Ironies of Life

The gym door opened, but she didn't take notice and did another three point shot, missing it again. She sighed in frustration and picked up the ball, glaring at it. "Why :an't I get it right?"

"Two things..."

Her eyes widened as she turned to the gym door, surprised that she was caught violating a school rule, and the consequences were either detention for a week, or worse, suspension.

"One, your form is wrong, and two, your timing isn't accurate."

"S-Sasuke…"

"You know you're not allowed here Sakura."


Chapter 2: The Game that you Play

"Sakura,"

She didn't move but just remained seated on her chair, her head lowered as she looked at her food on the dining table. Fried egg, two pieces of bacon, and a toast with butter spread on it.

"Sakura."

She did have a hell of a week after all, but what she couldn't forget was when Sasuke caught her in the gym, practicing basketball. "Why?" she thought, clenching her fist. "I can't believe he did that. Was I wrong about him when I first met him?"

"Haruno Sakura."

"He…"

"Sakura, I'm talking to you."

"…didn't…"

"Sa-ku-ra!"

"…report me to Sarutobi-sensei."

"Honey, don't ignore your mother."

She snapped from her thoughts and looked up, seeing her father with an amused smile and her mother with a vein popping at the side of her head. "Huh? What?"

Mrs. Haruno sighed and shook her head. "You were just so deep in thought that I decided to snap you out of it before you loose it." Sakura laughed and scratched the back of her head. "Sorry mom, I just had something in mind."

"Oh? Like what? A boy perhaps?" She asked, beaming as Mr. Haruno choked on his coffee. Sakura turned beet red and avoided her parents' gaze on her. "N-no… well, you're right about the boy part, but it has nothing to do with crushes or relationships." She explained, earning a disappointed sigh from her mom and a relieved one from her dad. "It's just that… I find him…"

"Handsome? Cute? Charming?" her mom asked.

"Annoying? Acting like a jerk? Embarrassing you?" her father continued.

Sakura smiled a bit. "Well, all of the above actually," she thought. "Sasuke is attractive, to sum up mom's words, yet he can get on my nerves at times, but…" she sighed and picked up her toast, nibbling on it. "…confusing." She concluded, remembering what had happened back in the gym a week ago.


Flashback

"Well, you see, I- that is…" she trailed off, looking down as she blushed, knowing that he was going to have to take her to the principal's office. "You are so pathetic…" he muttered, entering the gym and closing the door behind him as he undid the rest of his uniform's buttons. "And for that, you leave me no choice…" he added, slipping off his gakuran top, leaving him in only a white shirt and his school's pants, as well as white socks since he removed his shoes as well.

"W-what is he g-going to do?" she asked herself, blushing madly in front of him as he dumped his gakuran on the gym floor and approached her. She froze and looked down, bringing up her hands and started acting like Hinata when she tapped her index fingers together. "U-Um… S-Sasuke… I… I don't think I'm r-ready f-for…"

"What are you talking about? Hurry up before I change my mind about teaching you." He said from behind when he picked up the ball and stared at her with a raised brow. She blushed even redder and averted her gaze elsewhere, too embarrassed to say anything. "Phew, and I thought he was going to do something… perverted…"

Sasuke sighed and rolled his eyes. "Shinobi Seven may be a gang, but remember that we're in Konoha, so we're not like other gangs who… rape girls or…" he turned red and looked away, "You get the idea." She stared at him, blinking when he just dribbled the ball and shifted under her gaze. She smiled a bit, her eyes half-closing as she looked down, a faint blush on her cheeks. He took the risk of looking at her, only to have their eyes meet and lock on each other.

"What… what is this I'm suddenly feeling?" he asked himself, not able to break their eye contact as her green eyes continued to look into his onyx ones. "Was she always this… attractive..?"

