If I Owned Naruto, I WOULD RULE THE WORLD! Think about it; it's read in many countries by many people. I could use it as a BRAINWASHING tool.
Dedication: I dedicate this chapter to Onyx and Pink (plus its sequel) by shariganuser21, and to Ninja High (and Naruto for the Teenage Soul) by Extra Ren. As well, this was written in an effort to improve my humor. Which, face it, needs all the help it can get.
Something always triggers a chain of events. It might be something insignificant, like leaving your home late, or something important, like meeting someone. However, the results are something you might never expect. Something that makes you wonder how you got to where you are now. But that never matters, as in the end, you have achieved something. And that is more than most can say.
Life is a Mysterious Puzzle
Chapter One
If you ignore the ghosts, endless basement, and the beer bottles, then yes, this is a good school.
Staring at the dark building in front of me, I shivered. Why? Because it is a CREEPY, EERIE building that will become my SCHOOL. It isn't scary because of the fact that it used to be a prison (though, that definitely did not help. Really, who looks forward to going to a prison everyday? It probably has jail cells for classrooms and prison guards for teachers…Another reason for me to fear this school. Great). No, the reason this school freaked me out is because it looked like the setting for a horror film. Maybe Hollywood filmed The Saw or Jason or some other gory film after seeing this school. It had an aura (seriously, you could actually see the purple outline), and dark clouds surrounding it (didn't the weatherman—weatherperson—say that it is supposed to be SUNNY today?) All that is missing is the lightening.
CRACK! Lightening filled the air.
Scratch that out. Seems that the clouds want to fulfill their destiny and make the weather match the setting. Fine, all that is missing is evil, red-eyed crows (let's see that happen).
CAW! CAW! Several crows started to land on the building, their beady red eyes looking around.
…Maybe all of nature is going to join in the fun of "Let's make the stranger feel scared out of her mind and maybe she will run away. Or maybe just join the body count." However, even though their (imaginary) plan is working, I won't let that scare me off. I'm stubborn (I once even chased down a bus two blocks before it let me on. Though, that might not have been the wisest decision—I collapsed on to my seat and fell asleep, missing my stop. And my legs were sore for a week).
Back to the school; it has nearly everything to make it a horror film (is someone shooting a movie, and failed to put up a sign? That would explain everything...), except for that crazy, evil scientist that creates life and then gets killed by it.
…..
HELL YA!! NOTHING HAPPENED! Acting really happy for some reason (yes, I get happy easily. Even defeating imaginary plots makes me smile), I started to jump up and down, pumping my arms in the air (luckily, no one was watching. Otherwise I would have gotten so many stares. And looks of pity, wondering if I'm demented. Which I'm not).
SLAM!! Turning to look at what made that noise, I noticed that the school doors had opened and some old guy was running down the stairs (running? Isn't this guy old? Is he trying to get a heart attack? And trying to get ME to suddenly learn how to save his life? If he is, he better have no regrets before dying). Suddenly he started to dance around me, grabbed my arms (uh, a pedophile?) and then screamed into my ears that were right in front of him, "I'VE DISCOVERED HOW TO CREATE LIFE!!" then he let go and ran off. Only to run into a tree. Luckily (unless he got brain damage. But he already seems demented, so that might not make a difference), he got right back up and ran off.
I just turned back to my school, looking at it in horror (yeah, if the other things didn't scare me before, this certainly did). Just when I thought I saw it all…
Thanks, god. Really. Make me feel like I'm safe (or at least, relatively safe), and then go and screw me over. LIFE? WHAT SORT OF SCHOOL HAS PEDOPHILIC OLD MEN RUNNING AROUND?
…as soon as I can, I am getting out of this school. Really, is this a good school? When he sent me here, it sounded amazing, but then…
He might just be using this as a place to get rid of me. As a place to dump me so that he can avoid me even more than he already is…
No! I promised myself I would not think about that. Besides, this might not even be the right school! I mean the note was vague…
Maybe I should reread it, just to make sure. Getting out that note, I quickly opened it and pressed it flat (I was practicing my terrible origami skills on it). Scanning the note, I realized, again, that there was no way I could tell what school this was from. After all, it read:
Dear Nerd/Geek,
Apparently you're smart enough to enter our prison—I mean school. Big whoop. I'm sure you spent hours trying to appear smart and do weird questions. That's what your kind does, right? Anyways, I'm supposed to congratulate you.
