Chapter Text
High school. Noun. Definintion: a secondary school that usually includes grades 9 or 10 through 12.
Or, a failed experiment in preparing young people for the adult world.
Either definition will work, though.
It’s those two little words that can shake the very core of most adults who survived through it, and make teens want to vomit at the mere word. It can mean countless different things for several different people - all depending on your experience, that is.
It can mean a place of learning and preparing, where you meet life-long friends and enemies. Maybe a haven from home, an escape, or maybe it was just a good waste of four long years. It could be the place where you met your first love, or where your heart broke into pieces.
No matter what high school was or is like, there is something that everyone can always relate to.
When are we ever going to have to use complicated math to find the volume and weight of a watermelon?
.
Maybe, just maybe, if she hoped hard and long enough, this could probably, kinda work out for her. Maybe.
Maybe if she dyed her rosy-pink locks some generic color, changed her name to something more American and less Japanese, and maybe, if push comes to shove, just moved away some 300 miles away. But it was useless. No matter how dramatic she was being about this, she knew that Sasori would never let her get away with all this. She didn’t want to get out of her soft, warm nest of a bed and trudge over to her new hell.
School. Gross.
But then again, Sasori would be so mad if I dyed my hair, she sulkily thought as the sounds of pans cluttering around came from the kitchen. That could only mean one thing - Sasori was up, and she would have to get up soon before he came in.
Sasori would probably have a hissy fit if his little sister suddenly decided to dye her pink hair. For some reason or another, that guy was positively obsessed with her hair. Sasori had even gone as far as sneaking into her room in the night while she was sleeping, and cutting a lock of her hair then taping it to his head later that morning.
For reasons still unknown, no one questioned him, but he did get grounded when their mother found out.
Although he seemed a bit too possessive of her hair, there was a more sane reason of his fondness for it. The color of their hair was the closest and only resemblance they had with each other. Sakura had been adopted by the Akasuna family when she was only six years of age, and Sasori had been the adult age of eight.
It had been at an orphanage when Sasori met, in his opinion, the most annoying and weird girl in his entire short life. His parents had explained to him a couple of weeks ago that they were going to have a new addition to the family. At first, he thought that they were going to get a puppy, but his parents reminded him that he was allergic, and that was why they had a cat.
He was only momentarily disappointed, but then his parents explained that they were going to get him a new sibling.
This information didn’t help his disappointment.
So that was where he found himself, sitting next to his father and waiting for his mother to finish talking with the warden.
There were all kinds of kids running around the small, run down orphanage, none of them suitable to be his sibling. He tried his best to look more adult than the rest of them, but they still came up to him to ask questions. His dad had left him alone when his mother called for him, so now he was free to ignore them without having his dad scold him for not talking with them.
This was a horrible place to find his soon-to-be brother or sister.
“Your hair’s red.” A high-pitched voice said from right next to him and he turned to see wide jade green eyes staring up at him in fascination. The little girl then pulled at one of her own strands of pink, and started inspecting it. “I’ve never met someone with weird hair like mine.”
His face scrunched up in distaste, instantly deciding that she was the worst person in this whole place. “Well, you have pink hair, that’s more weirder than red. Yours looks dumb and girly.”
She glared at his newfound enemy and poked him hard in the chest. “Well, yours is all messy and red! And I’m not dumb, I’m six, and the smartest one in my class, you know!”
“Well, I’m eight so I’m older and smarter!” the weird boy with the red hair said back in a smug voice and he turned back in his seat to stare straight ahead. The girl stuck out her lower lip and her cheeks puffed up in anger.
He had beaten her. Fudge.
She plopped right down next to on the floor, and started straight ahead with him. Two adults were talking with the warden and the man had the same hair color as the boy. He must be the father, and the woman his mother. She pouted even more, envious of the boy next to her.
“Are those your parents?” she asked but didn’t look up at him. He was pouting too and he muttered an angry, “Yeah.”
It was quiet for a few more minutes, both the boy and the girl sitting together and sulking. Several kids stared at Sakura in confusion. Did she know that boy? And Sasori’s mother stared at her son in confusion. Did he know that girl?
Charmed at the way their usually socially constipated son had made friends with the, who the warden dubbed as ‘overbearing’ little girl, Sasori’s parents had found out her information, and adopted her into the, now, Akasuna-Haruno family.
.
“Sakura, don’t think I can’t hear your alarm! Turn it off and get down here already!” the same boy from all those years ago yelled from the downstairs kitchen. “You just missed Dad on the phone!”
Sakura, who had been more or less reminiscing about her youth, was broken out of her reverie and rolled her eyes dramatically, even though there was no one there.
In one quick spout of movement she rolled over in her bed, slammed the alarm that had been going off for a good five minutes, and rolled back over to bury her face deep in her pillow. She let out a heavy sigh when he yelled up again, "Get up,youbum! I know you’re still in bed!"
"You’re killing me, boy!" she yelled from inside of her pillow and blindingly reached over to her bedside table to grab at her alarm clock and throw it to the ground, in complete defiance.
Right after the clock made contact to the floor, Sasori yelled again, “Hey, what did Mom tell you about throwing things?”
