AUTHOR'S NOTE: I have published this story way back 2014, but had since removed it from here. I'm now putting it back up after having revised it a gazillion times, LOL (I am that obsessive compulsive). Also, refer to Gordo the drummer to have an idea of what Sasuke was doing here. Enjoy reading and let me know what you think! :)

CHAPTER 1
I accidentally ruined someone's project.

Sakura Haruno was hungry.

Scratch that.

She was so goddamn famished that she thought she could die at any moment. She swore that the only thing she could feel in her stomach was acid, and that she was only waiting for her stomach to melt up, literally leaving a hole in her body.

Morbid, but she tended to be one when she got really hungry.

Sakura looked at her wristwatch and realized that she had an hour to spare before her next class in the Old Humanities building.

The day had been hectic—having class as early as 8, no breaks, and stomach empty. She might as well use her only free time that day to turn over to the Engineering Building, famed for its handsome boys (seriously, drop-dead gorgeous boys) and cafeteria that served mouth-watering food.

She looked down at the snow-coated road and realized that she should have instead brought her car. It was freezing, and also, considering herself, she could actually get lost just strolling. (She believed that she had the most messed-up internal map among every person in the world.)

Despite being in the university for almost three months already, she still found it difficult to get from one class to another, given how gigantic the university was.

There were times when Sakura still turned on wrong corners and took accidental detours just to meet someone within campus, and there were times when she would discover a quicker way through wide-gapped buildings that she had to cross in order to get to classes within the grace period of ten minutes.

Still, it amazed her to no end that no matter how big the campus was, people seemed to know each other, whether it be personally or simply by face.

The pink-haired, green-eyed university student hugged her jacket closer to her body as she strolled along the sidewalk in front of the Engineering Building.

Watching the snow crunch beneath her feet as she trod on, she mused about how quickly time had passed. It felt like it was just yesterday when she received her high school diploma along with other awards and began university.

She could still recall when her best friend, Ino Yamanaka, excitedly phoned her to let her know that the entrance exam results had come out online.

It was then that Sakura found out she had passed in one of the leading universities in the country.

Sakura pocketed her freezing hands onto her jacket's pockets as she entered the Engineering Building.

Students who carried around T-squares on their shoulders littered the area, and some people she knew from the university orientation a few days before her first college day and students she knew from general course classes greeted her as she passed. Sakura thought herself not sociable, but realized that being in college, she might as well try.

"I think his name's Sasuke."

"What? Like mythical ninja, Sasuke?"

There was a giggle followed by a "Yeah! But he's really gorgeous, so I could care less about his name."

What is their problem with the name "Sasuke"? Sakura thought in amusement.

She was near the building cafeteria already when she saw boys brisk-walking toward one side of the building lobby, where Sakura noticed a group of people beginning to crowd in.

"I heard he's going to play on buckets," said one boy to another. "That's wicked."

"What do you expect? He is the Itachi Uchiha's brother."

That was enough to pique Sakura's curiosity. She knew Itachi Uchiha—he was her college's dean (even at such a young age, she might as well add).

A college dean's brother was going to play on buckets. What? Like a kid?

Curious, curious, thought Sakura. What kind of "playing on buckets" could it be? The food could wait, while her curiosity couldn't.

Sakura found a perfect spot right away.

Why are all these people crowding on one place when it's definitely a nice view in here?

She wasn't really looking at first, but when she did, Sakura was undeniably awed.

Sakura found herself staring at a uniquely handsome boy who was setting about six different sizes of buckets around him. His skin was a little too fair, but it definitely fit his tall, lean stature. Messy black hair fell untidily above his eyes, and his eyebrows curve almost angrily in concentration.

Sakura watched the boy move one of the buckets, place it comfortably behind the ones he had prepared, and sit on it.

People were gathering around the handsome boy—who, in Sakura's opinion, looked to be a freshman like her—and she observed that most of them were girls.

The College of Engineering and Technology was one of the most intimidating places for Sakura, mostly because it held so many boys, but there were quite a number of girls in there around that time—or was it just because of that handsome boy?—that Sakura could hardly care.

She raised her eyebrows when she found the black-haired young man raise drumsticks.

"Oh my God, he's Sasuke Uchiha isn't he?" a girl who stood a few feet beside her whispered, but loud enough for Sakura to hear.

Really. Why wouldn't they take the spaces near her and not cram themselves like sardines jammed into a can? They were making her uncomfortable.

"The really cute freshman who is apparently Prof. Uchiha's younger brother?"

"Yeah, and I bet he's really smart and talented like his brother," another answered.

Tok. Bam.

Sakura's eyes widened.

