Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood. - Marie Curie
During lunch, Sakura took her normal seat in between her two good friends Ino and Tenten. The former was her roommate while the latter was a year older than them but was one of their closest friends. The age difference wasn't even noticeable if no one mentioned it. They were talking about the annual school dance that was coming up. Well...Ino was talking about it and Tenten was listening while she pushed some noodles around her plate. She wasn't into girly things like dresses with frills or the perfect dream date.
Ewww...frills.
She had more important things to worry about...like making sure Kin Tsuchi didn't get her kicked off the basketball team.
Fucking bitch. Not only was she a ball hog but she also enjoyed making a fool out of her teammates. Tenten could count the number of times Kin had pushed her down hard or refused to pass her the damn ball. Time and time again she had told her, basketball is a team sport or there is no I in team but she seemed to be deaf.
"Tenten." She almost never came to practice and when she did she acted like she was the team captain. That was Tenten's job."...Hello...". And she disliked her with a passion. "Tenten!" Ino startled her back into reality.
"What?" she asked, looking up from her food. "What did the spaghetti ever do to you, huh?" she motioned toward her severed noodles. Tenten smiled and put her fork down, looking at them.
"I'm just thinking about skipping the dance." It was as if she said she was about to commit a murder. Ino covered her mouth with her dainty hand and gasped while Sakura coughed, choking on her garlic bread.
They were girly girls after all.
"Why? Don't you want to dance with...," Ino looked around as if she was about to tell the secret of life, "Your boyfriend?".
"I don't have a boyfriend."
"Riiight."
"If you say so."
They never believed her when she said that. They were still stuck in period in time where she had a small, itty bitty crush on...Neji Hyuuga.
It was very short lived.
He didn't talk much and when he did he said something arrogant or against women. She didn't think he was really like that, he just didn't like people. He even said that himself.
"I don't like people."
See, there was the proof.
In the cafeteria, he sat surrounded by other quiet, studious people and stared out the window at the birds on the closest tree. But he never paid much attention to girls. She knew many girls that would trade their left arm to go on at least one date with the quiet, serious Hyuuga but he never even spared them a glance. He was too wrapped up with whatever he was thinking about to care about anyone else. Her friends had tried to gather information on him but he was also secretive. He never said anything about his personal life and the only things people knew about him where what he showed to the world.
So she got over him and moved on. She wasn't one to dwell on things that could never happen, at least those that she had no control over. "You guys are crazy, it was just a crush and I'm over him."
Ino didn't look convinced at all and sipped her mineral water before looking to a table a few feet from theirs where he sat. Her friends noticed.
"So Ino," Tenten said casually, "How about you and your boyfriend?"
The blonde smirked at them and batted her eyelashes innocently. "I have no idea what you're talking about", she looked into her water like it was the most interesting thing in the world.
"Who would of thought that the school beauty and the school brain would have fallen in love," Sakura sighed dramatically.
Ino looked surprised, "I'm the school beauty? Aww Sakura, thank you."
That was not the reaction they had expected.
"Ino," Tenten looked at her, "Are you going with Shikamaru?".This time Ino blushed and her green eyes landed on the boy in question. He was sitting with Kiba, Choji, Lee and Naruto while they laughed and joked about "man stuff". She had liked him since they were little kids but was too scared to say anything to him.
Ino...afraid...really?
Everyone thought she was conceited and bitchy but her friends knew that she was insecure about a couple of things. Like him. She often told her friends on the phone that she could never have a decent conversation with him because they were so different. He talked about current events, the latest sport scores and the latest book by his favorite author.
Boring.
She couldn't care less about anything that didn't affect her directly, sports were boring and reading anything that wasn't about beauty was boring. In the eighth grade she had tried to "smart up" her image and use the vocabulary words from English in every day conversation but it wasn't her. He had paid attention to her during that time but it probably was because she was acting so phony. Their parents were good friends and frequently visited each other's houses, bringing their kids with them. They practically grew up together.
Which made her even more insecure. He probably knew her better than anyone, including all her faults. All the wrinkles in her personality.
"I don't think so, Temari already asked him," and she had rubbed it in Ino's face. It probably wasn't on purpose but it still hurt her somewhere.
"Is she that tennis player with the scary face?" asked Sakura looking around the cafeteria.
"That's her," Tenten drained her apple juice, "She's got a mean back hand."
"Hmm, I never knew he liked the tough girl type," Ino picked up Sakura's book from the table and skimmed her fingers along the cover.
"You know how he is Ino," Sakura watched as Ino opened her book, "He can't say no to a girl." The color drained from Ino's face. She froze and stared at the book before lowering it down and staring at Sakura.
...the hell?
Sasuke Uchiha
"Sakura...why is Sasuke's name in your book?" Tenten picked up the book and looked in it herself, seeing Sasuke's slanted, cursive signature.
It was true...but why?
"I...," Sakura was speechless and looked at the book while Tenten held it, "I bumped into him and made him drop his book. I must have picked up his by mistake."
Almost simultaneously, they turned their heads to where Sasuke sat. He was surrounded on all sides by angry, muscular guys and their girlfriends. The angriest, most muscular one, with an orange Mohawk, was sitting dangerously close to Sasuke and was talking to him loudly. The smaller dark haired boy wasn't paying attention at all.
