Disclaimer: Naruto or its characters doesn't belong to me. Because if I own it, I will pair Naru-chan with all the cute guys in the series and there's nothing fan girls could do about it. evil laugh
A/N: Okay, some reviews out there say I don't update my fics and keep writing new ones. I guess its true and I'm sorry if I lack imagination to write new chapters. I'm really lazy but I will try my best to finish my fics. Thanks for the guys who reviewed! I am happy whenever someone reviews and I really appreciate constructive criticisms. It's my exam this week but anyway, this is for you guys. Arigato- Mina!
Anyway, so that you won't be confused these are their ages in the fic I'm currently writing. I'm really confused as to when Japanese students start highschool. In my country we start highschool at 13.
Naruto- 15
Sakura-16
Sasuke-16
Chapter 1: The Cheeky Angel
A pink-haired girl tapped her foot impatiently as she glanced at her watch. Underneath the cherry blossom tree, her pink hair simply made her porcelain face glow ethereally, the sun adding luster to her shiny locks.
She crossed her arms as she leaned against the tree trunk. The sun was already at its peak and the blonde idiot she's been waiting for half an hour already is still nowhere to be seen.
In fact, she's already debating to herself whether to leave already or to wait for another minute.
'Ofcourse I'm gonna wait… I'm gonna kill that twirp with my own hands!' Sakura was too engrossed devising a plan to torture a certain blonde. Her fingers twitched. She could almost imagine said fingers around that person's neck in a deadly grip.
Passer-by's were staring at the pink haired girl's direction, distancing themselves from the negative aura that seemed to emanate as she chuckled evilly to herself. People shivered as they walked past her as she muttered.'Must. Kill. Blonde. Idiot.' Like some sort of a mantra.
"Mommy! She's scary!" A little boy shifted behind his mother's skirt.
Sakura instantly froze, a vein popping on her forehead.
"Stop staring at her…" The woman inconspicuously murmured, gently yanking the child whose foot seem to be planted on the ground.
"But moooomy! Shouldn't we call the police! She looks like she's going to kill somebody…" The boy tugged at his mom's skirt like a shield. Expecting the girl to just suddenly pounce on him like a mad dog.
Another vein appeared. Sakura's fist shook visibly. The boy paled.
"Mommy! She's staring at me! She's gonna eat me. ALIVE!" Tears were brimming the boy's eyes already.
"Don't be scared. Mommy's here to keep you away from that crazy girl..." The woman reassuringly held his son's hand as they scurried away from the Sakura's current display of insanity.
"I'm so gonna kill you for this Naruto-baka!" The voice of one Haruno Sakura- the scream that promised bloody murder echoed throughout Tokyo.
Somewhere around Tokyo…
"Ahhhhhchooooooooooooooo!" Naruto coughed at the contents of her cabinet as she desperately tried to unearth the pile of clothes for the other piece of sock she was missing.
"Naruto! Aren't you done yet! You're (going to be) late for (the first day of) school!" A very infuriated Iruka shouted from downstairs.
"Just another sec!" The blonde was about to launch herself to the other drawer situated across the room when she accidentally tripped on the bed sheet lying on the ground.
Naruto rolled on the floor, gripping her face in utter agony.
"Naruto, are you still alive?" Iruka had grown so familiar of the 'thump' which indicated Naruto's face hitting flat on the floor that he no longer bothered asking 'what happened'.
Naruto bit back the urge to shout 'OUCH' as a blush slowly crept to her cheeks.
"Hahaha! Nothing! Everything's under control!" The blonde's shout was followed with a series of strained laughter.
Iruka rolled his eyes. Naruto could be so obvious most of the times.
"Aren't you and Sakura supposed to meet early today?"
It was a big mistake for Iruka to mention that to the already jumpy blonde.
It took a few seconds until the information finally sank into Naruto's impenetrable head. She practically bounced back to life- forgetting her earlier accident with the god-forsaken floor that resembled a garbage dump.
