Hola, mis amigos!!!!
Happy June to you all!
And here I am, presenting my summer project: Surviving Summer.
Yes, another lame title to add to my other lame titles on this site. XD
So, basically, this is a Sakura/Naruto pairing, along with Neji/TenTen and maybe some Shikamaru/Ino. Some of the characters will be OoC, because that's just how I imagined this thing going. Sorry if that irks you.
Anyway, this is following a sixteen year old Sakura during a summer trip with her family. Difficulties lie ahead. . . Muahahah!
So, I'm not out of school yet. That's sad. But I'm cheating and going to school late. :D I hope you all get out for summer soon! My condolences if you don't.
I'm going to try and finish this by August. We'll see how that goes. XD Most of you know how I am with updating. Ugh.
Okay. I'm going to stop rambling now. I have a strong inkling that I'm procrastinating studying for my exam in a few hours. Bad KNO.
Disclaimer: I own neither the musical artists in this, nor Naruto. And we all know how unfortunate that is. :D
One.
Four words: I hate my parents.
Not for their usual dorkiness and embarrassing moments. No. What they were making me do was far more than the mild embarrassment they'd caused for me over my sixteen years of life.
No, they were taking me to the coast to suffer and stay at some resort that my dad's job had reserved as a reward for twenty years of working with them.
Six words: I am going to kill myself.
-
Surprisingly, the ride to the coast was almost silent; they didn't argue the whole way down.
Still, I didn't want to hear them try to engage me in generic conversation. Because inevitably, it would transpire into another shouting match. Somehow.
I listened to Metallica, thrumming my fingers to the riffs of the guitar.
I took pride in my music selections. Dark, brooding, and downright delinquent.
It fit my personality well.
-
The drive took four hours total and I tried to find things to amuse me.
There wasn't much.
Maybe a few cows grazing struck my interest. A negative six on a scale of ten to twenty.
Flipping wonderful.
"Sakura!!" yelled my mother.
Through the depths of metal and plastic and loud music, I heard her and popped an earphone out.
"We're here. Help me get the stuff out of the back."
I rolled my eyes and stuck my mp3 player in my back shorts pocket.
The sun was too bright. And it was hot.
Immediately, I disliked this.
What kind of city was this? Bright and sunny?
There were even a few birds chirping cheerfully.
Holy shit, I was in freaking Neverland!!!
Still looking blearily up at the sun, I scratched my forehead.
"Sakura! Help!" yelped my mother, struggling with a few multicolored beach chairs.
I took one under my arm and picked up a cooler filled with packs of ice (apparently my mother thought ice was nonexistent at a beach town). The chair banged against my legs as I moved forward, rattling and creaking.
The resort looked pretty spruced up. White columns supporting the office's roof and a tiled sidewalk. When I walked inside, I was met with some really crappy (but soothing!) jazz muzak. The sitting area was carpeted in various blues and everything looked pristine and labeled. The staff wore a light blue polo and khaki shorts. Their names were engraved on a nameplate that was fastened to their breast pocket.
Really.
The receptionist's name was Nickette.
And no, I did not make that up.(1)
My mom smiled, trying to be pleasant.
"We're the Harunos? We made a reservation?"
The girl scanned the listings blandly and nodded, getting up and going to the back wall and retrieving a key.
"Room 27."
"Thank you," my mother said graciously.
My dad looked bored but said, "Come get me when you find it. I'll be by the car."
So me and my mom set off together.
She looked genuinely happy to be here, swinging her head around to take in all that wonderful sunshine.
"Isn't this lovely, Sakura?" she remarked, expecting me to be just as joyous.
Fat chance.
I decided not to answer. Maybe she would get the hint.
No such luck.
"I think this will be good for all of us, dear. We can all relax and have fun for a change!"
False hope. She's so blind.
Again, I said nothing.
"You know, this has been really hard for me and your dad lately, and—!"
"Mom," I said loudly, interrupting, "I really don't want to talk about this right now, okay?!"
She glanced at me and saw that I was serious.
"Oh. Alright, then."
We walked in silence until we found our condo, overlooking the pool, two stories up.
My mom whipped out the key and unlocked the door, charging inside in anticipation.
It looked pretty ordinary, like a mini-apartment. Again with the blues.
I went down the hall, barely looking in the other rooms.
There was a glimpse of green I saw at the end.
I walked through the bedroom and glanced at the side. A window seat.
Quaint.
But it was green . . . just the window seat and the surrounding few slants of wall.
I liked it.
"This room is claimed by me!" I shouted out so my mom would be sure to hear.
