Disclaimer: I don't own. I this fanfic though. Why is it called FANfiction.net? Hmmm, I wonder . . .

Note (read this!!): Well, this isn't the promised fic. This one is Narusaku. I wrote it late at night, so don't be upset. However, I WILL write the nejisaku fic as soon as I'm done with dirty tricks. This one was just for my entertainment. See ya!

Let's Find a Date!

Chapter 1

The students stared blankly at the board in front of them. Words scribbled in white chalk seemed to run together, falling, crashing, and mixing. The words became so entangled, that it was no longer readable. The room temperature? Unbearable. Absolutely horrible, as this was one of the hottest days that year. This heat came right before summer break, after the nice pleasant days of late spring. It was as if someone had placed the tiny cramped classroom into an oven and was no roasting it to oblivion. This was possibly the longest day of the students' lives.

Iruka was lecturing again on the history of the Hokage. He seemed to move in slow-mo and his voice sounded like a slowed down recording of a tape. He moved the chalk up and down, side-to-side, crissing and crossing. Every now and then, he'd wipe sweat away from his brows with a gloved hand. Those uniforms must be pretty uncomfortable in the intense heat.

Sakura was clenching her pencil tightly. She wanted to stab her forehead with it. Well, maybe not her, but someone. Just to relieve stress. Perhaps she could stab the usually hyper and annoying Naruto who was sitting in the seat to her right and was fidgeting constantly.

One . . .

Twitch.

Two . . .

Twitch.

Three . . .

Twitch.

Oh yeah, stabbing him sounded like a good idea right now.

She wanted to keep her eyes off him, but his jerky movements distracted her and currently she found him more interesting than the hunk of slate in front of the room right now. It was so hard to look away. She was almost bored to tears.

Sakura forced herself to face the front. She ordered to eyes to read, but they refused and as a result, all she saw was a series of curves and lines where Kanji, Hiragana, and Katakana were supposed to be. She urged herself to focus on her teacher's lecture.

But that would be like telling her to stop loving Sasuke.

She grunted. The whole glass looked her way, wanting to see the newfound hero who interrupted the uncomfortable silence. Iruka looked her way, not looking happy.

"Do we have a problem Sakura?" He asked, putting on his "strict teacher" face (but everyone knew he was about as nice as nice could get.)

"No Iruka-sensei," she responded, but her Inner Sakura was screaming 'Hell yeah we do! I'm hot and sweaty, I hate being in this classroom, and Naruto won't stop fidgeting! But go on as your normal self and ignore your students' unheard cries for help.

Luckily for her, only we can hear Inner Sakura.

He turned around and started to erase and rewrite stuff on the almighty Hokage the First.

How many times had she heard this lesson before? Twenty? Perhaps forty-three? She lost count after two full weeks of doing nothing but studying the Hokage. It was ridiculous that she was being taught something she had heard over and over before and by a teacher who was her level. A respected (well, sorta) Chuunin like herself shouldn't be there in that miserable room, frying to death.

She looked over at Sasuke, whom was staring straight ahead, but going cross-eyed doing so. His shirt was practically glued to his skin from the amount of sweat that was pouring out of his skin. His sweat glands must have been screaming now, for his entire face was red. Sakura watched as a small bead of perspiration slowly trickled down from his temples, then across his cheek, down the bridge of his nose, and then ever so painfully slow, dropped onto the table and slightly splashed.

Suddenly a noise came out of no-where, filling the whole room. It was so shockingly loud at first that it made the students' eardrums pound with pain. But relief swept over through the class and they embraced the sound with open arms.

It was the end of class bell.

They were saved from the forever-boring evil lecture of doom!

The students began picking up their stuff but Iruka stopped them.

"Sit back down. I have something to tell you," Iruka ordered kindly.

The class groaned. Ok, maybe they weren't saved from the forever-boring lecture of doom.

"Hokage, the Jounin and I have been discussing about our school's traditions. So far it seems like we only have the annual 'Kick Kakashi' day, which is, um . . . not a very appropriate holiday if you ask me.

"So we decided that we were going to start a yearly summer break prom for all the Chuunins," He announced happily with a smile on his face

A quite buzzing sound emitted from the students. They whispered about the exciting new event. The boys were thinking different things like 'Oh, this is my chance! I will finally ask Sakura-san out!' and 'Maybe Ino will come with me, but she'll probably ask that Uchiha kid out' and 'Oh shit. Prepare for the love letters.' However, all the girls were thinking 'I'm gonna ask Sasuke-kun out! I'm gonna ask Sasuke-kun out! I will, I will, I will! Oh, but who can I get to send the love letter for? Oh dang . . .'

"The prom will be held in two weeks and will take place on the festival grounds by the Hokage monument. Naruto, you can't paint graffiti on the monument or you're not going," He looked over to the blond haired fox boy. Naruto only laughed nervously and put his hand behind his head.

