You could hear a pin drop in the canteen of Konoha High school.
The silence lasted, even minutes after Sakura had stormed out of the canteen.
It seemed like the whole scene had frozen on the spot; even the sounds of the raindrops colliding with the thin roof and the windows had become silent. Then, slowly, a few students started whispering to each other. The whispering became louder and louder, until it was talking. The world seemed to start turning again. The awkwardness, though, lasted.
'Sakura Haruno has fought back against one of the popular students? What kind of crazy universe is this?' was what crossed most of the teens' minds.
The two boys that stood in the middle of the canteen didn't move, until the raven haired one of the two of them sighed and snapped his fingers in front of his friend's face, ''Hey, Naruto. Snap out of it,''
Naruto blinked a few times, and then looked around dully, taking in his surroundings.
''You ok?'' Shikamaru questioned.
''Yeah, I'm fine,'' Naruto replied. He didn't look fine, though. As the teens approached the table their friends were sitting on, they pretended not to notice the awkward glances the other students that were sitting in the canteen shot them.
''Er... Hey there, you guys,'' Ino started awkwardly, taking notice of the stony features that were on Naruto's face at the moment. She knew him well enough to recognise his face's current expression; If he wore it, it was duck and hide for every person within a distance of 100 feet. Or more, if he was in a really, really bad mood.
Every person that was sitting around the table gulped simultaneously. Shikamaru sat down next to his best friend Chouji. They formed an odd duo; Shikamaru with his raven ponytail and permanent bored expression, and Chouji being the chubbiest one in the group, often wearing cheerful smile that was only emphasised by his plump cheeks and brisk, dark brown eyes.
Naruto sat down next to Ino, glaring at the iron surface of the table.
''Here, take a coke,'' Kiba said, holding a can of Coca-Cola zero out to Naruto, attempting to calm him down. Naruto accepted it. His friends all watched him suspiciously.
Unfortunately, just when the blond opened the can, Lee walked up to their table, and slapped Naruto on the back, ''So, got punched by a girl, eh? And not just a girl, you got punched by Sakura Haruno! What a youthful story; Naruto, football player and one of the most popular students, got punched by Sakura, the school outcast!''
Lee was the head of the school paper, and, even though he was a nice guy, never rejected a good front page story, not even when somebody could get hurt by it. Naruto knew very well that now the small part of the school that didn't just witness the scene live, would know about it. He narrowed his eyes.
His friends looked down at the can that Naruto was holding; he was squeezing it so tightly that the brown liquid poured out of it through the hole in the top of the can.
''Lee, come over here!'' A high pitched voice called out to the black haired boy.
"Coming, Tenten!" He yelled back at her, ''I shall see you later, my friends.''
The students that were sitting at the table nodded at the raven haired boy as he made his way through the canteen, looking so upbeat that he seemed to dance.
Naruto was silent for about ten minutes, until the conversation his friends were having gained his attention.
''Sakura is getting arrogant.'' Ino remarked. She ran a hand through her platinum blonde hair before continuing, ''I've known her about my whole life... And I can tell you, when she's arrogant, you have to do something about it 'cause the bitch is crazy.''
''I know that look,'' Shikamaru said, ''You've got a plan.''
The blonde licked her lips and then smirked, ''I've got a plan.''
Naruto arched an eyebrow, curious for what was coming next. After all, Ino was the queen of payback and making people suffer. Both physically and mentally.
Sakura looked up at the clouds. Her eyes were narrowed to protect them from the sunlight.
She was walking the streets in town. After the pinkette had stormed out of the canteen earlier that day, she had made her way to the centre of town. She had skipped out on the lessons that followed.
She knew she had to go home soon, but did not let that thought bother her. The sun wouldn't set for at least two hours, and what did she have to return to? A mother that did nothing but stare out of the window? A pile of bills to pay? A dark, dusty room that she was to sleep in?
Sakura frowned. She wasn't sure if she would go to school tomorrow. In fact, she wasn't sure if she would ever return to school. The other students were probably making plans to make her pay for what she did; namely punching the school's most popular student.
