Don't Count the Steps
Im hoping the farther I get, the more people will like it, so just hold out with me please?
Disclaimer: don't own, never will. That's what Fanfiction is for; p
She wasn't going to lie; she looked real good as a guy. Plain and simple.
If she weren't the boy she saw in the mirror, and if he was somebody else, she would definitely date him if not more. And if the looks she was receiving from Sasuke weren't enough to convince her that this was almost a fool-proof scheme she didn't know what was.
"You look good." Sasuke grinned as he tossed his fedora to her. The long ear beanie just didn't fit the character, but the fedora? Yeah, it fit well.
"Real good." Naruto commented looking over his book of brand new clothing styles for teenagers.
Sakura smiled, "Thanks." She looked over herself in the full length mirror once more, "Do you think Mr. Hatake will notice?"
Sasuke shrugged, "If he does it's because he's really, really, really weird. If it wasn't for the fact that I just helped you, I wouldn't know it was you. Except maybe your eyes; you have really pretty green eyes that stand out a bit."
She blushed; he was such a suck up. Always had been, even when they were little he complimented her left and right just because he could. If he wasn't gay, she would date him. No questions asked; but that wasn't the case so her hopes of him being Mr. Right were long gone.
"Oh Shit, Guys, We gotta go!" Naruto leapt off of the bed, grabbing his hoodie from off of Sasuke's door knob as they ran out the door; they were going to be late if they didn't haul ass. He was thanking his uncle for the watch he'd received for his birthday last year.
They raced down the stairs, Sakura slid down the railing from the second story. She hit the floor first and ran for the door, jumping down the six steps from the front door to the street side to Sasuke's blue Jeep. She threw open the driver's side door, and turned the key in the ignition starting the vehicle.
Sasuke climbed in on the passenger side as Naruto crawled into the back seat. They had five minutes to make it to the recreation center ten minutes away.
"Sakura, last time you drove, we wound up in court." Sasuke wined as she pulled away from the curb.
"We made it to wherever the hell we were going on time didn't we?"
"Yeah, but, can we try to go the speed limit? I don't think he's going to care if were just a couple minutes late; besides Sai will stall for us." He smiled, "if I didn't know any better I would say that you were in a hurry to see Mr. Hatake."
"You. Wish."
He laughed and smiled at her; now she was flustered and it only made him smile more.
Naruto leaned forward in-between the seats and turned on the radio; "Hey, We can't call you Sakura ya' know?"
Both Raven and Pinkette looked at him with confused looks on their faces. "Huh?"
"Mr. Hatake is gonna know if Sakura-chan is Sakura-chan if we call her Sakura-chan."
Sasuke rolled his eyes, "What the hell, that made absolutely no sense?"
Sakura looked at him, "Actually he's right. You can't call me Sakura, I'm a 'guy' now, remember?" Damn. They hadn't thought about that, she needed a guy name now. Nothing stupid, or else she would mess someone up. Bad.
Hmm? What Guy name would fit her? She could pick the same first name as Mr. Hatake and fuck with him. Kakashi didn't seem to fit her. Midori, for her eyes? Nah that was more of a girl's name. Yuki? No. Ao? Nope. What the hell was a good name for her?
"How about Rai? It fits your…shocking personality, and your snappy attitude." Sasuke shrugged as he listed off the reasons as to why Rai should be her Guy name. "Hell Rai fits you perfect."
"Yeah, Sakura-chan, Sasuke's right, it fits you. A lot."
She thought it over a moment, "Okay." She pulled into the parking lot of the recreation center and shut the Jeep off. "So now I answer to Rai?"
"Yup." Sasuke said as he unbuckled and climbed out of the car.
Sakura climbed out, and zipped up the black and purple striped hoodie she was wearing; why the hell were guy's clothes so comfortable? Even the skinny jeans she'd borrowed from Sasuke were more comfortable than her normal ones. She made a mental note to buy guys clothes from now on.
Adjusting the purple and black plaid fedora, she followed Sasuke and Naruto through the large green metal doors of the Recreation center, into the crème colored hallway.
"Why do they always paint halls this color?" Naruto ran his fingers over the smooth brick wall.
Sasuke scoffed with a roll of his eyes and Sakura shrugged.
She blew a few strands of hair from her face, the skater style wig staying snuggly in place. She loved the color of it, auburn with 'natural' streaks of brown running through it.
"So…Rai, where are the classes?"
"South Gym."
Sasuke nodded, "Okay, that's down this hall to the left." He gestured to the hall on his right. They walked a short distance before coming to another set of large metal doors, these ones painted purple, with pink handprints covering it.
"These people really need a lesson in home decorating." Sasuke said dryly. "I think they need someone to repaint the walls, first and then do something about the doors."