Congratulations.
Now, when you come to MY school, if YOU want to be ACCEPTED, you'd better bring me a HUGE sake bottle. I want one. Now. So, no excuses. I'm sure you could use my help, considering the fact that you have no social life, or even want one. Who else would be crazy enough to enter our accelerated program?
Your LEADER and PRINCIPAL,
The amazing blonde leader who rules over all
At least, it seems like there is no way to tell. That was, until I read the school's sign.
Welcome to the Middle of Nowhere!
AKA Konoha's Tree of Learning!
…what a dumb name….
…Yeah. That helps. A lot. Whoever made my note must have made that sign. How many other people write like that? It can't really get much worse than this.
I was wrong. It got much worse.
How? There were many ways. As in, when was the last time they cleaned the hallways? The second I got in, there were dark, dusty corridors. With spider webs. Did I mention how much I hate spiders?
And the school signs…what sort of school is this? One that has a cult? All along the hallways, there were posters advertising something. Some were normal (at least, by my standards), like "Drama Club, down these stairs." Except for the fact that it was pointing to a wall (was the person posting the sign BLIND??). There go my chances of joining the club. It doesn't stop there. The signs got worse. One the left wall, there is a sign saying, "Ghost Convention, Meet in the Attic!" (…I'm not scared of ghosts. They don't exist. They are not real. If I say that enough, maybe I'll believe it), and on the right wall, was a sign saying, "Watch out for Snakes!" and "Giants only!"
…I have to watch out for SNAKES in a SCHOOL?? I'm not even going to try and figure out what it means by giants.
Now, seeing all of these weird signs, you'd have thought I would be CAREFUL. But, no, I ignore the only NORMAL sign. A sign that is huge (as tall as me. Do they even make paper that big?), with BOLD, BIG letters, warning me of slippery floors (at least they clean something).
Me, being the clumsy girl I am, immediately slides across the floor. And through an open door. Which happens to have stairs leading to the basement (this must have been where the drama club is supposed to meet). And then I tumbled onto a huge bean bag was at the foot of the stairs (see, I'm not the only clumsy person. Other people fall through that door and left this beanbag for comfort). I also banged my head a little...Ouch...
Looking around, I noticed I was in a basement. Or at least, it should be a basement, however, it is too BIG. The room seems to go on FOREVER, and is filled with…things. (What else do you call castle as tall as a person, surrounded by a moat that is filled with fish. Fish with sharp pointy teeth…those had better NOT be piranhas. And there is also a model of a moon that is as big as a teacher's desk, with mini GODZILLA'S on it! And, to top it all off, there is a huge PYRAMID on one side).
And, in this huge maze of random and weird objects, I did the stupidest thing ever.
I walked around.
Sure, for those of you that can follow directions, there is no problem. But for those, who are like me and can't even find the front door to their house, there is a problem. A huge problem. I'm stuck in a BASEMENT, with NO ONE to help. I might DIE down here, and no one will find my body for days (Great. Now I'm picturing skeletons. This is really encouraging.)
"Are you lost?"
…WHERE DID THAT VOICE COME FROM??
Turning around, I quickly scanned the room, looking for intelligent life forms.
…and there is none.
Ok. Calm Down. No one is here. I was just imagining things. And there is no such thing as a ghost, and no one is haunting this place because they got lost here and died trying to find an exit. That was just some tape being played. That's it….DIDN'T THEY HAVE A GHOST CONVENTION SIGN? No, it was just a silly joke, not to be taken seriously. BUT THIS WAS A PRISON! WHERE MANY PEOPLE DIED!!
…...
I'VE GOT TO GET OUT OF HERE!!
And then a hand touched me. A dead person's hand.
"AAAHHH!!" I screamed (obviously).
