"God must hate me a lot!" Sakura said -to no one in particular- as she made the nth turn that day. She was lost. She wasn't very good with directions. Totally lost! She expected Gaara to stay behind and wait for her as he did go to school with her that morning but alas! He didn't 'How kind...' Sakura thought sarcasm dripping with every word. Sakura was now drenched in water, but that was the least of her worries. She was in the middle of no-where and it was starting to get late. If she were to reach late, she would have to hear and earful full from the head maid. She was in charge of doing the laundry that day. She was lucky enough to actually receive education – I mean who else would get such an opportunity—and she didn't want to ruin this for herself.
"ARGH! So annoying" Sakura clenched her damp hair with both her hands in frustration. Fortunately, it stopped raining several minutes ago. But she still couldn't find her way back home. After several minutes walk she saw a park right ahead of her. A park meant that there would be a park bench for her to sit on 'oh joy!' and with that Sakura rushed to the park. She sat on the bench with a sigh. This wasn't all that bad. Maybe she could finally enjoy some alone time and worry about getting scolded later. Mrs. Mikoto would definitely understand if she tells her that she'd gotten lost on her way back. And she might actually scold the damned Uchiha if she knows that he left me behind. That didn't seem all that bad, in fact it didn't seem bad at all. She loved the idea. And so Sakura decided to rest a little and find her way back at her own pace.
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"Sasuke! I can't believe you left Sakura-chan on her own! I didn't expect this from you either Gaara-kun" Mikoto scolded the two 'youngsters' who were seated before her. "And here I thought the both of you were more responsible"
"Hn" Both Gaara and Sasuke said (more like grunted) in unison. "He was in charge of her" Sasuke said not looking up from whatever it is that he was doing. Man! His mother could be such a bother sometimes. "Besides she couldn't possibly be dumb enough to lose her way, the school isn't even that far away"
"What did I tell you about manners? This is no way to treat a lady. Get up and go find her this instant" Mikoto began "..and Gaara you are not an exception" she ended firmly.
"Hn whatever" the both got up together. Neither dared defy her 'orders'.
"Good boys!" Mikoto exclaimed proudly when she saw the two teenagers leave.
'what a drag'
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"This is starting to get annoying" Somehow she felt as though she was going further and further away from the mansion that getting anywhere near it .So much for having a good time. It was starting to get really late and there was no way in hell she could possibly enjoy her time now. And just when she thought things couldn't get any worse, it began raining – again!
"I need to find a place to stay for now" and just as luck may have it she found a coffee shop only a few meters away. "I guess I could stay there for a while" she walked into the shop only to be greeted by a girl, about the same age as her "WELCOME!" the girl yelled excitedly when she saw Sakura enter.
"Hey!" Sakura greeted back.
"How may I help you?" She asked expectantly.
"Sorry I won't be buying anything, I don't have a penny on me" Sakura smiled apologetically. The disappointment was evident on her face. "Really sorry..."
"Oh that's fine! We haven't really had any customers today because of the rain and all. So I got kind of carried away" she said "Do you study in Sharingan high?" she asked inspecting the uniform that Sakura was still wearing.
"Yes... Do you go there too?"
"Yeah! I am on full scholarship you see" She smiled "Oh yeah, I am Tenten. This is my granny's coffee shop. I help her around sometimes" She said stretching out her hands.
"Nice meeting you. I am Sakura, Sakura Haruno" she said taking Tenten's hand in her own.
"Oh. Stop with the formalities" Tenten said slightly slapping Sakura's shoulder "You seem different from the others. Students in that stupid excuse of a school do not hang around with anyone but the 'elites'" Tenten said disgust evident in her tone.
"I know what you mean. But I am not 'an elite' myself. I entered the school thanks to someone I know" Sakura said. She placed all her things on a table and sat by it with Tenten following suit.
"I see... We could be friends. Who cares about the snobbish rich people, right? Commoners rule!" The both chuckled. As time went by the two spoke endlessly about school and other stuff like any other Teenage girl would. Sakura narrated how she had gotten lost on her way back from school and that's how she ended up coming here "I am very bad with directions!" she'd exclaimed. She spoke about everything but refrained from mentioning anything about the Uchiha's simply because she didn't want to mention them and who would want to brag about being a 'maid'...even if it is to a friend.
Sakura also found out that Tenten had no parents (just like herself) and she lived with her grandmother. They valued education So much and insisted on her attending Sharingan high 'You can't survive on earth if you aren't smart...' they'd say. They were out of town that day which was why Tenten stopped by to look after the shop for them. Tenten also had a serious crush on this guy in her class "He's different. Though he is from the elites, he actually treats the commoners well. I know because I was partnered with him in chemistry. He helped me a lot as it was my worst subject and even took the time to teach me all these new formulas and..."
