Disclaimer! Naruto is not mine, but if he was... Muhahahahahahah
Chapter one: Enter the Rookie Nine
"Time to get up!" He groaned into his pillow as his mother threw up the blinds and rays of light filtered out across messy brown hair. Tall legs slipped slightly out of bed because of the sudden unexpected growth spurt. His mother announced that when his sister moved into the college dorms next year he would get her bed. His ever present companion pawed at his back and he could hear a soft friendly growl in his throat that told him that the dog also wanted him up, though instead of school his want came in the form of a bowl of food. He sighed dejectedly and shoved himself upright. Red triangle like marks graced each cheek, a tradition in his household that came from cultural backgrounds in the tribal lands of Asia. His brown eyes appeared slightly narrowed to resemble his canine counterpart. "Kiba! If you don't get a move on you'll be late for swim practice!" Tsume, his mother, yelled from somewhere in the kitchen area of the house. Kiba sighed tiredly but started to get dressed none the less.
In a white coat buttoned all the way up so that it covered his chin mouth and nose that stretched down to his knees he walked out his front door in long strides that accompanied his long legs. Above black sturdy shoes could be seen a pair of black pants up to the point where it met white. His hair sprouted out to the skies above, a dark black that contrasted well with his slightly pale skin. The final touch to his attire sat upon his nose and blocked the sight of his eyes to everyone who would care to look. A pair of large black sunglasses. He grabbed his book bag and headed out the door to meet up with Kiba so they could walk to school together, the school being only a few blocks from their homes. Attached to the bag was a note that read: If lost please return to Shino Aburama...
She peered out at the gloomy, wet world around her as she stepped lightly around a puddle of murky water. Short black hair framed a gentle heart shaped face and big blue eyes so light they appeared to be white to others. Her hands folded behind her back as she admired the few tiny crystals that fell from the sky that promised a hard rain soon. Her skin stood fair but mostly covered by clothes a bit too big for her small figure. She smiled softly and pulled the hood of her white jacket over her head before she disapeared within the depths of a large limousine to sit beside her sister and cousin. The driver pulled out of the drive way and peered back at the three, his gaze stopping for a brief moment upon the heir to the Hyuuga line. The family that did research on technology for the military on vision and detection. The driver knew that Hyuuga Hinata would be the first to break away and find her own path. Her kindness seeped into the hearts of all those that worked in the manner and unknowingly brought loyalty from them to her. The school year just began a few weeks ago and he hoped that this year the girl would be able to make friends.
Two blondes stood on the side of the street, their argument trivial and that of normal preteens. One of the blondes hair was died a vibrant pink, bangs tied back with red barrettes that matched her knee length red dress. A pair of bright green eyes almost glowed with life and made the rest of her seem colorless in comparison. The undied blonde wore a tight purple shirt with a skirt to match, her own long hair tied back in a ponytail. A single bit of hair escaped the bound and lay in front of light blue eyes that reminded you of the sky on a sunny day. Both girls brimmed with confidence as their bickering continued to play out like a broken record.
"Billboard brawl!"
"Pig!"
"I feel sorry for you I really do, I mean knowing that you could never get a date with anybody would truly discourage me, I don't see how you deal with it."
"How sad! You don't even realize that no guy would date you even if you weren't a Pig."
"Your really pathetic, I'm saving myself for 'him' and only 'him,' but someone as hopeless as you could never understand the romance we share."
"Yeah right! He's mine and someone like you would never come between..."
The girls were abruptly cut off as the bus pulled up to the side of the street. The bus driver sighed in exasperation as the moment the two sat down they began again. "Sakura, Ino... Don't make me throw you off my bus!"
