Okay, this chapter was late. I got writer's block halfway through. But Gaara's being introduced, so maybe that'll make up for it? (crosses fingers) Then again, this chapter's kinda boring... filler, basically.
To anonymousM: the actual chapter was supposed to turn out differently, but as I wrote it I realized that the SS moment wouldn't work in that chapter. I'm saving it for later.
If you notice any words that somehow combined together, please let me know. FFnet seems to be doing this to me recently.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Please don't be disillusioned and think that I do.
Plagiarized
Chapter 4: Hello
Dear Sakura,
Hello.
(no alias given)
Dear Hello,
Hi.
--Sakura
Excerpt from Sakura's Diary, October 25:
While I was... (scribbled out) -- sleeping upstairs, the boys downstairs had been making bets.
From what I'd gathered from Naruto, the bets were:
Lose- Kiba, Shino, Chouji, Uchiha, Neji
Tie- Shikamaru
Win- Naruto, Lee
Anyone that loses their bet has to dress up for Halloween at the winner's discretion. (That was why the boys had been freaking out downstairs.) Shikamaru informed me that there was another condition, and that it applied to one specific person, but he wouldn't tell me what the condition was.
What were they betting on, you ask?
The upcoming soccer game against the top-ranked team in our league, Otogakure no Sato. The bets ranged from winning by three points to tying to losing by ten goals, which is totally feasible, considering the fact that it's Otogakure no Sato, which has the scariest coach (I swear he's a child molester) and incredible soccer players who are masters in the art of cheating.
So not only are they good at soccer, they are also good at cheating in soccer.
There's probably some joke for that, but I can't think of it right now.
Anyways, this morning, I went over to the Yamanaka's and tied my red ribbon to their door handle.
I would have given it to Ino-san myself, but I decided that another confrontation wouldn't be a good idea, simply because I don't know how well I can control my Inner self at the moment.
Why am I calling her Ino-san, you ask?
Well, we're not friends anymore... are we?
"GO GO GO!!" Was the cry from Naruto. "Shoot! No, what are you doing, Neji?! Go that way!"
I sighed. Why was I here again? Why, oh why did I let Naruto drag me to this Sunday afternoon game to torture me?
Okay, I'm over-exaggerating a little, Naruto didn't drag me, he 'politely' asked me. I wasn't being tortured, I was just really bored. And he wasn't the one that managed to convince me to come to the game anyways.
That honor fell to Hinata.
Now, Hinata wouldn't normally be at a soccer game, simply because her father wouldn't allow her to show support for her Branch House cousin who just so happened to be on the team.
I personally think her father needs to get a stick shoved down his -
Okay, violent thoughts stop here.
Where was I? Oh, yes.
This could be potentially long story. Or not. It really depends on how fast you read this.
Remember that newspaper job offer that I had convinced Hinata to do? It seems that there was some miscommunication between Tsunade and Asuma-sensei.
The advice columnist was not moving away in a week. The sports columnist was.
How can such a huge mix-up occur, you ask? I have no idea. I bet all that smoking has gone to Asuma-sensei's brain and all of that drinking Tsunade secretly does has gone to her brain as well. Also, Shikamaru is too lazy to actually verify the truth with the actual advice columnist.
Don't tell them I said that; they'd probably murder me in my sleep. That, and it's not true (to a certain degree, at least, don't tell them that either).
Shikamaru would never be able to get in touch with the advice columnist - he doesn't know who she is. Tsunade and Asuma-sensei know, but they aren't telling. The sports columnist had filed a letter saying he would be leaving and hadn't bothered to inform anyone on the paper about his leaving. Somehow, Asuma-sensei misread the letter and reported the wrong information to Shikamaru.
Tsunade discovered the mistake Saturday and had Asuma-sensei call Shikamaru to inform him, who was, at that point, sleeping through some G-rated movie at the movie theater with Naruto and friends and had his phone turned off, so all Asuma-sensei got from Shikamaru was an answering machine that went "Please don't leave a message at the beep - I don't wan't to call someone back, it's too troublesome," before the beep. Asuma-sensei had completely disregarded his shougi partner and left the message anyways, and Naruto had found the message on Shikamaru's phone when he'd stolen it from the sleeping boy on the car ride home and renamed all of his contacts with the help of Kiba. He'd told Shikamaru about the message when they'd reached our house.
