Six
It was the big day. The first exam in Sasuke's class. Sakura had woken up at six in the morning with her heart pounding and her stomach lodged firmly in her throat. She tried to calm herself down by thinking about how much she had studied, but nothing could reassure her. She would only feel better once she had taken the test and had gotten an A…hopefully.
She wound up getting to class at six thirty…and then promptly turning around as she couldn't bear to sit there for an hour and a half, waiting for Sasuke and listening to her classmates' bitching when they eventually arrived. She wandered around the back of the building, where the trees became thick leading towards the surrounding forest. She had always loved the tall, imposing trees that Konoha was known for – the leaves were now rattling gently in the wind beneath an overcast sky. She found a small stone bench along the walkway into the woods, and thought it was impossibly picturesque.
Sakura sat down, setting her bag down next to her and pulling her phone out. Almost automatically, she opened up her texting conversation with Sasuke. As though her fingers were being controlled by someone else, she typed out a message. Your stupid test has me losing my mind.
The second that she pressed send, she wished she could reach out and take it back. What the hell was the point of sending a text like that? He was probably going to regret ever giving her his number. She groaned at the thought that he might have a talk with her relating to her inappropriate behavior. Now she was stressed about the test and the poor decision she had just made. She wasn't much of a texter, anyway. What on earth had influenced her to send that?
Her phone buzzing on her lap caused her heart to skip a beat. He was probably telling her off, it probably wasn't even him. She didn't even want to look…
You know you're going to get an A.
She smiled and quickly replied, forgetting her worries for a moment. I don't know that. I heard through the grapevine that Uchiha-sensei's test are particularly difficult.
His reply came almost as quickly. Well, I wrote the test, so I think I would know.
Sakura giggled. She didn't even care how ridiculous this whole situation was. So what she was sitting on a bench in the woods, giggling like a school-girl in response to her professor's cheeky text message? Totally normal stuff…
Another buzz from her phone caught her attention. Sasuke had sent her another message. You're not already in class, are you?
Um, not exactly…
Meaning? His short reply asked.
I'm behind the medical sciences building on a bench in the woods…don't judge me. She couldn't believe her little text had turned into a full-blown conversation. Apparently, he didn't mind her texting him…or at least he didn't seem to.
She did her best to not be disappointed when a reply didn't immediately come. She was lucky that he had responded at all – she was lucky that he wasn't scolding her for texting him about nothing.
Sakura thought it was over and had resigned herself to watching the birds flutter back and forth between the trees when her phone buzzed once again. Why doesn't that surprise me? You should be sleeping. It's quarter till seven.
I didn't wake you up, did I? Sakura was suddenly concerned. As happy as she was to be talking to him, she would've felt guilty if she had woken him up over nothing.
No, his immediate reply came. I don't sleep much so you'll never have to worry about that.
The weight of his words smacked Sakura in the face like a brick thrown by major league pitcher. She'd never have to worry about that? Maybe she was reading into it but…that made it sound like he expected her to be texting him at odd hours of the night and morning.
She didn't even know how to reply. Should she reply? She wanted to but…damn she didn't know what to say to that. She settled for ignoring the part about not having to worry about waking him up and instead decided to try to be relatable. I haven't been sleeping much either. It was true, after all. Test stress and…other stress had most definitely been keeping her up at night. She'd been sleeping less and less every night, and she knew it was becoming more clear in her appearance. This morning, she'd had to apply concealer under her eyes just to take the edge off of the purple smudges there. Five hours of sleep a night had become a blessing for her.
I figured as much after your little walk around campus the other night. He answered, back to his immediate replies.
Oh, that reminds me, I need to give you your hoodie back. I didn't think I should just bring it back to class, so… Sakura debated if that text was at all okay to send, but sent it anyway. She was clearly already in ridiculous territory.
Don't worry about it, I've got a bunch just like it.
Sakura locked her phone without responding after reading his last message. Wow, was she in over her head or what? It was so easy to forget who he was…how not okay this whole situation was shaping up to become. Why was she letting this continue? Hell, why was he letting this situation continue? He'd had to have had other students interested in him before. There was simply no getting around it – he was too young and attractive to have never had a student melt into goo at his feet.
And that's when it hit her. Maybe he had. For all she knew, he might pick a new student to flirt with every semester. Maybe she really was as stupid as he teased that she was. Had she really been so naïve? She had started to really think she was feeling something for him…and she had deluded herself into thinking he might be feeling similarly towards her. It made way more sense for her to assume that he just used his handsomeness and asshole attitude to attract some stupid girl every semester. Sakura was more of a romantic than she let on, and that aspect of her personality had a habit of rearing its ugly head at the worst of times.
