After You
Category: AU, school, friendship, humor/sarcasm.
Note: written in second person.
Summary: One hundred is not the most you can get in an exam.
~•~
Confetti were covering the whole scenery, like the way pride pervaded the heart of the caring parents hastily moving high and low across the ceremony precinct, being in an eager bustle to see their children step on the stage of glory and capture that very moment of life with much enthusiasm (and cameras, of course).
Such a view for a graduation, you thought as you, having received your certificate, were peeping through the flickering curtain with swirling mind and a smile of victory plastered on your face. You couldn't deny the ectasy you were feeling: pride was flowing within you like a stream, all fresh and cool, relieving you from the fatal swelter in the exertion desert and reassuring you about your deserving, as you knew you had done your utmost.
Well, perhaps the "flow" of yours was nothing compared to that of the elite's of the school, who were to be honoured specially, given that they had been working hard twice as much as you had.
Called the elite, the queue of the outstanding pupils who got the highest grades in the final exam was not so long, if not short. And had you mentioned the ninety-or-more condition to be favourably credited?
Anyway, they were still the same old eminent pupils from last year's graduation, perhaps the year before's, too. The list was expectable, to be honest.
Except for one small detail: Haruno Sakura, the supposed, or expected, one to have the highest grade among the whole school, was replaced by Yamanaka Ino, which should be recorded as one of the wonders of wonders of the world.
Not that it was "wrong" that Ino could ever surpass Sakura: She was a very bright girl and absolutely had the ability to "beat" Sakura some times if she tried her best. But the grades the two had in this final exam were so... unreal, so weird that you refused to believe: Ino got a ninety-three (which was truly impressive judged by the level of the exam) while Sakura got only eighty-nine.
Eighty-nine.
It was not even ninety, the least you had to get if you wanted to appear in the "Honourable Golden Roll" where Sakura had always been at the top.
A sudden feeling of Sakura having done so deliberately, like she had calculated the grade while doing the exam so that she would have exact eighty-nine without being so suspicious, stroke you, and which sounded absurd enough to you.
Why would Sakura do such a thing? Was she tired of being the best? Of being the perfect little girl of her parents? Of leaving Ino behind?
That couldn't be true: Sakura wouldn't dare to disappoint her loved ones, who had great expectations for her, and to break the very image she had spent her whole life building.
Coming to terms with losing to Ino was even more impossible. The two were in not only a simple competition in which there must be a better one, but also a race to the heart of the hotty of the school, Uchiha Sasuke, thus she wouldn't allow this to happen.
And giving up the first place was something that he pride wouldn't tolerate. The grades were all she had, hệ identity, her reason to be vain like a peacock. Without them, the sign of intelligence, Sakura would feel lost and devastated, her fragile ego would hurt and she would revert to the timid, humble old self, who had been living a life full of insecurity and couldn't stand up for herself.
You knew her too well: both of you along with Ino were classmates since elementary school, and had once even been bestfriends. That was until Sakura initially "broke up with" Ino, which was followed by Ino's inner rage and the split-up of the group.
But that was another story. The question that mattered right then was that Sakura couldn't have done that purposedly - she had no reason to do so, yet you still had that crazy reckoning of the possibility.
Ino's familiar high-pitched voice brought you back to reality. You turned around, only to see a triumphant Ino standing with her hands on her hips, lips curled into a smirk and he superior stare was direct to Sakura's nonchalant demeanour.
_Pretty morning, isn't it?
Ino half-heartedly said, seemed more to herself than anything to you.
It wasn't hard for Sakura to recognize the mockery (After all she wa the smartest girl in the school, or may you say she "used to be"). Soon a retort was blurted out, more of an instinct than indignation.
_Getting to see some momentary light during an everlasting period of gloominess, of course it is pretty pretty.
With a scornful smirk, the said smartass looked away vaguely. The sarcasm sure as hell inflammed the frowning blondy.
In confusion.
_What are you talking about, Forehead Girl?
Okay, so you guys were having a trivial misunderstanding there.
Sakura made a face, as if it was blatantly obvious. And, with a swift glare at Ino, she snarled back.
_About your frowns of fortune.
There was a brief silence before Ino "Ohhhh!!!" and mischievously chirped.
_Thought you'd never notice.
Sakura chose not to reply, instead just rolled her eyes, exasperatedly.
Of course, Ino wouldn't back off until there wa a winner. So she flirtously approached Sakura and put her arm around her, whilst playing with a strand of gorgeous silky pink hair.
_Ah, I can see that you're jealous. It's okay, honey! I am okay with it. It's human nature.
Ino sympathetically - seemingly - shook her head and patted her ex(bestfriend)'s shoulder, which only put Sakura in an utter discomfort.
