[Party] RollOutBoy: Were you really going to let it go if you lost?
[Party] Sm1rkMeister: Absolutely
[Party] RollOutBoy: What the ****?
[Party] Sm1rkMeister: I only said I'd let the matter go
[Party] Sm1rkMeister: I never said anything about MDW
[Party] RollOutBoy: MDW?
[Party] Beowulf69: What's that?
[Party] Tournesola: Sakura-chan?
[Party] RollOutBoy: Wait a minute…
[Party] Sm1rkMeister: Who else would be my dear wife?
[Party] Beowulf69: ayyyyy
[Party] Beowulf69: you guys are so abusive to us single dogs :(
[Party] OldRamenMan: The video and forum posts are down
[Party] OldRamenMan: You should be good to go, 3SIL
[Party] Beowulf69: Boooooo, so fast
[Party] SakuraBlossom: Thank you all ^_^
[Party] SakuraBlossom: That's a relief
[Party] Tournesola: Why do you sound so disappointed, Wulf-san?
[Party] Beowulf69: Well if he didn't move fast enough we could…
[Party] OldRamenMan: Hack his computer?
[Party] Beowulf69: Seduce his woman!
[Party] RollOutBoy: ...
[Party] SakuraBlossom: …
[Party] SmirkMeister: …
[Party] Tournesola: Oh, so you study computer science?
[Party] Tournesola: What a coincidence! We do too
"Hina-chan," Sakura groaned. She wished she'd stopped Hinata before she said anything, but it was too late now.
"H-Huh?" Hinata looked at her. "A-aren't they your friends?"
"Yeah, but….," Sakura struggled to explain it, "I just want to keep a boundary between my online life and my real life. Just in case."
"O-Oh," Hinata pondered. She wasn't sure what exactly that meant, but she made a note of Sakura's feelings for future reference.
[Party] OldRamenMan: Yep, we're graduating this year
[Party] OldRamenMan: That's cool!
[Party] OldRamenMan: Maybe then you're our junior sisters then
[Party] Beowulf69: Given the odds in CS, you're probably our junior brothers
[Party] SakuraBlossom: Haha :)
[Party] Sm1rkMeister: We should go do a mission, Sakura.
[Party] Sm1rkMeister: The tournament's coming up soon
"C-couples' mission? Tournament?" Hinata looked up at her, puzzled.
"Meister and I are going to participate in a couples PVP tournament in a few months, so we've been trying to level up our intimacy level with these special hidden missions. They have romantic themes and everything. At max intimacy, we get a pretty hefty stat boost fighting together, but we only got married a week ago in-game, so we're pretty far behind our opponents."
"So he's not your real online secret boyfriend that you were hiding from your real online fake husband?" Tenten looked a bit disappointed, "But he's so sweet to you!"
Sakura looked at her weirdly, "You watch way too many soap operas. No, he just approached me one day. But we've been spending a lot of time together, and we get along pretty well."
"Does that mean Uchiha-senpai's place in your heart has wavered?" Tenten teased her.
"Oh, be quiet!" Sakura blushed, feeling unusually shy. She turned back to the game to avoid Tenten's knowing gaze.
[Party] OldRamenMan: Psh, I bet 3SIL does most of the work when you guys do couples missions
[Party] Beowulf69: Sm1rk's definitely a …
[Party] Beowulf69: Do you still call the guy a sugar baby?
[Party] Sm1rkMeister: Let's go, Sakura
[Party] Sm1rkMeister: Leave the sour people jealous of my sweet ride behind
[Party] Sm1rkMeister: They're bad influences
[Party] Beowulf69: ***hole
[Party] Beowulf69: rub it in, why don't you
[Party] RollOutBoy: You're definitely the worst influence
"W-Wow, I thought that only happened in TV-dramas," Hinata giggled, watching her screen.
"What's happening?" Tenten demanded as she tried to get up, then hissed in pain.
"Sakura's hubby is dragging her away by the wrist," Hinata explained for her benefit.
"I didn't even know that was a couple emote," Sakura said, oddly embarrassed. Her character was even auto-following Meister. However, she could tell from her status bar that she could easily break free, and he could only do this once every half hour.
