Broken Youth
(Life of Konoha Academy Teens)
CH.3.6: Closer

A blond boy with three distinguishing lines across each cheek, would not stop fidgeting. He did not maintain his attention on his science teacher up front, he was tuning her out as he did normally without giving it a second thought. Instead of focusing on the teacher, the boy concentrated on the girl beside him.
The girl besides him did not look at him, for she was doing what she was suppose to and listened to the teacher; Even so the dark haired girl could still sense the boy observing her, and that made her a little nervous.
As soon as the teacher finished her instructions, the blond boy did not waste time to start talking himself. "Is not this great? You're my new lab partner, I just know we're going to have a blast working together! I was afraid I was going to get stuck with a complete weirdo, but fortunately I got you." he said with dorky grin.
"Um ... yeah?" replied the girl timidly, not knowing exactly what to say.
"So what exactly are we supposed to be doing now? I was not really paying attention." said the boy with a chuckle as I scratched the back of his head.
The girl patiently and without complaint thoroughly repeated the procedure in a way that fit the boy's comprehension. "... And that's all to it." Said the girl a few moments later when she finished restating the lecture.
"Thanks for explaining it to me. Sorry that you had to repeat the whole lecture just because of me," apologized the blue eyed boy.
"I-it's Completely fine," stated the girl waving her arms in front of her.
"Okay... Now what are waiting for let's start the game already!" stated the boy with exceeding energy. "I'll start, if you do not mind."
"G-go ahead," answered his partner.
"Thanks!" The blond boy jumped out of his seat. Took a deep breath before he starting his next statement. "I am Uzumaki Naruto, future Hokage of Konoha, 'ttebayo" he exclaimed with his thumb pointing at his forehead.
"Nice to meet you," responded the purple eyed girl as she stood up "My name is Hinata from the Hyuuga clan." She bowed her head after her rapid introduction. Her hands were near her chest, one on top of the other.
"Hinata-chan you do not need to be so traditional," suggested Naruto. "Oh, and one more thing. Try to have more, what's that word again? Oh yeah, convection."
'Huh? Convection? Oh, I think I means conviction. 'Thought the girl a little confused.
"Okay, Naruto-kun. I'll try my best to show you more conviction," Hinata replied with a smile.
'Oh It was conviction. Conviction, convection what's the difference? 'Naruto thought.
All of a sudden, something to their right caught both of their attention. It was the sight of Sasuke kissing Sakura's hand.
"Aw. Why Did not I think of doing something like that?" Stated Naruto outloud which made his blushing partner blush even more. Without thinking the his placed hand behind her neck which made massively blush.
-

After the comotion of Sasuke's unexpected actions died down, Naruto and Hinata countined with their interview game.

"So why exactly do you want to be Hokage, Naruto-kun?" asked Hinata with real wonder.

"That's a very good question Hinata-chan," complemented Naruto. "As you probably already know, I am not a genius like that Teme Sasuke (pardon my language Hinata-chan); I never await to become one either. All I really want is to be known and respected like my father. I know that obtaining that isn't easy since I'm not the brightest guy out there." Naruto took a breath. "As you plausibly remember I few years back, I was the biggest troublemaker in the school. I was always playing pranks on people and getting sent to the principals office, but that was all done to gain my peers' attention. It turned out that way because I wasn't all that skilled in academics or athletics, I was just average. That being so I never got in the spotlight of glory, instead I usually ended up being the laughing stock. Back then I thought that the only way I was ever going to gain attention was by act like a fool. Even as the fool I didn't stop trying to better myself, so that one day I could surpass the geniuses. I didn't notice that all my efforts were being wasted because I wasn't give the 110% I thought I was (because the pranks were getting in my way and stealing my focus)." Naruto paused briefly. "A couple years ago I was challenged to master a technique in a weeks time. The challenger didn't think I could ever beat them, I kinda doubted if I could master it myself. A week later after working as hard as I could without rest I manged to beat my competitor who was 10 no 1000 stronger than Sasuke. That's when I truly realized that if I gave something my all I could accomplish anything I set my mind to. Starting there I began to change my ways, I've become less of a prankster and a more capable person; well more in athletics and the ninja arts more than anything, but I'm still making progress. I am no longer the D- student I use to be. I know if I continue improving myself like this, people will learn not to underestimate me, and I will surely become I great leader." Naruto was standing up in an almost fighting stance as he finished his run-on speech. "Sorry that you had to listen to my ramblings Hinata-chan. I know it was boring and got really off topic." apologized the boy sitting back down.

