A/N: I haven't forgotten to follow up chapter 8 part 1, so here it is. Since I hate when the numbering is off on chapters when you separate into different parts on , this is basically chapter 9 which follows up chapter 8, which is part 1, making chapter 9 part 2. Confusing, right? I am going to stop stalling now.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto but I do own the story plotline.
"So Sasuke, do you want to review what we read last night?"
"Hn."
Sakura smiled politely back at him, despite feeling like rolling her eyes at her stoic classmate. She never expected Sasuke to be gregarious towards her (knowing him, if anything he would be a mute) but she couldn't escape the notion that he was being flat out rude and uncooperative with her. He did ask her in the first place, the least he could do was act attentive.
Sakura had lucked out with Madara and managed to make it home without instantly passing out and read the first three chapters of the novel.
"Alright then let's start at chapter one. So there are these two children named Jem and Scout—"
"Dammit Ami, you almost slammed my hand in the door!"
"Shut up, Tayuya before someone hears us. I need to get this to Anko-sensei's before school opens or I'm screwed."
Tayuya rolled her coal rimmed eyes, stretching her hand out and checking her manicure for any damage. After assessing there was none, she scurried to Ami who hyper speed walked.
"Why are we here so early anyway? I need my beauty rest."
Ami scoffed. "Trust me, if I had my choice you would be in bed so I wouldn't have stare at your train wreck of a face."
"Bitch, then I'm leaving!"
Ami caught Tayuya's arm as she turned to stalk away.
"Hey don't be a big baby. I'm just irritable. Hell, I'm tired too."
Tayuya skeptically doubted the excuse but decided to let it go.
"So you need to get to Anko's office before school. Why?"
Ami shrugged. "If I don't turn in this assignment," she waved the flimsy piece paper in her hand," I fail her class and therefore fail my entire senior year."
"But we're only two weeks into the new quarter. Your missing that much Stats homework?"
"Yeah, that and I fail basically 80% of the test and skip class. I really don't care about graduating to be honest, but my parents are on my ass about college and my 'future' so I don't have a choice."
"Okay, just turn it into Anko when you have class next." Tayuya snapped at her. She still didn't instant why Ami felt the need to call her at 4 am and ask for help with something. This entire issue wasn't any of her business and Ami needed to deal with it personally.
By herself.
Ami lightly slapped Tayuya's shoulder in sheer frustration. "You idiot, don't you think I would do that if I could? My deadline was yesterday and my paper has to be in Anko-sensei's file cabinet by the time she walks through her door or I fail. And that's where you come in."
Tayuya scowled at Ami. "Basically, you called me at 5am in the morning so we can break into Anko-sensei's office." It was statement, not a question.
"Yeah, why else?"
Tayuya knew she should be mad, but her rebellious side overruled any preexisting anger she felt. She enjoyed being pissed off at other people because it gave a reason to be hateful to everyone in her prescence but she reveled in pisssing other people off and screwing with Anko had now moved from unimportant to top of her list.
Tayuya smirked coyly. "Did you bring any knives?"
Ami clapped with glee. "Now that's my Tayuya! C'mon, let's hurry before it's too late."
And the two scurried down Konoha High's halls together.
"AHAHAHAHA!"
"Tayuya, shut the hell up before someone hears you. You know you almost got us fucking killed right? We went in Anko-sensei's room to sneak my paper in her grade book, not start a World War!"
Ami was frantic. Why did she pick Tayuya to bring along? She should brought Ino, someone who had never committed a crime or had a juvie record. Now they were going to get caught because Tayuya can't shut her freaking trap.
"Tayuya, SHUT UP!"
Tayuya closed her mouth in mid laugh and forcefully grabbed Ami by the shoulders and slammed her against a set of lockers. Ami yelped in pain, falling to the floor in a crumpled mess.
Tayuya looked at her with narrowed eyes. "I went easy on you because you're my friend but if ever say anything like that again to me, I promise I. Will. Kick. Your. Ass." She said putting emphasis on the end word.
Tayuya left Ami behind on the ground and walked on as if nothing had transpired. Leave it to Ami, taking all the shine out of her sun. The girl was her friend, yes, but they weren't best friends, specifically because of stupid stuff like this. If Ami had the same kind of heart Tayuya had, hard and malicious, there would be no problems. Tayuya knew from age seven her purpose in life is to bring misery to others' lives, but Ami was too feminine, too weak. She'd say she's about bullying people and seeing some tears, but in the end she never follows through.
