Author's notes: Yes, I know it took a while, but I was busy writing "Whole Again" which you should all go check out (shameless plug!) As promised in my profile, I uploaded today :) If you're wondering about future updates, check my profile. I try to update once a week to keep you all informed. Anyway here's chapter 12, over 7,000 words and a little more angsty than usual...
Thank you all for your amazing reviews and pushing me forward with this fic. This chapter is dedicated to hellothreeheads my 160th reviewer! :)
Chapter 12
..~**~..
..~**~..
It all started the very next day.
Sakura was dropped off at school by her mother and immediately felt nervous. She walked towards the main entrance and a familiar gut-twisting sensation slowly overtook her. She hadn't felt that way since she had left Suna High where her last month there had been spent in constant fear, pain, and complete and utter misery.
Chiaki's last words about Sasuke's fan girls going after her kept replaying in her mind as Sakura walked on and she feared the worst. What if things played out like they had back in Suna? If things got ugly, what would she do then?
Don't think about it! There's no need to stress over it now, nothing's going to happen.
But as Sakura approached the school, several students stopped and turned to stare at her as she walked past, whispering behind her back. A rush of panic swept through her and she tried her best to remain calm and reach the usual morning bench. However, once she got there, her friends were nowhere to be found.
Shit!
Refusing to hang around and wait as the unfriendly stares persisted, she walked up the front steps and entered the school, deciding to wait for her friends in class instead. Making her way through the crowded entrance, she turned towards the junior hall and noticed a small crowd gathered ahead in the middle of the hallway.
As she approached she spotted her locker and stopped dead in her tracks.
Someone had spray painted 'LIAR' in angry, thick red letters across her locker. Noticing Sakura, the gathered crowd all turned to face her.
Well at least they held back and didn't write 'SLUT' unlike those bitches in Suna, her Inner painfully reminded her.
Sakura noticed the hall had gone eerily quiet as she slowly stepped towards her locker. Everyone was waiting for her reaction, no doubt expecting her to break down and cry. However, Sakura shoved her insecurities to the back of her mind and steeled her nerves instead. There was no way in hell she would let this affect her. She wasn't so weak anymore and if she could endure the hell Suna High had put her through, she could damn well endure anything Konoha threw her way.
Standing in front of the vandalised locker, she ignored the spray paint on the front and opened it. However, she promptly jumped back as a cascade of blue liquid leaked out, hitting the floor along with half her school notes.
Everything inside was soaked in blue mush.
A raspberry flavoured slushie.
Damn, I should have seen that coming, Sakura thought before she was interrupted by high-pitched giggling and squeals. Behind her, Karin along with Ami and her friends stood across the hallway.
Breathe, Sakura, remember to breathe.
"Fucking hilarious," she deadpanned, glaring at Karin. What the hell was the redhead doing? Weren't they in the same bloody cheerleading squad? Hadn't she made it clear the other day that it was best that they get along?
"Relax, Pinky," Karin sneered in return. "Can't you take a joke?"
"Don't call me that," Sakura warned her, her hands curling into fists at the sound of the stupid nickname she hated so much.
A cruel smirk graced Karin's lips in return. "What? Should I call you Forehead girl instead?"
Sakura froze. No, she couldn't… there was no way –
"What? Did you think we wouldn't find out?" Ami continued, feasting on Sakura's reaction. "I had a very informative chat recently with a friend from Suna High. I wonder if your new friends know what people thought of you there. Do they know about your old life in Suna?"
Sakura's breath hitched in her throat.
"Does Naruto-kun know?"
A wave of anger overtook her at the mention of Naruto's name and the urge to close the distance between them and hit the dark-haired bitch in the face grew stronger. Unfortunately, she was interrupted as someone appeared from among the crowd and wrapped an arm around Karin's shoulders.
It was the redhead's boyfriend, whose name Sakura recently found out was Suigetsu.
"Hey babe, everything alright here?" he asked in a serious voice, his sharp purple eyes staring Sakura down.
A threatening aura surrounded the tall, lean swimmer and Sakura realised it was probably in her best interest not to threaten either girl in front of him.
Fuck, now what do I do?
"Sakura!"
At the sound of her name, she turned to see Ino and Tenten heading towards her, students quickly letting them through to stand by her side. Although she wouldn't admit it out loud, she felt a lot better seeing her friends show up.
"Holy shit, what the hell happened to your locker?" Ino exclaimed, catching sight of the blue mess dripping to the floor before turning to the two culprits standing across the hallway. "Karin, Ami, what the hell is your problem?"
Karin shrugged. "I don't know what you're talking about; we had nothing to do with it."
Tenten snorted in disbelief as Ino glared in return. "Like hell you didn't!"
