Just a Game // wolf08
A twisted tale of crafty deceptions, sharp obstructions, tangled bonds and true love… Roll the die. Let destiny unfold. After all, it's just a game…
*Authors Note: I've kept this story relatively PG [ish] , by using the symbols #$% to represent vulgar language. However, the odd word or theme does slip through, so readers' digression is advised.
Weekly Song: In My Arms- Plumb (Inspirational)
Declaimer: The characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto©, author and artist of the Naruto series. However, this plot is rightfully mine.
*Happy 10th anneversery of Just a Game :D
-Chapter 10-
Needing You
_________________
Sakura spent her first and second period fantasizing about her yet-to-come lunchtime experience. She set her mind on the fact that the note must have been from Sasuke. After all, it seemed to be his unique, mysterious, trade-mark (and old-school) way of letting her know that he wanted to tell her something. So what did he want to tell her?
"Alright class," said Asuma, her Science teacher, "once you've finished copying from the overhead, please open your textbooks to page 256 and answer the first seventeen questions. Most of them are directly related to the notes you just copied, but the others involve applying this knowledge to everyday situations. It will force you to think outside of the box." At this, the class groaned. Anything involving extra thinking was not something to celebrate over. He ignored their tedious outbursts. "Whatever you don't complete is for homework. If you were paying attention during my lecture, you should be finished by the bell. Get working."
The sounds of ruffling notebooks, closing binders and the scratching of pencils on paper filled the room—accept for at one particular desk. Sakura was completely lost in her thoughts. What could it be that Sasuke wanted to tell her that he didn't tell her this morning? Perhaps it was very important and he didn't want anyone overhearing? But why at the parking lot of all places? Fifteen minutes of contemplating and re-contemplating passed.
"Haruno?"
"Eh?!" Sakura gasped at the sound of her surname. "Yes, Asuma-sensei?" She sensed heads spin in her direction.
"Are you finished?" he asked.
"Finished what?"
"The seventeen questions."
Her eyes widened. "I…," she started stupidly, voice faltering.
"Can you please read your answer for question one?"
"S-sure," she said, glancing down at her blank page. Crap… she thought, quickly flipping her textbook to page 256 and scanning the question.
1) Describe, in full detail, the pioneer stage in regards to succession.
"Well?" Asuma prodded, smirking as her eyes flickered over the page, her mind probably being strained.
"The pioneer stage," Sakura answered, pretending to be reading from her paper, "involves the process where pioneer plants convert a lifeless environment into an environment that can sustain other life." She took a breath and continued. "It occurs at the beginning of primary succession. There are 3 types of pioneer plants: lichens, found on bare rock, floating plants, found in aquatic environments and hardy grasses, found in sand dunes." She stopped, and glanced upwards at Asuma's expression, which was rather shocked.
"Very good," he said with a scowl. "But although you already seem to know the answers, that doesn't excuse you from writing them down."
"Yes, sensei," she answered, silently thanking God for her extraordinary memorizing skills.
Obeying the note's orders, she went to the lunch table to eat before going to the parking lot. She spotted Hinata, Tenten and Neji at their usual place, and she sat on the end next to Hinata, across from the other two. Hinata turned to her immediately. "So, how're things?" she asked, with her usual politeness.
"Downright rotten," Sakura answered with a sigh. "Just now in Science class, I totally spaced out, and then-"
"She doesn't mean school-wise!" Tenten interjected with a trace of annoyance. "How are things with going with Sasuke? How was that first date?"
"Well… Of course it was-"
"Tell us everything," Neji butt in, catching Sakura off guard.
"O-ok, well on Friday night we-"
"Oh! And Tenten tells me that the two of you had a 'moment' this morning! Tell us about that too!" said Hinata. But before Sakura could even consider answering, three new figures had joined them at the table.
"Hiya peeps!" Naruto said with a wacky grin. "Mind if we join ya? Our table's taken." Without waiting for any response, he eased himself next to Hinata and started eating a half of her sandwich. After his second mouthful, he asked, "This is good. Can I have it?" and Hinata nodded nervously with a twitching eyebrow.
Shikamaru also joined them, taking his seat silently next to Tenten, and Sasuke as well, who sat next to Neji, across from Sakura, who was suddenly feeling quite dreary. She noticed that he was trying to catch her eye, but she didn't want to lose herself in a trance with all of her friends around, so instead, she pretended to be awfully busy trying to open her plastic container of carrots.
