Lunch eh? You read your schedule in your head. You were walking back down the main hallway that lead to the classrooms towards the cafeteria. Maybe Naruto has lunch with me, but I don’t see him right now. I’ll meet him there if I see him. It shouldn’t be too hard to find a big room full of kids and the smell of, most likely, cruddy food. I could even just search for Naruto himself, considering anyone could manage to hear him a mile away. Ha!

You continued down the hallway with your amusing thoughts, while still trying to hear or see anything related to the cafeteria and/or Naruto. You even tilted your head to give your ears better access to all of the noises surrounding you, but it didn’t help, since not one specific noise could be distinguished in the mass of students chatting and walking through the somewhat narrow halls. The one time I’m actually trying to hear Naruto. This sucks.

However, something interesting caught your eyes. To your left was a stairway in the middle of the hall that seemed to lead up past the second floor. Could it lead to the roof? If it does, I’m not gonna have lunch with anyone else. The rooftop at your old school was where you used to eat lunch everyday, since it was away from everyone else. The silence and the view up top was what drew you in before, and plus, no one ever followed you there. You wondered if it was the same here. Well, there’s only one way to find out.

        With your decision in mind, you quickly walked over to the staircase and ascended the stairs, making sure no one you knew saw you. As you neared the top of the third floor, you began to worry that you picked the wrong set of stairs, but those thoughts were put to rest once you saw a big metal door that read: Rooftop: KEEP OUT. The sign didn’t scare you, in fact, it excited you. There was a similar one back at your old school too, and that never stopped you either. It was always getting caught that was the worrisome part.

        You snuck away from the crowd of students to the rooftop door, and quietly tried to open it. The doorknob wouldn’t budge an inch, it was locked. Wait, the key James gave me before I left! That should do it! You pulled your bag off your back and rummaged through it, until your hand brushed across a small foam wrapped object, which you instantly pulled out. You found the edge of the foam and carefully unwrapped the delicate object. In the palm of your hand was the white half of a handmade yin ‘n yang wolf pendant that was hooked to a metal chain. The white wolf was in a half curled position with pure black eyes, and white feathered wings slightly outstretched. Its white tail was the only thing that stuck out from the body, and it ended at a sharp point. It may look like an ordinary pendant, but the tail was actually a secret handmade lock pick, which you could unlock just about anything with given enough skill, hence the tail’s unusual pointiness. They were something only you and James knew how to make.

        You jammed it into the lock and fiddled it around until you heard a ‘click’. You turned the door knob, and luckily it opened. You quickly stepped through the door and closed it as silently yet as swiftly as you could. A breeze of wind blew your (H/L) hair around, and sunlight blinded your eyes. You put your hand on your forehead to shield yourself from the bright light, and basked in the warmth it provided. You were finally outside on the roof. Freedom.

        You walked forward to the edge of the building and sat down. You let your legs dangle off the side and started pulling out your lunch, which was just a sandwich, some orange juice, and a yogurt. Right when you were about to take a bite of your sandwich, the hairs on the back of your neck stood up, and you paused mid-bite. It felt like you were being watched, again. You lifted your mouth off the sandwich and turned your head from side to side, but you saw no one. When you leaned forward and looked down at the grass at the bottom of the school, it was the same thing, nothing. You looked around the roof again, and the watching feeling almost completely disappeared. Why am I so paranoid? Am I just imagining things? Hmm, maybe.

You decided out of nervousness to scoot back from the edge so you could pull your legs up from dangling off the side of the building, and you sat crisscross-applesauce instead. After a few more seconds of making sure the watching feeling wouldn’t come back, you finally started eating. Even after a couple weeks here, this was still some of the best food you’ve ever eaten, at least compared to what your ‘parents’ fed you and James, which was literally slop, stale old left overs, and trash. The only good that did was strengthen your immune system, so you never got sick. The food you used to eat was so bad, you actually remembered the first real food you had, which was when you got to this city. You had passed by a bakery on the way to your interview and you couldn’t help but buy a morning muffin, which was like heaven to your taste buds.

        After you wolfed down your lunch, you put your trash back in your bag and just lied back on the concrete floor. You crossed your arms behind your head and your right leg over your left, relaxing from the events of today so far. You drew a breath in and heaved out a heavy sigh. You let the sunlight completely envelope you in its warmth, and completely ignored everything around you. You remembered you still had your wolf pendant unwrapped, so you reached out for it. Grasping it, you held it up to your face, and remembered the day you got it, the day you had to leave James forever.

        “(Y/N)! Wait!” You were walking down your ‘parents’ driveway, when you heard James call your name. You whipped your head around, fresh tears forming in your bloodshot eyes. You saw the boy you’ve known since almost forever running to you, his short straight black hair that reached just below his ears blew all around from how fast he was running. Even his bangs that normally covered his right eye were being swept away, revealing two determined and longing light brown orbs.

“Slow down James. You know you have to be careful with running.” You mumbled. It surprised you that you scolded him at a time like this, when this would be the last time you would ever see him. It was true that James had a heart condition that needed to be watched over, but should you really have told him off when he was just trying to catch up to you before you left him forever? Alone with your ‘parents’ no less. He finally reached you, and was bent over panting.

“That doesn’t matter right now.” He stood straight up after catching his breath. “Now I… are you crying?” He noticed your tears falling from your eyes, which you didn’t want him to see. You sniffled a response, and he just smiled gently. “Come here.” He spread his arms out and wrapped them around your waist in a tight and comforting hug, and you wrapped your own arms around him and hugged back. Even though James was only two months older than you, he was still about three inches taller than you, which allowed you to bury your head in his chest. He rested his chin on the top of your head, and started rubbing comforting circles on your back to calm you down.

He pulled back and knelt on one knee, becoming eye level with you, and wiped your tears away with his thumb. You grabbed his wrist and pushed it away. “I’m not crying. My eyes are just sweating.” He chuckled.

“Well, can you make your eyes stop sweating so I can give you something? I’d really like my tough little dragon to actually see it.” You smiled at his nickname for you. Your sniffles turned into laughs as you rubbed the rest of your tears away. You had a nickname for him too.

“What does the big bad wolf want to show me then?” He smiled, and pulled out a beautiful pendant, two wolves in a yin ‘n yang shape hooked to two silver metal chains. He split the two wolves apart and held the white wolf out to you.

“This is for you.” You grabbed and examined it. He closed your palm around it, and lightly squeezed your hands. “Use it… ‘wisely’, okay?” He winked. That’s when you noticed the sharp point on the wolf’s tail protruding from between your fingers, and the tone in his voice he used when he said ‘wisely’. You instantly knew what he meant. It was a lock pick. You winked back.

“‘Promise’.” He nodded, and held up the black wolf. It was exactly like the white wolf, except its eyes were pure white and its wings were that of a bat’s.

“This one’s mine.” He gestured to both halves of the pendant. “Two halves of the same piece. Even though far away, we can’t, and won’t, forget each other. Now don’t forget that, and we’ll both be fine.” You chuckled and smirked.

“Now how could I forget a big damn idiot like you, huh?”

“That’s why I can’t forget you, you dumbass.” You both were about to hug again, but a loud shrilling yell pierced the air, drawing both your heads to the sound of the voice. It was your adoptive mom.

“JAMES KEN RYU! GET YOUR DAMN ASS BACK IN HERE AND START CLEANING UP THIS PLACE!! NOW!!!” James sighed loudly, and rose to his feet once more. He turned his head back to you.

“Now don’t cry anymore, my little dragon. I hate to see tears stain that vibrant face of yours. I’ll be fine. You’ll be fine. We’ll be fine. Got it?” You nodded.

“You know I trust you-” Another voice yelled out, cutting you off. This time, it was your adoptive dad.

“(Y/N)!!! YOU HAD BETTER HAVE YOUR FUCKING ASS IN THAT CAR AND BE DAMN WELL GONE BY THE TIME I GET OUT THERE!” You rubbed the back of your neck.

        “I think that’s my cue-” It was James who cut you off this time.

