Hello people! How have you been? I hope ya'll been doing good. Anyway, it's Friday, so you know what that means! Time to jam to Rebecca Black! WOO! Jk, jk...I mean it - JK! Lol, sorry I'm just really hyper right now; I've had too much sugar today XD That aside - I present to you, Chapter 4! Finally, some Shika/Saku action, and of course, you can't have a story without Naruto ;) lol.

IMPORTANT NOTE DUE TO STORY: (I'm just gunna copy this on each chapter...) The way I'll go about this story is that I'll update a new chapter every friday. If I miss one week, then I'll put up two chapters in the next. Got it? Great.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto! Just the idea of this story.

Enjoy! :)


The next morning, Sakura woke up with a runny nose and bad headache. When she got up from bed, she had to balance herself by holding on to the dresser until she felt the room had stopped moving. Baba, of course, scolded her for staying out in the rain, and nearly insisted she stay home from school. But Sakura didn't want to. She wanted to be at school – maybe being out, getting some fresh air, will do her some good. Besides, she wanted to see if Shikamaru got it as bad as she did. 'I'll have to apologize for that if he did', thought Sakura, grinning. Once she was ready for school, wearing some brown sweatpants, and a matching brown sweatshirt, and taking an umbrella forced on her by her grandfather, Sakura made her way across the field. Halfway through, she noticed a familiar figure standing on the opposite side. Reaching the end of the field, Sakura smiled at Shikamaru, and judging from his red nose, and teary eyes, he was definitely suffering from a cold like her.

"Good morning," said Sakura. Shikamaru nodded in greeting after a small sneeze. "You too?"

"Looks like it," replied Shikamaru in a, more-than-usual, tired voice. "I hate being sick. It's so troublesome." Sakura laughed, but she had to agree. After another sneeze, Shikamaru held out his arm and said, "Shall we?" Sakura grinned as she placed her arm through his and together they walked to the school building.

"So," said Sakura. "This is -" sneeze "- new. Why'd you decide to wait for me today?"

"Seeing how you would just lay in the middle of a field during some rain," explained Shikamaru, "I realized how" sneeze "careless you are. So, I decided I might as well walk with you to school before you decide to jump in front of a bus or something." That earned him a smack on his firm abs; this time, they were noticed a little bit longer than briefly.

"I am not" sneeze "careless!" said Sakura. "I just….like rain…"

"I can tell," mumbled Shikamaru with a smirk.

Once the pair reached the school, Shikamaru let go of a confused Sakura's arm. Noticing the girl's confusion, Shikamaru winked and walked off to his locker. Still not knowing what he was implying, Sakura went over to her own locker and put in her bag, taking out the book she would need for her first period class. Homeroom didn't have the incident from the day before, much to the pinkette's delight, but when Shikamaru explained how they both became sick, Ino started nagging at them for being so careless, and Lee glared at Shikamaru throughout the remainder of their time there. The whole day was pretty much uneventful for Sakura; classes were as interesting as they could get, Sasuke didn't bother her, or even crossed paths with her, lunch was fun as usual, and then there was Ibiki's class.

"…would just be thinking about how it would happen, and I would just be paranoid," said a student from the opposite side of the classroom. Sakura watched Ibiki's frozen face; in the beginning of class, he said he wouldn't take the papers they had written, but he simply wanted them to discuss it as a class. So far, the students that had been called on said the same things that she had written down – and Ibiki was not impressed.

"All I'm hearing," retorted Ibiki, "is the same thing over and over again. Did any of you, anyone at all, go deeper into the question than what I asked?" Nobody moved. "So basically, what every single one of you are saying, is that you wouldn't want to know when you would die because you would be paranoid, but it would be nice to know so that you can accomplish a few of your goals?" Everyone continued to be quiet, other than a few sniffles and sneezes from Sakura and Shikamaru. Ibiki didn't bother hiding his annoyance and said, "This is very disappointing. Don't expect a passing grade – that goes for all of you."