"What great timing!" Tenten said slyly. "Hey, Sasuke! Sakura was just about to tell us all about your date on Friday, along with some details about this morning. Why don't you help her out?"
"Oooh, oooh! I want to hear about this too!" Naruto suddenly said, dropping his sandwich-half and ogling at the two of them.
Sasuke decided to let Sakura do the talking, so he ignored them and dug into his lunch. "Nothing special happened," she answered, but was faced with five disbelieving glares along with cocked brows. "Ok, ok. Well to sum it up, Sasuke scared away some smokers, then we started playing 20 Questions, I fell because he tickled me, I learned that he sings in the shower, he bought me some gummy bears, I hit him with my purse, he got jealous over Lee, his foot hurt so he stopped walking, we had an argument, we made up and now we're going steady. Any questions? That's what I thought." All jaws, including Sasuke's, were dropped.
"Whoa… Can you say that all again so I can write it down?" Naruto asked, awe-struck.
Sasuke himself found it all a little overwhelming. It was strange to imagine that all of that had actually happened in one evening.
A moment of silence (accept for chewing) passed as each of them processed the new information. "Wow," Tenten said in amazement. "It sure sounds like you two have already been through a lot!"
"Not really," Sakura answered, although she knew that Tenten was probably right.
"No, seriously!" she continued. "I mean, Neji never tickled me until at least a month into our relationship!"
Sasuke choked on his blueberry muffin (of course, he didn't start coughing, because after all, Uchiha's are much too well-mannered to put on a vulgar display. His breathing simply deepened). He politely turned his head away from his friends, more embarrassed than anything.
"So," Naruto said, his face scrunched up into a thoughtful expression. "Sasuke. I want you to answer this next one." A devious grin pulled at the corners of his mouth, revealing a dimple. "Tell me all about this morning. And don't tell me that you were just looking at her because you most definitely weren't."
"Look, I've got to be somewhere," Sasuke said suddenly, severely annoyed. He stood up, snatched up his lunch was stalked out the back exit. Naruto wasn't too surprised. He was used to Sasuke leaving in the middle of conversations. Sakura, on the other hand, was taking this action into consideration.
That's got to be a sign! she thought, eyes widening. I think he wants me to go meet him in the parking lot. She too stood, raising suspicion and receiving glances from left, right and centre. "That reminds me," she said slowly. "I have to be somewhere too."
"Where?" Neji asked, he and the rest staring at her curiously.
"My Science class," she lied. "I didn't understand today's lesson in the slightest and I'm going to go ask for some extra help."
"Oh yeah, I remember you mentioning something about your Science class before," Tenten said dismissively (as if she approved). The others also nodded, suspicions that she was chasing after Sasuke dissipating. Sakura made sure to use the front exit instead. Once she was out the cafeteria doors, she paused, glancing down the empty hallway. She could barely control her excitement. This morning, she finally realized that she and Sasuke shared something special, and she couldn't deny the fact that she wanted explore the potential of this connection more. Even picturing the possibilities made her stomach clench in anticipation, her brain pulse with a cyclone of thoughts and her heart pound as if she's just seen a horror movie. But then again, as long as Sasuke would be by her side, horror movies were nothing to fret over.
She left through the front doors, took a right and spotted the parking lot just up ahead. There were also parking spaces at the front of the school, but this spot was a little more isolated and set apart from the school yard. There was a lesser chance of being overheard. She walked out to the middle and observed the situation. It appeared to be deserted—accept for the three cars parked in this small lot, all of them spaced out. The lot itself was bordered with a metal chain-link fence, and Sakura figured that it would be best to lean against one of the poles.
She started her "Ritual of Boredom or Anticipation": She pulled out her sparkly, pink tube of lip gloss, gave it a quick squeeze and pressed it to her lips. She gently stroked from left to right, then smacked her lips together and stowed it back into her pocket. She reached into her other pocket for her cell phone, but with a pang of realization, she remembered that she left it in her bag, which was in her locker. She figured that the only thing left to do was touch up her outfit.
She straightened her square-necked, pink T-shirt (a slightly darker shade than her hair colour). Due to her lack of sleeves, she was feeling a slight chill from the early fall breeze. She ran her thumb and index finger down the silver chain of her necklace, making sure that the fastening clip was at the back and the light green jewel was at the front (the same shade as her eyes). She was wearing a thin, plastic headband, again in a light shade of green, which sat behind her bangs, today parted in the middle. She brushed her hands down her black skinny jeans, smoothing out any wrinkles and then straightening with finality.
