Chapter 14
Multiple rumors circulating throughout the school about Naruko's attack. One of the most popular was that she picked a fight with some tough girls from another school and lost. Of course all of the rumors came from the same place, the Sasuke Uchiha fan club room in a sly attempt to divert suspicion away from them.
"Hello club members." Sakura greeted with a big smile upon her face. "I would like to thank everyone who participated in 'operation takedown'. I am very proud of you, you proved yourselves and this is a victory for everyone in the club. Now will Miyuu please come up and tell everyone what you learned."
A 3rd year student from a different class stood up trying to hide her smile.
"I was dropping off dinner for my mother who works in the hospital and I saw Sasuke-kun with his brother and Miss Masami. She said it was sad that Naruko is leaving and how all the other maids would miss her. Naruko has quit." Sakura and the entire clubroom erupted in applause however their joyous moment was interrupted by the loud banging from the door. Sakura raced over to open it expecting to see Ino and inform her of the news instead there stood Tenten and Hinata, both seething with rage.
"This is a private meeting for club members only." stated Hitomi a tall 3rd year standing behind Sakura,
"We don't care." Tenten replied pushing her out the way. She and Hinata stood face to face with Sakura. "You hurt Naruko."
"What are you talking about? Ino and I had classroom cleaning duties, by the time we heard about Naruko being hurt we just left the school." Sakura said confidently.
"If it wasn't you two then it was the rest of you." Tenten replied and turned to glare at the other club members.
"Sorry I am late I was—why are they here?" Ino said stepping in the clubroom and looked at Hinata and Tenten confused, they never showed any interest in Sasuke before. Great more competition she thought.
"I don't like how abrasive you two are being." Sakura folded her arms frowning. Ino was uncomfortable her eyes darted back and forth from Tenten to Sakura unsure of what to say.
"Naruko is still in the hospital, she needed stitches for some of her injuries and her fingers are broken. How can you be so, so...so cruel?!" Hinata yelled startling everybody.
"What?" Ino looked puzzled.
"You are all horrible people." Hinata took hold of Tenten's hand and pulled her out of the room.
"Hinata, I had no idea that your voice could even get that loud."
"That girl Hitomi, did you see her fist they were bruised, I noticed it when you pushed her out of the way she had to be one of the people who attacked Naruko"
"How do you always notice these things you and Neji have the best eyesight."
Back in the clubroom Ino sat in silence as Sakura tried to reassure the girls that everything would be fine and none of them would get in trouble. Their faces were a mix of fear and confidence. The girls that were involved in the assault had made sure they had an alibi they had also disposed of every item of clothing they wore on that day. Ino stood up and tapped Sakura on the shoulder
"I need to talk to you."
"Why?"
"Just come on." Ino said leaving the room to go out into the corridors Sakura followed close behind and closed the door. "Do you want to tell me how Naruko ended up in the hospital?"
"What do you think Ino?"
"Sakura!" Ino raised her voice but then quieted down not wanting anyone else to hear them. "The plan was for the girls to corner her to rough her up a little just enough to scare her so she'll leave Sasuke-kun alone."
"Are you really that naive Ino? Naruko is a fighter she would have fought back and that would just have motivated her further she needed to be taught a lesson. We made an example out of her so any other girl who even thinks they can mess around with Sasuke's heart thinks again."
"But why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I know you would try to convince the girls not to, I didn't need you undermining me." Sakura snapped.
"This is really serious Sakura, she is in the hospital. What if someone finds out? We could be expelled or worse. What if she goes to the police? I would rather be in jail than have my Dad to answer to."
"No one will find out so long as everyone keeps their mouths shut. Anyway why are you so concerned with Naruko's wellbeing? This is all for Sasuke-kun to protect his heart. I would risk anything and everything for Sasuke-kun I thought you felt the same way."
"I-I am. I do. I love Sasuke-kun. I love him." Ino felt a strong pang of guilt in the pit of her stomach as she said those words.
"Good, come on we need to get them all to calm down before someone cracks."
"Ok." Ino said quietly and followed Sakura back inside the classroom.