Hinata was about to log off when a message popped on her chat bar
[Whisper] OldRamenMan: Are you going to keep playing, Sola-chan?
[Whisper] OldRamenMan: Wanna do another mentor mission?
Hinata hesitated over her answer. She really should go get something to eat, but...
"Do you have any painkillers, Hina-chan?" Tenten asked her, "Or do we have an ice-pack in the fridge?"
"N-No, Temari-chan took the last one when she had her period," Hinata apologized.
"Do you mind getting me an ice-pack and some more drugs when you go for dinner?" Tenten asked, "Sorry, but my butt is killing me."
Hinata shot her screen one regretful look before she smiled at Tenten, "S-Sure, no problem. I'll be back soon. J-Just let me log off."
[Whisper to OldRamenMan] Tournesola: I would really like to, but I need to go eat my dinner and grab some painkillers for my roommate
[Whisper to OldRamenMan] Tournesola: Is next week still a convenient time?
[Whisper] OldRamenMan: Oh shoot, I gotta do that too
[Whisper] OldRamenMan: Dinner, not painkillers :P
[Whisper] OldRamenMan: ****, I'm out of my ramen stash
[Whisper] OldRamenMan: But yeah, next week's good!
[Whisper] OldRamenMan: Seeya then
[Whisper] Tournesola: Goodbye
As Hinata closed her laptop and took her purse to leave, Sakura found that Meister had led her to the side of the mountain, looking down on a sunny bucolic scene of a giant herd of cows scattered all over the green, rolling hills as far as her camera could pan.
Sakura gulped. That's a lot of cows. She scanned the area to look for the item to trigger the mission, but couldn't find it no matter how hard she looked. Sakura frowned. That's odd. Normally it's interactable. Just as she was about to suggest to Meister that they might be in the wrong place, he picked up a whip lying by the edge of the field, and the mission triggered.
[Couple] System: Looks like the cowherd left his charges alone for a while. Take this [Cowherd's Whip] and round up the cows before he gets in trouble for sneaking away to spend some time with his lover.
[Couple] SakuraBlossom: That's weird, I couldn't see it
[Couple] Sm1rkMeister: You can afk for a while
[Couple] Sm1rkMeister: I'll handle this one
[Couple] SakuraBlossom: Are you sure?
[Couple] SakuraBlossom: Or are you thinking too much about the guys calling you a sugar baby?
[Couple] Sm1rkMeister: There's a genjutsu element to this mission
[Couple] Sm1rkMeister: It makes more sense for me to do it
[Couple] Sm1rkMeister: You've had a long day
[Couple] SakuraBlossom: Thanks then, I will
[Couple] SakuraBlossom: I need to check up on my roommate, she's not feeling well
[Couple] SakuraBlossom: I'll be back soon, just ping me if you need something.
[Couple] Sm1rkMeister: Okay
"Tenten-chan, do you want to use some of my sprain spray?" Sakura asked, getting up from her computer.
"The one that smells like a weird herbal voodoo shop?" Tenten side-eyed her, "I'm not getting off your bed right now."
"Fine," Sakura rolled her eyes at her, "I'll put a towel under you. Take your pants off."
"Pffft," Tenten snickered, "You say that to me now, but we both know you wish you could say that to your husband right now."
"Shut up!"
(≧▽≦)(눈_눈)
From 3rd Bro: Can you get me some cold medication? I just sneezed
To 3rd Bro: You sure it wasn't someone thinking about you?
From 3rd Bro: Just get me the medication, idiot
To 3rd Bro: fine but you owe me
Of course that asshole texts me after we've already bought our stuff at the convenience store. Naruto put his phone back in his pocket and called out to Kiba and Chouji, "Hey guys, I gotta go back into the convenience store. You guys go ahead."
"More Ramen, Naruto?" Chouji eyed him disapprovingly, "There isn't going to be any left for other people."
Naruto waved a laughing Kiba and Chouji off with his middle finger, then turned on his heel and headed back towards the only late-night convenience store open on campus. Whistling as he walked, he absent-mindedly swung the huge bag of emergency ramen that he'd just bought to replenish his much-depleted supply.
