Predator and Prey
Stung
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The world spins every moment of every day...
and yet, I continue to stand so still—frozen—in the same place.
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Sakura woke up early for school, being routine to do so. Getting up from the covers, she took a stretch and headed towards the bathroom. After taking a quick shower, she went to her closet, choosing a pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt. The main reason she wore them was because they were comfortable to wear. She then proceeded to comb the long pink locks before her fingers separated it into two parts, and began to braid them; her attention focused on reciting some mathematical formulas. While she waited for her braided hair to dry, she headed downstairs where her mother was reading the newspaper.
"Good morning dear," her mother smiled as she took a sip of her coffee.
The pink-haired girl returned the smile, pecked her mother's cheek and sat down for breakfast. Nothing more was said for a few minutes as the two females enjoyed the peaceful morning before the day officially began. Sakura sighed at ease as she smelled the sweet aromas of the small kitchen.
"How's school so far?" her mother asked as she turned the page, her bright eyes focused on the young girl.
Sakura waited until she fully chewed her food before speaking, "It's…okay."
It was not a lie, even though what occurred daily would be considered contradictory, it was simply a routine for her. Silence filled the room again after her mother nodded, her features saddening in understanding, unknown to the pink head who continued eating. It was not long before Sakura finished her breakfast and gathered her backpack to check if she had everything needed for school. The inside of it was clean and organized. Assignments and such were in different colored folders to differentiate subjects or classes.
"Have a nice day at school. Remember that I'll be working late tonight so some food is already prepared in the refrigerator," said her mother while Sakura slipped on her backpack.
"Hai. Bye, okaa-san," replied Sakura as she headed towards the door.
Her mother continued to watch her slip into shoes and her face appeared worried like usual. "Be safe."
Closing the door to her small house, the pink-haired girl followed the pathway onto the sidewalk and continued from there. The school was a little far but it did not matter because she had plenty of time to arrive there. She had walked to school since she could remember. Although there were other forms of transportation, such as the bike she was given when she turned seven but did not quite learn how to ride it. Of course, the frequent falls and scrapes only lessened her confidence and the desire of learning how to do it. Soon enough, she became afraid of anything with wheels.
The streets were not busy at this time, excluding the people rushing here and there to get to work, so she often found herself daydreaming when she took these long walks to school. She thought about many things, like how life would be after high school when she entered the real world and would be able to pursue what she wanted without worrying about what people thought. However, she had not fully decided what to choose for a career. There were many options, but none that gained her complete interest and passion.
Well, there was one profession—she shook her head knowing that of all the things she lacked, money was the predominant one and what she needed to follow that certain dream. It was not possible. She had been taught at an early age that life tended to be difficult, especially when you had nothing to your name.
After a while, the school's white and gray walls came into view and brought her out of her thoughts. Her hands took hold of her backpack's straps as her head slightly declined when she entered the campus. As usual, students were not there yet. The teachers arrived at this time so the school gate was open. The first place she headed towards was the library, as always, where she felt was the most peaceful place in the whole school.
Taking a seat, she took out her heavy books from her bag to finish some studying for an upcoming test in the afternoon. A test that Ms. Murahama, one of the strictest history teachers, had repeated would be extremely hard and important. Sakura loved reading and studying never bored her, yet there was something about Murahama-san that caused her to be nervous about her performance in class. She was the kind of student that kept to herself in the classroom and listened attentively to what the teacher was saying. Her high marks definitely proved that. However, with Murahama-san as a teacher, one cannot be too overconfident and skip a study session.
The tranquility of her sanctuary was broken more than half an hour later when students starting showing up. She glanced at the clock above her, sadly noting that it was indeed almost time for class, and closed her book. Gathering her things, she left the library holding the first textbook she needed against her chest and walked at a rather slow pace towards her class.
She did not hate school or the students. It was really no one in particular that hated her either. They all treated her as the same as the school's average nerd. She was picked on, laughed at... basically what every unwanted nerd goes through every day in the life of high school. And she was used to it.
There was one girl she had met when she was about eight who was actually nice to her when no one else would be. The girl was very pretty: a blue-eyed blonde with a nice smile and outgoing personality. But after that day, she never saw her again. She remembered the disappointment and sadness she felt when she ran out into the playground, ready to play with her first friend and the kind blonde was nowhere in sight. Later, she learned that her new friend had moved to another city. It was not until the first year of high school that she spotted the blonde in the hallways out of nowhere. She was too shy to say anything and besides, the girl would probably not remember her anyway.
