Edit: 2006/July11/Apr05/Apr07/Oct17 (beta:streetwise)
Disclaimer:
Naruto is copyrighted to Masashi Kishimoto and other legal blahs. And Shirokin. Its in Japan. But the Uchiha Patented Brooding Position is mine (bwahahaha!)
Author's Notes: A bit of History
Hmm, in between AU and futurefic. To lessen your confusion, it was several eons later since the First founded Konoha. Then it started for the nation to be formed as Japan itself. For those who knows Asian history, I'll be inserting the Konoha story in between the Onin Wars , after the Ashikaga Period (during mid 1400s I think). On those that is afraid of changes perished, so some Shinobi villages broke, some even dissolved. Others simply evolved into a nice city, or a peaceful province. The Uchiha family lingered, and somehow managed to keep their family line. Why they still exist its for you to read.
put in mind: Okama-a crossdressing man. Not necessarily a gay in drag. In Japan, it can be considered as a profession or is tied in a professional work.
Just one more chance. Just one more life. I know there would come a time that you will remember that you loved me as much as I love you. I have once lost everything especially you. I will never let you go this time. I'll never let go. Ever.
-Reincarnation-
By veiledlantern
Episode 02
-Weak! First Day Sucks.-
He was suspicious that the CD had been playing the whole night, its noise barraging his ears while preparing meals. Having enough, he stomped inside the messy room cluttered with CDs and musical equipments.
"Oe Naruto, this is your first day in your new school, don't you have any plans of getting up?" Both hands on his waist, Iruka yelled at the messily bunched blanket and killed the radio instantaneously.
The blanket groaned.
"Just let it go old man, I'm listening to Hatebreed. And I hate going classes on the first week! It sucks and it's boring!" Came the muffled reply. The blanket shifted a bit
"I'm not an old man!" Iruka snapped. "And stop that, you might get kicked out of school again and be expelled! Aren't you worried? You promised me to continue high school!"
A pause. Iruka lifted a brow.
"Nnnope!" Iruka's face faulted on the floor. The blanket shifted again, and he had a strong feeling that the boy had just turned his back on him.
"NA-RU-TOOOOOOO!"
A loud crash and banging was heard throughout the house and Iruka's yells were above them all. Later, a slouching blond, messy-haired zombie emerged from his room stumbling.
Said zombie could not even think of something to retort to his surrogate father. So he just dismissed the loud clangs echoing in his brain as he floated to the kitchen and sat, hands automatically reaching out for the spoon and dumping contents to his mouth. The only thing that awakened him was the scalding hot tub the moment he dipped his skin into the water.
"UUUUWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAA! Hot! atchee, atchee, atchee!" he danced around the bathroom. Damn Iruka, overheating the water. He swore he was going to make him pay later.
----------------------
Minutes later, the door open to make way for the grumpy Naruto mumbling his goodbye and a happy Iruka waving to him at the door.
"Goodbye Naruto! See you at school!"
"No, you won't." Naruto flatly refused with a sulk. Iruka, merely grinned.
Ignoring Iruka's grin, he stepped out of the apaato(apartment), walking lazily in the street.
"How the hell did that old man had convinced me into taking High School? I should not have listen to him and continued my job in Shin-Urayasu!" Naruto ranted.
Too busy in his thoughts, He didn't immediately realize that his school was near.
"Stupid Iruka… he shouldn't have bothered." Naruto mumbled under his breath as he walked on. He had been kicked out… for the 4th time out of his junior high school… again. Well, you can't call it a kick-out, really. The school just 'won't accept him' in their Senior High department anymore starting this school year. Then Iruka made him enroll in the school where his pseudo-father taught, which he hated.
Because that meant Iruka could monitor his behavior more closely now. /Damn./Well, that didn't mean he was going to be a good sheep either. And besides, Junior High and Senior High are in different buildings. His mouth turned into a big grin and his eyes to mere slits. Feeling contented, he marched towards the building to hunt for his classroom.
