DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto, any characters affiliated, an evil alarm clock, a crowded TTC bus, the main hallway of my school (why would I?) or black hair with plantinum blonde streaks. I did, however, make up the three students that are not former ninjas, though they are based loosely on real people. I'm not telling you who...
A/N: Back in the school's computer lab...I don't like constantly looking over my shoulder. It makes my neck hurt...
Beep!
Ugh...no...
Beep!
Shut up...
Beep!
You can't make me get up!
Beep!
NOOooo...!
Beep!
Be-
Michelle finally slammed her hand onto the digital clock and shut the alarm off.
"I hate waking up!" she moaned, rolling sideways and flopping awkwardly out of bed.
The 16-year-old landed hard, forehead-first, onto the cold wooden floor with a resounding clunk.
"...Monday..." she grumbled.
"Mitsy! Are you awake now?"
Michelle lifted her head up and faced her door to answer.
"Yes, mom!" Why do you call me that name...?
With a sigh, she untangled herself from her sheets (mainly by flopping around randomly on the floor) and got ready to face her day back at school.
You can tell she isn't a morning person...
Shaun waited for Michelle at the end of her driveway, and, at about quarter to eight, they were on the bus to school. That was when Shaun had a small problem: the bus was warm, and crowded; he had to stand close beside Michelle. Too close for comfort.
Shit...how long does this bus take? Shaun thought, trying to ignore the bugs moving inside him, ...Is there really only one escape from this madness?
Michelle didn't notice his silence during the bus ride; she knew that he wasn't the talkative type. What bothered her was the way he ran off the bus without waiting for her, making a beeline towards the school.
...Yeah, I feel good about myself, Michelle thought sarcastically, watching the tall boy run towards the back doors of the school, ...Whatever. It's not like I own him; he can do what he wants.
Meanwhile, in Shaun's head...
Get inside, get away, let the bugs fall asleep again...
As he thought this, Shaun was concentrating so hard on getting away from Michelle, that he didn't watch where he was going; he ran right into someone and caused both of them to fall to the ground.
"Whoa, watch where you're going!" the girl he'd bumped into snapped angrily.
"I...sorry, I didn't see you," Shaun stammered, kneeling to help the girl pick up the books that she'd dropped.
"Well, why don't you-" the girl started angrily, then she looked up, "Oh...oh, hello!" she said in a totally different tone.
Shaun glanced at her before turning back towards her books.
Good grief...she's one of those...
"I'm Mika. Mika Patricks," she said, suddenly with a highvoice and abig smile on her face, and held out her hand, "And you are...?"
"Shaun Anderson," he answered, placing the books in her hand instead of shaking it, and getting up.
"Nice to meet you, Shaun!" Mika cooed, rushing in front of him before he could get away and gave him a huge hug.
She was short, Shaun couldn't help but notice; she barely came up to the middle of his chest. But Shaun was tall.
"Um...yes..."
Shaun tried to push her off, but she had a good grip.
"Are you new?" she asked, still smiling.
"Yes..."
"Then I can show you around!" Mika said enthusiastically, linking her elbow with his and half dragging him down the main hall.
"No, I'm fine on my own," Shaun insisted, trying to be polite.
Get her off of me...NOW...
"Oh come on! It'll be fun!" Mika cooed, leaning against him just so, not quite flirting, but not as if she were discouraging it either.
"No, please, I'm all right," Shaun said, trying to pry his arm away from her.
"I insist!" Mika giggled, patting his hand as if he wasn't trying to escape, "It's no trouble!"
Oh yes, it is, Shaun thought, Please just let go!
"Hey Mika, still desperately looking for a boyfriend?" a familiar voice asked.
Both linked people turned and saw Denise and Hinata walking towards them.
"Oh. You," Mika muttered, glaring at Denise.
"Let him go," Denise ordered, glaring back.
Mika hmphed, then did so, stomping away as dignified as a girl in high heels could.
"I'll see you around, Shaun," she called over her shoulder, with a cheery smile for him and a frown for Denise.
