School Daze 1

Naruko Uzumaki was having a tough time as she stared up at the house through the car window apprehensively. Her godfather, Jiraiya, was cheerfully unloading her bags and setting them down on the sidewalk for her, trying to cheer her up. It was going to be hard to step into this new, scary life.

Just six months ago, Naruko's wonderful parents, Minato and Kushina, faced a tragic car accident that brought them to their premature end. It broke the young woman's heart, and she cried almost endlessly for the first two weeks. Jiraiya had taken her in to look after her and get her back on her feet, which thankfully worked out just fine. However, it was decided that Naruko needed a nice stable home, a good place to continue her schooling, and to be closer to family. Or, well, a half family.

Jiraiya had taken her in, and thought about raising her, but soon saw that it wouldn't work for what Naruko needed. As a writer, and also a travel columnist, he traveled a lot of the time and met with a lot of people, seeing them quite a bit. Naruko did like going around with him and enjoyed spending time with him (even though he was a super pervert!), but she missed a lot of school and didn't always have time to make friends like she wanted to. So, it was soon decided that she would live with her half brother and his mother in a small city about three hours outside of Tokyo, which was actually her hometown. She'd lived in this place until she was ten, and then her father had gotten a transfer at his job, which meant that the family had to relocate to Chicago.

It had been fun living in America, Naruko had gotten used to it and actually managed to do fairly well. She made some friends, got to enjoy being in the big city, learning a whole new culture's mannerisms, everything. It had been great. At first, they lived in a rental apartment in a neighbourhood near the downtown core of the city, which was a fairly good size for a family of three, and it worked since they were working to save up to buy a home. And soon they did, they ended up buying a nice condo that was located in an area about ten minutes from the downtown core, close to amenities, underground parking, and the building also had a gym and pool. Naruko had loved having her room feature a distant but close view of the Chicago skyline, and even having her own bathroom since her parents had an en suite. The condo wasn't huge or luxurious, but it was quaint and cozy, which worked well for them.

Trouble had surfaced sometimes, with her mother getting into arguments with some relatives, and also having trouble making friends at school. It hadn't always been easy, especially when Minato had also been forced to take a leave from work for about three months, having caused the family to struggle a bit. He had worked full time as an executive manager for the Chicago branch of Rasengan Inc., but due to some problems and renovations that had arisen, the Namikazes had to live off of Kushina's part-time turned full-time job at the doctor's office where she worked as a receptionist. On a positive note, despite the trouble, Minato had spent a lot more time with his daughter and the two had gotten to bond quite a bit. Kushina, having been a stay-at-home Mom for most of Naruko's life, had also been close to her, and even still tried to be there when she needed it while she worked more hours to support the family.

After Minato had gone back to work, Kushina did continue to work as well, but this lead them to managing their time better so that they could all spend time as a family and still make a decent income, no matter what.

In all, despite the tough times, Naruko had enjoyed living in Chicago.

Now, she was back. Back in her hometown. Back to see her old friends.

"Well, here you go, kiddo! Last one!" Jiraiya announced as he finished unloading her stuff, and paused by the passenger door. "You coming out?"

Naruko gave a little nod and opened the door, clutching her carry-on backpack to her chest tightly. She felt pretty nervous about being back here after five years, and to see her older brother again, and his mother. In technical terms, she was her stepmother, but considering that she and her father hadn't been married, it pretty much didn't count. She was related through the fact that she was her father's high school graduate-college sweetheart, before Minato fell in love with Kushina and married her. They'd had a son together, but unfortunately their relationship didn't work out. They did still love and care for one another and remained friends, and he gladly paid child support for their son and was there to help if she ever needed it. She met the woman a few times in her life, and she was very kind and sweet, and had gotten along with her mother very well. But she felt nervous about seeing her again too, and actually living with her.

She did look forward to living with her brother, though. They'd always had fun together as children, and it was going to be nice to be closer to him.

"Well come on then! Don't worry, you remember Hanako, she's not gonna bite!" Jiraiya took her bags for her, while Naruko took a few of them herself. "Let's go!"

They went up the front walk to the house, and rang the doorbell. The house was a renovated, old-fashioned Victorian home, two stories, and had a fenced-in backyard with a deck. It even featured a distant view of rolling hill green mountains in the distance, offering a wonderful view to be seen when you sat out on the back deck. Naruko liked the house, she'd been here a few times as a child, and now...it was actually living in it that was making her more nervous. Five years away could really make you almost forget what it was like living in the old place.

A few moments after the doorbell had rung, the door opened to reveal Hanako Amano. She smiled brightly at them, and stepped aside so they could come in. Hanako was a woman in her late thirties, but did not look a day over twenty-eight. She had short brown hair, stormy blue eyes, and was fairly tall, towering over Naruko by about three or four inches.

"Hi, Naruko! You're here! It's wonderful to see you again. How are you?"

"...I'm okay." Naruko mumured shyly.

Hanako smiled and took her bags from her, placing them down by the stairs to be taken upstairs. "That's good to hear. I'm glad you're doing all right." She turned to Jiraiya and shook his hand. "Hi Jiraiya, it's nice to see you again. Thank you for bringing her over."

"My pleasure, Hanako!" Jiraiya grinned. "Nothing's too good for my little goddaughter! Where's your boy at?"

"Oh, he's upstairs. He'll be down any minute." Hanako said. "So, can I get you two anything to drink? Are you hungry, sweetie?"

"...A little." Naruko admitted. She knew that the woman was an excellent cook.

"Well, why don't you make yourself at home and I'll make you something to eat?" Hanako offered, gesturing for them to go sit in the living room.

