Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I never will. I do however, own the OC in this story.

Warnings: Same as last chapter. A little bit sweary, but not too much. There shall be violence in later chapters. This is after all, about ninjas and where ninjas go, bloodshed follows. So I apologize if you're squeamish.

Thank you for the reviews. It is very much appreciated. Here's some home-made cake for you all, enjoy. :D

The next day found me in one of the larger classrooms in the Academy. It was being used to accommodate all the graduates that had passed yesterday's exam. I wasn't sitting in my usual shady corner, since it was taken by some other guys, so now I'm sitting near the front next to the famous Sasuke Uchiha. He was the heart-throb for 98% of the school's female population. The one percent being me and the other Hinata Hyuuga, who had an enormous crush on Naruto.

To be honest, I do find Sasuke attractive (who can deny that) but not to the point where I fangirl over every little thing about him, I'm not some brainwashed idiot.

'And speaking of fangirls, here comes two of them.' I thought, as I spotted Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka squeezing their way through the door-frame, trying their hardest to get into the classroom first. They finally managed to get into the door, but as soon as they stepped foot in it they were bickering about who was here first. Their shrill, high-pitch voices were giving me headache. Rubbing my temples, I groaned and leaned my head back to rest on the top of the chair I was sitting on.

"A headache is not what I need right now." I grumbled. Catching the attention of the person sitting next to me. Feeling someone's eyes on me, I looked sideways to see Sasuke watching me. Feeling disbelief for the poor boy who had to deal with the wailing banshees 24/7. I asked him the question that was currently running through my mind.

"How do you put with them? You could go deaf with pitch their screaming at."

His mouth twitched upwards at the comment, I couldn't help but feel a wave of accomplishment surge through me. I made Sasuke Uchiha, the emo duckbutt, smile. Good thing I had my bandage mas, I wouldn't want people to think I'm a fangirl with the small smile I now sported on my face. The two wailing banshees stopped their yapping and I quietly sighed with relief. But unfortunately my enjoyment didn't last long as I noticed the two girls coming this way. Oh, joy.

'Ugh. Why did I have to sit here?!' I mentally screamed to myself. They were most likely here to see Sasuke, who was right next to me! Emphasis on the last part.

Suddenly, pink engulf my vision and I leaned swiftly to see what had caused it. It was Sakura, she was standing in front of within an inch of space between us with an expectant look on her face. I could smell the heavy sweetness of her perfume, making me want to gag. I looked her dead in the eye.

"Do you need something?" I asked with a raised eyebrow, my upper-body still leaning backwards lazily against my chair.

Sakura huffed and said, "Erm, could you move to a different seat?"

"And why would I wanna do that?" I enquired, my eye raising even higher.

Ino laughed like it was obvious, "Because we wanna sit next to Sasuke and you have the only seat that is next to him."

Sakura nodded in agreement, putting her hands on her hips and adding, "So move."

Irritation weld up in me as I replied, putting my feet on the desk and crossed my arms in a sign of defiant, "Sorry, but this seat is taken. You can't have it."

I saw rage flash in both of the fangirls eyes but it didn't faze me. I wasn't moving from this spot. At. All.

"What do you mean we can't have it?!" They screeched together, the combined voices making my ears pang.

"Do you want me to say the definition? Or should I rephrase it?" I noticed the fight that I was having was drawing the classes attention. They were sniggering at my remark and/or gaping at me in shock. I smirked as I heard their comments about the fangirls or me having a death-wish.

'Lets show them who they shouldn't piss off.' I snickered, the thought of bloodshed taking over me. I glanced sideways, noticing that Sasuke was watching the argument with intense eyes. Our eyes met and I saw the small glint of gratefulness and amusement in his eyes. Giving him the tiniest of nods I turned my attention back to the now rabid fangirls and said, " You cannot have this seat, it is mine. So please. Go. Find. Your. Own."