The girl was everything Sakura was not, especially now that they have grown older, the differences were completely obvious. She had long, flowing blonde hair that shined with every flip and eyes of sky blue, which everyone envied. The blonde got along with most of the school population and all wanted to be her friend, or more accurately, in her social circle. Sakura did not realize, at that time, that she was staring too much until another girl named Ami suddenly shouted out, "Lesbian!"
She had jerked her head towards the yell, completely horrified. Soon everyone in hearing range erupted in laughter while they pointed at her. Reddening in complete embarrassment, she was paralyzed when the blonde girl also looked at her. It was like time had stopped, but everything else around her kept going and going.
"This hideous bitch is in love with you, Ino-chan!" yelled Ami, clutching her stomach as fits of hysterical laughter erupted.
Sakura could not remember anything else of that incident because she ran away once seeing the look of sheer disgust on her role model's face. That was three years ago. Luckily, it was forgotten when second year came around and she learned to be more careful of her surroundings.
Of course, there were times when she was oblivious to students' actions. When hit or pushed, it was not serious enough to leave bruises. The only bruises she did manage to get were from tripping over her own feet. While she could not help being a nerd, she definitely could not help being a klutz.
She took a seat in the front of the class, always arriving first, though she was not the teacher's pet as assumed. She never actually spoke to them unless it was absolutely necessary. Therefore, many teachers had a hard time remembering her name, but they did recognize her. The pink hair was unforgettable. While it was fashionable to dye hair in every single possible color, all girls stood away from pink because of her. They were probably afraid of being cursed with ugly looks.
Her grades were in the range of excellence but not a hundred percent. She was intelligent but not a genius. That title belonged to a classmate by the name of Nara Shikamaru. He was definitely known as the lazy one throughout school. So she thought that too until she was paired up for a project with him last year. She was impressed by the work he did turn in, but he would never turn in all the assignments on time claiming it was 'troublesome', and that made him barely pass all his classes.
Sakura envied him and could not understand why he did that. He had it easy. She spent her time studying but was not able to hold much information when she became preoccupied on what to expect from her classmates each day. Sometimes they ignored her; she was just a dirty speck of existence on some days. Most of the time, she became the center of attention, but in a negative way. Going through this ambiguous predicament daily, she found it difficult to study alone in her room when the humiliating thoughts kept playing and rewinding in her head.
The sounds of conversation and other various noises emerged from the hallways as cars with loud music honked while the drivers parked, signaling the arrival of the student body. Adjusting her pencil so it lay straight on her desk, she stared at the front waiting for class to begin.
The rest of the day went by quickly. Normally, she ate lunch by herself without the company of another human being. It hurt being alone. She would find herself watching how others acted with each other. And from those observations, discovered the traits and personalities of her peers, yet she was the stranger, known to sit outside on a bench with a notebook in her lap.
If anything, paper and books became her best friends in the long periods of solitude in a mass of young people like herself. Learning to adapt to her environment, she became used to it because there was not any other choice. It was too late to befriend others due to her reputation. Finally, the second to the last class began and another day of school will soon be over.
And she was secretly glad.
Gradually, clouded obsidian eyes opened and dark eyelashes flickered to adjust to the brightness of the room as his head turned on the pillow to stare at red digital numbers. The young man annoyingly brushed away the black strands of hair in his eyes that had fallen when he turned to the side. He was late for school and it was most likely due to the fact that he did not set the alarm last night... again.
Sighing quietly, he sat up as one of his hands massaged the back of his neck, taking time to wake up completely. Soon after, he stood from the bed and picked black clothing from the closet without so much caring what was chosen.
There was not really much to eat in the kitchen as he went in there and made a mental note to buy—an extremely dull task in his opinion—groceries later on. Meanwhile, he threw something edible in the microwave and tried to remember where he left his school things. He found them laid carelessly on the couch and returned with them into the kitchen. He took a few bites before also grabbing a helmet as he left the house.
He lived alone.
Starting up his black motorcycle, which he bought himself because he was sick of taking the metro to school, he drove onto the street. In the past, girls and women traveling by metro giggled too much around him when he did nothing but mind his own business on his way to school. He would not have cared since none had the courage to approach him, but he grew tired of it. It only influenced his decision to get his own form of transportation when he received attention from males—who did possess that courage—as well.
The streets were busy; various cars zoomed by him, encouraging and daring him to engage in speed. He pressed down on the petal gaining the desired velocity. He cut through cars causing them to stop violently and honk repeatedly at him. The act only made him more reckless; it was all in game and he cut through several more cars that screeched as some halted caught unaware. The race was short lived when the school building appeared too soon for his liking.
