'Kay, I'm finally getting my life back guys. The play that I was in totally consumed my life and I still had my job and homework to think about, which I didn't get done last night...shit. But the play is over now and I have my life back, so sorry about the wait, I haven't forgotten about you...yet. EDIT! Computer is busted. It'll be probably another 2 weeks until I can get the next chapter out. But before you begin hurling things at me, please send me best wishes for a safe recovery of my computer! It's motherboard may be at risk, though the chance is slight. Wish me luck!!
WARNINGS: Yaoi, Language, OOC maybe, this chapter's not too bad.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor do I claim to. This is merely for mine and your own enjoyment.
Chapter Four – Don't Play Nice
"Hey Sakura..." a long-haired, blonde girl mumbled, leaning against the pink-haired girl's desk surface. "Do you know what I don't like?"
Sakura blinked and looked up from her text book, immediately narrowing her eyes. "What's that?" she asked her roommate.
"I don't like new girls who come into this school and demand all the attention from the boys."
"Neither do I, Ino..."
The two girls watched, seething, as this new girl, this Yuzuru Saki, came into this school and all of the male population became attracted to her, like a magnet. And now, the female population's crush, their Toshio, was being sucked in by her evil, evil aura. I swear, he was talking to her practically the whole period! He stood by her desk, laughing and talking and smiling so nicely, and she hardly even cracks a smile. Talk about arrogant. And both Yamanaka Ino and Haruno Sakura hated it. They hated her.
"So, I was wondering what-" the attractive Toshio was having a wonderful conversation with Yuzuru Saki when he was suddenly interrupted by the other class representative.
"Toshio-kun! I need to talk to you, can you come here for a sec?" Sakura asked sweetly, then smiled down at Saki. "I'm just going to borrow him for a moment. Hope you don't mind."
Saki would have shook her head, but the pair was already half-way across the room.
Sasuke sighed. Good Lord, he finally left! Ugh, talk about annoying. He kept on talking about how great this school is and what it means to be accepted into it and shit. Then he went onto his family background and more shit and if that pink-haired girl hadn't come and taken him away there would have been one more murder report on the news that evening. Not to mention, he kept getting strange vibes from the back of the class and it was making him uncomfortable.
"Sakura-san. What is it that you wanted to talk to me about?" Toshio asked after being dragged to the other end of the class.
The girl straightened her uniform and collected herself. "Toshio-kun, why were you so interested in the new girl back there? You've been talking to her all class..."
"You mean, Saki?" Sakura winced when she noted that he didn't use a honorific. "She's a very nice girl, kind of shy though. I'd like to get to know her and try to get her to open up more."
Sakura faked a smile. "Is that so..."
Toshio nodded. He looked so happy. "If that's all, then I'll see you around, Sakura-san," he politely excused himself and waved before, once again, attaching himself to Saki.
Ino watched in slight awe as Sakura's happy face darkened gradually until she was glaring hard at the raven-haired girl three seats ahead and one seat to the left of her. "That girl...She's hardly even thankful that he's talking to her."
"Ungrateful witch," Ino added, staring at Saki as well.
"Ino...I think she needs a little lesson in etiquette," Sakura sneered.
Ino smiled. "Let's make sure she's taught."
There it is again. Sasuke felt a chill race up his back and his breathing stopped. He shifted slightly and glanced over his shoulder. He couldn't see well, but in the corner of his eye, two girls seemed to be staring death at him. The raven turned back around and tried to ignore it the best he could.
The bell suddenly rang and Sasuke let out a sigh of relief.
"Well, we must get to our next class, then," Toshio announced, then held out a hand to Saki. "Come, we'll walk to class together."
Sasuke stared at the hand, then shook his head and opened his mouth to refuse, when that pink-haired girl saved his butt again.
"Toshio! I'll walk to class with you!" she exclaimed, running up to him and smiling brightly. Her smile faded though when her eyes landed on Sasuke, but she left a little remain.
"Great," the boy nodded and placed a hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "You can walk to class with us!"
Sakura's remaining smile twitched. " 'U-Us?' What do you mean?"
Sasuke stiffened when he felt Toshio move closer. "I mean," he started slowly, and glanced at the raven. "You can walk with Saki and I."
