Well, so much for a quicker update…. school was demanding a lot of my time, but I managed to sit down and finish this up for you guys! Thanks again for taking the time to leave an opinion by reviewing, I appreciate that alot!

ChildOfSea got the song reference right! And you win….a oneshot request! Any Pairing of your choice from any show of your choice, just leave that info in a review or PM if you want and it shall be posted ASAP!

The answer was: Naruto (or Britney) meant that Sai, Sasuke, Ino and Sakura were in denial and needed to wake up.

If you're wondering about the whole art thing in the previous chapter, I'm a total art fanatic…that and I love big words.

Disclaimer: See previous chapter for ownership status.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

All the pain I thought I knew, all the thoughts lead back to you, back to what was never said, back and forth inside my head, I can't handle this confusion, I'm unable, come and take me away – Take Me Away – Avril Lavigne.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

"Hey Ino, is it really safe for you to be doing that?"

Ino let out a short laugh and shot a worried Hinata a wink, in the middle of doing a handstand on the railing by the school's front steps.

"Aw, I'm fine, Hina," she assured, "don't worry so much."

Hinata shook her head, still uneasy about whether or not the banister could support the blonde's weight. She couldn't very well point that out, though, as the Yamanaka was very sensitive about how much she weighed.

"Forget her, Hina-chan. If she wants to fall over and crack that airhead of hers open on the steps, then let her do it."

Hinata sweat-dropped and let out an exasperated sigh when Ino's face flashed irritation. On the other side of the steps, Naruto and Sai sat on the railing, legs dangling in the air.

"Don't test me, Uzumaki," Ino warned.

Naruto childishly stuck his tongue out, only to let out a yelp of pain when Sai whacked him over the head with his binder, causing him to bite down on his tongue.

"Dooothe! Whaa tha heeell?!" he screeched while pinching his stinging tongue.

Sai shrugged, sending the seething blonde a flat smile when Ino and Hinata started giggling. The three teens continued to 'enjoy' Naruto's pain as they waited for Sakura to be dropped off, so they could all go to first period Math. Naruto had just launched into another rant about his friends enjoying his pain when a familiar black police squad car drove into the lot.

"Sasuke-bastard is here," he announced. "whoop-de-doo." He added with fake cheer.

Ino rolled her eyes at the blonde. "Oh shut up, Naruto."

"Why does Naruto not get along with Sasuke again?" Sai asked, only half-paying attention, having pulled out a sketchbook to sketch his friends, unbeknownst to them.

"Hmm, they do have a strange relationship. If you didn't know them, one would almost think they aren't even friends." Hinata agreed, smiling wistfully.

"There's a phrase for it, Hina." Ino grinned. "On again-Off again Bro-mance."

Naruto groaned when Hinata started giggling. Sai only shook his head when Ino started laughing too loud… just to annoy the Uzumaki.

"Hey, how come there are a lot of people in Uchiha-san's car today?" Hinata asked, both from curiosity and also to distract them all from laughing at Naruto when she felt sorry for him.

A closer look at the approaching vehicle confirmed her suspicions. Itachi was at the wheel as usual, but next to him in the passenger seat sat, Maya.

"Huh, why's Haruno-san with them?" she wondered aloud.

Naruto shot up at that, quickly following Hinata's line of sight. "Hey yeah, it's Maya! Heh, for a second there, I thought you meant Sakura."

"Uh, guys?" Ino squinted, still upside down in a handstand. "Either the blood all rushed to my head just now and I'm now seeing things…or that is Sakura I'm seeing in the back of Itachi's car… with Sasuke."

"What?" Naruto snorted. "Sakura-chan and The Bastard in the same car seat? Still alive?" He laughed. "I don't think so."

"No, no, no. I'm serious." Ino insisted.

"What, no way," Naruto blew a raspberry, as he craned his neck to look… and then promptly choked on his spit when he recognized the unmistakable head of pink hair.

Unnerved, Ino flipped over to stand on her feet so she could get a proper look.

"They're actually… I mean, they look like they aren't even fighting." Naruto observed uneasily.

"Do you think everything is alright?" Hinata asked worriedly. "I mean, why is Haruno-san with them toda-….wait! You don't think they got expelled or something worse-"

"Relax, Hina." Ino cut in, waving a hand, although she was just as creeped out. "I'm sure there's a reason for-"

"Aliens!" Naruto cut in, looking like he was about to start panicking. "Or maybe, maybe the world is ending! It's the apocalypse! The apoca- OW!"

