SUMMARY
Everybody has clearer dreams for the future and Sai just won't leave Sakura alone.
I hope you enjoy today's chapter. Sorry for the delayed updates. Favorites and reviews please!
The first person came out to introduce herself. She waved happily to her classmates with her hands. "I'm Yukata and I sing. I love practicing my vocal chords and seeing how high I can reach. I think I'd like to be a sopranoist in a grand orchestra house in the future. After the Winter Finals I'd enter an orchestral singing competition to see how far I'll go."
Yukata had cut her long dark hair and made it a pixie cut. It was weird coming from her but it was a good type of weird. Her short hair made her facial features pop. Her self introduction had also changed from the utterly childish way she did it back then.
She had a clearer goal for herself now, it was wonderful. Kakashi made a mental note to help her with her dream path as much as he could. The next person to come up was Matsuri. She, like Yukata, had also changed her hairstyle and was growing out her hair now.
"My name's Matsuri and I sing. I'd like to be a soul artiste in the future because I discovered that singing soul music was my calling. I like everything and hate nothing. Well I hate some things but not all things. I hope to spend another great year with you guys!"
Tamaki was after Matsuri to introduce herself. She remained mostly the same except for the fact that she was bustier. Kiba noticed the difference the moment she stood up and his brows shot in surprise. Not that he was a perv or anything, it was just somewhat unusual to see how much the late bloomer grew over there. Once again, he was not a perv.
"My name is Tamaki. I play the cello and I love cats. In fact I have quite a number of cats, about ten, thanks to my grandmother. My goal is to befriend my musical instrument. I want to use it to make good music that moves hearts and invokes smiles. It's nice seeing you all again."
Some people muttered how nice it was to see her too as she went back to her seat and Omoi came out next for his reintroduction. A lollipop was in his mouth, that had never changed about him. It looked like he wanted to make his bleached hair into dreads though, if how they curled was any indication. He had also grown taller and his voice less panicky than it was before over the short summer.
"Omoi, you know the school rules." Kakashi pointed out and Omoi sighed, removing his candy from his mouth. Choji wisely kept his potato chips under his desk in case Kakashi saw it. Not that the teacher hadn't already, he just didn't feel like bothering the bulky one right then.
"My name is A.Omoi and I really, really want my candy back sensei." Omoi whined but Kakashi shook his head, tossing the half bitten candy into the class bin. A weird feeling of déjà vu came over everyone right then. This had happened before.
"No can do, Omoi, you know the rules. Choji you too." Kakashi pegged the chubby boy with a look that said 'I know you're eating those chips behind my back' and asked him to trash it. Choji sulkily did but not without rushing a few into his mouth first. Kakashi sighed. "You can continue, Omoi."
"Alright sensei. My name is A.Omoi, I play the guitar and drums and I like candy. I want to become so good at my instruments and help my uncle Killer B with his musical dreams." For how thoughtful that sounded, Omoi sure looked like it was the beginning of an Apocalypse.
Karui also had that dreaded look on her face. "He keeps sending us out to sell thousands of tickets when he's not that popular yet. And when we fail he turns on us." She muttered darkly. Omoi had tears in his eyes now but that was normal given how frisky he normally was.
"'Bakayaro, konoyaro', he'd say. 'Why didn't you sell the tickets all day?'...but it's not our fault daddy A doesn't want him rapping and going on tours because of his illness! He just doesn't get it!" Omoi cries.
"He just doesn't!" Karui also cries.
"Wow...that's some family issues." Tenten commented and everybody had to agree.
"My- sniff- name is A.Karui and I play the bass. My dream's the same as Omoi's cause I really want Killer B's enko rap to blow big." Karui sighed when she came out to give her introduction. She was not that different but she had dropped her bandana, choosing to tie it around her hand now.
Tenten was the next to come out. Instead of sweatpants under her skirt she wore a pair of leggings. Her blazer was left open and her tie askew but that was just Tenten's style. Her hair though...it had changed if only by a bit. Instead of just packing it into two space buns she braided it and wrapped it around her head in two parts.
