A/N: Oh hello lovely readers. So this is a Sasuke/Sakura fanfiction, the first one I've written in years. The tumblr tag for this pairing has renewed my love for them. They've always been my OTP, I just lacked the inspiration to write about them. But not anymore! Each chapter will have a quote underneath the title & description hinting about a theme that's evident in that portion of the story. This is mainly a set up chapter, nothing too exciting, a tad clichéd. Their school time is that of Japan, starting in the spring, breaks in between terms, etc. Things will get interesting, that I can guarantee. Anyways, enjoy!

I do not claim to own Naruto or any of the characters in this story.

By Disappointment Only

"We're all just looking for someone whose demons play well with ours."

Chapter I

"The drama of life begins with a wail & ends with a sigh."

- Minna Antrim

Not havingto wake up until noon was hardly a blessing Sakura Haruno was familiar with. Yet by some odd streak of dumb luck her boss had been generous enough to give her this Monday morning off. With her being a full time waitress it was a generally rare absolution that happened only once on the rarest occasions. Of course she had asked old man Sozo for the hours denoting that she wasn't by any means being forced to work as much as she did. Conclusively she had to dedicate to such a chaotic schedule in order to afford her living expenses and text books for university. Today, however, she was solely pleased that the old man had given her the time off she had actually requested for a change. Inwardly she wondered if it was due to the fact that it was her first day at the city's main university; or potentially because he knew she had been anticipating this day since she had received her letter of confirmed enrollment six months ago. Whatever the logic behind this glorious occurrence, the pink haired 18 year old was infinitely thankful; if only for the reason that she got to sleep in.

The perks of living in the modern age and being gifted with a full ride scholarship were chiefly that she got to arrange her schedule to fit her less than mundane life. Albeit being a nursing major contrived this into being nothing short of an arduous task. The term by term schedule for every student alternated in an A/B pattern. On this Monday it was categorized 'A', where she had her first class, Advanced Psychiatric Health followed by Applied Neural Science. Considering both were advanced classes by three years they were the only two required. As for day 'B', she would attend her two elective classes in the late morning; Creative Writing and Photography 2b. On later into the afternoon she would then attend her predictably most difficult classes; Principles and Applications of Nursing Technology and Emergency Nursing 2a. The rest of her courses were as follows: the Science and Practice of Nursing the Neonate, Physiological/Pathophysiological Basis for Advance Nursing Practice 1a and Clinical Pharmacology. However indifferently they were all online courses, requiring hands on per term finals & analysis tests. The point of which determined if the enrolled students would be allowed to continue the classes under their scholarship, or be charged for it. Her plate was full, to put it lightly, nevertheless Sakura was eager to start studying what she had craving endlessly since her early teens. As far as work went, on days she had her 'A' schedule she would clock in early morning, occasionally coming back for a split shift. On days she had her 'B' schedule she would head over to the restaurant after a full day of class, occasionally closing if need be. Saturdays she routinely worked a double, nine am to nine pm. Sundays she would occasionally have off, if not only a short shift of noon to six. Her schedule wasn't set in stone and sometimes old man Sozo was generous in alternating her hours; a simple act she had grown to appreciate greatly. One thing she did know was that this would most likely be the last week day she'd get to laze around on, indefinitely the over worked teenager slept in as long as she possibly could.

Sakura laid sprawled out atop her bed in a sort of daze for several minutes. Her alarm went off while she surveyed the undecorated light bulb sitting in the middle of her bedroom ceiling. She pondered how she could make the stray light bulb less… well, stray, and borish. Maybe a glass cover? Her mind mulled over several things she could attempt on her next day off. Again her phone chimed after having the snooze button hit ten minutes prior. Retaining the numbers on the lock screen she ascertained that it was at last time to get ready for her first day of college. The pinkette slowly ambled over to her conjoining bathroom with a frown. Flicking on the light, she scanned over the backwards reflection of her white t-shirt that read, quite ironically mind you, 'don't ask me about university' in black bold letters. A gift from her old friend Ino when she was stressing over her final exams and college applications. A moment she felt like had just taken place yesterday. The humor in it was that Sakura would literally lose her mind at any mention of university, brewing into a joke between the two of them. Still, here she was; within an hour and a half of attending her first class. Growing up was crazy like that she deduced with a sigh. One minute you're one step on the way to uni with tests and resumes; then you blink and don't know where the hell you are until you're already so far gone. No turning back.

