Chapter 4:
One moment, everything froze, no one moved, nothing breathed. The next moment, a fist went flying.
Sai didn't see it coming. By the time it registered, he was on the ground blinking dazedly up at the blond woman shaking her fist in his face.
After another thorough smackdown where Sai ended up with more than a few bump on his head, the group of boys was herded into the black SUV and were on the road.
None of the three opened their mouths at the thought that they all shared. Kidnapping was still illegal, right?
Naruto wasn't too concerned. Tsunade had been hinting at meeting his friends, and since he hadn't even met them himself personally(he hadn't told her that bit), this was a good alternative. He even had to admit to himself that Sai was growing on him.
The ride to Naruto's house held silence from the four males, but more than a few 'hag? I'm not a hag! Ridiculous!' from Tsunade. How she had ended up dragging everyone into her car without their say-so, was a mystery since Sai was sure she didn't like him, and the other two had tried giving excuses that she just wouldn't listen to.
"Alright! I left Jiraiya to cook dinner, and knowing him, he ordered a bunch of pizza's instead of actually cooking. He'll be the one giving you rides home once everyone's full." Tsunade led the parade of teenage boys through the front door and through the living room to the other side of the house where they could smell food.
"Welcome home my lovely wife and son! I have-oh! Hello there!" A man with long white hair cried out with a grin.
The group of dark haired boys stepped back slightly as Jiraiya eyed them before he started giggling happily.
Both the blondes ignored it and stepped up to the island table in the middle of the rather large kitchen that help a total of seven pizza boxes from the local Domino's.
"Pervert." Naruto muttered to the madly giggling man. "This is my adopted father, Jiraiya. Ignore anything he says."
Jiraiya just chuckled some more before opening his mouth. "Is that your new harem, Naruto? I'm impress-!" The man was cut off when Naruto dragged him out of his chair and out the back door. "I'm kidding! I'm kidding! Nooooo! My food!"
Naruto slammed the door shut and locked it before returning to the table where Tsunade had pulled out five plates and handed them out like nothing had happened.
Sasuke, Shikamaru and even Sai had weirded out looks on their faces.
"Sorry, he has no manners." Naruto snorted, forgoing the plate in front of him and held his pizza in his hand.
Tsunade motioned the three teens to the table and they hesitantly stepped up to it, each taking a slice of pizza and placing it on their plates before sitting on the stools. "Don't be shy, there's plenty of food. Since Jiraiya can't behave himself, Naruto'll take you guys home if that's what's got you so shy."
Just then, her cell phone gave a shrill ring. "Damn." She muttered, looking at the screen before answering it. "This is Doctor Tsunade, what can I do for you? I see... We'll be right there."
Without saying good-bye, she hung up the phone. After looking through her bag for a few seconds, she pulled out a set of keys and placing them on the table in front of Naruto who was chewing on his pizza.
"Use the truck, alright? Don't stay up too late, I'm not sure how long we'll be gone." Tsunade ruffled his hair before turning to the three other teens who looked like they were stuck like deer in headlights. "Stay as long as you like, you're the first friends of Naruto's that we've met!" She had clearly forgotten about Sai's comment from earlier.
Tsunade walked over to the back door, opened it, grabbed Jiraiya by the ear and pulled him through the kitchen before disappearing again.
"Sorry she dragged you here. If you guys want to leave, just say so and I'll drop you guys off." Naruto said not looking up from his pizza. He knew that was probably what they wanted since they weren't really his friends. Tsunade liked to jump to conclusions, and she was just so happy that he seemed to have friends since he hadn't spoken to anyone since he'd started school. He wasn't about to pop her happy bubble.
"Is he Jiraiya S?" Sai asked not seeming to want to leave just yet even with the odd scene. "The author of the Icha-Icha novels?"
Naruto raised an eyebrow at him. "You read those?"
"Not really. My current foster parent is obsessed with them and has them all over the house." Sai stated before picking up his pizza and taking a bit e.
