Disclaimer: I don't own the Naruto Characters
Ch. 1 - Over My Head
"'Central City High School'…more like Gang Central." Hinata muttered as she stood at the entrance of her new school, she couldn't be more right. Central City High School, or C.C., was the school with the most, if not all, the gangs of Konoha City. Gangs like Akatsuki, Hebi, and Kyuubi go here and now, apparently, so does Shukaku. Hinata wisely mused how this would most likely bring about trouble seeing as how Shukaku has recently been claiming more territory, most likely thanks to their newly active weapon, Hime, whose identity is still unknown. Lucky them.
Hinata slowly trudged her way towards the shiny glass doors to the school. She didn't exactly want to be here. There are people here she doesn't wish to encounter again and some of them, ever. But, her last school, and like so many before it, kicked her out. For the same reason too, violence. Ever since her… incident, violence has been a key part of her life. As have baggy boy clothes and short skater boy-ish hair. All of it stemming from her incident, and trying to hide her scars, and the weakness they caused her.
Trying to forget about her past, Hinata hastily grasped the handle and swung the door open. She had expected the beige walls and green lockers of Central, bustling with fellow, well other, teenagers, gossiping, running, arguing, and plotting with their friends. What she actually saw was very different, complete and utter emptiness was in the hallway. Not a person in sight.
She began her trek through the halls as she pondered this conundrum, why was no one in the hallways of the largest school in the county. She searched around the usual congregation area for high school students, to find some sort of answer, and found one. A clock off to the side on the wall above the lockers gave her an answer. The time on the clock was 8:16. The beginning of first hour was, for this school… at 7:45.
"SHIT!!! I'M LATE!!!"
And she ran down the hallway, her booted feet slapping against the evergreen tiles the entire way, trying to hold onto her flailing backpack.
- - - - -
Hinata heaved in breaths as she stood, grasping the wall for support, in front of the school's office. Usually her adoptive mother, Kurenai Yuhi, would go into the school with her and help take care of this sort of thing. This time, however, Hinata wanted to take care of it herself. Kurenai currently works at this school as a sort of Guidance Counselor. Hinata, already knowing the basic layout of the school, had a decent idea of where everything was located and all that. She also knew if she showed up at school with a staff member, she would never hear the end of it. There was no way she wanted to receive special treatment, from bullies in particular. So, her obvious decision, wing it all alone.
Slowly regaining her breath, Hinata began to worry about how she was going to do this. She wasn't much of a people person so talking was difficult and because of her situation it was best to let people think she was a guy. So, talking to Principal Tsunade would present itself as a difficult feat.
"Crap" she breathed aloud. Then, mustering up the guts she still had, she sucked in some air, puffed out her chest, and swung the heavy green door wide open.
Again she huffed, her eyes wandering the room, searching for Principal Tsunade's assistant, Ms. Shizune.
"Oh, can I help you?" a woman called from a desk located off to the side in the seating area that was different shades of white and green. The woman was small with a round face and kind eyes that had deep black hair fringing her face. The woman smiled kindly and gestured for Hinata to come closer.
"U-um, I-I'm new here, and I-I am su-sup-posed to see Ts-Tsunade." Hinata mumbled, her face shading pink in downright nervousness.
"Oh, you must be Hinata Hyuuga, nice to meet you," she said, smiling up from her desk at Hinata, "If you walk through those doors," she continued, pointing at a set of green double doors opposite her desk and adjacent to the door Hinata had previously entered, "you can begin your meeting with Tsunade. But, I'd be careful if I were you, she isn't a very happy person in the morning."
Hinata nodded, her body shaking slightly, and walked towards Tsunade's office, tripping all the way. She knocked almost silently but was ordered to enter by a gruff voice from beyond the doors. Hesitantly, Hinata poked her head in to quickly view her surroundings. This, however, ended quickly with a curt "Hurry up" from the back of a chair behind the desk in the room.
Hinata moved towards the wooden black structure and sat down before it in a black leather chair. In a quick fluid motion, the chair behind the desk swiveled back towards Hinata to reveal a blonde woman. The woman appeared commanding and powerful, with her stern golden brown eyes and severe mouth. Her hair style, two tied up pieces of hair on either shoulder that was similar to a small child's, was questionable. However, she was very intimidating, and that didn't include her well endowed chest. Hinata couldn't help but stare. This lady was supposed to be her principal. Oh. Dear. GOD. Hinata found it difficult to keep a straight face, how could anyone take this woman seriously? She looked like a small angry child that reached puberty way too early. When she spoke again, however, it was obvious why people listened to her. She was scary.