Naruto's mind wandered as he retraced the familiar path back to the convenience store. Sasuke had been furious during that duel. Column-stomping in the first fight, then a taijutsu takedown without his armour in the second? Brutal. Even if that bastard was cold, rude and indecipherable to the rest of the world, Naruto knew Sasuke, almost as well as Itachi did. He'd never seen him that mad. And he was practically glacial towards women. What was it about this one? I wonder what makes her special…
Granted, Naruto didn't think he'd be very polite either if it'd been his girlfriend in the same position as SakuraBlossom, but as much as they joked around and called her their sister-in-law, she wasn't Sasuke's actual girlfriend or significant other, just a duel partner. Come to think of it, it's kind of weird Sasuke let us keep going with the joke…
Naruto stopped abruptly when he realized something: they didn't even know if SakuraBlossom was a girl!
Bam! Someone crashed into Naruto, sending him sprawling. He was more upset about the fact that he'd dropped his emergency ramen refill, and it rolled all over the place. Dammit, that's what I get for thinking too deeply about that asshole's love life.
"Crap!" Naruto swore loudly, rubbing the spot where he landed. He looked up, and the scolding he was about to give the person who crashed into him died before he could open his mouth. The person who'd crashed into him was a pretty girl with long hair and tiny tears forming in the corner of her pale eyes. That instantly made him feel guilty, since he was the one who stopped abruptly, so he apologized awkwardly, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have stopped like that. Are you okay?"
"I-I'm f-fine. I-I'm sorry, a-as well," she stuttered.
"No, no," Naruto mumbled, a bit self-conscious as he started shoving his stash back into the dropped bag, "Let me just get my ramen out of your way, "
"A-Ah, please wait," The girl protested, "I-I dropped my ramen cup as well."
At that, Naruto paused, a bit baffled. He was embarrassed to admit that he didn't really know what flavours or even exactly how many cups he'd bought - he'd just swept all his favourite flavours into his cart and paid for it without checking the total.
"Which one is yours?" Naruto was forced to ask.
The girl paused before she responded, "Th-the shrimp one over there."
"Ah, that's one of my favourites!" Naruto enthused, trying to defuse the awkwardness, "I especially like the chunks of freeze-dried whole shrimp in there - it's kind of like magic when they swell up again."
"I-It's not my favourite," she admitted, "B-But everything else I like was out of stock, s-so it was my next best option."
Oops. Naruto wanted to wince. He'd been the one to clean out the campus convenience store.
"Why don't I swap you one then?" he offered.
"O-Oh, you don't have to if it's too troublesome," she refused, flustered.
"It's okay! I like shrimp! It's the least I can do since I knocked you over in the first place, anyways."
She looked like she was going to refuse again, so Naruto just put all the shrimp ramen into his bag and grabbed a different flavour. "Do you like pork better?"
"Y-Yes, but-," She tried to refuse, but she was too slow and he shoved it into her hands.
"Great! Take it as an apology then. I gotta go!" Naruto finished grabbing his stuff and left before she could refuse again.
Dizzy from the speed the stranger with spiky blond hair did things, Hinata didn't get another word out as he jogged away, fast as the wind. She could only bemusedly stare after him, hair tousled by the fall, her favourite tonkatsu ramen clutched in her hand. She felt like she'd just been hit by a hurricane.
Wh-who was that?
(・・ ) ? ε=ε=ε=ε=┌(;￣▽￣)┘
When Hinata returned with her dinner and the painkillers, Tenten and Sakura were bickering back and forth. Hinata smiled as she put her coat away in her closet near the door. Filtering their loud voices out, she quickly dipped into the bathroom at the front of the room to grab a glass of water for Tenten to take with her medicine and turned on the electric kettle for the ramen.
"Oh come on, Sakura-chan!" Tenten complained, "I know you're strong enough to lift me up to my bunk, so why are you leaving me down here? Please, please, pleeeease?"
"I told you, I'm not going to risk jostling you unless you have to be moved," Sakura shot back. She looked up at Hinata, who was making her way towards them diagonally across the room, to the back right corner of their dorm room where Sakura and Tenten's bunk bed was. "Oh thank everything that you're back, Hina-chan. Please tell me you bought the painkillers that will put her to sleep."