Needless to say, Shikamaru was ticked off in a lazy fashion (because, for some reason, he can't be ticked off in a normal fashion), Naruto was in trouble, and he and Kiba were forced to help Shikamaru change cell phone entries like "Emo-loser-boy-who-needs-a-life" back to "Sasuke."
I personally think "Emo-loser-boy-who-needs-a-life" would have suited Uchiha just fine, but that's me.
Hinata, who was now stuck with the sports columnist job, had no clue what a sports columnist did, so she'd begged me, the ghost editor, to help her out.
As her best friend, I couldn't say no.
So, here I am. Naruto's screaming at the top of his lungs, Shikamaru's basically sleeping, and Hinata keeps turning pale every single time someone trips (considering how it happens one right after another, she's pretty comparable to a ghost at the moment). Chouji, Shikamaru's best friend, is at the game too, but he's currently pigging out on popcorn and chips. Real healthy diet.
I'm not enjoying the soccer game, by the way. I have no clue what offsides and PKs are.
On the plus side, Inner Sakura is staying absolutely silent today, so I don't have to listen to her complaints and death threats. Even though she's me, so the death threats and complaints are really mine... okay, I'm confused.
"Kick the ball!" Naruto screamed.
On the field, Uchiha - who is apparently an amazing soccer player (note sarcasm) tripped and fell very gracefully in his attempt to kick the ball.
I had to choke back my laughter, earning a strange look from Tenten, who had the added bonus of sitting next to Resident Loudspeaker: Uzumaki Naruto.
Mr. Dude With the Metal Arm (it's prosthetic), you are my hero for tripping Uchiha.
The current point total at the moment was 1-1. They were only about five minutes into the game, but it felt like an eternity.
I wish the game would end right now; I am so bored.
The whistle blew.
"Uchiha-kun!"
"Kyaa!"
"Over here!"
"OMG! Is he, like, okay?" (Yes, she did actually say the letters OMG. I take back what I said about them not being able to annoy me. They annoyed me, all right.)
Uchiha had been pulled out of the game for being injured. He was limping.
"Uchiha-kun! Are you okay?!" Was the horrified cry from the majority of the girls. If the game wasn't still in session, I think they would have stormed the field.
A tweet and the ball was kicked towards the Oto goal, Inazuka Kiba sprinting after it, wild spiky hair bouncing to the rhythm of his feet. The ball was stolen from Kiba and kicked in the other direction, Neji poised to kick it.
I glanced behind me. Hinata was frantically trying to take notes for her article. Shikamaru had a video camera on a tripod aimed at the soccer field, but was staring at the sky in a bored fashion. Chouji was still eating his chips. In the row in front of me, Naruto was practically jumping out of his seat, screaming. Tenten edged slowly away from the hyperactive boy, her eyes fixed on the game.
I groaned. This game was so boring. What do people see in soccer anyways? You kick a stupid black and white ball across the field and try and get it in the net. Fantastic.
There was a collective groan from Oto's fans as their team failed to reach the ball before Neji kicked the ball up the field and past the end line. Uchiha was on the bench, pressing ice to his leg. The girls were whispering among one another.
"I hope he's okay!"
"Do you think he'd go out with me?"
"He's so hot!"
I rolled my eyes.
Just shut up already...
A cheer came up from the Oto fans as they scored on us for the second time.
50 minutes to go. 20 until half time, and 30 after that.
Shikamaru muttered something under his breath that sounded oddly like "Troublesome..." and closed his eyes. Hinata was torn between the game and her notebook. Tenten's sharp eyes were trained on the black and white ball that was moving around the field. Naruto was screaming at the field.
"Sasuke-kun..."
"I love you!"
"You're my hero!"
I growled and stood up. I needed a break from all of this.
I exhaled slowly when I entered the bathroom. I had a headache from all of the screaming. Standing in front of the sink, I took a few minutes to study myself in the mirror. Without the ribbon, I seemed to look different. I felt different.
Unconsciously, my hand shifted upwards to pat where the ribbon used to be. It was so strange not to have that ribbon; I had worn it for so long.
Still, it was a reminder of the friendship we had, and if I'd kept it, it would have meant we were still friends. If Ino-san didn't want to be friends, then we didn't have to be friends. It was her decision, not mine, and yet -
"Damn it..." I muttered under my breath.
