Thanks for the two revies I had gotten. It made me smile. I have a request of the two people who did review or others if they want to review as well. (I hope) Who do you want Sakura to filter through next? It sounds weird, but that's pretty much what she's doing.
A soft exasperated sigh escaped her lips as the pink haired girl looked at the blinking red lights. It was nearly five o'clock in the morning. Her alarm was sure to turn on any moment now, yet the girl looked as though she didn't need it. Her eyes held a thin gaze of a sleepless night upon them, and a light shadow was underneath her eyes. She blinked a bit, for her eyes hurt. She looked out at the window as the rays of morning seemed to be slowly creeping into the once dark night. "Somehow I'm still not tired…" The girl said as she rubbed her stinging eyes. Another sigh escaped. Her head hit in the pillow with a light thump, and closed her eyes. It was at this convenient moment, her alarm clock wanted to come to life and sound an annoying beeping sound.
"Shit." She cursed as she picked up the alarm clock in frustration and opened her window before daintily chucking it out of her window. It crashed down and thus, silenced the machine. As she peered out, the sun's first gazes just decided to show its face upon the sleepless girl. Her eyes stung from the bright light and immediately she moved backwards tripping upon something she couldn't identify at the moment. She fell on her bottom and officially hated this day/night. "That settles it." The girl closed her eyes and let out one final sigh, before getting up. She pulled on her favorite pair of cargo pants over the boxers she wore to sleep every night and a jacket over the shirt she always sleeps in. She pulled her headphones from her night stand and put them over her ears. She slipped her wallet and keys into some random pocket before exiting the house.
"What I wouldn't kill for a non broken CD player…" Sakura said as she walked across the street slowly wandering through the neighborhood. The neighborhood that she lived in was pretty rural. Each house was almost exactly the same, with minor details that somehow 'set' them apart so much. Some had put up different mailboxes. Some had painted their house an offset white or a light blue that looked oh so different from the other tan houses that were all straight in rows. There were no yards since the road that Sakura lived on lead into town where the establishments would lie. There were two directions to go. Follow the path to civilization or head more into the maze of houses eventually leading to an unknown world.
"Two roads divulged, and I-I took the one less traveled by." Sakura mumbled as she headed down the streets of the unexplored houses. As she went deeper and deeper still into the forest of houses they became grander with larger yards and more architectural value than the others just a little ways up. They became grand beauties with large trees in front and lawns that seemed like something out of a catalog, houses where children could play and grow up happily without knowing of the dark dangers that lie ahead in their lives. If it weren't for the early hours of the morning, she was sure that people would be driving down this road and ruining the peaceful quietness of the neighborhood. She almost danced down the middle of the street to a soundless music that played in her head for what seemed like forever. Her short pink hair bobbed as she moved about the clear roads with her eyes closed. Her movements were erratic and spontaneous, yet somehow it looked so graceful. Each and every move seemed like something that was set to a classical music. At first it was a waltz that transformed into an old English short of dance that slowly moved to only traditional geisha would do. Everything in all normalcy would never flow together did. It was a strange and beautiful sight. If anyone took a moment to slow down their lives and look at something like a girl dancing in the street, they would behold quite the beautiful sight.
Just as nature seemed to be relieving the girl's former dark attitude, the harsh sounds of civilization waking up seemed to break this peaceful world. She abruptly opened her eyes and looked up to see a car in the distance slowly approaching. It was sleek and black and barely made a sound, yet it interrupted the girl's beautiful music in her head. She moved on towards the sidewalk and hummed to take her mind off of it. No matter how wonderful the world was, sometimes things would ruin it. It was just another part of life as she saw it. The car slowly came by with tinted windows. It seemed like a rather expensive car than the ones that the owners on the current street she was on had. Her eyes were closed as it came by followed by a wind. At that moment, Sakura felt a pair of eyes for a split second boring into her skull. She brushed it off nonchalantly as she walked deeper. Lights slowly started going as she the pink hair girl strolled on by. Sounds of children and parents grew steadily louder. She bit her lip as she looked down the street concentrating on nothing but the never ending road as it seemed. Her eyebrows furrowed as parents emerged from vehicles slowly pulling out at different intervals of time. Sometimes sleepy eyed children would emerge by their sides. Either that or each of the parents would daintily put a kiss upon the forehead or cheek before the child ran up the street and turn the corner heading to some bus stop or something. No longer could Sakura take this feeling that was radiating from her chest. It was an uncomfortable feeling that didn't belong there.
She broke out into a run and turned to the immediate corner along with a bunch of unnoticeable turns and stretches. As she finally came to a stop, she crumbled to the ground completely exhausted. It seemed as though she had run for longer than ten minutes without a stop. She wasn't really keeping time to be honest; she just wanted to get away. It seemed Sakura had gotten her wish as the pink haired girl was a least six miles away from her starting point and to top it off she was in an area that was completely unknown to her. In fact she was at an open large yard as it seemed filled with flowers and a small koi fish lake. It seemed rather peaceful and like a wonderful place, but it was surrounded by three walls with one open door and one wall leading towards a rather large home. It all looked very traditional Japanese and very expensive. Two words that lead Sakura to believe she had just wandered onto some very private property.
"Shit." Sakura said as she slowly moved towards the door. She was out of breath and on someone else's land along with being in a neighborhood that she no longer recognized. This bad 'early' morning to good 'morning' morning to horrid and possibly stupid 'late' morning wasn't exactly what Sakura had wanted when she thought of the idea of ditching late last night, when she found herself unable to fall asleep. "I'd say, 'things can't get any worse' but that would only make things worse…" Sakura mumbled as she slowly tried to exit this stranger's property. It probably looked suspicious as a small pink haired girl practically crawled out of the private garden.
