The first thing she noticed when she walked in one day was that Uchiha-san's seat was empty. She wasn't the first to figure out he was gone, seeing as over half the girls in class were all swarming around Iruka-sensei, demanding where 'Sasuke-kun' was.
The scarred chunin winced every time the boy's name was mentioned. "There's been a family emergency," he explained quickly, "Uchiha-kun will be back tomorrow. Now, take your seats."
Sakura sat with Ino-chan, who kept whining and complaining about how there was no one to ogle in class anymore. Sakura simply told Ino-chan that he'd be back soon, just like Iruka-sensei had said.
Except Uchiha-san wasn't there the next day. His seat was once again void of any kind of body. The spots around it were all swarmed by fangirls each running their hands over the spot where he normally sat. Each were trying to find some leftover work in hopes of being able to bring it to him.
Nothing was found. Iruka-sensei had to practically tape off the entire area before he got them to back off.
The feat continued for a few more weeks. Day after day Uchiha-san was gone, and day after day Iruka-sensei protested he'd be back. But as time wore on, his excuses got weaker and weaker.
The family emergency turned into a cold, which then turned into a broken arm, which then turned into 'go back to your seat or I'll give you a detention.'
The boys of the class were given the job of bringing Uchiha-san the work he missed. Iruka-sensei would call them down after class and hand them a stack of papers. They all shift from side to side and complain about how they had to get home, but eventually they gave in.
The next time class rolled around, whatever boy had to job of bringing Uchiha-san his work the day before got swarmed by fangirls. It was a mass of squeals and questions, one that circled the fated Academy student.
All said the boy was fine. A few muttered about dark circles under his eyes. Others told stories of yellow tape strung around the houses. One even said he saw some blood on the inner compounds wall.
He as yelled at by Iruka-sensei or telling lies and had a bar of soap shoved in his mouth for doing so.
A month passed. Then two.
It became routine for Iruka-sensei to call the boys down. There was even a schedule for whoever had to being Uchiha-san his work.
All the males in the class complained about how the boy was ditching, but were chastised every time they did so by the girls.
Sakura didn't understand all the fuss. He could've contracted an illness, or perhaps his parents weren't letting him go to the Academy anymore. He was the second heir, after all.
Iruka-sensei stopped giving reasons why Uchiha-san was gone, and the fangirls stopped asked. Only the dedicated, such as Ino-chan, swarmed the unlucky boy who'd dropped work off the day before and prodded him for questions.
"Haruno-kun!"
Sakura looked up from where she was packing her bag. "Yes, sensei?" she asked.
"The boys are all getting fed up with dropping things off, and, well, since you're not…," Iruka-sensei stumbled over his words, probably trying to find the correct ones, "Anyways, could you drop this off for him?"
He held out a folder, bulging with papers, "It has his tests for this week." Sakura racked her brain for an excuse, but couldn't seem to find any. She gave a simple nod and took the folder. "Thank you," Iruka-sensei said, handing her the directions before rushing off in another direction, most likely to yell a Uzumaki-san again.
It didn't take Sakura very long to find the compound, seeing as it wasn't very far from the school. The walls weren't hard to spot, making it easier on the pinkette to get there. It was finding Uchiha-san's house that was the difficult part.
The Uchiha compound was like a town within itself. There were streets and shops and what looked to be park.
Sakura looked down at the map. The village itself was clear and easy to read. But the compound's little mini-map within it was almost impossible to figure out. The lines were tiny and the characters made to mark things were scribbles.
"Like this is any help," she grumbled quietly. Turning around, she tried to backtrack, maybe find the entrance again. Then she'd try and follow the map again. She didn't have much homework, and Kaa-san was alright with her staying late, she could just make the excuse that she was with Ino-chan.
Sakura had all the time in the world to figure out how to get to Uchiha-san's house.
Iruka-sensei had given her the job, and if all the boys I the class had been able to find Uchiha-san's home for the last two months then Sakura sure as heck could, too!
Or, at least, that's what she thought.
'I'm pretty sure that's the fifth time I've passed that stand,' she thought, staring up at the sign above the door.
How hard could it be to find his house? It had to be big, since his dad was the clan head, so Sakura was sure she'd stumbled upon it eventually, but she hadn't imagined it take this long.
'Maybe it's like Ino-chan's house,' she wondered, 'Where the head is in the center and everyone else is just dotted around it.'
If that was it, then she just had to keep walking straight until she found his house! That'd be easy…
Except for the fact that almost all the streets ended in a 'T!'
"Am I ever going to even get out of the stupid shopping section?" Sakura snapped as quietly as possible, not wanting to anger anybody if she got loud. She had basically memorized which shop was where at this point.
