"You've done it this time," grumbled a tall, black haired boy as him and 4 others marched down a hallway, looking extremely unhappy.
"Oh, lighten up, Shikamaru," the boy to his left responded cheerfully, smirking and walking with a slight bounce in his step, as if he were eager to get where he was going, "Besides, you were in on it, too. You can't toally pin it on Nora and Naruto,"
A girl with long, brown hair tied in two braids laughed openly, tears streaming from her brown eyes. She had been trying to contain her laughter, but was finding it exceedingly difficult to do so. The expression on the face of her classmate was just priceless! She wiped her eyes and turned to the boy called Shikamaru with a broad grin on her face.
"Yeah! But come on, it was fun, wasn't it? I mean, did you not see Iruka-sensei's face? It was absolutely...Oh god, that was classic," She stuffed her hands into the pockets of the apron tied around her dress.
Shikamaru snorted as they turned a corner, "Funny as it was, this is all too troublesome. I could still be in class right now, sleeping or something..." He scowled and heaved a sigh as the boy to his left laughed.
"Is that all you care about?" He asked, smirking and punching him lightly on the shoulder. His brown eyes shone with excitement as they stopped in front of a large, wooden door.
They were all silent for a few moments, staring at the doorknob. Each of their faces looked apprehensive, except the brown eyed boy's. He pulled down his hood to reveal a mane of shaggy brown hair that he ran a hand through carelessly. A large boy to his left gave him a nervous glance.
"Kiba, y'know, you don't have to be so confident all the time," he said in a slightly miffed tone, ruffling his light brown hair and closing his eyes, as if deep in thought. Kiba let out a bark of laughter and reached for the doorknob.
"Y'all ready for this?" He sneered, looking around at the group of kids behind him.
A blond, spikey haired boy with bright cerulean eyes grinned, "When have I ever not been ready, Kiba?" He pushed his way closer to the door, shoving the girl and the brown-haired boy out of the way.
"Ow!" Exclaimed the girl, falling onto Shikamaru, who leapt back in surprise, "Naruto, you cocky bastard, why are you so excited to get in trouble?" She brushed off her brown dress and helped up the large, brown haired boy, who had fallen.
"Thanks, Nora," He sighed, pulling himself up and groaning. Nora shook her head in exasperation.
"No problem, Chouji," She replied, crossing her arms and scowling at the blond boy. She kicked Kiba in the leg.
"Well, open it if you're going to!" She snarled, biting her lip.
Kiba smirked once more, turning the doorknob slowly as if to increase the suspense. Chouji had his eyes close and was breathing fast, hugging himself.
"Oh, hurry it up!" The blond boy yelled, throing himself onto the door.
"Naruto, you idiot!" Kiba cried as he fell inside the room. He grabbed onto Naruto as he fell, who in turn tried to stay standing by holding onto Nora's dress. In the end, they all found themselves lying in a pile inside a large, sunlit room. Nora groaned and smacked her forehead in embarassment.
"Great job, Naruto, you cocky little shit," Kiba snarled from the bottom of the pile, trying to wriggle himself out from under his friends. Somewhere near the bottom, Naruto let out a muffled cry that sounded vaguely like, "Shut the hell up."
"Ch-Chouji?" Nora squeaked, gasping for air, "You-You're crushing me..."
Chouji rolled off the top of the pile, and everyone in turn stodd up, caressing bruises and brushing themselves off.
"Well, well, well, getting yourselves into trouble so early? I usually don't see any of you until..Oh, around lunch hour..."
All five of the kids looked up quickly, obviously forgetting what they were there for. Nora started to panick.
"Lord Hokage-Sama," She started, out of breath. "We didn't mean to barge in in such a manner! It was all Naruto's fault, see, he slammed himself into the door and-"
An old man in a long, white robe chuckled and waved his hand; Nora fell silent and looked at her feet, blushing terribly.
"Now, I've received word that you - Ah - interrupted class today?" The Hokage said, peering down at the children before him. They all stared back up, looking embarassed. Except, as usual, for Kiba, who was still grinning broadly.
"Oh, it was classic," He sighed fondly, crossing his arms. "You see, Lord Hokage-Sama, Uchiha Sasuke was, as usual, being his bratty self. All stuck up'n'stuff...So, we decided to play a little trick on him. Oh, it was absolutely priceless..."
The Hokage raised an eyebrow, clearly interested. "Uchiha Sasuke? What sort of trick was this?"
Naruto's eye lit up with excitement. "Oh god, it was funny! Well, all the girls in class - Safe for Nora, here - just love Sasuke. Love him. So, we thought, 'Hey, wouldn't it be funny if he found out that even boys were attracted to him?' So, Nora sat in front of him and said, 'Hey, Sasuke, you're aware that you're probably the most loved guy in the academy, yes?' And he just raised an eyebrow and stayed all quiet-like. Then, Shikamaru said rather loudly, 'No, Naruto, I won't ask Sasuke out for you!' Oh you should have seen his face. So then, me, Kiba and Chouji all went up to him and acted really lovey...He was creeped right out. Of course, Nora was roaring with laughter, which is what cause Iruka-sensei to notice we weren't practicing switching jutsu's anymore...So I guess you could say it was her fault..."
Nora's mouth fell open in horror, "My fault? Not only mine! Sure, a little mine, but not totally-"
"Sasuke had it coming!" Kiba yelled over Nora's voice, trying to justify their behaviour to the Hokage, who was smiling slightly.
"I don't want to deal with this..." He chuckled, ushering them out of the room, "Just remember, jealousy gets you nowhere. Run along now, but don't go back to class..Give Iruka a break..."