Footsteps came down the stairs, and in walked her older half brother, Deidara, who then grinned at the sight of Naruko. He was pretty tall, with long blonde hair (definitely inherited from their father), and stormy blue eyes, and dressed in jeans, a black jacket and a blue shirt. He was three years older than her at eighteen.

"Well hey there, sis. About time you came back to town!"

Naruko grinned happily and hurried over to her brother, throwing her arms around him. "Hey, bro! I missed you!"

"Me too, squirt." He grinned and hugged her back, patting her playfully.

"Hey! Don't call me that!" Naruko pouted as she pulled away.

"Come on, the only person I can call squirt right now is Ayano. I have to get it out somehow." A playful smirk crossed the older blonde's face. "Well look at you, you've grown. But not by much!"

"Hey, shut up!" Naruko playfully smacked her brother's shoulder. "Guess I can say the same! I'll bet you're beating the girls off with a stick!"

"Not really." Deidara admitted, chuckling. "Haven't really been seeing anyone."

Naruko gave a mock pout but then grinned. "No? Come on! You're a freaking hottie! Why aren't ya?"

He gave a mild shrug and sat down on the couch, patting the seat next to him. "It's complicated, but don't worry about it, okay? Everything's fine."

"If you say so, bro." Naruko winked at him before sitting down on the couch too.

"Hey there!" Jiraiya came back into the room, grinning at them. "Haven't see you in a while, my boy!"

"Hey, you old pervert." Deidara smirked and stood up to slap a high five. "Hope the squirt wasn't too much trouble for you."

"Hey!"

"Haha! Well, she's your problem now, sonny boy!" Laughed the writer. "So how've you been? Any awesome news to tell?"

"Not really." Shrugged the male blonde. "I've just been working a lot on my artwork and spending time with friends. Sometimes Ayano pops in to visit for a while, and brings along her feline friends."

"Aww! I haven't seen Ayano in years!" Naruko exclaimed, getting up from the couch. "How's she doing?"

Ayano Sunada was Deidara's cousin on his mom's side. His mother was the twin sister of Ayano's mother, Haruka. She was two years younger than him, and a year older than Naruko. She was pretty close to her cousin, and pretty close to Naruko also back when they'd been kids, always having fun and playing with her cat(s).

"Last I heard from her, she's pretty good." Deidara said. "She just got a new cat, who had kittens. Five, actually."

"No way!" Naruko laughed. "That girl is going to be a cat woman, I swear! Did she name or keep the new kitties?"

"Uh-huh. She named them L, Light, Misa, Sayu and Rem. We all call them 'The Death Note Five'." The older blonde chuckled. "They're such frisky fuzzballs."

"Awesome! She better come over and bring them sometime."

There was a knock at the door, which Hanako answered as she emerged from the kitchen.

"Hello there! Good timing, she just got here!"

"Really?" A female voice that sounded vaguely familiar hit Naruko's ears. "Wonderful! She'll be able to have some of my homemade butter tarts."

The door closed, and in walked a young woman about two years older than Naruko, holding a large Tupperware container in her hands. She had medium-length brown hair, sparkling blue eyes, fair skin, and dressed in a green t-shirt accompanied by camouflage pants. She grinned at Naruko, and placed the container down on the coffee table.

"Naru-chan! You're here!"

Naruko instantly recognized her, and happily hugged her, earning a hug in return. "Hi, Casana-nee-chan! Great to see ya!"

"You too! Wow, look at you!" The brunette pulled away, looking her up and down. "You look beautiful!"

"Careful, lesbo. I don't swing that way." Naruko teased.

"Hey! Lesbians have feelings too, you know!" Casana mock pouted.

"Really? I never would've guessed." Deidara teased, and went behind the older girl, bringing his arms around her waist and laying his chin on her head.

Naruko giggled at the sight, it was cute. The two were lifelong best friends, and had no problems being openly affectionate with one another. Her brother may have been tough, militant, easily annoyed and sometimes pretty brash, he also had a huge soft side that only people he trusted would see.

"Shut up!" Casana turned her head to stick her tongue out, then looked back at Naruko. "Anyway, we were going to go out a bit to meet with some friends. Why don't you come along? Some of your friends are hanging out at the teen club today, anyway."

"Hell yeah!" Naruko grinned even more, if that was possible. "Let's go!"

"Naruko, here." Hanako came out of the kitchen again, handing the young girl a bag. "You can take these with you for a snack."

Naruko peered into the bag, finding a turkey sandwich, a cup of ramen, and an apple. Almost like a school lunch. "Thanks, Mrs. Amano." She said shyly.

"Babying her already, Mom?" Deidara teased, snickering.

"She's part of our household, and she is your sister, so watch it, mister!" Hanako poked her son on the nose. "Have fun you three, and try to be back at a reasonable hour. It is a school night, after all."

"Okay, Mom, no sweat. Let's go, ladies."

"You're a homo and yet you can stand having two lovely ladies on each arm?" Teased Naruko.

Deidara stuck his tongue out at her playfully. "Hey, I grew up most of my life surrounded by you girls. Why wouldn't I stand it?"

All the nervousness and anxiety faded away at a gradual but still growing fast pace, and Naruko felt a lot better about being back here. Yes, she would have to adjust to living with her brother, when before she'd only see him on some weekends or during the summer since they'd gone to different schools before her family moved away. As well as that, adjusting to living with her father's ex-girlfriend, or pseudo-stepmother, which would be different. She had been without her mother for quite some time, and was feeling nervous about having a new motherly figure in her life. But, Hanako was a sweet and kind woman, and as a mother herself, it would not be hard for her to be a good mother to her. Still, she feared it would be as if she were replacing Kushina, who was irreplaceable.

She hoped things would go all right, even if she knew that there would be bumps in the road. At least now she would be able to see her old friends and reconnect with them. Hopefully.