[Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.]
Ineffable
Because sometimes love cannot be expressed in words.
Unfortunately, no one mentioned that to Sakura and Sasuke...
Another beautiful day. The birds are chirping in the trees, happy to see the bright green foliage slowly returning to their homes. The sun is shining in the clear blue sky, with not a cloud in sight. Bit by bit, the world is awakening from its long hibernation. Springtime is here.
For most, spring is a time to look forward to. As the temperatures rise, so do people's spirits, as they anxiously await lazy summer days and sultry summer nights.
"I HATE SPRING!!!"
Well, most people anyways.
"I hate spring. I hate spring. I hate spring. I. Hate. Spring!"
The mantra repeats itself over and over, sounding somewhat like a demented nursery rhyme. The source of the noise reveals itself, as a short pink-haired girl quickly rounds the corner of a large stone building. The girl power-walks her way up the stone steps, in a flurry of paper and school supplies, to the entrance of the old structure—the Konoha Public Library, judging by the sign emblazoned proudly on the front. Once at the top, she pauses to catch her breath, before pulling open the heavy wooden door with ease, despite the fact that her arms are loaded down with books and she looks to be about the size of a twelve year-old.
In contrast to the warm spring sunshine, the library was cool and dark. Just like the outside of the building, the inside was old, not having changed much since the building was first built in the early 1900's. The library was made up of one large room, divided into two floors. The upper floor was a large balcony area, where most of the children's books and fiction books were held. The lower floor was subdivided into two areas. Most of the lower floor was filled with shelves upon shelves of books, but there was a large work area on the left side of the room filled with tables and chairs, where people were free to sit and read quietly or type away on laptops. This was largely due to the fact that the library was mainly used by students from the nearby high schools and universities, who were there researching papers or studying. Along the back wall of the room, there were booths for people who preferred a more private location to study.
As the door shut behind her, the pink-haired girl felt herself relaxing as she absorbed the familiar scents and sounds of the library. The rustling of book pages turning, the click-click of people's fingers taping away on laptop keys, the musty scent of the old books that fill the shelves. This was her home away from home. Walking toward her favourite booth at the back of the room, she even managed to smile and wave at the librarian sitting at the front desk, her previous bad mood all but forgotten.
She was just settling herself comfortably in her favourite booth—the one with the plushest cushions—unaware that her good mood was about to come to an end.
"Sakura."
A handsome boy with spiky black hair and eyes of the same colour slides gracefully into the seat opposite of the pink-haired girl—Sakura—like it is the most normal thing in the world.
Her jaw clenches, but otherwise, Sakura gives no indication that she has heard the black-haired boy. She stiffly goes about setting her papers and books in order, placing them meticulously in piles. The boy rolls his eyes, nonplussed by Sakura's snub. He calmly takes his papers out of his messenger bag and begins to study. Sakura stares down at her paper, trying to concentrate on the words on the page in front of her. They sit in silence for a few minutes. The calm before the storm.
Finally, she snaps.
"What the hell are you doing here, Uchiha?" Sakura hisses, throwing down her papers and all pretences that his presence at her table doesn't bother her.
The boy looks up from his book, and raises an eyebrow.
"Studying." He deadpans.
She glares at him fiercely, her green eyes hard.
"Why here?" She doesn't say 'of all places' but it is implied.
"Well, this library is the closest library to the school and-"
"You know that's not what I meant!"
Sakura slaps her hand across her mouth and looks around guiltily, for fear that people have heard her yelling. One or two people glance back at them, but her outburst goes, for the most part, unacknowledged.
Once the coast is clear, Sakura rounds on the boy, even more incensed.
Even under the full force of Sakura's Mega Glare™, the boy remains unfazed, his black eyes locked on her angered green ones.
"Sasuke," she grinds out through clenched teeth. "Why. Are. You. Here?"
Sasuke considers her for a minute, his black eyes cautious.
"We were supposed to study together." He says finally, carefully. "But you left right after school. And you weren't answering your phone. I figured you'd be here."
Sakura stays silent, her facial expression controlled. After a moment of uncomfortable silence, she turns to her bag and rummages through it. She emerges with a small booklet, which she tosses to Sasuke. He gazes incredulously at the book in his hands.
"SAT words?"
For Sakura, this was the biggest reason behind her passionate dislike of spring. Sakura, who has just turned eighteen and is in her senior year of high school, is about to undergo the most horrible and excruciating experience of her life.
No, not childbirth.
The SATs.
Many college and university bound students are familiar with the term. SAT: Scholastic Aptitude Test. A standardized test for college admissions. The bane of many seniors lives across the country.
Sakura has been studying like mad for the past few weeks, trying to prepare for her test, which is less than two weeks away. Lately, the stress, combined with her lack of sleep due to late-night studying sessions, has left her feeling a bit...irritable. Every spare moment of her time had been dedicated to studying her SAT Prep books, revising her notes, and cramming as much information into her brain as possible.
God help the poor soul who tries to interrupt Sakura's study time.
Sakura stares at him blankly. "We're here to study, aren't we?"
"Aa."
Sasuke thumbs through the book, before finding a suitable word.
