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(1.3)

THINKING ABOUT

"/What am I doing?"/

-Monday-

Sakura - now wearing her summer uniform - sat on a bench by the gate. She was waiting for Sasuke, hoping for a chance to talk to him. She checked her phone for the time.

'06:09 am / Mon, June 01'

['Uchiha usually comes to school early on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.']

She braised herself.

Naruto walked through the gates accompanied by his friends as usual. He immediately spots her. "Sakura-chan? What are you doing out here?"

Sakura stood up from the bench. "Oh! Hey, Naruto!" she gave him the most fake enthusiastic greeting ever.

"Good morning!" he grinned.

"Heads up Naruto!", yelled Shikamaru.

The next thing Sakura knew, she was being squashed within a mob of girls. It wasn't violent, but it was choking nonetheless.

['Ack! What the- These girls! Oof! It would've been better if they just shoved me aside At least then, I'd still be breathing. AIR. I NEED AIR!']

She struggled to get out of the cluster and only when she was out and had helped herself to a generous amount of oxygen did she turned to look back.

Naruto was being fawned over and handed, by female students from the lower years, some gifts. He bashfully accepts them.

Sasuke walks in through the gates looking groggy and out of it as usual.

['Oh. Right on time.']

Naruto noticed Sasuke's presence just as the latter became aware of the commotion ahead of him.

Sasuke halted. He and Naruto stared at each other and it gave off an uncomfortable vibe. The atmosphere was tense. No one could break away from it until-

"MY BELOVED FLOWER!", a very energetic voice boomed across the entrance.

The boy named Lee had arrived, running towards Sakura and passing through Sasuke and Naruto. "What great honor to start my day in school with the sight of /YOU/!"

Sakura was not prepared for that. Everyone's attention was now on her thanks to Lee. It's as if, they were part of a play and the other actors were waiting for her to deliver her line so they can cue the next scene.

"Ah. L-Lee." She was grinning but her eyebrows gave away her annoyance. "G-Good morning."

"Eh? Eh. EH!" Lee was surprised that Sakura didn't get angry at him this time - or didn't show that she was rather. "My prayers had been answered!" He shouted to nobody in particular.

"Could it be that the most beautiful woman, my beloved flower, Sakura-san!", he said while performing some sort of courtship dance. For the last post, he kneeled down and held his hand out as if asking for her hand in marriage. "Have you finally fallen in love with me?!" He winked and flashed her; a sparkling smile.

Sakura just stood there stupefied and extremely embarrassed at what Lee had just done. Everyone else around them except for Sasuke looked dumbfounded.

Sasuke decided to take his leave and go ahead of everyone.

Noticing this, Sakura immediately opened her mouth. "U-Uchiha-san!", She called him as he walks by her.

He stopped to look at her. She felt vulnerable and awkward under his gaze. She suddenly found herself forcing a smile on her face and failing miserably.

['I must look either hilarious or creepy right now.']

"Good Morning!" she bowed politely. It was the perfect excuse to hide her face.

"Sakura... chan?" Naruto, who was still surrounded by girls, was surprised by her actions.

Everyone's attention shifted to Sasuke, who was obviously taken aback by the gesture.

"A-Aa.", he barely spoke.

"Eh?!", the girls chorused.

Naruto looked at Sasuke instantly - eyes-wide, while his friends were gaping.

Sakura felt somehow accomplished. "Well then.", she told him as she straightened her back. She stiffly walked backwards and got her things from the bench, all the while keeping the fake smile on her face. "I'll go ahead. See you in class."

Then she dashed away leaving an extremely confused Sasuke, Naruto shifting his gaze from Sasuke to Sakura and back to Sasuke again, and a forgotten Lee still in his kneeling position. Everyone else was staring at Sakura's back. It was their turn to be stupefied.

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Sakura slowed down as soon as she was inside the school building. She was catching her breath and trying so hard to shake the embarrassment off.

['I forgot to tell him.

She sighed.

...Oh well, I'll get another chance.

Then she realized something.

Come to think of it.

She straightened up and fisted her hand by her chest.

…That was the first time I heard his voice.']

In fact, that was the first time anyone has heard his voice in a long time.

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-Art class-

Sasuke accidentally dropped his eraser.

Sakura reacted so fast; "CHANCE!" she dove face flat sliding on the floor to catch it.

"Haruno?!", the male teacher - a man with a visible scar along his nose -yelled.

Sasuke watched her from his seat with an arched eyebrow as she raised her hand with the eraser to him.

"Here you go."