Air escaped with a light pop when large fingers pulled plastic apart. The large boy dug deeply into the bag of chips and pulled several of the barbecue flavored flakes out before they became aquatinted to a round face. Light brown eyes danced happily, a shade only slightly darker than the hair above them. A blue scarf fell against a green jacket, which lay open to reveal a white shirt with a red symbol on its surface. Black shorts that stretched past knees by half a foot and now against the seat of the bus that traveled toward the school at a level pace. Soccer practice for the year starts today after school and he couldn't wait. He and his best friend were on the team again this year. He stood in front of the net as the goalie while his best friend held position of co-captain and he knew that if his friend wasn't so lazy he could be captain. "Hey Chouji!" A familiar voice called.
He looked up at the large, metal sign that spread itself across the front of the building, meant to inspire pride within the souls of the students that inhabited its grounds. Community Academy. His bus, always the first to arrive and the last to leave these grounds, left him with a good half an hour to spend before the school day began. He leisurely walked across the grass that bent, like his hair in its ponytail, with the weight of the water that fell from above. He wore a small grey jacket that covered only half of his back, sleeves that reached halfway to his elbow and a black shirt underneath that stopped just a little after his dark blue jeans began. Today the seeventh graders would stay in homeroom, all day, to be informed on the program they would enter with the dawn of next Friday. This program was the very reason their school held so many awards on the walls inside the gymnasium because in this program they would perform community service one day out of the week. The program supposedly teaches the students about work in the real world, how to cooperate with others and other nonsense the school came up with since its start. He walked into his class and sat down in his normal seat. He placed his duffle bag beside him so as to save it for his best friend. No one would take the spot anyway, but just in case. He sighed heavily as his gaze wondered out the window and towards the dark clouds above. Iruka, the teacher, walked in and set up his stuff at the front desk. He looked up and he smiled when he spotted the boy. "Good morning Shikamaru!"
A whistle blew. The sound echoed. Everyone stopped. It signaled the end of practice for the swim team. Black hair broke through the surface of clear water and pale arms moved to pull himself out of the pool. He looked up at the dome around him that kept the heat in and the wet and cold out. The swim team practiced all year and rarely went to competition. Not because they weren't good enough but because most were only on the team to keep in shape for other sports that were seasonal. For him, Kiba and Shino it was the soccer team, of which he stood as captain this year and planned to keep the position next year as well. Kiba and Shino almost always stood up at the front of the strategies that Shikamaru designed. It had nothing to do with who was better than who though. Each member of the team held a certain spot because they served the team best in that area. Kiba, because of his speed and power, stood to his right where he could attain the ball if for some reason he couldn't. Shino, with his accurate observations of where the ball would be and his own powerful hits, could maneuver easily behind Kiba and himself or the enemy depending on where he's needed. He pushed his hair from eyes such a dark brown they looked black and flung his back pack over his shoulder. Class would start in about twenty five minutes. The white and red fan design on his bag told everyone around that he belonged to one of the most powerful families around. The Uchiha. Anyone in school could tell you that Sasuke Uchiha stood as the most popular guy in school and that the most unpopular guy was...
He tripped and hit the ground hard. His knees scraped against the cement through the holes of his worn jeans. His bag burst open, papers and books slid from its depth to the wet ground. Some parts of the papers immediately became unrecognizable as they began to deteriorate. His small hands reached out in a desperate attempt to save the remaining pages, especially a small sketchbook, his second most precious possession. The figure held a tiny frame hidden beneath clothes three times his size and many mistook him for that size. The orange hoody went down to his knees, sleeves just past fingertips and the hood pulled over his head to keep the rain off. The sound of wheels turning made their way to his ears and he glanced up to see his bus approach the bus stop that still sat a good fifty feet away. He shoved the rest of his fallen objects back into his black side bag and sprinted toward the bus. It stopped and people started to load on, but the normal chatter of girls that slowed the process was stopped in favor of getting out of the rain. The doors closed and he ran up to it and hit the long plastic window. The man looked down, right at him and smirked. He was forced to step back as the bus roared to life and took off without him, but not before a large wave of dirty rain water soaked him from head to toe from wheels hitting water. His fist clenched once, twice, three times. "DAMMIT!... Fuck it all to hell." His knees bled sluggishly and it would be five miles to walk to school while his apartment was only one, but he couldn't afford to skip so early in the year. He growled and shoved his hands in his pocket before he started walking in the direction of school. And that's when the sprinkle of all morning turned into a flood of ice cold rain. "You have got to be fucking kidding me..."
