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'aika'

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Scorpions and Flowers

004: Attention

Sasori felt the corner of his eye twitch when the bus suddenly skidded to a halt that almost made him slam on the bus' window. Fortunately, he had a good grip on the bus handle and on the metal pole of the seat beside him. He glared his chocolate eyes at the back of the driver's head before turning away, resuming his observations of the people outside and the commuters of the bus. He wanted to have a lot of references for his artworks after all.

Soon the bus was driving away again and there was a person coming his way. Giving a quick glance to the right, he sees a small a body, a female, sporting an incredulous mop of pink hair. It made Sasori snort at first, he always found it stupidly odd for people to do such things- makeover is fine but the redhead isn't exactly sympathetic to people who… exaggerate.

Deciding not to delve in it any further, Sasori looked back outside through the bus window. Briefly catching a glimpse of the girl's viridian eyes that seemed to glow with the right ray of the sun that reflected off the glass.

~0~

Later at lunch break, he, Itachi, and Deidara were making their way to the cafeteria to meet with their friends as the Uchiha mentioned that his younger brother and some of his friends will be starting as freshmen here in their high school. While Deidara listened intently, Sasori tuned them out slightly, mind boggling on the colors of pink and green that seem to magically change in hues at the slightest change of light. It bothered him how he couldn't mentally mix the right colors to recreate the obnoxious colors.

They didn't expect however, to enter the cafeteria in a commotion. Inside the ring of students was their friend Hidan, forehead touching the floor and his body writhing in pain as his hands held his jewels between his pants. His muffled profanities didn't go unmissed as the other members of their group either snickered or gave the Jashinist sympathetic looks.

On the other side, Sasori's eyes widened for a fraction at the sight of the same pink hair that he's been thinking about since the first period. The girl, she was being held back on each arm. A blonde one on her right, and Itachi's brother on her left. The blonde one seemed to be begging the pinkette while the Uchiha tried to reprimand her, but all of their attempts fell on deaf ears. It didn't take a genius to put two and two together, and knowing Hidan, he probably said or did something inappropriate to the deceptively frail pinkette.

Sasori though, felt his heart thump wildly in his chest when he saw her emerald eyes blaze with such an intensity he has never seen before. It was a color he might have not even used before in all his other artworks. It made her complexion less pale and accentuate her hair color to such a degree he might have thought that she came from a painting that became alive.

When her eyes met his, she did a double take.

~0~

He continued to observe the girl from afar, learning that she was a childhood friend of Itachi's and his brother from long before. Apparently, the girl moved away for a few years before returning and reuniting with her boys- Sasuke and Naruto. During the first week of her return, she would bring Itachi handmade bento (and Sasuke and Naruto) with the pure intention of friendly re-acquaintance. It didn't save the Uchiha from their friends' teasing though. On the last day of the week, when- surprisingly- Hidan apologized to the pinkette- Sakura, he learned, she gave each of them small bags of cookies she made herself.

She was nice enough. Fearsome when pressed the wrong button, but most of the time the kindest and most thoughtful person he ever met. Every time when she's within range of his vision, his hands would start itching to grab the nearest pen or pencil he has and just draw. Whether it was on a piece of tissue, a page of a book, on his own homework paper, or even on the table itself, he just wanted to… draw her.

But unfortunately, whenever he did, he was utterly unsuccessful. She was quite elusive, this Sakura. Each time he thought he had caught her in a completely sated posture, she would either be disturbed by an external force or break from her reverie before ultimately leaving to who knows where.

For months, it's been like this. They have garnered a steady friendship but he can never bring his obsession to trace her in canvas. He didn't want to lose her respect by thinking that he's creepy, and he would rather not have first-hand experience on what agony she put Hidan through on her first day. Besides he… it's not like drawing her is the only reason he wanted to be closer-

The opportunity came to Sasori when he spotted her at the library. She was alone, a notebook in hand with a book on the table, ears plugged by earphones as she wrote something in her notebook. Seeing that she didn't notice his presence, he snatched the chance.

And by god the finished work was marvelous. It was just a sketch, all pen and no color; and as much as Sasori wanted to admit that it was his talent that contributed greatly to this artwork, he would rather commend that it was the model's natural beauty that brought the life between the ink and paper. Still, as satisfied as he was at what he's accomplished, he didn't feel totally… complete. Was it the lack of color? Did he shaded some of the parts wrong? Is it-

"Awww, as expected, yours are better than mine"

Sasori's chocolate brown eyes looked up at the person who stole all of his attention during the last few months. Sakura smiled at the senior that she learned to be the best in the art department and the person who have also caught her attention since she stood beside him on the bus.

She sheepishly placed her notebook besides his perfect drawing of her, showing a sketch of him staring off on one side of the table.

"I know it's not that great but…" she smiled sweetly, making his heart beat faster "I did my best"

Sasori's lips tugged up ever so slightly. "Would you like me to give you some quick pointers, Sakura?"

His response was a wider smile.

Did they even realize that when they bring their sketches together, it looked more like they were staring at each other from across the table?