Present:
It had to be about ten years ago that I first saw my raven-haired prince, Sasuke Uchiha. I remember Iruka-sensei introducing him to my class; how blank his face was; how the class reacted to his appearance.
Seven Years Ago (6th Grade):
"Wait! What do you mean Sasuke is moving?" I jumped forward towards my best friend, Hinata in surprise at the sudden news.
"His father is expanding his business over in America…" She explained, softly.
"How do you know this stuff?"
"My father and his father are friends…"
She smiled; Hinata was the only girl that I could trust since she already had a huge crush on one of the biggest idiots in our school: Kiba Inuzuka. I pouted as the news sank in; so that is why he isn't here…
As if reading my mind Hinata whispered, "He's still in town… He doesn't leave until tomorrow morning…" in my ear.
"Really?" I squealed, excitedly.
"Shhhhh~!" She hissed, putting a finger to her lips.
Sasuke had been at Konoha school district since we were all in third grade together; I couldn't stop thinking about the past three years as the rest of the school day dragged on. Hinata had invited me over so I could see Sasuke tonight; her family had closed their restaurant for everyone except themselves and Sasuke's family. The moment the dismissal bell rang, I raced out of the classroom to meet up with Hinata in the back of the school where her family was going to pick us up.
"Do I look okay, Hinata?" I asked her as we walked into the Hyuuga restaurant.
I looked at what I was wearing; a black tank top with pink lace, a pair of tan cargo capris, and a pair of moccasin boots. I felt a little out of place compared to Hinata, who wore a light blue sun dress, white sandals and two flower barrettes in her dark blue hair.
"You look great, Sakura~" She comforted me, grabbing my hand and leading me inside.
I stared in awe at how only two families took up most of the restaurant alone! My emerald eyes scanned the raven black hair and onyx eyes until I found the Uchiha I was looking for: Sasuke!
"Hey Hinata… Let's all go up to the rooftop… Listening to adults talk is boring…" Hinata's cousin, Neji complained as he stood beside Sasuke.
We ended up following the boys to the rooftop of the restaurant; once we were up there, we just sat in the circle enjoying the silence.
"You know I'm surprised Uncle let you invite Sakura-chan." Neji broke the silence, glancing at me.
Beside Neji sat Sasuke, who seemed uninterested that I was here just nodded slightly.
Should have known…
I hugged my knees, trying to look like I hadn't seen the expression on his face. Hinata came to my defense (in a way): "Well, I knew that Sakura won't make such a big deal as all those freaky rabid fan girls!"
"So she did make a deal out of Sasuke's move…?" Neji was always persistent, trying to get as much info as possible from any sentence.
"Yeah, I did," I spoke softly before gaining to confidence to speak louder, "because I'll have to hear all his annoying fans mope about the loss of their prince…" I added, before hugging my knees again tighter.
"Hn. So you're saying you won't miss me?" Sasuke's sudden question caught me off-guard, leaving me to abruptly stop hugging my knees and look at him wide-eyed.
"Of course… Everyone is going to miss you." I responded without thinking first.
And I saw it! No joke! I saw a small smile appear on his pale features! I smiled back, content that I had seen him genuinely smile after all these years. Our little group was soon dissolved when several of the adults came and told us to come back down.
At the train station (day after):
I stood beside Hinata, though more behind her debating if it was wise to be here. I listened to everyone, who was there, goodbyes; I sighed when I heard the door open.
Time is running out…
"Sasuke! Sakura has something to say!" Hinata exclaimed pushing me forward and dragging Neji, who was the only still there, away.
I stood in front of him, staring at him as my words got trapped in my throat; "If you want to say something, you may want to say it now…" He spoke quietly as he began heading onto the train.
"Sasuke! I want to be friends so please, come back to Konoha!" I blurted out, making him stop in his tracks.
He glanced over his shoulder at me; did what I said bother him?
So many other thoughts raced through my mind until I heard him snicker: "You such are weird… Here," holding out a slip of paper, "keep this a secret from everyone except Neji and Hinata, okay?" He added as I took the slip.
