Broken Youth
(Life of Konoha Academy Teens)
CH.3.5:Closer
Placed in the front row, in the desk closest to the door sat a pink haired girl with emerald eyes and boy with charcoal eyes and hair. The two of them sat up straight and looked forward. They not once even glimpsed at each other after they had first sat down. They didn't avoid eye contact because they didn't want to look at each other, but because they were both too afraid to be caught staring by one another. So instead of observing each other they both paid close attention to their teacher's words acting as if what she said was of the utmost importance.
As soon as the teacher finished her speech the pink haired girl unconsciously let out a giggle. The boy beside her turned to look at her with a confused expression on his face.
"Did I miss something?" asked the boy referring to the girl's laugh. His head had a slight tilt to it when he asked.
The boy's question brought the girl out of her daze, she quickly turn her head to face the boy and answer his question. "No, you didn't miss anything. I just caught thinking, that's all." replied the girl.
"About what?" asked the boy curiously.
"Nothing really significant. I just remembered that we didn't actually properly introduce ourselves when we first met, and today we are finally getting the chance to start all over and do it right." started the girl. "And maybe Chiyo-baa-sama's is right, and we'll learn new things about each other … blah ...blah...blah-"
"You talk to much," said the boy without thinking, his elbow was on the desk and his palm was under his chin and jaw. 'Damn, I said something stupid without thinking again,' the boy realized a little to late.
The emerald eyed girl grew quiet.
'Talk to much?' repeated the girl in her mind, the words weighed down on her skull.
'You know he's right Sakura,' thought her inner self.
'That's not helping!' the girl shouted to her other self.
Inner Sakura only snickered with a grin while holding up two fingers in a peace symbol before disappearing in a popped thought bubble.
"Sorry, for bothering you," said Sakura with a nervous giggle.
"There is no need to apologize," responded the dark eyed boy.
Sakura put both her hands on the desk and pushed herself up, as she stood her stool began to slide back.
"So, shall we start the game now?" suggested the girl.
"It's not like we have a choice," replied the boy as he too began to stand up.
"Lighten up, let's try to make this déjà vu experience as fun as possible, okay?" advised Sakura with a smile.
The the boy and girl now stood facing each other. They both stood in that respect not knowing how to begin. The boy had his hands in his pockets, while the girl was tightly clenching to the corners of her skirt.
"I'll start, I guess," stated Sakura breaking the silence. She coughed to clear her throat, which was followed by a long deep breath and sigh.
"I am Sakura Haruno, at your service," she announced both in hesitance and naturally. As she stated her name she took a bow, but instead of a formal bow it was more of a curtsy. She took her curtsy by extending the ends of her skirt and slightly bending one knee. She felt awkward doing her introduction after she realized she was doing the same routine she did when she was working with Tsunade.
'Is this what she meant when she said to have fun with it? Well, this sort of things are more of my brothers tactics, but I'll see what I can come up with. What would stupid Itachi do in a situation like this? Oh. I know..." thought the boy as a smile appeared on his face as an idea struck like a bolt of lightning.
"It's a pleasure to meet you Miss Haruno," stated the young man as he bent down in a gentleman's bow with his right hand across his chest. He slightly bent on his knee and grabbed a hold of Sakura's right hand. "My name is Sasuke Uchiha." Once he finished presenting himself he brought Sakura's hand towards him, and placed his lips on her knuckles(in other words he kissed her hand). There was the echoing sound of gasps and murmurs as he did so.
'That should have been my hand he was kissing,' Karin thought with wrath from across the room.
'I'm happy for you Sakura,' thought Hinata who was stand in the desk right behind her.
"Aw, Why didn't I think of doing something like that?" thought Naruto out loud which made the the girl next to him blush, yet not as much as when he subconsciously placed his arm around her neck in the following second.
Everyone was stunned by Sasuke's out of character behavior, but most of all Sakura. When Sasuke's lips touched her skin, her heart skipped a beat and her mind went blank. She couldn't believe that what was happening to her was real.
'Ha. This isn't Sasuke-kun, I must be totally dreaming. There's no way this is happening to me in real life,' thought Sakura as her mind started to turn back on. 'Yet, it feels so real.' Sakura quickly turned to look at the expressions of her peers, when she saw the jaw expressions she realized that she was in reality. Sakura turned to look at Sasuke, which at that moment lifted his gaze to her and met her eyes. That motion made Sakura's face begin to warm, her body went tense and she quickly avoided eye contact. 'Maybe I'm overreacting about this occurrence. This might as well just be one of the Uchiha customs and I'm blowing it way out of proportion. Whatever it is I shouldn't let Sasuke-kun see how much this is affecting me I must continue to show indifference,' thought Sakura as she slightly turned her head away in such a manner where she could still partially see him.
