♥ Thank you for the reviews, ♥ I know, I just created the story yesterday but I really wanted to start the interesting part of the story soon. Anyways I hope you like this chapter, I worked for like three hours straight figuring out what will happen in this chapter and typing it all out. ♥ Thank you again for the reviews! ♥ I was going to type all your names down but this thing isn't letting me see the reviews so I will do it for the next chapter, anyways, enjoy! ♥♥♥
Chapter 1: Getting Closer"Um, where do I sit?" asked Sakura when she walked up to the teacher's desk.
"Hmm, try the seat next to the girl with the blonde hair." Said the teacher pointing to a young girl who was talking with a lot of her friends and laughing. She seemed nice to Sakura.
Sakura started for the desk and took a seat. All the girls that were talking to the blonde stopped and stared at her then the bell rang signaling the start of class. The girls got up off their chairs and headed for their own seats.
"Hi, My name is Yamanaka Ino, our teacher said that we would be getting a new student today," said the girl with blonde hair. Her smile was warm and her blue eyes were sparkling as she held out a hand for Sakura to shake.
"Hey, I'm Haruno Sakura," said Sakura taking the girls hand.
"Great, hey, you have a pretty big forehead don't you?" said Ino staring at her head. Sakura blushed of embarrassment, well, she was pretty blunt.
"Umm, yeah, from my dad's side," said Sakura looking away. She put her elbow on the desk and leaned her forehead into her hand.
"Hey, what're you doing?" asked Ino in a polite voice, "people would make fun of you, they would only do it though because your hiding who you really are. You should show it to everyone."
Ino was right. Back at Sakura's old school they always made fun of her because of her head so she tried to hide her forehead but then they made even more fun of it.
"Here, I'll give you this, so you can show people what you have, and if they tease you don't mind it, just ignore them," said Ino pulling out a ribbon from the pocket of her jacket.
It was just a plain red ribbon, Ino held it to Sakura's head and tied it around her hair pulling her hair back.
"There you go," said Ino grinning, she pulled out a mirror for Sakura to see herself.
"Sakura stared at her reflection and saw the ribbon tied around her head like a headband. Her hair was pulled back showing her large forehead which made her very self-conscious.
"Hey, be more confident. The more you feel confident the better you look." Said Ino giving Sakura a reassuring smile.
"Thank you," said Sakura gazing at Ino and smiling.
"Ms. Haruno, why don't you introduce yourself to the class." Said the teacher breaking into Sakura and Ino's "moment."
"Um, hi, my name is Haruno Sakura and I'm originally from here but came from America just a couple days ago." Said Sakura.
"Yes, well, welcome Ms. Haruno, you may take your seat." Said the teacher. Sakura sat down and Ino gave her a thumb up and a grin. Sakura smiled back at her.
"So who do you have the rest of the day?" asked Ino in a whisper as the teacher was still speaking.
"Let's see." Said Sakura pulling out her schedule. "It's second period now."
"Hmm, looks like we have four classes together. This one, third, fifth, and sixth." Said Ino. Then suddenly her eyes lit up, "Oh my gosh, you have five classes with Sasuke-kun!"
"What?" asked Sakura surprised by Ino's outburst and sudden change of attitude. "How do you know, did you memorize his schedule or something?" asked Sakura glancing at Ino. She grinned and gave a small nod while Sakura just raised her eyebrows.
"You must have met him already since he's in your first period class," said Ino. Sakura just nodded her head slowly. "So you have first, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth periods with him. Lucky, I only have third fifth and sixth with him." Said Ino.
"What do people see in him, he looks so, insensitive." Said Sakura. Ino raised her eyebrows then shook her head.
"He's only the hottest guy who ever lived!" said Ino with a far away look in her eyes.
"I see." Said Sakura looking at Ino.
"Girls, quit talking back there!" yelled the teacher up front. The two just nodded their head and started their work in silence.
xXxXxXx
As Sakura was coming out of her fourth period class she spotted Tenten walking up to her.
"Sakura! Come on, I'll take you to lunch and introduce you to everybody!" said Tenten waving at Sakura. She smiled and headed toward Tenten.
"Hey Tenten," said Sakura as she reached the dark haired girl.
