"Twisted" – prequel to Touched
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
A/N This story has some OOCness, so watch out! Sasuke and Itachi's relationship here are not as that of the original story. And not to mention this is an AU story. The Naruto gang is studying, but I started this story during the near end of their vacation, so schooldays are near again. They're entering 4th year in their upcoming school year. –That's all! I just want to clear off some things! -
Recap:
Sasuke just sat behind Sakura. He can smell the scent of her glossy hair. It was sweet vanilla; he was enjoying the smell. He stared outside the window and his mind crept to his actions earlier. He was surprised at himself, what possessed him to do such thing? He asked himself that question. He hadn't been that way to any other person. Not to mention a girl. But he felt comfortable wit her around, she has this friendly, loving nature aura that makes him attracted to her more. She always has a smile in her face whenever he would see her, like she has no problems at all. But at their first encounter at the bar, he can sense that she was shy; she only put up a friendly façade on her face. She really is different among other girls he'd known. She really is fascinating. She…
The door slid open, coming in was their first subject teacher, Umino Iruka.
…Really did intrigue him. He smiled to himself.
Hint: This chapter is awfully long, so bear with me. If you want Sasusaku, just have patience and read! I promise you this chapter has romance scenes! OOPS… I'm spoiling this chapter too much! Just read and find out! Thanks! I hope this chapter is not boring!
Chapter 4: Push Over
"Now I am alone. O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I!
Is it not monstrous that this player here,
But in a fiction, in a dream of passion,
Could force his soul so to his own conceit
That from her working all his visage wann'd,
Tears in his eyes, distraction in's aspect,
A broken voice, and his whole function suiting
With forms to his conceit? and all for nothing!
For Hecuba!
What's Hecuba to him, or he to Hecuba,"
Kurenai-sensei recited a small part of Shakespeare's Hamlet. She was a strict teacher, no one dares to sleep in her class, do something aside from what they're supposed to do. Someone tried to do so, but ended up getting hit in the head by a piece of chalk. She indeed has a very keen eye. At times she will be making jokes or laugh along with them, but if lesson starts, the students will what to do.
"Which one of you could tell me who could "Hecuba" be in the stanza?" Kurenai eyed them; no one raised their hands. She was often irritated by this, such passive action in her class, if they will not recite then she would randomly call anyone to see if there's someone not listening to her lectures.
"Yamanaka Ino!"
"H-hai!" Ino stood up with nervousness. She wasn't listening to her sensei and most of all she hated interpreting this kind of poems. She finds them rather difficult to comprehend. Ino looked around the room for help, and saw Sakura looking at her with pitiful eyes. She knew Sakura was good at this subject she's always the one good at translating and comprehending difficult-to-understand matters. She has that great brain of hers to work for her, but no, she would not lose to Sakura. If she would lose in competing to get Sasuke, then she deliberately would not loose in intellectual games with her; even if she means to cheat.
"Uh – umm…" Ino was definitely lost for words and her brain seems to not working. She can't understand what the poem is saying!
"Ino, do you even understand what the poem is saying? Or you're not paying attention to me ever since I started lecturing half hour ago?" Kurenai spoke almost with malice towards Ino as she shifted under her sensei's gaze.
"No, ma'am. I don't know." Ino lowered her head in shame and sat down.
"Who knows the answer?" Kurenai spoke with fury. A hand shot through the air high enough for her to notice.
"Ah, Haruno. Would you please tell the answer?"
"Hai, Kurenai-sensei." Sakura stopped. She never shifted and was never nervous when her sensei calls her nor she was too confident on herself. She just knows that she could answer almost all of her questions, because she studied hard to analyze what the poem is thoroughly saying and who the main characters are.
