The Chronicles of Aishiteru Academy
-Book 2, Chapter 3-
Pairings: NarutoXSasuke, GaaraXNeji, HakuXZabuza
Today was Monday, the last day of class and the last day for receiving invitations. Really there weren't any classes today, but the teachers had to give the slacking Seme the time to get the rest of their invitations out. Naruto was not looking forward to today. Already Gaara had more invitations than he knew what to do with and the blonde had nothing. Well, nothing he was interested in.
The real reason he was angry, jealous even, was because Gaara had gotten an invitation from Neji, finally. Haku had gotten one from Zabuza also, and now Naruto was going to be the only one not getting an invitation from one of the three rich boys.
Why did he have to like the one with no feeling?
Why'd he have to get the stoic bastard?
Sure he liked Sasuke more than he was willing to admit to himself, but the boy was such a jerk. He made Naruto feel like he didn't exist and that was one thing the blonde had never been able to stand. Many people had treated him like that, and every time he'd hated it.
If the Uchiha really did give in and decide to give him an invite, he was going to refuse and throw it back in the boy's face, just to see if he'd flinch or get angry.
He probably wouldn't be fazed though, much to Naruto's resentment.
So sighing to himself, the blonde grudgingly got up from his desk and wandered out into the hall and toward one of his free period classes.
They'd been given the option to do whatever they wanted and to go to whichever classes they wanted to go to that day, just to kill time until they could meet up again at the end of the day for the final testing and participation registration, during home room.
He wasn't expecting to be pulled into the boy's bathroom though as he walked down the hall with his head down.
Nor did he think it'd actually be Sasuke on the other side of the door, but there he was, looking a little irritated at even having to be there. Naruto completely misunderstood the flush that was adorning the other boy's cheeks, assuming it was from anger rather than embarrassment and self-consciousness.
"What?"
"Here."
Naruto looked down at the envelope the boy had shoved into his hands. There was certainly no mistaking what it could have been, but the blonde decided to play dumb like usual.
"What is it?"
"It's an invitation dobe. I'm sure you've seen enough of those these passed two weeks to last you a life time."
"Oh is that what it is? Well thanks but I don't need it."
Naruto actually went through with shoving the invitation back in the other boy's hands.
"I've already decided I'm going to accept the invitation I got from Hinata. She's such a nice girl, I'm sure I'll like her."
Sasuke's eye twitched.
"Is that so."
Naruto saw it and was completely surprised by it. This was possibly the equivalent to a punch in the gut and a few harsh words from the stoic Uchiha. The blonde was so stunned by the small action that he completely missed Sasuke's departure until the boy was already down the hall outside the bathrooms.
Naruto had wanted a rise out of the boy, but he'd never expected that he'd actually get one.
X
Sasuke was beyond upset. He'd go so far as to say he was pissed.
The boy seemed to think that he was actually asking. However, that was the last thing the Uchiha was actually doing. The blonde was going to accept his invitation and they were going to spend the week together whether the boy truly wanted to or not.
Nothing was more humiliating to Sasuke than to be turned down.
If the blonde had just accepted, then he wouldn't have had to do this, but as it was, Sasuke was going to go to great lengths to make the blonde see reason.
"Aniki."
"Ah, if it isn't my little brother. Was there something you needed?"
Sasuke pinched the bridge of his nose in irritation as he headed off to one of his medical classes. His brother just loved it when Sasuke called, because usually it meant the boy was stooping so low as to ask for help. Big brothers were a pain.
"He refused."
"Did he? I'll be there shortly, have faith."
"It's not faith I want."
"Naturally. Now go enjoy your classes, I'll make sure he's begging you for your invitation back by the end of today."
"Thank you."
"Heh."
Sasuke hung up on his brother before the other man decided to comment on the thanks Sasuke had so unwillingly given him. Itachi always made if extremely hard for Sasuke to feel proud of himself. The man was always so condescending. He made the raven feel like a child. However desperate times called for desperate measures and Sasuke had to admit that Itachi was far better at "negotiations" than the younger boy had ever been. You had to be good with people and be able to manipulate them. No one had as of yet, been able to beat his older brother at those two feats.
