Taru: X.x
Aki: What are you doing?
Demyx: She said that she was gonna play dead so her readers won't kill her for not updating for so long.
Axel: That's a stupid plan.
Miyuki: Well, Taru's just full of stupid plans!
Aki: True.
Taru: HEY!!! Okay, joking aside. I do apologize for not updating again, but things happened. I started working more often, school started again, I wanted to spend some time with some friends before they go off to collage, and not to mention I lost another friend to cancer. Second time this year, which made it kind of harder. No to mention for a little while I was having problems dealing with being called worthless by my dad. So...yeah, you've basically been caught up with everything that's happened to me since I last updated. Oh yeah, I also fell in love with Bleach.
Aki: The point is your writing again.
Taru: Yup, and I should be updating normally again for a while. I'll even update my other story! Though, not today, I'm being kicked off the computer soon.
Miyuki: We can wait.
Demyx: And I'm sure everyone else can too.
Axel: But who would?
Taru: -Stomps on Axel-
Hanatarou: I would!
Taru: SQUEE!!! HANA-CHAN!!!!!!! -Huggles Hana-chan-
Aki: Well, go on and read the next chapter!
Recap:
"Oh, thanks." I said, stuffing the can into my backpack.
"You're welcome! Now if you'll kindly direct me to your house..."
"Oh yeah, it's this way..."
Chapter eighteen: It's my party and I'll cry if I want to!
"I can't believe she sang me happy birthday over the intercom!" Naruto said, sinking down into his seat against the wall. It was his birthday today and Ms. Taru had decided to sing him a very loud and off key rendition of "happy birthday".
"Aw, don't be embarrassed, Naruto!" I smiled, rubbing his head to mess up his hair. "She'll probably end up singing it to all of us on our own birthdays."
His face turned an even deeper shade of red. "Stop that!" He pushed my hand away and straitened his hair. Everybody laughed at him as we sat around outside out of school. "So all of you guys are coming to my party tonight, right?"
"Y-yes, Naruto." Hinata smiled, pushing her two fingers together in front of her face.
"Of course!" Lee smiled.
"Yeah, Naruto, we'll all be there!" I nearly fell off of the wall I had been sitting on when Ms. Taru popped up behind us. She waved innocently at us and grinned.
"You can come Ms. Taru?" Naruto asked.
She nodded. "I always make time for my students! Especially their birthdays!! I've even got your gift all picked out!"
"Well, the party starts at seven, and I've got to get home to get some things ready, so I'll see you all there!" Naruto said, waving to us as he started his way home.
"And speaking of being off..." With a loud crack Ms. Taru threw a smoke bomb on the floor and cackled maniacally for a minute, but when the smoke cleared she was still standing there. "Oh, right! I was supposed to run away..."
I felt a sweat drop rolling down the back of my head as I shook it. "We'll see you tonight, Ms. Taru."
She waved and ran off into the school. "Maybe we all should go off and do our own thing." Ten ten suggested.
"Yeah, we'll all see each other tonight." Lee said. Everyone stood up, but before I got anywhere I remembered that I had to go ask Ms. Taru about something.
"C'mon, Sakura." Sasuke said, offering his hand to help me up.
I took the hand and he pulled me up, swung my backpack over my shoulder and smiled sweetly at him. "I have to do something. You go home, I'll see you tonight."
Sasuke seemed to hesitate, but eventually gave in and left with everyone else. The halls were empty by now and only a few rooms were occupied by the teachers that were still doing some things. Without really giving it any thought I made my way to the office. Tsunade was supposed to be working on some papers, but instead was snoring and drooling off a hangover. So predictable... I was about to open the door Ms. Taru's office when I heard some strange noises from inside there.
"Ung...Say my name, bitch!!" That's Ms. Taru's voice...but, what is she doing?!
"Oh, ah...Ow!! H-Ho...taru!!!" Oh my god! That's Jiraiya!
"That's right! Now say it again! ...Or I'll make it even harder!!" Her voice was straining slightly.
Jiraiya yelled out in pain again. "Ahh!! Hotaru! Hotaru!!"
