For those of you non-believers who thought I had given up: a-ha! And for those of you who have been waiting forever for me to update: I'm sorry. Midterms have been a nightmare and once again it's 2 am while I type this. Updates will probably continue to be a little spotty and irregular, but I'll try my best to keep writing for all you wonderful readers out there.

I hope you enjoy!


Fancy Footwork

Chapter 9: Limelight

"You're wearing a hole in the floor, Kitten," Kisame snorted. Sakura ignored him as she continued pacing frantically across the practice room. Her shaking hands were clenched together in front of her. She glanced out the window every few seconds until Sasori got up from the old, cushioned bench pushed against the wall. The red-head wordlessly took her by the shoulders, steered her to the bench and made her sit.

"Sit. Stay," he flatly said. Stunned, Sakura stared up at him. Lately, Sasori seemed to be under the impression that she was some sort of small dog. Mildly insulted, Sakura crossed her arms over her chest and turned away with a sniff. When the door opened a few minutes later, Itachi was met with Sasori expressionlessly patting the top of Sakura's head. Itachi was balancing a cardboard tray holding five cups of iced coffee in one hand and a paper shopping bag in the other. He froze completely as he took in Sakura's highly disgruntled expression.

"Good…morning?" he hesitantly said. Itachi looked over at Kisame who simply shrugged as he chewed happily on one of Sakura's sandwiches.

"Um… I think it would be a good idea to leave Sakura-san alone, senpai," Itachi slowly said, meeting Sasori's blank gaze. With a slow nod, Sasori stood and wandered off to the other side of the room. Itachi sighed as he crouched in front of her and offered up the tray of coffee like a peace offering. Her lower lip stuck out in a pout but the pull of caffeine was much too strong for her to hold a grudge for long.

"Thank you," she finally said as she took a cup of sweet pick-me-up and took a long sip through the straw. Itachi reached over to pass the tray to Kisame before he settled on the bench beside her. He dropped the paper bag in her lap. Curious, Sakura looked up into his face and only received a mysterious smile. At the sight of her present, Kisame handed off the coffee to Deidara before he scooted over on his butt cheeks to get a better look. Sakura tilted her head to the side as she reached into the bag and pulled out a black hoodie. She held it out in front of her to read the white letters printed on the back. There was a fluffy white cat wearing boxing gloves with 'KITTEN' written underneath. On the front were the words 'Akatsuki Crew' in matching curvy print.

"Oh," she simply said, staring at the hoodie. When she looked up, Kisame and Itachi were watching her intensely. She looked down and then back up, unsure of what to say. Unfortunately, Kisame seemed to take her silence as disapproval.

"I told you to use pink instead!" Kisame snapped, suddenly jumping to his feet. Bewildered, Sakura looked around until she realized that Kisame was glowering at Deidara. Deidara jumped up too, his expression mutinous.

"I told you not to write 'kitten' because now some old pedophile's going to be stalking her everywhere!" Deidara shouted back. He threw his arms around Sakura, who struggled to keep her coffee upright as Deidara nearly suffocated her. Completely baffled, Sakura peered up at Itachi who looked like he was trying his very best not to murder Deidara. But when she pulled her best puppy-dog face, asking for help, Itachi lifted his fist and ground it against Deidara's temple.

"Off," Itachi ordered. Groaning, Deidara reluctantly released her and stomped off.

"Sakura-chan never said that she didn't like it. Right?" Sasori piped up from the other side of the room. Everyone else froze in place as they all turned to look at him. His black messenger bag was open, revealing a giant plastic bag full of lollipops. He cleared his throat as he slowly closed the flap and pushed the bag behind him, away from prying eyes. After a moment, all eyes returned to Sakura.

"Kitten?" Kisame simply said, raising his eyebrows at her.

"Um…. I… I really love it," Sakura quietly admitted, blushing when Deidara's face broke into an impossibly wide grin.

"You're so cute, little Squirrely-chan," Deidara declared as he reached over to squish her cheeks between his hands. Sakura giggled at his ecstatic expression before Kisame wedged himself in between them, shoving Deidara out of the way.

"Thank you, everybody," Sakura said, looking down at the hoodie in her lap. She smoothed her hands over the soft fabric, running her fingertips along the outline of the white kitten. When she looked back up, she saw that Itachi was watching her hands too. Their eyes met and Sakura felt familiar warmth creeping up the back of her neck. And she knew that, undoubtedly, her cheeks would be a soft shade of pink as she looked up at Itachi and smiled.

"I'm glad you like it," Itachi responded as he reached out and gently mussed her hair. She tightly hugged the sweatshirt to her chest as she nodded vigorously, fighting the strange urge to laugh and cry at the same time. It must have been obvious because Kisame suddenly stood, yawning too loudly as he stretched his arms over his head.

"Man. I'm falling asleep here. Help me load the equipment in the van, Deidara," Kisame ordered as he prodded Deidara's shoulder. Grinning with equal vigor, Deidara got to his feet and hurried out, balancing two heavy cases full of wires and speakers. With the (generally) two loudest people gone, the dance studio was quiet once more. Sasori shook his head as he grabbed a nearby case and followed Deidara out, leaving Sakura staring awkwardly up at Itachi. A pause stretched between them before Itachi seemed to remember that his hand was still resting on her head. He pulled his hand back, murmuring a quiet apology.

"Um… we should probably help too," Sakura mumbled, clapping her hands over her cheeks so he wouldn't see the giant blush spreading across her cheeks. Itachi nodded mutely as he picked up a few bags and headed out the door. Once his measured footsteps had faded completely, Sakura put her hand over the place his palm had rested. She could almost feel the warmth and security he had momentarily given her. Though she tried to resist, a dreamy smile made its way across her lips. When Sakura looked up, Kisame was standing in the doorway with a knowing grin.

