Chapter 5

"All right people, homeroom's starting. I've got great news."

Everyone turned to see Kakashi-sensei usher the last few girls in before closing the door behind them. He walked slowly to the middle of the room, one eye still an orange book which, upon reaching the desk, he swiftly whipped out of sight.

"Well, boys and germs," He began. The guys laughed while the girls huffed a bit. Ignoring the fact that it was kind of supposed to be the other way around, Kakashi continued, "I am proud to announce that the idea of an inter-school competition followed by a festival that Sakura-Chan over there suggested a few weeks back has been approved of. The board of directors has been in contact with our neighbour schools to see who is interested in it, but there will definitely be a week or so set aside towards the end of the school year for this event."

At this news, everyone in the room cheered, except for Kiba who merely looked annoyed, Sasuke who was way above cheering, and Naruto who had no idea what they were talking about. Sakura blushed, nodding to some of her friends that were cheering.

Kakashi smiled (or appeared to smile since it really is hard to tell what he's expressing behind the mouth mask he always wears), "Now, there will be ten events that each school will compete in. There's long distance running, three-legged running, water polo which will be held in the giant pool in our natatorium, basketball, soccer, tennis, baseball, an academic decathlon for the smart ones, cooking, and a beauty pageant just for fun."

The majority of the room looked really excited now. Kakashi waited for the chatter to die down before continuing, "Sign up sheets will be posted almost everywhere. To sign up, you can sign yourself or someone else. Or both. Or anybody, really. You can sign up anyone."

Everyone looked a bit puzzled at this information. Anyone? Then... wouldn't complete chaos ensue from that? How much people were going to be in the teams anyways?

"But there is a catch. There's a line after each name blank in which you have to explain why and how you think the person you signed up will benefit the team for whichever event. And after that, at least ten other people, after seeing the name up there, have to second your nomination and sign their name and student number in the provided space. The student number is so that we can track you down if it turns out you were just messing around," Kakashi smirked. Looking around the room, he lazily pointed at Sakura, who had timidly raised her hand.

"Um, Kakashi-sensei, how many events is...a person allowed to be part of?" As she asked this, her eyes darted towards Sasuke who determinedly kept looking at Kakashi.

Kakashi raised his eyebrows, "Hmmmm, good question, Sakura. I guess I forgot to mention it. The board has decided that each person can only be in five events. And they can only be in one event each day. The schedule will be out in a week, but I believe that the events will span over one week, where two events are held each day. So, if you actually get nominated for more than five, you can accept the ones that will allow you to do one on each day."

Sakura nodded at this information, looking satisfied. Another hand rose up and Kakashi pointed to them, "Yes, Hinata?"

"K-Kakashi-sensei, um, do you h-have to accept the e-events if you are n-n-nominated?" asked a pale, shy girl with short black hair and strangely light lilac eyes.

"No, you don't have to."

Hinata gave an audible sigh and relaxed in her chair.

Another hand shot up into the air, waving around impatiently even though no one else's was up. Kakashi only got to twitch his arm up a bit before Naruto blurted out, excitement evident in his voice, "How many people are allowed on each team?"

Kakashi scratched his head, thinking, "Hmm...I don't believe I've been told that...I guess I'll go find out and tell you later...or you can go ask the principal yourself."

He paused then, looking to see if anyone else had questions. Seeing no one's hand up, he clapped his hands together and announced to the class, "Okay! So, sign up and stuff. Now that that's out of the way, let's crack down on school work! Books, please!"

Everyone gave audible groans and grudgingly took out their English books.

It was lunchtime and Naruto was hyper beyond any conceivable level of hyperness. He just couldn't stop the jitters from taking over his body. He twitched all over his cafeteria seat, his limbs never staying still for more than a second.

After five minutes of watching the blond jumping around, Kiba grabbed Naruto by the shoulders and steered him outside so he can spaz at a bigger place.

"Kiba, I'm seriously excited about this competition!" Naruto practically yelled in his face, a toothy grin in place. "Aw man, I sure hope I get to participate in five events, one on each day!"

Kiba snorted, lying down on his back, his arms acting as pillows so his head didn't really touch the ground. The grass swayed a bit from a light breeze.

"You? Get nominated by at least ten people for five events? That'll make it...fifty people. I don't think so! Sorry to break it to ya, but since you're my friend, you're not gonna be that popular."

Naruto sat down next to Kiba, his thumb in his mouth to calm his spasms a bit. It was always a bad habit of his to bite his thumb nails whenever he was excited.

"You're that unpopular? Why though?" he inquired.

Kiba turned his head away from Naruto, his eyes shadowed by his cheek.

"I don't know... probably 'cause I'm a bastard."

Naruto looked at Kiba, his face softening. "No way, Kiba, that can't be it."

Kiba turned back to glare at Naruto, a bit agitated that he couldn't see the fact that he was as unwanted as a piece of crap, "What do y—"

"I think you're an awesome and interesting person...and a super good friend, Kiba," Naruto said around his thumb, his gaze on Kiba steady and honest.

Kiba's breath hitched. Never had he had someone say that to him, not since his friend, Shino, left a few years back.

"Naruto..." Kiba sat up, his eyes never leaving Naruto's. Naruto kept the gaze.

"...You're a good kid." And Kiba patted him on the head.

Naruto growled and tilted his head up, trying to bite Kiba's fingers. Kiba laughed, withdrawing his hand.

"You loser, Kiba, I'm not a kid!" Naruto shouted, his thumb finally leaving his mouth. "I'll have you know that I'm very mature and grown up...and handsome...and..."

Naruto fidgeted a bit, "and...And..."

Kiba raised his eyebrows, a smirk slowly growing on his face.

"And?"

"..." Naruto bit his bottom lip, still fidgeting.

"..."

Suddenly, he stood up with an anguished puff of air.

"Hold that thought! I can't think when I need to go pee! You wait right here!" and he sped off towards the school entrance, Kiba's laughter ringing in his ears.

Hastily pulling open the doors, Naruto ran down hallways, over stairs, past Sasuke who quirked an eyebrow as he zoomed by, and eventually, he found the men's room and burst inside.

Finally relieving himself and washing his hands, he walked back out, only to realize he had no idea where he was in the new school.

"Crap," He muttered as he ruffled up his already messy hair. Randomly picking a hallway to go down, he hurried on, hoping he got lucky and went the right way.

He looked around as he walked, noticing that this hallway was a bit different from the ones he was used to. He wasn't really sure if he passed it on the way to the bathroom since he was in such a hurry, so he kept going. After walking a bit, he came to the conclusion that these were the science labs that the juniors and seniors used. They were fairly creepy and Naruto could have sworn he saw something slither across the floor.

He was so absorbed in observing the glasses full of dead animals on display in the windows that he didn't look when turning a corner, which resulted in him crashing into someone, sending Naruto flying back onto his bum.

Naruto winced as he rubbed his sore backside, "Owwwww..."

"I'm so sorry, you okay?"

Naruto looked up and his jaw almost dropped. Before him was—

...

Still the original workings of xXCabbageXx.

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