Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Naruto. I don't even own a cell phone, much less than Naruto. Damn it. (And I'm talking about the anime/manga and not the character himself. Why would I want to own him anyway? If I want to own someone, it would be Sasuke. Better go to Japan to bribe Kishimoto-sama…)
Chapter 3
Time-out
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"Here I go…" With closed eyes and a sharp intake of breath, she slid the door of Room 317, thinking of what she would say to their teacher because of her tardiness.
"Gomen nasai sensei! I-I" She opened her eyes to look at the reaction of their teacher and of the class. In that span of 10 seconds, she had already imagined their reactions.
"They will look at me as if scrutinizing me…"
'Sensei would forgive me but before that, he will say something like, 'You're a new student. Please make sure to come in time tomorrow…" and my classmates would laugh at me and whisper in low voices… about my hair.' '
And oh, how precise her guess was. It's as if her imagination a while ago had come to life, except that their teacher was nowhere to be seen.
She reddened profusely at the stares of her classmates. Here she was, acting like an idiot and addressing to their sensei who is actually not present. Quickly looking around, she spotted an empty seat at the second-to-the-last-row of the classroom. She quickly walked to that chair and then sat, wishing that the ground would swallow her up that very moment.
"They're still looking at me…" She thought as she buried her head in her arms on the desk; her eyes were a bit exposed so she could see what was happening around her.
All the people in the classroom were staring at her like mad, especially at her unique-colored hair. Some of them were whispering in low voices, trying to hide what they were saying but failing miserably.
"Look at her hair."
"What's with the pink? She looked like a weirdo."
"Sou, sou."
"Dyed?" she even heard someone suggested.
She now hid her face completely in those arms of hers on the desk (as if she was sleeping) but she jumped suddenly at the high voice of a female behind her.
"Could everyone please shut up? And mind you, her hair was not dyed. It's natural!" The said female shouted. Sakura suddenly recognized that shrill voice yet demanding voice.
"Ino?"
"Ohayou, Sakura-chan! You're late. I was waiting for you here for all eternity."
"Ino! You mean girl." Sakura lunged at her best friend and hugged her.
"Tch tch. I saved you from them and all I would hear from you is that I am mean? How ungrateful." Ino joked.
"Sakura glared at her best friend and then slowly sat down.
"You told me you are in another section." Sakura pouted.
"I wanted to surprise you, forehead." Ino flipped her hair and got a blue book inside her bag at the side of her desk. Sakura eyed her for a while. And then, her face frowned a bit.
The book reminded her of Sasuke.
Ino must've noticed her silence because she looked up at her best friend and matched that frown of hers.
"Why the long face, Sakura? Are you still angry because I lied to you about my section? Jeesh… Touché."
"No, it's not that." Sakura tried to smile but Ino knew her too well. "Something's wrong with you. Tell me, what happened?" Ino pressed.
"Nothing. I was just… just…" Sakura tried to think of an excuse and succeeded into making a lame one. "…happy that we're together."
"I couldn't tell her what happened. She'd probably explode and confront Sasuke-kun." She thought as she tried not to fidget when she lied.
Ino made a face. "You're turning into an idiot Sakura. Don't worry; we'll be best friends forever."
"Baka."
Both of them burst out laughing. Suddenly, the door of the classroom opened, revealing a certain raven-haired boy, glaring at anyone in front of him. And then, from behind him showed a man in his late-twenty's with spiky silver hair and a mask across his face, leaving only one eye to be exposed to public.
Sasuke took the sit beside Sakura. She instantly froze and avoided looking at him.
"Sensei, you're late!" One of the students whined. The said teacher went in front of the classroom and scratched his head. "Sorry guys, I was busy helping a pregnant woman cross the street."
Almost half of the class snorted at his reason.
The teacher then coughed and then turned around to write his name on the blackboard. "I am Hatake Kakashi. Since it's the start of the class, I want you to introduce yourselves to everyone." Kakashi started. "No questions asked. You go first." He pointed at the brunette seated in the leftmost corner of the front row. The brunette stood up lazily.
"Mendokuse… I am Nara Shikamaru." After saying those few words, the brunette, Nara Shikamaru slumped back to his seat.
Kakashi raised his eyebrow at his action. "Anything else?" He waited for the student to stand up again and say something more. But Shikamaru only sighed and looked out of the window and stare up at the sky.
He sighed too. Kakashi wondered if sighing is contagious.
The list went on and on. Each of the students said something about themselves. But since they are not all essential in this story, I dare not speak or repeat all of them to the readers except the very essential ones, which is Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura's introductions.
And here it went:
"Next." That single word made the formerly silent room buzz to life. Kakashi looked up from his list of students only to observe the intense gazes of the female students in the room to a certain individual, save Hinata (We all know who she likes. Even Kakashi knew who.). But something caught his keen eyes.
"Uchiha Sasuke. Formerly from class II-A." The raven-haired boy was about to sit back to his chair when Kakashi stopped him by asking a question, "Wait, tell us something more about you. I'm sure the girls are waiting to know more about you." With this, he looked at the said females with a grin.
Sasuke on the other hand, flashed them a cold look. He said, "I hate annoying girls."
It seemed that Kakashi wanted to know or ascertain something that he asked the annoyed guy another question. "Any likes, any other dislikes?"
Unamused by Kakashi's questions, he said in a cold voice, matching his face, "I don't like anything. I hate annoying people and those who depend on someone else, the weak ones."
"Thank you. You may sit down." Kakashi did not bother asking more questions. He had already gotten what he had wanted to know. And the next one assured him of that.
"Next."
"Next."
"Ah, h-hai!" The girl was sporting a forced calm face yet Kakashi could see through her glassy eyes. She stood up and uttered in a somewhat shaky voice, "I am Haruno Sakura. I transferred here from Rain Academy. I once studied here, about seven years ago. I hope to have a fun school year with you. I hope to get along with people here and adjust to this new environment. I would be very glad if you'll he-" she paused, and then glanced abruptly at her side and continued, "Uh, that's all."
Kakashi gave the new student a small smile, "Thank you Miss Haruno. Next."
Sakura sat down, feeling her chest heavier as the seconds pass.
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At this moment, Kakashi's actions a while ago might already be bugging the readers. Apparently, this sensei had been acting a little bit peculiar than normal. One might already discern that something was up not only with Kakashi but also with the two students: Sakura and Sasuke.
So what really is the matter?
Let us replay the scene a while ago in the eyes of this dear sensei, Kakashi.
When he entered the disorganized room, he instantly surveyed his students for the year. He could recognize some of them but there are still a few other students who are new to his eyes. So he decided to start the class with an introduction.
When it was already Uchiha Sasuke's turn, he already had an idea what will happen. But then, he noticed a certain pink-haired girl who seemed to be avoiding looking at Sasuke. It was particularly odd since almost all of the female population would die just to be able to have a glimpse of the said man.
And when it was already that girl's turn, she seemed to be guarding her words, as if she was afraid of saying something.
That is why, when the bell rang signifying that it was already the time for the next class, he grinned knowingly. It was now a time to think of something, something really, really fun. Not to mention exciting.
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