Hey guys, Thanks for the reviews! I decided to make this a two, or possibly three shot (depends) because I felt that giving them a proper ending would probably be for the best. Besides, I'm a total sucker for romance anyway. Lol.

I hope you enjoy this chapter. Once again, thank you.

Italics – stand for thoughts. Sometimes I may or may not indicate whose thoughts they are, but they should be pretty obvious.

_00_

"Troublesome."

After almost an hour of begging and threatening, Sakura's efforts were still fruitless. The word favor just didn't seem to exist in Shikamaru's vocabulary; he was always too lazy to care.

As usual, Shikamaru was sprawled out on the grass on a particularly late, cloudy afternoon. The sky was quicky blurring into a barrage of passionate colors, but all he ever did was lie on his back and stare at the clouds as if they were the most fascinating things in the universe.

The afternoons in Konoha were beautiful.

Sakura would have joined him, but she had other things to worry about; a problem involving Sasuke Uchiha to be specific.

"I just need you to watch the shop for half a day. I'll even pay you!" said Sakura, clasping her hands together in an almost prayer.

She was still wearing the same attire from earlier that day, consisting of a neon green jacket and yellow shorts.

After her meeting with Sasuke, she immediately sought Shikamaru out. He was the only one she could trust with the shop.

"Why don't you just ask Ino to watch the shop for you? Or something…" he replied, yawning and tucking his arms at the back of his head in the process.

Sakura sighed in exasperation. She tugged at her layered, pink locks and looked him in the eyes once again.

"She's out of town visiting her parents. And before you say anything else, I can't ask anyone else because they're all busy. Like me!" she said, pointing to herself.

"But you," she pointed to Shikamaru.

"are not busy! So please…"

Shikamaru only closed his eyes in response.

Sakura was silent for a moment. After a while, she grabbed his shoulder and rested it there.

"Please Shikamaru. You're the only one I can trust." she said sincerely.

When Shikamaru opened his eyes, Sakura refused to meet his gaze. He knew that she was upset though.

Troublesome, he thought.

He was a sucker for damsels in distress. After all, they were the most troublesome of all.

After a long sigh on Shikamaru's part, he finally agreed.

"You don't need to pay me" he added.

Sakura was quick to recover. She thanked him profusely for his help, simultaneously hugging him.

"Thanks Shikamaru! You're the greatest friend ever!" she said.

They chatted for a little bit more about mundane things, when Sakura announced she was going to leave. It was getting late.

"If only you knew…" sighed Shikamaru wistfully as he watched her retreating back.

Getting friend-zoned was surprisingly more painful than he'd expected.

Forever alone level: Shikamaru.

_00_

At noon the following day, Shikamaru arrived for his afternoon shift at the pet shop.

Minutes after arriving, he greeted Sakura briefly and made a beeline for the front desk; immediately propping his arms on his head and sleeping soundly.

Typical Shikamaru, thought Sakura, rolling her eyes.

"Hello to you too." She called out to him, brushing her hair into place.

Her hair was set in a ponytail and she was conveniently dressed in an orange spaghetti strap top and knee length tan capris, settling for a pair of white slippers. Her white sling bag contained all of the things needed for Sookie's vaccination, as well as some dog treats she planned to offer the dog.

It was just a matter of time before Sasuke arrived, and she was already getting antsy about the whole ordeal.

Breathe Sakura. Just give the dog the vaccine, chat a little and leave soon after.

She could only hope that things would go as easy as that.

After giving Sookie the vaccination, she would probably never see Sasuke again anyway. Her dad would most likely be back from vacation, and she would also be busy with school and everything.

She didn't know why, but the thought of never seeing Sasuke again was a bit unsettling.

She settled herself on a chair and observed one of the guinea pigs eating a big carrot, trying to avoid his other hungry friends who wanted to steal the vegetable.

"Cute." She smiled, handing out more grass for the animals.

The familiar tinkling of twin bells was once again heard, rousing Shikamaru from his sleep. Sakura's back was ramrod straight, her expression dreadful.

Both of them turned to look at the front door. And lo and behold, in came Sasuke in all his god-like glory.

Sasuke slowly sauntered into the room and stopped in front of Sakura, nodding in greeting. His gaze was set on her as he subtly took in her attire and smirked with approval.

Sakura was blushing lightly, her eyes traveling towards anywhere but him.

He would've continued doing so, but a cough that came from neither him nor Sakura disturbed his inner musings.

He searched for the third party and found a young man, more or less his age, sitting behind a desk staring at him with obvious boredom and distaste.

"Yo." he drawled out.

Sasuke could tell that he was a particularly lazy fellow.

The young man's features were sharp and angular, and his eyes were unusually wise and calculating.

Both men regarded each other with assessing looks, tension slowly building. It was a battle between two alpha males; and neither was backing down nor showing fear. Realizing that it was probably going to get ugly soon, Sakura stood in Sasuke's line of vision and smiled in apology.

"Ah, hello to you too, Sasuke." she greeted.

"That over there," she pointed at Shikamaru. "is Shikamaru Nara, a friend of mine. He'll be watching the shop while I'm gone." Sakura explained, looking at Shikamaru; prompting him to be civil.

"Hn." Was all that Sasuke said, obviously pleased that Shikamaru was just a friend.