"Are you Hinata Hyuuga?" she demanded more than asked. Hinata replied meekly with a nod and "Yes". "Well then," Tsunade continued, "these are yours," she said, grasping some papers on her desk. She handed them over to Hinata, "You'll find your schedule on the pink sheet, with your locker number and combination there as well." Tsunade said, shuffling some papers and folders around on her desk. "The other papers are for your parent and/or Guardian to signature."
Hinata nodded in understanding and stood from her chair. "Be seated." Tsunade commanded. Hinata looked at Tsunade in disbelief but complied, if rather reluctantly. "I noticed in your transcripts that you have been transferred multiple times for the same reason," Tsunade began, pressing her fingers together in a meticulous manner, as she gazed thoughtfully at her student, "Let me tell you that this will be your last destination. Kids at my school don't get expelled for something like this because these sorts of things take care of themselves." Tsunade gave Hinata a meaningful look.
'In other words,' Hinata thought, 'don't mess with people here because you will die.' Hinata just sighed, she didn't want to hear about how kids were punished here by the teachers and taken care of because, honestly, she didn't care. However, she knew when to submit to authority from experience. "Un-understood, Ms. Tsunade," Hinata mumbled as she stood from her seat and walked towards the door. Almost inaudibly, she muttered, "You don't have to worry about me, it's the other guys."
After quickly asking Ms. Shizune what hour it was, Hinata burst through the office's door and back into the hallway. Relief slowly spread through her body, she couldn't stand being in School Offices. They were simply places of upset and unspeakable evil. Hinata gripped the papers in her hand as her breathing started to settled
With one last gulp of sweet air, Hinata checked out her schedule. According to her schedule, her next class, having been told as she left the office that first hour was just ending, would be Health with Jiraiya. Hinata checked the clock in the hall and saw that she still had about ten minutes, so she decided to wander around in search for her locker.
She passed through hallways for about five minutes when she finally found her locker. Hinata read her combination on her pink sheet and tried it a couple of times. When it finally opened, she emptied the contents of her backpack into her dark green locker. Then, she quickly grabbed her notebook, the Health book, and workbook she had been given before school by Kurenai, and a pencil and pen from her pencil case, stuffing them into her pant pocket. Having been told before hand about the school's policy on book bags, none to be carried around during school do to fear of weapon concealment, so, she shoved the gray abomination into her locker.
Hissing between her teeth, Hinata stood and slammed her locker's door, letting it loudly echo throughout the hallway, suddenly drowned by the sound of the bell declaring the end of first hour. Instantly, students streamed out of their classrooms, forming a mass of people that moved in violent aggressive manners. Fearing injury, Hinata stayed close to the lockers.
- - - - -
Long after the late bell Hinata arrived in front of her second hour, rather worse for wear, having been tossed around the hall. Trying to avoid receiving attention, she opened the door as silently as possible, until it loudly creaked and every head in the classroom turned towards her.
Instantly her face turned a dull red. Some heads turned away and back towards the teacher, having already determined her as another one of them. Them being the poser gang kids. However, to her this went unnoticed.
"Come to finally join us now have you?"
Hinata turned her head to see the teacher, with his white spiky hair all over the place, addressing her in front of the entire class. Not wanting too much attention, she just nodded her head and walked into the room, heading for the back row of seats where one was vacant.
Again, she was halted by the teacher calling attention to her. "Are you going to introduce yourself or should I?" yelled the man who she presumed to be Jiraiya, the Health teacher. She just ignored him and continued to the vacant seat and plopped herself down in a huff while the teacher explained.
"Well, class, this is Hinata. He is a new student here; apparently his last school didn't go so well. So, all of you try to give him a nice warm welcome." he ordered as he waved around a piece of paper, trying to sound threatening. It wasn't working very well. Hinata just rolled her eyes and looked up at the board, knowing very well that the students here would ignore her for a while, unless something happened.
Hinata flipped open her blue notebook and started taking the notes which were already on the board. The lesson continued for about another twenty minutes of Jiraiya lecturing the class on how to eat right and exercise, especially girls. Hinata couldn't believe how sexist the teacher was. The man was a pig. She couldn't help but be relieved that he thought her to be a boy. Surely Jiraiya would leave her be and just flirt and annoy every other girl in the class.
Waiting for the sweet relief of the bell ringing, she hadn't noticed that the lesson had ended and a girl was at her desk. "So, your name is Hinata, right?" asked a girl with dark brown double buns of hair on her head and chocolate filled almond shaped eyes.
