A/N: This is kind of linked to SSMonth15's Boarding School Au :) Someone requested a protective Sasuke… So, tadaa? Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Naruto and its characters belong to Kishimoto; this fanfic, however, belongs to yours truly.

Day 21: Anonymous

Haruno Sakura wiped the sweat from her forehead as she chugged down nearly half her bottle of water. The female and male students had been separated for gym; and the girls had just finished an intense game of basketball. Ino slumped down onto the bench next to her best friend and gestured towards Sakura's bottle who handed it to her wordlessly. Sakura dug through her gym bag in search for her watch when her fingers came in contact with an envelope. Curious, she pulled it out; on the top of the envelope wrote 'To Haruno-San' in perfect cursive letters. Ino peeked around Sakura,

"What is it, forehead?" She questioned as her baby blue eyes sparkled in excitement. Sakura shrugged,

"I'm not too sure… It seems important though. I mean, the envelope itself is pretty expensive looking…" She replied her blonde friend as she carefully opened the envelope to reveal a pink card inside. Ino waited patiently as Sakura took the card out.

"My dearest Sakura, you are the moon to my dark nights and the author of my dreams. I love you."

Sakura read what was written on the card aloud. Ino 'oohed' at the sentence before she latched onto Sakura's shoulder in hardly concealed excitement,

"Wow that was super romantic! Does it say who was it that sent you the card?" Ino inquired as she bounced on the bench. Sakura turned both the envelope and the card this way and that. She shook her head,

"Unfortunately, it doesn't tell me who is it from." She sighed dejectedly just as Prefect Secretary Hyuuga Hinata and Karin made their way towards the two best friends.

"What's going on, girls?" Karin called out, her flaming red hair in a high ponytail. Ino turned to them and clasped her hands in front of her,

"Sakura here got a romantic letter from a secret admirer! Isn't that just so romantic?!" She gushed and Sakura tried to calm her down. Karin plucked the letter from Sakura's hands,

"Don't you think it's the Uchiha who sent it to you?" She quizzed as she inspected the letter thoroughly. At the mention of Sakura's boyfriend, Hinata nodded,

"Maybe it was Sasuke-san who wrote this… The content of the letters sound very intimate after all." She pointed out and the Ino and Karin nodded their heads in agreement. Sakura shook her head,

"I don't think so; Sasuke-kun isn't really the type to do something like this…" She rationalised before she added 'he's much too shy' in her head. It was then that the school bell rang; the girls decided to put the incident to the back of their heads, at least until they had more time to ponder over it.

xxx

"Alright class, we'll be having a pop quiz today!" The teacher announced cheerfully as the students groaned in unison. Sakura opened her pencil case to grab a pen when she noticed a small origami star in it. Curious, she opened it up, only to softly gasp in surprise as she read the contents.

"Dearest Sakura, you are the epitome of Spring; so delicate and pure. I would love to envelope my arms around you to keep you safe from danger."

Her pink brows furrowed and the edges of her lips tilted slightly downwards. This just confirmed that it wasn't Sasuke sending; this wasn't his speech…She heard the teacher coming towards her and she quickly scrunched the paper up before slipping it into her pocket of her skirt. She'll have to find a way to deal with her mysterious admirer as soon as possible…

xxx

The lunch bell rang and a group of students came up to where Sakura was seated,

"Sakura-san, thank you so much for your baking tips! My family absolutely loved the cookies that I made this time around!" A girl grinned widely.

"Haruno-san, thank you for resolving the conflict between the baseball and tennis club before things got too out of hand!" The captain of the tennis club bowed. There was chatter around her and Sakura couldn't find any excuse to politely get away from them. Luckily, she didn't have to…

The crowd suddenly parted as they felt an intense aura; like the sea Moses parted, Uchiha Sasuke strode confidently towards Sakura and Sakura felt an urge to laugh out loud at the image before her. Sasuke stopped in front of her; the chatter around them died down as everyone silently looked on,

"Sakura…" Sasuke started in his deep voice and a few students swooned, guys included. Sasuke offered a hand which Sakura gratefully took,

"Let's have lunch before we start patrolling." He suggested as he pulled her up from her seat. She shot him a grateful smile as they made their way towards the cafeteria; leave it to Sasuke to come to her aid. They got their meals and sat at their usual table; some of their friends already there. The Head Prefect, Uzumaki Naruto waved at them from where he was slurping a big bowl of steaming ramen. He swallowed,

