Disclaimer: I only own the plot. Naruto belongs to Kishimoto Masashi-sensei.
Chapter 2: Mind if I Call You Sasuke-kun?
Only a full week had passed. Yes, time travels very, very slowly. Sakura sat on the windowsill, watching the leaves on the trees sway back and forth with the wind. 'If I can do this all day, then I have bigger boredom issues than I thought,' she sighed to get up. 'Crap, I almost forgot…' her hand reached for a box on her dresser, as she popped a tiny pill in her mouth. 'Can I stop taking these?' she wondered silently and slumped back to her original position.
She'd only seen Hinata one other time, at the park of course. They just sat around for hours…and talked. Basically that's all she had been doing lately. She didn't know of any stores, or shops. Just the deserted area in which she lived. And all she wanted to do was live a little. 'Living here? Might as well just crawl into a ditch and die.'
And that…what was his name? She paused, 'What's-his-face? Oh come on, I know this! Shot term memory, short term memory…I know this! Ah! Uchiha! Uchiha…um…was I always this bad with names? Oh whatever.' If she couldn't remember his name, that means they hadn't met again. 'Not that I care much. If it wasn't for his jerkiness, pig-headed, I'm-the-king-of-the-world attitude, she'd waste no time chasing him. Hey, with his looks, he'd score big back in her old town.
The wind blew harder, almost knocking Sakura off balance and into the bushes three stories below. Well that had woken her up out of her daze. "My first brush with death. I'm on a role," she told her bear. And you know, it just stayed in that same position, with that same expression. "You make just the best conversation piece in the world," she told it, assuming it was listening.
She let out a whine. "I'm going to die single, and a virgin." And then, her inner self paid her outer self a visit.
"You're just sitting here moping around! Get up, get out and do something about it!"
"Shut up, other me. I'm trying to kill myself with boredom."
"That's my point. You're such a sadist. Get off your lazy ass and call Hinata or something!"
"Will it make you go away?"
"Yes, because you'll be to preoccupied doing something else rather then conversing with yourself like an idiot."
"Fine, goodbye." And then her mind said nothing back. Always the voice of reason. She slowly made her lazy self down the stairs.
"Hello, may I please speak to Hinata?" no one answered. "Hello! May I speak to Hyuuga Hinata please?" Again, not a sound. "Yo, is Hinata avaliable?" Especially then, no answer. "Okay…I'll go with, hello, may I please speak to Hinata," Sakura smiled at the mirror. She'd been practicing for the past few minutes how she'd ask for her new friend. She had a fear of asking for people over the phone and nor did she know the exact reason. Her friend's had nicknamed it phone-o-phobia.
'It's now or never,' she gulped, and picked up the receiver and punched in the code. 'Oh my God, oh my God. Ha! No one must be home! That must be it! Hahaha! Just my luck…' and the noise of someone on the other end cut her thoughts.
"Hello?" the deep voice spoke. It was someone she'd never heard before.
This was it. Now or never. "Um…hello…I, err…what I mean is…" great, she was such a loser.
"If this is for Neji he—"
"CanIspeaktoHinataplease!" she blurted out all at once, summoning up courage.
Sakura could swear, the other person was glaring into the phone. There was silence for a moment, then some shuffling. "H-hello?" a timid voice spoke, this time recognizable.
"Yes! I did it! Who's good? Me, yes! I—oh, hey Hinata-chan. It's me, Sakura, remember?"
"Y-yes yes, of c-course. But w-what was with t-that cheer before?"
"That, oh. Err, heh, um…it was nothing really. Maybe I'll tell you later."
"O-okay. How did you g-get my number?"
"Yellow-Pages. Works wonders. Anyway, listen. I've been stuck in the deserted hellhole and I need civilization. Could you please take me shopping? Or somewhere where I can interact with the outside world?" Sakura was practically on her knees.
The girl on the other end laughed. "Y-you didn't have to b-beg. A-all you had to do was ask. I know this great place in town. M-maybe it'll refresh y-your memory."
"Oh. My. God. You. Are. The. Biggest. Lifesaver. Thank you!" she cried happily.
Hinata laughed again. "You always make me laugh, Sakura-chan. I'll m-meet you at the front o-of my gate in…let's s-say…an hour?"
