Summary:
Sakura Haruno started college one month ago. Far from home, far from everyone. Hoping she can spice up her boring life while she pursues her goals and dreams. She has had one single crush her entire life and she left it behind as well.
But now she has a new crush.
A boy in her art class.
She wants him to spice up her life.
Him or well others might suffice too
Author's Notes:
This fic was originally inspired by "Art Class" by Beabadoobee.
It's a story about Sakura as a college girl, ready to explore her love life and sexuality and dealing with receiving the attention she did not have in high school. It contains mature content like strong language, nsfw and smoking.
Art Class 1
Sakura has known since she was 15 that she wanted to become a doctor because she wishes to follow the steps of her favorite person, the woman who saved her from her ordinary life and taught her women can do what they set their minds into.
She has loving and caring fathers but they are stuck in a different time. They expect Sakura to sit still and look pretty and go to college only as a means to find a rich, successful husband. They are proud she wants to be a doctor but they don't see the point of why put so much effort. She hates to admit this but she feels like her older friend Tsunade is more like a mother to her than her family. She will never say it out loud.
She started college and decided to take her first year introductory courses and general subjects while she adjusted to her new life. In her determination to be the greatest she can and not depending on everyone. She picked the best and furthest university from home and she has always been a great student but high school is nothing compared to this type of pressure and living alone is difficult too.
She always helped around her house however her mom did all the work and when she came home there was always a warm plate of food and she didn't need to do a thousand chores. But now most days she is too tired for everything so she has a basket of dirty laundry piling up and other details she really needs to take care of and she should eat healthy but popping off some frozen pizza in the microwave was so much easier. And she was tired all the time.
Her parents helped her with part of the rent and the university gave her a full scholarship along with a maintenance, she received a monthly check for expenses and still she barely made meet ends if she wanted to go out for lunch with friends or maybe one night go out, or if she liked some cute clothes or any other non-necessity expenses, she really had to scrap for it.
She is thinking of getting a half time job and she believes herself capable but deep down everytime is overwhelming. But she will not sit still and look pretty as a trophy wife. She cannot even afford the risk, no way she could pull a trophy wife thing. So she needs to manage first year of college with a half time job if she expects to be successful and this is good practice for the future where she gets more on her plate.
More details to know about her is that she has pink hair. Yes natural pink hair and brows and the hair that grows in the rest of her body is pink as well. She was called a freak as a kid and other kids made fun of her. And other mothers would throw a judging look at her parents because they thought they dyed the hair of a little girl.
So when growing up you receive weird looks from everyone and you become pretty self conscious of your physique. So you spend extra time caring for yourself, the morning routine and the night routine and do not miss a day of workout because you are already a freak so follow as many social and beauty norms as you can.
And that is exhausting too.
Also she has been in love with Uchiha Sasuke her whole life. His whole family was beautiful. You could almost believe they were not human. But she was not popular back home and he was. And he was the hottest guy her age and she was the weird pink hair girl. And her family was middle class and he was the richest family in town.
So her crush went unanswered for years. She had an I 3 Uchiha Sasuke carved under the mattress and probably entire notebooks dedicated to writing his love for him. So pathetic. Yet he was the exception she thought. She knew since she met Tsuande she wanted to leave her town. But there was one who could make her stay. Someone who could make her play the happy wife role because he would be enough.
But that's just a daydream.
But not everything is bad. People didn't give her a weird look for her hair here and she met this one girl on the first day, a tall beautiful blonde with rocking body and dazzling personality who basically took her under her wing and now she is kind of popular so one month of college in and the good and the bad were balanced.
And she has even been asked out on a date but she refused because they were not her type.
She had one type only. And she needed to let it go. But again he could have made her stay and sometimes she wonders if he could make her go most nights she wonders if he even knows her name.
But there was someone else. An exception. Someone who made her giggle to herself. And who makes her give quick glances at him.
She takes an art class twice a week. Every Monday and every Friday at 10 am, she doesn't know his name and she is too scared to ask and he doesn't hang around with anyone, at least not in that class, he actually has a bored look all the time and looks like he is lost in his own thoughts.
