A/N: As of 2012, this story has been completely rewritten. If you read this story in the past, I suggest you reread it for this fanfic has gone through some major plot changes. Without further ado, enjoy!
THE BEAUTIFUL AND THE DAMNED
stfuSPARKS
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of it's characters, and I don't own Sunrise Sunset by the Bright Eyes either. I only own the plot.
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Our eyes are placed in front because it is more import ant to look ahead than to look back.
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PROLOGUE
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It was another one of those days again.
He hated this routine.
Every single day, he would wake up to the same damn room.
Every morning, he would receive orders.
Orders to kill.
It was inevitable though- because this is what who he was, this was what he was born to do.
This was what they expected of him.
No more, no less.
His name was Uzumaki Naruto- but to the outside world, he was simply known as the murderer with no face- the murderer known as Kyuubi. Being named after the mythical demon known to have destroyed half of the world many centuries ago- would his parents really be proud of him? He would never know, he disdainfully thought. The notion of having a family was foreign to him.
Maybe the fact that he was nicknamed after such a monstrous creature should have disturbed him; but if it did, he showed no signs of it.
He carried on with his routine every day, as any other person would- acting as if he wasn't a murderer.
As if his hands had never been stained crimson by blood.
But he knew it, and his partners did too-
There was no way to purify yourself once you committed the sin.
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Sunrise, Sunset
And she raised her hands in the air and asked you,
"When was the last time you looked in the mirror?"
'Cause you've changed.
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"Uzumaki Naruto."
The boy who looked no older than eighteen raised his left hand to make his presence known in the small, suffocating room. He briefly glanced around at his surroundings and silently thanked god he wasn't claustrophobic- the windowless dark room was disturbing enough on its own. He ran his other hand through his rebellious, tousled bright blond hair, the sparkle in his cerulean blue eyes present but slowly fading.
"Present." He gave the speaker a smug smirk. His childish voice was confident and firm- never revealing the true intimidation he felt deep inside, growing in the pit of his stomach. He cast a curious look at the other five men in the room, who were each waiting for their respective names to be called out.
"Uchiha Sasuke."
Naruto's eyes narrowed down into slits when he heard the next name. He tried to act mature but he couldn't help it- he venomously glared across at his handsome somewhat friend and rival. The other boy's raven colored hair was dark and neat, the opposite of Naruto's bright appearance. Also in contrast to Naruto's tan skin, Sasuke's was pale and unmarred. His deep onyx eyes were deep and calculating, hiding whatever he was thinking behind a stoic composure.
If Naruto was the sun, Sasuke was the moon.
"Hn." His deep voice was enough to send shivers up Naruto's spine.
He was so cold and cruel, Naruto thought.
"Hyuuga Neji."
Naruto's attention shifted over to the tallest boy of the bunch- a boy who was apparently a little older than the rest of them. His sickly pale skin was revealed as he raised his hand as well, in a much more graceful and elegant manner than Naruto had done. His face, however, betrayed absolutely nothing as his eerie crystal white eyes held a transparent look. His long silky brown hair was conveniently tied into a loose ponytail at the back, revealing sophisticated high cheekbones and a thin jawline that Naruto was always secretly jealous of.
"Also present," The Hyuuga answered in a quiet voice. Despite the low tone, he did not sound timid at all- his voice was threateningly deadly, malice heavily dripping from his curt two words.
"Nara Shikamaru."
Now there was a friendly name- Naruto's face split into a grin as he watched his close friend wake up from his nap at hearing his name being called. The lazy boy with the strange, pineapple-shaped dark brown hair looked up with a disinterested look in his sharp almond eyes. He yawned, slowly stretching his arms above his head as he sat up a bit straighter in his chair.
"Here," Shikamaru answered informally, before leaning back again. Naruto couldn't help but be amused at the other boy's lack of formality even before his superiors- that was how Shikamaru would always be.
"Inuzuka Kiba."
"Present, as always!" Naruto could only roll his eyes as an arrogantly loud voice spoke up, interrupting the silence in the room. He shot an irritated glance at his other friend, a canine-resembling boy with a smug look on his face. His shaggy brown hair hung over his eyes, shadowing the upper half of his face; but it was hard for Naruto to forget those sly, cunning eyes that seemed to know everything. Strange red markings covered his cheeks, attaching him to the clan he had abandoned long ago.
