Hey guys! hurrah i got to update .
anywho i hope you enjoy this little chapter.
I don't own Naruto. (sigh)
Chapter 10: Hidden talents, secret agendas. Part 4… Jealousy
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!" Ino screamed at the top of her lounges.
"You heard me Ino, you don't' have to vocal range for that part." Shizune said making her way down the halls, Ino tailing behind her.
"But if I don't play the part Konoha High's spring play will be ruined!" She gasped. "Ruined…" Ino repeated making a dramatic collapse on the floor of the empty hallways. The early sun's rays were shining through the window cast itself upon the hallway floors. Shizune took two steps and blocked the sunlight from Ino's reach.
"I said no Yamanaka. N-O. For the last time you don't have the vocal range to play the princess. The celestial princess needs to be able to reach a high F. You can only reach G." Shizune replied bluntly. Then she kept on walking.
Ino jumped to her feet. "Demo! Shizune-sensei! G is one higher than F!"
"Ino, the G you can reach is one octave lower than what is needed." Shizune didn't even turn back.
"But there's only one person in this school who can reach that note! And we all know that Hinata won't do it!" Ino protested.
"Ino." Shizune paused in the middle of the hallway. "It's true that Hyuuga Hinata suffers from stage freight, but there is one more person in this school who can not only reach that note… but even higher. I have never met anyone with a range like hers."
"And who is this singing genius?" Ino asked impatiently, her hands placed upon her hips.
Shizune smiled and continued on her way. "Haruno Sakura."
"Are you feeling better today Uchiha?" Neji asked his raven haired friends as he approached their cluster of lockers.
"Hn." Sasuke replied going straight to his locker and opening it. He opened his backpack and rumbled through it for the binders he didn't need for the first half of the day. While he was rummaging a booklet of papers fell out and landed on the floor. Sasuke tensed.
"Neh Neh, aren't those Sakura-chan's notes from Kakashi-sensei's class?" Naruto asked. Neji bent down and picked it up.
"Heh, what's the matter Uchiha? Too busy eyeing her to take notes? So you figure you could just borrow hers?" He smirked and handed the pages back to Sasuke who was twitching and turning red. He snatched it right out of Neji's hand and stuffed into his locker.
"I didn't need it!" Sasuke snapped. He was furious. His friends were poking fun at him and he hated every second of it. He would make it stop! At this point, Sasuke would do anything to make it stop. He was loosing his cool.
"I'll show them!" Sasuke thought he grabbed Sakura's notes again and shook it in front of Naruto and Neji's faces. "I could take better notes than this with my eyes closed!"
"Umm Sasuke…" Naruto's face fell.
"I'm serious! What was I thinking asking a noob for her notes!" Sasuke yelled at them.
"Uchiha…" Neji coaxed his voice stern yet gentle.
"Uhh… Sasuke…" Shikamaru walked up next to Naruto but immediately shut himself up as Sasuke continued.
"THIS STUFF WAS TOTALLY USELESS!" Sasuke yelled this loud enough that the whole hallway, that was buzzing with morning chatter. Froze in their places and looked over at the hot group of boys.
Total silence. Sasuke wore his stony glare, gazing upon his friends. It took about 2 long seconds for Sasuke to process that they were looking at someone behind him.
"Oh fuck, don't tell me she's behind me." Sasuke slowly turned around. And there, about 2 meters from him stood the pastel haired beauty herself.
"Sa-Sakura…" Sasuke began. She just stared at him. With those innocent untainted green eyes of hers. This was a look Sasuke felt he would never forget. She didn't' do anything to him and there he was being an asshole. Her usual cheerful warm aura was replaced with an icy thick atmosphere. She was like a pink ice princess. Her jade eyes were wide and glossed over. She looked as if she was holding back her tears. Her lovely cherry lips were parted at a loss of what to say. In that split second Sasuke wished he could take her into his arms to feel her warmth once more… but she looked away.
Her head tilted down and off to the side so Sasuke couldn't see her face. "Then you shouldn't have asked for it…" She said quietly, but everyone heard her. Then she walked away down the hallway. She didn't even look at her two best friends who were standing by the corner on her way to greet her good morning however they were stopped earlier by Sasuke's rather loud rants.
"Sakura!" Ten Ten called after her. Sakura simply just walked by as if she didn't see them.
"Sakura-chan is really upset…" Hinata whispered. The hallway remained silent as people slowly began to resume their previous activities; discrete whispers were exchanged as they glanced at the Uchiha heart-throb on their way by.
"Good one Uchiha… now she'll never sleep with us." Sasuke's inner self frowned.
"SHUT UP!"
"Hey don't blame me kid. It was YOUR pride that fucked things up."
