WAAAAAAH! *bashes head on table* FUUUUCK! This damn writer's block is going to be the death of me! TT^TT

Ugh, it took me so long to do this chapter, and it's not even that long! It's just cause I couldn't get into the mood to write...there was no drive or motivation... TT^TT and that made me depressed with myself because all of you were waiting for it! Nyuuu...

BUT! I have produced chapter 10, at last! And I'm beginning to get the feel for writing back, so hopefully this means that the writers block is going away...Oh PLEASE let it be going away! EVERYONE! *points* PLEASE wish me luck and pray that this damn writers curse goes away for good! Then I'll be able to produce more lovely, longer chappies of both Online, and new stories!

Well, I'm done ranting and begging for support.

Here it is! The next chapter of Online!

The sun blossomed over the town, bathing it in its beautiful rays of light. Dark, menacing shadows were chased away, replaced with golden beams that illuminated everything, revealing that the world was, in fact, a beautiful place.

And I hated every minute of it.

This day was not going to be a good day. I had known that the moment I woke up.

I wasn't a superstitious person by nature, but even I knew when the universe was trying to tell me something.

First, my alarm went off an hour earlier than it was supposed to. The bloody thing was broken and now I either had to try and fix it, or save up for a new one.

I had been annoyed, but at the same time, it wasn't too bad. It only meant that perhaps this time, I'd get to school early and not have to worry about detention.

So, I had gotten up early and decided to treat myself to a nice big breakfast for once.

No such luck. When I opened my fridge, it was to find nothing but a cartoon of rotten milk, a half eaten, expired doughnut and a pack of yoghurt that was trying to stare me down. It even blinked!

So I had nothing to eat. I should have foreseen that, since I've been eating out or take away quite a lot lately, courtesy of Sakura or Kiba.

With a growling stomach, I decided to shower and leave a bit earlier than planned so that I could stop off at a cafe and grab something to eat.

And that's when the real tear jerker happened.

I undressed, stepped into the shower and put the hot water on.

It came out ice cold, and with such a strong burst of pressure, it stung my face the same way it would have if I'd been hit. After screaming and jumping out of the water's way, I slipped on, wouldn't you know it, a bar of soap that had gone flying during my 'great escape'. Before I'd hit the ground and cracked my skull open, however, I managed to grab onto the sink and save myself. Relief flooded my body as I pulled myself up, and with a laugh I'd patted the sink appreciatively.

And then the sink broke off the wall and smashed on the ground, right at my feet.

I think I must have stood there, hand still poised in a patting motion, staring at the large pieces of porcelain for at least ten minutes straight.

Then finally a shout of frustration tore itself from my throat, and I gave up on the bathroom, deciding that one day without a shower wasn't going to kill me, or anyone else.

So, after having been bitch-slapped by my shower, tripped by a murderous bar of soap, and then watched my poor sink die under my touch, I was sure today wasn't going to be one of the best days around.

My suspicions had only increased when my school shirt was retrieved from the laundry.

It was tinged pink.

The fucking washing machine turned my only clean school shirt...pink.

Yep, the day was going to suck.

Now I was walking through the chilly air of the morning, having just bought myself a bun and a cup of coffee.

I glared up at the sky, not at all happy that the sun was out. Even though it was bright, there was a reasonable wind bringing the chill into the town...or maybe it was just me, since I'd forgotten to bring my jacket.

Since it was still quite early, I only saw a few other students walking towards the school gates, and some of the teacher's cars were there.

I sighed loudly, chewing the last of my bun and washing it down with the gross dregs of my coffee before tossing the trash into the nearest bin. I stepped through the gates and tried not to think of all the things that might go wrong that day. After all, today was a big day.

Not only was I making a confrontation to someone in school, but I was also going to meet Avenger. I'd sent him a message before I left telling him to meet me at Konoha Park at four, if possible. I would wait an hour, and if he didn't show, I'd assume he was either busy, or didn't want to meet me after all.

I won't lie. I was incredibly nervous. What would happen? There were so many possible outcomes, some of them including paedophilia and man-babies.

I sniggered at the thought. Somehow, I just couldn't picture Avenger as a creepy old man that drooled over little boys and girls.

I was entertaining myself with thoughts of what Avenger might look like when yet another sign of how much the day was going to suck revealed itself.

I walked into the door.

"Ow, fuck!" I grunted, clapping a hand over my nose which was smarting from the impact. Since when did I start walking so fast?

The sound of laughter reached my ears, and I peered up to see the girl Karin with her friends. They were standing on the other side of the door, hands pressed to the wood.

So they'd been the ones to close it? Bitches.

