DISCLAIMER: ? What? Is someone telling me I own Naruto? Why, thank you! I didn't know I've such a creative brain! I'm so honored! ((gets smacked out of existence)) HHHHHHHEEEEYYYYY! ((hides)) OK! OK! I DON'T OWN IT! SO?
A/N: 'Eyyyy! Wow, I'm so happy a number of beautiful and handsome people liked this fic of mine. I sure hoped this chapter's longer than the prologue. Hey, I know the background of this story is common, so I'll try to think of a little twist In truth, I don't really have much idea right now, so you can give me ideas and opinions. To all reviewers, I LOVE YOU!
THANX TO:
Xoni Newcomer – Thank you so very much for the tips! I'll try to apply them for my ficwriting. Although I'm not sure if I can meet your expectations… but I'll still try. You've got a point on concentrating on the foursome, since they're my favorite. Well yeah you're right about the 'I suck' thingy… and to think I don't accept flames… except from myself… hehe… so anyway, THANK YOU!
Bevy-chan – I tell you, you gave me an idea for a part of this fic! You know, about the DJ-thingy. That's what you call a turntabulist, right? I've also considered them too. Some bands like Linkin Park and Incubus have DJs. Er… just give me a time to think about it. I've also considered Naruto for Sakura's love polygon (I'm not sure if it really is a polygon…). But I'm not sure if he'll be a part of it…
Angelbornnhell – Yeah this band stuff is definitely a cliché. The story will go far if my reviews reach a mile… hehe… just hope I'll always be inspired! I've got a lot of songs for the band, but if I have a hard time choosing I'll ask you to help me… thanx for the aid! I'll try to read your fic too… I'll find time…
ang3Lix – I'm so glad I'm able to make a fic without much errors… I'll read more books to improve my story writing… hey, I'm still 13, so don't expect much from me. But I'll try! Update your latest story asap, ok?
Eien no kaze – Gah! I see a NejiSaku fan! I also support that shipping, although I'm not sure if they'll hook up in the end. Depends on what majority of my reviewers like… anyway, IF they don't end up together, don't kill me! Thanks for reviewing!blitzace312 – Yay! A SasuSaku fan! I support them very much, but I also support other guys for Sakura… oh no… I'm confused! Hehe : )
GaaraRules – Oh no… don't tell me you support GaaSaku! ((faints)) Nah, I'm also a fan of that pairing… well, thanx for reviewing anyway!
ang3l-blue - you changed your pen name? hmm... anyway, thanx for reviewing! It's nice to know there's always a pinay out there who support the same shippings I love! Update your fics soon!
piNkLaLa-o2 - Yeah, I got the summary mixed up! Hey! A confused soul here trying to find the road of life! ((points to herself)) ME! Wahehe! I'm glad you liked this fic!
Chapter 1
Nothing Special
Friday morning.
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
"…"
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
"Ugh…"
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
"Shut up…"
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
"… Still sleepy…"
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
"SHUT-"
Sakura heard her mother's voice from downstairs, "Sakura dear! Time to get up! You don't want to get a tardy this year, do you? Come on, breakfast's ready!"
Sakura opened her eyes and glanced at her pink bunny alarm clock. 6:30 AM.
Mou… it's too early… why the hell did I make it 6:30! She thought to herself before slowly getting up from bed. Inner Sakura was shouting in her head: WAKE UP, SAKURA! RISE AND SHINE! …Oh yeah, I spent the rest of the night studying for the mastery test… or summative test rather… damn alarm clock, you're too loud. One of these days I'll dismantle your machine parts and scalpel them out…
She stretched her arms and yawned, walked to her door then down to the staircase for breakfast.
"SAKURA-CHAN!" Naruto's voice was distinctly heard from the noisy crowd in the corridors. Sakura spotted Naruto, who was beckoning her to go to him, then approached him. She then asked, "Ne, Naruto, did you study for the test in Chemistry today?"
"Hehe… just a little… yeah. I fell asleep in the middle of studying last night!" he replied grinning. Typical of Naruto not to take academics seriously. Sakura wished she could just be like him. But she can't; her parents expect much from her. They told her things like she can't get a decent job without decent grades and whatsoever. She let out a tired sigh.
She and Naruto are classmates now in their 3rd year. They have been close friends long enough for the two to remember, shared their childhood lives and know each other very well. Their closeness was suspected by many as more than friendship, but really, they're just the best of friends.
On the way to their classroom, they came across their other classmate, Hyuuga Hinata, Neji's cousin. Hinata had short dark hair and strange white eyes. She's an extremely shy girl. She too is pretty smart, but lacks confidence. Almost all her friends know she's got a really HUGE crush on Uzumaki Naruto, well, except Naruto himself. He's still oblivious.
"Hinata-chan!" bellowed Naruto and Sakura in unison.
Hinata spotted them, glanced at Naruto and instantly blushed.
