Chapter 2!
Title: 'Passing Notes'
Note: My favorite answer to last chapter's test question:
"Situational Irony: Being caught in the same place, at the same time, with your teacher in a really unexpected situation. XD"
Thank you Clearheart!
Diclaimer: I own nothing
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Question: "When is it ever appropriate to pass notes?"
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As soon as the graded test slid onto my desk and I saw the blank backside of the paper I literally felt every thump of my heartbeat as it picked up pace.
Of course I was worried about my grade… but I had never cared this much about a test before. Not to the point where I actually felt something like an adrenaline rush the moment before I saw the grade.
I wasn't even sure why I cared so much, even if it was more than just a test this time…
I still shouldn't be this nervous over something like this anyways.
I reached out to the foreboding paper about to flip it over and reveal the mystery grade, hoping to find something that might relieve this feeling, I looked up for a spare moment only to meet his gaze from halfway across the classroom.
Again, my heart went ballistic as my eyes darted back to the paper in front of me just before he was about to smile… you could never trust a teacher's smile. They were fake half the time… even if his seemed a little brighter than usual. (I couldn't see his smile behind the mask and hadn't ever before last week, but his eyes reminded me of the one time I did get to see it), I still shouldn't trust it.
But I wanted to.
I felt like I should.
The sudden hiccup in the beating of my heart woke me from that thought and directed my attention to the sheet in my hands.
How did something so normal as looking at a test grade ever get so dramatic?
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1 Week Earlier
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'I shouldn't have done that.' He thought to himself as he heard the door close behind him, walking into the parking lot.
He had followed her with the single intention of returning her peach headband, and maybe to clear up some of the embarrassment, not to eavesdrop on her like that.
He really shouldn't have treated her so casually after... that.
But… upon hearing what she had said to Hyuuga. After seeing that expression on her face, the sort of careful wisdom … he couldn't help himself.
He laughed at himself a little wryly for a moment shaking his head in gentle disbelief as he slid the key into the car door.
"I even took off my mask…"
He couldn't really think of why… other than he wanted to.
But that thought was even more confusing.
… … … … ….
The corners of his lips lifted a few centimeters.
"It's Kakashi…"
His unusually clear voice echoed in my mind.
All I could hear was that voice, which sounded different than before.
All I could see was that smile, which I had never seen before.
BUUUUUUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!
Suddenly yanked back to reality from my dreams, my arms and legs flailed around ungracefully until one of them smacked my alarm clock off my bedside table, shutting it up.
I was suffering from my own invention of a conniption fit not only because my alarm had surprised me, though that was part of it, but I was mostly freaking out because of the dream it had woken me from.
"Woah!" I nearly fell onto the cold hardwood floor of my room.
I found my balance on the edge of my bed and forced myself to calm down.
What was that about?
Why was I dreaming about what happened yesterday?
… I'm just… nervous about it… or something.
My eyes unconsciously searched my room as I tried thinking through any other excuses for that dream; instead, I found a problem.
'7:18' My alarm clock told me.
What?
I smacked the little plastic rectangle around a little, hoping the hour number would change or something.
But no such luck, the 8 only turned into a 9 with a pitiful little clip.
I must've pressed the snooze button seven times or something!
I threw it back at the table, it bounced off and hit the floor, I would've picked it up but I was too busy making use of all of the 10 minutes I had till I had to leave in order to get to school before I was late.
… … …
A frantic bike ride later I wandered into the classroom as quietly as possible.
I managed to get here just a few minutes before the bell was going to ring.
I silently slinked through the chattering groups.
I tried not to attract attention from any loud people, or especially from the silver-haired man behind the desk in the front of the room, who I had been careful not to look at just in case… the same man I was having a dream about less than a hour ago.
I made my way to Ino and Hinata who seemed to be deep in conversation (or as deep a conversation could get between such polar opposites).
