Author's note:
This fic has already been up for months on AFF and LJ, but I finally gave into demands from a few of my reviewers and got an accoutn on here.
So even if you've read it already, I'd appreciate it greatly if you'd leave me a few words! 3
For new readers: I know it seems slightly clichè; SasuNaru, angst, AU etc... But give it a chance, no two stories are alike, and you might be surprised! -
It's still a WIP, and I have no idea how many chapters I'll end up with.
Initially I was intending for it to be 12 chapters; One chapter being one month, allowing us to follow Naruto and the others through a whole year. But I'm already on chapter 10, and still haven't gotten past August, so we'll see xD
Woah, chapter 1 seems so short! Xx
They get longer! I promise.
Updates will happen approx. once a week. Usually on Fridays -
This fic is beta'd by the lovely Nigellica.
Warning:
For this chapter; nothing too bad... Language.
Future chapters: Language, Yaoi, Lemons and limes, angst, possible character death (Sorry!)
Pairing: Eventual SasuNaru, and others that will remain as secrets for now xD
Enjoy the read! 3
Ichigatsu
It was dark.
Darker than it should be.
Where was the door? He couldn't remember. His eyes still hadn't grown accustomed to the darkness. He tried to stand up, fumbled and fell.
His leg ached, when he moved the dried blood sort of pulled at his bruised skin, the result was an excruciating pain that shot through him.
"Dad?" he whispered.
There was no reply. After beating him senseless, much harder than before, after looking at him with eyes that were darker than he'd ever seen them, and more hateful than ever, he'd thrown him in here. The screaming outside had continued, for hours, then it had subsided. After a few more hours new screams were heard.
He couldn't shut them out.
He was scared.
How many days had he been locked up?
Where was the exit?
Where was his father?
Why were there no more noises?
He hadn't heard a thing from the outside since at least two days ago.
A skeletal hand pressed against the cold brick wall. Where was the door?!
Tears made their way down his cheeks. "Help…"
"Kuso!"
Uzumaki Naruto rushed down the corridor, he was drenched from top to bottom.
It was raining heavily outside, and it was freezing.
Because of the rain that had poured continuously the past few days the streets were covered in a layer of ice, and in addition to that; huge puddles of water and slush instead of snow.
The news constantly showed footage from accidents caused by the horrid conditions, but it didn't seem like anyone cared, and least of all in the mornings, when people were speeding not to be late for work.
Naruto, not having a car had to get up at six thirty if he was to make it to school in time. The bus didn't pass by his neighborhood, so he was forced to walk. Of course, he never managed to get up in time, or rather, even if he did wake up at six, or even five thirty there would always be some sort of hold-up and he'd inevitably have to rush to school anyways.
In the end he had given up on the whole getting-up-in-time-thing and enjoyed a few extra minutes of sleep.
His days could never suck more than they already did after all.
At least, unless it was a day like this one.
Some bastard in a rush had passed him this morning, spraying him with freezing water and slush as he drove by. Two more cars seemed to have Naruto as their target after that, and so he ended up coming to school soaking wet. And late to top it off, just because something was wrong with the traffic lights on Main Street again, and no person in their right mind would cross that street without the lights being green.
He barely made it to his locker; he was so stressed he nearly passed it before remembering that he needed his books.
He got them in a hurry and slammed it shut.
The bell had rung nearly fifteen minutes ago.
"Shit!" he looked at the clock on the wall as he continued his race up to the second floor. "I'm way too late! Again!"
The door hit the wall with a loud thump as Naruto came storming into the classroom.
About thirty pairs of eyes turned to him; mocking, spiteful, condescending, even hateful.
"Uzumaki. Do you know what time it is?"
"Yes." he mumbled.
"So you do realize that you're more than fifteen minutes late for the third time just this week? And that we're only two weeks into the new year? I will not mention the total, but I think you're aware of the fact that if you keep this up there is no way you'll pass this class this year! Not with this kind of attendance!"
"I know…"
"I don't want to see you this late again Uzumaki!" the teacher snarled. "Is that clear?!"
"Yes Mizuki-sensei."
"Good. Now find your seat, you're causing a flood."
Naruto looked down at his feet and the puddle of water he was standing in.
"Sorry." he mumbled, heading over to his seat on the fourth row.
