THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY PART 1

-New Life Ahead-

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and the characters. I only own the plot of the story.
Special thanks to my editor, minashito-sama. You are the best!
[Alternate Universe Fan Fiction]

The vast waves - indulges every heart that longs for excitement. The feeling of warmth touching your skin as the cool water floats you to serenity, the timeless sands that either treasures something only nature can create, or something only our hearts can understand…

"Hello there, Mr. Sea!" A blond guy with blue eyes shouted as he ran towards the sea with arms wide open. It was a fine Sunday afternoon in the beach – the last month of spring season, and a day away from first day of class for students, particularly the main reason why there are only less than ten people in the beach. A group of high school friends took advantage of it and decided to stay there till early in the morning, to savour every last moment of their childhood life.

"Woah! Slow down there boy, don't finish everything." Kiba said to Chouji as he dropped all their bags in the picnic mat, angrily scolding the hungry chubby guy who's rummaging the picnic basket on top of the folding table.

"It's okay, I'll just cook another chicken later," Chouji confidently replied upon biting the chicken sandwich.

Few seconds later, a pale, black-haired guy with spiky hairstyle and navy-bluish highlights that looks like a duck's behind, approached them. "Yeah, you're talking to the future chef here," He said, while placing down the folding chairs near the picnic mat, and afterwards sat down with both palms on the sand. After all, he needed a lot of rest, being the only person in the group who can drive can be troublesome at times. And he never thought that Kiba would rent a red manual pick-up car, being a vehicle enthusiast and all and having high taste for cars, he could have at least rented a better car that is automatic and has better air-conditioning.

"Yeah, future pig chef." Another pale guy with jet black hair replied, as he entered the scene with the other chairs he' holding. He placed them near the others and assembled it one by one.

"What did you say?" Said the chubby guy as he glared at the raven pale guy, Shikamaru then immediately calmed the angry Chouji by giving him the last chocolate he has.

Phew, that was close, Shikamaru thought to himself, as Chouji happily accepted the chocolate bar from the brunette. Good thing the lazy brunette responded and acted swiftly to the situation at hand. After all, the main reason why they are here today is to have a wonderful time together, and to celebrate the return of their blond friend, who is currently running towards them with a concern expression.

"Hey! Don't be so mean, Sai." The blond shouted, but only received a long sigh from the pale guy.

"Ooh, the dickless lad speaks. I thought the sea swallowed you alive, Naruto," Sai replied sarcastically to the blond as he set up his own chair, earning him a glare from the said blond.

"What did you say, punk?" Naruto shouted.

"He's not worth arguing with," The raven with duck-butt hairstyle replied flatly, as he patted Naruto's shoulder. Followed by a teasing statement. "Just assemble the umbrella so you can put your feet in the sea."

"Another dickless lad, how impressing! I never thought you'd be like Naruto, Sasuke." Sai uttered, as he stood up straight, preparing to relax on his chair. Sasuke immediately glared at him. Then he started stretching and attempted to reach his toes, only to pull a loose screw on Sai's chair without being obvious. Besides, pranking on Sai right now would be very delighting.

"Hn, you can say whatever you want to say. Morons like you are too useless to chat with." Sasuke replied with a smirk on his face, as he stood up and stretched his arms upwards, eyes still lock on the chair that will soon fall apart and maybe send the pale guy crying on the sand, or something like that.

"I'd be delighted, Sasuke." Sai replied sarcastically as he sat on his chair, until it unexpectedly folded into half, squeezing Sai in the middle. Naruto and Kiba fell on their knees, and laughed like it's the end of the world as they watched poor Sai struggling to get out of his folded chair. Sasuke could not resist any longer and decided to grab his camera and capture all the epicness of Sai. His imagination about it was quite close after all, except for the crying part, but his shock expression was enough to satisfy him and to consider his prank a success. Too bad the chubby guy was too busy with his chicken sandwich that he wasn't able to see the humorous show.

"This is too troublesome…" Shikamaru uttered as he reclined on the mat with his shades on, and watched the afternoon clouds pass by, as the two ravens and the blonde argued about the chair, and about their dicks.

You said you'll never leave me, where are you now then? You left me with nothing, except for those wonderful memories – our first dance in the rain, our first date underneath the meteor shower, our almost first kiss – everything seems to slowly fade whenever your last words plays in my head,

"I never loved you…"

Damn you! Damn you!

"Damn you!" A pink-haired girl muttered as tears slowly fell on her face. Her grip on the wooden fence tightened as she balanced herself, forcing not to let the tears fall from her eyes.

"Sakura-chan, are you done? We'll be late for Ino's party." A loud voice from the convertible car shouted. Sakura looked down and wiped her face to be sure, and forced a smile on her face before facing the girl in the car.

"Coming!" She shouted back, before glancing the sea once more. She took out a hair clip embellished with emerald and lapis lazuli gems from her shorts' pocket and observed it for the last time.

Goodbye, forever… She uttered to herself as she threw the clip to the titanic sea. Goodbye forever, she repeated, and ran as fast as she can to the car few meters away from her. She sat beside the driver's seat and faced the window. She took one last look at the white lighthouse with blue windows and door. She looked up at the top after to check if the light was on, and it was not. Sakura then looked down and grasped her own hands.

