Californian dreams
Disclaimer: I own a couple of random manga books at that's it and I don't own the quotes either
Warnings: For those of you who didn't bother to read my bio...*holds up neon flashing sign* THIS STORY CONTAINS YAOI, GAY SEX AND BLAH BLAH BLAH
Pairings: SasuNaruSasu, KibaHina, ShikaIno, NejiTenten
Chapter 2
"I broke it all and I'm put to the test
Put your hand to mine and feel this emptiness"- Hollywood Undead
Bored blue eyes watched a couple of blackbirds come to rest on a thin tree branch that arched along outside of the classroom window. The first one tipped its head at the blond, as if mocking him, before turning its back to him and taking flight. The others were quick to follow, letting out a chorus of chirps as they swooped towards some distant treetops.
"…alphabetically staring from A to Z. When I read out your names, you will change seats and sit with your partner. You will get along because you'll be sitting next to them for the rest of this year!" Anko, their 6th grade science teacher, yelled from the front of the room.
Oh fantastic, probably another one of Anko's crazy projects to work on. Naruto ran through the alphabet in his mind and groaned when he realized that none of his friends last names started with a U.
Anko continued on, "You'll have 2 months to work on this project and give a presentation on it! This is going to be worth 25% of your end of year grade so make sure you do this properly kids! Right, now listen up…"
Naruto stopped listening halfway through, plastering a tired expression on his face. Hopefully he would get someone fun to work with. The classroom was filled with the scraping of chairs as Anko started assigning partners. 'It's going to take her forever to get to my name', thought Naruto, wrinkling his nose. Chairs were still being scraped loudly, so when Anko finally called out his name, he missed who was meant to be his partner.
The blond didn't move, hoping that whoever he was meant to work with would move next to him. Because he sure wasn't going to.
Casually glancing over his shoulder, Naruto saw a boy sitting at his desk, looking around, and an empty chair next to him. The blond pushed his chair back, getting ready to move his books when all of a sudden someone dropped their books next to him. Naruto looked up, only to be met with a pair of uncaring eyes staring back at him.
"What are you doing?" Naruto asked earning a skeptical look.
"I'm Uchiha. You're Uzumaki."
"Yeah, what about it?" 'What the hell' was probably written all across Naruto's face.
The boy raised an eyebrow and scowled. "I'm your partner."
"Oh..." The blond said lamely. He recognized the boy who was standing opposite him as Sasuke Uchiha, the prodigy of every class and the type of guy he hated in every single way possible.
Said boy was now getting out a notepad and sitting down. "Look, I don't want anything to do with you so just sit there and listen to what I tell you to do. Let me handle this project and stay out of my way."
Jerk.
"Why would I listen to an asshole like you?" Naruto snapped. There was no way he was going to listen to anyone's orders. Like it or not, he would do what he liked.
"You are the dropout here." Sasuke stated. "Whatever instructions I give, you are going to follow." The Uchiha gave Naruto a cool look, as if daring him to challenge him.
Naruto narrowed his eyes as he sat down, meeting the raven's gaze. "All because I'm not a suck-up like you, doesn't mean that I'm going to hide in your shadow and clean your shoes for you. I don't agree."
"I'm an Uchiha. I will lead; I couldn't care less about what you think of it."
Typical. Naruto gritted his teeth, the high and mighty Uchiha Clan using their name and flaunting it. "We're working together. Or have you forgotten the meaning of 'teamwork'?" He spat.
Sasuke's glare turned to steel. "I haven't forgotten anything."
The fact that they were both currently meant to be working on a project was long forgotten as Naruto fixed the Uchiha with a look of undisguised hate.
The sharp click of heels stopping by their desk made both of the boys focus their attention on a figure with an air of annoyance around her. Anko uncrossed her arms and slammed her palm on the edge of the desk. "Uchiha, Uzumaki, I don't tolerate any arguments in my class, if you have a problem with each other, sort it out, get over it, and get the work done. Or do you need some extra time after school in the form of a detention to sort out your differences?"