"Come on, I can't wait for you to meet the group!" said Tenten hooking her arm with Sakura's. "Some of them were probably in some of your classes so far."
They walked to the big double doors that led to the commons, inside were a bunch of people.
"All Junior lunch, juniors and seniors get their own lunch while freshman and sophomore have a combined lunch." Said Tenten.
"I see," replied Sakura looking around. The room was huge and there were several tables lined up by the walls and in the middle of the room.
"Our table is back there," said Tenten pointing to a table against the wall in the back. "Come, I'll introduce you to everyone." As they neared the table everyone looked up and stared at the two.
"Hey Tenten! Who's your friend?" asked a girl with blonde hair that was in four short ponytails. The ends of all four ponytails stuck out and her bangs hung at the sides of her face.
"Hey guys, this is the new girl, Sakura." Said Tenten putting an arm around Sakura's shoulder.
"Hey," said Sakura giving a warm smile to them. A couple people smiled back while others just watched or was just not paying attention at all.
"Sakura this is Temari," said Tenten pointing to the girl who had spoken first.
"Hey," said Temari waving.
"This is Hinata over here," she pointed to a girl with white eyes and purple hair. The girl just gave a small smile and avoided Sakura's eyes.
"Shikamaru, Neji, Chouji, Shino, Gaara, Kiba and his dog Akamaru," said Tenten pointing to each person as she went along. Each of them just gave a small nod, a smile, or wave.
Sakura saw that Neji had white eyes, just like Hinata's eyes.
"Neji over there is Hinata's cousin, though you would think they were brother sister." Said Tenten in a low whisper. "And Gaara is Temari's brother though they look nothing alike." Then she changed to a loud voice so everyone could hear.
"And you know who that is, Naruto." Said Tenten pointing to the blonde sitting in the back.
"Hello Sakura-Chan! It's great to see you again!" said Naruto jumping out of his seat and greeting Sakura. "Come, sit with us!"
Six boys were on one side of the table while the four girls and Naruto were on the other side. Sakura took a seat next to Tenten and Naruto next to her.
"Hey Naruto, who sits next to you?" asked Sakura,
"Oh, Sasuke sits here, it's the only seat he'll sit at, but he seems to be late today," said Naruto scanning the cafeteria for Sasuke. Sakura raised her eyebrows then turned to face Tenten.
"Sasuke sits here too? I thought you said he was an insensitive jerk and that you didn't like him." Whispered Sakura.
"Oh, right, well I told the truth. I like him but I don't like him like him, like those crazy fan girls of his. And besides, we are the only people he'll sit by because we're the only table that isn't crazy about him." Said Tenten looking at Sakura.
Sakura just nodded her head then turned to Kiba. "I didn't know they allow dogs here," said Sakura cocking her head. Kiba smirked at her then started patting Akamaru on the head.
"They don't, my dog's like an exception though. I guess it's because they got fed up with him following me to school every single day or something and let me keep him here." Said Kiba looking straight into Sakura's eyes. Sakura nodded then grinned.
Just then Sasuke appeared in the lunchroom doorway and thousands of heads snapped in his direction. Sasuke let out a silent groan and headed for his table. He could hear people whispering his name and eyes watching him as he took each step. Suddenly a girl with brown hair stepped in front of him blocking his way.
"Hello Sasuke-kun! How are you?" she asked. Sasuke just raised an eyebrow as the girl batted her eyelashes then another girl pushed her aside and looked at Sasuke.
"Don't pay attention to her, she's a nobody." Said the girl with vibrant red hair.
"If he's not going to pay attention to any nobodies then why would he pay attention to you!" shouted another girl coming up and slapping the other one across the cheek.
"YOU BITCH!" she screamed as she started throwing punches at the other girl.
"Sasuke don't pay attention to any of them, their just annoying little fan girls, you should go for the girls that really care for you and wouldn't get in fights over you. Like me!" said another girls with blonde hair.
"Are you joking? You are one of the fan girls!" said another girl coming up and getting in a verbal argument with her.
Sasuke just watched as the girls argued and slipped away as they were to busy fighting to notice him leaving. As he reached his table he sighed in relief and ran his fingers through his hair. Annoying was the only word that could describe them all at the moment.
