Look here Katt, you crazy girl you! You've got four other stories you're supposed to be working on, does adding another one seem like a good idea! *calls time out* Wait a sec! I've got 30 seconds to defend myself! As an author, I cannot help the mass of story babies that have impregnated my mind. Therefore, unless I put them out, I'll never be able to update my other stories. *hides in tree house* Don't hurt me, just read it!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.
Chapter 1
"Oi. Wake up Princess. Time for lunch," A rather amused voice sounded from the seat beside me. Groggily sitting up, I blinked as my eyes tried to adjust to my surroundings. I was in a classroom and considering the voice, it had to be my math class. It was the only class I shared with my best friend.
"Temari?" I asked, not really sure why. I already knew it was her. She was the only one who called me Princess. Well, other than my dad and other best friend Sasuke. It was clear to me, despite my sleep-induced state, that it was a female's voice. Therefore deducing that it was in fact, Temari.
"The one and only," She started with a sly grin before pointing to my face. "By the way. You got a little drool on your face." I scoffed at her teasing, rubbing the sleep from my tired eyes. "Right, of course I do." Clearly amused by the fact that I assumed she was messing with me, she shook her head.
"Despite the fact that I enjoy bugging you, I'm serious." Narrowing my eyes at her, I drew my fingers to my lips and was in fact surprised when they encountered a cool and sticky substance. Furiously wiping away my shame, I shot her a glare, "Why didn't you wake me up?"
She shrugged casually, not intimidated by my stare. "You looked peaceful," She answered truthfully with a smirk. "Wouldn't want you to miss out on that much needed beauty sleep." Her teasing only caused an annoyed sigh to slip from my lips.
Sliding back my chair and grabbing my bag, I rose to my feet and followed Temari out of the classroom. "What you hungry for today?" I heard Temari ask, her eyes set ahead as we headed to the cafeteria. Shrugging, I racked my brain for possible options, only to come up empty handed.
She hummed beside me, pushing open the door as we looked around. "Well, how about we grab the rest of the gang, grab a bite from somewhere else and come back and eat outside?" I pondered over the idea in my head carefully.
Our lunch was fairly long and we hadn't eaten outside together in a long time. Honestly, a breath of fresh air might just be what I needed to get me through the rest of the day. "Sure, sounds good to me. How about Panera?"
She grinned as she rubbed the back of her neck, flagging down our small posse to where we were standing. "How did I know you were going to say that?" I couldn't help the giggle that slipped past my lips before responding, "You're my best friend. My dietary choices shouldn't be a surprise to you." The rest of our gang approached us as Temari motioned for everyone to follow her outside.
"So what's up?" Tenten asked, swinging her arm around my neck. Blowing a piece of hair from my face, I flashed her mock glare, "We're going to grab lunch and eat outside today." Her brow arched curiously before pulling away, "Seriously?"
I nodded with a grin, "What, I thought you loved the outdoors? That's practically like your natural habitat." She shoved me with a smirk tugging at her lips, "Oh shut up. It's just been a while." I was kind of curious as to why Temari suggested we eat outside in the first place. Honestly, it had been so long I don't even remember the last time it happened.
"So where we headed?" Naruto prodded, hands folded behind his head as he flashed me a casual grin. "Temari and I are going to Panera; you guys can go with or meet us back here when you get your food." Naruto seemed to mull over the idea before a snapping his fingers and slapping Sasuke on the back.
"Hey, let's go to that noodle place. They've got ramen to go!" The others groaned but I couldn't help the slight laugh that escaped. If Temari thought I was predictable when it came to food, then she obviously wasn't spending enough time with Naruto. I swear he practically lived off of ramen.
I smirked as Temari quickly snatched me and Tenten's hands, yanking us to her car. "Yeah, I don't think so. Have fun on your date you two." Sasuke groaned, walking off to his car with Naruto in tow. I shoved Tenten out of the way as I took control of the front seat.
"Dibs!" I smirked evilly as Tenten groaned. "God Ino," She flashed me a grin as she climbed into the backseat of Temari's car, "You're such a child." Sticking out my tongue, I turned around to mess with the radio.