The raven suddenly pushed away and held her hands in front of her. "I don't think that's necessary! Please, don't bother," she said quickly and began shoving her books into her bag.
Sakura looked on in confusion.
"But Saki," Toshio smiled sweetly and moved closer again, this time taking one of her hands in his.
Sasuke felt himself gasp softly.
The charming boy brought Sasuke's hand slowly up towards his lips, like he was about to kiss it. "I want to..."
"Very well, then!!"
Toshio froze and Sasuke's head jerked in Sakura's direction. This girl was a life-saver.
She stood, her fists unnoticeably tight and her shoulders shook slightly. "I guess...I'll walk by myself. It's fine."
The boy lowered Sasuke's hand and he swiped it away immediately. "Are you sure?" Toshio asked, concern showing in his voice.
"Yes! I'm fine. I'll see you, Toshio-kun! Bye!!" Sakura waved and quickly fled the classroom.
Ino stood outside the door, waiting for Sakura to exit. "How did it go?" she asked.
The pink haired beauty wiped her face gently, then cleared her throat. "Saki...is in need of some major adjusting, as well as Toshio."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, that Toshio has tripped and fallen and Saki is the one who tripped him."
The hall was quiet. All the classes had a short break at this time, and if Sasuke was fast enough, he'd be able to sneak into the girls' locker room, change in one of the bathroom stalls, and get to the gym before any girls began to show up. He opened the door to the locker room with sweaty palms and peeked inside. 'No girls yet...' Very good sign. Sasuke walked past the aisles of lockers leading to the bathrooms, warily looking over his shoulder every five seconds or so. He sighed, ashamed of his paranoia, but what else could he do? Locking himself in the far stall near the back, he began undressing himself as quickly as possible.
Luckily, Sasuke requested a that he be issued a slightly larger uniform for Gym class. The girls' standard navy blue bottoms that hugged their legs and thighs so tightly, and so high up their thighs, didn't really appeal to Sasuke that much. Tsunade was understanding, and issued him both a pair of sweat pants in the same color, and a loose pair of shorts made of breezy material for those hotter days outside. They were still a bit too high for the raven's liking, but he wasn't about to complain.
Just as he was about done with changing, he heard a large number of girls come through the door, and he stepped up his pace. A certain phrase he just happened to catch made him freeze.
"...him of that Yuzuru girl." It sounded like the pink-haired female from earlier.
The other voice he recognized as the blonde girl. "But how? He seems to really like her. And I think Naruto's begun to like her a bit as well."
Sasuke gaped, scoffing inside his mind. 'Yeah right. As if anyone would be interested in me."
"You think I don't know that, Ino? And that's the worst part! Naruto's only liked me, and only me! Know why? Because I work hard for it; to keep it that way! When some new bimbo comes bouncing in on my territory, that's when I get pissed!"
Sasuke frowned. 'Bimbo?' Hardly. He was beginning to not like Sakura very much.
"There is no way she's taking over what I've worked so hard for in this school. She can't have Naruto, and she can't have Toshio either! I'll do anything to take her down, whatever it'll take. I want to see her cry."
Sakura and Ino suddenly turned their heads in the direction of the bathrooms, just in time to see the object of their perturbations walk out, heading towards the gym. She had an unreadable expression on, and the girls wondered if she had overheard. They shrugged it off and finished changing.
Gym class wasn't bad; most of it passed by in a blur. The students were divided by gender and given a coach of the same gender. Sad part was that both teachers were overly enthusiastic and completely insane. Mitarashi Anko was the coach issued to the girls, and Might Gai was to the boys. The woman was loud and annoying, but you couldn't really find it in your heart to truly despise her, which made Sasuke even more upset. In the beginning of each class, all of the students were to run five laps around the gym then stretch out a bit to warm up before they started. Sasuke, being genetically stronger and faster than the girls, was the first one done with the laps. He was even done before most of the other boys were, which, in turn, caused some egos to deflate dramatically.
"Wow..." Kiba whistled appreciatively. "Cute and strong, not a bad combination there."
Naruto gave him an inquiring look, as he bends down to reach his toes after his warm-up laps. "What are you talking about? Ah- ack!!" Naruto squawked as his head is yanked up and held in place. He opened his eyes and finds Saki directly in his view.
