Naruto had a creative mind; He thought about many strange, happy and sometimes just plain stupid things. He knew what words, colours and notes to use to make them live on forever.

...Well, forever was a bit exagerated of course. Forever doesn't exist. 'Forever' is only said by people that don't think of the true meaning of the word. Forever is a terribly long time. It means, from now until the rest of eternity. In fact, when somebody says the word 'forever', they are lying already. Forever goes beyond death, and we, as human beings, don't go beyond death. Nobody goes beyond death. No living creature, anyways.
See, he was doing it again; getting lost in his own, endless line of useless thoughts.

There were people that didn't think he thought this much. In truth, the opposite was going on. He thought so much that his thoughts made him dizzy. If he was a writer, he would write them down. If he was an artist, he would draw them out. Heck, if he was a singer, he would make them into a beautiful, heartwrencing symphony! (...You know, one of these symphonies you hear when you are bored and turn on the radio. You have no idea what the song is called; all you know, is that it was amazing, and that you want to hear it again.)

But yeah, he couldn't do any of these things, so he just stuck to thinking.

In truth, the things he thought were very deep. He could probably become famous when he knew how to make them into words. But when he did, they sounded weird. Who knows, maybe somebody could make it into a story. One of these stories that fathers tell their sons. Stories with morals and depth. Stories that seem to pierce your soul.

Maybe he should tell a writer about his thoughts. That person could make it sound right outside of his head as well. But then again, things like that were probably expensive.

Perhaps it was better if Naruto kept his thoughts to himself. That way he was the only one to enjoy them.

Although... Was he selfish? Was he selfish for wanting to keep these wonderful, amazing thoughts to himself? To save them for one of these rare moments that he was so bored that he had nothing to do but enjoy his own thoughts?

''BAM!''

Naruto's head snapped up from his wooden table when a loud banging noise filled his ears. He looked straight into the face of their English teacher; Ms Anko. She had slammed his table with a book, and was now looking at him with her eyes narrowed and a satanic smirk plastered on her face.

''Well well, Naruto. Is my class so boring that you decide you'd rather sleep?''

''I wasn't asleep, technically,'' Naruto muttered, resting his head on his handpalm. Soft chuckling could be heard from his classmates. Anko flicked her eyes over to the students and the sounds faded instantly.

'Tsk, pussies,' Naruto thought, smirking to himself.

Anko turned her back to the class and walked up to the chalk board, ''Uzumaki, one hour of detention after school.''

Naruto's jaw dropped, ''What? I didn't do a thing!'' He dismissed the fact that this was probably the problem.

The trick is, when a teacher punishes you in class, to always pretend you didn't do anything wrong. Even when you did. Some teachers tend to give you a second chance when you tell them this.

''Uzumaki, two hours of detention after school.''

Too bad Anko wasn't one of these teachers. Naruto furrowed his brows and pouted at the raven haired teacher's back.

When the bell rung, Naruto's classmates immediately started chattering. They gathered their stuff and walked out of the classroom. When Ino and Sasuke passed Naruto's seat, they both smiled at him encouragingly, knowing the plan was that their friend would walk home with Sakura this afternoon. English was their last period on friday, so weekend had just begun. Naruto grinned a toothy smile at his friends before turning around and scanning the classroom for the pink hair, pale skin and scrawny body that belonged to Sakura Haruno, only to find her seat was empty.

Had she walked past him without him noticing?

He looked around. The classroom was deserted. He sighed, and exited the classroom, approaching his locker. As he put on his orange and black hoodie and plugged the tiny earplugs from his iPod into his ears, he couldn't help but steal a glance at the small groups of students that were still inside the building. The biggest part of the teenagers had already gone outside. Knowing them, they were all heading for the centre of town to get ice cream, clothes and other things that they didn't really need, but just loved to buy. Each and every one of the students that went to Konoha High lived for these Friday afternoons. In the whole week, no afternoon gave the teenagers such a free feeling like the Friday afternoon did; the school week had just passed, and Monday was still two days away.

