A/N: Here's the next "chapter"!
Thanks for reviewing and letting me know you're there, Red Chopsticks and shikyoDEATH!
As soon as I get the time to proof-read the next chapter, expect an update! ( it'll be soon, I promise. c: )
So it begins…
/
One year later…
The silver car sped away, through the iron gate, leaving behind dust and a fifteen year old boy. He smiled as he slung his bright orange bag over his shoulder and raised his hand in a half wave.
Take care of yourself, Pervy Sage.
He turned back around, to the campus that he had left a few months ago, the place he really considered home. He started walking at a brisk pace towards the office.
As he entered the brick building, the two men sitting at the desk near the door looked up and smiled at the spikey-haired boy.
"Morning, Naruto."
Naruto grinned back. "Morning, Izumo, Kotetsu."
The famous Jiraiya's adoptive grandson, Naruto was something like a legacy at the school. He already knew half of the staff before even entering. Many of them were fond of the hyperactive teenager.
"You're in the Chunin dorm this year," Izumo informed him while Kotetsu dug through a pile of folders, looking for Naruto's timetable. "You know where that is, don't you?"
Naruto scratched the back of his head nervously, grinning. "Y-Yeah." He and his friends had gotten caught numerous times last year trying to sneak into that very dorm when the resident Chunins had told them their dorm had a flat screen TV and stereo system.
Kotetsu suddenly held up a file, triumphant. "Found it!"
"Took you long enough."
"Shut up."
He handed Naruto his timetable, along with his room key. "You'll be in room 34. Your roommate assignment should be on the door."
"Okay." Naruto said, stashing his timetable in his bag to look at later and reaching for the room key.
Just before he was out the door, he was stopped by a voice from the adjoining room. "Naruto, wait a second."
Naruto turned around to see a blonde woman, probably in her fifties, standing in the doorway, arms crossed. "Uh…yeah, Granny?"
"It's Headmistress Tsunade!" The woman snapped, and Naruto mentally sweatdropped.
"…Okay. So what is it?"
"Just wanted to warn you that if there's any more of those practical jokes, we're cracking done on pranksters this year. So I'd be careful."
Naruto mentally rolled his eyes. They had told them that last year, and the resident Jonin said that they said that every year. But they never followed through, considering the fact Tsunade would get constantly drunk, only sobering when someone from the state department of education came or when something was on fire. So she didn't sober often.
"Okay." Naruto grinned, and continued walking towards the door.
"Please be careful."
When he looked back, he saw that Tsunade's brown eyes were serious, and his face lost it's silly demeanor. He knew she worried about him like a grandmother. "Will do. I'll tell the Pervy Sage you said hi."
"That will be fine." She replied as the door leading to the courtyard closed with a click. "Take care, Naruto."
/
"Lies!" Naruto heard a yell as he entered the Chunin dorm. "They all lied!"
He dropped his bag on the floor and walked into the common room, where a 15-year old girl was standing in the middle of the room, casting an angry glare around at the furniture, which, in his opinion, didn't look that bad.
Naruto laughed. "Hey Kiyo."
When she heard her name, the girl turned around. "Oh, hi Naruto." Hirazuki Kiyomi turned back to her ranting. "This is just like the Genin dorm last year! There's no flat screen TV! All my hopes and dreams- crushed." She let out a fake exasperated sigh.
Dramatic today, aren't we? Naruto watched her, amused, until he realized the severity of the situation.
"NO FLAT SCREEN?" They did lie!
Kiyo stopped raging to smile, and put one hand in the pocket of her shorts. "Yeah, I found that out twenty minutes ago."
She pointed to one set of stairs and then the other. "The girls' rooms, the boys' rooms. Roommates are posted on the doors."
"Yeah?" The dorm had a large common room, with a few chairs and two couches. A small adjourning room held numerous bookcases. They were the only people in the dorm so far. It looked all right, and Naruto knew that fireplace in the common room would be useful for cold wintery days.
Naruto looked at the brown-eyed girl suspiciously, processing her words in his head. "What were you doing here twenty minutes ago?"
Kiyo tightened the ribbon that held her hair in a ponytail, a habit from whenever she was stressed. "To tell you the truth, I've been here for an hour. Summer break was quiet. It kind of flew by," she added.
Naruto looked up at the stairs leading to the boys' corridor. "Who's your roommate?"
"Hinata, room 12." She replied, crossing her arms across her dark purple tank top, jerking her head in the door's direction. "I guess they think she can calm me down. Makes sense."
"Who's mine?"
The girl smirked in a way that gave him a bad feeling. "Go check for yourself," she replied, plopping down on one of the couches, stretching her legs over the arms of it. "If you dare."
Naruto rolled his eyes and slowly walked up the stairs to the boys' rooms, checking the rooms, looking for number 34. 31, 32, 33… His footsteps echoed against the hardwood floors, and he paused when he saw the silver emblazoned number on the wall next to the door.
"Found it yet?" Kiyo's voice rang from downstairs, but Naruto was too busy staring at the paper taped to the door painted in peeling blue paint.
The sound of her paint-splattered converse pounding against the steps was heard, and she stopped at the top when she saw Naruto's shocked face, smirking at the boy's reaction. "I know, right?"
Room 34
Uzumaki Naruto
Mizaki Yusei
Uchiha Sasuke
"Son of a bi-!"
