Love by Definition
By Paris Lee
Hello everyone! This is my very first Naruto FanFiction. This has a ShikaSaku pairing and possible Neji-TenTen, Sasuke-Hina, and Naruto-Ino pairing. You may be wondering about the two latter pairings. Well, I find them more interesting. To each his own, right? So please, read and review. Thanks! Oh, and NO FLAMES please!
I do not own Naruto.
"A new student?" Yamanaka Ino asked incredulously as she stylishly flipped her long platinum-blonde hair over her shoulder. "In OUR class?"
It was not because a transferee student was coming over during the last quarter of the school year that astonished her. It was more of the fact that the he or she was being assigned to their class.
Hyuga Hinata gave her friend a confirmatory nod and remained silent throughout the rest of the walk towards the school as she saw Ino preoccupied with her musings.
She really couldn't blame her. She was probably thinking about their soon to be classmate. She could only suppose that the new student really was exceptional if he or she was being assigned to their class. Their class, after all, consisted of the cream of the crop.
She then blushed at her contemplation, thinking how arrogant it was of her to think of such things. She was, in spite of everything, still slightly nonplussed that she was included in such a class.
Both of them were so deep in their thoughts that it took a moment for them to realize that someone was shouting a greeting at them accompanied by a very vigorous wave.
Ino's eyebrows twitched in annoyance as she snapped out of her thoughts. 'Does he always have to be so loud?' She thought with resignation, already aware of the answer.
Hinata smiled at her companion's reaction and waved back, though much less enthusiastic, at Uzumaki Naruto and saw that their other friends were already their as well.
It had been their routine, as some may call it, since their freshmen year to wait for each other at the school gate and walk together to their classroom.
It was much safer.
Their clique was well known through-out the school for their attractiveness, intelligence, and skilfulness. They were walking magnets for both aggressive and passive admirers and for possible obsessive psycho-stalkers as well.
As they neared their friends, Hinata quickly appraised them.
She saw that next to a very effervescent Naruto was her cousin, Hyuga Neji involved in what seemed to be a very deep conversation with their childhood friend TenTen. Not too far from them was Akimichi Chouji with a bag of chips in hand and beside him was a very bored Nara Shikamaru leaning against the wall with his hands shoved in his pockets. Somewhat detached from the group was Uchicha Sasuke who was in deep meditation under a tree.
She then realized that they were the last to arrive.
"Ah…I – I'm sorry." She stammered out as she repetitively bowed in apology. "W-we took so long a-and I'm sorry for the in-inconvenience."
"Hinata, we didn't take that long." Ino sighed as she watched her friend easily get flustered.
"Hinata, it's alright." Neji patiently reassured her. "Let's get to class."
Hinata followed obediently and started walking beside his cousin with Ino next to her and the rest of their friends behind them.
"So, does anyone know anything about the new student?" Ino asked no one in particular.
She had just stepped out from the shower and glanced at the bathroom clock.
7:15
'Great. Just great' She thought as she hurriedly started drying herself off. 'It's my first day in a new school and I'm going to be late.'
"Did you have a nice sleep, Miss?"
She gave her driver a wilting look. She had just arrived at Konoha City around three that early Monday morning and she barely had a decent sleep. She was still feeling a lot of jet lag and, to top it all off, she had a throbbing headache and a mild sore throat, which she presumed to be signs of an impending cough-and-cold type of illness.
She looked at her Konoha High School form once more. She was assigned to Class 4–1 and her first class was at 8 o'clock but she still had to go over a few things with the school principal at 7:30. She looked at her wrist watch.
7:28
"You're late." Tsunade flatly pointed out as she shifted her gaze from the wall clock in her office to the young lady in front of her. It was already 7:45.
"Yes, Ma'am, I know and I'm –"
"It's Miss."
"I'm…Excuse me?" She asked as she gave the older woman in front of her a puzzled look.
"You are to address me as Miss Tsunade or Miss Principal. I don't think Ma'am would suit me." She remarked matter-of-factly and added in her defense, "I don't look like a Ma'am. I look more like a Miss."
Sakura very slightly sweat-dropped at this but went along just as well. In all fairness, Miss Tsunade, with her pale-blonde locks and firm body – which she could not help but notice, was very well endowed –, did not look that old. "If that is what you wish, Miss Principal."
"Yes, it is." She confirmed. "Now, let's get on with your orientation."
"Yes, Miss Principal."
"Are you alright? You look a bit flushed. Are you coming down with something?"
"Yes, but I'm trying to counteract it." Seeing the inquiring look of the older woman, she promptly explained. "I've already taken in a no-drowse analgesic together with an antiseptic and anaesthetic tablet. I have also commenced my water therapy."
