BITE ME
Insanely Good Liar
Summary: Sent to live with his uncle to Konoha, Naruto Uzumaki starts to believe he may be the only human in the village… or is he really?
"Be careful what you wish for." [SasuNaru, AU]
Me: HIIIII! SORRY! I'm risking my soul here. I love this story, and how I wrote from the bottom of my heart. it is... so to say; my enigma. It is exactly my fantasy world. It took me years to actually have the courage to post it. Be kind and read it! NOW! Please, give it one shot, although I've been an evil un-updating author! You won't regret it, I swear!
This is un-beta-ed. My mother language is not English. I apologize. If there are mistakes, I want you to actually tell them, especially grammar mistakes... I want to improve myself!
Naruto Uzumaki was suffering something called Post-traumatic Stress Disorder.
He lived in a lively area in Tokyo.
He had the most normal family. Mom, Dad and him.
He had a lot of friends.
He was a bit below average at school.
He saw his best friend commit a suicide; in front of his eyes, he jumped down from the school's roof.
His grades suddenly jumped up pretty high.
His friends suddenly seemed like his enemies.
His relationship with his parents worsened.
He was sent to live in Konoha.
And his destiny resolved.
…
ONE
Paw-prints on Mud
…
Uncle Iruka was thirty one, but looked barely in his twenties.
Since I remember myself he always had a long brown hair that went past his shoulders. It was wavy and he always tied it tightly to a high bun. He was wearing a really cool pair of sunglasses, and I found myself thinking why he would wear them. It wasn't sunny that day; a bit cloudy, in fact.
"So… want to tell me what happened?" I knew that question was going to pop sooner or later, but expected it to be latter. We just left Mito on Iruka's car, and I suspected that Iruka had detained himself all the way in the train from Tokyo.
"Not really…" I answered.
He glanced at me before continuing; "You sure? You look like you could use some man-to-man talk. And Minato looked quite worried."
The truth was that Iruka was more worried than dad. Iruka's like a second mom, only manlier and cooler.
"Konoha-high is pretty famous in Tokyo. Now that I improved my grades and I'll finish high-school there, I'll have a pretty good shot to get into a really good university."
"Really now…?" I could feel Iruka rolling his eyes behind his black shades.
"Mom said it's for a year."
At this Uncle didn't reply.
The noises of the engine and the wheels on the stone-geared road had distracted away the silence; and it didn't felt as awkward as it supposed to feel.
The car suddenly drove into a bridge. You could see all the way down to the river below. His blue-green color turned into the gray pavement of my school yard.
"--It's just that… we fought…" I blurted out and quickly looked away from below the bridge. "All the time. Even in the mornings… He thinks I'm not the same, but I am the same and I can feel him blaming me…"
"Of course he doesn't blame you." Iruka comforted. "Nobody does."
I was relieved to see we passed the bridge.
Avoiding high places at all costs had became my habit. Even thinking about it was forbidden; Haku's face looked up to me, and his eyes – lacking the iris and the pupil, as if they rolled backwards. And all the blood—
"By the way, I want to say something first." Iruka freed me from the sick images that run through the train of my thoughts.
I spun to him from the view of the beautiful forest. "Hmm?"
"Konoha…" He started but paused, as if unable to find the right words. "Is a small village… but there's a lot of… uh… Let me rephrase that. It might be difficult for you to fit in at first, but I'm sure you'll get along just fine with everybody. After all, you're like us."
I blinked at him.
…………………………………
Saying that Konoha was small was a misinterpretation.
We arrived in late evening, and I got to see Konoha from one of the mountains.
It was built inside a huge valley, surrounded by a range of mountains that isolated the town from the whole world. There weren't many lights; many were spread across the valley but in small groups and sometimes alone. By the far end there was a group of lights, and I somewhat suspected it was the school.
The ride to Iruka's house was dark. There were barely streetlights guiding the way. The vegetation looked savage and I saw fields of grass if I squinted my eyes to see out in the dark.
Iruka's house didn't look new.
There was a three-meter fence of old red bricks. Its color turned darker and they were filled with cracks and mold and small vegetation like climber-planets. A lone streetlight was guarding the black-metallic gate.
At first, I wanted to ask what Iruka was protecting himself from, but soon I shook it off.
Within the fence stood a nice, Japanese-style country house and huge dark trees shielding the house - front and back.
It wasn't as big as I expected it to be - I was waiting for a palace; but it had only three stories, if counting the attic. Why should I complain? I lived in an apartment building in Tokyo.
The lights were on, and when I lifted one of the bags, strolling down the luggage with the wheels, I followed Iruka in the little stone road. He was carrying my huge sports-bag with one hand. I always knew Iruka was always a bit stronger than he looked, but this was ridicules! I could barely lift that thing with both of my hands.
