I had an unnatural talent for geography when I was in Years 7 - 9 and I am so glad I gave it up at GCSE! History is a way better subject – plus I make my friend Lauren laugh during it! I don't know if I still have it but all I know is I hate the subject! I just thought I would write this as it mentions Sasuke's talent for geography in this chapter.

Well, enjoy please…

Chapter 4

It was about half six that he heard his alarm go off from his room – it was so loud that he could hear it from the living room. He had about four hours sleep. "Longest sleep since Saturday!" He got up and turned the alarm off and made himself some breakfast. He changed in to some cleaner uniform and gathered his school stuff together. He then went to Shizune and stuck an empty beer can next to her bed with a note attached to it. He walked over to the first aid kit and took a few painkillers, more then it said to take but he knew he needed more for how he felt. He also placed a sharp knife in his bag. He didn't know why but he seemed to need it for something – it was nagging him in the back of his mind. It was seven o'clock by now and he needed to start walking so he could go to the shop to pick himself something to eat for lunch with the money he found on the floor yesterday.

The shop was in the opposite direction to the school, a twenty minute walk to the nearest shop and then a forty minute walk to the school from there. The shop was open and in came Naruto.

"Hey Naruto", the man behind the counter said sleepily.

"Hey, Deidara, how's it going?"

"Not bad. You look like crap, how was Shizune yesterday?"

"Not bad last night compared to usual. She really is out of control with her drinking. I swear I almost didn't duck in time last night when she was throwing the glass vases. She's going to yell at me later for them because she won't remember she threw them at me".

"You look a bit battered. Did she manage to hit you?"

"No this was those two bullies I was telling you about. Neji and Shino; Kurenai-sensei saw them picking on me and she suspended them both and they beat me up after school yesterday for it. On the bright side I am partnered with Sasuke in my music project".

"Wow. That's good! Secret crush, maybe you can put your move on him".

"Nah. He'd think I was really weird then".

"What's wrong with gay people? I'm gay!"

"I know. How's Sasori?"

"Oh he's okay. Coming back from a work conference thing today so I can welcome him nicely".

"Please don't give me mental images, Deidara".

"Sorry. Anyway, I'll scan it and pay for you. You shouldn't have to pay anything seeing as I'm nice and your life is crappy".

"Thanks, that's all I need reminding of".

"Well, let's just say that I'm cutting you some slack. You need a nice trip away from everything here". Naruto thought about no one cutting him some slack and smiled slightly. Deidara was a good friend even if he was a bit creepy and five years older than him.

"Thanks".

"Hey, how's Sakura? I heard she's come down with the flu".

"Yeah, she won't be able to come and visit all week".

"Bugger, I was hoping she'd come down on Wednesday so she can help me with my computer programming".

"Well, unless you want to catch the flu, I guess I could see if I could come down and help out".

"Are you good at computers?"

"Not too bad. But either that or you're doing it alone".

"See ya there then. Tomorrow's Wednesday isn't it?"

"Yep".

"So see ya tomorrow then. Come about four. Have fun at school".

"Like that's possible".

"I meant with your crush".

Naruto smiled and waved as he left the shop.

"Poor kid", Deidara muttered as he watched Naruto cross the street to go to school.

Naruto walked for another forty minutes, taking in the scenery and trying to look out for Shino and Neji in case they sprung up out of nowhere to beat him again. It was then he remembered that they were suspended and he wouldn't see them. Feeling happier about school, he skipped slightly and continued onwards. Then he remembered that there were still others who would pick on him in their place. It was then he heard someone shouting his name. He turned to see Sasuke getting out of a posh black stretch limo.

"Hey, I came up with a good idea but it was about eleven o'clock and so I didn't call again. I found an old portable stereo of mine and I've brought it in, with my CD copies of Three Days Grace's albums. This way Kurenai can rip the vocals and the guitar and leave the drums backing so we don't need to find someone to be a drummer for us. Good idea?"

"Brilliant idea actually. We just have to ask Kurenai to do it today".

"Well, I have to go and drop this off – don't want it stolen – so I'll see you later".

"Bye".

