If you are following this story, and got an email about chapter 11, but the link didn't work, I apologize. For some reason Fanfiction is being odd and glitching on me...oh well. Can't be helped I suppose...

It's official, so far I've written more than 50 pages of fic in this winter break. MWAHAHAHA...goals. Fanfic goal of 2015, get "Well, this Sucks" to 100k. I believe this chapter puts this story at 50k, so it's possible. Well, if I don't go through massive bouts of writers block, and procrastination...but so far, I'm good.

I dreamwithinadream262 do not own Naruto, but if I did...Itachi would get his own series to himself.


~oOo~


"So, how's Madarama?!" The shrill voice of Aiko's mother rang through the phone. "You've got to tell me all about it!"

"There's really not that much to tell..." Aiko grumbled in a bored tone. She hated talking on the phone, or talking in general. "Everything's pretty normal, you know? Not much different than Konoha High."

From across the room, Sasuke scoffed. Normal? That was a ton of bullshit spewing from Aiko's mouth right there. Madarama was anything but, normal. Noticing the pointed look she was receiving from her cousin, Aiko stuck her tongue out at him. She didn't exactly want to worry her mother over the very...interesting first day that had occurred. Also, even with her seriousness, the girls mother loved to indulge in gossip. She'd never leave her daughter alone if she knew what kind of people she was dealing with. Frankly, Aiko did not want the burden of relaying every fact of her life to her mother.

She'd made that mistake before, and it wasn't very pleasant to explain embarrassing situations to forty-something year-olds when the topics came up at family gatherings.

The older woman's voice clicked in annoyance. "There has to be something of interest there...Perhaps somebody of interest? Perhaps a very attractive somebody of interest?!"

"W-what?!" Aiko sputtered, coughing up the water she had just been drinking. Was her mother really serious? "Haven't we gone over over this already?! And I've only been there a couple of days. You can't possibly expect me to have found somebody that quickly, much less in a few months...not that I want to find anybody anyways." She added as an afterthought. Flying solo was her thing.

She could imagine the eye-roll caused by that statement.

"You'reee no funnnn~," The older woman whined. "From the minute I met your father I already knew I was going to marry him!"

"That's because it was arranged..." Aiko muttered. The Uchiha family had some very, traditional values at times. However, it was the 21st century, so it wasn't like those customs would've been forced on her, Itachi, or Sasuke. Well, at least if they didn't want to participate.

It did get rid of all the searching work though.

"What about that Neji boy? He's not too bad!"

From the grossed out expression on her face, Sasuke deducted his cousin had just been asked, or been told something very unpleasant. He could watch her phone conversation reactions all day.

"Oh please, mom. No way." Aiko coughed out, recovering from the shock she'd just gone through. "Plus, he looks like a girl. Why would I want to date somebody who looks like a girl?"

"Who knowssss. Some people are into that kind of stuff ya'no?"

Catching unto the mildly slurred tone in her mother's voice, Aiko narrowed her eyes as she listened closer. "Mom...are you drunk?"

The boisterous laughter that followed only confirmed her suspicions. Who knew what kind kind of weird fun her parents were having? Aiko didn't hear any blaring music through the phone, so it was safe to assume her mother was at the apartment they were renting.

"Wwhatttt? I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm just a lil' tired is all..." Came the indignant, slurred reply from the older woman. She was not good at lying.

"Yeah, sure. And I'm only a little bit sadistic is all." The younger Uchiha joked. Sasuke whipped his head around once more in a suspicious glance. Out of context, that sentence sounded very odd.

"What was that?"

"Oh...Nothing." Aiko shifted her gaze over to the desert plant beside her. It was pretty cool...for a houseplant. Suddenly perking up, the plant reminded her of something important. "How's Suna? Found any new jobs yet?"

There was a moment of silence before the person on the other end of the call evaded the topic tactfully.

"I'm going to hand the phone to your father now! Stay peachy~"

What? Stay peachy? What could that mean?

It was only a matter of seconds before another, lower voice picked up. The girl smiled as she recognized the voice as being her fathers.

"Hey, how are you kid?" He asked, being a bit more...wordy than normal. The only time he ever used the phrase kid was when something was up. He almost never broke his stoic nature. "How is everything back at home base? Sasuke treating you nicely?"

