"…Iruka really let me have it." Sakura muttered glumly to herself, watching her students playing basketball during P.E. "I'm so going to kill that freaking guy who created the newsletter…"
Iruka had given Sakura the worst scolding of her life, and sent her back to teach the class. Sakura tried to explain the reason why she'd ran off, but--
"SCORE!" Lee yelled as Neji threw the ball into the hoop.
"Nice ball, sucker." Naruto glared at Neji, angry that he'd scored again.
"Thank you so much, loser." Neji grinned in an annoying way.
Naruto clenched his fist. Shikamaru noticed the danger sign and pulled Naruto away. "Don't fight." He said in a bored tone. "Relax."
Naruto gritted his teeth. "Let me give that obnoxious guy a punch. Just one… punch."
"OI! YOU GUYS!" Kiba yelled as Sasuke snatched the ball away from him.
Naruto and Shikamaru could only stare as Sasuke threw the ball into the hoop.
"IDIOTS!" Kiba screamed, nearly tearing his hair in frustration. "OUR TEAM WILL NEVER WIN AT THIS RATE!"
"The score's 4 to 0, for your information," Lee sang, aggrieving Kiba's frustration.
"RELAX!" Shikamaru said loudly, pulling Kiba like just what he did to Naruto earlier.
"HOW CAN YOU RELAX AT A TIME LIKE THIS?" Kiba and Naruto shouted at Shikamaru.
"The ball." Sasuke muttered, throwing the ball to the group. What's the point playing with these idiots…
Chouji caught the ball. "I'll start the ball, I guess." He said, with his mouth full of candy (even in a game) and jogged slowly…
.. With Shino snatching the ball from him and scoring.
"ARRGH! TIME-OUT!" Kiba and Naruto shouted.
Neji, Sasuke, Lee and Shino went to the side of the court, not sweating or panting at all. Naruto's group, however, was drenched in sweat, with the exception of Shikamaru and Chouji.
Kiba and Naruto rounded on Chouji.
Chouji munched his candy, not seeming affected by their angry faces.
"GUYS!" Sakura shouted, running to the middle of the court. All faces turned to her.
"I'll be playing with you people. And I'll be in Naruto's team. Okay with that?" She looked in Naruto's direction.
Naruto blinked in surprise. "Huh? You want to be in our team?"
..The losing team? He added silently.
"Sure." Sakura smiled. I'm bored anyway…
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"Start." Chouji said, sitting on the sidelines with Kiba's dog Akamaru, now munching potato chips. (He'd willingly let Sakura replace him on the team.)
Naruto bounced the ball, shooting glares at Sasuke, who stared at him with a I-am-very-bored look.
That proud bastard!
He threw the ball to Kiba, who ran and bounced.
"Too slow." Neji smirked, successfully getting the ball from Kiba, and was about to shoot when—
THUMP
Sakura got the ball from him, bouncing and running towards the other side of the court…
Neji stood rooted to the spot, open-mouthed.
Did she just snatch a ball out of my hands?
Sasuke was surprised, too, but he ran towards the pink-haired girl…
Too late. She'd scored.
"What…The…Hell…" Kiba and the other guys stared.
She's good, Sasuke thought silently.
Sakura beamed. "I'd scored!"
Neji was still standing rooted to the spot. He was still obviously shocked.
"OW!"
All heads turned. It was Lee, clutching his foot and sitting on the ground.
"What happened?" Sakura sped towards the boy.
"I fell… can I quit?" Lee groaned.
"Let me look at the wound, then." Sakura's face turned serious.
"No need… It was just a bruise." Lee held his foot tightly. "Just let me rest for a while and I'll be fine… ow-ow-ow…"
Sakura frowned. "Okay."
Lee limped to the side of the court where Chouji and Akamaru were sitting.
"HA! Did you see that, Sasuke?" Naruto smirked at the pale boy. "Our team scored a point!"
Sasuke rolled his eyes. Moron.
The game started again.
Sakura bounced the ball. Sasuke smirked, his onyx eyes fixed on his teacher.
Sakura yelped and turned in another direction as Sasuke suddenly tried to get the ball from her.
He's good, she thought to herself as she passed the ball to Naruto.
Naruto ran, passed the ball to Kiba and—
"YES!"
The ball went in. Neji looked annoyed.
DONG—
The bell rang then.
"…P.E's over, people." Sakura said, disappointed.
Naruto and Kiba groaned.
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As they went out of the court, another class passed by them.
Someone caught Sakura's attention.
Green, emotionless eyes.
Red hair.
Gaara!
Sakura stood in shock. The boy stopped and stared at her, too.
Sakura tried to open her mouth to ask why he'd attacked her, but nothing came out.
Gaara walked a step towards the girl. She stumbled—
Strong arms caught her in the middle of the fall.
"…"
Sasuke glared at Gaara, who blinked and carried on walking.
"…Never mess with this guy, Sakura." Sasuke mumbled as she regained her balance.
Sakura gave a feeble smile. "Ha-Ha."
"Ha-Ha?" What am I SAYING!
Sasuke smirked and leaned near her. "You're scared, huh?"
This broke Sakura's blocked voice. "N-No!" She protested.
God. Am I a ninja or not?
Sasuke looked at her. She's…
…Cute…
Sakura blinked. "Sasuke?"
Then she blushed upon recalling the incident again. "That's right." She said in a tough voice. "You-you took my first… I haven't punished you yet."
The student continued smirking. "What do you want to do then?"
"Um…um…"
Sakura searched her brain, trying to think of punishments.
"I'll…challenge you to…to basketball!" She blurted.
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"HA!" Kiba laughed loudly. "I heard that Sakura challanged Sasuke to a basketball match! Girls are weird."
"But Sasuke's a really good player, isn't he?" Lee hooted, tossing his bag in the air and catching it.
Naruto gritted his teeth. "He is not a good player." He declared flatly. "Sakura's better."
Kiba and Lee stopped in their tracks.
"What?" Naruto demanded hotly.
"Are you sick? You're…You're admitting that a girl is actually better than you?" Kiba gasped.
"He's definitely sick in the head. Lovesick." Lee grinned broadly.
Naruto's faced turned red. "What-What are you talking about? I-I'm not sexist like you guys!"
"Sexist? You even know such a word exists? Brilliant, Naruto."
Neji walked past the trio.
"YOU STAY WHERE YOU ARE, YOU ARROGANT-'
"Naruto, quit it. That guy isn't worth getting angry at." Shikamaru, who was behind them, pulled Naruto back.
Naruto didn't fight against Shikamaru's grip as expected. "Whatever. I'm going home."
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Author: Finally! An update! Oh how I hate exams! Two more tests to go and I'm FREE! HOOTS!