This way to the stars

AN: Thank you to all those who reviewed. Again, the pairings are still unsure, but guess what? You all get to help me! In the near future, probably a few chapters later, You people can tell me what pairing you would like this fic to have: Sasuxnaru, Nejixnaru or Gaaxnaru¡¦ ^_^ Just take time to review and cast your votes!! Take note though¡¦ a few chapters later. I still have to establish a few things and let you guys see how the pairs interact with one another.
Again, thank you for your support, and I am here mainly to please all of you.
Cheers.

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~~Pick up where you left.

"There is a time and place for everything,
but there are also times when you have to
pick up where you left."
-amethyst

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It was perhaps at this point that Naruto wished for a millionth time that Haruno Sakura wasn't in any means his relative. It was also this point wherein he cursed whatever deity that heard him for making them classmates.

He had entered the class relatively unscathed and had settled silently at the very back of the class. He earned a few curious stares but pointedly ignored them and stared out the window. Most people got the point and carried on whatever they were doing, which thankfully gave Naruto a chance to observe the class undisturbed.

His insides froze when his eyes fell on a disturbingly familiar strawberry pink head, and audibly groaned. It was just his luck that he was in the same class with Sakura. Just... just peachy. It seemed she had become an instant celebrity judging by the many girls swarming around her. He could just hear her high pitched laugh from where he sat, and it made his insides churn. His train of thoughts was disturbed by a shadow looming over his desk. Looking up, he met a grinning face that was giving him a mock salute.

"Hey there, pretty boy. What's your name?"

Naruto openly stared as his mind processed three things. One, the boy just called him "pretty". Two, said boy had strange markings tattooed on his face. And three, he was grinning at him widely, so much so that a small sharp fang made itself known, just protruding from his lip, giving him a wolfish look. Naruto decided to act on the first thought.

"Who you calling pretty?!" Naruto snapped and stood up, ignoring the fact that the boy was probably a foot taller than him, and decidedly more bulky.

The boy raised an amused brow. "Whoa, what's your problem? I just asked for a name."

"Well, well..." Naruto stammered, flaying his hands. He didn't know why he was getting so flustered! "What's YOUR name?" he said lamely.

The boy rolled his eyes and Naruto felt his cheeks turning red. "I asked first you know." He stuck his pinky inside his right ear and looked at him balefully. "Didn't your parents ever teach you any manners?"

Naruto's stiffened, nearly dreading what was coming next. His eyes fell on the wicked sneer stretched across Sakura's otherwise pretty face, and felt his world collapse as she opened her mouth to strike.

"He doesn't HAVE any parents." Sakura said in malevolent glee. "...And he's a real idiot. I should know. He cleans my bathroom floor."

Naruto glared bitterly at Sakura who was casually brushing her nails on her uniform. She was doing it again... She was destroying his life all over again¡¦ The class had long since fallen silent and was staring back and forth between the two newcomers. The boy- the one who had been talking/taunting Naruto- was now looking uncomfortable at the turn of events.

"I wouldn't bother talking to him, if I were you." Sakura nodded at him, as if doing him a big favor by telling him this. "He's not worth your time."

The tension in the classroom was now so thick, one could hardly breathe. Naruto felt like screaming. It wasn't fair- why did Sakura have to ruin everything again?! Naruto wished again, for a million and one times that Haruno Sakura was in no means his relative. His knees gave out, and as he crumpled down his seat in crushed defeat and bitterness, Naruto also wished that he could just die that very moment.

"That's not a very nice thing to say, is it?" a lazy voice broke the silence as if snapping a tightly wound chord.

Naruto fought back the angry stinging in his eyes and dared look up to see who had spoken. A pony tailed guy who for the world looked like he had just woken up from a nap, propped his head on one hand and turned lazy eyes on Sakura.

"I don't know who you are, woman, or what your relationship with this guy here is. But I think you owe him an apology."

Sakura gaped at the boy who dared speak to her like that. "And who are you?" she sourly said, disliking him immediately.

