Boy meets Girl.
Chapter 2
Sakura walked into tutor, a little later than usual. Her alarm had failed to go off this morning, and so she was set back half an hour in her usual routine.
She went to take a seat, when her tutor teacher called her to his desk.
"So did Sasuke settle in alright yesterday?" he asked.
Sakura felt her insides squirm nervously, what if he found out? "Um, yeah it wasn't too difficult. He seemed alright with it."
Her teacher smiled, "Excellent, and he found his classes ok?"
She hesitated slightly, about to answer, when another, lower, voice cut through. "I did. She was very helpful."
Sakura swivelled round in surprise. Sasuke appeared to also have arrived late. He stood behind her, looking as god-like as he had yesterday. Sakura scrabbled around in her brain for something to add, settling on a remark full of intelligence.
"Er…..yeah."
Then the bell went and predictably everyone raced for the door. Sakura waited until the morning rush had subsided and slowly dragged herself to her locker. Her stomach twisted and turned, again, when she saw Sasuke was already there. She determinedly calmed herself, willing herself a) not to stare too long and b) not to say anything else that made her sound mentally incompetent.
When she began her combination lock, she had to revise (b) and change it not talking at all. Sakura didn't trust herself to say anything of sense in his proximity. She silently went about gathering the right books, for her first class; English Literature.
Then she heard a smooth voice from behind her locker door, "Not even a thank you? Yesterday you seemed much more polite."
As she closed her locker door, her eyes widened in surprise. She turned to look at the boy who'd just spoken. He was leaning casually, one arm holding a few books at his side, the other stuffed in his pocket. His expression was innocent, though Sakura could swear she saw an undertone of superiority.
He was baiting her.
"But you're already so independent," said Sakura condescendingly, "Classes and friends! Why on earth would you need my manners?"
"You're quite rude aren't you?" he said, sounding amused.
"I don't like being told what to do."
He only chuckled in response.
She didn't reply. His laughing irritated her. Sakura was annoyed at herself for sleeping in, on the second day of school. She also disliked the way he managed to unsettle her with so little effort. Usually she was pretty calm. And her heart just refused to slow down…..
She was comforted by the fact that when he left her brain would resume normal functioning.
But hang on…why was he still walking with her? Then she saw his books and she answered her own question. Fabulous, he was in her English Lit class.
When they arrived to class, their trend it seemed for the day, they found that most of the class had already arrived. Sakura looked at the teacher and saw he was new. He had grey hair that hung over one eye, his face was pleasant and when he greeted them both with a smile, Sakura found herself unable to avoid smiling back. Internally she was sighing in relief; at least her teacher wasn't a dragon.
"Ah, glad to see you could join us….." he said amiably, he trailed off, looking down at the attendance sheet, "Sakura is it?"
"Yeah." She replied, feeling a little vindictive she added. "Sasuke here got lost and I was showing him the way. That's why we were late."
Their teacher directed his attention to the taller figure beside her. "Ah, you must be new here. Like me," he said in a friendly tone.
Sasuke grunted out a response; annoyed he'd been sold out by Sakura. He gave her a look that said, Thanks.
"Why don't you sit here up the front? It might make it a little easier." their teacher suggested. He gestured to the spare desk in front of them. Sasuke tried not to look horrified at the thought when he saw that the seat was surrounded by girls, all of whom were staring at him like he was a piece of meat. Sakura stifled a snicker as she watched his expression subtlety change.
"Actually," corrected Sasuke, "Sakura was sort of assigned as my 'tour guide' for the week, so I'll just sit with her." The girls looked disappointed.
Sakura opened her mouth to object when Sasuke threw her a look. He shook his head ever so slightly and hissed, only so she could hear, "Don't you dare. I didn't sell you out."
Eventually she let out a sigh, and nodded to the teacher, to let him know it was true. The two students took the only other vacant seats at the back of the room.
Sakura sat rigidly throughout the entire lesson, very aware not to sit in a position that might result in her bumping Sasuke's elbow. Which was a task in it self, as he rested his chin on his folded hands on his desk; he was taking up more room than necessary. As their teacher, who they later found out was Mr. Hatake, but preferred to be called Kakashi, droned on, Sasuke spoke to Sakura quietly, so they weren't overheard.
"You have double standards."
"What?" she said shocked at not only what he'd said, but that he'd spoken at all.
"You have two sets of rules. One for you and another for everyone else." He clarified.
She scoffed impatiently at him. "I do not."
Sasuke raise an eyebrow. "You do. I played along with your cover-story and you couldn't even go along with mine. I bet you would have been shitty, if I'd told the truth to our tutor"
Sakura look dumbfounded for a moment. She hadn't even considered it from that perspective. Though not one to back down, she retorted, but with less conviction. "Rubbish."
Sasuke just looked at as though he thought otherwise.
"You didn't even think about it, did you?" he asked casually, though smug.
She turned her attention to the front of the room, ignoring him.
"Am I wrong?" he pressed.
Her silence was confirmation enough.
He smirked, "didn't think so."
Sakura didn't speak for the rest of the lesson. She didn't even look his way, which was hard to do, especially in the times she could feel his gaze on her.
When the double period was over, she sighed in relief. She would finally be able to get away from this infuriating pretty boy who thought it was his duty to give her moral advice and point out any inconsistencies. She bolted as quickly as she could from the classroom. She heard someone comment "She's in a hurry!" Hopefully, if she hurried she'd be able to get to her locker and grab her recess before he arrived.
