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(8.2)

XXX

"/You're all playing with me!"/

Sakura and Ino ran up the stairs and through the hallway.

"Faster Ino-pig!" Sakura slowed down to wait for Ino. "I don't want to be late on the first day of the second semester!"

"I'm doing the best I can Forehead!" Ino quickened her pace.

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.

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The bell rings just as they entered the classroom.

"SAFE~!", they both yelled.

The two panting girls relaxed and let out a sigh of relief.

"What were you two in a hurry for?", said Tenten.

"Eh? The teacher isn't here yet.", noticed Ino. "Oh right. Kakashi-sensei is our current adviser."

"I forgot! He always came in late.", Sakura realized.

The students laughed at their expense.

"Good morning Sakura-chan!", Naruto beamed.

"G-Good morning.", Hinata followed suit.

Kakashi suddenly entered the room via the other door.

The students straightened themselves.

Sakura and Ino made their way to their seats as well.

"We're all here I presume.", said Kakashi as he walked towards the podium.

"Uchiha's not here yet though.", said Lee.

Sakura looked towards his empty seat.

Everyone in the room looked puzzled.

"Suddenly… That's... /odd/.", Choji remarked.

"Is he not coming today?", wondered Temari.

Naruto lowered his head.

Sakura caught his action and was rather confused. Then she realized that Ami, her friends and some other classmates were looking at her.

"Why are all of you looking at me?"

"Don't you usually call him to make sure he won't be late?", asked Neji.

"Huh? I…"

"Class Rep.", called Kakashi.

Shikamaru stood up. "Stand."

All the students complied.

"Bow.", said Shikamaru.

"Good morning Kakashi-sensei~", the students chorused as they bowed.

"Good morning.", Kakashi responded.

"Sit." Shikamaru announced and all the students took their seats.

"Okay. First, I welcome you all back to school… though I am quite sure that not a single one of you is eager to begin this semester as soon as possible."

The class sniggered and chuckled.

"Let's talk about… the result of your Finals. Well done everyone. The class average has definitely gone higher this time around. Let's congratulate our top students as usual."

The class clapped their hands.

"Let us also congratulate Temari and Tenten who showed a remarkable improvement.", continued Kakshi. "They are no longer in the bottom five."

The students applauded them.

Tenten placed her right hand at the back of his head and grinned at her classmates.

"Nice work.", Neji told her.

Temari just shrugged. But then she realized that Shikamaru was smiling at her so she winked at him.

Shikamaru was suddenly embarrassed and turned away.

Both Ino and Choji caught it and cooed.

"Two of you however still need to work harder." Lee and Uzumaki."

"YES SIR!", Lee boomed. "I'll keep working harder!"

Naruto just grinned apologetically.

Kakashi sighed. "Moving on… It's time to reshuffle the pairing."

There were mixed emotions among the students. Some students where excited and looking forward to the new pairing while others looked like they just wanted to quickly get it over with. Neji let out a sigh of relief. Tenten pouted as she waved goodbye to Ino dramatically. Ino played along with her drama. Shikamaru and Temari were trying to maintain their cool but both were frowning. Hinata looked the saddest while both Naruto and Lee somehow looked hopeful.

Sakura didn't have any reaction at all.

"Uzumaki. Lee." Kakashi handed them a new table chart to put up on the board. "You're the bottom two so~"

The two students complied.

"You already know the drill. This time it will be just the top two and the bottom two on the separate table.", announced Kakashi. "There are two of you tied in first place right? Hyuuga. Haruno. Which one of you will go first?"

Neji gestured for Sakura to take her pick first.

Sakura nodded at him and stood up. She then walked towards the board.

Kakashi handed her a marker.

Naruto and Lee seemed like they were praying as she was carefully considering where among the two cells she would write her name.

Sakura eventually made her choice and handed the marker back to Kakashi.

"All right. This means Hyuuga gets the remaining cell.", said Kakashi as he wrote Neji's name.

