Hatake Pride

Part XXVIII

~Kashin~

The next day at the Academy, my class and I were sitting in art class with the assignment of drawing still life. A bust of one of our great Kage was placed in the middle of the table, and depending on where you sat at the table, that was the view of said bust you had to draw.

I was mindlessly dragging my pencil over my page, drawing lines over lines, scribbling shading, and using my pinkie finger to smudge. I was sat beside Sarada and a boy with brown hair named Höki, both of whom were also completely focused on our task.

"So, any news on Mister stalker?" Shikadai asked in a whisper, breaking the silence.

"How should I know..." ChoCho was the first to answer as she wasn't really focused on her drawing, merely sitting with her pencil in her hand and her eyes closed.

"So class rep," Inojin turned to Sumire, his eyes closed with a smile.

As they spoke I felt my left eye twitch, and I speedily brought my hand up to cover it and rub it. There wasn't anything in the class that should have put me on edge, I pretty much knew none of my classmates were threats, so I ignored the feeling and went back to my sorry excuse for a portrait. A high-pitched scream then rang through our classroom and I flinched, my ears having grown accustom to the silence so the scream was twice as loud as it usually would have been. I turned my narrow eyes toward the female responsible but my gaze softened when I saw a scared-looking Namida shivering as she looked ahead of her.

"Namida? What's wrong?" Wasabi asked, the small brunette now having the whole class's attention.

Namida raised a shaking hand, pointing her finger forward as she squeaked for everyone to look at the blackboard. Furrowing my brows for a second I turned in my chair to face the front of the class and the blackboard before my eyes went wide, an uncomfortable weight settling in my chest. The blackboard read "Sumire, I'm always watching you...". I turned my body once again to face the young girl sitting opposite me. Sumire drew shaky breaths, her body shaking fearfully.

"What's going on here?" Boruto asked in confusion.

"It's that guy," ChoCho answered, narrowing her eyes, her voice gaining an annoyed and harsh tone.

Once class was over, and we were allowed out for lunch, my peers and I walked through the corridors on our way to the main stairs.

"Boruto," Mitsuki called, already there waiting for us.

"Apparently you-know-who wasn't at school today," Mitsuki told us.

"HUH!?" ChoCho questioned.

"No one's seen him all day," Mitsuki finished.

"That can't be! My intuition is never wrong! It had to be him"! ChoCho added strongly.

Suddenly a piece of paper fell from above us, landing on the floor and catching all our attention. Turning our heads up, we all watched as dozens of pages fell from the upper floors, covering the floor like snow. I watched Sumire kneel down and pick up one, reading what was written on it. I swallowed hard when I read what the message said. All the pages had various letters ranging from compliments to full-out love confessions. Sumire sat shaking as she read over them all. I felt bad for her, what the hell is wrong with this guy... doing all of this, scaring our peer just because she doesn't want to date him...

'How childish...' I thought to myself before offering my hand to Sumire, locking eyes with her before she took my hand and stood with my help.

After that, my classmates and I wandered the corridors looking for Maguire. With all the trouble he's causing he needs to be nearby. We were walking in a group, with Boruto, Shikadai, and Mitsuki in the front, I was in the middle walking beside Sumire while ChoCho and Sarada covered the back. While we were walking and discussing what we should do about Maguire, one of the Academy's fire shutters activated and closed off the corridor, cutting myself and the girls off from the guys.