He was tired and annoyed and hungry – tired because he'd spent the first ten minutes of his lunch break explaining to Kurenai through a series of monotonous grunts that everything was just fine at home; annoyed because he'd wasted even more of his lunch break trying to find a quiet, secluded place to sit and eat; and hungry because… well, he still hadn't eaten yet.
Suffice to say, Hinata was nothing more than a fleeting thought for now.
Sasuke cradled his bento to his hip, lips twisted in a bitter scowl, and bulldozed past a couple walking so damned slow through the school's courtyard, igniting and ignoring the string of curses that followed him. The bell for evening classes would sound off in less than ten minutes, but the young Uchiha was determined to eat his lunch, even if he was late.
He was doing well enough in math to miss the first five minutes, and it wasn't as if Kakashi was ever on time to teach his class, anyway. The day that unmotivated pervert was ever on time would be the day Sasuke fell in love, and the chances of either ever happening were slim to none, nonexistent at best.
He round a corner and spotted an empty bench stationed just outside of the back entrance to the garden, shaded beneath a cherry blossom tree. His nose twitched almost involuntarily at the memory of Sakura asking to join him for lunch, but it left as quickly as it came once he sat down and pried open his bento.
One too many times had he turned down her offers and confessions. Not that he was ever willing to admit it, be it aloud or to himself, but he preferred her as a friend; nothing more, nothing less. He wasn't ready for that kind of commitment, as he rarely had time to focus on his own needs and wants, and he had not the energy nor patience to deal with someone else's emotions. Besides, there was a loudmouth dimwit smitten with her already, and as much as Sasuke would love to rub one more thing in the dobe's face, he couldn't bring himself to crush that idiot's bleeding heart.
Likewise, Sakura needed someone to chase her around and aggravate her to no end and constantly ask her out on stupid dates and spout loud, dumb, annoyingly meaningful compliments about her forehead, even if she was too proud (and painstakingly blind) to see that.
Bah, Sasuke thought with a dismissive twitch of his brow.
It was unlike him to concern himself with Naruto (or Sakura's) annoyingly pathetic love lives. If they wanted to chase circles around uninterested parties, he'd let them. As long as they didn't impose their troubles on him (which they did constantly, consistently, continuously), he could care less what they did.
Sasuke took another thoughtless bite into his onigiri just in time to hear the gates next to him burst open, and for a minute he almost choked when a wave of indigo hair fluttered past his vision.
It took a moment for him to process that that was the girl he'd searched for earlier, but his mouth was too full for him to call out to her, and by the time he swallowed and stood, the bell went off and she was long gone.