Tayuya sighed, inwardly pining for the days when she attended Sound High with her gang before the school board moved her here. Damn know-it-alls.
Tayuya pricked up her ears, she could sworn she'd heard something coming from the library. At that moment, two people came out of the library and Tayuya muttered a stream of curses and quickly hid behind a wall, cutting off the library occupants' view of her. Back pressed flat against the wall, Tayuya mentally told them to go the hell away, but as she listened to their conversation, realization struck her like lightning.
"Okay Sasuke, I'll here again this afternoon and we can start on the paper."
"Alright. Remember to bring the notes and a USB to save it on."
"Of course."
Tayuya heard footsteps approaching and prepared herself to be found out, but they stopped mere feet from her. She listened intently to what was happening.
"And Sakura, you know I don't like to get sentimental..."
"Yes, I do Sasuke. Probably more than anyone you know," a light feminine laugh rings through the air.
"But—"
"But what, Sasuke?"
"I really appreciate you being my partner," said a male voice so gruffly for a moment Tayuya had to make sense of his statement in her head.
"Oh...wow, n-no Sasuke, thank you. If it wasn't for you I'd probably be doing this alone."
A pregnant pause followed after her statement, neither of the two speaking or moving away from one another. Tayuya could feel the tension seeping through her skin and relished in its unspoken bliss. Those two had something going on and Karin most likely had no inkling of it. Tayuya filled with deep ebbing fire to know she had details about someone else's life even they were clueless about.
The tense silence was cut off by Sakura. "So, I'll see you this afternoon?"
"Hn." Sasuke responded before heading off to his first class. Sakura's eyes trailed after his form and then she too left for class. When she heard footsteps in her direction, Tayuya sank deeper into the shadows of the wall so as not to disclose her location. She watched intently as Sakura passed her by until the girl was out of sight. Peeping her head around to look for any witnesses, Tayuya stepped out from her hiding place and rummaged through her pocket. Taking out her phone, she speed dialed Karin's number, her fingers trembling from the raw excitement of it all. Wait until Karin heard this.
"Tayuya, you're an effing liar. Sasuke would never ever cheat on me. Why are you telling me this? Do you want him?" Karin immediately got defensive, raising her fist to Tayuya.
"Oh please, powder princess. I don't want your man, but what I'm telling you is someone else does and she's got him wrapped around her finger."
"I don't care what you thought you heard, Sasuke would never look at another girl the way he does at me. I mean look at me and then look at the trolls at this school? There's no comparison."
Tayuya clenched her jaw. She had initially figured telling Karin her boy toy was possibly cheating on her to be riveting drama, but the girl was so arrogant the notion of not just Sasuke but any man turning her away never got past her ears. She would just have to convince her to think otherwise. Despite her proud facade, Tayuya knew Karin had many insecurities she kept hidden by dismembering the weak so as to remind herself she wasn't like them, with insecurities and flaws. She was, in her own mind, absolutely perfect.
"But didn't Sasuke tell you not to come by his place? I mean, you two used to be inseparable and now...I don't know, but if it were me I would be a little suspicious."
Karin was ready to retort, but then stopped to mull over Tayuya's words. Sasuke never turned her down when she snuck over to his house for sex, yet this time he completely blew her off to finish some assignment. An assignment...a project, those were his words.
Karin eyed Tayuya again. "Who did you say this girl was?"
"I don't personally know her name but Sasuke said something about them being partners."
Karin's eyes narrowed. Sasuke had blew her off to work on a project, not alone, but with some chick? Yes, this definitely changed things. Karin cared about Sasuke's infidelity a lot (more than even she expected) but what was now irking her was a girl had dared defy her, try to take away something she possessed, she owned in her own rights. It annoyed her that Sasuke felt the need to search out other females for sex, but her concerns were now targeted at the broad who was trying to overthrow her reign over the school and over Sasuke. Sasuke was hers and she would not be made a fool out of.
"Tayuya, keep me posted at all times about this chick. I want to know phone numbers, addresses, even class schedules if you can. Until then, find out her name. I'll get the girls to dig up the rest because I need to have a little talk with miss slut. You got me?"
