I enter the principal's office and I see a rather young looking blonde woman sitting before me at a desk. She looks up at me with tired amber eyes and gestures for me to sit down, I do.
"Welcome to Konoha High Natsuyo-san, how are you?"
"Um I'm fine Tsunade-sensei," I mumble, twiddling my thumbs.
"Well I just wanted to personally welcome you to Konoha high and to hand you your schedule. There is a map of the campus on the back so it should be easy to find all of your classes. You have five blocks a day six if you include lunch. You have lunch two which is between block four and five; it's the most requested lunch in schedules so I hope you enjoy it. We do unfortunately have gang activity in the school but I hope you will be fine and avoid any violence or bullying that may occur."
"Yes Tsunade-sensei I will do my best, may I go to class now?" I ask.
"Yes, here you go, your first class is on the second floor, room number 206, Shizune will give you a pass."
"Thank you Tsunade-sensei," I say, bowing before I leave her office.
Shizune looks up at me as I walk in, "Here is your pass Natsuyo-san, and enjoy the rest of your day."
"Thank you Shizune-san." I say before leaving the office, the note in my hand.
Well that wasn't as bad I thought it was going to be, Tsunade-sensei seemed more concern about my safety and the possibility of me getting into trouble with a gang. I wonder if she knows about my involvement with gangs at my old school. I never got in trouble for being in one back home; I mean I was a good student until the bell rang at the end of the day. Oh well, as long as bumping into that Sasori guy doesn't come back to bite me in the ass I should be good. I look down at my schedule and see what class I have first, History with Iruka-sensei, well this sucks. I will probably fall asleep from the combination of morning fatigue and the boring subject. I skip up the stairs and walk down the hall towards room 206; I hope Ino is in this class. I open the door and walk in quietly; everyone's eyes are on me. In the back corner I see Sasori with three guys all of them have a similar feature on them. They all have a red cloud on them, not in the same place. I know what this is, they are showing off they're gang sign, it's meant so that other gangs know who they're up against, smart.
"I'm sorry for interrupting but I have this class, I'm Natsuyo Mayumi." I say, bowing slightly to Iruka-sensei.
"Ah Natsuyo-san it's a pleasure to meet you, please introduce yourself to the class." Iruka says, gesturing me forward.
"It's nice to meet you all, I am Natsuyo Mayumi." I say, bowing.
"Why don't you tell the class about yourself?"
"Um well I'm from Kusogakure and my favorite colors are green and purple."
"Care to tell us any hobbies you have?"
"Well I can't think of any at the moment," That could be considered legal I think to myself.
"Alright then please take a seat beside Yamanaka-san." Iruka says, pointing out Ino.
I quickly take a seat at her table and give her a smile, she smiles back. Iruka continues on with roll call and I learn the names of the three others that sit around him. Kakuzu is the large one with the black hood over his head and burning green eyes. Deidara is the blonde haired one with the girl like figure and pretty blue eyes. Then there is Hidan, the silver haired, pink eyed man with a sadistic smile on his face and splatters of blood on his white shirt. Oh yeah, it's a gang, and I know there has to be more of them. Sasori is glaring at the back of my head with his hazel eyes; I got to get a better look at him during the lesson. Short, probably a few inches taller than me, a dark gray t-shirt with a lighter gray design swirling around it, dark washed jeans. A red cloud is attached to his left shirt sleeve; it's an interesting symbol, not as creative as the purple vendetta's mark. I tug lightly at my scarf and listen to Iruka speak about our homework assignment.
"I want you all to write a paper, a full page at the least, and tell me about your favorite period of History. It does not have to be just here, it can be anywhere in the world, be creative. Extra credit will go to anyone who draws a picture about their favorite time period." Iruka says, writing it down on the board, "You may begin now."
"Oh I am so happy we have a class together, hey give me your schedule." Ino says, I hand it to her, "Ok so we have history together, next period you have biology, then Algebra 2 we have that together, than you have a free block lucky, and lunch two we can sit together awesome, and then you have Art. Well at least we see each other three times, that's cool but why do you have a free block only Juniors and Seniors get free block."
"Well I am a junior," I say.
"Really but you don't look like a junior." Ino mumbles, "Wow I'm friends with a junior that makes me cooler than forehead for sure!"
"Forehead?" I question.
