Hey guys! I'm loving the reviews I'm getting! Especially the one about my grammar issues. XD Thank you Lil Kitsune chan for noticing that. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, I managed to forget that "your" and "you're" are two different things. Hey I was tired. Anyways, I don't think anybody read the note at the bottom of Chapter 5, so I'll repeat it.
**IMPORTAT MESSAGE**
I'M OPENING A QUESTIONARIE FOR THE NARUTO CHARACTERS! IF THERE IS ANY QUESTION YOU WANT TO ASK OR SOMETHING YOU WANT TO SAY TO ANYONE, PUT IT IN A REVIEW AND YOU WILL BE GIVEN AN ANSWER IN THE FOLLOWING CHAPTER!
Sound good? You can ask them loaded questions, cuz they're funny… like this one!
Shadow: HEY SASUKE!
Sasuke: what?
Shadow: How does it feel to be out of the closet?
Sasuke: WHAT!? I'm not out of the closet!
Shadow: Oh. You really should come out. It's not like anyone is going to judge you.
Sasuke: THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT! I was never in the closet.
Shadow: Oooohhhh! Ok. You were just born that way? ;)
Sasuke: I'M NOT GAY! ! ! ! ! ! !
Shadow: Lol. Read and review people. Oh! And ask Sasuke awkward questions! So when was you're last wet dream about Itachi?
Sasuke: GAAAHHH!
Chapter 6
"Good morning class!" Shizune-sensei said cheerfully. "We have a new student with us and I hope you will all make her feel welcome." Sakura stood and bowed to the Home Ed class. The class seemed to be entirely made up of girls except for one student in a male uniform at the back of the class. Shizune continued speaking.
"Your assignment today is to make me the best chocolate chip cookie that I have ever had!"
The class broke out into excited whispers.
Shizune smiled at her students' enthusiasm. "You have one hour. Get with your assigned partners and go to your kitchens. Get baking!"
The group of female students broke up, chatting as they dispersed, leaving Sakura and the male student standing in front of the teacher. Shizune smiled at both of them.
"Sakura, this is Haku." she said gesturing to the boy. She beckoned him closer and he hesitantly came forward to stand next to Sakura. He had long hair and delicate facial features. He had large brown eyes that just made him seem very huggable. Sakura smiled widely at him, ignoring the fact that his overall appearance seemed very feminine.
"Hi Haku!" she said brightly. Haku blinked, apparently taken aback by her upbeat attitude.
"H-hello." he said softly.
Shizune looked somewhat surprised. "Well it looks like you two will be fantastic partners." She turned to Sakura. "Haku doesn't normally speak much, so I'm surprised he answered you at all."
"Oh…" Sakura glanced at Haku, who had turned his head away from the conversation. Shizune leaned close to Sakura, her voice dropping to a low whisper.
"Haku hasn't experienced much friendly behavior. He's been teased about his appearance and his sexual orientation since he first came here. He really needs someone to be his friend." Shizune drew herself back and stared intensely at Sakura.
"Can I count on you, Miss Haruno?"
Sakura glanced at Haku, who was shifting awkwardly from side to side while twisting a long strand of his beautiful hair. He was biting lower lip while his large eyes darted from the floor to Sakura's examining eyes. The only thing Sakura wanted to do right now was glomp the boy for being so freaking adorable. She turned to look her teacher with a smile on her face
"Of course Sensei."
. . .
"You're really pretty."
Sakura stopped mixing the ingredients in the large bowl she was holding to examine the boy behind her. Haku was leaning against one of the counters in the mini kitchen, staring at the floor. He had tied his hair up into a top knot in order to keep it out of the cookie dough. He still avoided her eyes and shifted nervously whenever Sakura spoke directly to him. Her eyes softened when she looked at him. He was like a little kid and was just too damn cute!
"Thanks," she said with a wide smile. "You're kinda good-looking yourself."
Haku blushed. "R-really?"
Sakura laughed. "Yup! Now can you hand me that baking pan, handsome?"
