If Sakura said she wasn't having the best dream of her life, she would be lying. Of course, she wasn't dreaming about rainbows, sparkly dresses, or unicorns. No. She was dreaming of herself back in her gi back in the dojo, beating a blue punching bag into a mass of sand and cloth without restraint. Everything felt real: the padded floors under feet, the fabric on her skin, the texture of the punching bag on her knuckles when she struck - they were all too familiar. Sakura could just imagine the face of everyone she'd ever been frustrated with plastered on the punching bag before her, which now included the stupid police officer, Pein, her two artist classmates, and the wannabe thug who'd insulted her several times. A smirk spread across her face as she spun and threw a spinning hook kick at the already battered bag. It fell to the floor with a satisfying thunk.
Normally, Sakura was a rational human being (tried to be, at least, until a few certain bastards pissed her off), but for a rare moment, she let herself go berserk, slamming her fists and feet into the faces and crotches of life-sized dummies which represented each individual that she'd just destroyed on the punching bag. While her morality didn't always allow her to go around hitting people for no reason, in her dreams, there was nothing to hold her back. Happily, Sakura ran around in her dream-dojo, pummeling everyone who had annoyed her. Irritation had been bubbling under her skin for her entire first day at Ame High School; it'd been a whirlwind of events that had led her from being a regular student in a delinquent high school to a special one, placed in the highest class due to her strength and her amazing right hook. She'd nearly died from simply walking into her new classroom and accidentally insulting one of her new classmates. Then, for the first time in her life, Sakura had disobeyed a policeman, climbed a fence, and gotten insulted by the leader of a school gang, though she achieved retribution with only two punches that had been admittedly satisfying As a result, she had to question Pein's judgment in his methods for choosing people to help him spread peace and unity as well as his sanity for scaring her into thinking she'd become a hoodlum on her first day of school. If she even tried to think about that any more, then her brain would explode.
Delivering an elbow strike (which is severely frowned upon in proper Karate) to dummy Pein's temple was doing wonders for her self-esteem. The first day at school had been a roller coaster ride, but ultimately, peace was peace, and Sakura could only stay frustrated with him for so long. There was the notion that she would have to fight others at some point, but the possibility of avoiding that was so close - she could almost smell it. The strange events that had happened throughout the course of the day couldn't all be explained in a convincing manner; there wasn't a good reason as to why Class S had been riddled with booby traps and why there was a need to mark Akatsuki territory with spray paint. But if there was one thing Sakura could explain, it was Sasori's episode with his puppets, which she had determined to simply be a reflex reaction to her damaging his creation that probably had faulty wiring. Swiftly, she gave his dummy a powerful side kick, sending it flying back, and she was satisfied. Hope. That was what had begun to course through her veins - the ideas that her classmates were actually good people who just so happened to be really strong (for the purpose of self-defense while achieving their goals) and that she could live like a normal human being if she went along with everything for a period of time.
Next came bastard Onishi's substitute. Her fist flew forward, hungering for a taste of his fabric, sexist, pig-headed flesh.
BRAP! BRAP! BRAAAAAAP!
Startled, Sakura's punch fell short as she stumbled to the floor, hitting her head and scaring herself awake. She immediately sat up, frantically scanning the room before her to find where the awful racket was coming from. The world spun and twirled.
"You look silly, yeah."
She froze as she focused her blurry vision on a grinning Deidara. He sat casually at the foot of her bed with his legs crossed. The phone Sasori had given her flashed in his grip. His frame shivered and his face was tinged red from his efforts to hide his laughing at her frazzled appearance. Sensing her aggravation, he turned off the alarm he'd apparently set on her phone. Casually, a pair of legs lolled over the edge of the bed.
"What time is it, and why the hell are you in my room?" Pressing a hand to her forehead, Sakura attempted to calm the incessant pounding in her mind. It was still dark out and a light rain knocked on the roof above their heads. Even though she didn't know the time, the half-awake girl knew it was an unholy hour of the morning. She shut her eyes, wanting to sink back into her dream to beat the stuffing out of more annoying people. It was simply too cold to be awake; chilly air nipped at her skin and the bed beneath her begged her to stay and go back to sleep.
"It's five a.m.," he responded matter-of-factly. Dangling in his fingers was the pencil Sakura had accidentally snapped in half the week before. "And I'm here because you should've been up half an hour ago, yeah."
Sakura lifted an eyebrow in disbelief. "Why would I be up at four thirty?" She squinted out the window and saw a car pull out of the driveway and drive into the darkness. Only her father ever left the house at the crack of dawn for work, which confirmed in Sakura's mind that it was way too early to function.
"Pein called you at four thirty, yeah. Didn't we tell you he'd contact you in the morning for an assignment? By the way, I'm impressed to see that you haven't broken your new phone yet."
Ignoring his insult compliment, she wrinkled her eyebrows. "Four thirty?" Sakura groaned. "It's too early. Tell him to call me later. I'm tired." She pulled the covers over her head, laid her head down, and promptly shut her eyes.