"It's this girl I was sort of friends with her when we were little than we got a crush on the same guy and it tore us apart. But I got over the guy, became more mature and I am interested in a better guy but she still thinks I like her man. They aren't even going out he hates her guts and I heard a rumor that he's gay anyway so why bother wasting time on him right. But no Forehead won't let it go, stupid bitch won't leave me alone and she is ruining my chances with the guy I do like."
"Point her out to me at lunch, the boys too."
"Boys, you mean the guy I used to like and the one I do?"
"Yup, so what are you going to write about?"
"Oh definitely something about agriculture, don't let others know but I really like flowers and plants, what about you Mayumi-chan?"
"Probably the Italian renaissance, it's the only part of history I actually like, I'm really into art."
"Cool, oh man Akasuna is glaring daggers at you, watch your back after school." Ino whispers, I look behind me and he is indeed glaring quite intensely.
"I'm not afraid of him; he doesn't know what he's up against." I grin; remember the knife I had hidden in my bag.
"Well if you're sure and if you want I guess I'll have your back if you need it." Ino says.
"That would be pretty swish, what class do you have next?"
"Gym, it's going to suck I have it with Forehead."
The bell rings, Ino and I part ways her to gym and I use the map to get to my Biology class. I enter the room and take one of the empty lab seats in the middle of the room; gangs usually claim the back of classrooms. A girl with dark blue hair walks up to me and smiles before sitting beside me, she is really pretty. Her hair is held up with a clip and has a white paper flower on the right side of her head. She is wearing a dark blue t-shirt and a pair of black skinny jeans with cuts in them revealing blue fishnets underneath. She has several piercings in her ears with a bar just like mine in her left ear; she also has a nose ring and a silver ball piercing in her chin.
"Hi I'm Konan," she says, holding out her hand, I shake it.
"Mayumi, it's a pleasure to meet you." I reply.
"Likewise, so you're new here?"
"Yeah I just moved here from Kusogakure,"
"Cool, I moved here my freshmen year from Amegakure, it was a real change but it gets easier once you make friends."
"Yeah I already made friends with this one girl, she seems pretty nice."
"Yeah Ino-san I saw you talking with her this morning after you bumped into Sasori."
"Oh other people noticed me bumping him, now I feel embarrassed."
"Its fine, you're just lucky he didn't hurt you, he is a very violent person."
"He's all talk and no game." I say, "He wants a fight bring it on."
"Are you sure about that, he is in a gang you know." Konan says with concern in her voice.
"I'll take them all on, if anything happens to me I know a few people who would kick his ass from here to Mizukagure."
"You've got spunk I'll give you that,"
"Thanks, so what's the teacher like?"
"I had him last year, he is really rather, well see for yourself."
A tall lean man in a long beige tunic walks in, and I feel my body tense. His hair is long and greasy black, falling down to the middle of his back meeting the top of a deep knot purple scarf. Underneath the tunic he is wearing a pair of black slacks; they look like they are painted onto his legs. I feel a complete sense of shock when I notice a small eighth note symbol on the back of his tunic almost masked by his hair. At the same moment I notice it a boy with gray hair pulled back into a pony tail walks in with the same mark hidden on the back neck of his dark gray shirt. I watch the boy adjust his glasses and go to sit with a group in the back of the room. They are in a circle, two of the people whose backs are to me have the same mark on the back collar of they're shirts. I have never come across a gang run by a teacher before; this is so new to me. What other teachers here are involved in gang activity, and does Tsunade-sensei know? Do any of these people know these guys are a part of a gang? They do hide they're symbol rather well I must say. The man coughs and all of the gang turns to pay attention to him, as do the rest of the students. This confirms him as the leader, if he were a supporter than they would not care and just goof off. He has to the leader if they are paying so much attention to him, giving him so much respect, something gangs do not normally show many people.
"Welcome back to another term, I am Orochimaru-sensei. I see we have a new student among us, Natsuyo Mayumi, welcome. Now everyone shall get a biology book at the end of class, they are stalked neatly in the corner over there. To begin let us review what we know about Biology and what we shall learn." The man turns and starts to write on the board, I pull out a green notebook and take notes.
