Author's Note: Okay so finally the start of the second chappie! YAY! Things begin to get more eventful now. Poor Sakura. Being someone who has had to move a lot I know how she feels going to a new school. Some call it Teen Angst but I don't think that's a fair statement. Anywayz I hope you guys enjoy.
Disclaimer: I can only imagine how different Naruto would be if I were in charge.
Chapter Two: Temper, Temper
Have you ever wondered what it must feel like when prisoners are walking to their executions on death row? The looks on their faces so dull so numb. They almost…almost as if willingly…but not really. If that makes any sense at all. Like puppets. They move with a purpose not their own. They are probably terrified. The stiff way some move, while others move shakily as if trying to stand through their quivering, and some simply…move. They sit through everything…as their heads are shaved, as they are led along like pigs to the slaughter. Some are guilty…some are innocent. Never the less they mostly look the same. Sakura vaguely wondered if that was what she looked like now as she stepped out of her house…led along by her mother as her father carried her bags.
She ate breakfast wordlessly. In truth death row was admittedly much worse than this…but it was all she could think of to describe what she was feeling right then. She did her usual morning routine and made sure to keep up a mildly convincing façade for her mother's sake…even though she was pissed at her too. That's what sucks about parents. You still feel bad for being harsh with them even if you think they deserve it. At least in average families of course. Breakfast was wordless aside from the soft smiles of her parents, trying to offer some sort of comfort and encouragement without having her snap at them. She resented it.
"Ready to go Saks?" her father inquired gently. 'What do you think!?' she screamed in her head but chewed her lips instead in an attempt to calm down. She did not need to cry right now. Instead of answering she swiftly sat in the back seat of the car and folded her arms tightly around herself. She hid her misty eyes behind her bubble gum bangs. He did not push his daughter but simply nodded and closed the door behind her. Sakura felt the car shake slightly as her suitcases were placed into the trunk and lid was shut firmly. She realized that she was wringing her hands, and that she was trembling. They felt clammy even to her as she placed them onto her lap.
Her mother entered into the passenger seat first before her dad slipped into the driver's seat and closed the door behind him. Sakura felt her stomach clench. She felt so betrayed by her parents. They weren't even telling her why she had to go to this hell hole school. She heard the kids there were as crazy as they were smart. The last thing she wanted was to have some psychopath breathing down her neck because she accidentally sat in their seat. She shivered at the thought. Emerald eyes drifted to the rear view mirror where her father's face was reflected. His own green ones met her's. Her eyes held an angry demanding question…but he avoided her gaze. With a sigh she leaned her pink head against the window.
It was just like her mom to find the silence between the three of them unbearable. She flicked on the radio much to Sakura and her father's annoyance. The two of them really preferred silence in the car and the atmosphere was just too tense for them to have to tolerate even such a minor annoyance. "Shut it off!" she snapped angrily, speaking for the two of them. Her father lowered his head sheepishly because he was ashamed that he had felt like doing the same thing. "Sakura-!" she protested at what she felt was an uncalled for reaction…and to any normal person it would have been. "Aimi, please don't turn the radio on. Sorry." her father nodded placing his hand over her's. She sighed. "What is it with you two?" she asked miserably. "We just want it to be quiet okay? You can turn it on, when we're on the way home." he sighed. "Fine…" she huffed. Great now both of his girls were upset with him.
Sakura stuffed her hands into the deep pockets of the hoodie she wore. She gripped her cell phone that she kept in them. Her feet idly tapped and shifted awkwardly. Her mouth was now set in a grim line. The faint sound of the car engine purring hummed endlessly in her ears. She put her feet up on the seat to hug her knees. Her mother was now leaning similarly against the window with a distant stare in her baby blue eyes. Her dark pink hair was tucked under a loose knit cap. As they rolled along on the road she could not help but stare at the blurred images that they passed. The airport would be about an hour and a half drive away. She supposed that she would have to find some method of entertaining herself until then.
*******
The airport was busy, hustling and bustling. The cold air-conditioned air brushed her hair about her shoulders as they waited in line at the baggage claim. Her bottle green eyes surveyed her surroundings. "She's a minor right?" the man at the counter asked her Dad. 'No shit Sherlock.' she grumbled mentally. "Yes. Non-stop flight to Venice."
Sakura began to drown them out. She pulled out her I-pod. 'Ah yes…my beautiful music player.' she thought. 'Together we shall fly among the birds…and ignore the annoying drones of the meager mortals (i.e. mom and dad), with the wind of Maroon 5 beneath our wings.' Ah yes she was poetic too. Her finger flicked up the volume of her beloved skull candy headphones, because skull candy kicks ass. She sighed to herself, relieved for the time being with her musical fix.