Without a single person noticing, Sakura had escaped the garden and closed the gate seamlessly behind her. 'At least some cliché's aren't true.' Sakura thought as her thoughts were suddenly filled with images of Ino bullying her with such cliché happenings. At the thought, she let out a light laugh that slowly turned into a louder fuller laugh. It was at this moment that Sakura decided that despite all adversities, today would be good. Unfortunately, at this moment a long haired lavender eyed bow had been watching her from a window in the second story of the large Hyuuga estate. His ear was currently glued to a cellphone, yet his eyes were glued to a short pink haired girl who had just broke into the large Hyuuga estate.
"I'm sorry, Tenten." A girl's voice filtered into his ear with a crackled noise from bad cellphone reception as soon as he was done.
"You've made me late to school, since we're not going out. I hope you're happy." The girl seemed rather unhappy that this boy was cancelling something.
"Something more interesting just wandered into my lap." He said with an uninterested voice. Nothing was truly important to Neji. Things were only interesting and not interesting. He had no chance at becoming the Hyuuga heir, but even so his close relation by blood meant a large enough sum to let him life his life without ever working. Another date with Tenten after one just last night seemed less interesting than investigating why the strange girl who was popular over night had snuck into his estate.
"You're a real ass sometimes."
"Yeah, I know." He mumbled as he shut his phone before the woman over the line could answer. "But I don't care."
Sasuke had woken at four thirty sharp. He had put on what he grabbed first from the closet, before brushing his hair and teeth. Every morning was such a pain in the ass, he had thought. Since most of his relatives were dead along with his own parents, it was Sasuke's job to take care of the business. Early every morning, he had to work an hour long shift before getting to school and every late night, he had to work from nine to midnight. His high school life was anything but wonderful. As soon as he was done getting ready, he headed down the stairs and headed towards his car. Everything was the same as it always was. Everything was going to be just as painfully boring as the next, or so he had thought until his black car had driven by a certain pink haired girl walked by humming a tune. Her hair looked a bit messier than usual, but it was definitely the same striking pink color. He blinked for a moment as she passed on by. He looked back in the rear view mirror and as clear as day, it was the pink haired woman who was suddenly everyone's favorite rumour.
As he arrived at his work, the normal people kissed his ass. The normal work was waiting for him piled up upon his desk. The normal secretary who was always trying to win over his heart was there sitting her with her shirt slightly unbuttoned on purpose. The work was just as annoying and insignificant as usual. He let out a soft sigh. Nothing would change. He was sure. A teenager ditching school for just one day was perfectly normal. That pink haired girl was just another teenager trying to be different to fit in like everyone else. She just sucks at it. That's what Sasuke decided to believe. That's what he'd always believe or so he thought.
Sakura after finally catching her breath wandered down a bit to a small park that was a bit hidden, but looked like it was open to the public. It had a swing set with a worm type of jungle gym piece that sat nailed into the grass. The swings were set in the grass as well, but it was ridden down to dirt by people's feet. Currently the girl was sitting on a patch of grass a few feet down from the swings. She was looking up at the blue clouds as she often did at lunch at school. It held a relaxing quality that could put her at ease. It reminded her of a time in childhood where children were allowed to be themselves rather that trying to fit in. In childhood things were easier.
A slight draft blew through the air sending a chill through the girl's thin clothes. Her normal red jacket was rather worn and had thinned out from its original thicker form. Plus she wore only her pajama shirt which was pretty much just a tank top. She shivered a bit, but sat there peacefully. It seemed like she had gotten so far from her house that the sounds of the city didn't even reach this part of town. She guessed that it was on the outskirts where only the rich and upper class people lived. "I wonder what sort of world this is."
"It's a lot tougher than the little world you live in." A deep voice said as a shadow loomed over the form of Sakura. The pose immediately reminded her of Ino's day of bullying which made Sakura let out a light giggle once more. Girls and their petty bullying ways were such a horrid cliché yet every school she went to had one. A pair of lavender eyes scrutinized her expression. "What are you doing?" The boy questioned as he tried to figure out the 'oh so interesting girl.' The girl shrugged not really knowing the answer. "That isn't an answer."
"Well isn't the answer quite obvious." Sakura said as she looked up to meet the eyes of a lavender boy. Her eyes widened as she sat up and looked at him with a different expression. Her eyes seemed to be digesting him and seeing into his soul which scared Neji just a bit. It was such an empty gaze that at the same time held a great depth. 'Such a contradictory way of thinking' Neji thought as he glared at the girl. Just as many of the other students in his class, they were abuzz about the woman's strange habits for the first week, but as nothing had changed, he immediately got bored and went back to other more interesting things. Yet here she was more interesting than anything in his life. Everything she wore was as plain as the woman in front of her. It looked rather plain and ordinary which is what one could not describe the girl. Her shocking pink hair stood out in a crowd along with striking green eyes. Plus the unusual habit of always listening to music or something as if it was her only source of life.
"You're not normal."
"I'm a complete freak." Sakura said in a sing songy voice that seemed to be mocking him in a strange way. He glared at her, but she seemed to disregard it completely. It was the same kind of disregard for his glare that drew him to his current girlfriend Tenten, but somehow the way this girl caught his attention was different. The feel she gave off was something that made him unconsciously want to leave. A little voice in her head was going off. Turn back. But for Neji, this meant that the girl could only be one thing-more interesting than he had ever imagined.
"Why ditch here?" He asked with curiosity clearly showing upon his face.