Naruto winced in sympathy at the horrors that Sai had probably walked in on while living there with an obvious pervert... "Who's your foster parent?"
"Kakashi-sensei." Sai stated simply.
Naruto's eyes widened. "Kakashi-sensei!? Really?"
"Yeah. His husband, Yamato, wants to adopt me officially. There's no point since I'm almost eighteen but he insisted."
Until that point, both Shikamaru and Sasuke had stayed silent. Neither had tried their pieces of pizza yet. They shared a look before turning back to their plates and eating their slices. Naruto wondered if they had known that about Kakashi, but judging from that look they'd shared, they hadn't known about it.
Naruto whistled." Kakashi's married? I didn't know that."
Sai nodded.
A loud right sounded through the room again and Naruto glanced down at his cell phone. It was a local number but he didn't recognize it. Naruto frowned at it for a second before picking it up. "Hello?"
"..." Naruto could hear breathing coming from the other end of the phone.
"Who's this?" Naruto's eyes narrowed.
"..." There was the noise of a grunt before the call ended.
Naruto pulled the phone away from his ear and stared at the screen for a few seconds. "What the hell was that about...?" He muttered to himself before shaking his head and ignoring it.
He took another slice of pizza and went over to the the fridge to take out a can of coke. "You guys thirsty?" Naruto brought back four cans of soda and handed them out, before opening his own can and taking a sip.
Sai opened his right away, seeming right at home. Naruto couldn't help but smile. Maybe they would become friends. Sasuke and Shikamaru on the other hand...
Them he wasn't so sure about.
Even at that moment, they looked a little awkward. Then again, it could be that they aren't used to just being dragged to strangers houses, even though one of the strangers was a classmate.
His phone rang again, but this time it wasn't a call. Naruto grinned a little as he saw Kiba's name flash on the screen.
Kiba: Yo, dude! Are you free later? I need some help with a project from school. The stupid teacher wanted us to study Konoha and do a presentation about it for next month. Are you willing to tell some of its secrets to an outsider? Haha
Naruto couldn't help but chuckle at that.
Naruto: Sure! How about in two hours? I'll be on my computer by then and can send you page links easier.
Kiba: Sweet! Thanks man! You're a lifesaver!
Naruto: No problem. I'll talk to you in a bit!
With that, Naruto put his phone down, and picked up another slice of pizza, munching on it as he frowned in thought about Kiba's project. What places would be best... The monuments would have to be on it. Next maybe the Arts Institute...
It seemed like the silence had finally gotten to Shikamaru and Sasuke because they both cleared their throats at the same time.
Sai asked the question that the other two couldn't seem to voice. "Are they always like that?"
Naruto didn't even have to ask who he was talking about. "Yeah, pretty much. Ever since I met them they've been like that. Jiraiya was holding back, so you're kinda lucky with that."
Sasuke finally seemed to find it within himself to speak up. "Does she always... take people like that?"
Naruto couldn't help but laugh, his face lightening up immensely. He didn't notice the looks that Sasuke and Shikamaru threw at each other. "She did that with me. I thought she was some crazy lady but all she wanted was to tell me that she had reminded me of someone." The fond smile didn't leave Naruto's face. He glanced at their plates and noticed that the only one still eating was him. He picked up his phone to look at the time and noticed that it was getting pretty late and his battery was pretty low. "Alright, I'll take you guys home now. Sorry about the kidnapping again. Tsunade can be a bit enthusiastic about things like that."
Sasuke and Shikamaru chuckled a little at that and they tense apmasphere seemed to disappear after that.
"I just need to get something from my room." Naruto hoisted his backpack onto his shoulder and walked towards the stairs. He heard a few shuffled steps behind him. After a quick glance to confirm that they had decided to follow, Naruto shrugged and lead them to his room.
It was a mess like always, and Naruto made a mental note to clean it sometime in the future. The trio looked around, noticing the posters on the walls. Next they noticed the amount of books and loose, scrunched up paper lying all over the place.