"Sasuke…" she said out loud, her voice having a dreamy tone to it that snapped her back to reality, which caused him to break eye contact as they both looked the other way and blushed. He cleared his throat to gain her attention. "Come on, lunch break is almost over." He turned to his right where the rest of the orange balls were. He aimed for it and shot the ball as it went in the container of the balls. He picked up his gakuran and swung it over his right shoulder and put on his shoes. Sakura picked her school uniform's top and slipped it on, including her school shoes as they headed out of the gym, closing the lights on their way out.

"So, you're really serious about teaching me?" she asked with a grin.

"Yeah, why not?" he shrugged. "Maybe every morning before school."

"Looking forward to it!"

End of Flashback


"Somehow, I felt like there's a spark between us…" she thought when she stepped out of her home and out into the streets, heading to her school.

Blag!

She felt her nose bleed as she dropped her stuff and fell to her knees. A soccer ball rolled on the sidewalk and Sakura stared at it, ignoring the flow of blood that dripped on her school's skirt and on some of her books. She raised a hand to let the blood drip on her opened palm, staring at the red and sticky liquid.

"Oh, sorry forehead-girl, I didn't see you there!" Sakura sighed, knowing who the girl who kicked the ball was; one of Ayaka's bitches, Naomi. "This is probably another one of those 'torture Haruno Sakura for spending time with Sasuke' ideas of Ayaka-san." Too bad, Naomi was a smart and pretty girl, athletic too, but she just had to fall for Uchiha Sasuke and she just had to join his unwanted fan club. "It's okay Naomi-san, it was an accident after all." She said, forcing a smile as she got up and cursed in her mind when the blood won't stop dripping. Naomi smirked at this. "Oh, it was no accident, I was just being sarcastic."

Sakura looked up at her and smiled again. "Oh, you too huh?"

This caused Naomi to frown and glare at her. "Are you annoying me forehead-girl?" Sakura dusted her skirt, ignoring the fact that her nose was still bleeding. "Not at all Naomi-san, I'm just saying that I too, was being sarcastic. Anyway, I have to go." She picked up her stuff and walked pass Naomi, only to be blocked by the girl's arm. "Sorry, Ayaka told me to make sure you don't get to school unharmed."

"Well, you just gave me a nose bleed; I think that's already enough harm."

"Yeah, but not enough..!" Naomi formed a fist and pulled it back, ready to punch her. Sakura shut her eyes, missing the shocked look on Naomi's face when someone arrived behind Sakura and glared at her. "I-it was her fault! She was mocking me and-"

He didn't let her continue when he used his foot to take the soccer ball on the ground. Next, he kicked it up in the air and then sent it flying to Naomi's face, giving the girl a nose bleed as well. Naomi fell back, and Sakura took this time to open her eyes and see what caused the commotion. She saw a terrified Naomi with her nose bleeding, her soccer ball a few feet beside her. Next, the girl picked it up and ran towards the school, tears evident in her eyes. Sakura turned her head slowly to see who had saved her or caused her more enemies, seeing that it was one of the Shinobi Seven, Hyuuga Neji.

"N-Neji-sempai..?" she asked, shocked that her friend's- Ten-Ten -crush was there. "W-why did you do that to her?"

Neji shrugged. "There are three people who I wouldn't want to worry, two of which are your friends, Hinata and Ten-Ten." He gestured to the two girls behind him where Ten-Ten and Hinata were, the former being held back by the latter. "Hinata was stopping Ten-Ten from attacking that girl herself, and also because that girl could do something if Ten-Ten took her revenge for you. If it was me who sent her away though, it's a different story."

"Huh?"

"Sasuke's my friend, I'm part of Shinobi Seven, therefore I have power or authority over anyone besides teachers and my friends. Including you and your friends because… well, Ten-Ten's my team manager, Hinata's my cousin and you're Sasuke's… err… friend."

"The three people you mentioned, who's the other one?"

"I think it's pretty obvious Sakura." Ten-Ten spoke, dragging Hinata and Neji with her. "Now come on, we have to get your nose treated."

