A Highly Selective Trip
Chapter 1
As I struggled to make sense of all the logarithmic functions being explained by Kurenai-sensei, all the students behind me chittered about the sign-ups for the school trips.
In Hashirama High School, it was a tradition to send students on trips around the continent for two weeks, and each trip could have up to ten students. That meant that there were at least a dozen trips. But because the sign-up process went according to last name, some trips went out faster than the others, and the unlucky students got stuck with the not-so-exciting trips. That was me each year, but something deep inside me told me that this year was going to be different.
"Have you guys heard about that one trip?" someone whispered.
"Which one?" someone else replied, not bothering to hide the fact that they were having a side conversation in the middle of class.
"The highly-selective one which selects which five students can go on it. Rumor has it that the people on the trip are carefully selected by Principal-sama herself, and they are either all guys or all girls."
"Eww… what's the point of having such a weird-ass trip?"
I strained my ears to hear more. It was kind of fishy. A 5-person trip that is highly selective? What is the point of that?
"I'm not so sure," Person 1 continued. "But each year, there are always a few students who come back after two weeks totally transformed. It's like they're new people! I don't know whether this has anything to do with the trip, but it would kind of make sense if–"
Before they could finish, a piece of chalk flew out of nowhere and hit the person square in the forehead. "Suigetsu-kun, if you talk in class again, I'll make you do double the homework and make each mistake count against your grade." Kurenai-sensei threatened darkly.
"Sorry Sensei!" He said apologetically. "It's just that sign-ups are tomorrow."
Kurenai-sensei crossed her arms and sighed. "It's that time of year I guess. This is why I teach something light around this time. Students just don't focus!"
The bell rang and everyone cleared out. I looked after them in shocked wonder. How can they all manage to pack their bags so fast, I thought. But my mind was still on that trip. I wonder what it would be like to go on such a trip.
X X X
The hallways were bustling with people, mostly pushers who couldn't wait to get a head start in the lunch line. Trying to dodge them all was like trying to play some kind of video game, level 55. Lost in my thoughts on video games, I managed to bump into someone and fall on the ground. If this was a video game, that would be minus 50 HP. Since it's just real life, I got embarrassed instead.
"I-I-I'm t-t-terribly s-sorry!" I apologized, still on the ground, ignoring the laughter I heard around me. I kept my eyes fixed on the hard, gravel floor, expecting the person I bumped into to say something like, "Watch where you're going you fool," or something. Instead, I heard a soft chuckle and felt someone pull me to my feet.
Their hands were warm and gentle.
I looked up, shocked. Right in front of me was a dude–no, a god–with the bluest eyes I had ever seen in my life. His hair was just as blond (and spiky) as his eyes were blue and he wore the widest grin. I almost shielded my face; I was not used to staring at such beauty. I myself was Nerd 101, with the thick glasses, face-concealing hair, baggy clothes, and plain face.
"Are you okay?" Kami-sama asked me, taking me out of my thoughts. "I-I-I'm f-f-f-f-fine!" I replied, feeling my face go red. "I-I-I-I-I'm sorry once again!" I said, a little to loudly and ran off before I made even more of a fool of myself.
Why do I keep doing these things to myself?
X X X
Since I had no friends, I ate lunch by myself behind the bleachers. One would think that more people would come here and play sports after they eat, but everyone just stays put in the cafeteria, usually gossiping. Even though I hated sports, I loved to sit behind the bleachers. There was something peaceful, almost idyllic about how no one really went under the raised benches. It was kind of like a new world. But it got kind of lonely from time to time.
"Oh well," I said to myself. "That's why I have adventure shõjo manga!" I pulled out Volume 23 of Kyouko's Sky Ship and let myself get lost in her battles against sky pirates.
Out of nowhere, the speakers turned on and Tsunade-sama started speaking. "Okay, listen up you little brats. For research purposes, we need you all to fill out a little survey on your personalities. Why? Because we want to see just how brats these days think and act, blah blah and all that. When you go to your next class, your teachers will hand out the surveys and you all will be expected to finish them."
She paused for a second. I could hear Shizune-san, her secretary telling her to take it easy. Tsunade-sama completely disregarded her and continued speaking, "Oh yeah, if any one of you makes a joke of this, I'll personally hunt you down and clobber you. This means YOU Naruto."
