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The morning classes pass by slowly.
Sasuke's dark eyes become glued to the clock above the chalkboard, the distant sound of it's ticking agonizes him to the point of utter despair. He scribbles into the margins of his neat notes and waits until the lunch bell rings, granting his freedom.
The sound of their math teacher's voice starts to quiet as the lesson comes to an end and he claps his hands loudly to get the class's full attention.
"Alright everyone, before we go to lunch, pass up last night's homework."
Sasuke reluctantly tears his gaze from the clock and begins to shuffle through his organized binder, thumbing his way through his carefully placed papers.
Suddenly, he feels the pressure of persistent fingers poking at his shoulder, he turns slightly in his chair, already expecting to meet the eyes of his best friend, "I'm not giving you the homework, you lazy bastard."
Naruto's electric blue eyes beam, a wide smile curves onto his lips as he speaks, "Hey! I actually did it this time," He shuffles through his backpack, grabbing a crumpled sheet of paper, holding it up to Sasuke's face, "See?"
Sasuke's dark eyes flicker from the crumpled paper to Naruto's smiling face and with an annoyed sigh says,"That's last week's homework."
Naruto's nose scrunches in confusion, "Huh?" He stares down at the paper and his eyes widen, "Oh fuck."
Sasuke scoffs softly, a teasing smirk grips at the corner of his mouth and he turns forward in his seat to pass up his assignment.
"Wait, Sasuke," Naruto says, leaning forward over his desk, "I wanted to ask you something."
Sasuke doesn't turn around, he merely grunts lazily in response, focusing his attention on the scribbles in his notebook.
"Do you think it's too early to ask Sakura out?"
Sakura.
Sasuke doesn't say anything for a few seconds, her name seems to weigh down his tongue and he can feel the burn of Naruto's expectant gaze.
It wasn't as if he'd forgotten Sakura, he couldn't even if he tried but for the first time in the last couple hours, she wasn't on his mind.
Until now, that is.
Sasuke watches the way Naruto's lips wrapped around each syllable of her name, watches the way his blue eyes ignite with excitement when he talks about her.
"I mean, she's only been here a couple of days and even Kiba's already talkin' about her," Naruto starts to scratch the back of his neck, something he always does when he starts to ramble on, "And I don't want anyone else to ask her out before I do, ya know?"
A flood of envy runs through Sasuke's body and it settles uncomfortably in his chest, "You barely know her."
"Well, I'll get to know her," Naruto says confidently, "Ino's already hanging out with her, so I'm sure I'll be seeing her a lot."
Sasuke's whole body slumps in defeat, realizing that Naruto never takes no for an answer anyway, "Whatever." The tone of his voice lowers and becomes harsh, "Do what you want."
Naruto scrunches his thick brows in confusion, "What's with the attitude?" His blue eyes narrow slightly, curiosity flashes like lightning across his face, "Do...you like her too or something?"
No...Maybe...I don't know.
Sasuke doesn't know what to say, doesn't even really know how to feel about Haruno Sakura and her pretty smile. So he doesn't say anything, he just looks down at his shoes and before Naruto can open his mouth again, the bell rings.
The shrill sound of the bell sets the class into a frenzy, the sound of chairs screeching and girls giggling echo across the air, breaking through Sasuke's silence.
Naruto clears his throat awkwardly after a few seconds and claps his hand on Sasuke's shoulder, "C'mon, let's go get lunch before the line gets too long."
Sasuke breathes out slightly, nodding in agreement.
They don't talk much on their way to lunch, an awkward silence hangs in the air and an uneasiness settles into Sasuke's stomach.
He shoves his fists into his pockets, his dark eyes glance over at Naruto's blank face and he knows he should say something to dissipate the silence between them.
The words he wants to say are caught in his throat, choking him and he hates how hard it is to explain himself.
"Naruto," He begins quietly, almost like a child, "About earlier…"
Naruto's big blue eyes dart up, his thick eyebrows raise slightly, curiosity flashes across his bright face as he waits for Sasuke to continue.