Sakura sneezed, earning a glare from the teacher. She heard a giggle from the blonde next to her, which made Ino get a glare from the teacher as well. She saw Neji and Gaara smirking behind them, and Temari was looking up at the ceiling, trying to avoid making eye contact with Ibiki. Shikamaru was just sitting there, sniffling, and trying not to yawn. After another sneeze, an idea popped up in Sakura's head, and very, very, very hesitantly, she raised her hand.

"Ibiki-sensei," squeaked Sakura, clearing her throat when she got the teacher's attention. "I-I was just wondering if it" sneeze "would be possible to add to the question?" Ibiki sat down behind his desk before gesturing her to continue. "Well, it's" sneeze "already been mentioned how we would be paranoid about how we would die, and all that. But would it be relevant if we would be able to control that?" That made Ibiki raise a brow.

"Interesting," said Ibiki. "What is it that you suggest?"

"I was thinking," replied Sakura, "that it would be a whole different story if it would be a suicide. If it was, then it would be more in our control, and we wouldn't be as paranoid -" sneeze.

"As paranoid?" asked Ibiki. "So you would still be paranoid. Why is that?" Sakura shrunk into her chair at his piercing gaze and felt as if her voice was gone from her. Noticing her friend in trouble, Ino raised her hand.

"I think," said the girl, "that what Sakura meant was that, even if it was a suicide, we would wonder what would make us go to that extent. We would wonder why we would take our own lives, and after a while, we would take even the smallest misgivings as a sign that we would end up hurting ourselves."

"Would that really settle into the timeline argument?" continued Ibiki.

"Yes" said Gaara. "Our paranoia and our control over our fate depend on how far the date of our supposed death is."

"'Supposed'? How so?"

"If the death date," explained Neji, "was, say 20 to 30, maybe even 2 years from now, we would still be in danger of feeling depressed and end up, as Ino said, 'hurting ourselves', because so much can happen in that time span." Temari nodded and continued from there.

"If we were supposedly going to commit suicide the next day, or even the next five minutes, we would most likely be able to stop ourselves from doing such a thing. That way, we would be able to say that we had total control over the fate of our lives."

"Interesting," said Ibiki, a smirk tugging on his lips. "That is a good argument from all of you - at least about the suicide admission. Now, I don't suppose you have anything to add to the argument without the mention of suicide?" They all stayed quiet, not knowing what to say, and they knew that the rest of the class wouldn't jump in; they were all holding their breaths until one of them spoke, which one of them did.

Shikamaru sighed a small 'troublesome', before saying, "It all depends on taking a chance and taking a risk."

"Aren't those the same thing?"

"Not technically," replied the black-haired boy, letting out a sniffle. "By taking a chance, we would just hear about something" sneeze "going to happen, without really taking into consideration that something bad will occur. Most people would 'take a chance' by thinking that their death date will be set for a time later on in their lives. Unless that person is already in their older years, they probably take the" sneeze "chance to hear about it so they could know how much time left they have to cherish what they have. By taking a risk, a person will hear something they would rather not; something like, 'you will die tomorrow', 'you will get shot in the head', and so on. Learning when and where and how you will die will be chancing and risking your feel" sneeze "ings on the subject, and your health and relationships."

"Health and relationships?" asked Ibiki, clearly surprised. "I didn't expect that. How would a person jeopardize their health by learning about their death?"

"It" sneeze "all goes back to the paranoia. Learning about your death, if you find out how you will die, say food poisoning, they could jeopardize their health by not eating from being paranoid that the food in front of them will end up killing them. Relationships because say your death will be from drowning – you'll be scared to move into a house that has a pool, and refuse to live there, no matter how much your spouse will want to. It'll be all about you and what you think you will need to survive, rather than the benefit of others."

All of the other students in the classroom, even Sakura, were gawking at Shikamaru. The others because they always thought he was lazy and didn't know right from left, but Sakura because she had never heard Shikamaru talked that much in all the time she had known him. His voice still had that small amount of laziness and boredom in it, but the more he talked, the more Sakura realized how smooth and alluring his voice was. She continued to stare at the boy, a small blush filling her cheeks, when she felt a hand over hers under the table. Looking over at Ino, she saw the blonde giving her a knowing smile, and winking at her, causing her blush to go a darker shade. Then they heard it. A clap. And then another. And another. Everyone took their eyes off of Shikamaru and turned their attention to the man in front of the room. Ibiki-sensei was still sitting behind his desk, but he had an impressed smirk on his face, and he was clapping loudly. When he stopped, he stood up and went to stand in front of Sakura and Ino's desk.

