DISCLAIMER: I miss saying this.. so.. ehem.. starlight, star bright, first star I see tonight, I wish I may, I wish I might, own Naruto for just one night!
Please read CHAPTER SEVEN AND EIGHT, because I already rewritten it. Many points of the story were very different. I made many adjustments, so please, read it before going on to this chapter. Thanks!
Love Story
BY: ang3Lix
Chapter 9: Our little Engelbert
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Sakura's duffel bag slid down her shoulder at the sight of her new home.
She shook her head in disbelief, planted her palm upon her forehead, and breathed out an audible gasp. " Sheesh.. This house is so big.."
The house was amazingly enormous. The structure itself was beautiful, with the walls painted a light, creamy color of beige and the roof colored maroon. The porch had two reclining chairs along with two side tables. She looked around—the outside garden was filled with vibrantly colored flowers and towering cherry blossom trees. Just by the side a large pool filled with clean, water glistened against the sun. A tire swing was attached to a strong, apple tree nearby.
Sakura stepped onto a stair and heard a creak. Her lips slowly formed into a playful smile. This house was turning into the one she truly wanted.
She was about to reach open for the door when it suddenly opened on its own. She stared as two security guards grinned toothily at her baffled form. Smiling back quite uncertainly, she entered the house immediately, not even daring to look back at the two men. They were.. Weirdly excited. That was eerie.
But as she stole a little glance back then looked forward again, all she got was a face full of broad chest covered with a Polo shirt. Stumbling back, she glared angrily at the person who was a centimeter away from running over her. And, as expected, it was Uchiha Sasuke.
But instead of lashing at him for blocking her way, she suddenly fell into an unusual silence. Her actions (such as locking herself up, refusing to eat, and flinging dangerous objects around) were still freshly burned into her mind. And to think that his arch nemesis sent her a message to get her ass back and stop moping around.. Well, it certainly tarnished her pride.
Sasuke smirked at her silenced form. " I see you got your life back. Congratulations, Pinky." He sneered, bonking the top of her head lightly. " That was for letting me handle the press alone."
Sakura's eyes darted even farther away from the taunting ones of the Uchiha. All she did was mutter, " I was busy.."
Sasuke snorted with disdain. " Yeah right, busy starving and locking yourself in like an idiot. God, the things you do, Pinky.. It's just plain stupid."
She glanced up at him, slightly fuming. " DON'T PUSH IT."
The male, again, did that annoying kind of snort. " Whatever. Oh yeah, get me a hotdog."
Sakura's flaring eyes suddenly ceased into confusion. " Wha..?" When it finally dawned to her, she let out a soft, sarcastic laugh. " What, you want me to put mustard on it?" the sarcasm was dripping everywhere.
" It's not gonna put mustard on itself." Sasuke sneered, rolling his onyx orbs skyward. " After the hotdog thing, scrub the left window pane by the kitchen. I accidentally flung mayonnaise on it. Sorry." He smirked, while the girl struggled to absorb every command.
" And why would you think I'd do that?" Sakura snapped.
Sasuke shrugged his shoulders simply. " Take it as paying your debt. I had to answer stupid question about how your parents produced such weird DNA that made your hair pink. So deal with it, pinky."
" They asked you that?" she asked darkly, her eyes flickering back to the male. Again with the hair-color issue. One should have thought everyone knew that by now.
But it should be hell. Everybody screaming questions at the same time, squinting at the bright camera lights, getting yourself crushed by the heavy weight of the press around you.. maybe she did owe him one.
" When do you want the hotdog?" she finally sighed out, showing obvious signs of giving in.
Sasuke smirked once again. " Now."
Sakura groaned, then dragged her duffel bag against the floor. Tossing it towards the still form of Sasuke, she dragged her feet towards what she thought was the kitchen—and miraculously, she picked the right room. But as she analyzed her surroundings more carefully.. she gaped. The whole room was a MESS. The walls splattered with different kinds of concoctions, which oddly resembled freshly barfed puke.
Sakura cringed.
The table was full of dirty plates and glasses, the utensils scattered haphazardly. Crumbs of bread, spatters of sauces and different kinds of things were smeared across the table cloth. The sink was over pouring of bubbles and the room stank of a strong lime and champagne scent. She almost felt dizzy just by looking at all the crap.