His friends were probably having fun now, as well. Oh how Naruto would have loved to join them, but instead he had to search for Billboard-brow Haruno.

Well, now at least she would get what she deserved.

With that thought, Naruto slammed his locker shut and walked towards the red doors that separated the hallway from the green, colourful schoolyard. Opening up the doors with ease, Naruto seized his cellphone from the front pocket of his jeans. The soft beep coming from the device let him know that somebody had just sent him a new text-message.

''Hi, havin fun w/ BBB? cya l8er'' He read. The text-message came from Ino. 'BBB' meant Billboard-Brow, obviously.

''She's nowhere to be found.'' Naruto texted back, before putting his cellphone back in his pocket and continuing on his way to his scooter.

Meanwhile on the other side of the school, there was a skinny, pink haired girl crouching beside the flower beds. She was bathing in the bright afternoon sunlight, only enshadowed by birds that flew over the school yard, chirping happily and looking down on the beautiful garden underneath them. The girl smiled up at hem, letting her emerald coloured eyes sparkle in the sunlight. Sakura did that on many afternoons; when all other students were gone, she stayed a little longer, enjoying the lush school garten and the gorgeous flowers that adorned it. She loved being in gardens, as you probably already knew.

'Well, time to go home,' she thought, shooting the flowers one last glance before picking up her bag and walking through the school doors. She marched through the deserted hallways, her stride brisk and her expression stern. Sakura normally didn't walk this quickly, but the deserted hallways gave her the creeps.

She just kept walking towards the main school doors, her gaze fixed on the light peeping in through the small balustered windows, leaving light yellow stripes on the linoleum floor.

All of a sudden, Sakura felt trapped. The round glass windows in the doors of the many classrooms seemed as if they were eyes, eager to watch the girl's every movement, and the cool air that came from the fans that were attached to the ceiling sounded like shallow breathing. Sakura looked around swiftly, shooting every dark corner in the hallways a suspicious glance. She closed her eyes, her breathing quickening.

She was beginning to hyperventilate.

Sakura knew there was nothing here to be afraid of, she was sure of it. But eversince her little 'adventure' in the alleyways in town, just being alone creeped her out.

She started walking even faster, turning her head to look at every suspicious thing in the hallway so quickly that she lost her footing and stumbled forward. Luckily, this fall caused the girl to hit the door and tumble outside, into the sun and the muggy afternoon air. Before she knew it, she landed face-first on the stone steps in front of the main doors.

Wondering what the fuss was about, Naruto removed his earplugs from his ears and turned his head into the direction of the school. He immediately arched an eyebrow at the image of Sakura lying on the steps, panting as if chased by the devil. He placed his scooter against the iron fence and took off towards the main doors.

Sakura looked up when she heared footsteps approaching, so blinded by the intense sunlight that she didn't recognise who the person that was running towards her at first.

...That was, of course, until she heard his all too familiarvoice, ''Sakura? What are you doing down there?''

''Sunbathing,'' She replied sarcastically, sitting up and rubbing her sore nose.

Naruto arched an eyebrow at the girl. What gave her the right to make a sarcastic comment at him? He didn't give in to his astonishment, though, ''What made you trip?''

''Oh, er... I was just- er... Clumsy, is all,'' Sakura muttered, her voice muffled by her hand.

Naruto rolled his eyes at the pinkette as she stood up. For a moment, he thought he noticed her trembling slightly, but dismissed it.

''Shouldn't you be in detention?'' Sakura asked him.

''Yeah,'' Naruto snickered, ''So?''

Sakura opened her mouth, closed it and then opened it again, like a fish gulping for air, 'He didn't go to detention, even though ms Anko told him to? He must be insane!'

''So... Wanna get something to drink?'' He asked her bluntly.

Sakura turned her head in his direction, her eyes widened and her mouth hanging agape, ''What?''

''Something. To. Drink.'' Naruto repeated slowly.

