The Love Bite.

Chapter 4.

I was driving too close to the edge and living dangerously
I felt strange a warm sensation rising up inside of me

- James Morrison

After Sasuke had finished his 'ministrations' with the girl, he chucked her out immediately. He then took off in his convertible to the mall to meet Sakura supposedly at the food court. Arriving, he made a beeline straight there, knowing that Sakura would have been waiting there for quite some time.

He made it to the food court but could see no sign of the geek. Confused, he took another 360 look around, until he felt a light tap on his left shoulder. Turning around, he came face to face with the small figure of just the girl he was looking for. At least, he thought it was Sakura.

"Sasuke, you're late and you have explaining to do," she said, placing a slim hand on her hip.

"Er, Sakura?" he asked, confused and more than a little dazed.

"Are you high? Of course it's me," she said incredulously. "Who else has pink hair?"

"No, I'm not high, but you look, er…" he was searching for the right word without offending her as she cocked her eyebrow impatiently, "… different."

She raised her eyebrow even higher. "As in I don't have my glasses on and my hair's down…?"

He wouldn't have admitted it but in his head he was thinking about how Sakura resembled someone utterly gorgeous. His mind was filled with all things not-Ino, replaced with thoughts of his pink-haired companion. Sakura shouldn't be making his heart speed up a little, and his mind shouldn't be wheeling into an unknown destination. But, it was only because he was surprised, right?

"Just one question," he started, holding Sakura back, "Why don't you go to school like this? You'll be immediately classed as someone worthy of attention."

She blushed, as she replied, "My parents put me into the glasses and the bun, because they thought I would be dragged into hoards of trouble with the attention I would have supposedly gotten. They wanted me to lead a quiet life at school, avoiding any mishaps that could ruin my chances of getting into uni," she stated in a sarcastic fashion. "But don't dodge the situation," she said, glaring at the boy who stood way taller than her petite frame. "You were in bed with another girl and you didn't stop to think about Ino? You're a real jackass, you know that?"

"Hey, hey, hey," he replied, his hands rose in defense, "First of all, I haven't got Ino yet, therefore I'm still an eligible bachelor to all the ladies. Second of all, I'm a man. And I have needs. And those needs need to be acknowledged and this hand," he held up his hand in front of her face wiggling each of his fingers to accentuate his point, "fails to give, if you know what I mean…" he raised one of his eyebrows in a way that dared 'deny it if you want to, but you know I'm right.'

She quickly gave up on the matter and slapped his hand away from her face, disgustedly, before she got the lergies. "Whatever," she replied in defeat, but hints of stubbornness filtered through and she could see through her peripheral vision the smug look of succession on Sasuke's face.

He looked at her again, trying to get used to her new and improved appearance. If only she would wear her hair like that at school, glasses or no glasses, people would definitely look at her in a different light. Every boy would go gaga over her and a fanclub would probably even set off. Sasuke thought about all of this in the span of about 2 seconds (with his boy genius brain) but a strange possessiveness told him to keep Sakura as his dirty little secret.

He hummed in thought before moving on to another topic. He needed to get Sakura's appearance out of his mind, because the thoughts that filled his mind frightened him of what he might end up doing someday – something that he'll most definitely regret.

"So, what are we doing at the mall?" he asked, looking around and trying not to make eye-contact with his female companion.

"We're here to get you a new wardrobe," Sakura proudly stated.

"And what's wrong with my current wardrobe?"

"Hey, first rule of today – no complaining. You'll do as I say if you want to successfully get Ino."

Sasuke crossed his arms over his chest moodily. Barely ever had anyone ordered him around. He was starting to consider if Ino was worth all this trouble she was unknowingly putting him into.

"To further answer the question that you asked today at school about what Ino found attractive in men, she loves men with a sense of style. They have to be confident in how they dress, and let's be honest, Sasuke, you're just a jeans and t-shirt kind of guy. She goes for the pretty-boy kind of thing with lots of accessories in check. Looking at you, you only have your Rolex. I should know what Ino wants, having spent hours listening to her about the other sex."

Sasuke lightly scoffed as he repeated her words incredulously. "'the pretty-boy kind of thing'?"

"Erm, yeah, like… I don't know, Super Junior boy band kind of thing. Maybe a checked scarf with high tops added to your usual combo. How about it?" Sakura asked, anxious to what he thought about her giving fashion advice. Just the thought of her being an Agony Aunt for fashion mishaps was disastrous but having shopped with Ino since she was young, Sakura was now pretty confident about telling her Gucci from her Pucci and her plaids from her pleats.

Stubbornly, he accepted but he didn't exactly like the idea of becoming a boy band impersonator.