_I'm not jealous! Why should I be jealous? And with you? I didn't know that you've got such good sense of humour, Pig. So funny that I forget to laugh.
Sakura growled with distaste.
Ino, though she was kind of offended, managed to keep her countenance. She confidently held up her chin.
_Well, as I remember, I got the highest grade among the school in the final exam, while you only got eighty-nine.
With that, Ino tapped her chin thoughtfully.
_Tsk, Sasuke-kun must be very surprised. Or may I say, disappointed.
Ino must be thinking that she owned this little cat fight, that she successfully inflammed the pink-haired girl, since "Sasuke-kun" wa a sensitive topic to be exploited.
What she didn't expect was Sakura's blank emotion. With a raised eyebrow, Sakura nodded, repeatedly in a slow pace, in approval and wistfully sighed.
_Yeah, I suppose you're right. Sasuke-kun must be disappointed. His deskmate, who has always topped the school, is now beaten by the loud-mouth fangirl sitting behind him. That, I can assure, astonished him to no end.
Ino sharply glared at Sakura out of the corner of her eyes.
_You are not making any sense, Haruno.
She hissed into Sakura's ear, only to get a shrug from the conceited-being girl.
Fury tinted in her eyes, Ino nearly shoved Sakura away and faced her.
_Oh, you think you're so smart?
_Indeed.
Sakura looked into that anger in Ino's eyes, slyly, and Ino couldn't help shouting back.
_Oh yeah? Well then a genius like you now have to deal with the fact that I beat you hard: 93 to 89!
Contrary to a furious Ino, Sakura just playfully replied in a singy tone.
_Like the way I beated you and the others in the national test last year: maximum to 80. How harsh!
That was beyond the bounds for Ino. She gritted her teeth, so hard that you could feel the jarring effect from, like, fifty miles away.
But seriously, Sakura was such an egotistic, stupid genius.
_You are such a conceited and egotistic and - stupid, and-
Ino stammered, and halted abruptly, probably for some fresh air to cool down.
Not for long, however.
_Out of adjective?
Sakura amusedly offered, which only made Ino explode.
_Ugh! Infuriating!
Ino screamed, anger was at its highest pitch.
_I am so looking forward to the day when you fail, solidly, so that I can snap that smug sneer out of your face! You will, finally, learn some lesson about humility, and may feel regretful for your horrible conceit!
Ino clenched her fist for effect.
She was fuming, which was an irony as that was supposed to be her best day full of joy and memorable moments, not a ludicrous quarrel.
For what it was worth, Sakura wa in no better mood.
_Oh please. Regret? Believe me, I do know "her".
Sakura grimaced in disgust.
_What is wrong with you?
Ino yelped, more in disbelief.
Just then, the school principle made an announcement for the "best pupil of the school" to get upstage.
_Phew! Perfect timing, cutting into the litany of protests the two are about to launch into.
You were startled by the out-of-nowhere voice next to you. It was Shikamaru, hands stuffed in the pockets and yawning.
_That blondy nearly made me deaf! You know why we have the adjective "ear-splitting" - to describe that kind of sound ever made. I could even see the air rended, literally!
He then walked away, left you giggling. Shikamaru wa the real genius, confirmed and asserted officially. Nevertheless, he had never been the A-grader, due to laziness and indifference.
You turned your attention back to the "couple", who then had the sense to summon a little attitude.
_Well-
Ino looked Sakura in the eyes while fixing some manner, confidence gleaming and position extended.
_-I have to go now. To gain my honour, back.
Sakura held her gaze for a while before signing.
_Congratulations, then. It is your day to celebrate.
Ino raised an eyebrow.
_What?
Sakura rolled her eyes, hating having to explain.
_Well, we all know - and see - that you've exerted yourself, and the result is remarkable. You deserve recognition. So, go on! Let the world see you, notice you.
She jerked her head to the stage, eventually put on a mild smile.
Suddenly, she snorted.
_What am I saying? Of course the world notices you. You are Ino, the perfect little girl made of sugar, spice and everything nice. You are conspicuous.
She darted a glance at Ino, who was dumbfounded.
Giving up, Ino just shook her head before making for the stage.
_You're weird.
_But next time, that place is mine!
Sakura's voice echoed.
Ino slowly cracked a smile, which she tried to hide with her long bang of hair.
Quickly, she swiveled her head around and stuck her tongue out at Sakura, making that trademark ugly face of hers before dashing to the "place", her place.
A thundering applause vibrated the area as Ino stepped on the stage, and received her honourable certificate along with some "gifts". Ino then delivered some kind of a speech, and applause once again took place.
But you didn't care.
All you could recall later that day was that smile of Sakura's, that vague and sentimental smile that Sakura struggled to keep secretive.
Struggled.
And which you couldn't think of a proper adjective to depict.
Somehow, your eyes spontaneously widened.