"I just want to rest in my own bed!" Tenten protested.
"S-Since you're injured, you should probably switch bunks with Sakura-chan tonight," Hinata disagreed as she handed Tenten the pills and water.
"Not you, too," Tenten complained.
"I promise I won't stick my hands down the side of your bed and find your diary, okay?" Sakura rolled her eyes at her.
Tenten gasped, "How did you know?!"
Sakura gave her a significant look to get her to look up, "I can see it between the slats when I'm lying down. Come on, Tenten-chan, give it up for tonight."
"Fine," Tenten grumbled as she took the pill, "But you promised!"
"Yeah, yeah," Sakura said as she watched Tenten take her medication, make herself comfortable on her stomach and on Sakura's favourite pillow, and finally, finally close her eyes to sleep early.
"I-I'll borrow her desk and keep an eye on her," Hinata told Sakura in a low whisper as she dimmed the lights. She eyed Tenten's single desk, which was the desk near the head of Sakura's bed against the back wall, separated from her own desk by the patio door. It was covered in papers and debris, which, considering Hinata and Sakura were both pretty neat, and Temari wasn't home most nights including tonight, made Tenten's desk the odd one out. Hinata still found a place for her laptop and her noodles, so she settled down to eat her dinner and watch some videos.
Sakura glanced around the room, thinking about where she would sit. Since Tenten was sleeping with her head at the foot of the bed, near Sakura's desk against the rightmost wall, Sakura decided she'd just stick with where she'd been sitting at the large central table and turn on Temari's desk lamp for illumination, as her desk was on the leftmost wall. Decision made, she finally settled back in to keep playing.
Just as she was about to let Meister know that she was back though, the system chimed the sound that told players a mission had been completed.
[Couple] System: Congratulations! All the cows are back where they should be, and the cowherd's supervisors are none the wiser. You have completed the [Cover for the Cowherd's Romantic Rendezvous] Couple mission!
[Couple] SakuraBlossom: Back!
[Couple] SakuraBlossom: You worked hard ^_^
[Couple] Sm1rkMeister: Thank you
[Couple] Sm1rkMeister: Is your roommate okay?
[Couple] SakuraBlossom: She'll be fine with some rest
[Couple] Sm1rkMeister: That's good
They'd been doing couples missions together for long enough that she was comfortable being alone with him. Still, after that duel, she knew she had to say something to him about it. She just wasn't sure what.
[Couple] SakuraBlossom: About the fight earlier…. Thank you
[Couple] SakuraBlossom: I think that's the first time anyone who wasn't my family stood up for me like that
[Couple] SakuraBlossom: And it was a really good couple of fights :P
[Couple] Sm1rkMeister: You're welcome
[Couple] Sm1rkMeister: and of course they were
Sakura snorted. She then asked him the question that had nagged her since his second fight.
[Couple] SakuraBlossom: For the second fight
[Couple] SakuraBlossom: What did you spend your 30 seconds on?
Sakura didn't think it'd take as long as it did for Meister to respond. She tapped her fingers impatiently against her keys.
[Couple] Sm1rkMeister: Punching the ground
[Couple] Sm1rkMeister: I was trying to get an uneven terrain
[Couple] Sm1rkMeister: Like you did when we pvped
Ohhh. I'm so used to seeing that technique when I do it that I didn't realize... Given that he was an allrounder and didn't have her chakra control, the fact that Meister had gotten cracks at all was not bad. Wait a minute. Was he trying to use my techniques in that fight? No way… She smiled a bit, pleased at the thought. Even if she hadn't been the one to punch Fries, this was the next best thing.
At this point, Sakura should have just said goodnight and logged off, since it was getting pretty late, but she wanted to confirm her suspicion. She hesitated, not sure how to broach the topic, but before she could say anything, Meister beat her to it.
[Couple] Sm1rkMeister: I'm sorry
[Couple] SakuraBlossom: ?
[Couple] SakuraBlossom: For what?
[Couple] Sm1rkMeister: The duel earlier
[Couple] SakuraBlossom: ?