"Just peachy, I guess? And uh...sure." Aiko replied in a questioning matter, referring to the words spoken to her a minute ago. She eyed her cousin who was eating a bowl of cereal in jealousy. She's much rather have been joining him in the deadly sin of gluttony if she weren't speaking on the phone. "How much sake has she had? Actually, scratch that. How much sake have you had?"

"Only a little bit." Her father laughed, a hiccup finishing the end of his sentence. How reassuring. "Could you get Fugaku on the line for me? I have something to tell him."

"Hn..." Aiko replied, so very intrigued about the confidential information that would pass from her father to her uncle. She almost felt bad for the guy. He'd be obligated to speak to two drunk people all night. If anything, the elder Uchiha male would probably hang up immediately with his no-nonsense attitude. If only she had the authority to hang up. Doing that would only bring upon her parents fury in her case.

Calling her Uncle, Fugaku appeared momentarily, donning his signature, favorite, blue house kimono. Taking the phone quizzically, he briefly wondered what he was needed for, however it was only a matter of seconds before he became agitated. Fugaku's signature deadpan stare made itself present within the span of ten seconds as he listened to his buzzed relative. This was the type of nonsense he avoided.

"Can you pour me a bowl?" Aiko asked, sitting down next to Sasuke at the counter. She set her elbows on the table and rubbed her temples with her hands. Finally, food at last.

Sasuke nodded, picking up the cereal box and preparing a dish for her. It didn't take that much effort. Plus, dinner-breakfast was an essential meal of the day. Why would he want to deprive her of that?

"What the heck is this abomination?" The girl wondered aloud, staring at her marshmallow-less bowl of cereal. She was positive the box depicted the cereal as containing the only reason anybody bought it. It just wasn't worth eating without the unhealthy parts. Aiko stared down at Sasuke's bowl, which didn't contain any of the sugary treats as well. He shrugged...it didn't matter to him that they were missing. He didn't really enjoy sweets.

From the hall, Itachi happened to be walking past the open door when he overheard Aiko's comment. Peering down, he observed his own bowl, which was solely filled with marshmallows. Maybe he had gone a bit overboard?

But nobody had to know that.


~oOo~


"Today I will be assigning your first project of the semester." Asuma announced, turning to face the board. "As an introduction to this class you will each be given a topic to do a report on. You can explain the gist of your subject in whatever form you'd like...poster, essay, power-point, doesn't matter. So long as you get your point across clear and concise, you're good. " He finished. "...any questions?"

Aiko peered down at her piece of lined-notebook paper that had been littered with a cluster of small doodles. The first week of school had already gone by fairly quickly, and Aiko was just getting into a steady rhythm with her day. As it had turned out, Sasuke was in her first period, English, so she took that to her advantage and paired up with him as much as she could when their teacher called for peer editing. Apparently he didn't mind, because it spared him the trouble when fangirls fought over the slot. Biology with Kurenai consisted of learning about monomers, and polymers, while each day was another mind tripping journey into the realm of math, where Ibiki educated them about the wonders of square numbers, and the Pythagorean theorem. It was hard to pay attention, but Sakura let her copy notes in lunch. Thankfully, Hidan had stopped glaring at her intensely and now had finally begun working on his schoolwork, which was surprising in itself. Gym was simply meaningless group activities, coupled with Hidan's cursing and Kisame's insane laughter. Art was..tolerable. As Aiko discovered, the self proclaimed pyro, Deidara was quite explosion extraordinaire..and Sasori? He was a man of few words.

She recalled her first full conversation with the artistic duo.


"Hold my clay for me, yeah." The pyromaniac blond demanded, chucking a wad of the stuff over to Aiko. They just so happened to be sitting at the same table. Sasori watched his friend apathetically, throwing a glance over to the Uchiha. It was very early on in the school year, so Yamato simply let them do whatever they wanted during class. Today, they could free draw...or free anything really. So long as they contained their voices and were silent, anything went.

Aiko blinked, wary of of the substance she now held in her hand. She didn't put it past the blond to carry around explosives with him. Her...second impression of him was on the first day of school, and the whole student body evacuated the building because of that incident. Peering down, she watched as he scrawled some angry lines on a sheet of paper. For a few seconds, they didn't appear to mean anything, but after awhile, slowly formed into an intricate rough sketch.

