.: A Dance With the Devil :.
Preface;
Biting into my skin, tainting my mind, slowly killing me from the inside out... His lips were like most deadly of poisons.
I had never fathomed doing such a thing with him would have ever actually happened... In all honestly, I had always thought of it as next to impossible. When I first started to notice my growing attraction for him, I'd only just turned seventeen; and he was turning 21. I wasn't even a high school graduate, and he was already in college.
I'm too immature for him... I would tell myself, distraught by this fateful attraction that I was certain I would never act upon. I might as well go back to liking Sasuke... My chances of being with him are just as likely as my chances of being with Itachi.
Zero.
But I couldn't have been any more wrong.
chapter one; some things never change
These days, high school was just one of those things an ordinary girl like me had to deal with. And I, much like every other ordinary girl, hated it with the burning passion of a thousand erupting volcanoes.
But as I stated, I had to deal with it.
The last two months of my life had been somewhat blissful; without school, just the way I liked it. But unfortunately, summer had come to an end, and my first day back at Konoha High had dawned upon me. I simply could not stop moping as I walked that same old path, wearing that same old uniform with the same old ratty backpack slung over one shoulder. As depressed as I was, there was one thing to be somewhat happy about; this was my final year. Yep, I had enduring three long years of high school and was now on my fourth, entering as a senior, which I have to admit did feel kinda good.
But still.
The early morning air felt crisp against my skin, a feeling I hadn't felt in a while considering I'd been sleeping until noon every day all summer. As more and more footsteps were created behind me in my path, I looked down at my feet and noticed how muddy my shoes were getting.
"Oh god dammit..." I muttered out loud, stepping onto the road since there were no cars coming. They really need to get a damn side walk installed here.
Of course, with my luck, the only way I had to walk to and from school was one of the only roads in town that didn't have a side walk paved...
Ending my train of thought, I heard a couple guys voices from up ahead, and noticed that it was none other than my good friend Naruto, and to continue what I was saying about my luck... He was with Sasuke.
I gulped, painful memories flooding back into my mind as I recalled the last time Sasuke had spoken to me before summer began.
-flashback-
"S-Sasuke, please don't go..." I pleaded as he turned his back to me. The rain was falling heavily, matching the downpour of tears that streamed down my face.
"Why shouldn't I?" He questioned, not even giving the effort to turn around and look at me. My heart had never felt so weak.
"I just, I just..." I peeped, trying to muster up the words that I prayed would make him change his mind. The tears began to flow more intensely as another piece of my heart shattered and tumbled in the mud under his shoes.
"I've already said what I want to say to you, Sakura." He stated sternly. "I'm not interested. I don't know how many times I have to tell you that."
His words stung deeply. I knew what he was saying, but I just didn't want to accept it. I cared about him more than anyone in the world... "Sasuke please, I..."
"I don't want to hear it." He practically spat, looking back at me over his shoulder. "I'm done with this." And with that, he began to walk away, and with every step he took my heart screamed at me louder. Just say it. It begged me. Please just tell him, even if he doesn't comply...
And so as I watched him walk away, I yelled loud enough for him to clearly hear me, "Sasuke please don't go, I love you!" My body trembled as I spoke, terrified of what he would say, but at the same time, it was like a huge weight had finally been lifted just saying those words. I had told Sasuke how much I cared about him before, but as naive as I was, I thought that maybe if he just heard the absolute truth... He would change his mind. Hope ignited inside of me as he came to a momentary halt, but much to my dismay, he ignored my confession and continued walking down the street.
And after that, he didn't speak to me once.
-end flashback-
A shrill shiver was sent up my spine remembering this event.
I tried not to remember it as much as possible, but it was difficult, and even still two months later I almost burst into tears every time I remembered. I was almost ready to cry, before I heard Naruto's laugh and snapped back into reality. I was getting too close to them, I had to slow down. I felt so awkward... I didn't know what was going to happen if Sasuke and I had to face each other. I didn't know how I would react, but I knew it probably wouldn't end well. Just to look into his piercing gaze or hear his voice would break my heart all over again.
So I slowed down considerably and let them get farther ahead before I walked at a normal pace again.
I needed to get a hold of myself. I had already humiliated myself completely in front of Sasuke that day, I didn't need it to happen again. The best thing I could do was just try to keep myself together until I got home.
I let out a heavy sign of exasperation, thinking this day is going to suck total ass.
As with every year I returned to school, Konoha High had not changed one bit. I walked through the familiar old hallways, looking around at all the faces hoping to see a friendly one. But naturally, the hallways were stuffed with grade nines who thought they were all badass finally being in highschool, and then tons more grade tens who thought they were all badass cause they weren't in grade nine any more... All adding to the long list of reasons why I didn't like school.
