Well, look who's updating!
Okay, so first things first:
I want to thank Hatakevan for volunteering on being my beta-reader. I'm so thankful! It's too bad you told me you don't qualify, but still.. I'm so thankful that I just needed to, you know... Thank you.
I also want to thank softie96 for volunteering, but I wasn't able to reply because he or she wasn't logged in when she reviewed. Ghehe, I'm sorry. XD
So yeah, through it all I'm still looking for a BETA-reader.
Also, thank all of you that wished me good luck on my grades for- well, wishing me good luck on my grades. XD I wrote this chapter in the time I didn't study, so it means a lot to me that people appreciate my work.
And just thanks to everyone else that reads, faves, reviews my story and of course the people that put it on story alert. It's of course more personal if you review, but I'm also very honoured if you just use your free time to read Make Believe.
~Lion3queen
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
Sakura folded her hands in her lap.
Tick.
Tick.
She bit her lip and for a second, her eyes flicked over to the white clock hanging from the wall.
Tick.
Was the ticking of a clock always this ear-deafening?
Tick.
Tick.
She closed her eyes and took a big gulp of air.
Tick.
'Calm, Sakura,' She thought to herself, 'Everything will be just fine.'
Tick.
Sakura turned her pale face to look at the water machine in the corner of the room. She stood up from the plastic chair she had been sitting on and walked the stone, white tiles until she was close enough to the machine to grab a plastic cup and fill it with water. She walked back to the chair and sat down again.
Tick.
Tick.
From the moment she had entered the waiting room she had done nothing but staring at the wall on the opposite side of the room and listening to the ticking of the clock hanging from it. Two o'clock it said. Sakura looked at the woman sitting behind the glass from the counter. Her eyes were moving from left to right, so Sakura figured she was reading a magazine. Sakura huffed and moved her emerald irises to face the wall again.
Tick.
Two hours had passed since Sakura called 911. One hour and a half since the ambulance showed up. One hour since they arrived at the hospital and 55 minutes since Sakura walked into the waiting room. The doctors had taken her mother away.
The woman at the counter had told Sakura to wait in the waiting room until somebody came to get her.
Tick.
Tick.
Sakura felt like she was going mad. Why didn't anybody tell her what was wrong with her mother?
She hung her head. What if her mom was dying? What if it was her fault?
Of course, lately she hadn't talked to her very much, but... She was still Sakura's mother! She hadn't always been like this. She had many good memories of her mother. Memories she cherished with all her heart.
''Mommy! Daddy!''
A high pitched giggle pierced through the air, followed by fits of more masculine laughter.
''Sakura! My, aren't you looking beautiful in that new dress I bought you.''
''You shouldn't have, Phill. You're spoiling her.'' Again, soft laughter could be heard.
Three people were standing in the doorway of a white house. One of them was a man and the other person a woman. The man was carrying a petite, pink haired girl in his arms.
''No, mommy! I love pretty dresses, and I'm not spoiled,'' The small girl huffed, tugging at her mother's sleeve, ''Let's go to the zoo!''
''How'd you know we are going to the zoo? It was meant to be a birthday surprise!'' The man exclaimed. ''Lily?'' He asked, narrowing his eyes at his wife.
''I wouldn't know how she found out about it,'' Lily giggled. A wide grin spread on her freckled face and she tugged at her bangs; a habit Sakura would gain when she got older.
''Tsk, you idiot,'' Phill said, running a hand through his white hair.
Lily's smile faded, ''Be careful with Sakura, honey. Don't lift her up too high.''
Her husband just chuckled, and lifted his daughter up even higher, causing the girl to squeal in amusement.
''Uwah! Don't!''
''Come on, Sakura. Before your mum explodes,'' Phill laughed, starting to jog down the road.
''Phil! Be careful, sheesh! We only have one daughter!''
''Love you more!'' Phill called over his shoulder.
All the while, Sakura did nothing but laughing.
Sakura smiled.
See? She had lots of good memories of her parents.
She wasn't entirely sure why she was trying to convince herself of this, but she didn't have time to think about it much longer. For at that moment a brown haired doctor stepped into the waiting room. He checked his clipboard and then said, ''Lily Haruno?''
He looked around the room, which was kind of useless noticing the fact that Sakura was the only person there.
Sakura heaved a slightly trembling hand up, ''-Er, yes? That is my mother.''
The doctor adjusted his glasses so he was able to get a clear view of the teenage girl before speaking up, ''Yes. Follow me, please.''
As Sakura pursued the man through the building, she didn't dare ask him what was wrong with her mom. She was afraid of what would be the answer. Stiffly, she looked around in the busy hallway. There were so many different people there. People in different shapes, colours and sizes.
