Day one.
The cab drove through traffic on a leisure pace, the surrounding bustle of the city flashing by the window. As expected, traffic was rather busy and Naruto was stuck in the backseat of the cab. Which wasn't actually a cab, but a luxury car. No cab driver ever opened the door for their costumer. Uzumaki Naruto was a young, bright sixteen-year-old teenager. Her long blonde hair, that almost reached her hips, was put up in a messy bun. She was dressed in a grey jogging trousers with an orange sweatshirt and black sneakers, all clearly well-worn. There was no way she should be the one to sit in the back of a luxury car. Hell, she hadn't even expected it to begin with. Not that knowing would have changed anything. No, she was still pretty much a sacrificial lamb, handed over from one person to another. Her plane had but barely touched the tarmac before she had been whisked away by the driver to the car.
Away to her new life as a fiancé. The fiancé of the second son of the all-powerful Uchiha family. The Uchiha family owned everything, from hospitals, to business companies, to fashion brands. Form the first to the last Uchiha, each one was a genius in their own right. Uchiha Madara, head of the Uchiha family and creator of Uchiha Inc, was the first one to stamp the Uchiha name up to the top clans. His children followed with on top Uchiha Fugaku, head of the Uchiha Police force. Uchiha Mikoto, wife to Fugaku, was world-known for her art. Uchiha Itachi, born to Mikoto and Fuguka as their first son, was a genius even among the Uchiha clan. Uchiha Sasuke, second son and younger brother to Itachi, was but in high school, yet already proving to be competent, grades the first in the country. Uchiha Sasuke was also Naruto's betrothed, a marriage arranged by their parents.
To Naruto, it was all laughable in a sad sadistic way. Was she, of all people, supposed to fit in with a genius family who took the business and entertainment world by storm? She, who had been home-schooled for best part of her life, while travelling the world with what was most likely the biggest pervert alive? Who was supposed to be taught by world's best doctor, yet was always stuck gambling off the woman's depths? Honestly, Naruto wasn't exactly the most normal girl walking the streets. If she wasn't traveling from one country to the other, accompanying her godfather while writing his porn books, she was trying to keep up with training and gambling back the losses of her godmother. Naruto didn't understand what her parents were thinking when they agreed to the engagement to the youngest Uchiha. Uzumaki Kushina and Namikaze Minato had died in a car accident when Naruto was young. She could still remember the exact moment Jiraiya had knocked on her door and without letting her agree, whisked her away to an overseas country. Back then, Naruto hadn't understood anything of it. But now that she knew what her father did for work and the reason she had her mother's last name instead of her fathers, she also knew that their death was no accident. Her father had been Fugaku's best friend and a government hacker working together with the police force. And even when Naruto didn't want to admit it, somehow, she had stumbled her way into hacking too. But that all had nothing to do with the predicament she found herself in at this moment.
She was drawn out of her internal world by iron gates swinging open before the car drove onto the driveway towards the luxury mansion. Naruto's stomach knotted nervously as she noticed three people standing at the steps in front of the double doors. The mansion looked like it existed out of three houses glued together in a way that made it seem whole. The grey with black rooftop exterior was soften by greenery in front of it, two small path leading to doors on each side of the mansion. The driveway was broken in two by a patch of grass, bushes and small trees, complete with lighting, shaping the driveway in an upside-down U. To Naruto, it was a bit overwhelming, but she knew the worst was yet to come. Her hands felt clammy as the car turned into the corner to come to a stop in front of the stone steps leading to the front door. The blonde resisted the urge to tell the driver to keep going or to put her headphones on as the driver stepped out to open her door. Which was rather off-putting, considering Naruto's up-bring. Still, she swallowed her complaints as she stepped out of the car.
It had been a long time since Naruto had met up with the Uchiha family. When she was young, younger at least, she would always be watched by Mikoto together with Sasuke. But that had changed when Jiraiya took her away when she was 7, nine years ago. Still, Mikoto was the same as she vaguely remembered. A warm, kind smile with warm dark eyes that contrasted her pale skin. Her black hair was hanging lose, shiny and straight as it reached he middle of her the middle of her back. "Naruto-chan, sweetie! So good to see you again" she greeted happily as she spread her arms to welcome Naruto into a hug. The blonde accepted the gesture with a loose smile as the driver opened the trunk behind her. "Oh, you must be hungry, would you like a snack?" Mikata asked as she pulled away from the hug to look at the blonde. Truthfully, Naruto was always hungry, but currently, she was more nervous.