"Thank you." Ino shot Sai –who had just whacked Naruto over the head with his binder AGAIN– a thumb up.

"Now, as I was saying," she continued, as the car drew nearer. "I'm sure there's a logical explanation."

The squad car stopped a few feet away from the steps where they stood, and they quickly plastered on plastic grins when Sakura stepped out of the vehicle first. Sasuke clambered out after her, and slammed the door shut.

The spectating teens were a little relieved to note that Sasuke and Sakura were both wearing their usual scowls. At least something was still normal.

But that relief soon went flying out the window when they saw that the scowls weren't directed at each other but at… Maya?

"I still can't believe you're making us do this," Sakura complained.

The teens shared a look. Whatever it was she was complaining about, Sakura sounded like she'd been at it for a while.

"And you, Itachi-san," the pinkette continued. "I can't believe Maya roped you into this too."

"I can." Sasuke cut in snidely.

Itachi only shrugged unrepentantly and started the car up again. "Now, now. Don't pout, Otouto. It's unbecoming of an Uchiha."

"I hate you." Sasuke deadpanned.

"Oh come now, Sasuke." Maya clicked her tongue, flashing the younger Uchiha a wide smile. "We're only doing this for your own good. Both of you."

"I hate you too." He shot at the elder Haruno.

"Yeah, I'm with Sasuke on this one." Sakura chimed in. "I thought you guys understood us last night."

"Oh no, we did." Maya grinned wider. "It was crystal clear."

Ino and the others shifted uncomfortably on their feet, feeling like they were missing something big as they watched Sakura and Sasuke complain some more, Maya still grinning as she shot down complaint after complaint.

"Look, the point is, you guys have to do what we say because we're large and in charge." Maya said with a note of finality to her tone. "Suck it up, kiddos."

"You suck," Sakura grumbled.

"Mhm, so you've said a million times already, now hurry up and go before the bell rings." Maya said, craning her head around her sister to wink up at the four bewildered teens at the top of the steps, while shooing the two away.

"I don't know how," Sakura started as she and Sasuke backed up the steps, "but you will pay for this."

"We'll be back at 4 to pick you up. Don't be late, okay?" Maya sang in a cheerful voice as Itachi backed the car out. "Bye!"

Sakura groaned as she and Sasuke climbed the steps to join their friends at the top, the sound of screeching tires fading as Itachi sped away. Normally, she'd be laughing at the disturbed looks on their faces, but as it was she was too busy being mad at her sister and Itachi to find anything amusing.

"Morning guys." She greeted dully when they reached the top step.

Sasuke grunted a non-committal greeting. Ino and the others murmured greetings of their own, still throwing the Uchiha suspicious glances.

"So…what was that all about?" Ino asked carefully.

"Uggg." Sakura groaned. "Maya 'crashed' her van last night so we had to hitch a ride with the Uchihas this morning."

"She crashed?!" Ino screeched.

"Oh she's fine, she's fine." Sakura waved an irritated hand. "Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for the van, hence the carpooling."

Ino shook her head, trying to get over that shock, all the while still trying not to be unnerved by the fact that Sasuke and Sakura were not arguing… well, not yet anyway. Around her, Hinata and Naruto shuffled uneasily sharing Ino's discomfort, while Sai remained as indifferent as usual.

"Sakura." Sasuke's unusually calm voice cut into the awkward silence that had started to settle. "We should hurry if we're going to see the principal before class."

"Oh yeah." Sakura straightened and adjusted her backpack's strap. "Guess I'll see you guys later."

And without waiting for a response or confirmation, she started to make her way into the school building.

"No offence, but your sister is insane for making us do this." Sasuke deadpanned as he followed after her.

"Yeah? Well, your brother is totally nuts for playing along." Sakura snorted. "No offence, but I am totally not kidding."

"None taken." Sasuke shrugged. "Because he is nuts."

Sakura let out another snort as she and Sasuke rounded the corner and disappeared from sight, leaving their puzzled friends to stare slack-jawed after them.

"Okay…What just happened?" Naruto asked no one in particular.

For once, even Ino was rendered speechless. No one had an answer for that.

"I wonder what happened after I left Sakura last night," Sai mused aloud.

