Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Never. Never. Never.
Dark
Entrancing eyes
They
Surround me in a
Pool
Of secrets never told
Of
Hurts
Never explained
Of
Me, reflected off his
Dark
Entrancing eyes
She scribbled it furiously atop her notebook, and then, satisfied, laid it down. She looked up at the ceiling, at the lights. The bell.
Her eyes widened in realization. She scrambled to keep up with the hasty pace of students that swerved around her.
She had to go. Get to class. Now.
There was one that didn't dare step around her. The girl that blocked the writer's path had eyes hard and envious.
"You don't belong here." She spat, slapping down the poet's journal. There was this sad, tortured smile on her face as she spoke, replying softly, "You're right."
The poet veered left after that, where there was a small space for her to cut through. Astonished and shocked, the other looked through the crowd of students, all moving together to create this barrage where she couldn't follow.
(Sakura's POV)
Chapter Two
Damn it. I almost let that get to me, I thought to myself, biting my lip.
Some time ago, I had to part with my new friends because of the fact none of them had Physics with me. Which, if anyone cared, sucked. I failed to make any new friends, and not only that, but failed to make the brains appear. The Physics was just never my forte… or something like that. Believe it or not, I was more of an artsy-literature person. I excelled in that greatly.
Speaking of literature, I had that class with the so-called nut and my homeroom teacher, Kakashi…
"Hello, class, some of you may know me from last year, but if you don't, well, I think we'll have a good time this year. I'm Kakashi-sensei, and welcome to your Literature class."
"Kakashi-sensei, the porn-reader with the tardiness who teaches Literature," I commented, grinning.
"He's awesome despite his… desires" Tenten whispered, and then shuddered. "Last year, there was this rumor going on around campus that he hooked up with both Anko and Kurenai at the same time."
I sweat-dropped. "Er…okay…"
"Don't worry, though," she said, "Kakashi is all about Literature and stuff when he teaches us."
"So," Kakashi began, this mischievous gleam in his eyes. "Let's start out the year with a game."
Thirty minutes later…
"Name all the conjunctions in this sentence. 'Yuri and Hanako are cheering for the football team.'"
"Crap." Tenten and Naruto muttered under their breaths.
Kakashi's game was called Trash Basketball. Two teams consisting of two players on each team (in this case would be me and Tenten –er, sorry, Tenten and I, competing against Naruto and Sasuke) would compete against each other, and if they answered a question correctly before the other team, would be awarded five points, and if they made the scrap of paper into the trash after correctly answering, would be awarded ten more. After a round of five questions, the team with the most points would win a free getaway from homework today, and the other would be mercilessly handed five pages worth.
Sasuke and I raised our hands at about the same time. Kakashi's eyebrow rose. "Hmm… tough call. Sasuke, I think I saw yours first."
I slowly dropped my hand, glaring at the ceiling. Damn it. Fangirls cheered him on as he answered it smoothly. "And and for."
"Damn it!" I grumbled again. I watched sourly as Sasuke shot the ball of paper effortlessly and slid into the bin as if it was meant to be there. That jerk-ish showoff. Tenten clicked her tongue to the roof of her mouth, pissed.
"Thank you for playing, boys and girls. Tenten, Sakura, I believe you two have some homework to get to." Kakashi smiled, handing each of us a stack of work and a textbook. "Have fun."
Tenten groaned loudly, opening up the textbook with a hearty bang. "I take it back. Kakashi is not awesome."
I growled when Sasuke passed me by, a smirk plastered to his face.
"What are you smirking at, Uchiha?" I snarled. He was smirking again. What the hell? Does he have an obsession with smirking or something? It was getting annoying.
He leaned close to me, his hot breath tickling my ear. "Your face." He whispered, before pulling back and exiting the classroom.
XXX
SKETCHBOOK
(a/n: okay, so this is basically Sakura's journal, which she writes in every time she's alone. When she first got it from her sister when they were little, she liked to draw what she was feeling. But then, that became more of a challenge, so she decided to just write it.)
School's pretty much as I though it would be.
Complete hell.
