PROLUGUE
-ooo-
Naruto woke up with the annoying sound of the alarm clock filling his sub consciousness with melody that reminded him the early hour and made him want to puke. The sound was making his head feel like it's filed with explosives that are going to detonate any moment; he desperately tried to escape the beeping by burying his head in a pillow and covering his ears with it. Not that it helped much. When he finally gained enough control over his limbs (which sort of refused to listen to him, his whole body protesting against being awaken so early) he managed to raise his hand and hit the hell-invented thing, stopping the unbearable noise at least.
6:03, thedigital numbers on the display announced when Naruto finally made himself to sit up and open his eyes, winking few times and yawning loudly. He stopped immediately; the sharp pain caused by the sound was too intensive. It took him another few minutes, but in the end he was able to walk to the kitchen, searching drawers for some aspirin. On his way back to bedroom he tripped over sleeping Kiba, spilling a bit of the water from the glass he was planning to use for swallowing his pills.
"…the hell dude" the boy lying on the kitchen floor murmured, sitting up. He immediately regretted his decision as the too fast move and his head pulsed with pain bringing memories on the last night.
"Huuuurts…" he complained, covering his face with hands.
"Keep quiet." The blond growled as another wave of pain took control over his head. Than he, avoiding any faster movements pointed toward a kitchen desk where still the opened pack of aspirin stood. The whimpering brunet glared at the distance parting him from the salvation in shape of small white pills and then raised his puppy eyes to Naruto. Unfortunately for him, the blonde has better things to do, like, for example get rid of his own hangover and headed into the bathroom, leaving Kiba to his own destiny. After all, he has already found and opened the box which was a far more activity than he was up to.
The shower was running and drops of water were flowing down his back pleasantly and making him feel much better. Naruto smiled and set his face to the stream of cold water letting it to carry away his headache. After a while he began to get cold so he switched the tap to warmer water. His memories of last night were slowly coming back and the head ache was fading away, he heard Kiba rustling in the kitchen, probably looking for a glass. How did it happen he stayed anyway? Naruto was pretty sure he left along with Ino and Shikamaru… But again, they were terribly drunk, all of them, so Naruto wasn't really sure whether he just doesn't remember it or Kiba fainted before he left his house or whatever.
What he was sure about was that he hated school. First day of school especially. Which is why he and few of his friends decided to celebrate (more like, drown their annoyance in alcohol) the very last day of holiday….that sure seemed like a good idea yesterday, but right now (as every time Naruto woke up with hangover) he cursed himself, and most of all he cursed Kiba who came with the idea in the first place. Although the fact that Kiba had drank like, wine with vodka, rum and some sort of super-expansive whiskey that Konan brought on top of it gave him enough satisfaction. Frankly, Naruto wondered how the guy is able to even move.
Sighing, he turned out the water and slowly got dressed, stepping out of the bathroom. Kiba was sitting on the chair in the kitchen drinking water from the glass Naruto left there, always paying extra attention to put it down carefully to not produce unnecessary sound.
"You got some garlic?"
Naruto looked at him blankly. "Where would I get garlic?" Naruto frowned at Kiba's way to cure hangover. "Next time say before you decide to stay there for night."
Kiba just made a suffering face.
"Ya' know," Naruto said almost gleefully "we're leaving for school in like five minutes"
Kiba gave him glare that could be easily interpreted as "I'm not going anywhere any time soon, the less to fucking school", but also could have meant simple "fuck off".
Naruto, whose head was (thanks to 20-minutes long shower and three tablets of aspirin) in a state when he could actually speak without closing his eyes suffering, replied stiffly "I was actually thinking about skipping but it's not like we can afford it. Not the first day."
Kiba glared some more, processing Naruto's words. "…shit. Tsunade will kill us if we're only late."
"…Yeah." Naruto decided that his friend was forgiven. After all, he will suffer enough when the principal will shout to them, which was likely to happen according to the fact they already were two minutes late. And his aspirin worked. "Just hope you'll survive it, bro."
They rushed outside Naruto's flat, the blonde slamming the door in hurry (which brought another wave of headache for him and some more groaning from Kiba). And because the lady luck was obviously angry with them today, they ran directly into Naruto's neighbour, that old witch Chiyo. She didn't hesitate a moment and grabbed the poor boy, shaking him heartlessly.
"Young man, do you possess any manners at all?!" Her voice was high pitched with a hint of senile lisping which, however, didn't make it any more bearable.
"I was three times at your apartment yesterday! Three times!" The last words were shouted directly into blonde's ear. Kiba tried to slowly disappear from the reach of annoying yelling. Chiyo was nearly eighty years old and very fast for her age. She grabbed the other teenager's wrist with strength you certainly wouldn't expect from someone whose face looks like hundred year old plum.
"You the slammed door in my face! Where is the respect to the older people?! What did your parents do instead of raising you?! You are just layabouts and scoundrels who need to know their place! One more time," she turned to Naruto menacingly "one more time, young man, and I will call the police!"
