Chapter 4: The Curse
It was headline news.
The Uchiha's were quite well-known after all.
Sakura was shocked, startled beyond belief. She didn't fathom that something so …. Excruciatingly horrendous could happen to one of her classmates.
She had known Sasuke for two years.
"Sakura honey, go and give this to Sasuke and Itachi," said Sakura's mother, while handing her a box filled with homemade rice balls.
Sakura nodded and started towards the Uchiha residence, now home to only Itachi and Sasuke.
She was distraught. She hadn't seen Sasuke for two days. He hadn't been coming to school. Everyone was talking about the plane crash, the unfortunate fate of Fugaku and Mikoto Uchiha, Sasuke's parents who were on a business trip. Even the teachers were talking about what would happen to the poor boys, only eight and thirteen years old.
As Sakura reached the apartment, she could hear the rattling of a passing by train. To her surprise the front door was open. She rang the doorbell out of courtesy, but couldn't help herself as she looked into the living room. There were dozens of packing boxes lying around.
Itachi appeared, looking weary and oh-so-tired with heavy dark circles beneath his eyes. "Sakura-chan, please come in."
"Thank you Itachi-san…" she awkwardly handed him the box.
"Oh Sakura-san, thank you so much for the onigiri. This is Sasuke's favourite." Sakura nodded. Itachi was always excessively polite. Even though she was only eight, Sakura could sense the weariness and exhaustion in Itachi's tone.
"We're shifting to the orphanage at the end of the street. I'm not old enough to be Sasuke's guardian…. At least Naruto-kun will be there. Sasuke's packing up his room. Why don't you give this to him yourself, I'm sure he'll be happy." With that, Itachi directed Sakura to his room and knocked on the door.
"Sasuke, there's someone here to see you. We're coming in."
Sasuke was sitting on the hardwood floor, holding on to his dinosaur plushie and staring out the window at the trains passing by. He didn't turn around when Itachi and Sakura entered.
Itachi went and sat in front of Sasuke and tapped his forehead. "Sasuke, maybe Sakura-san can help you pack your things up," he said, looking up at Sakura. She nodded vigorously and sat down beside Itachi.
She stared at Sasuke's grief-stricken face, his usual joyful expression had been replaced by sagging, lost eyes, as if he hadn't slept in the longest time.
Sakura remembered the box in her hands and gently placed it on Sasuke's lap. "Sasuke-kun, I brought you some rice balls. They're your favourite flavour," she said softly. Sasuke didn't react. Itachi sighed and got up, throwing an apologetic glance at Sakura. But she understood; he had to continue packing.
"Sasuke-kun… I could heat up some of the rice-balls if you wanted me too…" No reply. Sakura sighed.
"Sasuke-kun, I'm going to start packing your things." She stood up and looked around his room. Her eyes landed on his prized book collection, with classic literature and textbooks.
Sakura felt a pang in her heart, and hatred in her soul because how could someone so innocent, so naïve, so young, have people so precious taken away from him? Why did he have to suffer at such a young age?
It was called the Uchiha Curse.
Sasuke's uncle also died in a plane crash. His other uncle was killed in a fatal car crash. His aunt committed suicide after two years of suffering from depression. The Uchiha curse was used to describe the series of unfortunate and tragic events that plagued the family. Sasuke had been sheltered from this by his parents, but without them to protect him from the relentless media, he couldn't stop himself from listening to the news anchors on the television screen.
Suddenly, she felt a hand on her leg and a tiny voice whispering between sobs, "I…. don't want…. to leave." Sasuke burst into tears. She bent down and put her arms around Sasuke, who was trying to hold back his tears, which were just falling and falling. He laid his head on her shoulder and continued wailing, while she stroked his hair. She was only eight and couldn't do anything, but she vowed to be there for him.
Sakura couldn't help but remember that dreadful evening. She could never, ever forget the gut-wrenching sobs that Sasuke let out. That was eight years ago, and the cheerful Sasuke that once existed was now locked within the chasm of his heart. Sakura was once an important person to him, she knew that. Naruto told her that Sasuke confided that to him one late night, in the orphanage. But she had absolutely no doubt, that right now, Sasuke lacked even a semblance of platonic affection for her.
She stood beside Ino as Tsunade addressed the entire batch of 11th Grade students. She caught only bits and pieces of the lecture. It was only when Ino nudged her and said "Come on," did Sakura realize that Tsunade had dismissed them to homeroom. She couldn't get Sasuke out of her mind, and when she turned around to walk out of the auditorium, her line of sight locked with his glaring obsidian eyes. Her eyes shifted to the red bruise on his right cheek and she smirked.
