A/N: I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE SakuxGaara or sakuxItachi. Especially SakuxIachi. SO hot. (I'm a die hard addict for ANGST)
Well, anyways,
General disclaimer applied.
Enjoy.
Sweet Dreams
Chapter 1
He never did strike a chord.
He was just an ordinary guy- redhead, tall around 6 foot, sturdy (as in, he wasn't slim, but he wasn't a macho man either), did not speak much in class –naturally, he was probably interested in other aspects, per say girls-, sported a Jansport backpack, and owned a pair of green eyes. (Well, that she must admit gave him a few points. He had eyes like her!)
But that was before she knew him.
When she did know him—
It was indeed a different story.
If she was asked to describe herself in one word, Sakura Haruno would portray herself as "awkward".
It was true- she was the unlucky heir to pink hair with the combination of bright, emerald eyes. It wasn't that she minded the color pink or green or anything, but, couldn't she just have at least one normal trait? She wouldn't mind her mom's auburn hair with the emerald eyes. Or maybe even just her dad's brown eyes with pink hair. That would be okay. But pink hair and green eyes?
It was just abnormally freaky.
In the midst of a crowd, a helicopter could just fly over and instantly spot a bright crown of pink. If she ever decided to run away from home, it wouldn't go very far because all her mom had to do was tack on a picture of her hideous combination and whoever laid eyes on her wouldn't forget her.
Yes, she stuck out like a sore thumb, and she hated it.
Most people would love that situation. Most people like the acknowledgement, the daily praises of 'love the dyed hair!' (Lots of times, people don't even believe her when she says it's natural) or 'cool, green eyes! I've never seen green eyes before!' But she didn't want that. She wanted to blend into the crowd, to be whoever she aspired to be, to create her own image.
And in private Konoha High, school of grades 9 to 12 with only four hundred students in total, everyone knew her.
She wasn't just a girl.
She was The Girl "with pink hair and green eyes".
It infuriated her to no end.
Not to mention, she was one of the shyer girls.
Whenever a hot guy talked to her, words unintentionally just slide out of her mouth before she can stop and the next thing she does she starts babbling and her face turns bright red and then she's turning away and running towards the destination 'Girl's Bathroom' where she could wash some of her shame away.
Or whenever the teacher called on her, her voice is quiet so everyone who's talking hush up and then it's silence and the silence just kills her and pressure is increasing and her heart is pounding and her hand is sweating and then she answers and the answer is wrong and the teacher picks on someone else who gives the answer she knew all along.
Worst of all, she was clumsy.
Go up stairs, and if it has more than fifty steps, she is bound to trip at least once.
While walking across floors, she trips over backpack straps that she was certain people booty trap just for her.
But she mustn't be arrogant; most of the time, she manages to trip over nothing.
She wouldn't be surprised if she managed to get herself into the ER because of her clumsiness.
And though fortunately that never did happen, something horribly embarrassing did happen, and really, she must thank her awkwardness for the event that unfolded, the domino that triggered what came, so beautifully, so elusive, so subtle…
And yet so destructive.
Yes! My outline is complete and I am ready to go! Inner Sakura victory danced as Sakura grinned slightly, making her way through the room to reach the printer.
Completely oblivious, she missed the wire in front of her path and her right foot snagged onto it, making her lurch forward as her cheeks instantly warmed. She stumbled then caught herself.
A 'ping' randomly went off from one of the computers around her.
She shot a discreet look around the room, letting out a silent sigh of relief as the rest of the class seemed emerged in their own research project. Good.
She turned back slightly to view what her enemy was-
Her mouth fell open.
Somebody's white Mac computer battery charger was plugged into an electrical socket on the ground, and by tripping, the wire had uprooted from the source, and the battery now laid in two pieces on the ground: one large piece and one smaller piece.
Sakura's head frantically swiveled to the closest person who maybe possibly owned this and found her eyes gazing at the back of a guy's head, his hair a dark shade of red.
Not exactly a redhead because it was a dark, rusty type of red mixed with brown.
Gaara.
She had tripped over Gaara's battery charger and broke it. She did not know much about him, just that he was not one of the louder ones in class and only commented when necessary. He was the kind who liked to lurk out in the back of the classroom silently, giving her the vibe that either one) he was a druggie or two) he really did not give a shit about school.
Crap.
She took a hesitant step forward, gazing at the mess but finding herself unable to bend down and pick up the pieces. If she did, her fear would be confirmed and…
She took a step backwards this time, half contemplating whether or not she could run away without anyone noticing. Subconsciously, she suddenly recalled last year when she was a mere little freshman and had stumbled upon a senior's battery charger and she had run away due to the intimidation…
The image sizzled in her brain, and she gave a sigh.
