Chapter 2:

Say Hello To Your New Village Idiot – Naruto Uzumaki!

As Sasuke predicted, Shikamaru was next to arrive to the classroom, half-asleep and shuffling towards his desk. With mild amusement, the Uchiha noted how indifferent he was that he pushed straight through Sakura and her little friend circle. However, it was the stink-eye Sakura shot at him which granted him the most amusement.
Some sadistic part sang out in Sasuke, coming to the conclusion that he was single-handedly turning most of the females against the Nara boy. However, it was far from being his problem. On top of that, he didn't really think that Shikamaru cared all that much either.
Perhaps he was like Sasuke in that regard: focused on studies, rather than suitors. That seemed more the case the more the Uchiha thought about it. Shikamaru was the only person that rivaled his own intelligence, if not, surpassed it. Half the time, he contemplated why the teenaged-genius bothered to come in to school at all.

In the end, the answer was always the same. Sasuke determined that if it be up to Shikamaru, he wouldn't come to class at all. But it wasn't his decision, now, was it? It was the teacher's decision to keep him in class.

And speak of the devil, the next person to walk into the class was the teacher, Iruka Umino. It'd become daily practice for Mr. Umino: arriving to class to dismiss everybody to their assigned seats, then open up with a lecture. He took his stand at the front, wooden ruler in his hand, impatiently tapping his palm with it. The gesture would've been enough to make most of the student cower, -if it not be for how soft and sweet Iruka could be.
Sasuke was fairly certain that he could take on his homeroom teacher and leave the battle unscathed.
But, he was learned to respect authority figures, and teachers did fall under that category. The black-haired boy tossed his gaze to his tanned teacher, listening to whatever speech was about to slip forth.

"We have a new student today."
The entire class bustled with hushed whispers of anticipation, aside the select few. The young, ravenous male fell under that category. Never had he understood what the fuss was about getting a new student, -they all went to school for the same reason. It wasn't like they were welcoming an alien -of the extra-terrestrial kind at least- into their class. It was just another guy, or gal, like the rest of the student-body was composed of.

However, without fail, the whispers and giggles sprang up.
Sasuke rolled his almost black eyes, deciding that focusing on the floor tile was far more interesting. It wasn't until he heard Mr. Umino call out his name did he revert back to being attentive.

The speech dragged on longer than the teen though necessary, even if he'd only rejoined the land of the living halfway through. After a few minutes, Mr. Umino finally began to wrap things up. "We've all been there at some point, entering a class or room of complete strangers. So, if I must ask, please retain the impression of being normal, less manic students even just for the day. I don't want to scare him away like we did the last three, exchange students. With that said, please give a -relatively normal!- welcome to Naruto Uzumaki!"
A soft applause rippled through the classroom before all was shushed by door creak. After a moment's pause, the person dared step through into the classroom.

From the tips of his almost high-lighter yellow hair, to the ends of his neon, orange converse, he was as bright as a ray of sunshine. His blond hair was almost refreshingly different and painstakingly obnoxious at the same time. It was a mystery if that was a natural color, or not. Spiked up in spontaneous tufts, it was just barely held out of his eyes by a red bandana used as a headband.
And speaking of his eyes, Sasuke doubted he'd ever seen a color as such. They had to be colored contacts or something, -there was no way such an ocean blue like that could be natural.

Over his torso was a baggy orange hoodie that matched the color of his converse. It was a few sizes too big for him, sleeves dipping down to cover his palms, leaving just enough space for fingertips to poke out. It seemed the only thing that really fit were the gray, ripped jeans on his legs.
Colorful and mismatched, -in the Uchiha's opinion, Naruto was a bit of anomaly.

His voice interrupted the silence, loud, booming and cheerful: "Hey, my name is Naruto Uzumaki. It's great to be here!"
A wave of muted giggles erupted through the room. Of all the things they'd seen today, the new student was about the cutest thing most had seen all morning. Though it did not come into discussion, Naruto passed their universal inspection for the most part. He fit into the classroom like the last piece of a jigsaw puzzle.
Though, one person opted to disagree.

With his infamous glare, Sasuke stood out amongst the smiling faces like a sore thumb. He could feel the new kid falter under his intense, obsidian stare, which he derived a bit of happiness from.

It wasn't until Mr. Umino announced that the new kid would be sitting beside Sasuke did the bright, bubbly smile completely fall off. Naruto cast a dispirited, blue gaze at his seating partner. Of all the luck, he'd be seated by the one person that he knew he wouldn't be getting along with. Then again, he knew that in all retrospect, he shouldn't expect any less.
"Hey, kid. Stop staring at me, it's starting to creep me out."
Was he staring? The boy's head tipped down to hid a fiery blush, creeping over his cheeks. Flustered, he shoved his hands into his hoodie pockets, nodded, then made his way towards his new desk.

He didn't know if it was a naturally occurring thing, or simply a spectacular talent of the Uchiha's. The closer Naruto inched forward, the stronger the death vibe around Sasuke grew. Speeding his pace, the younger male quickly plopped down in his seat, instantly looking away.
The room fell into silence.
Naruto coughed a bit, trying to split the awkwardness between them. The tension was so high, you could almost cut through it with a knife. He didn't dare speak, and from the looks of things, neither did-
"Gay."
Never mind. The Uzumaki's head snapped over, glaring at the side of Sasuke's head. Of all the things to break a silence with, that was probably the last thing he wanted to hear. "Excuse me?"

"You heard what I said." He didn't bother to move, sitting still with his gaze tipped towards the front, hands hiding his mouth. It made something boil in Naruto's blood with how high and mighty Sasuke tried to be.
Naruto frowned, his happy gaze glistening over to smoldering, aqueous glare. "You look like a bird. What's with that hair?"
"Idiot. What kind of come back was that?"
"You're a bastard, you know that?"
"And you're still an idiot."
A whine escaped the young blonde, staring back down at his desk. Doubting he could win the fight against his obnoxious desk-mate, he merely surrendered, digging through his backpack for a pencil. A curse slipped from his thinned lips: "Just, shut up duck-butt."

Sasuke shrugged it off, tutting before he proceeded to write down whatever Mr. Umino was jotting down at the boards. The mood lightened a bit now that the Uchiha was distracted, and Naruto thanked whatever forces were at work behind that. Though, he could feel some other tension in the room. He couldn't pinpoint it immediately, but after a few minutes of work, Naruto found it.
It was a surprise that he didn't have holes burnt out in the back of his neck.

Turning around to give somebody an earful, Naruto found his anger quickly dissipated. A young woman sat there, green eyes staring him down. Soft pink locks fell into her face, begging to be caressed and tucked behind her ear. Albeit, her forehead was a little large, but the blond wanted nothing more than to press a kiss to it.

He opened his mouth to say something to her, but was quickly interrupted.
"Naruto!"
Quickly wheeling around, he flipped back to the front just to have a black board eraser smack him square between the eyes. A snicker resonated from his side by the village asshole, making Naruto want to sink into the floor just a little more. He rubbed his head, gently lobbing it back before he settled down to continue taking notes. A sigh bubbled up from his core, whispering to himself quietly.
"God, I hate Mondays..."

FelisMargarita: This one was a little longer than the last one. I normally try to keep them the same length.
Sasuke: You know, variety isn't a bad thing, right?
FelisMargarita: I know. This whole chapter barely made a page before I rewrote it. Aside, in the last one, you're very out of character. I'm trying to keep you to your true character this time.
Sasuke: Suave, and mysterious?
Naruto: Try cold, trying too hard to be cool, and being a bit of an ass-hat.
FelisMargarita: Yeah, that sounds about right.