Disclaimer- I don't own Naruto so don't sue me.
Author's Note: Did you notice I accidentally used the same author's note from the first chapter to the second chapter? Anyway, I need to clear up a few things here. In this fic:
1.Itachi didn't kill the Uchiha clan, it was Orochimaru.
2.Itachi and Sasuke are the only remaining Uchihas, and Sasuke doesn't know that Orochimaru was the murderer; therefore, he wants power to find the "real" killer.
3.Sakura is 13, and the rest are either 14 or 15.
4.Sakura has no parents. Naiteki andher live in an apartment by themselves.
"La" talking
'La' thinking
'La' inner Sakura
Chapter Three
Five ninjas sat in a lopsided line on the sun beaten concrete of Konoha Academy's front steps, each a distinct contrast to the last. The first was a jounin, a high ranking ninja, who sported tousled, silver hair and a face covered by a mask, leaving only one lazy eye visible. A student sat next to him, her face also concealed by a mask except this one was composed of shadow. Her name was Sakura Haruno. Not much was to be said about her really, since she kept the majority of her life a secret from everyone and everything.
The next boy had a smile glued on his pale face, eyes crinkled in false humor. They called this boy Sai; no last name escorted the first. His sense of clothing was a tad bit questionable since he wore an uneven-sleeved midriff top that flaunted his abdomen like it was for sale. That worried Kakashi a little… but the youth was a talented artist. Those crafty hands were constantly holding a pencil, moving the tool back and forth on the surface of a sketchpad. Kakashi was, however, a bit concerned that the boy used to reside in Sound; therefore leading the jounin to question his loyalty to Konoha.
Sitting some distance from the smiling boy was another male, a fine, handsome lad whose mind seemed to be off in some distant world. Whatever he was thinking about it must have been pretty intense in how his face appeared to be frozen in mid-scowl, occasionally flaring up in anger. Like Sakura, this boy, Sasuke, concealed his emotions and intentions well, rejecting everyone and everything.
The final nin was a hyper, blonde haired, blue eyed youth who wore a loud, orange jumpsuit. 'Well that's not going to do him any good when he's trying to camouflage himself.' Kakashi had already experienced first hand the destructively loud voice he could produce. 'Eh, neither is that.'
'Aw man, we haven't seen this guy in ages! I mean what are the chances? Maybe this won't be so bad after all.'
Sakura had her face upturned towards him, a smile adorning her features, err, what little there were. Kakashi's left eye curved upward, indicating that he was smiling too. He gingerly patted her on the head, eliciting a small giggle from her.
'What does this guy have that we don't?' The three boys thought in unison. Sasuke was a little bothered that he wasn't getting female attention- it was sort of a habit for him now. Naruto couldn't explain why but he was just jealous. Sai wanted to know so that he could one day use it to his advantage.
"So," the jounin slurred, "Why don't we start by introducing ourselves? Begin by saying your name, hobbies, and what you like and dislike. I'll go first. My name is Hatake, Kakashi. I have no desire to tell you about my likes or dislikes. My dreams? Well, I have many hobbies."
Sakura sweat dropped. 'Wow Kakashi, that was definitely informative.'
"Pfft, that's it?" Naruto boasted.
"Okay then," Kakashi answered, "you can go next, blondie."
Naruto puffed up his chest, raised one foot triumphantly, and beat his chest with a fist. "My name," he proclaimed as if it were some royal decree, "Is Naruto Uzumaki! I like cup ramen and I hope to one day try every type of ramen in the world! I dislike waiting 3 minutes for ramen to cook, and I also dislike… um…"
Naruto paused and looked around. Aha!
"Oh yeah, I also dislike those two!" He pointed to Sai and Sasuke, both of whom were sweat dropping. "My hobbies? Um… pranks? Oh, Oh! And-"
"Okay blondie, you're done. Next!" Kakashi made note to himself to frequently shut Naruto up.
"And my dreams are to become Hokage one day." Naruto finished quickly. Sakura smiled at his words though nobody was really paying attention. She knew darn well how maltreated and condescended the youth was, yet through it all he rose up again, like a phoenix and its ashes. You had to give the boy some credit- standing up after what he's been through was simply amazing.
"Alright, you're up blue boy."
Sasuke scowled. "My name is Uchiha, Sasuke. I like nothing and have many dislikes. I have no hobbies. My dreams are to kill a certain man." The point was emphasized when the Uchiha's face darkened and his hands clenched, slightly drawing blood from his palms. Sakura's eyes narrowed.
'Interesting, an Uchiha… This shall be entertaining.' Kakashi rubbed his chin. "Hm, I guess it's your turn, blackie."
Sai did not appreciate the odd nicknames their new sensei had dubbed them. "My name is Sai. There is no need for you to concern yourself with my likes or dislikes. My hobbies are drawing, but unless you wish for a swift death then I advise you not to look in my sketchbook. Dreams? Yes, I have some at night."