----------------------
"1A, 1A, 1A… hell, how did I get to be in 1A? I haven't noticed until now." Naruto alternated between squinting at the paper he was holding and glancing at the title cards sticking on the front of each door.
/Is that counselor serious? Maybe something's messed with the staffs' heads. I stopped really listening to his stupid yakking a while ago./ He scratched his pointy, unruly head.
"Ah, here it is, found ya." He yawned. "Damn I'm still drowsy…"
As usual, Sasuke was the earliest in the class. Well she usually was, except sometimes, one of her competitors for the top made it before her. Her last year in Junior High proved to be enjoyable and challenging despite her denials. In the end she decided to continue her studies in this school even though that she received a lot of recommendations from her former Homeroom teacher to several prestigious schools such Keio and Todai. Needless to say, the rest of the clan was disappointed because they were expecting her to enroll in Tokyo University, which was much closer. And much, much higher in status.
/Nevertheless, I do not know what to expect this year./ She sighed. She might end up dealing with annoying people that could drag her down. She should have just enrolled in an all-boys elite school and pay the school administration a sinful amount of money to keep them shut about her gender.
Minutes passed and some students arrived one by one. She knew quite a percentage of them already. Sasuke eyed possible competitors. The classroom was not even half-filled yet. Maybe the others had just decided to wait on the school grounds for the Entrance Ceremony. The sliding door opened. She raised an eyebrow at the newcomer then rolled her eyes at the view.
/Blonde hair? Isn't it clear that school regulations FORBID hair dye?/And it almost hurt the eye, how rich and bright the color of this guy's hair was. His eyes were currently down but she can see that they're circled with black paint. The fingernails scratching his neck were also painted black. He looked heavy with all those metallic accessories on his fingers, wrists and neck.
The guy yawned with his huge mouth. Her brows twitched
/Kami, and he even has piercing in his lips, and both ears./ She counted. Two in the lips, three in the left ear and four in the other.
And the shirt underneath the opened polo uniform was a black band shirt of who the hell knows who.
Her brows twitched again. Alarm bells rang in her head. Great, a juvenile in her class. This was going to be one tough school year indeed. She inwardly groaned.
She followed the gaze of the boy. It's on the empty chair beside her. And the said juvenile had the nerve to sit beside her. A transferee perhaps. Because that's the only reason this guy could not recognize her. Everybody knows her rules.
"Hey moron, what the hell are you thinking going to class looking like that?" She smirked smugly and appeared intimidating. But she was not prepared to see what she saw when he looked at her.
Blue. The bluest of blue. The beautiful color of the sky reflected by the ocean. A pair of blue orbs that glinted in an open expression the owner always seemed to display publicly, which is only accentuated by the dark rims around his eyes. And the faint markings on both of his cheeks. There is only one person that is allowed to have that beautiful hue of blue for an eye. More ever, those marking only belong to a single person. Why did she fail to notice it when he walked inside the room, or even sense the familiar chakra?
/Naruto…/ She wanted to cry, reach out, to hug him, to say how she missed him, to say how many times she tried looking for him. She nearly toppled her chair over when she immediately stood up and stepped forward to meet him, her emotions swirling crazily inside her, so that it was harder to keep inside and it leaked a bit into her eyes and face.
"Oe, it's none of your business what I do to myself and what I wear. You're not my mother." The words immediately brought her back to Earth. Naruto stared back at the long, black-haired pony tailed 'guy' for a moment before passing over him to sit in the chair that he had chosen to be his.
"Y-you don't…" Sasuke looked hurt for a moment but stopped herself. Her mind immediately started to analyze the situation
/Get a hold of yourself, Sasuke. The look in his eyes clearly indicates he doesn't recognize me, but it's completely understandable. In my case it has been triggered by something but perhaps it didn't happen to him. Calm down, there's no mistaking it. All physical indications and the chakra signature points out that it is him. But there's no point in rushing. I can think of other ways of approaching him in the near future./Sasuke went back to her seat as the newcomer yawned while ignoring her, slouched in his chair. Everybody relaxed and resumed talking when the tension started to dissipate.