I'd rather you didn't, Shaun thought, brushing off his sleeve.
"Our school's usually nice," Denise said apologetically, "Not everyone's like her."
Shaun merely shrugged it off.
"You're timing was good. How are you two?"
"Denise doesn't wake up too quickly," Hinata said slyly, looking to the side.
"Ugh, whatever," Denise said, waving it off, "Come on; I'll show you two where Corey, Michelle and I keep our lockers."
The three friends walked down one hallway, just missing a scene that was finishing outside.
What had happened outside?
Kyle and Nat had gotten up late, and ended up missing Denise and Hinata as they left. The five dogs accompanied both of them to the school; though the dogs weren't allowed in the school, the principal never said anything about the dogs hanging around the school.
"Are you sure the dogs will be ok?" Nat asked.
Both boys were standing on the sidewalk in front of the school, observing. One guy and one girl were sitting on the front steps, blatantly breaking the school's 'no smoking' rule. But they were never caught anyway, so they didn't care.
"They'll be fine. They're used to waiting outside for us, remember?" Kyle pointed out.
"Yeah, but those two look mean," Nat said, pointing to the people on the steps.
"Hey. They're ninken dogs. I think they'll be ok," Kyle said, rolling his eyes.
The two people on the steps thought that they were being challenged; one grade 11 had just pointed at them, and the other one rolled his eyes.
"Hey, what's the matter with you?" the girl called across, tossing her blonde hair over her shoulder.
"Nothing; we're just passing by," Kyle shrugged.
"Oh yeah? Then just pass on by," the boy said, motioning with one hand towards the door.
Yuck...that kid has black hair and platinum blonde streaks... Porthos observed, and the other dogs nodded their agreement.
Nat didn't like that guy either.
"Could you just relax? You don't own the school!" Nat yelled, shaking a fist with a little nerve on it.
"Nat, calm down, it's our first day," Kyle advised in a low voice.
"Hey, you wanna fight, buddy?" the girl asked, standing up.
"Katie, cut it out," the boy said, getting up and putting a hand on her shoulder.
"Hey, that Denise girl says it to me all the time, and she never means it," Katie said, shaking his hand off.
"Remember what she said?" the boy asked, "That's only because you're a girl."
"Yeah, whatever," Katie tsked, turning back to the boys.
"Then how come you never say it when you're alone with her?" the boy asked.
The girl merely shrugged and called out again.
"Hey, boys, you wanna fight? Huh? You wanna fight, boys? Hey, boys, you wanna fight?"
You'd think she'd at least paraphrase it, instead of repeat it so much, Aramis said cynically.
Don't get too hasty, guys, Akamaru advised, seeing a glint in Athos' eye, Kiba doesn't want to cause a scene. Just let it go, at least for today.
Kyle grabbed Nat's elbow and pulled him towards the door; the dogs followed behind, except D'Artagnan, who was curious as to how the boy's shoes smelled.
"Don't get fighting, Nat, that's the last thing we need," he said, thankful that the dogs weren't acting up.
"Hey, I think they're gay! Look, they're, like, holding hands!" the boy chuckled, pointing.
"And you talk like a girl! Who says 'like' in their sentence like that?" Nat yelled, when Kyle had stopped walking.
"Tomorrow, guys. Tomorrow," Kyle growled to both Nat and the dogs.
"You think you're so cool, huh?" Katie yelled, "Well, why don't you fight? Wanna fight, boys? C'mon, Nick, help me out!"
"I'm agirl, huh?" Nick asked, raising an eyebrow.
Without further speech, he lashed out and kicked D'Artagnan, who was still beside him. The dog yelped as he was sent about two metres away from his original place, after taking the kick right into his side. His brothers and Akamaru immediately ran to him, and surrounding him, growling at Nick.
"Ohmigosh, you kicked the puppy!" the blonde girl gasped.
Kyle released Nat and marched back to the three smokers; he didn't stop until he was right in Nick's personal space.
"Say you're sorry you did that," he said in a dangerously low voice, "...say it!"
