AN: So this is my first one on this server, so please bear with me as I get used to the ins and outs. Apologies.
There are plenty of good stories out there that deal with drugs, cutting, abuse, etc, but I wanted to write a story about good high school kids who generally do relatively normal things—avoiding psychotic murderers not being one of them. )
On the flip side, because the mood of this story will be so light, I'm going to try and address as many of the clichés of high school fanfics as I can, hopefully with a point of humor… So have fun reading! I'm always up for criticism.
Anyway, here are some things to know before reading:
I'm keeping their Japanese suffixes and nicknames s for no good reason /s because I like them. I just think something is lost trying in translating 'dobe' to 'loser' and Sakura screaming Sasuke's name just isn't the same without the I kun /I attached on the end. I know it doesn't make any sense, but I like it that way. I'll also refer to them with their family names first, again s for no good reason /s because I like that better, too.
The class rank system might be a little weird. Read the chapter, and if you miss anything let me know. I'll rewrite the explanation with more detail.
Shall we begin?
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A Very Long Year
The first day of senior year dawned far to early for most students of Konoha Academy High School. For Uchiha Sasuke, this day was bittersweet. On the positive side, he once again had a legitimate excuse to shirk off his 'duties' at the towering Uchiha corporate headquarters downtown. On the other hand, he had to deal with nine months of squealing fan girls before he could run far away—far, far away—to one University or the other, hopefully on the other side of the world.
Maybe women on that side of the world had more sense.
Sasuke groaned, stretching in the sunlight that poured in from the tiny windows of the truant guidance counselor's office, wondering if the idiot's gallamandering about was going to make the man late for the first day of school.
The young man's eyes left his breakfast and traveled to the hordes of students gathering in the school's small courtyard. He scanned the crowd for the one student he knew wouldn't be there.
That boy. The one who wore blinding conviction in his eyes. He could remember neither the boy's name nor his face, but his bright blue eyes had haunted Sasuke's conscience for years.
"No, you just wait." He had spoken. "Someday, I'll surpass you all."
A particularly loud shriek from outside startled Sasuke from his musings. Two freshman girls were hugging tightly and admiring each other's summer tans. He sighed loudly. He could already hear the high pitched squeals of 'Sasuke-kun' erupting from tightly stretched vocal cords of those annoying girls wearing their 'first day of school best.' He'd do well to get to class before the halls filled.
After years of angsty contemplation, what ever gave those girls any indication that the broody brunette was interested in any of them still eluded Sasuke to this day. He never attended those silly school dances, or went on dates, and the only social events he did attend were those required for company PR—and decidedly alone.
The Uchiha decided he could use with a bottle of water, so he trekked to the vending machines, his footsteps echoing through the long, empty hallways. As coins clanked loudly against the metal, he noticed several voices traveling down the hall. Sasuke surveyed the group.
'They must be the senior transfers.'
He glanced at the four students as they paused in front of the language lab, absently wondering if any of them would challenge his position as head of the senior class. A girl with tow buns caught his glare before rolling her eyes and turning back to the classroom. The next student was a fiery redhead who wore far too much eye makeup and a murderous glare. Sasuke, however, was immune to such glares being an Uchiha, as he was.
His eyes settled upon one Hyuuga heiress—a kind young woman who attended the events of Konoha's elite just as alone as did he. She was blushing madly and avoiding the gaze of one tall blond, who had his back to Sasuke. The Uchiha smirked. He'd bet his front teeth that this was the oblivious boy the shy girl would occasionally gush about when properly prodded. Hinata raised her pale eyes.
"Oh, good morning Sasuke-san." She called down the hallway, waving politely.
He nodded. "Hinata-san."
The principal's head poked out from the classroom.
"Uchiha." She beckoned. "Come introduce yourself to your new classmates."
He stalked, annoyed, down the meet them, opening his water bottle on his way.
"It was my impression," stated the redhead coldly, "That students were not permitted inside the building before the admission bell rings."
Sasuke matched his glare levelly. "On most mornings, I eat breakfast with my guardian. Today he is busy stalking the new physics teacher."
He heard a snort. "You live with that guy?"
Sasuke turned to face the blond. When his eyes locked with a pair of far too familiar blue ones, he almost dropped his water bottle. Could this be the boy who haunted his dreams for the past five years? Those eyes. Was it he, standing not two feet from his pointy, little nose?
