Forty-six reviews for something I scribbled down in like, ten minutes. Makes me wonder why I try so hard on my other stories. lol.

But no pressure, really.

I really do appreciate the reviews though! Thank you so much! It's feedback like that, that makes authors want to update faster. Hint, hint wink, wink. I would've updated sooner – the immediate day after – but I seem to have been struck with the plague. Ugh! (For the record, no sarcasm was used in the making of that statement)

You'll also be glad to know that even though I procrastinated until the almost literal last minute, I turned in my project on time and totally aced that mo-fo! Chya!!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, nor Linkin Park and their song, 'Shadow of the Day'

High School's a Drag when Everyone Thinks you're Dead

Chapter One: Would you like to Re-Start the Game? Yes/No?

"Where have I been the last year?" Naruto questioned aloud, just starring at the paper in his hands.

Naruto's first initial thought was that this was all a joke. This couldn't have been real. He threw the newspaper onto the beat-up couch and jogged back downstairs, cursing as the metal succeeded in piercing his skin a fraction.

The morning was thick and foggy and as he ran through the lawn of his complex, dew drenched the legs of his pants. His neighborhood was quiet, peaceful and serene. It was 6:30 and most people were still sleeping, not around to see the blonde streak across their grass.

With his hand covered by his sleeve, he wiped the Plexiglas roughly, trying to soften the grime; albeit a little grossed out when his sleeve was stained to a filthy brown.

He bent down to be at eye level with the contraption and squinted deeply as he tried to read the dates on the other newspapers. They all said the same thing; 2009.

Panicking, he tried to think of the last thing that he remembered. He closed his eyes and thought hard. This itself only caused him to panic more. People. He couldn't remember anyone. Only one person bubbled to his mind; Iruka. But he also remembered a silhouette; dark hair, and piercing dark eyes… nothing more.

Racking his brain, he could recall everything up until breakfast on the day of his finals. Though he couldn't remember taking the test, he knew that was the day where everything started, or ended, he could not be certain. (1)

It was really bad. Finals had been a week before June and, if his math was right, that meant that was missing about nine months in between. (2)

Naruto, by nature, was not a smart person and as much as he denied it, he knew it to be true. It was, with that fact in mind, that he couldn't believe himself with his next plan of action.

He wrapped his thin jacket tighter around his equally thin frame as he ascended the frost covered steps of the building before him. He was put off at the fact that someone had stolen his motorcycle, but he thought that the situation at hand was a bit more important than theft.

Despite it being early morning, the room he entered was buzzing with activity. The main officer was sitting behind his desk, looking at him expectantly. Naruto scurried over to him, arms still tightly wound around his body.

"What can I do for you, son?" The red haired man asked. It sounded condescending to Naruto and he made a face inwardly as he sat.

"I…" The blonde couldn't think of anything proper to say in this situation. He was starting to think he should've gone to a hospital first instead of a police station. "I think I'm lost." He said finally.

The man looked at him over the frames of his glasses with an, 'are you serious?' look. Naruto turned on him with pleading eyes; he was desperate to find out what the hell was happening.

"Alright, kid. What's your name?" He repositioned the glasses to the bridge of his nose and turned to the computer beside him.

"Uzumaki, Naruto," he spoke quietly.

The clicking of the keys mixed in with the entire cacophony of sound in the room. There was finality in the last key and pause when they waited for the page to load.

Then there was an awkward silence from the officer. He looked at Naruto and then back to the page, continuing this about six times until he cleared his throat uneasily.

"Kid, do you have any family nearby that you can talk to?" Naruto shook his head, confused. "At least I don't think I do. Iruka is the only person I can remember and he is the closest thing to a father that I have."

He nodded absently at his answer, doing another double take between the computer and the boy.

"Son, I don't doubt who you are, but we're going to need to have a serious chat. Let's go to my office." His chair screeched in resistance at being pushed back as he rose, urging Naruto to mimic him.

