Lunch period.

And just like any other student in her department, she grabbed a tray from a whole stack beside her and fell in line.

But unlike any other students, she had several bruises, all differently colored, wrapping against her abdomen and upper back. And unlike any other students, she was actually worrying of what today's beverage is.

Soon enough, she stopped in front of the cafeteria lady, who had her nametag pinned kind of awkwardly. Her hairnet failed to serve its purpose, for many strands of gray hair had stuck out of the gaping holes the object had.

Sakura tried to smile; despite of the scowl the woman was wearing fully. " Uhm, miss, I wanted to ask what were having today—"

The cafeteria lady's gloved hand grabbed a plate and mounted a pale-looking and slightly discolored reddish heap, which was supposed to be macaroni and cheese. Then, she reached for something out of the box lying on the ground and threw it haphazardly on Sakura's plate.

It was chocolate milk.

Sakura groaned slightly. " Can I take something else?"

The lady snorted. " Don't be too picky, you pile of rat droppings!" she barked out, " You young ones should just shove in what you've been given!"

Sakura's brows knitted together in anger. " I'm lactose intolerant." She growled.

The lady snorted once again. " So?"

Adults. Sakura snarled mentally. God, why do they have to exist?

Elemental

By: ang3Lix

Chapter 2: Mission held within the fire

.-:o:-:O:-:o:-.

" HARUNO SAKURA, TO THE PREFECT OF DISCIPLINE'S OFFICE!"

Sakura broke the heated eye contact between her Algebra test paper upon the mention of her name.

She groaned.

Not only was her paper only half finished, she did not expect the cafeteria lady to react so vehemently when she tossed her carton of milk back to get a glass of water. The woman getting angry was nothing, loads of girls from her crew made sure she had been given a dose of their anger daily. She was mildly surprised that the cafeteria lady was that angry to report Sakura to the prefect.

She confusedly got up from her seat, as well as rolling her eyes at the childish wolf-whistling the entire class was doing.

But I'm lactose intolerant! Sakura's second personality wailed in despair.

.-:o:-:O:-:o:-.

" I'm lactose intolerant!" the real, tangible, palpable Haruno Sakura wailed for all to hear.

The male before her, who sat in front of a wide wooden desk, raised a curious brow. " I see." He replied sharply. " Interesting, Miss Haruno."

" You mean.. The cafeteria lady didn't—?"

" Whatever Mariko-san did or did not, it will be solely her business and never yours." The prefect commanded with his tone that probably scared fifty students of her batch. " You're here for a completely different reason."

Sakura was half confused.. Yet half nervous. Her mind was leading her into one solid conclusion why she was called upon by the most frightening man of all times. But she resorted into acting indifferent, which was surprisingly easy.

" What reason," she asked clearly, " sir?"

Her lack of respect would have sent her to detention, but the prefect, as it seemed, had 'make my students suffer for eternity' postponed for tomorrow. Though the man looked slightly bamboozled, he quickly regained his composure.

" An outsider, probably a girl from another academy, went to my office a while ago." He said, " And apparently, she told me that a girl with pink hair attacked her while she passed by the abandoned construction site just a few meters from our school."

Though without reassurance, Sakura knew where this was heading. Heatedly, she growled, " That liar, we were supposed to beat her and her minions up, it was a crew—"

The prefect of discipline shot up from his large armchair, his palms planted against his table. " A crew what, Haruno? It was what? Probably, a crew war?" the man snarled, " You know full well that it's completely illegal, and banned in every university in Japan. Crew wars eventually led to criminal activities, and I do not want our school to be tarnished with your stained reputation!"

" Before I decide of what to do to you, spill out the others who were involved and maybe I'll lessen the severity of your punishment."

And now, the Haruno Sakura was left to choose: either spare herself of a worse punishment by turning in her crewmates, or shut her mouth close in total refusal.

Drawing in a deep, maddened breath, she said, " The girl was telling the truth."

.-:o:-:O:-:o:-.

