Tsubame:Finally! An update!Apparently, my vocabulary does not include the word, "deadline." I always miss those. Am I really going to make a good writer? ;; I am really sorry for the late chapter. I got lazy but now I am trying to write again. YAY! My muses are so slow. I wish they'd work faster.

I hope you will like this new chapter. I have been procrastinating too much. I really worked hard on it. Tell me what you think and see if you can solve this one. I'll be looking forward to hearing what you think. LOL

Thank you so much for tolerating the slowness of this frustrated writer. Thank you, everyone.

Disclaimer:I don't own Naruto. It is the property of Masashi Kishimoto and company…

"Summer School"

By Tsubame Ongaku

Chapter 12: Haruno Sakura

Everything would have been perfect. They say that she had the ability to make anything beautiful. It was like magic! It was the curse of her hands.

Shimizu Ito was known throughout Konoha High as an unrivaled "Art Prodigy." She had been a member of the art club since childhood and won many awards for her art. She excelled in all fields of art, such as sculpting, painting, music, sketching and many more.

She could create one beautiful piece after another without much effort. It had boosted the school's reputation three folds.

But because of this, she acquired many enemies…

Art had been her whole life and she had spent most of school life inside the art room alone. There she created many pieces, which were still displayed in the art room until today.

She had one friend though, Sozoichi Chihiro. He was very good looking and popular with his silver hair, eyes as blue as the sky and gentlemanly demeanor. He was a member of the music division in the art club. He played the flute…but very badly.

Instead of making music, he made loud screeches that reached the opposite side of the academy. The only reason he managed to get in was that he made beautiful sketches and was a good actor. Nobody understood why he decided to stick to flute playing when he really was a dunce at it.

They became friends when Chihiro begged her to be his teacher. Unfortunately, he didn't get any better. It wasn't that Ito was a bad teacher, he was just most likely cursed…but he was stubborn. His determination was touching… until he actually started playing, then people begged him to stop.

The two of them were a strange pair, since Ito paled beside Chihiro. Ito had short, mousy light brown hair and brown eyes. This didn't help Ito's predicament at all. Many of Chihiro's jealous fans bullied and tormented her for being close to him. But she never complained or told where the bruises on her body came from. Chicihiro suspected something but had no idea how severe the bullying really was. She kept insisting that it was nothing and even denied that he had anything to do with her frequent hospital visits because of the bruises.

Nobody expected the horrible accident that befell her and her parents one stormy night. Their car got sideswept into a river. The body of Ito's mother was found but Ito and her father's weren't. According to the stories that circulated around Konoha High, she now haunts the Art club classroom.

Unfinished paintings and sculptures would be left overnight and would be finished by morning, while inside a locked classroom. Only two people could possible have the keys and those people are the janitor and the principal, Kakashi-sensei. In other words, how does one enter and leave a locked room without leaving a clue?

Sometimes, guards would pass through the empty classroom at night for their usual rounds. They say that they could have sworn that they could hear someone playing the musical instruments in the classroom. One time, they investigated it with the janitor and found the classroom completely empty but the instruments… were definitely moved.

Especially the harp…

It was Ito's favorite instrument.

"Have you heard? They say that Ito-chan appeared again."

"Really? This is the third time this month! This is weird. Who saw her this time?"

"Uchiha-san's new girlfriend…"

Quite frankly, Sakura was more bothered by the Uchiha-san's newgirlfriend label than the ghost story. It hadn't taken long for the story about her relationship with Sasuke to spread around campus like wildfire. But the story of the girl in the classroom didn't escape notice either.

It had been a week since the Sports Fest and Konoha had won first place in the inter school division. In the team battles, team seven won second place.

"You okay, Sakura. You're not still thinking about it, are you?" Sasuke was walking her to her next class, at his insistance. He was acting like he didn't hear the conversations around them, but she knew pretty well that he could. They apparently didn't understand the full meaning of being subtle. She had told him about what he saw but he didn't look at all surprised.

"She's a popular legend in Konoha, of course I heard of her…"

He didn't say anything more after that. He didn't seem to like talking about it either, since he always tried to change the subject whenever she brought it up. She was surprised that he even asked that question. "Yes I am," she admitted. "Are any of those rumors true?"

"Yes," he replied without hesitation.

"How about the rumors that she might have been murdered?" she pressed him. "Are they true?"

