Disclaimer:I don't own Naruto, unfortunately. I wish I did, because that'd mean I'd know what'd happen next in the series. I don't own the song "Sweet Talk 101" either, it's the band Cute Is What We Aim For's.

You remember when you were a little kid and you just wanted all your friends to be friends with each other, so you could all hang out?

Yeah. I wasn't very different.

("C'mon, Ino-chan, I promise he isn't a weirdo!")

Even though he said we weren't friends per se –

(not that I knew what 'per se' meant, but I just figured it was something grown-ups say, like,
"eat your vegetables", and "make your bed", and you don't have to know the meaning behind it)

- I still wanted the three of us – my only friends – to be together.

("Sasuke-chan, that's Ino-chan. Ino-chan, this is Sasuke-chan.")

So that's why I introduced them to each other.

("Don't call me that, Sakura.")

He just looked kind of bored, but she couldn't take her eyes off him.

("Ne, ne, Sakura, he's really cute!")

And there hasn't been a day that I didn't regret that I did that.

o1.

"Ugh, Forehead Girl... pass me the ice," she croaked as she leaned across the kitchen counter, stretching her left arm forward to accept it as the pink-haired girl searched through the freezer.

Sakura did as she was told and then surveyed her best friend with a sigh. Her usually perfect golden hair was a mess, the makeup smudged, and exhaustion was visible in her otherwise lively eyes. She was wearing a worn, overly large T-shirt with "Konoha High Soccer Team" on it.

But something else caught her eye even more; it was the text "Uchiha 07" on the back of the shirt as Ino turned and proceeded back to her room.

Arching a finely plucked eyebrow, Sakura asked with the calmest voice she could muster, "Don't tell me you had that specially made?"

"Huh?" Ino spun around, still pressing the plastic bag filled with ice cubes to her forehead. Following Sakura's gaze, her face cracked into a mischievous grin. "Oh, you mean this? Of course not. I saw it in Sasuke-kun's wardrobe, so I asked if I could have it. And he said yes. Actually, he said 'Hn', but I just figured that meant yes."

"You want his old sweat on you or something? He hasn't been on the team for years, and he probably hasn't washed it for that long too." Sakura raised the can of Diet Coke she had bought on the way to her best friend's house, and drained some of the icy liquid, making a grimace as she put it down.

"Well, since he obviously doesn't want to share his new sweat that much, if you know what I mean, I can only get his old sweat… oops, I was too graphic again, wasn't I?"

"Just a tad."

"Sorry," Ino's grin widened. "I'll be ready in five minutes."

And only when Ino had gone out of sight into her room did Sakura allow herself to let go of her spasmodic hold of the can, leaving a tiny, yet deep mark, where her thumb had been.

"Oi, dobe. Wake up."

"Mommy, let me sleep for a while longer…"

Uchiha Sasuke's eyebrow twitched in annoyance. "Idiot, I won't let you sleep for longer, and I'm definitely not your mother. Now get the hell out of the bed."

"… mm… Sakura-chan…"

At the mention of her name, he visibly flinched. Then, sighing with irritation, he promptly pulled the blonde out of the bed, who screeched loudly upon hitting the wooden floor.

"Ouch… what the hell was that for, bastard!?" Naruto yelled as he glared up at his arch-enemy, rubbing his sore head as he sat up. "And what the hell are you doing in my house?!"

"To wake you up, dumbass. Now get dressed, we're supposed to be in class in twenty minutes. And it's my house anyway, I'm the one paying the rent."

"No, you're not! I pay half the bills! And it's my room, at the very least," he stubbornly replied as he crossed his arms, his sapphire eyes turning to slits, making him look like a comic book character. The corner of Sasuke's mouth twitched for a nanosecond at the sight of the child-like adolescent.

"No, you idiot. I pay for the bills. You pay for the ramen."

"And you eat the ramen!"

"No, I don't. I eat my tomatoes and onigiri. You eat ramen."

"That's because you're afraid of getting fat, you girl," Naruto retorted as he threw his pillow (which Sasuke effortlessly dodged) at him, rising up from the floor. "How Ino even fell for a stick like you is beyond me."

