Miss Trouble Magnet
Chapter 11:
I burst through the classroom door and fell flat on my face. I heard the whole class laugh at me. I cursed under my breath, "Sorry for being late, Anko-sensei…" I mumbled as I rubbed my eyes.
The students only laughed harder. I opened my eyes and stared at them. Who were they…? I turned to my teacher, and I nearly had a heart attack. "A-A-Anko-sensei, you had plastic surgery?!" I nearly screamed when I saw a person I didn't recognize.
"I'm not Anko-sensei, girl! Now get out of here, you're disrupting my class!" They warned me. I felt my face go red.
God, how could I make such a stupid mistake?
I quickly ran back out, the sound of laughter resonating in my head. I pouted and crossed my arms as I slumped towards the actual class, a few meters away. I reached the door and slowly opened it, peaking, to make sure that Anko was there. I let out a sigh of relief.
"A-Ano, Anko-sensei, sorry for being late." I mumbled apologetically and walked towards my seat. I was one of the only students in the class that Anko didn't dread seeing. She beamed at my entrance into her Drama class.
"Oh, we were just handing out some scripts for the new project." Anko explained. "Sakura, you're in team 3. With Kiba, Shino, Temari, Shikamaru, Lee and Naruto." She told me and pointed to my group. She then handed me a worn-out book from the school's collection.
I looked down at the book. It was a book of poems and nursery rhymes.
"Your team will be doing a small skit based on the poem you choose in this book. Good luck!" She exclaimed and skipped to the next team to check their progress. I got up and walked to my team.
Naruto beamed. "Hi Sakura-chan. We chose a cool poem to do our skit on!" He said loudly. I sat down and he showed me the page.
"Seven Little Indians" was the title. The poem was short, and I knew it by heart, because I had heard it several times before:
Ten
little Indian boys went out to dine;
one
choked his little self and then there were Nine.
Nine
little Indian boys sat up very late;
one
overslept himself and then there were Eight.
Eight
little Indian boys traveling in Devon
one
said he'd stay there and then there were Seven.
Seven
little Indian boys chopping up sticks;
one
chopped himself in halves and then there were Six.
Six
little Indian boys playing with a hive;
a
bumblebee stung one and then there were Five.
Five
little Indian boys going in for law
one
got into Chancery
and then there were Four.
Four
little Indian boys going out to sea;
a
red
herring
swallowed one and then there were Three.
Three
little Indian boys walking in the Zoo
a
big bear
hugged one and then there were Two.
Two
Little Indian boys playing with a gun; one shot the other and then
there was one.
One
little Indian boy left all alone;
he
went out and hanged himself and then there were none.
"So… who wants to die first?" Temari asked.
-
-
My eyes darted all over the halls uncontrollably. News had come out of a fight. I hoped to kami (god) that it didn't involve who I feared it did. Sai and Hinata were following me quietly, wondering what I was doing. "Sakura, what in the hell are you looking for?" Sai asked calmly.
"Gaara. We're looking for Gaara." I finally told him. I heard someone yell and dashed in that direction.
"S-Sakura, wait!" Hinata pleaded as she and Sai followed, hot on my trail. I quickly turned into a second hall and stopped in my tracks. Gaara was standing in front of Sasuke, who was glaring at him with an equal amount of anger. It looked as though they had finished arguing and were about to get physical.
I ran to catch up to Gaara, but he had already grabbed Sasuke's neck, and thrust him into the lockers. "I already told you, I didn't do anything to her." Sasuke growled, not scared in the least. Gaara's glare intensified.
"Then who the hell forced her out of your home?!" He yelled angrily.
"I left on my own accord!" I screamed. The two suddenly whipped their heads in my direction. I hadn't realised that tears had started to pour down my face, or that Sai had been supporting me in his arms.
Gaara slowly let go of Sasuke's neck, who coughed and rubbed it in response. "Sorry Sakura. I made a mistake." He said roughly.
