Author's note: Merry Christmas, or Hanukah, or whatever else you celebrate. It's three AM, I typed 12 pages, and I'm tired. I got a new laptop for Christmas and I typed this chapter on it. I tried to include a little bit of everyone in this chapter, and you can see the slight relationship changes that are going to happen. As always please review, they make my day, and I do listen to what you guys have to say. So enough of my yammering, onto to the chapter!
Important notes for the chapter: All of the teen characters are 16 sophomore year, and the adults range from 23 Kakashi to 40 Tsunade. Zetsu's evil side is in bold.
Disc: I DO NOT OWN.
Last Chapter:
You see my family was perfect.
I only had one problem with the whole set up,
I wasn't.
The Konoha School of the Arts was one of the greatest private schools in the country. It was also only a few blocks away, which was why my siblings and I, always walked, a long stream of babbling madness, every few blocks a curse word screamed, until we finally reached the pretty gold gates that let us in to our private school. Prestigious didn't even begin to explain "the epic awesomeness" Tsunade had drunkenly stated, of the place. The smartest, most talented and promising went to Konoha, and the rest of the world gazed and wished, and looked at the school in wonderment as unicorns pranced around and care bears hugged small children.
Or something like that.
If you wanted the truth, or the brutality of it all, my siblings were geniuses. They were the kind of people who grew up to be movie stars, or the president. They belonged, and thrived at the Konoha School, and each had their own promising field.
I, on the other hand, was allowed into the school, because Tsunade had pulled a couple of favors. The thought still stung a little bit, but I had accepted it among other things. I was the baby of the family, everyone's favorite, to the point of being smothered by the intensity of it all. If I had shown any dislike of the Konoha, my siblings, probably starting with Pein, would drop out immediately. If I was getting bullied, that poor soul would probably end up tied naked to the flag pole with a bomb strapped to his chest.
That was life, and I had learned to suck it up and deal with it.
I trudged along, and Kisame, probably noticing my obvious thought, waited for me to stumble up to his side.
"You get your morning coffee today, firecracker?" He asked, and I snorted.
"Good lord, Kisame, have you seen your hair?" Kisame blinked, obviously oblivious.
"No. What's wrong with it?" Well, besides pointing out into multiple directions and looking like a clinically insane hobo had snipped it in random places, it was also blue. I looked closer, and noticed that someone had drawn, gills?, on his cheeks, with sharpie.
Well, Kisame was a swimmer.
Alright, scratch that, Kisame swam one of the fastest times in the nation. He was planning to go to the Olympics in a few years.
It hit me suddenly.
"That was why Itachi seemed so pleased with himself this morning."
A look of panic flashed across Kisame's face.
"Sakura." He took a deep breath. "WHAT IS WRONG WITH MY HAIR?"
It was at that moment, thank all heavens above, that we had reached the school.
"Ask Itachi." I told Kisame gently, who looked like he had just been kicked in the balls, and then was told Santa Claus wasn't real. I was gone before he could utter another sound, darting down the path that led up to the school like a rabbit on the speed waiting for that inevitable,
"WHO GOD DAMN TOUCHED MY HAIR?"
It was no secret that Kisame loved his hair. More than he loved swimming, or fish sticks, Kisame loved his, silky blonde hair, and now, well, Itachi was probably going to die.
I had never liked the smug bastard anyway.
I flung open the doors nearly crashing into Kakashi, my history teacher.
Kakashi opened his mouth. "Sakura so good to-"
"No time to talk. Bye lazy pervert!" I called as I dashed down the hall, ignoring Kakashi's pissed off expression. I was so getting it in history later.
And then, like the weasel he was, Itachi passed me, grabbing me by the waist, he pulled me on his shoulder, Tobi following close behind, they turned to face Kisame, who had barreled down the hall, shoving Kakashi aside.
"Damn it! Put me down!" I cursed, struggling. It sucked to be short.
"Sakura shield." Itachi told Kisame proudly. "You can't touch this."