Sasuke would win this. It had gotten personal the moment the blonde had refused him.
X
Haku blushed slightly as he slipped out of his cooking class and down the hallway toward the gym. Today they weren't in their normal classes, but chances were, Zabuza wouldn't be far from his martial arts classes and if anything, could probably be found training alone in the gym.
Haku was getting to know the boy well enough to understand that much at least.
It might have been too soon, but Haku was rather curious as to why the boy wanted to be such a great martial arts master. They had yet to talk about anything like that and his previous misunderstanding and upsetting of the boy hadn't helped them get to know each other any better.
Haku felt like he'd wasted time, acting the way he had.
But Zabuza had dropped it and forgiven him without much thought and that was what counted now. Haku would just have to learn as much as he could with the rest of the time they'd get to spend together. Which Haku was surprised to find, might be a lot more than he'd previously thought.
That morning, Haku had received an invitation to spend the holiday with Zabuza at his family estate. Something the little raven hadn't been expecting. Sure he figured they were good friends, but he hadn't expected any sort of special treatment.
Haku smiled to himself when he thought about Zabuza and began looking for the other man through the observation windows in the gym room doors.
He didn't see him but that didn't mean he wasn't there. The room was empty of people, save for the few that were lingering to pack up their things. Haku slipped inside and headed for the locker rooms to see if Zabuza was maybe in there changing or showering off. It didn't even cross his mind that he might find the boy doing exactly that.
When he entered the rooms, the first thing he saw was rows of vacant lockers and no one in sight, but then he heard the showers turn off and the man he'd been looking for came out.
Wrapped in nothing but a towel and still dripping water.
"Haku?"
The smaller boy made one of the most embarrassing high pitched squeaks he'd ever made and immediately shut his eyes, holding his hands out stiffly in front of him. His cheeks had gone bright red from the view he'd gotten of an almost naked Zabuza. This was starting to seem like a bad idea.
"I b-brought this for y-you."
He stuttered awkwardly, still keeping his eyes firmly closed.
Haku felt Zabuza step closer to him and he felt the weight of the food he'd had in his hands disappear when the man took it from him.
"I remembered you saying that you'd wanted to try the pie I'd made before, when I spilled it all over. So I made you another one. I hope you like it!"
Haku said in a rush, not bothering to see if Zabuza had understood him. Instead he opened his eyes and quickly tried to leave so he wouldn't have to feel any more awkward, but something caught his arm, halting him.
"I'm flattered that you remembered. Thank you."
Haku turned to look up at the older boy, but he didn't get a chance to reply before a pair of gently pressing lips captured his own.
The boy was so surprised he completely froze.
Zabuza pulled away and Haku could hear faint laughing as the boy moved to pull his uniform out of his gym bag. Haku hadn't realized it, but he must have been standing there for several minutes in his daze because he soon heard Zabuza speaking again. Making fun of him.
"I didn't know there were people out there who actually froze when you kissed them."
Haku shook himself out of his statue-like state and pouted good naturedly before a smile took over his face again. He just couldn't be upset for long.
"There was something else I wanted to tell you."
"Oh?"
"I wanted to tell you in person and give you this."
Haku pulled a letter out of one of his pockets and handed it over. It was the letter he'd written that morning in homeroom after he'd gotten Zabuza's invitation.
"Open it."
Zabuza did as instructed and Haku got to watch as a soft smile spread over the other boy's face as he read.
"I'd like to spend the week with you if you'll still have me."
Haku said quietly, just barely realizing that Zabuza could have already said yes to someone else. Even though he hadn't mentioned asking anyone else.
"I'd like that."
"Really?"
Zabuza just laughed quietly at him again and ran his fingers through the long bangs Haku had hanging down around his face.
"I'd have had a rather boring week ahead of me if you hadn't said yes. You were the only one I asked."
