Disclaimer: All characters and locations mentioned in the story are property of Masashi Kishimoto, unless stated otherwise. No profit was gained in the making and consequent publishing of this story. This disclaimer applies to all subsequent chapters, unless stated otherwise.
Chapter I: Konoha
The disembodied voice of the woman boomed loudly and clearly across the colossal lobby of the Lightning International Airport, announcing the flight for Konoha, Land of Fire. Propping myself up on the cold handlebar of my luggage, I shakily stood up, ignoring the infinitesimal prickling sensations from the leg that had fallen asleep. I turned to my mother and smiled at her tear-stained face, puffy and blotchy from her incessant sobbing. I felt a hand snake around my shoulder blades, and leaned my head against my father's side.
"Guess this is goodbye, then." I mumbled softly. My voice was hoarse, my throat parched. I reached for the canteen in my mother's discarded duffel, and gulped down heartily. Finally, I tucked the object away, and felt my mother launch herself against my frame, with no preamble whatsoever, nearly toppling the both of us over. Small as the woman may be, she sure does weigh a ton. I laughed. My father would later join in on the little group hug, before they would eventually let me go and see me off to immigration.
"Be careful out there, Ten." Mother hugged me, for the last time in a long while, and I valiantly fought back the strong urge to just cave in and stay with them. I can't. I have a school, a new life, awaiting me miles and miles away. Oh, and an over-enthusiastic auntie, too.
"I will, Mom, Dad. I love you. You guys take care of yourselves, too, and don't be too sad without me. Let loose, guys. You can finally feel like newly weds again, after all this time." I smirked, and they laughed at the jibe. Finally, we parted ways, and I dragged myself through immigration, and for whatever doggone process I had to go through before I finally found myself squeezing my frame in between a file of people unable to track down their seats, and the compressed airplane aisles. It took a while before I found mine, but I quickly tucked my bag on the overhead compartment, slid in on my seat next to the window, and plugged in my earphones. I keyed in a quick goodbye message to my parents, before switching the phone to flight mode.
Flow's Go blared through the earpieces and I drummed my fingers to the beat. Soon, the continuous blast of rock music lulled me to a dreamless sleep.
"… 'ere, Madame…"
I felt a persistent rocking and pressing sensation against my right shoulder, and on instinct knew that someone was waking me up. No, mom. Five more minutes. School doesn't start until half past seven.
"… Madame, please, we are 'ere. You mus' wake up." The shaking grew stronger, even more persistent, and I swatted the hand away from my person. For effect, I opened one eye to glare at the intruder. To my surprise, a pair of bright blues stared back at me, instead of the hazels I am accustomed to. With a start, I am snapped out of my sleepy haze, as the reality began to sink in. Smiling sheepishly, I hastily unstrapped my seat belt, pocketed my phone and earpieces, and retrieved the bag the flight attendant was courteously offering me. Bowing once in apology, I made a quick exit. My face was aflame with embarrassment.
My first day on a new country is not looking so hot for me.
In the massive lobby of Fire International Airport, I craned my neck back and forth, trying to discern a shock of spiky raven hair from the crowd. No such luck. It has been well over an hour, but not a speck of a sign from my auntie had been seen. I fished for my phone and scrolled through the contacts for her number, glad that I had activated roaming beforehand. Three rings into my call, and the receiving end picked up. "Welcome to Konoha, Tenten." The disembodied voice sounded close, too physical, too present, to be coming from my phone. Spinning on my heel, I was tackled by my enthused auntie, before I had even faced her entirely. I smiled a face-splitting grin as I returned her excitement.
"Auntie! Oh my, I haven't seen you in ages! What has—no way." My eyes widened, and nearly budged out of their sockets. The woman that I could very nearly mistake for my mother simply smiled mischievously, her eyes glinting. "Oh my god, no way! Auntie! You—!" She placed a finger on her lips, and yanked my arm. I glanced around, suddenly aware of the attention I brought on myself. I looked down, sheepishly, and stepped closer to her. "The details, for later?"