He was not here the first two weeks, so he missed half of his classes. But for four days, he has been her favorite part of the day. And she knows nothing would happen but at least it makes her excited just the idea of daydreaming about someone new and having a blank canvas. He can be whoever she wants to be in her fantasies.
But she didn't fantasize much far away from her reality. He was tall, handsome, mysterious. Black hair and dark brown eyes, a small beard that she thinks he could do without but didn´t take away his beauty, his marked cheeks and pretty nose. His complexity was slim but he always wore sweaters or jackets that were too big for him so she didn't have an exact idea of what he would look like with proper clothes. And he was sitting all the time so she didn´t have a proper full look but it didn't matter. His face, so beautiful, so perfect.
And today was a Monday at 9:58 am and he had not arrived. Will he skip again? He has missed half his classes already and it's just the first month. She knew she didn't like that, she was a good student and a people pleaser and she would rather die than miss class or have a bad grade. She is a teacher´s pet and she knows that and is happy with that personality trait. She is smart and she would take advantage of it at school.
The teacher arrived early and she asked to move the desks around so everyone could sit on the floor and form a circle. They were going to discuss the poem book she left over the weekend about feelings and art expression and literary movements through history that related to each poem.
She was not an artsy person like that. She liked music and considered herself a bit of a cinephile but when it came to poems and novels, she didn't have much to think about, she liked romantic novels with over dramatic characters and steamy scenes, and paintings and sculptures were the same.
A few minutes passed and everyone was sitting on the floor, everyone but her crush.
Crush.
What a word, she cannot believe one month away and she had a crush other than Sasuke. She only liked one boy for her whole life and now she likes another one. And she didn't care about dating or heartbreaks, just the thrill of liking someone new was enough.
But she didn't know his name and she only saw him two hours a week and that's if he decides to show up and looks like her week already began on the wrong foot.
But just right then, the door opened and there he was. Olive green sweater that matched his tan skin and brown eyes and black jeans. Sitting on the floor she had a different point of view. He looked even taller and more attractive, she knew she was taking the opportunity to admire those legs. Just like the sweater, those jeans were a bit loose but he had thick thighs. Sakura was a leg woman. Sasuke was in the baseball team in high school so she spent many days looking at him wearing those tight baseball pants.
God bless hot men in tight uniforms, she said to herself as a small parenthesis.
He made an irritated face looking at the rest of the class sitting on the floor, this is the most expressive she has seen him and that made her smile. Sasuke was always moody and kind of nasty and always rolling his eyes and it was a bit rude. But with her new crush it was the opposite, she wanted to roll her eyes too and say "same", she also thought this was a dumb activity.
And then holy shit she thought, the thought of his body still lingered in her mind that it took her a few seconds to realize the fundamental truths.
One, he was sitting right in front of her, he was leaning on the two arms behind him, one leg extended and the other with his knee raised. The rest of the class were cross legged but he was taking his space, spread to his own comfort and Sakura was thankful for the view. Time to look away before she starts to blush or start getting non safe for class thoughts.
But before she looked away, she got one more look. And that's when she noticed the second thing and she cannot believe it was not the first thing she noticed.
He shaved.
Oh god was Sakura right, she bit her cheek to stop herself from smiling. He did not need that beard at all, she was now seeing the most gorgeous guy she has ever seen. Funny, the beard made him look like a boy but with a clean face, he was a man.
How can she look once and then look away when he just came looking like that and she won't see him again until the end of the week, if he decides to come.
She had a crush on Sasuke for so long and she still likes him but after years the routine becomes tiring and the realization nothing would happen becomes clear. So it has actually been years since she felt this way. This excitement. Heart beating fast, blush rushing, all that.
She was struggling to concentrate in class because all her efforts went to not look at him and to not smile like crazy, it is ridiculous how one single shave could make her body react like that.
He was her crush, she has lowkey thirsting over him for weeks but right now, with his pretty face and pretty figure.
She knew she was fucked.
She wanted him.
