Sasuke casually walked out of the store, when he heard a familiar scream…

"TEME!"

Sasuke sighed. He was hoping to sneak away and just go home.

"Where the hell have you been? I called you like 20 times, but it kept going straight to voicemail. You were ignoring me, weren't you?!"

Saskue pulled his phone from his pocket and held it up to him. "No signal."

Naruto looked confused, so Shikamaru enlightened him. "You should've known the mall has crappy reception."

Naruto scratched his head. "Eh…right. I knew that."

In the back of his mind, he appreciated that no one questioned why he had walked out of the store behind him. Maybe they didn't notice.

"About time you showed up!" Ino hollered as Sakura approached the shop. To her surprise, Tenten and Hinata were standing with her.

Ignoring Ino's outburst, Sakura looked to them. "What are you guys doing here?"

Hinata smiled. "I-Ino told us you guys were here, and we d-decided to come, too."

Tenten grinned. "Yeah. We couldn't leave you to suffer alone, Sak."

Ino growled, annoyed at being ignored, "And what's that supposed to mean?"

Thinking fast, Sakura spoke up. "So did you pick a dress, Pig?"

Ino blinked before getting really excited. "I did! And it's the cutest thing ever! But you won't believe how many dresses I had to go through to find it. And it would've gone faster if someone had stayed to help!"

Trying to keep a war from starting, Hinata tried to distract Ino with another topic. "S-so, if you got a dress, does that m-mean you chose your date yet?"

What happened next was like the sign of the apocalypse. Ino blushed like a shy school girl!

"Actually, I met someone else. He's in the class ahead of us, but we have the same art class. He's been…giving me pointers. And he's really nice, not to mention super cute! He hasn't exactly asked me yet, but he will! I know he will! And if he doesn't, then this dress will make him sorry he didn't!"

When Ino noticed their eyes still on her, she decided to change the subject again. She coughed a little before turning back to Sakura.

"So, where were you, anyway? It doesn't take that long to get a bite."

Sakura began to sweat a little. She started to move her eyes around, looking anywhere but at them.

"Well… I kind of… ran into someone, and he-"

"HE?!" All three girls chimed. Sakura spending time with a boy was definitely not something that happened every day.

Sakura sweat-dropped. Great. Now I'll have to tell them everything. She sighed. "Come on. Let's go sit."

They found a spot near a coffee shop. There, Sakura told her story. "And that's it. You called me, and I came to meet up with you."

Ino raised an eyebrow. "Do you really expect us to believe that, Sakura? What would the great Sasuke Uchiha want with you? No offense."

Seeing the flash of hurt in Sakura's eyes, Ino realized her mistake and was about to apologize like crazy, but Hinata quickly chimed in to save her. "Uh, I think she means that Sasuke isn't one to…meet new people. He sticks to his friends."

Tenten lazily glanced at her while her cheek rested in her propped up hand. "That and he can't stand the opposite gender."

"I know. I'm just as confused as you guys."

Ino leaned back and folded her arms. "I mean, why would he randomly go up to you? He probably doesn't know you go to the same school, let alone the same class."

Sakura gave a small, nervous laugh. "Actually…"

Ino's eyes widened as her arms unfolded, and she leaned forward to get in Sakura's face.

"Sakura… what aren't you telling us?"

Hinata and Tenten leaned in to listen, their own eyes filled with curiosity. Sakura was trying with all of her might not to blush.

"I- I didn't think it was that big of a deal. Sasuke kind of… found me on the roof and we talked."

She didn't go into details of that incident. There's no way I'm telling them I was crying again.

"Ever since then, he keeps showing up like some stalker. He's walked me to class, he took me to work, and he even came back to take me home. Now he just so happened to run into me here…" She looked up to see her friends' expressions of disbelief. "What?"

Suddenly, Ino and Tenten grinned. "Oh, come on, Sakura. You can't be that naïve."

"What?" she repeated.

Ino couldn't help but squeal. "OMG, he's obviously got a thing for you!"

Sakura couldn't stop it anymore and immediately blushed. Hinata began to smile. "Oh, Sakura, that's wonderful!"

She started waving her hands in front of her face, trying to defend herself. "No! No! That's not possible! He's from a completely different world! He couldn't…"

"Let me ask you something." Sakura stopped and looked at Ino, who was carefully examining her as she spoke. "How do you feel about this?"

Sakura frowned. "Really uncomfortable. You guys are asking way too many questions."

Ino shook her head. "No, no, I mean how you feel about Sasuke."

Sakura looked down. "Umm… I don't really know. I mean, he's not as cold as everyone says he is. He's actually kind of… sweet, in a way. As creepy as he is."

Ino's eyes softened. "Sakura… You like him."

"What? No way! It's not like that! Why would I like a stalker like him?!"