"Well if your temper wasn't so uncontrollable you would have realised sooner!" I yelled in response. "Let's go Sai, I'm tired of this." I muttered. He hesitated and looked at Gaara, an indescribable look in his eye.
"Sakura, I'm truly, very sorry." Gaara slowly said. I couldn't muster up anymore anger, Gaara had practically been another parent to me, and he had raised me when my mother could not. I turned to look at him and Sai let me go.
I ran to him and hugged him like I never had before, crying all the tears that begged for release. He still looked as though he'd enjoy giving Sasuke a good beating; he hadn't had the chance to have a decent fight in a while. That hypocrite.
"You forgive me." It sounded like a question, but we both new it was a statement. A small smile appeared on both our lips. "Come on kid, stop crying." He said and patted my head. I sniffed loudly and wiped away my tears.
"T-Thanks Gaara." I stuttered. He glanced at Sasuke, and I copied. I began to get worried when Gaara's smile disappeared and in came a very serious look.
"If you even hurt her-" Gaara began again.
"I know." Sasuke said, smirking. I finally felt it safe to let my smile return.
-
-
"Am too."
"Are not."
"Am too!"
"Are. Not."
"You're a jerk, you know that?"
"Hn."
I rolled my eyes for the umpteenth time. First the man says a blueberry muffin with whip cream, then he changes to a cheeseburger with no pickles, THEN he decides to take the muffin instead, after I throw it into the compost!
Then, Sasuke was to come along and scold me like I'm a child; and says I didn't charge the man enough for his stupid muffin.
"It was a dollar. You know I'm right."
"Are not."
"Am too!"
He only sighed and shook his head. I ignored him and headed to the back for my break. I sat down in the back lounge, where Rock Lee was eating as well. Oh great. I had forgotten that we had the same lunch break.
"Hello, my sweet cherry blossom! What brings your beautiful presence to this eloquent man?" He said. He didn't realise he was insulting himself at the same time.
"Hunger." I answered and fell onto a seat.
"Ah, interesting…" He said. This guy really needed to stop over-thinking things.
I took out a blue container that held the fruit salad I had made with the ingredients stolen from the restaurant's freezer room. I opened it and stared at it happily. My stomach growled in anticipation. Lee watched in excitement as I shoved a grape down my throat.
"T-That looks really good." He almost drooled.
I smiled, "Sometimes, things really are what they seem." And I took a huge spoonful of my creation.
He stared quietly as I slowly ate and held his breath when I brought the last spoonful to my mouth. I frowned and lowered the spoon.
"Here, you can have it." I finally decided, satisfied with the torture. I put the spoon back into the container and passed it to him.
As he gobbled it down, he stared at the clock. "My break is over. See you, princess!" He said and darted off. I groaned at the new name. Nonetheless, I took out the sandwich I had made during my leave from the mansion.
It looked more like a sub to me. I ripped off a small piece and threw it upwards; so it would fall into my open mouth.
I waited.
Nothing…?
I opened one eye, my sandwich was gone. I heard a chuckle behind me.
Sasuke leaned against my chair, back facing me. "This is pretty good, for a sandwich that was made in such a rush…" He teased.
I poked his back. "Gimme the sandwich, Sasuke!" I threatened, "Or I'll… I'll-"
"Or you'll…?" He drawled.
I scoffed, meaning I had no comeback at the moment.
He chuckled and turned around, smirking. "If you really want it…" He shook the sandwich around in his right hand, taunting me, "Come and get it."
I quickly got up and lunged for it, but he moved it up into the air. "Give it back!" I told him and jumped, trying to grab it.
"You're too short." It wasn't a question, it was a statement.
I wasn't short, He was just too tall. "Stop it, Sasuke!" I whined, still trying to jump and catch it. So close, yet so far…
He began to walk away, still holding the sandwich up high. I inwardly groaned and ran after him and pounced onto his back. He obviously wasn't expecting this and tripped over his own feet. As we head towards the ground the sandwich flew out of his grip.