The bell rang throughout the school to start the day. The students talked excitedly in debate of who they would be grouped with for the program and which teacher would oversee their group. Iruka scanned his charges with a critical eye. To make things easier for the school they attemped to place all club and athlete groups with each other for homeroom and then placed the students who participated in no after school activities as fillers. This was done to lessen the chance of fights and conflicts at the expence of social mixing that most schools promoted. It worked fairly well actually, which surprised the majority of teachers who'd been against it and claimed that the head of the school must of been drunk when he suggested it. The students, for the most part anyway, loved it. In his homeroom were eight of the elevan players of the soccer team and ten odd students. All in all a medium sized class. The role call was almost finished.
"Talog Sazuki?"
"Here."
"Uchiha Sasuke?"
"Here."
"Uzumaki Naruto?"
...
"Uzumaki Naruto??" He repeated.
Iruka looked up and at the back of the class. Naruto's seat was empty, he swore under his breath and pinched the scar that crossed his nose in an attempt to calm his nerves. He truly didn't think the boy would skip this early in the year. Naruto had been in his homeroom last year when he'd taught sixth grade and Iruka found the boy to be extremely confusing. The boy truly seemed to try his hardest but screwed up even the simplest things. He set up several tutor session with the boy but he missed almost every one of them. Yet when he did arrive he would be very attentive and ask good questions the entire time. The boys behavior in class also seemed to be a contradition. When ever faced with working with other students or in an arguement with one he was overly loud and obnoxios but when by himself so quiet and still he often would go back there just to make sure he was still concious. Then there were those days... Iruka hated those days. Naruto would come in with an extra big smile and would laugh extra loud or be extra obnoxious and troublesome, but Iruka saw. Any time anything or anyone so much as touched him in the slightest way the boy would flinch like he'd been struck. On those days Naruto would favor one arm over the other or limp when he walked.
Every single attempt to find out what happened ended in nothing. Everyone said that his guardian was an amazing, kind man. When he'd called for a teacher conference with him something seemed off but nothing solid that he could follow. He tried talking to Naruto himself, tried to get the boy to tell him what was wrong but Naruto just smiled at him like he was a naive child and replied nothing was wrong. Iruka knew something was wrong and would be damned if he did't find out what. So for now he would just watch and wait. He finished the role call and started into his speech.
"Settle down!... Today you'll be placed into groups of three. Your tasks for the day will be posted every friday on the door but if you want want to know what you'll be doing before hand then just go to either me or your assigned teacher. Tasks very from working in the home with the Seniors to simply picking up trash around our community. The better you behave or the worse you misbehave will reflect heavily on the assignments you recieve as a team. Therefore it would be in your best interest to cooperate with your teammates and make sure they behave during the week. This program IS considered a class so you will be graded on how well and how many you complete each day you go. Once in a while, about every few months that is, teams will get together for a special project. And under certain circumstances you may be placed on a different team for a day. For example, perhaps your teammates are sick, you will be the fourth member the group with the largest task that day."
Iruka looked up at the clock and then at Naruto's seat again, half an hour into class and he still hadn't shown. "Are there any questions about your actual group before I continue on with the next part?" Iruka asked the class. Not surprisingly it was Sakura who raised her hand. An A honor student in his first period class where he taught English and who seemed to always have something to say or ask about everything. "Sir, will we be allowed to choose the people in our groups?" Sakura asked, her eyes not on the teacher but on a boy up front. Iruka peered at the boy, Sasuke Uchiha, for a brief moment. That group would definetly be trouble, he wasn't quite sure who he felt worse for. "No, I and the other teachers here have placed you all into pacific groups. There will be no trading or choosing of teams." He heard the class groan as one even before the last word left his mouth. "For today you will stay here in class and get better aquainted with your group and teacher. Then your assigned teacher will take you to an introductory task after lunch. Alright the teams are as follow..."