She averted her gaze to the back of the man walking before her, though, remembering it was rude to stare at others.
Sakura immediately regretted her momentary loss of focus, for the brunet doctor was walking with immense speed. The pinkette picked up her pace slightly, trying to catch up with him.
All of a sudden, the doctor stopped dead in his tracks. Luckily, Sakura could keep herself from walking into him just before the collision.
''Here she is,'' He said, before turning his back to her and quickly walking away into the opposite direction of the one they had come from. Sakura sighed. Hospital people were always so stressed. It made her nervous.
Slowly, the pinkette turned to face the door closest to where she was standing. She gulped audibly.
After about five minutes of just staring at the door, she decided she had gained enough courage and opened it before she had time to change her mind again.
It wasn't as bad as Sakura had feared. There were no tubes sticking up her mother's nose and arms. There was no machine attached to her, beeping to the beat of her heart. She was just lying there, her ginger hair spread over the pillow and her legs covered by a thin, white blanket. The sunlight found it's way through the blinds, forming yellow stripes on the bedspread and parts of the woman's hands. Dust danced around in the afternoon light like microscopic fireflies.
It was quite a peaceful sight, Sakura thought. She almost smiled. Almost.
''Sakura Haruno. Hello,'' A voice greeted. Sakura flinched slightly, she hadn't noticed anybody else in the room.
There, next to the door, stood a blonde woman with a -Sakura couldn't help but notice- rather impressive looking chest -too bad for her, her own chest hadn't grown much since middle-school- and a face that looked way younger than the rest of her body -without a doubt a result of a long history of face-lifts- in a white doctor's uniform. She was smiling down at Sakura kindly.
The green eyed girl's mouth formed a small 'O', before she stuttered a, ''Oh- But- Principal Tsunade- Oh!''
Sakura knew this woman. She was not only her school's principal and a true beauty, but also downright intimidating.
''Do- A- Are you a nurse as well, principal? Do you know my name?''
''Honestly, Sakura, I would remember the name of the only female straight-A student going to Konoha High. And yes and no. I am not a full-time nurse, but I did study medical science. I'm allowed to take care of the patients when the hospital is short on work force.'' The woman said. She tried to mask her pride by coughing in her fist, but Sakura could see the proud glint in her eyes. ''Anyway, is that your mother?''
The teenage girl nodded, sending her pink bangs flying into her line of vision. She cast her mom a glance from the corner of her eyes. She hadn't moved an inch.
''Your mother hasn't got anything serious, you know. She's only asleep. She is suffering from a nervous breakdown, though. Did anything happen to cause this?'' Sakura gulped. How was a nervous breakdown nothing serious?
She then remembered Tsunade had asked her a question. ''-Er... Not that I know abo- I mean-'' She stuttered.
Should she tell her principal about her father's departure? Would it help her? Would it mean they would take her mother away? Would it mean Sakura would have to go into an orphanage?
The teenage girl's mental struggle must have been visible on her features, because Tsunade smiled down at her again, ''It isn't a problem if you need to think about it for a second, ok?''
The pinkette sighed in relief. Inwardly, that is.
''Now,'' Tsunade said after awhile, walking towards one of the chairs in the room. She picked up a crimson handbag and walked towards the door. All of a sudden, she stopped walking and spun on her heels, ''My shift is over. Are you going home?''
Sakura bit her lip, ''Is it okay if I... Stay a little longer?''
''Well, according to the rules you have to go home as soon as the doctor or nurse leaves,'' She said. Sakura's expression fell. ''But,'' She continued, ''It's not my fault if I accidentally leave the room and didn't see you were still there.'' She winked.
Sakura didn't know what to say, ''Thank you.''
''What for?'' Tsunade asked, winking for the second time.
She started closing the door, but paused. ''By the way, if you need to talk about something, you know where to find me, right? If I'm not at school, I'm here.'' She gave Sakura's head a quick pat and left the room.
It must have been around nighttime when Sakura heaved her head from the mattress and looked around in the room.
Had she fallen asleep?
Yes, she must have, She thought, looking down at her own fingers that were still closed around her mother's hand. She had been sitting on a wooden chair, but when she fell asleep she must at some point have rested her head on the mattress her mother was lying on. Her emerald eyes scanned the woman's face for any change in her expression from last evening. A twitch of an eye. A soft sigh.
She found none.
The teenage girl pulled out her cellphone from the pocket of her hotpants and stood up when the little device showed '02:23 AM' in glowing characters.
