The three figures in the snow-filled courtyard were silent.
Sakura looked uneasily at Gaara, was it just her or did his smirk seem a little forced?
"What do you want?" Sasuke said rudely.
Gaara slowly looked from Sasuke to Sakura. His expression was almost pitying.
His blazer collar was turned up against the chilly wind, face as white as the snow around them, "It seems that in order to win this war, I have to do nothing." Gaara stated.
"Excuse me?" Sakura snapped.
"You will surrender. But it won't be my doing. Remember that."
"How about you start making sense?" Sasuke narrowed his eyes.
"I would tell you, Sakura, but I think you should figure it out on your own." Gaara said coolly.
Sasuke looked furious at being ignored.
"What? Just tell me, whatever it is!" Sakura said, beginning to grow frustrated.
Gaara's jadeite eyes glittered, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
And with that, he turned and walked back into the school.
Sasuke put his laptop on a bench carefully and looked at Sakura, "What do you think that was about?"
"Oh the usual, Gaara being cryptic and hoping I'll give up. Well it's never going to happen!" Sakura said passionately.
"You never stop talking about Gaara." Sasuke said darkly, "I'm starting to think you don't hate him as much as you say you do."
"Don't be ridiculous, Sasuke." Sakura chastised him with a frown. She despised Gaara. Everyone knew that. They were at war, for God's sake!
Sasuke scowled at her. Then, his expression changed slowly. He looked predatory.
He leaned closer to her and wrapped a lock of her pink hair around his finger, "I always loved your hair." He said softly.
Sasuke-kun likes girls with long hair! Ino had informed her gleefully as a child. They had both decided to grow their hair out to give them a chance.
Sakura could feel the hated blush coming on as Sasuke's face neared her own.
"When... when you said you liked me, what did you mean?" Sakura asked hesitantly.
Sasuke twisted the lock tighter around his finger and smiled, "What did you think? I like you, Sakura. I always have done."
Her heart skipped a beat, "Really? But - you never... I never realised..."
"I didn't think you liked me too. But I got tired of waiting to find out." Sasuke's dark eyes had little shreds of blue in them, Sakura noticed.
"The only problem is..." Sasuke gave a funny little grimace, "You can be a bit too much at times. If we were ever going to... be together, I wouldn't want to be lectured all the time... and I'd want to see you a lot, which would probably cut into your study time... I just think..."
He took a deep breath, "I just think you should stop working so hard at school."
Sakura's stomach fluttered. Sasuke cared about her well-being?
"This is kind of embarrassing but... I don't like smart girls." Sasuke admitted.
Sakura stared at him, aghast. "So you don't like me?" She asked, not caring if she sounded big-headed.
"I do like you. But I don't like the way you lecture your friends, or the way you don't seem to care about anything outside class. I don't like smart people, not just girls, because they can be arrogant and difficult to talk to." Sasuke said gently.
No one can talk to you about anything because you turn it into a lecture!
It's like you don't have a life outside of class!
Everything Ino had said to her on that awful day in the hallway. Every bad part of her that she'd tried to bury and ignore, rooted up by Sasuke's gentle, chastising words.
It was the truth.
But... to start failing classes, avoiding studying, lowering her grades...?
Admittedly, they were all so high that a slight dip wouldn't impact her final grades much at all.
And Sasuke, the boy she had admired from afar, admired so much that she had put up a frosty persona and distanced herself from him because that admiration scared her so much, he liked her back!
But he wanted her to change so much about herself. Though... they were the bad things that she despised about herself. The very things that Ino had shouted at her.
"What do you like about me?" She asked waspishly, unable to stop herself from injecting irritation into her voice. Sasuke didn't seem to mind.
His smile was real this time, not a grimace. "I like the way you stand up for your friends. I like how you throw yourself into danger without caring if you get hurt. I like how you really care about the students. I like how you hide your emotions away and put up a front, pretending to be this untouchable ice queen when you're really very kind. I like how you do so much for other people and how you never complain when they don't thank you."
Sakura's eyes widened. She was speechless. Who was this person Sasuke talked about with such fondness? It didn't sound anything like her! And yet Sasuke was looking at her with such open affection...