" Hurry up." Sasuke called, while he got comfy on the velvet-cushioned sofa, " We have school later."
Sakura's eyes perked open in horror and realization. " God, no."
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Ashikawa Engelbert, (pronounced as eng-GEL-bert), a student of both American and Japanese descent, happened to go the prestigious high school known as Konoha High (otherwise known as The Academy of the Burning Leaf, Japan Branch). He was a genius—but not really the coolest person around. Typically, he was as corny, geeky, and infuriating as his name sounded.
Well, why the heck is he mentioned anyway? Well, our little Engelbert, while walking down the corridor, bumped into one of the bullies in his batch. And as expected, he was gonna have his ass kicked if not for his fast legs that got him sailing through the crowd and out of the harasser's sight. But he was smart—and knew he had to have some back-up to avoid his nose being broken for the thirteenth time this year. So, he walked through his classes with a poster taped on his chest, saying 'ALLIANCE, ANYONE? I'LL DO YOUR HOMEWORK FOR A WEEK.'
But since everyone already had a geek to do their homework, he was left alone and defenseless—until he came up with another smashing idea that could work on his benefit. He heard about Haruno Sakura a lot of times, and new about her monstrous power. If he befriends her and win her affection, he'll have safety for the rest of his life. Not to mention he'll gain the dominance over the whole student body since her friends are standing by to kill anyone who dared touch him.
So he scribbled down her latest address (why she moved he did not know why) and set for her home.
" Thank you, God of logical thinking!" he exclaimed, rubbing his hands together. " I shall have eternal dominance! Eternal dominance, I say! MWUAHAHAHAHAHA!" he laughed darkly, then stopped.
" Time for some dehydrated celery sticks.." he said, rubbing his stomach gleefully.
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Naruto hummed a tune.
As he gripped the steering wheel with one hand, he reached for his phone and flipped it back. He pushed 1, the speed dial for Sakura-chan's number.
He continued to hum the same tune as he heard her phone ring.
Sakura-chan has a nice ring back song! He commented mentally, as he heard 'Helena' through his phone.
What's the worst That I could say?
Things
are better if I stay
So
long and goodnight
So
long and goodnight
Well
if you carry on this way
Things
are better if I stay
So
long and goodnight
So
long and—
" Good morning.." came the weary voice of the girl he wanted to talk to.
" HELLO SAKURA-CHAN, RISE AND SHINE, RISE AND SHINE, RISE AND SHINE!" he screamed over the phone, grinning. He heard the girl groan over the other line. " Wow, Sakura-chan, you sound so tired! Is the new house too big to talk a stroll at?" he commented, narrowly avoiding another car by giving the steering wheel a sudden jerk downwards.
He looked out his car window. " GOMEN!" he waved.
" Not exactly.." she responded, the same tiredness still present in his voice. " Just a bit.. jetlagged."
" Oh, okay!" Naruto smiled. " Get some rest, Sakura-chan! See you later!"
" Yeah.."
-Beep.-
Naruto continued to hum a tune, while he tossed his phone somewhere beneath the car seat by his right.
Naruto then frowned. " HEY! Sakura-chan doesn't need to ride an airplane!"
He nervously tapped his fingers on the steering wheel a couple of times.
He then suddenly dove for his phone.
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
" WATCH WHERE'S YOUR GOING!"
" ARE YOU BLIND! THE STOP SIGN'S BLINKING, MORON!"
" YOU ALMOST DROVE OVER THE OLD LADY!"
" GOMEN!" Naruto waved.
He quickly flipped the phone open, then speed dialed Neji's number.
" Neji?"
What.
" Are you at school now?"
I'm in the bathroom.
" Can you meet me at the stop sign by the highway? As in right now? At this very moment? Not one second wasted?"
(Pauses to "think") No.
" Okay. Can you get me a hotdog instead?"
(Pauses to "think") No.
" You ass."
-click-
Naruto sighed. " Fine, I'm going there by myself!" he said, very determined. " I'm coming Sakura-chan!" he pumped a fist in the air, but his hand painfully hit the car roof.
" This is why I hate cars." Naruto mumbled, disgruntled.
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RING, RING!
" Get your gluteus maximus out of the concrete pathway, granny!" he gurgled out, shaking his fist.
