Author's Note: Hello and welcome to my humble fanfiction! I appreciate the time you've taken to click on it, and I hope you enjoy! Also, I really appreciate reviews, especially constructive criticism. On another note, the cover's illustrations and design were both done by me. Chapters up until 9 are written, but not edited, so it shouldn't be too long before the next update. I've been having difficulty with words dissappearing after I save in the doc manager, so let me know if anything looks funny.
Disclaimer: I claim no ownership to Naruto.
Disclaimers...AGAIN: High school AU
"Akihana? Are you okay?" Sakura had invited us out to meet at the local cafe. I only attended for the free wireless internet. I was staring down at my laptop, with an expression of horror and shock.
"Yeah, you don't look so good." I looked up from my screen, Ino also seemed concerned. Tenten was too involved with her food, while Hinata was nervously twiddling her fingers, likely thinking of Naruto.
"This is not okay. I am not okay." I scanned the traffic stats on my screen again. "Fifteen. I've had fifteen hits on my blog this week, and I'm guessing half of them were from you guys!" I flicked my head towards Ino, and she looked away, giggling with guilt. "What am I going to do?" I slumped in my chair and threw my head back, staring into the clear sky.
"You could try writing more makeup reviews, you only have a few of those. Girls love makeup." Sakura suggested as she thumbed through her textbook. I groaned. All that make up will give me a bad case of contact dermatitis. "Or more study tips." Sakura looked up at me, hopeful, "I know exams are still far away, but study tips are always useful."
"No, that's a dumb idea. Food is where it's at." Tenten interrupted, mouth full of cookies. "Everyone eats food, so it'll apply to everyone. Widen your demographic!" I grunted. What the hell can I say about food? I hardly even cook for my self. The situation was looking more and more hopeless.
"Oh, how about making your school uniform more stylish!" Ino chimed in. I raised an eyebrow and turned my head to look at her.
"Come on? This?" I lifted the edge of my navy blue pleated skirt. "You don't get any more stylish than this." I smirked and straightened up. "Hinata?" I heard a small gasp, like she was startled. "Do you have any ideas?"
"Sorry, I don't." She said in a near whisper. Lovely.
"Seriously, I need to kick it up a notch." I pressed my palms into my closed eyes until I saw splashes of color, trying to think of an idea.
"Don't worry Aki, I'm sure you'll think of something." Sakura patted my shoulder and I straightened out.
"Whatever, there's no use whining about it now, what with all these cookies and tea." I pushed my laptop aside and started eating. "Sakura, how are you doing on your math assignment?" Crumbs spilled gracelessly from my mouth.
"Kakashi-sensei just keeps piling on the work. I'm done with extra credit, it's so not worth it."
"Yeah, says the egghead." Tenten snorted.
"I am not an egghead." She turned back to her notes and scrawled a few more things down. "Besides, all of this extra work is going to get me into a great medical school."
"We have all of this year, and all of next year before college, you can take a break." Tenten said.
"Yeah, Forehead, live a little. When's the last time we had a girl's night anyway?" I could almost see the vein in Sakura's forehead pop. Ino giggled at her reaction.
"Oh yeah, Ino pig!" Here we go again...
The five of us finished our food, Tenten, Sakura, and Hinata, going off in one direction toward their houses, and Ino and I toward ours. I've had a long enough day, and I was ready to go home. The first few weeks after summer vacation always seem to drag on.
"Hey." I punched Ino's arm lightly, "You better not be late tomorrow morning."
"I swear, I won't be. Promise." She winked at me.
"Great, now we're gonna be late." I was leaning up against the concrete pillar waiting for the train to come by. "Dammit, Ino!" I shouted.
"Did I hear my name!" I looked over my shoulder and saw Ino walking towards me, a huge grin on her face. It's about time.
"You almost missed the train. What about that promise, huh?"
"Well, I can't go to school without doing my hair, what if Sasuke notices me?" She fussed with her ponytail and winked while sticking out her tongue.
"Yeah, okay sure." I laughed.
"A girl can dream can't she?" I smirked and shook my head. After a few minutes the train pulled up and the two of us just barely managed to squeeze in before the rush hour hoard came up behind us. We took seats all the way in the back. I stared out the window at the passing scenery as the train left the station, thinking more about my blog.
"You think of anything interesting for my blog?" I looked over at Ino.
"Not really. I can let you borrow some of my makeup to review, or we could do some hair tutorials."
"That's boring though, I need something...fresh." I thought about it for a minute. "Something that the girls, or guys, whoever, really want to know."
"You could write a gossip column?" She shrugged.
"That's a bad idea, you remember how the school newspaper went." She shivered at the thought. "Besides, I'm not exactly in the center of the gossip mill."
