CHAPTER TEN: CARROT-MAN!

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING MY BETA SHUIRO, I LOVE YOU!

NARUTO'S POV

The raindrops hit the car window, tracing patterns that faded into each other. The trees swayed along with the wind, making the surroundings look sadder already. It all just seemed so lifeless, so dull. Everything just suddenly lost its color. Making me feel like I was in one of those silent movies. I turned the engine off, making the car silent. I grabbed my bag, preparing for what the day would have to offer.

The halls were silent, the sound echoing with every step I took. The only thing I could hear was my own breathing. I whished the hallways were longer, making it a longer trip to the classroom. It wasn't long enough; I haven't had enough time to prepare. I needed time to prepare. I wasn't ready. I wasn't ready for any of this. I took a couple of deep breaths, wiping my clammy hands on my pants. A shaky hand reached for the doorknob, pushing it down, making the door open. The room fell silent, and the teacher turned around to look at me. "The reason you're why late, Mr. Uzumaki?" I could feel a lump in my throat, and my vision getting a little blurry. A headache was already forming, pounding on the inside of my head. I could feel their gazes on me, burning holes in the back of my head.

I walked up to the teacher; his face bore a frown, making his scar frown up a little. His forehead was forming unattractive wrinkles, his eyes seemed confused. "Mr. Umnio, sorry I'm late. I don't have a excuse." He pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing with his eyes closed. "I'm sorry to say this to a such remarkable student, but I have to give you detention. And let this be the only time it happens." His eyes were dead serious, boring into mine, I didn't know if he was joking, or just plain serious. I nodded my head and bowed, I was so screwed now. My parents would find out about it, and kill me. He pulled a baking apron on, tying a knot in the back; he straightened it out as he spoke, "Naruto, since you're late. You will be paired up with Kiba, who is the only one with out a partner. Does that sound okay to you?" The look he gave me showed me that I didn't have choice; it was either yes, or yes. I nodded my head in a hurried motion, not wanting to turn around, and face the one person I didn't want to meet today. The thought about us having this class together didn't even reach my mind. I took a deep breath, and turned around, the only eyes meeting mine were a couple of deep chocolate browns. I took every step with precaution, not wanting to trip or do something awkward. I had gotten enough attention already.

I tied a knot on the apron to secure it on my lower back, having my apron hang from around my neck and hips. The apron always made me look like a kid. I didn't have the heart to throw it away, since I always used it when my grandma and I baked cakes. I hoped no one would ask about the 'fish cake' that was stitched into the fabric across my chest. It was a family joke really; no one else got it.

I turned around to face a tall muscular body only dressed in jeans, and a plain white tee, showing off some wonderful biceps. A yawn escaped his lips, when I looked up I could see his eyes were closed, and mouth opened. He stretched his hands above his head, the motion causing the tee too slip up, revealing a tanned toned abdomen, which had a sexy happy trail. I tore my eyes away fast, when I noticed I was almost drooling over him, again. I ruffled my hair nervously, telling him to put on an apron, so we could start cooking.

"So, why were you late?" I didn't look at him; instead I took the cake out of the oven to let it cool down. I had my back against him, as I muttered a low, "I overslept." I started to prepare the frosting, trying to keep my mind occupied. I could feel him standing behind me; I could even smell him. He was that close.

I felt so small under his gaze, so helpless, and frightened. "I saw your car in the parking lot this morning." His voice didn't hold any positive emotions; it was monotone.

My hands were clammy and shaky, I held onto my sweater to cover it up. "Must have been someone with the same car then…" I could hear the nervous laughter, which escaped my lips; I quickly put my hands over my mouth silencing myself, while my eyes were flickering everywhere, other than Kiba. I made myself occupied, trying to calm down. Thank god Kiba burned something; I could remake it. And hopefully it would take time, and effort to remake.

The silence were so destructive, in its own way, it had made more distance between us. The feeling of myself being so cold, and rude towards Kiba was alien; I don't know what he's thinking anymore. Not that I ever did. After some other questions, that I mostly ignored, or barely answered, Kiba just remained silent. He didn't speak, not a single word could be heard in our kitchen, only the occasional cursing that Kiba muttered under his breath when he burned something. It was like our kitchen didn't belong with the others, you could hear the chatting, and friendly conversation. The situation just got awkward. I didn't know what to do now. Normally, I always tried to speak to Kiba, or open up, and let him in. Now I was doing the opposite, what I normally did to others. And Kiba's behavior was weird too. He was ignoring me as well, and Kiba normally didn't ignore people. He always smiled, and made conversation, making you feel comfortable and welcomed. But today, he was another person. As I casted a glance at him; I could see him frowning, and he almost burned something again for the fourth time already. He was gritting his teeth, emitting quite the deathly aura.

