Chapter 11

First Day, Part 2

Ino placed her petite hand on the handle of the door that stood before her, and pulled on it with a greater force. The wooden door creaked slightly as it swung open in the blonde girl's direction, something that concerned Naruto and Sakura who were behind her as they were worried about drawing attention to themselves. The sound of the creaking door reverberated from the walls behind the trio, but soon enough however, the sound abated and the door remained ajar.

A cloud of dust came into fray, originating from inside the door that was just opened, something that caused Ino to cough persistently for a while and forcing Naruto & Sakura to cover their mouth and eyes to avoid a nasty case of coughs. The dust lingered in the air a little longer than was welcome, impeding vision for a while and causing Naruto to take a step backwards as he tried to avoid the worst of the phenomenon.

Luckily enough for the trio, the air cleared up after a few minutes, becoming as fresh as it initially was, and giving them a crystal clear view of the room that they had just found. Ino coughed a while longer, having gotten the worst of the dust, prompting Sakura to move and tap her best friend's back in order to assist her. Naruto took the chance to peer into the room.

"Damn it, this is just a broom cupboard!" Naruto exclaimed, making sure that his disappointment registered in his voice and forgetting all semblance of tact in his tone like earlier.

True enough, the room viewed from outside was quite a disappointing sight, although it wasn't really any different from what they had come across so far. The corridors and paths they had crossed were deserted, something that had caused Ino to theorize that most of the teachers were probably busy in their own classes or elsewhere. If that was the case, then it would go a really long way to making sure that none of them got into any trouble, which was certainly something they all needed at that point.

Now the rest of the trip however, was an entirely different thing, and was, for lack of a better word, quite the letdown.

All the doors that they had come upon that signified the entrances to the numerous rooms in the institution were all barred no matter how much any of the trio pulled on them, and the ones that could be open turned out to be the entrances to total duds of rooms. This was in reference to the fact that there was nothing of interest in said rooms, most of them being store rooms or broom cupboards. Coupled with the fact that these rooms were all covered in dust and seemed to not have been cleaned or even used in quite a while, it certainly did not make for quite an enticing adventure, like Ino had hoped for when she had initially made the decision.

Shutting the doors of their latest discovery in front of them and making a disgruntled sound under his breath to voice his displeasure once more, Naruto turned to his two companions behind him once again, with a scowl on his face. Quite frankly, he was getting tired of how things were panning over similarly over and over again.

"This blows," he said, voicing what he, and unknown to him, Sakura, was thinking at that moment, but alas, the pink haired girl was too timid to voice anything out loud to her best friend, afraid that she would not be too welcoming to her.

Surprising both Naruto and Sakura, however, Ino did not seem to share the same sentiments as them. As if knowing what they were thinking at that moment, she turned her head to look at both Naruto and Sakura, a defiant expression forming on her visage. She puffed out one of her cheeks and crossed her arms on her chest, giving the two the idea that she was not going to accept any opposition from them in regards to anything that they had to say at that moment.

"Nuh-uh. We aren't done here yet. There's an area we still haven't checked out." The tone of her voice was stern, and the way she said it sent jitters up Sakura's spine. The pink haired girl had been privy to her best friend's antics whenever she threw a fit, so she knew well beforehand that Ino was not going to take any other answers at this point other than what she herself had in mind.

Naruto wasn't exactly as knowledgeable of the blonde haired girl as much as Sakura was, so at that moment, he let his bravado show as he voiced his refusal of the idea that Ino had in mind at that moment. "But Ino-" the blonde guy started weakly, feeling exhausted from fatigue muddled with boredom. He had just about enough of Ino getting her way and was about to put his foot down and say no, but unfortunately for him at that moment, he seemed to have forgotten one teensy weensy detail.

Ino glared daggers at him at that moment, her look carrying an unvoiced message to the young blonde. Naruto's mind briefly went back to the time he was in the classroom with Ino, and he felt a chill course through his spine, as he rued experiencing what Ino had promised back then. Welp, there was no escaping this, he supposed, so the best he could hope for at this situation was to roll with it,

Shaking his head to dispel these thoughts plus the fear he could feel creeping up his spine along with it, he refocused his attention to Ino, with a resigned look on his face. Sakura looked at him worriedly from where she was standing; genuinely feeling for the man since he was subject to Ino's antics when she threw a fit, but as there was nothing she could do to help him, the only thing she could do was watch.

Naruto waved a hand in front of him to put a rest to things. "Fine, fine, I get it. Let's hurry up and finish the trip then," he said in a monotonous tone, releasing a sigh of exasperation and scratching the back of his head as the rest of his protests died down in his mind. There really was no beating this girl.

