ok, just a not that i looove to ressurect old details from past chapters for my plot (and yes, contrary to popular belief, this story does have a PLOT. (gasps))

alright, so to clear up this issue, sakura painted a picture of sasuke in a BLOODY cloak holding a BLOODY uchiha fan. she was painting about the uchiha massacre and well, you can understand how that would be a very touchy subject with sasuke.

so, moving on.

disclaimer: YOU CAN'T MAKE ME SAY IT!!! (those suspicious square rocks i saw this morning pull out machetes) oh wait, you can. i dont own naruto.

boo hoo.

"Talking."

Thoughts.

Inner Sakura.

Author talking. (That's me!)

Chapter Seven

Truths And Dares

By nightfall, they had reached a small inn where they were to stay. Naruto's grumbling was incessant at the unfairness that he had to share a room with Kakashi sensei and "Teme" while Sakura got her own room.

"We don't want to put Sakura in any… uncomfortable situations, now do we?" Kakashi tried reasoning with the stubborn blonde. "How would you feel if you knew me and Sakura were alone together in a bedroom? Or her and Sasuke?"

Naruto still grumbled after that, but slightly less often and, Sakura suspected, for a different reason.

Sasuke had been extremely distant for the entire trip. Sakura was beginning to think that he was avoiding her, only giving her an occasional "Hn," when a response was necessary. Sakura was wishing more and more that some phenomenon not of this universe would cause a giant tear in the earth's surface where she stood so she could sink into it and never be seen again.

Safe to say, Sakura was completely humiliated.

Sasuke… Sasuke was ever distant. He was unsure how he felt about that particular painting, so he decided to try to ignore it.

That was really not going so well for him.

He didn't understand why that picture ticked him off so much, and that only served to frustrate him further. He hated people who dug into his past, questioning him, badgering him for details. Sakura had wisely kept her distance—or so he thought. When that picture came up, it seemed like she was just like those incessant fangirls/annoyed people who always tried to get to know him better and "Bond with him" by digging into his ever-so-secretive past.

He sighed; wondering why in Hades Sakura had chosen to paint something like that. It wasn't like her to be so blatantly curious about something like that.

"Naruto stop mumbling please." Sakura pleaded with Naruto for the fifth time since they entered the inn.

Naruto rolled his eyes and reduced his mumbling to little whispers under his breath. The four man cell sat at the restaurant in the inn, Naruto choking on ramen and the others silently eating their food. Sakura sat across the table from Sasuke. She kept her eyes down constantly, never once venturing to look across the table.

"Well tomorrow morning we head out again. Make sure you're prepared." Kakashi instructed. Sakura nodded along with the others, and she soon headed back to her room. She couldn't sleep, and simply sat on her bed, staring at the wall for several hours. She sighed, and finally got up.

Opening the door to the balcony, Sakura breathed in the warm springtime air as she stepped out onto the ledge. Leaning on the railing, she looked out over the midnight sky, thinking about nothing in particular. She was glad no one was around. She wanted to speak to inner Sakura.

You should really get some sleep, you know that? Inner Sakura rubbed her eyes sleepily. I need to talk to you first. Sakura kept staring out at the scenery below the balcony. Inner Sakura sighed. I don't get paid enough for this. She muttered, and then plopped down on the floor. What do you want?

"How can I be more like you?" Sakuras asked out loud.

Inner blinked. Me? You want to be like me?

Sakura nodded silently, unaware that someone had seen.

You're really confident, and cool, and you always know what to say. You never doubt yourself. Sakura mused. Inner Sakura shrugged.

You ARE me. All you need to do is grow a backbone. She joked, but then she turned serious. A rare mood for Inner Sakura. Really, Sakura. All you need to do is stop holding back. Say what's on your mind a little more. Freakin' get over yourself.

Sakura smiled a bit. "Fine. I'll freakin' get over myself." She said, repeating her Inner Selves words.

-

Sasuke watched from the doorway. It seems his room also led to the balcony. He absently wondered what Inner Sakura was like. He had been around Sakura enough times to know that she had an Inner Self. That was the only plausible explanation.

Silently, he slipped out onto the deck unnoticed. "You know," he began to talk, causing Sakura to jump in surprise. "Talking to yourself doesn't ensure much confidence." He said, his features remaining ever stoic as he leaned against the railing.

A deep blush crossed Sakuras features, matching her hair. Sasuke allowed a cold smirk to play onto his lips. It was rather funny to watch the ever-smart Sakura without something to come back with.