He parked near the front, where professors' vehicles were located and left his helmet hanging from a handle of the bike. No one dared to go near it anyway. They would face serious injury if they did. Most people of school authority included as they, too, kept their distance if possible, all cringing from the reputation of his family name.
He entered the building, the halls were empty, exactly how he preferred. Walking to his leisure, he did not bother to obtain a late slip, having arrived late countless of times to which the habit never changed, much to the school officials' rage, and continued on his way. The silence came to an end when he stood before an open classroom, lingered in the doorway, and waited for the usual reaction.
The conversations ceased as students began staring at him with different looks; the foremost expressions were the typical envy and lust as eyes measured him from head to toe. Asuma-san, the instructor, who was busily trying to talk over the noise as he explained something on the blackboard stopped and turned curiously to the class. Almost instantly, loud squeals erupted from the females, though overall, Sasuke was greeted with more self-conscious faces from the males.
Asuma sighed while he waited for the squealing to stop, which was not going to be anytime soon.
"H-Hello Sasuke," said one of the daring—most known to be easy and sleazy—girls, the rise of a blush still present on her cheeks, as he passed by her to sit down.
He did not bother to acknowledge her as other girls mimicked the previous girl and said the same to him. The boys nodded in his direction but none did so confidently, their eyes either focused on his shoulder or arm. Finally a few minutes after he sat down, it became silent and Asuma took this chance to continue with the lesson before they lost interest, if they have not done so in the beginning already. However, the students' own conversations started up again and Asuma wondered why he took up this post for a living for the hundredth time in a row.
Sasuke was without expression but he was bored and did not bother to take any notes. What was the point? And the talking around him overpowered what was being said in the lesson anyway.
As lunch time rolled around, he met up with Naruto and Shino to head towards the cafeteria. Naruto was best friends, even though he did not admit it a loud, with him for years. Even when he wanted to strangle the blond idiot from time to time, both boys had a level of understanding. Naruto was an orphan and understood the loneliness of living alone. They both met Shino a couple of years ago during a fight.
Sasuke and Naruto could have handled the gang that had pestered and attacked the two, but they were outnumbered once more joined in against them. Shino, in his long coat and shades, appeared out of nowhere and helped out. From that point, Shino became part of the group and it was a surprise that to discover Shino attended the same school. The shade wearer kept to himself and had a fascination with bugs, which Naruto thought was creepy and took a while to get used to him. On the other hand, Sasuke was not bothered by it.
The day was progressing slowly, in his opinion, slower than usual. Students bustled as they joked around and ate. He glanced around, feeling this scene to be childish, especially when he caught the stares of various females before they giggled to themselves.
"I don't get it," stated Naruto, scratching his head.
Onyx eyes and a pair of shades looked at him before Naruto continued, "What do these girls see in you?"
Neither answered his question and Naruto huffed for being given the silent treatment once again.
It was not rocket science to figure out that the blond boy was jealous of the attention Sasuke received. Even some of the teachers, young or old, were quite smitten with him because of his attractive features mixed with something dark that made anyone shudder. Men and females lost their common sense at the sight of him, embarrassing themselves, and he managed to ignore all of this because he started getting used this sort of attention when he was barely a teen.
It was pathetic when some teachers handed him good grades and favors, pretending that he showed up for class on time, letting him turn in assignments anytime he wanted, and so forth, but it was not like he needed them. He was capable on his own. And yet, if someone was so willing to give you what you want without effort, who would not take advantage of it?
That was the only positive thing about all this nonsense that occurred daily. If the dobe wanted girls pestering him all day, he would gladly give it up to him. However, his fanclub thought otherwise, obviously. The bell sounded once, alerting them that class would be back in session in less than five minutes. If anything Sasuke hated in particular of the whole school day was the following class after lunch.
Not only was it history, he hated long lectures, but the teacher was one of the few that despised him. He did not give a damn quite honestly. Again, he took his time while he debated whether to skip this class today or not as he neared the door. He was not given much time to think about it when a short woman walked passed him.
"So glad you made it to class, Uchiha," said the history teacher, Murahama-san, sarcastically.
Girls automatically squealed at his presence and the woman barked at them to be quiet. Sasuke walked to take the empty seat that was left in the second row. A girl in the third row behind him stuck out her leg to his chair flirtingly. He looked from the smooth leg to the smiling face. It was just another of his fangirls. With the slightest bit of change in his eyes, the girl took the hint and left him alone.
"Haruno, stop daydreaming! Nara, wake up! Inuzuka, be quiet!" snapped the woman as she shook her finger to those being addressed.