Ino sneered a little, having a prideful look of sorts on her visage as she stared down on the blonde lad, and placing both hands on her waist in a show of victory. "As long as you understand."

The next door that the trio happened upon happened to prove quite the contrast to Naruto's dwindling expectations.

Once the room came into complete view, a table that was set in the middle of the table could be seen, and aligned on both sides of said table were chairs. In the far end of the room were windows that were shielded by curtains, and a small breeze fluttered into the room, setting the curtains in a small upwards and downwards motion. At both sides of the room, set for support on both walls were cupboards and drawers that had glass openings. The glass allowed them to see what was set in the cupboards and drawers, and they were able to see the crockery and cutlery that lay inside. Above these cupboards and drawers were shelves, which seemed to contain scrolls and parchments, plus other types of written documents that were all, stacked up neatly and perfectly? Seeing how neat and tidy this room was made Sakura impressed a little and she smiled warmly. Being a neat and tidy person herself as well, seeing such a sight made her extremely pleased.

However, despite her elation at coming upon such a place, that did not mean that she did not feel nervous regarding the entire thing. "Ino-chan, I don't think we should be here," she said in a timid voice, as she tugged on her best friend's dress from behind. Her emerald eyes darted around the room once, and a small feeling sprung up in her chest from what she could see. The feeling told her that neither she nor the two of her companions were even supposed to be where they were at the moment. It wasn't like any of the other rooms she had come across, there seemed to be a special use to where they currently were.

"This looks like the teacher's staffroom."

Well, so much for Sakura being able to change her best friend's mind. It seemed that Ino was well aware of where they were at that moment, something that Sakura was silently hoping and dreading was not what she did fear all along. With Ino confirming it, she felt her nervousness and anxiety shoot through the roof, plus she felt a cold hand of fear run down her spine. If they happened to be caught here when they were supposed to be in class, then there was no telling what would happen to them.

"What? You've been here before?" Naruto asked the blonde girl, turning to look at her then the room before him once again. And just like that, his earlier feeling of boredom was gone, and his interest was piqued once more. He felt enthusiasm seeping into his limbs once more and slowly, he felt himself looking forward to what they were doing more and more.

"Nope, but the general feeling I'm getting from this area is that of a place where lots of people usually gather to do stuff."

"I see."

With that final sentiment from Ino confirming his small doubts, he saw no need to hesitate any further, and before any of the two girls could say anything, he took a step past the door and entered the room in order to see it more for himself. From where he was now, a point where he had a closer point of view of the table, the furniture was not as empty as he had initially thought. At the middle of the table, there was a plate full of sandwiches, and besides the plate full of sandwiches was a bowl of fruit. The fruit mostly consisted of apples, with a few oranges and pears thrown into the mix from what Naruto could see.

As he stared at the food laid out before him, his stomach let out a small growl, betraying what he was feeling as he looked at the luscious delicacies. A small trail of saliva led from his mouth, and realizing that he was slowly growing famished, he decided to give in to his instincts. Besides, as long as no one was going to find out, there was no harm done, right?

"Hey, I don't think you should just go around touching that," Ino said, from one end of the room. Nothing in the room had particularly garnered her interest as such, which was quite an interesting contrast to what Naruto was feeling at the moment. So for the moment, she contented herself with just looking all over the place.

It was too late for her warning however, as Naruto had already popped one of the sandwiches into his palate, and his hand was already reaching out for a second one. All the while, his other hand was reaching out for the nearest apple in the bowl of fruit that lay next to the plate of sandwiches on the table.

"Jeez," Ino said, exhaling in exasperation. "Sakura, knock some sense into this guy would you?"

The pink haired girl, however, at said moment, was not paying attention to what Ino was saying. It was quite a rarity from Sakura, not giving her best friend first priority like she always did in other situations, although if there was something that would pry the pink haired girl's attention away from anyone around her at any said moment, it was one thing. Books. When Ino turned her head to look where her best friend was and what she had decided to occupy herself with, she saw her standing atop one of the chairs surrounding the table and craning her neck as she feasted her eyes on the written documents that were on the shelves. A short amount of time later, she began sifting through the hordes of scrolls and parchments that were stacked there, perusing through each one of them as quickly as possible. As she did this, Ino could not help but notice there was a certain shine in her emerald eyes, something that told her Sakura was in a period of bliss.

