Bonjour. Good morning or whatever time it is where you are. I am Dignified-Butler and I would like to thank everyone that has clicked on this story and shown some kind of interest. This is a self-insert story and is set in the Narutoverse. I would love reviews but of course they aren't required. Constructive criticism would help my writing though, just a reminder.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto in any way, shape, or form. Unfortunately. I also don't own P!nk or Queen
A brown haired girl stood on the thin ice, her legs wobbling as they strained to keep her upright. Even from the bank of the pond, the raven haired boy could make out the fear in her gray eyes as the ice began to crack beneath her. He started forward, pushing himself to go as fast as he could, a scream bubbling its way past his lips. He got closer, closer, closer and when it seemed that she was within his reach, she fell. The cold water sucked her further down and the girl tried to scream as the water filled her lungs and she felt herself begin to drown. The water was so cold and it seemed to freeze her whole body, making it impossible for her to swim up to safety and oxygen. The silence was almost as bad as the cold, and if it weren't for the pain burning in her chest, the brunette would have thought she was already dead. But almost as soon as it started, the pain began to ebb away and the silence was interrupted by a loud screeching noise.
Beep Beep Beep.
Layla shot up, her chest heaving as the memories of the dream began to drift away. The orange cat that had previously been sat on her face was now in her lap, looking up at her with a lazy stare. Layla muttered an apology and scratched the cat behind his ears absentmindedly as she struggled to pull back the pieces of her dream. She turned and looked at the clock, which read 7:15. With a sigh, the young girl pushed herself out of the bed and opened the drawers of her dresser, pulling out a pair of beige shorts, a black tank top, and a white t-shirt. As she began to pull off her purple and white tiger-striped pajamas, her door creaked open and her mother's head peeked through the doorway with a big smile on her face.
"Hi honey. Just making sure you're up. You're still going on that hike with Kat and Audrey right?"
"Yeah, thanks again for driving all of us mom. You're the best." Layla replied, the dream forgotten for the moment.
"Don't mention it. But you can pay me back by washing the dishes when you get home while I finish up school work."
Layla nodded in response, glad that her mom had let her wait until after the small camping trip she was about to head out. A few days ago, Layla had planned out a small trip with her friends for her birthday and, with their parent's permission, they were going to head out to Hollow's Hill Woods and spend the night up on the viewpoint alone. After pulling on her clothes, Layla brushed her hair and pulled it up into a tight ponytail, letting only her bangs hang freely as she checked herself out in the mirror.
"You clean up well Layla," she said to her reflection, smirking. "If you go on like this, the boys will just be lining up to date you."
With a small spin, Layla made her way to the corner, picking up her light green backpack and placing it on the bed. After putting in the essentials, which consisted of a pair of new clothes, pajamas, and a hair brush, Layla grabbed the brown gorilla stuffed animal off of her bed.
"Alright Monkey, you ready for an adventure?" She whispered, carefully placing the stuffed animal into the backpack. Given to her by her mom as a baby, Monkey was Layla's most prized possession and went with her whenever she went on a sleepover or somewhere that she wasn't familiar with. After exiting her bedroom, Layla looked over in time to see her brother's bedroom door open. They stood still for a second and, with a devilish grin, Layla began to race her little brother to the bathroom, pushing him down the hallway as he began to pull ahead of her.
"Think again noob. I'm older so I get bathroom privileges first," She smirked, sticking her tongue out as Aiden's cheeks puffed up in indignation. Layla pulled her blue and white toothbrush out of the container and hurriedly brushed her teeth before throwing the toothbrush into an empty pocket in her backpack. As she opened the door again, her brother pushed past, a small scowl on his face as he tried not to smile.
"Took you long enough Lay-Lay. I have hockey practice, you know."
"Sorry dude," the brunette chuckled, ruffling her younger brother's hair. "I have to get ready to go."
The blond boy gave her a quick hug and said goodbye before shoving his sister out of the bathroom. When the door slammed behind her, Layla giggled and headed down the stairs. She was greeted by a pair of smiling faces as her two best friends, Katherine Ricks and Audrey Smith, stood in the doorway.
"You ready to go yet?" Katherine, affectionately nicknamed Kat, asked, grabbing a banana out of the fruit bowl on the coffee table.
"You're way too comfortable here creep, you shouldn't just walk in to someone's house without even a hello and just take their food. But yes, I'm ready. Let me just go get my mom."
"Already here," the older woman said, grabbing her car keys off the hook with a smile. "Let's go girls."