''Goodbye mom, I'll come again after school,'' She whispered, ''I'll bring you something, alright?''
She tiptoed out of the room and closed the door behind her. The hallways were almost deserted now, aside from a few doctors that still power walked from here to there. Sakura leaned back against the door and took a big gulp of air. She rubbed her eyes and yawned.
Sakura tried walking back the route she had taken earlier that day, and she immediately regretted not taking in her surroundings better. The hospital was a lot bigger than it looked from the outside. Each and every hallway looked the same; white, plain, with big windows and sometimes a machine that held all kinds of soft drinks. After about half an hour, when Sakura was ready to pull her hair out, finally the door to the waiting room came in sight. She was too tired to great the woman at the counter, so just walked past her, leaving the woman to look up from her magazine and raise an eyebrow at the girl's back as she crossed the room and trudged through the revolving doors, out of the building and into the night.
'Beep beep beep beep bee-'
The alarm clock stopped it's screaming the second Sakura's hand hit the snooze-button.
She cracked open her eyes and sat up. She felt like she had been overrun by a bus.
''Hng-'' She moaned, ruffling her messy hair. Everything hurt, but her muscles ached the most.
She hated her habit of twisting and turning in her sleep as soon as she was worried. She hoped it would die. (2)
The pinkette swung her feet out of the bed, wincing at the pain her suffering muscles gave her.
Almost mechanically, she stood up and walked out of her room. She entered the bathing room and took a quick sink shower (She still had to call the repairman to fix the actual shower shower). She shampooed her hair, moved her head under the faucet and cleaned it of all of the remaining shampoo. Then she turned the iron cock, ignoring the shrill squeak it gave, and rubbed her hair dry with one of the towels that hung from the towel rack.
After getting dressed in a pair of white jeans, a tight, peach coloured top and her favourite all stars, Sakura once again entered the bathing room. She walked right up to the mirror and took in her face. Was it just her, or did she look really unattractive?
Her face wasn't ugly or anything, no, it was the opposite. Her face had exactly the right shape and a pale colour, and her cheekbones stood out. Her eyes were the lightest shade of green she had ever seen on a person and her lips were full and naturally pink coloured.
But still... Her face looked kind of neglected. Her eyelashes were too light, making it seem as if she didn't have any at all. Her skin was a bit rough and greasy, and there were dark circles underneath her eyes.
She looked around in the bathroom until her gaze lingered on the closet near the sink.
It was where her mother kept her make-up before, well... You know.
Sakura hesitated, she suddenly felt nervous. Should she?
She made up her mind. Sakura opened up one of the drawers and took out mascara and foundation. Luckily her and her mom had the same skin tone. After she finished putting on the make-up and studied her reflection in the mirror, she had to admit it looked a lot better. The pinkette didn't understand why she cared about her looks all of a sudden; she hadn't given a shit for years. She dismissed it.
The teenage girl walked downstairs, grabbed a sandwich and her shoulder bag and walked through the front door. Opening up the curtains was no use since she hadn't closed them that night. She had been too tired.
She closed her eyes to the sunlight. The weather looked a lot better. Although there were still some clouds drifting about in the sky like chunks of wool, none of them covered the sun. It was going to be a beautiful day.
When Sakura arrived at school, she was in time to her own surprise. She looked around to see if anyone she knew was in the schoolyard, until she noticed Karin. She was leaning against the wall of the school building, a cigarette between her lips. She was the only girl wearing black hotpants to school, earning her disapproving and bitchy looks from the other female students. Exactly the opposite from the male population, Sakura noticed. Some guys were actually drooling.
''Karin!'' Sakura greeted. The senior turned her head in Sakura's direction, sending crimson strands of hair flying around her head.
''Sakura! What's up? How was your weekend?''
''Oh, it was fine, really,'' Nobody needed to know about her mom's nervous breakdown, ''How was yours?''
''Well, honestly, I'm a bit hung over. But you look a lot better, girl!'' Karin said, leaning in a bit to study Sakura's face, ''Did you put on make-up?''
The pinkette looked away from the girl before her, twisting a strand of hair around her finger nervously. She had hoped it wouldn't be too conspicuous.
''It's not a bad thing, you know,'' Karin said, blowing tiny clouds of smoke into the morning air, ''It's a good thing to care about your looks, being a girl and all.''
Sakura was thankful for the senior's words. But just as she opened her mouth to thank her, she noticed that Karin's eyes were narrowed, staring at something behind Sakura. She looked behind her, only to notice Suigetsu walking right up to them, a cup of water in his hand.
''Nice glasses, glasses.'' He greeted Karin smugly, revealing his pointed teeth.
