Author's Note: I know it's been forever. I'll try harder to find the time to write this time. I should be doing some work now but... here, have this.
Dedication: To everyone who reviewed last chapter:
cutecookiechick,
Sasuchan99,
Sakura'sGhettoInner,
Bored Konoha Kunoichi,
Girlalicious,
fuu-nk,
hama431,
and Guest. (Haha, sorry, it's all I have going. But you are loved just as much, I promise)
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"I was waiting for the boy who, despite being antisocial, prodded me to become unfearing."
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LITTLE BY LITTLE: SCENES OF LIFE
Scene 13:
UNFEARING
neon kun
It was the first day of classes.
"I can do this," Sakura murmured to herself, trying to bolster what little confidence she had. Anxiety surrounded her, and she felt an overpowering shyness consuming her from the depths of her stomach.
It was a new school, a new year, a new chapter of her life.
They said high school was made of thunderous fun. She breathed in. But they also said it was hell on earth. She choked at the thought. Being a freshman was more daunting than she had let herself believe when just last night, she could not sleep thanks to the wicked excitement dancing in her chest. She couldn't believe how much she wanted to move on from middle school just a year ago. All she wanted to do now was to creep back to last year.
"I'm so freaking nervous, what should I do?" she asked herself, worrying about all the things that could go wrong.
"Just get in the room, say hi and talk to people," a voice behind her answered. She almost jumped from both the shock and the embarrassment.
The raven-haired boy gave her a glance, shrugging a shoulder towards the door. Sakura looked at the door then back to him, lips quivering from the nervousness. The boy only prodded her to go, but when Sakura's face only turned morose, he sighed and went ahead of her.
Sakura watched as he seated himself at the very corner, and plugged earphones in his ears, shutting himself from the world. Panic rushed through her – he could've at least came in with her! Despite that, she smiled. It was better than nothing and she felt a little better, knowing she could do just the same – stride in and be okay.
And so she did, with a stride so normal she wasn't sure how, and ended up sitting beside him. She stared at him, and after a few seconds, he glanced at her.
"Uhm, hi…?"
He placed an arm on his desk, cheek on the palm of his hand, pulled one earphone from his ears, and with bored eyes, said, "We'll be stuck here for four years. Stop being so nervous. You look like a people-person. You're a people-person, aren't you?"
"Just a little…" Sakura replied, blinking, unsure of what to make of this boy.
"That's more than enough. I'm not, you see," he said. "And I'm doing better than you at the moment. That's proof enough."
Sakura blinked again, and then started laughing softly, unable to help herself. He glared at her. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she said, wiping a tear from her eyes, and feeling a whole lot better. Suddenly, her worries disappeared. "You see, I'm new here. I don't know anyone. Have you been studying here since middle school?"
"No. I'm new, too."
"And yet you're not even a smidge nervous."
"Really no reason to be. I suggest the same for you. You should have seen yourself. You were shivering to the bone."
Sakura smiled, feeling no malice in his words. "Maybe he's just really straightforward and blunt. But I can deal with that, and prefer that much better." She nodded. "Okay, sir!" she gave a small salute, earning a raised eyebrow. "My name's Sakura. Haruno Sakura."
"Sasuke. Uchiha Sasuke," he said, mimicking her tone. And before she could retaliate, he turned to the window and shut himself in his world again, music bleeding from his earphones.
Sakura heard all the giggles and the murmurs in front and behind him. It was at that moment Sakura knew just what kind of attention he'll be receiving, and thought to herself how he will probably hate it. Somehow the idea seemed a little fun to watch, and she let slip a tiny smile.
The bell rang and in came a young man who looked impeccably similar to the boy beside her. When he spoke, Sakura saw stars and when he smiled, her heart raced a million runs that would make all charities proud.
"Welcome, freshmen. My name's Uchiha Itachi and I'm your adviser's student assistant, a senior. If you have any problems, you can bring the matter to my attention. Let's have a great year, shall we?"
And when their eyes met, Sakura beamed to ephemeral heights she thought she saw heaven.
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"Sakura, look!" Ino, a blonde girl whom Sakura made good friends with very early in the year, pointed to a redhead sitting by the front. "Yes, that one!"
"You mean Karin?" Sakura glanced slightly at the red-haired beauty; she was a little too sassy, a bit of a drama queen, but there was no denying her charms. "What about her?"
"Yes, that harpy. She was eyeing Sasuke-kun earlier than the damn early bird, itself! Like—like he was her man-candy. Ugh, the nerve."