"How're things going, Mrs. Itachi?" he teased.


"Hey Kisame, isn't your cheek kind of red?" Deidara asked from the passenger's seat, glancing over at his friend. Kisame grumbled under his breath as he gave Deidara the middle finger. He then glared darkly into the rearview mirror, meeting Sakura's wide-eyed expression. His glower deepened when she gave him her best adorable smile.

"Evil squirrel," Kisame muttered under his breath as he turned his attention back to the road. Itachi and Sasori, sitting on either side of Sakura, exchanged concerned looks.

"What did you just call Sakura-chan?" Sasori inquired, clearly confused. But Sakura simply tittered and Kisame continued fuming, choosing to ignore the question altogether. The thirty minute drive to Konoha High School was mostly quiet, with Kisame only grunting in response to Deidara's directions. The black van puttered to a halt in front of the high school, barely avoiding hitting a hoodlum on his skateboard.

"Er… better drive around back," Deidara instructed, glancing back at Sakura who smiled nervously. She was startled when Sasori pulled a white baseball cap out of nowhere and fitted it snugly over her bright pink hair, carefully tucking stray strands behind her ears. Itachi helped by pulling her hood over the hat, completely shielding her hair and part of her face. When Kisame parked the van in the back of the school by the auditorium, Sakura's heart was pounding furiously. Still, by some terrible luck probably brought on by a cruel god laughing at her from the heavens, a boisterous voice broke through the quiet morning.

"Itachi-nii-chan! Morning!" Naruto crowed from the track, waving his arms over his head. Sakura's squeal of panic was drowned by four simultaneous groans while they watched the blonde run over. Before Naruto could notice anything amiss, Sakura sidled up closer to Itachi, practically attaching herself to his side.

"Good morning, Naruto-kun. You're here early," Itachi smoothly said as Naruto stopped right in front of him. Naruto grinned broadly as he wiped the sweat on his forehead off with the back of his hand.

"Basketball practice. What are you doing here?" Naruto responded, his cerulean eyes wide with curiosity. Sakura winced as she listened to Deidara's teeth grind together along with Sasori's deep, exaggerated sigh of impatience.

"It's a favor for the principal. We'll see you later," Itachi replied and the blonde seemed satisfied. Nodding solemnly, Naruto crossed his arms behind his back. As he turned to leave, in the day's second douse of horrendous luck, Naruto's eyes happened to catch sight of Sakura clinging nervously to Itachi's arm. His lips puckered as he took in her shorter frame and the sleek outline of her legs. After a moment of deep contemplation, Naruto, forehead puckering, craned his neck to get a better look at her.

"Sakura-chan?"

There was a moment of complete silence.

And then Kisame's laughter exploded. Roaring, Kisame pointed first at Deidara's face frozen in a look of utter repulsion and then at Sasori's hand hanging limply with a lollipop dangling from his fingers. Even Itachi's eyes were wide as he slowly looked at his brother's friend.

"Naruto-kun… What makes you think this is Sakura-san?" he slowly inquired. Naruto cocked his head to the side, as if it were the strangest question he had ever heard. Then, with his usual boisterous grin, Naruto peered at the girl still clinging silently to Itachi's side.

"Easy! Those are Sakura-chan's thighs!" he cheerfully explained and Kisame's laughter cut off with an angry stammer. Sakura, who was wearing stretchy black shorts, sputtered incoherently as she slapped her hands over her legs. Kisame turned bright pink as he pointed his finger at Naruto, gasping like a fish out of water. Sasori's expression remained frozen as he calmly shed his hoodie, walked over, and wrapped it around Sakura's legs before he walked over to Naruto and pointed straight between the boy's eyes.

"Perverted child, stay far away from Sakura-chan," Sasori calmly ordered before he flicked Naruto straight in the forehead.

"Yeah. Keep FAR away from My-chan," Deidara piped up.

"My-chan?" Naruto repeated, grimacing up at Itachi. He caught one glimpse of Itachi's stony expression and he gulped nervously.

"Er… okay. You guys are busy. I'll see you later. Good luck, Sakura-chan!" Naruto hurriedly muttered as he ran off, fanning himself furiously as he went. Sakura caught Itachi's hand flexing threateningly and she quickly grabbed his fingers.

"We should go, Itachi-san. We're going to be late," Sakura loudly reminded him as she began pulling him in the direction of the auditorium. His dark eyes slowly focused in on her and it seemed to take him a moment to remember who she was. Slowly, he nodded, his gaze drifting to Naruto's retreating back once before Kisame threw him a bag, snorting.

"Focus, Lover-Boy," Kisame chortled as he lifted a speaker from the back of the van and carried it into the auditorium. As everyone filed in through the door, Itachi grabbed the door and slammed it shut behind him before Kisame could enter.

"HEY!"

It took a little under an hour to set up the speakers and to set up the music Sasori had carefully chosen and transferred to his mp3 player. While Kisame did a sound check, Deidara ran around stapling flyers to bulletin boards and sweet-talking some of the high school girls into handing out advertisements to guests later. All the while, Sakura sat in the small dressing room backstage as she tried her best not to have a meltdown. Itachi sat beside her, trying to reason with her, and it seemed to work for a little bit before she dissolved back into a spiral of "what if this happens?" When Konan and Tenten arrived 15 minutes later, they promptly kicked Itachi out and set about pumping Sakura full of confidence and shooting down her worries one-by-one until she was smiling again.

