NIN- No one Is NothingChapter one, two in progress

Sasunaru, GaaLee, ShikaNeji, KibaShino, ChoHina

NIN- No one Is Nothing By: Jinnifuru Sohma

High school is tough for outsiders. That's why Naruto and Kiba started NIN, specially for the lonely people of Konoha High. Junior year has arrived and Naruto has found a person to persuade to join: The lonely Sasuke Uchiha who wants absolutely nothing to do with any part of the human species. Will they be able to convince Sasuke and maybe a few other outsiders along the way to join NIN and have the best friends anyone could ever hope for? In the process, will Sasuke just happen to gain feelings for a certain blue eyed leader of the group? Sasunaru, GaaLee, ShikaNeji, KibaShino, ChoHina, Kakairu,

Flashback

It was a beautiful day in Konoha as a little blonde haired boy sat in the sandbox alone. The sun reflected in his ocean blue eyes as he took a moment from creating his castle to watch the clouds. All around him, children his age, children he knew from class, played with each other. A close, small group of boys were engaged in a silly game of tag, each squealing in delight when someone was caught.

The blue eyes settled back to his work of art. It had almost been crushed underneath the crusty sandals of a red faced boy who had nearly gotten tagged. He mumbled an apology over his shoulder as he took off again, in the direction of the playground.

The spiky haired child sighed, staring at his shoes which were splayed out in front of him and slowly tapping together in a steady rhythm. He pushed his fingers deep into the sand on either side of him, feeling the tiny crystals start to shove their way under his nails. His brief enjoyment of squashing the sand in his palms was interrupted by a shadow that crept its way along the sandbox, stopping to hover over the small boy's form.

"Hi there!" A cheery voice belonging to the creator of the shadow emitted. The blue eyes once again looked up, this time to take in the outline of a familiar boy from his homeroom.

He had tanned skin, and the same style of spiky hair, but in contrast it was a dark mahogany color that shone boldly from the sun's rays. Two red markings (probably finger paint from art class) crinkled under the brunette's mischievous eyes, a friendly smile still plastered on his face.

"Hi…" The blonde mumbled, looking away stubbornly. He busily set himself to the task of wiping tan grains from his hands.

No one ever talked to him. Even the teachers rarely did so, unless it was absolutely necessary. So just what exactly did this boy want with him? He growled inwardly at the amiable face.

"I'm Kiba! I really like dogs!" The Brunette claimed cheerfully, lowering himself into the sand next to the other boy. After getting settled, he continued in the same expressive tone.

"You're Naruto, right?" The boy named Naruto nodded, though it was barely readable. "What do you like?" A shrug. "Sand?" Yet another shrug. What was this guy's problem?

"Well, I think it has to be sand," Kiba stated matter-of-factly. "because you're here every recess." Naruto looked at the boy long enough to be sure to send him a proper glare. What? Was he stalking him now too?

"Hey Naruto?"

"Hm?" He grunted, seriously irked. This Kiba boy asked too many damn questions! Naruto scowled, still avoiding the gaze of the dog-boy.

In conclusion to make himself look occupied, he started to kick at a sand clod until it broke apart into tiny pieces. He wasn't prepared for what the brunette was about to ask.

"Um…" Kiba started, a bit unsure of himself. "Do you hate me or somethin'?"

Naruto's eyes snapped open wide in astonishment, clearly shocked by the sudden change of subject. It was obviously a strange question to ask someone you just met. He finally turned to stare dumbfounded into the other's solemn face, waiting for him to continue.

"You never come and play with me or the others. You just sit here by yourself." Kiba finally explained less compellingly this time. The brunette winced a bit and glared at his sandal. He turned away from the blonde momentarily to fish a small rock that had painfully lodged itself there earlier.

Naruto felt like he had been hit in the chest by a two hundred pound weight. He didn't move and stayed rooted to his position as he let his emotions slowly reveal themselves.