I made sure to be extra slow so their slow minds can understand me. But obviously I must have crossed some sort of line as the sharp pain of a slap exploded on my cheek. I rubbed the bruised cheek to help relieve some of the pain. My head must have snapped sideways as I was now looking at the rest of the graduates in the room. Said graduates mostly had shocked expressions, others either angered or pitying. I notice Shikamaru in one of the rows behind me, he was watching the dispute with rage in his eyes. He noticed me staring and looked me with concern, I unwittingly gave him a pained look as the sting from the slap made itself noticed and winced slightly as I touched my tender cheek. It made me angry and my vein filled with rage, my blood-lust becoming even stronger.

~Shikamaru's POV~

Shikamaru's blood boiled in anger and rage as he watched Reicheru get hit by Sakura and Ino. Even more so at the pained expression on her half-covered face - which was now even more obscured by the headband on her forehead - he could see the bruise which was now spreading so much it was peeking from underneath Reicheru's mask. He knew it was painful as well, he could tell by the wincing as she lifted a hand to touch it. It'll be a while before it would be healed completely.

At that thought, Shikamaru glared at the two girls who had caused the injury. How dare they harm his friend and over something as simple as a seat that was not even theirs in the first place. He gripped the edge of his desk hard, trying to resist the urge to either beat up the wenches or comfort Reicheru. He picked the latter because much as he wanted to, his friends came before himself, Reicheru even more so. In his concern and rage, he missed the look of absolute fury on Reicheru's face. But just he was about to get up, Sasuke stood.

~Reicheru's POV~

I felt a hand grip my jaw gently, forcing my head to turn and saw Sasuke with a concerned and angered expression on his face, which is very unusual for him as his face is normally expressionless, not to mention he didn't seem care about anyone but himself. My anger subsiding, I gave him a confused look at his sudden concern but he ignored it in favour of turning to Sakura and Ino and demanding them to explain why they had hit me.

Sakura was the one who spoke first.

"W-well, er, Sasuke-kun. U-um, she was in the way, yeah." Was Sakura's excuse and a poor one at that. Ino made an attempt to make a better excuse.

"We wanted to sit next to you, Sasuke-kun. So we could be closer to you, but she wouldn't move to a different seat."

"So you decided to hit her to get your way? Tch, you disgust me. You didn't even stop to think that I had wanted her to sit next to me in the first place." The fangirl duo paled at the last sentence. Sasuke glared harshly, "Well for your information, I do. So go and sit somewhere else."

They flinched at Sasuke's glare and complied but not without sending me dirty looks. Sasuke looked back at me, his hand still gripped on me. He stroked my cheek gently with his thumb, caressing the bruise that was there. But like he was electrocuted he snatched his hand away after a second of contact. He sat back down, his black eyes still on me, although the glanced away from time to time.

"You okay?" He asked, his voice still a bit harsh in tone.

I looked at him with a smile, even though he couldn't see it. I was grateful that Sasuke had intervened. I didn't know what came over me when I said those things, even though they did somewhat deserve it. I could have done a lot worst to Sakura and Ino and despite what had happened, I didn't want to hurt the two girls. If I had, there was no telling what I could have done to them. Whether Sasuke realises it or not, he just saved his fangirls from the brunt of my rage.

"I'm fine, don't worry about me." I semi-lied and when I saw Sasuke point at my bruise, I waved it off saying. "It's just a bruise, it'll heal in a couple of days."

I could tell Sasuke wanted to press on but he stayed silent and turned back to face the front stiffly. I followed his lead, though in a more relaxed way, determined to get some sort of rest in before Iruka came (he still wasn't here yet) and assigned us to our squads.

But just as I was about to close my eyes, I was engulfed in yet another eye-blinding colour, this time it was a bright neon orange. My poor eyes, I mentally screeched exaggeratedly. I only know one person who would wear such a ghastly colour and sure enough Naruto was squatted on the desk, grumbling and glaring at Sasuke, who was glaring back just as intensely.

I sweatdropped. 'What is that idiot up to now?'

I could hear Sakura yell from behind me. "Naruto, you jerk! Leave Sasuke alone!"

The other fangirls in the room practically raved for Sasuke to hit the blonde boy. It didn't seem faze Naruto in the slightest.