I grabbed the handle, intent on going inside and brushing right past them, but they grabbed the other side and stopped me from pulling it open, giggling evilly all the while.

I growled and pulled harder, but with no luck. There were too many of them on the other side. Finally, with a defeated sigh, I gave them a middle finger salute and stalked away.

I would just use the janitors' entrance again.

Unfortunately, it was located on the other side of the building, so I had to jog a bit. There were large dustbins surrounding it, and the place stank to high heavens. I covered my nose and mouth with my hand, grimacing at the foul odour that still managed to seep through my fingers.

The walk to the door wasn't that long, but the smell was strong enough to have an almost crippling affect. I hunched over just a bit, trying to get my shirt up to replace my hand. Seriously, did someone die in this place? Maybe someone pissed Gaara off?

My attention was bought to the side when something clattered to the floor. I stared at the direction it came from, but nothing moved. Taking a deep breath through my shirt, I called out "Hello, is anyone there?" before clamping my mouth shut and covering it again.

No one answered, so I shrugged it off. I was heading close to the door when I heard it again, this time closer.

I spun around, my eyes searching over the area slowly. "Hello?"

No answer.

But I saw something shift. It was such a slight movement, but I caught it. Without really thinking about it, I strode over to the spot and looked around the large bin. "Caught you- huh?" I stopped when my eyes met dark onyx.

"Meow!"

A small black cat was crouched there, covered in filth and with ragged, unkempt fur. A stray.

Sighing, and gagging on the smell, I shooed the small thing away, annoyed that it had creeped me out so much.

As I watched it scamper away, I was struck with a sudden thought that made my shoulders sag.

"Oh great. A black cat crossed my path. How many years of shit luck am I going to have now?" I groaned, and turned around.

My face met a chest dressed in black, and a pair of arms wrapped around my shoulders, pulling me closer and smothering me in that dark material.

It also muffled my scream. I struggled, my fists flailing and trying to make contact, but I couldn't see shit, so I had no idea how high to aim. Just when I thought my only option was to try kicking the stranger in the nads, a falsely cheery voice called out.

"My, you sound like such a girl when you scream. And you hit like a girl too! I guess this confirms my suspicions of you having no dick."

I froze, letting the words register. There was only one person that I knew who would say something like that so cheerfully.

I lowered my arms and slowly tilted my head up, finding no resistance to the small movement. When I could see again, I was met with closed eyes, a cheery fake smile and almost paper white skin.

"Sai?"

"Good morning dickless."

My cheeks reddened in anger and I tried to pull away from him, but he kept his arms steady. "Let me go you ass!" I growled.

Sai just smiled and tightened his hold. "Why?"

"Because I said so!" I snapped back. Seriously, what was with this guy? And that smile was getting creepy.

Sai just opened his eyes and stared down at me, seeming to search for something. Finally, he nodded and stepped back.

I rubbed my arms, trying to get rid of the feel of being held. It was an odd feeling I wasn't used to. Plus he was kind of cold.

We stood in silence for a while, Sai staring at me, while I stared off to the side uncomfortably. I was still rubbing my arms.

"Why is your shirt pink?" Sai asked suddenly, pointing at me. I sighed loudly.

"Washing machine is shit." I grumbled. He nodded and tilted his head, cupping his chin with one hand as he examined me. I glared at him as he hummed, closing his eyes before nodding and smiling once again. "What?" I asked.

He shrugged. "I was just concluding that you look rather cute in pink. Especially when you do that pouty thing with your lip. It's rather endearing." Sai said nonchalantly.

I spluttered, my face heating up. What the hell? When all he did was grin at me, I huffed and stomped past him, uncaring of whether he followed or not. Let the stupid ass die from the horrid smell.

I stomped all the way through the halls, grumbling about creepy artists all the while. I walked straight past Kiba, not even hearing him call after me. I wouldn't have noticed him at all if he had run after me and grabbed my shoulder.

"Oi, you okay?" he asked. I blinked.

"Oh, hi Kiba. Yeah, I'm just a bit distracted." I said, scratching my head awkwardly. He nodded, giving me a once over.

"Uh...why's your shirt pink?" he asked.

I groaned. Was it that noticeable? Glancing down at myself, I almost screeched. The pink had intensified since I'd put it on! Now it wasn't just tinged pink, it was pretty much a light, pastel pink.

I was doomed.

"My fucking washing machine stuffed up!" I whined, rubbing my face with my hands. Honestly, today was sucking three ways from Monday. And it had really only begun.

Kiba nodded in understanding. "I know the feeling. My sister Hana washed my clothes the one time in middle school. I had a pair of white briefs that turned hot pink!" he said.

I snorted. "Yeah, but it's your underwear. No one saw it."

