Hey party people!!!!! I couldn't sleep last night so I this was born. Yeah don't expect people to be super in character this is kind of just an exercise for me. Its also kind of an outlet, its going to have smut and fluff so don't expect a spectacular plot. This chapter is mostly an epilogue too.
Its super AU and its going to have a lot of awkward topics like drugs, sexuality, suicide, general teenage drama. For the most part I don't know what I'm talking about so its pretty irresponsible for me to write about them... oops too late. So I hope I don't offend anyone and I apologize if i do.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto
Living in a small town had its upsides. Living in a small town had its downsides. Living in a small town meant everyone knew everything about everyone. Secrets didn't stay secrets for more than an hour and your business was everyone's business. But if you never spoke your secrets aloud and you were careful to only mind your own business it was easy to fade in to the backdrop, to become one with the cornfields or the tacky blue wallpaper at Ichiraku's diner.
From the moment Sakura arrived in Konoha every move she made, every word she said was the subject of town gossip. Did they honestly think she couldn't hear their chatter?
She remembered the first time she had gotten an allowance from her Grandmother Tsunade. Sakura walked a quarter mile to the drug store to exchange her coins for candy, it was supposed to be the highpoint of the week. She left the drug store that day with a bag of taffy and an earful of the most disturbing rumors.
They talked about the budding romance between Mr. Asuma and Ms. Kurenai and about the mayor, Mr. Sabaku and his family affairs, but mostly they talked about the town doctor her flakey daughter.
"I hear she's shacking up with some Hollywood director wannabe and that's why she dumped her daughter with Dr. Tsunade." One woman had whispered to another.
"Well its right that she did." The friend answered. "Hollywood is no place for a little girl! I can guarantee Dr. Tsunade going to keep a tighter leash on this one, a bloodline can only support so many floozies."
"That pink hair though… she looks just like her Mama. For both of their sakes I hope she takes after her grandmother." Said a third woman and the other two gossipers nodded heartily in agreement.
I took Sakura fifteen seconds to realize they were talking about her family. I mean, how many other pink haired girls were there in town?
She realized that the part of their little exchange that irked her the most were the factual inaccuracies. First of all her mother's new boyfriend was a wannabe Hollywood producer not director. Secondly, Grandma Tsunade, or just plain Tsunade she had requested that Sakura call her ('Grandma' made her feel too old) wouldn't have to keep her granddaughter on any kind of leash. From the moment little Sakura gained the ability to walk and talk she became the responsible adult in the mother daughter duo. Sakura was the one that made sure bills were paid, the rent was in, and her mother was on time for her waitressing job. Sakura was the one who made grocery lists, breakfast, lunch, dinner and hangover cures. She was used to taking care of herself and her mother, she wouldn't need Tsunade's 'leash' or anyone else's for that matter. Sakura knew the rules in life, it was go hard or go home, survival of the fittest, and always remember that nice guy always finishes last. These were the essentials she used to arm herself against the hardships of city living. She sometimes wondered if the only reason her mother hadn't aborted her when she had the chance was because she knew she would be giving birth to the one person on earth who's life depending on taking care of her.
She was glad when her mother left her only daughter and a scuffed up suitcase on the doorstep of her grandmother's house in the itty-bitty town of Konoha. She was glad she would never have to see her mother's stupid face again. Those ladies were wrong again. Sakura didn't look a stitch like her mother. Sakura's mother had been blessed with the features and physique of an angel, a Victoria's Secret angel to be exact. The young girl knew that even after she hit puberty there was no hope of her ever looking like that. She was just plain faced and scrawny, she didn't inherit an exotic face or voluptuous curves. She was just a snot nosed brat and she knew it.
How could those town ladies talk so fervently about unconfirmed facts and stories? Things they didn't know were true?
Sakura liked knowing things. When she lived in the little one bedroom apartment in the city she used to take out books from the library in a big burlap potato sack she had found under the rusty kitchen sink.