"I thought you always went for the weaker, high-maintenance girls like Sakura. This chick could probably whip your ass faster than you can say 'dattebayo!' " Kiba suddenly received a hard elbow into his side, probably deep enough to reach his kidney.
"There's nothing going on between us! We're just friends!" Naruto countered, glaring down at a crippled Kiba.
"That's not what I saw. You went goo-goo the minute you saw her; and I'd wipe the drool off your chin before making statements like that, because it doesn't help your case."
Naruto blushed, bringing a hand up to his chin and running the back of his hand across it.
Kiba snickered. "You're such a hopeless romantic. I don't see why you two don't hook up already!"
"Kiba, I said that there's nothing between-"
"Nice ass she's got there."
Naruto flinched and couldn't help but glance back in her direction.
"Hah!" Kiba exclaimed, jumping on the blonde and grinding his knuckles into his head. "I knew it! You do like her!!"
"Kiba, that wasn't fair!! You know I always look when you say things like that!" Naruto whined, trying to pry off the brunet's strong arms from around his esophagus.
Kiba shook his head. "Nu-uh! I tried it last week with that Chie-girl from Biology and you hardly flinched! Her shorts were half-way up her ass too!!"
"Naruto-kun!!"
Both boys flinched and turned towards the sound. It was Rock Lee, spitting image of their ecstatic gym coach. He was rushing towards them, waving and trying harder than necessary to attract their attention.
"Come, Naruto-kun and friend-"
"It's Kiba," the canine-like boy corrected.
"That it is! We must gather at the south side of the gym, Gai-sensei is about to unveil the secret of our next physical activity!!"
Now, normally, Naruto would also be excited. Because, a more common translation of what Lee had just said, means the class is going to be playing a new sport for the next few days. It's just the way that the boy had said the phrase made Naruto want to sulk in a dark corner and grow shrooms.
The next sport was basketball. Not much of an explanation later, the boys were separated into teams and sent to the hoops. Needless to say, Naruto was...distracted, and as a result, he was knocked down several times. See, a boy's interpretation of basketball is much more violent than intended, but what's the fun if no one gets hurt? In Gai-sensei's terms, they are merely expressing their youthfulness in more energetic and physicalmanner.
"Naruto..." Shino, another one of Naruto's close friends, said quietly, offering a hand to his fallen teammate. "Is something bothering you? You seem...distrait."
"Shino...nobody knows what that means!!! You can't use big words that no one can understand!!" Kiba groaned, shaking his head.
"He means that Naruto's not all there, you know, his head's up in the clouds somewhere." Shikamaru, yet another friend, explained. "And it's not all of us that can't understand him, just you."
"Hey, watch it, pinapple-head!"
Another groupie approached, a plump one by the name of Chouji. "What's wrong with Naruto?"
"He's got girl problems," Kiba sighed. "Yet another hopeless crush."
"Kiba!" Naruto shrieked, face going red.
"Really? That's great, Naruto!" Chouji said, patting him on the back.
Shikamaru sighed, staring off in some random direction. "Not that I really care, or anything, but I always thought you had your eye on Sakura."
Naruto looked away.
"That's right," Kiba purred, nudging the blonde in the ribs multiple times. "You're not gonna try and two-time 'em are ya? Hoo hoo, you sly dog."
Shino had to hold Naruto back from effectively pouncing on his friend and sewing his lips shut permanently. "I swear, Kiba! One day I'll tear your mouth straight off and shove it up your ass, so you can literally talk out of it!!"
"Girls are so troublesome...I don't see why you even bother with them. I mean, they're so high-maintenance and high-strung all the time," Shikamaru added.
Naruto wormed his way out of Shino's hold and bent to pick up the abandoned basketball. "Whatever. I'm fine, guys, really. Let's just get back to playing."
Kiba effectively caught the ball that was thrown his way and snickered. "Naruto, I think you'd better sit this one out. No one wants to play if you're gonna be tripping all over the court."
"I'm warning you, dog-breath. One more comment like that and-" Naruto was suddenly cut short by a high-pitched shout coming from the north side of the gym.
