Sakura stared in horror as the note was swept off the ground and slipped between the nimble fingers of none other than her greatest frenemy Ino who sat two rows ahead of her; her long blonde hair almost sweeping the ground as she fixed herself correctly back into the seat.
Sakura gritted her teeth, as hard knots wound and unwound inside of her stomach, knowing if she called out she was sure to draw even more unwanted attention upon herself, possibly even getting Iruka Sensei's disapproval.
*Gulp*
But of all people to get the note?! Ino with her big mouth was sure to blab to Sasuke, who sat only one seat ahead of her.
"H-how horrible" Sakura mumbled to herself, earning a strange look from Kiba-which she keenly ignored- who sat next to her, snapping out of his own dazed state, and drawing his slightly unfocused eyes from the chalkboard.
Sakura fixated her gaze to the back of Ino's big blonde head, wishing with all her might that she had the power of Ino's own mind transfer jutsu at a time like this one. Ino on the other hand was plainly unaware of the internal struggle Sakura faced as she was still unfolding what seemed like the millionth layer of the creases Sakura had purposely folded the note into. Those after all were Sakura's dearest and most heartfelt words! Not to mention embarrassing as hell to be read by anyone else.
Beads of sweat littered across Sakura's forehead until finally she could take it no longer, jumping up to seize back the note herself. Cursing herself relentlessly for being as absent minded to drop it in the first place, even if it was accidentally as she made her way up towards Ino.
"Give me back my note Ino-pig!" Sakura muttered in her most dangerous voice glaring down at Ino's intrigued face.
"What?! No way" Ino's head snapped up, her eyes shooting daggers, immediately defensive at the pinkette's tone.
"This isn't yours; I found it here, right next to my seat Billboard brow! So get lost" Ino prompted as she finally opened the last fold of the note peering down her beady little eyes quickly along the contents.
Heart hammering Sakura tried to snatch, desperate as an animal caught in the headlights of a car, the note back from Ino before she could discern the meaning. Ino of course didn't take lightly to this and pulled back on the bottom of the note, causing a climatic show of tug of war between the two girls.
As the unintelligible slurs and the rising voices of the two girls surmised almost to a pitch where only dogs could hear it, the attention from their classmates quickly droned in on them both, ridiculously trying to maintain a hold on the slightly ripping paper in their shaking fists. Only Sasuke himself sat staring ahead, fingers interwoven beneath his chin as he focused on Iruka's lesson.
Iruka, finally catching on to the commotion, quickly made his way over to the girls, put out with their childish behavior and not even able to understand the phrases they slew threw the air like invisible shuriken.
"Now now girls what has gotten into both of you?" I'm in the middle of a lesson here you know!" He stated sternly trying and failing to get between the furious females.
"Billboard Brow started it Sensei; she stormed over here acting as if this note was hers, when clearly it was next to my seat since I first came in!"
Before Sakura could defend herself, Iruka easily caught the note from between them as a short surge of chakra forced them both to drop it from their iron grips.
"Girls, don't be silly, this note belongs to Sasuke" Iruka said absentmindedly looking at the first line and shaking his head. "Seems like he just dropped it, so cut out all of the fuss here ok, this lesson is really important for both your exams as well as the rest of your classmates" Iruka turned and tapped Sasuke on the shoulder.
"This seems to be yours Sasuke, next time take better care of your stuff before these two murder each other alright."
"And Sakura head back to your own seat so we can kindly continue with our lesson please" Iruka crossed his arms waiting, not allowing the squeaking protests of Sakura to faze him. He had to finish this lesson today or he would surely hear from Lord Hokage himself.
Defeated and trembling Sakura made her way back to her seat, her heart didn't even seem to pound anymore, and it was though her insides had been doused in ice water. She could almost hear Sasuke's voice in her head reading word for word her pathetic love note as she dumped herself back into her chair.
Dear Sasuke;
Well, what can I say? Where do I even begin? You are soo cool, not to mention smart and handsome. Oh Sasuke, what do I have to do for you to notice that I am here as your teammate and potential girlfriend? I don't care what others think of you, I'll be yours until you can finish counting the stars in the night sky. Sasuke, my love for you might cause me to explode one day, I just want you to notice me and know that now and forever I will always be there for you.
-With love, Sakura H.
She could see the sudden rigidness of his back, and slowly, so terribly slowly, he turned around looking straight at her with his deep black eyes.
The look of animosity she received sent a jolt through her body; she could feel the little hairs on the back of her neck stand up straight. Only imagining what a fool she must look like to him because of her stupid letter, she bowed her head and kept it so for the rest of the lesson.
When the bell rang, Sakura was the first out the door, head down and hands shaking from trying to contain her emotions. She didn't think she could face Sasuke right now; she just wanted to be alone with her horrible mistake.
Pausing for a moment to catch her breathe she felt someone brush past her, causing her to stumble against the door frame. Angrily she looked up, at her breaking point to see the retreating figure of Sasuke himself.
Shoving her hands into her pockets to continue walking quickly, her fingertips brushed against a piece of paper. Curious, she pulled out the small ripped paper from a notebook. Scribbled in a script handwriting she knew only too well was the words "Thank you"
Sasuke's name was beneath that.