/
Neeka nervously tapped her fingers on her gray skinny jeans to a song on her iPod as she waited for the headmistress to return. She had been dropped off five minutes ago, and that black-haired woman name Shizune had escorted her to the room where she was to meet the headmistress. She had seen the woman briefly, before she had to go to the front desk because of some emergency when a kid tried to come through with his dog.
Just then, the woman they called Tsunade re-entered the small office. "You're Neeka, correct?"
Neeka nodded, not sure what to say at first. The music in her ears was blasting, but she didn't want to take the earphones out. Not yet.
Tsunade sat down at the hardwood desk facing her, and pulled out a file. "You're from Hinaki, here on a scholarship. Very impressive."
Neeka nodded again, pushing her dark red hair out of her freckled face. "Yeah. My mom, Anikaa, she was really happy when I got the scholarship."
Tsunade smiled at her, making Neeka relax a little bit. "She has a good reason to be. Anyways, this year you will be staying in the Chunin dorm, room 21. Academically, you'll fit in just fine, seeing your current grades. Socially, well, your classmates have had a year to get to know each other, so you'll be a little behind, but don't worry. You'll do just fine."
Neeka nodded, wondering if she could do anything but nod.
"Here's your room key and timetable. If there's anything you need, ask someone. Just not me."
Gee, that's really reassuring, Neeka couldn't help but think irritably as she exited the office, staring at her timetable. Where the hell is the Chunin dorm again?
When she looked up, she could fully see how large the campus was–making her feel even smaller inside. But she didn't show it. She never let anyone see beyond her tough exterior.
The office led to a small courtyard, connected to the rest of the school by numerous hallways and courtyards, not to mention the small park-like areas in between. The map they had given her was virtually useless, as it had many creases from being folded, and had coffee stains all over it. She let out an irritated sigh before closing her eyes and pointing a finger.
When she opened her eyes, it was pointing to the left corridor. She shrugged and started down that way, putting the 'map' in her pocket. Gotta start somewhere.
God, being the new kid sucked.
The singer in her ears screamed the lyrics so loud she couldn't hear, but to her, it sounded like 'No shit, Sherlock.'
/
Haruno Sakura stood in a line outside the office next to her friend Hyuuga Hinata, waiting to receive their timetables.
"How much do you want to bet that Kiyo and Tenten are already, there, destroying the dorm?" Sakura asked the pale-eyed girl as she twirled her long pink locks just to be doing something. God, she was bored.
"I don't know about Kiyo, but Tenten's right there." Hinata pointed to a girl with brown hair in tight buns on both sides of her head walking up the front lawn towards them.
Sakura raised her hand over her head in a wave. "Hey, Tenten, over here!"
Tenten smiled and ran towards them as the people behind them began to complain about cutting. Her backpack made a clanging noise as she ran, and Sakura winced, knowing that she had probably brought her darts with her.
"We thought you'd have been in the dorm by now," Sakura explained as Tenten fiddled with the straps of her backpack, trying to make as little noise as possible.. "Have you seen Ino or Kiyo?"
Tenten shook her head. "No, but my mom's car had a problem with security at the gate, so that's why I'm kind of late."
"That almost rhymes," Hinata pointed out to her, which she thought was more tactful than asking why she was detained at security..
"Oh."
The three girls made small talk as the line moved slowly, crawling towards the front office where Izumo and Kotetsu were working as fast as they could. Finally, they reached the front.
"Haruno Sakura, Hyuuga Hinata and Tenten." Hinata said, and Izumo gave them their keys as Kotetsu pulled out their timetables. Once out of the office and into the courtyard leading them to the dorms, they compared their schedules.
"We've got lunch, math, science and English together," Sakura, who was the most analytic of her friends, concluded. Tenten peered over at the pink-haired girl's schedule.
"What the hell compelled you to choose drama as your elective?" she asked incredulously. Sakura frowned.
'Well, what made you choose study hall as yours? You can't sit still for a moment."
Hinata looked at hers, trying to think of a way to stop her friends from breaking into an argument. "I chose art."
"Well, yeah, Hina, you're a really good artist."
"Really?" This caused the violet-haired girl to blush as they walked up to the Chunin dorm and opened the bronze door.
"Hey!" They were knocked over by a brown and purple blur, and were promptly glomped by Kiyo. "Long time no see, eh, guys?"
Sakura weakly hugged Kiyo back while Hinata pushed the teenage-girl-acting-like-a-five-year old off of her. "Yes, because I only visited once every two weeks."
Kiyo grinned. "Yeah, but you haven't seen Naruto-chan in a loooong time."
Hinata turned an even deeper shade of red. "I-I-I…"
"Kiyo, have you seen Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked, saving Hinata by changing the subject. Kiyo's face quickly darkened and she scowled. The other girls backed away.
"I'm getting out of here before she blows up," Tenten muttered and quickly retreated towards the upstairs rooms to check out the room assignments.
"No, I haven't seen him," Kiyo replied, gritting her teeth at the mention of the hated person. "He's either late or dead, and I'm sincerely hoping for the latter."
"Kiyo, that's mean!" Sakura sighed, knowing she probably shouldn't have brought it up. And not have used the 'kun' suffix.
"What're you gonna do about it?"
Sakura looked over at Hinata, whose face was still a little red. "Where is Naruto now?"
"Oh, he and I are planning a little prank." Kiyo's tone had changed from dark to happy in approximately three seconds, and Sakura mentally sweatdropped. "You'll probably see him at the welcome back dinner."
"Oh yeah, that's tonight, isn't it?" Hinata had recovered from the subject of the boy she admired, and changed the conversation to the event that always happened at the beginning of the year.