Kiba and Naruto, who were concerned just about keeping their heads from exploding and were doing their best to escape the iron grip, used the little time of silence the old woman needed to inhale and launched a counterattack. Kiba used all his experiences from fights with older sister, finally setting his hand free and making sure there is no fracture. Naruto did the same, only he didn't even bother with checking his wrist. He had experiences with Chiyo's strength – it's going to leave a bruise which would fade away in a week or two, accordingly to how much pissed the old witch was. Both boys were already on their way down the stairs when another wave of yelled insults came.
"Old hag." Murmured Naruto as they were running across the street and sprinting to catch the bus.
-ooo-
Naruto and Kiba, though devastated and swearing, made it to school on time, which can be easily perceived as miracle considering the Chiyo -incident and their current state. It has to be noted that angry Tsunade was hell of a motivation.
"I'm gonna die." Naruto causally announced to whoever was willing to listen when he stormed into his class, about five seconds before it began. He took his place at the very back of the classroom as usually and looked around. In a first row he saw Hinata, doing her best not to fall asleep. She was another from the people that spent last night at Naruto's apartment. And even though she as an abstinent didn't drank anything, the lack of sleep was obvious on her face. She really wasn't the type for partying Naruto thought when greeting her quietly so the teacher didn't realize. She smiled a bit in return.
He and Hinata were the only ones from their group that took history classes so after the lesson was over (Naruto slept most of the time) they went down to the hall together to meet the others.
"Hey, Hinata," Naruto started cautiously "is there any chance you would remind me what happened yesterday with Kiba?"
Hinata shot him a glare that clearly said what she thought about drinking but didn't make any comment on that topic.
Instead, she sighed almost inaudibly and began to refresh the gaps in Naruto's memory. "We watched movie. Talked. Got drunk. Well, you all at least. Sang karaoke. Chiyo came first time, Kiba offered her vodka, she started to shout, he slammed the door and raised the volume. Deidara threw some explosives down from the balcony. Chiyo came second time, Sakura mistaken her with Sasori,…"
"Wait, what?!" Naruto laughed. "Oh god she must've been sooooo high."
"…and you wished them good luck in their relationship." Hinata finished with blank face.
"…I did?" Naruto watched Hinata. "Eh," his laugh slowly disappeared.
"Konan and Pein left. Well, tried to. They mistook the doors to the bathroom fi-first." Hinata's speech was monotonous and fluent, but she stuttered here. As much as she learned to control herself and gained at least some confidence, she was still shy.
"I-I had had to show them the way." Naruto watched in amazement how Hinata hadn't blushed. Since she left her family house and started to live in a small flat with only her cousin closer to the school, she really changed. She seemed more happy and confident, the fact that she actually showed there last night just proved it. The blue eyed man smiled for himself.
"You played strip poker. Shikamaru won, needless to say. As a price he confiscated Ino's top. You sang karaoke once more. Chiyo came third time but no one really opened the door. I tried to calm her down you tied me to your bed and forbade me to "talk to that old witch for my own safety"."
Here Naruto had enough grace to blush. He remembered that.
"Sakura resurrected me under the condition I drive her home – she was sobering apparently. I took Deidara too; he fell asleep on the balcony. When we left, Ino was learning Kiba dance and you with Shikamaru were trying to build a pillow-fort. No idea what happened after."
Hinata managed to illuminate him a brief run of the last evening before they got to the hall. "But, you know, it was fun." The brunette smiled lightly and then raised her hand to wave Shikamaru and Kiba who were coming from opposite direction.
"Hey guys!" Naruto smiled, greeting more Shikamaru than Kiba since the other man looked quite in his own world.
"Hey," Shikamaru said, bored as ever. He looked much better than Kiba, even though his hangover was evident.
"I thought Kiba left with us yesterday but honestly I don't remember very well."
"I thought the same until I tripped over his dead body in my kitchen." Naruto smiled, "Neither I or him were in state to remember. Maybe he just passed out."
Shikamaru nodded. "You hear, dog boy?"
Kiba looked at him distracted. "I've already told you I've no idea. I woke up as this idiot," he shot a glare in Naruto's direction, "kicked me - which is the first thing I remember after Konan singing 'Sweet dreams'."
"Hello, Ino-san, Sakura-san." Hinata's gentle voice interrupted their argument.
The two girls came to joined their group, Sakura looking little bit dazed and Ino immediately jumping over Kiba, grasping his shirt.
"I swear I would yell at you right now if my head didn't hurt that much!" she yelled anyway, just in a bit lower voice than usually.
"You stupid dog, what was it for idiotic idea to get drunk right before the school starts?! And more importantly, where is my fucking top?! I drove all the way home yesterday in my bra!"
Kiba looked slightly surprised, but his current problem has shape of Ino's angry voice yelling right into his ear and not that cursed piece of clothes. What was she talking about anyway?