The boy's blunt choice of wording had struck something inside that he had once chosen to hide away. His eyes stung painfully as he held back a few threatening teardrops. Oh god, he was going to cry! Not here! Why did dog breath have to ask such stupid things? Couldn't he just leave him alone like everyone else?

"What do you care!?" Naruto snapped, frustrated with himself for letting the simple sentence make him so emotional. His voice cracked awkwardly in the sentence, making it sound high pitched at the end. Hints of fat tears still clung to the brim of his obsidian eyes and he desperately tried to wipe them away when the brunette had turned back towards him.

"I just thought you looked lonely over here. That's all…" He replied gently, not at all phased by the blonde's nasty retort.

Kiba's serene eyes finally met with those moist cerulean ones and he gave a soft appearance to them to show that he was sorry for intruding in Naruto's business, without actually having to say it aloud. As a result, the blue eyed boy's defensive features started to relax and he went silently into thought.

Naruto was seriously considering at that moment whether he should trust his new companion or not. All his life he had been an outcast, a nobody. From the day that he lost his parents he had sworn to never let another human being try to get close. Why should today be any different from all the others? He was doing absolutely fine on his own, wasn't he?

Then again.. no one had even bothered to try and talk to him till today. Maybe he should embrace it and try to make a new friend for as long as it may last. Kiba was being awfully persistent, and he had to admit, the dog boy was correct when it came to him being lonely…

The two boys sat in a bit of a friendly silence for a few minutes, enjoying each other's comforting company. Children continued to play around them, but neither seemed to notice, or care for that matter.

The serenity was eventually interrupted when the brunette had gathered up the courage to try speaking to the blonde. He analyzed his words carefully, determined not to make the other boy cry again.

"I-I like your sandcastle," Kiba stated unsurely giving the morose boy a famous small smile. "but…"

Naruto's head snapped up at the added "but" and eyed his sandcastle protectively. Was there something wrong with his sandcastle or something? He watched silently as his company reached out over the edge of the sandbox to snatch up a bright red leaf from the grass. Kiba twirled it absent mindedly in his fingers before finally sticking the stem down into the sand of the top of the highest tower on the castle. The delicate red part fluttered softly in the wind, but it's stem kept it anchored to the sand. Ah, a flag was it?

"There." He smiled brightly, making Naruto fill up with a sudden warmth, and it was then that the unthinkable happened.

He smiled.

The corners of his lips tugged upwards to mimic those on Kiba's amiable face, and he smiled. At first it was a bit awkward seeing as it had been so long since he had ever smiled because he felt so much happiness inside. It had been so long… but now he was smiling again. Smiling!

Naruto's little happy reunion with his smile was broken as Kiba maneuvered himself to his feet and started to brush grains of sand from the seat of his jeans. The blonde's smiled started to fade. Had he somehow offended Kiba with his ugly smile? He flinched backwards when a hand was outstretched to him, offered out kindly in front of his tan face.

Naruto looked up into the face of Kiba, letting his eyes once again scan over the other's gentle features until their eyes met. Blue eyes locked on pools of brown. Their holding gaze did not waver as the standing boy opened his mouth to speak.

"Naruto?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you... Wanna be my friend?"

Naruto felt a little confused at the proposition, but kept watching Kiba's comforting face. "Why?" He asked quietly, almost inaudibly. "I-I'm a nothing…"

"Of course you aren't. No one is nothing, Naruto." Kiba stated confidently, winking. His hand was still where it had been, waiting for him, calling him.

The blonde once again grinned up at his new friend, feeling a sudden new reassurance build up in him. He happily accepted the hand offered to him which automatically gripped his tightly as his friend hoisted him to his feet. Their smiles refused to fade.