He opened the door, dropping the keys on the stand and leaving his shoes in the entrance. I followed suit, since I was regular to modern houses when you undo your shoes in your room.
"Kakashi…!" He yelled a bit angrily. I winced at the name. I should've known he would be there but it hadn't occurred to me at first.
Kakashi was… Iruka's so-said-friend. He would come to all the family parties or memorials and funerals with Iruka, and act like a part of the family. Not that my family minded, they all loved him with his carefree, smiling nature. And I did too; for me he was Uncle Kakashi that sneaked me candies from the appetizer tables.
Only when I was sixteen I started to suspect the real definition of the 'friends' Iruka claimed them to be. This had cleared all doubt out of my mind.
"Welcome back. I expected you in the afternoon." Kakashi greeted, taking the bag from Iruka and putting it down for the meanwhile.
"Hay, Kiddo."
"Hi, Uncle Kakashi." He hugged me briefly, and it occurred to me that I didn't saw him huge Iruka ever. Weird couple.
"Had a nice trip?"
"Yeah."
"Did he bug you with questions?"
I laughed, dragging my luggage inside and I was about to close the door after myself when I noticed something standing before the gate. It looked like a human being, but it was standing weirdly. Even when the light on him, I could only figure out his hand which held the gates bars. His head was cocked to the side.
"What do you see…?" Kakashi's voice was so low, it vibrated in my ear. The thing disappeared when I blinked.
I felt like I was in some kind of trance.
I closed the door, feeling a headache coming out. "There was…"
"Hay, Come up and chose a room!" Iruka yelled from upstairs.
"Okay!"
…………………………………
I picked the green room with the Tatami-mat.
I actually (really) wanted the blue room, but it looked like it had been used as a study because of the books and the small used futon. I didn't really want to the two of them to change their life for me. It was only for a year, and then, I'll be back to Tokyo.
I stuffed all my clothes inside the closet, leaving only the suitcase with the wheels outside.
It was pretty late when I came down. Kakashi was drinking beer while watching some show with Japanese idols running around and jumping up and down in it. He gave me some cookies and ruffled my hair. I tried looking displeased at his parental behavior but I was starving.
"If Iruka asks, you saw no beer, and had no cookies before bed," he warned.
"Got it," I replied with a smile. "Where is Iruka?" I asked, suddenly aware of his absence.
"He likes to get up early."
"Sounds like him."
"He's just like a fussy housewife. Don't mind him. He'll start by cleaning the house until everything will be shiny and then he'll go to the garden. After that he'll make breakfast, wake me and you up by telling us it's already late when it's nine o'clock. But not before going to get some groceries from the store." I laughed. I had adored Kakashi since a young age. He had a silver hair and an eye-patch on his left eye. I called him Uncle Pirate when I was small, because he looked like one.
If you asked him what happened to his eye (and I did, a few times), he would always say the same; 'In 1921, there was a big lab explosion and it made me lose my eye'. Never mind the fact that even if he were born in 1921 he would be at least 87. And he looks like… 25. If you ask him how can that be, he would answer that the explosion may have took his eye but it also made him immortal.
I nodded yawning.
"I think I'll go to sleep." I changed subject.
"Alright. Let me show you where the clean sheets are."
…………………………………
Morning came too fast, and when I felt slight shaking, I groaned, trying to remain in the sweet dream world. Just like Kakashi said, Iruka had waked me up.
Breakfast was pancakes. They were sweet and tasty, and I have came to a conclusion that if that's going to be my breakfast everyday, I don't really mind staying here as long as the parents wanted.
I heard from father that Iruka's cooking was good, but I didn't expect it to be that good. Mom's cooking looked unprofessional compared to him.
Iruka took me with him to the grocery-shop. At first, I wanted to grab onto something solid (like Kakashi, for example) and hold it for dear life, but after he dragged me out of the house, I changed my mind.
The sun just got up and the old dark trees looked green now. There was a small vegetable garden in the other side of the pavement where the car stood.
The black gate had hided a field of green wheat that just started to grow.
The road was rocky and muddy, and everything was wet. Iruka walked behind me, a pleased smile on his face as I ran around admiring the beauty of enormous amounts of flowers and weird colorful trees.
Blue ones, pink ones, red ones and even purple.
Everything seemed so vibrant, like another world from the gray Tokyo.
While we walked past the little grove, I noticed a river flowing right in the midst of Konoha, blinding with his shining blue waters.
"Jeez, it's like heaven!" I commented, hearing Iruka laughing in the background.
"Come on, here's the shop."
The shop was quite big. Like Iruka's house, it was surrounded by a tall fence, only it was built out of dark wood.
