The List Prelude by LittleMissHippie

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

A/N: Enjoy.

Sakura Haruno was not having a good day.

Usually, her life was fantastic. She had a best friend that had her back no matter what—even if Ino-pig got kind of annoying sometimes. Her boyfriend was the hottest guy in their grade—even if Sasuke was kind of a frigid ice cube sometimes. Everyone liked her well enough. She had nice friends. What more could a girl ask for?

Well for starters, it would be fabulous if her best friend stopped bad-mouthing her boyfriend. Oh, and if Sasuke actually opened his mouth to defend himself, that would be great.

Under normal circumstances, she could take it. But this day was not normal circumstances.

Sakura Haruno had overslept, arrived late to school, and failed a math test—in one morning. So when she walked to her second class of the day, noticed her best friend arguing with her boyfriend… well, she turned around and walked away.

After all, Sakura Haruno wasn't having a good day—and she sure as hell didn't want it to get worse.

She didn't hear him sneak up on her.

"You look angry," a voice—definitely a guy—said behind her. His tone was mildly interested, but he managed to maintain a majority of the disdain in his voice.

Sakura didn't bother turning around. Nor did she bother with wondering how some guy had found her—after all, a lot of people went behind the school building when they skipped class. And it wasn't like she was hiding.

But hiding or not, she thought, I don't want any company right now—especially not from a guy.

Apparently the guy was getting impatient. Or maybe he desperately wanted to know why she was mad. "What's wrong?" he asked, and she was tempted to answer. There was something about his voice… it was almost as if he cared. Unlike a certain ice cube boyfriend of hers—

Sakura shook the thought from her head. Sasuke-kun cares about me, she reminded herself. He just… doesn't like to show it often.

"Sakura," continued the voice, and the concern was clearly evident.

She cracked.

"I overslept this morning and got to school late," she said in a matter-of-fact tone. Obviously her answer did not satisfy him—based on the silence that greeted her—so she continued. "… and my best friend hates my boyfriend, who hardly even talks to me, so why should I even bother defending him—"

She stopped. The answer to her own question eluded her, and that seemed… wrong.

Why am I dating this guy, wondered Sakura for the first time. Because he's Sasuke Uchiha— the dream guy? Is that even a real reason? I'm dating a guy who won't even talk to me because he's supposed to be this cute and smart and intelligent guy?

Sakura laughed to herself.

He's supposed to be this great guy, she realized with a grin, but he's not.

"What's so funny?"

Sakura stopped laughing—she had actually forgotten about him. She fought the urge to turn around and face the guy behind her. For some reason, she felt like that would ruin the… illusion of their conversation. (She couldn't deny its existence—this conversation was giving her the illusion that someone cared. And that illusion seemed so fragile and why would she want to ruin it—?)

"Let me guess," the voice continued. "You finally realized he's not worth defending." There was certain smugness to his voice, as if he knew he was right. And that confidence scared Sakura. The grin slipped off her face.

"And now you're scared," he pointed out like her fear was the most obvious thing in the world.

Sakura nodded, confirming his observations without words. It's almost as if—

"You feel like I'm in your mind," the voice said quietly. "But I'm not, Sakura. You're just easy to read."

At this point, Sakura was starting to wish she'd stayed in class. Even with bickering Ino-pig and annoying Sasuke-kun—class was better than this. Whatever this was.

Abruptly, two arms wrapped themselves around Sakura. She froze, waiting for the fear to set in.

It didn't.

Instead, Sakura felt a feeling of belonging—she felt comfortable in the arms of this stranger. How can this person who I've never actually met, she wondered, make me feel better than Sasuke-kun ever did?

And then he started to whisper in her ear.

"You're beautiful, intelligent, amazing." These were words Sasuke had never used to describe her—words Sasuke would probably never use to describe her. Especially to her face. "Don't doubt yourself, Sakura."

Sakura felt like this entire situation was so right. These words of encouragement, with his arms around her—

And then he stepped back, pulling away.

