1ST PLACE ISN'T EXACTLY THE BEST
-CHAPTER SIXTEEN-
Sickness of the heart
-You're telling me!Hey,are you still considering her as a girlfriend?-
'(asd)Uhh...no!'
-What about Temari?-
'Screw Temari!I like Sakura!'
-Aha!I knew it!You like the annoying girl!-
'Damn!Note to self: never respond to the voice in my head ever again!'
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Sakura was getting ready for bed while her brain started working again.She felt so lazy after helping her neighbors with their chores.
"Maybe he did miss."
-Oh…so now you want to think about your Sasuke-chan?-
"Fine.I don't like him if you just wanted to know.Are you satisfied now?"
-No!I wanted you to like him!-
"What the hell…?"
Sakura pulled on her pajamas and hopped into bed.
"Damn…what if Shika-kun finds out that I went on a date with Sasuke-kun?"
-Who said it was a date?-
"What do you mean by that!It was clearly a date!He officially walked me to my condo and then he tried to kiss me!That says 'DATE' written all over it!"
Sakura sighed before her inner self could even retaliate.
-What the hell is wrong with you now!-
"So…tired…"
-WHAT!It's only 8!Call up your girls or something.-
All Sakura did was yawn.
-Sakura!-
Her inner self's plea was answered by a soft snore as Sakura drifted off into sleep…
The next morning…
"What time is it?"
Sakura looked over at her alarm clock and saw that it was only 7.
"Good…I won't be late today!"
She got out of bed half-asleep and started brushing her teeth as she was getting ready.Her phone rang violently during the process of putting on her uniform.She answered it and much to her surprise,it was Ino.
"Hello?I-Ino-chan?"
"Hey Sakura-chan!Do you want to go to the mall today?"
Sakura got pretty confused.Mostly because she wasn't fully awake by then.
"What…?It's a school day today."
"No it's not!It's Saturday!"
"(asd)Oh…okay…I'll meet you at the mall."
"No…we'll pick you up.I think that you'd get run over if we let you go by yourself.You sound so tired."
Sakura agreed and fell back onto her bed.For some odd reason,she didn't feel so well and she felt like her head was burning up.
"….I think I'm sick…"
-How could you be sick!-
"I…don't know…"
Sakura got up from her bed with much trouble and checked her temperature.It read 105.
-Sakura…you better get to bed.-
She nodded but before she could crawl back into bed,she heard a person knocking at her door.
'Must be Ino…'
Sakura opened the door and saw Ino,TenTen and Hinata there.
"Hey(cough)…guys(sniff)."
"Sakura-chan!You're sick!"
She looked over at Ino and she looked pretty concerned.
"No,Ino-chan…I'm okay."
"You should get back to bed,Sakura-chan!"
"I'm fine Hinata-chan…"
"Just get back to bed!"
"No!I don't want to!"
But before Sakura could force her friends to take her with them,they pushed her back into bed and made her soup before they left.Sakura was still fuming after she chugged down the chicken noodle soup.
"Stupid Ino-pig…making me stay in my house…."
She put her head down on the pillow and attempted to get to sleep,but she couldn'tShe tried sleeping in a different position,but that didn't work.
"Why the hell can't I sleep!"
Sakura tossed and turned in her bed and finally gave up on sleeping all together.
"I'll just watch tv then…"
She sat herself down on the couch in her living room and flipped through the channels.Nothing seemed to keep her entertained,so she moved onto using the computer.She had updated her blog and no one seemed to be online,so she stopped doing anything out of sheer boredom.
"I hate being sick!"
Sakura was about to parade back outside to go to the mall,but there was a knock at the door.
"Is Ino-pig here again!I'm gonna chew here fucking ear off!"
Sakura forced the door open and started yelling at the person in front of her.
"INO!YOU STUPID PIG!I HAVE TO STAY IN MY FREAKIN CONDO ALL DAY THANKS TO YOU!YOU BITCH!"
"Uhhh,Sakura-chan?"
Then still-pissed off Sakura looked up and didn't see her normal friend Ino.Instead,she saw the bewildered-looking Sasuke.The raven-haired boy looked at her with his annoyed look and a hint of blush grazed his cheeks.
"Sasuke-kun?What're you doing here?"
"Ohh…uhh…I-I-…"
Sakura could have burst out laughing at the sight of the emotion-less Uchiha blushing AND stuttering at the same time.Then Sakura saw the bouquet of flowers nestled in Sasuke's arms and smiled.
"Ohhh…Sasuke-kun!You brought me orchids?I love orchids!"
"Yeah…I-I d-did."
He held out the bouquet to her and she took them gratefully.
"Why don't you come in?I'll make some tea."
Sasuke hesitated before he walked into Sakura's condo.
"Why don't you(cough)sit on the couch while I go warm the water."
Sasuke sat down on the couch as the pink haired girl instructed and looked around.The place was well furnished with every piece of furniture looking brand new.She had a couple of plants here and there and the air smelled slightly of expensive perfume that Sakura put on everyday.He had taken note of her usual scent of cherry blossoms and her whole condo smelled of them.He stopped looking around and began to speak,
"Sakura-chan,are you sick?"