"Mom, at least let her enter the house first" a smooth voice came behind Naruto and the blonde looked up to see Itachi, shouldering her extremely worn out orange travel backpack. "Oh right" Mikoto said slightly guilty as the long haired raven leaned in for a one-armed hug. "You know I can carry my own stuff, right" Naruto said as she pulled back from the oldest son. "I know, but mom would have my ear if I let you" Itachi said and smiled as he let his hand fall on the top of Naruto's messy hair. "Good to see you have grown up" he said and Mikoto looked behind her oldest son. "Where is the rest of your luggage?" she asked curious and Naruto scratched the back of her neck guiltily. "That's all" she said and Mikoto seemed absolutely shocked. "That's all? But where are your clothes? Your shoes? Your important belongings?" she asked and Naruto shrugged. "I have enough with what's in there" she said and Itachi gave an uneasy smile at the shocked look his mother gave the blonde. "Let's go inside before you get a heart attack, mom" he said and gave another smile at his brother, who stood at the side with his hands shoved deep into his pockets during the whole ordeal. Once again, Naruto rubbed the back of her neck nervously, feeling how clammy her hands were. "It's been some time, hasn't it" she said and received a typical Uchiha 'hn' as answer.
Sasuke hadn't changed much over the years. He grew taller than Naruto by a head and his form was lanky. His hairstyle still resembled the butt of a duck and his expression was still a resting bitch-face. But even under the dark blue shirt, Naruto could tell the raven worked out regularly and with results. Though it didn't actually surprise her since he was an Uchiha and it was expected of them to look as fit as possible. They were, after all, in the spotlight most of the time. Naruto had to admit, thought only to herself with gritting teeth, with his looks, Sasuke would have no problem attracting the attention wherever he went. Just like his brother and practically every other Uchiha Naruto had ever met in her short life. Calling it good genes was the understatement of the year. Maybe even the coming century. "Let's go inside" Sasuke said as the silence became awkward and he turned around. Naruto was glad for the interruption and followed inside after the raven.
The interior was as Naruto expected, open and light with the barest minimum of decoration to not seem empty. They found Mikoto in the kitchen, where she just put a plate on the counter of the kitchen island. "Here, have a toast" Mikoto said as Sasuke and Naruto sat down at the counter, the Uchiha not hesitating to pick up a caprese toast off the plate. "Itachi is putting your luggage in your room, which is in the east wing. Sasuke's room is also there" Mikoto said and Naruto could already guess that her smile would not falter for the coming week, at the very least. Naruto nibbled on a toast while Mikoto talked through the silence about parts of the house, which Sasuke would be forced to give a tour through. Itachi soon joined them and was barely able to contain his mother's enthusiasm. "Oh, right, I'm sorry. You must be tired and you still have to unpack. Why don't we keep the whole engagement talk for after dinner? I'm sure you are having a lot of questions" Mikoto said and looked at her youngest son. "Sasuke, dear, go show Naruto her room so she can settle in" she said and Sasuke reluctantly got up from his high chair.
After giving Mikoto a friendly smile, Naruto trailed after Sasuke to the east wing of the house. The west wing was the same as the rest of the house, but it wasn't distasteful, even with all the fan crests placed on strategical places. Sasuke stopped at one of the doors holding a white and red fan with Naruto's name on it. "Dinner is at six thirty" Sasuke said before entering the room two doors further down the hallway. Naruto entered the room that would be hers for unknown time, closing the door behind her before finally releasing a heavy sigh. She looked around her priso- bedroom and wasn't exactly disappointed. The room was white and clean. It held a one-person bed in the far corner of the room, a desk in the right corner next to the window and a closet against the wall next to the door. Between the closet and the bed was another door, that led to a joint bathroom. The wall opposite to the bed was completely bare for decoration, leaving Naruto to do with it whatever she wanted. Which was perfect. In the middle of the room stood a couple of cardboard boxes, all with her name on it in Tsunade's doctor handwriting. The room was rather big, but that suited Naruto just fine as it meant that she wouldn't have to leave her room fair her daily work out.