After a few more seconds of my silent ninja-footsteps I managed to reach my two best friends free of attention, until-
"Sakura!" Ino shouted as soon as she turned and saw me next to her. It was ironic that I had thought that my own friends would've been a haven from attention… it was my fault for forgetting Ino's loud nature.
"You're finally here!"
Why'd she have to yell like that when I was right 'here'?
My internal complaining didn't help the fact that half the classroom was staring at me.
"Hey! Why didn't you tell me you saw it!" She shouted almost louder.
My mind did a flip.
Eh?
'Saw it'?
…
Did she know?
Did she find out that while she and all the other girls stampeded to the lecture hall, I was the one who actually saw Hatake…Kakashi-sensei's face?
I fixed his name in my mind, remembering what he told me yesterday for the second time today…
'It's 'Kakashi'…'
With that memory my eyes seemed to unconsciously look for him.
He was still behind his desk, still looking through papers…
He looked normal. Normal black pants, normal dress shirt rolled up to his elbows, normal red pattern-less tie, normal high-reaching silver hair,… normal mask.
That was a little surprising for some reason.
It's not like I expected him to look any different than usual, or to go around without a mask or anything… But my opinion of him had changed more than a little since yesterday -since he talked to me like that- that it was strange to see him the same as usual when I definitely didn't think of him the same as usual.
He looked uninterested in anything that wasn't on his desk, as if he didn't just hear Ino shout my name, or what Ino asked… as if everything was normal…
I guess that was good.
….right?...
I couldn't think about how strangely that made me feel when Ino suddenly spoke up again.
"Why didn't you tell me that you got to see Hinata give Naruto the note?"
Hinata whined a little about Ino's volume.
Ino only shot down her complaints by pointing out Naruto wasn't around. Hinata seemed more worried about the whole class finding out that she liked the one guy who seemed to piss everybody off.
While they were exchanging those few words I had to hurdle over the shock and simultaneous relief when I realized that she wasn't talking about what I thought she was.
Ino immediately ignored Hinata after a few seconds, looking back to me.
"You know how much I wanted to see how it was gonna turn out!" she complained.
"Oh... sorry, I forgot." I answered truthfully…
"Well, whatever, then I won't tell you what Kakashi-sensei's face looks like." She flicked her hair haughtily.
"What?"I asked with a short syllable before that voice came crashing into my ears.
"Alright, settle down… Take your seats." He announced as normally as ever.
I glanced at his mask for a moment and then to Ino, who was dutifully taking her seat.
I checked the faces of the other girls in the class who were with her yesterday on their adventure to the Lecture Hall.
Did they really get to see his face?
Wouldn't they be freaking out right now? Giggling or talking about how handsome he was?
…. I mean… everybody always says he has to be handsome, it wasn't my personal opinion or anything… I corrected myself a little firmly.
"Hey, did you guys hear why Kakashi-sensei had to leave the conference early?" One of the usual giggly voices asked to another voice behind me. I wouldn't pay attention to their conversations, which were never that interesting to me to begin with, but when I heard his name I couldn't help but overhear. And now I was struggling between curiosity and confusion.
So he did leave early…
Ino was probably just making it up to get on my nerves…
…
But why did it work?
My mind couldn't focus on that weird thought for more than a moment when I heard the voices again.
"Why?" The other one sounded even gigglier.
"He had to go meet his girlfriend."
…
"Eh!" One of the girls got a little too loud, interrupting Hatake-sensei as he was telling us about how much the field trip was going to cost.
"He doesn't really have a girlfriend, right?" Another voice joined in.
"I hope not! That would be really annoying…" One of them said with a bit more hostility than was necessary.
I didn't pay attention to them after that, losing myself in my own bussing thoughts.
So… he was on his way to go meet his girlfriend.
I didn't know Hatake-sensei would have a girlfriend…
It just seems weird thinking about Hatake-sensei on a date… holding some woman's hand… smiling and laughing like a real person with some they like… or love.