Haku gave her a small smile and reached for the pan. After placing the globs of cookie dough on the pan, Sakura placed it in the oven and closed the door. 40 more minutes, she thought as she glanced at the clock. That gives us enough time to make two extra batches. Sakura leaned against the counter and smiled at Haku.
"Well, we've got 12 minutes before the first batch is done," she said. "So… you got a girlfriend, Haku?"
Haku looked up, startled. Sakura then mentally slapped herself, remembering the conversation she had had with Shizune.
He's been teased about his appearance and his sexual orientation since he first came here.
"Or is it boyfriend?" She winked at him, trying to cover her slip-up.
However, Haku seemed even more at a loss for words.
"I-um-that is—"
"I'm sorry," Sakura said quickly. "I didn't mean to offend you. I was just wondering…"
"No, it's fine." Haku whispered.
He scratched his head, staring at this floor.
"I don't have a boyfriend… or girlfriend," he added hastily, glancing up at her. Sakura just nodded. "Well, I did at one point…. We had known each other since we were both really young. We were together for a little while, but then something happened. Now there's a new guy, but I don't think he likes me the way I like him."
"Ugh, don't you hate when that happens?" Sakura shifted to sit on the floor of the small kitchen. Haku joined her as she continued. "I mean there's this guy I met today, who's absolutely beautiful. But I just don't think—"
"Sasuke Uchiha?" Haku interrupted with a twinkle in his eye. Sakura stared at him.
"How did you know?" she asked incredulously. Haku laughed.
"Because every girl who meets him falls head over heels in love with him until they find out how much of an asshole he is."
Sakura was stunned. "He's not an asshole," she said a little defensively. Haku laughed again, this time without a little of his joy.
"Yeah," he murmured, a sad look over taking his features. "Kimi said the exact same thing."
Wanting desperately to change the subject, Sakura asked, "Kimi?"
Haku turned his large brown eyes to her emerald ones.
"Kimimaro," he said plainly. "He abandoned me for your Sasuke Uchiha."
Sakura stared at him as he continued.
"It's what Uchiha does," he said looking away. "He befriends those who he believes can be of use to him. Kimimaro is the heir to Sound Incorporated. Sasuke thinks that by wrapping Kimi around his finger, he can gain favors for his family business. The same is true of others, like Neji Hyyuga and Naruto Uzumaki."
Sakura's head shot up at the mention of those she knew. Haku glanced at her.
"So you know them? Yes, just a couple more of Sasuke's pawns, trapped in his little game of life."
He turned to look at the pink-haired girl fully. "Did he try to become your friend, Sakura-chan?"
Sakura twitched and nodded. He held her gaze with a look of something close to pity.
"He's using you, Sakura-chan," Haku said quietly. "Sasuke Uchiha does not have friends. Only followers. I suggest you move on, like I did." The oven beeped loudly, startling both of them. Sakura, too stunned by Haku's words to move, so she continued to sit as the boy stood and walked towards the oven. Pausing as he reached to open the oven door, Haku turned to Sakura with large, concerned eyes.
"He wants something from you, Sakura-chan…. Please be careful."
. . .
Sakura stared at the giant plate of cookies in her arms.
What am I supposed to do with all of these? she asked herself, a giant sweatdrop rolling down her head. Haku had insisted that she take all of the cookies they had baked. He said that he didn't really have a sweet tooth and she had done most of the work anyway. Next thing she knew, Sakura was landed with a large plate of chocolate chippy goodness.
"Hey Sakura-chan!"
Sakura looked up to see two people walking towards her. "Hey guys!"
Hinata waved timidly while Naruto beamed at her.
"So," Naruto said stopping in front of her. "Are you happy that we finally get a break—are those cookies!?"
"Break?" Sakura asked, handing Naruto a large cookie.
"It's l-lunch time, S-Sakura-chan." Hinata said, twiddling her fingers nervously as Naruto scarfed down his treat.
