I don't why the other kids don't like me. They always joke, and make fun of the way I look. Mommy said school would be fun, but I don't really like it very much. She says if I stopped being so shy, then the other kids would find me more fun, but I think I'm just weird. It's okay to be weird, though, isn't it? I just have this habit of not—

"Yuffie Vasuki!" A loud, sharp voice rang throughout the classroom, startling the poor girl. Today they had a substitute teacher, instead of their usually nice instructor, and this was the third time he had shamed and reprimanded her in front of the whole class. As expected, and as the sub had learned, many of the other students laughed, finding the situation extremely funny.

"Sorry…" She mumbled, glancing down as she let her bangs shield part of her face, puffing out and biting her lip to resist from saying more. She shut her journal quietly, so not to cause yet another disruption, and gripped her pencil tightly, trying to keep the flush of embarrassment, the willingness to lash out, inside of her. The clock's ticking rang through her ears as the day dragged on; it was awful. Usually, the young girl could handle the agonizing hours she had to spend inside of the school building; but then again, usually, they had a light-hearted, nice, and very friendly instructor, not this mean old man.

She sighed, cast a glance at the familiar blonde sitting in the front, and had to cover her mouth to hold in her laughter. The blonde was fidgeting in his seat, no doubt wanting to escape the prison cell, but every time the teacher turned around, though, he would twist backwards in his seat, and stare at Yuffie with the most amusing face he could think of. Nimble fingers flipped up a corner of her journal, revealing a tiny corner of a blank white sheet.

Naruto's silly, but he makes me feel better. She scrawled down, giggling a bit and beaming as he pulled his newest expression. Nobody likes him either, but I do! I wish we could be best friends forever.

A small pale hand gripped her mother's tightly, almost not wanting to let go. The fifth grade classes seemed so far away from the rest of the elementary grounds, and a dark pit grew in the little Vasuki's stomach as she stared at the intimidating building. She felt so alone, so scared, especially knowing that her best friend wasn't going to be with her this year.

Naruto had moved away earlier that summer. The pair still talked avidly, spending hours on the computer making strange faces over video chat or sending each other funny messages, but it wasn't the same. Naruto wouldn't be there to hold her hand whenever they walked home together, or stand up for her whenever the other kids started to tease her. She missed him even more than ever, standing in front of the dreadful classroom door.

"Go on in, Yuffie," Her mother encouraged, with a soft smile. Her eyes, and firm stance, however, told the little girl that she wouldn't be accompanied, and that she would have to walk in alone. Kneeling down, her mom gave her a kiss on the cheek, and a quick hug. "I'll be home by the time school ends, and I promise I'll drop by the store and grab a box of your favorite cookies, okay sweetie?"

A wide grin settled on the child's lips for just a moment, excitement flushing on her cheeks. She gave her mom one last hug before the older woman started walking away.

Drawing a huge breath as she tried to fill herself up with courage, Yuffie pulled the door open a bit timidly, and strode over to the desk with her name on it as fast as she could. Her face was buried into her arms within minutes, trying not to bother with reacting when a flood of voices suddenly entered in after her. She'd have to start paying attention eventually, but not until the last bell started ringing. For now, she was content with just hiding away in the folds of her sleeves, letting her mind go places beyond the walls of the building.

It didn't travel very far before it was brought straight back.

"Psst— Hey you!" A voice whispered. The raven haired girl peered to her right, preparing to send a heavy glare towards the person who had interrupted her thoughts. She almost made a face, but quickly remembered her manners. Apparently, not paying attention on the way over to her desk had done her little good. She hadn't noticed that she was seated next to the prominent troublemaker, ultimate sports jockey (as far as fifth grade went), and probably the loudest, and admittedly, most annoying kid in the entire class: Kiba Inuzuka.

Dark eyes rolled backwards as she stared pointedly at the brunette. "What do you want?"

"My name's Kiba Inuzuka." He stated with a grin, as though they hadn't been put in the same classroom for the past five years. A tan finger pointed to the chalkboard, and as her eyes followed, she noticed the previously absent teacher had arrived, and was starting to write things down. "It looks like we're partners for now," She finally saw what exactly he was pointing at. A list of names of all the kids, set into pairs. And exactly as he had said, her name was directly to the left of his. "So I thought we should talk to each other…" He finished, giving a sheepish grin.

Yuffie mumbled out a quick, "fine," and directed her attention back to the board, signaling for him to do the same if he didn't want to get in trouble.

The day was odd. It seemed to move by quickly, every single subject. More often than not, Yuffie found herself turning towards Kiba and actually chatting with him. Mostly listening, yes, but every so often, she'd laugh and smile, and then give her own input to the conversation. Besides for when they were talking about the many different things the brunette liked and did (And although she denied it then, she found it extremely interesting to hear about the boy's life), they actually stayed on topic for the most part. The teacher had even come and complimented the pair on how well they were cooperating as partners, and both children couldn't help but beam at each other with pride. They shared their books, talked about the lessons, and helped each other out when they got to the harder questions. It almost seemed as though they were meant to be partners.

