The Last Rose (Naruto Fanfic)

Enter! Sora Ichihara.

"You want me to do what?"

Naruto adjusted his goggles nervously. It was just luck that he had found Sora on his way to paint on the Hokage Mountain, but now he was wondering if it was bad luck. Her white hair hung just over her shoulders, as it usually did, her piercing cat-like golden eyes never wavering from his. While Sora had never shown the kind of animosity others had shown him in the past, she definitely wasn't his best friend or anything...In fact, she kind of scared him sometimes.

"Well, I was just wondering if you could...ya know." He grinned nervously. "Distract Iruka Sensei for me for a little bit."

The girl sighed, finally taking her eyes off of him, and he let out a breath.

"Naruto, this is the third time you've asked me to cover for you this month." She said flatly. "Can't you ask somebody else?"

"I would, but Iruka Sensei doesn't believe in Shikamaru or Kiba anymore. And Choji said that he didn't like 'lying to the teacher' or something like that." He rolled his eyes. "He's a big scaredy cat if you ask me."

"Well, I didn't ask you." She answered bluntly. "And I'm not doing it."

"What?! Why?" The buckets of paint sloshed around as he pleaded with her. "Commoooon, Sora! You're always so serious all the time, Iruka Sensei is bound to believe you! And—and if you do this one favor for me, I'll take you out to Ichiraku's Ramen, my treat! Believe it!"

Sora glanced up at the sky, feeling the beginnings of a headache coming on. It was bad enough that she hadn't gotten any sleep, but now she had to deal with Naruto. It's not that she hated the guy... In fact, she'd even go so far as to say she sorta admired him. He was brave. Determined, if not completely dimwitted. So determined in fact, that while Sora didn't see him as a threat now, she knew that if Naruto ever decided to give training his all...well she suspected he might really become Hokage.

"Sorry, Naruto. I'm not going to do it."

But for now, he was still Naruto. Dense, brainless Naruto.

She walked away before Naruto could try to convince her any longer, continuing her path to the Academy. Don't get her wrong. It's not that she actually cared about getting to school on time. In fact, she barely even bothered to show up to school at all. She found her days at the Academy incredibly long and boring so she opted not to go anymore. She only needed to pass the Graduation Exam in order to become a Ninja anyway, so all the other test grades didn't even matter. Unfortunately for her, Iruka had tracked her down and, rather smugly, informed her that attendance DID count. Somewhat, anyway. Out of the one-hundred and eighty days, she had to be present for at least half, to be eligible for the Graduation Exam at all. Which was why she was on her way there now.

Sora dug her hand into the pocket, her heart almost skipping a beat when she didn't find what she was looking for. She checked the other pocket and almost sighed out loud in relief as she pulled it out.

A lemon lollipop—her favorite flavor. Her all time comfort food. She wouldn't ever be caught anywhere without at least one.

She unwrapped it impatiently and popped it into her mouth as she walked into the classroom, where Iruka was standing by the blackboard.

"Well, well, well." He mused as he caught sight of her. "Look what the cat dragged in. Finally decided to show up to class, eh Sora?"

She only shrugged in response, ignoring the snickering of the class as she walked up to take her seat next to...well she might have forgotten the guy's name but she knew that he was part of the Nara clan. His laziness was a clear tell.