Iris: Confrontations, Consolations and Ramen
'Ohhhhhh, aiiieeeeeee, suicideeeeeee.' Emiko's thoughts were abruptly interrupted and she thanked anyone who graced her thoughts as she eagerly shoved her notebook into the messenger bag with a flourish.
"FREEDOM!" Naruto declared loudly as he jumped exstatically from his seat. 'He's apparently eager to leave,' Emiko wondered to herself and as her eyes flitted to the young man sitting beside in heavy contrast to Naruto's sunny disposition. 'Uchiha's got to be bothering him,' she realized with a small grin as she pushed Sakura sideways. The girl had barely stopped staring at the Uchiha since he sat before her and Emiko recognized the clear signs of a crush in both the pink and blonde sitting beside her.
"Come on Sakura," she encouraged her to move and she gradually moved with Ino towards the door after sending the Uchiha another shy glance.
"Hey! Move it!" Naruto yelled, his loud voice apparently taking no effect when both Emiko and Naruto noticed no change in his position. He sat stock still in his chair, eyes staring straight ahead with his fingers woven together at his chin. Emiko appeared in front of him, crouching low enough to meet his onyx eye level only to see…well nothing.
Black gaze turned faintly to stare her in the eyes and she smiled warmly before turning away to Naruto and nudging her head towards the door. Seeing what she meant the loud mouthed guy jumped over the desk and joined Sakura and the others at the door.
"Sayoonara." Emiko smiled happily and waved shortly towards him before she turned to leave.
"Leaving so soon?" Despite her own height Emiko had to look almost straight up to see Toya's face which was currently sneering down at her with a smirk etched into his lips.
"Hai." Emiko stated blankly and quickly came to notice that it was her, her friends and the former Gideon students. Taking steps past Toya she shouldered her bag, failing to acknowledge the sound of scraping upon the floor until she felt something hard slam into her back. Out of instinct she spun to avoid hitting something head on and instead her back cracked painfully into a desk.
"What the hell!" Emiko cried out angrily as she collapsed to her knees, her hand desperately trying to rub away the pain throbbing through her back.
"Trash." Toy spit, his arm wrapped around Kyoko as they both turned their nose up at her. From the distance Emiko could practically hear Naruto's thoughts of murder as he stared at those daring to hurt one of his friends. Megumi stood aside quietly, hands folded in front of her with an apologetic glaze over her hazel eyes.
Carefully, Emiko stood to her feet, her back protesting but she ignored it and focused a heated glare at the two still laughing at her as though it was some kind of amusement to attack another student.
"You're one to speak of trash considering what you have in your brain and what's currently wrapped in your arm." Emiko spat, her anger getting the best of her as she
stared at them. Toya growled in return, his eyes narrowing. In quick strides he towered over her, fist pulled back as he prepared to beat sense into her.
In a flash of bright orange Naruto was upon him, quickly joined by Kiba as they tackled him to the ground causing as much noise as possible with their loud shouts and tarzan-like yells. First one then the other was thrown off and Toya steadily advanced on them as well.
Emiko let out a low growl and moved in front of him, protecting her friends as they had done for her from his fist. She tilted to one side and grabbed his wrist, her nails immediately digging into his skin with more drive than she normally did.
"Stop." The voice cut through the heated staring contest between the groups and Emiko's eyes trailed to see the Uchiha standing up, his backpack filled and his eyes watching them all with a sense of boredom and despise. Toya paused and wrenched his arm from her loosened grip.
"You're standing up for this trash Sasuke-kun!" Kyoko accused him as she turned to face him fully, her hands upon her hips to express her attitude. 'So his name's Sasuke…' Emiko thought quietly as she caught his gaze in an attempt to try and uncover his motives. 'No uniform from Gideon would help an Aka kid,' she reasoned as she held his charcoal gaze with her own inquiring look. 'Right?'
"You're all idiots, wasting your time," he broke the connection and looked to Toya with another blank stare. Emiko allowed a small smirk to cross her face as she noticed Toya's reaction to the statement, he tensed, his eyes narrowing at the boy who had dared to insult him so plainly but he also seemed to be scared of him, if even for only a few seconds. It was enough to convince Emiko that Uchiha was the behind the scenes master of the group. Or at least the one with the most bite to back up a bark.
"Naruto, Kiba, come on." Emiko muttered as she shouldered her bag once again and walked to the door, chin held high as she refused to acknowledge the pain shooting in her back.
Left behind in the classroom the four stood before Sasuke silently followed the group and left now allowing the three remaining to collect in the middle of the deserted classroom.
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"Naruto baka! Don't kick down the door!"
"Why not!"
"'Cause it's my door!"
"Really?"
"Duh!"
"Baka."
"Shud up!"
