I'm walking down the hallway, until I find Sasuke at his locker. He looks a little disgruntled - the cast on his arm is more frustrating than he'll let anyone see. I grab the books that are balanced precariously on his arm. "I can carry these," I tell him. Calculus is our next class anyway, it's not like I'll be going out of my way.
"You don't have to do that." He says.
"But I want to, my dear Uchiha." I bat my eyelashes at him, and he smirks.
Sasuke has always been my best friend, since we were kids, and I don't know what I would do without him.
We walk to Calculus, and I tell him about my current boyfriend problems. "Kiba's getting so possessive lately," I tell him casually. "I think I'm going to break up with him tomorrow." I ended up staying with him for months. I ended the relationship with a text message - not my proudest moment, but he was a jerk anyway.
Something flashes across Sasuke's eyes, but I'm too absorbed in myself to see it. "I'm glad," he admits, "Kiba always looked at you like you were a piece of meat."
"It's the price of being popular," I say. "People aren't always going to judge me on my stunning personality, Sasuke. It's not a big deal."
He only sighs. Sasuke's gotten used to my arrogance, but he knows isn't just a facade when I'm around him. Sasuke's the only person I feel like I can be myself around.
When we get to Calculus, I take my seat next to him and gently set the books down on his desk. "Hey," I say. "Are you going to do anything with that cast?"
Sasuke looks bemused. "What do you mean?"
"Well you won't let anyone sign it," I say, taking a closer look at it. "You know, I could do something with that, if you let me paint it."
He agrees, but grudgingly.
After school that day, I show up at his house with my painting supplies - that's another thing only Sasuke knows, how I like to paint in my room sometimes - and decorate his cast. I like making the little designs and talking to him while I'm doing it.
"So how's Itachi lately?" I ask, while I'm painting a small football near the top of his hand.
Sasuke shrugs. "I wouldn't know. I haven't seen him in weeks." Ever since their parents had died, Itachi had been as distant as he had before.
"He'll come around." I said, and he would. Itachi would be back a week before graduation (he wasn't able to make it to the actual thing because he had work), to congratulate Sasuke and to spend some time with him. Of course, he would be back on the night of graduation, because of the accident.
But wait, how would I know that?
I go back to painting, but something in the back of my head says that this isn't right. What am I doing here?
When I look up, Sasuke's turned into Konan, and she's smiling at me in that weird way she does. "You're running out of time, Sakura." She says.
"Aah!" I shirked, and woke up. It was just a dream. Something like disappointment coursed through me, and I longed for that feeling I had in my dream. The feeling that everything was back to normal, and I had Sasuke again.
I sighed, and looked at the time. It was five thirty in the morning, but I couldn't go back to sleep. I guess I was up for the day.
I felt sluggish and exhausted when I was getting ready for school. The weekend had really passed by quickly. I mostly spent it inside working on my homework, reading Jane Austen, and sketching everything I saw for practice. It wasn't like I had anything else to do - Hinata was busy trying to get to know her cousin Neji better, and Tenten had decided that she needed a break after we threw "the best homecoming dance of all time" (her words). So I spent the weekend indoors, and enjoyed it.
School was a new form of hell. I could barely keep my eyes open during first period.
"Sakura," Hinata said. "Are you okay?"
I nodded. "Yeah, just tired. Have you talked to Naruto recently?"
Hinata blushed and said. "I gave him my phone number, but we haven't had much time to talk since I was so busy this weekend." I had introduced Naruto to Hinata during the Homecoming dance last week, and they had hit it off - to my (and Hinata's) delight.
"So..." I pressed. "Are you two dating or what?"
If possible, Hinata's face got even redder. "We've decided to take it slow," she said. "But he's taking me to a movie next weekend."
I grinned. This was working out better than I had hoped.
The day got weird around lunch, when Naruto came to sit at our table at lunch. At first, the others only stared at him, like he'd made some huge mistake and mistaken us for the popular kids.
"Hey, Hinata," Naruto grinned. "Mind if I sit with you?"
Hinata looked, like the others, sort of shocked.
"She'd love it." I told him, with an encouraging smile to Hinata.
"Great!" Naruto said, and took a seat by Hinata, who continued to blush. "Hey, Sakura!"
Tenten, who had been observing this spectacle the whole time, decided to give me a pointed look. I shrugged, Naruto wasn't bad - in fact, he was one of my friends back when I was going through my senior year the first time.