"Yeah me too. But, I'm going to find out." Ino's eyes narrowed, glinting excitedly at the prospect of squeezing the obviously juicy "deets" out of Sakura later.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

"Well, that was less awkward than I expected." Sakura commented, after she and Sasuke had exited the principal's office.

"Remind me again why your sister insisted we apologize to old man Sarutobi again?" Sasuke asked as they made their way down the empty hallway.

"We did kinda turn his school upside down for a bit there." Sakura pointed out, and then snorted. "And I am pretty sure Mr Ebisu was one argument away from suffering an aneurysm."

Sasuke kept his head forward as they walked, not sparing the girl now silently walking along beside him even so much as a glance, as he was still processing the talk they'd had the previous night.

The silence wasn't awkward, but it wasn't exactly comfortable either. Just like old times. Almost nostalgic, even.

Uncomfortable, he answered with the first thing that came to mind. "Hn."

"Ever the brilliant conversationalist, ey?" Sakura sucked her teeth and shook her head. "Let's just hurry. If we're late, Kami only knows what Gai-sensei is going to make us do."

They hadn't walked much further when Sakura heard someone call her name a few feet behind her.

"Oh, hey Sai." Sakura smiled upon recognizing the pale teen. "Why aren't you in class?" she asked when he fell into step on her right, Sasuke still walking on her left.

"Bathroom." Sai said in answer to her question, and then gestured at the zebra print jeggings she was wearing. "I see you found some inspiration of your own last night."

"Oh…yeah." Sakura chuckled lightly. "That painting reminded me of these, haven't worn 'em in a while, so I figured, what the hell." She finished with a light shrug.

Sai glanced at her from the corner of his eyes, and then looked forward again. "Well, you should definitely wear them more often."

"Really?" Sakura glanced down.

"Hm." Sai hummed with an affirmative nod. "I'm going to visit an expo in the next town over after school. Would you like to come?"

Sakura abruptly stumbled, converses squeaking on the hallway's slick floor. "Are you asking me out?"

They had just rounded the corner, and they could hear Mr Maito's rumbling baritone voice booming down the hallway about the beauty of a pendulum's full oscillation. Clearly, Physics class had started and they were running late, and yet none of them made to rush.

"I was actually just honoring my promise to let you know when next I'd be 'checking out some more art stuff', as you had put it." He gestured with air quotes. "But if you want to call it that, it's fine by me too."

"Oh yeah, that." A faint pink tinge coated Sakura's cheeks as she remembered her promise to check out more art with him, and she coughed lightly. "Sorry, I forgot."

"The same way you forgot we have something to do after school today?"

Sakura flinched at the sound of Sasuke's voice, having forgotten the Uchiha was even there.

"Did you have a prior engagement?"

Sakura wasn't sure if he was asking her or Sasuke. "I didn't forget." She rolled her eyes at a disgruntled Uchiha, and then shot Sai an apologetic smile. "Sorry Sai, I'm going to have to take a rain-check on that."

"No problem." Sai answered, nonplussed. "How's your Friday? The surprise I mentioned I was working on should be done by then."

Sakura beamed. "Friday's great."

"Great." Sai nodded, a corner of his mouth quirking. "I'm going to see Anko. As your tutor, I think I can convince her to let you do something for extra credit, put all that information in your head to actual use."

"Really?" Sakura's eyes shone like lanterns at the prospect of maybe not failing DII after all. "You'd do that for me?"

"It's not like you don't deserve the credit." Sai shrugged.

"Have I told you that you're awesome?!" she cheered, hugging the artist's arm.

"Odd." Sai raised an eyebrow at the gleeful girl practically swinging on his arm. "Ino says the same thing whenever I do something that makes her especially happy."

Sakura laughed, slowly letting go of the other's arm to adjust her backpack's straps.

Sasuke was grateful when they reached Room 107 -Physics class- because he was feeling a suspicious urge to punch a hole in the wall. Even more so if that 'wall' was suddenly and conveniently 'replaced' with Sai's face.

Kami, he swore the artist existed just to piss him off sometimes.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Sakura was able to evade Ino's interrogation all through First Period (i.e. ignoring all her annoyingly loud all caps texts), then again dodging her again at the beginning of Second Period, racing straight to Social Studies as soon as Physics was done to snag a seat as far away from her as possible. That wasn't easy.