Sakura was not a girl to be messed with.
Temari was very amused by the entire situation. Amused because not even one day had passed, and there was already a considerable amount of drama. She wasn't the only one who was shocked at Sakura's reaction to Sasuke; Ino was going absolutely mad. "Holy frigging shit, did Sakura just slap Sasuke? Holy mother of God," Ino had exclaimed, or something along those lines. Temari didn't understand what the hell was happening between Sasuke and Sakura, but even she, being new, could sense the palpable tension between the both of them.
She couldn't help but notice the kind words that Ino and Hinata kept muttering to Sakura, although the pink-haired girl seemed to out of it to really comprehend what her friend was saying. The boys didn't seem too affected by what was happening. However Naruto, muttering colourful curses, stalked after Sasuke. Shikamaru seemed infinitely bored and not at all phased by the entire situation while Chouji stood beside him, munching on a bag of chips. Gaara hadn't followed behind his loud-mouthed buddy, and was instead listening to Kankurou numerous questions and Kiba's energetic answers on the history of the trio, as he loved to call it. It seemed as though Sasuke wasn't really friends with anyone besides Naruto, which made everything all the more interesting.
They were now in their homeroom. On Temari's right was Ino and on her left was Shikamaru. Sakura was seated beside Ino and was looking intently at the blank, newly polished white-board.
"So what happens now?" Temari asked Ino.
"Asuma-sensei will probably come in and-" She was cut off mid-sentence as she saw Sasuke stop at the threshold of the entrance to the classroom with Naruto screaming behind him, "Teme! How could you not tell me or Sakura-chan that- WHY THE HELL DID YOU RANDOMLY STOP?!" Everyone in the classroom stopped stalking as they noticed Sasuke scanning the room with his jet-black irises. Suddenly, he started pacing again, now towards the back of the classroom.
"Oi Teme! Can you tell me what's going on dattebayo!"
Sasuke didn't answer, but instead stopped behind Sakura and pulled out the chair beside her. Everyone was watching what would happen next, the memory of the slap still fresh in their minds.
"What does he think he's doing?" whispered Ino to no one in particular.
Sasuke promptly sat down beside Sakura.
"TEME DON'T YOU REMEMBER WHAT SAKURA-CHAN SAID TO YOU?!" Naruto yelled boisterously, his face turning redder and redder by the second. He was obviously concerned about her.
Sakura raised up her hand, as if to silence Naruto and tell him it's okay. "Sasuke, why are you sitting beside me?" she managed to get out.
"You're my buddy," came Sasuke's curt response, without even looking at her. He said buddy in a distasteful manner, as if he couldn't believe it either.
"WHY WOULD YOU NEED A BUDDY IF YOU'VE STUDIED HERE BEFORE?!" Naruto asked. Ino 'tsked' and glared at Naruto as if to say 'shut up'.
"Speak to Tsunade," was all Sasuke said before he turned away and started gazing out of the window.
"Perhaps it would be wise to refer to our principal as Tsunade-sama, grumpy," said a pale-skinned boy with a small smile on his face. Sasuke didn't recognise him. If he was insulted by the highly appropriate nickname, he didn't say anything.
"That's right Sasuke. Don't be such a bitch," said Ino. Temari was entertained by Ino's reactions to Sasuke. She was one of the few who didn't hide what they were thinking about Sasuke.
"Sasuke I would prefer if you didn't sit next to me. Naruto would you like to sit here instead?" Sakura didn't wait for an answer. She picked up her bag and went and sat beside the pale-skinned boy who had called Sasuke 'grumpy' before. Sasuke noticed how the boy placed his hand on Sakura's shoulder, without her objecting. What Sasuke failed to hear was the boy saying, "The book I'm reading says that a comforting hand on the shoulder of one who seems to be sad is appropriate as it portrays that you can, to quote the book, 'Count on me'." Sasuke did however see Sakura laughing as the boy said something.
Throughout the entire incident, Shikamaru had remained in his characteristic 'napping' position. After the tangible stiffness in the room lessened, and the chatter increased (Naruto was the loudest, still trying to pry information out of Sasuke, with Ino now interjecting at certain points), Shikamaru lifted his head up and said, "This year is going to be troublesome." Chouji nodded in agreement and continued eating his chips while Temari asked, "Why?"
Shikamaru sighed and said, "Sasuke is back. Sakura is pissed off. Naruto is still loud. No one really knows why Sasuke left. Those three used to be almost inseparable."