"Saks? Hey Saks." her dad nudged her. With a start she was brought back to reality. 'Eeew, curse this reality, curse it!!! *hiss*.' she seethed internally. She noted that most of her dialogue was kept inside her head. Well you know what they say…if you don't have anything nice to say then don't say nothing. "Here's your passport…make sure not to lose it." her mother handed her the ticket and passport. 'Fuck saying nothing.' she growled internally. "You know I'm not five. Since when do I lose anything of this kind of importance? I'm not that much of a scatterbrain…leave me alone." she snapped moodily. Aimi stared at her daughter momentarily. "Look don't take out your tantrums on me." she scolded. "You need to get over this little guilt trip you're trying to pull."
Blazing eyes snapped up to look at the older woman. "…Guilt trip?" she hissed menacingly. "Sakura…don't-"
"A GUILT TRIP MOM! YOU THINK I AM BEHAVING LIKE THIS TO MAKE YOU FEEL BAD!?"
People stopped and stared at us and some stared as they continued to walk. "Sakura please calm down." her father coaxed. "NO! I'M SORRY IF I DON'T FEEL SO VERY HAPPY GO LUCKY ABOUT MOVING TO A FOREIGN COUNTRY FOR A YEAR! AND IM SORRY THAT I'M NOT A MORNING PERSON TO TOP IT OFF!! I WAS GOING TO GO WITHOUT A FUSS, BUT YOU JUST HAD TO MAKE ME EXPLODE DIDN'T YOU!" she stopped panting hard. It felt like a relief to get that off of her chest…but she knew she was in for it now. Swallowing hard she straightened herself up. Her mother stared at her with large furious blue eyes. An incredulous expression took over her features. "Sakura…" she said calmly, cracking her knuckles. She stepped toward the girl.
"Okay I think we're done here." The concerned father stepped in between the mother and her child. "Naoko….get out of the way." she growled at him. "Sakura has to board now anyway and only one of us can take her…give her a break this once…you understand what she's going through don't you?" he gripped her shoulders giving her a meaningful stare. Her face softened and she bit her lip giving a nod. "I'm sorry for jumping to assumptions Sakura." she smiled sadly in a way that made the teenaged girl feel sick with guilt. "…s'fine…" she mumbled dismissively. She was not so good with the mushy, gushy, make-up stuff with her parents. After a spell she added in.. "m'sorry for yelling." she waved her arm feebly. Aimi smiled. "Thank you Sakura. That's okay." she hugged her close. "Now go on with your Dad. You don't want to miss your flight." she patted her shoulder. Still people did not cease to stare at the dysfunctional mess of a family over at baggage claim.
Sakura did not really care about her reputation…that was one of the things that made her so different from her cousin Ami. That girl constantly scolded her for talking too loud at the mall, or dressing like a tom-boy now and then, sometimes she refused to be seen with her because she was too 'nerdy' that day. To be honest, Sakura could care less whether or not her cousin wanted to hang out with her. In fact she embarrassed her on purpose sometimes. She giggled to herself upon recollection of the time when she pretended to be her retarded cousin…she did it damn well too. Ami was mortified trying to get her to stop. It was all she could do not to break her own façade and fall to the tiled floor of the mall laughing hysterically. When they went to the ice cream shop was the best. "What's so funny?" her dad inquired.
She looked up at him slightly startled. "Nothing." she quickly looked away, biting her lip and playing with a strand of hair. Her khaki dickies suddenly looked very interesting to her. She refused to be cheered up right now. She wanted to seethe a little more. She plopped lazily into a seat at her gate. 'H-12.' She flicked the edges of her passport briefly between her fingers. The people here either looked exhausted, perky and happy *shiver*, or business like. She felt out of place here as she sat by her father. Naoko was looking at his daughter with concern. She usually was not so sulky. Hopefully she could survive this year. It was only a year after all. Unless she decided she liked it there which at this rate was highly doubtful but one never knew. She sat silently, now playing with her PSP. He opened his mouth to speak with her but she suddenly stood up with her carry-on and sat beside the large window, she turned briefly to watch an airplane take off from the runway.
