Kabuto sat impatiently in class. It was almost the end of the day, and he was looking forward to play practice…seventh period was going far too slowly. On the bright side, his eighth period class wasn't bad-English Lit. Kakashi was an entertaining teacher to say the least, and he taught a class in every year. He only taught one senior class, though, and four freshman classes, so Kabuto had been praying all summer. When he finally got his schedule, he had practically fallen on his knees and thanked God in heaven-or whatever God you believed in, if you were Hidan. Kabuto jolted awake as the bell rang-and he wasn't even asleep! Sighing, the teen gathered his books and trudged out of Calculus, hoping he could just get to English Lit. If the class was lucky, they could get Kakashi sidetracked a bit…

"Kabuto, a word?"

Kabuto sighed and turned around, eyes seeking an answer from Iruka, his Calculus teacher. He paced over to the man's desk, stopping a few feet away before he considered himself close enough.

"Yes?"

"Kabuto, I know you're brilliant," Iruka started slowly. Kabuto sighed. He had heard this before…

"And I know you've probably gotten this offer before…"

Yeah, keep going, it's not like it's new…"such-and-such a college…"

"The University of Otogakure has extended an offer to you on a full scholarship as a math major."

Kabuto nodded. "I got that in science, French, history, and even in sophomore year for woodshop…"

Iruka glanced up at Kabuto. "Wow," he said. "You got an offer on an elective?"

Kabuto nodded. "Yeah, I got multiple offers in science, and several in French. Two in history, and one in woodshop. It's an elective; I didn't even know you could get scholarships for that!"

Iruka shrugged. "Something new every day. I'd think about this one hard, though; Oto is very competitive."

Kabuto sighed. "If only you knew…hey, can I get a late pass?"

OOOOOOOOO

Kabuto gave a sigh of relief as the last bell rang. Class was relatively good today, but it was still class. He headed towards his locker, wondering what else would make his day.

Apparently, Tayuya banging on her locker with a hammer.

She turned around and gave him a bright smile, a "Hi!" and then promptly resumed hammering at her locker.

Kabuto sighed. "Why?"

"My locker won't open!" Tayuya groaned. "I got the lock off, but the damn thing jammed!" She swung the hammer again, and this time, the entire latch came off. Tayuya shrugged.

"Eh, good enough for me."

She inserted a coat hanger into the hole where the latch used to be and persuaded her locker to open that way.

"Any empty lockers by you?"

"There's one right next to you."

"Oh…" Tayuya glanced at the empty locker next to her and sighed. "I knew that." She opened it, threw her books inside, transferred the rest, and closed the locker, putting her own lock on and locking it. She shoved the appropriate books into her backpack, closed it, and headed for the theater. "Let's go, gonna be late for practice!"

Kabuto smiled. What was she going to do next, the same thing to a door? It wasn't unexpected…

OOOOOOOOOO

"From forth the fatal loins of these two foes, a pair of star-crossed lovers take their life, whose misadventured piteous overthrows doth with their death bury their parents' strife…O, I am fortune's fool!...then I defy you, stars."

"Okay, good job, Zetsu," Kakashi said, standing up. "Okay, everybody, break!"

The cast exited the stage, and Tayuya slowly pushed herself off Kabuto.

"Good job, genius," the silver-haired teen said dryly. "You managed to fall asleep on me. Again."

"I never get sleep," Tayuya muttered. "Like Sakon's twin, Ukon. He just doesn't sleep at night, so he always falls asleep during the day. He's lucky he's got a twin who can pretend to be him by flipping his hair around, otherwise he'd be in so much trouble for 'cutting' classes."

Kabuto smiled. "Well, Sakon and Ukon look exactly alike, save for the hair…that's the only way I can tell them apart."

"Sakon's voice is a little deeper than Ukon's," Tayuya said. "And Sakon sometimes wears a necklace. It's so funny."

Kabuto's smile widened. "It is. It makes me wonder…"

"He's bi."

"That might explain it."

Tayuya sat down on a table across from Kabuto, and her boyfriend sat down next to her a moment later. "So, what are you planning on doing after play today?" he asked slowly, leaning back a bit.

"I was just going to go home," Tayuya replied. "How about you?"

"Home."

Tayuya nodded, and the two lapsed into silence again. Tayuya took out her script and a highlighter and went over the second act; Kabuto took out a piece of gum and absently began to chew it up. Finally, Kurenai called them back to practice, and Tayuya clipped her highlighter to one of the belt loops on her jeans. She picked up her script and turned to the page Kurenai called out, and then took her place on the makeshift balcony for the next scene.

OOOOOOOOO

Naruto ran around in circles for a few minutes, wondering what he was doing.

He really had nothing better to do; there was simply nothing going on. His homework was too difficult, so he skipped it-as usual. His brother was on the computer. He wasn't too fond of reading. His other brother was on the video game console. His foster parents were…God knows where, and his sisters were all finding things to do. Half of them were out with friends, and the other half were either texting, doing homework, or both.

"Naruto! Dinner!"