"Now onto the other table…

…

…

…

Okay. That's everyone." Kakashi put away his sharpie and made a move to reveal the results all in one go. "Here we go~!"

...

"Boo yah!", bellowed Naruto.

In front of him, Hinata lowered her head.

Lee sighed. "Oh well. Looks like it's you and me again, Neji."

Neji looked frustrated.

Everyone else looked for their names but Sakura looked for Sasuke's.

It wasn't there.

Sakura's initial reaction was to stand up. The noise made by her chair falling caught everyone's attention.

"Eh?" Ino sounded confused. "Shikamaru and I are both paired with Choji."

Kakashi cleared his throat and started scratching his nose. "By the way… I have an important announcement to tell everyone."

The whole class looked at Kakashi expectantly.

He placed both his hands inside his pocket. "This announcement is regarding Uchiha Sasuke."

There was a sharp pain in Sakura's chest. Something told her, she was not going to like what she was about to hear. She glanced at Naruto.

He was obviously upset about something.

Sakura turned back to Kakashi and found him looking at her in particular.

"Uchiha Sasuke is no longer a part of this class. He is no longer a student of Konoha High school."

"W-Why?!", Sakura implored. "H-He passed his exams! Was it the absences? No! That's impossible! I made sure he came to school as much as possible. There's no way-"

"Calm down Haruno.", Kakashi told her.

Ino pulled on her arm. "Sakura. T-Take a seat first."

Sakura looked around her and realized that everyone was looking at her.

Ino helped her pick up her seat.

"He's not in trouble.", Kakashi assured her as she was sitting down. "He… He just… Uchiha changed school."

"He transferred?" Sakura was baffled. "W-Why?!"

"His reasons are personal. We have to respect his privacy.", said Kakashi.

"But… that's…" Sakura looked at Naruto.

Naruto was looking at her but he immediately looked away to avoid eye contact.

Kakashi cleared his throat. "I know that the announcement came as a surprise. His 'leaving' left you with no time to properly adjust but… that's just how life is, /unpredictable/… and out of your control. But everything will be fine. Uchiha is moving forward with his life and... so should all of you. Okay everyone?"

"Yes sir~" Everyone, except for Sakura, responded.

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"That would be all for now. If any of you need me for anything, you'll know where to find me.", said Kakashi "Please use the remaining time for this period to get to know your new partners. I'll take my leave now. See you around everyone."

Kakashi made his way out of the classroom.

Naruto made a move to approach Sakura.

…

Sakura, who had been quiet and gloomy for a while now, suddenly stood up.

"S-Sakura? Is something the matter?", wondered Ino.

"Sensei!" Sakura quickly ran out of the classroom and went after Kakashi.

"Sakura-chan?"

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.

Sakura eventually caught up to Kakashi. "K-Kakashi-sensei!", she called.

Kakashi slowed down and looked behind him. "Ah. Haruno. I knew you would come after me. Couldn't wait until after school?"

"Kakashi-sensei, I… I… need to know…", panted Sakura.

"Yes. Yes you do."

Sakura looked puzzled. "So, you'll tell me?"

"Indeed I will." Kakashi let Sakura follow him.

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Kakashi and Sakura went into the empty faculty office.

He walked towards his desk and took his seat while Sakura closed the door behind her.

"Have a seat.", instructed Kakashi.

"Nevermind!" Sakura moved closer but remained standing. "Please. Just tell me!"

"Well, you probably already know this… Uchiha was... placed under the guardianship of his uncle. But… For quite a while now, his grandfather, who lives in Tokyo, had been making the necessary arrangement to adopt him and… only recently has it been made official."

That's when Sakura remembered Sasuke's words.

…

/"I have accepted Grandfather's terms…"/

…

"Was he asked to move to Tokyo with his grandfather?", inquired Sakura.

Kakashi shook his head. "He was asked to finish his studies… overseas."

Sakura felt her heart sink. "O-Overseas? But… Why all of a sudden? Why in the middle of the school year?"

Kakashi sighed. "Haruno… In some foreign countries, the school year begins on the month of September."

