Helloooooooooo everybody! How're you all doing? For those who don't know, this is a revamped version of my very, very old story, Sixty Days. I re-read it recently and while I still love it, I want to do it better. I have so many better ideas and I have an actual direction to take this story in.
If you're a fan of the old version, welcome back! A lot of things have changed, but the bare bones are still there. I hope you'll enjoy it!
If you're new, welcome!
Please let me know what you think of this pilot chapter!
Day Zero
Of Bets and New Beginnings
"Don't be so nervous."
I looked at the reflection in the mirror as a pink haired girl stood behind me in the doorway. Her bright emerald eyes scanned my figure from head-to-toe before nodding in encouragement, sending wisps of pink hair into her heart shaped face. My own green eyes slid back to my reflection and I reached up to adjust the dark hair framing my face.
"I can't help it. I have first day of school jitters all over again." My voice reached the pink haired girl and she pushed off the doorway. Her slippered feet scuffed the soft beige carpet of my room as she walked up behind me. Shifting the book in her hands, she grabbed my shoulders and gave them a comforting squeeze.
"What if I don't make any friends?" Came my nervous question.
"You have nothing to worry about," the girl spoke before turning and taking a seat on the edge of my king sized bed. The grey and white colored comforter underneath her wrinkled as sat on it. She adjusted her dark blue bathrobe and inspected me.
"You have me and Ino. Besides, I'll introduce you to all of my friends so you don't have to worry about making your own."
It had been the beginning of summer by the time that my mother and I had moved from Kusagakure and into the Haruna household. They'd had plenty of room to spare in their huge multi-level home and I'd gotten placed in a room across the hall from Sakura Haruno, Mebuki and Kizashi's daughter. Sakura and I had met right as I was moving in and I wasn't sure what to think of her at first. I was not the type of person to trust easily and I kept myself well guarded.
It wasn't until the five of us had taken a "vacation" to the Land of Hot Water a few days after we moved in that I bonded with Sakura. I had suspected that the so-called vacation was just an excuse to try and make both myself and my mother forget my father's death, so I didn't complain. But a dip in some hot springs wasn't going to take my mind off of things. And that was when it had happened.
Sakura had stumbled upon me while I was soaking in one of the vacant hot springs; the tourist crowd was nonexistent at that time of night. Her green eyes had widened as they stared at my tear drenched face through the steam. Sakura clutched her towel to her body and stuttered out an apology. Hastily wiping my eyes free from tears, I'd submerged myself so deep into the steaming water that my nose just barely skimmed the surface. I hated it when people saw me cry. It made me feel weak. Vulnerable. Sakura had paused before nodding to herself and walking barefoot across the stoned pathway to the hot springs. She waded into the hot water and slowly, cautiously, made her way over to me. And then she'd comforted me and held me as my strong will failed me.
It was a bonding experience to say the least, and Sakura had stayed by my side since. Her kind words slowly chipped away the wall that I had built around myself until she made a nice Sakura sized hole to worm her way into.
We had learned a lot about each other during that summer. When we had returned back from the Land of Hot Water a week before summer ended, she introduced me to her best friend and eternal rival: Ino Yamanaka. That blond haired girl was another human all together. Her stubborn bubbliness flowed out of her like a fountain and infected everyone around her. She was just as hard-headed as Sakura and when they got into petty arguments and threw insults like sharply pointed weapons, I'd made sure to vacate the premises.
I blinked, bringing myself back to the present, and looked away from myself in the mirror. Tomorrow was the first day of the new school year and to say I was nervous would be an understatement. I would be starting at a brand new school: Konoha High, home of the Leaf Bandits. Sakura and I would be both starting our third year of high school, and while she had tons of friends, I didn't know anyone except for her and Ino.
"I can see it in your face." Sakura rolled her eyes and leaned forward to grab my hand and forcibly dragged me over to my bed. The back of my knees hit the mattress and Sakura watched in satisfaction as I collapsed before dropping the book in her hands between the two of us. Weakly glaring at her for manhandling me, I glanced down at the glossy hardback cover.
