Author's note: lyssanja's back, yeah. unofficially, i suppose. this one's a crossover with baka to test to shokanjuu, although you won't find them characters in here. i just tweaked their world a bit. i hope nobody kills me for this. i'd love to hear some feedback though.
Chapter 1
The Revolution as Started by Class 2F
Part I
The ring of the morning bell that heralded the end of the summer was the only thought in Uzumaki Naruto's mind as he sluggishly trudged up the stairs, headed for his new class.
It was the first day of another year at Konoha Academy, and the caste was sure to be strict on students like him, who belonged to the class of bottom-feeders. At least he was not late this time. Ebisu – sensei had no excuse to whack his head with his evil giant fan.
As he took one step up the grand staircase at the time, Naruto's mind whirred furiously, thinking of the time it would take to reach his classroom. And his steps slowed considerably with each second. Going up via the 'grand' (as students opt to call the marble, winding staircase that dominated the foyer of the academy building) would mean having to pass through wings A, B and E to reach his classroom at F wing.
With the rigid caste system employed at Konoha Academy, the A wing was the most opulent in each of the three floors in the high school building, consisting of huge classrooms that were interconnected by means of sliding doors, making it easier for the students to access their mini-library and kitchenette by just having to pass the audio-visual room. They even have laboratories for their enthusiastic students (and future chemists and whatevers).
Naruto fairly drooled at the thought of 'kitchenette'. He heard the school itself was responsible for stocking up; the A students just had to request whatever tickled their fancy.
Whereas the A wing was the most magnificent, B wing came a justifiable second. It boasted of classrooms just a little bit less luxurious than A wing's, and also had an audio-visual room and mini-library. C wing was the third and D wing the fourth… and so on, with F wing being the last, the wing fit for the school's bottom-feeders.
F wing was made up of a hodgepodge of secondhand from all other wings, to put it nicely. The second-floor F wing's door was the old door of Class B circa 1998, before a randy young student put his fist through it to display his zeal for life. Now the door was rightfully F's, and punctured with a fist-sized hole that served as a peeping hole to see if the teacher had already arrived.
There were no multimedia devices for each student; Class F had to make do with a multimedia projector connected to an ancient CPU that took ten years to boot. They had, however a surprisingly well – kept black board, and a bounteous supply of chalk. The students' desks were a mixture of damaged desks from all other classes. As such, no two desks were alike, and each one of those desks sported a splint or superglue of some sort.
Their air – conditioning unit was a generous donation from Class C, and interestingly made the classroom hotter in the summer and colder in the winter. There was not even a cupboard for food.
F wing was so deprived that it was ultimately placed in the farthest corner of the building, far from any apprising eyes of visitors.
When Naruto finally reached his destination, the teacher was already in front, smiling like a blind fool at the students. Naruto barged in with as much enthusiasm as a convicted prisoner to his death row prison.
"You're late," the teacher barked.
"Yes, good morning to you too, sensei," Naruto replied absently. He trudged up to sit at the back, beside Nara Shikamaru.
Nara Shikamaru was a quiet, brooding boy with long black hair tied in a low pony tail, and glittering black eyes. He was silent most of the time, and quite unattentive in class, preferring to either doze off or watch the clouds. His seat was always the last seat beside the window, next to Naruto's seat.
There were rumors that Shikamaru was a genius, his IQ going as high as 200, but since he was always second to the last in placement, Naruto didn't bother to care. Shikamaru was Shikamaru, after all.
Naruto twiddled with the buttons of his uniform as he partly listened to their teacher—who was also their homeroom adviser—prattle on. He called himself Umino Iruka, although his features did not inspire one to envision summer, and the sea, and—
"Uzumaki Naruto!"
Naruto blinked back to reality, partly irritated and partly baffled. "What now, Iruka – sensei?"
"You weren't listening at all, were you, Naruto – kun?" There was a healthy dose of disapproval in their homeroom adviser's tone that made Naruto look up. And become slack – jawed.
He was fairly sure that everyone else in the room (except Shikamaru) had their jaws hanging off their hinges as well. Because there, standing beside the teacher, looking all for the world like the goddess who lost her robe, was Haruno Sakura.
Iruka – sensei was oblivious to the general disbelief of his class, of course. He was smiling cordially at Sakura as he gestured to Naruto. "You may sit beside that loud blonde, Haruno-chan. Just ignore his idiocy." Haruno Sakura smiled gratefully and made a formal bow before walking towards her designated seat.
Naruto was too stunned to rise to the teacher's biting words. His eyes were glued to the petite doll walking regally towards him, like a pleasant dream.
Haruno Sakura was well – known among the second year students as the undergrad princess—the complement to the reigning prince Uchiha Sasuke. If Uzumaki Naruto was the perpetual deadlast, and Uchiha Sasuke was always at the top of the ranking, then Haruno Sakura never left the second place. She has been listed in the semestral top 10, assigned a post in the student government, and featured in the school and local newspapers since freshman year. And never had it crossed anybody's mind that she would fail the semestral placement examination and land in Class F.
