AN: I said before that this wasn't exactly going to be like BOF and in this and the previous chapter you'll see why – there's a whole arc of one of JanDi's friends setting her up and losing JunPyo's trust and him having to fight for her. But in this story, that makes literally no sense since I don't think anyone with a decent conscience would actually do that to their close friend – especially Sakura's friends. SO there'll be changes here and there!
I've also watched a LOT more kdrama's since I started writing this, so you might see some hints at cheese in the trap here ;p
THIS CHAPTER IS HELLA LONG IM SO SORRY LOL (trying to get through bof quick)
Sakura attempted to smile through the pain, but it was unfruitful in the eyes of the Uchiha's. They were renowned for the intellect and with it came an unparalleled perceptiveness from their skillful eyes.
After leaving the pool, Sakura sat in the quad, replaying the last thirty minutes in her mind. Was it wrong that she expressed care for Naruto? What really mattered was that she was his friend and in spite of her previous feelings, Sakura cared more about what he truly deserved to make him happy (even it did not require her presence). Perhaps he did not see her as a true friend, which would lead to him questioning her motives in asking Hinata.
She could literally feel her heart ache, at the thought. But it was quickly brushed aside, there was no way that someone as genuine as Naruto feigned their friendship. He was simply hurt at the prospect of Hinata leaving and it was not at all helped by Sakura's interference.
The pinkette kept analyzing the moment in her mind and did not notice a certain Uchiha take the spot next to her to sit down. "What are you still doing on campus?"
"I had a thing..." Sakura vaguely replied, surprised out of her train of thought.
Itachi lifted a brow, but did not insist on an explanation, "I'm under the assumption that your thing is over with?" Sakura simply nodded, not sparing him a verbal response, "I'm also assuming you have not had dinner yet."
As if on cue, her stomach rumbled at the simple premise of food. Itachi then immediately took her hand in his own, which landed her at dinner at the Uchiha's, courtesy of Mikoto's invitation.
Sakura was once again sandwiched between Itachi and Sasuke, but thankfully the conversation was not directed on her and did not require her care at the moment. They were able to discern her much lower attitude than when she was last here and, to her pleasant surprise, there was no discussion aimed directly at her.
Rather, Shisui was so distinctly charismatic that it made her question his Uchiha status. His parents were not at all like their son, rather Shisui carried the weight of the table discussion along with Mikoto. It made Sakura wonder how an extrovert like Shisui grew to be so close to his reclusive cousin.
Sakura attempted to weigh in on the conversation, but her mind kept returning to that of a certain heiress and blond in love with her. There was nothing left that she could do - and at this point it was fairly obvious that neither party wanted her to do anything. The best Sakura could do was watch Naruto continue on unhappily.
Itachi noticed her inner turmoil and turned toward her with a smile, "Try to focus on the present." He attempted to reassure her as he lightly pushed some hair behind her ear.
Sakura thanked him before burrowing her head back down. What the hell?!
Itachi smirked as he was successful in distracting her from her gloomy thoughts, noted by her reddened expression and newfound air of bashfulness.
On more than one occasion, Itachi brushed hands with the pinkette and caused an immediate burst of tomato coloring on the poor girl's visage. Sakura knew Itachi well enough that all of his actions were deliberate and nearly thought out at every specific moment. But even so, she still questioned if he was fully aware of not only his actions, but the reaction he received from her. The smirk on his face indicated he actually found it amusing.
Damn jerk.
But man, was he hot?
Itachi took specific effort in pouring her a cup of tea when only asked to pass it, causing Sakura to blush yet again and simply nod in appreciation for the action. As she sipped the tea, she accidentally made quick eye-contact with Shisui, who had a curious smirk on his face as he analyzed his cousin and the pinkette.
Shisui, while strangely extroverted, was still an Uchiha.
Sasuke was inwardly seething. It was no secret that his mother took a liking to Sakura - I mean, he was the one who basically brought her to the Uchiha manor! But this factoid was brushed aside as Mikoto gushed at the thought of her eldest son with the training medic. She was privy to the thought of Itachi possibly settling down (in her eyes it seemed near impossible from her's sons lack of communication to any member of female student body.) Sasuke always looked up to his brother, who simply emanated the traits of intelligence and propriety. Plus, he was damn good at getting them out of bad situations. It was hard to oppose his role model.
But WOW was Itachi being annoying.
Sasuke knew for a fact that he caught up to Sakura's game before. He was well aware that she had yet to have her first (real, not including CPR) kiss and he knew the special request she made for it to be him. And yet, here Sakura was, blushing at every skinship she shared with his perfect older brother. Sasuke had half the mind to reach over and hold her hand as a sign of possession. But after his father's berating of the red-card discussion the other night, Sasuke held in his more childish tendencies. This was a battle for another day.
Seeing a female at dinner at the main Uchiha manor was rare, but seeing amusement and even a hint of intimate emotion flit through the orbs of Itachi Uchiha was even less probable - Shisui mused. But he was now observing both. He was there when Itachi asked her to the dance and it was nothing more than a casual question - Shisui could admit. The question was quick and stemmed from the well-manners of his favorite cousin. And yet, here Sakura was, under the critical eye of Fugaku and a much too enthusiastic Mikoto.
When the matriarch approached Shisui if he made Sakura's acquaintance, he figured it would have to deal with the constant war between her and Sasuke. Rather, Mikoto had little to no idea of that occurring and Shisui found the long-stemmed war to be a topic of a much longer conversation of another day. No, Mikoto had asked about Sakura's occurrence in her eldest son's life.
"It all started, at a pool..." Shisui started.
Instead, the shared conspiring of Shisui and the Uchiha matriarch made him sure of one absolute thing, even if the members of it were not sure it was even happening.
There was surely, the makings of a love-triangle.
An interesting school-year indeed, Shisui smirked to no one in particular.
After dinner, Sasuke offered to drive Sakura to say goodbye to Hinata the next day. The F4 were going to see her off at the airport and he felt the need to include her. (Sakura worried at whatever his intentions, surely not because he started caring and being her friend, but that was a problem for future Sakura). She agreed to his request and even took an uneventful ride home with Sasuke, who insisted on driving her rather than anyone else.
And yet these details went ignored, due to her sad musings of a certain blond boy.
Try not to look so sad, you guys." Hinata attempted to joke to the four in front of her, before individually saying goodbye to each member.