Once the surprisingly -and thankfully in Ebisu's opinion- uneventful class was over, however, there was no escaping the blonde.

She grabbed her backpack just as the bell rang and announced the beginning of lunch. She'd just stepped out the classroom when someone grabbed her arm and pulled her aside in the rapidly filling hallway as students made their way to the cafeteria.

"Did you really have to grab my arm so hard?" Sakura scowled, rubbing the spot where Ino's perfectly manicured nails had left little crescent marks. "That really hurt, pig."

"Okay, enough stalling, Haruno." Ino announced after releasing her arm. "Spill."

Sakura rolled her eyes, puffing out a breath that ruffled her bangs. "Well, can I at least tell you over lunch? I'm starving, I missed breakfast."

"Fine." Ino relented, and the two joined the throng of students marching towards to the cafeteria. "Compromise it is."

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

"HEY SAKURA! INO! HEY GUYS! OVER HERE! WE SAVED YOU GUYS SOME SEATS!"

The yell was instantaneous the second the two girls stepped inside the large eatery. Heads turned their way and they both cringed.

"Oh gee, I wonder who that is," Ino muttered dryly. "Any ideas, Sakura?"

"You mean the idiot yelling our names even though we are no more than 20 feet away from him?" Sakura questioned monotonously. "No clue."

"HEY GUYS! CAN YOU SEE ME? I'M OVER HERE WAVING MY ARM!"

Sakura sighed and ducked her head, while Ino face-palmed. "We should get over there before he climbs on the table and starts-"

"Too late." Ino cut in. "He's on the table."

Sakura's head snapped up, and sure enough, Naruto was on the table, waving both arms, and somehow, even though they'd originally thought it impossible, he was yelling louder.

"Naruto-kun, if you don't get down, you'll get detention again," Hinata warned, pulling on the blonde's pant leg to get his attention.

That got him back in his seat, just in time for an irritated Ino and an amused Sakura to reach the table.

"What are we going to do with you, Naruto?" Ino sighed dramatically. "Like, seriously."

"Go easy on him, Pig," Sakura chuckled as she sank into the chair Sai pointed at. "He only overdoes the idiocy sometimes because he knows it cheers me up, right Naruto?"

For a second, Naruto looked shocked, as if wondering how she could possibly have figured that out. But then the pinkette sent him a knowing smirk, and his features soon dissolved into a sheepish grin. "Ah, you know me too well, Sakura-chan." He chuckled lightly.

The use of his childhood petname for her had her grinning, which in turn like a domino effect, had Ino and Hinata grinning. Sai raised an eyebrow at them, sure he'd missed something, then almost instantly realizing it was probably something from their childhood, which he wasn't a part of, he shrugged it off.

He instead pushed a lemonade bottle towards Sakura.

"Huh?" Confused green eyes stared at the beverage pushed before her.

"Oh yeah!" Naruto snapped his fingers. "We got here early so we got you guys some stuff, figured you might not want to wait in line, it's pretty long today. Ino, you like Crème Soda flavor right?" he asked, sliding the blonde next to him her drink.

Ino didn't answer right then, distractedly staring at the lemonade Sai had pushed to Sakura. Absently she mused how that was usually her Sai would be pushing the drink towards. Looking down, she noted that Sakura was the one sitting next to the artist -again, a spot usually reserved for her- while she sat between the pinkette and Naruto. Her slim brows pulled together, her brow furrowing as she wondered why she found something so insignificant... bothersome.

"Helllooo, earth to Inoooo!"

The blonde shook her head dazedly when she realized Naruto was whistling in her ear while snapping his fingers in her face.

"Oh…y-yeah, Crème Soda's good."

"Hey, you okay, pig?" Sakura asked, half-mocking, half-concerned.

"Uh, I'm good." Ino cleared her throat and threw a few stray locks of hair over her shoulder as she swiveled in her chair to grin at Sakura. "Okay, we're here; you're having lunch…Spill. Come on Forehead, and don't skimp on the details either."

Sakura rolled her eyes as she separated her chopsticks. "To be honest, I'm not really sure myself...I'm kinda still processing. Let me see." She frowned, tapping her chopsticks on her bottom lip in thought.

X-x-x-x-x-X

FLASHBACK

"Hn. Haruno."

