Well, I know I said I was done with Fanfiction when I hit a writer's block on my last story, but I've been craving some writing time. This may be just one story or an unofficial return, but regardless, it's a story that I hope you enjoy. As usual, feedback and suggestions are always fun and appreciated.
{Chapter One}
Not in the shoulder, the knee, arm, boobs...not even the side of her head. Just right in the face. The impact and shock knocked her off balance and forced her down on her ass. A graceless mess of papers and cafeteria food created a barrier that no one dared to cross.
When she brought her hand away from her stinging face, a small splatter of blood stained her palm. Her nose wasn't hurting enough to be broken, but surely the soccer ball hit her hard enough to pop something open inside a nostril. She was mortified to see dozens of students staring at her, almost more caught off guard than she herself was. The pain soon caught up with her and almost was enough to distract her from the crowd. Her eyes were already watering.
'Shit,' she winced.
She pushed herself to her knees to at least gather her papers before the remaining ones blew off across the courtyard. Class schedule, permission slips, parent forms- a pair of Nike sneakers. Hesitantly she dared to look up at the guy in front of her. He crouched down to her level.
"Dude, I'm so sorry. I totally was off on the kick and really didn't mean for it to hit you. Uhm, here's some of your papers that flew away," he sheepishly offered over some papers. Her late pass and more parent forms, from the looks of it.
"It's okay." She mumbled quickly, too embarrassed to look at his face.
"Let me help you at least." He took it upon himself to help gather what was left and also went ahead and tossed out her empty lunch tray.
"After I walk you to the clinic, I'll definitely buy you more lunch, okay? Ugh, I'm just really, really sorry!" He seemed sincere, but it irked her how he took it upon himself to decide that he'd walk her. Not that she'd say no, since wandering around with a bloody face wasn't on her things to do list, but he should've at least asked.
She picked up her bag and dumped her stuff inside, regretting not doing so earlier... The boy made a grab to carry her stuff for her, but she firmly declined the gesture and reassured him she could carry it.
Once they passed through the gawking students and made it into the building, she allowed herself to look over at the guy that had surely though unintentionally ruined her chances of just blending into this new school.
Dark, messy hair, a hoodie, narrowed brown eyes and baggy jeans. An average guy, basically. She sighed as she continued to cup her hand under her dripping nose. She was itching to wipe it, but too afraid it would hurt to even try.
"Alright, here we are." He led her into the nurse's office, which was just a cramped room with a stupid little bed and a cabinet with files. Probably on all the students who have ever visited the nurse, she guessed. Bottles of pain relievers and first-aid kit stuff was all lined up on shelves.
"Kiba, what happened here?" A young woman asked, appearing from the tiny closet on the side.
"I, uh, kicked a soccer ball and accidentally smashed her face in with it." He stared over to the small window to avoid her annoyed stare.
"Let me get some tissues and ointment for you, Miss…?"
"Sakura," She introduced herself with a tiny smile.
"Hmm," After dabbing down the sore nose, the nurse went over to her computer to pull up the girl's file. "Awesome first day of school, eh?" She smiled sympathetically.
"Yeah," She sighed, glancing over at Kiba who was standing quietly in the corner.
"Well, you obviously don't have anything from your parents signed yet, so I can't give you anything to dull the pain… But… It doesn't look too bad," She wiped up the last smears of blood and smiled warmly. "Looks fine to me."
"Thank you," She smiled back and followed Kiba back out to the cafeteria.
"So, Sakura," He tested the waters, "I'm really sorry about all this. So do you mind if I buy you some more lunch? It's the least I can do."
"Sure, if you want." The way her stomach was growling, she was in no position to turn that offer down.
He even went ahead and bought her a big chocolate chip cookie, splurging those extra two quarters. When this kid said he was sorry, he most definitely meant it. Man, oh man, did she feel lucky. If only she had a lottery ticket. She stopped her inner sarcasm as soon as she took a bite at it. It actually was pretty good.
"Did you have anyone to sit with?" He asked curiously.
"Not really. I don't think anyone looks too open to sitting with the girl who got her nose slammed in just yet." She joked lightly.
"Then sit with me and my friends today. What grade are you in?"
"Eleventh."