''Nice ass, ass.'' Karin retorted, her brows furrowing.
''Spoiling the air with your cigarettes this early in the morning?'' He asked her, sucking water up through the straw in his drink audibly.
''Don't act all sanctimonious with me, Hozuki. You smoke, too.''
''Yeah, but it's cool when I do it.''
''Help me-'' Karin responded dryly, ''-Your ego invades my space... I'm suffocating.''
Sakura giggled softly, but as she studied the big clock hanging above the front doors of the school, she noticed it was 28 minutes past 8 already. If she didn't go inside now, she would be late.
''Bye,'' She waved at Karin and Suigetsu, but they were both too caught up in the bickering to hear it. Sakura sighed and turned her back to them.
She pushed and drudged her way through the mass of tired, hung over and cranky students until she finally reached her locker and pulled it open. She grabbed a hold of the books she needed for the first three periods (The first was Homeroom class -she didn't need any books for that one- the second Math and the third English,) and once more dove into the crowd.
She managed to arrive at the classroom alive. At least half of her classmates weren't present yet.
As soon as Sakura placed one foot inside the room, the school-bell rung. She hurried to her seat, afraid to be in the way of the popular students -they usually were the ones that were late.
She dropped her bag and plopped down on the wooden chair behind her table, just in time to see little miss Look-at-me-I-might-be-a-brain dead-bitch-but-that-sure-doesn't-stop-every-guy-at-school-of-ogling-me parading into the classroom like she was some kind of supermodel. Sakura could just about stop herself from hissing.
She brought her face to the blank sheet of paper in front of her, pretending to write something down. In truth, she was trying not to glare at Ino as she walked over to her table, swinging her butt into every possible direction in a manner that most guys found 'attractive'. (3)
Sakura narrowed her eyes at the sheet of paper. One side of her was just annoyed at the blonde, but another side of her wondered why she was so angry. Of course, she had been bullied, but she had never blamed the bullies for this.
She had always thought it was her own fault somehow. For being a freak or for being ugly... She thought that maybe all of the bullying was just Karma. A punishment for the fact that she had treated other people badly during middle-school.
''Hey there, fellow students!'' A voice said cheerfully. Sakura's mood brightened instantly.
She looked up from the paper and watched Naruto walking to his seat, his bag swung casually over his shoulder. He caught her gaze and gave her a quick wave before sitting down behind Ino. The seat next to her was still empty -Shikamaru had probably overslept- as well as the seat beside Naruto's.
Ino turned around in her seat, swinging her platinum blond hair over her shoulder, '''Sup?''
Sakura could hear her voice even from the back of the classroom. She didn't hear Naruto's reply, though, because at that second Sasuke strolled through the classroom door, both of his hands in the pockets of his jeans and his expression bored. Sakura's heart skipped a beat. She averted her gaze to the sheet of paper again. She knew she shouldn't like him, but then why'd he have to be so...
-So drop-dead gorgeous?
''Dude, you look like a corpse!'' Naruto gasped. Sakura could see, from the way his cheek puffed out, that he was smiling.
''Shut up,'' Sasuke muttered, ''My brother threw a party at our house last night.''
''Itachi?'' Ino asked with sudden interest, ''Isn't he tired, then?''
Everyone knew Ino had been after Sasuke's older brother from the moment she met him.
''Of course. But he's skipping today. He reported himself ill.''
''Tsk. How come he gets away with that every time?'' Naruto muttered.
''He doesn't sound like a twelve year old girl,'' Sasuke teased.
''Shut up, my voice is totally normal!''
''Whatever.''
''Good morning, students,'' Kakashi trudged into the classroom, ''I'm sorry for being late, but I saw a pickpocket taking an old woman's purse. I just had to beat up the criminal and give her back her purse, you know...''
A wave of loud groans and snorts erupted from the students.
''Anyway,'' Kakashi said, putting his leather teacher's bag on the desk, ''I wanted to discuss with you the upcoming election campaign for the student preside-''
He was irrupted by a voice coming out of the tiny speakers that hung from the wall, ''Sakura Haruno, please go to the principal's office.''
Sakura had been dozing off, so it wasn't until the second time the message was repeated that she noticed that the person doing the announcement meant her. Her classmates had all turned around in their seats, giving her stares that Sakura couldn't read.
Kakashi coughed, ''Well, Sakura, aren't you going?''
''-Er, yes.'' Sakura muttered. She picked up her back and hurried out of the classroom.
She half-walked half-ran up the stairs until she finally arrived at the upper level, panting. She now faced a door with a sign that said 'Principal'.
