"Oh I'm so happy! I think I'm gonna cry!" It had to be the nth time she heard her mother say that exact same phrase this morning, followed by the occasional snaps and flashes from her disposable camera. She hated thinking about how the woman would act at prom or graduation or worse her wedding. She scoffed at the latter. A wedding would mean that she actually had a shot at getting engaged which required a relationship which would require a boyfriend which she was currently lacking. Actually, lacking wouldn't be the word she'd use to describe her love life. "Nonexistent" hit the target a little more closely. She snapped out of her thoughts at her mother's soft hands grabbing her by her shoulders and smiling down at her. "I am so proud of you!" she beamed.
"Mom. It's just the first day of senior year. Give it a rest please. You're starting to get worry lines on your forehead." Sakura said smiling despite her mother's crazy fit of tears and memory making. "If you keep snapping photos you won't have any for the more important things like prom or graduation." Or my social funeral. "I don't understand why you just don't use a digital camera anyway instead of spending all your money on these old Polaroid cameras."
Her mother placed her treasured camera on top of the refrigerator, eyes never leaving the gadget as if it'd get up and run off, before turning back to the meal she was cooking. "Those things are too much." She stated stirring. "They'll either delete or the camera will stop working. Polaroids are forever and are safe in my album for when you want a trip down memory lane."
"Trust me. There's nothing important that I want to remember from my years at Konoha High School. The sooner this year is over, the sooner my life can actually begin." Sakura said biting into her apple.
"Don't be in a rush to grow up Sakura. It's not as fun as it seems." Her mother clicked her tongue. "Besides, I know these last three years have been pretty rough but it's your last year! Senior year is always the best year! You get away with so much and there's all the senior activities. Trust me, before you know it, you'll be walking across that stage accepting your diploma."
Sakura opened her mouth to voice how eager she would be awaiting that moment when the kitchen door flew open revealing her best friend. Ino Yamanaka was widely known for making an entrance, literally, and it never surprised when the blonde just so happened to suddenly pop up at the most random moments but apparently her mother still wasn't use to it after knowing the girl since age seven.
"Ino Yamanaka!" Ms. Haruno breathed clutching her heart, "What have I told you about not knocking?"
Ino smiled that loveable smile before pulling up a chair at the table and sitting down. "I'm sorry Ms. Haruno. I forget so easily besides I'm like family. I might as well have my own key." She said flipping her golden ponytail over her shoulder.
Sakura stood up abruptly before her mother could go into another long rant about her proud she was of them. "Actually, mom it's getting kind of late and I need to get there before all of the good parking spots are taken so can I have my car keys?" the pinkette asked outstretching her hands towards her mother. Ms. Haruno tugged at her apron hesitantly before giving her daughter a sad smile.
"Don't you ride the school bus? It is the first day and all-"
"Mom, we had this conversation last night. I'm practically an adult now so it's time for you to trust me especially with my own car which you gladly took the liberty of restricting my use of the entire summer." Sakura said holding her hand out again. "Keys please."
"Yeah, besides Ms. Haruno, riding the school bus as a senior is torture I wouldn't subject even my worst enemies to. All those freshman and the bus is always wet and muddy and hot and slimy and then I'll feel slimy and itchy and just bleh!" Ino added. Sakura's mom visibly shuddered before digging in the cookie jar and handing her daughter her car keys.
"Drive safe. Go the speed limit. Don't use your phone and drive. Oh, and don't forget to use your turn signals. Oh and don't forget your seatbelts! You know what? I think I should check the airbags." Ms. Haruno said.
"Mom, I got it! Ok, I love you good bye!" Sakura interrupted before pushing her best friend out of the door. Once the kitchen door closed behind them, Ino sighed in relief.
"Finally," she breathed.
"Not yet." Sakura said looking back at the kitchen window. She knew her overprotective mother all too well. The yellow curtains pulled aside and revealed her mother's curious face. Sakura smiled and gave her mother a reassuring wave before her mother accepted the response and returned to her cooking. "Now, we're good." She said walking around to the driver's side.
"I take it she was laying the emotions on pretty thick this morning." Ino stated putting on her seatbelt. The blonde surfed through radio stations before finding one that suited her tastes and nodding in satisfaction.
"Yeah, she was all emotional about it being our last year and what not." Sakura said pulling out of the driveway and onto the road. "Actually, she says the same thing every year."
"She's right though. This is our last fucking year at this shit hole of a school, Sak! We're seniors!" Ino exclaimed. And she's off. The blonde turned to look at her friend only to note that her level of excitement was nowhere near her own. "Why can I sense that you're not as excited about this as I am?"