“No, not yet, they can kiss my ass.” He said in a dark tone. You looked at him wide eyed.

“SHH! They’ll hear you! You know what happened the last time we said something like that!” You whisper yelled.

“I don’t care right now. It’s worth it to see you for at least a few more seconds.” You pulled him into another hug.

“And you called me a dumbass.” You and him let go quickly.

“Yes, yes I did.” He and you smiled at each other. “Semper fidelis (Always faithful).” Your eyes widened. He held up his right arm midair in a v-like shape. You did the same and grabbed his right hand with yours.

“Semper Paratus (Always prepared).” You said, and you both finished at the same time.

“Carpe diem, sed memoro, facta non verba et dum tacemus clamamus. (Seize the day, but remember, actions speak louder than words, and while we are silent we shout). Sic semper tyrannis. (Thus always to tyrants). Et esto perpetua taliter (And may it be forever so).” You both gave one last squeeze to each other’s hands before letting go. A few years before, you both had learned Latin in secret, and used it as your code to speak to each other when your ‘parents’ were around. That chant was the motto you created, your set of laws and principles you abided by, the ideals your very life revolved around. You looked up to him with teary eyes. James grabbed your shoulder.

“Eo, bona fide, meus cara. (Go, in good faith, my dear). Alea iam iacta est (The die has already been cast).” You merely gazed down at the floor.

“Scio (I know).” You muttered. You finally looked back up at him, knowing exactly what to say. “Pax Vobiscum (Peace [be] with you).”

“Pax Vobiscum.” He tilted your chin up. “Good luck, my little dragon.” Those would be the last words he would ever speak to you. You both hugged one last time, before he ruffled your hair and waved goodbye. He ran all the way up the drive way while you got in the taxi. You looked out the window and watched as the car drove away from the house, with James waving at you on the front porch, the last time you would ever see him.

        You tightly clutched the wolf pendant in your hand and held it to your chest. And to think this only happened two weeks ago. I feel like such a drama queen. Even though it wasn’t that long ago, you remembered every painstaking detail there was, and you kept your words to this day. You would never forget, no matter how long time grew, your memories will always remain with you. Your eyes almost began to water, almost. You shook your head out of your heart aching thoughts, and looked back up to the bright blue sky.

        This was another reason you liked to be on the roof on days like this one. It was so calm, so serene. The bright sun shining down upon you, the light blue sky with barely any clouds in it at all, the fresh perfect grass down below swaying in the light refreshing breezes. It was all so beautiful, though rather lonely. The rooftops are where you’re truly alone, with nothing holding you back from your thoughts and actions of pure relaxation. These were one of the few moments you were almost truly happy.

        Your peaceful moment was stopped when you suddenly heard the creak of the roof door swing open. You swiftly turned around and saw it being closed, but by who or what, you didn’t see. You were positive you closed it when you came up here, so there was only one explanation; someone had actually been up here with you, and you quickly realized that they had most likely been observing you earlier. Your paranoia turned out to be correct. 

        Realizing that you could get in trouble if you just stood there completely exposed on the roof any longer, you rewrapped your pendant in the foam, picked up all your stuff, and quickly ran to the door. Once you opened it and slipped back inside the building, you closed it as quietly as you could. You found that the bell had already rung, as students crowded around you, twisting, turning, and making it impossible to single any suspicious person out.

        Cursing in your mind, you realized you had to worry about going to your next period, so you had no choice but to ignore the mysterious unidentified watcher and fish out your schedule. History with Ebisu. You tried to think of where it may be for a couple seconds, but you drew a blank. Man, I wish Naruto was here so he could point, well really drag, me to where this class is. But now, unfortunately, you couldn’t ask for Naruto’s help, you were on your own. You walked through the familiar hallways, remembering the paths Naruto had taken you earlier, to see where the different subjects were. Lets see, Science, English, Math… maybe not on the second or third floor, but the first? With that in mind, you decided to make your way to the first floor and search there.

        As you were walking down the flight of stairs to the first floor, you saw a familiar tuft of spiky blonde hair by two black double doors, and you immediately rushed to it. Once off the stairs, the crowd parted for a few seconds, allowing you a better view and a clearer path to Naruto. Said boy turned around, and once he saw you, he ran in your direction.

        “(Y/N)!!!” He yelled and waved, calling your name. When you two met each other halfway, you greeted him.

        “Hey Naruto.” 

        “Where were you at lunch!!?” You scratched your head.

        “Sorry, I was- hey wait a minute! How’d you know we have the same lunch?” You crossed your arms over your chest and gave him a hard, questioning look.

        “Because I’ve seen your schedule, like, a million times today! Duh.” He replied as if the answer was obvious. You half glared, and that’s when he realized that he keeps stealing your schedule, and that you didn’t know you both had the same lunch period, and here he was yelling at you for it. He smiled and rubbed his neck sheepishly. “Oh, eh heh, I probably should’ve told you that, before I kinda… yelled at you… right?” He asked nervously. You unfolded your arms.

        “Yup.” You reached up and ruffled his hair. “But I forgive you.” Naruto smiled.

        “YESSS!!!” He fist bumped the air. Unfortunately, you had to ruin his ‘Naruto’ moment as you like to call it, to find out where you had to go.

        “Naruto.” You said in a firm voice. He was still in his own little world, though. You snapped your fingers once in front of his face. “Naruto.” You spoke more sternly. You continuously snapped your fingers. “Naruto!!” He finally snapped out of his trance.

        “Yeah?” He asked innocently. You sighed.

        “What class do you have next?” For someone reason, it took Naruto a moment to remember.

        “Oh! I know! History with the closet perv, Ebisu.” As the words rolled out of his mouth, you grew nervous. “Hey, what’s wrong? You look a little pale.” You sighed.

        “Naruto.”

        “Hm?”

        “I have that same class.” You stated blatantly. He still wondered why you were freaking out, until he went over what he said in his mind, and instantly began to panic.

        “Uhh, it’s nothing bad! I swear!! I didn’t mean perv as in bad or anything! I just meant, uh, well..” Wait, maybe Ebisu is like Orochimaru, where everyone thinks he’s a perv but he’s not, or maybe something happened for Naruto to give him that name, which is him just being Naruto. I wouldn’t put it past him. While you were lost in your own thoughts, Naruto was panicking on what to do to distract you from Ebisu’s nickname he had mistakenly told you. “Uhh, come on, um, I want you to meet someone!!!” He exclaimed quickly.

        “Wait, what-” Before you could say another word, he grabbed your wrist and started dragging you through the hallways, weaving your way through the squishing bodies of other students. When he stopped you in front of a door with Ebisu’s name on it, you continued your conversation from earlier. “Naruto, who are we meeting, exactly?” He gave you a ‘dangit’ face, disappointed that you remembered what he had said.

        “He’s just one of my closest friends is all! Nothing to worry about.” He said quickly and nervously. You sighed.

        “You know I’m not good with people. It’s a no.” Naruto looked at you pleadingly.

        “But you made a lot of friends just this morning!! Pleeease??” You gave him a stern gaze.

        “I only got lucky. Besides, I didn’t even like most of them at the start.”

        “Well you like them now!!” You sighed once more, since you couldn’t counter his point. “Come on, pleeeeeaaese???” He gave you the most adorable and innocent puppy dog eyes you’d ever seen… again. It wasn’t easy to avoid them either, and they eventually got to you. 

        “Fine. I guess I’ll meet him.” You grumbled. Naruto stopped his innocent look and changed it to one of pure excitement.

        “YES!! I broke the brick wall, believe it!! And now she’s gonna meet-” You punched him a little hard in the shoulder. “OW!!” You apologized… in your own way.

        “Sorry Naruto. I guess the brick wall hits back.” You said sarcastically and smirked. He just put on a forced smile in response. Maybe I hit him a little too hard. As you were thinking this, he gave you a light push.

        “I forgive ya.” He said with a goofy grin. You couldn’t help but smile at his playfulness, and then you both proceeded to enter Ebisu’s room.