There was simply no way she could get up now; she was still tired from yesterday, running around town and whatnot to scrub spray paint off walls. A sigh of relief passed her lips when her heavy head sank into her pillow. For a moment, she contented herself with the soothing darkness of the quiet morning. For a moment, there was no one but her in her room as she snuggled back into the welcoming sheets, enjoying the pleasant warmth that wrapped its arms around her body. Deidara said nothing as she waved a hand for him to leave her be. Her breath evening, Sakura nestled her hands in the crook of her neck. But there was a thought nagging her mind. She had to wonder why Deidara was remaining quiet, and it was this silence that made her uneasy. If she learned anything from their one-day interaction, it was that he tended to be more responsive to her in every way, especially after she'd complimented his artistic style.
It all started out as a seed of anxiety, planted in her tired thoughts that she ignored. But his continuing silence unsettled Sakura to the point where she couldn't fall asleep anymore; the seed had sprouted in her mind. Her eyes snapped wide open. A bead of sweat trickled down her forehead in anticipation for something to happen as her breathing quickened. The blankets were almost like an oven, trapping her increasing body heat. Her fingers twitched under the covers when she heard the pressure at the foot of her bed disappear and the floorboards creak. Sensing a presence standing directly over her, Sakura threw her blanket off and pushed herself into a sitting position.
"Why aren't you saying anything?" she cried, pulling at her awful bed head. "Are you trying to make me go crazy?" Now wide awake, Sakura realized Deidara hadn't been the only person in the room watching her. Sasori, too, stood at her bedside beside Deidara, staring down at her. Eyebrows furrowed under a mop of red hair as the stare persisted. Blankly, she stared back. "You know, that's really creepy," she managed. Sakura hadn't even noticed he was there. But more than that, it was just plain weird having two people she had only met yesterday - boys no less - with their eyes boring a hole in her face while she was in her pajamas (which was really just an oversized shirt Naruto had once given her). Their collective forwardness was making things move a bit too quickly for Sakura's taste; it had taken nearly five years of knowing Naruto before even letting him step a foot into her house. She hadn't even known Sasori and Deidara for more than a day, and they were already barging into her room without hesitation.
"You're noisy," Sasori commented. He, too, had messy bed-head, and the scowl he wore suggested he was equally as irritated as she was, but his frumpy appearance made him look more like a growling Pomeranian. "Next time, answer your phone when someone calls you." He snatched the phone from Deidara's hands and tossed it at her. It landed in her lap with a soft thunk. "If I am ever informed that you can't wake yourself up and that I must personally come to wake you up again, I will have my revenge." He glared at her with dull, caramel eyes before stomping towards her window and jumping to the tree.
Throwing up her hands, Sakura groaned. "You didn't even wake me up, asshole. It was this one over here!" The fist she brandished fell limply back onto the bed in exhaustion.
Deidara shook his head and sighed. "Don't mind him; he's just got low blood pressure in the mornings, yeah, but you shouldn't keep Pein waiting. Apparently, it's something important."
"It's five in the morning!"
"You were supposed to be there at four thirty. Just go, yeah. You don't want to see him angry. Ultimately, Pein controls all of your information."
A cold fist gripped Sakura's heart.
He's right.
He, too, turned and headed for the window. Once he reached it though, Deidara threw one final glance at her. "Also, wear the hoodie and sweats we gave you yesterday. It's required. See you, yeah." He then clambered out the window, leaving Sakura alone once again in her room. The only evidence that the pair had been in her room was the open window that let in cold, morning air. The curtains drifted slightly in the breeze.
She sat there for a minute, allowing her mind to comprehend what had just happened, and she quickly concluded that she needed to lock her window from now on unless she wanted more people to intrude on her room. Perhaps a booby trap or two at the window would suffice; there'd been enough home invasions to last a lifetime.
Bzzt. Bzzt.
The phone in her lap buzzed quietly, a silent command for her to unlock it despite her skeptical gaze.
Well, here goes nothing.
She picked up the device, the cool metal sending a shiver through her body. Without thinking further, Sakura pressed the 'Home' button.
OH GOD!
Almost immediately, she chucked the phone across the room, her hands flying up to shield her burning eyes; the phone's brightness had scorched her vision with the intensity of a thousand suns. But what made it worse was that the phone began playing the sounds of volcanic explosions. It spazzed on the ground and flopped like a fish on land, undoubtedly making a racket. Panic shot through Sakura's body, knowing that the sound was loud enough to wake her mother and the majority of her neighbors who were still asleep. A lump of guilt rose to her throat when the dog down the street started barking and the nearby houses' lights flickered on. Blinded, she swung herself off the bed and stumbled from her bed to where she thought the phone had made its crash landing, patting the floor with her hands. At last, her hand hit the cool glass, and she scooped it up. Bracing herself, Sakura peeked at the phone and braved the next wave of scalding light and read the Caller ID. She picked up the call hesitantly and lifted the phone to her ear.
"Hello?"
"Good morning, Haruno." Pein's voice glided into her ear. He didn't seem at all tired."I believe Deidara and Sasori came to wake you."
Sighing, she replied. "Yes, they did." Sakura winced at the bug in her voice and quietly cleared her throat.
"I expect you in my office in ten minutes. Goodbye."
That was a short conversation, she noted, ending the call. But ten minutes to get to his office? It'll take at least twenty - five to get ready and fifteen to get there. He couldn't have actually meant ten minutes, so naturally, Sakura assumed Pein just wanted her to be quick about getting to school, which she could do. After all, it was five in the morning, and she felt like a slug. She took one last peek at the screen and tapped on a notification for a text Deidara had sent her before Pein's call.