The blonde took a step forward as Suigetsu pushed past Karin, his stance threatening. Excitement shone through his purple eyes and Sakura could tell the swimmer was itching for a fight.
"You got a problem with my girl, Yamanaka?" he taunted.
Ino didn't seem intimidated at all, although she kept her distance. "If you mean that cheating skank, then yes – I do."
The gathered crowd 'ooohed' as Suigetsu, looking positively murderous, stepped closer. "What did you just say?"
"Ino…" Tenten muttered anxiously, but the blonde girl ignored her.
"I said 'cheating skank' – you dolt!" she repeated, hands on her hips. "Don't you even know why Sasuke dumped her ass? Perhaps you should get your facts right before you introduce her to your older brother."
Sakura's eyes went wide as Suigetsu leapt forward, his hand reaching for Ino.
Without warning, another strong hand snatched Suigetsu's wrist before he could touch her.
Shikamaru suddenly stood between them, the usual bored expression on his face replaced by a serious one.
"Don't even think about it," he warned the swimmer in a cool voice. It all happened so quickly Sakura could only stare in shock. Where the hell did he come from?
Suigetsu snatched his hand away, glaring at the newcomer. Shikamaru stood his ground and Sakura had a really bad feeling about what would happen next. If any more guys from either team showed up, things were bound to get ugly.
Fortunately, the first bell rang, jolting everyone back to reality, and Suigetsu threw them all a cold look before turning on his heel and heading down the hallway, Karin and Ami in tow. Ino's surprised expression was instantly replaced by an angry one as she rounded on Shikamaru, who was staring in turn at Sakura's locker.
"What the hell was that, Shika?" she exclaimed, waving her arms about. "Who gave you permission to jump in like that? I was perfectly fine!"
Shikamaru's eyes widened at her outburst before he shook his head. "Troublesome woman."
The blonde rolled her eyes at him. "What are you even doing here?"
"My locker's right beside Sakura's," he explained before opening said locker. "I was just coming to get my books for class. Is that alright with you, Ino?"
He tugged his locker open a little more forcefully than necessary, his eyes still on the blonde.
Tenten looked as if she wanted to intervene but quickly thought better of it. Sakura merely stared at the state of her locker, kneeling down before the puddle of ruined notes and blue slush, wondering if anything was salvageable.
"Sakura-chan!" a voice spoke up behind her and she looked up to find Naruto staring in shock at her locker. Before she could stop him, he stepped forward, carefully avoiding the puddle and took a closer look inside, taking note of the tipped slushie cup and her stained notepad and books. Then his hand flipped the door around, revealing the red spray paint on the front.
His knuckled turned white.
Crap.
That was the last thing Sakura needed. Naruto finding out would only complicate matters. He might be her best friend but when it came to protecting her, he could be rash, stubborn, and sometimes just plain stupid.
That was one of the reasons why she had never told him the whole truth about Suna.
She had been too scared of what his reaction might be.
"Sakura," Naruto spoke again, his voice softer than usual. Ino and Shikamaru had stopped arguing beside them and along with Tenten, all three were staring at the giant spray painted 'LIAR'.
I guess they hadn't noticed it before, Sakura thought anxiously as Naruto's angry face turned to face her.
"Who the fuck did this?"
Sakura breathed a heavy sigh in response. "I don't know."
"Karin and that bitch Ami," Ino piped up, standing next to her.
"Ino…" Tenten warned.
"We don't know for sure," Sakura retorted, trying to diffuse the situation before Naruto ran off to make things worse. The whole thing was her problem after all and she would handle it.
"Don't know for sure? Who are you kidding, Sakura? They were standing right here gloating about it when Tenten and I came to find you," Ino continued, giving her friend an incredulous look.
"Okay, whatever, it doesn't matter," Sakura said dismissively, trying to push past Naruto to reach her locker hoping her friends would drop the subject, but of course the blond stopped her before she could.
"Doesn't matter?" he echoed, clearly confused by her behaviour.
"Sakura, you have to stop this now or they'll keep at it," Ino explained, watching her closely.
"I'll take care of it," Sakura replied curtly. She'd had more than enough experience of these things in Suna – she could take care of herself.
"Really?" Ino continued, hands on her hips again. "Because when Ami banged up your hand, I didn't see you take care of it at all!"
"Ino, shut up!" Tenten hissed, as Naruto's dark blue eyes looked to Sakura once more. She noted the sudden tension in his jaw.
"What is she talking about?" he demanded, his hand grasping her shoulder lightly.
Sakura threw Ino a look before facing Naruto. "Nothing," she reassured him, trying to wriggle out from his grip. "It's not important."
He only held on tighter. "Sakura, why won't you tell me?"
"Because you'll overreact!" she snapped, fed up with all the questions. "It's just a stupid locker and a stupid slushie so stop freaking out!"