With a soft sigh, Naruto started unpacking, ripping open the boxes to put away her stuff. She didn't own much, so it was a rather sad sight as she filled her closet with but five shirts, four pairs of jeans, three sweaters and a couple of socks. Next was her bed, where she covered it with her usual dark blue and orange covers before pinning the orange tapestry against the wall behind her headrest. She then proceeded with pinning the earth map onto the wall opposite of her bed, following it with the wall rack, which was then filled by a bo and a hanbo. Next to it, she pinned up the 'no ramen, no life' poster before placing her computer with the tower under the desk and the white rather large apple screen behind a white keyboard. That was also the moment she noticed a black square box in the corner of her desk as she sat down on the white desk chair. Ignoring it for now as her gut told her to, she turned on her computer. The first thing she did was connect herself to the internet before checking her mails. With that out of the way, she opened a new message and looked at it before typing out the basic.
I'm at the Uchiha castle and have installed in my pri- room. Mikoto is very nice and welcoming. It's good to see Itachi and Sasuke again. I'll try my best not to insult Fugaku so you don't have to pay my bail to get me out of another cell.
I'll contact with more news as soon as possible.
Naruto.
With a soft sigh, she selected Tsunade and Jiraiya's mail address before pressing send, not caring that she sounded like a suspicious person on the run. Leaning back in her extremely comfortable desk chair, Naruto looked at the ceiling to gather her courage. With a held breath, the blonde flipped open the box. Morbid curiosity stopped her from chucking the box across the room and instead just stared at it. In the middle of the box sat a ring. A simple round 2 carat diamonds sat secure in a six prong setting on top of a golden band in a solitary style, from what Naruto could tell. Although, the diamond might be 3, she wasn't too sure. It was once again morbid curiosity that made her slip the ring on her finger, blinking in surprise when it fitted perfectly. How had they known her size when even she didn't know it herself?
Curiosity changed into childlike fascination as the diamond caught the light. She couldn't help but wonder what this whole thing would mean in her life. Never once before had she ever wished for a prince to come scoop her up and marry her. But that didn't mean she never fantasized about her wedding. Every kid does that at least once in their lives. And while Naruto's involved a lot of ramen and a groom wearing a ramen suit, she had never really thought it would be this soon. She was more mature for her age and of course, since Jiraiya and Tsunade never failed to remind her that she was already betrothed, she had never really seen marriage as princess like as some others of her age did. No frilly things, no big dresses, no sparkly diamond rings. Correct that, no huge ass stone that could sink the titanic on their finger. Naruto had always seen her wedding as something forced and not too happy. Something detached from her. It was an arranged marriage, and no matter how hard she thought about it, she couldn't picture herself walking down the aisle yet. She still had a year or two, but even so.
While Sasuke had been her best friend when they were children, they had grown apart with moving away from each other. Maybe as they got to know each other again, she would come to love him and then everything would be fine. But the possibility that she wouldn't and that she would be unhappy married to someone made her chest cool in fear. It wasn't even an ungrounded fear. She had seen a lot of things on her travels and unhappy arranged marriages were part of that. She had seen beaten up wives, trying to mask their wounds with make-up, or clothes if she wasn't allowed to wear make-up. She had seen women die inside when their husband was away to a mistress. She had seen women run away from their husband with their children while being yelled at. And while there were plenty of good arranged marriages too, Naruto couldn't help but be scared. Of course she wouldn't go down without a fight and hell would freeze over before she would allow anyone to treat her worse than what she deserved. But abuse wasn't only physical. She had talked with some of those wives while helping them and they were all mentally scarred, thinking that it was exactly what they deserved. And while they had assured Naruto that every marriage is different when she told her about her own situation, Naruto wasn't calmed down.
The physical abuse, she could take. But what she was most afraid of was losing her promise to her late mother that she would find absolute happiness. It was practically her life goal, and she knew she would die inside if she lost it. Maybe it was one of her problems. Maybe it was because of that that she had never dared to go any further than friendship with some of the boys that had asked her out on her travels. There weren't much, but there were enough. Maybe it was because she was loyal, even if she didn't actually want to be engaged. But still, the engagement was made and Naruto was still pure, with everything except her mind. There was no way in hell her mind would remain pure when travelling with a pervert who was actually fined and thrown in a holding cell for peeking. It's a surprise she's still sane. Well, sort of.
