Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"That playboy Sasuke really annoys me like nothing else. He's worse than Naruto."

"I'd rather die than be partnered up with someone like him."

—

Chapter 1 ; Another Semester

—

Yawn.

Just another normal day at the Konoha University campus. Or at least, that's what Sakura told herself when she rolled out of bed twenty minutes late, again. She wasn’t exactly excited for her 9AM class, but skipping it meant dealing with Ino's rants about "consistency" and “career-building”. So, fine. She got up.

Second year was supposed to feel more stable, right? Everyone said the first year was the hardest. But here she was—still tired, still behind on readings, still getting super pissed off by anybody so quickly; especially that dumbass Naruto. And that guy, his best friend.

That 'guy' being Sasuke Uchiha.

Yes, that Sasuke Uchiha. Tall, smug, probably smarter than he let on. Girls liked him. Guys liked him. Professors liked him. Sakura? She tried not to. Well, she didn't have to try. He was just annoying as it is. He's so quiet for a popular dude like himself. Pretty cocky if you do decide to talk to him.

Whatever.

Sakura sighed softly while brushing her teeth. She's really damn late now, but, oh well. There's no fixing it. Ugh. But it's gonna be so awkward. Everybody's gonna stare at her when she walked in so damn late. She brushed the feeling away and spat out the toothpaste from her mouth. Taking a glass, she filled it up and dumped it into her throat, gargling it around for a moment. The Haruno spat it out and started brushing her hair with a tired sigh. It's 8:43. Lord, she's so late.

After a moment, she went back into her bedroom and picked out a pair of fresh panties. She threw her pyjamas off, onto her bed, too unbothered (and late) to actually fold her blankets and all that bullshit. Sakura sighed softly while taking her panties off, throwing them into her dirty laundry basket. Her hands reach for the fresh pair of panties and hops into them, a soft snap sound ringing in her ears when the straps of the panties hit her hips.

Sakura looked around for her clothes. Which dumbass university still uses uniforms, are we in middle school? Tch. It irritated her to no end 'till this day. Whaateeeverrr... She hopped into that damned skirt, which was by the way, wayyyy too short for her, but okay. Her hand reached out for her stockings and glanced at them for a moment. Shrug. She threw them on and grabbed her blouse.

They really need to stop making these things half see-through. Ugh.

She buttoned it up and left it open near her collarbones. Good enough.

8:45.

Wait. She might make it. Fuck— where's her phone? No, even better question; where on earth is her bag?! Uuuuugh, seriously? This is why she hates Mondays. They fuck up her whole routine.

She runs around, looking for her bag. Under her bed? No. Under her desk? No. In the bathroom? No.

Fuck, it's literally nowhere in her dorm!

That's when her phone went off, a random alarm, actually. What the hell? She went in the direction of the noise and found it under her pillow... Seriously? How do you lose your phone you JUST turned off 15 minutes ago?

Anyways..

Her bag. Where on earth is it?

She sighed softly, murmuring some rather insulting things under her breath. Sakura opened her closet. Nop— wait. That's her bag on the floor of the closet. She grabs it and immediately started taking the books from Friday out, looking around for her books for today. Science.. Biology.. English.. Maths.. What else? Oh, right, Chemistry. Kill me. What a shitty fucking subject..

Sakura packed her bag in and put on some deodorant, grabbing her phone and rushing to the door of her dorm. 8:57.

Fuckkkk, she's not making it. Okay.. maybe the class won't be that full. She puts her shoes on and left the dorm.

Should she?

Yeah.

Sakura made a run for it, sprinting through the halls of the dorms. She breathed heavily and looked on her phone while sprinting; which damn classroom is it?!

3C1. Okay.

She ran up the stairs. Fucking hell, it's 9:02 already. How?! Ugh. Sakura was dying, out of breath. She stopped outside the classroom. English.. no clue which Sensei teaches this, but whatever.

The door creaked open, and she was really trying to control her breathing. Heads turned to look at the door and her face was going more red than it already was. Ino looked over at her and facepalmed. The teacher didn't really care, he just continued his babbling.

Sakura took her seat next to Ino with a soft sigh leaving her. Ino raised an eyebrow, "Late again, Fivehead?" She whispers.

"I can't get up, for fucks sake." Sakura whispered back, rubbing her eyes.

Ino sighed quietly, almost in disappointment. The blonde glanced at her notes for a moment, then around the classroom, looking for who's here and who isn't.

Sakura sat with her head in her hands. I feel like I can fall asleep any moment. Dang. I stayed up way too long studying yesterday.

The teacher was finally done with explaining after what felt like hours (only 15 minutes) and the class suddenly started talking loudly, as always.

Ino turned around to Shikamaru who was sat behind her and Sakura with Neji.

"Shika, where's Choji?"

"… He's at home, Ino." He sighed. "He didn't feel well."

"Oh, right."

Ino reached over with her hand to his desk and grabbed his notebook, glancing over the notes. Shikamaru didn't really care; he just let her. Sakura turned around in her chair to look at Neji and Shikamaru behind them. "Hi Neji, Shika."

"Hey."

"Morning."

Sakura gave them a soft smile and glanced at Ino, who's still looking through Shikamaru's notes. She raised an eyebrow. "His notes can't be that interesting, Ino." She sighed, tilting her head to get a view of the notes too.

"Well, Shikamaru always gets higher scores than me, so he must be doing something right in his notes."

Sakura almost facepalmed and sighed softly. They glanced at his notes and...

It was.. pretty much empty.

They look up at him and he was just sat back, arms crossed, manspreading like there's no tomorrow. Sakura and Ino look at each other, then at him again.

"Seriously?"

"What?"

"You literally have no notes about the damn subject!" Ino launches the notebook at him, and it lands on his lap after punching him in the stomach. Shikamaru looked confused. "Well, yeah, it's English. And I barely take notes in general."

Ino was so ready to punch the hell out of him, but Sakura just facepalmed. "Ino, I think we're forgetting Shikamaru's one of the top students in general. He's just blessed with the smarts." She sighed.

"Ugh, whatever." She flipped him off, turning back around. Sakura glanced at Shikamaru and Neji with an awkward smile, then turned back around too.

Sakura let out a bored sigh, rubbing her eyes. "Maybe go ask somebody else.. Like, that Sasuke guy. He's one of the top students too. Plus, you like him, don't you? Shoot your shot while you're at it."

Ino thought for a moment. "Well, yeah, but, isn't he just the same as Shikamaru? I mean, I do see him writing down all the time but.. isn't he just smart?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. I barely talk to him."

"Odd. Aren't you best friends with Naruto?"

"Yeah. But that weirdo's always, like, in the distance. I don't interact a lot with him. Plus, he's pretty annoying." She sighed.

"Annoying?!" Ino almost felt offended. "That's the last thing he is."

"Well, that's what you think."

Ino scoffed softly, putting her hand to her heart like she got shot or something. Oh, come on.. Is it that serious? "Don't talk about him like that."

Sakura cringed internally. "Okay..?" She sighed softly, glancing around the classroom. That Sasuke guy's in this class, right? He must be next to Naruto.. where's that yellow headed dude..

Naruto and Sakura make eye contact and she got the urge to make a face at him. He's so stupid, I bet he's gonna call ou—

"Yo, Sakura-chan!" He says from across the classroom. She sighed heavily. Good lord, does he ever try to not embarrass her? She just waves back at him.

Oh. Yeah. He's sat next to that weird kid, Sasuke. He's so unbothered, he didn't even glance at me to see who Naruto's talking to. Talk about antisocial.

Naruto motioned wildly for her to come over, and she groaned quietly, pressing two fingers to her temple like she was trying to massage the pain away before it started. She dragged herself across the room and stopped in front of his desk, arms crossed. "What is it now, Naruto?" A sigh left her lips.

"I'm in the mood for some ramen, you should come with me and Sasuke." Naruto flashed her that stupid grin of his, "We can go to the arcade after! There's a new game at the arcade where you throw kunai at balloons."

She couldn't help but make a face, and she opened her mouth to say something—

"Who said I agreed?" The low voice from next to him says, letting out a grumble in annoyance.