"You did seem sort of happy when you came back. You were practically skipping." Tenten pointed out.

"I…was?" Now she was completely mortified! She shook her head. "It's not like that at all. I was happy to help him get away from Karin. He seemed desperate, so I helped him out. I owed him, anyway."

Her friends looked at her knowingly, but they dropped the subject.

Sakura spent the rest of the day at the mall, but her mind was elsewhere the whole time. She couldn't stop thinking about was Ino said.

I…like Sasuke? Do I? When she thought about it, she wasn't sure. It's not like she ever had a boyfriend, so she didn't know how to feel.

Now she was home in her room. Her mom wouldn't be back for a while yet, so she had some time to herself to think.

Why would I like him? He's one of them: popular and arrogant. Why waste time on me? It's just a coincidence…right? I only helped him because I owed him…right?

She wasn't sure about anything anymore. She remembered seeing him tailed by Karin, and she decided to help him out… but there was no thought of owing him anything. He was just a guy in need, and she wanted to help him. Then he spent time with her, even after Karin had gone… that can't be a coincidence, can it?

Remembering something, she went to her desk and pulled out her photos. She stared at them for a while, and then she smiled. I feel… different around him. Like I'm not afraid anymore.

She held her head. What's wrong with me? I can't fall for someone like him. It's not right. It's impossible.

She turned her head to look at her guitar, sitting in the corner. She had brought it home for the weekend, and she figured now was a good time to practice. She picked it up. Without realizing what she was doing, she automatically strummed the chords.

Mrs. Haruno snuck in the house. She got off work a little early and wanted to surprise her daughter. She had just bought an adorable cake for the two of them to share. No occasion. She just didn't get a lot of quality time with her lately.

She walked up the stairs to tell Sakura, when she stopped. She was playing guitar again. Her heart felt a little heavy. Like father, like daughter, she thought to herself. She gave a sad smile. She couldn't help that she still missed her husband. She listened closely, knowing there had to be a reason behind the song she picked.

Why can't I breathe whenever I think about you?

Why can't I speak whenever I talk about you?

Mrs. Haruno knew that song. She knew the words by heart. If Sakura was singing that…

She cut her playing off when she knocked on the door. She heard the guitar squeak; Sakura must have been startled. "I'm coming in, honey."

She opened the door and slowly walked in to sit next to Sakura on her bed. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Sakura stared at her, faking innocence, but her mother knew better. "You're like your father. He used music to express his feelings. Judging by your song choice, I'd say you're confused about something. A boy, maybe?" She winked, but not in a mocking way.

Sakura looked down. Her mom always had a way of reading her. "Yeah. There's this guy… he never pays attention to anyone, but out of nowhere he started being nice to me. The worst part is… I think I like having him around."

Mrs. Haruno smiled. "Now, why is that a bad thing? You're allowed to feel happy, you know."

Sakura stared at her feet as her mom kept talking. "If your father were here, he'd probably say something like, 'You can't like boys! You're still a baby!'"

It was an attempt to lighten the mood. Sakura did snicker a little. Mrs. Haruno put an arm around her.

"I know it's confusing now. But just wait. When the time comes, you'll just… know."

Sakura looked up at her. "Is that what happened to you?"

She smiled. "Something like that. Your father had a reputation as a troublemaker, so people usually stayed away from him. But the moment I heard him sing as he played his guitar… I think I knew that he was more than that."

Sakura thought back to what she had said to Ino. 'He's not as cold as everyone says he is.'

Mrs. Haruno kept reminiscing. "I got to know him better. We spent more time after class. Then one day, he sang a song just for me. At that moment, I felt like I never wanted him to leave my side."

A tear appeared on her cheek. Sakura pulled her into a hug.

"I miss him, too."

They stayed like that for a little while, until her mom broke the embrace.

"Well, enough of that. He wouldn't want us wallowing like this. Let's go downstairs. I picked up a treat on the way home."

At the thought of a treat, Sakura jumped off the bed and dashed down the stairs, leaving her mother smiling and shaking her head. I can't believe our baby's grown so much, yet she's still such a child at heart. She looked at a family photo from when Sakura was much younger. She looked at her husband, beaming while his daughter sat on his lap. She's just like you.

Elsewhere, Karin looked at the group of girls before her, all in tears as if the world was about to end. Which, it kind of was. Sasuke Uchiha had been spotted hanging out with a reject, when he could've been spending time with one of them. Karin scoffed. As if any of these girls have a chance with my Sasuke, but I can still put them to use.

"Cut it out! Now's not the time for tears! I have a plan that'll put Haruno back in her place. When we're done, she won't show her face in the light of day again!" She pulled out a notebook, opening it to her written plan.

"So here's what we need to do…"

Remember, I do NOT own Naruto!

Song: Why Can't I? by Liz Phair