"Well, duh, Hina."
"Hey, who's Neeka?" Tenten's voice from the upstairs came, and the other girls looked up, as well as other curious bystanders. "I'm her roommate, along with Cam."
"New student?"
"Who else could it be?" Sakura asked dryly as Kiyo grinned sheepishly at her stupid question.
"Whoever it is, she's not here," Hinata pointed out. Sakura and Kiyo looked up at their friends upstairs. Hinata had somehow silently stolen upstairs and was standing next to Tenten on the stairs.
"Sheesh Hina, how do you do that?" Kiyo asked as she and Sakura walked up the stairs to join them.
Instead of answering, Hinata pointed the nearly empty room, save for three beds, three closets, and a bathroom. Tenten's black bag lay forgotten on the floor. "Tenten's the only one with luggage here. This Neeka girl must not be here yet."
"Well, where is she?"
"How would I know?"
/
"Damn, this sucks." Inuzuka Kiba groaned as he and his companions entered the courtyard leading away from the office, one hand on the collar of his dog, Akamaru. "Summer break went by way too fast."
"For once, I agree with Kiba." Nara Shikamaru put his hands into his pockets and popped his neck. "What a drag."
The autumn leaves on the trees growing in the courtyard waved lazily in the wind. One broke off and the auburn leaf caught Akamaru's attention. He began to yip excitedly, tugging on Kiba's hold on his collar. Kiba frowned.
"C'mon Akamaru, behave."
"Control your dog, Kiba," the dark-haired teenager behind him commented, his onyx eyes narrowing in annoyance.
Kiba scowled as Akamaru continued to jump around. "Shut up, Sasuke. He is under control, and you can mind your own business."
"Hn." Sasuke brushed off the comment and continued walking, ignoring Kiba's predicament.
"Has anyone seen Naruto?" A different boy with pale-colored eyes much like Hinata's asked, ignoring both Kiba and Sasuke and addressing Shikamaru.
"He's probably been dropped off already," Shikamaru replied. "Don't worry about it, Neji." He tilted his head towards the sky to look at the clouds. Huh, that one looks like…
But what it did look like, Shikamaru never figured out, because at that moment, Akamaru broke free from Kiba's hold (causing him to fall backwards) and started running off, barking as he ran through the courtyard and out of sight.
"Shit!" Kiba swore as he got up with another, larger boy's help. "We've got to find him."
"Maybe if you didn't bring the dog in the first place…" His portly friend suggested, but Kiba looked at him incredulously.
"Not bring Akamaru? You're crazy, Chouji, just crazy!"
"That's enough," Shikamaru sighed, and pointed in the direction the dog had run. "Our first priority is to find Akamaru before someone finds him. Then we can figure out whose fault it is."
"Found him." Sasuke's voice sounded from down the hall, and everyone turned towards him, surprised at how fast he was, as he put his hands in his pockets and jerked his head towards a connecting courtyard. Everyone listened. A faint barking could be heard, and Kiba grinned.
"Jeez, Sasuke, that was quick. Let's go get him."
/
Neeka was not having a good day. First of all, she was lost. Why the hell did this school need to be so big? There were way too many courtyards and hallways and the buildings seemed to have been placed randomly around the campus. Her head was spinning after five minutes, or maybe it was the cold fall weather.
Second, apparently the students here didn't take well to new kids. She had already been led down the wrong hallway twice on the way to the bathrooms, and she really had to go. Not to mention, these three punks in front of her didn't look like they were letting her go anytime soon.
"Let me say it one more time," Neeka growled through gritted teeth, despite her trembling hands. "I need to get to the Chunin dorm. Let me through, or someone's gonna get hurt."
One of the boys laughed, and the two others blocked any exit as he leaned closer. "Feisty, aren't you? You're just gonna have to learn your place around here."
His breath smelled of alcohol and mean. Neeka wrinkled her nose in distaste and tried to move out of the way. He grabbed her wrists and tried to force her against the wall. Oh no you fucking don't!
Faster than anyone (including herself) could comprehend, she had punched him in the face, and he staggered back, holding his nose and groaning.
Neeka clenched her fists, and held them up in front of her. "Try that again, stinkbag."
He glared at her through his blood-coated hand (did I actually break his nose?) and straightened up. "You little bitch!"
He and his cronies lunged at her, and she instinctively flattened herself against the wall, when all of a sudden a white shaggy dog came bounding out of nowhere and positioned itself between her and the punks, growling and barking, telling them to stay away.
One of them pointed a shaking hand at the dog, his voice trembling. "H-Hey, that's Inuzuka Kiba's dog!"
"S-Shit!" The other swore. "If he's with the rest of them, we're in trouble."
"Let's get out of here," the leader, now suddenly scared out of his wits, suggested, and the gang ran off into one of the other corridors, with their tails between their legs, or as Neeka imagined.
She paused for a minute, trying to comprehend what just happened, before yelling after them, "And stay away!" She turned back to the dog, and reached down a hand to him. He sniffed it before allowing her to pet him.
"Hey, thanks for saving me there." She laughed as he got bored with her hand and started eating her red chain necklaces that dangled from her neck. "Where'd you come from, anyways?"
A chilling thought suddenly occurred to her. The dog's owner, Inuzuka Kiba, he and his friends had a reputation that scared even those thugs. If they found her, who knows what they might do?
I've gotta get going, she thought as she patted the mysterious dog's head one last time and picked up her blue book bag, which had fallen on the ground during the 'fight'.
