Hello again everyone! I'm back again with another update. While the first chapter kind of divvied from the original version of this, that was mostly just to set the backstory. The rest of this fic will follow the general plan of the original. However there will be some changes to accommodate the new backstory.

Please, please, please tell me what you think! Should I continue this? Are you guys interested in more? Likes? Dislikes?

Enjoy~


Day Zero

New Friends and Awkward Situations

The bell that announced the third year's lunch period had rang five minutes ago.

I stood there in front of my locker, awkwardly shifting from foot to foot as I stared out at the sea of high schoolers flocking the hallway. I pushed myself onto the balls of my feet and the top of my 5'2" head barely poked over the top of the shortest person in the hall. My eyes scanned each face, hoping that I would spot a familiar one. Ino and Sakura had promised to meet me at my locker in order to "escort" me to lunch, but they had yet to show up.

I sighed and dropped back down to my normal height. The two girls had probably gotten caught up gossiping in the hallways. They'd had the same class last period, so it didn't really surprise me. Though I didn't want to attempt to find the lunchroom by myself for various reasons: the biggest being that I had no idea how to get there. I also didn't want to be subjected to all the stares I would surely get trying to hunt down Ino and Sakura in the cafeteria. I'd already put my books in my locker and had nothing to do but wait. The crowds were starting to thin out as everyone booked it into the lunchroom. Just then, my cell phone buzzed in the back pocket of my pants. I blinked and slid the phone into my hands, a message lighting up the front glass.

Sakura Blossom: Hey please don't hate us, but Ino and I are being held prisoner right now in the front office. The principle is trying to convince us both to join the student council. Ugh. So just grab a seat in the cafeteria without us. We'll meet you there!

I stared down at the text message, re-reading it as if by will alone I could change what it said. It didn't. Change, that is. I sighed and watched as a lone straggler jogged his way down the hallway and around the corner towards the stairs. I slid my cell phone back in my pocket, not even bothering to text back, and turned to follow. Maybe if I was quick enough I could tail the kid until he lead me to the cafeteria. I quickened my pace and hit the corner of the stairs just in time to see the bottom of the boy's shoes disappear upstairs.

I climbed the steps as fast as I could in the shoes I was wearing. Damn Ino and her impracticality! It was two flights of stairs, with the first one ending in front of a big wall of floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooked the running track in the back of the school. I turned to follow the rest of the stairs up, but when I got to the top, the boy was nowhere in sight.

"Oh you've got to be kidding me." I mumbled as I stared at the three hallways branching off in different directions.

Flimsy motivational posters clung to the walls above rows of lockers, some with the edges peeling as they tried to cling for life. The school itself was really an architectural beauty. All of the classroom doors were made out of dark pinewood with handmade carvings made by some of the art students. The high ceilings arched above me were made entirely out of glass, filtering in the bright sunlight from outside. Whereas most schools looked like a prison, this one reminded me of some of the private colleges in Kusagakure. I shouldn't have been all that surprised though, seeing as how Sakura said that most of the community made charitable "donations" towards the upkeep of the school. Though I assumed that the only reason the school was funded so much by the parents was so that they could assure a quality education for their kids.

I pursed my lips as I contemplated which pathway to take. Lunch was only fifty minutes long and I didn't want risk not getting to eat at all. Closing my eyes, I blindly picked the path to the left. If I just stood there and didn't choose at all then the chances of me being able to eat were pretty much non-existent.

"Hey Lyn-chan!"

The call of my name stopped me midstep, the shout echoing down the hallway. I blinked and turned around only to see one very excitable blond standing near the top of the staircase. The boy stood, waving his arms in the air as if trying to flag me down in the empty hallway. However, once he saw that he'd managed to get my attention over the hundreds of other invisible candidates, he lowered his flailing arms. I raised an eyebrow when I saw his silent and brooding companion. Standing a couple of inches shorter than the blond, Sasuke Uchiha stared boredly at me with his hands in his front pockets. How those two were best friends I had no idea. They were the complete opposite of each other from what I'd seen.

"Hey..," I trailed off as the blond made his way over to me, "Naruto, right?"

"Yup that's me! I'm surprised you remember." Naruto came to a stop in front of me, his grin mimicking the bright sunlight filtering in from outside.

"We did just meet this morning." I answered in a matter-of-factly and winced internally. Ino would have killed me if she knew I was being so, as she put it, unapproachable. But I was never really a people person and tended to put others off with how unsociable I was. It wasn't my fault really, I was just too shy to really carry a conversation.

"Heh, heh, right," Naruto sheepishly scratched the back of his head, "where 'ya going anyway?"

"Uh," I sweatdropped, "to the cafeteria?"

"Huh? The cafeteria's the other way, silly." He hooked a thumb over his shoulder and pointed to the hallway branching to the right of the staircase.

I could feel the embarrassed heat start to bloom on my cheeks. "I knew that. I was just taking a detour."