Get up, yeah.
Sakura rolled her eyes - even in written form, he just had to include the 'yeah.'
Despite her frustration, she took his advice. From what she knew about Deidara and Sasori, they would probably run back to her house and just tow her to school anyway, so there really wasn't a point to going back to sleep at this point. Dragging herself across the floor, Sakura pulled her door open and collected the now neatly folded and washed clothes in front of her room that she'd carelessly left on the stairs the previous night. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes with difficulty and first slipped the sweats on. Then, she pulled the hoodie over her head and inched her arms through the sleeves; she was too tired to change shirts.
It's not like anyone's going to see it, anyway.
She stuffed the phone into her pocket and forced herself to stand. There was an inherent curiosity for why Pein would want her at school this early, but this time, Sakura was not in as big of a rush to find out why. Her mind lagged while she decided what to do next. Walking to the bathroom, Sakura was careful not to make too much noise. Wearily, she grabbed the toothpaste and squeezed the appropriate amount of paste she needed onto her toothbrush. She hadn't even lifted the toothbrush to her mouth when she could feel the phone buzz again. She rolled her eyes and stuck her free hand into her pocket, not even bothering to read the Caller ID.
"Hello?"
"Sakura Haruno. You have seven minutes left. There will be consequences if you are late. Deidara has warned you, I'm sure."
"He did yesterday," she replied hesitantly, pretty sure he'd said something about scrubbing toilets or something of the like. "And kind of today as well."
"Good."
The line went dead, and she stared at her reflection in the mirror.
With that one word, something was confirmed. He was serious. Her eye twitched. Shit. She could just imagine Pein sitting at his desk in that dingy office with his fingers laced, radiating that oppressive aura of his with a Heineken at his side. Even if Pein didn't scare her as much with his physical appearance anymore, his control over her personal information and academic record - which Deidara had been kind enough to remind her of - did, and with a threat hanging over her head, Sakura knew better than to be defiant. Maybe he'd fail her and she'd never go to college. Maybe he'd even sentence her to a life of misery, trapped by loan sharks. Whatever the consequence would be, Sakura didn't want to find out.
There was no time to waste - she sprang into action and furiously ran the toothbrush over her teeth, giving herself no more than thirty seconds to do so. Her blood began racing as she spat out the bubbles and gargled, not caring that there was a stain on her collar or that she failed to wipe off the excess toothpaste at the corners of her mouth. Ignoring the rumble in her stomach, Sakura tumbled down the stairs head first, all the while combing her hair with her fingers. Breakfast would have to wait. She considered leaving a note, but decided against it, instead taking a moment to appreciate modern technology as she texted an excuse to her mother, saying that she wanted to go for a super early morning run and arrive at school early.
Checking the time before sending the message, Sakura panicked to see she only had five minutes left to make a fifteen minute drive. She burst out the door, frantically looking for transportation. The other car in the garage was off-limits; she didn't even have a permit. Besides, it was old, and the engine took forever to start. She considered calling a taxi, but she didn't have that kind of money. Furthermore, the taxi would have to obey traffic laws, and that simply wouldn't suffice for her needs. Sakura's eyes rested on her old bike that rested against the house. Hope swelled in her chest, along with utter disgust, but she was happy her father had decided to bring it along. The bike hadn't been ridden in years, and the chains were rusty. A spider web glistened in between the spokes of the tires.
I am desperate.
Without a second thought, Sakura jumped on and began pedaling with all her strength, flying past stop lights and signs, not daring to slow down. The slick roads didn't deter her at all as she pretended the prickly feeling skittering up her leg wasn't a bug. Unoiled gears screeched and groaned under the force of each push. The wind slapped her from every direction and whistled loudly in her ears, and she pictured that it was slowly peeling the skin off her unwashed face. The sky was still dark, but it appeared that she wasn't the only one in a hurry; several cars filled the roads and honked at her for cutting through traffic.
"Do you want to die?" An angry man shook his fist at her from inside his car. Though it was a blur, the numerous hands that were positioned outside of the window were definitely sporting middle fingers.
"Sorry!" she screamed as she shot past a line of cars, holding on for dear life. She swerved around a bag of trash that'd been sitting in the road and yelped as the bike zoomed through a puddle of cold, dirty water.
Her legs were burning and freezing at the same time and her breathing was harsh. The hems of her pants clung to her ankles. The rough texture of the soaked fabric sent a shiver of slimy disgust up Sakura's spine, but she couldn't stop pedalling. She couldn't just stop. Sakura could only hope that all the effort she was putting into getting to school on time would pay off. In any case, she didn't particularly desire to find out just what the 'consequence' Pein had mentioned was, and she could imagine how bad his anger could be, considering he still put her on edge for various reasons.
Over the shriek of the wind, Sakura imagined that she could hear her phone ringing, blaring its stupid jingle of explosion sounds strung together, so she snatched her phone from her pocket and hit the green 'receive' button.
"HELLO!?" she bellowed over the sound of early morning traffic and the sound of her desperate pedaling.
"You have three minutes, yeah."