"You're the best!" was her reply and they both put the phone back into its cradle.
It would take about three minutes to get to Hinata's house. That left a whole fifteen minutes to get dressed, and some time to get there, if she wanted to stroll. "Okay! This one! It matches my purse," she chirped to no one in particular, holding up a black tank-top and jean shorts. She got changed quickly, and tied her pink hair back in a loose tail and skipped out of the house.
Shopping, one of the favorite pass-times of most teenaged girls. There's actually no theory to explain it…it's just a phenomenon. So the ecstatic woman walked happily down the path, humming a familiar tune. Nothing could ruin this day. It was perfect. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping and she was going to spend some money. Nothing could ruin it…nope…nothing except what did. That tiny little pothole in the road which just happened to be in the way of her foot. And then her world went crashing down. And she went with it.
By falling flat on her face. Her hands had caught most of the fall, but her legs didn't so unscathed either. "Oh shit…" she peeled herself off the road, but didn't get up. "I'm a damn mess! Look at this…" she mumbled furiously to no one, wiping the blood from her hands on the jeans. "These are old anyway." Sakura rubbed the dirt from her face.
"As much as a looker as you are coordinated," came a smooth and cool voice. The pink hair turned left then right, but no one was found. Until she looked to the left…and upwards. A figure sat in the tree, about ten feet off the ground.
'His name! I remember! Uchiha…Sasuke!' "What's that?" she shot up angrily and pointed up and the calm boy. "You wanna say something, say it to my face! And what the hell are you doing there? Are you following me, you stalker?"
He raised an eyebrow, "Following you? In your fantasies maybe. Has it never occurred to you that I live around here too, and happen to be sitting in this tree when you drag your clumsy new self down the road and trip and fall flat on your big forehead?"
'Ah! Jerk!' she wanted to scream. Her right eye twitched. "What did you say?" she marched up to the base of the large tree and stared up to meet his cold gaze. "Come down here and face your slap like a man!"
"Now why in the world would I come down if I knew what fate awaited me? You think I'm stupid?"
"Yes!" Sakura retorted, her face still bunched up in childish anger. She watch his shoulders shrug and he slid back on the branch. At first she assumed he was going to fall off. Ha! Served him right after all he said. He deserved to fall on his good-for-nothing face and…wait, she was right under. That would hurt!
Instead, he'd hooked his legs around the piece of wood, and hung upside down, facing her at her level. "Maybe you're right…" he said in a cool voice, and a smirk, played across his features. A blush made it's way across Sakura's. Her mouth opened and closed, yet no sound. His smirk grew wider as he watch her struggle for words. "Cat got your tongue?"
If anyone hadn't guessed by now, Sakura wasn't very good with words. And as the saying goes, actions speak louder than words. She wound her hand back to slap him across the face. Unfortunately for her, he'd seen this coming, and moved his head away for a moment. "Why…you…" she growled and stepped backwards. "How do you have the nerve to insult a girl you just met, Sasuke-kun."
And there was his opening. She took notice on how his smirk was suddenly wiped of his face. "What's wrong, Sasuke-kun? Don't like the name, neh, Sasuke-kun. I'm just adding politeness, Sasuke-kun." Sakura was laughing inwardly, at each time she said his name, his face turned colder.
"What gives you the right to call me that?" he asked in a venom-coated voice.
"Hm? I'd think that everyone calls you Sasuke-kun, neh?" in truth, most people did. "It's such a fitting name for you, Sasuke-kun. A perfect name that suits a perfect face, right, Sasuke-kun? Would you rather me call you something else, other than Sasuke-kun? Like maybe Uchiha-kun? Or maybe you'd prefer -sama? No, I think I like –kun better. Because when you say it fast, it sounds like other things, neh, Sasuke-kun? Like Saskatoon, perhaps? Don't tell me you don't know where Saskatoon is. Haven't you guys been studying world geography at school? It's in Saskatchewan, which is in, like, Canada!" her rant was just pissing him off more, and he wasn't doing anything at all to hide it. 'To easy,' she snickered, "What's wrong now, Sasuke-kun? Am I wasting your time?"
In one swift movement, he'd unlatched himself from his upside down position and stood facing her on the ground. "You are. I have better things to do rather than talk to you." With that, he turned and walked in the opposite direction.