He continued to paddle.
Engelbert rang his bicycle bell. He was all geared up for a daily ride around town, complete with knee and elbow pads, helmet and mouthpiece. Well, he had to be prepared, right?
Releasing the other handle of his bike, he fumbled a piece of paper out of his checkered, tucked in polo shirt pocket. He stared at the scribble, then gazed at the cream-colored mansion just ahead of him.
He grinned, his mouthpiece almost popping out.
Hee, hee, hee, hee..
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" Missed a spot.." Sasuke sleep-talked from the couch.
Sakura breathed hot air through her nose, in attempt to calm herself down.
Nope, not working.
Aargh, I'm dead tired!
Sakura glanced at her hands. She cringed at the scratches and groaned at the soreness she felt. This was not the way she wanted her first day in her own house to be. She expected a warm bed, some warm food, and a warm bath. Instead she had to pay an alternative kind of debt to the Uchiha just because he had to answer some stupid questions.
That's right.. stupid questions. Stupid questions that he's not even obligated to answer.
Sakura turned away from the sink she was scrubbing, threw the rag she was just holding a while ago, and marched up to Sasuke, who had his head buried in a book.
Sakura, still void of any kind of reaction, raised her brow at the snoring form of the male. She grabbed the book from his hands, closed it shut, and threw it against the floor. It clattered down with a loud 'bang!'.
Sasuke immediately bolted up awake. " What..?" he murmured, rubbing his eye, " Is my hotdog ready..?"
Sakura gave off a snort. Growling audibly, she grabbed him by his collar, then heaved him up with such ease it was frightening. Sasuke's drowsy orbs snapped open.
She drew in a deep breath, closed her eyes in the process. The moment her emerald orbs snapped open was the exact time an uncontrolled shriek erupted from her voice box.
" YOU ASS! YOU ASS! I'M NOT YOUR SERVANT! HOW CAN YOU TREAT ME LIKE ONE! GO TO HELL! GO TO HELL! I HATE YOU! HOW CAN I PLAY AT THE INTERSCHOOL CHAMPIONSHIPS WITH BRUISED HANDS! WHAT, YOU WANT ME TO BRUISE SOMETHING OF YOURS! DON'T ANSWER THAT COZ I'D PROBABLY DO IT ANYWAY! WHY THE HECK DID I AGREED TO THIS THING IN THE FIRST PLACE? GOD! I'M AN IDIOT!"
Sakura dumped Sasuke back upon the couch, though the male was finally out of his sleepy stupor. He stared both awkwardly and nervously at the girl who was pacing back and forth, mumbling incoherent words which were probably best kept to herself. Her apron was full of stains, her hands were most likely aching. Her hair, which she twisted in a bun then poked through with a couple of chopsticks, was a complete mess.
" Prodigeux! Geisteskrankheit! Ingiusto! Coloquial es incredible!" these were the words that Sasuke's deft ears caught. Was she speaking.. like four languages at the same time?
She must be really angry.. Sasuke observed, as the Haruno began spewing out angered French sentences out of her mouth like a hose.
" Hey, Pinky," Sasuke interrupted, his finger poised upon his chin in a contemplative manner, " Can you at least curse me in a language I can understand?" he stated the last word with pure mockery.
Instead of obeying him like the Sakura who scrubbed the kitchen walls thoroughly, the present Sakura growled in an insane rage, grabbed a nearby lamp and chucked it towards the seated male, electric plugs and all. The flying object hit him in the head squarely.
" ARE YOU INSANE!" Sasuke roared, covering the right portion of his forehead, " ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME!"
" OF COURSE I AM!"
" GAAHH! I'M BLEEDING! COME BACK HERE, PINKY! WAIT 'TILL I GET MY HANDS ON YOU.." In the process of standing up and running towards the girl, the male stumbled on the very lampshade that poked a hole on his head. (I was exaggerating. Honestly.)
The mansion doors creaked open. The guards pathetically scrambled out of the way. Sasuke stopped struggling and Sakura stopped running. She slowly spotted the long shadow of a person creep in. His footsteps made an odd echoing noise upon the wood. As they wait in bated breath of what their eyes shall meet..
An irritating screech of a tire upon the road tore through their ears. " HI!"