"Of course, Tenten, dear. But before that, let's get you settled first."
"… Who?"
"Aiko, dear, Sarutobi Aiko. I'm beginning to think you've grown deaf with your old age, Tenten." She rolled her eyes and stared at me pointedly.
"Eyes on the road, woman!" I clicked my tongue. "I heard you the first time, though. Like you should talk about getting old." She rolled her eyes again, but a small smile crinkled her lips. "Why Aiko?"
"You don't like it." My auntie gently pressed on the breaks, and the car eased to a slow, gradual stop. We pulled over at a fast food chain, and my aunt detached herself from the vehicle. I doubled over at her sudden accusation. It wasn't even a question; it was a statement. She thinks, believes, I disapprove. I cannot be, seriously, having this conversation with her right now. Hastily, I scramble to unfasten my seatbelt, and leapt out of the car. Auntie was already a few steps ahead of me, and I jogged to catch up. "You don't like the name?"
"I never said that!" I said, a little indignant. "Where did you even get that?" She opened her mouth to retort, but I shook my head, "You know what, never mind. That was rhetorical. Auntie, do you even hear yourself? You're seriously getting riled up over a name?" Her hormones are on overdrive.
Suddenly she smiled at me and ushered me in an unoccupied booth, easing on the seat in front of me. "Let's eat, Tenten. What would you like to have? I haven't seen you in ages! My treat." She moved to stand up, but I beat her to it.
"Okay, but I'll order. What will you have?"
"Their regular, Tenten." I raised a brow, unfamiliar with the terminology. "You'll probably love that, so just get what I'm having, if you're confused." I nodded and lined up in the queue. Moments later and I was back with two large burgers, fries, and Cokes. Handing her order to her, I eyed Kurenai strangely.
"Should you be munching on junk foods? You're pregnant!" She threw her head back and laughed heartily. Did I say something funny or are her hormones acting up, and on overdrive? Her mirth died after a while, eventually.
"I know Asuma must have wanted a boy, but I really have this strong feeling that it's going to be a girl! We actually had a little, but serious, argument over it." She giggled girlishly, "I thought Aiko was a befitting name, but he insisted he wanted to name it after his father, Hiruzen-sama." She smiled fondly. I swallowed the fries, and gulped some Coke, trying to gather my scattered thoughts. I'm going to be a cousin. And I'm probably going to live with him/her. I'm going to be a babysitter. My first day in another country, halfway across the globe from where I come from, and this is what I'm bombarded with?
"Wow… I mean… names… you're arguing over names…"
"Well, it happens!" I cocked an eyebrow. One moment she was chipper, and she's solemn the next, then she's hyper again. I'm finding it hard trying to keep up with her mood swings.
Hours after my auntie had dropped a Bijuu-bomb on me, I have finally settled comfortably in my temporary room. My clothes had been unpacked, my toiletries set in the bathroom, and the bed made exactly as I like it. After a shower and a quick dinner, I am refreshed but sleepy, although not quite psyched to hit the hay. Slipping out of my bedroom, I made my way to my aunt's room, and knocked. She opened it, almost immediately, and I allowed myself inside.
"Okay, I know you have a load of questions for me, so shoot." She settled on the recliner, and I found a comfortable spot on her beanbag.
"Well my mind is still reeling from this afternoon, so I'm steering clear from that danger zone for the time being." She chuckled over this. "I have some basic questions, though. I should probably have asked this over the car ride instead, but we were pretty occupied with something else." Kurenai nodded, a little solemnly, perhaps, for something as casual as living arrangements, but I did not read much into it. "So I will be bunking over with you guys, from here on."
"The living arrangements have been settled. You are now, officially, under my wing and I and my husband are your guardians." She shrugged, reaching for a pack of Doritos on her tabletop. "Want some?" I grabbed a fistful.