A knock on the door separating the bathroom from her bedroom startled Naruto so bad she banged her hand against the desk in an attempt to hide the ring on her finger. She cursed loudly as she cradled her hand to her stomach. "You okay?" Sasuke's voice came muffled and Naruto glanced up, her heart beating frantically. Even though she knew Sasuke couldn't see her, she felt nervous with just wearing the ring. "Yeah, I'm fine!" Naruto said and stood up to cross the room and open the door. She kept her hand on the door, hiding the rind as she looked at the raven who was eyeing her up and down. "Sorry, I just fell asleep and you woke me up when you knocked. My head banged against the desk as it slipped off my hand. You know, jetlag and shit" Naruto lied smoothly and Sasuke looked at her face, checking for any red spots. "Yeah, sure" he said, seeing through her lie and crossing his arms. "You should take a shower. Father will be here soon and its almost time for dinner" he said and Naruto scoffed. "What, you think I stink?" she said, fake insulted.
Of course she stank. Even if her flight had been first class for the first time, courtesy of Uchiha influence, she had still been cooped up in an air closed space for hours with other people. At least this time, she hadn't been sitting next to a guy who drooled on her shoulder, or a kid eating cheese chips, or god forbid, someone who had just eaten something with onion farting and burping the whole time. All of those had happened before and worse, so to Naruto she had never smelt better coming out of a plane. Then again, Sasuke was a spoiled brat, so he probably never flew anything below first class in his whole life. No doubt someone in the Uchiha family had a private jet. "Just take a shower" Sasuke said slightly irritated at Naruto not listening to his commands right away. If that was what Sasuke thought was going to happen, he had another thing coming. "I will, if you get out of the bathroom. Or are you going to stand there the whole time?" Naruto asked as she crossed her arms in front of her chest. Sasuke's eyes flicked down at the gesture before he turned around. "Hn" was all he hummed before opening the second door of the bathroom, revealing a sliver of a navy blue room.
Naruto stepped in the bathroom after taking a change of clothes and her toiletries. The bathroom was like the rest of the house, overly luxurious and barely decorated. There were two white sinks on a black counter taking up the complete wall between the two rooms, the mirror took up the rest of the wall above the sinks, with space between the counter to show that there were cupboards behind the mirror. Behind her, one her side of the bathroom was a shower in the corner, while on Sasuke's side was a toilet. In between it stood a bath which would easily fit two people. The thought made Naruto slightly embarrassed, which only got worse when she noticed that she had yet to take off the ring. She quickly put it in the cupboard after stringing it onto the necklace she had gotten from Tsunade years ago. There was no way Naruto was allowed to lose something so valuable, unless she had to once again pay off Tsunade's gambling depths.
When Naruto finally stepped into the shower cubicle, she would have laughed at the rain-shower, if it didn't feel as good as it did. Right now it felt like heaven as the water poured down on her tense shoulder. The strong scent of her bubble gum shampoo and conditioner filled the bathroom and she couldn't help but start humming as she smelled it. It never failed to bring her spirits up. Naruto never took long in showers and was out from under the water after she finished singing her second song, completely washed and smelling of her favourite shampoo. After pulling on clean underwear, Naruto started braiding her wet hair to let it dry without getting in the way too much. When she was done with the boxer braids reaching her hips, she loosened up her cramping fingers. She pulled on her black drawstring harem pants before slipping the higher state of mind shirt over her head, which was definitely for a man. But it was comfortable, so she didn't care. All of her shirts were for men anyway. Slipping her necklace back over her head while humming, she left the bathroom into her bedroom. She flopped down on her bed, looking at the small nine tailed fox plush and the duo of frog plushes on each side of her pillow. She smiled at them, knowing just how long they had been with her and how much they had seen with her. It might be strange that she still kept them, but they were, besides her necklace, her most important items. Jiraiya had given her Gamatatsu and Gamakichi while she could still remember how her father and suffered to sew the little cute fox for her seventh birthday.