I pretty much messed around on my phone the whole way there. We placed our orders and waited around a bit. A couple of people were there, more than likely on their lunch breaks. A few older men waved at us and I meekly looked away.
Temari seemed to follow my gaze and noticed the guys that were ogling the three of us. Arching her brow, she flashed them a smirk before pulling me by the waist and placing a kiss on my cheek. Blushing nervously, I gazed to the right to see the guys still staring.
"She's with me," Temari grinned out before releasing me with a none too subtle slap at my rear. Huffing, I paid for my food and fled towards Temari's car for safety. She and Tenten showed up a few seconds later, fixing me with innocent grins.
"I hate the both of you," I grumbled out, resting my chin in the palm of my hand. They only laughed at my obvious embarrassment as we made our way back to school. "The boys are back already," Tenten chimed from the backseat. "Said, they got us a table."
"Alright, tell them we're on our way." Tenten scoffed from behind me, "Nah, I was going to totally tell them that we died in some freak accident." Temari snorted as she pulled into the school parking lot. "The sarcasm, it hurts." She feigned a blow to the heart before collapsing in her seat.
"And I'm the child." I puffed out, grabbing my lunch as I proceeded towards the tables outside before spotting Sasuke and Naruto. Sitting in the empty spot beside Sasuke, I opened my bag and pulled out my Panini. Taking a sip of my green tea, it caught my attention that Sasuke and Naruto weren't paying attention to their food.
It wasn't unusual for Sasuke to not eat right away but Naruto practically inhaled his food the minute he sat down. A frown pulled down my lips as I followed their gaze, "What are you guys staring at?" Naruto's jaw dropped as he pointed off in a field not too far away.
"I don't get it," I mumbled out. Naruto grabbed my head, angling it slightly to the left as I squinted my eyes. Focusing on where he had my head positioned, I noticed a group of about five or six kids. It wouldn't have been unusual if it wasn't for the fact that they weren't eating.
Sure, you didn't have to eat during lunch. However, doing backflips off the metal fence surrounding the school wasn't exactly normal either. The kids were taking turns flipping off the fence and then running and flipping over each other.
One of the kids, which upon further inspection I determined to be a girl, was literally standing on the fence. She was perfectly still, no hint of shaking or trembling. It wouldn't have been that amazing if it weren't for the fact that the fence was so damn thin.
Honestly, I was curious as to how she had managed to not fall on her face. I'm not quite sure what it was but something was compelling me to keep watching. As I did I couldn't help but marvel at her hair. It was long and had a silky look to it as it hung over her shoulder in a loose ponytail. However, it was the color of her hair that captivated me the most.
It was a bright pinkish color and it only seemed to match well with her mint green eyes. Her skin, although a bit pale, seemed healthy and only accentuated the rest of her features. She was – for a lack of a better term, gorgeous. I forced my eyes down, trying to quell the fact that I had just been staring another girl.
No one seemed to notice, much to my relief and I soon found my eyes flickering to Temari and Tenten. They too seemed to be rather intrigued in the little game that the group was engaged in. Temari had a rather subtle scowl upon her face but I could tell she was just as interested as we were. "What the hell are they doing?"
Tenten huffed as she leaned forward trying to get a better look, "That girl on the fence is going to take a pretty nasty fall if she doesn't get down." I agreed silently, although something was telling me otherwise. She genuinely seemed to know what she was doing and it didn't really matter to us either way if she fell considering we didn't know her.
Taking another sip of my tea, I turned around just in time to see a boy hop up onto a large generator. His hair was dark brown and was spiked in a similar fashion to Naruto's. He had on a simple black t-shirt and baggy grey sweatpants. Despite his rugged looks, he looked handsome in a boyish kind of way.
The others in the group stood in a small circle around them, cheering and whistling loudly. The boisterous noise had caught the attention of a few others as people began peering in the direction of the group. The girl and boy seemed to exchange a few words before laughing.