"What happened to you?" someone asked.
"Thrown in the fountain again?"
"Had another incident with the toilet bowl?"
"No, you're both wrong. It's not often he gets a chance to shower. He has to take any opportunity!"
The class laughed.
Someone tripped him. He stumbled, but didn't fall.
Ignoring the comments and glares, he sat down as dignified as he could.
The fact that they laughed at him was nothing new.
The fact that Mizuki-sensei did nothing to stop him was nothing new either. Naruto sighed mentally and pulled the book out of his backpack.
Great. He'd brought the wrong book.
It was definitely one of those days.
He dragged himself through the corridor to his next class. Mizuki-sensei had surprised them with one of his frequent pop-quizzes. Naruto'd fail. He knew it. Modern History was not his strong point, and besides, he never did well in Mizuki's class. The teacher hated him too much.
This class was no different. It was chemistry, and he wasn't very popular with that teacher either. Orochimaru wasn't particularly friendly with any of the students, and especially not Naruto. In this case though, the blonde didn't mind, that guy was freaky, to say the least. He'd seen the way the man looked at some of the boys, and he wasn't the only one. Not that he could know for certain, since no one spoke to him anyway.
Now Orochimaru stood at the front of the classroom, his narrow eyes gazing over the students as if searching for a victim. In one way he was; whoever his eyes rested on would have to come to the front of the room and help him out with some experiment.
Whoever had decided that letting Orochimaru play around with acids and other chemicals must have been lacking more than a few brain cells.
When some shaky guy from the back was chosen, Naruto took a deep breath of relief.
"What was that Uzumaki?" narrow eyes locked to his. "Would you like to help out too?"
"No sir…"
"Well, you're lucky that this experiment requires more brain cells than you own, so you can stay in your seat." he sneered.
Some of the students laughed. They were quickly silenced by a sharp glare.
Although Orochimaru was an evil bastard, he didn't tolerate laughter in his classes. Not so much because he opposed bullying, but because he couldn't stand laughter or any other kind of cheeriness.
If you looked at it this way, Naruto almost liked his classes; few people dared to ridicule him there, and he was seated next to Shikamaru, who never said a bad word to him, maybe because mostly he said nothing at all, but still…
It wasn't that Naruto felt so unbelievably hurt when people bullied him or yelled at him.
It wasn't that he was broken down and depressed.
Naruto wasn't pitying himself.
All of his life he'd been told he was worthless. He'd been kicked and spat on, called names and frozen out.
But the fact was that he wasn't broken.
He'd stopped his crying a long time ago, it didn't make things any better after all.
Instead he'd decided to learn how to live with the fact that people hated him, that was another thing he couldn't change, his blood was still his blood no matter how much he wanted to change. So he just put up a smile; whenever someone hoped they'd broken him, he'd flash them his trademark grin. His pride and his smile, no one could take those away from him. Even if he did get hurt sometimes, he never let others see.
If people preferred to treat him like dirt it didn't mean he had to act like an asshole back.
It would have been nice to actually be able to talk to someone at school, but since they all pretty much seemed to hate him, he did fine without them. Uzumaki Naruto was a lone wolf, maybe not by choice, but he was confident. He held his head high and smiled.
The bell rang, it was time for lunch.
The poor boy Orochimaru had snatched up front looked like he was about to die from relief when the bell sounded and he was free.
How Orochimaru managed to keep one student up front for two full periods, doing one simple experiment was unbelievable. It must be some form of torture, Naruto figured.
"You look a little pale. Are you ok?" he asked as he passed the other boy on their way out.
"Get lost."
"Fine. I was just being polite." Naruto shrugged and strode down the hallway.
As always people stopped and stared at him.
Whispering filled the corridor.
"Look at him, walking around like he owns the place!"
"I can't believe they accepted him here at all!"
"What are you looking at freak?"
Naruto stopped, smiled and said; "I looked back at you. Don't you know it's not polite to stare? Even if you want me so much you can't take your eyes of me."
He kept walking, grinning.
Uzumaki Naruto was by no means broken in any way.
In the cafeteria it was noisy and crowded as always.
But like every day you could clearly sense it when Naruto entered; that was when the noise subsided slightly and heads turned.
i "An ignore for an ignore."
That was his philosophy.