"Huh, that's really good."She commented, to which the male turned to grin at her.

"Thanks. My art is super-flat. Glad you like it, un."

"No problem..." She replied, playing with the clay in her hands. The class was excruciating quiet, so she dared to sneak another glance at his drawing. It had changed from something beautiful...to something beautiful..but with a twist. Presumably the face in the drawing, which Aiko recognized as the artist himself, had a confident smirk, with dark eyes. However, fire curled around his body, not burning him...but in harmony as if he were part of it himself.

"Is that...an explosion?!" She asked in awe, jealous of his artistic capabilities. Looking further down the table she spotted the redhead whom she'd met on the first day also drawing furiously. She only caught a glimpse of his illustration..but it was good.

The blond laughed, his smirk growing larger, "You like it, hm?"

"Yeah..it's very creative...I like how you used the fire to symbolize something beautiful, instead of destruction."

"Hear that Danna?" Deidara called, jabbing his pencil lightly into Sasori's side. "Somebody else appreciates my art." He said in a sing-song voice.

Sasori only cast him a dry glance.

Quickly scrawling his signature on the bottom of the page, Deidara ripped the sketch out of his sketchbook and handed it over to Aiko. "You should keep that safe." He declared. "It might be worth a lot of money someday, yeah."

Ignoring the somewhat arrogant comment that was attached to the drawing, Aiko accepted it happily. She was quite the sucker for a good illustration, no matter who the artist was. "Thanks..." She said, pausing, momentarily forgetting her seat neighbors name. The only thing that came to mind was transvestite Ino, and Aiko doubted the pyro artist would be very flattered by such a label...even if it were sort of true. She did give him credit though, he took very good care of his hair, and still vaguely managed to look somewhat masculine even with its length. It was kind of impressive.

"Deidara." He answered, providing her with his name, while tying his his fabulous long hair into a pony-tail. Pointing back towards the redhead in the corner he grinned. "And that guy over there is Sasori. He doesn't say much."

So she observed.

"Well, thank you, Deidara. I'm Aiko, but you probably already knew that." She said, looking at the empty page in front of her with disdain. Something would have to appear there sooner, or later. If only she had the skills of her two seatmates. Brains did not come in handy in art.


It was progress...sort of..

"-Ah yes, good question." Asuma addressed, snapping Aiko out of her reverie. "This is a group project, so pick your partners wisely. Up to three in a group permitted." He announced.

Half of the class cheered while making eye-contact with their good friends while the other half groaned.

Just great... She thought, scowling. Aiko hated group projects. She was a bit of a perfectionist, and simply couldn't handle something being done wrong. It was her way or the highway.

"Pssst. Wanna be in our group?" Aiko heard from her side and identified as Naruto's voice. Glancing over, she saw the blonde smiling sheepishly at her while Kiba stared with a determined look in his eyes. Naruto and Kiba were simply in that class by a fluke, and Uchiha's were smart...weren't they? Shikamaru was smart but he'd never do any of the work..so Aiko was their safest bet...if she agreed of course.

"It'll be fun~..." Kiba coaxed, trying to convince her to join them. They seriously wanted to complete the first marking period with a passing grade, and getting a good start would be beneficial. There was nothing worse than failing your first important grade. Naruto simply wanted to be able to pass one class, but Kiba just wanted to be able to bring a good grade home to his mother.

Aiko blinked, thinking about all the options she had in the situation. Either she work with two people she knew, or risk it with two she didn't. Looking around, it already seemed her classmates had their groups formed, except for Shikamaru, whom was sleeping on his desk.

"Eh, why not..?" Aiko agreed, causing the two males to high-five. Asuma started going around, verifying who was paired with who, and handing out topics. He tossed the slip of paper over to Kiba, who caught it excitedly.

"What topic do we have, dattebayo?" Asked Naruto, leaning over Kiba, who tried to swat him away with his free hand. "Lemme see, lemme see~."

The two engaged in a fierce battle of tug-or-war before Aiko interrupted, leaning in an ripping the paper out of their hands. "I'll be taking that..." She said, opening the folded piece gingerly, rolling her eyes. They were so energetic.