"Tobi thinks it's Hammer time!" Tobi called proudly, black hair tousled, eyes wide with happiness. God that kid must have been dropped on his head as a child.
Kisame growled, took a deep breath, and charged. He tackled Itachi, his full weight knocking into me, and for a second there were stars.
I couldn't breathe, Kisame was six foot two of pure muscle, and he was currently on my five foot four, and I COULDN'T BREATHE.
It was then, a miracle happened. Or more particular, Pein happened. He approached Kisame with startling calmness, Kisame was currently trying to kill Itachi with his bare hands, and Pein, said three very simple words.
"You're hurting Sakura." Kisame jumped off Itachi as if he was on fire, and I rolled away gasping.
"I'm sorry, Sakura, I didn't mean to-"
"It's fine. I've had worse." I told him inhaling sharply, and sitting up. "You're kind of a fatty though, aren't you?"
"And Tobi's a good boy!" Tobi chimed happily, and Kisame glared. Before another fight break out, Pein helped me to my feet.
"We are going to be late for class." And then as if satisfied that his warning had gone through, he grabbed my hand. "Sakura and I will be leaving now."
Itachi smirked. "Have fun, Saku."
I glared. "One of these days, you bastard, I'm going to rip off your balls-"
"Such vulgarity." He smirked, and walked away- I wanted to kill him, burn him with Deidara, and then feed him to Zetsu-
Pein dragged me away, and I sighed. First period was science.
Konoha's class arrangements were a little bit different than a regular school's. You took things you were specialized in, and only things you specialized in. The only required class was gym, and that was a hell of its own. For example, if you were Deidara, lucky she male, who was an artist, he took five art classes and one gym class.
Me, being specialized in nothing, took a little bit of everything. According to Tsunade, it would give me a "well rounded education."
I had science with Orochimaru, who was pretty dang creepy for a teacher, Pein, and Zetsu.
The combination was horrendous.
Pein and Zetsu being the actual intellectuals of the family, with IQ's bordering on super human, talked circles around my head about things that were impossible to understand while still trying to include me, while Orochimaru talked circles above my head and licked his creepy lips.
It was enough to scar me for life.
I entered the room like a man walking to his own execution and settled in my usual seat. The lab desks were divided into two spots, with three equal rows leading up to Orochimaru's desk.
On my first day, when Orochimaru had tried to put me in a different desk, Zetsu had the biggest hissy fit in the history of hissy fits. He threw a desk, and broke one of Orochimaru's precious ceramic snakes, and then had attempted to shove some poor girl, Hinata?, out the window.
It was safe to say that the only lab station with three chairs was ours. And if you ever asked Zetsu about the incident, he would smile and say that it had all been worth it.
Pein sat down next to me, looking bored, and then Zetsu came strolling in.
I could only blame the mimes.
When we were kids, we had gone to see the circus, and Zetsu had seen a mime. He was a bit embarrassed of his multiple personality then, there was "Good Zetsu and Bad Zetsu" and he had fallen in love with the silent mimes.
He never grew out of the habit of painting his face half black and half white, and with his odd green hair, and too bright eyes, he looked like the poster child for freaks r us, but, at least he wasn't Deidara who looked like a chick any day of the week, or Hidan, who could pass as a ninety year old gangster.
Pein, as if had noticed my particular train of thought, nodded in agreement. He was on the more punk side of the spectrum, next to Konan of course, with multiple piercings, and red hair, he dressed casually in jeans and dark t-shirts.
Zetsu nodded his hello and settled in next to me, and the bell rang.
Orochimaru passed out the lab and then settled into his desk, licking his licks creepily.
"Sakura, you're staring at Orochimaru again." Pein supplied helpfully.
"Do you have a crush? Because I might have to kill him." Zetsu smiled.
"No, his lips just creep me out so bad." I murmured absentmindedly. I should have known, I really should have, when Pein and Zetsu locked gazes over the table. "He gives me nightmares, with his creepy snakes, and his creepy smiles, and his creepy helpfulness-" And then Zetsu began to rapidly whisper to Pein who nodded, and whispered back, and I didn't look the look in their eyes at all.
