Author's Note: This is like the 4th version of this chapter, hopefully I'm satisfied with this one.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, we all know where that would go if I did.

I am an idiot.

Well, to put it more in context, I was too stupid to figure out a way to persuade my parents into transferring me back to public school instead of accepting the 'gracious' scholarship I was offered to attend Konoha Preparatory School for 'Outstanding Proficiency in The Arts'.

I get it. It's supposedly a nice school, its art program has a great reputation, and they sure as hell had some fancy brochures. I even had a tour this past summer, and from an architectural standpoint, it was pretty nice.

I know, I sound like a whiny teenager. I mean, technically I am, minus the whiny part, I hope. I should be grateful that I have this kind of opportunity, but as they say, if something's not broken, don't fix it. I was on the right track at public school, I stayed under the radar, and I had a few friends. My grades were just slightly above average, enough to keep the parental units impressed, but not enough so that they'd expect too much out of me. It was the perfect balance. My initiative to enter the school art show was my downfall though. As my luck would have it, a representative scouting for new students just so happened to be there, and then Tetris happened and everything fell into place.

What's worse though, is that I hand delivered that bastard letter to my parents. It's technically my fault that I'm in this mess. My mom and dad were excited of course, and did everything in their power to make it work out for me. It was after several forty-five minute showers that I realized that private school was going to be a mistake. To my dismay, the paperwork had already been mailed in and an interview with my parents was scheduled.

The tracks for the final two years of my high school career had been placed, and thus begins my story.

~Enter: Miharu Yoshizawa!~

"Miharu! Get up! You're going to be late, and you know damn well I'm not going to let that happen." My door swung open abruptly, snapping me out of my sleep.

"My alarm hasn't even gone off yet! How can I be late?" My voice was groggy and I squinted at her in my doorway. She was wearing an apron and holding a wooden spoon in her right hand with a look of disappointment on her face. Her lavender hair was piled on top of her head in a messy topknot. She had been cooking, and I was in no way excited for the resulting mess in the kitchen.

"Your alarm isn't going to go off if your clock isn't on!" She waved the spoon around wildly, leaving little drops of batter on the hallway floor.

"Well, you should have gotten me an alarm clock that worked." Rolling onto my back, I stubbornly crossed my arms.

"We've already gone through this before, Miharu. Your father and I want to see you succeed. You know damn well that if you do decide to do more with your life than watch TV all day, you'll be on the right track. This scholarship is like winning the lottery."

"So I take it you won't accept any bribes, right?"

"Nope." My mom walked over and yanked the blankets off me violently. I lay there in discomfort and tried to pull up them back up using just my feet, jutting my arms out in front of me. "Telekinesis powers... Activate!" My blanket didn't move. "Ugh! Mom! Give me back my blanket. You took away my warmth you heartless wench! You took my warmth and crushed my dreams! You dream crusher! What's wrong with public school, huh? It's government-funded for a reason!" Parliament is government-funded too, but clearly we weren't going anywhere with that. I had been shouting at my now empty doorway. "I can do home schooling you know!" I received silence in response. Well, there's no time like the present. I slowly started to roll towards the edge of my bed and onto the floor, ensuring my parents could hear my misery through the kitchen ceiling.

"Ow." I pushed myself up and straightened out my shorts and tank top. It was a Monday morning and I felt even grosser than normal after waking up. I walked out of my room and across the landing at the top of the stairs and into the bathroom. Undressing quickly, I hopped into the shower and thoroughly soaped up. As we all know, cleanliness is next to productiveness...or something. I finished my shower and stepped, wiggling my toes deeper into the fibers of the rug and squeezed the water out my hair. I combed my bangs down and worked through the rest of my waist length hair. Unfortunately I had inherited my mother's pastel violet hair, rather than my father's bad ass looking snow white locks. I ran my fingers through my hair, loosening it up before walking heavily down the stairs and into the kitchen. My mom was at the stove, looking frustrated at the lumpy mass that was in the frying pan. My dad had a worried look as he stared down at what was supposed to be a pancake, now sitting on his plate.