Metal handlebars bent under her grip, and a strange insanity flashed through her eyes. His calm voice irritated her to no end. "YES, I KNOW I HAVE THREE MINUTES LEFT - I'M ALMOST THERE," she roared. "IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU WANT TO TELL ME, CAPTAIN OBVIOUS?" Ame High School was sitting just on the horizon. Sakura huffed and panted as she fought her way up the hill with legs that now felt like hundred pound weights and reminded her that she needed to exercise.
I swear… If he doesn't say something worth the energy I've wasted already, I'll strangle him the next time I see him or at the very least knock a few brain cells out of his head.
The line went silent for a moment before Deidara responded with a thoughtful answer. "No, not really. See ya."
"ARGH!"
There was no way she was going to let that promise go unfulfilled. She slammed a thumb down on the red button and ended the call, huffing.
Thinking someone else would want to contact her - considering the frequency of calls she was getting - Sakura clamped her teeth down on the nuisance of a phone. At the moment, she could care less if her minty spit was covering the screen; all she wanted to do was get to Pein's office on time before she was possibly condemned to cleaning toilets, like how Deidara had warned. Every ounce of energy Sakura possessed was poured into her legs. The stench of burning rubber filled the air with every push of the pedal. Her uphill battle progressed at a declining speed, but as soon the ground beneath her leveled, she flashed forward, nearly breaking the laws of physics and human capability.
With the school rapidly approaching on the left, her fingers clamped down on the brakes as she drifted around the corner. An awful snapping sound rang in the air.
Shit.
Sakura spared a glance at the brakes that now dangled from the handles uselessly before looking up. If she didn't get off now, she'd end up as a pancake on the wall. Gritting her teeth, Sakura flung herself off the bike and tucked into a roll. Immediately upon executing the roll, she leapt to her feet, spat the phone out of her mouth, put it in her pocket, and made a break for the school gates. The bike smacked into the wall, falling into nothing but a pile of metal parts, and the sound reverberated through the dusty school grounds. As expected, no one was at the school yet. Only the sound of Sakura's shoes scuffing the concrete filled the air. The clock that hung just above the entrance warned her that she only had a minute left to climb two flights of stairs. This activity reminded her quite a bit of what Kakashi once had her do as punishment, which was to run to his house from the dojo, find his orange-covered book, and bring it back, all within the span of five minutes. What was more important, though, was the advice he'd given her.
Yell while you're running, he'd suggested. It will make you stronger.
And yell she did. Sakura blazed down the hall, yelling at the top of her lungs and propelling herself forward. Her voice echoed down the hallway as her energy spiked. She was so close to her target; she darted up the first flight of stairs, taking it two steps at a time. Taking in another deep breath, Sakura prepared her lungs for another yell. She could feel her legs screaming at her, and her heart was beating out of chest.
Shut up, body.
Though she, of all people, should have known the negative effects of pushing herself as hard as she was, Sakura ignored her body's protests and sprinted for the next flight of stairs. Sweat beaded at the top of her forehead; she knew she couldn't have more than half a minute left before her time limit was up. The stairs she reached were quickly scaled. Not even bothering to look at her phone to check the time, Sakura raced down the home stretch. Within her shaky vision, she could see the sign that, in her mind, read "Survival." She screeched to a halt before the door and slammed it open with one hand, busting into the room like a policewoman at a crime scene.
"I'M HERE!"
She immediately collapsed to her knees and rested her head against the cool floor. Her arms and legs were burning, and her hair had become matted with sweat. Sinking into the floor, Sakura let her limbs become one with it. Undoubtedly, it was dirty, but she didn't care; she was tired and wanted to rest. Her racing heart slowed to a jog, and she exhaled contentedly, pressing her cheek even further into the ground. She'd made it.
"Getting comfortable, yeah?"
Sakura rolled her eyes. "Shut up, Deidara. I'm tired."
She opened her eyes into slits and glared at him. Her hands itched to wrap around his throat and smash him against the wall, but they laid uselessly at her side. He was crouching over her, staring down, and from Sakura's point of view, she could see a slight double chin forming, which made Deidara looked downright silly. Biting back a slight giggle and quietly reigning in her desire to asphyxiate him, she ran a sleeve over her forehead and focused on the floor. In any case, she needed to regain her calmness and remember where she was. As she stared at the floor, Sakura noticed tiny shards of orange clay that littered the floor beside her, and her giggling ceased. She glanced around nervously, looking for a guy wearing a new, swirly orange mask. Thankfully, she didn't see him, and her nervousness decreased. Slightly.
"You alright?" Deidara bent down and leaned in close to get a better look at her face. Sakura whimpered as she held back a snicker; his double chin was growing more prominent. He raised an eyebrow at her reddening cheeks and watering eyes. A wave of laughter rippled through her body, but she wasn't about to let Deidara know why she was laughing. "Pein's waiting for you, yeah." He shrugged and nodded at the back of the chair. He pushed his knees straight and now stood. Yet he continued to hold her gaze. Sakura desperately wanted to beat the floor with her fists and laugh out loud. In an effort to hide her amusement, she covered her mouth with her hands.
"Where's Sasori?" she managed through breathy giggles. Sakura pushed her torso off the floor and rolled onto her side. Her body still protested, not really wanting to get up from its comfortable spot on the ground. "Didn't you say you always stick together because you're partners?"
Deidara shrugged. "He's fixing his puppet right now."