When he sat down, the teacher began passing out a stack of paper. He looked at them without care before it clicked.
An exam.
And he forgot to study. He came home right after school yesterday and fell asleep, dead tired after a couple of fights the night before yesterday. It would not have been a problem when he could accurately guess using his logic if he knew what they were currently studying. But did it matter? A failed grade at this point would not affect him.
"All right, begin. You have until the end of class to finish."
He sighed quietly and wasn't going to attempt to answer the questions. His onyx eyes lifted from the exam to the clock overhead. What was he going to do during all this time? If he looked like he was doing nothing, he would be told to leave and that seemed like a good idea.
As he prepared to put down his pencil, a quick movement from the front caught his attention. A girl with pink hair was writing furiously, filling the page up. Observing her with dark eyes, he recognized her as one to always be in the sidelines invisible to everyone, including himself. As he watched how quick the girl was writing, an idea slipped into his mind. This should be easy. He always had sharp eyesight and it wasn't like the nerd was exactly covering her answers. He started to copy off her paper.
Time passed in silence with occasional sneezing and soft noises the students made as they thought. Some that did not understand a question or the whole exam in general were chewing on their nails, but he kept writing. He knew the nerd's answers made sense and noticed that class would be over soon. Once the bell rang, he turned it in before her and left.
Just why am I in this class again? He thought as he stared at Murahama-san explaining something about the history homework they were being assigned. His onyx eyes glanced at the clock rather impatiently. Two minutes until this class was over.
"Remember!" barked Murahama, "Do the homework!"
Students murmured their replies as they all moved, putting away their things and heading for the door.
"Haruno! Uchiha! I need to speak with you both."
Now what? He was halfway to the exit and, sighing silently, slowly turned back. The teacher was by her desk, waiting until all the other students left. It immediately clicked in his mind. This must be about the test a few days ago. Now that he thought about it, why did he cheat again?
Meanwhile, the pink-head had no idea what was going on. She nervously stood and stopped a couple of feet from the desk, shuffling the books in her arms.
After the last student left, Murahama beckoned the two closer to her, "This is a very serious matter and I hope that neither of you decide to lie to me."
There was a moment of silence for the words to sink into their brains before the she spoke again, "I have been grading and both your tests are exactly the same. Explain."
The girl's reaction was obvious and couldn't speak. He temporarily glanced at the nerd before looking somewhere else, evidently bored with the conversation. Neither said a word and it only irked the Murahama's patience and anger.
"Fine, if there's nothing to explain then you both fail."
Was that supposed to be dramatic? He thought and had to stop himself from smirking. He knew something like this would happen, considering Murahama was one of the most hated teachers on campus for being so strict. She wasn't well liked among the school because she obviously hated her job and all students. She was the uptight bitch that needed to be seriously fucked to loosen up. Though, he also knew that no one in their right mind would want to touch her. She was old and it was starting to rapidly show in her thinning hair and wrinkly skin.
Failing wasn't severe. In fact, it would be his first failed grade of the year. At least he wasn't given detention because he hated wasting his time with that useless excuse for a punishment. He would often skip detention so much that now he was stopped from exiting the school until he completed them. So he would accept this failing grade for this stupid class and forget about it. His attention was shortly brought towards the girl he cheated off when she looked down and moved uncomfortably.
"He cheated off my paper," said the nerd quietly, almost inaudible if he hadn't watched her lips move.
He narrowed his eyes, quick in responding to her unexpected claim, "Why would I cheat?"
She refused to look at him, instead fidgeted with her hands and tapped her fingers on the back of the book that gave a combined impression of embarrassment and fear. Murahama was carefully monitoring them and picked up some papers from her desk of the current grades for the class. It was difficult when she noticed that both had rather high marks.
"All right, you both have one chance to make up the test. Come here straight after school. Don't be late or you completely fail. Now get out of my sight," she growled and upset that she couldn't do much about the situation.
The nerd nodded at her, then began walking out clearly avoiding any eye contact—or any contact —with him for that matter. He followed with his hands in pocket, expressionless. But his eyes were hard as he stared at her back. She had taken the left, his sight never leaving her as he continued after her. He absolutely hated having to stay after school. A sudden uncontrollable anger emerged from within him.
He passed by her quickly, having long strides and matched her pace momentarily to make sure she was aware of his presence. But in the next second, one of his hands forcibly struck out and pushed her shoulder. Unaware of his intentions, she made a panicked noise before stumbling over her feet and falling sideways onto the floor.
"Little bitch."