"He doesn't deserve you," the voice said.

With those words, Sakura spun around to face the boy behind her. He can't just say something like that and expect me not to—

But he was gone.

"I told you," the dark-haired guy said to his friend. "I told you to stay away from her. She's already spoken for—"

"I don't care," replied his friend. "Do you see how he's treating her? She was about to have a breakdown. The Sakura Haruno was about to… go wrong. And she was skipping class. I had to talk to her."

"The only thing you had to do was stay away from her. And you didn't even do that right." His voice was filled with anger, and his arms were shaking at his sides. He was obviously attempting to keep control of his temper. Then he sighed. "Do you really care about her?"

His friend nodded.

The dark-haired guy closed his eyes and forced himself to relax. He needed to make everyone happy—and why did everyone's happiness have to revolve around one girl?

"Then wait."

Sakura woke up in the library.

Everything after first period was blurry—she vaguely remembered talking to someone. She rubbed her eyes and took in her surroundings before deciding it must have been a dream.

She remembered a guy, who had snuck up on her. She remembered having a bad day, and the guy had seemed as if he cared—and that was refreshing. Especially with a boyfriend like Sasuke.

She remembered his arms around her, and she remembered her feeling of rightness. It was almost as if she was made to be in that guy's arms, and all her worries just… disappeared.

She remembered that the guy from her dream wasn't Sasuke. And she remembered his last words—"He doesn't deserve you."

What a weird dream, she thought to herself.

And then she went back to sleep.

Sasuke Uchiha wasn't having a good day.

Sure, Yamanaka was trying to pick a fight with him—that was expected. And yeah, his fan-girls were getting a little… obsessive. That was also anticipated. But something actually bothered him.

And well, only one thing ever bothered him.

Sasuke allowed himself a moment to wonder where Sakura had disappeared to. He worried for her well-being, and he wondered if she would come back soon. Without Sakura, he felt incomplete—and that was a strange feeling.

He didn't like it.

Of course, he never voiced any of his thoughts about Sakura aloud. That would require sharing his feelings and getting rid of his icy façade. Plus, there was the fact that getting rid of his façade would undoubtedly lead to the exposure of his one major concern—

And Sasuke Uchiha didn't want anyone to know that he didn't consider himself worthy of his own girlfriend.

The dark-haired boy didn't know what he was going to do.

Obviously, he needed to consider what everyone wanted—and then he had to rank their wants in order of importance… But how the hell was he supposed to do that, if they all wanted to same thing?

Sakura Haruno.

She was sort of pretty, he mused. Pretty enough for his foolish little brother, anyway.

He thought about everyone that wanted the girl—his own brother, that redhead, the blonde idiot, the youthful idiot… The list could go on and on. What kind of girl, he wondered, could be wanted by so many different men?

He thought about what he himself wanted—

Keep the girl for yourself, his sub-conscious murmured.

—and he shook his head. He did not want this girl for himself… not in a romantic sense.

Yes you do, the voice murmured again. He ignored it.

What he wanted was simple—and it would probably be impossible to achieve. He reflected upon the advice he'd given earlier—wait.—and he realized how that would solve his problems.

After all, Itachi Uchiha thought, I want her to be happy.

And then he began to plan.

Sasuke Uchiha didn't deserve her.

Ino Yamanaka thought and considered and thought some more—but she couldn't think of anything else that clearly summarized her view. Sasuke didn't deserve her—Sakura Haruno, her best friend.

Sakura was great. She was beautiful, loved, kind.

Sasuke was cold. He was silent, cruel, feared.

Sasuke Uchiha, Ino thought, is an asshole.

One day, he would break her heart. She was sure of this fact—he didn't treat her right, and one day… everything would go wrong. She could feel it.

Ino Yamanaka cared about Sakura. So she gave everything she had to convincing Sakura of what she had to do—but Sakura wouldn't have any of Ino's insane ideas. Sasuke-kun really likes me, she would say. I don't want to ruin what we have.

