It was like staring out the window on a nice day, knowing you had to stay inside and study. You wanted to be like all the other kids and run about in the nice weather without a care until your curfew passed and the world around you was so dark it seemed like you were the only thing that existed.
Sakura sighed and put the pen down. How hard was it to capture the essence of her time with the two boys that the female population of Konoha High School all seemed to worship.
When you finally did get to go out to play with the other kids, everyone was inside and the weather took a turn for the worse. That was what it felt like to me this year. As if I was the kid that wanted something more, and always came out with less and less.
Another hour passed, and Sakura finished writing and then typing the paper and printed it as she got ready for her last day at Konoha High before moving in with her cousins in the next town over.
"Hey, Sakura, are you ready?" Gaara asked. "Am I still giving you a ride?"
"Yes!" she yelled with toothpaste in her mouth and trying to brush her hair. "It'll take me another minute, though!" She spat the toothpaste out and muttered to herself, "Impatient bastard."
She ran back into her room and changed into her school uniform--a black pleated skirt, a white silk short-sleeved blouse, a black tie and a black beret. Then she got her messenger bag and ran to catch up with Gaara.
"About time, gaki," he told her, walking out the door.
Sakura huffed and yelled at him while following him to the car. "Just because Suna is already on break, doesn't mean you can make fun of me. You promised Kankuro you wouldn't start until I was officially moved in."
"But your my little sister now. Of course I have the right to do it whenever I want to. You should know that I would anyways, by now."
"Yeah, but I expected better," she grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest as her cousin drove her to Konoha High.
"So, is everyone excited for the upcoming holidays?" Iruka-sensei asked to an unenthusiastic class. "Anyone? How about you, Sakura? are you going to enjoy the holidays?"
"There are five ways that I could kill you right now in my seat without getting expelled or put in jail," she replied, glaring.
No, she would hate the holidays. They would be without her parents for the first time in her life, but it would be that way for the rest of her life. She had lost them in a car crash just after Halloween.
"All right." Crazy bitch. "How about you, Shikamaru?"
"Holidays are troublesome. They force you to clean the house, wake up early, and get dressed up," he replied, yawning.
Iruka twitched. Shikamaru could be the valedictorian if he ever stayed awake in school. Instead he gave it to the crazy bitch. "How about Sasuke?"
He shrugged. "They'll be cool. I'm practicing the whole time, though. My brother's coming home from med school, and some of his friends are coming with him. I'll have plenty of practice."
"That's right. Itachi was a starting-center as a freshman at college. I thought he was done playing. How is your brother? He's a senior, right?"
Sasuke nodded. "Captain of the basketball team. he's doing well enough."
Iruka nodded and the bell rang, he dismissed the class and Sakura trudged off to her Language Arts class, a blonde loudmouth and the stoic Sasuke following. They were scowling and the blonde took folded papers out of his pocket.
"What are those, Naruto?" Sasuke asked, not really caring.
"My essay on what it's like to be with you two," the blonde replied. "Hey, Sakura, can I read your paper? You can read mine."
"Tempting, but no," she told him, rolling her eyes. She would secretly miss all of this in Suna--the witty banter, the laughs she had when Naruto was especially stupid, the times she felt truly accepted.
Naruto blanched. "What? Why not? Sakura-chan!" he whined.
The three were in class just before the bell, and sat at their bench right in the front of the room, courtesy of Naruto and his stupidity. Sakura took her papers out of her white bag with black embossment and straps.
"Hey, Sakura," the shy girl, Hinata, greeted as her group walked by. She too was stuck with two boys--Shino and Kiba. There were very few girls in the class, thus every group was assigned one girl and two boys.
Kakashi-sensei walked in late and sat down, reading erotica. "All right, I want all of your essays stapled and ready to be read to the class, exactly as they are. Part of your grade will be on oration, so speak loud and clear."
Sasuke watched as Sakura visibly blanched. It'd be interesting to hear what she wrote about the year with him and Naruto so far.
Kakashi sighed. "Let's start with the first group..."
As it slowly crept to Sakura's group, she became nervous about reading her paper aloud. How odd would she sound? How would everyone think of her? She kind of said she was awed by all of them.
"All right. Now, group seven...who wants to lead the group? Sakura?"
She started to get up, only to have the bell ring and dismiss everyone for the four weeks of vacation. Students went to give Kakashi their papers and run to catch their bus or meet up with friends...things Sakura should be doing.
She didn't notice that Sasuke stayed back with her, picking up his books and getting ready for a practice after school. He paused when he saw Sakura sit in the seat next to Kakashi as he graded her paper.
"Sakura, this is an amazing paper," he said, rereading it. "But you wrote it this morning when you were rushing to school, weren't you?"
"How can you tell?" she asked, shocked. "I woke up an hour early to work on three drafts. I thought it was good."
"It's amazingly good," he agreed, sliding his hand across the paper. "But you got some toothpaste on it. Should I count that against your grade? I don't know if the teachers in Suna would accept that."
Sasuke choked a bit. Suna? They were the all-time rivals to Konoha in basketball, the only other undefeated team in the district. They even had a girls' team, though they were nothing special.