"Now that is what I wanted to hear," announced Ibiki. "This group right here -" he gestured towards Sakura, Ino, and the others behind them "- just showed all of you what this class is about. I don't give you these homework assignments to hear what I already know. I want you to think; I want you to dig deeper into the question; I want you to surprise me." The bell rang at that moment, and all of the students, except for the small group in front of the teacher, ran out the door. The others were glued to their seats as Ibiki stood in front of them, a triumphant expression on his face. "Since you six were the only ones to actually bring something new to the discussion – you pass. Now, get out." They didn't need to hear that twice. Closing in to the door, Sakura heard the teacher call out to her.

"Yes Ibiki-sensei?" said the pinkette, turning around to face him.

"That was impressive," said Ibiki. "I know you started that discussion out of the top of your head."

Sakura sneezed as she rolled on the bottom of her feet before saying, "You didn't seem very happy." He was clearly not expecting her to say that. But it was true. Sakura never liked awkward silences, and Ibiki looked like he was on the verge of having a migraine. So, it only seemed right for someone to try to do something.

"I was not," agreed Ibiki. "But you did well Sakura. And, thank you."

Sakura walked out of the room, smiling. Gaara and Temari stayed behind to wait for her, giving her a 'well done' and 'good job'. Once she got all her stuff, Sakura went outside to say bye to the friends that were going the opposite way, and walked along with those that remained. Once again, the last two that were left were her and Shikamaru. There were a few sneezes and newly added coughs every now and then, before they went separate ways. The only thing different about today was that Sakura was the one to walk off first, and Shikamaru was left to stare at the retreating figure.

Shikamaru didn't know what to think of the girl. She was caring, smart, strong-willed, and…beautiful. Ok, yeah, he can admit that. He, Shikamaru, is attracted to the pink-haired female. How could he not be? She had a body to die for; her eyes were an amazing shade of green that had tiny specks of gold when she looked up at sunlit sky; her creamy skin was as smooth as velvet; her long pink hair was soft and silky; her smile was amazing, being able brighten up a room, with teeth so straight and white – wait, is he really thinking about the girl's teeth? Wow, this cold is really getting to him. But watching her walk away and mimicking his action of waving a hand over her head, he couldn't help but think. Would it really be so bad if he went after the girl? Sure, he'll have to wait until she's more situated to her life here, and he'll receive Hell from Lee, but it'll be worth it, right? 'Girls,' thought Shikamaru. 'They are just so….troublesome.' With that thought in mind, he walked off, not even bothering to hide the ghost of a smile on his face.

:)(:

The next day, everyone was in their Creative Writing class with Kakashi reading over their homework assignments. So far, he seemed pretty pleased with the ones he read, but there weren't much; only 13 people in the class turned in their papers on time (A/N: Guess which people lol). The only thing that worried that group of students was that he had put only one to the side; was that good or bad? They didn't know. Right now, everyone was focused on their in-class assignment: writing about an old experience from a plane, car, passerby, and personal point of view. The assignment was basic, but it was the memories that made everyone laugh. At the end of the class, Kakashi-sensei called Gaara to stay behind. Telling everyone he would catch up to them at lunch, Gaara stood on the opposite side of the teacher's desk. It wasn't until lunch that Sakura saw Gaara again. He was by the door leading to the outside, and he didn't look very happy. Then again, did he ever?

"Are you alright Gaara?" asked Sakura, walking up to him. When he didn't answer, she asked, "Did everything go ok with Kakashi-sensei?" He nodded. "What happened?"

"We talked about my homework assignment," replied Gaara. "He wanted to ask if I was thinking of anything in particular when I wrote it."

"Were you?" asked Sakura. When he nodded, she said, "What was your topic?"

"The enjoyment that comes from ignoring a babbling idiot – I was inspired by Kiba." Sakura laughed at his reply, making him smile.

When she was done laughing, Sakura said, "So, how'd it go?"

