I'm sorry guys. I had everything done last night, but when I went to upload it, there was some nonsense about the server timing out.

I get the feeling that Itachi is bordering on a little too nice in this chapter, but let's just say that it's only for Sakura, okay? Anyway, enjoy!

Fancy Footwork

Chapter 6: Bow-tie Charisma

Sakura considered refusing to get out of the car. After all, it had been nearly four years since she had come anywhere near the Uchiha household. In elementary and middle school, Sakura had always volunteered to drop off Sasuke's homework when he was sick. Or when her mom needed to give something to Sasuke's mother, Sakura had always complied happily. Her anxiety must have shown pretty clearly because Itachi lightly poked her forehead.

"Relax," he told her. It was impossible not to feel reassured with him smiling at her like that. So she obediently got out of the car and followed Itachi to the front door like a lost puppy.

"You're early," Mikoto happily said as she hugged her son. After she released him, she noticed Sakura and started.

"Oh my! Is this Haruno Sakura-chan?" Mikoto said with wide eyes. Sakura bowed respectfully.

"Hello, Mikoto-san."

"You've gotten so pretty!" Mikoto exclaimed, making Sakura blush. Mikoto turned to her son with a crafty smile.

"Itachi-kun, what are you doing with Sakura-chan?" Mikoto inquired, poking his shoulder. Itachi sighed and gave her an exasperated smile.

"Sakura-san's mother is away on a business trip. I thought she would feel lonely in her home all by herself so I invited her over," Itachi explained. At the word "invited" Sakura rolled her eyes at him. Mikoto's face pinched with worry as she looked Sakura over.

"Oh… How is Kirie-chan been?" Mikoto finally asked. Sakura blinked. She had almost forgotten that Uchiha Mikoto had been her mother's upperclassman in college.

"She's good. She's always liked travel," Sakura replied, reciting the polite answer everyone seemed to expect from her. Mikoto nodded and Sakura nodded back, feeling a bit awkward with the growing silence. Itachi coughed quietly and Mikoto seemed to come out of her trance.

"Goodness! How rude of me to leave you standing outside. Come in!" Mikoto said, returning to her cheerful, hospitable self. Sakura stood in the open doorway. Years of standing at the door just to get a peek at Sasuke's gloomy face as she handed him his homework seemed to rush out and smack her straight in the face. Still, it would be stranger to linger outside so she began following Mikoto inside. But Sakura froze when Itachi, who was politely holding the door open, arched his eyebrows at her. She stared at him blankly until Itachi sighed and reached over to tug at the front of her shirt. Still puzzled, she looked down at her oversized t-shirt and monkey pajama pants. Her eyes widened as she looked back up at Itachi. She flapped her hands as she silently freaked out over her disheveled appearance. Itachi chuckled a little as he lifted his car keys and unlocked the doors, gesturing for her to go.

"Mom, is it alright if Sakura-san uses the bathroom? She had to wake up early today," Itachi called into the house as Sakura rushed to the car and yanked the back door open. She hurriedly unzipped her suitcase and picked out a somewhat presentable outfit that wasn't completely covered in sand.

"Bathroom?" she heard Mikoto repeat. Sakura glanced up and saw Itachi mime washing his hair.

"Ah! Of course!" came Mikoto's laughing reply and Sakura breathed a sigh of relief. She stuffed the clothes into her shoulder bag before she shut the car door and hurried over to where Itachi stood.

"You can use the guest bathroom upstairs," Itachi said as he led her inside the house and she shut the door behind them.

The dark, polished wood floors and the pastel colors washed over Sakura like a breath of fresh air. She stood in the living room, taking in the furniture that looked like something out of a home décor magazine. The vases of fresh orchids by the front door let out a sweet but subtle scent. Pairs of men's shoes were lined up neatly by the door. Sakura slipped off her sandals and carefully arranged them next to Itachi's.