Silently she grimaced at her roseate locks as she let them down from their tie, allowing to fall loosely past her shoulders. Sakura had abruptly cut off her hair at the end of their eighth grade year and kept it so due to ease of care. Consequently, working constantly and having a dozen different utility bills had left her hair being the last thing on her mind. Within a year since her last cut it had grown now passed the middle of her back. Whether she would be able to get it cut soon or not would be entirely dependent on how well she did with tips this next month. With an elongated sigh she stripped off her pajamas and stumbled into the shower.

It was an odd, almost freakish feeling getting ready for class without a uniform. Sakura experienced a feeling much akin to going out on the weekends while picking out her own clothes for the day. She had hated uniforms during her years in public school; though now that she was entirely indecisive of what to wear, she almost wished they still required them at university. Certainly they didn't, and with that she expelled another cloud of air that might as well of collapsed her lungs; running her fingers through her wet hair as her mind calculated. Minutes fell off the clock as she settled on a black, medium length skirt. No pleats although it fell as such to almost appear subtly otherwise. With it she paired a light fabric, cream colored, long sleeved shirt with a cat in sunglasses on the front. Her shoes matched the shade of the shirt in a pair of lace up, oxford style flats with a set of long, loose white socks. She flicked on a layer of makeup quick, swiped a shade of light blush on her cheeks and a coat of mascara. Sakura dried her hair for only a moment before pulling it up into a bun, slipping a pair of black framed glasses up the bridge of her nose. Pulling on a bulky hemp bracelet onto her right wrist, prior property of Mebuki, she at long last grabbed her bag. Quickly she realized she was running more than a few minutes late, staring at herself in the mirror one more time before bolting out the door.

Sakura pulled out her phone from her bag, rummaging through it upon standing idly in the car of the train as it lulled through miles of dimlit tunnels.

'Naruto Uzumaki

I survived my first class, surprisingly. The pervert's my natural history teacher go figure. He's already on me giving me essays out the ass, so I'm officially recruiting your help. Ichiraku later? Don't die today please because I need you to help me with my homework.'

She smiled at the text that lingered in a blue bubble on her lock screen; care of the idiot she dared call her closest friend, Naruto. She was releived to hear he didn't spontaneously combust in his first college class. Apart Sakura he was instead attending a community college not far from where they had grown up. It was humorous though, Jiraiya, or the pervert, was his teacher. That was some kind of bad karma. She giggled.

'I guess that's what you get for being such a jerk to him when he was your homeroom teacher in middle school. I promise I won't die if you promise not to lash out or piss anyone off today. My only day off this week so yes, Ichiraku later.'

Her message sent in a blue bubble. Accordingly three grey dots appeared at the bottom of their conversation indicating that the blonde was typing back.

'Uh, too late on the pissing anyone off part… but I won't do anything too horrendous I guess.' The message was accompanied by a mischievous looking yellow emoticon.

'You're in class, stop texting.' She replied.

'Hypocrite.' He answered with another smiley, this one irritated.

'False, I'm on a train, idiot.' She complemented the text with a winking emoticon.

'Whatever, get to class slacker.'

In a perfectly timed fashion the train finally came to a stop.

Putting her phone away swiftly Sakura meandered through the crowd out of the train and up the underground stairs. When she emerged she was merely two blocks away from the university, finding herself now in the student housing portion of the campus. Quickly she hurried in the school's direction, holding her floral tote at her side to stop it from bouncing against her hip with every stride.

It took her only a moment to arrive at the colossal building she would be attending for the next few months before summer break. She would've stared in awe if it weren't for her having already been there a good several times for orientation and several schedule fixes. She continued to hurry in the direction of the building to the left where she knew her first class was being held. Advanced Psychiatric Health, or simply put, 'Psychology' or 'Psych Health', was coincidentally taught by Inoichi Yamanaka, Ino's father. He was the one who had persuaded the university board into allowing Sakura, a freshman, to take the course which was required of junior med students and an elective for fourth year seniors. It was unheard of for a freshman to be allowed in. It came down to the perks of knowing people in all the right places. However in her mindset it wasn't just that. She was more than confident that she would ace the class no problem; regardless of her history with Inoichi.

Sakura climbed the stairs of the health building rapidly, occasionally stopping to pull her skirt down in the back. The psychology room was the first door on the left of the top floor hallway. She paused before it, catching her breath and glancing at her lock screen for the time. She had three minutes to spare exactly. Perfect. She opened the door nonchalantly, not wanting to seem rushed or worried about being late. Immediately her eyes fell upon Inoichi with his dark green irises. He quietly sat on his desk at the front of the class, observing the students as they conversed before he called them to session. She bowed politely.