"You sure like your junk foods. Remember to keep them at bay." She nodded again, suppressing a smirk as she rolled her eyes. "Back to the topic, how far is the school from here? Can I walk, or do I have to take a bus or something?"
"Walking will do, but it's going to be some exercise." Kurenai smirked. "Asuma's newphew, Konohamaru, has his old bike parked here somewhere, so I'm sure he wouldn't mind if you used it. And it's a mountain bike, darling. That boy is quite the adrenaline junkie."
"Sweet. I'll use it, if it's fine with him." I munched on the Doritos more, and a companionable silence stretched between us as I pieced my question together. Finally, "Okay, one more question: I don't really understand how the LFU system works. I've seen a number of elite universities, but this one takes the cake. I know some schools exercise the feeder school process, but this is taking it to a different level. Why do I have to attend Konoha High before I can even be a legitimate examinee for LFU? And it's not even enough guarantee that I will make it to the university! I think it's a little exaggerated." I grumbled. I love my old school. Kumo A had its fair share of bitches and typical high school drama, but it's a fantastic place to be, nevertheless. I had to leave friends and family behind, all for the sake of my dream college. Sometimes I think I myself went overboard.
"Tenten, Konoha High School is under the umbrella of The Land of Fire University autonomy. They have their own way of running things. And usually, unless absolutely drastic, no outsider, not even the Fire daimyo himself, has a say on the university's system. It's ironic, if you think about it. LFU is supposed to be the state university, but the state does not govern it. Anyway, LFU only accepts students from their feeder school, that is KHS, for some shrewd idea of purification or whatever."
"Excuse me? Purification? What is this, distilled water?"
She rolled her eyes at my lame jab. "No, Tenten, KHS kids are literally raised to become ideal LFU students. As I said, they are autonomous. They do things their own way. And it's going to be hard to cope with all their systems without prior training. That's what the high school is for. But you already know that, don't you?"
I rolled on my stomach, and on the floor, stretching my sore muscles. "The things I do for my dream university…" I mumbled, already feeling weary. Kurenai stood up and knelt beside me. She stroked my hair affectionately, and the fatigue washed over me in full force. I snuggled closer to her touch.
"You'll love KHS, I promise. It's a little… over-the-top; I'll give it that. But you came from Kumogakure Academy for Girls. I'm sure you can handle a little… umm… flair for the dramatics."
"Ugh." I groaned, "If I end up beating the kids over there, will you bail me out of detention or whatever jail they have there?"
Kurenai laughed, "Of course, my little tomboy." She helped me on my feet, and I made my way out of her room. As we bade each other goodnight, she said, "I hope you have fun here in Konoha, darling."
"I definitely will." I hope.
Kurenai is pregnant! And she's related to Tenten! Bet you didn't see that coming! Not. Anyway, she is, expectedly, a little different from the normal, non-pregnant Kurenai we're accustomed to. I wanted to do a little twist on her character. I wanted to portray her as someone more carefree (regardless of what she is bearing, literally), and more at ease than what we regularly see her in the manga. It's just the fan-fiction talking.
Tenten is more or less a people person, but she has a non-nonsense personality to her. I think she's going to fit in just fine in an elite high school, because she is elite herself. But there will expectedly be drama, of course; there's always drama.
I finally gotten around to rewriting this story! A quick back-story: I first started writing High School Insanity before I began high school. At that time, I had absolutely no idea of what the high school world entailed, and how insane it actually is. Unfortunately, over time, my passion for continuing this story waned, until I eventually abandoned it altogether. I am now in college, and starting all over. I really hope to finish this now that I have went through the glorious bowels of high school-and survived! I'm very excited for this with first-hand experience to draw inspiration from.
So stay tuned to find out more, please. And don't forget to review! Reviews keep me motivated. A motivated Alois is a writing Alois and a writing Alois is an updating Alois. So review for updates! :)