"Nooooooooooooooooooooo!!!" I yelled as he approached the ground in what seemed like slow motion.
THUD
"Ow." He groaned in a muffled voice. I ran off of him and towards my sandwich, it was completely dismembered on the floor. Tomatoes to the right, turkey to the left, bread in the center, cheese scattered there and sauce all around.
I turned to glare at him; he was only beginning to get up. "Look at what you did to my sandwich!" I accused him as I got to my feet.
He returned his own glare as he rubbed his temples, "You're the one who jumped me." He retorted laconically.
"Well… aren't you going to pick up this mess?" I asked intently.
He glared at the food on the floor.
"I'll give you a tomato if you do it." I insisted.
He gave me a look. "I'm not a dog."
"Oh! Sorry, I shouldn't have made the mistake!" I gasped in mock horror.
He rolled his eyes.
I ignored him and glanced at the clock, "I only have two minutes left, it's not like I can do much with… that." I glanced at my used-to-be sandwich, "I don't have time to make or eat another anyway, since there's nothing I can do, I might as get back to work." I said regretfully.
He spun me around and held me close to him.
I looked up to see whether he was mad, but he looked rather amused.
"There's still something we can do to pass the time…" He drawled and smirked at me mischievously. Before I could react, he swiftly leaned in to claim my lips. I quickly let go of any tense feelings I previously held, and I grabbed his shirt to pull him closer.
He turned me so my back was against the wall, and deepened the kiss. Sasuke always dominated, and I followed along equally, as if we were spinning freely on the dance floor. We both pulled away for a quick breath. And I took quite some time to formulate a sentence.
"S-Sasuke-kun... Are you s-sick??" I asked, putting a shaky hand on his forehead. He didn't seem to be burning up.
He looked bemused. "Why would you ask that?" He asked and narrowed his eyes at me.
I gulped. "Er... Well, don't you t-think you're acting kind of weird?" I asked.
He waited patiently for me to continue.
I took a step back so I could have some space to breathe. "I mean… Y-You've never kissed me like that…" I said in a strained voice, with my hands on my cheeks as I turned red. I felt his smirk on me and turned around, so my back was facing me.
He didn't move, but I could still feel him smirking.
I shuddered. "Stop it." I muttered.
He took a small step forward. "Stop what?" He asked.
"Stop smirking at me like that!" I told him.
Now, I knew his smirk levels were at the top of the smirko-meter. "How do you know I'm smirking?" He taunted.
"I can feel it." I simply said. I turned around and took a step forward. Now I could b see /b it.
Doing exactly as I suspected he would, he kissed me again. Just as I began to run my hands through his onyx hair, I heard something creaking.
I opened my eyes, and they widened as I realised that Neji had just entered the room for his own lunch break. Sasuke hadn't noticed, and continued to kiss me very softly. Neji turned towards us and did a double-take. His jaw dropped; something I'd never seen the composed and self-controlled boy do before. My hands fell from his hair to his shoulders.
"S-Sasuke!" I nearly screeched and pushed him away.
He quickly pulled his head back, staring at me impatiently. I turned to look at Neji again. He stared, at a loss for words; and was gone in a flash.
Sasuke quickly turned his head, to try and catch whatever I was scared of. He returned his gaze to me. "What is it?" He asked.
I put my hand over my mouth and looked at my feet as my face turned pale. "N-Neji…" I choked.
"Neji? What do you mean?" He asked.
"H-He saw us. He came in and… Oh, we're done for." I said hopelessly.
He frowned at me. I couldn't tell whether he was horrified or amused by the whole thing.
"Y-You don't think Neji would tell anyone, would you?" I asked, worried.
"No, but with such awfully heavy information I doubt he could hold it in for long." Sasuke admitted.
I gulped.
"Well…" he paused, "Well, I guess that means there's nothing left to hide, right?" He asked.
