deviantsgraveofnyx

[deviantsgraveofnyx]

Chapter Two - Apprehension

"There's nothing to do around here," Sakura complained, dropping her cigarette butt to the ground before stepping on it and fizzling it out with her shoe.

"Right," Tenten agreed, boredom audible in her monotone and slightly irate voice. 

"Instead of complaining all the time, how about you come up with something for us to do!" Kiba exclaimed.

"Don't yell at us!”

"Would you all just shut up?" Shikamaru pinched the bridge of his nose as he spoke to the trio.

"Shika, wait a second before you go into one of your moods," Naruto began, placing a finger underneath his chin as he contemplated their options. "Didn't Gaara mention something about a drive-in movie? Let's go to it," He finally suggested.

"Yeah, but the drive-in movie is on the Teels' side of Konoha," Choji stated, doubtful of the safeness of Naruto's proposal.

Konoha was a town that had almost two of every recreational establishment. Downtown Konoha was understood as Teel territory while uptown and the abandoned regions were designated Dev area. Although, Teels seemed to loiter around anywhere they pleased—meaning that as a Dev, you weren't truly safe from their wrath even in your own territory.

Most establishments were located downtown; therefore, the Devs only had a few hangout spots that were deemed 'safe.' Shikamaru and his friends usually hung out at the small bistro located beside the only convenience store inside the uptown area. If they were feeling impish, however, they would sneak into different downtown facilities.

"Don't act like we've never snuck into a drive-in movie before." Kankuro shrugged impassively, eyes shut languidly as he reached to pull a pack of cigarettes from his back pocket.

"I think we should go for it." Sakura crossed her arms before nodding in a satisfied manner.

"You just want to see Sasuke," Tenten stated sardonically, clearly fond of teasing Sakura about her crush on the Teel.

"Shut up, Tenten!" Sakura exclaimed before slapping a hand over the girl's mouth and sheepishly smiling at the boys across from them.

"Well, Shikamaru? What do you think?" Naruto turned to face him, as did the others. Finality laced the atmosphere, letting Shikamaru know that whatever he said would be the final decision.

"Sure, whatever," He stated, manifesting a subconscious eye roll.

"Should we invite Bushy Brow?" Naruto asked just as they had begun walking toward their destination.

"He'll just say no because we're sneaking into a drive-in." Sakura shrugged, most likely being correct about their friend with the distinctive eyebrows.

"Gaara didn't seem too excited about the movie, it's probably some boring, sappy romance film," Kiba muttered.

"Gaara doesn't seem too excited about anything," Kankuro corrected.

The group of seven  managed to stealthily slip into downtown Konoha, going unnoticed. Perhaps, it was due to their scheme that consisted of Naruto driving his mother's car to meet with the other six in a secluded alleyway. This was because Naruto and his mom's car were entirely Teel-passing, despite Naruto's obnoxious behavior and the family's low income.

Sneaking into drive-in movies was probably the easiest of all the establishments they snuck into, as most people tend to mind their own business by not peering into other people’s cars. If this had not been the case, Shikamaru knew that he and his posse would've been under immediate suspicion.

The whole gang looked like Devs—like tough delinquents. Even Sakura and Tenten were fearsome in appearance.

Sakura, despite her bubblegum pink hair, was immensely intimidating with a scar just atop her right cheekbone, which faded into her smooth, pale skin at the ends. She was skinny and muscular at the same time, with abs that were noticeable, but not extremely brawny. Her hair stopped just above her shoulders, allowing tiny glimpses at the small tattoo that stated WICKED in bold letters across the side of her neck. Sakura's jade eyes were often disquieting and hosted pools of emptiness from past traumas, the only times they ever sparkled were when she forced them to for her benefit—or when talking about the Uchiha, of course. She could pack a major punch too, and don't let her be in a bad mood when doing so.

Tenten was less muscular-looking than Sakura, taking on a more feminine bodily figure. She dressed in cropped tops and baggy pants with brunette hair thrown into a high-ponytail most of the time. Her stomach's left side displayed an array of rose tattoos that connected up until just underneath her bust. Tenten's mocha eyes often acted as hosts to dark under-eye bags and a stud pierced through the right side of her nose. Her specialty was being incredibly skilled with a switchblade, better than any girl or guy in Konoha, at that.

The pair were beautiful nonetheless. Any Dev would kiss the ground they walked on if they simply asked and Teels would sometimes turn to catch glimpses of them as well.

As Shikamaru suspected, the film playing was your typical love story between some blonde himbo and an innocent, nerdy girl. He was disinterested in it completely, fidgeting about in his seat as boredom fleeted across his mind in different bursts.

Yet something other than ennui was eliciting Shikamaru's apprehension, something he couldn't quite put his finger on.

