Chapter 1: New Friends and new beginnings.
I rested my forehead against the cool glass of the car window. My long, dark-brown hair was tied into a ponytail, while my long bangs hid my right eye. That eye, like its twin was a deep blue-green color, and lightly lined with black eyeliner. The rest of my pale face was reflected back at me as I watched my new home go whizzing by.
"Jessica" called my mother in her usual, loving shrill voice. "Stop breathing on the window or you're going to have to clean it. Also stop leaning against it, you'll leave a smudge." I sighed, extra hard, but did as she bid me. I was moving because my Father had decided to take a job heading the Anbu. Tomorrow, I began my torturous stay at Konoha High school. Oh, what a joy this was going to be.
After spending an exhausting night of unpacking, I was ready for bed. Unfortunately, my Mother had different Ideas. So I spent 2 hours cleaning my new school uniform, and organizing my school things before she said I could go to bed. That night, as I slept, I heard the howling of wolves.
The next morning I dragged my ass out of bed reluctantly, and groggily. I put on my new uniform, which was a black button up, short sleeve shirt with the logo on the upper left hand side, and a red plaid skirt. I pulled on knee high black socks, and laced up my new red converse high tops. I carefully flat ironed my hair so that it was pin straight, and then I put a red plaid head band on. I grabbed a pop tart, and waited for my dad to drive me to school.
When I reached the large ominous building, I backed slightly away. Then I took a deep breath, and walked in. I opened the door that was marked 'Main Office', and walked in. As I did, I had to duck. A sake bottle came hurtling towards my head. A woman with short brown hair walked out of the office at the back, shaking her head. She looked up, and smiled when she saw me.
"You must be Jessica Lawson. I'm Shizune" She said in a friendly voice. She looked back at the closed office door, and sighed. She handed me a folder full of papers. "In there is your schedule, a map, and permission slip that your parents have to sign so that we can send you to the hospital, if needed. If you'll give me a moment, I'll call in your student guide. If you'd kindly sit over there, she'll be in shortly." I sat on the ugly wooden chair close to the door, opened my folder, and removed my schedule. I barely had time to look at it when a blonde girl burst in. I say burst, because that is the only way to describe this girl. She had long blonde hair, blue, pupil-less eyes, and was wearing her uniform a little too tight for my tastes. The shirt's first button was opened, revealing a red tank top.
"Hellllllooooo!" she called. "Does someone need a guide?" I stood and walked over to her.
"I do, I think," I said nervously. She grinned, and took my hand, and my schedule.
"Good. That's why I'm here. Now what's your first class…?" She studied my schedule, and then scowled. "How can they ask me to be your guide when you're only in one of my classes, and it's at the end of the day?" She looked up, and scanned the sea of students for a moment, and then her scowl was replaced with a smile. "HEY KIBA" she yelled at the top of her lungs. A guy with spiky brown hair walked over. He was wearing the guy's uniform of a white, collared shirt with the schools logo, and black slacks. He was also wearing black and white checkered Vans.
"What do you want Ino?" he said in a gruff voice. "I have to get to class." He glanced at me, and then looked back at Ino.
"That's exactly why I need you. Jessica here has your first couple of classes, and she's new. I thought that you could maybe help her out?" Kiba sighed, and nodded. He held his hand out for my schedule, and as soon as it was out of Ino's hand, she ran over to a girl with pink hair who was rummaging through her locker at the end of the hall.
"Don't mind her," he said. "She's what you would call 'The Queen Bee' here." he grinned "Or you could call her a gossip or just a total bitch. Whichever you prefer really." I laughed lightly. He smiled. "I'll take you to your first two classes. And then we'll find someone with your next class, ok?" I nodded and we ventured off in to the hallways of doom.
We arrived at a classroom, and made our way towards the back of the room. A few minutes after we sat down, a blonde, and a guy with a pineapple shaped head came in. They walked over and sat down on my right and in front of Kiba.
"Hey Kiba" said the blonde in a slightly annoying voice. "Who's the chick?"
