Chapter 9 - Book Reports are a Gift
It was a big school. Known for being big in the arts and for having a high number of graduates every year. Clubs, tutoring, after school programs, plays, festivities. Their school did its best to get the students involved, knowing that the best way for them to get anywhere was if they started getting somewhere during high school.
It went from ninth to twelth grade, a total of over a thousand students. It was the biggest high school in the village, and of course, there were cliques of all kinds of statures and self-proclaimed importance. The whispers and rumours always ran wild, even moreso upon arriving at school on monday mornings.
What happened this weekend? This person did this, and that, and blah,blah,blah.
It was funny how some people actually cared about such things.
All Naruto and Kiba knew was that they'd beaten their old high score in Halo. Because game weekends are the best weekends.
All Lee knew was that he'd learnt all his lines perfectly for their latest play, the Wizard of Oz, and he was going to make one awesome scarecrow.
All Neji and Haku knew was that they looked fabulous. And had no jobs. And were finally becoming good at Halo.
It had been a pretty eventful weekend.
The looks that they received they ignored, used to it. But that morning there were more looks, more stares, more whispers around them. They all knew why, but none of them commented on it. They went their own ways to put their things away before quickly meeting up at Lee's locker, the best place to stand and talk without getting shoved around.
"We have our math quiz tomorrow, right?" Haku asked his best friend, who nodded.
Kiba stuck out his tongue in disgust, "Man, math sucks. If I could erase one thing off the planet, it would be math."
"I'd get rid of hair gel." Neji commented dryly.
Kiba ran a hand through his hair and smirked at him, "It's sexy and you know it."
"You don't wear hair gel anymore." Lee pointed out.
"I used to."
"Fail." Naruto grinned, then his eyes turned away from them. He waved to someone in the crowd of students, "Hey, Sasuke! Over here!"
"Is he going to be here a lot?" Neji pointed to Sasuke, who had joined them when he'd been spoken to, and he seemed unoffended, "Because I don't know if I want to be your friend anymore if he will be."
"Come on, Neji! Don't be like that. He's new and you know it sucks having no friends. I like him, and he kicks ass at Halo."
"You know, I am right 'ere, right?" Sasuke said, interrupting Neji's response.
"Yes, yes, you're here. We know."
"Neji, will you please try to be nice?" Naruto persisted, making Neji roll his eyes.
"Fine." He turned to Sasuke, "But if you say one thing that I find remotely insulting to me or my friends, you'll wish you'd never been born. Got that?"
"Je ne prends pas d'ordre. Do not tell me what to do."
"Am I interrupting a lovers' quarrel?" A condescending voice that they all knew asked, and Neji's glare went from Sasuke, to Hidan.
"Hey, asshole. What are you still doing here? I was sure you'd have flunked out by now." Kiba said before Neji could say something. He stepped in front of him, knowing that with Neji, getting him riled up now would lead to violence. Detention was not a good way to start the week.
"The fuck?" Hidan's eyes trailed over Haku's outfit, the boy in question looked down at the floor, attempting to avoid the mocking gaze.
"Beat it, jerk." Naruto stepped next to his friend.
"You should get better friends before they turn you into one of them." Hidan said to Sasuke, who kept his mouth shut, then stared at Haku again, "You know, I always knew you were fucking weird. But this is just fucked up. Really fucking queer of you. Kinda gross actually. A skirt? Got any pride left in that rainbow brain of yours?"
Kiba had stepped in front of Neji to keep him from getting violent, but he soon found himself being restrained by the brunette instead.
"He isn't worth the effort, Kiba."
"Oi, hippie, aren't you supposed to be preaching about love and crap? Or did you forget to take your 'inspiration' this morning?"
It took Lee's help to keep Kiba from launching at Hidan, fists first. Somehow, they managed.
Haku slowly raised his head, and spoke up tentatively, "May I say something?"
"Don't wanna hear it tranny."
This time when Haku heard the term he felt insulted, knowing it was meant to be taken that way. Unusual of him, he stepped forward, "Too bad. You'll hear what I have to say anyways." His friends stared at the strange behaviour, "I may be wearing a skirt and some flats, but I am still fully capable of kicking you were it'll hurt. Plus, I've got four friends here more than willing to kick your ass. So, like my friend here said, beat it. Jerk."