Sakura let her head fall into her hands. She had let herself get so distracted, goddamn it! What had happened to her plan? She'd been in school barely a month and she was already half-infatuated with her professor. Great.
She sat like that for what felt like forever, mentally berating herself for being so childish and fighting off the pre-test nausea. Her heart nearly stopped when someone tapped lightly on her shoulder.
"Jesus!" she exclaimed, hand flying to her chest as she sucked in a gasp of air.
Sasuke held his hands up in surrender, very clearly trying not to laugh. "Startle easy, hm?"
"Um, yeah," Sakura laughed nervously, not sure if she was more surprised by the fact that Sasuke was standing there or the fact that he was close to laughing. "What are you doing here?"
He stood there in his typical black dress clothes, and Sakura couldn't help but think he looked awkward. That was definitely a first…
He quickly resumed his typical devil-may-care posture and expression, however, and Sakura had to wonder if she had imagined him looking uncomfortable in the first place. Maybe she had imagined the near-laughter as well?
"I just showed up early," he shrugged. "I sit back here sometimes, actually."
"Don't let me stop you," Sakura smiled up at him, secretly terrified by her own actions. She patted the space next to her.
Ah, there was that awkwardness again. He shifted back and forth uncomfortably before finally sitting on the small bench next to her, his side pressing firmly up against hers.
Sakura was torn between feeling panicked and being amused. Panicked because she had never been so close to him before…but amused because he suddenly seemed like a deer caught in headlights. Had her asshole professor actually sought her out on purpose? To…spend time with her?
"Here," his voice brought her back to reality. He was holding a slightly crushed blueberry muffin out at her.
"You…brought me a muffin?" Sakura was awe-struck. He was just full of surprises today. Suddenly, all fears of being just another one of his conquests flew out the window…at least temporarily. "I mean, thanks!"
"Tch. It's just a fucking muffin," he frowned, looking away from her as she took it. "You seem like the type to skip breakfast."
"I am," Sakura picked at the muffin slowly. "I've forgotten to eat multiple meals this week thanks to studying for your big scary test."
Sasuke scoffed at her. "Idiot, no wonder you look like you weigh about ninety pounds."
"I can't help it, I get distracted!" Sakura defended herself, taking a bite of her muffin.
Sasuke simply shook his head and remained silent. They sat that way for the remainder of the hour, occasionally making offhanded comments but mostly just sitting there in the quiet, listening to the sounds of the woods waking up for the day.
Twice Sakura had nearly turned to him and asked him what was happening with them, and twice she had talked herself out of it. She had a feeling drawing attention to whatever it was might kill it, and so she chose to remain silent on the matter. At least for now. It was very likely that absolutely nothing was going on, and saying such a thing would just be ridiculously inappropriate.
"Test time," Sasuke muttered under his breath, standing up and brushing the wrinkles from his pants. His words pulled Sakura out of her troubled thoughts.
Sakura stood too, smoothing down the hem of her casual dark green sundress. She'd put a light brown cardigan on as well to fight against the fall chill. She had left her hair down pulling just a bit from both sides back behind her head. It had grown far past her shoulders in the past few years, and she planned to keep it that way. A touch of makeup completed the outfit. Sakura had always believed that it was important to look your best on test days.
She looked up to find Sasuke's eyes on her. His face was expressionless, but his eyes were a dark sea of feeling. She wasn't sure which feeling but she couldn't help but hope that maybe he thought she looked nice. Even though she always dressed up for tests, she couldn't lie to herself and say that none of it had been for him.
The silence began to grow awkward and heavy as they stood there looking at each other. Sakura was desperate to save the situation, so she spoke up. "We better get going, we're going to be late."
Her voice seemed to be all Sasuke needed, as he looked away from her and nodded as she spoke. "I suppose it might not look very good for me if I walk into class late with a student."
Oh," Sakura trotted behind him, blushing slightly at the implication he had made. "Should I wait for a few minutes after you go in?"
"No," Sasuke shrugged without looking back at her. "I don't give a fuck."
Sakura felt her pulse begin to speed up again as they neared the classroom. Spending the morning with Sasuke had briefly distracted her from the test, but now her panic was back full force.
Sakura was great at taking tests, she knew that. But her test anxiety still frequently reached uncharted levels. Every scratch of a pencil, every sound her classmates' made tended to stress her out and distract her. She often felt ready to rip her hair out and cry halfway through every test she took.