"Please, Kakashi-sensei. I need a hundred average going in, or I'll drop to an eighty grade and I'll never get into Duke University."
Kakashi sighed. Last year he had taught at Suna--he had taught Sakura's cousin, Temari. When he came to Konoha he felt as if he knew Sakura, and she had admit to him her plans to travel to America and play professional basketball.
If only Konoha had a girls' team. He had seen her play with Temari before, when she had come to one of the Suna Girls' games, and stayed late. The team wasn't good, but both Temari and Sakura were exceptional, both only in their first year of high school.
He had come to Konoha first and foremost for the coaching position for the varsity basketball team. Teaching and meeting Sakura had been bonuses, though she was now the team manager and made things much easier for him.
"All right, you got your hundred. Are you staying for today's practice, or leaving right after school?" Kakashi asked, distracting her as he put the paper in a drawer to read to his class later.
"Not sure. Niichan is impatient, but I think I can stay one last practice. I still need to say goodbye to Hinata. Why?"
"I wanted to have you and Hinata scrimmage the guys. How's Misao doing, by the way?"
The cherry blossom snorted. "She sucks. It's like the only thing I'm good for is staying far away."
Finally Sasuke spoke up. "Well, you aren't very popular. If Misao is, she wouldn't want you wrecking her image. I can totally understand that."
Sakura rolled her eyes and walked out.
"Hey, do you know where Sakura is?" Naruto asked during a break to their second team-manager, Hinata Hyuuga.
She shook her head. "I know she's here--I've gotten several calls from her cousin Temari saying she's missing. Why?" she asked.
Naruto shrugged. "I wanted to see if she'd let me read her paper. Everyone wrote about how it was to work with their group so far, and however they end up we'll find out about our groups after vacation."
The blue-haired beauty let it slid without reminding Naruto that she was in his class, and she had written the same paper.
When Sasuke heard Sakura was missing, he asked the captain--Neji Hyuuga, Hinata's cousin--if he could take a break to go find her.
He left the main gym and started to roam around the school, enjoying himself. It was hard for him to be social, even with his friends. And when they disappeared, he would get worried. If no one knew where Sakura was, he'd make sure he found her before she got into trouble.
He couldn't admit it, but he cared about the girl. He had just met her the year before, and was awed by her optimism, charisma, and happiness no matter what happened--even when she fell on her own two feet going to her foreign language and hurt her herself.
Thing was, you couldn't put her down. She had been the constant joy on the varsity basketball team, a team-manager that almost seemed to know what she was talking about all the time, even though no girls in Konoha ever really played basketball.
Her and Hinata were both amazing with advice, and seemed like the types that loved the sport enough to stay up late making plays and doing stats for the coach.
When he came to know her this year over projects and papers for language arts, he realized just how special she was. She was smart and funny, witty and kind. It was the perfect combination for a best friend that Sasuke was shocked to see it in a girl, hoping over the year to see more of it.
He walked by the spare gym, a smaller one with only a basketball court and a half of a court, when he heard a ball bouncing and a squeak of a sneaker. He walked in and dropped his jaw at the sight of Sakura shooting around in her gym clothes with the pants.
Occasionally she would get it in, and she seemed frustrated that it ever missed. It was only understandable since she had never played. Her form was good and her follow-through seemed picturesque. Sasuke cleared his throat and Sakura dropped the ball, shocked.
"Sasuke-san," she greeted, blushing as she picked up the ball and started to dribble it. Sasuke was impressed when she dribbled it between her legs and behind her back without fumbling it around or dropping it. "What are you doing here? You should be at practice."
"As should you," he replied. "Why are you here? Hinata says your cousin is looking for you, too."
She leaned back and groaned. "Temari," she groaned. Then she calmed down and smiled at Sasuke. "That still doesn't explain why you're here."
"I came to look for you. Come on, let's go," he replied, taking her hand and leading her back to the main gym. "We have a big game coming up against Suna when vacation ends. We need all the practice we can get."
Sakura nodded and went to the practice, feeling hollow inside. She was leaving Konoha, never going to be trusted or liked by her friends again when they knew she was leaving for Suna.
Well, maybe Hinata, but they had played basketball together on the Suna youth leagues since forever, so it didn't count.
"So, excited to leave yet?" Gaara teased when Sakura slapped him over the head-rest of his car, which he was sleeping in while Temari listened to music a few minutes later.
She didn't feel good enough to stay for practice, couldn't make it through.
"No. But I will be excited when I can drive next year. I can't believe Suna lets you start driving when your seventeen. Konoha goes by the law. I'd have to be eighteen."
Gaara laughed and rolled out, smiling as Temari and Sakura talked about all the things they would be doing when Sakura lived with them. One of the many things would be play for the Suna Sand Demons, the girls' basketball team. She had been on it as a player for the year, but would only play her first game at the end of three weeks.
Game Day
"Why are we all dragged out to watch the Suna girls play?" Itachi Uchiha asked when his brother sat down next to his friends in Suna to watch the girls' game just before the boys played.