"Awesome, same here. Odds are you'll have some classes with me or them."
He brought her to his table of friends just off to the side from where he was previously playing soccer. There was a girl and two other guys already seated.
"This is Sakura, the new girl whose face I hit." Kiba introduced brightly.
"Nice…" One of the guys deadpanned. "I'm Shikamaru," He greeted.
"Tenten," the girl smiled, "and this is-"
"Lee! The pleasure is mine, Sakura. I hope our acquaintance blossoms into a beautiful friendship in the near future!" His eyes widened in excitement and Sakura held back a slight shiver.
"And this is Tsunade's class, that's Miss Kurenai's, over there is the bad water fountain. Just use the one down by Mr. Hatake's class." It turned out that Tenten had the same science as her and was more than happy to show her where it was.
"So," Her new friend started, looking over her schedule again, "you already had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Orochimaru this morning? I see you have him first for history. Ew, honors! You overachiever…" She playfully slapped her arm.
"Actually, no. I was in the office waiting for more forms to come in. There was a mix up in some transfer stuff and, uh, yeah, not yet."
"Oh, the joy that awaits you," Tenten whispered, before leading her inside Tsunade's class.
The final bell had just gone off as they sat in two open desks in the front. There wasn't any whispering from what she could hear, so it was safe to assume no one in this class had seen her incident during lunch.
"Before we begin today's lesson, I'd like to take a moment to embarrass and introduce our new student," The busty teacher announced as she glanced down at the attendance roster on her desk. "Sakura Haruno, please stand so the class knows who to trick into visiting the 'rooftop swimming pool'…" A few kids groaned in the back. Tsunade was no fun….
Reluctantly, the girl rose, fingers in her pink hair as she turned to smile at the class awkwardly. She immediately plunged back in her seat, though, when someone made a wolf whistle.
"Naruto, anything you wish to say to Miss Haruno?" Tsunade barked with a ferocity that made Sakura shrink further back in her chair.
"Eh, maybe later." The wolf-whistler snickered.
"I'll help you prepare a proper introduction during detention today, then." The teacher grinned.
"Aww! C'mon! I have so much homework tonight! I don't have time for detention!" He cried out.
"Homework?" She laughed, "Naruto, you have yet to turn in a single assignment for this class or for any other, at that. Keep talking and I'll give you tray duty tomorrow for lunch as well."
The blonde boy slumped back with a pout.
"Now, everyone open up to page eighty-six and read the chapter introduction as I fill out Mr. Uzumaki's detention slip."
"Hey, hey! Girl with the pink hair! Stop!" Naruto shouted down the hall.
Sakura turned around as he came running up to her with a wide, bashful smile and stuck out his hand. "Naruto Uzumaki! Sorry about earlier, I was only playing around." He chuckled nervously.
"It's okay. Sakura Haruno. I'm sorry you got a detention for it." She shook his hand.
"It's nothing new, don't worry about it. Say, you're the girl that got hit in the face today, right?"
She groaned, someone had seen it after all… "Yeah.. That would be me…"
He grinned and slung an arm over her shoulder, "Don't worry about it, it'll only stick on you the rest of your high school career!" He laughed loudly at his own joke.
"Where ya headed next?" He asked enthusiastically. She wasn't butt ugly or anything, he decided, and was very sweet so far. As long as she wasn't a lunatic, he'd love to keep her around.
"Math, Mr. Hatake's class." She read off.
"Damn! That's like… The advanced class, right!" He stared in awe.
"Uhm, yeah."
"Geez, you must be like, really smart!" He shouted, causing her to wince.
"…Sure."
"Well, I actually have my intensive math now, so I'll see ya around, right, Sak?" He winked obnoxiously before taking off down the hall. Sighing yet again, she trailed down the hall to her next class.
The dismissal bell had gone off at least thirty minutes ago, yet she was still in class. The math class here in Konoha High was a chapter ahead of her class back home. Her teacher, Mr. Hatake, offered to stay a little later to help her catch up. He was a very bright man, but also a smart ass. It was a touchy mix, but she'd have to make the best of it.
"Thank you so much, Mr. Hatake. I got it from here." Sakura thanked him graciously.
"Any time. I'm here after class on Tuesdays and Thursdays generally, so if you have any questions, feel free to stop by then or during lunch."
