Hello, peoples.

I do not own Naruto, but Naruto owns me. I'm kidding. Pft, of course...

Enjoy.

My hands were shaking. That was quite unusual for me. I have always had steady hands, but right now, you would have never guessed with the way the paper clutched in my hands was near impossible to read due to the tremors.

I, however, knew all too well what was printed onto the thick, tan colored paper. I understood exactly what those words meant.

After all, they were the reason I was shaking.

Dear Miss Colton,

We are pleased to inform you that your application has been accepted and are delighted to welcome you to the Akatsuki Academy of Art.

Enclosed in this packet is more information about our school, a calendar of important events, and a list of supplies that have been deemed necessary by our student body.

Congratulations, and we hope to see you at the new student meeting on the tenth of August. If you have any questions, please contact us through our online website.

Sincerely,

Nagato Pein, Dean of Students

I had not even gotten so far as to check the rest of the orange delivery packet to confirm the existence of the other papers. The words floated off the page to meet me in my daze.

"…We are pleased to inform you…"

At least they were pleased to inform me. They could have been mad about it. I know I would be after having to handwrite hundreds of letters. I'd be downright grumpy.

"…that your application has been accepted…"

I took a deep breath in through the nose, exhaling out my mouth. I couldn't believe it.

Putting the letter down, I methodically checked through the rest of the packet's contents, not really seeing them. This was my last week of public school, now that I had been accepted. I had to say goodbye to everyone, just like I usually would, but this time it would be permanent. Next year I would be starting at Akatsuki Academy of Art for what would have been my eleventh year of high school.

I would have to say goodbye to all of my good friends that I had known since I was little; we all grew up together, but I wasn't going to give up on this great opportunity, so I have to do it, no matter how hard it will be.

But there was one person…

…One person I'm not sure if I should say goodbye to…

…Or confess to.

I blushed just thinking about it.

Sliding the papers back into their envelope, I put them on top of my desk for further evaluation. Lying out on my bed, I steeled my resolve. Should I do it? It's not like he would reciprocate my feelings. I don't believe I have ever even really had a full conversation with him, but I loved him anyway. I really did.

Yes, I was going to do it.

It was now or never, anyway.

He has a right to know.

I was going to confess my love.

I was such a failure. A total, ultimate, huge failure.

Come Monday morning, and I was able to at least tell everyone that I had been accepted, and that this would be my last school year with them.

But I still couldn't tell him.

Tuesday spoke the same.

As did Wednesday.

On into Thursday.

Still no confession.

I had totally and utterly chickened out. Today was Friday, my very last day of school here, not only that, but it was the end of the day. I had seen him all throughout the day, but I couldn't build up the courage. And now, here I was, waiting for him at the end of the hallway as everyone left the school, and I was still thinking about bailing.

It was my last chance, though; I couldn't have this regret hanging over my head for all of eternity. So I rooted myself to my spot, knowing that he always passed by here to get home. It was like clockwork. Every day after school let out, he and maybe one or two of his friends would walk down this hallway, passing this classroom door that I was currently standing in front of.

I really hoped he didn't have one of his friends with him. It would be embarrassing enough with just him. Gosh, I couldn't believe I was finally doing this. But I had to. There was no point in keeping it a secret anymore, as I would never see him again, but I had to tell him, just to let him know…

However, there was one problem.

Where was he?

I scanned the hallway quickly, but to no avail. He was supposed to come down this hallway, and judging by how few students there still were milling around, he would have usually passed by now.

A little bubble of panic fluttered my heart. It's probably nothing. He is just saying goodbye to his friends, making plans to meet up over the summer.

Ten minutes later, however, when the hallway was completely empty, I wasn't singing the same tune.

The little bubble had slowly grown into a waterfall of emotions. This couldn't be happening, not on my last day, when I had finally built up the courage. Was fate so against me?

I took off down the hallway, looking through each and every classroom glass window, down every side hallway. He had to still be here. He couldn't have left!

But with each hallway I found empty, with each darkened classroom, the more and more it seemed that he had.

Twenty minutes later, and I collapsed.

In the middle of the hallway, my legs gave out. I barely felt the pain that should have registered when my knees banged against the hard tiled floor. I started sobbing. Embarrassing, really, crying over something so frivolous, but at the time it felt like I was being crushed.

I couldn't believe… I wasn't able to confess…

I had waited too long.

I was such a coward.

I only knew that time had passed when I heard footsteps coming down the hallway. They eventually stopped right in front of me. I could see white tennis shoes and the ends of khaki pants, the clothing for our school uniform.

Realizing how stupid this whole situation was, as it was no doubt a student standing in front of me, I wiped at my eyes with the back of my sleeve.

"S-sorry," I mumbled, looking up.

Brown eyes. Warm brown eyes.

Red hair. Scarlet red hair.

Scrambling up to my feet, I bowed deeply. "S-Sasori-sama!"

My heart pounded as I kept my bow, eyes screwed shut. I couldn't believe it. He was right here. I was given a chance to confess… I would have rather we met in a more dignified manner than me bawling my eyes out, but I'd take what I could get.

"Ah, hear that, danna? She said 'sama.' Girl's got the hots for you!"

My eyes snapped open as a voice spoke that I knew was not Sasori's smooth, deep one. This one was higher-pitched than Sasori's, but still deeper than most, and playful sounding. But why was he calling Sasori 'danna?'

"Shut up, brat." I winced at the name before I realized he wasn't talking to me. "And you, quit bowing."

I straightened up immediately. "Of course, Sasori-sama."

That's when I was able to get a full view of the two of them.

Sasori was as handsome as ever, brown, almost apathetic eyes, heavy eyelids, and beautifully unique red hair that looked so soft to the touch…

Then there was this other guy. I had seen him hanging around Sasori before. I believed his name to start with a 'D,' or something, but I couldn't remember his full name. He had long blonde hair, half of it tied up while some obscured one of his blue eyes. He and Sasori appeared to be pretty good friends, if the pet names were and incantation; though I wish he wasn't here,

And that reminded me of the reason I was looking for Sasori in the first place.

I tried to look at Sasori in the eyes, but I couldn't do it. Wringing my hands together, I looked at the floor.

"Um, S-Sasori-sama… I, uh, have to t-tell you… T-that…"

"Spit it out." Sasori demanded impatiently.

"R-Right, right…" I knew he was impatient. Better make this quick. "I… um… You see…" Well this isn't going well. I decided to rip off the bandage quickly. Taking a deep breath, I blurted it out.

"Ilikeyouverymuch!"

Somewhere in there, my eyes had closed again at their own accord. Not able to see his reaction, I waited anxiously for what he would say.

I heard a sigh, then a single mumbled word.

"Pointless."

Then footsteps.

They walked away from me, leaving me there after just confessing to Sasori. He even called it pointless…

He called my love pointless.

He called me pointless.

I was pointless to him.

I distantly heard Sasori's friend as they turned the corner at the end of the hall. "See? What did I tell you, hm?"

Aw, poor little female person who you don't even know the name of yet.

Hope you liked it, and I would love to hear back from you.