"Bacause, Hinata said there's someone we have to see playing for them," Naruto replied, draping his arm around Hinata and kissing her chastely. "And whatever my girl wants, she gets."
Suddenly music started to blast, and the girls came running out, some showing off and doing cartwheels, one or two doing flips. Two with long brown hair that looked like twins held each others hands and started a front hand-spring, but ended in two flips.
They laughed and then smiled into the crowd, where a group of kids stood up in front of the Konoha-natives and started chanting "Sakura, Sakura" with a huge sign with the girl's name.
Several others screamed, "Haruno" and Sasuke looked confused. There were a few pink-haired girls on the team, but they looked nothing like Sakura, and their hair was blatantly dyed. It wasn't like the girl was there, playing in the game.
The announcer arrived, a varsity boy named Akito. "All right, all right. Is everyone ready for the game of the year? This is it, the debut of the star player, Sakura!"
One of the girls that had flipped smiled and waved as and American song started to blast "I walk alone." The twin slapped hands with her, and everyone got into warm-ups as a female blew her whistle at them.
They all laughed as they were practicing and Oto seemed to be getting pissed at them. When the game started, the team was still laughing and hugging Sakura for something she said, and she left so that a blonde could take the jump.
"Good luck Temari," Sakura said, getting ready at the forward position and the twins getting set-up as the other forward.
"The set-up tonight for Suna--the prodigal sister of Gaara and Kankuro, Temari Subaku at center, Sakura"--which everyone screamed at so that Sasuke was unable to hear her surname or position--"Misaki Haruno at the shooting forward, Captain Arisa Yamanaka at shooting guard and Assistant Captain Akita Maitou at point guard."
Now he understood why they were chanting Haruno. Then Sasuke looked towards Ino Yamanaka, a friend of Sakura and Hinata's. "Is that your cousin?" he asked. "I didn't know you had a cousin in Suna."
Ino nodded. "She's amazing at acrobatic basketball, which they all seem to do. She plays with me a lot, too, but I beat her ass in normal basketball."
Her boyfriend Shikamaru yawned. "So should I even bother analyzing how they play to better how we play?"
She snorted. "Only if you guys can and will do flips and tricks when you score. But it might be good to do for next year when the girls are allowed to start a team."
Hinata gasped. Between the aunts and uncles she could choose, Sakura chose her aunt and uncle in Suna because they had a girls' basketball league. If she had only known they were getting the program next year, she would still be living in Konoha, with her aunt and uncle, and cousin Sai, who made the varsity team.
Another boy sat down at the announcer table and apologized for being late, an Oto varsity player named Suigetsu. "And for the Oto team, keepin' it cool, keepin' it simple. Captain Tayuya Urashima at center, Karin Matsuda at power forward, senior Kita Kikuchi at small forward, Assistant Captain Sumire Matsuda for shooting guard, and Akina Suzuki at point guard."
The crowd cheered as the ref threw the ball up and they went for it. Temari batted the ball towards Sakura playing power forward, and she did a backwards flip to shoot it in from outside the circle. The crowd went wild as they all went back to defense.
Ino whistled and turned to Hinata. "She's better than the rest of the team. Is she this good in regular basketball?"
Someone behind them laughed, and they turned to see a pink-haired girl with green eyes glaring at the players. For a second Sasuke thought it was Sakura, but she was all alone and didn't act like her, or laugh the same. "Sakura sucks at basketball. Everyone just thinks she's good."
Another boy laughed and looked at her from where he sat holding the sign for Sakura. "You're just jealous, Misao. She's the best freakin' player I've ever seen. And you think she's great, too, or you wouldn't dye your hair to look like hers."
"Do I have to remind you that my hair has always been pink, as every Haruno females has been since forever and a day? Besides, she and Misaki dyed their hair brown, so wouldn't I dye mine brown too if I wanted to be like her?"
"Wow. I didn't know you hate your cousin that much. Just because she and Misaki made the team and happen to be nationally ranked, doesn't mean you can hate them. They play for Suna, they're your team and your teammates."
"She practically stole my twin. I don't look like Misaki, and I don't hang out Misaki. Do you remember a time when Misaki and I weren't together?"
"On the court, in classes, when you were in my bed. You two aren't that close. She likes Sakura, just let it go. She's amazing and going to play professionally for Japan or America. Just admit you like her and idolize her, and let it be over already. Sakura's been the secret weapon for Suna since before she even moved in with her other cousins."
Sasuke recognized him as a varsity player. "Oh, please, Ando. You hate Sakura just as much as me--she won't even go out with you. She sucks at basketball, and people just think she's so good."
"She's only been here for three weeks. Sakura'll go out with me eventually," Ando said, nudging a teammate from the bench that sat next to him. "Botan, don't you say by the end of the season I'll have Sakura walkin' funny?"
"Hell yeah, dude," Botan replied, slapping Ando's hand. "Dude, she has to be as good in bed as she was playing for the junior national team."
Two seconds later, the ball crashed down on Ando's head, then bounced painfully hard onto Botan's head. They screamed and held their heads, glaring as one of the brunettes came over and took the ball away.