Instead of a house there was a whole residence inside. The door on the wooden-wall was opened. There were no sign and no indication it was a store whatsoever, and I was worried that Iruka might have mistook the place.
He went in and I followed suit, feeling like we're trespassing.
There was a little Japanese traditional yard and on the grass rested three huge dogs; a brown one, a gray one and a white one. The white one was largest of the group. They cuddled together cutely (well, as cutely as three enormous dogs can cuddle), and the gray one lifted a sleepy head to stare at us.
I felt the sudden urge to escape while yelling. I tugged at Iruka's shirt.
"Tsume!" He called. "You home?"
There was silence, and the dog put his head back onto his paws. Suddenly one of the doors banged opened, and a woman walked out; she had brown messy hair and looked quite daring. Her eyes shifted from me to Uncle and then she grinned. "Iruka! Aren't you late, for today?"
"Sorry," He hugged my shoulders. "Had to make him a proper breakfast. That's my nephew; Naruto Uzumaki."
I smiled carefully.
She picked up an empty can that was lying on the floor and jogged it from hand to hand.
"So… think that you're ready to handle Konoha-high?" she laughed heartedly. Even tough she seemed to have boobs, she talked like a man, and walked like a man, and looked strong as a man.
"My Kiba wasn't ready for it, and now look what happened to him!" She continued, and with a sudden burst, she crumbled the can, and threw it on one of the doors. "Wake up, you ungrateful son! It's past nine o'clock you lazy dog!"
I winced, hiding behind Iruka, as she went past us and opened the big black door that stood in front of us.
There was a girl sitting there, she looked younger, in her twenties. She was reading a fashion magazine. She hid it as the woman came inside. "Hana! why do I have to get up and see that you and that ungrateful brat hadn't yet opened the store?" She yelled.
"Sorry, Ma. Kiba won't wake up."
Then there was a strangled baby cry. "Tsk. I'm coming, love!" She replied to the cries and wails.
"Now treat some customers."
She pushed Iruka inside while smiling. "Come in, come in."
From the minute the young lady saw Iruka her eyes lightened up and she sat up straight fixing her blouse. She offered the best smile she could and asked; "What can I do for you today, Iruka?"
"Ummm… Give me one kilo of rice… and…"
I looked around the store as Iruka ordered things. It was an old store and it smelled like candies. As if he entered another century. Everything was on wooden desks or shelves. No refrigerators what so ever.
"Can I help you?" She asked suddenly as I examined the kinds of spices that filled plastic white bags; like in the market.
"Do you want something, Naruto?"
"Umm… no. Not really. Well, you could always buy me ramen."
Iruka nodded. "And two cups of ramen please."
"Pork and Chicken." I added, smiling.
Hana looked a bit displeased at the fact that Iruka knew me, and I guessed she had a crush on him for a long time, if she made that face. "Okay."
She was about to go inside to retrieve something when she stumbled upon a half-naked teen. He was as tall as me, brown messy hair, and green eyes. Over all, he looked exactly like the lady that just left; but his hair was a bit curlier. The fact that he wasn't wearing a shirt soon distracted me from his face.
His muscles were beautiful, almost as if they were painted; not real.
"Watch where you're going, little bro…"
"So-r-r-y…" He yawned. "Morning Sensei."
"Morning." Iruka ruffled his hair. "I thought you and Shino are going to Mito for the weekend…"
The guy's gazed diverted to me. He stared at me, as if I'm a prey. I rolled my eyes away from him. "Something occurred…" He took himself a bottle of mineral water from one of the shelves and opened it. "Who's the new kid?"
"Oh. That's Naruto. He's my nephew. He'll probably be in your class."
I felt obligated to say something. "Hi." I couldn't bring myself to give him a smile.
"Hi." He replied just as coldly.
Hana came back a second after with a bag of rice. And the guy retreated into the curtains in one of the doorways that led inside the house.
I took the rice and when Iruka tried to say I should give him the heavy things; I immediately told him that he's too old for that.
He smacked me, and I laughed.
…………………………………
Kakashi was still fixing my computer when it was already nightfall.
He had tried (with too much effort, if you ask me) doing it for hours alone. And every time I asked to help he would say he didn't need help.
Only when Iruka was walking next to the door of my room and opened it suddenly I saw that Kakashi was sitting and reading some orange book.
"That book again! If I see it one more time, again, I will throw it away! Give it to me!"
"No, no, no. I'm sorry."
"Give it to me; I'm confiscating it until you fix the child a network."
"I'll be good, just don't take it away."
"Give it to me NOW."
"But I'll have it after dinner."
"If you behave." With that and the orange book in his hand, Iruka left.
I sniggered.
"Shut up, brat, and help me out."
It took us exactly seventeen minutes for the whole process.