"G-Good M-Morning, Sakura-chan… N-Naruto-k-kun…"
"Come on now Hinata-chan! Get out of that shell of yours! Come on, let's go to the room together!" said Sakura happily as she placed both her arms around Hinata and Naruto's necks.
The threesome then walked together.
Sir Hatake Kakashi, in his usual school professor's attire, which is never without a weird-looking navy blue mask that coves a part of his face, cleared his throat and said, "OK… you have one hour to answer the test. I've set enough time, so I expect fewer blanks on your answer sheets. One hour… starts now."
He plopped down his seat behind the teacher's desk and pulled out his precious book: Icha Icha Paradise. Lookie here, it's already the8thtome!
Sakura stared at her test questionnaire, then averted her gaze to her answer sheet. Hmm… not too difficult... She thought to herself. 50 items… yosh! I can possibly do this in 20 minutes. She then began, her pen darting from top to bottom at top speed. Their teacher did give them enough time, which includes reviewing and going back to a few items.
Sure enough, Sakura finished 40 minutes before time, so she took her time to review her answers. She glanced at Naruto's back (A/N: Er… how do I put this… Sakura sits somewhere at the 5th row near a window, while Naruto's in the 3rd row) and noticed he kept scratching the back of his head. Well, that seems to be Naruto's mannerism when he thinks deeply. Sakura smiled at Naruto's childish act.
35 minutes…
29 minutes…
Yaaaaaawn…22 minutes…
18 minutes…
Yaaaaaawn…Now 15 minutes before the hour is up, Sakura was watching the blue sky, bored. Several other students of the class were done, and were in their own worlds too. All of them wore bored expressions. Naruto's head was moving up and down; clearly, he's sleepy. Hinata had her head in on her hand and was looking at nothing in particular. The pink-haired pupil was in her little world, too. As Inner Sakura.
Hmm… I wonder what we can do this weekend… The manager of Konoha Supermall asked us if we could perform in the Food Square. Oh well, I'll discuss it with Naruto, Neji-san and Gaara-san later… She stiffled a yawn. Neji and Gaara were classmates in another section of their year. The Untalkative Ones. Well, strange enough, a raven-haired guy with dark eyes entered her trail of thoughts. She frowned and shrugged it off her mind. Humph… untalkative… yeah right…
"OK! Time is UP!"
Sakura, as well as the others, snapped back to reality abruptly. The others were grunting.
Kakashi looked around, "Hmm… I do hope all of you finished every item. Test papers forward now…" Heh, even their Chemistry teacher seemed to have an I-am-extremely-bored expression written across his face.
Sakura then heard someone calling her in a whisper. She looked around to see Naruto throw a small piece of paper in her direction. She quickly caught it, then opened the paper to read Naruto's message.
Sakura-chan, meeting later at dismissal. Don't forget! p NaRuToShe gazed at him. He was looking at her and grinning. She returned the grin and mouthed, "OK."
"GAARAAAAA! NEJIIIIIIIII!"
SMACK!
"NARUTO! Pipe down a bit, OK?"
"Ouchie… Hai, Sakura-chan… my poor cranium…"
"Hehe… If you don't learn how to control your volume, I'll make sure your cranium isn't the only thing of yours that's poor!"
"Waaahhhh… Sakura-chan's threatening me… taskete…"
Neji turned around to see Naruto, who was tending a fresh lump on his head, and Sakura, who was giving him a sermon. They're walking towards him and Gaara, who were sitting under a VERY tall, at the same time VERY old, cherry blossom tree – their usual meeting place.
"Ne, Gaara! Neji! Sakura-chan's threatening meeeee! AGAIN!"
"NARUTO!"
"SAKURA-CHAN!"
"NARUTO!"
"SAKURA-CHAN!"
"NARUTO!"
"SAKURA-CHAN!"
"NARUTO!"
"SAKURA-CHAN!"
"NARUTO!"
"SAKU – what?"
"Naruto! There's a bug on your head! It's really big! BIG AND BLACK!"
"WHAT!"
Naruto hastily ruffled his hair in hopes of exterminating The Bug On His Head off his blonde hair. There WAS a bug, and it landed on the ground.
"Whoa, it IS big! Sakura-chan, I've never seen a bug so BIG In my entire juvenile life!"
"Naruto, calm down now. It's just a bug. Don't kill it, or else a certain Aburame would kill you."
Well yeah, the infamous Aburames were known to take much interest in entomology. The members of the past generation of the clan were mostly entomologists. They're just devoted, that's all. But don't worry, a human being and a bug were never married. Their unusual, not to mention infertile, offspring would be the unluckiest hybrid to walk on earth if that ever happened.
Neji sighed.
Gaara blinked.
Sakura sat down under the tree, as well as Naruto, then cleared her throat, "Anyway, enough of the bug stuff… so… what're the plans for tomorrow?"