Sakura felt the sad tug at her heart, seeing Hinata wistfully offer small parting words to each person. Naruto hadn't even shown up! Her visage was always perfect, beautiful and composed, but even Sakura could perceive the beginnings of tears breaking her calm expression. She could not imagine the internal pain that Hinata was enduring, but she fully understood why.
"Sakura," Hinata started as she stood in front of the pinkette, "Take care of him for me." Before taking her newfound friend in a hug. Sakura made sure to clasp her hands around her back, fully intent on giving her a hug that would express how grateful she was to Hinata for the last few weeks.
Hinata smiled, before turning to her gate and giving one last wave goodbye.
Sakura watched the heiress walk with her eyes wandering around the airport, as if she was scanning for a specific person to appear before her final destination. It only hurt Sakura's heart more. She had half the mind to pummel Naruto the next time she saw him. He was always friendly and had a heart that easily drew people in, but it seemed he was the cruelest to those who lost his trust.
If only he stopped being so stupid and followed his heart, Sakura angrily thought.
The F4 and Sakura waited until she was fully boarded, before turning around to leave. "The nerve of that guy, Naruto didn't even show." Sakura muttered to no one in particular, but they all heard her.
"Something feels off." Neji stated.
"I told you, he's the crueler one between them." Sasuke haughtily mentioned.
"Wow, bastard." A voice familiar to each person stated, "Talking shit about me already?"
"What are you doing?" Shikamaru asked in a low voice.
"I've been here for three hours already." Naruto said with a smirk.
Sakura pushed Sasuke aside to stand in front of Naruto, anger already boiling to the surface. "Chase after her! If you don't want to stand next to her, do you still have the right to say you love her?" She yelled.
Naruto only smirked wider, before lifting his own copy of a passport and boarding pass.
"You idiot." Sasuke teased, but Sakura was rendered silent with her surprise.
"What finally gave you the courage?" Neji asked with a smile.
Naruto held Sakura's shoulders, turning her toward their friends, "It only took a verbal beating from Sakura-chan." Shikamaru nudged the blond with a small smile before Naruto took the rest of his friends in a hug.
Sasuke was the first one to break it, who immediately turned to the pinkette in question. She only smiled at the onyx-haired man. It took her words, not anyone else's, that pushed Naruto toward the love of his life. Sakura did not know all the details of their relationship, but she knew that they were destined to be together in order to be happy. It made her that much happier, knowing Naruto was following who he was destined to be with.
As the group quieted again, Naruto turned to Sakura. "It's a relief that I got to know you. You're like the sister I never had." He smiled at the young woman, before walking toward her to place a light kiss on her head.
Sakura kept her eyes closed during the interaction, only smiling when Naruto walked off.
The moment was over, but at least she would have this memory forever in her heart. Even as Naruto walked off to be with the love of his life, Sakura could appreciate that, for one last time, he listened to her advice. And best of all, Naruto would be where he was happiest.
She held her heart, smiling away at the fleeing Naruto and turned toward Sasuke, who was looking at her inquisitively.
You're like the sister I never had.
Sakura could only agree, any remnant of romantic feelings seemingly gone. Naruto was her friend, one that cared for her just as she did for him.
Sasuke scoffed at the blond's gesture and grabbed the pinkette's arm possessively, forcing her to stand close enough so he can rest his arm across his shoulders. Sakura frowned momentarily at the gesture, but laughed when she saw the obvious tells of jealousy on Sasuke's face.
He's an idiot anyway.
Xxxxx
It was strange for her to continue on at school, knowing she won't see the familiar tuft of blond hair ever again. Rather, her life consisted of Sasuke acting rather strange with her and the random adventures of Itachi and (usually) Shisui. It didn't help that she had classes with various juniors and seniors, so it was hard to get a moment to herself and away from the incessant drama.
And because Sakura often fell in the trap of falling for his good looks, she often accompanied Itachi when she was on campus. Without Naruto, she had no one really to confide in and waste her time with. And this made her wonder if Itachi was attempting to deepen their friendship and possibly become someone she could confide in. The thought made her smile, Itachi seemed like type of friend who had the wisest advice, so maybe it was for the best. If only it wasn't so awkward.
Not that she wanted to be rude, but Sakura was not sure if she wanted to continue feeding into Mikoto's obsession with her and her son. Yes, she wanted to be friends with Itachi, but she did not want it to be forced or with some alternative motive. It didn't help that Sakura completely blanked out at times when Itachi expressed himself to her – because damn was he beautiful. His usual response would be a chuckle to himself and maybe tapping her on the forehead, to regain her attention.
On one occasion, Itachi and Sakura were having lunch alone - but in the very public cafeteria where most of the student body had lunch. For some reason, Shisui was missing that morning (Sakura mused that the Uchiha was conspiring to get her together with the Uchiha heir). Itachi was perfect in almost everything he did, and it was have been strange for him to be as associated with a girl like Sakura. She dug into her lunch, not afraid to take wide and deliberate bites that would shock the more pretentious students of the school.
But Itachi only smiled, offering the pinkette a napkin for the stray pieces that hadn't exactly made it in her mouth. She took it, but could not properly discern the area that Itachi was describing. Rather, he took the napkin himself and wiped away the crumb from her face. It was unnecessary for him to lean forward and get so damn close, which only resulted in a bright-faced Haruno Sakura. To prevent similar incidents in the future, Sakura made sure to avoid him after that.
But this was Uchiha Itachi and it was surely impossible to avoid the heir to the owner of the school. Not limited to him, but it seemed every Uchiha on campus was able to easily identify her (and possibly make Sasuke, Itachi, or even Shisui aware of her presence). Sakura could remember, not too ashamedly, waiting in an elevator and spotting Itachi down the hall and calling for her to hold the elevator.
She mashed that close button like you would not believe.
Curse his height and long-arms, Sakura thought. Itachi was fully able to block the closing door with an outstretched hand, turning to the pinkette next to him. "Good morning, Sakura-chan."
Sakura had half the mind to burst out laughing, seeing the proper Itachi basically launch himself to keep the door open. But, of course, this was Uchiha Itachi and she did not doubt that he still looked like a gentleman while doing this. She, instead, attempted to cover her grimace with an awkward smile and he returned it only with a chuckle, but it was laced with a smirk. "Would you like to get lunch later?" He asked.
"I've eaten already." Sakura weakly protested.
Itachi tilted his head slightly, looking down at his watch to show it was not even ten in the morning. He seemed amused at her red-face, before inquiring, "This early?"
"Yeah..." Sakura replied, "I was so hungry."
He continued smirking, before pausing to ask, "How about lunch tomorrow?"
