Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto

Yep, Chapter two. Happiness? Happiness.

First Semester

Chapter Two: Introductions, High Schoolers

Striding across the front courtyard of the school, I ignored the many lingering gazes from my soon to be fan club. Sasuke walked off, eager to leave my presence.

"Hey, new guy!"

I grimaced inwardly as the raucous voice invaded my quiet existence. Annoying.

I turned, only my head and studied him from the corner of my eye. Tall, taller than me with incredibly tan skin and hair dyed to such a dark blue that it was impossible to guess its natural shade. Eyes a pale silver, translucent almost. The smile was reminiscent of a shark's, large, murderous, and bleached white.

"Hoshigaki, Kisame," he introduced, grinning his Shark grin. "You from Kagoshima ain't ya?"

Nodding, I continued on my way, hoping that he would lose interest. Unfortunately, this was not so, for he grabbed my elbow and half-dragged me back to a group of guys sitting under a Sakura tree. Two guys were playing cards, and the third was making farm animals from little tubs of Play-Doh. There was currently a red pig, a blue duck, and a pair of red ducklings. Next on the list was a cow, or perhaps it was a horse. Odd.

"Yo, guys," Kisame said, releasing me from his death grip. "This No0b's from Kagoshima."

"The one where the gym caught on fire, un?" the one with the clay asked, finishing his yellow cow. He-or she, it was hard to tell-had long blond hair tied back in a high ponytail and big, feminine aqua blue eyes.

"Some dumb fuck probably left his science experiment in there too long," another blond grumbled. His hair was pale, almost bordering on white and slicked back Draco Malfoy-style. "Four."

"Go Fish," the last said. His hair was a fiery-red, and was styled in somewhat controlled spikes. His emotionless brown eyes gave the impression that he was concentrating but in fact, he couldn't careless about this game.

"That's Deidara," Kisame said, pointing to Ponytail. "Potty-mouth over there is Hidan and AngelFace is Sasori."

"Don't say a word," 'AngelFace' warned.

"Where's the others?" Kisame asked, scanning the courtyard.

"Zetsu and Kakuzu are meeting with the headmaster to discuss the budget on some school clubs and I told Tobi to go fall in a sewer," Deidara explained calmly, smirking at his realistic looking dog.

"And you?" Sasori inquired monotonously. "Four."

"Bastard! I just asked for a Four! You been holdin' out on me?" Hidan accused.

"I just got this Four," Sasori replied, undisturbed.

"You didn't Go Fish!"

"...Still, Four," Sasori persisted, unrepentant.

Hidan reluctantly handed over the card, muttering obscene phrases under his breath. Finally, he settled his rose-colored contacts on me. "What's your name again?"

"Uchiha...Itachi," I replied.

OoOoOo

A hush fell over the Crew as they openly gaped at someone approaching behind me. I turned and warily eyed the junior. Blond, curvy, and most likely conceited, she was definitely an Obsessive, the MOST annoying kind of Fangirls. Unfortunately, Obsessives make up the largest group of Fangirls I had.

Inwardly, I groaned but, of course, I showed nothing on my face.

"Hiiiiii," she said, batting thick lashes. A shower of glitter rained down her face. "I'm Okayama Asoka, and you're...CUTE!" she added with a coquettish giggle.

"Awe, thanks, sweetheart," Kisame drawled. "You're kinda cute too."

"Not you! Jerk!" Asoka looked like she was about to say more but someone cut her off.

"C'mon, don't get in a fight on the first day of school," another junior, this one with purple hair, joked.

"Let's go, Asoka, you've got a pep rally to get ready for," the red-head senior stated. "Remember?"

"Not yet," Asoka said with a roll of her eyes. "It starts-GACK! You guys! Yuki! Ari!"

Arching an obsidian brow, I watched as Ari and Yuki each grabbed an arm and hauled Asoka back to the fountain. "Hey...HEY!"

OoOoOo

The students gathered in the auditorium for the orientation/pep rally. After the Welcome Back speech given by the principal, Tsunade-sama, the cheerleaders came on.

They pranced around in their little skirts, cheering their little cheers. Boring. I glanced to my side. Deidara, screaming; Kisame whopping on his head. Boring. My black eyes gravitated to the front rows of the bleachers. There. Sitting in the second row, at the very center.

It was that girl, the dark-haired one at the fountain. I noticed her watching me earlier. I always noticed; it was a defensive maneuver I picked up in the early days when the Fangirls became Stalkers. Shudder.

But she was different. She hadn't looked at me like I was a piece of meat, like that Asoka did. I glared at the back of her head. What was she? Lesbian.

She turned suddenly, looking up right at me. I jumped at the sight of those pure blue eyes, cutting through me like lasers. Cutting straight to my soul.

"Hey," someone near me said.

I leaning forward, enthralled by her pure blue eyes. She smiled then, revealing a hidden dimple in her right cheek. Sexy.

"Man," someone said louder.

I ignored the voice. I could feel my mouth opening. Chin hitting floor...Now.

"HEY, ITACHI-SAN!" Tobi, a spiky-headed sophomore, screeched in my ear in an effort to aid Kisame. I allowed myself to flinch. Yes, I flinched. You would too, if you heard Tobi's grating voice. Annoying.

"Yes?" I said impassively to Kisame. Why bother talking to the idiot?

"You swallowed a fly," Kisame pointed out, turning away to hide his snickers. Hidan smirked, and Deidara openly laughed. Even Sasori had a hint of a smile on his usually impassive face. Tobi was blissfully unaware.

I scowled at them. Morons.

"Seriously, you can't get Ginkage Tsukiko. She's way out of your league," Hidan commented.

"She's hot, un," Deidara added, hearts in his eyes.

"Don't get worked up, Dei. She's dating Kaguya," Kisame said gravely.

"Kaguya?" I asked, wondering who they were talking about.

"Yeah, Kaguya Kimmimaru, A.K.A., the luckiest guy ever!" Tobi chirped, happy to know something about high school.

"Hmph." I glanced back at Tsukiko but she had already turned back around. Hmph.

OoOoOo

I turned around, an unexpected flush on my cheeks. What the...?

"Are you alright?" Kimmimaru asked, sliding his arm around my waist. I allowed myself to sink into the familiarity of him. Strong, male. Mine.

Smiling, I answered, "I'm fine, just a little flustered at how many students are here."

"Don't worry," he murmured, his warm breath tickling my ear. "I'll protect you," he promised. The cheerleaders finished their routine with a "Welcome back!", and the various Club Presidents came up to the podium to advertise their clubs.

"I'll hold you up to that," I said, pecking him on the cheek.

OoOoOo

Okay. That's it. If you came down this far, that means you read. Thank you.

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Happy faces.