"Yeah, it doesn't help that you're so plain either, you know?"
"Excuse me?" I knew she meant well, but sometimes it came out the wrong way.
"Don't take it the wrong way, you're just a flower that hasn't bloomed yet. Have you thought about changing your hair?"
"What's wrong with my hair?" She pinched at my hair and started examining the ends.
"I mean, it's great, but don't you think you'd look pretty with long hair?" She pulled a chunk of my hair straight. "You could bleach it or something, I mean blondes always have more fun!" She let go of my hair and it curled back inward towards my chin with the rest.
"I like my hair the way it is."
"Okay, fine, whatever, your eyes are pretty though." She smiled.
"What a consolation." I laughed and pushed her a bit. I wouldn't admit it, but I was proud of my amber colored eyes.
"No really, it's a good thing." We sat in silence for a bit before she changed the topic. "You think Sakura got her extra credit done?"
"Probably, I wouldn't be surprised if she stayed up all night for it."
"Yeah, you got a point." We chatted idly for the rest of the ride and then got off at our stop. We walked out of the train station and started up the hill towards the school. We reached the front gate where a swarm of girls was forming, like always. Every morning, around the time that Ino and I arrived, a crowd of girls would show up and stand there, waiting.
"I hate having to walk through them every morning. What the hell is the big deal anyway?" I gently shoved aside a first year student and tried to walk through the gates.
"You mean you don't know what the big deal is? The Akatsuki-"
"No, I know who they are, I just don't think they're that big of a deal. Their name is stupid too." I spat.
"Oh come on, you have to think at least one of them is cute." Ino teased me.
"Yeah, I'm totally all set on that." To be honest, I never really paid much attention to them, what with my face buried in my laptop. I laughed and pulled her by the wrist toward the main entrance. As we walked through the door, I heard the girls start cheering. "Come on, I don't want to be caught in that." We walked up to our classroom on the second floor. Sakura, Hinata and Tenten were already inside.
"So, how was the ride here?" Sakura looked at us.
"It wasn't too bad, I wish the train left earlier so I could bypass all the fan girls though." I responded.
"Tell me about it, they're practically glued there. I hate pushing through them." Tenten said. I looked out of the windows and saw the tail end of group of girls chasing after someone.
"Well, it's not an issue for you, just leave earlier. You walk, don't you?" I asked her.
"I don't feel like waking up that early, plus, I'd miss breakfast." She frowned slightly at the thought of missing out on food.
"Yeah, we wouldn't want that happening." I muttered. Sakura turned to me.
"So, did you and Ino come up with any ideas?"
"Zilch." I shrugged. "Maybe I should just give up." I sat down in my desk and pulled out my work for the first class. Honestly over summer vacation I had noticed my numbers dwindling, but I was in denial and didn't do too much to prevent it.
"What! Don't do that!" Sakura raised her voice. "You'll get it, I know you will, plus, all of us like reading your blog."
"Thanks, but it's not much consolation." I used to get hundreds of hits a month before the end of the first trimester. Everyone seems to have forgotten about it. The warning bell rang and we all settled into our seats. I day dreamed about possibilities for my blog until it was lunch time.
Ah lunch, my only refuge.
Sakura spoke to me from the doorway of the classroom, "Hey Aki, do you want to eat on the roof with us? The weather is nice, we might as well take advantage of it before it starts to get colder." I tapped the power button on my phone, turning off the screen and sliding it into the side pocket of my school bag. She was looking at me, lunch bag in hand.
"Are they up there?" My voice was hostile. I'd rather let the good weather go to waste than to be near them. Something about them just rubbed me raw.
"Not that I can tell." Sakura looked around. "What's the big deal anyway, just ignore them." I sighed. She was right. It was a bit childish to be so concerned over them. It's not like I was one of them or anything.
"You're right, let's go then. I have some tamagoyaki that needs eating." I looked down in excitement at my lunch box. I'd spent at least a half hour carefully preparing my lunch this morning. Sakura, Tenten, Hinata, Ino and I went upstairs and walked onto the roof, sitting not too far from the door.
"So are we doing anything after school today?" Ino looked at Sakura. I started to unwrap my lunch box carefully, letting the anticipation build.
"If you want to, we can. I don't have any work that I need to do." Everyone else nodded silently. "I heard there's a new restaurant opening up at the mall; that sounds like fun." I started eating my rice, saving the best part for last. I heard footsteps behind me and the door opened.
"You think they saw us, hm?" I continued eating.
"Probably not." Two guys walked by us, heading for the other side of the roof and I shot them a glare. I recognized them. One had long blonde hair held partially back in a ponytail, and the other had shaggy red hair. I quickly rolled my eyes and turned back to my lunch. Tenten took notice of my reaction.
