Creatures of the night
Chapter three
Quiet chatter drifted lazily to Naruto as he stepped foot into the castle cum school. The blond swept his gaze all around him and he couldn't help the excited laugh from bubbling out of him. Vampires of all ages flitted about in groups or pairs as they travelled from one area of the school to another. None of them paid any attention to him as he walked further into the school, dragging his many luggage along. 'This time I won't screw up.'
Spotting a friendly pinkette talking excitedly to her blonde companion, Naruto walked up to them. They seemed so immersed in their chatter that they hardly notice Naruto coming up to them. So it was no surprise when they startled and twisted their gaze to glare at the blond accusingly. Naruto ignored their cold gaze and smiled politely in return.
"Hi I'm new and I was wondering if you could tell me where I'm supposed to head to," he said.
"Oh sorry you startled us so…um I think you're supposed to go to the school's auditorium. Right Sakura?" the blonde girl with ice blue eyes gave an apologetic smile. Naruto nodded as a gesture that said 'apology accepted.'
"Yup just walk all the way to the end of this corridor and you'll come to a staircase. Take them to the third level. The auditorium should be swarming with new vamps by now so you shouldn't miss it. Welcome to Gatekeeper academy!" the energetic pinkette said with bright green eyes that hid nothing of her soul.
Naruto nodded his thanks and did as instructed. He climbed the long flights of stairs two at a time unmindful to the heavy luggage banging at his hip while humming a familiar tune. He couldn't help the bright smile that stretched across his face as he thought about the girls that were kind enough to him. No scornful looks, no biting insults but smiles and kindness. Already he could feel he liked this school. However his happiness was shot down when he barreled into someone at the last step.
"Watch where you're going dobe!" an angered raven glared down at the hurting blond. Naruto looked up into dark furious eyes and chose to keep the scathing remark at the tip of his tongue unsaid. He simply sat where he fell on his butt and soothed his bruised derriere. Without anything else said the pale skinned raven with dark eyes walked away to the direction he thought was the auditorium. 'He must be new too if he is going to the audi.' He carefully stood, mindful of his hurting butt, and righted his fallen luggage. He followed the raven all the while thinking that he already made an enemy on his first day of school.
He lost sight of the raven however when he stood by the opening of the auditorium. The huge room was packed with new vampires around Naruto's age. All around were moving bodies of new vampires with their suitcases or schoolbags in hand. Most of them were getting acquainted with their new schoolmates while others simply leaned on the walls of the room choosing to be unsociable. The self-conscious blond chose to stand by the wall he was shoved into when someone complained that he was blocking the doorway. Planting his not-so-sore-anymore butt on his largest suitcase he observed his surroundings partially hidden in shadows.
*~o0o~*
Rounds of applause erupted from the cohort of new vampires when the principal of the school walked on stage. She looked no older than in her late twenties with her long blonde hair tied into two low pigtails by the nape of her neck and curvaceous body. Her fringe framed her small but stern looking face and her light brown eyes seemed to analyse every vampire seated before her in the auditorium. Everyone knew that she looked younger than she was supposed to look because vampires age at one-fifth to human age. She stepped up to the podium and welcomed them all. She introduced herself as Tsunade then continued on her speech. Most of them listened attentively when she gave her welcoming speech but there were others like Naruto who stared into space while schooling their features to look like they care but really didn't.
Naruto almost dozed off when he heard that they were moving to the hall for their sorting cum welcoming ceremony. He grudgingly stood and left his luggage where they were because the principal had instructed that they could retrieve them later. He followed the line of other vampire students and kept his head down to avoid looking at anyone. Silently the cohort moved to the great hall.
Upon entering the hall loud applause and cheers from the older students greeted them. Naruto looked up only to squeeze his eyes shut again at the blinding light from the ceiling. He looked around and found no one shying away from it. He looked again carefully this time to gaze at the perfect sunny sky. Only then did he notice a thin layer of something that kept most of the heat and hurtful rays out. They resemble the tinted windows of a car. Naruto looked ahead this time to find that they had walked to the front of the hall. In front of them was a stand on which an ostrich egg-shaped crystal sat precariously on red cushions. The crystal looked to be giving out light of its own, its glow falling on the stern features of the principal. Only then did Naruto notice the thick sheets of paper she had in hand. She held it up to her face.
"When I call your name, you will come forth," than she gestured to the crystal, "you will place your hands on this egg, and you will be sorted into your elements. Akimichi Chouji."
A boy who was twice the size of Naruto came up with quivering steps. He faced the rest of the school before putting trembling hands on the egg. They all waited with bated breath. The crystal which had been a clear colour was now emitting a kind of green light. The boy named Chouji seemed to ease his trembling and stared mesmerised at it. Slowly the glowing diminished and Tsunade told Chouji to take his place with his housemates. Everyone watched as he calmly walked to the far end of the hall where a long green table, that stretched from one end of the hall to the other, sat with many welcoming seniors, clapping for Chouji as he made his way to them. At the end of the table draped a flag of some kind with a kind of big rain tree embroidered on it. Underneath that was the word "Earth" stitched on the flag too.
