"What a drag," Shikamaru sighed, dragging his feet as we walked slowly into town.
Did I mention how very slowly we were going? Heck, a snail could outstrip us right now.
"Oh quit complaining!" I said as I pulled my hair into two buns and pulled my beanie back on, eager to see my new hometown and hopefully meet some new people as well.
"Well it's not like getting saddled with an annoying kid like you was on my list of things to do today."
He did not just call me a kid, and an annoying one at that! I absolutely hate being called a kid.
"I'm not a kid!" I said, stamping my foot rather childishly angrily. "And how can you say I'm annoying when you just met me!"
"You sure look like a kid to me," he said with an annoying smirk, obviously knowing that he had hit a nerve. "What are you, twelve?"
"I'm eighteen!"
He just rolled his eyes and began walking again, leaving me to catch up to him.
"And I'll have you know," I said, not dropping the topic, "that I'll be attending one of the best schools around starting in September! Konoha Academy," I said, puffing my chest out proudly.
That stopped him in his tracks. "You're going to my school?" he asked incredulously.
That one word caused the triumphant look to evaporate from my face. He has got to be kidding me. That's it. He's just kidding, trying to jerk my chain. There's no way that someone like him can go to such a supposedly elite school! He's just so…so…I don't know! I have no possible way of describing him!
He turned his head to look at me while we were walking, almost as if he were reevaluating me or something.
"Dude, are you checking me out or something?" I finally asked with a wicked smirk on my face.
"What? No!" he blushed. "I'm just trying to figure out how you got into the Academy, that's all."
There he goes again. It's like he's trying to tick me off or something! Just because I don't look like some kind of super nerd doesn't mean I'm stupid. But I'm not gonna bite. No siree. Because that would just encourage him even more.
"So how do you figure I'm annoying?" I asked, changing the subject.
"It's just a rule of thumb," he said, shoving his hands into his pockets. "All women are annoying and troublesome."
I mulled over this as I paid for an ice cream cone. Black raspberry, my favorite! I smirked as a question popped into my head.
"So," I began, taking a lick of the dark purple ice cream, "if you don't like girls does that mean you're gay? Because if you are that's a-okay by me. I was just wondering; that's all." I hid my devilish grin by taking another lick from my ice cream cone.
"W-what!" he spluttered, at a complete loss for words thanks to my out of the blue question.
I just giggled and quickened my pace, leaving him standing there with a dumbstruck look on his face while I continued to explore my new town.
I tossed my napkin and ice cream cone away once all of the actual ice cream was gone. I never was a fan of ice cream cones. Unless they were waffle cones that is.
My stomach growled and I checked my watch, thinking it should be about lunchtime. Then I mentally slapped myself. I had never adjusted my watch to the new time zone. In any event, I was hungry.
A sign proclaiming Ichiraku Ramen Bar caught my eye. Ramen definitely sounded like it would hit the spot.
It looked quaint, just the kind of thing you'd expect to see in a small Japanese town like this. I slipped in through the curtain and took a seat at the bar a few spaces away from a group of three boys who looked about my age.
They were joking around and seemed to be having a pretty good time. Well, at least two of them were. The third was just sitting there, staring at the wall. One had spiky blonde hair and what looked like whiskers on his cheeks. I'm not even going to ask why he had whiskers. The other had messy brown hair and two red tattoos running down his cheeks. Why in the world he would want tattoos like that on his cheeks is beyond me, but hey, whatever floats your boat. The third one didn't really seem quite as friendly. He had jet black hair and brooding air about him. Although, he was kind of cute terribly emo.
The brunette turned his head and caught me staring, sending a wink my way before turning back to his companions.
I blushed. A lot. I don't think a guy's ever winked at me before. Ever.
"Kiba," said the black-haired boy in an annoyed tone, addressing the brunette, "must you flirt with every girl you see?"
"Not every one," Kiba replied, turning to me again. "Just the cute ones."
The black-haired boy just snorted. "Whatever you say, Kiba."
My, what a happy, upbeat, chipper person he is. Not! Grumpy much?
"You know," the blondie said, speaking for the first time, "I don't think I've seen you before. Are you new?"
I nodded.
For the record, I'm really shy around new people. Excluding that stupid Shikamaru. He just gets to me far too much for me to be shy.
"Well then we should introduce ourselves!" the blondie exclaimed, seeming to have even more energy than he had before. "My name's Naruto! Dattebayo!" he practically screamed, grinning widely.
His grin kind of reminded me of a Cheshire cat's. O so cute, but so very very mischievous.
"Kiba," the brunette said, taking my hand and kissing it lightly.
There went my cheeks again. Darn them!
I turned my eyes to the guy with the raven hair, trying to force the pink in my cheeks to disappear.
"Sasuke," he muttered, not even sparing me so much as a glance as he stared at the wall, hands folded in front of him.
Not much of a talker I see. How pleasant.
Kiba and Naruto were still looking at me expectantly. Did I forget something?
"Oh that's right!" I laughed, "I didn't tell you my name yet! It's-"
"Arista, there you are."
Everyone's eyes, including mine, turned to the stall's entrance, only to see Shikamaru standing there. What a way to ruin my fun.
"Do you have any idea how long I've been looking for you? I knew watching you was going to be troublesome."
"Whoah, wait a minute," Naruto said, looking from me to Shikamaru and then back again. "Were you two on a date?!"
"What?!" we both roared.
"Me? On a date with an annoying kid like her? No way, Naruto! My mom forced me to show her around town! That's it."
He looked like he could have had a heart attack right then. Of course, it would have served him right. Punishment for calling me an annoying kid.
Naruto's eyes turned to me.
"I'd rather dye every single hair on my head pink than date that jerk," I said with a huff, turning my head away from Shikamaru.
Actually, I'd rather do pretty much anything than dye my hair pink. Pink hair? Absolutely disgusting. The guys all seemed to find my comment funny, though, even the seemingly stoic Sasuke. I didn't really think it was all that humorous, but hey, to each his own.
"Come on," Shikamaru said, heading back towards the street. "If we aren't home in time for dinner my mom will kill us."
"Aha!" Naruto exclaimed.
Is it just me or does this kid need to turn his volume setting down a bit?
"So you two are on a date!"
We both grimaced again, as did Kiba.
"She's my neighbor, baka," Shikamaru said irritably, causing my face to scrunch up in confusion and Kiba's to loosen. "And right now, I have to take her back home."
"Baka?" I asked, once we had left the ramen bar.
"Idiot," Shikamaru said dryly.
"I am not!" I immediately yelled. "Just because I-"
"Baka means idiot," he explained, cutting me off before I could launch into a full scale rant.
"Oh."
You know, I really should have learned Japanese before coming to live here.
"So," I said, trying to break the silence, "are those three friends of yours?"
"I guess," he replied. "Kiba and Naruto are alright. I don't really care for Sasuke that much, though. Nor do I see why all the girls fall all over him. But all of the guys tend to hang out together at school, so I guess you could say that we're all friends to some extent."
Will wonders never cease?
"School? As in the Academy? They all go there too?"
He nodded. "Same year as us."
Here I had been expecting a school filled with geeky guys who would rather ogle the newest calculator model than a girl. It was turning out to be just the opposite however. I'm beginning to think maybe school won't be that bad after all.
It wasn't until my stomach started growling again that I realized that I had never gotten around to ordering my ramen.