"My name is Tenten and I dance. My goal's to be famous, so famous that everyone from everywhere would come to see me dance. Last year was fun with you all and I hope this year would be too. Just. Don't. Make. Me. Class. President!" The girl was heaving after she yelled that last part. Naruto ducked his head and everyone laughed.
"The name's Inuzuka Kiba and I dance. The reason I dance is to prove to everyone that I can win and I will win! I like dogs, Akamaru is my buddy. He's been with me forever yanno? That's all!" Kiba was being vague but most of his classmates had an idea that the reason he chose to dance had something to do with having a service dog.
Shikamaru was the next to introduce himself. He strangely was not asleep and he had also started growing some hair on his chin. It made him look funny. "Nara Shikamaru-desu. I just want to get school over with and start a stress free career as a freelance songwriter, marry some girl and travel overseas where nobody would ever find me. What a drag."
They all sweatdropped at his reintroduction. "I thought you had a thing with Temari-senpai." Kiba voiced and everyone started throwing in their two cents. It made Shikamaru sigh for the umpteenth time today.
"I don't, what a drag. She's troublesome." He denied.
"Everything is troublesome to you, Shikamaru." Naruto piqued.
"Alright, alright, next person." Kakashi silenced the lot of them before an argument broke up. Not that Shikamaru had the energy to argue with his classmates anyway.
The next on the row of seats was Choji. He had grown taller and more bulkier than chubby. He was also growing out his hair at a freakishly fast pace. Why was everyone growing their hairs out? "My name is Akimichi Choji. I sing but I think I'm going to branch off to culinary art in the nearest future. Food is good and I want to make good food for everyone." A Choji typical introduction. It surprised nobody.
"ROCK LEE-DESU!" The ever energetic Lee yelled when it was his turn. Lee didn't pretty much change over the holidays, he just grew taller. "IT TOOK A WHILE TO MAKE UP MY MIND BUT I'VE DECIDED TO GO INTO THEATRE ARTS LIKE MY MENTOR, GAI-SENSEI!"
"You're so bad at acting Lee, you're just too honest and energetic for your career path." Tenten deadpanned.
"I'm not!" Lee denied adamantly. "I can do it if I work really hard. You shall be the first to buy tickets for my show, Rock Lee and his ninja pas; the power of youth!" He proclaimed and Tenten shivered. She could really feel that show becoming real sometime in the future. Oy vey.
Up next was Naruto who was also the last person to give his introduction. The blond reached the front and inhaled. Those that were wise knew to cover their ears. When next he released his breath he did so in a loud holler.
"MY NAME IS UZUMAKI NARUTO, THE SON OF UZUMAKI KUSHINA AND NAMIKAZE MINATO! I'M GOING TO FIND WHO MURDERED MY PARENTS AND BEAT THEM UP! THEN I'M GONNA BREAK MY OLD MAN'S WORLD RECORD, BELIEVE IT!"
He was so loud that the people in the second class, the genius class, heard him. Sasuke scoffed. If anybody was going to break Namikaze Minato's record it was him. Neji rolled his eyes. 'Barbarian'. He muttered but he still smiled knowingly. Hinata flushed, a proud smile forming on her face. 'That's Naruto-kun for you.' She thought.
"Naru-chan sure has a big mouth and big goals." Haku commented with a chuckle.
"WOOOOAAAAHHH! SUCH YOUTHFULNESS!" Gai-sensei hollered. He was the genius class teacher. Unfortunate, I know.
Back at the recuperative class, Tenten scoffed and Kiba smirked. "No way brother, I'm going to be the one to break that record." Tenten declared.
"You're both no match for me. I will break that record." Kiba boasted.
"Uh? No offense to you two but my dust is all you're eating. Blonds rule this show, dattebayo!" Naruto sassed. Somebody yelled 'burn!' at the background and they all started laughing. This was the beginning of a competition.