Sakura rolled her eyes with a smile as Naruto nodded his head, agreeing with Sasuke. "I think all of Konoha needs some new lessons in design. Period."
Sakura laughed loudly as they walked into the gym/studio, where Sai and three other boys she didn't recognize sat. They probably went to West District high school; because she didn't recognize them from Konoha Public Academy high school.
"Hey Guys." Sai waved, he looked over Sakura and gave her a thumb's up.
Sasuke threw his arm over Sakura's shoulders and smiled at his friend, "Rai finally got his hair cut." Sai would get the hint, he hoped, and not make the mistake of calling her Sakura in front of Mr. Hatake. Speaking of their teacher, where was he?
"Looks good Rai." Sai smiled. "It's nice to finally see your face; I was beginning to think that you didn't have one."
Sakura coughed lightly, fakely before answering him in the lowest voice she could muster, "Gee, thanks Sai." She sounded ridiculous. You could tell it was forced, she thought. She wouldn't be able to talk like that all the time.
"So, um, where is the guy who's supposed to be teaching us?" Naruto said, scratching the back of his head.
One of the other boys stood and walked up to them, "Don't know, he hasn't come yet." He looked flustered, "Sorry, Sorry, Im Natsu Geiki." He looked over to his friends.
Sakura looked him over; he wasn't bad looking, nothing like Mr. Hatake, but still above the range of five. Soft blue eyes, accompanied by dark brown hair cut a lot like Sai's.
His friends came over, towering over Sakura and Natsu. Nice to know she was the shortest in the class.
"Hi," the tallest one said, "I'm Raiku Kei." His hair fell well below his shoulders; the fiery colored hair was pulled into ponytail at the base of his hairline; it was accented by his dark blue eyes.
The last one smiled and leaned against his taller friend, "What's up? I'm Mitsuri Dengeri."
He was the best looking one, short military cut hair, with sparkling brown eyes; he was gorgeous, Sakura mused.
Naruto was the first to introduce himself, "Naruto Uzumaki." He smiled his trademark foxy grin and leaned against the wall like he was the coolest thing to ever walk through those purple doors.
"Sai Sarabi."
Sasuke squeezed Sakura's shoulders "Sasuke Uchiha."
She smiled at the three boys standing in front of her, "Rai Kuro." She started out low, but her voice 'cracked' to her normal voice.
"Now that you're all acquainted, how about we start?" A familiar tenor voice filled Sakura's ears, sending chills down her spine.
Seven pairs of eyes looked to the side of the room opposite the doors, "When the hell did you get here, Mr. Kakashi?" Naruto asked bluntly. "Why the hell are you here?"
The silver haired man smiled, "Im teaching the class, Naruto. And I've been here for a little bit."
The blonde shrugged; hey who was he to complain?
"Alright, Since I now know all of your names, that makes my life a bit easier." He bent to a black duffle back he had setting by the mirrors, and pulled out a blue and black boom box, for music Sakura mused. He picked the bag up and dumped the rest of its contents on the floor. CD's. Lots of them.
"Someone's a music whore." Natsu mumbled, sending all the guys into a fit of laughter.
Sakura gave them all a curious look before bending down and picking up one of the cases that had fallen near her feet. "Halestorm?" Okay so he listened to good music. That didn't mean she had to like him any better. Okay maybe it did a little, Halestorm was one of her favorite bands, and she listened to them constantly. One for teacher, Zero for Sakura.
Kakashi nodded, "Yeah. Good Band."
She nodded, "Yeah they are." She handed him the case, and bent down to pick up a few more. She fanned them out like cards and read off the Titles, "Paramore, Disturbed, Stone Sour, Fall Out Boy, Rihanna?" He was a music whore.
"Mm-hmm."
"Nice to know some old people have modernized."
He gave her a skeptical look, "I'm not that old, besides, Country aint my thing, and none of that classical shit. Pop I can deal with, hell even R but I do love me some good rock and metal."
She looked at the disturbed CD, "Can you even dance to metal?"
"You'd be surprised, kid." He smiled, "Tell you what, pick something and you guys can warm up to it."
She grinned, "Hmm let's see? Hey, Sasuke, How about some MJ?" Sasuke could Moonwalk better than any one she'd ever met.
"Yeah!"
Natsu rolled his eyes as the others nodded, they were okay with that. His music was easy to dance to. Easier than some of the other things Mr. Hatake had.
Sakura handed Kakashi one of the multiple Michael Jackson CD's she saw and stood, adjusting her fedora so it was low, hiding her face. As the music started, she used her foot to spin herself around and jump up slightly to land on both feet before sliding across the waxed floor like the king himself.