"Hn." Sasuke turned away, walking towards the threshold on the other side of the room. "She has good taste. And I'm not a stick. Unlike you, I actually have well-trained muscles."

"Actually, the thought of you even having a girlfriend is surprising. I always thought you were gay, you know. I still think you are – I just think you're in denial."

Naruto fell headfirst back onto the floor as the pillow effectively hit his face full-force, joined by the latest issue of Playboy, leaving a large, square red mark on his face.

It's kind of a given that the two of them would end up together, a voice that sounded strangely like Ino's said in Sakura's mind as she tried to not listen to said blonde's loud (and rather out of tune) singing to Avril Lavigne's Sk8erboi whilst driving.

"Sorry girl but you missed out – well, tough luck, that boy's mine now –"

Ino was the girl you saw on the cover of Teen Vogue and CosmoGIRL! and in the makeup ads. She was the girl you only saw or read about, the kind of girl who attended glamorous parties and met famous people. She was beautiful and both athletically and academically skilled – although lesser in the latter field, but she was captain of the cheerleading squad – and she was the girl every girl wanted to be, and every guy wanted to be seen with.

The kind of girl Sakura used to pretend she was when she was younger.

"We are in love, haven't you heard – how we rock each other's world –"

Sasuke was the kind of guy you saw on posters and CD covers, the guy who appeared in MTV videos. He was the guy you only heard or read about, the kind of guy who was invited to every event worth mentioning and who interacted with celebrities on a daily basis – heck, he was one himself. He was handsome and both athletically and academically skilled – he was top of the class and used to be the captain of the soccer team – and had about a dozen fanclubs or more. He was the guy every guy wanted to be, and every girl wanted to be seen with.

The kind of guy Sakura used to pretend she was seen with.

"I'm with the Sk8erboi, I said see ya later boi – I'll be backstage after the show –"

Everybody had predicted when they hit puberty that the two of them would end up together as a couple. She was perfect. He was perfect. They were meant to be together.

The kind of Type A Mary-Sue/Gary-Stu that everybody idolized. Their only matches were themselves, because nobody else was good enough for them.

As Neji would say, fate wanted it to be that way. And nothing could change that.

"I'll be at his studio – singing the song he wrote –"

But sometimes, just sometimes, Sakura wished that destiny was wrong.

"- about the girl he used to knooooowww…"

"Aren't you supposed to be having a hangover?" she asked as the song faded away, and the radio speaker announced what the next song would be.

"Well, I'm trying to focus on something else but my headache, aren't I?" Ino responded lightly as she leaned against the window frame, yawning widely.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever."

"Geez, what's with you anyway? Are you PMS-ing? I bet you are. You were such a bore at last night's party."

"You don't need to be drunk and Frenching somebody to have fun, Ino."

"Well, aren't you contradictive. I saw you having some action going on last night with Suigetsu -anything promising?"

Sakura laughed at the thought of the turquoise-haired boy with the shark-like teeth that had shamelessly flirted with her the night before. "Suigetsu? Are you kidding me? It's so obvious he has something going on with Karin, I swear."

"Yeah, not that it should stop you or anything if you really had something going on with Suigetsu, but – Sasuke-kun wouldn't be pleased."

Silence. Then, "Aa."

"So, what about Naruto?"

"What about Naruto?"

"Well, the whole arm-around-your-waist thing after the concert. I mean, the paparazzi will write that you're a couple."

The be-damned rock music had started again. Sakura secretly wondered whether or not she should change the channel. But if she did, Ino would probably kill her – this channel frequently played Sasuke's songs, and she wouldn't miss them for the world.

You have a jump in your step, but a rip in your, a rip in your rep -

She shrugged, faking lack of concern. "So?"

"Yeah, well. If you aren't, it must upset you, so that must mean you are. Why didn't you tell me anything!? And oh my God. His fangirls are going to kill you."

"Anything what? Nothing has happened." Sakura chose to ignore the last remark. She suppressed a shudder at the thought of the rabid fangirls stalking the band members everyday; Sasuke harbored the greatest amount naturally, but Naruto still had his fair share of fans.

