She hadn't normally been the type to get herself caught up with guys; she was more focused on her studies and school activities rather than reaching out to make friends Her priorities were more focused on the future, boys weren't important.. Besides, she already had one guy as her best friend, and he's already a handful.
That's why when she saw him, she wasn't sure why she couldn't stop staring.
His eyes and his hair matched in dark color and allure; his skin contrasted with its pale color, and his figure was very skinny. The boy's posture was very upright and he walked with confidence. He was alone; how could someone with his looks be by himself? She saw him walk away silently, already wondering about him. Why was he alone? How was he so pale? Most importantly, who was he?
It's already almost the end of the school year, why would she even think about a guy she didn't even know?
Part 1: Spring
"Do you know a lot of people with black hair?" she asked.
"Black hair? A good number of people do, what're you getting at?"
"It's just…Yesterday, after school, I saw this boy." She answered him, shrugging.
He raised a blond eyebrow. "Oh?"
"Yeah, and he was so—"
"—I'm guessing he had black hair, huh?"
She sighed, and ran a hand through her pink hair, it had still been damp from her morning shower. "Two points for the genius—but anyway! He had black hair, and black eyes, and he was so pale and skinny, ring any bells?"
"Hmm, not really…"
"And he looked really lonely. It's weird, wouldn't you think that someone that looks as—"
"Lonely?"
"Naruto, hold on, I'm trying to finish my story—"
"Wait, I think I know who you're talking about!"
"You do? Really?"
"Yeah, that Sai kid, right?"
She shook her head, "Oh—no, not Sai! No, I know him, it's just, this guy—he was just different looking. It was weird."
The blond boy made a confused face, "Oh, Sakura! Checking out guys? That is weird…"
"Oh shut up," she retorted, shoving him slightly, "It's not that I don't have an interest in guys!"
"You do?!" an incredulous shout escaped his mouth, "If I didn't know any better, I would've thought that you were into, y'know, girls—"
"Watch it, asshole," she punched his arm.
"Ow, what was that for?"
"You're such a pervert! Just because I'm focused on other things, that doesn't mean I'm not interested,"
"Yeah, sure, whatever, Sakura, your manly punches say butch way out loud," he rolled his eyes, and received another punch from her, "Ow, okay, I'm sorry! Geez...Anyway, about this guy?"
"Yeah, anyway, about this guy," Sakura cleared her throat to continue what had happened to her the day before, "I just feel like I haven't seen him before, and the school year's almost over."
"Maybe he's a transfer student?" Naruto asked.
The two friends walked into the school, Naruto following Sakura to her locker. She began to open it, saying, "Nah, I don't think so…but I mean, I don't know. He seemed like he knew where he was going, so I kinda doubt it."
Naruto yawned as Sakura's lock went click to open. "I guess I'll keep my eye out…Man, why does school have to start so early?"
"It's not that early," she replied, grabbing a textbook before closing her locker shut, "At least we don't start until 8:30, some places start earlier, y'know."
Naruto shrugged, and Sakura opened her red textbook, trying to find a specific page. "What're you doing, anyway?" Naruto asked.
"Studying, duh," she replied, "I've got a history quiz today, and I can't afford to get anything lower than a 90."
"Overachiever, Sakura Haruno," Naruto lazily noted, another yawn escaping him.
Whenever she decided to stick her nose in a book while walking the halls, it was Naruto's job to keep her from bumping into things. If it weren't for him, she'd probably be so beat up from walking into walls and poles, and probably not as smart as she was from the lack of studying.
Sometimes, Naruto felt like he doesn't get enough credit for what he does for her.
"D'ya ever think of not studying and walking at the same time?" he asked, "It can get a tad bit dangerous, especially since you're so small and all—"
"I'm not that small, Naruto," Sakura didn't look up at him with her reply.
"Yeah, you are, but—" he lightly pushed her away so she wouldn't run into someone walking the opposite way, "still, what if I wanna study?"
"Well, you never do, so you might as well help me do it in peace."
He sighed, "Yeah, yeah, whatever, anything for you, Sakura."
She looked up at him and smiled, "I appreciate it, best friend."
Naruto rolled his eyes, still watching out for the people walking around the halls so Sakura wouldn't run into them. Suddenly, he felt a bzzzzzt, a vibration in his pocket.
"My phone never goes off this early," he muttered, looking down to take it out. Unlocking it, he read the message out loud, "Oh, it's from mom…she says 'good morning, and have a nice day.' Have a nice day? Well, isn't that kinda weird?"
"Good morning to her, too." said Sakura.
"Mom never says good morning unless there's—oh, here we go, 'If you can, please pick up some milk after school, whole milk. Ok thanks, bye! Love you XOXO' Geez, my mom."