I continued to watch, eager to see just what they were cheering for. I didn't have to wait long before the two decided to make their move. Simultaneously, they jumped over each other, flipping once in midair before landing exactly where the other had been standing previously.
I heard the gasps and mutters of other students and I couldn't blame them. Just what the hell were they up to?
The girl moved again, flipping forward to land right back on the fence with ease. The guy dropped slightly, swinging his leg around to knock her off only for her to flip backwards and land on her hands. The group cheered as well as the myriad of students behind us.
The two exchanged a few more words before flipping backwards onto the generator and flipping off. They slapped each other playfully on the shoulder, smiles evident on their faces. Naruto was the first to speak as he gasped loudly.
"No way! Did you guys see that-"
Sasuke mercilessly struck Naruto on the back causing food to fly from his mouth. "Idiot, don't talk with your mouth full." Naruto only proceeded to force more ramen down his throat causing the rest of us to sigh. Typical Naruto.
Tenten waved around a chip before popping it in her mouth, "No I totally agree with him. That was pretty amazing." Rolling my eyes, I returned my food to its bag, it'd probably be best to just eat it later. With a shrug, I returned my eyes to the group, "I guess."
Temari scoffed, crumpling her trash into a ball and tossing it into the trash, "Why don't you go join them?" Tenten shrugged, leaning against the table as she crossed her legs, "I dunno. Think I should?" My eyes flickered to hers as I rolled my eyes.
No way she was serious, right?
"You're kidding?" Temari said, frown tugging at the corners of her lips. Shaking her head with a grin, she tossed us a grin and stood, "Nope. I'm gonna say hey, maybe see what they're up to." I was beginning to question her actions and moved to place my hand against her forehead, "Are you sure you're not sick?"
Swatting my hand away, she grinned and tugged my wrist. "Come on, let's just say hi." I frowned, biting my lip as I turned to Temari for help. "We don't know what they're like. Right Temari?" The smooth grin and flash of her teeth was enough for me to know that I was doomed.
Naruto hopped up as he grabbed my other wrist, "Yeah! Being as though we're the popular ones, they'd be more afraid of us right?" I groaned, not finding his peppered enthusiasm reassuring. That wasn't the point I was trying to make. What if they generally didn't want to be bothered? They seemed pretty content as they were.
With a sharp yank at my arm, I was unwillingly dragged to the small cluster of kids. They laughed and talked amongst each other while we made our way over. With each step as the distance diminished between us, I didn't know why but my heart was pounding in my chest.
Why was I so nervous?
After all, it was just another bunch of students. Normal high school students like the rest of us. Meeting someone new wasn't exactly my idea of frightening. With all the parties I went to, I practically met new people every weekend. Although those were people who I never really saw again until the next party.
The sounds of voices speaking beside me was enough to pull me from my thoughts. A small squeak left my lips as Tenten pulled away with a grin, "Thought you had zoned out for a second there. Say hi." Sighing, I glanced up to notice that we were right by the small group.
They watched us carefully, easy grins on all of their faces. The boy that I noticed earlier extended his hand towards Naruto, "Sup." Bubbling with energy, Naruto slapped his hand with his with a huge smile. "Sup. Name's Naruto!"
Everyone was taken aback by Naruto's overwhelming enthusiasm but they didn't seem too bothered. Chuckling, the other boy grinned, "Kiba. This is the gang." My eyes flickered over each of them carefully, they actually seemed pretty harmless but I knew better. Looks can be deceiving so you can never be too careful.
Kiba motioned for the group to come over, playful grin at his lips. Pointing to a boy with dark skin and white hair, he grinned, "This is Darui." He gave us a small wave and leaned against the fence. A girl with long brown hair and fair skin waved at us before introducing herself, "Hey, I'm Hana." Studying both her and Kiba, I noticed that they had tattoos on their faces. The shape actually seemed somewhat neat and suited both of them.
