I'm sorry if this took longer than expected to post, but it is quite hard managing 2 stories at once, and I don't want to neglect one for another.

A few people have found the whole kissing thing a little hard to follow. I promise you it will all be explained in the end (not the end of the story, but, well, you'll see :D).

I was really surprised that so many people liked this story, so I'm trying to make it longer than I originally planned. Because of this, the chapters may be a little short- I don't want to cram everything into one chapter.

This being said, I present to you Chapter Four!

"Sakura, where are you going in such a hurry?" Sakura froze. She thought she could slip out of her second class with Zaku with ease, but he had caught her.

"Um… the bathroom. And then I have to meet my friends for lunch and I know we aren't in the last two classes together so…bye!" Okay, it was a lame excuse. And she didn't actually know whether or not they were in the same classes for the last two periods, but she had to get away! Zaku was a creep. She hated to admit it, but Sasuke was right.

Sasuke.

She had been thinking of him all day. It wasn't fair of her to yell at him, even if she had apologized. He wanted to make sure she was okay, and had even chosen to walk with her to school.

Thinking of the walk to school reminded Sakura that Sasuke was without a car. This meant he would have to walk home. Sakura hoped he would walk home with her; she wanted to patch things up with him.

Sakura entered the lunchroom along with the customary rush of students. She was waved over to her table and took her seat next to TenTen. There was no finishing of conversations today. It was all business.

"Stop talking to Zaku." Hinata stated. No questions, no teasing, just plain commands.

"Huh?" said Sakura, taken aback. She was just about to talk to them about it, but obviously news spread faster than she could control.

"Sakura please don't act dumb." pleaded TenTen. You know you shouldn't be even associating with him. He's trouble."

"That's what I was going to tell you. And Sasuke said--." Sakura started.

"Oh please don't start blaming Sasuke." an exasperated Ino said. "It isn't his fault."

"I know, I was just going to say tha--."

"No, Sakura. It is our time to say something to you!" TenTen placed her hands on Sakura's shoulders and shook her. "Stop. Talking. To. Zaku!!!!"

"I know! I know! I'm just trying to tell you--."

"I mean it isn't like we don't respect your decisions, Sakura." Ino sighed. "It's just that, with all the gossip that is circulating, it is bad for us too! Our image, you know?"

"No, I realize that. I'm just letting you know--."

"We don't all think about ourselves, Sakura." Hinata said, casting an angry look at Ino. "We don't want you to get hurt, is all."

"I GET IT!!!!!!!!!!!!" Sakura screamed, causing several passer-bys in the vicinity to give her strange looks and hurry past.

"Oh." said TenTen. "Why didn't you say so?"

Cue anime sweat drop.

Sasuke looked over at Sakura. It looked like the girls had done a good job in getting Sakura mad. He sighed. That wasn't the plan. But he turned back to his friends to discuss his more pressing issue.

"Okay guys." Sasuke started. "Here's the problem: Sakura knows Zaku is trouble, I think. But she doesn't want to hang out with him, that's for sure. Unfortunately, we all know how he can be." The others nodded. "So what I need to do is find a way to kiss Sakura before Zaku- but with her consent. I don't want her to do something she doesn't want to."

"Wow, you really like her, don't you?" said Neji. Sasuke mumbled an incoherent response.

"That's your problem?" asked Shikamaru with a slight arrogant tone. The others looked at him. He sighed. "It's simple, really. Since the first day of school, you have shown an interest in Sakura. She, at first, attempted to ignore this interest and to make her own choices. Sadly for her, she could not help being smitten by your, er, 'charms'. When Zaku came along, she thought she could ignore her feelings by substituting him for you. She therefore looked beyond his exterior in hopes of finding a favorable interior. Upon realizing this was not so, meaning now, of course, Sakura became confused. She does not want Sasuke to control her actions, but she also does not want to be alone and not fit in. See? Simple." The others stared blankly at Shikamaru for about 20 seconds, then turned back to their discussion.

"Seeing as genius-boy was soooooo helpful, I'm going to need some more input here." Sasuke said. Shikamaru glared.

"Maybe you could try being nice to her." Naruto suggested.

"Hey, I already walked her to school. What else am I supposed to do?" Sasuke replied. Neji shook his head.

"You're hopeless." he said.

"Huh? What's that supposed to mean?" Sasuke said, anger in his voice.

"Well, did you talk to her while you were walking?" Neji asked.

"Uh….no really…." Sasuke mumbled.

"Then how do you expect her to like you? I bet you've barely talked to her this entire time!" Neji accused.

"What am I supposed to say? Sakura, you don't know me but I would really like to take you out on a date to some place you don't even know! Oh, by the way, stay away from every other boy in this school or else! How's that?" Naruto laughed, Neji shook his head, and Shikamaru glared.

"I already explained this to all of you!" Shikamaru said in a frustrated voice. "But apparently you couldn't understand plain English!"

"Earth to genius! We all don't have super-high IQs to flaunt to other people!" Sasuke argued.

"Fine, I'll put it in terms your tiny brains can understand!" Sasuke glared, but said nothing. Shikamaru leaned back and put his feet up on the table. "Sakura does like you, but she doesn't want you to kiss her because she feels like she would be under your complete control. She turned to Zaku to teach you a lesson, but it backfired. Now she is struggling to figure out whether she wants to let you kiss her or not."

