I don't see the meaning of school. It's… Stupid, really. I mean, all you do is go there, learn stuff, go home, and then come back the next day. "It's good for your future," They say. "One day, you'll look back, and enjoy these memories." And, I used to brush them off. "Bullshit," I'd say, with a look of distaste. What were they here but to turn us all into mindless businessmen! But when I look back, I guess I start to understand a little… After all, it was the only way I actually met them.
Who am I? No one in particular. Who are they? No one you need to know. We're all… Just there… That's what I've always felt. So when he came along, I was thrilled, I was acknowledged finally… But… … … Maybe I should start from the beginning, huh? Where it all started? … By the way, the name's Zaku. Not like it matters.
The boy scowled at his reflection. He could see the bags under his eyes. But, it wasn't what was really bothering him. A hand tried to comb down the unruly hair that sprang in all directions. It was no use, it was like it was permanently going to grow like that. Oh well, it's not like he cared… It was just… Zaku scowled again, shrugged.
How long had it been since he'd seen his family? Ages? Decades? It didn't matter. They were worthless bastards anyways. They did nothing to help Zaku, so why should he care? After all, now he had his own place, his housing prices and food were provided for him, Zaku didn't need to worry about anything… Well, anything but keeping his grades up, that is. Otherwise, his housing and food would be demolished, and he'd be left in the streets. Again.
Maybe it was hard, to picture the youth as one of the top freshmen in his high school… No one took him seriously… Except for the principal of course… After all, who could picture Zaku - with his messed up dark brown hair, dark cold eyes, and his skateboard at hand – as someone "talented" or "special." But, it's not like Zaku cared anyways. To him, all that mattered was staying alive. And Zaku had always thought that he mastered that a long time ago…
"Crud…" A quick mutter of curses followed as Zaku noticed the time flashing upon the only clock in his two-roomed apartment. 7: 41. School would start in nineteen minutes. Quickly, with a flurry of clothes and belongings, the boy rushed out of the door, locked it, and picked up the skateboard resting upon the doorframe.
Dosu found his mind wandering to the empty seat next to him. Zaku was late. Again. It was no doubt that his friend had spent too long in front of the mirror, and then decided that it was too bothersome to actually do anything with the hair. Zaku was so predictable. The principal wouldn't be pleased. Dosu sighed, his hand snaked over his blonde head, and then rested upon the notebook in front of him.
The classroom door burst open, and there was Zaku, his hair even more windblown than ever, and his shirt only half tucked into his pants. The backpack slung carelessly over his shoulder was half open, almost ready to spill all of the precious belongings all over the floor.
"You're late, Zaku," the teacher looked up from her book. "You missed the lab that we just did. You'll have to make up it after school. Is it really that hard to get to school on time just once?"
Zaku glared at the woman, "I was preoccupied," he muttered, before walking to his seat. He ignored the stares of fellow classmates, and whispered to Dosu, "That bitch."
Dosu shrugged. "You should really try to get on time though… Orochimaru will be mad…"
Sighing, Zaku dropped his backpack onto the ground, "It's always Orochimaru this, or Orochimaru that… I'm coming to think you're one of those groveling idiots like The Five and their Leader. 'Ooooh, Orochimaru, you're soooo cool, cus you freakin' let us skip ten billion grades! We loooooovvvee you!'" Zaku rolled his eyes.
"… They only skipped two…" Dosu whispered, half to himself, and to the friend that sat next to him.
Zaku continued his rant, "And that freakin' bastard, what's-his-face… I think it was something like a beetle… I mean, he's like, nineteen, and he's already the vice principal! What was Orochimaru thinking? And he's our doc- OW!"
Chuckles ran through the classroom as Zaku glared up at the teacher in front of him. "What exactly do you not get about Silent Reading, Zaku?"
"… The silent part," Zaku retorted. It earned him another whack on the head.
"Please get to reading, young man, or I'll have to send you to the principal. I don't want to hear another word from your mouth."
Zaku growled, but kept his mouth shut. He scowled at the teacher's back as she retreated back to her desk. Dosu sighed, the impulsive idiot.
The door silently creaked open, and the classroom shifted, staring at the girl that now stood in the doorframe. She didn't cower under their eyes, and asked quietly, "Is this room 5-D?"
The teacher looked up and smiled, "Why, yes… Are you the new student, Kin Tsuchi?"
The girl nodded, pulling a stray strand of hair behind her ear.
