Our Eyes Met

Fourteen

Just as Naruto disappeared into the crowds, (Name) turned to go to her class. When he bumped into her, she instantly recognised him and found it rather weird to see him on the other side of the building only minutes before classes started. She walked off to her own class, avoiding crashing into anyone else. Naruto may have been in a daze, but she wasn't exactly paying attention to her surroundings either.

As she was about to reach  the door, she tripped over something. She held her hands out in front of her to protect her head, but the door opened right on that instance and she fell face first into the class room.

She groaned and rubbed her head and she slowly sat up. She heard people snickering, but maybe that was only because she made such a grand entrance.

"What is going on here ?" asked Kurenai-sensei. She noticed the ruckus just when she was passing the class room. She narrowed her eyes at the students standing around when she noticed (Name) lying on the floor.

"Are you alright, dear ?" she kneeled beside (Name) as she sat up and put a hand on her back.

"I am." she replied and rubbed her forehead.

Kurenai-sensei helped her stand up and told another student to see her off to the infirmary. She thought it was better to let the girl rest for sometime. She saw how (Name) had tripped and how she had reached for the door to support herself, and how the door had opened at the very last second.

It could have been a coincidence, but being a teacher for years made Kurenai-sensei able to read students by their expressions, and she understood that it was their prank. She huffed and went off to her class, making sure to leave a note informing that room's teacher the reason of (Name)'s absence.

By the time the nurse let (Name) go, the first period was already over. There was a five minute gap between the periods for students who changed classes and (Name) was going to reach her class during that. The nurse had simply exaggerated the small bump that formed on (Name)'s forehead and made her rest the entire period, because her well-being was just that important for the school. (Name) tried hard to not roll her eyes at how the nurse was basically pampering her when she didn't need it, and managed to leave for her second period. Otherwise, she was sure the nurse would have made her rest at least half the day.

On her way back, (Name) was carefully whenever she turned corners and passed doors. She felt that someone had intentionally tripped her and then opened the door so the fall hurt. But she did not want to go assuming things without any proof, so she ignored the feeling in her gut.

The corridors did not have many students as those classes which required students to switch their classroom were mostly on the other side of the building, where her own class was, while the infirmary was near Naruto's class. She hurried her steps because she had lived all her life without ever getting a late mark, and she did not want to change that about herself.

As she was going down the stairs, she heard familiar voices. She took some steps towards them, but stopped when one of them started yelling.

"Why did you do it ?!"

It was definitely Naruto's voice. It felt like he was in the middle of a fight with someone, and she did not want to walk in on them. (Name) quietly peeked around and saw that he was fighting with Sasuke, and looked almost ready to pounce on him. His face was red with anger and he was breathing heavily. She remembered the last time when they both were fighting and how she had walked in on them, which made Naruto stop what he was saying. She did not want to do it again. She realized that it was not her business and turned to go back upstairs and take the long way around. She had even climbed a few stairs when Naruto raised his voice again.

"What did she even do to you ?! Do you have even the slightest idea of how much this is hurting (Name) ?" he said.

She stopped at the mention of her name. She went back down and pressed her back against the wall, listening to their conversation.

This time, it was Sasuke's turn to snap. He spoke calmly, but somehow that itself was terrifying. Anger laced each word that left his mouth.

"Do you think it feels nice to have someone take away what what yours ? She placed first on the entrance exam - that position was mine. In less than a month, she had all those secret admirers - that attention was mine. Suddenly, she is the apple of everyone's eyes. Everyone admires her, loves her, looks up to her. And you know what the funny part is ? She is oblivious to all of it. It was humiliating to have the spotlight snatched from me and handed over to someone so undeserving and stupid. She was always winning but she never realized it." he finished.

(Name)'s eyes widened as she heard that. That wasn't how she knew Sasuke. He was supposed to have a warm heart protected by all his cold barriers. She thought he only showed that side to a few people, and she was one of those. But she was so wrong.

"You did not have to go to such lengths, Sasuke. There were so many other ways. You could have just tried harder and gotten back what you claim was rightfully yours. You did not have to get those people to bully her." said Naruto in a low voice, almost with disgust, as if he was looking down on his best friend.

But (Name) heard it clearly. She gasped quite audibly, which was definitely heard by those two.

"Who's there ?" asked Naruto, and took a few steps in the direction of the noise.

His eyes widened when he saw (Name) and he muttered curses under his breath. Sasuke followed him and saw her too. He felt the ground beneath him shake and his knees felt weak when he saw the hurt and betrayal and anger which flashed in her eyes.

(Name) walked up to him and glared at him. For the first time ever, he felt so little, so helpless in front of someone else. She raised her hand and he braced himself for the impact, but it never came.

When he opened his eyes again, he saw (Name) looking at him with disgust. Her arm was back to her side and clenched tightly.

"I was so wrong about you, Sasuke." she said through gritted teeth. It hurt her to be betrayed by the person she was the closest to, the person she had started liking. But she wasn't going to let him have the satisfaction by breaking down in front of him.

"I had heard so many rumours about you, but I discarded them because I knew - no, I thought I knew that you weren't as cold and heartless as they say. I never believed in rumours, and I know I was right when I didn't, because you are even worse than they say." she said, and started walking away. She never wanted to see his face again.

"(Name), wait !" Naruto called out.

But she was not going to stop.