As the school bell rang, signaling recess to be over, the two boys walked with the rest into the school building, hands still clasped, and both quite content with the new arrangement…

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"Oi! Baka! Pay attention!" A sixteen year old Kiba stated rather aggravatedly as he waved a tan hand in front of the other's face. This was about the fifth time he had attempted to gain his friend's attention and nothing seemed to get the blonde to snap out of it. He cast an annoyed glance toward a young man with a dark ponytail sitting next to him. The teen looked like he was on the verge of falling asleep but gave a lazy nod as an affirmative to the flustered brunette. With permission, Kiba happily obliged to smacking the day dreamer up the side of his head. Thwack!

The victim nearly jumped ten feet out of his chair, startled. "Itai! What the hell, Kiba?!" cried an agitated Naruto as he snapped back to reality to glare at his friend. He winced a bit to show his pain while rubbing the sore spot on his scalp.

"There was no other way." Kiba smirked, trying to give as innocent of a face as possible. "We thought we'd lost you in Happy Happy Land. I saved you at the last minute."

Naruto stuck his tongue out obnoxiously at his best friend . The innocent face never worked well for dog-breath. 'What a cheese!' He thought cheerfully, unconsciously grinning to himself at the amusement of Kiba's horrible excuse before turning his attention to the same pony-tailed boy that the brunette associated with earlier.

The sleepy male looked like he was on the brink of passing out, but managed to exchange lazy eye contact with Naruto. The blonde was now busy with pointing an accusing finger at him. The lazy guy merely yawned acting as if he didn't notice.

"You!" Naruto chided loudly, breaking the silence. "How could you just sit there and let him treat me so cruelly, Shikamaru?" He whined, trying to conjure an abused-puppy-look on his bright face. The blonde was trying his best to sound serious but couldn't help grinning like a fool when the accused rolled his eyes.

Shikamaru grumpily muttered something about him being "Troublesome." And "Too much to deal with" which was also mixed in with a hardy yawn. Naruto had always seemed to exaggerate way too much for his liking, and he had no intention on staying up if the blonde was in one of his moods.

Shikamaru had been keeping himself awake all morning for his idiot friends and now it took way too much energy to stay awake any longer. Sleep was looking rather promising at that point most likely because he hadn't gotten his full 14 hours of sleep the night before. What a drag…With a flutter of his eyes closing, he promptly gave into sweet slumber, letting his head limply fall to the desk with a rather amusing thunk. "…"

Poke. "Is he alive?" "Kiba! Stop poking him! He isn't road kill!" "Could've fooled me." "Oi? Shika?" Snore. "Yep, he's fine." The two grinned knowingly at each other, shaking their heads. Only Shika…

"What the hell are you doing to Shikamaru?" An unamused person demanded from behind them. Both of the accused looked up to meet the cloudy white eyes of another friend who had just arrived without them even noticing. The standing teen stood perfectly straight, one hand swinging loosely at his side while the other poised on his right hip sophisticatedly. Kiba smirked slightly when he saw who it was, but the blonde next took him took a whole different approach in greeting him.

"Neji-kun!" He cried loudly, and jumped straight out of his seat, launching himself at the long haired boy full force. The blonde landed awkwardly on the surprised brunette and in result, he happily tackled the new arrival to the ground, hugging him to death in delight.

Neji grunted in reply, seeing as his friend was making it really hard for him to breath. He was about to smack the bubbly male but decided against it. Besides, how could you treat someone so unkindly when they are so happy to see you… right? "Hello to you too, Naruto. Kiba." He nodded in the direction of the dog lover, who acknowledged him back in the same respect, before shoving the clingy bundle off of himself. Naruto pouted at the harshness of Neji's push and he slowly made is way back to his seat next to Kiba.

The Hyuuga rolled his eyes (no one could tell seeing as he had no pupils) at the blonde's melodramatic expression and swiftly hoisted himself to his feet. He silently scanned the room for an available seat near his friends while also engaged in brushing off the seat of his jeans. The white gaze paused at the empty chair next to the snoring male, and he smirked as he walked over and claimed the seat vacant next to Shikamaru.