I know. I know I don't belong here. Everyone's pretty much made that clear, that there's only ONE Haruno good enough for this school. And I don't stand a chance in Haruki's way because to them, Haruki's like their leader, the girl they turn to when they don't know how to fit in. The freakin' 'Queen Bee' of all these pathetic workers. Like this one girl, Mita Hana, she hated my guts the first time she saw my face in Chem. But I guess I could probably figure why (coughHaruki'sfollowercough). So, stories burn like wildfire here, and basically everyone knows that I'm Haruno Haruki's sister. Is that some kind of sin? Half the girls in my junior class hate me. Such a great start to a new school, right?
But then, there's some rebels, some people who are so against not being yourself, and just being who they are. This group, I easily fit in to.
So, here's a list of my some people who I've recently dubbed as decent. The guys that hate Haruki's face. Nara Shikamaru (the dude saved my life), Yamanaka Ino (she's kind of two-faced. One side of her really annoys me with the 'shopping and guys are like presents you should pick one and unwrap it' and then the other's 'I'm competitive and really blunt and like hell do I care', which I really like. Then there's this Uzumaki Naruto guy, who almost ran me over this morning, but it turns out the dude's pretty cool when you get to know him. He's so happy-go-lucky and funny. It's nice to have him around. He's pretty cute, too. The athletic and smart Hyuuga Neji, who's actually hooked up with Kita Tenten, who's like, him but a girl's version. Haha, nice couple. Hyuuga Hinata, Neji's cousin. She's so SHY she stutters and blushes. But what's seriously funny is when Naruto gets real close to her. It seems like she's gonna faint anytime soon, and Neji (the overprotective son of bitch that he is ((ok, jk, he's not that, but he can get really cocky easily)) glares these huge holes into Naruto's back.) Ah, and then there's the stoic teenaged hottie, Uchiha Sasuke. I'll admit, he's hot, and he's RIPPED, like a body to drool over, but he like... never talks or something. He's so impassive and acts like the world around him is screwed. But whatever, I'm not gonna waste a whole page on Uchiha Sasuke.
As I walked to the parking lot slowly after a free period (Tenten and I –thank God– both had that together, so we headed towards the cafeteria's courtyard and crammed our heads together, working hard on our multiple pieces of hellwork from Kakashi. Hinata was free that period, too, and watched silently in amusement. Often times, when we were stumped dumb, she softly explained to us the right answer, 'cause it was never just give-answer-and-move-on with Hinata; she made sure that you understood why that answer was only plausible), waiting silently by Haruki's Lexus, I watched Naruto and Ino bound forward, hands waving for my attention.
"Hey, Sakura-chan!" Naruto called, voice booming. "Some of us are gonna head out for some ramen. Wanna come?"
"It'll be fun," Ino promised.
From the corner of my eye, I could see Haruki advancing slowly, Mita Hana glued tightly to her side. And they were watching me, eyes narrowed.
"Maybe another time." I said, mustering a cheerful smile. "Today's not a great day to ask. I'm gonna be busy."
The grin Naruto wore dropped a bit, but he nodded. "Well, maybe next week, then."
"Yeah, okay." I agreed, turning away. Because now, all I really wanted was to be left alone.
XXX
The ride home was silent, heavy. I could tell by the way Haruki kept on missing the stoplights that she was angry, or high, possibly. But she was driving straight, so the latter was eliminated.
As we turned onto Hime Street, Haruki began talking. "Your friends…" she said slowly, eyes still on the road. "They… how – you've… talked to Uchiha Sasuke-kun?"
"Yes." My voice was concrete hard. What was so special about Uchiha Sasuke? He was hot, but an extreme ass. Yeah, that was so special.
"Has he ever talked about me?" she asked.
Oh, this is great stuff! First off, sis, he didn't even talk, and if he did, it was a stupid, cocky-ass comment.
"No." I replied.
"And your friends…"
Again with the friends.
"How did they ever pick you over me?"
She was dumb. And stupid. And getting on my nerves.
"Because I'm not you."
"…"
Finally, peace.
