Author's Notes:
Okie dokies, here's the first chapter! Sakura is 8 years old in this chappie :))
You
Chapter 1: Puppy Love
Age: 8 years old
A pink hair girl sighed, resting her chin on the palm of her hand as she gazed at the rambunctious children in her classroom. 'I wonder if my Prince Charming, is among all these…kids.' A hope smile tweaked at her lips, with the thought.
At the tender age of eight, Sakura Haruno was already foolishly adoring the idea of a true love, a Prince Charming.
Her eyes drifted to a chubby boy, with pink swirls on his cheeks. He was stuffing chips in his mouth as if there was no tomorrow, despite the sharp looks their teacher sent him from her table.
Sakura's nose wrinkled.
'Nope! Not handsome enough!'
Sakura's eyes travelled to the boy next to him. His black hair was tied up in a spiky ponytail, and his eyes drooped with every second that the clock ticked. There were rumours that this lazy boy had an incredible IQ for his age.
Green eyes eyed him.
'My Prince Charming not only needs to be handsome but smart as well!'
And at the very second of the thought, the boy closed his eyes, his head drooped into his folded arms, chest rising with every breath as drool slowly trickled from his mouth.
'Ew.'
Sakura turned her head and allowed her eyes to travel over to another black-haired boy. He worked quietly, his pencil continuously moving across the maths problems. He had round, dark sunglasses perched on his nose, shielding his eyes.
Sakura shook her head immediately, as she saw him gently stroke a fly that had landed on his table. No matter how charmingly mysterious he may be, no way would she even like a guy that probably loves bugs more than strawberries. And that's saying something.
"Psst! Sakura-chan! Sakura-chan!"
The said girl immediately broke out of her train of thoughts and narrowed her eyes at the blond boy next to her. "What, Naruto?" She whispered back.
Naruto scratched the back of his head, lips stretched into an impish smile. "Sorry Sakura-chan!" he whispered a little louder than necessary, "I'm still stuck on the first question! Since you're my best friend, and you've finished already, you can help me! Dattebayo!"
Sakura rolled her eyes, and flipped her sheet over, answers turned away, much to the dismay of the loud blonde.
"Sakura-chaaan!" Naruto whined, and tugged onto the shirt of the girl, "I didn't even take a peek at it yet!"
"Naruto, copying my answers does not mean helping you," Sakura sighed exasperatedly, the thoughts of her Prince Charming already pushed back into the back of her mind. She cannot believe that rather than having a female best friend in her class, who she can gossip about cute boys with, she had a loud, dim, male best friend who declared ramen as the true love of his life. Seriously?
"Here, you move this across then add it…"
Naruto nodded to every word that came out of his pink-haired childhood friend, though his eyes was more focused on her than the blasted maths problems.
Pah. Who needs maths when you have ramen? What's important is knowing the amount of water to put in, the set minutes required to have the lid on…
"Everyone!" The teacher clapped her hands, "We have a new student! Please make him feel welcome, and help him if he looks a bit lost, ok?" With a wide smile, she turned and beckoned for the new student to come in.
Naruto scoffed, and folded his arms across his chest. He knew for a fact that the new student wouldn't be as awesome as him, and obviously wouldn't dare take his beloved best friend away from him!
Sakura blinked, curiosity overwhelming her as she craned her neck to try and get a good look at the new student. It was rare that someone would transfer, as already months has flew by since the start of the year and –
Oh my gosh.
Green eyes widened. Her lips parted.
Ba-dump. Ba-dump. Ba-dump.
The new student stepped in.
It was as if time had stopped for Sakura. She could only see him, nothing else. She can only hear her heartbeat, beating rapidly fast. Her cheeks grew warm, her eyes as wide as saucers.
He had pale skin, his black hair spiked back, and elegantly framed his face. Onyx eyes regarded the class with little interest, lips thinned into a straight line.
Despite the clear, irritable expression on his face, Sakura found every inch of him attractive and memorising. She swore flowers were blooming behind him, and sparkles emitted from his very being.
Yes. He was definitely the one.
A wistful sigh escaped her lips.
'I found my Prince Charming.'
