CHAPTER 2: On Detention! Uzumaki's Punishment
It has been three months since Sakura and Naruto's encounter in the hallway. Being both true to their words, their rivalry resumed—and became more intense than before. Sakura stayed up late every night to read books for the lessons (which, upon Ino's observation, are still scheduled to be discussed the next term). She also became Hinata's constant companion in the library and Tenten's in the internet shop (who is actually an avid gamer). Her professors were awestruck at her newfound determination and praised her for it, especially Professor Gai who teaches Physical Education, saying that she's in the "springtime of youth and therefore she should live her life to the fullest." Even the University's Principal, the formidable Dr. Tsunade noticed that her skills as a trainee medic were improving "beyond her wildest expectations". Hearing all the compliments being thrown at her somewhat made her proud of herself—that even if she was busy as the Student Council President, she can still manage her time and maintain her grades. Yes, she should be proud of herself.
If not for that accursed, air headed Uzumaki.
At first, students were laughing at the "rivalry challenge" of the President and the newbie: saying that "that spiky blonde kid has no chance of winning against the Haruno Sakura" and "he doesn't know what the hell he just entered himself into".
Apparently, they were all wrong.
Despite Uzumaki being constantly late for the morning assembly, a sleepyhead in every subject and a cocky idiot who does nothing but annoy the hell out of students and professors, his classmates and the faculty have to admit that Uzumaki is a pretty smart kid. He's always sleeping in class or playing games but he gets a perfect score come quizzes and unit tests. He answers all the questions thrown at him correctly and logically, not to mention correct his teachers' grammatical and spelling errors in the lectures. In a span of three months, Uzumaki Naruto's name became well-known, and Sakura's fan club accepted him as a "rival worthy of the sweat and blood of our Goddess". Of course, Naruto enjoyed every minute of his fame and constantly bragged about it to his "minions" (or in Sakura's perspective, "slaves"). It was clear that Naruto's intelligence didn't waver at all, as much as Sakura hates to admit it. Every day, she would see Naruto's smirking, 'I-told-you-so' face and lapse into deep "strategy conceptualizing" to defeat him. Her actions didn't go unnoticed by her friends.
"You know, Sakura, I think you're overdoing this," commented Ino during their regular meeting. "I mean, I know you want to settle a score with Uzumaki but you shouldn't push yourself too far."
Sakura glared at her. "I'm not overdoing it, Ino. And it's President Haruno to you when we're on a meeting," she snapped.
Tenten sighed. "You know, I agree with Ino, Sakura," she said seriously. Sakura's eyes widened. The world must be coming to an end if Tenten agreed on Ino's comment.
"I think… I think you should just leave him alone, Sakura," a quiet voice said shyly. Their heads turned towards the direction of the voice and saw Hinata with her eyes cast downward. When she saw the inquiring looks on everyone's face, she flushed and stammered.
"I—I mean, someday, maybe, his luck will run out and he will be punished. If—if now he can get away from trouble because of his cunning ways and wit, who—who knows, maybe someday… something will happen that will change him."
Ino and Tenten gushed about Hinata's comment, saying that "she's finally becoming more assertive" while Sakura remained quiet. Maybe Hinata has a point. Maybe someday, because of his rule-breaking and mischievous ways, karma will befall upon him. Sakura smirked.
"May the gods have mercy on your soul, Uzumaki."
"A-choo!"
Shikamaru looked at Naruto, who's wiping his mouth with a pink handkerchief (a fan probably gave it to him, he thought, what an eyesore. How can he use that?).
"Wow. Someone must have been daydreaming about me!" exclaimed Naruto.
Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "You wish. Maybe someone's cursing you," he said.
Naruto sighed dramatically. "You hurt my heart, Shikamaru."
"Oh shut up," he said.
"C'mon Shikamaru. Just leave him alone," a chubby guy commented. His nameplate read "Akamichi Choji". He is the Vice Captain of the Sumo Club and an Honorary Member of the League of Future Kitchen Masters. He may look innocent and kind because of his smiling face and eyes, but he has a tendency to flare up when called "fatso". Students (and bullies) became extremely careful when he sent five members of the Sumo Club to the hospital one day and wrecked (or should we say, nearly destroyed) the Club's headquarters.