"I thought Iruka was going to have an aneurism."
"That'll be Iruka-sensei," a man with a fuzzy brown ponytail called, as he skirted down the hallway, trying to ignore the persistent guidance counselor who kept whispering lewd remarks into his ear at odd intervals.
Sasuke smirked. "Dobe."
"Don't call me that, teme!" The blond snapped angrily.
One in the same.
Tsunade bonked the kid on his head. "Quiet brat!"
"Oww! That hurt, you hag!"
The principal got the kid into a headlock, and pummeling on him, muttering something about disrespectful little brats when a loud "I said 'NO' Hatake-san!" echoed down the hall.
Tsunade released the struggling blond. "I'd better go detach that pervert before we're up one sexual harassment suit, and down one physics teacher."
The blond kid snorted, rubbing his sore head. "Aw, don't worry. If Iruka-sensei didn't like it, that guy would have a broken nose and a concussion by now."
The principal rolled her eyes. "Uchiha, I trust you can show these students to your first class."
He nodded and started wordlessly down the hall.
"Uchiha Sasuke, I presume." It was the girl with the buns.
Sasuke nodded.
"Zhang Tenten." She said formally. "I hear you're Konoha Academy's number one bachelor."
Black eyes rolled. "Something like that."
"A childhood friend of mine, Rock Lee, has nice things to say about you."
Sasuke chewed on his lip. He hadn't really spoken much with the funny looking kid. He wasn't a member of the 'popular' crowd that stalked Sasuke, but he was decent soccer player.
"Lee's usually right about people, but I have yet to see what's so special about you." Her eyes were almost cold.
Sasuke shrugged. "I have no use for blind admiration, but your Lee-san doesn't seem the sort." He paused. "I never asked to be idolized."
"Fair enough."
The young woman dropped back with the other three, leaving Sasuke to ponder her curt behavior. He shrugged it off his shoulders. Never, until the day he died, would he ever understand women.
The admission bell rang as the five students filed into their classroom, the halls immediately growing loud with the shouts of high school students and the squeaking of tennis shoes on the newly polished floor.
Tsunade's irritated voice over the PA ordered the students to report directly to their first period class to receive their locker assignments.
A note in meticulous script read 'alphabetize yourselves' on that chalkboard, so Sasuke, Tenten, and the blond boy begrudgingly made their way to the far side of the room.
The Uchiha chose the seat in the far, front corner, mildly irritated that the blue-eyed boy chose to plop gracelessly down in the seat behind him. Sasuke gave him a level glare.
"What?" He asked. "I don't figure there can be too many names between Uchiha and Uzumaki."
"Dobe."
"Teme!"
"Uzumaki?" A girl Sasuke recognized as Yamanaka Ino asked slipping through the door.
She frowned and made her way to the desk behind the offending boy.
"Ha, Ino-pig!" Haruno Sakura taunted. "You don't get to sit behind Sasuke-kun anymore!"
She ignored Ino's glare before a little light bulb appeared above her head.
"Na-Naruto?" She asked bewildered.
He looked to her with bored blue eyes. "Sakura-chan." He acknowledged.
"What the hell are you doing in advanced calculus?" She screeched.
He gave her a confused look. "I… passed calculus?"
Sasuke smirked, though the pink-headed girl brought up a valid point. The blue-eyed boy with whom he had been acquainted had been an idiot in junior high. If his memory served him correctly, and it usually did, the boy was practically failing the seventh grade when he disappeared.
Gaara turned to the boy, his glare slightly less murderous than before. "How did you manage that, Naruto?" Sasuke could tell the redhead's teasing was in jest.
"Aw, calc was a breeze. It was my language classes I was worried about."
"I don't know if it'll be a breeze this year, Naruto-kun." Tenten spoke from a few seats behind the blond. "I hear this teacher is like a drill instructor. He teaches most of his classes at the University downtown."
"Nah, Ibiki-sensei just talks tough. He's nothing but a kitten if you know how to rub him the right way."
She smiled warmly. "You'll have to teach me your secret."
Naruto's grin widened. "I will if you ask fuzzy brows over there on a date this weekend." He hissed.