"Hecuba is a Trojan queen and heroine of classical mythology. Earlier in 2.2 Hamlet asks the First Player to recite a monologue retelling Hecuba's response to the death of her husband, King Priam. The Player tells us that Hecuba's grief was profound and "Would have made mulch the burning eyes of heaven/And passion in the gods". The contrast between Gertrude and Hecuba should be noted. To Hamlet, Hecuba has responded appropriately to her husband's death, while Gertrude has not." Sakura explained, and Kurenai-sensei looked at her with a different expression. Now, she felt uncomfortable, like she was unsure of her answer.
"Good job, Haruno. It's rare that a student like you could comprehend with full details." Kurenai praised her. Sakura immediately sighed; her hard work has not gone to waste than she had thought. Ino shot her a look from the side. She always gets the limelight of everything. Why was she so perfect? Ino thought. She looked at Sasuke and saw him looking at Sakura with the amusement in his face. That makes her fume more.
"You'll get a high grade in your recitation. But before that, answer the rest of my question first to see if you really deserve to have a high grade." Kurenai declared as Sakura stared at her red haired teacher. "I will say the following words then you will give me it's meaning."
"First one – cue for passion"
"The reason for strong feelings." Sakura stated the meaning.
"Muddy-mettled."
"Dull-spirited."
"John-a-dreams." Sakura suddenly paused as if searching her brain to look for answers. I couldn't have forgotten that, it was too simple for me to neglect! Sensei was tricking me, she first asked me with those hard to understand words and then suddenly asked me this easy one! My mind seems to black out!
"A nickname for a dreamer." someone hissed behind her back. "That's the answer!" he hissed again.
"A- a nickname for a dreamer!" Sakura blurted out. She earned a glare from Kurenai but her eyes shown proud ness.
After that Sakura sat down and tension left her body. She sighed and somebody spoke behind her again, it sent shivers down her spine.
"You were good." Sasuke hissed behind her and smirked. Sakura just sent out a small chuckle and leaned backwards, close enough to let Sasuke hear what she was to say. "Thanks to you, though. This was my favorite subject."
Ino watched them carefully, eyeing their every move. It makes her blood boil! She was just two seats away from them to the right, their teachers never bothered with arranging their seats anymore saying it was because they're grown ups now, they should what's right and what's wrong. So Sasuke was still sitting behind Sakura's back, not minding to change place.
It has been two weeks; Sakura and Sasuke had slowly getting the hang of each other's company. They'll secretly be giving off smiles and sweet compliments, when it's just the two of them they'll engage in some interesting conversations. At times, they'll search for the other for help in homework. Everybody is getting aware of his and her interaction. It's not that they're hiding something, they're just better off if there were only two of them.
"I'll be grouping you into three. Now I want you all to prepare for the next meeting, you should read in advance and I want to have a report on what I had discussed this week. It should be well summarized and organized. I may prefer to see props such as visual aids. I will accept any method you will use for this project." Kurenai-sensei explained.
"Now, the first group is: Yamanaka Ino, Uchiha Sasuke and… Haruno Sakura." Ino was about to jump for joy for the chance given to her to be with Sasuke-kun but unfortunately she was unlucky, those two will never be separable, won't they?
"Naruto, Kiba and Hinata."
"Shikamaru, Chouji and Shino" And so on…As soon as their last period was done, loud buzzing can be heard inside the classroom. The classmates are all too eager to get the project done with full support from all members for high grades because they know Kurenai-sensei is very strict when it comes to projects.
"Sakura, what will our project be?" Sasuke asked in a monotone, leaning against the lockers beside Sakura's.
"Yeah, Sakura-chan, what will our project be?" Ino suddenly popped out of nowhere, exaggerating her name. Which didn't go unnoticed to Sakura.
"Well, I don't know yet…"
"Oh, you don't know? I expected better from you Sakura-chan. You were the best in this subject in our class, aren't you?" Ino spoke in a malevolent way. Sakura eyed her as she got close to Sasuke and started flirting with him. Sakura didn't like the scene she was seeing, Ino flirting with Sasuke, and Sasuke trying to brush her off.