"Ito had a lot of enemies, so I wouldn't be surprised. Listen, I don't want to talk about it."

"Ito? You seem to know her pretty well," pretending not to hear him. "Was she an acquaintance?"

Grumbling, he gave up. It was pointless to ask her to mind her own business. She was just too curious for her own good. "I don't like talking about her because she was a friend. I had modelled for her in one of her pieces. She called it, The Avenger and won 1st place." At her surpised expression, he grinned. The wheels on her head were definitely turning. "Don't worry, it wasn't a nude piece."

She blushed and punched him lightly on the shoulder. "Who's worried?!" He had read her mind accurately; she hated it when he did that. "Do you believe she was murdered?"

"Why are you pushing this? It has been three years already. Nobody needs to remember," he stopped and pulled her chin to make her look at him. "I warn you, Sakura. Don't push this issue any further."

"Why?" she demanded, her eyes glaring at him. "If that girl was murdered, everybody deserves to know."

"Sakura, how do you think I feel? I spoke to her a few hours before she died." He let go of her chin and began to move forward again. "She had just come from the exibit where she had won a prize for the painting I posed for, when she had that accident."

She felt ashamed afte hearing that. "I am sorry to hear that," she whispered. "I had no idea…"

"Just let it go, okay?"

"I'm sorry, Sasuke… I just can't…"

She got into a very big argument with Sasuke after that. He wanted her to drop the whole thing but she refused, there was something about the case that made her want to investigate further. It was too wrapped with many unanswered questions; Sakura didn't believe that she died so simply. Wasn't it possible that she could have been murdered?

After classes, she took the opportunity to sneak into the Art Club room. She had to be quick because her boyfriend was not going to like it if he found out that she had been snooping around the Art Club room. She was relieved to not find him outside her classroom like she had expected him to do. She then remembered Naruto mentioning earlier that Sasuke had clean up duty that day.

She carefully read the name plates on top of the doors, searching for the one that was labeled, "Art Club." It didn't take her long to find it. There were paintings displayed outside their door. She pushed the door open. "Excuse me, is may I speak to Sozoichi-kun?"

"Hel---" she started to say but got a little distracted by the sound of tinkling above her. She was amazed to see a beautiful rainbow colored windchime. It was made from different colored glass and the edges were rounded to prevent injury. Each piece was also molded into a particular flower. When the sun hit it, it was truly a sight to behold.

"Why am I not surprised?"

Sakura froze, her eyes snapped into attention and opened wide as she saw Sasuke already inside and speaking with a good-looking silver-haired boy. Both boys were seated comfortably in the middle of the room. Sasuke was sitting back while frowning disapprovingly at her. The other guy was smiling happily, while holding a flute. "Sasuke? What are you doing here? Don't you have clean up duty?"

He shrugged. "Do I look like the type to do clean up duty? I had Uzumaki do it for me."

"You had your friend do it for you?" she asked, disbelieving. She couldn't believe that Sasuke would be so cruel. "How could you be cold?"

"Don't worry… I paid him."

Sakura had to force herself count to ten, to keep herself from punching his pretty face. She rolled her eyes, trying to remember why she agreed to be his girlfriend. Sure he was brilliant but he could be such a jerk sometimes. It was a wonder even for her, how she actually tolerated him.

"Is that supposed to reassure me?" she asked, sarcastically. Then she finally turned to the silver haired boy, who was looking at them quite confused. She smiled nervously. "You must be Sozoichi Chihiro-kun."

He stared at her hand for a minute, then broke into a smile. Sakura blushed after seeing his smile. It was too sincere and bright. Seeing her blush, Sasuke kicked her hard on the heel and frowned. The girl yelped in pain and frowned back. Chihiro didn't seem to notice though. "Yes, I am but please call me Chihiro… and you must be Uchiha-san's girlfriend." Sakura's smile twitched at that comment but apparently, Chicihiro didn't seem to notice though. "Uchiha-san told me all about you."

Sakura groaned, afraid of what her boyfriend could have told him. She made a closer and more careful observation of Chihiro. She could understand a bit why girls are so crazy about him. He was gorgeous, but he seemed and looked pretty clueless. It was strange to see him seated beside the frowning Sasuke. Chihiro was smiling like he didn't have a worry in the world. Despite having such a pretty smile, it still looked a little sad.