Dinner was really tasty and soon after I wanted to do nothing but to crush on my futon and sleep like a dead man. I was about to say good night when Iruka signaled me to help him with the dishes.
"I know you're not a kid anymore and you can handle yourself… but this is not Tokyo. School is tomorrow and I don't know when I'll be home and when Kakashi will be home… Never mind that; you must never go out after nightfall."
"Why?"
"Because…" Iruka looked back at the living room door for a second before continuing; "Look." He stopped washing the dishes but left the water running. He put his wet hands on my shoulders. "There are creatures here… creatures that you never imagine that exist…"
"Iruka, you're freaking me out…"
"I know. But please, promise you won't get out when it's after sunset."
"Alright! Alright! What kind of creatures? Wolfs? Bears?"
"What are you talking about…?" we both jumped and looked at Kakashi cocking his head at us.
"Nothing, nothing…" Iruka laughed, and I opened my mouth to say something but Uncle cut into my words; "Oh look! I wetted you!"
I gaped unbelievingly for a minute, watching Iruka washing the dishes while humming.
"I'm going to sleep." I glanced at Kakashi as I stomped away from Iruka and upstairs, who followed me with his only eye up the stairs.
"Night!" I yelled after myself
"Good Night, Naru. Don't let the bed-bugs bite!"
The sliding door had slid with rattling sounds behind me as I walked into the door.
I plopped down onto the futon, sighing.
It was completely dark and quiet. I could hear quiet murmurs from downstairs.
Wonder what they're talking about… Certainly there's something going on between them. Maybe they had a fight? What if Kakashi was holding him prisoner here? What if Iruka was in danger and nobody ever noticed? No. No way.
A blinking had distracted me from my thoughts. I looked up at the window and saw a blinking light.
I got up to see what's wrong with the streetlight.
It stood there in the midst of the darkness, observing the gate. On it, leaned a figure. It was wearing a trench coat and underneath it a simple sweatshirt with its hood up. The figure seemed to watch the gate before it looked up to meet my eyes.
I flinched.
The light hit his eyes as if there was a cat inside the hood. Yet instead of the white-blinking reflection it should be; it reflected a red light.
I lowered my head a bit, because I couldn't explain the way his freaky eyes stared at me. As soon as I did it, He pushed his body from the pole of the streetlight and walked a few careful steps toward me.
My breath stopped.
The light wasn't hitting his eyes that much, but he still scared me. Yet, I couldn't look away.
Was it the same shadow that stood next to the gate the day I arrived?
No, it was taller, leaner. It had a whole another presence. A strong presence. His face seemed pale beneath the hood.
He had dark, dark eyes.
The figure turned sharply to the right. Before I could realize what was happening a huge white dog was standing before it. Scratch the word 'huge' -- the thing was bigger than the brick wall! It growled, and I could feel the window rattle from its growl.
With a blink of eye, they were gone.
I stood there; hand on the window, gaping like a fish on shore. My throat felt dry and I blinked a few times. I rubbed my eyes.
Did I just imagine it? I tried rubbing my eyes again.
What the hell is wrong with me? Should I be worried? Do I need medical help?
I waited till my heart stopped beating fast, but it never came. That was the last straw. I lost my mind.
"What are you saying?!"
It was Iruka's voice from downstairs.
I blinked, and tried to listen. "I didn't bring him here to feed him to the dogs!" He said more quietly but still furiously.
I slid cautiously the door open.
"Sooner or later, he'll find out, Iruka." Kakashi's voice was calmer.
"Well, let's just hope it's later."
"What if he'll want to go to the mall with friends? He's seventeen, do you actually expect him to—"
"I don't know… I… with Fugaku gone and no one to lead their clan…"
"Oh come on, why would they… They won't get close to this house because I'm here…"
"And if you're not?"
"Iruka…" There was a sigh and a growl and the tone said that Iruka was exaggerating.
"What was Minato thinking… what if... something happens to him… I'll die from worry…"
"Don't worry. I think he already made a friend."
And who would that be…?
I felt suddenly distressed. Iruka almost never stayed at our place more than a month. He was always smiling and it was safe to lean on him and talk to him about troubles. But he was not my father, he couldn't deal with me. He and Kakashi didn't even want me here.
Over more, if they knew I'm some kind of a sociopath that sees things like huge dogs, they would surely send me back.
And now, for some reason, I don't want to go.
…………………………………
The vampire stared at his companion, before looking down.
"What had your brother said?" The other vampire asked, as he followed him down. He caught his prey by the neck.
The prey hissed, scratching his strong hand away. But Sasuke exposed his teeth and crushed the neck until he held the lifeless thing inside a closed fist around his neck. Blood exploded and spilled, dirtying the young vampire's white shirt.