"That's not important." The boy waved an uncaring hand. "...Just apologize, and let's get this through. I want to go back to sleep."

The class had forgone its former silence and was now whispering to each other. Shikamaru, the strange, self-proclaimed lazy genius, who never so bothered to even remember the names of people, was sticking up for the equally strange blonde newcomer. Sakura sniffed haughtily, preparing a rude retort, paused, then deciding that the boy was not worth her time, turned her back on him and went back to chatting with her newly acquired lackeys- er, friends.

The boy's ponytail twitched in annoyance, and he sighed. "Troublesome."

Naruto stared at him in half concealed amazement and curiosity. The boy oozed of some unconscious confidence and his face was the picture of utter boredom. Naruto wondered how he pulled it off. He was jerked out of his thoughts once again as said boy turned to look at him. Naruto quickly looked away.

The class lingered for a few minutes, not exactly processing what had occurred, before shrugging and breaking apart, figuring that the excitement was over. Naruto felt a tap on his shoulder, and he reluctantly looked up to meet the guilty expression of the tattooed guy.

"Hey... Uh, 'm sorry 'bout all that. Didn't mean to.. you know, cause a scene."

Naruto stared at him for a solid minute, before deciding to accept the apology. After all, only a fair few apologized to him. And so sincerely at that. "That's all right."

The boy smiled at him. "I'm Inuzuka Kiba, by the way." He extended a hand. "You should be honored to meet me." He added with a conceited wink.

"I doubt it." Naruto slowly shook the offered hand, a small grin making its way to his face. "Uzumaki Naruto."


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Kiba was very talkative, as Naruto found out soon enough. His chattering could very well rival Naruto's own incessant ramblings, and that earned Naruto's respect. The boy had plonked himself in front of Naruto's desk and had engaged him in a conversation. Naruto learned all about Konoha and its crazy lifestyle from Kiba that day that would have taken him months to figure out on his own. Kiba was an endless reservoir of Konoha's latest news and current rumors, not that Naruto was interested in those things, but the dog boy (cuz he so too looks like a dog!) had indulged him anyway. Naruto also found out that the 'lazy' guy who had bravely (or not) defended him was called Nara Shikamaru, and that he never bothered to do anything but sleep, to look at the clouds and perhaps eat a bit. One wonders how he gets those top marks in class.

"Hey, if you don't mind me asking..." Kiba tilted his head. "Why is that Sakura girl so mean to you? I mean, are you her ex or something?"

Naruto promptly choked. Him? Sakura's ex? He glared at Kiba disgustedly and made a face. "Ew, don't EVER say that again, or I'll personally see to it that you never have off springs."

Kiba snorted, deciding to ignore the threat. "So what's the big deal?"

"It's nothing. She just hate's me, that's all." Naruto lied.

"Then what's that about you cleaning her-"

"I said its nothing." Naruto interrupted. "Do you know who our homeroom teacher is?"

Kiba, noting the change of subject, quickly complied. "Yeah, his name is Kakashi sensei. I heard a lot about him though- he's supposed to be a pervert who reads this pervy book called 'Icha-icha paradise'. Brings it everywhere."

"Icha-icha paradise?" Naruto repeated, smirking at the tacitly chosen words. "No tact at all."

"Yeah... and then there's this Iruka-sensei who's supposedly his lover. I dunno, rumors and all. But they're quite suspicious ya know? I heard someone say that he caught them inside the broom closet making out once. Of course, that guy is just spoutin' full of bollock, so you cant exactly trust the shit that comes outta his mouth-"

Kiba suddenly fell silent and Naruto was just about to ask what his problem was, when he felt a dark, almost eerie aura coming up behind him, making his hair stand up. A pale hand suddenly made itself known on Naruto's desk, and the blonde followed his eyes up to its owner. Naruto barely managed to keep in his yelp in surprise at the dark, murderous glare that was currently pointed straight at him.

"Move." A soft, dangerous voice threaded itself from the newcomer's mouth, sending a shiver of some sort down Naruto's spine. He was dangerous. Naruto could feel it. But that didn't mean he'd bend down easy.