"Impressive."
It was already 8:30 and neither their teacher nor the new student was anywhere to be seen.
There were several hushed buzzes of speculations as to why their teacher or their new classmate has still not arrived but the room remained moderately quiet except for Naruto who found it necessary to share his ludicrous opinion in a vociferous manner.
"Maybe there really isn't a new student." He said loudly while adapting a detective-on-a-case stance. Seeing most of his classmates turning to look at him only fuelled his hyper-active imagination and continued, "Maybe it was all just a big deception fabricated by the Madame Principal to unsettle us."
Ino failed to suppress a groan as she sunk lower on her chair, trying to hide her face with her hand. Clearly mortified, she tugged on the sleeves of the yellow-haired boy – forcefully urging him to take his seat.
"Wow. Did you figure that all by yourself?" Sasuke asked, each word dripping with thick sarcasm. He was looking out the window with his arms crossed over his chest and his face expressionless.
"Of course!" Came Naruto's answer – swift and proud –, oblivious to the suppressed snickering of some of his classmates as he held his head up high and put up his trademark thumbs up sign.
Hinata only smiled at what she thought was Naruto being good natured, Neji and Sasuke simultaneously shook their head in resignation, Ino desperately tried to make Naruto take his seat, TenTen found the whole thing amusing and genially teased Ino being Naruto's keeper, and Chouji…well, Chouji didn't really care as he was busy munching on his extra bag of potato chips. All the waiting made him hungry.
Naruto was about to say something else when their teacher suddenly entered the room in haste and gently closed the door behind him. So, he opted to take a seat as an alternative, much to the relief of Ino.
"Good morning." Hatake Kakashi addressed the class and gestured for them to remain seated. He was still trying to catch his breath but decided to get on with it. "First of all, I'm sorry for being late. I meant to come sooner but I was instructed to orient your new classmate with a few things. It was a last minute thing so I hope you understand."
Taking a deep breath, he looked at his students for any sign of understanding but, instead, found most of them staring at the closed door while whispering about the student on the other side of it. He sighed in defeat as he walked towards the door.
'Nothing is more interesting right now except for the new student.' He thought as he opened the door and motioned for the transferee to enter the room. As soon as the new student entered the room, he immediately wished he had a camera.
His students were all looking at a very attractive girl of medium stature with a beautiful, long, thick, and silky-shiny pink mane, which was in stark contrast with her unbelievably green eyes. She had flesh and curvature on all the right places.
"Hello everyone and good morning. My name is Haruno Sakura. I will be your new classmate. It's nice to meet all of you." She articulated with poise and grace which she hoped won't falter because she was starting to feel the effect the medicines she had taken.
She had realized just a while ago, when she was starting to yawn very so often, that she had, in fact, taken in the wrong drug. Before leaving the house early that morning, she was in such a state of rush that instead of taking in the no-drowse analgesic, she had taken in the opposite. And, now, she was progressively falling prey to the drug's consequences.
No sooner had she finished introducing herself when several hands started shooting up. She started to feel her head throbbing as she heard a few cat calls and a couple of phone number-asking from the boys and several adulations as well.
"Okay, that's enough." Kakashi, who was preoccupied reading an intriguing book throughout Sakura's introduction, decided to save her from further inconvenience and snapped his book shut. "Miss Haruno, please take your seat over..."
A lot of his students immediately suggested and offered their seats, or the ones beside them, as he searched the room for a possible seating arrangement.
"Teacher Kakashi?"
The red-eyed instructor with grey hair turned to see the owner of the voice, which seemed to echo throughout the classroom, rendering the rest of the class silent. This was a common occurrence whenever one of the 'elite' spoke.
By 'elite', he was of course referring to Hyuga Hinata – observant, very much reserved, exceptionally kind and gentle, and was brought up in the traditional arts and culture of Japan; Hyuga Neji – cousin of Hinata, imperturbable, and extremely perceptive; Yamanaka Ino – bossy, competitive, and excels in analyzing the inner workings of the mind; Uzumaki Naruto – loud, hyperactive, somewhat clumsy, and frequently gullible; Uchicha Sasuke – aloof and arrogant, childhood friend of Naruto; Nara Shikamaru – lazy but responsible, has the uncanny ability to persuade people into doing something, and childhood friend of Ino; Akimichi Chouji – food enthusiast, loyal, and childhood friend of Ino and Shikamaru; and TenTen – proficient in sports requiring throwing skills and childhood friend of Neji and Hinata.