"Did she really have to type 'XOXO'?"
"Yeah," Naruto groaned, and locked his phone before putting it back into his pocket. As he looked up, he accidentally bumped right into another student.
The blond let out a "Woah!" as he fell backward. Not knowing what had happened to him, Sakura finally looked up from her book to see Naruto on the ground, and another student who was standing.
His dark hair, his pale skin, and his skinny figure were all recognized right away.
"Sasuke." Naruto's face was easy to read, and his tone of voice easy to identify: I don't like you.
"Good morning, Naruto." his stoic tone replied: I don't really care.
The dark-haired boy, now known as Sasuke, proceeded to pass them as Naruto dusted himself off. Sakura continued to stare at Sasuke as he walked further and further away.
"That was so…weird." She noted.
Naruto huffed and crossed his arms. "Yeah, tell me about it, he just bumps into me and—"
"No no! That's not what I meant…that's the boy!"
"Wait—what bo—"
"The one I was just talking about, don't tell me you forgot!"
"Oh yeah! The one guy with the—are you sure?"
"Yeah! Isn't that weird?" Sakura closed her book and continued to hold it in her hand, "That was him alright…"
"Whatever, I'll give him a piece of my mind when I see him later," Naruto commented, obviously still upset about the other boy's lack of manners.
"W-Wait, so you do know him?"
"Of course I know him!" he exclaimed loudly, "Sasuke's the biggest jerk I've ever met!"
"R-Really?"
"Yeah, it's no wonder he's alone all the time, it's because he doesn't talk to anyone, and if he does, he's usually the meanest, and he's just—ugh, I can't stand that guy!"
I don't think 'meanest' is a word, Sakura thought to herself. "A—Are you sure? He just—he seems sort of nice…"
"Nice? Are you kidding? Ugh, why did it have to be that guy you decided to like?"
"I—I don't like him, I—I just—"
"He'll never have any friends, I swear. Not with him being arrogant, and demeaning, and just plain mean!"
Sakura sighed, "Naruto, there's no need to be mean—"
"Don't tell me you're gonna side with him, too?"
"Side with him—what's that supposed to mean?"
"Really? Now that I think about it, I'm surprised you don't know him, everyone thinks he's so good-looking and nice and smart, girls love him! Even the teachers! But how could you? He's an absolute jerk!"
"Teachers, too? You, talk to teachers?" Sakura laughed sarcastically.
"N—No, but I went to a guidance counselor once to—well, she actually called me down to talk about my grades—and told her about him, and she's just like—," Naruto cleared his throat, and proceeded to mock her with a high pitched voice, 'Sasuke? Uchiha? No, he couldn't! He's such a nice boy!'" he let out an exaggerated laugh to further mock the guidance counselor, and then grunted, "Nice boy my ass!"
Sakura sighed, "Right, right."
"Just take my word for it, Sakura!"
"Okay, geez, fine, just quit being so loud—"
The five-minute bell rang throughout the school, and a voice on the intercom followed, "Students, it is now 8:25, you have five minutes to get to homeroom if you are not there already. Students, you have five minutes to get to homeroom. Thank you, and have a wonderful day."
"Well, there it is. I'll see you later, Naruto."
"Yeah, see ya," he replied, and turned around to walk back toward his homeroom.
Wow, this is the first story I've put up since...how long has it been, years? It's a little weird, since I've been out of the game for a long time. So, of course, it's a little rusty. I'm just rusty in general.
It's kinda of funny, because I've actually been working on this story for a couple of years. I mean, it's not all written out, but the plot's already planned out for the most part, the characters, etc. I'm glad I decided to put it out when I was a bit older and a bit wiser than when I first wrote it, I think it's a really interesting story, and I would hate to read back on it and think, "Wow, I didn't know anything." But oh well, that will probably be the case when I look back on this story in a couple of years when I'm even older. lol. I just think it's an appropriate time since the story's in a high school setting, and I've been done with it long enough to look back and see how it all worked.
So, this chapter was all about working out Naruto and Sakura's chemistry; I personally thought it was really easy to write, I love the whole best friend relationship, and it flows a lot easier for me than actual romantic conversations (again, something I wouldn't have been able to say if I put this up when I first came up with it). Oh, and to introduce our other main character, Sasuke! I almost forgot to mention that, haha.
Additionally, I was trying to make the dialogue as realistic as possible, I wrote in a lot of dashes, since in many conversations, each person doesn't always finish their sentence. For me, it's rare to see someone finish their thought, and then the other start and finish without being interrupted.
With that said, thanks for reading! I hope I'll stay inspired enough to write this -fingers crossed-!