Two seven year olds stood transfixed in front of a solid, towering wall. It stretched mightily across the land, barely hidden by the lush forest standing before it and the layer of fog collecting at the top. Green moss had clung against the numerous cracks and fissures that made its way up. The wall was gray and cracking, maybe because of its old age.

" WOW." The redhead gushed out, his eyes wide and impressed.

The brunette boy who stood beside the other innocently got a particularly shiny (and the size of his fist) stone from the ground. Without any qualms or scruples, the boy flung the rock towards the wall.

The piece of earth slid through the wall, as if the piece of concrete was intangible.

" WOW." The redhead gushed again.

" I know." The brunette said too, in the same awestricken voice.

" Maybe you could stick your hand in, Kiosuke."

" Sure."

.-:o:-:O:-:o:-.

" Are you sure? Or is it another lie?" the man snappishly growled, his sharp eyes boring over hers in a heated glare. " I don't want your excuses, Haruno all I want is the safety—"

BAM.

In a matter of seconds, the table had turned. Suddenly, she was not in any form of danger. The man who once towered before her immediately clutched the back of his head tightly, trying to will away the pain. He had accidentally bumped his forehead on his desk upon the impact, creating a small gash upon the flesh.

Lying on the floor is a smooth, scarlet stone the size of her very own fist.

" DAMN IT!" the prefect roared in frustration. Apparently his massaging failed to offer any kind of help.

Sakura stared at the open window before her. A towering brick wall blocked the side of the building due to requested protection from Mother Nature. Storms are quite lethal on their side of the country, seeing as the sea is only kilometers away.

Who could have possibly threw that rock and willingly (or maybe just accidentally) save her life from demise? It couldn't have been somebody from outside, for the wall had blocked the building successfully. Maybe someone had heard of her little dilemma and decided to lend her a helping hand. But where exactly was this person?

She broke away from her reverie with another aggravated snarl from her teacher.

Wheezing, he said, " Do not leave this room, Haruno. I will deal with you later."

He then bounded out quickly from his chair, misplaced the piece of furniture because of his hurry, and walked weakly out of the office.

After a few seconds, she released a sigh that had been held in for too long. Slumping herself down on the chair beside her, she brought her two fingers on her temples and started rubbing.

This is a stupid day. She concluded, now rubbing the drowsiness off her eyes.

She didn't feel at all welcome at the sight of this office. She knew well enough that being pressured into crew fights by people she barely got along with would get her into serious trouble. She didn't even know why she took the punishment single-handedly, when the others who participated as well used her to vent all their anger from their systems. Though she knew how to kick ass, she couldn't quite get how to kick the asses of those who mistreated her.

The stifling heat was unbearable. The wall blocked the cool breeze from entering this side of the building, so it was practically sweltering hot. Her eyes locked at the sight of the wall, maybe even glaring at it for a few seconds for it was the source of such high temperature.

Her heart skipped a couple of beats, her eyes wide, her forehead creased, her grip on the chair tightened severely. All because of what looked like a small hand that shot through the wall she gazed at. It then moved—wriggled its finger and shook it once. It moved to the left, then to the right—then moved in uneven circles.

A scream was soon to erupt from her mouth when her brain leapt into action. Darting from her seat she sprinted away from the prefect's office, a horrified expression still painted on her pale face.

What… WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?

Four individuals stood close to a battered, black rectangular box that sat on the marble floor of the fortress. It whined different static noises and beeps. The antenna was horribly lopsided, bent in an angle. The blonde boy of the four, after twisting random knobs and pushing any buttons, finally cracked under the pressure and whacked it fiercely on the side.

" Oh man, this one's crap!' he moaned, slightly shaking his pockets. It emitted only a slight jingle. " I spent seventy-nine crills on the junk! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO TELL DAD I SPENT HALF MY MONEY JUST TO BUY A ROTTING PIECE OF SHIT!"

A lad with the most impossible hue of raven hair stood rigidly at the side. He looked uninterested. One jet-black orb cringed as the device coughed out a sharp noise. Glaring, he stated in a monotonous voice,

" It's your fault you're so ignorant." He huffed, folding his arms across his well-built chest. " That jerk was probably one of those posers trying to look as if they crossed the Imperial gate and mingled with some stupid earthling."