I opened it to see he had scribbled something:
'Keep in touch, Sakura…
AIM – MidnightRaven'
I blinked before I looked up to see the door closing; the last thing I saw as the train departed the station was that smile he had shown me last night! It became burned in my mind, waiting until I could see that smile again personally…
Present (12th Grade):
"Dammit! I'm late!" I complained, pulling a black boy top over my head as I ran out of my room.
I grabbed a s'more Pop-Tart letting it dangles from my mouth as I slid my sneakers on. I knew if I didn't hurry Hinata, who was waiting for me at the school gates, would get in trouble as well. I raced down the streets that I had grown up on, passing shops that I had worked part-time in to the high school I now attend. I had for seven years kept in touch with Sasuke and today…
Today he would be coming back! I wanted to see him before any rabid fan girls saw him! I picked up my pace the moment I saw Hinata; "Is he—?"
"Yeah… Hurry!" She motioned me to follow as she headed inside the school.
"So how does he look?" I asked her, fixing my hair.
I threw several more questions at her until: "You know if you don't shut up… Rabid fan girls will find out the truth."
I bit down on my bottom lip; she had a point…
We walked inside our first period, parting to take our seat; guess I should have gotten here sooner…
I fought with my body to not fidget while Kakashi-sensei was taking attendance; I kept glancing at the clock and at the silver & pink bracelet that Sasuke had sent me for my birthday. I played with my hair that I hadn't really grown out much since middle school; I kept it shoulder-length for Sasuke's sake.
"—a new student," Kakashi's words brought me back as I looked straight up to the front of the room as he continued, " so please be nice and try not to give him too much of a hard time." He added gesturing towards the door where a tall, slender pale raven-haired teen stood.
My heart nearly leaped out of my chest as I took in his appearance; he wore a white cotton t-shirt, a grey jacket, a crimson red scarf wrapped loosely around his neck. He pushed up his glasses as Kakashi-sensei introduced him to us: "This is Uchiha Sasuke, class."
What came next was to be expected…
"Sas…SASUKE?" All the ex-rabid fan girls had become re-infected by Sasuke's presences.
I glanced over at Hinata, who smiled and stood up walking over to Sasuke; I followed her lead to the front of the classroom.
"Hi Sasuke," Hinata smiled at Sasuke, who responded with only an 'hn.'
I watched as his onyx eyes glanced over at me, as if waiting to hear my greeting; "Welcome back, Sasuke!" I smiled, pushing aside the desire to hug him.
"Yeah…" He mumbled, sighing afterwards, brushing past us to take a seat towards the back of the room.
Huh? What happened? He sounded so glad to come back to Konoha… Was it something—
"Sakura… C'mon…" Hinata whispered, motioning me to take my seat that happened to be in front of Sasuke's seat.
I tried to avoid eye-contact with Sasuke but failed as I sat down, looking over at him one more time to see an emotionless Sasuke sitting there. I sat down, thinking back to when we first began to keeping in touch with each other…
Flashback
I sat bored, waiting for a response from Sasuke on AIM; it was already midnight!
BING!
My attention swung to my laptop screen:
'MidnightRaven: Can't believe you're still up… Or did you just forget to log off?'
I smiled as I typed in a response:
'RadiantCosmos: I didn't forget :O'
'MidnightRaven: I'm glad.'
'RadiantCosmos: Why?'
'MidnightRaven: Because talking to you makes me feel a little closer to Konoha… even though I'm all the way in America…'
I blushed at Sasuke's confession…
'MidnightRaven: You're face is red, isn't it?'
'RadiantCosmos: No it isn't…'
'MidnightRaven: Sure sure…'
"—ello! Earth to Sakura!" Hinata's voice, along with her hand waving in my face, snapped me away from my thoughts.
The classroom had begun to empty, Sasuke was at the front talking to Kakashi-sensei; I slid my stuff into my messenger bag and followed her to the front where the exit was. I overheard a bit of their conversation:
"I'm just saying that maybe you should consider—" (Kakashi)
"I'm not going to ask someone to show me around…" (Sasuke)
Just as Hinata and I were leaving the classroom, we heard Kakashi-sensei call out after us: "Hinata-san! Can you come here?"
We turned around, I waited outside the classroom while Hinata walked inside, getting begged by Kakashi-sensei to show Sasuke where his classes were (Sasuke, of course argued he didn't need it). I could hear them walking towards me, clutching my bag I speeded down the somewhat empty halls towards my next class.
