Danielle took a few things from her locker and shoved them into her backpack.
"Hey Danielle!" Naruto greeted cheerfully. The black-haired girl looked up and grinned at him as she zipped her backpack up. She slowly lifted it to her shoulders and stood up.
"What's up?" she asked, shutting her locker door.
"I just wanted to ask you a question." Danielle giggled and nodded.
"Okay, but you better hurry it up. I need to meet up with Neji, since he's my ticket home."
"Gaara, Sakura, Sasuke, and I usually do something on a Friday night," he began to explain. "Tonight we're going bowling and we wanted to know if you would join us. I don't know if you know Sakura and Sasuke yet, but I can introduce them if you don't."
"Sounds like fun! What time?"
"Sasuke's older brother will be picking us up around 7. We just need to know what your street address is."
"Do you know where Hinata Hyuuga lives?" she asked. Naruto smiled and nodded. "I live on the house to the right of hers."
"Alright. I guess we'll see you then!" Danielle grinned and nodded.
She turned away from Naruto and walked happily down the hallway. She was happy nonetheless. She could safely say that Naruto was her friend. She wasn't really sure about what Gaara thought of her, but she considered him to be a friend as well. On top of that, she was going to meet two more people.
"I'm so glad that I moved in with my aunt," Danielle thought to herself. "It's so different here, but I really like it. I'm happy."
xooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooox
Danielle quickly got dressed in her outfit and looked at herself in the mirror. She was wearing a red, black, and white plaid mini skirt, black leggings under her skirt, black and white tennis shoes, and a black t-shirt with a white bunny printed on the front of it.
Satisfied with what she was wearing, she grabbed her brush off of her dresser and ran it through her raven-colored hair. She then proceeded in putting her hair up into a messy bun, using a ponytail holder and some bobby-pins to keep it in place. Just as she was finishing, she heard her aunt call her name.
"Danni! Your friends just pulled into the driveway!" Danielle giggled and smiled to herself.
"Friends," she sighed to herself. "I love the way that word sounds." Danielle grabbed her purse and her jacket before leaving her room. She skipped down the stairs and past her aunt.
"I'll see you later!" Danielle called out as she dashed out of the house. She ran out to the car where she met with the hyperactive blonde. They grinned at each other for a moment before piling inside.
"It's going to be kind of squished, but at least it won't be for long," Naruto informed her. Danielle smiled, looking at the red-head sitting next to her. He looked extremely uncomfortable, which she somehow expected.
"Are you okay Gaara?" she asked, a bit concerned for her friend.
"Hnn…," was the only answer he gave her. Danielle stared at him for a moment before looking past him and at a girl with pink hair. The girl looked right back at her and smiled.
"You're Danielle, right?" she asked. The raven-haired girl nodded and smiled shyly. "It's nice to finally meet you in person. Naruto wouldn't shut up about the fact that you were coming along." Danielle blushed a little and giggled. "My name is Sakura by the way. The one up front is Sasuke." Upon hearing his name, the boy in the front seat looked back at Danielle and gave her a nod of acknowledgment.
"That's my brother, Itachi," Sasuke told her, his voice dripping with malice. Itachi chuckled at his younger brother and flicked him in the forehead.
"You better change that tone of voice, little brother," he snickered. "You're lucky that I even agreed to drive you and your little friends around." Sasuke glared at him, rubbing his forehead with the palm of his hand.
After about 5 or 10 minutes, Itachi pulled into the parking lot and the 5 anxious teens piled out of the car.
"You guys have a ride home, right?" Itachi asked. Naruto grinned and nodded.
"Iruka said that he could pick us up," he informed him. Itachi nodded and drove off.
The teenagers slowly walked into the building and waited in line. Each one of them chipped in some money to play a game. They all received their shoes, picked out a bowling ball, and headed over to the lane they would be playing in. While everyone else got their things together, Sakura set up the score board. The order was: Sasuke, Naruto Gaara, Sakura, and Danielle.
"Have you ever been bowling before?" Naruto asked as Sasuke took his turn. Danielle smiled and nodded.
"I have, but only a couple of times. I stink though."
"You can't be that bad," Naruto chuckled.
