Screwed Up World, A SasuSaku Fanfic.
Rated T.
KiiroIka
Summary:
In a world where Sasuke wasn't cool and cold, where Sakura was the stoic Ice Queen, Naruto and Hinata the richest, most popular power couple in the school and where Ino and Karin are actually the nice, timid girls in the scene, how do things turn out?
I do not own Naruto.
Chapter 12: Facing the Public—Part 2
We arrived at the classroom, disappointed to see Sakura not there. I took a seat beside the window; Naruto took a seat beside me. In front of me was Sai, and in front of Naruto was Kiba. The two turned their seats so they were facing us. The four of us formed a messed-up circle, ignoring the stares and glares we were getting. The glares were for me, only.
"Don't mind them, Sasuke." Kiba waved his hand.
"Yeah, duck-butt. They're only jealous of your hot chicken rear hair." Sai said, trying to lighten up the mood.
It didn't work when I saw two figures approach us. One had a messy, black hair and black eyes. The other had neatly combed red hair and sea green eyes. The funny thing was, the black-haired one had thick eyebrows while the shorter, red-haired one had no eyebrows at all.
"Gaara. Lee." Kiba acknowledged.
"I would like to have an audience with Sasuke-san!" The smaller red head, Gaara, a transferee from Suna, smiled, fire in his eyes. Oh, great. I remember this guy. He's Gai-sensei's favorite student. The two scream about youth and being youthful every chance they get.
"Only the jerk. Not dog boy, not art freak, not Mr. Perfect. Just Uchiha." Rock Lee said. He was Gai-sensei's son—no question, they look hell alike—but he was totally not daddy's boy. Lee's supposed to be a year higher than us, but since he failed some of his classes now, he's an irregular student. Poor him. He probably has a lot more classes to handle than us.
"Hey, none of you hurt Sasuke." Kiba stood up.
"We do not intend to fight with Sasuke-san. Such a disgraceful thing to do!" Gaara let out a creepy grin.
"He won't. I might, if he doesn't know what's good for him." Lee stated.
"Okay, okay. I'll go." I stood up as the rest stared at me as if I grew another head.
"Teme, did you see what Sasori and Deidara did to you?" Naruto stood up.
"Naruto-san may come." Gaara nodded. Lee shot him a glare.
"You idiot, I thought we talked about this." Lee immediately sighed. "Fine. But Uzumaki doesn't have any say in this."
The four of us walked outside. I trusted Gaara. Of course, he wouldn't get into a fight with me. He wouldn't want to disappoint his 'ol pal Gai. But Lee? I am not so sure…
"What do you want?" I asked as politely as I could.
"I would just want you to acknowledge me as your rival, Sasuke-san!" Gaara said, determination burning in his thickly lined eyes.
"Rival?" I asked. What the heck? Was this about Sakura again?
"Yes! Rival in winning the heart of…"
Yup, Sakura.
"…the youthful, ever-blooming Sakura-chan!" Gaara had a dreamy look in his eyes. "So please, Sasuke-san, let us have a healthy competition to sweep the beautiful cherry blossom off her feet!"
"Uh…" I rubbed the back of my neck. "Okay, then?"
Y-you didn't decline?
"You accept my challenge then?" He said, his voice still oddly happy.
"Uh…"
"Stay away from Sakura." Lee said. His glare was fixated on me.
"So, you like Sakura-chan, too?" Naruto asked. Lee sent him another death glare.
"I don't." He said. His glare went back to me. "But Gaara does."
"Eh." I said.
"Lee-kun, I told you not to fight my battles for me!" Gaara pouted. "I can handle this on my own!"
"Oh yeah? Remember when Youko, the girl from Suna, broke up with you? You were crying for two weeks." Lee said. Wow, so he was the protective best friend, ne? "I won't let that happen again."
"But Lee-kun!" Gaara whined. "I can handle this. I can…"
"Stay away from her, Uchiha. I'll kill you if you don't." Lee stomped off to the boys bathroom after that.
"What the…" Was all I could say.
"Please, Sasuke-san, accept my challenge! Don't mind Lee-kun!" Gaara bowed down to me. What is this guy's problem?
"Look, there's no official thing going between us." I admitted. "I… I don't know if I'm after her as well."
Gaara looked at me with surprise.
"So I have a better chance at Sakura-chan?" He asked.
"That's up to Sakura… She decides, not me." I said. "Um… I'll go then."
"H-hai!" Gaara saluted me. "Now, I must head off to Gai-sensei to announce that I have been accepted by Sasuke-san in the battle for Sakura-chan's eternal, youthful love!"