As she followed Itachi further into the house, she caught sight of a wall covered in picture frames. She stopped in her tracks as she saw a portrait of a little boy who looked somewhat like Sasuke. But his dark hair was pulled back in a short ponytail and his eyes were a softer shade of brown. She spotted the blue sweater-vest over a white collared shirt and matching blue bow-tie and she couldn't stop the giggle that escaped her mouth.

"So cute," she cooed as she felt Itachi look over her shoulder.

"You think so?"

Sakura glanced back at him with an almost indignant expression.

"Look at the bow-tie, Itachi-san! And those chubby cheeks!" she explained, poking at the picture. To her surprise, Itachi's face turned a little pink and he abruptly looked away.

"My mom had a thing for bowties when I was a kid. I still hate them," he quietly said before he took off down the hall. Sakura turned back to the picture and then looked at his retreating back.

"Itachi-san, that's you?" she gasped as she ran after him. He refused to answer, even after she badgered him about it all the way up to the guest room at the end of the hall on the second floor.

"There's a door to the bathroom right next to the closet. If you lock the door to the bedroom, no one should be able to get it so don't worry," he instructed her as he held the door open for her. Sakura giggled a little.

"Okay. Thank you, Itachi-san," she replied, subtly giving him the cue to leave. He lingered for another moment, as if he wanted to say something else. His eyes briefly checked the empty hallway behind her, checking to make sure nothing was going to pop up. Sakura waited, her hand resting on the doorframe.

"I'll be downstairs," he finally said before heading down the hall. Sakura shook her head. Uchiha Itachi being the protective sort was something she had never imagined. But she put that thought in her growing archive of Itachi's unexpected but good qualities. As soon as she set foot in the guest bedroom, a sigh left her. The walls were a soft shade of powder blue that made her think of the clear skies on the beach. In the center of the room was a simple double bed. The flower-print sheets were neatly made, like a hotel maid had swept through. Everything was perfectly arranged from the clean linen curtains to the vase filled with more orchids sitting on the dresser. She wondered how Sasuke could always have such a sour expression on his face when his home was so…. Perfect.

The adjoining bathroom was small but clean. Sakura sparingly use the French shampoo and conditioner provided before standing under the warm spray. A few minutes later, she shimmed into her favorite skinny jeans and a loose gray t-shirt with white stripes running across her stomach. She sat on the edge of the bed and towel-dried her hair. She could hear the vague sounds of pots and pans in the kitchen and the low hum of a washing machine from somewhere nearby.

Fully dressed and squeaky clean, Sakura stepped out of the bedroom and made her way down the hallway. She stood at the top of the stairs when she heard Mikoto's laughter.

"That's terrible. Poor Kisame-kun must have been embarrassed," Mikoto said, accompanied by the sounds of the refrigerator opening and closing. Sakura sat down on the top step. Somehow, it didn't feel right for her to intrude on Itachi's time with his mother. She stared down at her toes, wondering when was the last time she had sat down and had a real conversation with her own mother. A year? Maybe two.

"I'll go check," she heard Itachi say. His footsteps travelled from the kitchen and down the hall, stopping at the foot of the stairs.

"Sakura-san?"

Sakura's head shot up at the sound of Itachi's voice. The lights were dim in the hallway. His long shadow stretched out, in front of him, twisting up the steps. Her gaze was drawn to his brown eyes as they looked up at her. She shot to her feet.

"Sorry! I was just a little tired," she mumbled. She hurried to the bottom step and made to skirt around him. But Itachi's hands reached out to grip the stair rails, caging her. She could hear his calm breaths as he stood not saying anything. If she concentrated, she could feel the heat from his strong arms. Her eyes darted around frantically, looking anywhere but at him.

"You're crying," he finally observed. His voice was low and she felt it before she heard it. It rumbled deep in his chest as he hovered over her, nose inches from brushing hers. Sakura touched her cheeks and found them wet with warm tears. She hurriedly wiped them away with the backs of her hands.

"Oh. I guess that's from when I yawned," she breathily said, not meeting his eyes. Her lie sounded pathetic even to her own ears.

"Sakura-san," he said, his voice unbearably gentle. She bit her bottom lip as her chest threatened to heave in the beginnings of tears.