A competition to beat Namikaze Minato's world record.
To get the Fire Awards more than four times in a row.
Kakashi smiled beneath his mask. Naruto was always sparking competition wherever he went and that always motivated everyone around him to do their best too. He was an enigma, that boy. 'Are you watching him, Sensei? He's going to be something in the future.' He thought wistfully.
The silver haired teacher looked around with a frown. "That's eleven of you. You were supposed to be thirteen." He commented.
"Gaara's not here yet dattebayo." Naruto pointed out with a pout. His redheaded friend always came late and made such an appearance when he did arrive.
"Who's the last person?" Matsuri asked curiously.
"A newcomer? Yes!" Tamaki squealed in delight while Kiba, Shikamaru, Naruto and Choji paled.
"I hope it's not that pale dude from this morning." Kiba voiced their fears.
"I heard there's a new boy in the genius class. It mightn't be the same person. And besides, he would have been in class if he were the one." Lee dissuaded their worries and they exhaled.
"Then who is the new comer?" Choji asked.
"I hope it's a really hot girl." Omoi sighed dreamily.
"You're a man of culture!" Kiba responded.
"What if it's a cute guy? That'll be a nice change for my eyes." Karui sassed and all the boys except Shikamaru and Choji took offense.
"HEY!"
"I must correct you, dear classmate, I am KSA's handsome blue devil." Lee was surprisingly the first to retort. That only made the tide turn on him though.
"Nobody calls you that, aho." Kiba barked. "Have you seen me lately?"
"Black guys are cute, I'm cute! How can you ignore my cuteness?!" Omoi was adamant on his exotic melanin advantage over the other guys.
"No way! Blonds are desirable and beautiful. I'm the most handsome dattebayo!" Naruto insisted on his foreign features being the most beautiful thing there was.
Meanwhile all the girls rolled their eyes. Boys. They will always be boys.
0o0o0o0o0o
Everyone in the eleventh grade were in the theatre for Gai-sensei's drama class which was a combined class for both recuperating and normal students. There wasn't any much to do other than revision of the last session's work but their boisterous teacher made full use of the period.
To start off the term, he told the students to form groups of four and decide on a short moral enlightening skit. They would then act out the skit in front of everybody later. They were free to choose their teammates so everyone naturally migrated to their friends at once.
Noticing that the newcomer was somewhat lost in the crowd, Sakura approached him with a friendly smile and waved at him. "Sai, was it? I'm Sakura, your classmate. I hope we become good friends in the future." Her voice was as sweet as her outlook but all Sai did was to glance at the direction behind her.
The pale boy's eyes caught something briefly and then gave Sakura attention. Then a saccharin smile broadened his lips. "Hi, I like ugly bitches like you."
Something in Sakura darkened at his rude comment and her hand clenched dangerously. Her green eyes constricted, darting erratically in rage as she lifted her clenched fist ever so slightly. She just wanted to damage his face! The nerve of that little–!
"That was so rude!" Ino's sharp condescending voice reeled the rosette back into the present. That was close. The pig certainly saved her this time, otherwise she would have slipped up when Sasuke-kun was watching.
Her eyes darted briefly to the said raven's direction. He was talking to Naruto, Tenten and Kiba now. Her curiosity perked at their interaction. Sure the genius class interacted with their dumber counterparts but she didn't think Sasuke was actually chummy enough with them as to readily form a group with them.
Naruto and Gaara, she understood, the three formed a weird friendship over the previous year but Kiba and Tenten? What was on Sasuke-kun's mind?
"She was just trying to talk to you, jerk! You didn't have to be so hands down rude at her." Ino's scolding voice snapped Sakura's attention back to the people in front of her. Her mood soured. That's right, she was previously occupied with the Sasuke wannabe.
"Was there a problem with what I said, Beautiful?" Sai's head innocently quirked sideways, his nickname for Ino throwing both girls off the hoop for a second.