Naruko was packing up her belongings with the help of Tenten and Hinata. She was finally being discharged into Tsunade and Jiraiya's care much to her chagrin. Tenten was packing up the toiletries into a bag whilst relaying their encounter with the fan club girls.
"You should have seen Hinata, Naruko. She stood face to face with Sakura and called her out in front of everyone. All of them looked so guilty."
"Tenten you are exaggerating." Hinata blushed hiding her face behind the clothes she was folding.
"But only a little bit, it was amazing she even found out who was involved."
"It was Hitomi from class 6. She was one of the girls that jumped you, her fingers were so bruised up pretty bad and she had paint on her finger tips."
"Wow your eyesight is something else Hinata." said Tenten
"Hitomi?" Naruko repeated the name she was angry yet also impressed by the girl, Hitomi was a tall girl with a narrow acne covered face, she would walk with her shoulders awkwardly hunched over in an attempt to blend in with her shorter friends. Naruko wondered if she was the one who was most vocal in the attack as Hitomi had a high pitched and annoyingly nasal voice. "Don't tell baa-chan I want to deal with the girls myself."
"What do you plan on doing?" questioned Tenten.
"Let's see how tough they are when I meet them face to face." replied Naruko.
"I think you should let Tsunade handle this. If you fight them then you'll get suspended and then their parents will wonder why a child who has been suspended so many times has not been expelled permanently. Then they will see the connection you and Tsunade have and say that it is favoritism and then she will also be disciplined." Hinata finished with last item of clothing and shut the suitcase closed. Her face looked stern, she has been thinking about the outcome a lot since it happened.
"Damnit." Naruko snarled. She was frustrated the girls just might get away with it.
"Hello Naruko, hello girls. All ready to leave?" asked the nurse entering the room pushing in a wheelchair with him. "Don't forget anything because the new patients will take them." Naruko walked to the wheelchair and sat down in it groaning.
"Do I have to be with them?" she whined
"We can't let you take care of yourselves hospital policy, just like this, so come on and sit down." He said.
"But I am a really fast healer. Do you think it's a good idea to be with the pervert? My nurses have changed four times until they brought you in." the nurse just laughed.
"I'll let your friends explain to you why we can't just let an injured teenager go off on their own when they suffered a head injury. I'm surprised your friend with the red hair didn't come to help you pack."
"Karui couldn't come because of some modeling stuff."
"No not her. He was the one that rode with you in the ambulance and stayed with you until your godparents came. His coat is right there." The nurse walked over to a the chair and he held up a long leather maroon coat. "Did he even visit you at all since then?"
"Wait a minute, did this boy have eye makeup and a tattoo on this forehead?" asked Tenten, he nodded.
"Gaara?" Naruko blurted in utter disbelief.
Naruko stepped out of the shower and looked at herself in the mirror, the weekend had past and the paint still had not come out of her hair. It looked like a sick rainbow had vomited on her. She could not go back to school looking like this, she could imagine how the fan club girls would react. The thought of it made Naruko hot with anger. She looked through drawers searching for a pair of scissors and grabbed a chunk of her long yellow hair and hacked it off. She did this to all the areas where the paint had ruined her hair. She thought back to how Haku had helped her style her rough long locks before the school year had begun, she barely recognized herself and now she was removing his hard work. Naruko threw the last chunk of hair into the bin and set the scissors down on the table. She looked up at the mirror her waist length hair now fell past her shoulders, it was uneven but it was okay and okay was good enough.
Naruko got dressed in her uniform and wrapped the bandages around her hand even though she didn't really need it. A few more days and she would be fully healed. As Naruko grabbed her book bag getting ready to leave through the door she paused when she saw Gaara's long coat hanging on the door's coat rack. All this time she had assumed a helpful passing stranger had called the ambulance for her but no it was Gaara. She could remember her attackers ripping the clothes from her back, but wasn't sure if she had imagined being wrapped by something warm. When he found her he must have given her his coat to cover her up. She took the coat and inhaled that familiar scent she smelled before blacking out. She ran her hand over a splotch of faded blue paint that stained the maroon coat. Tsunade wasn't able to get it out completely. The nurse had told her that Gaara left as soon as Tsunade and Jiraiya got there, he never even visited after that. Naruko sighed and folded the coat up before leaving for school.