"No, it's fine Naruto-kun. I didn't mind hearing your story at all," answered Hinata warmly.

"You know, that's what I like most about you Hinata-chan. You are always so nice and patient with me no matter what." Naruto stated returning the warmness to the girl in more than one way. "So what about you Hinata-chan, what's your dream for the future?"

"Well, as the eldest daughter of the Hyuuga clan's head I am destined to became the CEO of my families enterprise, after my father retires of course." began Hinata as she tucked her hair behind her ear. "Yet I don't feel I am the appropriate person for that job. I believe that someone that actually wants and has worked very hard for the occupation deserves it. Someone like Neji-nii-san."

'Neji, huh? I personally don't like his slightly snobby attitude, but Hinata-chan has a point, he is more suited to be a boss than I sweet girl like her,' thought Naruto.

"I know it won't be easy to grant my cousin his rightfully attained position, because of my clan's harsh concepts about the main and branch houses, but I'm I will not give up until those rules are revoked and we are all untied as a single unified clan, that has equal opportunity for all it's member not just a select few," stated Hinata.

"That is truly a large goal you are carrying on your shoulders Hinata-chan, but I truly believe you can achieve it. You will most definitely reach into the hearts of all your clans-people." stated the blond boy. "I still have a question. If you are not planning on becoming the CEO of your clan's company, then what do you really want be?"

"This my sound silly, but I've always wanted to become an elementary school teacher," stated Hinata. "Mostly because I want to be someone that influences the future generation in a positive way."

"That's not silly at all Hinata-chan. You would be an excellent teacher. If I was your student, you would definitely be my favorite teacher. You're perfect to become a teacher, you're kind, patient, understanding and pretty," belted out Naruto. His cheeks warmed when he realized what he said. "Pretty cool, that's what I meant to say." He lied. 'I can't believe I just called Hinata-chan pretty out loud,' he thought as he covered his mouth in embarrassment.

Hinata's face was blushing to it's limit and yet a small smile appeared on her lips.

After the awkwardness passed, the two teens continued the questioning game til the end of the period.

A redheaded girl with strangely styled hair and glasses over her red eyes had both her hands underneath her chin. She was not paying close attention to the white-haired guy beside her, but instead to a couple in the front row. She observed them from the corner of her eye.

In the beginning the white-haired, purple eyed boy to her left, rolled his eyes at her and wondered 'What is wrong with this woman?' yet he already knew what was wrong with her.

It wasn't long until boy got impatient of not doing anything, he suggested to the girl if they would follow the example of the class and play the 'Bonds' game. She ignored his request and told him to do it by himself. The boy being use to her neglect did as she told him, telling her he didn't mind talking to himself.

"I'm Suigetsu Hozuki..."stated the boy starting his monologue.

When the girl saw that the Suigetsu was actually going to talk to himself, she closed her eyes and sighed at his idiocy.

"Whoa! That's really bold of Sasuke," the girl heard the boy say while her eyes were closed.

'Huh? Sasuke-kun?' thought the girl quickly opening her eyes. As soon as she saw the sight that everybody else seemed to be staring at, she pounded her hands on the desk. 'That should have been my hand he was kissing!' she thought angrily.

Suigetsu turned to her partner with spiritless eyes. 'Karin I'm sorry, but it's already clear to me that Sasuke has already set his choice. I know Sasuke pretty well and he wouldn't do something like that with just anyone. I can tell he likes that girl, if I can clearly see that why can't you?' thought the white-haired lad.

Taking a breath Suigetsu ignored the scene and continued talking to himself.

'Her hand might gotten the first kiss, but my lips steal you first kiss,' thought Karin optimistically.

Almost half way through the period, the girl was still sulking over Sasuke's kiss. She still wasn't interacting with her partner. The information he was giving her was going in on ear and out the other.