A knowing smile made it way to your face.
Note: written in second person.
Summary: One hundred is not the most you can get in an exam.
~•~
Confetti were covering the whole scenery, like the way pride pervaded the heart of the caring parents hastily moving high and low across the ceremony precinct, being in an eager bustle to see their children step on the stage of glory and capture that very moment of life with much enthusiasm (and cameras, of course).
Such a view for a graduation, you thought as you, having received your certificate, were peeping through the flickering curtain with swirling mind and a smile of victory plastered on your face. You couldn't deny the ectasy you were feeling: pride was flowing within you like a stream, all fresh and cool, relieving you from the fatal swelter in the exertion desert and reassuring you about your deserving, as you knew you had done your utmost.
Well, perhaps the "flow" of yours was nothing compared to that of the elite's of the school, who were to be honoured specially, given that they had been working hard twice as much as you had.
Called the elite, the queue of the outstanding pupils who got the highest grades in the final exam was not so long, if not short. And had you mentioned the ninety-or-more condition to be favourably credited?
Anyway, they were still the same old eminent pupils from last year's graduation, perhaps the year before's, too. The list was expectable, to be honest.
Except for one small detail: Haruno Sakura, the supposed, or expected, one to have the highest grade among the whole school, was replaced by Yamanaka Ino, which should be recorded as one of the wonders of wonders of the world.
Not that it was "wrong" that Ino could ever surpass Sakura: She was a very bright girl and absolutely had the ability to "beat" Sakura some times if she tried her best. But the grades the two had in this final exam were so... unreal, so weird that you refused to believe: Ino got a ninety-three (which was truly impressive judged by the level of the exam) while Sakura got only eighty-nine.
Eighty-nine.
It was not even ninety, the least you had to get if you wanted to appear in the "Honourable Golden Roll" where Sakura had always been at the top.
A sudden feeling of Sakura having done so deliberately, like she had calculated the grade while doing the exam so that she would have exact eighty-nine without being so suspicious, stroke you, and which sounded absurd enough to you.
Why would Sakura do such a thing? Was she tired of being the best? Of being the perfect little girl of her parents? Of leaving Ino behind?
That couldn't be true: Sakura wouldn't dare to disappoint her loved ones, who had great expectations for her, and to break the very image she had spent her whole life building.
Coming to terms with losing to Ino was even more impossible. The two were in not only a simple competition in which there must be a better one, but also a race to the heart of the hotty of the school, Uchiha Sasuke, thus she wouldn't allow this to happen.
And giving up the first place was something that he pride wouldn't tolerate. The grades were all she had, hệ identity, her reason to be vain like a peacock. Without them, the sign of intelligence, Sakura would feel lost and devastated, her fragile ego would hurt and she would revert to the timid, humble old self, who had been living a life full of insecurity and couldn't stand up for herself.
You knew her too well: both of you along with Ino were classmates since elementary school, and had once even been bestfriends. That was until Sakura initially "broke up with" Ino, which was followed by Ino's inner rage and the split-up of the group.
But that was another story. The question that mattered right then was that Sakura couldn't have done that purposedly - she had no reason to do so, yet you still had that crazy reckoning of the possibility.
Ino's familiar high-pitched voice brought you back to reality. You turned around, only to see a triumphant Ino standing with her hands on her hips, lips curled into a smirk and he superior stare was direct to Sakura's nonchalant demeanour.
_Pretty morning, isn't it?
Ino half-heartedly said, seemed more to herself than anything to you.
It wasn't hard for Sakura to recognize the mockery (After all she wa the smartest girl in the school, or may you say she "used to be"). Soon a retort was blurted out, more of an instinct than indignation.
_Getting to see some momentary light during an everlasting period of gloominess, of course it is pretty pretty.
With a scornful smirk, the said smartass looked away vaguely. The sarcasm sure as hell inflammed the frowning blondy.
In confusion.
_What are you talking about, Forehead Girl?
Okay, so you guys were having a trivial misunderstanding there.
Sakura made a face, as if it was blatantly obvious. And, with a swift glare at Ino, she snarled back.
_About your frowns of fortune.
There was a brief silence before Ino "Ohhhh!!!" and mischievously chirped.
_Thought you'd never notice.
Sakura chose not to reply, instead just rolled her eyes, exasperatedly.
Of course, Ino wouldn't back off until there wa a winner. So she flirtously approached Sakura and put her arm around her, whilst playing with a strand of gorgeous silky pink hair.
_Ah, I can see that you're jealous. It's okay, honey! I am okay with it. It's human nature.
Ino sympathetically - seemingly - shook her head and patted her ex(bestfriend)'s shoulder, which only put Sakura in an utter discomfort.
_I'm not jealous! Why should I be jealous? And with you? I didn't know that you've got such good sense of humour, Pig. So funny that I forget to laugh.
