I don't own Naruto or any of its characters, so let's get on with it.

Normal POV

"Ne Sasuke-teme, I got an A- on the exam. Suck on that!" A blonde boy exclaimed loudly into his best friend's ear.

"Naruto! Don't scream in Sasuke-kun's ear!" A girl exclaimed, smashing her fist into Naruto's head.

"Itai Sakura-chan! Why?" The blonde whined, rubbing his sore head.

"You shouldn't brag about something like that, it's insensitive to other people, and besides, Sasuke-kun probably did better than the rest of us save Shikamaru." Sakura crossed her arms over her chest, looking pointedly at Naruto who had fixed his face into a miserable pout.

"Pssh, Sasuke's not that great. He probably did the worst out of all of us." The blonde muttered. The dark teen sighed, not even bothering to acknowledge his loudmouth friend. Suddenly, he felt a weight on his back.

"Ne, don't be so mysterious, Sasuke-kun!" The other blonde of their group, Ino, had jumped onto his back.

"Yeah, just tell us so these two will shut up." Said the spiky-haired Shikamaru before letting loose a jaw-breaking yawn.

"Fine, I got a perfect score." He growled.

Sakura gave Naruto a smug look as the blonde scowled, muttering a bitter 'whatever' under his breath.

"Can we go eat now? Lecture was especially troublesome today." Shikamaru groaned. The husky Chouji agreed, his mouth already stuffed with a handful of chips.

Hinata's head snapped to the door of her classroom. A blonde head poked through, scanning the room before his gaze e to rest on her stiff form in the back of the class.

"Damn, I thought for sure this place would be empty, un. All you losers usually go to the cafeteria don't you?"

Hinata remained silent, still shocked at the boy's sudden presence.

There was an awkward pause before the blonde spoke again.

"You look like shit, un."

Hinata, jumped slightly and began rubbing furiously at her face.

"G-gomen if I-I-I made you un-uncomfortable." She looked down at her hands folded in her lap, blushing furiously.

"It's cool, un. You in this class, or are you just hiding out in here, un?" the blonde sat down in the chair in front of her, resting his head on top of his arms as they rested on the back of the chair. Hinata's blush intensified as his face was dangerously close to hers.

"I-I-I-I…."

"C'mon! Spit it out, un!" The blonde scowled.

"Hai!" She squeaked.

"Then why are you crying, un?" The blonde glared. "If you're in this class, you're on the sparkly road to college In North Konoha, un."

"I-I wouldn't s-s-say that, S-Stranger-san. In fact, I…I am f-f-failing this c-c-class. At the r-rate I'm g-g-going, I'll be d-dropped f-f-f-from the pr-program." A few more tears fell from pearly eyes.

The blonde threw his head back and laughed.

"Maybe you're not so bad, un!" He smiled at her, causing her blush.

'S-so handsome!' she thought to herself.

"What's your name anyway?" The blonde leaned closer.

"H-H-Hyuuga H-H-Hinata." She squeaked.

"I'm Deidara, un! I'm a third year, so you should call me Deidara-sempai!"

"H-hai, Deidara-sempai!" She said a little louder than she'd meant to. !" The blonde wore a shit eating grin, Hinata supposed it was because no one had bothered to address him as such.

"Good girl, Hinata-chan! As my Kohai, I am going to take you under my wing. You've probably been in this program since your first year, and as such, have most likely forgotten just what kind of place this shit place is. And seeing as you're so cute, I have no doubt that everyone else will take advantage of you, un! Say thank you, Deidara-senpai!" The blonde continued to smile.

"B-but—" The girl stuttered. She didn't want to give up. She was sure she could make a comeback, couldn't she?

"You said you're failing, right? I'm just trying to help you, un! It's not like I'm going to stop you from attending classes…well… at least not all the time, un. But that'll happen later, un. You know I'm right,un. You're a failure just like the rest of us, un." Deidara's bright blue eyes stabbed into Hinata's soul like poison tipped arrows. Hinata's eyes widened, more tears coming to the surface. And the fell harshly down her cheeks at Deidara's next words.

"You might as well learn how to survive here. After all, you're gonna be stuck here with the rest of us anyway."

Chapter Two: Golden Strands Obstruct Her Gaze

AN: Thanks for reading! Remember to review!