"Why not?" Sakura smiled as she pulled down her headphones. They had been on her head since she left her house. It was nice to let her ears feel the cold breeze blowing through—plus there was the fact that she could hear things more clearly now too. Now that they were off, the wind blowing through the trees made a soft whistling sound that went along the same harmony with the grasses' soft sound as the wind blew past it too. She closed her eyes as if listening to the soft symphony of sorts. Neji eyed her curiously wondering why the strange girl before him was now closing her eyes. It seemed like whatever she was doing was enjoyable as a perfect smile was on her lips.
"Are you ever going to answer one of my questions?" Neji plopped down beside her trying to hear or somehow see what the strange girl was seeing or hearing.
"You're ruining the music." Sakura opened one of her eyes to glare at the boy who now sat at her side before closing it to enjoy the sounds of nature.
"What music?" Neji said as he didn't even try listening. Obviously there wasn't any music. This small park was the midway between the end of his land the beginning of his neighbors. They had decided to just leave it there as a public park instead of having a feud over who it belonged to. Though it was rather close, it was still far away from the actually building part of his land or his neighbors. It was near impossible to hear any kind of music anywhere near here unless some street performer had decided to stain their good neighborhoods. As the wind picked up, the symphony of sounds was lost. It turned to harsh howls and ghastly screams of loneliness through the trees. She shivered a bit form the cold and furrowed her eyebrows in response to the end of the song and the raising temperature. The boy with lavender eyes just looked at her more strangely. Just a moment ago, it seemed as though she was perfectly happy. 'Was she bi-polar' wondered Neji. "This music gone?" He humored her.
"Yes, the music was interrupted." Sakura said in complete seriousness. He eyed her strangely.
"Will you answer one of my questions now?" Neji glared at the woman. It was indeed a good idea to cancel his date with Tenten and to follow this strange woman. Every action she did was more interesting than the rest; though something about him was a bit frustrated with her lack of response—even if that was part of why she was interesting. The girl just shrugged. It infuriated him further—another indirect response. Now he could see why Sasuke was following her all of yesterday. She loved to dance around the edge of things. That kind of thinking would truly infuriate the Uchiha which would have made Neji smile if not for the fact that is was infuriating him as well. "Why ditch today?"
"Cause I threw my alarm clock out my window." Sakura said as she let out a light yawn. It seemed like her lack of sleep was finally catching up to her now. 'Great, now that it's cold, and I'm with a stranger in a place I don't know, I get sleepy.' She tapped her cheek lightly to snap herself out of this sleepy trance, but it didn't help much as another yawn escaped her lips.
"That's an odd reason." Neji said as he stared at her confused at her answer. She yawned again before falling back into the grass. "You really are a strange girl. Most people have a real reason for doing things." He looked up at the sky, and then at the girl. His eye twitched for a moment as the interesting girl had fallen asleep in the grass. With the wind howling and in itchy grass that was so disgusting to fall asleep in, the girl had fallen asleep as if it were the most comfortable substance ever. "As a penalty for not answering my questions, sleep here." He got up to leave just as the girl shivered and twitched a bit in her slumber. The wind blew furiously. In fact it howled and howled like it had it out for this small girl who happened to be so strange and interesting. "I'm only doing this, because you'd be less interesting dead." Neji said as he glared at the girl before draping his jacket over the girl like a blanket. "If you end up dead, it's your own fault." He said as he found his way back to his large estate shared by his cousin. As he reached the large warm estate, the pocket of his pants began to sound. He reached in and picked up his phone.
"Are you even coming to school?" Tenten's voice filtered through the phone unevenly—bad cell phone connection.
"I'll be there soon."
"Was it as interesting as you thought?" Tenten asked a bit irritated.
"Yep."
Sasuke looked up as Neji walked into the cafeteria. Obviously he had been ditching school again. For the first four hours of school, he was gone. Not that it matter to Sasuke. It was normal for Neji to disappear every now and then. Sakura on the other hand was gone today and that meant that nothing but monotony was for him today. The strange occurrence of Sakura on the road was no mistake. The girl was ditching today. Maybe she was just as normal as every other girl. Nothing would ever change his life. He was sure.
Sakura awoke—when—she wasn't sure—where—no idea—how she was hungry. Her stomach was rumbling when she woke up. She felt wonderful though which was surprisingly. Sakura was sure that she had fallen asleep in the middle of a park with a fierce wind. She should have been shivering. It was then she noticed a large black jacket lying on top of her. "Oh." She picked it up and put it on. It was warm and rather large. She figured it belonged to Neji, Hinata's cousin. She looked up at the sky. It seemed to be setting. Unfortunately it meant that it was getting late which isn't good for a girl who is both lost and confused as to where she is. She shook out her pink locks hoping to remove all traces of grass. "It seemed like a good idea…" She mumbled as she walked out of the park and headed down the street utterly confused. "Where the hell am I?" She wondered as she tried to remember what course she had taken.
She wandered about taking different turns here and there hoping to get right on track. In the end, she ended up back at the park again. She sighed and decided to just walk towards the direction she had come. Her stomach grumbled loudly as she wandered about. "I really hate today…" She said as the same car as that morning strolled on by. The window of the car rolled down as a familiar voice came through the window.
"Haruno, what the hell are you doing here still?" Sasuke said angrily.
"I'm having a picnic." Sakura said as her stomach growled. Her mood seemed to be not so great. She said sarcasticly.
"Someone's in a great mood, not so cryptic now?" Sasuke smirked. So it was all a façade he thought.
"Give me food…" She said obviously brushing off his comment. Her mind was solely focused upon acquiring food.
"What?"