"Jeez," The older vampire laughed. Sasuke threw the limp thing to the ground and licked his hand. "Always so violent and dirty! If Itachi saw that-"
"He will not tell me what to do."
The older vampire stilled; "He will be our leader, Sasuke."
"He'll stay my older brother, nothing more. I will do what I want."
the older one sighed, watching the thing turn into dust; only the dirty forest floor; dead leaves mixed with blood and earth left. He followed the young teen in between the trees.
"So what had he said?"
"Shisui, if you want to know, ask him yourself."
"Alright." He paused, looking for a new topic. "By the way; we looked for you yesterday and you weren't in your room."
The vampire turned around to his companion. "Yes," he said, "I went to talk to Kakashi."
Shisui sighed for what seemed to be the tenth time this morning. "Don't interfere with that half-blood, Sasuke."
"He is my Uncle. As he a part of our elders. Treat him with respect." The younger one looked ahead for a second before catching one more creature. He examined the new prey as it wriggled in his hand and threw it away, towards the older vampire's direction.
Shisui smiled back, murmuring a small 'thanks' before sinking his teeth into the prey. Watching it, bore Sasuke soon enough and he started walking again. Not long after, his brother's best friend caught up to him again.
"Well, and what did you talk to him about?"
"I didn't."
"But you just said-"
"Yeah, I waited him out but that dumb Inuzuka…" the vampire spat at the forest floor. "He attacked me all of the sudden, as if protecting… Because I saw that…"
"That?"
"Probably his human. His human was… blond."
"Blond? You confuse me."
"He was special… his human."
"What are you saying? Werewolf blood is yucky!" The older vampire playfully stuck his tongue out.
"Never mind." Sasuke caught himself a new prey. He sniffed it, liking the smell of a pure 'B'-negative.
Not many B-negative were left in the hunting area, but it was like a dessert to his meal. He kept the small demon and turned around. "I'm going to School."
"Change your clothes first. If Itachi sees how you're roaming in his garden he'll-"
Sasuke rolled his eyes before disappearing.
…………………………………
I stepped out of the gate, inhaling as much fresh morning air as I could.
My lungs fluttered with joy. I sighed deeply and looked back at Iruka and Kakashi that still argued who will drive the car. I was going to school on this lovely Monday morning and I was up and about just before I could blink the sleep off my eyes.
The breakfast in my stomach though, wasn't as thrilled as I was. It gurgled unhappily to reply my thoughts; I pitied it and rubbed it. Kakashi had waked up before Iruka and I had to witness the disaster that is 'Kakashi-breakfast'.
To avoid further stomach problems and survive; note to self – never eat breakfast if it's made by Kakashi.
I started walking forward their direction, but the memory of the huge wolf and the man came up on my mind and I looked back at the streetlight.
I sighed heavily, but then I noticed it… It was a huge paw-print.
I immediately stopped and turned to it, examining it. It looked almost unreal. When I looked down, I saw that I was standing in another one. I followed them and noticed they led away from the muddy wet road into the meadow.
"Naruto…!" Iruka called, but I was absorbed into knowing whereas I was insane or not. I sat in the car, waited until Kakashi (who won their verbal argument, so it seems.) stirred the car and got off from the parking lot of the house.
The road was rocky. "I think I saw something yesterday." I descended upon them.
"What, love?" Iruka asked from inside his bag, where he looked for something. "You know where the registration files? Maybe we forgot them…" Iruka murmured to Kakashi. "No, you took them off the stand, I remember…" Kakashi replied.
I continued; "Uh… There was a man… waiting by the gate."
At this Iruka stopped whatever he was doing and turned to me. "What man?"
"I don't know… but that's not the important thing… He was standing there, and then he noticed me… It was really freaky. And then this giant dog… or wolf… had appeared and it growled and then they both disappeared…!" I ended dramatically.
"You sure you weren't dreaming?"
"Yeah, because I could hear you two still arguing."
"We haven't argued!" Iruka laughed.
"We just disagreed." Kakashi agreed. "What did the werewolf look like…?"
"Werewolf? You mean-"
"No, no, no… Not a werewolf, Kakashi meant to say a wolf…" Iruka hit him hard. Either they already think I'm nuts, either they're hiding something from me.
"He was white… with brown paws… he looked a bit like…"
Kakashi murmured something before spinning the car to the left.
I could see bits of civilization: a street with a lot of buildings that ended with a big green building; Now that we're talking about color, all the building looked the same and had the same wooden entrance.
"This is the campus…" Iruka averted my focus on the outside. "Pretty isn't it?"
"What, all of it?"
"Yes. You might get lost at first, but don't worry you'll get used to it."
"Not might. I most definitely will. Don't expect me home early today."