The group looked over at the girls on the other side playing volleyball. One game was halted; the girls all staring at one who was on her knees on the floor. Wouldn't you know it, it was Yuzuru Saki.
Naruto, immediately recognizing the girl, impulsively moved to possibly help her out. He is stopped; he turned and looked back to see Kiba holding onto his arm firmly, sending a look of warning that clearly said, "stay out of it."
Sasuke shook his head, trying to rid the pain that came when he fell and hit his head on the floor. It wasn't hard enough to cause injury, but enough to make him see stars for a few seconds. He braced himself on his knee to stand, but froze, seeing Ino approach him in the corner of his eye. She looked upset, her hands planted firmly on her hips and sneering down at the girl.
"What the hell was that? We could have had that, and because of you, we lost the point!" she snarled.
Sasuke sent a nasty look right back at her, and the blonde seemed surprised. "I tripped," he said lowly.
"What the hell kind of excuse is that?" Ino scoffed.
He was getting upset, he was tired of being talked to like this. "It wasn't my fault. You tripped me."
Ino's glare hardened.
Sakura approached from behind the raven. "What's going on?" she asked innocently.
"Saki is blaming me for tripping her," Ino whined. "Can you believe it?"
Sakura smirked. "Honestly, Saki. Lowering yourself to playing the 'blame game?' I thought you were better than that."
He was stunned. 'I can't believe this. Why are they...?' The ravenstood. "I'm not lying. You all saw it! She tripped me." 'Why won't they believe me?'
"That's enough. Stop being a poor team player, and admit it. You screwed up," Sakura said firmly.
Why? Now of all times, why did the raven's male sense of pride have to suddenly flare up? He gritted his teeth in an attempt to surpress it. "No, I didn't. She-" Sasuke had started to raise his voice, but was cut off.
"Hey!! What's going on over here?" Mitarashi Anko-sensei shouted, stomping over to the group.
Ino pointed straight to Saki. "Sensei, Saki is showing poor sportsmanship!"
The raven just about gagged at how much sweet, sugary suck-up was thickly slapped onto the words of the blonde.
"Is there a problem, Yuzuru-san?" the coach asked, annoyance clearly showing in her voice.
She looked down. "No, sensei."
Anko beckoned the girl to follow her and she did without a word. The moment the teacher's back was turned, Ino stuck her foot out just as Saki was passing her. For the second time, Sasuke harshly hit the hard wooden floor. He heard snickering behind his back and was tempted to pounce on the girls. Instead, he ignored it and followed the coach.
The boys on the other side of the gym watched the whole scene unfold.
"Ouch..." Kiba mumbled.
Chouji nodded in agreement. "Girls can be so mean, sometimes..."
"I don't understand, why are they being so mean to her?" Naruto asked, watching the girl sit down against the wall, well away from any of the groups playing the game.
"I don't think we'll ever fully understand it, but, " Shino admitted, "I believe it has something to do with jealousy among the female population, and a desperate need of attention from the opposing gender."
The look on Kiba's face showed that none of Shino's words registered properly in his brain.
Shikamaru sighed for the umpteenth time that period. "He's saying that all the other girls are jealous of that Yuzuru girl because she has a better chance of attracting all of the guys in the school than they do. As a result, they pick on her, trying to make her feel bad and lower her self-esteem."
"New girls got it pretty rough in this school. Especially with Sakura and Ino around," Chouji admitted, adding a twinge of spite to the last part.
Kiba yawned and stretched his arms out behind him. "You know what they say, a girl's life is a beauty pageant; no one will look at you if there's someone better to look at."
"I don't think that's true," the blonde mumbled, taking a step towards the solitary girl.
Kiba made to move to stop him, but Naruto brushed it off, flashing a smile that said, "it's fine, be right back."
The boy approached the sitting girl, who was now hugging her knees to her chest, glaring out ahead of her. "Hey," he said, suddenly nervous.
She didn't even bother to look at him.
Naruto cleared his throat. "Are you okay? I saw you take a few nasty falls back there."
"You saw it, didn't you?" was her low, quiet reply.
Naruto blinked, wondering if he really heard her say that. "What?"
"You saw it, didn't you?" the raven said louder, more clearly, and turning to stare straight into Naruto's eyes.
"I-I'm sorry, saw what?" Naruto stuttered under her intense gaze.