"Food…" Sakura mumbled as she rubbed her stomach. He stared at her strangely but unlocked the door. The hungry girl climbed in and buckled her seatbelt. Her stomach let out a loud rumble and Sasuke stared at her and then it a couple of times. He seemed to be in disbelief. "I'm really hungry." Sakura replied as she rubbed her stomach that sounded like it was eating itself.
"Did you not bring food or something?" He said as he drove down the lane.
"I kind of just wandered here on a whim." She laughed uneasily as her stomach growled again.
"That is foolish. You'd have ended up worse if I didn't drive by."
"Blah. I'm hungry…" Sakura said as she chewing on one of her nails.
"I get that already. We're here." Sasuke said as he parked his car in front of one of the many large estates that Sakura was wandering by before.
"Food…" Sakura mumbled as Sasuke led the way out towards his house. Sakura walked in not really caring where she was. Her hand was rubbing her stomach still. He supposed that even girls have a limit to keeping up their images. He opened the door for her, and the girl stumbled in. Sasuke followed her surprised by her lack of reaction. All those who entered his house were normally struck by shock of its enormity and value. Sakura's mind was fully filled with the idea of getting food into her stomach. He slowly guided her towards the kitchen eyeing her carefully. Sasuke was looking for any kind of wonder or amazement towards his home. Even if she was used to this kind of atmosphere, the girl should still have been surprised, but not a reaction could be seen. As they entered his kitchen with marble table tops and the mahogany cabinets, her eyes finally widened at just the smell of food in there.
"There should be something in the fridge. I don't really eat here, but the servants keep it stocked anyways." He leaned against one of the marble counters and scrutinized as the pink haired girl practically skipped across the room with glee towards the fridge. Immediately the girl opened it. There were pre-made sandwiches of all kinds along with snacks all packaged for Sasuke to take at any time. Each one was labeled with a day and Sasuke's name. It seemed like the staff cared for him enough to make something like this nearly everday.
"Don't you eat these?" Sakura asked with confusion as she pulled out the one labeled for today.
"Not really." Sasuke replied as he looked up at the ceiling as if it were the most interesting thing in the universe. He heard approaching footsteps and looked down to see an angry expression on the pink haired girl's face. It was the kind of face she had made before smacking Naruto, but Sasuke realized this a bit too late as Sakura punched him clear across his face. He glared down at the girl rather surprised at her violent reaction. "And what was that for?" He grumbled through his teeth as he very nearly hissed at the girl with anger. Sakura just turned her head and looked off before un-wrapping her sandwich and taking a bite.
"I just felt like hitting you in the face." She said as she swallowed a gulp of food. "It has a big red target." She said in her sing songy voice that confounded the Uchiha once again.
"You enjoy hitting random strangers." He glared at the girl both out of frustration and for the fact that the woman packed a punch. " I hardly know you."
"Yet you've given me a sandwich." She smirked as this left him speechless for a moment. " Sakura walked out of the kitchen and looked at the rather large waiting room she had come through. It had great decorations and paintings upon the walls along with a winding staircase nearby in a corner. Everything was perfect in place. "Do you live here?" Her eyebrows furrowed together. Sasuke snapping out of his speechlessness immediately smirked. 'Finally that woman does something normal.' He smirked. 'She is just going to be another one of them now that she can see.'
"Yes." Sasuke smirked. "I own this house and as such everything in it." Now the girl would immediately try to gain his affection, and things would be normal—just as they ever were.
"No, you don't." Sakura's eyebrows managed to get closer together causing a crevice line to form on her pale face. She bit her lip in frustration as she walked over and touched a piece of furniture. Sasuke scrutinized her every action. Her words clearly stated that she was in denial, and her actions matched it perfectly as she trying to see if it was real—but the one of her voice was a grave one, as if she were pitying him.
"Yes, I do. I am the heir to the Uchiha industries grand fortune." He glared at her back wanting to see what this girl's strange expression would be. Her fingers began to trace a thin long mantel table just behind the sofa. The wood was a warm mahogany with a satin red cover on it. Upon that was a gilded candle holder along with other ornaments. Her fingers traced lightly upon the wood slowly feeling the soft satin texture under her fingertips. She raised both hands to either side of her head and began to rub her temples as if having a huge migraine. "Is it that hard to believe?" Pride dripped from her words as he moved ever so slightly towards the girl at an angle that allowed him to look at the pink haired girl's expression; just as he was doing this, said woman turned her head to gaze at the man in question. Her hands dropped, but one remained to finger upon her lips as if she was worried about something. That something seemed to be Sasuke.
"But you don't live here." Her bright green eyes held an emotion that Uchiha Sasuke was not expecting. Her eyes held a sad pathetic gaze that looked so familiar—but the sadness overpowered everything.
"Stop repeating yourself." Sasuke said as a strange wave of anger seemed to be growing within him. Sakura looked down at the ground as if already having anticipated such a reaction. "I live here." Sasuke said through his teeth once more. It was strange. All this girl had to do was one thing that he didn't expect, and suddenly his anger and interest were at its peak. 'Christ, I only met her yesterday.' He tried to remind himself, but her every action always seemed to be the opposite of what she would say. It was like a living breathing contradictory statement. "Can't you be normal?"
"Oh, I'll try my very hardest." Sakura said in her sing songy voice as she suddenly decided to return to her sandwich, and took a large bite. As fast as the anger had come, the girl had changed the conversation that swiftly.
"There you go again, little cryptic statements." Sasuke smirked.
"Here you are, somehow saving me by stalking me." The girl smirked in return and took another bite of the sandwich; nearly half of it was devoured completely.
"There you are, the girl I've only really known for a day."
"Here I am." Sakura chirped as she took another bite.