"First group will be Filkins Jiro, Talog Sazuki and Satou Rina. You will leave with you instructor Hayate."
"Second group will consist of Nara Shikamaru, Akamichi Chouji and Yamanaka Ino..."
"Nooooo, why do I have do be paired with those two?" Ino groaned as Sakura snickered.
"Too bad Ino-Pig! hheehhe... Guess your love just wasn't meant to be. I'll tell Sasuke you said hi though." Sakura said in a superior voice.
"Why you little.."
"Can I continue girls?" Iruka asked. This caused a fit of laughter to pass over the class while the girls blushed madly in embarrassment.
"Your instructor is Asuma."
"The third group will be Tanaka keiko, Itou Tai, Nakamaru Sayrou with Genma as your teacher."
"The Fourth group will consist of Aburama Shino, Hyuuga Hinata and Inuzuka Kiba. Your instructor will be Kurenia."
"The Fifth group will be Takahashi Meechi, Watanabe Nishige, Kobayashi Fami... um..."
The class looked at Iruka curiosly as the man continued to stare at the paper in barely concealed pity. Fami nervously tapped her fingers against the desk while Meechi and Nishige stared fearfully at the list Iruka held. Iruka cleared his throat and scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.
"You have Anko."
The three looked at him in horror while the rest looked on in pity, yet every one of them secretly thanked God that they themselves were spared from Ankos wrath.
The final team will consist of Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke..."
"YES, TRUE LOVE CONQUERS ALL. In your face INO!" Sakura crowed.
"And Uzumaki Naruto. Your insructor is Kakashi."
"WHAT?! Why do we get stuck with HIM?!" Sakura moaned.
Ino snickered along with many others in the class. Naruto was the biggest loser in the school, someone who skipped all the time and got into trouble almost every day for something or other. With him on Sakuras and Sasukes team they were sure to get the worst assignments. Absolutely nobody liked him and everybody avoided him like the plague. The rumors were that before he came to their school two years ago he burnt down his last school as a prank and laughed while everyone around him ran for their lives. He never participated in Gym class and insulted the teachers that yelled at him for it. His clothes always looked filthy and people say he hid weapons under them. He was short and big and loud. He got bad grades in all of his classes and carried around a notebook and pencil all the time. Students actual had a bet going on where people guessed what he wrote in it and many attempted to take it from him to see, but the idoit protected it as if the stupid thing was made of gold. Naruto Uzumaki definetely was at the very bottom of the middle school food chain. Even the sixth graders scored higher in the social rank.
Iruka frowned at them for some reason before he called out for them to assemble into their goups. Sakura literally skipped over to Sasuke and clung to his arm while the boy himself just hid a shudder and pulled away. Sakura sighed but didn't try to latch on again. Shikamaru and Chouji talked easily while Ino glared holes into Sakuras back from the corner they'd chosen. Shino and Hinata listened quietly while Kiba talked about a new hiking path he and Akamaru discovered on one of their walks. Meechi, Nishige and Fami all continued to wail miserably about the unfairness that life brought to them while the last two groups talked quietly in their own corners of the room. Before they knew it a good hour had past and the sounds of knocking came from the door of the classroom. Iruka closed the book he'd been skimming through and opened the door.
"Nnn Naruto?" Iruka asked startled. Conversation in the room settled down a bit in wonder of what could make their calm teacher stutter. In walked a boy drenching wet and dripping all over the tile floor, his jacket completely soaked through. The boy walked to the back of the room and with a loud thud placed his bag on his desk. Water streamed from the bag to dampen both seats on either side of it. The hood slipped from the boys head to reveal a mop of bright blonde hair that clung in wet tangles to the side of his head and in his eyes, which showed a misty blue. At the moment that blue also sat on his lips, a testiment to how cold he must be. On either side of his face sat three scar-like whiskers.
