Disclaimer: Naruto and its characters are the property of Kishimoto Masashi.
A/N: My first try in writing a drama after writing my sister's very angst story. She's a good writer and I respect her. Feel free to give me a comment, reviews, suggestions and even flames! It's everyone's choice anyway. Hope you like it!
THE RAIN GIRL
There were some things that are least expected to find in the rain…
…………
Summer was beginning to end.
And the beginning of the cold season is about to begin.
"Goodbye, Sakura! Take care of the house while I'm gone okay? Be a good girl!"
18 year-old Haruno Sakura pinched her nose in disgust as her childhood friend and roommate Yamanaka Ino headed out of the door with a seemingly bored man in a high ponytail. The pink-haired girl sighed as she walked back to her room, only to find that Ino left her bedroom room open and turned it into a junkyard of clothes.
Instead of leaving it as it is; Sakura grabbed a broom and a huge basket from the storage closet. Sakura proceeded to fish all of her roommate's dirty clothes inside the laundry basket. Apparently, her friend Ino forgot that it was her turn to do the laundry today because she was too busy preparing for her date. So she, Sakura had no other choice but to skip on her other duties and focus instead on clearing the huge mountain of dirty clothes at the center of Ino's room. Really, the girl needed serious discipline when it comes to cleaning.
Stashing Ino's clothes inside the washing machine, she then put an adequate amount of detergent and slammed the lid shut. She set the timer on and left the machine to do its job. Afterwards, she continued cleaning every mess that Ino made until the room was sparkling clean. Sakura sighed in happiness, knowing that she was very pleased with her efforts.
"All done! Now I can go out and have some fun!" she said to herself. She stared at her watch. It read 5:30 PM. After stretching out her arms due from exerting energy in tidying Ino's room, she headed back to her own room to get ready.
Downtown Konoha
6:30 PM
People were hustling and bustling around the stalls to buy or just look at the wares being sold. There were a lot of new things being sold and some of them are highly pricey. Sakura sighed wearily as she looked at the only thing she bought. It was an old pocketbook from the bargain bin that she frequented ever since she was young. She was into romance novels, and even though she stepped into college she still dreamed of handsome princes or knights in shining armor saving their fated damsels in distress. Ino laughed upon knowing this and babbled that Sakura never changed, she would always remain a child and little girls like her would probably never find any boyfriends.
What Ino said about boys made her wonder. So what if she was childlike? It's not like she didn't grew up. She and Ino hit puberty at the same time, though Ino bragged about her incredible bust size. Ino had her first boyfriend in their first year of high school, and became one of the most popular girls. She, on the other hand was a resident nerd and no other person would come to make friends with her because nerds were considered to be freaks of nature.
Then high school dance came and as always, Ino got all the fun and plenty of dates. Sakura missed the party because she wasn't invited and there was the so-called rule that guys ask the girls. Well, let's just say, no boy would have the heart to ask her. But despite the unfair treatment, Sakura never bore any sort of grudge on her friend. It was just the matter of how things go. Some may go up and some may go down. She didn't care if she belonged to the 'down' group. As long as they leave her alone living her own life, it's fine with her.
And even if she didn't have a significant other, she didn't care. Because she had experienced a very hard trauma concerning about the opposite sex several years ago. Simply put, she's now afraid of men.
Tip! tap! tip! tap! tip! tap!
Small drops of rain dropped on the girl's unsuspecting head. Sakura continued her way towards home when the drops became stronger and the rain poured down. The peddlers scrambled to protect their precious wares and the people dispersed to find shelters and avoid getting drenched. The pink-haired girl squealed in surprise as she also ran to find a shade. She managed to find one in a dango shop at the end of the road, a few kilometers away from her place. Sakura sighed in relief as stood patiently, waiting for the downpour to stop.