"Just meet me at the café, down the corner at 3pm. I still got some things to do." Sakura's eyes shot downwards. Sasuke was out of Ino's grasps who bid a soft good bye to his pink-haired friend, and Ino was just glaring at her as she walked out of sight.
"Well, there goes me best friend!" Ino said in relief. Sasuke glared at her.
"You call yourself as her best friend? As far as I have noticed you're very mean to Sakura, is that what best friends do?"
"I-I… what do you know about us!" Ino shot back.
"Even though I have no best friends, I still have the brains to know how best friends act towards each other."
"She's different from the ones you're talking about!" Ino was fuming, how could Sasuke take her side like that?
"I know, she's different, different from you. She's your exact opposite. I despise people like you." Sasuke spoke hastily towards Ino. He can see through her, she was simply being a two-faced person. But Sakura was valuing her friend too much to notice it; he just simply walked away.
It was 2:30 pm; Sasuke was already inside the café waiting for the other two to come. He soon spotted Ino walking towards the café, with gleam on her face. She entered the café and immediately spotted Sasuke sitting by the window. Now's her chance, she can be alone with Sasuke for once!
"Konnichiwa Sasuke-kun!" Ino greeted and sat herself in front of Sasuke. He didn't even bothered to look at Ino when she greeted him with that uncanny voice of hers.
"Ne Sasuke-kun… would you like to go out with me?" Ino said trying to sound very nice and sweet. Sasuke just looked at her with a bored face and stared outside the window again and muttered in a sarcastic tone. "Why would I?"
"O-ok..." Ino looked down, she had been shunned for many years of asking him out, it was no different today, and she still couldn't get Sasuke to notice her.
"If Sakura-chan were to ask you out, will you agree?" Ino spoke again in a muffled voice. That statement caught Sasuke off guard but kept his face cool.
"…" He didn't bother to answer. He doesn't even know what to answer. But if he didn't say anything Ino would probably realize something, the special bond that was only for Sakura and him.
"No." Ino sensed his uncertainty in his answer and decided for another go of question for him.
"Do you even like my best friend? I can sense that you two are really getting along pretty well, compared to your relation with other students." Ino asked again with a grin in her face.
"Why are you asking me these stupid nonsense?" Sasuke narrowed his eyes at her interrogation, what does she want to hear from him? He really hated people shower him with questions!
"Is that a no or a yes?" Ino raised a brow sounding flirty. "Cheh." Sasuke stood up; he was fed up in her interrogation and walked toward the doorway. Ino has to do something prevent Sasuke in meeting Sakura today, even if it was to cheat her best friend. Sasuke just walked casually towards the door, until he heard Ino called out a name that he long wished she were there.
"Sakura…" He turned at Ino's voice as she spoke Sakura's name. Glad that she's here already…But Sasuke was wrong Sakura was not there. All he can see is Ino holding up her cell phone to hear ear as she speaks. Sasuke sighed; she was only speaking with Sakura through the cell phone.
"Hai, hai… okay! Bye, Sakura-chan!" Ino turned to Sasuke and saw him standing there near the door and looking at her expectantly. She placed her cell phone in her purse and walked coyly towards him trying her best to look sexy and swayed her hips from side to side.
"Sakura-chan said that she couldn't meet us here. She's going to do the project by herself. Sakura-chan also said that she doesn't want to bother us and she can do it by herself. Looks like we have the day to ourselves then!" Ino batted eyelashes on Sasuke but this still doesn't affect him. Does Sasuke even have male hormones? I can get any boy's attention when I'm like this but not him!
Sasuke doesn't respond and walked out of the restaurant. Ino hurriedly ran to Sasuke and grabbed his arm, putting on a puppy dog face and said, "Please go out with me Sasuke-kun. Please?"