"Damnit! Why didn't you remind me earlier!" Thanks to Iruka's reflex action, he managed to avoid being hurtled by the very manic teen as the blonde zoomed past him in a speed that Iruka considers fatal considering that she is going downstairs to his precise direction.
The blonde ran as if there's no tomorrow. Because definitely there is no tomorrow if she's dealing with a very disappointed, angry and murderous Sakura.
"Naruto!"
"What!"
"Naruto! You forgot your bag!" Iruka shouted while chasing after the blonde who abruptly stopped dead in her tracks.
"Sakura-CHAN!" Naruto's eyes instantly twinkled upon seeing the familiar pink hair amidst the crowd of passer-by. Sakura wasn't really that hard to spot. Especially with that unusual yet natural color of her bestfriend's cherry blossom hair.
The musing girl snapped from her trance- faintly hearing her name being called.
'Was that Naruto calling me just now?' Sakura thought to herself, tracing the source of the voice. Instead, she saw a blonde boy who looked very much like Naruto about to pounce on her.
Naruto was about to attack Sakura with one of her hugs when the girl suddenly evaded it, grabbed her on the wrist, twisted her arm and flung the shocked blonde to the ground.
It was so fast Naruto wasn't able to register it - the next thing she knew, she was lying flat on the ground with one of her arms still hanging suspended from the deadly grip that sent her crashing to her current position- staring at the expanse of blue sky as pain shot through her back like electricity.
"You deserve that- pervert!" Sakura angrily screamed. He was pretty light for a guy… and his wrist was too skinny with her hand enclosing around it. Sakura grudgingly released the limp arm. The boy whimpered painfully as he stirred and twitched on the floor.
Satisfied of the inflicted damage- Sakura decided that it's better to leave the boy behind to ponder on his actions.
She's a judo specialist and the idiot who chose her as a victim was quite unlucky. That'll teach him to think twice before molesting a seemingly vulnerable girl like her. Yup, she's had enough for the morning and it was all Naruto's fault!
The dumb stranger chose the perfect timing to attack her. She felt the tension of her shoulder disappear and her anger for a certain blonde drain.
Turning on her heel- she heard the faint sound of her name being called- again. She looked around her- and finally- her eyes landed on the stiff figure on the ground.
"Who-who the hell are you calling pervert! Sakura-chan! It's me! " Naruto whined, finally recovering from his temporary inability to speak coherently.
"OH. MY. GOD. Naruto- is that you?" The girl immediately went to the blonde's side.
"Sakura-chan! You didn't recognize me!" The blonde's voice sounded betrayed and upset. Her blue eyes staring accusingly at the pink-haired girl she calls 'bestfriend' for the past seven years.
The pinkhaired girl aided the wobbly teen to her own feet. Squeezing the girl with an apologetic hug that could've caused more fatal injuries.
"Sakura-chan… I can't- breathe" Sakura backed away, her face now becoming serious and her hands gripping Naruto's shoulder.
"You didn't dislocate your bones? Your skull's still intact? Your head's not bleeding? You're okay, right? I'm glad…" Sakura finally stopped inspecting the blonde. Her hand resting against her pounding chest.
"Ohhhhhhhhhhh Sakura-chan's worried!" Naruto teased. A fist instantly landed on the blonde's head- a large bump appearing on the spot where she had been hit.
"Ow! Why'd ya do that for!" The blonde screamed, tears brimming at her eyes.
"You baka! Why are you wearing the BOY'S UNIFORM! I thought you were some bloody maniac out to jump at girls on broad daylight!"
"Uh- surprise! I thought I should've informed you about this… if only I've known you'd react this way…" Naruto said while rubbing her sore head.
"Are you out of your mind!" Naruto cringed at the girl's outburst.
Sakura was totally pissed already. She slapped her forehead as she stared disbelievingly at the girl in front of her.