"I get it!" Sakura exclaimed "You are in love" To this Tenetn's face flushed red and Sakura only chuckled.
"But he is WAY out of my league! He is a Hyuuga. He'd rather die than be anywhere near a commoner like me" Tenten sighed placing her head on the table.
"Didn't you just say commoners rule?" Sakura sweat-dropped at her friend's constant mood-swings "You actually do have a chance with him if he is as good as you say he is"
"Of course he is as good I say he is! -If not better. Hey, want some coffee? I'll give it free. We don't have any customers anyway. Besides it's getting late. You should probably stay over for tonight. There is a spare room in the shop and I usually sleep there. You can share it with me. I have some spare clothes too" Tenten offered (a list of things- to be precise).
"Hehe... No Thank you!" Sakura smiled at her newly found friend's kindness/excitement "I really need to leave. I'll leave as soon as the rain stops"
"Well if you insist... But you ARE going to change your clothes and drink some coffee right"
"Sure!" things were finally going smoothly.
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"Have you found her yet?" Sasuke asked Gaara over the phone. They had been looking for Sakura for over an hour and there was absolutely no sign of her whatsoever.
"No" Gaara replied from the other line. "She must have gone back home"
"No she isn't there. I called mom moments ago" Sasuke sighed for the nth time that day. Where on earth was that girl? Why the hell was he searching for her anyway? Is it humanely possible to get lost here? The school was only a freaking few blocks away from their mansion!
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Sadly for him, Sasuke seemed to be running out of luck that day. It had begun raining an hour ago and didn't seem to end anytime soon. Taking out his bike today of all days was not a great idea after all. "Shit!" he groaned. After he finds Sakura, he would personally exterminate her from the surface of the earth.
He somehow ended up finding a coffee shop and decided to stay there until the rain stops. Maybe he could have some coffee too while he waits.
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Sakura slurped down her coffee at a seat near the window not that she could see anything outside, the glass was fogged up. "It doesn't seem like the rain will stop anytime soon" Tenten said from the seat beside hers. Sakura had changed into clothes that Tenten lent her (for which Sakura thanked profusely). She also helped dry Sakura's school uniform by ironing and placing them at a warm corner of the room.
"I have no idea how to thank you" Sakura said.
"Oh come on! What are friends for?" They both smiled at each other. Just then the door creaked indicating that someone had entered the shop. Tenten immediately jumped off of her seat "welco-" she beamed at the customer, well almost and she cut herself half away "Uchiha!" she exclaimed. In case you were wondering how she knew him, the Uchihas are terribly famous all around the world and to back that up, he was among the few guys Neji ever hanged around with.
Sakura followed her line of sight only to come face-to-face with "Sasuke!" she immediately jumped off her seat as well. She could tell that the guy was angry, scratch that he was Fuming and he was most definitely glaring at her.
"What the **** are you doing here?!" He practically yelled.
"Sasuke... what are you doing here?" Sakura asked, her nervousness was evident as she played with the locks of her hair. 'Why on earth is heangry?'
"I was searching for you in the streets like some mad dog while you were having a nice cup of coffee all warmed up" Sasuke was losing his temper gradually. Now Sakura was taken aback by what he'd just said. I mean 'how dare he?' She was the one who was completely drenched by the rain and practically went around the entire town to find her way. And judging by the helmet he held in his hands, the guy actually rode a motorbike to end up in this place while she walked on her two legs-Her legs!. Why the hell was he complaining?!
"You are the one to talk!" Sakura yelled "None of this would've happened if you'd waited for me. You know pretty well that I am new to this place and I would most likely get lost" who cared if he was her master and whatever you wanted to call it, she was only stating facts here!
"Oh excuse me princess, I never realized that you needed a bodyguard around you all the time! besides you were the one who stormed off after our last conversation"
"That's besides the point and how dare you...you sissy! Did the rain mess your hair sasu-cupacakes?" Sakura said with an overly pitched tone in order to anger him further.
"you are—"
"SHUT UP! The both of you!" It was Tenten this time. "I have no idea what is going on and frankly speaking I don't want to know either, so you might as well take this lover's quarrel outside my shop!" She finally ended sighing at her sudden outburst
"We are not lovers" Both Sasuke and Sakura said in unison and marched off to two ends of the room.
"..OK... I guess..."