"But… that means… the previous semester was…"

"Unfortunately… the previous semester won't be credited."

"That makes no sense."

…

/"Itachi died of Cancer in early March."/

…

/"My brother was adopted by my grandfather. He raised Itachi to become his heir but, now that he's also gone; my grandfather now expects me to fill the space that he had originally intended for him.

It's not such a bad thing really. It's just that... I'm not ready."/

…

"Itachi died in early March and then… his grandfather turned to him instead. That was before the current school year began. Sasuke-kun seemed like he knew exactly what his grandfather wanted him to do. It's not that he didn't want to do it. He said he wasn't ready then. But he was... eventually going to. That would mean that he knew-" Sakura finally realized.

Kakashi nodded.

…

/"Uchiha is going through rough times in his life. He's making compromises and it's affecting his attendance in school. At this rate, he may not make it through to the second term- No. I'm absolutely positive, he won't be here come second term."/

/"But if you're so sure he can't stay in school, why not just drop him?"/

/"I can't drop a student based on… /conjecture/, no matter how positive I am of it. He either has to have enough absences to qualify him as a drop out or formally announce it himself…. Just do as I say. Trust me Haruno. All I want is for Uchiha to at least finish this term."/

…

"You knew that… Sasuke-kun knew… long before the previous semester started, that he would be sent overseas. Why did he still go to school then? Why did his uncle allow it? Why did you allow it?"

"Naruto. Karin. M-Maybe… he was looking for a chance to patch things up with Naruto all along. Or maybe he just wanted to see as much of his friends before he leaves. Who knows?...

…

/"D-Do you hate Naruto?"/

/"No."/

/"Then why don't the two of you just reconcile? He doesn't seem to hate you either. If anything, he seemed really worried about you."/

/"Believe it or not, we've already reconciled. We just can't go back to the way we were."/

…

…Whatever his reason was for attending school back then was the least of our concern. This was the only place they could keep in contact with him after he refused to go home since he had that 'talk' with his grandfather.", explained Kakashi. "I couldn't possibly tell him to stop coming here. All I could do was make sure that it was possible for him to be here as long as he could. Hence, the infamous special-treatment-misunderstanding all the students were on about."

Sakura stepped back slowly. "Then that means…

…

/"Haruno. Give up on me."/

/"What?"/

/"I don't need help."/

/"Look. I obviously don't know anything about you. Or what happened between you and Naruto-"/

/"That's right. You don't know anything."/

/"I'm going to be blunt and insensitive with you! I'll be the one to tell you that whatever problem you're facing right now, you're being stupid about it, trying to face it all alone! You need someone to pull you in the right direction and it's going to be me. I'll pull you. And I'll keep pulling you until I get you out of whatever hell you think you're in!

I'm not afraid of you. I'm not afraid to be hated by you. You'd be just another name in a very long list. So… I take back what I said earlier… Don't love me! We don't have to be friends. But let me help you!"/

/"Wow. You are selfish after all."/

/"That's right! I'm selfish! I do what I want! And right now… I want to help you! I don't want to give up on you! I can't just look away from this. I can't leave you alone anymore. Not after hearing all that! Not after… How can I possibly abandon someone who made that sort of face the moment he realized he had hurt someone?!"/

/"You really are annoying."/

…

['That would only mean that…']

…

/"So, you were at school after all. Were you here the whole time?"/

/"I just got here."/

…

/"Oh. So you were gonna do the homework too?!... You go ahead and use it first."/

…

/"You borrowed this from the Library yesterday and you're supposed to return it not later than today."/

/"Aa."/

/"Uhm... Next time! ... Next time let's do the homework together okay?"/

/"Aa."/

…

['He was only…']

…

/"So what's it like to teach Sasuke?"/

/"Sasuke-kun is actually pretty smart. He learns fast. He's already caught up to the current lesson. There's nothing left to work on. If he keeps this up, I'm sure he'll do well on the Finals."/

…

/"Sasuke did it!"/

/"Ino! What?! What did Sasuke-kun do?!"/

/"FOREHEAD! He did it! I'm not sure how Sasuke pulled it off but he got eight place."/

…

"Kakashi-sensei, was Sasuke-kun just… Did he do all that just to humor me?