Tayuya attempted at what was meant to be a sweet smile. "Of course, anything I find, you'll be the first to know."
Karin nodded determinedly and started off. Tayuya called after her,"Hey, where are you going?"
"I need to have a talk with Sasuke and get to bottom of this."
Class was letting out, preparing to switch as students poured out of their classrooms and heading the next class. Karin leaned against a set of lockers, patiently waiting to see the familiar spikey hairstyle maneuver through the crowd. When she spotted Sasuke coming her way, Karin perked up and mentally prepared herself for what might happen confronting Sasuke like this. About a foot away from her, Sasuke stopped and stared at Karin with apathetic eyes. Karin could care less about his attitude right now; what she needed was to find out if he was fooling around on her.
"Karin, move."
Karin stayed as she was, leaning against his locker and glaring at her him with her most disdainful look. She could see a small vein throb in Sasuke's forehead.
This time more hardened, Sasuke said, "I said move."
"Not until you tell me her name."
Sasuke was dumbfounded, but his face was still stoic as usual. "Who are you talking about?"
"The chick you've been blowing me off for, what is her name and number?"
Sasuke scoffed at the redhead. "What convinces you that you have authority to ask me something like that? Last time I checked I'm still a bachelor."
"Don't play with me, Sasuke! I have a source that said they heard you flirting with another girl and want names!"
Sasuke neared Karin to where there noses were only inches from eachother, his warm breath blowing softly in her face.
"You think...that I have to answer to you? Someone not even fit to call my acquaintance and you think I owe you shit? Heh, you know I felt kinda bad for you after what happened in the cafeteria, not matter how many times my friends told me not to, I did anyway. Now, you aren't anything to me. Not a girlfriend, an acquaintance, a classmate—you're nothing. What I do with the people I so choose to hang out with is my business, not yours. If its a girl, then it's not any of your concern. I'm not yours and you're certainly not mine. Are we clear?"
Karin exhaled calmly. "So it's true?"
Sasuke made a face of disgust at her. "Did you even hear a word I said? I don't have time for this, move."
For her own sake, Karin silently moved out of the way so Sasuke could gather materials for need Physics. When Sasuke moved to leave without saying a word to her, it hit Karin what she had done. Trying to apologize, Karin latched onto Sasuke's forearm, restraining him from leaving her.
Her cries of 'sorry' fell on deaf ears. Sasuke never imagined he would be this rude to a female, but she left him no choice. He didn't think of much of the creatures but his mother had raised him better than to curse at a girl or threaten her, and it was only for her sake that he had not lost his cool long ago.
Without looking at her tear-stained face, he said in a low voice "Karin, let go of me."
"No, not until you forgive me."
Thankfully, the hallway was clear at this point so Sasuke hadn't to worry about this spectacle Jarin was making of herself yet again.
"I've already forgiven you. If I hadn't, I wouldn't even bother speaking to you."
With this, Karin released and Sasuke his arm forcefully away.
"Right now, I can't even stand to look at your face. You've disgraced me with your shenanigans, but I refuse to let you embarrass my family by continuing on like this. It will be a cold day in hell before I ever let that happen so listen closely because I'm only going to say it once: as of right now, there is no you or I, its not in existence anymore because your stupidity. Until I see you've managed to change to where I feel like I can associate with you again, lose my number, don't come by the house, don't vist my table at lunch, and don't speak to me. And I think you know well enough to stay away from my family. I will not change my mind and as of right now, you're a relic of my past. I'm going to go to my class now and you're going to do the same. When I leave here, we are strangers."
And with that, Sasuke slung his backpack over his shoulder and rushed to his class upstairs.
Karin stood in her place in utter shock. He—Sasuke really left her. Sure, he had threatened to it before a couple times before, but this he actually followed through. Sasuke Uchiha, most popular boy in school and her former lover, had just left her, Karin, most popular girl in school, captain of the cheer leading squad for some chick, some nobody who probably didn't even play a sport. This was unprecedented, unheard of to the most extreme extent of the word. For the first time, crying and begging had not gotten what she wanted, instead it aided in making a fool of herself. She had just lost the one thing she really wanted to someone who decided to break an unwritten code followed in Konoha High. Someone had to pay for this. Someone was going to pay for this dearly, consequences be damned now. Karin no longer cared about tact and secrecy while trying to find out who Sasuke was seeing; on her mind only now was revenge, ferocious revenge conjured up by a deep scathing hatred for the person who made her lose the trophy she held most dear.