Naruto simply walked over to the counter, looking back at whoever glared at him, got in line and ordered his lunch. Then he left the cafeteria, just as confident as he'd walked in.
He ate his suspicious-looking meal in the library, frantically reading over some stuff for literature class. The teacher was always late, but the few times he actually arrived on time were always the times when Naruto hadn't read a single word in the textbook.
Knowing Hatake Kakashi, there would be a test waiting. As if the man possessed telepathic powers he always knew when Naruto's guard was down, and conjured up a 'surprise' for the entire class.
Naruto was sure that in some way it was a good thing; it kept him at least somewhat on his toes, but still. It was evil. Period.
As it turned out, the frantic studying had been a complete waste of time.
The literature teacher was more than twenty minutes late.
"Sorry I'm late class, I had to help an old lady cross the street."
"There are no streets inside this building!" Sakura, a pink-haired, perky girl on the third row shrilled. Her best subject was literature, but it was impossible to show any real results in a class where the teacher was never present.
Naruto shook his head, listening to Kakashi's further explanation.
"Well I had to go out to buy more bananas for the teacher's lounge, and that was when I crossed the street."
"The convenience store is on this side of the road!"
"In any case I trust that you are responsible young people who studied independently while I was absent? Good. Keep that up, I have business to attend to." he headed towards the door again. "Oh, and the homework for next time is chapter five."
"All of it?!"
"Yes. Have fun kids."
The door slammed shut.
Immediately the classroom was filled with chatter. Most of the students took off.
Naruto stayed behind. He didn't see where he should go, their next class was in forty minutes and was held in the same room, so going anywhere was pointless. Checking his backpack he found that he'd actually managed to bring the right book for the next class. Placing it on his desk, he decided to go through the homework.
Sadly, Social Studies can be a very boring class, and ten minutes later Naruto was snoozing off at his desk.
"Naruto!"
Blue eyes slid open.
An annoyed gaze of brown glared down at him. "Uzumaki Naruto, do you know what I just spent five minutes of this class doing?"
"No?" Naruto yawned.
"Waking you!" the teacher growled. "Honestly, you'd think that at your age it wouldn't be so hard to both show up for class and stay awake!"
"Chill out Iruka-sensei." Naruto stretched. "I even did my homework this time! Two out of three isn't so bad, is it?"
Iruka frowned. He looked around the classroom at the other students. "And here I was, thinking that this class looked out for each other. Isn't it normal to wake up your fellow student before class starts? It benefits everyone! Adds to your learning pleasure!"
Someone mumbled something.
"While we're in on the subject of being helpful. Is there anyone in this room that can tell me why I want you all to look out for each other?"
No one answered.
"Because when we're in this classroom we're a world of our own. This is our society. And in societies things don't work out unless we work together and help each other. Kiba! Are you listening?"
A boy with brown, fuzzy hair turned around. "Uh, yeah?"
"No, you weren't. You had your back turned, and if I'm not mistaken you're showing people pictures of your puppy again."
Kiba smiled sheepishly and put his phone away.
"Engage in social activities outside of class. But since you seem so friendly with Shino and Hinata, you will be pleased to hear that to better understand what it means to work together you will all be working on a project for the next three weeks. All of you are going to choose some sort of society and do some research on how it operates; it's strengths and weaknesses."
A sigh went through the room.
Iruka continued, "Since the three of you seem to be getting along so well I think we've got one group already."
Neither of the three argued.
"Ino, Chouji and Sakura. You're group two."
The blonde girl called Ino glared over at Chouji, a chubby boy who kept sneaking his hand into his backpack, which obviously contained a bag of potato chips. For some reason she was always in his group.
"What about Shikamaru?" she asked, normally he would also be in her group.
"Shikamaru will be working with Naruto."
Naruto looked up. He exchanged glances with the other boy, who didn't seem the slightest bit interested. Hard to tell that he was a genius unless you already knew.
"And Sai, you go with them as well."
"What?! What are you placing me with dickless for?!"
Naruto sprung to his feet. "No way! I'm not working with that jerk!"
"Tolerance is an important part of the recipe to a successful society. That's why the two of you are in the same group."
Shikamaru's sigh was barely audible; "Troublesome…"
"For now it's ok that you discuss amongst yourselves what kind of society you would like to look into, I'm here if you need help. And I'll write the rest of the info on the blackboard, make sure to note it down."