Sakura glanced at Sasuke, who looked unbothered yet annoyed at the same time. Hell, him even talking was a surprise to her. He barely ever spoke yet was one of the most popular-- no, he probably is the most popular guys at this college, ever since, what, middle school? See, he's just a weirdo.

"Pfft, don't be like that, Sasuke. You know you're joining me." He nudges him with his shoulder.

The 'weirdo' in question rolled his eyes and scoffed quietly. "I have things to do after classes."

"Oh, come on. Like what?" Naruto laughed.

"Homework."

"You actually do that?"

"Yeah, unlike someone, who's failing 90% of his classes." Sasuke gave him a heavy side eye.

Naruto scoffed, "I'm not failing my classes! I'm not that stupid."

He gave him a look. And.. ahem, so did Sakura. Why does he keep lying to himself..

Is that idiot done yet? Okay. Now it's time for her to speak. "Sorry to burst your bubble, Naruto. I have things to do aswell." She sighed, her arms still crossed.

Naruo looked up at her with some sort of sad frown. It made her feel bad for him.. "You too, Sakura?" He sighed, an almost pouty look on his face. He leaned back in his chair, manspreading like there's no tomorrow. And there he goes, throwing his hands behind his head, acting like he's on the couch at home or some bullshit. "Whateveeeeeer.. Guess I'll go alone."

Ugh. Sakura had to fight the urge to facepalm. "Okay-- whatever, fine, I'll go with you. Just for a bit."

His eyes lit up like fireworks. "Seriously?" He chuckled, letting his hands drop to his lap. "Great, Sakura-chan." Naruto glanced over at Sasuke, who seemed very much busy with his books. "Now we need to convince this guy, y'know?"

She looked over at Sasuke. Um.. yeah, no. She'd prefer if they didn't, but, okay..

Erm.. he was totally ignoring him. Or, both of them. Sakura glanced at his hand, holding that black pen. And she couldn't help but take a sneak down at the notes he was writing. His handwriting is really good. It's actually readable. Unlike.. someone. No wonder he's always top in his classes.

It took a moment, but after Naruto’s little performance, Sakura walked away mid-rant, returning to her seat with a half-dead expression. Ino leaned in. “You okay?”

“I’m so tired,” she whispered.

“Of what? Life? Naruto?”

“Yes.”

Ino giggled, but then got distracted by something on her phone. Sakura slumped against her desk.

What she didn’t notice? Sasuke had looked up for just a second. Not at Naruto.

At her.

And for some reason… he didn’t go back to writing. For a moment.

—

The clock hit 11:00 AM and it was finally time to switch classes. Sakura packed her bag and Ino was already stood up. "Chop chop, Haruno."

"Yeah, yeah." She sighs, but then looked over at her, raising an eyebrow. "Wait, don't you have Economics now? Why're you rushing me?"

Ino blankly stared at her for a moment. "Um. Well, I don't wanna walk alone."

"For 5 seconds?"

"Yeah."

And again, she resisted the urge to facepalm. Ugh, why'd they have to throw her and Ino into different classes for Economics?

She finished packing her bag as quick as she could and started walking out of English with her. She sighed softly, reaching for her phone to see what classroom she has to go to next. "I probably have maths with that idiot Naruto." Sakura almost groaned.

Ino let out a giggle and gave her a pat on her back, "Have fun, girl. My lesson is in 2A4. I'll see you at lunch."

Sakura gave her a nod, "Bye." And they both walk the opposite way. Sakura needs to go up the stairs. She was pretty much focused on her phone the whole way there. These fuckass stairs are always so busy.

An arm was suddenly around her shoulder and it immediately made her look up. She gave him a look before sighing. "What?"

"Sakura-chan, you have maths with me, right?" Naruto grinned.

"Sadly."

He scoffed playfully, like the idiot he is. "Don't say that!" As they walk up the stairs together, he looked around for a moment, his eyes slightly squinted. He looked over at her and leaned in, whispering like a dumbass. "Sakura-chan, you're friends with that Hinata girl, right?"

"You can literally just say Hinata. But, yeah, why? Are you planning on bothering her too?"

Naruto swatted her with his hand, almost.. like, nervously? "Pffft, of course not— wait, why would you say that?"

"No reason."

He shrugged it off. They approached the classroom, and he was about to say something— but she pretty much cut him off.

"And there's no way we're sitting together this class. Go sit next to that Sasuke dude."

"You can just call him Sasuke too, y'know?"

Did he just- ugh. This idiot.

His arm around her fell not much later and she glanced around for a moment. Who to sit with.. Who does she know.. Hmm..

Ah, Shika's here too.

Sakura took her seat next to him. "You don't mind, right?"

Shikamaru looked up at her and shook his head nonchalantly. They don't really talk too much, she just knows him because of Choji and Ino. He's also pretty smart, well, he is smart. He's also top in his classes like that Sasuke dude. They're comfortable enough, though.

She moved some strands of her hair behind her ear, grabbing her notes and books for the class. Sakura sighed softly as she was doing so.

"I'm so not in the mood for practice." He sighed softly. It made Sakura turn her head to look at him, "Practice? Ohh, you're in like, the schools football team, right?"

"Yeah. With Naruto and Neji. And Lee. And Sasuke. And Kiba."

So.. basically everyone? Well, excluding Choji. He just.. doesn't seem like the person to do such activities.

"Oh yeah. Naruto was talking about it sometime ago." She sighed softly. "Why, don't you like it?"

Shikamaru put down his pen for a moment and looked over at her. "It's fine. I'm just not in the mood. We keep winning the matches.."

Sakura was.. um.. confused. She gave him a dumbfounded look, like what he just said was idiotic (which it really was). How is he pissed about winning.. Isn't that like, the whole point? These guys are sooo odd..

"Isn't that a good thing..?" She asked, and he could really tell she was judging him deep inside.

"Well, yeah." He shrugs. "It just gets boring after a while. I might quit it."

Is he really gonna quit because they... You know what, nevermind..

"What're you gonna do then?"

"I don't know. I'll just focus on my studies."

But his studies are already good..— are these people idiots..?

Sakura gave him a blank look for a moment, processing what idiotic things he said in the span of 1 whole minute. Um.. okay. Anyways, luckily, the Sensei started to talk and explain, which made her focus on the subject instead.

Well, not for long. Her attention span was shit today from the low amount of sleep. And you wanna know what makes it worse? That absolute goddamn idiot, Naruto, who was, mind you, sitting 3 whole rows away from her; was breathing SO. SO. SO. heavily. It shocked her. She has no clue how somebody can sound like they ran a marathon of 74 km while literally doing nothing but sitting in his chair, but hey, Naruto can do it.

Every 10 seconds she could hear this idiot breathe. And when she turned around to glare, it just made it worse. The people sat behind her probably thought she was glaring at them, since Naruto was sat so far away; 3 whole rows. But that dumbass knows she's glaring at him, and he keeps giving her a thumbs-up like that'll cheer her up or something. Does he not realize how heavy he's breathing? Helloooo, all he's doing is giving everybody ear cancer.

No wonder none of the girls like him.. Stupid, bad hygiene, stupid again, terrible at everything, and stupid again. His looks might just make up for a small fraction.

Sakura buried her face in her hands, muttering curses under her breath. Why the hell does he sound like a dying walrus? She turned her head, gave him one last glare. Naruto—of course—thumbs-upped her again, a little confused as to why she keeps turning around to him, but, oh well! He gave her a wink to top it off like it was a good thing.

Gosh, he's SO stupid. Sakura sighed and her eyes scanned around the classroom for a moment, gazing around at the people sat here to.. ignore the breathing from the other side of the classroom.

Shikamaru on the other hand, was casually minding his own business, writing down maybe a word or 2 every 10 minutes. He's way too smart to be sitting in the same class as someone like Naruto.. Lowkey, it's unfair. But we all got into the same college for a reason, right...??

Her face was in her hands for a good moment, trying to focus on other sounds than Naruto breathing like a hyena.