"Ms. Taru!!" I shouted, throwing the door open before I even thought about what I was doing. They're...they're...wrestling? Super Intendant Jiraiya was face down on Ms. Taru's desk, while she sat on his back and grabbed one of his legs, pulling it back as far as she could get it.
Ms. Taru looked up and pulled harder on his leg. "Oh, hi, Sakura! What are you doing here?"
"Well..." I looked at Jiraiya as he squirmed in pain under her. "I wanted to ask you something. But could we do this without you trying to kill the Super Intendant?"
"I second that!" Jiraiya added.
With a sigh Ms. Taru pulled on Jiraiya's leg one last time and hopped off of him, making sure to step extra hard on his back. "What can I do for you?" She grinned.
"I was just wondering if you could give me a ride to and from Naruto's tonight." I asked, taking a seat in the chair by the door.
She clasped her hands together in front of her as her eyes got big and teary. "You're finally coming to me for help! I'm so happy!!" She jumped on me and enveloped me in a hug knocking me out of the chair I was in.
"Ack! Ms. Taru!!" I yelled, trying to pry myself from her iron grip.
"Now that's the kind of modeling I've been waiting for!" Jiraiya grinned, blood dripping from his nose as he watched Ms. Taru hug me, her skirt falling up so you could see her panties.
Just at that moment Kakashi and Aki walked into her office. "Ready to go...Taru?" Aki rolled her eyes. "What are you doing?"
"I'm just so happy that she finally came to me in her time of need!!" She smiled widely and hugged me tighter. "Oh I've been waiting for this for so long! It's like the turning point in our student/principal relationship!! It's such an honor to know that she really trusts that she can come to me and I can help her! I feel so special that she is finally coming to me! Oh!! It's so exciting--"
"Ok, now why don't you let Sakura go so she can breath again?"
"Whoops! Sorry!!" Ms. Taru let me go and got up, smoothing out her skirt and grinning again. "And to answer your question from earlier; of course I'll take you!! It will be like a principal/student bonding car ride thing!"
"Thanks..." I sighed, sitting up and brushing some hair out of my face.
Ms. Taru jumped up and down, clapping her hands excitedly. "In fact...I'll gladly drive you home right now too!!"
"Oh, that's alright, you don't need to--" My refusal went unheard as Ms. Taru grabbed my hand and dragged me strait out of the room and to her car.
While back in the room Aki sighed in frustration. "Kakashi?"
"Yeah, I'll give you a ride home." He said, turning and making his way out of the room.
"Thanks..." Aki replied, following his lead and heading out of the room.
---
It was just before seven and I was sitting in the living room, a towel and fresh clothes and Naruto's gift in a bag neatly set on the floor next to my feet. "You'd think that with how much enthusiasm she was showing earlier Ms. Taru'd be here already..." I thought to myself.
"Sakura? Don't you have a party to go to?" Mom asked, walking out of the kitchen with a cup of peach tea in one hand and a book in the other.
"Yeah, but my ride isn't here yet." I sighed, continuing to flip through the channels on the tv.
She set down the tea and her book and sat down next to me. "Well, if you need me to, I could always drop you off and pick you up."
I smiled and shook my head. "Thanks, Mom, but I'm sure that my ride'll be here any sec--" Ding dong! And there's Ms. Taru and her perfect timing again.
"That must be your ride!" My mom stood and mad her way to the door. "Hello!" She smiled brightly, opening the door.
"Heyo!" My favorite purple haired, psychotic principal grinned, waving sweetly to my mother. "You've gotta be Sakura's mum!"
"Yes, I am." Mom put out her hand for Ms. Taru to shake. "And you are?"
She took Mom's hand and shook it excitedly. "I'm the one who puts the "pal" in "principal" for Konoha Highschool! My name's Hotaru Akimori! But I also go by Hotaru, Taru, or even Pookey sometimes! It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Haruno!"
"Well, I do hope you take care of my baby girl, Ms. Hotaru."
"Of course!" She grinned at waved at me. "You ready to go, Sakura?"
"Yes, let's go before we're late. I'll see you later, Mom!" I smiled, rushing out of the door.