Sakura's vein pulsed. "Ino gets to be beautiful while I'm stuck with 'Ugly bitch?' Unbelievable." Still, her good natured smile didn't leave her face as Ino tried in vain to fight for her best friend. Sai wasn't taking her admonition serious. "It's okay Ino, this is just a misunderstanding. I hope we get along in the future Sai-kun."
Those weren't the words she wanted to say. Hell, this wasn't even how she wanted to act. But God, Sasuke was in the room, possibly watching her, she couldn't afford to slip up and ruin her thin chances of getting together with him.
Sakura decided that she didn't like Sai too much. He was going to make her slip up on her gentle character sooner than later and she hated how that sounded. She had to avoid him at all cost. That or erase him completely. Her sweet smile still didn't leave her lips.
Sai watched the two girls go with a puzzled expression on his otherwise emotionally blank face. He could tell immediately that there was more to Sakura than meets the eye, which was why he was so rude to her, to garner a reaction.
Why didn't she express herself the way she wanted? Sai thought curiously though he had a suspicion what the answer to his question might be. His gaze moved to where his doppelganger was discussing with his chosen teammates, face blank.
"Cherry, you have to watch out or you'd become really ugly."
"Uh?" Matsuri asked in confusion, having heard Sai's monologue since she was passing by. The pale boy only gave his unnerving smile and shook his head.
"Nothing."
Xxx melody xxX
A whole week was dedicated to moving into the dormitory which was cool since everyone in their grade was moving in. They all, being in a wealthy school, had a room to themselves with connected bathrooms and spacious closets. It was heaven in a dorm.
Everyone in grade eleven was moving in much to Naruto's excitement. He had thought for sure that the Hyugas and Uchihas would have preferred their wards staying at home but for whatever reason, they were allowed to be boarding students.
The dorm was absolutely wonderful, with a huge well facilitated lounge room, library and garden. Pets were allowed which was fantastic to Kiba who was worried that Akamaru would have to stay away. But then again he wouldn't even be here if there was a no dog policy. Akamaru was his buddy.
A group of curious students namely Naruto (the ring leader), Kiba, Karui, Haku, Ino, Sakura, Karin, Matsuri, Tamaki and Yukata gathered at the lounge room on Saturday after everyone was settled. They wanted to know how everyone's room looked like.
First on the list was Sasuke who was strangely okay with them prying into his room, much to his fan girls' delight. As expected of the Uchiha, his room was pristine and neat, with his main theme colour being navy blue, white and red. A huge Uchiha paper fan symbol sat above his bed.
There was a study table at a corner and a bedstand where some pictures were displayed. Other than the closet, those were the only furniture pieces Sasuke owned. He kicked the lot out when he noticed Ino, Sakura and Karin fawning over his baby picture. He was rather chubby and they cooed sickeningly at him for it.
Girls.
Next on the list was Neji who promptly shut his door the moment they appeared. However Tenten had joined the fray by then and barreled in along with Naruto and Kiba. Barbarians! The class rep had yelled when they all but shoved him aside and invaded his space.
The Hyuga was prissy so it was unsurprising that his room was meticulously cleaned and well arranged. What surprised everyone though was the abundance of plushies in the room.
"Aww, Neji-chan is actually a softie!" Haku cooed much to his detriment.
"There are quite a number of panda plushies here. Do they mean something, class rep?" Ino joined in teasing him while he got exasperatedly red.
"I am not soft and there is nothing to it, I just happen to like pandas. Now if the lot of you undignified barbarians would excuse me, I would like to have my privacy bac– Naruto drop that!" Neji trailed off when Naruto began nose poking into things he would rather keep hidden from everyone.
"Uh? Neji is capable of drawing chibis?"
Neji considerably paled when he saw Tenten flipping through his handy sketchbook, a thing nobody knew he had, and lunged for it at once. She could not see what was in it!
"GET OUT AND STAY OUT!"