Kakashi chuckled. "Don't worry, Iruka won't let you starve to death here. His parental instincts never fail."
"Jesus, are you implying I'm acting like a woman?" Uncle hit him again.
This past two days, more and more I noticed they were acting like brothers rather than a gay couple. Maybe I was wrong and they were really good friends?
Why would they live together then?
…………………………………
School was huge. I knew it was one of the best in the country but rarely someone passed the exam. When I sent the applications for new high-school, I expected to get into Namikaze-high. It was in Tokyo and was counted very prestigious and people who graduated from there were politicians, doctors or lawyers.
Truthfully saying, I didn't know what he wanted to do in the future. Tokyo – just wasn't my place. I might have been a bit popular at school, but never belonged there; always, treated as a stranger.
The only one close to me was Haku.
Well, that's until he met Zabuza.
I traced my finger on the newly looking chairs. They were speechlessly clean. As if by a spell even the corners were cleaned. It was so neat in the office, almost unbelievingly.
Iruka left me here and went to the teacher lounge, saying that first the director will have a word with me. I looked at the black-haired secretary, which was staring back at me. She looked away quickly as if caught, continuing with her paperwork.
"Tsunade will be with you in a minute or so…" she trailed off, fixing her gaze at a pile of files. "Uzumaki… Naruto. Right?"
"Yes." I quickly answered. "How did you-"
"You look exactly like him." She put her head on her hand, sighing slightly. "Your father." She completed.
"Oh." Laughing, I scratched my head. "That's right. Dad used to live here before."
"You could say that again." She uttered rudely. I blinked at her. "Your father was a rare find… School's 'hunk', so to say…"
"Really? That's… disturbing."
She laughed heartedly. "It was weird for everyone…" She said in a quieter tone.
I understood she wasn't going to end her sentence, since she went back to her files. "What was?" I urged, curious at my father's younger years.
To me, it always seemed like between us were nothing but a walls and fences of glass. He would never talk about Konoha no matter how much I asked. Konoha was like his forgotten, sad past. His childhood was something he dodged to talk about. Finding out about it seemed weird, now. Especially not from him.
"Oh, you know… that he picked your mother." She flattered her hand, getting out some sheets from her dossier.
"Why's that?" I defensively spoke.
She opened her mouth to speak, but the door of the office slammed open. A blond woman with huge boobs (and I mean enormous!) walked in.
"You must be the new student. Come, I'll give you a quick welcome interlocution."
I nodded, and followed her to her room.
'The Principal's Office' was said in big bold white words on the door. It was smaller compared to the waiting room.
It contained a desk, a big red chair and a few smaller ones in the other side of the wooden desk. Her laptop was closed, and a few plants were scattered in the corners and on her desk, including a photo, that was turned away from the visitors.
The planets were non-flower evergreens; expect one; that had small, white, barely noticeable flowers.
"Herbs." She said. "They help cleaning the environment."
I nodded, smiling and trying not to look nervous. She seemed like fierce and strong woman, that mustn't be pissed off. My tongue always led me to wrong directions. I hoped to control it at least this time. "Well, Naruto. Welcome to Konoha-high. I'm sure you'll fit in just fine. Any question can be addressed to the teachers; we are a family here…" She said quickly and yawned. "Not that it matters, right? You're Iruka's nephew."
I nodded again.
"Not mute, right?"
"No, I can talk just fine-" should I add a 'miss', 'madam' maybe?
"Good. Here's your schedule. Books will be sent tomorrow. Have a nice day."
"Uh. Thanks."
"Run along." She waved her hand at me. I walked out of her cabinet slowly; a bit disappointed at the way I was treated. "Old hag…" I murmured when I closed the door, shaking off my angry feeling. No need to get upset over nothing in my first day at school.
I heard something breaking in her office and slipped away before finding out she actually heard me. What I don't know, won't hurt, me or her.
The secretary blinked at me.
…………………………………
A flood of bodies made it hard to get to my first class.
Students were rushing everywhere. To my right and to my left, to the north or to the south. I got confused where I was and where I should go.
I stopped and was about to ask for direction when I noticed him.
It was the same gray hoodie, I could tell. He was the one standing by the streetlight, yesterday. On the hoodie was the school's blazer, which meant that he was no vision of mine.
As I guessed his face was pale. Midnight-colored bangs showing and contrasting the color of his face. His eyes though, were covered with a pair of black sunglasses.
He was looking down, not noticing his surroundings. I started walking, not really wanting to attract any attention to me.
The chatter and noise were loud, yet I couldn't deny the sound of his steps coming closer to me. The closer he got to me, the slower I walked. Was he real? My mind was racing with all kind of thoughts. I wanted to avoid him, but there were too many people. And everybody was talking. The annoying buzz had croaked in my ears and I wanted to cover my ears. But instead of silence, I could hear my heart pulsing.