"I swear, these two…." Ino said in a resigned tone, although a small part of her was glad that Sakura had found something that fascinated her, even if she was nervous and jittery at the beginning. Then again, she had always been like that for as long as Ino had known her, so what was happening at the moment was nothing new. She smiled warmly at Sakura a little, before going back to her initial activity of looking for anything that would spark her interest. If nothing came up, she would content herself with going to the window and enjoying a view of the village from that vantage point.

Unfortunately for her and by extension her two companions, Naruto and Sakura, their short stints of bliss were going to come to an end soon.

It first came as a distant sound, a faint sound that Ino could only pick up on by virtue of being the only one who was not occupied with any other activity at the moment. Even then, she was not entirely sure of what she had heard exactly, so she felt a seed of doubt creep into her heart. Her senses tingling, she inched nearer to the door, her current behavior unknown to her companions, before placing her ear next to it. She then heard it crystal clearly, someone was walking outside the corridor, and by the sound of it, they were heading dangerously close to the room where the trio currently was.

Ino panicked, and for what was possibly the first time that day she genuinely was scared out of her wits. If any teacher, or even student for that matter, happened upon them as they were now, there would be tones of trouble. Immediately, she turned to where Naruto and Sakura were busy, carrying themselves oblivious to any incoming dangers. Grabbing one of them after the other, ignoring their initial protests and surprise at being whisked away so abruptly, she shoved both of them beneath the table, before quickly following suit shortly after.

"What's the big idea?!" Naruto said, once Ino had taken her place with them underneath the table, between mouthfuls of food. As he was whisked away, he was in the middle of eating, and hadn't taken down the last of what he had ingested of late.

"Ino-chan?" Sakura asked, flustered, and in her arms still clutching some of the scrolls that fascinated her.

The door to the room opened, and with that died the confusion in Naruto's and Sakura's mind. They fell dead silent, and Ino was glad that she was spared the opportunity of a long winded explanation.

From beneath the large table, Ino, Sakura and Naruto all had their hearts in their mouths as they watched slowly, the pair of feet leading from the door and one of the sides of the table, a few feet away from where the cupboards and shelves lay. The person who had just entered seemed to be a shinobi, owing to the manner in which he had his feet clothed. They were covered in jet black garb, along with his shoes as well which sported the same color as his leggings. There was a sound of ruffling, meaning that said shinobi was shuffling through the documents that Sakura had been going through moments earlier. For a little while the sound of the man going through his activities took hold of the air, before it all came to a stop and silence took precedence over the air once more. All the while this was going on outside, underneath the table Ino was praying that whoever it was, the person would make haste with whatever they were doing. Staying huddled underneath the table had initially seemed to be a good idea, being the only option available at the moment as things had taken a dip for the worse and the situation was an emergency, but the longer that the blonde girl stayed there cramped up with her friends, the more and more her body grew uncomfortable. Her limbs were beginning to cramp up and she was feeling her body grow increasingly stiff.

Her wish, unfortunately, was not going to be granted anytime soon. The shinobi who was sharing their company at that moment stayed where he was for a while longer, prompting Ino to believe that he was most likely going through what he had taken through the shelf at a snail's pace. That was the most likely thing at the moment, since he was not aware that he was not alone at that moment, but even then, a small part of Ino had the nagging feeling that whoever he/she was, they were definitely doing this on purpose to grind her gears.

"Seriously guys? You know you should be in class right now, right?"

Their hearts just stopped in unison, and Ino nearly felt hers leap out of her skin. Sakura shrieked in fear, but Ino covered her mouth before she could let out anything overly audible. Even then, that did not seem that it was going to be of much help in the situation, since owing to the familiar tone that the stranger had used to address them plus the tone of his voice then, it seemed as if he knew them from somewhere. The blonde girl turned to look at Naruto to see how he was faring at said moment, and she saw that his eyes had grown to the size of bulbs and seemed as if they were about to pop out of their sockets at any moment. Additionally, his mouth was also wide agape, and Ino could have sworn that she could spot rivulets of sweat trickling on his face.

"Yes, I'm talking to you three under the table. Come on out now."

That was the final straw that broke the camel's back. Ino's life was now officially over, and she wanted to regret ever setting out on this adventure in the first place.

Interestingly enough, however, Naruto had gotten past the worst of his fears by that moment. He was able to get his bearings back, his eyes having gone back to their original size and his mouth now closed as he stared out at the feet of the shinobi. Adorning a defiant expression on his face, he was already well on his way out of the table before Ino or Sakura could even say anything to dissuade him. Seeing the blonde boy about to expose himself made Sakura's heart leap into her mouth and she was stretched out her hand to pull him back, but alas, she was too late to do anything.