The door to the room slammed close after Neji had kicked all of them out.
"He's such a tsundere." Haku laughed.
"I am not!" Came the muffled reply from Neji's room and everyone that knew otherwise laughed.
The next person's room they visited was Shino's. The girls didn't stay too long once they discovered how much of an insect zoo the room was. No wonder Shino had no girlfriend, he was creepy like that.
Lee's room looked just like a gym with motivational posters of muscularly toned men and a disturbing picture of Gai-sensei. One would think he would want to choose a career like Mixed Martial Arts instead of Theatre arts after highschool was over.
He would actually make it big in the MMA world in most people's opinions. Then again they weren't the ones to decide for him.
The next person's room they visited was Kiba's room. It was just like any typical hormonal teenage boy's room, with the stereos and posters of women in bikinis. The only difference was how the place was divided into two portions; one for him and the other for Akamaru. Dude sure loves his dog.
Choji's room was somewhere everyone, the girls especially, didn't want to leave. It smelled like a bakery in there! With the homely cookie wall papers and cupcake themed bed, Choji's love for food showed in his room style.
"I baked cupcakes for everyone to share." Choji said good naturedly. There was a kitchen in the dorm they had occasional access to so he had baked there yesterday.
"So delicious!" Karui exclaimed when she bit into the fairy cakes. It was so fluffy and the sugar balance was just so perfect. Choji flushed a bit at the compliment and bashfully said thanks.
"I will be taking this with me..." Naruto mumbled through a full mouth as he took the box of left over cakes and left the room. Kiba ate it with him.
"Welcome to mi casa!" Suigetsu gladly welcomed the entourage of curious wanderers to his room. It was decorated with amethyst and grey colours in a boyish way. A huge sword was mounted above his bed. It had everybody imagining the horrors that would occur should the sword accidentally lose its footing. Effing risk taker.
"Wow!" Sakura and Ino gasped as they transitioned from the hallway to the nature park called Juugo's room. The gentle giant owned four small birds and two little chipmunks so his room was decorated in order to suit them. Flowers and small trees adorned every area of the room in a beautiful design. There was a small birdbath and a cage for the birdies at a corner of the room.
"Aww, the chipmunks are so cute!" Tamaki cooed as she approached one in its homely cage. It hid from her though she didn't mind. "What are their names?"
"Chintaro and Momotaro. Chin and Momo for short. The birds are Tetsu, the blue one, Tsubasa, the yellow one, Midori, the green one and Sochan, the purple one." Juugo listed off.
"Cute name for a cute animal like you!" Haku exclaimed happily, impressed when Momo nuzzled into his palm when he reached out to touch him.
"Aww no fair Momo!" Tamaki yelled in mock offense when she saw Momo, the chip she tried to reach, being friendly with Haku.
"He likes beautiful boys." Haku smiled smugly while Tamaki stuck her tongue out at him.
Omoi's room was normal save for the lingering smell of candy in it. A drum set and guitar amp lay at the space beside his closet. Everyone loved the amber theme of his room space and his many brand name hoodies (they saw cause his closet was open).
Shikamaru was sleeping when the lot of them rudely awoke him from his sleep. His eyes were blood red and hair askew, out of its usual pineapple ponytail, when he tore the door open. Shikamaru was this close to exploding— this close!
The boy sighed as they barged into his room and went back under his camouflage covers. Shika's room was sparsely decorated, with a plain army green wall paper and that was it. Lazy bones. The entourage soon got bored with him and went to Haku's room instead.
"Tada!" The cheerful androgynous boy exclaimed when they opened the door to his room and found it also dry of decorations which was very surprising coming from Haku.
"Oh. I was expecting...more I guess?" Ino expressed her disappointment in his bland room and Haku laughed.
Matsuri's eyes caught sight of a picture on the bedstand, of Haku and an older guy. "Oh wow, he's hot. Who's he?" She asked as she lifted the picture to show him who she was referring to.