"Are you sure you'll be fine, Saku—"

"I'll be fine, Tenten. Let's just go." Sakura interrupted as she buckled up her seatbelt. The brunette looked at her thoughtfully waiting for any signal, until Sakura finally noticed her and gave her a faint smile.

"No need to worry. Thank you for bringing me here." Sakura replied calmly, giving her friend a reassuring smile. The brunette then carried on and started the engine.

"Alright then, next stop, Yamanaka's residence." Tenten said cheerfully as she put down the hand break, and stepped on the accelerator.

Later in the afternoon, after eating their lunch – which was newly grilled chicken strips made by Chouji – the boys decided to play in the sea while Shikamaru, on the other hand, volunteered to guard their belongings, choosing to watch the clouds pass by beneath the umbrella than playing underneath the warm sun in the sea. Besides, he was too lazy to rise from the mat and walk.

"Chouji, stop jumping on the water, you're creating big waves." The blond, who is standing few meters away from them, said while searching for sea shells on the clear water.

"Uhm, isn't that why we're here, because of the waves?" Chouji replied as he created more waves with his hands, splashing his friends on the face.

"Yeah, it's quite annoying. I think you should better stop now piggy boy chef." Sai replied as he started to float on the water and decided to watch the sunset. Annoyed and felt controlled, Chouji dived into the water and pulled Sai down the sea, creating big waves, and eventually causing a water fight. But the blond remained silent in his area.

"What are you looking for, man? You were the one who's excited to play in the water, but there you are, digging something in the sand." Kiba ranted to Naruto. "Or in the water. C'mon man!" He followed, but still no reply from the blond.

"Maybe a gift for Hinata…" Sasuke teased with a smirk on his face.

"Who the hell is this Hinata girl?" Kiba asked with a surprised face as he turned to Sasuke.

"Neji's cousin. She moved in to his house few weeks ago with his uncle because of some family issue," Sasuke replied.

"Hmmm. Maybe that's the reason why Neji's not here. But I still don't get why Naruto has to collect shells for that Hinata girl." Chouji asked curiously before diving, and gave Sai another pull under the sea.

"Wait, when did you start courting girls without introducing 'em to me?" The brunet scolded Naruto as he returned his glare back at him.

"It's not for Hinata, okay. It's for my mother." The blond replied in annoyance. Everyone paused for a while, trying to comprehend Naruto's words. "It's my parents' anniversary this coming Tuesday. I wanted to give mom something special aside from pretty flowers," Naruto continued with a grin stretched on his face. Everyone felt sad, especially Sasuke who knew every detail of his parents' death.

"I'm hungry. I'm going back to the tent," Sasuke said with a stoic expression as he headed to the shore.

"Wait for me!" Chouji shouted excitedly.

"Hn, hungry again?" Sasuke deadpanned, but Chouji only replied with a guilty smile. Sai and Kiba followed them afterwards.

"C'mon, Naruto, we'll help you find some shells later after we eat!" Kiba shouted.

"Coming!" Naruto replied with a quirky smile of his.

Just when he was about to head to the shore, he saw something shiny resting near the huge rock, not too far from where he's standing. He quickly followed the shiny object, not knowing that few steps from where he is rest a gigantic hole. He fell on it and immediately shouted for help, but he was too far from them and the wave is slowly drawing him even farther. He tried grabbing the veins dangling on the rock but it was not strong enough to hold him. Just when he was about to lose hope, Sasuke noticed him from afar and quickly ran towards him for rescue. Shikamaru followed afterwards, which everyone. Sasuke swam towards Naruto and grabbed him from the neck, while Shikamaru cuts off the vines that got entangled on Naruto's ankle while he was calling for help.

"Hang in there, usuratonkachi." Sasuke said teasingly as he hurriedly pulled the blond to the shore with his arms supporting his neck above the water, allowing Naruto to breathe.

"You really are a bastard, Sasuke." Naruto stuttered as he tried to catch his breath.

"But seriously, hold on, or you me to do CP—"

"Hell no, dattebayo! I'm fine."

"Hn, alright kitty, if you say so."

"Teme!" Naruto growled. When they finally reached the shore, Kiba rushed towards the blond with a worried faced and unexpectedly hit him on the head with a barbeque stick, which surprisingly cut into half. Unluckily, the half part of the stick bounced back to Kiba's forehead just when Naruto was about to open his mouth to react to the pain. Luckily the pointed part of the stick only created a red mark on his forehead.

"Ouch!" Kiba shouted as he fell on his knees and rubbed his forehead. Naruto, on the other hand, rubbed the spot where the stick hit him as he stared blankly at Kiba.

"What the hell's wrong with you? I thought you were behind us. Then next thing I knew you're drowning like a little girl from afar. You even made Shikamaru stand from his royal throne and dive in the sea just to help Sasuke rescue you like a little doggy. Man, you scared the hell out of me!" Kiba angrily rebuked as he scolded at Naruto like a puppy that broke something precious.

"Gosh, I can't stand the gayness here. Now there are three dickless lads in here."

"Shut up, Sai! If you say dick one more time I'm going to rip your balls and shove it up your ass, do you understand?" Kiba exclaimed as he turned around and points a finger at Sai.

"Yeah, whatever you say big mouth. Ohoho! Look at this, I've just found the missing Big mouth! The legendary big foot would be very happy."