- so be sure to be proud -

"So how can you suddenly be a couple if nothing has happened?" Ino inquired stubbornly. "Something must have happened."

"Other than him putting an arm around my waist… nope."

"Geez, aren't you two passionate," she remarked sarcastically. "Even me and Sasuke do more than that. Speaking of which…"

- and don't forget you're not allowed to brag -

There was a lingering, tense silence in the air. Only the rock music Sakura so faithfully despised coming out of the car's speakers could be heard as Ino exhaled heavily next to Sakura, whose face expression remained stoic; although, at a closer glance, her face features were slightly scrunched in annoyance.

"… can you do me a favor?"

"Man, that was an awesome gig last night, I swear." Naruto exhaled delightfully as he gulped down the last remains of his soda can, carelessly slamming it to the wooden surface of his desk. "Not to mention the after-party! You guys remember right? Club Sound? Geez. That sure was something, wasn't it? Did you see – ow, what the hell was that for, Sasuke?! Damn it, it's the second time you've hit me this morning!"

The considerably shorter blonde growled in displeasure at the soot-haired boy who had successfully whacked him in the head with a rather thick book with the words "English Literature" printed on the front of it.

"That –," he released an exasperated sigh from his lips that made the girls lurking outside the classroom swoon, "- was because you made my eardrums bleed with your exceedingly loud voice."

Naruto proceeded to glare at him angrily. The other two present, namely a certain Hyuuga Neji and his cousin, reacted by doing their usual Saturday morning routine – Neji rolled his pasty eyes and declared indifferently that he was going to buy himself a coffee to ease his headache, and Hinata nervously tried to divert Naruto from starting a fight with Sasuke, thus earning himself another well-deserved detention.

"Um, I… N-Naruto-k-kun, S-Sasuke-kun, I think y-you did… great… last night…" The last three words were barely decipherable, but her attempt was successful; Naruto promptly turned away from his arch-enemy.

"Thanks, Hinata! You were at the Club too, right? Don't you think it was just GR-R-R-EAT?!"

"You seriously need to stop eating something besides Kellogg's Frosted Flakes and ramen, dobe."

"I do too! I eat McDonalds and Burger King and KFC –"

"I beg your pardon – I didn't realize you were that healthy. So, basically, your daily intake of nutrients does not only consist of cereal, which by the way has a horribly childish and not to mention, badly drawn cartoon animal on it, and ramen, it also includes junk food."

"Well, unlike you, Sasuke-chan, I don't need to go on a diet to have girls like me."

"That is because no girls will like you even if you did."

"You - !"

"My, my, do you never stop fighting?" a rather bored voice cut across Naruto's ongoing outburst as the three acknowledged the arrival of the newcomers. "Good morning, Naruto – Hinata-chan – Sasuke-kun."

At the mention of the latter, he simply uttered a "hn" and regained his usual careless pose as he leaned against one of the desks, shoving his calloused hands into the pockets of his black pants. Naruto scowled at the beaming blonde who implanted a kiss on the cheek of Sasuke, but his face expression instantly brightened considerably at the sight of the roseate-haired girl who watched soundlessly, although intently, the two's public display of affection.

"Good morning, Sakura-chan!"

Swiftly snapping back to reality, she snatched her eyes away from the couple in a rather startled manner, but calmed down when she saw the blonde; a smile crept onto her face, and she returned his greeting half-heartedly.

"Oh, how rude of me," Ino suddenly exclaimed after having automatically attached herself to Sasuke's – once again – lifeless arm, "you were saying, Hinata-chan?"

Hinata flushed a deep shade of scarlet when she noticed everybody setting eyes on her, and started fidgeting nervously as she stared at the white floor below their feet, "Um, I-I-I was just s-saying I th-thought they performed w-wonderfully. L-last night, th-that is."

Naruto stared, amazed, at the other blonde, as though he had come to see her in a completely different light. "How the hell did you know she was saying something when you just arrived?"