The two moved hurriedly down the hall, glass windows lined it, revealing nothing but black passed their reflective surface. It was then that Naruto got a chance to look at himself. His hair tickled his shoulders and was flat instead of spiky; he tugged at the threads as if inspecting them. He was thinner than he remembered, like he hadn't eaten in weeks, his stomach chose that moment to confirm the assumption by growling. Noting with a small bit of pride that it looked like he had grown, his smile bloomed again. It wasn't much of an improvement since he was still probably under 5' 10" but it was better than being 5' 7". Then, something caught his eye. He moved his hand to his cheek; he turned his head away from the windows and coddled his cheek. On each side of his face were three scars that he didn't remember ever being there. They didn't look like normal scars; that he could judge from the blackened color. He stroked them, wondering why the action made him think of fire.

The cop suddenly stopped, causing Naruto to bump into his back. "Sorry," he apologized almost inaudibly. His reply was a curt nod

"Come in." He offered. Naruto saw on his desk a nameplate that shined, spelling out, 'Hizaki, Outoku'.

Hizaki brushed away a few things on his cluttered desk and removed a stack of papers from the visitor's seat.

Naruto took the seat offered to him and starred intently at Hizaki as he sat down as well.

"Son, there's no easy way to say this and I tend to never beat around the bush, but I want you to be prepared for what I'm about to say, okay?" Naruto was beginning to get worried when he was told this but against his better judgment, he nodded. However, he couldn't stop his hands from shaking while he gripped the arms of the chair.

"Naruto Uzumaki, you're supposed to be dead."

His eyes went wide. Blood rushed by his ears, screaming and hissing as it wound through his vessels. His heart was beating rapidly, but he wasn't angry or panicked, just worried. Very worried. He felt his hands unconsciously go to the scars on his face.

He stuttered and stumbled over his words, "wha-? …how? …wh-why?"

Hizaki looked over the report that he yanked out of a file. "It says that you were in a car accident. The wreckage was bad. In the blaze everything was melted and converged together and many eyewitnesses said that they never saw you removed from it. The fire damage was so extensive that no one could separate the two vehicles. It seems to me that it is physically impossible for you to be here."

Naruto's eyes went wider, "does that mean I'm a ghost?"

The red-head nearly smacked himself in the forehead, "no. It means that you are alive and well, from a physical point of view," he mumbled the last part under his breath, hinting at his lack of mental health, "and that it is a miracle that you are here in front of me today."

Naruto was stunned into silence.

"Do you not remember anything from the past year?" He asked hesitantly, afraid of the answer.

The blonde shook his head solemnly and the officer was hit with a sudden wave of sympathy.

"Listen," he brought Naruto's attention to him again, "I'll get this paperwork and everything squared away. I want you to go through your normal routine, as best as you can, do you remember which school you go to? It is Wednesday," Naruto nodded. "then go to school. Someone there will certainly be able to help you. When you get more information ask a friend of yours to take you to a doctor, okay?"

Naruto brightened and thanked the man profusely. As he made to leave, the officer gave him a word of warning, "be careful, the media is going to be all over this, 'teenager rises from the dead' story, just tell them that you're okay, nothing more, nothing less." The blonde nodded and hurried out of the building.

Iruka sat quietly behind his desk. In the back of his mind he thought that his students would be waking up around now, fusing and rushing to get to school on time. With a sudden lump in his throat, he turned to look at the photo on the edge of his desk. It was one of the 'In Memory of Naruto' pictures that were placed in the school lobby. Iruka and Naruto, eating ice cream in the park while it was raining out. It was odd, but so much fun for them. He starred down into his mug.

Everything eventually came back to order in the school, went back to the way it was… just slower. Every day seemed longer, every class a little quieter and it was noticeable, everyone knew it.

He sniffed and rubbed his nose, feeling a wave of emotion coming and prepared to block it out. Hearing the door of his class open, he turned to look at the intruder. It was Kakashi.

"Ka-Kakashi, what are you doing here? It's early." Iruka was bewildered at the man's presence seeing as he was always late.

"I thought that my little dolphin would be glad to see me," the man pouted, his pale, upper lip disappearing behind the jutted out bottom one.