They only realized that the screechy noise was the voice of a person when they saw the tall and lankly and nerdy and geeky form of Ashikawa Engelbert popping his mouthpiece out and tucking them in a protective casing.
Both Sasuke and Sakura's left eye cringed at the action.
" Greeting fellow schoolmate!" he addressed Sasuke with his ear-pounding voice, " And hello to you my fair, young, lady." He attempted to say smoothly. It didn't work, apparently, for Sakura was already cracking her knuckles. This was just not a good day for her, and she wouldn't want another source of irritation.
" Who the heck are you?" Sasuke asked, fumbling his handkerchief open to use it as a temporary bandage. " And how did you enter the gates?"
" It was open." Engelbert chirped simply.
Useless guards. Sasuke glared at the two, who grinned and waved stupidly at him. He made a mental note to demand Kakashi more sufficient ones.
Engelbert beamed, his braces shimmering by the light that bounced upon it, " Anyway, my name is—"
" SAKURA-CHAN!"
Sakura's eyes perked open and traced whoever called her name. " Naruto?"
" LIAR, LIAR PANTS ON FIRE!" he screeched, " What do you mean you're jetlagged, Sakura-chan! You're house is like half a kilometer from school! You don't need to ride a plane!"
" Pants on what?" Sakura asked, unpleasantly surprised. For all she knew, that quotation was so last century. " I was just a bit.. disoriented, okay? And I didn't know you'd take that so seriously."
Naruto narrowed his eyes at the bleeding Uchiha. Sasuke glared back at the blond.
" Hey, Sasuke-bastard's bleeding!" he commented, pointing a finger at him.
Sakura snorted. " So? He's an asshole."
Naruto seemed contented with the reply. " Oh yeah. So, disoriented? Why and are you feeling any better?"
" Chores and just a bit." She mumbled tiredly, jabbing her thumb towards the disgruntled Uchiha.
Naruto looked puzzled. " Chores? You have ch—" but soon enough, he realized. " YOU'RE MAKING HER DO CHORES!" Naruto roared.
He grabbed his best friend's hands, studied them carefully, then held them out for the raven-haired boy to see. " SHE HAS BRUISES!"
" Really? I didn't notice." Sasuke said with mockery, disgruntled. You may have noticed that all I say about the Uchiha is that he's disgruntled. Yes, he's a very disgruntled boy. Why I decided to make him very disgruntled.. I'm not really sure of.
So, you might think: where is Engelbert? Well, now that he's mentioned, the genius was standing at one corner, like a stick, unattended. And like any normal person, he did not like being ignored. So, he cleared his throat with a cough as geeky as his name, and spoke.
" Excuse me! Why is everyone ignoring me?" he called out. Everybody turned to look at him.
" Who are you?" Naruto inquired.
Engelbert rolled his eyes skyward, very irritated. He was trying his hardest to just introduce himself, if not for the several casualties that happened. " I'm Ashikawa Engelbert! I'm like, the god of logical thinking here! Why do you not know me!"
" Really? I'm really interested, tell me more!" Sasuke gushed out sardonically. (Sardonically means sarcastically. We wouldn't want our little Sasuke to sound gay, right?) He pressed his hanky against his forehead.
" Gladly!" Engelbert puffed his chest out, like the pompous idiot he was. " I was born of both American and Japanese decent, which proved to result to smarter and more gorgeous looking persons—judging my drop dead gorgeous looks and wide range of knowledge—"
" Could you shut the hell up?" Sakura asked, irritated, " We're trying to solve a major crisis here."
Engelbert pushed his glasses up his nose bridge. " Oh, you mean, the unfair division of household activities?" he said smartly.
" I was about to say chores, but whatever—"
Engelbert guffawed. " That's easy!" he guffawed more, " Make a contract!" he suggested.
" Why the heck would we do that?" Sasuke mumbled from the couch, where he sat spread-eagled, his other hand pressing against the side of his head.
Engelbert once again rolled his eyes skyward (getting repetitive, huh?). " So you'd know where and what are the boundaries of your household duties! That way you'd have a solid agreement that you'd do these stuff and she'd do these. If anyone break any rule in the agreement, you have concrete evidence that both of you agreed to the terms and conditions."
Sasuke was beginning to feel dizzy.. " That's crap!" he slurred. " I ain't signing anything!"