Naruto sped down the stairs at his foster mother's call and slid into his respective place at the table. His sisters and brothers were already there; all six of them. Naruto's foster mother sat down, his foster father soon after, and his oldest sister said grace. The family ate in silence for a while before his father decided to try to create conversation. The attempt failed miserably, and the family lapsed into silence again. Naruto finished his food and put his plate in the dishwasher, then went into the office to steal the computer from his brother.

He really didn't have anything better to do than spam World of Warcraft.

OOOOOOOOO

Deidara glanced up at a knock on his door.

He stood up, set aside the magazine he was reading, and unlocked the door. He opened it to see Sasori standing there, grinning and leaning against the doorframe. "Hey, baby," he murmured, greeting Deidara with a soft kiss. "How's it been?"

"Good," Deidara replied. "My dad's still at work, and my mom's in the kitchen. Wanna go up to my room?"

Sasori shrugged and stepped into Deidara's house. "Sure, why not?" He left his shoes by the front door, and Deidara threw his jacket into the living room onto a couch. Sasori followed Deidara upstairs and into the blonde's room, and Deidara closed the door behind them.

"You okay?" Sasori asked, sitting down across from Deidara on the bed. "You seem kind of…quiet, tonight…"

Deidara shook his head, scooting closer to Sasori. "I'm okay," he said. "Just kinda tired…"

Sasori looped his arms around Deidara's waist, pulling the blonde closer. "That's good," he said, and gave Deidara a soft kiss. "I hate seeing you upset."

Deidara leaned his head against Sasori's shoulder, arms sliding around Sasori's waist in return. "It's nice that you care about me so much…"

Sasori simply nodded and raised a hand to stroke Deidara's long blonde hair. "Like I said, that's good. I'm not quite fond of you being down…"

"So…what did you have in mind for tonight…?"

Sasori shrugged. "Just hanging out, I guess," he said slowly. "Why, did you have something thought up?"Deidara shook his head. "Nah, we can just hang out…or make out…"

Sasori smiled. "I think I like that option better."

Deidara raised his head, and Sasori lowered his. The two gently kissed in the half-light of Deidara's desk-top lamp, and passed a good thirty minutes by.

OOOOOOOOO

Chouji sat at his kitchen table, doing homework and eating chips. Barbeque flavor, to be exact. The barbecue chips were his favorite, and he swore they were excellent brain food. His mother swore otherwise, but if it helped Chouji do better…

"Algebra sucks," Chouji muttered, scribbling out a problem. "All these X's and Y's…can't just use numbers, huh? And we don't even use this…period!" Chouji gave a heavy sigh, but buckled down and managed to finish the problems. "Done!" he exclaimed, tossing the rest of the books into his backpack. "And now, for a little fun…" He ran into the living room and sat down on the couch, turning on the TV and settling down for a bit of MTV. It was Chouji-chill-time, and he fully intended to make the most of it!

OOOOOOOOO

Tsunade washed her hair and exited the shower, sighing from a long day. If she was lucky, she could find some leftovers and she wouldn't have to cook tonight…as Tsunade wandered into the kitchen, fully dressed again, she found that she was in luck-sort of. There were no leftovers, at least, none that were good, but there was a load of instant ramen…Tsunade threw some of that together and settled at the table with a magazine, bored to tears until her dinner was ready. Finally, she glanced up at the clock and noted that three minutes had gone by. She peeled the top off the ramen and promptly dug in, well aware that she shouldn't be eating instant ramen if she wanted to keep away a heart attack, but she ate it anyway.

Under no circumstances was she cooking tonight.

OOOOOOOOO

The night passed next to silently for Itachi and Sasuke, until dinner.

Dinner was always awkward between the brothers, but this was awkward beyond belief. It almost ended in a fist fight, had Sasuke not stormed off at the last second, but it was still the worst it had been in a very long time.

Kakashi was the subject.

"How can you even come close to accepting that traitor? He took Uncle Obito's eye and now he thinks he's one of us! Goes around just flaunting his prize all the time. Is it even possible to be so arrogant?"

"Itachi, he's not really proud of that-in fact, he tried to refuse, had Obito not talked him into it at the last second!"

"Sasuke, what you need to understand is that Hatake is still an enemy-even as cop to gang, he's an enemy, and will most likely stay that way for the rest of both our lives!"

"Yours and mine, or yours and his?! Itachi, do have something to tell me?"

"Sasuke, say that again, and you can rot on the streets, and I will not acknowledge you even as the worthless, ungrateful fool you are!"

"Ungrateful?! It was you and your little group of friends that killed the rest of our family! Am I supposed to be happy with that?"

"No, you're just supposed to be grateful that I stepped in at the last second and saved your stupid ass since it couldn't move!"

"If this is how you're going to treat me, then I wish you hadn't!"

"Go to your room, Sasuke! Now! You're grounded for the rest of the week!"

"For what, making your makeup bleed? Give me a break, Itachi. Just go fuck around with your buddies and see if I care!"

And it was what it was.

Itachi was left with a messy table and a furious Sasuke, and Sasuke was left with a trashed room and a furious Itachi. Sasuke sank down on his bed, head in his hands, and Itachi did the same. Itachi's forehead hit the table, though, and he barely missed his plate. With a heavy sigh, Itachi questioned where he had gone so horribly wrong.

It was probably where he had joined up with Akatsuki to begin with.