"Good afternoon, Professor," she greeted with a thin smile.

"Ah, Sakura, great timing. I'm looking forward to having you in this class!" He exclaimed with a cheeky grin. She nodded lightly.

"And I'm looking forward to being your pupil." She grinned, proceeding to turn towards the right and find her seat. Unfortunately almost every one had been taken except for a few in the back. Sakura sighed almost immediately. Her breath suddenly hitched in her throat, making eye contact with a set of dark pupils she hadn't seen for almost four years. She gasped out loud, her thoughts running askew and her tongue going numb. She could feel her blood boiling as her face tinged red.

"Sakura, are you all right?" Inoichi asked, staring at her with worry. She gulped, trying to gather he composure and not to look anymore crazed than she already did.

"I-I'm feeling nauseous, I'll be right back," in a split second she was out of the room, not wanting to be in his presence for another moment. Obnoxiously Sakura careened down the locker decorated hallway, mentally thankful that it was completely empty.

Her bun continued to come looser and looser in its tie as she aimed towards the bathroom. Plopping down in a stall and hanging her tote on the door she whipped her phone from its outside pocket, speed dialing one of her emergency contacts.

"Sakura, I'm in class!" Naruto's raspy, hushed voice answered on the other end.

"What the hell is he doing here?!" She yelled, ignoring the fact there was someone in the stall just to the left of her.

"What, who's he?" He questioned, "Professor Pervert I'll be right back." The blond spoke to his teacher, hearing the sound of a door closing she assumed behind him.

"Use your brain for once, Naruto, who else could I be talking about?!" Sakura barked into the lower part of her phone. A momentary pause followed.

"No, you have got to be shitting me!" He shouted, finally.

"I shit you not Naruto, Sasuke Uchiha is sitting emotionless in my Advanced Psych class as we speak!" She exclaimed, her voice now shaking and beginning to sound desperate.

"Well hell, that explains running into him a few blocks down from the university back then," he mumbled to himself, probably not for Sakura to hear. Yet she did; and a pencil could have dropped.

"What?" She growled.

"Uh, I ran into Sasuke two years ago at Ichiraku's a few blocks down… but he was a prick and I tried to fight him so… I didn't really want to tell you," he explained innocently, not a clue in the world.

"What?" She echoed lowly.

"Jeez Sakura, turn your volume up, I said I ran into Sasuke two years ago-" Naruto began again.

"I heard what you said!" She shrieked interrupting him.

"Wait, are you mad..?" He drawled. She choked out an unhealthy laugh.

"Oh, no, Naruto. Why would I be mad, that you ran into our ex best friend, who left us without a good bye four years ago, who somehow came back to the country, who you almost fought, yet you never mentioned a word to me about it? Leading me to believe he was still overseas and never coming back? Why would I be mad about that?" Sakura spoke lowly, her words thick with sarcasm.

"Why do I have the feeling you're not being serious..?" He laughed nervously.

"So much for being a good friend." With a touch of the screen she hung up.

The 18 year old's mood had gone from sad and nervous to angry and vengeful in a matter of seconds. Stampeding out of the bathroom she lumbered up the hall and back to class, determined not to let Sasuke know he had gotten to her. That piece of shit didn't deserve her heart ache, not anymore. He had been back in the country, no, in the city, for two years and had made no effort to contact her? Well, actions spoke louder than words.

"Are you okay, Sakura?" Inoichi asked upon her walking back into class, shutting the door quietly behind her.

"Yeah, I'm just getting over a bad bug, got light headed for a second," the pink haired girl smiled innocently as if nothing was wrong. He was a psychologist, yet entirely fooled. So he led on, anyway.

"Right, well if you need to leave again that's fine. Don't want you getting sick in class. Now take your seat." He added, motioning to the other students. She looked to the class so she could do as told, only to find the single vacant seat behind the object of her anger. Of course. So ironic. So clichéd. Naruto wasn't the only one with bad karma today.

"Aw Sakura, I'm surprised you're not all googly eyed over your precious Sasuke," Kiba, a boy with red face tattoos she'd known since elementary school, mocked from the next row of desks. He was in their class all through high school and knew well of Sakura's childhood into middle school crush on the Uchiha prodigy. She scowled, but said nothing. "Oh, giving him the silent treatment ay? Playing hard to get?" That jerk. She wanted so badly to coldcock him. But no, she'd get expelled because it wasn't 'socially acceptable'. Damn bull shit school rules.