While they had their differences, they were also analogous in various aspects. They were all intellectually gifted – Shikamaru's thinking being the sharpest. All of them were also trained and skilled in the art of fighting with Naruto being the most skilful seconded by his childhood friend, Sasuke. Belonging to wealthy and prominent lineage gave rise to the necessity for them to become skilled at the art of self-preservation. While sentinels were useful and handy, they were also risky and unreliable.
"What is it, Ino?" He asked his student with platinum-blonde tresses who was already on her feet and waiting for his acknowledgement.
"Teacher, Miss Haruno may sit with us." Ino proposed with an air of conclusiveness as she gave the new student one of her rare smiles.
Sakura, feeling worse by the minute and busy trying to keep her composure in tact, was suddenly pulled back to reality when she heard her name amidst the stillness in the room. It was then she noticed one of the girls, seated at the back row of the classroom, smiling at her and waving for her to come over. It was when she looked in her direction that she became aware of the other students seated at the back.
Two of the three boys looked positively bored while the other one looked somewhat attentive while chewing onto something. The girls were smiling and looked excited about the idea of having her with them at the back. And the way the rest of the students reacted to them made it clear that these people were popular.
She mentally sighed as she heard their teacher agree with the suggestion and instruct her to proceed to her new seat. She had just sat down when their teacher spoke as though he just remembered something.
"Chouji, where is Shikamaru?"
"Probably in a meeting." He answered. His words careful and measured.
Kakashi sighed. 'Meeting? Yeah Right.' He thought wearily.
Tiredly passing his hand over his nape, he let out a long-drawn breath. "Please tell him, after he comes back from the meeting of course, to give Miss Haruno a detailed tour of the school and give our new student all the assistance she needs to help her adjust."
Seeing Shikamaru's best friend nod, he thought about getting on with his lecture but decided against it when he saw the time. They only had fifteen minutes left. Letting out another long-drawn breath, he gave them the remaining minutes as free time and left the room with his intriguing book in hand.
"Here, Miss Haruno." Ino said as she handed her a notebook. "These are my notes on Teacher Kakashi's subject. It's complete and I've written down the references as well."
"Oh, thank you. But, please, just call me Sakura." Sakura replied as she accepted the notebook with mild surprise. Just by looking at her you would actually think that she's more of an 'all-play-no-work' type. 'I should really stop judging people like this' She thought as she silently reprimanded herself.
"Ok, Sakura it is then." She answered and ensued introducing her to the rest of the group.
'Maybe I should have accepted TenTen's offer and let her walk me to the clinic." She thought in consternation as she kept walking. Principal Tsunade had earlier given her instructions on how to get to the clinic, just in case she felt worse, but the school grounds were so extensive that she got herself lost.
If it had been any other day, she would have gotten the instructions right away but this wasn't just like any other day. This day, her throbbing head, her sore throat, and fatigue were clouding her memory, her sense of direction, and her judgement.
She soon found herself staring at the school swimming pool.
'Oh no…' She thought in alarm as her ocular and motor senses started wavering. Fatigue and pain finally took its toll on her as her mind and body submitted to total shut down.
"What the…" Nara Shikamaru muttered as he made sure what he saw was real.
He was just about to return to the classroom after having a peaceful sleep on the school roof when he saw a girl fall into the pool. When she didn't rise, his mind instantaneously started analyzing the situation at hand.
He was on the roof top of the school library and that would mean that she was seven-stories below. He was a fast runner but even he would take, more or less, four minutes to run from the roof top down to the pool and it would certainly use up a significant amount of his energy. He rapidly sifted the choices he had in his head and decided on the most logical one.
'This is the best option.' He thought to himself as he started moving his body.
Making sure nobody was around, he started to jump from the roof and run down the side of the building with such speed and agility.
"If her breathing and circulation has stopped, she's clinically dead." He thought grimly as he was nearing the scene. '0-4 minutes from that point, brain damage is still unlikely but if I still haven't revived her within 4 minutes, brain damage would already be probable. I would have to apply water safety and render basic life support.'
"How troublesome." He uttered in slight annoyance as he got to the pool and immediately dove in the water.
He was fairly astounded at the vision that was before him but he knew that now was not the time to think of such things so he pushed it at the back of his mind for later scrutiny.
After a few applications of water safety, he was able to carry her onto the dry pavement of the pool. He instantly checked for possible spinal cord injury she may have obtained during the fall and found that there was none. He proceeded to loosen the buttons of her blouse for better ventilation and, when he assessed that there was negative pulse and negative breathing, he started performing CPR.
'This is really becoming troublesome." He allowed himself a brief sigh prior to giving the girl, lying unconscious before him, the first resuscitating breath of the life-giving cycle.