"Hey, guys! I was wondering what took you so long!" He exclaimed brightly while beside him, Hinata politely took small bites out of her own meal. Sakura waved back and took a seat on Naruto's other side. Naruto gave his two prefects a look,

"So, how's the investigation coming along? You found the source of the distribution yet?" He inquired as he waved his chopsticks in the air. Sasuke shook his head,

"Kawata Hiro and his gang never received from the source itself. We found that many of the students had unknowingly became mules for the substance to be passed around. We're currently tracing it back to the source… but there is suspicion that the Chemistry teacher, Orochimaru, might be the mastermind behind all of this." Sasuke explained in a lowered tone and Naruto nodded in understanding. Hinata decided that the cafeteria wasn't the best place to be discussing confidential information; so she changed the subject,

"Sakura-san, did you figure out who was it then sent you the letter? Was it Uchiha-san who sent it?" She tilted her head to the side in curiosity. Sakura shook her head as Sasuke stared at her in surprise,

"No, I still have no clue as to where those letters came from. However, I can tell you for certain that it wasn't Sasuke-kun who sent them." She explained. Naruto held up his hand,

"Wait a moment Sakura-chan. What are you talking about? What letter? What does it have to not do with the teme over her?" He gestured towards Sasuke who nodded in agreement. Sakura bit her bottom lip,

"Well, I found a letter addressed to me hidden in my bag during gym period… and the sender is anonymous." She brought out the letter for them to have a look through. Hinata pushed forward,

"How do you know that it wasn't Uchiha-san who sent it to you?" She quizzed. Naruto, who had read the content of the first letter blanched at his girlfriend's question,

"Hinata-chan, I can't imagine the teme writing such sweet words! Gahh, the horror! I don't want to imagine it!" He wailed which earned him a bonk to the head from the Uchiha himself. Sakura decided to ignore Naruto for a while,

"I'm certain that it isn't him… Because I received another letter; in my pencil case this time, right before the pop quiz started." She answered Hinata as she produced the crumpled paper from her pocket. Sasuke reached for the letter and quickly read through it. He frowned at the nature of it then turned towards Sakura,

"You're not so delicate that you need me too wrap my arms around you for protection." He voiced out. Sakura clasped her hands together in front of her,

"Right?" She agreed with him. Naruto snatched the paper from Sasuke's grasp. He and Hinata peered over it, only for Naruto to make a face of disgust. Hinata looked at Sakura,

"Doesn't it feel a bit creepy? I mean, it's like he has access to your belongings and all. Plus, the second letter feels even more private than the first…" She voiced her concerns. Sakura stared ahead in determination,

"I'll catch him in the act and I'll put a stop to this. It feels weird that my privacy can be violated like this… I don't like it." She admitted as she wrapped her arms around herself. Sasuke placed an assuring hand ono her shoulder,

"I'll help you as well as I can, Sakura." He promised and she nodded in appreciation. Glancing at her watch, she was shocked to see that almost twenty minutes had passed by. She started taking large bites of her sandwich and Naruto looked at her curiously,

"What's the rush, Sakura-chan?" He asked concern clear on his face. Sakura gestured towards her watch,

"Sasuke-kun and I have patrols today. We have only a few minutes left before it starts!" She informed him as Sasuke started chowing down on his rice beside her. Naruto laughed nervously, the Disciplinary Group took their jobs quite seriously…

xxx

A few days passed by uneventfully as Sakura and Sasuke failed to catch her elusive admirer. She only found more notes in her shoe locker, in between the pages of her textbook and even her locker. The notes were progressively getting creepier and more intense. Her 'admirer' talked about his undying love for her, how much he would sacrifice for her and other bullshit. The final straw was when she was checking out a book in the library when a note fell from its pages. Sakura freaked out and immediately rounded the corner of the bookshelves in search of the culprit; he might have just slipped it in after all… But there wasn't a single person that was close enough to her. She stared at the book nervously, it seemed like her stalker knew her better than herself.

