Remember Our Melody
Chapter One
Rank 96
DISCLAIMER: I do (not) own Naruto and will (never) own it. (Parentheses are not my friends)
"Damn it Sakura, hurry up! Those boys are going to get angry with you if you don't get to the park on time!"
This was true. Just yesterday she had spent 15 minutes lecturing Naruto and Sasuke, her two best friends, on the importance of being on time when meeting your friends. This was, of course, after they had been late to meet her at Ichiraku's Ramen Stand (something almost impossible for Naruto, since he loved the food so much).
"Whatever Mom, I'll be down in a second. I was just checking to see if I had everything packed," Sakura hollered from her room, then looked around once more.
I think I've got it all, she mused, and then began to haul her rather heavy luggage down the stairs. This consisted of two medium sized trunks that were white and had sakura blossoms (Ego much?) over them in a pretty design , a small matching case with her CDs and Discman in it, and another matching item- her purse.
As she reached the bottom step, she saw her mother (with the same pink hair), waiting impatiently (sadly with the same temper as Sakura too) by the door, jingling her keys in her hand and tapping her foot. "Could you be any slower?" Mrs. Haruno asked disdainfully and opened the door.
Could you be any more like a bratty older sister? Sakura thought cruelly and followed her mother out the door towards their silver mini-van. She hopped in the passenger seat and buckled up as her mother started the car.
Sakura and her mother fought over the radio station as they started down the road towards the park where the three friends had agreed to meet. Old slow rock verses new age pop and hip hop; guess who won this out?
Sakura was then subjected to sit for 10 minutes listening to the Beatles and Elton John as the bumpy road of life (that eventually led to a prestigious school along with new friends and cool teachers) led on.
Finally they arrived at the park to see two boys sitting at a bench; one looking aloof and distant while the other was visibly bouncing up and down in excitement.
"SAKURA!" the bouncy boy screamed a millisecond after Sakura opened the door to get out. She then was hugged abruptly by the hyperactive blonde, so she gave him a pat on the back.
"Hey Naruto," she greeted with a small smile as she pulled away from the bone-crushing hug. She opened up the trunk of the van so he could put his things with hers and directed him with a finger to the bucket seats.
"Thanks Sakura!" he said delightedly and hopped into his seat. Sakura then turned to the aloof boy, only to find that he had already put his things in the trunk and slammed the door.
"Hi Sasuke," she said meekly. He returned this with a slight nod and hopped in the van next to Naruto. Sakura then returned to her seat and found that the radio station was now on some modern rock channel.
Oi, that boy likes his rock, Sakura thought dismally about Sasuke. Sighing, she turned her attention to her window as Naruto blabbered on about random things on the two hour ride to the Academy the three of them had all been accepted to: Takigakure Choral Academy.
"We're here!" Mrs. Haruno announced with a fake smile as she pulled into the parking lot of the large academy.
"Finally!" chorused three voices together as doors opened and trunks were brought out. Before Sakura's mom managed to escape the three sixteen year olds, Sakura ran to the driver's door and flung it open.
"Sakura, you'll be- oof!" Sakura had just enveloped her mom into a bone crushing hug before she could finish her sentence.
"Yes, yes Sakura, I'll miss you too," Mrs. Haruno said, a little bit of sadness in her voice. "But you mustn't keep Naruto and Sasuke waiting any longer. Goodbye, honey. Have a good time."
Sakura bit her lip to fight back tears, but she shook her head. Stay strong, she reprimanded herself and stood up straight again.
"I'll miss you Mom. See you at Christmas?"
"See you at Christmas," her mom confirmed before shutting the door and driving away.
"Bye," Sakura whispered, before turning around to see her two friends waiting patiently for her (well, maybe Naruto wasn't as patient, but he made it look like he was).
"Ready to go?" Sasuke asked. His face, as always, was wiped clean of all emotion. As Sakura nodded eagerly, she turned to face the building, but stopped and looked up in awe.