Konoha High School Class of 0224
"What's this for?" I asked, tracing the Konoha leaf embedded into the cover with my maroon colored nails. The nail color had been courtesy of Ino as she had insisted that looking good on the outside would make you confident on the inside and blah blah blah.
"I'm going to give you a class on the basic hierarchy of Konoha High." Sakura said in what I liked to call her lecture tone.
"Hierarchy?" Came my hesitant reply.
"Yes," Sakura gave me a look before flipping open the yearbook, "Konoha is a deeply political village where everyone knows everyone. If you don't have money here, you don't have power. And power is everything to these people."
I blinked, not having expected that answer. I was suddenly reminded of a television show I'd watched a few years ago about a group of rich teenagers living in a hidden village. They were all best friends but somehow always betrayed each other in order to gain the upper hand. I grimaced at the thought of engaging in anything as drama filled as that.
Sakura stopped flipping through the pages and gave a slight "aha!" after reaching the middle of the book. Her perfectly manicured nail tapped the page on the portrait of a boy wearing a high collared trench coat. His round sunglasses shielded his eyes from view and his mop of brunette hair took up the top half of the photo. The boy's pale skin looked washed out from the bright camera lights and I almost cringed in pity. They should have at least let him retake the picture.
Aburame Shino
The name stared up at me and I glanced at the other portraits on that page.
"This is our class." The pink haired girl glanced up at me in all seriousness before going over each and every person. She left out no details and gave me a pop quiz at the end to see how much I had committed to memory. I had stumbled and stuttered over the answers, mixing up faces with names. The whole thing took a lot longer than I would have liked and the alarm clock on my bedside table had showed that it was very late into the night. Once she was satisfied in her torture, Sakura had bid me goodnight and told me that I had better be ready bright and early in the morning, because she would be damned if she was late to the first day of school because of me. And as horrible as it had been, I went to bed that night feeling a little more confident for the next day.
xoxoxoxo
I peered through the windshield of Sakura's pink VW convertible Beetle. Konoha High School stood before me as the car slid into a parking spot. The brick building already had students trickling inside the glass double doors. Some students lingered on the concrete stairs leading up to the entrance, others leaning on their cars smoking. Yellow busses pulled up to the curbside in the bus lane periodically to let off the younger kids who couldn't drive yet. The front of the building was decorated with colorful flowers and small trees and the lawn was perfectly green. A giant circular water fountain sat in the middle of two wide sets of stairs and some students sat on the outer rim of the fountain to gossip and chatter with their friends. A boy rode by on a skateboard, almost taking out a group of younger girls when the front wheels of his ride hit the edge of a curb. They screamed and shook their fists at him as he tried to salvage some dignity and escape their anger and the laughs coming from the kids around them.
Bang!
I jumped at the sudden sound, a hand reaching up to grasp at my chest when I saw the cheeky smile of Ino Yamanaka standing on the other side of my door. Sakura snorted and cut the engine to the car, grabbing her bag from the back leather seat and hopping out her door. Sending a mock glare to Ino, I opened my own door and slid out after grabbing my bookbag.
"Sorry, did I scare you?" Ino smirked in amusement and tilted her head as she inspected my first day of school outfit. She had been very adamant that I made sure to "dress to impress" and I rolled my eyes at her examination. Ino's light blue eyes took in my outfit: shoulder length dark hair, half-up and secured with a silk green ribbon, courtesy of Sakura, and a long sleeved green blouse and dark pants. Her eyes landed on the black wedges on my feet and nodded in silent approval.
I had never been the type of person to care about fashion or looks, but Ino had refused to let me continue looking "like a street beggar" and forced me to the mall where she shoved expensive clothes at me. I had initially refused her when she insisted on buying the clothes for me. I wasn't rich in any sense, especially not after my father died. My mother had gotten a job as a nurse at the Konoha Hospital, which didn't pay nearly enough to supply me with a large allowance. Ino had persisted however, explaining that it would be a beginning of the school year gift for me. Ino's family owned every flower shop in the village, and her father was the most sought after psychologist in the whole Land of Fire. To say she was rich would be an understatement.