"Sakura-san, what's wrong?"

"I-" she began but a soft sob hiccupped its way up her throat. She twisted her fingers into the hem of her shirt as a few tears leaked out of her eyes.

"Your home and…" she managed to whisper before another hiccup interrupted her. Itachi shifted to gently hold her shoulders. The weight of his big hands and the comforting warmth filled her chest with an unexpected bitterness.

"I feel so ugly. I'm so jealous of everything," she blurted out as a deluge of fresh tears streamed down her cheeks. She covered her face with her hands as she tried to muffle her sobs. Suddenly, Itachi's soothing presence became unbearably embarrassing. She tried to back away, to hide these terrible feelings that horrified even herself. She wanted to cry in the privacy of the bathroom. She would weep until her twisted heart was satisfied and then pull herself together so that she could go back to everyone with her usual smile.

But Itachi didn't seem to want to let go.

"Sakura-san, you're not ugly at all," he softly said, making her cry even harder. He applied pressure to her shoulders, making her sit on the bottom step of the staircase. He crouched in front of her and sighed, running his hand through his dark hair.

"I'm sorry," Sakura whimpered as she rubbed at her cheeks. Her shoulders jerked as another sob forced its way up her throat. She bit her lip, trying to keep quiet. When she managed to calm down a little, she hesitantly looked up and found Itachi still crouching in front of her.

"You need to stop apologizing for everything you do," he ordered her. Sakura swallowed the apology that automatically formed on her tongue.

"And you need to stop being so… so…" he paused, struggling to find the phrase. Sakura squeezed her eyes shut, already anticipating the words.

'Annoying. Stop being so annoying, Haruno.'

That was all Sasuke had ever said since they were little. Even now, even when he didn't say anything, she could see the disapproval in his eyes. Every little thing she seemed to do seemed to annoy everyone.

"You need to stop being so selfless," Itachi finally said.

Sakura's eyes popped open. She stared up into Itachi's face that was pinched with irritation.

"…You don't think… that I'm annoying?" she whispered, her voice still ragged from crying. It was Itachi's turn to be surprised. It was completely silent for a moment. And then, Itachi's face darkened into a scowl. He raised his arm and poked her hard in the middle of the forehead. Tears sprang up in her eyes from the unexpected sting as she looked up at him, confused.

"Sakura-san, I said before that you should let others spoil you more. Let me rephrase this. You need to stop thinking about others and think about yourself," Itachi said, taking her shoulders and shaking her a little. Still a little more than stunned, she looked at him blankly.

"You have every right to want a warm home with a loving family. You don't need to feel ashamed for being human, Sakura-san," Itachi explained, his tone a little exasperated. He paused for a moment and then his expression softened.

"I'm not saying this to make you cry again," he said, sounding a little apologetic.

"Oh!" Sakura said as she quickly lifted her hand to wipe away the tears that she hadn't realized had begun flowing again. She sniffed and let out an uncomfortable laugh as she tried to cover her face again.

"Sorry," she quietly said as she peeked up at him through her fingers, "Sasuke-kun once told me that I look unsightly when I cry." To her surprise, Itachi snorted.

"My brother says a lot of things that you should ignore," he replied, shaking his head. After a pause, Itachi stood. He offered his hands to her and she accepted, letting him pull her to her feet. Even though she was standing one step above him, he was slightly taller than her. Itachi smiled at her and she mustered her most cheerful expression.

"I'm sorry. I think I just made you more upset," Itachi sighed. He reached up and lightly touched under her left eye where it was undoubtedly swollen from crying. This time, when Sakura laughed, it didn't sound as strained.

"No. Thank you for listening and… not laughing at me, Itachi-san," Sakura said. They stood together until Sakura realized that his hand was still cupping her cheek and she flushed bright red.

"Um… y-your hand…." She stuttered. Itachi reached out and ruffled her hair.

"Go wash your face and come back downstairs. My mom says she wants to ask you something," Itachi simply said before he turned around and slipped back into the kitchen. Sakura lightly touched the top of her head where the warmth of his hand lingered before she hurried up the stairs.