"Kakashi said it was the best essay he's had all year," replied Gaara, trying to hide his grin. "And he wants to enter it in an essay contest, where the winner receives a 3-days' trip to an amusement park of the winner's choosing, for him and whoever he wants to bring along." Sakura was jumping up and down before he even finished his sentence.

"GAARA! That's amazing!" exclaimed Sakura, taking hold of his hands. "I'm so happy for you Gaara." Gaara let out a laugh at the still jumping female. Sakura realized it was the first time she had ever heard him laugh, and took the chance of wrapping her arms around his neck. She felt him stiffen at her touch, but he soon returned the hug whole-heartedly. Letting go, Sakura smiled at him. "Congratulations!"

"I haven't won yet," chuckled Gaara. "They won't announce the winner until the next school year around August or something, and there's still a chance I won't even win."

"Nonetheless," said Sakura waving it off. "It's still great."

The rest of lunch was filled with excitement after Sakura told them the news; Gaara didn't want to be the one to announce it. Kankuro was already certain that his brother would win, and that soon they would all be on their way to the best amusement park, found only in Kumogakure (A/N: Land of Lightning). After lunch, Sakura went to Science, and after that, she and Choji went off to detention during their free period, having Ino, Kiba, and Kankuro hum funeral music as they walked off. The only thing they had to do was sit quietly in a room, and do absolutely nothing for an hour. It wouldn't have been so bad if Sasuke wasn't sitting in the back of the room, glaring at the back of their heads. Kakashi was watching over them during their detention, and Sakura couldn't be happier. All he did was sit on his desk and bury his face in an orange book. Choji and Sakura spent that period passing notes and playing hangman; one of the best detentions Sakura's ever had, and thanks to Naruto, she's been in quite a lot of detentions.

:)(:

As soon as detention was over, Sasuke was already out the door, causing the last two students in the class to sing the chorus of 'Hallelujah', making Kakashi smirk as he waved them off. Walking out of the school building, Sakura waved Choji goodbye as he walked the other direction. She made it around the corner to the bus stop when she found a surprise for her on the bench. Shikamaru was sitting there, his hands in his pockets and a bored, yet relaxed, expression on his face as he gazed up at the clouds. She went to stand on the edge of bench, her surprise showing in her eyes. Shikamaru looked over at her and smirked, silently inviting her to sit next to him, which she did.

"I thought I'd wait for you," said Shikamaru. Sakura gave a small snort.

"Obviously," said Sakura. "And to what do I owe this pleasure Nara?"

"Nara?" replied Shikamaru, looking at her with raised eyebrows. "I didn't know we were on last name terms Haruno. And since you were kind enough to ask, I didn't want you to walk home alone after detention. I didn't want you to run into trouble."

"How would I run into trouble?" asked Sakura. "The only reason I got out later than the rest of you is from getting into trouble in the first place." Shikamaru didn't answer her. Instead, he just took Sakura's hand into his own and looked up into the sky. It was then that Sakura understood. "You think that Sasuke would have tried something?"

"I don't know," said Shikamaru simply. "But that's just it. I don't know anything about the guy – only that he is a complete, egotistical jerk. But I wasn't going to risk you walking home alone, and him following you or something. Just thinking about it is so….troublesome." Sakura laughed.

"What is it with you and that word?" chuckled Sakura. "Most of your sentences always end with something being 'troublesome'."

Shikamaru smirked. "Because they are," was his answer. "School is troublesome. Chores are troublesome. Homework is troublesome. Having to wake up early in the morning is troublesome. Girls are most definitely troublesome -"

"Including me?" asked Sakura in mocking disbelief, causing Shikamaru to grin.

"You are, by far, the most troublesome of them all."

Sakura smacked his shoulder playfully. After their banter, they sat in the bench just looking up at the sky. Shikamaru was practically lost in the clouds, and Sakura, not really knowing how he can go hours just looking up at the clouds, closed her eyes and felt herself slowly going to sleep. She could've sworn she had just closed her eyes for a few seconds, but when they opened again, she realized that the sun had moved and it was a tad bit darker than it was before. 'Wow,' thought Sakura, 'I can't believe I fell asleep and Shikamaru didn't wake me up…Shikamaru!' Snapping her head up, she noticed Shikamaru had been looking down before he turned his attention to her. Sakura looked down at Shikamaru's lap and realized that he was still holding her hand after – how long has she been asleep? Minutes? Hours? – and that realization made her blush. Shikamaru simply smiled softly at the semi-awake girl, making her blush more.

