Author's Note: This is an even better edited version, as I have just finished reviewing it and making some grammatical corrections. Chapter two of the story is posted, hope you enjoy!
That Fanfic You Read That One Time….
Naruto glanced up at the sky, wondering what amazing worlds lay beyond the dreadful place that confined him. He thought absent-mindedly that he could get lost in the clouds, and drift forever in peace. The school bell rang - a reality check. He knew that skipping one class today to daydream was already one class too many; he needed to focus. Running to the door at the top of the roof, he headed down the stairs, looking at his schedule to see where he needed to be next. This was his first day in high school, though he found that it wasn't terribly unlike middle school. He smiled when he saw the class he was taking: an elective. It was lucky for them, being freshmen and able to choose at least some of their classes. "Creative Writing Class" the schedule read, and he felt a wave of happiness pass over him. Writing was one of the few ways he could express himself, since he had few friends to talk to.
Upon entering the class, he chose a seat at the back of the room. That way he wouldn't be disturbed by the rest of the students, who probably already hated him anyway. He watched the class fill up, and frowned as he realized that writing seemed to be every outcast's expressive outlet. He paid little attention to the girls, who most likely weren't actual writers, but fan girls with romantic notions of becoming novelists-or at least dating one. Instead, he moved on to the boys. Prospective friends, he thought, which was another reason he avoided the girls. Naruto was no good with the female gender. He slurred his speech and could never think of the right thing to say, sometimes even getting himself slapped. He sighed, returning to his previous thought that writing seemed to be every outcast's expressive outlet. He saw Gaara and a few other people, who were deemed as Naruto was: "unfit to talk to", enter the classroom. He frowned as it dawned on him that he wasn't as special as he thought he was.
A twang of curiosity hit him when Uchiha Sasuke walked into the room. The boy didn't have any problems that Naruto could think of. He was well regarded and even had a sort of fan club that followed him around; Naruto couldn't imagine a reason for him to desire to write. When the room was filled, the teacher entered the room and began her introductions. Naruto began to tune the woman out, figuring he'd snap back to attention when she was actually talking about the subject he adored so much. The window seemed a friendly and altogether too tempting place to put his attention, so he gave in and spent a good while watching the clouds. He liked this room - it almost felt like he was back on the roof; like he could let the people melt away and focus on what he really enjoyed.
Pen hit paper before he realized what was going on. He had already started scrawling things down about the clouds and the impact they had on him. He never thought he could capture their freedom in words, but still the words came, and faster, he thought, than he could stand to write them all. He wondered if writing class was supposed to inspire you to do things like this. After a moment's daze and a page length of poetry, Naruto's attention was directed back to the teacher as his name was called.
"Uzumaki Naruto." The teacher said in an official tone.
"Huh… What? I'm sorry I don't know the answer." He replied in a hazy voice.
"This is attendance, so you can relax. But I'd appreciate if you'd pay a little more attention to what I'm saying. I promise I will give you due time to daydream, so long as you write what your thinking down." She informed him, and the class laughed. Naruto just nodded and sat up straight, trying to make the impression that he wanted to hear what she was going to say. She smiled, and continued down the attendance list. Naruto was glad that the laughter seemed distant. He figured there were probably a few empty seats between him and anyone who would want to laugh at him, and it was a comfort. He scanned the room quickly and realized to his surprise that two of the seats nearest him weren't empty at all. In fact, there were two quite real, though not terribly large people seated there - one behind him, and one in front. He looked behind and identified the pale, red-headed figure as Gaara, and made a mental note never to look back during class ever again. He figured out from the spiky black locks of hair sticking into his face that the person in front of him was Sasuke. Great, he thought, of all the people I was seated next to, it had to be these two. At least they didn't laugh at me, he concluded. He began to wonder why exactly they hadn't laughed. "Alright everyone, to start off the class I would like you write a few paragraphs about whatever is floating around in those spacey heads of yours. You may share them at the end of the half hour period you are given to write them, if you'd like." Everyone nodded silently, and began to work.