A knock on the door of her bedroom made her look up. "Naruto-kun? It's time for dinner" Itachi's voice came and Naruto's stomach growled at the mention of food. "Yeah, coming" she said as she all but jumped up. When she pulled her door open, Itachi was smiling at her, raising an eyebrow at her shirt but saying nothing. "Have you settled in?" he asked as they walked after a grumpy Sasuke to the dining room on the first floor. "Yeah, the room is huge and I don't have much stuff, but everything is unpacked" she said and Itachi hummed. "We didn't know what colour you'd like on the walls, so we couldn't paint, but if you wish to do so, just tell someone" he said and Naruto waved it off. "I'm cool with white. If I put a colour on it, I'll just get bored of it too soon" she said and Itachi nodded. As soon as Naruto could smell the divine scents coming from the kitchen into the rest of the house, her stomach growled for attention. Itachi chuckled at it as Naruto embarrassingly laid a hand on her abdomen to pacify it.
"Father" Sasuke greeted as soon as they entered the dining room where Fugaku sat at the head of the table. "Hn" came Fugaku's reply before his eyes landed on the blonde. "Naruto-kun" he said and Naruto smiled in greeting. "Good evening, Uchiha-san" she said and Fugaku gave a tight smile. "It's good to see you again. I hope you're well" he said and Naruto nodded. "Yes, everything is fine" she said and the man clicked slightly with his tongue while Itachi and Sasuke sat down at the mahogany table. "No need to be so formal, child. You're going to be family, after all" Fugaku said and Naruto tried not to let those words send a chill down her spine. "Got it, Ojisan" Naruto said with a grin before she looked at the table, wondering where she was expected to sit. Everything in the Uchiha family was extremely formal unless they told you otherwise. Naruto didn't want to insult anyone on her first day in their house. "You can sit next to Sasuke, sweetheart. No need to be shy" Mikoto said as she entered the dining-room with a plate of gratin.
Naruto resisted the urge to send a troubled look at the chair next to the raven, who was currently trying to kill his plate with his glare. "I'll help" Naruto said as she took the chance to wait just that little longer before having to sit down and eat. The longer it took for her to eat, the longer it took before she was forced to sit through the whole 'what-to-expect-from-the-marriage' and 'how-to-be-an-Uchiha' talks. Without a doubt, they would be more awkward and painful than getting the birds and bees from Jiraiya.
Naruto was sending her new uniform in her closet a glare, hoping for the past ten minutes that it would go up in flames. Sadly, it wouldn't, so she was left with no other choice than to put it on. With a grimace, she buttoned up the white shirt before slipping into the black and red tartan pleated skirt. She had no idea how to knot her tie, so she just shoved it in her pocket between the fold of her skirt. While her morning work-out routine was done, Naruto now had to add something to her routine. Because apparently, it was expected of her to cook Sasuke's lunch and to wake the bastard up. Of course Naruto knew how to cook, she had to learn it from her godparents because of her engagement. But just because she knew how to didn't mean that she enjoyed cooking for someone who could perfectly well prepare his own lunch and breakfast. None the less, after tying her hair up in a high ponytail, Naruto knocked hard on the door to Sasuke's room in the bathroom. "Oi, Sasuke! Get up" she said none too friendly. She was not going to kindly wake the raven up every minutes with a gently rub on his shoulder. If he couldn't get his ass up when she woke him up the first time, it wasn't her problem. It wasn't like she was subtle anyway. Not caring if the raven was actually awake or not, Naruto made her way to the kitchen. It was a bit imposing to cook in a huge luxury kitchen, but she made do.
As if timed, Sasuke stumbled into the kitchen, drowsily rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as Naruto finished frying the scrambled eggs. Without saying a word or even turning off the music blasting through her headphones on her head, she put the plate onto the island counter in front of the raven before turning to the kitchen counter to make their lunch. As soon as she was done with putting the sandwiches in the boxes, she turned around to hand one to Sasuke. She blinked surprised at the empty plate that was left and heard the door of the kitchen close. A heavy sigh left her as she closed her eyes. It was obvious that they were pretty much ignoring each other, not talking any more than strictly necessary, which apparently didn't include anything in the morning. And maybe it was her fault for not saying anything either, but what was she supposed to do? She didn't like the fact that she had to be the perfect house wife upon getting an important, stable job that was fit for an Uchiha.