Sakura gave her friend a little pat. It was already the middle of the school year, and Sakura felt more and more comfortable in her new environment. She was making friends and getting into the rhythm with her academic goals. She glanced at the empty seat beside her; Sasuke wasn't in class yet. He had developed the habit of coming in class at the latest moment possible and she couldn't blame him. Like her prediction at the start of the school year, true enough, he topped the charts of heartthrob galore in Konoha High.
"Ugh," Ino pinched her nose. "I won't let her have a hand at Sasuke-kun. Poor boy's already suffering from her highness' crap."
"I'm sure Sasuke-kun appreciates your sentiments, Ino. You know how he can be. Me, I'm already content just seeing Itachi-san pass by." She smiled at the thought of her crush whom she found out to be the older brother of her very seatmate. But she made no effort to ask Sasuke about him. He didn't seem very fond of his older brother, and she certainly did not want to earn his ire. She found him, beyond his handsome but cold exterior, to be a really kind person. Sakura felt she owed him a peace of mind away from whatever issues the brothers had. She wasn't lying when she said she was already content just seeing Itachi.
"Sakura! You should be more assertive than that!"
Even when her friend wasn't.
"Ino!"
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"Ino, Ino," Sakura latched herself on her best friend. The girl caught her, first with worry filling her head, then with intense curiosity. Sakura wailed Ino's name over and over again, unable to keep herself together.
Ino, as a good friend, responded with shaking Sakura's shoulder so intense, Sakura thought her soul left her body. "What's the matter, girl? Something's happened—I know that face! Tell me, tell me, tell me!"
"Itachi-san…" Sakura fumbled, tears in her eyes.
"What about him? Come on, Sakura! Speak to me!"
"Itachi-san asked me out!"
Ino shrieked so loud, the whole campus heard her, and shook Sakura so hard, this time the pink-haired knew her soul has left her for good. "We need to get you something to wear—oh, my god! This is just—oh, my god! Sakura, your crush asked you out! Itachi-san asked you out! A fucking gorgeous man asked you out when all you ever did was stare at him! Oh, my good god! We really need to get you something to wear! Something sexy, something seductive! No sneakers allowed!"
Sakura tensed up as the gravity of the situation pulled her to reality. "No, no, no, no," she clamored as she latched herself harder on her friend. "I'm scared! I don't know what to do! I'm not sexy! I don't do seductive! And I only have sneakers!"
"This is what best friends are for, you little vixen! You're coming over and I'll turn you into the sexiest thing magazines could ever look for!"
Somehow Sakura feared Ino more than the date itself.
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When the night ended, Sakura found herself in bliss. After calling Ino and telling her everything that had transpired, she was truly happy, and felt so fulfilled, nothing could be wrong.
She was a freshman. He was a senior. And they went on a date.
She squealed, repeating the memory in her head as she laid in bed. It was her first, real date. And it was with someone she liked – someone she thought so unattainable, that a date was only possible in her dreams.
They said high school was the time for a budding romance, and she could not help but ask if this was it.
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Sakura and Itachi were a couple that most people envied. It was her first love, her first boyfriend, her first relationship. The beginning was like riding cloud nine, and there was nothing but peaceful bliss.
Several months passed by and Itachi graduated while she turned into a sophomore, and the only classmate that carried on the title to second year was Sasuke. Sasuke whom she got to know more thoroughly as she held the title of Itachi's girlfriend.
It did not elude her his impassiveness on his brother's relationship with her. More than stolidity, he expressed his dislike for it whenever asked. Despite that, when she ran to him whenever Itachi neglected her, Sasuke listened to her woes with a patience a rock would be put to shame.
Dates that were forgotten, calls and texts that went unanswered for days on end, and being shooed away due to busyness were just tip of the iceberg. Sasuke spoke nothing about it, and only allowed her to wail on his shirt.
He comforted her with silence, rarely speaking and only to express his irate towards his brother which was more often than not.
"Break up with him," Sasuke told her one rainy night as he handed her a mug of coffee. She visited despite knowing better, being told it was his way of saying sorry, that Itachi wanted to take her somewhere. But she arrived at the brothers' flat only to be greeted by Sasuke's surprised face. And when his face turned to an angry one, Sakura knew all too well what it meant and, for the first time in their relationship, broke down uncontrollably. Not knowing what else to do, he ushered her in.
"I'm scared," Sakura told him when she calmed down. "I don't know how to do that."
"You tell him, 'Itachi, I'm breaking up with you.' It's really not that complicated."
She sniffed. "That sounds like those, easier-said-than-done kind of things." Her voice was raspy from the crying and Sasuke threw his head back in frustration. "How can I just do that?"
