AN: Hi! This fic is kind of like how my high school life was. If there are sudden jumps from one part to another, that's basically how it was for me… The only thing that was really 'prolonged' so to say, was drama.
The fic is set in a universe which is a sort of amalgamation of the narutoverse and our universe- So the villages we see in the narutoverse will mimic the characteristics of certain (or a mixture of) cities in our universe.
Please review and tell me what you think! :)
Chapter 1: One Week
If you listened carefully, you could hear the electrifying rhythm of the bass guitar in Daft Punk's "Get Lucky". The disco song blared through the speakers, but was sadly overpowered by the roaring sound produced by bowling balls hitting innocent pins.
It was always bowling or movies with this group. In the same mall. Sakura didn't really like bowling, but tagged along anyways because most of the group enjoyed the activity. Besides, it was the holidays before 11th Grade started and she wanted to spend as much time as she could with her friends. Everyone knew that the next two years would be hell, but Sakura was still enthusiastic about the prospects of studying. Most of her friends, on the other hand, weren't exactly too gung-ho on the eminent workload.
"The last two years of our school life is going to start guys. In a week!" said Ino with a dramatic sigh. They had all enjoyed their three months of long summer vacation after their 10th boards had finished.
"SO LET'S MAKE IT COUNT DATTEBAYO!" screamed Naruto as he released the fourteen kilogram bowling ball onto the aisle. All the pins toppled.
"NICE Naruto!" Kiba said while hi-fiving Naruto.
11th Grade. It was going to be the most memorable and utterly dreadful two years of their life according to their seniors. Every time Sakura saw Tenten in the hallway, she was muttering something about university entrance exams. Neji and Lee were always huddled over a textbook, with Lee shouting about how he would DEFINITELY memorize 'so and so' concept in one hour or do ten laps around the football field as punishment. It was going to be one hell of a ride, with the extra subjects most of them were taking and college applications. The Konoha Diploma Program was no joke – it was for the best of the best students and the high school they attended didn't make it any easier. Konoha International Academy was world-renowned for creating the most challenging scholastic program for adolescents and nurturing highly successful students who went on to receive generous scholarships from universities.
Every student had to take at least three majors and three minors; one could choose to do all six subjects as majors, or five subjects as majors and one minor, so on. Additionally, the crème of the crop usually took on additional subjects to add to their repertoire. Sakura was one of them. She loved loved loved to study. Three months of holidays were great, but she couldn't really go for a long time without studying, or learning something new. Of course she didn't like ALL the subjects she took in 10th Grade, but she revelled in biology and chemistry.
Which is why medicine was probably a good choice for her.
Her best friends were her complete opposites. Naruto was loud and boisterous, not really into studying like Sakura was, but when he put his mind to his favourite subjects, he reaped brilliant results.
Ino, her other half, the perfect blonde bombshell with a killer body, was not only beautiful, but also highly intelligent. She loved to party with the seniors, and the seniors loved her, but she was smart enough to keep away from the obvious smoking and rather illegal activities that went on at any upperclassmen parties. Like Sakura, she loved biology and chemistry, and couldn't keep herself away from the latest research related to neuroscience, the science of the nervous system. Ino was in love with the mind and its cognitive capabilities. So while she was frequent party-goer, she was also a force to be reckoned with when it came to academics.
"HEY! HOW COME SHINO ISN'T HERE DATTEBAYO?" Naruto shrieked, which caused Sakura to stop musing.
"Umm... Naruto-kun… There's a convention at the Plaza… Shino-kun was looking forward to it all week…" mumbled Hinata.
"REALLY?! WHY DIDN'T HE TAKE US?!"
Shikamaru was getting quite annoyed at Naruto's loud voice. He was trying to take a nap, which was obviously quite a foolish idea since they were at a bowling alley. All the noise was messing with his ability to sleep. He knew he shouldn't have agreed to this in the first place; first of all, he couldn't see any clouds since they were indoors. Secondly, electropop music kept blaring through the speakers. God forbid they play another Lorde song. Shikamaru hated to raise his voice but desperate times called for desperate measures, "SHUT UP Naruto. For heaven's sake! Don't you remember? He told us it's about a rare species of insects found in tundra regions. Would YOU want to go for that?"
"OH RIGHT. THANKS SHIKAMARU! Ummmm… What's a tundra dattebayo?"
He just sighed and went back to 'sleep'.
"It's…. good you dropped… biology this year… Naruto-kun" stammered Hinata.
"Ecology is a huge part of it this year!" exclaimed Kiba as he got a strike.
After three rounds, they decided to grab something to eat at the coffee shop next door. "How do you think this year will be?" asked Kiba to anyone who was listening.
Between bites, Chouji said "May…be there'll be…new…..kids...fr…from diff…rent…..places?" Kiba and Hinata nodded in agreement.
"New kids? If any new kids are accepted into 11th Grade that means they must be bloody amazing students." muttered Ino as she sipped her double chocolate frappe. "Tsunade-sama was saying that there are a few new kids for sure. Some from different countries." Sakura said after gesturing to her upper lip. Ino licked her own to get the whipped cream off. "New kids huh? Imagine getting past an interview with BAA-CHAN!" squealed Naruto with a hysterical giggle.
"Well I hope we all get along…" Sakura said wistfully. She was met with a chorus of 'yeahs' and 'hmms' from those around the table.