Suddenly though, he lost balance (which was caused by the guy behind him accidentally pushing him) and he tipped forward, crashing into Sasuke, which resulted in an awkward smooch.

I burst out laughing at the scene, I tried to stop but failed as fits of giggles escaped my lips. Dammit I can't hold it in!

"Oh my gosh! Hahaha! That is the most hilarious thing ever!" I cackled, slapping my leg during my laughter. I turned to where Shikamaru sat.

"Shika did you see that?! Oh my- hahahaha!" I was now unable to form proper words. I saw Shikamaru smirk and nod in affirmative. Wiping tears of mirth from my eyes, I let the laughter die down into giggles until I had calmed down almost completely. God I almost died of laughter, I couldn't breathe during that.

I turned back to the desk to see Naruto and Sasuke coughing and spluttering with Sakura (who was now once again in front of my desk, though was on the other side away from me this time) looking just about to pummel Naruto within an inch of his life. Of course she did just that, though on a much smaller scale.

After they had finally settled down in their respective places, with Naruto covered in bumps and bruises, Iruka finally entered the classroom. He once again had a piece of paper in hand. He stood in the middle of the front desk and cleared his throat to get the graduates attention.

"From this day forward, you are no longer mere students of ninjutsu, but full-fledged shinobi. But among the ranks of the shinobi, you are mere novices, lowest of the low. Your greatest challenges all lie ahead." Iruka addressed. "The next step is the assignment of official duties to you all on behalf of our village. We begin with dividing you into three-man cells. Each will be monitored by a Jounin a more senior ninja who will guide and coach you as you become familiar with your various assignments."

~Sasuke's P.O.V.~

Sasuke sat, his head resting on his interlaced fingers, thinking over the information. 'Three man cells? Sounds like two too many.' He glanced over at Reicheru who was listening to the names calling out intensely. 'Although, I suppose I wouldn't mind being on a team with Reicheru. She seems like a strong ninja seeing as she didn't even think that the bruise she got from Sakura was anything but a simple scratch. Speaking of that, why had I reacted that way? I shouldn't of cared what happened to the girl and yet I protected her. I feel like I had acted on impulse, my body and mind reacting without thought. Like I was possessed. I don't know what's happening to me. This all so weird.'

His eyes travelled over her form. 'Still though, she's rather mysterious, I never even noticed her until today when she sat besides me. Her appearance is rather strange as well. Her face is hidden behind bandages and her headband so only her eyes are visible. I wonder what she's hiding under there. She has her torso exposed behind fishnets, which is quite foolish as any enemy ninja could strike there and her top is tight on her, showing her body off. Hmm~. Wait! No! Stop right there Sasuke!' He thought, a nosebleed and blush threatening to form. 'Why am I even thinking these thoughts?! Ugh let's just carry on listening to Master Iruka.'

He stared at mysterious girl a little longer before focusing his gaze back on the sensei.

~Reicheru's P.O.V.~

'I wonder who I'll be with.' I thought her eyes drifting between the other students. 'Maybe Shikamaru? But what if I'm not grouped with him?' I sighed mentally. 'I hope I'm teamed with someone I'm at least familiar with.'

I snapped myself out of my thoughts once Iruka started talking again, I didn't want to miss anything important.

"I made the selections so that each cell's abilities would be approximately equal." Most of the class protested at that but were soon silenced as Iruka began to read out their assigned teams. My name wasn't said until the seventh team was called out.

"Next, cell number 7. Haruno Sakura, Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke and since there's an an uneven amount of graduates you will be getting a fourth member; Reicheru Kurogami." Said Iruka-sensei.

Of course, when Naruto heard Sasuke would be on the same team as him, he had to argue.

"Master Iruka! What were you thinking of, saddling a most excellent shinobi like myself with that loser!?" Shouted Naruto whilst pointing his finger at Sasuke. I resisted the urge to bang my head against the desk at Naruto's idiocy.

"Of the twenty-eight of you, Sasuke has one of the best grades, Naruto." Iruka replied sternly.