She split from Sasuke just before entering the classroom. She was thankful he hadn't looked back, as she had stopped to lean on the wall outside the lecture hall. She was trying to control her increasingly erratic breathing and her shaky hands and was failing miserably. School was everything to her – it was the one thing she was skilled at and therefore she felt it was the thing that defined her. Plus, she also felt that it was her responsibility to get amazing grades…so she could get into medical school and support her family someday.
"What, are you having a panic attack or something?" Karin's snide voice cut through Sakura like a knife.
"Mind your own business," Sakura snapped, immediately straightening up and tossing Karin a hostile glare. Normally, she would've tried to ignore the girl, but Sakura just wasn't in the mood to be picked at. Sometimes, her volatile inner-self just took over.
"Hm," Karin turned her nose up and walked into the classroom, no doubt to tell all her little friends about Sakura falling to pieces right outside the door.
Feeling the need to prove herself, Sakura wiped her nose and began walking into class with as much confidence as she could muster. The snickers from Karin's group confirmed that Sakura had been right in her assumption of Karin's gossip.
The seating assignment was different for tests, in an attempt to prevent cheating. Sakura wound up in a seat without a student on either side of her, and she couldn't have been more grateful. Less distractions would hopefully help her make it through the test without having some sort of nervous breakdown.
Still, she was shaking so badly she dropped her pencil multiple times before she just sat it down in front of her and gave up. Every breath felt like such a strain.
"Calm down."
Sasuke was in front of her then, passing her a test and a bubble sheet. "You're going to do well," he muttered under his breath, likely so the other students wouldn't overhear.
Sakura smiled a bit as he walked away. The test couldn't be that hard…not if Sasuke was encouraging her. He didn't really seem like the encouraging type, after all.
The test began only minutes later, and Sakura willed herself to focus on the words on the paper and not on the wild beating of her heart. The first question…was easy. She barely had to think about it. Smiling as she marked down the answer, she chanced a glance up at Sasuke. He was sitting at his desk, reading over something distractedly. His ebony hair fell into his eyes in such a way that Sakura wished she could go down there and brush it aside. Her pencil eraser found its way into her mouth as she stared at him without embarrassment.
As though he sensed her watching him, his eyes snapped up to meet her own. His gaze immediately fell to the pencil in her mouth, and though she couldn't be sure from this distance, she would swear he had licked his lips.
That crashed her back to reality, and she nearly smacked herself upside the head for letting herself get distracted from the test.
The rest of the exam went smoothly enough, after her little indiscretion. Sakura grew more and more confident as she answered each question, and felt mostly safe once she had finished. She looked up to see that no one else was done yet, and debated if she wanted the attention of being the first to hand in their test. She quickly decided to do it, because if she just sat there stewing she was likely to overthink her answers and change something.
She gathered her things and walked down the steps towards the front of the room, her test papers clutched tightly in her hand. Sasuke had been watching her ever since she stood up.
"If you were nervous," he spoke quietly. "Then you should have actually taken enough time to think about your answers."
He snatched the test out of Sakura's hands briskly. She stared at him open mouthed, with half a mind to get into a fight with him right there in the middle of class. "I didn't need more time," she ground out instead.
"Fine, let's see how you did then, smart ass," he mumbled, reaching under his desk and pulling out a key for the bubble sheet.
She was at a loss with this guy. From muffins to insults, he flipped back and forth faster than she ever would have thought possible.
"Well, fuck," Sasuke's words nearly stopped her heart.
She knew she had done well, but now she was panicking. "What?" she whispered back.
"One-hundred percent," he muttered while writing the number on her test.
"R-really?" Sakura barely dared to believe it. "No way…"
"Check mine, Uchiha-sensei!" Karin's far-too-loud voice startled Sakura. "I'm sure I did just as well as she did."
Sasuke frowned at the girl but took her paper nonetheless. He scanned the bubble sheet with his eyes and then threw it into the paper box to his right, presumably to be graded later.
"Aren't you going to check it, sensei?" the pout in Karin's voice was highly exaggerated.
"You didn't do as well as she did," Sasuke shrugged, going back to reading the paper on his desk.
"B-but how do you know? You didn't even grade it!" Karin's voice had now risen to a truly unacceptable level.
Instead of hushing her, Sasuke matched her volume and spoke. "You missed the first question, she didn't miss any."
Karin's mouth hung open. She turned to glare at Sakura, her face almost as red as her hair. "W-well! At least I didn't have a breakdown outside class before the test!" Pushing past Sakura hard enough to make her stumble, the redhead went flying up the stairs and out the door at the back of the classroom.
