Water sprayed from Tenten's mouth was splattered all over the coffee table and myself. I gingerly took the contract out of her hands and offered her a napkin. She wiped her mouth, shaking her head at me. "I can't believe you even had to think about taking that job. I know I would have! That's a shit-ton of money!"

"On-one of the students has-s a criminal re-cord." I mumbled picking at the bowl of pasta I had brought back from the dining hall. I thought it would be too overwhelming to eat in the dining hall, so we took our dinners back to our dorm. She was dying to hear how my talk with Principal Tsunade went and why I looked so shaken up. The spit-take was her reaction to me showing her how much I was being paid.

"So do tons of the students here." She stabbed a carrot with conviction and stuck it in her mouth. "Rich daddies mean that the students here can almost literally get away with murder. Almost literally!" My roommate added quickly, seeing my scared expression.

We sat in a comfortable for a few minutes before it started to feel awkward.

"Wh-what do you like t-to do in your sp-spare time?" I asked, feeling rather lame before the words had even left my mouth. She smiled, taking a few moments to chew before answering me.

"I'm here on a fencing scholarship. Monday will start my first year here. Apparently the team is close to winning every year so they've been scouting fencers from surrounding schools. The team practices and travels a lot so you'll have this place to yourself quite a bit." She put her fork down to take her hair down from their usual buns, shaking her head so her hair moves with it. Her hair came just down past her shoulder blades. There were kinks in her hair from where she had it up in the buns. "What about you?"

"I, um, read." The words sounded stupid. She smiled at me, spearing another piece of carrot. I looked back down at my pasta, my appetite lost from the embarrassment. The piece of carrot hit my cheek before falling into my bowl. I looked up to see Tenten smiling at me.

"Reading is nerdy but nerdy is cool now." It made sense when she said it like that. I smiled back at her, somewhat cautiously. "I think you and I are going to be best friends."

…line…line…line…line…

Monday morning came much more quickly than I would have liked. I barely slept Sunday night, my stomach tight with nerves. Tenten assured me that because we had the same schedule, she would be with me the entire day that way we "won't be alone, we'll know each other." She didn't seem nearly as nervous as I was, but she assured me that she was.

When my alarm went off, I felt like I had to peal my eyes open. I stumbled to the bathroom, still waking up, and bumped into Tenten on the way. Her hair was twisted up in a towel. "Good morning, roomie!" She sing-songed. I managed to grunt out something that sounded like "good morning." I keep the door open as I brush my teeth and wash my face. "I mean this in the nicest way possible," She said as she leaned against the door, "but you look terrible."

"I-I know." I said as I patted my face with a dry towel. "I did-didn't sleep well la-last night."

"Makeover!" She said happily, grabbing a few brushes and more makeup than I have ever seen in my life. "You need to look good for your first day!"

It took a few minutes, but when she let me take a good look at myself in the mirror, I was surprised. "I look better than I do when I sleep well." I said, mostly to myself. My roommate beams.

"I would never call myself a makeup expert but I can make a few miracles from time to time." She said, seeming proud of herself. "Now come on or we'll both be late for class!"

…line…line…line…line…

My classes, which I found the school runs on a block schedule of 4/8 classes per day resulting in longer class periods, gave me a pile of homework on the first day, which I found surprising but I was eager to get started on things. My heart sank a little bit when the reminder popped up on my phone saying that I was to meet Hidan in study room 4 of the library for our first session together. I bet that if I have a lot of homework, he does too. I thought, bracing myself as I walked towards the library. Hidan's records said that he had been in and out of juvenile detention a few times for various things. Violence was one of them. I gulped hard, wishing once again that I had rejected the offer.

The study room was empty, much to my relief. Maybe, if I'm lucky, he won't show up. Yeah! But then what…? Oh! What if he doesn't show up for the entire semester? I sighed. He can't be that bad if they're letting him go to school here.

