Yay, new chapter! I'm glad my one reviewer liked chapter 2. Also, perhaps some clarification is needed in the way of the gang members.

As I said, this fic was inspired by the 9th Naruto opening; specifically by the pictures, not the song. If you haven't seen this opening, go Youtube it, and then listen to the full song, "Yura Yura," because it's awesome. But for quick reference, in the opening there were pictures of the Naruto guys standing around looking cool and gangsta. There was one of Neji, Naruto, Shino, Shikamaru, and Lee in Yakuza-style suits, and one of Gaara, Kankurou, Chouji, and Kiba in street clothes, all looking, as mentioned, cool and gangsta. So I based the gangs on those pictures, which is why Shikamaru and Chouji aren't on the same team, despite their being best friends.

So the gangs are:

Fox Gang - Naruto, Neji, Shikamaru, Shino, Lee

Tanuki Gang - Gaara, Kankurou, Kiba, Chouji

"Fox" because Naruto's the demon fox and "Tanuki" because that's what Gaara's demon is. A tanuki is a raccoon-dog and another trickster-type creature, like foxes, in Japanese mythology. And the Yakuza are the Japanese Mafia.

The girls aren't in the gangs, and neither is Sasuke, but they are around. This will all be explained. Actually, I think Sasuke makes his entrance this chapter... -checks- yep, there he is.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, but one day soon, it and all other manga whose authors have gone senile shall be in the public domain, owned by their fans! Yes, the revolution is coming! The fanfic writers shall rise! We will fill the world with yaoi and Mary Sues! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!

p.s. Might not be able to update for a while... :(

p.s.s. I'm updating this during class. I'm so badass :D

Round 3

-.-Shikamaru's POV-.-

"Shikamaru!" Naruto cries. "Man am I glad to see-whoa!!" he flails and nearly falls off the ridiculously narrow pipe on which he's balancing. I roll my eyes. How did he even get out there?

"Come on, Naruto," I sigh, climbing carefully over the railing-the part that's not mysteriously bent-and perching on the narrow ledge of concrete on the other side. "I think I can reach you from here if you come closer to this side."

He edges along the pipe, and soon he's where I can reach down, veeery carefully, and pull him up so he can grab the railing too. From there it's easy for us to climb back over.

"Thanks Shikamaru, but I coulda handled him," Naruto is all smiles, one hand poised confidently on the hip of his obnoxious orange tracksuit.

"Uh-huh," I state simply. "Naruto, don't you know better by now than to call Chouji 'fat'?" And I swear I just saw the lardbutt twitch, even passed out on the floor. "Anyway, let's get out of here before more of them turn up."

"Aww, but..." he stares unhappily down the walkway.

"But what?"

"I kinda need to get revenge on Kiba. He messed me up yesterday and I wanna get even."

"Kiba? Forget it. He'll be long gone by now," I inform him. "You know how fast he is. Anyway, you already beat up his dog, right? So you got him emotionally too. Let's just go home." I'm already heading for the stairs. Naruto will follow; he always does.

"Whoa, wait up!" I hear him coming down the stairs behind me. So predictable. "How did you know I beat up Akamaru?"

"How do you think I found you? I went to Shino."

"Oh." Enough said. Shino's information network stretched all across the city, from hacked government servers to his own hidden cameras. If you needed to know what was happening to whom where at what time, Shino was your man. And I'm glad he's on our side.

Of course, being on our side doesn't make him less creepy. When I went to see him today, I hadn't gone two steps into his room before he announced 'Naruto's heading east and up from the Cyberworld Arcade, chasing Kiba, who is fleeing to get Akamaru to safety, because Naruto beat him up in revenge for Kiba beating him up yesterday. He will probably be at Walkway 7-C by the time you can get over there.'

This was before I even asked him a question.

I am really, really glad he's on our side.

"...maru? Hellooo, Shikamaru!" I finally notice the blurring hand in front of my face and lean back to avoid the proximity. "What?"

"Geez, try spending time on Earth for once!" Naruto laughs. "I asked why you were looking for me in the first place. You need something?"