Where was Sasuke, anyways?
He'd left the lunch table before her. But still, he'd taken the back exit, which meant that he had a longer trip. A thought occurred to her. Perhaps Sasuke thought she'd follow in his footsteps and leave through the back exit? Could he be outside of that exit, waiting for her, so that they could walk to the parking lot together? Her thoughts raced, and her heart began to pound again. She should go check it out. She spun on her heal and made her way back towards the school.
"Hold on."
She spun back around, surprised to find someone else in the parking lot with her. It was a girl, that was for certain, but Sakura had to blink several times to fully digest her total image. Firstly, her voice was drawling, slightly low (as far a female voices go). Her skin was glowing with a smooth tan, obviously touched up and smoothed out with makeup. Her eyes were emphasized with dark, thick layers of black eyeliner and mascara. Her thin eyebrows made a fine arch, her expression mustered into something quite unfriendly. Loathing even. Sakura noted her spandex, black booty shorts (which exceeded the limit of being called shorts), her cleavage-revealing sweater and her sleek, too-red-to-be-real hair. If Sakura had been a judgemental person, this girl would most definitely be one of the biggest #$%s in the history of human existence. But having the kind heart she had, Sakura decided to give her a second chance.
"What is it?" she asked politely. "Do you need something?"
"You're Sakura Haruno?" the girl replied sharply.
"Uh… yeah," she answered stupidly, her mind set abuzz.
"Good," she answered, her plumped and coloured lips twisting into a smirk. "Call me Karin. Let's talk."
Sakura's brows furrowed. "S-sorry, but I really have to go. I'm pretty sure that someone's waiting for me… and I feel bad enough already, since I misunderstood his directions…"
"Sasuke can wait. You got my note?"
"I… well… what?!" She felt her jaw hanging open, her eyes widening. "You're note? B-but I don't even know you! And how to you know about Sasuke? Who are you really?" These new facts were overwhelming.
Karin chuckled. "So I got your locker number right, huh? I got all of my information from a pretty reliable source, after all…"
"Who are you?" Sakura repeated, suddenly wishing that she's kept her cell in her pocket.
"Didn't I already tell you my name? What else do you need to know? But I already know who you are. You're Sakura. And you're a threat."
"Threat?"
As if on cue, a group of girls entered the parking lot, and Sakura immediately recognized them as Ino's crew. "Over here!" Karin called. They all gathered around, and Sakura felt out of place. Something was wrong with this whole situation. They were planning something. These new peers were studying Sakura, many of them smirking or whispering. "So Sakura," she said, loud enough for all to hear. Was Sakura having a déjà vu? She was vaguely reminded of her encounter with Ino a week previously. Oh how she hated it when people ganged up on her. "Let's clear one thing up now, shall we?" Karin said, suddenly serious. "If you and Sasuke don't break up by the end of the day, I will be your worst nightmare."
Sakura could hardly believe her ears. Of course this would be about him! Everything in her life nowadays seemed to revolve around that one particular source: Sasuke Uchiha. She wasn't overly surprised. All of the #$%s were after him. "I'm sorry, Karin. No can't do."
Her brows shot up. "Oh no?"
"Sorry."
Her eyes narrowed, glistening icily. "You're nothing special," she drawled on. "What makes you think that I can't snatch him out from under your nose? I suggest that you end it yourself before I win him over. This way you won't have to go through the whole 'heart-break' faze. I don't really know what it's like. I've never been dumped. But I've heard that it's brutal."
Murmurs swept across the crowd. Sakura's brows furrowed, but she wasn't about to give up. "I don't think you're his type," she said honestly.
"How not?" Karin asked, tilting her head to the side. And something about her expression made something flare inside of Sakura. Her heart burned with… what was it, jealousy? Just imagining someone like her standing within a metre of the Uchiha prodigy fired her up. She wouldn't dare picture what would happen if Karin actually did win him over. Her thoughts were clouded with rage.
"I could give you a list, but I think I'll make it short, sweet and to the point:," she said, suddenly forgetting about the crowd. "He's got class. He doesn't go for #$%s." She was basically vocalizing her thoughts.
Before she could ready herself, she and Karin were nose-and-nose. "Say that again, #$%," she hissed, daring Sakura to make another move.