Sakura smiled casually, pulling a seat beside and sitting down while making sure to keep a healthy distance away from Sasuke. She didn't want him bothering her. "I'm sorry for bothering you, Chihiro-kun. You weren't in the middle of something, were you?"

He shook his head, reassuring her. "No, I wasn't. I was just speaking with Sasuke-kun. He has the most stranges stories." Raising his teacup to his lips, he took a small sip of his tea. "This is very nostalgic. Uchiha-san hasn't visited like this since---" Suddenly, Chihiro's voice trailed off and his smile seemed to waver. "----that time. She really did love tea." There was a solemn silence after that.

"You must have really liked her…" Sakura asked thoughtlessly. She could plainly see that he cared for her.

Chihiro almost choked on his tea and turned bright red. Sasuke fought to keep himself from hitting his girlfriend. He was about to say something when Sasuke stopped him, giving him a reassuring smile he shook his head at him. "Don't worry, Uchiha-san. It is quite alright." Then he turned to the pink-haired detective and continued with his softest voice. "In a way, yes. I liked Ito-chan very much but… she was a star that I couldn't reach."

Sakura's eyes narrowed. What did he mean? All this time, she always had been hearing the opposite. It was always Ito that didn't deserve to stand beside Chihiro. Was this what Chihiro really think? It didn't look like he was lying. Chihiro simply continued to sip his tea with his signature smile on his face. Chihiro was really an oddball to her but he seemed nice.

"Did you know… that you were at first suspected of murdering her?" She asked hesitantly.

"Sakura! That is out-of-bounds!" Sasuke warned her.

Chihiro continued to smile but Sakura now knew it was a fake smile. He persisted to reassure Sasuke that it was alright. Sakura was beginning to feel guilty. It seemed like her questions was beginning to hurt him. After sighing deeply, Chihiro answered her question. "I did know. I had the motive and opportunity to do it at that time," he admitted. "That night, we had a fight and a lot of witnesses heard it. I forgot already what we fought about but I remember screaming at her that I wished she was dead… the next thing I knew she was."

Sakura was shocked by his admission to say the least. "I don't have an alibi for that night. All I can say is that I spent the rest of the night driving. I was upset and not thinking straight. Nobody could confirm it though. The only reason why I am not in jail is because of lack of evidence." Chihiro looked very calm when he said all this. "Is there anything else that you want to know, Haruno-san?"

She shook her head no. The boy was surprisingly cooperative. Was it because he knew he had nothing to hide? Or was he simply a superb actor llike his file had mentioned. Something told her that this case was not going to be easy.

"Chi-chan!" With the sound of chimes, someone suddenly wrapped herself around the unprepared boy. Long blonde hair surrounded Chihiro like a thick blanket. "You didn't tell me we were going to have visitors! I would have made some cookies."

Chihiro sighed and proceeded to push the girl off him. "Shizuka-chan, there is really no need… and please braid your hair it is going everywhere." To prove his point, he picked up a strand from his shoulder. "See?"

The pretty blonde pouted prettily but did as she was told. She began to braid her long, long hair into two braids. It gave Sakura an opportunity to observe the newcomer. She was really cute with her long blonde hair and green eyes that were very bright and bubbly just like her smile. After braiding her hair, the blonde noticed that she was being observed. Grinning, she extended a hand to her. "Shizuka Inoue," she introduced herself. "All rounder. It is nice to meet you----"

"Sakura Haruno," she accepted her motion for a handshake. She stared at the pretty girl. She recognized her a bit. It was obvious that she was the model for one of the paintings she had admired before entering the room. The painting hadn't done her justice. The girl was far prettier. "Just call me Sakura."

"Oh! I have heard of you! You're Uchiha-san's current girlfriend!"

Sakura ground her teeth at that. Was that sll people remember her as? Didn't they at all remember that she helped solved the "Torii Uta Case?" They only seem to remind her as "Sasuke Uchiha's girlfriend" and it exasperated her.

As if reading her mind, Chichiro smiled a small smile at her and said, "Uchiha-san told me all about it. Congratulations in solving the Torii Uta murder. It is really quite unfortunate. I was a bit of a fan too."

Sakura smiled back, feeling a little better for being acknowledged as a detective and not as a girlfriend. "Thank you, Chihiro. I am just glad that the truth was revealed. I was… afraid that Hinata-chan would be next if we didn't catch the culprit." However, Hyuuga Yukino was already showing signs of improvement so that fear was slowly eliminated. Now, she had another mystery to face. She wanted to know the truth about Shimizu Ito.