Just like the rest of them had.
"Sabaku no Gaara."
The atmosphere in the room grew tense as the last of them was called- a boy, slightly shorter than the rest, who was leaning against the wall in a corner of the room. His eyes opened sharply, revealing his pale emerald eyes, surrounded by dark shadows that were a clear indication of insomnia. Naruto's eyes couldn't help but wander up towards the boy's forehead- hiding under his crimson red hair, was a bold tattoo that spelled the word 'love' in kanji symbols. The blonde thought it was ironic, really.
The boy who had never been loved- maybe the tattoo was there to make up for something else that had never been present throughout his life.
The man standing in front of them gave them a pleased smile.
"Welcome," The silver haired man said, his voice polite and warm. His smile slightly faltered when none of the other occupants of the room made a move to acknowledge his greeting. Nevertheless, he continued to speak. "I am pleased to see all six of you are here with me today. It is a rarity for you to be together nowadays, is it not?" He pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose, observing every single member of the room. "Ever sine the incident of the..."
"Get on with your point." Sasuke snarled, his eyes narrowing in distaste. "I don't have time to waste here."
For a moment, the man's smile disappeared altogether.
"Well-" His smile was back again, as if nothing had happened. "-ever since the incident, you boys haven't bothered to reform your team, have you?" The stranger asked. The tension in the room heightened visibly. "Well, Orochimaru-sama has decided to reunite you once again for the first time in three years- for a very specific purpose." He smirked as their full attention finally shifted onto him. "You now all work as separately hired assassins, correct?"
There was no answer.
"But do you remember who you used to be before?"
Naruto winced, as a familiar name pierced through his head, bringing back painful memories he had long ago tried to bury into the depths of his heart, despite knowing that they would never fully disappear. It was a curse, more than anything, but he didn't have the right to forget either.
It had been his fault, after all.
Not only him though- all of them carried the heavy guilt within them.
"The Shinobi."
"But you all agreed to split up after the incident… and never reformed again."
"So what?" Kiba's impatient behavior got the best of him, his pained expression not escaping Naruto's sharp gaze. "I don't see any law forbidding us to go our own separate ways. Time passes, people change. We simply grew tired of each other's company." Something about his words was slightly unconvincing- he had always been the worst liar out of them all.
"Ah, touché, Kiba, but don't you remember that Orochimaru hired you during your last year together? He gave you seven different assassination missions, but you never bothered to finish off the final murder."
Naruto visibly paled. Of course they remembered the seven missions with Orochimaru; none of them had really bothered to remind each other about it. They had been too busy arguing with each other, cutting each other out of their respective lives in order to pretend that nothing had ever happened.
"I called all of you here today, to request that you complete the last mission you were unable to accomplish three years ago with Orochimaru-sama."
"And if we don't agree?" Neji asked back coldly, his face unchanging as his voice hardened with every word he spoke.
Kabuto grinned, but this time it looked purely sadistic. There was something about how the corners of his lips quirked slightly upwards, how his smile didn't quite reach his eyes, that greatly disturbed Naruto deep to the core.
"Then you will be ready to accept the consequences."
Somehow, none of them wanted to ask exactly what the consequences were going to be.
"What's our new mission then?" Neji directly asked.
Naruto was briefly reminded of the old days, when they had been a team and Neji had always taken control. There had always been a mutual, unspoken agreement that Neji was their leader. While Naruto and Kiba both had the right amount of will power and determination, their highly undeveloped childish personalities and rash decisions prevented them from assuming leadership. Shikamaru would have been an excellent leader for his wits and intelligence, but he was far too lazy to assume such a big responsibility. Sasuke and Gaara were also both highly intelligent and equally as strong, but both lacked the social abilities (especially in communication) to lead them.
Neji was indeed the right choice. He had been unfairly rejected to be the leader of his clan solely for being born with the wrong blood- so he would redeem himself by becoming the leader of something much, much more terrible.
"I don't recall ever giving my agreement on accepting this mission." Sasuke retorted, his tone even icier as he glared at Neji. Despite the fact that they had both abandoned their respective families years ago, their clan rivalry would always remain. "And I remember saying three years ago that I would never agree to reforming the Shinobi."
