Chapter Two: Beginning of the End

"Forehead, there's no way it was as bad as you're making it sound," came a protest from a pretty blonde simultaneously as a locker door slammed shut the next day.

Her only response was a side glare as Sakura adjusted the weight of her textbooks in her arms, "Ino-pig, they were insane." She said flatly, beginning to walk towards her first class, Ino following into stride next to her, "One of them destroyed a vase in my face."

Her best friend just waved a hand dismissively, "It's an art club, of course there's going to be a few…eccentrics."

"My face, Ino. You know, where my eyes and other easily damaged body parts are located," Sakura retorted dryly.

"I think you're overreacting," she said, rolling her eyes. Sakura audibly growled in response. Ino sighed, "Not that it matters anyway. You said Sai wasn't there?"

Sakura shook her head, "There was hardly anyone there."

Ino pouted, "Then I guess there's no reason for me to join."

Sakura huffed, "Ino, you already joined. That was why I was forced to go in the first place, remember?"

"I didn't sign anything, they can't make me go," she said flatly, tossing some long bangs out of her eyes. She mock sighed, "What a pity, I was looking forward to spending some quality time with him."

It was Sakura's turn to roll her eyes as the two girls made their way to the class, "I'm sure you'll get over it. Like you got over Neji-san, Kiba, Sasuke-kun, Idate-san, that boy in the library, that boy in your science class, Junichi-"

"Geez, Forehead, you make me sound like such a flake!" Ino protested, jabbing an elbow playfully into Sakura's side.

Sakura failed to completely fight down the smile, "You are a flake, Ino."

The two were entering their homeroom, and Ino shrugged on the way in, "At least I'm not a total prude."

Sakura's face resembled that of a total prude being called a total prude and being defensive about it, "I am not a prude!" she frowned, "And at least my prudishness doesn't force my friends to go to crazy art clubs."

"Still stuck on that?" Ino said dismissively, "You went, it's done, get over it." She said with a bit of teasing in her tone, "It's not like you'll ever have to go back."

Sakura reluctantly nodded, "I suppose you have a point."

The sound of the bell ringing broke apart their conversation, as the two girls then proceeded into their home room.

"You're going to pull funding because there aren't a bunch of crappy clubs?" The man behind the principal's desk proclaimed in astonishment, jaw dropping slightly as he stared at the woman sitting across from him.

Said woman let loose an aggravated sigh and rubbed her temples, "I'm not pulling anything, Jiraiya, it's the board's decision-"

Jiraiya's jaw snapped closed to clench, "You mean-"

"Don't interrupt me," the woman interrupted with a level, brown glare, "And it's not because there aren't a bunch of crappy clubs, it's because Namikaze Academy has nothing to show for its extracurricular programs. Programs that were allocated funding by members of the school board as well as the board of trustees and alumni."

Jiraiya scowled, "Namikaze's sports program is one of the top ranking in the area-"

"The board wants more academically focused groups," The woman said, yet again interrupting him. She shifted in her seat, causing her business like blazer to stretch across her rather massive cleavage, Jiraiya felt himself become helpless as his eyes followed the motion.

"Well, the trustees rejected my proposal," he said sourly.

The woman raised an eyebrow, pursing her lips, "A club devoted to porn is not something suitable for high school students, Jiraiya."

He turned up his nose in indignation, "Erotica, not porn. And it had a full roster the first day it was introduced."

"And about as many sexual harassment complaints as there were prospective members," drawled the woman, crossing her arms over her chest. Jiraiya fell silent for a moment. She sighed, looking skywards for a moment before staring at the…preoccupied principal, "According to our information, you only have one academic club here." She leaned forward, causing the blazer to stretch yet again.

"Well, I suppose Namikaze could look at being more…er…well-rounded-"

"Either do something with your academic club, or start saying goodbye to the extra funding." The woman said in a clipped tone, straightening abruptly. Jiraiya pouted.

"But Tsunade, you're the superintendent, can't you-"

"My hands are tied. Orochimaru's making the situation…" she sighed, standing up and preparing to leave, "Difficult."

Jiraiya frowned and cursed that bastard of a trustee. "But if the funding's pulled, a lot of our sports programs are going to be cut."

Tsunade's face softened slightly, "Then I suppose you better work on entering that little art club of yours into some competitions, or start a club that will earn some recognition for the school."

Jiraiya's eyes widened, "We have an art club?"

Tsunade sighed, picking up her briefcase as her heels clacked evenly across the floor, "I'll be coming to check on your progress in a few weeks, good afternoon Jiraiya." She paused at the doorway, looking calmly over her shoulder, "And one more thing."

Jiraiya looked up from his desk, hoping to find a little ray of sunshine in the dark gloom that was the loss of financial backing.

"My eyes are up here."

The sound of the door closing and a moping old man could be heard throughout the office area.

"You want me to join an art club," came a toneless drawl from the senior captain of the majority of the school's sports teams as he stared at the principal flatly after school.

"Not necessarily 'want', more like 'need'," Jiraiya told him, "We need academic clubs or else we won't be able to get funding from the board."

The young man raised a dark eyebrow, "That appears to be a situation of poor school management, and nothing that would interest me."

Jiraiya scowled, he really didn't like this kid, even if he was the star athlete of the place as well as one of the top ranking students, "If there's no funding from the board, there's no more sports competitions."

The eyebrow that was raised slowly lowered, and the young man stared at him coldly. "No competition." He repeated in monotone, no apparent distress about him, but Jiraiya could tell he had struck a nerve of some sorts.

"That's right," Jiraiya smiled, practically shoving a clipboard under the kid's nose, "And it needs more members. If you join, odds are more likely that other kids will join."

"The sort of students that would join an extracurricular simply because I was in it would be mindless fools."

"Now you're getting it!" He said happily, handing him a pen as well, "Strength in numbers and all that."

There was a tiny frown on the boy's face as he read the roster. Some names he recognized, most he did not. "No competitions." It was a question, but the boy obviously wasn't emotionally attached enough to add the required inquiry tone.

"No competitions. The fate of Namikaze sports, no intermurals in general, rests on your very capable shoulders," Jiraiya said.

The boy's upper lip curled, obviously not buying it, but nevertheless, the name Uchiha Itachi was carefully written down on the same list that included Ame Konan, Iwa Deidara, Sabaku Sasori, a name that was partially smudged out with ink, and Haruno Sakura.

"No."

"Oh, come on, it's just an art club-"

"Art doesn't interest me. Neither do clubs."

"But you're a member of the student council-"

"I'm the treasurer. Their system was sloppy."

"We need a detail-orientated mind like yours in the club, think of all the awards you could help Akatsuki win-"

"How does an art club win awards? And Akatsuki? The name is stupid."

"Let's not get into the specifics, but I'm asking you to join because you're one of the top ranking students-"

"Like it's hard, this school is full of morons."

Jiraiya had to wince at that comment. This one was a tough nut to crack. Time to pull out the big guns.

"They're going to pull funding from the school if we don't establish academic extracurricular."

There was silence for a moment, "Pull the funding."

"Pull the funding."

"Pull the funding?"

"Pull the funding."

Silence, before an irritated growl, "Give me the stupid roster sheet."

Jiraiya couldn't help but smile, the way it was going, Akatsuki would be full of academically driven children in no time and he would secure Namikaze's money. Things weren't looking so bad, and he couldn't wait to shove this back in Orochimaru's face.

Poor Jiraiya had no idea what he was getting into.