Kakashi watched Rai's movements, and couldn't help but shake his head with a sigh and a smile when Rai pulled of the classic grabbing of the crotch movement. Rai forgot one thing, Kakashi thought; she didn't have anything to grab or to move in that general area. He had to give her credit though; she could pull off the guy charade pretty well, considering she had hidden her female assets and hair as well.
He waited until the song was done before bending to the floor and sifting through his many CD's; he opened one of the cases and put the CD in, and pressed play. He walked to the middle of the floor and cracked his neck, feeling the kids had warmed up enough.
"Alright," He coughed, "I see you all are into intuitive dance?"
They all answered some form of 'yes' in partial unison. Naruto lagged on the end. Typical.
"And that's a form of Contemporary .Right?"
"You're the teacher, not us. You should know." Mitsuri commented dryly; thinking it a bit stupid that he was asking them the question.
"I do, but do you?"
Sakura raised her hand, and then quickly put it back down, "You aren't going to be one of those snide philosopher teachers are you?" She hated people like that; always having a deeper meaning to their words, she hated that shit. It was stupid, she liked people that could speak their minds, not hide what they were really thinking behind a load of horse shit.
She knew he wasn't like that; he was more of a 'tell it how it was' guy.
"Yeah, sure." A few of them mumbled.
Kakashi sighed, oh boy, this was going to be harder than first thought. Cocky and Stupid; that was teenage boys for you. Testosterone pumped teenagers with no fear of their elders.
Maybe he was the stupid one.
The rest of the class was spent going over dance terminology; and why it's not safe to fit your entire fist into your mouth. Which Naruto demonstrated to everybody so they could see what they were talking about.
Sakura woke early the next more, slapping at her nightstand a couple times before finally finding her clock and shutting it off. Mornings sucked.
She rolled out of bed, and stumbled into her closet grabbing a pair of black skinny jeans, and a Three Days Grace t-shirt. She meandered to the bathroom and hopped into the shower, letting the warm water wake her up.
After getting dressed she stumbled down the stairs into the kitchen to grab some pop tarts and some coffee.
She silently thanked Shizune's early morning calls, meaning the coffee was piping hot, and ready for Sakura to drink. She poured the remaining amount into a thermos and started out to catch Sasuke; he hated waiting.
Sipping at her coffee she made her way down to the apartment lobby and waved a quick hello to the receptionist before heading out the glass doors out to the wet streets of downtown Konoha.
"Great, Rain." She mumbled as she started down the sidewalk towards Naruto's apartment, where Sasuke picked them up every morning.
It wasn't that she didn't like the rain, which she loved, but she hated it on cold mornings. Cold and wet didn't settle well with her, it only made her mood worse.
Naruto was standing outside, talking to Sai when Sakura walked up to them.
"Yo." She waved.
They both mumbled morning. "Hey, Sakura-chan…Today is going to suck."
She nodded in agreement. It didn't take a psychic to figure that out.
Nobody said anything, as usual, when Sasuke pulled up to the curb to pick them up. The ride to school was silent as well.
"I have study hall today, third period." Sakura mumbled as she finished off the rest of her coffee. That mean she had to deal with him for four long periods…great.
"With who?"
"Mr. Hatake…"
The boys held their laughs back as long as they could before breaking with uncontrollable giggling. "That's…That's" Sasuke shuddered between laughs. "That's ridiculous!"
"Why…"Sai couldn't finish before another round of laughing hit him.
"Yeah, yeah, real funny guys!" She yelled as she clamored out of the Jeep and towards the school not even bothering to look up when she entered the north corridor of the school.
She slammed into something hard and warm before falling backwards on her ass; she looked up, ready to fuck someone up. That courage quickly fled her when she saw what, more or less who, she'd run into.
"Mr. Hatake…I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention." She rubbed the back of her head sheepishly.
He smiled down at her, "No, Sakura, I'm sorry, I should have been paying attention." He held his hand out to her, offering her help up.
She took his hand. It was bigger than hers, and warmer she noticed; she liked her hand in his too much…but she couldn't help but linger their a bit longer than she should have.
She looked at him, the heat rising with the sudden shyness she felt. Sakura shy? God the things he did to her! She hated it, hated him; she had too, people would start questioning her badass-ness if she didn't hate him. She was a badass. She was, really, she'd just happened to let her friends get to her…yeah, that had to be it. What else would explain it? Not Love…at least, she didn't think so.
"Err….Thanks." She managed, before making a b-line for the nearest girl's bathroom.
Kakashi scratched the back of his head, what had gotten into her?
She held onto the cold sink as she looked at herself in the mirror; what the fuck was wrong with her? "Come on Sakura, only two weeks in? You don't even know the Guy!"
Stupid Teenage hormones!
She turned on the sink, and splashed cold water on her face, "What the hell is wrong with me?" she ran her hand restlessly through her hair, "Come on, girl, get a grip!"