Well… I suppose…
"Sasuke, wait." I told him, and held his shoulders firmly. We both turned to the door, which was eerily creaking. We shared the same glance of terror and dashed for the back door.
-
-
I sighed.
I didn't know why or when Sasuke had become so dependant of me, and I'd wondered all day long as I sat in my dorm room, with my chin rested on my knees. I wrapped my legs with my arms and had been in that position for a very long time. When I had arrived, Temari was taking a hot bath and Hinata was gone.
I sighed again.
I tried imagining him all alone at home, doing absolutely nothing. It wasn't hard to imagine, Sasuke was always swimming in his own thoughts. Then I remembered the fight that had broke out between him and Gaara many hours ago. Seeing Gaara holding him in his grasp was terrifying, but Sasuke still acted calm.
How did he do it?
I couldn't have stayed under such control for a measly two minutes. Those thoughts reminded me of Neji, when he discovered our little 'meeting' in the back lounge. Itachi would have been proud of it too. Sasuke had been so absorbed with what he was doing that his usual alertness had faded, and he was on a completely different planet.
With that last thought, Hinata walked in, looking a bit stressed. Only when she turned to look me in the eye did I realise that she was breathing really heavily, as though she'd just run a marathon.
"They all know… The whole school knows about you and Sasuke..." She said breathlessly.
-
-
Thursday
I woke up with a huge headache, there was noise echoing through the halls for hours last night. After the dumbfounded girls finally settled down to the idea that Sasuke was taken, it was already three hours past midnight.
I cursed under my breath as I sat up and rubbed my eyes. Hinata and Temari were still sleeping, meaning that the noise had caused them to stay awake as well. I sighed and got out of my bed, it was funny how quickly I had gotten used to it.
After cleaning up, I walked towards the window. We had a great view of the school grounds. The grass wasn't the greenest, but it was still nice to observe under the sun. We could also see the girl's pool house from our window. That reminded me of that swim I had been dying to take. We were already aloud to get out of our rooms, so I woke up Temari and Hinata before walking out.
As I walked towards down the stairs to the first floor, I made a mental note to try and avoid any undesired contact. I pulled my hood over my head to cover my recognizable hair. Once I reached the last stair, I saw Naruto and Kiba having a silent argument about something. Naruto saw me heading in their direction and stared at me, not realising who I was at first.
"Oh, hi Sak-" I quickly covered his mouth.
"Naruto-kun, I'm trying to keep a low profile here!" I hissed and looked around; no one had paid attention to his sudden burst. I removed my hand to let him talk properly.
"Oh, Gomen." He chuckled and scratched the back of his head.
"Wait… Does that mean that you're…" Kiba lowered his voice to a whisper, "Sasuke's girlfriend?" Naruto's eyebrows rose significantly and his eyes widened. I felt my face heat up.
"Uh, W-Well, we aren't really-" I stuttered.
"YOU AND SASUKE ARE-" Naruto yelled, before I covered his mouth again. This time some heads turned, but no one knew that it was I that he was talking about.
"Naruto-kun, SHH!!" I hissed angrily.
Kiba put on a sly smile.
I turned to him, not letting my hand move. "What?"
"Neji had let it slip by accident after you two finished disappeared. In less than an hour, it spread like wild-fire in the café. He said you two were quite busy in the back lounge." Kiba laughed.
I groaned and slapped my forehead with my hand, before letting it slide down my face. "Oh, just great." I mumbled sarcastically. Naruto muffled noises made me pull back my hand.
"That's not fair, no one told me!" He whined in a whisper.
"It's probably because, if they did, then the whole country would have known." I muttered. "You've got a bigger mouth than any girl I know."
He frowned.
"So…. What exactly happened after you guys left?" Kiba asked, smirking devilishly.
I punched his chest angrily. "He just brought me back to school and left, you sick-minded fool!" I growled.