Sakura sighed. "It's just another school year Ino. Only difference is this is our last school year. Besides, you're the one with all the friends. Of course you're excited about it. My only friend is you and half the time you find excuses on why you can't be at school for the day anyway. So when you leave me there it's just an awful experience. But at least we have six periods together this year." Ino remained silent, drumming her fingers on the armrest and looking out the window. "Right?" Sakura asked. "We are in all the same classes right?"
Ino sighed. "I intended on telling you earlier but I got accepted into the internship program at that law firm and in order to attend I have to leave school every day after fourth period."
Sakura gripped the steering wheel. It wasn't that she wasn't happy for the girl. In fact she was ecstatic that her best friend was one step closer to her career choice of being a lawyer. She just hated that her career moves left her awaiting by herself in the vicious hall of their school for two more classes. "That's great Ino."
"You know," Ino started, "you'd have more friends if you'd just go out to parties with me or on the dates I try to set you up on."
Sakura paled before feigning like she was vomiting up her breakfast. "First of all, you know parties aren't my thing. I just don't get the idea of organizing fun. It's like 'come to this place and we're going to listen to this type of music and dance this kind of way and you have to look like this and you can only drink that.' And secondly, I am not going on a blind date! And if those aren't reason enough, my mom would never let me do either of those things. You know how overprotective she is."
"Sakura, adolescents are meant to rebel! So what if you sneak out a couple of times and come in late or in my case very early? Parents expect you to do those things and if they didn't they'd be huge hypocrites because they did the same things when they were are age. Take me for instance, I went out last night to this amazing party, met a guy name Kiba, and had the best sex I've had in about a week." The blonde confessed.
Sakura groaned shaking her head. "How can you just throw your body out to anyone Ino?" she asked. "That's dangerous! You didn't even know the guy!"
"Oh relax Sakura! We were safe and plus I'll never have to see him again so string free sex was perfect for the situation. If you would just give up your virginity already and stop acting like this pristine nun you'd know why I have so much sex and why I'm so happy all the time."
"Ok, first off I'm not that pristine. And it's not like I'm holding it for a special person. I've anticipated it but I'm not gonna give it to some random guy just to get rid of it…besides I still haven't even had my first kiss. How can I expect to jump into bed with a guy when I don't know the first thing about sex or kissing or whatever?" Sakura said pulling into the school's lot.
"God, you're so prude! Just kiss someone and get it over with!" Ino said checking her face in the mirror.
"It's not that simple!" Sakura groaned getting out the car. The air smelled familiar. It was weird to think about it but whenever she got back on campus things just smelled different and felt different. It smelled like a new year."
"Oh my god would you look at those two idiots!" Ino suddenly yelled in aggravation.
Sakura whipped her head towards the source of her friend's aggravation and sighed. There it was. The infamous black foreign car double parked in two parking spots. Everyone on campus knew who that car belong to which was one of the main reasons the owner was allowed to park in such a manner without it getting towed or receiving a ticket. The driver's side door opened revealing a pair of really expensive black leather shoes, the kind you'd hear about being made of real Italian leather. Sakura could actually recall sometime last year what happened to the poor freshman that had accidentally stepped on those Italian leather shoes. Needless to say the poor id had to transfer. Those shoes led to long legs clothed with expensive jeans followed by a silk black dress shirt and that dark hair and even darker eyes. No one could miss the swirling tattoo on his right bicep. No one dared to look him directly in his eyes because that would signify defiance and Sasuke Uchiha didn't like being challenged. His father was loaded and with him being the second heir after his brother the funds and respect had trickled down into his lap. He basically ran the school. Of course much to many students surprise, he did his work and accepted minimal punishments for any wrong doings he may have done but everyone knew that if he didn't want to do something, he wasn't going to do it and no one would be able to force him to. A guy with that much power of course had girls throwing themselves all over him, a trait that Sakura hated. It had nothing to do with the fact that she was jealous but more with the fact that she didn't like how girls threw themselves to the beck and call of a handsome face. On contrary, it was not her who was the fan girl of Sasuke Uchiha but the other way around. Sasuke had done more than enough last year to let her know that he was interested in her but that was a hook that she wasn't biting at.
"Just because his father is rich and powerful doesn't mean he can do whatever the fuck he wants!" Ino yelled furiously. Ino had never liked the guy from the moment she first laid eyes on him. She hated his arrogance and his apathetic and indifferent attitude towards people. She hated it even more that Sakura actually tolerated the guy.