"Oh, don't worry, the bleeding has stopped." She grinned sheepishly and followed the three who were a few feet ahead of her. "And thanks by the way Neji-sempai!"


"Naomi kicked the ball on your face?" Ino asked, stopping from eating her lunch when Sakura told them what happened to her uniform since it had blood stains. She nodded as Ten-Ten continued for her. "Man Sakura, you sure are getting a lot of enemies just for befriending Uchiha Sasuke!" Ino said, eating the rest of her food. Ten-Ten nodded at this. "Not to mention that the whole school thinks you did that kiss on purpose."

"I did not!" She yelled- her face red. "I have six witnesses you know! There's Ino, Sasuke, Neji-sempai, Aburame-san, Nara-san and Naru-" she looked down. "I mean, Uzumaki-san."

The two girls looked at her when she lowered her head. Hinata chose this time to explain to the two what had happened in the gym after the accidental kiss, causing Ino to throw a fit. "He said what?" She asked, standing up and slamming her hands on the table, causing it to shake and the rest of the students in the cafeteria to look at their way, including S7. The three girls hushed her and tried to calm her down but she was already too angry. Ino looked around, her blue eyes scanning the area for any sign of the Uzumaki teen. Upon seeing the table the group of guys was in, she stomped over there, her three friends rushing after her and trying to stop her.


"Hey, dead-last,"

"What bastard?"

Sasuke smirked and drank the rest of his bottled water. "You're dead."

Naruto opened his mouth to ask something when he was stopped by a fist slamming the table he was eating on, some of his ramen spilling due to the impact. The rest of S7 watched in amusement as Ino glared at Naruto who was staring at the spilled ramen. "Listen Uzumaki, I don't care if you're the leader of S7, nor do I give a damn if you're filthy rich, but I don't want you telling my best friend off like that ever again!"

Slowly, the leader of S7 looked up to match Ino's glare. "Let me guess," he smirked. "Haruno went running to you and told you what I did?" he said in a tone of mockery. Sakura shook at this but tried to keep calm and cool about it. She grabbed Ino's arm and took a deep breathe-in. "Ino, come on, stop making a scene here, the principal might come."

"Yeah Ino, listen to your friend here, you wouldn't want to get suspended or kicked out now, right?" Naruto teased. Ino shook and glared at Naruto, unsure whether to hit him on the face and get kicked out since he was rich and could practically pay the school to get her to leave, or she could let this slide and plan her revenge once they graduate. "What's wrong Ino? Can't hit a boy?"

Bam!

Naruto's eyes widened, so did Shikamaru and Kiba's. Lee only watched in awe and Shino's expression couldn't be told since he was wearing shades. Neji held in his laughter while Sasuke smirked. "Looks like she finally heeded what I told her last week."

"What the hell was that for Haruno?" Naruto asked, glaring at the pink-haired girl who stood her ground and returned the same glare. "Listen Uzumaki-san, I don't care if you tell me off or threaten me, I don't care what you do, but if you ever treat my friends that way again, I will not hesitate to hit you." And she heard a clap coming from behind, seeing Lee with a smile. Naruto glared. "What the hell are you clapping at for Lee?"

"Oh, I just thought it was the right moment." He grinned sheepishly. "And it was." They all turned to Sasuke who sealed his empty water bottle with a cap and stood up. "Thanks for the entertainment Sakura." He said, winking at her which caused her to blush before he turned his back on them and disposed his bottle. "Hey, where're you going?" Kiba asked. Sasuke turned his head to him. "Like I said before Kiba, it's none of your business." And he continued walking away.

Naruto got up as a vein popped at the side of his head. "You're going to pay for that Haruno!"

"Really?" she asked. "How much do I owe your face?"

"Ooohhh…" Kiba and Shikamaru said, grinning.


He watched when her student seemed to be so happy about something, it was not everyday you see Haruno Sakura smiling in class. Normally, she would always have a frown whenever she was thinking up of a solution, or sometimes, just a plain serious face that made you aware that she was listening intently on the discussion. But smiling during math class? Even a genius wouldn't dare do that, especially since the lesson is about proving statements. Geometry was after all, according to students, hell.