"It is unbelievable though. I never would have expected Miss Yukino."

That comment surprised Sakura. "You know Yukino-san?"

Smiling, Chihiro nodded. "Everyone knows the Hyuuga family and besides, Miss Yukino was an acquaintance of Ito-chan." That was new information for Sakura. She decided to take note of that info. It might come in useful later.

From the sides, Sakura saw that Shizuka didn't look very pleased. She was pouting and looking grimly at the exchange between Chihiro and Sakura. "What are you guys talking about? Don't leave me out of it!" She suddenly wrapped her arms around Sasuke and whined, "Sasuke-kun is this any way to treat your ex-girlfriend? You're so mean!"

"G—g---girl---friend?" Sakura was stuttering. She knew very well that she looked very much like a fool. Turning to Sasuke with a puzzled look, she saw that he was simply sipping his tea casually, undeterred. Maybe Sakura shouldn't be surprised. After all, Shizuka was blonde and very beautiful. People always told her that Sakura was her first un-blonde girlfriend.

He sighed, then turned to her. "We were only together for a day," he reminded her as he pried her arms away.

"But wasn't it a memorable day?" she teased, pinching his cheeks. Moving away, she made herself comfortable on a chair beside Chihiro.

Sasuke frowned but didn't say anything. He didn't really dislike Shizuka and their break-up wasn't at all bitter. Nobody knew the real reason for their break-up. They got along very well. Some people theorized that they thought that they were just not very compatible. They had only got together because people said they looked cute together after they modeled for a painting by their art teacher. Now, they were just simply friends but sometimes Sasuke did find her pretty annoying. "What brings you here, Inoue?"

"Me?" She asked, pointing at herself. "Nothing really. I just hear that Sasuke-kun was here." She ruffled his hair playfully, to his annoyance. "Ino-chan said that your girlfriend saw Ito-san's ghost. That is pretty creepy. I also hear that she is doing her own investigation now. Aren't you going to tell her about your own investigation?"

"You mean… Sasuke, you did an investigation too? Why didn't you tell me?" She demanded. "What did you find?"

"I didn't tell you because I knew you would ask," he answered effortlessly, frowning at the pink-haired girl. "If you know what is good for you, you'd forget about this whole thing." It was clear to her now that Sasuke was not going to help her on this case. She knew that something was up and that he did know something. It bothered her that he wasn't sharing… but she what she wanted to know was why.

She frowned stubbornly and turned to Chihiro. "Were Sasuke-kun and Ito-san close?" she whispered, mking sure that the other two parties wouldn't hear. Shizuka was busy talking to Sasuke though, while Sasuke was busy trying to keep himself from cringing.

"Huh?" Chihiro stared at her, surprised. "Come to think of it. I believe they were." He suddenly looked away and stared at a painting by the door. His expression drastically changed from his happy-go-lucky smile. It was Shimizu Ito's "The Avenger." It gained a lot of Media attention since it was the painting she won an award for the night she died. "Sasuke posed in that painting. He didn't even hesitate. He was going out with Naruto's girlfriend that time… their relationship was rocky by that time. I believe… Sasuke harbored feelings for her but I couldn't really be very sure."

From under the table, Sakura clenched her fists on her skirt. For some reason, it made her uneasy to hear that Sasuke might have like someone else. It made her feel bad too since the person was already dead. But at least she understood a little now. Maybe it was the reason why Sasuke didn't want to investigate this case.

Sasuke was watching her carefully despite Shizuka's constant pestering, though he couldn't really hear what their conversation was about.

"Want some more tea, Sasuke? How about some crumpets?" Shizuka asked, throwing him one of her radiant smiles.

"Just tea." He raised his glass to her. She poured him another cup, not minding that he didn't even say please or thank you. It was always like that between them. She had gotten used to it.

"So, you aren't going to help her?" Shizuka's smile suddenlt turned into a frown.

For the next few seconds, Sasuke continued to sip his tea without answering. Later, he finally puts his cup down but only long enough to answer her.

"What do you think?"

"Did you like Ito-san?"

Sasuke's eyes widened in surprise and suddenly stopped. His girlfriend obviously didn't understand subtlty. "That Sozoichi has a big mouth," he grumbled. "Did he tell you that?"