Naruto fell silent, but Sakura could still see the lingering question in his eyes.
Why? Why are you being like this?
And the answer was simple; because compared to everything that had happened to her in Suna, this really was nothing. So if Naruto was freaking out over a vandalised locker then there was no way she could ever tell him about her sophomore year. It wasn't right keeping things like that from him and he would certainly take it the wrong way if he eventually found out - especially if Karin and Ami went blabbing to him about what they knew – but she couldn't bring herself to tell him. Besides she didn't especially want to start her junior year telling everyone about her sad sob story. It was all in the past now anyway and so she chose to ignore the way Naruto and her new friends were all staring at her.
"I'm the one that fucked up in the first place," she explained, trying to remain calm. "So if all of Sasuke's fangirls want to come after me, then that's fine. I can deal with it while it lasts. And if I have to, I'll find a way to get even with Karin and Ami."
Naruto looked as though he wanted to add something, but another imposing voice spoke up instead.
"The second bell just rang. Why are you all still lingering out here for?"
Kakashi-sensei stood behind them, standing slouched with his hands in his pockets. His eyes traveled to the row of lockers, noticing the state of Sakura's with a calculating gaze.
"All of you, head to class," he ordered before his eyes flicked to the pinkette. "Sakura, stay behind."
Sakura scowled.
Great.
She watched as her friends walked away down the hall, Naruto giving one last glance before disappearing from sight. She remained still, unsure of what Kakashi would say.
If she were still in Suna High, she'd know exactly how her conversation with him would go. Being the school's number one target with no clan protection, every incident was automatically her fault regardless of the state the teachers found her belongings, her clothes, or her face. In the eyes of Suna High, Sakura was merely seeking attention and looking for trouble on purpose. And she would be punished for it every time.
However, that was all in the past now and Konoha was different. Or so she hoped.
Nonetheless, when Kakashi approached her, Sakura couldn't bring herself to look him in the eye.
"Sakura," he spoke up after a moment, staring down at her. "Do you know who did this?"
She shook her head, fidgeting with her shoulder bag. He remained silent, expecting her to elaborate with words, and when she didn't, she felt the weight of his hand on her shoulder.
She finally turned to face him and noticed the reassuring look in his dark eyes.
"Why don't you salvage what you can before heading to class. I'm going to find the janitor and make sure your locker is cleaned by the end of the day. Do you think you can share someone else's in the meantime?"
Sakura stared back at him, startled by his reaction.
Wow, Kakashi-sensei isn't just a perverted teacher, he's actually nice!
"Um – yeah, sure, I'll ask Naruto or Ino," she answered quickly before kneeling down once more in front of the slushie puddle and beginning to scrape up her notes from the sticky mess.
..~**~..
..~**~..
Sasuke was late for school and it was all Itachi's damn fault. His older brother had sent his car to the garage without consulting Sasuke before and had refused to lend him one of the numerous Uchiha cars instead. Itachi had then insisted on taking him to school himself, which Sasuke had promptly refused but since Naruto hadn't picked up his phone, the younger Uchiha had had no choice.
Thus he was late and already pissed off. Although when he entered his class, he was surprised to see that Kakashi still hadn't turned up.
Quickly making his way to the back of the class, he slunk down beside Naruto.
"Dobe, next time pick up your phone," he growled, ignoring the not-so-subtle looks he was receiving from a couple of girls sitting up front.
It seemed the rumour about him being gay had died pretty quickly after all.
He was surprised, however, when his idiot best friend barely looked up from his open notebook to greet him. The usual goofy grin on his face had been replaced by a sour expression.
"Sasuke," Kiba greeted him along with Neji, sitting in front of them. "Seems like you missed all the action this morning."
Shikamaru then showed up beside them, explaining what had happened in the hallway.
Sasuke wasn't surprised to hear that Sakura's locker had been vandalised. After all, she had started the rumour and it was only a matter of time before his fucking fangirls made her pay. As if he couldn't take care of his own problems.
However, he was more surprised to hear about Ami's involvement – especially since he had warned her to stay away. Perhaps he hadn't been clear enough…
The classroom door suddenly opened and Sakura arrived along with Kakashi, who gave them all a stern look as he saw them slacking off. Shikamaru returned to his seat and Sasuke watched as Sakura's gaze lingered on Naruto before sitting down next to Ino.
"Ignore Naruto," Kiba added in a whisper, "He's just pissed 'cause no one told him about Ami targeting Sakura last week."
"Fuck off, Kiba!" Naruto warned him, looking up from his homework. "You guys should have told me."
"Sakura didn't want you to know," Neji informed him, looking over his shoulder.
"Did you know about this?" Naruto asked, turning to face Sasuke.