"Sorry," she said sarcastically. "I just can't help hitting you guys as hard as I would in bed." When the boys dropped their jaw, she flipped them off and glared at them. "Fuck you guys, because in case you never figured it out, I wouldn't touch either of you with a ten foot pole."
Ando smirked flirtatiously at her. "Good. I'd rather have you touch me than some massive pole, Sakura."
She looked at him for a second before telling him, "If you ever, ever, say shit like that to me again, I will have no problems or guilt raping you with your friend's dick. And if that's not enough, I will shove a fifteen foot spiky dildo up your ass. Got it?"
As she walked away, Misao snorted and cracked up laughing. "Oh yeah, you will so score with Sakura. My cousin may not be my favorite person, but she's not an idiot. She won't make the same mistakes I made. She's a smart girl."
At the end of the half, Suna was up forty-six to twenty-three. Sakura smiled and high-fived her cousin, Misaki, who did look exactly like Misao with brown hair--she even had the emerald green eyes.
Sakura and she walked into the locker-room and came back out a few minutes later in the dance team uniforms. "And now, the Sand Demons present the girls' acrobatic dance team."
They danced to "Pretty Green Eyes" by Ultrabeat and the eurobeat version of "To Be" by Ayumi Hamasaki. When it ended, Misaki and Sakura smiled and waved before leaving for the locker-room again.
The end of the game, it was seventy-seven to forty-two. Sakura had scored twenty-seven of the points, and Misaki sixteen. Temari scored fifteen of them, while the team trailed behind with two to five points each.
Sasuke was impressed with the Sakura girl, with an amazing starting score.
When the boys took the court, three came out from behind the sign, and Sakura sat with Misaki on the bench where Gaara and Kankuro Subaku had been sitting taking stats and scores. Temari sat down at the announcer-table.
Ino waved to her cousin, Akita, and the girl smiled and came to sit next to them, squealing when some teammates came over and sat with a giant sign with Gaara and Kankuro's names on it. She moved up a row and smiled. "Hey, Ino. What are you guys doing here?"
Akita must have looked just like Ino before she dyed her hair an irridescent pink that looked like Sakura Haruno's. She had pretty blue eyes and a pale complexion that went with purple clothes and blonde hair.
"I don't know," Itachi replied, irritably. "I think we came to watch Sakura, but it seems pretty pointless to me. You guys have the National Three. Why did anyone think they could beat you?"
The game started, and everyone cheered when Kankuro won the jump and tipped it back to his brother at shooting guard. Akita smiled and replied, "I don't know. We used to lose occasionally before Sakura came back. We got a lot of school spirit when we learned the captain of the Japanese Junior National Team would be playing. I mean, we have the Terror Triplets."
"Who?" Sasuke asked.
"Sakura. She's nationally-ranked as the best player under the age of eighteen, and third in Japan. Her cousin Misaki and Temari are ranked too. They play on the team." Suddenly she saw Hinata and gasped. "You were on the JJN, too! You're Hinata Hyuuga! Assistant Captain and second-ranked U-Eighteen player, fifth in the country!"
Sasuke shocked and looked at Hinata in a new light. "You play?" he asked, shocked.
"Of course. Why else would I love the sport enough to spend hours doing all of your stats? Which by the way, are good enough to get you nationally-ranked if you ever wanted to play for the JJN guys. Same with Naruto and Shikamaru. Neji is on it, but he doesn't have the best stats."
Ino looked at the Sakura across the court again and whistled. "So we have to beat her next year to win states? Here I was thinking it was physically impossible, but it might be if we've got Hinata on our side. I never knew Sakura was that good."
"Who are the Terror Triplets?" Sasuke asked.
"The three cousins on JJN. They're all sophomores this year, and when they play together they control the game no matter what."
Hinata nodded. "Once, they gave the other team a fifty point lead just so they could make an amazing comeback and win it by twelve points. I had a broken leg, or I would've killed them. As it was, all I got to do was slap them all upside the head."
Akita laughed. "I remember that game! I went to watch because Temari and I were friends since forever and she asked me to go watch a game everyone once and a while. Why didn't you play anyways?"
She shrugged. "I love basketball, but it's not my heart and soul. I won't play it when I'm older, so why risk a broken leg getting worse when I'm older? I'm not like Sakura in that regard. Basketball is her heart and soul and life. She lives and breathes it--I assume you were talking about that?" she asked.
If this wasn't confusing at all. "About what? Huh?" Sasuke asked as halftime came and the acrobatic dance team came back on, Sakura and Misaki nowhere to be seen. "What are those two doing?"
"They're team-managers--every teammate on the boys' or girls' team must spend a portion of time announcing for the other team, doing the scoreboard and time, or stats. The Harunos offered to take up stats, so we don't have to ever worry about it. They have to go in and give the guys their stats every halftime and tell them what they're doing wrong."
She laughed and shook her head ruefully. "I told you, when Sakura showed up the team-spirit boosted. She instantly became the most-popular girl at school, and she joined the acrobatic dance team with Misaki before she found out she couldn't do half the performances because she was a team manager. Apparently she was a manager at her old school."
"Yep," Hinata replied. "She was really good, too."