"Hn." He hesitated before he took the eraser out of her hand.

"Miss Haruno?", the teacher called to her worriedly.

Everyone in class was looking at her as she got up without even raising her head. She then turned and walked towards the door at the back of the room.

"Excuse me. I'll step outside for a while.", she spoke loud enough for the teacher to hear her.

The students seated behind Sasuke, got a look at her face as she leaves and their expressions told everyone else what they needed to know.

"Ah! Miss Haruno wait!" The teacher then turned to her students. "Shouldn't the health officer accompany her to the infirmary?"

"Iruka-sensei. Sakura is the health officer.", Ino stated.

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-Tuesday; Math Class-

Sakura - with a medical plaster on her nose and a bigger one on her forehead - was quickly walking through the hallway when she saw Sasuke up ahead of her. She was about to call him when she notice Kakashi further ahead, coming from the opposite wing.

Kakashi stopped and narrowed his eyes at her. He looks at Sasuke and back at Sakura. He moves his head side to side warning her.

Sakura looks at Sasuke and back at him, determination showing on her face.

Sasuke was about to open the door to their classroom when he noticed Kakashi close by. He realized that Kakashi was looking at somebody behind him so he turned to see who it was. There she found Sakura. He shifts his sight between the two who were acting like they were in a situation called a Mexican standoff.

Sakura glares at Kakashi. Kakashi returns the favor. Sakura walks one step forward. Kakashi does the same. Sakura continues to walk forward and so does Kakashi. They both accelerated at the same time and power-walked towards Sasuke.

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Sasuke rushed inside the classroom just in time before both Sakura and Kakashi found themselves stuck in the door. The bell rings.

"UCHIHA!" / "UCHIHA-SAN!"

They both called him at the same time.

Kakashi turns to Sakura "That's very disrespectful of you Haruno! Is this how you treat your elders?"

"Only, if that elder is a pervert!" Sakura struggles to get pass him.

"What is wrong with the both of you?!", Sasuke yelled, surprising the students that was already watching the scene at the door.

"And Kakashi." he looks at the man. "Why didn't you use the front door? It was closer to you!" he points at the other door.

Kakashi sighed in defeat and backed off. He glared at Sakura before walking to the front door. Everyone followed him with their eyes. He walked in as he cleared his throat. "Haruno. Uchiha. Take your seats."

He walked to the podium as Sakura and Sasuke took their seats. "There's no important announcement so let's just proceed with Math.", said Kakashi. "I really want to move on to the next chapter of this book I'm reading so I'll just give you guys an activity to work on. It will also serve as your attendance. Do it by group if you like."

"Wish me luck.", Sakura whispered to Ino who just sighed and smiled at her.

Hinata shyly turned to Naruto who was watching Sakura as she approached Sasuke.

"Uhm, Uchiha-san.", said Sakura as she was standing beside Sasuke. "I don't know if Kakashi-sensei informed you yet, but I'm actually your-"

Sasuke raise an eyebrow at her but before Sakura could finish, Kakashi called her.

"Haruno! Stand outside the hallway!"

"Eh? What for?"

"For being Noisy!"

"But it's a group activity. How can we-?"

"Then for being late!"

"But we arrived at the same time."

"Yes." Kakashi's head was lowered that his eyes were not visible. His mouth was behind the surgical mask as usual but everyone knew he was grinning. Then he suddenly raised his head. "And I'm always late. Ahah! Gotcha!", he pointed out, his voice sounding very victorious.

The room fell silent.

…

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Sakura had to do her activity alone and in the hallway. She used the wall as a table so she could write down her answer.

Kakashi walked out of the room. "Done?"

Sakura forced a smile on her face and handed him her paper. "Yes sir!", said Sakura using a bitter tone.

Kakashi sighed. "You can go in now Haruno.", he told her.

"Yes sir! Thank you sir!"

Kakashi rolled his eyes.

As soon as his back was turned, Sakura did an 'akanbe'gesture at him."Beh~"

She realized some of the students are looking out the window at her including Sasuke, who was seated by the window and just in front of her. Sakura suddenly felt embarrassed of her own immaturity. She tilted her head a little to the left. Her left hand sort of making a saluting gesture, lightly pressed on her head. She forced a smile at him, still flushed.

Sasuke's eyebrows furrowed and he looked away.

Sakura felt a corner of her lips twitching as her fingers move to where her hair clips were placed. She realized that Naruto was looking at her as well. Their eyes met and she kept the forced smile on her face.

Naruto could only give her a weak smile in return.