"You, you—"

"Stop it, dattebayo!" The blond interrupted as he laughed while rolling on the sand, "I admit, it was stupid of me to put myself in danger just for this." Naruto then opened his fist and showed them a hair clip ornament with genuine stones, "I finally found a perfect gift for my mom!" Naruto said happily.

Sasuke looked down and smiled. At least for once, he'll be happy on that day, the raven thought to himself. He then threw a towel on Naruto, who seemed to be shivering a little as the wind got colder. "You look like a wet sock, go dry yourself, punk."

"I've always known, Sasuke." Naruto replied with a small smile.

"Hn, known what dobe?" Sasuke answered with one eye brow raised.

"That you like me," Naruto said in a friendly way.

"Hmm…" Sasuke replied, grinning with a strange gleam on his eyes.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" Naruto asked curiously, then he suddenly realized… "Oh god, no!" The blond quickly shouted, causing everyone to burst into laughter as they teased Naruto, and mimicked Kiba's hilarious scene with the barbeque stick.

The sun had finally set and the boys decided to lie on their picnic mat staring at the starry sky after setting up their own tent. They reminisced about their high school life, how they met each other, the fights, the problems, and not to mention the girls they liked.

"We'll be in college tomorrow. I wonder what it would be like," Kiba said, lying with his arms crossed behind his head.

"I don't know, maybe troublesome."

"Everything is troublesome to you, Shikamaru!" Kiba concluded, "But anyway, how are you and that girl you were hitting on her since we were freshmen?"

"It's too trouble—"

"Oh c'mon Shika, tell us, tell us!" Naruto pleaded.

"Alright, alright…" Shikamaru replied. Everyone waited, and waited for a single word from the spiky brunet, until Kiba could not wait any longer and promptly sat down on the mat, only to find out that their brunette friend is already asleep.

"You bastard!" he shouted as he flipped his sleeping friend to the right and wrestled him.

"Ugh, you are too—"

"Yeah, I know. My middle name is trouble, nice to meet you too slug," Kiba said teasingly as he sat on the back of his poor, sleepy, or better yet, his lazed off friend. The evening was filled with happiness, and memories of long-time friends. Until the sun rose and everyone has to go home to prepare for another day, not so different from their yesterday.

When Naruto arrived in the apartment early morning the next day, a tall man with natural gray-hair approached him and ruffled his hair, with a book glued on his other hand.

"Glad you came earlier than the usual, boy. Your dinner's ready—or should I say breakfast." The tall man said sarcastically as he went back to his seat and began reading his book.

"Is it ramen? And where the hell is your mask? You look different."

"Apparently, no, we ran out of ramen. And I washed my mask, will be dry by lunchtime." The gray-haired man replied as he put on his reading glasses.

"Then I guess I'm not hungry. Good night Kakashi-jii-san!" Naruto said as he headed to his room. But Kakashi immediately stood up and grabbed the collar of his shirt, pulling him to the dining area.

"You are going to finish your food whether you like it or you like it, okay?"

"Hey! I'm already twenty years old! Don't drag me like I'm still eight—"

"Then stop acting like one!"

"Let me—" Naruto broke off as he saw a small cake on the table. He looked at Kakashi with curiosity, and excitement at the same time.

"Isn't it your parents' anniversary tomorrow?" Kakashi asked, Naruto looked down and nodded, all excitement faded away. "It would make them happy if you celebrate it with them—"

"But it's not today, okay! It's still tomorrow, don't get too excited." Naruto exclaimed.

"Want to know something?" Kakashi asked with a small smile as he tried to meet Naruto's blue eyes.

"What?" Naruto asked in a low voice, pouting and trying to avoid Kakashi's eyes.

"They always celebrate it a day before."

"Why is that?" Naruto asked as he placed his hands inside his pockets, feeling uncomfortable of their current conversation.

"Because usually on the day of their anniversary is the same day where your father has to go back to—"

"Which caused his death, yeah, thanks a lot." Naruto stated then he rushed to his room, leaving Kakashi alone in the dining area.

I thought it will cheer him up if we celebrate it together. I even skipped the chapter I was anticipating just for this cake, the gray-haired man thought. I guess I'll just put in the fridge, he'll get hungry soon. After all, we ran out of ingredients for ramen, and the instant ones too, he has no choice but to finish the cake. Then he decided to go back to his favourite chair and finish the last few chapters of the book.

"I better finish this volume, the next one is out." He said to himself, thinking about the last time the two stores who was selling the book ran out of stock and he has to wait for weeks for the second batch of delivery, and for the price to decrease. It is the best selling series of his dear friend. Having thought of it, it was quite sad that considering that they are friends and co-workers, Kakashi does somewhat deserve a friendly discount, he is Jiraiya's number one fanl.

Naruto locked his door and hurriedly lied on his bed facing the ceiling, trying to hold back his tears. Darn it, he thought to himself. When he couldn't help it anymore, he immediately turned to his side and hugged his stuffed-toy frog, Gama, tightly. The minute he felt something bulky in his pocket, he sat up and rummaged it until he sensed something hard. He pulled it out and realized that it was the clip adorned with small cuts of emeralds and lapis lazuli gems. Out of boredom, he lied down again and tossed it in the air repeatedly until he felt sleepy and turned to his left, facing his desk and stared at the scenery outside the window above it. The sun is almost high, I wonder if I still have time to take a nap. Absentmindedly, he forgot that the clip was still in the air. He was about to close his eyes when it landed on his nose.