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As things drifted back to the state they had been before he arrived, Neji listened attentively to his surroundings of the slowly filling classroom, quietly observing people. Kiba and Naruto were huddled close together, mischievous grins on their faces and whispering secretively. It was clear that they were scheming the next "NIN mission" aka: practical joke, probably for their new homeroom teacher. As it was explained to him before, every first day of school since their third grade year, Kiba and Naruto pulled one over on a poor unsuspecting teacher.

Intrigued, the long haired brunette leaned a bit towards them and strained to hear bits of their conversation. Naruto chuckled excitedly and mentioned "NIN" and Kiba nodded in return, grinning like a fool. Both would take turns glancing anxiously around the room to see if anyone was suspecting them yet. If that didn't give it away.. then nothing would, though one had to admit they weren't too good at being secretive. Yep, that was exactly what they're up to, Neji concluded at once. He sighed, sitting back in his chair and waiting for some magic. When Naruto said NIN, he usually meant business.

NIN was an acronym for No one Is Nothing. It was also the name given to their small group of very odd friends. As far as Neji's knowledge went, NIN was founded by Naruto, Kiba, and Shikamaru at the end of the second grade. Kiba and Naruto had become friends first, and soon started hanging along with Shikamaru after noticing he was always seen by himself, staring at the clouds.

After a couple of months of them being friends, Naruto had the bright idea to give them a name, kind of like a club or something, only different. It became a symbolic pet name to call themselves as a whole instead of each being viewed as individuals. It was also a sort of a nonexistent tie between the three, making certain they would stay together for a good long while. Neji wasn't all too sure how they had ever come up with NIN, but he had to admit, when the boys said it out loud sometimes it just sounded downright corny.

When the years rolled on and the NIN boys got a bit older, they seemed to start making a tradition of befriending anyone else that looked like a loner, outsider, or even a freak for that matter. Naruto was the main person to acquire a passion of making the secluded become wanted as their friend. It could have been his very forlorn childhood that drove him to want to make people feel like one of them. Or maybe he was just on crack. Either way, they say the result of joining NIN was always gaining the best friends one could ever ask for.

Somewhere around fifth grade, NIN had gained their first two recruits. They were both… how to put it… unique? Rock Lee was by far the odder of the two. He had huge black eyes, a bowl-cut of pitch black hair with matching thick eyebrows, and a blinding smile. He was also the one trying to cheer everyone up when something devastated one of them… and had a knack for making it worse.

It was the thought that counted though, and everyone always went straight to the raven if they needed to be cheered up, just because he had a lot of heart and that consoled them. Lee was always optimistic, making constant positive comments (on things that really didn't need to be said), he was somewhat clueless, extremely athletic, and never left the house unless he was clad in some form of green. Freak.

That left the other boy. Chouji… was Chouji. He had light brown hair that he kept up in two messy spikes on the sides of his head, small beady eyes, and packed plenty of fat to keep him for months. The boy was usually seen clutching a bag of some sort of junk food in one chubby hand, with the other alternating from the bag to his mouth, transferring the sweets.

There was an underground rule within the group never to mention the words "Chouji" and "diet" in the same sentence, just in case. Over the years, the rest of the guys had to learn 'Chouji speak' because it was extremely difficult to determine what the pudgy boy was saying when his mouth was jammed full. He was always eating like there was no tomorrow, and for that, the lunch ladies loved him.

Sixth grade brought yet another oddball to the group. Shino Aburame was yet another male with spiked hair, although his was different in the respects that it was held up securely by thick black headband around his forehead and that his locks were such a dark mahogany, they almost appeared black until you observed them under the light. He always wore high collared shirts no matter how hot it was outside and sunglasses no matter how dark, and most of the girl's kept a safe distance from him seeing as his favorite past time consisted of collecting bugs.

Shino was unofficially labeled the mysterious one of the group because he only talked when spoken to, and never seemed at all social when the gang was together. Kiba had taken quite a liking to him over the past couple of years and took it as a challenge to make the bug boy more outgoing. It was only showing a bit of a positive turn, as Mr. Mystery was gradually becoming more comfortable about being open. The dog boy always claimed that one day, Shino would be totally transformed to the point that he was almost as talkative as Naruto. This would have usually brought on a few chuckles or jokes, but they never seemed to surface because Kiba appeared strangely determined and held the most serious face when he spoke of it.