Naruto discreetly looked over his seatmate from the corner of his eye. The boy was clean, looked organized and he even had to agree that he was good-looking, even thought the length of his hair was too long for a guy. A word flashed on his mind.
-Elite-. He snorted.
Those types that screams "I'm-an-arrogant-bastard-and-I'm-well-above-you-so-don't-mess-with-me" in all their silent glory; it's too much to bear. But something about this guy made him feel disturbed somehow. And he just couldn't form it in his mouth, which annoyed him. What ticked him off was how well had he seen that interchanging of emotions as he talked to the other boy. And the faintly hurt look. Especially that faint hurting look in those blank eyes. To think he's never been the one with a good sensitivity.
But what ticked him more was the hurt he had felt when he saw those eyes hurting. To the point that he wanted to take back what he'd said.
/What.the.fuck./ He audibly sighed. And he's not even one for thinking either. Something's gone off inside of him.
He was currently fighting with himself whether he's going to say something close to apology, or just ignore the whole thing when the door slid open and a teacher herded them out of the classroom for the Entrance Ceremony.
During the whole ceremony, Sasuke kept staring at the air, aware of Naruto at her back. Maybe it's just her pure luck that their surnames were next to each other. That way, she'll be closer to the guy and access would be easier.
After the ceremony, Naruto dragged himself back to his class complaining to nobody in particular about his foot. The students here looked all goody goody, he observed. Even though other students skip, shout and run ahead of him, nobody dared to bump into him while walking carelessly through the hall. How the hell did he pass into this school again? Man, everybody's said he's a very surprising and unpredictable person but this time, even he surprised himself.
ooOOoo
A silver-haired man slid open the door to sit at the teacher's table. The students that were inside the room eyed the man that had his face half-covered. Some started to whisper to one another.
"What is he hiding anyway?"
"Maybe he has a scar on his face."
"What a weird teacher."
Unperturbed, the silver-haired man ignored them all. His eyes kept darting to the students that passed him, obviously looking for someone.
-oOo-
Outside, somebody was about to come into the said classroom. /Damn that Shika, he said he's enrolled in this school too. Where the hell is he?/When Naruto reached his classroom, their teacher had already arrived. He settled in his chair.
When the teacher figured out that the class was complete he stood up "Ma…"
Everybody looked at him as he wrote his name on the board.
"Yo, minna. My name is Hatake Kakashi and I'm going to be your Homeroom Adviser for the rest of your Senior High school years," He smiled amiably. His invisible grin only prevalent on his uncovered eyes, which was currently in slits.
"Maybe some of you recognize me already since I taught some subjects in Junior High Department before, and almost all of you here came from this school."
Hatake Kakashi roamed his eyes around the classroom, looking for a transferee. Then a mop of spiky golden hair immediately grabbed his attention.
/So that's him…/Naruto noticed the hand signal beckoning forward so he heavily lifted himself up from the chair and dragged his blonde self in front of the whole class.
"Class, this is our new classmate from Shirokin. Try to be nice to him."
Naruto rolled his eyes at the irony. It's actually the other way round.
The teacher resumed, "So everyone, after he states his name, I need you all to stand up and introduce yourself to your other classmates, since not all of you know each other because of the reshuffling of the classes. Please start up, Mr. Uzumaki."
"Yo, 'm Uzumaki Naruto," He speaks with a grin full of confidence. Kakashi swiveled a weary eye on the boy and waited for more but seeing that he is not going to speak anymore, he signaled on the first row from the window to start.
Each student rose up, introducing themselves and saying something random like clubs, hobbies and the like. Then it reached the first row, third seat. Naruto had the chance to look over the guy.
"Uchiha Sasuke, Vice-President of the Student Council last year. Captain of the Karate Club in Junior High." Many little whispers and longing sighs were heard.