The Uchiha hesitated before nodding once.
"Teme, you can't keep this shit from me!" Naruto ranted, struggling to keep his voice down. "I don't want her getting hurt and I also promised Tsunade baa-chan that I'd look out for her."
"Relax, Naruto," Kiba answered, not even bothering to pretend to be studying. "Sakura's from Suna after all, right? I'm sure she's more than capable of dealing with Karin and Ami. Besides the girls have her back."
Sasuke noticed his words did nothing to appease the blond idiot, who kept glancing at the pink-haired girl.
"Although," Kiba added as an afterthought, "if Uchiha actually bothered dealing with his fangirls in the first place instead of stringing them on, there wouldn't be a problem."
"Shut it," Sasuke growled. It wasn't his fault the annoying girls wouldn't leave him alone no matter how many harsh words or glares he sent their way. Besides what else was he supposed to do? Bang them like Kiba and Shikamaru did? He might be a player but Sasuke knew better than sleeping around with girls from KHS. His fangirls would never leave him alone if he did; they'd all think they actually had a chance.
"Do me a favour and keep an eye on Sakura from now on," Naruto asked them all. Kiba and Neji glanced at Sasuke, who nodded silently, before Kiba answered.
"Sure thing."
..~**~..
Sasuke's mood didn't improve throughout the rest of the morning. It seemed everywhere he went all anyone talked about was the damn rumour about his sexuality (which apparently hadn't fucking died yet as it should have) and Sakura's vandalised locker. Not only that but it seemed all his fangirls had allied themselves against Sakura because they'd somehow found out that she had started the damn rumour and had decided to make her pay. Everywhere the pinkette went, stares and whispers followed and even though her friends stuck by her side everywhere she went, Sasuke could tell the girl was still stressed out.
At first glance Sakura looked rather indifferent to the whole thing. She talked and smiled at her friends like the stares and the rumours were nothing to be concerned about, but when Sasuke looked closer, he noticed that when she wasn't talking, she seemed lost in her thoughts or she was frowning and that her smiles were forced.
Sasuke didn't like this side of her. He much rather preferred her bright smile, the one she exclusively gave Naruto when she greeted him and that seemed to illuminate everything around her. Or the typical, warm smile she gave to her friends and which matched her upbeat personality and unique hair. Sasuke had never been on the receiving end of those smiles – although he'd seen her give them once or twice to Kiba and Shikamaru.
The Uchiha briefly wondered if one day she'd ever smile like that for him before he caught himself.
What the fuck was he thinking? Why the hell should he care about one annoying girl smiling at him when he could have any girl he wanted?
He shouldn't think about her that way. He shouldn't think about any girl that way - not when the last girl he had cared about had screwed him over so fucking badly. Who cared about Sakura's smile when he had so easily manipulated her into making out with him? And if things turned out well at the party, maybe they'd find a room together without anyone noticing, and then he'd make sure she'd smile for him as well.
By lunchtime, all the talk concerning Sakura annoyed Sasuke to no end and his mood turned even darker. When he and Naruto sat down to eat with their team, all the guys could talk about was the damn pink-haired girl. From what he could gather from the table conversation, the moment she'd walked to the cafeteria, the place had fallen awkwardly silent and so the girls had gone outside to eat lunch.
Of course, Naruto had wanted to find them.
"Shit, where did they go?" he asked Kiba, already up on his feet.
Sasuke was about to tell him to calm down when surprisingly, Shikamaru beat him to it.
"Naruto, sit down," he drawled, eyeing the blond. "If you go after them now, you'll only make things worse."
Naruto froze, cursing under his breath, before he sat down again.
"I hate this," he said in low tones, glaring at nothing in particular.
"Dude, chill," Kiba told him, although his attention was on a blonde senior sitting close by. "By Friday, the fangirls will be too busy watching us play ball, they won't even remember Sakura's name."
"I hate to say it, but Kiba's right," Shikamaru continued, his head in his hand as if eating lunch was a drag. "Sakura's doing the right thing. She needs to keep a low profile and wait for the rumours to die down."
"But what about Ami?" Neji asked, his sharp eyes fixed on the dark-haired girl, sitting across the cafeteria with her friends. "She doesn't seem like the type to back down easily."
Neji's gaze flicked towards Sasuke, who grit his teeth. He didn't need to be reminded how his threats didn't seem to have affected the girl.
"Man, I can't believe you dated that," Kiba piped up, nodding his head in Ami's direction.
"I wouldn't call what we did dating," Shikamaru answered with a sly smile, which Sasuke and Naruto mirrored.
"Spare us the details," Kiba told him making a face before turning to face Naruto. "Anyway if push comes to shove, think Sakura can hold her own?"
Naruto's expression turned serious as he thought about Kiba's question.