"Choji's right. Let him fantasize about his fan girls who became my girl friends in the past," teased another. His nameplate read "Inuzuka Kiba". He has sharp features and a bossy aura, which makes one think that he is a merciless bully. But rather, it was the opposite. He is kind and gentle with animals and has a way with dogs. It was rumored that because of this uncanny attachment to animals, his sense of smell is like that of a dog. This rumor was confirmed true when he found the location of a missing student by "tracking down his scent". Since then, Kiba has been called by the Itinerary Committee every time an item is missing.
"Really, the way you tolerate his fantasies. And you call yourselves 'college students'," reprimanded a guy with the nameplate "Hyuuga Neji". He is very good looking, with his long hair tied loosely in a ponytail. He is famous throughout the school as "Socrates the Second" because of his principles and philosophies in life. Quiet but intelligent, he is also known as "Silent Killer Neji"—he wins by not standing out too much. He is Hinata's cousin and Tenten's childhood friend and love of her life (though she would not admit it). He may look indifferent at times, but he is very protective of his cousin. Because of Hinata's status, she tends to get targeted by kidnappers and political enemies. His duty as an older cousin is to look after Hinata and make sure she is safe.
"Ahh Neji! The way you speak—you're taking everything seriously! Enjoy life while you're in the springtime of youth!" Exclaimed a guy with the nameplate "Rock Lee" exaggeratedly. He has a coconut husk shape like hairstyle with very bushy eyebrows to go with it. His eyes were blazing with fire as he chided Neji. He is known as "The Master" because he is the Captain of all martial arts clubs in the whole school. It is also a common knowledge that he idolizes Professor Gai and his teachings, to the point of following him every day and training with him every morning and evening.
All of them laughed at Lee's comment (except Neji, who glared daggers at him) but were interrupted when the guy on the corner wearing a hoodie (despite the heat) and sunglasses sighed. Naruto looked at him and raised his eyebrows.
"What is it, Shino?" asked Naruto, "is the heat finally getting on your nerves?"
The guy named Shino sighed again, "Actually, I've been trying to talk for a while now but you kept ignoring me, yet here I am, taking the trouble to tell you something very important."
Naruto and the rest gulped. Shino has this inclination to get all sulky and 'emo' when ignored. And it was hard to win him back when he enters that 'mode'.
Neji cleared his throat, "So Shino, what is it that you want to tell us?" he asked.
Shino shook his head, "Actually, it's Naruto I want to talk to," he answered.
Naruto sighed, "Well? Are the girls asking about me? Please tell them I don't go on dates after school, only on weekends. And my favorite food is ramen and I enjoy—"
Shino raised his right hand, "Stop right there, Naruto. It's true that a girl has been asking for you, but I don't think she cares about your personal profile," he said.
Naruto's eyebrows furrowed, "So, who is this girl who dared to ask for me without first finding out my favorites?" he demanded.
Shino looked at him hard, "Dr. Tsunade wants to see you in her office now, Naruto."
Needless to say, Naruto was extremely a nervous wreck the moment he entered Dr. Tsunade's office. He wouldn't admit it, but she was the only one who imposes fear on Naruto. This is because Dr. Tsunade and Naruto's private tutor, Jiraiya, were acquaintances. From what he heard from his teacher, Dr. Tsunade is the type who can destroy the entire school in a single punch. That's why when he transferred, he was careful to avoid making any contact with their principal.
Naruto fidgeted in his seat as he watched Tsunade who was watching him carefully. She stared at him with her eyes narrowed as she took in his appearance. "He really looks like his father", she thought.
Naruto cleared his throat, driving Tsunade out of her reverie, "Uhm. Dr. Tsunade, you called… for me?" he asked tentatively.
Tsunade looked at him fully. She chuckled, "Well, whatever happened to the boisterous, self-proclaimed ladies' man? You look so scared, and I haven't said anything yet."
Naruto's eyes widened. "Not good. She knew my secret," he thought.
Tsunade got up from her seat, effectively catching Naruto's attention. She stood at the window and looked at the blue sky.
"Such a beautiful weather isn't it, Mr. Uzumaki?" she inquired.
Naruto raised his eyebrows. He looked incredulously at Tsunade's back, but answered nevertheless, "Yes it is, Ma'am."
She sighed, "To think that this beautiful day will be tainted by nasty news… don't you think it's a mortal sin, Mr. Uzumaki?" she asked again.