Sakura rolled over and grinned up at the ceiling because of his immediate reaction. She bellowed, “That I can ‘cuz she loves me more than you! Oh, and she said I can have your room!”
It was completely quiet and still in the huge house until stomps were heard coming up the stairs, and she started at her bedroom door in anticipation. Her patience was rewarded when his huffy face finally appeared underneath the door frame, and she giggled at the spatula still in his hand. “You’re such a square, Saso.”
He puffed up like a bird at her comment and started darting around the room with a determined look on his face. He hastily started picking at her things then dropping them on the ground or misplacing them completely until she leapt up out of bed and pushed him away.
“Alright, alright I’m up! Next time you touch my stuff, I’ll be forced to kick your ass,” she tried to threaten but started laughing halfway thorough.
“Then get up the first time I call you next time, and I won’t pick at your things again,” he said with a small smile on his lips, “Now, get dressed already. Deidara is going to be here soon and unless you want to walk two miles in the rain, get started.”
Only hearing the last part of the sentence, Sakura lit up and grinned brightly. “Dei’s coming?”
Her grin widened when the blush of Sasori’s face settled like it did every time his boyfriend was mentioned.
“Yes, he's giving us a ride since somebody crashed my car,” he glared at her as he walked out of the door, but she pretended not to notice.
She grinned mischievously and yelled after him, “That’s a load o’ shit, brother! I bet he’s coming over ‘cuz he missed his 'Saso-kins'!”
He stuck his middle finger up at her and she giggled. “You didn’t deny it so ‘tis be true! You can’t lie to the facts, Sasori!”
Ever since Sasori and Deidara had started dating only half a year ago, Sakura had not her brother a moment when she didn’t poke at him about Deidara. He always got her back, though, but that didn’t matter because the results were always funny.
It was absolutely no surprise to anyone other than Sasori that Deidara liked him as much more than friends. The blond had confided in Sakura to keep his secret private because he had yet to figure out if Sasori even rolled that way, until Sakura simply stated that she had caught him many a times ogling his butt. Well, after locking them both in the hall closet for several hours, they had announced themselves as a couple.
Tenten and Ino totally lost that bet.
Sakura had been getting herself dressed when she heard a familiar motor in her driveway. She peered out of her window overlooking the front of her house and squealed when she caught sight of a golden mane. She hastily grabbed a coat and her bag from the door, and raced downstairs, giggling excitedly the whole way.
She took the stairs by two and ran into the kitchen where Sasori stood by the slick silver stove, making grilled cheeses. He looked at his sister in confusion as she slammed her bag on island in the middle of the kitchen, and then booked it to the front door without missing a beat.
Before Deidara could rasp his knuckles on the front door, it was violently yanked open and the only warning he got before he was sent tumbling down was a flash of bright pink. His chest rumbled with amusement and his booming laugh echoed around the large porch.
“Hey kid, I haven't seen you since forever, un,” Deidara laughed and kissed the top of Sakura’s head as they rolled around the porch with her face squished up against his chest.
Her laugh was muffled against him when he wrapped his arms around her shoulders. “Oh God, Dei, I missed you so much over the summer! I still can’t believe you had to go visit your gross mom the whole break!” She complained and put her fists on her hips when they sat up.
Deidara groaned along with her and rolled the eye that wasn’t covered with blond hair. “Don’t remind me, besides it was Dad’s idea, un. Did you think I actually wanted to leave you two for the whole summer? That would be compete hell,” he whined and stood up, taking Sakura with him. “Speaking of hell, where is that loveable bundle of joy?"
Before she could answer, his grin grew more pronounced when he looked over her head. She turned around to find Sasori casually leaning on the doorframe.
He stared at them both with a sort of content look and said, “You two will get sick if you stand outside like that. It's going to rain soon.” It seemed like he was speaking to the both of them, but his gaze stayed on Deidara.
The artist rolled his eyes again and snorted, "We live in Forks, Washington, dear. Of course it's gonna rain, un."
"Well, I don't want you losers to get sick," he mumbled again, “You should come in already.”
"I missed you, un." Deidara answered and the porch became quiet. Sakura kept switching her gaze between the two, before deciding to break the mood and yelling, “Hey, hey, hey! None of that, I am a child!”
Sasori’s dark eyes finally landed on her like he had forgotten that she was there and snapping, “Sakura, I left you food on the table, go eat.”
She grinned knowingly and nodded slowly. “Alright, alright. I can take a hint. But if you're going to be doing your dastardly deeds then keep it on the porch.” Then she walked off with the most serious face she could muster and walked back into the house. As she made it to the kitchen she heard Deidara's laugh echo again from the open front door.
She grabbed the steamy grilled cheese from the plate that Sasori had promised, sat up on the island, and happily munched on the sandwich. But her happiness was short lived when Deidara and Sasori finally emerged, the former with a huge grin on his face while the latter had a small blush tainting his cheeks.
“Soo, chickadee,” Deidara spoke first while grabbing the grilled cheese from her hand and taking a hefty bite. “You excited 'bout your first day back to school, un?”