"I know she went through some bad stuff in her last months at Suna, but I don't know the details," he explained, catching Sasuke's attention. "She wouldn't tell me and neither would Baa-chan. She's no pushover but other than that I don't know."
..~**~..
Sakura sat in the furthest seat in the back of the class, near the window, waiting for class to begin.
She'd split from the girls after lunch to head to the library and photocopy all the notes her friends had lent her to replace her ruined ones.
Her day so far had been terrible.
Ami and her friends had been downright nasty to her every chance they could get, most of the cheerleaders had blatantly ignored her when she'd greeted them and the rest of the school kept giving her cold, unfriendly looks.
Great, just fucking great! Sakura thought as she sorted out all the notes strewn on her desk. This is only my second week and already everyone hates me! I deserve some kind of trophy…
The bell rang and Ino and Hinata along with the rest of her homeroom class arrived for Social Studies. Naruto, for some reason, decided to sit next to her, although he usually sat with the guys, but Sakura didn't comment and was slightly pleased for his light-talking and idiotic jokes after her crappy morning.
However, economics soon followed and Sakura reluctantly followed Tenten, Neji and Sasuke down the hall where she knew she wouldn't be sitting next to any of her friends.
As she walked into the classroom, she cringed when she saw Ami surrounded by her posse sitting in the back of the class.
Awesome.
How could she forget that Ami took the same class?
Tenten gave her a reassuring smile as she left to sit next to Sasuke at the back of the class, while Sakura took her seat by the window. Her neighbour was Daijumi, who played for the soccer team and who never missed an opportunity to flirt with Ino every morning even though he supposedly had a girlfriend. He had been rather friendly to Sakura on her first week, however, it seemed now he preferred to ignore her.
Sakura didn't mind. She didn't particularly like Daijumi in the first place since he seemed to openly hate Kiba and Shikamaru for some reason and used every opportunity he had to piss them off.
Ami sat a couple of rows across from Sakura and as soon as class began, she kept turning her head to scowl at the pinkette. Sakura ignored her, staring outside or at the blackboard instead until she spotted a hastily folded piece of paper land on her desk.
One of Ami's friends sitting in front of Sakura had put it there. Sakura examined it for a while, silently arguing with herself whether to read it or not, and before she knew it, her hands opened it.
"No one wants you here, Forehead girl!" it read.
Lovely.
Sakura threw the note in her pencil case and focused on the blackboard again.
Within minutes, a second note landed on her desk. Sakura turned her head to face Ami, who smirked in return.
"Go back to Suna, slut!" the note read.
How original.
Once again, Sakura threw the small paper in her case and ignored it, knowing the bitch was probably waiting for a reaction.
By the time a third piece of paper landed on her desk, Sakura knew full well the whole class was aware of the notes being sent her way. Instead of reading it, Sakura simply crushed it in the palm of her hand and checking to make sure the teacher had her back turned, she raised her forearm and flipped Ami off.
Sakura distinctly heard the other girl gasp and smiled to herself when the teacher then told Ami off for not paying attention.
"You shouldn't anger her like that," Daijumi stated under his breath, his eyes fixed on the board.
"Like I give a fuck," Sakura answered in kind as she resumed jotting down notes.
..~**~..
Cheer practice wasn't any better. By the time warm-up was over, Sakura realised half the team, most of the seniors, either scowled at her or chose to ignore her. Sakura was grateful for her friends sticking by her side and decided to go through practice as usual and ignore everything else. Unfortunately as they began practicing the dance routine, someone stuck their foot out behind Sakura, causing her to stumble back and clumsily land on her ass.
Chiaki and her friends immediately burst out laughing.
Sakura's face turned red and hastily stood up on her feet again.
"Silence!" Yuugao-sensei snapped, looking rather pissed off. She had been teaching them a rather difficult dance step with her back turned to the squad but thanks to the wall of mirrors, she had seen exactly what had happened. "Matsumi, if I ever catch you tripping one of your teammates again on purpose, you're off the squad."
Her quiet but angry tone caused them all to gulp in dread and no one breathed a word as practice resumed and Sakura took her spot between Ino and Matsumi once more.
Once it was over, Sakura changed as quickly as possible and accepted Ino's offer on getting a ride home. She knew she was supposed to wait for Naruto to finish practice but she simply couldn't wait to get home.
It had been such a rough day.
Not as bad as her days back in Suna but still… being confronted by unfriendly looks and words all day wasn't exactly what she had expected Konoha High to be. She had screwed up all right and now, even if she wanted, she had no idea how to fix things.
"I'm sure it'll be alright," Ino said quietly as she drove out of the school parking lot. "After Friday's performance, I'm sure everything will be okay again."
However, the anxious look on the blonde's face made it hard for Sakura to believe her.