"Hyuuga Hinata."
A small petite girl walked up more scared than Chouji was. She did the same thing as he did and the crystal shined a green colour again. She too made her way to the green table, where the seniors welcomed her with opened arms. One even hugged her and she sat next to him. The senior that hugged her looked suspiciously like her, pale lavender eyes, pale skin and long flowy hair. The only difference was that while she had dark hair, the other had light brown that was tied at the end with a ribbon. Choosing not to dwell too much on it, Naruto faced front again.
"Inuzuka Kiba."
The said boy jerked as his name was called and he seemed to suck in a breath before he walked on stage. Lifting his hands to the crystal egg he waited. The white light from the crystal seemed to dim and turned to a sea blue. The light reflected the waves crashing onto shore, rippling around him. The light darkened the red tattoos on each of his cheeks. He strolled to the loud cheering blue "Water" table with a wide smile that showed off his longer than normal fangs.
"Nara Shikamaru."
The boy named Shikamaru trudged up stage with a bored expression on his face. Even the way he lifted his arms lazily spoke volumes of how troublesome the action was for him. Naruto chuckled softly at the not so subtle glare Tsunade gave him. She obviously didn't like the way he treated this ceremony. The egg disrupted her glare however when it shined green like Chouji and Hinata's. He walked down to the black table to another round of thunderous applause. All through his walk he seemed indifferent at the open welcome he received. Naruto however caught the small upturn of his lips and turned back to the front.
"Sabaku no Gaara."
Naruto rubbed his eyes before looking back to the tall, pale red head. He was riding on sand up the stage stairs! The blond openly gaped and gauged the other occupants' reactions to this. Nobody seemed as shocked to see this happening. He frowned then but paid attention to the red haired, green eyed boy named Gaara. He did what all the other vampires did and the crystal shined the same green as the big boy and petite girl before him. Again. He glided again to his respective table with an air of indifference. 'There're a lot of Earth vampire aren't there,' Naruto thought.
"Uchiha Sasuke."
The same person that had ruined Naruto's good mood before walked on stage elegantly. Every female in their cohort had hearts in their eyes as he walked on and stood peering down at the egg with an aura of superiority around him. Naruto swore he heard multiple sighs behind him he suspected came from the other female vampires excluding the teachers and principal. He gave a snort as he thought 'he isn't so great.' The egg gave off an amber colour, casting his face and hands in its light. Sasuke walked off and went to his table and sat next to an older version of him. 'Most probably someone related.' That particular table had a flag which had a blazing fire imprinted on it with the words "Fire".
"Uzumaki Naruto."
The blond jerked where he stood and looked up with a startled gasp. The others who surrounded him laughed at his shock and he frowned and glared at the floor before pushing himself out of the crowd he stood in. He had been studying the pale skinned raven and his relative when his name was called. Obviously he would be surprised. There was no reason to think that the others were laughing at him for different reasons.
He walked on stage with a mixture of curiosity, fear and awe as he studied the egg up close. From afar the egg looked dazzling but up close it was mesmerising. He could stand there all day and watch the swirling colours in it mix together at a rapid speed to form the bright untainted white it gave off. He snapped out of his trance when the principal coughed in her hand as a gesture that said 'hurry up brat'. He placed his hands delicately on the egg, not wanting to break it, and waited. He pulled his hand away almost immediately however and yelped when the egg started vibrating softly and it glowed a white so brilliant it looked silver, then changed to amber, then gray before fading off to a pale yellow, then green before deepening to a sea blue, then further deepening to a midnight black. The ever changing light only shined brighter as time passed and many had to cover their eyes or squint to get a better look at what was happening. It diminished in a grand show of rainbows stretching to the ground only to dissolve as soon as it touched the floor. Naruto rubbed his eyes furiously to gain back his sense of sight after that fabulous display of light and blushed when he saw every ones' eye on him. Some were in awe while others were in distaste.
Naruto turned to the voice of the principal behind him, "Naruto please follow Iruka-sensei to my office." With a silent gulp he followed behind his father figure to the aforementioned office with dread sinking lower, lower and lower still, in his gut every step of the way.
*~o0o~*
AN: Well that's that and a new chapter is done. How long has it been since I last updated I wonder… hope you like it and to all my readers out there I thank you for your patience. Love the reviews so far tooXD it made me feel damn guilty for making you wait so long for an update, but still puts a smile on my face. Good news is that I finally finished my last school year and I graduated so I can update more regularly. Now I'm waiting for my O-level results. Pray for me ok ;) I hope I did well. If I did, it will boost my creativity and I'll update faster!