"Hey! Akamaru!"
Neeka's head shot up. Someone was running towards her, and she stood up abruptly and turned around just as the mysterious person caught up.
"Hey, you." A hand caught her wrist and she pulled back instinctively, turning around to find herself looking into black vertical eyes belonging to a boy with messy brown hair and red markings on the side of his face.
"You found him," the boy said, and the dog (Akamaru, she supposed) bounded over to him, a happy doggy smile on his face.
Neeka shrugged and slung her bag over her shoulder, tucking a strand of her dark red hair behind her ear. "Yeah, well, actually he found me."
"Kiba." Looking behind him, Neeka saw a small group of other males lingering in the hall, about six other teenagers observing them. So that's what he meant by 'Kiba and the rest of them.'
It had been the one with the hood that had spoken. "We need to get going. We have to be at the Chunin dorm by 5:00 if we want to get to the 'welcome back dinner' on time."
"Oh yeah." Kiba stood up, his hand grasping the collar of his dog once more. He looked at Neeka. "What's your name again?"
"Neeka," she replied, before adding, "I'm a new student, and I'm afraid I'm lost. I'm a Chunin, too."
Kiba broke out into a grin. "Well, that's great. We'll walk you over there."
"We don't have all day," another teenager with dark eyes said, and started walking in the other direction.
Kiba scowled. "Don't listen to Sasuke. He's always like that. By the way, I'm Inuzuka Kiba, nice to meet you."
He held out his hand and Neeka stared at it for a moment, before understanding his intentions. "Oh, right." She shook his hand, surprised at how gentle his touch was despite his calloused hands.
Kiba smiled again and led her over to the rest of the group, introducing her to his friends and describing the ones that weren't there. Neeka nodded a lot, committing the names to memory. She'd add the faces to them once she got to know them. Kiba, Sasuke, Neji, Chouji, Shikamaru, Lee, Shino, and…and…aw crap.
/
Kiyo finished flipping through Ino's copy of Vogue for the fourth time before letting out a huge dramatic sigh. Ino was currently in her and Sakura's room, but the others were in the common room waiting for the rest of the boys to show up.
Unfortunately, waiting was not something Kiyo did very well. (Why else would she have quit Kakashi's class this year?) She had already tested her patience waiting for Ino to show up, and when she did, she had brought Camellia with her, a girl that not many people cared for, despite the fact they'd known each other since they were genin.
Speaking of whom, the girl sat in a chair across the room, studying the dorm with bored green eyes. The same color as Sakura's, Kiyo thought, but not with the same warmth. Camellia (or Cam, as she was also known) smirked at her.
"What's your problem?" Her voice was smooth, laced with sarcasm. Kiyo felt a twinge of annoyance at this girl. What's yours?
Kiyo looked away, and she felt Cammy's gaze turn onto someone else. Thank god. There was something about her that left Kiyo slightly unnerved. Maybe it was the fact that she came from Amekagure, the small city where it rained constantly, causing to people there to have a darker kind of mood. Truth be told, no one was sure why Cam was like that. She didn't let many people get close to her.
It's probably better that way, Kiyo thought, turning towards the windows. It was already dark outside, which was unusual for September. Especially on the first day. But being in the dark was fine. You keep your secrets, I'll keep mine.
She laid down onto the couch and tilted her head up at her best friend, who was standing behind the couch she was residing on and raised an eyebrow down at her. "Hina, I'm bored."
"Um, one minute," the violet-haired girl replied, and picked the magazine up off the floor from where Kiyo had dropped it, racking her brains for something for her to do before Kiyo got too bored. That would be very bad and very dangerous.
"Are they here yet?" Naruto yelled from his room in the boys' section. Because of the prank he and Kiyo had set up, he couldn't leave the room until the door was opened from the other side. Kiyo rolled her eyes.
"No, not yet."
Sakura shut the door to her room and ran down the steps to the common room. Spotting the Vogue, her green eyes sparkled. "Kiyo, can I?"
Her friend gestured to it with a sweep of her hand as if to say 'yours', and Hinata handed it to her. The pink-haired girl sat down on in a red upholstered chair delightedly to read.
"Kiyo, if you're so bored, why don't you go decorate your room or something?" Hinata suggested, leaning over the back of the couch to look at the aforementioned girl.
"I would, but Tenten won't let me borrow her dartboard." Kiyo frowned at the stairs leading to the girls' corridor, as if her friend could actually see her annoyance.
"Well, why don't you see what you're going to wear tonight?" Hinata suggested again. Kiyo's eyes suddenly sparkled in a way that Hinata knew meant she had suddenly been inspired.
"Or," Kiyo grinned, and the Hyuuga suddenly knew what was coming, "we could find something pretty for you to wear and Naruto might see you as a potential girl–"
"T-That's ridiculous!" Hinata stuttered, and Naruto, who had heard his name, yelled from upstairs, "What about me?"
"Nothing, mind your own business!" Kiyo shouted back, and turned back to her red-faced friend. "Oh c'mon Hina, I'm sure Ino would love to use you as her dress-up doll."
"I sure would!" Ino chimed in, who was suddenly next to Kiyo. The girl let out a surprised scream and toppled off of the couch.
"Damn Ino, do not do that again!" Kiyo growled, lying face-up on the dark green carpet that covered the common room. Ino rolled her blue eyes. "Whatever, Kiyomi."
Cam, who had overheard the conversation, stood up, her first real movement since she had arrived an hour before. "I agree with Hinata." Her voice held hints of anger, making everyone in the room stop what they were doing. "Stop teasing her about it."