Thankfully her plan went down without a hitch. She was sitting with her friends, before he'd even reached his locker.
There were four of them in their 'group'. Ino, Tenten, Hinata and herself, they'd been close friends for a few years. Ino, she had known since primary school and through the predictable re-shuffling of social groups of year 7, 8 and 9, Tenten and Hinata had joined to bring their numbers to four. Where Ino was loud and rambunctious, Hinata was shy and reserved. Tenten, in temperament was somewhere in between. She was not as easily rattled as Hinata, though did not feel the need to be loud, just for the sake of being loud, like Ino.
"Have any of you seen that new kid?" asked Ino, as she popped a malteaser in her mouth.
"Does he have black hair?" questioned Tenten, reaching over and grabbing a chocolate for herself.
"Yes." Answered Hinata quietly, "He's in my chemistry class. Our teacher loves him."
"Do you have Miss Que?"
Hinata nodded.
"She fawns over anything with testosterone," said Tenten dryly.
Hinata emitted a small giggle, while Ino laughed and said "I'm with Quey on this one. He is one hot piece of –" Tenten nudged her to shut it. Sakura saw her look over her shoulder warily.
Wondering why they were so worried, Sakura gave her opinion. They wouldn't be over-heard; he was most likely on the other side of the school with all the jocks.
"I think he's a idiot," said Sakura bluntly. They all turned to her. "He's in my tutor and he's the most annoying, -"
'Sakura –" began Hinata, quietly. But she would not be stopped.
"Pigheaded,"
"Sakura," warned Tenten, a little louder.
"Conceited, self-righteous prat I've ever met."
"I had no idea, you thought so much of me," drawled a velvety voice from behind her. Sakura's face drained of its entire colour as she turned around, very reluctantly to see Sasuke Uchiha standing not two feet away from her. He'd heard everything. She looked to see his expression and while she was expecting, a glare, maybe a sneer, she saw a smirk, maybe even a hint of a smile.
He thought she was funny.
"What do you want?" she said frostily, feeling very stupid.
"You left your diary in English, and I came to give it to you." He handed it to her.
As she took it, she looked around his body and saw that he was not alone. Naruto and Shikamaru stood behind him; they must have been waiting for him. She knew Naruto quite well, as they had gone to primary school together, and when she was in a tolerant mood, had a lot of time for him. Sakura had never had much to do with Shikamaru; she only knew him to be very intelligent and incredibly lazy. He was one of those people who were 'cool' but didn't really care either way. Naruto looked like he was about to burst out laughing from what he'd heard, whereas Shikamaru, merely looked bored.
"Thanks," she muttered, refusing to look him in the eye.
"You're welcome." He replied, knowing it would irritate her even more. She turned back around to face her very shocked friends, and waited for the boys to leave. But she didn't hear any footsteps.
"You know, you really shouldn't judge people before you know them," mused Sasuke, talking to her back; her very rigid back. "People might accuse you of being a know-it-all."
Sakura started breathing again when she heard all three of the boys walk off.
She slapped her stupid diary on the table they always sat at and glared at all her friends and snarled. "Not a word."
Sakura walked back to her locker with Ino in tow. They both had Maths together. Sakura subtlety suggested that they visited Ino's locker first. To which her blonde friend arched an eyebrow, but said nothing about. They backtracked to Sakura's locker quickly and made it to class with enough time to spare. Taking some seats in the middle, they waited for their teacher to arrive.
The room seemed to draw breath simultaneously when Sasuke walked in, tie hanging slightly lose, shirt untucked, yet still moving as fluid and smoothly as ever. Sakura envied his natural grace. He was flanked by Shikamaru and another boy, who Sakura knew to be called Kiba. Though he could be ok, he was a rough character and quick to put those he didn't like, back in their place. She snorted; of-course Sasuke would have such friends. They could be snobs together.
When their teacher arrived, very late, Sakura realised it was the same person who taught her for English. A teacher who taught both Maths and English, she thought, how odd.
The class began without much trouble. Though Sakura did feel some staring at her back, she threw a quick glance around the room, and found Sasuke's dark eyes on her. Her eyes narrowed slightly. He turned his attention back to the teacher, but she could swear she saw the hint of a smile on his face.
"He's kinda hot, don't you think?" whispered Ino.
Sakura turned to see what she was looking at, and saw she meant the teacher. Sure, he was alright, but he was their teacher. The very idea was wrong.
"I worry about you."
Ino just laughed quietly, "Oh come on; he's not bad. Good looks are not bound by age."
Sakura gave her a sardonic look, "That's deep, Ino. Really, you should write it down."
"So uptight!" giggled Ino. Then she looked over her shoulder. When she turned back around she seemed to be fighting a smile.
Sakura frowned, wary. "What?"
"Nothing," said Ino, quickly; too quickly.
"What?" Sakura asked again. This time a little harsher.
"Well," she hesitated, "don't look now. But Sasuke Uchiha is staring at you."
It took all of Sakura's self control not to turn around and aim her protractor at his eye-socket.
Second chapter complete! Thanks to those who reviewed. I'm trying a slightly different take on Sasuke and Sakura and like knowing what people think. Anyway, I hope you liked it.
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