"...as you can probably tell by now, my two favorite things are swords and water..." Suigetsu still talked.

'Sasuke-kun why did you have to do that? Why did you have to make me envy someone so much right now? ' Karin sighed and closed her eyes again to try to clear her mind.

"...my favorite foods are jello and yogurt because they are not quite solid," Karin heard Suigetsu say. "Yet they can't compare with how much I like watermelon."

'Watermelon?' thought the redhead.

"I love watermelon," whispered the girl without realizing it, she didn't know her partner had heard her.

'Why I am so surprised to have something in common with this dork? I'm sure we have more similar interest. Maybe I'm just afraid of actually getting along with this guy, but I guess it would be that bad since I am stuck with him all year... and he can't be all that bad if he likes watermelon.' Karin then turned to look at her partner, she was startled to see him looking back at her with an awkward expression on his face. "What?" she asked him her face getting crimsoned.

"Nothing," he returned shaking his head. "Just a little shocked find out that even polar opposites can something as simple as watermelons in common."

"Is there something wrong with me liking watermelons?" she asked snobbishly.

"No, it just caught me off guard," Suigetsu said. He slightly covered his mouth. "Especially since I didn't think you liked anything other than Sasuke." he teased her in a muffled tone.

The girl growled. "Whatever, anyway I'm now tired of hearing your annoying voice, so I'll talk about more interesting things, like myself," stated Karin.

The boy chuckled. 'I can't believe this is just the beginning of a long and interesting school year.'

"What are you laughing about!" exclaimed the girl.

"Nothing," Suigetsu replied.

"You're lying!" shouted Karin hitting him on the shoulder.

"Ow, I was not!" he replied. He purposely stepped on her toe.

Bickering and quarreling was basically how the rest of the class end for those two. It was no different than how they normally acted towards each other. Even if it didn't seem like it with all the fighting, they both liked the fact that they at least one thing in common, no matter how small it was.

A blonde haired girl with bright blue eyes couldn't stop smiling through her eyes as talked to the pale boy in front of her. As soon as the teacher gave them the signal to start the game, the girl hadn't stopped talking for more than a minute, she was like a parrot. The pale boy didn't mind all her chattering, he wasn't much of a speaker himself, being a person afraid of unintentionally offending someone (mostly because of it's consequences). Instead of talking the boy courteously listened to the girl at the same time that he doodled and took notes on her information.

It was now near the end of the period, the girl had explained many things to the boy, most of them pointless. The boy on the other hand hadn't really stated much about himself, well other than things she hadn't already known prior to the interview. The girl was really curious to uncover at least on of the many secrets surrounding her strangely mysterious/unknown partner.

"...So that's how I plan to achieve my dream career of becoming a world famous fashion designer while integrating it with my parents flower shop business."stated the blonde girl. "But enough about me. What about you Sai-kun what is your dream?"

The pale boy stopped writing and pondered the question for a moment with the end of his pen on his lip. "A dream? I presently don't have one in mind," he answered in a sort of monotone pattern.

"You said presently, so does that mean you use to have one?" asked the girl trying to squeeze out all the content she could.

"I guess, yet I didn't exactly think of it as a dream but more like a goal." stated the boy.

"What was it?"asked Ino eagerly.

"It was nothing more than to show my brother my first completed picture book," he answered.

"You have a brother Sai-kun?" stated Ino with surprise in her eyes.

"Yes, he wasn't my biological brother he was an orphan like me, taken in by Danzo-sama. So, he's my adoptive brother, his name is Shin," explained the boy.

'I wonder why I've never seen Sai-kun's brother before,' pondered Ino. "So did you accomplish your goal?"

Sai did not answer the question right away."No," he said softly.

"Why not? Did you still not finish your book?" asked Ino baffled.

"Yes and no," Sai stated which made Ino make the most confused expression he had ever seen. "I'll try to explain it as best as I can." He tried to give a smile but failed. "What I mean is that, I did complete as much of the book as I wanted my brother to see. A few pages were left blank in the book, but only because I wanted to save them to draw a special portrait for my brother... But... when I finally manged to get to that stage it was a little to late, Shin was already gone."

