Difference between Crush and Love

Chapter Five. Punishment!

The peace and quiet of Gakuen Tohoku was broken by a very loud shout of the one and only Uzumaki Naruto. Who else but the loudmouth? Well, it's all because of this one incident caused and started by Yamanaka Ino. They were all out in the gardens enjoying their break when Ino stomped up to the boys. The boys, on the other hand, had no idea what it was all about until she asked them what was so funny. They found out that it was a misunderstanding which Ino did not take lightly. The result was Shikamaru falling unconscious because of a fairly thick math book. And this takes us to the present.

Sasuke sighed heavily. This isn't the job for him! It's the janitors'. Oh, well, they can't do anything about it now. What with the meeting at the principal's office earlier.

- Flashback -

"WHAT HAPPENED HERE!"

All of them stood upright for before them stood the principal of Gakuen Tohoku, Tsunade-sama. And it wasn't a pleasant meeting at all. They were caught in a quite violent scene, in Shikamaru's case. And, of course, they had no time to cover it up with a story which would be very bad because then it would be lying and to a principal no less. So, it looks really bad. It seems that they would be late and excused for half their Math subject.

"U-Umm. Y-You see…" started Hinata meekly. She turned to her friends for support. She was disappointed for none of them wanted to explain the situation. They just averted to the ground, ashamed. Some friends they were.

Hinata gulped down her nervousness and was about to continue when someone interrupted.

"Excuse me. Who are you by the way?" asked Naruto, clueless. He had never met the new principal after all. He had only gotten to know the former who was Sarutobi, the Third Hokage. Sarutobi had retired recently.

Tsunade raised an eyebrow. He didn't know her? That's a surprise. Everybody already knew her, the Fifth Hokage. This particular student reminded her of somebody, a certain hermit that was once a teammate of hers. But in looks, he resembles the Fourth Hokage, the former assistant principal who died a mysterious death.

Neji whispered to Naruto, "Tact, Naruto. That's the new principal, Tsunade-sama a.k.a. the Fifth Hokage. She's well known for her super strength and medical abilities. You don't want to get her mad."

"Ooh… okay!" replied Naruto. Tsunade gave him a questioning glance but he just sweatdropped.

"Okay, back to business. What were you doing to that student? Nara, was it? Would somebody please speak up now?" demanded Tsunade.

"This Ino here hit Nara with a math book on the head pretty hard if you ask me," said Sasuke coolly.

"Is that what really happened?" Tsunade turned to Ino who was quite shocked by Sasuke's sudden response.

Ino nodded vigorously, still taking in that she was speaking to the principal. And since she's got nothing else to say, she just kept quiet with her eyes averted to the ground.

Tsunade searched their faces for any signs of lying and when she found none, she told everyone who was present to come with her to the office. Everybody visibly paled when she said that but they've got to comply with the principal or else they'd get into deeper trouble. They followed her silently and arrived at the principal's office.

These kids are pretty interesting. Better keep a close eye on them. Who knows what would happen next? Seems like they're the kind who stir up trouble wherever they go, thought Tsunade.

"Take your seats. Now, I want you to explain exactly how it happened. And this time I want only one person who'll do the talking. Mind you, no exaggerations," Tsunade said. She sat back on her chair and looked at them expectantly.

Sakura looked around her classmates and when she saw that no one was willing to speak up, she decided. She will be the one to explain. But, first, she wondered how to tackle the situation without being biased. Ino was her best friend after all and she couldn't just tell that everything was her fault since it was definitely not. She also considered the fact that the boys had their part in it as well.

"Ma'am, if I may. I would like to give you the details of the incident," she began in a businesslike manner, "You see, we were all out for break in the gardens. We girls were studying when we heard laughter coming from the boys' area. Ino had a thought that they were laughing at us since they were looking our way. She got quite angry and approached them. And hit Shikamaru on the head without thinking of the consequences and you know the rest."

"I see. Well, thank you for that, Haruno-san. And since it seems that you were all involved in this, I have no choice but to give you…"

- End Flashback -

Naruto's shout was for a reason. They had to face their punishment for that day. And that means cleaning up the rooms after school.

--

Sasuke sighed for the second time and glanced at his partner. They had to work in pairs since all of them couldn't do the same things at the same time or else the room would be quite crowded and it would be hard to clean up. And, in addition to that, they had to stay for a little while after the school let out to "finish what needs to be".

For once, I have to agree to what Shikamaru's saying all the time. This is troublesome. I could have been at home already doing worthwhile things instead of cleaning up the dirtiest room of all. How come I was landed with this? thought Sasuke irritably, And why is she my partner?

"Oi. Hand me that mop over there, will you?" said Sasuke, "And also that bucket while you're at it."

Sakura turned around slowly and stared at him. She was dumbfounded by what she heard. There she was minding her own business since she didn't want anything to do with him and suddenly he tells her to do something he could easily do himself!

"Um. Excuse me? Were you talking to me?" asked Sakura pointing to herself. She was annoyed by the way he addressed her. As if she was a lowly maid!

"Of course, I was. Do you see anybody else here in the room aside from me but you, stupid girl?"

Veins threatened to pop in Sakura's head. If it wasn't for the fact that she was facing the heartthrob and a rather proud and strong one at that, she would have punched him senseless. But if she did that she would not only have to answer to the principal but also to the fan girls. So she did what any sensible girl would have done. She turned her back on him and went back to work.

"Hey, you stupid. Did you hear me? I said get the mop and the bucket!" snapped Sasuke having run out of patience.

"Oh, I heard you all right. It's just that you seem to be quite able to do it yourself," said Sakura sarcastically.