"Well I don't see any choice in the matter," Neji shot back, glaring at Sasuke. "You were the one so insistent on accepting the missions from Orochimaru years ago."
Sasuke stayed silent this time, but Naruto noticed the way he clenched his fists by his sides- his submission to Orochimaru years ago had always been a delicate subject for the Uchiha. One that sane people usually did not bring up unless they wanted to be mauled.
"Calm down," The man with the glasses at the front said with that same creepy smile. "Sasuke-kun, you must agree to this, for it was in the contract three years ago. Orochimaru-sama isn't very happy that you boys dropped his mission without notice."
Sasuke snorted, but didn't say otherwise. He wasn't a man of many words.
"Well you will be starting tomorrow then. I would like for you to report to me first thing tomorrow morning at exactly nine."
The man gave them another smile before dismissing them with a wave of the hand.
One by one, they each trudged out of the room. Until only Naruto was left, thinking over what he had just been told.
Roughly around four years ago, fate brought together seven young boys with nowhere to go and no one to turn to- a group that would later be known as simply 'The Shinobi'. They each hid invisible scars in their hearts, and they each had their tragic sob stories- but none of them ever bothered to share their pasts with each other. Some things were better left unsaid and buried underground. After all, they weren't there to compete for the most angst-filled background of the year.
They were simply seven broken boys, who would never be put back together again.
So they joined together to do what they were best at- at the only thing they would ever be good at- they would kill. Each had their own reasons for being there- but no one asked, and no one pried. It was an unspoken rule that their past no longer mattered. The present was important now.
The seven of them worked together so well for a full year- yet there was no sense of friendliness and bonds between them. They each liked to keep to themselves. For people as open as Naruto and Kiba, it was difficult for a friendship to not blossom, and soon they became friends, including the lethargic but nonetheless friendly Shikamaru.
But that was as far as they would ever get- because the other three boys were far more damaged than anyone else. Sasuke was cold and distant (Naruto sometimes wondered if the Uchiha deliberately did not approach them, or if it was his fear of becoming attached to people that prevailed) but it was clear to them that he considered the rest of the group somewhat were the closest thing to family that he would ever have.
Neji, instead, was completely distant, not bothering to warm up to them at all- sometimes, he thought that his superior position as leader put him on a different level than them (and those were the times when he regretted being their leader at all).
No one really knew anything about Gaara- Naruto had talked to him once or twice, but they couldn't even be called acquaintances, for they hardly ever even had a conversation. For as long as Naruto could remember, Gaara had always been plagued by insomnia. His lack of communication with others had not changed at all with the years, but he kept to his business and did not stick his nose where it didn't belong- which was all he needed to survive as a 'Shinobi'.
Despite all their differences, they worked surprisingly well together- each had a feature to make up for another's flaw. They perfected mission after mission over time, never leaving even the slightest opening for failure. They were a team- an assassination team, but still a team.
Until the incident.
There was no other name for it- there was simply no way to give name to the horrible tragedy that had happened that night.
Seven boys became six.
None of them really ever knew why Rock Lee was a part of their team. Naruto had never seen such a strong-willed, determined and passionate person before; Lee was the one who always saw the cup half-full, even when Naruto couldn't. He was pure at heart and naive in the head, attributes that were simply not associated with people like them. He probably had his own reasons for joining as well-
But they would never know.
He was the bright light of their group, getting along with every single one of them. Where Naruto had failed, Lee succeeded, and went as far as to befriend both Neji and Gaara as well. He was a strong fighter, and sometimes far too poetic for his own good.
Knowing Lee's persona, it wasn't all that hard to believe that he would sacrifice himself to save someone else.
But none of them would have ever expected him to sacrifice himself for one of their targets.
They all knew the rules of being assassins- once they were assigned a mission, you didn't pry. You didn't ask about the target- the target merely became a goal to reach; he or she wasn't to be considered even human. It would just make it harder.
Seven assassinations were to be carried out in order for the mission to be complete- each of the boys had decided to take on a target. It had been fairly easy- none of the other victims had put up a fight. It was hard to compete with a gun or a sniper when you were bare-handed.
Neji had been the one in charge of the seventh victim- the most difficult targets were always left for the leader.