'Why didn't Sasuke and Gaara laugh' was the only thing that came to mind. Maybe I can bullshit it, I don't have to share it, think about something cool to write, damn you!, Naruto thought, but in vain. He decided he would take lemons and make lemonade, and began scribbling down what he was thinking. His simple sentence, 'Why didn't Sasuke and Gaara laugh' unraveled into a compelling story of sorrow and deceit before his very eyes. It was a trap, a ploy, and in the story they befriended Naruto only to betray him in the very end. It was all a sick joke, and worse yet, it all seemed so plausible - so real. Everything the characters in his story did were things he could see his schoolmates doing, and at the end of the half hour, the grief-stricken blond in the story had resolved to kill himself, to rid the world of his awful presence. Still, there was a small ray of hope. The main character stood before the cliff he was about to leap from, a small ray of sunlight broke through the clouds and shone upon him. Lies, betrayal, and deceit, but still, there was hope. There was sunlight - there was warmth. It ended nicely, the main character walking off into the sunrise, following the dreams of his childhood.
He stopped just as they ran out of time, clutching his hand. Writing cramps, he thought, frowning to himself. He heard a small "heh" noise from behind him, which he under stood as coming from Gaara. It seemed to be directed at his hurting hand. Assuming that Gaara wasn't merely enjoying the blond boy's misery, Naruto came to the conclusion that he was relating to the hand cramps. To confirm this, he gained the courage to look back at the strange boy and mutter "stupid cramps" to gauge a reaction. Gaara seemed slightly surprised that anyone had actually dared to look at him and say something, but still amused. He gave a rare hint of a smile and nodded before putting on an angry face and looking down at his paper as if he was going to murder it hideously.
"Alright class, anyone feel up to sharing what they wrote?" The teacher asked in an overly friendly tone. Naruto looked down at his paper and was suddenly very grateful that sharing was optional. He wasn't sure how the class would have reacted to his thought process, and was even more scared as to what Sasuke and Gaara's reaction toward being included in his story would be. He looked around to see no one raising their hands to share. He had expected as much from certain people, mainly Gaara behind him, but no one seemed to have the confidence in their writing to say anything. "If no one is willing to share, I'm going to have to pick someone at random, you know the rules." Naruto's heart pounded as he thought about the possibility of him being chosen. He told himself it wasn't going to happen, that if she called his name he would merely wish himself away and would go. Impossible, but still, it calmed him down some.
"Uzumaki Naruto, my little daydreamer, care to share?" The teacher asked, in a voice all too commanding to be a question. Naruto squeezed his eyes shut, and wished himself away with everything he had. The last thing he heard was loud screams, and then there was sunlight staining his closed lids. He snapped his eyes open. He was on top of the roof, in his favorite spot. He couldn't believe it, had he been daydreaming about the entire class. He checked his watch, and gasped. It was the correct time to be in writing class, and he could have sworn he had left the roof. Frowning, he came to the conclusion that he had been dreaming about the entire class, and fallen asleep watching the clouds on the roof. He headed down to the bottom of the stairs, and wandered towards the writing classroom. Maybe the teacher would excuse him for being late. When he got to the door and saw everyone in the class with bewildered stares plastered upon their faces. He wondered what had happened, opened the door slowly, and began to speak.
"I'm sorry that I'm—" He started, but was interrupted by the teacher.
"I would appreciate it if you returned to your seat Mr. Uzumaki. I understand you were nervous to share your story but I don't want you sneaking out of the classroom like that again, are we clear?" She asked, in a somewhat commanding but also sympathetic tone. Naruto merely nodded dumbly, realizing with some horror that he didn't dream anything. As he made his way to his seat people continued to stared at him, most of them looking amused and a few with a better grasp of things looking confused. He sat down, and realized that three of his classmates did not appear to be amused or confused, but merely stared at him calmly. Sabaku no Gaara, Uchiha Sasuke, and Haruno Sakura watched him in an almost curious manner. He watched as Sakura turned to her friend Ino and whispered something before jerking her head in Naruto's direction. Ino glanced back with the same stare they had all been giving him. He sank into his seat as much as possible, feeling that he might die at any moment from embarrassment, or worse, end up on the roof again.
