muscular, arms large and emphasized by his tight fitting green shirt. He is blonde and has hazel eyes; my sister says she likes his eyes a lot. When they first started dating senior year Nori would always talking about how Rei's eyes could just look into her soul. I thought she was being stupid and mushy gushy. But when I met Rei I saw what she meant, his eyes were intense, but whenever he looked at Nori I could see the love that radiated from him. Rei pats my head, wrapping his arm around Nori's waist.
"I love the picture, it's great."
"Good and are you excited about the wedding, you're going to have to figure out who your dates going to be."
"Rei don't pressure her," Nori giggles, punching him lightly in the arm.
"Well if I don't make any friends here I will probably just take Rui. Although I think he might lean towards the more burly rugged type." I say, chuckling.
"Oh so he is into athletic girls?" Rei questions.
"She is calling him gay sweetie," Nori says before bursting out into a fit of laughter.
"Oh… Oh I get it; I never pictured him as a gay guy." Rei says, tilting his head to the side.
"Well I think he is, oh is it time for lunch I'm starving!" I shout, hearing mom calling us downstairs.
"Food!" Rei shouts, picking Nori and I up, throwing us over his shoulders.
"Rei put me down!" Nori screams.
"Not a chance, oh I smell chicken, awesome!"
I smile as he places us both on the mats before sitting down on the one between Nori and I. Mom chuckles to as she begins to put rice into our bowls, there are two dining rooms but mom prefers the traditional Japanese style one. I like it too, it reminds me of our old home and the dinners we would have in a traditional setting. Dad sits down beside mom and Nori and picks up his chopsticks, the rest of us follow his lead.
"Itadakimasu!" he shouts.
"Itadakimasu,"the rest of us chime after him.
I love eating dinner like this, a lot of my friends don't eat sitting on their knees, they usually eat at a kitchen table, in chairs. It seems so weird to eat like that; eating like that makes me think of being at a restaurant.
"Hey sweetie, do you want some more honey sesame chicken?" Mom asks, offering a spoonful.
"Yes please!" I cheer, taking a bite of the steaming food.
"Are you excited about the new school Mayumi-chan, I heard there are a lot of clubs at Konoha high." Nori says, emphasizing the word club.
"I don't know if I should join a Club right away Nori-chan, it's a little soon." I grumble, I know she is asking if I will join a new gang.
"You should go for it; it will help you make new friends faster."Rei says, taking a huge bite of chicken.
"I suppose, but it still seems too soon."
"Mayumi please pass the broccoli, "Mom asks, I pass her the bowl.
"I think Mayumi should join a club and make lots of new friends, ne?" Dad says, turning to mom.
"Yes I have to agree it would be good to help you make friends." Mom agrees.
I sigh and continue to eat while mom and dad talk about me joining a club, while Nori and Rei give me reassuring looks. I don't feel comfortable joining a new gang or joining a club; it just seems to soon, way to soon. I miss the grassy plains of the Kusogakure, I miss my friends, I miss my gang. I don't want to start over again, it just seems so tedious. Mom and Dad never knew Nori and I were in a gang, they just thought we spent a lot of time with our friends. They had to work a lot, even overtime back home because he had a high mortgage that took them working on the weekends, another reason we were able to sneak out for gang time. Tomorrow I will start at a new school, I will have to make new friends, and I am nervous. I climb the stairs to my room, Rei and Nori just left, they're taking a bus home. They kept saying that no matter what I do making friends should be my top priority but I don't know how this school functions. I don't know how bad the cliques are or if any of the gangs in the area rule the school. I don't know how people will react to me coming to they're school from a completely different environment. I don't even know if I will fit in with my dark clothing and strange tendencies. But like Dad has been saying, I just need to be myself and everyone will like me. If I acted like myself then I would be kicked out of school for starting a fight with a teacher or something. Actually I think I would start I fight with a teacher, depending on what the subject is.
"Hey honey, I know your nervous about tomorrow but don't be. I made you a bento with the left over's from tonight, just add the rice in the morning and you will be all set. I love you very much honey." Mom says, kissing my forehead, "You will do great in school, I know it."