Yesterday's late night talk with Mikoto had left Naruto feeling cold. Honestly, it was a bit overwhelming what was expected of her. She was supposed to be at the top of her class, find a way to not let her emotions get the upper hand, to take care of her husband and to find a job that would make her a role model. That was only part of it. After school, Mikoto would pick up her and Sasuke to go shopping for clothing, since her closet as too empty, according to Mikoto. Naruto would need at least three formal dresses, three casual dresses, three semi casual outfits, and clothes that were fit for a lady. But above all, she had to hold herself like she was being judged every second of the day, living up to the Uchiha standards. In all honesty, it felt exactly like she was being judged every second of the day. Because how was she supposed to live up to the Uchiha standards when she had grown up completely different from them. She was not used to attention, she was not used to being looked up towards, she was not used having to hide her smile because it could be used against her.
She knew that hiding her smile was not what she was supposed to do, but to her it felt like that. Naruto loved smiling, she did it unconsciously whenever she was around people she liked. But compared to the Uchiha's who rarely smiled outside the comfort and protection of their own home, Naruto felt like she was not allowed to smile anymore. It was ridiculous, but it would be her life from now on and she would have to deal with it. "Naruto-kun?" a soft voice came and Naruto's head shot up from where she had been staring blindly at the counter. "Itachi? Sorry, am I in the way?" she asked as she immediately moved away from her spot in case she was indeed in the way. Itachi gave her a sad smile as he opened the fridge to take a bottle of water out of it. "You don't need to take everything mom says literally, Naruto-kun" he said and Naruto looked down. "She's just excited that she's getting a daughter so you'll have to forgive her for being so hasty" Itachi said and tipped Naruto's head up by her chin. "Don't look so sad. You're young, you don't have to rush into this. Just take your own time and all the time you need. There is no such thing as Uchiha standards or whatever stupid thing you're thinking off" Itachi said and smiled.
"And don't judge Sasuke too fast. He's not used to anyone so close to him other than our family. He too is insecure about this, but he's dealing with it differently" he said and Naruto looked down despite her chin being held up. "Naruto-kun, honestly, you can take my word for it. I'll tell mom to back off a little so there is not so much pressure on you. You don't need to follow her pace just because she is excited. You and Sasuke just need to reconnect and take your time to see where this leads" Itachi said and Naruto took a deep breath before giving a nod. Itachi had always been like a brother to her and she had missed him. He was also way smarter than her and said the exact things to calm her down. "Also, really don't think too much about whatever my mom told you about what was expected. Nothing other than you being happy is what is expected" Itachi said and patted the blonde's head. "Now, I have to go to work. A car will drive you and Sasuke to school" he said and Naruto gave a nod. "You look good in the uniform" the oldest son said and Naruto grimaced. "It's too breezy" she complained at the skirt that reached her knees which earned her a hearty chuckle from the long haired raven. Itachi shot a glance at the door of the kitchen that stood slightly open and hid a smile. "I'll see you tonight" Itachi said before leaving the kitchen.
Naruto took a few deep breaths to get herself to calm down and back on track before following after the raven to her room. The ride to school was silent and heavy. Sasuke didn't say a word and kept looking outside with a scowl. Naruto didn't know why, but she got the feeling he was sulking. She had no idea why, and frankly, she wasn't exactly jumping to find out. Konoha Private Institute was just as she imagined it to be. Big and luxurious with iron gates and a lot of students. The school building looked modern and open with a lot of window, which Naruto immediately liked. Sasuke got out of the car first and straightened his grey blazer that was the same as Naruto's. The raven's tie however, had a green and dark blue tartan tie, showing that he was a third year, one year above Naruto. Also, the lucky bastard had a regular pair of black trousers, which the blonde had grumbled about as soon as she had seen his uniform. But there was no denying that Sasuke wore the uniform well. Way better than any of the other guys she had seen. It made her slightly self-conscious.