The loud voices and rambunctious kids surrounding her made her feel similar to a lone cat amongst dogs. Hinata replied with a nod, she knew she shouldn't be talking to this girl, with her cargo shorts, tight and slightly torn tank top, and vans clad feet; it was obvious she was in one of C.C.'s gangs. She hoped that the girl before her, like many others, would take her nod as a sign of discouragement for further questioning. This girl, however, took it as the opposite. The girl was especially happy to see that the indigo haired boy was acknowledging her, and allowing her to speak with him. "Why did you leave your last school?"
The girl's question instantly silenced the surrounding people, everyone wanted to hear about the new kid, they wanted something new to gossip about. When Hinata spoke, though, more of the class was silenced; slightly surprised at the boy's disposition. "That," Hinata began, "is none of your business."
Hinata didn't see the surprised look on the face of the girl, whose name was Tenten, because the bell rang and she walked out of that classroom as soon as she heard it. No one even saw her move.
- - - - -
Hinata was freaking out in the hallway, grasping her side while trying to breathe through her nose. Passer-bys didn't give her a second glance. Honestly no one cared about some boy who was freaking out on the side of the hall; some even shoved her a bit. She didn't take them any notice, she was too busy worrying about almost calling out a gang member. Surely she would be confronted for this. It seemed, to her, that everywhere she went, trouble followed her like gum stuck to the bottom of her shoe.
Finding that her course of thought was in fact making her breathing worse, she concentrated on her schedule. According to her paper, her next class would be third hour. Meaning she needed her chemistry book and binder. Her breathing slowly eased as her thoughts lingered on less threatening thoughts. Attention happened to be something at the very bottom of her to do list.
Hinata walked back to her locker, trying to avoid other people as she did so. When she reached her locker, she quickly dialed the combination, still slightly unsure of where her next class was. Her hands instantly found her binder but her book was presenting to be an issue, she couldn't find it in her locker.
Hinata started to panic, how had she already lost it, she had only had it for about half an hour. In her panic, she started tossing her books around in her locker, causing them to bang up the inside of her locker. The warning bell rang when Hinata had finally given up on her desperate search.
Feeling bitter towards the locker for taking her book and not giving it back, she slammed the door as hard as she could, resulting in a nice dent to form at the center of the door. "Shit" she mumbled as she walked down the hall, wincing slightly as she bumped into people, towards the direction she thought her next class might be. She would have to share a book with someone. She didn't know anyone at this school and yet she already needed to depend on one of them.
In a huff, she moved down the hall, her binder pinching into her fingertips as her grip tightened on the object. Losing her book meant more than just having to communicate with other students, it meant a disappointed Kurenai. Her adoptive mother was all she could really call family now, she barely knew her cousin Neji, and Kurenai was the only one she ever told about that day. Before her thoughts could take her there, she was saved. She had found her classroom.
Hinata grabbed the handle and heaved at the door, causing a nice swushing noise. She was greeted by havoc. The students inside this classroom were crazy. Almost no one at a desk, those who were, being on-top of them in some shape or form, paper flying across the room, people chatting animatedly in excessively loud voices. She felt as if she were in a high school movie from the nineties. "You've got to be kidding me" she muttered under her breath while walking through the class unnoticed.
Hinata slipped onto a chair at a back table, trying to avoid communicating with any of the students, she didn't really need this at the moment. What she needed was a nice long nap. She set her things atop her lab table and slightly off to the side. Leaving ample space for whoever decided to sit next to her, even though she really hoped no one would. Hinata folded her arms atop the table, laying her head across them. Deftly, Hinata shifted to make herself comfortable and cover her eyes from the harsh fluorescent lights above.
She tried to block out the noise in the room, 'Shouldn't class have already begun?' she thought absentmindedly. With a sigh she shifted again, becoming increasingly agitated. What the hell was up with this class, wasn't science usually the silent class were the teacher spoke in monotone and the students slowly slipped in their chairs and off their propped hands and headfirst onto the table? Hinata sighed again, she wasn't much liking this school.
Giving up on sleep, she decided to sit up and take a look around. 'Why not people watch? It could be fun to mock some of the kids at this school.' she convinced herself, lazily looking around at her fellow classmates. All of them had someone to talk to it seemed; she wished they would all shut up. Hinata's gaze drifted to the side of the room. Personally, she was grateful that the windows there were blocked by blinds but, some of the kids didn't seem to appreciate the dim light as she did. A rather barely dressed girl leaned over the counter towards the window, her skirt hiking up, revealing strawberry decorated panties. Hinata's nose scrunched in disgust, girls like that irritated her to no end. For some reason, all of them needed attention. And for some reason, they all thought that she, Hinata Hyuuga, was the guy to give it to them. Or at least they hoped he would. Maybe they thought her opinion to be worth more because of her obvious avoidance of all people. Huh.