"Let go of me. Didn't you hear what I told you a while ago? I despise people like you." Sasuke shot her a deadly glare. Ino's eyes widen in surprise, she doesn't expect this kind of statement from Sasuke! "I'm keeping myself busy if we have no work to do and I'd rather go out with Sakura than you!" Where did that come from! Darn, me and my big itchy mouth!
Ino was in a verge of tears right now. Why must always be Sakura? She always get the attention of everyone. She always makes her look inferior. Sakura was smarter than her; more popular than her; kinder than her; she excels more in class… And why does she get the attention of Sasuke instead of her! Sasuke couldn't care less, it was her fault from the beginning, she irritated him, and now she's going to get what he rewards to people that get under his skin. Then, he started to walk away leaving Ino behind.
Ino was preventing her tears fall. It was not because of Sasuke; it was because the sense of loss in her unannounced rivalry with Sakura. She hated her for it.
Sasuke walked back to his house, he somewhat felt like there was a mistake. Like he shouldn't be back home yet, there was still something to do before he head home. He went back home to see his brother fixing their Lamborghini.
"I thought you told mom that you have a project to do?" Itachi asked as he goes on fixing the car.
"Yeah, I did." Sasuke answered in monotone.
"Oh, and I guess you guys finished the project with in a few minutes?"
"No, actually we didn't, Sakura didn't show up and called Ino to say that she's going to do the project to herself."
"Who's Sakura and Ino?" Itachi asked again in a curious tone.
"Remember the bartender who has pink hair? She's Sakura. And Ino… she just an annoying classmate." Sasuke sighed and leaned at the car's bumper beside his brother.
"Sakura? Pink haired bartender? I don't actually remember…" Itachi muttered as he searched his brain for some pink-haired bartender.
"You were too drunk by then." "Oh, I remember. Is that the bartender that you were looking at for a long period? The one I teased you with?
"…" Sasuke just stared at Itachi; he got nothing more to say.
"Well, have you asked her out yet? You already have the opportunity." His brother teased him once again but he just shot him a glare. "Ok, ok. I'll stop. Let's just change the topic then. Why did Sakura-chan wants to do the project all by herself?" Itachi added a suffix –chan which caused Sasuke flinch at his brother's seductive low tone.
"How should I know? She didn't even showed up."
"You know, if you don't do the project together, you won't feel contented even if you got a high grade. And you will be embarrassed when the teacher asked you about that." Itachi spoke in a serious tone.
"Yeah, I know. But she told us, I mean she told Ino that she wants to do it herself."
"People may lie." Itachi stated simply. Sasuke arched an eyebrow at his brother who is still fixing the car engine. There were dirt and grease in his face.
"People may lie in a way that they can make you believe that it was real. Think about it, why did Sakura only told Ino not you? You were also her group mate right? She might have told you before hand if she really wants to do it herself. And a person couldn't do a project all by themselves in just one night. Two heads are better than one. Remember that." Itachi explained, somehow he truly acted how a brother should be. He rarely talks to Sasuke with this kind of intensity and seriousness between them. Most of the time, they were teasing each other or merely he was teasing Sasuke.
Sasuke's mind suddenly ran fast. HE saw Ino's expression for Sakura that time they were still at school and her expression at the café. Her expressions were malevolent. Somehow, he felt that his brother were partly right. Maybe Ino just lied to him. But how could he prove that Ino was really lying or not?
"Oi, what's wrong with you?" Itachi shot him out of the reverie.
"What if Ino was telling a truth? There are so many possibilities, nii-san" It was surprising for Itachi that Sasuke called him "nii-san" once again; he rarely calls him that.
"Go ask Sakura herself, idiot."
"Idiot?" Sasuke's vein twitched.
"Yeah, idiot. It's so clear that you should ask Sakura first to prove."
"I'm not an idiot!"
"Yeah, yeah whatever…." Itachi resumed at his work. He has a smile in his face, an invisible smile. It seems like their serious talk would never last long, maybe that's how their brotherly relationship will always be like, teasing each other.