The greeting was dull, the smirk annoyingly smug on the other's face. Sakura felt herself slowly stiffen, suddenly feeling cold despite the humid night.

Oh shit. She cursed in her head. Well…speak of the devil himself.

"What the hell are you doing here…" she growled slowly, "…Sasuke."

What the hell was he doing out there? The whole point of her coming out there had been to escape the suffocating thoughts –of him– and enjoy some fresh air while writing what she felt would be a particularly long rant in her diary.

Well, that didn't seem like much of a possibility anymore.

Shitshitshitshit.

Sakura contemplated her options. She could either continue moving forward and pretend he wasn't there (probably look dumb while she was at it) or go back the way she'd come (also probably look dumb that way too). She was leaning more toward going back the way she'd come, because she didn't feel like playing 'hate you/hate you not' with the jerk sitting a few meters away from her.

But then she noticed him watching her with an almost lazy indifference, one that she'd recognize anywhere, and her indignant side flared.

Why should she have to go back just cause he was there?

Answer: She didn't have to do squat.

"Well? What are you doing out here?" she repeated in an icier tone as she continued her venture across and over the branches.

"My brother and his stupid squad are home." He shrugged slightly and turned his head to the left. "They were annoying me." Not that he'd admit it, but he was glad she wasn't turning tail at the sight of him.

Sakura grunted as she pulled herself up a branch, successfully hiding her surprise at the fact that he'd actually bothered to answer her. "So you ran away from them and hid in a tree then? Smaaart."

"I came out here for some peace and quiet." Sasuke scowled, not liking how silly she'd made it sound. "And it's too hot inside." He added.

Sakura said nothing, instead plopping herself as far away from him on the branch as she could. Sighing inaudibly, she quickly opened her diary and flipped through the pages, only to stop when she noticed something very, very important.

There was no freaking light source in the tree.

"Crap." She muttered, mentally smacking herself for forgetting to turn on the fluorescent in the tree whilst she'd been inside.

"I was wondering how long it would take for you to notice." Sasuke shook his head lightly, an action Sakura didn't fail to notice despite the darkness.

"Excuse me?" she asked tersely, snapping her journal shut violently. The sharp snap resounded in the night air.

"I was just wondering how long it would take you to realize the obvious, that's all." Sasuke replied evenly.

"Would it kill you to not be an ass, for like… Five. Seconds. ?"

There was a beat of silence, and Sakura, for a second, thought he was actually considering the question, but then her reasoning kicked in and she realized, this was Sasuke and he was probably just choosing to ignore her.

"Whatever." She let out a puff of breath, with an eye roll she knew was wasted in the dark.

Scowling, she placed her diary back between her teeth in preparation for the trek back to her window, swearing under her breath with every wobbly step she took. The last thing she wanted was to fall out of the tree with him watching her. So engrossed was she in her task, however, that she almost fell over when she heard his voice drift over to her.

"Try not to fall out of the tree, will you? I really don't feel like driving a bawling girl to the hospital… again."

Sakura felt the distinct urge to kick him off the branch at the reminder. That day, which she'd dreamt about her second night in Konoha. That same day, that she fell out of the tree with Sasuke, when they'd both sprained a wrist and an ankle, and an unlicensed Naruto had been forced to drive them to the hospital.

"I was NOT bawling that day." She snapped, both to answer him and shut out the annoying memory.

"Yeah. You were."

Sakura felt her jaw click from how tight she was clenching her teeth. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she wondered how it was that they both instantly knew exactly which incident he was referring to, considering there had been many incidents involving them falling out of a tree. But she knew better than to delude herself; she knew just as well as he did, that that particular incident was what had jumpstarted everything, and had marked the beginning of change.

"No, I wasn't." she didn't like the fact that her voice had lowered a few octaves, and that she'd paused.

Sakura had the impression Sasuke had raised an eyebrow at her. The gesture indicated she was being ridiculous and she knew it. And she'd been on its receiving end enough times to know when he did it, even without seeing it.

Like just then.

"Fine." She conceded stiffly. "I was crying. But my freaking ankle had snapped, what'd you expect me to do, sing happy show tunes?"

"I sprained my wrist." He shrugged. "You didn't see me crying about it, did you?"

"Okay, a) yes, I did in fact see you crying, and b) a sprained ankle hurts way more than a sprained wrist. Everyone knows that." She scoffed haughtily.