After ten minutes of splashing herself in the face with icy water (and slapping herself a little for looking so childish in front of Uchiha Itachi), Sakura followed Itachi's instructions and cautiously poked her head in the kitchen.

"There you are! What kind of food do you like? Western? Japanese?" Mikoto asked with her perfect, motherly smile.

"Um… I'll eat pretty much anything, Mikoto-san," Sakura replied. Itachi motioned for her to join him at the island and she complied, sliding onto one of the cushioned stools. He glanced over at her with a questioning gaze, silently asking if she was alright. Sakura nodded as she watched Mikoto bustle around the kitchen with pots and pans.

"I'll chop the onions," Sakura volunteered when she noticed Mikoto place the vegetables on the counter. Mikoto looked surprised as she took a moment to wipe her hands on the front of her apron. Then, her expression melted into a grateful grin as she slid the cutting board over to Sakura along with a sharp knife.

"Be careful, Sakura-san," Itachi said as she hefted the knife in her hand, testing the weight. Sakura looked over at him and arched an eyebrow, insulted.

"I live alone, Itachi-san. Do you really think I can't handle a knife?" she replied with a smile as she set an onion on the board and neatly chopped it in half. It was easy for her to peel off the skin and dice everything into neat cubes. Cooking was easy. But it was nice to do it in a warm kitchen bustling with people instead of the beautiful but silent kitchen back at her apartment. Mikoto took a moment to survey her work and immediately praised her for her culinary prowess. She was then appointed "master of cutting" and given the rest of the vegetables to dismantle.

"You like cooking," Itachi observed as she plucked the stem from a mushroom. She didn't look up as she sliced the cap into uniform pieces.

"I do. But desserts are my specialty," Sakura admitted as she went to grab another mushroom. Itachi raised his eyebrows at her but didn't seem too surprised.

"What's your favorite dessert?" he asked. Sakura paused for a moment to think. She looked down at the mushroom in her hand with a pensive expression and then back up at Itachi.

"Cheesecake," she replied with a grin before she went back to chopping.

Breakfast was a delicious, fluffy vegetable omelet paired with herbal tea and half a grapefruit. Sakura insisted on helping with the dishes until Mikoto reluctantly agreed. Instead, Mikoto was forced to sit at the island counter, sipping on tea and relaxing while Itachi and Sakura stood at the sink.

"You're such a good person, Sakura-chan. Sasu-chan won't even take out the garbage when I ask him to," Mikoto said. Sakura, who had been dutifully scrubbing at a plate with a sponge, glanced over her shoulder to give Mikoto a shy smile. She handed Itachi the now clean plate and he wiped it dry before placing it in one of the cabinets. The dishes were done quickly and Sakura even took the time to wash out the sink, earning further kudos in Mikoto's books.

"So, what are you two planning on doing?" Mikoto asked with another one of her sly smiles as Itachi and Sakura leaned against the counter.

"Mom," Itachi sighed, shaking his head again at his mother's teasing.

"Um, Mikoto-san," Sakura spoke up, drawing Mikoto's attention, "That photo of the little boy with the bowtie… who is that?" Itachi blanched as he realized what she was talking about. Mikoto tapped her chin as she thought for a moment. Then, her face lit up.

"Of course! That's Itachi-kun from the 3rd grade. It was during one of our family parties!" Mikoto exclaimed. She got to her feet and hurried off to the living room. Sakura hesitantly looked up at Itachi who had his head in his hands.

"I'm sorry…. You were just so cute," Sakura apologized. Itachi slowly looked up at her guilt-ridden expression. He lightly pinched her nose.

"Go back to smiling. It looks better on you," he remarked with a little half-smile of his own that sent her heart careening against her ribcage. Mikoto exploded into the kitchen with a stack of photo albums. She dropped them all on the counter except for one that she opened and set in front of Sakura. Sakura's eyes widened as she saw 8-year-old Itachi with his adorable bow-tie sitting on a bench with 5-year-old Sasuke.

"So… chubby!" Sakura squealed as she stared at the photo. Mikoto leaned across the counter to admire the picture too.

