A Charge of Night

I'm glad that some of you like my story. I hope you all will continue to review. Please leave feedback. I'm interested to see what people think of my story, and thank you to the few who did review. It means a lot really.


Chapter Two: An Unwelcome Guest

The next day Sasuke walked into his classroom content that he hadn’t been jostled about in the halls, or knocked down by a moronic dobe.

“Where do you think he is?” said a voice he recognized as Haku’s.

“How should I know?” Kiba voiced gruffly, “Maybe he’s out sick today.”

“Alright everybody, take your seats.”

There was a slam as the door to the room was pushed open roughly.

Sasuke sighed inwardly as he heard wheezing breaths.

“Naruto, you’re late,” Iruka admonished.

“I know, sorry.” Naruto’s voice sounded weary and a little breathless.

He trudged over to his seat and plopped down.

“Alright, as I explained yesterday, we are having a speaker today. He writes novels, so I thought it would be a good experience for you. His name is Jiraiya Ninomia, and he should be here in a few minutes.”

Naruto glared daggers at Iruka, who pretended not to notice.

“While we’re waiting for him to come, I’d like you to write me a paragraph about what you consider good literature. I want you to put some thought into this. Think of your favorite books and give plenty of…”

Haku gasped as he stared at Naruto.

“Your nose is bleeding.”

Naruto groaned as he rushed out of his seat and grabbed a tissue from the front of the room. He held his head back and stared bleary eyed at Sakura who scoffed at him.

“Shouldn’t we be quarantined?” she asked smugly, “I mean we could be breathing in his contagion as we speak.”

Many of the kids laughed but there was an air of nervousness and tension that even Sasuke could feel. He was slightly annoyed by the bloody nose because he hated the rusty, metallic smell, but that didn’t explain their reactions. Iruka stared at her, his eyes showing a hint of sadness.

“Sit down, Sakura-chan.” he said tersely, “I’d like you to remain quiet for the duration of class time.”

Sakura smirked at him and sat back down.

“I still think he should leave the class.” She piped shortly after, “I’m sure the principle…”

“That’s enough, Sakura,” Iruka’s spouted his voice tense and edgy.

“It’s alright, Iruka-sensei.” Naruto said quietly, “You don’t have to defend me, if you think I should leave, I’ll leave. It’s no big deal.”

“No,” Iruka said, “You’re not using this to your advantage Naruto.”

The door burst open again, to the annoyance of Sasuke, who had to contend with another awful clanging noise.

“I’m sorry I’m late,” Sasuke was surprised at the happy, yet deep voice that flitted to his ears.

The white haired man’s copper colored eyes stared at Naruto with concern.

“Naruto,” he said as he walked toward him, “Are you…”

“Don’t touch me,” Naruto spouted with ferocity.

There were many sharp intakes of breath from his shocked classmates. Naruto turned on his heel and marched away from the older male. He willed himself not to notice the painful expression that had planted itself on Jiraiya’s face.

“What’s up with you, Naruto?” Kiba asked with a mark of concern in his voice.

“Leave me alone, Kiba,” Naruto replied groggily.

“I’m happy you could come, Jiraiya-san. We are all anxious to hear about your books and the process of writing.” Iruka piped trying to ease the tension.

“Well,” Jiraiya said jovially, “As many of you may know, I have a series of books. Some deal with mysticism and the occult, others are tamer and have to due with family dynamics. They also deal with the problems that young adults, like you guys, face. I’ve found that any good story starts with a lot of research. I’ve read a lot of books on mysticism. I’ve visited many temples. In fact, I grew up in one. I’ve studied many religions. If you want to be a successful writer, your will have to devote yourself fully to your craft.”

He paused staring disappointedly at Naruto who was resting his head in his arms, determinedly ignoring him and refusing to meet his gaze.

“Does anybody have any questions for me?”

“Is it true that you write adult novels?” a girl with auburn hair meekly asked.

Jaraiya laughed nervously, “Yeah, that’s a majority of what I write. Does anyone else have anything to ask?”

“What type of research do you do for those books?” another student piped up.

“Well, I uh…”

“Go ahead and tell him, Pervy Sage.” Jaraiya’s eyes swiveled to Naruto, who was smirking up at him, his sapphire eyes slitted into a look of animosity. “You aren’t ashamed are you?”

“Naruto, I know…”

“You don’t know anything,” Naruto declared his voice dangerously low.

“Naruto, would you just…”

“Save it, Pervy Sage.” Naruto said, “You’re not worth the time it would take to listen to you.”

He stood from his seat in a second, and disappeared through the door. The whole class was speechless. Sasuke could feel the confusion wafting off the students. Many were dying to ask what it all was about, but only one pink haired, green-eyed girl spoke up.

“What was that all about, Ninomia-san?” she asked easily.

“I don’t think this discussion is appropriate.” Iruka finally piped up, “Please ask Jaraiya-san something else.”

The room was deathly quite as all of the students couldn’t think of anything else besides the events that transpired earlier. Sasuke sighed before raising his hand.

“Did you bring a book with you that you could read an excerpt from?”

“Yes,” Jaraiya said relieved, “I’d be more than happy to read some to you.”

He shuffled through the cracked leather suitcase that he’d brought with him. He pulled out a dark blue book with a picture of a small boy cloaked in dark, crouched in the corner of a room.

“This book is called Tight Spaces. I wrote it nine years ago and its one of my best sellers.”

He paused, running his fingers over the cover before opening the book.

“The cold air slithered up his arms, shocking them into a state of numbness, yet still he sat on the cold stone step; his face immobile and staring at the stars that slipped effortlessly through the sky as the time ticked by unnoticed.

‘Natsu,’ the voice spoke to him through the haze, “Your going to be sick if you stay out here, come inside.”

Natsu’s calm sapphire eyes stared up at the wrinkled benevolent face with little feeling. He simply shook his head and turned away.

‘Natsu, please listen to me.’ he said softly, ‘You can’t stay out here like this. We have to go back inside.’

Natsu shook his head again, letting his long gold locks fall into his eyes.

‘Natsu,’ he called again sadness permeating the soft tones of his voice. He walked closer to the apparently frozen boy.

‘Stay away from me.’ Natsu’s voice was a sorrowful squeak, ‘please, stay away from me.’

Natsu’s head dipped down into his chest. “I can’t go back.” his voice sounded choked, his back trembled, “I don’t want to see anymore.”

Jaraiya coughed slightly clearing his throat. To his surprise, the whole class seemed intent on what he was saying. The room was still and quiet as they waited for him to continue. Unfortunately, the bell sounded before he could utter another syllable. Most of the students groaned in dismay. Sasuke was one of them. Although, he would never admit it out loud, that small snatch of the book had him intrigued. Who was that boy? Why didn’t he want to go inside? What didn’t he want to see?

“If you’d like a copy of the book, I have plenty of copies that I’m willing to sell.” Jaraiya called over the noise of the exiting students, “Iruka has all my information, feel free to ask him if you’re interested.”

Sasuke, although interested, refused to show it, so he fought the urge to buy the book. He quickly fought through the throng of people to his dreaded history class. He was not surprised that Naruto was absent.

“Sasuke, I don’t suppose you know where your habitually tardy friend is?”

“Naruto isn’t my friend, and he wasn’t feeling well first hour, so I guess he went home.”

Orochimaru tsked lightly, and then began class.

Ok, thats chapter 3. I hope it wasn't overly dramatic.