Class drones on slowly, and I feel the creepiness of the man increase with each minute he speaks about dismembering animal bodies. Like he has done such a thing before in his basement, or something sketchy like that. I try and write down what I can, skipping all of the gory details, I almost wish I could use the vegetarian excuse to get out of this class. The lesson finally ends and I stand with the rest of the students and collect my book. I write down my book number on a piece of paper and bolt out of there as fast as possible in heels. Konan walks right behind me and taps lightly on my shoulder.
"I know how you feel, the first lesson is always the worst, don't worry after a point you will be able to ignore the urge to throw up." She says, giving me a reassuring smile.
"I hope so, what class do you have next?" I ask, I would like to have her as my friend too.
"I have Gym, what do you have?"
"Aw I'm stuck in stupid Algebra 2, I hate math so much."
"You and me both, maybe I'll see you in another class hopefully, bye Mayumi-san."
"Bye Konan-san." I say as she retreats into the throng of students.
I check my map again and head up to the third floor for my Algebra class; at least I know Ino will be with me. I walk into the class and look around, Ino is nowhere in sight but I see two red clouds sitting in the back corner of the room. A skinny black haired boy with a girls figure and large black eyes sits in the far corner. He is dressed head to toe in black with the red cloud on a tie wrapped around his pale neck. Beside him is a boy dressed in black pants and a dark blue button up shirt, he has a red bandana hanging out of his back pocket with the cloud on it. The boy has blue skin and dark blue hair with pale yellow eyes, far prettier to look at than Orochimaru. He is chatting to the other while the black haired boy just nods and fiddles with the ponytail his hair is held back in. The blue haired boy looks up at me and flashes me his sharp pointy teeth, I smirk and take a seat in the third row. Students start to pile in and I nearly gag when I see a girl with bubblegum pink hair walk in. Dear lord she needs an intervention, that hair is just too much. Her outfit is a bright red tank top and a short khaki skirt; jeez what a skank I bet if she bent over you'd see her underwear, that's so wrong. She comes over and looks at the seat beside me.
"Hi can I sit next to you?" She asks, even her voice makes me want to vomit.
"No I'm saving it for someone, sorry." I say, trying to be as pleasant as possible.
"Oh well I'm Sakura," she says, taking a seat at the table in front of me.
"Cool, I'm Mayumi." I mumble, will this chick go away.
"Forehead back off your stinking up my desk with your fish breath." Ino shouts, taking the seat I saved for her.
"Go to hell Ino-pig I was talking to Mayumi not you." Sakura growls.
"Oh so you're Forehead, I can tell why Ino-chan calls you that now, it's like a billboard." I chuckle, looking at it.
"I can see Ino-pig as already corrupted you, well when you get sick of smelling shit you know where to find me Mayumi." Sakura sighs.
"Well as soon as you walk away I won't be smelling shit anymore." She squeals and stomps over to the other side of the room.
"I'm so glad you hate her too!" Ino cheers, throwing her arms around my neck, "I knew we were destined to be best friends!"
"To be honest it's hard not to hate her, I mean the girls hair is raging pink,"
"I know but it's been that color her entire life, it's so icky, like a wad of gum is stuck her head."
"Exactly, and her personality makes it seem like she is better than everyone else, not a very attractive trait."
"No it makes her uglier."
"Well now you only have to show me two people, that's cool."
"Yeah, I had my last class with him, he is so hot." She sighs, looking up with hearts in her eyes.
"Alright everyone settle down, my name is Asuma and I will be your Algebra 2 teacher for this semester. I see a few familiar faces from my Geometry class, that's good it means you all passed. But we also have a new student joining us, her name is Natsuyo Mayumi, just wave your hand, you don't have to stand up." I wave it, a small smile on my face, "Excellent, now I'm going to pass out an assignment just so I can review where you are, it isn't worth any grade so take your time."
I finish the paper in record time, I hate Algebra but it's only because I'm good at it, and it's stupid. I find that doing something tedious like Algebra is stupid, the answer is easily found, it's simple, so I hate doing it. Ino is still working on her paper, she's going at a steady pace like Asuma-sensei requested. I look around the room, Sakura is already finished with her paper and is looking rather smug, a snooty bitch with a mind, wonderful. In the back of the room the black haired male is finished, and resting his head on his outstretched palm, eyes closed. The shark like boy next to him is writing feverishly fast, then he stops and starts to scratch his head in confusion. The black haired boy whispers something to him and the shark smiles at him, and whispers a silent thank you. The raven just nods, but never once does he open his eyes. The shark gazes at the raven a little longer before turning back to his paper. It's cute really; I can tell that the shark has a crush on the raven haired boy. I turn and see Ino is done; she gives me a smile and slides a folded piece of paper towards me. I open it and read what is written on the paper:
You finished fast, are you good at math or did you half ass it?