"Aren't they adorable?" Mikoto cooed and Sakura nodded furiously. Sasuke was clutching a half-eaten cookie in his tiny hands and offering it up to Itachi. Sakura looked up at Itachi who was looking up at the ceiling with slightly pink cheeks, refusing to meet her eyes.

"You two look like you were close," Sakura said.

"They were inseparable. Itachi-kun had to go to the bathroom and Sasu-chan did too. Sasu-chan was hungry and so was Itachi-kun," Mikoto said fondly as she smiled down at the album. She flipped through the rest of the photos, showing off her sons' cutest poses and giggling together with Sakura at Sasuke's ketchup-smeared cheeks. Before Sakura realized it, she was laughing and talking with Mikoto like she was her own mother. A little sadness tugged at the edge of her heart at the thought and Itachi seemed to notice because his own smile faded.

"I'm okay," she assured him.

And she really was.

Mikoto showed her all 12 of the Uchiha family's photo albums and by the end of it, Sakura was laughing uncontrollably at one picture of baby Itachi wearing bunny footsie pajamas. Mikoto was so pleased by Sakura's obvious enthusiasm that she gave Sakura a copy of the photo that Sakura proceeded to tuck into her bag, ignoring Itachi's half-hearted protest. Lunch was delicious grilled fish and miso soup along with onigiri filled with her favorite pickled plums.

"I should get going soon," Sakura said as she finished washing the dishes for a second time (much to Mikoto's protest). Mikoto looked a little sad as she agreed. Sakura slung her bag over her shoulder and slipped on her shoes before she waited for Itachi to put on his own shoes.

"Wait, Sakura-chan. Have this," Mikoto called out as she hurried out from the kitchen. She handed Sakura a plastic bag carrying Tupperware containers of leftover onigiri and some side dishes. Sakura's eyes grew wide as she took in the food.

"Thank you," she whispered as she looked up at Mikoto's motherly smile.

"Come back anytime, Sakura-chan," Mikoto said as she enveloped her in a tight hug. After a few more parting words, Sakura climbed into Itachi's car and set the bag of leftovers on her lap. The stereo was on, as usual, filling the car with soft strumming from an acoustic guitar.

"I feel like I traumatized you a little," Itachi apologized on the way back to Sakura's apartment.

"No. I'm grateful. I haven't felt that welcome anywhere for a long time," she replied as she looked out the window. She met Itachi's worried gaze with a soft smile.

"Thank you, Itachi-san," Sakura simply said and his expression cleared.

"See? I told you that you look better smiling."

He dropped her off in front of her apartment complex and waited for her to unlock her door before driving away. She had never noticed that he did so and she was touched by his concern. After stashing Mikoto's food away in the refrigerator, Sakura stood in her quiet home and sighed. It seemed that after spending just a few hours in the lively Uchiha household, the apartment she shared with her mother felt even colder than usual. But never one to wallow in self-pity, Sakura refused to sit and lament over her problems. She vacuumed the entire place, did her laundry, scrubbed all the windows clean and reorganized the pantry for good measure. Thoroughly exhausted, Sakura sat down on the sofa with some of her unfinished summer homework and promptly fell asleep.

The next day was Monday, which meant that ridiculously cheerful Kisame, accompanied by a much less chipper Itachi, dragged her out of bed for the morning run. Afterwards, she sat munching happily on half a bagel. She wiggled her bare toes against the cool floor, letting the air conditioning wash over her. Kisame sat beside her as he gobbled his way through his second French toast, scrambled egg and bacon sandwich. He made a face as he accidentally bit into the aluminum foil wrapping. She had offered to make him one as a joke at the beginning of the summer and now they were an addiction for him.

"Seriously, Kitten, these are the best things I've ever had," he blissfully said between bites. Itachi entered the studio and immediately eyed Kisame with disapproval over the rim of his coffee cup.

"I'm concerned for Sakura-san's grocery bill with all the food you're eating," Itachi remarked seriously. Sakura giggled as she watched Kisame stuff his cheeks like a chipmunk.