"Imponderable."
"Cannot be understood." Sakura replies automatically.
Sasuke flips through the pages, trying to find a harder word.
"Fatuous."
Sakura pauses. "Silly. Foolish."
"Truculent."
"Eager to fight. Violent." Sakura narrows her eyes. "Was that directed at me?"
Sasuke blinks innocently.
Sakura snatches the book from his hands. "My turn."
She leafs through the book for a few minutes, trying to find a fitting word.
"Hm... Nefarious."
"Wicked."
Sakura searches for another word. "Ah hah! Atrocity."
Sasuke narrows his eyes. "A savagely cruel act."
Just as Sakura is about to say another word, Sasuke takes the book from her, but does not open it for the next word.
"Histrionic."
"Excessively dramatic or emotional. That was totally directed at me!"
Sasuke smirks. "So, you agree then?"
Sakura's face reddens. "Callous!"
"Harsh. Cold. Unfeeling." Sasuke responds.
"I meant you!"
"Oh."
"Obtuse!"
Sakura is now half out of her seat, shouting SAT level obscenities at him, while more and more people turn to watch the small pink-haired spit-fire tear the black-haired boy a new one.
"How troublesome..." Sasuke shoots a glance at the other patrons in the library, many of whom have now turned around in their seats and are glaring in their direction. Including the librarian, who looks about ready to come over and kick them both out. Sakura, too blinded by her rage to notice the unwelcome attention she's drawing to them, moves to continue on.
"You-"
"Sakura. Stop being annoying."
Sakura gasps, her eyes filling with tears of anger and hurt.
"Annoying? Annoying?!...I-I can't believe you!" Sakura shouts, her voice cracking with emotion. She continues on, quietly at first, but her voice gets progressively louder with each word. "Monday wasn't enough, I guess? And here I was thinking you loved me! But, no, all I am to you is annoying. Well, you know what Sasuke? I will allow you to malign me no longer. We're over!"
Her last sentence echoes throughout the room as Sakura storms out of the library, the heavy wooden door slamming behind her.
Sasuke gapes after her in disbelief.
"That did not just happen..."
Sakura sits on the steps outside the library, angrily wiping away her tears. The sun is setting now, and she knows that she should be on her way home. She would have gone home, but all of her stuff is inside, and she can't bear having to face all of the people in the library after they witnessed her and Sasuke's argument—oh God, she groans, she went to school with some of them! The news of her and Sasuke's break-up would probably be all over the school by tomorrow morning.
"How embarrassing..." Sakura slumps over—her elbows on her knees, head in her hands—her posture radiating defeat.
Suddenly, something is dropped beside her on the steps. Her backpack?
"Hn."
Sakura's head snaps up, and she whirls around. Sasuke is standing behind her on the step. Illuminated by the setting sun, it's almost painful to look at him; his dark hair and eyes contrasting beautifully with his pale skin. She can't take anymore of this. Sakura snatches her bag up from the ground and hurriedly makes her way down the library steps, trying to get as far from Sasuke as possible. Due to his longer legs—damn her shortness and his tallness—Sasuke quickly catches up to her and stops her just as she reaches the bottom of the stairs.
The streetlights flicker to life above them as they stand alone on the sidewalk in the warm spring air.
"I'm sorry."
He says it so quietly that Sakura almost thinks she's imagined it.
"I'm sorry."
Sakura's eyes widen. She definitely didn't imagine it the second time. She turns to face Sasuke, but he won't meet her gaze, choosing instead to look out over the street, watching a car drive past.
"Sasuke..."
He almost, almost, flinches, and she can see him retreating into his shell, trying to regain the pride he lost by apologizing—because Sasuke just doesn't do apologies—but then he seems to gather up his nerve and looks her in the eye.
She remains silent for a long time, considering, analyzing him. Sasuke resists the urge to shift uncomfortably.
"I suppose I could consider accepting your apology, even though I'm still very angry because you not only verbally attacked me in the library this afternoon, you also called me fat on Monday, which was so mean and-"
Sasuke's eyes widen. "Are you telling me that's the reason you've been mad at me all week?" He asks in disbelief.
Sakura pouts. "Well, yeah. I mean, at lunch, you looked at all the food I had on my tray and you were like, 'Hn. You'll get fat if you eat all that.'" She says, in a deep boy-like imitation of Sasuke's voice.
Sasuke rolls his eyes, remembering just what exactly had happened.
"Sakura, you had more food on your tray than Naruto did."
"I'm a growing girl! I need my nutrition!"
Sasuke gazes at her flatly. "Sakura, you stopped growing in the sixth grade."
Sakura's cheeks flush red and she crosses her arms. "This is not a good way to apologize to your girlfriend."
"Girlfriend? Who said we were back together?" Sasuke asks, amused. "Didn't you break up with me?"
Sakura splutters indignantly.
"What do you m-!"
Sasuke silences her by leaning down and pressing his lips softly to hers.
Sakura sighs contentedly, stepping on her tiptoes to wrap her arms around Sasuke's neck.
So, maybe the spring wasn't that bad after all...
The End.