Naruto ignored the mess and plopped his backpack on his bed. He went searching for his phone changer. Finally, the blond found it under his bed after a few minutes of pushing dirty clothes away. Next, Naruto went looking for his red hoodie. The truck's windows didn't roll up and by the time he was done dropping everyone off it would be dark and cold.
Naruto grumbled to himself when he didn't see it in his closet. He cast his gaze around his room then it hit him. The laundry room. He had done a load of laundry the other day. Hadn't he?
Quickly, Naruto ran down the stairs and into the small room. There he found his lost hoddy. Luckily, it was in the dryer and not in the washing machine.
Up the stairs he went again, grabbed his phone, charger, keys and motion for the trio to follow him back down to the living room and out the door. He made sure to lock it before taking them to the grey truck.
"You walk to school right? Why don't you take the truck?" Sasuke asked as they climbed onto the huge beast. They'd be shoulder to shoulder but they could all fit in it.
"I like walking." Naruto grinned, slamming the door shut and stuffing the key into the ignition. "And this thing uses up too much fuel. I'd rather not go to a gas station every three days to fill it up."
Shikamaru nodded and Sasuke just raised an eyebrow at the stick shift next to Naruto. "You can drive these things?"
"What? Stick shift? It's pretty easy." Naruto shrugged and pulled out of the driveway as Sai finished buckling himself up. "Who's first?" Naruto asked as he headed out of his street.
"Shikamaru and I live across from each other in the North Valley Gardens." Sasuke replied, holding on to the dash in front him as Naruto sped the truck up.
"I live in South Gardens." Sai stated, face impassive as they went down the street.
Naruto turned right and Shikamaru grunted, placing his hand in front on the dashboard too. "North it is." Naruto gave them a foxy grin before turning his attention back to the road. It seemed like in next to no time they screeched to a stop in a very nice neighborhood. It wasn't surprising since both Shikamaru's and Sasuke's family was wealthy and hand their own corporate business. Naruto had heard of Uchiha Enterprises and Nara Corp. way before he'd even moved there.
Sai unbuckled his seat and got out, allowing the other two, slightly shaken, teens to leave the confines of the truck. They jumped out before turning back to give Naruto a wave. "Thanks man."
"See you at school." Sasuke stated as Sai got back into the truck and shut the door with a loud thump.
Naruto waved, and took off again, going up the street and turning right and right again instead of doing a u-turn.
"Do you have anymore tattoo's?" Sai asked, looking over at the blond with interest.
Naruto shook his head. He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket but decided against fishing it out. It could wait. "Nah, just that one."
"Do you want another one?"
Naruto contemplated that for a moment. "I might not. If I do, it has to mean something."
Sai nodded in understanding though his face didn't necessarily show it.
"What about you, Sai? Do you have any tattoo's?" Naruto returned as he went down the street.
His phone vibrated, but Naruto ignored it again.
"Turn left on Desert Road. I've got one." Sai said, rolling up his sleeve to show his shoulder. "I designed it. It took me a while to find someone to do it for me since I can't reach back there."
Naruto looked at the tattoo for a second, before turning back to the road. "That looks sick. You draw?"
Sai nodded, pointing to the house on the left. "I will be attending the Konoha Arts Institute after I graduate."
"That's awesome." Naruto stopped and watched as Sai got out of the truck with ease. "Can I see your sketchbook tomorrow?"
Sai nodded and waved good bye after shutting the door. Naruto watched him go up his driveway before pulling out his phone to see who had been messaging him.
The icon for his voicemail was on, so Naruto put in his code and placed his phone near his ear.
There were two messages. The first one ended quickly. Naruto delete that one before waiting for the second one to start.
A few silent moments passed and Naruto thought that it was another no message one when someone spoke. "I see you." The message ended and Naruto pull the phone away to stare at the screen with a bit of a grimace. He checked the number and noticed that both calls had had private.