Ino looked at Sai with dazed eyes.'What does he mean by that? Does he mean that his brother abandoned him? Or that his brother...'

Sai saw the confusion in the blonde girls eyes so he set out to clarify everything."Shin suddenly died of an unknown spontaneous disease. His death came as a impact to me, because he didn't seem ill to me at all, he was always so full of energy and joy when he was around me."

"Oh, Sai-kun I'm so sorry, I didn't want to bring you back painful memories," Ino said placing her hand over her mouth trying to hide her sadness.

"Don't worry about it Ino-chan, I'm completely fine with it. Shin died almost eight years ago, his death doesn't really affect me anymore." assured Sai.

Even with Sai's resolve Ino's gloom didn't vanish so easily. She surprisingly remained completely silent for more than a minute. The death of Sai's brother was the missing puzzle piece that Ino's mind needed to solve part of the mystery surrounding him. With that new piece, more seemed to make sense to her; For example: Why Sai lost his emotion, Why he got home schooled around the time he said his brother died, and why he forgot how to smile.

Sai saw Ino's concern, he wanted to take it away somehow. He wasn't sure what to do, but then an idea popped into his head.

"Hey, Ino-chan would you like to take a look at the picture book?" offered Sai.

Ino quickly came out of her trance. "Of course I would Sai-kun!" she excitedly with a smile.

Sai pulled out a small book from his book bag and handed it to Ino. Ino thirstily took it and began to glance through it. She looked at each page thoroughly, the drawings were well made and they connected almost perfectly the following drawing with somewhat of a story flow. Near the middle of the book Ino came across the blank pages, what was odd about them was that the drawings continued after them but the story flow seemed to change. After Ino finished looking at drawings she returned to the blank pages at the center of the book and stared at them for a bit.

"It's a lovely book Sai-kun, Your drawings were amazing like all ways," complemented Ino. She looked back at the blank pages. "I'm sure your brother liked it! I'm also certain that he would have liked the final portrait no matter what it looked like because it would have come from your heart!" She lifted her gaze and gave him a bright smile.

After a moment Sai took the book from Ino's lap and began to depict figures on it with his pen.

"What are you doing Sai-kun?" asked Ino astound.

"These page have been left blank for far to long. You're right Ino-chan, Shin would have liked it no matter what was." He stated as he continued to create his picture.

When Sai finished the portrait, he handed the book back to Ino so she could analyze it.

"Your brother is probably smiling down at this picture right now," replied Ino with another smile.

"You really think so?" Sai said with a real heart filled smile appearing on his face.

Ino continued smiling as she nodded her head. Her cheeks slightly bloomed at the sight of Sai's real smile.

_ "It's almost time to go," stated Ino a while later.

"I guess it is," said the boy looking at the clock.

"We should probably wrap-up the game with a parting gesture," suggested Ino.

"Like what?" asked Sai confused.

"Oh, I got it," said Ino pounding her balled up hand into her opened one. Ino extended her right arm at him. Sai looked at her hand with a what-am-I-suppose-to-do-with-this gaze in his black eyes.

"You're suppose to shake it," said Ino lift her arm a bit higher.

"Oh, okay," responded the pale boy. Sai grabbed Ino's wrist and shook it back and forth.

Ino giggled. "Not like that silly," Ino stated. "Have you never shaken hands with someone before?"

Sai shook his head. "Then I'll just have to teach you," She said with a smile.

With her left hand Ino grabbed Sai's right hand from his lap, and connected it to her right hand. The action made both of them feel a little flushed. "Now you just shake hands," stated Ino as she did what she said. Sai followed her lead.

"I'm so glad you actually showed me some of your beautiful colorful emotion Sai-kun," she said with a grin as she continued shaking his hand.

"Thank you helping me finish my brother's picture book Ino-chan," she said giving her another real smile.

Ino let go of his hand and began to blush. "I did nothing really," the blue eyed girl replied.

The bell suddenly rang, it was time to leave.

"See you later Sai-kun!" waved Ino picking up her bag and heading out the door. Sai wove back at her as she rushed past him.

'You did more than you think Ino. You made me finally accomplish my expired goal,' Sai thought as he lifted his picture book and placed it back in his bag, with a smirk across his face.

Fin 3.6