"But I'm not," Nick said with a smirk, not knowing what he was getting himself into.
"Say it, or I'll make you sorry," Kyle growled.
"Oh, so you wanna fight now?" Katie asked in her annoying voice.
"Is that a threat?" Nick asked, still smirking.
"Very much so," Kyle answered, "Now apologize!"
"No."
Kyle felt his blood boiling, but he managed to keep it down for a little bit longer.
"...This is your last chance. Apologize."
"No."
Kyle's eyes darkened, and now Nick got the idea that maybe he should have said sorry. But too late.
"Athos, Porthos, hold onto Nat. Akamaru, Aramis, stay by D'Artagnan. This guy's mine," Kiba commanded.
Nick tsked, "I'm not impre-ugh!"
Kyle sent a quick punch to Nick's stomach, then took a step back and sent a kick into his gut. Nick fell to the ground, stunned.
...He's really fighting, Katie thought, ...I...I'd better help...
"S-so you do wanna fight," Katie said, stepping forward with her fists up as Nick got up from the ground.
"Akamaru, hang onto her!" Kyle ordered, dodging a punch from Nick.
The white dog ran and knocked Katie down; he sat on her stomach so that she couldn't move.
"Arf!" Akamaru said. Translation: "Stay!"
"...Ew..." Katie muttered, wiping a bit of dog spittle from her face.
Kyle punched Nick straight into the gut, and kicked him in the same place, knocking him down again. Nick got up, and Kyle repeated. Punch, kick, wait...punch, kick, wait...five times. Finally, Nick wouldn't get up.
"That's what you did to him," Kyle growled, rolling Nick with a foot so that he faced D'Artagnan, who was now standing shakily, "Are you sorry now?"
"...yes."
"What did you say?"
"I'm...sorry."
Nick looked down at the sidewalk, and Kyle nodded.
"Good," Kyle stepped away from Nick and walked towards the school, "Let go of the girl, Akamaru. Come on, Nat."
Nat followed Kyle, but not before sticking his tongue out at the two smokers. Akamaru gathered the rest of the dogs, and all five ran to the back of the school's field where they wouldn't be bothered. Katie helped Nick up, and the boy immediately started coughing.
"No more yelling at Denise. She's serious too," Nick gasped when he could catch his breath, and Katie nodded, still in shock.
So don't kick dogs. It's not very nice. Not very nice at all.
When Kyle and Nat entered the school, they found Michelle waiting for them, just inside the doors. The slender girl had her hands on her hips, with a stern look on her face; Kyle and Nat stopped where they were and shifted uncomfortably.
"Why do you have your 'mom' look on?" Kyle asked, not meeting Michelle's eyes.
"I think you can guess, Kyle," Michelle answered, still looking stern.
There was an awkward silence, and then Nat spoke up.
"It's not like I'm in trouble! I didn't do anything!" Nat exclaimed, putting his hands up.
"Exactly," Michelle nodded, closing her eyes and crossing her arms, "You were watching. You could've done something."
The boys glanced at each other, then sighed.
"Look, about that thing outside...I should've-" Kyle started.
"Hit the girl? Totally!" Michelle exclaimed, opening her eyes and narrowing them, "What were you doing, only attacking Nick?"
"I...what?" Kyle blinked and Nat sweatdropped.
"You know those two?" Nat asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah, Katie's been harrassing Denise for months."
"'Harrassing' Denise?" Kyle frowned, "Does she have a death wish?"
"No," Michelle shook her head, "She was making fun of one of Denise and my friends, so Denise was all, 'Leave her alone', and the Katie was all, 'What's it to you?' and then starts swearing at Denise, so Denise got mad and said, 'You wanna fight?' Katie thought Denise was joking, so every time she sees her now, she says, 'Hey, Denise, you wanna fight?', and it's really annoying. I try to keep Denise from doing anything, but the fact that Katie isn't taking Denise seriously isn't helping."
"Oh..." Nat nodded thoughtfully, "Well, I don't think she'll try anything now."
"Maybe," Michelle nodded.