Suddenly Sasuke realized something. "Sakura Haruno?" he asked. "Our Sakura? She switched teams on us when she's seen our plays before?"
Akita rolled her eyes. "Yes Sakura Haruno. Who did you think we were talking about? She moved in with the Subaku family over vacation because we have a basketball team."
Hinata nodded and leaned on Naruto. "Don't worry. She wouldn't tell a soul about those plays. She made half of them, and Sakura treats them like her babies. She made different ones for Suna, but they're still amazing. I've seen them."
"Do you know what you should see someday?" Akita said, cheering when the game started again. "You should see when Sakura plays one-on-one with Gaara, or two-on-two with the Subaku. Have you and Misaki ever joined in to play three-on-three?" she asked Hinata.
"A few times. But you do not want to mess with that girl," Hinata admitted. "When Kakashi-sensei had her playing Misaki and Temari, he needed to put them on the same team against Sakura, and she still won the scrimmage. It was two-on-one, for cryin' out loud!"
Sasuke looked at Hinata, amazed. "Kakashi-sensei knew about Sakura playing?"
Akita laughed, smiling. "Hell yeah. He was our varsity coach for the guys' last year, but he needed to transfer because Kakashi and Anko--my coach..."
Naruto's jaw dropped and Shikaaru looked like he swallowed a cue ball. "They dated?" he asked.
She "eh"d and waved her hand in a so-so motion. "Date, screw, the same thing I guess," Akita replied, shrugging. "They got engaged during March Madness on Sakura's birthday. It was an away-game against Amegakure for the Nationals--we both made it, the boys and girls."
The girls awed while the guys rolled their eyes. Here they were thinking their coach was cool enough not to get tied down to one girl, and he was engaged all year to some chick in Suna.
When the game ended, Sakura went up and hugged Gaara and Kankuro, screaming when Kankuro picked her up, upside-down, and ran her off the court to the bleachers. "Hey, Akita," he greeted, kissing her. "You played great tonight."
"Thank you," she replied, smiling at Sakura. "You were amazing. There are some people here from Konoha for you--I think they like the hair, too."
"Is it Sai?" she asked, righting herself. "Painted Ass, I'll kill you if you--" When she saw who they were, she was shocked and frozen. "Why are you guys here?"
"You tell me," Itachi replied, yawning. "Hey, Sakura. Nice hair-dye. I can't believe Misaki let you dye it brunette--or that she followed suit. Haruno have pink hair, end of discussion, no sequel, no exception."
She screamed and jumped on Itachi, hugging him. "Oh my gosh! I haven't seen you since I was twelve! Do I still even know who you are, Itachi? Oh my gosh! You got so old now!"
He laughed and smiled, looking at her and taking a lock of her hair. "Look at you, Miss Power Forward. I remember when you couldn't shoot with one hand because the ball was too big. Now you're practically dunking it. Why is your hair brunette and why have you not called me to hang out?"
She looked at him with a funny face. Then she smiled and sat down in his lap. "I was twelve years old, and you were going into college. what guy in their right mind would want to hang out with a little kid when they're busy with women falling to their knees? And the hair is because I couldn't stand everyone dying theirs pink to match mine."
He smiled and turned to Sasuke. "You remember Sakura, right? When I played JJN she was one of the youngest girls there, but she was so freakin' good. They moved her to the older bracket when she was eight." His eyes lit up. "She was the number seven you had a crush on."
Sakura choked back a laugh, and Sasuke grew dangerously dark. "Did you have to bring that up? I was six and I didn't know any better."
Sakura turned away from Sasuke, and for some reason he felt he got the cold shoulder for what he said. But Sakura couldn't know that she was the reason he picked up basketball, or that he fell in love with her from all the stories Itachi would tell of her and her modesty, and all of her skill.
She was one of his best friends, damn it. He wasn't supposed to be in love with her. He couldn't be.
Next week in Konoha
"So, in case no one has noticed," Kakashi started, not reading his book for once, to the shock of his seventh-period class. "Sakura Haruno isn't here today. She's in Suna, and will remain there with her cousins. I think it'd be fair that someone tell you she was ordered to move in with family after her parents' death, and she moved to the rival school for their girls' basketball team. She's doing superb.
"So, I had you all writing essays before break to see how you enjoyed working with your groups so far, and I think Sakura would like me to read it to you all. She had the best paper by far, with imagery and metaphors that I didn't even ask anyone to use."
He went on to read the paper to a silent class and shocked Sasuke.
So that's why she left, he thought to himself. Her parents died. I didn't even know.
"It was like staring out the window on a nice day, knowing you had to stay inside and study," Kakashi started, making Sasuke pay attention. "You wanted to be like all the other kids and run about in the nice weather without a care until your curfew passed and the world around you was so dark it seemed like you were the only thing that existed. When you finally did get to go out to play with the other kids, everyone was inside and the weather took a turn for the worse. That was what it felt like to me this year. As if I was the kid that wanted something more, and always came out with less and less.
"My parents had died not that long ago--not even a month ago. I was thrust into a world dominated by court appearances about custody and being decided and undecided in a split instant. And right in the middle of it all were two temperamental boys that could not understand me, but were forced to be with me more than twice a week. I used to think they were gods, but by the last trial where I decided to live with the Subaku, I realized they were devils.