"My mom had them once when she stayed in New York City for a big deal. When she got home, she begged me to make them all the time," Sakura laughed as she remembered her mom's desperate groveling. Kisame grunted approvingly as he unwrapped his final sandwich and attacked it with gusto. Itachi sat down across from them, completing their triangle of breakfast consumption.

"What are we working on today, Itachi-san?" Sakura inquired before she took another chomp out of her bagel. Before he could answer, the studio door burst open and Deidara came charging through with Sasori in tow.

"We got the goods, yeah!" Deidara exclaimed, setting his bag down with a suspiciously heavy noise. Sakura scooted over to hide behind Itachi as she noticed the measuring tape hanging from Sasori's neck. She nibbled nervously on the remnants of her bagel as Deidara sat on the floor and unzipped his bag. He pulled out a bundle of black fabric and set it on the floor before he unrolled it like a scroll.

"Scissors?" Kisame asked out loud, voicing Sakura's own confusion.

"I told you, yeah. I've been dying to cut your hair since we met. And we need you for one more photo shoot," Deidara declared, as he looked up at Sakura and wiggled his fingers at her. Sakura munched on her last piece of bagel, cheeks puffing out as she reached up to touch her hair. She swallowed her food and then eyed the pink strands now reaching to the middle of her ribcage.

"I've cut a lot of people's hair before. I know what I'm doing," Deidara added hopefully, seeing her thoughtful expression. Sakura ran her fingers through her hair once before she looked up at Deidara and nodded.

When Uchiha Sasuke got home from spending a week at the Uchiha family's beach house, he was promptly greeted by his older brother poking him so hard in the forehead that a little round bruise formed a few hours later.

"Ow! What the hell, Nii-san?" Sasuke spat, rubbing his head.

"Sasuke, a man that makes a woman cry is terrible. But a man who insults a crying woman is the worst," Itachi simply said before he poked Sasuke again for good measure and walked off.

Sasuke stared blankly at the empty space in front of him.

"What…. The hell just happened?"

The last two weeks of summer break passed quickly. In between Kisame's brutal training regime and finishing up her homework, Sakura had her hands full. Still, everything settled into a familiar rhythm. Weekdays were dominated by dance practice and her once quiet weekends were now filled with late-night fast food runs and visits to the Uchiha household on Sundays. Mikoto seemed to sense Sakura's discomfort about Sasuke so she made it a point to have him out of the house then, which made Sakura both grateful and embarrassed.

From Uchiha Mikoto, Sakura learned to make some amazing zaru-soba and the perfect iced tea. Sakura, in turn, whipped up baked goods that made the entire house smell of heavenly sweetness. The look of sheer awe on Itachi's face when he first laid eyes on her triple layer chocolate cake had made her laugh. On her second visit to the Uchihas', Sakura first met Uchiha Fugaku, who was a stern man with Itachi's eyes and a mouth that seemed permanently welded into a straight line. She had entered the house with Itachi, still laughing about some backhanded compliment he had made about Deidara's popularity with women. While Mikoto had greeted them warmly, when Sakura respectfully bowed to Fugaku, he had barely glanced at her over his newspaper. But after a taste of her French toast, scrambled egg and bacon sandwiches, he had warmed up to her considerably, even offering her to stay for lunch.

But the days bled into each other too quickly until it was the Sunday night before school started again. Sakura sat on the back porch of the Uchihas' house, watching the little koi pond in the yard. She stared up at the stars and enjoyed the warm breeze that swept through her shorter hair.

"Sakura-san," Itachi said as he stepped onto the porch and handed her an ice pop.

"Thank you," she sang before she took a big bite of the cool treat. She froze when she noticed Itachi chuckling as he sat down beside her.

"What's so funny?" she asked, bewildered.

"You used to be so shy and jumpy around me," he explained. Sakura wrinkled her nose at him before she took another big chunk out of her ice pop.

"You're the one that told me to relax, Itachi-san," she reminded him and Itachi nodded. But her expression became a little wistful as she looked up at the dark sky.