In Tsuande's beautiful old farmhouse / practice there was a room inside of the house filled with books, atlases, and journals. Sakura could actually take her time reading the books without having to worry about due dates and late fees. It was like her mother had dropped her off on god's doorstep. She had all the books she could ever dream of reading.
It seemed that Tsunade also liked knowing things. If Sakura couldn't find it in a book, Tsuande would always be the place she could go for the answer. It wasn't like Sakura's mother who only knew about make up and seducing married men, Tsunade knew about animals, the law, and the language. Sakura wondered how such a brilliant woman could give birth to such dumb one.
Adjusting to living with someone who actually had a neuron or two firing upstairs proved to be somewhat of a challenge. Sakura wasn't used to not being the boss, to not having the final say, to giving up her independence. She didn't know how to let another person care for her, she didn't know how an eight year old was supposed to act. It didn't take her long to figure out she didn't like being treated like an eight year old, not after she had spent her entire cognitive life being treated as a thirty eight year old.
She fought with her new guardian, she never listened to her new schoolteachers, and initially she had trouble connecting with her new classmates.
All of the sudden there was something called "bed time" and there were these arbitrary lines and rules to obey. It was polite to engage her fellow towns people in conversations and greet everyone she met with a hearty "Hello! Mr. Iruka" or "Good Morning! Ms. Anko". Stores were closed after six on weekdays and failed to open at all on Sundays. Small children like herself weren't allowed to roam the streets after dark.
Her teachers treated her like a baby and always planned the most infantile lessons, tasks so simple monkeys could complete them blindfolded. What self respecting third grader couldn't write in cursive or needed help remembering their times tables?
One of her classmates, Shikamaru couldn't even manage to stay away for lessons. Other boys like Naruto and Chouji spent the entire day munching on snacks and making burp and fart jokes. One boy even smuggled animals into the class, that sad part was even the animals made better students than these clods. Sakura loathed her new classmates and tried every morning to get out of going to school.
Things got better when she was befriended by Ino. Ino was glamorous like Sakura mother and she knew all about being a girly girl like Sakura's mother, but unlike Sakura's mother, Ino had a personality. She was confident, outgoing, and adventurous, everything Sakura wanted to be. Everyone wanted to be Ino's friend.
Being from the city gave Sakura a much needed status boost, it also didn't hurt that Ino and Sakura actually got along fairly well too, it wasn't long before the two girls became inseparable.
After that, things got good for Sakura. The town ladies found a new topic of interest, school became a whole hell lot more bearable, and she learned how to live compatibly with her grandmother. It seemed Sakura had adjusted quite well.
Or maybe she had adjusted too well. Those who knew her before moving to Konoha might even suggest the pink haired girl had gotten complacent in her new environment.
If there were a Miss Teen Konoha, Sakura would be it. By her junior year of high school she was the steady girlfriend of the football captain and heartthrob Sasuke Uchiha, was consecutively elected homecoming queen since she entered her freshman year, she had the highest GPA in the history of the school and to top it all off she was vice president of her SGA.
She had everything; she was a high school junior who had everything the girls of Konoha went to bed wishing for. She always had the right clothes, the right shoes, the right accessories. She listened to the right music liked all the right movies and read all the right books. Everyone knew the town sweet heart riding around town in little red convertible she received for her sixteenth birthday. She was the envy of her classmates and an example for the lowerclassmen. And yet…
She was bored, completely and utterly bored out of her mind. Any other girl would sit back and bask in her own success and greatness, but not Sakura. She hated herself no- she loathed herself. Deep down, she knew she was a coward.
Perfect little Sakura, terrified of breaking rules, obsessed with her appearance her schoolwork, due dates, deadlines, time limits, customs, traditions; if there was a right way to do something Sakura obsessed over it.
Every morning she got up at dawn in order to have enough time to shower, blow dry her hair, and apply make up. When the process was over and done with she would stare at her reflection in the mirror and not once did she ever like the girl who she saw. It made her want to smash her fists straight through the glass and force herself to swallow the shards.