"You're in class 2-B" Sasuke spoke up for the first time since he informed Naruto that the car had arrived. Naruto's head shot up at him as he pushed one hand in his pocket, glancing at her shortly before looking away with another scowl. "Your first class is Literature with Kakashi, in the main building, classroom M4" Sasuke said and Naruto blinked in confusion. She hadn't even gotten her schedule yet, how did he know? Freaking Uchiha influence. "Okay, where is M4? Or the main building, because from here, I can see three freaking buildings and they all look pretty main to me" Naruto said and Sasuke looked at her. "Are you stupid?" he asked and Naruto resisted the urge to kick him in the thigh. "Home-schooled, dude! I've never seen a school-building unless I'm passing by it or dragging Jiraiya away from the girl's dressing-rooms" Naruto said and Sasuke regarded her for a minute before clicking his tongue. "Fucking hell" he cursed before walking away. "Hey!" Naruto called angry and Sasuke looked over his shoulder. "Are you coming or not, dobe?!" he said back and Naruto bristled at the name. "Shut the fuck up, don't call me dobe! It's been years since you called me that!" she hissed as she easily caught up with him. "Then don't be so stupid and I might think of calling something else" Sasuke said and Naruto felt her temper flare at the smug smirk on the raven's lips.
Really, the first time they're actually talking, it's Sasuke bullying her. But then again, most of her childhood memories with him were him bullying her. Sasuke really had the carrot and stick perfected to an art. Back then, Naruto had been naïve and easily swayed. Swayed into things like eating maggots, getting into the knee deep mud to retrieve Sasuke's ball, Sasuke stealing her ice-cream. And now she was engaged to him. How funny. "I don't get why you call me that to begin with. I'm not that stupid, you know" Naruto said and Sasuke smirked at her. "Oh really? I seem to remember you always coming dead-last with our school tests. Also, I heard from Tsunade-sensei that you're barely scoring but barely in the double digits" Sasuke said and Naruto blushed in angry embarrassment at the reveal of her indeed below average scores on the tests her godmother always gave her. "Teme! Do you have any idea how freaking hard she makes those tests? I always got only a week to study 200 university level questions, while the test consisted out of 350 questions! I was only 11!" Naruo defended herself because really, the old hag was crazy. "Just try not to embarrass yourself, dobe" Sasuke said with such a cool air that it only pissed Naruto off even more.
With a click of her tongue, she turned her head away from the raven, not seeing how his smirk fell into a frown. Naruto noticed it halfway into the building and glanced down on her uniform. Was she wearing it wrong? All the other girls had their skirts shorter, way shorter than hers. "Why the hell are they staring?" Naruto asked soft as she leaned a little closer to her fiancé. Sasuke glanced down on her, mulling over his answer before giving a one shoulder shrug. "Because your new. How should I know, Dobe. Don't fucking ask me" he said and Naruto glared up at him. "I told you to stop calling me that, teme" she hissed and Sasuke raised an eyebrow at her. "Like I said, I will when you stop being so stupid. Use your brain for once, if you even have it" he said and Naruto clenched her fists not to kick him, once again holding back. "Also, we're here" Sasuke said and jerked his head lightly at the sign saying 'M4' on a white door. "You're lucky, or I'd have kicked your ass into tomorrow" Naruto said and Sasuke scoffed. "You're welcome to try" he said before turning and walking away to his own class.
Naruto was tempted to throw her worn out orange chucks at his retreating back, but instead only felt at the door of the classroom. Since it was locked, she decided to lean against the wall next to it, moving her headphones onto her ears and starting her music. She watched how students would pass her while staring before entering the classrooms around her while only a couple of students were standing close to the same classroom as her. It was confusing, to say the least. Maybe Sasuke was just pulling her leg. She wouldn't put it past him, after all. Still, she stayed right where she was until finally, after 15 minutes, a grey haired man with a mouth mask opened the door to the classroom. Walking inside, Naruto took the first place next to the window she could get. "Okay, class, while we already know each other, there is a new one between us. Blondie, can you stand up and introduce yourself?" the silver haired man said lazily and Naruto stood up. "Uhm, okay. My name is Uzumaki Naruto, I'm 16. I've been home-schooled ever since I was 7, so I've lost touch with the whole going to school thing. Uhm, what else?" she asked nervously and the teacher leaned against his desk.