"You're not stupid, Sakura," he said, trying to be as gentle as he could. "He's only hurting you. And it won't stop. You'll only get hurt. He doesn't deserve you. So stop settling for an idiot like him."
"You really don't like your brother, don't you, Sasuke-kun?"
"It's not only about that," he said, and turned away. "Stay the night. You look horrible. I'll get you home tomorrow morning."
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She approached him once, after school. She rarely did so, surprising him. Usually, she either had school tasks to complete (something that came with being part of the student council) or helping out at her clubs (she was a member of the swimming club, the literary club, and the culinary club). She asked him if they could walk together home, and he found himself agreeing.
The walk was quiet for a while, and he dared not break it. When they were reasonably far away from school, where the number of students dwindled, Sakura finally broke the ice.
He knew what she was going to say, and she knew he knew it, too.
"He broke up with me." Her voice quivered. God forbid he was aware just how much she was doing her best to keep herself together, that she was at the verge of falling apart. If there was anything he knew about her, it was that when she loved, she loved completely without reserve. It was something he both admired and disapproved of.
Sasuke hummed, gritting his teeth. "I know."
"I suppose you do."
"He told me this morning."
The sound of her footsteps disappeared, and his followed suit. He took a moment before turning to her; to his surprise, he saw her smiling even though the tears haven't stopped streaming from her eyes. In Sasuke's eyes, however, she looked like she was constantly breaking and she was desperately trying to build herself back.
In a split second she fell on her knees. More of hear tears leaked, and her voice broke in tiny sobs that stabbed at his very being. He breathed in, hesitated, but knelt down next to her anyway. When he tried to reach out to her, she tackled him and completely broke down. What little number of the passersby be damned, he thought. This girl needed comfort, never mind he wasn't sure how to.
"I warned you," he wanted to say. "I told you that you'll get hurt."
And get hurt she did. In a way so crippling she failed to notice Sasuke's slight limping, or the fact he wore his winter uniform in the middle of summer.
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It took her three whole months to get herself together. Struggling with coping with the pain, adjusting to the idea of never seeing Itachi again – those were some of the roadblocks she was able to pave a way through.
With the help of her friends, and an immensely furious Ino, she found confidence in herself she never thought she could return. The realization that she was not in the wrong aided her greatly to the road of healing. And that perhaps her only wrong was to dedicate so much of herself to someone who did not do the same.
She was just a freshman then, and he was already a senior. While some could make it work, she was naïve – the next time, she promised, she would take it slow and find out her true feelings, her true worth and place in her future's arms.
Ino gave her the luxury of being preoccupied even further, and Sasuke forced her to study with him, knowing these were the little ways they knew how to help her. It was her stupidity, maybe, but at least she was not alone.
"Sakura, you'll be late," Sasuke said, standing by a post, a book in hand.
She grinned at the boy who would never admit to being the crutch to her heart's mending, and her eyes' opening. "Were you waiting for me?"
"You'll be late," he pressed on, looking away, but pulled her by the wrist as they walked towards the school. His hold was gentle and gingerly; as though he regarded her like a fragile, little thing. But she knew better. Sasuke was considerate in all things that mattered. A smile broke from her lips.
He was the little brother of her first love. He was the one who caught her when she fell down the trap again and again. Their friendship grew in ways she could only fathom on her first day of high school. She grew to love his impassive demeanor; he may seem to not look the part, but he had always pulled through for her in the end. Most girls saw him for his handsome features but she saw his kind heart.
He made her strong. He made her fearless.
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It was the first day of classes.
Sakura stopped in front of her classroom's door. Sasuke looked at her, a small smirk dangling on his thin lips. "Nervous?"
She shook her head. "Nostalgic."
"Then why hesitate?"
"I'm not," she said. "I was waiting for the boy who, despite being antisocial, prodded me to become unfearing."
His smirk turned to an involuntary smile, but scowled to hide it away. Sakura saw it anyway.
"Shut up, Sakura."
She laughed, feeling mirthful wonder swirling in her. She felt braver this time around.
And this time, they entered the room together.
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scene 13: end.
More Notes: Hope you guys like that. I was supposed to just publish this as a new one-shot when I remember about Scenes of Life. This turned out nicer than I expected.
I already have the next scene written out, but it's nothing I am willing to publish yet.
I'm re-reading and re-outlining Coexisting so let's see how that works. No promises, yet. But if not Coexisting yet, I'll be updating Crossroads. Please go read it!
Please review. Someone reviewed a good number of my old works and let's just say I was pleasantly surprised so much so I started writing again. Hint. Hint?
Cheers,
neon kun