Iruka went up to him and whispered something but he just shook his head and said something in return and left the man gapping slightly. Naruto gave the man a big smile, but the teacher just frowned at him and said something else. At this Naruto shook his head fiercely and the two continued to argue for several minutes while the class watched. No one knew why Iruka was so nice to the loser but figured that he was forced to be nice because of his job. After a while Iruka growled irritably which surprised a great deal of the students. Their teacher never lost his patients with any student so this just reenforced the thought that Naruto was just that annoying. Iruka hung his head, but pointed over to Sasuke and Sakura. They watched Naruto look over and cringe which sent anger running through the general classroom. The loser complaining about being with the Soccer Captain? How dare he.
Naruto gave a sigh of relief as he finally made it to his class. He tried the handle but found it locked so knocked twice and stood back. His fingers and feet were numb and his jacket felt like lead on his shoulders with the amount of water soaked into it. The five mile walk took all of his anger out at the damn bus driver and he felt like he would fall asleep at any moment. Iruka answered the door and just stared at him for a second. "Nnn Naruto?" he asked startled. He smiled and nodded at Iruka before he entered the classroom. He felt their eyes on him as he walked to his desk and placed his bag down and sighed heavily with the thought of what he must look like right about now. He felt his hood slip and felt gratefull as the heat of the classroom hit his face. Feeling a presence behind him Naruto turned around to find that Iruka had followed him to his seat.
"Naruto, why are you late?" Iruka asked softly.
"I... missed the bus. So I walked." Naruto replied.
At this Iruka gapped, well aware of how far the boys home was and of the pouring rain outside. Naruto smiled reassuringly to show that it wasn't that bad, though his bones ached in protest and screamed for him to sit down. However, it seemed that Iruka could hear his traiterous bones because he frowned that very thoughtful frown that he hated so much. The one that said Iruka wanted to know more and would dog him until he found out. "Naruto, why don't you take off that wet jacket? You'll get sick wearing it." Iruka said much like a mother hen. Naruto shook his head firmly. "No, its fine, I don't get sick that easily." Naruto literally saw the vein pop on Irukas forehead and sighed as Iruka went into lecture mode and how your suppose to listen to adults. However, no matter how much Iruka insisted that he take his wet jacket off he refused. Iruka growled in irritation while Naruto smiled sheepishly.
Inside Iruka looked on sadly, it was so obvious why the boy refused to take the jacket off. As long as Iruka never got to see the wounds the boy obviously had he could never do anything about it. He hung his head in defeat. Naruto was just so stubborn and for some unnone reason wanted to protect who ever hurt him. "Groups have already been assigned," Iruka said while he pointed towards the boy's goup, "your with Sasuke and Sakura." A guilty feeling mades its way into Iruka's stomache as he saw the boy cringe at his teammates and literally wilt in defeat. Iruka truly did try to team him up with someone less likely to give the boy a hard time but the other teachers seemed set on doing the opposite of that, especially that Nibi woman.
Iruka felt something crawl under his skin at the sight of her. The woman was gorgeous and no one could every deny that. Long, silky black hair braided down her back, soft looking tan skin, a beautiful face and curvish body. She seemed to be temptation in human skin, but her cold cat-green eyes sent chills through his body. The woman simply gave off a dangerous auro to Iruka and he could not stand being in the same room with her. His collouges all disagreed with him though and claimed that she was a good teacher and kind soul.
Naruto sagged into a seat beside Sasuke and inwardly flinched at the eyes he felt glaring holes in his back. Outwardly a crooked smile spread across his face and he glared at Sasuke, their shining hero. He glared back at him and all the girls suddenly seemed to burst with killing intent directed at the blonde. His still blue liped smile turned into an over exagerated look of horror as he could almost see the clouds above their heads fill with ways they planned to maim him for his blantent attitude toward their prince. "Basterd," he muttered under his breath before he turned away and stared out the window, his arms moving up and down his shoulders in an attempt to warm himself.