"Just ignore them, dude. You got your eggs, that's all that matters." Maybe I was being irrational, they can't be that bad. I breathed deeply. They just seemed so self-righteous, like actual celebrities. I heard pounding feet behind us as more people came up the stairs. The door was thrown open and several girls went running by, not noticing our presence. The last one out clumsily tripped over her own feet and kicked my lunch box by accident, not stopping to apologize.
"My eggs!" I started screaming at my delicious lunch scattered across the concrete. I threw my hands out in front of me. I swear, I'm going to wring their necks. I started to roll up the sleeves of my cardigan and stood up before Ino yanked me back down. "No! This is their fault!" I motioned over to the two guys sitting down. "I am giving them a piece of my mind. Look at those wasted eggs!" I pointed angrily towards my ruined lunch.
"Calm down Aki. Beating someone up isn't going to solve anything." Sakura lectured. "Here, just have some of my lunch, I made too much and I'm on a diet anyway."
"Thanks, but I'm alright. I'm too angry to eat. What the hell makes them so great anyway, huh?" I crossed my arms and pouted. Ino sat there and seemed deep in thought.
"I don't know, maybe because they're rich, or they're-" Tenten started.
"Stop. I got it." Ino turned to me, wide eyed.
"You finally figure out where their power comes from? Please, enlighten me." I said rudely. I wasn't in the mood for joking around now.
"No-no-no, hear me out. That's a great question right? What makes them so great? Why does everyone like them, right? They're like idols, right?"
"Uh, yeah pretty sure we all know that, get on with it."
"Don't you think that all of those girls over there," she motioned towards the group who were still vying for the guys' attention, "would love to know more about them?"
"Yeah, I guess, what are you getting at?" At first I was confused, but the more I thought about it, the more she was right. They might have been school celebrities, but I don't think people knew much about them. They said just enough to get the girls off their backs, and skillfully managed to avoid every personal question I've heard thrown in their direction. I tried to pay attention to the rumors scattering around, hoping to find any usable information for my blog, but I heard surprisingly little about them besides how 'unattainable' they were.
"Why don't you blog about it? The number of girls reading would shoot through the roof! All those girls there, and all the ones at the entrance this morning, and just think of all the ones who are too shy to openly stalk them. That's like ten thousand!" I raised an eyebrow at her exaggeration. I suppose it would bring me a lot of readers, even the girls who weren't obsessed with them would probably read it anyway, out of curiosity.
"Ino, I'm not so sure that's a-" Tenten seemed hesitant.
"No. It's a brilliant idea." I reached over and wrapped my arms around Ino nearly squeezing the life out of her.
"I don't know Aki, it sounds like a lot of work, I mean, all of those girls have been trying for so long, and haven't gotten anywhere." Tenten continued.
"I'm gonna do it. This is a challenge." I said.
"Ino! Look what you've started!" Sakura smacked her on the back. "Now she'll never give up!" Ino laughed.
"I-I don't think that's a good idea..." Hinata said quietly. I stopped my triumphant yelling and looked back at her.
"It's okay, I got this, believe in me." I looked over at the group of girls that were starting to dissipate after having left their gifts. I crossed my arms in firm resolve. "I'll be damned if I can't weasel my way in and get some kind of juicy gossip."
Good evening, I have a super special update for you, but we're gonna save that for last!
Now on with school news.
Due to a certain knucklehead fooling around on the stage, the theater club's production of Hamlet had suffered a few minor setbacks. Anyone looking for extra-curricular activities is encouraged to volunteer with the drama club. Also, don't forget the sports festival is just around the corner! I've been urged by too many of my friends to remind you all to participate and show school spirit.
The following clubs are accepting new members, please see the appropriate representative if you're interested:
Art Club
Calligraphy Club
Photography Club
Kendo Club
Science Club
And, last, but not least!
After careful consideration, and a few suggestions from some of my friends, I want to hear what questions you have about the mysterious and elusive 'Akatsuki'. As Konoha Gakuen's closet thing to celebrities, I see this as an excellent opportunity to provide you guys with an inside scoop. Let me know what you think, and I'll see what kind of research I can manage.
Alright! That about sums it up. Thanks for tuning in to tonight's post, and I'll see all of you lovely readers tomorrow. Remember, have a good night and don't study too hard!
Hugs and kisses, Ranjo
I firmly clicked the post button, absolutely certain about my decision to stalk school celebrities for readers. It sounds desperate when said so bluntly. I eyed a small, worn, black leather note book sitting on my desk. I can turn this into my databook. I took it and threw it into my school bag. I crawled into my bed, stifling a yawn. Let's see what tomorrow holds.