        You immediately noticed a crowd of swooning girls gathered around something, or possibly someone, by the desks closest to the door. There were so many of them, you couldn’t even see who or what they were huddled around, and if it was a person, you assumed it was some ‘pretty playboy’ type. Well I know where I’m sitting now, far far away from that guy. You averted your eyes away from the loud girls and noticed a man sitting at a long desk, who you assumed was Ebisu.

        He had slightly tanned skin, black circle lensed sunglasses that looked similar to Shino’s, so you couldn’t see his eyes, and a dark blue beanie that covered his hair. He wore a dark blue men’s jacket with dark blue jeans, and shiny polished black dress shoes. His attire was so plain, it started to hurt your eyes just looking at him.

        When the man noticed you and Naruto, well really Naruto, he shot up from his chair and stormed right over to you both, and started yelling at the poor boy next to you.

        “Naruto! You were supposed to meet me after school on Friday for your lessons! Why weren’t you here for them!? Explain yourself!!” Well, it doesn’t surprise me that Naruto did something like this, or that he has to have lessons after school. Wow I’m mean today. Even with the shouting, Naruto still kept a seemingly calm composure as he shrugged his shoulders and answered the man’s questions.

        “Sorry Sensei. I was busy, I swear.” He sounded bored and irritated. It was clear that Naruto didn’t like this guy.

        “With what?” The man crossed his arms and tapped his foot. Naruto grinned proudly and put his hands on his hips.

        “Eating ramen at Ichiraku’s of course!!” He said with a close eyed grin. You mentally face palmed. Of course you were Naruto, of course you were. You swore you saw one of the man’s veins on his head pop.

        “Narutoooo!!!” Said boy kept his hands on his hips and shot the man a sassy look.

        “Besides, I don’t take lessons from closet pervs.” Ebisu then exploded on Naruto, scolding him non stop like it was nothing, which you tried to tune out to the best of your abilities. You kind of felt bad for poor Naruto, since he was getting yelled at like this, even though he did seem to deserve it. But there was one thing lingering in the back of your mind, which you couldn’t help but interrupt Ebisu’s shouting for.

        “Why does he call you ‘closet perv’?” As soon as the words left your mouth, Ebisu stopped his scolding and looked your way. He properly straightened up and used his index and middle fingers to push his sunglasses up, then ignored your question with one of his own.

        “What is your name, Miss?” He asked in a more collective tone. Did he seriously not notice me the whole time or something? Naruto must affect people’s minds more than I thought. You figured he was probably so mad at Naruto, that he was all he could see, besides red. With this in mind, you told him your name.

        “(Y/N) (L/N).” He pulled out some kind of clipboard from behind him checked your name off on his attendance. While he did that, you repeated your earlier question.

        “So, why is Naruto’s nickname for you ‘closet perv’?” As you finished, Ebisu completely sulked. He sighed heavily, rubbed his temples, and groaned a response.

        “It’s a long story.” You rose an eyebrow.

        “Naruto?” He nodded in agreement.

        “Naruto.” Why am I not surprised. You thought sarcastically.

        “Let me guess, some kind of stupid prank?” He slowly nodded his head again.

        “Yes.” He groaned. You rolled your eyes.

        “That’s Naruto for ya.” Meanwhile, Naruto had heard your whole conversation, and he was a little angry.

        “Heeeey what’s that all supposed to mean!?” You both ignored Naruto’s growing madness and continued your own conversation.

        “Let me go find you an open seat. I’ll be right back.” He leaned in and whispered in your ear. “Can you watch over Naruto and make sure that he doesn’t destroy anything?” You nodded your head, while Naruto made all of these grumbling noises that you had no intention of interpreting. As Ebisu walked back to his desk, you turned to Naruto and put your hands on your hips, playfully smirking at him.

        “Good job Naruto, good job.” You said sarcastically.

        “No problem.” He gave a thumbs up. You face palmed and sighed.

        “So who’s this ‘friend’ of yours, anyway?” He walked up to you and put his hands on your shoulders, and turned you so you were no longer facing the door, but the rows of desks, particularly the ones close to the door. 

        “You can’t see him since he’s kinda being flocked by girls, again.” He grumbled the last word.

        “Wait, you mean your ‘friend’ is the one being swooned by all those girls, over there? That one!?” You asked worriedly, pointing to the still completely hidden desk. Naruto nodded enthusiastically.

        “Yeah, him!” You paled. There was no way were you going to meet some popular playboy, just for him to start making your new life a horrible mess.

        “No!” You whispered into Naruto’s ear. “I’m not meeting him!”

        “What do you mean, ‘no’!? What’s wrong?” 

        “You didn’t tell me he was like, that!” Even though Naruto was thickheaded, he knew what you meant by ‘that’.

        “But, you promised!” Now had a sad pouty face.

        “I don’t care. I didn’t know he was one of them. Someone else, sure I guess. But that, no!” Naruto tried to cheer you up.

        “Oh he’s not that bad. Trust me I-” You cut him off.

        “Sorry Naruto, I’d rather sit on the other side of the room thank you very much.” Before you and Naruto could argue any further, Ebisu returned to the two of you.

        “(Y/N), your new seat will be next to Sasuke, right over there.” He pointed to the seat the girls surrounded. You. Have GOT. To be kidding me. “Naruto, can you show her to her desk, since you sit next to her as well?” You suppressed the urge to punch the closest thing near you, which was probably the wall. You tried to be as polite as you could to Ebisu, and it took all of your might not to start rampaging out of the room.

        “Thank you.” He nodded and walked back to his desk. Naruto smiled devilishly.

        “Great! Now you have to meet him! Come on!!” Before you could protest, he grabbed your wrist and dragged you to your new seat against your will. He sat you down and walked over to his own seat, the one to your left. You kept your gaze forward the whole time, trying to avoid the stupid prissy girls right next to you, who were so close you almost blew a fuse and attacked them. When Naruto sat down, some of the girls, who clearly didn’t like him, left the area, giving you a better view of Naruto’s friend.

        He had pale white skin, onyx black eyes staring forward in a cold harsh glare, with a slight frown etched onto his face, and his elbows were propped up on the desk, his fingers interlocked and put to his lips, looking as if he was trying to concentrate on something. His most notable feature though, was his medium length black hair, which you noticed was in the shape of a duck’s butt. Oh I remember him! This was the guy I was calling Duckbutt this morning in first period. He wore a long grey buttoned up collared shirt, with the sleeves stopping halfway down his biceps and half of the buttons being unbuttoned, revealing his chest for the world to see. It made you roll your eyes, since this was a classical playboy style, showing whatever they ‘had’ for desperate and naïve girls to fawn over. Near his shoulder was a symbol of a ping-pong paddle looking shape with most of the top being red and the handle looking part pure white. He also wore a long sleeved purple sweatshirt tied around his waist with the sleeves resting on his lap in the front, long black sweatpants with the ends rolled up a bit, and finally black sandals secured on his feet. 

        When you were done observing him, you looked away to the front of the class, now avoiding eye contact with him at all cost. That is, until Naruto ruined it.

        “Hey Sasuke!! This is (Y/N)! Remember her? From this morning!” You resisted the very very strong urge to repeatedly bang your head against your desk as hard as you could until you knocked yourself unconscious, and instead clenched your fists at Naruto’s ignorance. You kept your eyes locked forward, hoping that this guy wouldn’t care about Naruto’s blabbering.

        However, the mention of this morning was what drew Sasuke to stare at you with his calculative onyx orbs, and it got the other girls’ attention as well. They began, horribly, whisper gossiping right in front of you, which you could hear every word of.

        “Oh my gosh, it is her.”

        “She’s the one who glared at Gaara!”

        “I can’t believe she’s still alive.”

        “She is sooo dead!” These whispers weren’t the worst you’ve ever heard, so you easily ignored them, until somewhere along the chatter they started to actually insult you.

        “She looks so weird, and ugly.”

        “Why is she even in this school?”

        “She sat next to Sasuke, she took him away from us! That little c*nt!!”

        “She seems like a stupid stuck up cocky bitch!!” Your eye twitched.