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh….." came the voices of the other three boys. "Why didn't you say so?"

Cue anime sweat drop.

Sasuke shut his locker door. One more class to go, and it was with Sakura! He quickly scanned the hall, and when he noticed she wasn't there, he turned and began to walk to class.

"Hey Sasuke!" came a familiar voice. Sakura pushed through the crowd and caught up to him. Putting on his "cool" act, Sasuke merely nodded inn recognition. On the inside, however, his heart was racing.

"Sup?" Was that all I could think to say? Dammit! Sasuke mentally kicked himself.

"Um…well, I just wanted to say that…that….that you were right." Sakura finally managed.

"What else is new?" asked Sasuke coolly. Sakura angrily blushed.

"Oh sure, Sasuke is always right about everything! Because Sasuke is so perfect! No wonder you don't have a girlfriend!" Sakura retorted. The last comment made Sasuke's blood boil.

"Excuse me?" he said.

"No need to be polite, Sasuke!" Sakura responded.

"What do you mean, that's why I don't have a girlfriend? For your information I could have any girl I wanted in this school!" Sasuke was not only mad, but humiliated.

"Oh really?" Sakura asked. "Then why are you still single?" Sasuke paused- why was he still single? Even Naruto had a girlfriend.

"I-I just haven't seen anything I liked." he answered feebly. Sakura saw she had touched a nerve. But instead of continuing to torment Sasuke, she subsided.

"Hey, I get it." Sakura said. "You're just waiting for the right person!"

"Yeah." said Sasuke. And I think I've found her!

'So, Sakura." Sasuke began after class. "Do you mind if I walk you home? I mean, part of the way, at least?"

Sakura tried to hide her enthusiasm. "Yeah! I mean, that would be great. Thanks." Sasuke noticed that Sakura had a small smile on her face as she walked towards her locker. "Meet me at the front door?" she said. Sasuke nodded in agreement.

It wasn't as hot as the day before, but it wasn't cool either. Sakura secretly wished that Sasuke had driven her to school, but she didn't want to seem ungrateful.

"Sakura?" asked Sasuke.

"Hmm?" she replied, lost in her own thoughts.

"I don't want to seem rude…but….um, what exactly was I right about?" Sakura came back to her senses. She had forgotten about that.

"Oh. That. I just wanted to tell you that you were right about Zaku. I…he…." Sakura was struggling to find the right words. But Sasuke nodded.

"I get it. I just don't want you to get hurt." Sakura sighed.

"I don't get it, Sasuke. I mean, why would I get hurt, anyways?" Sasuke didn't know how to explain.

"Well, it's kinda hard to explain. See, people like Zaku are…um…" Now it was Sasuke who was struggling, but Sakura wasn't going to let him off the hook.

"Yeah?"

"It's like, he's sorta, 'insensitive' to other people's feelings. Get it?" Sasuke finished desperately. Sakura looked at him blankly.

"No." she said, and they both laughed. "Oh well, I'll just have to figure it out on my own, I guess." she decided. At this Sasuke stiffened. If there was one thing he didn't want Sakura to do, it was that.

"Uh, that's not such a good idea." he tried. The girl looked at him strangely.

"Why not?" she asked. Sasuke groaned.

"It all goes back to the kissing thing." he said. "Now, if you would just let me kiss you…" he began. But Sakura wouldn't have any of it.

"Sasuke, please." she said firmly. "I and only I will decide who kisses me in this school, if anyone." Sasuke began to really worry at this. If Zaku decided to kiss her, there would be nothing she could do about it.

The tension in the air was palpable: Sasuke had apparently crossed some invisible line that only Sakura knew of. She was walking with her head up, looking straight ahead and refusing to even acknowledge Sasuke. Thank God my turn is coming up! He thought to himself.

When the pair reached said turn, Sasuke stopped and faced Sakura.

"I'll see you tomorrow." What's with me? Can't I think of anything to say?

"See you tomorrow." Sakura replied with a smile.

"You, uh, want me to walk you to school again?" he asked. Sakura shook he head.

"I have to go in early tomorrow: I came in right after Mid-Terms and the only time I can make up History is tomorrow morning." Sasuke couldn't help but feel sad.

"Okay then." he said a bit sadly. Sakura noticed this and thought for a moment.

"Sasuke, does the kiss count if it is on the cheek?" she inquired.

"No, just on the lips." he responded, lost in his own thoughts. "Why?" He might have been off in his own world, but this was not a question he expected from Sakura, especially after their previous conversations on the matter.

Sakura smiled. She leaned up and placed a small kiss on Sasuke's cheek. Sasuke looked up, stunned. He tried to hide his amazement, but Sakura saw a small pink tint creep onto his face.

"You're a great friend." she said before walking away.

Sasuke touched his cheek as he watched the pink-haired girl walk away. He was overjoyed at her display of affection, but his good feelings were marred by a thought nagging at the back of his mind.

Just a friend….

Duh duh DUH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It took longer than I expected, this chapter, that is, mainly because I was trying to make it sweet, but funny, and not skip over a lot of stuff. I also tried to make Sasuke more like his old self, did I fail? Probably. Well, I hope you liked this chapter!