"Haruno." A female voice called out from the front of the classroom. Shit. Sakura looked up immediately and gave the Sensei a quick nod, her face slightly flushed. Shikamaru turned his head just enough to look at her and gave her a look. Sakura looked tired and way too lazy to deal with him at this point.

God. It's only been 15 minutes in this goddamned class. She still has 45 minutes to go. I don't think she'll be making it out if Naruto keeps his bullshit up.

—

Sasuke barely glanced up from his papers. He just had an AirPod in, not a care in the world. Well, the AirPod was just there so he didn't have to hear Naruto's heavy ass breathing right next to him.

Anyways, he just paid half attention to class and wrote down whatever he could. There's been rumors from the other class that there's already an upcoming exam for Math. As much as he doesn't like that subject, he's gonna have to study for it. And he pretty much gets A's anyways.

He glanced over at Naruto for a moment, just a blank glare. Naruto looked over at Sasuke and gave him this weird face with his nose scrunched slightly. Weirdo.

"Haruno." The teacher called out. Sasuke looked up at the Sensei. Haruno..

Isn't that the pink haired girl?

He didn't look behind him to look at her. She was probably just not paying attention to class. The teachers have been on peoples' ass' for it lately.

Whatever..

For a quick moment, he shut his eyes. He was way too tired for all of this. He hasn't been able to get a good sleep for a few days now. It's so annoying to have to go to school like this.

School itself isn't even that bad. The subjects are all fine. He just isn't the biggest morning person, especially with Naruto screaming his lungs out the whole day right next to him. Yeah. That's hell on earth for Sasuke.

The scratching of his pen against paper was the only thing keeping him anchored. Equations, formulas, whatever the teacher was rambling about — he wrote them all down without thinking too hard.

Naruto shifted again beside him. Loud. Always loud. His breathing was ridiculous, like he’d sprinted up the stairs when Sasuke knew for a fact he hadn’t moved since class started. Nor did he actually run up the stairs. Matter of fact, he knows he was slow on the stairs since it was so crowded. So what was he so out of breath for? Sasuke exhaled through his nose, shoving the AirPod deeper in his ear. Pointless. The idiot’s presence bled through anyway.

Well, now he still has what, like, 40 minutes to go in this class? Sigh.

Big sigh.

Chapter Text

"Hinata could teach a rock something, and it'd listen and do better than Naruto."

"How does she even like that guy?"

—

Chapter 2 ; The Routine

—

Sakura touched up her mascara in the mirror of the bathroom. Thank God she was naturally blessed with curled lashes, so she didn't have to deal with all of that.

Y'know, she really wanted to be one of those chill, comfy girls for college. But she can't help but still try a little bit to look presentable, or, good, whenever she comes to school. Maybe it has a little bit to do with comparison, especially if somebody like Ino is your own best friend.

Sigh.

She was way too focused on fixing her mascara to even pick up on the fact that Hinata entered the restroom as well.

"Aren't you gonna say hi to Hina?" A voice called out.

Sakura looked at the faces behind her in the mirror. Hinata and Ino. She turned around and gave Hinata a soft smile. "Hey, Hina."

"Sorry,' She sighed. "I was a bit distracted."

"Don't worry about it."

"Sooo," Ino played with her straight long locks. "Anything newwww?"

Sakura capped her mascara, side-eyeing her best friend through the mirror. "What would be new? You keep asking the same thing."

Ino rolled her eyes slightly, "Oh, come on. You're so boring, Haruno." She crossed her arms and looked over at Hinata. "What about you, Hina?"

"Uh-"

"You know," Ino started, like she discovered some unsolved mystery. "I've been seeing how you look at Naruto."

Hinata's faced started to go red, and she had no idea if she could even defend herself now.

"Do you like him? I mean, it was kinda obvious."

Sakura stopped whatever she was doing and glanced at the two in the mirror. She sighed, "Ino, leave the poor girl alone. Who would even be interested in a weirdo like Naruto?"

But in all honesty, she seems to have a thing for Naruto for a while now. Which was.. really odd to Sakura. But to each their own..

She shrugged, "I mean, he seems like her type. And the other way around." Ino stopped, "Actually, no. You're so quiet and cute, Hina. Totally not his type."

Hinata just stood there, her face red; not knowing what to say. Sakura facepalmed so hard it almost gave her a headache.

"Ino, you must be stupid. What kind of backhanded comment is that?" She sighed and turned around to look at them directly.

"How is that backhanded?" She scoffed.

And now, Sakura was holding back from choking Ino right on the spot. She took a moment to stay silent and have a deep breath, before breathing out.

Hinata’s fingers twisted the hem of her sleeve, her face still burning. Sakura almost felt bad for her. Almost. Because, really, Hinata crushing on Naruto of all people? That guy can't even take a proper shower every week, for gods’ sake.

"Who just tells someone in their face that they're not their crush’s type?" She sighed.

"Well, it's the truth? I don't think that's Naruto's type." She shrugged.

And there she goes again. Hinata stood there, looking like she was holding back tears and running out of the restroom right then and there. Sakura glanced at Hinata and sighed. "Ignore her."

"Hey— what?" Ino scoffed.

"Ino, you can't be talking. You like that antisocial Sasuke dude." Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" Ino nudges her shoulder. And Hinata was really just standing there.

"You know what it's supposed to mean.."

Ino rolled her eyes and leaned against the counter dramatically, flipping her hair over her shoulder. "First off, Sasuke is not antisocial. He’s just…" She paused for a moment, ".. selective with who he talks to."

"Selective? Please. The guy only talks when the senseis force him to. That’s not selective, that's just mute."

Ino gasped like Sakura had just insulted the Hokage himself. "You’re just jealous because he's hot."

"Jealous?" Sakura turned around, brows raised. "Ino, if I wanted a hot guy who doesn’t talk, I'd just date a mannequin from the mall."

Hinata’s shoulders trembled as she tried—and failed—to hide a laugh. Both girls turned to look at her, and she immediately clammed up, face going bright red.

"Oh my god, Hina," Ino groaned, "don't encourage her!"

Hinata's face got slightly more red as she started waving her hands in a denying way, "I'm not."

Sakura let out a soft snort, looking over from Hinata to Ino. "Even Hinata agrees, Ino." She sighed, turning back around to the mirror to do the last finishing touches on her face.

Before Ino could respond with some long-winded defense, the bell shrieked through the hall. Hinata nearly jumped out of her skin.

"Ugh, great," Ino muttered, grabbing her bag. "Thanks for ruining my morning, Forehead."

"You ruined mine by talking about that weirdo. And Naruto." Sakura rolled her eyes, grabbing her phone to take a quick look to see in which class her next period is. She looked over at Hinata. "You have Chemistry with me, right?" Sakura asked.

Hinata nodded softly, grabbing her bag before slightly adjusting her hair in the mirror quickly. "Uhh.. Yeah. I think so.."

"Great, let's walk together."

Ino was still standing in the doorway, barely holding the door open anymore 'cause, y'know, germs. "Chop chop. I don't have all day." She sighed. Sakura glanced at her and rolled her eyes. "You have the patience of a 3-year-old child."

"Yeah yeah, whatever. Hurry it up." She said, as she let the door go and let it slam shut. Sakura almost facepalmed for the 42nd time today, but okay. Hinata was done fixing her hair and opened the door for Sakura, before they parted ways with Ino.

"See you at lunch, Forehead."

"I certainly hope I don't see you by then."

Ino gave her the finger before walking the opposite way of where Hinata and Sakura had to be. And again.. These damned stairs.

Their Chemistry class is on the 4th floor, and these stairs are: 1. Always busy. 2. So hard to walk up. Sakura groaned when she saw the amount of people that were taking the stairs. Ugh. They were on the first floor. 4 whole stairs to go with all of these people squished up.

"Gosh, I hate how there's always so many people here. It's like they walk 3 mph." Sakura rolled her eyes slightly. Hinata nodded her head softly in agreement. "It's really busy here always, yeah..." She said, her voice as soft as silk; as always.

Right as these two were walking up the stairs, Sakura felt someone harassing her as always on the stairs again. Her hair got ruffled by some big hand which covered her whole scalp. She groaned and looked up, knowing immediately who it is.