But I guess he's a normal person, too… he can fall in love.
My heart stuttered strangely for a moment when I thought that. I pushed it to the back of my mind.
I straightened my posture, looked towards the front of the class, and tried to wipe the entire issue from my mind, and adopted my usual student-frame-of-mind.
I tried to pay attention to class. I tried to listen to what Hatake-sensei was saying and not how strange his voice sounded compared to the way I heard his voice so clearly yesterday.
When he didn't have that mask on, he really sounds different.
'It's Kakashi…'
I lost myself again, not even realizing when the voice in my memories blurred into the muffled teaching a lesson I wasn't learning right now.
"It was around this time in the Edo period when rounin were persecuted for…"
I had no idea I had been staring at him until he suddenly turned around to the class, talking, his eyes meeting mine. I almost looked away, but couldn't at the last moment.
His eyes almost met mine as they travelled across the classroom, but right before we made eye contact, his gaze shifted to the girls behind me.
That's when I knew something was definitely up.
He never looked at the girls behind me. Doing so was just inviting trouble, soon enough they'll start giggling and raising their hands to start asking pointless, frivolous questions that only ever seem to annoy Hatake-sensei. Those girls, known as the 'Crush Corp' by myself and Ino, were the more militaristic Hatake-sensei-fans.
"Hey, sensei." One of the Crush Corp started the race early. "What kind of sweets do you like?" The others giggled. I could feel the waves of hormones and misplaced teenage lust radiate from the group behind me. It always made me feel a little grossed out.
But I couldn't care about that.
I was mostly worried about the fact that he'd rather make eye contact with his pesky fan club than with me.
… something was really weird about this…
"I don't like sweets… And please don't ask personal questions during a lecture, again." He responded with a politely firm voice.
The girls complained amongst themselves about how they were going to have to think of a new type of present to give Hatake-sensei on Valentines or his birthday. I drowned them out as I usually did.
And as soon as he started talking about history again, a horrible explanation of his avoiding eye-contact came to mind:
Maybe he thinks I'm just some sort of closet-case Crush Corp recruit!
Maybe he thinks that I was just waiting behind that desk, peeking at him because I'm actually some sort of obsessive student?
There's got to be a way to fix this…
…
But what can I do?
I'll have to explain myself.
But I can't just raise my hand and apologize or something in the middle of class.
I could try to talk to him after class, but the Crush Corp would swarm, as they usually did whenever any single female (student and teacher alike) attempted to talk to Hatake-sensei one-on-one.
… So… if I can't talk to him during class or after, then how was I going to fix all of this!
During lunch?... no, that wouldn't work.
After school hours?... no, that's a little too private for such a predictably awkward conversation.
I've never tried to make a point to talk with Hatake-sensei before this.
It was a little surprising to realize just how distant we were. You'd think that after four years of him as my teacher, we'd have some sort of closeness. But looking back at it… we've only ever talked, briefly, about homework or grades or attendance, or maybe a class activity.
Then again, what other types of conversations were you supposed to have with your teacher?
I wasn't like the Crush Corp. girls who'd flitter all around him whenever they could, begging for attention the same way pets beg for treats.
… But, forgetting all that, I had to prepare myself for a particular uncommon and awkward conversation: "Hi, I'm sorry for practically peeping on you as you undressed, sensei."
I nearly smacked my head on my desk with the sheer force in which the weirdness and awkward guilt of that thought hit me with.
That head-smacking urge came back as soon as I heard Hatake-sensei's voice shift from lecture-gear to announcement-gear.
"Now here's a quiz based on everything I just said.": He announced in his trademark 'playful' voice he used whenever he was playing a sort of joke on us. This time it was because he knew that most of us weren't paying attention to him.
I might not have been paying attention to him, but I was still thinking about him… that should earn me some credit, right?
I didn't think any further on that when a sudden epiphany struck me as the quiz paper landed on my desk.