.
.
.
His name was Uchiha Sasuke.
.
.
.
It had only been a month since Sasuke had transferred in.
Much to Sakura's dismay, she has competition. Competition. Girls from several different grades and classes would endlessly fawn over the said boy. Taller girls. Prettier girls. They would giggle and blush if Sasuke had just even glance at them for the slightest second.
Ugh.
Even her newly made female friend, Yamanaka Ino was over head over heels for Sasuke.
"One day, Sasuke-kun and I would marry!" Ino loudly proclaimed, her hand over her heart as if this was a solemn promise, and lips stretched from one ear to the other.
"Ew." Naruto snorted, as he nabbed a biscuit from Sakura's open lunch box. "What's so good about that guy anyway? He always looks grumpy and doesn't even know how to smile!"
Sakura stayed silent, nibbling at her sandwich, eyes wide at Ino. No one knows about her crush on the aforementioned male. 'It's amazing how Ino can declare her love like that', Sakura thought, heart clenching. 'I wish I was confident like her.' But if she did mention her crush to her female best friend, it could mean losing this friendship that meant the world to her…
Ino stared pointedly at the blonde boy wolfing down his lunch. "Sasuke-kun is soooo cute, and sooo good looking," she squealed, hugging her hands to her chest, eyes closed as she blissfully imagined her and Sasuke together, "There's something so charming, and so mysterious about him!"
Naruto blinked blankly. "Do you even know anything about him?" he deadpanned.
"Of course! His birthday is on the 23rd of July! He has an older brother. He likes to be alone during recess and break, and…and, he's so smart!" Ino shot back, counting with her fingers.
Sakura froze, eyes drifting to the whiskered boy who was rolling his eyes, letting Ino's reasons drift into his ear, and out of the other. He was more focused on sneaking more snacks from Ino, as she revelled her passionate monologue.
'Do I even know anything about Sasuke-kun?' Sakura pondered, and turned her head to the lone boy, sitting under the shade of a tree. His face was the usual. Blank. Uncaring. A sneer appeared at the corner of his lips every time, a group walked purposely by, giggling and stealing glances at him. Sakura knows that after he finished his lunch he would wander to the library. A solitude among books. 'He always seems alone.'
"HEY! SA-KU-RA!" Ino waved her painted nails in front of Sakura's face, "Earth to Sakura-chan!"
Sakura's head snapped back and a sheepish smile crept along her lips. "Sorry Ino-chan!" she chirped, "You know…I was just wondering…Sasuke-kun always seems to be alone."
"Ah." Naruto and Ino's mouths fell open simultaneously at the statement.
"Must be part of his mysterious charm?" Ino offered, lips pouting in thought.
"Well! It's no fun to be alone!" Naruto grinned, blue eyes dancing. 'Because I know how it feels'. His eyes flicked over to Sakura, 'Before I met her.' "Let's invite him over!"
"Wait! N-Naruto!" Ino stammered, a blush settling heavily on her cheeks. She was so not prepared to meet her crush face to face.
Sakura didn't do anything but watch the blonde boy dash off in determination to stand proudly in front of Sasuke. She couldn't hear the conversation, but Naruto, clearly oblivious to the scowl ever present on the other boy's face, grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him over to the sun-warmed grass, they were seated on.
"H-Hi Sasuke-kun!" Ino stammered out, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear. Her eyes were sparkling, cheeks rosy – 'Oh ma gawd, I'm so close to him!' Ino could hardly breathe, it was so hard to prevent a squeal from escaping her lungs.
"Hn." Sasuke's eyes flitted from Ino to Sakura. He looked unimpressed, but sat down, cross legged.
Naruto beamed, "Okay, Sasuke! This is Inu!" He gestured cheekily at Ino, and then pointed to Sakura, "And this is Sakura-chan!"
Ino gaped at Naruto, and her eyes turned into slints. "It's not Inu!" She wailed, "I'm Ino! Sasuke-kun, don't believe this moron!"
Naruto burst into laughter, sniggering into his palm. He swayed from left to right easily, to avoid the push inflicted by Ino targeted onto him.