The two began to mix the chemicals together with speed and I looked at them in panic. "Guys, I don't think that's the lab-" But it was too late, and the steaming mass of purple something had been created.
Zetsu smiled twistedly and Pein laughed.
"Time to play god." I wasn't sure who had said that particular sentiment, as Pein threw the beaker at Orochimaru's desk. Which then exploded.
Snakes shattered, girls shrieked, and I looked at my step brothers with pissed off apprehension.
"The snakes are all gone. I killed them." And then Pein stepped forward and I wondered quite suddenly if he had taken his meds today.
Zetsu had a multiple personality disorder. He had good and evil Zetsu, who both liked to talk and share him. I had learned to deal with oddness of the whole situation because they weren't really harming anyone.
Pein on the other hand, had a god complex. A huge one that came out at the worst times. He was given meds for it, a pill a day, because incidentally, his disorder did end up hurting people, but, sometimes, in the morning rush, he forgot to take the pill.
"You, snake man, need to stop licking your lips. You're creepy, and if you don't my divine wrath will fall on your head. I will kill you, then bring you back to life, just so I can kill you again. I, the almighty Pein, will rule this pathetic planet, and take Sakura as my wife god so we may-"
I wanted to melt into the floor and die. Slowly.
"Pein, have you taken your meds today?" I asked, quietly.
"Who says you get to have Sakura? I want her." Zetsu interjected.
"No, I the almighty Pein-"
The two continued to argue as Orochimaru watched with fascination. Eventually I managed to get Pein to the nurse's office, who had some extra medication.
Pein sat on the bed, head hung, obviously sad. "I'm sorry for my outburst Sakura. I did not mean to embarrass you with any of my comments, in fact, if you wish, you may hit me to compensate."
"It's fine. I know by now you don't mean any of it. Besides, it was worth it to watch Orochimaru's desk blow up." I ruffled Pein's hair gently. "Genius's all have their vices." There was a pained note in my voice that I didn't like, a little child insecurity, because even if I wasn't as smart, talented, or as pretty as the rest of my siblings, didn't mean I wasn't as good-
Pein's eyes turned serious. "What if I did mean some of what I said? What if I-" The bell rang, and I grimaced.
"I got to head off to gym. I'll see you at lunch." I gave Pein a quick half hug, and left the room. Maybe Pein wanted to be President. That was sort of like a god.
With that thought in my mind, I headed off to the girl's locker room, my own personal hell.
I had to admit, science had its issues, but I still liked some of the people in the class. Gym, I was not so lucky.
Ino and I had never been friends. She was the tall, curvy blonde, and I short and thin, we were opposites, not only in looks but in personality too. She was popular, cunning, and the biggest bitch in the school. She'd been trying to date Itachi since freshman year, and had never held his interests.
She also enjoyed making my life a living hell.
Maybe it was the fact that I really didn't belong at Konoha, or that my siblings were all fiercely protective, popular, and the top of the school. I could call it jealously, or spite, but something in Ino had always loved making me cry, ever since we were children.
I took a deep breath and squared my shoulders. Then, I walked straight into the pit of wolves, and Ino's lair. She was standing in the corner, gym clothes already on, a cute pair of tiny blue shorts and a black tank top. Her groupies, Tenten, and Hinata sat next to her, looking bored.
I smiled sweetly and jerked my gym clothes out of my locker with barely concealed rage. I sat them down on the bench, and took of my shirt, already embarrassed.
They did the same thing every day, watching me undress and just, giggling. I was a strong girl, but for some reason, Ino always knew where to stab to make it hurt.
I wasn't particularly well endowed, or curvy, to be blunt, I was like a stick, straight up and down with plenty of edge. A little part of me wondered if the reason I didn't have a boyfriend, the reason boys didn't really talk to me outside of the family, was because I was ugly.