I hadn't seen Kiba since first period; I had succeeded in avoiding him for this long. And, since, it was already lunch; I crossed my fingers hoping he would be in the cafeteria eating.

I was having the worst craving ever; the cigarette was in the corner on my mouth, already chewing on the filter. I needed to get to my usual smoking spot; my hands were already shaking from the nerves.

When I was halfway across the field, the tree got into my line of vision, and it felt like someone just knocked the air out of me. I turned quick around, already running; he had definitely seen me. I had seen those eyes, those eyes that held such a cold emotion. He wasn't satisfied with the situation. I threw a glance over my shoulder, already seeing Kiba jogging after me, I was literally running for my life, and he was, casually jogging after me?! I hated those perfect sculpted, long legs of his sometimes; he always had the advantage in these things.

As I reached the closest person that was outside, I almost jumped him. I clutched shoulders, looking up at him. "S-save m-me." My voice was shaky, and I was out of breath. He only raised his brow at me; he didn't look pleased either. "Tch, 'kay." He didn't look at me; he just frowned at Kiba that came towards us. I stood with my back against Kiba, staring into the ground. I heard that the guy said some nasty things to Kiba, why couldn't he understand it was for the best? He needed to stop playing with me. "You need to back the fuck off, Inuzuka" He was almost sneering, his eyes glaring at him. That was one hell of a glare. I could hear the aggression in Kiba's voice as he spat back at the guy. "What the hell do you think you're doing, Uchiha?" I had the feeling that Kiba was mad, the feeling made my knees tremble. I didn't dare look at him; I didn't want to look at his face. "He obviously doesn't want to talk to you. What is he to you anyway?" The tension was so thick; you could slice it with a butter knife. They obviously didn't like each other, I could understand that much.

To my surprise I could hear Kiba walk away; I shouldn't be surprised. After all, Kiba and I were nothing, absolutely nothing. And now, Kiba had understood that too. I let go of the guy and apologized. He just gave me the same glare he had just given Kiba. "Scram!" I got the message, and walked away from him immediately. I could hear him muttering curses, and I turned up the tempo getting the hell away.

The day was maybe over for most students, but not me. I walked towards the detention with my headphones securely on my ears; and to my surprise there were a lot of people that had gotten detention today. I walked into the room, seating myself in the back. The room was filled with a lot of different students, some with crazy hair colors, and a number of piercings. The clothing on them was just as eccentric as the rest. It was too short skirts; some guys with too much eyeliner, and of course the jocks. I think I even saw to girls make out.

I rested my head in my arms while scanning the room, I was glad the teacher didn't see my headset. If I had to take them off, I would have to hear people talk. Saying the ordinary shit that they always talk about behind their 'friend's' back, those people made me sick. There was one person that stood out of the crowd, mostly because his hair was bright orange. Like a carrot, since I didn't know his name I would call him carrot-man. He was sitting quite close to me, only a row in front of me, with one seat to the left. He was wearing a jacket with the schools logo, so, he plays on the football team? So, he was one of those stuck up jocks, huh? Too bad, he was pretty handsome. Even with that crazy hair color of his.

I saw that the teacher had left the room, and just as the door closed I could hear the chattering, and yelling over my music that was playing. The lyrics played over, and over as I had the song on repeat, making me relax, as I buried my head into my arms praying for this madness to stop. I was in my own world, and everything was so quiet, I could almost hear Kiba whispering sweet nothings in my ear. I could feel the goose bumps on my arms while chills were dancing down my spine. The memories flashed through my mind, replaying the few memories that I had with Kiba. At least I would have the memories, because there had been good times.