Kiyo raised an eyebrow from where she lay on the carpet, too lazy to get up. "Just a suggestion, Cam. You don't need to fly off the handle." Sheesh, and she asked me what my problem was.
Hinata grabbed a book and held it up in front of her face to make it look like she was busy so they wouldn't continue teasing her about her crush on the boy upstairs. Camellia turned on her heel and walked upstairs without another word, her black hair flying behind her. There was a slam of a door and then silence. Good riddance.
Kiyo sighed and sat up. "I'm so bored. Why are they so late?"
"I don't know." Ino sat down where Kiyo had fallen off, much to her annoyance. "No one's seen that new girl, either."
The brown-haired girl placed her hands behind her head and lay back, looking at the ceiling where someone had decided to be funny and throw their shoes up there, leaving prints on the ceiling. Where are they? "I'm bored."
"Why don't you go outside and look for them, then?" Sakura suggested, flipping to a page about the newest shoe line. Kiyo sighed and sat up, rubbing her neck (stupid Ino, that was a long way to fall).
"Fine." She brushed the wrinkle out of her clothes and stood up. Looking out the window, she saw again how dark it was, and probably cold too. "Has anyone seen my jacket?"
"You mean the one that Ino used to test her makeup on?"
The blonde girl sweatdropped under Kiyo's glare. "Really, I did you a favor. Jean jackets are so out this season."
Kiyo closed her eyes, trying to save the rage building up inside of her for someone who really deserved it. "Fine, I'll go outside in a freaking tank top and shorts. Hey, maybe if I'm lucky, I'll freeze to death."
Ino grinned. "That's the spirit!"
Hinata sighed and handed Kiyo her white fur hoodie. "Here, but give it back when you come back."
Kiyo's annoyed face quickly turned into a grin. "Thank you Hina!" Yeah, I'll give it back, let's say that.
"Oh, and Kiyo?"
"Yes?"
"I don't believe in the whole 'best friends will borrow your stuff and keep it so long they'll forget it's yours.' That's my favorite jacket. Bring it back."
"…Fine."
"And if you happen to bump into Sasuke, please, please, please don't get too much blood on it."
Kiyo scowled. "How much blood?"
"You know what, just don't get into any fights. We have Tenten to take people out for us."
"True dat!" Tenten shouted from her room behind her closed door, on which she had already hung up a 'Toxik, enter at your own risk' sign (everyone was waiting for the day when she figured out 'toxic' was spelled wrong; spelling was not one of Tenten's best traits).
Kiyo nodded and took the hooded jacket and headed towards the door, tightening her ponytail in a way that her friends knew meant she was stressed, whether from the fact she wasn't allowed to beat the crap out of Uchiha or that some of their friends were missing in the dark.
But before she could even touch the door handle, it turned and swung open.
/
Uchiha Sasuke didn't like large crowds. Really, he avoided large groups as much as possible. Technically, seven people weren't a lot, but when two of them are talking and laughing as loud as possible, one is complaining about what a drag this place is as loud as possible, and the others are being as loud as possible, well, he felt like punching something.
Stupid Itachi… He thought as the electric light posts around the campus buzzed and turned on, dying the school in a yellowish glow. He didn't exactly know how it was his brother's fault, but it was nice to blame someone. Besides, sooner or later it was always Itachi's fault.
"And then, Shino had to pretend he was blind, just so we could get the popcorn, hey, you remember that Shino?"
Shino nodded, and the new girl (what's her name again? Neeya or something?) laughed and replied, "So did Akamaru behave like a guide dog, or did he run all over the place?"
Kiba grinned sheepishly. "Uh…he kinda ran all over the place."
Akamaru barked, and it was this impeccable timing that caused Neeka (Neeka, that's right) to laugh again. Sasuke ignored the pair of them and looked up at the sky.
The sky wasn't completely black yet. He could still see wispy gray clouds sail across the night sky, and looking towards the hills, he could still see a soft glow just peeking over the horizon. He never understood what the difference between a sunrise and a sunset was. It all looked the same.
"Hey, we're here." These words were spoken by Chouji, and the others fell silent, looking up at the brick building with silver lettering on the door: Chunin Dorm.
Sasuke realized that the others had paused, staring at the building that was to be their home for the rest of the year. Seeming as no one else was going to do it, he reached for the door and slowly opened it. Idiots...
He did not expect to be face to face looking into the dark hazel eyes of the girl who hated his guts. He saw her mouth turn from a smile to a frown as she recognized the face in front of her– and turned red as they both realized exactly how close they were.
Kiyo scowled and backed up, turning her head away. "Damnit, you're not dead. That's another hope dashed."
"'Hello' to you too," he replied, ignoring her annoyed look and stepping into the common room of the dorm. It wasn't anything special. Not like he was expecting anything.
"Sasuke-kun, hi!" Sakura bounded up to him, beaming with happiness, her eyes shining compared to her very pissed-off friend. "How was your summer?"
He didn't really want to answer, so Sasuke was almost grateful when he was interrupted.
"Who's this?" Tenten's voice, excited and wound up, caught everyone's attention. She pulled the red-haired girl out of the group by the wrist and dragged her to the middle of the room. "Let me guess, you're Neeka, right?"
Neeka nodded, and Sasuke mentally rolled his eyes. Now she decides to be silent.