She sent him a threatening glare and snatched back her sandwich. “Shut up. You already know that I don’t.”
He rolled his eyes. “C’mon, you’ve always been so dramatic about going to school. Why don’t you just accept your fate as damned to eternity in school, and get over it, un.”
She knew he was mocking her now, so she looked straight away and started picking at her food. “So how was California, by the way? I see you got a nice little tan going on there. How long were you there for again?”
He glared at her then, and flicked her in the nose. “Ha-ha, very funny.”
She shrugged mockingly. “She is your mom, Dei-Dei. Just accept your fate of being eternally related to her.” He flicked her again and she giggled. Sasori shook his head disapprovingly.
Deidara flipped them both off and snapped, “I didn’t ask for her, you know.”
Sakura laughed but gently said, “Dei, we’re only joking. I don’t think anyone would want her for a mom.” And she leaned over to him to give him a kiss on the cheek. He only continued to scowl.
Deidara’s mom was a constant annoyance to Deidara himself. She was a wicked, foul-mouthed drunk that had abandoned Deidara and his dad for some guy she met at a sleazy diner. Both Sakura and Sasori had met her, a long time ago when she still was living in Forks and deemed her as the worst person ever. She had moved to California three days after Deidara came out to her, and she started to threaten him with violence until Deidara’s dad found out and forced her to leave.
“Anyway, was your summer as great as mine?” Deidara asked while roaming his eyes over Sasori’s bent body. Sakura noticed and slapped her hand across his arm, disapprovingly shook my head at him when Sasori’s back was to them again.
“It was kinda lame,” Sasori muttered and shut the refrigerator door shut, “Sakura’s aunt and uncle came to visit for a while.”
Deidara’s eyes light up. “Tsunade, un?”
It was Sakura’s turn to roll her eyes and she sighed, “Yes Deidara, Tsunade.” The only real reason he, or any boy his age really, was because of her only relative’s huge bust. Sakura had inherited almost everything else from her aunt. Her strange strength, wit, and short temperament. All except the boobs.
Deidara looked disappointed and he groaned. “Man, I wish I could’ve been here.”
Sakura wrinkled her nose. “You’re such a dirty pervert, Deidara,” she mumbled and he watched Sasori climb up the stairs with more interest in his eye than there should be.
“Jeez, Deidara, don’t make it so obvious,” Sakura laughed as soon as Sasori was out of sight and Deidara grinned and winked.
“I’ve been gone the whole fuckin’ summer, un, and I haven’t seen that ass for three months, and it’s gonna get-”
“Okay!” She hastily slapped her hand over his mouth in case he had more to say. “Don’t need those images today!”
.
It had already started raining by the time they finally left the house and they had to run over to Deidara’s parked car. Sakura sighed in relief was she slipped into the back seat and pulled back her hood. “I swear it literally rains all the time! Why would Mom want to keep living here?”
Sasori shrugged and Deidara looked at her from the rear-view mirror as he pulled out of the driveway and speeding the car down the street. “Yeah, where are your parents, by the way. I didn’t see them.”
“Dad’s down in Sacramento for the week, and Mom is in Canada for the next month,” Sasori answered in his usual monotone.
Sasori and Sakura never really minded the fact that their parents’ jobs constantly had them leaving for a few days to months on ends. They still called whenever they could, and Sasori and Sakura were never without at least one parent for more than two weeks.
Deidara was always using this to his advantage. “Good, ‘cuz I invited the losers over today after school, un.”
That was another thing.
The Akasuna-Haruno household was never, ever empty. It’s never surprising if their friends are eating from their fridge or crashing on their couch, whatever the hour. Most meet-ups and hang-outs happen in the living room, whether Sakura and Sasori are home or not. There was one time when Sakura had been left alone completely in the house; both parents on the same trip, and Sasori had yet to come home. She had heard someone climb in from the kitchen window, and move around the kitchen. Instantly thinking that a robber had entered her home, she grabbed her old baseball bat and charged down the stairs.
It had been Sasuke with a cold pizza in his mouth.
Sasori turned to Deidara with a disproving look and pinched his side. “And who gave you permission to do that?”
“Ow, jeez! Sasori, since when does anyone need permission to go to your house, un? Okay, fine don’t look at me like that!” the then turned to look at Sakura with a fake pleading smile, “Sakura, dear? Do I have permission to invite the losers over to your house today?”
She stifled her laugh but solemnly nodded. “Of course, my dear sir. As long as you order pizza, or else forget it.”
He nodded his approval and poking the scowling Sasori in the side. “See? Got permission – ow, Saso-kins quit hitting me! Can’t you see I’m driving, un?” Deidara shrieked and tried to shield himself from Sasori, who started beating him over the head multiple times.
Sasori gritted his teeth at him and hissed, “Dumb brat, don’t patronize me.”
“Oh, c’mon love, you know I was just going to do it anyway. But you know, you don't have to get so violent, Sasori. That’s like spousal abuse or some shit, un,” he muttered as he pulled into the student parking lot.
But most of their words went right past the girl in the backseat as she stared fearfully up at the huge building that was her high school.