- Naruto -

"Get up Naruto, or you'll be late for school again ya' know!"

The sudden voice shocked me so much that I jumped straight out of my bed, landing directly on my face and right shoulder. Sheepishly, I pulled myself to my feet, holding the back of my head in pain, groaning about having to wake up for school. Despite my protests, school was actually very enjoyable, for me at least. I knew there were many people who hated even thinking about school but I guess it's down to perspective and who you're with.

"Jiraiya will be here any minute now, get ready!"

The mention of that name was all it took for my attitude to change. As if all the weariness had drained from my body, I sprinted to the bathroom before jumping into the shower.

No more than ten minutes later, I had showered, brushed my teeth and slipped into the outfit I left out the night before. The charcoal black jeans worked with the half orange half black hoodie. I thanked my parents for passing down their fashion sense, well from what I remember of them, they were always dressed well.

A certain knocking of the door meant only one thing. In elation, I jumped up from where I was sitting on my bed, into the hallway before jumping down the last six stairs. Without a second thought, I opened the door, revealing none other than Jiraiya, himself.

"Well if it isn't young Naruto." The lips of the older man stretched into a wide smile as he stepped through the door.

"I'm not a child anymore, ya' know. I'm eighteen now!" I returned the gesture with my own signature toothy grin. "How was Japan? Did you manage to complete your research?"

On cue, the white haired man reached into his coat pocket, pulling out a small green paperback book. On the cover, a large white block number four was printed at the center. No words were needed to tell me that Jiraiya had had a successful trip to Japan.

"I know it's been a couple years since I've visited but your parents wouldn't forgive me if you were late on your first day of senior year."

As goofy as he was, Jiraiya was speaking sense. I had been placed in his care since I was young after my parents had been killed in that car accident. Even though he had his flaws, as everyone does, I found no mistake in how the older man had taken care of me ever since I was a very young child.

Usually, I would have to take the bus, or walk if I missed it, to school but, now that Jiraiya had returned from Japan, today, I was getting a much needed lift. Sasuke and the others would have to wait a little longer to see me. I quickly pulled on my shoes before slinging my bag over my shoulder, locking up as Jiraiya climbed into the driver's seat of his matte black Ford Mustang.

"When did you get this beast?" I stared in awe at the marvel parked in my front driveway. The older man rolled his eyes as I goggled at his brand new ride. Slowly, I walked around the car, climbing into the passenger seat beside the car's goofy driver.

Unfortunately, the school was only a ten minute drive from where I lived, meaning that I wouldn't be able to spend as much time with Jiraiya as I wanted. But that meant that we would have the evening together, if nothing unexpected came up.

"So Naruto, you got yourself a girlfriend yet?"

Jiraiya wasted no time with small talk, eager to have the tea. I felt my cheeks burn up ever so slightly but I shook the thought as there wasn't anyone that came to mind, except...

"Nah, it's not something I've been going for to be honest." The answer was boring, but the truth.

"It's better that you haven't been chasing around girls, I can tell you from experience."

The two of us made eye contact for the briefest of moments, but that was enough to set us off. At the same time, we burst out laughing at the mention of my guardian's teenage endeavours. For the best part of the journey, Jiraiya told me all sorts of stories of what he did to try and get girls when he was younger. 

As he took the final turn, the white haired man started to say his goodbyes before wishing me luck with girls, basketball and, of course, my studies. I stepped out of the passenger seat, seeing that a load of people ranging from first years through to seniors were walking through the main gate.

I decided it was futile trying to find Sasuke and the others, so I plugged in my earphones, waved goodbye to Jiraiya, and set off for the final year of school.

It felt unusual arriving when so many people were here. Most of the time I would get to school late because I missed the bus or early if I decided to practice at the gym as it was always open. I had no clue how Guy-sensei, our team coach, had managed to pull the strings to keep the gym open early in the morning and late in the afternoon, but either way I wasn't going to question it.

Humming along to the song that was playing, I navigated through the crowd of people. Most of the students were meeting up with their friends for the first time in ages due to the summer break so there were clumps of people dotted around the front courtyard.

Then out of nowhere, I bumped into something. I looked down quickly to see if I had knocked something over but was surprised when my eyes made contact with a shorter girl who was hurrying to pick up her bag and books.

"Oh man, I'm so so sorry. Here, I'll help you out."

Without hesitating, I knelt down to help the girl pick up her things. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that the crowd was thinning out around us, giving us space which was unexpected. The bell hadn't rang, so everyone was still here, but it felt like the two of us were in our own space.

"N-No, it's okay. I-I didn't look where I was g-going."

The girl's voice was quiet but I managed to hear her over the music playing in my earphones. In reply, I shook my head, reassuring her that it was my fault but the girl didn't look like she wanted to continue talking.

I looked up to her face for the first time, noticing her dark purple hair and pale skin. But what stood out most was her peculiar eyes. The were no pupils and her irises were a beautiful lavender colour. Only once before had I seen those eyes, they matched those of my close friend, Neji Hyuuga. I connected the dots as we stood to our feet.

"Hinata? I'm so sorry I didn't see you. How've you been?" First, I walked into her and made her drop her stuff and then I didn't even know it was her until just now.

She looked surprised that I was talking directly to her, stumbling over her words initially. After a moment, she cleared her throat and replied; "I-I'm alright thanks. H-How have you been Naruto?"

Now that I thought about it, this was the first time I was having an actual conversation with Hinata. I'd seen her around school and sometimes when I was at Neji's she made an occasional appearance. However, as we were making small talk, I could tell that the conversation began to feel a little forced. Hinata looked like she wanted to get away but was staying out of politeness so I hoped that Sasuke or someone would pull me away so I wasn't being rude.

