Chapter 2: The Faceless-and-Nameless Project
Naruto sat in third period Technology, a class he hardly thought he needed to take since he was already pretty skilled with computers. As long as their principal, Miss Tsunade, was in charge, they were going to have that class throughout their years of high school. However, the assistant principal, Miss Shizune, was constantly trying to comply with the students demands and have Tsunade be less tight-fisted in her choice of mandatory classes. The blonde woman hardly listened, though.
The student guide counselor, or what the kids called the 'school shrink' was also the technology teacher, and he believed in connection between peers. So he had a brilliant idea: why not propose to the school board a month-long assignment that will get these kids out of their cliques in into each other's hearts? It sounded a tad dorky, he realized, but it was worth a shot.
As luck would have it, the school board had been thinking a similar idea. With their thoughts and Iruka's combined, they came up with the Faceless-and-Nameless Project. It involved a few simple rules…
"One: you have to write to your e-mail pal for one month, which is four consecutive weeks. After that I will grade you on the number of e-mails you send and receive. If you decided to keep writing after that month period, that is entirely up to you.
"Two:" Iruka continued while he paced the front of the room, on looking his mass of students. "You have to keep your identity a secret for that first month. Don't leak out any information that could give you away. No initials as your penname, no use of middle names, no secret plots to meet up with your assigned partner. You may, however, express your age or year, and of 'course your gender. This is school-wide, so don't be surprised if you have a senior, sophomore, or freshman of some sort.
"Three: be sincere, be friendly, and try to open up. This program is like peer-tutoring, only in social and home-life standards instead of academics. We want you to have someone your own age that can relate to you and talk to you without being judged. You might find a new friend that you never thought you could be friends with. This program is experimental, mind you, but I have a feeling it'll work if you all put some effort into it. And to make sure you do, this will be considered fifty percent of your final grade for the semester."
Naruto, as well as most of the class, groaned at the mention of 'fifty percent'. That meant they actually have to talk to someone they don't know. Great.
"Well then, you have about twenty minutes left of class; plenty of time to write your first letter. I expect all of you to have one sent by the end of the day today. I know who your partners are, so I can ask if they received any mail and vice versa. So please, don't put this off! You won't regret it!" he said cheerfully, passing out thin slips of pink paper. "Don't lose this, everyone; it's your corresponding e-mail address. Once you have it, go ahead and log into your e-mail account to compose a new message."
Naruto blew air out his mouth and rolled his eyes as he was handed the slip of paper.
Iruka observed this and winked at the blonde. "Don't worry, Uzumaki, it's not like Health class when you were assigned a baby and spouse. All I'm asking if for you to write an e-mail. Simple, right?"
Simple? Hardly. What was he supposed to say to the anonymous person? "Yeah, real simple," he mumbles, but the man is already at a different table handing out the addresses.
With a dejected sigh, Naruto glances down at the address in his hands. CatastrophicHeart(at)yahoo(dot)com. What a coincidence, they also used yahoo just like he did. Although this is not what Naruto noticed at first; what he noticed was how poetic yet sad the username was. His own e-mail address was much more cheery, if not a little cheesy. But 'catastrophic heart'? It was genius, not cheesy in the least, but terribly unhappy.
Again the blonde sighed and put his fingers to the keyboard, a blank message screen in front of him.
From: Addicted2Ramen(at)yahoo(dot)com
To: CatastrophicHeart(at)yahoo(dot)com
Subject: Faceless-and-Nameless thingy
Hey Catastrophic,
I'm sure you're aware of the project in technology. And guess what? I'm your assigned partner. I don't know about you, but I'm a junior and a guy. I guess I can't say much else until I get your response, since the rules tell us not to give too much away about ourselves. I gotta say, though, that your username confuses me. Mind explaining it to me in your next e-mail? Because either it's for show or there's something bugging you. Sorry if I sound intrusive, but Mr. Umino says this program is for us to get to know each other and talk about personal stuff without being judged and all that. And I don't know about you, but I kind of need the good grade in this class. So, uh, reply soon.
– Call me Shippuuden (Hurricane)
He was somewhat pleased with the Japanese nickname he had come up with for himself, since 'Kyuubi' or 'Kitsune' would give himself away; his adopted father was named Kyuubi, which is a relation to the ancient Japanese demon, the Nine-Tailed Fox; hence, either of those awesome-sounding Japanese words would just be a sign that read 'your new e-mail partner is Naruto Uzumaki!'. So in the end, when it came to pennames, he chose something at random he heard once in one of the subbed animes he watches online. That should be good enough for the person, whoever they were.
