---
♥ Chapter XII: SOS Rescue Me ♥
---
Sakura hadn't known Sasuke for a very long time, but she knew him quite well – and she knew he was the kind of type that didn't approve of people asking for favors.
And here she was, trying to do the thing he disliked the most.
Sighing heavily, Sakura proceeded towards Sasuke in the corridor when she noticed a bunch of fangirls surrounding him. As she eyed his annoyed expression, she decided she'd better leave him alone for the moment.
"Well, Sakura? Have you asked yet?" Temari wondered, making Sakura jump in surprise.
"Shit, Temari! Don't scare the crap out of me!" she exclaimed, as the blonde just laughed.
"That's my favorite hobby. Better get used to it", she said teasingly. "Well?"
"What?"
"Have you done it?"
"If you mean the favor, no."
"Why? Don't have the guts?"
"I just figured it wasn't the right moment."
Temari giggled. "Gee, Sakura, you make it sound like a big deal."
"It sure is", she sighed. "Sasuke-kun doesn't like people asking for favors, right?"
"You might just be an exception", Temari teased. "I've heard rumors…"
"Hi, guys. What're you up to?" Tenten asked darkly as she approached them.
"Ohayou, Tenten", Sakura smiled. "We're just talking about, eh, Gaara", she quickly made up.
"Gaara?" One of Tenten's eyebrows perked up. "Since when did he become such a hot topic?"
"Well, he's my little brother, and Sakura was just asking about how he was doing and that kind of stuff", Temari replied casually. "What about you? Seems pretty down, right?"
"Yea… I guess I'm just worrying about the airplane flight. I hate airplanes", Tenten shivered, but both Temari and Sakura knew she was lying, but they didn't bring it up, as Naruto arrived together with Hinata.
"Ohayou, Sakura-chan! Ohayou, Temari! Ohayou, Tenten!" Naruto beamed at them.
"Ohayou, Naruto", Sakura grinned. "Seems like you've eaten ramen again for breakfast again, seeing how you've got noodles stuck to your mouth. Don't you ever get tired of ramen?"
"How can you say that, Sakura-chan?" Naruto burst out, looking hurt. "Ramen is a thing that you just can't get tired of! It's way too divine to be tiresome!"
"Really? I have started to grow tired of it", Temari said, sticking out her tongue at him. "Every time I go eating with you guys out of school, it's always ramen. Hinata, you didn't really eat breakfast with Naruto, did you?"
"Ah? Um… yes, I did", Hinata blushed.
"Wow, so you went out on a date or something?" Tenten asked impressively.
"Uh, yeah, you could call it that", Naruto grinned with a red tint on his cheeks.
"Cool!" Sakura looked happily at them. "So you're officially a couple now?"
"Ano sa, ano sa… where's Sasuke-teme?" Naruto quickly changed the topic.
"No idea, he tried to get rid of his fangirls. I think Neji went with him", Temari responded, and Tenten's face expression darkened.
"I'm off now, guys, I've a book to borrow in the library. Ja!" she said with an emotionless voice quite similar to Sasuke's, just that Sasuke's blank voice seemed natural and Tenten's didn't. The four friends stared at Tenten's retreating back.
"I wonder if our plan really will work", Temari sighed.
---
During chemistry class, Naruto fell asleep halfway through when Asuma (A/N: That's his name, right?) talked about their upcoming experiment, and Sakura quickly wrote a note to Sasuke and threw it over across Naruto's sleeping head. Fortunately for them, Asuma was too caught up in his own lecture to notice what his students were doing.
Sasuke blinked in surprise at the paper and looked questioningly at Sakura.
"Open it", she mouthed, and after some more confused looks and some more repeated mouthing, Sasuke at last opened the crumbled paper.
Sasuke-kun, it said, can we just talk on the school roof after school? Got something important to tell you. Is that OK with you?
Even though Sasuke didn't show it, he was very curious about what Sakura had to say, thus, he only shrugged as Sakura gave him a hopeful look. Smiling in return, Sakura returned to listening to Asuma's lecture…
---
Sakura was leaning towards the fence as she gazed at the view from the school roof. She had always loved high places, because she was one good climber, and as young she had always preferred to be in treetops than on the ground. After a little accident that had caused a twisted ankle, she had learnt her lesson, but she still loved heights, because of the view that they provided the climbers of.
Reminiscing, a memory suddenly came to her mind from her childhood…
Flashback.