The elevator opened up to Sakura's floor and she was quick to rush out, saying, "Sorry, I don't eat lunch."
Itachi's smirk could almost reach the tip of his ears, from her obvious excuses. It intrigued him that his own mother showed her obvious approval of the pinkette, but it made him wholly incredulous that this was the female that Fugaku had silently accepted. Shisui spoke to him earlier that Mikoto had extended an invitation to dinner at his house, but Sakura had declined the invitation. It made Itachi question why he was tasked to invite Sakura or plainly why Sakura was even invited to another dinner only a few days after the incident.
They were so worried of what Fugaku would do to Sakura, Itachi mused, they never would have guessed that he would willingly invite her again.
Itachi smirked at the ironic sequence of events. Not only was she accepted into his family, but Sakura seemed firmly adamant against such a rare feat. It was fairly obvious to the elder Uchiha that she was avoiding him, but that only made him all the more amused. She was the only female to have perked his interest, but she seemed to not want it at all.
After class, Sakura sighed as she saw Sasuke and Shisui walk up the stairs on her way down and immediately turned 180 degrees in the opposite direction. Unfortunately, that landed her right up against another unsuspecting female student. The other woman instantly lost her balance and dropped what she was holding – unfortunately it being a stack of books.
Sakura grabbed what she could as fast as humanly possible, uttering a quick I'm sorry! But this only caused a major pile up behind her and it seemed more objects were falling behind the woman she accidentally pushed.
Sakura sighed at the inevitable, turning toward the woman and saying, "I'm so sorry."
"It's alright, Haruno-san." She laughed, observing the pinkette's obvious distress. Spying around, the woman noticed her cousins rush toward the sounds of the delayed students. She smirked, before addressing them.
"What happened here, Naori?" Shisui asked while Sasuke noted the now lessening crowd, students opting to just push past the group.
"Nothing, just a little mishap." Naori vaguely replied.
"Would you like to join us for lunch?" Sasuke asked with the intensity and specificity of a cobra. His eyes were fully trained on Sakura. And while she could tell his face had hints of amusement, it was his eyes that showed the intensity of his question.
Why do all Uchiha's want to get lunch so bad?!
Sakura could only offer a small chuckle at her misfortune, what were the odds. She was keen on avoiding all Uchiha's and they were constantly present in her life. I mean, it was only natural since their clan owned the private-school, but Sakura could hope for escape from them, right? Naori, Uchiha the pinkette surmised ironically, fortunately saved her from the possibility of lunch with them by saying, "Sorry, but we already have private plans." The onyx-haired woman winked at her.
Shisui noticed, but said nothing. Rather, he egged on teasingly saying, "Sorry Sasuke-kun, maybe next time we'll get Itachi to ask her."
Naori laughed, before leading the pinkette to the cafeteria on campus. Thankfully, the female Uchiha had no questions about what happened earlier between her and her cousins, but maybe Sakura spoke to soon.
"Seriously, what was that all about?" Naori asked as the two sat across from each other, already digging into their respective lunches.
Sakura sighed before honestly asking, "Why does it feel like I'm getting hunted by every Uchiha on campus?"
Naori laughed and felt her heart feel sorry for the poor girl, "Believe me. If anything we're just as curious as you are." She muttered, well actually probably a little bit more, under her breath.
"Now what does that mean?" Sakura asked with a smile.
"The only thing we knew about you was that you incited the hatred from a certain duck-haired child," Naori teased, "And suddenly you're getting invited to dinner to the Uchiha main house, by the wife of the clan leader?"
Sakura leaned her head back before setting her face in an amused straight line, "I'm probably just as confused." The pinkette hesitated, before nodding her head comically, "I'm pretty sure Sasuke hates me. But I'm in this weird place that his friends and even his brother approves of my tormenting him?"
Naori laughed aloud, "Believe me, you're not the only one! It's good someone's finally setting him in his place."
"All is crazy in my world." Sakura muttered as she placed down her chopsticks.
"It's funny..." Naori continued, "That's not the only thing I was curious about. It seems you've captured the attention of another Uchiha."
Sakura was so close to simply banging her head on the table, "Believe me, I've noticed. But if anything, we're just friends."
"Seriously? There's no such thing of friends with Itachi. I've hardly ever seen him interact with a female outside of the clan. And yet, here you are." Naori teased, "I've seen you on not only Itachi's Instabook page, but Mikoto's as well."
Sakura blanched, she hardly had time for social media and yet here was information about her – ready for anyone to see at a simple swipe of their fingers.
"Really? Do you mind showing me?" Naori opened the app and sure enough, there were various pictures of the pinkette on each Uchiha's social media page. The two most obvious ones were pictures from each dinner, courtesy of Mikoto. The first seemed natural, the F4 casually having dinner at the Uchiha manor, no biggie. The second was with Shisui immediate family, which again, was seemingly alright on its own. But upon further inspection...
Both photos encased the her as an obvious new addition. Pink-hair made it hard to Sakura to blend in. And each time, she was sitting between Itachi and Sasuke, rather than the guest seats at the very end.
The other picture, from Itachi's social media page, seemed like a sample of the front page for Konoha High's own newspaper, one which he spear-headed, with her and Tsunade-senpai standing side-by-side.
No wonder Uchiha's around campus were recognizing her!
"What the hell?" Sakura murmured in a low voice, handing Naori back her phone with a shaky hand.
Naori smirked at the incident in front of her. She knew of the female populace's obsession with her cousin, so seeing Sakura's adverse reaction was surely rare but exciting. "Consider us friends, Sakura-chan." The pinkette only smiled in response.
A few feet away, Izumi was entering the cafeteria, looking for her friends to sit with. And yet, here was her fellow clansmen, sitting with the object of her heartbreak. Izumi had little to no acquaintance to Haruno Sakura, other than the rumors spread recently. It seemed that the two were in a spirited conversation, Naori laughing while Sakura could only smile in what seemed like pained amusement.
Izumi was naturally kind and held a certain older Uchiha deep in her heart.
She watched Itachi grow up to be the handsome, young man he was today. And constantly, he was always the object of many women's desires. Never did Itachi look an inch out of perfection. But Izumi knew him personally, his likes, dislikes, and she was there for moments that no one (besides Shisui) could understand. They went to the same elementary academy and continued to be classmates to this day. But, their friendship was not limited to only school. Izumi often joined Itachi and Shisui on social outings. And when they were young and innocent in junior high, they shared the same friend-group, never going a single week without handing out at least once. Even at clan meetings, Izumi knew who averse the two men were, and often they sat together to mockingly ridicule the clansmens' words.