['Then, what he said was true after all.']

…

/"I thought I could have my fun with you. That's all it was!"/

…

…A-All this time… Is that all it was?", wondered Sakura.

"You tell us! Is that all it really seemed like to you?"

Sakura turned around and realized that Karin had joined them. "Karin?"

"Naruto sent me a message.", said Karin as she stepped aside to allow Rin to get in as well.

Rin then closed the door behind her. "Now, now Kakashi. That's very sneaky of you. You didn't plan on telling her everything yourself now did you?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about.", Kakashi fainted innocence. "I was simply explaining to her why her class partner is no longer here despite her efforts to keep him from dropping out of school."

"W-What is going on here?" Sakura was frustrated. "What is wrong with all of you?! Everybody knows something I don't! Everybody is… You're all playing with me!"

Sakura ran out of the office.

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.

Sakura ended up in the roof deck.

She soon noticed that Karin went after her.

"You didn't answer my question.", said Karin. "Is that really all Sasuke seemed like to you?"

Sakura refused to answer her and walked towards the metal fencing without even sparing her a look. She then held onto the chain link fence.

Karin joined her. She then turned on her heel and leaned her back on the fence. "I know what you feel like. I also didn't know anything until… until that night. And even after Sasuke-kun told me everything/, it didn't make me the least bit happy. If anything… I felt… powerless and so unimportant. There's nothing worse than knowing something /sad is about to happen but… you can't do anything to stop it. No matter how much you wish for things to be… different, nothing can be done about it. His mind was made up. There was nothing I can say or do to change that."

Sakura finally looked at Karin.

['If anyone is devastated by Sasuke-kun leaving, it's her. After all…']

…

/"I was going to ask Karin out."/

…

"He shouldn't have bothered to ask you out if he was going to leave you eventually.", Sakura told Karin. "Did he really think that he was doing you a favor by spending what little time he had left here in Japan with you? That's just… so selfish."

"About that… We 'didn't' go out.", Karin said nonchalantly.

"...?" Sakura was confused.

"He didn't ask me... to go out with him.", Karin admitted.

"EH?!"

"Sasuke-kun values his friendship with Naruto the most. Whenever Sasuke-kun looked my way, it's only because Naruto told him to. You know… I allowed myself to chase after him all this time but, in all honesty… there was never really an end goal. I've always known that at the end of this chase, there was only a dead end waiting for me. He was not into me nor will he ever be."

"But… he said- What if…

…

/"She loves me too. For a lot longer than you have too. And unlike you, she never thought of it as a struggle. Not even once. And in spite of what I've been through, she certainly didn't bother to find a way out of feeling that way about me."/

…

… He really loves you?", considered Sakura. "He knows how much you love him. He-"

"He's not-" Karin shook her head. "...with me. He was really in love though… with the idea of love that is."

Karin smiled at Sakura. "You see, he met this girl who he couldn't win against. He couldn't shake her off so in the end, he just gave in to all her selfish demands. The secret to her persuasive powers; She was extremely driven by her romantic endeavors. She somehow convinced him how wonderful being in love was."

Sakura fell silent.

"So, I'll ask you again… Did Sasuke-kun really seem like he was just doing it all to humor you?"

Sakura moved away from Karin. "But… he said-"

"I know what he said. I heard everything he told you that night. But do you really believe that?"

"I…" Sakura took another step back.

"You know the answer."

Sakura looked away. "No. I don't. I don't know anything."

"I see." Karin sighed in disappointment then took an item out of her pocket. "Then maybe this will help clear things up for you."

Sakura was very familiar with that item. "That's…"

"I'll leave this with you." Karin handed her the letter that Ami once left inside Sasuke's locker. "I'll go back to class now. Later."

Sakura watched Karin leave before taking a look at the letter that Sasuke had eagerly kept her from reading before.

…

…

…