Much to her horror, it didn't stop. She then decided to take a small break and eat a few dangos. Finishing her meal, she looked at the darkening sky. "This rain will probably last until nightfall," she said to herself. Was it the beginning of her bad luck? No, she was born under a lucky star. Maybe she didn't watch the weather report because of her excitement to go outside. She slumped dejectedly on her seat.
That was it.
…………
Pitta! pitta! pitta! pitta!
8:00 PM
She paid her meal then stepped outside to wait again. The sky was pitch-black now and the rain still poured like there was no tomorrow. She has to get home or else Ino will have her head. She holds the key to their house, you see. And it seemed the rain was antagonizing her futile efforts to go home. If she stormed her way back to the house, she'll eventually catch a cold and get sick. No choice but to wait…she used the balls of her feet to rock herself while humming a song that she usually listened to in the radio. She immersed herself in her own distraction that she didn't felt that she was being watched.
The rain still didn't stop. Annoyed, she stuck her hand out to the empty air only to feel the pitter-patter coldness on her skin. She waved her hand to and fro to shake the rain as if forcing it to stop. The rain however, got stronger and she was rewarded with huge pelts of water on her face. Sakura wiped her face with the back of her hand while glaring at the dark sky.
And then she heard a low chuckle.
"Even if you do that, the rain won't stop."
Her green eyes widened as she realized it was a man's voice due to its low and deep tone. Fear crept upon her when she horribly noticed he was standing a few feet away from her. She didn't bother to turn her head around; the stranger might strangle her or worse does something bad against her will.
'Everything's going to be all right, Sakura. There's no way he's going to attack you in this downpour. The dango shop is still open and if he dares try to attack you, you can run inside and call for help,' she thought. She turned on her heel and was about to run when she heard him spoke.
"Couldn't wait to get out of the rain?"
To show that she got his attention, she nodded her head slowly. She still didn't turn her head to look at him. It was really weird that he was talking to her. Is this some sort of a distraction? Well, she learned the hardest lesson not to get fooled. Sakura decided to play along for awhile by being silent. She flinched inwardly when she felt him shift.
"You're not from around here," he began. Sakura mentally panicked, seeing gruesome scenarios in her head. She squeaked when he asked, "Are you?"
"N-no," she answered in a hushed voice. Silence hung around them for a few minutes then she heard him sigh. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him crossed his arms in front of his chest. She continued her scrutiny and saw that he was clad overall in black. She didn't stare much and she didn't want to get into eye contact with him. 'He must be an avid fan of black,' she concluded. Sakura was too busy with her thoughts that he continued the one-sided conversation.
"So where do you live?"
She opened her mouth, thinking of a safe answer. "Far from here."
"How far?" he asked.
"Very far," she responded weakly. 'Nice, now he wants to know where I live. Probably one of Ino's past boyfriends and now using me to stalk her for revenge. I have to protect my friend if he's going to bring her harm. If he asks where we live, I'm going to send him to the wrong direction.'
To her relief, he seemed content with her answer. He continued as if he was talking to a friend which unknown to him was shaking in apprehension. "Actually I live not far from here. My house is just a few blocks away from this stall."
'Then why don't you just go and leave me in peace?' Sakura inwardly thought.
She felt his eyes at her back. "How old are you?"
Great, he must be a pedophile. Now she cursed herself for her childlike features. She remained calm and casually answered, "I'm 18." She waited patiently for his answer but he went silent mode again. They remained like that for a few minutes until he thought of another question to grace her with. Which, he did.
It wasn't a question but a comment. "Too bad the rain hasn't stopped."
"Yes," she replied curtly.
He asked. "In a hurry to go home?"
She answered. "Yes. I need to get home before my roommate gets worried."
He replied. "I live by myself."
Sakura immediately cocked her head. "Really?"
It was then she realized her mistake and accidentally looked at him. Which, lucky for her he was busy staring at the dark sky and she look at him in sideview. Sakura took her time, and noticed that yup, he was an avid fan of black. Unkempt jet black hair framed his face with long bangs that covered his eyes. He was thoroughly soaked, from his black trench coat down to his equally black boots. She averted her gaze at him.