She growled softly, "You saw her trip me, right? I didn't fall by myself. You saw it, right?"
"No, I didn-"
Saki stood so suddenly that it startled Naruto. She mumbled a quick "whatever," then proceeded towards the locker room. The bell signaling the end of class rang several steps later, and Naruto was left staring with a puzzled look on his face at her retreating back.
The rest of the day passed in a blur; Sasuke hardly paid attention in any of his classes. Not that he needed to, he found it easy to understand the lesson without even having to listen. In fact, he probably couldn't even pay attention if he wanted to. He was hearing things; hushed whispers and giggles coming from behind him. He felt several pairs of eyes on his back, watching him, ridiculing every move he made. It was unnerving and by the end of the day, Sasuke was just about to lose his mind. Never in his life has he been treated this way. In all of his other schools, people worshiped him. He was always the most popular and everyone liked him, save for the few boys who were jealous of his attractive features. He didn't understand why he was hated so much.
Tripping once on his ways up the stairs, he took a sharp right and turned into the girls' hall, just about slamming into his door. He fished out his key and placed it in the key hole, then froze as he was about to open the door. Sasuke pressed his ear to the door and heard a peculiar sound, it sounded like a shower running. He opened the door and stepped under a heavy spray of cold water. The water jolted him and he slammed against the wall adjacent to the door, looking up and seeing the small fire safety water spigot on the ceiling raining heavily on his floor, along with everything else in the room. He reached over and pulled at a small leaver that turned off the spray. Sasuke glanced around his dorm and swallowed thickly; he felt like throwing up. Everything was soaked to the core, his bed, his carpet, his walls. His dresser was thrust open and his clothes lay stranded on the sopping floor. At his feet lay a soggy pile of blackened ash. Sasuke bent down to poke at it and realized that it was paper reduced to ashes as a result of burning. He stood again, fists clenching at his side.
Squeals echoed into his room from the hallway as girls entered the hall and passed his open door. Their squeals attracted other curious females who ran out of their rooms to see the commotion. Boys lined up at the top of the staircase to figure out what was happening, since they couldn't enter the girls' side of the building.
Sasuke reached under his newly soaked skirt and pulled out his cell phone. He held down button 2 until Asuma's number appeared on the screen then lifted it to his ear. It rang a few times, then Asuma picked up.
"Hello?" He heard Asuma's voice on the other end.
"Asuma," Sasuke said quietly, his voice wavering and threatening to crack. "Do you think you could pick me up?"
The man's concern was evident through the phone. "Sure. Why? What's wrong?"
Sasuke shook his head as if Asuma could see the action. "It's nothing. I'll see you in an hour." And Sasuke hung up. He turned around and stepped out of the room, the crowd parted silently. The door clicked shut behind him and he locked it.
It was deathly silent, so silent Sasuke could hear the water dripping from his clothes. All eyes were on him again, they stared as he walked through the parting crowd and through the line of boys who parted by the stairs. He didn't look at them once; his eyes focused on the floor in front of him.
Kiba emerged from the crowd and stared as the raven descended down the stairs. His hand went to his pocket and touched the cell phone he kept there, then stopped. Tempted to call up Naruto, he figured it would be useless as Naruto was probably already with his counselor by now and he kept his phone off during their sessions. Kiba watched the girl leave the building and the crowd began to thin; the students returning to their dorms. He heard whispers already beginning to take root, ready to blossom into an big, ugly rumors, as they passed the tongues of students strolling by. He took the stairs two at a time down to the lobby and stepped outside the building. The cold, autumn air jolted his nerves and he shivered. Kiba spotted Saki walking slowly towards the entrance of the main building. He jogged to catch up to her.
"Hey!!"
Sasuke didn't even hear the voice that called to him.
"Oi!! Yuzuru!!" Kiba tried again and fell into step beside her.
Sasuke blinked and turned his head to the boy that was now walking beside him. He recognized him as one of Naruto's friends, and decided to ignore him, picking up the pace a bit.
"Aren't you cold?" Kiba asked, shivering a bit.
"Why are you following me?"
The brunet shivered even more from the cold reply he received. "Hey, I'm just trying to see if you're okay. I saw what happened to your dorm..."
