REVERBERATING DOOM

By Hitokiri Midori

Started: August 4, 2004 [8:11PM]

Author's Notes: Well, the story continues. Let's hear a collective "Doooooom."

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PART TWO

"It's not going to be that hard… it's gonna be alright…" Kin assured herself, humming nervously while tying a purple hair ribbon at the end of her long hair. "It's just some bimbo and a cold prick." She repeated. "A handsome prick, but an annoying little bug nonetheless. All I have to do is befriend them…"

"Kin, hurry up!" Zaku whined on the other side of the bathroom door. "I really gotta go!"

Kin ignored her roommate's comment and continued brushing her hair and retying the ribbon over and over again.

"Come on! What are you doing in there? See, this is why girls are annoying." Zaku shook his head furiously. It was still early in the morning, and he needed to seriously pee. What was taking that girl so long? He wished he had begged Dosu some more to room with him instead of boarding up with Kin, but Dosu could afford a nice apartment and was so stingy about anything, anyway. Kin was relaxed with these types of things. They shared a cheap apartment with only two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a living room with a kitchen area attached. Well, she used to be relaxed with these types of things. Lately, she hadn't been relaxed about anything.

"KIN! If you don't get out, I'm kicking the door down!" Zaku warned, shouting now. Kin rolled her eyes. She was decently dressed, and all Zaku would do with this action was anger the landlord and embarrass himself with the neighbor ladies. They were already suspicious of two teenagers, a boy and a girl, nonetheless, boarding together. They never bothered to listen to the stories of how their parents didn't really give a damn. Kin's parents used to love her… she remembered that warm companionship. But now, all she had were Zaku and Dosu, and her studies. She would dedicate herself to her studies. She had to get that award.

"I'M COMING!" Zaku boomed. Kin sensed trouble if the door was broken, since that would only cost more expenses. She unlocked the door and opened it just as Zaku charged at it, creating a classic cartoon scene were the charger stumbled and fell. Zaku did just that, but wasted no time climbing to the toilet. Taking her brush with her and groaning, Kin relented her hold on her bathroom fortress and retreated to her room to put on her uniform.

They attended a private high school, which was the only reason they had to wear the uniform. Kin didn't think she looked too bad in the brown uniform, which really flattered her figure. The boys were luckier than the girls were, and didn't have to wear that horrid shade of brown. They had navy blazers and ties, as well as a crisp white shirt.

Of course, Zaku never wore the tie. His blazer was always open and most of the time, hanging off one shoulder. Dosu was strange about the uniform. He was always covered in bandages, and even tucked in his shirt. Every time she saw him, his shirt buttons were buttoned to the top. She wasn't sure why he had so many bandages on all the time, but the teachers never questioned him, so she assumed it was a medical reason. She didn't really care. She had known these two since they were children. Even when they were young, their parents didn't want to have to take care of them all the time. They were all sent to the same karate dojo, and ended up being the only students that stayed year after year.

She didn't mind them, really. They were good people, if you looked past Zaku's slightly sadistic personality and Dosu's intimidating front. Zaku was a sheepish boy who liked smiling in his own way, and Dosu liked organization and didn't like intrusion. That was what she thought, but people at didn't school think so. Zaku and Dosu were a bit infamous for being… bullies.

When they first heard of their reputation, the two burst out laughing. They rarely seriously bullied anyone… there were only a few broken limbs from cutting in front of them in line, or making remarks about Dosu's bandages… the like. But, their social status didn't exactly help Kin's case. They were considered too "dorky" to even frighten people into voting for her at the award nominations, but too scary to make people want to willingly hang out with them.

Kin sighed, smoothing out her skirt. Zaku had sauntered into her room, blazer open and tie hanging astray, as usual. Picking up his light school bag, he made a gesture for the door. Kin nodded, putting her bag on and straightening out her hair.

"For the last time, it looks fine."

What?

Was she hearing things?

Kin turned to face the boy, who wasn't looking at her anymore. He stared at the ground with an awkward sort of concentration. "Pardon?"

"I said, your hair looks fine." Zaku mumbled. "Quit fiddling with it."

Kin paused, awestruck. Never, in all the years she has known Zaku, has he ever mentioned anything that could be taken as a compliment in one way or another. She didn't know if he's ever complimented anyone in his life.

Laughing brightly and slapping her old friend on the back, she yelled, "Thanks!" before locking the door to their apartment behind her and breaking into a run on the way to school. "I'll race you!"