Snapping back to the current situation, I watched as three others of the group stepped forward. A boy similar in looks to Darui with shorter hair and a sucker hanging from his mouth waved casually. "Omoi. Sup-"
"And I'm Lee!" The group all shot him amused looks and I couldn't help but giggle. He truly was a character and reminded me a lot of Naruto in his own way. Kiba shoved another person forward and it was then that I realized it was the girl he had been with on the fence. She turned around to fix him with an annoyed glare before sighing and facing us with a tired smile, "I'm Sakura." I instantly noticed the calm and relaxed air that seemed to float about them, most of it fleeting from Sakura.
Naruto proceeded to introduce the rest of us before getting to me, "And this is Ino! This was totally her idea to come over and say hey, right Ino?" Stumbling my words, I shoved his hand off of me, "No it wasn't! You all did and I didn't!" Catching my slip up, I held up my hands hoping that they would't get the wrong idea.
"Sorry, not like that! I just-" Sakura slipped me a soft smile and I found my heart fluttering at the reaction. "No worries, I get it. Friends dragged you over here because they were curious. Although, you were slightly curious which is why you went along with it." I smiled sheepishly and nodded, surprised at how observant she was.
In spite of my previous reluctance to come over, I had to admit I was slightly glad I did. They didn't seem to be intimidated by us, not that we were terrifying or anything, but being popular did cause people to stereotype us quite often. My curiosity peaking, I asked the question that had been picking at my mind, "Hey, are you guys related?"
"Smart and cute," I heard Omoi tease causing my cheeks to flush. Kiba grinned and nodded, "Yeah, some of us are. Hana's my sister; you probably figured cause of the tattoos, huh?" I slipped him a small grin and nodded. "At least you guessed on the first try. A lot of people just assumed that she was my girlfriend and we got matching tattoo's. That practically spells awkward."(1)
I nodded again before hearing Kiba speak up, "And Omoi and Darui are twins, which was pretty obvious." (2) Sasuke shifted beside me, folding his arms before nodding his head towards the fence, "Saw you guys stuntin' over here earlier. Cool stuff man, what was it?"
Kiba rubbed the back of his neck, flashing Sakura a cool grin to which she returned. "Oh that. We were just messing around." Naruto quickly stepped in, "No way, that shit was tough!" The gang all grinned and laughed. Hana giggled, wrapping her arms around Sakura's neck before climbing up.
"Nah, these two were just showing off. Especially this girl," She teased with a smirk at Sakura who just shook her head with a smile. Tenten's curiosity must've flared a bit, with a questioning look she pried, "Was it like gymnastics or something?"
Darui folded his arms over his chest, steady gaze looking up at the sky, "Not exactly. Well, we do quite a bit of flipping and stuff so I guess it's not too far off." Slipping us an easy grin, he continued, "We're called traceurs. Ya ever heard of free running or parkour, that's what we do. We just flip and all that crap at school since we can't exactly run anywhere around here."
Kiba nodded, shoving his hands into his pockets, "We're just a bunch of kids who have way too much of an adrenaline rush for the average human being. We jump off cliffs and buildings and crap." Temari gave them a calculating gaze before smirking, "Sounds like a death wish to me."
With a chuckle, Omoi rolled the sucker around in his mouth before yanking it out and pointing it at us. "Yeah no, it totally is. It gives us a rush and it's something requires lots of practice, not to mention balls to handle."
My own interest in the group was increasing at a rather alarming rate. Before I had the chance to ask another question, my words died in my throat at the sound of the bell. Hana sighed, dropping down from Sakura's back with a frown, "Lunch time's over guys." Turing to face us with a smile, she shrugged," Well it was pretty cool meeting you guys. Anytime you feel like it, feel free to come over."
Naruto grinned and pounded fists with Kiba, "Of course we will! You guys are dope as shit!" Everyone laughed and even I couldn't stop the huge grin plastered upon my face. I turned to face Sakura who was chatting idly with Tenten before facing me with a heart-tugging grin.
Blushing nervously, I tugged Tenten by the arm and waved causally. The more my mind flickered over to the group, the more interested I was becoming. They just had this air about them, one that I noticed that Naruto had all on his own. A personality that was just about as laid back and chill as they come.