When she arrived at school Naruko waited by the gates for Gaara to show up as other students walked in some stared at her presence whilst others avoided staring at her altogether. Naruko did her best to ignore them all. A few more minutes passed and she still saw no sign of him. She sighed and hurried to her locker to put his coat in and switch shoes before heading off to class.
As soon as Naruko stepped foot into the classroom she was bombarded by her friends asking about her wellbeing and glad to have her back in the class. Naruko laughed it off and took to her seat. She noticed that Ino and Sakura didn't say anything either she was prepared for it, she had the perfect comeback when around other people and the perfect right jab if they were alone. Tsunade had mentioned that she gave a special assembly in that may have put some fear into them. Naruko barely paid attention as Lee was filling her in on the happenings of the school since her absence, instead her gaze fell up Sasuke who glanced at her for a quick moment that seemed to last for an hour. Naruko wondered how he was feeling they haven't seen or spoke to each other since she yelled at him. She didn't care how he felt at least that is what she kept telling herself. Sakura came into her her vision blocking their gaze by talking to Sasuke. Naruko rolled her eyes and shook her head.
Ino watched this exchange, she had known him for many years but never had she seen him look so sad. When the club member would greet him or give him gifts he would be acknowledge them very politely but now he ignored most of them completely. He would always ignore them to an extent but not like how he did now. As Sakura engaged with him he looked straight past her. Sakura had messed up things for all of them. Perhaps she needed to be the one to fix things, as Ino pushed herself away from her desk to confront Naruko she was interrupted by Kakshi-sensei bursting through the door.
"Sorry I'm late something happened that I may not be able to explain to you because of legal reasons. Naruko is good to have you back."
"It's good to be back." Naruko replied with a smile.
"Naruko, Neji is forcing all of us to ruin Kiba and Hinata's date, please say you're coming so you can help me distract him." said Tenten. It was the end of the day and no one besides her friends had mentioned the attack or made any snide remarks about her appearance. It was a good day, whatever Tsunade had said had worked tremendously.
"Can't, I need to give Gaara back his coat, he must be sick or something never showed up today. Does anyone know where he lives?"
"He lives nearby our house." said Hinata "The mansion with the fountain in front."
"Fountain." Naruko remembered passing by the mansion during her many night time runs through, he lived so close to Sasuke, Naruko was surprised she didn't see him more often when she was there. Naruko waved goodbye to her friends and made her way to Gaara's house, she instinctively looked over her shoulder anytime she heard footsteps close by. Naruko was near Sasuke's house she still had many things left over there that she needed to get back but she didn't want to run into Sasuke. She would have to call Masami first to check when he was in. She turned carried on down the road turning a few corners as she neared a mansion with a large fountain in the front. "I have too many rich friends." Naruko muttered softly to herself. She took a deep breath and walked towards the door she rang the doorbell and waited. And waited. And waited. She pushed the button thrice more rapidly and banged on the door. Naruko leaned in closely to hear the shuffling of someone making their way towards the door. The door creaked open and there stood Gaara looking like he just woke up.
"Hello Gaara, I'm Naruko." Naruko paused, of course, he knew that they were in the same class. "Uh anyway, I heard that it was you that helped me when I was injured. Gave me your coat, I don't know why you never visited because I would have thanked you." Gaara didn't say anything instead he leaned on the doorframe and stared at Naruko. "You weren't at school today so I thought it was best to come straight to you. I washed it, had it dry cleaned, most of the stains are all gone too. Except the one on the lapel but maybe a few more washed might get it cleared up" Naruko laughed nervously and handed Gaara his coat. Gaara didn't take his coar back or talk he just continued to stare at Naruko , who was now growing impatient.
"What is wrong with you? I came here to thank you for what you did but look I am yelling at you for being weird." Naruko threw his coat at him and turned to leave. As she walked away Gaara finally spoke up.
"You cut your hair fox girl, it looks nice." Naruko's entire body went cold as the gravity of Gaara's words hit her.