The young teacher smiled at Naruto, who scowled back. Sai. Of all people he had to work with Sai.
If Naruto was the most resented person in school, Sai came in a close second. The guy was real asshole, no more, no less.
Now the two of them were glaring at each other across the classroom.
There was just no way Naruto was moving.
Sai seemed to be thinking the same thing.
The stare-down was interrupted as Shikamaru calmly ordered; "Get over here you two, I want to get this over with."
Sending Sai one last scowl, Naruto pulled his chair up to Shikamaru's desk and waited for further instruction. It was obvious who the group's leader was. Not that he minded, but most likely Shika did. Being the group leader meant lots of extra work.
"So how do we do this?" Naruto asked.
"I say we do it the easy way;" Sai replied. "We use Iruka's example; this classroom. It will be easy work, especially since we even have both the top notch; me and the scum; you, in the same group."
"Haha, funny. You must be seriously stupid if you think-"
"Enough." Shikamaru interrupted. "If we are to ace this, and we will. We have to do something that impresses the teacher, and troublesome as it might be, we'll have to chose something no one else will." he sighed.
"Like?" Sai asked.
"This." he pointed to a picture in the textbook. Underneath it the description said; "Ancient Incan City."
"The Inca?"
"It's an old and fascinating culture. If we manage to dig up enough info on how their society worked we should ace it."
Naruto frowned. It sounded like a lot of work. But that was what you got when you worked with Shika.
Sai snorted. "I say we go with my way."
"Well we're not."
"It's not like you'll be doing much anyway." Naruto remarked dryly.
"At least I can read, unlike you."
"Really? All you do is doodle sketches. I've never seen you write a single syllable."
"Enough." Shikamaru interrupted. "Naruto, I trust you to go by the library and get some books on the topic. I'll check online and Sai, since you're a lazy ass who never does anything you can do the only thing you're good at; draw illustrations."
Sai snorted again and stood up.
"And don't even try to skip study-hour on Monday. We'll discuss more when we have the info."
"So I can go then?"
"Yes."
"See ya losers." Sai grabbed his bag and went through the door.
Iruka started after him. "Sai?! Where are y-" Rubbing his temples he decided to just let him go. If he stayed he'd only cause trouble anyway. The only one who'd suffer for it if Sai left in the middle of the class was Sai himself.
"Good riddance." Naruto said, glaring at the door.
Shikamaru shrugged. "It's not like it'll make any difference if he's here or not. Come on."
"Where?" the blonde wondered.
"Library. I doubt this place has any info on ancient tribal cultures, but it's worth a shot. Let's go."
The school library was by no means small. But despite its size it had a terrible selection of books. In the dusty shelves one could find a classic or two, written by Dickens, Shakespeare or some other famous dead guy. But mostly it held shortened, cheap versions of various other books, outdated encyclopedias and atlases and books entitled 'computers for dummies' 'math for dummies' 'Japanese for dummies' and so on. Those titles pretty much said what the teachers felt about their students and their learning abilities.
The only section that was filled with every single book in a series was one that should never have been there in the first place; the Icha Icha section.
The only reason why those books were there was that it was Jiraiya, who taught biology who'd written them, under a pseudonym he thought no one would be able to see through. And also, the literature professor, Hatake Kakashi was the biggest fan the series had, and he had insisted that he'd quit teaching unless those books stayed where they were.
"Hey Shika! This one has like three chapters on ancient cultures!"
"Don't call me Shika."
"I'm getting it."
"There's no use for it. It's too old."
"Relax Shika,"
"Don't call me-"
Naruto went on; "The book might be old and outdated, but the Inca is a really old tribe right? It's not like a dead culture has changed in the last ten years." he insisted.
"Fine, get it then."
They got back to the classroom just as the others were packing up for the day.
"Found what you needed?" Iruka asked as they passed him.
"Maybe."
"I'll see if I can find something for you at my house, I think I have some papers on the Inca somewhere. I'll bring them for you tomorrow." he smiled and turned to the rest of the class; "Alright, I hope everyone wrote down the date for the hand-in and presentation! Work hard everyone! Class dismissed."
The students flocked towards the door.
