Sakura sat in the front row of Iruka-sensei's class; eyes filled with frustrated tears that threatened to fall at any moment. Ino was no longer her best friend. She clenched her fists in frustration as their fight played over and over in her head as she absentmindedly reached up to touch the ribbon that had helped her gain confidence in herself, unable to take it off.
The childish part of her wanted Ino to see it. For her to see that she was brave enough to keep it on, even though it had symbolized the start of what she had hoped was a friendship that would have lasted a lifetime. In reality, she couldn't imagine herself without it. It was the pivotal moment in her life to try to accept her 'billboard brow' as the other mean girls had dubbed it, but now she realizes it was also Ino by her side that had given her newfound confidence.
Saskue-kun had come between them. She risked a peek over at him to find him staring out the window as usual. She couldn't help the heat rising in her cheeks as she internally squealed, "Sasuke-kun is so cool!" she thought excitedly. She was floored when Ino had declared that she was also competing for his affection only a few days prior, all of which Sakura had spent just like this, trying to hold herself together in class.
The world felt like it was crumbling around her. She knew that she didn't have a chance against Ino. She was everything Sakura wasn't. The only thing she had going for her was her test scores at the academy putting her firmly at the top of their class, much to Sasuke's chagrin. She resumed looking down at her desk, trying to read the words on the test sheet through blurry eyes that had been passed around at the start of class.
She had obviously long finished it, but she enjoyed re-reading her work just in case there was something she got wrong. A Question she could have expanded upon to show off how much she had been reading and how diligently she paid attention in class. Though, it wouldn't make her feel better as after the allotted time had passed, they would be outside sparring. Her Taijutsu was awful, she thought bitterly. That was another reason why despite desperately wanting to make amends with Ino, she couldn't. She was her competition now, not only in love but also in the academy.
Sakura didn't possess any special jutsu's as she didn't come from a clan, nor would she develop a bloodline limit. She was only eight and still had five years before they graduated the academy and were placed on their first Genin teams, but at the rate she was going, she didn't know that even if she passed the academy, she would live to reach fourteen. That thought finally caused a few loose tears to slide down her cheeks, leaving a couple of tiny droplets on her paper.
"Sakura-chan, is everything ok?". A quiet voice above her broke her out of her melancholy as she realized Iruka-sensei had approached her desk and she felt his hand gently land on her shoulder.
"Y-Yes." She managed to stammer out, far louder than necessary as she saw a few heads in the class swivel her way and eyes boring into her back that could only have been Ino's. "I'm just not feeling well Iruka-sensei." She lied.
He looked at her a moment before sighing. Sakura had been taking lunch alone in the classroom for the past few days and he had noticed the increasing tension and iciness between the girls. He observed this kind of thing happen multiple times a year, every year, with different students during his time as a teacher. Sakura was an excellent student, and he was confident she would figure this out on her own and wouldn't allow this to affect her grades. He grabbed her paper and flipped through it quickly. "If you're finished Sakura-chan you may go to the nurse, but I expect you back before we start our sparring lesson."
That's right, she thought. She didn't want to give Ino the satisfaction of watching her leave the class, knowing she would think that she was the reason for it. She quickly mulled over the idea of escape, even if it would be a short-lived breath of air, but in the end sheepishly whispered, "It's ok sensei."
Ino wouldn't have left.
He gave her shoulder one last squeeze as he walked back to his desk, keeping an eye the entire time on the other student's, mostly Naruto, who kept trying to contort his body into unnatural positions for the slightest peek of another classmate's test. Berating him would do nothing Sakura thought, he was always a nuisance in class. Usually, she might turn and give him an unimpressed glare that he would mirror with that cheeky grin of his, but she wasn't in the mood, and she didn't want to give Iruka-sensei an excuse to chastise her for turning around in her seat. She also didn't want to risk making eye contact with Ino-pig. The nickname felt childish, but she didn't care.
She spent the remaining ten or so minute's doing her best to be invisible, hoping that she wouldn't be paired up with anyone that might want to show off their skills on her poorly trained body for the amusement of the class. Finally, Iruka-sensei signalled for pens to be put down, grumbles echoing through the class, the loudest of all being Kiba's and Naruto's. Protests that they needed more time went unanswered as tests were collected and they were signaled to go outside. That lit a fire under them as they obviously hadn't been paying attention when Iruka-sensei had outlined what they would be doing that day.
Sakura dejectedly made to follow her more excited classmates, dragging her feet the entire time when a small voice from behind startled her.
"Sakura-chan, if you are feeling unwell, perhaps I could lend you some of my clan's medicinal herbs." It was Shino Aburame. The very last person in the class she expected to speak to her. She mentally corrected herself as Sasuke-kun and the shyest girl in their class, Hinata Hyuga, flashed through her mind. She turned to face Shino fully, shyly keeping her eyes downcast as she mumbled her appreciation but as politely as she could, declined.
The taller, quieter boy had always intimidated her. At first it was the dark round sunglasses covering his eyes and his sea-green jacket's high upturned collar covering his mouth, but after spending time with Ino who had a deep hatred for all things creepy and crawly, that too had soured her perception of him. She had never so much as spoken a word to him and he was kind enough to approach her, even though she's sure that he must have sensed hostility from most of the girls in the class.