The Tudor Dynasty, She read, a frown pulling at her lips...what the heck was a Tudor?

The bell rang, signaling the end of class. Aiko chucked his backpack over her shoulder, theorizing the best way to tackle the project. However, the first thing she had to do was research.

...

"How'd you even get into an Honor's class?" Sasuke asked, narrowing his eyes in suspicion at Naruto. He'd though it was a joke...but it seemed the idiotic blonde actually had made it into Asuma's Honor's class.

"I have a perfect explanation for that!" Naruto yelled, accidentally flinging a string of ramen into the air as he yanked his chopstick out of the bowl suddenly. It landed on Chouji, who shrugged before eating the discarded food.

Everybody leaned in closer to hear Naruto's answer, all wondering how exactly he'd done it. They didn't mean to be offensive...but he wasn't the sharpest kunai in the pouch. Ever since elementary school Naruto had always been a bit behind, mostly due to his fixation on pulling pranks and slacking off. Sure he'd pass...with the lowest grades possible. It was an unfathomable concept to as how he'd made it into regular classes, much less a class that targeted those who went above and beyond.

Noticing their suspicious glances, Naruto mirrored a look of offense. They never believe in him! Was it really that hard to think he'd be in the smart people's class for once?!

Okay so maybe it was a bit of a stretch.

"Is he bad at history or something?" Aiko chimed in, wondering what was so odd about the whole situation. Sure, it was pretty evident that the ramen-loving teenager wasn't very uh sharp, but he'd have to have been placed there for a reason. Who knew, maybe he simply lacked common sense and was a genius inside.

Or not...

"History?!" Ino snorted, pointing at Naruto. "This dunce is bad at all subjects. It's a miracle he didn't have to attend remedial classes this year."

Well...that would've been good to know before she'd teamed up with him.

"I feel so loved, dattebayo..." Naruto grumbled, eating his ramen angrily. "And Kakashi said it's my strong subject, so ha!"

"Maybe Kakashi's been reading too much Icha-Icha to think straight...or snorting crack cocaine cause that's ridiculous." Kiba added, now concerned for the silver-haired guy. Whoever thought to put Naruto in an honor's class must've been disturbed in the head...or heavily influenced by alcohol. He didn't mind though, somehow he'd been placed there as well! "...Sorry man..."

"No, but seriously, how'd you get in?" Sasuke continued.

"Well...last year I got my highest average in History, so they thought I should at least be smart in one subject if I'm to fail all the other ones."

There was a unanimous sigh of 'huh', as everybody accepted this piece of information.

"That's actually pretty smart..." Sakura commented. At least Naruto would have a strong foundation in one subject rather than being mediocre in everything.

"So, you coming to my house to finish the project?" Naruto asked, turning to Aiko.

The girl shrugged. "I guess I am now..."

"It's due on Monday...so we have exactly.." Kiba started, counting on his fingers.

"Three full day's to finish this." Aiko finished, crossing her arms over her chest. "Actually, two days if you don't count today...and one day if you take into consideration that we won't be seeing each-other tomorrow...or Sunday."

"...So we have today." He realized, eyes widening considerably. Sure they did have Saturday and Sunday, but without meeting as a group it meant nothing!

Aiko shrugged, glancing over to the deflated dog lover. "It's not that bad. If we work hard enough today it'll be over and finished with."

"That's funny..." Sasuke sarcastically commented. She knew nothing about Kiba's and Naruto's work ethic. Working? The word wasn't even in their vocabulary when it included academics. Sure, Naruto and Kiba were hard workers at desperate times, but normally...no.

"Whatever." She rolled her eyes at Sasuke, and turned to the pair. "I can come any time that works for you. I'm assuming Sasuke already knows where you live, so I'll just ask him for directions."

"Cool! is six alright for you?"

"Hn.."

The rest of the day passed quickly, surprisingly with no explosions, or homework from the rest of her classes.


~oOo~


"I'M COMPLYING! I'M COMPLYING!" Kiba's screams ripped through the air as he was shot multiple times by his blond friend. Their thunderous laughter could've been heard from miles away.

Aiko's eyebrows raised in curiosity as she watched the two exchange in a full blown out Nerf gun war. It seemed that Kiba was losing, and pretty badly at that. Why was she there again?