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He placed another quiz onto the finished pile on his dimly lit desk in his apartment, right across the bed he was seated on. He was currently somewhat disturbed by the amount of negative checks he had to give each paper.
"These kids have no attention span… its gotten worse with age." He complained to himself pointlessly, knowing full-well how convinced teenagers are that they shouldn't be bothered with studying or reading when they had personal drama in their lives. He was one of them once…
He ran his hand through his hair tiredly, wondering if he should just grade the rest of the pop quizzes tomorrow, and save himself the mind-numbing disappointment.
Before making his decision he picked up the next quiz blindly, hoping it was a promising student. He read the messy name:
'Uzimaki Naruto'
He didn't read the quiz seriously (knowing better than that) but scanned over it, when his eyes landed on the little drawing of a caped stick figure kicking another spike-haired stickman in the lower region as the answer, Kakashi lost a significant amount of faith in the purpose of his lectures.
But a moment later, he found himself pausing all of his previous thoughts and complaints, gaining a sense of motivation to continue grading for at least one more paper.
'Haruno Sakura'
The name was written pleasantly in the top right corner.
He read through the paper.
. . .
An even larger chip was chiseled off the block of his faith in his class.
She had always been such a reliable student before…
He sighed, closing his eyes tiredly, the pen still in his hand as he rubbed the back of his aching neck.
Maybe her mind was someplace else today.
It only took him a moment before he could even think of one place her mind probably was.
He opened his eyes with the thought.
Was she thinking about…?...
A flash of her beet-red face right before she bowed and ran out of the classroom invaded his mind before he could stop it.
Probably.
He couldn't control another sigh.
Even after he went as far as to limit contact with her today, too.
It hadn't been his original plan… to avoid her like that… but after he left her yesterday, after speaking so personally with her, even showing her his face… he knew he shouldn't have.
She was still probably processing that awkward situation, and there he was, talking to her on such a new level. Like equals.
She must've been overwhelmed. He thought to himself the day before. I should probably limit contact with her…
Now, nearly 24 hours later, he was still thinking about it.
This has definitely turned into something too complicated…
He proceeded to mark the regrettably numerous wrong answers.
He reached the bottom of the page, about ready to drop it onto the finished pile like the ones before it, click his pen, turn off the lamp, and settle down for some much-needed sleep… but he saw something.
A little arrow etched rather boldly on the bottom left corner of her paper.
Following its simple instructions he flipped the paper over.
There he saw a single line of simple characters that didn't take more than a moment to read.
'I'm sorry about what happened yesterday…'
He set down the paper quietly after rereading the little ineloquent message for the third time. A soft sound erupted from his chest, a gentle chuckle that grew and evolved into genuine laughter that seemed to liven up the dark room.
Suddenly, he felt his mood improve, washed clean of the disappointment and boredom.
He smiled at the paper for a second longer before making his final decision to pick it up again, and not to just put the low grade on it.
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Yesterday had gone by just like always except for the avoiding glance of Hatake-sensei and a bit of easily reconcilable drama with Ino, who confessed that she really hadn't actually seen sensei's face after some interrogation.
As I was getting ready for school today, and especially when I walked into the classroom, I couldn't forget what she has said after that:
"Well, I didn't really see his face, he sort of disappeared right after we walked in."
"Oh…." I responded quietly feeling a little fidgety with the subject.
I didn't know why I didn't tell her about the fact that I knew where Hatake-sensei disappeared to. I knew what it was like to his face, to see his chest…
Maybe it was because I knew that if a word got out about what happened his fan club would either request a full written report of what I saw, or they would possibly, and more probably, bully me to the point that I'd never want to even make eye-contact with him again.
I wondered if sensei knew what kind of brutal following he had.
"Any girl that gets to see his face had to be the luckiest girl in the school." Ino rambled, almost sounding like one of the Crush Corp. for a moment.
… 'Luckiest'…
I hadn't really considered what happened to be 'lucky', at the time I was thinking it was more along the lines of it being a 'humiliating accident'.