"There weren't any others?"
"I don't like anyone else."
Haku smiled, a little proud of himself for earning such attention from such a nice guy.
"I'll see you tomorrow then?"
"Bright and early. I'll come by your rooms and pick you up if that's alright?"
"That'd be great."
"Good, now don't you have a class to be getting back to?"
Haku gasped and his hands flew up to cover his mouth.
"I completely forgot."
"It's not really important to go to class today anyway. I was just seeing what you'd say."
"You seem to be teasing me much more than usual."
"I've missed seeing you."
Haku smiled again and ran to the other boy, hoping for the element of surprise as he wrapped his arms around the man's torso and hugged tightly. Zabuza certainly hadn't been expecting the sudden weight that nearly knocked him over.
"Tomorrow then."
Haku giggled and ran back out of the room and toward his cooking class, more excited than he had been all morning.
X
"Ah, there you are."
"Who the hell are you?"
"Someone you're going to absolutely love. Now more to the point, I believe you refused to spend the holidays with my little brother."
"I knew you looked familiar."
"Yes, family thing. We all tend to be strikingly beautiful, now tell me. Did you really refuse him?"
"Yes! Who the hell wouldn't?"
"Half the school. Now, I've been asked to persuade you since you don't seem to be at all pleased with my brother. Would you like me to try my hand at persuasion?"
"It won't work."
"Don't be so sure."
Naruto did not like where this conversation was going, especially now that he'd pissed the older boy off. He definitely did not like the look the man was giving him.
"You see, when my brother gets upset, I'm the one who suffers and that's hardly fair now is it?"
The blonde looked down the hall but for some reason, all the people that had been there had completely vanished, leaving him alone with this crazy guy.
"I hate to see him sulk and what's worse, he gets extremely annoying when he's in a bad mood. He whines and pouts… It's so childish!"
Naruto was not getting where this was supposed to be going.
So far, very little persuading had been done to him and he was merely being pinned to the wall by a man he was quickly deciding, was far from straight. No other straight man would honestly go on and on like this guy was.
"So here's the deal. You spend the week with my brother, and I don't slit each and every one of your finger tips. Do we have a deal? Because I could easily slip a few maggots into your bed tonight if you don't think I'm being reasonable."
The man in front of him looked completely serious. That was the creepy part.
The other creepy part was the knife tip the boy had pressed into the soft pad of his right pinky. Naruto had never been threatened or mugged in his life, but if this was how it felt, he definitely wouldn't last long.
"Well? What do you say?"
"I say you're full of bullshit."
Naruto immediately regretted saying that as the boy easily slit the tips of both his pinky and ring finger on his right hand. It wasn't just light paper cut type cuts either, Naruto had gotten to see the entire tip of the knife disappear underneath his skin. He was so shocked that the blood dripping to the floor from his two fingers didn't even register until the man spoke to him again.
"Let's try this again shall we?"
"I'll go tell him yes right now. I swear to god!"
"Wonderful! It was so lovely meeting you!"
Naruto just nodded his head, dazed as the other man shook his hand, smiled and walked off down the hall that now seemed to be full of people again. Nothing that weird had ever happened to him before in his life.
Having absolutely no will of his own left, Naruto walked quickly down the hall in search of Sasuke, the one boy he knew, who could at least keep that creep away from him. Even if it had been the boy's fault he'd gotten hurt to begin with.
The blonde was beginning to dislike the Uchiha family. Sasuke seemed like a breath of fresh air when compared to his brother, which was definitely something Naruto never thought he'd say.
X
Gaara sighed, hanging up the phone in their dorm room and staring up at the ceiling from where he'd been lounging on the living room couch. He hadn't been sure what to do when he got the invitation letter from the Hyuuga. There were so many things the boy had done to make his life horrible, but he'd been trying so hard to make it up to him lately that he couldn't help but feel a little guilty about it.
His brother was free now and that had always been his main issue with the boy, but now that that had been fixed, things had gotten so much easier for Gaara.