She and Sakura had also forced makeup on me, and while I still refused to wear more than the bare minimum, they seemed satisfied that I wore any at all. I wouldn't call myself pretty, at least not to the standards of Sakura and Ino. Without all of the nice clothes and makeup, I would have barely even passed as average. I also had nowhere near the amount of confidence that both Ino and Sakura possessed. I could pretend, but I would never be on their level. I had never been the center of attention or the most popular. In fact I preferred to stay in the background, but the two girls had made it their not-so-silent mission to get me to come out of my shell.
"You ready?" Ino raised a perfect blond eyebrow at me, reaching up a hand to brush the long bangs out of her eyes. The multiple bracelets on her wrist jingled with the movement and the silver complimented her purple crop top and matching the slitted purple skirt. She put a hand on my shoulder and forced me to move from my spot, lightly shoving me in between herself and Sakura.
"As ready as I'll ever be." I mumbled and fell in step with the two girls.
"I'm sorry, what was that?" Ino asked, cupping a hand around her ear as if she hadn't heard me. "What did I tell you about mumbling?"
"Have confidence in everything I say." I sighed as we approached the concrete steps. The front of the school was still crowded with people lingering since the school day didn't start for another thirty minutes.
"Because?" Ino dragged out the syllables as we hiked the stairs.
"Because if you sound confident then you'll be confident." I rolled my eyes at Sakura who snorted in amusement. Ino had taken on the job of trying to build up my confidence and was trying to forcibly get rid of my shy habits.
"Exactly! So sound confident."
Easier said than done.
Pushing open the double glass doors to the school building, the three of us made our way inside and through the many hallways. Slim tan lockers filled the sides of the spacious white hallways and a few students lingered, their shoes clack-clack-clacking on the grey polished floor. Happy chatter filled the air as friends saw each other for the first time since summer break and terrified freshman walked in packs, as if they were trying to protect each other from the scary older kids. Walking up a wide flight of steps smack dab in the middle of the school, the two lead me down another hallway before coming to a stop in front of a set of lockers.
"Well, this is it." Sakura said with a flourish.
"What is?" I asked wide-eyed. They weren't going to leave me, were they? As much as I hated social interaction, I would have rather had the two of them there to keep me company. I rationally knew that they couldn't babysit me all day since they had their own class schedule, but I'd still felt the nervousness bubble up in my stomach. We had all compared class schedules a few days before, as Konoha High School liked to send them out in advance. Since our school class wasn't particularly large, we all shared one lunch period so at least I wouldn't have to eat alone. Though in all four classes I had that day, I only shared one with Ino and another with the both of them. However, the following Monday I shared none with either of them. Konoha High School had started the school year off on a Friday since weirdly enough, the previous four days of the week was a holiday known only to Konoha. It had something to do with honoring all of the past leaders and the village had held a festival for four days.
"Your locker," shaking her head in amusement, Sakura waved my class schedule under my nose. Where she'd procured it, I'd had no idea. "This has your locker combo on it. Meet us back here before lunch so we can all walk together."
I reached out and grasped the waving paper with sweaty hands.
"No need to be nervous," Ino patted my shoulder comfortingly, "you ha-"
"Sakura-chan!" The scream echoed down the hallway, causing multiple heads to turn around to find the source. A blonde head of hair poked through the steadily growing crowd as the person made their way over to us. Tan elbows knocked unsuspecting students out of the way and Sakura closed her eyes and sighed. Raising a brow, I watched as a semi-tall blond guy stopped right in front of us with his pale pink lips stretched into a grin. He wore an orange button-up shirt and with dark washed jeans and black shoes. An orange backpack hung over one toned shoulder with the zipper wide open and its contents threatening to spill out. His ocean blue eyes zeroed in on Sakura like she was the only one in the room and I tilted my head to the side.
Matching a photograph to the person in front of me, I'd guessed that it was Naruto Uzumaki. According to Sakura, he had been adopted by his grandmother, Tsunade, who was mayor of Konoha, when he was a kid. Apparently however, Mayor Tsunade had a huge gambling problem and a drinking habit to match. I had been surprised that a woman like that could be mayor of a hidden village, but Sakura had assured me that she was very good at her job.
"Hello Naruto," came Sakura's unenthusiastic reply. She'd grudgingly told me that Naruto had developed a crush on her back when they were in middle school and the feelings had yet to subside.