Then at last, there was Neji. Neji was the newest and last member to join the group so far. He had cloudy white eyes that lacked pupils, which seemed to look right through you when you talked to him, and long dark brown hair that reached a bit past his waist.

The Hyuuga had a very sarcastic outlook on things, and could come off as a real asshole at times, but the others understood that that was just his way of being friendly. His heart was in the right place. So they liked to think, at least… Neji was probably the most normal of all of them, yet he still managed to somehow be adopted by NIN.

Tenth grade year was when he was finally discovered by the group. Neji had always been alone before that. No matter how many people tried to talk to him, he just never seemed very interested in what they had to say. Most of the people who DID treat him decently were only doing so because he was rich and their parents told them it would be wise to form alliances with a Hyuuga. The brunette well knew this, and therefore managed to keep his distance from all of those bad excuses of the human species.

By high school, though, his detachment from others had started to catch up with him in a negative effect. Most of everyone he encountered during the day in school loathed him in one way or another. Many claimed that he was a conceited and pompous jack ass who felt he was too good to associate with lower class people. Those people glared at him every chance they got and usually taped irking messages on his locker when he wasn't looking.

Others were just downright jealous, the boys especially, of the little fan club Neji had acquired freshman year. Little did they know that Neji was the exact opposite kind of person than what they had in mind. The truth was that all the boy ever wanted was real people with genuine personalities who didn't give a fuck how much money he had, but liked him all the same no matter who he was. With all of his classmates acting the way they did, he was starting to think that something as fortunate as that would never occur. Yes, Neji was quite the lonely bastard before NIN came to his rescue.

At first he was a bit taken aback after he had agreed to start hanging around with the others. NIN was the exact opposite to what he had learned to grow up with, and it was going to take a long while for him to totally adjust to their carefree way of life. They were extremely childish at times and made it very obvious when they went to public places to hang out. Embarrassment came along with the friendship part, he knew though, but he could easily over look it for two main reasons.

The first was that he had finally found the type of friends that he searched for, after years of looking and giving up. Immature as they were, they were still real in how they acted towards him, and when they were out having a good time, it was absolutely genuine fun(I rhymed… damn..). The second was the fact that Neji wasn't alone when it came to being a mature person in the group. There was one other male who would always agree with how troublesome Kiba and Naruto could be at times.

Ah, Shikamaru. In the beginning, Neji absolutely despised Shikamaru. He was lazy, always seen sleeping or just lounging around like a sack of potatoes, and had frequent cranky moments when he was interrupted from a cat nap. But recently, the dunce had miraculously found a way to worm himself into Neji's heart and they were quickly becoming good friends.

It was probably due to their similar joy of sitting and observing their friends act like major idiots, and all the while complaining about how juvenile they were being. It seemed to become the two's favorite past time to rest peacefully next to each other, watching life go on all around them, and every once in a while inserting a few sarcastic comments here and there to lighten their mood. Usually, the sarcastic remarks were aimed good heartedly towards something idiotic one of their friends did.

It was also oddly comforting to Neji to be with someone as laid back as Shikamaru was, seeing as his home life had always been so tense, and it was nice to just relax and stop worrying, even if it was just for an hour or two. He liked being able to feel like he could pause for a moment, just to see what else was going on in the atmosphere, other than what had to do with him. All in all, Neji Hyuuga had never felt more… complete his entire life.

The history dissipated from his mind as he noticed a sudden chaos start to erupt at the front of the classroom. Being disrupted from their scheming by the same thing, Naruto and Kiba's heads snapped up from their sneaky positions to curiously watch the happenings at the door. Even Shikamaru managed to crack open one eye to peer wearily at a crowd that had started to form at the entrance of the room.