Sakura looked down at her feet so her face was hidden by bubblegum pink strands of hair, protecting her from the blond's view. She still wasn't sure wether she could trust him. No matter how friendly he acted towards her lately; he had bullied her. He had bullied her so terribly that she had even thought of suicide once or twice. People couldn't change like this, could they? Not in such a short time, anyway.

She looked up when she heard shuffling from behind her, but then noticed it was coming from Naruto. He was now leaning against the side of the school building with closed eyes, enjoying the warmth from the sunlight and concentrating on each and every sound around him; the chirping of the birds, the distant sounds of the cars, the clattering from the nearby fountain, the wind playing with the grass and the trees and even the slight shrieking coming from the iron fence as the breeze brushed past it, pushing it back and forth in the process.

It was a way of meditation his uncle, Jiraiya, had taught him to calm down when he wanted to. Jiraiya wasn't Naruto's actual uncle, but he was the only adult that really looked after him. He paid the rent for his appartment and had been his father's best friend.

'He must really like the sun, huh?' Sakura thought, staring at the boy in wonder.

''Stop staring at me,'' he ordered without opening his eyes.

Sakura turned her head back so she was now facing the fence that separated the school grounds from the main road again, ''I wasn't.''

From behind her back, Naruto opened one eye and curled the right corner of his mouth up in a smirk, 'Yes you were.'

He then pushed himself off the wall and walked up to Sakura, ''So, are you coming or not?''

When after a few minutes Sakura still hadn't answered him, he poked her in the shoulder, ''Are you?''

There was no escaping this guy, was there?

''Fine,'' Sakura muttered.

About half an hour later they were both sitting on top of the roof above Naruto's appartment, their legs dangling from the roof gutter and a can of coke in their hands. The building wasn't located that far away from Konoha High, so the ride they took had been a short -but very awkward- one. The reason it had been uncomfortable was that, since Sakura didn't have a bike, she hadn't had any choice but riding with Naruto on his scooter with her arms secured tightly around his stomach.

Naruto leaned back with closed eyes, softly landing on his back. Meanwhile, a safe distance away from him, Sakura was reading a book, now and then taking a sip from her coke. Naruto opened his eyes when he heard the soft ruffling of paper.

He propped himself up on one elbow, gazing at Sakura. She didn't look up. She was completely absorbed by- whatever it was. Not able to suppress his nosy nature, he sat up and crawled over to the place where the girl was sitting.

He was surprised when she still didn't look up. Her face was so close to the page she was reading that her nose was pressed against the paper.
Naruto smirked. He could not let this chance go by.

He brought his mouth close to her right ear and then yelled, ''Hey! What are you reading?!''

Sakura shrieked and heaved her arms up, causing the book to fly up in the air. She shot Naruto a shocked look before frantically reaching out for the book; trying to grab it before it fell down from the roof, into the depth that was the busy street. Just in time her fingers closed around the object and pulled it back.

Hugging the book as tightly as she could, she narrowed her eyes at Naruto, who was laughing maniacally, ''Don't ever do that again.''

''What- what are you- talking about? T-that was classic!'' He gasped between laughs, still clenching his stomach.

Sakura crossed her arms with a pout. She understood why he thought it was so funny; this was one of those things that are hilarious, until it happens to you.

When after a few minutes Naruto's laughter had finally faded, he wiped away the happy tears that had been streaming over his cheeks and managed to ask her, ''So, what book are you reading?''

She loosened her grip on the book so she could look at the cover. She gently traced the two people on the cover with her finger, ''Pride and Prejudice,'' She whispered.

''Pride and Prejudice?'' Naruto repeated, seemingly uninterested.

''Yes, it is my favourite.''

''I dunno. I mean, the story is so...''

''Deep?''

''No... More like, dramatic.''

''That might be because it's meant to be dramatic. It's called 'drama' for a reason, you know.'' She said, pointing at the small label on the first page of the book.

Naruto pursed his lips. He hated people treating him as if he was stupid. He shot the pinkette a glare from the corners of his eyes. Her arrogance was another reason why he despised Sakura so.

