Before anything else: I'd like to dedicate this story to my ever-supportive friend here, zaGooRian aTheNa! Whoo!
Disclaimer: I love Naruto, but I don't own it... Oh well. There go my hopes and dreams.
It was a really sultry day.
A certain girl with roseate locks cut to the length of her shoulders sauntered around the streets of Konoha, aiming for a good bookstore to wallow in. Only a few people were out today, she saw.
Maybe it's because of the damn weather, Sakura thought. Obviously. She wondered what the newest release in the book outlet she frequently visits was. Upon catching sight of the place, she immediately stumbled in, tripping on the foot of an inconsiderate person who was blocking her way. She cursed almost subconsciously loud that the man (or more so, the guy) noticed her, shooting a glare that almost melted her. He had abysmal orbs that, when had you caught, would drain strength from all over your body. At least, that's what she thought.
She simply stared at him. Whether her salivation was dripping out or not, she had no idea. That guy, whom she just bumped into, was glowering at her in the cutest way, and she didn't know the heck how to react.
"Uh—s-sorry," she stammered. The guy, however, made no comment and left her there, gazing at nowhere exactly with her mouth hanging open. She flushed as she realized that it was a pathetic thing to do. "Oh, well."
But who was that guy?
Sakura moaned as she wiped away the sweat that dripped down her face endlessly. No—it wasn't summer or anything like that, just the beginning of a new school year. Classes were to start in half an hour and she was still in the middle of a raucous crowd, recklessly wandering amongst the students in search for her best friend, Naruto.
After minutes of being pushed forward, backward and sideward, she finally caught sight of the erratic blond. She grasped his shirt when he started to walk away (again) since he seemed to be in a rush for something. "Naruto, where the heck've you been?"
"Sakura-chan—there you are! C'mon, I want you to meet someone," he said, and just when Sakura as expecting a big bear hug or something like that (how thoughtful of him… Not). He led her to the covered walk, and seeing that it was dominated by more cherry trees at the sides, Sakura figured that the academy had some major renovation last summer. They came to the gym minutes after almost aimless roving, at length.
"Naruto, get me out of here… This place just keeps on bringing back memories—useless ones," she muttered. The mere thought of the past years of P.E. made her cringe. She couldn't say that she was really good in sports—although she is sort of good—when she had some unthinkable incidents the past few years.
"Relax," he said as he rotated his head, his eyes focused on something else. "Right—hey, Sasuke! Over here!"
Sakura looked around to see who this 'Sasuke' guy was. It was probably another made-up person Naruto thought of to get back at Sakura for not treating him to ramen last time. "Naruto, I swear—if this is just one of your pathetic pranks—"
"Geez—Sakura-chan, how many times do I have to remind you to just relax?!" Naruto took hold of her hand and dragged her to the other side of the gym. She glanced on all sides of it, flashing little smiles at her former classmates. But then she saw a black-haired male who had his head tilted down, seemingly fixing something. Oh, right. It was his bag.
Great. Another new guy. Sakura didn't really like the idea of having new classmates, since most of them wouldn't end up in good terms with her because of cliques. Anyhow, she'd just have to deal with it in a lady-like manner. After all, she's one of the top students.
"Whatever." Sakura's mind was trailing on the person she bumped into the day before. He was über-ly good-looking, she pointed out, but Sakura didn't like the way he acted at all. At least he could've said, "It's okay" or something like that, but he didn't. Sakura just shrugged it off and forgot about it. It wasn't anything worth boggling your mind for anyway.
Sometimes, though, things are just too different from how they seem.
"Sasuke! You made it!" Naruto was all hyped up about this 'Sasuke' person, and Sakura didn't know why. He was probably another stuck- up jerk who was too vain to care about anyone else whom the vociferous blond just so happened to meet somewhere. Oh, well.
The teen whom Sakura was looking at a while ago tilted his head up and caught her sight. She couldn't believe it.
"What the hell?!" Sakura was swayed by disbelief in the worst way possible. "No way!"
Unfortunately for her, Naruto had already gone to the other end of the gym. Trying to eliminate the urge to amputate him, Sakura hesitantly followed behind and mumbled swearwords repeatedly. "You'd better not screw up on this, Naruto," she hissed. "Or you'll really get it this time."
Naruto kept silent all the while, but Sakura was certain there was an inkling of a grimace on his lips. He stopped in his tracks when he was a few feet away from the raven-haired guy who, in turn, straightened up and raised a brow. "Naruto?"
The blond punched him mockingly and said, "Sasuke—look here—I brought someone with me!"
Sasuke's eyes were dragged to the pinked-haired girl in front of him who just said a mere "hi". He stared at her still, with much more indifference.
Sakura, on the other hand, could barely verbalize a word. She couldn't even register this in her head. That guy—the one named Sasuke—was the exact same person she hit the before. Utter embarrassment flooded over her, and she couldn't have felt any worse. Moreover, he had dark eyes and black spiked hair. He looked almost too perfect—that is, except for the fact that he was staring at her in the cruelest way.
"Naruto, is this the stupid waitress you were talking about yesterday?" Sasuke turned to glare at him instead.
"Wha—? Naruto!" Sakura couldn't believe he actually referred to her as a 'stupid waitress' when talking to other people. That's it. She turned away and treaded heavily going back to the main building while Naruto was desperately calling out to her saying he was sorry about what happened. But she wouldn't listen. Then again, who would?
"'Stupid waitress'?! Damn that guy," she bickered incessantly. "He may be cute, but—oh, darn…"
She ran into a couple of people while doing this until she finally arrived at the classroom of the section she was classified to. She saw her usual classmates—Shikamaru, Kiba, Hinata and Ino. Wait, INO?!
She checked the list of pupils posted on the bulletin board just outside the room.
Haruno Sakura.
Hyuuga Hinata.
…
She read past a few other names, and then she saw it. There wasn't any doubt now.
Yamanaka Ino.
"Saaa-kura!"
It was definitely too late to turn back now. Ino was waving at her, making faces almost too hilarious that they should be considered insults. Sakura gave out a small grin and quickly replaced it with a scowl as she went to the seat beside Hinata. The white-eyed female smiled at her, and she returned the gesture.
A few minutes of painful agony caused by waiting was, at last, put to an end as Iruka-sensei walked into the noisy room. All students returned to their seats, groaning.
"Sorry class, but your adviser can't make it today," he said. Suddenly, their faces lit up in the most unimaginable way—it was so abrupt that you could conclude they were planning a party after that announcement.
"And that's why I'm here! Taaaa-da!" Iruka-sensei's statement wiped away the jovial atmosphere that wrapped the classroom just a few seconds ago. He laughed at the mere sight of their glowering faces. "Kids these days…"
A soft knock on the door resonated. Iruka-sensei opened it to reveal a familiar face standing with his backpack over his right shoulder. Sakura flinched at the sight of the person—it was Sasuke.
"Hell no," she sighed. She hoped this day wouldn't get any worse, but it just did.
What I have to say: Finally-- after weeks of schoolwork, my hiatus has been put aside. For the mean time, that is. Anyhow, I still don't know when the next chapter'll be updated. Let's just hope I can work on it faster than this one. [It's not my fault!
'hope you like it...
uhh...p.s., this is stEalthy heLLion. I got tired of the name so I changed it. Hehe.
sayonarA...
...jiGOku no sAiph