She would never do anything about it.
And now it was not a little girl crush, she was now older, a woman, just turned eighteen and those hormones and those needs and that curiosity was kicking harder each passing day.
And she wanted him.
She would never do anything about it, though.
He doesn't even know her and she wont start the conversation.
"Say my name and I´ll pick out the date, '' she said to herself.
She was convinced if he made the first move, if he even talked to her. She would make it happen.
But he doesn't care and he probably doesn't know she exists and he is always with that boring sexy look of his and he probably thinks he could be somewhere else doing something more exciting.
But if he doesn't do something, she won't.
She thought please let him say my name, please let him ask me how I am.
Will someone ask her prayer?
Looking at him and the thrill he gives her, when the teacher called her name and asked her thoughts on the poem on page 34, she smiled. It was a joke to her that she gets to answer this one. A two century year old poem about a girl in love with a boy who only stares from far away.
She looked at the teacher and could not help to look quickly at him for inspiration.
She blew this impressionable art teacher away with her answer.
She only wished she could thank his art boy properly.
Maybe another day.
But only if he talks to her first.
Shikamaru has known his whole life he would follow his father's steps. Not that he did have much of a choice and it's not what he really wanted to do but there was not a second option either. So this was the easy path. He comes from an important family of politicians and advisors that are the right hands of governors and presidents; some are the brain behind big corporations. His father was the right hand of every politician that has set a foot in the big office for the past twenty years.
And once he graduates, he will get a nice job and go up the ranks because of his last name. He didn't ask for it but the opportunity was there and was too lazy to seek other paths.
So he came to study at his dad's university, majoring in political science and then a post grade in law school or something like that. He doesn't really care, his father will make sure he is in the right class.
For now he is enjoying the few months of freedom of having stupid filler classes and enjoying living alone for the first time and well he doesn't really have to worry about everything.
He understands his privilege and the comfort his name and money brings, and he is thankful for it. He can't understand how less fortunate people work so much and still enjoy life. He barely enjoys it. He wasn't miserable, he was just annoyed all the time. Is this it? For 50 more years and then death? That's the question in his head every time he was bored or annoyed which was pretty much often.
He likes to spend his time just looking at clouds. Hours go by without a single thought, just laying on the ground in some random park, looking at clouds.
He had missed several classes already because he lost track of time. And had been scolded by the director that he wouldn't let pass more misconducts. Aware that probably 98% of the students would have been kicked out of the school already.
His dad called him and just told him to put more effort. That's why in his third week of school he finally followed his schedule. Starting with a dumb art class. Why did dad pick this up? Probably looks good from some political point of view.
He arrived earlier than everyone and took a nap before the class started. He was awakened by annoying loud voices and laughs. A group of girls walked in giggling and saying things to each other's ears.
Pretty girls but he didn't care. So he was going back to sleep again until something caught his eye. Cotton candy flowing around. That was ridiculous of course it wasn't that. No, it was something more ridiculous, pink hair.
That caught his attention, it was ridiculously beautiful. That's an adjective he rarely uses. Beautiful pink hair. That put a smile on his face. The owner of the cotton candy hair was the shortest of the group so her taller friends were blocking Shikamaru's view.
But he waited. He was curious. It was rare that something would catch his attention like that. And he knew it so at that moment, there was nothing more important but to see her face.
The girls were pretty, typical rich girls with blonde hair and nice clothes and nice bodies. It was common. But pink hair was rare, and beautiful. Was the owner as beautiful? As rare?
Minutes passed of them standing there. He was anxious to see her face. And finally the teacher arrived so they all went to find a place to sit. She took the furthest seat from where they were standing, meaning she was walking right towards him.
And his instinct didn't betray him. The hair was as beautiful as her owner. She was walking, looking down, timid and nervous, like she was not a social girl, like she didn't fit in with her friends.
She was short and tiny and was wearing a red skirt that reached her knees, leaving exposed legs so good that it looked like they go for miles, something that made Shikamaru laugh at the irony of her short height. She was wearing an oversize light pink sweater, matching her hair. And her brows and her long eyelashes. Was it natural? His eyes went down to his legs again, from her feet to where the skirt started. He laughed thinking that's a good way to find out other thanks just asking.