Why does it bother me so much?
With an irritated sigh, I splashed my face with cold water, over and over again. The running water spilled over my hands, through my fingers and over the sides.
I felt like that running water suddenly, falling, unstoppable, and so very cold.
"Loser!"
"Baby!"
"I hate you!"
"Go away!"
"Stop that!"
"Here, I'll give this to you. It's a gift."
I shivered and turned off the water. I grabbed a paper towel and began to dry off my hands and my face.
You're okay, you're okay. You just need to relax and forget about it, I thought.
Liar, I another part of me thought instantly. I tried to brush it off. I'm such a hypocrite. I hate liars but I'm a liar myself. Man, I have issues.
When I exited the bathroom, I spotted three people in the distance, talking. Two of them I recognized from school... and the other one I recognized from last year.
The Sabaku siblings. Temari, Kankuro... and Gaara.
Temari and Kankuro are in my class (if you don't remember) and Gaara... well, he's not in my class anymore. He was in my class last year, though. I knew quite a bit about Gaara, considering he used to be on the paper - in fact, he's the departing sports writer - and he was my table partner last year. All three of them are transfer students from Sunagakure no Sato, and Gaara would be transferring back at the end of this week, on Halloween. No one knew why - not even his siblings did.
Everyone at the school secretly had heaved a sigh of relief, though, because Gaara was generally considered scary and very creepy.
We'd spoken on occasion, (considering we were table partners) and gotten to know each other, but he really didn't talk often. In fact, he's a lot like Uchiha when it comes to socializing (the one-word standard, everyone), except Uchiha's a first-class jerk and Gaara is polite, even if he is scary (The other trait he and Uchiha seem to share is their friendship with Naruto).
Gaara just looks scary because he has insomnia, no eyebrows, and a blood-red tattoo on his forehead. The dark circles around his eyes are from the insonmia. The missing eyebrows are reportedly from when his dad burned them off. The tattoo is the character for love in Japanese (or Chinese, however you want to look at it), and he'd gotten it in memory of his mother, who'd died giving birth to him. He'd found out what happened to his mother during an angry outburst from his father two days before his 13th birthday. According to Temari, Gaara had disappeared and returned on his birthday with the tattoo.
No one had filed a missing persons report for him, simply because their father was pissed and refused to do it, saying, "He'll come back, and when he does..."
He'd hit Gaara as soon as he walked into the door.
Great 13th birthday present, if you ask me.
The next day, Gaara submitted transfer papers to Konoha. Apparently while he was missing, he'd been at ourhouse. How that happened, I had no clue, but apparently, Naruto and Gaara were friends or something. It had to do with some program they'd both been enrolled in as kids having to do with learning about demons and stuff like that...? Anyways, all I remember is that Naruto had come home with a nine-tailed fox plushie that he called Kyuubi and told me all sorts of folk tales about it, one involving it (the doll) being fused with a ninja that sounded a lot like Naruto in terms of personality and physical characteristics. I had rolled my eyes when he'd added that the ninja would become the "next Hokage," whatever that is.
Okay, I'm off-topic now. Where was I...?
Oh, yes. Gaara had been at our house during his two-day disappearance. Naruto had hidden him in his room and brought food upstairs for him. On the second day, he'd sneaked out of the house with Gaara to the tattoo parlor, where Naruto himself had gotten a couple of lines on his cheeks that looked like cat whiskers and a spiral tattoo on his stomach.
Now, mind you, the kid was 13. Mom and Dad had simply thrown up their hands in frustration after he'd come home with the tattoos (after sending Gaara off). I'd given Naruto a weird look, and he'd just laughed it off, saying "Oh, I just felt like it..."
Gaara had later told me that Naruto had gotten the tattoos to "share the pain" with him. Naruto's parents are dead too, so it makes sense... but, somehow... it felt like Naruto was trying to hide something from us, which seemed impossible. Gaara had shared the sentiment when I had told him that.
I approached them.
"Hey," I said, giving a small half wave. "Are you all here to watch the game?" They turned to stare at me. Temari nodded, her four pigtails bobbing with her nod. Kankuro just laughed.
"Why else would we be here?" He asked.