"I'm – I'm sorry," stammered Sakura, backing away from the boy. "I didn't even realize I fell asleep."

Shikamaru shook his head. "Don't worry about it," he said, "I didn't even notice you were asleep until a few minutes after you stopped moving."

"How long was I sleeping?"

"About half an hour," replied Shikamaru with a shrug. "Not that long." Still, Sakura's eyes nearly bulged out of her head.

"Half an hour!" exclaimed Sakura. "I slept for half an hour and you didn't wake me up?" The boy gave another shrug.

"I didn't mind," said the black-haired boy. "Like I said, I didn't even notice at first, and you seemed like you could use the few minutes of sleep. Besides," he turned away, hiding his blush, "you looked – cute – when you were sleeping." Sakura's face color was putting her hair to shame. She felt that feeling of ease and happiness fill her and tried her best not to burst out laughing. 'I mean come on!' she thought, 'I can't just laugh after he'd say something as sweet as that! Gah, I'll just smile like an idiot then…' And she did.

"So, should we head off?" asked Shikamaru, still looking away, not noticing the goofy smile on the girl's face. Not waiting for an answer, he stood up, still not letting go of Sakura's hand, and gave her a small tug so she would stand. They walked hand-in-hand the entire way to the field, neither one wanting to break the comfortable silence. When they reached their parting point, they stood there for a while, not really knowing what to say, or how to even start. It was Shikamaru, finding the whole awkward silence thing too troublesome, who decided to break the silence.

"I guess I'll see you on Monday." 'That's the best you can come up with Shikamaru?' he thought, mentally slapping himself.

"Uh, yeah," said Sakura. "Thanks again for waiting, and, um, yeah, sorry for falling asleep."

"Don't worry about it," repeated Shikamaru. "But if you keep saying sorry, then I will have you pay me back." Sakura scoffed at the statement.

"Pay you back with what?" she said. "It was just a 30 minute nap!"

"That I had to wait for you to wake up from."

"You could've woke me up!"

"But then I wouldn't have this much fun."

"You still – wait, what?"

Shikamaru laughed at the girl's confusion before saying, "That – your face right there – was priceless."

"You said this was fun for you," said Sakura. "What was fun?"

"Arguing with you," said Shikamaru, chuckling. "It's fun seeing you all fired up. If you were mad for real, then, it would be troublesome. But I knew you wouldn't take this seriously."

"Are you saying you planned this? You did this on purpose?" asked Sakura, still confused. Shikamaru shrugged.

"Did what?"

With that, he let go of Sakura's hand and walked off, allowing his smirk to appear when she couldn't see his face. He could sense that Sakura was struggling to come up with a smart comment to yell at him, but before she could, he waved a hand over his head. Sakura watched him go, steam practically coming out of her ears. But as she watched him do the wave thing, she let out a giggle. Watching him walk off, and still feeling the warmth of his hand around hers, Sakura finally admitted to herself that she was possibly falling for the cloud-watching, lazy boy. 'Four days Nara,' thought Sakura. 'It took you only four days to have me like you.' Getting to her house, Sakura did the same as the days before: announce she was home, do some homework in the living room while waiting for food, help wash and dry the dishes, and finish her homework as Baba listened to music. When she was done, she bid goodnight to her grandfather, giving him a light kiss on the cheek, and made her way upstairs. She threw her bag on the chair at her desk and jumped onto her bed. Reaching over to the table next to her bed, Sakura grabbed the house phone and dialed a number she knew like the back of her hand. After a few rings, she finally heard someone on the other line.

"Hello?" answered a male voice.

"Hey Uncle Jiraiya," said Sakura. "It's me, Sakura."

"Sakura!" exclaimed Jiraiya. "Wow, it's great to hear from you. How have you been?"

"Good," replied Sakura. "Pretty good actually."