A part of Izumi silently believed that Itachi would reject other girls subconsciously, since none of them were her. He would reason to everyone that he was not interested or the girl who made an advanced on him was too imprudent to match with him. Or that her hair was too distracting. Or she just was not smart enough. Itachi had an excuse for everyone woman who approached him. And a part of Izumi's heart would soar at the thought that Itachi was simply waiting for her.
But this all came crumbling down in the last few weeks.
It was rare for Izumi to lose contact with Shisui and Itachi, but they were elusive to her questions and even more so form her invitations to spend time together. Shisui was more caring in his rejections, but Itachi bluntly stated that he was not interested multiple times. It made Izumi's heart squeeze in her chest from the obvious displeasure. They used to talk nearly every other day with her - as per talking in class, texting, or even just responding in their groupchat. But that all went ignored for a few weeks, causing Izumi to wonder what had happened. Had she done something wrong?
Izumi saw a photo that the Uchiha matriarch posted on social media, which was seemingly normal at first, with her immediate family and the close-knit group of the F4. But, what did catch her eye, was that Itachi was not looking at the camera. Rather, both the pinkette and the older Uchiha were looking at one another, smiling.
This gesture was so utterly simply that Izumi had to ensure that she was not simply obsessing over something so minuscule. So Itachi was looking at a woman, so what? When their freshman year gym-teacher all but stripped for him, he glanced with a blank face before reporting her to his father.
And yet, it was rare for Itachi to smile (let alone let it be directed at a female). And this was cemented in the photo, constantly mocking Izumi whenever she checked the app.
This was only worsened with a post from Itachi himself, showcasing the front-page of the next newspaper for Konoha High. It was Haruno Sakura being displayed front and center, article depicting her apprenticeship with the dean of medical sciences. It seemed perfect, from an outside eye. The Uchiha demanded nothing less than the best and Haruno Sakura had it all – beautiful exotic looks, intelligence rivaled by no one else in her class, and bravery to stand against the famed anger of Uchiha Sasuke.
Haruno Sakura was everything that Itachi would love, Izumi reasoned.
It was not until someone came up from behind her that Izumi realized she was staring, "Seems like your families are getting close, huh?" Karin asked.
Izumi saw the infamous red-hair of Karin and scoffed, she knew the girl was trying to get a rise out of her. Karin scoffed at Izumi's attempt to compose herself and continued saying, "To be honest, I always thought you and Itachi were going to end up together."
The Uchiha gave an aggressive exhale, she was not one to fight and refused to stoop down to the girl's level. "I always thought you were annoying. Looks like I was right." Izumi bit back.
"Oh stop it," Karin waved off, "You know it's true. What business does a girl like Haruno Sakura have doing here?"
Izumi did not reply, but spotted Naori taking out her phone and outstretching her hand, undoubtedly to take a lunch picture with the pinkette. Unable to withstand the sight, Izumi walked off with her food, venturing outside to eat since it was a beautiful day anyway.
Her heart only clenched further when she got the notification that Naori posted a picture, the caption reading: Lunch with my future cousin-in-law! #eyesemoji x3 #foodie #WeKnow #SlyWeasel
Xxxxx
Sakura was sure to pour her heart over chocolate ice-cream at Ino's. Both girls listened intently to Sakura's recollection of the last few days, omitting some details mind you, but both of them got the message. It wasn't the same without Naruto.
Tenten rubbed her shoulder in comfort, "Believe me, we've all been there."
Ino looked incredulous, "Really? Naruto?" Tenten immediately laughed.
"No way!" Sakura scoffed in amusement at the brunette's averse reaction, "No offense. Like, I know he's hot. I mean, believe me everyone with eyes knows that. He's athletic and has like a 12-pack under those hideous orange clothes and eyes like the ocean – "
"I'm crying here!" Sakura joked.
"Hold on, let me get to my point damn." Tenten playfully pushed the pinkette, who was also seated on Ino's bed. "I know what it's like to think you want to be with someone. Just getting a simple text from them, like good morning, could light up your whole day. All you want to know is how they're doing and if they're thinking about you too."
Tenten then leaned over to take Sakura in a hug, "And I know what it feels like to have your heartbroken – what it feels like to be more involved than the other person. How it feels to love someone so much and have them not return even a small drop of your feelings." Ino joined their hug, "It'll only get better with time."
Sakura gave a small laugh at Tenten's comfort and even smiled as the two kept hugging her. "Don't worry, forehead. You'll always have us."
"Careful Ino, it may seem like you care about me!" Sakura teased.
The blonde smacked her lightly, before mockingly forcing the pinkette beneath her chin. "Take the comfort already!"
"I can't honestly say I loved Naruto. I had some type of romantic feelings for him, that's for sure." Sakura explained, "But towards the end, when he was leaving, I felt so at peace. Like I was just happy to know that I played a major role in his own happiness. It mostly kind of just... faded."
Ino rubbed Sakura's back in understanding.
"Thanks for listening to me, you guys." Sakura stated.
Tenten pulled away from the hug, "There's something I need to say, to be honest with you."
"Oh no," Ino started, "Are you breaking up with us?" Sakura laughed before turning to the brunette fully.
"I was a little jealous of you, a few weeks ago." Tenten directed at Sakura.
"What? Why?"
"I've been in this rich society forever. You've not even been here for a whole semester and it seems everyone's in love with you." Sakura grabbed Tenten's arm, pulling her back into the hug. "Now that I really see how you feel about this, it made me realize how irrationally jealous I was…"
"I understand." Sakura comforted, no other words able to convey her appreciation at the truth. "Is that why you left my house that day, before Hinata's party?"
"Yeah." Tenten groaned.
Ino looked as if she mulling something over, "I think that's why I hated you so much when you got here, honestly."
"What?"
"Come on, Sakura. You're beautiful. And somehow, you caught the attention of the most infamous Uchiha on campus within days. I couldn't help but hate you. You had everything I ever wanted."
"Sasuke lit my bike on fire." Sakura emphasized, trying to have deadpan eyes and a completely monotone voice.
"I know that now!" Ino said exasperatedly, "But my envy was totally blinding me."
Sakura looked at both her friends, "Thanks for being honest with me. You know I love you guys, right?" The two laughed, tightening their embrace and reveling in their deep friendship.
All of them spent the night at Ino's, spending the rest of their time sharing gossip and catching Sakura up to what was happening in their year. Sakura was constantly with seniors, it took her away from her two best friends.
