"Six months, community service." The crushing sound of the gavel echoed in Naruto's ears as a shiver ran down his spine. The pair of cerulean eyes shifted shifted left, only to wince under the intense glare of his fellow defendant, Sasuke Uchiha. Naruto mouthed a silent apology as the boy's parents hung their heads in unanimous defeat.
It was a harmless joke that landed the two in hot water. A simple prank that ended in the defacing of a treasured Leaf Village monument. The descendants of Hashirama and Tobirama Senju did not approve. Had their parents not been pillars in the small community, the Uchiha and Uzumaki boys could have faced a more severe punishment. Instead, the two would spend every day after school for half a year "volunteering" at the Konoha Center for Special Needs. The boys were less than thrilled.
A week later, Naruto and Sasuke walked the grim five blocks away from campus to their perceived punishment. Kushina had the bright idea to not only confiscate Naruto's car, but to suggest to Mikoto to do the same. Under the afternoon sun, the two delinquents were disgusted in the way that their shirts clung to their skin.
"We're really out of shape, huh Sasuke?"
"Shut up, idiot." Naruto made a face at his irritable friend and the two continued their sweaty trudge onward. Ten minutes later the two approached a small building that was their destination. Bracing themselves, the two boys pushed through the door and entered.
Immediately, a sense of relief flooded over the two as the cool air swept over them. The building, although run down, had great air conditioning. A secretary sat at a small desk a few feet from them. She smiled politely as she looked up from her computer.
"Hello boys, how can I help you?" Naruto grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. Sasuke cleared his throat and shifted the weight of his backpack from the right shoulder to the left.
"I'm Sasuke Uchiha, and this is Naruto Uzumaki… We're here for our community service." The secretary's smile wilted and she shifted nervously in her seat.
"Oh yes… Of course, we were expecting you two. I'll let Miss Tsunade know you've arrived." The boys nodded, and took a seat on the worn sofa by the door. Naruto absentmindedly picked at the dark blue fabric on the armrest, enjoying the sound of his fingernail scraping against the worn threading until the door opened, startling both the boys. A woman dressed in black trousers and a mint jacket stared at the two boys with an uncomfortable intensity.
"Come on back boys, we have some paperwork to fill out."
In Tsunade's office, Naruto and Sasuke were seated in plastic chairs and signing papers. Each time that Sasuke or Naruto would complete a sheet, Tsunade would hand them another forest's worth of information. Finally the two signed the final documents and Tsunade clasped her hands.
"Normally boys, we would not be bringing in kids who were sentenced to community service to help out… But currently our clinic is severely understaffed. Because I know both of your parents quite well, I like to think I can trust the two of you. If I'm wrong, roadside cleaning can certainly be arranged. Am I clear boys?" The teens nodded in unison, although Sasuke and Naruto could hold their own, the threat of clearing garbage made them rather queasy. The two silently agreed they would keep their noses clean and go about their work.
"Shizune will give you a tour of the facility and then you can be on your way home. Your first shift will be tomorrow. I also expect the two of you in uniform." With a wave of a well manicured hand, Tsunade dismissed them. Shizune, the secretary from before was waiting for them outside her office.
"If you'll follow me boys, I'm happy to give you the tour." And so the two followed the woman up a flight of stairs to a brightly painted blue door.
"Are you guys ready?" Naruto and Sasuke nodded nervously and Shizune opened the door and ushered them inside. To their surprise, they met a large room with a small kitchenette and living space. The room was well lit and had an array of toys in the corner.
"This is our central hang out area. Students and staff meet here before group and classes and we share meals in here as well as relax. Most of the work you'll be doing will be between the classrooms, so you'll end up in here frequently." Shizune explained a few more details before bringing the boys to three doors on the far left.