What happened?
I wondered deeply what could have happened to make Sasuke so cold towards me and Hinata; I thought we were all friends…
"Class I'd like to introduce Sasuke Uchiha… Sasuke just moved here from America." Asuma-sensei's announcement snapped my attention forward.
He has my second period?
I quickly looked out the window as Sasuke walked past me to the seat behind me; why am I staring out the window? I should just talk to him!
After Class:
Well, I ended up staring out the window all period; just great, idiot…
"hmm," I slipped my phone out of my pocket, eyeing the caller ID with interest: 'Hinata'.
I flipped open my phone to see a text message from her: 'Sorry~ Sakura but do you mind showing Sasuke to his next class? I need to talk to Tsunade-sensei about something… 'kay, thanks!'
I sighed, walking over to the raven who was waiting for Hinata to show up; "Hey Sasuke… Hinata just texted me… She's talking to Tsunade-sensei about something and she asked me to show you to your next class…" I explained, with a small smile.'
"Hn," was all he said as we walked down the halls together.
He handed his schedule over; as my eyes trailed down the list of his classes my only thought was: There must be some higher power behind this…
"Gai-sensei's class is this way," I explained, leading him towards the gymnasium (my next class).
I could see Naruto standing in front of the gymnasium; "You're not trying to skip, are you?" I warned him as we approached him.
"Nah, I was just waiting for you—" He stopped as his sky blue eyes fell on Sasuke, "N-no way! I thought all the girls were crazy or something… You came back, Sasuke!" He added with a fox-like grin on his face.
"Hey Naruto… Been a while…" He lifted his fist up towards Naruto.
"Yeah… Like years, man." The blonde knocked his own fist against the raven's.
"We better get changed before Gai-sensei makes us do laps…" I reminded them as I headed inside the girl's changing rooms.
What the… Those two use to hate each other… Always fighting and yet me, I get the cold shoulder… I definitely did something wrong…
I quickly changed into my gym clothes, a pair of grey shorts and a simple pink tank top; I tied my hair up as I usually did for gym class. Hinata was lucky enough that she didn't have to take gym class but at least I had Naruto around to make things less awkward around Sasuke. I stepped out of the locker room and into the gym. Naruto wore his usual orange t-shirt and black basketball shorts; Sasuke in a similar outfit, except a navy blue t-shirt instead of an orange one. I sighed once more as I walked over to them; "Hey…"
"Alright class! Outside for youthful exercise!" Gai-sensei was always way too excited about working out, in my opinion.
As we walked outside, Naruto and Sasuke chatted excitedly with each other so much so that I pushed myself forward through the crowd to get away from them. This isn't fair!
I kept myself at a distance, which was going to be harder once we were all on the track since Naruto is a better runner than I am. The moment Gai-sensei told us to warm up on the track; I took off glancing back on occasion to make sure Naruto or Sasuke hadn't caught up yet…
"Who ya looking for, Sakura?" I heard that all too familiar voice: Naruto!
"...no one…" I bit my bottom lip to refrain from breaking down right there.
We were making out way to the final quarter when Naruto pulled me off the track; "Tell me… You seem really upset about something…" He spoke softly.
When I didn't speak, he continued: "Is it Sasuke?"
As if by magic, I started sobbing: "It isn't fair… We kept in touch and now it seems like I did something wrong…"
"You know… if he's really causing you so much pain then you can rely on me… I've always been here… and I'd never make you cry…" He comforted me with his words.
I stepped forward, clutching onto his t-shirt crying until I heard him whisper: "I better get you looking pretty again… Gai-sensei will give us detention if we don't finish soon…"
I wiped my eyes and nodded my head; Naruto grabbed my hand and we ran for the end of the track, where most of our class was. The sight of our hands together made everyone surround us with questions about whether this meant we were dating.