The main building had to be at least four stories high, made of elegant marble that gleamed in the sunlight. On either side of the main building were two identical three story buildings, made of the same marble (and equally shiny) stone. Each of them had a large marble sign over the oak double doors that read either "Gentlemen's Dormitory" or "Ladies' Dormitory".
Stretching in front of all the buildings was a small grassy plain with a few trees around the edges of the 'yard' where the sidewalk met sod. Visible behind the buildings was a large pond and some sports courts along with more endless plain.
"Holy cheese nips this place is awesome!" Naruto exclaimed with a grin as he hurriedly dragged his things towards the racks outside the dorms. They were supposed to leave their things there until the main meeting was over.
"Chyea!" Sakura shouted eagerly and took her things over to the girls rack while Sasuke quietly followed Naruto. They were not the only people around in the courtyard for the meeting wasn't supposed to start for a half hour. Looking around, she saw many groups of three, huddled together.
Like Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto, many other trios had been selected from Villages around the area to come to the Academy because of musical talent. Well, to be specific, because of how well they sang. Everyone who came was exceptional, and many could play other instruments. This was the trio from Konohagakure's first year at the academy.
Sasuke, who was most likely the most talented out of the three, had a very musical background, but his parents died around when he was six years old. His brother, Itachi, ran away shortly after, thus leaving Sasuke no where to go but a local orphanage. He had already been learning to play the violin and piano from his parents, and he could sing quite well. At the orphanage, he kept up his instrumental studies, and even picked up a new instrument- the trumpet. It was no wonder why he was accepted into Takigakure Choral Academy so quickly.
Sasuke's voice was low and soft; he rarely sang very loud unless asked to by a teacher or when he had a solo. He could carry a melody for hours and harmonize with anyone. He was a music machine.
Naruto had absolutely no musical background, but his parents, like Sasuke's, died. But unlike Sasuke, his parents died when he was born. His mother passed away during childbirth and his father died a week before hand. He was murdered in his sleep. Naruto was raised in the orphanage; the same one Sasuke was put in after his parents died. They became quick friends, and play-rivals. Sasuke taught Naruto all he knew about music, serving as his mentor.
Naruto's voice, however, was completely different than Sasuke's. He was a loud baritone that sometimes had trouble staying on the harmony, but nonetheless was a quick learner. Being so rambunctious, Naruto picked up the drums easily. He liked to make endless rhythms and beats and to have Sasuke play the piano over it and Sakura sing.
Unlike both of them, Sakura had a family. Her mother was bossy and seemed to care more about the boys than her. Sure, they were orphans, but sometimes she needed a mom too. Her father was gone constantly on business trips to other villages for random amounts of time, the longest being a month and a half.
Also unlike the boys, she could not play any instruments. Or at least she hadn't tried to. She got through to the academy just on her voice. Sakura's voice could range from low soprano to a low alto and could be either loud or soft. She was rather versatile in her singing, and took pride in it. Sometimes, as Sasuke had noted on various occasions, too much pride.
Sakura met up quickly with Naruto and Sasuke under a willow tree, and while the boys began to chat casually, she surveyed the grounds and the other freshmen.
Only three people from each village were accepted into the academy per year. And, it seemed that everyone that was chosen this year varied greatly.
Somewhat near the shade of the boys' dormitory was a group of three talking quietly amongst themselves. The girl among them seemed kind and timid and had black hair that was in a bob haircut. Startlingly, her eyes were pale and milky. Normally, this would have been scary, but on this girl, it made her seem even more interesting and sweet.
One of the boys standing next to her had messy brown hair and weird red streaks on each cheek. He seemed arrogant and somewhat bossy as well as kind-hearted. He had a hearty laugh and a nice smile, so Sakura quickly decided he was okay.
The third seemed very mysterious, and wasn't adding much to the others' conversation. Half of his face was masked by a rather high collar and he was also wearing sunglasses. He kept his hands in his pockets and stayed in the shade.
