I don't own Naruto, but I own Riku.
Dedicated to my friend Cindy, the cutest friend ever.
It was four years ago when I first saw him. It probably took a few months for him to notice me though.
Hot, hot, hot. No, not him. The weather. How can anyone live in a place like this? It was like a freakin' desert! It felt like 120 degrees, even though in the back of my mind, I knew it was only 93. Didn't feel any different if you ask me. All I wanted to do was drop everything, go into our new apartment, collapse on the floor and sleep. Is that too much to ask? Apparently, yes. For my mom at least. She wouldn't stop barking out orders at me, as if I was a dog. Shut up. Two words. It was all I wanted to say. But that would lead to me not being able to leave the house for a week. Man, we have so much junk! I thought, dropping the huge load in my arms.
Let's skip ahead…a year and half. Why? Because during that time, there wasn't much going on really. Anyway, it was still blazing hot, no matter what time of the year it was. There I was on the couch, bored, hot and frustrated. All there was on TV was Nick Jr. and Infomercials. Naturally, I chose to watch the Infomercials over frying my teen brain from Dora the Explorer and her Godforsaken backpack. Knock, knock.
"Someone get the door!" my mom yelled from her room. My savior has come. Thank goodness. Rushing to the door, I unlocked it and pulled it open. There he stood, clad in swim trunks, goggles, and lots of water. "Hey Kakashi."
"You goin' swimming or not?"
A smile spread across my face. "Of course, I'll be right out." I shut the door and ran to my room, hearing a huge splash outside, probably from him doing a cannonball.
"Mom! Where's my swimsuit!?"
"Your closet!"
"I'm in my closet and it's not here!"
"Did you check the bathroom!?"
"Bathroom! God, I'm an idiot!" I yelled at myself, suddenly remembering that I had washed it last night.
I ran into my tiny bathroom and saw my suit hanging there. It was a really weird green one-piece that I had gotten for my birthday. Not really my style or color, but it was a good fit. Changing quickly, I continued my search for my swimming needs. Towel, check. Goggles, check. Tube, check. I thought as I went down my mental list, making sure I had everything to enjoy my afternoon, piling everything in my arms, around them, over my shoulder and head, everywhere. In a rush, I kicked my feet into my flipflops and zipped out the door.
Upon nearing the pool, I noticed the other two boys there as well. They were both around as old everyone else, but twice as annoying. Asuma was really obnoxious, always thinking he knew everything, but Guy was just a pest that wouldn't shut up about all his power of youth! I can't believe I was able to be in the same pool as him!
I turned to throw my beach towel at the usual off-white, kind of brown pool chairs, but abruptly stopped when I realized someone was sitting there. Can you guess who it is? And no, it's not my mother.
The towel accidentally slipped through my fingers as my arm was still in full swing and landed on his head. Oh crap. We both paused for a few seconds until he pulled it off and set it down on the pool chair next to the one he sat in. Behind me I could hear the other boys' laughs and splashes, feeling something wet pummel me. A squeal escaped as the cold water ran down my back. I spun around, glaring at Kakashi who was laughing his head off. A small bass chuckle sounded and I turned back to the guy who had a smile on his face. "Uh...I'm...sorry about the towel."
I could feel my cheeks tinge pink as he raised an eyebrow followed by another chuckle. "It's cool." He stood up and walked to the deep end of the pool as I followed him with my eyes. I mean, I've seen him a few times carrying a a big load of laundry to the laundry room beside the parking lot or when I leave for school as he's walking down from the second floor of the apartment, but I've never seriously looked at him. Sigh Oh well.
"Hey Genma! You jumping in or not?!" Kakashi yelled as he wiped the water from his eyes at the shallow end. He took a few steps back to the edge of the strip of garden against the wall and cannonballed into the 8-ft end. Some water splashed over the edge, washing out a row of ants on the hot pavement. My brain repeated his name a few times but I shook it out of my head, coming back to my senses and the pool. I kicked my yellow flipflops off and pulled my goggles over my eyes. I don't need to repeat his name THAT many times...
"Hey Riku..." I cut Kakashi off and jumped into the water toes first and watched the bubbles rush to the surface, feeling my body shiver in the chlorine filled water. I kicked up and took a big breath of air, my hand grabbing the edge as I lifted up my goggles to see everyone clearly. Well, as clearly as I could see with water in my eyes. Looking up, I saw the guy, now known as Genma, crouching in a puddle dripping from his trunks. "Hi, I'm Genma."
"Uh..." I finally noticed I was staring and came back to Earth. "...Hey! I'm Riku."
--
I didn't know what happened, but it felt like kindergarten again. Like when you meet someone, ask their name, tell them your's, and 5 minutes later, you're best friends. It wasn't exactly in 5 minutes, seeing as how I was the only girl among the four guys that I didn't share a lot of common interest with, but we were all playing as if we knew each other forever.
"MARCO!"
"POLO!!"
That game went on for a while until it was my turn to be it. First of all, I'm not the best swimmer, and second, I don't like to follow the whole 'keep your eyes closed' rule. I yelled out 'marco' a few times but just heard silence. I stretched my white goggles over my forehead and looked around while trying hard to tread water. "Guys? Helloooooo...?"
A hand suddenly wrapped around my ankle and pulled me into the water. My eyes were glued closed as I fought for air. Swimming hard, the hand let go and my head broke the surface, spitting out the water that I had sucked in. I wiped the water from my eyes, swimming to the shallow end. Once again, the laughter ensued. I emptied my goggles of the pool water and threw it onto the ledge. "That wasn't fair!"
"It's your fault for cheating!" The guys laughed and I splashed a wave of water at them, only to get splashed back four times as much. Unexpectedly, a splash fight started and I quickly ran as best I could in water, and stepped out via stairs. I picked up my goggles and wiped my face dry with my fishy beach towel. I could see the sky turning a gradient of purple, pink, and orange. "Man, anyone know what time it is?" A shiver went through my spine as a breeze passed. I threw the towel around myself and slipped into my sandals. With perfect timing, as usual, my mom yelled from our porch that faced the pool, like most of the other porches in the apartment, telling me to come home. I sighed and collected my pool toys. "See ya guys, same time tomorrow?"
"Of course." All the guys' voice echoed what Genma had said as they waved and got back to their swimming while I ran to my front door, leaving behind wet footprints.
A/N: This is really something I was writing with different characters, but since there really isn't anywhere else to post it, I decided to adapt it to tie in with the Ninja Taboo series, extending on Riku and filling in any gaps in the stories. By the way, the first three chapters I wrote a while ago, so sorry if its bad...well...sorry if my writing in general offends you .