"My bad," Sakura said sarcastically, placing her hand over her mouth and pretending to be apologetic. "I was sure that it would be understandable enough being short and sweet. Would you prefer I give you the list?" She hadn't the slightest clue where she was getting this confidence from. Karin was outraged, but Sakura wasn't yet finished. "Listen to me, Sasuke isn't a prize. He's got the freedom to choose his girl, and right now he's with me. That being said, I also have freedom, which means that I get to choose whether or not I want to dump him. And I'd rather not, personally."
"Oh, ho. Well aren't you just a genius," Karin said mockingly, fists clenching. "But I then I have freedom too, and I want him. Doesn't that give me the right to have him?"
"Er… Not exactly," Sakura thought, suddenly wondering how someone could be so stupid. "But let's not fight over it, ok? Now why don't you leave me and my life, and find yourself another man? I'll help you." Actually, at the moment, Sakura was sure that she'd do just about anything to get this creep out of her life.
Karin and the others laughed. "Whoops! Did I somehow give you the impression that I'm backing down? You may have said that I'm not his type, but who says I can't change him?"
"No one's going to change him!" Sakura spat, her bubbling fury coming to a boil. "You might see him as some sort of play-thing, or reward, or whatever! But I know that deep down… behind his smirks and scowls… there's a kind heart! Sasuke needs someone who's going to want him for who he is! He needs someone who's going to bring out the inner happiness that's been locked away with his solicitude! He's not looking for someone just for pleasure! This isn't a game. It's-"
But right then, Karin made it obvious that her fury had also come to a boil. Her hands shot out, forcefully pushing against Sakura's shoulders threateningly. The impact was sharp, jerking Sakura's whole body backwards, stopping her breathing, causing her to lose her footing. She emitted a quiet yelp as her heel caught a crease in the cement ground, her weight shifting, her arms flailing, her body descending…
Until the back of her skull smashed against the metal pole of the chain-link fence behind her with a sickening crack.
She tumbled to the ground, her entire body crippling as a searing pain consumed her thoughts. It was a pain she hadn't felt before. Unlike her foot injuries, she felt the climax of it all at once, all right away. She tried to scream. She could feel liquid pouring from her eyes, trickling down her face and down her head.
Karin couldn't believe the situation. She hadn't done it on purpose. She hadn't actually intended to hurt the girl just yet. She sprung into action on an impulse. "Let's get out of here!" she ordered, she and the others departing.
Sakura could see the blurry silhouettes of feet running off into the distance. She snapped her eyes shut, struggling to stay conscious… at least until someone came to help her out of this mess. But the pain was only increasing, her thoughts fuzzing up, her body slowly… steadily growing limp…
Help me! her thoughts cried, pleading to the unknown. She realized that this could be the brink of death. Someone! Anyone! I think I'm dying!
Her shaking hand reached to touch the back of her head. Her arm didn't make it all the way to the injured spot, but her fingers were sopping with blood. She silently whimpered, her eyes streaming and her body suddenly growing cold, clammy.
I can't die. I won't die over this. All I need is a little help. Her strength was weakening… her mind was slipping… further… further… She was fighting a losing battle. Her body was giving in.
Sasuke…
She squeezed her eyes together, gritted her teeth and balled her hands into fists. She was preparing herself for the worst. If this was the end, she might as well make the best of it.
A faint memory of dark eyes, gentle, pale skin… A hand pressed against the side of her face…
I need you.
I want you to be here…
Her thoughts subsided.
Blackness.
Nothingness.
Sasuke…
Moments later, Ino came racing into the parking lot. "Oh my God! My goodness, my Lord… What has she done to you?!" She crouched down next to the unconscious girl, screaming and crying at the sight: Sakura's still body lying in a pool of blood. Not wasting any time, she flicked out her cell and called Emergency.
Sasuke returned to the lunch table. "What were you up to?" Naruto asked immediately.
"Bathroom," he replied bluntly. "Why?"
"Well, we thought that you and Sakura might've run off somewhere," Tenten said with a sly smirk.
Sasuke suddenly realized that Sakura wasn't there. "Where is she?" he asked, panicked.
"Her Science class for extra help," Hinata answered.
"Ok," was his blunt reply. "She's in my class, so I'll see her next period."
Chapter 9 Reviewers:
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I love you all.
-Chapter 11: The Missing Piece-
Time to REVIEW! :)