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-Wednesday; Gym-

Sakura was wearing a plain white t-shirt and green gym shorts. She held onto her braids as she watched Sasuke return to the classroom after changing into his gym uniform. She saw that Sasuke found the bottle of energy drink she left on his desk with a note saying;

'I know you're groggy. Hang in there.'

Sasuke asked a tall boy who was wearing sun glasses - at first he wasn't sure if Sasuke was talking to him because he looked behind him and pointed at himself questioningly - if he knew who left it there. The boy quickly pointed at Sakura.

Sakura of course didn't intend to hide it so she just smiled at him. Just like the previous one, it was forced.

Sasuke eyed her skeptically but read the note. His eyes made its way to the bottom of the paper and Sakura knew he was now reading the post script.

'P.S. I'm not a fangirl so no worries okay.'

(-_-) : ) :D :P ; ) :3 (^_^)

['It's best to make that clear from the start.']

Sasuke, who was creeped out by the note, glared at her in disgust before giving the drink to the other boy who was more than grateful to accept it.

Sakura's hands flew over to her temples then she frustratingly dragged them down to her face before letting her shoulders slumped down and lowered her head in disappointment.

Ino palms her own face behind Sakura.

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-In the gymnasium-

A man who looks similar to Lee blows a whistle and the boys started playing basketball.

Somehow, the two opposing teams were Naruto's group and Sasuke's group. Sasuke's teammates refused to work with him and he seemed rather okay with the fact that his teammates just had him stand around.

"What are all of you doing?! Uchiha is wide open?", the teacher scolded. He then turned to Sasuke. "And you! Don't just stand there! Get yourself in the game!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. He moved along with his team as they were on the offense. Just as they closed in on the defending team, a teammate was forced to pass him the ball which he almost didn't catch due to the lack of communication.

He glared at his teammate who acted like he couldn't care less.

"Go ahead then. Make yourself useful", the boy commanded but it sounded more of a challenge.

Sasuke didn't bother to move closer. He took a shot and scored his team its first three points.

Naruto's teammates suddenly regretted not putting a guard on him.

The game continued with Naruto's teammates ganging up on Sasuke until he made it clear that none of them could keep up with him.

Naruto had enough of his teammates' not so fair play and stepped up. He eventually turned the game into a one on one between him and Sasuke.

When Sasuke was once again in the offense he was able to get passed Naruto, but the huge boy called Chouji, had been under the ring all this time and pushed Sasuke down before he could make the shot.

The male gym teacher whistled. "Foul!", he announced.

Sakura was watching them intently that she reacted too late when someone called her. Next thing she knew she was hit by a volleyball ball in the face. It bounced upward as the force of impact had her looked up but she quickly recovered and caught the ball before it hit the ground.

"Pay attention Haruno.", a woman with a messy ponytail told her.

"Hai! Sorry, Anko-sensei!", said Sakura, blushing in embarrassment as the same group of girls from before laughed at her expense.

The female gym teacher then whistled to give her the signal to serve.

A bit furious, she served a little too strong and way too short. It hit the pole holding the net and bounced off to the other court. And out of all the people that were on the other court, it hit the back of Uchiha Sasuke's head, just as he was about to make his first free-throw shot.

Sakura gasped. Her hands shot up to cover her own mouth. The male gym teacher blew the whistle again and called a time out.

Sakura ran towards the other court to where Sasuke was bent over. His left hand was on his left knee to support his body while the other was rubbing the back of his head.

"Oh my gosh." Sakura was hesitating to get too close to him. She held the collar of her shirt up to her nose as a sort of protection from his anger. "I am so, so, very sorry... I didn't mean to... It was an accident!", she explained.

She reached for him, letting go of her collar as Sasuke shakily straightened his back, his one hand still holding his head.

"You!-" Sasuke was about to say something but stopped as he came face to face with her.

"Er, Sakura-chan!", came Naruto's worried voice.

"Uhm are y- are you okay? Does it still hurt?" Sakura was still trying to reach out to Sasuke, unaware that her nose had started bleeding again.

"Never mind me!", Sasuke snapped. "Do something about that!" He pulled out a blue handkerchief from the back pocket of his gym pants and closed the distance she maintained between them.

Sakura took a step back but Sasuke grabbed one of her outstretched hand and pulled her back in place. Then he held his handkerchief up to her nose.

Sakura was frozen in place due to the sudden contact. Then she realized what was really going on.

There were a few teasing noises from the people around them and Sasuke suddenly remembered where they were. He quickly led Sakura's hand to hold the handkerchief instead of his. "Here. Just take it.", he said and moved away.