"Ino, I think that's exactly what it means." Sakura said shutting her door and locking it with the key remote. Her eyes trailed to the passenger side of the Uchiha's vehicle to see the door opening. The blonde spiky hair that extended to the nape of his neck gave her a good idea on who the Uchiha's riding companion was, not that anyone really had to guess. Sasuke only allowed two people in his car: his girlfriend and his best friend and Naruto Uzumaki was his best friend. The blonde had his trademark large headphones around his neck probably playing loud music into his pulse. His torso was covered by a loose orange hoodie exposing the slightest bit of his abs and that v cut indent that all the girls went crazy for, not to mention his the tip of what looked to be a dragon tattoo. However, what got Sakura the most was the tip of his black boxers peeking from under his jeans that were held up by a pink hello kitty belt. The boy smirked at something the Uchiha said and Sakura noticed that the corner of his mouth was covered by a bandage.
"That's it I'm going over there!" Ino said strapping her bag on her shoulder and marching in the guy's general direction. Sakura blinked before she actually reacted and chased after her.
"Ino wait!"
Before she knew it, Ino had approached the car and was now in the vicinity of the two. "Hey asshole!" she heard her feisty friend say. Oh crap. Sasuke and Naruto both looked at the loudmouth blonde with raised brows and she scoffed. "Of course both of you answer. But, I was talking to the one that owns the fucking Bat mobile over here." she gritted out folding her arms. "I know all that empty space where your brain is supposed to be located makes it hard for you to comprehend the simplest of things but you can't double park you moron!" Sakura ran up and grabbed the girl's arm.
"Ino come on! Let's just go." She noticed that the Uchiha's attention was momentarily affixed on herself but knew better to ignore it.
"Ino, school hasn't even started yet," a voice drawled out slowly causing everyone to eye the blue eyed male leaning against the passenger door frame. "Why are you already acting like a cunt?"
"Nah, I wouldn't use cunt as the adjective. She lacks warmth and depth." Sasuke dragged out looking towards the school uninterestedly. Here we go.
"Oh my god." Ino said looking at the two guys. "Do people really fall for you…you know despite who you are? A couple of dicks?" Ino turned to face Sakura. "I'm going inside because I can feel my blood pressure rising and my patience thinning. I'll meet you inside." Without another word, the girl turned to face the duo again with scrutinizing eyes. "It's amazing," she said before she walked off, "Out of millions of sperms…you two were the fastest." She shook her head as she entered the back entrance.
Sakura had become used to it by now. The whole back and forth game between the three. Hell, they did it so much that Sakura considered it a part of their morning routine. Turning to leave, she felt a hand grasp her wrist pulling her back. She sighed and turned to face the smirking Uchiha. "Yes, Sasuke?"
"Good morning to you too." He said in his monotone stoic voice she knew so well.
"It would be an even better morning if you three could behave yourselves." She said looking between the two of them.
"In our defense, she did approach us." Naruto interrupted. Sakura rolled her eyes. Her feelings towards "the dobe" as most referred to him as weren't nearly as bad as Ino's towards Sasuke, yet tantamount. Naruto irked her in ways that she didn't even know. He was irritating, annoying, obnoxious at the worst times, and a tad bit chauvinistic. Adding that to his arrogance and couple it with Sasuke Uchiha as his best friend and you have yourself a world class asshole.
"Look," she said completely disregarding the blonde and opting to look back at Sasuke. "It's the first day of a new year. Why don't you turn over a new leaf by leaving us alone for once?" she asked.
His face remained passive. "Go out with me."
"No," Sakura said in a singsongy voice. She looked over his shoulder and pointed. "But here comes a ton of girls that would be more than happy to." She smiled before going inside the school after Ino.
"You've got to keep him on a tighter leash, Sak." Ino whined as soon as the pinkette rounded the corner.
"I don't have him on any kind of leash and you did start it Ino." Sakura pointed out walking towards her locker.
"Oh sure, take his side!" Ino pouted. "One day those two are going to get what they deserve!" She watched Sakura open her locker and place things inside before voicing the thought she had been pondering. "How come you never gave it up to Sasuke?"
"Gave what up?" Sakura asked confused nevertheless keeping her eyes focused on fixing her locker.
Ino sighed. "You know, I'm beginning to think you're spending too much time around Naruto. His blonde hair might be contagious."
"Ino…you're a blonde."
"So,"
Sakura paused to stare back at her friend holding back a smile. "You're really living up to your hair color this morning aren't you?" she chuckled.
