Chapter 4

AN: Hope you like the chapter. New characters will be appearing in this chapter. Guess who they can be before they show up. :)

Naruto walked out in to the courtyard and left Sasuke's group in the gym. While Naruto was walking lazily to his first class, Sasuke and the ret if his friends were silent and were contemplating about what kind of person was Uzumaki.

He hasn't changed a bit. Although he is taller. Hmm.. Maybe he grew more mature and stronger while out of school. I'm sure he's stronger, but mature ... Well, I guess I'll find out later in lunch. Ino thought to herself.

Sakura was still fuming about what Naruto had said to her dear Sasuke. She near enough to hear that idiot call her precious Sasuke-kun a teme. How dare he?! Calling Sasuke a bastard and not even apologizing to him. Sasuke is a prince and everyone should show him the utmost respect. Chaaa! Just wait until I get my hands on him. I'm ging to strangle him and make sure he bows down to Sasuke on his knees for disrepescting him. Inner Sakura started.

Both of the Hyugas were having similar thoughts about the blond. Both were wondering who he was and what kind of person he was. Although, they had different reasons to do so.

Uumaki Naruto. Hmmm.. I think I've heard that name before, but where? I have to do research on this and et to the bottom of it. I don't like things that are unknown. Neji thought to himself.

He seems kind. His smile is so bright and he has so much confidence in himself! I wish I could be like that. Not caring what other people thought and being myself. I wish I could be just like him. He's also very handsome. I wonder if. he has a girlfriend already? At this Hinata started to blush because as to where her thoughts were leading her. With this Hinata's idolization of Naruto began with neither party knowing it.

Tenten was having different thought from Hinata's I want to fight him. He is undeniably strong. Anyone can see that. The question is how strong he is? Maybe if I fight him I'll know his true strength. I hope he isn't like those wimpy guys who say they can't fight a girl. At this Tenten growled. She hated when someone said that. She always beat them to a pulp when they said this. She hated guys like that.

Shino's thought were simple, but he too was curious about the young Uzumaki. Uzumaki Naruto is interesting. I wonder how his arrival will affect the school? Some students seem to know who he is. Maybe I'll ask some of the seniors to tell me if they know anything.

Sasuke, meanwhile was trying his hardest to not think of anything related to the blond enigma.

Everyone was started out of their thought when the bell rang for classes to start. Ino groaned.

" Just great. Now, we're late to class on our first day," Ino complained.

With that everyone started heading out towards their class. Everyone's schedules conceded with each other. They all had first period together because they didn't want to be surrounded by other students early in morning. Especially because some of them weren't exactly morning people.

The only classes they all had as a group was first period, gym and lunch. Sakura had tried to have her schedule the exact same as Sasuke, but Sasuke had learned over the years that having a class filled with fan girls was completely unbearable and was able to make him completely insane. It didn't help that they would stare at him as if they were going to attack him at any second. It wasn't until the last moment that he turned in his schedule to the school office.

Normally students won't receive the classes they wanted if their form was received at the last minute. They would be stuck with the only classes that were available. But of course, Sasuke wasn't considered in the normal portion of the student body. And so, the office was lenient on him and Sasuke was able to attend any of the classes he wanted.

In the end, Sakura was unable to attend any other classes with Sasuke except for the ones that the group shared together. When Sakura learned this the day before school started, she spent the whole day wallowing in self-pity because she was unable to be with her precious Sasuke-kun. Her depression ended once she figured out one important fact about this. If she wasn't able to get more time with Sasuke, them that meant that Ino didn't either. Take that Ino-pig! Cha!

The platinum blond wasn't worried about this at all, unlike her rival Sakura. She was more worried about other matters that didn't involve the young Uchiha. Or it did considering what kind of way you look at it. No. Ino was more worried about another cheerful blond who had recently reentered the school.

While they were walking towards class, which was Literature with Hatake Kakashi, Ino was wondering about this certain blond. He finally came back. I haven't seen him for half a year. I wonder why he was out of town for. With who did he go with? Considering what kind of people he hangs out with normally, it would be a surprise if he didn't get in trouble at some point in his trip. It must have started during summer break because they told me Naruto mostly stayed in the city when he was suspended during the school year.

It only took the group a couple of minutes to arrive at their first period classroom. The teacher hadn't arrived yet and the students were socializing with one another about how their summer break went. This wasn't unusual for the students. They had become used to the tardiness of Kakashi-sensei during their first year there.

They got used to a lot of things that went on in the school.

Sasuke's group sat down in the back of the classroom and waited for the teacher to show up. If he did indeed show up this time. It was the first day of school and a Monday, so the probability that he'll show up for class was close to zero.

Sasuke surveyed the class and noticed that Uzumaki was not present. He must not have Kakashi for first period. At this, Sasuke felt a strange feeling in his stomach. It was a feeling that he usually experienced when his brother would ignore for his work at the company and left him alone. Was he disappointed? Did he actually care that Naruto wasn't in the same class as him. Why did he care any as to where the blond was. The blond ,which Sasuke was having a short dilemma over, was on the roof of the school with two of his favorite friends.