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The inhabitants of the coffee shop soon concluded that the rain wouldn't stop anytime soon. Why? simply because it only kept increasing by each second. "At this rate we'll never get back home!" Sakura exclaimed bored. She and Tenten ran out of things to talk about and Sasuke being in the picture as well was not helping at all.
"I wonder whose fault it is?" He didn't know why he just wanted to annoy her ... it somehow brought pleasure to him seeing her angry. You may call him names but that's just what he was—Uchiha Sasuke.
"Just so you know I never actually asked you to come looking for me. How was I supposed to know that you'd miss me so bad... Sasuke-kun" Sakura said faking a fangirl tone just to make him angry.
"Will the both of you ever stop?! I am sick and tired of seeing the both of you fight over everything. God! You guys are like some two year olds" Tenten was losing her temper really quick. She wouldn't usually get angry over this sought of things. She would actually enjoy laughing at the twos constant bickering... Staying in a closed room for so long was seriously getting to her head.
"Sorry..." Sakura muttered slowly and sat on her seat again.
Tenten smiled at her friend's constant mood swings. No one could stay angry at the girl for too long. She knew that Sasuke wasn't angry at her either, he probably just enjoyed watching her get angry. That was new to him considering how popular he was. Speaking of which, how did the two even know each other anyway? He was the schools richest elite and the most popular too—Heck the guy was more popular than Neji- and Sakura was well... a commoner. So how did they know each other was a question to ponder over. Dismissing the question to later as she could ask Sakura about it she focused on the matter at hand. "I think you guys should stay over for the night, like I said I have a spare room. We could share it if you guys don't mind".
"I am not sleeping in the same room as him" Sakura said –more like yelled—pointing an accusing finger at Sasuke.
"I don't fancy sleeping with you either, Haruno"
"Guys please don't start over again. I only have one spare room. And it is already twelve. I really want to sleep so please. And Sakura tomorrow's going to be your second day. You wouldn't want to sleep during the lessons now would you?" Tenten knew that Sakura always cared about first impressions and stuff. The girl was like an open book, you actually got to know all you needed by one conversation alone. And Sasuke didn't actually seem to mind sleeping with them. She bet the guy slept with tons of girls by now. The elites were well known for their very elite-like 'sleeping habits' after all.
"If you put it that way I guess I don't really have a choice.... I guess" Sakura thought for a moment and "Fine!" she agreed.
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Tenten arranged the sleeping area by setting some mattresses together and placing some sheets over them. She had a bed of her own and she didn't plan on giving it to either one of them. Because for one she didn't fancy the idea of sleeping with another man especially someone she knew nothing about. And She didn't plan on giving up her bed to Sasuke because he was a guy, how would he sleep on the bed when the two girls slept on the ground, how shameful that would be? ... As if! The both made an amazing couple! (Even she knew it)She wouldn't want to ruin it for them, right? So she could play the little cupid and let them have some alone-time.
After a long argument on 'who-sleeps-where'—mostly because Sakura didn't like the idea of sleeping with the guy (Sasuke didn't seem to really care). And finally ending up in Tentens favor—much to Sakura's dismay—they went off to sleep. 'You can thank me later Sakura'
"Good night guys!" Tenten beamed as she turned off the lights. It was going to be a long night.
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"umm..." Sakura hummed in her sleep. It was such a long time since she'd actually slept this blissfully, 'I could go on like this the entire day'she thought as she snuggled close to human-sized pillow. Ah... It smelled good too. Strange thing was she never actually owned a human-sized pillow that smelled nice and now that she thought about it, this pillow was actually too long –or tall in this case—for her. Was it possible for a human-sized pillow to be that long?... I guess not. It was then that realization struck her, this was no pillow... she slowly and regretfully opened her eyes only to....
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" let out an ear-piercing screech. "What are you doing on my bed?" Sakura yelled on top of her lungs as she moved away –as far as possible—from him.
"Good morning to you too" Sasuke smirked "I never knew that you owned this place..." He trailed off gesturing her to look around. Once she looked around, she soon realized that they were indeed not in her room and remembered the incidents of the previous night.
"Oh..." she finally uttered after a moments silence "but what on earth were you doing so close to me, you... you perv?"
"I am the one supposed to be asking that you know. I would have moved away if I could but someone just didn't want to let go" Sasuke said emphasizing on 'someone', and he was clearly enjoying the look she gave him.
"Liar! I am sure as hell I didn't come anywhere near you" Sakura said putting up her hand in defense.
"Sure... if you say so princess" saying that he was enjoying this was an understatement. But he had to say he was pretty shocked when he woke up that morning. Having a girl wrap her hands around him wasn't that hard of a task. In fact, girls would randomly throw themselves at him, but the girl at hand was Sakura, Sakura Haruno. The girl simply loathed him and would do anything to say as far away from him as she possibly could. So waking up in the morning and having to witness her snuggling so close was well... close to impossible. It was not that he couldn't pull away from her he just decided against it and enjoy the moment... I mean what harm could it bring?