The bell had rang long ago, shortly after Sasuke left, but Karin's mind was far from school at the moment. She wanted blood and would stop at nothing to punish the girl who had caused her to lose Sasuke Uchiha.
'I wonder what's taking Sasuke so long.' Sakura thought to herself. It was later that afternoon and Sakura had been waiting in Konoha High library for the Uchiha for the past half hour. Thirty minutes may seem like a miniscule amount of time to wait for someone but considering this someone was Sasuke, always known to be on time and prepared, Sakura began to wonder if he was coming at all. They had agreed that morning to meet at the same place after school to continue working on their project for Kakashi-sensei's class and yet Sasuke was nowhere to be seen. Sakura would've gone to look for her raven haired classmate but she feared that if she left, he would later arrive while she was out. So she thought it best to stay put and patiently wait on her classmate to appear.
As she sat drumming her nails against the wooden desk, Sakura couldn't shake the nagging feeling in the back of her mind that she wasn't supposed to be here, at school waiting on her former crush. S&U had definitely started already and her class was most likely warming up at this moment, laying parallel to the floor doing splits to stretch their legs, sewing the satin ribbons into inside of their shoes, flexing their feet and toes, preparing them for the harsh lesson for the day. As grueling as the exercises were, Sakura couldn't think of a place more familiar and comfortable. When she slipped on her pointe shoes and followed the motions of the instructor, there wasn't any feeling like it. She belonged in a mirrored room with polished oak wood floors and someone critiquing her swift movements, whether it be something as difficult as a plié or as little as facial expression, Sakura loved all of it. But here she was, waiting patiently in a library for the school's undoubtly most popular student. In that aspect, Sakura began to resent Sasuke for his tardiness. She was sacrificing a lot to be here and finish this project with him, the absolute least he could do was be on time.
Maybe something had happened to him. Was he hurt, injured...dead? Sakura shook her pink locks fervently, pushing aside her morbid thoughts. Of course Sasuke was fine. He had taken care of himself all these years without her babysitting him and turned out just fine. She would just wait here until he shows up, but until then she guessed it wouldn't hurt to scan through some books to pass the time.
Sakura selected a random book from one of the shelves and immediately started to bury herself in it. So enthralled with her book, Sakura did not keep track of the time and by the end of the 15th chapter, Sakura looked up to see a woman standing over her.
"I'm sorry hun, but we're about to close. If you want, I can check out that book for you."
Sakura was confused for a moment before politely saying, "No thank you. I'm sorry if I kept you waiting. I didn't mean to stay so long."
The woman waved it off. "Don't worry, you didn't hold us up at all. Just make sure you put your book at the counter so I can put it back later."
"Hai." Sakura said and did as the woman instructed. After pushing in her chair, Sakura waved goodbye to the librarian and hurriedly departed from the building before anyone could see the crimson creeping up her body.
Out on the sidewalk, Sakura checked her watch and nearly cursed. It was 6:54! That would explain why dusk was already setting on the skyline. What's worse, Sasuke Uchiha had stood her up. After she pleaded for time off to Madara, which by no means was an easy feat, Sasuke damn Uchiha stood her up and didn't even bother to call; he just let her sit there for nearly five hours waiting for him like an idiot.
How could she have been so stupid?! When the most popular guy in school suddenly ask the school freak to help him with anything, she should have instantly been suspicious. Sakura had naively, no foolishly, believed that Sasuke wanted anything to do with the likes of her. He was probably laughing at her right now with the rest of her classmates. Ino, Shikamaru, Neji, Tenten, maybe even Karin, all sitting around Sasuke and laughing their asses off at her. She had not proof, but at this moment she truly hated them all. Excluding Naruto and Hinata, they had all cast her out into the wilderness because of one person's lies. Sakura declared that she would become famous and once she became wealthy and popular, she would cast them out, ignoring their calls and very existence, all in revenge against their ostracism of her for eight long, lonely years. For now, she would journey home and ignore the raucous laughing ring in her head and straining her heart.
A/N: okay, this is a very short chapter but there will be more to come! I think you all will really like the next chapter or at least will be surprised by it. Well, ciao!