And then I heard that voice again. The ghost's voice saying, "Easy there!" using the tone that one uses when they talk to horses, which I'm not. (I've seen the Horse Whisperer. That tells me everything I need to know). I really want to yell at the voice to leave and go to heaven (or hell), except you shouldn't yell at dead people. So instead I watch the ground in front of me.
And see a dead body step out into the dim light. It was of a young girl, with long wavy locks of hair that fell softly down to her waist. The hair was dark brown, with streaks of light brown appearing naturally in it. Her eyes were dark brown too, with tints of chestnut that seemed to be laughing lightly. That was all I could see, and really, I feel ugly now (Just before the dead girl wants to kill me so see won't be lonely, I see that she is prettier than me. Me with my long pink hair and green eyes, and her with her normal looks. Guess who wins? Well…I sort of do, since I look exotic. Note to all males; don't use that pick-up line on me. It gets TIRING to hear the same thing over and over.)
Then the dead girl/ghost that is trying to steal my soul looked up at me and asked, "Do you want to come down now?"
Oh. That's right. I sort of forgot to mention that the second she touched me, I immediately climbed to the top of the pyramid near me (Hey, she wants to kill me so she isn't lonely. Why would I stay down on the ground?).
"You're alive, right?" I asked her. No way am I coming down if she isn't.
"…" the girl's eyes widened, before she cheekily replied, "No, I'm not. I'm just going up to the ghosts' convention and wanted to help you out." That's it. I'm climbing higher. Apparently, she noticed my futile attempts at escaping, and she quickly added, "I'm just kidding! I'm alive, and I'm a student!"
I stared at her for a moment, before climbing down. Then, the second I touched the floor, I pinched her (I had to make sure she was real. And not lying to me.)
"HEY! THAT HURT!" the weird girl yelled. I didn't even pinch her that hard! And then, as if to get revenge, she pinches me back. Ten times harder than I did. She has MONSTER strength; I can still feel the pain.
She then ignores me rubbing my arms to erase the pain, and asks, "Anyways, wanna get out of here?" And without waiting for an answer, she starts to leave.
….WHAT SORT OF HELP WAS THAT? Leaving an INJURED person behind? She is sooo lucky that I do not hold grudges.
Running to catch up with her, I call out to her, "Hey! Ghost girl…" I can't call her that. "My name is Sakura; what's yours?"
Then, five minutes later, my guide tells me, "My name is Tsubasa. Wait, that was yesterday's name. Today's name is…Miska!"
She doesn't know her own name? And I saw her counting her fingers when she was trying to remember her name. Suddenly, I'm having doubts about whether or not I should follow her out. We walked for a while, before we hit a snag.
"Hmm...now let's see…which way is out…" the creature called 'Miska' mused out loud.
Now I'm pretty sure I don't want to follow her. I do the only thing a normal person would do in this situation. In a calm, relaxed manner, I yelled at her, saying, "YOU DON'T KNOW HOW TO ESCAPE THIS NEVER-ENDING ROOM? AND YOU SAID YOU WOULD LEAD ME OUT?"
Fine, maybe I was scared and panicky when I yelled that. Still, we had been walking for HOURS, when it only took me MINUTES to get lost. A big gap in between those two time periods. And now my savoir says she doesn't know the way? Who wouldn't yell?
"Oh, that's just because this room usually changes its exit. Sometimes it has it in one place, and sometimes in another," Miska replied simply, before adding, "Now I know where it is. Follow me!"
…right. Follow her. Follow the girl-who-must-be-on-drugs. Follow the person who is telling me a room that is built in one way has different exits at different times.
I think not.
Then again, I have no one to follow (god, next time you send someone to save me, please send a handsome guy, who will rescue me quickly and then fall madly in love with me), so I have to go with her.
We climbed some stairs, and suddenly a bright light appeared before me. And then, I, being the smart person I am, screamed, "NO! I DON'T WANT TO SEE HEAVEN YET!!"
Ok, maybe I over reacted a little. But, after all of the talk about ghosts and her being unreliable, I just thought that she wanted to commit suicide. And then, thinking it would be a lonely trip, decided to kill me too. (Hey, I was in a dark room with little light and no fresh air. I'm allowed to make stupid mistakes. )
However, it didn't help that she then yelled back at me, "YES, YOU ARE! AND YOU'RE COMING!" Her yelling that at me sort of helps me believe that she has killed me.