"But Sakura-chan! This is a dare!" The blonde gushed out. She slapped her mouth with her hand then stared at a wide-eyed Sakura. Silence ensued, Naruto shifted uncomfortably, wondering if the unmoving, unblinking Sakura was still alive.
"Say what?" The girl's eyebrow twitched uncontrollably, knowing from experience how her friend gets into very, very deep trouble from the so-called 'dares'…
"A dare! Kiba and the guys dared me last year… " Naruto mentally cursed her mouth.
'Ugh, I should've known… 'Kiba and the guys'… AGAIN.' Sakura rolled her eyes. It's not that she's jealous or anything. Nope. Certainly not. But the fact that Naruto keeps mentioning the same phrase over and over again for the past seven years is gnawing at her brain… the blonde idiot's obsession to get into the gang had been since kindergarten!
"And why the hell would you do it! You know they're just a bunch of hooligans! They could be up to something!" Sakura's voice was laced with concern- though, she won't really admit it out loud- she's worried.
Sakura groaned as memories of the blonde idiot she calls 'bestfriend' flashed through her mind. Naruto soaked in mud from head to foot. Naruto jumping into a pond to catch a toad and chasing around the girls teasing Sakura with the gross thing in her hands. Naruto punching the boy who called Sakura 'shiny-forehead' in the playground. Naruto trying to prove herself to the boys in nursery that she's tough. Especially to the boys Naruto referred to as 'Kiba and the guys'…
"Don't be paranoid… they're not that bad… actually, they're kinda… nice?" Well, that didn't really seem to convince Sakura.
"Nice! You're telling me they're 'nice' of all things! They're trouble-makers! They're the school's delinquents! Why would you want to be among them?" Sakura scolded the scared teen.
"But they promised! I could join their gang if I complete the dare!" Naruto whined indignantly like her naïve seven year-old self… really, some things just never change.
"What about Iruka-san! He simply let you wear THAT! "
"Well, I can't be seen wearing a mini skirt! What about my reputation? Kiba and the others would surely make fun of me!" Naruto shouted in her defense. A blush tainting her cheeks when the idea of wearing one flashes into her mind. Gah! The horror!
Flashback…
"Still not giving up yet?" Iruka managed to say in between gasps, trying to force a smile into his face- his smile twitching while glaring at the blonde who was grinning like a mad idiot.
"Ofcourse not! I wasn't in our school's track and field team for nothing ya know? But you're pretty persistent on chasing me…" Naruto boasted, giving her uncle a thumbs up- while standing on their living room table.
"Your grandfather is asking for your picture. He knows you're going to high school this year. He sounds like he really misses you. But I couldn't show him a picture of you looking like that! He'd be horrified!"
"That old geezer? We haven't seen each other for years!"
"Naruto… he's your grandfather… don't call him a geezer. I talked to him over the phone… he said he wants to see his how his 'little girl' had grown up into a 'fine lady'. He's gonna skin me alive if he finds out… "
"That I'm a tomboy?"
"That his little girl is a cross-dresser!"
"After how many years! He's now asking for his grandson's- err, granddaughter's picture! The nerve of that geezer!"
"So please! Just this once! It's really important! He's gonna have a heart attack if he sees how his one and only granddaughter suddenly morphed into a boy… who knows what he might do?"
Iruka looked as if he was going to cry. The blonde couldn't help but feel guilty. If there's one thing she isn't doing aside from wearing a skirt is making her Iruka-nii cry.
"F-fine! I'll wear the stupid thing! So- stop being a crybaby! I'm doing this for you… not for that old geezer…"
Naruto held Sakura's wrist- dragging the poor girl behind him as they ran along the crowded streets of Tokyo.
"S-slow down!"
Innocent passersby dispersed to give way to the reckless youths who ran swiftly as the fleeting wind that left dust floating in the air.
"Sasuke-kun! Please don't leave me!"
Sakura- however, didn't expect the abrupt halt and her face slammed painfully against Naruto's stiff back.