"And these here are our classrooms, we have A classes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Our B classes are on Tuesdays and Thursdays as well as Saturday and Sunday afternoons. You'll mostly be interacting with the A classes. Right now one of our volunteers is teaching one of our youth classes. Would you like to take a peek?" The boys agreed and Shizune opened the door, and the three slipped in. The room was painted purple and had a group of twelve kids seated on a rainbow rug. A young girl stood at the front of a classroom, her back to the curious visitors.
"Why aren't they looking at us?" Naruto asked out of genuine curiosity and Sasuke cringed.
"Well, this is our deaf group Mr. Uzumaki. The kids are learning to better their communication skills amongst other things. It's one of our best programs, and their teacher is really devoted." Shizune smiled warmly at the young girl's back before she flicked the light switch a few times. Immediately she and her students turned to face the visitors. Naruto watched in awe as Shizune's hands began moving quickly, and the girl rapidly did the same.
"What's going on?" Naruto asked, entirely oblivious. Sasuke pinched the skin between his eyebrows and replied exasperatedly,
"They're speaking sign language, you idiot." The girl signed to the students, who broke from the carpet and began playing with a few scattered toys and books. Once her class was thoroughly distracted, she crossed the small room to meet them. She had long, dark hair, tied back in a loose braid and very strange eyes. She signed to Shizune, and Shizune signed back.
"This is Miss Hinata, and she said it's very nice to meet you." Naruto's face broke out into a massive grin. Sasuke extended his hand and Hinata shook it politely.
"Although you probably don't speak sign language, Hinata can read lips. She's one of our best workers." A light pink dusted her heart shaped face and she waved her hand dismissively. A sudden appearance of a young boy wearing a frog shirt distracted Hinata. The two signed to one another.
"Seems like your students are missing you Hina, we'll leave you to your work. Come on Naruto, Sasuke we've got to continue the tour." Hinata smiled at the boys and then she and her student returned to class. The rest of the tour was quite pleasant, Naruto and Sasuke would be essentially errand boys for all three classrooms, fetching supplies, helping with lunches, helping the younger kids going to the bathroom, it was simple and for Naruto kind of exciting. Sasuke's expression remained neutral, as per usual. Shizune brought the two to the employee break room on the first floor and pulled two plastic bags from a black cabinet. The crinkly plastic contained two light purple sets of scrubs each. They bid their goodbye, Shizune having warmed up to them bid them a pleasant farewell. On their walk home, the two spoke freely.
"Do you think we can do it?" Naruto asked.
"Of course we can do it. We're essentially over rated babysitters." Naruto pulled a face. He had taken Tsunade's explanation of the various client's needs very seriously. The children and teens at the clinic were all very unique. In his life he'd hardly worked with children, nonetheless children with special needs. He was nervous, but excited.
"Should we learn sign language?" The blonde suddenly piped up. Sasuke's eyebrow cocked in confusion.
"Why?"
"So we can talk with Miss Hinata! I think she'd appreciate it you know?"
"Naruto, we're only going to be there for six months, probably less if we have good behavior and our parents pull some strings. It doesn't seem worth all the work." Naruto frowned at his best friend's pessimism and shook his head.
"I'm at least going to learn to introduce myself. Besides what if the kids can't read lips and they need help going to the bathroom? That's a disaster waiting to happen Sasuke!" The dark haired boy rolled his eyes and continued walking forward. Naruto, having made his point continued after his friend to chatter about whatever crossed his mind.
It was during lunch the following day that Naruto felt true terror for the first time in his life. He and Sasuke had been seated at the quad. The two lazed around beneath the shade of an oak tree, eating their fill and talking about nothing. The sun had reached it's peak in the sky, scorching the countryside. The cicadas hissed under the weight of the heat, and Naruto's eyes felt heavy. As he began to drift into a deep sleep, a sudden clearing of a throat caught his attention. Lazily he peeled one eye open and squinted against the sunlight to see a menacing figure,
"Uzumaki, we need to talk," Before Naruto and Sasuke stood the willowy figure that was Neji Hyuga and with that, Naruto's blood ran like ice.