After Class:
I wonder where Sasuke went; I had noticed shortly after warm-up that I saw less and less of him. I changed out of my gym clothes, wiped some deodorant over my sweaty torso before slipping back into my black boy top and jeans. The first thing I saw when I walked out of the locker room was Naruto, waiting in a light green pullover and loose-fitted jeans that stopped right above the floor. His black and orange sneakers poked out from the end of the jean fabric. His blonde hair still kept its wild un-brushed appearance as it bounced with each step; his DJ-sized headphones hung around his neck with his IPod somewhere hidden underneath his pullover.
"Waiting for someone?" I asked him, already knowing the answer.
"Yeah but wow… I'll walk you to your next class," He offered, color tinting his face.
I stared at him, surprised by his offer; "Umm, okay… but I have to make sure that Hinata is able to show Sasuke to his next class…" I answered, maneuvering around him.
"Ah, wait…" He mumbled, grabbing my arm.
I stopped, glancing back at him: "Forget about him… He can always ask any girl if Hinata can't take him…" He added in a pleading tone.
He has a point…
I relaxed as I stared into Naruto's sky blue eyes and for a moment I thought I saw a flash of Sasuke standing a few feet behind me before disappearing. I noticed Naruto's eyes flicker off past me before shifting back to me.
"Let's go…" Naruto grinned, seconds after the vision of Sasuke disappeared.
I followed behind him down the hall, we both had Organic Chemistry next together; I could feel the stares from other students as we walked past them. Naruto had straightened up quite a bit since elementary school; it wasn't until middle school when we actually became friends (of the sort).
"Here we are… Good old chem. class…" He announced with obvious sarcasm in his voice.
Ebisu-sensei and Naruto didn't see eye-to-eye ever since freshman year when Naruto accidently set fire to Ebisu's jacket. I, on the other hand, thought it was better we had Ebisu instead of Orochimaru-sensei; just thinking about him would make any student tense-up for a moment. The moment we entered we were surrounded by questions; gossip (lies) spreads fast!
"Is it true that you two are dating?" "I heard you two were holding hands!" "Aww~ Naruto, you flirt! Walking Sakura to class!" The questions and comments kept coming until a loud and somewhat annoyed cough was heard behind us.
Everyone, myself included, looked over at the source to see Sasuke in yet another one of my classes. He brushed past us as he walked into the room, leaving me to feel a little hurt and still very confused.
"Alright class, take your seat… that includes you too, delinquent!" Ebisu-sensei noted, glaring at Naruto towards the end.
Class wasn't too bad; Ebisu-sensei assigned seat by last name meaning I wasn't near Sasuke's seat but Naruto was, right behind him! Throughout the entire class, I kept catching the two whispering to each other and from my point-of-view it looked like they were arguing over something. RING! The sound of the annoying bell shocked my whole body from its daze; I looked around to see Naruto approaching me and at the same time I could have sworn I saw Sasuke looking over at us. Hurt?
I shrugged it off as I walked beside Naruto to my next class: Nutrition, the only I have where I have no one to really talk to (that doesn't give me a headache!). I sighed as we turned the corner towards the Nutrition wing, I saw a tuff of black hair weaving in and out of the crowd; Naruto sighed beside me: "I have to go… See you later!" He explained, as he ran off towards the Computer wing.
I walked down the Nutrition wing until I saw the familiar room number: '209' making me sigh again as I walked inside. Several things were wrong with what I just walked in on! First, Sasuke was there… Second, the teacher just announced that I would be working with Sasuke on the Nutrition assignment… Third, all the glares from the annoying girl in my class… Today just wasn't my day.
~/~/~/~/~/~/
"Okay, we should get start…" I mumbled to him after the teacher was done explaining the assignment.
"Hn," was all he said, once again.
"Go get our ingredients…" I told him, handing him the recipe so I could get the measuring cups, the measuring spoons, and the mixing bowl.
I felt a little guilty as he walked over to where bags and bags of food were; I sighed, heading over there as well to help him.
"Where the hell are the strawberries? She hasn't changed, huh?" I heard him muttered to himself as he peered into a couple more bags.
Little known fact about myself: I love strawberries! Only a few people knew that; Hinata, my whole family, and the cafeteria ladies at each of my schools so it surprised me to hear that Sasuke might know as well. I gasped at that realization; he swung around and by the look I saw spread across his pale features: He was surprised as well of my sudden appearance!
"I-I-I can't find the strawberries…." He stumbled with his words violently as he turned away to face the bags.