It was the day after that Sasuke noticed the dark circles around Sakura's eyes. She had trouble sleeping since she was paranoid that her stalker might appear at her window of her room or even creep silently into her room as she slept. Concerned, Sasuke sent his girlfriend to the nurse's office for some much needed sleep while he continued with their patrols. Sakura had fought against it before her need for sleep overpowered her paranoia. Sasuke had even assured her that he'll be back soon, besides, the nurse was there in case anything happened. The nurse had a matter to attend to and she left Sakura alone in the office. Fast asleep, Sakura never noticed the figure that sneaked into the room…

Sasuke was patrolling the halls when goose bumps appeared on his arm. Caught unaware, he stopped and immediately headed towards the nurse's office where Sakura was. He fervently hoped that she was safe…

The curtains that surrounded the bed were pushed aside, revealing Sakura's sleeping form. The figure grinned,

"Oh, Sakura. You look so beautiful lying there… How I wish to wake up to this sight every morning." A male voice whispered. He pushed a strand of her pink hair away from her face and she frowned in her sleep. The figure chuckled,

"Here you are, so defenceless. You really need someone to protect you, someone like me who will devote everything to you. Not like that wolf of yours… The Uchiha has his own work to do; he has no time for you…" He smirked. The figure bent forward, his eyes closed and his lips puckered. His lips were about to touch hers when a hand grabbed him at the shoulders and stopped him short. He opened his eyes in shock and met angry green eyes; Sakura pushed as hard as she could from where she laid on the bed, and sent him stumbling through the curtains and into the wall.

Her stalker curled up from the pain that spread throughout his body. Sakura whipped the blankets from her and snarled in his direction,

"Stay away from me! Who the hell are you anyways?!" She yelled at him. He uncurled and sent a lecherous smile from under his brown hair in her direction,

"The name's Abe Yuuto, my precious Sakura. It was me who sent you those love letters." He confessed as he rubbed his shoulders. Sakura stood up and got into a stance,

"Well, can you stop that? It's extremely uncomfortable, and I would like you to stay away from me." She scolded him. Yuuto shrugged as he stood up too,

"It is my freedom of speech, is it not? It is but my declaration of love for you, precious Sakura. There is no such rule in the school handbook that says I am prohibited from sending you letters of love!" He declared as he charged towards her. Sakura was about to stop him when a foot swiped at Yuuto's leg from beneath him. Yuuto stumbled and fell face first into the floor. Behind him, Uchiha Sasuke pulled his arms back and placed a firm feet on Yuuto's back.

"I'll be sure to change the rules inside the school handbook as soon as possible then." Sasuke snarled into Yuuto's ear. He tugged at Yuuto's arm which caused the poor boy to whimper in pain,

"I beg of you, Uchiha! Spare me!" Yuuto pleaded pathetically; snot and tears messed up his face. Sakura kneeled in front of Yuuto and lifted his chin with a finger,

"He'll let you go when you promise to never harass me or anyone like that ever again. Are we clear?" She instructed. Sasuke tightened his grip on Yuuto's arms,

"That's too light of a punishment. He should have his arms broken so that he wouldn't write disgusting shit like that anymore." He growled out. Sakura shook her head,

"No, let him go once he promises. I have the perfect job for him." She schemed deviously; her eyes sparkled with uncontained glee. Yuuto whimpered at the she-devil that was in front of him,

"I promise to never do anything like this anymore. Please, I'll do anything for you! Just tell the Uchiha to let me go, I can't feel my arms anymore!" He cried. Satisfied, Sakura nodded her head at Sasuke who reluctantly let him go. He rubbed at his arms,

"What do you need me to do?" He voiced out nervously. Sakura smiled widely,

"Based on personal experience, you have quite the skill in sneaking around… From now on, you'll be working directly under Sasuke and I. We want you to use your skills to spy on a certain Chemistry teacher, Orochimaru. Think you can do it?" She proposed. Eyes wide, Yuuto could only nod his head in affirmation. Sakura grinned at him,

"Don't think you can escape though. Once we've seen you, Sasuke and I would be able to find you, Yuuto, wherever you may be." Sakura promised. Yuuto gulped before he scurried away. Sasuke helped Sakura out,

"When did you plan all this?" He asked as he visibly checked her for injuries. Sakura brushed her skirt down,

"Just only, really. Well, he was really good at sneaking around. We couldn't even find him, you know?!" She cried out as she waved her hands in the air. Sasuke caught her hand and inspected the fingers that she used to lift Yuuto's chin,

"You might want to get that disinfected, Sakura." He advised her. Sakura laughed before she pulled him into a hug.

~Up next, Day 22~