Sasuke, slightly older than her by a year, watched her curiously to see firsthand if Kiba's accusations were correct. He had seen her face upon walking in the classroom. Was she just shocked? No, that couldn't be. She would be crying on his shoulder any time now, just like the day that he left. She brushed passed him on the way to the desk just behind him.

"Hello," she nodded subtly, no eye contact, and plopped down in the seat behind him.

Nothing happened.

A nervous hello.

A hurried look.

Um, what?

At this point even Kiba didn't know what to say. She had been visibly upset only minutes before; that couldn't have changed. She was masking it. She had to be. Or was it really just surprise that had spread across her face in that very instant? He was at a loss, casting his onyx eyes downward onto the white keyboard of his computer. Inoichi went on to an introduction to the class, discussing what would account for percentages of their final grades and the term syllabus.

"Um, Professor?" Sakura questioned, slightly raising her dainty hand. "Just out of curiosity, you said yourself this was a junior and senior class only. I myself had to get special permission from the board. So why is it that two of my middle school colleagues, who are in my same graduating class, are here?" She asked with a slight edge in her tone. Her professor blinked as he stayed silent for a moment.

"Well, Sakura, Kiba received extra credits through courses off term and online, so he's technically a junior. As for Mr. Uchiha, he was a freshman when you guys were sophomores in high school, so he's a senior in his fourth year and about to finish his degree. Does that answer your question?" Inoichi quipped. Sakura thought for a moment.

"Yes, I do believe it does. Thank you," she finished with a nodded.

The rest of the class continued boringly as expected. Sasuke sat taking the occasional notes, typing distractingly on a spread sheet. Sakura, on the other hand, typed intensely and angrily into a word document, her pink eyebrows knitted together with annoyance. Finally the class came to a close, Inoichi dismissing the period and sending them on their way.

The coral haired girl was out of her seat and passed Sasuke before he could even put his laptop away. He sighed at this, reverting back to his own train of thought while stashing his things neatly away. Fate soon placed the raven haired 19 year old behind her, which she noticed immediately and sped up. She power walked in front of him while he strode lazily at a distance, four years older than when she had last seen him and around a good foot taller. Ultimately they found themselves on the walkway between buildings and lawns at the heart of the university campus. Sakura, after scurrying a good ten feet ahead, growled to herself, stopping, and turning around to face Sasuke. He stopped as well, blinking down at her.

"Alright, I am not holding my tongue this time," she began, one hand balled in a fist at her side and the other pointing an accusing finger. "I can't believe that you, and Naruto of all people, had the audacity to keep something like this from me for two god damn years!" She shouted.

"Uh, what are you talking about?" Sasuke questioned, whole heartedly confused.

"Your little meet up two years ago? That you were back in the city? That you were going to college ten minutes from where we all grew up? Oh yeah, let's just not tell Sakura to avoid any unnecessary trouble!" She spat, turning her back to him and melodramatically throwing her arms in the air. "Some friends you assholes are." With that she marched away. Sasuke stood in an ignorant stupor. What the hell had just happened? After a moment he shook himself back to reality. Upon drawing his phone from his pocket he quickly speed dialed a phone number.

"Deidara, yeah, can you find a number for me?" He spoke to the person who picked up the other line. A pause. "Naruto Uzumaki, Konoha prefecture, Japan," followed by another. "Yeah, just text it to me when you find it. As soon as possible, it's important." Sasuke ended the call abscent-mindedly. Swiftly he strolled over to the café down the street; the same place him and Naruto had met two years back. Sighing to himself he ordered a double shot of espresso, handed to him only moments later by a red headed woman. Sasuke's phone buzzed loudly right before he was about to take a swig. With a few touches on his screen, he dialed the number he had received by text, waiting impatiently for an answer.

"Hey professor pervert, how about you leave me alone? I'm done with school for the day, I'm on my own time now!" Naruto's voice answered immediately, rudely shouting at him.

"Uh, wrong person," Sasuke replied for lack of a better answer.

"What? Who is this then?" Naruto asked.

"Who do you think it is, idiot?" Sasuke griped. The blonde immediately gasped.

"How the hell did you get my number you worthless bastard?" He growled harshly.

"I've got friends in low places." The business major scoffed.

"Chyeah, doesn't surprise me. Wait, why the hell are you calling me?" Naruto questioned, finally realizing how odd this occurence was.

"Take a wild guess, dumbass," Sasuke grunted. It took a moment, but the blonde eventually put two and two together.

"Shit, Sakura. Oh no, what'd she do?" He groaned.

