Author's Note: Hey guys! Thanks so much for the reviews! Here's the next chapter, and please tell me what you think. :) I love constructive criticism!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

"I'll go get us something to drink." I told Hinata who, like me, had been busily snapping away at photos of other couples throughout the night. After about an hour and a half, I wanted to get away from it for a few minutes.

Hinata nodded, and sat down in one of the crappy cafeteria chairs provided helpfully by one of the freshman helping out at the dance. Thankfully, the number of people arriving was slowly dwindling, and we were only getting the occasional group or couple.

I made my way through the crowd, making sure to stay near the edge so I wouldn't get caught in masses of dancing freshmen - who honestly just looked like they were flailing, but whatever. Finally, I reached the refreshment table, which would have began to look sparse if it wasn't for the Dance Committee. They really did work hard.

Before I could reach the table, however, someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around to see Naruto, who was grinning at me.

"Hey, you're Sakura right?" He looked as enthusiastic as ever.

"Yeah." Despite my usual annoyance with him, I couldn't help smiling back. I really did miss Naruto, I guess I just never thought about it until now.

"I'm sorry for running into you in the hallway." He said earnestly. "I never got a chance to apologize for that." I was automatically reminded of why everyone liked Naruto - he was nice to everyone. And I mean everyone.

"It's fine." I shrugged. "Really, don't worry about it."

Before he got a chance to reply, Ami appeared beside him. "So that's where you went." She snapped. "I've been looking everywhere for you." She noticed me, and narrowed her eyes. "What are you doing talking to my date, freak?"

"Ami-" Naruto started to say.

"Ugh, forget it. If you care more about your friends than me, this is over." Ami looked a little tipsy - I guess she had been drinking before she came to the dance.

Naruto didn't seem fazed. "Hey, I'm gonna go talk to Sasuke," he said, "but save me a dance, okay?"

I agreed - what could go wrong with that? Besides, I had been working hard all night, I could afford to have some fun.

While I was getting some punch for Hinata and me (after making sure it hadn't been spiked - I had never liked the taste of alcohol), I realized something - Ami had been Naruto's girlfriend for awhile last year, and he had been miserable. Now that I remembered it, they had definitely been going out for longer than until the homecoming dance. Was I meddling with things too much? Did it matter?

"Thank you so much." Hinata said, taking the cup of punch I handed to her.

"Thanks for helping me tonight." I replied, taking a seat next to her. The demand for photos was slowly diminishing, and we sat watching couples dance to a slow song. For a second, I felt lonely. I hadn't even come close to getting Sasuke, but then again, I had Hinata. Feeling this lonely was new to me, because I had always had Sasuke-

"Hey guys." Tenten showed up, grinning.

"I was wondering where you were." Hinata smiled.

"Someone left their camera equipment back at the game, so we had to go back for it." Tenten rolled her eyes. "Not to mention how I had to put on this stupid thing to look presentable." She indicated the dress she was wearing - light blue, and to her knees. It wasn't flattering, but it wasn't bad either. I made a mental note to get her to let me dress her next time. And get rid of those side buns.

"So how is it?" Tenten asked us briskly.

"It's going well." I answered, still sipping my drink. "I'm just glad the worst is over with."

Tenten immediately started going through the pictures I had already taken. "Not bad," she said, "I taught you well."

I took that as a compliment.

Tenten joined us for a few more minutes, and the left to go check on the Dance Committee and see if they needed any help. Hinata and I watched the dance for awhile, even singing along to some of the songs we knew. I was so caught up in it, that I didn't notice that Naruto had appeared beside us.

"You promised me a dance." He reminded me. Oh yeah.

I stood up, getting ready to go with him, when I realized something else. Hinata was still sitting in her chair, a pleasant smile on her face. I had forgotten, in my haste to make Shikamaru and Ino get together, that I had promised that Hinata would have fun. She did look happy, but would it really be a memorable night?

"Look," I said to Naruto, "see that girl? You should dance with her. I promise, you won't be disappointed. She's really nice."

Naruto shrugged. "If you say so, Sakura."

I giggled as Naruto pulled Hinata onto the dance floor without hesitating, and how she blushed and gave me an "I'm going to kill you" look. Whatever, I saw the way she looked at him in the hallway. Did she think I was oblivious?