But maybe… if he saw the note… things can go back to normal.
My mind flashed to what 'normal' was.
Never talking, never really looking at each other, giving only the occasional nod if we walked passed each other in the hallway, and sometimes he would call on me in class if I was talking too much or had an answer to one of his questions.
….That was better than this, right?
Halfway into class I was trying to act like I was paying more attention to the lesson, but I found myself thinking more and more about that note I left on the back of my quiz.
Whether he got it or not.
It seemed like a really stupid thing to worry about. It was only an apology… and probably a childish one at that. If he did read it, he probably laughed at me or something, thinking how much of a little kid I am.
Why did that bother me so much?
His voice turned into something like white noise after a while, a soothing undertone to my not-so-soothing thoughts.
Nothing seemed to have changed.
I guess it was childish to expect any sort of noticeable change in his mood just because I wrote a little apology on the back of a depressing little quiz that he might've not actually read.
He probably didn't read it. I thought to myself passively as he set down his textbook and chalk.
I felt even more bothered as my thoughts grew more and more negative.
Wait… look for the bright side.
If he didn't read the note, then none of this matters and I'll just have to wait for another opportunity to apologize or wait till everything goes back to normal.
If he did read the note then maybe things will go back to normal…. but he might think I'm really immature because of how grade-school it is to pass notes. But is 'normal' really such a good thing to go back to? And why do I care whether he thinks I'm mature or not?
I had no idea what was wrong with me.
All these thoughts bombarded me, each possibility with pros and cons, each seeming more and more important with the more attention I gave them.
Why was I starting to care so much about this?
I was completely calm about this whole thing just a few seconds ago!
I racked my brain for any reasoning that could explain my weird thought patterns as he pulled a stack of papers out of his leather suitcase.
"Alright, I've graded the quizzes from yesterday."
The entire class groaned in harmony.
"Seems like you guys already know what to expect, so I won't lecture you about paying more attention… hopefully your grades will say more than I could."
He was right about the fact that I already expected what grade I got.
But there was something I definitely hadn't expected when I picked up the graded quiz paper he laid down on my desk.
Beside the bright red 'D+' that was signed above the title of the page was a little arrow.
I was immediately reminded of my own note, which I had left on the back of the paper after leaving a scraggly arrow pointing to the back.
Just as I was about to turn the paper, to follow the textless instructions of that arrow I managed to catch a glance at Hatake-sensei.
He wasn't looking over here or anything, but knowing that he had read my note, and responded in some way that I didn't know yet, it was a little strange looking at him. He didn't seem so… grown up anymore.
Or maybe it was just that it felt more like he was treating more like an equal or something.
Before I could let my thoughts confuse myself any further I looked away from the teacher just as he was turning down grade-negotiations from half of the class and flipped over the paper.
There were three lines of text.
…
'There's nothing to apologize for, Haruno.'
Reading that phrase was a little strange since I swore I could hear his voice saying it in my head.
I looked down to the second line a few spaces down.
'But if you did want to apologize for anything, then you should get higher than a 90 on the next test…'
I felt whatever elevation my heart had been feeling while reading those words suddenly give way as he sounded like the teacher I had known for years again through that written mini-lecture.
But the last line caught my attention.
'…Only 'if', of course."
I almost smiled.
I had no idea why, but that was actually…kind of… 'cool'?
I set the quiz flat on my desk, folding my arms over it as he started lecturing the whole class on how they should pay more attention… I wasn't really paying attention.
I glanced down to his handwriting every few seconds, rereading his notes.
Each time I did I felt more and more determined to get higher than a 90 on the next test.
Then again, ignoring him in class as he was giving lectures wasn't something I needed to be doing if I wanted to get that A.
I tucked the quiz into my back, trying to focus… but even then I couldn't help but think back to it.
I had thought that by leaving that little note for him, things would've gone 'back to normal'.