Kiba grinned. "On the contrary, that day I was called up to the front of the school during morning announcements. I'd won a medal for something or other, and when I bowed my pants ripped. I didn't notice so I turned my ass to the school to bow to the teachers behind me, and everyone saw my pink behind." He laughed at his own humiliation, making me smile.

"So what did you do?" I questioned, enjoying the story.

"I flaunted it!" He declared loudly, pumping a fist in the air. "When I had to walk off stage, I knew by then they'd seen, so I added a sway to my hips and made a show of it."

I laughed long with him, picturing a slightly younger Kiba swaying his hips while going down a set of stairs. It was hilarious, especially when I added the pink underwear into the image.

"You're such a riot, Kiba." I grinned.

We continued down the halls, talking about random things and laughing. I felt a little better after chatting with him. Maybe the day would get better after all?

"And then he totally-oof!" I was cut off when someone walked into me, causing me to stumble back. Luckily, Kiba managed to steady me. From the sound of awkward steps, I knew the other person had stumbled too. After regaining my bearings, I looked up.

Sasuke was straightening up, Shikamaru behind him. Kiba pushed me upright, sending an annoyed glance to the raven. Sasuke scowled until his eyes landed on me, after which his expressions lightened to a slight frown. "Naruto?"

I rubbed my chest where we had collided and nodded. "Oh, hey teme."

He raised an eyebrow. "Teme?"

I shrugged. "One lesson of Biology isn't going to warrant a new nickname." I smirked at his slight growl, but then he was staring at me weirdly. My smirk faded and was replaced with a nervous frown. "What?"

Sasuke blinked, and nodded towards my chest. "Why is your shirt pink?"

I sighed loudly, turning and placing my head against the wall, banging it a few times.

I hate my life.

The first lesson was maths.

Maths with Mizuki-sensei.

The day just looks better and better. (insert sarcasm, followed by suicide by paper cut here)

Mizuki-sensei had, of course, jumped at the opportunity to humiliate me in front of the class, yet again. Upon seeing my shirt, he smirked and made me stand in the front, before giving a long winded speech about why what I was wearing was inappropriate for school.

I knew that quite a few of his, "what not to be" notes weren't about my uniform at all. They were about me as a person. And it seemed the rest of the class knew this too.

When he'd finally gotten his fill of my utter mortification and distress, he told me to take my seat, right after giving me a small slip of pink paper for my detention.

"You seem fond of the colour, so this should be like a gift to you." He had said.

Bastard. I bet the only woman who loved him was his mother, and even then she probably had to fight her 'must-kill' instinct when he came home for dinner.

When I'd taken my seat, Sakura had immediately started whispering comforting words in my ear, but I already knew most of her sentences off by heart. She had to use them almost every day, after all.

And I replied the same way I always do, it was almost robotic. "It's fine, Sakura-chan."

Oh man, did I really sound that defeated already? And it was only the first lesson. I was starting to wish I'd stayed home today. And was I really going to try and confront Kabuto today?

I groaned, burying my face in my arms and sighing. If my luck continued the way it was, I could already picture how it would go.

I would walk up to him, he would ask why my shirt was pink, then he would either be the stalker and rape me on the spot, or else I'd be wrong and make a complete ass of myself in front of him and the rest of the students, after which the teasing would reach a new level, and I would have to join Kiba and move to Mexico. I'm sure he could use some help selling tortillas.

I was staring blankly at the board, my head still resting comfortably on my arms when I felt something hit the side of my head, and stay there.

For a moment, I stayed still, my eyes blank, before I mechanically reached up and pulled the paper aeroplane out of my hair, where the point had stuck. I sent a quick glance around the class to see who could've sent it, but once again, no one was looking. Hoping beyond hope that it wasn't another suggestive message, I pulled the paper open and looked down at the neat scrawl.

You look like the world just came to an end under your fingers, dobe. What's eating you?

-Sasuke.

I stared blankly at the paper as everything slowly clicked together. Sasuke was concerned about me? Or was my gloomy aura annoying him?

I sent a glance over to him, but he was still facing the front, taking notes like the good class representative he is.

Looking back at the paper, I felt a small smile stretch my face.

Sasuke was trying to be friendly, in his own, weird, bastard-y way.

And it was nice.

I scribbled down a reply, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sasuke glance at me before returning to his notes.

Once I was done, I carefully folded the plane up again and waited until Mizuki was facing the other way and most of the students were looking down.

With a quick flip of the wrist, I tossed the plane into the air. I followed it with my eyes.

It flew straight up to Sasuke, but at the last moment he turned to look at me directly...and the plane flew into his eye.