It was surreal.
Naruto's eyes followed Haruno Sakura's every movement. He did not even blink, afraid that she would disappear if he as much as close his eyes. He watched her gingerly hang her bag on the hook, and cough lightly. She sat on her chair, a cushioned, high – backed seat that Class B bequeathed to them five years ago, and dust clouded upwards. Sakura coughed harder.
Naruto blinked.
Sakura was now smiling at him. "You're Uzumaki Naruto aren't you? We've met before, but I'm sure you don't remember. I'm pleased to be your seatmate."
Dumbfounded, Naruto accepted her extended hand. She looked cheerful, but her eyes were distant, her voice lugubrious. And then Naruto did what he did best—putting his foot on his mouth. "How come you flunked placement?" He asked.
Sakura blushed, and coughed again. "I was sick during the exams, so I apparently shaded the wrong circles." She smiled wanly, before turning her attention back to the adviser and leaving Naruto to his own devices.
Naruto turned to Shikamaru. Iruka was still droning on about his too – complicated policies, which didn't interest Naruto one bit. "Hey Shikamaru," he whispered, poking his seatmate on the side.
"What?" Shikamaru asked, a little bit irate.
"What is placement exam for, anyway?"
Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "To determine what class we should be placed in, obviously."
"But that doesn't really measure our intelligence, does it? I mean, Sakura – chan's real smart, but she's here. All because she's sick an' all."
"Well, the goal of placement exam isn't to measure our intelligence, Naruto." Shikamaru explained impatiently. "It's done to put you in your section, based on your performance."
"Then what is the sense of that?" Naruto asked more confused than before.
Shikamaru sighed. "That's why you're called an idiot, Naruto. You're too straight – minded. The idea is to motivate the students to study so they don't end up here. That's also why the results are determined by grade bracketing, and not by ranking. It's supposed to help students develop a healthy study habit, not to measure intelligence or even aptitude."
"Soooo," Naruto said slowly. "It's just to divide us into sections?"
"Yes."
"Then what about Sakura – chan?"
"What about her? She's here, isn't she? So she now belongs to Class F."
"But she doesn't belong here!"
"Obviously."
Naruto sighed in exasperation. "But then—"
"Look, Naruto," Shikamaru cut off the blonde impatiently. "Although I doubt this would affect her ranking, the fact still remains that she scored low in the last placement. The only way for her out of here is to get a high grade in the next semestral placement exam."
"But that's months away," Naruto sulked.
Shikamaru shrugged. "It can't be—"
"Well," Iruka – sensei's voice cut in through Naruto and Shikamaru's conversation. His face was an impressive display of hearty disapproval as he glared pointedly at his two errant pupils, "since there isn't any objection from the concerned party, why don't we hear a few words from our new class president? The floor is yours, Nara – kun." His glower got more intense as he silently dared the lazy boy to stand up.
"Troublesome," Shikamaru muttered as he pushed his seat backwards to stand. He walked forward with great deliberation. Once in front, he took his time surveying each student in class, looking at them as if he could read their minds. Everybody sat up straighter.
Iruka – sensei's phone beeped, and he frowned as he read his text message. "Excuse me, there is a meeting today. Everyone, listen to what your president has to say. I'll be back later."
There was silence as their homeroom adviser closed the door behind him. Shikamaru waited until the footsteps faded, before addressing the class. "Listen up, people," he began. "In this school, we are considered the lowest of all low, as good as trash."
The class leaned forward as one, interested with the heated words.
"We are given the worst facilities, the least attention. We are the lowest priority; we aren't even afforded a seat in the student government. Since the implementation of the caste system, we have been treated thus."
The class murmured approval.
Shikamaru surveyed all the rapt faces in the room with quiet intensity, before yelling, "ARE WE GOING TO LET THIS CONTINUE?"
"NO!" The whole class chorused enthusiastically.
"ARE WE GOING TO LET THEM TRAMPLE OUR DIGNITIES LIKE THIS?"
"NO!"
'We all pay the same tuition fees, we complete the same requisite number of hours of study, but we are treated differently, almost inhumanely. DO WE CONDONE THIS?"
"NO!"
"ARE WE WILLING TO FIGHT FOR OUR RIGHTS AS STUDENTS OF THIS SCHOOL?"
"YES!"
"Then I propose a revolution," Shikamaru said intensely. "ARE YOU WITH ME IN WAGING A SUMMONS WAR?"
Silence.
well, that's that. cliffhanger much, i know. but hey, that's already more than 1500 words. if it intrigued you, then please tune in for the next chapter.
p.s. can somebody please help me with this beta business? i'm a noob when it comes to such... and thank you to the kind soul who would heed my request. :D