Alright! Finally managed to upload chapter 10! I am very sorry for the delay, but I've been having problems with my internet XD. I hope you enjoy this chapter and leave a review. Thank you for reading!

CHAPTER 10

This Will Be Hell

She rubbed the drowsiness from her squinted eyes, trying to adjust to the brightness of the light reflecting from the white tiles of the hallway floor. Even now, at five in the morning, Konoha High School was brightly lit with fluorescent white lights. Sakura cursed her luck; she didn't think the school would have its lights on so early, much less on a Saturday. Had she known she wouldn't get a wink of sleep the previous night, she would have swallowed half of the sleeping pills kept in her bedside table. Blinking a few times to adjust to the bright hallway, Sakura absentmindedly started to walk around the hallways, her left hand barely touching a wall. "Now that I think about it, this is the first time I've ever been able to walk down the hall so calmly. Usually there are too many people around, either in a hurry to get somewhere, or loitering."

She walked for what seemed like hours, explored the parts of the school she would rarely visit, and even decided to go upstairs. The second floor of Konoha High School was reserved for art, dance, theater, music and cooking classes, along with any other electives or clubs the students might participate in. Sakura took art last semester, but she never explored the rest of the floor. She opened the door beside her art classroom and found a big, empty room, save for a wall-to-wall mirror to her right, and a neatly stacked pile of yoga mats in the wall facing the door. "This must be the dance room" she thought as she walked in. The room was cold and the perfectly waxed floorboards were slippery. She vaguely wondered how they managed to come and go unscathed from this room. She walked out and opened the next door, which revealed an even bigger room with three rows of six small kitchen stations, each equipped with a stove, a fridge, a cupboard and a sink. A tall bookshelf stood where a chalkboard usually goes, and on closer inspection she saw hundreds of recipe, health and nutrition books.

As she exited the cooking room and headed for the next door, the vague sound of music started to echo softly through the hall. Curious, Sakura followed the sound, and the closer she got, the clearer the sound would get. The faint sound of a guitar resounded through the whole floor; a soft, beautiful and somewhat sad melody. She found herself in front of the last room in the hall. Sakura slid the door ajar, enough to see inside. In the vast room with countless instruments neatly placed against the walls and a few chairs was a black haired boy, his back facing her. He sat on a table in the center of the room, softly strumming the guitar with pale fingers. She heard an intake of breath, and what followed left her stunned.

"Everything's so blurry, and everyone so fake" a beautiful, clear and smooth voice filled the room in perfect harmony with the music. Sakura leaned against the nearest wall in awe, completely absorbed by the soothing voice and taken aback by the amount of emotion being conveyed in the lyrics. "And everybody's empty and everything is so messed up. Pre-occupied without you, I cannot live at all…" For a moment, she forgot what was even happening and let herself enjoy the music, until an angry voice shot her down from cloud nine. She opened her eyes; surprised by the fact that she didn't remember closing them and that the musician had turned and was currently glaring daggers at her. She gulped, somewhat guilty for interrupting what she can assume is a composition –from the splayed notebook she now noticed beside him—and somewhat embarrassed for being caught eavesdropping.

"Err…sorry! I kind of just came in without thinking. You're really talented…hehe…" she fidgeted, avoiding his piercing eyes. "Well, since I'm already here, can I sit down and listen to you play?" she asked boldly. Receiving no answer, she looked up and saw as he turned back around and wrote something in his notebook while quietly mumbling. "May I, Sasuke?" "Hn. Yeah, whatever. But don't expect a concert, I'm composing. So be quiet." She held back a grin and scurried to the closest seat available; right in front of Sasuke. She leaned against the backrest and closed her eyes, listening to the beautiful voice once more

"You could be my 'someone', you could be my scene…"

It felt like days, but it was only a few hours when Sasuke stopped playing. Instead of lyrics, he opted for focusing in the guitar. He strummed evenly, melodically and precisely, both conscious and unaware of when to increase or slow the tempo. He opened his eyes and was met by Sakura's smiling face leaning against the wall, completely immersed in the music. "Well, at least she pays attention" The moment he stopped, she also opened her eyes and looked at him. "Wow Sasuke! who would have known you could play so well!" he stood up and walked to a guitar stand in the far corner of the room, placing it back where he found it when he first entered the room. Ignoring the girl, he took his notebook and rolled it into his back pocket while proceeding to exit the music room. Unaffected by his lack of acknowledgement, the pink haired girl smiled and closed her eyes once more, trying to recall the song she had just heard being composed. "Hehe, I feel like I just witnessed something rather special"


"Alright! You're finally ALL here!" the strong voice of Tsunade boomed through the nearly empty basketball court. Her amber eyes looked through all the teens, mentally counting each of them before stopping at the empty spaces in the front row of the bleaches, beside her niece. "Hmm let's see. There's the brooding one, the loud one, the two quiet girls and Ino…who's missing?"

