A/N IMPORTANT: People keep asking the time that went by. All you really need to know is that there are five weeks of summer school and they are in the final week. I counted exact days as I went along. No, the story doesn't end after that :)

THANK YOU FOR BEING SO PATIENT! THIS IS A NICE LONG CHAPTER FOR YOU!

"Thoughts" "Speech" "Writing"

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Chapter 6: One Final Note

Sakura was once again extremely excited. Not only was it the final week of the torture she was experiencing but she had also become really close with this new person in her life. Her one dilemma was she had no idea what step to take next. She didn't want to expose her deepest darkest secret to some random guy. However, if she didn't, she would never be able to further contact him.

She was both right and wrong about her first thoughts on this mystery guy. He wasn't a psychopathic freak but he did have some depressing things going on in his life. However, she wasn't completely perfect herself. Maybe if she found out who the person was, when school started, she could try to make him a happier person. He didn't seem all bad. There had to be some happiness in him. Besides, he seemed to take great pleasure in talking about himself and his skills.

Sakura was actually slightly thankful she had taken this horrible class. In the long run, it should help her be a smarter person and maybe get a good job. She also made a new friend. The time she had wasted doing homework packets and listening to Kakashi drabble would be worth it.

Walking to school the next morning Sakura had only one thing in her mind, "What am I going to do? I can't expose my secret now! If I don't I'm screwed anyway! Ahhhhh!" Once Sakura got to class she sat down and took out her materials. She decided not to worry about her problem until toward the end of class. She had to be able to look forward to something.

-TAP-

-TAP TAP-

-TAP TAP TAP TAP-

"Ms. Haruno!" yelled Kakashi.

Sakura snapped out of her trance and glanced forward. "What?"

"Do you mind? I'm trying to teach class!"

"Wow Kakashi-sensei, you seem really irritated."

"I have a headache and need to finish class. Could you please stop that tapping?"

Sakura realized she had fallen into a trance and had begun to tap her pencil. Tapping her pencil seemed to take up most of her time presently. "Oh, I'm sorry."

"Can I continue with the class now?"

"Yes you may Kakashi-sensei."

"Good, now pay attention."

"I will." Sakura stuck her tongue out slightly after Kakashi had turned around to write on the board. "What in the world is he so upset about? Kakashi never gets upset and even if he is, he stays calm. Does he have girlfriend problems? No, he's too stupid for anyone to want to be around him."

Slowly but surely, time ticked on and Sakura had to make her choice. She pulled out that lined sheet of paper in that very familiar part of the bottom of her desk. Sakura and her partner in crime had completely filled up that single sheet of paper. There was absolutely no room left to write down random thoughts or feelings. Sakura smiled to herself as she folded the paper and placed it in her backpack. She wanted to keep it as a reminder of the small amount of fun she had during the summer. Besides, boys don't generally like to keep things like these.

Sakura took out a brand new sheet of paper and stared blankly at it. It looked so completely plain compared to the other sheet. However, Sakura was determined to change that as soon as she could think of something to write. Because they still had four days left, Sakura decided she would take all that time and use it to her advantage. Deciding not to reveal her secret just yet, she would tease a little before she got to the point. Dark Flame happened to be arrogant and sensitive. Having a little fun with him wouldn't be so bad.

Sakura finished writing just as the bell rang. She folded up her little message, slid it under the desk, and proceeded to file out the door with the other students. However, when she got to the door she stopped abruptly. Something inside of her wanted to talk to Kakashi. There was obviously something not right with the world if Kakashi was emitting an aura other than boring. "Well, "boring" isn't exactly a feeling one can emit but I think somehow it fits with him."

Sakura walked up to Kakashi's desk and waited patiently for him to notice her.

"Is there a problem Ms. Haruno?"

"No Kakashi-sensei, there is not. I just wanted to know if you were okay."

Kakashi looked up at her and smiled. "I did snap at you a bit didn't I? How uncharacteristic of me. Don't worry it's not your fault. I'm just a little more tired than usual that's all."

