The clocks in the building simultaneously stuck twelve and the halls were filled with people. Chatter filled the small area leading to the cafeteria causing any and all conversation to echo down the halls. Naruto was one of the many students who optioned to raise his voice in order to be heard. Anyone would be able to recognize the loud mouthed blond teen; he was labeled the class clown for the Juniors. Though he had a foolish and energetic manner did not mean that he wouldn't pay attention to the gossip that usually came through their school. The non-too-subtle rumors of a new student reached his ears after he passed a group of girls on his way to the science room.
"Hey, guys did you hear about the new girl? Apparently she has pink hair and everything!" His cheerful voice rang in the ears of three companions.
Becoming momentarily distracted, Naruto used his tall build to his advantage and peered over a group of underclassmen to see if the crowd would be moving any faster. There was no such luck for him. The double doors at the other end of the hall were packed with bodies that were ready to enjoy their lunch.
Several younger students turned around and gave him a glare for practically shouting in their ear. The schools inhabitants were packed into the hallway which made it impossible to not have someone's mouth close to an ear. There was pushing and shoving from multiple people who were attempting to catch up to their friends or make it to their free time sooner.
Naruto had a muscular physic that allowed him to participate in multiple sports. That didn't necessarily make him a good player since he lacked in aim. There was a healthy tan to his cheeks along with several scars from an accident years ago.
His companion, a boy who held his spiked hair in a ponytail and had a tired expression, gave a bored shrug, "How should I know. People are talking constantly, why should I listen?" He slid his backpack higher on his shoulders and undid his uniform's dark green tie. "She most likely dyed it, anyway. Most of the girls do it."
Naruto gave a low grumble are irritation at his friend's lack of enthusiasm, "They say that she is always carrying a camera around. Isn't that weird? It's like she is trying to capture everyone's movements." At his last comment, he gave a fake shiver. "Creepy, isn't it Shikamaru?"
"Shut up, Naruto. Nobody wants to hear about a new student." Sasuke, a young man with midnight hair and a brooding expression, said causing his blond friend to becoming more exuberant in his emotions. "You probably haven't even seen her yet."
"Who asked you, bastard!" Naruto pulled back his fist and gave his brooding companion a rough punch in the arm. His elbow knocked into Shikamaru's stomach as a result though and caused him to let out a grunt of pain.
"Careful, idiot. It's crowded enough. There is no need to bring violence into this as well." Shikamaru grumbled as he rubbed his lower abdomen. Sasuke, on the other side of Naruto, grunted in agreement. They were more than used to their blond friend's physical shows of emotion. Naruto never really knew how to restrain his strength.
The crowd continued moving at a snail's pace. Around them, other students continued talking about their lives or a current test one of the teachers was giving. Naruto nudged his dark haired companion in the side, "Look there she is." The blond stuck his arm in front of Sasuke's face to show him the object of him attention at the moment. "The chick with the obnoxiously large video camera. She's kinda cute."
Sasuke gave a frustrated sigh at his friend's antics. "I'll tell you who else is obnoxious…" he grumbled under his breath.
Glancing over in the direction the blond pointed in, he saw a short female with a slender built leaning against a locker away from the crowd. She was indeed handling a bulky camera and looking through the display screen instead of the eye piece with vivid intrest. "Pink." he thought. The girl had shoulder length coral colored hair; it was an unusual shade for anyone to dye it. He couldn't make out any other characteristics about her from the distance between them. She swung the camera to a blond girl, he thinks her name was Ino, and began to giggling at whatever appeared on the screen.
Ino was a fairly popular girl, from what Sasuke recalled. He didn't pay much attention to her and they had rarely interacted. She was normally of no interest to him, but this new girl seemed to think she was very humorous.
The blond girl was doing nothing entertaining at the moment, just chatting with her friends and swinging her long locks. A few bumps and pushes from the crowd caused one of Ino's friends tripped on an extended foot. She attempted to regain her balance but bumped into her blond companion instead. They both tumbled to the floor in a mess of paper and high pitched squeals. Their uniformed shirts rose up which caused a large number of the male population to glance. "You could have just told me she had pink hair, idiot."
He can hear the new girl's peals of laughter ring through the hall. There was something odd about the girl.
Naruto, who was previously chuckling at Ino's distress, responded with a light growl, "I did, you bastard. Listen to me for once." Sasuke gave a shrug and brushed off the incident, they both continued on their way without giving the pink haired girl a second thought.
The girl turned the camera to the trio's backs as they disappeared into the crowd, a puzzled expression came across her face. "How strange." she whispered.