Ino was suddenly standing beside her and asking, "Sakura, are you ok?"

Sakura just nodded at her while watching Sasuke stepped out of the court.

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Sakura still held Sasuke's handkerchief to her nose as she makes her way across the covered path. She heard a loud banging noise and learned that it was coming from a girl kicking a vending machine nearby.

"Stupid. Vending. Machine. At least give me back my money!"

"Karin?! What are you doing here?" said Sakura as she came behind the furious girl.

"Huh?!" the redheaded girl turned around to look at her with a very intimidating look, but as soon as she recognized Sakura, her expression softened. "Sakura?! I thought you were a teacher. You sounded different." she explained while fixing her eye-glasses, revealing russet eyes.

"Ehehe."

['Why show that kind of expression to a teacher though?']

"What happened to your nose?!"

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Karin had Sakura lay down in one of the beds in the infirmary while she sat at the chair meant for the school nurse. "That's the second time this week."

"Sorry to trouble you again. Nurse Rin isn't here today either?" Sakura lay down comfortably with her right hand holding a tissue to her nose while the other hand rested on her stomach.

"She went to restock on medical supplies.", replied Karin.

"Thanks for tending to me again but you don't really have to stay here with me."

"Nah. I like being able to get out of class. I actually enjoy being here. When I'm here, being in school is more tolerable."

"Karin."

"Yeah?"

"...You don't have friends do you?"

"S-Shut up!"

The two girls went silent for a while.

...

"Still. Are you gonna be okay with missing class?" Sakura tried having a conversation again.

"Midterms just ended. I'm hardly missing much. Besides, I couldn't care less about my grades. It's not like I'm going to a famous university. Any college is fine I guess. I'll end up working for the local hospital anyway."

Sakura crossed her arms over her eyes. "Wow. You know, I envy people who can be carefree. I can't afford to think like that. I'll never be good enough unless I'm number one. Sometimes, I wonder if I'm the only one who thinks the way I think."

"Of course you're not the only one who thinks like that. So, you're lonely yourself huh?"

"I... I don't want to hear that from you!"

After that there was another awkward silence between them.

...

"Local hospital huh?" Sakura was first to speak again.

"Yeah. Uzumaki General Hospital."

"Oh?! That's the biggest hospital here in Konoha. Are you... uhm... planning to become a nurse or a doctor?"

"A doctor."

"M-Me too. But I really want to study at Tokyo University."

"Tokyo University?!"

"But it's not certain yet if I can actually move on to college."

"Why?!"

"My parents can't afford it and they think I won't make it."

"But you're so intelligent. And I think you're very capable of becoming a doctor. Why would they think that?"

"It's kind of a long story. Ehehe~ Anyway, have you decided what kind of doctor you're going to be?"

"Yeah."

"Really?! I haven't decided yet. So, what kind of doctor do you want to be?"

"A Gynecologist."

"..."

Nobody said anything else after that.

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By the time Sakura got out of the infirmary everyone was already going home.

On her way to the classroom she passed two boys.

"Hurry up Shikamaru! I'm starving.", said the huge - because he doesn't like the word fat – boy.

"Yeah Choji. I'm coming.", Shikamaru told him.

Sakura entered the classroom and saw Ino helping Hinata erase the blackboard.

"Did I miss anything?", Sakura asked.

The two girls turned to look at her. "Asuma-sensei gave us homework. He wants it on his desk by the end of the week.", Hinata explained.

"I have your copy.", Ino told her.

"Thanks.", said Sakura before glancing at Sasuke's seat.

['He's probably gone home. I didn't get to properly apologize and thank him for the handkerchief.']

Ino was looking at her. She sighed then moved towards her seat. "You know, Kakashi-sensei called for Sasuke so he was not here when they handed out the homework."

Sakura turned to face her.

Ino had already pulled out a paper from her bag. "Shikamaru thought it was troublesome so~"

Sakura stared at her.

Ino smiled. "You might still catch him at Kakashi-sensei's office."

Sakura smiled. "Thanks Ino!" She quickly got the paper from Ino and ran out of the room.

['Good thing, I'm still wearing my gym uniform.']

She ran through the arcade of the third floor and saw him over the concrete railing. He was already walking towards the gate.

"Uchiha-san!", she called. He was too far to hear her. "Uchiha-san!" she tried again.

She skipped some steps as she hurriedly ran down the stairs to the second floor and instead of descending one more floor, she ran towards the left wing of the building because it's near the gate.