As soon as Sakura turned away Sasuke's lips began to part from her hand. He figured it was starting to get awkward.
"I'm sorry Miss Haruno if my actions discomforted you in anyway," said Sasuke as he straightened up his body.
"Please don't apologize Uchiha-san," replied Sakura with a downward gaze and a bow of the head.
Sasuke chuckled. "Do you mind if we stop being so formal, now?" He then to a seat while still facing her.
"Not at all Sasuke-kun, thank you," answered Sakura also sitting down.
"Great," stated Sasuke "So what do we do now?"
"Start interviewing each other, I guess" replied Sakura.
"Okay, then I'll ask the first question" stated Sasuke. "Uh...What's your family like?"
"Well, to start off with, my clan is not a big one. I am an only child in my family, yet I do have my cousin Konan who is kinda like a sister. My father is a lawyer at a big corporation while my mom is the head librarian at Konoha Central library." answered Sakura. "What about you Sasuke-kun?"
"Unfortunately, I am the second born son after my brother Itachi. My father is the chief of the police force and head of the Uchiha clan. My Mom is also the coordinator of all the big events within our clan and around the city."
Once again the two teens stayed inaudible for a moment.
"Next question, What is your dream job?" asked Sakura.
"That's easy! I want to be the next Police chief !" Sasuke stated with much enthusiasm. "What about you?"
"Well, any job that involves helping people would suffice me," said Sakura with a smile. "But my dream is to become a great doctor like my two mentors Tsunade-sama and Chiyo-baa-sama."
"Why is that your dream?" asked Sasuke interrogatively.
"Well there is only one thing I truly hate, and that is being a useless burden to everyone. I felt so useless prior to starting my medical training. I remember being nothing more than a helpless girl that only got in the way instead of helping. The only thing I skilled at was chakra control and that alone was futile. One day luck finally came my way and I learned that my ineffectual skill could be turned into a rare and precious talent. I knew that it was going to take hard work to convert my ability from something useless into something useful. Still the hard work was worth it because it's turned me in to a stronger person both mentally and physically. It's my dream because I'll be helping myself as well others," answered the girl. "So what about your dream?"
"It's been my desire for a long time to become police chief and have an honorable position in the family, just like my father where I could lead my clan to greatness. Yet, the main reason is to achieve two of my long-term goals which are: 1) Earn my fathers approval and 2) to surpass my brother Itachi."
After the first couple questions the interview ran a little more smoothly. Here's a sample of the questions they asked:
"What do you do in your spare time?"
"What's your favorite dish?"
"What's your favorite color?"
… the list continues...
_ "What's your favorite fruit? Let me guess is the cherry?" asked Sasuke.
"Nope, but you're close Strawberries are my number one followed by cherries," answered Sakura.
'Damn, wrong again,' thought Sasuke. Sasuke had been guessing Sakura's answers and so far he's been wrong. An example of one of his mistaken suppositions was that he imagined that Sakura's favorite flower was the cherry blossom when in reality she prefers her birth flower the daffodil.
"What's yours Sasuke-kun?" asked Sakura.
"Huh? Oh, Tomato," he responded coming out of his thoughts.
Sakura giggled at his answer.
"Is their something wrong with me answer?" he asked with his hands crossed.
"Oh, not at all, I just find your unique answer amusing. I'm also glad that you correctly consider it a fruit rather than a vegetable," replied Sakura in her know-it-all manner.
Sasuke couldn't help but smile at her response.
...
"What's your favorite subject?" said Sasuke being he's turn in asking the questions once more.
"Kakashi's literature class," the boy and the girl stated simultaneously, echoing each others voices.
"You finally got one right Sasuke-kun," said Sakura in a giggling tone.
_ As they continued to interact their understanding of one another grew more abstract. They were finally starting to get into the game and were actually having fun associating with each other.
"So, what's the thing you dislike the most?" asked the Uchiha boy.
"Well, it use to be Naruto," Sakura said half jokingly.
"Hey, I heard that!" stated the blond boy from behind. Sakura turned to look at the boy and gave him a wink while sticking out her tongue.
"Truthfully though, it's not being able to do absolutely anything." said Sakura returning to her interviewer.
The boy nodded his head in comprehension. "Well, I dislike yet, it's more like what I despise is my brother Itachi," began Sasuke. "because he ends up stealing everything I desire away from me."
"You don't actually mean that? Do you seriously hate your brother?" asked Sakura with much concern in her big green eyes.
"Of course I mean it! If stupid Itachi didn't exist than I could achieve my goal with no trouble."said the young boy with red hot embers burning in his eyes.
"What goal? Your goal of becoming police commander?" asked Sakura.
"Not only that," he said with a downward gaze. "but also gaining my fathers acceptance."
Both Sakura and Sasuke sat quiet for a moment.