I could hear her footsteps, small and soft on the tile in the kitchen.
"Okay," I heard her murmur.
I set down the few things I'd brought out in the hallway, and took a glance at the bedroom itself.
It had a seashell theme, a see-through lamp filled with various sizes and colors or shells was set on the bedside table.
I grimaced.
Seeing a mirror, I smiled in contrast.
A bathroom and shower to myself.
This could work.
-
After we'd gotten everything lugged out of the car and up to the condo, I was released to go explore (within the complex's bounds, however).
But restricted freedom was better than none at all.
And I knew a good deal when I heard one.
The pool was pretty enough and I entertained the idea of tanning next morning, early before the little kids woke up and started doing cannonballs and jumping off the diving board.
A lifeguard was kept on duty, and today it looked like a very stern looking girl with dark hair. She wore sunglasses so I couldn't see her eyes.
Her head turned every time there was a splash, always keeping her eye on potential hooligans.
Smart girl.
I skipped around the puddles of water on the concrete, trying my hardest to not slip.
I reached the gate and went out.
I wandered around the railing, walking towards the back of the pool that was now fenced in.
There was an ice machine a few feet behind the pool itself. I saw a snack bar right next to it.
Intrigued, I stepped up to it. Maybe I could get a Coke.
A lazy looking youth around my age lolled over.
"Yeah?" he said tiredly.
"A Coke, please."
I spilled my money out on the counter.
The youth took three quarters and rung it up.
Meanwhile, a blonde with large blue eyes came from the back and approached me.
"Do you need any help?" she asked brightly.
I shook my head.
She smiled and grabbed a Coke when the lazy boy instructed her.
"You need to lighten up, Shikamaru-kun," cooed the blond. "It's summer."
"Shut it, Ino, and do your job or I'll fire you."
I almost laughed.
Too funny with the boy's flat tone and the girl's shocked face.
The blond girl saw my smile and grinned.
"He's a very uptight loser," she informed me, almost unaware that the guy is right next to her.
He shoots her a look at the back of her head.
"Like I said before:" he muttered, "Job. You. Fired."
She stuck her tongue out at him and handed me my Coke.
"So, do you live around here? I don't think I've seen you at school."
"Oh, no," I started. "We're just here for the summer. Job perk."
She nodded knowingly, understanding.
"Well, if you want a job, just check this place out. It's lousy pay, but the people are pretty charismatic," she informed with a smile, edging the boy in the ribs. "I'm Ino, by the way."
"Sakura," I said. "Thanks for the Coke."
"No problem," she replied as I walked away.
I hopped back around the pool, flinching at the sound of splashing.
Need iPod. . .
I charged back up to me and my parents's condo, pushing through the door when it stuck to the frame some.
I glared up at it.
Definitely needed fixing.
I walked in to hear the beginnings of my parents's fighting.
They were in one of the early stages, the soft squabbling.
It would soon escalate to the all-guns-out assault.
I was smart enough to clear out, even when this seemingly unthreatening sign began.
I walked quickly to the back, Coke in hand, and grabbed the small bag where I kept my most prized possessions.
I looked in the bag, doing a systems check.
. . . Where the crap is my mp3 player?
My brow furrowed, thrown for a loop.
I searched my other luggage thoroughly, convinced I'd misplaced it.
"Damn," I cursed when it didn't turn up.
My eyes flickered aimlessly around the room, running through my memory the last few hours.
Absently, my right hand went to my back pocket, feeling the familiar lump of my iPod.
I breathed a sigh of relief and jerked it out, placing it in the small bag.
I walked out of the room, exiting the condo again just as I heard a raised voice.
I sighed.
Where to go?
I looked around me, overlooking the wide byway that led to other condos beside ours.
I sat down, next to the railing that overlooked the pool area.
I shoved my earbuds in and was greeted by some of Seether's darker tunes.
My fingers strayed into the bag and lifted a pack of battered cigarettes.
Sasuke had given them to me two days before I left for this trip, stating that I would break down and use one probably the first week.
It was a prediction, but was, as always, snide and haughty. Like him.
I flipped open the lid with my thumb, chewing on my lip.
To smoke or not to smoke. . . That is certainly the question.
I closed the box and put it back into the bag.
It was too early anyway. Sasuke was just trying to psyche me out, trying to make me give in.
I leaned my head against the railing, focusing on the music.
Because music was the only thing that was real.
The only thing that existed.
(1) Haha, yes I did!
Yes, I know it seems weird now, but just give it a chance.
And now I really NEED to go study for my Anatomy exam. Wish me luck!
Review, sirs and madames!