"I've never hit a single pin out of all the times I have played." Naruto stared at her with wide eyes.
"Never?!" he asked in surprise. Danielle shook her head. "And I thought I was the worst player ever." Danielle shrugged.
"I guess you're not."
Danielle took her turns, getting a gutter-ball each time. None of them could understand how she could get so many gutter-balls. Each time she went, Sasuke's frustration kept growing more and more. On the 7th turn, he couldn't stand it any longer. Sighing with frustration, he got up and walked over to her.
"Let me give you a hand," he sighed. Danielle looked at him in shock, but nodded. Sasuke started giving her tips and moved her to the side a little bit. Naruto watched with interest as Sakura glared daggers at the new girl. What surprised him the most was that Gaara was glaring daggers at Sasuke.
"What has him so upset?" he silently asked himself. "It couldn't be that Gaara has a crush on her, could it?"
After a couple of moments, Sasuke stepped back and watched Danielle take her turn. This time, when she rolled ball, she actually knocked one of the pins over. Upon this amazing feat, the new girl jumped up and down, squealing with joy.
"I hit one!" she exclaimed happily.
"It's a new record!" Naruto laughed, grinning at her.
"I know! Isn't it amazing!?" Gaara smirked at her, amused at how excited she was over something so insignificant. Still, it seemed to mean a lot to her.
xooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooox
Danielle quietly entered her house at 10:15 and headed upstairs. She knocked softly on her aunt's door and entered her room.
"I'm home!" she chirped. Her aunt raised her head from the book she was reading and smiled at Danielle.
"Did you have fun?" she asked. Danielle grinned and nodded.
"I actually knocked a pin down!" Layla raised an eyebrow and smirked.
"That's a first." Danielle giggled and nodded.
"I know. Well, I'm going to bed. I have tech crew in the morning and I don't want to be too tired."
"Goodnight."
Danielle shut her aunt's door and scampered off to her own room. The first thing she did was take her journal out of her backpack. She sat down at her desk and began writing.
September 7th, Friday
Tonight I went out with actual friends! I've never really had friends before, since my parents and I never really stayed in a place for too long.
We went bowling tonight and Sasuke helped me so that I knocked down my first pin ever! It was so exciting! I bet my parents would be proud of how well I'm doing, that is, if they were still alive.
DANIELLE MIYAKAZI
xooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooox
Gaara quietly entered his home, trying hard not to disturb his father. His dad was usually asleep or out cold by this time, but there were some nights where he was wide awake. He hoped that this wasn't one of those. He really didn't feel like fighting his dad.
Gaara silently made his way through the pitch black house. He went up the stairs and into his room, shutting and locking the door like he always did. He turned his light on and glanced around the room. His gaze fell upon the journal that was lying on his desk. Taking a seat in front of the desk, he opened up the book and began to write.
September 7th, Friday
DO NOT READ!!
I went bowling with Naruto and his two friends, Sakura and Sasuke. Danielle tagged along as well. It was fun, I guess. Danielle is a lot like Naruto, in the fact that she is always happy and smiling and hyper. Still, it's somewhat entertaining, but she's still weird. She's so weird that she makes me feel weird whenever I'm around her. I don't like it, but I don't want it to go away either. This is just too confusing!
GAARA
Alright, so this was one review short of the 5 I had originally wanted, but I decided to be nice and post it up today anyway. The main reason I'm being so nice is because I am slightly ahead in my writing, so I figured that I could let it slide this time.
I will post the next chapter when the review counter thing reaches 12 and not until then. So, the sooner you want me to post, the more you should review.
A special thank you to NeferNeferi for being my Beta Reader and for helping me out all this time. You still rock!
A thank you to all my wonderful reviewers:
Kina Lupi - thank you!
Sarimia- Thanks! I'm glad you liked the journal entries. I like adding stuff like that in, so this story gives me the chance to do that.
NeferNeferi- I'm happy to hear that you are curious about Temari and Kankurou. I won't say when, but I will say that they do make a small appearance in the story at some point.
twilight-yuna17- thanks!
So, I'll post chapter 5 once the review counter hits 12 you please REVIEW!! Until then, C-Ya!