KONNICHIWA!! I'm back!

Standard disclaimer applied.


Chapter Seven: Sweet Sasu-kun mode

Sakura found her self in the middle of… nowhere. She trembled as thoughts of being alone struck her. Tears started to form in the corner of her eyes as she desperately looked for everyone else. After sometime of running endlessly through the foreign place filled with literally nothing, she felt her legs give up and she let herself cry. Her sobs echoed, bouncing off of nothing. She closed her eyes which eventually snapped open when she heard someone call her.

"Otou-san?" she whispered with much uncertainty, then, she opened her eyes.

She beamed as soon as she saw her father towering over her small form.

His father held out his arms, welcoming her to an embrace. Sakura immediately complied by reaching out as well. He vanished as soon as she touched his skin.

Her eyes widened in disbelief as tears were created in the corer of her eyes though she refused to shed them.

She shook her head ferociously and once again, continued her search.

She subsequently saw everyone, they who belong to the Uchiha clan. They had their backs turned but Sakura didn't loose faith. She ran and ran towards them but they never felt near, and no matter how fast she sprinted, she never reached them.

Tears cascaded down her face once more as they vanished like his father but before that happened, she saw the distinct face of Itachi Uchiha, who had a smile curved in his lips.

They did vanish, but she never stopped running.

"Sakura."

She suddenly turned her head as soon as she heard Sasuke's voice. She smiled as she watched light form from above.

"Sakura, come."

She then reached out her hands towards the light that illuminated the dark place.

"Sakura…"

"Sakura, wake up."

Sakura stirred in her sleep. Sasuke shook his head when Sakura didn't open her eyes.

"Don't you want to go to school, you lazy bum?"

Sakura finally fluttered her eyes open and beamed when she saw Sasuke. She suddenly put her arms around him in a tight hug and soon, she was sobbing.

Sasuke ran his hands through her hair for comfort, massaging her scalp gently in the process.


"What happened?" he asked in a soothing voice.

"I-I had a-a dream. Eve…ry…one vanishes. T-then I heard y-your voi…ce." She sobbed. Sasuke patted her hair, as he stood up, saying it is alright. She nodded.

"Now, you have to get ready for school or you'll be late."

"Hai. Wakata, otou-san. (Okay. I understand, father.)" She said, chuckling. Sasuke snorted upon hearing her. He turned towards the door, and stopped for a moment when she called him.

He then felt her hugging him from behind.

They stayed like that for a moment before Sakura spoke.

"Gomen, ne, Sasuke-kun. I think I did something wrong that's why you're angry at me. G-Gomenasai!!" Sasuke turned to look at her but did not break the tight hug. He patted her hair for a moment.

"Sorry as well. I avoided you even if you don't know why. I'm the reason why you're having such lonely nightmares." He whispered, and Sakura felt her cheeks heating up. She smiled, though.

"D-Daijobu."

Sasuke nodded. Then, almost suddenly, a smirk appeared in his features. Sakura tilted her head in confusion as she watched Sasuke open the door. Before going outside, he tilted his head to the side to slightly face her.

"Stupid girl, Uchihas don't stutter." Then, he banged the door close. She puffed her cheeks a while later and stuck her tongue out at the closed door. "Idiot."


"IDIOT! IDIOT! IDIOOOOOOOOT!" Sakura breathed out as she ran towards the school building.

"THAT EGOISTIC, IDIOTIC BEAST-BASTARD DARED LEAVE ME ONCE AGAIN!" she screamed whilst running. "I'M SO GOING TO KILL HIM!"

She soon entered the school building and ran all the way towards her classroom. She barged in a little too vociferously that it attracted attention but she couldn't care less. She directed her attention on her target.

She stomped her way towards him, pushing fangirls away if necessary.

"OHAYO SAKURA-CHAN!!" she paused.

And with a smile, she greeted. "Ohayo, Naruto", then stomped her way towards her target once again. Naruto sweat dropped.

Arriving at her destination, she dropped her hand on his table rather viciously that her tiny hands became red. Sakura glared at him and he stared back nonchalantly.

"You left me." She pointed out, too bluntly for his taste. He responded with a cool 'hn' with a matching smirk that fangirls on the background swooned at the sight.

She closed her eyes. "Why did you do that?" she asked, calmly, and Sasuke inwardly flinched, regretting his actions a little bit but, being an Uchiha, he placed pride before remorse, and with him propping up his chin on a fist with his elbow touching the table confirmed that.