Ino always brought those thoughts to the surface, as I slipped on a red t-shirt and black shorts, feeling very insignificant and small.
I folded up my clothes, and placed them in my locker, and left. I headed straight for the gym and didn't look back, because if I did, I would see Ino's smirking face, laughing at me.
I bumped into Konan on the field, standing next to Itachi, they looked like they had just stepped off the runway, black sweat plants and t-shirts, matching.
"What took you so long?" Konan inquired curiously.
"Pein forgot to take his medicine so I had to drag him to the nurse." I told her dryly, as Itachi chuckled. "Yes, your step brother's illness is so hilarious, ass." I mock glared at him and he smirked.
"Did he call you his wife god again?" Itachi retorted mockingly, and I rolled my eyes.
"That ceased to be funny years ago." It was then that I felt myself being lifted in the air and spun around. Not again, I thought miserably, as Naruto affectionaly tried to kill me.
We'd met in a foster home a few years back, and became "best friends for life, believe it!" He was adopted into a nice family, and I had been found by Tsunade by then, but we had never lost touch. He was my only real friend outside of the family, and the only non-family member my siblings put up with.
Naruto had come to Konoha on a football scholarship, and when he had found out I was attending he followed me around like a lost puppy and hugged me senseless.
"Naruto, I just saw you yesterday." I said as he put me down. "No need to be so damn affectionate."
"I know! It was a whole 24 hours Sakura-chan! I was miserable!" I nodded my head as if to sympathize, and then Gai, the gym teacher, entered the room. He was the kind of man that woman would scream "PEDO!" at, being tall, with a bowl shaped haircut, bushy brows, and a bright, ugly jump suit, that he pranced around in.
He was just as bad as Orochimaru really.
"This youthful day, oh youthful students, shall be spent playing soccor, and enjoying our youth!" Gai clapped enthusiastically to himself. "The Team captains will be Itachi and Ino, shine on, oh youthful diamond!"
Naruto grinned, as Itachi wandered to the front of the room, followed by Ino.
"I pick Konan." Itachi nodded with a bored look in his eyes.
"And I pick Sakura." Ino said sweetly, and I froze for a second, before heading over to where Ino was. This would not end well.
By the end of the mess, Tenten and Hinata were also on my team, with Naruto on Itachi's. I was literally alone in enemy territory. I resisted the urge to gulp as the game started, and Tenten passed me the ball. As I ran forward, Ino casually stepped in front of me, knocking me on my face.
I stumbled up, as Itachi shot me a look of concern.
"You alright, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, concerned.
"Fine." I sniffled for a moment, and wiped the blood off my nose. "Just fine."
I spent the rest of the game getting knocked back and forth from Hinata, to Ino, to Tenten again, as Itachi, Naruto, and Konan got more and more angry. Gai didn't seem to notice, as he called out verbal encouragements from the side lines.
It was Itachi who finally ended it, by kicking the ball directly at Ino's face with skill. He'd always been the sporty type, as there was a loud crack, and Ino collapsed, crying.
Itachi apologized profusely, and even offered to take Ino to the nurse, but as he walked by me, Ino at his side, he gave me a look. We'd talk later it promised, and, he was also, very, very angry.
Gai let us out to change early, and Naruto gave me a smile that said if Itachi hadn't hurt Ino, he sure as hell would have, as Konan escorted me to the locker room.
I was bruised, sore, but Ino and her friends had done no serious damage I thought as I dug through my locker, looking for my clothes. Oh, how wrong I was, when I realized with horror, that my clothes were gone.
I took a deep breath, and looked at Konan, who seemed pretty amused.
"Can I lend you an outfit, Sakura?" I gulped, I swear I did, as Konan turned her suddenly very predatory eyes on me. She specialized in fashion, and was currently designing her own clothing line. She usually carried a couple of spare outfits on her, and had been trying to dress me up for years.
Looks like she had been finally given her chance.