A few hours later, Ino was lounging on her bed, pint of rocky-road ice cream empty and forgotten at her feet, when she started, "There is the issue of something much more interesting, to lift your spirits..."
Tenten looked up from the television, raised a brow at Ino who winked, and that was enough to communicate exactly what the blonde was thinking. The brunette was now smirking at Sakura and the pinkette could only help but wonder what simply transpired between the two of them.
"Something interesting? Like Sasuke caught on fire interesting?"
"Not exactly," Tenten still held a smirk, sitting up to rest her elbows on her knees. "But it does have to do with a certain Uchiha."
"Don't get me started on Uchiha Itachi."
"Why not?!" Ino exclaimed, "Chiseled body, commendable fashion sense, genuine manners, a lifestyle secure for all eternity, do you really want me to continue?"
The pinkette rolled her eyes at Ino's response.
But the blonde did not let-up, "Why have you been agonizing over Naruto when you have a complete 100/10 pursuing you?"
Sakura laughed, "Don't say that about Naruto."
"Naruto has the type of looks that make people talk about his personality." Ino roasted.
Sakura gaped in amusement while Tenten burst out laughing. Ino was a complete savage when it came to gossip and boys, and that tended to come hand-in-hand. "Ino you can't just say something like that." The blonde only shrugged which caused the brunette to laugh more, saying that it was from the previous influence of a certain red-head.
"Well," Sakura started, "What is there to say? Itachi keeps trying to push himself into my life and I keep running away."
"Why?" Ino asked.
"I just got over Naruto, I think I need some time for myself." Sakura paused, "Besides, I have to focus on my studies." This caused Ino to snort and Tenten rolled her eyes. Oh yeah, they were in school. A fact that often went ignored amongst the richer of the school.
Sakura laid down in her place next to Ino, thankfully continuing to talk about other things that were not centric on her. Ino and Tenten were her best friends, she was never good at making female friends before and somehow it felt like she needed them to continue on living. They were a vital part of her life now, Sakura would not let them go, even if they tried. She need them, just as much as they needed her. They helped her ground her mental state and properly vent. She missed them so much, it saddened her to think this was not a more often thing.
Unfortunately, a week later and the entire student body was subjected to exam season. And that meant total lockdown on boys and drama, from Haruno Sakura. Even with the urgings of her two close female friends, Sakura insisted that her education came first – what was it with everyone, they were still in school anyway!
Even with a scholarship (and an almost guaranteed ride from Fugaku) she wanted to prove her own intellect and opted to study at the library.
She texted Ino and Tenten to meet her there, but not a single seat was free throughout the entire first floor. It seemed the whole school had the same idea and not a single place even looked unoccupied.
"I should've expected this."
"Where are we going to study now?" Tenten asked, eyes surveying the library for even a hint of an empty spot.
"If only you had these drop-dead looks," Shisui joked, as he and Itachi neared them, "then people would willingly give their seats for you." Itachi nodded toward Sakura in greeting, but looked blankly at the other two girls.
"Ha. With those looks you'll be standing the whole day." Ino bit back, flipping her hair.
Shisui only laughed in response, before turning to someone who called him from behind. "Hey Izumi!"
"Hey, you guys." She greeted less enthusiastically, as she examined the entire group. "I saved you a spot, Itachi."
"Wow, none for me?" Shisui held his chest, pretending to look wounded.
"You can take it." Itachi stated toward his cousin, "I'm sure I can find my own." He waved goodbye to the group and stalked into the library. Izumi only sighed before walking off with an inquisitive look from Shisui.
No wanting to comment on the strange scene that just played out, Sakura asked. "Don't you have a club room upstairs?"
"Yeah, but it's probably super dusty since no one uses it." Ino replied, taking a moment to realize the implications of what she just said. Within an instant, all three girls were heading upstairs to a, thankfully, empty club room for them to study in.
By the time Sakura asked for the time, the sun was already setting. Tenten yawned at the strained effort and Ino was examining her fully done nails.
"Still prepping to study?" Tenten jested.
"Oh no, I gave up an hour ago." Ino waved, "But look at my nails. Beautiful, right?"
"Ino…"
"Okay, okay. Let me stretch for a bit and I'll study two-fold when I get back."
"I'm in for that!" Tenten quickly got up, "You in, Sakura?"
The pinkette had the most books open and occupied a whole desk area by herself. She was nervous just starting to go to an Ivy League private school, having junior/senior level courses only added to her stress. The workload was immense, but Sakura welcomed the challenge. If she was going to be a successful doctor, this was only a small hurdle. Sakura had too much on the line to even take a break, she mused sadly as she looked at the expanse of books she had open.
Sakura sighed, "I think it's best if I keep studying."
The two nodded before departing from the room, leaving their stuff as an indication that they would quickly return. Sakura kept reading and highlighting, adding some notes of her own in the margins as she continued. She took bites in her apple before realizing she went through all the snacks that she packed. It was solid hour and yet neither woman had come back. Sakura checked her phone and saw a post from Ino on Instabook, the blonde was downstairs socializing with certain familiar boys. That was fine, this gave Sakura more ammunition to tease the blonde later.
Sighing deeply, Sakura got up to stretch her legs, taking a packet of notes with her to keep reading. There was a balcony from the second-floor, so Sakura enjoyed the night breeze as she kept on trucking through the material.
"You know that's not necessary," A familiar voice appeared.
Sakura jumped in surprise, "Are you going to pretend that you were just sitting there or are you going to admit that you spend your whole life terrorizing me?"
Sasuke only chuckled, before firing back with his own insult. "This is an Uchiha owned library, but I'm the one supposedly out of place?"
"You don't study at home?"
"Wanted a change of pace today." Sasuke dodged the question, putting his hands in his pockets before looking up at the night sky. "Besides, it's a beautiful view." And he turned to stare right back at her.
Sakura blushed at the attention, but tried to maintain her frown.
It made a strange mix and Sasuke only laughed, she looked so damn cute. It was like if one of those cloud-puppies tried to look mad – it was too adorable.
Smiling only infuriated Sakura more, which made Sasuke more amused. This endless circle garnered more insults between them, but even Sakura could admit something had changed between them. It was like insults between friends, with a more sociable atmosphere. And dare she say, it was almost like they were teasing one another.
Karin was seething from where she was standing, in full view of the couple. But they did not spot her at all, since their attention was only on each other. What was it with that pinkette? She easily garnered the attention of the F4 and Karin huffed, Sakura didn't even want it! So did she truly deserve it? Karin truly believed that Sakura had feelings for Sasuke when she first arrived, but as of late the pinkette was spending more time with Itachi. And now this?! What game was she playing?