She would have pondered this further if not for the fact that the girl was receiving attention. A lot of attention, from almost all of the male population. Apparently she couldn't reach the string to adjust the blinds, making her try and reach up and lean more for it, showing her panties even more. 'Oh wow' Hinata rolled her eyes, what an idiot. Hinata would have reprimanded the girl further but, the boys in the room were having issues with controlling themselves, practically ogling at the girl as she struggled for the string. Hinata rolled her eyes, 'Men.'
Having had enough bull for the time being, Hinata reluctantly slid off her chair. She had to. The good part of her still festering in the back of her mind, was still making her do good things for people she didn't know when she really didn't want to. With a sigh she walked towards the girl with the extremely revealing skirt. She instantly received glares from boys, which she ignored and moved on.
Hinata rolled her eyes again when she reached the girl. Typical popular girl, with her strap shoes, extra mini skirt, and all too tight top. Hinata moved around the girl, who still hadn't noticed her being there, and stepped onto an open drawer. Then, she firmly grasped the string, tugged on it until the blind reached just below the top of the window, and hopped down to the floor, only to be met by the girl she was helping.
Hinata stared into green eyes with bright pink hair about them, and nearly fell over. This girl, who had been showing off her underwear to the entire class, used to be her friend, one of her best friends. Hinata could hardly believe it. 'How the hell did this happen? How the hell did I end up in the same district as before… that happened?' she thought frantically. Hinata's momentary shock wore off at the sight of Sakura's heavy blush. Apparently she found the new Hinata to be attractive. Hinata almost slapped the girl then and there. Now, suddenly because she was a dude, she was worth something. 'Not when I was in pain and my world was crashing down, oh no, but when I look like a guy, and a somewhat attractive guy at that, I am worth some attention.' Hinata thought ruefully.
She had been utterly ignored after the death of her family. She received no visits except the almost hourly nurse and daily doctor. 'I hate you' she found herself thinking with malice. Not because she had ignored her, not because she was attracted to her now, but because now, when she was standing before her, Sakura had absolutely no clue who she was.
"Sorry about that." Hinata mumbled and stepped away from the girl she once called friend. She swiftly walked back to her seat with the entire class watching her every movement. Apparently she had caught the attention of her fellow classmates. "Perfect" she muttered, sliding into her chair, the one thing she didn't want to happen just did. She was now recognized as a person of interest to the student body. "This sucks" she mumbled as she slipped into her earlier position of sleeping on her table.
The classroom slowly began to buzz with the voices of the students, all talking about 'the new kid' and him 'almost touching Sakura Haruno'. Hinata honestly couldn't careless what the kids were saying, she just wished they would shut up so she could sleep.
When she heard the seat beside her scrape against the floor, she almost growled. She didn't want anybody sitting next to her. Before she decided to do anything, she figured she better figure out who they were. Hinata slowly lifted her head up so she could peek at who sat beside her. Unfortunately, her mess of hair blocked her view. She plopped her head back down on her arms with an almost silent thunk, 'Why bother?'
"So, you're the new kid, huh?" a sweet girly voice asked her. Hinata just replied with a grunt and shifted in her seat. "Talkative I see" Hinata just ignored her when she spoke again. 'Why the hell are you still here?' she thought miserably. "I'm Sakura by the way, the girl you helped earlier" she said, a smile in her voice.
Hinata cringed, 'What the hell?' She sat up and looked at the girl beside her. "What do you want?" she asked, her anger barely contained.
"Well," the pink haired girl began, a large smile on her face, "I was just wondering if I could sit next to you."
Hinata just stared at the girl, irritation clear on her face. "Do I look like I care?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. Sakura just watched in surprise, her glossed mouth slightly agape. No one ever talked to her like that, well, almost no one. So, Sakura settled into her seat primly, with her legs cross, head high, and a big smile plastered across it.
Hinata's eyes widened in disbelief. This girl couldn't take a hint. She opened her mouth to say 'Get the hell away from me' but the teacher finally walked in through the door. The class instantly settled to their seats and ceased their talking. With a sigh she fell back onto the table, with 'This sucks' singing in her head.