He had been the one to aim and pull the trigger. He had been the one to hide behind the bushes on that cold autumn night, observing the grand Konohagakure Bridge, waiting for his target.
When he fired the gun, it was far too late to turn back.
Another person jumped out to protect the target- and Neji only knew one person who could be faster than a bullet.
Rock Lee.
By the time he speedily made his way back to the bridge, his target was gone. The only thing that was left behind was Rock Lee's body, cold and unmoving.
Neji never forgave himself after that day.
He wasn't the only one. They all carried the guilt within them- why hadn't they noticed sooner? Perhaps if they had paid Lee a little bit more attention, they would have noticed that he was somehow tied to the target. They could have saved him somehow- they could have talked it out, or protected him. But they didn't, and that was the part that hurt the most.
There was something that crumbled within them the moment Lee died- something that would always prevent them from becoming a team again. It was far too late to try to salvage the pieces to their fake family. It had been something impossible to begin with- how long would they have really lasted? Even without Lee's death, their farce was bound to destroy itself sooner or later.
That's when they decided to disband 'the Shinobi'. There was no use in acting as a team when they could only do so on the outside. They each went their separate ways, secretly hoping to never see each other again, despite all their ties.
Damaged people like them were better off being alone anyways.
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Naruto wasn't exactly prepared for the extreme tension in the room the next morning.
"It's a beautiful morning isn't it?" The blonde forced out awkwardly, scratching the back of his head. The scars on his cheeks stretched out, almost resembling whiskers as he plastered a big fat fake grin onto his face.
It had been three years since any of them had seen or talked to each other- this almost tangible awkwardness was to be expected. The lavish office seemed far too big for the presence of the six young boys who were already occupying various corners of the room.
Naruto felt a bit of relief wash over him as Kiba gave him an appreciative nod and Shikamaru raised his hand in greeting. Even Sasuke's brief glance to acknowledge his presence was welcome- Neji and Gaara straight out ignored him.
In other words, no one verbally answered him.
The twenty year old blonde scowled and simply took a seat on the leather couch, crossing his arms in a childishly offended manner. Well if they weren't going to talk, he wasn't going to either.
However, the silence did not last long- the same man who had brought them together on the previous day was back.
"I'm pleased to see that all of you are here today!" The gray haired man stepped inside, briefly polishing his round spectacles before putting them back on. Naruto was secretly surprised as well- he didn't expect every single one of them to show up. He had half-expected most of them to simply leave. "Your mission briefing." The man spoke again, handing a black folder to each one of them.
Kiba's ears perked up. "Something tells me this isn't a mission like all the others." He perceptively said, eyeing the piece of paper than was now in his hands.
The gray haired man nodded. "You are right, Kiba-kun. We were wrong to underestimate our seventh victim three years ago- this mission will probably require much more time and effort than any other mission you've ever been on. A direct kill will not work this time around."
"What do you mean?" Naruto blurted out, his curiosity getting the best of him. The only assassinations they had ever been on were ones that included direct kills; missions in which all they had to do was kill a subject. Sometimes, a bit of research was required because their victims were so well guarded, but most of the time they left that part up to Shikamaru.
"You may remember, that before the incident, you were ordered to eliminate seven different people."
Pained recognition flickered through their faces. How could they forget? It was the very mission that had torn them apart.
Naruto briefly recalled the background of their last mission three years ago; it had to do with an urban legend, a mere myth that was nothing more than a children's tale that circulated among other children's bedtime stories. Despite not having any memories of a family, this was a story that was etched into Naruto's mind. Perhaps the mother he could no longer remember had repeated it to him time and time again when he had been a mere infant.
It was said that thousands of years ago, there had been a war between heaven and hell, angels and demons. The angels won the war, but could not stop seven demons from escaping down to earth to disguise themselves among humans, inhabiting their bodies, so the angels would never find them. It was said that the demons were never found, and while their human containers died one after another, their powers were always transferred to a different human being each time.
Of course, this was all a silly urban legend. Who believed in heaven and hell anymore?
Apparently Orochimaru did. It was almost frightful how the power-hungry man thirsted for more knowledge about these seven different beings. Naruto always had a hunch that Orochimaru was off his rocker- but a mission was a mission and money was money. He was not in the position to question his client's motives, no matter how crazy they were.