Naruto and I watched as Gaara ran off. I was about to enter the classroom, when Lee went out of the bathroom and used his arm to press me against the wall. I got to observe his features closely. If it weren't for his thick eyebrows, he wouldn't have looked exactly like Gai.
"If Gaara gets hurt, I'll castrate you." He growled. He proceeded to march off to Gaara's direction.
"Well, that was really, really weird." Naruto said. "Gaara's really weird, but Lee being the protective best friend type? Wow."
I shrugged. Naruto went inside the classroom. I was about to follow him, someone tapped my shoulder.
"Look, if this is about Sakura…" I said as I turned around. My voice faltered when I saw that the person was Sakura.
"Well, it's about Sakura, yes. So what?" She asked, her pink eyebrow raised. Sakura crossed her arms and leaned on the wall.
"Look, Sakura, I…" I said. I took a deep breath. "I'm really sorry. I didn't… I mean…"
"Shh." She said as she pressed her finger to my lips. "Do you really feel that way about me?"
I nodded. She pulled her finger away.
"I really like you, Sakura, and I'm sorry I disappoint you. I know it wasn't the right way to confess, but as soon as they mentioned it, my emotions got the best of me and I… I kinda spilled everything. You know… I'm the kind of person who lets his heart speak louder than his head, especially when what I'm feeling is strong." I rubbed the back of my neck as I smiled shyly. I felt my face heat up.
"Strong?" She smirked. I blushed more.
"Uh… I… Ahhh…" I was at a loss for words. She looked me straight in the eyes. I immediately got lost in emerald pools.
"Confess to me again." She said. "Properly."
"Err…" I looked to the side and probably turned as red as my favorite fruit.
You dumbass, confess!
"Sakura," I looked at her, emerald meeting coal, "I know we haven't known each other that long, and we really didn't have a pleasant first meeting, but I swear, as soon as I saw you, I knew there was something. When we got to know each other, I felt my heart leap. And I knew that you were special. I knew that there was something there. There was a spark.
"I like you, Sakura Haruno. More than you can ever think of. Every time I see you, my heart feels like it's going to explode into tiny Sasu-hearts. When I hear your voice, I feel like I'm floating on heaven. Whenever we interact, I feel like the luckiest guy in the world.
"I meant what I said when I encountered your fanboys. I will fight for your heart. I will do my best to get the girl of my dreams. I will sweep you off your feet, because I really, really like you, Sakura."
Okay, my face already felt like hot lava. Sakura's face wasn't any better. Her eyes were still locked on mine. Her face was red. Her lips formed an 'o' shape.
"S-say something." I blurted. She looked confused for a while, then she shook her head.
"You really like me that much." She breathed. She bit her lip and cursed "D-dammit!"
And she left me.
She fucking left me.
What the hell?
I turned to the direction she went. Back to the classroom. I went in and saw that she was seated away from the group. I was about to walk to her seat until Hinata called me.
"Sasuke-kun!" She waved her hand. I sighed, glanced at Sakura one last time, then went to my old seat.
"What happened?" She asked immediately. She was seated on Naruto's lap—PDA, wow.
Aw, I wish Sakura'd do that to us.
'You idiot, this is no time for your perverted thoughts!'
Our perverted thoughts.
"I confessed properly, like she asked me to." I told them.
"What did you say?" Hinata almost squealed. I let out a sigh and repeated what I said to Sakura.
"How romantic!" Hinata clasped her hands together and sighed dreamily. "Well, next to Naruto-kun, of course."
"W-what did she say?" Ino asked when Hinata and Naruto started to make out.
Seriously, these guys are so hot that they are going to melt the world with their massive PDA!
"She said that I really liked her that much. Then she cursed and marched off to the classroom." I admitted, ignoring the sad, angry feeling in my chest.
"Really?" Hinata said, a bit breathless.
Obviously because of that make out session.
"B-but why would Sakura-chan s-say that?" Ino's expression was full of worry. She glanced at Sakura.
"Like I said, maybe she's just confused." Sai said. Ino nodded at his class partner.
"Hey, Ino, did Sakura ever been in a situation like this before?" Kiba asked. "I mean, a guy liking her, and her liking him back?"
Ino placed a finger on her chin. She adjusted her lilac-rimmed glasses.
"N-no. I don't recall a-any situation like this c-coming from Sakura-chan." She shook her head.
"But she must've gotten used to all the guys liking her, right? Loving her, even." Naruto added.
"Then it's concluded: Ugly is definitely confused. Duckbutt likes her, and she likes him back. Probably. Obviously." Sai said, his voice low.