"Oh!" Sakura said in surprise. "I never checked to see when my lunch break was."
Finishing his cookie, Naruto wiped the crumbs off his mouth and nodded vigorously.
"Yeah! So we were wondering if you would be interested in eating lunch with us…?" He trailed off as though he was scared to be rejected by Sakura. The pink haired girl laughed.
"I'd love to!" she said with a smile. A relieved grin broke out on Naruto's face.
"Great!" he grabbed Sakura's hand and dragged her down a random hall, Hinata trailing close behind. "Let's go! Everyone's waiting!"
. . .
"—and this is Kiba! He thinks he's a dog, but he actually has a really, really big dog named Akamaru, but he's really nice so I hope you get to meet him! That's Ino, Kiba's girlfriend. We call her BBB for short! It stands for 'Blond Bimbo Bitch' and—ow, Kiba! That hurt!—The one eating all of your cookies is Choji. He likes to eat, sleep, and eat, so it's easy to be his friend. This is Shikamaru. He's really, really lazy but he's super smart, even though he doesn't HELP HIS STUPID BLOND FRIENDS WITH THEIR MATH HOMEWORK—OW! No Ino! I swear! I wasn't talking about you! Gah!—Anyways, the creepy one over there is Shino and nobody really knows a lot about him because he barely talks, but we do know that he has this weird fascination with bugs! You already know Hinata-chan, but I'll tell you some stuff about her. She has really good eyesight and her favorite color is purple and she likes chocolate cake—Hinata-chan? You look really red, are you all right?—The last one over there with Shino is Sai. He's got a problem with emotions and can't understand sarcasm to save his life. He's also an extreme pervert, but I think you're safe because you're a girl—
Sakura exhaled in relief as Naruto's attention turned toward the pale boy known as Sai. To be honest, she was really overwhelmed. Naruto had so many friends.
"Hey Naruto?"
Naruto paused his assault on Sai.
"Eh, Sakura-chan?"
Sakura shrugged. "I was just wondering where Sasuke was. Oh, and Gaara-kun too!"
The table went silent and everybody stared at her. Sakura became slightly nervous. Naruto stood up, not looking directly at her while rubbing the back of his head.
"Umm, Sakura-chan? It's best if we leave those two alone. Gaara-kun is generally a very anti-social person, so he normally eats lunch alone on the roof. And Sasuke…" Naruto took a deep breath, closing eyes that most likely shone with hurt. "Sasuke's made it very clear that he wants nothing to do with us." Everyone at the lunch table was deathly quiet, staring at Naruto with concern or glaring at a certain table with acid hate. Sakura glanced at Naruto and then towards the table everyone else was looking. Sasuke sat at the center of the cafeteria, surrounded by a people she didn't know. He was laughing loudly and exchanging high fives with a couple of jocks. Sakura looked back to Naruto who was being sat down by Hinata. Everyone else turned away in disgust. Hinata looked up at Sakura, slight defiance in her eyes.
"Go to him if you want." she said bluntly, no trace of a stammer in her voice. Everyone else now looked at Sakura. Not with hate, but with pity. Sakura couldn't stand it. She reached across the table and jerked her plate of cookies out of Choji's large hands.
"J-just want to give him a c-cookie." she mumbled before darting away to the table.
. . .
"So he's hooked another one has he?" Shikamaru asked lazily, folding his arms.
"She's just another stupid whore!" snarled Kiba.
"No she's not," Naruto whispered. Everybody stared at him, questioningly. Naruto smiled slightly.
"Did I tell you that she made Gaara laugh?"
Surprise was evident on every face at the table. Then they all turned to face the direction the pink haired beauty had gone, curiosity peaked and all wondering just who the hell was Sakura Haruno.
Meh. Had to end it somewhere. Next chapter is where Sasuke "begins" to turn into a dick, so beware. Also, we get a little Sakura/Gaara confrontation! Yayz!
Review and ask questions!
Veni, Vidi, Vici,
Shadow