"So did the rest of the school."
"Yeah, but I seem to be the only one that cares."
"Why?!!" Sasuke shouted suddenly, turning on the boy and gritting his teeth. "Why do you care?!! No one else does, so mind you're own business!!"
Kiba was taken aback, but he soon recovered and stood up to the raven. "You know. Truth is, I don't care. I really could care less about what goes on between the girl population because I know better than to get involved."
"Then why are you here?" Sasuke asked evenly.
"For Naruto's sake."
Sasuke's breath hitched, but he blamed it on the shiver that ran down his spine. He brought his arms up and crossed them over his body. "Oh really?" his voice shook lightly,
Kiba nodded. "Yeah. Because I know when Naruto comes back and sees what's happened to you, he'll go straight to me. And if he finds out that no one even bothered to help you, he'll blame himself. And that's the last thing I ever wanna see him do; blame himself."
Sasuke stood in silence, just staring at the boy in front of him, soaking in his words like his clothes soaking in the cold. Ugh...cold.
Suddenly, the sound of an engine approached the pair and they both turned to see a shiny black car pull up the drive in front of the school. Sasuke turned away and walked towards the car, leaving Kiba behind.
The window on the passenger side rolled down as Sasuke drew closer and Asuma peeked up at him in worry and mild shock.
"Sasuke! What the hell happened to you?!" the man demanded.
"We're still on school grounds, Asuma," Sasuke reminded him quietly as he stepped into the car and shut the door. "Now drive."
Asuma obeyed and turned around, leaving the school grounds. He turned down the street that lead into town and risked a glance in the boy's direction. He was soaked, and the goosebumps were very visible on his thighs that quivered with the cold. Asuma switched the heat to a higher power and focused again on the road.
"Where to?" he asked.
"Just drive." Was Sasuke's bitter reply.
Asuma took a right turn down a street lined with small shops and buildings. "You gonna at least tell me why you're ruining the upholstery with your wet ass?" Asuma looked towards the boy for a reply.
Sasuke's fist tightened and he turned further away from him.
"Don't tell me people are giving you a hard time at school. What? Never been picked on before?"
Something about that struck a nerve in Sasuke and he gasped lightly.
Asume chuckled. "Oh yeah, that's right. You've been Mr. Popularity all you're life, haven't you? You've never experienced the torture that millions of kids are put through each day, because you've been so sheltered all your life. For a pampered child like you, know wonder it would come as a shock at your age."
Asuma jerked his head towards the passenger door when a gust of wind blasted through the small car and he saw Sasuke's body lob out of the car.
Sasuke landed and rolled onto the sidewalk, receiving a few good scratches on his knees and cheek. He stood and brushed off his now wet and dirty clothes and began walking in the opposite direction. Asuma's car pulled up to the sidewalk next to him.
The car window rolled down again and Asuma leaned out the best he could. "Shit, Sasuke!!! Are you crazy?!! What the hell was that?!!"
Sasuke didn't reply but kept walking down the street.
Asuma leaned over and opened the passenger door, letting it swing open. "Get back in the car, Sasuke."
Still no reply.
"Sasuke, get in the car!!!"
This time, the boy suddenly took off down the sidewalk in full-force sprint. Asuma sped up in response. "Sasuke, what the hell has gotten into you?!!"
"Shut up. I'll go back to the school by myself." Sasuke shouted back at the car.
"I can't allow that!! You will not-"
Sasuke took a sharp left into an alley and Asuma slammed on the brakes. "Shit!!" he cursed, pounding his fists against the steering wheel. He then pulled out a thin, silver cell phone and held down a button. He looked outside at the sky. It was a light orange and a thin veil of shadow covered the buildings; it was getting late.
Sasuke slowed to a walk, then stopped completely to catch his breath. He plucked the singing cell phone from the hidden strap under his clothes and pressed a button, turning off the device.
Yes!!! Part four! Sorry about the wait, but my computer is still out of order and the only reason I am able to post this is because I'm using my sister's computer. Ugh...I've been deprived from my lovely doujinshi for too long!! Sorry about the terrible wait and please, please be patient. My computer was just sent to this guy who will fix it. REVIEWS ARE T3H SHIT!!! Send them, please?