"Well, hey, welcome to Konoha Boarding School!" Tenten pointed to herself and then to the others in the room. "I'm Tenten, that's Hinata, Ino, Sakura, Cam is upstairs and you've already met Kiba, Shino, and the rest, right? Oh, and the sulking one is Kiyomi."
"I'm not sulking!" Everyone sweatdropped at this outburst and moved away from the girl sitting in a corner facing a wall. "And I'm Kiyo, call me Kiyomi and die."
"Kiyomi."
Neeka gulped and tried to look away before the girl named Kiyo (gotta remember that...) strangled Sasuke. She saw Hinata run over to them and figured she was probably pulling them apart at the moment. Her gaze wandered up to the stairs, where she saw a girl with long black hair staring down at her.
"A new girl, huh?" Her tone had a sharp edge to it. Neeka guessed this was Cam. "Whoop-de-do."
She strode down the stairs and headed towards the group that had gathered in the common room. "Neeka? What kind of name is that?" Her green eyes seemed to be laughing at her. Neeka immediately disliked her.
"A nice one," Neeka defended, her eyes narrowing. "What's yours?"
The girl just put a hand on her hip and glared at her before stalking off towards another room, her heels clicking against the wood floors.
"Ignore her. Cam hates it when she's not the center of attention," Kiba whispered somewhere to her right, but Neeka continued staring after where Cam had disappeared into the other room. What a bitch.
The rest of the boys decided to go upstairs to figure out their rooms and roommates, muttering among themselves, leaving the girls alone.
"Cam isn't that bad once you get to know her," the small girl with the soft voice (Hinata, was it?) suggested. Oh, so she got them to stop fighting, Neeka thought. Maybe she's tougher than she looks.
"You think everyone is nice, Hina," the blonde girl scoffed, plopping down onto the couch and pulling out a mirror. "But Cam is a great shopping buddy, I'll give you that."
Tenten continued to smile at Neeka. "What do you like to do?"
"Why do you want to know?"
Tenten pointed to the upstairs. "We're roomies. You, me, and Cam. I'd like to get to know the person I'll be sleeping across from."
"Well, I like fire, I like music, I play basketball and soccer–"
"Soccer?" Kiyo shouted while at the same time Tenten shouted, "Basketball?"
Neeka blinked. "Y-yeah."
"Awesome! What position?"
"Left wing, why?"
Kiyo sauntered over to the girl, and smiled for the first time since Neeka had arrived. "I played right wing last year. I can get a good word in for you with the captain."
"She's not playing soccer, she's playing basketball," Tenten argued. The two girls glared at each other. Neeka blinked, surprised.
"I can do both," she offered, while her inner voice was screaming, God no! You don't have the time!
"I mean, as long as it doesn't interfere with my schoolwork. I'm here on a scholarship," she added, feeling like she was blabbing on and on. "If my GPA drops, I'm in trouble."
"That's okay, a lot of people are here on scholarships." The girl with pink hair (PINK?) popped in. "I'm here on one too. So is Cam and Shikamaru."
All of a sudden, there was a crash, a shout, and loud laughter coming from Naruto's room. Kiyo and Tenten suddenly had a big grin on their face. "It worked!"
Ino sighed. "What did you do this time?"
The two girls only grinned, and them, Ino, Hinata and Neeka raced upstairs.
Naruto was doubled over laughing, standing in the middle of his room, while Sasuke was soaking wet, a bucket lying a few feet away. He scowled and looked up at the door where it had been precariously balancing a few minutes ago. "I'm going to kill you, Naruto."
"Hey, it was Kiyo's idea!" Naruto choked out, his face red from laughing as he pointed a shaking finger at the brown-haired girl. "I just set it up, and after that, I was kind of trapped in here!"
Sasuke glared at said-girl. Stupid bitch. She just grinned and held up a camera.
"Here, Neeka, take a picture." She thrust it into the new girl's hands, and posed in front of the scene.
Neeka raised an eyebrow. "O-kay. How does this work."
"Just press the red button."
A flash went off, and the picture appeared in the small screen of the camera. Tenten peered over Neeka's shoulder to look. "Oh, that is so going onto Facebook."
Hinata looked over at Naruto and Sasuke. "N-Naruto, I suggest you start running now, Sasuke looks really mad."
Naruto gulped and looked over at his dark-haired roommate, who did look very angry, possibly homicidal. "Aha ha ha ha ha…aw shit."
/
Mizaki Yusei stood just outside the Chunin dorm in the dark, his hand in his pockets. The lights were on inside, and he knew he should probably get inside before it was too late.
He smirked as he heard muffled shouts and laughter behind the door. He'd known these people since they were Genin, but he still wasn't quite able to be with those people. To know them. To laugh with them, and not at them. He knew what they called him behind his back (jerk, annoying, god-damnit-Yusei-can't-you-ever-be-serious), but he frankly didn't care.
It doesn't matter in real life, anyways, he decided, and opened the door. No one noticed; they were too wrapped up in their own lives to notice the tall teenager enter. The only one who even acknowledged him was the one they called Cam, and she only raised her eyes from painting her nails for a brief second.
It doesn't matter, Yusei told himself. He didn't even like these people anyways. He tolerated them. Lived with them. But he didn't like them.
He walked silently upstairs, noting that the doors each had silver numbers on them with the roommates printed onto a sheet of paper. He stopped at room 34. You've got to be kidding me…
"Hey, Yusei!"
He turned around and saw the familiar hyperactive blond standing down the hall; apparently he had just come from downstairs. Naruto noticed Yusei's expression.