She approached the seat one row under him, and placed her backpack and the notebook she was carrying without sitting. And then she looked right back at him, their eyes met and her gaze went wide. Surprised someone was there.
And damn, forget the hair, those eyes. He thought. Green beautiful eyes, staring at him entering his soul. He could get lost in the waves of her green eyes. He almost missed the rest of her face.
She was a piece of art. And in fact she was rare. Unique perhaps. No other girl could stand against her. No other girl has caught his attention like this before. He wanted to spend hours looking at her like she was a cloud.
He never told this to anyone but he wishes to be a cloud. Just soft water droplets tied together floating in the sky. Free, with no thoughts and no responsibilities and not expectations and nothing else to do but just exist freely.
But right now he wanted more than just to be a cloud. He wanted to memorize her. Every part of her. Find what makes her unique.
There's thousand of clouds in the sky. She was the only first pink hair girl with green ocean eyes he has ever seen.
And just like her beautiful hair and her mesmerizing eyes. The rest of her face was beautiful, rare, and unique.
He felt time stopped to let him appreciate her, and he was thankful for that second that felt like a minute. It was more than he could ask for before she took her seat and gave him her back.
And once again he had only her hair to look out. Long, shiny, pink silk threads. He spent the entire class looking at her hair, like he looked at clouds.
The next class he arrived earlier than everyone again. Because if she will sit in front of him again, he won't have many opportunities to look at her face again, unless she walks to the seat. She arrived a few minutes later, alone.
She was walking extremely slowly with a book open in her hands, lost in whatever she was reading, a few pages left. Her eyes looked sad, she looked like she was about to cry. Did her favorite character just die? Or was she sad for something else? Or for someone? He wanted to ask but he didn't. He was not an action man, he was happy to stand by and just look around. He was happy with just the view of her. But she was again wearing a skirt, tennis skirt style, shorter than last time and his curiosity sparked again. His one million dollar question was her pink hair natural. Maybe he should act for once.
When she took her seat, she was so focused in her book she didn't even notice him. And he kept staring at her. He wishes she would sit one seat to the left so he could see her face again. But it will do for now. Pink silk threads were quickly becoming a competition to clouds.
She finished her book and turned around to grab something from her backpack and that's when she noticed him. And once again she blessed him with that face and that surprised look, those big eyes of her were ridiculously pretty. No, pretty was too common for her. And they were reddish from the end of the book.
And then she smiled, a timid small smile, a dimple forming in her right cheek. And it sent his head spinning. She became a cloud threatening to storm over him.
He didn't react though.
And she grabbed a tissue from her backpack to wipe her eyes and put the book back into her backpack and turned around. Then her group of friends arrived, the tall blonde called her name.
Sakura.
Unique name for a unique girl.
Ridiculous name for a girl with ridiculous pink hair.
The next week, he arrived late and the classroom was full and he had to sit away from her. He was upset he lost his favorite view, he only managed to see a few strings but people kept moving blocking his view. Ruining the class.
But the universe was fair and paid him back. For a third time he was late, cursing. He had tried to go to his favorite spot but he got lost in thought sometimes.
When he arrived, he found the entire classroom sitting on the floor for a ridiculous activity. He rolled his eyes and sat on the floor like the rest and then he realized his fortune.
Sakura.
She was sitting right across from him. And she was looking at him. Those green eyes were darker. What was she thinking of?
He was wondering if she was actually watching him or something else. She spent the entire day throwing quick glances at him. But no way they were for him. Does she even know my name? Does she even know I exist? Why would she know? They've never talked and he was not a social person, he had one friend back home and none here and he didn't care so no one really knew him. And not like she would go around asking for the creepy boy that stares at her in her stupid art class.
But he swore he saw her blush once or twice and when she participated he thought her answer was directed at him. Ridiculous.
And he won't find out because he was good with just staring at her. He can live with just that.