All five of them swelled with idignition.
"Jealous?" Nora shrieked, throwing her arms in the air. "What do I have to be jealous of? I don't like girls, ew!"
Naruto and Kiba seemed to be speechless with horror. Naruto was opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water, and Kiba just looked...Homicidal.
"Yes, that's right," The Hokage said cheerfully. "I said, 'Jealousy gets you nowhere.' Goodbye, now." And with that, he closed the large, wooden door in their faces.
"Well, we sure made a great impression, didn't we?" Shikamaru snorted, leaning against a tree and crossing his arms. Chouji had gone home, which left him, Nora, Naruto and Kiba at the riverbank.
"Yep, real graceful of us," Nora scoffed, throwing a rock into the river with a bored expression on her face. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a tiny silver watch, examining it's face. "5:30...I have to go soon, eh?"
Kiba picked up a rock and threw it in the air, catching it before it hit the ground. "Meh," He shrugged, throwing the rock into the river much furthur then Nora had. She stuck out her tongue and picked up another rock, heaving it as far as she could.
"Nice try," Naruto said lazily from a tree branch, twirling a kunai knife between his fingers. He sat up and peered down at his friends, a thoughtful expression upon his face. "Do you think Iruka will be so angry as to not let us back into class?" He asked, throwing his legs over one side of the branch and leaping onto the ground beside Shikamaru, who shook his head.
"Nah," He said, his eyes closed, "He's too soft. He'll have to let us back in...The guy loves teaching,"
Kiba lay sprawled on the grass, staring at the sky with his hands behind his head. "I can't believe he got that angry, just because we gave Sasuke what he was asking for," He laughed, looking up at Nora who was peering down at him from a rock.
She sighed and kicked her dangling feet from the edge of the rock, an annoyed expression on her face. "I really don't like him, you know," She said, scowling, "He thinks he's so..So great...He's not all that talented. The only reason everyone likes him is because he's so..So handsome and from that...The Uchiha clan..." She trailed off, staring into space.
Naruto whistled. "So, she admits that Sasuke is handsome, does she?" He climbed onto the rock beside her and started nudging her in the side, smirking. "She thinks he's charming, does she?"
Nora hit him on the head and crossed her arms, looking miffed. "I never denied he was handsome. Charming, most definitely not. He's a stuck up little brat!"
"Hear, hear," Kiba said from the ground, raising a hand in salute.
Shikamaru opened his eyes and stretched, yawning. "Well, I'd better be going home, before my mother has a fit. Nora, c'mon, you live near me anyway." He walked over to her and grabbed her arm, helping her down from the boulder. "We'll see you guys tomorrow, bye."
Nora waved and followed Shikamaru away from the river and towards the village of Konoha.
"I'm tired," Shikamaru grumbled, kicking a rock as he and Nora trudged home.
Nora snorted, "When are you ever not?"
"When I'm sleeping," He smirked, stuffing his hands in his pockets.
"Only because you're in such a deep sleep you can't feel anything,"
"Quiet,"
Nora sighed and held her hands behind her back, looking at the sky. "Do you really hate him?"
"Who?" Shikamaru replied lazily, not bothering to look at her.
"Sasuke," Nora said impatiently, her nostrils flaring. "Do you actually hate Sasuke?"
Shikamaru sighed and rolled his eyes, opening the gate to the Konoha Market. They walked up the street as it started to rain lightly, though the sun was still shining.
"I don't..Hate him," Shikamaru finally said after a few moments of thought, "I just don't like him very much. He's too...Oh well. Who cares."
Nora rolled her eyes. "Same thing, same thing," She said, laughing a little and they turned a corner into narrower street. There were doors under cannopies sticking out from the brick and clay walls, and wooden vegetable stands lined the buildings. Furthur down the street, a man was packing away his vegetables and fruits for the day, planning to sell more tomorrow. Somewhere in the distance, Nora could hear a woman shout, "Chinaku, Karunai, get inside, now!"
Shikamaru stopped in front of a door and pulled a key from his pocket. "Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow," He said as he unlocked the door.
Nora waved, "Bye," She said, walking further down the road toward her own house, which was only about three doors down from Shikamaru's.
"Bye," He responded lazily, closing the door behind him.
Nora opened the door to her tiny house. It wasn't much, really. The Nasashi clan didn't have as big a house as any of the other clans, but that was because they weren't really a clan of their own. They were branched off from the Nara clan; distantly related, but the same bloodline nonetheless.
Unlike most clans, the Nasashi clan didn't have a bloodline limit. They had no special techniques whatsoever, which made them one of the lesser respected clans in Konoha. Everything they could do, they had to work for themselves. In battle, they had nothing amazing to save them but their owns brains and strength, which made Nora uneasy. She had no talent, really. In the academy, they had been practicing with the kunai and shuriken, and her aim was nowhere as good as Tenten's or Sasuke's. She was lucky to even hit one of the outer rings of the target, let alone the center.
She wasn't too good with her studies, either. But hey, how many of them were? Sasuke, Sakura and Shikamaru, basically. However, she prided herself on not being as terrible as Naruto was. Yes, she'd much rather be mediocre then...Well, Naruto.
She opened the opened her bedroom door and fell down on her bed, her hands on her forehead. What was she saying? She liked Naruto just fine, and he wasn't that bad, really. If this is the way she thought about her friends, how did they think about her?
She snorted and kicked off her shoes, pulling the covers of her bed over her shoulders. Who cares what they think? It's how they act, really. I couldn't care less if they hated me, as long as they didn't show it.
Not long afterwards, Nora fell asleep.