"I thought you would follow eventually, but I guess your speed is not as fast as I expected." He said with a mocking smirk. "Next time I would make sure I leave the house when you're already 10 meters away."

Sakura's left eye twitched as she became red in anger. She breathed in and out, and shifted as if readying herself for something Sasuke found hard to decipher. She then leaned close to his ear with a sweet smile then,

"I SOOO HATE YOU, EGOISTIC BASTARD-SAN! I'M NOT GOING TO TALK TO YOU ANYMORE!" She screamed that Sasuke thought his ear would fall off and with a final 'hummphh', she stomped back to her seat with such dangerous aura. Sasuke sat in his place, frozen on his spot.


Classes eventually started and as fast as it began, the end came shortly. Sasuke stared at the wall clock above the door and noted that there's only 30 minutes before the break in between period. He started to formulate plans on his mind.

The plans and his corresponding remarks which are apparently written in bold:

A: Tickle her until she talked –nah… there's a possibility that she'll hate me as it is--

B: Be blunt and say I'm sorry –pride, man—

C: Tease her –quite irresistible for her part but if she's damn serious about what she said, I'll be off the hook—

D: Neko mode – Once again, pride man demo -blushes- it worked last time. It was very much effective.—

And so, he settled for the last one because when he started thinking about it, the ideas that could possibly enter his mind cannot… well… enter.

Students in the classroom quickly dispersed as soon as the bell rang and he noticed that he and Sakura are the only ones left behind. He sighed as he watched her take final notes about the lesson.

He sneaked behind her and suddenly rubbed his cheek against hers. She blushed at his action and tried to continue with what she's doing and ignore him when he wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled her neck in which she reacted by a squeal of surprise. He kissed her cheek softly, and then rubbed his cheek against hers once more.

"S-Sasuke-kun! Yamete! Onegai?(Stop. Please?)"

She felt him smirk. "You know what to say."

She snorted childishly. "Betsuni.(Not really)" Sasuke tightened his hug and nuzzled her neck. She yelped.

"OKAY! OKAY! You're forgiven!"

"I knew it'll work." He said with a chuckle, pulling away.

She snorted. "Yeah right. Now you're starting to be out of character once more. Now, be a good boy or it'll last for a week like last time. How did you come up with that stupid technique anyway?"

"First of all, how can it be stupid when it works? And, well, I don't know myself." Sakura chuckled.

They stayed quiet for a moment, both enjoying the comfortable silence with Sasuke just looking at the window looking as cool as ever and Sakura taking down final notes.

Soon, Ino entered the room gracefully with her long blonde hair trailing behind her. She sat beside Sasuke.

"Konnichiwa, Sasuke-kun. (Hello)"

He responded with a slightly audible 'hn'.

"Flower festival." She whispered. Sasuke merely nodded.

He raised an eyebrow when she then hastily turned to face him with a persistent and determined look on her face. She bowed her head saying, "Can you come with me on the night of the flower festival? Onegai."

He looked at her in the corner of his eyes whilst Sakura's jaw dropped in shock. He looked at Sakura before looking back at the window. After Ino's statement, nothing else was said and she knows pretty well that it's a bitter no, and to top that, it was an 'I couldn't care less'.


Soon, it will be sunset. Sakura and Sasuke stayed beside the lake as cherry blossoms fell around them due to maturity since they had recently blossomed.

Sasuke was laying down the grass while Sakura let her feet stay on the water, playing with it when she feels like it.

Staring at the sky, she said, "Ne, Sasuke-kun, why don't you go with Ino-chan tomorrow?"

"Hn." Sakura pouted.

"Ike. (Go)" she persuaded.

Sasuke opened an eye. "Do you even know when and what a flower festival is?"

She nodded. He closed his eye. "Explain, then."

"Well, flower festival here starts in the midnight, welcoming the 20th of March and it is celebrated to commemorate the start of spring and give thanks to kami-sama." She smiled at her intelligent answer that almost sounded like a robot speaking. "That's what the book said."

He then sat up. "I don't feel lazy anymore. We'll go to the festival." He said.

'…since you never saw one.' He added in his thought.

"B-But!" She started and received a stern look from him.

"Ino-chan." She whispered to herself but apparently, Sasuke heard it.