Orochimaru had mumbled on about these seven targets being the present containers for the demons, or something of the sort. He wanted to kill them and experiment on their bodies, to see if somehow he could acquire the demons' powers. Everything about this mission screamed out mad scientist to Naruto, but again: money was money.
Six of the targets had been eliminated surprisingly easily despite the high pay they were receiving. In Naruto's eyes, they were all just innocent civilians that for some unfortunate reason had been victims of Orochimaru's insanity. The seventh target was spared, thanks to Lee's sacrifice, but Neji had reported nothing strange about the girl he had been assigned to kill either.
That was why Naruto did not understand why a direct kill would not work this time around.
"I apologize for our inability to complete our last mission professionally." Neji immediately stepped up, acting as the captain of the squad. "Please deliver our apologies to Orochimaru-sama. We will make sure we complete this mission this time around."
"I will." The man nodded. "Inside the folders, you will find the profile of our last victim, Haruno Sakura."
Naruto opened his folder only to be mesmerized by a beautiful pair of pale emerald eyes.
They were almost depthless- he finally realized the meaning of the clichéd line 'to swim in someone's eyes'. Her pale porcelain-like skin almost shined, contrasting almost painfully beautifully with her long, pale pink sakura locks. Her eyes were big and her nose was adorably small, almost like a button. Her plump lips were full and a shade of natural dark pink.
She was like a fragile little doll.
He had never seen anyone so beautiful before.
And that's when he realized, he was looking at the photo of their seventh target- Haruno Sakura.
It was a bit of a waste to destroy something so attractive.
Oh well, he thought.
Beautiful things never last anyways.
"This mission will not be easy." The man's voice shook Naruto out of his thoughts. "All the details are inside that folder, but let me be brief- we have already taken the first step for you by enrolling the six of you into her high school. However, that is as far as we can go. You are to observe her everyday actions and gather notes about her before killing her."
"Why do we have to gather information about her if we're just going to kill her off in the end?" Kiba asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Trust me, it will be impossible to directly kill her. You must study her strengths and weaknesses for some time if you want to fully eliminate her." The man paused. "But you will see that for yourselves soon."
There it was again- that unnerving smile.
"You will report back to me in a week. Same time, same place. If you need anything, call the number at the top right hand corner of the file and ask for Yakushi Kabuto. That's me."
With those final words, the man named Kabuto finally dismissed them.
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Naruto earned a few glares from his male companions as he carelessly threw his suitcases into the living room of their new temporary headquarters. He plopped onto the couch, shooting an appreciative glance at the lodging they had been provided with.
Orochimaru was really going all out this time.
The furniture was all quite modern and the rooms were all clean and spacious- fortunately, there was one room for each one of them. Naruto didn't even want to imagine what it would have been like to be roommates with Sasuke or Neji, or even worse- Gaara. He momentarily shuddered, before Neji grouped all of them together into the comfy living room.
"So Shikamaru, what can you tell us about our target?" Neji wasted no time as he turned towards the Nara genius, who looked down at the folder in his hands.
"Well there's nothing much about her. She's an ordinary high school student- currently eighteen years old. She's graduating this year, which means that we are all probably enrolled as high school seniors as well. There is something unusual about her physical appearance- it seems that her pink hair is natural, but that's about it. Everything else indicates that she's a perfectly normal girl."
"Only according to the files." Sasuke interjected, crossing his arms. "There might have been information that has been left out. Kabuto wasn't exactly keen on explaining all the details."
"How are we going to even disguise ourselves as high school students?" Naruto whined loudly. "I mean Kiba, Shikamaru, Sasuke and I are twenty so we can probably pass as mature seniors, but Gaara? He's twenty-one! And not to mention Neji, you're twenty-two this year! They'll never believe us!"
Kiba rolled his eyes. "We'll manage. I've seen plenty of high school brats who look much older than Neji. With the right kind of styling and stuff, Neji will be perfectly passable as a high school student."
"There's something that's bugging me." Shikamaru interrupted, looking thoughtful. Everyone's attention turned towards the pensive brunette. "Why is a direct kill impossible? I mean a direct kill is always possible with the right amount of planning and the perfect strategy. There's something that Kabuto definitely isn't telling us."
"Well we'll find out and successfully eliminate our target." Kiba said determinedly. "We can't fail again."