"Naruto don't you dare drop that…" The warning came too late as the bag the blonde had been carrying slipped from his fingers and crashed to the floor causing the weak structure of stairs to shake.
"Naruto!" Ino and Sakura pounced on him in retaliation to almost being killed and Emiko sighed. 'What a day,' she thought to herself as she fought the mental and physical battle to ignore the tremors passing through the staircase. Quickly she grabbed the only key from it's hiding spot above the door frame and hastily unlocked the door to allow her and her friends entrance.
The first to rush in were Ino and Sakura who practically ploughed over Emiko in their desperation to escape the rocking stairs.
"Don't worry guys that thing's never fallen and my brother's had much heavier than you." Emiko consoled them as they hurried into the small one bedroom studio that Emiko called home. Just as the school the paint was chipping and the windows were cracked or broken but it still had a welcoming air to it despite everything. Emiko's bed was unmade, or at least it seemed like it as an aged tan bed sheet was twisted carelessly on the small twin mattress.
"Don't you live with your brother and father?" Naruto questioned as he surveyed the small room and immediately hopped onto the bed with a satisfied grin.
"Just my father now, Yukito got a job and moved out." She reminded them as she took a spot on the floor. Despite the fact that her place was one of the smallest the group unanimously enjoyed it more than anyone else's place.
"Naruto did you just leave the groceries outside?" Emiko questioned with a quirked eyebrow. The blonde paled and shook his head slowly as the brunette opened the door to reveal the paper bag on its side outside her door, its contents spilled out across the ancient welcome mat. She sighed and scooped all the cheap instant ramen into the bag and carried it inside where she placed it neatly on top of the mini-fridge that rested beside a version of a mini stove.
"Did all you buy was instant ramen?" Kiba asked as he peered into the bag, his nose twitching faintly as he sniffed at the contents of the bag. Emiko nodded as she show cased the bulk cases of ramen.
"It's massively cheap." She explained and Naruto nodded with a slightly dazed and drunken look as his thoughts drifted over ramen.
"What did you think of the new kids?" The subject that was begging to be brought up was dragged to the surface by Ino and Sakura's attention turned immediately to the others in the room.
"Toko-teme(Toya) is a moron. Nagasaki-san(Megumi) doesn't seem bad. Shiiro(Kyoko), slut. Uchiha-san, not sure yet…" Emiko calmly said as she sat cross leged on the floor. Naruto still sat happily on her bed while Ino and Sakura leaned against the footboard. Shikamaru and Kiba lazed across the floor with small smiles of contentment upon their face as they reclaimed their chosen seats.
Sakura opened her mouth but Emiko guessed her statement and beat her to the words.
"Uchiha-san is so hot and nice, right?" Both Ino and Sakura smiled sheepishly and the boys sniggered at Emiko's accurate prediction.
"I WANNA MARRY SASUKE-KUN!" Naruto squealed in imitation of Ino and Emiko burst into laughter at the exactness of Ino's voice and at the look upon the mimicked girl's face.
"YOU!" She growled and jumped at the boy with a vengeance Emiko hadn't seen from her in a while. 'Back to normal,' Emiko wondered to herself in amusement as a tousle broke out amongst the group. Shikamaru had refrained from joining but none the less it was interesting to watch the outcomes as Kiba was eventually kicked from the bed by a conjoined force of Sakura and Ino.
As the dust settled Emiko saw Sakura and Ino both resting contently with their feet upon the headboard chatting away gaily while Naruto struggled to dislodge himself from his position stuck between the wall and the bed.
Seeing the sight hysterical laughter burst forth and Emiko happily beat the ground to express her enjoyment at the sight. Kiba sat up slowly, his eyes out of focus as he rubbed his head before he stretched.
"Got beat by girls?" Emiko joked and Kiba scowled faintly as he sensed her tone.
"So what you got beat by Toko. That's just as bad." Kiba retorted.
" What do you mean 'just as bad'!" Emiko declared with mock indignation before she threw the one childhood stuffed animal at her with just enough aim to hit one side of his head.
"OW! YOU BLINDED ME!" Kiba yelled dramatically as he fell back upon the ground with a loud thump. Emiko crawled over and crouched beside him, chuckling to herself before her weapon whacked her in the face. She fell back abruptly and groaned as she landed on her back with the ancient stuffed rabbit laying limply on her face.
"Orange peels…"
"What is it with you and orange peels!"
"Shut up Naruto!"
"I'M GONNA DIE!"
"EMI-CHAN STOP BEING SO SAKURA-CHAN LIKE!"
"WHAT! NARUTO YOU BAKA!"
"OWIE! MOMMY!"
"NARUTO GET OFF SHIKAMARU HE'S NOT YOUR MOTHER!"
"How do you know?"
…
"That's just wrong Emiko…"