"I see you haven't gotten your uniform yet," the teacher nodded towards the girl's strange clothing. Zaku snorted, earning a glare from the teacher.
The girl nodded, "They said I'll get it next week."
"I didn't know it'd take the teach' that long to realize…" Zaku muttered to Dosu, who chuckled at Zaku's wry comment. Of course, the newcomer's attire was rather… Unusual…
The first time I saw her, it was definitely nothing like, "Oh joy, she'll be Dosu and my bestest friend ever!" we never even expected her to grow on us. We found her weird, unusual. She had a long mane of hair, and the style she had was definitely something we didn't see often. She was from a whole different world, where you wore skirts over your pants, and wore a scarf in the hottest of days.
The air around her had seemed so strange. She didn't have the 'beaten-back' air around her like everyone else. After all, we all came from exceptionally bad families here…And here she was, acting like she was some rich snob, someone who'd never earned one hardship. No one liked her. At first, anyways…
"You can sit right there, Kin. Zaku, raise your hand! Just that seat right behind him," the teacher pointed the boy out, and Kin nodded.
"Thank you," Kin smiled. Slowly, she maneuvered her way through the crooked rows, and settled down in her seat behind Zaku. She ignored the stares going her way, and took out a clean notebook as the teacher cleared her throat.
"Now, I'll start our lesson about persuasive essays…" The teacher turned to the board, and class began again.
"Dude, did you check out the new chick?"
"Yeah, she's totally… Weird…"
"But I bet she'd be hot in the school uniform."
"Anyone's hot in that."
Chuckles ran through the small group of boys.
"Dude, here she comes!"
Heads turned Kin's way, the boys watched as she walked towards a small tree farther in the distance. As they stared at her, she set down her pack, and turned her back on them, facing the opposite direction of the group.
"… Do you think she knows that's Zaku's tree?"
"Dude, you forgot it's Dosu's too."
"Yeah, but you don't wanna mess with Zaku."
"… Wait… Why?"
"Did you hear about the senior that pissed him off the other day…?"
"You're at our tree."
Kin looked up from her notebook, slowly closing it. "I didn't know a tree could be considered someone's," she merely replied, taking out a small CD player from her pack.
Zaku twitched. "Well, I own it. Now why don't you find somewhere else to go and eat?" Zaku set down his backpack. Today was bad enough now that he had a detention after school. Now some low-class girl was coming around and acting like she owned the place.
Kin ignored the boy, and quickly put her headphones on, her gaze now set on the rusted gate near the entrance of the school.
Zaku growled. She was tuning him out. Muttering to himself, Zaku sat down. He scowled up at his standing friend, and muttered, "Aren't you going to sit?"
Slowly, the blonde sat down next to Zaku and pulled out his lunch, munching it thoughtfully.
A small, familiar tune reached Zaku's ears, drifting in and out of the silent air. Silently, Zaku turned to the girl on the opposite side of the tree. He opened his mouth, as if to say something, and stopped. He was supposed to be mad at this girl for stealing his spot… Just because she just happened to be listening to his favorite Indies band was nothing… He should ignore her… He turned away, and continued to glare angrily at anyone who passed by.
"Hey, isn't that The Raven, by Hell's Gift?" Dosu sat comfortably next to Kin. He smiled sheepishly as the girl turned to him.
"Uh… Yeah…" she stared at him for a while, "You like them too?"
Dosu grinned, "Zaku and I are fans of them! They make the best music ever!" He watched as the girl couldn't fight back a smile.
"Yeah, they rock."
Zaku groaned. First, the detention, then the girl, and now Dosu.
His life couldn't get possibly worse.
—
A/N: Yeah, I know, the whole "Konoha High" thing is overrated. But, I tried a twist. Look how original I am. (Yes, I'm being sarcastic.) Hell's Gift is not any band that I know of, so, I'm sorry if I copied someone's band name, I didn't mean to. The Raven is not a real song, it's, once again, made up. This is my first ever fanfic that I've ever written, so please don't be too critical on it.
If any characters are OOC in any way in this chapter, (I hope not, considering Dosu, Zaku, and Kin are barely mentioned in the Anime series, or the Manga) I apologize. Dearly. I know I hate it when characters are too OOC.
And I have nothing against the sound 5 or Kabuto… In fact, I happen to like Kabuto very much. But this is Zaku talking, not me.
I suppose I'll but the disclaimer here:
I don't own the sound nin or any other Naruto characters going to be mentioned in this story, Kishimoto does.