Upon hearing this, Sasuke turned red in anger. He stormed across the room to get the things he wanted, all the while muttering things like "stupid" and "idiot".

Sakura was successful in making him angry. Maybe that way he would leave her alone and maybe then she could go home earlier. As she was gushing over her triumph, however, she heard a splash and a groan from a corner.

Sasuke had slipped and fallen. It turned out that there was water around the area of the mop and bucket and he didn't see it in his anger. Now the red on his cheeks seemed to be of anger and embarrassment. He wished that he was far away. He could have sworn he heard a giggle coming from the girl. That made him want to shrink and hide in a dark corner. But that would be a coward's choice. He was proud.

"So you think this is funny, don't you?" asked Sasuke with an evil smirk on his face. He was still sitting on the floor. His eyes were hidden and when he looked up at Sakura, they were filled with dislike.

"Oh my goodness…" Sakura trailed off. His eyes scared her at that moment. She knew he was up to something but she didn't know what it was until he stood up and picked up the bucket of dirty water. Then she had an inkling.

"You got that right," Sasuke said as he was walking slowly towards her. Sakura was about to run but he was way faster than she was and a few seconds later she found herself drenched from head to toe.

"You…! You…" Sakura couldn't find words to describe him. She was extremely annoyed at him. And this came to be a surprise because she was always somehow able to keep her cool.

"Me, what? Cat got your tongue?" Sasuke taunted.

Okay, Sakura. Breathe. 1…2…3…4…5…6…7…8…9…10… That's it. Calm down, thought Sakura.

"You know what? I won't bother myself with you anymore. I want to go home early so you better cooperate if you also want to get home early," said Sakura civilly. She took off her glasses and cleaned them. The water had made her vision blurred.

Sasuke was stunned by this kind of reaction. He had expected her to lash out and say things like how he ruined her uniform and hair and makeup. But he didn't get any of that. He had gotten a neutral reaction. Which was a first. And this unsettled him.

--

They soon had their work done. Sasuke headed home immediately without another word to Sakura. Sakura, in the meantime, waited for her friends at the lobby. They all came together with the boys some time after.

"Let's all head home now. It's getting late," said Tenten. She yawned loudly and stretched her arms.

"Great idea. I'm wasted enough as it is," said Hinata putting on her skates.

"But what about the sleepover? It's the weekends starting tomorrow," whined Ino.

"Oh! We totally forgot about it. We'll just go and get our things then head to your house, Ino," said Sakura.

The boys were preparing to leave while all this talk was going on and bid them farewell. Rock Lee hung around for a few moments to say, "Until the next time we meet, my dear Sakura-san!"

"That was so gross! You have got to make him stop that, Sakura! You don't want to be leading him on, do you?" advised Ino.

"I feel sorry for the guy but you're right. I don't think he'd be giving up that easily though," said Sakura.

--

They rode home and met up at Ino's. Ino had already prepared everything for the sleepover. She had experienced a lot of sleepovers with Sakura always coming over to her house since they were very young. Those were the times when Sakura's parents were called away on business and had no one to stay at home with her.

Sakura's father was a well known lawyer. Her mother, on the other hand, was a doctor. It wasn't unusual for one of them or both of them were away since they almost always do it.

"Come in, you guys. We're going to have a blast!" Ino ushered them in.

They greeted Ino's parents and climbed upstairs to her bedroom. It was definitely feminine in theme. The wallpapers were a light shade of purple and the carpet was the color of cream. Ino had a dressing table with so much girly stuff. Her wardrobe was also the same. She's got everything in the latest fashion. You could find lots of shoes, bags, clothes, and other stuff in her walk-in closet. You could tell she won't be far from being known as the trendsetter in their school.

"Ino, your room is so cool! You could find everything in here!" exclaimed Tenten.

"Yeah, whatever. Anyways, what's your glitch, Hinata? Sakura's been telling me some things earlier about your….beloved! Yes, that's the word," winked Ino.

Hinata laughed nervously. She glanced at Sakura sideways and threw her a meaningful look.

Sakura was totally cool. She just shrugged and nodded to Ino. She meant that Hinata was on her own in Ino's interrogation. Sakura chatted with Tenten while the two were busy. She trusted Ino to figure something out for Hinata. After all, she was the expert in those kinds of things.

"You see. It's Naruto. I have the biggest crush on him since forever. Well, not exactly forever but you get the drift," babbled Hinata as she was twiddling her fingers.

Ino caught her hands to make her stop it. Hinata was surprised and stopped babbling at once. She thought that Ino would help her a lot in that case. Sakura couldn't give her that since she didn't have a crush on anybody. Tenten was different. She wasn't at all that emotional if you put it that way.

"Okay, Ino. I'll listen to what you have to say. Shoot," Hinata decided.

"Good! Now, let's start by telling me everything. And not a detail short," said Ino as they sat on the floor.

"Problem is: I don't know what to say, how to act around him. You know that I'm always so shy around people and even more so when it comes to Naruto. I can't help blushing every time he's nearby. And when he talks to me, I couldn't find any words to say. I have mental block each time. Even the mere mention of his name makes me blush! So what do I do about it?" confided Hinata.

By now, Sakura and Tenten flopped down on the floor beside them and were listening intently to what Hinata was saying. They were all best friends and that's what best friends do. They want to help in any way that they can. Even if they weren't as experienced in dealing with the things that Ino specializes in.

"I only have one suggestion for you, my dear," said Ino.

"What is it? I really would like to know how to overcome this state. Tell me!" said Hinata.

Ino paused for a bit to achieve a dramatic effect.

"Just tell him."