" Of course, Sasuke-kun's right!" another blonde, now a girl, chirped happily, " He always is the best, right, Sasuke-kun?" she spilled out sweetly, batting her long lashes at the handsome boy.

He decided to ignore this.

" But I'M the best!" the other boy whined childishly. " Right, Hinata-chan! Tell her!"

Hinata, who's silvery eyes widened in nervousness, stammered, " O-of course Na-Naruto-kun, you a-are.. B-by the way, Naruto-kun, I think I-I know how to m-make it work.."

She meekly pushed the plastic button that was labeled 'play'.

They watched, all three amazed, but the last simply amused, as something circular began to spin very quickly. After a few seconds a loud, blasting noise that they guessed was music thrusted deep into their ears.

What you gonna do with all that junk?
All that junk inside that trunk?
I'ma get, get, get, get, you drunk,
Get you love drunk off my hump.

Naruto cheered at his (or maybe partly Hinata's) success. So that whole pouch full of crills weren't wasted after all!

What you gonna do with all that ass?
All that ass inside them jeans?
I'ma make, make, make, make you scream
Make you scream, make you scream.

Sasuke's first reaction was paling—he went chalk white, then, unexpectedly turned bright red along the cheeks. Was he imagining things, or was it just him who's analyzing the lyrics very well?

'Coz of my hump, my hump, my hump, my hump.
My hump, my hump, my hump, my lovely lady lumps.

Check it out!

" Wow, earthlings got very nice music!" Ino yelled among the thudding noise. Hinata smiled politely, probably agreeing.

Sasuke nearly choked on his own saliva.

I met a girl down at the disco.
She said hey, hey, hey yeah let's go.
I could be your baby, you can be my honey
Lets spend time not money.
I mix your milk with—

FRUSH.

There was a swooshing noise out of nowhere.

BLAG!

The black box suddenly erupted into tiny pieces of what it used to be, smoldering against the fire that engulfed it wholly. Naruto watched, horrified, as his success crumble against the heat of the flames.

" THAT COST ME SEVENTY-NINE CRILLS!"

" Seventy-nine crills isn't enough for you to repay the damage you have done to my ears." A low voice hissed menacingly.

Naruto huffed himself up. " Well, Oro-sama," he said this highly sarcastically, "your ears are damaged enough in the first place!"

Orochimaru, who was wearing a garb of black emblazoned with silver and his hand poised for another fire attack, was in complete contrast of the elemental specialists, who wore clothes that watched with their element.

Naruto, for instance, who had the most amazing control over air, wore training garb of blue chinos streaked with orange and a shirt emblazoned with the symbol of the air realm. Hinata, who's precision was completely accurate when it came to water, wore a dress of pure white elegantly decorated with golden stretches of fabric. A pair of gold, metallic arm guards crafted with the glyph of the water realm was wrapped around her arms. Ino, who's expertise exceeded when it came to her element of earth, wore a dress the color of elegant white, pink petals printed along its hem, sleeves stretching into a belled sleeve one and the other completely sleeveless. Her headband was of gold, where in the emblem of the earth realm was molded on. Sasuke's ability lay on the blazing depths of hell—fire. His lower extremities swaddled with black trousers, his shirt completely black as well, but his upper torso was covered by a metal armor, also branded with the badge of the fire realm. Slightly thick threads pf scarlet crisscrossed on his two arms.

" Even Sasuke-bastard thinks you suck! Ne, right, bastard?"

" Don't talk."

" Why you little—!"

The door bursted open.

Behind the two door entrance, a woman clothed in billowing skirts and godly ornaments stood rigidly.

All four (though Naruto was still angry and fuming) curled their hands into fists and placed the across their chests. They bowed in her presence.

" It's very nice to see you once more, diyosa." Ino stated, smiling.

I'd like to be called Aries instead of Nikka. Aries is a nice name.

Enjoy y'all!

ang3Lix.