"Sure thing. Have a good afternoon!"
"You too," He winked before she walked out into the hallway.
He was a very good-looking man, so it was no surprise a blush had suddenly burned her cheeks on her way down to the parking lot.
Fiddling with her bag zipper, she finally was able to retrieve her keys as she made it out through the back of the school. But it was then she found herself slowing down to a complete stop, a familiar stench that almost always was in the girls' bathrooms in her old school. Weed, of course.
It wouldn't be a big deal to her anywhere else, but this school was known for being drug-free across the country. It's always winning many awards and luring in college reps who are always scouting for the best candidates for their colleges. Hell, it was half the reason her dad accepted the job in the area.
Looking around, she tried to spot whoever was smoking. As she kept walking toward the parking lot, the smell was even stronger, as if the person was breathing down her neck.
"Hey," a voice called at her, "have you seen a blonde idiot anywhere?"
She whipped around to see the culprit hidden behind the school mural, his joint pressed between his lips.
"N-Naruto, you mean?" She stuttered out. She should've just walked away. Never did she socialize with low-lives like this, lazy scum that wasted willingly, using every penny to their name on drugs.
"Yeah, Naruto," He walked out toward her, leaning on the front of the mural. He tilted his head back, eyes still focused on her as he sucked in his high and let a snake of smoke leak out through his thin lips. "you've seen him?"
She clutched the strap to her bag and focused on the bright orange and yellow lion painted behind the guy. "He's in detention with Tsunade right now."
"Hn. His loss." He shrugged, referring to the drug.
Sakura shifted her weight awkwardly, not sure if she was free to just walk away or if it'd piss him off and start trouble. Something in her kept her in place, the part that was absorbing the hotness this guy was radiating. Or maybe the fear. Or a mix?
Pale, extremely dark, unusual hair, unreadable eyes and not to mention just an overall forbidden aura. He had piercings and tattoos, things that were completely unacceptable in a proper society. Did he even go to school with her?
"I haven't seen you around before. New?" He asked, almost glaring as he looked her over.
"I, uhm, just started today. I moved here from Suna." She played with her uniform skirt, suddenly very aware of the itchy material against her knees.
"Ah." He responded, leaning back again. There was silence, a very heavy one at that. He seemed completely at ease with it, she noticed, yet there she was, about to burst. "You want?" He offered a hit.
"No thank you," She politely declined.
His eyes hardened and glared in her direction. "SASUKE! YOU WAITED! Man, I was freaking out that you totally would've bailed on me and I'd have to catch that fucking bus or something." Naruto yelled, "Oh, Sakura! What are you doing out here so late? Get lost on your first day?" He laughed at his own joke yet again and she couldn't help but wonder if he did that a lot.
"Mr. Hatake was helping me catch up with the class for next time. My old school is kind of behind." She explained, still feeling edgy with..Sasuke there.
"Oh, okay. Say, you know Sasuke?" He asked, excitement bubbling through every word.
"No, we just met." She didn't dare to look over at the dark character in question.
Naruto's eyes widened, realization striking him dead on. "Sakura, you burn!" She couldn't tell if he was elated or furious.
"No, of course not. I don't do that sort of thing." She stiffened up defensively.
"Oh. Well, if you ever do, find this bastard here. He's like, THE hook-up of Konoha." He flung his arm over Sasuke's shoulders like he had done earlier to her, but the taller of the two quickly swatted his limb off.
"Do you even go here?" She mustered the courage to ask.
"I do, in fact. I just don't make a scene of myself like some tend to do."
Had he seen her unintentional performance at lunch or was he simply referring to Naruto's over-the-top behavior? She had no idea and wasn't about to ask.
"Well, it was… Nice meeting you, then. Bye!" She sputtered out, quickly making her way to her car.
"She's really nice, eh, Sasuke?" Naruto nudged his friend in the side. They watched her carefully pull out of the lot and onto the street.
"Hn. Get in the car, I'm late for a delivery."
And that's the first chapter! So like I said, I love feedback from everyone and hope to get a word or two from some people. Honestly, I have no idea what I'm doing with this story, it's not thought out at all...soo...anything can happen?
happy unbirthday once again
-frumpyrox