Sakura blinked. "Oh." The one I broke. Forcing herself to stand, she brushed the specks of dirt and smashed-mask off her clothes and approached the desk. Everything was neatly back in place: the chair she'd jumped out of was now parallel to the straight edge of the table, the papers were stacked in neat piles on the desk, and so was the temperature of the room - goosebumps arose on the exposed parts of her skin in response to the freezing air.
"Prin - Pein?" Sakura forced herself to say avoid the word 'principal'. It still was a weird feeling, calling a principal his real name, and it went without saying thatshe would prefer to call him by his proper title.
"Ah, Haruno." The chair he sat in swiveled around, and slowly, Pein's metal-studded face came into her view. He looked rather put-together for someone who had been up since four thirty in the morning, perhaps even earlier. His purple stare fell upon Sakura's face, and she froze, momentarily caught by the command he held in his eyes. But seconds later, her form relaxed. Fingers twitched slightly as he opened his mouth to speak again.
He's someone who believes in peace. He can't be that bad, she reminded herself. Even if he did give me a bad first impression and looks like a pincushion, I always tend to judge too quickly.
"Thank you for coming. You barely missed the punishment." He rested his large, clasped hands on the table. A half-hearted smile graced his thin lips as Sakura mentally patted herself on her back. "It appears you're fitting in wonderfully. I'm sure you're wondering why I requested your presence here half an hour ago."
Oh, jeez.
Sakura clenched her jaw. "Yes. Please tell me why," she forced through a half-smile.
Please tell me why I was woken up at an unholy hour in the morning to come to school four hours before school starts. Tell me why I bothered coming here - it's not that a big deal that I almost got run over by more than a few cars and that I skipped breakfast, the most important meal of the day mind you, to get here and avoid some wicked punishment. I swear, you better have a good reason for why-
"There's a good reason why I called you here." She stared at him as he stood. "Follow me."
Walking around his desk and out the door, Pein kept his eyes straight ahead. Sakura turned and followed hesitantly, first moving her foot half a step before looking skeptically at Deidara. He tilted his head towards the door, a quiet gesture for her to go. She nodded, walking after Pein. But as soon as she passed Deidara, she sent a fist into his gut. He doubled over, wrapping his arms around his middle, quivering as he did so. With a huff. Sakura tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, quickly catching up with her orange haired principal. A part of her congratulated herself for remembering to get back at him for earlier. They walked in heavy silence down the long corridor, Sakura keeping herself a few paces behind him.
Pein's every step was sure and solid as he led her past the various classrooms and up the stairs. His strides were fast - Sakura found herself speed-walking after him as he swept around the corner and up the stairs, leading her to Class S's floor. However, she walked with difficulty; her thighs were still burning from the unexpected workout. At the top of the stairs, he stopped. Nearly crashing into him, Sakura nearly fell down the stairs. Pein looked at her meaningfully and nodded at a lump of white, black, and red on the couch.
Sakura peeked out from behind him and gasped at what lay before her. Blood was spattered across the floor and couch, and its coppery odor tinged the cold air. Clothes were torn into shreds, doing little to hide the deep gashes on the pale skin of an unconscious man. He was almost like a corpse; not a single part of him moved. Dim sunlight streamed through the window. Only occasionally did his labored breathing hitch with a faint echo of spit at the back of his throat. Otherwise, Sakura would have thought he was dead. Shocked, she stood there, a lump of guilt forming at the back of her throat when she realized why she'd been contacted at four thirty in the morning. Out of instinct, her feet pulled her in front of Pein to get a better view.
"I believe you have medical knowledge." He looked at her, his expression still dead.
She nodded numbly. "I do, but who is this?"
"A classmate of yours."
Which means he's part of the Akatsuki, she realized. But why would he be injured to this degree?
Sakura threw him a nervous glance. "Shouldn't you have a nurse for this sort of thing? Or at least send him to the hospital? I mean, I'm only a student-"
He silenced her with a stare. Pein nodded, then gestured with his hand, allowing her to proceed. With a huge frame that blocked the way down, he'd just forced her into treating someone - not that Sakura would have run away anyway.
Stumbling forward and dropping to her knees, Sakura took a closer look at the injuries. The cuts were deeper than she had previously thought, and they were lined with dirt. In fact, the entire body was covered in dirt. Analyzing was now the first thing on her mind. She gently probed the flesh around the cuts. It was clear the wounds were going to be infected if they weren't cleaned soon.
"I'm going to need some alcohol, bandages, swabs, and tweezers." Sakura glanced at her orange haired principal. "I also need a towel and some cold water. If I don't clean his wounds soon, bacteria will get into his body," she explained. The question of how the stranger had gotten so injured begged to be asked, but she held her tongue; it wasn't the priority at the moment. "And he might need stitches, but I can't really do that for you…"
Not legally, her inner voice corrected.
"I see." He waved his hand, and Deidara appeared at his side with the an assortment of bottles and bags in his hands. "We always have first aid available," Pein said as Deidara neared her, his steps slow and reluctant. Sakura reached up, her eyebrow raised, and received them, picking apart the labelled items. She smiled weakly. Their first aid equipment was rather worn out - it seemed as if it hadn't been used in a while, but it had everything. Band-aids, aspirin, a thermometer, gloves, and more were crammed into the bags. The hodgepodge of stuff couldn't really be called a first aid kit, but it was something and it was doable. As each item was mulled over, Deidara set down a bottle of water at her side.
