"The Letter Game"
Authors' Notes: Okay so this story is a little different than what I'm used to…because it's written by two people! This is balletphantom writing this authors' note, but phantom1ntheshadows wrote half of the chapter. And it's up to you to figure out which half! Good luck. Anyways, we're writing this story as letters to each other, as a Naruto character. Hence the title, "The Letter Game". Alright, I guess I should leave you alone. Good luck with trying to figure out who is Sakura and who is Ino!
To: Sakura Haruno
From: Ino Yamanaka
Date: September 20, 2007
Hello my dearest Sakura. XP So I officially hate life. I thought moving away sucked. But no, apparently there is something worse. Moving here.
I swear this is the place where they filmed the Shining. Alright not really, but the school is definitely like the hotel. And our house is so isolated. It will be a wonder if I get through high school without eating both of my parents.
My mother will go first, since SHE was the one to pick out my new school. I would have been HAPPY to go to the public school. Fine it was about a forty five minute bus ride down the mountain and I was a little afraid of the hairpin turns, but still. WHY did she have to pick THIS school??? "The Academy" Seriously, what kind of name is that? It's apparently this really expensive private school that I should feel "privileged' to go to, in her words. But I don't. Because I hate it.
My day started out bad. I have to wear a uniform! A uniform! Dark blue skirt, white blouse, and a dark blue vest. I actually don't look that bad, but I can't imagine wearing this for the rest of my LIFE! Dad dropped me off at school in the morning, giving me the usual speech. "Be nice, make friends, and don't slack off." I ignored him.
So, I got out of the car and I swear I walked into a ghost movie, hence the reference to the Shining at the beginning. Big, freaky building. Ivy climbing up the sides. The usual. The worst part is the cold. I never imagined it got this freakin' cold in the mountains of Colorado. It's only September! But apparently, this is usual for THEM because THEY were all wearing jackets over the uniform. (THEY refers to the other students, who have yet to acknowledge my presence) I didn't wear a jacket, and stood around freezing to death before first bell rang and we were let inside the building. I was swept up into the crowd and it took me a while but I FINALLY found the office. An old woman with seriously bad hair tucked into a frizzy bun took one look at me and handed me a schedule.
"You must be Inu. After school go to the principle's office. It's on the fourth floor. You can't miss it, dear." She said going back to her computer, doing god knows what.
"Actually, my name is Ino." I said to a woman who had clearly stopped listening to me. I rolled my eyes in an exaggerated manner, leaving the office. Homeroom was first. At least I was able to find it okay. There are a lot of directions in these halls…
So I walked into my homeroom, to find my teacher…smoking. In school. I hesitated, taken back a bit by the fact that someone was actually smoking in school, and an authority figure no less! He noticed me.
"I'm assuming you're the new girl. Ino Yamanaka right?" He moved on without even waiting for an answer. "I'm Asuma, just call me that. No "Mr. Asuma" or whatever. Take a seat front row, on the end." I turn to follow his instructions but stopped.
"How come you're smoking? Aren't you not allowed to smoke in school?"
"Nope."
"Then why are you?"
"Because…"
"…" I decided that the conversation was over, especially since I didn't get a real answer. I sat myself down next to a kid with freaky white eyes and jet black hair that was really long. "Hi." I said, trying to be friendly. He gave me an odd look and turned away. Like I said freaks. And then a bouncy girl with brown hair tied into two buns skipped into the room and started MAKING OUT WITH FREAKY EYES! Asuma lit another cigarette, but didn't even say anything.
Thankfully, the bell rang and I didn't have to watch the love fest beside me anymore.
Classes were pretty normal. Nothing overly challenging or too easy. But the teachers made me introduce myself in front of EVERYONE! Barely anyone paid attention to me!
Lunch was also interesting. I ate alone. ALONE! INO YAMANAKA DOES NOT EAT ALONE:: clears throat:: Sorry for that. But I have never eaten alone in my entire life.
I tried to sit with people who seemed to have some similar interests. I liked what they were wearing, I heard them talking about American Idol as I walked by. But when I asked if I could sit with them they just gave me a weird look and the leader scowled. "No way." She said, like it was SOOO obvious.
I wanted to cry. I seriously did. I almost died right there, in the middle of the cafeteria. But I managed to shuffle away to a table with only a boy with spiky brown hair sitting at it. This boy didn't say anything when I sat down. He just sort of gave me a pitiful look and went back to eating his sandwich. He was joined a bit later by a sort of fat kid. They carried on their own conversation, while I struggled not to cry and ate the apple I managed to grab before I left this morning.
Thankfully I only had to suffer through two more periods in solitude before I could go home. This was my only consolidation through those classes, where no one talked to me and gave me weird looks. But then I remembered the stupid meeting with the principle. I dragged my feet up the stairs, knocking on the door.
"Come in." An old male voice said. I opened the door to find an old guy sitting at a giant mahogany desk. "Ms. Yamanaka, how was your first day?" He said, with the old guy smile.
"It was fine." I lied. He smiled sadly, apparently seeing through my lie.
"Just give them time. We don't get a lot of new comers this far up the mountain. They'll get used to you soon enough." I shrugged. He smiled again. I don't know why, but I got a very creepy vibe off him. It's so odd, he seems nice enough. We went over a couple other things like my booklist, which I already had, and if I was taking the bus to and from school, which I was. I suddenly felt like there was no point to this conversation. And then old man launched on the traditional 'you were just accepted into a private school' speech. I'm not sure when I zoned out, all I remember is waking up when he said "You can go now." I shot out of that hellhole so fast I left a burn in the carpet. Mom picked me up this time, since my name wasn't on the bus list yet. She tried to get some information out of me, but I was sulking. Finally, she realized that I was mad and left me alone. I didn't talk when I got home. I just stomped up to my room and had a good cry on my bed. Life sucks. I know. I pulled myself up out of my doom cloud to write you this letter. Feel privileged.