Smiling a bit at the odd combination, she turned to another group, this one odder than the last one. At this group, a tall girl with long blonde hair was yelling at the two boys who accompanied her. The girl, who was very pretty on her own, was wearing make-up and had on slightly skimpy clothing. But she held a manor of elegance and grace, even as she yelled at those two boys. Sakura made a mental note to get to know this girl better.
The boy receiving little of the yelling was tubby and rather short. He had rust colored hair and swirls painted on his cheeks. He also had a bag of chips in his hand, and was munching away contentedly, ignoring the girl completely. He had a cheery demeanor and seemed to be off in his own world.
Yet the other boy seemed very annoyed at the blonde and was sighing continuously. He was lying on the ground looking up at the clouds while he was being scolded. Sakura could make out the words 'lazy' and 'don't you say I'm troublesome' from the girl as she ranted on. The boy continued to watch the clouds, beginning to become more and more annoyed.
Sakura laughed before turning to the third and final group besides her own on the grounds. This one took the cake for being strange.
The most noticeable out of the group was a boy with a black bowl-cut who was dressed very… flamboyantly, to say the least. He was wearing a long sleeved green shirt (it was warm out today) and jeans. Normal, right? Well, he also had bright orange legwarmers over his jeans and the sleeves of his shirt. He was making wild gesticulations and was prancing around the other two members of his group. He even pushed them together sometimes, much to their embarrassment.
Well, actually, only one of them was visibly embarrassed, and that was a girl with big brown eyes and brown hair up in buns. She was wearing a traditional pink Chinese tank top and cargo pants. Her delicate face flushed pink every few minutes due to bowl-cut boy. Just as Sakura thought she was a well behaved girl, she reached back and slugged bowl-cut boy, and now started shouting at him.
On the last, there was something oddly familiar- his eyes. They were the same milky white as the nice girl in the first group. I bet they're related, Sakura thought, and began to observe the boy more. His long mahogany hair was swept into a pony tail tied at the very end. He wore a headband over his forehead (for what, Sakura was not sure) and seemed very stoic. He seemed to be annoyed at the bowl-cut boy, and smirked a bit when the girl with the panda buns punched him, but that was just about all the emotion he showed.
"What a weird assortment of people," Sakura murmured to herself.
"What was that, Sakura?" a voice asked from behind her. Sakura spun around and smiled a bit.
"I was just commenting on how odd these people are," Sakura said, ashamed of herself.
"Oh." Naruto then turned back around and started to talk in a low voice to Sasuke.
Wondering what they were talking about, Sakura sat down next to Sasuke, hoping they wouldn't change the subject.
Sadly though, they did, as Naruto turned towards her and grinned cheerily. "I can't wait for the opening ceremony! Our teachers are going to be awesome, I just know it!"
Sakura gave a quick smile and looked at her feet.
I'm not so sure about that…
Author's Note: I really like where this story is heading, and I'm going to do my best to not stop writing it and to stay inspired. I will also warn you that this chapter takes care of most of the exposition, AKA: the boring part. Things should pick up around the end of chapter two if my words go as I plan. This should hopefully also be the longest AN I ever write too.
For all those who don't know, Takigakure is the Village Hidden in the Waterfall. I will tell you where everyone else is from now, for future reference:
Team Kakashi- Konohagakure- Village Hidden in the Leaf
Team Kurenai- Kirigakure- Village Hidden in the Mist
Team Asuma- Iwagakure- Village Hidden in the Rocks
Team Gai- Kumogakure- Village Hidden in the Clouds
The pairings are I plan in the course of this story are:
Sasuke & Sakura
Naruto & Hinata
Neji & Tenten
Shikamaru & Ino
Don't like? Deal with it or leave. Also, I edited this by myself, but if I could possible get a beta eventually, it'd be great. –winkwinknudgenudge-
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Naturally, Annie