"Who's the best then?" Naruto asked. I saw Sasuke perk up a bit, he was probably curious as to who surpassed him.

"That would be Reicheru, who has near perfect grades." Iruka responded. That gave me some awed or jealous looks from the class, making me shy away behind my folded arms. I hate having that sort of attention. "So as I was saying, Naruto. You would be bottom of the class. The idea is to balance your different strengths. That's why you ended up together."

"Hmm." I hear Sasuke remark besides me. "Just don't drag me down, dunce." I sighed as my newly established team-mates once again picked on each other.

We were then dismissed until the afternoon, when we'll be introduced to our new sensei.

I took this as a chance to talk to Shikamaru about yesterday. After a few minutes of searching, I found him on one of the academy's roofs with Ino and a short, round boy.

"Hey Shika." I mumbled, landing next to him when I jumped on.

"Hey Reicheru. I saw what happened to you earlier. Are you alright?" He asked and gestured to my injured cheek. I saw Ino give me guilty look. She must've felt bad about what she's done, now that Sasuke wasn't here to distract her, she finally realised what damage she has done to me. I nodded keeping quiet.

"You don't look it." He frowned, concerned. He raised a hand to gently hold my jaw and turned my head to inspect to damage. He stroked the bandages that covered half my face softly. "Looks like that's gonna stay there for a couple of days. Does it hurt?"

I paused for a second, then nodded minutely. Shikamaru smiled sympathetically and tenderly caressed my cheek in hopes of relieving some pain. It work, kind of, his cool hands help subdue the ache and I leaned into the gentle touch.

He stopped suddenly. I looked up at him wondering why he stopped. Shikamaru just smiled and raised his arm besides him invitingly. I accepted it and shuffled along so that I was snuggled into his side. He placed his arm around my shoulder and continued petting me, this time by running his fingers through my dark, chocolate-coloured hair. I closed my eyes at the pleasant sensations it gave me and nearly purred during the nice massage. I loved it when my head was touched in such a manner.

The sound of a throat clearing itself reminded me that we were not alone. I snapped my eyes open and quickly leaned away from Shikamaru in embarrassment.

"So… you wanna… introduce yourself?" The round boy spoke, munching on potato chips in between words.

"Oh, sorry. I forgot you guys were there." I said sheepishly, scratching the back of my head. "My name's Reicheru. What's yours?"

"Choji and this is Ino. Though I think you already knew that." Choji answered, still munching on his snack.

Ino was about to say something when I interrupted. I knew what she was about to say and I answered immediately.

"Don't worry about it. You were blinded by jealousy and things happen. So don't feel guilty about hitting me." I said kindly. Closing my eyes in an eye-smile to show that it was okay. Ino smiled back, happy that everything was fine. Of course I still a little bit angry about being hit, I don't take being injured lightly. But the anger wasn't enough for me to do anything about it, it just makes hold a slight grudge and my grudges don't even last for a full day, being a rather laid-back person and all.

"Thanks, Reicheru." She chirped and looked between me and Shikamaru curiously. "Though I gotta ask, are you and Shikamaru dating?"

At that, both me and Shikamaru went red with embarrassment and stammered at the same time. "N-no! Of course n-not!"

Ino pouted a little and squealed with her hands squishing her cheeks. "Aww. But you two looked soo cute together!"

"E-eh!?" I squeaked, my face going even more red. In a rush to get out of the situation I shouted. "Oh, look at the time! We better head back to class to meet our new teachers!" And with that I dashed off back to class. I wasn't lying it was indeed time to go back to class, it just happened to be very convenient at the time.

I slowed down once I got to the door and entered like normal person. I saw that my team-mates and most of the graduates were there already. I thankfully wasn't late though so I took my seat on the other side of Sasuke and waited with baited breathe for our new sensei to arrive.

A/N: Thank you for reading. If you enjoyed this story/chapter, leave a fave, follow or review, depending if you have an account or not.

So once again thank you and I'll be see you next chapter. BYE! :D