"Hobbies, likes, dislikes, what you want to do later in life?" he suggested politely and Naruto brightened up. "Right, hobbies, well, I fight and I like computers and traveling. What I like most is ramen. My dislikes are arrogant bastards and people who lie to themselves. In the future, I don't know. I'm busy enough trying to figure out how to pass the coming year without dying or getting thrown in jail" Naruto said and some of the students gave a light chuckle. "Okay, thank you, Uzumaki Naruto-kun. I'm Hatake Kakashi and I'm your literature teacher and homeroom teacher. Naruto sat back down and Kakashi started his class with a book she had already read before. "So, arrogant bastards, huh" the brunet in front of Naruto said as he turned around, giving the blonde a grin. "Are you talking about a certain bastard?" he asked and Naruto raised an eyebrow at him. Or more like at the two red triangles in his face. Still, she had birthmarks in the form of whiskers on her face, she wasn't going to judge. "Of course. Is there any bigger arrogant bastard than Uchiha Sasuke? If so, tell me so I can stay away from them" she said and the teen in front of her barked a soft laugh. "No, Sasuke is the biggest arrogant bastard roaming these hallways. But there was a commotion that you arrive to school with him" he said and it wasn't hard to guess that this brunet loved to gossip. "I did, but because of circumstances, I'm living with the Uchihas. I can't exactly run away from him" Naruto said, not revealing that Sasuke was actually her fiancé.
"Oh, I pity you. You should really stay away from the Uchiha Sasuke fanclub. They're mental" the boy warned and Naruto snorted ugly. "Really? Are you serious now? That bastard has a fanclub?" she asked and the brunet nodded. "Yeah, I swear to god, they have this rule called 'everyone's Sasuke' rule, which doesn't allow any of their members or any girl from outside their club to confess to the raven unless they have the leader's permission" he said and Naruto had to bite her lip not to laugh. Everyone's Sasuke? "That rule still exists?" she asked and the brunet tilted his head. "Still?" he repeated and the raven next to Naruto hummed, opening his eyes but not raising his head from his arms. "Yeah, in elementary school, there was this same rule" he said and Naruto nodded. "Yeah, I used to be the exception back then because I shared my snack with them" Naruto said and the brunet in front of her snorted. "Though that snack had fallen into the sandbox and I didn't even dust it off" Naruto said and this caused the brunet to laugh out loud while the raven gave a snort. "By the way, I'm Inuzuka Kiba" the brunet said and Naruto gave him a grin. "The lazy guy is Nara Shikamaru, and the only warning we have is that a bargain is not going to work here" he said and Naruto snorted. "I'll survive" she said and Kiba tilted his head curiously.
"If you say that you hate Sasuke, then why did you bargain your way to the exception of the rule?" he asked and Naruto grimaced. "Well, Sasuke and I grew up together. Like, we were born in the same hospital and shit. But we never really got along. So we fought and the one time I lost, I swore my loyalty to him for a year. You can already guess how that went" she said and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "The year after that, I won though" she said and smirked. "I made him wear a dress to school" she said and Kiba was immediately taken with her as they started a discussion about pranks. Naruto knew from the second she saw his eyes lit up with mirth when telling a story about how he glued his mom's pants to a chair, that they were going to be the worst partners in crime. She also knew that Shikamaru would end up being dragged into it. Thanks to the help of those two, Naruto had no trouble finding her classes, or a comfortable space to eat outside in the sun. That was until they heard commotion behind them, distinctive of fangirls that even Naruto could recognize despite never having seen them before.
"Oi, Dobe" Sasuke called out at the blonde when he was within hearing distance. "What do you want, teme?" Naruto asked as she looked up at him, shooting an irritated glance at the small group of girls fogging around the raven and glaring at her when she opened her mouth. "Lunch. You forgot to give it" Sasuke said as he held out his hand with a cold look at Shikamaru and Kiba. "No, I didn't forget it. You were the one who ran out of the kitchen as soon as you were done eating" Naruto said as she reluctantly dug in her bag to retrieve the black lunchbox with an Uchiha crest on, the same as hers, only hers was a dark blue. "Shopping is postponed, by the way" Sasuke said before turning around and walking away. "What crawled up their asses and died?" Naruto muttered at the crew of fangirls glaring at her, all wearing the same band of white and red around their upper arm. She rolled with her eyes before turning back to the conversation she was having with Kiba about yet another prank.