"I'm sorry. It's just been so long since I've performed," Sakura sighed as she looked herself over in the mirror propped up in the corner. She was wearing a white tank top under the black hoodie she had received that morning. She had changed out of her shorts into dark sweatpants to match with the rest of the guys. Underneath, since Sasori and Deidara had been going for the peppy schoolgirl look, she was wearing knee-high white socks with red stripes on top along with white sneakers with wings on the sides. Deidara hadn't told her how much the shoes had cost, but from the way he remained suspiciously tight-lipped about it, she knew that she didn't really want to know. Tenten playfully knocked her hip into hers, nudging her out of the way so she could look into the mirror too. Tenten was wearing black sweatpants with one of the legs rolled up to her knee along with a sleeveless red hoodie, playing up her boyish but cute side. Sakura turned around to look at the third girl leaning casually against the door in case anyone tried to walk in. She had refused Sasori and Deidara's help choosing an outfit. Instead, Konan had picked out a tight black tank top with loose red sweatpants that barely reached her shins. When they had protested and pointed out that they were performing at a high school, Konan had reluctantly thrown on a white t-shirt that was so thin that it was practically transparent.

"Still nervous?" Konan inquired as she met Sakura's gaze.

"A little," Sakura admitted sheepishly. To her surprise, a faint smile curled at Konan's lips, showing off the silver piercing in her bottom lip.

"Good. Channel it," the older girl replied as she turned and opened the door.

"She's ready!" Konan announced as she sauntered out onto the stage. Sakura and Tenten exchanged glances. When a grin spread across Tenten's face, Sakura heaved a sigh.

"Let's go," she groaned as Tenten grabbed her by the shoulders and steered her out the door. Sakura pushed past the red curtains and shrieked when Deidara jumped up and grabbed her in a hug.

"Assault!" Kisame proclaimed as he grabbed the blonde in a headlock and dragged him away.

"I'm just trying to motivate my cute little squirrel," Deidara protested, punching at Kisame's iron arms.

"That is probably the strangest thing I've ever heard you say, Deidara," Sasori remarked as he hoisted himself onto the stage and stood in front of Sakura, fussing with her clothes and adjusting the baseball cap on top of her head. She tried her best not to laugh as Deidara stared angrily at Sasori's back, unable to come up with a good retort. Before things could get too vicious, Itachi hopped onto the stage and clapped his hands to get everyone's attention.

"It's 9:45 and we advertised the first show as starting at 10:00. Start stretching," Itachi ordered as everyone gathered around him.

"Sakura-chan, I'll help you," Deidara announced as he grinned deviously. Sakura didn't react as Sasori stepped between them, grabbed a magazine from nowhere, and brought it down on Deidara's head.

"You've gotten pretty used to that," Konan remarked as they watched Sasori rain down punishments on Deidara's golden head. Sakura sighed.

"No matter what I say, he does the exact same thing so I don't really mind anymore," Sakura replied as she shook her head. Konan laughed a little.

"So true, Little Squirrely-chan," she teased and Sakura couldn't help but giggle too.

Meanwhile, the mysterious college students performing in the auditorium had become something of a hot topic around the school. And while many people expressed their confusion over why college students would be at their cultural festival, most didn't bother to visit the performance. So at 10 am, the auditorium was only about a quarter-filled and the few people attending looked more bored than expectant.

"We'll start off with the guys. Tenten-san, Konan-senpai, can you handle the music?" Itachi said, pulling on his matching hoodie. As he spoke, Kisame and Sasori were going over moves on the stage while Deidara and Sakura watched them. Tenten nodded quickly and Itachi handed over the mp3 player filled with music before he swung onto the stage. He paused for a moment when Sakura nervously tugged at her hat. It was secured in place by at least 4 pins so there was little chance that it would randomly fall off, but she couldn't help but worry.

"Ready?"

Looking back on it, Sakura couldn't really remember much from her first performance. She could recall the beat of the music as it started pounding from the speakers. She distinctly remembered Itachi glancing over his shoulder for an instant to meet her eyes, probably trying to reassure her. But she really didn't have the time or the energy to really feel nervous. They had practiced the routines so much that it really didn't take much thinking. And if she was worried about people judging her appearance, she was moving so fast that they probably couldn't see much.

Sakura had never tasted alcohol before, but she was sure that this was what being drunk felt like. Her head was spinning, her limbs felt obscenely light. Everything was a wild blur of colors and sounds and the rhythm of the music was the only thing stopping her from spinning off into space. All the times she had worried about the choreography were forgotten as she smoothly spun on the balls of her feet moved her arms in sync with the others. She caught a glimpse of Deidara's elated smile as they moved past each other and she couldn't contain her grin either. When the song finally ended with them raising their hands into the air, there was a pregnant pause in the audience. And then, the few people that had actually watched began clapping wildly. And even though the noise echoed in the largely empty room, she couldn't stop the pride that swelled up in her chest.

They danced the next few songs in the set with ease. The music seemed to flow straight into her ears and down to her limbs, willing her to move. A few times, she caught glimpses of the wide-eyed audience and a laugh threatened to burst past her lips. Sasori had chosen the songs well. Songs with strong beats and enough gimmicky autotune to get stuck in the audience members' brains long after the dances were over. At one point, she found herself singing under her breath as she popped her chest in time to the beat. Kisame, who was closest to her, glanced her way, eyebrows arching. She smiled impishly as she moved past him.

At the end of their set, with sweat trickling down the back of her head, she watched Itachi and Kisame do backflips in sync, landing on their feet just as the final beat of their song rang out. The auditorium had gradually lured in more people who had been drawn in by the raucous cheers and clapping. When she looked up, the seats were more than half-filled. She smiled widely, even though the hat was covering the upper part of her face.