"Have fun, hun!" My mom called, closing the front door once we were in the jeep.
I set my stuff in the back and got into the passengers seat. "Ms. Taru, I've basically given up on trying to figure you out, but why do you have a wagon tied to the back of you jeep? And better yet, why is the a giant gift bag on that wagon?"
She turned on the car and from what sounded like a play people singing about "everyone being a little bit racist" started to play. "Well, that's what took me so long! I was trying to find some way to get Naruto's gift in the car, but it wouldn't fit! So I tried tying it to the top of the car, but that doesn't really work that well with a jeep. So after a long time of searching for some way to get it to the party, one of my neighbors offered to lend me thing wagony...thing...And then I had to get that bight thing into the wagon and get it to to the party! And speaking of which, we're here!"
The music could be heard even out here in the front yard. "Damn, that was fast."
"Yup! I'm just good like that!" Ms. Taru grinned, getting out of the car. "Alright, now could you help me with the gift?"
"Oh, right!" I jumped out of the car and grabbed my bag before helping Ms. Taru get the gift, (which happened to be bigger than me by the way), off of the big wagon on the back of her car, and into the little wagon she was going to use to drag it to into the back yard. We followed the "P" sign, the "A" sign, the "R" sign, the "T" sign and the "Y" all the way into the back yard.
"Hey, Sakura! Hey, Ms. Taru!" Naruto called, waving from his spot inside of the pool.
"POOL!!!" Ms. Taru shouted, dropping the wagon handle and pulling off her skirt and shirt before jumping into the pool. "Happy birthday, Naruto!!" She smiled, pulling the blond into a head-lock and giving him nuggies like there's no tomorrow.
"Yeah, happy birthday, Naruto!" I called, smiling as I watched him struggle with Ms. Taru's nuggies. I laughed to myself as I pulled out his present and set it on the table filled with presents. My bathing suit was under my clothes as I dropped my pants and shirt I felt the cold air and my skin and shivered slightly.
"Someone's looking good tonight." A familiar voice whispered in my ear and two strong arms wrapped around my waist. I smiled to myself and turned around to give Sasuke a quick kiss on the lips.
"You're not so bad yourself." I grinned. "Now c'mon, let's get in the pool." We walked to the side of the pool and smirked to myself. "One." I looked at Sasuke who smirked back at me. "Two." I prepared to jump in. "Thre--" I was cut off when somebody's hand grabbed my ankle and pulled me in.
When I got to the surface, Ms. Taru and Ms. Miyuki were laughing at me. "That's more like it, Sakura!" Ms. Taru grinned.
I glared and stuck my tongue out at her, but then smiled as Sasuke jumped in himself. It was actually really nice in the pool. Obviously it was a heated pool since it felt a lot warmer in here than the cool fall temperature it was outside of it. So the majority of the party was spent merely talking in the pool with Naruto, Hinata, Ten ten, Lee, Sasuke, Neji, Ms. Taru and some of the other teachers that had come. Although there were the occasional games like Marco Polo, sharks and minnows and even a chicken contest, (which was won by Ms. Taru and Kakashi, and Ms. Miyuki and Iruka , who had all teamed up against everyone else).
"Gift time!" Naruto called, getting everyone out of the pool.
"Oh! Oh! Open mine first!!" Ms. Taru called waving her hands to get his attention. "Mine's the really, really big one!"
"Alright." Naruto smiled, reading the card quickly before pulling the bag over the top of the present to reveal... "Oh..."
Everyone's eyes widened. "My..." Lee said.
"God..." I finished, looking at the massive present that stood before all of us.
"GIANT RAMEN!!!!!!!" Naruto shouted, clinging to his gift. And that's exactly what it was. Ms. Taru had bought Naruto a giant sized cup of instant ramen.
"YAY! I thought you'd like it!" Ms. Taru smiled widely. "That's from me and the teachers! I had to special order it from Alaska! It's supposed to be big enough to feel several third world countries!"