"It's not his fault. I did ask him," she defended him to Sasuke's irritation. "He was being helpful unlike you."

"Then why not date him if you like him so much?" he replied sarcastically.

Why was it that he really knew how to annoy her? "Because I love you…" she whispered, barelty audible.

"What was that, Sakura?"

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing."

After the meeting Chihiro, Sakura went immediately to the library browse through old yearbooks. One thing she noticed was that there weren't many pictures of her. She should have already expected that though. People warned her that she detested having her picture taken. She had only two photos of her. One was with her class and the other was stolen from what looked like a festival. Both pictures, she wasn't smiling.

She looked a little frightened.

Was it from the bullying? Sakura didn't know. Peering at the photo more closely, she could see that Ito had very pretty eyes though they were very sad and looked almost like she was about to cry. They were big and expressive. She couldn't help but wonder what color they were. The yearbook was in black and white, so she couldn't tell.

Sighing, she closed the yearbook. She didn't get much information about Ito at all. She didn't have many friends and no one seems to have anything to talk about her. "Argh! This girl was a ghost even before she died." She dropped her head on the table and began to think back.

Sakura didn't believe that what she saw that time was a ghost. Then again, what if Sasuke was right and that was simply an accident. Could someone be impersonating Ito? Why would anyone want to do that? And… that disappearing act. How was it done? There were too many questions and it frustrated her even more.

"Sakura-chan! There you are!"

She recognized Naruto's voice immediately. Smiling, she gestured him to sit on the seat beside her. Naruo smiled back and sat down, then placed a small silver case on the table. "Here you go, Sakura-chan." He pushed it towards her. "I got it from your locker. Just like you said."

"Thank you, Naruto-kun." Accepting the case, happily. "Well, my boyfriend is not going to be much help this time. Do you want to help me gather what I can in the art room?"

"Are you serious? That sounds like fun. Sure I'll go." Naruto stood up from his seat. It was easy to see that he was excited. "But you do know that that idea is not going to make that idiot very happy."

She shrugged and snorted. "I know but since when have I ever listened to him, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto simply grinned and nodded. "You have a very good point." The blonde was still a little annoyed by his friend's smooth-talking. Sasuke had talked him into doing his cleaning duties for a month. It was a hefty sum but sometimes he felt it wasn't worth it. HSasuke didn't tell him that his chores included the account book. Naruto loathed Math.

The Art room was empty when they arrived. She was relieved that Sasuke and Chihiro had left. She didn't to have to explain what she was doing there. She went to the supply closet and took out a small container with lead for mechanical pencils. After that, she took out a small Petri dish from her kit. Naruto watched curiously as Sakura began to crush the lead with a rock paper weight on the teacher's desk. When she was finished, she took out a pair of surgical gloves and put them on.

"Remember. Don't touch anything, Naruto."

"Wow! Sakura-chan! You look so professional." Naruto told her in amazement. He never knew that Sakura knew so much about playing detective. The boy was awestruck. It was so interesting to watch Sakura work.

Sakura just grinned but continued to work. Lastly, she took out some scotchtape and an unused make-up brush. "I am going to see if I can find some prints." She walked towards the back of the classroom, where she saw the girl disappeared. "Girls don't simply vanish into thin air…"

"Unless she's dead…" Naruto mumbled.

"I heard that." The pink-haired, aspiring doctor decided to continue working. She stared in concentration and stubbornness at the wall. "I'm not ready to believe it was a ghost yet." She began touching the wall. There must be a latch or something somewhere. Later, she began dusting for prints. For fifteen minutes, Sakura worked at dusting the wall with the grounded lead.

"Did you find anything, Sakura-chan?" A bored Naruto asked.

Sakura took out a roll of scotchtape and used it to take the prints from the wall. "Seven sets of prints. I will match them later to the members later." She carefully labeled each print. Suddenly something caught her eye. "Well, well. What is this?" With a pair of tweezers, she pulled out a lock of hair on the floor and bagged it.

Naruto watched in fascination as she bagged and labeled it with other items she gathered. "Hair? Is that important?"

She shrugged, frowning almost angrily at the bag. Looking up, her hand gripped at her sides. "I'm not sure yet but I hope it is… the hair…"

The blonde assistant grew serious, seeing Sakura look like that. Whatever she was thing about must have been grave indeed. "Yeah? What about it?"

" it's silver…"