But there were some consequences to my peace. In exchange, I had to endure a jerky ride, because obviously someone was PMSing the whole ride home. And then, when we came home, she hogged our bathroom, so I had to use the guest bathroom. And when I was studying for an algebra exam that she knew about, Brittney Spear's 'Break the Ice' had magically blasted from her room to mine, over and over again for a total amount of seven times. And when she was done with that, Chris Brown's 'Forever' played eight.
Nice to know I have a sister with such a lovely taste in music, right?
XXX
The next day was the same hell as the one before. Do you see a pattern?
I do.
It started when Haruki decided she was still mad at me, so we had this… heated debate in which it accidentally slipped out of my mouth that she was PMSing, so she then decided that she wasn't giving me a ride to school! Like hell! So my Okaa-san let me drive her Civic to school instead. Thank God, I needed the space away from my sister.
The rest of the day proved to be progressing, though. And hopfully keep on progressing, but my mood was still killer.
XXX
Naruto slurped loudly. Okay, scratch that, he was practically inhaling his ramen. That was so gross. When he finally noticed the stares people were giving him, he slurped before belching and finally asked, "What?"
Hinata, giggling, blushed and turned away, with Neji rolling his eyes and Sasuke murmuring a "dobe" under his breath, exasperated.
"Seriously, what did I do?" the blonde boy wailed.
Ino, smirking, laid back in her plastic chair. "Wanna tell him, Hinata-chan?"
Hinata squeaked, as if talking would kill her, and starting to turn a cute little pink. Tenten grinned, nudging her. She squeaked louder.
"A-a-ah, umm… Naruto-kun… they, th-they thin-think you're sl-slurp-slurping too loudly!" Her voice accidentally rose from all the stress we just put on her. Sasuke raised a slim brow. "What she means is, dobe, you're inhaling your ramen and you need to stop."
Naruto's eyes widened in rage. "I can't believe you guys! Ramen is a gift, and if you guys don't appreciate it then… then go away!"
I don't think he meant for us to take his words literally, but at the moment I was so pissed off with everything that was all ready happening I didn't shoot them a second glance. I shot up from the table, threw my messenger bag over my shoulder and said, "I'm gone."
And then I guess everyone else followed suit.
XXX
(Normal POV)
Naruto seemed stumped, wondering how in the name that is all ramen could he lose all his friends in just a matter of minutes. Waving it off as just an odd day for everyone, he grinned at the only survivor at the table. "Hey, thanks Hinata-chan for staying and stuff, you know." He started digging in to his lunch again. "I mean, geez, either they all hate me right now or they're all obsessed with Sakura-chan. But I don't think Neji would be the type to obsess over her. But teme is another story. He probably does obsess, but he doesn't show it. That heartless guy doesn't know a thing about emotions, eh, Hinata-chan?"
And all the while Naruto talked about Sasuke oblivious to his feelings for the new girl, Hinata couldn't help but notice how this same man –talking about ignored emotions nonetheless! – could be so oblivious to her own.
XXX
(Sakura POV)
"Open your textbooks to Chapter Five Lesson Two. Questions one through forty-three, odd." Anko-sensei barked to the class. Unfortunately, she was the Algebra prep instructor, and because she was, I was going to hate her. Yes, yes I would.
Sasuke sighed lazily beside me, as he got out his book and started flipping pages, then, when he found the right one, did absolutely nothing, closing his eyes.
This guy, I promise you, was a freakin' lazy ass, not even doing his own assignment! Seriously! Neji, who was on the other side of him, heaved out a heavy breath and gave me a hopeless look. I shrugged back before reading through the passages. Okay, yada yada jibe jibe. Whatever. This stuff seriously hurt my brain. Especially the twenty-first question.
Okay… Let's see… Ok, an architect builds a pool. He builds it in the shape of a heptagon( 7 sided polygon). The walls will be vertical and the pool will be 4 ft deep. The pool's perimeter will be 350 ft.
1) After it's built he will have to paint the inside of the pool. All 7 sides as well as the bottom. What's the surface area?
2) Then they will fill it with water. What's the volume of the filled pool?