She was going crazy; that had to be it. She should be locked up in an Asylum, or something along those lines, it was ridiculous being attracted to a teacher…but, he was an adult…so was she, she just happened to still be in school. There was absolutely nothing wrong with it. Except, she 'hated' him, and he hated her.
She shut the faucet off, and left the bathroom. First Period, Study Hall, Mr. Hatake. Fantastic.
She walked into the geometry room silently, avoiding the dark eyes of one Mr. Hatake, and took her seat. She had no homework to keep herself busy, seeing as how she never did any. Most of the kids that were usually here were signed out to the library, leaving Sakura herself, Mr. Hatake, Shikamaru Nara, and Neji Hyuuga.
Sakura smirked as she labeled the men surrounding her. Shikamaru, Geek; but he was okay when he wasn't trying to be smart. Neji, uptight, arrogant, bad boy jock; cool by her standards. Mr. Hatake, smart, gorgeous…kind…stubborn…
She straightened up, what the fuck?
"Sakura?"
"Yes?"
"Do you have any work?"
She snorted, "Puh-lease, I never have work…ever."
Neji snickered in the back corner, and Shikamaru rolled his eyes, intimidated by her, she figured. She didn't have to work for her grades like he did; she was naturally smart, yet still a bad ass.
He sighed, "Sakura…You know if you would"
"Cut. The. Shit."
"Me? Hey Pinkie, I can do whatever the hell I want, I finished school; so don't you start telling me what to do, so you. Cut. The. Shit."
"What a little Man bitch." Neji muttered in the back.
"Oh Yeah? Remember last year, Jock?"
Neji hung his head at the thought of him whooping the Football team's ass; he was the start Running Back and hated being bashed along with Kiba Inuzuka, the Quarter Back.
He didn't admit defeat well, but, he couldn't lie about Kakashi kicking every single one of there asses. The guy was like a walking talking one man army, it was scary how well he could fight, and even scarier how fast he could loose his temper outside of school.
"Isn't it considered bad luck to bring up the past?" Shikamaru drawled lightly, jumping into the conversation with no interest at all but for something to do.
"Don't care, im not the superstitious type." Kakashi muttered as he looked over his email on the computer. "No Shit."
Neji smiled, "I can report you for that."
"And I can kick your ass for that, so I think it would be best not too."
"What a little man bitch…"
Sakura smiled, 'Bet he's bigger than you, Neji."
Both males looked up, equally stunned by Sakura's comment on their size. Kakashi was smiling mentally, for some reason that comment turned him on coming out of her mouth, and he didn't care a bit; he wasn't one for rules and morals. Neji on the other hand, was feeling very insecure, knowing that Sakura had slept with him, and quite possibly, judging by the comment, Mr. Hatake.
She couldn't help but pat herself on the back mentally, that was perfect. Well, in her mind it was.
"Err…" Kakashi felt his face heat, turning red with embarrassment when Neji got up and walked out of the room; mortified by Sakura's snide statement. He wasn't mortified by it, at least he didn't think he was…but he had probably liked what she said a bit too much, because he wasn't just blushing from embarrassment.
"So why did you say Shit?"
Kakashi looked at Shikamaru with a wry grin on his face, "I don't think your gonna like it."
"I'm sure I can handle it."
"If Sakura keeps her grades where they are, she'll graduate as Valedictorian."
"What?" Both students yelled; Shikamaru in anger, Sakura in shock.
He laughed, "Yeah, says right here, If grades are kept up, Miss Sakura Haruno will take Valedictorian, and Mr. Shikamaru Nara will take Salutatorian; they both have and average of 98.7 so far… etcetera, etcetera."
"Wait if we both have that average, than why am I Valedictorian?"
"Haruno comes before Nara alphabetically."
Shikamaru scowled as Sakura, "What the fuck? You don't even do your work and you still keep up that average? What are you doing, balling every teacher here?"
Sakura whipped her head around, "Hell no! I am not a whore, let alone a girl to sleep with creepy old guys twenty years older than me!"
"You know, I'm still in the room right?"
"Yes." She nodded, "But you're like twenty years older than I am, and you're creepy."
He looked taken back, "How so?"
"Well, you always, always hum when your grading papers and you tend to have a little skip in your step when you walk down the hall…its freakin' weird." She sat back in her seat and crossed her arms over her chest.
He thought about it for a minute, "I'll give you that one. How do you know I'm twenty years older than you?"
"Your hair is grey."
"Always has been."
"Well how old are you?"
"Thirty one, Thirty two in three days."
She looked taken back this time, okay so he wasn't that old…She looked up at the clock, and the bell rang, breaking the tension in the room.
Sakura had to get out of the room; it was just too much for her to take…he was just too much for her to take.