"New kid" said Kiba. "Her name's Jess I think. It is Jess right?" I nodded. "I rescued her from Ino."
"What you mean to say is Ino pushed her on you, cause she doesn't have any classes with her right?" said Pineapple Boy in a bored tone. He sighed. "It makes me wonder why I still date her." The blonde rolled his eyes.
"You say that every time she's a total bitch. You're only with her because she's hot."
"You're right," said the talking pineapple boy. He turned to me. "I'm Shikamaru, and he's Naruto." I nodded in acknowledgement. Then a man with spiky gray hair walked into the room.
"G'morning slackers." he said in a surprisingly pleasant voice. He turned and began to write something on the board.
"That's Kakashi," said Kiba. "His English classes aren't really that hard. It's mainly because he's too lazy to actually think of a lesson plan." Kakashi turned from the board, and sat down at his desk. He pulled out a dirty book and began reading. Written on the board was 'Independent Study Day'. I shook my head. Something told me that the teachers here could only get worse.
After English, I timidly followed Kiba to our art class. A man with spiky brown hair was at the front of the room smoking a cigarette.
"That's Azuma," said Kiba. "Amazing artist and he was the first one to realize that Shikamaru is lazy, because he's a genius." Kiba introduced me to Azuma, and then dragged me to the back if the room again. After Class had started, Azuma walked around handing out large sheets of blank, white paper.
"Draw how you feel right now. It can be anything you want, but I swear if I have to look a 30 happy rainbows I'm gonna puke. That goes for crying rain clouds as well." I smiled on the inside, and began sketching. Half an Hour Later, I turned my finished product in. It was a self-portrait, except I looked see-through. Everyone and everything else around me was in perfect clarity.
"Definitely not Happy Rainbow" muttered my teacher, as he surveyed my work. Kiba ushered me out the door, just as the bell rang to change classes. A quiet looking girl with purple hair followed him out.
"This is Hinata," he said. "She has your next three classes. I'll see you at lunch, ok?" I nodded, and he left Hinata and I to our own defenses. She motioned for me to follow her, and I did so. We only walked a few feet, and turned into a classroom on the right side of the hallway. It had references to history everywhere. I sighed. History was usually one of my best subjects, but I had a feeling that this teacher might get a little too excited about their subject. A woman with brown hair, and a precisely placed trench coat walked in.
"Th-that's Anko," said Hinata, with a slight stutter. "Sh-she can b-b-be a l-l-little…" She was cut off by the woman shouting.
"Alright you worthless pieces of scum. Sit Down, shut up, and read for the next 45 minutes!" We all did as she said for fear of her losing her temper. At the end of the hour, Hinata and I walked up to Naruto, who was waiting outside in the hall. He smiled warmly and put his arm around Hinata.
"So, How was class with the psycho Chick?" he asked. Suddenly, Naruto visibly paled, and tried to get away. Then, the longest snake I have ever seen shot out the door of the classroom, and wrapped itself around Naruto's neck. Anko ran out of the classroom, and proceeded to get in Naruto's face.
"What was that you arrogant little asshole?" She hissed at him. He struggled against her hold.
"Nothing, mam" he said. She nodded and released him. He waited until she was out of earshot, and then muttered. "Crazy bitch" Anko had him tied up again in no time. Hinata and I made our way to the gym, giggling the whole time.
After we had changed into the uniform black shorts and white shirts, we made our way to the gym floor. Kiba came out of the guy's locker room, and walked over to us. We talked for a few minutes, and then a monstrosity walked out of the office at the far end of the gym. I don't know what made me cringe more. It was a cross between the bowl cut, and all that green spandex. I mean come on! GREEN SPANDEX? Ugh!
"GOOD MORNING BRIGHT YOUNG STUDENTS!" he was wheeling a cart full of neon green/yellow softballs. I cringed. I thought that when I had left America, I had left softball there. "We're heading out to the baseball field to attempt something that many American girls and middle aged men play. The glorious sport of softball." I groaned softly. Kiba looked at me with a bewildered look. Then a student who could have been the teacher son snapped to attention.
