Author's Note: Well, this is it, folks. The first chapter of Bloom. It came out a lot differently than I expected, but I like it. I had a bunch of technical difficulties while typing this like my computer crashing and stuff like that. And by the way, I did steal a nana scene in this chapter and if you noticed, good job! Oh, and don't forget to notice the ratings, kids. There's a reason it's rated M, but I assure you nothing horrible will happen until later chapters.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Nor do I own the Nana scene, "Hurt Me" by Makeshift Romeo, or "Save it for the Bedroom" by You Me At Six. Oh, but I do own Ryu.

Chapter One

Tick Tock

Time stops, and all that moves are his eyes, onyx-colored and smothering, like they can swallow you if you stare too much. There's nothing else moving, and he's so still that it seems like he's not breathing. Is he breathing? I can't really be sure.

The silence is thick. So thick that you can't even hear the clock ticking and tocking anymore. I imagine hands of fog, holding the second hand of the clock still, so that the sound stops. So there's nothing to reassure you that you're still in reality.

Tick, tock. Tick, tock.

Dark raven hair falls into his eyes in a curtain of ebony, completely hiding his eyes when he looks at his feet.

"Well, introduce yourself," says Iruka-sensei, obviously impatient, "We don't have all day, new kid." His ponytail his standing up on his head and his dark brown eyes roll.

"Uchiha," the boy says, and I realize that he's an unhealthy shade of ivory. Don't emo kids go in the sun anymore? "My name is Uchiha Sasuke."

"Uchiha Sasuke," I say under my breath, testing the way it sounds with my voice, "Uchiha Sasuke."

I look around the classroom, seeking empty seats for the new kid, and there's only one, right next to me. It makes me think I'm in a badly written soap opera. Would he sit next to me? Or would Iruka-sensei find somewhere else? I'm pretty sure the latter is out.

I tense up as he walks to sit in the desk to mine, so nervous I can already feel new knots clawing into my muscles. Am I holding my breath? I can't believe I'm afraid of the new kid. He isn't a rapist or anything. I hope. I am afraid of people. Always have been. Always will be. But this is the first time this kind of shiver has run up and down my spine, the first time I've ever felt fear this intense suffocating me.

And it can't be a good omen.

He sits down, gloomy and silent, like he can't talk, but I know he can because he just introduced himself. He glances at me once, unfeeling onyx glaring into my emerald green eyes. I all of a sudden feel a constricting pain in my chest, choking me more than I already am. Then, just like nothing ever happened, he turns around, and I let go of the breath I didn't even know I was holding.

There's nothing to do in the class, nothing at all, with the teacher being lazier than the sin of sloth itself, and the lack of air-conditioning making it too hot to move, all the kids can do is simmer in early spring heat.

He pulls an iPod out of his pocket, a black chromatic, and he puts the ear plugs into his ears, the sounds of Makeshift Romeo blaring from the tiny plugs.

I think of the lyrics in my head, replaying the song over and over and resisting not singing along: You're never gonna hurt me again. And there's no way to take back all those things you did.

Why am I thinking about him now of all times? It's just a song. Besides, he's been gone for years. But wait, there's someone else now, isn't there? Someone worse. What a shame.

Instead, I pull out my own iPod, a red and still shiny chromatic and put on my ear phones, playing You Me at Six, humming along to the lyrics: Keep your lies to yourself, every lie you heard from someone else, and you know you will never get with it.

All of a sudden, I feel eyes bore into me, somewhat a death glare, like I committed a terrible misdemeanor, and I'll never ever be forgiven. I look to my right and see him, the new kid, staring at me, his eyes so smoldering that I can't even see my reflection in them. It scares me a bit, and then I get hypnotized, staring into me like I was glass. Could he see through me?

"What?" I whisper, my voice so small that I barely recognize that it's me, "Stop looking at me like that." I pull an ear phone out of my ear and look at him with wide eyes.

He raises a flawless black eyebrow, and pulls an earphone out of his ear. "Hn?" he questions, obviously wondering what I said, "I didn't hear you." His voice is husky and pleasant, very easy to get used to. I don't reply to him and he seems annoyed. "What. Did. You. Say?" he repeats slowly, like he is talking to a three-year-old, "I don't have all day, you know."

"I said to stop looking at me like that," I finally manage to reply, amazed at how tiny my voice sounds, "It's kind of scary."

He smirks, obviously amused. "You mean staring at you like this?" he questions, giving me the semi-death glare he gave me a few minutes ago, "Like I can read you?"

I almost freeze, a bit afraid, and then I realize I'm letting him win. "No," I say, shaking my head, "No, not that stare. The other one."

He raises an eyebrow again, tilting his head in confusion. "What stare?" he asks me, getting even more annoyed than before.

I say nothing for a bit, contemplating what to call the stare. "The one where it looks like you can see through me," I say, deciding that was the best name for it, "Like I'm a mirror, or made of glass or something."

"Glass?" he questions, once again looking amused, "You don't seem that fragile to me."

"I'm not," I reply a little defensively, "I'm just telling you that's what it seems like."

He runs a hand through his dark, raven hair and sighs. He looks like he's about to ay something, but decides against it. Instead, he says, "Your hair's pink," and points out the obvious, "And your eyes are green. Are you sure you're Japanese?"