Neji spoke, "We accepted the invitation from the mall's General Manager to perform as a band. We're getting paid, so there's no reason for us to reject the offer."
Sakura's face was somewhat contorted, as if concentrating or thinking on something, then said, "When's our schedule? I can't go in the morning, my mother's giving me a hella lot of errands."
"I can't go in the afternoon, since I'll have my special lessons in Brazilian Jiu Jutsu," said Naruto.
Gaara spoke up, "Nighttime, then."
"Yeah… besides, it's cool during the night. Oh! I remember! Tomorrow night's a full moon!" Sakura squealed excitedly.
Naruto's azure eyes were sparkling, "REALLY? So that means… we'll perform under a full moon? Or… when we're not performing, the four of us can watch the moon together!"
Sakura smiled. That's gonna be memorable…
"I think it's best that we perform around 7 PM, then we have the rest of the night to view the full moon," Neji suggested.
"YEAH! GOOD POINT, NEJI! YAY, SAKURA-CHAN! I'LL BRING A VIDEO CAM! THIS IS GONNA BE REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY COOL!" bellowed Naruto. He stood up and did a weird dance he invented and called 'The Fox Dance', but got to his bottom immediately when Sakura hit the top of his head.
"Ow, Sakura-chan! I'm really poor now! My poor head!"
"You know better than to do that Fox Dance of yours while yelling at the top of your voice! Bleah!" She stuck out her tongue playfully at him. Naruto pouted.
Neji watched the two with amusement, and he swore Gaara smirked for a split second.
Sakura suddenly stopped and froze. Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Sakura-chan?"
Silence.
Then she blinked and snapped her fingers. "OH YEAH! I REMEMBER! I think it's better if we meet at 4 PM so we can practice some songs! Just to make sure we avoid stage dilemmas!"
Naruto blinked. "OK, but where'll we rehearse?"
Sakura sighed, "NOT at our house. My other relatives are in town and are staying over at our place."
Naruto's shoulders dropped, "Not at ours either. My brother doesn't accept visitors on a Saturday. I dunno why."
Neji sighed then spoke up.
"At our place, then."
"Yeah! The Hyuuga Manor! That's good!" exclaimed Naruto.
Sakura asked, "All members of the past three generations of your clan live there, right?"
Neji nodded. "Don't worry, they won't mind."
Sakura grinned, "YOSH! It's settled then!"
It was Gaara's turn to ask Neji, "How about the instruments?"
"We can use those at the Main Household."
Naruto, unbelievably, was thinking. THINKING! Amazing! History in the making!
"Main Household? So, we'll ask Hinata-chan to let us borrow them?"
Neji nodded.
Sakura narrowed her eyes at Naruto, "Is it just me, or did I see Naruto make some sense from thinking!"
Naruto pouted again, "I DO have a brain, Sakura-chan; it's only in danger of falling off from your constant whacking of my head!"
"WOW! YOU CAN BE WITTY AT TIMES NARUTO! WOOHOO! MY BEST FRIEND DID A GOOD JOB!"
"SAKURA-CHAN! YOU'RE NOT MAKING ANY SENSE NOW!"
"YOU MAKE ME PROUD NARUTO!"
All the while, Inner Sakura was saying, Naruto did think of Hinata… Maybe she's got a chance… hehe…
They spent the rest of the afternoon talking about random things under the sakura tree.
A/N: Well that's it for Chapter 1. I'm sorry if there hadn't been hints of romance. I'm not in a hurry… Thankfully, no one's tailing me to get me killed. I'm safe… Oh, and about some points for this chappy… hmm… Er – Sakura and Naruto are best friends in the story line. They're so close, even Hinata sometimes gets jealous of Sakura. Although Sakura's still planning to set Naruto and Hinata up… I think. I'm sorry for all you NaruSaku fans out there! Don't get me murdered! I've died a lot of times and resurrected already, so no point in doing that… All the stuff I typed are what came to my head, so I'm not sure about a few details…
Speaking of details, I didn't mention anything about how their school uniform looked like! Man, my mind's mixed up! Anyway…
I'd like to ask if the spelling of Jiu Jutsu is correct. Is it Jui, or Jiu? -X.x- ((ChanGe tHe ToPiC)) About Naruto's character, I'm not trying to portray he's dumb, it's just the way Sakura treats Naruto as his best friend. But really, Naruto thinks once in a while. He's just used to yelling and shouting. Empty cans are noisy, they say, but Naruto's brain isn't necessarily empty. OK? ((ChanGe tHe ToPiC)) About the band's meeting place, I know it's a cliché too. I thought of other places, but the sakura tree is the only thing that fits the role, as it means something to our lead, Sakura. ((ChanGe tHe ToPiC)) About the Chemistry test wherein 'she then began, her pen darting from top to bottom at top speed', they're on a Japanese setting, and I think they write their characters from top to bottom, right to left. I'm not really sure, so please do tell me if it's inaccurate.
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Dr. Meowzie