"Come on then," Sakura said, dragging Sasuke off to their first destination – Topman. Every man must own at least one v-neck, one pair of retro socks and perhaps a pair of baggy jeans from the original English brand to call themselves men.

Sakura picked up a few accessories, including a bowler's hat and a surfer necklace, and then continued on to the shoes section, picking up a pair of black leather brogues. Pushing all that she managed to find for him into his arms, she shooed him off to the changing rooms where she waited for him to try on the many new t-shirts and jeans and various other outfits.

Finally, they paid, courtesy of Sasuke's credit card.

"Okay, I'm seriously hungry now," complained Sakura as they made their way to the food court. "I'm feeling for ice cream and cookies," she immaturely stated, smiling coyly up at Sasuke, who was walking beside her. "What about you, Sasuke?"

He glanced down and simply replied, "I'll have what you're having."

"Great, to Millie's we go. They do the best white chocolate cookies ever."

"Shouldn't you be more careful about what you eat?"

"Are you calling me fat, Sasuke Uchiha?" she asked mockingly.

"No, no, nothing like that," Sasuke countered defensively. "But you're a girl, so shouldn't you be ordering a salad or something?"

Sakura scoffed and laughed gently. "Please tell me you don't believe that?"

He raised his eyebrow skeptically. He was talking mainly from experience. Whenever he went to the mall with his friends, all the girls would just sit in the food court lusting after a chocolate brownie sundae, but instead opting to eat nothing at all.

"It's a fact that those girls are incompetent for thinking that skipping out on meals is healthy. Missing out on meals makes you fatter because the body needs to store more fat. It's also a fact that food tastes really good and little Sakura-chan can't live without a Millie's at least every week. So, come on," she said, dragging him for the second time that day.

And that's when Sasuke knew she was definitely different. But whether this would change anything or not was up to his decisions.

.&.

Sakura made her way to the Millie's counter as she ordered 2 white chocolate cookies and 2 ice cream cones, thrusting one of each into Sasuke's hands and keeping the other 2 for herself.

She took a naughty pre-lick of her ice cream, making her way through the crowds to find a seat. However, she frowned as she couldn't see any vacant tables.

"There are 2 seats over there, Sakura," Sasuke said, already making his way through the crowds. As she followed him, she was holding her cookie in between her teeth, her ice cream cone in her left hand and numerous shopping bags in the right hand.

Weaving through a group of teens, she accidently lost her footing, tumbling towards the ground. Before she could blink and before she could hit the floor, she felt strong hands wrap around her waist pulling her back up, as she squealed slightly.

The shock made her drop her ice cream to the floor before she was pulled into the toned chest of a male.

Dazed, she glanced up to see the handsome, chiseled face of Sasuke. She blushed furiously, as he looked down at her with a worried, heroic expression. She felt him level her on the ground again, his hands firmly wrapped around her waist still. She felt completely weak at the knees, and when she tried to thank him, all that came out her mouth were a long string of incomprehensible vowels.

He smirked at her. She was adorable when she was confused, he thought. Her eyes were still locked with his dark pupils, as she stood in a deep reverie for at least a few good seconds, before finally realizing that she had been staring. She blushed, and quickly stepped away, keeping her eyes now firmly fixed to the floor.

"…my ice cream," she said quietly, looking at the crushed smudge of melting strawberry cream. Suddenly, she felt the need to return back to when she was 6 years old, and all of a sudden she felt like balling her eyes out. Her lip quivered, not really thinking about where she was or who she was with.

Sasuke saw the tears starting to build at the corner of Sakura's eyes, and was suddenly aware that she was extremely emotional about the common act of dropping her ice cream. PMS, perhaps?

Before a tear could escape from Sakura's eyes, Sasuke was holding her hand and easing the tight fist that her hand involuntary shaped into whenever she felt the need to cry. His rough, large hands sent fissions of nerves straight to her stomach and she looked up at him admiringly with a new pinkness to her cheeks.

When he had Sakura's hands outstretched in his own, he placed his ice cream cone in it, securing her hand to fit around it. He smiled amusedly, and softly said, "There's no use crying over spilt milk."

An even larger blush crept up Sakura's neck as the tears that were building up suddenly vanished. And then she smiled comfortably.

"…thanks, Sasuke."

"No problem."

Thanks for all the great reviews, favorites, etc, past, present & future. It's oh-so appreciated, i feel empty without them :)

Remember: Constructive criticism is always welcome, so feel free to inform me of any weird going-ons, especially spelling and grammar.

The next chapter may be a bit delayed, simply because it's september, i have school and v. important exams coming soon, so sorry if i publish ultra late!