Chapter 1: Cold
The village of Konoha, the strongest village among the shinobi nations, is an ideal of peace.
It has always been. Ten years, after the Kyuubi attack, the village was able to rebuild itself and prosper fruitfully after surviving the most horrifying ordeal they have faced. Everyone, who lived to tell the story, would always remember that night for the rest of their dying days.
That night almost cost Konoha its most prized shinobi, the Yondaime Hokage, the Yellow Flash, and the recent genius of this generation. Kami's luck must be on his side, miraculously surviving the deadly technique, the Shiki Fuuin. This technique requires the user's life, but Namikaze Minato was alive. They thought everything was back to normal, until they discovered what was sacrificed.
The most volatile possession every person has; his heart.
He became cold, distant, and too serious. Nobody knows if that was what he sacrificed to the Shinigami or because of his own lost no one knew about. From his sacrifice, a girl was born; Namikaze Konoe, the heiress of the Yellow Flash, and the child of notion.
The cheerful, loving, and kind Yondaime Hokage was no longer alive in their eyes, the man before them was just a shadow of what he used to be. The Will of Fire had long ago diminished, opting Sarutobi to take over once again.
The man was just a character in their foggy dream, no longer existing in their reality.
It had been once a reality, but the truth was to remain hidden beneath the lies, the lies misguiding their concepts, concepts of their imaginations that died long ago. Prompted to be buried and forgotten.
Like ashes.
XXX|XXX
Sasuke is an Uchiha.
A member of one of the most respected and prestigious clan in Konoha, the son of its clan head, Uchiha Fugaku, and the brother of the famous Uchiha Itachi. He was a blue blood among people, a royalty to the villagers, a promising soon-to-be shinobi to every ninja.
That's what he believes and always will. The Uchihas are the strongest, the phrase that was drilled into his mind by his father. The Uchihas are superior among everyone, but no one became a Hokage yet. The Uchihas are the smartest, yet the Yellow Flash was considered the genius and he wasn't an Uchiha. He's an Uchiha, so he should be the strongest among his age group, yet Namikaze Konoe was the number one student.
None of his notions was proven right, and yet none was proven wrong either. They just existed within his mind, an imagination he wasn't ready to perceive in the real world.
They said Uchiha's aren't supposed to bow down, yet they are scared of the Hokage and the Yellow Flash. Notions aren't supposed to stay real at all when he knows all the beliefs he holds are only fragments of his illusion; the one that died a long time ago but he just keeps on reviving it.
He looked to his right to see his self-declared rival, a blonde haired girl named Namikaze Konoe. Her hairs is a straight blonde that fell just below her shoulder blades, her cerulean blue eyes are cold as snow; with a frosty hue, and each of her cheek was adorned by whisker-like marks representing her status inside the vilage; a Jinchuuriki.
Her face was stoic and blank that gives others no way of knowing what she was thinking. Her eyes; the window to the human soul- is closed that is like a frozen ice. She reminds him too much of Itachi, the stoic prodigy who is now making a name in the ninja world. A thing he could never do; totally close off to everyone he knows.
She is the daughter of the Yellow Flash, the one who sealed the nine-tailed fox in his child, former Yondaime Hokage of Konoha. Sasuke had seen the man several times and to say he was only intimidated was an understatement of the year. The only one he had seen who didn't cower under the blonde man's gaze was his daughter, the ninjas who knew him personally and the other ninjas who have worked with him.
Namikaze Konoe is the Jinchuuriki of Konoha. Half of the village dislikes her for what she contains while the other half just opted to ignore her but acknowledges her accomplishments.
She is something else.
Half of the class is scared of her and follows her every word. She was the type of person who hasn't grown of arrogance but of leadership and confidence. She's always direct, frank and ruthless. A pretty harsh personality but fairly effective.
Her words are law in their class and the whole academy. Among their peers, she is the snow, the cold freezing snow that pushes everyone to their limits. He discovered one thing about her. If there is one thing she despised the most; it's weakness.
He thought Itachi was the only one capable of acting cold during this age but this blonde girl just proved him wrong. Aburame Shino doesn't count. He's stoic, quiet, and serious but not cold. There is a difference.
The second thing she's done, she got rid off those kinds of girls who just attended the academy for the sake of romantic interest. In other words, fangirls. Many chose to dropout and go home crying, few chose to stand up to her and continue their way on being a kunoichi. This occurence let to her meeting her new best friend, Yamanaka Ino.
She stood up to Konoe and chose the path of the ninja, thus; giving up her infatuation of Sasuke. Haruno Sakura was a different case. Although she decided to continue, her crush for the Uchiha never faltered and Konoe never bothered her about it- mainly because of Ino.
Konoe managed to influence her best friend, Ino, to be a strong kunoichi like her with a cold exterior. But Ino has her limits, her coldness drops when with friends and family.
Nara Shikamaru was on Konoe's group of friends, consisting of the pineapplehead, Ino, Chouji, Kiba, Hinata, and Shino. Sasuke was not because the blonde girl's first impression and encounter with him was not pleasant to say the least. It seems that Konoe's influence had spread through her group that gave them power in the academy.
The Nara used to be a lazy kid, tending to doze off in class; but when he joined the Namikaze's group, he worked harder than you would hope any Nara would do. He's number two in the shinobi section of the class; he would've been first if his taijutsu is more proficient than relying on his shadow jutsus.
The pineapplehead doesn't realize it, but he has gone cold like Konoe; only slightly, especially when someone is talking about Konoe herself. Chouji also, but he still has his bubbly personality; although it's mostly see around their group of friends and family.
Hyuuga Hinata, in Sasuke's opinion, is the most changed in the group upon befriending Konoe. She used to be shy, introvert, and lacks confidence but now, she's harsh and holds her chin up high proudly; like a true Hyuuga.
Among their group, she's the kindest and inclines to smile a lot but since she's changed, she's not afraid voicing out her opinions and frustration to anyone. She also has a cold mask of indifference when needed and around her father.
Inuzuka Kiba, Sasuke doesn't really know what to say besides that he is the cocky, loudest and goofy kid in their group. But don't fall for that description too easily, because Kiba (like Konoe) despises weakness. One time he's joking around the next minute he can get very cold and intimidating when he wants and needs to be.
In fact, second to Konoe even though it doesn't look like it, he's the coldest. Some feat Sasuke doesn't know how the Inuzuka was able to pull; a happy idiot and a cold trained shinobi.
The only ones who could order Kiba to stand back or shut up are Konoe and Shikamaru. He was surprised to find out while observing their circle that the second leader from Konoe was Shikamaru.
Shino is the most logical one but too quiet in Sasuke's opinion. He's already intimidating in his own right so Sasuke didn't bother much with him.
It's rather odd how one Namikaze Konoe has this much influence not only in their class but in the whole academy. She's called the Ice Princess among the boys or the Reality Monster among the girls.
She managed to change a lot of people into stronger ones; yet it seemed unorthodox seeing her bluntness and ruthlessness.
He didn't realize it but he's been staring at Konoe longer than necessary. That's why he was surprised to be faced with her icy blue eyes, piercing his soul with a cold stare.
For the second time in Uchiha Sasuke's life, he understood that cold is far more complicated than a temperature.
Especially with their group; they call themselves The Frost.
AN:
Please review, this story is kept in my laptop for a long, long, long time and it was just my cousin who pleaded with me to publish it here. Thanks.