January 11, 2004,
I am so glad to post this, I was so happy :D So HAPPY! I am glad to finally be past the part with the detention! This means I can FINALLY get in on some of that Naruto/Sakura action! Oh my GOD! I am so excited, really! (Giggles insanely). I have been waiting for this for such a long time, and I know you guys have been waiting too :D
This chapter is the last straw before the romance comes- everything else has been leading up to this- the rocky relationship between our hero and our Heroine... Gosh I hope she's okay, and not OOC, cause I know that it is very possible that Naruto will be at least a little OOC- cause he's older then in the anime/manga here. Death and love can change a boy into a man- it's true :D
So, I hope all of you readers got what you wanted for the holidays (I did! I got Tablet and everything! I am going to do a Naruto/Sakura Fanart soon :D :D :D), if not, I hope that this update can make you a little happy :D
-LukyIrish12
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Chapter Six: "The faded DETENTION Hall!"
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The first thing she noticed, in her worn out state was that by the time she had gotten to the room where she would be serving her first detention the halls were almost completely empty. Whether or not it was because the room was placed near the Lunch Room where nobody ventured after the final bell rang or because nobody needed to go there, she didn't know. As she looked up at the door looking over her she saw a huge, dark green slate on the door that said "detention hall." In faded letters. She wasn't at all surprised to find that as she stepped in there weren't many people there, and in comparison to the rest of the rooms in the school, this one was relatively small.
'Probably due to the fact that at a school such as this one, Osaka High, there were few reasons for punishment other then being late and ( ' pissing off- ' ) angering a teacher with back talk. Even then there wouldn't be that many incidents…' she thought as she walked inside. It never occurred to her to think about whether people who painted graffiti on the wall of said school would be cause for a detention- at the least.
"Sakura Haruna rep-" she was interrupted by a man as he turned his shriveled face in her direction. He spoke in a gruff and pained tone as he took her detention slip and said "you can sit there." He pointed a fat, shriveled finger at a seat next to a boy who had probably never seen a fashion magazine before.
Though Sakura couldn't say she had herself she could at least say the she knew how to do her hair!
She took her seat and was sitting up straight and alert. The old man had turned away from her and was reading from a black book with nothing on the front of its washed out cover. The book was so new that it contrasted with the man holding it and the wall behind him enough to make Sakura wonder if it was painting of a man and then a book taped to the canvas. The contrast was probably something that she would be examining in Art later that week.
She looked around the room. It was a faded lime green color all around. There were splotches of faded brown that consisted of structures jutted from the wall resembling book shelves with what FAINTLY looked like books on broken and overhanging wooden slabs. The only clear color was the man's book, which was, even then, faded. From Disuse, or too much use? She didn't really know.
She sat there for a very long time. She just sat there. After a long time had passed she began to hear things. Little sounds that were magnified burst through her like a steel drum. The turn of a paper made a scratching noise, now she knew. The sound of pen across paper, and pencil too. She was going to go insane with the smallest of noises- the soft snoring of the boy next to her- she was going to flip soon if
The sound of someone shifting and standing up from a desk caused Sakura's head to swivel in the direction of the unaccustomed sound. She saw a girl, in her delirious state, stand up from her desk, a rather large stack of papers folded neatly in her pale arms, and walk towards the old man sitting at the table in the front of the room. She took the papers and took out her yellow (Sakura's was a light pink) detention slip and handed it to the man.
"Lilac Servaetes, you have served your detention…" she watched as he opened a drawer in the faded things that looked like it had once been a desk many years ago, and took out a stamp and a stamp pad. She watched in fascination as he made quick work of stamping the girls slip and telling her in his old, rustic voice that she was to "show this slip to your teacher to get the detention removed from your personal records." The girl nodded deftly and left the room with the soft sounds that her shined shoes made on the marble floor.