Sakura was on her way to her favorite tree; her friends had gone home for the day, and now she only wanted to be alone and climb trees. She'd not admit it to the other girls that she liked climbing, though; she knew it was tomboyish to do it, and they'd probably taunt her for it. Better be safe than sorry, she thought with a shrug, as she began to climb, just to find a pair of obsidian eyes stare down at her.
Her emerald orbs returned the blank stare. For a moment, only silence was between them. You could even hear a bird chirp in the distance. Then…
"What're you doing in my favorite tree!" they exclaimed at the same time, and then said in chorus: "Hey! That's my phrase!"
They stared at each other again, this time more intently. Onyx met jade, and jade met onyx. At last, Sakura jumped down to the ground agilely and glared at the boy in the tree. He was amazingly cute, she noticed. Spiky black hair and obsidian eyes, wearing a black t-shirt and a pair of white shorts, along with a pair of black sandals. The dark colors were even more clear on the ground, seeing how he was among such lightly colored flowers – they were pink cherry blossom – and she looked curiously at the scene before her. It looked almost like a painting, she thought.
"Oi. What you starin' at?" he snapped. Sakura just smiled back.
"You. Because you're cute", she giggled. The boy put on a disapproving frown.
"You're not a fangirl,… right?" he asked hesitantly.
"Eh? Fangirl?" She blinked in surprise, and then gaped at him. "You've fangirls?"
He shrugged. "Duh, why else would I be asking it?"
"Wow, that's super cool! Are you a celebrity or something?"
"I don't know. Maybe I am, maybe I'm not."
"You don't even know whether or not you're famous?"
"Well, I'm famous in school if that's what you mean."
"Cool! Which school do you attend?"
"The Academy. And you?"
"The same! What's your name, then?"
"My name is…"
End Flashback.
"Yo."
Sakura woke up from her daydreams and blushed at the sight of Sasuke. He was handsomer than ever, now that he was in close-up view, too. Come to think of it, he even looked like the boy from her childhood.
"H-h-hi", she stammered. DAMMIT! WHY CAN'T I ACT NORMAL! she screeched in her head.
Because you're NOT normal, Inner Sakura replied matter-of-factly.
"What you thinkin' about?" he asked blankly, as he noticed her blush.
"A-a-ah? N-no, no-nothing! Just… just nothing in particular!" Sakura exclaimed, laughing nervously. He crossed his arms, raised an eyebrow, and put on an amused smirk.
"Really? And why do you then laugh?"
"Ah? I… I laugh?"
"Yes, in case you didn't notice, you laughed."
"R-r-really? Ahahaha! Um,…"
Sakura was blushing furiously, feeling as though she had just come down from a wild rollercoaster, since she felt dizzier than ever.
AH! SOMEBODY HELP ME! she screamed in her mind.
---
"Tenten?"
Tenten looked up from her thick book, namely Digital Fortress by Dan Brown. Now Tenten never was an enthusiastic reader, seeing how she was too lazy to engage herself in books, but this time it was an exception. Reading, she had heard, drove off thoughts. And she had just proved that statement to be true. Almost, that is, because when you're interrupted in your reading by a certain person, then you just can't read on.
"What?" she muttered, glaring into those blue-white eyes she knew so well.
"Hi", Neji said, with a hint of relief out of some reason, as he seated down opposite her seat. "I almost thought you were in trance or something. You didn't hear me when I called you, did you?"
"No, I didn't, and if you haven't noticed, I'm reading, so please don't disturb me", Tenten snapped as she tried to read on. David Becker wandered aimlessly down Avenida del Cid and tried to collect his thoughts. Muted shadows played on the cobblestones beneath his feet.
"Tenten?" Neji chuckled. "Not being able to control your temperament as usual, I can see. You really need to get some private tutoring in temperament control."
David Becker wandered aimlessly down Avenida del Cid and tried to collect his thoughts. Muted shadows played on the cobblestones beneath his feet.
"Tenten? You're listening?" Neji asked in confusion.
David Becker wandered aimlessly down Avenida del Cid and tried to collect his thoughts. Muted shadows played on the cobblestones beneath his feet.
Can I stop reading this sentence over and over again? Tenten thought in annoyance. But I don't get what it's about! I only hear Neji's voice all the time. Damn Neji, why did he have to disturb my concentration!
