All for one and one for All.
A/n: Wow, so much response for the last chapter… Thank you all so much… I was blushing and feeling so humbled and happy that you all liked it, again thank you all so much they all mean so much to me.
The spring semester had begun and Kakashi was shocked to see that the dynamic of his students had changes. Sasuke Uchiha and Ino Yamanaka were now included in a larger group. How this change occurred he really didn't know or care, but sometimes he hated to miss gossip… This school had always surprised him with the caliber of the students… it was a small town, but the level of brains were close to that of a private school… but unlike an overpriced private school, the kids here were down to earth and more real. It was pretty much the only reason he actually still taught there… it's not like the pay was any good… But the kids put up with him, and every year he learned something new from the little jerks… whether he wanted to or not. And they sure always kept him on his toes… this year was a great example of that. The seniors of this year were a bright but rather insane group, never before had he had to steer the conversation back to his lectures… the class all had a opinion and they all seemed to use a mega phone to get their points across.
"Would you shut up; the icicle was so not a sexual reference!" Naruto was shouting to the room at large, well really it was at Kiba, but seeing as how he was across the room he was really yelling at everyone. The classroom had been set up so that the desks were in a giant circle and all of the students could face each other and participate in a group discussion… this was usually very successful, only he hadn't counted on the fierce competitive nature of many of the males in the circle….how bothersome….
"How bothersome…" Shikamaru said under his breath as he observed the two loud males yell at each other, his head resting on his hand and his mind wandering past the confines of the room. Sometimes he wished he had taken the opportunity to skip a grade or two when he had been offered the chance, but seeing as it had meant more work for him to do, he really didn't have a choice.
"Shut up you two!" Sakura yelled finally having had enough of the two's bickering. Silently thanking her with all he was worth, Shikamaru went back to napping and dreaming of passing clouds. He really didn't care about the discussion; no one really ever had anything interesting to say nor did anyone make any good points…
"So Mr. Shikamaru," Kakashi said slyly, sliding up to the sleeping boy and trying to catch him off guard with a question regarding the discussion, "Do you believe that Kiba is right about the icicle being a sexual reference….?" He always delighted in flustering his students… and so far he had been unable to ruffle this one's fur…
"Yes, it is." He answered simply, not even lifting his head from the desk. Quite perturbed by the boys lack of fluster, and response, Kakashi asked for him to state his reasons for believing so.
"Look at it from the view of the rest of the characters," Shikamaru said, lazily raising his head and squinting blearily at his teacher, "Besides Fiyero, Manek was the only character with any male qualities, he is Fiyero's son, and now that he was gone, Manek took over his job as the male of the place… all of the women in the place had a crush of sorts on Fiyero, and Manek simply was the next best thing. When the icicle hit his skull and pierced it, it was almost like a penis breaking through a hymen… and his being the sex symbol of the house only supports that fact…" Shikamaru said before letting his head fall once more to the hard surface of the desk, not caring that it made a thumping noise or that his answer had shocked his entire class.
"Exactly!" Kiba said pointing to the sleeping boy who pulled the hood of his sweater over his head to block out noise and light grumbling about dumb amoebas. Kakashi looked at him and shook
his head, smart enough to know when he was beat and decided to leave the Nara boy alone for the rest of the year.
"Well seeing as this is not really getting us anywhere, and as everyone has made up their minds, the rest of the period is free. Use this time to catch up on all of the work… or like me to read a good book." A smile stole over his face as he thought of his beloved Romance novels. The class groaned still disturbed by this choice of reading material.
"At least he didn't choose a book like that for us to read…" Naruto whispered to Sasuke and the stoic Uchiha had to agree with him… he thought something based on the Wizard of Oz was bad enough, now thinking about it he thanked his lucky stars he wasn't reading about steamy smut set back in the eighteen hundreds…
He and Naruto had formed an unusual friendship; it was more like they hated each other… but had fun parrying quips and blows. Naruto seemed to have more fun picking on Sasuke than on Kiba even.
Sasuke looked over to Sakura who was laughing with Ino and Hinata and playing gently with her own hair, running it through her fingers and gently twirling a few stands around her index finger. For some reason the action made him feel hot, it was such an innocent and female thing to do… he'd never see any males he knew doing that… although the idea of Neji twirling his hair did make him smirk. Why the older guy grew his hair long was a mystery to all…he thought it made him look very gay. Of course now that he thought about it, he never saw the Hyuuga get crap about his chosen hair style… unlike himself…
"Hey ya Hair," Naruto piped up after a surprisingly long break of oh thirty seconds of silence, "What are you doing after school? Some of us were planning on going to see that new movie that just came out, ya wanna come?" Twitching under the old nickname Sasuke turned to look at the blondes shit kicker's grin, sighing he agreed, wondering what the hell had happened to the days when he had time to himself, a rather loud burst of laughter burst from Sakura and Sasuke smiled no longer caring if he had two minutes to himself for the rest of his life. He left Naruto to ask if Sakura was going with them to the movies….