"I could feel your jealousy from over there." Izumi admonished the red-head.
"Are you telling me that this doesn't seem at all sketchy?" Karin pointed to the two. It was no surprise that the two hated each other, but were seemingly always drawn to one another.
Izumi was confused, could it be that Sakura had other intentions in flirting with both Uchiha boys? It was quite clear that Itachi had taken an interest in her, signified by the newspaper spread and the fact that the two were often seen around campus, whether eating lunch or simply walking together. Sakura had his attention as clear as day, so what was stopping them from becoming official? Surely, if Itachi was the interested party, Sakura would not deny him. Could it be that Sakura was playing both Uchiha boys?
The thought made Izumi angry, that her love interest was possibly falling into hands that were undeserving.
"Well, are you going to help me?" Karin asked, snapping the Uchiha out of her stupor.
"What?" Izumi took a step back.
"It's about time we did something to make the pest disappear."
"Are you insane?"
"I'm not going to kill her." Karin stated, "Don't tell me that you don't want things to return to normal? Return to how things were before she came here?"
Izumi hesitated, before saying, "What matters now is that she earned her way to Konoha High."
"No she didn't." Karin laughed, "Sakura is the dry-cleaner girl who caused Konoha High so many problems last year. They gave her a scholarship to quiet the media."
Izumi did not know this fact, but kept peering up at the couple. Sakura lightly pushed Sasuke while laughing at something he said, it was almost glaringly obvious that the two were flirting. If Sakura was reliant on one scholarship in order to attend their school, could it be that she desired more of the high-society life? After attending such a prestigious school, Sakura may desire the elegance that came with their luxurious way of life, beyond her four years in attendance and wanted to secure it.
The thought caused a sad pang in Izumi's heart, but it was not her place to interfere.
"You're really going to let this peasant take the one person you've loved your whole life?"
Izumi huffed. "There's nothing we can do. She's with Sasuke right now and the F4 just arrived at the library. The whole situation is completely surrounded." To her, it almost sounded like she was concocting a plan with Karin.
"Yeah, but Ino and Tenten are still distracting the other members."
"Well, that mean's the club room they were studying in is empty."
Karin smiled at this tidbit of information, "How did you they were studying in a club room?"
Izumi bit the inside of her mouth at her slip of tongue, "I overheard it."
"That's all I needed, thanks Izumi-san!" Karin smiled wider before waving goodbye. Izumi frowned and hit her own head softly. She gave Karin exclusive information and it made her wonder what the red-head had up her sleeve. Hopefully, she was not going to use the info that Izumi supplied.
Whatever, Sakura was with Sasuke and Izumi doubted anything would happen in his presence.
Unbeknownst to them all, Karin entered the library and sneakily made her way upstairs. Ino and Tenten were still in the lobby, casually talking to Neji and Shikamaru. Karin fumed inwardly at the action, but she had a plan to enact for now. Checking every room window and seeing one room in particular that had Sakura's bag, she snuck in and made sure to leave it intact.
Unfortunately for Karin, there was nothing of scandalous importance in the pinkette's bag. If anything, it emphasized to the red-head how much of a nerd Sakura really was. Seriously, who needs 5 different highlighters? But, she did spot an essay that was likely due tomorrow from the signified date at the top. Taking that with her, Karin enacted the last part of her plan. "Let's see if anyone really trusts you now?" She said to herself, before taking off her bracelet and dropping it inside the pinkette's bag.
Karin heard distant footsteps getting closer and ran out into the hall. Simultaneously, Sasuke was opening the door from the outside with Sakura trailing behind him. He made eye-contact with the red-head, eyes looking in obvious curiosity at what she was doing here.
It only became more suspicious when Karin ran down the stairs as opposed to fawning over the young Uchiha. Usually, she took every opportunity to just talk to him. Sasuke followed Sakura to the club room where she was studying, inspecting the room to ensure it was safe for her.
"You feeling alright, Mr. Paranoid?" The pinkette asked, setting down her notes.
"Don't worry about it." He waved off before sitting down, his own notes in hand to study.
When Ino and Tenten returned, they had the other members of the F4 with them. At Ino's insistence, they attempted to study together. It only resulted in Ino getting annoyed, since everyone was actually studying as opposed to something spicier. It figures, she thought. They mostly had top scores and of course they would be uber-nerds when it came to exam time.
The next day in class, Sakura was actually eager to get the exams done and over. She was proud of her intellect and finished faster than anyone in the class, including Shisui and Itachi. Of course, it was only English class, and she did study abroad in America – but it was an achievement in itself. It was one thing to speak English, but understanding advanced composition was another skill entirely.
Setting her exam on the desk, Sakura looked through her backpack to hand the professor her essay. Opening her bright rose folder, all that was there were the study guides she used last night at the library. Sakura felt naked panic rack through her whole body before looking through the rest of her backpack. It's not here!
The professor looked on expectantly and Sakura explained, "I'm so sorry, but I don't have it on me. I swear I did it before, can I just print it?"
"It's now or never. Sorry, the best you can do on the exam is a B+ now." The professor waved her off, Sakura nearly crying at the statement.
Izumi looked up from her exam, wondering briefly if this was the work of a certain red-head. But she had more pressing matters at the moment, like an exam that costed more than a quarter of her grade.
The pinkette walked out into the hall, moping all the way to the cafeteria where she met Ino and Tenten. "What's with you?" Ino asked.
"I swear, I put my essay in my folder." Sakura said, head in her hands as she groaned each word.
"You didn't hand it in?" Tenten gasped.
"No, I don't know. I was so tired last night when I got home," Sakura stated, "I guess I really forgot it."
Ino put her arms around her friend's shoulders, trying to offer the pinkette comfort. "At least exams are over for you?"
Sakura only groaned out loud. Even if she got a B+, assuming she didn't get any questions wrong on the written test, she would need a perfect score on the final and the group project to maintain an A+ average. She only groaned more.
"Sorry to hear that, Sakura-chan." Shisui patted Sakura on the back, the two Uchiha's done with their test and deciding on coming to the cafeteria. Itachi took the empty spot next to Sakura and Shisui sat across.
"I saw you editing it yesterday." Tenten was recalling, "I remember you trying to print it, but it wasn't working. So you had to go downstairs in the main hall. And then you put it in that hideously neon folder."