"You idiot," Temari said, smacking her brother upside the head. "You're supposed to answer the question, not ask another one."
"..." Gaara stayed absolutely silent, his pale green eyes staring at me.
"I hear you plagiarized Uchiha's paper," Kankuro said, rubbing the back of his head painfully. I glared at him.
"Well, I didn't," I snapped, crossing my arms.
"Well geez, don't get so snappy," he replied. Temari cut in.
"Everyone's saying you plagiarized his paper," she said. "Even your best friend, Yamanaka." She looked at me as if to gauge my reaction. I gave her a hard stare. I was not going to tell someone I didn't know very well exactly what transpired between Ino-san and me.
"It's all lies," I grumbled, glancing up at the sky, irritated. There were nice clouds to watch. Shikamaru must be having a field day. Gaara silently approached me. Temari and Kankuro exchanged looks.
"Sure," Kankuro said in a disbelieving tone. Temari smirked.
"Really?" She asked. "Well, that's good." Gaara was only about a meter away, staring at me.
"I believe you," he murmured quietly, still staring at me expressionlessly. I stared weirdly at him.
"What?" He couldn't be serious. Oh well. At least someone other than my two close friends (not including Ino-san, who's really not my friend anymore) believed me.
Gaara turned to the side, suddenly avoiding my eyes. He didn't say anything. I couldn't see his face.
Temari started laughing, earning weird looks from Kankuro and me and a blank stare from Gaara. When she stopped, she smirked at me again.
"Can we join you guys?" I raised an eyebrow.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, can we watch the game with you guys?" Temari clarified. I blinked a couple of times. Kankuro had a grin on his face too. Gaara was staring at them both in silence.
Uh... why? My mind asked absently, but I didn't say anything out loud.
I paused, wondering what was transpiring right in front of me.
"Uh... sure, if you don't mind being shunned by practically everyone," I said, with a shrug of my shoulders. Temari's smirk grew wider.
"Great! Let's go, you two!" She grabbed Kankuro by the ear, ignoring his "Ow, ow, ow"s and followed me, Gaara trailing behind silently.
"Oi, Sakura, where have you been? You missed the majority of the first half of the game!" Naruto greeted, glaring at me. "Oh, hi, Gaara," he added, when he noticed the redhead standing next to me.
Gaara just nodded in acknowledgment and sat down in a random seat. I took my original seat, which was next to the seat Gaara had just claimed. Temari took the empty seat next to a safe-looking Shikamaru instead of the one next to the hyperactive blond that would inevitably explode when the game started again. Kankuro sat down between Temari and Hinata, right behind Gaara.
The first half was still playing, but there were only two minutes left. Uchiha had been put in the game again, since his injury was apparently not serious. Many of the fan girls were happy to see him in commission again.
I, on the other hand, didn't care. As much as I didn't like Uchiha, I wasn't about to wish bodily harm on him. Embarrassment, yes. Injury? No.
I'm not that mean. At least I have morals.
Unlike some people I know.
I sighed and watched as one of the Oto defenders stole the ball from Kiba, one of the offenders, and kicked it. The ball hit one of his own teammates, and, to the surprise of everyone in the stands, bounced off him and into their soccer goal. The goalie, who hadn't expected something like that to happen, didn't react in time, allowing the ball to slip past him.
"What the -" I heard Gaara mutter. Surprised voices from the Oto stands seemed to be thinking the same thing.
To my surprise, the only person who should have reacted who didn'treact was Naruto.
The referee blew the whistle, ending the half. He then pulled out a card and marked the goal. The boys began to head towards their respective benches for their water bottles.
The cheerleaders appeared out of nowhere and started one of their practiced routines that made most of the guys go gaga. The "I Heart Sasuke-kun Fan Club" and the "Official Sasuke-kun/Anti-Haruno Sakura Fan Club" members (the difference between the two clubs being that one officially hates me and one doesn't 'officially' hate me, but hates me anyways) had abandoned the stands to go swoon over Uchiha, ignoring cries from the coach and the referee.
"Hey, Sakura, we're going to get food. You want anything?" Tenten asked, turning in her seat. "Oh, and you too, Shikamaru, Hinata, Chouji," she added, receiving a sleepy gaze from one and a panicked gaze from another. Chouji stood up.