It was quick and weird, his shoulder barely pressed mine, and he was a complete stranger to me, yet I turned around to look after him – and he did the same.
His lips parted, husky yet thin, surprised; astonished. I don't know how long did we stand there, doing nothing but gaping like two fishes in one aquarium. The chattering never stopped, the people were still flooding the hallway and the planet kept on spinning around the sun, but I froze.
Somebody pushed him out of the way, and I blinked, as if waking up from a trance. I turned back, cursing myself for being a complete and utter dork. It was embarrassing, and the guy probably thought I was some kind of a freak.
Wait, he's the freak, not me!
I did nothing bad. I saw him… being… an undead or something near my house. Meeting up with a werewolf. Reasonable enough, isn't it?
Somebody should take me to a psychotherapist.
…………………………………
I arrived a bit late to my class, since in the end the direction I was walking in was the opposite.
I knocked softly on the wooden door and opened it.
"Ah, Naru! You were assigned to my class?"
I was a bit relieved to hear Kakashi's voice, and yet a bit embarrassed at the choice of his words. I don't need the 'teacher's-pet' stigma sticking to me. I nodded solemnly, and he nodded back, smiling. "Come in, come in!" He ordered. I took a big sigh and walked in, standing next to his table while he wrote my name on the board.
It felt humiliating. This was high-school, not junior-high. I wanted to smack Kakashi with something sharp and run the fuck away.
"So, we'll be having a new student from now on. Introduce yourself." Kakashi put a hand on my shoulder and reassuring me.
Being nice is important in this situation, I thought to myself. Smiling, I tried not to be too polite; "Nice to meet you," Ah, my voice gave me away. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki."
All the curious glances and the glares at the board turned into mild chattering. I wonder what triggered it my name or my smile.
"Now, now…" Kakashi lazily calmed them down. "Where would you sit…" He muttered, putting a finger on his lips as if considering. Not the window. Oh god, please not the window!
"Oh no, Inuzuka, bad-news! There's a free seat next to you!"
Gah, don't tell me it's that rude guy from the shop! Why this is just keeps getting better? The said guy groaned, rolling his eyes. Well, at least it's further away from the window, I'll give him that.
"Why don't you show him around, while you're at it?" Kakashi suggested.
He clicked his tongue, "Why can't Ino show him around? She's the class rep."
"What was that? Did I just hear you patronizing on me?"
He growled, looking away from Kakashi.
Great, just great. I sighed to myself, looking to the bright day outside as I walked to my seat.
The class was smaller than I expected and barely consisted of 20 seats. Three of which were free from people. Kiba was sitting at the middle, the selection that was marked as the 'normal'-people area by my book. Front desks were all occupied by dorks. And at the end of the class, the delinquents and-
Oh, lord, did I left a 'strangle-me!' message on your voice-mail? Mr. undead-fiendish-eyes were sitting there, glaring at me. Without the glasses, his eyes were in a deep shade of onyx; black like the pitch; calm like the sea before a storm, as if completing his flawless uniqueness. He looked straight at me, as if daring me to do something. He made an eye-contact and I immediately looked away, sitting down as quickly as I could to ease my infamy.
I sighed in relief, although I could still sense the fact that he was aiming an arrow at my head.
Kakashi babbled most of the period about grades and school activities, leaving a snide remark here and there. Just like every normal home-room class should be.
The bell ringed before I could even regain the 10 percentage of courage and pride I had lost during my introduction. I was about to stood up when the rude guy held my hand. "We have literature, that's Kakashi's class."
"Oh…" His kind act made me feel suspicious, yet I decided to smile and nod. "Thanks."
"Hmm." He stared at me, as if pondering out loud. "Don't mention it."
I felt rather shocked that he replied. I was expecting some shoulder-shrug or a short nod.
"So, you're Kakashi's nephew?" He continued.
"No, I'm Iruka's nephew." Wow, I thought, he's rather talkative.
"Oh. You smell more like Kakashi…"
"I… smell…?"
He immediately beamed at me, sending rays of 'I-didn't-mean-it' light. I looked back at the board, to see Kakashi already writing the subject on the board, after he erased my name.
………………………………….
"…I don't know. You want me to go with you? I'm just not that hungry. My mom made pork in the morning…" he shook his head.
"Your mom is kind of freaky." I leaned on my desk.
Just saved by the bell from Kakashi's promised home-work, everybody were either packing bags either chattering with friends already. Through out the lesson Kiba turned out to be quite the guy, although the bad beginning we had.
"You're telling me?" he laughed. "I fucking live with her! And she wonders why dad left…" he rolled his eyes. "Not that my dad was any better."