"Stupid prank calls." Naruto mumbled to himself before turning on the radio and made his way home.
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Ring.
Ring.
Ring.
Ring.
"Ugh, shut up.." Naruto mumbled from under his pillow, hand reaching out to where his phone was. He hadn't gotten much sleep since he'd stayed up late the night before helping Kiba with his project. He'd also finished typing three chapters for his story.
Groggily, Naruto peeked from out of his pillow, squinting as soon as the light from his screen hit him. He noticed that it was 4 a.m.
"Seriously?" Naruto groaned, emerging from his pillow nest and blearily looking through his missed call log. He'd gotten three calls, all from private numbers. "Asshole."
No one had left any voice mails this time. Naruto rolled onto his back and blinked up at the ceiling with a sigh. He doubted he'd be able to fall asleep again even if he was tired. With a grunt, the blond pushed himself up and off the bed.
He gathered his things for a shower and headed into the bathroom. On his way, he noticed that the door leading to Tsunade and Jiraiya's room was still open. They hadn't come home yet. Naruto winced, whenever they did, Tsunade was going to be a grumpy mess.
Looking down at the phone in his hand, the blond tapped on his Pandora app. He changed the station and put it on blast before placing it on the counter and closing the door behind him with his foot. He quickly rid himself of his clothes, he'd fallen asleep without changing it seemed, and jumped into the hot spray.
Naruto closed his eyes and leaned his head against the shower wall, letting the water run down his head.
He had to admit, his life was pretty good at the moment. Even with a creepy chemistry teacher stalking him. Even that could just be his imagination. The man did remind Naruto of him. His past. But it would be ridiculous to connect them just because they looked similar. Naruto just had to forget about it. He didn't want to remember.
Well. There was a few pieces of his past that he didn't hate. What he really wanted was to see Gaara.
Gaara, with his red hair, smoldering eyes, and intense kisses. As if on its own accord, Naruto's hand reached up to brush against his lips. Even after three years, he could still remember the feel, the taste...
God how he wanted it again. Wanted Gaara again.
A memory invaded his thoughts just them. They had gone to the park on a cloudy day. Neither of them had minded that the clouds had thrown water down to the earth. It had been a drizzle and they'd held hands, shared looks.
And the kisses, they had been magical that day. It had felt like they were the only two in the world. With Gaara, Naruto had felt loved. For the first time in his life. When he had been younger, he'd had it too, but that had been more friendship. With Gaara, it had been more, it had been everything.
With a shake of his head to dispel the tears, Naruto put some shampoo in his hand and lathered it into his blond hair. It was getting long, he'd have to get it cut soon. After the shampoo left his hair, Naruto turned off the water and got out. He toweled himself off, and put on his boxers and some black jeans.
Naruto picked up his phone and left the bathroom, leaving the door open. He made his way back to his room and sat down at his desk. Deciding to work some more on his book entry, Naruto took out his notebook from his backpack while his laptop booted up. After typing in his password and opening his document, Naruto got to work.
"If I can finish by the end of the week, I can send in it on Monday..." Naruto mumbled, leaning back against his chair briefly as he skimmed through the few sentences he'd written.
He reached onto his desk drawer and pulled out his glasses case. Naruto took them out and placed the black frames on. The semi fuzzy words cleared, and once again, the blond got to work.
Hours passed by with Naruto looking between the papers and his screen. The time didn't register to him until his alarm clock set off, knocking him out of his obliviousness of everything but his story. Swiftly, Naruto yanked off his glasses and blinked at the alarm.
With a start, Naruto finally registered the time flashing at him. "Damn!" He cussed, jumping away from the desk. At least he was done with five more chapters, three to go and the epilogue left.
As quickly as he could, Naruto shoved all his things into his backpack, before going around looking for his socks and shoes. Once he had those on, Naruto ran from his room, picking up a shirt on his way out and hurtled out of the house like his feet were on fire.
