A/N: I've had this for a little while, and I couldn't wait any longer to post it. Enjoy!
Five-year-old Sasuke glanced across the room, utterly bored with his new assignment. A small scowl decorated his face, and he tapped his pencil against his thigh in a steady rhythm.
February 14th was Valentine's Day, the day that every girl in school awaited eagerly - and since it was such a special holiday, their teacher Iruka told the kindergarten class that they could spend the period making valentines for a person they held special. The majority of the girls immediately got to work swiping red and pink pieces of construction paper, scribbling away and cutting them into hearts, each one sending him wistful glances in hopes of catching his eyes. It didn't take a genius like Shikamaru to know who they were making their cards for.
Bleh. Girls were weird. Sasuke's scowl momentarily deepened as he caught sight of Naruto, his best friend, scribbling on his own card with a big grin. The boy had had an obnoxious crush on another of their classmates all year up to this point. Sasuke had to bear his endless ranting about how pretty 'Sakura-chan' was and how much he liked 'Sakura-chan' and oh how he wished 'Sakura-chan' would be his girlfriend at recess. The moment they'd been given the activity, he'd boasted that Sakura would be so impressed by his card that she'd have to be his girlfriend for sure.
Honestly, Sasuke didn't see what the big racket was. Of course his mother seemed to hold the holiday in some regard, as he remembered her acting more antsy than usual around his father - she'd cooked both boys breakfast in cutesy little hearts and flowers, but his father got breakfast in bed. Both boys got an extra treat in their lunches and one more kiss than usual, but his father got a full-out hug (granted, Itachi did well to cover Sasuke's eyes before he could see much of what they were doing, but he figured they were just hugging).
Itachi didn't seem to mind the holiday, but he tended to get more shy around Izumi, a girl in his grade that always followed him around like Akamaru followed Kiba, dopey face and all. He didn't like Izumi, but Itachi did; sometimes Itachi would be late in walking home with him because he was too caught-up in hanging out with her. As long as she wasn't stealing his nii-san, he'd tolerate her, but he had his eye on her.
Puzzling over his own blank piece of paper, Sasuke wondered who to give a valentine to, if anyone. He could give it to his mother. She always put away his and Itachi's presents in 'keepsake boxes' that she would take out from time to time and look through with a fond eye.
But then he thought about Itachi. Iruka said 'anyone special', so big brothers counted, right? Itachi liked just about anything he gave him. Last year, for his birthday, Sasuke had given him a beetle he'd found on the sidewalk because of its cool pattern, and Itachi had put it in its own little plastic living space until it died just a week later. (He'd seemed genuinely sad that it died, too, and it made Sasuke go out and find another beetle to cheer him up. It did.)
He could even give one to his father, although he doubted the man liked him as much as he did Itachi. He never seemed to smile a lot around him, and he hardly ever reacted to presents that Sasuke gave him. Sure, his mother tried her best to console him that he really did love his presents, but his father was firmly out as a recipient.
So then who...?
Sasuke looked further to his right and noticed a little pink head of hair with a bright red ribbon tied cutely in it, head down to her own paper. She, the obnoxious blonde one (who reminded him far too much of Naruto's general loudness) and another shy girl with blue-black hair whose name he couldn't quite remember (Hi- Himawari, was it?) had banded together and were chattering quietly as they made their cards. Once or twice, the blue-black girl looked over Naruto's way with blushing cheeks.
The pinkette was drawing something in red crayon on a white heart-shaped piece of construction paper, and he looked away when her bright green eyes glanced over. His cheeks flushed a little, embarrassed at getting caught.
Sakura Haruno, age five, going on six. He never talked to her outside group projects and Naruto inviting her to his house to play, and even then, she seemed kind of reclusive. She got flustered easily and was very polite to grown-ups, using the appropriate suffixes of 'Sir' or 'Ma'am' and not complaining about anything, even when he and Naruto did. The one time she was over at Sasuke's house, his mother immediately started fawning over her, calling her cute and asking her about her family. She was so impressed by Sakura's polite demeanor that she started hounding Sasuke to be more polite to his elders.
She was... annoying.
He found himself perplexed endlessly about her. Why did she annoy him so? Was it her hair? Her hair was unusual, of course, but it was such a murky pink - it reminded Sasuke of cotton candy, to his chagrin. Even though he hated sweet things, her shade of pink was just so her. She was easy to spot at recess or at lunch, especially when Naruto called for her to join them at their table. He knew the other girls gave her envious stares whenever she sat with them, but he didn't care. At least Sakura was quiet, like that blue-black girl, but less likely to faint if Naruto hugged her... which he did often. Sometimes she'd even hug Sasuke too, and it always baffled him how her hands were so soft.
Was it her thoughtfulness that annoyed him? She always smiled at him and Naruto, always brought them extra treats from her parents - apparently, her mom was a baker. She always brought some extra dumplings for Naruto, and some tomato onigiri for Sasuke. She was smart, and observant; one day she saw Sasuke tell another girl that he hated sweets, and ever since, she brought more savory snacks in her lunch for him. And boy could her mom make some tomato onigiri. It was almost better than his mom's - though he'd never tell her that, of course. It was totally against the law for someone else's mom to have better cooking than yours - well, unless she caught the stove on fire a lot like Kiba's mom did.
Was it... her? She was easily one of the prettier girls in their class, as quite a few of the boys agreed. Her problem was that she was too self-conscious, so most of her potential charm was lost. She was lucky the blonde girl had befriended her and showed her how to tie ribbons in her hair. Her bangs framed her face and gathered about her shoulders like soft pink clouds, like in those paintings that his mother liked to look at so much.