As she looked up at the clock, a flush of embarrassment shone on her cheeks as she realized that she really didn't want the day to end yet. She knew that she'd get the chance to be partners with Kiba tomorrow, and for the rest of the year, but she just didn't want to stop talking to him just yet. Apparently, Kiba had had the same train of thought, Yuffie noticed, as she read a note he had thrown onto her desk during silent reading.

I get out of practice at 4:00. You might have to wait for about an hour, but do you want to hang out after school?

She scribbled back her answer, a wide smile on her lips. She could hardly wait.

As promised, Kiba had popped back into the classroom exactly an hour after the last bell had rung. It seemed like he had ran the entire way. He was still sweating, and hadn't even bothered to change out of his practice uniform, but there was a gleam of happiness in his eyes that encouraged the girl to respond with just as much glee.

Yuffie silently cheered as she hurriedly shoved the book she was reading back into her backpack. "Hey!" She greeted with enthusiasm, her openness surprising even herself.

"Hey, Yuffie!" Kiba greeted back with his cocky grin, jumping into the seat beside her. "I hope you didn't wait long…" An apologetic glance was cast her way, but she waved it off, shaking her head.

"Don't sweat it."

He looked around cautiously, and one of the girl's dark eyebrows raised in suspicion, silently motioning for him to tell her what was going on. After he had determined that there was nobody around, he leaned a bit closer to her, talking in a hushed whisper. "I'm going to tell you a secret, but you can't tell anybody else."

Rubbing her head in a bit of thought, Yuffie nodded seriously, wondering what he could possibly have to tell her. Apparently, it wasn't anything to tell her at all, and she gave him a puzzled expression as he knelt down, reached into his backpack, and began to pull something out. He paused for a brief moment, flapping his hand a bit to motion her to join him. Curiosity bound, she obediently obliged, kneeling down as well.

"Close your eyes."

She did.

"Hold out your hands."

She did that too.

Something warm and fuzzy was placed in her hands, and she instinctively gripped it firmly, frowning in confusion.

"Alright… Open them up!" He said excitedly.

She followed that order too, first noticing Kiba's grin, and then noticing her own, her eyes lighting up as she looked down at the small puppy in her hands. "This—"

"Is my puppy!" Kiba finished. "His name's Akamaru. He's so little, and I just got him. I just couldn't leave him at home so… I brought him with me!"

Yuffie didn't have anything else to say, and neither did Kiba. Both children grinned, running outside to teach the little puppy whatever tricks they could think of. It was a great afternoon, and neither of them minded the fact that they had been together for hours.

But as it was beginning to get dark, and the sun was starting to set, they decided that they needed to call it a day. They raced to Yuffie's house, and said their goodbyes. Before Kiba left, he had given Yuffie a tight hug, and promised they would hang out just as much the next day, and sped off with a wave and a grin.

Her mother was upset with Yuffie as she bolted in, but decided not to yell at her for staying out so late without telling when she saw the expression on her daughter's face. It was something she hadn't seen for a while, and she decided to let it be.

After bolting upstairs, Yuffie turned on her computer, bouncing excitedly in her seat. She couldn't wait to tell Naruto all about how her day had gone. Luckily, as it started up, she could already hear the ding of notifications, signaling that Naruto had already messaged her a few times.

Uzumaki Naruto - Hey, Yuff, where are you? It's already 3:00…

Uzumaki Naruto - Yuuufffiiieeeee, hurry up! I need to tell you about what happened today!

Uzumaki Naruto - It's like, six, come on, stupiiiiid-

Yuffie Vasuki is now available to chat:

Yuffie Vasuki - Sorry, Naruuuu… I got caught up with people. I've got to tell you about what happened today, you wouldn't believe it!

She enlightened him about the day's events, not leaving out a single detail, and apologized endlessly for making him wait so long. During their conversation, she had also learned about what happened with him. He had also made a new friend. Well…. Not "friend" exactly, more like enemy, but still, they had spent the whole day together, so that had to mean something. This "Uchiha" guy sounded exactly like the type of person that would piss Naruto off, and Yuffie found it hilarious. He was pretty a popular, but also stuck up and rude. Him and Naruto had argued endlessly, but since they also happened to be partners, they were forced to somewhat "get along."

Uzumaki Naruto - I'm not even kidding you! The back of his hair looks like a DUCK'S BUTT.

Yuffie Vasuki - LOL! x'D I believe you, I sweaaaaaar! I'm glad both of our days seemed to go so well. And also… -rolls eyes- Don't worry. I bet you two will become great friends! x'D

Uzumaki Naruto - HA, yeah right. n He's an asshole, seriously. But um… Yuff? Even if we make other friends… we'll still be best friends, right?

Yuffie Vasuki - …. Naru, even if we make a million other friends, and maybe even a couple more best friends, we'll always be each other's first best friends… I promise.

She smiled because it was true, and she hoped Naruto was smiling as well. She could always have more than one best friend, but Naruto would always be her first best friend, and that was exactly how she liked it.