"Troublesome," muttered Shikamaru as he watched the girls fighting over Sasuke.
Sasuke took a seat next to Naruto and leaned his back against the wall closing his eyes.
"Ah, Sasuke, fan girls being a bother to you again?" asked Neji looking at Sasuke with his white eyes. Sasuke let out a small sigh then nodded his head.
"Eh, Sasuke, what took you so long?" asked Naruto poking Sasuke.
"Quit it Naruto, I was trying to avoid being chased by more fan girls again, so I stayed behind in class and waited for the people to empty the hallways." Said Sasuke opening his eyes to look at Naruto. Then he saw a girl with bubble gum pink hair sitting next to Naruto.
"Ah, it's Sakura, yes?" asked Sasuke looking past Naruto and at Sakura. She glanced at Sasuke and nodded her head in reply. "Yes, you've been in all my classes so far, except for second period. Hey, Tenten, what is she doing here?" asked Sasuke suddenly with a fierce look on his face.
"I invited her Sasuke, this isn't just your table. Other people sit here too, and we can invite whoever we want," said Tenten glaring at Sasuke.
"How do you know that she isn't another fan girl!" asked Sasuke sitting up now.
"Because, she's new, and I already told her all the rude stuff about you, and besides, if she was a fan girl she would be fainting in your presence right now, even if she was new!" said Tenten.
"Hn," said Sasuke looking away.
"What's so wrong with me sitting here?" asked Sakura gazing at Sasuke. He glanced at her then spoke.
"I don't want another annoying fan girl sitting at the same table as me, that would just be trouble." Said Sasuke glaring at Sakura.
"You think I'm another annoying fan girl just like those crazy chicks who were beating them selves up just for you?" shouted Sakura getting angry. "I would never be a fan girl to someone who is an insensitive, rude, jerk, and who doesn't care shit about anyone you bastard!" said Sakura glaring daggers at Sasuke. He raised his eyebrows in interest, as did the rest of the table. Then he gave her a death glare.
"Don't pretend Haruno, you'll fall for me in a week, they all do, it's so annoying!" shouted Sasuke furrowing his eyebrows in thought.
"Well now that I know how you really are I definitely will make sure that I won't fall for you like those fan girls of yours!" shouted Sakura, "I'm leaving, I don't think some people want me hanging around much longer," with that Sakura picked up her backpack and walked toward the door.
The table group all shot daggers at Sasuke and he just shrugged and leaned against the wall again closing his eyes. He sighed and stood up, "I'm going too, I need fresh air," with that he left them staring after him.
XxXxXxX'That's weird, maybe she is different, she actually called me a bastard,' Thought Sasuke as he went into the cold crisp air outside. Leaves were forming on trees and flowers were blooming now that the winter was almost over. It was soon to be spring.
'Tenten and Temari always stood up to me and never fell for me which is why I'm okay with being around them, and we get into arguments a lot but their just friends, kind of like how Naruto is. Except I fight with him way more. There's something different about this girl,' Sasuke kicked a soccer ball that was lying on the ground as he was walking.
It landed on the ground with a thud and rolled, and then it gently hit a large tree. The tree was the oldest and biggest one on the campus. It was really beautiful too, especially in the spring when the pink flowers were fully bloomed.
The tree had a very thick trunk and big branches that you could sit on. The leaves were a dark green and shined in the sun and the flowers were a vibrant pink color, not an annoying bright pink, but a calm color. The flowers on the tree always bloomed early, they were small for now but later they would get big and make the tree even more pretty then it already was.
Sasuke stood and stared at the tree for a moment. It was against the rules to climb trees, especially if it was the oldest and prettiest one on the campus. But, heck, he was already breaking the rules being out here while they were supposed to be having lunch. Sasuke shrugged and hid his backpack from view. Then he grabbed a low branch and pulled himself up.
He continued climbing, jumping from branch to branch. It wasn't that hard really. Then he reached the final branch and was shocked at what he saw. There was Sakura leaning against the trunk of the tree with her eyes closed. Her legs were stretched out across the tree branch and were crossed together at the ankles.