'He must be an emo. Or a lover of punk rock. Or goth, they wear black all the time,' she concluded. They have that creepy dark aura around them and this guy has one. Kami-sama, if this was one of Ino's past boyfriends then she must be really weird to be able to have a relationship with this one.
Until she felt his gaze on her. "You don't talk much do you?"
Sakura nodded her head. He continued, "I could tell you don't hang out with people often. I don't hang that much too."
Then silence came again.
It was a really weird way of having a conversation. From the looks of things, Sakura realized it was his own way of passing the time, waiting for the rain to stop and all. It took him huge amounts of effort to talk, seeing the way he shifts his foot. There was no problem with just a little chit-chat right? She didn't know him and he didn't know her. Their contact will end as soon as the rain stops.
She decided to drop her guard.
And the conversation ensued.
…………
9:45 PM
"I see. You're working part-time?" the black-clad guy asked. He was leaning against the wooden support of the dango shop still staring at the sky. Sakura nodded. He nodded as well, his arms still crossed in front of his chest. "Is having a part-time job hard?"
She smiled, remembering the happy times she spent working as a helper in Dr. Tsunade's clinic next to the house she was staying with Ino. "Not really. It may look hard at first but once you get used to it, it's not bad."
"It depends on the job. Some may look practically easy but they're not. It also depends on the person as well. If he/she is flexible, then the work will be handled easily," he replied dryly.
Sakura nodded. An hour and forty-five minutes had passed and it seemed like she was just talking to a long-lost friend. He didn't seem to mind that she didn't give long answers; it was as if he already expected that from her. And she didn't ask too much about him either. Better that she met him as a stranger and say goodbye as a stranger.
Few minutes later, the downpour has reduced into a slight drizzle. The scent of the rain from the ground was faint, signaling that it was over. The pink-haired girl sighed happily. She can finally go home!
A slight movement caused her to look sideways. She saw him straightening his now dry apparel and ran his fingers through his hair. She gulped.
Onyx eyes clashed into hers.
Immediately she felt something that she couldn't seem to point out.
He didn't care if he noticed her untimely silence. Before she could react, he walked a few steps away from her. He didn't look back when he spoke. "The rain has stopped. And I think you better make a head start for home. It was nice talking to you."
She didn't answer. She was too petrified to move.
He then asked. "May I know your name?"
Out in a daze, she blurted out. "Sakura."
"Sakura, huh? See you around." He continued on his way back to wherever he's supposed to go.
She didn't waste time. It was quite unfair that he asked her name but he didn't give her his. "Ah, wait! I didn't…"
"Sasuke."
"Eh?" Her mouth hung open in disbelief. Did she just…?
He looked back at her. "It's Sasuke." Before she could talk, he already resumed walking and was now far away from her.
Alone, the pink-haired girl shook her head in disbelief. She then went on her way too, unaware that she was walking in the same way as he was and before she rounded up a corner, she caught sight of him turning around the opposite way. She was about to stop and call his attention but she didn't. What happened earlier was just a plain conversation with strangers. It's very unlikely that they'll meet again. She turned her back on him then made her way back to the house.
Upon reaching the house, she fished the key out of her pocket then opened the door. She went inside then before closing it, memories of the previous events got stuck to her head.
Cleaning the mess in Ino's room…
The time at downtown Konoha…
Getting stuck in the rain…
And meeting with a strange guy who has an affinity for black…
And having a weird conversation with him…
Strange. But not that strange.
Not leaving time for her thoughts, Sakura sighed then closed the door.
And concluded.
A/N: There you have it! What do you think? Let me greet you guys happy holidays too! And don't worry, yokoso will have its new chapter in the next few days! so please be patient minna-san! Beta-reader wishes you guys happy holidays too! Till then, Ja ne!