The perpetrators consisted of a small mob of females, and all were pushing at each other, squealing in delight to get a view through the door. A very… unnerving sight. It was accompanied by hushed whispering that had settled itself over the seated students, most of which looked confused. Naruto was no exception to bewilderment as he eyed his friends who looked just as baffled. He quirked and eyebrow and mouthed 'What the fuck?' in their direction. The three shrugged, keeping a curious gaze locked on the happenings.

A few seconds later, however, and the posse of rabid girls was broken up as quickly as it formed, and still excited about.. whatever they were excited about, they all finally made their ways back to their abandoned desks.

A pink haired girl named Sakura was gossiping loudly with her best friend Ino, a long haired bleach-blonde, as both wandered past the guys and took seats behind the NIN boys. It was clear that they were chattering over what had just happened with the whole girl-jam-at-the-door incident. The four friends exchanged glances and listened closely, desperately trying to decode a hint of what all the excitement was about.

"Oh my god, Ino!" A bubbly Sakura screeched all too obnoxiously from behind them, causing them to cringe. She was always being loud about something. "Did you see him?"

Ino was just as ecstatic and it showed as she bounced energetically up and down on her butt in her chair. "Yes! I got a really good look at him! He's just sooo hot!" The so seemed to be a whole twenty seconds long as she dragged it out in a preppy tone. (Authoress: Gag me…) "We should see if he will sit with us…"

Naruto wrinkled up his nose and snorted, shaking his head in disgust and rolled his eyes. Dude, and he thought something interesting was actually going on. Tch, yeah okay. When it came to girls, everything was a big deal, he should have known better than to expect something actually interesting.

He looked at his friends who seemed to have the same reaction as his, and he smirked as one shook his head, one chuckled to himself and the last… went back to sleep. He laughed, and grinned in their direction.

"Damn, all this commotion, and it was just a bunch of hormonal fan girls. Figures they'd make a big deal for a new gu-" His mouth abruptly snapped shut as the door suddenly opened and said 'new boy' walked in.

He paused in the front of the room, all eyes on him, as the door soundly clicked shut on its own, and immediately searched for an empty seat, preferably a secluded one. In reaction to this, the silenced girls of the room erupted into giggles, chirruping between themselves while some of the braver ones called out to him.

"Over here Sasuke!"

"There's a free seat next to me Sasuke-kun!" Another yelled all too sweetly.

Sasuke simply sent a glare to each of them via Fed Ex (Authoress: Ha! Fed Ex!.. ahem…), clearly not amused, causing both to shrink back in their seats, surprised at his insensitive response. The NIN boys smirked at this. Finally someone actually managed to put the fan girls in their place. The new boy slowly made his way through the center aisle towards his destination in the back of the room.

He made sure to send a cold glare at every chick he passed by (and then some) and even a couple to some of the guys staring at him enviously. But instead of getting his desired effect, the girls just engaged themselves in tittering and giggling at him and a few even waved frantically. Jeez, they never took a clue, did they? Stupid women. Finally arriving at a spot that looked as safe as one could get, he took a seat against the wall which also happened to be located on the other side of the four NIN friends. Sakura giggled.

Naruto stared impolitely at the new arrival, his mouth hanging open in admiration. He didn't often.. no, he rarely agreed with anything that Sakura-bitch had to gossip about, but she absolutely hit the nail on the head this time. Sasuke had an extremely pale complexion on his perfectly symmetric face which was framed by long pitch black locks that made up his bangs. They hung to either side of his face, each reaching a bit past his chin and they shone in the light when he flicked his head to get a few strands out of his eyes. He seemed to have acquired a habit of ticking his face to the side quickly, to flip his hair out of his sight of vision. The back of his perfectly formed hair was spiked out and all the spikes seemed to point in one direction, creating the illusion of one big spike. It reminded Naruto of a duck butt and he chuckled to himself childishly at the oblivious raven's expense, as he trailed his line of vision down Sasuke's body.