"Naruto-baka! Why the hell did you- Naruto? Are you listening!" Sakura peeked behind her friend to stare at whatever Naruto was busy looking at.
In the middle of the crowd of curious onlookers was a tall raven-haired boy with an impassive look on his face while a girl was clutching one of the boy's legs with a pleading look in her eyes.
"Sasuke-kun! Please! I love you! Don't leave me alone!" The girl begged, her eyes overflowing with tears while the boy's face remained blank and unreadable. He was merely staring ahead of him- seemingly trying to ignore and disregard the girl literally glued to his leg.
"You're annoying. Let go- or else." With that warning (that almost sounded like a death threat) the pitiful girl shuddered, her eyes wide and evident with shock.
"No! Never! Sasuke-kun, don't you understand my feelings? I love you! I'd do ANYTHING for you!" The girl wrapped her arms around the boy's leg and buried her face against it with her eyes shut- crying desperately for the boy to acknowledge her.
"You're soaking my pants. Do me one simple favor and leave me alone." The boy remained composed despite the scandal the girl was causing him. His voice was calm yet aloof. His voice was the kind that promised a grueling death to those who dare not listen to his demand and made Naruto shiver with its coldness.
"Sasuke-kun! Anything but that! I want to be with you forever and ever!" The boy's
face was now contorted with fury and disgust - his delicate eyebrows were furrowed, his lips set in a grim line and his eyes were as piercing as a knife. Naruto wondered how such a lovely and angelic face possess such cruelty.
"You're nauseating me…"
The girl remained firmly attached to the boy's leg- refusing to surrender her unrequited love. Naruto- who is fond of watching soap operas just couldn't watch the distressed heroine being snubbed by some rude, arrogant prick that don't deserve any affection. Her fists shook and her eyes were damp with unshed tears for the poor heroine who doesn't deserve such mercilessness. She has to take matters into her own hands.
"Who are you?" 'Sasuke-kun' as the girl repeatedly referred the raven-haired boy was staring at the stranger who appeared out-of-nowhere with a look that would have sent a pack of hungry hyenas scurrying away for their dear lives.
Naruto remained firm in front of the raven and lifted her bowed head to meet the eyes of the taller boy. A look of surprise flashed before the raven's eyes- their faces were only a mere centimeters apart and the strange blondes' eyes were the most beautiful shade of blue that reminded the raven of the sea.
What impressed him, rather- was the look of determination and defiance those eyes seemed to emanate. What entranced him more, was the person those eyes belonged to- an androgynously beautiful creature- an angel who descended from the heavens whose hair softly glowed like a halo underneath the scorching heat. The angel's face was flushed and was a radiant shade of red.
"You bastard! I'll never forgive you!" And with that statement- Naruto's foot met the unsuspecting boy's manhood.
There was a collected gasp from the girls and an empathetic 'ooh' from the guys whose faces were contorted with pain similar to that 'Sasuke's'.
The porcelain face was twisted into that of utter pain and agony and he writhed shamelessly on the paved ground which is the exact opposite of his sophisticated and egotistic self.
"That'll teach you to respect other people's feelings! You deserve that you cold-hearted jerk! Taking her feelings for granted! That's unforgivable! Arrogant bastard! You're a shame to all men!" The overwhelmed blonde shouted, her hands planted firmly on her hips while lecturing the boy who was still struggling to revive from the attack.
"N-Naruto-baka!" Sakura, who was too entranced watching the histrionic spectacle, finally snapped from her reverie and rushed to swoop the indignant blonde by the wrist before the enraged raven manages to recover and strangle her friend to death.
Behind them, the fuming raven cursed underneath his breath. Thinking of a certain blonde he's going to hunt down and kill. Anyway, he wasn't the legendary 'Uchiha' for nothing. And- if he wasn't mistaken- he heard the pink-haired girl call the blonde dobe 'Naruto-baka'.