- - - - -
The teacher for Chemistry was a real creeper. The outfit, hair, facial expressions, even his glasses, screamed, 'Avoid at all costs'. When he spoke about chemicals and how they reacted when combined, his glasses glinted, eerily reflecting light from the fluorescent bulbs above, and a smirk spread across his features, giving all kids a shiver down their spine. His light grey hair, which contradicted his age, was pulled back in a ponytail and his clothes consisted of purple pants, a white button-up, and a purple sweater vest. The definition of a creeper.
While Kabuto droned on, Hinata considered the school so far. She had noticed her teachers to be odd and supposed the school had weird teachers for one reason and one reason only, they couldn't get anyone else. She wasn't sure but she figured not many people would actually want to be at Central City High, given the students. Almost all the kids had issues of some sort.
Hinata sighed heavily while Kabuto continued to draw diagrams on the board. She was already seeing connections between herself and the students she despised. She too had more issues than she would like to count. At her last school, there had been some disputes about her affiliation with Shukaku. Of course, she told them they were wrong but, they didn't believe her. So, after winning a brute fight with some older boys, she ended up getting expelled from M.J. Grant. She was so used to the routine of being expelled from school, that she decided to save herself some time and boredom, and just leave. Just walk out of the school, like she owned the place.
Now, here she was, wasting away in some Chemistry class at Central City High because of her connections to Shukaku.
Hinata looked about the room. Sakura hadn't taken the hint at all so she was still happily sitting beside her, which Hinata ignored completely. Trying to remember her classmates from before her incident, and analyzed everyone in the class. Sakura had always been close with another girl besides Hinata. Hinata, almost straining to remember, thought her name was Ino, Ino Yamanaka or something like it. She started to search for her, looking for bright blond hair and skimpy clothes, most likely purple.
Almost instantly she spotted the girl, her hair tied up at the back of her head with a small purple halter-top with accompanied purple mini skirt. Did everyone at this school dress the same? Hinata sighed, that girl was here too, meaning a lot of other kids from before would be here too. Hinata's head thunked on the table, she was too tired for this kind of torture.
She looked up at the board again and towards the teacher, still finding it difficult to concentrate on the lesson at hand. Kabuto was still talking about atoms and chemicals. Hinata started settling in for a nice long nap when it was interrupted by the bell dinging loudly. With relief stretching across her face, she stood and moved towards the door before Kabuto could have a chance of seeing her.
"Are you the new student, Hinata Hyuuga?" just as before, all Hinata did was nod and continued on her way to her next class.
- - - - -
Hinata couldn't believe this had slipped her mind. Anyone else would have thought about this but she didn't have this elective at her last school. So, she just stared at the two doors in front of her, unsure of what to do.
"Dude, you're in the way" a girl said as she shoved past Hinata and into the girls' locker room. Her problem just so happened to be that she wasn't sure which locker room to go into. She was supposed to be a boy in the eyes of all the teachers and students but, she needed to change into her gym-uniform, and her being a girl, she should go into the girls' locker room to do that. Except, as soon as she would walk in she would hear screaming and be hit, most likely, multiple times. She didn't need that at the moment. The other door which would lead to the boys' locker room would be extremely uncomfortable for her, most likely resulting in her being exposed, or her eyes burning at the sight of many, many, many naked boys. Something she truly didn't want to endure at the moment. So, she just walked away, heading for the gym instead. She could just change later or make an excuse.
Hinata walked through the double doors of the gym and headed towards some wood bleachers. She walked up until she reached about mid-way and sat down with her limbs sprawled out across the seats. No one was in there yet so Hinata figured she was okay for now. Unfortunately, her "alone time" was immediately interrupted.
"Hey kid, what the hell do you think you're doing, go and get dressed!" a woman yelled as she stomped into the gym. At the sudden noise Hinata lurched forward and her limbs went about her in a precarious fashion, with her head whipping around to find the source. She found a woman with dark purple hair tied up in a knot, simply a mess, wearing combat boots with dark gray leggings with a khaki skirt and clingy white tank top, covered by a black sweat jacket, the silver whistle around her neck identified her as a gym teacher but, Hinata already knew who the woman was.
Hinata wanted to scream at Anko, a close friend of Kurenai's, but she figured Anko was her teacher now and she shouldn't cause a scene. "Yes ma'am," Hinata said, hopping up onto the bleacher seats and jumping on them on her way down to Anko.
Hinata stopped in front of Anko, only a foot away from her, and smiled. "Recognize me yet Anko?" Hinata asked, her smile growing ever stronger.