3) If someone swims from one corner to the center of the of the opposite side, how far will it be?
... Fuck this! Only a freakin genius can solve this!! I'm not in college, Anko-sensei! Why are you doing this to me??
A paper note landed smoothly on my desk, and I opened it quietly and quickly, trying to distract myself from my growing aggravation.
Haruno,
What the fuck is the answer to question 19?? –Neji
I smirked at myself, and then scribbled back an answer.
Seriously? You're asking me? I'm honored to answer your question, Neji! X is 24.5. –Sakura Btw, when you get to question 21, mind telling me the answer??
Haruno, I seriously would tell you if I knew. But unfortunately, I don't. Answer to question 19 was very much appreciated, though. –Neji
I groaned in heavy frustration. What the heck? Did anybody know the answer to this?!
Sasuke's eyes opened. He glared at me as if I was the most despised thing in the world. "What are you pissed about?" he murmured. His voice, unlike his eyes, were calm.
"Just this question. It's really hard." I whispered back, rolling my eyes. Immediately his back straightened and he gazed at me, half curious. "Yeah? Which one?"
"Um,
twenty-one." I answered, kind of shocked he was interested. His
eyes scanned the problem, then, taking hold of his pencil, he
sketched a pretty accurate pool, labeling every small detail in a
matter of minutes, instructing me along the way. "If
the perimeter's like, 350', each of the 7 sides is 50' long.
"Draw a heptagon and draw lines to the center point. You'll see
that you've just made 7 triangles. You'll need to know something
about the 3 angles within the triangles.
"Draw a small circle
around the center of the pool; around the inner angles of each
triangle. Those 7 inner angles must total 360 degrees, so each inner
angle is 360/7 51 3/7 degrees, and since the other two angles of
each triangle are both equal
and must add up to 180 degrees when added to the center angle, they
must be 180 - 51.4 128.6 / 2 64.3 degrees. So now you have 7
triangles, with side angles of 64.3, 64.3, and 51.4 degrees.
So now you have some seriously easy parts to work with: you have 7
triangular units, with a 50' base. The triangles have a depth of 4',
are you with me?" He asked emotionlessly.
I nodded dumbly, trying to pretend I was, when really, I had no idea what the hell he was talking about. Sasuke just sighed as if he knew I didn't follow, and then continued. Dude, this guy was like, freaky-genius-smart for a bastard/pretty boy. Like, seriously smart because I couldn't understand a word. Either that or he was extremely, super stupid. But I kind of had a strong feeling it wasn't the latter.
"There." He concluded, handing me the paper. I nodded again, biting my lip as I checked out his answer.
I grinned as I rewrote everything he did. "Thanks." I said softly. His eyes were closed again, but he muttered a small, "Hn."
I scraped up the paper with the Uchiha's answer and threw it, the scrap softly thudding onto Neji's desk. He glanced at it, and then at me, eyes wide. And I just smiled, letting him sink in with the answers.
XXX
"Here, let's switch." Ino said, drawing out a small piece of scrap paper from her pocket while I did the same. Ino insisted on switching IM user names so we could talk online tonight. I scrawled my name onto the paper and slipped it across my Okaa-san's Civic, towards Ino. Ino took it and gave me hers.
I crumpled it into my bag not before memorizing the name.
MizxxFlowErInox.
She smiled at me and flashed off the peace sign. "See ya tonight, Forehead!" I smiled, pulling the car door open and sliding inside. "Whatever you say, Pig." I answered, watching from my rearview mirror as she walked away.
XXX
Sakura. Haruki.
I'm going to be working another shift tonight for a friend. I'll be home possibly at two. Your father will be home at eight. Call the pizza place for dinner, I honestly don't care. Please be good while I'm gone.
-Okaa-san
Oh right. I totally forgot about how much time Okaa-san and Otou-san liked to spend as much time away from the house as possible, considering the fact that I'd been in boarding school for almost two years. I laughed bitterly to myself, chucking the door open to the fridge and getting myself some VitaminWater. That stuff was seriously addicting.