And then she pulled me into the light, and all I saw was grey. Not black, grey. As in, grey halls that looked…messy.
"Heaven is sooo…dirty," I told her.
"Well, heaven isn't what you expect it to be. Anyways, who said we're in heaven?" she asked me, turning around.
I looked around the hall and realized I was back in the school. Oops.
Ever get that feeling of wanting to sink through the floor? All because of embarrassment? I didn't get that feeling. Instead, I wished that I actually could go up. Because going down would mean having to go into that basement. Which I never want to see again. Trying to save whatever dignity I had left, I tried to subtly shift the blame to her. "Well, you kept talking about heaven!"
Ok, that wasn't subtle. At least she will get flustered and ignore me because of that sentence…
Miska grinned at me, "Silly! That was because you mentioned it, and it seemed like a fun game!"
Or not. Now I'm back to the spotlight. Speaking of the light…
I could finally see what she fully looked like. And contrary to my first opinion, she wasn't beautiful. Just, cute.
Besides the brown hair and dark eyes I noticed earlier, the girl was also wearing glasses that made her eyes look cat-like. She was taller than me, maybe 5' 7" (WHY? Why is the world FILLED with people who are taller than me? DAMN YOU HORMONES! Grow! MAKE ME TALLER!), and had long arms. Her fingers were long as well, the way an artists were, and she had a warm smile on her face. Her jeans were slightly loose and dark brown, seeming to be a little longer than her legs and made out of a soft felt-like material. Her shirt was a bright, aqua-blue t-shirt, which hung around her body loosely as well.
Whereas I was wearing stylish clothes (that have a layer of dust because of the basement. And now are not so stylish).
Then she grabs my hand (with her soft hands. I have to find out what type of soap she uses), and pulls me after her. I thought I would get rid of her when I escaped the basement, and now she takes me somewhere? DARN IT!
"Where are we going?" I finally ask her, as she drags me through halls. She is running, with me just flying behind her (really, I don't even move. She is so strong that I just am moved by her pulling me).
"Oh, the principal's office. You're new here. But before that, why don't we go to the gambling room? Or the 'den of sin'? There are so many fun places to go to," she replies, smiling.
…..
"No thanks!" I quickly say. How can she SMILE while saying "den of sin" and "gambling room"? And why would she want to go there? Don't tell me…
…my first day of high school and I am immediately get attacked by a gang member. Or a drug addict. Or a criminal. Or all of the above. And now she wants me to join her in her illegal activities.
"No, I insist. Chose one," Miska asks again.
"NO, REALLY! I do NOT want to go!" I don't care how persistent she is. I am NOT having a police file.
"Fine. If you say so…the den of sin it is!" she says, pulling me off in a direction.
"NO! PRINCIPAL'S OFFICE, NOW!" Can't the girl take "No" for an answer? If she wants to have a drug buddy, she can go kidnap some other poor girl and force her to join. Just not me.
"Spoiled sport," Miska retorted, sticking out her tongue (she is so childish. But then again, I also do that….NO! WE HAVE A SIMILARITY!) before knocking on a door in front of her. The hallway we were in now was clean and proper-looking. No paint peeling, no dust, it was a completely different building all together. I would have thought that we were in a different school, if it wasn't for the fact that the wooden door in front of us had, in gold, these words written:
I AM THE LEADER OF THE WORLD!
…AND IF YOU DON'T BELIEVE THAT,
I'M AT LEAST THE LEADER OF THIS SCHOOL!
MY WORD IS LAW!
OBEY MY EVERY COMMAND!
I'M ALWAYS RIGHT!
BARK LIKE A DOG FOR ME!
This must have been the person who wrote the note. She/he seems…confident. And dictating (don't tell me they are actually using the prison rules here). "You're principal…she's…she's…" I struggled to think of a polite word to say. For all I know, Miska could be on of the principal's hippie followers and would beat me up for insulting her leader.