"I'm going to go with you."
"Okay," Tenten said. "What about the rest of you?"
"If I leave now, I'm going to miss something important, I know it," Hinata muttered worriedly. Tenten shrugged.
"All right," she said. "Anything you want?"
"A Sprite would be nice," Shikamaru muttered from his seat. Hinata didn't reply, still taking notes.
"Get a water for her, I guess," I said. "I want Sprite too. How about you, Gaara?" He'd been watching our exchange with disinterest.
"Water," he said shortly.
"I'll get it," Kankuro offered from behind, standing up. "You want anything, Tem?" Temari blinked and looked up at him. He cocked his head at her, the question still lingering in the air. She sighed and stood up, shaking her head.
"I'll just come with you," she grumbled, pushing him out of the aisle and down the stairs. Tenten walked off, mentally reciting what we'd asked for in her head. Naruto trailed after her, pestering her with questions of "Will there be ramen?"
I stifled a giggle. Poor Tenten. Naruto was infuriating when he asked about ramen incessantly.
Gaara stared at me. I just smiled innocently at him. He continued to stare at me, and then appeared to try and shake himself out of a stupor.
"Something wrong?" I asked. He shook his head, glancing down so I couldn't see his face.
"Just surprised," he said shortly.
"What is that supposed to mean?" I demanded. He didn't reply. I frowned and stared at the field, watching the cheerleaders.
They need to practice more, I thought, wincing as one of the girls missed a beat. Needs strength training, I noted, seeing one of the girls faltering and weakening rapidly.
I could feel Gaara's eyes on me again.
Had I spoken aloud?
"What?" I demanded, rounding on him. Gaara looked quickly away.
"...nothing." I frowned.
"I won't take offense or anything, if that's what you're worried about."
Gaara still wasn't looking at me. "I'm just surprised."
"Why?"
"Just... well... I thought you'd be upset. About the plagiarism accusations," he added blandly. Now this was a surprise to me. I didn't think Gaara cared about me. We weren't great friends, really, just acquaintances.
"I'm not that weak!" I snapped, glaring at him, suddenly realizing what he'd implied. "My pink hair doesn't mean anything!" How is that related?! I asked myself, mentally slapping my forehead multiple times.
"Oh, really," he deadpanned, his expression still as blank as ever. If he was confused by my random addition, he didn't show it. "I don't think the pink hair has anything to do with it." That statement sounded like sarcasm, but I didn't think it was sarcasm. Especially since most of his statements sounded sarcastic. However, I knew it was because he was acting emotionless.
Note the use of the word 'acting.' There's no possible way he could actually be emotionless... I think.
"When I was younger, that was all there was to it," I retorted, crossing my arms. That was all that had mattered to the girls and the boys that made fun of me (especially because there was no way that it was natural, considering my mom's a brunette and my dad is blond). That, and my abnormally large forehead, which got better as I got older.
Gaara blinked a couple of times.
"I don't see anything wrong with pink hair."
"Well... it's an unnatural hair color," I pointed out. Gaara shook his head. He looked like he wanted to say something else, but someone cut him off.
"Hey, we're back!" Naruto cried out with a grin, holding a Styrofoam bowl of ramen and a pair of chopsticks. "And they had ramen!"
Shikamaru shot up in his seat, nearly smacking his head on the back of his chair, with a cry of "What? How is that even possible?"
I shook my head in disbelief. What were the chances of that?
Hinata managed a faint smile for Naruto's sake. "T-that's fantastic, Naruto-kun," she said, looking up at him. Their eyes met briefly, causing her to turn pink and look down at her notebook quickly. Naruto quirked his head in confusion, but turned to pester Chouji who'd appeared behind him, carrying an armful of chip bags and one large container of popcorn.
Tenten approached the group, plastic bag hanging from her wrist and a soft drink cup in each hand. She looked exhausted. She tossed the bag at me, which would've beaned me in the head if I hadn't ducked just in time.
"Hey!" I protested. Classic comeback, Sakura...I thought dryly as I placed the bag on my lap and opened it to see water bottles.
"Those are the water bottles," Tenten explained, walking over and handing me the soft drinks. I placed one in the cup holder and handed the other to Shikamaru, who took a long sip from it before putting it down in the cup holder. I handed a water bottle to Hinata, who was now trying not to look at Naruto at all. Gaara reached into the bag and took a water bottle for himself.