"Ouch!" Naruto shouted as he immediately rose from his lying position and prompted up on his bed, rubbing his nose with a pout.

"Hey! You okay there? Don't commit suicide yet, it's not the end of the world." Came Kakashi's muffled shout from the living room.

"Tsk…" Naruto uttered, then he stared at the clip on his lap, "Curse you stupid clip, dattebayo!" he said as he held the clip and scolded it like a little kid. Then he felt something, something warm, like he knew its owner. The clip somewhat connects to him, like it was meant to be with him.

"I guess I'll just buy flowers again for mom and dad," He said as he pinned the clip on the tip of his shirt. "Darn it, I need coffee. My head feels really heavy-ttebayo." He said to himself as he glanced at his watch and noticed that it was almost time for him to go to school. He stood up from his bed, stretched both hands upward, and rushed to the door while grabbing his notebook and pen as he passed by his desk. Upon opening the door of his bedroom, he saw Kakashi, still sitting on his armchair and seriously reading his book, but it is quite obvious that he cannot hide his blushing face, not without his beloved mask.

"Where are you going?" Kakashi asked, eyes still locked on the book.

"To the coffee shop nearby, then head to the school after." Naruto passively replied as he passed by Kakashi and opened the main door.

"Oh good, can you do me a favour and buy me a—" Kakashi was about to make a request when he heard the door slammed. "Never mind, I guess I'll just text him… later after this chapter." Kakashi said to himself, indulging himself with the last few chapters of the book.

"Where's Shikamaru? I thought he'll help us here in the café!" Ino shouted to Tenten who were baking some pancakes.

"He has morning class, remember? He said he'll be here in the afternoon." Tenten replied as she showed off her cooking style by flipping the pancakes like a badminton cock in the rocket to the costumers. I still can't believe she was able to force that slug to help in the café. Anyways, they are childhood friends after all, and you can't really rely on Chouji when it comes to food, Tenten thought to herself. The audience awed in her amazing show, some even clap whenever she tossed the pancakes in the air.

"How about that forehead girl—"

"Chill, will you? They'll be here." Tenten replied. Then Ino went back to the cashier area to entertain costumers, when she noticed this good looking blond guy in black slacks and leather shoes, and orange shirt.

"Yes sir, how may I help you?"

"One coffee jelly please."

"That's all?"

"You also sell flowers here right?"

"Yeah, we do."

"Do you have white daffodils?"

"I believe we are out of stock, sir."

"Oh, I see. Then I'll just take the coffee jelly, regular size."

"Alright, please wait on the side." Ino said cheerfully. He looks somewhat familiar. I just don't know when and where I encountered this guy, she thought to herself. As the blond guy walks few steps away from her, she realized that she forgot to get his name. "Sir!" Ino shouted, the blond guy stopped and looked back at Ino, when someone accidentally bumped him, causing both of them to fall on the ground.

"Sakura!" Ino shouted, surprised.

"Ugh…" Sakura uttered as she tried to raise herself from the ground, or better yet, the blonde guy's hard body.

"Are you alright, miss? Are you hurt? I mean it is painful, I feel hurt myself. I'm—" The blond stopped his incessant babbling when he was caught by Sakura's emerald green eyes. The two stared at each other for few seconds, until Sakura finally managed to stand up from the ground; the blond guy stood up afterwards and gazed back at Ino.

"Oh, you were saying?"

"I was about to ask for your name." Ino replied, still shocked about the scene.

"Oh, that... Right, Naruto's the name." The blond guy replied with a quirky smile.

"Naruto…" Ino uttered flatly. I've heard that name before. Do I know this guy? She asked herself, then immediately gave him a fake smile.

"Hai!" Naruto exclaimed with a thumbs up. Then he returned his gaze to Sakura, who was staring at the hair clip on Naruto's shirt. "Are you okay?" Naruto asked thoughtfully, having a feeling that the clip belongs to her.

"Yeah, I'm fine. May I ask you something?" Sakura replied, still staring at the clip.

"Sure. What is it?" Naruto answered cheerfully.

"Where did you get the clip on our shirt?"

"Oh, this," Naruto took the clip and showed it to her on his right palm, "In the beach, I uh... I… my friend found it yesterday." He continued while he scratched his head with his left hand, having a strong feeling that the clip belongs to her.

"Really?" Sakura replied with dismay.

"May I ask you something?"

"Yeah, sure." Sakura replied as she raised her head up and looked at his eyes. Naruto's heart stopped as his eyes met hers. He took a deep breath and gulped, hoping not to stutter.

"The clip, is it yours?" He asked, Sakura looked down and nodded. Then she looked at him again.

"Can I meet your friend later, the one who found the clip?" Sakura pleaded.

"I guess, sure." Naruto replied with a smile.

"Thank you." Sakura answered, and gave him a big smile which made him melt.

"Ehem. Here's your coffee jelly Naruto-san. Enjoy your day," Ino intruded as she rang the bell. Naruto grabbed the coffee jelly in the counter and headed to the door. As he reached it, he looked back at Sakura and said. "We'll be here by lunch time, okay?"

"Okay." She replied. Then Naruto left, leaving Sakura near the counter. She tightened her fist and held it near to her heart, I wish, it's not the same person who gave it to me… she said to herself as she watched the blond guy walk away from the shop. Naruto, weird name…

"That guy looks familiar, did he come here before?" Ino asked as she fixed the flowers in the counter.