The bell rang six minutes after he had hit 'send', which was good enough for the blonde. fourth period was History, which Mr. Asuma Sarutobi taught, and he didn't want to get scolded for being late, especially if he was late from some stupid letter. This, luckily, had not become the case.
He arrived on time after a stop at his locker, taking a seat near the center of the back few rows of the bearded man's classroom. The room was always quiet and smelling vaguely of cigarette smoke whenever Naruto entered. It has a musty feel to it, what with all the thick, old books and maps lying around. It was more or less World History, because every year Asuma taught not only the historical events of their own country, but of the others across the globe. They touched up on how mankind has progressed throughout the centuries, and with a bored yawn Naruto tried to take a few notes in case Mr. Sarutobi decided to hand out one of his specialty pop quizzes.
By sheer chance this class had been one of the ones where no pop quiz was issued, and for that Naruto was grateful. The last thing he needed was another thorn of stress in his side today. The retarded e-mail assignment had been enough, he thought to himself. The teacher wrote on the whiteboard a list of numbers from pages in the book which, Naruto copied onto a sticky note, were meant to write out the answers of questions for. The blonde hated bookwork, it meant he had to drag his history book to study hall and possible home. That was a feat in itself, since it was the heaviest book of them all. Grumpily he stood and pushed in his chair, walking out into the hall for fifth period lunch.
Maybe I should do some of those questions at lunch… A growling sound from below his chest interrupted his thoughts, though, and he decided against it. He needed food in his stomach, and he needed it now. So in one swift movement he unlocked his locker, set his books inside, and headed for the cafeteria. Kiba, Chouji, Shikamaru and Sakura all had his lunch period, so after spotting Sakura's easy-to-recognize bubblegum pink hair he walked over and took a seat.
"Did you guys have Technology yet?" Chouji was asking around bites of his favorite lunch snack, barbeque potato chips.
Kiba nodded to Naruto. "We did in third period. What a lame project! We have to write touchy-feely e-mail to people we don't even know."
"Well, Ino, Hinata and I thought it was a great idea! It'll get you boys to loosen up and us girls a chance to maybe find love," Sakura said lightly with a small sigh.
"'Finding love' my ass." Kiba retorted. "My assigned address e-mailed me first, so by the time I went to my e-mail I already had it in my inbox. I got some chick who's spazzy and overly eager to spill her heart out to me."
"You're just being that way because you're already dating Hinata," Sakura points out, but Kiba just pushes the fact aside.
"Whatever. I just know this is going to be one hell of a month for me unless I fail this project first."
"It's such a drag," Shikamaru is saying lowly. "I got some cocky girl who doesn't even want to type to me. She says she's just volunteering for the older set of the program, so I'm guessing she's college aged."
"But I thought you liked older girls?" Naruto pipes up, a smirk on his face.
"Yeah, but she seems like a real bitch."
Sakura laughs. "I bet she's not that bad you've only had one e-mail between each other! Give it time. Besides, this is a good chance to ask her questions about college stuff so that you can be prepared."
"Sakura, I'm only a junior; I don't want to be thinking about college yet." Shikamaru says with a sip of his Coke.
"Well, what about you, Naruto? Did you get a response from your e-pal yet?" Chouji asks casually, wiping his mouth of barbeque powder before tossing the chip bag into the trash near their table.
"No, I haven't; maybe they didn't have Technology yet. The latest period is going on right now."
"Hmm, that's true," Sakura nods. "Maybe you'll get one later, then."
Suddenly buzzing is heard, and Naruto stands sharply before reaching into the back pocket of his school uniform to pull out his cell phone. "One new e-mail," he says mostly to himself.
"Or he'll get one now," Kiba chuckles, ripping off a bite of his hamburger. "What's it say, Naruto?"
"I'm not telling you!" the blonde snaps. "These are supposed to be personal, right?"
"Right," Sakura says, backing him up. "So leave him alone, you guys."
"Fine," comes the unanimous reply.
Quickly glancing at it, Naruto sees the e-mail was in fact from CatastrophicHeart. It looked something like this:
From: CatastrophicHeart(at)yahoo(dot)com
To: Addicted2Ramen(at)yahoo(dot)com
Subject: Re: Faceless-and-Nameless
Dear Shippuuden,
I'm going to be blunt with you: I really would rather not do this project to begin with. The teacher said I should be sincere, and that's sincerely my thoughts. But I have a reputation to uphold, so I'm willing to do whatever I can to keep a good grade in this class. But don't expect me to tell you anything I think is inappropriate. As for right now, I'll let you know that I'm a junior and male as well. I hope you weren't expecting some girl to cyber with. I know for a fact some guys would.