"I'll wait till he gives it back," she said with defeat, tearing her eyes from them.
Tenten frowned, "Don't be a chicken, they can't do anything to you. I'll go with you if you want."
"Thanks Tenten," she smiled, "Ino?"
"Are you crazy?" she asked, her light eyes widening, "That guy can sit on me and I'll die."
"Ino," Tenten stood up and looked at her, "Come with us." And then she did it. The older girl had given Ino the puppy dog eyes. No one would have guessed that the star basketball player could have such an innocent, girly look.
"I hate it when you do that."
So together the three friends, plus one book, walked toward the table at the corner of the cafeteria. The walk seemed like the longest Sakura had taken in her life and the nervous feeling she had just wouldn't go away. When they got close enough to be noticed, the group in front of them stopped talking. They glared at the girls with disgust and muttered a few unfriendly words.
"Never thought the mouse would purposely come to the cat."
Kin smirked and crossed her arms when someone told her, "Shut up whore."
"Zaku, I swear if you...," she looked at him, clenching her fist. Her dark eyes pinning him down. He wasn't affect and flicked her on her forehead, running away before she could catch him.
"Shut up!"
"Umm Sasuke," Sakura walked up to him and handed him the book, "I think I picked up your book by mistake."
"Awww Sasuke-baby," Karin slung her arm around his shoulders, he glared at her."Looks like you got a stalker."
I really don't like her, Sakura tried to keep her eyes from giving away her feelings.
That bitch is gonna get slapped, Ino had no problem rolling her eyes at the red head. "She's not a stalker," she narrowed her eyes, "Why don't you just mind your own business."
Ohhhh.
Burnnn.
Karin sucked her teeth and rolled her eyes at the blonde. Tayuya glared at her, itching to ring her neck. To calm herself down she ran her fingers through her magenta hair a couple of times. She looked over at Sakura and her hair.
Were they related or something?
"Are you trying to start something little girl?" Kin stood up and went nose-to-nose with Ino. The blonde didn't back up, looking at her through her bang.
"Why don't you just shut up," Tenten stepped into the picture, glaring. Sakura looked at her friends, they each had someone they were looking at with anger. In the background she could see Shikamaru and his table looking in their direction. They looked like they were ready to pounce. Kiba especially.
Sakura handed the book to Sasuke without a word and he handed her the book that belonged to her. He looked at her once before falling back into his group.
"Can you bitches take this elsewhere? You're starting to annoy me," the tall, pale man with clear eyes and two red bands keeping his white hair in place. Two red dots were tattooed at the bottom of his forehead.
The Ino and Tenten looked up at the man and decided against saying something else.
He could easily break them in half. And he was so tall.
"Now if you're quiet finished," said the man with high spiked up hair, Zaku "Leave."
"Yea," Tayuya stuck up her middle finger, "Leave before we do something nasty." She sounded so fake.
Sakura looked over her simmering friends and told them that their food was getting cold.
When they were a few feet away they heard: "Yea go eat you fat, blonde pig". A collective gasp was heard on that side of the room and Ino spun around so fat her hair whipped Tenten in the face.
"Fat...pig?" she asked in disbelief, walking toward Karin, "You fu-..." Ino felt someone take hold of her hand and stop her in her tracks. The hands felt rough yet gentle and she hesitated before looking to see who it was.
Shikamaru.
"Just walk away, it's not worth it." He stood there with an attentive expression on his usually gloomy face...and he never looked better to her. She had almost lost it in front of him and felt ashamed of herself. Her eyes roamed his spiky ponytail and trailed down to his perfect dark red pants and white collared shirt. The first three buttons were unbuttoned, showing his tanned upper chest.
Damn...a nerd shouldn't have looked that good. She pulled her hand away from his and walked to meet her friends, not once looking back at him.
"Aww Ino," Sakura tried to smile, "He really cares about you."
"Yea," her smile looked so fake, "He has a thing for blondes." The episode had left them slightly shaken and every few minutes they looked to where Sasuke sat. He was looking in their direction, specifically at Sakura. She could feel his eyes on her just like that morning in English class. She had always seen him during lunch and outside his dormitory but she never had class with him until that year. He was a mystery to her, quiet and serious like the way Tenten once felt about Neji. But Sakura was sure that she didn't have a crush on him, just interest. He never held any interest in girls either as far as she could tell.
"Isn't strange how Sasuke and Neji act the same way?" she voiced her question. Ino tapped her manicured nails against the table and knodded.
Tenten swirled around her cold pasta and took a few mouthfuls before saying, "A little bit, maybe they're related somehow."
"I doubt it," Ino fixed her side bang as she talked, "They don't look the least bit related." Sakura looked down to her book and opened the cover page. Her own signature, complete with a heart, stared back at her.
If only she knew what Sasuke hid behind his signature...
Was is heart made of pure gold like the sun hidden beneath a dark cloud?
Was he a poet? That serenaded girls with his sweet words?
Or was he just misunderstood? Like the dark side of the moon…?