"Oh, she's fun. I think she's awake now," Miska said, as she heard a large THUMP! from the room. It was followed by a, "DAMN YOU, EVIL PAPER!" and a "GO TO HELL, PIGGY!" before the door opened up to show a young woman that had dark hair and eyes. (What happened in that room? And did she just curse paper? And she was sleeping, while she is supposed to be working. This is another reason to go to a different school.) The lady who opened the door was dressed in white, wearing a white lab coat over a dark purple shirt and long black pants. She carried a small pink pig, and smiled at Miska (totally ignoring me), before finally noticing me (uh, hello? I have PINK hair. I'm sure you'd notice me first.)
Then, deciding that she should actually introduce herself (using the much needed manners), she said, "You must be the new student arriving today," she then pointed over her shoulder, back into the room. "Tsunade," the woman started to say before someone yelled, "I TOLD YOU TO CALL ME 'OH GREAT ONE!" Twitching slightly, the woman continued, "I'm Shizune, the nurse in this school, and Tsunade," "THE AMAZING MAGICIAN!" "Tsunade," "I MEANT THE GODDESS OF THE TOWN" "that woman in there yelling is our principal."
(Right. I go to a school filled with crazy people. A future rehab user for my guide and a principal who wants to be a magician. At least the nurse seems normal enough. Except she carries a pig.)
CRASH! Curses streamed into the room, as a large, blonde woman appeared out of nowhere (one moment, there was air, the next, that lady just pops out. Maybe she was serious about the magician thing). She had her hair in two ponytails, which were flopped over her shoulders. As well, she was wearing a dark green t-shirt over white pants.
What I saw first, though, was the round circular object that was above her eyes, crowing her head. And by thing, I mean 'A large, golden, circular object that looks like a cross between a crown and a bat. Or maybe an owl.' It looks like the person making it could decide between people and animal, and chose to make something in-between.
Then, as she finally notices me, the gold-haired woman looks at me.
"So, you're the new brat…" Shizune glared at Tsunade "I mean the new student that shall be a part of our school."
She called me a brat? Why I…wait a second.
Why is she looking at me that way? She looks like a wolf that is about to attack a rabbit.
And I'm the rabbit.
ESCAPE ROUTE NEEDED!
Before I could leave, she grabbed my arm (what is it with them grabbing me?), and then grinned evilly (No! Not a grin to go with her eyes. SHUN! BURN! LEAVE ME ALONE!) She then turned to look at Miska, and asked, "Hmm…girl, what is you're name today?"
"Miska!" Miska yelled out cheerfully (how can she be happy? Is she ignoring the look on her principal's face?), pumping her arms up and down.
"Miska, you are Sakura's escort. And Sakura shall be in ALL of your classes…after all, she doesn't know anyone but you, right?"
….
WHAT? I HATE the principal now. This time I was sure I could escape the crazy girl. And now I find out I have to endure her everyday? No! I would go crazy before tomorrow!
"Ano…I really DON'T know he—" I started to tell the principal, hoping that this would change her mind. However, Miska decided to ruin my plan. She yelled out, "YES! WE ARE FRIENDS!!"
….there goes my plan….however, I will not give up without a fight, so I yelled back, "HOW ARE WE FRIENDS? WE BARELY MET!!"
"Eh? Why can't we be friends?" She questioned ME.
"BECAUSE I DON'T KNOW YOU!" Aren't you not supposed to talk to strangers?
"You're Sakura, and I'm Miska. We're both in the same grade. The rest we can learn later. SEE, WE'RE FRIENDS NOW!!"
THAT DOESN'T TELL ME ANYTHING ABOUT HER! We are STILL strangers. However, before I could try and protest that this is dictatorship and not fair, Miska saluted to Tsunade (I KNEW we had to follow prison/military rules!), before dragging me off again (this is called KIDNAPPING. SHE SHOULD BE CHARGE FOR THIS!)
As soon as the two girls left the room, Tsunade looked back at the folder on her desk. "Hmm…so the new girl is Haruno Sakura. Well, considering what she has gone through, I'd say She will definitely help. After all, the others also…" her voice trailed off, before, in a whisper, she continued, "Maybe this will help Her too."
The second I saw people, I started to yell for help. Normal people should respond and then rescue me.
