Chapter 1
BEEP BEEP BEEP. I groaned and slammed my alarm hard hitting the snooze button. I sat up and rubbed my eyes then slowly slid out of bed. New home. New school. New neighbourhood. I quickly showered and pulled on my uniform. The uniform was a white button down collared t-shirt with a black or blue skirt. I was disgusted by the fact that all girls had to wear a skirt but the fact that the skirt was so short it could be classified as a belt just made it worse. I slipped on my black and white converse and put on my brother's rope bracelet. I brushed through my long purple hair then tied it back into a ponytail. I applied a little mascara then grabbed my bag and headed out.
You may be wondering why I didn't say bye to my parents. Well they're dead. They were murdered in an alley way on my sixth birthday. Lucky me! Note the sarcasm. Oh and my brother he was also killed in the Great War that took place a year ago. He was KIA as his best fried Kakashi Hatake called it. This is basically a fancy way of saying he died fighting. Was I upset? Of course but I was proud to say my brother died a fighter. So I'm basically a seventeen year old chick living with her dead brother's best friend.
I walked through the school gates and headed towards the school building. I could feel people's eyes on me. I glanced around the yard until my eyes fell on a boy. He was leaning against a tree with two girls standing in front of him trying to get his attention but he was staring at me. He had dark brown hair and light green eyes. He continued to stare at me until I walked into the building. Creepy much? I walked into the main office to find a middle aged women speaking on the phone. She smiled at me and held a finger up signalling she would be with me in a moment. I nodded and calmly waited. She got off the phone and smiled at me. "You must be Ayame. Welcome to Konaha High School." She said kindly. "My name is Shizune. That is your schedule and locker combination." She said gesturing towards the papers. I nodded and smiled. "Thanks."
I left the office and found my locker. I calmly unlocked my locker. I heard someone come up behind me. "Hi! You're Ayame right?" I turned to see a guy with light brown hair, brown eyes and red tribal paint on his face. "That's my name." I said closing my locker. "I'm Kiba. I'm supposed to show you around school." He said. I nodded. He showed me where all my classes were then he started to explain to me who to avoid. "You see that girl with the red hair and black rimmed glasses?" He asked. I glanced over and nodded. "Her name is Karin. Avoid that bitch at all costs." He said coldly. "Same with him." He said nodding towards the boy I had seen earlier. He was staring at me again. I nodded and noticed a group of seniors in our way. Kiba started to walk past them and I followed. One of them slapped my ass. I spun around and slapped the guy across the face so hard he got thrown back into the locker behind him. He had blonde hair that was up in a ponytail and blue eyes. His left eye was covered by his long bangs. He looked shocked. I glared at him then walked away. I joined the group where Kiba stood. "Nice!" He said high fiving me. I smiled and twirled a strand of hair pretending to flirt. "I try." He laughed and introduced me to everyone. I met Hinata, Sakura, Ino and Tenten. As well as Naruto, Sasuke, Shikamaru, Choji and Neji.
We chatted until the bell rang. I ran to my first period class: Grade Twelve English. I sat down towards the back and waited for the teacher to enter. I felt eyes on me again. I looked up and noticed that one of the guys were checking me out. I rolled my eyes and opened my sketch book and started drawing. "So you're an artist huh? Very hot." I looked up to see the same guy from the hall standing next to me. I raised an eyebrow at him. He smirked. He opened his mouth to say something when another senior walked up to me. "Back off Deidara." I looked at the other guy. He had silver hair that was slicked back and dark eyes. He smiled at me. He looked so familiar. "Hidan?" I asked. "Yes Ayame?" He asked smiling. I flung my arms around my cousin. "Oh my gosh! I barely recognized you!" I said happily pulling away from him. "Me too! You look like a woman already! How long has it been? Five years?" He asked I nodded. He stood up. "Oi! Boys!" All the guys in the class turned to look. "If any of you touch my cousin I'm going to beat you up so badly you're going to need Toby to go find all the missing pieces of you! Got it?" He said looking directly at Deidara. They nodded and went back to their conversations. Minutes later the teacher walked in and we started. The day went by quickly and before I knew it, it was lunch time.