"How's the new school?"

"I like it," said Sakura, smiling. "The people are great; classes are great; it's -"

"Great," finished Jiraiya with a smirk. "Sounds – great." They laughed at his word choice before Sakura got to the reason of why she was calling.

"So, how's Naruto doing?" she asked. "Is he there?"

Jiraiya nodded, forgetting that she couldn't see. "Yeah, he and Sai are upstairs fighting over the TV remote."

"Sai?" said Sakura, surprised. "What is he doing there so late?"

"Oh, right," said Jiraiya, "you haven't heard. We found out Sai was pretty much abandoned by his old guardian, Danzo, so I decided to take him under my wing. So now, I am the legal guardian of both, Naruto and Sai." Sakura beamed.

"That's great!"

"It has its perks," said Jiraiya with an exaggerated sigh. "I'll tell you one thing Sakura: in this house, you can never get bored." Sakura laughed as she heard Jiraiya calling up to the boys. After a few moments, she heard running and shouting, and someone crying out, 'did you just bite me!'

"Hello?" came a voice, breathing as if he had just run a marathon.

"Hey Sai!" exclaimed Sakura.

"Hey Sakura – Naruto bit me!" A voice in the background yelled out, 'I did not!'

Before Sakura could reply, there was shuffling on the other end of the line. All that could be heard was shouting, shuffling, and…growling?

"Guys?" said Sakura. "Uh, hello -? Guys, come on. GUYS!" As soon as she yelled, everything on the other end went silent. "…hello?"

"Hey Sakura!" greeted the voice of Naruto.

"Hey Naruto. Where's -"

Sai's voice cut her off, "I'm here. I got the other phone from the living room."

"Great," said Sakura. "I missed you guys."

"I missed you too," cried Naruto.

"Me as well," said Sai. "How's the new life?"

Sakura smiled. She told them everything that's happened so far, leaving out the whole Sasuke situation, deciding that she would leave it for last. She told them about her friends, about her teachers, and about her classes. Although she couldn't see them, she could sense that they were smiling when she talked about her new group of friends, and smirking when they heard how weird or intimidating her teachers were. When she got to the classes, they burst out laughing as she told him about almost crying in her Logic class.

"It was so horrible!" cried Sakura. "I mean yeah, the next class was so much better, and I like it now, but the first day was just so….harsh."

"That guy sounds like a badass," snickered Naruto. "And that Guy teacher of yours sounds so weird."

"So what about you guys?" asked Sakura. "What's it like living together?"

That was a mistake. The guys spent the next hour and a half complaining and nagging about the other person. Sakura just stayed quiet the entire time, letting out a giggle every now and then. She heard stories like Naruto putting itching powder on all of Sai's clothes, making him be itchy throughout a whole school day; he had to scratch his back, his legs, and his…other stuff. Another story was Sai making a "surprise" breakfast feast for Naruto, saying it was his way of showing how he wasn't mad about the itching powder 'incident'. However, the surprise was that everything on the table had been a few weeks past its expiration date: Naruto spent that whole school day in the boy's restroom. Except when he thought he was feeling better; Naruto left the boys' restroom, ready to kill Sai, when he heard his stomach snarl. He ran to the nearest restroom: the girls'. Hard to believe this happened all in one week huh.

"…and he just came up to me and gave me a wedgie!" shouted Naruto from another story. Sakura laughed as he finished his story, loving how much not much had changed between the two. It really made her realize how long the past week had truly been.

"So," said Sakura slowly, "what I'm hearing is….you guys like living together..?" There was silence on the other line. Seconds passed, before someone answered.

"I guess it's not so bad," said Sai.

"I don't mind it that much," agreed Naruto. Sakura smiled, but then she remembered something.

"Oh!" she said. "I almost forgot. I had detention today."

"Already?" asked Sai, flabbergasted.

"Aw," cooed Naruto. "I'm so proud of you." Silence. "What? Even when I'm not there, Sakura is still creating mischief."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "I was not 'creating mischief'. I got in trouble because of…because of Sasuke Uchiha." She heard a sharp intake of breath on the other end of the line, but couldn't figure out from who. The boys were quiet, and she wondered if the call might have cut off.