By the time Naruto made it to school, his shirt was on and he was out of breath. Maybe he should have taken the truck that once but he'd forgotten about it. "Stupid memory!" Naruto grumbled to himself as he made his way down the crowded halls and into his Algebra class. He made it just before the bell sounded. Naruto headed to his at the back. Shikamaru and Sasuke were already there. It seemed like he was the only one that was still standing up.
As soon as his butt hit the seat, the door opened and in walked Iruka-sensei. Naruto blinked for a second, usually Iruka was in the classroom before anyone else and hardly left it during that time. "Please do the problems on the board. I will be leaving the room for a few moments and when I come back, I expect them to be done." With that, he walked out the door leaving behind a few bewildered faces.
Naruto took out his a few sheets of paper and copied the problems onto it.
"Hey, Naruto." Someone said, making him glance up from the problems that he semi understood. Or at least he thought he did.
"Yeah?" Naruto looked up and noticed that it had been Shikamaru.
"Need help?"
Naruto grinned. "Sure!"
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"Naruto." Sai acknowledged as he sat down next to the blond at the table with the group they'd been introduced to the day before.
Naruto looked up from his notebook and smiled at him. "Hey."
"Here is my sketchbook." Sai held it out to Naruto who took it and eagerly turned the page to take a look.
"Wow, these are amazing Sai!" Naruto exclaimed as he looked through to the last half of the book.
"Thank you." Sai gave Naruto a small smile.
"Aren't you going to eat?" Shikamaru asked as he set his tray on Naruto's other side. Sasuke sat on the free seat next to him. No one else had gotten to the table yet.
Naruto glanced up at the line before shaking his head with a chuckle. "Nah. I forgot my wallet this morning. I woke up early and yet I was still almost late to class."
"Why did you get up early?" Sai commented as he watched Naruto flip through his sketchbook again.
"I didn't do it on purpose. Some idiot keeps calling me. The ringing woke me up and I couldn't fall asleep again." Naruto grumbled. "I can't even call the number back either."
"That doesn't explain why you were almost late to class, dobe." Sasuke spoke up with a smirk as Naruto sputtered indignantly at that.
"Don't call me that! Teme!" Naruto crossed his arms across his chest, and almost pouted. Almost.
Sai glanced from Naruto to Sasuke before turning back to the blond. "He's right."
"Ugh, fine! It's because I was writing and the time sort of...slipped my mind?" Naruto humphed before smiling. "And I'm almost done too!"
"Done with what?" Shikamaru asked after he'd swallowed his bite of rice cake.
Naruto sat up straight with a slight flush creeping up his neck. "Ah, well... You see... I'm entering a short story contest thing... and I finished more than half of it already...and yeah... that's what I was doing..."
"That's pretty cool. Is that why you're always writing in your laptop and notebook?" Shikamaru asked.
"Not really... I write fanfictions too..."
"Ah."
Sai was the next one to speak up. "What kind of fanfictions?"
Naruto contemplated that for a moment. He knew that all three had gotten the hint that he was gay... so if they didn't show any negative reactions to that then they probably wouldn't with his writing. Maybe. Eh."Well... It depends but I usually write yaoi."
"Yaoi?!" An excited voice startled all four teenage boys. They turned around as se Hinata and Tenten right behind them. "You write yaoi?!"
The two pushed Sai and Shikamaru out of the way. Sasuke managed to scoot away before Shikamaru could fall on him. Sai almost flew out of his chair with the for that Tenten had elbowed him out of the way.
Naruto looked from one to the other a bit bewildered and wondering if he should even answer the question. "...yes?"
"You've got to let us read them!" Tenten pleaded with stars in her eyes.
Hinata was nodding agreement. "W-we love ya-yaoi."
"Well... I have a... lot posted online... if you want to read those...?" Naruto didn't know where to go, the two girls kept getting closer and closer and he was starting to feel a bit uncomfortable with the proximity.
