𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚎 • 𝚜𝚊𝚜𝚞𝚔𝚎 𝚞𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚑𝚊 𝚡 𝙾𝙲

03 - Heartbreakee #1

April, 1992 - Japan

The first week of school had gone by, and Haruka was already a bit tired of Sakura and Ino fawning over Sasuke. During the baseball team's first game, they had their eyes glued to him and only him while he gave a rather average performance on the field. She had nothing against him, or Sakura and Ino for that matter, but...her ears hurt from their screaming.

She supposed it had to have been the glamour of having a crush—something she never quite understood. Sure, there had been guys who had caught her eye before, but as she grew older, she found it increasingly difficult to fantasize about being in a relationship. The whole thing seemed so terrifying to her. So she hoped that Sasuke would hurry up and choose someone already, that way she wouldn't have to deal with the awkwardness of it all.

On Sunday, the first day in which the mural could officially start being worked on, Haruka was up early. She only had a banana for breakfast, and then she shrugged on the backpack full of paints and brushes that she had packed the night before. She was off on her rollerblades before the crack of dawn.

Excitement coursed through her veins as she soared through the mostly empty streets. She would be forever grateful to Kakashi-sensei for putting in a good word for her with the town. He had seen the potential in Haruka and truly considered her request. So she wanted to show him her thanks by taking advantage of the opportunity he had gotten her to the fullest.

She painted to her heart's content as the sun rose. The mural would be made on the side of a building in the busiest part of Konoha. It was a building so large that she would need a massive ladder in the later stages of her work to cover all of it. Everything was going beautifully until she heard a voice behind her.

"Hey, what are you doing, defiling our town like this?"

Behind her was just what she needed, an angry old man. Haruka turned to face him, not sure how to explain herself, although what she was doing was perfectly legal. In hindsight, she did look strange, still wearing her rollerblades and out when most were still sleeping.

He went on. "You young people think you can do whatever you want, but you can't! You aren't the only one that lives here, young lady! Where are your parents?"

A vein popped in Haruka's head. "Ah, sir, I was hired to paint a mural here. I go to the high school a couple blocks away."

The man went away after he questioned her a bit more, but he made Haruka think. She doubted that many other people would be so skeptical of her, but she was willing to bet that she would be getting odd looks, especially in the early stages of her work.

"Whatever," she spoke to herself, painting with a bit more force than necessary. "I'll just show them all how good I am when I'm finished with this."

She stopped and admired the work that she'd done for the day. Then, a little bit before noon, she skated back home, feeling pretty good about herself.

-

During the next week of school, Ino was infuriated by Sakura's resilience when it came to Sasuke. One moment she would have him talking, but the next, Sakura would have him focused on her. It seemed that she hadn't expected Sakura to put up much of a fight in the first place.

Haruka could tell that Ino was frustrated, but at the same time she thought it was fairly admirable of Sakura. In the past she had been slightly passive, but apparently when there was something for her to fight for, someone she really cared about, she wouldn't just back down. Why that someone was Sasuke of all people was the matter that Haruka was still confused about.

Everything seemed to culminate about three weeks after the first baseball game of the season at the end of April. Everyone was eating lunch on the benches outside, like usual, but Haruka sensed a shift in Ino's mood. She was of course sitting right next to her, so she nudged her elbow and whispered in her ear.