"Wait…where's the fat one?" Ino rolled her eyes, annoyed "Probably devouring everything available in the cafeteria" Sakura scowled at this, annoyed at both blonde's words. She stood and answered the principal "He said he was going somewhere, didn't say where. Probably to the bathroom" When the door opened and they turned their heads, Ino snickered at Sakura's disappointed face while seeing Choji arrive with both arms full of sweets and chips. The snicker soon faded when he took his place beside her and started gorging on a bag of cookies. "Get away from me! If you ruin my dress with all your slime I'll swear I'll kill you."

Tsunade cleared her throat, finally deciding to start their little meeting. "Okay, since NOW everyone's here, I'm going to explain what's going to happen this lovely Saturday. See those people over there? They're your employers; they'll be taking care of explaining what you'll be doing this semester. Now knock yourselves out, I'm going home" she said, pointing to a group of middle aged people in blue t-shirts waiting by the door. Ignoring the two blonde teens' protests, she walked out of the courtyard as the group came in and stood in her place. The group consisted of two young looking adults, a man and a woman probably in their mid-thirties, an elder lady, much shorter than the two, and a woman who looked to be forty standing beside her. The only man in the group took a step forward and sent them all a friendly smile.

"Good morning guys, my name's Chris, this is Jenna" he said as he gestured to himself and the woman beside him "and these are Nellie and Sarah" he introduces the other two women to his right. "We're from the St. Petersburg Pediatric Medicine Association, also known as PPMA and we collect donations for treatments and disease research for children, mostly for those whose parents cannot pay for regular treatment in any hospital. We specialize in cancer patients and children with special needs or disabilities. We're here because your principal was kind enough to give us a call saying that she had some volunteers—" he slightly flinched when he saw half the teens' expression change from uninterested or listening to sour and scowling, but he decided to ignore it. "—And we're so excited about it. Now don't worry, you won't be going from door to door in strange places recollecting money. My friend Jenna here will explain what you'll be doing instead" Said woman steps forward with a broad smile, yet from what they could tell, this was the real boss, as she stood tough and commanding (yet friendly) and started to speak.

"Well, I'll be brief. Because I assume you're all well behaved, I don't think I'll have to tell you to get along and what-not. Simple things you should know is that you won't be working on St. Petersburg Hospital, you'll be working –along with us—in a facility nearby. You'll have transportation, and breakfast and lunch will be provided for you. We also have a volunteer's medical insurance in case any of you get hurt; let's hope it never comes to that."

"Um, excuse me ma'am, but what exactly will we be doing?" Naruto asked, voicing what the rest was wondering quietly. Their apprehension grew when a knowing smirk splayed across her features.

"We'll just let you find out for yourselves" she said as she walked away, telling them to head to the bus. The all shared a look and reluctantly followed her outside. Parked near the entrance was a big white school bus with the logo of St. Petersburg; the silhouette of a child looking up at a falling leaf. They all got in and remained silent the whole fifteen minute ride to their destination.


Sasuke was officially in hell. High pitched screams and what seemed to be a multitude greeted him as he entered a big yellow building through two glass doors. He winced at the noise and inwardly cursed his luck. He glanced to his side, where the other five unfortunate students were standing and saw their shocked and equally horrified expressions. He saw Naruto, Ten-ten and Ino loudly complain about their current situation, while Choji stood quietly, fairly entertained with a bag of chips. Sakura could only nod in agreement and look at their surroundings. Sasuke did the same, quietly observing the high ceilings, the recently polished floors, the bleachers and the adjacent door at the other side of the building. His eyes widened in sudden realization, and before he could regain his composure, Jenna spoke again.

"Yes, my friends! From now on, you six will be taking care of 50 children, from five to fourteen years old, in this basketball court from 7:00am to 5:00pm. As I said before, food will be provided, but you technically have to sit with them and make sure they don't steal someone else's food, so you won't really have a break. Good luck though!" said Jenna, walking away while giggling at their horror-stricken faces. Chris approached them soon after and explained to them basic rules of how they'd be working. Sasuke made a mental note of all he said, but he'd be damned before repeating anything to the annoying blonde pestering him to explain to him later because of his lack of listening skills.

They were to play, watch and accompany them to the bathroom. If there was a sick or injured one, they would be taken to the infirmary and would call their parents. They were not to be left alone or unsupervised at any moment. And they specially had to be vigilant of the surrounding bleachers. Chris warned them that countless times before kids have gotten hurt while playing down there and that was why only one set of bleachers was open for the kids to sit on. Also, they must be watchful of the doors and make sure the kids didn't wander out of the court. He watched, irritated, as kid's heads slowly turned to look at them and he felt his scowl growing when a group of girls started eying him unabashed.

"This will definitely be hell" was the last thing that crossed Sasuke's mind before he blacked out.


Well, that's it for now! I know it's a little short, but hopefully next one will be even better! :D thanks for reading! Until next time!

-Aiiro Hart