Sakura looked at her with a smile and said, "There are sure tons of blonde guys with blue eyes here." Then she grabbed her back on the floor and head to the kitchen. "I have a class in an hour, but I'll be back in the afternoon." She shouted to Ino from the serving window.

She's clearly not over him yet, Ino thought, who would forget that guy easily anyway? Then she shook her head, and waited patiently for next costumers.

"Damn it! You blew it off again! Don't you know it's hard to find good looking girls these days?" Naruto scolded himself as he walked down the road, heading to the university. "Of course I do. Damn, I should have told her that I was the one who found the clip. Damn it, damn it!" He continued as he slapped his forehead with infuriation. Without looking at the road, a girl ran over him again. This time, he was able to balance himself and moved his right foot backward for support as he held the girl near him, preventing her from falling on the opposite direction.

"Are you alright, mi..." He trailed off and stared closely at the girl, "Hinata?"

"Oh, um hey there, Na-Naruto-kun, I… I was just looking for you…" Hinata replied gently as she rubbed her head and looked up at Naruto with a smile, Naruto awkwardly smiled back to her and gently released her as both of them gained balance.

"Oh Naruto, my hero!" Kiba said, imitating a shy girl's voice and laughed afterwards like the world will end today, "I tell you man, that chick digs you." He teased once more.

"She just gave me a pen. A pen, Kiba, don't give any meaning to that." Naruto pointed out. Unsure if he will take Kiba's words seriously.

"Which is a proof that she's totally into you! I mean, who would give a Parker pen to someone whom you've just met few weeks ago, huh? Tell me?" Kiba insisted.

"Shikamaru." Naruto replied. Then the brunette immediately remembered when Shikamaru asked him and Naruto to help him pick the most suited pen style for the girl he was courting back in high school.

"Well, Shika was courting the girl, and look at them now, they're like lovebirds, even though he doesn't talk about her that much, or introduced her to us. Damn, made me realized, he never mentioned her name to us!" Kiba exclaimed, but Naruto remained silent, "C'mon, she likes you!" Kiba teased as he bumped the blonde's shoulder.

"No, of course not, why would she? I mean—"

"C'mon man, we both know that you can feel her love." Kiba said teasingly.

"Alright, so maybe she does." Naruto sighed. "It gives me the creeps sometimes. She's kind of weird, and shy. I can't even hear the words she's saying sometimes that I have to move closer to her. "

"Well, why don't you give her a try?" Kiba suggested. Then Naruto stopped walking and recalled the girl in the café. Sakura…

"Yo dude, still with me?" Kiba asked as he stopped and faced his blond friend.

"Why don't you try?" Naruto said suggestively.

"What? In your dreams man!" Kiba rejected, eyes wide as saucers.

"C'mon man, I thought we're friends, why can't you help me?" Naruto said to his stubborn friend.

"Because I can't do it! Why not ask your faggot friend, or that bast—"

"Dude, everyone knows that Sai is socially unskilled. And well, Sasuke, he's a teme!" Naruto growled as he crumpled his fist and narrowed his eyes in annoyance. "He says what he wants to say without any doubts, he doesn't care if he'll hurt others' feelings. I… I don't want Hinata to get hurt." He continued, and pictured Hinata's sweet innocent smile.

"And you think I won't?" The brunet asked. "C'mon man, there's Chouji, he's gentler than me. And Sai's a fast learner, teach him how to handle girls or something." Kiba insisted, hoping that his blonde friend will change his mind and stop forcing him with his little favour. The boys stared at each other for few seconds, arguing through their eyes before they began walking again.

Not far from where they are, someone is indefinitely spying on them, secretly walking among the crowd of students heading to their respective buildings, watching their every move. Carefully eyeing the brunet and the blond as they act like little kids who are having petty quarrel on who should go first. They are almost reachable, his pacing surged, and the spy is heading towards them, aiming to…

"Ah! Mother fu—"

"Datteba—" Kiba and Naruto shouted in synchronization as someone grabbed their foot which almost made them stumble on the ground. Both of them looked down and saw a pale guy with short, jet black hair.

"Hn, miss me?" the mysterious guy said as he stood up and faced his two friends. Kiba and Naruto's expression gradually shifted from furiously angry to confusion, then surprised.

"Sasuke?" they both shouted. The raven moved backward and placed his index finger in his right ear, as if something went inside it.

"Good to see you too doggy, and dobe." Sasuke deadpanned. After a short pause, Kiba and Naruto finally pulled themselves together and glared at the raven.

"Darn you! What the hell was that for, dattebayo? And what's with your freakin' haircut, where the hell is the duck-butt?" Naruto shouted at his pale friend.

"Hn." Sasuke replied with one eye-brow raised.

"You have to answer them all." The blond demanded furiously.

"I just feel like scaring scaredy cats like the two of you."

"What did you called me teme?" Naruto said angrily, Sasuke just smirked at him, which made the blond angrier.

"And the hair, what happened?" Kiba continued as he put his hands on his waist like a strict professor.

"Hn, had a haircut before heading to school, is it bad?" Sasuke monotonously replied with confidence. Kiba looked at him from his hair to his feet and gave him a thumbs-up.

"Not bad, you look manlier now, like the bangs." Kiba said while patting his friend's shoulder.