Anko's mouth opened, intent on yelling at the teenager in front of her and forcing them to run laps while the class simply watched, only to be halted and stay silent. Anko was shocked; she didn't expect to see Hinata here, of all places. Anko knew Hinata, through her being one of Kurenai's close friends. She knew her past, and how Kurenai reacted to it, being one of the persons she called the night she found out what exactly had happened to Hinata. This, unfortunately for Anko, caused Hinata to trust her completely.
Anko couldn't help but smile, "What are you doing here? I thought you went to M.J. Grant."
Hinata's smile changed to a smirk, "I got-uh-transferred again." Anko only replied with an 'ah', knowing full well what Hinata meant. "Do you think," Hinata began, her face slowly turning a whiter color, "that we could go to your office real quick, until the other kids get here?" she asked, her smile slowly getting shaky.
Anko replied with a nod and gestured for Hinata to follow her. The two walked towards the double doors and into the hallway. Straight across from the locker rooms, just down the hall, were the coaches' offices, their door across from the locker room of their respective gender. Anko, searching for a key in her pocket, answered Hinata's unasked question of who the other office belonged to. "That's Gai's office, he's the other gym teacher, he's really annoying," she said with a roll of her eyes and the click of the lock. "Come on in," she said, waving a hand for Hinata to follow her into the room.
Anko walked into her office, sitting down in a rolling chair behind her desk. On the wall to the left, beside the desk, was a message board, covering the expanse of plain white wall. Opposite the office door, a large window let in light, with a cushioned bench just beneath it. On the right wall was a door, leading to a private bathroom, complete with shower, sink, and toilet. Towards the office door was a filing cabinet with a calendar above it. Behind Anko's chair, was Hinata stumbling in after her.
Her face was slowly paling to a bright white and the edges of her sight were fading to gray. "Anko," Hinata said, sitting down on the bench and grabbing her side, "I need your help."
With a move of her hand, Anko slammed the door behind her shut. "What do you need Hinata?" she asked, moving towards the girl.
"Bandages," Hinata said, taking off her hoodie to reveal a loose wifebeater beneath it.
"For what?"
"For this," Hinata replied, lifting up her tank top to reveal bandages surrounding her chest and a dark purple bruise stretching across her ribcage.
"What the hell did you do?!" Anko scolded, looking down at Hinata like she was a five year-old child. Hinata just shrugged, then hissed, finding it hurt to do so. Anko huffed and turned towards her bathroom, searching for a first aid kit. She was ticked but she knew Hinata needed some salve and bandages for that bruise, seeing as it was slowly turning green in the center and gray at the edges.
"So, what do you think the damage is?" Hinata asked Anko while she searched through her cabinets.
"It looks like you at least broke three ribs from here, but I can't tell for sure until I look at them more closely."
Hinata sighed. She needed to fix this right away, if Kurenai noticed she had been fighting the other night, there would be problems. Anko re-entered the room with a small white kit in her hands. Knowing this routine rather well, Hinata eased back into her chair.
Anko sat on the green tiled floor in front of Hinata. She carefully started brushing her fingers against Hinata's ribs, when her finger tips came in contact with bone, Hinata couldn't help but hiss. "You know, this sort of thing really isn't good for you…" Anko said, exasperated at Hinata's condition. The girl clearly didn't care how much damage she did to her body. Anko reached for the salve, knowing now that Hinata had broken at least two ribs and fractured two others. "This should help some," Anko muttered, moving her goop covered fingers over the bruised areas, brushing lightly against Hinata's ribs. Hinata, not one to pay too much attention to wounds since her past experiences of doctors fussing over her, started counting ceiling tiles.
'… 2… 4… 6…' Anko wiped some more salve across the entirety of Hinata's ribs then set the small jar back in the kit while taking out a bandage wrap.
'… 12… 14… 16…' Anko wrapped the bandage around Hinata's torso, wincing slightly when she pressed too hard on the bruised area of Hinata's ribs. All Hinata did was bite her lower lip, trying to silent the air trying to hiss through her mouth. Anko hastily finished her work, fastening the end of the bandage to another piece with a clip. "All done," Anko whispered, trying not to discomfort Hinata.
Anko sat back on the ground while Hinata put herself together, quickly bringing her hoodie back over her head. "So," Anko began uneasily, "what are you going to do?"
Hinata's eyes widened, she wasn't entirely sure what she was going to do. She could try to sneak into the girls' locker room and change but, eventually she would have to come out. She could bear through it and somehow change in the boys' locker room… Yet, she still didn't want to have to come to that.