"You cannot be serious."

Sakura thought she detected a note of exasperation in his voice, and something else she couldn't quite put her finger on, but she was far too annoyed to analyze it and the fact that he was being uncharacteristically chatty, further.

"And if I am?" she challenged.

"Okay, an ankle and a wrist both have the same type of joint, ergo, spraining either one would be just as painful. As someone that aspires to be a nurse someday, I'd expect that you'd know that."

Sakura was grateful for the dark, sure her cheeks were on fire, embarrassed by the obviousness of that. She didn't feel like acknowledging that he was right, though, so she said the smartest thing she could think of.

"You were too crying that day!" More than a little annoyed, she snapped. "And, since I'm not in the mood to see you crying again, I'll try to refrain from falling."

She smirked triumphantly at his minute stiffening.

"I wasn't crying that day." He said lowly, after a pause, albeit a little bit defensively.

"You were too." She taunted childishly.

"Stop being annoying, Haruno." He shot back tersely.

That word.

Annoying. Annoying?! The hell-

"I can remember clearly!" she exploded, seconds away from seeing red. "Naruto drove us there and he was freaking out the entire way. When we got to the hospital, my sister came out and Tsunade-sama was lecturing us again and you were being a big baby and refusing treatment for your stupid wrist and then you-"

Sakura suddenly stopped cold, both to catch herself from saying too much and also because she'd just noticed just how close their faces were. During their bickering, they'd gotten into each other's faces…literally.

"Forget it." She snapped, as a means to distract herself as she tried to scoot away from him in as offhand a manner as she could manage.

Sasuke noticed what she was doing but didn't say anything else.

They both could remember very well what had happened that day. Sasuke and Naruto had refused to leave her side and had stayed on either side of her bed until she was conscious again after the anesthetics wore off. Sasuke, in his stubbornness, ended up having his wrist treated in Sakura's room. Needless to say, the nurses at the hospital were never really fond of him much after that.

"Is this how it's always going to be whenever we have…or attempt to have a conversation?"

Sakura sighed tiredly. She hadn't meant to say it –at least not that way– but now that it was out, there was no taking it back.

"I don't know about you, Sasuke…but I'm sick and tired of all…" she waved a hand between them, "…this."

She knew she was risking a lot, but once she'd started talking, she couldn't stop the words from coming out.

"Hn."

She bristled at the non-answer, and he noticed it immediately. "So what is this then?" he asked before she could say anything. "The proverbial stretching out of the olive branch?"

"I'm only doing this to get everyone off my back, and because I promised Maya I would and also, mostly for the sake of my own sanity. Sooo…" Sakura grit her teeth and held out a hand, "…truce?"

Sasuke stared at her proffered hand as Sakura waited with baited breath. The seconds ticked by and she started to lower her hand, already offering up a fervent prayer to whatever deity could hear, that she'd fall out of the tree and land on her head and just forget this entire night had happened, then maybe she could-

"I'm only doing this to get my retarded brother off my back, and so his even more retarded squad-mates have one less thing to hassle me about. There's also the fact that I wasn't joking about running out of shirts…so, yeah. Truce."

Sakura blinked, sure she'd just imagined that and her brain was malfunctioning. But she looked down to see her hand firmly in Sasuke's grip, and she couldn't help the snort, quickly followed by a grin.

He smirked.

Her grin faltered, and she quickly retracted her hand.

She left the tree to turn on the fluorescent, returning a few minutes later, holding two chocolate bars in her hand. She tossed him one, which he caught easily. She then retook her seat opposite him, picking up the diary she'd left on the branch as she leant back against the trunk, briefly wondering if he'd snuck a look in it.

Head snapping up, her accusation died on her tongue when she found him still staring at the bar she'd thrown him.

"What? Not hungry?" she asked curiously. "I figured you might be, didn't know how long you'd been hiding up here."

"It's not that." He shook his head, and looked up at her. "I just…don't like sweets."

"I know." Sakura quirked a smile. "That's why I got a dark, bitter chocolate. They aren't sweet."

Sasuke looked down at the bar again, confirming what she'd said when he read the label.

"Think of it as a peace offering." She continued with a chuckle, unwrapping her own bar and chomping a monstrous bite. "I really am sorry for ruining so many of your shirts."

