Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Part I, Prologue
Naruto's Role
Naruto sat at the top of the stairs and watched silently as his father slammed the library door shut. He had never seen him look so angry. He waited for a few moments, making sure he wouldn't be coming back, before going down the stairs and pressing his ear to the door.
"...and Minato came back," Naruto furrowed his brows. The voice sounded familiar. "It was only a matter of time." He heard people laughing. "Trying to hide his past was quite stupid, don't you think?"
"No one can fully escape their destiny," another voice said. "Speaking of which..." Someone close to the door cleared their throat.
"The old man hid it very well." They laughed again. Naruto wanted to leave, yet he was rooted on the spot. "But we found it. I've printed out copies, and they're coming around now."
"'the ability to build or destroy'?" a woman said angrily. "What is this?" Naruto shivered. He stood up quietly, staring at the imposing oak door, before running upstairs, back into his room.
Part I, Chapter I
of cats and ties.
-
Sakura
"I can't believe you're okay with this."
My mom gives me her I'm-sure-everything-will-be-okay smile and I try not to scream- I refuse to be sucked in her warped version of reality. Especially right now. "This school's supposed to be haunted!"
"There's nothing to worry about, Sakura," she replies soothingly, checking her watch. "Now, take care. I've got to go. Bye!" she rolls up the car window and quickly drives off to work. I sigh in frustration, straightening up and looking at the school across the street. Well, maybe I can just skip my first day...I cross my arms to hide my uniform (haha) and start to walk the other way. I only got a few meters when someone grabs the back of my collar and pulls. I gasp and turn around to find a blond girl sneering.
I don't like her.
"New girl?" she asks before eying me. "Nice hair." I tug at my pink hair self-consciously.
"Thanks," I reply, trying to keep my anger in check.
"Well, I'm Ino." she motions for me to follow her into the school and I do, silently seething. As soon as we got past the gates, she turns back to me. "Welcome to Cusichi High School, more commonly called Cooshi by its students." she grabs a few stapled papers and a brochure, along with a small pocket book. "Your mom forgot to take these with her when she enrolled you, so just read this and you'll pretty much get the drift on this school. Bye then!" She walks off, leaving me with my mouth open. I grumble to myself as cram all the papers in my bag, save for one. I open the small booklet.
Cusichi High School was named after an influential cat-lovers group-
Um, what?
-
Naruto
I pass the ball to Sasuke and he catches it easily. Typical. He starts to dribble across the court, but Gaara quickly got the ball off of him and shoots. Score. I see Sasuke's face darken and I sigh. Gaara ignores Sasuke's glare and picks up the ball from the ground.
"Guys," Neji says from the sidelines, looking up from his laptop. "Time to go to class." That guy's so uptight, it's not funny. He has a schedule, from when he wakes up and brushes his teeth, to when he goes to the toilet (okay, maybe not, but hey, it's possible). Gaara drops the ball and we head towards school. Girls, as always, stop what they're doing to see us pass by. We can hear some of them sigh wistfully. It's kinda weird. The others might be used to it, but I'm not. I don't like being looked at like that. I mean, I like it sometimes, yeah, but I'm definitely not used to it. I enter through the school gate first to see a girl with pink hair sitting right there, reading a book.
"Hey, that's the school rules book!" I say, pointing at the book. "Who are you?"
"Sakura Haruno," Neji says as he finally catches up with me. "New. 15. Has natural pink hair. Only daughter of-"
"Okay, okay," I say, rolling my eyes. "I just asked for her name, not a report." Neji frowns. I turn to the girl, but she's gone. "Hey, where did she go?"
"Away from you," Neji mutters. Sasuke smirks at that. I frown. We wait for Gaara before continuing on our way to class, talking to people we know, nodding to people we don't know. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Shino. He's wearing a scarf to cover half of his face, and sunglasses, because he sees better when it's dark. I walk a bit faster. That guy's weird. I bet his dad already told him- I shake my head. I can't think about that, Ino might notice. I cautiously feel for her Presence-
"Sasuke!" Ino screams. Speak of the devil. "Did you miss me?" She smiles this big smile, like the bigger the smile is, the more Sasuke will want her. Sasuke merely brushes her off. She pouts, glances at me and smirks. At that moment, I know she knows. And she knows I know that she knows.