"I'll help you…" I offered as I stepped closer.
We finally did find our strawberries, after we found and handed out the other groups' ingredients. We worked on the strawberry cheesecake I had decided on yesterday; everything that had happened earlier seemed to disappear as we joked with every moment that passed.
"We get to enjoy tomorrow eating this cheesecake," I smiled as Sasuke placed a bowl, covered in plastic wrap, of sliced strawberries in the fridge.
"Looks like…" He spoke quietly as he slung his messenger bag on his shoulder.
Riiiiiiing!
"So what class do you have next?" I asked him, remembering after the words left my mouth that he had been giving me the cold shoulder all day.
I bit my bottom lip, a nervous habit I had had since I was a little girl; he slid a hand into his jean pocket pulling out a white folded piece of paper. He unfolded it: "Calculus with…. Asuma-sensei," He responded, surprising me again.
Same math class, huh?
The rest of the day passed by smoothly: I invited Sasuke to sit with me at lunch; He started being a little friendlier and he ended up having all of my classes. Weird, right?
~/~/~/~/~/~/
It was the last period of the day; I kept eyeing the clock in Tsunade-sensei's forensic science classroom. The minute hand kept taunting me as it seemed to move slower and slower with each passing minute.
2:41… 2:41… 2:41… 2:41… almost 2:42…
I kept the countdown in my head, tensing up when I felt a soft poke to my back; I glanced over to see a folded white piece of paper right in my face held by Sasuke who was looking away. I grabbed the paper before Tsunade could see the note; I opened in carefully on my lap, reading its contents quickly:
'Meet me on the rooftop after school…
Don't tell Naruto…'
It looked like Sasuke's handwriting. I checked the clock to see how much time had passed: 2:43!
I started putting my things away as ninety percent of my class did, including the teacher! We waited at our desk for the bell to—
Riiiiiing!
I quickly ran into the girls' bathroom so that I avoided Naruto, knowing that if he knew I was going to meet someone on the rooftop he would want to stay after school as well. I sent a quick text to my mom to let her know I would be walking today instead of taking the bus. I listened as the halls soon became quiet; I headed out of the bathroom and up to the rooftop. It was quite windy up there so much so that it surprised me but not as much as the person also standing on the rooftop: Sasuke!
"Hey~ Why did you want to meet me here?" I asked him, as I walked up to him.
"Sakura… I'm sorry for acting like an ass all morning… The truth is..."
Sasuke's P.O.V.:
Ever since I heard the news from my older brother that we would be moving abck to Konoha, I was beyond happy. Somewhere along the seven years of emailing each other, I had fallen in love with Sakura. When I first saw her after all these years I bit back the urge to greet her instead, like an idiot, I just said: 'hn.'
And second period when Sakura ran off ahead on the track I tried to catch up to her but running track had never been my thing; Naruto ended up stealing my moment. I wasn't mad at him; I knew he liked Sakura as well ever since elementary school. I felt sick the moment I saw those two cross the finish line holding hands! After gym class, I saw him waiting for her so like a school girl I hid until I heard her voice; I glanced around the corner to see her standing in front of him talking; Naruto's eyes shifted over to me and I took the moment to get to my next class.
I walked to my locker to switch my English book with my Chemistry book then I headed to my chemistry class; I knew Sakura would be there but I wasn't expecting Naruto as well (more like I didn't want him to be there).
"Is it true that you two are dating?" "I heard you two were holding hands!" "Aww~ Naruto, you flirt! Walking Sakura to class!"
I coughed, due to my autumn allergies; I brushed past everyone so I could get inside before I was marked late. Just my luck, the teacher does a roll-call by last name so I sat near Naruto instead of Sakura. Class sucked; I kept glancing over at Sakura, wondering if I was the only one feeling this way. I glanced over at Naruto, leaning forward whispering: "So are you and Sakura dating or something?"