The teenage girl waited a few seconds until she had stopped panting a bit, and then gave the door a soft knock, earning a ''Yes, come in!'' from somebody behind it.
Sakura hesitatingly took a hold of the handle and pushed it down. The door opened to reveal Tsunade, sitting behind her desk. She was doing some paper work.
''-Er, hello principal,'' Sakura stuttered.
''Hello, Sakura,'' said Tsunade, she put down her pen and looked up, ''I wanted to tell you your mother woke up.''
Sakura gasped, ''Oh- Oh really? What did she say- Did she m-... Did she mention me?''
Tsunade sighed and bit her lip, ''She said that she needed some time to get away from it all.''
Sakura nodded; she could understand.
''She said you would stand in the way of this, so she is going on a holiday. She said you should stay at home.''
At this, though, Sakura's heart dropped a little. She would stand in the way of her mother's recovery? By what, cooking for her? Making money?
Tsunade closed her eyes, Sakura's mother had actually said that Sakura was too much of a bother, but the blonde woman could not bring herself to tell the teenage student this. In fact, she could barely bring herself to look at Sakura. She looked so hurt.
And of course, anybody could see that Sakura did too much in their house hold. She was too mature for her age. She was sixteen. Sixteen year old girls should do fun things with their friends and party and go out with guys. Sakura did none of these things. She worried about things people her age shouldn't worry about.
''Did- did she say anything else?'' Sakura asked, her eyes glued to the carpet on the floor.
''She said that you should get more independent- That you should get a job. And that you couldn't count on her to take care of you the rest of your life.'' Tsunade formulated. It hurt her to say these things, but she felt that Sakura needed to know.
At that moment Sakura was so very glad she never cried, ''-Ok,'' She rasped.
She just didn't understand why her mother said something like that. She did know that Sakura had taken care of her with all that she had in her the past two months, didn't she? She did realise that Sakura had four jobs to pay the bills, right? She did know that the only keeping her from falling apart was the fact that if she gave in, her mother would suffer the consequences as well, didn't she?
''-Principal Tsunade?'' Sakura asked.
''Yes?''
''Was that it?''
''Yes.''
''Okay.''
With that, Sakura turned around and made her way over to the door. She stopped in her tracks and looked over her shoulder, ''Does mom want to see me?''
''No.'' Tsunade said, looking down at her table. It was weird. Normally the middle aged woman was headstrong. She could say things without ever thinking twice. But when she talked to Sakura Haruno... All of this seemed to fade. The girl just seemed so fragile and vulnerable she could hardly stand it.
''Okay.''
Sakura wobbled through the door and closed it behind her. The hallway was empty. She leaned back against the cool, wooden surface of the door and took a deep breath.
'Breathe, Sakura,' She thought, 'Just breathe.'
The air in the hallway seemed so muggy, though, that it was hard. She retreated down the stairs, plannning on going back to the classroom, until an idea struck her.
She turned around and walked another hallway until what she searched came in sight; the glass sliding doors that led to the school balcony.
Sakura opened the sliding doors and immediately a shiver ran down her spine, 'It's so cold up here.'
But she didn't mind. It helped her relax. The cold, though, didn't stop her from feeling sick. And so she stumbled over to the balcony-railing and gripped it tightly. She could see the whole school yard from there. But to be honest, the school yard was the last place she thought of at that moment.
Her fingers tightened around the stone railing. She bent down and rested her forehead on it.
She opened her mouth to let out a long sigh, and then fell on her knees. She hugged her arms around herself, trying desperately not to make gasping noises.
She vaguely heard the sliding of the balcony doors from behind her, but she paid no attention to it until a voice called out, ''Sakura?'
She recognised the voice as Naruto's, but didn't move an inch. After all, where should she move to? She squeezed her eyes shut.
Rushed footsteps approached, followed by a soft thumping noise. She guessed he must have lowered himself on his knees as well. She could hear his breathing, but he didn't do anything. He just sat there.
''I told Kakashi that I was sick,'' He whispered, ''It's okay if you don't want to talk about it.''
Sakura wanted to tell him that she was thankful, but right at that moment her tongue decided to fail her. And so she brought her hands to her face and rested it in them. Neither of them spoke a word.
From that moment on Sakura knew he was her friend.
(1) White and red makes pink! Ghehe, smart aren't I? XD
(2) Sorry if I made her a little too grumpy, ghehe. I usually suffer from like a REALLY bad morning mood and I'm the author so yeah. My power knows no limit. 8D
(3) Holy crap, please excuse the major Ino bashing in this chapter! D8
Please review, it encourages me to write faster.
~Lion3queen