"Ah, Haru. You've come to join your loving family for breakfast." My father stared at me behind his reading glasses while cautiously picking at the food on his plate.. His shoulder length hair was held back, and his bangs were tied into a little loop on the top of his head, sticking straight up.

"You know how much I hate it when you call me Haru. I don't want anyone to start thinking that I'm a dude." I pouted.

"Your grandfather would be proud! He was an honorable man." He said enthusiastically as he shoved some pancake into his mouth and made a variety of facial expressions before settling on the one that conveyed enjoyment.

"You knew the pancakes were always going to be bad, and you still married her?" I laughed quietly.

"Shut up." He forced him self to swallow, squinting as he did so. "Are you going to stay for breakfast?"

"I can't, I'm going to be late for the bus. We all know what walking does to me. I love you, bye!" I skipped over and gave my mom a hug, mid pancake flip.

"Hey, watch it, I could have burned myself! Wait, you're not eating breakfast?" She clearly hadn't been paying attention.

"No, I'm going to miss the bus if I stay for breakfast. If I miss the bus, then I either stay home, or you give me a ride." I grinned playfully.

"Yeah, better catch that bus then." She smacked me on the back. "Good luck, I left your move-in boxes with the school yesterday so you should be all set."

"Thanks, I have a feeling I'm going to need it." I laughed nervously, the reality of my situation only just setting in. This of course did nothing to ease the small pit I felt growing in my stomach. I pulled my cellphone out of my pocket and checked the time after swiping my thumb across the screen to clear the finger prints. The bus would be at the bus stop in less than five minutes. I ran off down the street, my adrenaline quickly erasing any remaining morning grogginess. I nearly trampled several kids around my age walking in the opposite direction to what I assumed was the public school. Reaching the bus stop on the corner of Hitotsuboshi Avenue, my street, I hopped to a stop in front of the bus bench, and dropped my bag at my ankles. My lungs ached from the cold air, and I slid down gracelessly on the bench. The faint sound of the bus's hydraulics echoed around me. So much for sitting for a bit. I picked my stuff back up and waited until the bus came to a stop in front of me and opened its doors. I climbed on slowly and swiped the bar code of my student ID through the card reader, then looked around for a seat.

"You gonna take a seat, or just stand here all day?" Well, someone wasn't in a good mood this morning.

"Hold your horses mister, just give me a second." I spotted a seat next to a sleeping redheaded male. It's probably my best option. I carefully went around those that were standing and slowly sat, trying overly hard not to wake this guy up. I took my bag off and put in on the floor and look over towards him. He look about my age, maybe a year older. It was hard to tell though, given the fact that at a given moment I look anywhere from twelve to fifteen. He was dressed plainly, black jeans and a grey t-shirt and had slightly feminine features that suited him nicely. He was sleeping peacefully, and I was jealous of the fact that he wasn't a bundle of nerves like I was. I don't even have any clue what this school is like, only what it looks like. I missed summer orientation for new students, and we're just getting back after a long weekend. As long as I can make at least one friend, I'll be all set. I hope. The bus ride dragged on for an eternity, or forty five minutes if you're actually counting. Stop after stop we picked up more kids and the occasional business man who looked to be running late.

"Next stop: Konoha Preparatory School." An automated voice called out of the overhead speakers, interrupting the quietly playing top 100 Elevator Hits of the mid 70s. My stomach twisted into knots and I straightened up. My attention was caught and I looked over as the redhead next to me straightened up and rubbed his brown eyes. He looked over at me for a fraction of a second and turned to look out of the window on his right. I waited out the final five minutes of the ride in awkward silence. The bus came to a screeched to a stop in front of the school. I quickly stood up and walked out of the bus, keeping my head down to avoid an attention. The least I could do is look like I belong here. In front of me was a large decorative cast iron gate, held open. The entire front of the property was lined with coordinating fencing. It felt posh. I walked up the asphalt path and through said gate, and ahead to what was marked as the administrative building by a large, well-placed sign. I pushed open the heavy doors and walked across the slightly dull granite flooring to the main office directly in front of me. A small, hotel-style bell sat on the dark wood counter. I then violently whacked the crap out of it.