"How on god's green earth did you even get here?" She sighed, glancing back at the bottom of the stairs-- how did he get through that big crowd?

Naruto grinned from ear to ear as always. "Skill." He sighed, stuffing his hands back in his pockets. Sakura rolled her eyes, fixing her hair with her hands. "I spent 20 minutes on my hair, dumbfuck." She scoffed, looking over at him. "And at least try to give us more space. You're squishing Hinata over there."

He raised an eyebrow before looking to his right, realizing Hinata was practically glued to his side—her shoulder pressed against his arm thanks to the crowd. "Oh, you were here? My bad." He tried to play it off. But for some reason, there was a very, very subtle shake in his voice..

Oh, whatever. Hinata could barely glance up at him. But when she did, her whole face went red. "It's okay.." She said quietly. Her voice was already soft enough, and the loudness of the crowd here wasn't making this any better.

And Naruto's practically deaf.

"Huh? Say that again?" Naruto cupped a hand behind his ear dramatically, leaning toward her. That leaning was probably the cherry-on-top, 'cause that definitely killed her. Hinata's face got even more red, and she just started to stutter by now. "I-It's-- okay.." Her voice got cancelled out even more.

"Haaaa?" He looked confused; for some reason, he always does. "Oi, Hinata, your face is really red. Are you hot?" Naruto sounded concerned yet.. well, confused.

She couldn't handle looking at him anymore, and just turned her head away. Maybe it was a bit rude, yeah, but he wouldn't understand anyways. Naruto scratched the back of his head when she just turned her head away, and Sakura just.. stared at them.

Great way to go, Hina..

Then she let out a soft sigh, like she gave up in life. "What class do you have next?" He spoke, to Sakura this time.

"Chem."

"Aha, me too! Can I sit-"

"No."

"Oh com-"

"No."

Naruto's lips puffed up into a soft pout, and he was on the verge of crossing his arms like a stubborn child. "Why so mean?"

"I'm gonna sit with Hina."

"I can sit infron-"

"No."

Before Naruto could speak up again, Sakura shoved her way through the crowd with Hinata trailing behind her, practically dragging her into the Chemistry room. Thank god they made it before the professor locked the door—rumor had it he actually did that once.

The classroom was already filling up fast. Bags tossed onto desks, people calling out to each other, chairs scraping against the tile. Sakura scanned the room quickly before pulling Hinata toward a two-person desk near the middle. “Sit. Over here.”

Hinata obeyed without question, placing her bag neatly down while Sakura set hers with a little more aggression. She barely had time to breathe before a familiar voice cut through the noise.

“Oi, Sakura-chan!”

Her eye twitched.

Naruto was waving dramatically from the door, his whole face lit up in that annoying grin. “Save me a seat!”

“No.”

“Come on, there’s space right next to you guys—”

Sakura didn't hesitate to grab her bag immediately and slam it onto the chair right next to her. She glanced over at him, and she could pretty much see the slight disappointment in his eyes. Maybe that was kinda mean of her..

But she really can't be dealing with Naruto's bullshit right now.

Naruto sighed under his breath before taking a look around the classroom, taking his seat right next to Sasuke as always.

Both Sakura and Hinata were still catching their breath when they made it inside. Four flights of stairs with half the university crammed onto them? Absolute hell. Sakura dropped her bag onto the desk like it weighed fifty pounds and immediately leaned forward, pressing her forehead into her palm.

“Ugh… I swear, one day I’m going to sue this school for not putting in an elevator,” she muttered between breaths.

Hinata set her bag down gently and tried to hide how flushed her face still was from the stairs—and maybe from Naruto—by fussing with her books. “I agree,” she whispered, pulling out a neatly stacked notebook and pen.

Sakura huffed, straightened up, and started digging through her bag with way too much force, her binder snapping open as she pulled out her Chemistry notebook. “Honestly, who even needs this much cardio before class?” She plopped her textbook on the desk and flipped it open, even though she knew she wouldn’t look at it until the professor started lecturing.

Sakura pinched the bridge of her nose.

Before anything else could happen, the classroom door slammed shut. The professor, a thin man with gray streaks in his hair and glasses perched on the end of his nose, strode to the front of the room with a clipboard in hand. The noise level dropped a notch, but not completely.

“Alright,” he said, voice sharp but tired, “today we’re starting the first round of lab assignments. You’ll be working in pairs for the next two weeks. Partners will be assigned—don’t argue, don’t trade, don’t complain. We’ll rotate later.”

The whole class groaned in unison.

The professor scanned the clipboard, then started calling names. “Group one… Akimichi and Shikamaru.”

Shikamaru’s groan could probably be heard from the next building over.

“Group two… Tenten and Rock Lee.”

Lee immediately shouted, “YOUTHFUL!” which earned him several annoyed stares.

Sakura leaned an elbow on her desk and let her eyes wander to the window. Typical. This was going to be a disaster.

“Group six… Hyūga Hinata and Uzumaki Naruto.”

Hinata’s pen clattered to the floor. Naruto whooped like he’d just won the lottery. “Yes!”

Sakura smacked a hand over her face. Oh, god.

“Group eight… Uchiha Sasuke and Hyūga Neji.”

That earned a low murmur across the room. Sasuke sat like a stone, expression unreadable, while Neji simply crossed his arms, already looking like he regretted living.

“Group nine…” The professor cleared his throat. “Haruno Sakura and Sai.”

Sakura froze, her lips parting slightly as her stomach sank. Out of everyone in this entire room, she had to be stuck with that guy?

She looked over her shoulder. Sure enough, Sai was sitting quietly in the back row, staring right at her with that unnerving, polite smile plastered on his face.

Great. Just great.

Okay, you know what. Maybe it's not that horrible. They've had quite the interactions back in highschool, and also last year. He's a nice dude, it's just that.. weird smile. It's still so.. fake??

A sigh escaped Sakura's lips, while grabbing her bag to move on over next to Sai. Sakura turned her head slightly to look over at Hinata. "Good luck with him."

Her whole face was red, (as always whenever Naruto was even mentioned) and she barely even responded. She just gave sakura a quick little nod.

Sakura stared at her for a moment, then sighed yet again before getting up and moving over next to Sai. "Do you mind?"

"Not at all."

Her bag made a loud thud noise as she let it drop on the desk next to Sai, before taking her seat next to him.

While on the other hand, Naruto scooted on over next to Hinata, invading her personal space without a care in the world. She very obviously couldn't say anything about it, 'cause— well.. It's Naruto.

"I'm so glad we're partnered up, y'know?" He sighed, barely even glancing at her. It was kinda hard to anyways; she was pretty much hiding her face from him.

But those words struck something in her. Him? Glad they're partnered up?

Hinata suddenly got up and left the classroom, leaving Naruto literally dumbfounded. He just sat there, staring at the door, confused.

Sakura glanced over at the two and she really had to refrain from facepalming. That idiot said something didn't he?

Hinata went over into the bathroom, staring at herself in the mirror.

Oh god. Why did she do that? Now it's gonna be even MORE awkward to walk into that classroom. Why can't she just be normal around him? He didn't even say anything bad.

He just gets her flustered so quickly.

Okay.. she needs an excuse as to why she just left like that. Hinata stood there, pondering for a moment.

Not for too long, as she left the bathroom with some courage. She did stand outside of the classroom for a good moment, trying to gather her thoughts and calm herself.

Hinata went back into the classroom, walking over to her seat next to Naruto. She didn't look at him. He did though.

"You good?"

"I'm fine." Her voice was still quiet.

Naruto shrugged it off; oblivious to anything and everything. He yawned loudly and stretched his arms, "Alriiiiiightttt.."

Hinata tried to keep her breathing normal, finally looking up at him. Not for long.

"What do we need to do?" He sighed, grabbing his phone to check his messages.

"Um.."

He barely even paid attention to class, let alone to her. He scrolled on his phone for a moment while she explained to him.

Naruto didn't look up from his phone for a full minute, just staring and scrolling. There wasn't even a sound ringing in his ears from the girl next to him, who was, mind you, explaining everything.