"Hard to believe, I know."
Sasuke sank deep in his seat. He used to yell at Sakura all the time for being late or missing meetings, or even saying she couldn't make it all. He had been an ass to her, saying she wanted a grade, but not to work for it.
He never knew she had lost her parents, or that she was transitioning.
"Though while they seemed like devils, I would always see their soft-side every once and awhile and drink in the atmosphere. Everyone says how awful the two can be when competitive--like wolves. I can completely refute that--they are worse than wolves, and more accurately resemble the terminators in the third of the American movie series. The one where the girl fought to kill and the terminator from all the other movies fought to protect. At the same time, they were best friends, though, showing compassion and brotherhood that seemed like it could only exist in a movie.
"This was tempered with the fact they were not like me. I was the scraggly girl that just sat and stayed silent and daydreamed the whole time, not even attempting to flirt with them. They must have assumed this was because I knew I stood no shot with them, which they can keep believing if it fuels their ego. In reality, however, it was because I felt a brotherly attraction to them, like being tethered to them--and yet, I could never be close. I was a Subaku by blood, and thus the immortal enemy."
Sasuke felt himself warm over in a blush. She had read him and Naruto perfectly and he could see the way they treated her and acted. Well, naruto thought she was being a good friend to Hinata, and that was still true. But he saw how they had assumed she thought she was out of her league.
She didn't know that Sasuke now recognized that she was--she was above their league.
As Kakashi read on, Sasuke wondered what would've happened if he knew. It was hard to guess what ifs and what would haves. He had never been good at it, because there were always circumstances or instances that changed the idea.
He might have hated her because she was related to the Subaku.
He might have been sympathetic of her situation.
Or maybe he would've been in love with her publicly, maybe dated her and kept her in Konoha. There weren't many things he could think of.
But he was sure of one thing. He was an idiot to let her just slip away.
When Suna arrived for the game that night, Sasuke paid special attention to when the team-managers and announcer--a bench-player named Iruka Aoyama that scored a grand total of two the other night--showed up.
Sakura and Misaki immediately took off in a sprint over to them, which shocked Sasuke. Why were they coming over? He would understand why Sakura was, but not Misaki. She didn't know anyone as far as Sasuke knew.
"Hello, Hag. You dyed your hair? Hey Misaki," Sai greeted, hugging Misaki and getting lightly nailed by Sakura in the gut. "What?"
Sai was a prodigal starter in the place of the injured Assistant Captain Rock Lee. He was a junior now, but he was famed for playing JJN. No one knew his last name but Kakashi, or anything about the boy except for his basketball legacy and ability.
"Stop calling me a hag already, Painted Ass," she said, ruffling his hair. "I called you when I dyed it to see if you wanted to do it, but someone was off in Amegakure for vacation. Sketching and paint, sketching an painting! I'm surprised you even play basketball, Subaku. You love art too much."
He froze, as did the team. Sai Subaku? Their teammate was the enemy? And then Sasuke realized Sai was Sakura's cousin.
"Don't look at me, Sai. She's the one that won't get over the fact you actually painted your ass when you were six. I try to forget," Misaki replied, smiling and shaking her head. She couldn't see the way they treated the name Subaku around Konoha. "How are you?"
"Fine. I'd be better if Sakura chose to live with us in Konoha instead of going to Suna fro basketball. Traitor," he replied, sighing as his team went back to practicing and ignoring his conversation with his cousins.
Well, everyone but Sasuke.
"I'm sorry, but I had to. Do you know how frustrating it is to watch everyone play, but not be taken seriously because not enough girls want to play in order to make a team?" She crinkled her nose. "So, how are my aunt and uncle?"
He shrugged. "They're cool. I think they're a little disappointed you chose Gaara and the other Subaku over them, but they'll live. How about you guys, Misaki? I haven't seen any of you in years."
"Days," Sakura corrected. "We were over on Saturday for some party or another."
She smirked and hugged him. "Well, I can tell you my parents were even more disappointed. Chichi's brother and Haha's sister. She's practically my sister by blood. I should've gotten custody."
Sakura snorted. "You would've, too, if Misao didn't hate me. I was full-well ready to stay I wanted to stay with the Haruno, but Misao--"
"I hate that bitch," Sai and Misaki said at once, mad.
She shrugged and waved to everyone else on the team, effectively getting Kiba InuZuka, Neji Hyuuga, Naruto and Shikamaru to come over and say hello. They were shocked to see Sakura on the other team, but when Kakashi explained it the first day back from break they understood.
Kakashi came over and greeted them, taking a note from Misaki as discreetly as possible and putting it in his pocket. Sasuke had the sneaking suspicion it was from his fiancée, Anko. He smiled at them, and he and Sakura started to talk about how she enjoyed Suna.
"Everyone is so nice there. at first I thought they'd hate me since I was from Konoha, but they really are extremely nice to me. And playing basketball for a school again is amazing," she gushed, smiling and happy.