Oh right...project.

A stray dart navigated itself towards Aiko's face, and bounced off. She deadpanned as she watched it fall to the floor soundlessly. Picking it up, she walked towards her two acquaintances who had just noticed her arrival, and wore sheepish smiles, realizing they had accidentally hit her.

"Oh...hey there!" Naruto hesitantly called, lowering the plastic gun to his side. They had been caught red-handed. Kiba wore a solemn expression next to him, avoiding eye contact with the female Uchiha they had befriended. Of course, she had been very fairly calm during the times they had seen her...but she still was related to Sasuke. Who knew what kind of deranged sadistic tendencies lie under her usual smiling, or placid expression?

"So, working eh?" She drawled, hurling the dart at Kiba, where it hit dead-center on his chest. He gulped as she advanced further. "That's an interesting strategy you got there."

Seems Sasuke was correct about their work ethic...

"Ah well..." Naruto sputtered, quickly thinking of an excuse. "We were just taking a break, dattebayo! All of that Tudor stuff got us real worn out!"

"Uh-huh..." She continued with a smug grin. Damn, it was fun to mess with these two. They were so...gullible! Catching herself, Aiko fixed her grin into a menacing smile, earning her horrified glances from her companions.

"-it was Kiba's idea, I SWEAR!" Naruto rambled on nervously, throwing his gun over to Kiba who dropped it. Kiba stared back at him with disgruntled expression, registering the accusations against him.

Aiko couldn't hold in her amusement any longer as a wicked smile spread across her face. "Guys, remember, I'm not Sasuke. Although I do recommend we start working...because we only have about...five hours to do this." She spoke, walking past the two, now confused teens. "...I brought snacks..." She finished, holding up the plastic bag Mikoto had given her earlier.

That certainly got their attention.

...

"So..what's with the uh..Christmas tree?" Aiko questioned, observing Naruto's apartment. It was normal and all...for a guy that lived alone. Countless boxes or ramen lined the kitchen walls, suggesting he didn't cook much. She wouldn't trust him around a stove anyways. A few..dying potted plants decorated a shelf in the corner, and a lone book "The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi" sat on the shelf with them. Aiko observed a few picture frames lining the walls, most including Sasuke wearing his signature scowl, and even a picture with Naruto and Gaara. Seems they did have a long history with each other.

The only thing out of place in his apartment, was the fully decorated Christmas tree sitting in the corner. It was still Summer technically. Not even Halloween had passed, much less Thanksgiving, or any other holiday closely associated with Christmas.

Kiba shot her a look that clearly stated Don't question it, as he bit into one of the cookies Mikoto had made.

"Ah, it's tradition.." Naruto explained, plugging a charger into his laptop, balancing a cookie in his mouth as well. He made sure to clear his history, as Jiraiya borrowed his laptop on multiple occasions when his was broken. Who knew what kind of "research" the novelist looked up for his novels. Handing the laptop over to Kiba, he finished his cookie in one bite. "Sasuke never told you about it?"

"No..." Aiko muttered, leaning against the table. He never really told her anything. Pointing to a fox plushie under the tree, she sighed. "I'm assuming that's Kurama right?"

"Yep!" Naruto chimed. "You still remember that?"

Aiko walked back towards the table, examining the room further. "I remember everything.." She paused, "except directions."

"Interesting.."

"So, you got anything on the project?" She turned to Kiba expectantly.

The brunette scrolled down the page he was on, shrugging. "Well, it looks like this Henry the Eighth dude is pretty important." He said, puling up an article about the family. Damn, this guy had a lot of wives!

"That's a good start." She commented, now pulling out a chair to sit in. "Let's just take whatever information we can get on him and his relatives, and then work with that info. One we have the research done...the project's pretty much almost finished."

Kiba nodded in affirmation, eyes returning to the computer screen. "Good idea..."

The next minutes droned on incredibly slow, the only sounds heard being Kiba's furious typing, and Aiko's pencil drumming on the table rapidly. Naruto glanced over to the Uchiha who was staring down at the assignment instructions in boredom, like she'd rather being doing anything else, and the Inuzuka who researched their subject with no particular interest. It had only been twenty minutes and they were already sick of this assignment.