"Uchiha! Don't 'princess' me. If you so much as come anywhere near me again. You wouldn't see the end of it" Sakura threatened him. He seemed completely unfazed by her words.
"What will you do?... No wait, what can you do?" He said leaning in closer to her. He loved where this was going.
"Sasuke stay away!" Sakura said moving further away as he got closer. Only to realize that she couldn't back away anymore as the wall was right behind her. She hated where this was going. They were in such close proximity and the closeness was almost suffocating. And when she thought things couldn't get any worse... it did...
"Guys... Wake-!" Tenten had to barge into the room "I am sorry I interrupted... I didn't. I am- I am SO sorry. I didn't know you guys were like that!" she yelled as she left the room with a flushed face.
This was definitely not good!
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Sakura rushed to school that morning, she wasn't late. Not the slightest bit. In fact she couldn't go any earlier than now. Almost no one went to school that early. She had explained the morning's events to Tenten and how it wasn't what she'd thought it was. Tenten simply laughed it off – Much to Sakura's relieve. Then Sakura quickly took the directions to the school and left. Tenten insisted on the two going together but Sakura had said that she wanted some alone-time to think and went on her own. But that was definitely not the reason. She was trying her hardest to ignore Sasuke. After their little exchange in the morning she just couldn't look at the guy in the eye anymore and decided that the best thing to do was to simply ignore him till things went back to the way they were.
Thankfully for her Sasuke decided not to follow her and try to annoy her in any possible manner(He seemed to be a master in that field) as he didn't have his school uniform with him. He had to stop by the Uchiha mansion. He soon left without a word and taking the chance Sakura rushed to school.
She quickly dismissed any other thoughts when she saw the school building nearby (To think that she actually reached the school without losing her way was quite a shock... even to her). No matter what she had to make friends in high school and enjoy life to the fullest, You don't get to live as a teenager twice after all! But that was almost impossible considering the fact that this school was a school for the rich and she didn't fall under that category .Which meant that she wouldn't be making any friend other than Tenten who happened to not be in the same grade as her. The girl was an year older, thus making her a senior. The only time she would actually meet the girl was during lunch breaks 'Life hates me!'
Moments after walking into the school and into her class, Sakura heard a faint sound of piano. Normally she would get freaked out thinking that the place was haunted. But this was during the day, what ghost haunts so early? And hence she decided to follow the beautiful sound...
...But after a while it stopped "Damn, I was so close!" she said to no one in particular. She turned around and decided to go back to class, when a very familiar voice stopped her in her tracks "Well done Hinata-chan! You will surely win that competition of yours with a blink of an eye" The voice was almost faint but she could tell that the person was yelling from wherever he was. Only one person spoke like this...
"Naruto!" Quickly following the source of the voice, she reached an old almost abandoned music room. She slowly walked in not knowing if she was actually disturbing anyone. But she was really curious to know who this Hinata was and if this other person was really Naruto and the music was just... She had many un-answered questions, and being the curios person she was she decided to walk in anyway.
Upon entering she realized that yes it indeed was Naruto grinning at a girl who she supposed was 'Hinata' who was seated on chair beside the piano. Now that she thought about it, Naruto did mention that he had a girl he liked when he used to visit her at the cafe. 'So, he finally got the courage to ask her out' that was a huge leap even for Naruto. She was absolutely proud of him 'her son was growing up' she thought as she mentally wiped a tear.
The pair soon noticed her presence and looked at her. And as expected, Naruto beamed upon seeing her "Sakura-chan! What are you doing here?" he said pulling her into a bone crushing bear-hug.
"H-Hey! Naruto you are crushing my bones" Sakura said as she forcefully pulled herself away from him, she could've sworn she heard her bones crack.
"Sorry" He smiled apologetically as he rubbed the back of his head. A gesture Sakura was very familiar with. Sakura smiled back as well reassuring him that she wasn't really angry and diverted her attention to the other girl in the room.
"Hey" she said "I'm Sakura" and stretched out her hand.
"H-hi" the girl jumped off her seat bowing slightly and taking Sakura's hand in her own "I- am Hi-Hinata. Ni-nice to meet you" The girl was jittery, Sakura could tell. Why? maybe it was just her character. Anyway, Sakura decided not to ponder over it.
"I am sorry if I was interrupting something. I'll le-" Sakura started as it was obvious that she was being a third-wheel but was soon cut off by Naruto...