"That's right," he said, snapping his fingers. "You used to play for Kusanagi's School of Athletics. Anko used to bring me to watch people play basketball and some tennis."
Sakura nodded and tilted her head to Misaki. "You remember her twin Misao. She went to Kusanagi's for tennis. She's pretty good at it. I never played tennis. I don't like getting shown up."
The buzzer rang to start the game, and Sakura gave Kakashi and Sai a hug, then waved at the team before turning back to the Suna team. Sasuke saw the dull look in her eyes, the sadness at turning away from Konoha and dedicated the game to her in his head.
They won, Konoha forty-six and Suna forty-five. Gaara had gone to take a Hail Mary, and Sasuke had stuffed it halfway down the court before it rose and arched.
"Sakura," he said, making her turn away from the conversation she was having with Gaara and Kankuro about their playing. "Can I talk to you?" he asked.
She smiled and nodded as she excused herself from her cousins for a moment. "Hi, Sasuke," she greeted, smiling.
To her, it was the perfect game. She had no team she truly wanted to win, and it had been a good game. Neither team gave an inch, playing amazing defense and creating tons of steals.
It was refreshing to see her this happy.
All of her family except for Sai and his parents lived in Suna, and she felt loved and supported. No one really hated her, and she could play the sport she lived for. People even respected her for her skill now, instead of ignored her like the boys did in Suna.
Suddenly she was shocked as Sasuke kissed her and smiled. "You did amazing coaching them, and your game was spectacular last week. I'm sorry I was such an ass to you while we were in the group."
"It's okay," she said, blushing and smiling. "You were great. I'm impressed. We're going to have serious competition when March Madness comes, huh?"
Sasuke smiled and brushed a stray lock out of her eye. "You know, I thought you were going to tell Suna all of our plays. I can't believe how loyal you are. I would've done it, and I wouldn't have blamed you if you did. I'm glad to know you're that loyal."
She rolled her eyes. "I don't know if that's a compliment or an insult, so I'm going to say that it's a good thing."
"It's a very good thing," Sasuke agreed, kissing her again. "It says a lot about how you value relationships."
"Hey, Sakura!" Gaara yelled. "Come on, get on the bus before I embarrass you in front of your boyfriend dragging you on the bus."
She blushed and Sasuke kissed her again. "I guess I have to let you go," he said. "I'll call you, okay?"
She nodded and was happy the entire ride back to Suna. She fell asleep in her new room with a smile, knowing Sasuke didn't say anything about them not dating when Gaara brought it up.
Next Year
Misaki and Sakura smiled and waved to Hinata when Konoha arrived, and went over with Temari a second later to say hello.
"Hey Sakura," Ino replied, making the girl turn and hug her as well. "Ready to get your ass handed to you on a silver platter?"
Sakura laughed and casually tossed the ball she had over her shoulder. She smirked at Ino's expression when it swished through Suna's practice net. "I'm ready to serve yours," she answered smiling at the sight of the boys' team behind them. "I'll be back."
"Hey, Hag," Sai greeted. "I got your message."
"Good. What do you think? Would it work?" she asked, anxious.
He nodded and smiled. "Haha and Chichi were ecstatic. They even have a room all set up already for when you move in."
She hugged her cousin and whispered thank you before turning to Sasuke and kissing her boyfriend. ""Hi," she said, smiling. "Happy anniversary."
It was the year anniversary since Sasuke officially became her boyfriend, and they went on their first date. Gaara had protected Sakura when they started, and even denied Sasuke access to the house the first few times he came to see her. His excuse was that he was from Konoha, but in reality he wanted to make sure his baby cousin was happy.
"Happy anniversary," he greeted, giving her a small silver-wrapped gift. "In case I don't have time to give that to you later."
"You will. Itachi is driving me over after your game," she replied, wrapping her arms around his neck and stealing a kiss every now and then. "I still can't believe he's your brother."
"I still can't believe you know him. Or how lucky I am to be with you," he said, his arms around her waist and kissing her. "Are you sure you want me?"
She giggled and nodded, kissing him one last time to go back to her team at Temari yelling "Captain" to her.
Naruto looked shocked. "She made captain? Really?"
"Yeah," Sai replied. "A captain can be any age, but they need the skill to back it up. She made captain, and Tema-chan and Misaki made assistant captains."
Naruto beamed. "Just like Hinata-chan and Ino made captain and assistant. It'll be fun to watch Sakura play Hinata."
Sakura played an amazing game. She scored a total of thirty-eight points and took charge of the game when acrobatic basketball was shut down and the others couldn't score. Temari and Misaki had seventeen each, bringing the total score Konoha seventy-eight and Suna eighty-six.
Konoha lost to Suna for the men, Sasuke scoring twenty-two of the final sixty-four points. They only lost by three, and Sakura was proud of Konoha.
When she showed up at Sasuke's house, she was excited to see everyone had a party for them, and even more excited knowing how amazing her presents would be. It got late into the night, and she and Sasuke were exchanging gifts and sharing a moment privately in Sasuke's room.
"So, what do you think?" he asked, looking at her anxiously.
"You bought me two tickets to see a JJN game," she said, smiling at his innocent stupidity. "Tickets. When I happen to play for the JJN."