He's almost a head smaller than him. And thinner. Naruto smiled to himself. Maybe God had really intended to delay his growth so he could make it up later when he exploded up before he reached 15. He's turning 16 this year and he's already 5'10, taller than most kids of his age.
Upon closer inspection, the Uchiha dude's features were of a girl. He has a lean nose, soft jaw and cheekbones. It could be more appropriate to use terms like pretty and beautiful with that guy. Plus his long, black hair added to his look. It looked glossy and black that it shone dark blue in the light. His eyes were also black. But his overall face looked expressionless. Or poker-faced.
/Could it be… nah, the way he moves and carries himself is positively male./And before he realized that he was staring too long the guy has finished speaking and stared back at him. He quickly averted his eyes and took interest in his vandalized rubber shoes.
"You should sit down, Mr. Uzumaki." Eying half of the class that has not been introduced yet. "This could take some time." Kakashi smiled, when he noticed the boy standing beside him shifted in his position. Naruto felt constipated at the smile given to him. The teacher prodded him to sit down. Naruto nodded and immediately walked toward his chair, carefully avoiding his seatmate's stare.
On the outside, Sasuke looked calm, but inside, her emotions were tumbling up and down. She just kept countenance due to years of practice of being the composed, serious and still person that she was. She was looking at the blackboard but her mind was wandering. She arranged herself in the Uchiha Sasuke Registered and Patented Brooding Position; leaning forward with hands entwined in front of her nose.
/What? What am I going to say, what am I going to do? I've got to think of a plan, not flail around like some silly girl. He should remember me. Yes, that's the initial objective. I should think of a way to make it happen then. But what if he can't remember? I know how idiotic that dobe could be./ She sighed.
/I have to think of something that could start some interaction. Or better yet if I could spark some memories./Sasuke is about to open her mouth to speak to Naruto when the blonde boy faced him but the teacher started to speak again, signaling the start of the homeroom. She silently cursed and focused her attention at the front.
Naruto, again had noticed his seatmate's actions. And his annoyance never failed.
/What's with me? Usually, I don't even sense it when someone is being blatantly mad at me. Yet I notice even the smallest actions of this guy, as if I could interpret his expression by that. The hell?/Then Hatake Kakashi's voice once again floated in the air.
"Well, who would want to be the Class Representative then? Any volunteers? Recommendations?"
Nobody spoke up but half the class eyed the long-haired young man sitting near the window.
Sasuke looked back at the expectant gazes of his classmates. She sighed then stared straight towards the blackboard.
/I never noticed it till now, but I wonder why they called it a blackboard when it's painted green…/ She mused. She knew that her thought pattern was being ridiculous right now but she was deliberately ignoring everybody's stares. Deliberately.
Then amidst the silence a scraping of a chair's feet was heard in the room that indicated somebody was standing up. Kakashi looked over the boy and everyone followed suit. He took a deep breath.
"Misoda Akito, wasn't it?" the boy nodded. "Hai, sensei." he mumbled. Kakashi continued. "You were in my History class last year right?" The boy replied another affirmative. "As I remember, you were ranked second top in your section last year." Several whispers.
"Hai," He replied again. "But I won't be volunteering for the Class Representative position." Everyone gave out a confused look. He then looked from his position in the third row across the other side of the room. " I recommend Uchiha Sasuke, who graduated as Valedictorian of our whole batch and is formerly the Vice-President of the Student Council. Everyone murmured appreciative words at the silent guy. Especially those who came from other schools.
Except for one, of course. One Uzumaki Naruto who looked neither impressed or surprised but instead directed a measuring glare at the boy in his left. While everybody appeared to admire the pretty, longhaired boy, he felt otherwise. It was confirmed. A fully pledged nerd who's life only revolves around books and notes and being the teacher's pet being his greatest achievement.
"Ok!" Naruto said in his loud, exuberant tone. Everybody's eyes trained on him. "Now I know! You're a geek and an okama who is born in an elite family!!"
Sasuke looked scandalized.