"Hey, we already know what we're doing so...why don't we take a break, dattebayo?" He suggested, pulling at the strings of his hoodie. Honestly, he'd do anything to get out of this silence.

Kiba and Aiko shared a look and shrugged, debating their options. They still had a substantial amount of time left, and the project wasn't that hard. A small break wouldn't hurt right?

"4:30..." Aiko read from the time displayed on her phone, "Why not...we still have about four hours. It can't hurt."

...

Oh but it did hurt.

We're so screwed. We're so screwed. we're so screwed. We're so screwed! WE'RE SO SCREWED! Aiko thought, debating whether to slam he fist into her skull. She had been warned about the detrimental effects and outcomes of procrastinating, but it was too late. Too...late. She should've heeded Sasuke's advice..or comment. Naruto and Kiba made it too easy to put off the project with their care free attitudes. She hadn't even noticed time passing as she hung out with them.

"When did the sun go down?!" Naruto mused, a stick of pocky hanging out of his mouth. It had been bright out like...five minutes ago! Well..if five minutes translated to four hours! The scenery outside the window was tranquil...but very...very dark. How did the time go by so quick? All the trio had done was warm up some ramen and play spoons...a very aggressive game of spoons at that.

Seriously, that was it.

In case you were wondering, Naruto: 3, Aiko: 13 and Kiba: 27. He surprisingly had very fast dog like reflexes..

Anyways-

"7:59..." Kiba read, eyes widening in shock. "Holy shit...what have we done?" He breathed out.

Absolutely nothing...the trio unanimously thought, frozen in place at the realization. Why did they ever listen to Naruto?...speaking of which...

"ASUMA-SENSEI IS GOING TO MURDER US!" The Uzumaki cried, falling out of his chair dramatically. There was no way they were going to finish this! He could already imagine the disappointed stare they'd receive on Monday if they showed up empty handed. Naruto hated disappointing people...

Contrary to Naruto's concerns, Kiba had a bigger issue on his mind. If anything, Asuma wouldn't be that angry. "WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, MY MOM'S GOING TO MURDER ME! I don't even want to know what Hana is going to say..." He rubbed his temples in panic, already trying to find a way out of this situation. His mother wasn't very strict about his grades, but she made it a priority for the whole process to be a spectacle. She didn't really care about what the average was, but if he didn't even try...that was another matter.

Naruto, reminded of Kiba's strict mother, and sister grimaced. "Oh, true...man that sucks for you."

"Okay, okay...nobody is getting murdered." Aiko rationalized, crossing her arms over her chest. It had taken her a few minutes to calm down and formulate a plan, but she had. There was no way Sasuke was going to be right...nor was she going to dishonor the Uchiha name with this blunder. Working under pressure was her specialty. Plus, she had her teammates to worry about..she couldn't let them down! "There's still thirty minutes left until I have to leave, and we already knew about this Henry dude so..."

"Wikipedia?" Kiba suggested, opening the discarded laptop in a flash. He started typing furiously as soon as he was logged in.

"Yeah!" She affirmed, nodding in Kiba's direction, a new determined expression replacing her features. "I've got the poster. Naruto, get supplies. We're going to finish this."


~oOo~


By the time Monday came around, the trio enthusiastically made their way into Asuma's classroom, holding a poster triumphantly in their arms. Naruto and Kiba were especially proud of this particular assignment, as they'd finished it after procrastinating under a small time limit. Their literal blood, caused by paper-cuts, sweat, mixed in with their rapid pace, and tears, Naruto..., were in this project. It didn't matter how amazing it was. They had finished, and that itself was a miracle.

"I can't believe we actually did it..." Kiba stated in awe, running his hand protectively over the poster. Aiko was..amazing. The last thirty minutes were like they were in an odd trance. All he'd remembered was a whole lot of text, glue, and colorful markers. Kiba had never worked that hard under stress in his life. It felt..oddly rewarding.

"I can't believe we did it either, dattebayo." Naruto complied, also feeling the same emotions as his friend. Maybe after this, he'd start applying himself to all of his subjects, and actually do his work! ...Or not, but the thought count.

I can't believe, that they can't believe, we actually did it...actually I can.