"You're amazing, yeah. Go change," Deidara whispered as he threw his arm around her shoulders. Some of the girls in the audience squealed, thinking they were experiencing a moment of guy-on-guy skinship. The same girls voiced their disappointment as Sakura ducked out from under Deidara and ran offstage, fanning her face with her hands. When she entered the small dressing room, she shed her sweatpants and pulled on her black shorts. Upon rushing back out, she was met with a cold bottle of water and a white towel that had been soaked in ice water.

"Drink," Sasori ordered, untwisting the cap and holding it up to her lips. She greedily drank the refreshing water down while Itachi patted her neck and forehead, soothing the heat that had rushed to her face.

"They're on-stage already. Are you ready?" Kisame inquired, ducking to peer up into her face. Sakura handed the water bottle to Deidara as she wiped her mouth on her sleeve. She gulped down a few deep breaths before she nodded. After one last deep breath, she slipped past the curtain and took her place in the middle of the trio. There was a ripple of confused voices in the crowd. Sakura knew it was most likely that many of the people had assumed that she was a boy. But in shorts, there was no mistaking her slim but shapely thighs for those of a boy's. Sakura cracked her neck once before she took a step forward and shifted her weight to her left leg, placing her left hand on her hip. The lights dimmed just as Konan and Tenten did the same.

Despite Kisame and Deidara's vocal protests, Konan had chosen one of their more risqué routines first. Something about the sultry undertones of the singers' voices made it impossible to dance innocently to this particular song. As the familiar tones boomed through the speakers, Sakura spun on her heel, striking a pose in time to the beat. But when she turned, she found Deidara and Sasori peering out at them from the edge of the curtain. Something strange possessed her in that split second because she winked at them before she turned around again to strike another pose. At first, it felt a little strange to sway her hips when the last few songs had been so centered around power and precision. But the lessons that Konan and Tenten had pounded into her head during the past month flowed easily through her veins. Without much thought, her hips swung, body flowing in liquid movements. Every movement was softer, melding into each other, unlike the way that the guys had originally taught her to dance.

She had forgotten what it felt like to have so many eyes on her at once. When she had danced in middle school, the few competitions she had attended had been thrilling. All eyes glued to her every movement.

This was different though.

There was a different sort of attention focused on her. If the slack jaws of the males were any indication, Konan's choreography was having no problem keeping everyone interested. When the last note rang out and they blew kisses to the crowd, the high school boys sprang to their feet, hooting loudly. There were a few whistles and cheers mixed in. At any other time, it would have frightened her, maybe even offended her. But at that exact instant, the flood of attention filled Sakura's chest until she thought that her heart might pop right out of her chest. She barely managed to suppress her grin as she briefly fanned herself and then moved back a couple of steps. Konan and Tenten stood side by side, leaving a gap between them so Sakura was still visible.

The second song started and the bubbly electro beat vibrated through the floor. Deidara had grudgingly labeled this routine as slightly less risqué and a little cuter (although Sasori added, rolling his eyes, that it was a lot less cute because Konan was in the mix). Sakura took deep breaths as sweat dripped down the back of her neck. She was starting to feel unbearably hot with the extra layer on, but forced herself to focus. The first two verses and choruses went by without incident with a combination of strong arm movements and lots of head tossing that sent Konan's ponytail whipping. It was during the final chorus that Tenten and Konan moved aside, leaving Sakura in the center of the stage. She let her feet carry her in time to the feet, the noise of her heart thundering in her ears melding into the music. Although some small part of her felt a little embarrassed for all the sexy dance moves, a large part of her basked in the attention like a cat lying in a patch of sunlight. When she popped her chest in time to the beat, a few catcalls rose from the audience. The other girls moved back to the center of the stage, rejoining her in the dance. This time, when the song ended, the roar of approval from the boys was undeniably strong. Some of them got to their feet, clapping loudly while others whistled or at least attempted to whistle.

Before Itachi and Kisame had time to play the next song, Sakura quickly decided that it was getting too hot. She yanked the zipper down and shed the hoodie, moving back to toss it in Deidara's direction. As she did so, a chorus of approval shouted out from the crowd. Sakura turned back to them, confused until she realized that she was now wearing just a tight tank top and shorts along with knee-high socks. But she was beyond modesty at this point, riding on a high of adrenaline. She shrugged as she looked over at Tenten who grinned impishly back at her.

The next two songs passed by in a blur of her heart drumming furiously inside her ribcage as she stared out into the crowd. She swayed, tilting her head flirtatiously and popping certain parts of her body that drew particularly loud cheers, especially her butt. But it seemed that just as she blinked, the final song was over and she was standing on the edge of the stage, holding Konan and Tenten's hands as they took a bow. On impulse, she smiled and blew a kiss to Naruto in the front row, making him flush while a sea of jealous boys turned to glare at him.

"Thank you everyone! Our next performance is at 2 so be sure to tell your friends!" Tenten called out, earning another cheer. People got to their feet, chatting excitedly with their neighbors as they filed out of the auditorium. When most of the seats were empty, Deidara exploded out from behind the curtain and threw his arms around Sakura.

"You are just amazing, yeah!" Deidara exclaimed as he squeezed her tightly, lifting her off the ground. Sakura laughed as she dangled helplessly before Kisame climbed onstage and pried Deidara off her. But as soon as Kisame had Deidara in a headlock, Sasori slipped into the fray and engulfed her in a slightly less suffocating hug.

"You're repulsively talented," he flatly stated as he released her and draped his arm over her shoulder. Sakura rolled her eyes as she looked up at him.