Satisfied, I sat back down - alone now - and watched my former best friends, and my new best friend dance. It was a slow dance again, and Ino and Shikamaru were still together. It looked like Naruto had gotten Hinata talking, and they looked wrapped up in a conversation while they danced. Sometimes, last year, I would dance with Sasuke, and all we would do was talk. In fact, I could see him nearby, still dancing with Karin. He looked... happy I guess. I wished I knew what he was thinking.

Suddenly, I felt overcrowded. It was like the room was burning up and I had to go outside and get some air. I stood up, ignoring the head rush, and got to the door as fast as I could without looking like an idiot. Once I was outside the gym, I sat down on the pavement, ignoring what it might have done to my dress. The air was cool and crisp, on the borderline of cold - October weather - and I could still hear traces of the music from the inside of the gym.

I wondered if I would ever get to talk to the real Sasuke again, if I did fail. Were the memories he had of us lost forever, or were they just hidden away? If I did succeed, would he remember me again?

"Having fun?" An all-too-familiar voice said beside me.

As always, I was startled. "Why do you have to do that?" I said to Konan, who was now sitting beside me on the sidewalk.

She only smiled at me. It was a mysterious smile, but it looked different - she looked like she was pleased. "It was commendable of you for what you did for your friends."

I shrugged. "It's not like I stepped in front of a gun for them or anything."

"I noticed you haven't been trying as hard to gain Sasuke's favor." Konan continued, ignoring my response. "Whatever for, Sakura?"

It would be stupid of me to lie, so I told the truth. "I thought about it," I began, "and I'm not even sure if I deserve him - if he would be happier without me. I was his friend before, but I ended up treating him like crap. If I did succeed in this... who's to say that it wouldn't happen again? I want Sasuke to be happy." I felt my voice break, feeling stupid.

"What do you plan on doing?" Konan asked. I couldn't tell what she was thinking - the tone of her voice was devoid of emotion.

"I want to be his friend." I answered. "I can't stay away from him completely, but I'm going to stop trying so hard to be... well, flirty. I just want him to talk to me as a friend again. I can't bear it."

"You have a little over seven months." The witch/fairy/whatever-the-heck-she-was said, and then she was gone.

I reached up to wipe a tear that had been making a trail down my cheek. I hadn't realized I had started crying - talking about Sasuke did that to me these days.

I sat there for a while longer, listening to the muffled beat of whatever song the DJ was playing now. I wondered if Hinata and Naruto were still dancing - hoped, was more like it. I could give Hinata a good year, and have fun along the way.

Surprisingly, not being popular had taken a lot of stress off of me. I didn't have to worry about malicious girls gossiping behind my back despite calling me their "friend". I didn't have to worry about dressing up everyday to impress a certain group of people. Sure, it wasn't like no one disliked me - obviously Karin didn't - but there was less pressure. I liked that part of my situation.

The sound of a door slamming startled me, and I turned my head just in time to see Sasuke walking out of it. I watched him take the same path I had minutes before, and take a seat on the street curb.

"Er, hey there." I said, and then internally cursed myself. 'Hey there?' You deciding to become friends with him does not give you an excuse to start talking weird.

Sasuke, for once, looked surprised to see me there. I guess he hadn't been paying attention. "Sorry," he said after a moment, "I didn't realize that anyone else was out here."

I moved in closer, daringly, and said. "It's fine. Having a rough night?"

Sasuke shrugged. "It could be better."

"I know what you mean." I replied. "I've been taking pictures all night - talk about boring." At that point, I was saying anything just to make him keep talking to me. The yearning I felt at that moment just to speak to him was all-consuming.

He nodded. "It must be hard work."

"It wasn't that bad," I said, "sometimes it can even be fun."

"You helped with the yearbook club pictures too, right?" I couldn't believe it, he was actually making conversation with me. Well, at least, responding to what I was saying. That was good, right?

"Yep!" I said enthusiastically. If it was one thing I was proud of, it was my photography. Oh, and my art. Who knew that all it took to get hobbies besides shopping was losing all of my previous friends? "You were in a lot of them, I noticed."

He said something about being Student Body President (which he had been elected as - a landslide vote. I didn't even know why anyone would even try to run against him to be honest) and being involved in a lot of activities to support the school.

"And you're planning on going to Harvard in the fall, right?" I remembered him being so excited about getting accepted last year. Well, excited for Sasuke.

He gave me an odd, sideways look. "How did you know about that?" Oops, I had forgotten that he had kept that a secret until the spring semester.