        “No wonder Gaara didn’t do anything to her yet. Can’t break what’s already broken.”

        “Maybe the bitch should go back to whatever hole she came from.”

        “She’ll never fit in with us. I bet she doesn’t even have any friends besides that weird Naruto guy. They’re both too wild, and stupid. They’re just plain losers.” You kept yourself from doing anything rash the whole time, but when they brought Naruto, one of your new and now closest friends, into their little gossip talk, you decided that you had enough.

        “Do you really think, I’m that stupid, to not hear the shit you’re saying when you’re directly in front of and next to me, you stupid ass prissy bitches?” You said in a calm yet very threatening voice, still keeping your eyes harshly trained forward. The gossip stopped, and they all looked at you, paralyzed by what you said. “Now, don’t you assholes have somewhere to be, other than to talk about people who you don’t even know and stand around here while I will beat the living fucking shit out of each and every one of you?” You growled out menacingly. They all began to leave at your threat, before you spoke again. “And the next time you have something to say about me, or Naruto, don’t be a bunch of fucking pussies and have the dignity to say it to my fucking face!” They all scurried off without another word, or at least so you heard.

        After they were all gone, no one said a word. Not you, not Naruto, and especially not Sasuke. However, you could feel both of their gazes trained on you, surprisingly the more intense one coming from Sasuke. You ignored them both of them, nonetheless, as you mumbled inaudible curses to try and get rid of some of your anger. Sasuke’s gaze eventually left you, and you felt a little relieved, until he decided to speak.

        “So you’re the one who stood up to Gaara. Hmph. I can believe it.” He said in a calm yet somewhat stern voice. Dammit.

        “Like I’ve said before to many others, I glared at him, I wouldn’t call that ‘standing up’ to him. But what’s it to you anyway.” You replied back with a slightly harsh tone. You saw his eyes travel over to you again, while keeping his head forward, just the same as you were doing.

        “In this school, glaring at him and standing up to him are the same thing.” He still kept his calm tone, while you still kept your harsh one.

        “So. What.”

        “I’m just warning you. Gaara’s more dangerous than you think.” 

        “I don’t care.” Out of the corner of your eye, you swore you saw him smirk.

        “Are you sure? He can beat up and kill people without breaking a sweat.” You huffed.

        “Let me make this clear. I. Don’t. Care. Even if he killed all the world leaders and took over the universe, I’d do the same thing over and over again with no regrets.” You heard a ‘hn’, and you saw his eyes close.

        “Suit yourself then. I was just trying to help.” He replied nonchalantly. You raised your top lip in a snarl-like form.

        “Why do you care anyway.” He ‘hn’d again.

        “We’re both human beings, of course.” You snorted. He fully faced you. “Aw come on. What do you think I am?” He asked with sarcasm and a hint of curiosity. You faced him as well.

        “A playboy.” You said bluntly. He scoffed at your answer.

        “Really, what makes you think that.”

        “Gee, I don’t know, Mr. ‘I expose most of my chest and have millions of girls flocking me from miles away’, you tell me why I think you’re a playboy.” He smirked.

        “So you admit you were looking at my chest.” You scoffed.

        “Yeah, and there ain’t much to look at in the first place, playboy.” He chuckled.

        “This may come as a complete shocker to you, but I wish those girls would stop following me around like they do.” You snickered.

        “Oh? But you looked like you so enjoyed it before.” You said sarcastically.

        “They never leave me alone, they refuse to leave me alone. It’s really annoying.”

        “Poor thing.” You said as if you were talking to a baby.

        “Hn. It really is worse than you think it is.” A moment of silence passed, and you contemplated your own thoughts.

        “It’s better than being alone most of the time.” You accidentally, and sadly, mumbled out loud. You blushed immensely when you realized your mistake, and you averted your gaze to the floor out of embarrassment. It was silent for a few seconds.

        “You’re different, you know that?” You turned and face him again, still with a light blush, and saw that he was still looking at you.

        “Different? How?”

        “Hn. No girl has ever… not tried to flirt with me, or say they love me, or call me ‘hot’, or something else like that before. You’re the first.”

        “Really? Well maybe if they saw that your hair is styled like a duck’s ass, you wouldn’t get so many admirers… Duckbutt.” His eyes widened for a second, and you could hear Naruto stifling chuckles behind you. Sasuke half smirked half smiled.

        “You know what? You’re alright.” It was your turn to widen your eyes. The way he said it, it sounded out of respect, and nothing any less.

        “And what does that mean?” You asked in a softer, less harsh, and more serious tone. His half smirk widened.

        “It means what I just said. You’re alright. You’re not annoying, not too much anyway.” You couldn’t hide the small smile that crept up your face.

        “I guess, you know, you’re not… so bad yourself.” You mumbled the last part out. He playfully snorted in response. You both sat there for a few moments of silence, with your eyes closed and the both of you facing front again. It wasn’t an awkward silence, but a more relaxed one.

        “Sasuke.” He said out of the blue. You opened one eye and ‘hmm’d to show you were listening. “My name is Sasuke. Sasuke Uchiha.” You smirked.

        “Hmmm, let’s see, should I tell you mine to be polite, or just ignore you cause you’re a duckbutt?” You asked playfully, and he shot you a look. “Well… I guess… it’s (Y/N). (Y/N) (L/N).”

        “You better not be lying to me.” Sasuke smirked.

        “Please, it’s too much trouble to lie to someone like you.” You teased. You both turned and looked at each other, both making eye contact with one another, and showed each other determined expressions of newfound friendship, in your own ways, which was both of you smirking. You know what, you’re not so bad Uchiha, especially for a guy with a duck ass’s hair. Naruto cheered in the background.

        “YAAAAY! My buddies are getting along, WOO HOO! And it’s all thanks to me! BELIEVE IT!!” You let out a silent laugh and playfully rolled your eyes while Sasuke ‘hn’d. You turned around slowly to face Naruto fist bumping the air and standing on his chair.

        “Naruto, get down from there and calm down before I slap some sense into that thick head of yours. I’m supposed to be watching you for Ebisu remember?” You said in a half playful half scolding tone. Naruto immediately stopped his excitement and took on a childish pouty face, crossing his arms over his chest, and flopping back down in his chair.

        “Meanie.” He grumbled.

        “Naruto, I was not being a ‘meanie’. Tell him Duckbutt.” You turned around in your chair to face a devilishly smirking Sasuke.

        “You were being, an epic, meanie.” He stated nonchalantly. You gave him a ‘really?’ face.

        “Maybe I should beat some sense into both of you.” You heard Naruto mumbling behind you.

        “Now you’re a double meanie.” He mocked your voice. Sasuke was snickering all the while.

        “Why I ‘oughta-” Suddenly, you were interrupted by a squealing high pitched girl’s voice.

        “SASUKEEEEE!!!” In a flash of pink, Sasuke was hugged from behind by the neck by some girl. You looked at her in bewilderment.

        She had white skin, light green eyes, and short pink hair, which looked like cotton candy placed on top of her head, that reached down to her shoulder. She wore a red, long sleeved sweater that showed off her chest, light cerulean blue jean short shorts that came halfway down her thighs with white bandages wrapped around her upper right thigh, and aqua green shoes with white lacing. She had a bubbly and cheerful expression that radiated kindness and sweetness. Probably because of Sasuke, ugh.

        Sasuke looked beyond annoyed as she was hugged and touched him. Naruto stared dreamily at her and a light blush appeared on his cheeks.

        “Hey Sakura.” He said in a dream like voice. You instantly caught on. Naruto must like this ‘Sakura’. But wait, poor Hinata! What should I do? Should I say something to her before she finds out on her own, or break her heart right when we became friends by telling her that her crush likes someone else!? Oh crap, I’m being selfish. Uhhh, oh! I’ll tell her after we’re done at the library on Friday! Yeah, that’s a good idea.