..~**~..
The next day, nothing changed.
Her locker hadn't been vandalised, but the stares, the whispers and the name-calling in the hallways continued and intensified despite Naruto's outbursts and Ino's glares.
At least in class, no one openly bothered her.
By lunchtime, however, Sakura decided not to put her friends through any more trouble because of the mess she'd created and headed for the library instead. She knew she was being a coward and that she was skipping lunch, but at least the library gave her some peace and quiet before the afternoon classes began.
Pulling out an apple from her bag, Sakura sat down with her copy of Pride and Prejudice and decided to read ahead for her class. After thirty minutes, she was bored and feeling the urge to use the toilet, she headed for the smaller bathroom outside the library, which she knew everyone avoided as the air conditioner was always broken.
The bathroom was smaller than others and stuffy, but the heat wasn't as unbearable as expected. Sakura used the stall furthest away from the door and just as she flushed the toilet she heard the bathroom door creak open and several pairs of footsteps walk in.
Damn, I was hoping not to meet anyone in here.
Deciding not to let it affect her, Sakura opened her stall and stepped out until she spotted Ami and two of her friends standing outside and obviously waiting for her. They stood evenly spread out, blocking Sakura's way to the exit.
Wow, this would be much more threatening if they actually looked the part instead of three skinny fangirls, Sakura thought dryly.
A glint of metal suddenly caught her attention and she saw a large pair of scissors dangling from Ami's hand.
"It seems you're really not getting the message, Forehead," Ami greeted her with a sinister smile. "So we thought we'd teach you a lesson."
"What do you want?" Sakura asked, standing her ground.
All three sneered back at her. "Did you know, Forehead, that Sasuke-kun likes girls with long hair," Ami stated as she held the pair of scissors up. "And your hair is much too long for our liking."
Sakura crossed her arms over her chest. "So you three came up with the brilliant idea of trapping me in the bathroom, cutting off my hair and you think you can get away with it?"
Ami merely shrugged her shoulders. "I've gotten away with worse."
Obviously, Ami didn't see any flaws in her plan. It seemed she was used to preying on weak girls and getting away with it. But Sakura wasn't a weak girl. She'd survived Suna High and one didn't simply go through so many fights without learning a few tricks.
"Alright then, go ahead," she challenged the bully, spreading her arms. "Come and get me."
Her words seemed to surprise them, however, before Ami could make a move, the bathroom door creaked open.
"Sakura?" Hinata's voice filtered through and sure enough the purple-haired girl stepped inside before stopping as she spotted the scene before her.
"Hinata!" Sakura exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"
Hinata noticed Ami and her friends before focusing on the bright metal scissors. "We were looking for you and I thought I'd check the library."
"Hinata, get out - "
"Get her," Ami's voice rang out, and immediately one of her friends grabbed Hinata's upper arm, pulling her further inside the bathroom.
Damn it!
"Let her go!" Sakura ordered, taking a step towards Ami. "What do you think you're doing?"
The black-haired girl merely laughed, holding her large scissors up to Hinata's face in a threatening manner.
"This brings back happy memories from junior high, right Hina-chan?" Ami teased as Hinata squirmed in her friend's grip.
Wait – what? Sakura was shocked by Ami's words, but seeing the look of shame on Hinata's face she decided not to comment on it, focusing on Ami and her friends instead. The thought of the three bitches before her bullying Hinata in the past and getting away with it made her sick.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Sakura cried out, half in exasperation, half in anger. "Why are you doing all this?"
"Because we can," Ami said in a sharp voice, turning back to face her. "Because I'm a Matsuda and my clan has ties to the Akimichi whereas you're just a nobody who should know better than to hang around Sasuke-kun and his friends. Now get down on your knees or these scissors will do more damage than cutting your hair."
Fuck, think Sakura, think!
She weighed her options. She could probably get rid of the three girls by herself but since they were holding Hinata, she feared for her friend. Ami's threat was clear and as Sakura hesitated, the dark-haired girl sneered and brought the sharp tip of her scissors closer to Hinata's eye.
"Alright, I'll do it, just let Hinata go," Sakura gave in, getting down on her knees.
"Nina, hold her down," Ami ordered and her tall blonde friend immediately stepped beside Sakura gripping her shoulder tightly.
Sakura knew she had to do something fast or they'd keep using Hinata against her.
"Wow, you girls really are dumb," Sakura commented, catching their attention. "First you go after me and now you're threatening Hinata Hyuuga. Have you even thought this thing through? What will you do when her family finds out? Or her cousin, Neji? Or even Sasuke?"
"Shut up! Just shut up!" Ami screamed, crossing the distance between them in an instant and promptly slapping Sakura across the face.