She sighed and headed towards one of the said shops were. Maybe if she just asked for directions…
"The heck?" she yelled, "It's locked! Ughhhhhhh!"
The pinkette kicked at the dirt in front of her. She let out an annoyed huff, staring down at the map again. She brought it to her eye in an attempt to decipher the jumbled mess that what the Uchiha compound.
"Ugh," she groaned, crumpling up the paper and stuffing it in her bag. If it wasn't going to help her, then she didn't need it. She'd figure out how to find Uchiha-san's house on her own.
And so, Sakura stumbled around blindly for what seemed like hours until she finally spotted something, er, someone.
She got ready to yell for him, but closed her mouth. 'If I use his surname, then everyone will respond, right?' she thought. Sure, there weren't many people around – there weren't any, actually – but Sakura, being a polite little thing, didn't want to offend anyone.
"S-S-Sasuke-san!" she called.
The said boy looked up. He jolted at the sight of her, almost like he hadn't been expecting to see the girl. He'd responded to his name, glancing around lazily, like it was normal. But the sight of a person had seemed to startle him.
Sakura jogged over, extending her hand to give him to folder. Except she stumbled on a rock and face-planted at his feet.
"Owwwwwww," she whinnied into the dirt. Crawling to her knees, she stared in shock at the sight of the papers strewn around her.
"Ohmykami," she sputtered, "I'm so, so, so, so sorry." Sakura fumbled around, snatching up the papers and shoving them back into the folder. "I'm sorry."
"You already apologized," Uchiha-san said. His voice was raspy and raw, almost like he'd been crying. Except he hadn't been, after all, he was Uchiha-san. And Uchiha-san didn't cry… right? "You don't have to do it again."
Sakura nodded, handing him the folder, the front of which was covered it dirt. Uchiha-san snatched it up and brushed the grime off.
Sakura peaked up at him through her lashes, her head still tilted downwards. It was a habit she'd picked up over the years. She noticed how his eyes were darker than normal, how the irises seemed more matt than the last time she'd seen them.
He caught her eyes and she let of a frightened squeak, ducking her head down further. A few seconds passed before she glanced up again.
He was still there, watching with confused eyes. Sakura felt around her face, ready to find some kind of lump or bump. Nothing. Maybe it was her hair. She patted at the pinks strands… pink. Oh, that's why. The color.
Sakura blushed a bit more and forced herself to raise her head.
"Um, Iruka-sensei said there were your tests for this week in there. And the homework. Also, um, I think we might have to write a paper. But that could be next week, so I'm nor that sure," she blabbled on and on, her face burned hotter and hotter with each word she spoke.
"Got it," Uchiha-san said. He nodded to her and walked away, most likely back to his house or something.
Sakura quickly glanced around her, wondering where to go. She had no idea how to get to the exit… or the entrance.
Blushing a bit, she hurried after him. "I-I'm not following you or anything," she said, "I'm just going this way to get out."
Uchiha-san stopped suddenly.
Sakura winced, ready to get yelled at, but he simply backtracked a bit and made a turn. The pinkette jogged after him.
'He sure walks fast,' she thought, staring at the uchiwa fan on his back. It rippled between his shoulder blades with each step he took, the shadows from the buildings covering it every few seconds.
She followed him for what seemed like forever, memorizing his back, since she had nothing else to look at.
"So, um," she said, trying to make conversation, "Why've you been out for so long?"
He glanced back at her, "Death of the family," he responded. Sakura watched as his shoulders tensed up when he spoke. It was a weird way of wording the death of a family member, but Sakura wasn't one to judge.
"I'm sorry for your loss," she muttered.
"Yeah, thank," he said curtly, "I'm sure everyone is."
"Really," Sakura protested, "I feel bad. I mean, I wasn't the cause, and I couldn't have prevented it, but…," she fidgeted, not even noticing the way Uchiha-san shifted to stare at her, his eyes hollow shells.
"I get it," he said, "You're sorry you couldn't do anything. So am I."
"At least you have everyone to comfort you," Sakura added, trying to comfort him. He tensed up even further, his face darkening. "I mean," she backtracked. Okay, not the right territory! "at least you have your classmates. And me! You have me!"
He faced forwards again, ignoring her. Minutes passed in silence before he stopped. Sakura tumbled forwards, her head slamming into the uchiwa fan. Sasuke took a few steps away, heading back behind her.
Sakura looked up, taking in the sight of the bustling town. It was one of the exits.
"Did you…" she turned around, ready to face the boy who'd obviously led her out of the compound, but he was already walking away at his neck-break pace.
"Thank you!" she called, "I'll see you in class, Uchiha-san!"
The wind carried his words, but Sakura was never really sure if they were just her imagination: "What happened to Sasuke-san?"