The two laughed nervously, as though they would like to add something more. I rolled my eyes.
"Well, all of this is making me dizzy. See you later…" I sighed and kept walking to my destination.
I soon arrived at the pool house, and changed into my swimsuit. It was a plain black one with three bright green stripes going across the top. I walked to the pool's edge and dipped my lower legs in. Our pool had temperature adjustment, and it was always warm. I slowly slid the rest of my body inside and shivered.
The water was relaxing, like a gigantic bath tub. I decided to swim across the whole pool and back, just to get used to the feeling of the water. I quickly pushed my feet against the pool walls, and began to swim towards the other side. The pool was gigantic, and it seemed to take forever, but when I finally reached the other end, I felt a little energized.
I took in some breath and began to swim all the way back. "Hey Sakura!" I heard someone yell. I immediately stopped and began choking on the water. I grabbed my neck, suffocating from the lack of air, and sinking from the weight of my lungs full of water. Before I could sink to the bottom of the pool, I felt a hand grab my arm and pulled me up.
I was pulled onto the cold tiles and coughed out all the water without hesitation. I felt a burning sensation in my throat, as though I had grazed it with a skin peeling knife.
"Oh god, are you okay?!" They asked loudly.
"Yeah, I-I think so…" I croaked. I looked up; Tenten was staring at me with a worried look. "You really s-scared me there, Tenten."
Tenten gave a small smile, "Yeah, sorry. I was just saying hi." She apologized.
I laughed, though it hurt my throat even more. "That's okay… Say, do you want to race?" I suddenly asked.
She looked surprised, "Oh, sure." She said. I could see that she was already in her swimsuit.
I was surprised; it was a professional sports brand swimsuit. "Do you participate in competitions?" I asked.
She smiled, "Yeah, I got a silver medal in the Japanese championship for juniors." She admitted.
I suddenly felt my chances of winning sink to the bottom (no pun intended), "Well then, all the more reason to have a race!" I concluded.
We jumped into the pool and swam at our maximum, I lost, naturally. But we still raced and raced, until we would have to go to class. I had won a few times, but Tenten was good at all sports I could think of, who was I kidding?
-
-
It was certain now. I was to act as the last Indian; the one who would be left alone and would hang themselves. It was quite ironic, if you compared it to my own family. I was the only one to take the role, since Naruto really thought it funny to be hugged to death by a bear, and Shino was first to die, so he could get the whole thing over with.
It sounded so mellow, but it was the poem we had chosen.
"Two Little Indian boys playing with a gun; one shot the other and then there was one." Temari said.
I lifted the imaginary gun to her head. She waited, horrified, as I made a professional clicking sound with my tongue and the boom resonated for our audio CD. She felt to the ground dramatically and I dropped my weapon.
The lights flickered and while they stayed shut, I climbed onto a chair and tied a rope around my neck. My worn out clothing and messy hair completed my look of dread. Though it was only an act, I felt my heart begin to race. Naruto sneaked up to me and handed me the eye drops. I took them from him and tilted my head back.
I stopped; tears were already falling down my cheeks. I pretended to use them in the dark and handed them back to him. Half of the lights flickered back on.
"One little Indian boy left all alone; he went out and hanged himself-" My voice cracked, "…and then there were none."
I felt my lips quivering as I let my head fall to the side, as though dead. As Naruto headed to the light switch to completely light the room, he passed by too quickly and made me lose my balance. I screamed as, slowly, the chair slipped out from under my feet and fell over. I felt the gravity pull me down, and suddenly the rope tied around my neck tightened and I immediately chocked for air.
I heard screaming all round the classroom as Anko quickly grabbed me in her arms to support me; I quickly pulled off the rope, wheezed and coughed uncontrollably. I fell onto my knees and hands as Anko held my shoulder gently. She was shaking a lot.
"Sakura-chan! Sakura-chan, are you okay?!" She rambled.
And that was the last I could bear before I ran out of the classroom.