"Ok mom, I love you, night." She leaves my room, and I close the door behind her.
I'm so nervous, I'm going to do something totally un-cool and fall on my face or something totally freaky. What if I fall down the stairs and knock down a teacher and get detention on the first day? Or what if I accidently sit down at the wrong table during lunch and invoke the wrath of some gang of idiots who cannot be reasoned with? Oh man, this would be so much easier if I had at least one friend, but I guess I should count my blessings. I'm starting school the same day as everyone else coming back from summer break, so it should be ok. Maybe I should pick out my outfit for tomorrow; I quickly run to my closet and look around, pulling out my favorite green skirt. It goes to just above my knees and it goes well with my pair of black and green stripped socks. Ok now shirts, I pull out a black t- shirt and place it down on the ground above my skirt and socks. Oh I know I'll wear my purple vest over it, which will look nice. Finally I put on the finishing touch, my purple vendetta scarf, this will give me luck. I pull it out and fold all of my clothing, putting it on my vanity for tomorrow. I sit down in the chair and begin to undo the braid in my hair before quickly changing into my pajamas, tomorrow will be a rough day. _
"Good luck sweetie, do well in all of your classes and remember just be yourself." Dad says, I smile at him nervously.
"I'm really nervous, what if no one talks to me?" I ask, running my hands down my skirt.
"It will be fine, and stop fidgeting with your clothes, you look great honey."
"Thanks Dad, well wish me luck."
"You of all people don't need it."
I jump out of the car and watch as dad drives away, waving slightly as he goes. I smile and turn to look at my new school; it's three times bigger than my old one. I hold onto my purple bag, taking a deep breath before I start walking. I feel my heels click in a soft rhythm against the pavement; I decided to wear lime green heels, to make myself look taller. I look down at my feet for a second and when I look up I bump into someone.
"Sorry, I wasn't paying attention." I say quickly, looking at the boy.
"Watch where you're going." The red haired boy growls, before walking away.
"Jeez I thought you were dead meat new girl," A blonde girl with her hair up in a short pony tail says, "I thought the scorpion was going to sting you."
The girl is tall, and I can tell that when I where flats I will be very short compared to her. She has short blonde hair pulled up into a high ponytail, and pretty greenish blue eyes. She's wearing a dark purple dress that goes down to her knees with a pair of black leggings underneath. On her feet is a pair of heels, so maybe she isn't as tall as I think. Her ears have a pair of silver hoops and three other piercings climbing up her ears. She smiles at me, and I can tell its genuine.
"Scorpion?" I question.
"Yeah that's Akasuna Sasori, he is nicknamed the scorpion by his friends, he's a part of this gang, you should be careful." She says, "Oh by the way I'm Ino, it's nice to meet you."
"I'm Mayumi; it's nice to meet you Ino-san." I reply, holding out my hand, she takes it.
"Nice threads by the way, you have more style than Forehead over there, I think we're going to be good friends."
"I would like that; hey can you show me to the administration office, I need to pick up my schedule."
"Of course, follow me, and a word of warning, don't be too loud in front of the principal. Tsunade-sensei is really angry person especially one the first day of school."
"Thanks for the warning I'll keep that in mind," well now I am nervous.
We keep walking into the building and walk down the right hand corridor to a door office.
"Good luck, I hope we have classes together, Mayumi-chan!" Ino cheers, "I can wait out here for you if you'd like."
"Don't trouble yourself; I hope to see you in some of my classes." I say, we say goodbye and she walks away.
Well here it goes, I open the door and gaze inside the office, sitting at a desk is a woman with short black hair cut in a bob. She stands when she sees me come in, revealing a black and white blouse and black dress pants.
"Ah Natsuyo-san it's nice to meet you, let me go tell Tsunade-san that you are here." She says, walking over to the door, "Tsunade-san Natsuyo Mayumi is here to see you."
"Send her in!" A voice shouts from inside.
"Good luck Natsuyo-san," The woman says, gesturing me to enter the office.
Let's hope this goes well.