It all began with a rumor.
Uchiha Sasuke liked girls with long hair.
No one knew who heard it first or who even said it. If it was Sasuke or one of the hundreds of girls who liked him. No one could deny or verify if it was true. It didn't matter.
All that mattered for the Academy girls was winning Uchiha Sasuke's heart.
No matter how much he ignored them, girls would always follow Sasuke around, finding any number of ways to get close to him. There were a few girls, the ones who were brave enough, who tried but were unsuccessful. It even left them angry or in tears. Sasuke didn't care. He never cared how many girls watched, how loud they praised him. They were a distraction and Sasuke didn't need any of that. Especially on Red Day.
No one quite knew when it began. How it even got started or even how long it's been going on. No one quite knew. It could have been decades after the Nine–Tailed Kitsune Attack or perhaps generations ago before it even got a proper name. No one knows for sure. Yet for as long as the villagers can remember, Red Day has always been a part of the Academy's unspoken traditions.
Gifts were given, confessions were heard, and couples were form or broken up. The girls loved it. The boys, were either embarrassed, jealous, or didn't care for it depending on who's asking. For the adults, it was and always have been a fond memory of their time as children; a simple yet youthful affair.
But for a Shinobi, it was quite dangerous as it can be seen as a mark of weakness. Weaknesses, of any kind, can lead to being used or critically hurt.
Or even worse, to certain death.
Sasuke knew that. He was a shinobi, the sole member of the infamous Uchiha clan. He had a goal. There was no time or even the point of Red Day. Of gifts, of chocolate, of confessions, and most importantly, of love itself.
That was then, and now as Sasuke reflects back on his life; perhaps love was want he needed.
He was just too afraid to lose it all over again.
Until she came into his life and everything changed.
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