Sasuke has always been smart, in academics he may not be as intellectual as Shikamaru but he can pass as average, with exam scores not too high yet not too low. But when it comes to basketball, he is on another level, a genius level prodigy since he was a young boy.

But sometimes, Sasuke would question his poor decision making and ask himself how he even managed to survive middle school at this rate.

"This is annoying," he said as he looked at the gym. The doors are locked and Sasuke could feel his stomach growl.

"I'm hungry,"

After looking so cool walking away like that saying he's lost his appetite and he's heading to the gym a while ago, Sasuke stood there, remembering that there are no morning practice and that the Captain would not unlock the gym doors until later this afternoon. And he's hungry.

With a sigh, Sasuke decided to head to the rooftop where Shikamaru and Naruto are, probably halfway through their lunch. And when Sasuke walked up, they were indeed halfway enjoying their lunch before noticing Sasuke.

"I thought you were in the gym?" Naruto asked, his mouth full of yakisoba bun as Sasuke took a sandwich on the floor, probably Naruto's, and tore it open.

"You actually forgot the gym is closed during lunch?" Shikamaru said, shrugging his shoulders. He actually remembered it but he was simply too lazy to run after Sasuke and inform him that so he just let the guy go to the gym and see it for himself. Such a doting friend.

"Damn Sasuke-teme! You shoulda seen the girl I was talking about yesterday! The one in Ichiraku Cafe!" Naruto suddenly said, his energy level rising as he stood up and walked towards Sasuke who was leaning on the wall, trying his hard to ignore Naruto's rant by distracting himself with looking up the dirfting madness of clouds.

But when Naruto mentioned something about the girl in the coffee shop, Sasuke somewhat felt like listening.

"What about her?" Sasuke asked, trying to sound nonchalant but a flicker of curiosity could be detected.

"She transfered to our school just this morning! And she's in my class. Do you think it's a coincidence? Or maybe it's destiny?"

Sasuke looked at Naruto, face contorted in a frown as he shook his head.

"Yeah, like being slapped was a work of fate," Shikamaru said, reminding Naruto how he literally just got hit by a girl on her first day at that.

"You got slapped?" Sasuke asked as Naruto unconsciously rubbed his cheek. The slap did sting a bit but Naruto was too surprise to even feel it. He didn't seem to be offended and Shikamaru thought he might have done something for the girl to slap him.

"You're unbelievable," Sasuke muttered, taking a bite of the chicken sandwich. "Totally an idiot."

Sasuke ignored Naruto after that, zoning out as Naruto ranted in front of him. This time, Sasuke did get lost in the drifting madness of clouds and the sky above. Or perhaps, the one going mad is him. For even letting such a thought invade his mind.

What does the sky even look like? What is the color of the sky?

Yeah, as if he'll find the answer. He might never even find it so Sasuke doesn't even know why he bothered letting the thought inside his mind.

---

For the rest of lunch, Sakura sat in the cafeteria alone. She wasn't expecting anything anyways, she has to remind herself that this isn't the same school she used to attend with Ino. So Sakura sat there, alone, trying her hard to keep her eyes down and not look around but she couldn't help herself but look for that arrogant guy who happened to be her classmate.

"Naruto, is it?" Sakura muttered but shook her head right away when she realized she just said his name out loud.

Lunch ended without any incident and Sakura spent the remaining of the afternoon classes trying to ignore a certain guy sitting one desk away from her. Sakura has to focus on her academics and graduate as soon as possible. Three years might sound long but if you're doing something you like you'll be distracted enough not to notice the days passing by.

Just like what Sakura did for the rest of the afternoon, focused on the discussion and before she knew it, the last subject came to an end as the students started to pack their things and swoosh out of the classroom as fast as the wind.

"Eh, almost everyone left already?" A girl asked out of no where and Sakura looked at her.

"Has anyone seen class rep?" She asked and some of her classmates shook their heads or pointed outside meaning that the class rep had already left.

Sakura noticed that she was holding a paper, probably the seat work their teacher gave a while ago.

"But I'm gonna be late for club activity," she said.

Taking a deep breath, Sakura collected all her courage and walked up to the girl as she offered her hand.

"I can take that to the faculty," Sakura said and she could practically see the girl's eyes sparkled with hope.

"Really?" She asked, taking Sakura's hands as she smiled while Sakura just nodded.

"But don't you have any club to attend?"

"No I don't. I'm the transfer student."

The girl blinked. "Oh you're Sakura! Thank you so much for your kindness! I'll repay you one day!"

She was dashing outside the classroom before Sakura could even say a single word.

"It's not that big of a deal," Sakura said slowly before shaking her head.

She isn't that busy anyway and Sakura would be alone in the apartment if she gets back and by then she has nothing else to do but finish her one homework and read some books or watch re-runs of a show.

So with that, Sakura headed to where she remembered the faculty was and luckily, the teacher was still there as she handed the paper to her. It only took a few minutes and yet Sakura noticed how the crowded corridor seem to be almost deserted with students as she walked through the halls.

By utter coincidence, Sakura's eyes traveled out the window and she saw the most magnificent view of the sky outside. It was a clear sky with no hint of any storm brewing yet Sakura felt like there's still something missing.

"That's right, the colors," she muttered as Sakura took a step outside and into the tunnel like corridor that connect that halls to one of the school's gym.

Sakura was about to turn back around when she heard squeaking of shoes on hardwood floor. She has no idea why she even bother walking towards the door and taking a peek only to see the tall students practicing basketball. And then she remembered what Ino told her yesterday. The players sure look intense.

Sakura shook her head and straightened up. Telling herself that now is not the time to daydream about high school basketball players. She still need to catch the train before it gets dark.

Turning around and making a mad dash through the corridor, Sakura suddenly bumped into someone and she stumbled a few steps back before rubbing her forehead. Was staring at all those good looking basketball players made Sakura's senses dull that she seriously bumped into someone like what happens to those romantic high school webcomic she's been seeing on the internet?

Shaking her head, Sakura bowed quickly before straighting up.

"I'm really sor-"

Sakura was literally taken aback by the sight in front of her that her mind just stopped functioning for a second as she stare at the guy.

Then it happened.

After hours of listening to Ino's story about how she met her soulmate, no matter how Ino used all those adjectives and metaphors, nothing comes close to what Sakura is seeing right now.

First, it was just a small spark, barely even visible. But then that small spark slowly became detectable until everything just exploded like fireworks and there were literally swirls surrounding the guy.

"Woah, what was that?" Sakura said when she blinked and suddenly, her world seem to turn back to the right place like it's where it's supposed to have turned from the beginning.

It's like running in circles for years until she finally found the way through the maze. And just like that, her surroundings were splashes of colours.

And when she finally found the will to say something, despite being too shock like she's having a lucid dream, Sakura finally spoke.

"Did you see it too?"

She took a step forward, closer to the guy who is just plainly looking at her.

"We're soulmates," Sakura said, seeing from her peripheral vision just how vibrant the sky was.

The sky looks blue. Coincidentally, so is the way to describe someone who is extremely sad. Feeling blue.

And Sakura would feel it way too soon than she would have expect.