"You fucking little fa-"
"Good morning, Mr. Hatake!" Haku said over his shoulder.
Hidan whirled around to see the laid-back teacher walking towards them, and he shot Haku a nasty glare.
"Good morning, Haku. Hidan, you have a book report to hand in, don't you?"
"Oh, yeah, it's um, in my locker..." Hidan ran off before Kakashi could ask to have it handed to him right then and there.
The teacher smiled at the group of boys, and then headed off to his first class. They all simultaneously turned to Haku, queries about where his newfound courage had come from flying from their lips.
"I knew Mr. Hatake was coming so I figured it wouldn't hurt, and well...I see you guys do these things eveyday and I guess it was just my turn. Thank you guys, by the way. For defending me."
"It's our job to protect damsels in distress! Neji can't always have all the fun!" Naruto grinned.
"Like a wise man once said, 'a wolf is nothing without its pack'." Lee quoted, his bright smile contagious.
Kiba looked at him, confused, "Hey, didn't I say that?"
"You did indeed, my friend."
"Oh. Well, awesome! You should call me a wise man in front of my sister. Maybe she'll get off my case about failing math...Hey, where's Sasuke?"
"I don't know..." Naruto muttered, looking around, "Guess he had somewhere else to be."
"Right..." Neji muttered, but didn't comment any further.
"My sis told me yesterday about this strike going down at the construction site near the forest in a few days. They plan on cutting down the trees and we're going to try and stop it. You up for it?"
"We'd love to! I mean, I can go." Lee rephrased. He'd been constantly told to stop speaking for everyone, even though he was usually right on his asumptions.
"I would say that I'm working, but since that's not really an excuse anymore...I guess I'm going." Neji said, pretending that he didn't want to go. They always went to these things for Kiba, and they figured that if they believed in what they were fighting for, why not make a stand about it?
"I'm going."
"I'm gonna go! I'll talk to my dad, see if he knew about it. I doubt he'd give his okay to do that." Naruto said. His father, as mayor, had a say in some matters, but not all. Minato's charm though, was useful when he was attempting to stop one of the government's ideas, making his attempts work most of the time. What he wanted usually happened.
"Awesome! So, Lee, when's opening night?"
"We don't have a date picked yet, but it shouldn't be long now."
They continued to talk until there was a minute left until class. Lee, Kiba, and Naruto went off to english, talking about the book none of them had yet to read completely. Neji and Haku went off to ancient history, and readied themselves for a boring lesson while ignoring the looks they received. A couple people were brave enough to ask about the clothes, and Haku answered them all politely and as best as he could. They simply looked at him oddly then went to their seats.
After class there was a short break before their second class of the day. They all met up again at Lee's locker, but were luckily left alone. For lunch though, instead of meeting at Lee's locker, they'd all decided to meet at the cafeteria instead.
The cafeteria was large, having to be to fit all of the students. Their group of five have had the same table for their three years of high school, never once having to fight for it. It was their table that'd they'd claimed, their names having faded from the several times they'd written or drawn on the wooden surface, but the memories remaining to keep it untouched from others.
Not like anyone else dared sit in the 'loser' corner, as those others had come to call it. Sometimes they had a new addition for a couple days, before those people realized they could do better and went elsewhere. That's why they had accepted Naruto's request the prior week to have Sasuke sit with them when he first moved to their school.
But they were surprised to find the kid sitting with them on monday. They'd all, except for Naruto, expected him to have found other people to spend time with. Surely he would have little difficult getting in with the more popular kids, seeing how much they'd all taken a liking to him. Well, the girls anyways.
Especially the way he'd left earlier that morning, they had all thought it would be the last of him. But apparently he'd seen 'Miz. Kurenai' and had needed to ask her a question about the 'projet'. Neji had wanted to object, and he could tell that Kiba was thinking along the same lines as he was, but their three friends were too kind to think badly of the newcomer.
Neji hushed when Naruto gave him the 'look' (the one he'd taught him, he thought unfairly), and Kiba didn't come to his aid, but he was thankful to know someone was on his side. Not everyone was blinded by Sasuke's so-called charm. Acting like a douche wasn't what Neji considered charming, but what could he do?
"I dunno 'bout you guys, but this semester is gonna be awesome." Naruto mumbled around his mouth full of sandwich.