She shook her head and looked up to gaze at the stars. "Sasuke," she began. "About the picture…"

Sasukes smirk fell. Just like a woman to bring up something he didn't want to talk about.

"I…" sakura couldn't explain it, so she simply apologized, her head dropping. "I'm sorry. I don't know what I was thinking."

Sasuke glanced at her, seeing the regret in her eyes. "You could have simply asked me, you know.

Sakura kept her head down. "I couldn't, it's such a personal question." A few stray Sakura leaves from the nearby trees danced along the breeze, some getting caught in the real Sakuras hair.

Sasuke, on some unknown impulse, reached up and untangled one of the delicate leaves from the pink hair. He was slightly surprised. It was a lot softer than he imagined it. "Well how about I ask you a personal question to make up for it?" he asked with a slight smirk, leaning forward to untangle the leaves from the pink mane.

Sakura blinked, then got an evil idea. "Truth or dare."

Sasuke pulled back and stared at her. "What?"

Sakuras smirk widened. "Truth or dare. Surely the great Uchiha knows how to play truth or dare."

"I know how to play," he retorted. "Dare."

Sakura thought a moment. "I dare you to keep Naruto out of my room the next time he tries to come wake me up."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. He was pretty sure that was cheating, but he let it slide. "Truth or dare, Sakura?" he asked.

She smiled. "Truth."

He nodded. "Alright, who were your real parents?" he saw that at the words Sakuras cocky smile dropped.

"My real parents were shinobi ninja." She said in a slightly quieter voice. "They died on a mission."

Sasuke nodded. "How?" he asked.

Sakuras smile came back, though a little weak. "Ah, ah, ah! Truth or dare?" she asked him.

Sasuke knew very well that he should choose truth, but his sadistic side won over. "Dare." He said, a smirk plastered on his lips.

"Alright," Sakura seemed unruffled. "I dare you to choose truth next time."

Sasukes smile suddenly became rather fixed as he realized what the kunoichi had done. "Truth or dare?" he gritted out.

She smiled. "Dare." Two could play at this game.

He looked rather annoyed. "I dare you to go to bed and get some rest because we have a long day tomorrow."

Sakura rolled her eyes, but nodded as she headed back to the room. "Oh, and Sakura?" Sasuke stopped before reentering his room. She glanced back at him.

"I dare you to kiss Naruto tomorrow."

The clever Uchiha slid back into his doorway with that goddamned smirk, leaving Sakura alone on the balcony, frozen in shock.

---...---

muahahahaaa, i know. i'm evil. so anyway, this is a pretty short chappy, sorry about that. this is my first whack at the beaten-to-the-point-of-no-return TRUTH OR DARE fix.

(screams in horror)

err, so anyway, howd'ja like it? i'll bet it was incredibly horrible. so anyway, i'm slowly having the uchiha and the haruno bond together. we are slowly learning about harunos dark and ever-so-angsty past, and the uchiha will reveal his already-known-to-us-crazed-fans past.

alrighty, for my wunnerful reviewers.

paintpurple - that is EXACTLY what it's like!!! thank you for understanding what i was rather unsuccessfully trying to write. the paintings are like sakuras DIARY. if sasuke opened that and found a picture of himself...well, we can use our imagination, yes? haha, i love that episode. and i feel your migrane. i have decided a long time ago that guys just arent worth it, and i've been happy ever since. :)

purplecherry5 - to take what paintpurple up there said, (guidelines: PLAGERISM!! PLAGERISM!!!) its like your crush opening your diary and seeing how many hearts you drew around his name. its stinking embarrassing. (sadly, it happened to me once.)

sakuras undying love - yeah, now that i think about it, judy's (lol) character is a bit reminiscent of lees. but dont worry, both her and lee have more crucial roles to play in the plot later on. (bwahahahahaaa)

lol, superb is a funny word.

hinatagurl - EIGHT FREAKIN' PAGES??!?!?!??!?!!!! (hyperventalates)

VERY EXTREMELY REALLY REALLY IMPORTANT URGENT REPORT:

i have a few nice little oneshots up on my profiley. wanna check 'em out? (they're all sasuke pairings. i just love to control him. :-) haha)

i might make a sequel to these broken souls of ours.

in the meantime, tickles and giggles to ch3rrylips, pinky101, demon spirit, mimorifanforever, sweetkisses9, kakashi500, sakura the lover. love you all!!!

PEACE OUT! remember to hug a jello cup today!