        “Naruto, you knucklehead!!” ‘Sakura’ screeched. And Sakura doesn’t even love him back. Damn. I’ve gotta plan to get Naruto to see how amazing Hinata is. “Who is this?” You heard ‘Sakura’ ask rather rudely. Great. A big bitch. You gave her your usual poker face of carelessness and seriousness. Sasuke grunted, still completely annoyed of her death grip.

        “Hn. Calm down Sakura. You’re so annoying. (Y/N) here is fine.” Sasuke looked to you and nodded his head as an acknowledgement, and you did the same back. Sakura sent you a quick glare, that is, before she realized what your name was. She let go of Sasuke, resulting in his head flying back and almost hitting the desk behind him, and ran over to your desk, stopping in the space between you and Sasuke.

        “Your (Y/N) (L/N)!?” You nodded slowly, wondering why and how she knew your last name. “You’re crazy standing up to Gaara like that then! What were you thinking!?” Here we go again. You angrily slouched back in your chair.

        “Look, just as I explained to Duckbutt, I don’t care how tough he is or what he did before or anything like that.”

        “Wait, Duckbutt?” She shook her head. “Oh nevermind that. What do you mean you don’t care!? Haven’t you heard what he can do!? How he can-” You cut her off a little rudely.

        “How he can beat the living crap out of you, how he’s killed people, how he makes almost everyone wanna piss their pants, blah blah blah, yes. I’ve heard plenty of times, and yet, still don’t care.” She stared at you, baffled at such bold and rude statements. You shook your own head a bit. “Sorry. It’s just that I’ve heard that all day, and I think it might be getting to me.” You thought it would be at least appropriate to apologize, it’s not like you wanted to start something with her. She merely waved it off.

        “No big deal I guess. But still, I mean how are you not-“

        “Because (Y/N) is SUPER STRONG and can kick ANYONE’S BUTT!!” Naruto interrupted and fist bumped the air. Sakura rushed to Naruto’s desk and bonked him on the head, and you were sure that he was going to have a new bump pretty soon.

        “You idiot!!! I keep telling ya not to make big scenes!!” Naruto rubbed the spot where Sakura hit him, and he began to whine.

        “OW. Sakura, why’d you do that?” Sakura ignored him and turned around to face you again.

        “Hey Sakura. Where’d you hear all that stuff about Gaara, anyway?” You asked. She tilted her head, a little confused by your question.

        “What do you mean?”

        “Did you personally see Gaara do any of the things he’s been claimed to do?” She shook her head ‘no’.

        “No, my friends told me.” She said that slowly, wondering what you were trying to get at. And it was just as you expected.

        “So rumors, basically. Right?” She didn’t say anything, neither did the other two. “That’s what I thought.” It was still silent. “You know, you’d be surprised how some little lie can ruin a person’s life. Trust me.” Everyone wore an expression of guilt, except for Naruto. I guess he is Gaara’s friend, so he probably knows more about him than anyone else, besides his siblings. After a few more moments, Sakura walked closer to you.

        “I like you.” You stared at her, a little shocked. “On the outside, you’re like an ice cold boulder, but on the inside, you’re as soft as a marshmallow. You actually care about people, no matter who they are. I like it.” She smiled at you. A little pink dusted your cheeks out of embarrassment. Wait, what did she say about me being a marshmallow?

        “Let’s just say I have… ‘experience’.” Sakura still kept her cheery smile.

        “Full name’s Sakura Haruno, by the way.” You smirked.

        “Well, you already know my full name. But manners, I guess. Mine’s (Y/N) (L/N).” She gave a toothy grin, but soon changed that into a penetrating glare as she swiftly leaned forward so that your noses almost touched, which you moved your head back to, bewildered on her sudden mood change.

        “Just one thing.” She said coldly. You leaned your neck back, completely unsure of what she was doing.

        “Yeees?” You asked questionably. She whispered back.

        “Do you have a crush on anyone?” You looked at her like she was a fish with five heads.

        “W-What- No!! I just got to this school! I can’t have a crush like that! Besides, I’m more of a personality kind of person, so it would take me a little time to ‘like’ someone.” She squinted her eyes, seeming to stare straight into your soul, trying to detect any lies in your statements. After a moment or two, she snapped back to her cheery self as if nothing was ever wrong.

        “Okay, you’re telling the truth! I believe ya.” You tilted your head in a confused manner, and that’s when you realized what she had done. She wanted to make sure I don’t like Duckbutt, or something like that. Yeah, no worries Sakura. The poor victim’s all yours. Despite your funny thoughts, you still kept a calmer expression.

        That’s when the bell rang, and everyone piled into the classroom all at once. When Ebisu heard the ringing sound, he stood up from his desk and walked to the front of the room.

        “Alright everyone, settle down! The bell’s rung, and class is starting!” Everyone quickly sat down, including Sakura, who, not surprisingly, sat behind Sasuke. You, Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke faced the front as Ebisu started his lesson.

        A little while later the bell rang once again, signaling the end of class. As everyone began to get up from their seats, you, Sasuke, and Sakura exchanged numbers when you reached the outside of Ebisu’s door. They said their goodbyes and went their separate ways, with Sakura clinging to the angry duckbutt as if her life depended on it. Good luck Duckbutt. While you were waving them off, Naruto stole your schedule from your bag and read it for the billionth time that day. When you turned around, you saw Naruto reading your schedule without your permission, again, and you frowned, however you weren’t surprised in the slightest. When Naruto found your next period class, he groaned.

        “UUGGH! You have art with Deidara Sensei. You’re not in my next class! Dangit!!!” You rolled your eyes at his childish antics.

        “Naruto, it’s the last period of the day. Calm down.” He looked at you with a sad, innocent childish face.

        “But-“

        “It’s just one period. Okay, listen. How about we meet at the school gates when school’s over. Will that make you feel better?” Naruto instantly straightened up and went back to his normal cheery self.

        “Yeah! We get to walk each other home!!” You chuckled.

        “Yep. That would be the whole point, besides stopping you from whining.” Naruto stopped his rant and put his hands on his hips.

        “Heeeeey!! Oh, whatever. Come on already, we gotta go!”

        “Hey I’m not the one who-AH!” Before you finished, he snatched your wrist and began dragging you through the hallways once again. He dragged you up all the way to the third floor, and towards the opposite side of the front of the school. How is it that my last period is the farthest away from the front of the school, where I need to actually go to leave this dumb place? You subconsciously sighed. Oh sure, you had luck on your side, just the wrong kind.

        When Naruto stopped you at the last door on the left down the third floor hallway, he faced you.

        “Just a small warning. Deidara can be a little… ‘excited’.” You tilted your head out of confusion, but Naruto decided to run off before you could even ask what he meant. “Bye (Y/N)! See you in a little bit!” He yelled back and waved. You rolled your eyes, deciding to ignore Naruto’s ‘warning’, and entered the classroom.

        The first thing you noticed when you opened the door were all the beautiful paintings hung along the walls. You looked to your left and right, and then back to your left. They were everywhere. The paintings were of white animals with thick dark outlines in all kinds of varieties, from birds to dogs to even bears, all in different poses and different designs that you would’ve never even imagined existed. They were all original, and admittedly pretty cool. They were surrounded by backgrounds of different colors that somehow brought the white animals out even more. It’s funny, they almost look like…

        “So you like the art, hm?” Your thoughts were interrupted by a male’s voice. There was no one else in the room except for a boy no older than a junior or senior here by a big oak desk. He was standing with his left hand on his hip, and to say he seemed unique was an understatement.

        He had tanned white skin, with long sunshine golden hair put up in a half high ponytail, and a big chunk of the front hair as bangs covering his left eye. His hairstyle looked almost exactly like Ino’s, except that he used more hair as bangs, and you could see some of the layer of hair not put up in a ponytail on the back of his neck. Even though his hairstyle did look a lot like Ino’s, he somehow made it into his own, and it brought out his determined and gleaming light blue eyes really good, even though his skin and hair seemed a little too dark to do it. You also noticed that his nails were painted black. He wore a black t-shirt with a dark yellow sweater on top, and a loose black men’s blazer jacket, with two golden buttons on the bottom of the sleeves and two more pairs on the front, which were unbuttoned. He also had dark grey plaid pants with the little stripes being black, white, and red with a pearl necklace hanging around his left thigh, and black dress shoes adorning his feet.