"What is this 'yaoi' that you speak of?" Lee had walked to the table along with Neji. He too seemed a bit puzzled with that word.
Hinata and Tenten shared a look before bursting out in mad he had to admit, Hinata's giggling was a lot quieter then Tenten's.
Naruto got up from the table, handing over the sketchbook he still had to Sai. "I just remembered, I needed something from the library. I'll give you the website and my username I post my things on after school." With that, Naruto fled.
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The next few weeks came like a flash. Naruto finished typing his short story and turned it in. It had taken just a little bit over than three hundred pages and multiple trip to the store to buy ink cartridges but it had been worth it. He couldn't wait to see what the judges thought. He wasn't conceited enough to say he'd won, but Naruto was proud of his story and just wanted to see what would come of it.
Kiba had told him that the trip had changed again and that they would be going in a week instead of months. Naruto could hardly contain himself with that. Soon he would get to see one of his best friends. Plans were already forming on where they would go and what they would do. He wasn't sure when he would be able to meet Haku but if it wasn't soon, he would go when he graduated. A road trip sounded fun.
Sasuke and Shikamaru hung out with Naruto more and more during school. For the first time since Gaara, Naruto has friends in school. It had been awkward at first, mostly because Naruto hadn't really known what to do a few times, but he had gotten better.
Sai had also made it into his friend circle. He'd been the first one too. Every class they had together, they sat next to each other and talked. Even when there was silence, it was comfortable. Naruto had even had him over at his house every few days. Luckily, Tsunade had seemed to forget about her first meeting with Sai.
Even Shikamaru and Sasuke's group of friends had become slightly more than acquaintances to Naruto. He was sure that he would be comfortable calling them friends soon.
He wasn't exactly sure if Tenten and Hinata had explained the term yaoi to Lee and Neji but the first time he'd seen them after that incident, Lee had told him that writing about love was most youthful.
Neji had seemed as stoic as always, though Naruto had thought that he'd seen the paleness of his skin turn the slightest bit of pink. Though that could have been his imagination.
One thing that got on his nerves was that he was still getting the prank calls. No one had left any messages. More and more, the prank caller(Naruto was sure it was the same person) was calling early in the morning. Naruto hadn't had a decent night's sleep in weeks and it was starting to get to him.
"Did you hear? There's a new transfer student!"
Naruto heard someone exclaim to their group as he walked through the hallway on his way to his mandatory study session with Orochimaru. This was the part of the day that he hated the most. Even the prank calls didn't have nothing on that. Going to Orochimaru for study sessions was torture. Every look that Orochimaru gave him, sent shivers down Naruto's spine. They weren't the good kind either. So far nothing like that day had happened, but Naruto couldn't help but think that it would. He couldn't even tell anyone either because he hadn't even done anything. What would he say? 'Hi, I'm getting this creepy feeling from my chemistry teacher and I can't stand being in the same room with him'. Yeah, that was not going to work.
"Yes! We haven't had anyone new since that Uzumaki kid, right?"
Naruto flinched a little, hidding his face with his hoodie a bit more. The tone she'd said his name in... Obviously she'd heard about his family.
"Yeah, hopefully this one won't be like him. He's supposed to start tomorrow..."
Naruto opened the door to Orochimaru's room and let it slam shut behind him before he heard anything else.
Yes, he had friends, but people still thought badly of him. Even though he'd done nothing.
"Naru-chan, so nice to see you."
Naruto jumped in surprise, hood flying off his head. He hadn't expected Orochimaru to be standing so close to the door. "Uh, hello..." Naruto mumbled, heading to Orochimaru's desk. Before he could sit down though, he felt a hand skimming his side. The blonde froze, and again he felt the touch. Something else brushed against his neck, making Naruto flinch.
"Let's get started, shall we?" Orochimaru whispered into his ear before going to sit in his chair like nothing had happened.
Naruto couldn't sit down, his muscles were locked and his blue eyes wide in shock. He had just kissed him. Orochimaru had just kissed his neck...