"Oh, that..." I think back to my conversation with Iruka. "Nah. I just figured, you being you, you'd be in some sort of trouble today, and friends have to help friends out, you know?"

"Well yeah, sure," he says, looking puzzled. Then he seems to shrug it off. He punches me in the shoulder and grins, "I can always count on you, huh Shikamaru?"

"That hurt, idiot," I grumble, rubbing my shoulder. But I smile back.

"Hey, wanna go by the ramen shop?"

"Do you realize how unhealthy that stuff is? Don't you ever eat anything else?"

"Hey, hey, ramen is the best food ever! It's the food of the gods!"

"...whatever. I was actually gonna do some homework."

"Eh?! You feelin' alright?"

"Ah, Iruka caught me at the library, so he knows I could be doing it. I don't have an excuse this time."

"Ha ha! Sucks for you! I'm gonna go get ramen! See ya Monday!"

"Try not to get into any more trouble today." Geez, I sound like Iruka.

-.-Naruto's POV-.-

I sigh as I stare up at the cheerless entrance to the jail. I mean, school. But I swear it's built from the same floor plan. And having spent time in both, I have authority to say that.

The school's on the bottom level, so the overuse of concrete in its construction doesn't put a strain on the city's supports, but man does it put a strain on the mind. It's depressing just to walk by. The entire thing is concrete. I hear they only got tile floors a couple years ago, after too many parents complained of their kids falling and scraping themselves to pieces. But the walls, where they're not covered with dingy little lockers that might hold some toothpicks but definitely not the encyclopedias we're expected to carry around, are still rough concrete, painted that nauseating shade of dull green that everyone hates except, apparently, the people who decorate schools and mental asylums. I see the connection.

Man, half the time the only thing that keeps me coming here is the fact that Iruka'd kill me if I skipped. Which isn't to say I don't sometimes cut out after his class anyway.

I'm even here early, which in my book is practically a crime. Again, Iruka's fault; he, of course, is Mister-Early-Bird, and since I rely on him to wake me up I usually wind up at school a good half-hour before opening time. Sometimes I nap in a classroom; sometimes I hang around on the steps until my friends show. Today it's the second one, while keeping an eye out for Kiba or Chouji. This weekend just sucked, and I know that sooner or later one of those creeps is going to come rub my face in it. Maybe Kankurou too; I'm sure he'll have found out by lunchtime. The key is not to avoid them, though; it makes you look even more insecure. Just stand up tall, glare 'em down, and kick their asses next time. Besides, Shika got a good one over on Chouji, so I figure I can take gang pride from that.

Suddenly I see a sight to brighten even the darkest day. Sakura!

She glides up the steps like a vision of beauty, chatting prettily with Ino. Her pink hair sways in the wind. She's the prettiest girl at our school - no, the prettiest girl I've ever seen!

"Sakuraaa! Hey, Sakura!" I wave to get her attention.

She almost seemed to flinch. She gave a quick wave back, then grabbed Ino and almost ran into school. Weird. Was it something I said? After thinking about it, I can only decide that she must have remembered something important that she had to talk to a teacher about right away. It's the only logical explanation.

I sigh, watching as more and more kids show up. Guess I may as well go in. Maybe I'll see Sakura before class!

-.-Lee's POV-.-

"Naruto! How goes it?" The school day is off to a good start with a youthful encounter between friends!

"Hi Lee," my blond friend replies.

Something seems off about him, so I must ask the question. "What is wrong, Naruto? You do not seem especially youthful today."

"Eh, I had kinda a rough weekend, but it's all good!" he smiles. Naruto's positive attitude in all circumstances is very admirable, and I tell him so.

"I just don't let stuff get to me. It's not worth it, y'know?"

We are walking down the hall together, talking about everyday youthful things, when I notice some girls in front of us staring down the hall with eyes sparkling with the romance of youth! I glance back and see some students I have not seen before. "Naruto, do you know those people?"

He turns around too and we stand by the lockers, watching the people approach. There are six of them, moving in a group. The one at the front is a rather pale boy with slick black hair. Naruto does not know who they are either.

"I do not like the looks of that boy in the front," I whisper. "His eyes are very cold."