No way... Ino's way ahead of us already. I look at Sasuke and Neji, but they didn't seem to notice the exchange. I lock eyes with Gaara and he nods.
-
Sakura
I can't believe this school is named after a cat. But I guess that explains a lot. I look down at my uniform. White polo shirt under a gray jersey, black pleated skirt...and a bright red ribbon bow instead of a tie. Lovely.
The rules are kinda weird too. I mean, there's the 'no bullying' policy, but then there's 'under no circumstances are students allowed to bring any fish on Thursday' (rule #12), and 'students are not permitted to practice fencing in the Science department' (rule #27). This rule made me laugh though:
'Students are not allowed to burn this rule book and throw it in the front lawn in order to activate the water sprinklers.' (Rule #74)
I grin all the way to my form class, because that rule is just too funny. Or maybe it's just me, trying to cope with the new school. I decide not to go to the office, since Ino already gave me my schedule and locker number along with the Book.
"Sakura Haruno?" someone behind me asks. I turn around to find a boy with sunglasses and a scarf that's hiding half of his face. "I'm Shino Aburame. Welcome to Cusichi High School." I ignore his outstretched hand.
"Nice to meet you." We stand there awkwardly for a few moments. "I should probably go inside my class now..."
"I can help you around the school," he says, his voice muffled. "This place can be...a lot to take in."
"No thanks," I reply quickly. This guy is weird. I turn around, about to go to class.
"Well, then at least let me give you one helpful advice," he says. I stop and look back. "Gaara. Stay away from him." I raise an eyebrow.
"Who's Gaara?" I ask, curious. "And why should I stay away from him?"
"You'll find out soon enough." He walks away.
-
Naruto
I try to loosen my choker, but its way too tight. Stupid uniform code. I look at Gaara. He's wearing the polo, the vest, and the blazer (and he has that stupid choker too), but he doesn't really care. Sasuke's not wearing his vest, and Neji, being the uptight guy that he is, made his uncle give a huge donation to the school so that he could wear a tie.
A tie!
I see the girl with the pink hair come in. Sakura, I think that's her name, looks around the room, and her eyes land on mine. I grin and wave. She smiles nervously and gives me a small wave too. Then her eyes land on Gaara. Her face seems to pale and she quickly looks down, sitting on the nearest seat. I look at Gaara. He's taking out his pills.
"Gaara, you alright there?" I ask, concerned. He only takes out his pills when he's aggravated. He swallows it quickly before giving me a small nod. I frown.
"Naruto," Sasuke looks at me. "Is Gaara alright?" I shrug. He stares at Gaara intently for a few moments before turning back to his seat. Neji's staring at Gaara too, and I can't help thinking that he knows something. But that's impossible; Hiashi promised it wouldn't get out. The teacher comes in and she makes Sakura introduce herself.
"Hi, I'm Sakura," she says flatly, tugging at her hair. She just stands there for a few minutes, before the teacher realizes she's not going to say anything more and finally asks her sit down. I try not to laugh. She's kinda funny.
"Hi Sakura!" I yell from the back. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki!" She's trying not to laugh, I can tell. The teacher sighs and asks me to leave the class to 'cool down'.
I casually walk outside and shut the door quietly. Before Sakura came in, I saw her talking to Shino. What did Shino say to her?
"Naruto," I hear Shino's voice from across the empty hallway. "You called?"
A/N: Thanks for reading! I hope this first chapter isn't too confusing? If you have any questions, please ask. Oh, and please don't try to do rule 74, haha.
What is Naruto's role in all of this? Why is Shino so creepy? Why do they have so many rules? Why hasn't Gaara spoken yet? Wait for the next update and maybe some of your unanswered questions will be answered (: