Konoha High
11 - The New Kids
Amaya Shimizu
Sasuke sighs. "Can we leave yet?" Way to ruin the mood. I punch him in the arm (not hard, I promise) when Sakura isn't looking.
"Sasuke, don't be rude," Itachi holds up a second glass of hot cocoa for him, and Sasuke surrenders and actually smiles as he accepts it. Even Sasuke, huh? But I guess his brother is the only one who can make him smile like that.
Despite how cold it actually is out here, everybody looks so happy celebrating that they give off a warm atmosphere.
[…]
"Thanks for coming, guys." I check my phone: 12:30 a.m. Most of the group's already tired, but I'm still wide awake.
Everybody's walking away now, and I stand by the car with Aiko, waiting for her to finish talking to Sasuke's older brother (whose name, apparently, is Itachi). I just wanna go home and have an Anime Night with my sister.
"Anime Night" is exactly what it sounds like: a night devoted to watching anime, usually with Ramune and onigiri, which is why I was disappointed when Aiko didn't come home with either of those things a few nights ago. I hope the convenience store is still open because we need to stop by there before going home. Anime Night is not Anime Night without Ramune and onigiri!
Even though I'm really not tired, it starts to feel like it while waiting for her to finish her conversation. I take out my phone and play some random game in an attempt to tune them out. But there are a few things I can't help but overhear:
"I wouldn't mind that, actually." Wouldn't mind what?
"So you're coming?" Where?!
"Yeah, sure." I look up and see Itachi smiling, but Sasuke just looks irritated.
"Okay, Amaya, let's go." I immediately get into the passenger seat of the car, but Aiko holds the door open.
"What are you doing?" I ask.
"Get in the back."
"Why?" I whine.
"Because they're joining us at our house for a little while. Talk, maybe eat a little bit more."
I glare at her, but sigh and crawl into the back instead of getting out of the car to do it.
"Sorry, Amaya-san," Itachi apologizes as he gets into the car.
"It's fine." And I meant it…, until somebody slips into the back seat next to me.
I'll try to tolerate Sasuke's presence on the right side of the car… I put my elbow onto the armrest in the center, but my elbow hits something else. I roll my eyes. Really, Sasuke? Gonna take my spot on the armrest?
"So what kind of Ramune do you wanna get?" Aiko asks.
"It doesn't really matter, I'm alright with any kind." Itachi answers.
The car slows down. We're here.
When the car stops, we all get out. Aiko and I start to walk in ahead, while Sasuke and Itachi stick back for a second. It's probably Itachi lecturing him about something like being nice or whatever.
"But Nii-san!" I hear Sasuke complain. He sounds like a little kid, but I find it adorable that even he addresses his older brother that way. He didn't seem like he would.
They start to walk into the store now, but Sasuke looks more irritated. All of us go back into the drink section, where Aiko picks up a pack of strawberry Ramune- one of my favorites. Then, we go to buy a small bag of rice. I offer to carry it, but Itachi's the one that ends up taking it from her hands instead.
We give our items to the cashier and wait for him to finish punching numbers into the register. I think I'm imagining it, but Aiko's face looks like it's turning a light shade of red; almost pink.
When she gives her money to the cashier, he puts the items into a plastic bag and hands them to her. Itachi takes it as we exit the store and carries it to the car, then puts it in the trunk.
Aiko gets into the driver's seat, but she's the only one who enters the car. Sasuke's talking to Itachi again, and I'm outside just to…observe.
"Sasuke, it won't be that long, just come with us."
"Nii-san…" His eyes meet mine for less than a second and then he looks back at Itachi. "I'm going home."
"Well okay…"
Itachi and I get into the car. Aiko looks confused.
"Where's he going?"
"He wanted to go home." Itachi tells her.
"Oh, sorry. Maybe it isn't a good idea at this time."
"No, no. It's alright, he's just like moody like that sometimes."
I'm mad that he just left like that, but I'm also relieved. It would've been really awkward for him to be at my house…
[…]
"So this is our house~" Aiko says proudly as we enter.
"Very nice," Itachi comments as he looks around. She grins at the compliment.
I take the bag from Itachi and set it on the table, then take out the Ramune and stick them all in the fridge. Aiko starts opening the bag of rice.
"So what are we doing?" Itachi asks.
"Well, like I mentioned earlier, we needed Ramune and rice for onigiri."
"And?"
"So we're gonna drink Ramune and eat onigiri," I tell him.
"Do you ever watch anime?" Why is she asking him that?
"Sometimes. I used to watch a lot more when I was in primary school."
"Well onigiri and Ramune usually means we're gonna do 'Anime Night'. Hopefully you won't mind joining us," she smiles and starts cooking the rice.
"Sounds fun," Itachi smiles, too. I, on the other hand, do not. Why did Aiko tell him about Anime Night? That's our thing. It's only supposed to be between me and Aiko. I sigh and turn on the TV. I guess it's okay. Itachi seems like a nice guy…
Aiko Shimizu
Itachi and Amaya take a seat on the couch in front of the TV. I set the Ramune and plates of onigiri onto the table in front of the couch, then take a seat between them. Amaya sits on my left, and Itachi on my right.
Amaya opens the menu for recorded shows, and there's a list of anime episodes we haven't seen yet. She turns to me.
"Which one do you wanna watch, Nee-san?"
I look at Itachi. "Any requests?"
"I don't mind watching whatever you two want," he smiles and leans against the armrest.
"Let's finish SAO, Amaya."
She scrolls down and pushes the select button. A few minutes into the show, Itachi laughs a little.
"I was actually watching this with Sasuke a few days ago when it came on." I see Amaya scrunch up her lips a little at the mention of Sasuke.
"It's good, isn't it?" I say as the theme song starts. The words "Sword Art Online" appear on the screen.
"Yeah."
Amaya Shimizu
I find myself tearing up towards the ending of the anime, but I can't cry. Not with Itachi here. I glance at him and Aiko. Unlike what I'd expected, he doesn't look bored. He's actually watching along, paying attention. Aiko, however, is sleeping. I didn't even notice she fell asleep until now.
[…]
It's 2:03 in the morning. The closing song comes on to signify the end of the episode. I look at them again:
Aiko's body starts to lean right, and her head now rests upon Itachi's shoulder. He doesn't do anything about it, though. He just lets her stay like that.
It takes a while for me to realize how quiet it is now that the song is over. The TV screen is back at the recorded shows menu, asking me if I want to delete the episode or not. I keep it so that Aiko can see the ending.
Itachi yawns. "Ah…, well I guess I should get home."
"O-Oh, yeah. Okay. I should wake her up to tell her."
"No it's fine. Actually…" he stands up and puts one arm under her legs and the other under her back. What is he doing?!
"Do you mind showing me where her room is?"
"O-Okay." Itachi lifts her. What am I supposed to do? I didn't know Itachi was like that!
I walk towards the hallway and open the first door to the right. He's following behind, still carrying her. I turn on the light as he walks through the door and keep an eye on him. He doesn't ask me to leave, though. All he does is set her down on the bed and pull the blankets up to cover her. I sigh with relief. Sorry, Itachi, I secretly apologize. Sorry I thought you were like that.
I turn off the lights and close the door as we leave the room. Itachi walks to the door and puts his jacket on, then he sits down to put on his shoes. When he stands up, he starts to open the door, but before he walks out, he turns to me:
"Thanks for letting me join you guys." He bows politely.
"You're welcome, anytime." And I mean it. I wouldn't mind getting to know Itachi more, seeing how nice he is and how well he gets along with my sister.
He smiles and bows politely. "Thanks again," he says as he closes the door behind him.
It's quiet again. I look at the clock in the kitchen: 2:15 a.m. I need to go to bed.
Sasuke Uchiha
I pull the headphones out of my phone and glance at the screen: 2:30 a.m. and still nothing from Itachi. Does he plan on sleeping over there or something?
The last text I got was from Amaya, asking me if I could go to the shrine. I still have no idea how she got my phone number because I don't really give it out to people at my school. The last person I gave my number to was Shikamaru, and that was because he got assigned as my partner for a school project. That was months ago…
I need to be careful about who I trust with my number. Last month, my phone wouldn't stop going off because someone leaked my number out to some girl, who apparently ended up telling all of the other girls, and then… Yeah. I got a new phone-and number- the next week.
A lot of people think I'm lucky to get so much attention, but really, I'm not. I try not to talk much or do anything that would attract attention, so why does it happen anyway?
I've heard a lot of things like "It's because he's an Uchiha"; "He's really smart", etc. But I know that really, it's because of my physical appearance. It attracts girls, which makes the guys dislike me, I guess. It's not like I want to do that… But I guess that's what sets Amaya apart. As hypocritical as it might sound, it throws me off that she treats me opposite of the way most girls do.
"Tadaima!" I hear Itachi shut the door. His footsteps are getting closer to my room…
"Sasuke?" The door opens a little and he pokes his head inside.
"Yeah, yeah. Okairi, Nii-san."
"You should've just came with me," he says. "You know what we were watching there?" I don't say anything, so he goes on.
"Sword Art Online. That's what we were watching that one time, right?"
"Yeah, so?"
He sighs, but smiles anyway. "I'm going to sleep now. You should sleep soon, too, okay? Good night."
"'Night," I say as he leaves.
I pull the blanket over my legs and reach for the switch on the wall. I turn off the lights and lay back in bed.
I feel bad for acting like that earlier at the shrine. I guess it's just because her friends were there, and they'd jump to conclusions if I started acting… "friendly" towards her. I'm not like that with a lot of people, but for some reason, I'm drawn to the way that she pushes me away instead of trying to get closer.
She seems like the kind of person I could talk to and have an actual conversation with; the kind of person I could ask something and have it answered honestly. The thing with her is, it doesn't seem like it's just disinterest, it's like she actually dislikes me- maybe even hates me.
I guess I can try to sleep tonight…
Amaya Shimizu
"Amaya!" Aiko shouts from her bedroom. It's seven in the morning, and I just went to sleep four hours ago. What does she want?
I open the door to her room, where she's still lying on her bed in the same clothes she went out with yesterday.
"What?" I groan.
"What time did Itachi leave? And why didn't you wake me up?" She asks me.
"He left at like 2. He said I shouldn't wake you up, then he carried you back here before leaving."
She starts blushing. "H-He did?" She checks her phone and starts to smile. I'm guessing Itachi texted her when he got home.
"Yeah… Well I'm going back to sleep." Aiko doesn't even respond, but I don't really care. I walk slowly back to my room like a zombie and collapse onto my bed.
[…]
The remaining days of Winter Break go by in a blur. More Anime Nights with Aiko, meeting up at the park or the mall with the group…, now, we finally go back to school.
I can't tell if this is a good thing or a bad thing. I mean, I get to see my friends, yeah, but then school itself is just stressful. Most of the things they teach are easy, but Aiko usually pushes me to study more than I need to. When the tests come around, I always find out that I did more work than I needed to.
My phone goes off because of the alarm I set last night for 6 a.m., but I woke up ten minutes early. Now that it actually is six, I go out to the kitchen and start making eggs for breakfast. I hear Aiko's door open. She yawns as she shuffles into the kitchen.
"Ohayou…" She mumbles.
"'Morning to you, too," I say.
She takes a cup from a cupboard and starts to fill it with water.
"So," she takes a sip. "Why are you up so early?"
I turn off the stove and take a plate out of the dishwasher (which we use for storage instead of actually washing dishes) and let the eggs slide onto it from the frying pan.
"I guess I couldn't really sleep."
"Mm…, well we need to be ready before 8:30."
"Okay," I grab a fork on my way to the table. When I sit down, Aiko leans down and steals an egg off of my plate. She sits down across the table from me and puts her own plate down.
"What'd you do that for?"
"Oh? I thought you were cooking for both of us," she smirks.
[…]
I dig through my closet for something to wear underneath the school's blazer. I grab a plain, long-sleeved shirt (like the one I wore the first day of our break when I forgot that we didn't have school) and put it on. Then I put on the blazer, the black stockings, and the gray skirt.
I walk to my dresser and open the little wooden box that sits on top of it. Inside is the small collection of jewelry I own. The first thing I take out is a necklace with a white, teardrop-like charm strung to it; one half of the Yin & Yang symbol. This brings me back… My best friend gave it to me a few months before I left Kiriga.
I put it on and go to the bathroom. I comb my hair there, then I grab my bag and head for the front door. I sit on the wooden part of the floor and put on the black shoes to complete my uniform.
"Amaya? You ready?" Aiko comes out of her room and stops to put on her shoes, too. When she stands, I step outside and wait for her to lock the door.
We're start walking to school now, where I'll begin my second day at Konoha High.
[…]
"Hey, Amaya!" Sakura shouts from the school's main entrance. She's wearing a light pink shirt under her blazer and has a typical Japanese schoolbag slung over her shoulder. I walk around a crowd of students and sit by her on the steps in front of the door.
"Do I even wanna ask about what's happening?" I nod my head to gesture toward the crowd.
"Well…," Sakura starts. "Naruto got into a fight again."
"He did say he was gonna beat Sasuke up when he got back…"
She sighs. "I figured as much. Why can't he just leave Sasuke alone?"
I spot Hinata and Kiba among all of the screaming people, both struggling to see the fight. She looks worried, but he just looks bored. Kiba sees us and starts dragging Hinata out of the crowd, towards us.
"O-Ohayou," Hinata clutches onto her schoolbag tightly. It's similar to Sakura's. She's wearing a white shirt, like mine, underneath her blazer, along with a nervous smile.
"Ohayou," Kiba greets casually. "Don't mind Hinata. She's just worried about Naruto over there, attempting to fight Sasuke for the millionth time."
"B-But Kiba-kun! They could get hurt or-"
"So you don't have any confidence in Naruto?" Sakura asks.
"I-I didn't say that!"
"But didn't Naruto lose his last fight when I first got here?" I add. Hinata opens her mouth to say something, but no words come out. Her eyes dart anxiously between Sakura and me, then to Kiba.
"Guys,"Kiba interrupts. "Leave Hinata alone. I'll go stop the fight already."
"K-Kiba-kun, you could get hurt, too…"
"Nahh," he grins, "I could kick both of their asses if I wanted to!" and starts making his way through all of the people.
Kiba Inuzuka
When I finally make it through the crowd, I take a second to assess what's happening: Naruto's panting, but grinning. His lip is bleeding, but that's about all I can see. Sasuke is still standing. There's a red spot on the side of his face which will undoubtedly start bruising soon, and his expression shows annoyance.
Naruto starts to pull his right arm back, ready to throw another punch. It's time. His arm begins straightening out as it thrusts forward but I step in front of Sasuke just in time to catch his fist.
I turn around and see people clearing a path for Sasuke as he starts to walk away, then the whole crowd itself starts to separate until it's just Naruto and me left.
"Don't run away, this isn't over yet!" Naruto yells at him. When he realizes he's not coming back, he faces me: "What the hell, Kiba!"
I let go of his fist and wait for the rest of it.
"I was gonna win! Why did you stop me?!"
"Why do you still wanna fight Sasuke, anyway?" I ask.
"Can't you he's hurting Sakura?"
"Sakura can handle it herself. And you- you have Hinata that you should be taking care of."
"It's not just Sakura, though; all of the girls who like him are victims! And Sasuke's still an asshole. He's gotta be so damn cocky about everything."
I sigh. "I know he is, but you can't keep picking fights with him like this, especially when you know you won't win."
"But I was gonna win if you hadn't stopped me-"
"I stopped you because Hinata was concerned about you." That shut him up. "I don't care that you were finally gonna win, just stop doing this for her sake, okay?"
He's quiet for a while, then finally: "Yeah…, I got it."
The bell rings, so I start walking to Amaya and the others, my back facing him.
"And if you do anything else to worry her or hurt her, I will kick your ass- Ya hear me, Naruto?"
Amaya Shimizu
"Are you okay, Kiba-kun?" Hinata runs up to him when she sees him coming our way.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm alright."
"Well then…, we should get to class," I say. I know Aiko wouldn't want me to be late.
We start walking through the hallway, then up the stairs, then through another hallway, and so on, until we reach room 3-A. Kakashi-sensei isn't there yet, so we're okay.
"Ino? I didn't know you were already here," Sakura walks over to Ino, who's standing at the back of the room with Choji.
"It's probably because I got sucked into that group of people who were watching the fight. Oh, who won, anyways?"
"Ah…, Kiba broke off the fight, so I'm not really sure who won," Sakura tells her.
"Really?"
"Yeah," Kiba grins, "I beat up both of them."
"Tch, no," I say, then roll my eyes. "He just stopped Naruto, I'm pretty sure."
"Mm…"
Naruto walks into the classroom. He looks down instead of facing any of us. Hinata walks to him. I can't tell what she's saying, but she starts smiling. Naruto lifts his head so I can see that his lip is bleeding, but he's smiling apologetically. Hinata digs through her schoolbag and pulls out a napkin, then hands it to him.
"Sorry I'm a little late," the door to the classroom slides closed. Kakashi-sensei sets his stuff onto his desk in the front. Everybody goes back to their seat. Kakashi clears his throat:
"Welcome back, everyone. I guess we should start off with a seating change, but before that, there are not one, but two new students to introduce."
The class immediately starts discussing this:
"Do you think it's a guy?"
"Do you think it's a girl?"
"Wow, we're really on a roll with all of these transfer students."
"I heard it's a guy."
"I really hope it's a girl- this class really lacks girls."
"Think they're gonna be hot?"
"I hope I don't end up sitting next to them."
"Ahem!" Kakashi "clears his throat" once again to get our attention back. He starts to slide the door open again. "Come on in," he tells whoever is still behind it.
A skinny, pale boy with short black hair walks into the room. He looks really nervous; his eyes are looking down, and his eyebrows are raised slightly.
"This," Kakashi pats him on the shoulder. "Is Sai. He's been home schooled for up until now, so please be nice."
Sai bows. "Yoroshiku…onigaishimasu." His lips twitch before he actually smiles.
"Okay," Kakashi continues. "You can stay up here, we're about to change seats soon, anyway. Now, I don't think the second student-" The classroom's phone starts to ring. He goes to pick it up:
"Hello? Oh, no that's okay, I won't mark them late. Okay, thank you." He puts the phone down. "So the other new student was just at the office. Just wait patiently for her to get here."
"Her". So it's a girl.
"The other student is a girl?"
"He said 'her', I'm pretty sure he didn't make a mistake."
"So Sai do you know her?"
"The Sai kid looks a little weird…"
I hear somebody's footsteps tapping rapidly against the tile in the hallway. They're running.
"I think she's here!" Kakashi shouts to get us all to shut up. But the person who now stands at the door, hands on their knees and panting, isn't a girl. He has ear-length, choppy brown hair and his blazer is unbuttoned, revealing a dark-blue t-shirt with a village's symbol on it- not Konoha's, but Kirigakure's. Kiriga?…
He finally catches his breath and lifts his head, revealing the rest of his face. Is he really… I gasp with the realization.
"What's wrong?" Sakura whispers. I shake my head like it's nothing.
"Sorry I'm late," he finally speaks. "I got lost on the way here." He smiles while awkwardly scratching the back of his head.
"Go ahead and introduce yourself," Kakashi tells him.
"Right…," he averts his eyes from the class. "I'm Akari."
I can tell some of the people beside me are suppressing giggles.
"Isn't that a girls' name?" Somebody remarks.
"It's a unisex name!" He snaps. Kakashi puts his hand on his shoulder as if to hold him back.
He calms down and mutters, "You can just call me Aki," then walks to join Sai beside Kakashi's desk. It really is Akari?! Why is he here?
"Okay, then!" Kakashi clasps his hands together. "Well, everybody head to the back of the classroom and hang out for a bit while I draw the new seating chart up on the board."
I get up and follow everyone else to the back. People are crowding around Akari, trying to talk to him or ask questions.
"Yeah…, I was going to-" His hazel eyes widen when he sees me. He runs and pulls me into a hug.
"Akari, what are you doing here?" I ask him when we separate.
"I'm staying with my older cousin. He goes to college here now and, well, his parents were a little concerned about him living alone. So I volunteered…"
"Your parents were okay with it?"
I don't even know why I'm asking this. Akari can very easily take care of himself, as well as others.
"Of course. You know how much they trust me, and I'm doing a favor for my cousin. You remember Hajime, right? And-" his eyes go down to my necklace. He scoops up part of it in his hands and smiles.
"You still have it," he says in disbelief. Then he grins wider as he pulls out a pendant that was tucked beneath his shirt. "I still have mine, too."
His pendant is… how do I say this… Almost identical, yet completely opposite of mine. The pendant now hangs visibly from his neck. The charm is teardrop-shaped, like mine. But it's black, with a little white dot. The Yin to my Yang.
"Amaya?" Ino calls. She takes a few steps until she's right beside me. "You know him already?"
"Yeah, I-"
"Okay! Start drawing your numbers, the new seating chart is up on the board!" Kakashi sets a small basket on top of his desk.
"Tell me later," she says, walking to the front. "I'm gonna figure out where I have to sit."
I follow her. We now stand in a line with our classmates, waiting to draw a number from the basket. We inch closer and closer, until Ino and I are at the front. We stick our hands into the basket and pull out one folded-up piece of paper each, then we go stand on the left side of the classroom to see what we got.
"Eighteen," Ino shows me her paper.
I unfold my own: "Five."
Someone puts their arm around my neck and pulls me to their chest.
"Eleven," Akari says. I can tell he's grinning, so I look to the board: Five is the second desk from the front, on the very left of the classroom where the windows are- Eleven is the one right next to it.
I smile, too, and lean on Akari as I check the board to see who else will be sitting around me: Three is in front of me, and fourteen is behind me. Ino was neither fourteen or three… So who is?
[…]
All of our desks have been moved around, and the class has settled down. Three was Hinata, and fourteen was Kiba. I don't really mind this seating arrangement because they're all my friends. I'm also glad I didn't end up sitting next to Shino. There's nothing wrong with him…, it's just that I heard he gets a bit offended when he's excluded… and I forgot to invite him to the shrine visit on New Year's…
"Let's continue with novel we've been reading for Literature. We left off on page…"
"97," Sakura reminds him.
"Page 97 before Winter Break, so let's just start from the first paragraph there. Everybody has their books, I hope?"
"Sensei," Ino raises her hand. "I forgot it…"
Kakashi sighs. "Well then, I still have some extra copies. Just bring it back by the end of the day. Which reminds me…, Amaya, Akari, and Sai. You need to come up and get your own copies of it."
Akari stands up. "Don't worry, I'll go get you one, too."
Sai stands up on the other side of the room with Ino and the three of them walk to the front to get books off of Kakashi's desk. Akari tosses a book onto my desk and then sits back down in his own.
"Thanks."
"No problem," he flips through the pages. "Page 87, right?"
"Ninety-seven."
"Right, right." He nods and flips a few more pages.
Kakashi starts reading: "'The previous leaders were not capable of'- and remember that this was around one hundred years ago- 'carrying out their roles. So when the citizens rebelled…'"
[…]
"Well then," Kakashi looks at the clock above the chalkboard. "We'll start Math after lunch." He dismisses us and leaves the classroom. We already finished Literature, P.E., History, and Science.
I stand up and sling my messenger bag over my shoulder. "So where do you usually eat lunch?" I ask Hinata.
She stands, too. "Well it depends. If the weather's nice, we usually eat outside or on the roof, but I think it's too cold to do that today…"
"So where are we going?"
"We can stay in here," Kiba answers instead. "It's either that or the cafeteria, or… Well sometimes Naruto, Shikamaru, and I go to eat in this empty classroom. We're not really allowed to, but…"
"W-We should just stay here, Kiba-kun." I know Hinata doesn't wanna get in trouble.
"Okay."
I wait for more people to leave the classroom to see who stays. When no one else is leaving, Akari, Kiba, Hinata, Ino, Sakura, Naruto, and Shino are left. I guess this is the group I'll be eating with today.
Ino sits down in one of the desks in the back of the classroom. I sit on her left, while Hinata sits in front of her. Kiba sits in front of me and next to Hinata, so we've formed a square. Then, Sakura takes the other seat next to Ino, and Naruto sits in front of Sakura. Akari sits next to me, and finally, Shino sits down next to Kiba. Now it's a rectangle.
I take my wallet out of my bag and stand up again. "I forgot to make a bento, so I'm gonna go to the cafeteria real quick, k?"
Most of them nod and say "Okay." I start walking to the door.
"I'll go, too." I turn around. Akari gets up and starts to follow me.
[…]
"Back," I announce as I walk back into the classroom.
"What'd you get?" Sakura asks.
"Melon bread," I hold up the small plastic bag. "And I got some juice from a vending machine, too."
I take my seat next to Ino and Akari takes his seat next to me. I open the plastic packaging so I can start eating already.
"So explain to me now." Ino looks at me and starts tapping her fingers against the desk.
"Huh…" Oh, yeah. I almost forgot. "Alright, um… This," I pat Akari's shoulder, "Is my friend Akari. He's a year older than me, but we used to be in the same class in Kiriga because I skipped a grade."
"Mm…" Ino nods as she observes him. "And why do you have a girls' name?"
"It's not a girls' name!" He looks irritated, but then his expression softens and he sighs. "Okay, well, my parents were expecting a girl, so they'd already picked this name. When they found out I wasn't gonna be a girl, they didn't wanna change the name anymore. They'd already grown fond of 'Akari'."
"Okay, okay."
"Nice to meet you, Akari-san," Hinata smiles and shakes his head.
"Yeah, er…"
"Hyuga Hinata," she tells him.
"Got it. So, nice to meet you too, Hinata-san."
Then most of the other people tell him their names, too:
"Inuzuka Kiba."
"Haruno Sakura."
"Aburame Shino."
"Yamanaka Ino."
"Namikaze Naruto."
Akari stares at Naruto. "Namikaze? Are you the Hokage's son?"
Naruto averts his eyes and doesn't respond.
"Well, nice meeting you all, and," Akari bows slightly in his seat, "Yoroshiku."
Aiko Shimizu
"Aiko-san," I hear someone call after me as I leave the classroom. I slow down so whoever it is can catch up to me. Soon enough, Itachi is walking next to me.
"Hey, Itachi."
"Hey. How was the rest of your Winter Break?" He asks.
"It was alright. Oh, and why didn't you wake me up when you left?" I already know part of it from Amaya, but I want to see what he has to say.
"It was almost three in the morning, I figured you should get your sleep." We walk down the stairs and past the cafeteria.
"Ah… Well I'm sorry I fell asleep in the first place."
"It's fine."
We're outside now. I head for the nearest vending machine and buy two coffees. I take a seat on one of the benches near a flowerbed and set the coffee on my lap. I gesture for Itachi to come here, and he sits down next to me. I hand him one of the cans of coffee.
"Thanks," he says as he opens it. He takes a sip. "Did you bring lunch?"
"I forgot it," I open my coffee, too.
Itachi takes out a wrapped bento box out from his bag. "Here," he opens the box and offers it to me.
"N-No, I'm okay."
"It's fine." He gives me a pair of chopsticks. "Just leave some for me." He pushes the box into my hands. Half of the box is just plain rice, while the other half has mostly vegetables and meat.
"Arigatou." I clap twice, "Itadakimasu," and start eating.
"Who made this?" I ask.
Itachi scratches his head awkwardly but smiles. "I did. Sorry, my parents kind of expect Sasuke and I to be able to take care of ourselves and cooking isn't exactly my forte… Is it bad?"
I shake my head. "No, not at all. This is actually pretty good."
"Well that's good to hear. I'm used to thinking that my cooking is really bad because Sasuke stopped wanting me to make his school lunches in Junior High."
"It probably wasn't your cooking. I mean if you think about it… it'd be kinda weird to have your older brother make a lunch for you when you get to that age. No offense…"
"Mm… Well I just wanted to provide what I could for him."
"I know…, I'm like that with Amaya. Except I don't think she's grown out of having me make her lunches."
We both laugh a little. I look down to take some more rice. Half of it is already gone. I offer the box to Itachi.
"I left half," I tell him.
"Thank you." He takes it from me, but doesn't start eating.
"Oh yeah…, you need chopsticks. Sorry." I hold up the ones I used.
"It's okay," he stands up, "I'll get a pair from the cafeteria."
The bell rings. I stand and pick up my bag and coffee. "Gomenosai, Itachi…"
"It's okay. Come on." He's already at the door.
"O-Okay," I jog to get to him.
Sasuke Uchiha
"Okay, now we'll start math. Turn to page fifty-two in the workbook and 200 in the text book," Kakashi instructs us. "This is just review for the upcoming exams, so there's no lecture today. If you have any questions, go ahead and ask me. You may begin."
I take them both out and set them on my desk, then I turn to the assigned pages.
I'm a little disappointed with this seating arrangement. Usually, I don't really care where I sit. My current seat is behind Kiba. He did break off my fight with Naruto earlier, but I don't mind that I'm sitting behind him. What really bugs me for some reason is the fact that he's between me and Amaya. I guess it's because I know she's right there, but since there's somebody between us I can't really talk to her.
The person sitting next to me is Sakura. She's the kind of person I've learned to tolerate over the past few years. She's not a bad person, seriously, but I can't really talk to her. She always agrees with me, so the few conversations we have are tedious. And I know that she's had a crush on me for a while now, so it makes me feel a little awkward to know that whenever she looks at me or something.
I feel bad, though, because I'm always ignoring her or saying something negative that I don't really mean. I want to tell her to move on, but I think it's impossible to do that without hurting her. There's always a twinge of guilt whenever she defends me or says something good about me, because she makes it seem like I'm a better person than I really am.
"Sasuke-kun." Sakura whispers behind me. I turn around.
"I forgot my math textbook today. Can I borrow yours?"
She turns away for a second, so I look to direction that she was facing. Ino is looking at us from across the classroom and smirking.
"Can you do your workbook problems first?" I ask her. She looks embarrassed and her face reddens.
"W-Well, why don't we just work together?" Why, of all seats, here?
"Kakashi-sensei didn't give us that option." It's stupid of me to say that, since most of the other students have already begun to move around and talk to each other, asking for answers and comparing them.
"He didn't say we couldn't…" How persistent will she be? I know I said that she really isn't a bad person, but honestly, she does annoy me sometimes.
I sigh, "I guess it can't be helped," and push the book to the right of my desk so we can both see it.
"A-Arigatou, Sasuke-kun!" She takes out a notebook and begins working immediately. Before I start, I look past Kiba, at Amaya. She's talking to Hinata and Akari while finishing off some problems.
[…]
I'm only on the twentieth problem after 25 minutes. For me, that's slower than usual. For some reason, I can't think properly. Is it because Sakura is here? Or is it because I know that if I look up, I'll see Amaya smiling and talking to the new kid?
What's so great about him, anyway? Yeah, he's a little tall, but other than that, he doesn't really stand out. Did they just get along after finding out they sit next to each other, or did Amaya already know him before he came here? He is wearing a Kirigakure shirt…
"Sasuke-kun?" Sakura interrupts my thoughts.
"What?"
"How do you do this problem?" She points at number 15.
"Reverse that and simplify. Then either multiply by that or divide by this," I point out several numbers.
"Thanks." A smile begins to spread across her face as she quickly finishes the problem correctly and starts the next one. She's faking it, I think. I know that Sakura isn't stupid. She probably gets this, but is pretending to need help to get my attention.
"And this one, Sasuke-kun?" This is gonna be a long day…
Amaya Shimizu
"Did you get 35 on number 27?" Akari asks me.
"Yeah."
We've been working on this assignment for around thirty minutes. We're almost done.
"A-Amaya-san, did you do number 32 yet?" Hinata turns around in her seat to face me.
"No…, not yet." There are 35 problems- She's fast.
"Alright- N-Naruto-kun, you're supposed to convert that into a decimal before solving the problem…" Hinata's helping Naruto, who moved to sit next to her. His face brightens and he tries to solve the problem again.
"That makes more sense. You're really smart, Hinata-chan." Now Hinata blushes.
"I-It's nothing, really…"
[…]
Hinata, Akari, and I are all done. Hinata's still helping Naruto, so I'm just talking to Akari.
"What time does school get out here?" He asks.
"Same as in Kiriga," I tell him. "So pretty soon. I think around… ten minutes."
"Okay."
"Are you going back to Kiriga to visit your parents soon?"
"Maybe. I'll talk to Aiko about it."
When we were in Kiriga, Aiko and I visited our parents graves every month or so. The last time we visited was at the start of December, before we moved. It'd be a good idea to go again sometime this month.
[…]
When we're dismissed, I put my math books back into my bag and wait near the door, where there's already a crowd forming to leave.
"Hey, Akari, do you wanna come by the new house?" I ask Akari, who's standing behind me.
"Sure," he says. He takes out his phone and starts dialing somebody's number.
"Oi, Hajime! I won't be home for a while, I'm going to a friend's house. Ramen? Okay. Okay… That's it? Oh. What else?"
I look around while waiting for him to finish talking and for the crowd to clear. Sasuke's looking at me. No… At Akari. He looks annoyed or angry or something. What's up with him? Akari's new. Why does he already seem irritated with him?
"I'll just get the ramen. You can go buy the rest tomorrow. Yeah, bye." Akari shoves his phone into his pocket and grins at me. "Just telling Hajime I won't be home right away."
"And I'm guessing you need to stop by the convenience store?"
"Yup. Guess you heard the ramen part. He's- Oh, go Amaya." I didn't notice we were already at the front of the crowd. Akari pushes me forward, through the door.
[…]
"We really had to stop here first?" Akari dragged me to the convenience store before we got to my house. We're scanning the aisles in search of ramen.
"How come you don't know where the ramen is? You've lived here for at least a week- I'm pretty sure you should know where the ramen is."
"It's not like I eat ramen every day."
"…Don't lie to me." Dammit. He knows ramen is one of my favorite foods.
"…And anyways, Aiko usually does the shopping. The only time I ever came here was for what… Onigiri and Ramune? Yeah, pretty much." I tell him.
"Mm…, Hey I think that's it over there." He points to the end of the aisle we're in.
We walk there and find out that Akari was right. He scans the shelves, starting out at the top and eventually squatting down to see the bottom ones. He points to several of them.
"That one… or that one… or this one? No…"
"Why are you having such a hard time? Didn't he tell you what flavor to get?"
"He wants beef, I know! I just don't know which brand…" Akari can be really picky sometimes.
"I know this brand isn't the best…" He puts one back on the shelf. "And this one is too spicy for beef flavor…" He puts another package of ramen back on the shelf, leaving one left in his arms.
"That's it, right?" I ask. "Let's go." I start walking to the check-out area, where there are already lines at every register. We get into the shortest one and wait.
[…]
"I got a pretty good deal," Akari swings the plastic bag around, grinning.
I sigh. "I still can't believe you bought ten packages because of it, though."
"It was worth it- and ramen is one of my favorite foods, too, you know."
"Okay, okay, whatever." I take my house key out of my bag and unlock the door.
"Tadaima!" I say as I walk in. We both take our shoes off and leave them by the door.
"Okairi." I can tell Aiko is in the kitchen, so I go there and Akari follows. Aiko's eyes widen when she sees him.
"H-Hello," he bows. "Nice to see you again, Aiko-nee." He's like a part of our family.
"Aka- what are you doing here?" She's confused.
"Akari has an older cousin here and he volunteered to stay with him for his parents."
"Well okay. Welcome to Konoha, Aki-kun," she smiles at him.
"Come on, Akari," I have him follow me into my room.
"It looks really different from how it was in Kiriga," he tells me as he comes through the door and looks around.
"Of course it does."
"Yeah- you used to change your room all the time."
"Yup."
"Amaya, Akari-kun," Aiko pokes her head into the room. "Did you eat already?"
I shake my head.
"Why don't you stay for dinner, Akari?" She offers.
"I should probably go back to Hajime already…, sorry. But thanks, Aiko-nee."
"Oh, it's alright."
Akari starts putting his shoes back on. "Next time, k? Thanks for letting me come over, your new house looks nice."
"Yeah, anytime, Aki."
He stands and walks out the door. "See you tomorrow," he waves when he gets a few yards away.
Sasuke Uchiha
I hear two knocks on my door, then Itachi enters my room. "Sasuke, are you ready for dinner?" He asks.
"Wait."
"What are you doing?" He looks over my shoulder.
"Studying." I scribble a few things into my notebook and close it. "Upcoming exams."
"Do you need help?"
"No." I get out of my desk. "It's time for dinner, isn't it?"
We leave my room and go into the kitchen, where our parents are waiting for us at the dining table.
[…]
I put my dishes into the sink and clear the rest of the table when everyone finishes eating. Itachi usually does the dishes, so I go back to my room.
I open my notebook and textbook again, but before I actually start studying, I notice the time: 9:50 p.m. I need to get ready to sleep.
I haven't changed since I got home from school, so I pull off my shirt and put on some loose, more comfortable pants. I go to the bathroom and wash my face, then dry it with a towel. I walk back to my room and lie in bed, but I don't turn off the lights.
I heard Amaya ask Akari if he wanted to go to her house. Are they that close already? Or were they already that close? What's her relationship with him? Friend? Boyfriend? No. Can't jump to that conclusion yet.
But what if he is? Then I should back off… No- it's not like I was doing anything in the first place. Why should I care about who she's dating?
I don't think he's her boyfriend, though. If he was, it would've been more obvious. But still, it doesn't matter- I just wanted to be her, er, friend, anyway. Yeah, sure…
I turn out the lights then toss and turn a few times in my bed.
[…]
I rub my eyes and look at my alarm clock. It's one in the morning. I guess I didn't get as much sleep as I thought… I try closing my eyes again, but I'm still wide awake.
Why can't I fall asleep?
Author's Note:
*Gasp* Sasuke's POV has finally been revealed! Haha, now, for a couple more notes:
- "Ohayou" = "Good morning"
- "Tadaima"/"Ittekimasu" = "I'm back"/"I'll be leaving now"
- "Okairi"/"Itterashai" = "Welcome back"/"Have a safe trip"
(Rough translations)
- "typical Japanese schoolbag" - think about basically every high school anime you've seen. Those rectangular bags with the handles on the top? Yup.
- Remember: Aiko is three years older than Amaya and Itachi's age (obviously) isn't the same as it is in the actual manga.
- Changes: Amaya is in class 3-A, not 4-A.
- "Akari" is actually a unisex name- it's just more commonly used for girls.
- Don't ask me what kind of math they're doing, I just made it seem at least somewhat complex xD
- Disclaimer: I do NOT own "Sword Art Online"
A big thanks to the person (you know who you are ~) who helped me with the new OC!
No deadline is set for the next chapter to come out yet. Sorry ): Still pretty busy. When I get a better idea of when it'll be finished, I'll post it on my profile.
If you find any typos/spelling/grammar errors, please contact (PM or e-mail) me so I can fix it immediately! (E-mail is in my profile)
Thanks for being patient & hopefully you enjoyed this chapter (:
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO/NARUTO: SHIPPUDEN!