And The Reason Is You - - Emotional-X-Avenue
"You ready?" Sakura's mother teased. Far from it, Sakura thought. No one is completely ready for a new environment - let alone a new school. It wasn't that Sakura wasn't used to it; she just wasn't used to this kind of change. Massive couldn't completely define the size of this school – and, not talking about physically, either. The school held over 1,600 students. Now this Sakura was far from used to. She had grown up in a very small community: a school that only consisted of around 500 students. This was a huge step for her.
"Yeah mom," Sakura mumbled, "I'm enthusiastic."
Her mother looked at her, and shrugged. "I tried. Well, at least pretend to be happy…?"
Sakura stared at her mother. She stared back. "Fine," she mumbled again, and smiled.
"Now there's that beautiful smile." Her mother teased, and patted her shoulder. This never worked. Quite frankly, Sakura never really saw any meaning in the shoulder tap. She felt like a puppy, and at this point, Sakura had grown out of her 'puppy' stage. Sakura wasn't a miserable person. If not, she was the happiest, most giddy girl around. Only with her mother, she seemed different.
She took a breath, and slowly opened the car door. The wind caught her hair, and tousled it. Huffing, she grabbed it, and threw it into a messy pony-tail. I should really cut this…
"Bye, honey. I'll pick you up at two-thirty. And remember: breathe!" she laughed.
She watched her mother drive off for a moment, and turned to the school. There were kids everywhere. Well, not kids. Teenagers. However, it wasn't like the movie kind: the geeks, the brains, the jocks, the cheerleaders, the chess club, and the preps. The norms. Everything was average.
She looked up, and noticed the large billboard in front of the school: Konoha Academy of the Arts. Great. Sure, it didn't have the jocks and whatnot: instead, it was based on competition. Greater. She sighed, and began to walk towards the entrance, which consisted of six marble steps, two unnecessarily large doors, and a football, meet forehead greeting to her face. She fell to the floor and landed on her back.
"Son of a bi-"
"Sorry about that!" It was a loud, obnoxious voice. Geez… thought Sakura. My first day, and I'm already attacked?
"I really am sorry! Here, take my hand."
Reluctantly, Sakura grabbed the hand. If it had been the first time Sakura had been smacked in the face by some kind of rubbery substance, she might have screamed and caused some kind of commotion. However, she had already grown accustomed to this kind of treatment. It usually waited until the second day of school, though.
"It's alright," she sighed, rubbing her eyes. "I'm a bit of a klutz myself. I should have seen that…"
For a moment, she stopped breathing. When she looked at the boy, she realized that she had never seen such beautiful, blue eyes in her life. They were a cerulean blue; a colour she had only seen residing on two people in her life: her mother and grandmother. His hair was sun kissed and spiky. It suites him, she thought, and smiled. Noticing the smile, the boy greeted her with his.
"Uhm, hey! I'm Naruto. Again, I'm so, so sorry about that! We were just playing around with the ball and Kiba over there-" pointing to a brunette boy- "wanted me to go long. I told him I didn't want to! He did it anyway. So, what's your name? You're pretty. Did I mention how sorry I was?"
Sakura stared at him, baffled. She had never heard someone talk so fast. Ever. His smile changed her first impression from a hyper-active blonde, to a sweet, caring knucklehead. He didn't seem that bad.
Sakura giggled. "It's alright, really. My name's Sakura… Haruno. Thank you for the compliment – and yes, you've apologized about four times now."
"Oh, right," he said scratching his head. "Well, I should, kinda' get going. The guys might get jealous I'm talking to you," he noted, picking up the ball. "See ya – wait, are you new here?"
"Yes."
He stared, then breathed a sigh of relief. "Whew! Well, that's a relief. I didn't want to think you were a new student and realize later on that you were here last year! – by the way, I'm Naruto Uzumaki." He added, with emphasis.
Sakura smiled. "I'll keep that in mind, Uzumaki."
He smiled, nodded, then waved goodbye. Sakura did the same. Refocusing her attention to the task before her – making it to the front door without being attacked again – she opened the two cathedral sized doors to reveal a cathedral sized foyer. Everything was massive: from the tiles on the floor, to the K.A.A sign that hovered above it. When she looked up, she realized the two stories made out of glass. It was quite literally amazing.
"Whoa…" she mumbled. If she thought the outside was huge, she would be shocked to see the rest of the school. She looked around, and noted to her left was the office. Sighing in relief, she made her way towards the doors. They, too, were large – but made of glass. She opened the door with, sadly, great effort, and slowly walked in. She looked around the room, digesting that she was not the only one there; other than the staff. There must have been about fifty other students on the far side of the office waiting area, standing and sitting in the corner. Why didn't I see them before? She thought.
Not sure where to go, Sakura walked over to the crowd. Most of them looked up in her direction; others kept their heads in their lap or turned. They all looked… terrified. This frightened Sakura. What was she supposed to be expecting here?
"Uhm, excuse me," she mumbled, "Do you know where I can see the principal?"
A young boy – who could not have been any older than fourteen – looked up at Sakura, and pointed towards a door. It read 'Principle's Office'. Mentally smacking herself, she thanked the boy, and made her way to the door.
"Eh-hem."
Sakura turned around, coming to come face to face with a small, stubby lady. Her nose was sharp and small, and she had tiny, sharp eyes. Her hair was pulled into a tight bun that pulled at the creases in her forehead. Her glasses sat at the rim of her nose, and she looked above them.
"May I help you with something, young lady?" She demanded.
"Yes," Sakura replied meekly. "I need to speak to the principal. May I go-"
"No."
Sakura took a step back, caught off guard by the sharp response. She knew that this woman didn't look like the kind type, but her tone was just… unnecessary. She sounded like a military sergeant.
"Uhm… Well, I'm new here, I just needed to speak-"
"You'll speak with me; this way! I don't have all day you know." She shouted.
"Ma'am, quite frankly, I would prefer speaking with the principal."
Slowly, the woman turned to look at Sakura and spoke in a small, rubbish voice:
"I am the head secretary in this school. Do you see those teenagers over there?"
Sakura nodded.
"Do you know why they are there?"
Slowly, she shook her head no.
"They too are here to see the principal. They have been here since early this morning. They are here for extreme purposes – which only Tsunade, the principle, can take care of. I am here to take care of students like you, whoever you are. You must be new, since I don't recognize you. Now come – I must get you registered." She sternly walked away, waiting for Sakura to follow in suite.
Baffled, she followed her into a small, dark office. It had a strong, uncomfortable caffeine scent that lingered. Sakura could tell this woman must have lived in here all day.
She gestured for Sakura to take a seat. "And take that bag off in here." She added.
"Now," she noted, "What is your name." Once again, it came more as a demand then a question.
"Sakura Haruno. I just transferred here, ma'am."
"Ah, alright. This will take a moment." She pushed up her glasses from the rim of her nose, and began to type rapidly onto here keyboard. Silently, Sakura sat in place and waited… and waited… and waited. A moment my a-
"Alright. I have your time-table here. It is now… eight-oh-five. The bell will ring in five minutes." She grabbed the time-table from the printer, and handed it to Sakura.
"We have no patience for tardiness or lates – so make sure you are attentive to every class. We have eyes all over this school."
She twitched, and picked up her bag. As she made her way towards the doors exiting to office, the woman spoke again: "By the way: have a wonderful day."
Sakura quickened her pace.
Now this was going to be a very interestingly, odd year.