"Tenten?" Neji repeated doubtfully.
"Hn", Tenten replied very Sasuke-likely.
"Seems like someone is picking up on Sasuke's bad habits", Neji teased. No response.
David Becker wandered aimlessly down the muted shadows and tried to play on his thoughts beneath his feet.
WHAT THE HELL, I'M STARTING TO MIX THE SENTENCES UP! Tenten thought angrily.
"Hey, Tenten", Neji sighed. "Are you sure you really want to do this? I mean, I know you love fighting, but… going home to Japan…" He hesitated. "Are you really sure you want to do that?"
David Becker wandered aimlessly down the cobblestones and tried to collect the muted shadows. WHAT THE HELL!
"I mean…" Neji looked at her hopelessly. "I don't know why I've made you mad, but I –"
"Go away", Tenten cut across him without giving him a glance. "Go away!"
David Becker wandered aimlessly down his thoughts and tried to play on the muted shadows beneath his Avenida del Cid.
"Tenten…", Neji began, but Tenten interrupted him again.
"Don't you have any Gabrielle to go and talk with? If you're so eager to start a conversation, why don't you go to her? Go away!" she half-yelled without looking up from her book.
David Becker wandered aimlessly down his feet and tried to collect the cobblestones.
"If that's what you want, then fine." Neji's cold voice struck her like an arrow. No, don't go away! she wanted to scream. Just tell me you want to break up with Gabrielle, and I'll be fine! Don't go away, Neji!
But she never said these words. Instead, she could hear the sound of Neji's footsteps gradually fade away, while she continued to read the same sentence.
David Becker wandered aimlessly down Avenida del Cida…
"DAVID BECKER MY ASS!" Tenten shouted, and shut the book so abruptly and with such force that it fell down to the floor.
"Miss!" the startled librarian said. "Please don't make such a racket in the school library!"
"Fine! Like I care!" Tenten spat back without caring about her manners, and stomped out of the library. Once she was alone in the deserted corridor where the library belonged to, she felt her salty tears fall down her cheeks.
I need help… someone please help me…, she thought desperately as she began to sob.
---
One of Sasuke's eyebrows rose.
Now, this was no surprise. 'Hn', 'aa', raising his eyebrows and smirking were just a few of the things that belonged to CUSSTHND. Sounds weird? Here's the explanation: Common Uchiha Sasuke Stuff That He Normally Does. It was a 'scientific' term that the SUFC had made up, and normally, one of the things that belonged to the CUSSTHND was that he didn't use 'scientific' terms that SUFC had made up, but this one was just way too good to waste.
For the past quarter of an hour, he had heard Sakura babble on about what she had done in school. He glanced at her face; she looked as though she'd faint. What was with her anyway? She said she'd say something important, and now she acted as though her mouth couldn't be shut close. He resisted the urge to sigh. Too bad, Sakura had been one of the few girls who could actually collect her calmness when he was around.
"Sakura", he interrupted her as she started going on about a shopping tour she had been planning to do with her friends at Galeries Lafayette, one of Paris' finest shopping centers, "What is it you wanted to talk about? Is this the 'important' thing you wanted to tell me about?"
"Ah, wha, no!" she exclaimed and grinned sheepishly. "Um, eh, uh… S-S-S-Sasuke-kun?"
"If this is about a date, the answer is no", Sasuke replied in one breath, used to saying it. Goddammit, don't tell me she has joined the SUFC… no, no, no, no, NO.
"A date?" Sakura began giggling, and then she looked as her normal self again. "It's not about that, silly!" she laughed as she elbowed Sasuke jokingly. Sasuke looked relieved. Thank god. I almost thought she was going to turn into a rabid fangirl too.
"What is it about, then?" he asked.
"Well… um… I wanted to ask for some help", she said shyly, smiling nervously.
"Help?" he repeated in disbelief.
"Yeah, you see, it's about…"
Tsukiko: Hmm, this chapter wasn't that long, but I enjoyed writing it (especially the part with Tenten being in the library XD I just took a random book from my bookshelf, chose a random page and a random sentence, it was kinda fun changing the words' positions)... next chapter will be published August 14th! (Oh no, 6 days before I'm back in school! T.T)
Inner Tsukiko: ... You better hurry up with that twenty-fifth chapter. And the other fics too... you haven't been writing The Curse of OOCness for ages.