The brown haired teacher rolled his eyes at Kakashi's antics.

"You miss him?" Kakashi asked suddenly, noting the tear stains on the oak desk.

"Yeah, I just can't believe that he's gone, you know?"

"Like he'll just come waltzing in that door saying 'Sorry, I'm late!' probably using one of my old excuses." Iruka sighed sadly at the memories that flooded his mind. He knew it was never going to get any easier.

It was so bad for Iruka those first few months. He even went to a grief counselor and knew that he wasn't the only one. The brunette heard that Tsunade had one too, though she got suggested to anger management from him after only one session.

Even now, Iruka would find himself crying at the simplest things. He couldn't even go shopping without breaking down in front of the ramen.

Distantly, he heard the quiet footsteps of the 'early-risers' or 'goody two-shoes' as the other students called them.

Kakashi wrapped his arms around Iruka's neck and shoulders. resting his head against his shoulder. "I know that it's hard for you, Ruka. It's hard for me too. But you have to buck up for your students' sake. How do you think they feel when they see you all 'ho-hum' about Naruto? They'll get sad too. It's not a healthy environment for them."

Iruka relaxed in the man's grip as though he were trying to piece himself together in that instant, "I know. Thank you."

Just as things were getting 'fluffy', Kakashi found himself letting go slowly and making his way to the door just as one of Iruka's students came in.

"Good morning, Sakura." Iruka smiled at the bubblegum pink – haired girl.

"Morning, Mr. Umino," she returned the greeting while she placed herself in her usual seat.

"I trust that you studied for today's history test?"

Sakura smiled and nodded. Glancing at the clock, she found that she had about twenty minutes to study before students started piling in. In her bag, she found her text book and some papers and put them on her desk to begin studying again.

Iruka withheld a grin at the woman's eagerness. She really was a dedicated student. He noted out of the corner of his eye that Neji entered the room as well, followed by Akane and Shikamaru. This left the top four students in his class studying. Well, three of them were studying. The last, Shikamaru, was resting and staring out the window at the sky.

The teacher remained silent behind his desk, grading papers. He didn't want to disturb them from their cramming.

Time passed slowly for Iruka. He was staring at the classroom clock and was suddenly reminded of the adage, 'a watched pot never boils,' though he couldn't stop himself from sneaking a peek every-so-often.

Agitated, he turned on the chunky grey radio resting on his desk and downed the volume considerably. He adjusted the dial and stared, almost expertly, at the pointer indicating the stations he was traveling by. Finally finding a station that played music at this early hour, he settled back into his seat.

'…And the sun will set for you…

In cards and flowers on your window
Your friends all plead for you to stay

Sometimes beginnings aren't so simple
Sometimes good bye's the only way

And the sun will set for you
The sun will set for you

And the shadow of the day
Will embrace the world in grey

And the sun will set for you

And the shadow of the day…'

Iruka felt his hand act on its own accord and switched stations. The song reminded him too much of Naruto. The sad times after Naruto. A soft humming of static came from the speakers.

He was glad for the distraction of incoming students. There was the tell-tale ringing of the seven-thirty bell; the first of three bells. The next would ring in five minutes; the final would ring in ten.

Nowadays, Iruka found, he would be rushing through his day. Like he would rather be anywhere else, but he knew it was just a phase. He knew that he loved his job and he loved his students. He would give up anything just to keep teaching.

Smiling and greeting each student; he vaguely remembered that they had a new student this morning.

"You're an idiot! I don't know how many times I have to tell you that!" Fugaku berated his son.

"You've said it so many times that I see 'idiot' written on the inside of my eye-lids. But I have sneaking suspicion that you wrote that," Sasuke flipped one of his lids, showing off the invisible text.

"Don't joke with me, son!" The elder man roared.

Sasuke rolled his eyes and took an exaggerated bite out of his apple. He swung his legs lethargically as he sat on a stool in their kitchen. His mother was shuffling around the kitchen, reminding him to get home on time and to look both ways before he crossed the street and that strangers may have the best candy, but they're also the best way to find yourself in an ally with a strange man behind you and not for any good reason.