"Just stop trying so hard, Sakura." Sasuke said softly, "You can be a normal sixteen year old."
Perhaps she should try.
xxxxxxxx
Exam season.
Sakura always prepared for the coming exams - she made sure she ate food that enhanced brain activity, formulated a very detailed revision timetable, bought new pens that wouldn't run out in the middle of the exam, stuck post-it notes with little facts written on them all around her house, went to sleep with listening to a woman reciting the periodic table and much, much more.
Sakura had been studying in advance when Sasuke told her to stop working so hard. She had done as he had asked, and ceased studying.
She sat at the desk, staring at the exam paper. Her forehead was creased into a frown, she was biting her lip and her foot was jiggling about in anxiety.
She knew the answer to every single question.
She could write a poem about every question, could go into such depth and detail that there wouldn't be any room left to write, could ace this exam in her sleep, but she felt torn apart by her indecision.
To pass or not pass?
Logically, if she failed this exam, she could re-sit it later on and pass it easily. But would Sasuke be happy about that?
Sakura's pen slid across the page as she jolted in shock.
Why should she change for Sasuke?
Had she asked him to change in any way?
Why should she do badly in school just to make him like her more?
They were now boyfriend and girlfriend, as odd as it felt. If Sakura had been unpopular before, she was now despised. Not only was she was the smartest student in the school and the Student Body President, she was now dating the most popular guy in school.
Sasuke's name was down in her phone's contact details as, 'Sasuke, bf.'
He had put her down as, 'Sakura x'
If he really liked her so much, he could put up with her lectures and her studying habits.
She finished the hour long exam in ten minutes and handed it in to a frowning old woman, who peered at it suspiciously, thinking Sakura had simply handed in an empty test. No one could finish so quickly... the old woman's eyes flew across the pages, her eyebrows raised.
Sakura had aced the exam with fifty minutes to spare.
xxxxxxxx
It was still snowing outside when Sakura burst out of the exam hall and out onto a balcony. She stared at the school she cared so much about. It was a beautiful building, made up of red bricks and water features. It was a ridiculous school, really. It was for the rich and famous' offspring to attend for a few years and automatically pass following a generous contribution to the school.
Sasuke was not exempt from that unfairness. His family were probably the richest out of all the students' families. How dare he try to make her lower the grade she worked so hard for?
Sakura's phone buzzed in her pocket.
She flipped it open. Unknown number was calling.
She answered.
"Yes, hello, who is it?" Sakura barked down the phone, still feeling indignant about her boyfriend's hatred of 'smart girls.'
A man chuckled down the phone, his voice like smooth honey.
"You must be Sakura-chan." He said, amused.
"Must I? And who is this?"
"Itachi. I believe you're dating my little brother."
"Have you called merely to state the obvious or do you have something to say?"
Another dark chuckle reverberated down the phone, "Oh, I have something to say."
"Sasuke is using you." Itachi said bluntly.
Sakura stopped mentally going over the exam and gripped the balcony wall, feeling the cold stone even through her gloves.
The snow was getting heavier now.
"Elaborate." Sakura said sharply, not in the mood to listen to this man chuckle anymore.
"Our father, in his infinite wisdom, doesn't care that Sasuke's is one of the smartest in his year, he only cares that he isn't the smartest."
"I am." Sakura said, her mouth going dry in fear, what was Itachi talking about?
"Yes, you are. To father, if Sasuke isn't the best, he isn't worth anything. So my darling little brother formed a plan. That day your friend Ino shouted at you, he memorised all of the things she said. He tried to think of ways he could get you to stop being the best, because he simply couldn't beat your grades. Ino had mentioned something about you 'liking Sasuke.' He decided this year to use what Ino had said against you, to get you to like him so much you'd stop studying to make him happy. Then, he would be the best in his year and Father would be proud of him." Itachi said slowly.
Sakura breathed in sharply, her windpipe feeling constricted. She realised in horror that she was close to tears.
"How do you know all of this?" Sakura whispered.