"He looks like a stuck-up jerk." I wince slightly; Naruto is not bothering to keep his voice down. "What's up with his hair? It looks like he painted a chicken black and stuck it on his head!" Naruto laughs. Some of the girls around us frown at him, but the boy appears not to hear.

As he passes by, however, he looks at Naruto. Looks straight into his eyes with that dead, coal-black stare. Naruto stiffens, staring back; the smile is gone from his face. The boy lets his eyes slid away as he passes, but Naruto continues to stare. I cannot help but feel a very ominous premonition , as if something somehow awful has just begun.

The group moves on, none of the others bothering to look around. "They look like they are in a gang too, don't they. I wonder if this will be a problem." I watch as one of them, a boy with black hair sticking straight up, shoves another student out of his way, smirking.

Naruto does not answer. I look at him to see that he is still staring after the group as they walk away. "Naruto?" He does not appear to hear me. I wonder if he is staring at that boy. "I'm going to go to class now...see you later," I say, but he continues to ignore me. The boy has disappeared around a corner, but Naruto is still staring in that direction.

I walk away, but I cannot help but worry about the look on his face. It is a lot like the way he looked at Gaara before their first big fight. I am not afraid to admit I still get chills when I think about that time. Now this new boy seems to pose a similar threat.

Suddenly the day does not look so youthful.

-.-Kankurou's POV-.-

From the moment I see the new kid, I know we're gonna have a problem here. He's got this swagger, this look about him that says that he's all that and everyone else is just background noise. It's not quite the same dangerous feel that Gaara has, but I can tell he's going to be irritating as hell. He's got attitude etched in every perfectly gelled hair on his head.

I glare at him but he ignores me. That pisses me off more.

"That kid better watch himself," I mutter. "He'll find out who's really tops around this school."

"His eyes are full of hatred...and sadness."

I look down at my little brother, surprised. Gaara rarely offers an opinion on anything, and that was one weird comment. Right now he's staring after the new boy, seemingly with no eyes for anything else. "Just...what did you mean by that?"

He doesn't answer. I look closer at his eyes and think, oh shit. To anyone else, this probably just looks like his usual dead-raccoon stare, but I recognize that look. That's the look he had before he and the Uzumaki kid went and nearly killed each other.

Damn. This new kid might be more trouble than I thought. Just who is this guy?

-.-Shikamaru's POV-.-

"Sasuke Uchiha?"

"Here."

Man, sometimes I wonder about the school system. Three new transfer students this far into the school year? School's been in session for two months already. I mean I guess it's not that bad, but it makes one wonder why they switched schools.

On top of that, they look like trouble. Maybe they got expelled from their last school.

One of them's a really pale guy with black hair and bangs that hang over his face. He's got a dark blue T-shirt, kaki shorts, and about every girl in the class staring at him with hearts in their eyes. Man, I just don't get what girls see in guys like that.

The other guy's got white hair, and when he grinned I think I saw fangs. Weird and definitely someone to watch out for.

The third's a girl. I thought Sakura Haruno's light pink hair was bad enough, but this girl's got dark pink, almost obnoxiously colored hair. She's also got some of the nerdiest glasses I've ever seen. Coupled with a really tight shirt and shorts that look to be in definite violation of the dress code, I don't really know what to make of her. But as a general rule, girls equal trouble.

The three of them sit together. Could be because they're all new, or could be they know each other already. I wouldn't usually take as much notice as I am, but these guys are just giving off a bad vibe. Or maybe that's the feeling from Chouji glaring at me from across the room.

I lean back casually. I've been ignoring him so far and that's how it's going to stay. He seriously needs to get over yesterday already. He can't even be 100 percent sure it was me who knocked him out.

Of course, I did 'accidentally' drop the switchblade I swiped from him yesterday as he was walking by outside of school. I held it up just to make sure it didn't get scratched, so I guess he might've seen it and put two and two together. My bad.

Time for class to start. Or, as I like to call it, naptime.

Haha! Gotcha there! NOT a cliffhanger!

So, can anyone guess who's in Sasuke's 'gang'?