Sakura couldn't sleep that night, after her bath. She tossed and turned, walked about in her room and watched a little television, but nothing worked. Her senses weren't relaxed; she kept on thinking that something bad was going to happen at the party. I mean, why would a person just suddenly email random people, telling them to go to their party? For no reason, and just because that person was bored was no exception. She wanted to phone Ino, but thought twice about it, knowing the young lady would kill her if she interrupted her beauty sleep.

But she interrupted out bath!

'While we, I, was still awake.'

She cuddled into her comforter, pink hair in her face. Her fingers in a fist, clutching her pillow. Bunny-chan was staring at the opposite wall of them. Its eyes shined from the moonlight; its bow seemed like it was black instead of blue. The stuffed toy shifted when Sakura moved around.

"Oh, Bun-chan, you can't sleep either?"

Now you're talking to your stuffed toy. What are you going to do next? Dance with it?

'Well, I'm talking to you, so it wouldn't be suprising.'

How dare you!

'Nyah.'

She resumed back to talking with her stuffy. Sakura's head travelled through her memories until it came to one where she received the bunny. She smiled a sad smile, fingers sliding down the side of the toy.

"Hey, Sakura-chan!"

She raised her head from her ramen, looking to her side.

"Hi, Naruto."

Naruto grinned, his face that once seemed to be like a baby had now matured. His personality, though, hadn't. He sat down next to her, not wanting any ramen (which really suprised the owner of Ichiraku), and said in a serious, dead tone,

"I need your help."

Sakura raised an elegant eyebrow, signalling for him to continue.

"Hinata's birthday is coming soon, and I need to find her a present!"

"And you need my help because..."

He took hold of both her shoulders and shook her.

"Don't you get it? I need your help to find the perfect present for her, which is going to be hard because I have no idea what she likes!"

"How long have you two been together?" Sakura asked, shaking her head.

Naruto's face appeared with a faint blush when he let go of her.

"I wouldn't say that we're together, just... close friends?" It sounded more like a question than a statement to her.

She stood up, putting some money on the counter, right next to the napkins. Walking out, she said (with a little happiness in her voice),

"Are you coming?"

"H-hai!"

--

The two came to a toy store; the shopkeeper bowing as they came in. They too, bowed. Sakura searched high and low on the shelves, saying no to this one and that one. It was like she scanned the entire shop.

"Uh, miss, is there anything that interests you?" A woman, probably an assistant, asked Sakura.

"I'm trying to find a gift for a friend."

"Him?"

She pointed to Naruto, who was standing right beside a big orange elephant. He waved a little, foot tapping. Boy, wasn't he impatient.

"Oh, no. I'm helping him. Is there anything that stands out from all of these?"

"There are some rabbits," the woman hesitated, "but they're not for sale yet."

"May we see them?"

She led them around the pink counter, although it was darker than Sakura's hair colour. She opened some boxes, which revealed cute, multicoloured toy rabbits.

"How much are they?"

"\ 1000 each."

"We'll take three." Naruto popped up, grabbing three. One was blue, the second one orange and the third, white.

Sakura didn't ask him why then, but after they begged the owner to sell them (okay, so Naruto did) she did.

"Three?"

"One for Hinata-chan, one for me, and one for you!"

He handed the white one to Sakura, ignoring her protests.

"An early Christmas present."

After that, Naruto was called on a mission to retrieve Sasuke. He went with Shikamaru and Neji, but in the end they failed. They came back to be urgently rushed to the hospital, where they stayed in for a few weeks. Sakura had visited and healed them, putting on fake smiles each time. Naruto hung his head in failure, apologizing repeatedly to her. She said nothing.

'That was two months ago. Then, he came back.'

Say, when's your birthday?

'You know it. How could you forget?'

A few more weeks until your birthday. How are you going to spoil yourself?

'Nothing.'

Her inner sighed and gave up the strength to converse with her. Sakura was so stubborn sometimes. Just like her mother. Sakura thougth back to her mother, her beautiful, wise mother. She always knew what to do at any situation. Best known for her temper, too. The way her bright eyes glowed in anger everytime she got mad at her husband, her hair (although only up to her shoulders) covered in a shining glare that was so radiant. How Sakura missed her so much, no one could compare to it. At times like this, she dared not to look in the mirror, for she was the spitting image of her okaasan, except for the exception of the colour of the hair. She had gotten that from her father.