"I think I heard Naruto talking about it." I replied quickly. Too quickly. He was suspicious now - I hoped that I didn't come across as a stalker. I didn't think about it much, but some girls did end up getting a little... attached to Sasuke.

"So why are you out here?" I changed the subject hastily.

"Things were getting a little... too intense." Sasuke said. For once, he sounded normal - like we were still friends.

"I know what you mean." I sighed. "I just needed a break from it all."

He nodded. "Naruto told me that Shikamaru was your date?"

I smiled, pleased that he knew that. "Well, yeah," I admitted sheepishly, "but I was only doing that so he would end up dancing with Ino instead of that jerk Kiba."

"He is a jerk, isn't he?" Sasuke was staring out across the street to the football stadium. His arm was still in a cast - it would only be a few weeks until it came off and he would have enough time to help the team win the first playoff game.

"Yep." I said again. I couldn't think of what else to say. What could I say that wouldn't make me look like I knew too much about him?

Unfortunately, he stood up after that. "I should probably get back." Sasuke said.

I nodded, "I should too. People need pictures, you know." The corner of his mouth twitched at that, and I felt a jolt of happiness.

We walked back in together, but split up once we stepped through the door. "I'll see you on Monday." I told him, before I returned to my place in the corner. He only nodded - the music was too loud.

Hinata wasn't back, I noticed, as I adjusted my camera. When I looked at the crowd, I could see her and Naruto, barely dancing to a slow song and talking. Every once in a while, Naruto would burst out laughing at something that Hinata said. Pleased with myself, I took a seat in one of the hard plastic chairs.

Thankfully, Tenten joined me after a few minutes. "How's it going?" She grinned.

"Good," I answered truthfully. After talking to Sasuke, I felt like my nerve endings were on fire. A good fire.

"I think this is going to be the most successful homecoming dance in school history." Tenten said, a little too seriously.

I played along. "One day, there will be a monument built to celebrate the pure awesomeness of this event."

"To commemorate the Dance Committee, of course." Tenten added. "Or just me."

I smiled, and watched my friends - Shikamaru and Ino were dancing so close it looked like they were clinging to each other. Good, I accomplished what I set out to do.

"You look happy," Tenten said.

I shrugged. "I am." I said, surprised at how true that actually was. We spent the rest of the night talking, and watching our peers dance, and I realized how I could be happy without being surrounded by a group of friends all the time.

The next day, I found myself immediately confronted by Ino in English class. I took my usual spot in the back, and was surprised when Ino sauntered to sit in the desk in front of mine.

"So," Ino said, "you're the girl who took Shikamaru to the homecoming dance."

I eyed her. She didn't look mad or anything... just curious. "Yeah," I answered. "But it's not what you think. Really."

"You set us up, didn't you?" Ino went straight to the point.

I shrugged, "I guess I did." It was hard not to start grinning. I was still coming off the high from the dance last Friday night. After the dance, Hinata had come over to my house and we had talked about what happened - the last time I heard she was going to see a movie with Naruto next week-

"Thank you," Ino said, her voice breaking me out of my thoughts. For a second, it was like we were best friends again.

"No problem," I replied. "I-"

"Ino, what are you doing?" Karin's annoyingly shrill voice interrupted what I was going to say. "What are you doing?"

Ino ignored her. "But how did you know? That he liked me, I mean."

"I'm good at reading people." This was sort of true. I mean, Shikamaru hadn't even told me that he liked Ino last year - I had just picked it up and bothered him so much that he finally confessed.

"Well, thanks again." Ino gave me a little smile. "I'm so glad I'm not going out with Kiba anymore. I didn't realize how much of a jerk he was until last weekend."

"I know," I gushed. "Talk about self-centered. All he wants to talk about is how much he can bench press!"

Ino gave me a weird look. "You knew about that?"

Of course I did, I went out with him too. "I've heard rumors." I said hastily, instead. Why did I always have to blurt things out without thinking? That kind of thing would get me in trouble one day if I didn't know how to control it.

Our teacher Kakashi came in after that - well after the bell had rung - and Ino returned to her usual spot with Karin and her friends. I felt a little sad after that, it had been the first time I had really talked to Ino in months. I missed her so much.

"What was that?" Hinata asked, once Ino had left.

I told her a watered-down story about how I had noticed Shikamaru liked Ino and set them up. "I can't stand Kiba," I concluded. "Ino definitely could have done better. And now she is."

"You really like to help people, don't you?" Hinata gave me a tiny smile.

I shrugged. "You could say that."