Two hours later the first lunch bell rang and the students made their way down to the cafeteria. The soccer team gathered together on the far side of the cafeteria as students crowded in. Many ate outside but because of the rain they were forced inside. The air conditioner, always on in the cafeteria, caused many to hug their coats and sweaters against them. Kiba sat across from Sasuke, his mouth already full with mash potatoes, while Shino sat beside him and Hinata on his other side. Sakura and Ino sat to the left of Sasuke while the rest of the Soccer team sat on the right of him and Hinata. "Man, I feel bad for you two, getting sattled with that loser for the next two years," Kiba said sympatheticly as food flew from his mouth. "I feel the same for Shino and Hinata," Sasuke said with a smirk. While the others around them tried to stifle their laughter Kiba grew red in the face in anger. "Prick, why don't you take that stick you'v..." Kiba began to yell but Shino interupted.
"You know Uchiha, you could at least attempt to talk to him and cooperate. It would make your time with Naruto more tolerable," Shino suggested.
"Hey, why did you call him by his first name? You rarely call anyone by thier first name," Ino asked. Shino turned toward her and seemed to hesitate for a moment. "I'm... unaware of his last name," Shino admitted.
"I think its something like, Uzuhani or Uzemana... something like that," Kiba said thoughtfully.
"Oh, how helpful Kiba," Sakura said sarcastically.
Sasuke ignored them as he looked around the cafeteria for the object of the discussion but found to his surprise that he wasn't in the cafeteria. Now that he thought about it he'd never seen Naruto in the cafeteria. Thats when he spotted him. Not inside but outside, underneath one of the few shelters, against the wall leaning over his little notebook. All alone. He must be really cold out there. Sasuke thought as he remembered that his clothes were still wet when they left for lunch.
Naruto huddled against the wall and watched the bird with an observant eye, noting how its feathers were ruffled and wings lifted just a bit. Probably trying to dry them out, he thought. His fingers moved across his sketchbook as he traced the outlines of the bird and smoothed the lead into a soft look with his penky. He looked up again and saw that the bird stared at him with its head cocked up and curious. He wished he had some bread or crackers with him to keep the bird there but he didn't have any lunch at all. He never bought one because he didn't have the money and never brought one because he never had any food in the house to bring. He sighed and began on the birds head. He made sure to draw the eyes slightly bigger than what they should have been. Any time he drew animals or people he always drew the eyes bigger because that was his favorite thing to sketch. The bird hopped a few feet away and dissapeared behind a nearby tree. He shaded in the wings, but left the stomache white, like the real thing. His fingers hurt when he moved the joints due to the cold and he figured it would be a good thing to go in soon if he didn't want to get sick. Naruto closed his sketchbook and headed inside.
Ba-dum, ba-dum, cla-ump, cla-ump, ba-dum... "Will you stop it! Your driving me insane!" Sakura snapped. Naruto lifted his fingers he'd been tapping off the desk and sighed loudly. Sasuke sat in a front desk, quietly ignoring the other two. An hour and a half had passed by and not a sign of their teacher, Kakashi. Iruka left an hour ago for a teacher meeting and spared a sympathetic look their way, as if he knew this would happen, basterd. None of them would have Kakashis class, literature, until next year. The rain stopped while they waited and the sun peeked out from grey clouds. School ended in another hour or so and they found themselves wondering if the man even planned to show up. Just then the door squeaked open and three pairs of angry glares met a single brown eye under a shock of silver. The man stood over six feet and, despite the silver hair, appeared to be only late twenties. Of course it was hard to tell since the man wore bandages around his mouth, nose and left eye. Weird.