Zaku rolled his eyes. "You may have caught me off guard back there, but you know I'm faster than you."

Of course, that last line was a lie. Zaku did better than anyone else on the pull-up bars. He held on to them for over fifteen minutes, which narrowly beat the record set by Uchiha Sasuke. That name again! No matter what Kin did, she couldn't get away from that horrible name. She would have to eventually befriend one of them…

Her gaze flickered to the pink haired girl talking to a blonde girl. They were both annoying, and personally, Kin would have never even wanted to be within a fifteen-mile vicinity of the two. However, this was a special situation, and in special situations, Kin would have to find the socialist hiding deep inside her… under a couple thousand layers of rock and the backside of Akimichi Chouji. God forbid.

"Hi there!" Kin summoned a cheery smile, sitting down next to Sakura. Sakura and Ino, the previously mentioned blonde girl, were wearing hiked up green shorts and a white t-shirt with the sleeves rolled up. "I'm Tsuchi Kin! I don't know if you know me or anything, but you're in a lot of my classes!"

"Oh, hello, Tsuchi-chan!" Sakura greeted.

"It's a pleasure to meet you!" Ino grinned in a sugary sweet way. Kin wasn't sure if she was being sincere or not. However, she caught the blonde-haired woman eyeing her long, navy sweatpants and white shirt with the sleeves unrolled and hanging down to her elbows.

"So, I've noticed you so many times!" Kin continued, her fake smile beginning to hurt her face. "I love your hair! What do you do to it?"

"Oh, hair is a nasty demon!" Ino chirped quickly. "Long hair is an incredible hassle."

"Why don't you just cut it short?" Kin gaped at the two, the old Kin resurfacing. She winced inwardly when she saw the two girl's offended looks.

"You don't know? Sasuke loves girls with long hair. That's why we're growing ours out!" Sakura answered. Kin unconsciously thought of her own dark locks that were longer than anyone else's in the school.

"Really? That's nice to know." Kin searched her mind for something to say. She had already complimented their hair. What do you say to compliment a girl like them, anyway? She had used the hair comment, so now she had to say something about their boyfriend… or in their case, their stalkee.

"That Uchiha boy is pretty good looking, hmm?" She brought up idly.

"Yes…" Starry looks entered their eyes. "I want to be Homecoming Queen with him…" They cooed simultaneously, before glaring at each other.

"Don't you go for him," Ino warned, reverting her gaze to Kin since she decided a staring contest with Sakura was a waste of time. "You're nice and all, but we've got too much competition as it is."

Kin laughed fakely. Her? Go for that pretty boy? She mentally scoffed. Instead of voicing her opinions, with poisonous sweetness lacing her voice, she said, "I'm sure one of you two ladies will be with him. I wish you luck!"

Sakura and Ino grinned.

"That Tsuchi-chan! She's so nice! She must mean me, but doesn't want to hurt Ino-pig's feelings." Sakura grinned widely.

"Oh, what a nice girl Kin-san is! She must mean me, but doesn't want to hurt Wide-forehead's feelings!" Ino told herself, before giving Kin a wide smile.

"Tell you what, Kin-san! Why don't you eat lunch with us today?" Ino offered.

Kin considered this. She usually ate a quick yogurt or banana while she was doing extra credit or studying in the library. Occasionally, she grabbed a bite to eat with Zaku and Dosu when they were running off campus for lunch. Still, she had nothing to lose… it was the period right before finals, when homework was easy and classes stable. Her academics had nothing to lose.

"Sure! Why not?" Kin returned the grin, her cheeks beginning to sting.

"We'll see you then! We can introduce you to Sasuke-kun!" Sakura called as she waved to Kin, who was walking away. With her back to the two, she let out a sigh of relief.

"That was hard. That was way too hard." Kin groaned. "How am I going to keep this up all through lunch?" Stalking through the parking lot, she ignored the fact that her gym class was currently running laps. She could pretend that she was taking a rest against this nice wall…

She looked around, suddenly realizing what area she was in. Her school had a notorious 'crack hall' full of shady figures and minor crimes. No girl wanted to be caught alone with this area. In fact, even a horde of girls wouldn't want to be caught in this area. It was probably safest with about, oh,… fifteen of your closest guy friends.

Kin looked around wildly. She was too busy wondering what she would do for lunch to remember where the rest of her class was. It was probably best to get back through the parking lot… She didn't like how dark it was in this small nick in the building. The walls were stained with graffiti, and the height of the wall blocked out the sun.