"Duh," Ino rolled her azure orbs with a 'you're-so-stupid' look, "you just shouted her name so loud everybody in the corridor could hear it. You really are a loudmouth, Naruto."

He grimaced sullenly as he crossed his arms, his eyes turning into slits reminiscent of cartoon felines, "It's true what they say, that couples really become more and more like each other the more time they spend together. Sasuke-teme has affected you too much."

At the word "couples" Sakura turned her eyes away from the rest on the group and rested them on her black sneakers adorned with a pattern of pink skulls in the form of cherries, trying to focus on the heart-shaped eyes of the skulls. Ino made an exasperated noise to begin her monologue, but was interrupted by Neji's reappearance; he raised a dark eyebrow at the sight of the two new girls as he raised the paper mug filled with steamy, hot coffee to his lips.

"Hi, Neji," Ino greeted with a – not very unusual – dashing smile. "Why are you drinking coffee anyway? You didn't get a hangover, did you? Wow, that'd be new – almighty Hyuuga Neji getting drunk." She gestured dramatically with an exaggerated dreaminess, and gazed with a far-away look at the wall behind them.

"I'd never get drunk for my life," he deadpanned, taking another sip. Naruto turned to stare in confusion at the wall, then glanced sideways at Ino, following her gaze just to look even more puzzled.

"I know. I was just kidding." She lowered her hands, having detached herself from Sasuke, just to raise them again in a 'whatever'-pose. "You're too defensive of poor Hinata-chan; you'd never lower your guard, especially not in a club, when you're busy being her bodyguard. The girl didn't even dance last night – it's not like she's going to get raped the minute she sets foot on the dancefloor, Neji."

"Don't tell me what to do or not to do, Yamanaka," he rumbled acidly in reply. "Just because you're dating Uchiha doesn't mean you have any right to tell me off."

A tense silence, as the calm before a storm, followed after his statement. Hinata smiled anxiously, fidgeting again as she spoke up, "I-It's okay, Ino-chan. I-I'm not m-much of a d-dancer, anyway. I was just th-there to see the b-band."

"Speaking of which," Ino wondered curiously, having once again neared the unmoving Uchiha, "How come Naruto doesn't sing? I mean, you're one of the founders of Konoha's Golden Leaf, right?"

"That's because he sings like a girl," both miscellaneous band members deadpanned in unison.

"HEY!"

As Naruto and Sasuke started another one of their pointless verbal fights, Ino instead turned her attention to her until-then best friend, who had remained silent throughout the entire conversation. "Sakura… why are you so quiet nowadays?"

"I'm tired today," Sakura responded, her voice devoid of any emotion.

"Well, so am I. But still. We're doing our best trying to stay awake. I mean, just look at Naruto." Ino gestured towards the aforementioned, who was busy shouting insults while spraying Sasuke with saliva. The latter wiped his face with the sleeve of his school uniform shirt in irritation. "Okay, so he's a bit too much, but still. You're like a zombie, even when you're not tired. What's with you?"

She didn't quite meet Ino's piercing stare as she tried to swallow, but the lump in her throat had somehow, incredibly enough, increased in size, making her feel uncomfortable. She felt for tugging at her tie, but judged against the better and tried not to choke.

"I…"

"… and you are always stealing my turn in the spotlight! You're such a show-off, I didn't even get to talk to Sakura-chan once last night when we brought Ino home, I bet you were hitting on her in Ino's bedroom when you were alone –"

Naruto's high-volume outburst toned out at the sight of Sasuke's dark expression as Sakura felt her blood turn to ice; averting her gaze even farther away from her best friend, another moment of intensity that seemed to make everybody temporarily mute followed – only broken by the sound of the bell.

"I'm going to go to class," Neji promptly announced as he started to walk away. The others agreed in a half-hearted murmur as they departed separate ways; Naruto clutching his bag tightly as he walked away at a half-fast pace; Ino with a tiny frown on her beautiful features as she clung to Sasuke's arm, inquiring an explanation without words, his face shadowed by his dark bangs; Hinata worryingly – and somewhat hesitantly – turning her back towards the group as she followed Naruto; leaving Sakura who stayed put in her position, stiff as rock.

