Life as I Know It by miyazawa kano.

I really should be doing my Social Studies homework right about now. I should be, but I'm not going to. Yeah, I don't like my Social Studies teacher. Seriously, that guy just loves to hear himself talk. Okay, so why did I just start talking about my Social Studies teacher again? Umm. Oh, and as per Saori-Hime's request, I'll actually be using capital letters from now on. I really should have, from the beginning. But I didn't; I get like that sometimes, you know. I fixed the first two chapters as well.

UPDATE (28/06/04): The last repost!

'…' = What's going on inside Sakura's head.
"…" = Your basic, normal, everyday chatter.
[ … ] = The mildly insane ramblings of the lovable Inner Sakura.
(…) = Random notes left by the authoress.

Disclaimer: I still don't own Naruto. Honest.


Chapter III: Be My Partner

Sakura watched as the second hand of the clock stroked twelve and continued its perpetual ticking. One. Two. Three. She stifled a yawn for the umpteenth time.

Class would end in another thirty-two minutes and forty-seven seconds.

She tore her bleary eyes away from the hands of the clock and allowed her gaze to fall back upon Asuma-sensei. The rhythmic drone of his voice was like a jaded lullaby, willing Sakura's eyelids to shut. She spotted Nara Shikamaru a few desks away, his head comfortably cradled in the crook of his elbow. She could tell that he was sleeping; the even rise and fall of back was a dead giveaway.

'I wish that I could just sleep for the next half hour,' Sakura thought wearily, 'but I still remember what Asuma-sensei did the last time he caught Shikamaru-san napping during class.' An involuntary chill ran down her spine. ["Man, that dude's got GUTS."]

A sudden movement caught her eye. Was that someone waving at her? Sakura turned to look, curious to see who it was that was so desperate to draw her attention.

Naruto.

He winked. She cringed.

Sakura turned her back on him disdainfully, hoping that Naruto would get the message: NOT INTERESTED. ["Creepy little freak."]

After regaining her composure, Sakura resumed her previous tedium. She let her eyes wander unhurriedly across the room until they landed upon Uchiha Sasuke. ["He's probably the only person who's actually LISTENING to Asuma-sensei right now."] She was immediately reminded of what had taken place just earlier that morning. Speaking with Sasuke one-on-one… it was like some sort of otherworldly dream. Sakura began to slip into a euphoric trance as she let the waff (an acronym for "warm and fuzzy feeling," in case you didn't know) loosen her grip on reality.

'Maybe he'll start speaking with me more often now,' she thought hopefully.

Sakura had so often fantasized about the life that she and Sasuke would someday share together that she had practically honed her daydream to perfection. In her mind, she had carefully laid out the path that their love would take. It would begin as a simple friendship that would eventually bloom into a prosperous relationship. Sasuke would confess to her his everlasting love, and seal the deal with a scorching kiss that would remain etched into both their memories forever. They would get married and have a fabulously extravagant wedding; Ino would be her best woman, of course. And after a year or two, Sasuke and her would start a family… they would start making a family. Sakura blushed furiously at the thought.

A sharp nudge in the ribs quickly snapped Sakura out of her reverie. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw what was undoubtedly Ino's hand furtively slide a note onto her side of the workbench. Passing notes during classes was like a ritual between the two of them. Especially when classes started getting dull.

Why does Asuma-sensei always have to make Science class so boring? the note read.

Sakura quickly scribbled down a reply and slipped the note back to Ino.

To hurt us.

She saw her friend smirk at the conclusiveness of her response.

Hey, are we still going shopping today?

Ugh, I'm sorry, I totally forgot to tell you! I can't go anymore; my mom wants me home as soon as I'm finished with all of my classes. I'm really sorry, Ino.

What, again? Doesn't she ever let you out of that house? Well, that's okay. I understand.

"Minna-san," Asuma-sensei's sudden interjection stopped Sakura from jotting down yet another reply. "To finish off our Biology unit, I'm going to be assigning you a brand new project."

The class groaned audibly.

"I'm glad to see that all of you sound so enthusiastic," Asuma grunted. "I'll be breaking all of you down into pairs. And don't bother asking me if you can switch partners with someone else, because my answer will be no. You got that? … Okay, so let's start with… Hyuga Hinata and Inuzuka Kiba. Rock Lee and Nara Shikamaru. Hyuga Neji and Akimichi Choji."

'Please, PLEASE pair me up with Sasuke-kun,' Sakura pleaded, knowing what little chance there was. 'PLEASE! I'll do ANYTHING.'

"Uchiha Sasuke and Yamanaka Ino."

["WHAT THE HELL?!"] Sakura's jaw dropped and nearly scraped the floor, her facial expression clearly mirroring the disbelief that she felt. Ino smiled at her sympathetically.

Her best friend and her crush were going to be partners, working side-by-side. Why Ino and not her? A wave of jealousy began to wash over Sakura. She clutched hard at the hem of her skirt and struggled to calm herself.

Sakura sighed helplessly. 'Well, at least I can trust Ino not to slobber all over him like those other girls would.'

"Haruno Sakura and –"

'Yeah, this is okay. It's no big deal. There's no point in getting worked up over nothing, right?'

"Uzumaki Naruto."

End of Chapter III; to be continued.

I didn't really like this chapter and it's too short. But that's the way I wanted to end it, so yeah. Hope it turned out okay for you guys. Remember, please R&R!