[Couple] SakuraBlossom: I appreciate you standing up for me though
[Couple] Sm1rkMeister: You're my wife, that's what I should do
Sakura turned bright red at that again. Shannaro! It's one thing when he's just playing for the party, but it's just us now. He doesn't have anything to prove to anyone else.
[Couple] Sm1rkMeister: But your clan is getting quite a bit of blowback from the fight
[Couple] Sm1rkMeister: I didn't consider that possibility
[Couple] SakuraBlossom: It's fine, I'll deal with it
[Couple] Sm1rkMeister: Still, I'm sorry if it puts you in an awkward position
[Couple] Sm1rkMeister: It was spreading too quickly and I needed to act fast
[Couple] Sm1rkMeister: and I...
[Couple] SakuraBlossom: ...?
[Couple] Sm1rkMeister: I lost my temper
[Couple] SakuraBlossom: Honestly, I didn't really have any ideas either
[Couple] Sm1rkMeister: Next time, I'll discuss the plan with you first and let you make a call
[Couple] SakuraBlossom: Let's hope there's no next time :P
[Couple] SakuraBlossom: I appreciate the thought, though
[Couple] SakuraBlossom: Thank you
[Couple] Sm1rkMeister: yw
[Couple] Sm1rkMeister: I should go
[Couple] Sm1rkMeister: Good night
[Couple] SakuraBlossom: Good night! Sleep tight ^_^
An unfamiliar warm and fuzzy feeling tickled her heart. She hadn't felt this when Meister had put on a lavish wedding for them, or while he was fighting for her honour, or when anyone had ever confessed to her, but when he was considerate of her feelings and her relationships...
Slam!
Sakura knew she'd closed her laptop too loudly in her confusion when Hinata turned around and looked at her oddly, "S-Sakura-chan?"
"What's up, Hina-chan?" Sakura responded absent-mindedly.
"Wh-why are you smiling and blushing like that?"
( 〃▽〃) (・・ ) ?
"Hey," A week later, Temari hissed at both Tenten and Hinata as the three of them sat at the big central table of their room. "Is it just me, or is Sakura-chan kind of distracted these days?"
"What do you mean?" Tenten asked, looking up from her game. Hinata looked up as well.
"Just look at that!" Temari cocked her chin at Sakura, who was sitting by herself at her own desk against the right side of the room, her back to them.
They all peered over at the person in question, turning their heads sideways like a bunch of art critics trying to see if a painting was upside down. As conspicuous as they were gawking at her, Sakura didn't even notice. She was engrossed in doodling something in that little red notebook she used for her gaming notes.
"Y-You're right," Hinata murmured. Her neck was starting to ache in this position.
"Why are we still leaning like this?" Temari muttered.
"To see how long it'll take her to notice us," Tenten responded in a low whisper. Tenten was leaning so far over, she actually fell out of her chair with a huge thud, causing Temari and Hinata both to jump. Sakura still didn't look up.
"Sh-She must be really engrossed in whatever she's working on in her notebook," Hinata observed.
"Sakura-chan's always focused, but this feels… different," Temari couldn't put her finger on it, "If I didn't know better, I'd say she was in love. But she hasn't said a word about Uchiha-senpai for a few days."
Tenten and Hinata both stared at her, then both of them broke out in grins. "You're absolutely right, Temari-chan," Tenten grinned evilly, "She hasn't said a word about Uchiha-senpai since her hubby fought for her honour last week."
"What?!" Temari's voice rose a couple of octaves. Tenten hushed her, but when they all turned around to see if Sakura had noticed them, she still hadn't looked up. With a collective sigh of relief, they turned back to fill Temari in on Sakura's virtual husband.
"S-Some people were making fun of Sakura on the forums, so her in-game husband embarrassed them in a fight and made them take it down." Hinata explained, "W-Wulf-san sent me a recording of the duel."
"Finally! Show me, show me!" Tenten jumped up and shuffled her chair closer to Hinata's.
Temari also joined in watching the video that Hinata brought up on her screen, not that she really understood what was going on. All she saw were some explosions and a nearly-naked man. She raised an eyebrow, "And you're telling me Sakura-chan's game husband is the nearly naked one? Is he a pervert or just an exhibitionist?"