And after what seemed like hours upon hours of silence, and temporary outbreaks of insanity for Sakura, the other student stood and carried picked up the stack of papers on his desk and received the exact same treatment as the other girl, Lilac. The boy left the room with a little more noise then the young girl did, but Sakura was glad for the unaccustomed sound and it helped her, if only a little, regain her composure.
She realized dully, as the door shut, that she had a cramp in her back. She shifted slightly to relive the pressure and had to take a stronger grip on her desk as the room swayed and shifted. She blinked, realizing that she had been sitting up so straight that the blood had somehow stopped flowing.
Now, with a pounding head ache, Sakura felt the urge to sigh heavily, but contained it. She was lucky that she had been able to hold out this long. Her lower back throbbed and her legs were jittering from being in a crossed, and of course lady-like, position for so long. She shifted again and as she did the other student, other then her and the sleeping boy with no fashion style, stood up too and carried his stack of papers to the front desk and laid them down. She missed the boys name but didn't miss the same phrase be repeated in the same old, rustic voice.
He left the room without a sound and Sakura was alone the student next to her and the teacher. She felt the urge to scream, to shout and pull at her hair- the boy would be no reprieve either, his snores were soft and teased at her hearing- they were soft and even-and she was going crazy…
After what seemed like forever with only the silence and her crazy, incoherent thoughts to occupy her, Sakura asked the old man sitting at the desk in the front of the room, in a soft, respectable voice, "Excuse me Sir, is there something I am supposed to be doing here?" He didn't say a word to her. After a moment she sat back a bit, feeling a little stressed. She didn't want to be here any longer then she had to be and he had not given her any instructions, other then to tell her where he seat was.
"Hey girl," came a hoarse voice. She jerked and looked to her side, where the sound had come from. It was the boy with no fashion sense- He had apparently decided it was time to grace her with his presence.
( ' Stupid BOY! ' )
"My name is Sakura, not "girl"." She said a little too icy for even herself. She was reminded of the disrespectful boy, Naruto and gave a snort of disapproval.
( ' I'll NEVER be like that, even if I have to KILL myself! ' )
"Whatever- what time is it?" She didn't have a watch and told him so.
"Damn… I'm so tired…" Sakura stared at him in amazement as he rudely stretched, full bodied and for the first time she noticed he was wearing sandals.
'SANDALS? At THIS school?!' she thought, incredulous.
She couldn't help it, she had to ask: "Why are you sleeping when you have a detention?" He turned his gaze to hers and she watched him shrug his shoulders under his tan jacket. He replied lightly, as if it didn't MATTER: "I get tired and so I sleep. It's not like they can do anything about it."
Sakura winced, "they can give you another detention." She said as a matter of fact. She knew this much about detention hall, if you did something wrong or if you repeated the same transgression, you could get equal or greater punishment then before, regardless of whether or not it was the same action.
"And they always do- so I always come back and sleep again and I just get another detention, big deal." He shrugged again, as if to say, "What does it matter?".
"Don't you worry about what the people will say to you, when they see you have so many detentions on your record? They can expel you from the school!" She was feeling a little doubtful at the moment, and the old man at the desk didn't seem to care that they were talking so she continued.
Not to mention- what did her image have to do with anything when it was in regards to a detention hall teacher? All they probably thought was that the students that received detentions were nothing but a bunch of miscreants.
"They can't." he responded, laying his head on the desk. Sakura felt a flame of irritation flare through her.
( ' Make friends with this JERK?! ' ) Inner Sakura raged angrily.
"Why not?" she asked again. Despite her negative thoughts, she was really eager to speak with this boy. He was certainly audacious.
"Because my parents won't let them expel me." Sakura waited for the rest of the explanation but when she didn't get one she felt the irritation and fascination explode from her lips, "you're so LAZY! You can't even respond fully to a question!"
He smiled, once again, too lazy to smile all the way or even lift his head.
"Yep, that's right- the name's Shikamaru, pleased to meet you." He said, extending his hand out to her.