Hinata went silent after she fully explained what they had to do to him. Naruto put his phone down and looked up at her right after she had finished speaking.

He tilted his head slightly to the right, looking up into her eyes. They stared at eachother for a moment before he gave her that goofy smile.

"So?"

"Hm..?"

"Do you know what we have to do?"

Hinata stared at him for a moment; there wasn't really any emotion she was showing, but.. what the hell.

Sakura was sat at the desk a row behind them with Sai. She scoffed and threw her empty water bottle at Naruto. "Idiot."

"Hey!— What?!"

"She just explained everything to you, and you didn't even bother to listen."

Sai and Hinata were just in the middle of Sakura and Naruto arguing like some married couple.

"No she didn't?—"

Sakura leaned over her desk in an instant and hit the back of his head, "Are you saying I'm lying?"

"Oww! You really gotta stop hitting me, y'know?" He whined.

"And you should actually pay attention in class instead of wasting peoples' time." She scoffed, her eyes rolling slightly.

Hinata looked over at Sakura behind her, a worried-ish look on her face. "It's okay— don't worry about it."

Sakura turned her head slightly to actually be able to look at Hinata properly, "He's an idiot who won’t listen to you nor the sensei." She sighed.

"Okay okay okay— I'm sorry, y'know?" Naruto turned his head to look Hinata directly in her light colored eyes. He sighed softly and scratched the back of his head in an awkward manner.

Hinata's face was still slightly red. She gave him a gentle smile, "It's okay."

She was way too nice for her own good. Sakura always tells her that.

Naruto gave her that awkward smile, "Could you.. y'know.. explain it again?" He chuckled awkwardly. "Please?"

Hinata nervously tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “O-okay… so, first we need to measure exactly 25 milliliters of solution A, then slowly add—”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Naruto cut in, leaning forward, practically sticking his face into her notebook. “Which one’s solution A?”

Hinata’s pen hovered over the label on the bottle right in front of him. “…That one.”

“Oh.” He laughed, scratching the back of his head. “Right. Heh.”

Sakura groaned from behind them, rubbing her temple. “Hinata, you have the patience of a saint. Honestly.”

Naruto whipped around in his chair. “Oi, Sakura-chan, don’t act like you’d do any better teaching me!”

She raised a brow. “I wouldn’t. That’s the difference. I wouldn’t even try.”

Naruto rolled his eyes slightly, "You're too mean." He mumbled, before turning back around in his chair to face the concoctions infront of him.

Sakura scoffed slightly and turned back to Sai. "Sorry. He annoys me so bad." She sighed.

"You two act like a couple."

Sakura's face scrunched up— almost in disgust. "Huh?"

"Yeah."

Her hand was about to ball into a fist to smack the living hell out of him— but nevermind.

"Ahem. Anyways."

She rolled her eyes at him and grabbed her textbook. "Soo…" She sighed.

——

Okay. That whole lesson was hell. Sai was annoying; but Naruto was next level.

Thank the universe she got out of there. The bell rang and they left the school building for lunch.

Sakura sighed and leaned against the wall, seeing Ino walk over to her and Hinata.

"Heeeyyyy."

"Hi."

"How was Chem?"

Sakura scoffed and almost wanted to groan at the mention of last period. "Hell."

"What did Naruto do now?"

"What did he not do?" Sakura rolled her eyes, unable to help it.

Hinata was just stood in-between the two. Ino snickered, "Did you get partnered up with him or something?"

"No. Hina did. And he was being so— ugh."

Ino looked over at Hinata. "Did he atleast flirt with you?"

And there goes Hinata again. Her whole face went red and she looked away, shaking her head slightly. "No."

"Ino, you're acting like he knows what flirting means. Or how to do it." She scoffed.

Ino shrugged and let out a sigh. "Yeah. Probably not."

It went silent after a moment between the 3 of them, before Ino decided to speak up. "Hey, you know what I heard?" She crossed her arms, glancing between Hinata and Sakura. "They're probably gonna get rid of these horrendous uniforms. Apparently people were complaining about it recently, so they decided on removing them."

Sakura looked up at Ino. "Oh? That's even more pain for me in the mornings." She sighed.

Ino snickered, "That Naruto's gonna pull up with some Nike Tech.. don't say I didn't warn you."

Hinata looked away for a moment. This girl really would excuse anything that guy does. Sakura's face scrunched up, almost in disgust. "Eeeew. He does nothing but wear literal sweats and hoodies. Somebody needs to give his wardrobe a makeover."

"I know who should.."

Hinata looked up at Ino, and her face went red. "H-Hm? What-- What're you trying to indicate?"

Both Sakura and Ino couldn't hold back their snicker. "Oh c'mon. You wouldn't wanna walk next to some roadman looking guy now, would you?" Ino said in some arrogant-ish kinda tone.

"You guys are acting like we're--" Hinata had to look away, then mumbled; "... actually a couple."

"Ino just doesn't know when to shut up."

"Hey, I'm trynna help her here." Ino scoffed.

"By doing what? Embarassing her about Naruto's clothing? She's right, they're not even together yet."

Ino shrugged. "Honestly, isn't he like into you?"

Sakura scoffed, and right after that almost let out a gag-ish noise. "I hope the fuck not?"

Hinata looked up at Sakura. Her voice was still as soft as silk, "Ino's right.." She said, almost inaudible.

"You too, HIna?" She sighed.

"Doesn't he make it very much clear that he always liked you?" Ino sighed, grabbing her lipliner from her bag. "Ugh, these fucking bags are so heavy.." She also just mumbled to herself.

"Like, I could've sworn he admitted it a few times."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Not that I care. None of the guys here would ever be worth my time. And effort."

"You know, Hinata--" Ino grabbed her little pocket mirror from her bag, fixing her lipliner with the pencil. "You should just try to be more.. I don't know, straight up?"

Hinata looked up at Ino, slightly confused by what she meant by all of that. Does she mean she needs to be more confident?

"You mean she should like try and hang out with him?" Sakura crossed her arms, leaning back against the wall behind her.

"Well, yeah. Or like sit with him. There has to be a class you two share where you don't know anybody else, right?" Ino took the time to look up from her pocket-sized mirror for a moment to glance at Hinata, who was just staring at her.

"Uh—.. Um.. I think so..."

"So just go and sit with him. He'll probably just talk to you himself."

Sakura couldn't help but let out a chuckle. "You're giving her all this advice, as if you would do it with that emo guy."

"FIrst off, he isn't emo. Second, he has a name, Forehead." She scoffed.

"Got your panties in a twist, don't I?"

Ino rolled her eyes and gave Sakura the finger. She sighed and looked around, "Where's Ten Ten, anyways?"

"Oh, she was partnered with Lee last period. She's probably still stuck with him somewhere." Sakura shrugged, rubbing the back of her neck from how it had started to slightly ache. "Ugh, he needs to stop with his cringe words every lesson we have. I feel bad 'cause people just talk about him."

"I wanna say he deserves it." Ino shrugged.

"Not really. He's a nice guy.. just.. weird. Same with Sai. And Shika. And Neji."

"So all of them?"

"Yeah."

"I mean, maybe Neji isn't that weird, is he?" Ino glanced at Hinata, giving her a chance to speak.

Hinata looked up at Ino, then switched to Sakura. "Uhm.. no. He's really nice. I think he just.. isn't that comfortable with others."

"So he doesn't always act like this?"

She shook her head. "If you pay a bit of attention, you could tell he's much more comfortable with me or his friends."

Sakura shrugged. "Can't even blame him, honestly."

Ino yawned softly and looked away for a moment when it went silent. None of them really had anything to say.

"Did you guys do anything yesterday?"

"I went out with Naruto to the Arcade." Sakura sighed. "Thank God he didn't force that Sasuke guy to come with us."

"Oh, shut up." Ino rolled her eyes.

"Hinata, you should come with us next time." Sakura made eyecontact with her. "You can handle being alone with him, right?"

Hinata just stared at Sakura for a moment, her face slightly flushed red. "Uhm.. I guess.."

The bell rang while Sakura let out a snicker, "Good to know."

