The day turned to night as the girls bonded. Soon enough, it was time for group sharing. Ino had gone back to her room to change clothes, leaving Hinata and Sakura to do the same. Group sharing was a formal event, at least for the girls. Everyone was encouraged to look their best as a self-esteem builder. This left Sakura sorting through her favorite blue bag, desperate to find something that wasn't either a T-shirt or denim.
After watching Sakura dig through her clothes 3 times, Hinata had an idea. She found her own suitcase and pulled open a side compartment. She smiled when she saw the beautiful dress. It was her favorite, but she could never wear it. It was much too skimpy, and her cousin Neji would not approve.
She cradled the garment in her arms, before setting it on Sakura's bed. She pulled herself into her own dress before calling softly to Sakura.
'S-Sak?" They had come up with nicknames for each other, "I have s-someth-thing for you to w-wear." Sakura looked over at the dress Hinata was sitting by. Hinata melted under her stare.
"I-I m-m-mean if-"
"It's beautiful, Hina. Why don't you wear it?" Hinata gazed longingly at the maroon gown. It was fit for a queen…not her. She was nothing. She could barely speak. She didn't deserve to look pretty.
"N-no. It would l-look great on y-you." Sakura glanced at the dress. It was gorgeous.
"Okay, Hinata. Thanks." Sakura changed into the gown quickly. When she came out in the dress, Hinata could barely look at her. Hinata gave her a small smile.
"Sakura deserves it." Hinata whispered to herself.
"Did you say something?" asked her roommate.
"N-no. I did not." Sakura shrugged, looking for her suitcase. When she had located the blue bag, she dug into the side pocket. She pulled out a silver charm bracelet with a smile. She slid it on her wrist. It was a bit big, but it fit well enough. Just as she slipped it on, an alarm rang. Hinata widened her eyes and Sakura cussed under her breath.
"Come on, Hina! That's the last warning bell. If we don't hurry we'll get no dinner." Sakura grabbed Hinata's arm and led her out the door. They ran through the forest until they spotted a small campsite. Kakashi was leaning against a tree, a bright orange book in his hand. Sakura blushed when she realized what it was.
"Hello, ladies. Take a seat. We've already started confessionals, but why don't you jump in?" Hinata and Sakura each grabbed a plate of food and quickly sat on an abandoned log, hoping not to draw much attention. Kakashi cleared his throat and continued.
"Okay, Tenten, why don't you start over? Remember, start with your name then tell us your problem." The brown haired teen stood. Sakura tried to ignore the knife in the girl's hand.
"Hi, I'm Tenten. You might know me as the girl who was expelled from kindergarten. I brought in a switchblade," Sakura felt uneasy. She was suddenly glad she wasn't sharing a room with Tenten. "I'm not a violent person. I just feel…unsafe without my weapons. I was given a pocketknife to protect myself at a young age, and I was fascinated by it. It gave me so much power. I never put it down. Never. I brought it to swimming class, in the shower, to restaurants. Everywhere I went I clutched the knife. It became my best friend and my worst enemy. I loved it, but others did not. The children were scared of me, and I began to enjoy their fear. It was more power. My name is Tenten and I have control issues." The girl sat back down as the group clapped. Kakashi pushed off the tree and closed his book.
"Great job, Tenten. Who's next?" Ino raised her hand. She was sitting by her roommate, but judging by the distance between them, they were not on speaking terms.
"Okay, Miss Yamanaka. Your turn." Ino stood, wobbling a bit with her baby weight.
"Hi, I'm Ino. It's pretty damn obvious what my issue is. I'm a teenage mom. Despite what you may think, I am not a slut. I was for a while, but it wasn't my choice. My mother was a prostitute as were my two sisters. They expected me to be the same way, no, they forced me to be. I had a bright future. I was whizzing through high school. It was the second week of junior year when my mom lost it. She told me I was worthless, that if I didn't start helping the family she'd drop me on the streets. I didn't want to give myself away, but if it meant having a family I would do anything. He was not attractive. Let's just say that. I won't go into detail, but we didn't use protection. When I found out I was pregnant, I went crying to my mom. She was disgusted. She wouldn't even look at me. The worst part about it was knowing that she wasn't angry that I had slept with someone. No, she was mad because I had done the unthinkable and gotten pregnant. My name is Ino and I'm a teenage mother."
Sakura felt terrible. She had labeled Ino as a whore without getting to know her first. Ino had a hard life, and Sakura had just ruled her pregnancy off as sluttiness.
The next boy to go was Shikamaru. He didn't bother to stand up.
"Hello," He yawned, "I'm Shikamaru. I have zero motivation to do anything. It's not depression. No, but I wish it was. I have honestly lost all interest in education, hobbies-anything. Eve making this speech is a total drag. It might have been the drugs I started taking. I don't even know anymore. I guess I'm a drug addict. I like to try a new drug every week. It's the only thing exciting in my life. I wouldn't call myself an addict really, because I never use the same drug twice. My psychiatrist called it experimentation, but that sounds gay. Whatever. This is so troublesome. My name is Shikamaru and I'm a drug…experimenter."
The confessions went on and on.
"Hello. I am Gaara. I am here because of my violent tendencies. That is all." The red headed boy sat down. Kakashi didn't seem pleased with his confession, but he continued on.
"Hello. I am Neji. I don't have an issue. I am here on behalf of my cousin, Hinata."