"What's going on?" Tenten muttered to me. "I mean, I knew Hinata and Naruto were together during the dance, but I didn't know it was this..." She trailed off.
"Monumental?" I completed her sentence.
She only shrugged. "Look at Ami, she looks like she was just asked to eat a spider."
I looked over to the table where Naruto usually sat. Beside Karin (and Sasuke), Ami was now glaring intently at our table. I guess she was expecting to get back together with Naruto. In fact, the whole cafeteria seemed to be wondering what was going on. Besides Sasuke, Naruto was one of the most well-known people in the whole school, and here he was sitting with the freaks. If I was still part of Naruto's group, I would be surprised myself.
"This is incredible." I said finally. Meanwhile, Naruto and Hinata had started talking about the art project Hinata was working on - she still wouldn't let me see it. They seemed completely oblivious to the stares of our peers.
The rest of the day passed by in a blur. Sasuke wasn't in Calculus - he was probably at a doctor's appointment or something - which was disappointing, but I would live. Naruto's sitting with us at lunch had made a greater impact than I thought possible. Hinata was actually getting talked to in the hallway by people we didn't know, and - as a new friend of Naruto's - I was too. It was like I had a little sliver of my old life, plus Hinata. Ah, high school, I'll never understand you.
In fact, now that I was sort of friends with Naruto again, I was sure that I was getting closer to Sasuke. At that moment, I never wanted anything more than to talk with Sasuke again like we were best friends - like the dream I had the night before.
Sighing, I got back to my work.
The next time I had a real conversation with Sasuke (besides the small remarks I could get in during classes) was during the football game the next Friday night. For some reason, Tenten had made me the "Official Documenter" of the rest of the season.
"Come on, Sakura." She had said, even when I was protesting. "You've gotten really good at this - help me train the freshman!"
I ended up agreeing. I mean, it's another way to see Sasuke, right?
That night, I felt the same as I usually did during football games - isolated, yet excited. Thankfully, Shino was still in charge of the AV kids, so I got to talk to him periodically. The game was between our school's rivals, and the game had been really hyped up all week. The stands were more crowded than I was used to.
When I looked up at the stands, I saw a new face. Hinata, sitting next to her cousin Neji. She must have come to support Naruto. Ino and Shikamaru were nearby holding hands and talking. I sighed, feeling wistful. Every time I saw them, I felt happy and wistful at the same time. Hinata, seeing me staring, caught my eye and waved. I grinned and returned the wave.
The game started off okay. The two teams mostly stayed tied. I was never a fan of football - it always looks like a bunch of guys chasing a ball to me - but I was still excited. I walked around, snapping pictures of the team. Every once in awhile, I would get other pictures of the crowd or the band or the cheerleaders. I found that I liked the work. It made me feel happy and artistic.
In fact, I found myself so wrapped up in taking pictures, that I didn't realize that Sasuke was right beside me when I was taking a particularly good one (if I do say so myself) of someone running the football across the field.
"Having fun?" I didn't have to see him to be able to tell that it was Sasuke talking to me.
I turned around, grinning and exhilarated. I probably looked silly, but I didn't care. "Well yeah," I said, as if it were obvious.
Sasuke smirked at me, sitting on the bench. I knew how it killed him not to be playing, but he couldn't throw a football with the cast on his arm. "I didn't see you at the last game."
"I was helping out with the homecoming dance, if you don't remember." I replied. Inside, I was screaming. He noticed!
Sasuke nodded, looking at the game. The other team had scored a touch down, and we were tied again. He said something in that strange jargon that those who know a lot about sports use - you know, the language that sounds like English, but that I have no hope of understanding. He used to do that the year before too.
I nodded, just happy that he was talking to me. "When do you get that off?" I asked, indicating his cast, even though I knew already. Three more weeks.
"Two weeks," Sasuke said. "But I have to go in for a check-up, so it's not for sure." He looked a little frustrated.
"You'll be fine before the playoff game," I assured him.
"How do you know we'll make it to playoffs?" Sasuke asked. "We're not doing so well this season, or have you been too busy taking pictures to notice?" I couldn't believe it - he was teasing me. Translation: the team is awful without me, and I know it.
"I know everything, my dear Uchiha," I said, without thinking.
He gave me a strange look. "You used to call me that," he said.