Tenten, Naruto and Chouji took their seats, but instead of sitting next to Tenten, Naruto sat next to Gaara and began talking with him. I moved to the row above us, sitting down next to Shikamaru, where Temari was sitting before. As a result, Temari confiscated my cellphone with a "Thanks for taking my seat, Haruno. I'm taking this as collateral," before claiming the seat next to me.
O-kay...
Kankuro sat down next to her, studying the field. The cheerleaders had left, and the referee plus the soccer players were herding their fans back to the stands so the next half could start. The fans were not about to go with a fight, until the creepy coach from Oto walked over with a pleasant (not really) smile and said something to them.
It seemed like they couldn't get to their seats fast enough, judging from the mad dash and the terrified faces.
...Now I want to know what he said.
It did take them a long time to reach their seats, though, so we still had a few minutes of no soccer.
Naruto was stuffing ramen in his face, which would probably keep him quiet for, oh... two minutes, depending on how much ramen he had. Hinata moved down a seat so that she was sitting next to me.
"I don't know why I agreed to this, Sakura... it's so difficult! I barely know anything about soccer." She looked worriedly at me.
"You could always ask Gaara," I suggested, indicating the red-haired boy. Hinata shook her head.
"I... I really don't know him," she admitted glancing at him. Gaara made no visible indication that he was listening, so she lowered her voice and added, "He scares me, too."
"He's not that bad," I whispered back.
"It's not how he looks, it's how he acts," Hinata muttered. "It's that blank expression of his - I've rarely ever seen him smile... or frown... or even lose his temper."
"Makes sense," I said. Mental note to self: Get Gaara to smile, I told myself. I'd have to try that today, or else I might not get a chance at all. "Oh, the game's about to start!" Hinata began panicking.
"Oh no, oh no! How am I supposed to do this?" She cried. Shikamaru, on my right, sighed deeply and leaned over so that he could see her past me.
"That's what we have the video camera for," he said, indicating the tripod. "You're only supposed to write down impressions. You rewatch the footage later for any play-by-play stuff you may or may not want to do."
"Oh..." She whispered, seeming to sink into her seat in relief.
"You couldn't have told her this earlier?" I asked.
"I was cloud watching," Shikamaru replied, as if that made all the difference in the world.
I rolled my eyes and leaned over to flick him in the forehead, receiving a brief glance that I couldn't read.
"Idiot," I said.
He just occupied himself with the clouds again.
Excerpt from Sakura's Diary, October 25
I have never been to a soccer game before.
I've never really seriously been into sports. I mean, I go to the dojo with Tenten, I watch a couple of sports games with Naruto, but that's basically it.
Why am I bringing this up, then?
Well, before half-time, the game was a complete drag (I think Shikamaru's finally rubbing off on me). The interesting things that happened were 1) Uchiha getting tripped (that was hilarious) and 2) the goal that Oto scored on themselves right before half-time.
I'm pretty sure that scoring on your own goal is something that you don't want to do. And yet... there was something off about that goal.
The second half only got weirder.
If you need to know, the final score was 10-1, Konoha's favor.
I bet Oto's coach had something to do with the outcome...
TWEET! Another goal by Oto on their own net. The goalie appeared to be trying to save the goals, but I don't think he was actually trying. And those goals looked like accidents, but I'm pretty sure they were purposeful. Although I think it would take a lot of talent to kick a ball right into a person, score a goal, and make it seem like a complete accident or coincidence.
Naruto seemed a little perturbed, but it wasn't evident that he was bothered by the game otherwise. Maybe it was because at this rate, he would be winning his bet and dressing everyone up in whatever outfit he wanted.
Temari was occupied with the cellphones she had taken from all of us and was not paying attention to the game. Kankuro didn't seem to care. Gaara was staring blankly at the field.
"This isn't normally what's supposed to happen, right?" I asked Shikamaru, who was ignoring me - or fast asleep. Hinata shook her head.
"I don't think so," she said. She still seemed to be writing quite a lot in the notebook she was holding. Frantic scribbles lined the paper. I couldn't read it at all.
"How are you going to be able to read that?" Hinata let out a nervous laugh.