"Sasori-san, you have the most convoluted way of paying compliments," she half-heartedly complained, earning a shrug from him. Itachi climbed on stage, holding out water bottles to each of the girls. Konan accepted hers with a mute nod before she walked off with her bag slung over her shoulder.

"Konan-san? Where are you going?" Sakura inquired as she twisted her bottle open. Tenten peered over Sakura's shoulder, equally curious. Konan lifted a hand in greeting as she paused at the door.

"I'll be back by 2," she simply promised before she walked out. There was an awkward silence as everyone watched Konan leave. But before it could become too strange, Kisame broke into loud laughter. Deidara, who was sitting as his feet, was solemn as he quickly looked away from the door Konan had just walked past.

"That was pretty amazing, Kitten. How are you feeling?" Kisame hurriedly inquired with a broad grin. Sakura looked over at him questioningly before Kisame jabbed a thumb in Deidara's direction. She silently nodded as she put on her must enthusiastic smile.

"That was incredible! I can't believe I managed not to fall on my butt!" she replied, drawing everyone else's attention. The tension quickly broke up as everyone laughed at Sakura's remark. She smiled innocently, avoiding Deidara's eyes when he surveyed her with suspicion. When she glanced over at Itachi, his lips were pressed together in a thin line. He caught her gaze and he sighed sympathetically. But when they stared at each other for too long, Sakura felt her cheeks heating up and she quickly looked away.

"I better go change! Let's go, senpai!" Sakura babbled as she grabbed Tenten's arm and dragged her to the dressing room. Kisame's laughter chased them, echoing loudly even when she slammed the door behind them. When Sakura turned to Tenten, the older girl was stifling a laugh.

"Please… don't," Sakura groaned, grabbing onto Tenten's shoulders and she received a light pat on the head.

A few minutes later, they re-emerged, feeling significantly less sweaty and haggard. During their performance, the guys had changed too, replacing their black sweatpants and white wifebeaters with regular clothing. Itachi had on a gray long-sleeved t-shirt and faded jeans, exuding the perfect mix of maturity and coolness that made Sakura blush all over again. Kisame was in his usual sweatpants and t-shirt while Deidara and Sasori showed up everyone in their perfectly coordinated, perfectly fashionable outfits that made both of them look like supermodels. When Sakura came back onstage, Deidara looked significantly less sullen and got to his feet.

"You were great, My-chan," he declared as he hugged her with much less theatrics than usual. Sakura lightly returned his embrace, forehead wrinkling with concern. She looked up at him with wide eyes.

"I'm fine, yeah," Deidara assured her with his usual grin. And although she remained unconvinced, she let him pretend to be fine since it seemed to make him feel better. Tenten quickly departed, explaining that she needed to help out with her class's activity, leaving Sakura and the rest of the boys.

"What are we doing now? We've got like 3 hours to kill," Kisame inquired, turning to Itachi. But before anyone else could speak, Sakura's stomach seemed to decide that it was the perfect time to growl incredibly loudly. Horrified, Sakura slapped her hands over her stomach, trying to ignore Deidara's laughter. Stifling chuckles, Itachi retrieved the guide he had picked up earlier and opened it up, scanning the list of all the classes.

"There's a class doing a café. We could grab lunch there," he suggested, pointing to the name. But Sakura immediately jumped up, shaking her head vehemently.

"That's my class!" she protested, paling.

Everyone fell silent as they seemed to mull this over. After a few seconds, Sasori stepped forward, extracted a pink baseball cap from nowhere, fitted it snuggly over her head and then pulled her hood up over it.

"Now let's eat," the red-head flatly declared as he took her by the hand and dragged her off-stage.

"Wait! Sasori-san, do you even know where you're going?" Sakura half-heartedly protested. After a pause, Sasori stopped and turned back to his friends who were all staring at him.

"No," he replied, unabashed.

Kisame slapped his palm to his forehead with a groan.


The news of the spectacular performance in the auditorium spread rather quickly. By the time the oddly matched quintet left the auditorium, there were curious heads popping out into the hallway to see what all the commotion was about. While there were some girls squealing over the good-looking, mature college students, that was nothing compared to the outright ogling from the boys. Sakura, who had long since grown accustomed to wearing shorts and the like for dance practice, seemed completely at ease walking down the crowded hallway in her red shorts, sleeveless white hoodie and winged sneakers. And while she chose not to really acknowledge the jeers and shouts of boys asking for her phone number, her four self-appointed bodyguards seemed to bristle at every sound.

"We shouldn't have let her wear shorts, yeah," Deidara muttered mostly under his breath and three heads bobbed in silent assent. Whenever someone would be brave enough (read 'stupid enough') to actually try to address her, Sasori would fix him with such a flat, dead stare that the poor boy would be sufficiently disturbed not to move from the spot. In total, there were five boys frozen to the spot by Sasori's death stare by the time they made their way to Sakura's classroom. Outside, a large white sign was propped up with the words "Sweet Café" written across in girly pink script.

"Ino," Sakura sighed to herself as she recognized the handwriting.

When the group slowed to enter the classroom, everyone around them seemed to take this as a cue to swarm them.

"ONII-CHAN! DO YOU HAVE A GIRLFRIEND?"

"CAN I TAKE A PHOTO WITH YOU?"

"WHERE ARE YOU GUYS FROM?"

The hoard of girls swept down on them in a barrage of high-pitched squeals and giggles, jostling Sakura out of the way. In the scramble, someone's elbow connected with Sakura's face and a little yelp of pain left Sakura's mouth. Although the hat and hood hid most of her face, the dribble of dark blood down her chin was easily visible to everyone. Having heard the noise, the door to the classroom next-door banged open and Naruto stood in the doorway, wielding his serving tray like a weapon. He caught sight of Sakura and his cerulean eyes grew huge.