She knew now why her mother had been so eager to leave this place. It wasn't that the air was unclean or that the sunrises and sunsets were not beautiful, the people, while they were nosy and judgmental, they were still good and honest people and overall Konoha was a nice place to live. But it wasn't life, it wasn't alive, there was no heart beating and lung breathing, there was no pulse. Nothing ever changed except maybe for the weather, and boy did they love talking about the weather!
Life in the city with her mother, though it was difficult and sometimes a little miserable, it was still fast paced and unpredictable. Sakura knew that if she tried hard enough she would be able to thrive and master it, but it would be a challenge. Challenges were something she only dreamed about, disaster was something she wished for, and stagnancy was all she got. She needed something, anything to keep her from turning into a zombie.
But she was a coward, and her boredom would become her secret.
Konoha Senior High School was the smallest high school in the county. Students took seven classes total. The four mandatory classes for juniors were English, Trigonometry, Physics, and World History. These mandatory classes were broken up into two sections, a high level and a low level. Sakura took all high level classes and while she did well in all of them, she particularly excelled in Math and Science. History was too easy and didn't interest her very much and she found English to be often times very problematic. Research papers and constructed essays were simple enough, but plays, prose and poetry… That was a whole other story. Electives made up for the three extra class periods and were generally a conglomeration of all four grades. Students were permitted to take other academic electives or arts, sports or technology classes. Her junior year Sakura was taking Home Economics, Molecular Biology, and Environmental Science as her electives.
Having a schedule so jam packed full of academic courses meant that much of Sakura's days were spent completing school assignments and studying for exams. When she wasn't hitting the books she spent the weekdays working in Tsunade's office or hanging out with Ino. Fridays were game days. As the designated girlfriend of Sasuke Uchiha she was obligated to be at every game to cheer on her man. She wasn't a cheerleader or on the pep squad or anything like that, that was mostly a freshman's thing, but if Sakura wasn't at every match standing in the very front row screaming in support of her man, Sasuke would throw a hissy fit.
To tell you the truth he wasn't even that skilled of a quarterback. He was good, but he wasn't great. What really brought him fame was his handsome face and sizable trust fund. Sasuke was easily the hottest and wealthiest boy in Konoha. He was the very definition of tall dark and handsome and his parents owned over three fourths of the farmland in the county. The Uchihas were the Hilton or Trump family of Konoha. Being Sasuke's girl was both an honor and a highly coveted position. Sakura was kind of getting sick of it. 'Kind of' being the understatement of the century.
From afar Sasuke seemed gentlemanly and debonair, but it was all an act. Those who had the pleasure of knowing him knew that he was really actually a selfish, arrogant son of a bitch. The boy really did believe the earth revolved around him and he made sure to let you know it. Konoha football might as well have been called The Sasuke Show because they never tried a play where he wasn't the hero or that didn't allow him to score the game-winning touchdown. He was also probably the one person Sakura knew who spent more time in front of the mirror in the morning (and between classes).
If Sakura hoped to keep his affection she had to obey his every whim no matter how small or trivial. She let Sasuke tell her who to talk to, where to sit, what parties and events to go to. It was slowly getting to the point where he dictated what clothes she could wear and what food she could eat. If he had his way he would control every aspect of her life.
Sasuke never failed to remind her just how easily she could be dumped for someone more submissive or someone with a prettier face or better body. He accepted gifts from female admirers and openly flirted with other girls, sometimes right in front of her face. He made up lies and stories about vulgar sexual acts he had gotten Sakura to perform with him in dangerous places. Sakura often found herself doing his homework or projects for him whenever he doubted her brilliance.
And she wasn't stupid after all. In fact, she could see clearly exactly how easily he was manipulating her. It was obvious even to her that every word that came out of his mouth, every time he touched her or even looked at her was just another way he planned on controlling her just another way he kept her beneath him. Sakura could see his malevolence burning bright as daylight and she did nothing to avoid or escape it. She loved how difficult it was to gain approval from her boyfriend because it made it all the sweeter when she got it. This too was something she hated about herself.