"Hehehe... Sorry I'm late. Guess I just got lost on the road of life. You know how it is..." If possible the three glares intensified and the man sighed. "Well come on, well go to my classroom." The three stood up and solomnly followed. When they reached the classroom the first thing they noticed were the boxes that biled high by the door. They sat down and Kakashi leaned against his desk and peered at them for a moment. "Right, well, for today I want you to..." Sakura interrupted him with a question. "Shouldn't you at least ask our names or introduce yourselve or.. something?" she asked. Kakashi looked at her blankly and sighed. "Alright. My name is Kakashi Hatake. My likes? I like many things. My dislikes? I don't feel like telling you. My dreams... My hobbies? I have lots." Kakashi said while his three students sweat drop.
"O.k Pinky, since your so eager why don't you go?" Kakashi asked in a bored tone. "Oh, umm. My name is Sakura Haruno. I like..." She glanced at Sasuke and squealed. "My dislikes..." This time she looked over at Naruto. "That idiot!" She said with a pointed finger. Naruto just barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes. "My dream..." Another look at Sasuke, another squeal. "My hobbies are soccer and dance," Sakura finished with a nodd. Kakashi nodded, a grimace under his bandages and turned to Sasuke. "Alright, you." Kakashi said with a wave of his hand. "My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I like to play soccer and hang out with my older brother Itachi. I dislike 'losers,' " a nod towards Naruto who scowls, "and fangirls." A nod towards Sakura who's head drops. "My dream is to become a police captain on my fathers force and eventual work beside my brother. My hobbies would be swimming and soccer." Kakashi sighed heavily at the antisocial attitude and turned to the last member of the team. "O.k blondie your up," Kakashi said. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki." Thats a lie. "I like ramen." Simple, aren't I? "I dislike..." My fucking life. "the three minutes it takes to cook ramen." Because I'm afraid someone will take it if I don't hurry. "My dreams... I don't have any." To not see any more people die. "And my hobbies would be to see how much I can annoy people." Are none of your bussiness.
Kakashi felt his mouth twitch slightly, unsure wheather to frown or smile at the strange kid in front of him. Well this should be interesting, Kakashi told himself as he watched the three. He clapped his hands together and his eye turned into a U shape that made the three shift nervously. "Alright, I want you to take those boxes," at this he waved his hand towards the large towers of cardboard, "and bring them down to the storage area for me. Thats your first assignment from me." Kakashi swore he heared the girl mutter something about 'cyclopes' and 'death' but he just shrugged. Kakashi mearly moved from leaning on his desk to sitting on it and pretended to read his book. Instead he watched them work and found that, to his surprise, they actually worked well together when they didn't have to talk to each other. Pinky was surprisingly strong too. The girl also didn't flirt with the Uchiha while she worked but Kakashi suspected it had something to do with the dark auro she let off and the muttered curses he could just barely hear directed at him. He was certain that once she got used to him she would be right next to the poor Uchiha in trying for his, if not affection, attention. The Uchiha did the work required and kept to himself, but every once in a while he looked over to the blonde. Wonder what thats about, Kakashi thought idly.
It surprised him when the blonde walked into the room with his clothes all wet and even more for what the boy had to say about himself. He really hoped the boy was joking about that last part. The blonde seemed bent on staying as far from the other two as possible and didn't look anywhere but ahead. Every few minutes the boys eyes would close halfway and then snap open. Kakashi watched him stifle a good four or five yons and only now noticed the dark shadows under the boy's eyes. Hmmm. He watched the boy come into the classroom again and grab another box and noticed that the his eyes were again half way closed. This time, however, his eyes seemed to lose focus and he swayed dangerously as he picked up the box and attempted to take a few steps. Kakashi stood up quickly and caught the boy when he stumbled and dropped the box. "Thanks, sorry about that," the blonde said quietly. Sorry about what? Dropping the box or falling? Kakashi wondered. Kakashi stopped the boy from trying to pick the box up again and frowned when the boy flinched at his touch. "Why don't you just go sit down for a few minutes," Kakashi told him firmly. The blonde stared at him for a few moments, but nodded and sat down at one of the desks where he layed his head down.