"That's Zabuza, my brother." Haku replied simply.
"No offense but you look nothing alike." Matsuri said as she set down the picture. Haku laughed at that.
"I said the same thing!"
Nobody understood him but Haku was always confusing like that, so they dropped it.
Naruto's room was the last they went to. Hinata had magically appeared at that moment to see how her crush's breathing space looked like. The first thing that came into her mind when they entered Naruto's room was 'cute.'
His wall paper was yellow, designed like ramen noodle strands, with ramen extras splattered here and there around it. Fish cakes, eggs, green peas, menmas, every ramen topping they could think of was there. The No Ramen No Life poster above his bed made most face palm and Hinata giggle. It was so Naruto.
"Uh...I expected a pig sty." Sakura voiced and Ino agreed to it.
"Hey!" Naruto yelled, offended. He actually used to have dirty tendencies but four years in juvie kicked it out of him. It was an experience he would rather not relive.
"Sorry." Sakura apologized with a laugh. It was impossible to stay mad at her for too long, not with that angelic smile. Ino however...
"Hmph! I'm sure in two weeks this place would be running over with dirt." She was brutally honest to a fault. Naruto sweat dropped.
Karin's eye twitched when it caught something on Naruto's orange covered bed. "Can you tell me why there is a Kakashi-sensei body pillow on your bed?" Her question immediately drew attention to his bed.
"I didn't peg you to have such strong...admiration...for sensei, Naru-chan." Haku's suggestion grossed Naruto out. Ew! No!
"It was a gag gift, teme." Naruto defended. Kakashi had gifted it to him on him on his fifteenth birthday for laughs because Naruto used to be- and still is- a hugger when he slept. The joke turned on him because the pillow was soft and Naruto liked its usefulness.
Hinata was adequately distracted by a couple of pictures on Naruto's bedstand. There was a family picture where Naruto was small and cute, making grabby hands for his father to carry him while his mother faked being hurt. 'See his tiny fingers!' She squealed internally.
"EEEK! HINATA DON'T LOOK AT MY BABY PICTURES DATTEBAYO!" Naruto unfortunately noticed her and ran to block her view with his body. His shout only attracted attention to himself because every other curious person wanted to see how small Naruto was like.
The boys' rooms were thoroughly explored so now it was time for the girls'. Only when the boys looked around did they see that the girls had completely disappeared. Like hell they would allow boys into their rooms!
"Girls!" Kiba, probably the most excited to see the girls' rooms, yelled in disappointment to the wind. "THIS IS NO FAIR!"
Xxx melody xxX
The hallways were empty. Then again it was a solid twenty minutes after the first bell had rang so everyone was already in class and halfway through the first lesson. That, of course, excluded KSA's most popular delinquent; Sabaku no Gaara.
He was one week and twenty two minutes late, not that he cared anyway. The redhead sported a battle scar, a blackened bruise, on one of his cheekbones and a really deep scowl on his face.
Nobody except a select few knew this but his scowl was just his resting bitch face. He was pretty chill as long as you didn't touch him suddenly. Gaara gallivanted through the hall, blazer unbuttoning and tie missing. No prefect had ever called him out on his dress code — talk about presidential immunity.
What would have been a peaceful stroll to his first class in a week was interrupted by a thumping noise which only got louder and louder until he could sense the source of the noise behind him.
Turning back, he saw that it was a girl with a similar dress code as he; blazer and tie missing. She was waving frantically for him to get out of the way, which he did hastily before she bumped into him. The last thing he wanted was physical contact.
"Out of the way, I'm late-su!" Her yell faded as she ran down the hallway.
A strange chill ran down Gaara's spine that caused him to shiver. He just had a feeling about that girl, that she would come to be his greatest fear in the nearest future.
The redhead stepped into his new classroom, efficiently interrupting Kakashi-sensei's class. A hairless brow raised. He was their homeroom teacher? (Homeroom teachers always have the first period on Monday).