"Screw you." Sasuke sighed deeply and resumed his previous activity, rummaging through his locker. He stopped for a moment and looked back at where she was headed.
Ten Ten shot deathly glares at the raven haired boy. Sasuke's face remained unreadable anyway. He simply stared, watching a pink haired girl fade further into the corridor. It was about 5 long seconds before Sasuke noticed the glare on Ten Ten's face and the disappointed one on Hinata's.
"Come on Hinata, let's find Sakura." Ten Ten said turning her back to the boys. Hinata nodded and followed suit. "What a jerk."
"I can't believe you said that…" Shikamaru said in a cross tone. "She was nice… I liked her too. She wasn't as troublesome as the other girls in this school." The lazy boy leaned against the lockers and glanced down the hallway watching the two girls search for their pastel friend.
"Shut it." Sasuke snapped rather quickly almost cutting Shikamaru off.
"It was certainly uncalled for Uchiha." Neji shook his head.
"Yeah, that was way too cold, even for you Sasuke." Naruto commented glaring at his friend. He too had taken a liking to the sweet Sakura.
"FUCK OFF!" Sasuke yelled slamming his locker door shut. He glared at his dumbfounded friends and took off to his first period class.
"DAMN IT! DAMN IT! DAMN IT ALL!" Sasuke yelled at himself all the way to class.
Sakura took the long scenic way to class. She wasn't at all looking forward to sitting next to that cold hearted jerk. Just when she though he was being sweet to her, her turns around and burns her….TWICE! "That Jackass!" she cursed.
-FLASHBACK-
Sakura was pretty content with the happenings of gym class. Although she could go without the other girls glaring death wishes at her. She sighed. "He did apologize…" Sakura found a small content smile creep its way upon her face as she held a bundle of papers in her hand. "Maybe Ten Ten's right, maybe he does like me after all…"
"Fina-freakken-ly. Girl, are you daft? That's what I've been saying to you all along! Damnit! Ten Ten and Hinata could see it before you!" Her inner self laughed at her.
Sakura's smile widened and she blushed ever so slightly at the thought of Naruto's proclamation about her and Sasuke during gym.
"Maybe… maybe this time things will be different." Sakura neared the classroom door. She could hear the people inside. Her heart started to beat faster as she though to what to say to Sasuke. She made her way through the doorframe, but just then…
"I. DON'T. HAVE. A. CRUSH. ON. SAKURA!" He heard Sasuke exclaim. She felt her heart sink.
"I should have known…" She frowned slightly. "Of course he doesn't… Stupid me. Why did I have to get my hopes up? Baka Baka Baka!"
Sakura made up her mind that she would not show any emotion about what she had just heard. Actually she pretended that she didn't hear it at all, she just made her way up to her usual spot. She paused in front of Sasuke, debating weather to give him the notes or to thwack him on the head with them. She decided to keep her cool.
"I mustn't sound like he affected me…" She drew in a breath. "Confidence."
"Umm, Sasuke-kun?" Her voice was crisp and clear. Sasuke merely sat there.
"Hm?" Sasuke remained in his usual stance. Hands clasped in front of his mouth. His onyx eyes shifted to her as if he was giving her his full attention. She dropped a small booklet of photocopied papers on his desk. Sasuke eyed them. "What's this?" He asked with no trace of emotion.
"Damn bastard! Sounding all cool and shit!" Sakura fumed inside.
"My notes…" Sakura answered still standing. "I couldn't let you borrow mine, so I photocopied them for you." She sat down next to him. Sakura felt her visage fading away. This is where she missed her glasses. She could hide behind those. She took out a book instead. She had finished it 3 days ago, but she needed something to help her keep up her little masquerade. The book was all she had.
Sasuke picked up the package and flipped through a few pages. A smirk found its way onto his face. "Sakura…" Sasuke began.
"FUCK! Don't say anything to me!" Sakura desperately though of how to keep him silent. "I know!"
She turned to face him and placed a delicate finger on her lips. Sasuke smirked and said nothing after that.
"Phew… that was a close one."
-END FLASHBACK-
"DAMNIT THAT ASSHOLE!" Sakura frowned. She didn't notice how quickly she was walking, and absentmindedly at that too. She bumped into something hard and soft at the same time. She realized that it was a person. "GOMEN!" She apologized pulling back and bowing rather quickly.
"Sakura-san?" A friendly voice called out.
"Eh?" Sakura looked up to see who it was. "Akira-kun!" She smiled softly. "Finally, someone who's nice to me."
"Are you alright Sakura-san?" Akira quickly made his way in front of her, closing the gap. He placed his hands on her shoulder and looked into her eyes. "I heard what happened."