English, in addition to being her least favorite subject, was the only class she had with Sasuke, which made it extra stressful. Mr. Guy, or Guy as his students took to calling him, lived for English. The man absolutely loved the subject. He often began class periods with the dramatic rendition of a monologue from his favorite Shakespeare play or he acted the part of a famous literary character and the students had to guess what novel he was referencing.
"Could this teacher get any gayer?" Sasuke remarked snidely not even bothering to keep his voice down. He was reading the latest issue of Sports Illustrated Magazine while Sakura took notes for the two of them from Guy's lecture.
Sakura pretended not to have heard him and continued focusing on the lesson. It bothered her when Sasuke used the word 'gay' as an insult. It didn't matter whether their teacher liked men, women, or both; his sexual preference was none of their business. Besides, Sakura kind of admired Guy, he really was passionate about his work and passion was something her own life lacked.
Sex with Sasuke could only be described as tedious and unpleasant. It was another of Sakura's job as the designated girlfriend to attend social gathering with Sasuke, social gatherings being the drinking parties in Kiba Inuzka's basement after football games (win or lose). At these parties Sakura usually sat beside Sasuke while he reveled in his fame and glory. Next they would engage in some public display of affection in the form of Sasuke sticking his tongue in her mouth and the night always ended with her letting him spend a couple minutes on top of her in the guest bedroom. She figured as long as he used a condom it was better than having to deal with his whining or having to watch the pathetic attempts of freshman girls to steal him from her. God if only they knew how awful he was in bed.
None of the characters in the books or plays they read about in English class were so pitiful. None of the scientists, mathematicians or world leaders she learned about in any of her other classes made her want to cry out in exasperation. What exactly was keeping her from breaking up with Sasuke?
"Sakura! Sakura!" he hissed poking her with his pen.
"Mm?" she answered actually making an effort to keep her voice down. Guy didn't deserve to have his lessoned disturbed because Sasuke was a fucktard who couldn't even wipe his ass with out a consultation first.
"Pay attention." He ordered with a gesture toward the teacher. There was ten minutes left in the class period and Guy had cut his lecture short in order to explain a project he was assigning.
"In the spirit of youth I've decided to allow you the freedom to choose whatever great literary work you so desire to complete this project." Guy explained in a booming voice.
"Does that mean gossipgirl books count?" asked Ino.
"The gossipgirl series is an excellent celebration of the springtime of youth, but no you may not do your project on any book, play, poem, or speech that has been adapted into a movie or TV show." The teacher answered. "Any other questions before I explain the specifics of the project? No? Excellent! Let me hand out some rubrics."
Guy went behind his desk and pulled out a stack of papers. He then handed the stack to Rock Lee his favorite student and asked him to distribute them to the rest of the class. When Sakura finally got her hands on that rubric she fought to hide her grimace. This was a partner project, which meant that she would be Sasuke's partner and end up shouldering the entire weight of the project by herself.
" Now the project is really very simple, what ever work you and your partner agree on, I want you to complete it." Said Guy.
Complete it? What on earth did he mean by that? If something was published doesn't that make it complete by default? Who were they to say it wasn't compete already?
Guy chuckled. "I see my precious students are a bit confused. What I want is for you two write a sequel…you know a follow up or an update. Tell me what happened to the characters or the speaker, where did they go when the curtains closed or the story ended."
So this was some sort of creative writing assignment. Creative writing wasn't really one of Sakura's strengths, but she knew she could come up with something that appealed to Guy's sense of pathos. Guy was pretty transparent when it came to his likes and dislikes and he was a sucker for a good inspirational saga.
"Excuse me sir," Sakura said politely raising her hand, "you didn't include a due date on the rubric. When were you expecting us to turn these papers in by?"
Guy flashed his students a pearly white grin. "Well this is more than just a paper. I want you to put a lot of time and effort into this project. I'm not talking about a five-page essay; I want manuscripts from you all. You will be free to hand in your work at any time during the year but I want to have it before final exams in the spring. This is a year long project and I'm expecting great things." He said with barely contained enthusiasm.