"I start school tomorrow," she suddenly said.

"Are you nervous?" Itachi asked. Sakura's eyebrows shot up, questioning him.

"You're not the same as you were a month and a half ago," he pointed out, motioning towards the easy way she dangled her legs over the edge of the porch and her new haircut. She touched her hair, still a little self-conscious. Instead of parting her hair in the middle, Deidara had cut it so that her bangs swept across her forehead. He had pointed out that she was lucky to have a larger forehead since girls with narrow foreheads couldn't have such nice bangs. He had cut almost 6 inches of her hair before layering it until it had a tousled almost bed-head-like appearance. Now, it went just to her shoulders and fell into her eyes a little.

"I like it," Sakura defiantly declared as she pointed to her head. Itachi looked surprised.

"I do too. I'm saying it's a good thing," he clarified and Sakura smiled at him. She tossed the empty popsicle stick into the open wrapper and leaned back on her hands.

"I'm a little worried," she finally admitted. When she glanced over at him, Itachi moved his arm and she could see his bracelet with red beads reflect light from the porch light. She couldn't help but grin broadly as she looked down at her own bracelet. She started a little when Itachi put his hand on top of her head. When she stared up at him with big eyes, he was smiling again.

"Don't be," he simply said.

So the next morning, she did just that.

"Good morning, Ino-chan," Sakura said as she walked into the classroom. Ino, who was busy hanging all over Shikamaru and complaining, replied with a brief "hey". Over summer break, Ino had gotten fed up with her new boyfriend's clinginess and dumped him. Although Sakura suspected that her friend was doing it all to attract Shikamaru's attention, from the way that he was asleep at his desk, she could tell that it wasn't working too well.

Sakura hung her bag over the back of her chair before settling in the plastic seat. She crossed one leg over the other and fixed the folds of her skirt. A few minutes later, Naruto bust into the room. He skidded to the halt in the middle of an aisle and looked around, wildly flapping his arms.

"Guys! I totally forgot to do the math homework! Help me!" he howled, mostly at Sasuke. Sasuke, who was leaning back in his chair with a book covering his face, didn't respond.

"Sasuke!" Naruto whined. Sasuke gave him the middle finger and went back to sleeping.

"Naruto, you're so damn loud. Why don't you ask Haruno like always?" Shikamaru grumbled as Ino fussed with his hair and he half-heartedly swatted her away. Naruto spun in a wild circle, searching the room for her long hair bent over a book or something. Sakura, who was sitting at the desk right next to him, stuck her notebook in his face.

"Oh! Haruno-chan! I didn't recognize you there," he nervously said as he accepted the homework, eyes drifting down to her chest, probably remembering the incident at the beach. Sakura scowled as she crossed her arms in front of her. But Naruto's loud voice carried to the back of the room where, intrigued, Sasuke put down his book and took in Sakura's much shorter hair. Laughter exploded from Naruto as he pointed at the bruise on Sasuke's forehead.

"What the hell is that, Sasuke?" Naruto guffawed, drawing everyone else's attention. Sasuke scowled as he touched the sore spot.

"I don't even know. My brother just said something about a guy making a girl cry is bad enough and insulting a crying girl is worse or something like that," Sasuke grumbled. Sakura's eyes widened as she realized what Itachi was talking about and felt her insides go all fuzzy and warm as she reveled over Itachi's consideration for her. She felt Sasuke's stare and her bubble of happiness almost immediately deflated.

"You cut your hair," Sasuke observed and suddenly all eyes were on her. But somehow, it was different from when his brother was giving her all his attention. It felt like Sasuke was appraising her, somehow judging her worth based on her appearance. She resisted the strong urge to stick her tongue out at him.

"Good job noticing, Sasuke-kun," she said in a deadpan voice before turning back to Naruto. The blonde was gaping at her and she was fairly certain that the rest of the class was too. But she held her shoulders back and let the stares simply roll off her as she pointed at her notebook clutched in Naruto's hands.