It seemed someone had shared while he was gone, so he didn't have to worry about his story being read, which was relieving for him. The rest of the class continued normally and gradually people stopped staring at him, though occasionally he could hear them murmuring about him from afar. The four who were giving him the strangest looks of all had returned to their work, and the rest of the class was pleasant. At the end of the hour and a half long period, he reached for his agenda and scribbled down the homework in its designated spot, hoping to be at least somewhat organized this year. As people were filing out of the class, it dawned on him that the story he had written was missing from his desk. He cursed inwardly and looked around, until he spotted the paper in none other than Uchiha Sasuke's hands. He sighed - now fairly sure that God had a personal grudge against him. He noticed Sakura, Ino, Gaara, and Sasuke forming a small group, exchanging a few words as they exited. He didn't bother to think about what they could be saying; the only possible explanation in his mind was that while he had, well, he wasn't even sure what had happened, Sasuke had taken the paper off his desk and read it, and was now sharing the juicy details with his friends.
As Naruto made his way through the rest of his classes, he began to notice more and more people giving him that stare that Uchiha Sasuke had given him. He wondered if Sasuke had really shown all of these people his story, or what. He had Algebra II with Gaara, whom didn't take his eyes off Naruto for the entire class, then Chemistry I where a strange boy with dark hair and sunglasses on all the time sat reclusively in the corner and stared at him. He felt relieved when it came time for his double free period at the end of the day because could go up on the roof and relax. He walked to the base of the staircase leading him to freedom and, after checking to make sure no teachers were watching, slipped onto the roof. This being his first day, he was expecting to feel trapped, but this was ridiculous. Running over to the spot where the clouds were perfect, he had to come to a skidding stop to avoid tripping over a boy sitting exactly where he had wanted to sit. He couldn't believe his luck, someone else sitting in his favorite secluded spot. Ah well, maybe I'll make a friend, he thought to himself in an optimistic way.
He chose a spot near the boy that wasn't too close for comfort, then plopped down to watch the clouds. The dark-brown haired boy turned to look at him with some surprise, but then turned away and said nothing, continuing to daydream. Naruto smiled when he realized nothing needed to be said. They continued to watch the clouds together until the bell rang signaling time for them to go home. The boy stood up first, sighing before putting on a smile and introducing himself.
" Nara Shikamaru." He said simply, offering the blond boy a hand to get up. Naruto took his hand and pulled himself up, smiling broadly.
"I'm—" he began, but was cut off.
"Uzumaki Naruto, I know. I heard about you from Sasuke." The boy finished for him. Naruto's smile vanished, this boy too? He thought, sighing. He knew it was too good to be true; why would the God that hated him so much let a friend fall into his lap? Shikamaru seemed to note his upset reaction to this, but didn't say anything about it, instead changing the subject. "Do you have anything to do this afternoon?" He asked, though he didn't really care what the answer was. Naruto was coming with him whether he liked it or not.
"Uhh…well…" truthfully Naruto never had anything to do after school, but he didn't want to make it seem that way.
"Follow me." The boy interrupted in a commanding tone. Naruto did as he was told, wondering if he had just made a friend, or if someone was going to beat him up in an alleyway. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Shikamaru looked back to make sure Naruto was following him as he had instructed, and smiled when he saw there wasn't going to be a problem. He remembered when this happened to him and how he had snuck away from Ino, in favor of cloud-watching. They continued down the hallways in silence, until taking a side exit out of the building. Naruto had meant to say "where are we going" ages ago, but hadn't found the courage to do so. When they stepped outside, Naruto noticed to his dismay there was a small gang of students not too far ahead. He quickly identified Uchiha Sasuke, Gaara, Sakura, and Yamanaka Ino standing there. He looked around for options - somewhere to turn and run, but his legs refused to move towards the school. Shikamaru reached the group first and shouted a merry "found him!" at the others.