Barely keeping her laughter in check, she looked to Sasuke to share a private giggle. To her surprise and dismay, however, he just looked angry. With a parting half smile and a nod of her head, Sakura turned to leave, hoping a certain angry classmate wasn't waiting outside to smack her in the face.
"Come by my office later," Sasuke murmured from behind her.
Sakura didn't turn, but she nodded her head discreetly once before climbing the stairs to leave.
Work passed impossibly slowly that day. All Sakura could think about was what Sasuke could possibly want to talk to her about in his office. First, he'd tracked her down that morning, and now he wanted to talk to her again?
What if he wanted to tell her they needed to stop…whatever it is they were doing? Except they weren't even doing anything… What if he was going to tell her she was out of line? The thoughts swirled around in her head like a tornado of terrifying scenarios.
"Are you alright, Sakura?" Shizune asked. "You seem out of sorts today."
"Oh," Sakura pinched the bridge of her nose. "Just a little headache. That test was really rough today." It wasn't even a lie, she did have a headache.
"Why don't you go ahead and take off? Your shift is almost over and I can cover the desk," Shizune smiled sweetly, taking the other chair behind the front desk.
"No, Shizune! That's okay. I don't want to leave all the work to you," Sakura straightened up in her chair, immediately feeling guilty.
"Sakura. Out. Now." Tsunade's voice came booming from her office.
"But – " Sakura began.
"OUT!"
Sakura blanched. "Yes ma'am! Er, bye Shizune, thanks again."
Shizune smiled at her and shooed her out from behind the desk. "Better go before Tsunade decides to come out here and make you."
"You've got that right," Sakura mumbled under her breath before fleeing to safety.
She stood outside of Sasuke's door for probably five full minutes before she got the courage to knock. Once she finally did, the response was nearly immediate. Instead of calling out, he opened the door swiftly, the air blowing Sakura's hair back from her face. He stepped to the side without saying anything.
Upon entering the room, Sasuke motioned to the chair in front of his desk for her to sit in, while he leaned on the front of his desk rather than going back to his own seat. His office was relatively plain. His desk and bookshelf were both made of dark wood, suiting his character. The window on the far wall let in just enough light so that he didn't have to have a lamp on.
"What's up?" Sakura asked after he didn't say anything. Her heart was pounding in her ears now.
"I need you to stop antagonizing Karin, she's a pain in my ass," Sasuke spoke slowly, no hint of humor in his tone.
"Um, excuse me?" Sakura almost, almost couldn't believe him. "She's the one doing all the antagonizing here!"
Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Please. She's clearly just jealous of you. Stop rubbing it in her face."
Sakura stood up to face him, hands clenched into fists at her sides, tilting her head back so she could see him. Damn, why did he have to be so freaking tall all the time? "You've got to be kidding me! I've done nothing to her all semester!"
"You traipse into class everyday, looking effortless and outsmarting every single student in the class, meanwhile, you look like you're barely eighteen. She's threatened by you," Sasuke explained with his arms folded, lecturing her like she was a naughty child.
There he went, subtly complimenting her looks again! "I don't know what you expect me to do! I barely speak in your class anymore so I don't draw attention because they all hate me and I am barely eighteen! I can't exactly change that!"
That seemed to catch him off guard. "You're eighteen? My class is senior level."
"I took all the lower level A and P classes in high school," Sakura frowned at him. "I can't do anything for you short of changing sections of the class."
"No," Sasuke breathed out quickly. "This would be a whole lot easier if you weren't some try-hard over-achiever, you know. Have you always been this annoying?"
"If I wasn't a try-hard I wouldn't even be in this class, you would have no idea who I am!" Sakura took a step towards him, trying to seem confident in some way.
He didn't respond to that, he merely stared at her, his pesky hair falling into his eyes again. The silence quickly grew thick and heavy and heated as the stood there glaring at each other.
Boldness and maybe insanity gripping her from she didn't know where, Sakura stepped closer to him again, this time close enough to touch him. He didn't back away and she took it as a positive sign. Slowly, painfully slowly, she reached up and brushed some of the hair from his eyes like she had been wanting to all day.
His hand shot up suddenly and caught her wrist. She thought he would pull her hand from his face, but instead, he used his grip to pull her closer, touching her wrist just barely to the side of his face, almost to his lips.
Damnitdamnitdamnitdamnit.
Neither of them dared move, Sakura had stopped breathing some time ago. She couldn't be sure, but it seemed like they were growing closer by the second. His head seemed as though it were shifting down closer, and she had definitely elevated on her tiptoes a little. Again, she couldn't help but describe the feeling as anything but magnetic. She didn't even feel in control of it anymore.