"You're still an idiot," Sasuke sighed as his father tried to continue his criticism.

"Oh hush, honey. Sasuke's a little saint," she kissed Sasuke's forehead and he inwardly shuddered at the babying and coddling. He loved his mother, but wished she'd respect his silent and anti-social nature at least a little bit.

"Saint?! Ha! Do you know what this could do to my company? My reputation would be crippled by the bad publicity," Fugaku stressed.

Sasuke had given up on trying to explain himself to his father a long time ago. He would just be called an 'idiot' for his troubles.

"School is starting soon, sweetie. Do you want me to drive you since it's your first day?" Mikoto offered.

"That's okay, mom. I'll drive myself," he put her down lightly and left to the garage, "I'll go with you, Sasuke." The voice came from behind him, but he knew who it was.

"I thought you didn't want to go to this school," Sasuke prodded in a bored tone.

"How can I judge something that I've never seen?" Itachi said lightly, sliding into the driver's seat of Sasuke's 09' Canyon. The sleek sports car purring to life with the key in the ignition.

"Out, Itachi. You have shotgun, it's my car." A twitch of the younger brother's brow tempted the eldest to laugh, but exited and reentered through the passenger door.

Sasuke seemingly satisfied, slid into the car and closed the door behind him. One of his mother's many warnings came to him and he buckled his seatbelt, Itachi following his example for once.

The garage door opened with the click of a button and they peeled out, shutting it as they left.

"Do you think your first day will be interesting, Sasuke?" Itachi asked, mildly amused at the situation.

"I wonder."

The class was in an uproar, rumors spreading like wildfire about the 'new kid'. Some saying that he was strikingly handsome, some saying that he was part of a super-rich family, some saying that he was a genius rivaling Shikamaru. It humored Iruka to no end how fast information circled in this school.

Second bell blaring to life and everyone stared at the door where a new and unfamiliar face stood staring right back.

Sasuke looked at the students, estimating about twenty-some of them. He pocketed his keys and faintly wondered if Itachi made it to the senior class.

"Hello! You must be Sasuke! I'm Umino Iruka, your homeroom and history teacher! It's so nice to have a new student with us this year," Iruka greeted over-enthusiastically, frankly startling the fresh face.

Girls started fawning over him immediately and he made enemies out of the entire male population just as fast.

Sasuke nodded and dragged a pale hand through his dark locks. He wore the standard issue, black, male uniform; deeply appreciating the color choice. His top two buttons were undone, showing more pale skin and the white undershirt. Dark eyes drifted around the room, examining his class.

"Please, introduce yourself to the class," Iruka urged, enthusiastic with the new opportunity.

"Yeah, I'm Sasuke Uchiha and I like to be alone, so don't bother me," he practically breathed.

The third bell rang, impeding the silence by a small fraction.

Only minutely put off by the improper introduction, Iruka pointed to a seat near the back for Sasuke to sit in. It was near the back left corner of the room; the only seats with students around him were two in front of him and one beside him on his right, separated by an isle. The desk paired with his was empty and he wondered if anyone normally sat there.

He shifted his bag on his shoulder and sat down in his new seat when he heard the door slam open.

"Sorry I'm late! You wouldn't believe how long of a walk it is to get here!"

Silence.

Standing in the doorway, panting for all he was worth was someone. Someone with the black, male uniform on, his shirt unbuttoned entirely and showing an orange undershirt. Someone with shoulder-length blonde hair and ocean blue eyes. Someone with a face-splitting grin. Someone with a retina burning, orange backpack with frogs drawn on it. Someone, despite his obvious tiredness, shown with a million watts of energy. Someone who was definitely not supposed to be there.

There was a pensive silence shrouding the room.

"Iruka?" The blonde spoke, approaching his teacher and feeling his forehead. "You okay? You don't look good. Like you've seen a… oh… Oh yeah!" He stepped back a bit and smiled sheepishly, scratching at the base of his neck.