Brushing off a layer of dust off a glass jar, Sakura could tell she'd picked up some rubbing alcohol. She quickly discerned what she need and what she didn't need, laying everything out at her side. After she rolled up her sleeves, carefully, Sakura began running an alcohol-soaked swab over tweezers, though her pinky finger twitched when she felt two piercing gazes aimed at her hands.
Sakura exhaled. With their intense stares, it meant that any mistake was too much. Perhaps it meant the person being treated was important. The hair on her arms stood as she unknowingly allowed tension to escalate. She snorted in her mind, though. If they were worried about her making a mistake, then they probably should have hired someone who was legally qualified (even if she knew in her mind that she would be better). Deciding to start on the arms, carefully, she tore off the sleeves of the hoodie.
The atmosphere was quick to change as Sakura focused and pushed extraneous thoughts out of her mind; she worked in silence, first on the arm nearest to her, meticulously wiping down the areas around the cuts. Progress was slow - the blood that had been oozing out of the gashes was now drying up, and it took some force to scrub it off. The combination of blood and dirt made the job all the more tedious, and the numerous bruises that got in the way didn't help either. But with care, the cuts were cleaned, and a moist towel dabbed at the stranger's sweaty forehead. Another one delicately dabbed at patches of grime. A bottle of antiseptic she found was used to coated the scrapes and lacerations with soothing liquid. It was all a routine, really, that Sakura had executed several times when she had helped Naruto recover from his stupid antics and Sasuke from his attempts to become a firebender when they were kids.
An accidental brush from her alcohol cotton swab on an open wound earned her a jerk in the meaty arm of her patient. His jaw clenched, and a guttural groan rumbled in his throat.
"Sorry," she muttered, readjusting her weight. Her arm was re-positioned at an awkward angle to prevent herself from hurting him further, and she resumed working. But it didn't take long for her arm to begin tiring and her hands to begin shaking.
Concentrate.
A deep breath filled her lungs. Her arms fell to her sides, and the aching ceased. She held herself that way for a moment before throwing herself back into the task. Time seemed to disappear as, in her mind, Sakura isolated herself and her patient from the world.
Skillful fingers wrapped cuts in bandages, though they sometimes fumbled with the sheer weight of the limb they lifted. Sakura soon discovered that she was going through rolls of bandages like nobody's business because each arm had muscles the size of watermelons. She hadn't even finished the upper half of his body - much less the arm that she had been working on - when her hands grabbed air.
"Here. I ran to get some more, yeah."
Sakura turned her head and smiled half-heartedly at Deidara. He set the fresh bandages on an empty bag.
"Thanks. That's really nice of you." She patted a band-aid onto a graze on her patient's scratched cheek. Then, she reached for another. It was quickly unpeeled and smoothed onto his nose.
Her blonde companion shrugged. "I only brought them because Pein told me to bring more, yeah."
"...How generous," she replied, her tone dry, as she read the labels of the new bandages. Sakura held back a snort when she realized that Deidara had most likely bought the cheapest ones he could find; she could still see the orange 50% off discount sticker on it. "Speaking of which, where is he?" She ripped off the plastic and continued to wrap the bulky trunk-like arm. She winced at the thought that once again, she'd concentrated on her task so much that she shut out everyone else.
"Pein went back to his office. He told me to stay here and help you, yeah." Deidara glared distastefully at the man she was treating.
Sakura bit her lip. "You don't seem to like this person," she observed. It was too good of an opportunity to learn more about her classmates, who for the most part, were all mysteries. She let her observation hang in the air.
Not too tight, the inner doctor warned as she swathed on another layer of bandage. Her grip on the fabric loosened slightly, and she adjusted the speed at which she worked. That's right… Take your time.
After a moment, Deidara responded. "Not really, yeah. He's an asshole."
A pair of pink eyebrows lifted. "Why don't you like him?"
"I'd rather not say," he responded. Sakura glanced over at him. The corners of his lips were dipped down into a sulk. Vibrant blue eyes darkened and narrowed. His hands were crammed into his pockets as he looked away. Clearly, he didn't want to talk.
Better not push it.
"Ok."
Silence resumed. He seemed to observe her every movement, which made the temporary pink-haired nurse quite nervous. Confidence wavering, she accidentally began letting bandages tumble through her fingers; she couldn't help but feel like he was judging her silently. It was all just conjecture in her mind, but Sakura began to imagine that her technique was wrong and he was actually a medical genius, but Sakura knew for a fact she was doing everything right. Throughout the past year, she'd thoroughly plunged herself into the medical field, and after periodically volunteering and interning at Tsunade's family's hospital for a few years, she could say with certainty that a single mistake hadn't been made yet.
"You're good at this. You've been sitting there for an hour, yeah."
Oh.
"Thanks." Sakura pushed herself off her knees, leaned over, and began working on the other arm. That one was equally bloody, if not bloodier, and a few times into her treatment, Deidara had been called over to assist her in scrubbing off the caked on blood, and he'd get scolded when he began slacking. After finishing with cleaning, Sakura worked alone and in silence, and the atmosphere of the hallway was soon to follow. The only sound that pervaded the air was the sound of her steady breathing and the sound of hands vigorously smacking wet clay (Deidara had gotten bored). And to some degree, she enjoyed the stillness of the morning as she fixed a patch onto her classmate's formerly bloody neck; it reminded her of the quietness back in the hospital where she'd worked. The sun, by now, had risen, and it hung in the sky that was now washed over with streaks of orange, yellow, and red. Applying the finishing touches, Sakura wiped the sweat off her brow.