Naruto? Who on earth is that? I wondered. Must be some rude troublemaker.
I sighed, bookmarked Kyouko's Sky Ship, and finished off my grilled cheese sandwich before going to my next class.
X X X
"Okay guys," Kakashi-sensei drawled as he reclined on his chair. "Let's spend the whole class working on these surveys." He scanned the class. "Tenten, why don't you hand them out." He then whipped out his book and started reading and chuckling madly to himself.
I stared at Kakashi-sensei for a second, wondering how someone so lazy could be a great physics teacher at the same time, when my thoughts were interrupted by someone slamming a packet on my desk. I looked up to see a tomboy of a girl with brown hair wound tightly into two buns. She had scratches all over her arms face and she wore clothes just as baggy as mine, if not baggier. After a moment, I realized that she was staring intently at me.
"W-W-What i-is i-it?" I asked nervously.
"You're not related to Neji by any chance, are you?" She asked suspiciously.
Ah yes. The only question people ask me besides "What's the homework?" Neji nii-chan was my cousin, older than me by a year. He was a genius: smart, handsome, and extremely athletic. He was very popular, quite the opposite. Because his father, my uncle, died in a car crash when we were very small, he lived with my family. But we weren't really that close. He was closer to my younger sibling Hanabi. The both of them have more in common anyways…
"I-I-I a-a-am." I replied, squeaking by accident.
The girl, Tenten was what Kakashi-sensei called her, stared at me for a few seconds before saying, "You're nothing like him. If anything, you look kinder." She then walked off leaving me very shocked indeed.
X X X
The survey was not too bad, though it was kind of lengthy. I opened it to the first page and the first question that glared at me was:
HOW MANY FRIENDS DO YOU HAVE?
None. Well isn't that blunt. I moved on to answer the next few questions.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE THING TO DO IN YOUR SPARE TIME?
Read manga. That was an easy one.
WHICH PLACE WOULD YOU BE MOST LIKELY TO VISIT:
A. BOOKSTORE B. BOOZE STORE C. RESTAURANT D. NIGHTCLUB
Well, you obviously get manga in the bookstore, so A it was.
After answering a few more typical questions like that, I finally found some really funky ones.
CHOPSTICKS OR FORKS AND KNIVES?
Uh… chopsticks?
THE WORLD SUDDENLY GOES IN DEBT… WHERE DOES ALL THE MONEY GO?
What. The. Heck.
WHERE'S WALDO?
DESPITE THE COST OF LIVING, WHY DOES IT REMAIN SO POPULAR?
THE WORLD ENDS. YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE WHO LIVES. WHAT DO YOU DO?
IF SOMEONE FROM YOUR FAVORITE ANIME/TV SHOW CAME TO YOU AND ASKED YOU OUT, HOW WOULD YOU REACT?
DO YOU THINK TOILET PAPER DESIGNERS LIKE THEIR JOB?
It took me a while to answer those questions. I swear, they were even harder to answer than the questions on Anko-sensei's Literary Analysis tests.
I finally reached the last two questions.
WHAT ARE YOUR FLAWS?
That was an easy one. Underconfident, nerdy, underachiever.
WHAT ARE YOUR STRENGTHS?
I left that one blank.
X X X
The next day, there was a pink envelope on my desk in homeroom. I opened it and read:
Lunch time, Tsunade-sama's office.
Throughout the first half of the day, I couldn't help but wonder what Tsunade-sama wanted to see me for. Did I get into trouble? Was it because I sat out in the bleachers and left my trash there?
Finally, the bell rang, signaling the beginning of lunch. Doing the funky video game thing, I artfully dodged my way across and finally reached Tsunade-sama's room. This is it.
I knocked lightly and the door opened, revealing Shizune-san's face. "Hinata-chan!" She said. "Come on in." I nervously walked into Tsunade-sama's overly-airconditioned office and saw Tenten and two other girls already sitting down.
What…?
I sat down next to Tenten and Tsunade-sama turned around and fixed her gaze upon us. "Hi there girly-girls. You're all here because you've been selected to go on a special trip."
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Hi! Thanks for reading my story! I really appreciate the time you've put into going through it. I can't wait to write the next part tomorrow! Do let me know how you think and criticism is always appreciated!
See you soon! \(^_^)/
-Enemyfield
NARUTO BELONGS TO KISHIMOTO-SENSEI