"T-Temari-chan!" Hinata exclaimed, surprised, "M-Meister-san is a very nice person, if a bit quiet. H-He treats Sakura-chan very well, a-and his friends have been very good to us."
"If you say so," Temari muttered doubtfully, "I still don't see what she sees in him from this fight."
"Saku-chan has good eyes - Meister's a really good player," Tenten nodded approvingly, "He not only won, but he embarrassed the heck out of Fries. He'd have been dead meat without his armour if Fries had landed a hit, but now I can see why Fries has been such a laughingstock on the server in the past week. I approve of their relationship!"
"Approve of what relationship?" Temari scoffed.
"W-We shouldn't jump to any conclusions," Hinata hurriedly interceded, "S-Sakura-chan could just be busy with her classwork and internship applications."
"Are you kidding me? She basically just eats, sleeps, does her school stuff, and games. She's even got the two of you playing," Temari complained. "Sakura-chan's always been a gamer, but now she's practically a basement-dweller, mould and all! I couldn't even drag her out shopping last weekend."
"Th-They are preparing for a big tournament," Hinata rebutted weakly. Temari scoffed in disbelief.
"Look guys, we're thinking too much about this. Let's just… get her attention and ask her," Tenten suggested, wiggling her fingers suggestively.
Temari rolled her eyes at Tenten's antics, but she couldn't help smiling as she watched Tenten sneak up on the still engrossed Sakura. Hinata only understood what Tenten intended to do when Tenten actually executed on her dastardly plan.
"AHHHHH!" Sakura shrieked as Tenten tickled her unmercifully, finally looking up from her notebook. "SHANNARO! Tenten! St-Stop please!"
Just like that, Tenten ceased her torment, grinning at Sakura's bright red face. "Finally got your attention. Whatcha working on?"
Sakura quickly shut her little red book and swatted her with it, "None of your business. What did you want my attention for?"
"We have a very important question to ask you," Tenten said mock-seriously, making Sakura roll her eyes at her antics, "Are you… in love with Meister?"
"Shannaro! What the heck?" Sakura did a double take at the question, her face turning a lovely rosy hue again. "No! Of course not! I haven't even met the guy! You can't just fall in love with someone over the internet."
"B-But would you? M-meet him, I mean," Hinata followed up, moving towards them to join in on the conversation.
"I… I don't like mixing my real life with my online life," Sakura said hesitantly, "He's a really nice guy and I like playing with him and all, but…"
Hinata and Tenten glanced at each other. By the quirk in Tenten's lips, Hinata could tell that they'd noticed the same thing: Sakura was hedging. A week ago, Sakura had been upset that someone just knew what they studied and now… now she looked like she was considering meeting Meister. To avoid Sakura catching their significant glances, Tenten wandered towards their balcony to look down at the students passing by their dorm building.
"What kind of guy do you like, Sakura-chan?" Temari asked, taking a seat at the foot of Sakura's bunk nearest to her desk, "Uchiha-senpai?"
Sakura waved her off, "He's just eye candy. Fantasy fuel. I barely know what his personality is like."
"Wh-What kind of personality do you like, then?" Hinata persisted.
Sakura thought hard about it for a minute, then answered, "Someone who understands me and respects me. Where we can talk about anything, but also just hang out together. Someone who makes me laugh and can make me think as well. Someone who's protective but not overbearing. Someone who's considerate. Someone like…" Someone like Meister.
"Like?" Temari prompted her.
Sakura didn't answer. Temari and Hinata stared hard at her, but she just couldn't say it. Saying it outloud makes it real.
"Sakura-chan!" Tenten broke the tension from the balcony when she stuck her head back into the dorm room. Her eyes were shining with some unholy mischief, "I spy your eye candy!"
"Where?" Sakura got up and went to the balcony as well, more to escape Temari and Hinata's questioning stares than to see Uchiha-senpai. Tenten made space for her against the railings, gesturing to one imposing figure below them. She could see the flow of traffic split apart in front of him and bunch around behind him, as people turned with their phones or gawked to try and get a glimpse of the campus celebrity. Tenten, who enjoyed rubbernecking more than she enjoyed looking at beautiful people, noticed that they weren't the only ones out on their balcony.