"He told me." Itachi said simply, "I didn't think he should do it, so I told you. You didn't take his advice, did you?"
Sakura hung up the phone and stared at it. At some point in the short phone call, it had stopped snowing.
xxxxxxxx
Sakura walked in a daze. She was headed to the cafeteria, where the rest of the students were eating after their exams. Sasuke was bound to be there.
Sasuke. Her boyfriend. Her secret crush for four years.
A liar.
I always loved your hair.
All of those sweet things he'd said to her, they were all lies just to keep her sweet. If she'd done what he'd asked, would he simply have dumped her? Or would he have strung her along even more in order to destroy her college career, too?
She began to walk with a little more purpose, feet stomping off the ground, a glare settling on her face. Students scuttled away from her - the Student Body President was on the warpath.
That little speech he'd made about how much he liked her! Who the hell did he think he was?
She shoved the double doors open with a bang, entering the cafeteria. The noise of her entrance drew the attention of most of the students.
She charged over to Sasuke's table, eyes fixed on his lying little face as she approached.
He gave a smile when he saw who it was approaching him.
Sakura picked up his drink and poured it over his head.
He gasped, water spilling down his face and neck, the spikes of his hair quivering from the sudden shower.
"Aw, did Sasuke get wet? Let me wipe that up for you." Sakura said mock-sweetly, picking up his burger and smearing it on his face.
The students around them burst out laughing, their laughter echoing into a mocking chorus designed just for Sasuke's humiliation.
Naruto's eyes were wide in shock, Hinata's mouth had dropped open. Sakura smiled reassuringly at her friend and then turned her loving attention back to Sasuke.
"What the hell, Sakura?" Sasuke shouted, wiping sauce from his eyes.
"'I like you, Sakura. I always have done.'" Sakura yelled back at him, bitterly quoting his own lies back at him, "You liar! You wanted me to fail! To fail all of my exams so you could do better than me, just to impress your rich little daddy. What happened Sasuke? Did he threaten to cut off your allowance if you didn't trick the poor little scholarship girl? And you planned this! You planned it! You made me like you! How could you do this to me?"
And she was crying. Crying, in front of every student in the cafeteria. Her shoulders shook, tears trickled down her face. She had never lost control so publicly before. Ino pushed back her chair and stood up, her face horrified.
Sasuke had looked murderously angry at first, but now he looked ashamed as Sakura sobbed in front of him.
Hinata's eyes had filled with sympathetic tears.
"Well, it didn't work. I'm going to ace every test, every essay, every exam, and I will not let you hold me back. Consider yourself dumped." She said, angry at him for what he did and furious at herself for breaking down in front of him.
"And you, Naruto!" Sakura suddenly rounded on him. He looked startled, "You knew about this. You knew what he was planning. I know you did, because you looked so damn uncomfortable whenever Sasuke did something nice for me."
Naruto looked down at his lap, looking remorseful.
"Sakura, I didn't lie about liking you!" Sasuke shouted, looking desperate, "I really do! More than you'll ever know!"
Sakura couldn't reply, she could barely see through all of the tears and the lump in her throat had swelled to painful proportions.
The students all around them were either laughing or simply staring. The Student Body President had attacked her own boyfriend and broke down in tears in front of everyone.
Sakura ran.
The snow was melting on the ground when she got outside, the sun had come out. It was warmer than before and it was raining, hard.
Sakura made it to the courtyard before finally giving in to the emotions battling inside her. Grief. Humiliation. Raw, haemorrhaging pain.
The rain poured down relentlessly as she howled, hands covering her face.
A hand lightly grasped her elbow and tugged her out of the rain, pulling her underneath shelter.
She choked back a sob and looked around to see who it was.
Gaara.
His range of expressions were usually very limited, but now he looked a mixture of sympathetic, angry and regretful.
He handed her a tissue.
Sakura took it and stared at it. She laughed, because a single tissue wasn't going to dry her anytime soon. She wiped her face with it anyway.
She was dripping onto the floor, her hair lay plastered across her face and she was sure the rain had soaked into her bag, ruining her homework inside. Oh well, she thought. Maybe if I fail this homework, Sasuke's daddy will love him.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Sakura asked, her mouth still trembling. Her eyes ached.