Never the less, Asuma just dropped the subject and continued to write on the board a few descriptions of what the definition of theorem 4.3 is. He could sense some of the students of class A groaning and scratching their heads as they tried to figure out the exercise he told them to answer on their book. He glanced at his top two students, Haruno Sakura and Hyuuga Hinata. The former was done solving hers, and she had a really, really bright smile on her face. As for Hyuuga, she was answering the problem with ease, double checking if she did any mistakes.

"Haruno,"

"Yes sensei?"

"Please write your answer on the board." He said, putting down the chalk as he waited for Sakura to pick her notebook up-where she wrote her answers-and walk over to the front. A girl seated in the second row smirked and brought out her foot, causing Sakura to trip as she fell forward, her face meeting the cement floor of the room. Asuma quickly rushed over to check if she was okay or not, at the same time glaring at the class and asking who did the dirty trick. Of course, no one dared to raise their hands. They know that they will have detention with the scariest teacher of all, Morino Ibiki, the brother of Idate.

Sakura muttered something incoherent under her breath and stood up with her teacher's help. Hinata looked at Sakura worriedly, mouthing an "are you okay" to the girl who gave a small smile and nodded. Asuma noted the bruise on her forehead, as well as a smudge of blood. He clicked his tongue at this. "Haruno, head to the clinic to have that treated." Sakura gave a nod and excused herself, heading out of the door as Asuma called for Hinata to answer the problem instead.

"Damn you Ayaka." She thought, cursing the girl who tripped her. Sasuke's fans probably saw how he treated her earlier, and how he even complimented, in a way, her punch on Naruto. Again, she smiled. It felt satisfying actually, even though she did hit her crush. At this, a frown set upon her lips. "I just wasted another chance to earn his affection." She sighed irritably and knocked on the clinic's door, hearing someone telling her to come in. When she did, she was surprised to see who would be there. "Speak of the devil…" she thought, her brows creasing when she saw her crush seated on one of the chairs, an ice pack on his left jaw. He glared at her when she stepped inside, causing her to involuntarily shake with fear. She knew what he was capable of, and it scared her, knowing that Naruto can expel her with his riches and all.

"What happened to you?"

She lit up a bit when she heard that voice, at least she can still, somehow, be at ease with him around. A small smile tugged on her lips as she seated herself next to Sasuke, a seat away from Naruto. "The leader of your fan club tripped me with her clown foot." She said bluntly. He smirked and shook his head, standing up to head over to a cupboard and get an ice pack. Next, he took the ice out of the small fridge in the clinic and handed it to her. Sakura gave him a confused look as he sat back down in-between Naruto and her. "Tsunade-san and Shizune-san are out for a break; in the meantime, I'm sort of, taking over."

"You?" she asked, surprised. "I don't remember you telling me about you knowing medical stuffs…" he gave another one of his trademark smirks. "You never asked." She giggled and placed the pack on her forehead, flinching when the ice stung her bruise. "Ouch…" she whispered, hoping the two didn't hear her, but unfortunately, they did. Naruto smirked at this.

"You're such a baby Haruno."

Sakura clenched her free fist and closed her eyes to calm her down, trying her best not to argue or hit the boy again. Sasuke elbowed his best friend who gave him a "what" look. "I do recall you yelling when you placed that on your jaw."

"Shut up."

"Hey, you two aren't classmates right? So why are you both here?"

"Well, the dead-last here kept complaining about his jaw,"

"This is courtesy of your fist Haruno…" Naruto mumbled.

"…and well, headed here, but the doctor and nurse were out for a break. So, since none of the guys in our gang except me knows basic first aid, he disrupted our class to have a word with me, and pleaded Jiraiya-sensei to excuse me until he was fine."

"So, you're missing social studies..?"