"That way's a dead end." A new voice entered the conversation and I looked over Naruto's shoulder. Sasuke Uchiha still stood in the same spot by the staircase, though now there was a smirk twitching at the corner of his pale pink lips.

Oh yeah, my cheeks were definitely on fire now and I and crossed my arms over my chest. Looking away from his dark onyx eyes, I mumbled, "I knew that too."

"If you were lost, all you had to do was say so!" Naruto threw a toned arm over my shoulders and turned me back down the hallway. I walked next to him reluctantly and refused to look at his friend as he fell in step with us. "By the way Lyn-chan, this is Sasuke. Sasuke, this is Lyn-chan."

"Hn." I let my eyes slide over to the raven haired male on the other side of Naruto to see that he wasn't even looking at me. My eye twitched.

"Come on, hurry up, I'm starving!" Naruto's arm around me shifted and he practically pushed me down the hallway in his haste.

"H-hey! Slow down!"

oxoxoxoxoxo

Have you ever been in a really awkward situation before? One that just made you want to sink into the floor and disappear? Yeah, think of that and multiply it by ten.

Walking to the cafeteria with Naruto and Sasuke was really awkward. Not in the way that the air seemed too thick to breathe, but more of the type of awkward where you were thrown into a room with people you didn't know. Naruto spit out words a mile a minute, barely even pausing to take a breath. I wasn't even sure of what he was talking about most of the time, but luckily he didn't stop gabbing in order to get my input. Sasuke on the other hand, was the complete opposite. He just stared straight ahead at a point in the distance that no one else could see and didn't say a word. He was probably immune to Naruto's rambling by now and actively chose to ignore him. I didn't even try to speak to him, not after his dismissive snub from earlier.

Naruto had yet to move his arm from around my shoulders and my nose twitched from whatever husky cologne he used. I hadn't shrugged him off because I didn't want to risk hurting his feelings after he had been so kind. WIthout him I more than likely would have still been wandering the halls like a lost spirit.

I almost sighed when what I assumed to be the cafeteria doors came into view. My stomach had been silently clenching with hunger and I couldn't wait to eat something. When we approached the glass double doors, Naruto finally dropped his arm from my shoulders so that he could whisk open one of the doors. He flashed me a grin as I followed Sasuke inside. The loud chatter of the lunchroom hit my eardrums as we entered; the type of sound that you only heard when hundreds of people were talking at one. I let my eyes rove around the tables of students. Their faces were familiar, but only because of all of the memorizing that Sakura had forced me to do the night before.

Naruto reappeared at my side and put a hand on the small of my back to gently push me towards the lunchline. "Let's get some food. I'm starving!"

I couldn't help but send him a small smile.

I tried to find the familiar faces of Sakura and Ino as the three of us made our way through the lunch line. I didn't see either of them and had to assume that they were probably still holed up in the principal's office. I followed both Sasuke and Naruto as they led the way to a circular table in the center of the room. My hands tightened on the plastic tray when I saw how completely crowded it was. As we got closer I was able to make out the faces spread around the wooden table.

Short brown hair and a leather jacket was the first thing that I saw. Two red fang like tattoos took up the space on both of his cheeks (it was apparently a well a known thing that everyone in his family got those tattoos.) He had sharp white teeth, a strong jaw, and dark eyes framed by long lashes. His loud, rough laugh pierced through the loud lunchroom chatter. He was well known for his hot headedness, but he also a complete dog lover.

Kiba Inuzuka

My eyes shifted over to the person sitting next to him. Dark bushy eyebrows, round eyes, and black hair cut into a bowl shaped style. He was wearing a tight forest green long-sleeved shirt and a pair of green cargo pants. His dark eyes were wide as he waved his arms around, apparently in the middle of telling a very energetic story. He was well known for being strangely polite and as energetic as Naruto.

Rock Lee

Next to Lee sat a male with the prettiest long dark hair that I had ever seen. It had been tied at the nape of his neck with a white ribbon and ended at the middle of his back. His had a beautiful, feminine face and a pair of pupiless lavender eyes. His whole aura exuded calm tranquility as he calmly ate his bento.

Neji Hyuuga

Before I could analyze anyone else, we had reached the table. Everyone looked up towards us as Naruto thrust me in front of him, unknowingly sending my anxiety though the roof.

"Everyone, this is Lyn-chan. And Lyn-chan, this is everyone else. She's a friend of Sakura's and she's gonna be sitting with us today, so be nice!"

I winced internally at Naruto's less than stellar introduction and send a nervous grin at all of the eyes watching me. The blond male left my side to go sit down next to a heavyset brunette boy: Choji Akimichi. Almost immediately they struck up a conversation, pulling the dark haired male, Shikamaru Nara, in front of them into the conversation.

I blinked nervously and watched as Sasuke brushed past me and took a seat beside Shino Aburame. He'd looked almost the exact same from his photograph in last year's yearbook. Shino didn't react to his new neighbor and just continued to slowly consume his meal.