The front door slammed shut as Haruki entered, boots clicking through the tiled hallway entrance. She wasn't alone, I noticed, because she was laughing along with a deep voice.
"Shut up, Sai! My sister might –" she stopped, deadpanned at the sight of me gulping down VitaminWater like I've never seen Niagara Falls or something. Her expression was priceless it kept me drinking until I was completely satisfied with the strangled look on her face.
"Oh, hello." I greeted, smiling ever so nicely at the tall, cute guy. He smiled back, tentatively.
Haruki seemed boiling. "Sakura," she said with a strained smile. I noted from the tone I was getting that it was time to make my exit. I nodded at the two of them before walking the other way, out of the room and into the den, listening in on their conversation.
"I'm so sorry about her, Sai. She has like, absolutely no manners."
"Whatever, it's cool. She's doesn't seem as bad as you say she is."
Hahaha. That guy was pretty cute himself. Oh, well. Haruki would kill me if I ever walked two feet near him. Guess that was her new (gag) boy "toy" for the week. Sad.
"Hey, do you have an IM account?"
"Oh, yeah. Want me to give it to you, Haruki?"
Oh, right! That IM chat with Ino!
I turned off the TV in the den and ran up the stairs, practically flinging the door off its hinges in my haste.
When I said down and turned on my laptop, I sighed in relief, only knowing I was two minutes late for a meeting.
MizxxFlowErInox would like to add you as a buddy. Would you like to accept or decline this invitation?
Click.
MizxxFlowErInox is now added to your buddy/contact list.
MizxxFlowErInox: hey! u finally answered, thank u!
hsakura109: Yeah well, nice to see you, too.
MizxxFlowErInox: rite. well, im gonna invite ms.tenten ovr. is that ok?
hsakura109: Sure. That's fine.
MisTressW has entered the room.
hsakura109: Hey, Tenten. It's Sakura.
MisTressW: oh, hey sakura! what's up?
hsakura109: Nothing really. Avoiding my sister and her new "project buddy".
MizxxFlowErInox: uh oh. who's da new guy??
hsakura109: Uh, I think his name was Sai.
MisTressW: SAI?? Chyeah, that gaywad?
hsakura109: Uh, "gaywad", Tenten?
MizxxFlowErInox: sai's a hottie, but he like has only had 1 grlfriend or something
MisTressW: yup that's basically wats going around the school. i heard his girlfriend was ami. yeesh and gag.
hsakura109: Right… Unfortunately I know not many people's name in this school.
MisTressW: oh yeah, since you've only been here for two days! btw, im adding you as my buddy, sakura
hsakura109: Okay.
MisTressW: okay, now accept!
hsakura109: Okay, okay, accepting…
MizxxFlowErInox: brb shika is messaging
MisTressW: bring him ovr here!
hsakura109: Whoa, how many people have IM's, Tenten?
MisTressW: every 1 of us, sakura. we have to stay in touch you know.
hsakura109: Aren't you guys a tight group…
Nara has entered the room.
MizxxFlowErInox: geezzzz! finally!!
Nara has exited the room.
MizxxFlowErInox: y that lazy, bumming, heartless, LAZY son of a BISCUIT!!
hsakura109: Biscuit? Nice choice of words, Ino. Why did Shikamaru leave?
MizxFlowErInox: he didn't even wanna talk!! that lazyass!!
Nara has signed off.
MizxxFlowErInox: I'LL KILL HIM!!
Nara has signed on.
Nara has entered the room.
Nara: You do know that I can log off while actually seeing what you're writing about me, right Ino?
MizxxFlowErInox: …
Nara: Yeah. Well, laters. Oh, and Sakura, add me as a friend.
hsakura109: Will do.
Nara has signed off.
MisTressW: heh. that was weird. that boy needs to teach me how to hack into chatrooms!
MizxxFlowErInox: hmph
hsakura109: Can I talk to you guys later? I'm kinda hungry
MizxxFlowErInox: WAT? ur gonna ditch ur lurvely friends for FOOD?!
hsakura109: Huh. Seems that way, doesn't it, Pig?
MizxxFlowErInox: fine. but send my lurves and kisses to ur ass of a sistah!