"I thought it would look hideous if I leave my bangs as is, glad to know it's alright." Sasuke deadpanned.

"Yeah, it's cool, I like how you made your bangs full, and long on the sides. And thank god that duck-ass hair is gone." Kiba answered with elation.

"Fuck that bromance dudes, its creepy!" Naruto said as he shrugged and stared at his two friends get along with each other for the first time in the history of their friendship.

"Why? Are you jealous, dobe?" Sasuke asked teasingly as he faced Naruto.

"Why you… you…" Naruto said repeatedly, finding the perfect word to describe his bastard friend.

"Hn, me what?" Sasuke said as he crossed his arms to his chest and raising one eye brow.

"Motherfucking bastard!" Naruto shouted as he jumped up and down like a little kid. Sasuke stared at him for few seconds, and laughed seconds after at his childish tantrums.

"Woah, I thought I'm the only one in the group who has a bad mouth," Kiba said as he laughed at Naruto. Sasuke looked straight behind Naruto and saw someone familiar, Kiba and Naruto followed Sasuke's gaze and saw Shikamaru.

"Yo, Shika, sup?" Kiba said as his sleepy-looking friend approached them.

"Math in the morning is too troublesome." Shikamaru replied as he placed his glasses on his pocket.

"Everything for you is troublesome." Naruto stated with a teasing smile.

"Because it's true." Shikamaru replied in a normal voice, or exclaimed.

"Anyway, what's your next class? Mine is English—ttebayo." The blond said as he changed the topic.

"Hn, same here."

"Mine too. Geez numbers and words don't go well in the morning. Mondays are truly troublesome." Shikamaru then sighed.

"English class under Professor Hatake?" Kiba replied while staring at the class schedule taped on the first page of his notebook.

"Damn don't tell me that Hatake prof's given name is Kakashi." Naruto asked, surprised.

"I heard it is," Sasuke replied, "isn't that your uncle?"

"Wait, the university allows that?" Kiba replied curiously.

"Maybe they thought they are not related to each other by blood, which is true." Shikamaru explained.

"Hm... probably, I mean, no one actually knows that the two of you lives in one roof except for us." Kiba agreed.

"Damn this day!" Naruto exclaimed as he slap himself again in annoyance.

"Woah dude! I thought you're the good twin and I'm the bad twin? Stop doing that!" Kiba cried out to his friend as he stopped him from slapping himself. "Alright, I'll help you with that Hinata girl, just give me her details and I'll deal with the rest. Just stop cursing like that, it's not like you."

"What, you're attempting to hit on Hinata? Good luck with that." The raven teased.

"First of all, I will never hit on that girl, especially after hearing Naruto's experiences from her. And second, I will just keep her away from Naruto—"

"Which is distracting her by making her fall for you instead of Naruto?" The spiky brunet smoothly interrupted.

"Yep, that's actually what my boy is asking me to do." Kiba answered and gave Shikamaru a thumbs-up, allowing the raven to conclude.

"Which is actually hitting on her?"

"No! Wait, uh…" Kiba ran out of word and scratched his head as he realized that the raven was somewhat right. Then he noticed a smirk on Sasuke's face and hit his head with a notebook, but Sasuke managed to avoid.

"Watch the hair," Sasuke uttered.

"Nice hair." Shikamaru said as he observed his duck-butt-less hair.

"Can we stop talking about Sasuke's new hair? I get it—it's nice, can we just head to our next class?" Naruto exclaimed impatiently.

"Alright, chill." Kiba replied as he patted Naruto's shoulders, following Shikamaru who was leading the way to their building.

The girls in the aisle paused as the four guys entered the building like they are watching a grand entrance of some celebrities. The guy who was leading the group has a long pushed back hair tied in a ponytail, he is holding his blazer on his left shoulder and his necktie is loose, showing small parts of his chest and two bottom buttons are unclipped. The guy on his right has a short black hair with bangs; he is wearing the uniform properly and seriously wiping his reading glasses with his handkerchief. The two guys on the left who were making fun of the posters are like twins because they almost have similar personality, only the one near the lockers has blonde hair with blue eyes, wearing an orange shirt inside his polo, and the other one has a brown hair with black eyes. The blonde's necktie was dangling inside his blazer's pocket while the brunette was wearing his necktie properly and carrying his vest with his left hand.

As the group walk down the aisle going to their room, one blonde girl with dark green eyes passed by them, and whispered something to the one who is leading them.

"Wear your uniform properly punk, you only wear it once a week." Their eyes met for a split second, allowing her to give him a smirk. The guy smirked back and immediately followed the blonde outside the building.

"What was that supposed to mean?" He shouted to the blonde-haired girl as both of them went out of the building.

"Shika—"

"How are your brothers?" he asked as he stopped in front of the girl, and immediately looked up to the sky, hoping that the blonde girl didn't hear his question. Both were silent, until the blonde girl finally decided to break it first.

"It's okay, a year had passed since Gaara died, I know how you got used to asking that question, I mean you've been asking that question since we've met and—"

"Temari."

"What?" She asked in trembling voice as her eyes became watery.

"Don't–"

"I'm fine, Shikamaru." She replied as she looked at their surrounding, trying to distract herself, and making sure no one's there to see the tears in her yes. But the spiky brunet unexpectedly grabbed her hands and pulled her toward him, burying her face on his uniform.