        He had on a prideful smirk, and you were a little caught off guard by his sudden appearance, so you were hesitant to answer his question.

        “Y-Yeah I do. Are you the artist?” His eyes sparkled as you asked that, and his smirk widened.

        “Why, yes I am, hm. I’m the one who created all of these great masterpieces you see before you.” Despite your questioning thoughts, you semi-playfully rolled your eyes.

        “Well someone has a big ego.” You sarcastically said. He only smirked more.

        “Of course! All great artists must possess it, since it’s what gets you forward in this career, hm.” You smiled, and took it as a respectable answer.

        “And what is this great artist’s name, anyway?” You asked. He closed his eyes and held his head up high in a prideful manner.

        “I am the almighty, explosive… Deidara, hm.” Your eyes widened slightly. He’s the teacher? But he looks so…

“You look pretty young to be a teacher.” You said curiously. He chuckled.

        “That would be because, I’m still only 17.” Your eyes widened a bit more, but instantly fell back to their usual height. That explains it. He’s only a couple years older than me!

“Huh, I didn’t think that was possible.”

        “Well, when you’re as talented as I am, anything’s possible, hm.” You playfully snorted.

        “There’s that big ego again.” You mumbled loudly, which he merely chuckled at. He walked behind you and put a hand on the top of your back, and guided you towards the middle of the room as he engaged you in a question.

        “So tell me, what about my art drew you in, hm?” He asked in a sincere and serious tone as he gestured to all of the paintings around the room. You thought about it for a second, and then replied with an honest answer.

        “Well, maybe part of it’s due to the fact that I love animals, and the designs for these ones look amazing and very well drawn. And it’s original.” By now you both had reached the middle of the room, and he removed his hand from your back and stood to your left. “But, there’s also the backgrounds you used as well. The colors and the way you used them, they seem to bring out the animals so much that they almost look like… explosions, really.” As you said the last part, Deidara looked at you with a shocked yet severely overjoyed expression. “I know that sounds silly but-“

        “Yes yes YES! You got it! That’s it!! You’re the first person to figure it out!” You tilted your head in confusion. “That’s exactly what I was going for! These paintings represent my beliefs on what art is, hm. You were right, that’s why I used those colors as different backgrounds and that’s why the animals are all white! It’s what I wanted them to look like! After all… art is an explosion, hm!!” You smiled at his excitement and glanced around the room, stopping on the biggest one you could find, which was a gigantic bird with its wings outstretched over his desk.

        “I actually see where you’re coming from. I always thought of art as capturing something so sudden and fast, like an explosion, and trapping it within anything from a small scrap of paper to the largest statue, for as long as time allows.” You looked away from the bird to Deidara’s desk your right, where you noticed another one of those glass figurines and a bigger clay model, both of the same white bird from the painting. “So in a way, I guess you could say that… art is an eternal explosion.” Deidara looked at you wide eyed. He was stunned, frozen in his spot, while you still admired the glass and clay birds.

        When you looked at Deidara, you saw his amazed expression just staring at you. You smiled, and that seemed to bring him out of his trance, as he shook his head to clear his thoughts. When he stopped, he flashed you a half smirk half smile.

        “And who do I have the pleasure of speaking to such a wonderful art connoisseur, hm?” He asked, impressiveness laced in his voice. You chuckled.

        “I don’t think I’m a connoisseur, but..”  You hesitated. It’s not like it was a bad idea to tell him your name. After all, he’s technically the teacher, he’d find out anyway. “My name’s (Y/N). (Y/N) (L/N).” Deidara’s eyes flashed something that you couldn’t distinguish. It almost looked like recognition, but how would Deidara know you when you just met? He put on his signature devilish smirk.

        “So you’re the one I’ve heard so much about.” Wait, what?

        “What does that mean?” You asked a little worriedly. His smirk widened.

        “Gossip doesn’t just stop at the students’ ears, you know.” You sighed heavily and somewhat slouched your shoulders. Just great. Everyone knows about me.

        “How much do you know.” You groaned out. Deidara chuckled.

        “Enough to know that you’re either brave, or stupid… or both, hm.” You frowned.

        “I wouldn’t call it brave or stupid. Just defense. Who cares who he is? Why would I take crap from anyone, especially someone like him.” You stated matter-of-factly. He snorted at your response.

        “Yeah, it’s definitely stupid, hm.” You glowered at him. “Well, I’ll give you points on one thing. That thinking’s pretty big and boastful, yet respectful. But it’s gonna get you killed someday.” As he said the last part, he clenched his fists and averted his eyes away from you to the floor, as if he was telling this to himself instead of you.

        “You’re not afraid of him too, are you?” You asked a little concerned. He looked back to you with a slight frown and slightly narrowed eyes, but it wasn’t directed at you. He seemed more… distant. How did he go from egotistical smirking Deidara to… this?

        “No, nothing like that at all. I have more… personal issues with him.” He averted his gaze again and tightened his fists so hard his knuckles turned white. Obviously you do. You look like you’re out for blood! What happened between you two? Despite your curiosity to know what these ‘issues’ were, you had to change the subject to get Deidara back to his original self, and fast. You had an idea, which you hoped would work. You devilishly smirked.

        “Maybe I’m not the only one who’s ‘stupid’… Sensei.” Luckily, he snapped out of his angry stance and just chuckled. He walked over to you with a half smirk half smile, and ruffled your hair.

        “You can just call me Deidara, (Y/N).” You swatted his hand away and smiled back. That’s when the bell rang, ruining the little moment you two had. You both looked up to where the ringing sound came from on instinct, and instantly looked back at each other. “I think that’s my cue to find you a seat then, hm. Let’s see… Oh! Right back there.” He put his hand on your head and turned it to where he was currently looking and pointing at, which was a seat in the second to last row all the way in the back. You nodded your head to show you saw where he wanted you to sit, and you both walked off to where you needed to be, Deidara his desk and you your new seat.

        Once you sat down and got out your supplies, you noticed people piling into the once empty room like wildfire. When everyone finally entered the room, you unfortunately didn’t recognize a single person, and you leaned back into your chair disappointed. This is gonna be a much lonelier class than usual. You thought bitterly, as Deidara started the class.

        After a little talking he gave you all an assignment, which you finished quite early. You still had twenty minutes left of class, and you were really bored, so you decided to just sketch on a piece of computer paper you found in your bag until class was over.

        Twenty minutes later the bell rang as you were beginning to shade inside the outline of what you drew. You were about to stuff the paper into your bag, when Deidara appeared out of nowhere and snatched it off the desk.

        He put his left hand directly on your face to keep you down, and held the paper up high out of your reach with his right. You blushed. You didn’t want him to see your work, you were shy with that kind of stuff, and so you struggled to get out of his hold on you, which was impossible because he was stronger than you thought he was. What made it worse was he had a creepy open tongued mouth tattooed onto his palm, which freaked you out since you had never noticed it until now that he was basically grabbing your face. When he was done observing your work, Deidara looked back down to your still struggling form under his hand.

        “Calm down, hm. Your face is so warm.” He complained. You blushed even more, and he let your face go, which showed him your frown.

        “Then don’t put your freaking hand on my face and we wouldn’t have any issues, would we!? And why do you have mouths tattooed on your hands!? It looked like a crazy high-on-drugs demon trying to kiss me!” Deidara mischievously smirked.

        “What. You mean like, this?” He shoved his free hand into your face again and started twisting it left and right to tease you. You swatted his hand away and scowled at him. “Oh, and the reason, is my little secret.” You groaned, and tried jumping for your drawing again, only for Deidara to easily move it out of your way at every attempt. Curse my short height!! He chuckled at your failure to retrieve the paper. “You’re not getting this baaaaack, hm.” He singsonged like a child. You stopped jumping and folded your arms over your chest.