"Now, Nej-" Kakashi tried to correct him
"I do not have an issue. Thank you."
The blonde buy practically jumped out of his seat on his turn
"Hey! I'm Naruto! I looove ramen. Do you like ramen? I'd have to say my top ten flavors of ramen a-"
"Naruto!" Kakashi barked. Naruto gave him a sheepish smile.
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever Kakashi. Oh! Anyway, my name's Naruto and I have a reaaaaalllyyy bad temper. It may not seem like it but apparently I do. I guess I need anger management, but I'm pretty happy all the time! So…. Yeah. That's me. Oh, as I was saying, I am the God of Ramen! I've won 46 ramen eating contests an-"
"Ahem, thank you, Naruto." Kakashi sweat dropped. Naruto bounced back into his seat with a huge smile on his face. Sakura wondered how someone like him could end up here.
"I'm Temari, and I'm a sex addict. I love sex like dork-face here loves ramen. I mean, what's not to love? Everyone says being addicted to sex is a bad thing, but is it really? I have a lot higher stamina than most girls and I'll fuck you for free," Kakashi tried to stop her, but she kept talking. "See, it's not so bad. It's not like I'm a walking STD either. I've only got a couple! So yeah, I'm only here 'cause my teacher said I was 'distracting' The students and faculty. I don't get it. I only slept with a couple teachers. No biggie. My name's Temari and I'm a sex addict" Temari finished with a smile, leaving Sakura, Hinata and Tenten blushing like mad.
It was Hinata's turn. She stood shakily, using Sakura's shoulder as support.
"H-h-h-hi. I'm H-hinata." She looked at all the faces staring up at her. Suddenly, she panicked. "I-I c-can't do this!" Hinata ran from the circle off into the forest. Both Ino and Sakura stood to help, but were stopped by Kakashi.
"It's okay. Let her be. She'll work up to it. Sakura, go ahead." Sakura sighed, not sure whether to feel sorry for Hinata or herself. At least Hinata wouldn't have to confess tonight. Sakura stood, trying to calm her shaking legs.
"Hi, I'm Sakura. I'm not really sure why I'm here. My boss just told me I was scaring away the customers. I guess I've just been a little unhappy lately." She looked down at her shoes. "I live alone except for my fish, so I guess that could be why. I'm also a dropout, so that's not all that great. Um, I'm not really sure what to say. My psychiatrist told me I suffer from terminal depression, so I'm guessing that's it. My name is Sakura and I am terminally depressed." She sat quickly; glad to have gotten it over with. Sure, it wasn't exactly poetry, but it worked.
There was an awkward pause. No one stood up to share. Kakashi cleared his throat. Again, silence. Finally, Kakashi sighed.
"Sasuke Uchiha, if you don't share you're going back to jail. Take that hood off your head; you look like a homeless person." The boy sighed and pulled off his hood. Sakura couldn't take her eyes off him. He was…beautiful. She had never described a boy as beautiful before, especially not a criminal, but it was the first word that came to her mind.
His ebony hair was spiked in the back and long in the front, framing his pale face. He had big coal-black eyes filled with pain. He even had nice lips. Sakura blushed at the thought.
Sasuke growled something under his breath.
"What was that, Sasuke?" The boy glared at Kakashi. If looks could kill…
"Hn."
"'Hn' is not a real word, Sasuke. Nor does it sum up your problems."
"Fine. I'm Sasuke. I'm an alcoholic." Kakashi snorted. Sasuke rolled his eyes. "And I do drugs. Am I done?"
"That's good for tonight," Sakura could have sworn she saw a sad smile on the silver-haired man's face, underneath his mask. The raven-haired boy sat back down, shoving iPod ear buds in his ears. Kakashi sighed and made his way to the center again.
"Good job everyone. It's getting pretty late. I need a volunteer to fetch a bucket of water to put out the fire. No one raised their hand. "Thank you, Sasuke."
"Hn." Sasuke left for the woods.
"Sakura, please make sure Hinata makes it back safely. Sakura nodded, walking into the forest after Sasuke. The others picked up their stuff and went their own way.
Sakura called softly to Hinata. There was no response. She tried again, a little louder. That's when she heard sniffling. She turned towards a small tree and saw Hinata curled up in a ball. She was talking to herself.
"You're worthless. No one likes you. Even your own father thinks so. You're just a stupid bitch who can't even form coherent sentences. No one would miss you if you died."
"You're being stupid. Don't you dare kill yourself, people will blame me."Sakura hadn't noticed the boy leaning against the tree. Apparently neither did Hinata.
"Oh!" She uncurled herself and scooted away from the tree, "I-I'm s-s-sorry S-sasuke!" Sakura shifted behind a tree, hoping not to be seen.
"I can see your hair from a mile away, Sa-ku-ra" The way he pronounced her name sent shivers down her spine. She didn't know how to respond.
"Hn. You're annoying." Sakura frowned, choosing to ignore him. She walked up to Hinata and helped her up. It struck her then that the god-like boy had been comforting Hinata- in his own twisted way of course. Sakura gestured for Hinata to go on her own. She had something to do. Sakura blinked, turning towards Sasuke.
"Thank you. For comforting Hinata, I mean." Sasuke stared at her, expression blank.
"Tch. Whatever." Sakura sighed and turned towards her own cabin. She almost missed the mumbled, "You're welcome."
Sakura smiled softly and walked back to her own cabin. She didn't notice the silver charm bracelet slip off her arm.