"Hai, Guy Sensei!" he said in a slightly less annoying voice than Naruto's. "I will conquer this sport with as much passion as any other physical activity." We followed the 'prodigy' out to the field. The familiar scent of red dirt, and fresh cut grass filled my nostrils. I inhaled deeply. I held back the tears that threatened to force themselves out of my eyes.
"We will be splitting into two teams and at the end of a 2 month training period; we shall have a friendly competition." Said Guy Sensei. "As for the team captains I choose Lee, and Jessica. Yu seem to be familiar to the field, you'll be second captain. Now, pick your teams. Ladies first." I mumbled Kiba's name, and then he told me who else to pick. After everyone had been sorted out, guy handed me a glove and a ball.
"I read your athletic file from your school in America. Why don't you show me what you've got?" I nodded, and jogged over to first base. He put Kiba on second, Lee on short, and a guy named Sasuke on third. I threw a few grounders around the infield, and then I tossed the ball to Guy Sensei at home plate. Three more kids, including Hinata, went out into the outfield. Guy hit the ball around the infield, and the others' mission was to throw them to me, so I could tag the runner out. We did this for 15 minutes, and I didn't miss a single one. As we went inside, I could feel the other student's eyes on the back of my head.
After Class, Kiba, Hinata, and I walked to the cafeteria in silence. We sat down at a table with Naruto, Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Ino. I felt slightly out of place, but nobody seemed to notice. The Pink haired girl I had seen Ino with earlier, walked over, and plopped down next to Sasuke. She eyed me with some suspicion, turned to Ino, and smiled slightly. Ino nodded in return.
"Jessica, this is Sakura. Sakura, this is Jessica." Sakura smiled at me. I had a feeling that smile was a fake, and she had an evil inner self that wants to take me down…
After lunch, Hinata and I headed to our AP biology class. The teacher was sitting his desk, talking into a cell phone. He was a rather large man, and he had long white hair,
"Look Kakashi, it's not my fault they've sole out of every copy." He waited for a reply. "No I will not let you read the original manuscripts. Now, I have to go. The little idiots are starting to come in, and I'm guessing your students are missing you as well" He spoke with a booming voice that seemed to ring from every corner of the room. Hinata and I sat closer to the front this time, and I mentally prepared myself for one weird science class.
"Hello Class. Just a reminder, my name is not Ero Senin. It's Master Jiraya. Get it, got it, good" He glared around the room, and then smiled when he saw me. We locked eyes for a few seconds then he turned to the rest of the room. "Today, we're doing the vocabulary and chapter reviews for chapters 11, 12, and 13." He tossed me a book, and then we worked without stopping for the rest of the class.
Hinata and I met Kiba outside the room. Together we walked to our last class. The room was filled with posters of musical notes, and there was a large piano in the upper left hand corner of the room. There were three rows of chairs, and a set of risers with the levels on them. The Choir director came over to Kiba and I.
"Hello" he said. "I'm Iruka, and I'll be directing you this scholastic year." He had a friendly smile and a scar across the bridge of his nose. His dark brown hair was pulled into a ponytail. "We need you to take your sectional test before we begin today, so if you'll follow me to the piano, we can get started. You may bring Kiba if you think it'll make you feel more comfortable." I shook my head, and Kiba sat down in the smallish group of guys that were off to one side. I followed Iruka to the piano and took a deep breath. He played a simple C note, and gestured for me to go on from there. I did three octaves worth of scales before he said I could stop. Thus, I was dubbed a first soprano. He positioned me towards the back of the group of first sopranos, because of my height. He gave me a folder full of sheet music. He told me to memorize the songs tonight, and if I still needed help getting the melody down, he was free during lunch. After that, it was time to go home. I rushed out the front doors, saying good-bye and thank you to Kiba and Hinata as I did so. I climbed into the passenger seat of my mom's sedan.
"How was your first day sweetie?" she asked. I looked back at my school and smirked.
"All I can say is this is going to be an interesting experience for me."