"Yeah, we're roommates, along with Sasuke-teme. It wouldn't have been my first choice either, but, eh." Naruto shrugged. "Hurry up, we're all going down to the dining hall for the welcome back dinner. They'd better have ramen."
As Naruto sped down the stairs again, Yusei smiled, thinking about exactly how 'interesting' this year was going to be. Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto, and the rest of them, they were heading towards disaster, sooner or later.
Interesting. Yes, that was the word.
/
Cam really didn't care about the welcome back dinner. Truly, she would have been fine just staying in the common room with a few people, just hanging around. Or by herself, that was fine, too.
But of course, the whole welcome back thing was mandatory, and it made her sick. She hated being controlled like that. She hated a lot of things, but most of all, she hated it when she couldn't get her way. After all, she used to be able to get anything she wanted under the sun. Why should that change?
Hmph. Her fingers traced the patterns on the surface of the table in the dining hall boredly, as the people around her chattered on and on, waiting for the event to start. Worthless conversation. She was stuck sitting next to Kiba and the new girl, whatever her name was. Like I care.
"Hey, Cam, what elective are you taking this year?" Ino asked her. Cam let a small smile cross her face. The blonde girl was one of the few people here who didn't totally annoy her. I guess birds of a feather flock together.
"Yeah, actually, drama." She was about to answer when a loud laugh from over on her right interrupted her. Cam let her gaze slide over to where Kiba and the new girl were talking and laughing, and it annoyed her. "Excuse me, but will you and Neepa please keep it down? Some of us want to have a decent conversation."
The girl narrowed her hazel eyes at her again. Oh yeah, that's so scary, Cam thought sarcastically. "My name is Neeka."
"And I don't really care." She shot back. Cam looked over at Kiba. "You really have a thing for dogs, don't you?"
The people who heard them at the table went quiet. One could hear a pin drop. Cam sat there, a smug look on her face.
Neeka had clenched her fists. Her eyes were blazing as she glared at the girl and raised a threatening fist to deck her. Cam didn't move a muscle. Try me, bitch.
"Trouble?" Neeka found her hand stopped by a boy with the long, spiky dark hair. Cam recognized him as Mizaki Yusei, who found situations like these hilarious. Her lips curved into another smile. Saved by the bell, hmm?
Yusei grinned. "Catfight, ladies?"
Neeka scowled and wrenched her arm away, glaring at Cam before turning to Yusei, who continued to grin. "What's so funny?"
He just continued to smile, obviously enjoying the little conflict.
Tenten, who was sitting across from Cam and Neeka, and right next to Kiyo, sighed. "Yusei has a weird sense of humor. Just ignore him."
Yusei smirked and went to go sit next to Tenten, much to her displeasure. "Try ignoring me now."
"Okay." Kiyo shrugged, and pushed Yusei backwards, causing him to topple over, off the seat, and into the aisle. Tenten then scooted in, leaving no space left for him. The two grinned and continued their conversation as Yusei scowled at their backs.
"You're so mean."
"Suck it up."
Cam rolled her eyes. She didn't care much for Tenten or Kiyo either. They were too brash, too loud, and they never listened to her. They always turned away her much-needed advice, ("That is so not your color. Try something tackier, it's sure to go with you.") and she detested them as much as they did her.
Truth be told, she didn't like many people at the stupid school. Most of the people who weren't completely dull and unimaginative were either useless or were too stubborn to listen to her.
Of course, she turned her eyes towards Hinata as the stupid headmistress made her way to the podium at the front of the hall. Others can be very interesting indeed. Personally, she thought the timid girl was adorable, and wasn't shy to tell her so.
"Welcome back to Konoha Boarding School, students!" the headmistress, Tsunade, announced. Cam tried to tune out, but the annoying woman's voice echoed throughout the room. "To those new here, I am Tsunade, known as the headmistress of this school. Some of you may have seen me already, and know exactly how 'nice' I can be." Here she glanced over at a small group of genin who kind of shivered under her intense gaze. "I hope this will be a great year, and that I won't see too many of you in the principal's office. That is all." She started to sit down, and then stood up, on a second thought, leaning down close to the microphone on the podium.
"Oh, and to whoever stole seven bottles of my sake; so not funny. That is all." Two ANBU a few tables over grinned and high-fived when her back was turned.
"Wow. She's…interesting," Neeka commented, watching as the middle-aged woman sat down and poured herself a drink. "Is she always like that?"
Shikamaru sighed. "You should see her when she's drunk."
"Oh, yeah, that was when she got onto the PA system, wasn't that?" Sakura, sitting on the right of Ino commented. The group started to laugh, and Neeka shifted nervously.
"What did she do?"
"'Hey, Shizune, what's thish button do?'" Kiyo imitated, swaying in her seat as if she was drunk. "'Will Dan Dickwad please come to the offish? Your mom ish here, and she's got ya your new pants, seeing as ya soiled the old ones.'" The others giggled like a bunch of school girls–which they were.
"Did she actually say that?" Neeka cried incredulously. "She so did not say that."
"Actually, Dan Dickwad was in math class at the time," Shikamaru sighed, seeing as there was no way getting around this conversation. "He turned about as red as your hair."
Ino grabbed a roll from the basket on the table and looked at Neeka. "Oh yeah. Your hair's so pretty. Is it real, or did you dye it?"
"It's dyed, actually."
Cam rolled her eyes as the others girls practically drooled over the new girl. The sound of them sucking up to her was nearly deafening, or at least she thought. Personally, she didn't care. However, she couldn't help but overhear Neeka's explanation of her family.