"S'up, bitch?" The voice made me jump, my pencil case spilling its content over the table. The language alone was harsh, something I'm not used to hearing. Father didn't believe in harsh language, saying that only those of low intelligence swear to make up for their lack of knowledge.

I looked up see a broad-shouldered teenager with dyed white hair that fell below his chin and purple eyes. His picture in his file said he had brown hair and eyes. The facial features are all the same and the piercings in his left eyebrow and ear match the picture as well. I can't see it, but the subtle clicking noise from his mouth let me know he still had his tongue pierced. His black backpack with various stitched-on band names and rude images swung off his shoulder and onto the table with a thump that made a few of my pens roll off. His eyes bore down on me as he slung himself into the seat across the table from me.

"What, do you want to blow me or something?" He sneered, crossing his arms over his stomach. He tilted his chair onto the back two legs, his legs crossed at the ankle and feet resting on the table.

"I-I'm your ne-new tutor." I said, feebly reaching towards my scattered writing utensils.

"No shit, Sherlock." He snorted, grabbing a bottle of what I hoped was water but had the sinking feeling that it was anything but and squeezed it into his mouth. His cheeks bulged out before he swallowed. I grabbed the pens and pencils within reach, straightening the loose leaf paper I had as a cover for taking a few moments to gain my composure.

"Do yo-you have any homework so-o far?" I said to the table. His planner came skittering across the table and stopped where I could reach it. He had quite a few assignments coming up in the next few days. "Wh-where do you want to st-art?"

"Let's get one thing straight." The front legs of Hidan's chair came down to the floor loudly, making me jump again. "I'm only here because I need to get my grades up to stay quarterback. You," He pointed at me. "are going to make sure that happens." I nodded, relieved that he at least somewhat wanted to be here. He nodded back, putting both elbows on the table and resting his hands on top of each other. His chin rested on his knuckles. "Pre-calc first. I suck at math."

…line…line…line…line…

The hour went by fairly quickly, much to my enjoyment. Although Hidan had a bad attitude at first, he wasn't restful towards me but rather the situation. Pre-calculus was one of my stronger subjects and one of his weakest. His other weak subject was biology, which is mostly memorization and understanding. That's easy enough to test on which means it's easy enough to tutor in. It was almost a relief for my ears when he left; every other word out of his mouth was a curse.

I checked my phone after Hidan left, the first time since the school day began. There were quite a few messages on the lock screen, all of them from friends I hadn't told I was changing schools. My heart ached a little when I looked at the screen and I felt guilty, but I didn't have the courage to tell them. There were quite a few messages from Naruto. One at the beginning of the day, at lunch, after school had ended, and one from a few minutes ago; all of them were variations asking where I was. My head fell to my hands, my elbows propped on the table. A week ago, that much attention from Naruto would have made me blush and faint. Now, it just made me feel like a terrible person for not saying goodbye.

"I'm sorry I'm late I was-" The deep voice catches me by surprise. "Are you alright?" The incredibly tall student ducks through the doorway. He has to be more than 6'5, though his file didn't say. His hair was wet and pushed back out of his eyes. The smell of chlorine seems to follow him into the room like a miasma. His navy blue backpack gets set on the floor next to the table, and even sitting he was taller than I am. His eyes were a deep shade of blue and I could see tattoos on his neck. "Are you alright?" He repeated sounding honestly concerned.

"I'm okay." I squeaked, the color rising in my cheeks. "I'm sorry." His eyes crinkled at the corners.

"No worries. They say if you don't cry at least once during the school year, they won't let move to the next grade level." He chuckled as he got his planner out of his backpack. He reached over the table after he did, easily able to reach across due to his impressive arm length. "I'm Kisame, it's nice to meet you. Thank you for agreeing to do this." His hand completely encompassed mine.

"Y-you too," I said rather lamely, taking my hand back from his and putting it back in my lap. "Wh-ere do you want-t to st-start?"