The pink haired girl nodded and he gave her a slightly worried look.
"Shouldn't you be in bed?"
When he mentioned the word 'bed',Sakura went eerily silent.Then started yelling.
"Don't…remind me!"
"Okay…okay!No yelling!You're so annoying…"
"(cough)Shup up!"
"…whatever."
Sakura put the kettle onto the stove and sat down beside Sasuke on the couch.He didn't seem to care that she was absolutely sick right now,but he never really did care about anything not concerning him.
"Hey…why are you wearing your uniform?"
Sakura looked down at her clothes.Sasuke was right.She still was wearing her uniform and she had forgotten to change.
"Oh…well,I thought that it was Friday so I just went ahead and got dressed."
The Uchiha looked at her with pity and said,"You really are stupid."
"(asd)Thanks a lot Sasuke…"
"No problem."
It was silent between the two as they sat on the couch.Sakura took this time as a period of brooding.
'Why's Sasuke-kun here?Did he hear that I was sick?'
-Maybe…or he might've just wanted to visit you.-
'Wow,you really narrow things down a lot…'
Sakura turned to Sasuke and looked at him in the eye.
"Hey…Sasuke-kun?"
"What do you want?"
"Uhh…why are you here?"
Sakura could see the nervousness on Sasuke's face while he searched for an excuse.
"Well…I..umm saw your friends at the mall and they said that you were sick so…"
"That's why you came here with a bouquet of flowers?"
Sasuke could tell that Sakura was definitely not convinced and that she was going to figure out by instinct that he liked her.
"Uhh…yeah…that's why I came here…with flowers."
Sakura eyed him suspiciously.
"Oh really,huh?Well thanks…even though you're lying anyway."
Sakura gave him a little kiss on the cheek and Sasuke turned beet red.
"Sa-Sa…Sakura.There was something that I've been meaning to tell you…"
"…Go on…"
"I…I…"
Sakura looked at Sasuke weirdly.
'I thought that Sasuke-kun was this solid piece of ice.Now,it seems like he's just a nervous wreck…'
"I like…"
The pink haired girl looked at him impatiently.
"I like yo-"
"Oh!The kettle!I forgot all about it!"
Sakura hopped up from the couch and left Sasuke there to wallow in his failure of not being able to tell her while she ran to the kitchen.She emerged out of the kitchen with their tea and set it down on the coffee table.She looked over at Sasuke and smiled.
"What were you saying,Sasuke-kun?"
"…(asd)nothing."
They both picked up a cup of tea and started talking again.
"Sakura-chan?"
"What is it?"
Sasuke looked over at Sakura and swallowed hard.
"Do you remember that time that we were near the arcade and then I got mad at you…and then I was going tostorm away?"
Sakura nodded calmly,but her thoughts in her head were all over the place.
Inner Sakura: Damn…I think I know where this is going…
"…You stopped me from storming off and then you said that you (ahem)really liked me…(ahem)"
Sakura almost choked on her tea.
'How could he have remembered that?That was so many weeks ago!'
"…What about it?"
"Well…you said that you-"
"Oh please Sasuke-kun!That was such a long time ago!"
Inner Sakura: This is a definite red flag here!
Sasuke looked down at his shoes disappointedly as he spoke.
"Does that mean…that you don't like me anymore?"
Sakura was at a loss of words.The person sitting across from her had just asked her if she had feelings for a person that she had admired for a long time.But she still couldn't bring herself to admit that she had liked Sasuke from the first time that they had met.
"N…no.I don't like you anymore."
Inner Sakura: What the hell am I saying…?
"Oh…good.Cause I hate you,you know that right?"
The disappointment could be heard clearly in Sasuke's voice.
"Yeah,I know that you hate me."
Automatically,Sasuke adverted back to his emotionless state,but he still looked a bit uneasy.
"Yeah,well I gotta go,Sakura-chan."
Sasuke put his empty cup down and stood up.
"Okay,I'll see you on Monday."
They both stood up and before Sasuke walked out the door,he kissed Sakura on the forehead and turned around without saying a word.She closed the door behind him and slumped back down on the couch.
"I'm so stupid,I told you that right?"
-Oh so many times did you tell me that.-
Sakura fidgeted in her seat as she sat there uncomfortably.
"Why didn't I just tell him that I liked him?"
-Because you're the stupidest person in the world for being so shy.-
"Now he probably thinks that I'm a total jerk for dumping him like that."
-Yup,I know.He was even going to tell you that he liked you.-
"But being the inconsiderate person that I am,I just interrupted him,"
-Thank you captain obvious!-
Sakura was sulking in the chair until she remembered that she had to put the bouquet of orchids into water.She found them on the kitchen table and she picked them up.It was only when she tried to smell the flowers' scent that she noticed that they were plastic.
"Huh?They're plastic?"
She studied them a bit and then found a card nestled in the middle of the bouquet.The card read - 'The day that these flowers wilt will be the day that I stop loving you…'