'Will he do that every time I meet him?' she pondered momentarily before looking at her watch. "You are so lucky I have shopping to do today!" she yelled after him, and ran off to the Hyuuga household, where she was now five minutes late.
Hinata patted down her dark blue hair, as the wind blew gently by. Her father was a bit wary to see her go on such short notice, but she assured him, only going for a few hours to show the new girl around. "I'd send Neji with you but…" sure. Like he'd ever agree to go shopping with the new kid on the block who'd probably come across as a pain in the ass. Of course, Neji wouldn't go shopping period. Her silver eyes glanced down the road, and watched the pink haired teen march up. "Ah! Sakura-chan!" she waved.
Of course, Sakura took no notice of her, and concentrated more on her incoherent mumbling. "…and then he's got the biggest ego I've ever seen since Yuki, and I swear that's never a good thing. Ooooh! How he pisses the hell out of me with those perfect eyes and perfect jaw line and perfect…" she kept on mumbling and marched past Hinata, who just stood there watching her.
"Sakura-chan?" she called quietly after her.
Still mumbling, she began to walk backwards, noticing that she'd passed her friend. "…and then he has to go all upside down and lend there and ah!" She smiled at her friend, "now, what are we waiting for Hinata? We have serious shopping to do!"
Hinata wasn't sure to be frightened at the sudden change in attitude, or just forget about it and not ask. "Um…okay. T-this way." She pointed straight ahead of her, into a patch of trees. "There's a stairway there that leads to the village," she moved away a few bushes. Sure enough, a flight of stairs were visible. Old, yet there.
"What are they doing here?" Sakura brushed some loose strands of hair back, as the two made their way down the darkened stairs, as it was completely covered with trees overhead.
"W-well where we live is s-sort of on an escarpment. T-the rest of the town is lower down," she explained. At the bottom, sure enough…
"Civilization!" Sakura cried happily hugging her purse. Now this, looked more like a town. Shops, restaurants and people lined the streets. People of all ages running, walking shopping, browsing, you name it, it was happening. "It's starting to look familiar I think. Can we look around for awhile? How long do you have?"
"Um…about three hours."
"That's plenty!" she clapped her hands happily. "Now, off shopping we go!"
It couldn't have been more then a few minutes before they'd gone into a store, and left just as quickly. This pattern continued for awhile, until Sakura got tired. "Man…I'm wiped." She sat down on a bench and looked at Hinata. She hadn't even broken a sweat. "How can you still be standing? Are you like Super Woman or something?"
At this, she didn't answer, and stared down the street. "Hinata-chan…" she followed her gaze to see what she was looking at. Nothing she saw was out of the ordinary…unless she was looking at someone, well then that was different. A person who she couldn't quite make out gave a wave of their hand. Sakura didn't know if it was towards them…but it probably was, considering that they were now jogging towards them.
"Hinata!" a male voice called. And a rather rugged looking boy stood in front of them. He to wore a coat, despite the heat, with its collar all furry. It matched his hair, which was of similar brown color. His eyes were small and black, and when he smiled, his eye teeth were overly pointed. Somehow it reminded Sakura of a dog… "How are you doing today?" he asked brightly.
"V-very well, t-thank you, Kiba-kun." Her voice was even softer now.
The boy looked past her and rested his eyes on Sakura, who was sitting on the bench observing them. "And who do we have here, Hinata? What's a pretty girl doing in town without my knowledge?" he extended a hand, and Sakura accepted it, with a small blush. "Inuzuka Kiba."
"Haruno Sakura," she offered a smile. Hey, who knew, if there were more nice guys like this, maybe she would get her summer romance. "I'd hardly call myself pretty," she said modestly, and jumped back when she heard a bark come from Kiba's zipped jacket.
He and Hinata laughed, "Don't worry, that's just Akamaru. He doesn't really like to walk around in the city," Kiba explained, and opened it slightly, and a dog jumped out. He was mostly white with long brown ears. He jumped up onto the bench and started to sniff around.
"He's so cute!" she exclaimed patting him on the head between the ears. "I had a cat a few years back, she always liked it in this spot. I guess dogs are the same." Akamaru barked again, and jumped back into Kiba's arms.