"You don't have to worry, you only have four days left."

"Yes, that is true."

"What will you do with yourself when classes are over?"

Kakashi winked at Sakura. "That is my secret."

Sakura gasped in a joking manner. "What? You won't expose the secret lives of teachers?"

"Nope, I can't do that. Students will have to sit and contemplate what they believe teachers do for all of eternity. It's just the way the world works."

"Okay Kakashi-sensei, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Goodbye Sakura."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Sasuke slowly dragged his feet step by step until he reached the front door of his math class. Just four more days, four more days and he would never have to worry about it again. Still, there really wasn't much to look forward to after this was all over. Neji still wouldn't come back for a few weeks and even sitting in total darkness at home could satisfy him for only so long. Naruto was not going to be much help in making the rest of his summer more fantastic than the direction it was already headed in.

Sasuke had changed a little in the past four weeks. At the start of classes he was his usual arrogant self who hated life and everything in it. Now, he was still his arrogant self, but things seemed a little less dark. Talking out his problems informally really helped him out whether he wanted to believe it or not. He didn't realize that he would come to rely on the this person he'd never met for company. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't accept the fact that this person could disappear. Even if she didn't tell him her secret, Sasuke would continue talking to Ms. S.

As soon as Sasuke got through the door a very familiar blonde greeted him.

"Hey Sasuke!" shouted Naruto from across the room.

Sasuke put his mask of indifference on and just stared at his friend. He may not be as cold as his brother, but the skill of having a look of indifference did run through the family. When Sasuke got to his seat, Naruto continued to talk in his usual chatty manner.

"Can you believe it Sasuke? We only got four days left! No more homework!"

"Did you forget school starts in a few months? Oh wait, you never do your homework anyway."

"Awe, you're so mean to me," pouted Naruto.

Sasuke smirked. "You just realized this now? You really are stupid."

"Fine, I'm not going to talk to you anymore."

"Good."

Kakashi got up from his seat and walked up to the front of the class. He called out answers to homework in a usual fashion and answered some questions. Naruto surprisingly didn't ask Sasuke for his packet. He just didn't care about the homework anymore. Sasuke sighed and became bored very quickly. He had a nagging feeling inside of him that wouldn't go away and he knew exactly why it was there. However, he wanted to prolong what he wanted to do so his one happy moment for the day wouldn't be wasted. As time went on the feeling got worse and worse, and eventually Sasuke gave up and pulled out the sheet from under his desk.

"What? This sheet is practically blank. Where'd the other one go? Did someone steal it? No, she probably just took it for herself. God she's stupid, maybe I should ask her to photocopy it." Sasuke felt somewhat saddened at the fact it was a new piece of paper. The other one was a constant reminder of all the emotions he had felt and exposed to his mystery friend. He had finally opened up to someone, and every one of those messages was proof of it. Yet now, there was only a single message on a new sheet of paper. It was like the other sheet had never happened.

Dark Flame- So you want to know my secret? I don't think I'll be
telling you today. I have four days to do so and I'm going to take
all the time I have. Maybe I can get you to tell me your e-mail
without exposing it. You were right, I may want to contact you so
bad that I'll tell you. However, you may want to keep in touch with
me so bad that I won't have to. How about we make a deal? I will
give you my full name and my e-mail. Then you can decide whether
or not to continue speaking to me. I know you will so don't pretend that
you won't. This summer has been…well, okay. If we do meet at
school, we can talk about something more interesting, like shinobi.
It's amazing you are into that as well. Let me know if you'll go
through with this deal.

Sasuke thought about what Ms. S had said. He didn't want to push her to the point that no contact information was given. He decided what she said seemed pretty fair. It gave him the choice whether to contact her or not, but he would. If he didn't then he'd probably fall apart. This dependency was driving him mad but there really was no other person who could truly talk to with the exception of Neji and Naruto.