Meanwhile with Naruto a few minutes ago...

Naruto had walked out lazily to the courtyard from the gym leaving Sasuke group. He had both his arms behind his head and a wide grin covering his face. Naruto's first period class was with Hatake Kakashi. He snorted when he read this. Kakashi.. He knew the teacher well since he was his sophomore teacher for half of the school year.

He decided not to attend Kakashi's class since he would probably arrive five minutes before the period ended or not show up at all. Naruto was content to walk around the school grounds. He heard the bell signifying the beginning of classes, but Naruto kept grinning ignoring the bell. If Kakashi didn't go to the classroom, he wouldn't know that Naruto had ditch the class and so Tsunade wouldn't know either and he didn't have detention.

Naruto was walking towards a cluster of trees near the school entrance to enjoy the shade they provided from the sun. Nearing the shadows of the trees, he saw two figures underneath them. One was laying on his back with closed eyes looking as if he was asleep while the other figure was leaning on the trunk of the tree and Naruto could see a bag of chips in hand.

The smile on Naruto's face grew. He knew exactly who they were. He started running toward the pair and stopped only once he was few feet away from them. The one who was eating chips stopped and nudged the person laying on the grass. The person just rolled on their side. When his friend didn't stop bothering him, the figure finally opened their eyes and stood up.

By now, Naruto could see the figures clearly as well as they could see him. The pair who was at the tree was Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Choji. Both of them were friends with Naruto since he had entered the high school as a freshman. They had instantly became friends plus one more, but that person was busy for now.

Shikamaru and Choji disregarded the school uniform code. Shikamaru wore black jeans with silver changes hanging from the pockets. He wore a black t-shirt with a dark green jacket. The Nara symbol was stitched onto the jacket at the front. His hairstyle was a high ponytail which resembled a pineapple in Naruto's opinion. Shikamaru had pierced his ears over the summer and had two silver studs in them. Naruto briefly wondered how his overbearing mom had reacted to this. It couldn't have been good for his friend. Shikamaru had a bored look on his face and was slouching while Naruto approached them.

Choji was a heavy built peron. Some might have called him fat or overweight, but they would later regret it. While usually, Choji was a polite and well-mannered person, once someone calls him fat that person better be ready for a beating. Or at least a punch to the face to send you flying.

Naruto made that mistake once and his cheek throbbed even thinking about it. That punch had knocked him out and hurt like hell afterwards.

Choji was wearing dark blue sweat pants with a pair of navy blue sneakers. He wore a large white t-shirt with picture of bacon and a pig looking out in horror. On his form was a blue jacket and in his hand he was holding a bag of potato chips and nuhcing on them happily. Choji's eyes were closed, but he opened them once he saw Naruto. Choji had a pink swirl on each of his pudgy cheeks and his brown hair was sticking all over the place untamed.

Both of Naruto's friends were heirs and next in line to be in charge of their families' companies. The Nara family was a family of geniuses. The highest I.Q of a person was set by a Nara and there were many family members all over the world and fields which were considered the best. The Naras were specialists and excelled in whatever field they were. Once Shikamaru was of age or graduated from high school he would be in charge of the family members and companies that they had in different fields that had to be organized. Shikamaru could graduate from high and maybe even a few years of college by now, but there was a problem.

Shikamaru was plain-old lazy. This was why he was prolonging from graduating high school. He didn't want to be the President of the company yet, doing all the paperwork, going from meeting to meeting, and listening to people talking about the budget or numbers about the company. To Shikamaru it was a hassle and in his own words " troublesome".

Another reason was his friends. He didn't want to leave his friends behind and go to college with people who were a couple years older than him and probably didn't have any fun anyways. He preferred to stay with Choji and Naruto, even if he was annoying sometimes.

Choji was the heir to a long chain of restaurants and foods. His family owned a long ranged of buildings in the food market. From the grocery store where you guy buy eggs and milk to supporting a small stand which they think has potential to grow into something bigger.

Choji didn't mind that he was going to be working at the company and being in charge. He didn't really have an idea as to what he wanted to do in life yet. If he wanted to do something other than being in the company then his parents will wholeheartedly support him in whatever decision he wanted and pass the company to a well liked cousin, since it didn't seem likely that they will have another child in the near future.

Naruto was glad to see him. Shikamaru and Choji were his only friends that were still in the school and currently attending. Naruto hadn't seen them over the summer because of his trip, but kept in touch with beforehand warning them of his vacation. Although Naruto couldn't say that what he did was considered a vacation.

Shikamaru looked glanced at Naruto with an uninterested stare and his eyes drifted to the white clouds in the sky not even looking at him. Choji didn't stop his eating his chips, but managed to say a hello. Naruto sweat dropped at this. He at least thought they have a more ... excited reaction to seeing them since they hadn't seen each other in a long time.