"I... I don't quite know," she murmured distractedly, glancing up briefly to watch the game.
"You're not writing a play-by-play, are you? Because Shikamaru is taping this." I could tell from Hinata's sheepish smile that she was.
"Hinata... are you trying to make your life harder for yourself?" Hinata shook her head.
"No," she said slowly. "I'm just... taking precautions. The camera could break down or run out of batteries." Knowing Shikamaru, he'd already thought of that, but I didn't pursue the topic. Let Hinata do whatever she wanted.
"Sure," I said, shaking my head. The game was almost over. Almost.
Uchiha had been tripped again, causing many of the girls to swear vengeance on the player with the metal arm.
Poor guy. Now he had all of Uchiha's fans after him. I wouldn't want to be in his shoes... wait, I am in his shoes.
"Ugh..." I grumbled, making a face. "Fantastic."
Uchiha left the field once again, once again starting the onslaught of questions and cries of "Are you okay, Sasuke-kun?"
A few minutes later, there was a whistle and the game was over. Thank the Lord.
The two fan clubs charged the bench again, to discover that Uchiha had disappeared. With groans of disappointment, they all left. The soccer players headed into the locker rooms to change.
Tenten stood up.
"I'm going to go ahead," she announced. "I need to get to my part-time job." Temari handed her her cellphone before she shoved herself into the crowd and disappeared.
Hinata followed, with a mutter of "I need an interview."
Shikamaru was putting away the camera. Chouji helped him fold the tripod up.
Temari was still fooling around with our cellphones and had apparently added Gaara's phone to her collection.
"Here," she said after a few minutes, handing me my cellphone, along with Hinata's.
"I hope you didn't delete all my contacts," I muttered, flipping mine open. She laughed.
"No, I didn't, I added our numbers. Make sure to call Gaara every once in a while," she added, patting Gaara on the shoulder. He just stared at her blankly.
"Uh... sure, I will," I said, probably looking as confused as I felt.
"You'd better," Temari said, wagging a finger at me. I couldn't tell if she was joking or not.
"Yeah, okay, I'll try," I muttered, getting up to leave. I could wait outside. Plus, Shikamaru was taking forever. Temari shoved Gaara after me, and said good bye to Shikamaru before following with Kankuro in tow. I heard a cry of delight from Naruto as I walked past. I flinched.
"Yes! I win! Haha!" He laughed and started bouncing up and down in his chair. I sighed and tried to force myself into the crowd. It wasn't as easy as Tenten had made it look.
There was a groan from Chouji and an irritated sigh from Shikamaru.
"Troublesome..." was the last thing I heard before the crowd swept me up and away.
"Ow... where am I?" I muttered to myself, looking around. I'd forced myself out of the crowd, wincing at the new injuries I had. There were a couple of bruises on my leg and probably a bruise on my back.
I cursed my pink hair. My hair was what made it so easy to identify me. Some of the girls in the crowd had tried to injure me. I'd been tripped at least twice. The bruise on my knee could attest to that.
I noted that I was near the bathrooms, where I'd run into Gaara and the others earlier. I sat down on a nearby bench. There was a good chance that they'd get spit out the same way I did - minus the injuries, of course.
And sure enough, Gaara walked out of the crowd, looking slightly ruffled. He glanced back at the crowd with what seemed to be irritation. Then again, it was hard to tell, because when he turned back, I noted the deadpan expression that he wore.
"Did they trip you too?" I asked as he walked over.
He nodded minutely.
"Did they hurt you anywhere?" I asked after a few seconds. Gaara stared at me for another few seconds.
Another minute nod.
"Oh," was all I could say to that.
Cue long, awkward pause.
"Did you get hurt?" I found myself blinking in surprise. I debated on whether I should tell him. If I said no, I'd be lying, but I didn't want him to worry about it...
"Well, sorta..." I muttered quietly.
"Where?" He demanded as soon as the words left my mouth. Surprised, I reeled backwards. He stared at me curiously.
"J-just the knees," I replied, shocked. Wow, I was stuttering? This was new. Hinata must be rubbing off of me. Then again, I hadn't expected him to suddenly make the outburst.
Without thinking, Gaara had crouched down to study my knees.
Did I mention I was wearing pants today?
Which meant that Gaara was rolling up my pant legs. I winced inwardly. Ow, ow, ow...
