Playground

“The wind the wind

The wind blows higher

Here comes Ino from the skier

Isn’t she beautiful, Isn’t she sweet?

Tell me the boy that she will meet!

UCHIHA SASUKE says he-”

And cue the ridiculous giggling and laughing and the shouts of outrage (“Hey! Uchiha Sasuke was supposed to be for me!!”). It was just so annoying.

Sasuke found a lot of girls annoying. Actually, he found them all annoying probably. He frowned as he heard his name in that familiar playground song when the girls played with the skipping ropes. It was so stupid. It was always his name that they used. He even knew that silly song off by heart. First they’d skip to decide what he’d said was ‘true’, and then they’d decide how many ‘kisses’ (blech) he gave them, and after marriage- how many babies they had!! That was just so stupid!!

“Uchiha Sasuke says he loves her

Uchiha Sasuke says he loves her

Is this true or is this false?!”

The jumper was now going through two options ‘true’ and ‘false’. Although he wasn’t interested at all, he turned to find that the game had been going on for a while- even after he’d struck fifty shuriken to the tree. That was… odd. Who’d been jumping for so long?

“TRUEEE!!!”

There were shouts of delight and others as the girl landed on true and he arched a brow at the silliness of it all. Obviously, he said no such thing. Especially not to Ino. The girl was a mediocre kunoichi, but she was loud and brash and way too outspoken.

“Ino-Chan, since you’ve skipped a long time, why not let somebody else have a go?” one of the girls asked her, but it was obvious who the ‘somebody else’ should be.

Ino merely shrugged and walked out, a little breathless, a little pink and tried to look at the object of her affections (secretly). He was by himself as usual, so she ran to greet him.

This was what started the revolution later. The reason why Sasuke really disliked her. When he was younger, it’d only be Ino that’d bother him, but later on, he’d realise that all the other girls were emboldened by her actions and then bothered him too!

“Hey!! Sasuke-Kun,” she smiled widely, waving at him.

Sasuke ignored her for a moment, hoping she’d go away. When she only seemed to be getting closer, he turned around, glaring as much as he could.

“What?” he grunted.

“Want to play with us?”

If he wasn’t Sasuke, he would’ve laughed.

“Sakura, dressed in yellow
Went upstairs to kiss a fellow
Made a mistake
Kissed a snake
How many doctors
Did it take?”

“Play? That game? With you?” he voiced trying hard not to laugh at her ridiculous suggestion. “I don’t have time for games.”

Ino sighed. “You’re allowed to play you know, this is playtime. You shouldn’t confuse different times and places.”

Sasuke didn’t know what she meant by that…

But when he realised the implication, he wanted to hit her. It just gave him more reasons to hate her. Her and her stupid friend with pink hair who pestered him a few weeks later.

“Why do you not like Ino-Chan?” she’d asked him, peering at him and disturbing him as he ate lunch.

The worst part was when she sat down beside him. As if she was allowed.

Because she’s stupid. Because she’s loud. Because she’s crazy. Because she’s right. Because she doesn’t understand me at all.

“Because she’s got short hair,” he muttered. “Now go away.”

Uchiha Sasuke regretted ever saying that. Not the ‘go away’ part… but the ‘short hair’ part.

How could he have known that the hairdressing business would decline through his generation all because of that comment? Well… somehow, Sakura had told someone that he didn’t like short hair—then they assumed that he liked girls with long hair. Isn’t that stupid?

Every girl in his year (minus the Hyuuga) had hair tumbling down their backs. He couldn’t believe they’d put more effort in hair care then their careers. They’d probably fail and go to the academy. Suited him fine.

“Mama, Papa, tell me true,

Who shall I be married to?

Is he a genin? The lowest ninja there?

Or a Chuunin that’s barely made it for air?

Is he a Jounin that’s at the top?

Or some traitor freak that became a flop?”

Why oh why would they even marry a traitor? Did they even know what traitors were like? That they would stab their own parents with a smile on their faces? Sasuke frowned once more. It really seemed he had nothing to do but analyse girly lyrics.

But later in life… he realised that it was these that would haunt him in the lair of Orochimaru.

“Sasuke-Kun… I-I love you more than anything!!”

He breathed in the heady scent of the cherry blossoms, swirling in a dance around him. He was learning strangling with his snakes today.

Made a mistake. Kissed a snake. How many doctors did it take?

How many Sakura? How many doctors did it take?