Authoress's Note: Hey! I'm back! Sorry for the delay. I got a little stuck, and Tai got stabbed, so he had to come back to full health again. XD Thank you to the reviewer who did that, considering it gave me more time to think. I appreciate all of the reviews I've been recieving, and I'm so proud to know how much you're all enjoying this. Anyway, without further delay, I give you Chapter Seven: Legs?!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or the characters. I only own the students, pets, and plot. Thank you.
Legs?!
Sasuke had forgotten to set his alarm that evening, so he ended up being in such a rush that he forgot to take a shower. He realized his mistake as he walked up to the Academy doors, huffing and setting his hands on his knees to try to catch his breath.
His legs and hands were still blue.
He sighed, knowing very well that it was too late to go do anything about his condition. He muttered soft, inaudible curses to himself as he pulled open the doors to the Academy, walking inside cautiously.
Iruka was waiting for him within, and Sasuke did his best not to look straight at the man.
"Sasuke, are you okay?" Iruka asked, obviously noticing Sasuke's strange behavior.
"I'm fine," Sasuke muttered.
"Good," Iruka smiled. "I've got a special job for you today."
Sasuke mentally groaned, but managed to keep his expression in check. "A special job, huh? What is it?"
"Well, every year we have a special day where the students get to bring in their pets," Iruka said happily. "Could you take care of the pets for me during class, please?"
Sasuke shrugged. It wasn't like a bunch of dumb animals could be worse than a bunch of evil children, anyway. "Sure."
"Thanks, Sasuke," Iruka said happily, as he opened the door to the classroom. "Let's go inside and I'll show you where the animals are going to go."
"Hn," Sasuke muttered, following him inside.
He had no idea of the horrors to come.
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Sakura smiled to herself as she walked down the hall of the hospital, thinking about all she had done to help Sasuke. She turned down the way, taking a different route towards the room she was going to.
She smiled kindly at her patient as she swapped out his medication and left the room to go to the next room.
Sasuke probably really likes those kids, she thought proudly.
And to think; all of this was because of her! She was so happy with herself! She figured that she should've told Sasuke that she had recommended him.
"I'll tell him that it was my suggestion the next time I see him," she decided aloud.
Sasuke will be so happy that he might even ask me out! She added mentally.
Sure, there were a lot of people who had thought she was over the Uchiha – she'd been one of them! But, being around him again was causing her to revert back to her old ways.
She was better now, though, and knew that her suggestion had been the absolute kindest thing anyone had ever done for Sasuke.
It was, right?
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So, Sasuke thought as he examined his surroundings. This is where I'm going to be keeping the animals.
He was standing in the doorway of the room he'd been painted in yesterday. He fought back a shudder as he remembered the humiliation he had suffered. Turning to Iruka, he nodded his approval, since he could find no reason not to accept the offer.
Iruka smiled, before going back into the hall towards his classroom.
Sasuke walked over and grabbed the desk, pulling it over to the far left-hand corner. He dragged the chair along as well, putting it behind the desk. He wanted to clear the way so that the animals would have enough room to wander around without bugging him.
He then commenced the actions of removing all sharp things from the animals' reach, considering Iruka had given him plenty of rules.
Make sure the animals can't find anything to hurt themselves with.
Sasuke nodded in satisfaction once he'd stored all pointy and painful objects in his desk.
Be sure there's nothing they can eat that's small, or animal hazardous.
Once Sasuke had placed all small items and pencils out of the way, he brushed his hands together.
Pull out the bowls in the cabinets and fill them up. Make sure you fill the bowls with different foods for the different animals.
Sasuke did as he recalled, filling up the different food dishes with separate foods.
Once he was satisfied with all of his work, Sasuke turned around to go to his desk – only to be tackled to the ground by a huge, black dog.
"Aaaah!" he wailed, shocked by the sudden attack. He was about ready to kill the thing when he saw her.
Iria was standing over the dog with a large smile on her face.
"Hi, Sasuke-sensei!" she said happily, pulling her dog back by the leash. "Do you like Frisky?"
"'Frisky'?" Sasuke repeated blandly, staring at the girl as he stood up.
"He's my dog!" she replied, gesturing to her pet.
Sasuke's eye twitched, but he nodded. "It's definitely a dog."
"Yep! He's my dog!" she added, stretching. "Here you go!" she said happily, holding the leash out to him. "Iruka-sensei said that you'd take care of the pets, so, thanks!"
"Er, sure," Sasuke muttered, taking the leash. He watched as the young girl giggled and ran off to get back to class.