Sasuke's lips part as he begins to speak and just before the words can escape, a familiar feminine voice calls out to them, echoing loudly across the cafeteria, "Sasuke! Naruto!"
Both of the boys turn their heads into the direction of the voice, their eyes searching back and forth through the crowd of their classmates.
And just like all the times before, Sasuke sees her.
She's walking beside Ino, their arms are linked tightly together and it looks as if they've been friends for years. He watches as the sunlight streams through the cafeteria window and bounces across the strands of Sakura's long pink hair.
"I told you dorks to wait for me by the bathrooms!" Ino's shrill voice rings through their ears, her grip around Sakura's arm tightens affectionately, "Sakura's gonna be eating with us from now on, got it?"
Naruto nods excitedly, the corners of his mouth pull into a friendly smile once he sets his eyes on Sakura. He sticks out his arm and grabs her hand, shaking it eagerly, "The name's Uzumaki Naruto."
Sakura smiles brightly, shaking his hand back, "Yeah, Ino told me already." She laughs sweetly, the sound carries through the air and Sasuke feels that warm feeling drip into his stomach all over again. Naruto chuckles shyly, his blue eyes never leave her face, even when she politely pulls her hand out of his grasp.
Sakura's green eyes flicker over to meet Sasuke's gaze, a twinge of a shy smile tugs at the corner of her petal lips, "Hello, Sasuke. It's nice to see you again."
And her voice is like honey, melting across his tongue, he wants to taste her voice and swallow her words whole. Sasuke gives a curt nod in response, his pale face remains blank as he tries his best to conceal the excitement that's bursting through his body.
Naruto tears his gaze from Sakura's smiling face, his electric blue eyes burn like fire into Sasuke's skin, "You two...know each other already?"
"Sorta," Sakura says, "We take the same subway to school."
"Oh, Sasuke, you never mentioned that." Naruto keeps his gaze on his best friend, his left eyebrow raises expectantly.
Sasuke shrugs lazily, "Didn't think it was important."
Sakura looks up at him, a disappointed frown pulls at her mouth and Sasuke doesn't dare to let his eyes meet hers. No one says anything for a few minutes, another awkward silence claims the air and the tension feels heavy on their shoulders.
Suddenly, Ino clears her throat, tugging onto Sakura's hand, leading her towards the long lunch lines, "Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm starving." Sakura walks past Sasuke, her small shoulder brushes against his and their eyes meet for just a second.
He wants to reach out and hold her face in the warmth of his hands.
He wants to scream in her face and push her away because the way he's starting to feel is so foreign to him.
Naruto claps him on the back in a brotherly way, maybe just a bit harder than usual and doesn't say anything. There's a smile on his face and for the first time, Sasuke doesn't know whether it's real or forced.
Haruno Sakura is changing everything and he hates it, he's scared of it.
The boys walk side by side, just as they've always done and Sasuke sighs deeply, "I don't."
Naruto looks at his best friend, furrowing his brow in confusion, "What..?" He's scratching the back of his neck nervously, "You don't...what?"
"Earlier, you asked me if I liked Sakura," Sasuke's voice is low and hesitant, "Well, I don't."
Naruto's tan face softens, he nods and breathes in Sasuke's words, "Good," A smile curls onto his mouth, flashing his white teeth, "C'mon, let's go eat."
Sasuke nods, shoving his fists into his pockets, listening as Naruto begins to ramble on like normal. His own words echo in his ears, over and over for the rest of the day and he wonders to himself if he's made a mistake.
tbc.
a/n: wow it's been a really long time since i've updated this fic. i treasure this story and it i got intimidated to write for it again. anyway, i'm back and ready to write (i made this chapter a little longer than 1000 words again) please enjoy and review! all your kind words are very motivating when i write :) if you like this story, check out my others. thanks again and enjoy!