"Heh, how're you this morning? I haven't seen you since the end of last school year!" It came out as a question at first, but raised in a whining pitch at the end.
"I've been fine."
"What's your schedule like?" Naruto, looking hopeful, thrust a piece of paper in front of Sakura's face. "Do you have any of the same classes as me?"
A well manicured hand forcibly pushed down the flailing arm attached the paper and Ino stepped forward. "Where's Sasuke-kun?"
I raised an eyebrow at the aforementioned name. I'd been an unwilling victim as both Ino and Sakura gushed to me endlessly about Sasuke Uchiha. Apparently they'd both had a huge crush on him since middle school and it'd even cost them their friendship for a little while. I never paid much attention to them when they rambled on and on about the boy. Though they almost strangled me to death when they showed me a picture of him and I merely commented that his hair resembled the butt of a duck. I mean sure, he was attractive and everything, but if he didn't have the personality to match then who cared?
Listed as the most popular boy in school, Sasuke Uchiha even had his own fan club. I'd nearly choked myself laughing when they'd told me that. What kind of a person had a fan club? And the only person who had ever been more popular than him was his older brother, Itachi. However, Itachi had left Konoha a few years ago to pursue a degree in Sunagakure, so he could one day take over the family business. His father was the head of Konoha's police force and some even speculated that he was also the leader of a secret underground task force. But those were just rumors.
The blond boy, momentarily flustered, pointed a finger at Ino. "We're not attached to the hip 'ya know!"
"So he's not here?" Ino pouted.
"Wha? No! Does it look like he's here?" Naruto dramatically waved at the empty spot next to him.
"Where is he then?" Sakura asked curiously, her green eyes scanning the crowded hallway in hope of finding the object of her affection.
"Aw, not you too Sakura!" Naruto deflated. Then his bright eyes focused on me standing slightly behind the other two girls. "Hey, who're you?"
"Uh," I stuttered, suddenly feeling very self conscious under his gaze. "Lyn. Lyn Sorano."
"I've never seen you before." The blond boy stuck his hand under his chin as if trying to recognize me from somewhere.
"I'm new," I stated the obvious, "I live with Sakura."
Naruto blinked at me before a big grin stretched itself across his face. He pointed a thumb at himself and opened his mouth to announce: "I'm N-"
"Naruto."
All four of us turned as a new voice entered the conversation. Seemingly out of nowhere, a figure emerged out of the now thinning crowd. Obsidian eyes were the first thing that I saw. Framed by perfect brows and long, dark lashes, his eyes flashed in annoyance as he glared at the blond boy in front of him. Surprisingly soft looking black hair framed his face and the back of it was styled up in gravity defying spikes. A strong, sharp jaw and high cheekbones made him appear to be a little older than he actually was. He stood a couple inches shorter than Naruto, dressed in a snug white shirt and black leather jacket. Black jeans hugged his waist snugly in a way that fit his figure perfectly. The smell of cologne gently wafted from his cream colored skin; it smelled bold and richly warm, not too subtle but not too overpowering either.
"Oh hey Sasuke!" Naruto yelled unnecessarily seeing as how Sasuke Uchiha stood right next to him. I winced and poked at my ear to hopefully try and get my hearing back.
"Dobe." Sasuke looked wholly unimpressed.
"Sasuke-kun!" Both Ino and Sakura squealed, pausing to send each other glares at the jinx.
"How was your summer, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura clasped her hands underneath her chin, green eyes shining in delight.
Sasuke slid his unimpressed stare from Naruto to Sakura. "Hn."
That seemed to be enough for both Ino and Sakura, as they both lit up at the answer. I pinched the bridge of my nose at their actions. As attractive as Sasuke Uchiha was, he apparently communicated like a caveman. My movement must have caught his attention, because his onyx eyes moved over to me. He took in my appearance, but, seeming to find nothing of interest, turned his gaze back to Naruto dismissively. I felt my eye twitch. Jerk!
"Homeroom is about to start." His annoyingly deep voice commented. As if to prove his point, the warning bell sounded from the speaker above our heads, announcing that students had exactly five minutes before the start of homeroom.