"Na- Naruto?" Iruka questioned, reaching out to the boy.

"Yeah?"

And suddenly, "Ow! Mother fu-! Ow! What was that for?!" Naruto clutched his head in agony. Just as fast as the pain came, he found himself embraced in a hug.

"Moody teachers… menopause…" he mumbled, returning the hug.

Like the breaking of a dam, the students of the class rushed up to the front of the room, questions thrown at him like darts. The kids who were new this year, stayed behind, watching the chaos with mild amusement and confusion.

Through the cacophony of questions they heard stampeding from the hallway and heels screeching along the tiles.

Through the open door of the classroom, one could see the backside of a woman, seemingly trying to push back the sea of flashes and cameras. There were students behind them, trying to get in on the action.

"Connie Linel, Channel 4 News. You are Naruto Uzumaki, right?" The woman thrust a microphone in his face. Naruto nodded slowly. A sudden wave of flashes and the scribbling of notes followed his 'comment'.

"And where have you been in the last nine months?" Again, the microphone was practically thrown at him.

"I, uh, I… don't know," Naruto answered truthfully, recoiling away from the overbearing attention. He loved attention usually, but this was too much at one time. They just swarmed closer like a pack of wolves surrounding their prey. The further back he moved, the closer they got.

"I'm fine, okay?" He was starting to get defensive of his personal space. The nice policeman's words from that morning coming back to him, 'be careful, the media is going to be all over this, 'teenager rises from the dead' story, just tell them that you're okay, nothing more, nothing less.'

"That's ENOUGH!" The growl came from a busty, blonde woman at the door, the same one who was trying to push back the mob earlier.

The now seventeen year old blonde looked over at her. She looked familiar but he couldn't place her. Unconsciously, he fingered the necklace dangling from his neck.

"You people are vultures!" Her yelling brought him out of his reverie. "This poor boy has been gone for nine months and the first thing you think to do is to invade his personal life and smother him. Look at him; does it look like he wants you five centimeters away from his face like that?" They looked at Naruto and sure enough, he was backed up against a desk and still trying to get away. A few felt ashamed and others simply didn't care; it wasn't illegal, so what did it matter?

"Get the Hell out of my school and I might not call the police for harassment!" She seethed. "I hope you got all that," Tsunade deadpanned into a camera lens.

Put off by the threat of police, many people left; the others got persuasion when Tsunade picked up a desk and threw it next to their heads, narrowly missing an assault charge. Naruto received a look from many reporters that clearly said, "I'll be back."

Things died down and all the people who were not supposed to be there left, an awkward silence loomed in the room. How would you react if the person who you thought was dead for nearly a year showed up in your school suddenly?

Suddenly, Naruto was clipped in the back, "hey man, how's it been?"

Naruto looked up after the room stopped spinning and stared into the eyes of… "Huh? Who are you?" He gave the teenager a once over, before mentally declaring him "unfamiliar."

"Naruto?" Kiba looked at his friend worriedly.

The boy in question backed away from Kiba, not sure how to approach the situation at hand. His legs bumped into the desk behind him, nearly making him tip backwards.

"I don't know you…" He saw dozens of pairs of concerned eyes on him. Murmurs began spreading around the room.

"Stop being a dick, Naruto! It isn't funny!" Kiba yelled, closing the space between them. He drew back his fist ready to pummel Naruto for trying to mess with him.

The brunette stopped in his tracks when he saw Naruto flinch as though afraid to be struck. His eyes widened in fear and his fist dropped to his side limply.

"Naruto! What about me? How about me?" Sakura nudged Kiba out of the way a little bit and grasped the blonde's shoulders.

"I-I don't. I don't know any of you… I'm really sorry," he felt a watery film rush over his eyes. Naruto was just so confused.

"It's alright," he saw the woman speaking to him was the busty lady from before who helped chase away the reporters, "let's go to my office and I'll try to clear things up."

"Who are you? And why would you want to help me?" Tsunade flinched at the words but remained silent.