"So, you've finally made your decision after three whole weeks? Took you long enough." Kiba said. They'd all pretty much decided wether they liked their new semesters or not, and Naruto was the only one of them who kept changing his mind.
"Unlike you, I don't decide if I'm gonna like my classes before school even starts. I don't judge a book by its cover."
"Like you've ever read a book." Neji scoffed, earning himself a pout from his blonde companion.
"I so have!"
"The walkthrough book for Oblivion doesn't count."
"Oh..." Naruto looked thoughtful after Neji's comment, and suddenly he brightened, "I read The Outsiders last year!"
"That was a good one." Haku said thoughtfully, breaking their arguement.
"What is T'e Outsiders?" Sasuke asked.
"A book." Neji couldn't help but add 'dumbass' to that thought, but didn't voice it.
Sasuke glared at him, "I know t'at! But what does it speak of?"
"It's about this dude called Ponyboy, yeah, that's his real name. And how he's like a gangster and he gets in fights and stuff."
"Ponyboy wasn't a gangster, Naruto." Lee corrected him, and took the job of giving Sasuke a brief summary, "It's about Ponyboy, his life, and his family and friends. He lives on the poorer side of town with his two brothers, and they're part of a group called the Greasers. They do get in fights with the richer kids who are called the Socs, but that's not really what the story is about." Lee stopped when a hand landed on Sasuke's shoulder, taking the boy's attention away from him.
"Sasuke."
All of them stared at Itachi, who had never come to their table before. They knew that the two brothers were close, but as Itachi's new friends didn't like them much, they hardly gave him the chance to speak to his little brother, let alone be near his friends or their table. But somehow Itachi had gotten away, because there he was.
"Ouin? Qu'est-ce qui ce passe?"
"M'man ma envoyée un message pour me dire qu'elle et notre père veulent que tu aies direct à maison se soir. Ils veulent discuter tes choix de collèges et universités avec toi. Ils ne sont pas trops...Impressionés."
"Ce n'est pas de leur affaire ce que je fais de ma vie."
"Je te donne le message, c'est tout. Si tu veux je pourrai être la pour t'aider, Notre père serait peut être moin dûre sur toi si..." Itachi let the phrase hang, and the group just stared at him, not understanding the conversation.
Itachi, as per usual, was calm, but Sasuke was seemingly frustrated. Whatever his brother was saying certainly wasn't something pleasant.
"J'ai pas besoin de ton aide!"
"Sasuke, j'essaie juste de t'aider. C'est tout."
The youngest sighed, "Je sais. Je m'excuse. Mais vraiment, je m'en foue ce qu'ils pensent. Si ils veulent me chialer, laisse-les." That appeared to be the end of their conversation, because Sasuke turned away from him and back towards their group.
But Itachi didn't leave, instead he looked towards Sasuke's friends and gave a polite smile, "I apologize. I know speaking french around those who do not understand it is rude, but it was a message I had to pass on without translating it wrong." The accent was thicker than it usually was, but none of them seemed to notice.
"Oh, it's fine. You guys are new to the whole, speaking english thing. We don't expect you to be awesome at it." Naruto said with a shrug, taking another huge bite of his sandiwich.
All he knew, like the rest of the student body, was that the two boys had been born in a Japanese town, somewhat like Konoha but not, and then they had moved to a french-speaking village when they were still little. Their first language was Japanese, but it had been forgotten over time as they, and their parents, learnt french. Now in an english speaking town, they were forced to learn that language as well.
It was quite a change, but over the course of the summer the two boys had gotten english lessons to help them be prepared for their new school when they showed up two weeks into the school year. They'd learnt fast, but of course they still had difficulty at times. Luckily enough, people seemed to like their french accents and found their being foreign intriguing.
"Thank you for understanding. I know Neji, but unfortunately I do not know the rest of your names. I am Itachi, it is nice to meet you."
Neji stared down at his food, happy that he'd been recognized, but too shy (he'd deny it) to meet his gaze. They'd spoken twice, the first time Itachi had asked for directions to the office and the second time he'd thanked Neji for the directions and they'd exchanged names. Neji had known before Itachi had even spoken that those eyes would always make him melt, and he didn't like it. He didn't like getting crushes, unlike others, but unfortunately he couldn't avoid being flattered by the recognition.