Sakura covered her face with her hands. What had she done?
She had lost control for just a second. Just one, unfortunate second, and ruined everything. Naruto had just made her so... so angry. He had made fun of her feelings for Sasuke. The single thing that she was sure of; The single thing that she didn't have to share; The single thing that kept her standing.
She knew it were just useless, unrequited feelings, but to the miserable girl they meant a lot. After all, the good thing about not having much is that you learn to treasure everything you do have.
Later that afternoon, when the first hints of orange appeared in the sky among the soft blue, Sakura decided she should head home. She walked the main street until she caught sight of her street. By the time Sakura reached her house, the sky was pitch black and the air had cooled down so much that she had to hug her arms around herself to keep warm.
She opened up the kitchen door and reluctantly entered her house. As she expected, the house was as dark as the sky above. She didn't bother turning the lights on as she removed her shoes and her vest and walked towards the hallway. On the way to the stairs, she passed the door that led to the living room and spotted her mom, sitting on her favourite arm chair, underneath her favourite painting. The painting showed a vulture sitting on a treetop.
Vultures were the animals she hated the most; they were hateful creatures. They took advantage of others' misery. They fed on rotten bodies and lost hope.
Sakura tore her gaze away from the painting and directed it on the woman sitting on the chair. The light coming from the moon outside stroking the left side of her body made it visible that her head was resting on her shoulder and her eyes were closed. The blanket that was normally covering her had slipped off, so it was now lying on the floor. Sakura picked it up and softly covered her mother's legs with it.
''Goodnight, mom,'' She whispered as she closed the curtains and left the room, trying to make as little noise as possible.
The next day Sakura was woken up by the loud beeping of her alarm clock, and the sunlight creeping in through her window. Reluctantly, she got out of bed and took a short shower.
She decided she would go to school today. After all, not going would just be postponing her fate; in the end, she would have to return to school anyway. But she just felt as if she was not ready enough. She had no idea how the other students would treat her after yesterday, or whether she would survive to begin with.
Sakura closed her eyes and allowed the warm water to soak her hair and her body.
After about two minutes she unwillingly turned off the shower. She never showered very long, that way she saved money that would otherwise be spent on a bill.
The teen pulled on a red hoodie, some jeans and worn out Allstars that had once been pink, but were now coloured a greyish beige, and walked down the stairs.
When she got downstairs, the first thing she did was opening up the curtains in the living room -earning a disapproving grunt from her mother- and opening up the back door so the fresh wind could spread the delicious scent of spring through the dusty house. Sakura gasped as a furry, white thing brushed past her leg, before realising that it was just her cat.
''Primrose,'' Sakura sighed, ''you scared me.''
The cat turned it's head in her direction, taking in the teenage girl with it's big, yellow eyes, before yelping a high pitched, ''Meow!'' and dashing off to one of Sakura's beloved flower beds. During summer, she spent entire weekends caring for the daisies, pansies, roses, daffodils, tulips, sunflowers, lilies, magnolias, poppies and her favourite flowers; primroses. The flower she had named her cat after.
Oh how she loved her garden; in the last sixteen years she had managed to change it from a dump into a paradise. There were white, ivy-grown, stone walls surrounding the whole place. There was a mosaic terrace in the middle of the sea of colourful flowers, underneath an arc of ivy. There were bunches of grapes dangling from it, like cheerful decorations, and there was a small river streaming right through the garden, giving the whole place a mysterious but also very lively feel. Parts of the river were overshadowed by lush trees with pink flowers; cherry trees. The sun shone on it from sunrise to sunset, so the entire day the garden was bathing in the sunlight. Also, the many colours and overwhelming odours coming from the flowers attracted butterflies, ladybugs, bees and wasps. Sakura didn't mind them, they did no harm to the plants or to herself, if she just let them be. Which she did.
Sakura's eyes flicked over to the cherry trees again. She adored those trees. Not only did they have the most beautiful blossoms and the most delicious scent, Sakura was also named after them. After all, 'Sakura' meant 'cherry blossom'.