Naruto cursed as he jerked awake again and gripped the box that had slipped a bit from his grasp. Sasuke and Sakura were far ahead already and heading down the stairs. His head hurt and he'd been falling asleep all day. The boxes seemed to get heaveir and harder to carry and the corners of his eyes started to go dark every few minutes. He bit his lip hard to keep himself awake and forced himself to walk faster. When he reached the stairs he saw Sasuke and Sakura already on their way up again. Damn it. "Geez Loser, could you walk any slower," Sasuke said with a smirk. Naruto growled but otherwised ignored him. He might have argued but his headache pounded too hard to focus on anything but putting two feet in front of him. They dissappeared from his view and he made his way to the storage room. Thats when the blackness at the corner of his eyes leaped and covered all of his vision. He tripped and hit the ground hard, the box landed right in front of him. He blinked several times and took deep breaths. After a minute his vision cleared and he could see again. Luckily netheir of his classmates were back yet. He shakily stood up and hoped that there wasn't anything breakable inside. He picked up the box and put it in the storage room.
On his way back up it was Sakura who commented this time. "Your so worthless, you've only moved a few boxes all this time!" her voice pierced like a nife to his headache and he almost passed out right there. He looked at her blankly and just continued on. She just humphed and hurried to catch up to Sasuke. He could feel Kakashis eyes on him when he entered the room and willed his hands not to shake as he grabbed the box. Man it was heavy. He could feel his grip slip a bit more with each step but he ignored it in favor of getting to the door without incident. His body did not agree with his plan though. His head spiked with pain and his eyes went black again, he felt himself stumble and... Large arms grabbed him before he could hit the ground. He couldn't help it, he flinched at the contact. He still couldn't see but he looked up anyway. He knew it was Kakashi above him and wondered how angry the man would be that he dropped the box. "Thanks, sorry about that," he managed to force out. His throat hurt and the introduction they'd given pretty much took all his will not to wince the entire time.
His eyes cleared a bit and he could see Kakashi let go catiously but stay close. Naruto stood up on wobbly legs and tried to pick the box up but Kakashi stopped him. "Why don't you just go sit down for a few minutes," Kakashi told him firmly. Naruto stared at him for a moment. He probably doesn't want me dropping any more of the boxes. Damn, I bet there are fragile things in them. He nodded his head to show Kakashi that he understood and callapsed into the first desk he came to. Naruto was out even before the others came into the room.
Sasuke and Sakura walked into the room a few minutes later and stared at Naruto, fast asleep at one of the desks. That lazy bum! Sakura thought indignantly. She raised her fist to smack him across the head but was surprised when Kakashi stopped her. "Naruto wasn't feeling well so I let him lie down," Kakashi said, still reading his book. Yeah right, he's faking it to get out of work! Sakura thought, murderous with anger. "Oh, o.k." She sent the blonde a glare but picked up another box. Sasuke looked at Naruto for a long moment but also picked up a box and followed after Sakura.
The last school bell rang for the end of day and Sasuke and Sakura quickly dissapeared out the door, on their way to the soccer field. Kakashi walked over to Naruto and gently shook the boy awake. Naruto jerked away and almost fell out of the chair while Kakashi jumped in surprise and took a step back. For a moment the boys eyes held a glazed look that scared the hell out of Kakashi, but they cleared and the boy looked up at him in recognition. "Sorry! Didn't mean to do that," Naruto said quickly, his hand scratching the back of his head nervously. "Schools over Naruto, you can go home now," Kakashi said, watching the boy closely. Naruto nodded and headed out the door, bag in hand, without so much as a goodbye.
When Naruto finally made it home he crept in quietly and closed the door to his room with a relieved sigh. He stripped off his wet clothes and pulled on some dry ones before he slipped under the cover of his bed and fell into blissful unconciousness.