She did not bother to run to the end of the arcade. She had no time to slow down so, as soon as she was sure she was visible to him and not covered by the trees, she slammed her hands on the concrete railing - the paper in her hand almost crumpling - to stop her momentum. She took in a deep breath and screamed as loud as she could~ "SASUKE-KUN!"

He heard her. She knows he heard her because he stopped. He turned around wondering who called him.

The students walking out of the gate were sparing him and the girl on the second floor a glance.

Sakura smiled. "Up here. Uchiha-san!"

Sasuke found her and immediately recognized the vibrant hair color.

"Hold on. I need to give you something. I'm coming down.", She yelled then disappeared from his sight to the nearest staircase.

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"Uhm. Here you go!" She handed him the paper. It's homework. Due at the end of the week." She tried to tell him with a smile on her face.

Sasuke was just staring at her - more specifically the corners of her lips. The muscles on her faces were starting to twitch with how long she was holding her smile. "Uhm. I-Is there something on my face?", she asked him.

['What the hell man? Spare me the glare. I'm going out of my way to help you here.']

Sasuke's eyes moved to the paper and he just took it. "Hn." He was about to turn around when Sakura tried to stop him again.

"Uchiha-san wait." she grabbed him by his backpack.

Sasuke turned towards her again just in time to see Sakura put on another fake smile. "I- I want to thank you for the handkerchief. I can't guarantee I can clean it and make it look good as new again because of the blood so I'll just get you a new one, I promise."

['I can't tell him that Karin asked for it.']

"Never mind. Just forget about it."

"Er, I'm sorry again about- for hitting you during gym class."

"You already apologized for that." he was getting irritated. "Is there anything else?"

"..."

Sasuke turned away again.

"Uhm." Sakura tried walking alongside him. "Actually, Uchiha-san! I've been paired with you."

Sasuke started walking faster but Sakura kept up with him. "You know? The 'pairing' thing."

"Oi."

"The thing is I'm confident that I can help you. You've been struggling with class haven't you. I can tutor you if you want since you're... well, behind and all.", She continued talking.

Sasuke suddenly stopped walking that Sakura was now ahead of him. "Aren't you tired of putting up that act yet?" he glared at her.

"Eh? ... No! ... I mean it's not..." She tried to explain as she turned to face him.

"Just stop already!", he cut her off, raising his voice.

Sakura fell silent at that.

"You're annoying!", said Sasuke as he walked passed her.

Sakura didn't move except for tucking her lose fringes behind her ear and pressing down on her hair clips. She did not follow him anymore. She didn't even bother to turn around to watch him walk away. When she couldn't hear his footsteps anymore, she finally lowered her head and shakily bit her lip.

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-Thursday-

Sakura came to school with the events of yesterday still weighing down on her shoulders.

By the time she was finish changing her shoes, Lee had appeared to greet her. He was energetic as usual and giving it his all to express his undying love for her. Sakura just stared at him with a sad, passive look on her face. Lee's words, despite being loud, didn't reach her at all.

Over Lee's shoulder, Sakura saw Naruto walking beside Shikamaru. A faint recollection of Sasuke got her thinking.

['I wonder if I made Lee and Naruto feel the same way?']

Suddenly she noticed the same group of girls from her class close by, stealing glances at her and whispering.

"That girl has only been rude to Naruto-kun since... forever? Now, she's suddenly going after that Uchiha boy?"

"She's been paired with him, but everyone knows he'd refused the help."

"So why is she still bothering with him? Do you think...?"

"To think that there are still girls going for that jerk."

"What a desperate bitch."

"She probably can't help it since she's so ugly. Look at that huge forehead!"

"What? Does she think Sasuke will look at her now that he's no longer popular?"

"Why does Ino-san hang out with her anyway?"

"Sssh! She's looking this way."

"Do you think she heard us?"

"So what if she did?"

The gossiping girls walked away to escape her sight. They started whispering among themselves and giggling.

['What am I doing?']

Sakura adjusted her hair clips before makig her way to her classroom.

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Sakura made her way to class.

She saw Kakashi standing just outside the classroom. When she was close enough, she greeted him while trying her best to look happy "Kakashi-sensei, you're actually early for once."

"Haruno. Come see me after school. You know where to find me.", he told her before entering the room.

Sakura suddenly noticed someone was behind her. It was Sasuke. Their eyes met and she quickly looked away. She kept her head low as she entered the classroom. Her left hand on her hairclips as she shut him out from her peripheral view.

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