Sakura froze, questioning why exactly he had suddenly found the need to move his body in any way. She stared at the hand he extended and didn't take it.
The return look he gave her was an equal reaction to her own. It took him barely a moment but the recognition flitted across his features soon enough- after he realized that she wasn't American. It only took a moment but his eyes returned to their same dull brown as soon as they had changed, leaving him looking foolish with his hand out.
"This means, "I come in peace" here." He said, withdrawing his hand and folding it to under his head.
Sakura felt stupid for not taking the hand this time, and blushed at her folly. "You'll have to forgive me- I just thought it was something else, sorry." She looked at her desk, fisting her hands in her lap. Where she came from, public displays of affection were a "no-no" subject. She still felt stupid still, for not researching about that particular avenue of the United States.
"Sorry, again." She mumbled and turned to speak to him again, only to find him sleeping. She felt the irritation again but decided against acting on it since the man at the desk had just called her name. She stood up and gave him one last look before walking to the front of the classroom to receive her detention slip. She was still a little miffed by the fact that he had fallen asleep while they were talking- but in the end she didn't really care- she had met someone new.
She watched, mute, as the old man repeated word for word what he had said to the previous students. Sakura, not really listening and too tired to care, looked over at her shoulder to the boy at the desk.
He didn't say goodbye, and she didn't expect him too, so she left without looking back or even acknowledging the fact that the teacher hadn't stopped speaking. She walked outside of the classroom, a little disturbed by the boy, Shikamaru, but glad in the fact that she had met someone who wasn't a brute or an obscene- childish, boorish, idiotic- RUDE-
Sakura shook her head and was dizzy. She hadn't eaten much of anything today, and it had been a long first day- almost enough to throw her motivation out the window…
He was interesting ( ' if someone THAT BORING could be INTERESTING!!! ' ) enough for her.
He was at least an animated ( ' as Animated as a LOG could get! ' ) person…
"And not to mention," she said aloud to herself as she walked the empty halls to the front door of the school, a small, hopeful smile on her face, "he will be there tomorrow and I can talk with him some more…" she smiled and passed the hall where she had fallen. She was so tired she barely even notice when she walked out the big entrance doors that it was dark outside and that it had gotten chilly.
She shivered and looked up into the sky to see a big half moon shining on the school, sending the campus into a different kind of light that made it almost ethereal-like. She looked over at the school, over her shoulder and saw that the graffiti had not yet been cleared away. The grotesque faces resembled the things that a child forgets from his nightmares.
( ' I wonder if Shizumi ISN'T up there?' )
She stepped towards the gate but was mildly surprised when it opened for her, without requiring her access code. The school needed a safe security system because of all the "rich" children that went here. She would have been glad for the extra hassle if it hadn't been for the fact that she was dead tired! Her back was aching, her hand bag was swinging against her hip like a steam roller slamming repeatedly into her thigh. Each soft "THUMPH" increased Sakura's awareness of her fatigue.
The path between the cherry trees was dark and shaded, but she didn't notice. She put one foot in front of the other and walked, feeling a little dazed.
"That's awfully late for a student to be kept at school for a detention." She said aloud as she neared the end of the path. She looked at the spaces between the trees and admired the spreading grass area that extended on for what looked like forever. It was there that the assumed "building project" for the next four years would occur: The building of dorms that she and Iruka-sensei were in agreement upon.
The project that she now had to write a report on
She sighed softly.
She wondered to herself if it would be a good idea for her to write up a petition. It would be good for the school to show that some students would enjoy living on campus. Maybe she could get some other students opinions on the matter? It would be beneficial to Iruka's plan if they had some evidence that Osaka's students weren't completely off of the idea. And the school was filled with students whom most parents cared little about their child, other then to show them off.
As she contemplated this she stepped off the curb and crossed the street right outside of her small apartment building. By that time the moon was high in the sky and the night air had begun to cool. She wearily climbed the steps and came to a stop outside her apartment door. She sifted through her bag to find her keys and when she found them she unlocked the door and walked inside, the pink bunny keychain glittering in the moonlight.