"Sak-" he cut himself off before he could reveal her identity. Instead, he shuffled forward, ducking so that he could get a better look at the damage. Naruto cringed as he surveyed her nose for a bit. He glanced around before he looked down at the towel draped over his shoulder for aesthetic purposes and offered it to her.

"Thanks," Sakura quietly said as she carefully wiped her nose, wincing at the dull throb that echoed through her nose.

"Hey! Jerk-wads! Can't you see the lady's hurt?" Naruto hollered in the general direction of the throng of high school girls. At his words, there was a large amount of jostling and protest from the girls. Itachi maneuvered past them and crossed the hall before he put his hands on Sakura's shoulders. He copied Naruto's earlier actions, ducking so that he could peer up into her face. Sakura winced as Itachi took the towel from her hands and patiently wiped the blood from her hand before he dabbed at her chin and lips. It was only then that Sasori's head popped up over the crowd and he noticed Naruto standing beside her and something seemed to click.

"Ah. It's the friend of the raging pervert," he flatly said as he recognized Naruto. Sasori then looked back at Sakura and added, "And she has a nosebleed." At this, Deidara exploded from the gaggle of girls and pushed random people out of the way in an attempt to get to Sakura.

"My-chan! Are you alright?" Deidara spluttered as he threw his arms around her in a constricting hug. With her cheek squished against his chest, it was difficult to speak, making it rather impossible to answer his question. And it was also impossible to communicate this because, as stated earlier, she was smothered in all of Deidara's theatrical love. It was only when Itachi decided to pry Deidara off with his foot that Sakura found herself able to breathe again.

"I highly doubt suffocating her will stop the bleeding, Deidara," Sasori observed as he made his way over to them with Kisame following close after. Itachi surveyed her face once more before he took Sakura by the hand.

"We should get you to the nurse," he declared as he led her in the direction of the infirmary. She stumbled along after him, a little frazzled and a little dizzy until she dug her heels into the ground and tugged once at his hand. Itachi stopped, looking back at her with confusion.

"Can you walk a little slower?" Sakura requested in a small voice as she wiped at her nose again. A low sigh escaped him as he took a step towards her.

"I'm sorry. I didn't realize I was walking so fast," Itachi apologized.

"That's alright," she quietly said. They stood looking at each other for a long time. His hand rose, wiping at a thin stream of blood running down her chin. Long fingers lingered on her cheeks and lips, leaving lingering caresses that sent a strange shiver down her spine. But his arm didn't return to his side. He reached out for her again, running his thumb along her lower lip to wipe away the traces of blood that had dried there. The back of Sakura's neck felt unbearably hot as she looked up at him. His dark eyes were intense, focusing in completely on her mouth the entire time.

"Um… thank you," she mumbled, overly-conscious of the way her lips moved against his fingers. That seemed to jolt him out of his reverie. The usual gentle look returned to his eyes as he pulled his hand away. The smile that curved at his lips seemed almost apologetic.

"How did this happen anyway?" Itachi casually inquired as they began walking again. This time, she was walking beside him. Sakura noticed how easily he reached out and took her hand again, like they had been doing so forever. And although she knew it was because she was injured and he wanted to make sure she didn't run into anybody, she couldn't quell the warm tingle that fluttered up in the pit of her stomach.

"Oh um… one of the girls sort of elbowed me… in the face," Sakura explained, trying to recall the exact sequence of events but coming up blank. It had been a sudden blitz of yelling and pushing that had made her temples throb.

"That's my fault. It happens when Deidara and I are together. I should've walked separately," he apologized again and despite her dazed state, Sakura snorted into the towel held to her face. He arched an eyebrow inquisitively at her.

"I'm being serious. Kisame once got a black eye when Deidara convinced me to go to a goukon* with him," Itachi insisted with a completely serious face. Sakura envisioned big, buff Kisame with a bruised eye and she giggled despite the aching pain in her nose. She caught the hint of Itachi's smile and she suspected that he was exaggerating just a little. But before she could question the validity of his story, they arrived at the infirmary and he slid the door open.

"Excuse me? We have an injured student," Itachi called, poking his head in. Sakura squeezed her head into the doorway underneath him and peered around too with wide eyes. The tidy room was completely deserted. Puzzled, Sakura twisted her head around to look up at Itachi.

"Should we leave, Itachi-san?" she asked. But Itachi took hold of her wrist and led her into the room, sliding the door shut behind them. He sat her down on the small red stool in the middle of the room and set about searching through the clear glass cabinets lining the walls. Sakura pinched her nose and winced as fresh pain shot through her tender nose. She must have made some noise because Itachi knelt at her side and held out a large bottle of aspirin.

"Thank you," she sighed with relief. He twisted the cap off and shook two pills into her palm before he went off in search of a cup. A minute later, after the sound of a faucet squeaking and water gurgling, he returned with a glass full of cool water. But in that time, Sakura had already gulped down the pills and smiled sheepishly when he looked startled.

"You dry swallow your pills?" Itachi demanded, looking dubious.

"I used to get sick a lot when I was a little girl. I guess at some point I just learned how to eat medicine without water," Sakura explained with a shrug.

"That must've been hard on your mother," he said, sobering as he set the glass of water down on an open space on the nurse's desk. The smile faded from Sakura's face as she bit her lower lip.

"What's wrong, Sakura-san?" inquired Itachi as he crouched in front of her.

"My Mom… was supposed to be home last month but she suddenly had a conference in Vancouver so she couldn't come," Sakura began, twisting her hands together in her lap. Her voice grew soft and unsure; it was just like it had been the first time they had met. Itachi nodded as a deep furrow appeared in his brow.