"Ah Gaara-kun, nice of you to finally grace us with your presence." Kakashi drawled and sniggers vibrated the air. "Mah, before you came in this lady was introducing herself." It was then Gaara noticed the girl at the front of the class. It was the girl from earlier.
She had dark skin, topaz eyes and chopped pale green hair which stopped at her neck. "My name is Fuu-su! I majorly dance but I love photography as a side hobby-su. I want to make a hundred friends! So you all have to be my friends-su!"
Gaara shivered. Definitely his worst nightmare. The redhead was asked to reintroduce himself after Fuu had settled in her designated seat so he did so. "Sabaku-no-Gaara. I rap." Was all he said before he went back to his seat.
"At least he added two words to his introduction this time." Karui snickered and everybody else laughed in time. Gaara glared but it was nothing heated. The only seat available was next to Naruto, like in their previous grade, but this time the blond was happy to see his almost seatmate.
Kakashi was teaching though, something about the boring history of music and dance, so the blond could not actively talk to his friend. He settled for notes instead.
Gaara's green eyes shifted from looking at the creases in Kakashi's shirt to his desk where a rolled piece of paper just landed. He looked at Naruto inquisitively before opening the road. Damn, his handwriting was a pain to read but Gaara would never say this out loud. In a bad way.
Glad you came! But what's up with the bruise?
Gaara exhaled and scribbled something underneath his message before rolling it up and tossing it back.
Rasa happened.
Naruto visibly tensed at his note and began to write furiously on the paper.
The butthole is still mean to you?! I thought all that stopped a while back!
Gaara scoffed. Rasa didn't stop beating him up simply because he had relatively calmed down compared to before and Gaara's rebellious tendencies still lingered which Rasa didn't like. So the beatings continued. He was just happy that his siblings were actually actively against Rasa's disciplinary methods now as opposed to before.
I'm okay, this is normal.
Naruto gritted his teeth.
I call b.s
"Would you two lovebirds stop sending each other love notes and actually focus on my teaching? Thank you very much." Kakashi's bored and sarcastic reprimanding caused the both of them to stop sending notes and the rest of the class to laugh. Great. Now Kiba had teasing material.
The boys could only talk freely during lunch break. Sasuke joined them and they went to the roof to eat since Shikamaru now slept in the school's garden. "I can't believe how much of an asshole your old man is, Gaara." Naruto exclaimed as he pushed the roof door open.
Gaara only shrugged like he was used to it while Sasuke remained clueless about what they were talking about. No, he had an idea what it was but he wasn't so sure. "What did he do?" He asked, taking a bite out of his bento. That was what the school provided today.
"Gave me this black eye. Naruto's making a fuss." Gaara said monotonously and Naruto bristled.
"I'm not making a fuss!" He yelled.
"He really isn't." Sasuke agreed to the blond's words. "He shouldn't hit you as bad as this even if you did something wrong."
"You worry too much. I'm used to it." Gaara muttered noncommittally around his chopsticks, his gaze down on his food where another pair of chopsticks were invading it.
"And you shouldn't be used to it dattebayo." Naruto countered back sharply.
"I find it hard to take you serious when you're stealing my meat, Naruto." Gaara deadpanned.
"What? You weren't eating it." Naruto defended himself and reached for Sasuke's food. The raven stabbed his hand with his chopsticks. "OW! Teme, it's just meat!"
"My meat." Sasuke's eyes narrowed dangerously.
"Okay, okay, sheesh." Naruto faked giving up but immediately snatched a piece of Sasuke's meat with his hand and ran away with it. Sasuke followed him and held him in a chokehold when he caught up.
"Spit it out."
"No!"
"Spit it out!"
"No!"
Gaara watched them fight on while he continued eating. Sasuke might act reserved on every other day but given the chance, he was just as playful as Naruto was. He smiled, a small thing really, just an upward quirk of his lips. The both of them were dorks of the highest order.