"How did you…" Tenten trailed off.
"Oh come on. How more obvious can you get? This morning you were practically glaring ice sickles at the Uchiha bastard over here."
Once again, Sasuke found himself smirking. So that was what that was all about. He glared at the blond when he felt him nudging him in the back with his elbow.
Naruto mumbled an unintelligent "What?" when he felt the glare on his back.
Sasuke narrowed his black eyes before snapping around in his seat.
He heard the kid mutter 'Jerk' before slouching down in his chair.
The brunette huffed as two long legs extended into his bubble. This was going to be a long year.
"Hey Lee." Tenten called.
"Tenten! How glorious it is that we should attend the same school in our final year of high school!"
"Yeah, that." She smiled. "You and me, football game, Friday." She ordered.
Lee's teeth pinged as he gave her an obnoxious thumbs up.
"OK, Naruto." Tenten hushed her voice. "Spill."
"That wasn't exactly a date…" The blond protested.
"Close enough." She whined. "What do I need to do to pass this class?"
A vulpine grin spread across his lips. "Gyouza."
"Gyouza?" About half the class repeated in confusion.
It wasn't long before the tardy bell rang, and one intimidating teacher loomed before the class. Tenten was right; this guy did look like a drill instructor.
"This will be the hardest class you will ever take." He announced nonchalantly. "I rather enjoy failing honors students."
The classroom murmured in panic.
"If you don't try, I will fail you. If you cheat, I will fail you. I do not tolerate insolence, or disrespect." He glared specifically at Naruto, who just grinned and shrugged. "If you are uncomfortable with my policy, the door is over there."
Sasuke swallowed. 'A kitten? Gyouza?'
"I am Ibiki-sensei, your syllabi are here." He dropped a stack of papers on his desk. "I assume you are all able to read. If you have any questions you may approach me after class."
"I also assume most of you know how Konoha's scheduling works, but I will explain for the sake of the new students."
Sasuke's mind wandered as the extremely-scary-to-an-adult-and-even-more-so-to-a-seventeen-year-old, man in front of the room briefed the class on the mechanics of block scheduling.
"Each class period is two hours long…
"Your A schedule and B schedule will alternate days…
"I am your homeroom teacher. On B schedule days report to me for five minutes for roll and announcements. The bell will signal the end of homeroom and you will report to your first period class…
"If you ever have questions concerning which classes you have on a particular day, consult Konoha Academy's education hotline…
"Today, all of your classes will be one hour. You will report to your first period B schedule class directly after lunch. Any questions. No. Good."
This guy was creepy.
"With a few exceptions, the fourteen of you will all have your core classes together. I assume if you all survive you will be very close by the end of the year." Ibiki paused briefly.
"That being said, I expect you will learn to work with each other. If not, I doubt you will succeed. Last year's honors seniors apparently set up a tutoring network among themselves. I expect you to do the same. Uzumaki, you are in charge."
The class sputtered.
"But…" The blond began to protest.
"Don't you and Iruka-sensei still have that bet going?"
"I'm here, aren't I?" He commented bitterly.
"Then it isn't voluntary."
"You can't…"
"Yes, I can."
The kid behind Sasuke grumped.
One hand was raised.
"Name."
The teacher ordered. "Haruno Sakura, sir."
"What." He spat.
"Um… Is Naruto really… qualified to organize peer tutoring?"
"Uzumaki's intellect aside, his tutoring skills come highly recommended." He pinned Hinata with a knowing glance. She blushed and looked away.
"Besides, he is organizing it. You are all expected to tutor each other.
"Fushigi Sai, Hyuuga Neji, Uchiha Sasuke."
The three boys responded with 'yes sir' simultaneously.
"You three will be expected to aid Uzumaki in the formation of the network."
The class seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.
"The four of you will be the primary tutors."
Sasuke scowled, glaring at the Hyuuga who sat immediately to his right. He wasn't one for helping his classmates surpass him, but at least his two biggest rivals were in the same boat as he.
"Despite the necessity to work together in order to pass your senior year, I assume there will be a bitter competition for class rank. As you well know, this year, individual percentages in your core classes will be figured in.