But one day, she finally did.

Sakura took a deep breath as she surveyed her surroundings.

I can do this, she thought to herself. He doesn't deserve me.

She looked at him, and she thought of all the things she could say. Should she break it to him slowly, using the usual, "We need to talk," line? Or maybe she should use another classic—"It's not you, it's me."

But as she stared at him, she realized what she needed to do. She would do this as all other things had been done in their relationship—with nonchalance bordering disdain.

"Sasuke," she began, in order to gain his attention.

He met her gaze. It was almost as if he knew what was coming. "Sakura."

"We're over," said Sakura. She could hear the pain in her own voice. This wasn't supposed to hurt, she thought absently. Ino-pig said I was going to avoid the damage this way.

He nodded once then continued to read his book as they both waited for the administrators to open the doors. Sakura looked at him in disbelief, wondering how he could be so indifferent at a time like this.

But he's always like that.

She narrowed her eyes at him, the anger slowly building. It was his fault their entire relationship had been like this—he was always so apathetic, so she always so miserable.

"Sasuke," she said, and she tried not to spit his name out. She was suddenly feeling all this pent up anger, but she didn't want to be angry at him. Not at this important moment.

He sighed, as if he sensed her anger—sensed it and didn't care. (Typical, she thought irritably.) "Sakura," he acknowledged.

"That's why," said Sakura, knowing she didn't need a further clarification.

He nodded again, a thoughtful look on his face. He didn't return back to reading his book. Sasuke stared at Sakura, as if waiting for her to say something.

She closed her eyes, letting her thoughts grip her. There was something else she needed to say—she knew it, and Sasuke knew it. "Sasuke?"

"Sakura," he responded instantly.

Sakura thought of Ino, and everything she'd told her. She thought of the mysterious guy from her dream—but was it a dream?—who had held her in his arms. She thought about how she wanted to be happy, and how she knew Sasuke wasn't the guy who was going to make that happen.

"I'm not going to come back to you," she said firmly. She opened her eyes again, just in time to see him nod a final time.

And then she walked away.

Sakura thought after the morning she'd had, everything could only get better—

—and then she ran into Itachi.

She looked up into the face of the person she'd run into. Why, she wondered, do I have such terrible luck?

Itachi looked down at her. "Sakura?" he asked, as if confused by her very existence.

She knew that voice—and he was not the person she wanted to see. Not today, of all days. All the same, she turned around to face him. She would not run away.

"Itachi," she said politely. She smiled at him—tightly, without real feeling.

He frowned down at her. "Don't be so formal, Sakura," he chided. "You're like family to me." He was referring to how much he wanted her to be happy, and how he wanted her to be with someone who would make her happy. But she misunderstood.

Sakura forced herself not to look away from him. "Not anymore, Itachi. Haven't you heard?" She paused as she pondered how to break the news. "I broke up with Sasuke."

Sakura stepped back, hoping to distance herself from Itachi. In response, the dark-haired boy took a step closer to her, and she found herself taking another step back instinctively. Itachi noticed this reaction and frowned. "What did my Foolish Little Brother do?" he wondered aloud.

Sakura sighed. "It's not that simple, Itachi."

Itachi took a step closer again. His gaze never wavered from Sakura's. "Why not?" he asked. Can't it be?

She shook her head. "Sasuke and I… we didn't work, Itachi." She refused to further her explanation.

Itachi took a final step forward as he enveloped her in a hug.

"Maybe one day," he murmured, "you will."

Today, Gaara decided, is the greatest day ever.

He had watched Sakura walk away from Sasuke, and he'd smiled—a real, genuine smile. The girl of his dreams had finally smartened up and ended things with the Uchiha. She was available—finally. Now it was only a matter of what he was going to do about it.

He was so busy watching Sakura that he hadn't noticed a certain Uchiha sneaking up on him.

"Gaara," said Itachi, in a tone that could've been mistaken as friendly. Itachi was smirking at him.