He stared at her for a few more moments, and then dropped his eyes to the bar, unwrapping it mechanically before taking a small, cautious bite, lest it be a trick and it was a booby bar full of hot jalapeño peppers.

But it wasn't. It wasn't spicy. It wasn't sweet…and there was no itching of any kind accompanying the bite.

He chewed thoughtfully, and then swallowed, blinking at the bar afterwards.

"It's…good." He finally said, unable to think of anything else to say.

"Cheers." Sakura chuckled, raising her own bar at him.

She then returned her attention to her journal, and he returned his attention to the night sky, neither saying anything else afterwards.

The only sounds to be heard in the tree being the scratch of her pen against paper, the crickets chirping in the tree, and the rustle of leaves whenever a gentle breeze blew through the tree…

And the occasional rustle of candy wrappers as they both slowly munched at their bars.

END FLASHBACK

X-x-x-x-X

Sakura squinted at the ceiling, considering how much she should tell, and how much info to withhold. Wouldn't want them to get excited over nothing. Decision made, she nodded once. "Weeelll, long story short, I talked to Sasuke last night and-"

"You guys are back together?" Ino cut in excitedly.

"No." Sakura snapped, face darkening marginally. "We have never been together, Pig."

Naruto and Hinata shared a look, while Sai looked on, concentrating on the two girls as they interacted, as if trying to figure something out.

"Oh, right." Ino pouted. "Then what happened last night?"

"We called a truce. Basically." Sakura shrugged, poking at the fries on her plate half-heartedly. "I was sick of fighting with him, and I'd like to think he was tired of me ruining shirt after shirt of his…not that I was doing it on purpose of course." She added as an afterthought.

Ino snorted, earning herself an amused smirk from the pinkette.

"So yeah. We're neutral now. I guess." Sakura finished, pushing her half-eaten lunch away.

Ino opened her mouth to press for more info but then she saw the warning glint in Sakura's eye, and wisely decided against it. "Okay." she nodded, attention returning to her salad. "I guess I can accept that… for now."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Great." She muttered sarcastically.

"Well, at least you guys aren't fighting anymore." Naruto grinned. "Peace rules again in the hallways of Konoha High. Heh, things might get boring around here without all the yelling though."

"Stop being retarded, Naruto." Ino snapped.

The table shared a laugh at the scandalized look on Naruto's face.

"Wait! That still doesn't answer my other question!" Naruto cut in the din of snickers.

Sakura half-turned in her seat to face him. "What's that?"

"What was that about with Maya earlier this morning?"

All eyes turned to Sakura in anticipation, to which she groaned and planted her head on the table, whining inaudibly. Her friends all shared a look, but waited patiently for her to lift her head to answer.

"Babysitting."

"Huh?" the table questioned as one.

"Maya and Itachi didn't believe us when we said we were done fighting, and they were still kinda mad about the whole getting them called down here every other day because of us 'misbehaving' and all, so…they signed us up for the babysitting service that Principal Sarutobi runs."

Ino squinted, clearly confused. "How does babysitting prove whether or not you guys are done with all the pow-wows?"

"Oh, I get it," Hinata spoke up, smiling knowingly. "Babysitting can be pretty stressful. If Sakura-chan and Sasuke-san can manage to do it without blowing up at each other, then Maya-san will be convinced they really set aside their differences and buried the hatchet, so to speak."

"Hina-chan is so smart!" Naruto teased, laughing out loud when Hinata's face, as predicted, flamed.

"Principal Sarutobi has a babysitting service?" Ino asked, glaring at the blonde out of the corner of her eye in warning. "How come I never knew about it?"

"You do know about it, Ino-chan." Hinata insisted. "Naruto-kun and I signed up earlier this year remember?"

Ino chuckled, remembering. "Oh that 'Will of Fire something-something' thing you guys have been raving about?"

"Yep." Naruto grinned. "You get assigned a 'little sibling' that you have to take care of every week. It's awesome, like having a lil brother."

"Now I remember why I passed on it," Ino smirked. "I enjoy being an only child."

"Spoilt brat." Naruto snarked.

"Look who's talking!" Ino shot back. "You're a spoilt lil brat too!"

"Does this happen a lot?" Sakura asked Sai and Hinata when the two blondes launched into a full-blown argument.

"You have no idea how often." The two replied in unison, sweat dropping when the yells became louder.

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