Tsukiko: Yeah, I know, writer's block... ;.; But hey, I published two new fics today (The Curse of OOCness and Thank You), AND this chapter, so... anyhow, I want to eat something now... or play ping-pong... ja! ;)
Reviews Corner (OMFG 100 REVIEWS! I know it has been like that for several days now, but still... WOHOO! 100 reviews!)
silverkage-chan: Well, the KakaKure is in Chapter 25... so I think you'll have to wait a while (16 days, actually) XD Hmm, another bonus... why not... but I'll have to see what our hundredth-review-bonus-chapter-bonus-winner says XP If HeartAngel wants a bonus chapter in this fic, we'll just have to see which couple HeartAngel dedicates it to... ;)(Or we can wait untilwe get a two-hundredth-review-bonus-chapter-bonus-winner XD)And thanks ;D
Shy-Princess: Thanks :)
hushhushyou: Yeah, poor Tenten... / Hmm, we'll see if they get together soon, ne? ;) All depends onwhether Sasuke wants to help them or not...
Zuan: Thanks :D And more SasuSaku coming pretty soon!
everlasting memories: Thanks :) That'd be fun to see XD Inner Neji! Lol.
hyperxchick34 a.k.a. Crazy Gal42: Hmm, I don't know if it has ended yet, in the previous episode I think there were seven couples left, but that's because the country I live in is so slow with showing them x.x (Lol, it said "LIVE" on the show and I really thought it was, until I went to the website myself and realized that the episode I had just watched was aired about a month ago in US.) And I won't reveal when Cindy shows up... yet... -snickers evilly- Oh no, school for you too? e.e I wish the summer holidays lasted forever!
frienz4ever: Thanks :)
MistressBlossom: Thanks, and yup, I will:D
nickygirl: Thanks ;D
sakura59515: Thanks, I'm glad that you like it :)
FREAKIN' AWESOME! 100 REVIEWS! WHOOO! -dances-
Sneak Preview of Next Chapter: Friends? (A/N: Spoiler: In my opinion, in this chapter Sasuke is stupider than in any other chapter in the entire fic.)
"What? You don't… want to?"
"Yeah." Sakura flipped a page, avoiding Ino's stare.
"Have you two… argued or something?"
"No… I just… realized something."
Fanfictions Coming Up!
Now you think I'll write the same as usual, right, with all the fics and stuff? WRONG! No, I' mhere to tell you about how it went and what's going to happen now. :) (PS. I hope I didn't count wrong. u.u; I don't count votes on the same fic from the same user, btw.)
Don't Forget Me received five votes. Dancewith Mereceived four votes.Forbidden Memories received three votes. Princess Sakura received three votes. And Replacement received zero votes. XD
Okay, my original idea was that I'd wait until a fic got ten votes, but now I think you guys are pretty tired of reading the same thing over and over again, so I've made my decision... and my decision is that I'll wait a little with Don't Forget Me. I've a bit of Writer's Block atm, and I'm trying to find that DVD with the beginning of the Korean TV series I've based the story on, but I've already started planning Dance with Me (I only have a tiny problem and the problem is that I can't dance andI need to find my sis ASAP and have her help me because she has two awesome coreographers asbest friends and she's currently dancing in her spare time as well).
I've already started with Forbidden Memories and I'm done with the prologue, but I'm a bit stuck in Princess Sakura's prologue. So I think I'm going to publish Don't Forget Me first once I'm done searching for the DVD and my Writer's Block is over, then when I get Writer's Block again (which I'm bound to get sooner or later) I'll publish Dance with Me, and if I get Writer's Block on both of them, it's Forbidden Memories and if I get Writer's Block on all three I publish Princess Sakura, and if I get Writer's Block on all four... well, then you'll have to read my other fics XD
Meanwhile, I've three other fics going on - My Catastrophic Birthday, The Curse of OOCnessand the soon-to-come Another Me, so while you're waiting, feel free to read them - or this ficcy! XD
Thanks for all the votes (and reviews!)!
Tsukiko
(A/N: If you find errors such as words pasted together likethis, sentences that are in bold or italics when they shouldn't be or sentences that are repeated even though they're not supposed to, please tell me. This happens a lot out of some unknown reason, and it isn't because it was like that from the beginning - no, when I edit the chapters after uploading them, they get like that. I don't know why, maybe it's my dad's computer being weird. And also, do the symbols ' and ... look weird? Because on dad's computer, it does.)