"One more thing. Everyone will vote on who they think is the best couple. The winners will become prom King and Queen Konohagakure!" ((sp?)) The girls screamed their high-pitched screams of delight while the boys just stared at the teacher, then to the girls, and back to Iruka.

And do you know what went through some of those crazy teenagers' minds? Why don't we name a few?

'I'm going ask Sasuke-kun to the dance!'

'I'm going to get Sakura-chan to dance with me!'

'I'm going to lock myself in my house and not come out for two weeks.'

The students left the room, chattering about the prom. The atmosphere went from agonizingly slow to animated and trilling. The young Chuunins didn't know what a prom was like, but it sounded way better than 'Kick Kakashi' day. And if it was cooler than that, it must be a blast.

Sakura practically danced out of the hallway, spinning and singing. Her mind was taking a vacation in La-la land. She was dreaming corny images with her and the brooding dark haired boy that she loved so much.

'His raven hair, his dark pooled eyes, his hand in my hand as we dance along with the slow music and pull up into a romantic ki- !'

Her thoughts were interrupted when she crashed into something.

Her forehead had made solid contact with Ino's. They both fell over onto the tiled floor. Sakura's head pounded and she rubbed the aching red spot on her temple.

Ino looked up and glared at her. "Watch were you're going Big Forehead!"

"You watch where you're going, Ino-pig!" Sakura spat at the blonde-haired person.

Sakura dusted her dress and pants off and walked off with a slight 'humph!'

"Where are you going?" Ino asked. She gave Sakura a look that said 'Don't you dare touch me Sasuke-kun or I'll skin you alive!'

"To hell if I don't change my evil ways," she replied sarcastically. She existed the building leaving Ino looking annoyed and her hands on her hips.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Rain started to poor on the sun baked ground. Mist slowly rised from the ground. The temperature dropped steadily to a pleasant cool feeling. It was a relief from the hot weather before.

Ino was walking home from her classes. A violet umbrella shielded her from the falling rain. Tiny water drops smacked against the flimsy plastic and bounced off to the side.

She walked up to the bridge and stopped. She was amazed, for she had just ran into the boy of her dreams. The same guy would was wanted by every girl and their sister. Uchiha Sasuke, Chuunin on team seven.

"Oh, Sasuke-kun darling! How pleasant it is to see you!" Ino ran up to him and attempted to glomp him, but he swerved to the side. XD

Ino gazed up at him. He was much taller than she was, atleast a head taller. His hair style remained the same over the years and he now wear only blue wide rimmed shirts and white shorts that weren't actually shorts because they came just above his knee caps.

His shirt was soaked and Ino thought that he had been there by the bridge all day. Water dripped from his long bangs and his hair stuck to his skull. Sasuke ignored her and stared past the bridge's edge and gazed at the river. He looked so peaceful for once.

"Sasuke? Look at me. I what to ask you something," she said.

"What do you want?" He continued to look at the water. He sounded annoyed.

"You're not looking at me!" Ino fumed. She wanted to pull his face in her direction, but she knew better.

He closed his eyes and his nose wrinkled. He turned to look at her. He didn't look too happy.

"I want you to be my date for the prom," she stated simply.

"I'm not going."

She blinked.

"What?"

"I said I'm not going. I don't want to dance," he looked out to the water again.

"You don't have to dance, you just have to be my date!"

"Why would you want me to be your date?" Sasuke asked, not taking his eyes off the river.

"Because I love you," Ino put a hand to her heart and moved closer to the uninterested boy. "I have always loved you."

"I don't feel the same way. I never will," he said flatly.

Tears welled up in Ino's eyes. Her heart felt like a knife had sliced it open. It was a horrible way to be turned down by someone you loved.

Sasuke suddenly felt arms wrap around his chest. He looked down, surprised. Ino clung onto him tightly.

"Please . . . I need you to come with me. You have to or my heart will break," tears fell down her face and absorbed into Sasuke's damp shirt.

Sasuke was startled and surprised. He sighed and let the girl hold on to him. "Why are you so persistent? You know I don't feel the same way as you do."

"Because," she sniffed, "because I love you, damnit!"

"Just please . . . come to the dance with me. I need you to be there," she sobbed into his chest.

Sasuke sighed. His shoulder's slumped and his mussels tensed.

"Ok," he answered.

Ino look up. Her tears stopped. "Thank you," she whispered. She lifted herself with her tiptoes and kissed him tenderly on the lips.

He didn't kiss back.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Team seven met the next day. The ground was moist and slightly muddy. A light sheet of mud stuck to the bottom of the ninja's sandal like foot wear.

Sakura breathed in the fresh rain-washed air. She loved the smell of the air after rain. It was like taking a bath after being totally covered in mud and letting it dry.