        “I’m not even finished with it!” He triumphantly smirked as he saw you weren’t trying to get it out of his hand anymore, but that was his mistake. When he lowered his arm, you seized the opportunity and swiftly snatched the piece of paper out of his hand, which he wasn’t expecting. You held the paper with both of your hands in front of you. You had drawn a white wolf on a big rock by a splashing sea under a full moon. You were just beginning to shade the head and top of the body before the bell, and Deidara had stopped you. “See? I wasn’t even done shading.” You mumbled. Deidara snatched it away from you again, which earned him a scowl from you, and he sighed.

        “But if you would just look at it, you would see that it’s already marvelous, hm!” He snaked his left arm around your back and put his hand on your left shoulder, and he brought both of your cheeks together. He held out the wolf sketch far enough so that you couldn’t reach it, yet close enough so you could clearly see it.

        “Just look at the beauty you’ve represented through her. Her sheer boldness that expresses power and determination, her dignity and bravery, she looks as if she was a queen, hm! And the setting, perfect for a wolf like her! Not to mention the shading you’ve already done compliments her perfectly, she doesn’t need anymore.” You blushed at the nice things he was saying about your wolf, and he pulled away from you and looked at it for himself once more. When you regained your senses, you went to make a grab for it, but he had already started walking down the aisle to his desk, with your paper still clutched in his hand. You hesitated, dumbfounded, before quickly packing up, grabbing your bag, and racing after Deidara.

        “B-But it’s not even as good as yours!” You yelled halfway down the aisle. Unfortunately, he had already reached his desk and set your paper down on top of it. He turned around, leaning back on the desk with both of his hands grabbing the edge of it at his sides, blocking you from it. When you caught up to him, you tried reaching around him where the paper was, but he blocked you every time. You stepped back and crossed your arms. “What are you, my older brother stealing and keeping my stuff?” He ‘innocently’ half smirked and ruffled your hair.

        “Something like that, yes.” You swatted his hands away, and he chuckled. “Remember what I said about how having a big ego being important?” You rolled your eyes and nodded your head. “Well, this is your start.” He walked over to you and put his index finger on your nose. “So you’re not getting it back, hm.” He teased, and pushed you back slightly with his finger, causing you to scrunch your nose up. You glanced at the clock, and realized that you should’ve been at the front of the school with Naruto by now.

        “Fine, but only because I have to meet Naruto.” You grumbled out. Deidara evilly smirked.

        “I’ll just put that down as a win then…” 

        “NO! This doesn’t count!” You quickly shouted. His smirk widened.

        “Yes it does.” You scowled.

        “How!?”

        “Because I still have your drawing, that’s why, hm.” 

        “But, but-“

        “Ah ah ah.” He raised his index finger and waved it in a ‘tsk tsk’ manner. “No buts, hm.”

        “Asshole.” You mumbled.

        “Hey, teacher here. I can get you in trouble for that, hm.” He half teased half scolded you.

        “This is after school hours, so no you can’t.”

        “Still on school property.”

        “They say you’re on school property until you step foot into your house! It means nothing.”

        “But you’re still in the actual school building.”

        “A house is a building, and apparently it still counts.”

        “Don’t you have somewhere to be?” You opened your mouth to respond, but you found that you couldn’t counter, and closed your mouth.

        “Continue with this tomorrow!” You yelled as you ran to the door. He ‘hmph’d as a triumphant response which you just scoffed at. As you were about to leave, you remembered something Deidara had said, and stopped in your tracks. “Wait, how did you know my wolf was a she!?” You exclaimed. He looked up and grinned.

        “I have my ways, hm.” You snorted.

        “It’s not like you can check… well I hope not.” You shook your head. “Well bye, Deidara!” You called back to him, and he simply waved back with his signature smirk, as you proceeded to sprint all the way to the other side of the school.

        When you finally reached the front gates, you found Naruto pacing back and forth in front of them, seemingly in worry. When Naruto noticed your sprinting form, he perked up.

        “(Y/N)!!!” He yelled as he rushed over to you, which let you stop and pant for a much needed breath. Sprinting from the top floor on the farthest side of the school to the other end on the bottom floor is a lot of work, even for you, especially after the day you had. That didn’t stop Naruto for being really mad though. “(Y/N)!! You’re late! I was worried and-” He finally noticed your exhausted form. “Why do you look so out of breath?” You were still panting and bent over a little, hands on your knees and breathing heavily, trying to catch more of your breath.

        “Why do you think?” You asked sarcastically, which is when he remembered the location of your last class. He rubbed his neck sheepishly.

        “Oh, yeah. Sorry.” He said apologetically. Thankfully, you were now rested enough to finally stand up straight, and then you both started walking to your homes. You didn’t have work today, since Teuchi, the manager of the café you worked at, made you take off work. You were more than happy to come in, but he knew that today was your first day at your new school, and he literally wouldn’t take no for an answer. You assumed that he did it because his daughter, Ayame, graduated high school not long ago, and you figured that he knew the struggles of school because of Ayame and was just trying to help. As you both walked, Naruto started up a conversation. “So, how about we go to Ichiraku’s today? Or maybe tomorrow? Neeeh, can’t wait that long.” He continued to ramble on, and it took you a moment to know what he was talking about when you remembered your conversation earlier this morning. You smiled at your and Naruto’s giddiness and excitement about you eating Ichiraku’s for the first time, but soon that changed into a slight frown. But, wait. I have a lot of homework, so I can’t go tonight, but how about…

“How about we go Friday evening, so we don’t have to worry about homework and stuff?” At your suggestion, Naruto looked at you as if you committed murder.

        “But I can’t wait that long! It’s impossible!!” He shouted. However stubborn he was, you had an idea that should most definitely do the trick, and you smirked.

        “Pity. I didn’t think the almighty Naruto could be defeated by something as little as impatience. Oh well.” You egged him on, hoping that his pride would react to such a statement. Just as you predicted, he instantly became worked up.

        “I won’t let impatience defeat ME! That settles it, we’ll go to Ichiraku’s on Friday evening, and I’ll wait the HECK out of impatience! Believe it!!!” He fist bumped the air. You smiled at his enthusiasm, and your success.

        That soon ended, as you both came up to a turn into a neighborhood and Naruto stopped. “This is my neighborhood, but do you want me to walk you all the way home?” You shook your head ‘no’.

        “Don’t worry about me. I can take care of myself. The question is, do you want me to walk you home?” You smirked, and he playfully punched your shoulder.

        “Please. I’m tough as nails! Believe it!!” You rolled your eyes, and you both waved each other off as you went your separate ways.

        You continued to walk past the familiar city parts you saw this morning, and started to familiarize yourself with the different shops and buildings you saw. After a few more minutes of walking, you reached your apartment and went up the porch steps. You pulled out your keys and unlocked your door, entering your lonely apartment.

        You turned the light switch on, randomly threw your bag on the floor, flopped down on your living room couch, and turned on the TV to whatever channel was on. After a while it was around 4:00 p.m., and you forced yourself to get up and finish your homework that prevented you from going to Ichiraku’s today in the first place. After all of that boring stuff was finished, you cooked some leftover dinner and filled your hungry stomach, then went back and sat on your couch again. This time you watched some anime for an hour or two, huddled up in your blanket and fangirling whenever it was seriously necessary.

        When it was around 8:00 p.m. you realized that you had forgotten to charge your phone when you got home, so you paused the TV and went to where you last threw your bag. You grabbed your phone from its pocket and carried it into your room where your charger was, and turned on your phone to check the battery. What you noticed instead surprised you.

(12) New Messages:

Naruto:

Hey (Y/N)! It’s Naruto! Just wanted
to c if u were ok, and ask how ur
1st day wuz when I wuzn’t with u!!
C how nice and PATIENT I am?
Believe it!!!! XDXDXD
-2:47 p.m.

Choji:

It’s Choji! Hiya!! How are ya? U ok?
You eating a balanced diet of potato
chips over there? Just makin’ sure
my new eating friend! 😉
                                                -2:48 p.m.

