note.
You guys don't understand how villainous I felt when I read all your reviews. I literally cackled like an evil stepmother in my dorm each time I read a review, and I swear my flatmates think I'm crazy.
I actually received quite a lot of criticism for yesterday's chapter (the most reviews within a day's time! Hurrah!) - and I want to take the time to say this: why is it that people are so much more vocal when they dislike something - rather than when they like something?
Finally, to the single person who wasn't brave enough to say 'screw this fic' on a signed review - please go ahead and screw it. I don't think it'll be very comfortable though.
track 47.
Drying himself off with the towel supplied by the school, Sasuke took the seat opposite Naruto when he saw that he had saved a table by the wall of the restaurant. He dragged the chair out, trying to not let his anger cause a screech on the floor. By the looks of it, Sakura hadn't arrived to their designated dinner place yet.
"Why are here alone? Where's Sakura-chan? I thought she was with you."
"We fought."
"Again? You fight with people so easily."
"It's only Sakura." The only person that managed to affect him this much is Sakura. He didn't fight with people unless it involved Sakura. "She's more annoying than usual."
Naruto pinched his eyes together until they were only a feline slit as he studied his best friend. "What are you talking about? I know you're not normally good with words, but you've never been this bad. You're not making any sense."
"I feel… uncomfortable. Lately, around Sakura."
"Uncomfortable. Around Sakura-chan." Twirling his chopsticks around the noodles in front of him, Naruto slurped it up before using the same utensil to point at the person sharing his table. Soup flicked over the white towel draped around Sasuke's neck. "You two are hopeless."
If Sasuke could look any more bothered. This would be the moment. "Are you here to listen to me or to mock me?"
"Teme," Naruto deadpanned. "You have to talk for me to listen. So talk!" The bastard wasn't making sense and he was blaming him!
"She's more annoying than usual. And whenever I see her with someone else... I want to separate them... Or cause them some sort of bodily harm."
"Let's just stick to you being jealous for now." Naruto muttered.
"And there's that track team guy as well, I don't know what she sees in him." Sasuke continued, before fully comprehending what Naruto said. Turning, he glared. "Jealous? Why would I be jealous?"
The blond tried not to laugh. Funnily enough, he didn't know what Sakura saw in Sasuke either. Why were supposedly smart people so dumb? "You've always been the jealous type. Remember when Itachi played with me when we were children? You got so mad."
"I was not mad." The Uchiha paused to think of what to say next in order to defend himself. "I do not get jealous." If he was jealous, he would acknowledge it. This was not jealousy, it was simply Sakura being annoying.
"Right. You don't get jealous. And you don't like Sakura-chan."
Naruto took the silence as a confirmation of Sasuke's feelings. Not that the expression on the dark haired teen's face wasn't confirmation enough. Sasuke was glaring at him in a way that would make much bigger men whimper. Alas, it no longer had any effect on him.
"Since it doesn't seem like you want to talk anymore; you listen. I didn't bow out so somebody else other than you could take advantage. I won't acknowledge anyone but you next to Sakura-chan. So you better man up and go confess to her."
It's a rare moment to find Naruto so serious. Sasuke knows that Naruto usually acts stupid just for the sake of putting others at ease. That Naruto and Sakura view each other as siblings and that he cares for her, but it still surprises each time - to see just how much the two have in common. They both acted like they were less mature than him, even though he was the most immature out of the trio.
"You need to wake up. Make up your mind. Who do you really see Sakura-chan as?"
xxx
"He's someone important to me." Sakura started, rolling off the paper around her ice cream, letting it unfurl around her fingers as she threw the packaging in the trash can. It wasn't right for her to be here with someone else but Sasuke. "I don't think I can do this."
Idate made sure he couldn't see her face, because he isn't sure how strong his resolve is, to hear her repeat her words again. If he saw her looking at him, but only seeing Uchiha Sasuke, he knows he will give in. He didn't want to know how much she cared for the Uchiha. "I know. And I've told you that I don't care. I don't mind being a replacement."
Only temporarily. He had no plans of staying second place forever. She didn't need to know that though.