"Haruno."

Sakura's head shot up at the sound of her name, and she contemplated the well-defined back of Neji as he stopped on the threshold of the now empty classroom.

"I'd advise you to be more careful. Even though your face and voice do not, your actions betray your emotions."

She tore her eyes away from his back, and instead looked outside of the window. It's still raining.

"And unless you want to tear this group apart even more than it already is, I'd rather prefer if you controlled your feelings with more caution."

Saying no more, he only proceeded to walk further away from her.

The arch in your eyebrows can tell the truth

Just imagine what your back can do…

Sakura decided only a year ago that she hated rock songs with her heart and soul.

That's what had been her excuse the first few hundred times Ino had tried to drag her out to Konoha Golden Leaf's concerts. But of course, Ino's reinforcements (namely Naruto and Kiba) had naturally forced her to go anyway. But at least it had been an excuse not to keep every single rock song they sent her via instant messaging on her mp3-player.

She gently wagged – although it was barely noticeable – to and fro to the slow tune of RnB, but was disturbed by the annoying noise of loud drums from the person behind her. Turning her volume up, her irritation increased as she realized the person had turned up the volume as well, and rocking violently back and forth to the sound of the music, the person's legs effectively kicking her seat.

Turning towards the window of the bus, she decided that God really liked to screw her over.

"Stop living in the fantasies of that thick, cotton candy-colored head of yours, Haruno."

She shivered slightly at the memory of his painfully icy voice, and shrugged, as though hoping to shrug off the memory as easily. Even without that on her mind, she still had a lot to be, in his terms of speaking, annoyed by.

First of all, Naruto's annoying fangirls who had almost beheaded her –

(although thankfully Naruto had rescued her; not that she couldn't deal with those annoying brainless bitches that only knew how to do back-flips or wave their pompoms)

- and then the sudden annoying announcement that she and Naruto were a couple –

(even though, technically, all they had done was to walk down the red carpet with his arm around her waist with the annoying paparazzi photographing away like crazy, it wasn't like they had kissed or anything)

- and the fact that she had to drive Ino to the annoying school but she had cheerleading practice so she had to stay after school whereas Sakura had to go –

(meaning that she was forced to take the annoying bus where everybody gawped at her like she was some kind of gorilla wearing a banana costume selling cookies just because she was the famed "entourage" of Konoha's Golden Leaf and Ino)

- not to mention Ino's annoying request. So now she was forced to go all the way to the outskirts of Konoha for the sake of the aforementioned.

And now there was a stupid rocker kicking the seat of her chair.

How annoying.

Sakura only managed to stifle the oncoming, hollow laugh that had threatened to emit from her lips. Well, now I know at the very least how it must feel like living every day with a stick up my ass.

The drums did not cease to beat from behind. As a matter of fact, it had been added with an additional annoying guitar.

"Can you please turn down the volume of your stupid music?" Sakura finally swirled around in her seat, facing the culprit caught in his crime act, a thoroughly displeased frown taking place on her face, her jade eyes glimmering with irritation. "And you know, you can actually listen to music without having to kick me in my ass, literally!"

The boy sitting behind her slowly straightened up in the chair, the shadow of his dark hood having covered his face, that had also faced his black Converse shoes with deep wine-red fangs printed onto them, and grinned widely from ear to ear. "Well, well, well, took you long enough to turn around, Sakura."

She flinched. "You…!"

With that façade, you can do no wrong…

"Give me a K! Give me an O! Give me an N! Another O! An H! And an A! What does that spell? Konoha, Konoha, Konoha!" yelled the chanting girls in unison as several of them jumped high in the air, the others twirling around like ballerinas gone wild in mini-mini-miniskirts.

"Good job, girls," Ino shouted gleefully at the attentively listening crowd of teenage doppelgangers, all of them fashioning stick-like legs, an unhealthily thin waist and a face that looked as though an entire makeup store had exploded in it. "Let's do the same routine next week, and I'll show you some new moves!"