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After five minutes, five copies of a new contract was already printed, and both parties were jotting down their signatures on different blanks.
Sakura got her copy and held on it tight, Sasuke's hand patted over the table blindly to retrieve his (since he was still very disoriented from the hit Sakura inflicted), and Naruto grabbed the remaining three. He tossed one to Engelbert, who was exiting Microsoft Word from Sasuke and Sakura's computer.
" Wha..?" He muttered, looking up to see Naruto standing beside him.
" Just keep it zipped, alright?" Naruto warned. " You're the one who helped us anyway."
Engelbert was touched. He never had anyone to have such trust in him, let alone toss him a contract that contained very confidential things. " Gee, thanks a lot!" he beamed.
" What do you want in return?" Sakura asked simply.
Engelbert grinned. " I already have the perfect idea."
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Ashikawa Engelbert strutted through the hallway, his chest once again puffed out with newfound confidence. People around him gasped in shock, surprise, admiration.. everything. It was the most desirable scene Engelbert had wished for.
Engelbert searched through the crowd—and finally found the people he was looking for. " Hello, gents." He greeted, smirking.
A senior that belonged to the group, who wore a varsity jacket, smirked at the sight of his next victim. " Oi, Engelbert, still strutting around like you're not in trouble, huh?" he drawled, reaching out to grab the male's collar. " Well that's gonna change soon enough."
But before he could even touch one fiber from Engelbert's clothes, he stumbled back in fear, away from the spectacled male. " O-on the se-second thought, k-keep strutting!" the varsity jock stuttered, still taking backward step, " Y-you look g-good when you do it!"
" Gladly!" he said proudly, beaming.
Our little Engelbert walked away with his head held high.
But behind our little Engelbert, a group consisted of six males and one girl walked just a short distance away from him. And they were the very reason why Engelbert was being gawked at, greeted, and feared by most of the students. Because the fearsome group of Konoha High was behind him, most probably lending him temporary protection.
This was what our little Engelbert wished for in return—a whole day where in Sakura and his six friends would follow him around, wherein he would receive total protection from harassers and over pouring geek-haters.
" Just ten minutes to go until dismissal.." Sakura muttered, glancing at her watch. " Suck it up, you guys, don't be a bunch of sissies!"
" But Sakura-chan, this is embarrassing!" Naruto whined, stomping his feet.
" We look like bodyguards!" Kiba complained.
" I hate this." Shino commented.
" My youth's fading away.." Lee groaned.
" This is so troublesome." Shikamaru sighed.
" Hn." Neji mumbled.
Sakura rolled her eyes. " Come on." She sighed, grabbing hold of Kiba and Naruto's hands and pulling them forward.
They managed to pass the exact classroom where Uchiha Sasuke was exiting from. Sasuke smirked at the sight of the pseudo-parade. " Oi, shouldn't you be in costumes or anything?" he called, " You guys could make amazing circus performers."
In a slit-second a lampshade was zooming its way towards Sasuke. It hit him squarely on the head.
" GAAHH! ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME!" Sasuke roared for the second time this day.
How Sakura managed to whip out a lampshade from nowhere, I do not know.
Don't worry Sakura and friends!
Only.. seven minutes and four seconds to go.
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Author's notes:
Please read CHAPTER SEVEN AND EIGHT, because I already rewritten it. Many points of the story were very different. I made many adjustments, so please, read it before going on to this chapter. Thanks!
Sorry for the late updates, I just can't will myself to force out ideas you know.. it's very tiring. Sorry if this chapter was very confusing, I don't even know what to say about this installment, but please, bear with me! Thanks for the people who read and reviewed my fics, I really appreciated it). Thank you so much.
(looks around then gushes out) I LOVE YOU ALL! (cough, cough) Okay, so.. on to the next chapter: Meeting Kakashi. Sounds creepy, huh? Hehe.
So.. Thanks again!
Enjoy, y'all!
Oh yeah, please add my friendster account! I had a new one because I had to delete it. My new friendster account: a n g 3 l i c a r i a n y a h o o . c o m . Yahoo messenger: r o o k i e r a s h y a h o o . c o m. just take out all the spaces! Hope to hear from you! )
Enjoy, y'all!
ang3Lix.