Michelle turned and walked about three steps before looking back.
"Hey, you guys coming, or what?" she asked, with a friendly smile; she was out of her 'mother mode'.
Kyle let out a breath of relief, and Nat cracked a grin before both hurried to walk beside her.
That's some start for their first day at school...I think I'll skip the actual lessons part...So let's just go straight to after the last bell!
"I still don't get it!"
Michelle let her head fall onto the table with a loud thud, and faked crying. Hinata put a hand on her shoulder and Nat yelled out loud.
"Dammit!" Nat turned around from his place on the floor, "Michelle, I was winning!"
"...sorry..." Michelle looked up apolegetically and Naruto turned back to the TV screen.
All eight of them were in Kyle and Nat's apartment; as soon as school had ended, they had all become one large group and migrated to the small living space that both boys' parents were sponsoring. Michelle and Hinata were studying grade 11 Physics at the table, and Isaac was sitting on the couch being bored, with Denise sitting crosslegged on the floor between his legs (A/N: Isaac's being protective, darn you, not...that way!). Denise, Nat and Kyle were playing Super Smash Bros. Melee on Nat's Gamecube, Corey was watching from the opposite end of the couch, and Shaun was watching while leaning on the wall beside the window. The dogs were lying all around the room; Porthos was between Corey and Isaac on the couch, Athos had his chin supported on one of Denise's knees, Akamaru was beside Kyle watching the screen, Aramis was in Michelle's lap, and D'Artagnan was sitting on the floor by Shaun, trying to look as cool as the 16-year-old was. Hinata sighed and tried to explain the concept to Michelle again.
"Look here," she said, pointing to an equation on the paper, "If power is equal to voltage times current, and voltage is equall to current times resistance, then power is also equal to current squared multiplied by resistance."
"But why? I don't see it," Michelle said, staring at the letters on the page, trying to understand.
I'm glad I'm not taking that course, Naruto thought.
Shino, why aren't you helping? Hinata thought tiredly, You're much better at this subject and teaching than I am...
I can't concentrate... Michelle thought, I saw Shino during Biology and he didn't say 'hi', during lunch he ignored me, and now...don't read into it too much! Maybe it's not me.
It's not you, Denise said into her head, Relax and focus on school.
Says the girl with the bad boy boyfriend while she plays Gamecube. What're you doing in my thoughts, anyway? Michelle thought dryly, and Denise withdrew from her thoughts.
I won't tell you about his bugs, then, Denise thought to herself, You'll figure it out yourself.
"Understand..." Michelle whispered to herself, staring at the formulas again, "P equalsIV, V equalsIR...How does it become P equalsI²R?"
"It's substitution," Itachi suddenly said.
The whole room looked at the 17-year-old, startled. Itachi was sitting back in the couch, with his head tilted back and his eyes closed; the room had thought him asleep. Itachi opened his dark eyes and looked straight at Michelle, slightly annoyed.
"Substitute 'Voltage Current x Resistance' into 'Power Current x Voltage' like in math class," Itachi instructed, "Don't think of the letters as values; think of them just as variables."
Michelle looked at the page again and obeyed; suddenly the whole concept was clear as she wrote the whole thing out as a math equation.
P equals IV (equation 1)
V equals IR (equation 2)
Substitute (2) into (1):
P equals I x (I x R)
P equals I² x R ...I see...
"Hah! Mewtwo owns you!" Naruto yelled into Kiba's face.
"...crap..." Kiba grumbled, as his character, Marth, was killed by the giant sphere of evil that Mewtwo had just thrown, "Deniizu, can Zelda beat that Pokémon right there? See, that one? That ugly purple thing right there?" Kiba asked, tapping the screen, "Ugh, it's based on a cat, too."
The five dogs yipped their agreement as Naruto rolled his eyes and Denise shrugged.
"I wish I had a cool jutsu like that," Naruto murmured, and Denise and Michelle shared knowing glances.
Michelle turned back to her page, then sighed and put her head down on her arms.