Quickly writing back a short answer to the message, Sasuke shoved the paper back underneath his desk and waited for class to end. Class took a very long time to end and when it had, Sasuke was asleep. He bolted up when the bell rang and took a few seconds to realize where he was. He hadn't slept well the night before and math class seemed like the perfect time to doze off. As Sasuke walked out of class he couldn't stop thinking about what his friend would say. Who was she? It was all a matter of time before he found out.

0o0o0o0o0o0o-FRIDAY-MORNING-o0o0o0o0o0o0

It was the last day. There would be no more homework for the rest of the summer and it would be Sakura's last time writing on that paper below the desk. It had all started out with just a few simple words and had grown into so much more than that. Today was the day she was going to reveal who she was after these five weeks of keeping it a secret. From the time she left home to the time she got to school she was almost shaking uncontrollably with excitement. Although there was small shadow of doubt in the back of her mind that Dark Flame would not contact her back, she was otherwise extremely happy.

Sakura practically skipped into class.

Kakashi looked up from his orange book. "I didn't know you'd be that happy about the end of summer school Ms. Haruno."

"Oh, I'm not excited about that. Well, yes I am but that's not the only reason."

"Really? You are here about ten minutes early so something fantastic must have happened to you."

Sakura looked at the clock on the wall. Kakashi was right. She was ten minutes early. "Man I'm dumb, why come to this stupid class early? Guess I am a little too perky today."

Kakashi just shook his head and continued to read his book. Some things would remain a mystery to him. Students did the strangest things.

Sakura sat down at her desk, opened her backpack, and took out a pencil. There would be no waiting for what she came to do. Writing this message was the only thing she cared about. She had worked very hard all summer and would probably pass the class. Now the only goal was to get her last message down on paper. Sakura was all ready to start writing away. Dark Flame had agreed with her on the deal she came up with. Still, there was a bittersweetness to the whole thing. It would be her last one so she wanted to somehow make is special and cherish the moment. Of course if they kept talking they'd continue to write, but this would be the last one at summer school.

Dark Flame- Wow, we did it. We survived without having to kill
Kakashi or commit suicide. I don't know how we did it but we did. I
hope you pass the class. Then we can all go on with our lives and
be happy people. Well in your case, you can continue being dark and
hating life. Just kidding. I'm so happy we did this. I really enjoyed
every moment of it. It makes me sad that this will be it, but then again
I think it's time to end the secrecy. My e-mail is: pinkhairedbeauty-konoha:com
Talk to me soon. Even if you are occasionally tempermental, you
really have become a good friend. Thanks and I hope the rest of your
summer is okay!

-Haruno Sakura

By the time Sakura had finished her message and put it under the desk for the final time students were just finishing piling into class. The strange quiet boy that always sat next to Sakura looked at her a long time before he pulled out his materials. She stared back at him and decided to speak to him since she would never have the chance to again.

"Um, excuse me? Are you Aburame Shino?" asked Sakura shyly.

Shino merely turned toward her and nodded.

"Do you ever take off your sun glasses?"

"No." he said quietly.

"Are you part of a family of spies?"

"What kind of question is that?" he whispered.

"I don't know, I've just wondered all this time now since you never take off your glasses and always wear a hood."

Shino lowered his glasses just an inch so she could see his eyes. "I don't make strange assumptions about you. Anyway, I have to pay attention now."

"Oh, sorry," said Sakura. She cast her gaze toward the ground but as she did so she could have sworn she saw a beetle crawl out of his shirtsleeve and under his hand. She waved it off.

During the last five minutes of class Kakashi went behind his desk and pulled out a stack of cards from the drawer. He shuffled them a few times and then began calling names for students to pick them up. Those cards happened to determine the futures of each of the students. All summer came down to this one card they received. If their report stated fail, all their hard work was for absolutely nothing.

"Haruno Sakura," called Kakashi.

Sakura gulped and then walked to the front of the class. Kakashi smiled as he handed her the report card.