She sighed softly, grabbing her bag from the grass below them. "I have English now. I'll see you guys."

"Kay. Bye." Ino grabbed her bag aswell.

"Actually, guys wanna do something tomorrow?" Sakura asked quickly before they all could walk away.

Hinata nods. "I'm free."

"Yeah. Me too."

"Okay. See ya."

—

Chapter Text

"Only Sasuke Uchiha would fight over a chair like it’s life or death."

"He could sit literally anywhere else, but nooo—‘my seat.’"

—

Chapter 3 : Decisions Pending

—

Well. They really weren't lying when they said they were gonna get rid of the uniforms. Sakura got an e-mail telling the students that they had decided to let them wear their own clothing at college, instead of keeping the uniforms like they were some kind of high schoolers.

She actually preferred the uniforms. It saved her so much time in the mornings— now she's gonna have to get up earlier to pick out an outfit for the day.

Sigh.

Sakura tugged at the hem of her top as she stared at her reflection. She hadn't put that much thought into it—just a cropped white tee and her favorite pair of loose jeans, ripped at the knees. Comfortable, but not sloppy. A black hoodie was slung over her shoulder in case the lecture halls were freezing again.

It wasn't anything special, but she hoped it passed as "effortlessly put together." She still wasn't sure how the hell people managed to look runway-ready at eight in the morning.

Like how Ino is probably going to pull up today. Oh well. We'll see.

It was honestly kind of a random decision, but like Ino had said; people were complaining about it over the years, and it just got to a point where they really decided to get rid of the uniforms now.

Okay. Make-up done. Outfit on. Bag packed. Hair looks fine.

17 minutes 'till class.

Sakura let out a soft yawn, avoiding rubbing her eyes since it'd spread her mascara all over.

Oh well. She should just leave for class already. She went over to the front door, putting her shoes on and grabbing the keys of her dorm.

After around 5 minutes, Sakura was walking around the school, on her way to her lesson. It's just an hour with her own actual class; where pretty much everybody she knew was in.

"Forehead!" A voice called out from behind her—making Sakura stop and turn around.

It was obviously Ino, walking with Hinata next to her.

"Hey." She sighed. Sakura moved a strand of hair behind her ear. She glanced up and down; taking in Hinata and Ino's outfits.

"You look like you put absolutely no thought into that outfit."

"Well, 'cause I didn't."

Ino scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Are you just not gonna try for the rest of the year?"

"Ugh, Ino, who cares."

"We should just go inside." Hinata's soft voice called from between them.

Sakura nodded and the three of them entered the not-so-silent classroom. She took a look around, her eyes scanning over the room.

Oh. There's Naruto.

Hey, the seat next to him is empty? Doesn't that Sasuke guy always sit there?

Sakura turned her head back to look at Hinata, "Look, his chair is free. Go sit next to him." She teased, snickering.

"Wait, she lowkey should. If he asks, we'll just say me and Sakura already sat together."

Ino gave Hinata a soft push from behind, and Sakura couldn't stop grinning. Poor girl— she's gonna pass out.

Hinata took her seat next to Naruto shyly; which made him look up since he thought it was Sasuke. "Oh, Hinata?"

"Why aren't you wi—"

Sakura let her bag drop loudly onto the desk behind them, clearing her throat.

Naruto almost flew to look back behind him. "Sakura-chaaaannn."

"Wha—"

"Move." A deep voice suddenly called out towards Hinata. All of them immediately turned their heads to look at the one and only standing before Hinata's desk.

Sasuke Uchiha.

"Huh?-"

"You're in my seat."

"Sasuke, that's not so nice—" Naruto almost pouted.

"She's in my seat."

Sakura scoffed, "You should've gotten here earlier. Go sit somewhere else."

Sasuke barely even glanced at Sakura— he wouldn't bother with her; which only annoyed her more. And made her hatred for this weirdo grow.

Naruto sighed a bit awkwardly, "We'll sit together next class, Hina." He got up, grabbed his bag, and sat down at the empty desk in front of Hinata's.

Sasuke took his seat right next to him, plopping down into the chair. He grabbed his laptop and set it down onto his desk.

Seriously? Sakura couldn't help but scoff. "Weirdo." She mumbled under her breath.

"Hina, let's go." Ino and Sakura grabbed their bags, going over to an empty table that was a group of 4, so they could all sit together.

Ugh. Sakura kept mumbling shit about Sasuke under her breath. How petty can you be? And for Naruto to just ditch Hinata.. weirdos.

They sat down and Ino couldn't help but make a remark about Naruto's outfit, to no one's surprise.

"Told you he'd wear Nike Tech." She snickered, unable to resist laughing.

Sakura was too annoyed to crack a giggle, but it kinda cheered Hinata up. She looked over at her and put her hand on her bicep, "Don't mind Naruto. He's stupid. And so is Sasuke."

Hinata nods, "It's okay. He said we'll sit together next class." She sighed.

Ino was still laughing to herself. "Yamanaka." The voice from the desk on the other end of the room called out, and it was Iruka. "Sorry." She snickered.

Iruka cleared his throat, "As you all can see, we've collectively decided to give up the uniforms." He started, making the classroom go silent as they all listen to him.

Honestly; Sakura couldn't care less. It's all just bullshit they hear everyday. She zoned out for a moment. A quick moment.. Is what she thought.

Um. That quick 'zoning out' made her mentally skip atleast 10 minutes of the lesson. The moment Iruka stopped talking is the moment she snapped out of it. She glanced up from her notebook, taking a quick look around the class. Sakura sighed and rubbed her temples with her thumb and index finger.

"How long do we have left?" Sakura sighed, resting her head in her hands.

"45 mintues."

"Uuuuughh.."

Hinata was barely paying attention to anything; her eyes were just glued to Naruto's back. He hasn't even looked back once.

Ino was staring at her nails, before she looked over at Sakura and Hinata. "Coffee today?"

Sakura looked at Ino and nods. "Yeah. Probably gonna crave that after today."

Hinata snapped out of it and nodded. "Mhm."

"Is Ten Ten still not here? Feels like we're excluding her."

"She was here yesterday, right? She just said she wasn't feeling well today."

"Ah. Okay."

It went silent between them for a moment. Sakura sighed after a while. "There's nothing to do during this period."

"Mhm." Ino sighed, then looked at them with lifted eyebrows. "Ugh, you know who I got partnered up with for Math?"

"Who?"

She leaned in slightly closer, "Sai." Ino slightly rolled her eyes.

"Not too bad. He's pretty smart, so he might save your ass."

"Hey- what?"

"Nothing."

Ino scoffed. Hina on the other hand was still staring at Naruto here and there.

Sakura's face dropped into her hands tiredly. She really had to stop herself from letting out a humongous sigh.

When is class gonna come to an end...

—

The classroom is loud, like it always is. Laughter bouncing off the walls, the soft hum of voices—none of it matters. Sasuke stares at the laptop screen in front of him, though he hasn’t touched the keyboard yet. His eyes drift around the room, noting movements, expressions, the way the sunlight hits the desks.

He starts to type on his laptop finally. Iruka is talking about the uniforms, and for a moment, Sasuke allows himself to zone out completely. 45 minutes. That's all. Enough time to finish this assignment and leave without dealing with anyone. Not with Naruto. Not with Iruka. Not with that pink haired girl who was complaining.

No one.

He was typing rapidly, eyes flicking up only when Naruto leans over. "Oi, Uchiha, can you help me with this problem?"

Sasuke glances at him once, expression unreadable. "Figure it out."

Naruto huffs but shrugs. Sasuke’s attention returns to his laptop, his mind sharper than everyone else in the room, the rest of the chaos fading to background noise.

He thought he finally got some peace by Naruto shutting up, but it didn't last even a minute. Naruto leaned over his shoulder and looked at him. "Sasuke, that was kinda rude, y'know?" He almost whispered.

Sasuke didn't answer, which just pushed Naruto even more. "Why did you do that?"

"She was in my chair."

"But she just wanted to sit next to me.."

"Then go sit with her. You moved here on your own."

Clocked.