"Get it back to me before first period starts," she instructed flatly and Naruto nodded exuberantly before he ran out of the room. Sakura sighed at Naruto's forgetfulness before she went back to reading her book. After a while, everyone seemed to get over her sudden cold treatment of Sasuke and went back to chattering among themselves. A few minutes later, there was a light tap on her shoulder.

"G-Good morning, Haruno-san."

Sakura turned around to meet a furiously blushing Hyuuga Hinata. She shut her book, flipping over the edge of her page to mark it.

"Oh, good morning, Hinata-chan," Sakura greeted her, a little surprised. She had barely ever heard the girl talk since they first met in middle school. Then again, with loud-mouthed Ino hogging all her attention, it was no wonder that she had never had a chance to speak with Hinata before. Sakura smiled and Hinata smiled back shyly.

"How was your summer break?" Sakura asked.

"Um… well… I spent most of my time with my sister and cousin at my family's villa. What about you, Haruno-san?" Hinata said. Sakura turned around in her chair to fully face her.

"I spent time with my friends, studied a little. Where's your family's villa?"

Hinata's face lit up when she realized that Sakura was trying to have a real conversation with her. Sakura was pleased but not too surprised that Hinata was a very nice person to talk to. Not many people approached her because they assumed that being from a wealthy family made her a snob. That, paired with the student council president's icy glare, kept most at bay. But Sakura didn't mind, especially since Hinata was just a genuinely good person.

"Haruno-chan, I hope you don't mind me asking, but why did you cut your hair?" Hinata asked, turning a little pink. It obviously took a lot of effort on her part to demand such a personal thing. When Sakura didn't answer, Hinata looked appalled.

"I'm sorry. That was rude of me. You don't have to-"

"I was suffocating," Sakura quietly replied. Hinata froze mid-sentence at Sakura's flat tone. But Sakura looked up at her with a smile.

"I mean, it was the summer and it was hot," she said and Hinata's expression cleared.

"It looks good on you, Haruno-san," Hinata said with her princess-like smile and it was Sakura's turn to blush a little at the unexpected compliment.

Soon after, Naruto ran in to interrupt their conversation and hand Sakura her homework. Sakura watched Hinata turn suspiciously red as the blonde babbled on before Kakashi walked into class and kicked Naruto out. Everyone groaned in unison when Kakashi collected the summer homework and immediately began teaching. It felt a little strange that after class, it was Hinata she was talking to and not her sitting bored while Ino was busy talking about her summer break. Since Ino usually liked to eat lunch with her other friends, Sakura had taken to eating quickly in the cafeteria before spending the rest of lunch break in the student council office doing extra work. But when Hinata asked her to join her for lunch, Sakura didn't hesitate to accept. It was nice having someone to chat to while she ate and she found that it was a lot easier to deal with Hyuuga Neji's harassment at the end of the day when his younger cousin quietly pointed out that he was being unnecessarily rude.

"I… didn't realize that you were friends with… Haruno-san," Neji stiffly said, saying her name like it was a disgusting bug's. Sakura was shocked by shy little Hinata's determination as she stood in front of Neji.

"Please be nicer to Haruno-san because she's a nice person, Neji-Nii-san," Hinata replied. Thoroughly embarrassed, he offered Sakura a half-assed apology before stalking off, leaving Sakura to marvel at Hinata's burst of confidence.

At the end of the day, as usual, Ino tried to shirk her duties as homeroom representative to go hang out with her friends. But for the first time, Sakura shook her head.

"I'm sorry, Ino-chan, but I have work to do too," Sakura firmly said and Ino, looking more surprised than annoyed, went off to do her own duties for the first time. That was why, when the building was quiet and Deidara came to pick her up on his motorcycle, Sakura was already waiting for him by the front gate.

"Woah! How are you already done with everything?" Deidara exclaimed as he handed her the usual helmet and waited for her to slip onto the seat behind him. Sakura couldn't hide her excitement as she buckled the strap under her shin and held on to Deidara's middle.

"I decided to stop worrying," she laughed as the motorcycle roared to life and they sped down the road together.

Reviews please so that Sasuke will be injured more in future chapters!