Five minutes later, in which Konan had managed to get me dressed, do my hair, and put on my jewelry, I was "ready"
Konan smiled, like Elmo before he stabs you with his crayon, and turned me around to face the mirror. I was dressed in a black pair of skinny jeans, paired with old looking black boots, and a large silver chain. I had a slinky black tank top that revealed a little too much shoulder for my liking, and a large cross necklace, obviously borrowed from Konan's outfit today. My hair was tied up in a messy bun, and pinned up with heart bobby pins, had Konan robbed a care bear?, and a little bit of lip gloss, and even I had to admit, I was looking pretty good. Alright, who the hell was I kidding?
I looked good. Dang good.
I grinned, and shot her a wide smile. "Thank you." Konan did a small, happy un-Konan like twirl, and giggled. "You're welcome." Before I could ask her what the hell she had just been smoking to make her laugh, the bell rang, and she was gone in a blur of black.
"Well, the world's probably going to end soon." I told myself, and headed off to history. As usual, the pervert lazy ass teacher AKA Kakashi, was asleep on his desk, one of his precious books glued to his face.
I settled down in a seat towards the back, and Hidan walked in and then stopped. His eyes grew wide, mouth hanging open in pure shock, as he point blanked stared, and then, shook his head as if he couldn't believe it.
"I can't let any asshole see this." He whispered, and I wasn't exactly sure what he meant until he promptly took off his black leather jacket, what is up with my family and black?, and settled it on my shoulders. "Bitch," He told me promptly. "You look cold."
"Um, thanks I guess. Speaking of which, what's got you're knickers in a twist? You're not usually this bitchy." I told him bluntly.
"I'm still pissed at Deidara." Hidan replied lamely, and sat down next to me. "And is that a bruise on your cheek?"
"Yeah. I got knocked around a little bit in gym." I replied. "Nothing too serious." Please buy it, please buy it, I chanted in my head.
"By who?" Hidan questioned angrily.
"No one." I retorted quickly, and then realized how stupid that answer sounded. Yeah, he was totally going to believe that no one had kicked the crap out of me on the soccor field. Then again, Itachi was probably going to tell everyone at lunch so I was screwed either way.
I would never be allowed to fight my own battles.
"Sakura-" Hidan warned, but I ignored him, as Kakashi finally opened his eyes and stared at me. The rest of the class had finally filed in, and were reading the assigned chapters from the history book.
"You!" He pointed his gloved hand in my direction. "How could you insult your favorite teacher, who was greeting you so nicely?"
"Shut up, perverted bastard. You really need to learn not to butt into my god damn conversations, asswipe. Everyone knows what you're really reading in those books. You and Orochimaru probably sit around and collect Pokémon cards and read porno books." Hidan turned to Kakashi angrily.
"Lalala, I'm not even going to respond to that," Kakashi stuck out his tongue childishly, and put his nose back in his book. "You religious nutcase."
"When Jashin-Sama hears about your disrespect…"
"I am surrounded by idiots." I told myself and began to read a boring chapter about the French revolution. When the bell rang, and Hidan and Kakashi were still arguing, I left, still snuggled in Hindan's nice smelling jacket.
Lunch was next, and I needed to figure out a way to strategically avoid Itachi the whole entire time. Options, options, I picked up my tray, a piece of greasy pizza, and headed to the usual lunch table. I figured if I could get Naruto, Deidara and Hindan, around me, the loud mouths would keep Itachi away.
The plan worked perfectly as I settled next to Deidara and Naruto, who immediately began to chatter about nothing at all. The others had found themselves in their own conversations, Pein silently nodding in the background, as if he approved of the nonsense.
"So, you see, yeah, ramen is like an art form, un."
"Yeah, yeah! I do! Believe it!" Itachi was a little bit more cunning than I had previously thought, because as I dumped my tray into the trash, he cornered me.
"We need to talk." Without giving me a chance to respond, he firmly grabbed my elbow and escorted me out into the hall. His eyes seemed unnaturally red in the lighting, and I shivered for a moment. "How long has Ino been tormenting you?"