Sasuke shrugged. "Never really did care about it, especially since the teacher is a pervert."

"I see… ow!" she hissed, the sting coming back. Sasuke laughed a bit and took the ice pack from her. "Hmm, no wonder, you have a wound there." He got up and took out some ointment and a bandage. "Might as well wrap that up for you…" Sakura blushed when his face was a bit close to hers, she dreaded getting lost in his eyes again that she averted her gaze elsewhere, only to land on his lips, where she continued staring at as he wrapped the bandage around her head, making sure that it was secured.

Naruto took note of this, and somehow, his hold on the ice pack tightened.

"There, you'll be fine now." He said, patting her head gently as she blinked and murmured a "thanks" to him. He gave a small smile at her and turned back to his best friend. "And you?" Naruto cocked a brow. "What about me?" Sasuke rolled his eyes at this. "Knowing you, you're probably just staying here to avoid Orochimaru-sensei."

"I hate chemistry, and aren't you glad you're not sitting in on one of the perv's lectures?"

"Yeah, but come on, I have a reputation as an Uchiha to live up to."

"You go ahead then, I'll be fine here."

Sasuke sighed and scratched the back of his head. "Dude, you keep forgetting that one must not leave the patient." It was Naruto's turn to roll his eyes this time. "I'll follow after five minutes or so. Besides, Haruno's going to be here for a while anyway." Sasuke glanced at Sakura who stared back at him then he turned to Naruto. "Don't do anything stupid okay?" Naruto waved a dismissive hand at him. With a sigh, Sasuke pocketed his hands and walked towards the door, stopping when he got a hold of the door knob. "Hey, dead-last, Sakura." The two looked up to him as he turned his head to them. "Stop fighting already, you two are my friends, so I don't want to have to come to the conclusion of having to choose whether I stay with S7 or with Sakura." And he stepped out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Awkward silence fell on them as they fidgeted a bit. "Well, we might as well do him a favor." Sakura began, turning her head to face Naruto as she extended out her right hand to him. He stared at it for a while. "Let's just… at least do this for him." Naruto looked away, not bothering to shake her hand. "Why don't we just do this," he said, getting up and leaving the ice pack on the nurse's table. "Sasuke's been my best friend since I was in the fifth grade, and I'm not just about to give that friendship away to a girl I barely notice." He looked at her with an icy glare that caused her to shiver. "Stay away from him Haruno, ever since he became friends with you, he's been treating you the same way he treated me when we were kids. And now that his attention is on you, S7 is slowly loosing him." And he left her there in the clinic to ponder on the words he had said.

Sakura lowered her head as her eyes became a bit watery. "Am I the cause of your annoyance Naruto?" she placed a hand on her bandaged head, still recalling how Sasuke had treated her wound. "Is my friendship with Sasuke the reason why you're so… mean?"


This was something that didn't happen in his class, and Orochimaru was very sure that something was bugging Sakura, especially since she hasn't written anything on her notebook, nor had she recited in his period. Before he moved to this class, he passed by Sasuke who had a worried look. He kept glancing back at the clinic's way, feeling uneasy. After a few moments, Naruto came out from the room with a frown, and somehow, the chemistry teacher of Konoha High had a bad feeling about it. What's worse, Sakura came out from the clinic as well, and her eyes had evidences of her crying. To make matters worst, when he and Sakura walked back to class A together, Naruto just came from that direction and said that he made a wrong turn, before heading to his own class. And when he and Sakura set foot in class A, all of Sasuke's fans had glared at her direction.

"That Uzumaki is such a troublemaker." He thought, dismissing his class when the bell had rung, signaling that school was over for the day. Hinata approached Sakura's desk and shook her a bit. Sakura looked up and smiled at Hinata, telling the girl that she was fine and that she goes ahead of her to the gym. Hinata didn't want to at first, but seeing as Sakura was so damn persistent, she went ahead. Orochimaru didn't want to pester or question his top student, so he just sighed and fixed his papers, then headed for the door. He stopped when he saw Ayaka and her peers waiting by Sakura's locker, and he knew that something bad was going to happen. So…

"Haruno,"

"..?"