Naruto walked off to his tutor room and he was shocked by what he saw in there. Neji and Shino were sat in their usual seats and they had caught sight of Naruto.

"Hello Uzumaki, did you think you got rid of us?" Neji said smirking at his scared face.

"You see Uzumaki; we have influential fathers who made sure we were back in school and suspension taken off our record. You are just very unlucky that we still remember it and are going to hurt you for it".

The two bullies high-fived each other and sniggered. They looked at each other and lowered their voices to a whisper, "We have something to show you Uzumaki but we'll wait until break to give you the pleasure".

Naruto looked petrified. He sat down at his seat, alone. His face paled and he bit his lip as he anxiously wondered what it could be that they wanted to show him. What could it be? Was it another beating in disguise? He wouldn't be able to last if it was. The two bullies sniggered, until Sasuke walked in the room. He waved at Naruto, who waved back. Neji and Shino were dumbstruck – they never got a wave from Sasuke. He barely said a word to them yet they were ignored while he waved at Naruto. Sasuke got out his general book and started working on something privately. Shino looked murderously at Naruto. After all Sasuke was their idol and they couldn't have the loser they picked on, on terms with Sasuke.

"Oh you are so getting it later", Neji hissed at the terrified teen.

Naruto sat and worried all morning as his mind wondered over all the things that the bullies had done to him since he arrived at the school and the dark possibilities they were planning for him at break.

At the end of the lesson, Naruto had no work done and he was very nervous. It was then that Sasuke came over to show him what he had been working on.

"See, look at this". He showed Naruto a detailed drawing of what they looked like on the stage. He had drawn a mysterious drummer in the back for effect.

"Wow, that's really cool! I never knew you could draw. I'm an artist too".

"Really?"

"Yeah, look, I'll show you some rough work that I've done in class". Naruto took out his own general book and showed Sasuke some of his own drawings – Naruto looking out of the window and then other random drawings and then he accidentally showed one of Sasuke drawing in the corner, like he had been today.

"Wow! You drew me! It's really good".

"Thanks". Naruto was worried about a weird reaction Sasuke was going to give, like asking him questions about why he had drawn him.

"I'm going to step up my game. I'll draw one of you and I'll see if it even begins to look good in comparison. It's strange how much we have in common. Oops, I've made us late. I'll see you in the next class; I need to speak to Kakashi quickly. See ya dobe".

Sasuke ran out and Naruto followed slowly. He was tripped up as he left the class by Shino. He landed on his hands and knees, his hand throbbed painfully. Several spectators laughed at him as he gathered his belongings and stood up and even more so when Neji pushed him to the floor again. Naruto felt slightly dizzy and his vision was blurred. After a minute or so, his vision cleared and he got up and ran off to the next lesson; geography with Ebisu-sensei.

"You're late Naruto", he said as he entered.

"Sorry, I had to wait for the printer in the library to finish. I don't have a computer at home so I needed to print the last part off for my homework. Here". Naruto lied and handed him the homework; Ebisu-sensei smiled slightly.

"Thank you Naruto. Right, I need you to work in pairs today and Sakura isn't here, poor girl, so I want you to sit next to Sasuke please".

Naruto's mouth gaped slightly. He walked over and sat down next to him.

"Partnered again? I guess that means we're meant to be together". Sasuke smirked.

The words made Naruto blush so he pretended to look for something in his bag until he knew his face wasn't so red.

"Well, anyway. We need to compose a song list. I thought we could do five songs, the maximum as we're good enough".

"Yeah, sounds good".

"Kurenai said she'd do the backing tape for us today if we get it in. Apparently, she's good with a computer".

"Really? Never knew that – she doesn't seem the kind of person to be very technical".

"I didn't think so either".

They talked all lesson about the class work; Sasuke being kind enough to help explain what it meant. Sasuke had an unnatural talent for geography and he hated the subject so Naruto found it a bit strange. They seemed to get on really well. Neji and Shino were eying them all lesson. Soon enough, it was break.

Sasuke said goodbye and walked off out of the class; Naruto could feel Neji and Shino's eyes on him. He walked outside and he was met with a smack around the head. Neji and Shino were there.