"I'm Naruto."
"Kiba."
"My name's Haku."
"I am Lee! And it is also very nice to meet you."
"Tu devrais partir avant que tes amis viens te chercher."
"D'accord. Salut." Itachi said goodbye to them and walked away, not hearing Sasuke's mutter of 'des vrais chiens salles'.
None of them knew what it meant, but it seemed insulting and they were okay with that. If he didn't like Itachi's friends, it gave them all at least one thing in common.
"What did he say?" Naruto asked.
"Not'ing important." Sasuke replied automatically, but when Naruto merely continued to stare at him, he could only sigh and acquiese to the demand, "My parents want me 'ome right after school."
"Why?" Neji rolled his eyes at his friend's question, knowing that Sasuke didn't want to answer. But the blonde was persistent (and annoying) and wouldn't give up until an answer was given to him.
"T'ey do not agree wit' the colleges I want to apply to."
"Where do you want apply?"
"My parents want me to join the police force, like my Pa. It is a family tradition. But I would rat'er not."
"What do you want to do then?"
"Naruto, leave him be." Neji finally interjected, getting annoyed. Not that he liked Sasuke, but he knew what it was like to be the victim of the blonde's interogations and knew it wasn't pleasant. Naruto had good intentions, but he did sometimes make people uncomfortable without realizing it.
"I...I will tell you." Sasuke looked determined, but a hint of hesitance creeped into his voice, "But do not laugh."
"We won't." Naruto said hurriedly, giving his friends a look, letting them know that if they did laugh, he'd never speak to them again. Or speak to them until they die. Whichever would bother them the most.
"I 'ave always wanted to work in a garage. I like cars and I am good with t'em. But my Pa says that 'e does not want a son of 'is to get 'is 'ands dirty doing somet'ing t'at uneducated people do."
"You want to be a mechanic?" Kiba asked, evidently shocked. He wasn't one to talk, his wanting to be a vet being something most didn't expect.
"Yes."
"Being a mechanic takes a lot of education though. It's not anybody who can do it." Lee pointed out, "I think you could be a great mechanic, if that's what you really like doing."
"I do." Sasuke was also clearly shocked by the nonchalant way they had taken to the reveal, "My Pa does not see t'at it takes a lot of work to be a mechanic. But I do not care what 'e t'inks."
"If it makes you feel better, I once told my dad I wanted to join the circus and be the man with the longest beard. He thought I was on crack."
"He's serious, too." Kiba added.
"You do not want to join t'e circus anymore?"
"Nah, changed my mind."
"He can't grow a beard." Neji said, rolling his eyes, "You also once wanted to be a ballerina because you'd be surrounded by girls in tight clothing. Then you found out you don't have a graceful bone in your body..."
"Why are you so mean?" Naruto asked with a pout.
"Just saying the truth."
"It does make me feel better t'ough." Sasuke said, and Naruto broke out of his moody state.
"Good!"
"What do you want to do now?" Sasuke asked, and Naruto shrugged.
"I dunno. It's too soon to decide. Who really expects kids to know what they want to do with the rest of their lives when they're sixteen?"
"It's too much to expect from a child. We hardly know who we are, let alone who we want to be."
Haku's words were followed by the first bell, signaling the end of lunch. Before getting angrily thrown out of the cafeteria by the teacher patroling the room, the group left, all deep in thought. The future was a terrifying prospect, one that they tended to ignore. Unfortunately though, it was drawing nearer and nearer every day.
AN: Hello! Sorry it took so long, it was a long weekend. But hopefully the length makes up for it! (Not that long, but still!) 'Projet' means project, though I think that one was obvious enough. If you want a full translation of what Itachi and Sasuke talk about, let me know, but here's a brief summary.
Itachi tells Sasuke that their mom sent him a text saying that Sasuke has to go home right after school. They're unhappy with his choice of a future job. Itachi offers to go with him to talk with their parents. Sasuke says no and that he doesn't care what they have to say. That's basically it.
Questions, let me know!
I'd like to thank AUehara, EatEmUp, and AkatsukiCrush for reviewing! It really means a lot! Next chappie ought to focus more on Haku. Oh, and any suggestions for a pairing you want to see? Let me know!
Thank you for reading,
-MewMew