"No one will see you now…" Shikamaru whispered and smiled as if he said the funniest thing on earth, "everyone will think that I'm joking around with a graduating student—"

"You are so annoying, you know that?" Temari replied as she hit both her fists on Shikamaru's chest and laughed as she heard a short, low grunt from him.

"Yeah I know, hope you know how troublesome you are." Shikamaru answered as he rubbed his chest with his right arm while his left hand supported Temari's back. Geez, I never thought I'd met someone who's stronger than my mother.

"You should go back, your friends are waiting for you."

"Oh, are they?" he answered, pretending to be shocked. Then Temari hit him again on the chest, but lightly this time.

"Don't be a bad-ass right now. Today is your first day of class as a college student. Please make a good impression to your professor by being punctual. And please wear your uniform properly, don't be a slob," She said as she fixed Shikamaru's tie, buttoning the two unpinned buttons on his uniform, and helping him put on his blazer, "I won't always be here to take care of you."

"Yes, I know. Thank you onee-san."

"What the hell Shika—" she said as she automatically pushed Shikamaru, but he was able to grab all his strength and hug the strong blond girl tightly.

"See you later, my love." Then he let go of her and went back inside the building, leaving the smiling blonde girl standing outside the building. Upon opening the door of the building, the spiky brunet was surprised to see his friends staring at him with a big grin on their faces. He did not bother to ask, even though their stares are somewhat troubling him. Instead, he continued walking down the busy aisle. The boys looked at each other and followed the brunette.

"Yo Shika, is that your girlfriend?" Kiba asked as he bumped the brunette's right shoulder, but received no answer.

"C'mon tell us! Is she, is she?" Naruto asked teasingly as he bumped the other shoulder, but the brunette ignored his question and remained silent. After all, why exert some energy to answer questions with obvious answers, right?

"Wait a second, isn't that Gaara's older sister?" The blond began to ask as he gazed at Kiba.

"I believe so, wait… You were dating Temari-chan the whole time?" Kiba exclaimed, then he started laughing, "All this time, she was the one you were dating? How did you get pass her brothers?"

"Yeah, how could you break the rule—?"

"There's no rule, Naruto…"

"Then how did the two meet? Gaara only introduced us twice to his siblings, it's impossible to be love at first sight... Or is it?"

"No." The brunette replied to the blonde, as he opened the door to their room. "By the way, fix your selves would you, unless you want to be noticed by the professor." He uttered to Kiba and Naruto who quickly glanced at each other, trying to figure out what the brunette's words mean, but their gazes were cut off by Sasuke who putted on his glasses and passed by in between them,

"Shikamaru's right, you two look like old rags." He said, teasing his brunette and blonde friend.

Like last year, and years ago, Kakashi is always thirty minutes late for his class. But unlike his common rituals during first day of class where he ask his students to state their name and choose their own seat for the whole semester, he arranged them alphabetically. He was quite surprised to see Naruto's name on his class card, but who cares? No one knows they live on the same roof. And whatever happens, he will never tutor his favourite professor's son.

"Alright class, for me to know your class standing, please answer the first ten exercises in your English book found at the long table at the left corner at the back. Please get one and only one please. This will also serve as a review from your high school English. It is 11:30am in my watch. Please pass all your worksheets in my desk by 12nn. Begin." All the students scram to the corner and grabbed one English book. Upon heading back to their seat, they realized that the books have their name written in front and was arranged alphabetically, so they bolted from their seat and gave the book to their corresponding owner.

"Twenty minutes left." Kakashi reminded to the students, everyone was rushing, some were looking at the previous pages to recall the topic. Sasuke was confident and knew all the answers by heart, while Shikamaru scanned the exercises.

"Geez, most of it are high school stuff, this is too troublesome." He muttered to himself as he closed his book, leaned both his hands on top of it and rested his head to sleep.

Kiba answered all the questions he knows first before going back to the questions he doesn't know so he has time to look at the previous pages to recall the topic. Naruto on the other hand, was just staring at his book. Kiba glanced at him and told him to answer, but Naruto was maybe, too lazy to answer such things. He was flipping the pages over and over again until he accidentally landed on the last page of the chapter and realized that there was an answer key. He memorized the answers for the first 10-item exercise, and answered it. Then he did the same thing with the other exercises.

"Time's up. Pass your papers forward." Everyone stood up and placed the papers on Kakashi's desk, and went back to their seat exhaustedly.

"Alright. Actually we still have five minutes left before noon. Now I need three students to explain our topic for today or the whole chapter one of the book without looking at the book. If one of the three students fails, we will proceed to chapter two and you will answer all the exercises for ten minutes." The students looked at their desk, hoping that the professor will not pick them.

"The first student is Mr. Uzumaki Naruto. You have one minute to summarize one third of the topic." Naruto looked at Kakashi, surprised that he actually called him. But Kakashi knew him too well, and he knows that he will definitely win, but one student stood up before Naruto and answered his question.

"The topic is about research or to look again…" Shikamaru explained.

"There are three general approaches to research, namely descriptive studies, associational or correlation studies, and intervention studies…" Sasuke continued.

"And there are types of research according to objectives. They are descriptive, explanatory, exploratory, action, pure and applied research." A dark-haired, innocent looking guy with long hair in low-pony answered. Kakashi was quite shocked, he wasn't expecting Naruto's friends to save his ass, but he'll definitely get his nephew next time, he will make him love one of his favourite subjects.