Sakura looked down at her card. Printed on it was all her student information but in the box titled "score" there was a large letter "P." What Kakashi had written under the teacher's comments suprised her a little bit.

Sakura, you did a fantastic job this summer. You were definitely one of my hardest working students.
I'm proud of you for diligently doing your homework every night. Even if you were writing little
secrets to your friends during my class, I still think you deserve this score. Yes, I do know about that.
It is my classroom so expect me to be able to see all that goes on.

"Wow Kakashi-sensei. You really had me fooled. I thought you had no idea what was going on. Hopefully you didn't read what I wrote though!" After all the report cards were passed out Kakashi started to speak again.

"Students, the grade which you received is the grade you earned. If you consistently did good work in my class then you passed. For those of you who slept rather than took advantage of the situation, you failed. There are no changes in the grade you received so if your parents flip it is not my fault. I am very happy to have had the privilege of being your teacher and I wish you all luck in the coming year. Thank you for being such a great class. I know it was early in the morning but I'm glad some of you managed to learn something."

-Tick-Tick-Tick-RING-

"Class dismissed," said Kakashi. With that he walked around to the other side of his desk and picked up his book. Only one more class for the day and he'd be able to go home.

Students exploded out of the classroom in all directions screaming shouts of utter joy and happiness. Others immediately took out their phones and called their parents to report how they did. Some looked extremely sick and to the point of tears. Sakura felt bad for these students. "What an awful waste of summer if you didn't pass."

Before Sakura left she stopped by Kakashi's desk one final time.

"Kakashi-sensei, how did you figure out what I was doing?"

"What do you mean Sakura?"

"You know, about writing messages to my friends?"

"Well, I happened to notice you bend under your desk for long periods of time toward the end of each class. Since most students are asleep it's esay to notice the ones who move."

Sakura swallowed hard. "Oh, did you uh…happen to um, read any of them?"

Kakashi winked at her. "No, I respect your privacy and the act of having a little fun. Did you know who you were writing to?"

"No I didn't. Want to give me a hint?"

"I don't think I will. However, if you do find out I bet you will be very surprised."

"Really? Well, okay. Thanks so much for everything Kakashi-sensei."

"Have a great summer Sakura."

As soon as Sakura got home she threw her backpack on the floor of her room and started jumping up and down. There would be no more homework packets for at least another month. Sakura flopped down on her bed. She was just about to go to sleep when she realized she should call Ino and tell her the news. Sakura picked up the phone and dialed Ino's number.

"Hello?"

"Ino! It's Sakura."

"Yes I can see that. What do you want?"

"Well, for one thing I passed summer school."

"Wow, you do have a brain behind that big forehead."

"Ha ha ha, very funny Ino-pig."

"Anything else? I have practice to go to."

"Well, I told Dark Flame who I was."

"Who are you talking about?"

"You know, that guy I was writing messages to on my desk?"

Ino didn't speak for a long time.

"Ino, Ino are you there?"

"Yeah...yeah sorry. What did you tell him?"

"Oh, I just finished up our conversation and then gave him contact information so he'd be able to reach me after summer school."

"Do you know who he is?" asked Ino.

"No, I don't. I think he'll want to talk to me so badly that he will e-mail me. He is a very complicated person, kind of dark, slightly arrogant, but he seems like he just needs a friend. I think he found that in me. It's funny since he sounds so much like Sasuke, but I know it couldn't be him in a million years.

"Wow, he told you a lot. Did you write this all on one desk?"

"No, we started to write on a sheet of paper and put it underneath the desk, between the bar and the bottom. That way we could write more stuff. Turns out Kakashi-sensei knew we were doing it, but he didn't read anything so we're okay."

"You must have filled up your paper with five weeks of summer school."

"We did! I had to get a new sheet. I kept the old one if you ever want to look at it."

"Cute…" said Ino mockingly.

"Ino, are you okay? You don't sound to happy."

"I'm fine. Listen Sakura, I have to leave so I'll call you back later."

"Okay, bye."