No way! Did she just hit us? Her Inner Self fumed. You'd better not let her get away with it!
Sakura's cheek stung. Slowly she turned her head to face Ami, who looked furious.
"Just who the hell do you think you are saying his name like that, you slut?" she continued, grabbing hold of Sakura's hair tightly and forcing the pinkette to look up at her. "He doesn't care about you, none of them do. No one will care what we do to you, you're a nobody! My friend told me what happened to you back in Suna. Where do you think I got the idea for your locker? I know all the humiliating things they did to you. And if you don't want us to do the same then you'd better do as we say from now on."
Sakura grit her teeth.
"Don't glare like you're better than me, Forehead! You're a nobody, I checked. Haruno isn't related to any of the important clans so you should quit acting so tough. You have no right hanging out with the clan heads. You're just worthless trash. I heard you don't even have a dad anymore. What happened, Forehead, did Daddy leave Mommy for a whore?"
Something snapped inside Sakura and her green eyes blazed in anger. "Leave now before I punch your face in."
"Shut up, you bitch! We're going to cut your hair off!" Ami threatened, brandishing her scissors. "And then you're going to quit the squad and leave Sasuke-kun alone!"
"I'd like to see you try," Sakura seethed and catching them off guard, she twisted out of Nina's grip and grabbed Ami's hand, slamming it against the porcelain sinks. Ami dropped the scissors with a hiss but launched herself at Sakura, who pivoted out of her way and shoved her against the tile wall.
Ami's face hit the wall with a sickening crunch and Sakura stepped back as the dark-haired girl slumped to the ground. Blood gushed out of her broken nose as the bathroom door was thrown wide open and Ino and Tenten appeared.
"Sakura!" Ino exclaimed running inside and stopping as she noticed Ami's bloody face and her friends' frozen expressions. "What the hell's going on in here?"
"They cornered me in here hoping to cut my hair off," Sakura explained, pointing at the scissors on the floor. "I didn't agree and now it's over."
"Like hell it is!" Ami shrieked, holding her hands up beneath her nose as her friends helped her stand up. "My parents won't let you get away with this. You're finished, Forehead, you'll get expelled for this!"
Sakura glared back at her as the three girls headed towards the door. Could Ami really get her expelled? She wasn't sure how much influence Ami's parents had on the school but she wasn't looking forward to finding out.
"Good idea, Ami," Ino hissed. "Why don't you tell your mom to give Sakura's aunt a call. That would be Tsunade, she works at the hospital, you might know of her already."
"Never heard of her," Ami stated almost proudly despite the tears in her eyes and the blood running down her face. "But you'll be hearing from me soon."
Once she had left the bathroom, Sakura let out a deep sigh, shaking her head slightly. Seriously, what is wrong with that girl?
"She's never heard of Tsunade-sama," Tenten stated, biting back a smile.
"Just shows you how important her clan is after all," Ino muttered before turning to face Sakura. "Sorry. I couldn't help myself. I hope Tsunade tears her a new one."
"Doesn't matter," Sakura answered before approaching Hinata. "Hey, are you alright?"
Hinata looked up and nodded. Although slightly shaken, she looked fine.
"Ami threatened to cut her face with the scissors," Sakura explained to Ino and Tenten. "That girl is fucking crazy!"
"They threatened you?" Ino yelled, grabbing hold of Hinata's shoulders and looking at her face. "We've got to tell Neji about this."
"No!" Hinata countered, shaking her head. "You can't tell him, he can't know what happened."
Sakura looked at her friend, noticing the mix of emotions on her face. She understood Hinata so well in that moment that it pained her.
"Ino, can you go find the guys? We'll be out in a sec," Sakura asked and was glad the blonde left the bathroom without any complaints.
"What's going on?" Tenten asked, her intuition telling her something more important had happened.
"Hinata, I don't want to push you but I know how you feel," Sakura explained, catching her friend's hand in her own. "Trust me, I know exactly how you feel, I went through the same thing. You heard what Ami said. And I know that it's always better to confide in your friends than keep it all to yourself."
She could tell Hinata was listening to her, although she wasn't sure if her message was getting across.
"I really think you should at least tell Neji," Sakura continued, trying to catch the girl's eye.
"He'll only blame himself," Hinata argued, turning to face Sakura. "We weren't exactly close back then."
Sakura gave her a reassuring smile. "It doesn't matter, he'll still want to know. Besides, Ami could try something again and it's best if Neji knows so he can look out for you, okay?"
Tenten beside them kept quiet, catching on quickly and choosing to slip an arm through Hinata's to show her support. Hinata finally agreed and the three of them exited the bathroom together. They had barely made it past the library when they spotted the guys ahead in the hallway.
"Hinata," Neji called out and ran to her, examining her face and clothes as he asked her if she was alright.