Shifting from foot to foot, I glanced around the table for a place to sit. It seemed like everyone had turned their attention away from me for the time being, and I didn't know what to do with myself. I couldn't just squeeze myself anywhere I wanted because I didn't know them, not really, and I didn't want to make the situation any more awkward than it already was. I watched as Sasuke turned his head slightly and glanced at me out of the corner of his eye. Seeming to take pity on me for God only knew why, he tilted his head at the empty space on the bench next to him.

"Sit."

I paused, momentarily shocked that he'd decided to grace me with his voice, and moved to slide next to him on the bench. Placing my lunch tray down onto the table, I turned to Sasuke, who was still staring, and gave him a small smile.

"Thanks."

The way his gaze slid over me made me want to sink into the ground and disappear in embarrassment. His eyes roved over me, from the ribbon in my hair to the wedges on my feet. I was barely able to keep the blush at bay when he smirked and turned to his own lunch tray.

"Who else here thinks that the new sensei is creepy as hell?" I glanced up, forkful of food halfway to my face, to see who was talking. The girl directly across from me was currently staring down the table with warm brown eyes as she reached up and adjusted her twin space buns. Tenten.

"Which one?" The question came from Kiba as he raised a questioning brow.

"The only new one we have," Tenten answered, "Orochimaru-sensei. He teaches chemistry now."

"Wait, wait, wait." Naruto interrupted whatever Tenten was going to say next. I practically had to crane my neck around to see him on the other side of the person, Hinata Hyuuga, sitting next me. She had been so quiet that I hadn't even noticed her. "What happened to Kakashi-sensei?"

"The switched him around I think. He teaches math now."

"What about Orochimaru-sensei?" This time the question was from Shikamaru and he leaned forward to edge himself into the conversation. "I have him right after this."

"He's creepy. Gives me the heebeegeebees." Tenten shuddered and grimaced. "I don't know what it is, but something about that man just seems, I dunno, off."

"Troublesome" Shikamaru said sighed and hunched over to finish off his food, effectively pulling himself out of the conversation.

"Well, he can't be any weirder than Gai-sensei. And that guy is weird." Naruto piped back up, spit flying as he talked around a mouthful of noodles hanging out of his mouth. Kiba glared when some of it landed on him and I scrunched my nose up at how gross that was.

"What?" Lee looked absolutely insulted. "Gai-sensei is the best!"

"Yeah, you would say that." Kiba mumbled around a bite of his sandwich.

"Yes, I would! Because it is nothing but true! I have never had a teacher as amazing as him and his youthfulness is so inspiring!"

I had to squint in order to see Lee past the bright rose petal backdrop. Though the color seemed to go well with the hearts swirling in his eyes.

"Whatever you say man." Kiba shook his head as if he knew it would be pointless to argue. The conversation dropped after that and the group broke off into their own private conversations.

"W-what classes do you have, Lyn-san?"

The soft voice came from the left of me and I turned my head. Hinata Hyuuga's lavender eyes stared up at me shyly from underneath her eyelashes. Her soft dark blue hair hung gently down to the middle of her back and bangs framed her heart shaped face. Pale fingers nervously tangled together as she regarded me and I'd decided right there that I'd liked her the best.

She smiled as I showed her my class schedule and she told me sweetly that we shared the same math class on Monday. Hinata was very easy to converse with and no one interrupted our conversation, but that was most likely due to the fact that the two of us were so quiet.

The bell signalling the end of lunch rang soon after that and the lunchroom was filled with students dejectedly making their way back to their classes. Some of the group bid me polite goodbyes and while Naruto had offered to escort me to my next class, I had declined the offer. Not only did I not want to force him to go out of his way for me, but I also didn't want to be subjected to anymore awkward situations. So I'd parted with him and Sasuke in the hallway after saying goodbye, and journeyed to my next class.

I didn't see anyone from that group for the rest of the day, aside from Lee in my Japanese class. Hell, I didn't even see Sakura or Ino until after school. They had met me at my locker and Sakura apologized for missing lunch completely. Apparently the two of them had gotten out of their meeting with the principal so late that they had to have lunch with the fourth years. And not only that, but they'd missed out on so much time that they had lunch through their third period class. They'd also gotten to skip their fourth period class to meet with the rest of the student council committee to discuss the rest of the school year. Although Ino didn't seem all that disappointed with the outcome as she gushed over some hot fourth year boy named Sai that she'd seen at lunch.

The principal had somehow been able to convince both Sakura and Ino to join student council. I wasn't sure if it was because the principal had been that convincing, or if the two of them still harbored a fierce competitiveness for each other. I was going to go with the ladder on that one.

We'd journeyed home after parting ways in the parking lot, me going with Sakura and Ino hopping into her own White Mercedes Benz. During the whole car ride home, Sakura had interrogated me on how my first day of school went. I told her the details and screamed when she'd almost swerved off of the road when I'd told her I'd talked to Sasuke. I'd refused to talk to her after that.

All-in-all, it had been a fairly well day, though I'd really hoped that the next day would be a little calmer. It was the weekend after all, so what could possibly go wrong?