She listened to the sounds coming from outside; the noises from the nearby highway, the clattering from the river and the cheerful chirping of the birds, before remembering that she had to eat some breakfast; she would need the energy for the bullying that she would have to endure in the course of the day. She walked towards the kitchen, where she made tea and a sandwich, which she ate hastily, while stuffing her bag with the books that were needed for today's classes.
As Sakura entered the school grounds, she instinctively squeezed her eyes shut, not knowing what to expect.
...Maybe complete silence, or groups of students that lunged themselves at her.
For some reason, she got neither. The petite teen slowly opened her emerald eyes, scanning the schoolyard for anything that was out of the ordinary. She found nothing. As usual, the place was littered with groups of chattering and laughing students, here and there stood oak trees, proudly swaying their leaves in the wind and some bicycles, in and around the stands. Sakura took a big gulp of air and gave her white shoulder-bag a nervous squeeze, before striding off towards the building. She looked around swiftly, still on her guard.
In the third period, Sakura was still not made fun of. That fact made her suspicious; there was no way the students would let her get away with what she did.
She looked around the classroom. Most of the students were dozing off; they were either fixing their gaze on the wall behind the teacher without actually seeing anything, or looking out of the window. The students that wereconcentrated, weren't concentrated on the teacher in front of the classroom, but on their cellphones. Sakura was the only one really paying attention. As always.
The bell rung to announce the end of the period and the start of the lunch break. The teacher that was standing in front of the classroom waved his hand absentmindedly, dismissing the class for the morning. Sakura walked up to the math teacher, instead of exiting the classroom with the rest of her classmates.
''Er... Mr. Sarutobi?'' Sakura started, trying to gain the man's attention.
''W-What? What?'' The man yelled. He looked around swiftly until his gaze lingered on the pink haired girl before him. He smiled, recognising the straight-a student right away.
'It's amazing how a single smile can make a person look so much younger,'Sakura thought.
''Can I help you, Sakura?'''
''Yes, I was wondering whether you could explain the abc-formula again.''
As Mr. Sarutobi explained the exact purpose of the math formula, Sakura just pretended to listen, and made sure to nod once in a while. In truth, she wasn't curious at all. She was reluctant to leave the classroom and the safety that the adult, unknowingly, offered.
''-does that answer your question?'' mr Sarutobi finished.
Sakura's eyes flicked over to the man, ''Er... what? Oh, right. It's all clear, thank you very much!''
''Ok, then. If you have any other questions, please wait until tomorrow's class. I have a meeting I need to attend.'' the old man said, leaving in a hurry.
Sakura sighed. There was no escaping her fate. She poked her head out of the classroom, searching the hallway for any signs of Naruto or his friends. When there was none, she rushed to her locker. Looking around swiftly, the pinkette opened up her locker, shoved the books she needed for the next period into her bag and hurried to the main exit, intending to spend the rest of break outside.
She dove through the heavy doors, for once not noticing the nice weather and beautiful surroundings, but dashing off to one of her hiding places. She was stopped, though, by a hand that closed around her arm and pulled her closer. And for one, panicky moment, she thought it was Naruto.
Relief washed over her as she noticed the red hair and glasses that belonged to Karin. She had been smoking with her friends, when she noticed Sakura running through the doors.
''Why're you running so fast, girl?''
''-Er... I... Just wanted to get some fresh air,'' Sakura said. It wasn't a lie, technically.
''Ok then,'' Karin said, dismissing the fright that was written all over Sakura's face when Karin had grabbed her arm seconds before.
''Hey, Karin! Aren't you going to introduce us to your friend?'' somebody called out to the redhead.
''Quiet, Suigetsu!'' She snapped, earning a low whisper that sounded like, ''Whatever, four-eyes,'' from the guy named Suigetsu.
Karin turned her back to Sakura, ''Hey, you guys!''
Her friends turned their heads in the two girls' direction. Karin placed one hand on her hip, and used the other to point her thumb at the student behind her without casting her a glance, ''this is Sakura.''
Sakura brushed the bangs out of her face, ''...Er, hi you guys.''