He had to admit though that it was Shikamaru he had expected to be excited. Naruto snorted at this thought. Although the Nara family was filled with geniuses, they were lazy as a sack of potatoes until they found something that they truly wanted to work in.

Since the Nara wasn't looking at him at the moment, Naruto decided to turn his attention onto him. The other two might not have shown that they were glad for his arrival, but Naruto had missed them. He missed all his friends he hadn't seen in a while and wanted to be reacquainted with them as soon as possible.

Naruto's face turned to Shikamaru, but this time with a fox like smile on his face instead of the grin he wore before. Naruto walked calmly up to the Nara and stopped only a few feet away from him. He stayed standing for a few minutes before Shikamaru turned around to face. In that instant, Naruto tackled him to the ground with his friend underneath him.

Shikamaru didn't even try to protest against Naruto's actions because that would only encourage the blond more. He sighed and muttered under his breath " troublesome". Choji, meanwhile, was chewing on his second bag of chips. His attention at Naruto's one- person wrestling match.

This would happen frequently when they were together as a group. Naruto would try to receive a reaction from the Nara, but Shikamaru would be unaffected and watch the clouds overhead while on the ground. At some point, wither Naruto would become tired and get off his friend or Choji would mention the time and try to draw Naruto away from his best friend.

" Aren't you suppose to be in class with Kakashi, Naruto?" Choji asked him.

At this Naruto rolled off of Shikamaru and landed right next to him. Naruto looked up to Choji, who had neared them once Naruto was finished with his " opponent", and smiled at him.

" Long time no see huh?" questioned Naruto with his eyes closed and a wide smile on his face.

Shikamaru snorted at this. His eyes glued at the clouds passing by. " Yeah, long time. We haven't seen you all summer since you went on your trip which is supposedly greater of importance than you friends. You haven't been in contact with us for several months and it wasn't until last night that we received news from you," he stated this time staring at Naruto who had his eyes opened and was staring back at the Nara.

Naruto winced at his statement. " Sorry. They prohibited me from using any electronics while I was there without their permission. I tried writing letters to you guys, but they wouldn't accept that either, " Naruto answered.

No one talked for a few minutes until Shikamaru asked Choji " What do you think Choji? Should we forgive him for ignoring us this whole time?"

" Hey, I didn't ignore you guys!" exclaimed Naruto.

" Hmm... I think we should. We all know how they're like. I wouldn't be surprised if they tortured him, so he followed their rules. Besides, he did tell us that he was arriving and was being admitted back into school," Choji reasoned.

" You are forgiven Naruto," responded the Nara in a bored toned.

Naruto sighed in relief. He did feel bad about not talking to his friends and telling them what was happening with him. They might not have shown it, but Naruto was sure they were worried about him during the months when he was unable to contact them. Every single one of his friends knew Naruto landed in trouble with even the most simplest of things. Naruto got in trouble every single day, they couldn't imagine in what kind of trouble he would get into in a month.

" Classes already started, Naruto," Shikamaru told him. Naruto shrugged who once again had his eyes closed and laying on the ground in the shade.

" Don't you have Kakashi for first period?" questioned Choji.

Naruto cracked opened his right eye and looked at Choji. " How do you know I have Kakashi first?"

" Shika checked your file when you told us you were coming back to the school to check your schedule and ours," Choji answered breezily. Naruto turned to the person laying next to him and muttered " more like hacked into it."

" We wanted to know what classes we had in common and of course what class to dump you in when you're being troublesome. Of course, we could just send you to Ibiki- sensei if your being too difficult," Shikamaru explained.

Last year, Naruto would skip class every other day and stay on the school roof. This earned him multiple of detentions with Jiraiya and Ibiki. Naruto's friends had to make sure that Naruto attended class and stayed there after Tsunade warned Naruto that he would be held back if he didn't attend any of his classes.

Once they were done talking to each other, the group stayed in silence. Naruto laying on the ground with his eyes closed relaxed in the shade of the tree and warmth the sun brought through the trees. Shikamaru was in the same position he was before Naruto approached them . He was laying on his back and watching the floating white clouds. Choji continued eating his unending supplies of chips.

They stayed in an accampaniable silence, until Shikamaru broke it.

" Should go to class, Naruto."

" Why? It's just Kakashi-sensei. He probably won't even go to class today that way I won't be able to get detention if he doesn't notice I'm not there." asked Naruto. He was just so relaxed there with his friends. He didn't want to go back into the stuffy hallway being surrounded by a crowd of students. He was content to just lay there in the shade.

" Well, then I guess you better hurry up if you don't want detention with Ibiki-sensei then," drawled on Shikamaru.

" huh?" answered Naruto tiredly. He had sat up and was wiping his eyes.

" I just saw someone with silver hair coming out of the principal's office and going to the hallways," before Shikamaru was even finished, Naruto had already stood up and was running full speed toward the school building where his first class was.

" He's so troublesome,"

" Yup," came the agreement.

AN: Sorry for the wait. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Characters will slowly be appearing throughout the beginning chapters. Not sure of the side pairings, so feel free to comment on that and please review :)