The look that Naruto saw in the woman's eyes made him feel horrible. She looked crushed and he pushed down the urge to go help her as though it were a natural thing for him to do for her.

Iruka advanced toward him, sympathy and pity welling in him, "Naruto, it's okay. Look at this, only ten minutes into class and it's already turned into a trying day for you."

"I'm sorry, I'm really sorry…" Naruto repeated, maneuvering around the desk and backing up further. He wanted to be anywhere but there. He just wanted to sit in his seat and not pay attention like always. At this point he had backed himself up until he reached the back of the room where his old desk was.

"It's okay, Naruto," he answered again, uneasy about the blonde's reaction.

"I'm so sorry," Iruka let out a silent scream when he saw Naruto's eyes roll back; his body crumpling like an unsupported scarecrow.

When he didn't hear the sound of the body collapsing to the ground, he unclenched his eyes that he didn't remember closing. A relieved sigh escaped his lips and he smiled.

Naruto was standing, slumped over and passed out, in the arms of the new student; Sasuke Uchiha.

"Tch, dobe," he scoffed.

TBC…

(1) To prevent any further confusion –now that I've re-read it, I see it too- Naruto remembers all of his memories except the people in them. If he had total amnesia, he would be as dumb as a stump and the story wouldn't really work after that, would it? (Now that I think about it, compare it to Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles. Sorta like that where Sakura gets her memories back but she can't see Shyoaron (sp?) even though he's there). He just can't remember the car crash or anything from the past nine months.

By the way, for all of the people about to trash me about how, "that's too convenient," it is possible. It's happened before.

(2) This has nothing to do with pregnancy whatsoever; just letting the MPREG hopefuls know, lol.

I apologize greatly if I sound a bit testy. It's just that I worked hard on this and the reviews that say, "That's too convenient" or "that would never happen," really strike a nerve. It's fiction; I don't know what you expected. I've never gone through this and if you have, let me know the rules about how to bring back someone from the supposed 'dead'. Besides, I think the way that I brought Naruto back into the picture was appropriate for his character. He is the most surprising ninja after all. I wouldn't be doing him justice any other way.

Thank you for listening to my ranting.

Nomi: Okay, so I don't know how many of you have read one of my older stories called Bone Weaver; With Love but this is essentially where I wanted to go with it. I'm kinda thinking about discontinuing it and splitting up the themes into two different stories, this being one of them.

Anyway, I know what you're thinking, "Oh no she di'int! She did not just go with the clichéd 'Amnesia' card!" Well, I did, I'm sorry. If you don't like it at all, tell me and I'll change it, but just so you know, it'll totally ruin the story from here on out unless you give me a better idea.

Also, I've been getting complaints that I haven't written any lemons recently and I'm very disappointed in you all… for not telling me sooner! For all of you who love my lemons, congratulations, "It's a boy!" Lots of boys actually! My new multi-chapter, multi-lemon, multi-location, multi-pairings story… (Sudden drum roll) …Rock with all the Colors of the Stage!! –Working on the title a little bit, lol-

If you hate this and you regret reading it now that you've seen the direction, I suggest you go see a psychiatrist.

If you don't like this, but have some suggestions for me that would improve the quality of the story, please tell me in a review.

If you like it and want to see something in a future chapter that would make you scream in giddy delight, tell me in a review and I'll be glad to try and incorporate it. I'm a fan whore fer-realz. XD

If you love this, want to shove it down your pants and name it Jeremy the Psychiatric Patient! ™ Or want to rape it, have its babies and make it pay child support, also tell me in a review because then I'll update faster!! You have no idea how much that helps me when writing.

If you had a completely different idea of where this was going to go after chapter one, please tell me. I think it would be awesome to hear all of your ideas.

I love you all! Peace out, my gangstas!

MayIFall is still unbe-fucking-lievable! Even though I didn't force her to edit this. Bow to Her!!

P.S. I changed Naruto's height as per OMG equals Me's request. See, I did it! Just because he's short in the anime, doesn't mean I have to make him a teeny little tha'ng in the story. lol. This way, Sasuke will only be two inches taller than him.