(Tok) Bam— (Tok) Bam— (Tok) Bam— (Tok) Bam—
Tik Tok (Tok) Bam— (Tok) Bam Bam— (Tok) Bam—

Oh no, he didn't! Sakura thought as she watched the black-haired boy in the center of the watchers. He was banging on the paint buckets as though they were real drums and—Did he just make those buckets sound like real drums?

And like what Sakura heard earlier—that's wicked.

Sakura was no musician, but she knew when beats become difficult. Just by the way the boy's—Sasuke Uchiha, she heard—hands quickly swiveled around the buckets and banged on them with complete abandon, she knew that it was becoming complicated.

The sound became music, and it was amazing.

Sasuke had raised one bucket with his foot while banging on it with his stick, and Sakura was thrown off when she found out that it made up for the bass sound. The crowd around them was growing, and some others began taking their phones out to perhaps take a video of him.

It was a beautiful performance. Halfway through, people began cheering, and Sakura couldn't help but join in as well.

The performance went on for a few more entertaining minutes. Sakura even forgot what she entered the Engineering Building for.

When it was all over, everybody in the crowd clapped, throwing in praises. Sasuke didn't seem to care, though, for he only began cleaning up.

People were already starting to disperse, and just as Sakura was going to turn around and leave, her eyes caught his.

It was a few seconds after his gaze settled on her that he glared and began marching toward her. The mobs of people, Sakura noticed, had greatly lessened now that the show was over, and were luckily only a few when the real show began.

"What the fuck?" Sasuke had cursed, already right in front of her and still glaring.

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "That's some language you have, for someone who just—"

But the boy was not listening any longer. Instead, he made a move to get to somewhere directly behind her back. Sakura looked over her shoulder and her mouth hung when she realized what Sasuke meant.

To say that the boy was annoyed was an understatement. He was livid, and he was staring incredulously at her.

In his hands, standing on a tripod, was a video camera. And Sakura was sure as hell that it was meant to capture the whole thing that Sasuke had just done in front of a number of people.

"See this thing here?" the boy asked her through gritted teeth. "This was supposed to record the performance for a fucking project in Humanities that is due tomorrow morning, and you know what it recorded instead?"

Sakura didn't speak and just watched the boy with owlish eyes.

"Your ass"—Sakura was about to retort this time because no one, as in no one, spoke so vulgarly in front of her—"Now tell me, you think I can submit something like this?"

In Sakura's defense, she did not notice the camera right there.

I swear!

She was simply drawn to watching him that she failed to heed the reason why some students apparently avoided the area where she had stood. Of course she was heavily curious why people chose to cram themselves in every corner but where she had stood, but nobody even made a move to tell her that she was actually blocking the boy's camera!

Also, Sakura thought he was simply showing off—not that he hadn't anything to show off, because he had some talent right there—and was not aware that it was a project... a video project.

"What are you so angry about?" she asked, feeling a little guilty. She spread her arm so it pointed toward the forgotten buckets. "You could just make a repeat of the performance! It didn't look so hard, did it?"

When Sasuke only stared at her with a look that clearly said "Are you serious?", Sakura caved in. Who was she kidding? Of course it was difficult. The boy was sweating a lot, and it was the first week of December!

"OK, it's my fault, but what can I do?"

She looked at him apologetically, and Sasuke only rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Look, there were many students who did take a video of your performance, and maybe you could just—"

"You know what? Just shut up," Sasuke interrupted.

Sakura gawked as he moved past her, carrying his camera and tripod in one hand. He walked over to his things, which sat a little ways from the buckets and got his backpack. With his back turned to her, he said, "Leave."

"Excuse me?" Sakura asked, an eyebrow cocked in disbelief.

Sasuke blew an exasperated sigh and shot her an annoyed look. "This is one famed university for its smart students and you don't understand what a single word meant? What does that make you, then? Stupid?"

That was it.

That was the last straw.

Sakura glared and moved past him to get away, but not without muttering, "Arrogant bastard. That hurt, thank you."

After all, Sakura was smart, just ignorant at times. She had graduated valedictorian in high school with other academic awards, and passed the admission exam without so much a difficulty. She knew that by attending the university she would meet many others who were way smarter than her, but being told that she was not intelligent enough?

That hurt.

As she exited the Engineering Building and braced herself for the epic coldness outside, she prayed that she would not meet him any longer, let alone see him.

Whoever that Sasuke Uchiha was.

Sakura hardly realized that she was already running late for her next class, and had forgotten all about her empty stomach.

Of course, a month or two later, she would learn that life simply did not go the way you wanted it to. It simply would do a roundabout kick and hit you when you least expected it.

Because upon the start of next term, there he was, sitting beside the only available seat in class.