"I have one brother, his name is Rye-"
"Like the bread?"
"Kiyo, shut up and eat your chicken."
"No, not like the bread." Neeka sounded like she was going to laugh. "He's 18 and almost in college."
"Is he hot?"
"He's my brother, how should I know?"
A question suddenly popped into Cam's mind and she smiled, sidling up to the new girl, suddenly friendly. "Do you and your family get along?"
The others looked at her questionably, but Neeka just replied, "Yeah, we get along fine."
Cam smiled again, and pressed on. "Do you think they'll ever visit?"
The new girl's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Well, yeah, I'm sure they'll send a letter, like on Christmas or call. Maybe they'll visit, I mean, they love me enough to contact me somehow."
"I'm sure." However, Cam wasn't looking at Neeka. She was looking at the place Kiyo had been sitting just a few moments before.
No one noticed but Hinata, and the violet-haired girl sent Cam a disappointed glance. The smirk on her face disappeared, and she cast her eyes to the ground. Hinata was the only one who could make her feel guilty. She watched as Hinata got up to go find her friend. As soon as she was out of sight, Cam let another smirk cross her face.
She was good. Good at finding the weaknesses in people and using them to manipulate them, to use them. But she wasn't even dimly aware of the cracks in her own armor.
/
Hinata knew where she could find her best friend. They went there whenever they felt upset or just wanted to be alone. She wasn't sure which one it was–maybe it was both.
Her feet pounded against the stone path hat weaved in between the buildings of the campus. She took a right, then a left, her long dark hair flying behind her, barely visible in the darkness of the night. Soon she came to the only building that the streetlights wouldn't shine on–the one they called the Haunted Snake.
A few years ago, three students tried to go onto the roof of the building and jump from it over the wall, as the building came up right next to the wall. They made it to the other side, only to be bitten by a snake that prowled on the outside. Two of the three bodies were found, and that scared others off to never try again. Only one class was taught in that building, and it was empty most of the time.
Most of the time.
The gray colored door slowly opened with a creak. There was no one in the ground room, and Hinata sneezed from dust particles trampled under her feet. She's already in there?
A spiraling staircase in the middle of the room went up three floors. Hinata didn't stop on a floor. She stopped in between the landings and leaned against the middle of the stairway, the support for the steps, and took a breath. One, two, three…
There was a scratching sound upstairs. Hinata ran up the steps again, two at a time, and found a portion of the wall had opened, revealing a dark tunnel with a little light at the end. She wasn't surprised. She had done this numerous times.
"Kiyo? You in here?" she called softly. You'd better be in here.
"Y-yeah." A muffled voice at the end of the hall called back to her, and Hinata entered the darkness, raising her hands to feel her way through the dark. Her pale eyes could barely see in the dim light. Why didn't I bring a flashlight?
She found her friend sitting in a small window seat, arms wrapped around her knees, looking out into the darkness outside. The sparkling lights of the city of Konoha caught Hinata's eye, glowing, tiny pin-pricks of light, and she sat down in a chair right next to Kiyo, watching silently.
"It's really pretty down there." Kiyo's voice had a shaky edge to it, and she didn't turn her gaze from the lights through the glass. "They look like stars."
"Uh-huh," Hinata replied, gazing at the lit up metropolis. This was one of the few places you could actually see the outside world beyond the gates of the school. It was their secret spot. She looked over at Kiyo and still saw traces of hurt in her eyes. "Do you want to talk about it?"
The girl closed her brown eyes, and shook her head. "No. I just…why would she say that?"
Hinata shrugged. "Cam just says stuff like that. I don't think she means it." There's so many lights. Her eyes looked back to the window. Are that many people still up?
Kiyo rested her head on her knees. "I feel stupid."
"Don't. A lot of people go through this."
"Yeah?" Hinata sensed the bitterness in her words, and looked away as her friend continued. "Do yours call?"
"Well…um…yes." Hinata was glad it was dark. Her face was turning red as she realized the point her friend was trying to prove. "On my birthday and Christmas, that's it."
Kiyo sighed, and looked back at the window, where lights flashed as cars drove by.. "Mine still think I'm twelve years old. They didn't even bother to send a card on Christmas. Not even on my fucking birthday."
"Maybe they were busy."
"It takes, what, ten, fifteen minutes to get in the car and drive over here?" Kiyo let out a laugh. "They're down there somewhere, and they sure as hell don't want me."
Hinata lowered her eyes, saddened by her friend's outburst. "You don't know that."
"They made it clear enough."
Silence overcame them as the minutes ticked by, five, ten. Hinata would rather have had Kiyo teasing her about her crush on Naruto than this uncomfortable silence. She spoke again. "You want to go back?"
"No. Don't let me keep you here. If you want to go, go."
"I'm not leaving then."
A faint smile crossed her face, but then it disappeared as she turned back to the window.
They're down there somewhere, huh? Hinata recalled the words. Then why do you keep looking for them?
Kiyo pressed her hand to the cold glass window to look closer, her eyes nearly hurting from looking at the lights so much. But she didn't stop. If she closed her eyes, she could still see it, all luminous and sparkling, like stars in the sky come to earth. She closed her eyes and pictured it in her mind, locking it away forever.
It was almost enough.
A/N(2): Almost forgot. I'm not going to be doing a disclaimer for every chapter.
If you need to see one from me, go back to the end of the first chapter. Plus, I think we all know I don't own Naruto anyway. XD