As everyone else was distracted by the extravagant gift, I was watching the giant gift bag she had covered it with as it began to crawl away. I moved away from everyone else and grabbed the bag to stop it from getting away. I lifted up the bag and shook it a little bit. That was when something small fell out and ran over to Ms. Taru and jumped onto her foot. She looked down and squealed. "OH MY GOD!! LOOK AT THE LITTLE DARLING!!!" Everyone looked over to see what Ms. Taru was screaming about now.
"What is it?" Ten ten asked.
I took whatever it was from Ms. Taru and looked closely at it. "It's a penguin." I stated.
"But, penguins don't even live in Ala...oh, you know what? Never mind..." Aki sighed and shook her head, giving up trying to make anything logical.
"I'll name you Greg!" Ms. Taru said, taking back the penguin and cuddling it lovingly.
"Back to my gifts!" Naruto grinned.
Naruto had gotten a lot of things. A Nintendo DS Lite from his dad, Leg weights from Lee, a pair of chopsticks that also doubled as a pin missle launcher from Ten ten, a movie from Neji, Hinata had gotten him a years worth of ramen (which he had practically glomped her for), and Sasuke had gotten him a box of different flavored ramen. Next he was going to open my gift. "It's not to special, it just made me think of you and I thought you might like it." I smiled.
He opened the box I had wrapped it in and pulled out a small fox plushie. A smile replaced his normal cheeky grin. "Thanks, Sakura. I really like it."
I smiled back and gave him a friendly hug. "You're welcome."
"Alright, cake time!" Naruto's dad smiled.
Our hug was cut short as I felt a hand pull me away. Sasuke glared at Naruto. "Ok, that's enough."
Now, I may think it's cute when he get's jealous, but this was too much. Yanking my shoulder from his grasp I glared at him. "Who are you to tell me when it's enough? I can hug my friends if I want to! You don't need to get jealous every time I get close to a guy!" Sasuke was about to reply back but he stopped when someone put a hand on his shoulder.
"Sorry to interrupt, but it's time for Sakura and I to go." Ms. Taru smiled gently. "C'mon, Sakura let's go."
The small penguin waddled behind Ms. Taru as she and I made our way out. "Happy birthday, Naruto." I waved to everyone as I left. "I'll see you all later." The car ride home was extremely silent.
"We're here." Ms. Taru said, parking in front of my home. I nodded silently and opened the door to leave. "You know...sometimes guys do things they don't exactly think would be bad or selfish, but it sorta comes out like that anyway."
"And? What's that supposed to mean?" I looked at her curiously.
"If they do things like that, you should be patient with them. Guys don't always get it right away, so you'll have to just sit down and talk to them about it. And if they're really right for you, they'll get what you mean."
I nodded and got out of the car, dragging my bag with me. "I think I get what you mean. Thanks Ms. Taru, I'll see you at school."
"Bai bai!" She grinned waving to me as she and Greg sped off down the road.
She's right. I should be a bit more patient with him. Damn hormones...I'll definitely call Sasuke later.
Taru: Well there you go! Nice and long chapter.
Hana-chan: That was good.
Taru: Thankies! SweetKisses9, sorry if I didn't say it clearly, but the little mini series is going to show up after one or two more chapters of this. And Jaded Delirium, Taru's willing to give you one of those cans! In fact, free self defense cans for everyone!! -Throws to all readers- And, NarutoXHinataPie (aka Kelly-chan), thanks! Taru was in the bush because she could be! And when she got her license, the teacher driver actually wore a crash suit to make sure he was safe. And, savvy, of course Taru will! -throws jar of sprinkles and a cell phone at Axel-
Axel: HEY!!
Taru: Onto the next one! Bundyngel, CHEETOS!!! -Glomps teh Bundyangle- Thankies! So, Uchida Risa, thanks! Taru's glad you like her! Sorry again for not updating regularly, but Taru will now! And no, Taru won't be in Suna, but she will be randomly calling Sakura's cell, and torturing the others while she's gone! And, mikannatsume, NO!!! Taru will hug you!! -Hugs mikannatsume tightly- Well, before Taru gets kicked off the computer she better load this chapter!
Aki: But don't worry, she should be back soon this time!
Taru: I will!! So review? Pweash? Tell Taru you're not that mad at her, or Taru will cry! And come back soon for the next part!