Taking one final look back, I shook my head as we made our way inside. Of course, that stupid little grin was still on my face and would remain there for the rest of the day.
~o~
Having managed to survive the rest of the school day, I eagerly made my way outside. My head ached from the mass of information that I had the great displeasure of learning in my science class. It was a terrible subject, the worst.
Not to mention, my English teacher had assigned us some mediocre writing task. Something about what were our plans after we graduated. I swear high school is probably the most annoying thing in the world for every senior right now.
Honestly, like the teachers knew how excited we were to be graduating and yet they decided to pile on assignment after assignment just to make our lives a living hell. And if that wasn't bad enough, they'd torture us with assignments about our lives after graduation. Countdowns of the remainder of our school days in math class, essays about what we want to do after graduation in English and a multitude of other meaningless things.
Deep in my thought, a scowl pressed my lips together tightly as I tried to recall where I had parked my car. I heard my name being called a distance behind me as I kept walking. Turning only my head, I could see Tenten rushing towards me with a silly grin on her face.
Taking another step forward, I adjusted my bag on my shoulders and paused to face her completely, "What are you doing-" My voice halted on its own as I saw her grin fade into a look of complete horror. Narrowing my eyes, I tried to make out the words that fell from her lips.
"Ino, move!"
Move? My eyebrow arched carefully at her demand as I shook my head, not quite understanding. Time moved in slow motion as I turned around slowly, my eyes widening as a sickening realization dawned upon me.
Despite the fear tugging in my chest, I couldn't force my body to move. I heard Tenten scream and before I knew it I felt myself being pulled into something warm as I fell to the ground. A rather loud crash and screech of tires sounded behind me causing me to grip tighter to whatever I had landed on.
Sounds of screams and mutters sounded around me as I mustered the courage to open my eyes. The first thing I noticed was a black jacket-clad chest beneath me as I realized that I had landed on top of a person. My eyes widened an even greater fraction as I immediately recognized the silky pink hair from before.
Pulse racing quickly as my throat ran dry; I swallowed before calling out the familiar name, "Sakura?" She sat up slowly, and it was then that I had noticed the arm that was wrapped tightly at my slim waist. Quick breaths escaped her as forest green eyes narrowed at something behind me. Her body was shaking rapidly as she grinded her teeth together, "Fucking hell."
Turning around to see the object of her clear annoyance, I was greeted by the site of a car that had crashed into pole near the school's parking lot. A boy with black hair and green eyes rushed over to us with panic written all over his face, "Oh my god I'm so sorry. I was going so fast and I didn't even see y-"
The rest of his sentence was cut off as I saw Sasuke storm over and deliver a nasty blow to his cheek, "How the hell did you not see her!?" I could tell the situation was getting slightly out of hand and just in the nick of time I saw Naruto and Temari rush over to pull him away from beating the helpless boy into a bloody pulp.
"Ino, oh my god are you alright?" I heard Tenten ask, stooping down beside me and Sakura. My throat squeezed tightly, unable to form a clear sentence as my heart raced in my chest. A car had almost hit me. A perfectly normal day had almost ended with me in either the hospital…or dead. The wave of nausea and emotions washed over me so quickly that I found myself burying my head into the crook of Sakura's neck.
Tears escaped my eyes mercilessly as I sobbed into her neck. My fists grabbed her shirt desperately as my body shook with the force of my emotions. Getting over the initial shock, she pulled me tighter against her, cheek brushing against mine as she moved to my ear, "It's alright. You're okay."
I could hear the turmoil of emotions flowing through her words as she stumbled to remain calm in her own sense. I continued to shake in her arms, my body becoming a slave to the onslaught of nervous tremors.
I could hear a few other voices, one I immediately recognized to be Kiba's. "What the hell happened? Are they alright?" I heard Sasuke sigh, trying to beat down the urge to reconnect his fist with the boy's face who had nearly run me over.
"That asshole almost hit Ino but Sakura got her out of the way," He breathed out. I heard the faintest mumble of a curse from Kiba before he walked over to us. Still clinging to Sakura, I pulled back only slightly to face him.
