Note: Not one character is an OC in this chapter. You will see why I've bothered to mention this once you start reading the chapter. Also, whilst this is set in the English equivalent to high school (coughI'mBritishthisiseasierformecough), don't be fooled – this isn't an AU in the sense you may be thinking of.

xx

I'm not joining your side... I don't regret what I've done so far.

xx

Tick.

Tock.

Tick.

Tock.

Ti-

"I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE, DAMN IT!"

"Sit down, Spirals."

The blond slumped back down into his seat, crossing his arms defiantly and glaring back at anybody who bothered to stare at him...Not that there were that many. Most had given up on reacting to his antics in one form or another.

Nathan Spirals. Medium height, on the short side (though it would be advised not to mention that unless one were seeking a fight); sticking out like a sore thumb in his bright orange jacket; aged 16, single and currently in the first day of year 12. How he would survive the rest of the year, or even week, his teachers didn't know. He didn't know. Nobody knew.

"This is boring though. It would be better if we were still in the summer holidays, ya' know?" Though the boy was just being loud and annoying as per usual, many of the other students couldn't help but murmur in agreement; they had all been dragged out of the loving, comforting beds by the viscous fiends known as parents just to arrive at this cruel and unforgiving establishment. Even Holly Lavender, who normally had no qualms with school work, had dreaded the idea of that alarm going off. Just the memory of it was enough to make the poor girl shudder.

"Nathan, as much as I would love to go back to reading my books and living off of what I'd made over the past year, unfortunately a teacher's salary isn't anywhere near high enough for me to be able to go into an early retirement, hence why I'm here lecturing you brats. And just as I can't afford to be slacking off," Crow Prairie didn't seem to care about the impression he was giving off by reading one of said books as the words rattled off his tongue. "You're not going to get very far in life if you spend all of the year playing video games or whatever. You need to finish your education, get a...jo...Well at least if he's asleep, he won't be causing much mayhem." The other pupils didn't even bother turning around to check on Nathan – his snores were loud and clear.

Wondering whether to wake up his student, Prairie eyed Nathan, eventually deciding that it wasn't worth the hassle. "Back to what I was trying to say before that little interruption, there will be a new student joining us later today."

This was received with chatter across the room: a new kid? At this school? Sure at this stage of their education, most students across the country swapped to a new college rather than remaining at the same place. However, that was not the case in this town. In this town, everybody went to the same nursery, the same primary and secondary schools and as was the case here, the same college. It may have technically been a different school but all of the students had known each other since they were young. A new kid was unheard of. Prairie waited a few seconds to see if the teenagers would realize that he was waiting for them to quieten down, but failing that he chose to place fingers in his mouth in order to let out a viciously loud whistle, receiving the result he was hoping for.

"He would be here now but as it turns out, there was a problem with his flight so he was unable to arrive on time. Yes, he's foreign. Because of that, we've moved him down a year as though he has a reasonably good grasp on English, his mother tongue is Japanese and apparently still gets muddled at times." Not only was a new kid joining them, but he was from another country. What was going on? Nobody ever moved to town. Nobody. None of the students in the room had ever heard of a newcomer in their quaint little spot on the map. Due to this, students such as Rosa Cosmos were already grasping at their phones to start the gossip chain.

By this point, Stephan Dusk had got irritated by Nathan's snoring as it was interrupting his own sleep. His response was to kick the blond's chair with as much force as possible from behind thus waking him up.

"Huh? New kid? What, when, who?" He'd managed to catch a few words that were being passed along the classroom, though he didn't quite understand what they meant. "Good to see that you've rejoined us, Spirals." He turned his attention back towards the general class. "Even if this situation is something...odd for our town, I ask that you give him a warm welcome. Or if the attention starts to get on his nerves, give him space. I don't know – just do whatever gets a good reaction out of him." The teacher nodded at a student who had their hand up.

"Mr Prairie, you still haven't told us what his name is."

"Oh that? The new pupil's name is Sasuke Uchiha."

A/N: Confused by the comment I put before the start of the story? That's fine - all will be unravelled in due course.

I'm trying out a concept that will be difficult to gain fans for due to its nature. As I said earlier, don't be fooled by the fact this is set in a school. The problem with what I've got planned is that explaining what I mean will ruin some surprises, hence why I can not as of yet clarify anything in the prologue. Since I don't know how interesting the prologue is to people who don't know what I have in store, reviews will be extremely appreciated as their content will affect the next few chapters.

Also, if you have any theories about what's going on e.g. the characters, why nobody moves to town etc. Feel free to mention them as this is meant to be at least partially a mystery and I need to know whether to tone down on the clues or add some more in.

Thanks in advance!

~ Macabre Beauty

P.S. Like what you've seen of my writing in here? Feel free to check out my other Naruto story whilst waiting for the next chapter! Also, any and all pokemon x/y users should pm me their friend codes for a battle/trade!