Ino was still talking to Sasuke as Sakura and Tenten approached the others.
"Sakura," Naruto greeted in a worried voice and pulling her into a tight hug. "Are you alright?"
Sakura hugged him back and nodded before pulling away. "I guess Ino told you guys what happened, huh?"
"Your cheek's red," Sasuke noted, his dark eyes watching her keenly and Sakura brought her hand to her face to cover it.
Oh right, I forgot about that!
"Did she hit you?" Naruto asked, anger laced in his voice.
"Yeah, she slapped me," Sakura admitted with a laugh. "Didn't think she'd go so far, but I guess it was better than seeing her threaten Hinata."
Naruto's eyes went wide and he looked over at Hinata as Kiba spoke up. "Guess you got her back pretty good, huh? We saw her run by with her friends just before. Man, the state of her face! What the hell happened?"
"Her face met a wall," Sakura said flatly.
Shikamaru seemed surprised. "You did that to her?"
Sakura looked back incredulously at him. Did he really think she'd let Ami threaten her, insult her and slap her and not get her back for it? Did he really think her that weak?
"Yeah, I guess I got pretty angry," she admitted and before anyone could ask more questions, the bell rang signaling the end of lunch and the start of their next class.
..~**~..
News of Sakura's confrontation with Ami traveled fast throughout the school and by the time English began, the stares and whispers that had followed Sakura everywhere for the past couple of days slowly died down.
Sakura did her best to focus during English, although her thoughts were still all over the place after the incident. She didn't notice until halfway through class that Sasuke's eyes were on her. He was watching her closely with a slight frown on his face as if trying to decipher a puzzle, but quickly looked away when she caught him.
When class ended, Kakashi-sensei called both Hinata and her to his desk for a "talk" and Sakura's stomach clenched. After all the students were gone, Kakashi informed them that Ami had blabbed about the whole incident to the teachers when being treated for her nose, making her to look like the victim. Kakashi straight out told them he didn't buy her crap knowing her troubled past and seemed to believe Sakura and Hinata when they told him the truth.
Sakura skillfully explained that Ami's broken nose had been an accident and not an open attack and Kakashi seemed to buy it. He then admitted that the scissors had been stolen that very morning during Ami's art class, thus coinciding with their story. Obviously Kakashi trusted the Hyuuga heiress's version of the story more than he did Ami's and when they were done, he was officially Sakura's new favourite teacher.
By the time classes ended, the junior halls were buzzing about the incident with Ami, but Sakura was at least grateful that fewer students were giving her cold or unfriendly looks.
Heading to cheer practice with her friends, she felt uneasy about facing Karin and mostly Chiaki again and decided to avoid them at all costs.
However, as soon as she stepped foot inside the changing room, Karin was there to greet her.
"Oh look girls, it's Sakura," she stated with disdain in her voice. "Are you here to break my nose as well?"
Several girls laughed, but before Sakura could react, Okyo intervened.
"Enough!" she snapped, slamming her locker close and walking to the centre of the changing rooms. "That is enough, from all of you. We are all part of a team now and we have to work together. We can't have any quarrels among us or we will never be able to compete. Yuugao-sensei made it quite clear yesterday – she won't tolerate any petty behaviour so all of you just drop it! It's over now; the Matsuda girl got what she deserved so leave Sakura alone."
Chiaki laughed at her. "My, what an inspiring speech Captain."
"Oh fuck off, Chiaki," Kagura growled as she finished changing.
"I'd also like to add something," Ino intervened, standing beside Okyo. "I spoke to Shikamaru earlier and he told me Sakura wasn't technically the one to spill the beans last Friday about our night out. Someone else flat out told them we had lied and gone clubbing. Isn't that right, Karin?"
All eyes suddenly fell on the redhead.
"Took you long enough to figure it out," Karin answered with a shrug.
"Are you serious?" Chiaki asked, turning on her. "I know you're not one for team spirit but to purposely spoil our night out, that's really bitchy, even for you, Karin."
"Yeah, thanks for spoiling our fun," Matsumi added in a cold tone.
Comments continued to fly at the redhead from every senior and Sakura watched, stunned, as the tables turned and Karin became the squad's number one enemy.
..~**~..
Yes, Ami is pure evil, but I have plans for Karin so don't hate her just yet...
Not much SasuSaku but next chapter is the game, the first cheer performance, the party and the KISS! So be sure to tell me how you loved or hated this chapter and how psyched you are about the latest Naruto chapters! Seriously, Kishimoto, chapter 627 made me scream and jump in joy!
Also recommendation: If you haven't read or seen the shoujo Bokura Ga Ita (We we there) then try it now, it is amazing and so sad...
Thanks, as always, for your support and love - I cherish each and every review :)
sai xx