Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto

Last chapter, you met everyone in the Upper classes, now its time for the underclassmen to shine.

First Semester

Chapter Three: Introductions, Middle Schoolers

I leaned against the front wall, in the shadow of the middle school building, glaring at all the 12-year-old freshmen. Their shoulders inched upwards and they sped away like frightened cockroaches. Perfect.

"Oi! Ame!" Glancing up, I smirked as Naruto, my best friend, tripped over his own two feet and landed on his backside.

I pushed off the wall, and quickly crossed the distance between them. "You alright? That must've hurt," I laughed, offering my hand.

Grinning as usual, Naruto took my hand and got back up to his feet. "You know it takes more than that to get me down!" He dusted off his blazer, which was wrapped around his hips and tied at the sleeves.

"Didn't look like it from over there!"

"Oh, shut u--!" Naruto suddenly stopped, his mouth half-open. O...kay...

I waved a hand in front of his face experimentally. When I got no answer, I moved to his side and yelled, "FREE RAMEN DOWN THE STREET!"

"What?" Instantly, Naruto was out of his trance and whipping his head like a crazy person. "Where?"

"Whoa, there!" I said, lifting my hands up in defense. "You can poke someone's eye out with those spikes!"

Naruto threw me a mock-dirty glare. "Not funny! You know how I feel about ramen."

"Yeah, obsessed!" I smiled at Naruto, a reassurance that I was only kidding. He was my oldest friend. Actually, he was my only friend. Before I was Nerdy Brain Girl and nobody wants to talk to a teacher's pet. Even Naruto only started talking to me when I went tough. But I know, deep down, that Naruto would be my friend, nerd or not. He was a poor kid; he had only been able to afford to come to this private school through scholarship. In our two different worlds, we were outcasts, and that has helped accelerate our friendship. I only met him last spring, but I love him like a brother.

Naruto grinned, the whisker-like markings on his face curving upwards. "That chick is a total babe."

I followed where his finger was pointing and looked real hard. "Who?" I asked after a preliminary scan of the group of two dozen giggling girls. They were mostly from that other school, Kagoshima, and I recognized none. "The one with the brown hair?"

"No! The one with the pink hair!" Naruto insisted, pointing more forcefully.

Closer inspection proved him...partially right. There was a pink haired girl...but she was not pretty. Her limbs were twigs and her chest was flat. Her abnormally large forehead reminded me of a billboard. Wide, blank, and BLAH!

I turned back to Naruto and looked at him like he had grown two heads. "She is definitely not a babe."

Naruto rolled his eyes and said, "You're a girl. How do you know if another girl is hot or not?"

"Look Naruto," I said, looking him straight in the eye, "That girl is fu--"

"Thais is so troublesome."

"Shikamaru! Glad you came, my man," Naruto said, clapping the other boy on the back. I was surprised, Nara Shikamaru was Lazy with a capital 'L.' He could easily skip ahead to High school level, but for some reason, he found everything too 'troublesome.' I didn't even expect him to come today at all, much less on time.

"Well, well, well. Don't we seem motivated today?" I said, giving him a little shove.

"Don't bother," Shikamaru said, unruffled as always. "My mother forced me to come today. 'To make a good impression' or whatever." He un-tucked his shirt and stuffed his hands in his pockets. Classic Shikamaru pose.

"Yeah, yeah. More important stuff here!" Naruto said impatiently. "Isn't that pink-haired girl hot?" He pointed her out again.

Shikamaru studied her for a long time. One minute. Two. Three. Zzz.

"Nope."

"Whaa?" Naruto collapsed in shock. "She's TOTALLY hot!"

"Nope," Shikamaru repeated.

"Not at all," I agreed.

"You're both completely blind!"

OoOoOo

Pep rallies. Stupid! Big sister sitting right in front of me. Bad. Watching my sister make kissy-faces with her boyfriend. "Gross! Yuck!" Damn it all to hell!

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History, bah! It's not even a REAL class!

"Hah! I won, Billboard-Brow."

"You wish, Ino-pig!"

I turned and immediately noticed that babe from earlier today. She's in my class! Lucky! My heart thudded against my ribcage as she walked up to me, staring right into my eyes.

"Excuse me," she began sweetly, her voice melting my heart. "Can I sit here?" She gestured to the seat next to me. She's gonna sit next to me. She's gonna ask to be my girlfriend.

"I'm trying to get around you to sit next to Sasuke!" she said suddenly, brandishing a clenched fist.

"Huh? Sasuke?" Who's that? I turned around, seeing for the first time the pasty faced, emo-kid. "What? That vampire?" Oh, no! Blood lust...

Turning around slowly and dreading what I was gonna see, I gulped as an army of women appeared out of nowhere, each radiating hatred. Ouch...

OoOoOo

I moaned as Iruka-sensei, my homeroom teacher, called roll, told us the rules, and blah, blah, blah. Blah. Those girls hit HARD.

I risked a sidelong glance to my left, where Sakura sat. So beautiful... Further to the left on Sakura's other side, was Sasuke who, for some reason, was a 'total heartthrob.' Girls have freakish tastes.

"...And I know that this is a Gifted/Talented class, so I expect the very best. No slacking off. You're not freshmen anymore-HEY YOU!" Iruka-sensei threw the piece of chalk in his hand toward a napping student. Surprise, surprise. It was Shikamaru.

"Humnah?"

"Detention, Mr..." Iruka-sensei trailed off as he checked his clipboard. "Nara. Today. After school."

The class erupted in laughter but Shikamaru shrugged it off like water off a duck's back. "Yeah, yeah." He took the pink slip and shoved it in his pocket. (He didn't bring his backpack.)

"Alright class!" Iruka-sensei growled. "Quiet so that I can tell you about your first project--" This immediately got everyone to quiet down. For two seconds.

"What? It's the first day of school!" I shouted.

"Layoff! This is bullshit!" another student agreed.

"You can't do that!"

"QUIET!" Iruka paused as room 204 plunged in silence for a second time. When he was sure it wouldn't be interrupted, he began again. "You have all semester to do it, but there's a catch. You work in groups!" Iruka-sensei paused again, waiting for a protest. Satisfied when none came, he continued. "Of three. And...I will assign them!"

Iruka lifted a hand to stop the complaints already spilling from the mouths of several students. "After I have reviewed your capabilities, I will put each of you in groups that will spotlight and enhance your skills. After I announce the groups, then I will explain to you about your project in full. Questions?"

Sakura raised her hand, and i began to hope against all hope that I would be put in a group with her.

"Yes...Sakura?" Iruka-sensei acknowledged.

"What do you mean by 'review our capabilities'?"

"Ahh, glad you asked. Basically, it means I will look through your grades, tests, and detention record to best assess who you will best work with."

Nooooooooo! My head hit the desk, but I didn't notice. I got detention CONSTANTLY and a girl like Sakura...she was perfect! No way would she be in detention EVER. With my luck I'll probably be stuck with that vampire, Sasuke, and DogBoy, Kiba!

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Okay, First Period with MiddleSchoolers. Like? Review. Don't Like? Go away.