Disclaimer: We do not own Naruto, if that wasn't already obvious.
Konoha High: Prologue
I admired the scenic view from the balcony of my new room, taking in the sun rising from the azure sea along with a breath full of salty ocean air. A seagull perched itself on the splintered railing it's hollow eyes begging me for something to eat.
"Shoo!" I alleged swatting at it with my arm. It flew away promptly, cawing what I took as a goodbye. Unfortunately, I didn't speak seagull so accepting the fact that I would never really know what the bird said, I stepped back into my room.
It was a small space with just enough room for my bed, and dresser, but not nearly enough room for the cardboard moving boxes scattered all over the floor. I tiptoed around them, careful not to step on anything that might be fragile and headed down the staircase.
"Good morning." My mother said in her usual sing song voice, she was standing in front of the stove minding the fried egg cooking in the pan.
"Good morning." I responded, taking a seat at the small round table in our kitchen. "Where is everyone?"
"Adam went to open up the Surf Shack, Julia's still sleeping and who knows where Jason is." She said.
She put a plate of toast and a fried egg in front of me. "Eat up; you don't want to be late."
I nodded in agreement, my mouth already to full to talk. I could hear someone ascending the staircase and from the loud thump of someone jumping a few steps I knew it could be none other than Jason
"Good morning everyone, Maria may I also have some breakfast?"
"Of course you may Jason, anything for my newly acquired son." My mother joked, getting back up and busying herself at the stove once more.
My step brother, as of two weeks ago, was dressed in a loose fitting navy blue plaid shirt, medium wash destroyed jeans and black skate shoes with white laces. His short brown hair was nicely spiked far from his usual bed head, to show off his newest piercing, a small silver hoop on his right helix.
"Well someone looks dapper this morning. What's the occasion?" I teased.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." He said, trying hard to conceal his annoyance.
"Mom, don't you think Jason looks dapper?"
"Shut-up you little-!" he snapped.
"Alright, stop it you two!" My mother intervened, placing a plate full of breakfast in front of Jason. "Don't listen to her; I think you look very rad."
I snickered behind my long locks of brown hair.
Jason dropped his head in exasperation. "Thanks for trying Maria, but… but don't ever use that word in a sentence again."
My mother shrugged. "Alright well, I'm going to go check on Julia now. You two should get going."
"Okay, bye mom." I said, slinging my grey messenger bag over my shoulder and grabbing my red Vans from off the tiled floor. Jason followed in suit.
"So are you excited for you first day at Konoha High?" Jason asked me, kicking up sand with his black skate shoes.
"Yeah, kind of, I guess." I replied avoiding his gaze.
"This is awkward, isn't it?"
I shook my head in agreement, "Little bit…"
He looked at me with apologetic eyes. Living together, going to the same school, these were the first steps we were taking as step siblings.
"But… I'm sure we'll get used to it eventually." I assured him, walking next to him now rather than ahead.
"Yeah, I'm sure we will." He laughed, lightly punching me in the arm. "Little sis."
The high school wasn't too far from the Sugiura beach house; if we were fast it was only about ten minutes. There were short cuts too, but Jason told me that they were very tricky and it wasn't really worth it if they weren't necessary. Anyways it was more fun if you went through the streets, that way you would be able to take a glimpse at the ocean as well.
"Is that the school?" I asked Jason, pointing to a large campus up ahead.
"You bet Lena. Are you ready?"
"Bring it." I replied with confidence.
A new house, a new family, and now a new school, this is going to be one heck of a year.
Darkness. Pure, saturated black surrounded me as I curled up into a tight ball beneath my blankets. Not a single speck of light could be found in my room. And it was perfect. My eyes fluttered open, my internal clock telling me to get up, but my room told me otherwise. I yawned loudly, grabbing off the edge of my king sized bed for my remote. I clicked a small blue button, as I shoved the covers off of my body, shivering as I left the warmth. The sun began to light up my room as the blinds on my windows began to roll up. The ocean was just coming into view when my brother knocked on my door.
"Andi? You up?" The door clicked as he opened it, poking his head inside. His dark brown hair was already styled into its standard Brit rock look; short on the sides, with his fringe coming down to just touch his eyebrows.
"Yea, I just woke up." I yawned at him, stretching my arms above my head. "Do I have to go to school today, Christian?"
He leaned against the wall and shook his head. "This is why I told you not to sign on for that shoot in Milan! I knew you were going to be too tired to go to school today." He scratched his head and looked at his watch. "Ok, I'll give you 15 more minutes to sleep, but you have to go today." He turned around to leave, but stopped himself.
"I'll make you French toast, so make sure you get up!"
I threw a pillow in his general direction as he slipped back through the door, closing it loudly behind him. Falling back on my bed, I watched the sun rising above the horizon. I was too awake to go back to sleep now. I slid my pale legs over the edge of my bed, my feet clad in thick pink socks. I stood up and touched my toes, my joints and back cracking as I stretched.
"Today is going to be one heck of a long day." I said quietly to myself as I walked towards my bathroom. After a quick shower, I walked into my closet, and prepared my outfit for the day: a white lace button up with a pink crop-top, and high-waisted denim shorts. I pulled out a few long silver chains; one adorned with a bejeweled cross, and strung them around my neck. As I walked back out of the closet, I grabbed a pair of white floral print Doc Martens.