Sakura cringed slightly, but shook her head no. "Iie, I'm okay Akira-kun." She smiled at him.
"Thank goodness…" Akira smiled back at her. They stood there for a moment. "I guess I should congratulate you now eh?"
"Huh?" Sakura creased her brows. "Why is that? Did I do something?"
Akira nodded his head. "Yes. Shizune-sensei selected you as the female lead in this year's play."
"NANI!" Sakura's eyes widened close to the size of dinner plates. "What did you say!"
"I said you're going to be the female lead in this year's play." Akira repeated with a smile on his face.
"Yes... I heard you the first time." Sakura s-dropped. "Demo why me?"
"Something about you being the only female with the proper range for the part."
Sakura stiffened. A flash memory of Ten Ten and Hinata talking with Shizune-sensei after choir yesterday when she was leaving to meet Akira on the roof-top echoed in her mind. "So that's what they were up to… Damn it all!"
Akira draped his arm around Sakura's shoulders. The sudden contact snapped Sakura out of her day dream. She blushed slightly at the close proximity of their bodies. Akira was a full head and a half taller than her. Almost the same height as Sasuke, Sakura noted.
"Come on, I personally think you'd be great on stage." Akira began to guide Sakura to her homeroom class.
"Oh?" Sakura blushed even more as Akira took her book bag into his available hand and along with his own bag he bent his arm back draping his and her bag over his shoulder.
"Yeah, you're pretty…"
Blush.
"And smart."
Blush.
"And talented."
Blush.
"Not to mention you're really sweet."
If it's even possible, she blushed even more.
"Did I already say that you were pretty?" Akira blinked a few times looking up at the ceiling as if deep in thought.
Poor Sakura was redder as a tomato by the time they reached her classroom.
"Ehh..heh...heh…" Sakura gave out a nervous chuckle.
"Sakura." Akira's voice went from playful to serious in t minus 2 seconds flat. It startled Sakura. His serious tone was still warm and gentle and it sent a vibe of security through her entire body. She couldn't deny that she liked it. The heat in her cheeks subsided momentarily as she lifted her chin to gaze at his handsome face. Akira's face was more boy-ish than Sasuke's, although they had the same shape. Sasuke's chin was not as sharp as Akira's, but Sasuke's nose was pointier than Akira's. Their hair, the length was the same, but Sasuke gelled his back, Akira led his freely fall to frame his face. Their eyes on the other hand, Sasuke and Akira's, they were the same, a different color, but Sakura felt the same chill, maybe less, from Akira's eyes as she did from Sasuke's. She convinced herself that Akira's look was warmer and less mysterious. They had arrived at her class now. Perfectly framed by the doorframe.
"Yes?" She bit her lower lip.
"Are you okay? Your cheeks were red earlier." Perfect navy blue eyes peered into her apple green ones. It sent yet another thrill through her body.
"H-hai…" She was starting to sound like Hinata. "Why does he have such an affect on me? This is like when Sasuke looked me in the eye."
"Don't think about Sasuke anymore… he's being a jerk. Besides… Akira is so sweet." Sakura couldn't help but agree full heartedly with her inner mind.
Suddenly Akira leaned in. Sakura closed her eyes as she felt his forehead against her own. She blushed furiously.
"A-A-Akira-k-kun…" She stuttered.
She could see a solemn smile spread across his delicate lips. "I'm glad…"
"Eh?" Sakura was puzzled. He pulled away slightly.
"I thought you were getting a fever… I was wrong." He smiled fully at her. He retreated to a respectful distance now. "Take care of yourself." Sakura nodded, a smile played on her cherry lips. "Wouldn't want anything to happen to our little star." He winked at her.
"So not helping the blush factor." Sakura thought as Akira handed her, her book bag. "A-Arigato." She smiled.
"No problem." Akira smiled once more and turned to be on his way to class. "Neh Sakura." He stopped abruptly.
"Yes?" Sakura's face lit up.
"Will you do me the honor of having lunch with me today?"
"I'd love to! " She replied in a sing-song sort of voice.
Sasuke watched the doorway. The closer it got to 8:30 the more people come into class, but still no sign of sakura. "What the hell is she doing? At this rate she's going be late." Suddenly a hint of pink caught his eye and Sakura came into view… but with another guy. "Eh? That's the guy from yesterday." Sasuke didn't realize he had said that out loud. It attracted the attention of his lazy and loud mouth friends. They turned their attention to who Sasuke was looking at.
"Who's the guy with Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked to no one in particular.
"I think that's Izumo Akira, captain of the Senior Kendo Team." Shikamaru said recognizing the slick navy hair.