"HELP ME!! PLEASE SAVE MY SOUL!! RESCUE ME, DAMMIT!"
For some reason, people just ignored me. (Are they used to pleas for help or something? Another reason to transfer out of here.)
The wild animal (I refuse to think of her as a human) holding my hand came to a stop in the courtyard. Then she decided to show me some special sites. It went something like this:
"This here is the Mysterious Forest" she pointed at a bunch of shrubs "where many dangerous wild creatures live" a bunch of squirrels and birds appeared "so be careful here."
Moving on to another place, she pointed at a HUGE rock, "that is the biggest mountain you shall ever see" so huge, in fact, that a kid jumped off it "SO NEVER CLIMB IT!" and the kid landed only three cm from the top of the rock.
I stared at her in disbelief. How did she get a CLIFF from a PEBBLE?? An EVIL FOREST from a BUSH? What COLOR is the SKY in HER world?
Clearly, she was insane and needed to be rushed to a hospital. Immediately.
"Please let go of me, Miska…" I hesitated, before adding, "-chan." Maybe if I pretend that I think of us as friends, she'll let go of me.
"Not yet!" Or not. She must be a mind-reader. She always stops my attempts at escaping. Well, she can't ignore this—I punched her on her arm. Hard. "I have to take you to see our counselor, Sakura-hime! Hehe…It feels like you're a princess that I'm escorting!" Miska chirped, ignoring the punch, dragging me off again.
HOW CAN SHE IGNORE MY PUNCHES? I took KARATE and other MARTIAL ARTS. I can BREAK wood and BRICKS. And she just acts like I DIDN'T punch with the STRENGTH of an ELEPHANT.
And, what's worse, is that she called me Sakura-hime. We aren't even FRIENDS yet!
….besides, He used to call me that. A long time ago. Not any more though…
While going down the road of despair in my mind, I noticed that we had finally stopped. In front of yet another door. With more writing, which read:
I AM THE COUNSELOR!
Not that YOU shall EVER call me that!
For I am,
ANKO!!
THE AMAZING,
DEATH-DEFYING,
SEDUCTRESS!
…
Maybe not the last one, as
We are in SCHOOL!
But still…
WELCOME TO MY
TORTURING ROOM!
I mean, HELPING ROOM!
…
HELL NO! THAT SOUND'S LAME!
Instead, we shall call it….
THE ROOM OF ANKO!
No…
THE GREAT ROOM OF THE AMAZING ANKO!
It was amazing that so much fit onto a door. "Are ALL of your teachers like this?" I asked my information source (like I said before, I still don't fully think of her as human).
"No. Just…one, two, three, four, five…maybe six…seven or is that eight?" Miska started to count on her fingers again. "Actually, all of them are like this."
"WHAT??" I yelled at her. Miska and Tsunade were bad enough, but every single adult was like this? "THERE IS NO WAY IN HELL I WILL BE ABLE TO SURVIVE THAT EVERYDAY AND EVERY PERIOD!"
"Did you mention HELL?" a voice purred out.
"ANOTHER GHOST!" Hey, there was always the chance that Miska actually was a ghost. And we did go through that whole talk about ghosts and heaven earlier. And there was just a VOICE, no BODY attached. What ELSE would I think?
"A ghost? Frankly, I'm insulted," the voice continued
YAY! I WAS WRONG!
Then door in front of me opened, and there was a figure in the shadows. "I prefer the Devil."
The DEVIL? This must be a code name. One that the mafia uses. Lovely, my counselor is some assassin. And enjoys to practice torture on her students (now you can see why I overreact to things. I'm sort of imaginative. Correction, I make assumptions all the time and my imagination scares me half to death. That's why I enjoy drama. I can do this without creeping people out).
Then the person stepped out of the shadows, revealing a young woman with purple hair and eyes. She had a light purple sleeveless shirt, with a dark purple tattoo on her arm that was shaped in the form crouching cat.
"Hello, I'm Anko."
A/N: Ano...is this good? I would like to know (cookies, chocolate, and cake to those who help. And to those worried about their health, HEALTHY food for you!). I rewrote this chapter. I hope this is better!