"Where was he?" Sasuke asked in amused tone.
"Troublesome boy was cloud-watching." Shikamaru replied. Troublesome? Naruto thought, that was hardly fair.
"Shikamaru calls everyone troublesome." Gaara informed Naruto in a quiet voice. Everyone turned to Gaara, surprised that he was speaking. "Clarifying for the newbie…he looked confused." Gaara explained.
Naruto nodded in thanks, but then remembered he wasn't sure if they were friends or foes. He had to say something; if he was going to be bullied, he at least had the right to know. "Are you…going to beat me up?" The blond boy asked meekly. Uzumaki's baby blue eyes met Sasuke's almost black ones, and fear emanated from Naruto.
"Dobe, we're not going to beat you up." The Uchiha replied before laughing a little.
"Don't call me that, and...and don't laugh!" Naruto exclaimed, losing his confidence and clutching his pounding chest. He hated situations like this, he couldn't handle them. "The hell am I supposed to think, you people leading me around to your little gang…" his voice trailed off.
"Sasuke, don't be so harsh!" Sakura called out, walking over to Naruto and putting her hand on his shoulder. "We're not going to hurt you, we just want to talk to you about what happened in creative writing class today." Sakura told him in a comforting voice. Naruto couldn't help but blush at the hand on his shoulder; he had always thought Sakura was cute. She had long silky pink hair and bright green eyes, she was thin and very intelligent. Sasuke rolled his eyes at the scene before him.
"You gunna wipe the drool off your face, dobe?" Sasuke commented sarcastically, flicking his black hair from his eyes.
"Sasuke!" Sakura yelled again. To emphasize that she wouldn't let Sasuke pick on the blond boy, she stayed by Naruto's side. "Naruto," she continued kindly, "do you remember what happened in class today?"
"Yea, Sasuke stole my story." Naruto commented, giving the boy an angry glare. Sasuke's eyes widened, he had completely forgotten about that. Naruto saw Ino laugh in a friendly manner.
"I like where your priorities are." Gaara told him in that same quiet voice, a small smile crossing his pale lips. Sasuke couldn't help but nod, after all he had chosen writing as his elective.
"No dobe, she means when you disappeared." Sasuke clarified, making an effort to sound friendly despite repeatedly calling him a loser.
"Oh…I don't know what happened, I wasn't even sure it actually happened. I just wanted to disappear, and then I did, next thing I knew I was on the roof." Naruto explained, running his fingers through his spiky blond hair in a fidgety manner.
"Interesting." Sakura commented. All eyes turned to Shikamaru, who nodded.
"Congratulations, dobe, you may be more special than you think you are. We'll see you tomorrow then. Meet us here, and don't bring a friend." Sasuke instructed him, and Naruto nodded weakly. He couldn't help but feel like there was something these kids knew that he didn't. Feeling that the 'meeting' of sorts was over, Shikamaru headed away from the school, and Ino followed him. Sakura waved goodbye, and headed out herself, giving Sasuke one last glance that said "be nice". As Gaara and Sasuke turned to leave, Naruto remembered his paper.
"Hey, you still took my story, we're supposed to hold on to those so…I want it back." The blond said, causing Sasuke to stop. The slim framed Uchiha frowned slightly.
"I didn't get a chance to read it yet." The black-haired boy admitted, holding the paper to his chest defensively. "Gaara said you were scribbling like a madman, so I was curious." Naruto smiled slightly at this, bonding with the boy over writing.
"Give it back tomorrow?" Naruto suggested, wondering quietly what had happened today. He couldn't have imagined his first day of school going the way it did.
"Hai! See ya later, dobe." Sasuke said, almost affectionately. Naruto sighed and figured this was probably his new nickname courtesy of the boy. Couldn't he have picked something cooler, like 'fox' or even just plain 'you'. Did it have to be an insult? He thought, but really he was glad that he might actually have the chance at making friends. Maybe high school really was a little different from middle school, maybe he didn't have to be an outcast.