"Ah, I see." Sakura said with a smile no way near the same caliber of Guy's. "It is also in the spirit of youth to allow us to chose our own partners, wouldn't you agree, Sir?" she asked. Having Sasuke as a partner really wasn't the worst thing in the world, at least he would let her do it her way.
"I would indeed agree! I'm glad your thinking of ways to embrace your youth Ms. Haruno." Guy said.
Sakura caught herself smiling genuinely. She loved it when teachers complimented her and she loved it when things when her way. She would partner up with Sasuke and get this project over and done with as soon as possible. At least that was the plan before Guy completed his thought.
" But in the interest in making sure you all get the most out of your education I've decided to assign partners this time." He took a wad of folded up paper out of the pocket of his Kelly green muscle shirt. "You see I've already made a list."
Her face fell. Shit! She was going to get paired up with Rock Lee; she knew she was going to get paired up with Rock Lee! Rock Lee had been very obvious and very forthcoming about his 'love' for Sakura. He had asked her out on multiple occasions and she always rejected him. To be fair Lee was a really nice boy who would probably make a much better boyfriend than Sasuke, but god…those eyebrows, that hair and those clothes! He was like something out of a circus! But he was also the teachers pet, so chances were Guy would try and do his favorite student a favor by pairing him with the girl he was crushing on.
"I better not get paired with Uzumaki…" Sasuke grumbled under his breath. Sakura found herself wishing that he would get paired with Naruto Uzuamki, the boy with the lowest GPA in the junior class. It was a complete mystery how he managed to land himself in the high level English class. Naruto was on the football team with Sasuke. All in all he was a fantastic line backer. State Colleges had sent scouts out to watch him play games. It was unfortunate that the boy was about as dumb as a box of rocks. His family was good friends with hers to the extent to which Tsunade treated him as an honorary grandchild. Despite this Sakura did her best not to associate with the likes of him. She had a feeling he was the kind of boy her mother might have hung around. And look at how far that got her.
"I'll read off the groups now." The teacher announced to the class waiting in silent anticipation. "Hinata you're with Kiba."
Sakura blinked. They would certainly make an interesting couple. Hinata Hyuuga was the shy daughters of a big oil family who Sakura had heard her speak maybe four words in her entire life. Kiba was the football team's full back as well as a very lucid drunk. Tsunade had once remarked that Kiba acted as if wolves had raised him. Daddy Hyuuga would love to have that one over for dinner.
"Next we have, Ino and Naruto, Chouji and Shikamaru, Tenten and Shino." Guy paused to turn over the scrap of paper. "Sakura…Let's see Sakura you're with…"
Not Lee! She prayed. Not Lee! Please anyone but Lee!
"Sakura and Gaara." She heard the teacher say. Sakura almost fell out of her chair. Gaara!?! Gaara?!?! She changed her mind. She would take Rock Lee over Gaara any day of the week. Why did the universe hate her so much? Why on earth had she been paired with Gaara? That boy was a freak!
She had actually forgotten he was even in her class. He always sat in the very back of the room and never participated in discussions. The only time anyone ever noticed his presence was when he or she could feel a deadly aura emanating from next to the radiator. No one really knew what it was that pissed him off so much, but when Gaara was in a bad mood you could sense it in the air. It was common knowledge that he was the student most likely to try blowing up the school or murdering a classmate.
He had been suspended numerous times through out his school career. He had almost gotten expelled from middle school for punching a teacher. The only thing that kept him from getting kicked out was the fact that his father was mayor of their little town. Gaara was the youngest of the three Sabaku children.
The older two, Temari and Kankuro, were totally normal and generally well liked by people in town. Gaara was the Sabaku family's bad apple. Aside from his long history of violence and disrespecting authority, Gaara never put any effort into his school work. He had no friends, not a single one. Sakura had never seen anyone willing engage in conversation with the boy. And for good reason too.
Gaara only wore black. Every piece of clothing she had ever seen him wear was black, worn and baggy. There was a rumor that said the day Gaara wore any color other than black to school, was the day he would bring a gun to class and murder them all. Sakura shivered just thinking about it.