"Hn!" Sasuke walked inside their house, also with a small smile gracing his face.
"Sasuke! You're home already?" his mom asked.
"Aa, but I will go out again."
"No way, young man! You will not leave this house not until you tidied up your room first! It's a mess. You're just like a little child!" His mom lectured him, and he just sighed and walked up to his room. His room was neat, what was his mother complaining about? Then he spotted his study table, it was a mess all right. Papers were placed here and there. His knew his mother didn't want their room to be untidy even just a single place.
Sakura stood there outside the café waiting for them; it was already 4:00pm! Where were they? It's okay if one of them is late but both of them! Were they joking with her? She had stood there for an hour already! If they don't show up, she will do their project by herself, and leave them not knowing anything about what she'd done with the project!
"Okay, fine. If those two are not going to show up this very minute, I swear I'll tell Kurenai-sensei that I did it myself!" She muttered angrily to herself and marched off to her house.
"Oi Sasuke! Have you talked with Sakura yet?" Itachi nudged Sasuke as he lay asleep in his bed. "Hmmn?" Sasuke just grunted.
"It's already 5 pm. I thought you're going to ask her about your project?" Sasuke shot up at his Itachi's question. He fell asleep after he tidied his study table. He heard his brother said it was already 5pm. 5pm! Oh no. I should have gone to help Sakura about our project whether she liked it or not! Darn! He bolted up and ran out his door, leaving Itachi sitting on his bed.
He walked down the sidewalk; he tried to remember what direction is Sakura's house. I think it was to the left, then 3rd floor of the building just around the corner.
Knock, knock!
"Where is she?" suddenly the door opened revealing a girl wearing a rose red tank top and a jean skirt that only reached above her knees. "Sakura…" He was struggling for words as he stared at her. He felt he was captivated once again.
"Well, why are you here? Enjoy letting me do all the work in the project don't you? And enjoy letting me stand for one hour waiting for you two!" Sakura said sarcastically as she unconsciously tilted her hips to the left, which caught Sasuke's keen eye.
"N-no. Look I –" "No! You look here, I don't know why you are here but if you and Ino are going to play a trick or two on me, it won't work! Now, I will appreciate it if you would leave because I still have some project to finish!" Sasuke can sense it, Sakura was obviously angry with him. It was the perfect time to explain. His brother was right about Ino, she did lie. He didn't imagine Sakura would be scary when angry. But she's still beautiful when her cheeks are tainted in dark pink hues due to anger.
"Sarcasm doesn't suit you, you know." What kind of a statement is that? Are you making the situation worse? He scolded himself.
"Yeah, it does not suit me but I got the every right to be sarcastic right now!" she shot back.
"Please, I'll explain. It's not like what you think it is." He stepped closer to her, but she backed away. "Please."
"Fine. Let's get this over with." Sasuke then explained clearly what happened; of course he left the part when Ino asked him about Sakura. Sakura was somewhat disbelieving. Sasuke just sighed and tried to convince her once again and hopefully she believed him at the end. They were doing the project for quite sometime, Sakura explained all to Sasuke and asked him not to mention that he told her what happened, if Ino really wants to be biased, then they'll get even when the presentation comes.
It was already dark outside, and they finished the project just in time. All the time they were working together, Sasuke was quiet and listened to her instruction carefully. At times they would be sitting so close in the floor and their legs would brush against each other. They blushed deep red, and Sakura find it cute to see Sasuke blushing like mad. Sasuke just enjoyed her company in her house, like the house was perfectly made for the two of them. It made him very comfortable. They were very open to each other, sometimes one of them would start a conversation and they'll just answer truthfully which often ends up in a hearty laughter for both of them.
"Sakura-chan. I'll be going now, I would not want to be beheaded by my mom for going home late." He said jokingly.