Smirking sadistically, he continued walking without giving her a backward glance.
Naruto was busily trying to rip open the candy bar as the three headed out of the last, and only, class they shared throughout the school day. "So, same plans for today as before?"
Sasuke had remained silent and Shino noticed. "Sasuke, you coming?"
"No. I have to take a fucking test.
"Ha, teme. You're missing out then. I heard Hyuuga Neji wanted to prove he was better than you," laughed Naruto, still trying to open his candy.
"That girly asshole? I'll wipe the floor with his hair," replied Sasuke after scoffing.
"Why is this so hard to open?" exclaimed Naruto, then sank his teeth onto it and began pulling.
Shino looked disturbingly at the blonde's behavior and put some distance between them. Sasuke noticed the stairs to the third floor was approaching and his mood darkened. Shino had realized the change and walked ahead of them both smartly.
Sasuke had turned towards the stairs, not bothering to say anything else. It wasn't that he had to take the test again that was the problem. And as he entered the classroom, the source of the problem was sitting in the first row staring ahead. The classroom was void except for her, which meant that stupid history teacher was going to take her time in getting here, and it irritated him. He paused when he noticed her movements freeze, alerting him that she knew of his presence.
The anger came back, slowly at first as he scrutinized the nerd, and then almost reaching to a maximum when she tried to pretend he wasn't there. Why did he have to stay here when he had other important things to do? He knew he caused this, but this little ugly nerd wasn't supposed to speak against him. Absolutely no one would try to do that, and if they did, the consequences were at their expense.
It took most of his will not to injure the pathetic excuse for a girl, remembering that after all she was female, when he approached the seats. Deciding at the last moment, he sat down next to her and could obviously see she was uncomfortable with this.
Pulling out a pencil, he knew he was going to fail anyway but he was going to bring her down with him. With a smirk, he dropped his pencil purposely and it rolled over to her side. He bent down in his seat and reached for it, aiming to move his seat closer to hers. He was going to cheat again and put the blame on her. This time she wouldn't dare say anything because he would speak out against her and she wouldn't stand a chance. His hand went closer to her shoe, in close range to the pencil, when he noticed the ugly socks she was wearing.
Suddenly, she picked her foot and crossed her legs while she flinched in the process. He smirked as he sat up again as the teacher came in with a scowl.
"You both better hurry. I don't have time for your mistakes."
That makes two of us. He thought as Murahama placed two sets of the test on their desks.
When both began, the teacher looked at them uninterested before sitting at her desk and pulling out a magazine. He read over some of the questions and realized it was the same test. He smirked at the fact; he didn't need to directly cheat off the nerd anymore. He had excellent memory and began writing.
After a while, he finished first and turned it in. The woman gave him an unfriendly look before taking it to immediately grade it. With another bored expression, he looked from his test to the girl still in her seat. She was biting on the pencil's eraser, apparently thinking about her answer. His gaze fell from the loose pants to her somewhat frizzy pink hair. A cough brought his attention back to the right where his test was handed back to him.
'A'
Murahama still had a suspicious look but it turned into an accused expression as she turned to the girl. Things worked out for him after all. And he was allowed to leave.
He checked his watch. It was already too late to join the others and he didn't feel like going anywhere. He left through one of the back doors of the school and pulled out a cigarette. He lit it up and inhaled, letting the bittersweet taste in his system for a moment before releasing the smoke. He began smoking when he turned fifteen, due mostly to curiosity, and couldn't stop the nicotine addiction because it calmed him sufficiently.
"Stupid Hyuuga."
Just who did that girly boy think he was? The last time he saw him was about three years ago. Insults were thrown back and forth when they both saw each other until fists were used. The asshole managed to give him a black eye but he was worse for wear.
Five minutes later he flicked the cigarette to the ground and stepped on it, making another mental note to get another pack along with the groceries. The doors opened loudly, getting his attention, and a girl came out. He watched the nerd wipe the tears away under the thick frames of her glasses while she shakily put on her backpack.
He couldn't help but to chuckle lowly, having no doubt that Murahama believed the pink-head was the one who cheated in the first place. She lightly gasped when she heard the sound and turned around. Her face had blotches of red, especially her nose.
Damn, she was ugly.
Her eyes widened when she saw him, shoulders tensing, and in a frightened, embarrassed scatter, she began to run away. An eyebrow slightly rose at her reaction as he walked towards the parking lot, where he left his motorcycle, and could still see her running at a distance. He smirked noticing how clumsy she looked when she tried to keep her backpack from falling off her shoulder while arms clutched a book.
How amusing.