It seemed like the wrong thing to say because suddenly everyone's eyes flashed red, their faces darkened and their mouths grew out fangs as they slowly started to advance towards him.
" O-oe…" Naruto grins uneasily. A brief, warning cough was issued from the front. Everybody immediately slid back to their seats as if nothing happened.
Kakashi looked around, "Any objections?" Sasuke closed her eyes and faced the window. "Its decided then." Akito took his seat. "Anybody from the girls?" Kakashi waited for a while then looked at his class record. "So I'll just pick up the girl from the top of my list then. Aikawa Yumiko." The girl hesitantly raised her hand and nodded.
Kakashi looked at his watch. "It seems that it's time already. Ok, lets talk about the Orientation Camp the next day then. Ja."
ooOoOoo
Naruto was amused the whole day because it seemed that almost everybody in his class was afraid of him. They avoided him and made way for him. Was it about the looks? Or the way he acts? It almost made him feel giddy inside. He's going to love this class. Wait till they see how much of a mischief-maker he could be. At least he's not going to fight all the way to make them cower in his presence, like he did to his second school. He almost broke the noses of all his male classmates. Which aptly states that he broke his entire class' nose, because incidentally, the academy was an All-boys school.
The school bell rang and the third period teacher make their way out of the room. The other teacher had not arrived yet. He slid himself into his chair and raised his feet to his desk, crisscrossing them while he took out his MP3 player and started listening to music.
Sasuke turned to her right to see Naruto lounging in his chair. Even with some distance their desks have, she can still hear the loud pounding of music. And to think it's an earphone. She inwardly winced. No, she's going to be patient with this. Past or now, she still has that amount of control that made her calm even at the midst of rabid, foaming fangirls when she was still a Chuunin of Konoha long ago. And male.
She leaned closer to her former lover and teammate. Apparently, Naruto did not seem to notice, since his world was currently limited to the screamings and the noise that he recognizes as music.
Unfortunately for Sasuke, the blond boy found this the perfect time to skip class. He abruptly stood and turned to leave but to his surprise the dark, long-haired guy materialized in front of him.
"Eh?" Naruto raised an eyebrow. That's fast. He looked to him. The guy looked unreadable. Was this nerd challenging him? He carefully hung his earphones on his shoulders.
The nervousness she was trying to quell was surfacing in the form of heating of her face. She cursed at her excitement of finding Naruto again and meeting like this was making her all flustered. She cursed again for showing the weakness in her face.
A discreet taking in of a deep breath. She's not used to this. Plus, she's not the friendly sort. People were the ones that usually approached her, much less start a conversation. And in between them, it was always Naruto's job.
Naruto tiredly looked at the person in front of him as he waged his inner battle. He contemplated leaving him in his thoughts but he's also half-curious of what is this guy's going to say.
She gnawed her lips and pushed herself to speak. But quickly retracted when she realized that she was just going to stutter a broken sentence, which was very unlike her. She bit her lower lip, and then side stepped to make room for the big blonde boy, never giving away the regret that beat her up inside.
Naruto snorted.
Sasuke merely stared at his back as he left.
okama-as stated above. And forgive naruto for calling sasuke that. The idiot's only half-serious about it and he's the type that blurts out anything that comes into his brain.
apaato-Its what they call apartment in Japan.
atchee-improper/rude form of atsui which means hot. Naruto is the rude type anyway, even in the series. If you have some nihongo background, you will notice his vulgar way of speech in the subtitles and the untranslated manga. His lines were almost full of curses and he is too disrespectful. (shakes head)
Shirokin high(laughs)-oh well, if anybody watches Gokusen that's the school where the rowdy bunch of San-D (3D) were in. They quite have the reputation to have students for troublemakers. I'm just borrowing them.
Keio-guh, what's the complete name of the University? I just cant remember very well . Anyways it is like, A prestigious school, a rich kid's school, an elite school. Don't know in other countries but in the Phils. Its like La Salle.
Todai-Tokyo University. A very prestigious school. Japan's top University. Maybe it equals to Harvard in America.