"What the," started Sasuke. Sakura opened her eyes and gazed into Sasuke's dark orbs for a second in shock.
Sasuke wasn't paying attention and when he stepped back he realized there was nothing to hold him up and no floor beneath his feet. He had stepped on air and was about to fall all the way to the ground. He started falling backwards and closed his eyes tightly shut as he felt himself falling back.
There was a gasp heard. Probably from Sakura since she was the only one up there with him. Then Sasuke felt a hand wrap around his left wrist very tightly. He noticed that he didn't feel himself falling. Only the wind as it blew across his face and whipping around his hair.
He opened his eyes and saw Sakura, her eyebrows were furrowed together and she was holding him very tightly with her right hand, not letting go. Her left hand was hanging onto the trunk of the tree so that she could still balance herself on the tree branch.
Sakura's hair fell around her framing her face like a curtain and her eyes looked worried. 'Is she, worried?' thought Sasuke as he looked at her appearance,
Sasuke raised his eyebrows in shock; Sakura was the last person he expected to save him from breaking his back from a long fall. Especially after the fight they had just had. Then he had his serious face on again.
"Grab my hand," said Sakura as she stared into Sasuke's eyes. He nodded then took his right hand and grabbed Sakura's arm. She pulled him up slowly and right when he was able to he let go of her arm with his right hand and grabbed the tree branch.
He pulled himself up onto the branch and kneeled on the wood breathing heavily. He could hear Sakura breathing in and out not as fast as he was but still pretty fast. Sasuke looked up and the first thing he saw was Sakura.
Her eyes were closed as she was breathing in and out and the wind had picked up her hair and blew it around her face. Then he realized how lose he was to her. The branch could only fit one person comfortably and there were two on it now. He didn't just hear Sakura's breathing he was feeling it too.
Just then Sakura opened her eyes and saw Sasuke staring at her. They were just inches apart from each other as he gazed into her green eyes and she gazed into his dark ones. Her breathing slowed as they sat there staring at each other, then Sasuke muttered one word.
"Why?" he asked looking straight at Sakura. She looked away and shrugged.
"Instinct I guess, besides, it would have been bad if they found out you had been up here and fallen, the rules would be even more strict," said Sakura.
"Hn. Not a very good reason," said Sasuke still looking at the girl. She just shrugged again and looked back at Sasuke. "What are you doing up here?"
"I'm thinking, you know, about what just happened in the cafeteria." Said Sakura. Sasuke raised his eyebrows, "What are you doing here?"
"Same reason, the tree looks so peaceful too," said Sasuke. He moved so that he was sitting next to Sakura instead of in front of her. He had one leg hanging off the branch and the other was on the branch with the knee bent. He laid his arm on top of his knee and looked at the view from the tree. Sakura just hung both her legs over the branch and held onto the branch with her hands.
The view was beautiful, the sun was shining at the time and you could see the many houses and gardens from the tree. Sasuke closed his eyes and remembered how he had felt Sakura's breath against his skin. He sighed and opened his eyes.
'Why am I thinking of that? I shouldn't, I just met her, and remember, she'll probably be just like those fan girls,' thought Sasuke, his eyebrows were furrowed. But he knew it was a lie deep down. He groaned.
"What's up with you?" asked Sakura as she watched Sasuke furrow his eyebrows in thought.
"Huh? Oh, just thinking," said Sasuke looking at Sakura. Sakura grinned and nodded her head.
'Damn she's cute, wait what? No, I just met her today!' Sasuke kept having that battle in his head until he saw tons of kids coming outside after finishing their lunch.
"Looks like they finished, we better get out before they see us up here," said Sakura. She was about to climb down to the lower branch when a hand stopped her. She looked up and saw Sasuke's serious and calm face gazing at her.
"It's too late already, they're all outside and they'll see you coming down. Besides, when the fan girls see me coming down with you they'll get mad. And besides, they can't see us from up here, the leaves are in the way," said Sasuke not taking his eyes off of Sakura. She looked at him for a minute then nodded her head and sat back down in a comfortable position.
"So when will we go down?" asked Sakura.
"When their all gone," said Sasuke looking back at the view.