The boy wore dark gray jeans that were faded in certain spots that were worn down. They hung low on his hips enticingly, and tight around his backside, showing off a very proportional, and very nice ass, but flared out a bit once the got to a few inches above his knees so they didn't appear too tight for comfort. His shirt was a unique cobalt blue that had short sleeves which revealed pale, slightly toned arms, and an overly large collar that reminded Naruto of what Shino usually wore. His last piece of intriguing apparel was two arm warmers that stretched loosely from under his elbow to his thin wrists. They were ghostly white outlined in the same cobalt blue and had buckles at the top and bottom to make sure that they were secure to his arms.

The thing most incredible to Naruto, however, was the Uchiha's dark eyes that were just a pitch black as his hair, if not more so. The light reflected in them almost perfectly, so much that they seemed to illuminate when you watched them long enough. The onyx orbs held so much expression, yet no feelings at all, and that was the fact of him that made Naruto stare in wonderment of how it could even be. Sakura WAS wrong, the blonde concluded. Sasuke wasn't hot… he was absolutely beautiful, and if he wasn't straight, he would have been drooling a mini Niagara Falls all over his desk.

Kiba noticed his best friend's odd behavior and jabbed the blonde in the arm with his elbow. When Naruto finally turned his attention towards him, he raised a questioning eyebrow towards him. The blue eyed teen merely shrugged in reply then stuck out his tongue at his friend before eyeing the lonely raven again. Maybe he should say something to him? Welcome him to the school or something… Naruto sent an inquisitive look to his friend as if asking permission and Kiba nodded encouragingly. Awe, hell, why not?

With that, Naruto waved his hand as close to the new boy as he risked, to catch the raven's attention. Sasuke turned his head slightly, an uninterested look on his features in what the blonde wanted from him, and glared unhappily with deep onyx eyes when the boy smiled cheerfully. The ocean eyes cringed in return. Damn, PMS much? Naruto made a mental note to buy the Uchiha Midol for Christmas, before daring to speak to the boy.

"Hi there!" His lively voice showed no reaction to the cold glare he was getting. For that, Naruto was thankful. "Sasuke, right?" The raven snorted unhappily giving a slight nod. Great, the nicey nice approach Kiba had taught him wasn't working at all like he thought it might.

He sighed inwardly, pushing himself to try again, even though his mind was desperately yelling for him not to. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, and this is Inuzuka Kiba." He gesticulated with a tanned hand towards his best friend who gave one of his award winning smiles to the still glaring male.

Naruto continued. "That over there with no pupils is Hyuuga Neji, and the lazy ass is Nara Shikamaru." He managed to receive another morose snort. "They're my best friends." The blonde added rather quickly, saying it with an air of importance. And they could be yours too if you would lighten the hell up. He added grimly to himself while giving the raven a friendly smile to hide any facial expression that would hint as to what he was thinking. "If you want.. we'd like it if you would maybe join us for lunch? We might be able to answer any questions you have about the school and our friend Shino is really good at keeping the girls away. I could even show you around a bi-"

He cut off his own insistent rambling when he noticed that Sasuke's expression went from extremely irritated to extremely disgruntled. What Naruto had said had obviously taken the impassive male off guard as if he wasn't expecting him to actually request something like going to lunch with them so easily like he did. He had said it so amiably, and so carefree like it was just a walk in the park, even after Sasuke had tried his best to offend him.

Damn, he must have been losing the talent he had acquired years ago, because his glaring wasn't working for him at all that day. For a minute he actually considered what the optimistic boy had asked him, but after a moment he thought better of it, and once he had regained his composure his glare seemed to intensify from what it had been before, if that was even possible.

Sasuke sent Naruto a look of utter distaste before turning away to glare at the wall on the other side of him. "You are a complete dumb ass if you seriously think I need an escort to find my way around this pitiful school, Dobe." He snarled, making sure that his voice was completely composed of raw hatred. He crossed his arms over his chest to emphasize his point.