"Ino-chan," one of the girls piped up unhappily, "next week the Suna siblings will throw this awesome party, I hear all celebrities are invited to it –"

"I really wanna go too," another cut the first off abruptly, "it sounds sooo much fun! Wow, last night really left me wasted…"

"C'mon, guys, I know it sucks that we've to attend school on a Saturday – blame Tsunade-sama for that – but we seriously need to practice," Ino scolded sternly, "the cheerleading championship is in less than two months."

"But so is the Konoha's Golden Leaf's concert," the vice-captain of the cheerleading squad Ami added smugly. "And since Tsunade-sama is planning to hold both events the same night, I think it's safe to say that none of them will be actually focusing that much on us. They'll be waiting impatiently for the performance after ours."

"But still, I –" Ino's eyes, that had desperately traveled through the crowd of the scowling cheerleaders darted to the clock on the brick wall of the gym and gasped audibly, much to the other girls' surprise. "Damn! I'm supposed to be somewhere else! Okay, Ami, why don't you take over and wrap things up for today, and I'll tell you guys when the next practice is going to be by putting it up on the billboard or something – I've really got to go – bye – bye – bye – bye…"

In a sense that greatly reminded her of digging her way through a crowd of paparazzi reporters, she flung herself among the cheerleaders, kissing each cheerleader on the cheek (although she didn't do that do the reporters) before exiting the gym in a rush, not even bothering to change. Pushing the door open forcedly, she almost crashed head-first into the broad chest of a taller boy. Looking upwards, she only furrowed her thin, pale gold eyebrows, crossing her arms in a challenging pose as the boy didn't move out of the way.

"I need to talk to you, Ino," Naruto began, but was rudely interrupted by the previous;

"I'm in a hurry, Naruto." She tapped her sneaker-clad shoe with an obvious impatience as she grabbed the hair-band that kept the blonde horsetail put and ripped it off, cascading the ramen-addict with a wave of shampoo smelling of exotic flowers.

"Sasuke can wait, he won't die out of waiting a couple of minutes." He mimicked her face expression, crossing his arms in irritation. "It's important."

"Look, I'll pick up ramen from Ichiraku on my way to you guys' place tonight, okay? And I'll rent that American movie you've been talking about, too – American Pie, or whatever. Anyway, I've got to go now, Naruto, if you'll just –"

"Sasuke, Sasuke!" exclaimed the latter in annoyance. "Is there nothing else on you girls' minds? Listen, this is important –it's about Sakura-chan –"

The reaction was immediate; Ino's sapphire eyes widened in mere surprise, but then turned away, an undecipherable look taking its place as she bit her lower lip in what seemed to be in deep thought. However, thinking didn't take her too long as she swiftly pushed her way past Naruto in the doorway, and ran for it, leaving him to stare at her retreating back.

Many will enter,

"Took you long enough," the boy repeated as he drew his hood back, revealing messy hazel hair and onyx eyes – as well as a stunning, wide grin, revealing his fang-like teeth, impishness implied in the boyish smile. "Man, my legs hurt from kicking you so hard."

"Kiba," Sakura uttered his name, seemingly out of breath. Then, waking to life, she quickly frowned and questioned, "Why weren't you in school today?"

The aforementioned rolled his eyes, shrugging as though to say 'whatever'. "I knew you'd ask me that. Well, I figured I'd skip school, what with the hangover and all. Whoever decided that we should've school on a Saturday, anyway?"

"Tsunade-sama decided that, and you can't just skip school because you've a hangover! You should go to Tsunade-sama instead. Or Shizune-san. They'd give you some painkillers or something."

Fixating her with a lazy stare, he inquired, "What happened to you today?"

The pink-haired female's frown only sought to deepen further. "Don't change the topic! And what do you mean, 'what happened to you today'?"