Regarding your statement on what my yahoo username means… it's simple, really: it's true. I won't deny that I've had some emotional hardships in my life. But then again, haven't we all? Still, I chose it because it was unique and fit me well. As far as your username goes… well, I don't need to ask if you like ramen. I bet you made that account when you were younger, didn't you? That, or you really don't have much creativity.
I digress. I really am not here to insult you. In all honesty, I'm just saying whatever comes to mind so that I can get the hell out of this class and done with this assignment. It's not the type I usually enjoy.
Signed,
Resshin (Earthquake)
At first, Naruto didn't know whether or not to be offended or intrigued by this guy. He decided to be both. The blonde grit his teeth while hitting the 'reply' button on his phone; he just had to give this guy a piece of his mind. Oddly, he chose a natural disaster as his nickname just like Naruto had. Perhaps he was just stealing the blonde's idea, but either way it was a good nickname to choose.
"Naruto, what are you doing?" Sakura asks, cocking her head slightly.
"I'm replying to this guy," he mutters, and Shikamaru starts to crack up.
"You got a guy? That's great; it's a new friend for you, Naruto."
"By the look on his face, I doubt it," Kiba grins. While he wasn't looking, Chouji stole the dill pickle on his lunch tray. "Hey! Give that back, you little thief!"
In one hearty bite, half the pickle was gone. "Are you sure you want it back?"
"Uhg, no. But you own me another pickle."
While this insignificant dispute went on, Sakura leaned over close enough for Naruto to smell the shampoo she uses. His face tints pink while she whispers to him, "What are you going to say to him?"
He knew she meant his e-pal, but still he asks, "Say to who?" while pressing digits furiously on his cell.
She rolls her eyes. "Your assigned e-mail guy. What are you going to say?"
"Nothing much," he lies.
"Okay then," she says, but inwardly she wanted to rip the phone from his hands and take a look for herself. But Sakura resists, being the girl that she is.
In the meantime, Naruto was currently typing a response…
From: Addicted2Ramen(at)yahoo(dot)com
To: CatastrophicHeart(at)yahoo(dot)com
Subject: Re: Re: Faceless-and-Nameless
Resshin,
Whoa, quite the opening e-mail there, buddy. If we're going to keep up being blunt, then might I say that I don't know whether or not to be offended or intrigued. You're obviously a smart guy by the way you talk and how you have this so-called 'reputation'. But you don't seem too bright in the 'being polite to others' category, do you? Didn't Mr. Umino say to 'be friendly'? But it's alright, because aside from my friends, I' used to being ignored. Especially when I was younger. So at least you cared enough – even if it was only for the grade – to reply. Thanks for that.
You know, we should try a question game. I'll ask two and then you ask two, got it? Here's my two questions: What's your favorite color? What's your favorite band?
My favorite color is orange, and I like lots of bands, mostly of the rock genre. Breaking Benjamin, Linkin Park, 30 Seconds To Mars, Skillet, Thousand Foot Krutch, P.O.D., the Used, Three Days Grace, Simple Plan, Blink-182 and Green Day are my top favs (in no real order).
Your turn.
– Shippuuden
He had to hit send when he got to his locker, because just as he had typed out '-uuden' the bell at lunch rang. Naruto proceeded to his locker, sent the message, got his books, and trudged to sixth period Chemistry (science) with Kakashi Hatake. In the front of the class in one of the black-topped chemical-resistant tables sat Gaara, whom Naruto tried not to look at. Their hatred since that fight has grown in the passed two years into the same ignoring, silently sizzling hate Suna and Konoha used to share. 'Used to' because now they have a sort of mutual alliance. On the other hand, Gaara and Naruto didn't.
This semester, however, Kakashi had decided to assign seats. Unfortunately for the two boys, they were forced to sit right across from one another in the front row. So Gaara was difficult to ignore and Naruto refused to scowl. So he settles for glaring sideways at the redhead. When he did, he saw in the boy's lap something black and silver; a cell phone. No, more specifically, a text, IM, and e-mail device. He watched with a confused frown at the boy secretly typed to someone on it, his face appearing calm and unfazed by whatever it was he was saying.