"Alright, dismissed." He stood up, smiled at his students, and left the room. Everyone else followed after, murmuring and complaining about the exercises.

"Yo Neji!" Naruto shouted as he walked against the crowd who was leaving the room and approach the innocent looking guy who was fixing his things.

"Hey." Neji replied.

"Thanks for saving my ass a while ago, bro."

"Don't thank me, thank my cousin. And besides, I need to show your uncle that I don't deserve to be here."

"Yeah, what happened, Neji? You're not supposed to be here." said Naruto, who was sitting down on the chair near Neji.

"He told me I failed. But my theory is that the professor interchanged my grades by accident with Miro."

"Who the hell is Miro?" the blonde curiously asked, and is he referring to Kakashi-ji-san when he said professor, or someone else? As far as I can remember, he never taught an English class before. This is quite intriguing.

"My former classmate in English class, same course with Sasuke. I might talk to him later. I heard Miro failed one of his math classes. Sasuke might meet him."

"Yeah, good luck with that Neji." Naruto replied as he patted the Hyuuga's shoulders. He stood up and headed to the door, where Kiba and Shikamaru await.

"Yeah, thanks. Good luck with my cousin. I heard she's really into you, for some reasons I cannot comprehend." Neji replied to Naruto who's about to exit the room.

"Thanks, I'll need that luck." Naruto replied sarcastically. Then he grabbed his bag and headed to the door while holding the clip inside his blazer's pocket.

"So where are you guys heading next? By the way, where's Sasuke?" Naruto asked as they exit the building.

"Sasuke went ahead, he said his next class is Math, and it's starting… right now." Kiba replied while glancing at his watch.

"He's there." Shikamaru drawled, staring at the pale man in the crowd of students, few meters away from them.

"Saw him, thanks." Said Naruto as he patted his friend's shoulder, and ran after Sasuke.

"Sasuke!" he shouted repeatedly. The raven stopped to turn around and saw a blond from a far, running towards him like some incident happened. Naruto stopped in front of him, "Sasuke…" He uttered while panting. "Can we meet later, lunchtime?" He asked as he straighten up.

"Hn, what for?"

"To eat lunch." Naruto said. Sasuke paused for a while and stared at him again with weird gleams on his squinting eyes.

"Teme! I am not gay! And I need your help."

"Don't tell me it's the same favour you asked Kiba a while ago."

"No—yes… Quite similar, but it's nothing close to what I asked Kiba to do for me."

Sasuke paused again and stared blankly at Naruto. Then he finally uttered his most famous word. "Hn" And looked away from the blond. Naruto glared at him, but decided to compose himself. He needs Sasuke's help, and arguing with him will make things harder. The blond took a deep breath and asked the raven as calmly as possible.

"Well, remember the clip I found in the sea?"

"So you found the owner and is asking for ransom?"

"Well... yeah, kind of. The thing is… she's asking for the person who found it."

"She?" Sasuke asked. Then he shook his head, giving a signal to Naruto not to answer the stupid question, "Where's the problem, aren't you the one who found it?"

"Yes." Naruto paused. Then he remembered his big mistake and started slapping his forehead, "Damn those green eyes!"

Green eyes? Sasuke thought curiously, "I still don't see the problem here, except that I am late for my Math cla—"

"Can we just meet later, I'll explain everything when we get there?"

"Where is that where?"

"The coffee shop near our apartment, the one with the flower shop inside it."

"I'll think about it."

"You have to be there, Sasuke, please I'm begging you."

"Hn."

"Please."

"We'll see. Can I go to my Math class now?" Said Sasuke impatiently, Naruto nodded and watched his friend turn-around and walk away from him. Then he sadly returned to his brunet friends while thinking for a substitute plan if ever Sasuke won't come.

"Hey! What's your next class?" Kiba asked as his blonde friend drew nearer, "Me and Shikamaru has to go back to that old building. Our next class is History."

"Wow, both of you are in same class again? That's great!"

"Not really. I'll be taking my major, while the slug here takes general history." Kiba replied.

"This day is very troublesome."

"Mine is Science. Guess I have to go." Naruto said as he waved goodbye and watched his two friends head back to the building.

"Oh! And tomorrow, be early. Registration for P.E. is tomorrow, and I heard it's on first come first serve basis. I also heard we can register early!" Kiba shouted to his blonde fiend who turned around to face him.

"Yeah, now everyone knows that we can register earlier than the given time." Shikamaru whispered to his friend, then sighed as he saw some people murmur about the early registration and reservations. "Geez, how troublesome…"

"Damn it." Kiba murmured, "See you later, Naruto!" He shouted once more, Naruto waved at his two friends and watched them disappear from the doors of the building. He glanced at his watch and noticed that he was late for his next class.

"Dattebayo, I'm late! Damn it." He said to himself and ran as fast as he can, hoping that the professor is not as bastard as Kakashi.

Fate is truly playful. It allows you to think that things will definitely follow your instructions in your life, until it makes a single turn. Then everything you have planned ahead will be needing a little adjustment, or a cosmic change to turn it the other way around. But sometimes, changes happen… for a reason.

-End of Part 1-

Who is the person…

Who got away, promised to never come back

But was found again – such a small world, isn't it?