XxXxXxThe courtyard was deserted as the last person left, except for two people in the tall and old tree. In the thirty-minute break time when everyone was hanging out outside Sakura got tired of having to wait. She had fallen asleep on the branch, as did Sasuke surprisingly. Watching Sakura sleep made him tired as well, and the wind was very soothing.
Sasuke was leaning against the trunk of the tree asleep while Sakura was leaning against him asleep. When he was awake he actually didn't mind Sakura sleeping on his shoulder, and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders when she shivered from the cold of the wind.
Then he got tired and fell asleep, his arm still around Sakura's shoulders.
Sasuke was the first to awake, though he only awoke because his cell phone was vibrating in his pocket. He took it out and answered very groggily.
"Hello?" he asked in the phone.
"Sasuke! Where are you? I tried to call you like ten times after school but you never answered. And you weren't in any of your classes after lunch!" yelled a voice on the other end, not any voice either, Naruto's voice.
"Naruto? Wait, it's after school!" said Sasuke suddenly wide-awake.
"Yeah, what, you fell asleep or something when you went to get fresh air?" said Naruto, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Uh, yeah," replied Sasuke.
"What! And you got away with it! Where did you fall asleep?" Asked Naruto.
"Um, on a bench," he lied. He didn't want to tell Naruto he was in a tree.
"You mean you went off campus?" yelled Naruto on the other end.
"Um yeah, I couldn't think at school," said Sasuke. How ironic, not thinking at school.
"Uh-huh, sure." Said Naruto, "anyways, have you seen Sakura-chan? She's been missing since you disappeared." Sasuke suddenly looked at the sleeping girl that was lying in his arms.
"Uh, no I haven't," said Sasuke.
"Oh really, Tenten was going to call her or something but we don't have her number and we have no clue where she lives." Said Naruto.
"Hn. She's probably at home, you'll see her on Monday don't worry," said Sasuke in his usual calm voice.
"Well everyone is over at my house right now, after all it is Friday night, you want to come over?" asked Naruto.
"Um, maybe later, what time is it Naruto?" asked Sasuke.
"Like, 6:00, and if you do come and see Sakura, tell her she can come too. You'll have to show her where my house is though." said Naruto. Sasuke groaned.
"Okay, thank you, I'll see you later, okay Naruto?" asked Sasuke.
"Okay, see ya," said Naruto. Sasuke hung up and looked at Sakura. Her mom was probably worried about her. Unlike his parents who didn't care at all about what happened to him. They didn't even live with him for crying out loud.
This wasn't like him. Why was he doing this? He never fell asleep on a tree with another girl before. He never even held another girl to him before. Other girls held onto him. He sighed deeply and moved his arm off of Sakura's shoulders, grabbed her sleeping body.
"Sakura," said Sasuke shaking the sleeping girl awake.
"Huh, what? What happened?" asked a sleepy Sakura as she rubbed her eyes.
"Sakura we fell asleep, it's 6:00," said Sasuke. Sakura raised her eyebrows then looked at the ground.
"We're still in the tree." She said. She forced herself to get more awake the turned to face Sasuke, "We should get down, I don't think there's anyone down there now." Said Sakura. Sasuke nodded his head and stood up.
He held out a hand for Sakura to take and she took it. He pulled her up so quickly that she almost lost balance and fell. Sasuke was quick though and caught her in his arms. Sakura looked down and saw how far the ground was. Sasuke pulled the girl closer to him so that she didn't fall farther.
"Thank you Sasuke-kun," mumbled Sakura not looking in his eyes.
"Hn." He replied. "Would you like to go to Naruto's place tonight, you know, it's Friday night after all." Said Sasuke not looking at Sakura.
"Naruto's place?" she asked then she grinned and nodded her head. "Sure. Sounds fun! Let's get down first though," said Sakura. Sasuke nodded his head. Right before Sakura was about to climb down he grabbed her hand and looked into her eyes.
"I'm sorry," said Sasuke. He surprised himself. He had never apologized before, maybe when he was little but not lately, especially to a girl. Sakura cocked her head in confusion then grinned when she remembered.
"That's okay Sasuke-kun, its just mood swings," she said, and with that she started down, Sasuke closely fallowing her.
