As Sakura made her way to her first class the unsettling burning that rested beneath her continued to churn and glow as she settled into her seat. She had never sparked someone when she touched them, not even after she rubbed her feet on the carpet for an extensive amount of time, and no one had ever left her feeling this way before.
As her first lesson began and progressed, Sakura was diligent and understood it all. Her parents had always told her she had a gifted mind and now she was ecstatic to put it good use. As her pin moved over her paper she could feel the disturbance beneath her begin to settle and fade and by the end of the lecture she felt like herself again and breathed a silent sign a relief. As the bell rang to end their studies she began to pack her belongings into her shoulder bag, and as she reached down to clip it closed a shadow cascaded upon her, forcing her gaze upward.
"HI!" An over exuberant blonde boy beamed down at her with warm blue orbs "I'm Uzumaki, Naruto! I'm going to be the next Hokage! What's your name?"
Sakura blinked, slightly confused and rather dazed by this sudden presence "Haruno, Sakura" she managed to blurt out before rising for her seat, her eyes never leaving his. The burning sensation was back, but not like before and to her it felt more so like she had met him sometime before and tried to recall a nonexistent memory. As she rose to her feet there was a still and awkward air between the two of them and Naruto shifted his feet nervously.
"I like your hair…" He said shyly, catching a glimmer of a blush rush to the young girls face "It's different, I like different and if anyone makes fun of you about it, I'll beat them up." He smiled sheepishly at the green eyed girl who giggled at his cunning personality. "Can I…" he hesitated for a moment before finishing his question "walk you home?"
With his question she became startled and fumbled to retrieve her words that seemed to be failing her "I…well…ummm.." she stalled "won't your parents be looking for you? I don't want you to get into trouble…" She shifted her gaze down to her feet and looked up hesitant to catch his gaze. But in return she saw his bright eyes had grown darker and his face had grown somber and dull.
"I don't have any parents…" Naruto exclaimed quietly, shifting his feet before turning to leave.
"Wait!" Sakura called out; though this boy who called himself Naruto seemed awkward she couldn't help but feel some sort of comfort when she gazed into his eyes. Perhaps… she thought it would be nice to have company on the walk home…
As they left the village side by side, they engaged in random conversation that Sakura contributed little to but listened with much eagerness, she believed she had found a companion in this boy, even if it was for just one day. But even with a new presence to occupy her mind, her thoughts still tugged to the boy named Sasuke and with the thought of his name, she could feel her heart lurch in her chest and though they had not really spoken, she felt herself dreaming of tomorrow in hopes he would return.
O-o-O-o-O-o-O
Authors Note: They won't be young forever… IIIIIII promise, lol.