His brother had a nice apartment nearby, so Gaara could easily go see him now, and his record had been cleaned of any charges. There wasn't much room in the place for the redhead to stay since his brother had had to find a roommate to help pay for the place, but so far he'd even gotten a job and things were going well.
Gaara knew that the only reason things had happened so easily was because Neji had been pulling the strings and slipping money into his brother's bank account.
Gaara hadn't known what to do at all, so he'd done the only thing he'd thought might help. He'd called his brother.
"Are you sure I should do this?"
"Well he has been trying really hard to make things right again. Knowing how well known the Hyuuga's are, his family has probably been giving him hell for getting me out of prison the way he did. I'm sure it made them look bad no matter how hard he tried to smooth it over. He's done a lot to earn your favor lately."
"It's just so sudden, what if he goes back to being an ass once I say yes?"
"Well think of it this way, if he's just out to get you in bed, at least you'll be able to hold him off long enough to get a wedding out of him, and then you'll be rich and you can steal all his money right out from under him!"
"I can't believe you just said that."
"I'm right though aren't I?"
"Shut up!"
"So you have thought about it. What a bad little brother you are!"
"I have not! I've just wondered what it'd be like to actually have money is all. Is that such a bad thing to think about?"
"Of course not."
"Then stop teasing me."
"Look, all I'm trying to say is, if you like him and you feel like he's worth a shot then you should go for it. You don't really have much to lose in all this do you? Besides, not everyone finds love so if you have, then you should totally hold on to it."
"I'm not in love with him! God you're an idiot."
"Love you too Gaa! Now I have to go. Let me know what happens okay?"
"I will."
Gaara hadn't been happy with his brother saying what he had, but it had gotten him thinking. Did he really have some sort of regard for the Hyuuga? Sure he'd been getting soft lately, but that didn't mean he was falling for the boy. It just meant he pitied him.
Gaara nodded to himself, unsuccessfully convincing himself that it was just pity. He wasn't in the mood to think about that right now.
Neji was still going to have to do a lot more before he'd ever get that friendly with him. That much Gaara knew. He wasn't PLAYING hard to get, he just WAS hard to get.
Moving to pick up the phone again, Gaara quickly dialed the number written in neat black pen on the invitation in front of him and waited for the answering machine to pick up. Hoping the boy himself wouldn't actually answer.
X
The day ended earlier than usual and everyone who wasn't going to be spending the holidays with someone, were dismissed to go home. Much to Gaara's dismay, over half their class had disappeared and headed back to their dorms, meaning they were three of the few to have actually accepted any of their invites.
"So what do we do now Iruka-sensei?"
Gaara heard Naruto ask as the door closed behind the last person leaving to head back to the dorms.
"Now comes the preliminary testing. I'm sorry about this but it has to be done to keep you kids safe so first we'll start off by checking your names off on the participation list and go from there.
Gaara, Haku and Naruto sat quietly while Iruka marked them off as participating. This was the part of the holiday that Gaara wasn't looking forward to, apart from the whole nerve-wracking experience of having to stay at some stranger's house for a week.
"Okay, now the next part is just filling out a general information form, which every student has to do, including those in the Seme classes. While you guys are doing that, each of you will be called back into the nurses office one at a time to participate in the blood testing and physicals. Once those things are done your all set to head home. Just make sure you hand me your test results and your information sheets before you leave."
That had a few of the other Uke kids tapping there fingers nervously or breaking into hushed conversation with their friends about what the testing would be like.
Gaara turned to talk to Haku and Naruto but for some reason, he was the one the nurses came for first.
Neji had better be worth all this mess and make his week enjoyable or he was going to give that kid one hell of a week.
There's the third chapter of Aishiteru Academy... hope you guys liked it!
There are going to be around eight chapters in this book for those who are curious... maybe not exactly eight... but somewhere around there...
I've also got a new story started called 'Surviving the South' for those of you who might be interested...
Thanks for reading and again, hope you liked it!
-Himitsu