The teens smacked into each other at high speeds causing them both to topple to the floor. Groans of pain filled the air around them, as they tried to get up.
The boy with sunshine hair looked at the girl he had crushed. She was rubbing her derriere a few feet away from him and muttering things. She was wearing the same school uniform as he and she was a mess. She had a twig in her hair and the uniform was wrinkled. It may have been neater before they fell, but he couldn't tell. She looked disappointed for a second. She was looking at her watch with an exasperated look on her porcelain face.
The girl stood up quickly and grabbed the black book bag that had landed a few inches from the boy himself. She then turned to face the boy once her bag was on and the bland uniform was fixed. The girl stretched out her hand to help him up and he gladly took it.
"Hi. My name is Naruto. What's yours?" He smiled as brightly as he could.
"I'm Hinata. Nice to meet you and everything Naruto, but I'm really late…" She trailed off as she glanced at her watch.
"It was nice to meet you to. I'm sorry I bumped into you; I am in a rush too. My school starts at 7:45 and its 7:39. I really have to go." He replied quickly - already fixing his uniform and schoolbag.
"Are you going to Konoha Leaf Academy? If you are I'm heading there too." Hinata studied him while walking.
"Yup, that's my school. And we are going to be late, on my first day too." He checks his watch again; "I'll race you there because we have 4 minutes to run four blocks." He gestures to the street.
"Okay." The dark haired girl raised three fingers. "Three…Two…One…"
"Go!" They both screeched, and they raced down the sidewalk.
They were neck and neck and soon had run a whole block. Then Hinata was in the lead, for Naruto had almost gotten hit by a car while crossing the street and had gotten scolded. Then Naruto was in the lead with Hinata closing in behind him. They had run 3 whole blocks in three minutes. Maybe they would make it. The school was coming up in front of them. They would probably make it. They had one minute to get to the auditorium for the first assembly of the year.
Though as they drew nearer they realized the closer they became the more it seemed like the doors were closing.
"Please, oh please don't let the doors be closed. Not on my first day… I can be late any other day, just not today." Naruto pleaded with his eyes closed.
They made it to the school, but the doors were closed and based on the clock's time it was 7:46-and it was too late.
"Well there is nothing we can do. So… wanna skip?" The sunny male was baffled at the words that came out of this young women's mouth. He expected that he would suggest something like that-not her.
"What?" He gaped, blue eyes bulging and white teeth barely seen behind pink lips.
"Since we are late and probably will be chewed out by the headmaster if we show up now, do you wanna skip? You know, not go to school… You don't look like a troublemaker but to not know what skipping is… That is just pathetic." Hinata shook her head back and forth repeatedly and made a 'tsking' noise with her mouth.
"I know what skipping is, I did plenty at my old school. Though, I am surprised-to say the least- that you know what it is. By the way, I'm probably the biggest troublemaker you will ever meet."
"Whatever. So where do you want to go? If we wait here any longer we are going to get caught. I don't fancy getting detention on the first day of my sophomore year. We need to go somewhere that conceals no parents or adults whatsoever." The dark haired beauty poised her chin between two fingers as the teens walked away from the non-prestigious academy.
"How about we go to my house? My parents are gone, I have a sibling at school and it's only 1 mile from here." Most girls would have not thought twice about being in a home with a cute boy, though Hinata wasn't most girls.
"I don't know…" She covered her fear with a quick excuse," I don't feel like walking. How about we go to the park? It's only 8 blocks away," She smiled cheerfully to mask the unease she felt.
"Sure!" Naruto took no offense in her not wanting to go to his house.
"My ma leaves for work around 9:15 so we'll just have to hide for about an hour and 15 minutes seeing as it's almost eight o' clock. Then since the school day is just an assembly and orientation my other friends should get out at about eleven…" The female with the lavender eyes trailed off as she figured the rest out in her head.
"Can I meet your other friends?" His voice was low and his tone was shy. Hinata barely noticed the hint of fear (maybe it was despair) in his very being.
"I don't see why you can't! I think they will probably have a rough time accepting your goody two shoes nature, but you'll eventually fit in." Said goody two shoes was about to retort when the girl adjacent to him starts to skip down the sidewalk.
"Whatever. So did you get your schedule for school yet? I'm in class 2-B." He recalled from the violet card he shoved in his back pack earlier that morning.
"Oh, I think I'm in the same class as you… If we are we have Anko as a homeroom teacher-scary thought." The girl with the lavender eyes shivered slightly, only to straighten herself again and continue walking. There was no rush to get to the park, yet the two set a fast pace meant for speed walking, instead of a leisure one for strolls.
They maintained the rest of the walk in absolute silence not even their footsteps against the pavement dared to break the quiet. The park was closing in on them and neither had the heart to announce their arrival. Long after they entered the air was light and mute.
Hinata chose the swing set as her victim of fun. Naruto had chosen to attempt at climbing a tree (a mere 15 footer). The park was empty, no children to be cautious of, adults to call the police on them, nor cops to take them to school. The park was still and docile- you could hear a pin drop. The only stir was Hinata's proclaimed swing advancing back and forth and Naruto's upward movement.