"You should watch your mouth. Akamaru doesn't like being compared to things, much less a cat," the owner informed. "Oh yeah, and by the way, Hinata. Neji was looking for you awhile ago, weird guy. I suggest you go find him before he blows something."
"Y-yes, thank you, Kiba-kun. I-I hope you don't mind if we look for him, Sakura-chan?" she said quietly, also giving the dog some attention.
"No, that's fine really. Anyway, nice meeting you, Kiba-kun," she gave him a quick smile, and ran off to join Hinata. "Neh, you two have something together?" she asked once he was out of range.
"W-what? O-oh no, Kiba-kun and I are just old friends…since we were twelve."
"Oh, I see." And they walked in silence. "If this Neji guy is looking for you…does he always do that?"
Hinata's glance shifted for a second. "S-sometimes. He t-thinks about my safety a lot. He's a r-really nice guy, Neji nii-san is…"
"No, I don't doubt you," she said quickly. Maybe this wasn't a good topic. "Say, is that him? I saw him at your house the other day and I assumed he was Neji…"
"O-oh, yes. How silly of me not to see him." She ran up to the tall boy, and he turned at her appearance. "Nii-san, K-Kiba-kun said you wished to see me?"
His eyes were exactly those of Hinata's. Silver in color, but a bit more…how to say, confident? "Hinata-sama. Yes there's something that—" his gaze shifted to behind his cousin, "you know this girl?" he asked staring straight at her.
Sakura felt her insides churn. 'What is this? This feeling?' "Um…hello. I'm Haruno Sakura, I just moved here and Hinata was just showing me around…"
"I see," his voice was calm, yet something about his eyes… "I'm Hyuuga Neji. Pleased to make your acquaintance," he bowed in politeness. "But please, excuse us for a moment, Sakura-san."
"R-right…" she stepped away from the two. 'Everyone so far is really friendly. Kiba, Neji, Hinata. They're all so polite and nice. Unlike some people that have also greeted me. More like annoyed me!' An image of Sasuke flashed before her eyes. 'Damn, I don't know why, but he gets under my skin so easily! Bastard! Why I oughta…' her fists opened and closed, 'he annoys me to no end!' "You idiot!" she screamed, and drilled her fist into the ground.
Two pairs of silver eyes came to meet the pink haired infuriated teen. Along with several other pedestrians. 'Now look what he's made me done!' she thought furiously and removed her hand from the cement. There was a dent where her hand had been. 'Oww…hit that a bit to hard…'
'What monstrous strength,' Neji was impressed. Such a fragile looking girl could create a hole in the sidewalk? Mental note, never piss her off…
"Um…Sakura-chan?" Hinata asked warily, since it'd been her second time getting mad in her presence today.
Her friend smiled. "Sorry. Something happened today before I came…and it made me really mad, sorry if I scared you…um, did I interrupt your conversation?"
"No, that's fine. We were finished," the male Hyuuga responded. "Hinata-sama. I will see you back at the house then. Nice meeting you, Sakura-san." He nodded his head and in turn also walked away.
"You're cousin's a nice guy. Everyone seems really friendly here except for…well never mind." The blue haired girl nodded. "Oh yeah, this might seem like an odd question, but why does he call you Hinata-sama? I mean, aren't you two family?"
She didn't quite know how to answer. "Um, I can't say exactly…" she replied, then smiled. "Anyway, I want to head home now. Meet me here tomorrow. I have the cutest little café I want to take you to."
Sakura smiled. "Sounds great! I wouldn't miss it for the world." The two left the village area after that.
Meanwhile, a person from the shadows had heard the entier conversation. "Haruno…Sakura, huh?"
AN: well, chapter 2 done and done. Sorry for the long update. What can I say about this chapter? The whole Saskatoon thing came to my friend, actually, and I really got a kick out of it! (that's us Canadians for you…) I just realized that the actual school doesn't start until like…chapter 7 -laughs- so long from now…I still need to introduce everyone, after all. And yes, I realize the characters are a bit OOC. I find it kinda hard to keep Sakura in character so much with this fic, but she will get less crazy as time passes...Now, I'll like it if you guys R&R! But you already did the first R, (most likely) so the 2nd R would be nice:P