Naruto sat for a moment in silence, not knowing what to say. "Well..-- She went over to sit with Sakura-chan anyways, y'know."

Sasuke had to hold himself back from rolling his eyes. He really just talks to talk, not actually say anything.

Sakura-chan? Does he ever not call her 'chan'?

Whatever.

Sasuke glanced around the classroom, his eyes wavering over a specific pink haired girl for a tad bit too long.

Tch.

Fuck. She looked at him. Right when he takes one look around. She looked tired, but she gave him a weird look.

Wait. Why does he even care?

Sasuke rolled his eyes slightly, a signature move of him.

Whatever.

Back to work.

—

Riiiiiiiiiiiiing.

Sakura grabbed her bag and immediately got up, already tired of all this bullshit. She left the class before anybody else could, and Ino followed her alongside Hinata.

"Hina!" A male voice called out from behind them. Hinata turned around, only to be met with a headbump to Naruto's chest.

"Shit-"

Sakura turned around to stare at them, and Ino had to really just hold in her laugh.

Hinata's whole face went red, and Sakura could've sworn she saw her hands tremble.

"Sorry, Hinata-chan." He sighed, holding her by both of her biceps on each side. "I, uh.. do you wanna walk to class together?" He slowly let go of her.

Sakura's eyes widened a bit, and Ino turned around so she could burst out into laughter.

"I-"

Naruto kinda gave her those annoying puppy eyes of his. Even Sakura couldn't say no to it sometimes..

"I was.. walking with Sakura and Ino.. You could just walk with us?"

Did she just— reject him?

Sakura stared at them and also burst out into laughter alongside Ino. She snickered loudly and gave Naruto a slap on his bicep. "Yeah, maybe you can just walk with us."

Naruto didn't quite understand why they were laughing (duh). "Um.. yeah, okay."

Ino started laughing even more, her eyes tearing up. "Oh my god, I can't do this today."

"Literally—" She snickered. Sakura came closer to Ino to whisper near her, "Hinata's not gonna wash that shirt anymore."

They both snickered and it kinda ticked Naruto off. "Oi, Sakura-chan, why're you guys laughing?"

"Who just comes up to someone to ask her to walk with him?" Ino snickered.

"We were all going to the same class anyways. Plus, you told her you'd sit next to her."

"So you guys are just laughing at me?" He pouted.

Sakura snickered, "Aww, poor little Fox boy."

Ino snickered.

"Guys, don't be mean.." Hinata said softly.

Sakura looked over at her, "Ah, c'mon guys. Naruto's gonna be the reason we're late."

—

After a good 5 minutes, all 4 of them arrived at their math class. Sakura settled down next to Shikamaru, since they were partnered up for this Math project together. The background noise was just shuffling around with bags and chairs, which made Shika just sigh. "What a drag." He mumbled.

"Right." She said very much sarcastically. She looked over at him, sighing. "But we really gotta spend some time on this project after school. What time are you done today?"

"3. I can't today, though. Gotta go to training."

"Oh. Okay." She shrugs.

Sakura flipped open her notebook, already scribbling formulas while Shikamaru leaned back in his chair like he was preparing for a nap. The audacity this guy has..

"Are you gonna do anything, or should I just sign your name at the end?" she asked flatly, tapping her pen against the page.

Shikamaru let out a long sigh, stretching his arms over his head. "You're so troublesome, Haruno. I'll work on it later."

"Later doesn't get us a grade, genius."

He cracked an eye open, smirk tugging at his lips. "Relax. I'll pull it together before the deadline."

"Not good enough." She leaned over, shoving the notebook toward him. "Here. At least pretend to work while I'm here."

Shikamaru sighed, "Ughhh." Grabbing the notebook, and a pen, he let his hand with the pen hover over the notebook.

Sakura looked over at him and rolled her eyes. Did he really just take what she said seriously..?

Oh my gosh. None of the dudes here can be real.

Shikamaru finally scribbled something down, muttering under his breath about how "tedious" it was. Sakura leaned her chin on her palm, half glaring at him, half zoning out.

"See? I'm writing." Shikamaru lazily scrawled something across the page.

Sakura leaned over and immediately frowned. ".. Did you just write the word 'math' on the paper?"

"Yeah. Step one: acknowledge the subject. Step two…" He tapped the pen against the desk, eyes half-shut. "Step two will come to me later."

She smacked her palm against her forehead. "You’re unbelievable."

"Troublesome."

Sakura huffed and went back to her own notes. It's really gonna be a long 4 hours still..

Shikamaru twirled the pen between his fingers, not even pretending to look at the notebook anymore.

"You know," he muttered, "if you just do the whole thing now, I'll owe you one."

Sakura blinked. "Excuse me?"

"One favor. Non-academic. Anything within reason. Easier than forcing me to stay awake for this."

Sakura stared at him like he'd grown a second head. "You seriously think I'm dumb enough to take that deal?"

He shrugged. "Worth a shot."

She leaned in closer, narrowing her eyes. "You're not skipping out on this. If I suffer, you suffer."

Shikamaru groaned, dragging a hand over his face. "Troublesome woman…"

Sakura scoffed under her breath. "You know what, I'm done with it too."

"Thank god." He sighed.

Smack..

"A- Ow!" He scoffed, rubbing the back of his head like someone just slapped his head off.

"Get to work."

"Yes ma'am."

—

"You know," Shikamaru drawled as they strolled down the hall, "if you're that desperate to ace this project, you could just put my name on it and call it teamwork."

Sakura rolled her eyes so hard it almost hurt. "Do you ever take anything seriously?"

Well. Even looking at the absolute no-thought-put-into outfit of him pretty much explains it all.

He smirked faintly. "Not unless I have to."

"And what if I wasn't here to drag you along?"

"Then I’d fail. And you'd still pass."

Sakura blinked, caught off guard by how casually he said it. ".. That's pathetic."

"Or efficient." He shoved his hands in his pockets, gaze flicking lazily toward the windows as they walked through the empty hallways of the school. "Why waste energy on things I don’t care about?"

For once, she didn't have a comeback. The hallway noise filled the silence until she muttered, "Well, you better care about this project, because I'm not babysitting you."

Shikamaru hummed. ".. Fair enough."

Footsteps suddenly filled their ears. Someone was walking towards them. Not too fast, not too slow. It wasn't heavy either.

Shikamaru looked up immediately, Sakura standing right next to him.

"Yo?"

"Shikamaru." The deep voice from infront of them called out.

"Sup."

Sakura looked up at Sasuke infront of her and Shika, and it was kinda.. erm. Odd. What the hell is he of all people doing here still? It's 3:30 PM. On a Wednesday. Isn't he the typa person to go home as soon as class is over?

He was silent for a moment. It was so awkward on their side; but it wasn't anything new for Sasuke.

"What time is training?"

Shikamaru stood still for a moment. He just stared at Sasuke, then scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "At 5."

"Kay." And he just walked off.

When he was pretty much out of sight, Shikamaru sighed. "Weird."

"Why?"

"Training is always at the same time. He knows that." Shikamaru just shrugged after that.

Sakura's face scrunched up slightly. "Hm."

Suddenly, some arms were wrapped around Shika from behind. "Wh-"

"Shikaaaa!" Ino said, very much sounding happier than ever.

"Ino, get off of m-"

Her arms tightened around him in a very much.. threatening manner. "Aaah, how great to see you." She said sarcastically.

Ino slapped the back of his head before letting go of him, Hinata just now arriving behind them.

"What the hell, Ino." He sighed.

"Why're you two still here?" Ino raised an eyebrow.

"We were just talking about the Math project." Sakura crossed her arms, then gave Hinata a wave. Hinata just smiled back for now.

"Hmmmmm.. anyways, Shika, I'm stealing her from you."

"Go right ahead."

"Okay, see ya, Shika!" Ino waved at him, and he just gave her a quick nod before making his way to the exit. Sakura sighed; almost of relief.

"We need to go get coffee, like, right now."

"Okay. Why? Did something happen?"

"Kinda. I need your opinion on it too. We need to settle down for it."