She met up with Naruto and Sasuke who were waiting for her. Well, atleast Naruto anyway. Sasuke just ignored her.

"Hello Sakura-chan!" Naruto greeted her with a smile.

"Hi Naruto. Hello Sasuke-kun!" She paid more attention to Sasuke.

"Hm," was his only reply.

Naruto waved at Sakura to call her over to him.

"Hey Sakura, I want to ask you something," Naruto said.

"What is it?" Sakura asked.

He grabbed her wrist and started leading her off out of the earshot of Sasuke. Sasuke watched the two go. He listened to Sakura protest and Naruto dragged her off somewhere. He sighed. Somehow he felt as if he was going to loose the person closest to him.

Sakura huffed when Naruto let her go in a clearing. She was just about ready to smack him on top of the head when she remembered her new year's revolution: Do not hit Naruto because he was acting stupid. No matter how much he annoys you.

"Naruto, why did you bring me out here?" she fumed. Flames formed in her eyes.

"I want to ask you something," Naruto said, giving her a smile.

"Well spit it out. I don't have all day!" she said.

A slight blush crept up on Naruto's cheeks. "Will you go to the prom with me?"

Sakura frowned. There was an uncomfortable pause between them. It took Sakura a while before she finally answered.

"No Naruto. I'm going to ask Sasuke-kun," she said.

"Oh," he sounded disappointed. "Ok." He sighed and leaned up against a tree.

Sakura suddenly felt extremely awkward. She didn't want to leave Naruto after turning him down like that. She inclined back against the bark with the boy.

"I don't like love you but we'll always be good friends, right?" she implored.

"Yeah," he gave her his famous smile, but it was obviously fake.

There was more silence between them. A question nagged at Sakura's brain. She wanted to ask Naruto his opinion, but the question might hurt his feelings.

"Naruto, do you think Sasuke-kun will go to the prom with me?"

"Sure Sakura-chan! And if he doesn't, he's either blind or has bad taste," he answered. This time his smile was real, but the look in his eyes wasn't.

Sakura smiled. "Thanks Naruto," she hugged him. Naruto was surprised but he gently hugged her back.

"Listen Sakura-chan, if Sasuke ever makes you cry, you can always come to me," he released her from the friendly embrace.

"I know. You're a great friend Naruto."

Just friends . . . he could live with that.

~*~*~*~*~

Kakashi showed up three minutes later. He was walking funny and had his handed on his lower back.

The teacher waved at his students. "Hello class."

Silence.

Team seven gawked at him like he had an extra head growing from his neck. Kakashi sweat dropped. "What?"

"You're actually on time today!" Sakura jumped up and down. "This is like a historic event!"

Kakashi rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, I must be having a really bad day. My back still hurts from the 'Kick Kakashi' day last weekend," he rubbed his back. "Ok, today we'll be doing jutsu and kunai practice."

~*~*~*~*

After the practice was done, our beloved team seven was ready to go home.

Sasuke stretched a bit and then started to head home. He was hungry and in the mood for rice balls. That was basically all he ate ever since the incident with Ino the day before. Rice balls for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks and everything in-between. It was filling, but not nutrionly healthy.

"Matte Sasuke-kun!" a familiar voice called out.

Sasuke turned to see whom he was expecting. It was Sakura. As she walked toward him, her almost shoulders length hair swished from side to side. The sun shone on her side, making her look like an angel of sorts. Emerald eyes met his and he could feel the ice around his heart melt slightly, but he didn't show it.

"Nani?" he said. He raised his eyebrows a bit, showing his interest.

"I just wanted to ask you . . ." Sakura's face flushed. She couldn't find the right words.

"Just say it!" Sasuke demanded. He was now getting a bit irritated.

"If you'll go to the prom with me," Sakura blurted out. She was turning crimson now.

Sasuke exhaled deeply. He thought she would ask this sooner or later. To bad that she was too late.

"I can't. I'm already going with Ino."

Sakura gasped, appalled. He was going with Ino? It couldn't be! Sasuke actually liked Ino? The one boy that she loved more than life itself loved another? Sakura's heart couldn't take it.

"Sorry," Sasuke said. For once in his life he sounded sincere.

"No, its all right," she whispered. Sasuke could barely hear her. The next thing they knew, Sakura began crying.

"Sakura!"

"No . . . just let me go think. I need . . . some time to myself," she managed to get out. Her voice became hoarse.

Nobody knew, but Naruto was watching in the treetops. He always watched over Sakura, no matter what. It was his duty to protect her and offer her his support. Now he had to comfort her. She needed him, even though she said she needed time to herself. He knew her heart inside and out.

I'm coming Sakura-chan. I'll always be there for you . . . because I love you.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

ARG! That was so waffy. Sorry about the high quality lamness folks. Its my first attempt at a NaruSaku.