"S-Sasuke?" whispered Naruto. Sakura nodded even though he couldn't see. "That – that jerk goes to the same school as you?"

"I didn't even know until I walked into my first class," explained Sakura. "He was there with that girl from before – you know, the girl with red hair and glasses?"

"Karin?"

"Was that her name?" Naruto confirmed it was. "Ok, yeah, Karin. He hangs out with her and two other guys, Suigetsu and Jugo. They call themselves the Taka."

Sai took that chance to ask, "So how did Sasuke land you in detention?"

Not leaving anything out, Sakura told them the entire story, from beginning to end. She even went so far as to tell them about confessing part her and Sasuke's past to Choji, Shikamaru and Kakashi. She added of how her new group of friends and the Taka had a silent cold war going on. By the time she finished, the other line was dead silent. She knew that Sai was waiting for Naruto to speak first and she followed his lead. After a few moments, she could've sworn Naruto was letting out a growling sound when he spoke.

"I can't believe," he growled slowly, "that he had the nerve to say that to you."

"Don't worry about it," said Sakura quickly. "He was just being a jerk -"

"He still didn't have a right!" shouted Naruto. "After all that he put you through -"

"I can take care of myself!" cried Sakura. "Look, I know you worry about me Naruto, and you'll worry even more now that you know that Sasuke is here. But, not only am I surrounded by a large group of amazing people, but I am not the same girl I was when we all lived in Jomae. I'm not gullible or weak; I can handle my own. You just need to trust me on that Naruto."

"I do," muttered the blonde. "I do trust you Sakura, I really do. It's just….I'm scared." That caught Sakura off guard.

"B-but, you're Naruto," said Sakura. "You're not scared of anything."

"I'll let you in on a secret," whispered Naruto. "One of the main reasons why I took Sasuke's change so hard was because I wasn't able to protect you from him. I wasn't able to stop you from hurting. And right now, I'm scared that I won't be able to stop it if it happens again." Sakura sighed at his confession. Say what you want about Naruto, but the boy does have his deep, insightful moments.

"I don't want you to be scared," admitted Sakura. "I can't have you being scared. If I'm going to make it through this year with Sasuke – because I know it won't be the last time he'll try something – I need to know I have your support. I need you to be strong for me Naruto. If you're not, then how do you expect me to be?"

"I'm sorry Sakura," said Naruto. At that instant, insightful Naruto was gone, and hyperactive Naruto was back. "If that ass ever tries anything on you again, don't you dare break his bones – that's my job." Sakura laughed.

"You got a deal, Knucklehead."

Sai, who had been quiet throughout their whole conversation, finally jumped in. "Well, now that we got that settled – Sakura, tell me more about your friends." And so she did. The boys on the other end couldn't help but notice how she would babble on and on about a boy with the name of Shikamaru. She would talk most about a few girls, Ino and Hinata, and then some guys, Gaara, Choji, Shino and Lee – the latter was mostly playful complaining. But Shikamaru – if she could, she would talk for hours and hours about him. They just couldn't let that happen.

"...and he just laughed, saying it was 'fun' to argue with me" said Sakura, allowing a small laugh to escape. "But I have to admit, he's nice. He's lazy, for sure, but he's smart, and sweet, and cute -"

"Sakura," said Sai, cutting her off, "Sakura, uh, yeah, we get it. That Shikamaru fellow is, and I quote, 'a lazy, cloud-watching, intelligent, handsome, sweet' boy."

"Oh! And did I tell you that -"

"Whatever it is, YES!" yelled Naruto, giving an exaggerated sigh. "Sakura, if you keep talking about him, I swear I'll hang up on you."

"But Sai's on the same line as you," countered Sakura. "So technically, your line would still be up, you just wouldn't be part of the conversation."

"Sai!" cried Naruto.

"Sorry Naruto," said Sai. "But I'm just gunna let your plan backfire on you if you do hang up. Seems like the fun way to go." That earned a sarcastic remark from the blonde.

Sakura chuckled at the arguing pair. Looking over at the digital clock, she realized they had been talking on the phone for almost four hours. She grinned before saying, "I'm really glad I got to talk to you guys today," she said. "I've really missed you guys."