My hair hung down to the small of my back, brown that faded to a light blonde at the ends. It was already beginning to dry and form loose waves as I applied my makeup. My dressing table was littered with candy wrappers, makeup, release forms, and pages torn from magazines, many of which had my face staring back at me.
I quickly threw the covers back on my bed, haphazardly tossing the pillows back into place, and grabbed my iPad from my bedside table. I grabbed my bag, which was made of black studded leather, and threw it inside, along with my phone, keys, and wallet. I grabbed a pen from my drawer, and a little notebook I always carried with me for writing down names and contact numbers. Lastly I grabbed my sunglasses, and headed downstairs to the kitchen.
My house was almost entirely stark white, and it was radiant in the morning sunlight. Almost every inch of wall was taken up by a window. I descended the staircase from the second floor, and the scent of maple syrup hit my nose. I followed it to the kitchen, where Christian had his back to me, humming along to some tune on the radio as he made breakfast. He saw me and smiled.
"Morning munchkin!" he chirped as he laid four pieces of French toast out onto a plate, with some bacon on the side.
"I'm 5'8". I'm not a munchkin, Christian." I stated, as he slid the plate towards me. I took a seat at our island, and began to dig in. The sweet taste of syrup filled my mouth, and I motioned for Christian to grab me a drink. He nodded, pulling a mug out of the cupboard and filling it with rich, dark coffee. I took it from him and took a large gulp, relishing in the bitterness of it.
"Blech. I will never understand where you got your love of black coffee from." Christian said, shuddering. The clock on the wall told me it was 8 o'clock, meaning I still had ample time to get to school. I cleaned my plate, grabbing the last piece of bacon and shoving it whole into my mouth. Christian frowned at me as I stuck my dishes into the dishwasher, and grabbed my coffee from the island.
"You know, sometimes I think you could stand to take an etiquette class." I shrugged as I took another gulp from my mug.
"I probably could, but I'm polite enough when it counts!" I turned and went back towards the staircase. "Thanks for breakfast!"
"I want to leave around 8:30 if we're going to be picking up Alex!" he called after me.
I skipped up the stairs, significantly happier now that I had been fed and given my necessary dosage of caffeine, and returned to my room. I grabbed my remote off the bed and clicked another button, triggering my iPod dock to start blasting The Black Keys. I turned it down a few notches, and then sat down on my couch. I began lacing up my boots, when I heard my phone going off in my bag. I reached in, grabbed the sleek mobile, and slide a finger across the touch screen, answering the call.
"Hello, Andi Taylor speaking." I recited into the phone. I could hear someone chuckling on the other side. "Hello?"
"Andi, this isn't your work phone." I heard a smooth voice tell me from the ear piece of the phone. I grinned and smacked my forehead.
"Oh my god, I am so dumb some times." I shook my head, "How are you Alex? I haven't talked to you in weeks!"
"I'm good, more or less the same as usual. How was Milan?"
"It was great! They want to sign me again in the spring when they start shooting for the Autumn/Winter season again." I grinned to myself.
"That's great! But it must suck to be back home now after being in Italy for three weeks"
I laid on my couch, twirling a piece of my hair around my finger. "Yea, I miss the food mostly. But I had to come back for school. Speaking of which, I'm going to be picking you up soon. You ready to go?"
"Yup! I'll see you in ten?"
"Yea, see you soon!" I ended the call, slipping my phone back into my bag. I finished lacing up my other boot, and ran back down to the main floor. Christian was waiting for me in the foyer, keys in hand.
"You ready to go?" he asked, playing with his keys. I checked myself in the mirror one last time before we went. I dug my sunglasses out of my bag and put them on my head.
"All set!" I followed Christian out the door, locking it behind me. It was a warm and sunny out, with just the slightest chill left over from the early morning hours. I passed by our more expensive sports cars and hopped into the passenger seat of our new Range Rover. Christian got in and started the car, and began pulling out of our driveway. I pulled my phone out of my bag once again, and plugged it into the A/V cable that was hanging out of the dash. Bloc Party started blaring out of the stereo, as we merged onto the highway. I watched intently as the ocean rolled by my window, gazing at the large houses that adorned the beach front.
After a few minutes, our car pulled into a smaller gated community. Alex's house was a modest villa, and I could see him waiting on the front porch. His brown-blonde hair was short on the sides, and the longest parts were styled upwards. He wore a navy blue jacket with a gold 'K' on the front; his letterman jacket. He smiled at me as we pulled into his driveway, and he began walking towards our car. He opened up the door, and slid into the seat behind Christian's.
"Hey Andi, Christian." He said, as he threw his bag onto the seat next to him. I turned around and smiled at him, before turning back to change the song to an upbeat Mumford & Sons song. "So, you stoked for sophomore year Andi?"
I laughed. "Oh, I am absolutely ecstatic." The sarcasm was dripping from my words, as I peered at him over my sunglasses. "I just can't wait to deal with all the drama again. Really. Cannot wait."
"Yea, like who gets the lead in this years play?" I rolled my eyes as I was reminded of last years fight between Ino and Sakura . It was sure to be another good fight this year. I could see the school coming into view through some trees, and began to make the necessary preparations. I opened the visor mirror, quickly checking my makeup on last time. Christian pulled into the drop-off zone, and I could see plenty of familiar faces milling around the courtyard.
"Ready?" I sighed, turning to look at Alex in the back seat. He smirked at me, and slid his sunglasses over his eyes again.
"As I'll ever be."