"See ya."

Sakura hung up her phone, threw it to the edge of her bed, and promptly went to sleep. She deserved a good rest after all the school she had to go through. Finally she might be able to enjoy summer.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Ino's mind was racing. There was no way she was going to let Sakura find out who Dark Flame was. If Sakura and Sasuke got together it would be the end of the world for her. Sakura may be her best friend but she wasn't going to let just anyone get with Sasuke. Plus, Sakura probably now knew more about Sasuke than she did and that was definitely not okay. She had to get to that note before he did.

She rushed to school as fast as possible because she knew she didn't have a lot of time. The next class would start in only a matter of minutes. Ino ran all the way to the classroom door and sighed in relief that no one was there. Kakashi must have been in the bathroom or getting coffee. Ino hurried into the classroom and ran over the desk she remembered Sasuke sat at. "I already knew where Sakura kept her little notes. It was nice for her to remind me though. Takes less time to find." Ino bent down, grabbed the piece of paper under the desk and hurried out.

As she was leaving the school she caught sight of the boy who occupied her fantasies. He was walking his usual casual strut to the school. She decided to try Sakura's method of catching his attention by standing in his way. However, rather than stopping, Sasuke just walked around her. Ino turned around and glared angrily into his back. She watched him go all the way to the front of the school through the gate.

Ino's anger did fade and became replaced by extreme glee. She had taken Sakura's only contact to Sasuke. When Sakura didn't receive any new e-mails from a certain person, she'd become sad and believe the guy never liked her. Yes, it was true Sakura never knew the person was Sasuke, but it still made Ino feel better that she had no chance of finding out now. He would eventually get over his little friend he made during summer school and all would be well. Ino threw the note into the trashcan and continued walking down sidewalk feeling extremely pleased with herself.

Sasuke sat at his desk with a mortified look on his face. He had passed the class and Kakashi informed him that he had known about what Sasuke had been doing all summer. However, that didn't matter to him at all. All that mattered was there was nothing on or under the desk. He must have scanned the bottom of all the other desks around him and didn't find anything. He felt angry, almost to the point of tears. Why would Ms. S abandon him like this? She seemed so happy in her other messages and somewhat appreciative. She even recognized how much he needed her to talk to. So why had this happened?

"Maybe Kakashi found it and took it. I am so going to kill him if he did." Sasuke spent the last few agonizing minutes of class glaring daggers at Kakashi. As soon as the bell rang Naruto attempted to pull him out of class but he told his friend to wait for him outside. Naruto protested but something in his mind told him to listen to Sasuke or else there would be consequences.

Sasuke walked up to Kakashi. "Where is it sensei?" he asked angrily.

"What are you talking about Mr. Uchiha?"

"I know you found our note, where did you put it?"

"Ah, I didn't touch it. I saw your companion put it under her desk. She asked me about it. You should be happy to know that I have read none of your notes, I only know they exist."

"But it's not there. WHERE is it?"

"Sasuke stop yelling at me. It should be where you always put it. I saw her do it today. Don't ask me to tell you who it is because I won't. That would ruin it for the both of you."

"It's not there. I've looked everywhere. There's nothing even on the desk. If you don't have it then it obviously didn't get up and leave by itself."

"I'm sorry Sasuke, I don't know what happened. Maybe she didn't write anything. Have a good summer okay?"

Sasuke had a flash of shock go across his face. He didn't know what to say. He just felt passionate anger inside of him. He turned around, found Naruto, and stormed out of the school. The rest of the summer would be a nightmare.

A/N: So now we know the purpose of Ino. She's an evil person isn't she? I thank you all for being patient. This was a nice long chapter and I'm glad I took my time and didn't rush it. If I don't update again for another few months, I'm sorry. I know EXACTLY what I want to write but it may take a while since I am so busy. This was REALLY hard to get out. I will finish this story eventually, please stop spamming me, and please review. If you have any questions, ask away. Thanks, and I hope you enjoyed!