Gaara narrowed his eyes in response. "What do you want?" He didn't trust Sasuke, and he sure as hell didn't trust his brother. And he had no idea why Itachi would want to talk to him—especially today, of all days.

"This isn't about what I want," muttered Itachi. Gaara didn't hear him. Itachi cleared his throat, and said in a louder voice, "I can help you get the girl, Sabaku."

Gaara stared at him incredulously.

"You want Sakura?" the dark-haired boy asked. "I have a plan."

And just like that, Gaara's day got even better.

Sasuke couldn't help feeling like he should've known.

It was too good to be true, he thought. Sakura was too good for—

He tried to remain apathetic to the entire situation. He had an image to maintain, and he didn't want anyone getting the wrong ideas—or in this case, the right ideas.

Sasuke sat outside the building, people streaming past him. He felt like he was in a daze, and he wondered if he would wake up anytime soon. He hoped he wasn't crying.

He felt like something was missing—Sakura is missing, and she's not coming back. He mindlessly touched his face, once again hoping he wasn't crying. He wondered if it really mattered, anymore. Who gives a damn?

He felt wrong, and incomplete, and generally unlike an Uchiha—and it was all Sakura's fault. But he loved her. And he wanted her. She wasn't coming back to him, but he wanted her too.

But mostly, for a long time after she walked away, he just sat there. Students drifted into the building, undoubtedly heading to class. But Sasuke… he sat there and he thought.

How could I have not seen this coming?

He had seen them.

This morning, outside the building, he'd watched her break up with him. He fought the smirk, and he maintained a face devoid of emotion. In this situation, she shouldn't have any effect on him. No one realized they had a connection.

She barely realized it herself.

But that's going to change, he thought to himself. Soon.

He watched Sakura closely, and he remembered their conversation. He remembered the way he'd held her in his arms, and how perfect that had been.

She walked away from her now ex-boyfriend and he thought about all the guys that would be after her now.

Maybe I'll have to wait, he thought, but Sakura Haruno will be mine.

After seeing Sakura, he knew now was the time to act.

He cornered the loud-mouthed blonde between classes, pulling her away to a secluded corner. The girl looked more confused than concerned—obviously she trusted Itachi not to do anything funny.

"What's up, Itachi?" she asked, unable to ignore her interest.

"They broke up," responded Itachi. "Did they not?" He was asking for clarification, even though he didn't need it. Not really.

Ino-pig nodded slowly, still confused. "Do you want to know why—?"

"I don't need to know why," he interrupted. "I just need your help."

The blonde raised an eyebrow. "Oh really?" she asked, completely intrigued. "Tell me more."

Itachi searched his mind, wondering where to begin—exactly how much am I going to tell this girl? He settled on a beginning, and he decided how much he would use the Yamanaka girl.

"I know something," he began, aiming to hook Ino—after all, he knew something she didn't know. How could the gossip queen not be interested? "But I need you to promise you'll help. No matter what."

She thought about it for all of five seconds. "I swear," she said fervently.

Itachi smirked. "I have a plan," said the Uchiha. "A plan that involves setting Sakura up with her secret admirer." He looked at the Yamanaka, trying to anticipate her reaction.

Ino smiled wickedly.

"I'm in."

You might be wondering why I wrote this. ("You should be writing the next chapter to The List Redux!")

Well, I've had a terrible case of writer's block. Absolutely horrible. So I decided to find a website that would provide me with some three words prompts—and then I finally got an idea. I should write a prologue to the List!

And thus, this prelude was born. Yes, it's written in a different style—I hope that doesn't bother anyone too much. (This is my natural writing style, oddly enough.) But I worked really hard on it. And I really wrote it for you guys (the fans!) in order to answer those questions that seemed to go unanswered after the first story—and to answer exactly how long this new secret admirer has been around. So I hope you all enjoyed!

Please review, I want to hear everyone's thoughts!

~LMH

PS: The three words from the prompt? Secret letter, moody, and walk.