Then, she began tearing the remains of the black Akatsuki hoodie off her classmate's torso, starting at the bottom.
"What are you doing, yeah?" Deidara's face was blue, and his pupils dilated in horror. A hand flew to his face to hide his innocent eyes from contamination.
She blinked, her hands freezing. For some reason, the people who watched Sakura treat others questioned her straightforward approach. "I need to check his chest for cuts. I've fixed his arms, hands, face," she said bluntly. A finger motioned at the bruises peppered on the body. "And there's not much I can do about these." The split in the fabric grew larger, as did the split between Deidara's fingers.
"I don't think I can watch this."
Rolling her eyes, Sakura shrugged; he was pretty much contradicting himself because he was staring at the ripping through the cracks in his fingers. "Then don't."
With a nod, he covered his mouth with his hands and gagged. "Yeah. I can't watch this. I'm out of here, yeah." Immediately, he whirled around and dove into the classroom, slamming the door shut behind him.
"What's his problem?" Sakura returned to tearing the clothes of an unconscious stranger. Strong, swift fingers easily ripped apart stubborn, matted fabric. Once she'd completely exposed his torso, she did a quick scan of his chest and stomach. To her surprise, there were numerous cuts across his chest, but virtually nothing on his abdominal muscles, which was rather strange for anyone who was as hurt as he was. To be fair, though, when Sakura gave them an experimental poke out of sheer curiosity, they felt like bricks. It must've taken years to get as ripped as he was. Even Lee, who worked out every day, sadly did not have the definition that the invalid had.
"Abs of steel, huh?" she mused, snickering at the thought as she pasted a few band-aids on the nicks and scratches. The bigger gashes were managed like how she had earlier; they were cleaned with water and treated with antiseptic. Then, they were protected by a layer of gauze. Standing back in admiration, Sakura smiled in triumph. Now all that she had to do were the legs…
Moving towards the lower half of the body, Sakura could hear a faint choke from behind her, and she couldn't help but roll her eyes. Talk about over dramatic.
"You know," she said, rolling up the pant's legs, "you don't have to watch."
Her movements ceased until she heard the door behind her squeak shut. Then, a smirk graced her lips as she rolled the pants up to reveal two fleshy legs that could be mistaken for sausages.
Thankfully, there weren't many injuries on his legs; most of them had been on the upper half of his body. Even for the few that were there, Sakura kept her applications flawless. But she had to hide a snicker; he was wrapped head to toe in gauze and cloth. The man had been injured to the point where he could be mistaken for a mummy, even more so a newborn child with superhuman abs that bulged out proudly in the middle of the textured, white cotton. Cleaning the last few scrapes, Sakura sighed. It troubled her to even imagine where such extensive injuries came from and think of when her patient was going to wake up. One last swipe of the towel across the forehead and the leftover equipment was packed back into the bags, now organized, of course, and placed onto a nearby table. There wasn't much left to do but let the natural body processes take over, which would take weeks, maybe even months to recover from. She stood there beside the corpse-like body before awkwardly glancing about, turning around, and walking to the classroom door open. Only when she slid the door open and was a step in did Sakura check to make sure there weren't any new booby traps, which thankfully, there were none. Taking a deep breath, she ventured further after shutting the door behind her.
Sure enough, Deidara and Sasori were inside, sitting in the middle of the room. Sasori had a toolbox at his side as he probed the wooden shell of the puppet Sakura had busted the yesterday. His lips were twisted into a frown. His blonde partner, though, laid on his back casually, a lump of clay in his hands. There didn't seem to be any activated stink bombs on the premises, and no arrows or ninja stars were being flung their way. To say the least, Sakura concluded that it was safe to walk freely the classroom, so she did. Keeping herself a safe but casual-enough distance from them, Sakura lowered herself to the floor. Neither Sasori nor Deidara said anything. They simply sat in silence with Sakura, who watched the puppet slowly reform. The halves were held together by a neat line of super glue, and the disintegrated face had been replaced with a blank mask. P1 seemed to be completely repaired except for some of the weapon holders in its body, which Sasori accessed through a hatch in its back.
"Tch." Sasori hissed under his breath as he tried to refit a knife back into its rightful place. Unfortunately, it kept slipping out. Sakura had to wonder, though, why he even bothered to stick more knives into the puppet when it had plenty already. And the knife he was trying to force back in wasn't even the last one; a whole pile sat at his side. A frustrated sigh later, and the wooden puppet was tossed aside. "It was flawed, anyway." With the flick of the wrist, he'd embedded the uncooperative knife into the wall behind him. "Deidara, expose of this trash."
He waved a hand dismissively. "I'm not your servant, yeah. Just because we don't have an assignment today doesn't mean you have to give me one." Deidara bent a leg propped the other one up on it. "Besides, it's your problem."
The tension in the air had thickened considerably. The pink haired girl pulled her lips into a tight line and eyed her classmates nervously. Yesterday, while they were cleaning the spray paint off the streets, the two had gotten into a huge argument over art that nearly destroyed a house or two, and it was clear that they were still in conflict. It boggled her mind that they could hold a petty grudge for so long. Then again, she still wanted to fry Onishi's guts for insulting her pride.