"That bad? My mom is a slave and my dad's a tyrant."
He blinked, and sat up straight as if I suddenly peaked his interest; "Your mom… she's alive?"
"Hmm… of course, she-"
Cutting off into my words, that guy passed by me, brushing my legs with his green-school-pants. His intense side-way glare took me a bit in surprise. Like puke, questions rushed down my throat, but never saw light. Instead, I noticed his dark-pink lips; a bit thin yet completely and so utterly… What was it about him that made me so attracted? I stared after him; his lean back, his manly figure, the way those ugly pants hugged his ass.
"Don't worry about him." Kiba averted my gaze and thoughts. "He's just trying to pick a fight."
"Delinquent?" I asked quickly.
"His daddy used to own the area…"
"What, a mafia or something…?"
Kiba laughed in reply; "something like that… only… their clan… is the protector of our country." Kiba watched the door from which the guy left.
"Huh?"
"Hay, we should go to the cafeteria, or else we'll be late."
…………………………………
Overall, the first day at school was quite successful.
I sort of made a friend.
And with my supreme ninja skills, I succeeded to avoid Mr. undead.
Highlight: Kiba patting on my back and saying I'm not as bad as I look.
Yet, a downfall: the girls at Konoha-high worship Mr. undead. Somebody should tell them that guy is hanging out with a werewolf… and has glimmering snake-eyes…
Although Iruka finished his classes, he waited for me in the car by my class-building. I smiled when he honked me and ran to him. He grinned and patted the front seat.
"Where's Kakashi?" I asked, while trying to secure myself with the belt.
"He has a few more classes to teach, and then he's going to… visit relatives."
"Eh? He has relatives in Konoha? I never knew that."
"Of course, Kakashi grow up and was born here, just like me and your father."
"Then doesn't it mean that we also have relatives here?"
"Nah, you know grandma was a foreigner…" Iruka sighed and added; "and for some reason only your dad got her looks."
I grinned; "And me."
"Anyway, my father's family and Minato's father family… they both didn't want to have anything to do with her… you know, back then, it was a disgrace."
"Really? So you don't know your grandparents from your father's side?"
"Nope. I just know they died early in the 80th. We visited their grave once too. Don't recall much of it though."
"I wonder what happened to my grand-grandparents."
"I think they're both still alive actually. There's an Uzumaki Household in the far-east of the valley."
"Oh man! Do you think they know I was born? Can I visit them?"
"I'd rather you not." Iruka's tone turned chilly and serious suddenly. I stopped my enthusiasm and waited for him to explain. "They were always known for being… very vicious."
"Vicious?"
"Well, yes. From what Minato told me; Namikaze, your grandfather, had forced grandma to merry him through blackmail. They had a very miserable life together… When he died, his parents blamed your grandma for everything… and practically disowned her and took every possession that was hers in their marriage… Well, Minato too had married into…"
"Hmm? I know mom's submissive."
Iruka smiled when he waited for the metallic gate of our house to open. He parked in rather silently, and only when he got out he asked what I wanted to dinner.
Dinner was home-made noodles.
It was so tasty my stomach growled in happiness when it was over. I volunteered helping with the dishes, as soon as everything was off the table, I started drying the ones Iruka already cleaned.
In much ways, I found Iruka like me. We both were talkative and friendly, and I guess that's why even a talk on weather or something trivial like water seemed interesting to me.
It was already late evening and the sun was probably down. Kakashi had entered through the front door, yawning. "I'm home!" he announced. "Mmm! Smells delicious!"
"Yeah, well! There's nothing left for you." Iruka commented and I snickered beside him.
"Wha? I came home from a hard day and that's what I get; 'no dinner'?"
"Didn't you eat at Itachi's?"
"But… I smell noodles… I can always have space for noodles!" He put his head on Iruka's shoulder.
"Stupid!" Uncle – utterly saying – blushed(and I'm being shocked because I never saw him blushing, ever!) and smacked him with a wet plate; "Not in front of-" they both glanced at me. I looked at the ceiling and started whistling.
I guess they were kind of gay, after all.
"I'll go… do my bag for tomorrow…!" I blurted and ran upstairs.
Embarrassing uncles.
Etto... to be continued...?
Things you might want to know:
Mito - a city in Japan, it's near the sea... (I think) and is known for its beautiful gardens.
The story would be mostly written in Naruto's POV. there will be parts in which he won't be present and those parts will be written in general POV.
Over all, I have to say this: This story has been deleted, rewritten, corrected, re-read about a thousand times, fixed, and copied. I put all the stress of my last year of high-school in here. More than anything in the world, I hope, wish for you, dearest reader to simply review.
Thank you for reading and stay tuned!