Graduation was only in a few days and all of the seniors were litteraly squirming in their seats, all they had left was finals and a few meetings and papers to sign before they left the high school campus for the last time. Getting ready for school the morning before her first final, Sakura felt like crying, this was it… High school was really over for her in only a few days she would have lost a huge part of how she identified herself… It scared her. There were so many memories she had in that school, her friends, her boyfriend… her break ups… her classes and grades… all of it would be wiped out and ended when she walked the line. She had asked Neji and Tenten what it was like to graduate, and they had both replied in the same way, it was too fast to really notice it, one minute you are sitting there waiting in class, the next you are shaking her principles hand and posing for a picture diploma in hand, it all ends in a expelled breath as you sit back in your seat and look at the empty piece of cardboard. Their description didn't fit with her memories from their graduation, they had both been smiling and happy, not dazed and confused, but then again she had only been a audience member, not a participant… this time around it would be her walking the line, she couldn't wait.
All of her friends had planned on going out after the ceremony and celebrating, it reminded her of Prom when they had all gone as a giant group and had all had a blast. A great meal at an upscale restaurant and then a limo ride and great music to dance to, she had even pulled Sasuke out onto the floor for several dances which he actually danced to.
Her finals went great most of them were just a small questionnaire seeing as the teacher had counted something else as a final, or had decided to take pity on them. Before she knew it she was signing out of her classes and standing in front of the counselor waiting for her to sign the final document releasing her from the state enforced institute that is high school. Looking to the finally complete document she handed it over to the counselor and walked slowly out of the building and into the hot sunlight. Then she made her way to the football field for graduation practice, having taken Tenten's advice she had a bottle of water and sunscreen with her. She got to the field and quickly found her seat among the hundreds of folding metal chairs. She was happy to notice that Hinata was only a row ahead of her, and that they could easily talk. She shared her sunscreen with everyone near her and waited for the practice to begin.
An hour and a half later she was glad Tenten was older than her, with her fair skin under the hot sun, she would have been a nice pink color to match her hair if she hadn't put on the block. The practice wasn't really all that hard, a lot of standing and sitting, and a surprisingly short walk up a ramp across a platform and down another ramp… all in all she believed the 'walk' only tool fifty secondes andthat included the smile and pose with the principle. Butterflies filled her belly when she imagined actually waling that decked out in a cap and gown.
Today was the big day and Sakura was sitting in her room waiting for the time when she was to leave for the school, her cap and gown already pressed and ready for the short trip. Sasuke and Ino were supposed to pick her up and take her over. The clock had just turned to show the numbers four, four, five when she hear the loud blare from a car, grabbing her clothes she ran down the stairs and saw her father holding open the door and smiling at her.
"Hey baby, better hurry up, you don't want to be late for this, come on, I'll see you after you've walked the line…" Aoi said as he looked at his little girl as she paused at the foot of the stairs. Knowing she was nervous he tried to reassure her, though he was having a hard time holding in his own emotions, his little baby girl was graduating high school. Soon she would be off to college and would leave him all alone… what would he do without her…? He watched as she ran out of the door and hopped into the waiting car, the car had turned the corner before he stopped watching. He went up the stairs to get ready… he was actually going to attend with Hana and Inochi… it would be the first time for him to see them since the summer when their relationship came out… His and Hana's divorce was close to finally going through all of the legal system, and he was sure that Hana and Inochi would then marry and start another family… He would really be all alone then…
The ceremony was set to start at seven PM and the graduates were already standing in a line waiting for them to walk out onto the field, to pass time they began to sing songs and joke around… most of it was to let off steam and to relieve the nerves. Sakura was singing a popular country tune with the girl in front of her and laughing at the girl's inability to get the words right whenup ahead the line began to move forward. They were to walk under an arch in pairs, one girl and one guy, she didn't know who her partner was, and she wouldn't till they got up to the front. To her amazement it was Kiba, smiling like a fool and laughing at his jokes they walked to the seats parting ways to sit on their sex's side.
The ceremony went fairly fast, the speeches were all short and they had been calling names for several minutes now, Sakura was shocked when the row in front of her stood to make their walk… she cheered for Hinata and gave her a hug when she came back. Finally it was her turn to talk the 'walk'; standing she followed the girl next to her and walked to the ramp. Waiting for her name to be called it was almost a shock when it finally was and she walked up the ramp… which now seemed a mile long. The cheers were so loud and she heard her name being called. Taking the cardboard from the principle, she shook her hand and turned to smile at the camera… the flash blinded her and she was guided, more like pushed, down the exit ramp and shook some more hands, those of people she hadn't even met before. Walking down the grassy field to her row of chairs she looked up to see so many of her friends grinning at her. Sasuke had even stood up and was clapping, looking right at her. Her smile bright she found her seat and waited for the last few people walk before she could finally sit down and settle her shaking knees.