I could only stare at him. Did he remember? How could he know I used to say that to him?
"No," he shook his head. "Sorry. I used to have a friend that called me that. You remind me of her a lot, actually."
"Oh?" I said, trying to sound nonchalant. "What was her name? Maybe I know her."
He thought for a moment. "I don't remember." Sasuke said finally. "It seems like a long time ago." He seemed confused for a moment, and then looked like he was about to say something when-
"Sasuke!" Karin, who I had momentarily forgotten was a cheerleader, ran over to where Sasuke was sitting. "Did you see us? I did that move you like." She simpered, and then gave me a look. "What are you doing here?"
I held up my camera as an explanation. "Smile," I said, trying to cover up my disappointment.
Sasuke smirked as I snapped a picture of the two of them. I left shortly after - watching Karin flirt with the guy I love wasn't the best way of spending my Friday night, in my opinion.
I couldn't get what happened out of my mind after that. Was there some sort of flaw in the magic? Could Sasuke remember me after all? I wanted to ask Konan, but she was nowhere to be found. For the first time, I actually wanted to see that witch-lady.
Our team ended up winning the game, but barely. They would have done so much better if Sasuke hadn't broken his arm. When the team won, the crowd of students went crazy - sometimes I thought that our school had more school spirit than what was normal. From my place on the sidelines, I could see Naruto waving at Hinata from the field. Ami was still glowering from her place with the cheerleaders - good.
Realizing that I actually had a job, I quickly started snapping pictures with my camera of the crowd, cheerleaders, band, and football team. But even though I seemed absorbed in my task, my mind was still swimming with what happened with Sasuke.
The two weeks that passed after that were uneventful. I gradually talked to Sasuke more and more in class everyday, but we were far from being close friends. I didn't care - I was just happy that I could talk to him again, even if it was about trivial things.
The football team lost a game, and then won one, but we were still able to go to playoffs if we won the rest of the games - I didn't understand completely, but it was clear that our next game was against our rivals, and it was crucial.
We won, of course.
Unfortunately, Sasuke's doctor had declared his cast unready to come off for another week, so he was unable to play for the game that decided whether or not the team would go to playoffs.
We won that one too, but not by a lot. I'm sure the football team was relieved when Sasuke's cast came off and he was ready to play for our football team. The playoff game was three hours away that weekend, and Tenten (who had decided to come along that week) and I got to leave early from school with the football team, cheerleaders, and others that would be involved with the game. Even though I knew what would happen (we would win again, but would lose the next game), I was sort of excited. Even though Hinata didn't want to admit it, she was as good as dating Naruto - they spent a lot of time together. She would be supporting him at that night's game.
I had noticed that - in light of recent events - Hinata had become sort of popular. Because of her newfound relationship with the second most popular boy at school (the first being Sasuke, of course) and her relation to Neji Hyuga, people were starting to see Hinata differently. And because Hinata was so down-to-earth, absolutely none of it went to her head.
"Hey Hinata!" A girl who was a sophomore and (from what I had experienced when I was popular) a huge suck-up approached my friend. "I'm having a party after the game tonight, if you want to come." She completely ignored me.
Hinata only smiled and thanked the girl. "I would love to, but I already have plans with someone else." If I was the girl, I would have thought she was talking about Naruto. If you really knew Hinata, you would know better. She was talking about the plans she had made with me the week before - I was going to sleep over at her house.
Watching this exchange, it really struck me how incredibly good Hinata was. If I had been in her place last year, I can't say I wouldn't have ditched my friend for the popular kids. What did the that make me?
"You know," I said, once the girl was gone. "You can go to the party. I won't be mad if you want to do the sleepover another night."
Hinata shook her head. "Are you kidding? We've been planning this for days, and I don't even know her!"
I grinned, and wondered how I had been so lucky as to have found Hinata.
A/N: Hey guys! I know it's been awhile and I'm really sorry! I just started college and I've been really busy lately. I'll try to get chapters up sooner in the future, but if I don't I'm really sorry! Also, I'm determined to finish this story, even if it takes awhile. :P Thank you so much for the reviews, you guys are awesome! Please tell me what you think about this chapter. :)
Also if you find any typos or inconsistencies feel free to tell me!
Updated 6/17/15: Because I didn't actually fix that much the last time I updated this chapter (which was recent).
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.