"Hello?" I called out. A woman, about mid-twenties with short dark hair and a name tag that read 'Shizune', walked out from a supply closet. She came over towards me and rested her hands on the counter, nonchalantly moving the bell so I could no longer abuse it.

"Do you need help with anything?" She had a wireless headset in her right ear and wore a modest skirt and a white blouse, must be a secretary.

"Yeah, I just transferred here. My mom said she dropped off my stuff yesterday, can I get a schedule or something? How does this work, I've never transferred schools." I said leaning back while holding on to the counter and looking around for some kind of map of the building.

"Ah, you must be the scholarship student. It's nice to have you here." Great, unwanted attention. "I was going through the paper work that your mom dropped off yesterday and saw the award certificate, congratulations." Good, I'm not famous. She passed me a thick stack of papers "Your schedule, map, and student hand book are in there" I flipped through and stared down at my schedule. My classes were arranged in block scheduling, four 80 minute blocks one day, four different ones the next day. I leafed through the handbook portion and found the map. Good, now there's only a 90 percent chance of me getting lost.

"Thanks." I said with a smirk while shoving the paper into my bag's outer utility pocket. I turned to walk away, not sure where to go or what to do next.

"Oh wait, Ms. Yoshizawa, your application never listed a dormitory of choice." I turned back and saw her holding a piece of paper with six dormitory names on it. She showed me the list and I scanned through them. I don't know the difference between these. Hell, I don't even know anyone here. I closed my eyes, swung my finger around and pointed at a dorm. "You can take this with out for notes when you go check out the-"

"Uh, I pick this one." I said, looking up. Under my finger was the word 'East Building' in big bold Ariel Black. She gave me this weird look.

"Are you sure, you can go look at them first and then come back later. Once you choose a dormitory you can't switch it for the rest of the time you're enrolled here, otherwise we'd have kids moving every time they got into an argument." She laughed to herself. "Students are just settling in after the weekend, so today's late start will give you plenty of time to check them out." She smiled.

"Look, I really appreciate that you're giving me the option, but I don't even come from this suburb. I didn't even know this school existed until a few months ago, never mind any of the kids here. Plus," I smirked, "I'm feeling a bit lucky today." I wasn't lying when I said I'd need my mother's luck. She reluctantly nodded and passed me my cardboard boxes of belongings.

"Alright, well the east building is the most eastern dorm as I'm sure you already guessed. Take a right when you walk out and head straight to the first row of dorms and take a left, it'll be the last one.

"Cool, thanks. Bye!" She typed in what I assumed to be my choice on my school record and waved goodbye. I walked back outside and looked around, struggling with my boxes. I back tracked to the entrance and alternated between looking at my map and the school in front of me.

Taking the path on the right of the administrative building, like Shizune had pointed out, would bring me directly past a multipurpose sports field on my left. The path ahead led out into two rows of buildings. On the first row were four identical dormitories, two on each side of the center path, the path I was on. The second row held two dorms, also identical, one on each side of the center path. On the left and right ends of the first row were the East and West Hall, respectively. Behind East Hall was a soccer field and behind West Hall was another multipurpose sports field. Not far behind the administrative building was a quaint little book store and café shop for the boarding students, connected to the asphalt path in front of West Hall.

I walked up the path, struggling with my boxes and passed by several students on their way to either the school building or the administrative building. Needless to say, not one of those brats offered me any help. What was refreshing though, was the lack of school uniform. I had never bothered to check the brochure for uniform requirements. I looked to my side at the multipurpose field while walking and quickly bumped into someone. "Sorry, my bad." I said as I looked at a blonde wearing orange wind pants and a black t-shirt.