"There you are." He watched her in silence as she finished eating the sandwich. This woman was sent by his dead parents to haunt his very existence. She was an enigma that needed to be solved, yet it was an impregnable fort. "A futile effort…" He mumbled thoughtlessly. Normally it took him a day to figure out a person, before they became normal to him and quite boring. Even his best friend who was spontaneous by all means of the word was a bit boring after a while. His only good thing was that he wasn't easily controlled much like the pink haired woman in front of him. To distract him from his slightly dizzying thoughts, he glanced at the clock. It was very nearly eight o'clock—time to jump ship and go back to that hell hole full of ass kissers.
"'You late for a very important date'?" Sakura quoted as she glanced up at the clock as well. He sneered at her childish comment.
"I have some work to attend to. I'll drive you home now." Sakura nodded as Sasuke led her back outside towards his car. He walked over to the driver's side, and Sakura climbed into the passenger's seat as she had done before. "Where do you live?" Sasuke said as the pink haired girl buckled her seat belt while Sasuke left his undone.
"To be quite honest, I'm not sure. I go by land locations." Sakura said as she started to drum on the dashboard. (1)
"Hn." Sasuke said as he pushed the gas pedal. He drove by the houses slowly leading towards the houses of smaller and less property value. He glared at the pink haired woman who looked rather confused but enjoying the ride. Obviously directions were not her thing. They were heading more into town where the houses looked familiar, but none of them looked familiar enough to Sakura that Sasuke could just drop her there. It was rather annoying as the minutes seemed to be dragging on. His mind was on finishing his mundane work on time by getting there on time; rather than set upon examining the way the girl was looking at the warmly lit houses full of families eating and chatting and interacting. He looked at the clock in his dashboard to find it to be eight forty two. He no longer had time to dilly dally and find this strange woman's house.
There were two options: leave the girl right there to get further lost on her own, or drop her off after work thus taking her with him. As he stood at his office firm with the pink haired woman with gossip flying about them, he kind of wished he had chosen the first choice.
The woman's drab appearance only made his employees even more suspicious. Not only was the girl wearing cargo pants that looked faded and more suited for a mall than an establish business place like Uchiha industries, but there was a jacket draped around her that looked too large to belong to the girl herself. It was of fine material and nearly the same size as Sasuke's actual build. Plus she had slipped on her headphones that were clearly connected to nothing, yet she was humming making those around her think her crazy. Rumors were one thing at school, but rumors in the adult world that Sasuke lived in lead to unneeded publicity about the rich Uchiha Sasuke. He glared at her as the two entered the elevator along with a middle aged man who wore a thin gray suit.
"Haruno" He said in a harsh whisper. Sakura's headphones completely blocked out most sound, so Sakura did not hear this, but the man in the elevator did. Not only did they enter at the same time, walk into the same elevator, but he knew her name! What a scandal! (2) "Haruno." He said a bit louder hoping that the man wasn't listening, but knew that of course he was. The girl didn't flinch a bit and continued her happy humming. He lifted up one of her headphones which did catch the girl's attention. She pulled them down and lifted one eyebrow towards him.
"Yes?" The man eyed her curiously hearing her voice for the first time. The girl looked rather bored and yawned. Even though she had taken a good nap earlier in the grass, it didn't make up for the fact that she had been up for at least twenty hours. He just glared down at the gesture as the man in the elevator got out reluctantly as it reached the third floor. The man had wanted to observe the woman in order to spread the gossip already surrounding the Uchiha name.
"When the rumours appear in the tabloids about you tomorrow, it will be your own fault." Sasuke said as the door opened to the fourth floor. "Take the next one." He said to them and immediately he closed the doors. Sakura eyed him curiously.
"It's all my fault." She repeated with a sing songy voice as per normal, but something about it was more reserved as if immediately catching on to the more professional side of the Uchiha. A thoughtless phrase like one she had mentioned at his home popped up in her mind, but somehow she held it back. Sometimes speaking less was more powerful when trying to help someone. They soon reached the top floor as apparently the words of the boss traveled fast, no one dared to touch a button for the middle elevator. Sakura entered into a less busy area than the first floor was. This area had four desks in front of it before leading to two double doors that would probably lead to the area where Sasuke was heading. The secretaries looked up at the strange pink haired woman standing next to their ticket to a nice life. That woman was undoubtedly ruining their dreams of somehow marrying the rich Uchiha heir. Sasuke stomped by them not paying them the least bit of notice. Sakura followed him but stared at each of them with their own version of beauty. One was shy, others were bolder, but each seemed to have fallen for the boss of this great establishment. From the corner of his eye, Sasuke watched the pink haired woman taking this all in. 'Of course, the girl now realizes what sort of person I truly am,' Sasuke thought as he opened one of the doors and left it open for Sakura to follow.
"Come." He almost commanded. He would use the strange woman for at least one thing. The woman in the building would no longer throw themselves at his feet, for now there was a presumable girlfriend. Sakura surprisingly enough followed his order and closed the door before promptly slapping him across the face. "Of course there's a catch…" He mumbled as he rubbed his cheek. It seemed as though the girl was holding back before, for this slap was far more painful than the punch he had earlier received. 'I can see why Naruto was in pain…' Sasuke admitted to only his thoughts.
"You really ought to treat your employees as more than little ants upon which you can stomp." Sakura said as she strolled past him and promptly sat in his chair the boss's chair.
"That is all they are." Sasuke smirked in triumph. He was starting to figure out how the woman worked. "You should realize that you are sworn to secrecy about this. Few people know my true power over things." He glared at her as he leaned against the closed double doors.
"The path of success is indeed a lonely one." Sakura mumbled as she slipped her headphones back on and got up. "I'll go sit in the corner and stay out of your way." Sasuke glared at her.