I bought my lunch and headed outside. I sat on the grass under the cherry blossom tree and ate my lunch. I had just finished eating when Karin that girl Kiba told me to avoid showed up. She walked right up to me. "Are you Ayame?" She asked sweetly. I nodded. "Well we should hang out sometime." She said. I raised an eyebrow. I noticed Kiba and Naruto standing there worriedly. "Hm let me think? No." I stated walking past her. "Oh it wasn't a question." She said. "Whoops. Looks like I answered anyway." I said walking up to the two boys. They high-five me and we walked inside. It didn't take long to figure out the couples: Naruto and Hinata, Sasuke and Sakura, Neji and Tenten, Shikamaru and Ino. Then there was Kiba, Choji and myself who were single. I noticed that guy was staring at me again from the corner of the room. "Um guys. Who's that guy who's staring at me?" Sasuke looked up and immediately looked away. "Gaara." He said coldly. "He is not the best person to be friends with or to be in a relationship with. Everyone he's friends with or dates disappears. No one knows why." He said. I nodded. Gaara continued to stare at me. He had this look in his eyes. He looked broken yet furious at the same time.
The bell rang and I headed to my next class: Art. I sat down in my seat and calmly waited for the teacher. I could feel several pairs of eyes on me as the class chatted but all the chatter stopped as Gaara walked in and sat down beside me. I smiled at him softly and he looked surprised. A little kindness goes a long way. My mother's words echoed through my head. I looked up as our teacher walked in. "Hello class. I believe we have a new student?" She spotted me and smiled. "Well hello Ayame! My name is Kurenia Sensai." She said warmly. I smiled and nodded. She noticed Gaara and seemed to look uncomfortable. "Would you like to move Ayame?" She asked. I shook my head. "I'm good." I said giving her my best smile. She nodded slowly. "Alright our first assignment is to paint an emotion. You have one hour to do the assignment then we will present it to the class. GO!" I grabbed the paint I needed and started painting. I swiftly painted and when I was finished I stood back and smiled. It was a painting of a blood red heart with back and grey streaks pouring out of it. I cleaned up and glanced over at Gaara to see he had finished as well. I walked over and looked at his painting while he put his paint away. It was a beat up teddy bear that had a lopsided heart. I felt a sting of pain. I turned to see Gaara behind me. He had a lifeless look on his face as he looked at the painting. "I'm sorry." I whispered softly. "It must have hurt greatly when the person died." I walked away. I put my equipment away and sat silently. I felt Gaara's eyes on me.
The day soon ended and I started the long trek home. I started to walk past a dark alley when I heard a woman scream. I ran straight towards the scream. I found a woman on the verge of being raped by a bunch of complete dirt bags. I whistled and they turned. "Let her go." I stated simply. "Or what?" The person who looked like the leader said. "Or I will kick your ass to next week." The three men laughed. One of them reached out for me. I grabbed his hand and threw him straight into a wall. The other tried to tackle me but I kicked him in the stomach throwing him back wards causing him to hit his head on the dumpster behind him. The leader released the woman who immediately ran. I watched as she left but I looked back just in time to see him tackle me. I lay on the ground with him on top of me. I felt him pin my wrists and put his entire body weight on me. I winced in pain. He leaned down to kiss me but was ripped off me and thrown straight into the wall behind me. "What did I tell you Kioshi ?" I looked up to see Gaara holding the man who was apparently name Kioshi up by the collar of his shirt. "What did I tell you?" He repeated. "You told me to stop raping chicks. But she attacked me and she's so hot I had to." He said winking at me. I kneed him in the stomach and spat at him then grabbed my bag. "Well I guess you need to be punished." I heard Gaara say. I turned to see his fist connect with Kioshi's jaw. He continued to beat Kioshi until he was so bloody you couldn't see his features any more. He spat at Lee then looked up at me. "Are you okay?" He asked huskily. I nodded. "Thank you." I said and started to walk away. He followed me home. I walked inside and waved. He nodded without smiling and disappeared into the now darkening streets.