Her clock hit midnight, indicating she had stayed up for more than two hours. The moon hung bravely up against the navy sky, surrounded by glittering stars. Sakura loved the stars, for some reason. They reminded her of everyone she knew or met. The bright, confident star near the moon was Naruto, determined to be the best. The one next to it was not so much shining, but you could still notice it. It wavered when it blinked, bringing an image of the Hyuuga heiress to mind. How ironic that the stars would be beside each other.

--

Eyes the colour of the night stared up at the blinking wonders in the sky. Scenes of what was happening a few hours ago ran through his mind like a movie. Women. He snorted silently. Outside his room he could hear snoring coming from Suigetsu. He would never get use to sleeping with that sound near him. It sounded like a truck running over five lions at the same time without hesitation.

He groaned when he heard him double up the volume. Closing his eyes, then opening them, revealing blood-red eyes. It wasn't the snoring that made it activate, it was the resemblance of the night to the night his clan was killed. It was almost exact. It was so peaceful, but you wouldn't know what would happen next. A bloodcurdling scream, the sound of a sword slicing through the air. Too much anxiety for one man to handle.

Then his thoughts wound up to the pink haired ninja. Her smile directing to him, and only him. Not Naruto, not Kakashi, not to anyone else but him. Sasuke... Sasuke... Her voice echoed in his head. Such a melodic voice, even he would have to admit it. He had missed her especially, making each day at Sound for him hard to live.

Only the knocking from his door broke his train of thoughts. The colour of his eyes quickly reverted back to normal.

"Hn," he muttered, more to himself than to the person.

"Sasuke-sama?" Karin opened the door. She stepped in, closing it in the process. What was she thinking? "I knew you wouldn't be able to sleep; me neither."

"Ah."

"Sasuke," she said, dropping the sama, "what's on your mind? You seemed distant these past few days. Does it have something to do with that Sakura girl?"

Silence.

"I don't get it. How is she so important to you? I mean, you left her on a bench for Pete's sake! Then you come back here just to see her again?"

Nothing.

"Stop with the no answer thing. She's just a useless little girl that holds onto her fantasy dream like there's no tomorrow. You don't need her."

"You don't know."

"She's just your ex-teammate."

"You're just a member of the team."

"But you left her. I happen to know she was no use to your old team back in those days. All she did was stand there, waiting to be rescued by you. She didn't try."

Fustration in her voice. She obviously didn't know about the time in the Forest of Death, then.

"You are not her. She can't be replaced."

She loathed the way he said that.

"So what, now she's your world? Don't lie, Sasuke. You pity her. You're just too nice."

"There's a difference."

"You think she's still the girl who told you that she loved you? She told me, Sasuke. She hates you. With every fiber of her body."

A lie.

"She's moved on. You know that, too. No one can stay the same for long. Accept the fact, Sasuke. You're just denying it."

Living a lie.

--

She felt something wet on her cheek. What was that, a tear? Now, why was she crying. She had nothing to be sad about. The stars, they were so gorgeous, she couldn't take her eyes away. She payed little attention to the tear. Everyone who was important to her resembled a star. Tsunade-shishou, Kakashi-sensei, though correctly, he wasn't her sensei anymore, all her friends. She was selfless. Cared about everything and everyone else except herself. Worked hard, no complaints.

She felt another tear. It ran down faster than the other, hitting the surface of her hand with a barely audible splash. This was silly. It was like she had no control over her emotions. Like a controlling jutsu...

Sakura had read about those in her studies. Not much was written, as they were rare to master, even to those who had great chakra control. The user could take over the victim's emotions and make them tell all their secrets, whether or not the person struggled as hard as they could.

But who would? No, it wasn't a jutsu. The scroll mentioned that it gave a tingling sensation to the limbs of the victim. It wasn't that, it was that she was turning back to the twelve year old girl she had been years before, the one who fangirled over Uchiha Sasuke and would do anything for him. Watching him together with Karin pained her. No, it was wrong. They weren't even together. Maybe, but she had no proof.

But I'm still a bit naive with these feelings...

--

Please don't be disappointed about this chapter. I really think that my writing has improved by a mile, maybe less. I've been reading "A Christmas Carol", by Charles Dickens and it has really helped me. A big thanks to those who have stuck by me from the start of this fic til now. I love you all, really.

Constructive critism encouraged, as always.