"Again with those cryptic statements." He glared at the girl who walked towards a corner and closed her eyes and hummed. 'How could one girl be so infuriating in such a small way? She does what I want, yet it's everything that I don't want. You answer the questions that I never ask, and dance around the questions need answers.' Sasuke glared as the girl hummed her sweet tune before drifting into a light sleep. It would be the most infuriating yet calming work he had ever done at night. 'Now that woman's got me contradicting.'
Ino was waiting for him as she did nearly every morning. Other girls would do it too, but other girls weren't as lucky as Ino. Ino actually spoke to Sasuke and was considered one within the walls of that spectacuallar group with which he hung out. A bright smile danced upon her lips as the familiar black car that Sasuke always drove pulled up. Hopefully today would be another wonderful day. That pink haired she devil woman who was bewitching Sasuke (and in truth making Ino feel guilty for things she never felt guilty for) was not at school yesterday. Perhaps, the woman had miraculously been hit by a car or contracted a deadly virus. At least things would once return to normal, Ino would Sasuke's number one girl and Ino would never have that strange feeling in her chest pounding ever again. She would never feel the green horned rage of jealously that she felt whenever she glanced at Sakura for some strange woman. At least that's what Ino had hoped.
Sasuke parked into his spot and opened up his car door. There he stood in all his miraculous glory, but just as everything seemed perfect, the other door of his car swung open. Her eyes widened, wondering who had come with Sasuke before. Most of his friends lived down near Ino and not so far near the forest like Sasuke. Who in the world could it be? It was Ino's worst nightmare as a pink blob of hair massed from the car door. The painfully annoying blank look in her green eyes confirmed that the passenger in Sasuke's car was none other than the enemy whom Ino hated deeply. Gasps were heard all round them as the pink hair girl nonchalantly shut the door and walked away from Sasuke before muttering a simple "Thanks" in a sing songy voice. The pink hair girl passed by Ino and all the others in shock and entered the school building with the same air of nonchalance as ever.
"Sasuke…" Ino mumbled as Sasuke followed her suit and grabbed his bag out of his trunk before walking into the building rather bored as he always did. Ino shuddered as a wave of horror washed over her body. "No… you're mine." A tear felt as though it was going to fall, but Ino quickly wiped it away before trying to regain composure and follow Sasuke. Ino looked strong and perfect on the outside as she always did. From somewhere inside her mind, she could hear the voice of the pink haired girl smiling warmly and speaking the words that Ino dreaded to hear.
"Looks are deceiving." Ino shuddered once more.
Hinata had been slightly depressed all of yesterday. Her new friend had magically disappeared and was currently ignoring all her calls. (3) Even though Naruto had tried to cheer her up, by taking her out to eat ramen with him yesterday, she couldn't really enjoy it—not counting the fact that being alone with Naruto made her so nervous, she barely could breathe let alone eat. "Did I do something wrong?" Hinata mumbled as she climbed into her cousin Neji's car. Hinata was old enough to drive and had her permit but was too timid to drive the necessary hours yet.
"Did you?" Neji asked as he turned the key in the ignition and pulled out of their complex. Hinata stared at him strangely as he only had on a thin shirt without a jacket which was foolish since the winds were picking up lately making it colder. He noticed her obvious staring. "I lent it to an interesting girl I met." Neji's thoughts went back to the strange girl whom he had encountered just yesterday. He had checked on her at seven or so at night, but the girl was gone along with his jacket.
"Couldn't you have brought another?" Hinata said as she thought of the many jackets that lie within his closet doors. Neji laughed.
"Whatever." Neji said as he pushed down on the gas pedal a little harder than usual causing his car to shoot forward down the street. Hinata pushed her fingers together nervously. Neji was a nice cousin, but he didn't really seem to care about anything or anyone just the things that were interesting and things that were not. It was quite scary cause sometimes he had almost killed Hinata to make things interesting. She hoped it wasn't one of those times and shut her eyes tightly. Neji just laughed in response as he reved the engine. He darted through the traffic. Death defying things like almost hitting people or other cars was something that was interesting to Neji unfortunately. Within twenty minutes they reached the school. As soon as Hinata was sure that the car stopped she opened her eyes. The school buildings stood before them.
"Thanks." She said before climbing out of the car. Her heart was racing as she quickly ran into the building heading towards the restroom. As soon as the door was closed, she leaned against it and breathed in slowly hoping to slow her heart down. Sometimes it seemed like Neji did things just to try and kill her or make her think that he wanted her dead. It scared her. Hinata took one final deep breath before getting up and exiting into the halls. At least this life threatening morning had made her forget her friend Sakura's absence yesterday.
"Hinata-chan, Sakura-chan's back!" Naruto said as he bounded through the halls with Sasuke being dragged by the collar of his shirt. He pulled her into a hug of happiness.
"Eh?" Hinata said surprised by Naruto embrace.
"I thought that she died." He said with a wide grin that made Hinata laugh lightly. Even Hinata who loved the boy, knew that was a foolish thought. "But according to Sasuke-teme, she just got lost after ditching." A teacher glared at them lightly apparently hearing the key word of ditching. "I mean she got lost." Naruto said as he laughed uneasily. "Isn't that great news?"
"You overreact Naruto." Sasuke mumbled as he punched Naruto making him drop his shirt.
"What was—Hey it's Sakura-chan!" Naruto suddenly started waving towards said pink haired woman who looked rather bored with her headphones on.
"Hi Naruto-san." Sakura walked over towards them and pulled off her headphones. "Hyuuga-san, Uchiha-san." She smiled lightly.
