Harmony (Konoha School of Arts)

19. Winter Comps; a reunion

Konoha was buzzing with life as the week all school students had been waiting for was finally here. It was the week of the Winter Competitions, the final qualifier of one of the biggest highschool awards in the Five Nations. This year the Fire Country was hosting it in its capital city, Konoha, where the state's biggest private school was located.

Konoha School of Arts was initially built for only the wealthiest and elites, prodigies who would take creative art to the next level, but thanks to the new principal, Senju Tsunade, the school's expensive services were extended to talented people who couldn't afford it. These people were placed in what was called Recuperative...

"...we had to have heard this a thousand times already." Naruto groaned into his scarf, tired as the PA system kept repeating the history of Konoha School of Arts and how the Recuperative class came to be. After this recorded speech another one would come up about the past heroes of KSA, the geniuses that won awards and made the school proud. It was routine he was already getting tired of.

Naruto was in the general room with a few other classmates in the boys' dorm. Since the winter finals finally started all participants were told to rest to calm their nerves before the day of their performance. The winter finals started off with the piano competition and as far as Naruto's grade was concerned, nobody played the piano, hence all of them lounging around. There was a Livestream but nobody was interested in it.

Naruto leaned sideways until his head landed on the empty space beside him on the sofa he sat on and released a loud whine. "I know we were told to rest but I can't help feeling giddy. Why does Haku get to practice and not us?" He complained despite knowing fully well what the answer to his question was.

After the piano competition came the strings, which was tomorrow. Haku couldn't afford to slack on the eve of his competition. Naruto was fairly certain Neji was working just as hard at the Hyuga mansion.

Aside from the fact that strings had their competition tomorrow, all dancers were placed on full rest till two days before the dance section came on to make sure that their bodies were at their peak. Despite the school's instructions Naruto knew that Hinata wasn't getting any rest because of her intrusive father. He was worried for the girl.

"Just chill Naruto." Shikamaru chimed from where he lay half asleep on the twin couch. "It's no good showing up on your day with a broken leg or something like that."

"Easy for you to say. All you're doing is singing." Naruto groused bitterly. Shikamaru would retort but he was too comfortable to be bothered. Naruto and his short fuse of a brain could sneak off and dance for all he cared.

Everywhere was silent after that save for the noise from Choji's incessant munching and the PA system repeating itself once more. Naruto's blue eyes glanced over to Sasuke who didn't comment on anything that had been said so far. He was laying on the heated floor, nose deep into a novel he was reading. Naruto snorted. There was no way he could have heard anything with his attention caught by the book. Nerd.

Gaara was lounging on a single couch across Naruto, laptop on his legs and headphones over his ears. He also was too out of their world to be bothered by boredom. Shino was at the dining area doing something he'd rather not know with one of his pet bugs, Shikamaru was already half asleep on the twin couch and Choji just ripped open another pack of chips. Naruto sighed.

Kiba wasn't around to pester and Lee was outside on a run. The bowl cut boy had invited them but nobody was willing to jog around in the cold. Naruto was beginning to consider joining Lee when his phone dinged with an incoming text. He'd forgotten the device even existed, too hyperactive to keep his attention on social media or games for too long. Sasuke looked up briefly before he went back to his book, unbothered.