"Probably about men," Naruto muttered under his breath. Kakashi heard and raised an eyebrow. Sakura hit him in the back of the head, "Naruto."
'What the heck? All we're really getting out of these guys are just their names! What a talkative crowd." Naiteki had hoped that Sakura's teammates would be loquacious and allow her to socialize more, but, much to her disappointment, she got stuck with a bunch of ego nerds. Bleh.
'These guys are all copying me! I need to patent that sentence.' Kakashi looked at his final student and the only female one. "Okay, Sakura, it's your turn." The boys leaned forward, eager to hear what she said about herself.
"My name is Sakura Haruno," she started, "My hobbies training and hanging out with my friend, Hinata. Likes and dislikes? Well, you can find those out on your own." She smiled and the boys groaned. That didn't sound too promising. "And my dreams…" Her voice faded. The remaining four listened diligently, anxiously wanting to hear what she had to say.
"My dreams… are to find something, and let go of another…" She said no more. She pulled her knees close to her chest and lowered her head. Intrigue possessed the boys as they desired to know more, unsatisfied with the little information she had given.
"Sakura-chan," Naruto spoke first, "What do you mean by-"
"Alright, kids!" Kakashi cut in, "We're all done here! Now meet me at training area number five at six. Oh, and don't eat any breakfast or else you'll throw up." Several of the kids looked queasy. "Ja! Oh, and Sakura, I'll catch ya later."
Kakashi waved and evanesced (A/N: cool word, huh?) into the cool, dusk breeze, leaving nothing but vacant space in his wake. Naruto yawned and stretched, Sai put his sketchbook away, Sasuke dusted off his clothes, and Sakura traced little circles in the ground. She placed a slender hand on the small of her back and stretched, working out any kinks and cramps that had formed.
"Later, losers," Sai said flatly. He turned on his heel and left the trio to their separate businesses.
"Psh, good riddance," Naruto muttered.
"Dobe," Sasuke rose from his spot and headed in the opposite direction towards the Uchiha district. "I'm going home."
Sakura followed suit and gathered up her things. Her apartment was relatively near the Uchiha district, so she followed him.
"Sakura-chan!" a vociferous voice sounded within her ears. Naruto. "Sakura-chan, wait up! You too, teme! Hey, um, would you mind if I walked with you guys for a little bit?"
"Yes," said Sasuke.
"No." said Sakura.
The two glanced at each other briefly before Sakura turned away in disgust. "He might not want you to walk with him, but I wouldn't mind your company."
Naruto's eyes glimmered in thankfulness and welled up with tears of joy. "Oh, Sakura-chan! Thank you soo much, nobody's ever let me walk with them before!" Sakura's eyes softened at the boy and slowed down so he could catch up with her. Sasuke scoffed and sped up his pace, trying to put as much distance between them as possible. Onyx eyes locked onto a person up ahead. He was holding a sketchpad casually in one hand.
"Sai."
The said male turned around slightly, revealing a profile half shadowed by the setting sun. Charcoal eyes regarded him, "Uchiha. What do you want?"
"I need to have a word with you about that deal we made earlier."
Sai's eyes narrowed and stopped in his tracks, allowing the Uchiha boy to join him. "Shoot."
Sasuke wasted no time. He wanted this talk to be over and done with within the scrawny time frame of two minutes, and being a man of little words, he was sure that would happen. "I want out. Take back your offer, I'm not interested anymore. I can get power elsewhere."
The artist plastered on another one of his genuinely fake smiles, eyes curved upward. "We had an agreement, Sasuke-kun." He twitched at the vile nickname.
"I don't care about your power or what I can gain. The deal's off."
"Fine, I guess you're too ball-less to even attempt to handle our strength. I don't see how I ever got sorted into a team as pathetic as this."
"What was that?" Onyx eyes flashed dangerously as a hand touched a kunai threateningly.
"You heard me." Sai did the same.
"Fine, you asked for it." A male with chicken-like hair lunged forward, kunai in hand.
Not too far behind the two dark boys, Naruto and Sakura were walking in the same direction, the cerulean eyed teen trailing after his younger friend like a lost duckling. He was currently pestering her with such a passion that she couldn't help but give some credit to the boy's effort. It was difficult to maintain a consistent argument since Sakura had reinstated her stress-relieving routine of inhaling and exhaling.
"Please, Saku-chan?"
"No."
"Please?"
"No."
"But I want you to come! Just have a little ramen."
"I said no."
"Pretty please? With sugar on top?" Naruto offered, "Ichiraku will be fun! And the food there is wonderful!"
'Psh, that's what you think, ramen-boy. All you ever eat is ramen, ramen, ramen. It isn't the whole universe, ya know. Go try some Umeboshi!" (A/N: that is actually one of Sakura's fave foods.)