"I heard you were over at Sasuke-teme's place." Naruto said as stroked an imaginary beard thinking of perverted thoughts. "So what happened?" Sakura punched him in the gut.
"That's improper to imply in front of ladies. Let's go Hinata." Sakura said as she grinned towards Hinata before turning and walking towards her classroom. Hinata ran after her while Naruto and Sasuke looked after their retreating figures with curiosity. It seemed like a real friendship was going to grow between the four strangers. A hyperactive boy, an overly shy girl, a bored cynical boy, and a strange girl that somehow managed to filtered through them.
(4) It seemed things were slowly changing. The social pariah Sakura now had friends who worried for her and who were slowly changing whether they knew it or not. The halls were emptying and nearly any students wanted to be late. As her new friends disappeared one after the other headed to their classes, Sakura walked towards her locker thinking thoughts that she abandoned at the beginning of the year. Sakura hoped things would go unnoticed. Sakura hoped that maybe it wouldn't be so bad to have an interesting junior year. Sakura kept that hope until Yamanaka Ino, her favorite cliché walked up and slapped her again. All of the other students had gone to their classrooms and most of anyone who was witnessing this knew that they should leave when Ino starts a fight lest they want to be in it as well. The two were all alone.
"Why do you wear those stupid headphones?" Ino pulled on them, but to her surprise Sakura was fighting back once more like she had done with Hinata. Her pale hand was firmly gripped on the cord.
"They were a present." Sakura said as she yanked the cord out of Ino's hand as if Ino were only a child. Ino fell forward a bit and faced the ground. 'Why her Sasuke-kun?' "I'm sorry, Ino. These I cannot surrender to you." Sakura reached out to put her hand on Ino's back to comfort her, but Ino's hand reached out and slapped it away.
"I don't need pity from you." There was pure rage in Ino's eyes. It was blind angry but more than that it looked sad to Sakura. Ino looked up at Sakura and reached back to slap Sakura again, but as it came to the proximity of Sakura's face, Sakura caught it and held it tight. "Let go!" Ino shouted as she reached her free hand to slap her only to have it caught as well. "Let go!" Ino struggled in the girl's grasps. "I'll scream!" Ino shouted as she struggled futilely. Tears started to fall from Ino's eyes. "Let go… please…" Ino's head and shrugged forward. (5)
"You really love him." Sakura said as she looked down at the blonde haired girl crumping in her arms. Ino nodded her head as the silent tears fell to the ground. "For that I'm sorry." Sakura let go of Ino's hands and wrapped her arms around Ino's small crumpled up figure.
"Why… you're not supposed to be kind… you're not supposed to be like this…" Ino mumbled as her tears continued falling slipping through her façade.
"Looks are deceiving." Ino flinched as she heard the pink haired girl's words in her ears resonating. The blonde looked up to the woman with blurried vision. No words were said. Sakura lead Ino towards the girl's bathroom and the two just stood there for a while. Ino was leaning over the sink the whole time trying to figure something about while Sakura leaned on a sink humming a sad tune while rubbing one of her temples as if frustrated with something. Time went by. How much? Neither one of them was sure, but they knew that soon students would fill the halls.
"Nothing'll change between us."
"I know."
"You know I'll win him over someday."
"Do you really want that?"
"Not sure."
"What if you don't want it in the end?"
"I will."
"What if there is someone better?"
"Is there?"
"That's evasive."
"Like you aren't."
"True. What if someone loved him more?"
"I'd give up."
"Even if he loved you?"
"If they really loved him more, he'd eventually fall in love with her."
"I see. You're a better woman than I."
With that the two went their separate ways as soon as the bell rung. The two weren't friends. One just knew that they could trust the other. The other knew they shouldn't trust anyone.
Sakura walked out of the girl's room just as the bell rung. She looked as people exited their classrooms. Eyes were glued to her as she heard descant whispers of a false relationship between Sasuke and her. People love to make things seem more interesting than they are. Oh well. She walked towards her locker and opened it and grabbed her notebook for A.P. Calculus B.C. It was then she realized that Hinata's cousin would be there. It'd be a good time to return his jacket. Sakura entered the classroom. Kakashi eyed her curiously probably wondering about why she was gone, but he didn't bother to actually question her. Her eyes drifted up towards where Neji always sat, and there he was sitting proudly at the back of the room. She approached it while having everyone's eyes glued to her before noticing the black jacket.
'Probably borrowed Sasuke's jacket or something.' They all thought but to their surprise and to Sasuke who walked in behind her she placed the jacket in front of Neji.
"Thanks." She bowed her head and walked back down the aisle to her own seat in the empty classroom. Sasuke looked just as surprised as everyone else in the room did. 'She was at Neji's…' His brows furrowed as he walked past her towards his seat. Sakura just closed her eyes and sighed. 'Here we go again…' She thought as she imagined the great rumours to come because of this. She bit down on her bottom lip and pulled her headphones up hoping to block everyone out. It seemed like every time something good happened, bad ramifications just had to come right after.
Class ended, and Sakura practically ran out of the classroom. 'I'd rather not face the millions of questions in the eyes of people who are too scared to ask them.' She thought as she closed her eyes and walked to her locker. Rumours didn't bother her, but Sakura did distinctly remember Hinata saying that Neji had a girlfriend. Now she would have two women who have it out for her; and frankly Sakura didn't want someone to dump milk or juice or something on her hair again. She let out a loud sigh to the surprise of the others in the hall.
She closed her eyes and headed towards her third period. Hinata watched as the girl who seemed so vivacious earlier—well not vivacious but happy and less bored than usual—walked around like she was utterly dreading something. It was as though Sakura had a premonition about some big storm to come; and even though she saw it coming, she could do nothing about it. What a helpless feeling? Hinata thought as she watched her friend look utterly defeated. Later on as she entered third period, she would find out why.