Sasori rolled his eyes. "Fool." He wrenched a knife out from the puppet's insides and began twirling it into a blur of silver with his fingers. "Little girl," he said, turning his attention to her, "you must decide."
Little girl?
Obviously, he was referring to her, unless Deidara had suddenly sprouted breasts. Sakura couldn't help but feel offended. Yes, she knew her hair made her look younger than she actually was, and she was also fully aware that her efforts to look and act maturely weren't working. But for the love of everything holy and good, Sasori was shorter than her, even if it was just by a little bit! His disdainful glares ticked Sakura off - if anything, he was a little boy. Self-control was the only thing holding her back from throwing insults at him, and it seemed he didn't really like her, even if he had shown a fraction of a fraction of kindness when she'd complimented his street art. Insulting him back would only start more fights she didn't need. Furthermore, Sakura would be lying to herself if she thought she could defeat Sasori at the moment; she knew just how disadvantaged she was from her year long hiatus because the fight with her red-headed "friend" hadn't been easy in the least.
"Decide on what?" she sniffed.
"Your definition of art - you've had nearly 24 hours to think about it." A cold, honey-colored stare fixed upon her face. "Is it something temporary or lasting?"
Sakura thought for a moment and crossed her arms; she'd never really took time out of her day to think of things like this, but a reply was quickly formed. Her interpretation would definitely set him off a bit, but she wasn't planning on agreeing with everything he said. "Art is something that springs from imagination and experience. We are all different, so meanings will vary. Therefore for you, it might be that art is everlasting while for Deidara, it's something that is fleeting." She narrowed her eyes. "You can't put a boundary on what art can and can't be. In any case, I think yours and Deidara's art are both accomplished in their own ways."
Disappointment flashed clearly in his eyes. "That's your answer?"
She nodded firmly. "Yes."
He said nothing in reply. The knife in his hand ceased its twirling and found its place in the cracks of the floorboards. The sound of splintering wood echoed through the massive classroom.
"You both are fools." Fluidly, Sasori got to his feet and glared down at her before stalking towards the door. He was anything but delighted when he'd heard her answer.
Concerned green eyes met blue. Deidara shrugged and mouthed, He does this a lot.
However, before the angry red head could yank open the door, it was slammed open before he could even reach it. Hands immediately flew to a hidden belt and brought forth two blades the length of forearms. Poised in an x-formation in front of his chest, the knives were prepared in a defensive position.
"Seriously," Sakura muttered. "Why is he carrying all of these weapons?"
But what entered the door came as a complete surprise to Sakura. Her jaw dropped to see a silver-haired man coated in nothing but gauze and bandages saunter through the threshold. He almost looked bored; a finger was nonchalantly brought up to his ear to dislodge a clump of earwax that he promptly flicked aside. It amazed Sakura that he could walk - let alone stand - without falling over and wincing at his injuries. As if he couldn't feel anything, he smirked and scratched his arm pits. Pride swelled in Sakura's chest as she noted that her bindings were holding, even if they were on a person who came off as a complete pig.
Disdain was clearly written across the newcomer's face. "Shit. The first thing you do when I walk in is point those toothpicks at me?"
Sasori sneered, his teeth bared. "They can hardly be called toothpicks when they nearly tore out your tendons a week ago, Hidan."
Oh, man. Sakura's eyes widened.
A large, dressed hand waved in the air dismissively. "Yeah, yeah. Fuck off and go fix your dolls. Where's Kakuzu?"
"Puppets," Sasori corrected with a tight voice. "Gone. He left to finish a deal with the people in Iwa earlier after dumping your body here."
At that moment, Sakura prayed that her puppet-obsessed classmate wouldn't completely flip out and wreck more than an hour's worth of work.
Purple eyes rolled in their sockets. "Fuck! Again?"
Deidara stood from his spot on the ground and wiped his hands clean of clay bits. "He's your partner, yeah. Shouldn't you know these things?"
Hidan's upper lip curled. "The fuck did you say? Fight me, you blonde dickhead! I'll wipe the floor with you." Then, an irritated purple gaze fell on Sakura. "And who is this bitch? Don't tell me she's the new kid." He smirked as understanding lit his expression. "Sasori isn't this bitch was the one who smashed your doll into pieces?"
She refrained herself from planting his face into the wall and driving a foot up his ass. It seemed as if Sasori, too, was trying to control himself. His grip on the handles of the blades tightened noticeably.
Sasori exhaled and sheathed his blades. "We have a genius in our midst. Yes, she's new." He turned and nodded at his pink haired classmate, his face marked with disgust. "Little girl, meet the idiot of the group."
Hey guys, it's the author. I just wanted to apologize for the numerous updates to the first three chapters (you probably got notified 132456 times) because I didn't realize that ff got rid of some of my italics, which made the second chapter an especially disgusting read. I had that problem with the third one, too, but I fixed it after looking through the preview. I also checked to see what it would look like out of the preview, and I found out that the words go right up to the next chapter button, which looks like pure garbage. I'm going to fix the formatting on that, too, so bear with me as I update a few more times. Sorry about that, and hopefully this kind of shit doesn't happen again.