"Can you please help me bring back the class' test papers in the faculty room?"

"Sure sensei." She stood up and slung her messenger bag on her right shoulder, then took half of the papers Orochimaru carried as they both headed towards the faculty room. "Today, class C's last period is history. Hopefully, Kakashi asked Uchiha to come with him to the faculty so that Haruno won't be alone when going to the gym."

They reached the teacher's room and Sakura went in with Orochimaru's permit and consent. The chemistry teacher looked around, seeing no Kakashi or Sasuke. With a dejected sigh, he thanked Sakura for her help and told her to be careful. The girl took it as a teacher's care for a student that she smiled her thanks and left after greeting some of the teachers she passed by. Orochimaru watched until she disappeared out of the door, hoping that nothing bad would happen. "I would've gone with her if only Sarutobi didn't have a meeting scheduled for today."


Sakura checked her wrist watch, seeing that she was going to be late in five minutes if she didn't run to the gym now. With a shrug, she held onto the strap of her bag and ran down the hallway, turning a few corners until she reached the stairs, only to be pulled back by a few hands, causing her to fall on her rear on the floor.

"What the-!" she rubbed the sore spot of her butt and looked up to see Ayaka with Naomi and two more girls, smirking and looking down at her. "Oh shit, this is not good." Ayaka took her by the arm, forcing her to get up a bit as Sakura winced when the preppy girl's long, well-manicured nails dug onto her uniform's sleeves, hurting her skin at the process. "Sakura-chan has spent way too much time with Sasuke-kun." She hissed in a fake sweet tone.

"A-Ayaka-san…" she said weakly. "…you're hurting me…"

"Am I?" Ayaka asked. "Good. That's my intention in the first place." She brought her up to her feet and dragged Sakura up the stairs, all the way to the roof top with her friends following behind, smirks on their faces.


"Sasuke!"

The whole team turned to the gym doors when it opened, seeing their ex-team captain, Lee, enter as he panted and looked for Sasuke. Zabuza rushed to him and scolded him for running, especially in his condition. Lee just ignored Zabuza when Sasuke jogged over to him, a flash of concern on his face. "Lee, you know that you're not supposed to run or do anything strenuous. You're already not allowed to play sports and if you keep doing something like this, you won't be able to walk!" the coach said, narrowing his eyes. "I'm sorry sensei, but this is important." He turned to Sasuke with serious eyes. "It's Sakura-san," at the mention of her name, the Uchiha's eyes widened. "I overheard Ayaka-san tell her friends that they planned to do something to Sakura, but I couldn't stick around since they went to the comfort room, and I thought that if I ran fast here, I could prevent them from doing something!"

Sasuke didn't wait for Lee to finish, nor did he bother to heed Zabuza's calls when he instantly sprinted out of the gym and headed back inside the school, unaware of Naruto's narrowed eyes and clenched fists.


"Damn it! Why can't those girls just leave her alone? I thought Neji said she was cleared?" he cursed himself when he stopped to catch his breath, he didn't know where to go, and that was really stupid of him to not ask Lee of the girls' whereabouts. He heard the comfort room door open, and out came a female freshman who looked a little bothered. "I guess I can ask." He strode over to her to call her attention. "Hey," he yelled. The girl turned to him and blushed, stuttering out his last name. "U-Uchiha-sempai!"

"Do you know Haruno Sakura?"

"Y-yes."

"Do you know where she is right now?"

The girl looked down for a while. "I do but… Ayaka-sempai and her friends threatened me, they warned me not to spill or-"

"Look, you're talking to a member of Shinobi Seven, so don't worry about them and just tell me where Sakura is before she gets killed!"