Enough of my depressing life. What about you? How was your first day at normal high school, among the real people? Was You-Know-Who there::suggestive:: I hope you didn't do anything too embarrassing. Remember what happened at graduation, Sakura. ::more suggestive eyebrow bounces::
Plleeeaassseee email me back soon! We haven't set up our cable yet and all I have to read is my school books! My only entertainment is your life! Let me live vicariously! Especially since your life is probably sooo much better than mine is right now.
Sincerely,
Dying in Colorado (Ino XP)
To: Ino Yamanaka
From: Sakura Haruno
Date: September 15, 2007
No, "you know who" was not there for your information. Well, he was, but only for about a half hour. "You know who" got himself SUSPENDED for starting a fist fight outside before school. Again. WITH HIS BROTHER THIS TIME. I mean seriously…I can understand the fight with Naruto at graduation (okay…so that one may have been a TEENSY bit my fault), but fighting with HIS OWN BROTHER?! His brother didn't even get in trouble, since Sasuke was the one who started it. He is such an idiot. Can you believe he actually skipped a grade? You know what- no. I don't even like him any more, her gets suspended every other week, AND HIS HAIR CUT MAKES HIM LOOK LIKE A CHICKEN! Enough said.
It sucks that you won't get your phone lines hooked up until next month…we are SO going to have a four hour conversation over the phone when you do. So, anyway… since it'll probably be a few days before you read this, have you met any new lunch table buddies yet? ANY CUTE GUYS?! XD I want all the details…knowing you, you've probably made out with 5 of them by now…
My new homeroom/math teacher is some freaky guy named Kakashi-sensei. He looks old because he ha gray hair, but I've heard rumors that he's only in his twenties. He walked into class a good half hour late and started lecturing us on some stupid equation we've never heard of. Once he realized that NO ONE knew what was going on, he stopped and gave some long speech about how stupid we all are and how it's his unfortunate job to change that. What a jerk!
About freaky-eyed kid with the long black hair…does he look anything like Hinata (who, by the way, has STILL NOT GOTTEN WITH NARUTO.)? The other day she mentioned something about her cousin coming to stay with them for a few months while his family sorted some things out at home. I'm pretty sure he lives in that area, Hinata said he goes to a private school somewhere in the mountains up in Colorado. The picture she showed us fits your description perfectly, too. Stay on his good side, Ino. From what Hinata says, he can be a real bastard if he doesn't like you.
If it's any consolation to you, I almost didn't have any one to sit with at lunch either. Naruto, Hinata, and Lee all got assigned to different lunches than me, and of course Sasuke wasn't there ::mumbles under breath about what an IDIOT Sasuke is::. So I walked into lunch on my own and grabbed a table (HA! At least I'm more independent than you, I don't need anyone to sit with ::superior look::) when this creepy red haired kid wearing eyeliner and dressed in all black decided he would randomly sit down next to me. Did I mention he was creepy? So, being the nice, gregarious human being that I am, I attempted to strike up a conversation with the kid. What a weirdo! All he could seem to talk about was building sand castles. He wasn't even talking in coherent sentences…he was just kind of mumbling to himself. He looked really tired, maybe he's an insomniac? I decided after a few minutes that I absolutely COULD NOT STAND this kid and moved to the only other empty seat in the cafeteria. Which just happened to be right across the table from Sasuke's asshole of an older brother. Who kept calling me "bubble gum head" and throwing pieces of balled up tinfoil at me while making rude remarks about the relationship between me and his younger brother. I mean WHAT GIVES?! No wonder they call his brother the weasel, not even a day at school, and his brother already knows I like him! I mean used to like him. I decided at the beginning of this letter that Sasuke just isn't worth my time. So there.
I got an even creepier teacher than Kakashi for home economics class. Apparently he goes by the name of Gai-sensei. As if his name wasn't weirding me out enough, he dresses entirely in green and I swear he either wears a toupee or never goes to a hair dresser. He keeps talking about how "youthful" we all are and how we all must do our best to reach our "youthful" goals. The guy seems to like the word "youthful" an awful lot. As if freaky teacher wasn't bad enough, my partners for the year are freaky-eyeliner-kid, who is bad enough, and this other kid who just seems to be a complete and utter . He doesn't seem to have any facial expressions, and we weren't even in the room two minutes when he started calling me "hag"! I swear to god, I'm going to cry the next time we have that class. Or punch the kid. Whichever seems more convenient at the time.
We get partners in my advanced physics class too, apparently. That seems to be one of the few normal teachers in this school. His name is Iruka-sensei, and he seems agreeable enough. He paired us up with a partner for the rest of the year so if we have trouble with anything, we don't have to bother him. Well, that's not what he said, but I'm pretty sure that's what he meant. I'm the youngest in that class, so I was a little worried about who I'd end up with as a partner. I wound up with a really nerdy kid with glasses named Kabuto. I thought I'd wound up with bad luck once again since he says he's been kept back a few grades, but I have no idea why he has. He seems pretty smart, and he's nice enough to me. I mean, he obviously treats me like a child, but that's okay. Better than getting paired up with one of the snooty looking girls that kept glaring at me pretentiously from across the room, anyway.
I need an update on how you're doing ASAP. Of course, I need to know as soon as you find a new hot guy to chase. You need to tell me more about the people in this "freak school" of yours, too. And find out if Neji is Hinata's cousin or not. And stop complaining about how much your life sucks. At least your future boyfriend isn't suspended for the next month!
Email me soon,
Sakura