"Don't worry about it." He said and gave me a huge grin. "You must be new here." He said looking down at my stuff.

"It's that obvious, huh?" I said jokingly. He laughed.

"Well I haven't seen you around before. My name's Naruto, what's yours?" He still had that goofy grin on his face.

"Miharu, nice to meet you." I shifted the pile of boxes in my hands.

"I can help you with that." He gestured towards my full hands. Without hesitation I passed two of them to him and we walked back towards the dorms. "So, are you a first year student?" I laughed quietly to myself.

"Uh, not quite, I'm in the 11th grade."

"No way! You're so-"

"Short, I know." I forced out an awkward laugh, I'm sure he means well. He really wasn't all that much taller than me though, maybe a half-foot? "What about you?"

"Same." I nodded. "Are you here on a scholarship? No one really transfers in without a scholarship unless they're a first year."

"Yeah, for art. It was my parents' idea." I wrinkled my nose thinking back on it.

"Oh! That's so cool!" He was unusually excited and high energy. Was he always like this? I nodded awkwardly. We reached the intersection in the path. "Where to now?"

"Uh, I'm staying on East Hall." I hesitated, and there was a skip in his step.

"...Oh, okay. With Sasuke's...brother."

"I'm sorry, who?" I looked over at him. I raised both eyebrows in curiosity.

"Oh, no, it's nothing. I'm sure it's fine."

We continued up towards the dorms and turned left on the path towards the building I placed my gamble on. As I neared it I could tell it was nearly in a state of disrepair compared to the others. The bricks were tinged grey with either smog or soot, the paint on the shutters and the front door had begun to crack slightly as well. It looked...antique, to put it nicely. It was clearly neglected. I climbed up the creaky steps to the small porch in front of the entrance door.

"Thanks for the help." I was actually, genuinely thankful, which doesn't seem to happen too often.

"No problem." He gave me a sheepish grin and quickly walked down the stairs and back to wherever he was going. I slammed my fist against the door repeatedly. I didn't have time for games this morning, and I wanted to get in and settled. No answer. I stood in front of the door. "Open this door now, or I swear I will kick it down." I said sternly. Realistically, I doubt I had the strength necessary to kick the door down, but they didn't know that. There was some shuffling on the other side of the door, and then the door knob started to wiggle.

"The doorknob's stuck. Hidan, come fix it."

"Don't order me around, you bastard. Just put in a request for a new one, better yet, go buy one that doesn't suck." I started whacking my head against the door, secretly hoping I'd cause brain damage and get out of school. There was a 1/6th chance for me to get stuck with this building. Probability should have placed me anywhere else.

"Okay, I've waited long enough." I raised my foot up, bluffing. The door opened quickly.

"What the hell do you want? I told you guys already, we got rid of the air horn and—oh, " A cranky looking male said as he look at me in disgust. He was tall, much taller than me. His button up shirt seemed to be left slightly open at the top, and his sliver hair was messily slicked back. This must be Hidan. "New kid huh?" He said leaning against the door frame and eying my bag of stuff.

"New guy? That never happens." I heard someone else say in shock from behind the half-open door.

"Shut up, it's not a guy. It's a girl." He turned behind him with a look of annoyance. I heard some shifting around behind the door and some curious faces look through the door as they walked by. I heard a glass or a mug fall on the floor.

"Dammit Tobi! I just made this!" I looked briefly behind me and saw the red-headed guy from the bus, he walked by me and pushed through Hidan. "Ah, Sasori, I thought you wouldn't show up. What was that about not liking to make people wait, yeah?"

"It wasn't my fault I was waiting for you to get your stuff together. You nearly made me late, and I had to take the bus."

I picked my boxes up and attempted to get a look inside. I was just met with Hidan's snarky grin. This year is going to be a way bigger pain in the ass than I was hoping for.