"I can fight my own battles." I replied fiercely. "I don't need you to protect me."
"Sakura-" Itachi warned, and I jerked my arm from his grasp.
"I'm not glass, Itachi. Although you seem to think I am, but let me tell you something, I'm strong enough that I can stand on my own."
"Families are meant to stand together." Itachi responded stiffly.
"How would you know?" I told him cruelly, and there was a flash of hurt in his eyes. His family after all, had been murdered when he was just a baby. I took a step back, and a sighed. "Never mind. I didn't mean that."
"I know." Itachi nodded, and for a second, we just stood there looking at each other. Another step and my arms would around his waist, and one more, my lips would be on his. I shook the thought from my head, and smiled.
Before he could protest, I turned and walked away, my pride still quite intact.
I had English with Kisame and Tobi, who only took the class "Because Tobi wanted to spell!"
Kisame could barely fit in the desk, and Tobi was bouncing off the walls in joy.
"Tobi has a class with Sakura! Tobi has a class!" I ignored him, and turned towards Kisame.
"How's your hair?"
"It doesn't look half bad, firecracker. In fact, I don't mind the blue color at all."
I smiled at his gruff acceptance. "Yeah, it still needs to be trimmed a little bit though."
"Tobi will trim it! Tobi will trim it just like Tobi trimmed it this morning." Oh crap, I thought, as Kisame turned to stare at Tobi with rage in his eyes. "Itachi made Kisame's hair blue, so Tobi thought a hair cut would be nice too! Is Tobi a good boy?"
The poor substitute didn't quite know what to make of Kisame throwing Tobi out a window and fainted. Tobi laughed the whole way down and told the world he was bird, until he landed on his ankle, and twisted it hard.
Which is was how I ended up in the nurse's office for the second time that day.
"Oh. It hurts Tobi! It hurts Tobi so bad! It hurts! It hurts!" Tobi wailed, and I grimaced. The nurse had given him a pain pill, and wrapped up his ankle, but Tobi still wouldn't shut the hell up.
"What can I do to make Tobi shut up?" I sighed exasperated.
"You can give me a kiss." The voice that responded sounded deeper, and twisted, and I looked up in confusion. "Tobi wants a kiss on his booboo!" The moment passed, and gently I bent down and kissed Tobi's ankle.
"All better now?" I ruffled Tobi's hair affectionately. "No more snipping hair!"
"Because Tobi is a good boy!"
I nodded one more time, and headed off to Art.
I shared the art room with Deidara and Sasori who were both locked in a death stare. They were most obviously fighting about art again and as I settled down next to them, I mentally sighed.
"You're wrong, yeah."
"No you're wrong!"
"I'm telling you, Dora the Explorer is way better than the teletubbies, yeah."
"Nuh uh." Sasori responded childishly.
It was my turn to roll my eyes.
"Hello Kitty beats both Dora and the teletubbies. She's pink, a cat, and she wears a bow. Therefore, she's true art." I nodded wisely and picked up my paint brush.
Deidara agreed, and went back to fiddling with his metal sculpture thing. Sasori, in his quiet way smiled, and began to carve a puppet that appeared to be a starving child.
I, a long time ago, had asked why he always carved such realistically gruesome things. Sasori had responded that if he carved out all the nastiness and horror of the world, all that would be left was goodness. I had laughed, because I knew about nastiness, what it meant to be hungry, and that horror often lurked in every corner.
It was great that I had found my own corner of goodness, and I was happy here.
The bell rang and I headed off to math, leaving Deidara and Sasori my hello kitty picture. She was sitting near a teletubby and Dora, and everyone was smiling.
"True art, yeah!" Deidara called as I headed off towards math.
Math was pretty much silent, Kakazu and I did the problems, him finishing much faster than I did. By the end of the day, I was pretty dang tired, and definitely ready to go home. I met my siblings at the gate, unaware that what bound us together as siblings would soon be crumbling.
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