"Well, first of all –," he raised his hand and pulled down his index finger to the palm of his hand as though he was counting, "- you and Naruto were more or less cuddling in front of paparazzi. I'm surprised to find you haven't been killed yet. Secondly -," he pulled down his middle finger, "- you're taking the wrong bus home. A bus that only passes the rich kids' quarters, which means you're going to see a rich kid, which you never do, and thirdly -," he pulled down his ring finger, his sneer broadening, "- you're acting like a total bitch, what with your yelling before and all, which is totally unlike you. Any questions?"

Silence followed. Sakura stared intently at the last, remaining finger on Kiba's hand that stayed upright – namely the little finger. Slowly, she stretched out her own, petite hand that had ivory, smooth skin, grabbing Kiba's hand, that in stark contrast to her own fashioned slightly tanned, calloused skin, and brought it closer to herself.

His eyes widened as she seemed to bring it closer to the utmost, lowest point of her (not-so-deep) cleavage of her crimson shirt; and the size didn't cease to increase as she seemed to bow her head slightly as though she faced the finger, licking her lips with the tip of her tongue as though in concentration…

Then, in one swift move, she lowered her lips to the finger and sank her teeth into it as far as she could.

"OWWW, YOU BUBBLEGUM-HEADED BITCH!"

but few will win,

It was an unusual sight to see Yamanaka Ino still present in the school building after the last bell had rung. However, as this was seemingly an unusual day in general, the blonde only proceeded further down the almost-deserted, white-painted corridors of Konoha High, ignoring curious stares from what the cheerleaders labeled as "brainiacs with no life", and what the rest of Konoha High's population referred to as plain "nerds".

Classroom 10… classroom 10…

The azure orbs traveled hastily from door to door. Numbers in an disarrayed order followed, and she almost shrieked in frustration as she reached the end of the corridor, and still did not find what she had sought for.

Where the HELL is classroom 10!?

"U-um…," a squeaky voice piped up unsurely. Ino's eyes dashed to the source of the sound, which was a rather large(Ino avoided the word fat as the word was thoroughly misused among models) boy, who, in great difference to the rest of the other remaining students did not wear any glasses nor had any study material available. Instead, he was tugging nervously at one end of his package of potato chips.

"What?" she snapped, more menacing than she had intended.

The poor large (not fat not fat not fat) boy recoiled in fear. "I, um, thought you look a bit, er… l-lost."

She heaved a deep sigh, and considered her options. She could either ignore him because of the possibility that he was wasting her time, or she could dash around between the endless amount of classrooms without ever finding her goal.

She glanced sideways at the boy that was now quivering in anxiety. He probably knows the way – judging by how he looks, he's probably one of those that never go home, so he should know the school well.

"Yeah," she answered, her voice sounding just as drained of fatigue as she felt, "I'm looking for classroom 10. You've any idea where it is?"

so please be sure,

Sakura inhaled the fresh air of the outskirts of Konoha – surprisingly not tainted by the great amount of petrol used in this area because of the inhabitants' laziness – and exhaled in relief as she watched the pale-green bus disappeared out of sight in the distance.

She considered herself lucky to have distracted Kiba long enough to get to the actual bus stop where she had intended to leave at. While Kiba was not of the brightest kind – albeit his intelligence was of higher level than Naruto, which didn't say much – their friendship had lasted far too long, so he knew her too well, and like Neji, he was very observant.

It's bad enough Neji knows, thought she as she walked down the path leading to the final destination of her long trip. As she passed by large ornaments that resembled pieces of art stolen from a museum, her thoughts once again returned to her original mission. Her face expression darkened as she recalled his words.

"Don't try to play friendly with me, you know as well that I that it's not going to happen."

(She pushed her headphones brutally further into her ears, grimacing as though she didn't want to listen)

"I don't know what you're thinking, anyway – or let me correct myself; you're not thinking at all."

(and she wanted his stupid, loathsome, sexy voice to stop saying those harsh words, to shut up)

"Didn't I tell you then to never speak to me again? And look, here you are, thinking we can be friends again after all you've said and done."

(shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up)

"Don't get any ideas just because you're friends with my girlfriend, Haruno. Not that I see the reason why she even wants to be seen with you. Nor why the blockhead likes you so much. But his taste in women mainly consists of those who're utterly annoying, women like you."