I could see the creased brow. Even though he had no eyebrows, the wrinkles were still there. He was looking at the other bruises on my legs, the ones from earlier in the week.
"Liar," I heard him murmur when he saw the fading bruises on my legs. His eyes lifted to meet mine. I let out a huff and looked away.
He continued to roll up the pant legs until he'd rolled them past my knees. One of them was a nasty purple color, but the other had a faded bruise. He prodded the bruise and I winced, pulling away from him.
He looked up at me.
"Sorry, did that hurt?" He asked. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.
"Yes, it did," I said bluntly.
"It looks painful," he said after a few minutes. I resisted the "Thank you, Captain Obvious," response that I almost immediately fired.
"It was when I got it, and then it stopped hurting - until you poked it," I retorted, casting him a mock-glare. Let's see if I can do this, I thought, remembering my mental note.
"I said sorry," Gaara said, sounding irritated.
Hm. This shouldn't be too hard, I hope.
I looked away from him, pretending to still be annoyed. I heard Gaara exhale sharply, but he didn't say anything.
I frowned. Gaara was not cooperating. However, I continued to look pointedly away from him. I spotted Naruto make his way out of the stadium, the crowd practically gone. He was dragging Uchiha by the sleeve.
"You have to make it up to me," I said finally. There was a long silence. Uchiha was staring at me. I pulled out my cellphone and began to pretend to fool around with it so I wouldn't be able to see those dark eyes staring at me.
"How?" He asked. I turned around and eyed him critically, feeling Uchiha's eyes on every movement I was making. What the heck? Was he stalking me or something now?
"Smile. Now." He seemed to be caught off-guard by this.
"What?" I crossed my arms, trying to prevent myself from grinning like an idiot. This might actually work. If I'm lucky, of course. "Are you serious?" He asked.
"Yes. Do it."
"And if I don't want to?"
"Then I can always think of something harder and degrading," I replied.
With a resigned sigh, he closed his eyes to compose himself. And then he smiled, an honest-looking smile that could probably disarm a whole army of Uchiha's fangirls.
In a flash, I aimed my cellphone camera at him and took a picture before he could react. I spent the next few seconds studying the picture.
Wow, he's cute when he smiles. Whoa, did I just think that? Gaara and cute really don't work in the same sentence. Maybe handsome instead? Okay, stop thinking, now!
Great. Without Inner Sakura, I was resigned to talking to myself. Not that talking to Inner Sakura was any different, but you get my point.
"You can stop now," I said needlessly, considering he'd stopped smiling right after I took the picture. Gaara had reverted back to his emotionless expression, but he seemed to be annoyed.
"Are you mad at me now?" I asked, secretly wondering if he didn't like his picture being taken.
He glared at me, but didn't say anything. I smiled at him to try and lighten his sprits, but the glare intensified.
"Sorry if you didn't like that," I added, quirking my head slightly, the smile fading from my face to make way for a frown. "Is there any way to make up for it? You're forgiven, by the way," I added as an afterthought.
The glare stayed on his face for a few seconds longer, and then vanished.
"Am I forgiven?"
Nod.
I smiled at him again.
"Thanks." Why did I just say that? There was absolutely no point to that, I thought, groaning mentally. Gaara offered a small (really really small, barely visible unless you know what you're looking for) smile back at me.
"You too," he said quietly. Is he being shy? Weird.
I continued to smile, even as I spotted Uchiha staring at me again.
His dark eyes seemed to be radiating fury.
Hm.
Oh well. Who cares?
Not me, that's for sure.
Excerpt From Sakura's Diary, October 25:
Naruto, Temari, and Kankuro finally reached the two of us. By then, the smile on my face had vanished and we were sitting in awkward silence.
Temari continued to remind me to call Gaara, adding that he was my speed dial number 4 as she left. Hinata showed up shortly after, looking disappointed that she'd only managed to get interviews with the coaches.
Anyways, on a different note, there's school tomorrow. If I'm lucky, the whole stupid thing will have blown over.
Somehow, I doubt I'll be that lucky.
Haha... this is the second time I've ended with Sakura's diary. I'll have to stop that.
The next chapter's going to be a bit different, I'm writing it in a different POV. I'll talk more about it when I get to that chapter.
Thanks for reading!