"Would you have believed me?" Gaara replied, his eyes solemn.
"How did you know before I did?"
"I've met his father before. I already knew he wanted his youngest son to do as well as his oldest had. When I got here and the Uchiha was cosying up to you, I figured he was up to no good."
"I feel so stupid! I... I was going to fail for him! I let him convince me that studying wasn't good for me! Well, screw that! If Sasuke wants to beat me, he'll have to do it the old fashioned way." Sakura said fiercely.
"And, by the way, I'm not giving up. I'm not surrendering. I'm still pissed off about what you did, and I'm going to get you back for it, Gaara." Sakura declared.
Gaara's mouth was tugged upwards by his approving smirk, "I wouldn't have it any other way."
"Watch your back, Gaara!" Sakura said, smiling brightly. She handed him the sodden tissue back.
She walked off, determined to start studying again to achieve such perfect marks Sasuke's would look like mediocre rubbish.
Gaara watched her go, his frown growing. He pushed his soaked hair back with a grimace and stared at the tissue, puzzled.
xxxxxxxx
Sakura's phone
Disgusting liar
Sakura, answer your phone.
I'm sorry.
Sasuke. X
Hinata
What happened? Are you OK?
Xxxx
Naruto
Sakura, Sasuke made me
promise not 2 tell u.
x
Disgusting liar
I don't care about making my
father proud anymore, I want you
instead.
Sasuke. X
xxxxxxxx
Sakura sat on her bedroom floor, surrounded by textbooks. She was reading multiple books at once, eyes busily flickering over the pages. Her head ached. She chewed on a pen thoughtfully. It was midnight (or thereabouts, as Sakura hadn't glanced at the clock for a while now), and she was drooping, exhausted. At this rate, she wouldn't even beat Sasuke's results, let alone get a hundred percent on all of her exams.
Her door creaked open.
Her mother edged into the room, wearing her thick dressing-gown to stave off the winter's chill. She was carrying two steaming mugs of coffee.
"Oh, er, I was just - !" Sakura started to explain, panicked, but her mother simply shook her head, amused.
"It's alright, Sakura. You think I don't hear you revising in the middle of the night? You can have this coffee if you promise me you'll start sleeping more. It's not healthy."
Sakura was already reaching for the coffee, absently nodding in agreement. Caffeine, sweet blessed nectar of the gods! She gulped it down happily.
"Why are you suddenly working so hard?" Her mother asked, eyes perceptive. She sat down on the edge of her daughter's bed, sipping from her own mug.
"Revenge." Sakura said seriously, peering at a diagram, barely able to make out her own notes in the margin.
Her mother probably would have looked startled if she was awake enough. She merely nodded, "Fair enough. Why do you want revenge?" She asked, yawning.
Sakura hesitated, "Someone... someone wanted me to fail. So I have to pass. I don't want them to think I failed for them."
Her mother raised her eyebrow, "Someone wanted you to fail...?" When Sakura just looked down and didn't elaborate, her mother sighed, "I think you are working so hard for all the wrong reasons. Don't work hard for them, work hard for you."
Sakura stopped writing and thought. This was just like the time Ino wanted her to dumb herself down. They all wanted to use her, didn't they? Why should she take any notice of them?
She shut the textbook and sighed deeply. Her mother pulled her towards her and gave her a quick hug. The little bit of comfort sent Sakura over the edge and she began to cry softly. Her mother's grip tightened and she patted her back as she cried.
It was time to stop changing for other people.
Right, yeah... if anyone thought Sasuke was acting out of character in this story, he was. He was pretending to be nice so Sakura would fall for him. But was he lying about liking Sakura? Who knows... XD
Btw, Itachi wasn't just trying to be a nice guy when he warned Sakura, he was trying to screw with Sasuke. How did he get her number? He stole it from Sasuke's phone.
I want to draw the scene of Gaara and Sakura in the rain!
Quick poll for fun: Who's the most badass kunoichi of all?
A) Tsunade
B) Sakura
C) Anko
D) Other, let me know!