Naruto was getting more nervous by the minute, but he tried to maintain his calm composure, "I think so too, Ma'am," he said.
"But for the sake of discipline, it must be delivered, I believe," she said.
She turned around and faced Naruto.
"Mr. Uzumaki Naruto, I think it's about time to send you to detention."
"WHAT?"
Kiba and Lee couldn't believe what they heard, thus the loud and violent reaction. Choji's eyes widened as his potato chip fell on the ground. Shikamaru and Neji just sighed and gave each other "well-this-is-expected" looks. Shino… Well. Shino was not yet over from the "ignored treatment" given to him a while ago and was still sulking on the corner, muttering something along the lines of "always not listened to" and "supposed to be my friends".
Naruto sighed, "Yeah. You heard it right. I'm on detention. For this whole semester, until that woman is satisfied. She said she had enough of my crazy rule-breaking and laid back lifestyle."
"B-b-but Naruto! Of all people, why were you assigned under her?" exclaimed Lee.
Lee's comment garnered nods from everyone. Kiba, still not over from the news, commented also.
"I know Dr. Tsunade is a big stickler for rules, but for her to do this…" he trailed off.
"Well, there's nothing we can do, right? He has to live with it," said Shikamaru.
"But the most important question is," Neji said, "how will she take it?"
Everyone just shrugged.
Ino ran as fast as her feet could to the Student Council headquarters. The news she just received was preposterous, unbelievable and outrageous. And when news like this involves the council, she just couldn't keep quiet. Along the way, she ran into Tenten, who was also running like there is no tomorrow. They gave each other knowing looks and ran off in the same direction, towards their headquarters.
"Have you heard the news, Vice President Yamanaka?" asked Tenten.
For a moment, Ino balked at Tenten's polite way of addressing her. She concluded that anxiety and shock must have triggered her to become business-like.
"Is it that obvious?" Ino panted. Tenten nodded, "Anyway, we have to break it to her gently before anyone else could."
Finally, they reached the door leading to their headquarters. They looked at each other and gulped. Ino put her hand on the doorknob and turned it.
"Hello, Sakura! Tenten and I wanted…to…" Ino trailed off, her eyes widening.
"What's wrong, Vice President?" Tenten asked, "President Haruno, we received…the…news…" she also trailed off, taking in the scene before her.
Papers were scattered on the floor, chairs were overturned and the curtains hanging helplessly from the windows, torn and discarded carelessly. Ino scanned the room and saw Hinata on the corner, her eyes widened and her form shaking as tears run down her face.
Tenten went over to Hinata and led her out of the room, all the while pacifying her and soothing her with comforting words. She gave Ino a worried look before leaving the room. Ino knew that look. Tenten is telling her to do her job as the second in command. She heaved a sigh and entered the room.
Sakura was sitting on the leather armchair at the head of the table, facing the windows. Ino approached her carefully, stationing herself a little further from the chair before speaking.
"President Haruno, what happened here?" she inquired.
Sakura didn't answer. Instead she stood up and faced Ino. Upon seeing the wild expression on her face, Ino gasped. Sakura looked like she was about to kill, her eyes bloodshot and hard. Ino unconsciously took a step backward.
"Not good," she thought, "It's been a while since I've seen her look like this. And that was when we found out about Sasuke joining the fraternity."
Sakura opened her mouth to speak, "Vice President Yamanaka, have you heard? Someone is joining our council as a 'temporary member'," she said.
Ino gulped, "Oh damn," she thought, "She knew."
Sakura looked back at the windows and spoke again like she was just discussing the weather, "Dr. Tsunade said that this person will help us until the end of the semester. That's great, isn't it?" she asked in false excitement. Ino shivered involuntarily.
"Do you know who this temporary member is, Vice President Yamanaka?" she asked, her voice trembling.
Ino pretended to sound surprised and intrigued, "Who?"
Sakura spun around suddenly, anger and disdain gracing her features, "It's that damn Uzumaki. Uzumaki Naruto's joining the council!"
(A/N: Woah! A long chapter indeed! Naruto is joining the Student Council and Sakura's angry! Will this set-up have a negative effect on both parties? Or will this lead to something else? Read on to find out! Many thanks to those who read the first chapter and this. R&R please!)