The car drive to the woods was filled with bad singing of P!nk and Queen, Layla sitting shotgun and the Audrey and Kat the back, dancing as well as they could with the restrictions of their seatbelts. When the tops of the trees were visible the girls screeched in unison. The forest was covered in multiple shades of green, signaling that spring had arrived. The girls stepped out of the car, each sighing in content as a warm breeze blew through the small meadow that stood in front of the woods. The three girls grabbed their backpacks out of the car and Layla gave her mom a quick kiss on the cheek.
"I'll be here at sunset tomorrow Layla. If you get lost or want to come home early, just give me a call," her mom said, worry obvious in her tone.
Layla gave her mom thumbs up and started towards the woods. "Don't worry Mom, we'll be fine. You've got nothing to worry about," she said over her shoulder.
Layla's mother gave a soft sigh and smiled, knowing that Layla was right. She watched as the girls walked side by side into the woods, only making a move to back up and go back home when they were out of her sight.
Layla shivered and looked up. The canopy of the trees above blocked out most of the sunlight, making it a few degrees cooler than it had been in the meadow.
"If I'd had known it was going to be this chilly in the woods, I would have worn pants instead," she commented.
"Yeah, no kidding," Audrey replied as she smacked her leg. The unlucky mosquito was smeared on her leg and Audrey stuck her tongue out in disgust as she wiped her hands off on her maroon colored t-shirt.
"Don't worry girls," Kat said, slinging her arms over both of their shoulders, "It's not too far until we get to the viewpoint where it'll be nice and sunny."
It took about another ten minutes to get to the viewpoint, but it was well worth it. By the time they got there, the sun had warmed the grass up and Audrey sprawled herself out on to the grass, letting her back pack fall to the ground next to her.
"It's so warm, dear lord," the brunette said, the sunlight bouncing off her red highlights and giving her hair a soft glow.
Kat walked towards the edge of the viewpoint and leaned on the railing.
"Guys, come look at this! The view is amazing. You basically see the entire town from up here."
Both Audrey and Layla walked over and stood on both sides of Kat.
"Look, there's the school," Layla pointed out. The two other girls looked at each other and grimaced.
"I'm not looking forward to going back on Monday. Having to deal with Stephanie and her friends is such a hassle," Kat said.
"Honestly, we wouldn't have a problem with them if you hadn't have called her out like you did during gym last Tuesday. She really wasn't doing anything wrong and you shouldn't have tried to pick a fight with one of the most influential girls at our school," Layla said, shrugging her shoulders and sitting down next to a patch of dirt.
"Yeah but don't you remember last year when she spread that rumor around the school that you had sex with Seth Greene? I mean, that was kind of bitchy and a lot worse than me telling her that she'd be better at volleyball if she moved her fat ass," Kat said, rolling her sleeping back out across from Layla.
"Maybe if you'd talked to her, like I have, you'd realize that she's matured a lot since last year. Plus, she apologized for that and I think Seth Greene's kind of cute so I don't mind if people think we had sex."
It wasn't until Audrey started rolling out her sleeping bag a little ways away from Kat that Layla was hit with a realization. She hadn't packed her sleeping bag. The brunette pulled her backpack opened and let out a sigh of relief as she saw the familiar lime green color of her sleeping bag on the top of her clothes.
"God damn I love my mom."
"Did you forget to pack your sleeping bag again, Layla?" Audrey asked, looking over as her friend blushed and gave her a sheepish grin.
Kat pulled out a packet of marshmallows and shook them. "Who's up for roasted marshmallows?"
After collecting wood, starting a fire, and spending hours laughing and talking around the fire like classic teenage girls, the trio of friends decided to turn in for the night. It was only a few hours into the night when Layla woke up to hooting of a howl. She pulled her stuffed gorilla closer to her and shivered, her stomach twisting into knots when she looked around and couldn't see anything very far into the tree line. When she looked up at the sky, her nerves began to ebb away. The stars were twinkling brightly, reminding her of the small glow-in-the-dark stars she used to have on her ceiling when she was younger. A few stars streaked past her vision and Layla bolted up before realizing they were shooting stars. She intertwined her fingers and closed her eyes.
"I wish that we can all grow up and go to a place where both Kat and Audrey can be happy, whether that means we stick together or not. Also, please make them be successful and find people that will love them forever."
When she finished her wish she lay back down and cuddled up with her gorilla. It took a while but the brunette was able to fall back asleep, shivering as an unnaturally cold wind began to blow.