I write back: I am good at it, but I hate it.
Yeah me to, Asuma is a great teacher so it's ok.
Cool, he have you had him before?
Yup, he was my Geometry teacher.
The class went pretty fast after that, with me and Ino passing notes back and forth half paying attention to Asuma-sensei's lesson. I walked with Ino to her next class which was English 10 then I went to the only place I could think of, the roof. The sun is shining brightly, and the sky is such a deep blue, back home it was always a lighter shade, with more clouds spreading out across the sky. I miss it, I tug lightly at my scarf, I wonder what the others are doing, they start school tomorrow. I bet they are down by the water, talking about how to make the preps miserable and hack the nerd's computers. I skip over to a bench in the corner of the chain link and sit down on it, crossing one of my legs over the other. Then I notice something I didn't before, a boy is lying down in the corner, sleeping. I freeze, examining him from afar. His hair is flaming orange, and from what I can see he has piercings traveling up his ears, in his chin, and one in his eyebrow. He is wearing a black sweatshirt and a pair of dark blue jeans, his shoes are black with red clouds on the side. Damn, he is a part of this gang too, that makes about seven members if I remember correctly. He turns over in his sleep, facing me fully now, I hope he doesn't wake up. I pull my bag closer to my side, feeling the knife in the pocket, I feel a little safer now. The door to the roof swings open and a boy in a bright blue shirt runs onto it, screaming at the top of his lungs. His hair is spiky black and his face is covered by a swirly orange mask. His pants are splattered with multiple colors, mostly from sharpies I would assume. On his wrist is a black bandana with a red cloud on it, member number eight. Behind him appears an extremely tall boy with a strange skin color, half of him is white as paper, the other half as black as ink. His hair is spiky green and his eyes a bright yellow. His shirt is navy blue and covered by a black sweat shirt, and his jeans are black denim. On his right shoulder is that red cloud again, the ninth member.
"Pein Tobi and Zetsu were sent to wake you up for Biology because Tobi is a good boy!" The boy shouts, running around the man, he stops when he notices me though, and comes running in front of me. My hands clench tightly around the knife, please don't make me pull this out.
"Who are you lady, you are really pretty, I like you, will you be Tobi's friend?" Tobi asks, not even taking a breath.
"I am Mayumi, it's nice to meet you." I say, relaxing a little.
"What are you doing up here? –Get the fuck out of here!- she has every right to be here as we do, -shut the fuck up!-" Zetsu asks, his voice changing timbre.
"Who are you?" a voice different from Zetsu and Tobi's asks. I look over to see that the orange haired boy, Pein, is up off the ground and looking at me with deep gray eyes.
"I am Mayumi, who may I ask are you?" I say, trying to not show fear, that's what they always look for.
"Nagato, but everyone calls me Pein, your new here." He says more than asks.
"Yes, I just blew into town a few days ago, not that it's any of your business." I snap, feeling my old blood begin to churn.
"You have spunk I'll give you that, you're also the one who bumped into Sasori earlier today correct?"
"You would be correct torch head," his eyes twitch a little, bringing a smirk to my lips.
"You keep this up and we'll have to make you a member."
"So you are a gang, I figured as much, but do you know about them I wonder." Thinking back onto the little music notes on the teachers back.
The bell rings and I rise to my feet, throwing my bag over my shoulder. I walk between Zetsu and Pein, heading for the stairwell. I can feel their eyes on me, wondering about me, I must say I like it.
"Bye pretty lady!" Tobi shouts, I wave but never turn, heading down the stairs, towards Ino's classroom.
"No fucking way, shut up!" Ino squeals, "I can't believe you looked at Pein without even fear, you are so cool!"
"I never said I wasn't afraid, I just didn't show it." I mumble, picking through my bento, "Now show me the boy!"
"Ok see the red head next to Sasori with the love tattoo on his head, that's Gaara." I look in that direction and see him, a boy with thick rings of kohl around his eyes and a very dark appearance. He is dressed in dark black jeans and a black t-shirt with white and red stripped sleeves covering his arms. Around his leg is a black bandana with the red clouds on it.