He looked at her sadly and sighed to himself. Scratching the back of his head he decided to give her some space. Somewhere along the road…he had lost his little girl. What was worse was that he knew it was all his own fault. She was looking around every now and then. Trust he to be aware of her surroundings. Just like him. Just like a cop. He felt a sudden pang in his chest and shook his head. No. No cops. Not for her. The voice over the speaker called for the flight and he stood up to say goodbye. "So…that's you. I'll see you when you get back 'kay kiddo?" he smiled. He raised her eyebrows and let out a breath of air. "Alright. Fine. I'm ready." she stood up. He walked into the line with her. "I'll be fine alone Dad. If that's what you're worried about." she told him softly. It hurt to think that she didn't want to be around him right then. "Oh-oh okay…I just thought that since you were about to leave that I…I only wanted to see you off. Sorry if it feels like I'm stifling you." he apologized. "Wait no. I didn't mean…ugh…you can stay if you want." she told him, gripping his arm.
He smiled softly. "Alright…as long as you don't mind." he nodded. She nodded feeling a bit offended. It was not as though she was the one who decided to stay away for the majority of the time when she needed him the most in her life. She had been the one to need him. She pulled out her boarding pass. Soon enough it was time for her to board. "Okay Saks…when you get there, there's going to be a car to pick you up. Don't trust anybody unless it's a man with silver spiked hair wearing a mask…you'll know him when you see him." he shook his head. Sakura frowned. "I mean it okay? His name is Hatake Kakashi. Only go with him, understand?" he pressed into her head. Why was her Dad so adamant about her being careful? "Okay." she nodded. "Okay good. Now get on kiddo and I'll be sure to see you when you get back as soon as possible." he ruffled the soft pink unmistakable tresses. "Dad it's okay…I'll be fine." she said feeling suddenly overwhelmed. "Be safe Sakura." he leaned his forehead against hers. The girl suddenly felt a dread that nearly made her want to cry and beg not to go but she refrained. There was obviously something he was not telling her. Something important. "Bye." she pulled away and hurried on board.
**********
"Window seat. Hell yeah." she sat in her seat contentedly. Turning on her I-pod once again she commenced spacing out while staring out the window. Fireflies by Owl City playing in the background. The total strangers who sat beside her did not bother her and that suited the pinkette just fine. Some people stared at the blatant pink color of her hair with odd expressions now and then. She could hear some girls debating on whether or not it was dyed. Rolling her eyes she raised the volume on her head phones. A baby started to cry and she sighed in frustration. It suddenly seemed like this would be a very long flight. Good thing is was non-stop and not some complicated two way kind of flight. She opened a bag of Skittles to keep her mind off of her surroundings for a moment. "Here we go." she murmured softly.
***********
The take-off had been delayed. The food was shit. And the movie sucked balls. Crappy Twilight ruining the good name of teenagers everywhere. Don't even bring up the horror genre. She liked watching vampires not sparkly, gay, pixies with blood fetishes. Anyway she could rant on that to herself some more later. The kid behind her had insisted on kicking her seat. What's worse was that when she snapped and threatened to feed the kid to the monster in the blue bathroom water, the brat's mother started yelling back at her. She, being a stout, bold girl she did not back down from the old hag. They started arguing until the flight attendant forced them both to sit down.
Now here she was in a huge European airport. Completely lost and unable to speak a word in Italian. 'Well fuck me sideways.' she thought angrily. 'It's your fault for putting the book Mom gave you into your suitcase…now how will we find baggage claim?' her inner scolded herself. "Urrgh." she was hurrying down and escalator and not watching where she was going. Suddenly she tripped over the suitcase of a little kid that moved too slow. She nearly tumbled down the stairs had it not been for the collision with someone hard. "OW!" she cried out. "Tch. Troublesome." a deep voice drawled. "Watch where you're going." a guy around her age with a spikey ponytail frowned, standing her up properly. With her luck her shoelace got caught in the spokes of the escalator. "Ahh!!! No! no! no! Not my converse! Damn it! Oh on you don't!" she struggled with the machine. She had to take off her shoe or lose a foot.
Quickly the lazy looking boy cut off the lace with a pocket knife. "Eep!" she stumbled balancing herself on his shoulder. "Thanks." she sighed. It was her first day and she was already building her reputation as a klutz. "Hmph." he placed his hands back into his pocket. "Don't mention it. It would have been wrong not to help." he yawned. Sakura guessed that he hadn't been getting much sleep. Hey he spoke English! He could help her! "Hey wait!" she called after him, waving. He looked over his shoulder as she ran up. "Watch out now." he stepped away, unwilling to be caught up in another almost-tumble. "Um…I'm kind of lost. Can you show me where to find baggage claim?" she asked politely. He sighed and turned around. "Come with me. I was headed there anyway." he motioned for her to follow. "Oh. Well great!" she smiled brightly. "I'm Sakura by the way." she held out her hand for him to shake.