…
It didn't feel like things were 'normal' again.
But I wasn't hating the way things turned out.
I kind of enjoyed this feeling.
The feeling that I had some sort of connection with Hatake-sensei.
Even if it was only because he left a 'cool' note on my quiz or because I saw his face or because he had called me by my first name or because I accidentally saw him undress a little or because of the fact that whenever he scanned the classroom, searching our faces for any sort of response from what he was saying. my heart would beat faster than normal. Even if this 'connection' or whatever was based off of tiny things that had only happened over the past few days… it was kind of… interesting.
It was like Hatake-sensei was more than just a man that would talk at us for hours, give us homework, and send us home again… I was just starting to realize that he had a personality.
That sounded really weird. But after sitting here day after day for years, he had somehow become a part of the scenery in my life, playing his part everyday and never causing much impact on my life.
But right now, as I thought over his words from a few days before and the casual message he had written last night, feeling the gravity around my heart loosen its hold the same way it would whenever I listened to my favorite song or whenever I was next in line for a rollercoaster, I noticed that Hatake-sensei was a bit more than just a part of the scenery in my life now.
He was interesting and real…
I felt a little stupid for that fact that even though I had known him for so long, I was just barely noticing him now.
…..
The ending bell rang with an annoying, but altogether triumphant, tone.
The entire class pick themselves out of their seats and started talking loudly. Boys shouting plans at each other from across the classroom as they grabbed their leather backpacks, the girls flipped out their generic pink cellphones calling their girlfriends from other classes about where they were going after school, other student just ran for the door, eager to get home or get to friends.
Ino and Hinata walked to the front of the classroom, holding their bags as they talked about something I couldn't hear over the voices and shouting.
I patiently buckled my bag, catching a glimpse of the quiz paper just before it disappeared from sight.
Again, my heart felt strange light.
I didn't know what it meant… but it was nice.
"Sakura!" Ino yelled towards me a little impatiently just as I noticed that she and Hinata were waiting by the the door.
I waved at them with a joking 'shoo' motion, telling them I'll catch up in a moment. But before I could keep that nonverbal promise, and just as I was only a few feet from the door I was held back by something.
"Haruno"
That voice. My name.
I froze on the spot.
Ino and Hinata looked over my shoulder towards the teacher's desk with a little confusion and then back to me.
"Uh…" I searched for words as I quickly waved at Ino and Hinata again, telling them politely to go on ahead without me. Hinata calmly left after looking behind me, but Ino's eyes seem to flare with some sort of interest before she left the doorway, too.
I couldn't focus on what that had meant before I turned around.
"Yes, Ha-… Kakashi-sensei?" I asked up, my voice feeling a little caught in my throat as I turned around, my eyes landing on his masked face. I had managed to correct his name a little too late.
I think he was smiling under his mask… but I couldn't really tell.
"Don't worry, you're not in trouble or anything." He chuckled slightly at the end of that sentence as he walked behind his desk, keeping his eyes on me.
I didn't realize until then that I must've been making a weird face….
I did feel a little nervous talking to him.
I didn't know whether it was the instinctual worry of talking to him because of the Crush Corp.
Or if it was because I thought he was going to scold me for getting a bad grade on that quiz.
Or if it was for some other reason… maybe the same unknown reason why my heart would beating harder than before whenever my eyes found his.
"Have you given any thought to my challenge?" He asked up just as he filed some folders into a light brown messenger bag.
Challenge?
What challenge?
I just stood there stupidly for a few seconds before I heard another chuckle. (It was a little rare to hear him laugh even quietly like that… it was nice to hear it, but I didn't appreciate the fact that he thought I was funny.)
"About the next test." He hinted kindly, buckling the flap of the bag into place.
"Oh!… uh…" I struggled to find words. The struggle got harder after he turned back to me, sliding the bag's strap onto his shoulder. But I couldn't really stand not saying anything so I settled for the first sentence I could piece together, "Yeah, I'm going to study more."