I shrug, looking up at him. "I never said I was," I say, studying his reaction, "Just because we're in Japan doesn't mean I'm Japanese."

"Aren't you?" he questions, arching an eyebrow yet again.

"I am," I say, nodding my head, "But that doesn't mean you should assume it." I smile at my wit.

He looks at me, his eyes once again blank and smoldering and swallowing my reflection. He doesn't say anything for a bit, and then, just like that, in a flat monotone voice, he says, "You're annoying."

I resist the urge to beat him with my binder. Instead, I put my earphones into my ears, and walk out in the middle of class. Something I'm famous for.

"What the hell are you doing here, Haruno?" I hear a voice from behind me ask, "Shouldn't you be in class?"

"I should," I say, nodding my head and rolling my eyes, "But when the hell do I do stuff I'm supposed to, Sai?"

I can sense him shaking his head as he sits beside me on the school roof. "How do you expect to graduate going on like this?" he questions me raising an eyebrow, "Skipping class and not doing your work? If you don't graduate, you can't leave."

"I know that," I say, sighing, "But I have an excuse today! Some freak in class was calling me annoying and shit."

"That's not a reason for you to walk out of class, Sakura," he scolds, expecting me to care, "Or do you want to be stuck with your mom and Ryu for the rest of your life?"

I glare at him, obviously a bit stung by the comment. "You know I don't, " I say, daring him to prove me wrong, "You have no right to accuse me of anything."

"I know I don't," he says, nodding, "But you have to get your act together. Do you understand that?"

"I know," I say, sighing yet again, "I'm working on it."

He sighs and stands up, inhaling the air and looking at the city below him. "Temari and I are leaving tomorrow."

"Why didn't you tell me?" I ask Temari at lunch, causing her to look up from the compact and stop putting on her extra layer of eyeliner.

She doesn't answer the question and keeps putting on her eyeliner. Soon, she snaps her compact shut, puts it away, and turns to face me. "I didn't know how to tell you," she says guiltily, "I wanted to tell you but I was too afraid."

"You're leaving us!" I practically yell, wanting to strangle her, "What about your brothers?! What's gonna happen?!"

She looks at me a bit guiltily. "We decided that they're old enough to be on their own, just like I am," she tells me, looking away.

"What?!" I exclaim, feeling the eyes of the new kid at me, "Why?!"

"They're our age, Sakura," says Temari sighing, "I can't keep babying them."

"But they're your twins, Temari!" I yell, attracting the attention of everyone on the cafeteria. Fuck it. The hell do I care what they think anyway? "You three shared a womb!"

She nods at me, sighing. "I know," she says rolling her eyes, "But we decided together. Sai said that I can go if I want to go. It was entirely my decision."

I feel like crying, and she's not even leaving yet. "But we were supposed to be together forever," I say in a quiet voice.

"We'll always be friends, Sakura," she nods, agreeing with me, "But we can't stay in this small city forever."

"I can't believe you're leaving!" I want to yell, but instead, I give them a hug and wish them a good trip.

He ruffles my hair, something I hate, and she kisses my cheeks, and then they walk away.

"They're leaving us," I say quietly to Gaara and Kankurou, watching them walk into the train with his arm around her.

"Yeah," breathes Gaara, nodding his head, "They are."

"All aboard!" yells the conductor, and then I see Temari hug Sai and kiss him hard, tears running down her cheeks. Sai seems to understand because he doesn't try to stop her as she pulls away from him and run onto the platform, sobbing and miserable.

"Temari!" yells Kankurou and runs over to her, "Why aren't you going with him?!"

"I can't leave," she sobs, shaking almost uncontrollably, "I can't leave you guys."

I turn to look at the train.

It's gone.

I look around the art club room, my eyes scanning everything around me, and I realize the new kid, Sasuke, is there, watching me. Probably wondering why I'm not doing anything and just sitting around. What the hell does he care? It's not like he knows one of my only friends left Japan to go who-knows-where and that I never really liked art because he taught me everything I know. He doesn't know anything about me. I'll never let him.

I turn away before his eyes swallow my reflection again. Before he makes me disappear into smoldering onyx and everyone forgets who I am. I can't let that happen. Not before I leave this city. Not before I find a way to live life to the fullest.

I think about Sai, ebony-haired and onyx-eyed, and it barely occurs to me that he looks like Sasuke. Or does Sasuke look like him? Pale, ivory white skin covered his bones too, and thin lips hid his teeth.

But Sai has--had-- Temari. A part of me would like to believe he still does. The other part wants me to believe he has me.

Does he know that he does? Does he care?

I sigh. I'm being selfish. I remember what Temari said to me when I told her that I liked Sai too: "I can't be second place this time, Sakura. Just this once, I'm not gonna let you win."

I never knew being second place hurt so much.

Author's Note: Well, that was a pretty good chapter. Not the best, but it's a working progress, isn't it?

Just to get things clear, Temari told Sakura she liked Sai. Then, Sakura told Temari she liked him too. Temari didn't want to sacrifice Sai for Sakura, and told Sai she liked him. Sai and Temari got together with Sakura supporting them to the fullest, although still loving Sai.

Anyway, do me a favor and review. I don't mind flames. I encourage them, actually. Anything to help my writing. Although, constructive criticism is preferable.

Tokki-Trigger, OVER AND OUT!