DOUBLE EDGE
+standard disclaimer applied
Author's corner
IT should be fixed, so ENJOY~
Chapter Six.
A couple of days later, I nearly died.
"Everybody, this will be our new student teacher..."
Oh hell no.
"His name is..."
This can't be happening!
"Itachi Uchiha."
I froze at the mere sight of him when he entered. He was smirking at the class, though I know that its smugness was aimed specifically at me. No way. This was not real!
I pinched myself.
And then swore when it really hurt.
"Hello class, some of you may already know me," Again, aimed at me, "but I will treat you all equally and fairly. There will be no favourites."
Was he testing us to prove him wrong?
Better not try it, just in case.
I heard someone groan and turned to look at the person behind me. When did he sit there?
"Wassup Sasu-chicken?"
He glared at the nickname, "Hn."
I flipped through the mini portable dictionary of Hn—I needed it with Neji sometimes—, "Was that 'Hn' or 'Hhn'?"
"Aaa...?"
"I see... I see..." I flipped a few pages and found the right one, "'What are you, stupid? That guy's my brother!' Oh wow! How precise!"
"You two! Silence!" Mister Itachi teacher yelled to us. I quickly straightened up in my seat, hiding the dictionary in my desk.
I guess you could say it's good thing that Kakashi-sensei has a student teacher to teach us stuff... but that's just wrong! Itachi-senpai's so strict it's scary! You have no idea! I wonder how I didn't notice when we met that Sasuke was his brother... I guess you could say I was so busy that I totally forgot about Sasuke... Not like it mattered much, he had his hands full with Ino anyway.
Oink oink.
The second the bell rang, I was out of there faster than Sasuke.
And that's saying something.
"So you don't like your brother?" I asked him once we stopped running, stopping near the nurse's office. I leaned against the wall to catch my breath while he leaned on the wall opposite of me, not even panting. Stupid athletic emo.
He glared his answer to me.
We stayed in some sort of awkward silence for a couple of minutes before the door to the nurse's office opened and Naruto came out with a giant bandage on his face. I quickly reached his side, freaking out (other than the fact that I had never seen a bandage that big before).
"What happened? Are you okay?"
"Yeah, yeah..." He answered, eyes fixed to the ground. I was starting to get worried about him, not only about him physically, but mentally. This was not the usual hyperactive Naruto that I knew and loved. What happened to him to make him turn like this?
"Are you sure?"
"Hn."
Oh no. Not another Sasuke!
"Naruto Uzumaki!" I roared his name, unable to handle his sudden emo-ness, "Stop doing that and tell me what's wrong!"
He finally looked up in my eyes, looking pitiful, "...Stop doing what?"
"Stop being Sasuke!" I pointed at the boy who raised an eyebrow at me, wondering why I was dragging him into this, "I don't like seeing you like this!"
I grabbed his shoulders and started shaking him, "What happened to the Naruto I knew? The one who'd get up from getting beaten and laugh about it, vowing to become stronger and stronger so that he could surpassed them?"
His spirits didn't lift. He didn't even try to get out of my death grip. I was starting to fear that I was losing my best friend. Even though he was only acting strange, the fact that he suddenly turned off from the world scared me. It was like if he died, but only worse.
It's like he became a zombie.
"Naruto..." My strength wavered and I wrapped my arms around him, tears slipping, "W-what happened to my best friend who wanted to become the great Hokage?"
I could feel him take a shaky breath before his arms slowly came up and wrapped around me. I could feel my shoulder started to get wet and humid and guessed that he was crying too. "I-I'm s-still here, S-sakura!"
He leaned back and started wiping at his eyes, trying to stop himself from crying as he tried to smile for me. I just waited, knowing that he finally came to his senses. I gave him a small smile, only one thought echoed through my mind.
I'm going to have to tell him. It's for the better.
"You don't have to worry about me, Sakura-chan! I'm the great Naruto Uzumaki! Believe it!"
At the sound of his famous catchphrase, my smile grew a little but it faded once I noticed the hesitance in his words that never existed before, the odd way that his smile didn't reach his eyes. He was trying, but he was failing to return to himself.
I hugged him again.
I can't believe he was forcing himself for me.
"Naruto... After school, you're coming to my place."
I felt him freeze as my head lay on his shoulder comfortably, "R-really?"
I nodded, "It's about time."
"About time for what?"
I laughed and leaned back, a real smile gracing my features, "You'll see."