"Killed?" her eyes widened. "The rooftop sempai, please hurry before it's too late!" she cried out as Sasuke muttered a "thanks" and left the girl behind, running up the stairs and heading towards the door that led to the school's rooftop. He slowed down and panted, seeing that the door wasn't fully closed, giving him access to take a peek at what's going on.

He could see Sakura, thanks to her pink hair, and Ayaka, being so loud. The girl had pushed Sakura on the floor, and it pissed him off when she didn't bother to move or stand up and defend herself. Just when he was about to kick the door open due to his frustration, he heard Sakura yell at Ayaka.


"What did you say?" Ayaka hissed, pulling Sakura's long hair so that she'll be able to get a good look at Haruno's messed up face. Sakura opened her eyes and glared at her bully. "I said you don't deserve Sasuke. He isn't owned by anyone, nor is he your property! He's a human being for goodness sakes and there is no way he'll ever look at you with an attitude like that!" Ayaka glared at her and threw her back on the ground, causing her forehead to hit the cemented floor, her wound beginning to bleed again as she shut her eyes from the stinging pain it gave. Her body ached all over from the beatings she received from the four girls, yet she still fought verbally, she still defended her dignity, as well as Sasuke's, not knowing that he was watching and listening the whole time.

"Why are you mad Ayaka-san? Are you jealous that I managed to get to Sasuke without having to flirt or show him affection? Well guess what!" she raised her head to look at Ayaka. "It isn't my fault that he's friendly to me, he chose to be, and I let him be my friend because there is nothing wrong with that! The problem with you airheads is that you only care about yourselves that you're all too narrow-minded and stupid to come up with conclusions that the accidental kiss we had was done on purpose! I'm not that stupid to stoop so slow like what you and his fans would do!"

Slap!

That's it, Sasuke had had enough, especially since that slap from Ayaka to Sakura caused his first female friend to hit her head on the floor. He kicked the door open, causing it to slam against the wall, the hinges close to being ripped if he kicked even harder. Ayaka and her friends froze when they saw him glare at them, the look and aura of death surrounding him as he spoke in a low and ice cold voice. "Leave her alone." He ordered, approaching them as they took a few steps back, cowering from him.

Sakura opened her eyes, adjusting to the light and trying to clear her blurry vision. She saw a familiar jersey, and seeing that it had the number seven on it, she knew who it was that came to her rescue. She felt herself being lifted up from the ground, two arms supporting her frail body, holding her close and protectively. "S-Sasuke..?" she asked in a weak voice. Said teen averted his gaze from Ayaka and her friends to Sakura, his eyes softening when they came in contact with her emerald orbs. "It's okay, I'm here." He whispered, walking away from the four girls and towards the door.

"Why?" he stopped when Ayaka asked. "Why her? What does she have that we don't? She doesn't even like you! So how come..?"

"Because…" he slowly turned his head to them, his eyes still glaring at them as they shook and remained standing, unable to move. "She was the only one who saw me as a human, not as a thing that you obsess about." And he continued to leave the four until he was out the door and down the stairs.

"Sasuke…"

He looked down at her as she raised a hand slowly. "Why..?" she thought, her hand getting close to his face. "Why can't… you be Naruto..?" He felt her palm on his cheek as his gaze never left hers. "Why didn't I… just fall in love with you?" she smiled at him. "Why… am I happy that you came instead of… Naruto..?" and she opened her mouth to speak.

"Thank you… for noticing me…" and she lost consciousness.

To be continued…


Next on Ironies of Life: Chapter 3: Attract and Repel

"…Sasuke…" Her face heated up as their gazes locked. Sakura stared long and hard in his onyx orbs, half of her wishing they were azure eyes, but the other half…

"…is thankful that they're not blue…" her eyelids felt a bit heavy, and she found herself lowering her head to him, as if they were opposite charges that attracted each other, unlike whenever she and Naruto came in contact. "If I were near him, we would repel, yet when I'm with Sasuke…"

He too could feel his eyelids block his vision as he raised his head to her.

"…we attract each other and draw ourselves closer."