The group of people didn't answer, they looked from Sakura to Karin, wonder written all over their faces.
''She's ok, you bunch of big babies,'' Karin sighed.
The guy that stood the closest to Karin and Sakura was the first to break the silence. ''Nice to meet you,'' he said, smiling. Sakura flinched. This guy looked just like Sasuke!
...Well, aside from the fact that he looked a few years older, and the marks underneath his eyes.
''I'm Itachi,'' the raven haired guy continued.
Oh, she remembered! She had once heard Naruto and Sasuke talking about Sasuke's big brother. They had said that his name was Itachi, and that he went to the same school they did.
So was it possible... That this guy was Sasuke's brother?
Sakura could only gape at him. Luckily for her, Karin turned around and shot her a glance that said, ''Say something, you douchebag!''
The pinkette restored herself, ''Likewise!''
He nodded, ''These people are Kisame, Deidara, Hidan, Tobi, Konan, Kakuzu, Pein, Zetsu, Sasori, Jugo and Suigetsu.''
Every person from the group nodded. As Sakura took in the seniors, she couldn't help but think this was the strangest group of people that she had ever seen. All of them wore at least one thing that was black, looked like they would be able to kill her without ever feeling sorry, and already seemed to hate her guts. The girl gulped audibly.
Sakura wasn't able to see Karin's face, but her stiff posture revealed the fact that she was annoyed, ''Come on, Sakura. Let's go somewhere else.''
But just as the girls were about to leave the group behind, they were startled by a voice coming from behind them, ''Miss Karin!''
''Fuck,'' the redhead hissed. A teacher was running over to them. Sakura recognised him as mr. Asuma.
''Am I mistaken, or is it true that you skipped out on the first three periods?''
Karin didn't answer, but instead hung her head.
''That's what I thought,'' Asuma said, taking his trademark cigarette out of his mouth, ''Come with me, young lady.''
Karin sighed in defeat, cast Sakura an apologetic glance and mouthed the words 'watch it, Jaws' at Suigetsu when he snickered, covering his mouth with his fist. Sakura guessed the nickname was based on the guy's weirdly pointed teeth.
Sakura sighed. She smiled at the group of seniors before turning her back to them. She never knew how to act in front of people she knew didn't like her. At all.
As she walked away from Karin's friends, she caught sight of the large fountain that adorned the school yard. There was a stone statue in the middle of it, of what probably was Konoha high school's founder. It was a stern looking man with a nose that was pretty big in proportion to the rest of his face, that was, for some reason, surrounded by fish and mermaids that spewed sparkling water.
'The artist must have been on crack,' crossed Sakura's mind, as she took in the weird statue. She hadn't noticed she had spoken her thoughts aloud until she heard somebody's voice from right behind her, ''Yeah, probably.''
She spun around, only to see Naruto standing there. His bag was hanging around his shoulder carelessly, a can of coke was in his left hand and he was using his right one to shade his eyes from the bright sunlight. He was studying the statue on top of the fountain closely. Sakura couldn't help but flinch and take a few steps back. Naruto tore his eyes away from the fountain, and directed it on the pink haired girl.
''I won't bite,'' he said, but then smirked and added, ''...hard.''
Sakura knew he was joking, but she could barely suppress the urge to shrink away from him. When after a few minutes the pinkette still hadn't said anything, he realised she wasn't planning on answering him.
''Look,'' he sighed, ''I'm sorry.''
Sakura's jaw dropped, ''...You're what?''
''I said I'm sorry. I went too far yesterday.''
Sakura could only gape at him. 'Why is he saying this?'
''Stop saying things you don't mean,'' She muttered.
''I'm serious,'' Naruto replied, running a hand through his golden spikes.
Sakura let a low chuckle escape her lips, ''no, you aren't. You never apologise. I punched you, my life is supposed to be over now.''