"Haha…guys, calm down!" Sakura nervously piped up. "Don't mind them, Sasuke-kun! They're always fighting!"
Sasuke huffed. Dark eyes bored into her bright green orbs. "Hn. Annoying."
Sakura froze.
In that instance, her image shattered.
"What did you say, teme!?" Naruto growled, and grabbed Sasuke by the ear.
Sasuke's eyes narrowed, "You heard me, dobe. Are you as deaf as you are dumb?" He grunted as Naruto remained relentless in yanking his ear. Without a second thought, he grabbed Naruto's ear, almost twisting it around.
"OW!"
"Let go, dang it!"
"You started it!"
"You idiot!"
"Moron!"
"G-Guys!" Sakura stood up and pushed the boys apart. "Stop it!" Her heart was heaving, tears almost prickling behind her eyes. She swallowed, not understanding the swirling emotions brewing within her. "You both are idiots!"
"Sorry Sakura-chan," Naruto whined and then shot a glare at Sasuke, "This rude idiot started it!"
Sasuke scoffed and rolled his eyes to the sky, but he remained seated. Something shifted uncomfortably in his stomach, 'She called me an idiot.' He's not Naruto. But he brushed it off as quickly as she pushed them apart. Geez. She has a lot of force behind those tiny fists of hers.
Ino released a heavy sigh. "Boys. Honestly, you guys know nothing but fight, fight and fight! Not even Shikamaru and Chouji are like you two!" Her eyes darted to the mentioned boys lying on the grass, a fair distance away. 'But it's mainly because Shikamaru doesn't even bother with arguments in the first place', Ino thought, allowing a small smile to scape.
Sakura stared at the two boys who started to elbow each other in the ribs. Scowls turned into smirks, and a smirk turned into a grin in Naruto's case.
"Annoying."
His voice echoed in her mind, piercing every thought. The flowers and sparkles seemed to have been replaced by his broody face and cold expression. 'Well', she thought as she watched the two boys scuffle, 'He's not like Prince Charming at all.' Her eyes softened as they started a thumbs war, Naruto loudly declaring that he will claim victory. 'But I don't know why I feel so hurt'.
"ARGH! TEME, REMATCH! You cheated!"
"You're just bad at this."
"Boys."
"Ino-chan! I declare you to a thumb war!" With that, Sakura brushed off her heavy thoughts, turning herself to her friend with dancing eyes and an impish smile.
"Sakuraaaa-chaaan! I'll have a thumb war with you, after I beat this teme!"
.
.
.
When I first looked at him, I swore flowers and sparkles sprouted from behind him. I was a child then. A foolish, hopeless child in love with the idea of love. There is a complete difference between the idea of a someone, and that person himself.
But who can blame me for being a child? And it's okay.
Author's Notes:
'Inu' means dog in Japanese - so Naruto was deliberately provoking Ino. XD
I know, it can kind of seem...shallow and light-hearted in this chapter, but they're only kids. XD And Sasuke is such a social retard. HAHAHAHA
Romance haven't been delved too much yet - but that will be arriving soon when Sakura is in her early teens. I feel like childhood crushes are pretty normal but nothing to the point of boyfriend/girlfriend at the age of 8...um, it doesn't seem realistic? Kids and their cooties?
Well I hope you enjoyed! I've written the start and end for the next chapter - gotta work on that middle HAHAHAHA. The irony is that I have some snippets of future, future chapters written out - eep. See you then!
Tako-san
Reviews:
(From 5 years ago...this is a really late reply, but thank you so much for taking the time to write it up! I really appreciated it back then, and I appreciate even to this day. If anyone read the original prologue from 2014, I'm not sure if you're around, but thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoy the new chapters!)
Poppy Grave Dreams: Thank you very much! :)))
EtoileDuMatin: Omg. Thank you so much for reading, as well as correcting my horrid French! Oh yes, I recall the feminine and masculine components when it came to French...eep. I renamed the title to something a lot simpler, but thank you once again! :D
Guest: HAHAHAHA Nah, I don't have any plans for Sakura to be a whiny fangirl, so fear not, my friend XD Thank you so much! :D