[deviantsgraveofnyx]

Chapter One - Versus

The social hierarchy in Konoha was intense. Your last name was your only treasure and those with ones of lesser importance found themselves coming up short on the social ladder. Shikamaru Nara was one of the people that found themselves seated directly in the middle of this ranking, however.

The last name Nara had gained him respect amongst his crowd, and even in good standing with a few of the Teels. His father, Shikaku Nara, was head of the operation that built the bridge which connected Konoha to other cities within the Land of Fire, and that was enough to establish his entire family as people of moderate importance.

Devs, short for Deviants, were the poorer of the two rivals—which was the main thing that separated them. Teels, also a shortened form of the word Genteel, found themselves on the luckier side of things.

Devs were known for being delinquents. Cigarette-smoking, fishnet-wearing, tousled-hair-having delinquents. Or at least that's how the Teels saw them. Shikamaru had come to believe that the rivalry was dumb and that once outside of Konoha, silly titles such as Devs and Teels would no longer matter.

However, he lived in Konoha at the moment and had never been outside of it, for that matter. He knew better than to denounce the rivalry publicly, Shikamaru was sure that both sides would place his head upon a pike and flaunt it at the city's self-titled entrance sign if he did.

"What's up, Shika?" His friend, Naruto greeted him as he—along with the rest of Shikamaru's friends, stood near his locker.

Shikamaru winced at the nickname Naruto had assigned to him, to Shikamaru, it sounded like one befitting of a teenage girl that refused to wear any color besides pink, rather than himself. "Yo," He responded before closing the locker.

"I completely forgot about Kurenai's homework, could you let me copy yours?" He questioned without a trace of shame apparent in his voice—as 'forgetting' to do his homework and copying Shikamaru's was routine for him.

"Naruto, you dumbass! You never do your work!" Sakura exclaimed, raising her hand and using it to land a painful slap across Naruto's nape.

"Ow, Sakura! What are you? A man or something?!" He groaned before rubbing the spot which had fallen victim to Sakura's strength, a scowl replacing his once sheepish expression.

"Bad move," Kiba muttered, watching as the already angry girl became livid at Naruto's remark.

"Sakura, you might want to calm down," Tenten mumbled, eyes drifting off past Sakura's head toward a certain group of people headed for their direction.

"Calm down?! Why would I-" Sakura spun around on her heel where she immediately blanched as she caught sight of the group in question.

Shikamaru could tell from the Konoha High School letterman jackets, tennis skirts, expensive shoes, and dapper hair that the group was of the Teel variety.

That was the thing, Konoha was still a small town at the end of the day. A small town with one high school, one middle school, and one elementary school. Both groups from either side of the tracks had to unite amid the common denominator that was their education.

Everyone knew that Sakura had an unrequited crush on a handsome Teel, namely, Sasuke Uchiha. It was truly hopeless, as no one had ever heard of a Teel dating a Dev. Besides, he was already in a relationship with Karin—a fiery redhead with matching, piercing eyes. She was a cute girl too, though Sasuke didn't seem too interested in her. To Sasuke, Sakura was probably another bottom-of-the-barrel, Deviant broad.

Shikamaru recognized the group of Teels as being Ino, Sasuke, Neji, Hinata, Karin, Shino, Gaara, and Temari. Temari had managed to make quite a name for herself. Shikamaru once heard that she had rejected every single guy that's ever tried to get at her.

"Kankuro, what's up?" Gaara stopped near Shikamaru's locker as he greeted his half-brother. He was one of the few Teels that didn't act like he was above Devs. Despite that, Shikamaru knew that he would rep his side if push came to shove. Kankuro, Gaara, and Temari were all related—yet Kankuro was a Dev, unlike his siblings. No one knew why and no one cared to ask.

"Nothing, where are y'all headed?" Kankuro asked curtly, he and his siblings were fairly alright with each other, but far from close.

"To the drive-in, Karui wants to take the gang to see some movie," Gaara responded with an exasperated sigh.

At the mention of Karui's name, Choji and Kiba both heaved a contrasting, dreamy one. She was a brown-skinned Teel with big eyes of a unique hue of yellow, and everyone acknowledged her as being wholly stunning.

Kankuro, recognizing Kiba and Choji's admiration for the girl, followed with his next question. "Where's Karui now?"

"She's coming right this way, actually," Gaara stated, and in turn, the resounding of expensive sneakers pattering against tiled floors alerted everyone of the girl's presence.

The gang of Teels, which had stopped behind Gaara, proceeded to walk toward a mutual rendezvous point in the hallway to meet with Konoha High's golden girl, Karui.

The other Teels hadn't even acknowledged the presence of Shikamaru and the rest of his friends. Shikamaru assumed that was their way of being cordial since the two groups were on school grounds. He knew that when nightfall came, those same Teels would begin terrorizing them as usual.