"Who are you?" Naruto demanded, a bit irked that his pleasant conversation with Kiba was interrupted.

The boy was pale, pale, pale; with red hair, the color of fresh blood falling slightly over is narrow emerald green eyes. Naruto quickly took note of the heavy black eyeliners and the tattoo 'love' on his forehead. Was tattoo a current fad or something? The said boy narrowed his eyes at him in distaste.

"This is my seat." He said shortly. "Move."

"I don't see your name on it." Naruto snapped.

Kiba nervously tugged on Naruto's sleeve. "Oi, Naruto... just drop it. Give Gaara his seat-"

"Who do you think you are anyway?" Naruto ignored Kiba and glared at the equally annoyed Gaara. "I got here first, so either you find another seat, or I beat the crap outta you."

The whole class (who at first pretended not to be listening) shook their head in dismay. The blonde just made a fatal mistake- no one stood up to Gaara. No one. And for good reasons too. The blonde just made the second interesting episode of the day, and class hadn't even started yet!

Gaara took on a strange glint in his eye and was about to open his mouth to say something (possibly a death threat), when the door opened with a loud bang and the infamous white haired pervert that was also known as Kakashi-sensei burst into the room with a wave and an almost inaudible "yo!". Gaara's mouth shut with an audible click, as he glared at Naruto who was still glaring back at him defiantly. Shifting his eyes briefly to Kakashi, he scowled and slowly made his way over to the seat next to the blonde and stiffly sat down.

"I will get you for this." Gaara softly, dangerously said, his tone laced with dark promises of a very, very bloody death.

"I'm looking forward to it." Naruto snidely replied, giving the red head one last glare before turning to face a shock still Kiba.

"Oi, Kiba... what's the matter with you?"

Kiba was staring at him like he was the craziest person he knew, and at that point, Naruto probably WAS the craziest person he knew.

"Are you totally off your bonkers?" Kiba hoarsely whispered, his eyes nervously flickering over to the still glowering Gaara. "You just pissed Gaara off!"

"He deserved it!" Naruto defended.

Kiba shook his head. "Bad move, Uzumaki. Bad move. He's gonna kill you."

Naruto, surprisingly, did not feel at all frightened at the way Kiba had paled. Gaara annoyed him. Period. And that was reason enough for him not to give a damn. And about the killing part¡¦ well, Naruto had survived this long, hadn't he? He's made it this far. And no red haired, raccoon-eyed maniac was gonna end his sorry existence. At least, not if he could help it.

With that said, Naruto turned to face the teacher, who was currently calling roll with an almost bored tone as he flicked his eye non-existantly over each person. Despite all that fuss with Gaara, Naruto couldn't help feeling a bit happy. Sakura had not succeeded to ruin his life... yet. But that was improvement enough. Deciding to forget about the crazy pink haired girl he had for a cousin, he focused his attention to his teacher as his name was finally called out.

"Uzumaki Naruto."

"HAI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

It was going to be a good day.


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Review Responses!!
Thank you very much to those who reviewed. You are all very special to me!! ^_^ And to those of you who still haven't, please do take time to tell me what you think. It means the world to all authors. Once again, thank you.


lalala: Yes, its the aff... i'm working on it though.. ^_^
losthimagain: Yes, i agree that people are mean to gaara. Haha. I cant be sure about Gaaxnaru though... it might come up.. i dont know really... ^_^ But i promise i wont break Gaara's heart...
Valanthe: yes, Sasuke's coming soon enough..
natty: I'm a narusasu fan too... maybe they'll end up together.. i dont know.. (winks)
neko: (laughs) We'll see...
Sarong luv: Dear reader, thank you very much for your review. I hope i can pull this off right.^_^ Keep reviewing!
Kawaiikoneko: Aww, you two are so cute. ^_^ I'll try my best to do sasuxnaru but its all up to you guys really... After a few chapters i might put up a votation...
Reyn: (hugs) consider your vote counted!!
Konezumi: Thank you. I'll fix that right up.
SNF: maybe...
tsuki: here you go!! ^_^