"If you weren't exceptional students, you wouldn't be in this track. The median grade in last year's English class was a 96. A student with a B+ might be dead last. I don't expect those kinds of grades in my class, but judging from last year's calculus grades, I wouldn't be surprised if three or four of you will receive a 98 or higher.
"Eight of you have maintained a perfect GPA in high school. This year, despite the fact that you all may continue to have straight A's, only one of you can be ranked first."
"There can be only one."
Sasuke heard Ino snicker at the mumbled comment coming from the blond boy. Ibiki-sensei, thankfully ignored the boy.
Sasuke felt Neji's hot glare on his neck as the teacher continued discussing the finer points of their class rank. He smirked. He'd beaten the Hyuuga in all but one class the previous year, and only been second in two.
"It should be interesting who comes out on top. I wouldn't take past years' rankings for granted. You might be surprised."
Ibiki's hard glare landed on Sasuke. He shivered in spite of himself. This guy was insane.
"Grab a syllabus, one of each of these forms, and a book, then follow me for your locker assignments."
The fourteen students obeyed without protest. They followed the man into the noisy hallway, silent as lockers slammed and students shouted at each other.
Naruto noticed something odd. As their class walked down the hallway, the rest of the students parted, giving the group apprehensive glares as they passed—though many of the girls just ogled Sasuke, but he appeared to be ignoring them for the most part.
Ino snorted loudly when Naruto stuck his tongue out at one boy who gave them a particularly hard glare. The kid looked bewildered before quickly averting his eyes.
"You haven't really changed, have you Naruto?" She asked, playfully.
The blond shrugged. "Why are they all looking at us like that?" He asked warily.
"Ah, well… honors students have a bit of a reputation for being a bit snobbish."
Naruto regarded the Uchiha walking just in front of him, who was engaged in a glaring contest with Hinata's eye twin. His eyes then traveled to Sakura, who was fruitlessly trying to flirt with said Uchiha, while arrogantly ignoring the love declarations that came from none other than Rock Lee.
He snorted. "No kidding."
The girl smiled brightly. "You aren't half as annoying as you used to be, huh?"
Naruto grinned. "Nah, I'm still annoying when I'm in my element." He paused thoughtfully. "What about you, Ino. Didn't you used to be one of Sasuke's groupies?"
"Well, I haven't really had a crush on him since Junior High, but I just like to flirt with him to piss Forehead off." She whispered in a hushed voice.
"I mean, granted, he's really attractive, but he's severely lacking in the personality department." She added.
"Besides, I have about as much chance with him as you do. Sakura's just kidding herself. I tried to tell her but… What can you do?"
Their chatter came to a halt as Ibiki paused in front of the group of lockers closest to the front door.
"Nice." Naruto commented, ignoring his sensei's level glare.
Ibiki handed out their locker assignments, and of course, Sasuke got sandwiched in between the Uzumaki idiot, and the creepy looking red head. He groaned, cursing his life, especially when the blond, after about ten failed tries, finally slammed his locker open with a loud "HA!" nearing taking off Sasuke's fingers in the process. At least he wasn't smashed in between fan girls, or something.
They eventually made their way back to the classroom, where Sasuke sat, impatiently staring down the blackboard, intimidating anyone who dared try to talk to him.
Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Sasuke growled, looking down at the bouncing orange sneaker along side his desk. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. He schooled his face back into its indifferent mask. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.
Sasuke turned around very slowly and calmly, noting that the idiot was filling out all the medical release papers, and other beginning of the year forms.
"Do you ever sit still?" He said, measuring his words carefully.
A pair of startled blue eyes met his. "Nope."
The boy grinned.
"Would you mind terribly," some annoyance crept into his silky, smooth voice, "if you bounced around quietly?"
The blond boy blinked. "Er… Uh… sure."
He watched satisfied as the sneaker retracted itself back underneath it's own owner's desk.
Squeak. Squeak. Squeak. Sasuke groaned and dropped his head into his hands, willing the Earth to eat him right then and there. He was going to kill this Uzumaki kid. Kill him. He immediately regretted ever being worried about how he treated the boy in the past. Uchiha Sasuke was going to murder Uzumaki Naruto the very next time… Squeak. Squeak. Squeak.
This was going to be a very long year.
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AN part 2: A little short, yes, but they'll get a bit longer, I think. )
Anyway, comments and criticisms are always welcome.