a/n: Enjoy the chapter! Plenty of NaruSaku, so REVIEW! (if you don't like it… review anyway! And if you don't like the other pairing introduced… then I might as well know that too… sigh…)

I know that there are people who have me on their alert list, but don't review. (gives death glare) A-hem… anyway, I don't hold it against you, but I'd love your reviews. I'm twenty reviews behind my goal. You don't want my story to look pathetic, with three reviews a chapter, do you? Just in case it's not clear, there was a tiny time skip between last chapter and 'Violets'.

And to my reviewer who reamarked that Gaara is eyebrow-less (falls on knees) I'M SORRY! The way I imagined it was that his face had the expression... technically he has an area for eyebrows, but he doesn't have actual eyebrows I might edit that... Hehe, thanks for reviewing. Anyway, enough said. Enjoy the chappie.

"Sakura?" asked Naruto, squinting at me. He hadn't expected me to visit him that night. "I thought you'd be at the party…"

I shook my head 'no'. "There was this… this absolute snot of a princess."

His eyes lit up with understanding. "The Suna princess? Temmyra or something?" He walked into the kitchen, put down some dirty plates he'd been carrying, and started to wash a huge pile of dishes that were sitting there from the feast.

"Temari," I corrected quickly, "and for some bizarre reason, I land myself next to her – and the crown prince of Suna! – all night. Princess Temari was obviously angry, upset, about something. So she decides that it would be fun to have some shooting practice on the 'scullery wench'." I wrinkled my nose in disgust, and Naruto looked angry.

"There's nothing wrong with being a scullery girl," he muttered, "and to treat you like that…" he glanced back up at me, his eyes holding fire. He clenched the spoon he was washing in his hand like it was a weapon.

"Please," I pleaded, not sure of my reasons, except that that fire scared me, "don't make a big fuss of it."

"It's not just that she insulted you, Sakura, although that's enough reason. No, she insulted being a scullery maid in and of itself. For girls with no better way in life, it's all they can get."

"Naruto," I said, softening. I smiled. How could he always put a smile on my face?

"How could she say something like that?" he continued, wiping the dish furiously, "when you might as well be a princess?"

I laughed, my laugh tinged with wryness. I'm around Kurenai too much, I thought to myself, I'm starting to get a tad cynical, just like her. "I'm no princess, Naruto. She wasn't saying anything untrue – I was a scullery maid."

He turned back to me, his eyes sad now. "But… but they can't just say things like that to you. No one can. Because-" he put down the bowl he was washing, hesitated, then finished this statement, "because you're so kind, and pretty. Because you're so smart. Because if they do," he was blushing, looking at the floor now, but a mischievous smile appeared on his face, "if they do, I'll beat their asses!"

"Naruto!" I said with a laugh. But really, I was touched. He really liked me, didn't he? But I tried not to dwell on this.

"Don't worry about it. I won anyway." I couldn't keep a bit of smugness out of my voice when I told him the last part.

He grinned. "Heh," he said, "I bet you did. That's one of my favorite things about you – how you seem so meek, but you get angry and totally blow up." He scratched the back of his head with his lopsided grin plastered on his face, "though I don't like it when it's directed at me!"

I smiled, taking it as a compliment.

"I DON'T WANT TO DEAL WITH THIS ANYMORE!" a female cry, shrill and ragged. Naruto and I were both quiet… the noises were coming from the clothes washing room, which was currently vacant but for these two.

She sounded very familiar to me, and all in a moment I managed to figure out who it was.

I nudged Naruto in the rib, directing his attention to me. "It's the Princess Temari," I mouthed. He nodded knowingly. A pained look came across his face. "It happens… a lot…" he explained in a whisper.

Another voice, also familiar, this one calmer and male. Still, I discerned a pleading, frantic quality to it.

"Please calm down. You're making a scene."

Naruto and I couldn't see. I didn't know whose this voice was… Princess Temari's voice, along with its insults, was fresh and bold in my mind. This one merely faded into a background of noise I'd heard in the past weeks.

"Listen to me," she begged, sounding much calmer now, "I don't want to hide this anymore, alright? I just don't. I don't care what Father would say-"

"I'd lose my job. Is that what you'd want?"

She made a noise of frustration. "No, that's not what I want, Shikamaru!" she spat the name out, obviously angry with him.

Shikamaru. The name snapped me back to an image of the boy I'd seen at my fist feast, weeks ago.

Naruto seemed to know who he was, also.

"But…" her voice lowered, so that Naruto and I couldn't hear anymore. It became a hiss. "I don't understand why… why we have to take so many precautions. Meeting in secret, the works. You know, you're nearly aristocracy yourself-"

"You know that anything less than nobility is not suitable for a princess. And the fact that I'm a servant remains."

"But-"

"Temari," he said, raising his voice slightly, "don't you get it?"

There was silence. "I'll see you tomorrow night," she said shortly.

His response was firm. "No."

"But- Shikamaru! Get back here!"

Shikamaru entered the room where Naruto and I were. We froze. He blinked, then gave us a peeved look. "You heard that?"

Naruto seemed to know what to do. "No, Shikamaru," he assured him, "we didn't hear anything."

A smile that didn't reach his tired eyes formed. Then he spotted me.

"Miss Sakura?" he said warily. He looked to Naruto. Naruto seemed surprised that he knew me, but didn't mention it.

"She won't say anything, either."

Shikamaru left the kitchen, weary.

Naruto and I heard noise – the girl was kicking the wall in frustration, anger. A muffled cry came from the room.

We let her be.

"I've caught them down here before. Shikamaru and I are kind of friends, so he knows he can trust me about keeping it secret." He bit his lip. "But this… it was awful. Don't get the worng impression of Shikamaru – he's not as selfish as he acted there."

"That was why she was so difficult towards me," I fretted, "She must be in turmoil."

His face hardened. "Don't excuse her just for that," he advised me.

I nodded. But I still felt sorry for her.

After all, one girl scorned can't help but feel sorry for another.

It was late. The feast, of course, was still going full-fledged. I suspected I would be alone for the rest of the night, but the thought didn't bother me. I needed to sleep after such a night…

I noticed a girl with dark hair walk out of Kurenai's room. Her eyes were cast to the ground, but I should have been able to recognize her from her rich gowns alone.

She looked up at me, and our eyes – her pale, white ones and my green ones – met for a moment. She let out a little gasp.

"You're Miss Sakura, aren't you?" she said somewhat fearfully. Her voice was very quiet, cautious, but that's how I suspected it was all the time.

"Yes, and who are you?" I replied somewhat aggressively, although her pale eyes had already given her away.

"H-Hinata Hyuuga," she answered, stuttering under the intensity of my gaze.

I was too selfish to feel any sympathy for this stuttering girl. I half-recognized that I wasn't mad at her anyway; it was Kurenai who I was angry at.

"I need to get to the root of this," I muttered as I pushed passed the Hyuuga heiress who - despite being one of the richest and most titled girls in the kingdom – simply stood there and fearfully watched me as I marched down the hall.

a/n: Review, everyone. REVIEW FOR PETE'S SAKE!