"Anko," Hinata mumbled, shifting in her seat, "do you think I could just change in here… for the rest of the time I have this class…" she tried to smile and say it sweetly but, there was no way of her words sounding simple.
"No."
"Bu-bu-but… Anko-o, please," Hinata got down on her knees, pleading with the stubborn Anko who was pacing around her office now. "Pretty please," Hinata begged, her eyes growing wide in desperation and fear.
"Hinata you know I–"
A loud BAM reached their ears as someone hit the door to the office. "Anko-o-o!" yelled a male voice from outside her door, "class is beginning, and the students will need to be split up in order to equally participate!"
"Give me a second GAI!" Anko yelled, standing up and walking towards the door, while making gestures for Hinata to hurry up and follow her, "I'll be right out!"
"Fine, but make sure you remember to bring the attendance list, we don't need anyone skipping out on gym, especially since what happened last week…" Gai trailed off, not wanting to elaborate. Last time they forgot to take attendance, two members from separate gangs had attacked each other. It had caused a rather large mess and set the entire staff on edge for weeks.
"I'll be right out Gai, just give me a minute, I AM a girl ya know!" Anko yelled through the door.
"Uh-oh-ya, um… Right, I'll just get started then," Gai fumbled, hurrying over to the Gym.
With a sigh, Anko looked back at Hinata, her eyes resting on the slightly despairing girl. "Ugh," Anko moaned, "Fine! I'll give you the okay not to participate today, seeing as you are both injured and a new student. But, next time, you better be ready to participate in class. I don't care where you change or how, as long as it isn't in my room. That's all I can do for you for now." Anko huffed and opened her office door with a huff feeling utterly drained.
Hinata, invigorated at the thought of being able to wait until next time to have to deal with the horror bestowed upon her, she jumped into the air. Only to hiss in pain and grab her side: she really needed to learn to be mindful of her injuries.
- - - - -
For the entirety of Physical Education, Hinata slept. Not waking up for anything at all. Not when the girls yelled for her attention, the boys almost hit her with the basketball, or when she started to slip from the top row of the bleachers. She woke up, finally, when the loud ringing of the bell echoed through the Gym.
She hurried to her locker, only to find that she had lunch after Gym. Hinata searched her locker for her lunch but, was unable to find anything remotely similar to food or money.
Irritated by the day she was having, she kicked her locker.
Hinata, trying to find something better to do, fished her iPod out from the pocket of her hoodie. She started to blare her playlist while grabbing her World History book and spiral notebook. Then, Hinata made her way towards her fifth hour class, World History, with Asuma Sarutobi.
The rest of her day was similar, with having to go to sixth hour Computers with Ebisu and seventh hour English with Iruka.
In all of her classes, Hinata either slept or listened to her iPod, waiting for the teacher to finish compiling their notes on the board so that she could just write them down and leave. She just wanted to get back and practice with her friends. However, she found, throughout all of her classes, she had done the opposite of what she had intended: receive attention.
In every class, there seemed to be something that got everyone to notice her.
In World History with Mr. Sarutobi, she had accidently called him Asuma, in front of the entire class. Apparently, although outside school and at her house, she could call him Asuma, Kurenai's boyfriend, inside school she couldn't, at all. She ended up sitting in the hallway after that, and although the green halls tile is green like grass, or pine, it isn't as soft as it. Hinata had learned this the hard way after trying to sleep on the tile.
In Computers with Ebisu, apparently not following the rules, and sleeping on the keyboard, was a very bad idea. Calling Mr. Ebisu a blind weirdo didn't help either, even if it was mumbled. She ended up in the hallway again. To Hinata, it started to seem that the teachers' only comeback was to send the students into the hall to be threatened by gang members instead of actually sending them to detention. However, Hinata didn't appear to be anything to worry about: a rather short emo boy wasn't anything they deemed as "worrisome".
With Iruka, the English teacher, Hinata wasn't punished. There was no need. All she did was attempt to sleep while the other kids kicked chairs about, argued, and acted, simply, like wild animals. It was worse than Chemistry, seeing as the teacher was in the room, the entire time.
When the bell rang for the end of school, chaos ensued. Kids ran through the halls, yelling to their friends and enemies. It was all Hinata could do to stay out of the way by pressing herself against her locker.
When the way seemed clear, Hinata started to gather her things. She left the school's grounds as quickly as possible, trying to reach home before Kurenai, and leave home before Neji could lecture her.
- - - - -
Hinata passed through the gray streets, trying to reach the subway and catch her ride, not wanting to have to wait another ten minutes for the next train. Finding the underground's opening, she ran down the steps, swiping her card and running towards the coming train.