"Hey, sorry I'm late, class…" Kakashi says, a book covering his jaw. It seemed there was always something covering the man's mouth; a stack of papers, a collar of a shirt, a book or magazine, or an experiment for class that day. Also, he was always late. Nearly every day. Late. "…But I had to talk to Iruka. Apparently, my friend was able to actually convince the Board to let him go through with that e-mail idea! But just because it's for class doesn't mean I want to hear cellular phones going off, understand? And Gaara, don't even try to hide that you're fiddling with one in your lap. I won't punish you or anything because you're my top student, but next time keep it on the D.L., 'kay?"
Another thing about Mr. Hatake is that he sees everything. Some kids like to joke his scarred left eye has some sort of special power like Mad-Eye Moody in the Harry Potter books, but the more reasonable students know that he's actually blind in that eyes due to an accident with his friend Obito (one of Sasuke's cousins) when he was younger.
Naruto watched as Gaara hit a button near the bottom of the tiny keypad before sliding the gadget shut and slipping it into his pocket. Because he knew about Kakashi's pet peeve of electronical devices, Naruto had left his own phone in his locker after lunch. Curiously, the blonde leaned over slightly in his chair to peer at Gaara's face. It was unreadable, but Naruto was pretty sure he had been replying to his e-pal for Iruka's class; who else would the redhead bother to type to other than his siblings? Of 'course, that was also a possibility, but Naruto doubted it.
"You see something you like?" Gaara said suddenly, making Naruto jump. Is he talking to me…?
"Er… no," Naruto says with a huff as he leans back and adjusts himself in his chair.
"Then don't stare; it's rude."
He frowns at the pale boy, about to come up with a really good comeback when Kakashi plops a stack of graded papers on his desk. His head jerks up and he looks up at his teacher. "Huh?"
"Pass these out, Uzumaki. Unless you rather have everyone wait until their next report cards to see their grade."
Multiple faces eye him, as if to say, 'Come on, Naruto, I want to know my grade'. "Oh, um, sure…" The very top paper, he noticed with a roll of his eyes, was Gaara's. A plus, obviously. "Here," he says lowly between clenched teeth. For the faintest fraction of a moment, their hands brushed at the knuckles when Naruto let go of the paper. The contact was small, but in that second Gaara's muscles tensed all over his body. As he walked away to give the next graded paper, Naruto puzzled over the redhead's reaction. Does he hate me that much? He practically froze in place.
The blonde shrugged and continued to pass out papers while he listened to Kakashi rant about their new chapter in their Chemistry books. Something about creating this or that by mixing such and such. Naruto couldn't pronounce whatever it is the teacher had said. Maybe that's how his hair turned white, the boy joked to himself. Maybe he mixed the wrong things and got a radioactive reaction that made all the color drain from his hair! It was stupid, he knew, but his thoughts tended to wander in that direction whenever a teacher was lecturing. Usually, if he was sitting down, he would doodle.
He gave the last of the graded assignments to himself, which he noticed was automatically at the bottom of the pile. Kakashi must have known he was going to pick Naruto to pass these back…
Pretty soon things fell silent as they worked in class on some formulas for their upcoming experiment with the chemicals Kakashi had been ranting about. Just two more periods, the blonde thought to himself. Literature and study hall; then I'm out of here. He was lucky to only have an eight-period school day. The failing and D-average percentage of the student body had to have nine- to ten-period days.
During Lit class, Naruto was slowly becoming more and more eager to check his e-mail. He wanted to know if that guy would be a little nicer this time around. Or if he even bothered to answer the two questions Naruto has asked. Or, actually, if the guy had even written back at all. As soon as the bell rang, Naruto was out the door in a blonde blur, his school uniform colors hardly visible as he raced to his locker. In three turns and one hard yank he had his locker open. Naruto collected the books he needed for homework to work on, as well as his iPod and cell phone. They allowed electronics in study hall because they know some students can't do homework without music. Naruto was one of those students; he needed something in the back of his mind to keep his minor case of A.D.D. occupied.
So with the music talents of Finger Eleven playing into his eardrums, Naruto sat down to take out his history book and cell phone. Before he could even sing the first verse of 'Easy Life', he found himself smirking into his textbook at what as flashing across his cell phone screen. /one new mail message/
He clicked 'OK' to read it's contents. It said:
From: CatastrophicHeart(at)yahoo(dot)com
To: Addicted2Ramen(at)yahoo(dot)com
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Faceless-and-Name…
Dear Shippuuden,
You're right, he did say to be friendly. But I'm not very good at that. I'll try for my grade's sake, though. And the fact that you were ignored seems wrong to me. I was noticed a little too well, and it cost me a few bruises if you know what I mean.
That aside…
Favorite color? That's a very basic question. Does it really tell so much about a person to know their favorite color? If it does, then I suppose I could say my favorite color is dark blue. Some people, by looking at me, might guess black straight away, or even red. But ever since I was young I loved the night sky, so dark blue if my favorite color.