Sakura sighed with a goofy smile as she caught sight of Uchiha-senpai's beautiful, austere features. I'm so glad it's not illegal for a person to look that good. Ooh, he's wearing a suit today. Be still my beating heart! Despite the stares, Uchiha-senpai kept walking forward with all the leisurely grace of a panther, and she enjoyed every step.
"Sakura-chan," Tenten nudged her.
"Huh?" Sakura looked up at her fuzzily.
"You're drooling," Tenten grinned.
Sakura absent-mindedly wiped her mouth, then realized that Tenten was making fun of her when her hand came back dry and Tenten burst out laughing. Blushing, Sakura nudged her in revenge, toppling her over while she was still laughing.
"What's that girl doing?" Temari asked. She and Hinata had joined them on the balcony when Sakura shoved Tenten. She pointed her chin down at one girl who stood in Uchiha-senpai's path with her arms outstretched and her head down. She had a letter clutched in her hands, and even from here, Sakura could see that her hands were trembling and her cheeks were red.
"I-Is she confessing to him?" Hinata peered over as well.
"She is! I can see the little red heart on the letter. Oof, she's going to make some people unhappy, going after everyone's Uchiha-senpai like that," Tenten grinned, enjoying the show.
Sakura watched as Uchiha-senpai got closer and closer to the girl, her heart in her throat. She couldn't help but admire this girl's bravery, because she would never have that kind of courage, but at the same time... Is he going to accept it? Is he going to become someone else's boyfriend? Am I going to lose my eye candy?
Uchiha-senpai walked closer, now just a few feet away from the girl. Sakura held her breath in anticipation, wondering if she would be watching the beginning of a beautiful new relationship, if he would read the letter and respond, or put it away without reading it, or reject it, or…
Uchiha-senpai did none of these things.
He walked right around her like she wasn't even there.
And then he just kept walking down the block, like an immortal who was above such worldly concerns, until he turned a corner towards the teacher's residences and disappeared. The whole area went entirely silent as all the watchers cringed for the girl who was still looking down and holding her letter out.
Sensing something was off, the girl who'd tried to confess with a letter slowly raised her head and looked around. The letter crumpled in her hands when she realized that the object of her affections hadn't even bothered to stop. Humiliated, she turned an even darker shade of red as she realized the crowd was watching her and fled back into the dorm.
The four roommates watching from the patio all had a moment of silence as Tenten, Hinata and Temari all glanced at Sakura, wondering how she'd been affected by the scene. Sakura was just standing there in a bit of a daze, looking down at the street where the attempted confession had played out.
Worriedly, Hinata put a hand on her arm. "Sakura-chan, are you okay?"
"I've thought of one more criteria," she replied.
"For the guy you'd fall for?" Temari asked, a bit surprised by the non-sequitur.
Sakura nodded decisively.
"He has to acknowledge I exist."
AN: Who d'you think you're kidding, Sakura, honey we can see right through you :)
So this chapter is for the person who said "If this fic burns any slower It'll start going in reverse", hehehe I was actually rereading the webnovel translation (on Dreams of Jianghu's site!) and was reminded of the nuance, that this is when Weiwei starts falling for Xiao Nai. *sighs* they're such a good couple. Also, since this chapter was a biiit late since it was two originally planned chapters stuck together, and quite frankly I'm annoyed with people telling me to make them interact more offline (I have a plan, people! It's laid out, it's meticulous, and it ain't changing! I even have a spreadsheet!), I'm going to start a countdown: 25. To what I'm counting down to... :) Finally, if any of you are wondering about why I didn't use "Tsuma" as the nickname Sasuke calls Sakura in-game and came up with "My Dear Wife" instead (or MDW), I have a Tumblr, under the same penname (LScore) where I promote the chapters and then put extended ANs about tiny ass details like this under the jump, and the thinking behind the nickname is under the link for Chapter 16 (please go read my shouting into the void).
Thank you to Reglee for a stellar Beta job. and as always, comments, reviews, kudos, favourites, bookmarks, and lipstick kisses on mirrors always make my day. Thanks for stopping by, and stay safe and healthy, and see you soon!