"Shikamaru." he responded with a nod. He didn't take her hand though. "Oh…well nice to meet you Shikamaru." she nodded back placing her hand into her pocket sheepishly. He was one of those 'Mr. Cool' guys probably. In the back of her mind she remembered what her dad had said about trusting people but he had not approached her so technically it was him who was trusting her. She followed him closely…a bit nervous in this place all by herself. She had found a very brief lifeboat and she would take advantage. "Here." he turned to her. "Your flight should be around here somewhere." he motioned to the suitcases on the different conveyor belts. To the girl's delight she spotted one of her suitcases right away. "Oh that's my suitcase! Thanks a lot Shikamaru. I appreciate it." she patted his arm and hurried off. He simply grunted in response. "Girls are too troublesome. Always so energetic, it's exhausting." he muttered to himself. She dragged her stuff from the belts and rented a cart for them. There were crowds of tourists, and business men/women, there were also actually quite a few kids like her. She looked around for any masks or silver hair but couldn't find anybody. Giving up she sat on her biggest suitcase and waited to be spotted.
It was significantly less crowded and Sakura began to get apprehensive. She noticed Shikamaru sleeping not too far away from her. Shaking her head she continued to look around. "Your ride late?" he suddenly asked, sitting beside her. 'What the-?' she sweat-dropped. "How did you do that?" she asked. "Do what?" he gave her a puzzled look. "N-nothing never mind." she shook her head. Suddenly he made her a bit nervous. "You seem to be pretty sheltered. What are you doing here alone?" he frowned. She raised a brow. What was he some kind of human trafficker? "Maybe I'm not alone." she inched away. He scoffed. "You are so alone…but anyway you seem pretty smart." he shrugged. "…Anyways…it looks like my just is late. Isn't that grand?" she drawled. She looked down at her lace-less shoe with a miserable sigh. "I'm gonna need to get some shoe laces while I'm here." she huffed resting her head on her elbows. "A whole lot of them if you're as clumsy as you were back there all the time." he commented. "Shut up." she pouted. "I'm just having an incredibly off day." she added in her excuse.
"Ah, it appears that my two wards have already met." a deep voice called. Both kids looked up. "You're late Kakashi…again." Shikamaru yawned in boredom. Kakashi…this was the man. Just as her Dad had said…she had known him when she saw him. "You're Hatake Kakashi?" she asked for confirmation. "And you're Haruno Sakura. You have your father's eyes." he remarked. "Umm…yeah thanks I guess." she stood up. "No way." Shikamaru stood up. "You are a new student at Konoha High?" he raised a brow. "Is it really that hard to believe?" she frowned in offense. "No offense but…you don't look like the eccentric genius type." he said honestly. "Neither do you." she sniffed. "Touche." he nodded.
"Although you'd best not judge a book by his demeanor…Shikamaru here has an I.Q. of over 200." the silver haired mystery man grinned from behind his odd mask. "What's with the mask thing?" she motioned. Shikamaru elbowed her in the ribs, and made a cutting motion that meant for her not to ask. "Oh. Never mind." she smiled sheepishly. "You said he was late…again." she whispered. "Is he late all the time?" she asked. "Yes." the apparent genius boy nodded without hesitance. "Most of the time he's much later than this." he informed. "Oh…" Sakura did not like the sound of that. Kakashi flagged down someone for their luggage. "What is he supposed to be? A driver?" she inquired curiously. "Actually he's a guidance counselor." Shikamaru smirked at her expression. "You're kidding."
"No he's not." Kakashi's voice broke in making her blush at being caught talking behind his back. "Get in the car you two. We can't be late to get you settled in." he cheerily ordered. They obeyed without hesitance. Plus number…oh she'd lost count damn it…plus number blank at least she had made one friend in her new school. When he took out a blue PSP she knew her and Shikamaru would get along just fine together. The car door was shut behind her and she pulled out her own PSP. Shikamaru looked at it briefly before going back to his own. She smirked. "Hey…you wanna play something awesome?" she asked cheerily. "Hmm. Sure." he nodded. And that had been that.
Author's Note: And so I leave you all with the second chapter of International School of psychos/freaks alike. I hope you enjoyed it and I hope that I receive many of your much loved reviews. Pleeeaaaassseee!!! XD. Saku's making friends woohoo!! Lol….review…now. Like seriously.