Music was actually clever to ask on your part; I'll have you know that I love music, and listen to quite a lot of different things. The bands you names are some of my favorites as well, specifically Three Days Grace, Breaking Benjamin, 30 Seconds To Mars, and Skillet. But I really like Hawthorne Heights, Placebo, Muse, the Killers, and the Killswitch Engage. And – now, don't make fun – I really like Evanescence. Have you ever heard Amy Lee's voice before? Lots of guys don't appreciate her music because they think, since she's a woman, her music is girly. But that's hardly the case. My sister was the one who introduced me to their music, and if you haven't already I think you should do the same. It would do your musical pallet good to try something new.
Other bands I listen to from time to time are Finger Eleven, Foo Fighters, and Incubus. When I was younger I liked Good Charlotte and U2, and U2 I still do like to hear every so often.
Now I suppose I get to ask the questions. Let's see…
What are your favorite movies? What do you do in your spare time? As for me, I like Tim Burton films. In my spare time, I write poetry and if I feel like it, lyrics.
Signed,
Resshin
Naruto was sitting straight up in his chair, his cell phone open in his hands. 'Falling On' was now playing through his head, but he was hardly paying attention to the lyrics or sound of the guitar and drums anymore. This guy was kind of cool, even if he was blunt and a tad unsure about things. And he liked a lot of the things Naruto did. And according to what he had said earlier about his mysterious username, he had felt some pain when he was growing up just like Naruto had, only in a more physical manner.
He set down his pencil and closed his book shut, at the moment too intent on replying to the e-mail. He tucked some blonde hair behind one ear before writing with his fingers:
From: Addicted2Ramen(at)yahoo(dot)com
To: CatastrophicHeart(at)yahoo(dot)com
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Faceless-and…
Resshin,
Man, I'm sorry to hear about the 'bruises' thing. Makes sense why you're not too friendly; you had some problems growing up. I can understand that. If I say too much you might know who I am, but I can at least say my mom isn't, er, with me anymore. And let me tell you, that hurt like hell, like a shot to my heart. She had died in car accident; well, a car/motorcycle accident, because my mom rode a Yamaha. She wasn't your average mom, that's for sure. But that's why I loved her so much… she was tough but kind.
You know, I've checked out Evanescence before, and I'll admit she has a really gorgeous voice. In her older stuff everything is kind of slow, but her Fallen CD is full of all kind of hard rock. And some of the songs from Origin were a little creepy in a really cool way. I like their stuff but I didn't say anything about it because I thought it would've made me sound too… 'soft'. Not that I'm a super tough guy or anything, but I unfortunately care what other people think half the time. Especially new people I meet. I want to make an okay impression, you know? But yeah, I forgot to mention some bands; like Finger Eleven? Coincidentally, I was listening to them when I checked my e-mail just now!
Movies, you say? I really like those Pirates of the Caribbean ones. And anime ones. Tim Burton films are cool, especially the musicals. When I was really little, The Nightmare Before Christmas was something I watched every Halloween and sang along with. Totally dorky, right? But hey, I was just a kid. I had an excuse.
As for my spare time… meh, I usually do shit. My dad (who's not really my dad) says I need a hobby. "Like what?" I always ask. He usually mentions a sport, or fishing or hunting, or something like that. But I don't know; none of it sounds that appealing to me. I used to play basketball, but not in the school team, just by myself or with some friends. I'm not that good, though, so I just never picked it up. So as far as spare time goes, I guess I could say I take walks. I walk all over the place: in the forest, down by the river, in the hiking trails or through my neighborhood. I like to walk and listen to music or think. Mostly the music, though. I don't have much to think about, heh heh.
Okay, I got some deeper questions for you: Are your parents divorced or anything? And could you send me a poem? I want to know what you write about.
– Shippuuden
The blonde smirked to himself at his lengthy letter and sent it. He glanced at the clock, though, and cursed himself. He had spent nearly half an hour on one e-mail?! What only gave him fifteen more minutes until school lets out to finish up some homework!
With sudden determination, he cranked his iPod up and played 'Hemorrhage (In My Hands)' by Fuel as he surfed through his history book for those questions. Ah, there they were. Now, let's see what they say… Oh, these are really easy. I took some notes on this stuff in class, Naruto thinks brightly. He grins and finishes all his history homework by the time dismissal came around. Sure, he still had math homework from second period to complete, and one or two formulas from Chemistry, but other than that he was home free.