And if wearing black and knocking out teachers didn't make him enough of a deviant, Gaara was a known drug user and perhaps even a drug dealer. Kiba claimed to have witnessed him snorting powder and crushed pills on several separate occasions. Another boy from the football team Suigetsu told the principle he saw Gaara outside behind the boys locker rooms smoking marijuana. Since no one ever talked to him, no one knew just how serious his drug problem was.
Sakura turned in her chair to see if Gaara reacted at all to having his name called, or if he made any sign of having listened to the project outline. It didn't even seem like he was on the same planet as the rest of them.
For once he didn't seem to be angry. He still looked pretty frightening though, black eyeliner around eyes that cold and aloof did not give Sakura a happy feeling inside. He just sat there scribbling (or doodling she couldn't really tell) in his composition book never once looking up to meet Sakura's gaze. Everyone wondered about what kind of twisted things they might find in one of Gaara's notebooks. Ino claimed to have gotten a peek at a few of the pages and said she saw creepy skeleton drawling and portraits of town buildings and residents on fire. Again not something that really inspired faith in his overall mental health.
He just looked like he had been born a weirdo. Everyone in Konoha sported a healthy tan (save Sakura and a few others who applied sunscreen religiously because taking one step outside during the summer meant burning themselves to a crisp, but even they had some color to them) but Gaara was as pale as a ghost. His white skin looked even eerier next to his rust colored mop of unruly red hair. Even if he weren't dressed like the grim reaper, these attributes alone would have been enough to make him stand out in a crowd.
Maybe it wouldn't be that bad. She was planning on doing the entire thing herself anyway. It would be easiest just to tell Gaara that the entire thing was being taken care of and to just go on writing his Death Note.
"Rock will be with Jugo, and last but not least Sasuke and Karin." Sakura heard Guy say finishing off the list.
Sasuke was with the new girl Karin. Sakura thought Karin was fairly attractive, intelligent, and nice enough too. However she was also sure Karin had a major thing for her boyfriend. She had to wonder whether Karin would be ballsy enough to try to steal Sasuke out from under her. Sakura almost cared. Almost.
The class was alive with chattering between both satisfied and disgruntled partners. Guy waved his hands over his head trying to get the class settled down and grab their attention. "Class…Class!" he called and waited for the noise to die down. When the class was finally still again he continued his instruction. " I'm going to post a calendar outside the classroom door for each months. I expect each group to sign up once a month to meet with me and update me on your progress. I specifically made your pairs based on your own writing styles. A seasoned teacher such as myself will notice if only one of the writing styles is represented. All of my students are brilliant and youthful so I will not hear any excuses as to why you can't work together." Guy said seriously.
Oh was that a fact? Did he not notice the creeper brooding in the back of the class? How on earth was she supposed to collaborate with that boy? Sakura started to feel overwhelmed with dread. There was no way she could deal with someone like him. She looked over at her boyfriend to see if she could expect any support from him at all. He was busy cleaning the dirt our from under his fingernails.
"Sasuke?" She whispered.
"What do you know about this Karin chick? She's new right?" Sasuke answered absently.
"Yeah she's from the city but her parents moved her here for the rest of high school. I don't think she was thrilled with their decision, I can empathize with her." Said the pink haired girl.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes at her but didn't answer.
"What am I supposed to do with Gaara as my partner?" Sakura asked.
Her boyfriend shrugged his shoulders. "That's your problem isn't it?"
Sakura found it hard to concentrate as Guy continued ranting about how wonderful the project was going to be for them all and suggesting titles for their usage. This was going to be a disaster. She was going to have to step up her doting girlfriend act in order to keep her claim on Sasuke. As crappy of a boyfriend as he was, she had invested a lot in him and part of her really did care about him. And if that wasn't bad enough she was going to have to work with Gaara the anti social wack job unless she wanted to fail English class. No decent college was going to accept the girl who failed English junior year.