Dropping her bag at the door, she slipped off her shoes and walked into the second out of three rooms. She flopped down on the floor and on top of her dark pink futon. She let her drooping eyes become adjusted to the dim light created by the open laptop sitting on a cardboard box. The screen was flashing, a small portion of the fish tank wallpaper was seen, casting a variety of different colors on her face. The message said at the very top, in bold red letters, "You've got mail.
"Uncle Tsuki and Aunt Natsu… I…" Tears of tiredness sprung in her eyes as she yawned.
She turned over on her futon, slipping under the sheets, fully clothed, and gave a small nod to the simple silver framed picture on the floor near her bed. With a small smile she closed her eyes and fell instantly asleep.
"Goodnight, guys…"
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End of Chapter Author Commentary:
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This chapter isn't as funny as the other, but I loved Shikamaru. He is one of the main characters, Sakura's friend, when he has enough energy to be one :P
I hope I can get some more reviews for this cause I don't know about you, but I am DIEING to see exactly how Naruto and Sakura's relationship develops! I can't wait! The sooner I can type it, the sooner I can post it! My friend will be coming over on Friday but I think that I will maybe post next week cause I'm kinda tired from School being back in session.
I promise to revise this soon, but your comments would be so loved. I am feeling pretty good right now, cause I understand Chemistry and Spanish now so my mood should be good for drawing/writing :D
No promises :D
Your Review responses:
Mike Pan-I didn't mean to jump to conclusions either- I was just saddned cause your one of my favorite reviewers, always there every chapter. I was worried that you were disappointed with my writing, so I got a little disheartened :D
The Summarian- Yes, When We Went Rogue has FINALLY been updated, YAY! I was very happy when I finished typing it, happy to have gotten over that hurdle of explaining things a little better about what is up with Kagome, unfortunately, I am about to throw another curve ball at you regarding Naraku… Can you handle the heat Historian-girl?!
Smiter- It's a realistic love affair between two highschool students. Having them suddenly fall in love tends to be distasteful, unless you want to write a grocery store novel :-P I am hoping that there will be more Naruto/Sakura in the manga as well. If Sakura's mind set doesn't switch, even a little, through a three year jump (hope I am not spoiling anything, lol) then I will seriously have to rethink the series and my moticvation for this story, lol! I think Naruto will be spending a lot of time in detention. It's cool though, I think, with Shikamaru being there 24/7 cause he is lazy and just sleeps. A story is like a picture. You have to paint the main part, (Naruto and Sakura) but if you draw them all alone, nothing else there, then it has no meaning, and you can derive nothing from the piece. I am hoping I will have a lovely canvas by the time I am done with this story. (Hopefully you can tell that your review made me the happiest, thanks so much!!!).
AmyR90- Haruno got it! Thanks so much, that must have been embarrassing ( 'furious blush ' ).
Krn-Kimbap- Thanks! Sasuke should be appearing later on, MUCH later on, if anything. I personally hate him, but I favor love triangles too much. I want to write a story where Naruto/Sakura's love for each other is strong enough that Sakura doesn't teater between the two men for love. And yes, if Sasuke appears, there is a VERY big chance of him being a love tryst from her past, which she conveniently forgot :D :D :D
Kiyana-kun- YAY! I'm so glad you read the story! Your opinon means so much to me- truly. What you said about WWWR, that last chapter, made me have tears in my eyes.
Asn-Water- I know, lol -- poor girl.
And a few others I just don't have the time to respond to right now :-/
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So review! You'll make me DIE with joy!
Thanks so much! I love you guys!
God Bless!
I do not own, nor will I ever own the Naruto series. Whatever characters that appear in this text as well as in that series belongs to the creator, not me. I thank him/her for the wonderful series for me to write a romance on :D