"Hinata, watch this!" Naruto screamed from the top of the tree. Though he seemed confident on the outside he was shaking in fear. He waited for Hinata's eyes to be on him and nothing else.
He climbed down a little to end up perched on one of the tree's lower branches. He was sitting on the largest branch in the tree and it supported his weight perfectly.
"You called me just to watch you sit in a tree?" She inquired from her halted swing, her head tilted slightly to the side.
"No! Just watch!" It seemed like his whiny voice carried over to the next town. With that he swung his torso back over the edge and swung from the tree by his legs.
"Naruto! You idiot! Get down before you fall." Her eyes were filled with concern for her new-found friend and she was now standing.
"I won't fall mother." He starts to laugh maniacally while rubbing the nape of his neck. Naruto realized too late that he was slowly edging off the branch. After that all you could hear was a muffled thump of a body hitting ground and a pained 'oof'.
"I told you." Hinata practically sang in her angelic voice. Naruto swatted her comment away, because to him he didn't almost just break his neck. If you lived to see another day, why regret the mistakes you've made, right?
"What time is it? I'm hungry." Back to his normal self, Naruto whined as if Hinata was life's solution to every problem. Which she wasn't.
"It's about 8:45. We've only been here for about half an hour, considering we took about 15 minutes to get here. Wanna leave and pray my mom has left by the time we get there?" There was no need to reply, for both teens had already started walking to the entrance gate of the park.
Said teens broke off into comfortable small talk. The conversation was mostly curious prods at each others' lives. Some of the questions received verbal answers, others…not so much. Personal questions like, 'do you have a boyfriend' and just random ones like, 'do you like writing' slipped from their loose lips. The questions of the intimate kind were saved for a rainy day when they knew each other better and the ones of the aimless category were answered with no hesitation.
Eventually their curiosity was sated and they resulted to doing whatever they felt like. The blond decided to play with a loose thread on his black jacket, while Hinata texted EVERY SINGLE ONE of her friends (though there weren't that many) to inform them on the tiny get-together after school. Naruto was tugging on the string trying to get it to release itself from his jacket. Hinata's friends were all puzzled on the request, but they agreed none-the-less.
But Sakura had to keep a conversation about her absence.
Hyuga Heir: Come to my place afterschool.
Cherry Chick: Why?
Hyuga Heir: I'm having a party. Think my mom will understand?
Cherry Chick: Sure, she will. But not when she finds out you skipped.
Hyuga Heir: I was hoping no one would notice.
Cherry Chick: Oh, everyone noticed. So why are you absent?
Hyuga Heir: I was late… and with a boy.
Cherry Chick: Man, just got caught. I squealed and Jiraiya saw my cell. See you later! And you have to spill all the juicy details.
Hinata laughed at her friend's antics and turned to the Uzumaki boy next to her. He was staring at her waiting to know what was so hilarious.
"Is there something you need Naruto?" Hinata asked innocently, yet a smirk was plastered on her face.
"No." He rotated away from me…unfortunately.
"Why are you staring at me then? Hmm? Do you have a crush on me already?" Hinata teased, and then burst out into a fit of giggles and laughs.
"I barely know you. How could I have a crush on you?"
"I don't know. Maybe it's love at first sight." She paused in her giggling to look at him seriously for a second.
Naruto snorted and narrowed his eyes at the sidewalk beneath his feet. "Love?"He snorts again, "Love is for suckers, little missy. Don't get your hopes and dreams caught up in it." Those sentences were laced with venom and at that moment the conversation ended. How Naruto went from curious to dangerous in a flash was beyond imaginable.
Naruto eventually calmed down, but the talking was never restored. The silence dragged on for Hinata was deep in thought and Naruto had lost his jovial mood. They trudged on in utter silence, Hinata's house coming closer and closer in distance, yet still so far away. The fifteen minute walk felt like it lasted fifteen days… and both of them couldn't do anything but walk on. Though the journey was long, the two ended up in front of the house about 5 minutes early.
If Hinata's mother was there, they didn't see her or her car. Her sister was at school and her father usually vanished from the house at around eight thirty. The house was clear of people and all sense of anyone living there. Despite the fact that four people currently resided there (and that the eldest child had 14 teenage friends who caused a ruckus) the house was spotless.
"Nice house, Hinata." Naruto commented with a sheepish smile plastered on his face. Hinata know noticed the scars spreading over her cheeks and she resisted the urge to trace them and demand where he got them. Naruto just ignored her gaze at the scars and continued, "What do we do now?"
"We could play video games or watch a movie?" Hinata suggests opening a cupboard in the TV stand that was filled with just movies. Then she moved to another polished wooden cabinet and opened it to reveal heaven for all video gamers.
"Oh, this is going to be so fun. Especially since I'm going to kick your butt at Halo." Naruto smirked racing to the games and immediately picking out the Halo one as if he knew where it had been his entire life.
"Whatever you say, Naruto. Whatever you say." With that the two set up the game programs.
Now we shall let the games begin.