"Well since her vacation was bumped back, my mom's coming home in a couple days… and I'm not so sure I want to see her. I'm… I'm sort of mad at her….. and…" Sakura trailed off as she felt her voice waver. She hated feeling so insecure and depressing in front of Itachi but his sympathetic gaze encouraged her to finish her thought.

"And I'm not so sure I know who she is anymore," she added with a little hesitation. She waited, half-expecting him to start laughing at her. But Itachi let out a heavy sigh that told her that he understood. He reached out, taking both of her hands and squeezing them reassuringly.

"No matter what, she's your mother. She still loves you and you still love her. You know that, don't you?" Itachi said with such a gentle expression that Sakura felt her throat closing up. She nodded slowly, biting on her lower lip. His expression tightened when his gaze focused on her mouth and he quickly looked back up at her eyes.

"You shouldn't worry too much. I'm sure she's missed you as much as you've missed her," Itachi assured her as he got to his feet.

"Now. What do we do with your nose?" he said in an overly cheerful tone that she knew was meant to divert her attention. While part of her knew she should be a little insulted that he thought she could be so easily distracted, another part of her smiled and went along with the act and was undeniably grateful for him being there at that moment.

They both decided that cleaning up the blood was the only thing they really had to do since the bleeding stopped rather quickly. 15 minutes later, they walked back to the classroom and Deidara immediately smothered her in hugs as soon as he caught sight of her rounding the corner. Laughing, Sakura untangled herself from Deidara's arms. Unconvinced, Deidara leaned over to peer into her hood, as if to make sure her entire face hadn't fallen off.

"I'm sure she's fine, you big crybaby. Come on, I'm starving to death," Kisame grumbled and Deidara's head shot up. A scowl appeared on his face as Deidara turned to face Kisame.

"Listen Blowfish-chan, My-Chan's face is a gem. An ugly fishy like you wouldn't understand," Deidara snorted and Kisame's eyes narrowed. Just as they began taking threateningly steps towards each other, the classroom door slammed open and Naruto bounded out, obviously running from something.

"Get out of here, Naruto! Go back to your class!" Ino's voice shrieked and Naruto winced as towels and plastic spoons pelted his back.

"It's not my fault you jerks decided to do a café too!" Naruto hollered back, sticking his tongue out. He turned around and his face immediately lit up as he caught sight of Sakura.

"Hey! How's the nose?" he brightly said as he jogged over. Since Ino was standing in the doorway of the class, Sakura didn't risk speaking. Instead, she simply nodded to say that she was alright. Despite often being referred to as dumb, Naruto quickly caught on and he grinned at her.

"That's good. You're probably hungry. We're serving ramen in our café! You should have some!" Naruto suggested with a sly grin. Behind him, Ino bristled, her long ponytail practically standing up straight as she glared at him. But Ino deflated when Sasuke appeared behind her with his face stuck in its usual scowl of disapproval.

"Get out of here, stupid. And quit stealing our customers- Nii-san?" Sasuke broke off as he saw his older brother standing next to Sakura. Deidara and Kisame's faces simultaneously split into evil grins as they saw the younger Uchiha sibling.

"Aw, if isn't Baby Sasu-chan," Kisame cooed as he swooped in and threw his arm over Sasuke's shoulders.

"Where's your widdle tomato-rice bento, Baby Sasu-chan? Did your mommy fowget to make you num-nums?" Deidara leered as he sidled up to Sasuke too, effectively sandwiching him in place. Sasuke's face was frozen in an expression of utter horror.

"Look, Kisame, I think we're scawing widdle Baby Sasu-chan. Awwwww. Are you gonna cwy for Onii-tan?" Deidara said as Kisame roared with laughter. But in the midst of their torturing, Kisame glanced at Sakura over his shoulder and jerk his head toward the classroom, silently urging her to slip inside while everyone was distracted. Sakura looked up at Itachi who nodded. She hardly took notice as he took hold of her hand and lead her into the classroom while everyone watched Kisame mockingly pinch Sasuke's cheeks.

"Remember that time when little Sasu-chan here peed his pants?" Deidara shouted and Sasuke turned scarlet.

"I WAS SEVEN!" Sasuke protested loudly when a few titters arose from the passing girls. Sakura didn't get to hear the rest as Sasori followed after them and politely shut the door. Inside, since Ino was busy watching Sasuke progressively turn from red to purple, it was just a few other students working inside the makeshift café.

"W-welcome. Table f-for 3?" Hinata stuttered, blushing when she met Sasori's flat gaze. Sakura saw his gold eyes survey Hinata, focusing in particularly on her generous chest and she caught his wrist before he could speak. She slowly shook her head and Sasori's mouth slowly clamped shut.

Lunch was a rather calm affair, interrupted only when Deidara and Kisame entered the classroom, laughing raucously as they pulled chairs up to the table and plopped down. It was only a few minutes later that Sasuke stiffly walked in, his face oddly white. When he jerkily strode past their table, he flinched a little when Kisame grinned at him.

"What kind of trauma have you inflicted on him?" Sakura whispered as one of her classmates set a platter of sandwiches down on the table.

"Well, Kisame, Deidara and I have known each other since elementary school. Apparently, they decided when we were little that it was incredibly fun to tease Sasuke," Itachi explained when Deidara and Kisame only gave her mysterious smiles. Sakura took a bite of a sandwich as she shook her head.

"That's really mean but it's also a little funny since it's Prince Sasuke," she said under her breath and Kisame choked on a bite of his food.