"Stop changing the subject! I mean, why haven't you had sex with Sasuke?"
Sakura slammed her locker closed and looked at her friend. "Are you kidding me? You, Ino Yamanaka, are asking me why I haven't slept with Sasuke Uchiha, a person who you cannot stand."
"Despite him being a complete dick he is a hot piece of ass. I couldn't be completely mad if you did." Ino confessed as the two began walking towards their first period when they noticed the halls filling.
"Well like I said I'm not interested in him like that. Besides, if I did that mean I'd be hanging around him more which means two things: you'd have to put up with him and I'd have to put up with Naruto and I am not willing to deal with all of that." Sakura said.
"The weirdest thing is…he doesn't have a little sister…so why in the hell was he wearing a Hello Kitty belt?" Ino asked. Sakura covered her mouth to hide her laughter.
"Un-fucking-believable," Ino said drumming her fingers on her desk. She glanced back at the clock and audibly sighed when she noted that it was 8:30, twenty minutes after class had officially started. And they were in class without a teacher. The other students didn't seem to mind, especially since it was a class full of seniors and they weren't as eager as the other grade levels to jump into the learning on an early Monday morning. Girls sat on each other's desks perfecting their makeup (way too much for Sakura's taste) while gossiping about parties, summer jobs, and of course Sasuke and Naruto. The guys were telling very descriptive stories (much to Sakura's dismay) about their sex flings and pointing out each girl in the class they wanted to fuck. Five guys had pointed at Sakura and six of them at Ino and when the duo had caught them pointing and staring at them, three of those guys winked and licked their lips. Ew. "Three months of no working and Mr. Hatake still can't manage to bring his ass here on time like the rest of us." Ino ranted digging her nails into the wood desk.
"Well, it's not like we wanted to do classwork anyway." Sakura added. "So, let's just enjoy the free time before all the strenuous work begins."
"You're right," Ino smiled before turning to face her. "Let's talk about your sex life or lack thereof."
"This again?" Sakura groaned. "You're more worried about my sex life than I am."
"I just can't seem to understand how you haven't even kissed a guy yet. I mean I can't remember a time where I wasn't sexually active."
"That's because you spend so much time on your back that it seeps out into the sheets." Sakura mumbled. Ino tugged her a lock of her pink shoulder length hair causing a yelp to emit from the green eyed girl's mouth. "Hey! I just got my hair growing back! Don't yank so hard!"
"I'm serious Sak! Once you experience the things that I and 95% of this world has, you won't remember what it was like in the before time." Ino gushed. "I mean how are you going to look going into college unexperienced and this isn't even about sex anymore; this about pure experience. You barely can look a hot guy in his eyes let alone talk to one. I'm just afraid without the right experience they'll corrupt you."
"You're corrupting me Ino." Sakura deadpanned.
"I think I have the perfect solution to your problem though," Ino continued disregarding the statement. "I know this guy who helps girls. You pay him a small fee and he teaches you everything you need to know."
Sakura didn't know where to begin about everything that was wrong with that statement. "I'm not going anywhere near anyone that you know and has to do with sex and just by pure curiosity who is this person?"
"Choji Akimichi."
Sakura blanched and leaned back in her seat. "Ino! Choji is repugnant1 He smells like gym socks, he eats with his mouth open, and he almost broke my finger because he wanted my butterscotch pudding freshman year. And to add insult to injury, didn't you sleep with Choji at the back of the school bus when we went on that field trip last year?"
"Yes, but he is very kind, polite, and a caring person so he wouldn't judge you!" Ino added for effect.
"Look, I will do things on my own when I'm ready. There's no rush, not for me anyway." Sakura said.
The door to the classroom flew open and the infamous Kakashi Hatake strolled in sporting an apologetic smile. "Oh you're all here," he said scratching his head, his eyes crinkling in a humorous smile. "I know I'm late but there was-" he paused at the unbelieving stare his class gave him before clearing his throat. "Anyway, I had to show a transfer student to the class. Everybody welcome Kiba Inuzuka."
Ino sunk lower in her desk as Sakura leaned forward. "Looks, like your little fling is back ti bite you in the butt."
"Oh no, he already did that."
"Gross."
This is my newest story and I feel really good about it! I hope you guys take the time to review! But, I would like to apologize if I offended anybody with the language used in this chapter or the crude jokes or the heavy talk of sex. I advise anyone who was offended to stop reading now because the jokes will get cruder, there will be even more talks of sex, and I can't promise that there won't be anything offensive but I can say that it is not intentional. Thanks, guys.