"Naruto, can you stay behind for a second?"
Naruto nodded.
"Don't be late on Monday." Shikamaru warned as he walked out.
"Don't worry about it. I'll be there Shika."
"Troublesome." the boy rolled his eyes and left.
When it was only the two of them left in the room, Naruto looked at his teacher and asked; "What's wrong?"
"Why do you think something is wrong?"
"Your brow always furrows like that when you're worried, and besides, usually there's something bothering you when you make me stay behind like this."
"You know me too well." he chuckled.
"Just tell me already." the blonde said, sitting up on the desk, impatiently swinging his feet back and forth.
"Are they bothering you again?" the teacher asked worriedly.
"Who?"
"Your classmates?"
"Try everyone in school." Naruto replied.
"Naruto, I could have a chat with them you know?"
"If you interfere things will get worse. I don't need you to look after me. Besides, there has never been a time when they didn't hate me. If I wasn't used to it by now, something would have to be wrong. Don't worry Iruka-sensei. I'm fine."
"As your teacher it's my duty to watch out for you."
"Don't lie." the teen smiled. "You look at me as more than just your student. And that's ok, but I'm fine this way. It's made me who I am. And I love myself."
"You have your own way with words…"
"But it's true! I'm good-looking, blonde, tanned, I have the bluest eyes in school and I'm smart…well…maybe not smart, but I'm clever and cunning! How could I not love me?"
Iruka laughed. "Don't get too full of yourself, it's not good for you."
Naruto grinned. "You're just jealous because you're getting old."
"I could lower your grades, brat."
"Nah, that's not possible." Naruto remarked. "Besides, that's why you put me with Shika right? Because you think he'll be a good influence?"
"That too. For both you and Sai. And he's…"
"Neutral? I told you, I don't need a babysitter. But you're forgiven, since he does most of the work."
Iruka arched an eyebrow.
"You're contradicting yourself though sensei."
"Oh?"
"If you put me with Shika to protect me, why did you stick Sai in our group?"
"Because Sai needs to improve his grades. And his attitude. If the two of you get to know each other then…"
"You can't change someone who's a born asshole."
"Language. You're in school. And maybe that's true, but it's worth a shot. This way he might stop picking on you."
"Hey, if that's what he wants to do I'm not gonna stop him. It's kinda fun to fight with him actually. That goes for the others too."
"It sure doesn't look fun when you're alone all the time." the teacher said calmly, looking him in the eyes. "I'm not the only one who's concerned. Tsunade wanted me to take you to her office today, she's keeping a slot open right now so you can come talk to her."
"No thanks, tell Granny I'm fine. I have to get to the library anyway, but you can come along and treat me to some ramen if you want?" he flashed an innocent grin.
"Sorry, I have papers to mark. Tomorrow. And don't call her that, she's the principal! Show some respect."
"No can do. She is like a granny!" Naruto jumped off of the desk. "I need to get going. Send her my regards!"
"Alright. You're off the hook."
"Remember, you promised. Ramen tomorrow."
"Yes yes, just get going." he said, watching as the blonde teen strode through the door.
He really did worry too much. Naruto was strong and confident, and was never one to care about what others said. But still, it pained him to see the boy being alienated by the others.
Naruto stopped as he heard a voice from behind, calling him.
"You're still here?" he asked.
"Nah, I came back." Sai replied. "Had to get something."
Naruto said nothing, and kept walking.
"Hey," Sai walked next to him. "When you're working on something it's important to really get into the stuff you're working with right? To get to know the subject very well?"
"I guess." Naruto replied.
"I suppose you already know that tribal people live by lakes and such then." Sai smirked. "Let's see if your fishing skills are as good as theirs!" he tripped the blonde, and nudged him hard in the ribs, throwing him off balance.
Naruto staggered, and fell face first into the fountain.
He looked up, squinting behind the wet strands of hair that covered his eyes. He saw Sai smirking. "You're not very graceful, not at walking nor fishing."
"Fuck you Sai." the blonde stood up.
A few people had stopped to look. Snickers were heard, but no one said anything.
Picking up his bag, Naruto headed for the gates, almost knocking Sai over as he passed him.
"See you tomorrow, partner!" Sai smiled.
Naruto glared straight ahead and hoped that his books weren't too soaked.
TBC