Shikamaru was none too happy, narrowing his eyes at Sasuke.

"Are you ready to go?" asked Sasuke, looking once again at Sakura.

She nodded a yes.

"I'll probably be only an hour or two at most Shikamaru, be back soon. Bye!" Sakura said, waving him goodbye while flashing a smile.

"Bye Babe." Shikamaru replied, smirking.

Sakura brushed it off and didn't seem to mind, continuing merrily on her way outside. But Sasuke wasn't particularly happy with their exchange, if his sour expression was any indication.

Sasuke grabbed a hold of Sakura's free hand, making sure the act was visible to a glaring Shikamaru.

"I'll lead you to the car." Sasuke said.

Sakura was looking between Sasuke, herself, and their entwined hands, almost scandalized. She kept trying to free her hand from his grasp, but each time she pried, he only held on tighter.

What on earth is wrong with this guy?

By the time they made it outside, Sakura's face was almost as pink as her hair.

Their hands were still clasped together and Sakura was getting fainter by the second, but Sasuke didn't seem to mind anything at all! He just held her hand as if it was the most natural thing to do in the world.

"Sasuke? C-can you let go? Uhh…It's getting kind of uncomfortable." said Sakura, trying once again.

Sasuke stared at her with a look of complete innocence and did the most unimaginable thing, he smiled. Albeit it was a tiny, very possible to miss, now you see me, now you don't kind of smile, but a smile nonetheless.

"Stop squirming." He said, staring ahead.

And that was enough to shut Sakura up for the time being.

_00_

For a moment, Sakura was almost certain that she was being pranked. She kept expecting Sasuke to spill the beans and say that they were actually in a reality TV show that might as well have been called "Yes, You're Dreaming!" during their ride to his house, but all he did was look straight ahead and drive. This would have been fine and dandy if it wasn't for the fact that she felt super uncomfortable in his car.

She didn't know what kind of car it was that he was driving, but even a blind person would know that his car must have cost quite a huge penny.

And that was the problem; everything was just too perfect about him. Perfect looks, perfect car, what was next? He might as well have a castle for a house.

"You have a nice car." She remarked, internally wary of him.

"Thanks, it was a gift from my parents." he replied, sparing her a glance.

Sakura wasn't surprised.

Perfect parents to go with a perfect son. She thought, staring out of the window.

They just had to be so different.

Sasuke abruptly stopped the car.

Sakura was immensely thankful for seatbelts.

She was surprised when he gave her a look of pure, raw anger. His stare was unwavering, thus making it impossible to deviate from his line of sight.

"Did I say that out loud? Again?" asked Sakura, levels of discomfort reaching new heights.

"I'm sorr-"she started.

"You don't know anything about me." He said. Tone low, but icy.

Neither spoke. Sasuke took a few calming breaths before starting the car again.

Okay, a topic about his parents? LANDMINE, thought Sakura, scared.

The silence was heavy and awkward, but Sakura was never one to leave conversations hanging like that. Especially when she knew she was in the wrong.

"I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry." they both said at the same time.

Sakura grabbed the opportunity to speak first.

She grazed his hand that was resting on the lever, hoping to get her feelings across.

He looked shocked.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking straight. And you're right, I don't know anything about you…and it wasn't proper of me to assume things without even knowing anything, and I'm really sorry! What's gotten into me? I mean I uh, I'm really s-"she was rambling, and Sasuke didn't know whether to laugh at her or take her seriously.

Flail, tug at hair, face palm, flail some more. She was totally clueless to the fact that her expressions were almost comical.

"Sakura," he started.

"I'm sorry, I was out of line too." he continued, grasping her hand again for the second time that day.

Sakura was dumbfounded. Sasuke just apologized to her.

"You're too cute for your own good." He said in an almost whisper, red staining his usually pale skin.

He kept a hand on the steering wheel, but he didn't remove his hand from hers.

Sakura's heart was actually thudding against her ribcage so hard, that she was certain even Sasuke could hear it. But she was definitely not blushing…that's putting it lightly. If she didn't breathe properly soon, she could be a probable case for blue skin disorder.

Why did she just suddenly feel like she was always left speechless when she was around him?

Was this really the same rude, sour faced customer that unabashedly called her annoying? It didn't seem so. She was really starting to believe that this was really just an elaborate prank set by one of her friends, or enemies, to spite her. First, he's perfect, and now he's all sweet and princely? Way unreal.

"Wait; did I just imagine you saying that?" Sakura asked, disbelieving that Sasuke was capable of saying that.

"Did you just accidently say that out loud again?" he rebutted, smirking.

"Touché." Sakura decided she liked this side of Sasuke better.

_00_

Sasuke's house wasn't a castle, like Sakura predicted. But it wasn't just a house either, it was a freaking mansion; a huge one at that.

Sakura didn't have much time to ogle though, since she was immediately assaulted the moment she stepped into the spacious manor.

_00_

I suck at writing romance.

I was like UGHH the whole time I was reading, lol. I just couldn't resist the forever alone part though. XD I don't like this chapter so much, but what the hay? ;)

If you've noticed that things are progressing pretty fast between Sasuke and Sakura, that's probably because the next chapter will be the end. It already took me forever to post this chapter, I can't imagine many more.

Anyway, thank you for all your support!