Orochimaru raised an eyebrow, looking concerned, though Naruto could see a satisfied glint in his eyes. "Is something wrong?"
Naruto swallowed hard before taking a seat.
"You know, I looked through your file, Naru-chan. Your adopted mother is Tsunade, correct?" Orochimaru caught Naruto's eye and smiled. "We've been friends since childhood. Very good friends. Jiraiya too."
Naruto dropped his eyes and swallowed hard again.
Nothing else happened but every time that Orochimaru leaned closer, Naruto flinched away.
The bell rang and students drifted into the room while Naruto moved away from Orochimaru and back to his desk. During class, Orochimaru stayed close to Naruto. Nobody seemed to notice anything wrong though. The blond kept his eyes locked on his table top. Time passed agonizingly slowly for him.
When the bell rang, the classroom emptied quickly, and Naruto tried his best to put his things away. Sasuke and Shikamaru had just stepped out the door, they had been moved farther away from Naruto but closer to the exit.
"Have a good day Naru-chan." Naruto jumped away and adverted his gaze. He walked out of the room, ignoring the chuckle that followed him out of the door.
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"Yo, Naruto." Shikamaru walked next to Naruto as they left the school.
"What's up?" Naruto grinned weakly at the genius.
Shikamaru frowned as he looked at Naruto. "Are you alright?"
Naruto glanced away quickly before focusing on Shikamaru again. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little tired. What did you need?" The blond quickly changed the subject.
Shikamaru gave him a look but complied with the subject change. "We have openings for the basketball team. Coach wanted us to ask around to see if anyone wanted to join."
"Basketball?" Naruto bit his bottom lip. "I don't know..."
"Come on, it's not that bad."
Naruto sighed. "Fine, I'll try out. I'm not promising anything more than that though."
Shikamaru gave a nod before waving and walking away. "After school tomorrow at the gym."
Naruto waved that he'd heard and began walking home. He would usually go find Sai but he didn't feel like it.
"Hey brat!"
Naruto looked up and saw Tsunade waving at him from her SUV. He walked over and got into the car. "I didn't expect you here."
Tsunade grinned at Naruto. "I was here visiting an old pal and I thought I might as well take you home."
Naruto felt the his stomach drop. "Really? W-who?"
"His name is Orochimaru. Do you have him for any classes? We used to live on the same street when we were younger. We went to school together. It's good to see old friends. He hasn't changed one bit." Tsunade chuckled as she drove down the street not noticing the look on Naruto's face. "You know that Jiraiya and Orochimaru used to try to oneup each other? They were such kids."
Not a word left Naruto's lips, not that Tsunade noticed.
"Oh! He invited us over to dinner for next Friday, try to have a free schedule, alright?" Tsunade turned into their driveway and parked.
Naruto nodded, and jumped out of the car. "I'm not hungry, I'm going to finish up some homework."
"Oh, are you sure?"
"Yeah.."
Once in his room, Naruto shut his door and leaned against it. He slowly slid down, eyes staring sightlessly ahead.
"Naru-chan."
Even if he told them, they wouldn't believe him. Nobody would.
"We were good childhood friends. He hasn't changed."
"He's eccentric but he's been teaching students for years. The principal loves him. He could be working at a government facility but he chose the Academy."
He had asked around to his newfound friends but none of them had said anything bad about Orochimaru. It was only with Naruto... he could only hope that things didn't get worse.
His phone rang but the sound didn't register.
A/N: Thank you for the reviews, faves and follows! I really appreciate them!
Special thanks to the previous chapters reviewers: yumenohime-sama, Guest(1), Guest(2), and PurpleOmpski!
Guest (1): I'm glad you do! You'll have to wait and see! ;D. Yay!
Guest(2): I'm so glad you love it! I actually found one but if you have an account, let me know what your username is and if my current beta doesn't have time anymore, I'll let you know :D.