Any ways, I was on my way up to the third floor to go to my home room (there's that awesome luck again) when I noticed one my best friends Hinata walking not too far ahead.
"Oy, Hina!" I called, waving as she turned to look down. She smiled when she saw me and waited til I caught up to her.
"Hey, Sakura." She grinned.
"What's up? You going to the third too?"
She nodded and we continued walking. "Figures, I always have homeroom on the third."
"Yeah, I usually do too." I laughed. "Now that I think about it, I think there's only been two semesters where I didn't have home room on the third."
"Yeah about the same for me."
"What class do you have any ways?" I inquired as we entered the door that lead to the third floor.
"English, you?"
"University with Kakashi-Sensei?"
"Yep!"
I beamed brightly to my dark haired friend. "Well, at least we'll get to endure it together."
We were a bit early for class, so there weren't many people in the room when we entered. I saw a few familiar faces, and Kakashi-sensei in this usual stance with his feet up at his desk buried in some novel. Hinata and I took a seat at the back of the room and took out our books, ready for whatever crap we were about to endure.
For me, however, something was about to happen that I was not prepared for. My first warning was Naruto's scratchy voice outside of the door, and my first thought was oh no...
The blonde walked in with a goofy grin on his face, and of course behind him was none other than Sasuke Uchiha.
OF-FUCKING-COURSE.
I groaned and smashed my forehead against my desk.
"S-Sakura?" Hinata peeped, tapping me on the shoulder.
"Just kill me now." I moaned, head glued to the desk beneath me. "Please Hinata, just have some mercy and kill me right here right now."
I felt another tap on my shoulder and raised my head, only to see Naruto standing before me with that bright smile of his. "Hey, Sakura!" He chimed, taking the seat in front of Hinata, leaving the one in front of me to... Sasuke. I cringed, that feeling in my chest rising at being so close to him yet again. I tried to suppress my thoughts, but it was not happening.
Sasuke probably hates me... I bet he doesn't even want to be near me. He's probably dreading being in this class just as much as I am...
"So how was your summer, guys?" Naruto queried happily, turning around in his seat to face Hinata and I. I didn't reply.
"Mine was good." Hinata smiled sweetly. I really wished that Naruto would just ignore me and forget I was even there, but naturally he didn't.
"What about you Sakura?"
"... It was alright." I muttered, depression lacing my voice. It must have been obvious how I was feeling, but no one seemed to notice or care. Especially Sasuke, who sat right in front of me without turning around once.
He hates me...
I wanted to burst out into tears right then, but I had to remind myself to just stay strong and get through the day. I can go home and cry all I want later, right now, I need to focus.
The bell rang signalling the beginning of class, and Kakashi-sensei closed his book ready to teach the class.
"Ah, some familiar faces." The teacher said, scanning the room. "All familiar faces, actually. Did you all have good summers?" There were various low mumbles around the room. "Aaaaalrighty then, well, lets just continue with the lesson then..."
An hour passed and Kakashi had gone over some basic review of grade eleven english to jog out memories. I remembered everything that he taught us, because english was one of my favourite courses. I was basically zoning out the entire time, mainly on the back of Sasuke's head... I wondered how his summer was and what he did. I wished we were still friends so I could ask him that question, but nope I had to go and fuck that up completely. I sighed longingly, resting my chin on my hand, focusing back on what the teacher was saying.
"So, because of the poor test results of last years english exam, I have a semester long project laid out for you all to complete with a partner." This caught my attention. I loved partner work, and me and Hinata were a really good team. "What you are all going to do is meet up after school with your partner three times a week for at least an hour to review the homework I'll be giving you throughout the course of the semester. You will be helping each other improve, while making sure that your partner is actually doing the work and studying. It looks bad on me, you know, when almost half my class gets less than a 60 on a basic english exam..." The class muttered. I noticed Naruto shoot his hand up. "Yes, Naruto?"
"Sounds boring, but we get to pick our partners at least, right?"
"Nope!" Kakashi laughed, and the whole class burst out into boos and moans. "Sorry guys, but if you can pick your partners then chances are all you slackers are just going to pick other slackers. So, the partners are going to be completely random." The class groaned yet again, myself included. "So I've put all your names in this hat." He held up a black top hat filled with tiny slips of paper. "I'm going to randomly draw names, and every two names I draw are going to be partners, sound good?"
He began to draw names from the hat, naming off pairings. I listened intently for my name, but it didn't come until about half way through.
I would have rather walked through a billion spider webs than have to face what Kakashi was about to say.
"Aaaaand," he said in a singsong voice, "Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha."
A/N: Thanks for reading! :D Please leave a review! And check out my deviantart for the official artwork for this story; reckless-abandoned :)