"You sure talk big for a normal shinobi. Just who do you think you-"

The rest of his words got stuck in his throat as his eyes landed on Hatake Kakashi's visage, or more specifically, the little that wasn't covered by his mask.

The silver haired man did not seem the least bit impressed at seeing the blonde boy there, and he had a glazed look of sorts in his one visible eye.

"You again? You know at this rate you'll give your dad a heart attack because of ditching classes."

Naruto chuckled nervously at the jab by the man, scratching the side of his face with one finger. Of all people he had expected to unwillingly come across, Kakashi certainly wasn't on the list. Thinking back on it, he should have picked up on it from the moment the man spoke up, since there was a certain tone of familiarity in his voice that he could not place his finger on, but now hearing him talk from close proximity killed all his doubts. But then again, this could be viewed as a stroke of luck from a different perspective. If it turned out to be anyone else, Naruto would have definitely gotten into bigger trouble, and that would also include Sakura and Ino.

The two girls resurfaced behind him. The Fourth Hokage's son fumbled for something to say for a while, drawing short on words a little before finally finding the right thing to do in the situation. Clasping his hands together in an act of plea, he told the silver haired man before him. "Don't tell dad about this?"

Kakashi sighed in exasperation. "Trust me; your antics are the least of my concerns at the moment." He spared a glance at the two girls behind the lad from Naruto's shoulder, before refocusing his attention to Naruto. "Anyway, your dad sent me to get some documents from here. I've found them, so I'll see myself out."

And with that, he was out, without any other word to the trio of kids that he had left in the room. Once he had shut the door behind him, the three could breathe easy once more, releasing sighs of relief in unison and turning to look at each other as they wondered what they were supposed to do next. The looks of understanding that they each shot each other told them what they needed to know, the sooner they got out of that room; the better the situation would turn out for each of them.

Soon afterwards, as they were well clear of the room that they had been in plus additionally the floor it was on, they stumbled upon a familiar duo of people.

Ino was surprised. "What are you guys doing out of class?" A good amount of time had passed ever since they had run out of class prematurely, surely a teacher must have popped up in the time they were gone. Ino was not sure whether that was a good thing or not at this point

Karin turned a ripe shade of red at that query and cast her gaze downwards, something that surprised Sakura as she wondered what was up. Meanwhile, the raven haired Uchiha with her had a disinterested look on his face, making it clear that he was not particularly interested in divulging any information to Ino, or even that he had expected to run into the three. That did not prevent him from answering however, and in a blunt tone.

"She wanted to know where the washrooms were."

The red haired girl turned a deeper shade of red that matched with her hair color, and Sakura also got a flushed face.

Ino was livid. "Hey! That's rude to a girl."

Naruto was as oblivious and clueless as he always was in regards to what had just happened, although in hindsight it was a good thing since it prevented him from asking more questions which would have embarrassed Karin more. There was one thing that concerned him though. "Is Sensei in class?"

Karin shook her head in response to this question, and looked up from where she had her gaze cast to the ground previously. The worst of her embarrassment had died down, and she had Naruto to thank for that due to his timely change of subject. Plus she had grown comfortable enough to talk once again.

"As soon as the three of you left, Sensei came in and said that he wouldn't be around for the day, since he had to attend a meeting to attend with Hokage-sama."

That was…..quite unexpected.

"What?!" The trio echoed in unison, arching their bodies forward and scaring Karin a little, all the while grinding on Sasuke's ears a little.

Her initial scare died down, and Karin slowly began finding their reaction amusing all the while. She smiled brightly at them as soon as they had gone back to normal.

"Yep! So basically all the time we were free."

Come to think of it, that did explain why the staffroom was empty when they stumbled upon it, so that was one mystery solved. It did not however, prevent Ino from having a bad taste in her mouth, since the sense of flair she had of missing out on class before the teacher showed up was all gone now.

Sasuke walked past the three non-chillingly, as aloof as he had always carried himself. "Let's go, Karin." Before he completely by passed them however, he spared Naruto a glance from the corner of his eye, which, unexpectedly, was mirrored by the blonde ninja for a moment, the two locking gazes, before breaking apart and moving in separate directions.

Sakura, who was the only one in the group not affected by the sudden turn of events, turned to both her blonde friends.

"Shall we head home then?"

A/N: Extremely sorry for the late delay in the update, I know it's been a long time since I've updated this story so forgive my tardiness. Additionally, the chapter was supposed to be up two days ago, so I also apologize on that front. I do hope you enjoyed this chapter thoroughly though, and stay tuned for more updates!