"Of course not!" He exclaimed almost instantly.
"We'll b-be mo-more th-than happy to have yo-you around" Hinata added.
"Ok... I guess" No wonder the two were dating. Naruto had a decent taste, she had to admit and some nice music so early in the morning didn't seem all that bad either...
And it seemed like she was doing a pretty good job at finding friends.
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Sakura was avoiding him and she was completely oblivious to how obvious it was. He didn't have time to think about it... not yet at least. He could take advantage of that later. But focusing on the matter at hand, He had to reach home and get ready for school. Normally he wouldn't mind cutting class but now that his mother was around... that was barely possible. When he reached the mansion he was pretty shocked to see a completely drenched Gaara seated by the gate.
"Shit!" He had forgotten all about the guy. Gaara had a great sense of loyalty and the guy probably stayed out all night thinking that Sasuke was probably in the same condition. Upon seeing his arrival, Gaara stood up almost immediately.
"Did you find her yet?" He asked. Sasuke could tell that his voice was trembling though it was barely noticeable (In fact, an ordinary person wouldn't have noticed). He had obviously caught a cold. Sasuke –for once in a long time—felt the tiniest bit 'sorry' for a person. That feeling only lasted a nano-second. An Uchiha never sympathize anyone.
"hn..." he didn't have to explain anything to Gaara and he didn't find that necessary either way. It wasn't like Gaara would actually stand there listening to his crap.
Upon getting this little piece of information, Gaara simply walked into the mansion. The whereabouts of the girl didn't really matter to him as long she was found. All he needed at the moment was a nice bowl of soup and a hot shower. That would be so nice...
Seeing as to how that turned out well, Sasuke set off into the mansion to get dressed. He very urgently needed to annoy Sakura at the moment.
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He thought he could handle it but apparently he was wrong. Sakura ignoring him was seriously getting to his nerve. She ignored him in every possible way imaginable. She didn't look at him in the eye and ignored him when he spoke to her. Hell she didn't even insult him back when he did it. He felt like some desperate fool when he was definitely far from that.
He didn't understand why it was such a big deal anyway, I mean they had already kissed before right? The girl was making it such a big deal. The moment she saw Tenten enter the room that morning and witness their awkward position (that Sasuke didn't really mind being in) she quickly ran after the girl. Explaining everything "It isn't like what you thought it was!" she insisted. Was that all even necessary?
But whatever.... If Sakura is planning on keeping this up any longer she won't be seeing the end of it when they got home.
"Uchiha! the ball!" Sasuke heard someone yell at him. Only then did he realize that he happened to be in the field and if he doesn't focus on the game at hand his team would most likely loose. So he did the most logical thing to do. He kicked the ball...
... and maybe he did it a little (more like a LOT!) too hard as it kind of flew over the field and BAM!
...Hit someone. The entire field turned their attention to the commotion and Sasuke soon realized that the person who was knocked out was none other than the person occupying his thoughts "Sakura..."
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When Sakura woke, she was quiet surprised to find herself in the infirmary. How on earth did she get there was a mystery yet to be solved. But the thing that surprised her more was the other person in the room. The person she was so keen on ignoring "Sasuke..." she said.
"You're up" he simply stated as he looked at her lazily from where he was sitting. After having knocked her out during P.E, he carried her to the infirmary as suggested by their teacher "You're responsible for this" Gai-sensei had said.
"What am I doing here?" Sakura asked "and what are you doing here?" she continued as she sat up straight.
"I hit you with a ball" he said bluntly. What else was he supposed to say? He didn't plan on lying. "Well, back to business. We need to talk" he continued sitting straight now. That was the only reason he actually sat here and waited for her to wake up.
Sakura knew where this was going and she didn't like it one bit. "I really need to go. It won't be good if I missed anymore classes" and with that she rushed out of the infirmary, or at least tried to. Sasuke expecting this to happen, held her arm tightly in his, not thinking of letting her go anytime soon.
"Why are you ignoring me?" Sasuke asked with a glare. This girl was seriously getting under his skin and he hated it.
"But...I-"she said trying to pull her hand out of his grasp and failing miserably.
"Why?" this time it was more of an order than a question.
"Sasuke... I am sorry!" she yelled as she did the most logical thing to do -punch him (on the face) making him let her go as he clutched his face with both his hands. After a quick glance at her handy work Sakura rushed out of the infirmary. Not wanting to look back 'what had she done?'
She didn't just punch him, did she? Sasuke was fuming. And if glares could kill she would've died a thousand deaths.
Sakura Haruno has just declared a war with the devil himself!