''I love this book. It has a great moral, an amazing script... It is like a piece of art,'' Sakura sighed.

''You like art?'' Naruto questioned, looking back at the girl with sudden interest.

''...Well, I like looking at art. I just don't know much about it,'' She admitted.

''You should take a look at this!'' Naruto exclaimed, searching through his bag until he found what he was looking for. It was a small, cheap looking book with a plastic cover. Sakura arched an eyebrow at him. Was he kidding her?

He held it out to Sakura, and the pinkette hesitatingly accepted it. She stroked the cover like she had with 'Pride and Prejudice'. This book didn't feel old or mysterious like her favourite book, though. It felt new and cheap.

''Klimt,'' She read.

''What is it?'' She asked Naruto, flipping through the pages.

''It's a collection of Gustav Klimt's artworks.''

''Who?''

Naruto gasped, ''Don't tell me you've never heard of Gustav Klimt.''

''Who is he, then?''

''Only the most gifted artist in the existance of humanity!''

As she looked at the drawings, sketches and paintings, she had to admit his work was one of the most impressing collections she had ever seen.

Not all of her attention was on the book, though. She was mainly thinking about how strange it was that she hadn't known anything about Naruto's interest in art. She had known him practically her whole life!

Well, of course she hadn't been very close with him... But still!
Although, now that she thought about it; he was a straight-A student when it came to drawing class!

''So, what do you think?'' Naruto asked her, unknowingly breaking her chain of thoughts.

''Amazing,'' Sakura whispered, giving him back the book.

He shook is head at her though, ''Keep it. I already have three of them,'' He said, taking a sip from his can and wiping his mouth with his sleeve.

''Really? Er... Thanks,'' she muttered.

''Hey,'' Naruto said, leaning over the edge of the roof, ''Isn't that Danzo?''

''Danzo? Janitor Danzo?'' Sakura asked, leaning over the edge as well.

''Ugh... He gave me detention last week, only because I was walking in the same hallway where he was mopping the floor.''

''Is he even allowed to?''

''Dunno. I didn't go.''

Sakura suppressed the urge to shake her head in dissaproval.

''Watch this,'' Naruto said. The wide, devious smirk spreading on his face made the pink haired girl sitting beside him ancious, but the curious part of her made her stay put even when he reached out for a bucket that was standing behind him, against the chimney. He snickered, taking a hold of the iron grip, seizing it from it's spot, and grabbing it tightly with both of his hands. Sakura wondered what was inside of the bucket; judging from the tightened muscles that were visible underneath the tight, black dress shirt the blond was wearing, it was pretty heavy.

Then, without giving Sakura time to do as much as say 'stop', Naruto dropped the content of the bucket over the man walking by. This content, Sakura noticed, was water.

In less than two seconds, the words, ''What the fuck?!'' echoed across town so loudly that even the birds that had been sitting in the many trees in a nearby park flew up in the air. Naruto and Sakura were silent for a few seconds, until they slowly turned to look at each other and burst out laughing.

Later that afternoon, when Sakura was walking home with a big, carton grocery bag in her arms, she overthought the events that had occured that day. She couldn't believe Naruto had made her laugh at such an incolent and inappropriate thing. Laughing at a man that had had a bucket of water landing on top of him was so unlike her!

...It was unlike who she was now, anyway.

Not only that, but also the fact that Naruto had wanted her to come to his house. She hadn't trusted it; in fact, she had brought pepperspray in her bag, and had an iron grip on it the whole ride back and travel to the roof of the building. She had expected all of this to be some kind of ultimate bully-plan.

'Does he really want to be my friend?' Sakura thought, crossing the road carefully, 'All of this just doesn't make sense! Why would he want to? And why now?'

Sakura bit her lip. Should she let Naruto become her friend? Should she?

A few minutes later Sakura walked up the front porch and the stone steps that led to her house and unlocked the front door.

She wished he would just leave her alone. Just days ago, everything had been fine. Ok, so she had been lonely, and a little bit broken... But at least there hadn't been a need to fear to lose something. Even when the only reason for that was that she did not have anything to begin with.