She flashed him her smallest sincere smile but received no reaction as he moved past her, leaving her to be the last one to reach the sparring circle outside. Well, she thought, not the last. She had moved faster when she heard Iruka-sensei chewing out a sleepy Shikamaru who had breezed through the test and spent the rest of the time napping.
Sparring went exactly as she thought it would. She was bruised and embarrassed and it really didn't feel fair that Iruka-sensei had partnered her up against Sasuke-kun. For a brief moment she was giddy that she had his full attention on her, forming her unison sign and watching him do the same. Those feelings were short lived as the match started and he was flying at her.
She barely managed to dodge the first kick he sent flying towards the side of her head but the force behind it left her off-balanced and allowed him to land four solid rapid succession hits on her torso with his fists. She had gasped for breath, trying to put some distance between them but her legs were suddenly out from under her, and she hit the ground hard enough to bring fresh tears to her eyes. Sasuke-kun sneered down at her, hand pointed towards her throat as though he was holding an imaginary kunai.
Iruka-Sensei called the end of the match, and she could hear Ino and the other girls giggling, gushing about his incredible win. Kiba's mean spirited joke that it was the fastest spar in history, Naruto coming to her defense with "You'll get that teme next time Sakura-kun! I'll fight him for you!" and finally, barely audible over the blood rushing in her ears and her labored breathing, Sasuke-kun.
"Pathetic." He muttered. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. She finally managed to sit up and Ino was smirking at her as the girls tried their best to get as close as Sasuke-kun as possible. Her smirk fell slightly at whatever she must have seen on Saukra's face. She must have looked as devastated as she felt, Sakura thought defeatedly.
Ino 1; Sakura 0.
She had put on a brave face all week, willing herself not to show any weakness in front of Ino and it was all for nothing. A small part of her mind reminded her that it wasn't Ino's fault, that the only person she had to blame was herself for not trying harder in Taijutsu lessons, but that was easier said than done. The red ribbon Ino had gifted her was pulled from her hair and was lying in the dirt before she even knew what she was doing. She angrily rose to her feet, making sure to grind it into the dirt with her heel and somehow, through the tears and the shame, rejoined the group of students.
She vaguely heard Iruka-sensei giving her pointers on how she could have handled the spar better, but she could barely hear him, thankfully he moved his attention on from her quickly as the next spar between Kiba and Naruto was called. She tuned out the two boy's goading each other on and all the noise that accompanies a much longer spar. For the first time since joining the academy, she couldn't wait for the day to be over, and she stubbornly kept her head down until Iruka-sensei signaled the end of the day and she was one of the first to reach the classroom and grab her bag to flee as fast as humanly possible.
Sasuke-kun's remark played over and over in her head, accompanied by the expression Ino had been wearing. She couldn't stop the tears this time. Her whole body racked with sobs as she had to make a detour to the girl's bathroom in fear of anyone seeing her. She was all alone in the academy now and it was her own fault. She had put her obsession with Sasuke over her one and only friend in the world. She would have to get used to it, there was no way she would be able to repair her friendship with Ino at this point, nor did she want to, she thought sadly. Not after what she had been through outside. She wouldn't let her win.
Sasuke-kun's comment was harder to ignore.
"He didn't mean it," she said quietly. It sounded like a lie even to her own ears, but the alternative was too much to bear thinking about.
When she had finally calmed down, she took a tentative peek outside of the bathroom and sighed in relief that she must be the only student left and could leave without the embarrassment of anyone seeing her. As she neared the academy's gates, that relief soured as her eyes fell upon Shino once again. He was leaning casually against a wall and there was no mistaking that he had been waiting for her.
Despite how rude she knew she was being; she tried her best to beeline past him before he could talk to her again. She didn't think she could keep the lie up any longer considering the mess she had glanced in the bathroom mirror as she was leaving it. She made it approximately 10 feet past him when he spoke unexpectedly.
"I can help you with your Taijutsu."
She stopped in her tracks. Surely, she had heard him wrong. She made what she assumed to be eye contact with the bug wielder and asked quietly, "What are you talking about Shino-chan?"
Silence.
Sakura shifted nervously from one foot to the other, a sinking feeling in her stomach that maybe the reserved boy was making fun of her before he cut off her train of thought.
"I have access to my clan's training ground. On top of that, I am also taught privately by members of my clan. You don't have that luxury."
Sakura's face burned. It was almost unheard of for a Aburame clan member to invite civilians into their compound due to the negative opinion of them from villagers. Even Ino's family wouldn't allow Sakura to use their training ground while her father privately trained her. They were both quiet for a long time before Sakura finally asked, "Why?"
"Why? Because I want to." Sakura stared at him.
"What do you want in return?" she asked hesitantly.
"Nothing." Shino replied quietly. Then followed up with, "Unless it would make you feel better to assist me with some of our theory work."
Sakura thought that he almost looked hurt at her question, as hurt as the skin she could see of his face could be at least, but the slight slump of his posture gave him away.
"Yes please!" She blurted out as she took a handful of hasty steps towards him. He almost recoiled at her swift advance before nodding slightly and turning his head away from her.
"Tomorrow after the academy lets out, you may accompany me to my compound. I will work everything out with my father tonight." Before Sakura could get another word in, he was already walking away from her. She stared at his retreating figure for a long time before releasing the breath she had been holding.
A smile came to her face as she couldn't help but hope this was another turning point in her life, the start of a more confident, and more importantly, competent Sakura. The smile stayed on her face all the way back to her home.
Tomorrow is a new day.