"So starting tomorrow, it's high school life all over again, hm?" Naruto mulled it over. "We might as well enjoy it as much as we can. We'll probably never have the chance to be high schoolers again! I don't know about you guys, but I've never been to a high school."
"I have." Kiba groaned, leaning back into the comortable sofa. "I don't want to go through it again, it's so useless."
Naruto couldn't help but feel a little bit warm as his ex-team gathered around to talk for the first time in years.
A small part of him couldn't help but hope that maybe- just maybe, they could return to being that dysfunctional family they had been years ago.
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"Ugh, it's been ages since I had to wake up so early." Kiba groaned with a loud yawn, stretching his arms out as the six of them made their way towards the school buildings.
"I think we're attracting a lot of unnecessary attention." Shikamaru stated flatly, not even bothering to look at the swarm of girls that was currently following them through the gates. Naruto nervously glanced at them, secretly pleased at all the attention they were receiving. After all, he loved being the center of attention.
"It's all because of these two." Kiba accusingly jabbed his finger towards Sasuke and Neji, who both looked unaffected by all of the screaming and fangirling. "They're probably used to getting these kinds of reactions, the bastards."
Naruto inwardly rolled his eyes. Of course, if it was anyone it would be the Hyuuga and the Uchiha. What was wrong with girls these days? No one seemed to like a playful, outgoing man anymore. They were all too busy squealing over the dark, mysterious and angsty men of the group. If he was born a girl, Naruto thought, he would probably rather date a wall than Sasuke or Neji.
A wall would probably have more response.
Sasuke emptied the contents of the cup of takeaway coffee in his hand into his mouth and threw it over to a nearby trashcan. There was a brief but intense confrontation as a couple of girls fought for possession over the empty cup.
Naruto was highly disturbed now. Were all females this scary?
"So who's in class with Haruno Sakura?" Shikamaru asked, looking straight at Neji. "We can't all have been enrolled into the same class. It would look far too obvious if all six transfer students were put in the same class in one day. Kabuto can't possibly be that stupid."
Neji did not answer him.
"He is that stupid." Kiba said with a horrified expression on his face. "This is far too suspicious! What the hell was Kabuto thinking?"
Sasuke let out a frustrated sigh. "We'll have to come up with an excuse for our fellow classmates in case they ask us, which they probably will."
"This is going to be troublesome." Shikamaru mimicked Sasuke's sigh. "I can already feel a headache coming on. We can probably tell them that we went to a previous high school together and we requested to be put in the same class. If anyone asks why we all suddenly dropped out of the other school in the middle of the year, we can tell them the school fell apart and is currently under construction for another year."
"You're a genius Shikamaru." Naruto said in awe, looking at his friend with something akin to admiration.
"No, I'm merely used to cleaning up after your messes." Shikamaru answered modestly, looking completely disinterested.
"We're in class 308." Neji told them with a nod. "We better hurry up, the bell will ring soon."
As to prove Neji's words right, the bell loudly sounded across the grounds to signal the start of school. Students quickly scampered towards their respective classrooms, leaving the six boys to wander aimlessly around the hallways until they finally found their room.
308.
They entered to find a teacher who was lazily leaning back on his chair, with his feet resting on top of his desk. He lit up the cigarette in his mouth before turning around to face them with a big grin. Naruto made a face- what kind of teacher smoked in front of his students in his own classroom? His thoughts were interrupted as the broad-shouldered man with the beard gestured for them to come over.
The loud chattering that had filled the classroom up until a moment ago immediately quieted down as the six extremely unique boys walked up to the front of the classroom. Every single student was curiously eyeing the new additions.
"Class, we're going to have six new students starting today." The teacher said in a gruff voice. "I hope you make them feel welcome. As for you lot, you can call me Asuma-sensei. I'll be your homeroom teacher for the rest of the year. Why don't you each introduce yourselves?"
Before any of them could speak up, the door to the classroom slammed open, causing a great commotion. All eyes turned towards the interruption, as the teacher whirled around looking absolutely furious.
"Haruno Sakura, you are late!"
It had begun.
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For a sunrise or a sunset,
Your lover is an actress,
Did you really think she'd stay?
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A/N: A big, warm hug for all you supporters of Sweet Summer Slumber out there who support this story as well! Thanks for all your kind support :)