He sat down on the stone wall that surrounded the fountain, resting his arm on his knee and his head, in turn, on his hand. He looked up at Sakura. She couldn't make out what kind of look there was in his blue eyes; whether it was hate, amusement, sadness, happiness... This boy was a mistery to her. Then his eyes flicked over to a place on the wall he was sitting on a few times. Sakura decided to keep standing and pretend she was stupid. When he didn't give up but kept flicking over his eyes to the wall, she gave in and sat down beside him. They were silent for a few minutes.
''I know why you punched me, and I deserved it. I shouldn't have read your diary,'' Naruto said, leaning back with closed eyes, obviously enjoying the sunlight, ''That's the worst thing that could happen to a girl, isn't it? To read her diary? Ino said so.''
Sakura couldn't suppress a soft chuckle, ''...It's not the very worst, but it's close.''
He was silent. Sakura didn't trust him. She doubted she ever would.
Minutes passed without the two teens talking to each other. They just sat there, enjoying the sunlight on their skin and the soft breeze stroking their faces. Sakura kept shooting Naruto suspicious glances from the corners of her eyes. But Naruto pretended he didn't notice it.
After a few minutes, they were startled by the loud ringing of the bell. Sakura looked around reluctantly, remembering she had History class from mr Iruka. She had History together with Naruto, too.
''Want me to walk to class with you?'' Naruto asked, getting up from the wall.
Sakura didn't notice he was talking to her at first, ''Er... What?''
''I asked you whether you want me to walk to class with you,'' the blond repeated, rolling his eyes.
''I'll be fine,'' Sakura stammered, not bothering to suppress the slight, concentrated narrowing of her eyes as she tried to figure out what Naruto's real intentions were. Because of course, he wasn't doing this out of kindness. He couldn't be.
...Could he?
Sakura turned her back to the teen and started walking in the direction of the main building.
''Don't be a baby, let me walk to class with you,'' He said, trying to keep up with the pink haired girl. Sakura pursed her lips at Naruto's troublesomeness. She knew he could be annoying, loud and rude at times. But, she also knew that when Naruto wanted something, he wasn't going to give up. She knew that, no matter what one tells him to do, in the end he would always listen to his heart. She had known him long enough to know everything about him that made him stand out from the rest. He had bad and good qualities, even if he didn't always show. That's what made him, well, Naruto.
''Come on, Sakura. It won't kill you,'' He nagged.
Sakura rolled her eyes, realising she wasn't going to win this, ''Fine. Walk to the stupid class with me.''
She didn't look at him, but she could feel he was smirking triumphantly. They entered the classroom, and to Sakura's astonishment none of the students looked up or started whispering and pointing at them. Naruto walked straight up to his friends. They all smiled cocky smiles at the blond as he approached them, and they started laughing and talking loudly, as always. But, for some reason, as Sakura passed their seats, nobody tripped her. There were no drinks thrown at her. There were no rude comments. There was nothing.
Barely believing it, she increased speed as she closed the distance between her and her seat. She threw down her bag and sat down quickly. She didn't trust all this. She didn't. She slowly peered up through her bangs, taking in the rest of her classmates. They were all acting normal. Shino had turned around in his seat, facing Kiba and Hinata. They were whispering to each other about some soccer game. Before them were Naruto, Sasuke, Ino and Shikamaru. Ino had stood up from her stool, and was now imitating somebody. She pointed her finger up the bridge of her nose, as if she was wearing glasses, and was hunched up, supporting her back with her other arm. From the looks of it, she was imitating the schools' receptionist. Her friends were laughing at the imitation. On the seats in the middle of the class, were seated Lee. Neji and Tenten, that were discussing a movie from the sounds of it. Behind them sat Gaara, all by himself. He was reading a book and bobbing his head to the music that was coming from his iPod. The seat behind his was empty. And on the row of seats in the left row, sat Sai, in the back of the glass. Judging from the piece of paper on his table and the pencil in his hand, he was drawing. In front of his seat sat Takuya, turned around in her seat and admiring Sai's drawing. At least, that's what she wanted him to think she was doing. In truth, she was admiring the boy himself. Sakura could swear she was almost drooling. In front of her seat was seated Temari and Kankurou. Sakura couldn't see their faces, but they looked as if they were gaping at the empty chalk board blankly. And in the seat in front of theirs was Chouji, eating chips from a poorly hidden bag inside of his rucksack. He looked around cheerfully.