Well now she knew that Tenten and Neji were right… it all passed in a blur. She looked down at the red folder in her hands and opened it, it was empty… she knew she was supposed to pick up her diploma the next week… but she still had to look, just in case. Sasuke's and Ino's names were called and they were some of the last one's to be called and thus they got more cheers than the ones at the start of the list. Smiling like a fool as she watched them take their cardboard and picture, she finally heard the forever longed for saying of, "Turn your tassels, and congratulations graduates!" tassels were flipped and hats were thrown in the air as all of the teens yelled in joy. The people in the bleachers started to stream onto the field to hug their friends or babies. Hinata turned around and Sakura and her shared a hug as they shuffled out of their seats and tried to avoid running into all of the running people. Not long after they had gotten out of their seats they were glomped by a squealing Ino who was grinning largely and almost looked to be crying.
Aoi ran up and grabbed Sakura into a huge hug, spinning her around in the air. His action was copied by Inochi on Ino. Both daughters hugged their fathers tightly and felt like little princesses. "Baby I love you." Aoi whispered quietly as he held Sakura. "I love you too daddy…" Sakura said gently, tears clogging her voice. Aoi pulled away and looked at her a large smile on his face his eyes slightly glassy with tears. Pulling him into another hug she let a few of her own fall down her cheeks.
Before long a large group of their friends and family had all gathered together. Sasuke, Naruto, Shino, Shikamaru, Kiba, Choji, Sakura, Hinata, and Ino all posed for a picture wearing their caps and gowns with large smiles. All of the families posed in portraits, the one that meant the most to Sakurawas when she, Hana and Aoi all posed together.
Sasuke had been standing to the back, seeing as this was a family affair and none of his had shown up.
"Sasuke!" he heard someone call his name, he turned around to see his mother running toward him, a large smile on her face, behind her Itachi walked slowly, a small smirk on his face. Not believing what he saw he blinked a few times before his mother grabbed him in a large hug.
"Mom?" he asked as he returned the embrace. Mikoto looked up into her youngest son's face and smiled at his stunned expression. "Oh honey, no matter what your father might think or say, there was no way I was going to miss your graduation…" she laughed and admired the way he looked in this cap and gown. "Congrats Pip." Itachi said as he finally meandered his way to them. More pictures were taken and a feeling of happiness was generally felt in the air.
All of the graduates and a few extra went to the diner for a meal and shakes. They pushed together three tables and spent two hours eating, talking and laughing. After they had to leave the diner on account of it closing, they headed to a park. They set their cars up for lights and turned up the radio. The small party continued only now there was a place to dance. The radio was set to a country station and the girls enjoyed dancing several slow songs before the guys changed to a rock and pop station. The dancing continued and there was much jokes. Sakura loved to dance so she spent most of her time out on the floor spinning and switching partners. Her current was Itachi, before him had been Neji, they were gliding around the dirt floor to a John Mayer song it was slow and sexy, and before she knew it, Sasuke had stolen her away from his brother and was pulling her against him continuing the dance and making it more sexy than it had been earlier. Their bodies were gently brushing each other as the moved to the tune. He leaned his head in and rested it on the top of hers. At this point it was around one thirty in the morning and many of their friends had already headed home knowing they had parties and work to go to in the morning. Neji had just taken Hinata home, and Shikamaru had given Ino a lift home over an hour ago. Tenten and Kiba were spinning on the floor, more as a joke than any real attempt to dance, and Shino, Choji, Naruto, and Itachi were sitting in their cars taking or planning on leaving. As the song came to a close Sasuke lifted Sakura's mouth to his and gently kissed her as they continued to shuffle. Itachi looked at the two and gave a grim smile, "I hope you make her happy Pip…" he said to himself as he started his car and drove himself home.
The rest of them finally broke up the little party and made their own ways home. Sakura rode in Sasuke's car back to her father's house. Arriving and cutting the engine, Sasuke turned to her, "Well… here we are." He said looking at her and feeling slightly nervous.
"Sakura… we're not in high school anymore… do you think… well that maybe we can finally come out and say we're a couple?" he asked holding her hand and her eyes.
"Sasuke… I don't know… I mean we are going to college soon… who knows what will happen then…" She looked at him almost hoping he would insist that they declare themselves as a couple anyway.
"Exactly, Sakura I don't want to lose you, I… well I love you… I can't take the risk that someone might steal you while I'm not looking… hell Sakura I want to marry you." He said looking at her shocked expression and smirking lightly. "I know, I know we're no where near ready for that… but I think we are ready for a relationship… please Sakura… say you'll be my girl?" Sasuke said flinching at the way it sounded so patriarchal, lucky for him she didn't seem to care and smiled and nodded. They celebrated their new relationship title by spending the next twenty minutes kissing and touching. Before he could take it to the next level, she pulled away and gave him one last chaste kiss as she climbed out of the car and walked into her house.
A/n: Bleh… well there's the filler chapter… I hate them… and I apparently hate to write them too… sorry for the long wait… but I've had no urge to write at all… and really I don't like this chapter much… I hope it's not too bad, I know its short… I'm sorry but… well yeah I couldn't think of anything else to do. As always thank you so much for reading, and feel free to tell me how I did.