"Why is he with Sakura?" Sasuke asked… again to no one in particular. His voice was hoarse and had a rather possessive tone to it. Shikamaru wondered if it was more on the jealous side or they angry side.
"Why does it matter?" Shikamaru teased. "I thought you didn't have a crush on her." He smirked.
"Kick me while I'm down why don't you?" Sasuke thought glaring at the lazy brunette who had a confident smirk on his face. "Ass."
The three of them watched the two bodies in the doorframe. Suddenly Akira's head bent down towards Sakura's. They were extremely close, a little too close for Sasuke's liking; his eyes widened. "FUCK! DID HE JUST?" Sasuke dragged his eyes away from the couple and out the window. He didn't want to see that.
"Did that Akira guy just kiss Sakura-chan?" Naruto was dumfounded. "I didn't know Sakura-chan had a boyfriend."
"I didn't either." Shikamaru said while glancing sideways at the Uchiha boy.
Sasuke remained silent. He could see the couple's reflection through the window. He watched as Akira pulled away from her. Sasuke's fists balled. "Why do I care? I don't even like her like that. Why am I getting so worked up about this? She doesn't belong to me."
Sakura, rather flushed, made her way silently over to her desk. "I wonder why Akira-kun wants to be with me so badly… I'll admit I like the attention from him. But something just doesn't sit right. Maybe it's just me being paranoid. Yeah that's it. I'm just being paranoid. I'm sure things will be different this time." She sat down still enveloped in her own thoughts. "Yes I pray things will be different this time."
"Sakura-chan?" Sakura snapped out of her thoughts upon hearing Naruto call her name.
"Uh huh?" Sakura turned her face towards him.
"I didn't know you had a boyfriend."
"EH?" Poor Sakura was so embarrassed. "God is there no end to the fucking blush thing!" She thought feeling her cheeks go warm… again. "Well... err... I…"
"What's his name?" Naruto inquired somewhat cutting her answer off.
"Izumo Akira. But he… err... well we… err… umm…" She wanted to say they weren't together… but then it could happen. "OH NO! Does Akira-kun think we're already an item! NANI!" Sakura fanned herself lightly with a piece of paper.
"I think it's great that you've found someone Sakura-chan. I hope he treats you well!" Naruto cut her off once more.
"I um…" Sakura tried to explain.
"'Cause if he ever does anything to hurt you! I'LL KICK HIS SORRY LITTLE ASS!" Naruto continued.
"Demo, Naruto, Akira-kun and I are-"
"I DON'T CARE IF HE'S ON THE KENDO TEAM! I'LL BEAT HIM THAT'S FOR SURE!"
"That's sweet of you Naruto. But Akira-kun and I aren't-"
"YOU'LL SEE SAKURA-CHAN! I WON'T LET ANYONE HURT YOU 'CAUSE YOU'RE MY FRIEND AND THAT'S WHAT FRIENDS DO!"
Sakura s-dropped. So did Shikamaru. Sasuke did his best to ignore the entire conversation. "She's not important! She's not important! She's not important! She's not important!" Sasuke kept telling himself. His mind told him to believe it, but his heart didn't buy it.
"Naruto, Akira-kun and I aren't-" Sakura tried again.
"FRIENDS WILL ALWAYS BE THERE…" Naruto stood up and did his cool guy pose.
"Naruto…"
"TO HELP EACHOTHER IN TIMES OF NEED."
"Naruto…"
"WHATEVER THE CASE MAY BE!"
"NARUTO!" Sakura screamed at the top of her lounges. The entire class turned and looked at her.
"Yes Sakura-chan?" Naruto was un-phased by this he merely put his hands behind his head lazily.
Sakura sighed. "Akira-kun and I aren't 'together'…" She explained.
"Eh?" Naruto was confused. Sasuke glanced at Sakura; relief crossed his face for a millisecond, unnoticed by all except one lazy Shikamaru. "But I thought… just now… he… didn't he?"
Sakura shook her head. "No Naruto, he didn't." She flushed slightly at the thought of his lips against hers. She pictured it perfectly in her mind. Two figures at the park, under the big cherry blossom tree; it would be raining and he would try and cheer her up. Then slowly he would lean in and plant a chaste but loving kiss upon her lips. But when they pulled apart, it was not Akira she saw, but the silhouette of someone else vaguely familiar. "It would be nice…" She whispered softly to herself so no one could hear. Sasuke heard her though. He looked away once more out the window.
Thus the day started. A flustered Sakura. A confused Naruto. An amused Shikamaru. A very late sensei. And one agitated Sasuke.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
It might be a while before i get to update this again. Please be patient. THANKS!
-Lady Rine