Soon, the familiar ring of the bell sounded, and Asuma haphazardly shuffled into the classroom amongst a throng of students, with a signature stick of pocky in his mouth. As he'd found out, not smoking during school hours proved to be quite the challenge, so pocky would have to be a reliable substitute for now. It was Monday at last. Now was the time to see who would be accountable for the year, or late. He had no real expectations for Shikamaru though. Asuma already knew the guy was bright. However, he did wish the Nara would apply himself more.

"Okay, students." Asuma started, sitting down at his desk. "First of all, good morning. I trust you had an eventful weekend?"

Nobody dared to speak, all glaring at him with resentful eyes whilst holding their projects. They were not amused. Naruto and Kiba on the other hand, smiled brightly.

Asuma chuckled, knowing he'd get this response. "-Ah, I figured. Anyways, it's Monday, and you all know what that means...projects are due. I will be calling up your groups for your oral presentation, so listen up."

Oral presentation? What?!

When was that a part of the assignment?! Looking down towards the direction sheet, Aiko deadpanned when she read the words Oral Presentation, in small letters, under a massive wall of text. When did that get there? This was like, size eight font! That wasn't fair! She did know about the subject fairly well now, but...public speaking? There was one thing Aiko was not good at bullshitting, and that was it.

She cast a horrified glance in the direction of her group-mates, and expected to receive the same, but Aiko was thoroughly confused when Naruto, nor Kiba appeared to be miffed in the slightest by this new proposal.

"Don't worry, we've got this, dattebayo..." Naruto reassured, a confident smirk plastered on his lips.

Oh god...

Aiko didn't have time to think before she heard Asuma's voice calling for them. Of course they'd be the first group! At this point, all hope had diminished in the Uchiha's mind, thoughts now lingering towards more negative subjects. She begrudgingly made he way to the front of the room with her confident teammates, unsure as to how this would all play out.

"For our assignment, we got the Tudor Dynasty." Kiba excitedly proclaimed, holding their poster triumphantly above his head. "Mainly, everything is all about this fat dude, Henry the Eighth." He continued, pointing towards a picture of the male patriarch. Aiko wondered if she could go hide in a corner somewhere. "He wasn't that fat in the beginning."

Asuma's brows raised in curiosity, but he didn't question it. He could already tell this would be interesting.

"-Anyways, everything turned to crap when Henry started cheating on his wife, the princess of Spain, with this chick Anne Boleyn." Kiba pointed to a portrait of the mistress. "Ironic enough, she wasn't as pretty as Catherine over here." He gestured towards another portrait of the Spaniard matriarch.

"And Henry wanted an annul- annumeh- ann," Naruto struggled with fancy word for divorce.

"Annulment." Aiko whispered, not-so-discreetly.

"Right, annulment on his marriage, but the Pope said no, dattebayo." He explained simply. The 16th century system was really complicated. Kiba enthusiastically continued.

"So Henry threw a hissy fit, and was like 'I don't need you pope, and going to be my own pope! And separated from the Catholic church to form the Church of England." He pointed towards a small photo of the king's second wife. "But then she got executed, and he had like, four other wives after that. Seems he couldn't make up his mind."

"And then his kids had this whole thing about succession..." Naruto continued, eying the pictures of Henry's three successors that were surrounded in gold glitter. Maybe they should've used silver? Too late now..

"People died..." Aiko quietly added in.

"And here we are today!" The wolfish boy finished, throwing a wicked grin over to their History teacher.

Everybody watched as Asuma's face morphed from confusion, to internal debated, as a dramatic silent pause ensued. Asuma didn't quite know what to think...technically they had completed his assignment, and met all the criteria. Even if their presentation was a bit..paraphrased, and condensed, they had gotten the main idea...sort of. He stroked his majestic beard in deliberation. Should he? eh...why not?

A smile broke out on the older man's face as he laughed heartedly. "Interesting presentation. Eh, B+."

Victory.


~oOo~


Sooo apparently I'm failing math for realzies...whoops

I got this really good idea for a short story but I can't write it until I get further along with this fic. I suppose there's always summer XD

Hope you all liked this chapter...and the small, very vague history lesson in it. Haha, the knowledge you obtain when you watch like..ten episodes of the Tudors...

This is actually Well, this Sucks longest chapter yet!

As always, I'll see you all next update.

-dreamwithinadream262

Review?