(shut up shut up shut up shut up SHUT UP)

"So let me just tell you one thing: get lost."

"Didn't I tell you to get lost?"

Her head shot up at the sudden voice, her heart beating frantically as a lump lodged itself in her throat – she automatically assumed it was her heart – and her jade eyes widened, before she turned away, blinking away the tears that had threatened to form.

Instead, she focused all her energy on quirking her lips upwards. "Hi, Sasuke-kun."

to read the

"Thanks!" Ino flashed an award-winning smile at the furiously blushing boy as she eyed the old classroom door with the number '10' carved into it in black. "Geez, I can't believe I've been here for two years and I still don't know all the classrooms."

"Y-you're welcome," he stuttered, returning her smile with an obvious shyness. "You… want some potato chips?" He reached out the bag of the BBQ-flavored chips to her, but she only shook her head kindly.

"No, thanks. Models got to stay thin, so we can't eat chips." She paused before her gaze returned to the classroom door. "Well, I'm going in. See you!"

"See you too!" His words clumsily came out of his mouth before his face reddened to the same color of a tomato, and he walked away at a brisk pace (or what Ino assume was a fast pace; it looked as though he was doing his best, although his footsteps were slow).

She watched him for a couple of seconds before returning her attention to what was before her. Taking a deep breath, she pulled the door open hastily and walked in, her famous smile once again switched on as she eyed the sole resident of the room; a boy with an incredulous stare, and (much to her disbelief) a horsetail reminiscent of a pineapple who had stopped playing what seemed to be chess at the sudden entrance.

"Hi, I'm Yamanaka Ino, and I'm going to be your tutor! What's your name?"

fine print!

She stopped walking.

Not that she needed to continue; she was already at her final destination, or at least a couple of meters away; it was the Uchiha mansion. Just the sight of it awakened painful memories.

His obsidian eyes narrowed to mere slits; but still, at that thin width, Sakura could detect the icy hatred leaking out from the infinitely thick barrier that seemed to divide him from her. "What the hell are you doing here?"

She lowered her gaze, and stared firmly at his shoes; he, differently from everybody else in their little group, did not wear Converse – he fashioned worn, plain white sneakers that still had some dirt on them, in contrast to the others' brand-new, differently-patterned shoes. Her eyes trailed to her own, and sadness appeared in her forced smile as she realized what she was wearing herself.

"What about you?" she responded softly. "You don't live here anymore, you know."

The Uchiha growled in an animalistic manner as his glare intensified. "What the fuck do you want, Haruno?"

The million-dollar question. She inhaled another dose of fresh air – but this time, it didn't embrace her with relief. Despite the oxygen intake, she felt as though she couldn't breathe – as though there wasn't enough air – as though she was being choked by an invisible hand.

His hand.

(The same feeling as before, in the classroom.)

"Sasuke-kun…," she began, as her gaze traveled from his feet up to his disgruntled face, surveying the in-betweens; his baggy, light jeans, his white shirt with "Konoha Soccer Club" written on the front (does he have another one, or did Ino return it?), his black leather jacket, the raven hair that was in its usual chicken's-ass-style.

"… could you do me a favor?"

TA-DAAAH! I hope you guys like this chapter. I've to tell you, I was kinda nervous how it'd turn out, because you guys seemed to like the prologue, which I was really surprised about - so I did my best with this one.

And oh, I just had to add that Naruto-sings-like-a-girl thing. For those watching the Japanese version of the anime, Naruto's seiyuu is actually a girl, so that's where it came from. I was looking for songs on YouTube when I realized that the only songs by Naruto's seiyuu are songs about guys and stuff, which'd make Naruto gay... which he isn't - in this story, anyway.

It kind of annoys me (heheh) that the lyrics don't exactly match what's happening in the fic. But yeah...

Similar to Fear of the Light, you've to be attentive concerning some specific details in this fic, because they might matter later on. But you don't have to read it all attentively if you don't want to - if you don't understand later on, just ask and I'll glady answer.

Thanks so much for all the reviews, guys!! Now please review and tell me what you think about this! n.n