"Really?! Those three?" exclaimed Temari. How could three people who seemed so utterly different be friends?
"Yeah. I heard they've been through a lot together. At least Naruto and Sasuke have. No idea about Sakura though," Shikamaru continued.
"Sakura used to have the biggest crush on Sasuke," Chouji contributed. Temari nodded, as if she had already guessed as much.
"But about a month after Sasuke suddenly left, Sakura stopped talking about him. Almost as if she was over him completely. She started topping the class in almost all subjects," stated Shikamaru. Temari was surprised at how much the lazy-ass was speaking but didn't stop him.
"You could've topped the class if you tried studying," Chouji accused while looking at Shikamaru, who shrugged nonchalantly.
"Well, is she still over him?" Temari asked. Chouji didn't seem bothered by the question. But Shikamaru's expression said otherwise, "You tell me," he muttered.
Temari wasn't sure what to think then but judging by what he said, she was pretty sure there was more to Sakura under her cherry, bubbly disposition.
It was August 13th.
There was an hour left till their results were released.
The panic in the air was stifling. Two girls and a boy had already burst into tears, Hinata being one of them.
Temari knew she was a good student, and her teachers back in Suna were sure her performance would be splendid. But she couldn't help but tap her feet in anticipation of one flimsy piece of paper printed with her results. Shikamaru seemed as apathetic as ever. Temari was so frustrated with his personality. Nothing bothered him! Nothing at all! Not even 10th grade results which was a significant part of college applications. The day before he told her, "There's not going to be any surprises." Temari was puzzled by this statement so prodded him further. "Take your average score in your school exams and just add or subtract five marks and you have your final score," he drawled indifferently. Temari scowled at him, "Pre-result jitters are normal. Look at Naruto! Even he seems a bit quieter than usual."
"Shikamaru is like this because he'll definitely get all A*s," Chouji said.
Shikamaru sighed and said, "It's not like that Chouji. I just told you what Asuma told me." Temari wasn't sure if someone like Shikamaru, who seemed insulted at the very idea of putting in effort into anything, could manage getting all A*s.
She was proven wrong an hour later.
Chouji was right. Shikamaru had secured an A* in all of his subjects. No one seemed surprised except Temari.
"How?!" she exclaimed when Shikamaru showed her his certificate. For the first time since she joined, she saw Shikamaru grin. "Good luck for your results," he said before walking away. There were still three people in front of her to get their results before Temari entered the principal's office.
Sakura was freaking out.
From the bottom of her heart, she wanted to be a doctor. She knew that admission to medical school was competitive. She also knew that Physics and French were her Achilles heel. She was worried she wouldn't have enough A*s to be a worthy candidate. Yes, getting so distressed over two subjects was utterly idiotic, but she knew that many many many applicants had straight A*s.
Sakura entered the office wearily and came face-to-face with Tsunade, Kakashi and Asuma. All three of them were widely smiling at her.
Tsunade pulled out her certificate from the bunch lying on her desk and gave it to Sakura while saying, "This is excellent." Sakura didn't process anything after that because she immediately burst into tears when she saw A*s beside every subject.
All three adults started laughing. "How stressed were you?" Kakashi asked her with a smile evident through his mask. Sakura couldn't bring herself to stop crying. She tried answering but there were no words forming in her mouth. She was so relieved and overwhelmed with happiness. On top of that, she was incredibly embarrassed for crying in front of her principal, vice-principal and homeroom teacher. She tried to say "thank you," but couldn't, so she bowed hastily and ran out of the office.
Ino took one look at her and gave her a tight hug, "It'll be okay Sakura. It's fine." Sakura tried to tell her that she was crying happy tears, but she still couldn't speak so she pried herself out of Ino's arms and showed her the certificate. Ino squealed and gave her a tight hug. Through her tears, she could hazily make out Sasuke smirking at her.
"SAKURA-CHAN DON'T CRY!" yelled Naruto before Ino hit him on the head and brought his attention to her certificate. "HOLY SHIT SAKURA-CHAN YOU'RE GOING TO MED SCHOOL!" he yelled elatedly. "SHANNARO!" inner Sakura yelled, because outer Sakura was too busy bawling her eyes out on Ino's shoulder.
The next day, Tsunade called up ten students on stage. All of them scored straight A*s. Among them were Shikamaru, Sai, Shino, Sakura, Gaara, Temari and Sasuke.
Sasuke hadn't expected Sakura to be on stage with him.
Before he left, Sakura barely scrapped through half the subjects she took. He always had to help her. Evidently, a lot had changed in the past two years.
AN: Please review with constructive critique :)