"Same here Sakura," said Sai.

"Jomae isn't the same without you," added Naruto. "Don't hesitate to call us every now and then, and we sure won't do the same to you."

"I'll call you on Sunday," said Sakura. "I promise. I just wanted to wait until the end of the week because I knew we would have a lot to talk about."

"And we'll have much more," promised Sai. "Oh, but before you hang up Sakura, I wanted to say something about that Shikamaru guy -"

"Yeah," interrupted Naruto. "If he lays a hand on you – and I don't mean violently – I will kill him. Or at least make his life a living hell, especially if he tries to make you do something you don't want." Sai nodded in agreement.

"Sorry Sakura, but I have to agree with Naruto on this."

Scoffing, Sakura rolled her eyes. "Shikamaru is a friend!" she declared. "There is nothing – nothing – you have to worry about."

"There better not," grumbled Naruto before sighing. "Alright, I guess we'll talk to you later Sakura. Call us if you need anything, and remember: Sasuke is a jerk. But don't let him run you around; he's missing out on who you really are, and that's a shame for him."

"I have to agree with Naruto on that again," said Sai, surprising himself. "You don't know how much I hate saying that -" Naruto chuckled "- but you're not a puppet on strings anymore when it comes to that guy; you broke out, and you should be proud."

"I am proud -"

"Proud enough to tell your friends?" That silenced the pinkette. Sai took that chance to say, "If you trust your new friends as much as you make us think you do, then you'll have to tell them. But I mean: you will have to tell them everything."

"I will one day. I just -"

"We know you need time Sakura," said Sai, "but sometimes, it's best if they know from the very beginning." Sakura sighed.

"I promise I'll them," stated Sakura. "When I'm ready – I'll tell them."

After a long goodbye, the trio hung up their phones, smiles on each of their faces. Back in Jomae, Naruto walked up behind Sai and nudged his shoulder.

"Our sister is alright," he said. The other boy nodded.

"She is alright."

Back in Konoha, Sakura laid on her bed for a few minutes, phone still in her hand, and gazed up at the glow-in-the-dark stars. A smile was on her face as the voices of her two best friends still rang in her ears. Looking back at this past week, she realized that she couldn't ask for it to be any better; Naruto and Sai did that on their own. 'I love those guys,' she thought. 'If anyone can make me feel like I'm on the top of the world – it's them. And I'm glad that they're living together; we won't have to be three-way calling anymore.' Sakura chuckled, but then her face became serious. 'I am proud of who I am now. I really am, it's just – am I ready to tell the others of what I did? Of what happened back in Jomae? What if they think of me as pathetic? Sure Choji and Shikamaru said it would be ok, but they only got a half-assed explanation. Will they change their minds when I tell them? I guess there's only one way to find out. I'll tell them – someday….soon. I hope.' Sighing, Sakura sat up on her bed and put the phone on the stand. Looking around her room for something to do, something clicked. She ran to her desk and pulled out a notebook and a pencil. She wrote down pieces of conversation she has had with Choji, Kakashi, Shikamaru, and finally, Naruto and Sai. It wasn't much, but Sakura knew she could make something out of it; she'll just have to fill in the blanks.

When she was done with writing, she ran out of her room and in through the door to the left: her music room. Closing the door tightly, and making sure that the window was locked, Sakura turned on the amp and grabbed her electric guitar. Looking at the paper in her hands, she decided that most of what was written would be the chorus. Quietly, she played a few notes, singing along what she had so far to the sound, "…she's so gone, that's so over now… hmm, hmm, hm, you won't run her around, …hmm hmmm, hmm mm hmm, hmm mm, the girl I used to be 'cause she... she so gone"


That was Chapter 4! I hope ya'll enjoyed it :D For the song in the end of the chapter, be ready by next week to know what it is lol; for those who already know, you probably watched the movie like I did ha. Anyway, if you guys have any suggestions for my writing, or any tips on how to make it better, don't be shy 'cause I'd love to hear what you have to say...I should stop writing huh...yeah, sorry. Alright, review! I'll appreciate it X] Until next week! :D