Sasuke turned his head away, giving no sign he had heard her and Naruto gave a weak smile, "No we're okay."
Liar, liar, pants on fire.
"Good. Now get on with it." Easier said than done.
Looking to his left at the raven who was scribbling something down in his notepad, Naruto sighed and pulled out a pen. Looked like he would have to be the one to remind the Uchiha of what the word 'teamwork' meant.
The sunlight was quickly fading around the lone silhouette that stood in the middle of the basketball court. The breeze whipped around him, scattering scraps of leaf into the pink and blue streaked sky. He bounced the basketball twice and narrowed his eyes to judge how far the hoop was.
Backing up a step, he jogged up to the hoop, keeping the ball in front of him moving. He kept he eyes on the backboard, not letting his concentration waver from his target as he quickened his pace and hooked the ball over his head, launching it into the awaiting net.
"Nice shot."
The raven spun around as a voice sounded behind him. A boy who looked about the same age as himself stood a couple of meters away. His dark bangs cast framed his face and his ashen eyes gleamed. He wore a charcoal colored jacket, laced with crimson straps and studded with metal and his toned abdomen showed through the zips of his leather jacket. As the boy lifted his head slightly, he could make out faint scars on both cheeks.
"Who the hell are you?" Sasuke didn't move, waiting for his question to be answered.
"Quite the attitude there. But, I guess you could call me…A friend, of sorts." The boy replied, unfazed.
"What the do you want?"
The latter let a feral smile grace his lips. "Impatient much? …But then again, I've never been the one for patience myself."
Sasuke's face remained blank, he wasn't in the mood to talk, if this guy wanted to play games, he would have to find someone else.
"I have a preposition for you, Sasuke." The boy walked towards to raven, his steps never missing a beat. "I can assume you have heard of 'Akatsuki' from that... little stunt your brother pulled a couple of years ago."
Sasuke growled. "Get on with it." He was wasting his time here.
"We want you to join our organization, after all, you are still looking for Itachi's whereabouts, no?"
"He is of no concern to me now."
The boy shook his head and shrugged, "I see that attitude for yours runs in the blood, but I am willing to help you achieve your goals."
The raven's gaze hardened, he didn't like to get involved in gangs or organizations. "I'm not interested." Sasuke turned to walk towards the far side of the court.
"You want power, right?"
Sasuke stopped abruptly. "What do you mean?"
"I can give you that, Sasuke. All I need is for you to agree."
"I don't want anything you have to offer."
"You can't be too sure."
"I'm not interested."
"...You would be doing what your parents would have wanted."
"Keep my parents out of this," Sasuke snarled, barely keeping his voice from shouting.
"Touchy. We're more similar than you think, that's why I want to help you, Sasuke." The boy kept his gaze on the Uchiha. "My parents weren't so different from yours." When the latter didn't reply, he continued. "I was always an echo of my brother which people didn't bother to listen to."
"What was his name?" Sasuke's face had become devoid of any emotion once more. Who is this kid? Is he just some ordinary school boy joking around? He knew that wasn't true, Sasuke couldsense that the person stood oppostie him was a dangerous opponent. He spoke without any doubt or hesitation, a voice that demanded obedience. This guy...
The boy paused, as if he was mulling over the thought. "I haven't seen him for a while now." He tilted his head casually, "Do you miss your brother?"
Brother? What part? Sasuke sneered inwardly, "No." He turned away, wanting the conversation to end.
"Don't you want to know my name?"
The raven paused, and fixed the boy with his gaze.
"I'm Menma."
Sasuke turned back around, having got his question answered and retrieved his basketball from under the net.
"I expect your answer in three days' time, Sasuke." Menma called, before leaving Sasuke along in the basketball court once more.
I intend to finish this story even if you're all like 79 by the time I do...
I have a lot of people who won't leave me alone at the moment and a load of drawings I have to finish (deadlines suck!) If there are any grammar mistakes please point them out!