Sakura rubbed her brow, inhaling and exhaling. She wasn't exactly a social person, and rarely ever ate in public restaurants or facilities. Sure she snuck a few guilty pleasures from vendors now and then, but she was always alone when that happened. Whenever she did decide to eat with another person it was usually with Hinata, and she didn't want people to suspect she and Naruto were dating. A rumor might spread and if Hinata caught word of it then their friendship would come crashing down.
"Please?"
Good Lord. Did the pest ever give up?
'Apparently not.' Naiteki stuck earplugs in her ears.
"Sakura-chan," Naruto pressed, "I'm asking you as a friend. Pweaase?" He smeared an adorable, large-eyed, cuddly puppy face on and looked deep into her crystalline orbs.
She sighed heavily, her chest heaving form the force of the exhalation. The orange jumpsuit-clad boy would probably keep this up for another good, ten minutes, and she already had a migraine as it was. Unable to handle anymore of the Uzumaki's annoyance, she reluctantly agreed.
"Fine." The sound was barely above a squeak. Unfortunately, the kitsune heard.
"YAY!" he cheered, throwing his arms up in happiness. Sakura-chan made him feel all warm and fuzzy inside, and he liked being around her. She was the only one who didn't shun him or be incredibly mean to him. "Hey, I know! Let's go see if teme numbers one and two wanna come!"
"Naruto, I don't think-" Sakura's sentence was unheard as she trailed off, silently observing the scene in front of her. Naruto took note of it also.
Sai and Sasuke had kunais at each other's necks, trying drastically to beat the other into a bloody pulp. Sasuke executed a perfect roundhouse kick and shot a kunai as he was turning, while Sai leaped into the air and released a rain of shuriken towards Sasuke. The Uchiha performed numerous hand seals and released his signature "Fireball Jutsu". The charcoal eyed boy countered the attack by hastily painting a tiger to defend him.
Sakura couldn't believe it. They were teammates! They shouldn't be trying to kill each other! And as far as she was concerned, this was no friendly test of strength. "Naruto, come here, I need your help!"
The blonde tore his gaze from the two battling boys and ran over to his female teammate. "Whoa, I've never seen anything so intense! What do you think we should do?"
She grabbed a handful of his spiky, golden hair and pulled him down to whisper her plan. The boys weren't fighting too seriously, and from her vantage point Sakura could tell that they were retaining most of their strength. All they needed was a simple diversion and then they'd swoop in and separate them before any got too hurt or worn out. Last thing she needed was for her teammates to pass out here on the street.
'Ech. I knew this was going to happen. Those boys just had it coming.'
Naruto nodded and took a few steps backwards, performing a few hand seals himself. He was going to bring forth his infamous Shadow Clone Jutsu. About 4 more Narutos appeared, making a total of five. Sakura, along with the new Narutos, disappeared into the shadows of the street while the remaining sucked in a deep breath, warming up his vocal chords.
A huge holler was unleashed from the boy's loudspeaker-like throat. "OH MY GOD, SAKURA-CHAN IS IN TROUBLE! AND I'M GOING TO DIE!"
Instantly, two obsidian heads snapped in his direction, their sparring ceased temporarily.
"Now!" Four identical blondes came swooping downward, latching on to each of Sai's limbs. Sakura appeared behind Sasuke and restrained him, locking her arms around his.
"What the-?" the two boys gasped in unison.
Naruto number five poofed away and Sakura struggled with Sasuke. "You guys need to stop fighting! You can beat the crap out of each other later but tonight we need to rest and get ready for Kakashi-sensei's test. Now be good little boys or else we'll drag you home personally!"
'You tell em, girl! Cha!' Naiteki thrust a fist in the air triumphantly. 'Score one for the girl, zero for the boys!'
"Come on," Sakura yanked Sasuke and Sai by the collar, remarkably frustrated that she had to miss dinner for this botheration. Honestly, these boys needed to control their tempers! All the way back to their houses Sakura let Naiteki take over and lecture the boys.
Sasuke and Sai couldn't help but smirk partially at the young woman before them. A tiny bit of Sai's fake smile was real. She was probably the only girl in all of Konoha who hadn't yet fawned at the sight of the heartthrobs, not to mention her mysteriousness was bewitching. Even though they had only been with her for a few hours, they had already taken a liking to her. It wasn't every day that a girl had the nerve to stand up to them and drag them home like this. It was just like having a mother all over again.
"Oi! Sakura-chan! Does this mean we don't get ramen anymore?"
Bonk.
"Ow!"
"Dobe."
Bleh. This one kinda sucked but it was the best i could do. I feel a little writers block coming on... oh no! maybe the next few chapters will be better, ne?
By the way, I noticed some steretyping in the anime. Naruto is blonde, right? And he's dumb, right? Connect the two. Haha ok carry on.