Ino's acting like her life was on the line based off of Sakura's opinion, and she was unsure if she should be worried or not. But, hey, it's Ino. It's probably nothing serious.

"M'kay."

...

All 3 of them settled down at their table, and after a good few minutes of impatience and.. well.. waiting for their coffee, Ino spilled the beans.

She took a huge breath and put her coffee down. "Okay. First off, you know how I was partnered up with Sai?" Ino started, but before Sakura could answer—she already gave her a side note. "Oh, and I already told Hina."

"Yeah. What, did he mess up your notebook or something?"

"Ugh, no, dumbass!" She rolled her eyes, taking a quick sip of her coffee. "Look. Tell me if I'm overreacting.. but.."

"You probably are."

"Shut up for a moment! Look." Ino leaned forward like she was about to share the top most secret thing in the world, that even the FBI was after. "So, we're working on the equations, right? And out of nowhere he just looks at me—dead serious—and goes, ‘You're kind of pretty… for someone who doesn't look very smart.’" She scoffed, and her tone was just mocking how Sai sounded when she quoted him.

Sakura snickered yet looked shocked. "Oh my god. That's worse than what I expected."

"So I'm not overreacting!"

"No. I get it. Honestly though, it's Sai we're talking about. I didn't expect anything less from him." Sakura shrugged. Hinata just looked like she was about to choke on her coffee; even though it was her second time hearing what happened. "Like, I wanna be surprised but, am I really?"

Ino scoffed and rolled her eyes so badly it looked painful to some extent. "Ugh, he's so weird. I'm gonna have to deal with him for the longest time."

"Wait-... how did you reply?"

And that made her sigh. "I told him, ‘Guess that makes us even. You're kinda cute… for someone who has zero personality.’"

Sakura just stared at her for a moment. So did Hinata, 'cause she didn't even know she replied to him like that.

Ino's face went slightly flushed, annoyed by how they were just staring at her instead of saying something. And oh boy, did they look like they were gonna laugh at her. "Look... I didn't have anything else come to mind on the spot, okay? Stop looking at me like that." She took a sip of her coffee out of.. well, embarrassment.

Hinata turned her head to face Sakura. Then Sakura turned hers to face Hinata. Sakura burst the hell out into laughter and Hinata just let out a soft giggle.

"What the hell is that comeback?" Sakura snickered, unable to take a sip of her coffee from laughing so much.

"Look, Forehead, I— didn't know what else to say." Her face got even more flustered.

Sakura snickered again, sliding her hands across her face in a "I'm so done with all of this" manner. It was a long schoolday already, and just hearing these dumb things makes her more tired, but it's hilarious.

"Anyways." Ino stirred her coffee slightly, clearing her throat. "Second thing. Did you guys hear about that like, party or whatever?"

"What party?" Sakura raised an eyebrow.

"Like.. I heard from some others that the fourth years that're in the student council are arranging a party for the second years. I think it's in a club."

"Oh. That's nice. We're finally getting something." Sakura sipped her coffee, listening to what Hina and Ino had to say. "Why're you telling us this though?"

"Um.. to convince you to go? Duh?"

"Oh."

Ino blankly stared at her, and after that, so did Hinata. Sakura was just staring at both of them, then took a sip of her coffee. "Erm.."

"I'll think about it."

Ino scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Oh, c'mon, party pooper."

Before Sakura could argue back, a voice suddenly cut through the café noise.
"Who's the party pooper?"

Sakura froze mid-sip. Hinata did too. Of course. Naruto. He was balancing two trays in his hands like it was some kind of competition, grinning ear to ear as if the whole café had been waiting for him.

"Ino." Sakura lied instantly, pointing a thumb at her.

"Hey!" Ino smacked her arm. "Don't drag me into this."

Naruto plopped himself down into the empty chair at their table like he owned it. "So what's this about a party? Count me in."

Sakura sighed. "No one invited you."

Naruto blinked. "You guys are going, right?" His gaze darted between all three of them, then landed on Sakura like the answer mattered.

Ino smirked. "See? Even blondie knows it'd be lame without you, Forehead."

Sakura put her coffee down a little too hard. ".. I said I'd think about it."

Naruto leaned back, smug. "Ah, c'mon, Sakura-chan!" He nudged her arm slightly, making her automatically grip her cup just slightly more. "It'll be boring without you, y'know? And much more fun with me!"

"I'd very much rather die, thanks though."

He rolled his eyes slightly, "You're too mean."

"Why're you at a cafe anyways? You're so not that type of guy."

Before he could answer, Sakura furrowed her brows slightly. "Aren't you supposed to be at training soon anyways? It's 4:30."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Wait- seriously? It's 4:30 already?!" He sighed in disbelief, and, well, disappointment. "I'm gonna be late.." He frowned.

"Dumbass."

"Training for what?" Ino asked suspiciously, then taking a sip of her coffee right after.

"Football. He's in the team with Shika and all."

"Ooooh, that. I heard him talk about it like last year. You guys still do that?" Ino raised an eyebrow.

"Well, yeah. I don't see why not.." Naruto mumbled.

Sakura looked down, inspecting him for a moment. "You don't even have a bag to bring there? What about your clothes..?"

"I'm weariing them underneath."

That sentence made her facepalm. Oh my gosh, he knows nothing about hygiene. Is this the guy Hina likes so much?

Sakura sighed and rubbed her temples with her thumb. "Oh my god." She murmured.

"Huh?"

"Nothing."

Naruto shrugged it off and looked around, then his eyes landed on Hinata. "Oh, hey, Hina."

Hinata looked at him, her face already going slightly red. "Hi."

"Did you.. just see her?" Ino's face scrunched up slightly, looking at him like he's a total dumbass.

"Oh, yeah." Naruto admitted like the idiot he is.

Sakura and Ino collectively facepalmed at the same time. "Oh my god."

"Why do you guys keep slapping your foreheads?" The fox-boy slightly tilted his head to the side in a confused manner.

"No reason, idiot. Matter of fact, you should get going."

"Oh- shit- yeah. I need to leave." He got up, his chair scraping across the floor with a horrendously annoying sound. Ino covered her ears with a scoff. "Dumbass."

"Okay, see you guys." He left his tray for them on the table, "And, Sakura-chan, you better go, y'know!" He said, before taking his leave out of the coffee shop.

"Like hell I'd go if he went."

"C'monnnnnn, Forehead. It's gonna be fun. We had this last year too!"

"That was because we didn't know the others. We were new students. It'll just be plain boring now."

"How can you call a club boring!?" She scoffed, rolling her eyes dramatically.

"It's not boring. Just.. eh." Sakura shrugged. "I'll go if we don't have any assignments or exams due."

"Uuuuugh, whatever. It's in like a month or two anyways." Ino moved her hair out of the way slightly, then turned her head to Hinata. "You're going with me, right?"

Hinata nodded. "Ofcourse. But Sakura-chan really needs to come with us."

"I'll think about it, Hina." Sakura took the last finishing sip of her coffee and let out a soft sigh, resting her head on the inner palm of her right hand; her elbow propped up on the table. It went silent between them for a good moment, and then an idea popped into her mind.

"Oh my gosh, do you guys wanna have a girls night tonight?"

"But it's Wednesday."

"I mean like, you guys sleeping over in my dorm. I have spare air beds."

"Oooh, wait, yes. We should go get some snacks after we're done here."

"Yeah? Hina, you okay with that?" Sakura turned her head to her with a soft smile.

"Sure."

"Ugh, finally." Sakura smiled, sighing softly. "Feels so depressing all alone in my dorm. It really is a comfortable place, though."

"I agree." Ino said. Hinata doesn't stay at the dorms due to some rule of her clan or whatever. Thankfully they let her have these girl nights though. Sakura always found it kinda odd that they still had these rules for her while they're almost 20. But, okay. It's not her place to judge.

Sakura stared out of the window for a moment, sighing softly after a minute or so.

"Let's go." Ino said suddenly, and it made Sakura snap out of it real quick. She nodded. "Oh, you two are done?"

"Yep." Ino got up, grabbing her bag from the floor.

"Okay. Let's go then."

...