Sasuke stared down at the dog on the other end of the leash. It wasn't a very pretty dog, but not a totally disgusting dog. Sasuke sighed.
He hated it already.
He managed to drag the dog across the room, tying it to the doorknob of the classroom's closet. He smirked as the dog realized it could no longer go anywhere.
He walked over to his desk and sat down behind it, closing his eyes as he waited for the other children to show up.
He hoped Tai would come down with the flu for two months and not be allowed to come to school the entire time.
That would be wonderful.
These murderous-if-not-cruel thoughts continued to register in his brain until he felt something heavy, warm, and furry plop down on his lap.
He opened his eyes to find a huge white cat lying right on is lap, its eyes half lidded and its 'expression' one of boredom.
Makoto stared at Sasuke blandly, waiting for his reaction to the fluffy animal.
Sasuke stared at the cat, then up at Makoto. "Did you put this thing in my lap?"
"No. She jumped up there," Makoto muttered. It was obvious that he was embarrassed of the little thing. Sasuke couldn't say he blamed the boy.
A white cat was extremely girly.
"What's your problem?" Sasuke asked, figuring that this might entertain him.
"I didn't want to bring this cat."
"Then why didn't you bring something else?" Sasuke asked monotonously, watching the boy in mild curiosity.
"Because this cat is the only thing I have as a pet. Mom's allergic to dogs, Dad hates fish, and sis hates anything with more, or less, than four legs."
Sasuke bit back the urge to snicker at the boy's unfortunate lifestyle. He nodded. "Oh," he muttered, before looking down at the cat. "What's 'her' name?"
"Cat."
"Your cat's name is . . . Cat?" Sasuke repeated. He shrugged, gesturing to the door. "I'll take care of Cat. Get to class," he stated firmly. Makoto nodded, and then ran off towards the classroom.
Sasuke was brought many other animals, including lizards, ferrets, birds, and snakes (which weren't a very pleasant reminder for him, either). He was just thinking he was finished collecting animals when the Devil-Child walked in.
Tai had arrived, and he held a cage in his hand. Sasuke watched the boy impassively as he walked over and set the cage on the desk. "Here. This is Legs," he stated. "He's my pet. Don't squash him," he added, before going out of the room.
Sasuke was, quite frankly, surprised that the boy hadn't made a smart comment, or an insult.
Now he was suspicious.
He tried his best to remain calm as he took his feet off of the desk. He'd propped them up comfortably a few moments before Tai had walked in.
What sat in the cage before him sent shivers up and down his spine.
There was a huge tarantula sitting right in the middle of the cage, all of it's beady black eyes staring straight at him.
There was one thing left that scared Sasuke, and that was spiders. He took a deep breath, and stood up.
It's in the cage, and I'm not. I've got nothing to worry about. All I have to do is make sure that the spider stays in the cage, and I'll be fine . . . he thought reassuringly.
He was right, too. If he kept himself and the spider apart, he would be fine. He sighed as he looked over at "Frisky", only to see the dog doing exactly what it shouldn't, right over the wooden floor. He growled.
Stupid dog! He thought bitterly, as the dog walked away from it's business and laid down on the ground. Sasuke sighed as he walked off and got some paper towels, cleaning up the terrible mess. He walked into the restroom, flushing the stuff down the toilet.
He turned and opened the door to the restroom, only to have a thick, white substance fall like powder all over him. He coughed and sneezed, unsure of what this stuff was.
One would think he would learn to watch what doors he opened.
He scowled as he brushed himself off, clearing himself off. He stormed down the hallway, turning to go back into his room.
As soon as he opened the door, all of the animals in the room that could bounded over to him and tackled him to the ground.
One of the dogs began to lick his face fervently, while the cat began kneading his upper thigh. He winced as its claw came frightfully close to a part of his body that he would've liked to keep safe.
The bird nipped at his hair, and a rat shimmered up his pants leg, causing him to feel very uncomfortable. He tried to get up, but Frisky, the dog licking his face, was too big for that.
It wouldn't let him get up.
He winced as the rat ran up one pants leg, then down the other, and then finally ran up his shirt. He struggled under all of the pets, letting out a frustrated growl each time they merely shifted.
Finally, he managed to get his arms under the heavy mutt and shove it off of him. He shuddered at the thought of the buckets of slobber that was covering his face. Not to mention the many split ends from the bird.
He muttered inaudible curses to himself as he walked back over to the desk, taking a seat.
He immediately froze as he examined the desk.
The spider was missing, and it was somewhere in this room.
And he seemed to be attracting a lot of animals' attention lately.
I hope you enjoyed Chapter seven! Please review!
Shebby