After an hour it was finally Ino who brought up the elephant in the room, "Soo guys…. Results come out in two weeks..." she hesitantly stated. "Troublesome woman. Why would you bring results up?" Shikamaru growled while glancing at a hyperventilating Hinata.
"Come on guys… I know we'll do well! We all studied so hard right?" Sakura said optimistically. Deep down inside she knew she needed 90% of her grades to be the highest possible, A*, to even be a worthy applicant for medicine. That meant that nine out of ten of the subjects she did had to be A*. This worried her, despite her apparent intelligence, because of her mortal enemies, Physics and French. She hated those subjects with a passion.
Naruto and Sakura were on the train back home. Both of them lived in the same neighbourhood while the rest lived somewhat near to the mall. "Sasuke is doing great you know," stated Naruto. He had returned to Konoha after visiting Sasuke at Otogakure Academy a few days ago. He glanced at Sakura from the corner of his eyes. She looked ahead and continued walking along the train to find them seats.
"He's still topping his class."
"He's captain of the basketball team now."
Still no answer from Sakura.
"I was surprised when you didn't ask about him when I returned from Oto," Naruto let out with a heavy sigh. All Sakura said was "Mmm", while staring out the window at the scenery passing by them.
"Since I was there for a week this time I got to meet his … friends." he continued. Still, she showed no sign of wanting to listen.
"I'm going to continue talking because I know you're listening Sakura-chan." Sakura's gaze didn't even falter once from the highly fascinating scenery outside. But now she was thinking… remembering what Naruto had said about Sasuke the last time he visited him. That was before 10th Grade started.
"He stays in the boarding school."
"He still plays basketball."
"He…. Asked about you."
"What did you tell him?"
"That you moved on."
"And?"
"That you wanted to be a doctor."
"And?"
"That's it..."
"Hn."
"You know he keeps a photo of you and me in his wallet?"
Sakura glared at him.
"Okay fine. But I'm SURE he does. I just didn't get the opportunity to snoop dattebayo!"
"Sakura-chan!" She snapped out of her daydream and coughed, "What?!"
"Come on Sakura-chan! You got to listen to this! He stays in this apartment like thing on campus and two other guys live with him- Juugo and Suigetsu I think." he nodded in approval of his memory. "They're pretty cool. Sasuke always seem annoyed when this chick comes over though. I don't even remember her name… Karen? No! KARIN! YEAH! That's her name dattebayo! She has the weirdest hair I've ever seen. It's fiery red like a tomato! I don't think Sasuke really likes her though. He always went to another room when she was around."
Naruto got off the train one stop before Sakura did. Only one thing continued processing in her mind after he left.
"It's fiery red like a tomato!"
"Fiery red….. tomato."
"Tomato."
Sasuke's favourite food was tomatoes.
Had Sasuke had his first kiss? Was he even a virgin? It had been two years after all… He was now sixteen.
When she got off the train, she couldn't help staring at the multi-storeyed apartment complex that was directly in front of the station. She peered at the third floor window, coincidently at the same level as the train platform so she could almost directly see into the room, which showed absolutely no sign of inhabitancy. Two years ago, Sasuke used to live there, alone, after Itachi left for college. Almost always, when Sakura looked at that window, she would see Sasuke seated at his desk, pouring over a textbook or peering at a laptop screen. He was always studying.
She may have succeeded in fooling EVERYONE that she didn't care about Sasuke, even herself for a while, just so she could concentrate on her studies. But she couldn't fool herself forever.
She stared down at the acceptance letter in front of her. Sasuke had been accepted into the prestigious Otogakure Academy!
'Dear Uchiha Sasuke,
Congratulations. You have been accepted into Otog….'
Sakura stopped reading. She rummaged through the bedside table and found a ticket to Otogakure for 28th June at 6 p.m. She hastily glanced at the digital clock atop the table and noted that it was 25th June.
"OMFG! What is fuck happening? Why has he applied to a school in friggin Oto?!" She frantically thought to herself as left his house and rushed home.
3 days later, at 5.50pm, she found herself on the train platform facing Sasuke. She caught him as he was getting on the train. His hand clasped around a navy blue suitcase, he glared at Sakura. "What are you doing here?"
"Why are you going to Oto, Sasuke-kun?" she mumbled, holding back tears. Her hands were already shaking.
"This is none of your concern Sakura. Go back home." He bitingly stated as he turned around and walked away.
"Why don't you ever tell me anything? Does Naruto know about this? Does he know you're leaving us? You could've at least…" Sasuke cut her off in the middle, "You really are annoying."
"STOP Sasuke. Please. Please don't go. I love you so much!" She yelled at him, but he continued walking away, ignoring the looks bystanders were giving them. She ran closer to him.
"I'll send in an application to Oto High! I'll come with you!"
Sasuke turned around and glared at her. "You will NOT do that. You will stay HERE. This is where you belong. Do you understand?"
The train started moving slowly.
"Why? What will I do here if you're not here? Nothing matters if..." Sasuke cut her off and moved appallingly close to her, "Otogakure is not a place for a girl like you Sakura," he murmured into her ear.
The train picked up speed.
"Whaaa"
And with that Sasuke let go of his suitcase and hugged her, whispering "thank you" before climbing quickly onto the train before it left the station.
"SASUKEEE-KUNNN!" yelled Sakura as she woke up from her dream. Outside, thunder roared and the rain beat down on her window heavily.
Sakura turned on her side and sighed, she definitely couldn't forget him