Sakura growled with distaste.
Ino, though she was kind of offended, managed to keep her countenance. She confidently held up her chin.
_Well, as I remember, I got the highest grade among the school in the final exam, while you only got eighty-nine.
With that, Ino tapped her chin thoughtfully.
_Tsk, Sasuke-kun must be very surprised. Or may I say, disappointed.
Ino must be thinking that she owned this little cat fight, that she successfully inflammed the pink-haired girl, since "Sasuke-kun" wa a sensitive topic to be exploited.
What she didn't expect was Sakura's blank emotion. With a raised eyebrow, Sakura nodded, repeatedly in a slow pace, in approval and wistfully sighed.
_Yeah, I suppose you're right. Sasuke-kun must be disappointed. His deskmate, who has always topped the school, is now beaten by the loud-mouth fangirl sitting behind him. That, I can assure, astonished him to no end.
Ino sharply glared at Sakura out of the corner of her eyes.
_You are not making any sense, Haruno.
She hissed into Sakura's ear, only to get a shrug from the conceited-being girl.
Fury tinted in her eyes, Ino nearly shoved Sakura away and faced her.
_Oh, you think you're so smart?
_Indeed.
Sakura looked into that anger in Ino's eyes, slyly, and Ino couldn't help shouting back.
_Oh yeah? Well then a genius like you now have to deal with the fact that I beat you hard: 93 to 89!
Contrary to a furious Ino, Sakura just playfully replied in a singy tone.
_Like the way I beated you and the others in the national test last year: maximum to 80. How harsh!
That was beyond the bounds for Ino. She gritted her teeth, so hard that you could feel the jarring effect from, like, fifty miles away.
But seriously, Sakura was such an egotistic, stupid genius.
_You are such a conceited and egotistic and - stupid, and-
Ino stammered, and halted abruptly, probably for some fresh air to cool down.
Not for long, however.
_Out of adjective?
Sakura amusedly offered, which only made Ino explode.
_Ugh! Infuriating!
Ino screamed, anger was at its highest pitch.
_I am so looking forward to the day when you fail, solidly, so that I can snap that smug sneer out of your face! You will, finally, learn some lesson about humility, and may feel regretful for your horrible conceit!
Ino clenched her fist for effect.
She was fuming, which was an irony as that was supposed to be her best day full of joy and memorable moments, not a ludicrous quarrel.
For what it was worth, Sakura wa in no better mood.
_Oh please. Regret? Believe me, I do know "her".
Sakura grimaced in disgust.
_What is wrong with you?
Ino yelped, more in disbelief.
Just then, the school principle made an announcement for the "best pupil of the school" to get upstage.
_Phew! Perfect timing, cutting into the litany of protests the two are about to launch into.
You were startled by the out-of-nowhere voice next to you. It was Shikamaru, hands stuffed in the pockets and yawning.
_That blondy nearly made me deaf! You know why we have the adjective "ear-splitting" - to describe that kind of sound ever made. I could even see the air rended, literally!
He then walked away, left you giggling. Shikamaru wa the real genius, confirmed and asserted officially. Nevertheless, he had never been the A-grader, due to laziness and indifference.
You turned your attention back to the "couple", who then had the sense to summon a little attitude.
_Well-
Ino looked Sakura in the eyes while fixing some manner, confidence gleaming and position extended.
_-I have to go now. To gain my honour, back.
Sakura held her gaze for a while before signing.
_Congratulations, then. It is your day to celebrate.
Ino raised an eyebrow.
_What?
Sakura rolled her eyes, hating having to explain.
_Well, we all know - and see - that you've exerted yourself, and the result is remarkable. You deserve recognition. So, go on! Let the world see you, notice you.
She jerked her head to the stage, eventually put on a mild smile.
Suddenly, she snorted.
_What am I saying? Of course the world notices you. You are Ino, the perfect little girl made of sugar, spice and everything nice. You are conspicuous.
She darted a glance at Ino, who was dumbfounded.
Giving up, Ino just shook her head before making for the stage.
_You're weird.
_But next time, that place is mine!
Sakura's voice echoed.
Ino slowly cracked a smile, which she tried to hide with her long bang of hair.
Quickly, she swiveled her head around and stuck her tongue out at Sakura, making that trademark ugly face of hers before dashing to the "place", her place.
A thundering applause vibrated the area as Ino stepped on the stage, and received her honourable certificate along with some "gifts". Ino then delivered some kind of a speech, and applause once again took place.
But you didn't care.
All you could recall later that day was that smile of Sakura's, that vague and sentimental smile that Sakura struggled to keep secretive.
Struggled.
And which you couldn't think of a proper adjective to depict.
Somehow, your eyes spontaneously widened.
A knowing smile made it way to your face.
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