He leaned back whispering back: "Nah, I wish…"
We whispered to each other throughout the class period; I walked past them, glancing over at them hurt by what Naruto had told me: 'Sakura probably thinks you hate her… or something'
The moment I entered my next class, I was surrounded by girl who were wearing way too much make-up! I was saved when the teacher announced that I won't be working with any of them and instead I would be working with Sakura. After the teacher had told us what we would be doing, I followed Sakura over to one of the kitchens. She handed me a recipe and told me to go get the ingredients. I walked over to the mountains of grocery bags. I was able to find most of what was asked for in the recipe but…
"Where the hell are the strawberries?" I muttered to myself as I remembered seeing Hinata working hard on a birthday cake for Sakura that had strawberries on the top.
I remembered Hinata saying that Sakura loved strawberries; "She hasn't changed, huh?" I smiled to myself, hoping none of the rabid girl in here saw.
I heard someone gasp behind me, I swung around and nearly allowed all the blood in my body to rush to me face (Uchiha's don't blush!). I tried to voice my words that had suddenly become trapped in my throat: "I-I-I can't find the strawberries…" I turned away groaning internally that I had made a fool of myself in front of her.
"I'll help you then," She offered, appearing on my side.
We rifled through the bags finding everyone else's ingredients before we finally found the strawberries. We headed back to our kitchen area and worked on the strawberry cheesecake Sakura wanted to make. The atmosphere became gentle as we joked with one another; I smiled every time she turned away and hid it when she turned back to me. We had made the cheesecake and now we just had to wait until tomorrow to pour the strawberries on top and eat.
"We get to enjoy tomorrow eating this cheesecake," Sakura smiled brightly as I placed the bowl of sliced strawberries in the fridge.
"Look like…" I spoke quietly as I shut the fridge and grabbed my messenger bag.
Riiiiiiing!
"So what class do you have next?" Her question caught me off-guard; I quickly retrieved my schedule from the pocket of my jeans.
"Calculus with Asuma-sensei," I responded as we walked out the door.
The rest of the day flew by: Sakura invited me to eat lunch with her; we were able to talk a little easier and Naruto had gotten the message that I was going to fight for Sakura's affection. I don't Sakura has caught onto the reason why I have all the same classes with her yet.
~/~/~/~/~/~/
As our forensic teacher talked about fingerprints, deltas, and whatnots; I busied myself with writing a note to Sakura, which was harder than I thought. Class was almost over when I finally came up with telling her in person so I quickly scribbled: 'Meet me on the rooftop afterschool… Don't tell Naruto…'
I poke her softly so I didn't startle her too much, I held it up until she grabbed it; I kept my eyes on the teacher so she didn't see the small blood that had rushed to my face. I eyed the clock to see it was 2:43 already so I slid my folder into my bag and stood up along with my other classmates as the teacher sat down, waiting for us to leave.
Sakura ran off once the bell rang, leaving me to taste her dust and deal with Naruto who peered in asking: "Hey, where's Sakura?"
"Dunno…" I replied, honestly as I left the classroom.
I headed up to the roof alone, debating about whether Sakura would be coming or not.
"Probably not… I should just clear my head before I head home…" I started up the stairs to the roof, shrugging my shoulders.
I was walking across the roof when I heard the door open; I turned around to see Sakura heading towards me asking: "Why did you want to meet me here?"
I waited until I knew she would hear me before I apologized: "Sakura… I'm sorry about acting like an ass this morning… The truth is: I really like you…"
My confession seemed to take a while to sink in as she raised a hand to her face but not before I caught a pink tint appear across her cheeks. I looked down continuing on like an idiot: "I mean, I know you probably don't feel the same way… with Naruto treating you better than I ever could today…"
I kept mumbling, not able to stop the words from pouring out until I saw Sakura move closer; I looked up to see her arms wrapping around my neck, hugging me whispering: "Thanks" in my ear.
I blushed from the feeling of her breath hitting the inside of my ear; she moved away slightly commenting: "I really like you too, Sasuke" with a gentle smile.
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Author's Comments:
Okay not the greatest one-shot fan-fiction but please give me some credit that I have NEVER written a straight couple Naruto fan-fiction and something pro-SasuSaku!
This is a gift for one of my friends on Youtube, .com/user/mosherocks4 (Kris). He's a fan of this pairing and I thought I'd give it a shot~! So tell me what you think… and Have a Merry Christmas
P.S.
Lyrics For You is on hiatus because I'm having a really hard time writing the next chapter *delayed*