He blew his bangs from frustration. "Ino attended that damned festival already. She doesn't need me there. You do." He then walked away and Sakura thought he said something like, "stupid girl". She sighed.


It was already the 19th of March and Sakura has awakened on a bed of flowers. She squealed in delight as she threw the pink petals into the air. It eventually fell on her hair. She laughed vigorously. She then heard a low chuckle and saw Sasuke behind, leaning his back against a tree trunk.

As they made eye contact, Sasuke shook his head, muttering how childish she is. Sakura heard.

"It's okay for me to be childish, idiot." She retorted. "I'm a goddamned 10 years old girl." She pointed out, sticking her tongue out. Sasuke's face became serious.

"Who taught you that?" he received widened eyes and snorted as she repeatedly apologized for such foul language.

Sakura chuckled nervously. "How did I get here? Where did these come from?" She asked, hoping to change the subject.

"Don't use that again." She nodded remorsefully. "I was cleaning the fallen petals a while ago..."

He continued. "…and gathered them in a pile. I thought you'd like them so I laid you there before it gets ugly."

"Arigato, ne?" she said, while playing with the beautiful petals.

"Hana hime.(flower princess)" He muttered. She snapped her head in curiosity and what answered her was a smirk.

"You look like a hana hime just now." Sakura blushed at her comment.

"Ne, Sasuke-kun…" she paused, "Sasu-kun, you're quite not yourself these past few days. Are you okay?" Sasuke grunted at her remark, and then turned to leave.

Before he went out of sight, he heard Sakura say in a sing-song voice, "JUST POINTING OUT THE OBVIOUS!"


Before they know it, it was already night time. Sakura was dressed in a black kimono with white flowers in it, and her obi was red. Her hair was tied in a bun held together by a white chopstick used for decorating hair. Sasuke was in a usual yukata.

On their back lies the Uchiha fan.

When they arrived, Sakura went to every interesting stall she laid her eyes on. Though tired of being pulled here and there, you can see a small smile plastered on the Uchiha Sasuke's face.

"Ne, Sasu-kun, do you like this white mask or this black mask? Choose your pick."

"Kuro (black)." he said, then, Sakura immediately put it on her face. "It matches my kimono, ne, Sasu-kun?" he nodded. She purchased it right away and dragged him towards an accessory stall when their female classmates, a.k.a. fangirls, blocked Sasuke's way as the oblivious Sakura went straightly to the stall.

"Fancy meeting you here, Sasuke-kun." A brown-haired girl said.

"Why don't you accompany us for a moment?"

"Yeah, and we'll make sure you enjoy the night."

Sasuke ignored the girls as he tried to catch Sakura's form. His right eyebrow twitched as he tried to move away but those fangirls kept on blocking his way. He was about to break away roughly when a certain blonde-haired girl pushed them away from him only to flood him with the same lines the girls from awhile ago chanted like trained actresses.

He sighed almost in disbelief when he lost sight of Sakura.

Meanwhile,

"A-re(huh)? Where's Sasu-kun." Sakura wondered as she held the newly purchased item by her chest. She felt her throat tighten when she saw Sasuke leaving with Ino.

'Well, at least he's finally with Ino-chan.' She thought as she smiled bitterly. She then skillfully avoided the throng.

Afterwards, she found a small hill that almost looked like a mound of earth near the festival grounds and rested in its green grass to wait for the fireworks in solitude. She read the scroll she recently purchased while waiting for the display to begin.

Once she saw that fireworks are being readied, she put away her reading material and hugged her knees close to her chest to watch.

As the first fireworks went off, she felt a pair of lips against the skin over her cheek bone. She smiled when he whispered 'I found you' on her ear.

She stretched out her right arm as if she was trying to reach them and positioned her fingers as if she was holding them. She felt another kiss on her cheek.

"Don't let go again." She nodded and he watched as the fireworks mirrored on her clear emerald eyes. He smiled when she reached out and held his hand and rubbed them against her cheek.

END OF CHAPTER!

TBC

Author's note:

Konnichiwa minna-san! It felt bad to not update sooner so I made it longer than usual. You know the usual writer's block.

Anou, I made up the festival. I'm not sure if it exist thought. : P

Read and review okay?

Tell what's in your mind. Tell if it's a so far so good. Tell me if there's something wrong.

Well, that's all. See you next time.

Hugs n' kisses,

Kaoru masachika