His salvation came in form of Hinata, timidly interrupting her blonde friend "Um Ino-san that was in fact Shikama-"
She didn't get a chance to finish her sentence as Ino turned to the bored brunette ponytail who, however, looked more scared right now. "You,-"
"Hey guys, how you doin'?" Konan's bright voice doesn't quite fit in the just-please-keep-quiet-and-leave-me-alone mood of this early school day. "Have hangover, yeah? Pein is bitching the whole morning" she laughed at that and dragged resigned Pein after her.
They stared at her passively. Not just that Konan had the far highest alcohol tolerance among all people Naruto knew, she was also well-known for the fact that it didn't left any aftermath. Pein was smiling forcibly, trying to quit his girlfriend's cheerful voice vainly.
"Oh it was fun last night wasn't it?! We should make it a tradition!"
Her answer was six horrified looks and one disapproving (that was Hinata).
Konan didn't let that stop her cheerful monolog. "Oh, yeah, and it seems like Deidara is skipping today. He has hangover probably but it gotta be reaaaaly bad that he risks angry Tsunade."
As the words left Konan's mouth the principal appeared inevitably heading in their direction. Naruto and his friends stared in awe. Well, not all of them, since Hinata didn't have any reason to fear other than she hang up with them and Sakura was actually at very good terms with Tsunade (and their relationship was the only thing that was saving their lives daily and prevented them from being kicked out of school).
On the face of blonde-haired woman appeared a cruel smile. "Oh, good morning, what a coincidence meeting you in the hall."
Sakura stepped forward, smiling at her favourite teacher and principal of the Konoha-high at the same time. "Tsunade-sama, good morning! How was your holiday?"
"…yeah, so surprising when we're actually students here."
"I bet she was trying to find us from the morning just to yell at us."
"More like she hoped she wouldn't find us and can give us a detention for skipping school later."
Sakura's death glare silenced the whispered discussion behind her.
"It was a nice time, thank you. I see Deidara haven't honoured us with his presence today?"
"Yeah," Sakura smiled nervously, internally swearing revenge to her blonde friend for putting her in such a situation, "I am afraid he is feeling sick today."
"How surprising." Tsunade smirked. "Well, it's nice to see you all in such a good shape on beginning of a new school year."
She passed their group, smiling slightly. "Oh and Naruto," she turned around and the blonde froze "would you mind stopping by at my office later?"
Her answer was horrified look of blue eyes and eight pitiful glares in Naruto's direction.
-ooo-
When the blonde arrived at principal's office, it was already past five o'clock. The hallway was cold and empty, like he was the only living soul in this part of school. He longingly looked out of the window, on the campus pulsing in life in the afternoon sun of late summer. His mood was decreasing with every step he made towards the doors.
"Okay, let's get this one done." He murmured for himself and prepared to rush inside the office (not that he ever bothered himself with knocking, it was just old Tsunade after all) but the quiet voices from behind the door stopped him. He couldn't recognize the words but there were definitely two or more people talking. Weird, he thought, she's meeting someone that late?
But he just shrugged; she was a principal of a huge school with nearly three thousand students so it shouldn't be surprising he wasn't the only one she has some business with. He seated himself on one of the chairs which stood in front of the office and waited.
Buisness heh? He was wandering why Tsunade called him here today. As much as he would never admit it, he was a little bit nervous. He didn't actually do anything lately, right? Not like he has had a chance since it was holiday the last two months (well, theoretically of course he could have, but what sort of crazy idiot would come near to school during holiday?). This was something different when Tsunade came yelling because of some prank or broken window or skipping school. Naruto was used to troubles but he was also used that he knew what he had done. And today, he was summoned to the principal early morning, in front of everyone (because everyone knew what it means when Tsunade "needs to talk to you", he was immediately overwhelmed with questions how the hell he managed to piss her off before the school even started - Naruto was the most confused of all of them) and he can't even remember doing anything that could possibly made Tsunade to waste her precious time by yelling at him and giving him detention – because every visit at principal's, no exceptions, every single visit ended up like that.
Gaaaah that was annoying… Could Chiyo came and complained? But why would she complain in school it makes no sence… He played with the pendant around his neck absently. Thinking about it wasn't going to solve anything, Naruto decide. He did nothing and the unavoidable punishment was, well, unavoidable, no matter what he will say. Once Tsunade was angry, not the brightest excuse could stop her - that was one of the first things Naruto learned after coming to the Konoha high. Plus his hangover was already gone leaving him with just a slight feel of thirst, which is definitely going to make the shouting more bearable.
Life wasn't that bad after all. He slowly immersed in pleasant thoughts about spending this evening, he could get a bowl of ramen and have a little chat with Ichiraku, and maybe he would even eat a double portion… Yes, world wasn't bad at all.
The door of the office suddenly opened and ripped Naruto from his dreaming. He stood up, ready to face Tsunade, whatever was it for. A tall, black-haired guy was exiting the office, Tsunade greeting him shortly.
"See you around Uchiha."
The student didn't bother himself with an answer, just nodded curtly, turning around to leave, pushing the door slightly more open when he saw Naruto. The blonde raised his head to thank him. The onyx eyes pierced the sky blue, their glares locking and for the slightest bit of moment the world stopped.