During dance lessons, Kakashi made announcement that was about to change the story progression for good? For bad? Nobody knew but it definitely changed a lot of things.
"For your next project I would be grouping you in twos." There were sharp intakes of breath from everybody. "Your assignment would be to come up with a dance pantomime and come and display it for the whole class to see. This project would make up 30 marks of your C.A. Listen up for your group number and partners."
If there was anything any student hated about group projects, it was when the teacher decided to choose the partners themselves. Then, it was all a game of luck. You could get paired up with a friend or enemy.
"Group one: Hyuga Hinata and Uzumaki Naruto."
Hinata blossomed red at once. She really didn't expect for her crush to be her project partner at all! She was overheating. She felt dizzy!
"Group two: Hyuga Neji and Tenten."
Neji's heart thumped while Tenten groaned. Why were they always joined to the hip?
"Group three: Uchiha Sasuke and Yamanaka Ino."
Ino squealed in delight while Sakura's face darkened. Sasuke sighed dejectedly at his luck.
"Group four: Haruno Sakura and Sai."
Sakura's face only darkened further while Sai gave a false smile. They were so going to get along well. Sarcasm.
Kakashi called on other groups until he was done. Some were satisfied with their partners, some were indifferent, others were not. The silver haired teacher didn't care.
"You have four weeks to do this project." He announced with a closed eye smile where his eyes formed rainbow arcs. "I hope to see wonderful results. Class dismissed."
Everybody else left the dance room save for Sakura, who was still reeling in the shock of her loss to Ino, and Sai, who wanted to say a teasing word or two to the rosette.
"Hello Ugly, it seems we're partners for a month now. Let's get along, shall we?" Sai was as fake as they come and his taunts successfully angered Sakura to slap his outstretched hand away.
"Are you being sarcastic right now?" She seethed.
"Bingo." Sai smiled. "I know you'd rather be in Beautiful's shoes but let's have a good time dancing together, right?"
"Look." Sakura moved into his personal space, eyes hard and dead serious. "I hate you. And I hate the fact that I have to dance with you. It would be really nice if you just shut up and keep your sarcastic remarks to yourself, that way it's easier to pretend you don't exist."
"I wonder if Sasuke-kun would like the real you." Sai suddenly spoke. Sakura faltered.
"W-what do you mean?!" She stuttered.
"You act like an angel when he's around but you're just an ugly bitch to me. You know why that is? Because I am the only one that brings out the real you." Sai's eerie smile irritated Sakura.
"There is no real me. I am myself." She seethed angrily.
"You're not. You're a pretender. You do things you don't want to and you put up an act all because of a single guy. You're amusing, you know that? And that's why I like getting on your nerves. It's the only way to show the whole school, the boy you like, just who you really are." Sai laughed and walked out of the dance room.
Sakura grinded her teeth against each other in immense anger. She hated that guy a lot. She loathed him in fact. She screamed and punched the wall.
Meanwhile Sai allowed himself an impish smile. "So then Cherry, let the games begin."
Sai, what is your deal with Sakura? Leave her alone!
Anyway, about Sakura. I plan her to be a representation of insecure teenage girls who take out their emotions the wrong way. Those mean cheerleaders in every cliché story have a story, and a reason they're that way. They pretend to impress and Sakura just fits into that role best.
I would use Ino but Ino had always been mean from the start, and it was established that she doesn't mean to, that's just how she is. That, and Ino has another role to fill here as the cheerleader sidekick in a cliché story.I bet you weren't expecting the romance to progress so clichéd-ly and yet so un-cliche at the same time. Hehe.
Heads up! Just because I made Naruto and Hinata partners doesn't mean they'd get together anytime soon! Yeah, you can cry. Let it all out buddy.
Don't forget that I said we concluded the first part of Gaara's arc in Symphony. There are still some unsettled things about him so he's making a comeback in future chapters. That, and Rasa is still an asshole.
Thanks for reading! I'm crossing fingers for your favorites and comments! Forgive any mistake.
-Star.