Then out of nowhere, I felt a vibrating in my pocket. I excused myself for one second to see who was calling me but the minute I turned around to look back at Hinata, she was gone. Silently, I stood there, wondering how she had disappeared so quickly but I shrugged it off, knowing I would end up seeing her around.

"Hey Naruto! Over here dumbass!"

The familiar voice caused a wide smile to stretch across my face. It had truly been a while since I had heard the sound of my best friend. As I turned around to see where he was calling me from, a group of five people approached.

In the middle stood Sasuke Uchiha with his usual 'I'm too cool to be here' expression. His hands firmly in his pocket as he gave me a nod. To his left, Neji Hyuuga, cousin of the girl I had just bumped into. Now that I thought about it, it was a little weird that I had never really seen Hinata as much as I has seen Neji. We both took the same subjects but she had never really stood out.

To his left, a shorter brunette whose hair was tied into two buns had a wide smile on her face as her and Neji were talking about something I couldn't hear over the sound of everyone else. On Sasuke's right stood his two fangirls. One blonde haired, one pink haired, but both remarkably similar. Sakura and Ino were very obviously discussing something but I decided to pay no attention to them.

"About time you showed up Sasuke." The two of us smirked before exchanging knowing glances. The two of us were overdue for a talk and I could tell he had something to say, but not in front of everyone else.

Just as I was about to greet everyone else, the main school bell rang. That was the cue for the school day to start and I found it ironic how so many people were stood outside, knowing that no one would be here this early tomorrow.

"Biology first but we're going somewhere quickly." Sasuke spoke into my ear as everyone made their way up the stairs through the front door.

Within five minutes, the entire front courtyard had cleared out leaving only Sasuke and I. But out the corner of my eye, I could have sworn that I saw a certain indigo haired girl take a side route around the main building.

"What do you want to talk about then?"

"Basketball." Sasuke wasted no time building up to what he wanted to discuss. "More specifically, basketball after high school."

"If you're worried about a scholarship then I don't think you need to be. You're a genius on the court, ya' know." The Uchiha boy rolled his eyes at my response as if I had completely missed the point.

Just as he was about to reply with his usual smart tongue, another voice caught our attention. From atop the stairs, a white haired man who stood just shy of six foot, called out to us.

"Naruto, Sasuke, try not to be late on your first day. Homeroom's in two minutes."

The two of us exchanged brief glances before taking the stairs up to the main entrance. The conversation could wait for know. If Kakashi-sensei hadn't shown up, I'm sure I would have been late and then Jiraiya giving me a lift would have been pointless.

Later

The school day was nearing its end, with only biology being the only remaining subject. Seeing as it was our first lesson of the year, we would be assigned a lab partner. For the past three years, I had been with Sasuke in the first, Neji in the second and Shikamaru in the third. It was fair to say I had been carried through the first three years of biology by these geniuses and if luck was going my way, I would be paired with another virtuoso.

As I rounded the corner to the classroom, I could see that everyone was already seated which, of course, meant that I was late. It was no good turning up after the lab partners had been assigned, I was sure to be left in the dust.

Quietly, I stepped into the large open lab, hoping to slip in undetected. But that was wishful thinking as a voice from the front of the room called out my name. "Naruto-kun, you're late."

Our teacher's sharp voice caused me to freeze in place. I felt the gaze of twenty other students look up from whatever they were doing, directly into my soul.

"I-uh. Sorry I'm late Orochimaru-sensei. I was talking to Kakashi-sensei about something."

Of course this was a complete lie. Both of us knew this but as long as I made up an excuse, no matter how bad, Orochimaru-sensei didn't really care. Sheepishly, I turned to the class, making eye contact with Sasuke who was stifling a laugh at me being caught so obviously. Sakura, who was sat next to him, could only shake her head at me being such a goofball.

"No matter. Find a seat and I'll announce your lab partner."

Even if there were a load of open seats, I didn't want to sit by myself. I mean, you've met me. I need someone to talk to. Quickly, I scanned the class, finding the first seat I could, praying by chance I was going to be blessed with a good lab partner, because we know I need all the help I can get if I'm going to pass this subject.

Without even seeing who I was about to sit next to, I took my seat, slinging the bag off my shoulder and under the stool I was sat on.

"Perfect. You're already sat next to her."

Confused, I turned from Orochimaru-sensei to my left to see who I was sat next to. I had to do a double take to confirm who I was sat next to.

"Hinata?"

"H-Hello N-Naruto. I guess we're lab partners."

I didn't know how to react. At first I was thankful that I was paired with someone I knew but then I realised that I know nothing about Hinata. The indigo haired girl hid her face slightly, playing with her thumbs as we greeted each other briefly. Other than our awkward conversation earlier, I hadn't spoken to her before so I hoped that I wouldn't be sat in silence all year but I didn't want to push my luck.

"You're first paired assignment will be next week." Orochimaru-sensei spoke out as he turned on the projector, starting up the slide show.

I decided to save the talk for later, not wanting to fall behind on the first day. As I leaned down to pull a notebook out of my bag, I saw a scrunched up paper ball rolling along the lab floor toward me. Sitting up, notebook in one hand, paper ball in the other, I scanned the room to see where it had come from.

Eventually, I made eye contact with Ino, who was sat beside Sai near the front of the room. I held up the paper ball, hoping it was her who sent it my way but she shook her head, nodding in Hinata's direction. Confused, I handed the message to my new lab partner, hoping she knew something about this.

As she read the message, Hinata's expression didn't change one bit. Instead of writing a reply she hid the paper ball in her pocket and returned her focus to the slide show. Whatever was going on, I definitely wanted to know now, my curiosity had been piqued. This year would be interesting to say the least.