"Well, she just basically chewed me out for the both of us being shitty friends for not telling her about the incident at Ichiraku's two years ago," he explained in his usual monotone.

"She really is pissed then…" Naruto sighed.

"Yeah of course she is." He quipped.

"Well it's all your fault you prick! Leaving without an explanation to either of us, at least I was there for her!" He started to argue.

"Okay we are not having this argument right now, the fact of the matter is I have class with her every other day for the next two terms so, I don't want her making things inconvenient. You got me? So fix it." The Uchiha ordered hastily.

"Um no. If you want anything to be done at all you're going with me to talk to her. You were the catalyst for this whole bull shit scenario anyway!" Naruto shouted.

"What the hell am I supposed to do?" Sasuke asked with evident irritation. The situation was getting increasingly annoying by the second.

"You were the one who left. You were the one who never contacted us. You were the one who came back. I simply didn't tell her something. You're the guilty party at fault here. If she's going to believe even a single word I say you have to be there so she thinks it's genuine." Naruto lamented.

"God damn it, fine. Do we just show up to her house or-" Sasuke began.

"No you psycho, that's much too personal, especially for you. I'll call Hinata and tell her to invite Sakura to the café. We'll meet and talk there. Be there at four." The line went dead without another word. Sasuke sighed, stuffing his phone back in his pocket. He had a sinking feeling this was going to be much more trouble than it was worth.

An hour creeped by, Sasuke taking the extra down time to go meet with his Business Economics professor in time to be back at Ichiraku's. Naruto sat sheepishly in one of the corner booths sipping at a bowl of ramen. He said nothing, entranced with his meal. Sasuke took a seat across from him.

"So how do we go about this?" He asked coolly. Naruto started to laugh, chocking on his noodles.

"You don't do a thing. You sit and look pretty, I do the talking," the blonde corrected.

"What why?" He guffawed. It was usually the other way around. Let Naruto do all the talking? Was he joking?

"You don't know a single thing about her or how she's going to react, I do. You'll only make things worse, like you already have. Plus you're not much of a talker, anyway. You kind of suck at it actually," Naruto chuckled under his breath, crossing his arms and leaning back into the seat of the booth. All Sasuke could muster was a poisonous glare. He was great at talking, actually. Just not to stupid people or anyone who wasted his time. "Oh, there's Hinata!" Naruto whispered urgently, ducking down behind the table in a feable attempt to hide. Sasuke just sat, studying the light eyed girl with long purple hair as she strode in anxiously. Behind her followed Sakura, the object of this little meeting. She was evidently still stressed but grinning all the same. Hinata noticed Sasuke immediately, trying to act as if she didn't. Naruto stood up, catching Sakura's attention. Her grassy eyes widened and her eyebrows furrowed.

"Oh hell no, I am not playing this game," she waved her hands in the air and turned around, Naruto grabbing her forearm just in time.

"Sakura, just hear me out, please," Naruto begged earnestly in a surprisingly genuine tone. She eyeballed him suspiciously.

"I definitely can't trust you, so what makes you think I'd hear you out?" She hissed.

"I think that you know we've been through rough patches before," Naruto's cerulean eyes redirected their attention to the ground, "and I think you remeber the times I've been there for you override the times I've screwed up." She looked at him with surprise, entirely shocked that Naruto had stated a very good point. Sakura sighed, one of the few things she knew she was incredulously good at.

"Fine, but this isn't going to be a quick fix," she stated, taking a seat in the booth closest to the wall and across from Sasuke. He gazed at her curiously, taking note of how much she had changed since he had left Japan almost four years ago. Her hair was now long, put up in a messy bun which he had never seen her attempt before. Even when her hair was long in middle school she always kept it down. She was also a good amount… thicker. She had been a gangly little girl this time ago their freshmen year. However now she had hips, although played down by the bagginess of her shirt. Her thighs were rounder and more muscular, her chest full. Their old home room teacher had always reassured her she was a late bloomer, and it was much to his shock that he had been right. Sasuke had always assumed she would simply be one of those thin, boy figured girls. Guess not.

Sakura glared at him, catching his line of site. Immediately he looked down, trying not to let any color seep to his face and reveal just what he was staring at.

"So, Uzumaki, plead your case," she ordered, leaning back into the leather seat and crossing her arms over her chest. Naruto suspired as he closed his eyes momentarily, sitting just to the right of Sasuke.