"O-ok!" She stood up and walked him to the door. "Listen Sasuke-kun, I-I'm very sorry that I've been very mean to you. I was just irritated because I was exhausted from a day's work then you two didn't show up, so I presumed that more workload would be put in my shoulder again. So…. Sorry" Sakura bit her lip and looked down.
Sasuke's hand came up to touch her face and held her chin to look up at him. Her heart was pounding very fast and so was his. "It's okay Sakura-chan. I can't be angry with a pretty girl like you. It's alright." Sasuke leaned in and whispered it in her ear. His hot breath made her flinch and sent shivers down her spine. She couldn't control herself not to show her nervousness, her breathing was already fast and shallow. His lips suddenly pressed against hers but for only a few seconds only and pulled away. Both of them looked at each other, somewhat wide eyed. Sasuke couldn't refrain himself anymore. He really was getting attached to her. And she was seduced by him but ironically she really liked it especially it was him who seduced her.
"I really got to go. Bye." Sasuke said and walked.
"Aah, be careful." Sakura whispered in a shaky voice. She just shares a 'smack' on the lips with Sasuke! She had never kissed anyone before, not even her ex-boyfriend. Is she really falling for him? No, it can't be. She can't. Her heart had just mended from the previous pain. How will she survive this time? But… the intimate aura surrounding them when they were still doing the project, she knew that he was not just a friend for her. Not just a friend but more…
Raindrops were heard, first it was a drizzle then it came louder and louder. It was raining hard outside. Sasuke! She remembered that he hadn't brought an umbrella, he would be soaking wet by now. She rushed outside with an umbrella, hoping to find Sasuke.
"Sasuke!" he turned at the voice calling for him. His wet hair and clothes were sticking to his body, which made him awkward to move. It was Sakura running up to him also soaking wet with an umbrella in her arms.
"Here. I was lucky to have found you." She panted and leaned up to kiss his cheek, their bodies were pressed against each other. He could feel her soft curves against his hard chest. "Stay safe." She whispered and walked back to her house.
Sasuke was just stunned. His hands reaching up for the spot where she kissed him and smiled.
You really got my heart captivated, do you know that? Ever since the first time I set my eyes on you….
A/N: How was this chapter? Is it good or bad? Does it lack something else? I hope you like this chapter! I know this is very long, forgive me:P By the way, thanks for those who reviewed! I really appreciate it! And also to those who gave me their ideas for my chapters! I'll explain the first part when Ino talked with Sakura on the cell phone. Ino was just faking it so Sasuke would believe her that Sakura wants to do the project herself so she can get Sasuke all be herself. I hope this chapter didn't make you readers go dizzy!
I was able to finish this chapter by the means of the idea given to me by: saki-kun. I used her idea for the first part, being grouped and Ino would torture Sakura or something. And the rest of the plot is mine! Bwahaha…
Author's Response
animeforever24 – Hello to you, thanks for the idea. I'll look for a place in my chapter to insert a Inoshika pairing, because this story is more oriented and focused on Sasusaku. :D
CaTzPoSt – Hello, here's my update. Sorry for the long wait!
My Odd of Your Even – hey, thanks for reviewing! And I corrected my first chapter already. The chapters are already in order now!
nixxie1430 – hello again! I know you… haha… thanks for reviewing! I hope you find this chapter interesting!
saki-kun – thanks for your idea! I hope you like this chapter.
Hyzenthlay-shine dew fur – yep, Sakura does have a boyfriend in the past! And apparently, HE will make a debut in later chapters! Hint hint! I won't say which chapter he will be in, just read and find out! I hope you like this!
Gothbrat – hello, thanks for the idea, I'm planning on using yours next time… it was great… :D Hope you like this chapter!
SasuSakuforeva-iloveSasuke – oh, you've got a good imagination for that brilliant idea you gave me! Thank you!
Crystalgail – oh hi crystal! You'll soon find out who Sakura's ex-boyfriend is! Haha… evil laugh I'm sorry for the late update, and I'm sorry this chapter is too long! ;