The doors opened slowly, with no one getting off. Hinata ran through before they could close. Catching her breath, she looked around, searching for a seat.
Exhaling, Hinata fell into a seat, placing her headphones over her ears and turning up her music, thinking of other times on the railway.
It had been a hard day. Fighting with upperclassmen always left her somewhat drained, and, knowing the speech that waited for her at home, she was in no hurry to get there.
The doors of the train opened to reveal a typical car: a row of ten double seats on both sides, with a strip of seating at both ends of the train, three polls in the aisle, and five polls creating a pentagon at both ends, just in front of each strip of seats.
Hinata moved slowly, as the train started up, towards a seat five rows in. Hinata sat down, trying to mind her slightly bleeding knuckles and bruised thighs and abdomen. Biting her lip, she tilted her head back, trying to relax.
The train stopped again, halting for another pick up. Hinata sighed and opened her eyes, trying to see if she would have to share her car with anyone else, when she really didn't want to.
A fiery redhead stepped onto the train, his sea foam green eyes wandering around the car, inspecting the various seats. With a turn he sat down, claiming the strip at the back for himself. He too tilted his head back as Hinata had done before. Suddenly, his head snapped forward and their eyes met, green meeting lavender.
The two inspected each other, accessing threat.
Hinata stared at the boy, finding dark black circles around his eyes, marking him as clearly tired. However, she was searching for any gang symbols on his person, such as the red cloud for Akatsuki and any music note for the Sound. However, she found no such symbols. Only that the boy liked red and black a little too much, seeing as his t-shirt was blood red with a white wifebeater underneath, a black zip up over the t-shirt, and black cargo jacket, atop his jacket. His pants, however, were black raggedy jeans with black vans. A chain linked between two of his belt loops and a mark in black ink completed what she had already assumed, he was a free fighter, just like herself.
Hinata, however, being as sleepy as she was, didn't notice that the boy was inspecting her too. Her dark clothing of a dark blue hoodie, over a white wifebeater, with dark jeans and dark black vans for shoes, branded her as being liable as a gang member. However, he too was unable to find any marks, identifying her as a gang member of anything. The fiery redhead, however, saw the black ink mark that crept across her hand and up her forearm. Clearly, she was a free fighter.
The two nodded to each other, recognizing the other as the same and not wanting to harm the other. However, there was a hint of challenge in both of their eyes.
The boy sat forward, placing his elbows on their corresponding knees and bringing both his hands together, as if forming a prayer. "Show me your moves," he ordered.
And she did. Kicking the balls of her feet across each poll, propelling her body forward and back, spinning through the air like a trapeze artist without a partner, however, she didn't seem to need one. Her hands clasped a bar overhead, linking all the polls together, she used inertia, and swung herself forward, spinning towards the boy at the end of the car. Suddenly, before slamming into the boy, she rotated in a circle in the air, and, just barely making any noise, as her feet touched the ground in front of the teenager.
"Well," the boy began, "I gotta say, I've never seen anyone move that fast."
Hinata just smiled, keeping her head down.
"Especially a girl," the boy said with a smirk. Instantly Hinata's head shot up, her eyes wide open and bangs a mess. "My name's Gaara Sibaku," the boy explained, "and I would like to know your name."
Hinata hesitated and looked around. Her eyes lit up but she tried to keep her face guarded as the train came to the next stop. "I'm afraid," she said, looking towards the opening double doors, "you'll have to wait until next time, when you show me your moves."
And she walked out, not knowing that she had just left a soon to be gang leader very, very interested. Soon, she would find just how much, and just how deep she had just gotten herself into the business of all gangs. Soon, she would find herself being the best weapon ion all of the gangs. Becoming Hime.
Hinata shook her head, releasing herself from her memories. The doors to the train slid open and she looked out at the platform, finding it to be her stop.
She grabbed her backpack and made her way through the underground and towards exit.
Looking around her neighborhood and reliving her day in her head, Hinata couldn't help but mumble, "I think I'm in way over my head."
- - - - - -
Author's Note:
Yes, it's finally over. (the chapter… not the fanfic…) There may be hints of Gaahina, it'll most likely happen by accident… BUT, I plan on Sasuhina, soon it'll be the only one to make sense… so… THANKS FOR READING!!! Also, review if ya please. (you don't have to… it's just nice… that way I know someone read it…) The next chapter may end up being about the same length… sorry. Also, I apologize for the lack of action in this chapter.