Sasuke had a bad habit of staring at people he found interesting enough to divert his attention from more important matters, and through the school year, as he became more acquainted with the girl, the more he started to stare at her. He was careful to do it when no one was looking - the last thing he wanted was for someone to confront him about it. He wasn't being rude, he was just observing. She sat by herself when she wasn't playing with Ino or sitting near the wildflowers growing along the fence with the blue-black girl (a sudden realization came to his mind, and he fought the urge to slap the desk and exclaim. Hinata! That was her name! Hinata!). Sometimes he would sit a few yards away, under the shade of a tree, and observe her reading, or picking wildflowers near the fence, or just staring up at the sky. Sometimes he wanted to go and look at clouds with her, but then he thought that no, that would be weird, and Uchihas don't do weird.
Letting out a quiet sigh through his nose, he looked up at the clock with a smaller frown. Iruka had said that once the long hand got to the five, they would be done with the activity. It was almost at the twelve, so he didn't have a lot of time left.
"Perfect!" Naruto stage-whispered to him, showing him his card. "Do you think Sakura-chan's gonna like it?"
Sasuke shrugged, giving it a once-over. It wasn't bad; it was a drawing of Naruto and Sakura holding hands in a grassy field, and in sloppy handwriting at the top, he'd written, 'Be my Valentine' in bright Macaroni-And-Cheese Crayola (a crayon that was definitely not as tasty as its name was, as Chouji could attest to).
Naruto scowled at his paper, pointing an accusing finger at the harmless sheet of paper. "You haven't even made one yet! You're lame!"
"I'm not lame!" Sasuke grumbled, tapping his pencil on the page. He hunched over, hiding the paper from Naruto. Dumb activity. "I'm thinking."
Rolling his eyes, the blond busied himself with trying to fold the paper perfectly.
Screwing his eyes shut, Sasuke tried to think again. Who did he want to give the stupid card to?
Sakura's voice, quiet and unsure, reached his ears, and he opened his eyes to see her calling the teacher over.
He frowned. Bit his lip. Glanced back and forth from the paper to her, to the paper again.
Letting out another sigh, he got to work on the page. Dumb card.
"Aaaaaand time's up!" Iruka announced, making a few of the children groan in disappointment. "If any of you have made cards for a classmate, now's your time to give them. You have until the minute hand gets to ten to do so, so hurry up!"
As soon as he was done speaking, a bunch of kids jumped up from their seats and rushed around the room, and it grew loud with chattering.
Five-year-old Sakura gave one last look at her card before smiling. Surely Sasuke-kun would like her card... if she could even make it to him. She glanced up to see a group of girls around his desk, making Naruto glare in annoyance and her crush to slump over his desk.
She sighed delicately, giving Hinata a sympathetic smile. "I guess we can't give them our cards, can we?"
The girl shook her head dejectedly, reaching to put her own card in her purple backpack. "I- I guess I'll have to give mine to Naruto-kun at recess today," she replied.
Out of the crowd, Shikamaru came shuffling up to them, a bored expression on his face like always. Without much of a greeting, he handed a plain white card to Sakura with a nod. "Choosing is so troublesome..."
Sakura smiled timidly at the genius, accepting it. "Thanks, Shikamaru-san. I'm afraid I don't have one for you..."
Shrugging his shoulders loosely, the boy gestured towards Sasuke's desk with his head. "I didn't think you would. Are you gonna wait?"
"I g- guess so?" She nervously tucked a bang of hair behind her ear. "If he isn't swarmed at recess..."
Nodding once more, Shikamaru bade them goodbye and left their desks. Not too long after his departure, Kiba bounced over, handing a card to Hinata with a nervous face.
"H- here!" He exclaimed, cheeks slightly flushed pink before he ran off.
Hinata blinked in surprise, before looking down at the card. Her own face heated up as she read through it. "O... oh..."
"How cute," Sakura cooed, glancing over at the boy's direction. "Kiba likes you."
The Hyuuga girl only blushed redder. Just as she was about to open her mouth to reply, Sasuke screeching his chair back on the tile made both girls wince.
Head down, the boy walked across the room, being flanked by the girls. He stopped at Sakura's desk, slapping a card down with a muttered "Here" before going up to the teacher.
The girl was horribly flustered, her entire face going red to the tips of her ears. She looked down at the card, only seeing her name on the front. Slowly opening it, she began to read to herself.
"Sakura, your hair reminds me of cotton candy. I don't like cotton candy, but I guess yours is okay.
Your ribbon is really red, like Aunt Kushina's hair, but it's less scary than hers, so I guess that's okay too.
You're not as annoying as Naruto, but you're still kind of annoying."
She blinked once, twice, before slumping down in her seat, dejected. "Uwaaa... I guess he doesn't like me after all..."
Hinata peeked over at the note with a sympathetic wince, patting her back. Neither of them noticed that her note to the boy was gone.
Meanwhile, in the hallway on the way to the bathroom, Sasuke read through her card for a second time, his ears pink.
"To Sasuke-kun, happy valentine's day. I hope you like my card, from Sakura."
On it was a picture of him and her holding hands near some flowers, her smiling. She captured his essence pretty well, for being five and in kindergarten.
Vaguely, he wondered about his mother's keepsake boxes. Maybe she had one she could give him. He didn't really want to part with the note, even though Valentine's day was a stupid holiday and he didn't like celebrating it.
He slipped the note in his shorts pocket before heading to the bathroom, blushing in embarrassment. Dumb activity. Dumb card. Dumb girls.
A/N: I need more stories of the gang as kids. So much cuteness potential, wasted!
Please tell me what you thought!