Sakura laid her legs out in front of her and stretched along the stone pavement they were sitting against. She dipped her head down to hide her face, but was careful to keep her hand level to not drip ice cream down herself. "But I don't want a replacement." She didn't want anyone but him and this informal date only made it clearer. Dinner with the track team was fine because of the lively company and good food, but now that they were alone, Sakura felt lonely despite the companionship.
It was so stupidly miserable how much she wanted to share the ice cream she was eating with him... force it down his handsome sweet-hating face. To let him hear the same clapping in the sky as the school blew their tuitions up into the air. And the way she wished Sasuke was the one who could see the bright fires blooming atop their heads instead of Idate.
Hoping to lighten the mood, Idate stood up and dragged her to her feet as he led her along the beach.
"How much do you like him that even I won't do?"
The water had receded and the wet sand felt heavy under her feet.
"Too much." She sighed. Only for mirthless laughter to follow. "I can't -"
xxx
"I can't control myself around her. Ever since I knew how I felt... I don't how to talk to her. I don't know what to hear, where to look, the right words to say. She's messing with my ability to think, Naruto."
Pushing the visibly flustered Sasuke towards the beach to expose him to the sea wind, Naruto crossed him arms as he settled back into his seat inside the veranda.
"Then don't think. Just feel. The words will come naturally. Like when your writing lyrics - you don't consciously think, right? You feel. That's how you talk to girls, you idiot. Sakura-chan already promised me that she would accept any poor soul that confessed to her next, so just blurt out all your stupid feelings to her instead of me and you can live happily ever after and name your first child after me!"
"I've already screwed up. You weren't there to see -" He stopped momentarily to correct himself. What had there been to see? "To hear it. I bet -"
xxx
"I bet Sasuke-kun doesn't like me that way."
"Do you really think so?"
Idate stared at the person in front of him. At her bright hair. The faint dusting of red over her skin. And the empty wooden stick she held.
He really liked her.
But even a blind person could see that she didn't like him. Her eyes looked right through him, she didn't acknowledge him the same way she did the Uchiha. Her eyes lacked the gleam and her smile lacked its glow. She wasn't seeing him properly.
Sighing, he made sure she had her back towards him before he knocked her down, making Sakura topple against the sand, the shimmering granules spraying on impact.
"Hey!" She glared through messed up pink hair. Standing up to brush the sand off herself, she readied her hand to hit him back.
"This is how you two are. You pay attention to the things that don't matter."
"You just pushed me!"
"And you only feel the need to hit me back right? You paid attention to my push - but not the tug. I made you lose your balance so that you'd fall towards me, but you only noticed the shove."
I fell towards him?
Slowly lowering her hand, the fingers curled into a fist as she registered that thought. Was it really that way? "You're really good at reading people." She admitted quietly.
Idate shrugged. "It's good for using as a psychological attack on the other contestants and you were the trophy I had wanted. But you ended up being a formidable opponent and I've lost. My plan failed. I'll let you go if you beat me in a race back to the track team site."
Kneeling against the sand, he pressed his sole against the soft foundation before he pushed Sakura - who had also assumed the same position - again. She'd landed face first, only saving herself from sand in her mouth as her elbows supported her this time around.
"Oi! It's not funny anymore!"
Idate sat crossed legged, motioning for her to get moving. For her to run away from him.
"I was trying to give you a boost. Pride is not something I can surrender, so I'll yield with my head held up and concede defeat. To you. Not to the Uchiha. How you're able to love someone as inhumanely cold as that - I have no idea. But you've got guts to miss out on this." He pointed at himself. Thumb lightly jabbing at his chest.
Sakura pressed her lips together. Idate and her were definitely not similar. She would never give up on the person she truly wanted and he seemed to have caught onto that.
"Sasuke-kun isn't cold." She frowned mockingly, but the sides of her lips betrayed her, moving up as if controlled by string.
Idate snickered at her response, hitting her arm as she fell a little to the side. She was finally smiling. Her eyes burning with determination once again. She finally looked every bit like the incredible person he had initially deemed her as.
"And despite what others say, you're not very nice."