She felt the person coming before he ever touched her. An arm slithered around her waist, and she struggled to get free. "Kin…" The voice hissed in her ear. It was surprisingly seductive, but Kin was so mortified, she had no problem breaking away from the stranger's advances. "Do you want me?" He whispered again, his breath blowing in her ear lightly. Squirming from his grasp, she was surprised at his strength. She was probably stronger than most girls were in her grade because of her karate, but this stranger held her as if she was a weak, limp, rag doll.

"LET ME GO!" She shrieked. "RAPE! RAPE!"

The figure retreated, mumbling. "I'm not going to rape you… I just want you to love me…"

"Show yourself!" Kin demanded, using the growing distance between them to make a dash for the end of the wall. She stood posed in the barrier from the dark area to the parking lot.

"ATTACKER!" She screamed loudly, before turning her attention back to the stranger. "Show yourself, or I'll keep screaming," She hissed. She wasn't a weak girl you could just attack like that.

There was a chuckle. "Feisty. I like that type of girl. You're an interesting chick, Tsu-chi Kin-san." The stranger accented every syllable of her name, before letting his face come into the shadows. He had a horrible, pale face with dark slits for eyes and a long, writhing tongue. It almost made Kin sick to her stomach. He was much taller than she was, so she guessed he was a senior.

Flicking her gaze to her right, she saw three boys come running towards her direction. They were in her gym class, so she assumed they heard her cries. "Don't ever even look at me again," She hissed at the pale senior.

Instead of getting the desired frightened effect, he laughed. "Don't think you can bully me, Kin-chan. I'll be back later…" He disappeared into the shadows.

Kin sighed heavily. Now what? This was unfair. Life was unfair.

"Hey! Girl! Are you alright?" A boisterous blonde boy boomed across the parking lot. Kin nodded, and walked across.

"What happened?" A rather unattractive boy with a bowl cut and dark hair asked gallantly. Kin couldn't help but giggle slightly at his thick eyebrows and long, lower eyelashes.

"Some senior attacked me when I was over there." Kin jabbed a thumb behind her. "He's gone now, but he said he'd come back again."

"Mmm." Came a mumble of understanding. Just then, Kin realized who the third person of her "rescue squad" was. Uchiha Sasuke.

"U-Uchiha-san?" She gaped. He rolled his eyes. This was great, just great. She was another addition to the growing Sasuke Fan Club.

"It's a pleasure to meet the top male student!" Kin grinned, and shook his hand eagerly, much to his surprise.

The bowl-cut boy looked surprised, also. He, too, had been expecting her eyes to turn into hearts and start ogling over the handsome boy. Only boys ever acknowledged his achievements beyond maintaining the most perfect face and figure ever to grace the face of Konoha Private High. Girls were shallow people, he decided.

"Are you three in my gym class?" Kin questioned. "I don't remember seeing any of you… then again, I don't remember seeing anyone…"

"Oh no! Did the attack hinder your memory?" The blonde yelled in alarm. "Stand back! I'll expel the evil spirits-"

"Shut up, Naruto." Sasuke grumbled.

"You don't remember us? I'm hurt!" Bowl-cut boy looked seriously offended. "I am the beautiful green beast of Konoha Private High… ROCK LEE!"

Kin shook his hand reluctantly, and eyed him.

"Yes? Are you admiring my beauty?" Lee joked, knowing very well she wasn't admiring his looks.

"You've got great eyelashes," Kin said suddenly. "I wish mine were as long as yours. It makes me envious."

Lee was stunned.

"And I am Uzumaki Naruto! Don't forget the name… er… what was your name again?"

"Tsuchi Kin." She shook hands with Naruto. Tipping her head towards Sasuke, she acknowledged, "Uchiha Sasuke-san."

Sasuke nodded.

"Feel free to call him Sasuke-kun, Tsuchi-san." Lee laughed, and Sasuke mumbled something similar to a "Fine."

"Every other girl does." Naruto added, slightly grumpily.

"Well, I wouldn't want to be like every other girl then, would I?" Kin winked, walking away with her back facing the three.

"That was some magnificent acting earlier, Kin." Kin came around to the place her class had congregated.

"You were watching the whole thing?" Kin raised an eyebrow. She knew Dosu was observant, but he was just too alert sometimes. "From when?"

"From when you started talking to the two girls."

"So? What do you think? Should I be in drama, or what?"

"Except for the part where you had to stretch your face muscles. Don't smile much?"