I slapped a hand over my mouth, and later on I would reflect on how impressive it was that Sasuke managed to contain the shout of pain and surprise that had almost escaped his mouth. Instead, he managed to hiss and pull the deadly paper away from his eye, slapping it on the table.

He sent a one eyed, watery glare at me, and I put my hands together, bowing my head and mouthing 'sorry!' over and over. He scoffed and turned to face the front, slowly unfolding the paper. He kept his violated eye closed.

I swallowed and turned back to the front, internally beating myself up. Curse this day! Everything was going wrong!

~Sasuke POV~

I contained another hiss. My eye stung like hell and I could feel the tearing behind my closed eyelid.

Stupid dobe and his stupid aim.

I knew I sounded childish, even if it was internal, but that had hurt. I'd turned around, planning on trying to catch Naruto's attention to see what was wrong, and instead I get an eyeful of paper plane. That wasn't pleasant.

I'm never looking at folded paper the same way again.

Grumbling in my head, I unfolded the paper and tried to read the terrible chicken scratch hand-writing. Honestly, the dobe needed to work on that.

I'm not a dobe, teme!

And I'm having a seriously shit day, everything's going wrong and I have stuff to do later that makes me nervous, especially since I'm having such bad luck.

But thanks for asking.

-Naruto.

I smirked at the opening sentence, and by the slight grumble I heard behind and to the right, I knew Naruto had seen it.

So he was having some bad luck. Well, considering his shirt and what happened with Mizuki-sensei earlier, I can see why his day has seemed pretty shitty.

And he had stuff to do? Stuff that is making him nervous.

I raised an eyebrow at that. It sounded rather suspicious.

I decided I would ask him later, after class. After all, if I'm supposed to be his friend, then I'm supposed to make sure he's alright...right? That's what friends do, isn't it?

Looking back, I realized I didn't really know all that much about how to act with friends. Shikamaru and I, on the odd occasion we did hang around together, usually kept to ourselves and spoke about universal matters, not private ones.

And I don't think Shikamaru's ever gone out of his way to find out if there's something troubling me. And I haven't for him, either.

I chanced a glance at Naruto, but he was facing the front. He looked pretty frustrated. Most likely he was adding the plane incident onto his list of 'shit things that happened today'.

I sighed, and carefully opened my eye. It watered a bit, but was otherwise okay.

I almost jumped, key word being almost, when suddenly Mizuki-sensei barked out. "Uzumaki! Come up here and solve this equation!"

I looked at the board, and felt myself pale slightly. That equation was long, complex and severely confusing for someone who wasn't adept at maths. Naruto would never get it!

I looked at the blonde, since everyone else was I didn't need to hide it, and saw he had turned a rather sickly pale. Seems he knew just as well as I did how screwed he was.

Mizuki-sensei tapped his foot impatiently, but there was a smug look on his face.

What a bastard.

"Well, Uzumaki? Come up here right now."

Naruto gulped and slowly stood. He looked ready to die.

Anger spiked up inside of me. Why was Mizuki-senseo doing this when he knew full well that Naruto would never be able to solve that equation?

But by the look on Mizuki's face, I knew he was doing it on purpose. He was trying to humiliate the blonde.

I had to suppress a growl.

The board was near me, so when Naruto stood in front of it, he would be able to see he out of the corner of his eye. And at the same time, Mizuki sensei wouldn't be able to see me, due to Naruto blocking the way.

And all the students were focused on the board.

...Well, I want to be his friend, so here's the time to score brownie points.

I waved my hand carefully, making sure the movement was low so as not to draw unwanted attention.

Naruto saw it and looked at me carefully out the corner of his eye. I nodded towards the board, and then mouthed 'I'll tell you what to do!'

For a moment his eyes widened in disbelief, but I just nodded again to show him I was serious. Then he suppressed a grateful smile and gave a slight nod.

I began telling him what to do, forming the words carefully with my lips so that he would understand. He followed my instructions with such focus, and I could hear the soft gasps of surprise from some of the students.

I smirked.

When he was finished, Naruto stepped back, and I had a clear view of Mizuki-sensei. He looked utterly gobsmacked, his mouth hanging open and his eyes bulging at the writing on the board.

Naruto placed the chalk down, gave a short bow to Mizuki, and then calmly made his way to his seat where he sat down with a content smile on his face.

I caught his eyes, and he gave me a brilliant smile that made something inside of my melt a bit.

I smiled back before turning to the board.

Things were getting better.

Hehehe...I wanted to add the 'Equation situation' at some point, so I thought why not here?

So, what did you think? Reviews would be VERY appreciated, as they help motivate me to write and thereby push me out of this slum I'm in!

Love you all~~!