Shikamaru:

This is such a drag, but hey (Y/N).
It’s Shikamaru. Remember me,
tough girl? I better not be wasting
my time checking up on you, if
you’re already dead, that is. >;]
-2:49 p.m.

Ino:

It’s Ino! Sup (Y/N)? How are ya? You
survived? Your first day was fine!?
Geez I sound like an overprotective
mom! Ah well, you’ll get over it. 😛
                                                   -2:50 p.m.

Hinata:

Hey (Y/N). It’s Hinata, uh how are
you? How was your 1st day? Um,
I hope nothing went bad, and that
people didn’t give you any trouble.
You know I’m always here for you
if anything happens ^_^
-2:50 p.m.

Kiba:

Hey wolf girl! It’s dog boy (you know
who I am 😉 ), just makin sure nothin
ate ya today! XP So, how was the
rest of your day without me? I bet it
was borin, wasn’t it? 😉
-2:51 p.m.

Shino:

Hello (Y/N). It’s Shino. I’m sorry
that we didn’t get a chance to talk
earlier, but we had work to do, and
with Kiba around, we were bound
to get distracted. Anyway, I need to
tell you that I gave you one of my
female beetles, remember them?
Males can easily track them, so in
case you need help. I’ve got your
back. So, how was your day? B)
-2:52 p.m.

Tenten:

It’s Tenten! Wut’s up my secret
keeper friend!? ;D Anyways, did
anything else exciting happen today
that would be… secret worthy? >;) Oh,
hope u don’t mind but I gave your
# to Neji and Lee. Have a good rest of
the day! ^^
-2:53 p.m.

Neji:

Hello (Y/N). It’s Neji. Tenten gave
me and Lee your number, I hope
you don’t mind. Anyway, me and
my, what did you say earlier?
“Raging man period hormones”
just wanted to check and see if you
were okay. Again, I sincerely
apologize about… what happened
earlier, and I hope nothing else
happened today that would be
worrisome.
-2:54 p.m.

Lee:

By the power of youth, it is I, Rock
Lee! Hello (Y/N)! Tenten gave me
and Neji your number, we hope that
that is acceptable. But anyway, how
was the rest of your day? Was the
lucky power of youth with you
the whole way through? XD
-2:54 p.m.

Sasuke:

Sup. It’s Sasuke, or… “Duckbutt”
as u called me. >:/ Hn, just wanted
to see if u were dead yet. If you’re
not, how was your day? You’re not still
being a meanie, are ya? >;)
-2:55 p.m.

Sakura:

Hey (Y/N)! It’s Sakura! ^^ How’s
my ice cold girlfriend doing? Did
you survive the rest of the day?
You home safely? You-know-who
didn’t get ya, right? Well, I hope
you did have a good rest of the day,
even though there was only 1 period
left. ^_~
-2:56 p.m.

        You were touched. Everyone you met today texted you to make sure you were okay, even Shikamaru did with his super lazy butt! You felt your eyes begin to water, but you quickly wiped them to stop any possible tears from escaping. You reread what Shino texted, and when you looked on your shoulder, there was a black dot under your sleeve unnoticeable at a first glance. Oh, he wasn’t kidding. You lightly rubbed the kikaichu beetle with your finger, and it shuddered in enjoyment.

        “I think I’ll name you… Kimchi.” After you named your new beetle friend, you remembered to plug your phone in and once you, did you started to text all of your new friends, telling them that you weren’t dead and that everything was fine. You even changed their contact names to their ‘appropriate’ ones.

        After about 10:00 p.m. you said your goodnights to everyone and shut your phone off. You did your nightly routine, and after you went through the entire house and made sure that everything was locked, shut, and off, you went back to your room and lied on top of your nice comforter.

        You opened the window next to your bed and gazed at the beautiful scenery before you. Your window gave a view of the entire city. All of the city nightlights were on, and they shined brightly all across buildings, roads, and even illuminated the many cars driving by. It was absolutely breath taking. Ever since you moved here, the view before you now would always be the last thing you’d see before drifting off to sleep. Tonight was no different.

        Right before you succumbed to slumber, there was one thought coursing through your mind, comforting you as your heavy eyelids began to close.

        I think I’m gonna like it here.

*Meanwhile*

        There were some places the bright city nightlights didn’t shine upon, where darkness reigned. The whole maze of alleyways was part of that darkness, the opposite of the pure bright city. The maze was filled with thin and clustered alleys of random trash, garbage, dumpsters, and even a few people who had nowhere else to go. It was a place of despair, danger, secrets and mystery, an outsider in its own way, where no one dared ventured.

        A pair of footsteps echoed off the brick and stone walls in one of the alleys. Rats scurried about as they heard this pair of feet. Stomp. Stomp. Stomp. Slow and calm. This person was not afraid of what lay in the dark, they didn’t care, for they had been in here many times before, and besides. They had a job to do.

        They came around one final turn, entering an alley that was bigger and longer than most. It was a place of importance, and the place they were looking for. There was only five feet to the meeting point.

        4…

        3…

        2…

        1…

        They stopped exactly on top of their target location. Silence. Nothing happened. The figure was a little suspicious. They were expecting something out of the ordinary. Little did they notice the shadow approaching, quickly closing the distance between them.

        “Did you meet the girl.” A deep voice sounded behind the figure. There it was, exactly what they were expecting. The figure turned around to meet the shadow, the owner of the voice, and nodded their head to the voice’s question. “Did it go… well.” Once again, the figure nodded their head. The owner of the voice stilled, and stared down at the figure with cold calculative eyes. “You are less talkative then usual. What is it, girl got your tongue?” The voice half joked. The figure clenched their fists in response, and the voice picked up on this instantly. “So something happened then.” Silence followed. “We were specifically warned about this girl, you didn’t forget that, did you?” The figure still said nothing, and loosened their tightened fists, a sign of defeat… and guilt. “I see. So that’s what happened.” The figure started stomping away, wanting the conversation to be over, until the owner of the voice called back. “Do not let your emotions compromise this mission. Tell me now. Will you fail, or not.” The figure stopped. They kept their head forward, and responded.

        “No. It will be done.” And with that, the figure walked off, back through the dark, shadowed maze of alleyways, and disappeared into the night.

        (A/N: OM FREAKIN G! Someone has betrayed reader! And I’m the only one who knows who done it! >;P Exciting stuff next chapter too, btw. That’s when the story’s REALLY gonna set. Oh, and TECHNICLLY I have left FOUR hints throughout this whole entire story, on what’s gonna happen in chapter 5. If any of you comment what those hints are and figure out who figure and voice are, you will get a little prize in return that I know you’ be happy with. 😉  I actually wanna see if you guys can figure it out while I sit back and be like Scott Cawthon here  and watch from the sidelines (fnaf jokes… am I right? XD ). But anyways, I am SO SO SO sorry for not updating on time. High school has been an epic BIATCH, the whole Quotev thing last Sunday REALLY threw me off, and to top those off IDK what I did but on Saturday I literally finished everything and was ready to edit, when I accidentally did something where my computer deleted all of where the end of flashback thing is and down. It went from 30 pgs. to 5! And I couldn’t get it back, so… you know. So technically this isn’t even the original chapter I had written. It’s the same concept, just not all of the words are the same. But still, I was SO PISSED, but you’d be amazed at what a bowl of ice cream and an episode of Chowder can do. That’s why your new beetle friend is named Kimchi, which is Chowder’s pet stink cloud, so I guess this an official shoutout to Chowder for helping me calm down and focus! XD I am really sorry about that though, I think I actually knew what I did to make it delete the stuff, and it will NOT happen again. Still even with the long wait, you guys are giving me so much support and this story has OVER 200 HEARTS!!!!! XBOX ACHIEVEMENT RIGHT THERE, LIKE SERIOUSLY!!! XD Thank you guys so much for all of everything, I wanna hug ALL of you to death! Ultimate bear hugs for all!! ^^. BTW, here are the models I used for some of the new introductions, because I thought I’d give them credit since I was having a tough time imagining these guys’ outfits ((remember artwork is NOT mine and goes to their respective artists)):

–Sasuke