They got so close that she could feel his warm breath on her face…before a knock on the door had them flying apart like they had been electrocuted. Their eyes met for a brief moment before Sasuke nodded at her and she sat down in the chair across from his desk, praying that she didn't look as flustered as she felt. Sasuke took his own seat behind the desk and cleared his throat once.
Twice.
"Come in," he called out. Sakura thought she heard a slight tremor in his voice. Maybe that was just wishful thinking.
The door opened to reveal a chubby, older man with glasses so thick that his eyes appeared distorted. "Ah, sorry Uchiha-san, I didn't realize you were with a student. I was just coming to ask if you'd water my office plant while I'm out of town next week?"
"Sure," Sasuke nodded at the man. "It's no problem."
"Thank you!" the older man beamed. "Have a good day, Uchiha-san. You too, miss."
The man bowed and made to shut the door behind him, but it was pushed back open by another man just outside.
This man was old, but much more put-together looking than the last man. He was slim and well-dressed and had a certain air of power and knowledge about him. Sakura thought he seemed like an asshole. "Uchiha-san, you have yet to RSVP to the faculty event for this Christmas. I would be very appreciative if you would take the time to fill out your card and return it to me at your earliest convenience."
The mood shift in the room had been tangible. The first man who had come in had been pleasant, and Sasuke had regarded him almost kindly. This man however, had elicited a different response entirely from her professor. He was instantly cold and aloof, as he so often was.
"You'll get it by the end of the day," Sasuke all but spat out at the man. "If you don't mind, I'm helping this student."
The man's eyes drifted to Sakura, lingering a bit too long for the girl's liking. She narrowed her eyes in an attempt to communicate this to him.
"I'm sure you are," the man looked back to Sasuke. "I'll leave you to it."
"Who the hell was that guy?" Sakura whispered conspiratorially the minute the man shut the door behind him. "Geez, what a putz!"
Sasuke pressed his fingers together in front of his face, leaning his forehead into them. "That was Shimura Danzo. He's been here longer than any of us. Asshole extraordinaire. He throws a relatively well-known Christmas party for faculty and…elite alumni of Konoha University every year."
"Damn," Sakura whistled. "Are you going?"
Sasuke grimaced at that, looking up to meet her eyes. "I have to. It's expected of me, unfortunately."
"Ha!" Sakura chuckled at his expense. "Must suck to be rich."
He smiled at her then, and she was totally taken aback. The brief pause was enough to remind her of what had almost happened before they had been…interrupted.
"Um," she felt her cheeks redden slightly with the memory of being so close to him. "I should – I should go."
The smile disappeared from Sasuke's face and was quickly replaced by a tight-lipped frown. He was apparently remembering, too. He simply nodded at her, averting his eyes to look out the window at the leaves swirling around on the wind.
Sakura took her chance to leave while he wasn't watching, and all but ran out the door and down the hallway.
Just what the hell was she getting herself into?
AN: We met the 100 review mark! Woohoo! Thanks so much everyone! I am so thankful to you all for reading and reviewing and making this story so fun for me to write. I'm having a blast!
I really go back and forth with shipping Sakura and Sasuke. I think their relationship has some big problems in the canon, but I love reading/writing some good fanfiction about them! What do you guys think about Sasuke/Sakura as a couple?
[Cue rant]
However…to the GUEST reviewer who has continued to accuse me of plagiarism: Bro, PLEASE stop. You are very clearly the same spammer from before, you are not being clever. Also, you are reviewing from a guest account and forcing me to address this issue in this way – I cannot direct message you. You are legitimately giving me anxiety. Every time I get a review, I am stressed out that it will be from you. Spamming my story and encouraging my readers to boycott me…wtf? I am completely baffled as to why you feel the need to behave in this childish way. This story isn't hurting anyone.
The author you accused me of copying literally reviewed my story asking you to stop and denying the accusations of plagiarism. They messaged me as well. You have now started accusing me of not only plagiarizing "a lesson in romantics" by sins with tragedies , but "Sakura's Secret" by roraewrites as well. STUDENT/TEACHER AUS ARE VERY COMMON. That is all these stories have in common. I have actually read "Sakura's Secret", it's a good story…but it is completely different from this one.
This is fan fiction. While copying someone's story is wrong and is NOT what is happening here, this site is devoted to stories that use characters and stories that do not belong to us. The Naruto universe and all its characters are owned/created by Kishimoto.
Any of my readers are welcome to check out the other stories to see for yourselves that this is not plagiarized – I appreciate you all so much and other than the spam from the guest, I am having so much fun with this story!
Chapter 7 coming soon…
~ loony