Sakura entered the kitchen, switched on the lights and put the bag that carried her groceries on the kitchen table. She looked inside of the bag.

'Looks like today's dinner will consist of tomato-soup and slices of cucumber,' She thought, pulling out a big cucumber and a carton box that contained soup for two persons. She put a pan on the stove, tore open the box, added the content to the pan and poured water over the soup. She stirred the soup for a few minutes, added salt and, when it tasted to her liking, moved over to a place on the sink a few feet to the right and minced the cucumber into thin slices.

She looked up from the cucumber when she noticed the soup was giving off a not-so-faint scent and reached up to the cooker hood. She switched it on, but, when there was no air sucked into, or sound coming from the machine, reached out to the window next to it instead. The pinkette opened it slightly, walked over to the kitchen table, scribbled a note to herself, 'Don't forget: cooker hood broken. Call someone to come fix it.' and continued mincing. Only to be distracted again by a complaining 'mew' coming from somewhere below her. Looking down, she spotted Primrose sitting on the kitchen tiles.

''I wish I had somebody to go to for advice,'' Sakura whispered as she crouched down and petted the white coated kitten. The cat tilted it's head, widening it's big yellow eyes even more.

Sakura giggled. Talking to a cat didn't mean she was crazy; she wouldn't have to worry until the cat started talking back.

She opened a cupboard, took out a bag of cat feeds and filled the cat's iron food bowl with the brown chunks. She got up and finished cooking dinner. The pinkette took one bowl of tomato soup and a small plate of cucumber slices and took it to her mother. As allways, the woman didn't do anything but giving her a small grunt when her daughter put down her meal on the table next to her armchair and whispered, ''Come on, mom. Eat. It will make you feel better.''

When after a few minutes still no sounds came from the woman, Sakura sighed and left the room.

She felt lonely, eating her dinner in the semidarkness that was the kitchen all by herself, but she didn't have a choice; complaining wouldn't help.
Sakura sighed. She reached out for her bag and pulled it towards her. After about two seconds of searching it, she found what she was looking for. She opened the small book with the name 'Klimt' on the cover and started looking at the artworks inside perceptively.

She understood why Naruto liked it so much; there were so many paintings, and each one was totally different from the previous one. It was unbelievable to imagine how every painting was made by the same artist.

At the same time that Sakura was eating dinner, there was a blond teenage boy leaning against a chimney on the roof above Naruto's appartement, the only source of light coming from the flashlight in his hand. He had been sitting there like that for hours; as soon as he returned from the library he had settled himself against the stone chimney and started reading. He actually enjoyed the book. It wasn't cheesy like he thought it would be, and the dialogues requiered him to stay focused. Well, itwas still pretty much of a girls' book, but none of his friends needed to know he was reading it. He looked up at the star-lit sky.

He adored nights like this one; it had been a hot day, so the air was still warm even on top of such an enormous building. There were no clouds to be seen, so the view of the sky and the skyline of Konoha was entrancing. And of course it was a friday, meaning Naruto wouldn't have to worry about school.

A shiver ran up his spine as a cold breeze brushed against the skin of his neck, face, hands and his bare feet. Naruto and put on his hoodie again. It was getting really chilly outside now.

Naruto's eyes again trailed back to the book in his hands. Naruto ran a hand through his blond spikes. He didn't really understand why exactly he had decided to borrow 'Pride and Prejudice' in the first place. The story hadn't interested him in the least, and the words Forehead had used to decribe it didn't make him curious for the content of the book at all.

It wasn't like Naruto wanted to know what made her this interested in a book, he hated her after all.

Yes. He hated her. He hated the freakish, hideous, idiotic and arrogant pink haired girl with all his heart. He had left each and every feeling of hope, friendship and...and love for Sakura Haruno behind a long time ago.

All that had remained was hate.

I don't really like this chapter... But yeah, my proof-reading friend DID like it, so yeah!
Please review. ;D

~Lion3queen