When they reached the ground they both grabbed their backpacks where they had hidden them and started off.
"When we get there don't tell them about what happened, okay?" said Sasuke, Sakura had a confused look on her face but nodded anyways. Then she turned her head away from him and thought about what had happened so far.
She remembered Ino and how she had the biggest crush on Sasuke. Sakura wondered if Ino would be mad at her for spending most of the day with him. She hoped not. Then she remembered her mom.
Crap, her mom was probably mad she wasn't home already. Sasuke said it was 6:00 so her mom was probably really worried since it was already four hours after school. But then again when did her mom care?
Sakura pulled out her flip phone and looked at it. There were three messages, the first one was right after school, and it was her friend from America. She talked about how everyone missed her and how it was like two in the morning where she was, but she only called then for it to be more convenient for Sakura. Sakura felt bad that her friend stayed up that late to talk to her and Sakura wasn't able to answer it.
The second one was from her mom's "boyfriend" (how did he get her number?) he was asking if Sakura was doing good and that her mom was worried about her and she should be more caring. Pschh, yeah right! After what her mom did to her this morning!
The third was the one that confirmed the thought that her mom didn't care. It was from her mom herself. So she wasn't worried after all. She wasn't even home! It said that her new job is sending her away for a convention for a while and she won't be back for a week. She's already going to a convention? Jeez, probably seduced her boss to make her go and get more pay. Thought Sakura, then her eyes widened. What was she thinking? No, it was just a job; she has to put food on the table, doesn't she?
Sakura sighed then put her phone back in her pocket. The whole time Sasuke was watching from the corner of his eye and noticed Sakura's aura change.
"What's wrong?" asked Sasuke looking at Sakura. She sighed then looked at Sasuke.
"We just moved here and already my mom is going on a convention. So basically I have the house to myself for a week. And no one but the TV and computer to keep me company." Said Sakura. Then she turned and gazed at the sidewalk.
"Hn. Sounds like my parents. They don't even live with me. They moved away with my brother Itachi, they let me stay here by myself when I was only eight. They let me stay but my dad took my brother so that he could run the business next. My dad doesn't like me, probably because I'll never be as good as Itachi." Said Sasuke. He sighed. Why was he telling Sakura this? He didn't even tell Naruto who was considered his best friend even though they got in tons of fights.
Sakura nodded her head then turned to Sasuke.
"My real parents died when I was four, I barely remember them. Then I was adopted at five. My mom was great back then, she was fun. Then at eight she started doing other stuff and being away more often. Even though I barely remember what they were like, I wish my old parents were still here with me." Said Sakura gazing off in the distance. Sakura didn't know why she was telling Sasuke all this, probably because he opened up to her so she did to him.
"Hn." Said Sasuke. They were alike in many ways was the thought that was in Sasuke's head. He was actually starting to enjoy Sakura's company, in fact, to tell the truth, he always enjoyed it, since they had been in the tree. But he didn't admit it.
Sakura wasn't paying attention. She was thinking of Sasuke's story and her own. Se stepped on the street when it said don't walk. A car that was speeding out of control was coming down the street. Probably a drunken guy since the car was going crazy and it was Friday night. The headlights were blazing as it sped toward Sakura. She looked to her left just as the car came toward her.
Sakura's eyes got big when she saw the car coming at her. It was speeding so fast toward her that the only thought in her head was 'I'm going to die.' At the speed that car was going, No one could survive. A lot of people were watching now and gasping as they saw the car advance on Sakura.
"Sakura!" yelled a voice behind the girl. It sounded like Sasuke. He sounded, worried, and scared. But Sakura didn't think of it, all she knew was there was a car way over the speed limit coming at her faster and faster.
The next thing she knew the headlights were blinding her so she closed her eyes. She was anticipating the pain to be felt from the car hitting her body. She could hear it, the engine roaring out. It was inches away now. She could already feel the heat from the engine going so fast. There was no way she would survive this.
Oh, I guess I'll stop it here. The preview after the prologue is actually what will happen for the next couple of chapters. So tell me how you liked this chapter! Please, please, read and review! :) I know the last chapter was way boring but that was just the prologue, and I'm just getting started. Please review:-)