"You alright?" I nodded slowly. I obviously wasn't alright, not emotionally at least. I was all shaken up on the inside that I didn't think I could even stand on my own right now. Physically, I was fine, which was the only reason I nodded.
A sigh of relief escaped his lips before he nodded and turned to Sakura, "And you." I pulled back a bit more, curious to see what he would say. With a shaky breath, he flashed Sakura a rather amused grin, "You are one crazy bastard, I'll say that."
To my surprise, the rest of the gang grinned and nodded and I could see the faintest trace of a frown pull at Sakura's lips. "She could've been killed. I had to do something." She squeezed my waist tighter, helping me to my feet as she handed me over to Sasuke who eagerly took me in his arms.
"Sakura," Temari began with a stern look. "We owe you big time." The frown at Sakura's lips only deepened as she shook her head, clutching her wrist. I noticed that it was in a rather awkward angle but I refused to speak up on it.
"Don't worry about it really. I'm just glad I got there in time," She winced as she released her wrist with a sigh. Of course I figured someone else would notice and it just so happened to be Tenten, "Your wrist. It looks-"
"Broken. Yeah probably," Sakura inspected it before dropping it to her side. "No worries though. A broken wrist is nothing compared to what could have happened." Her eyes fell to mine as she gave me a small smile, "Make sure she gets home okay. I'll go get this…" She grinned smoothly as she held up her wrist, "Checked out. So don't worry about me."
I saw Temari step forward, placing her hand on Sakura's shoulder, "Seriously. We appreciate it a lot Sakura. You guys are all right with us. If there's anything you need, don't hesitate to ask. Get that wrist checked out, alright?" The sincerity of Temari's words had caused my heart to flutter gently.
Temari was pretty calm and collected and I guess the thought of nearly losing me had gotten her to the point where her emotions were slipping. I immediately felt a painful tug of regret, here all of my friends were thanking her yet I'm the one she saved and I hadn't so much as mumbled a single word.
I opened my lips to speak but she just fixed me with a knowing smile, glancing between Temari and myself. "You got it. Yeah, I'll get it looked at before I head home. I'll see ya around." Waving at us, she walked off with her group and I noticed how Hana had immediately darted to her side, worry evident on her face as she brushed it off with a grin.
Sasuke offered to drive me home, which I allowed. Everyone followed me home, Naruto taking Sasuke's car since they had rode together to school. My mother immediately tackled me into a hug, worry laced in her words as I patted her back, ensuring her that I was fine and not hurt in the least. She informed my father who evidently wasn't happy about nearly having his "baby girl" killed and threatened to kill the boy.
After my friends had left and my parents had calmed down enough to let me out of their sights when I convinced them that I was simply going to lay down in bed, I climbed the steps and steadily climbed into my bed. Glancing at the ceiling, I couldn't help the soft smile at my lips as I closed my eyes.
Sakura, a girl who I had only known for all of ten minutes had saved my life, and for that, I was truly thankful. Needless to say, that was the last thing my mind envisioned as I drifted to sleep.
Footnote 1: It's crazy that I look similar to my older brother, we spend a lot of time together, and when people see us, they instantly assume we're dating instead of friends or siblings. It's so awkward and I'm like…no you imbecile, he's my brother. -_- It's just weird man.
2: I know they're not brothers but it's my story, which means I can do whatever the hell I want. So come at me bruh
Yes I know, I need to calm down with the new stories until I finish the first ones I started. Not gonna lie, Not A Good Sign is getting harder for me to write. I am having serious writers block when it comes to that thing. Not sure, maybe I'll finish it, maybe not. I'll try and figure something out. This has been eating me away as do all my new ideas and now that it's gone, I can return to The Memories That Remain since I know you guys are eager little bunnies. So yeah, hope you like it, long ass first chapter I know, the rest won't be nearly as long, at least I hope not. So parkour…cool stuff man…seriously, if you've never heard of it, YouTube it and be amazed. I'd probably die running around like that which is why I find it awesome. Read and review, the whole shebang! Love you guys!