I cringed at the ineloquence of the answer.
I took a few steps towards the door, feeling the need to run out of here before I could embarrass myself any further.
"I see." He answered gently as he started heading towards the door, too. "I'm glad."
And with that he walked through the door in front of me, turning back to me with a smile that reminded me a lot of the one I saw a few days ago.
"See you tomorrow, Harurno-san."
And just like that, the moment changed.
Adding that formal suffix.
It didn't fit.
Not just because, as an adult, he didn't need to use such formal speech with a teenager like me… but… it felt like he was trying to create some distance at the last moment.
… I was probably just imagining that…
But I couldn't get it out of my head as I walked home.
Or when I fell asleep studying History that night either.
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He walked out of the doorway, leaving the pink-haired girl in the classroom.
'See you tomorrow, Haruno-san.'
He cringed to himself.
He hadn't planned on using that honorific, but at the last moment... it felt like he wasn't talking to a student anymore.
He had been treating her too casually again.
He had to find that ideal relationship medium that he tried to develop with every student, one between a business relationship and a friendship...
... he didn't know why it seemed a little different this time.
Maybe it was the way she looked at him, or talked... no, maybe it was just him.
Why did I even call for her just now?
That random question nagged him for a few minutes as he left the building.
He had no idea why... he just saw her leaving, talkng with Yamanako and Hyuuga... he just felt like he had to call her attention. He wanted to.
He furrowed his brow with slight confusion before his mind wandered away from the subject to the test that he had to make for next week.
His thoughts found Haruno again as he thought about the test.
'Yeah, I'm going to study more.' She had promised with a sort of eager panic as if she couldn't think of anything else to say.
A smile unconsciously pulled at the corner of his lips.
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
I took a deep breath, my heart racing as if I was actually in the rollercoaster seat, waiting for the gears to start clanking.
Just turn over the paper!
I finally ordered myself.
The thin paper flipped over harshly, my eyes zeroed in on the grade that was written in bright red about the title of the paper.
'92'
A smile broke across my face. I let out a sigh of relief that turned into something like a laugh.
I never thought I would react so dramatically to a test grade, and a good grade at that, but here I was, making a quiet fool of myself for getting so worked up over this test.
… then again… it was worth the worrying and studying, especially when I saw the elegantly messy handwriting I had seen on hundreds of my quizzes before this scrawled beneath the beautiful number.
'God job, Haruno.'
Some part of me was happy that he hadn't written some sort of 'san' or 'chan' after my name, but I liked the second line of script a bit more than the first.
'I'm not sure what your motives were for studying, but just in case I was any kind factor:'
The third line was my favorite.
'Thank you.'
I didn't know why he thanked me.
Was he thanking me for going through the trouble of studying?
Was he thanking me for raising the test score average of the class?
It seemed strange for him to thank me…
I got this grade for him.
… that sounded a little weird… but it was true.
Even if to was embarrassing to admit:
I studied so that I could properly apologize for what happened last week.
I studied because I wanted to be a good student.
I studied because I wanted his praise.
I felt like such a middle-schooler again… but when I looked up from my test, my idiotic smile still plastered on my face, and I found his eyes already looking at me... I didn't care how embarrassing or strange it was.
After a moment he smiled back.
One of those rare, real, smiles.
I still wasn't used to those smiles from him… he would rarely make them, and never before towards me.
But I would spend another week studying just to see it again.
He nodded slightly, and even though the classroom was really loud with banter as student whined over their grades, I swore I could hear him say something as his chin moved up and down. Nobody else seemed to notice, but I definitely recognized his deep, natural, voice in the crowd:
"Thank you, Sakura…"
My heartbeat quickened, suspended in zero-gravity now, as if the rollercoaster I had been waiting on this whole time finally took off.
… … … … … … …
YAY!
Second chapter done!
Now for some rest… ^_^