She couldn't.
It will burn inside her for the rest of the school year when he returns to school the next day with a brand new battery charger. They probably cost like $50 or something, maybe even $100, given an ordinary Macbook costs around $1000.
She took another look around. Nobody seemed to notice her…
She could, but…
Dimly, she remembered the 'ping' from earlier. When she tripped over the battery, the computer must have signaled its user the battery was unplugged.
She couldn't.
She bit her lip, trembling for a while and before she could change her mind and run away like a coward, she quickly crossed the two feet to stand behind him who was typing away on his Macbook and listening to music, given that he had ear plugs in his ears.
She lowered her face near his. "Gaara…" she started, dragging his name longer than needed as she sucked in her breath.
He did not seem to hear her, but then he pressed 'enter' on his keyboard, and his head inclined slightly.
"I think…"
His head was turning more (oh god!) ".. I-broke-your-battery," she rushed out, biting the inside of his mouth as she braced to meet his expression. Anger? Disgust? Contempt?
Startling green eyes met hers squarely.
Her breath hitched-
She knew he had green eyes, but up close-
"What?" he asked, his eyes focused dead straight on her.
"Um," her heart fluttered, "I…I think…I think I broke your battery."
Her heart pounded faster and faster, and she had to hold her breath to peek at his face. Her trepidation turned to confusion as a look of boredom flickered through his eyes and crossed his face. "It's fine," he dismissed, turning back to his computer and continuing to type where he had left off.
She watched in horror. "No... ummmm, Gaara, I broke your battery," she repeated, tone slightly accusing as her eyes seared at his screen where additional words were appearing onto the document.
She watched numbly as he slowly yanked out his ear plugs slowly-did he not hear me?- and with a dazed look, she scrambled over to his battery with a scowl. She might as well just show him if he really didn't believe her. She picked up the smaller piece tentatively, looking up to see a shadow cross her face and see him bend down to pick up the larger piece.
He straightened up, and now standing so close to him, she suddenly realized how tall he was. He must be at least a foot taller than her! She gulped. He held out his hand and for a brief second, the thought I'm-gonna-touch-his-hand!- shrieked out at her. Her cheeks were probably bright red right now, and she wondered if he could see it.
She placed it in his hand, slightly skimming over his palm.
It was a cool touch.
He didn't flinch like her and accepted it quietly.
See, look, I broke it! She harrumphed inwardly, looking up fearfully yet expectantly at his face for any hint of accusation.
There were none. His eyes stared right into her, almost penetratingly. He spoke patiently, his voice void of emotion, "You didn't break it. You place this piece… over here," he demonstrated as he connected the smaller piece into the battery in front of her, his eyes lifting up to hers blankly.
Sakura's eyes widened as she stared back dumbfounded. Wait a…sec… whadjasay? Her mind replayed his words again, then again slowly, as if rewinding a tape in slow mo. The motion of hand inserting small piece into large piece repeated concurrently. The only word that eventually left her mouth was a short dumb "Oh" as she felt the familiar urge to just crawl under a rock (aka run to the bathroom) but that wasn't possible at the moment so after a pause, she left hurriedly to the printer to grab her printed outline.
She started to walk back jaggedly, hoping he was back in his seat, but alas, he was bent over, plugging in his battery.
God. She must've sounded like a retard.
Inner Sakura pounded her with shame.
Feeling obligated to at least say something, she let out a weak "sorry" as she passed him, her voice cracking slightly in the middle of the word.
He looked up at her and gave her a brief yet emotionless smile. "It's fine. I expected it anyways."
For a moment, Sakura's small flare flamed up inside her as she naturally assumed he meant her clumsiness.
"Well, I…" she started defiantly, only to notice his eyes were no longer looking at her but looking at a point behind her, a pasted –idon'tcare-expression sealed tightly over his face.
She stopped.
Besides, how could he have known she was clumsy? He didn't even know her.
Her cheeks turned warm for the third time in the day, and she walked back to her backpack, groaning as she felt the full humiliation of what just took place pour all over her.
Sure, she may have just first spoken with a really hot guy she probably never would've spoken to if the incident never occurred, but then again, it was because of her stupidity and clumsiness.
She let out a frustrated groan.
Only she could ever pull this off.
A/N: Hmm. Well, I'm planning this to be a short multi chap fanfic. I'm not interested in a super long fanfic b/c that takes way too much time and I usually end up not writing it. But once again, this is totally impulsive meaning I have no idea where I'm going so IDK. Uh, this is Sakura and Gaara in the most realistic way I could imagine in a modern society, so NO, I didn't plan for them to be OOC if they seem like it; would like to know what u think though.
Review!