"Did you hear?"
"Yeah, that Haruno girl not only slept with Sasuke, but Neji too in the same night!"
"What a slut!"
"I mean gosh! She gets to fuck both of the hottest guys on campus?! Neji already has a girlfriend!"
"Is she going to go after that whole group of boys?"
"Well, I heard that she was a well known slut at her old school, I heard it from a reliable source. So obviously she doesn't care whether they are taken or not!"
"How do you know?" Hinata said as she turned back to face one of the girls gossiping right behind her. The girl just made a sour expression. "How do you know that she… uh.. w-well.. sl-e… did that with N-Neji-sama?"
"Besides the fact, that she is a slut which everyone knows. She was showing off his jacket this morning and then gave it back to him saying 'Thanks for the fuck'." The girl said as she glared at Hinata like she was an idiot. Hinata knew that the girls who were in Ino's group of bully's normally lied, but something about this sent red flags up in Hinata's mind. There was the fact that indeed Sakura was wearing a rather black jacket this morning and later after second period she no longer had it; but more than that, Neji indeed had not brought a jacket to school and had mentioned that some girl had it. There was doubt in her heart, but Hinata dare not speak it.
Fourth period went by with rumors flying all around Sakura and Neji and Sasuke getting more ridiculous as each one went by. Thankfully it was lunch period and Sakura could get away from it all today, but unfortunately, she remembered that last night she had resided at her own home, and as such didn't pack a lunch.
"Shit." Sakura said as she ran a hand through her short pink locks. She pushed the door to the lunchroom that she so rarely visited. Her wallet was clutched in her hand as she walked into the short line for lunches. Everyone else seemed to have their lunch already. They were happily seated and had perfect views of everyone's favorite gossip girl, Sakura. "Oh well." She shrugged and started to hum a sweet tune as the line slowly progressed. She grabbed a tray along with an apple and a bottle of lemonade. The lunch server eyed her curiously as she presented her money. He stared at her like she was a foreign creature probably for the fact that she had been in the cafeteria a total number of one times. "I normally pack lunch." Sakura responded warmly as the man nodded his head and gave her change. She smiled and walked towards the trashcan humming the same tune as before. A foot stuck out probably meant to trip her, but Sakura just walked over it and slipped the tray on top of the trash. With apple and lemonade in hand, the girl opened the gym doors with all eyes on her humming a sweet tune. She walked out and suddenly a bucket full of water fell down upon her head. She lifted it up and gently set it on the ground, before taking off her headphones and wiping them off before slipping them into a pocket in her cargo pants. The whole crowd watched as the girl didn't react in the slightest.
A single girl stood up and looked at the pink haired girl's back. "Neji's taken." People snickered and laughed a bit, but Sakura just looked back at her blankly before turning back around and humming the same sweet song until it faded as Sakura exited the building. 'If that girl only acted like everyone else, she'd get along fine.' Neji thought as he looked at the cafeteria doors as if waiting for Sakura to return. His girlfriend who had had actually nothing to do with the prank was a bit annoyed.
"I can fight my own battles." Tenten mumbled as she looked at the girl who had pulled the prank on Tenten's behalf. The girl just smiled and pleaded that it was only to teach the girl some rules. Tenten sighed. She was more concerned that this little act had actually gotten him more interested in Haruno Sakura. For the most part, she was right.
Sakura walked outside and saw Hinata, Naruto, Sasuke, and surprisingly enough Ino. Ino glared at Sakura but looked away in a flash.
"Hi." As she got closer, the small group noticed that Sakura was currently wet. While she was still far away, Hinata stood up with a napkin she had from her lunch to dry her off somehow.
"What happened Haruno-san?"
"She probably instigated things." Sasuke said dryly as he popped a grape into his mouth. Ino seemed pleased at Sasuke's rather dislike at Sakura. Naruto on the other hand seemed rather displeased.
"Shut up, Teme! Are you okay, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked as he stood up as well to meet her.
"Fine, I guess this makes it final." Sakura said as she disregarded Hinata and Naruto's concern by sitting down on the grass. She gripped the apple and took a bite.
"What's final?" Sasuke asked as he once again looked at the strange woman in front of him.
"I'm never ditching again." The four of them all gave the pink haired woman a strange look, but Sakura disregarded it. "There is one good thing from ditching though."
"I'll bite, what?" Sasuke asked.
"I didn't have to wash my apple." She grinned widely and laughed. Naruto and Hinata laughed lightly because they were half expecting a real answer while Ino just stared at the woman strangely. Sasuke smirked at the girl's answer. It was something that he expected, yet never expected of the contradictory girl who sat there. At that moment Sakura decided something. 'I can hope.'
1. Sakura's school is only a thirty minute bike ride away, but she gets lost a lot so she wakes up at five thirty to make sure she has time to get lost for sure. LOL
2. No one knows that the two came in the same car.
3. Sakura didn't put her phone in her cargo pants. I left it out on purpose people…
4. Do you get the title now?
5. I had actually planned to do this a lot later in this, but since Sakura came to school with Sasuke her breaking point came a lot faster. Oh and just because Ino broke down, doesn't mean she likes her.
High School is one big cliche as I see it, so if you think some of the bullying that is so cliche really does happen, so I had to put it in. Feel free to give me any advice, cause in each chapter something will happen to Sakura.
"The nail that sticks up is sure to get nailed down first."
The only problem is Sakura is already bent and impossible to nail down. :D Did you get that? I did. I'm hilarious.
The reason I put this under humor is because this is smart humor. Yeah so REVIEW NOW! Please?