Sakura couldn't even supply a comeback, recollecting the events in her mind and being able to remember the exact same thing. It should not have moved from there and yet, the essay was nowhere in sight. Ino was trying to remember the night before as well, supplying the same information. Sakura was so close to just jumping out the window and heading home in her misery.
"Nothing can make this day worse." Sakura laid her head on the table.
"There she is!" Karin yelled from the cafeteria entrance, pointing at Sakura. Behind her were two members of the school security.
"What do you want now?" Sakura asked, "Today is not the day."
"I promise you, she stole my bracelet!" Karin said to the security guards, causing Sakura to sit upright.
"You can't be serious!" Tenten yelled.
"Go ahead, check my shit." Sakura cursed, "I'm not in the mood for this right now."
The security guards were taken back from Sakura's attitude. That's not the usual reaction from a thief, but just to be sure that the accusation was not true, they searched her bag anyway. And to everyone's surprise, the bracelet was sitting at the very bottom of the backpack.
"What? That's not possible." Sakura muttered as the security guard held it up to her face.
"See. Peasants like you will always resort to what you know best." Karin huffed as Sakura was ordered to follow the security, likely to the dean's office.
"You did this!" Ino accused, knowing fully well that Karin was capable of getting her way with something like this.
"I swear I didn't do this." Sakura pleaded.
"It's funny how this made your way to your backpack, but not your essay." Shisui commented, scoffing and looking across to Itachi.
Sakura outwardly pleaded to Itachi with her eyes, trying to convey that this was not at all her doing. He kept a blank outward appearance, before getting up and walking away with his cousin. Tenten scoffed, boys were all the same – unloyal. Sakura felt her heart tear, Itachi had been her constant savior. But at this very moment, all she saw the retreating back of a stern Uchiha who never looked back.
"We'll figure this out Sakura, don't worry!" Tenten gave a thumbs-up to the pinkette, who was now being led out of the cafeteria.
"There's only one person smart enough who can solve this." Tenten said, turning to Ino. The blonde groaned, not wanting to feed into his huge ego, but desperate times called for desperate measures.
Tenten all but kicked in the door to the F4's private classroom. The instructor berated them for their outburst, but Tenten yelled at Sasuke, "Sakura's in trouble!"
The onyx-haired man waved away the instructor, who scoffed but took the hint. His father owned the school damnit. "What do you mean?"
"Karin accused Sakura of stealing her bracelet and it was in her backpack. She's getting led away now." Ino explained, looking toward Shikamaru to magically just fix the situation. It was strange, Ino later noted, how they seemed reliant on the F4 for help even when their leader was so keen on kicking Sakura out just a few weeks ago. It seemed they really did have hearts.
"The only time she could have planted it is when they're at the same place and same time." Neji surmised.
"But they don't have any classes together." Sasuke interjected.
"Except that we were all at the library yesterday." Shikamaru suspected, "And you guys left Sakura alone in the club room."
And suddenly, everything clicked for Sasuke. "I saw Karin, last night. She was out in the hall on the second floor and ran as soon as I saw her.
"That bitch!" Ino yelled, arms on the windowsill looking out and imaging a certain red-head.
"Can you –"
"Just texted for the CCTV in the hall." Sasuke interrupted Tenten, "Don't worry. We'll straighten this out."
Within minutes, the library emailed Sasuke with an attachment containing the footage of the various security cameras in the hallway. The five peered at the video, watching Karin enter the room with the bracelet and leave without it, she even had a paper in her hand.
"That's Sakura's essay. She was supposed to hand it in this morning, but it magically disappeared."
"Can you get a closer image? If there's footage in the club room?" Shikamaru asked. Sasuke nodded at the question and the library was quicker this time, probably ready to send the footage since they noticed themselves that something was amiss.
This was clear evidence that Sakura was being framed. Karin had the guile to smile as if she was completely successful, Tenten had to stop herself from punching the desk. Ino felt inward pain, this was on the tamer side of things Karin had done in the past. It was finally time that she was caught. Time for this vicious cycle to end.
However, both girls knew they couldn't just rush in guns blazing to the dean's office. (At least, they couldn't.)
Thankfully, they had the power and intimidation of the F4 on their side. Shikamaru sighed, yeah this schoolyear was much more interesting but was it worth the sacrifice of his cloud-watching time? Ino had a bigger plan, a way for her to serve her own plate of justice to the red-head in a not-so just way. The blonde was surely evil and learned from the tutelage of Karin and Shikamaru was definitely intrigued. He accepted the idea and slid his chair back over to his desk, typing fervently into his computer to hack the all too easy security of the televisions around the school.
Sasuke, Neji, and Tenten rushed as quickly as they could to the dean's office. Sasuke had no problems walking past the secretary, who didn't even attempt stop him, and opened the door to the office.
Obito Uchiha looked up from his, what they guessed beratement of Sakura's character, and sighed as he looked at Sasuke. Sakura was crying in her chair, while Karin was smiling at the scene before her.
"I just forwarded you something via email."
"This can't wait, Sasuke-kun?" Obito asked.
"Why don't you watch it and you tell me." Sasuke said as Karin frowned, unknowing of what the footage held.
The five watched the stoic Uchiha dean, the video playing fully without a single emotion breaking his exterior. "What exactly am I watching?"
"CCTV from the library last night." Sasuke explained. "Where Sakura was studying and took a moment to step out."
Obito kept replaying the video, at one point pausing and zooming into a certain point on the screen. He massaged his temple in obvious disdain before saying, "It seems I owe you several apologies, Haruno-san."
"What?"
"Karin stole Sakura's essay right from her bag and had the guile to accuse her of stealing." Tenten stated with attitude, causing Neji to smirk before he gently lead the brunette out of the office to stop her from further outbursts. She would have definitely fought it if it were not already going their way.
"I see. I'll speak to your professor now." Obito stated simply as he lifted the phone off from its place, "You're free to go."
Sakura gasped, turning to Sasuke with a genuine look of appreciation. He gave a small smile back, offering her his hand to take. The two got up to leave, hand-in-hand, and heard Obito on their way out, "As for you," Obito pointed toward Karin, "Consider your time here over."
Sasuke closed the door behind him and oddly enough, Sakura was biting her lips in anxiousness. "What's wrong?"
"I didn't mean for her to get expelled." Sakura frowned.