Now it was Naruto's turn to temporarily look a bit taken aback by Sasuke's rude remark. He could've declined at least a bit more politely, even Chouji had more manners that this prick did! Jeez, and he even tried to offend him by calling him Dobe? What the hell did it mean anyway? That was it! Now he was pissed.

"Dobe? What the hell is your problem, Uchiha!? Huh?" He threw his hands up in the air showing his frustration, with clenched fists that wanted to pound the jerk's face in so badly. Maybe he could teach him a lesson or two about common courtesy. Naw… he wasn't worth it, but he still had a point to make.

"All I was trying to do was be considerate to your position as a new student and you treat me like a pompous ass! Teme!" He made sure to put emphasis on the last word. Sasuke wanted to come up with childish names to call him? Well, two can play that game, asshole!

"I don't need your fake kindness." The raven finally retorted, abruptly turning back to the blonde with the fiercest look he could muster. "Take some advice: Save the bullshit for someone who will buy it and stay the fuck away from me. Got it?" With that, and a final icy glare, the Uchiha slammed his chair back angrily and stood.

He flicked his hair conceitedly before striding off briskly towards another empty spot where he'd actually be left alone. He took another seat in the back far corner of the room where it was nice and darkly secluded from everyone.

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For god knows how long, Naruto just sat completely still, his eyes glued to the spot Sasuke had once occupied. He was stuck in the middle of bewilderment and shock. How could one person hate everyone around him so much for no reason? What horrible thing could possibly even drive a person to be like that in the first place?

He clenched an irritated fist unconsciously digging his nails into his palm. What a jerk! All he tried to do was be nice! He had never, never been treated so… appallingly in all his life! Well.. he had, but that was by people he had never even liked to begin with, let alone that he tried to be kind to. They didn't count.

Naruto was snapped from his fuming thoughts as the pain his hands finally hit him, and he stretched out his fingers, holding out his palms in front of his face to inspect the fresh marks his nails had indented there. He huffed, trying to cool himself off by reminding himself that his three friends were still next to him, and he didn't want to start a scene. He sent them an exasperated look which they only countered with comforting expressions.

Kiba quirked an eyebrow at his friend's face and moved away from the other two to lean towards Naruto to talk to him. "What a prick, eh?" He said snidely and rolled his eyes trying to cheer up his hurt friend. The dog boy never liked to see Naruto as unhappy as he was then. He stole a glance at the Uchiha who hadn't moved an inch since he sat down and was engaged in staring blankly from the corner. "He's exactly like all the others we have to deal with isn't he?"

Naruto knew that Kiba was referring to many of the popular and very conceited classmates they usually had to deal with because they looked down upon the members of NIN. To his own surprise he actually shook his head and replied, "Iie, he's not exactly like them. He seems to not want any contact with anyone in the room, not just us." He explained quietly, stealing his first view of their subject since the raven had changed his seat.

Sasuke seemed to notice he was staring again, and sent him the infamous callous face of doom. Naruto stuck his tongue out at the onyx eyes male and returned his attention to his friend. "I'll agree with you that he's a conceited jerk, though. I mean who the hell walks in on the first day of school acting like they own the place?" Kiba opened his mouth to answer but Naruto cut him off. "Other than Sakura." He added and Kiba shrugged, smirking.

Suddenly, Naruto leaned in a bit closer so he could whisper, looking his friend directly in the eyes sincerely to show he was serious about what he was about to say. Kiba let an eyebrow raise in question again. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately.

The blonde smirked, turning briefly to wave sarcastically in Sasuke's direction while smiling at him impishly. He caught another pissy glower from the male before chuckling to himself and turning back to Kiba. "Well Kiba," He started in a deathly serious tone, yet still smiling mischievously. "I believe.. we've found NIN's new project."

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Sorry about me reposting this, but I edited it and stuff so.. yeah. Hope you enjoyed. I'm also posting the second chapter with it.