Sakura snorted at the image of her classmates. Honestly, they were a bunch of idiots.
After school, Sakura didn't go home, but went to the supermarket. It was Wednesday, and on Wednesdays, she had to work there to gain some money. On Thursdays, she babysat the Jones' kids, on Fridays she just went grocery shopping and jogging, on Saturdays she also worked in the supermarket, on Sundays she made her homework, on Mondays she babysat the Smith's daughter, and on Tuesdays she made as much homework as she could, so she could gain money the rest of the week. She was a good student, so even when she didn't do as much for school, her grades were better than those of an average student. Sakura was swinging her bag back and forth cheerfully, humming her favourite tune. She was practically skipping down the road.
The whole day, everybody had treated her normal! Of course, she still didn't have any friends, but everybody had treated her just like any other student. She smiled, barely believing it herself.
The distance between her school and the supermarket was bridged in only minutes. The automatic doors opened for the girl, inviting her in.
''Hello mr Stephens! How was your day?'' Sakura chirped at her boss. He was standing next to the door, holding a clipboard and overlooking the shop as if he overruled it. She got nothing but a disapproving look from the strict man before he wrote something down on the clipboard, but she didn't care. She just shrugged and walked over to an empty counter.
The supermarket was very big, so when you entered it, you didn't walk straight in to the part of the shop were the shelves with products were, but you had to pass the many counters first.
As Sakura sat down behind the counter that wore the number 'four', people that were standing in the back of lines in front of other counters immediately approached her, so a line was formed in front of hers.
At the end of the evening, she took the bus home. She had learned from the last time.
When she came home, she did her daily routine of cooking dinner, asking her mother whether she would like to eat dinner with her, receiving a ''no, go away,'' for a reply from the woman, eating it by herself, doing the dishes, making her homework, reading a book, closing up the doors, windows and curtains and going to bed. After today, nothing could worsen her mood. She felt great.
If anyone would have entered her room, they would have smiled at the girl, for she had fallen asleep with a broad smile plastered on her face.
''She believed you?'' Sasuke snorted at his friend.
''I'm not sure, but I know that if I hang out with her long enough, she'll trust me.'' Naruto laughed.
''Well, then do so! The moment she really trusts you, that's the moment she'll be the most frail.'' Ino said.
The three of them were skyping. Ino was talking through her cellphone, holding it in place between her cheek and her shoulder by bringing up her shoulder as high as she could without crushing her cellphone on the spot. She was painting her toe-nails a flirtatious raspberry pink. Sasuke was sitting behind his desk, resting his head on his hand. He was concentrating on his math homework. Naruto was sitting on his roof, with his laptop resting on his lap.
His parents had died when he was just a baby, so he was now living by himself. He lived in a small, dusty, stuffed apartment. He never liked his appartment, so he vowed to spend as few time there as possible. Luckily, it was on the upper level, so when he stood on his balcony, he only had to climb up the rain pipe before he was on top of the roof; his favourite spot by far. He could see the whole town. The breathtaking sunsets and sunrises, the large amount of stars that were in the sky at night, the tiny dots that were people, way down on the streets.
''So what do you want me to do?'' He asked his friends through the phone.
''Befriend her, of course!'' Came Ino's reply, ''And, when she trusts you with her whole heart, tell her the truth. I dunno, laugh at her or something. That'll teach her.''
''Ok.''
''Sakura is so naive... It probably won't take long before she confides in you.'' Ino said, a small smile curling the corners of her lips. Sasuke tried his best to look bored as always, but Naruto could see the excited glint in his eyes, even on the small screen.
''Gotta go, you guys. I'll see you on school tomorrow.'' Naruto said, closing up the laptop before giving his friends the chance to reply.
He sighed and closed his eyes, before casting a glance at the star-lit sky.
He lay down, intending on closing his eyes for only a second.
Before he knew it, he was lured into a deep slumber.
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