"PRINCE SASUKE?" Kisame and Deidara repeated in unison. There was a loud clatter from the other side of the classroom and everyone turned to see Sasuke standing motionless over a broken plate. He slowly lifted his head, turning a sickly shade of green.

"I'm taking my break," he quickly spat before he fled the room.

"People at school call him Prince?" Itachi inquired and Sakura nodded as she calmly took another bite of her sandwich.

"Heh that's sort of funny because Itachi was called King back when we were in high school," Kisame informed her and Sakura simply nodded again. Sasori leaned across the table to poke Sakura in the cheek. She didn't bother to respond.

"You're not really interested because you're hungry," Sasori surmised and Sakura nodded her head in the same slow fashion.

"Evil black hole squirrel," Kisame snorted. Very mysteriously, when he looked down, his sandwich disappeared off his plate.

"Hey!" he complained, looking over at Sakura with an accusatory frown. She continued calmly munching on her sandwich while Deidara snickered and accepted the stolen food she passed him under the table.

Half an hour later, they finished their meal, paid (with the men covering Sakura's part of the tab and silently daring her to protest with their glares) and spent a little time visiting other classrooms and munching on the takoyaki they had bought in one of the rooms before they headed back to the auditorium where a small crowd had already gathered outside the doors. Sakura climbed onstage, ignoring the teasing whistle from Kisame as she did so.

Since they had an hour to kill, everyone took turns showing off moves on the stage, cheering each other on and laughing whenever someone made a mistake. At one point, Sasori decided that this was an appropriate time to dance the samba with Sakura so he proceeded to do so. And Sakura surprised everyone by showing off the fact that she actually knew how to dance to the samba very well. By the time the actual performance started, the audience was packed and some people were forced to stand in the back because there was no room. When everything was packed back into the van and Kisame was driving them back to KU at the end of the day, Sakura could still hear the thunderous applause ringing in her ears. Even when she drifted off to sleep, her head drooping against Itachi's shoulder, the echoes of cheers resounded in her head, slowly growing deeper and slower until they turned into the sounds of her heart thumping inside her chest.

Two days later, Sakura stood at the airport, tapping her foot nervously against the glossy floor. She watched the unfamiliar faces stream out into the terminal, their expressions weary from travel. And unsurprisingly, one of the last people to filter out was a woman with wavy pink hair held back with a rhinestone clip.

"Sakura!" the woman exclaimed upon seeing her and ran over, her high heels clicking loudly against tile. She threw her arms around Sakura, engulfing her in the sweet scent of floral perfume. At first, Sakura froze, her arms hanging uselessly at her sides. But a kind face popped up in her head followed by a chuckle she had come to know well.

"I'm sure she's missed you as much as you missed her."

So Sakura finally allowed herself to smile as she reached up and tightly hugged her mother back.

"Hi, mom."


Haruno Kirie was 39 years old. She had the same heart-shaped face and wide forehead as her daughter as well as the pink hair and fair complexion. Overall, Sakura had inherited most of her physical appearance from her mother save her eyes. On the inside, however, they couldn't have been more different.

"My! It's been such a long time since I've been in Japan. Let's take a trip to Hokkaido!" Kirie suddenly announced as they walked out of the airport. Sakura sighed as she dragged her mother's suitcase behind her.

"I have school, mom," Sakura logically pointed out. Kirie pouted.

"You're no fun. How about we go to the beach instead?"

"I have homework to do, mom."

"Let's go have dinner at that Italian restaurant!"

"Do you have any idea how expensive that is? Besides, I already went grocery shopping yesterday," Sakura calmly countered, expecting the barrage of requests. Eventually, Kirie seemed to give up and she nodded. Smiling, she reached over and petted the top of Sakura's head.

"You've grown up a lot, Sakura. When did you become so pretty all of the sudden?" Kirie laughed and Sakura did too.

"What am I saying? You've always been pretty," Kirie corrected herself. Sakura didn't reply as she flagged down a taxi and they loaded luggage together into the trunk before climbing in. Back home, Kirie hovered in the kitchen as Sakura peeled potatoes, chopped carrots and boiled water, as if at any moment, Sakura might chop off her own arm by accident. And each time Kirie tried to help, Sakura shooed her away, insisting that she rest and that cooking stew wasn't that difficult.

"You know, you seem to be getting along pretty well without me," Kirie half-complained as they sat down to a dinner of beef stew.

"I sort of have to," Sakura retorted and immediately regretted it. She hadn't meant for it to come out so angrily. Almost immediately, she could see the droop in her mother's thin shoulders.

"I know…. I'm sorry," Kirie softly said, looking down at her hands.

Sakura heaved a big sigh as she raked her fingers through her hair.

Dinner was eaten in awkward silence.

Dishes were done together in relative quiet.

It was only when Sakura had finished her homework and changed into her pajamas that she found the courage to find her mother. Kirie was standing in the living room, staring at the framed photographs arranged neatly on the bookshelf. Each frame was polished and free of dust, lovingly wiped and placed in a perfect line. Each photo depicted memories of them as a family, the records growing scarcer and scarcer as Sakura grew taller and taller.

"Mom," Sakura called and Kirie slowly turned.

"You know I love you, right?" she said and Kirie's tired face lightened into a smile.

"I know, honey. I love you too," replied Kirie as she crossed the room and enveloped Sakura in a hug.

Sakura was startled by the fact that she now had to lean over to hug her mother. And she wondered when her strong, independent mother had begun to feel so frail in her arms. And for the first time in a while, Sakura didn't just say "mom". She felt the word deep inside her chest as she rested her chin on her mother's shoulder and closed her eyes.

"Welcome home, mommy."


*Goukon is a group date.

Reviews please because they motivate me to write more.