"Then all she needs is a little push!" Hinata stood up. "Okay guys! Time for operation: Matchmaker. Objective? Get Sakura-chan and Sasuke-kun to be a couple!"
"Hinata, pipe down!" Sai glared. She blushed then sat on Naruto's lap again.
"Sorry! I just get like that when I'm excited." She stuck out her tongue. Thankfully, no one noticed us, since everybody's busy chatting in their own groups.
"Wh-what? Hey, wait, let's not force Sakura into something she doesn't want." I cut in. Of course, I totally love that they're helping me, but what if Sakura doesn't?
"Sasuke-kun, honey, we're helping you here." Hinata narrowed her eyes. Then she smiled sweetly. "And we're not forcing Sakura! We are simply going to lead her. Direct her. Help her."
"What if she doesn't really like me back?" I whispered.
"Oh come on, Sasuke! You can't be that stupid!" Kiba exclaimed. "Sakura likes you. Period."
"But what about a while ago, then?" I asked. For some reason I did not want to believe she likes me. I did not want to get hurt.
Get hurt.
"For the 3rd time, maybe she is just confused!" Sai rolled his eyes.
"Why do you keep on denying it?" Kiba sighed exasperatedly.
"Because…"
'…I don't want to get hurt.'
That's it!
"I don't want to get hurt!" I stood up, a weird smile on my face, as if I just discovered the biggest secret in the world. Some students stared at me weirdly. Sakura raised an eyebrow, then shrugged.
"Hey, genius, what's your idea?" Naruto asked. I sat down, the grin still evident on my face.
"Maybe Sakura's in denial because she doesn't want to get hurt." I explained. "The reason I don't want to believe that she really might like me is because I don't want to expect something out of it then get hurt in the end."
"That's genius!" Naruto grinned.
"You have a point there." Sai smirked.
"B-but you did confess to Sakura-chan, r-right?" Ino whispered. "W-with that, there's nothing to be f-feared."
"Oh yeah. Your confession seemed very believable." Kiba added.
"Not just believable! If I were Sakura-chan, I would've kissed you right there." Hinata waved her hands around. Then turned to Naruto and kissed him on the lips. "No offense, Naruto-kun."
"It's okay, baby." He cooed and kissed her cheeks. "Besides, I would've done the same thing Hina-chan said if I were in Sakura-chan's shoes."
All of us were in deep thought. Just then, Ino's face brightened.
"She doesn't want to hurt Sasuke-kun." She whispered. "Th-that must be it. She doesn't want you t-to get hurt, Sasuke-kun."
"Me? Why me?" I asked.
"S-sasuke-kun, Sakura-chan l-likes you." Ino said. "S-surely you know her mom, Marina-s-san."
"Oh dear, I know her, all right." I sighed. "And she doesn't have a bone in her body that likes me. Not one bit."
"Th-there you have it. We all know how strict Sakura-chan's mom is." Ino bit her lip. "She doesn't want Sasuke-kun to get hurt because of M-Marina-san."
"Ino's right." Sai said.
"Well, at least we now know why." Kiba shrugged.
"So, what are going to do about it?" I asked. All of us were in deep thought until a student arrived and announced that Kurenai-sensei was out.
"She's pregnant!" She squealed. The whole class was filled with gossip.
"So she and Asuma-sensei finally decided on having a family, ne?" Sai wiggled his eyebrows. All of us nodded in agreement. As they continued to chatter, I glanced to my side and stared at Sakura. If our conclusion was correct, then I would do something about it. I'll make it work. She doesn't have to worry about her mom because I'll find a way.
But remember, our conclusion isn't her conclusion, too. What if it's something else?
I sighed.
'Then I would just have to find a way to really win her heart.'
...I wouldn't be surprised to see you all hauling tomatoes at me. Seriously. I suck.
I am terribly, terribly sorry for not updating quickly. I'll be honest, I already have a plan for this story. I even typed a scene already (heehee) but I am waiting for the right time to put it.
I was out. Period. That's it. i couldn't find enough time to write a proper, unrushed fanfic. Sorry, I don't have full control over my schedule (trust me, if I did, I would be nearing the climax of the story).
Please don't kill me.
Another one: I won't be updating the next chapter (I AM NOT ABANDONING THIS STORY, PROMISE) in a month or so. I'll be OUT (I seriously wanted to dedicate half my summer doing this project) so please don't wait. Preoccupy yourself with my FAVORITE FANFICS AND AUTHORS. I swear, they are pure awesomesauce.
Sorry and thank you for understanding~
KiiroIka