note.
Girls, be the man.
track 2.
"I like you. Uchiha Sasuke, please go out with me."
Sasuke had never received such an intimidating confession before. Even the 'please' sounds out of place in her order-like offer.
Cornered in the back street that no one else but Naruto and the guys knew, his normal routine was rudely interrupted by a (short, he thought, very short) girl. She had jumped out of nowhere, intercepting his path. Matching him step for step. Left foot against his right, right foot in front of his left.
Though he was scrutinizing her outrageously bright hair, it was her eyes that caught his attention. "You look familiar."
"I'm Sakura. Haruno Sakura. I sit behind you in class." Seething, burning at the tips of her ears. Matching the petal pink of her hair that he is studying.
The only pink haired girl I know is…
"Didn't we used to visit the dojo together?"
Inside, Sakura is about to burst. How was he this dense? The only palliative leverage he held was the fact that he remembered her. "Yes. I attended lessons at Sarutobi-sensei's." She grit her teeth. Taming the growing spark of anger.
Haruno Sakura. The name was familiar now.
Of course it would be her. He would have recognized her colouring anywhere. "You used to be so annoying."
"Hey!" She shouted at his now-turned back as he began walking to band practice.
"Thanks. But I'm not interested." The words come out so easily. He's had enough practice over the years to recite them in his sleep.
From Sakura, there is no disbelief-veiled wailing that he associates with rejections, nor are there desperate curses hanging onto to him. And to be perfectly honest, Sasuke really isn't that shocked by her lack of reaction despite the time they have been apart.
When they were young, Sakura used to be an exception to every law, and every rule he had on how the world worked.
He had used to think girls were weak, and Sakura - with her thin arms and a severe lack of muscles - had punched both the usuratonkachi and him in the face (though it felt very much the equivalent of a spinning kick), causing unstoppable nosebleeds for the entirety of three days.
He had never been more embarrassed.
Seeing that she made no move to stop him, he continued walking past her.
"Fine!" Sakura called after his retreating figure. He faintly hears her trailing footsteps over the earphones he plugged in before she grabs his hand with extraordinary speed. "But Uchiha Sasuke. You probably like me too. You just don't know it yet. And if you really don't, you can learn to. We can at least be friends again. We have all the time in the world... You'll find that I'm actually a very likable person."
She had a way with people. Even people who had not a care in the world - people like him. Could bend them to do her bidding with the utmost lack of effort with her honeyed mezzo-soprano voice, and straight forward gaze that unsettled the weak-minded.
Sakura was an exception.
Her hand was warm as it covered his own, and her eyes shone under the flickering lamplights that just began to turn on in the evening mist. Under the early setting winter sun, he could only mirror her previous acceptance.
"Fine."
It seems like Sakura will always remain an exception.