"Ah! I wasn't even paying attention to the time!" Naruto clutched at his messy blond hair in panic. "If we're late, Anko-sensei will kill us! Again!"
Naruto grabbed Sasuke's shoulders and tried to spin him around, but shrugging off Naruto's hands, Sasuke turned by himself and started off down the hallway. "H-hey! Wait for me!"
Naruto took off after him and the two of them disappeared into one of the classrooms at the end of the hall. Ino and Sakura shook off their dazed looks and looked back at me as if just remembering my existence. I deadpanned and gave them an unimpressed look that almost rivaled Sasuke's.
"Isn't he just-just-" Sakura floundered around for a moment until finding the word she was looking for, "perfect?"
"Perfect isn't really the word I'd use."
"W-well who asked you?" Sakura pouted before grabbing onto Ino's arm. "We have to get to homeroom and you should too. Remember, meet us back here before lunch so we can sit together!"
I didn't get another word in as Sakura half dragged/half carried Ino down the hallway and back towards the stairs. The two of them were lucky enough to share a homeroom and I sighed before rushing towards mine at the opposite end of the hall.
xoxoxoxoxo
"Ne, ne, how do you do that?" Naruto annoyingly tugged the sleeve of Sasuke's black leather jacket. They were both sitting at the back of their homeroom, the rest of the class lounged around and goofed off as they waited for their homeroom sensei to get there.
"Do what, Dobe?" Sasuke lounged back in his chair and splayed his feet out in front of his desk. He rested his cheek on his fist and stared disinterestedly around the room.
"Get Sakura's attention like that!" Naruto whined and tugged even more at the Uchiha's sleeve. "It's not fair!"
When he failed to get a response out of his best friend, the blonde boy waved his arms around and the girl sitting beside him had to duck in fear of getting whacked in the face. "I don't see the appeal! No offense, but I don't think you're that sexy! Um, I mean I don't think you're sexy at all because I don't swing that way. Uh, not that there's anything wrong with swinging that way, it's just that I don't. But-"
"Naruto." Sasuke shifted his onyx gaze to Naruto. It was best if he stopped the blond's loud tangent now before he dragged the whole classroom into it, all of whom, by the way, were staring. He sent them all a harsh glare and like clockwork they all snapped their heads back around so fast he wondered how none of their necks broke.
"No, you know what?" Naruto suddenly leaned closer to Sasuke, a mischievous glint in his blue eyes. "Let's make a bet."
"A bet?" The Uchiha deadpanned, or at least that's the face Naruto figured he'd made since his expression didn't change at all from the typical Uchiha mask.
"Yeah!" Naruto grinned. "I bet you can't make a girl fall past those looks of yours. I bet you 300,000 yen that can't make a girl fall in love with you in-"
The blond paused in thought before he blinked and thrust a finger in Sasuke's face. "Less than three months!"
"300,000 yen?" Sasuke's lips quirked up in a smirk. His interest was piqued and not just for the money. He had plenty of money. The two boys had been competing against each other since they were little and Sasuke just loved to beat Naruto at his own not so well thought out games. "You sure you can afford to lose that much money?"
Naruto floundered in disbelief before screaming, "believe it!"
"But!" The Uzumaki interrupted before Sasuke could open his mouth again, "I get to pick the girl!"
"Hn. Who?"
Naruto stuck a finger to his chin in thought. He racked his brain to try and come up with the most difficult target, seeing as how practically every girl in school obsessed over Sasuke. He blinked, eyes narrowed in concentration as a thought began to form in the back of his mind. Naruto grasped at it, his face scrunching up with the effort. He had it! "Lyoko! No, wait that's not it. Uh, Leiko? No not that either."
If Sasuke could sweatdrop, he would have in that moment.
"Wait I got it! Lyn! Sorano is her last name I think." Naruto trailed off a little uncertainty at the end. He'd only met the girl briefly after all.
"Who?" Sasuke tried to put a face to the name, but he drew a blank.
"Uh, the new girl. I think you met her earlier? Yeah! She lives with Sakura-chan."
Sasuke's mind flashed to the brief encounter from before and smirked. She would be an easy target. "Deal."
It was going to be the easiest 300,000 yen Sasuke ever made.