His face fell and he looked at the tickets. He laughed and took them away for another pair of tickets. "Sorry. Those are Itachi's and mine for when you play in the finals. These are yours."
Sakura gasped, smiling out of happy shock. "You got me tickets to North Carolina. I can't believe you. You got me tickets to North Carolina!" she squealed, smiling and jumping up and down, hugging him.
She always knew Sasuke was rich, just like she was and the rest of Konoha was. It just now hit home how much he was willing to spend on her, how rich he was and how much he loved her.
"In case you didn't notice, there are two," he said, smiling as he took one from her. "I figured if Duke is offering me a scholarship, I may as well take a look with my girlfriend at her favorite college in the world."
She smiled and kissed Sasuke before handing him a present, but Sasuke stopped her. "I haven't finished giving you my presents," he pouted.
She received a set of earrings and a necklace in a platinum setting and carnelian and garnet stone in a three tiers of webbing. She also got a matching promise ring that made her gasp in shock.
"What's this?" she asked.
"It's a promise ring," he said, laughing nervously. He took the ring and hand with an anxious expression. "I promise to love you forever, to be the one that loves you solely and completely, and to be with you."
Sakura smiled and kissed him when he put it on and she rolled her eyes. "I didn't need you to promise me. I know you will. I love you."
He kissed her and hugged her. It was the first time she said it, after the months he had been saying it to her. "I love you, too, Sakura."
"All right. My turn," she said, handing him a giant package.
"What is it, condoms?" he asked.
She laughed and turned beet red, hiding her face and resting it on his shoulder, breathing in his scent. "No, they are not. Will you open the present please?" she asked.
Inside was a Konoha jersey with Sasuke's name on it, an iPod, a digital picture frame, and a jade charm of a panda bear. He held it up to her and she laughed.
"It's my lucky charm. I pin it inside my sports bra before I go to play a game. I never lose when I have that charm on, and it's kept me safe since I was four and running around with a basketball trying to dunk."
He laughed and looked at the picture frame. He saw the picture and got confused. It was Sakura when she was little, wearing her JJN uniform for the Fire-Wind regional team. "What's this?" he asked, showing it to her.
"Well, Itachi and I were talking awhile back after you fell asleep--New Year's Eve, right before the ball dropped--and he was telling me this interesting little story of yours," she said, biting her lip. "Some little boy you both happen to know used to watch me play when Itachi did, and he had this huge crush on me."
When she started to laugh, he blushed and kissed her, rolling his eyes. "Well, thank you. I especially enjoy this charm," he said, waving it. "I'm going to remember this thing went in your bra--sexy, sexy."
She laughed and sat on his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I have something else for you," she told him.
"Really? Is it your virginity?" he asked, getting slapped when he laughed at her horrified expression.
"No. It is not." she paused, and smiled so brightly Sasuke felt he needed glasses. He couldn't help but smile too. "I'm moving."
And suddenly his smile disappeared. "Moving? Again? Where? What? Sakura, why are you telling me this?" he asked, shocked.
She smiled even wider, so happy she could burst. "Because, I'm moving right down the street from this guy I'm in love with." She pursed her lips together to keep from smiling, but it couldn't stop the smile from radiating. "Sasuke, I'm moving in with Sai and my aunt and uncle. I'm moving back to Konoha."
He froze and felt the smile creeping up his face until it bloomed and he stood up, swinging her in circles, cheering and laughing and smiling. "Yes!" he said.
Sakura laughed and smiled back. When he finally put her down, she struck a straight face. "I have something else, too."
"Oh really. What?"
"I have an early acceptance at Duke. My aunt Hikari--Gaara's mom--was so excited she decided to get me a present. It's a trip for me plus three friends--family not included--to go to Hawaii for the entire summer. It's my old summer-house, right on the beach. Three stories, seventeen bedrooms and all ours, Naruto and Hinata's if you want to go."
Sasuke's jaw dropped, shocked. "I'd love to," he replied, smiling.
"I have a surprise now," she said.
"Sakura, you're killing me. What's the surprise?" he asked.
"Misaki is coming with me to live with Sai. Her parents, one's my dad's brother, then my mom's sister. Anyways, their buying my old house. I'll move in with them when they buy it, which will probably be when we're in Duke, because I don't know the first thing about selling the house. But the point is that I'm staying. I'm not leaving anymore."
He smiled and hugged her as the door burst open, Itachi obliviously asking if they wanted to come down for pizza and ice-cream for a midnight snack.
Senior Year in Konoha
Temari laughed when she came up to Sakura. They bent at the knees, and Temari smiled at her. "You're out of your league, Sakura. You're going to get destroyed."
"Please. You're so going down," she said.
The referee came up to them and looked at the two. "Ladies, no fighting. Captains, shake hands."
Temari and Sakura did, then Temari and Hinata, and Temari and Misaki. "Traitor," she teased.
"Now this'll be a good game," Ino said, ready at the small forward position.
The referee blew the whistle. The ball went up, and the crowd started to cheer, none louder than the Subaku, Haruno, and the Uchiha, all of whom watching their family.