sometimes i wonder when you sleep / are you ever dreaming of me? / sometimes when i look into your eyes / i pretend you're mine all the damn time

- delicate, taylor swift (reputation)

"i'm telling you, man. you are in love!" naruto hollers at him while clapping his back. "i didn't know you had it in you!"

"fuck you," he spits. "i'm not."

"a strong denial is a strong confirmation," the blond teases in a sing-along voice then later chokes because his best friend decided to chop his neck with his hand. he coughs, "that hurt, asshole!"

the raven-haired man just goes back to his computer where he's currently doing his research for his paper due tomorrow. or at least tries to go back to it.

his mind is full of sakura haruno, though.

ever since she stepped foot in hatake's psychology class last semester, sasuke has been… somewhat curious. how can he not be when you see a pink-haired girl wearing all-black outfit in the middle of summer with piercings in her eyebrows and ears, and showing up late to the class that already started 15 minutes late because of the equally late teacher?

how can he not be when not even 5 minutes into the lecture, she answers a particularly advanced question even for him who studied the given syllabus weeks ago and goes on about her drawing on her desk as if nothing happened? (he was looking that's why he knew)

how can he not be when he learns that her eyes are so green like the color of his mother's favorite jade pendant, with flecks of yellow in them if you look closely and that her eyelashes are in a lighter shade of pink than the hairs on her head when he sees them closely for the first time when they became class partners for the rest of the school year?

looking subtly across from him in this busy cafeteria where all the students from their university go to during finals, sasuke turns his gaze at her and wonder if this— fluttering feeling inside his stomach, heating flush on his face, wilding thumps of his heart— is what it really feels like to be in love.

naruto's chuckles awaken him from his silent musings, "you're doing it again, teme. you're such a si-"

sasuke stomps at naruto's foot and the blond lets out a yelp so loud it attracts almost the entire place. he keeps a straight face, hoping they won't associate him with the idiot who's now gasping from the pain and the 10-year old boy still inside him celebrates because that's what you get when you mess with me, dead-last.

the commotion from naruto's outburst is slowly dying down and he can't help but look in her direction again. she didn't even look up from her book; maybe because of the wireless earphones she has on. he knows because he got captivated earlier when she tucked her hair behind her ear while she reads.

he is fully aware that this isn't normal at all. at least not to him, because he has never acted like this before. sure, girls are pretty and nice and smart; even if he never really hangs out with them. the only girls his age he knows are the ones that date his friends— like that girl with the buns with neji or that blonde foreigner that nara's been secretly dating.

but none of the girls he knows are as cool and as mysterious as she. sakura is an enigma he's been trying to decipher for a year now. she looks badass outside but she has the most gentle voice he's ever heard. she's smart like the way an honor student should be smart but she's also very gullible to a fault. she only has black and white clothes because that's her style but she has a plan of adding new colors to her monochrome wardrobe when i finally go to a date with someone i really like.

sasuke knows all of this because he likes her.

yes, that's right. sasuke likes her so much that he's willing to sit around this crowded place with the most obnoxious friend he has just so he can see her be in her element. in his eyes, she looks most natural and at peace when she's reading or drawing. it makes him want to be the apple of those emerald pools she has with her.

those eyes that make him want to want something— something that sounds like i wanna be yours or maybe even i wanna make you mine. it's so easy to pretend these days especially when they pass by each other and she says his name like it's special.

like he is special. it makes the back of his neck tingle in some delicious way.

his phone suddenly vibrates inside the pocket of his jeans. tearing his gaze away from her pink hair, sasuke fishes it out of his pants and opens the notification.

he's pretty sure his heart skipped four beats.

[ r u just gonna stare 4ever? ]

sasuke's head whips up and he can see her still reading her book, her eyes scanning the lines, and her finger tapping the table rhythmically. but when he looks closer, there's a subtle grin on her lips. he loves that look.

he types out a fast response.

[ i don't know what you mean ]

[ i just can't concentrate since it's too loud. ]

sasuke waits when he saw the three dots indicating she's typing her reply.

[ and u stare at me… ]

[ to concentrate? ]

[ glad i could help then :p ]

he fights the urge to blush because he's been caught with his creepy staring. sasuke blames the way the sunlight hits her hair that distracts him from the studying he needs to do. he wants to tell her about it but he knows that if he does, it will be the end of this casual friendship with her.

nothing has ever indicated that she feels the same way anyway. she's always kind to him just like she's kind to everyone else; always willing to help and listen, to teach him about their lessons he already knows, and to just be there— capturing his eyes and his heart every time.

she's not the one who can't sleep at night thinking about her. she's not the one who dreams of her when sleep finally comes. she's not the one who wishes to be more than a friend— because it's all him.

before he can even form another text, another one comes from sakura.

[ u want 2 study somewhere else 2morrow? ]

excitement and anxiety start to flood his veins and he doesn't know what to do. sasuke uchiha: nervous because of a study session with a girl. he looks to his right where his best friend is finally snoring— the idiot can't know.

his fingers form the answer before his mind can even process it:

[ sure. wherever you want, sakura. ]

if he can, sasuke will cover his face from embarrassment. with his head down, his eyes sweep up and he can see her looking down with her lips pursed. he quickly checks his phone and he doesn't see any dots indicating that she's typing.

"fuck," he mutters under his breath. did he scare her? did she think he's weird? does she want to take back her offer and never talk to him again? his heart starts to plummet...

until she replies again.

[ i'll text u the address later, see u sasuke-kun :) ]

later, sasuke goes home trying to convince himself— it's not a date.

we'll see tomorrow then.

a/n: see u tomorrow as well kekekeke~