"He is pretty cute, very dark, he kind of reminds me of a panda." I say, taking a bite of chicken, member number ten, I wonder how many more of them there are.
"Oh hey Ino, may I sit here?" a girl with long black hair and shining blue eyes asks.
"Oh sure Haku, oh this is Mayumi, and this is Haku." Ino introduces.
"Nice to meet you," I say, admiring her thin figure in her black shirt and pretty blue jeans.
"It's nice to meet you too Mayumi, oh and before I forget I am a boy." Haku says, smiling gently.
"Oh alright, sorry I thought you were a girl for a second, thank you for correcting me."
"No problem, it happens all of the time, I look very girlish, I get it from my mother."
"Well its suits you very well, I have a friend who is very girly for a boy, we were very close before I had to move."
"So what are we talking about?" Haku asks, opening a bag of chips.
"My burning love for the boy with the love tattoo," Ino sighs, falling dramatically onto the table, "Why does he have to be so wonderfully indifferent."
"Jeez Ino, you are in a dramatic mood today," Haku giggles, holding his hand up in front of his mouth, "Oh the scorpion is looking at us, well glaring actually."
"He's glaring at me, I bumped into him this morning and now he, what the fuck is that Konan?" I ask, looking at the blue haired girl. She is sitting next to Pein, no leaning against Pein.
"Yeah she does that, She's Pein's girlfriend." Ino says.
"But in my Biology class, she doesn't have a red cloud on her clothing anywhere." I mumble out loud.
"Red cloud, well that is the Akatsuki's symbol." Ino says, sitting up.
"Well there name isn't as bad as I thought it would be."
"Have you heard better?" Haku asks, "You act like you know so much about gangs, were you perhaps involved in one?"
"Wow, you are very perceptive, I was a part of one when I lived in Kusogakure. My sister was the founder, I was going to be the leader this year but we moved. So I know a lot about gangs, but I think this school has something I've never seen before."
"Whoa you were in a gang that is so cool!" Ino squeals quietly, "maybe we should form a gang, ooh what would our name be!"
"Ino calm yourself, I don't think I want to form a gang, especially with them slinking around with a teacher." I grumble, looking over at the group with the music notes on their back.
"What do you mean; the Akatsuki is the only gang I know about." Ino mumbles.
"Then they must not be out yet, there over in the corner there, they all have music notes on their back. It's hard to see but it's there."
"Oh them," Haku whispers, looking down at his lap.
"Do you know something about them Haku?" Ino asks, leaning forward.
"Yeah, they aren't out yet, but they are working under the grid. They got Zabuza suspended last year, and he isn't allowed back in this year until Wednesday." Haku mumbles, "He's my boyfriend, I'll introduce you to him when he comes in Mayumi."
"Cool, so do you know if they have a name?"
"They're called the Sound, but they usually just call themselves Oto, they are the smart kids who no one would suspect of Gang activity, that's what makes them so dangerous."
"No what makes them dangerous is they have a fucking teacher on their side." I growl.
"No way, are you serious, who?" Ino asks.
"The biology teacher, Orochimaru. When I was on the roof and I hinted at it Pein seemed to have no idea what I was talking about. So these guys really want their entrance to be big."
"No way Orochimaru is the scariest teacher in the school, he is actually the reason I started hanging out with Zabuza. He had me stay afterschool one day and he tried to touch me, I screamed and Zabuza who was staying after in the classroom next door came in and saved me. If he hadn't been there I don't know what could have happened." Haku whispers, grabbing onto his shoulders.
I put my hand on his shoulder, "Well then how about this if you ever have to stay after and your boy isn't there Ino and I will protect you. I don't want to start another gang but if I have to I will."
"Or if you get an invitation to join Akatsuki you can get us one too!" Ino says, "I am sick of everyone thinking I am just a pretty face. I am intelligent and angry and in love with a psychotic man who is rumored to have killed people, I think I can handle being in a gang."
"Why don't you tell us about your gang Mayumi-chan, what was it like." Haku asks, "You speak so highly of it, tell us please."
A smile slides onto my face and I can't help but think of all the good times I had with my gang, my family, "Well my gang was called, The Purple Vendetta's."