Glasses (A ShikaSaku Fanfic)

Enduring Love

Sakura

Waking up to the sounds of birds chirping and the radio playing downstairs, I stretched my arms above my head with a yawn. Rubbing the sleep away from my eyes, I sat up and took a look at the calendar pinned on the wall.

"It's... Monday..."

I pouted, tired, and let out a sigh. First day of the work week is always a pain. Standing up from my bed I stretched once more, feeling my body pop into place as I decided to begin the day with a shower. Just like every other day.

Passing by the mirror in the bathroom, I stopped and took at look at myself. Same old me. I'm 16 now, my hair might reach my back but it's still unruly and my eyes are still the same flat green. They've lost their sparkle a long time ago.

"I wonder how Sasuke is with that bitch Tayuya..."

I spoke to myself as I remembered they got together a month ago, when I was still pining for him. That's right, I'm over that ass, I drew the line when he punched Naruto because he called out his girlfriend for being a bully. Guess I had bad taste in guys.

I stripped off my clothing and took a shower, I let the water run down my body as if the cool water could wash away the emptiness I felt. Everyone around me seemed to be getting into relationships, don't get me wrong, I don't see any reason to hurry up, but it's just that everyone is out there holding hands and what am I doing? Reading a book? I honestly feel left out, like getting a beau is the new hip trend. With that, I began to list off all my friends, identifying which of them were taken and which were as single as me.

"Ino got over Sasuke way before I did  and now has Choji. I guess they were the 'best friends turned lovers' type"

I reached for the bottle of shampoo, popping the lid and attempted to pour out some shampoo. I sighed and decided to fill it up with a bit of water and shake it before directly applying it to my head.

"TenTen had this crush on Neji, but now she has this thing with Kankuro, she saw the inevitability of being with Neji since he's arranged to be wed with Hinata," I cringed at the thought of getting married to your own cousin, "The Hyuuga's really are crazy..."

Massaging my scalp, I tried to make sure all the grease got out as I rinsed my head thoroughly and went for the conditioner.

"Temari, for some godforsaken reason, got with Itachi," I paused to tap the mouth of the conditioner onto my hand, "Don't know what got into them that they decided that was a good idea- I need to go shopping later ugh!"

"Shikamaru, Kiba, and Shino are all single. Thankfully, I'm not alone," I squinted at nothing as I stopped in my tracks, "Come to think of it, Shino might be asexual... or gay or have a crush on a girl and he's just really quiet about it," I shrugged to myself.

Grabbing some soap, I began to rub it all over myself, making sure I don't smell like sweat and sleep.

"The one person I actually know is doing well off is Gaara, after all, he is inheriting the family business since neither of his siblings wanted to take it"

Rinsing myself from the soap bubbles, I stepped out and took a towel, patting myself dry so I wouldn't feel too wet. I stepped out of the shower and faced the mirror again, grabbing my toothbrush to get the awful taste in my mouth off.

"Naruto is apparently doing something with Karin, seen them around places on their own lately. Not like they're directly related at least, they're far enough on the family tree for it to not be as disgusting," I stuck the toothbrush in my mouth, "I think..."

Not being able to speak without choking on foam, I began thinking to myself.

'And me? I'm single, grades are popping, face is clear, body is healthy, and I've got a happy life with my grandparents,' I spit out the foam and began to rinse my mouth before gargling up some mouth wash for my throat too. I hated having a sore throat so I avoided that at all costs.

"I'm content with my life," I pursed my lips as I looked into my own eyes in the mirror, "I've got no problems. There's no reason for me to seek out someone to validate me," I topped it off with a smile as I exited the bathroom.

Taking out a nice blazer my gran bought me for my birthday, I slipped on some underwear and applied some deodorant. It's a Monday, everybody knows that Mondays are the worst days, so it's either you look like you didn't even want to get out of bed or you tried hard to cover up that fact. Luckily, the school requires a uniform.

Slipping my messenger bag over my head, I said good bye to the picture of my parents on the bedside table before grabbing my headband and wearing it on the way down.

I could already smell the coffee and toast as I made my way into the kitchen. As usual, the radio was turned on and playing some good old Jim Croce that my gran and pops always loved to listen to.

If I could save time in a bottle--

I smiled as the memory of my pops dancing me around when I was small popped up in my head.

"Good morning, family!"

I kissed my grandmother's forehead as she drew on the sketchbook I gifted her on her birthday this year, "Morning, Baa-chan," She might be old, but she always loved drawing, it made her be at peace. In fact, a lot of our family portraits were redrawn by her.

"Morning, Jii-chan," grandpa was too busy with the news that he shooed me away, "Go eat, child, and pour yourself a glass of milk."

Doing as told, I grabbed the near empty milk bottle and poured out what was left of it in to the glass, bringing it to the table as I threw the bottle away.

"Looks like I'll have to go shopping today, anything you'd like, Baa-chan?"

I chewed on a piece of toast as I looked at my wrist watch, 5:30 AM.

"We might need some eggs, Saku dear," I hummed, I did notice how we didn't have the usual eggs today. I turned to Pops, but before I could say anything, he beat me to it.

"Just some more sugar, the coffee is getting more bitter than me each day." Gran and I looked at each other and chuckled at the old man and she spoke up, "Please, Koi, nothing is more bitter than you."

"At least you love me, Koi"

I smiled at their simple display of affection for each other. Granma Hana and Granpa Riku have been married since they were in their 20s. I look to their relationship as the very definition of true love.

"Oh you might want to buy some more rice as well, Saku dear, and beef."

I nodded as I finished my toast and milk, rinsing the plate and the glass in the sink before setting them aside to dry. I gave a slight hug to the both of them and waved, "Bye, Baa-chan! Bye, Jii-chan! I'll see you after school with the groceries!"

I gave them one last grin before closing the door on my way out. I checked the time, "5:50, might as well take my time," school wasn't too far from my house so I always had the luxury of walking to school and enjoying the view. I looked up to the sky as a couple of birds flew by.

"Looks like the typical start of the week, hopefully it'll stay that way"

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A/N: Ey, Jaime here, revised the whole chapter. I tried to capture the essence of the original writing into this as much as I could while still adding in more depth for Sakura's character which was lacking in the original. Hope this still suits your tastes :))