As I squinted an eye open for what had seemed like forever, I saw that Mr. Carrot-man was sitting right in front of me. He had pulled his chair to my table, his chin resting on his elbow looking down at me. I didn't feel like talking to him, it would lead nowhere, and I had never been good at making friends. I closed my eyes, and went back to feeling sorry for myself. Not that it lasted long, or anything, the buzzing sound, and the chatting I heard, proved that someone had pulled my headset off. I opened my eyes, now starting to get grumpy. Who the fuck couldn't leave me alone? I saw that a certain carrot was looking down at me, smiling innocently with my headset in his hand. A low growl emitted from my throat, and I tried to give him a pissed off look. "Give it back, now!" I could hear him chuckle, smiling a wide, and friendly smile. Well, wasn't this a bit out of character for a jock? I snatched the headset back from him, but before I put it on he spoke in a way that shocked me. "Oh, don't be so hostile. I just want to talk to you." I stared at him with my mouth agape, what's happening? I must have looked so dumb at the moment. "Huh?" It slipped out of me, hanging in the air, while it just got more and more awkward by the minute. He started to laugh a little, and rustled my hair; giving me chills. And they weren't like the positive chills I got. "So, are you new here? I haven't seen you around. What's your name?" I mumbled out an answer while tracing circles with my fingertips on the table. "I'm Uzumaki Namikaze Naruto, I started here the first day this year." He wiggled his brows at me, he looked confused, or like he didn't believe me. "No way, I can't believe I haven't noticed someone as cute as you before." I tensed up at the use of word 'cute', I let it slide, since I didn't want to get on his bad side. His muscles were so big; they were a terrifying sight. It looked like he was going to rip the jacket he was wearing. I remained silent, not answering him, after all, it wasn't my fault he had never noticed me.

"Heeyyy! Don't ignore me like that!" I looked at him with a cocked brow; he wasn't giving up any time soon. "What." The 'so-called' conversation we were having was boring, just plain boring. He couldn't stop talking about fucking, boring ass, football. It was the only thing he talked about; well sometimes he mentioned his car. But that was it.

"You don't answer if I ask you questions, and when I talk about myself. You don't listen." I froze in place when I looked up at his face, was he pouting? Who the fuck is this guy? I felt really guilty now, had I upset him? Did he actually want to talk with me that bad? I pulled the hoodie over my head, and laid my head on the desk. "What do you want to know about me then?" It only came out as a mumble, and I tried to ignore his face. I just ended up staring, were they natural, or did he use red contacts?

"So, my name is Juugo, I play football, I like to eat, and I'm single." Well, Juugo was a pretty rare name. I had never heard it before, not once actually. I tried to smile at him, but it failed, and was only a twitch in the corner of my mouth. "So, what do you do for fun, Naruto?" Actually, I never did anything else than gaming or spend time with Kiba... I could feel my mood drop by just thinking about him. I missed him already. I had only said a couple of words to him today, and the tension had been unbearable. "I spend time with Ki-" I cut myself of, being pissed of my blabbering mouth. I cleared my throat a couple of times, having a tint covering my cheeks. "I like to play on my Xbox, I guess."

I had really done it this time; I had tried to be hostile, angry, grumpy and whiny. Not that any of my strategies worked, since I still had a certain carrot-man on my shoulders. I had found out that his name was Juugo, and we were the same age, he played quarterback, and was just a bit dumb, and that was the reason he always got detention. And, the most surprising thing was that he was actually a genuinely nice guy. Too bad I didn't want to get to now him; he was to hyper and bubbly for me. He made me want to puke rainbows.

Ever since we exited the classroom I had been trying to get away from his grip, which was just practically locked around my shoulder, was it like a thing for people to always hold onto me? I had given up, and was walking in the direction of my car; I needed a hell of a good explanation when I got home. Dad would slice my throat, and then make the dead body do homework or something as punishment. "Juugo, you need to let me go now." He glanced down at me while smiling, showing off those perfect pearls. "I'll see you tomorrow." I practically jogged towards the car as he let go of me. I could hear a loud whistle as I reached the car; I gave him a wave, and got in the car. I would never get rid of him; he was like glued onto me. And, he always had these jokes, and pick up lines, and I was so fucking unsure again. This school really just had players.

A/N: Someone is being ignored... he-he-he... And what's the deal with this carrot-man? What will Kiba do when he finds out? WHAT WILL HAPPEN BETWEEN KIBA AND NARUTO?

I'm going away, and I'm not coming back before like Thursday/Friday? So leave a review when I'm gone, okay?

Thanks for reading as usual!

~kebab-chan

Beta's note: Now guys, everyone who leaves a review should wish your lovely author a happy birthday wish, since it's on the 6th on this month! (Unless she forgot it, and told me the wrong date, but it should be somewhere around there…)I hope you do, it will make her very happy