"When I ran into Sasuke two years ago it was entirely by accident," he began, folding his hands together atop the wooden table, "and I was so angry all I could do was cuss at him and try and beat the shit out of him. I got kicked out, we literally didn't talk. So I didn't know why he was here, where he went or where he was going."

"What does that have to with anything? Just because you didn't have an in depth conversation with him doesn't mean it wasn't important!" She argued.

"I know, and I'm not saying it was okay. But," his face read of pure anxiety, "You were still getting over the whole ordeal at that point. And you were doing so much better compared to the first year after everything, and I didn't want to see you going back to being that sad girl again. You were happy and I didn't want to ruin that, especially since he had made no effort to get ahold of you when he was here." His gaze shifted to Sasuke. His expression had changed from that of boredom to curiosity. Had she really been that stressed after he left? Sakura sat in silence. It took a good moment until she spoke again. Her hands were now folded nervously in her lap, emerald eyes fixating on a black and white picture decorating the wall.

"I guess… I guess that makes sense," she stammered, looking down, "but that doesn't excuse both of you lying to me." Naruto nodded.

"No of course not. I just wanted to convey to you that my intent wasn't malicious at all, I simply wanted to protect you from getting hurt by this asshole again," he went on to lament. Since when had this idiot known such big words? Sasuke was bewildered. "Well, I'm going to go grab a bowl of ramen, I'll be right back." He added, quickly exiting the booth. Sakura rested her elbows on the table, grabbing her phone from her bag and fiddling around with it. Sasuke felt increasingly awkward while the coral haired girl looked entirely bored.

"So, Sakura," he spoke, trying to break the silence. She surveyed him curiously with her eyebrows raised for a quick second, focusing back on the object in her hands. Rarely did Sasuke Uchiha ever start a conversation. "What are you majoring in?" He asked. She looked back up from her phone with an annoyed expression.

"I'm majoring in self-pity with a double minor in procrastination and crying, of course," she replied in a matter of fact tone. His jaw dropped, having no words to match his internal level of shock. Sakura broke into laughter, phone still in her hands. "It's a joke, Sasuke. Those were things you used to make fun of me for in middle school, I thought you'd find it humorous." She explained, leering and flashing her perfect rows of teeth. He said nothing as he gaped at her. Sasuke was surprised that not only had she tried to joke with him, but she was joking about personal attributes she had once been so self-conscious of. What a weird sense of humor…

"Hope you guys didn't have too much fun without me," Naruto announced sarcastically as he took his seat next to the raven haired 19 year old. In his head he was still very confused by Sakura's attitude.

"Oh, yeah, because you know Sasuke's just the biggest ball of fun," she rolled her eyes. This caused him to frown. Sorry he didn't think of everything as a joke like they did. It was just a reminder to him why they were freshmen and he was a senior. He had his priorities straight, unlike these two. Sakura abruptly stood up as soon as Naruto had started to slurp at his noodles.

"Well, I've already got some assignments to work on, and I have to email my Clinical Pharmacology teacher about some stuff, so," she started awkwardly, scooting her way out of the booth, "I'll see you two on the flip side I guess." Sauntering her way out of café before Naruto could swallow his mouthful of ramen to say goodbye. Him and Sasuke both stared at the glass door as it shut quickly behind her.

"Was it just me or was she a little eager to leave?" Sasuke drawled. Naruto swallowed his noodles with a large 'gulp'.

"Yeah, she's got some pretty intense trust issues so, even though she forgave me it'll take her awhile to feel comfortable around me again," the blonde sighed. Sasuke snorted.

"Sakura Haruno? Trust issues?" He chuckled lowly under his breath. Naruto glared at him.

"Don't act like you know her you bastard, you've been gone for four years. You know better than anyone it doesn't take any longer than a day for someone's world to fall apart," he stated defensively. To that Sasuke offered no reply, simply leaving him to dwell in his own head.

Had spoiled, only child Sakura Haruno gotten a taste of how cruel reality could be?

No, that couldn't be the case. She probably just grew up, that was all. Just like everyone does.

A/N: Oh jesus alright, that was a mess. Thanks for reading! If you do like this or have creative criticism to offer, please send me a dm or a review would be even more appreciated. The class structures in this are based off of my experiences in college, so most likely not really how they are in Japan. But I didn't want to bull shit about something I know nothing about. Anyways, I am an English major so my goal is to improve my writing in whatever ways possible. I should have the second chapter out right away because the ideas are fresh in my head & I'm eager to get them down on paper, but I do start my fall semester of college this next Monday so, please do not hate me if updates get random. Thanks so much for reading! I really do appreciate it!