"It's her fault anyway." Sasuke calmly stated, lazily putting his right arm around her shoulders and leading her out in the hall. He could tell that Sakura was still shaken at the experience, from her weak appearance and unsteady voice. It was so un-Sakura, it made Sasuke want to protect her. Taking off her backpack, he kept his arm on her shoulders and used the other to hold the backpack lazily draped across his own on his back. Sakura did not fight it, but even leaned into the comforting embrace.
Uchiha Sasuke was her savior. If you told this to Sakura at the beginning of the semester, she would have laughed or demanded a fight. Now, Haruno Sakura only smiled, maybe they really were friends after all.
Tenten didn't comment on their close positions, but asked, "How'd it go?"
"Karin's getting expelled." Sakura explained.
"Serves her right." Tenten sassily said, hands on her hips. Neji laughed at the sight which earned him a raised brow from Sasuke.
The four headed up the stairs back to the main lobby, where each television was playing the security camera footage they last saw in the dean's office.
"Is it like this throughout the whole school?" Sakura asked incredulously.
"So that's what Ino planned." Tenten said with a small chuckle and pointed at the TV, "That's why you don't fuck with us. Because we have each other's backs."
Sakura smiled at Tenten's expression before adding a Cha! The pinkette looked over to Sasuke, who still had his arm wrapped around her shoulders, and he was still giving her a small smile. "You have no idea how thankful I am for this."
"You owe me." Sasuke stated, before looking away.
"Alright," Sakura sighed, seeing this coming, "What do you want?"
"Meet me tomorrow night for dinner."
"Another Uchiha family dinner?" Sakura asked.
"No, just the two of us." Sasuke replied.
"Like a date?" Sakura wondered, peering up at Sasuke with inquisitive eyes. What game was he playing?
"Yes." He gave her a fuller smile, before lightly patting her head and grasping her hand in his.
She was not entirely averse to the physical contact, but made no motion to tighten her grip or let go. Sasuke smiled at her flustered disposition, before giving a small squeeze.
As the four walked through the halls, the video really was on every television on campus. Sakura grimaced at the unwanted attention this would probably bring her. It appeared like a news report, with words flashing quickly at the bottom, offering a brief explanation of the situation. She blanched harder, remembering this was exam season and there had to be at least one class that was still taking an exam and was subjected to watching this at the same time. It played on repeat for another hour before the TV's were finally displaying the regularly scheduled school news.
Izumi watched the footage in pure horror, showcasing Karin undoubtedly executing the plan after they departed from their conversation. Sure, she did not aid in this sabotage directly. However, it made Izumi sick at the thought that this would not have happened without the information she told Karin! The only reason the red-head knew where they would be was because Izumi told her.
She was the one who reasoned that everything would be alright, but it was obviously ended up in this horrible situation. If not for the interference of – who Izumi guessed – Itachi, Sakura would be in serious trouble. Itachi was one of two people who had the power to get the security footage from the Uchiha owned library. And it was him who had to come to the aid of a woman she second-handedly sabotaged.
Izumi almost cried at the injustice, she had to come clean.
"I'm sorry, that I didn't stop it from happening."
"What are you talking about?" Itachi asked, confused at Izumi's words. She saw him walking across the quad, probably on his way home, and called out to him before he got too far.
"Sakura, she was sabotaged by Karin."
"And what does that have to do with you?" Itachi turned, attention fully on his fellow clan member.
"You – I thought you were the one who published the security footage. Surely, you saw me."
"I wasn't." Itachi frowned, but quickly mollified the emotion before Izumi could realize she was staring, "But you have not yet answered my question."
Izumi cursed, that meant Sasuke was the one who outed the footage. Shit. Even so, it was her that made the choice to disregard the imminent danger that Karin planned. And it was her that told Sakura was alone in the clubroom.
"I told Karin that Sakura was in the clubroom alone."
"Why?" Itachi asked.
"Because I'm in love with you."
xxx
The mere idea of a date with Uchiha Sasuke would have made Sakura gag, a few weeks ago. And yet, dare she say she was almost giddy at the thought. It distracted her for the rest of the day. Sakura could fiercely remember the feeling of Sasuke's arm around her shoulders, the way his face looked at peace as he smiled. This was her sworn enemy! And all she could do was think about how big his hands were when holding hers. Sakura shoved her head under her pillow and almost nearly forced herself to sleep. She kept analyzing again and again the look Sasuke had on his face. By the time Sakura came to, Shisui was snapping his fingers in front of her face.
"You're so out of it today." Shisui muttered, "If this is about yesterday, I'm sorry Sakura-chan. I should've believed you." Sakura was leaning her head on her hand against the desk, suddenly listening to Shisui's words as they were conversing during break. The day was going by quickly, in her mind, with only small bursts of life surrounded by blurs.
Itachi was sitting on her other side and started saying, "Please accept my apology."
Sakura nodded toward both of them, but did not say anything. It was strange to her. Those two were much friendlier toward her than Sasuke, but nonetheless it was the younger Uchiha who came to her aid. They were always trying to be her friend, through lunches and conversations. Sakura had even been spending more time with Itachi than Tenten and Ino combined, simply because of how their schedules coincided. Itachi was the one who constantly took initiative in spending time with her outside of class. Was that all for nothing?
Sakura really thought they were making progress as genuine friends.
But yesterday made it apparent Itahci and Shisui did not, in reality, think highly of her, since they did not trust her when it came to a real situation.
Itachi had come to her rescue when she was attacked, but it was obvious that she was not the aggressor in that situation. But when it seemed like Sakura could have been at fault, Itachi took it at face value and had the guile to walk away from her in her time of need.
That made Sakura much warier. She was not the type to hold a grudge, but she would keep this in mind for the future.
It seemed, ironically, that Sasuke was now on the list of people she could somehow trust. If it were not for Itachi, Sasuke would have sought her out the day those boys attacked her in the pool room. It made Sakura wonder how different their friendship would have been in only a span of a few weeks, if Sasuke had been the one instead.
At the end of class, the two Uchihas asked Sakura to join them for lunch as per usual, but she declined. She would not be fooled again by simple pleasantries. If they only appreciated her at her best, then they did not deserve her at all. Itachi frowned and asked if they could speak in private, but Sakura urged that she was on her way elsewhere.
Unlike before, when Sakura was previously adamantly avoiding him, this did not garner a smirk from Itachi. She was not afflicted with nervousness or sheepish smiles at his request. Sakura full on denied him with an obvious grimace, even hints of a glare poking through her appearance. Rather, Itachi frowned and watched the pinkette's back as it furthered away in distance.
Thinking to her date, with Uchiha Sasuke of all people, Sakura felt a hint of giddiness.