MisTressW: just tell ur "sistah" she's a whore
hsakura109: Right... Well, see you guys at school.
hsakura109 has exited the room.
hsakura109 has signed off.
MisTressW: you know, i'm actually starving for some food myself.
MizxxFlowErInox: o no! u aren't leaving me either, girly!
MisTressW has exited the room.
MisTressW has signed off.
MizxxFlowErInox: Dammit! I DO NOT DESERVE TO BE ALONE HERE!! DO YOU HEAR ME, SHIKA?! TALK TO ME NOW, YOU LAZY BISCUIT!!
I popped my head into the room carelessly, not concerned a shit about the two were doing in there. "Hey, I'm calling the pizza place? You guys want anything?"
Sai looked at Haruki curiously as they glanced up from their piles of paper. Huh. So they were doing a project. While Haruki shrugged, answering, "Whatever Sai wants."
I rolled my eyes, but diverted my attention to him. "What do you want, Sai?"
"Pepperoni, thanks." He answered, grateful for the food service. From his pale looks he seemed too polite to ask for any food at all and just decided to starve.
While I phoned the pizza place and waited patiently, I headed towards my father's office, leaning against the doorway as I tried to recall if anything different had appeared in the wake of my long absence. It wasn't like… I liked this place or anything. It just was the only place I've dodged since my homecoming.
Nope. Nothing I could spot. The room was still painted a pale beige, bookcases to the west and east walls. On the north was a set of sliding glass doors, the red curtains pulled so the sun shone clearly and brightly through. My Otou-san's desk didn't seem much of a change either. I guess like myself, he kept everything neat and organized, alphabetized about anything in the office, and put up anything proud like awards or certificates in places where anyone could see them. Or pictures.
I laggardly stepped closer into the office, rounding the desk to plunk myself on his armchair as my eyes scanned through the photographs. There were two. And as I regarded them, I didn't know how hard my heart sunk. It hurt. And I wanted it to go away.
The first picture was of when he was young. Still a man of eighteen, garbed in his black graduation toga as he smiled brightly into the camera, green eyes so similar and yet not really so beaming. He was clutching hard onto his degree, as if the world had suddenly just opened up – like a book – just for him, and he was going to take the world by storm, no one could stop him. Black unkempt hair was sticking out from under the hat.
Next was a picture of when Haruki and I were young, when we both went to the park. My mother had taken the picture, and I had watched.
Isn't it so pitiful when your father doesn't even give enough shit about you to put you into a picture? Isn't it horrible when your father holds the hand of your twin sister and takes a picture with a smile so carefree, holding her up as she laughs, so oblivious? And doesn't it hurt when you know that he'll never hold you like that? Never smile for you like that because he all ready had his baby girl to do it for?
Let me answer these.
Yes. It hurts.
But like hell I am ever going to give him the satisfaction of knowing it does. I will never show him that. Because he all ready thinks so low of me.
"Sakura."
Oh. I'm so stupid I didn't realize it was eight.
I look up at him slowly, my eyes glazed over to that emotionless gaze. I masked my emotions perfectly as I stepped out of his chair and walked out the door, only stopping to say, "Hello. Otou-san."
-
Dax here!! Sorry for the long wait, I had this writer's block and couldn't figure out ANYTHING!! Anyways, there was a small, SUBTLE sasusaku moment there, but don't worry, we're getting somewhere!!
My next update will probably be on this story, as to the fact that I owe you guys a favor for updating Mission Haruno Sakura two times in a row before this one!! Again, SORRY FOR THE LATE UPDATE!!
Hehe, I have this vibe that many of you absolutely hate Haruki's guts! Chibi Strawberry Niko has advised me to make Haruki move away, and I'm definitely considering something along the lines of that. But… she's a main, vital character right now, so for now she stays! Sorry!! I also want to say that all my reviews are absolutely wonderful, and I'm so happy!! My forever thank you's go to all my reviewers!!
Please REVIEW!! It gives me a lot of drive to keep writing, and if you have any spare time, check out Mission Haruno Sakura! Thank you again!! :