Sasuke began to continue. "I've have always worked hard to try to acquire my father's approval, but my hardest isn't hard enough, because Itachi is always one step ahead of me. I didn't always have this resentful feeling towards my big brother, at one point I actually admired him. But, soon I figured out that what I admired wasn't him, but his image as my father's 'perfect son'. That's when I realized that Itachi was my rival, and that I had to surpass him no matter what. Itachi had already obtained what I wanted without even breaking a sweat. He didn't have to strive to prove himself worthy because he is the masterpiece and I'm nothing more than a mere replica. That's why I wish I was like you, an only child, with no siblings to get in my way."
Sakura sat quietly for a instant, processing what Sasuke had told her. Her gaze was down to her lap and both her hands pressed hard against her lap.
"Being alone isn't as great as you think it is," whispered Sakura almost to herself.
"Huh?" Sasuke turned to her confused.
"What I said is that being an only child is nothing more than a nicer term for lonely child," said Sakura. "Sure, you make friends that are almost like family, but the bond will never be close to the same as that of a real sibling."
Sakura took a breath.
"Sasuke-kun you my not think that you are lucky to have a big brother like Itachi, but I do. It's certain that you may not relate and maybe even quarrel at times, but that's just human nature. With a sibling you have the luxury of having healthy competition, something you don't get being an only child. I know you and Itachi don't get along very well, but even so I'm almost positive that he loves you very much and that he doesn't intentionally try to harm you. And I'm sure you love him too." Sakura stopped for a brief second. Her hands began to tightly clench her skirt. "I would have given anything to have been a sister," she said in almost an unheard whisper.
Sasuke could not see Sakura's eyes, he could only see a looming dark shadow. As he looked closely at Sakura's face her thought he saw a sparkling drop glide across Sakura's cheek and fall from her chin and land on her black skirt in between her hands.
'I'm such an idiot! I just upset her with my stupid ways of thinking! I truly am a monster, I hate myself for hurting her!' thought Sasuke angry at himself. Sasuke slightly scooted his stool forward, he then placed his right hand on her left shoulder. "Sakura, I'm sorry if my idiotic comments upset you." he said sincerely.
Sakura tensed up at Sasuke's touch. She then lifted her gaze and looked at him with a bright emerald eyes.
"I should be the one apologizing since I tried to force my opinion on to you," replied Sakura.
"It's completely alright Sakura since you are absolutely correct," stated Sasuke as he removed his hand.
Sakura was surprised. 'This is the first time Sasuke has acknowledged me for anything,' thought Sakura, the mere idea made her heart cheer up inside and which made her outer become smile become more tender.
"I'm glad you think so," said the girl as her cheeks became like two pink roses.
The dark haired boy only smirked.
After a short minute, Sasuke broke the silence."Um...Sakura, there's something I've been wondering for a while now," Sakura looked at him with attentive eyes. "It's maybe that I'm just unobservant, but have you been wearing that cherry blossom all day?" With his left hand he reached for the flower on the right side of Sakura's head, and with his fingers he gently brushed it.
"Oh, this," Sakura said as she touched her flower with her right hand a moment after Sasuke pulled his hand back. "Yeah, you're right I didn't have it all day."
"Where did you get it? If you don't mind my asking," questioned Sasuke.
" Well, I found it on my locker along with a note this morning," confessed Sakura. "I wasn't intending to put it on, but the other girls ambushed me and made me wear it."
"Ambushed you, huh?" teased Sasuke. "Don't you like the flower though? It looks good on you and they are really hard to find at this time of year."
"I do admit it's a lovely flower and all but... it was given to me as a gift by a total stranger and I'm not exactly sure how to react to that," stated Sakura.
"I completely understand what you mean," replied Sasuke.
Just then the rang, which implied it was time to leave. The two teens were having such a good time together that they had utterly lost track of time. All of the other students began rushing out the door.
"I guess that's our cue," proclaimed Sakura standing up. "I really enjoyed spending this time getting to know you better." She smiled once more, then she slightly bowed her head.
"Me too," replied the boy with a slight smile of his own.
Sakura grew happy at the sight of Sasuke's sincere smile. She pushed in her chair, then turned to go towards the door. As she rotated, her hair fluttered near Sasuke's nose, tickling it with the scent of cherries. 'Mmm. She truly is a cherry blossom,' thought Sasuke enchanted by the aroma.
'I wonder what Sasuke-kun meant when he said he understood?' pondered Sakura on her way to her next class. 'Does he means that he also doesn't know how to respond to the eminence amounts gifts he receives from his fangirls? Or is it something else?'
Sasuke slowly made his way towards the door, after the rest of the class left. 'Sakura, I understand that you might be uneasy to receive a strangers gift, but at least now that stranger knows you like his gift and that is all that really matters to him.' thought Sasuke with yet another smile as he left the room.
5.1's End.