Kin smacked Dosu lightly. "Don't kid like that. I was invited for lunch with them, and even got introduced to some of the guys early. I'm making progress."

"I still don't get it." Dosu grumbled. "How is befriending those losers going to make you popular enough to get the award?"

"Everybody looks up to Sasuke-kun. He has so many admirers, they'd probably turn on each other in a blink of an eye. If a girl who is only friends with him shows up, they'd all befriend her like crazy. Every girl wants an easy access to information, but not a rival. That's just one of the pros. Sakura has a lot of admirers in our grade, even if she's a bit lacking in common sense. We'll just blame it on love, temporarily, but there's only so long you can remain at a lowered IQ state without actual losing those brain cells."

She didn't notice how quiet Dosu had become. "Also, those two know a lot of the more popular people in the school, and if I could just become acquainted with them… Dosu? Dosu, what's wrong?" She looked at her old friend, who was looking rather strange.

"Sasuke… kun?" Is that a name you came up with yourself, or…?

"Oh, Lee-san told me to call him that, and he said it was alright."

"Well, I wouldn't want to be like every other girl then, would I?" Dosu imitated her voice perfectly. He really could be the vocalist if Kin couldn't do it. "What happened to that?"

Kin shrugged. "I need… to get familiar with them to get my award… that's all, Dosu."

"Right. Sure." Dosu waved it away. "Don't forget your little band, though, Kin. I got us a gig."

"Really?" Kin's eyes lit up. They had been practicing immensely hard all summer, but had yet to perform publicly.

"Yeah. It's here. Homecoming Dance next week." Kin's happy expression quickly soured.

"That's right before the awards!" She hissed. "I need to suck up at the dance! I can't play! Can't you get another…"

"It was hard enough just to get this one, and nobody even wanted it. I'm not even sure if people will show, with us playing."

Kin pondered this with a serious expression on her face. "The Homecoming Dance is notorious for having crappy bands play… people actually go there to make fun of whoever's playing. You want to get embarrassed like that?"

To her surprise, Dosu shrugged emphatically. "S'not like we have anything to lose or gain, eh, Kin?" He laughed coldly. "We don't have to busy ourselves making friends with popular people from our friend's classes. Zaku and I are very proud of being the rejected, intimidating students, thank you very much." And with that, Dosu turned around and stalked off in the opposite direction of which everyone was running.

Sakura and Ino turned the corner just in time to pass Dosu. They were the last in the class to show up in her group, since they were in a different class than Kin.

"Hey! It's Kin-san!" Sakura waved to her. "I'm so slow!" She laughed humbly.

"You're perfectly fine," Kin assured, more out of forced habit than feeling.

"Ugh… that bandaged boy gives me the creeps." Ino shivered. "You just look at his one eye and get scared, huh?"

"I know!" Sakura agreed emphatically. "It'd be so terrible to be his friend! I would feel so sorry for them!"

"They'd have to put up with his creepy eye and his stares all day… and those bandages… I wonder what happened? Probably some horrible, disfiguring disease." Ino rolled her eyes.

"Yeah," Sakura agreed quickly. Eyeing Kin, she asked, "What about you, Kin? What do you think of that creepy guy?"

Kin's mind wasn't very involved into what was going on, but she subconsciously realized they were asking for her opinion on her moping friend. "He's… grumpy."

"Grumpy?" The two looked slightly disappointed at this general comment and its lack of an insulting quality.

"Sure." Ino waved the awkward moment away. "Asuma-sensei's gonna threaten to fail me again. Gotta go. Meet you at twelve by the courtyard, 'kay, Tsuchi-chan?"

"Sure, sure." Kin assured the two, before turning away and looking in the direction Dosu left for. Doubt filled her heart again.

I'm befriending them rather well… they're not that bad… She thought of how they talked about Dosu like he was some sort of virus. Okay, so they aren't the nicest people in existence… but I can stand them. Dosu's just jealous because I'm making friends with people with some actual social status! Kin huffed, stomping her foot in her indignation. Dosu knew how hard she worked to get the TFS Award, and how much time she put into their band in the summer. Frankly, he was just jealous!

This thought fixated in her mind, an angered Kin turned in the opposite direction and marched off to finally meet up with the rest of her class.

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END NOTES:

1) Kin is badly out of character. Forgive me.

2) If you can imagine it, yes, Dosu is walking around in a high school blazer without all the fuzzy things he wears, but he has bandages over his face.

3) The summary mentioned something about her band. Gasp. Shock. Their band will eventually work its way into the story… somehow.