There was no escape. Sakura was just going to have to deal with her problems head on like she would anything else. When the bell rang signaling the end of the class period she decided she was just going to have to jump right into it.
She shoved her books into her bookbag and jumped out of her chair. She knew she needed to catch Gaara before he left the classroom and she lost sight of him.
" Gaara!" Sakura called after him. "Gaara wait up we have to talk about our project!" She caught up to him as he was walking out of the class. He didn't even carry a bag or schoolbooks, just that wretched notebook.
Suddenly they were face to face. Gaara was only slightly taller than she was and she could tell underneath his baggy clothes he was frightfully thin. He shouldn't have been physically intimidating but he was. For some reason she had no words, her throat was dry it wasn't working. He stared at her with his icy jade eyes waiting for her to state her business. Finally as he was about to turn away she started to speak.
"Our project." She said apprehensively readjusting the strap of her bag on her shoulder. Gaara's gaze was penetrating and unwavering it gave her the chills. " Uh… when do you want to get together to work on it? I know we've got a while to get it done, but school is really important to me and I've got a very busy schedule."
"Busy schedule…" Gaara repeated impelling Sakura to blush.
"Yeah…" She said giving a nervous laugh. "Really busy… So are you free on Thursday. I've got time after school."
"No." he answered.
Sakura stifled her annoyance. All of the sudden he had gone from scary to irritating in two seconds flat. Why the hell wouldn't he be free on Thursday? He didn't have a job or extra curricular. Was there some big drug deal or a creepers convention going on? "Ok." She said patiently. "What day is good for you?"
"I might have an opening next spring." Said the red head not bothering to mask his sarcasm.
"Right… next spring." Sakura said with a nod imitating the way he imitated her. " Look I'm not going away. This class, well all my classes actually, are really important to me. So you can either cooperate with me-"
"Or what? " he asked cutting her off. While they were talking the classroom had emptied. Sasuke had chose not to wait for Sakura (which didn't surprise her in the slightest) and she was becoming increasingly aware that if she didn't finish up this exchange soon, she would be late for her next class.
"I'm asking you nicely. Like I said before this is really important." She said. He had to understand. Everyone knew what kind of an overachiever and perfectionist she was. The two stood in the doorway as the people hallways started to clear out. She knew he was stalling on purpose. She knew he knew she hated being late. "Gaaraaa" she pleaded.
The boy standing opposite her crossed his arms and scowled. "Then do it yourself."
"You heard what the teacher said!"
"I'm sure you'll figure something out." He answered. Sakura knew he was dismissing her.
"But Gaara!" she tried. And failed, it was too late the boy had already turned his back on her and was shuffling down the empty hallway. All she could do was watch his retreating form.
There was no point in following him. Not now at least. It was clear he was in no mood to make plans to work with her. She was going to have to try again later and she was going to have to get creative.
Now it wasn't just about her not being able to complete the project by herself, it was about his overall reluctance to do the right thing and just suck it up. Sakura was going to make it her personal mission to see to it that he contribute properly or else.
Who did he think he was anyway? Yes, life in Konoha could really weigh down on a person but that didn't make anyone else all dark and twisted or rude. God stupid teenage angst; she wondered if he knew how lame he really was.
Boys in general were proving to be lame and a waste of time. Stupid Gaara, stupid Sasuke! If she didn't care so much about her reputation she would dump Sasuke and hit Gaara over the head with her copy of War and Peace.
But her reputation was about all she had and if Sasuke wasn't her boyfriend who would be, Lee? She didn't think so.
That meant she was going to have to stay even later after school to decorate the boy's locker room for the game on Friday. Maybe this way he would forget about convincing her to get his jersey number tattooed to her body. At least that would give her time to plan out a strategy against Gaara.
Sakura was not about to go down with out a fight.
Thanks for reading! I'm hoping to update this fairly regularly. I don't know if some of you have read my other stories. I usually write in more than one point of view. If you guys want/like that kind of style let me know and I'll continue this story in that fashion. Thanks again for reading and if you're feeling up to it leave a review. :) :)