"...Michi-chan?" Hinata asked, her hand on Michelle's shoulder again, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing...Thanks, Itachi."
The former missing-nin merely shrugged and closed his eyes again. Hinata glanced at Shino, who seemed to be watching the TV screen, and then scribbled something down onto her own paper. Michelle looked up when Hinata got her attention and read the note.
'Please talk to me. What's wrong?' -Hinata
Michelle sighed and shook her head.
'Please? I want to help.' -Hinata.
'...guess.' -Michelle
'Shino?' -Hinata
'Well done,' -Michelle
'He's not ignoring you, I promise.' -Hinata.
Michelle stared at the paper, then winced and started putting her books away.
"I can't concentrate," she said, rezipping her backpack, "That whole substitution thing was basic; I should have seen it right away. Hey, Naruto, do you have an extra controller?"
Hinata wrote down one more message and forced it into Michelle's hand as she reached for the controller Naruto was handing to her.
'Talk to him. He'll explain everything.' -Hinata
Michelle looked up from the note to Shino. He was looking out the window; she might as well not exist. Again, she sighed, then took a place on the floor and waited for the next Stamina round to start.
Corey looked from Michelle to Shino; he could tell what was going on. After a moment of thought, he stared at the back of Denise's head. The 14-year-old felt his eyes on her and turned; when they met eye contact, she used her bloodline limit.
What? thought Denise.
What's up with Shino? Corey asked, looking pointedly at the screen.
Not my secret, Denise answered, making a pretense of trying to choose what character to play with.
...should I talk to him? Corey asked.
Don't. Talk to Michelle; she'll appreciate that more. But later.
I know...
Kiba chose Marth again and looked at Michelle. The girl, who was like a sister to him, shrugged with a reassuring smile. Kiba continued to watch her, and Michelle gave him a slightly annoyed look. Kiba merely rolled his eyes and turned back to the screen.
"...Pichu? You're fighting with Pichu?" Kiba asked.
"Don't diss the little mouse," Michelle warned, leaning forward.
"Mewtwo is going to own you too!" Naruto bragged, as Denise stayed silent, choosing Zelda again.
"You wish," Michelle bared her teeth, grinning when Naruto chose the Pokémon stadium for the arena.
She's like Kiba when she fights, Hinata thought, putting her backpack onto the table, Is she sure they're not related?
Stamina mode began, and Naruto decided to pick off the little one first.
"Take this, bitch!" Naruto yelled, jumping onto the platform the Pichu was on and powering up that killing sphere again.
And promptly got owned.
"You want a ranged fight," Michelle asked airily, hurrying underneath the platform Mewtwo was on and calling down thunder, electrocuting Mewtwo, "Or would you prefer melee?" she asked, jumping back onto the platform, charging up for a second, then headbutting the Mewtwo off of the stage.
"I think I'll stay out of that fight," Denise said out loud, focusing on Marth now.
"The hell!" Naruto exclaimed, double-jumping the Mewtwo so that it just barely landed on the platform's edge.
However, the Pichu was waiting for it and headbutted the Mewtwo yet again. When the taller Pokémon landed back onto the platform, the Pichu had charged up electricity long enough to shock the Mewtwo and send it offstage again, this time too far to jump back.
"Nooo!" Naruto yelled, as the screen went into slow motion, and he was forced to watch the little yellow Pokémon do a slow-mo taunt, "It thinks it's so cute..." he growled, shaking a fist at the screen as Michelle laughed.
"Nice," Denise said, as Kiba high-fived Michelle.
Michelle merely shrugged and waited for the winner of the other match to come forward. But after glancing at Shino by the window, she sighed; he still wasn't looking at her. After losing her match against Kiba, she slipped quietly out of the apartment and went home alone.
A/N: How come I didn't use this computer last week? It types so nicely! The other one made my typing look soethig lke tis...Which was annoying. I think I broke the 'Backspace' key from pressing on it too much.
Teacher: (from behind) Is everything ok here? Everyone researching properly?
A/N: (switches windows) Yes, sir...(sweatdrop)