𝒲𝒾𝓃𝓉ℯ𝓇𝓈 ℰ𝒶𝓇𝓁𝓎 𝒮𝓅𝓇𝒾𝓃𝑔 (sasusaku)

New Arrival

It was cold. Unreasonably cold. Perhaps that was because of the open windows, allowing fragile pieces of snow to trickle in and land on desks, immediately melting against the warm wooden surfaces. Or perhaps it was because of the lingering feeling of uncertainty that had been causing a storm of nausea to swell in Sakura's stomach, the clouds writhing with lighting in her throat, making her feel almost sick.

It was November third. The winter season had set in reasonably this year, rather than coming late like the year prior. Sakura had always been attracted to the colder seasons. She enjoyed the crisp autumn air that made the perfect atmosphere for jogging or making visits down to local soup kitchens. Winter was the perfect time to go to the gym rather than working out at home. The walk, albeit freezing every morning and evening, rejuvenated her. Something about being so unbearably hot after working out, and stepping into the freezing atmosphere of snow, was so intensely relaxing.

Sakura winced and hissed when she felt her fingertip slice open. She set down the papers she had been organizing and looked at her right index finger, frowning at the sight of a small paper cut. Her blood trickled gently down her finger. Sakura lifted her gaze to the medkit beside one of the open windows and started to it. She took careful measures not to let her blood get on her uniform, nor any furniture. She took down the blue box and set it on the edge of her teachers desk, prying it open before taking out a band-aid wrapping it around her finger. She then put the medkit back up and returned to where she was organizing papers. Just as she did, her teacher, Yamato, returned. He came to her and spoke a brief hello, thanking her for taking care of the task he had assigned to her. He took the papers from Sakura and dismissed her to her paired seat, which just so happened to seat her beside her best friend— or little brother, as she liked to joke— Naruto.

Naruto's feet were kicked up on the desk, his arms were wrapped behind his head, and he mostly seemed to be sleeping. How he could fall asleep in such a position, Sakura had no clue. With an annoyed look, she pushed his feet off the desk, causing him to slip forward and awake. She took her seat beside him and glared.

"How can you have no respect for school property?" she questioned.

Naruto grumbled tightly and carded a hand through his thick, rather messy blond hair. He leaned forward, resting his elbow on the edge of his desk, and his cheek in the palm of his hand. Naruto looked rather unruly, with his tie loose around his neck, part of his shirt unbuttoned and not tucked into his pants, and one of his shoe laces untied. Sakura constantly scolded him for his behavior and lack of respect for himself, as well as the school, but it seemed to do nothing to the boy's pride.

"It's just a desk, Sakura.." he mumbled.

Sakura rolled her eyes and pushed his hand from out under his cheek, causing his chin to drop down and hit his desk. Naruto immediately whined with pain and sat up. He rubbed his red chin and glared at Sakura, more than unhappy with her behavior.

She gave him a sort of look that said "You should have listened to me, then." and left it at that.

Naruto, while annoyed with her, would not remain as such for long. One of the unfortunate downsides of their friendship was Naruto's obvious feelings for Sakura. While she treated him as a brother and referred to it as puppy love— which always made him angry—, he believed he was in love with her. Ever since they met on their first day of kindergarten, he had been in love with her. There was something so deeply fascinating about the girl that he desired to know about. Something about her perfectly cherry-pink hair, cute green dress, and little red ribbon she wore that day, made him obsessively in love with her. Oddly enough, Sakura displayed no interest in him. Instead, she wanted the little boy who was the complete opposite of Naruto.