"Let's go somewhere a little less crowded", Shino whispered. His eyes were full of malice as he pushed Naruto to go where he wanted.

They ended up in an alcove outside near the music block.

"Well, we were searching online to find something about the name Naruto Uzumaki, as we were curious to know if something came up. And did you know what we found?"

Naruto looked terrified. "N-no".

"This". Neji held up a printed copy of the Konoha Daily newspaper. It was quite an old copy. Naruto suddenly knew what they were talking about".

"This is about the murder of your parents, Naruto. Did you not remember?"

Naruto's eyes widened as he saw the ecstatic looks on their faces, knowing Naruto knew what they were talking about. They looked so pleased with themselves.

"Well, you see, it says in here that someone came in murdered your parents in the night but they only scarred you across your face". Neji and Shino both touched the scars on Naruto's face – the ones that made it look like he had whiskers. He flinched at their touch.

"So it's true that someone killed your parents. Wow, never knew someone whose parents were murdered before. Why didn't you tell us this before hand? Want us to re-enact it for you to witness again?"

"Why would someone kill your parents but not you? They were such loving helpful people; 'lovely contributors to the local community'. Your mother was apparently 'an outstanding doctor' and your father 'ran the most successful and friendly clinic to be based in Konoha'. How could someone like you be born from people like them? People who are so kind and good natured and make a difference; you are just a useless piece of crap that no one wants. Do you think that someone killed them out of pity?"

"Shut up!" Naruto was angry now. "Stop talking about my parents like that! You didn't know them!"

"You didn't even know them well. You were only eight at the time".

"I still knew them!"

"Really? Well, then we thought. No one would scar a child like that, they would have killed them. So was it you who killed your parents?"

Naruto looked at them as if they were mad. Their faces had a look of fake inquisitive, like they were really thinking and waiting for Naruto's answer.

"I did not kill my parents. How could you even ask me something like that?"

"No one ever found the culprit and you apparently had blood on your hands when the police and ambulances arrived".

Naruto looked down at his hands and saw the blood of his parents. He shook his head slightly to get rid of the image.

"SHUT UP!" Naruto yelled. His eyes turned red with anger and the two in front of him looked slightly apprehensive.

"It says that you couldn't physically speak at the time you were so devastated. I bet it was because you couldn't say that you were the real murderer!"

Naruto hit Neji hard around the face and he kicked Shino in the stomach. He grabbed the newspaper clipping from them. He waited nervously, his feet wouldn't move, he was so scared.

"What have I done? They're really going to kill me now!" he thought. He saw the eyes of the two bullies. They looked so angry it made Naruto sprint away. He didn't care where he went. No, he did care. He wasn't going to let them kill him.

"I'll kill myself before they touch me, but how?" Naruto remembered the blade he had put in his bag before he left this morning. Maybe his mind was subconsciously telling him to do it before the thought had crossed his mind. He ran to the nearest toilets. They were the music ones, his next lesson.

"Sorry Sasuke. This project won't go so well after all", he whispered. He looked behind, to the front, all around and couldn't see Neji or Shino so he ran in to the bathroom. He walked to the toilet nearest the end wall. He checked that no one else was in the bathroom and he locked himself in the toilet at the end. He sat on the toilet and started to cry when he thought about his parents, Tsunade, Sakura, Deidara and everyone else he knew who actually cared. He thought of Sasuke and cried harder. He thought about Shizune and her harsh words wishing she would die; he thought about Neji and Shino hurting him yesterday and their hurtful words that they said just a few minutes ago; he heard the laughter of all those who would point and make fun of him when Neji and Shino were making entertainment out of his suffering. He grabbed the knife and without any second thoughts he dug it deep in to his left wrist and cut across. He then watched as the blood poured out. It was hypnotic but it was not enough to kill him. He then blocked out the pain of his left wrist and used his left hand to cut his right wrist. Tears poured down in pain and in fear as he dropped the blade and it splashed in the blood. He hoped nobody would find him and see him like he was. The blood was pooling out under the door of the cubicle now. He was really dizzy now; he couldn't see straight. All he could see was the red of the blood and the blackness closing in…

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