"Itachi…,"

Itachi stopped halfway up the stairs and turned around to face his brother, who was standing at the bottom of the stairs, a glass of milk in hand. He looked normal as always, but Itachi could tell he had something big to say.

"Yeah?"

Sasuke could feel the coolness of the milk through the glass, but his hands still felt hot and clammy at the same damn time, somehow. He faked a cough.

"…thanks," he finally managed. Itachi smiled a little in complete understanding, even though Sasuke had only said one word. Itachi had seen how his brother looked at the café around Sakura, Hinata and Ino—normally, he was a huge antisocial, but he'd actually talked. Itachi nodded at him before continuing up the stairs to brush his teeth before he slept. He didn't know whether or not it was the people here that made Sasuke do it—they were a lot warmer here than the people in their hometown—or if there was just something in the air. Itachi squeezed some toothpaste onto his toothbrush while picking up a discarded towel on the ground with his foot and tossing it in the wicker basket nearby.

I guess it doesn't matter what it is, Itachi thought as he brushed. So long as Sasuke is having a good time.

Downstairs, Sasuke was rinsing out his cup when his mobile phone rang. He hadn't even given his number out to anybody by Itachi and Sakura, but it was kind of obvious that Sakura wouldn't keep his number a secret. Sure enough, when he went over and looked at the screen, the pink-haired girl's name was in the centre of it.

"Hello?"

"Sasuke! Hey! You picked up!" Sakura sounded breathless.

"Um…well, yeah," Sasuke replied with a note of bewilderment. Don't people usually pick up their phones when they ring…?

"Listen, this isn't about me," Sakura gushed. "You heard at the café, right? That Ino broke up with Shikamaru? The guys are trying to cheer him up and I thought you'd want to go to their little …thing. It's tomorrow night,"

Sasuke thought about this for a beat, considering the only person he'd talked to, really, was Kiba.

"Who's going?"

"Oh, like…um, wait, let me see,"

Sasuke heard her click a few times on her computer. He could hear her breathing.

"Shikamaru, obviously, but he doesn't know about it yet. Chōji—that's his best friend by the way—Kiba, Shino, Naruto, Lee, Neji…,"

Lee…I haven't heard about him before.

"And I guess that's it! But yeah, Kiba and I were just talking, and he said he wanted you to come. Like, the more the merrier, right? And you'll get the chance to catch up with everyone,"

Sasuke thought about this for a while. He heard the toilet flush upstairs. He usually hated these things—it was a party for the rest of them, but a meet and greet for him—but he figured if he was going to live here, he had to do it one day or another, and it was better now than later. He didn't like putting things off.

"Okay," he said. "I'll come. Where is it?"

"Shikamaru will never go back to that café," Sakura declared, albeit a little confidentially. "Too many memories. And the Akimichi restaurant is usually full-up at night, so…I think they're just going to a ramen place,"

"I see,"

"It's a really good place," Sakura said reassuringly. She sighed. "Except for one thing,"

"What is it?"

"It's owned by Mangetsu Hōzuki,"

Hōzuki…

Sasuke cleaned his cup out more and then put it upside down on a towel.

Mangetsu must be his brother.

"It's a scary place, actually. To me," Sakura said. "But the ramen there is really, and I mean, really good. So I guess it's kinda worth it,"

"Will Suigetsu be there?"

"Oh, him? Yeah, sometimes. But don't worry, he doesn't do anything around his bro. Mangetsu looks worse than him and probably is, but he doesn't do anything, really,"

"Okay…so why do you think it's…scary?"

"Oh…I really hate Mangetsu's eyes. They scare the crap out of me. That's why I always go with Neji," she said hastily.

Neji…is that guy who stopped our fight. He must be pretty formidable, then.

"What's wrong with his eyes?"

"They just look gross. You remember that serial killer, Kakuzu or something, who was all over the news last year?"
"Yeah,"

Of course Sasuke remembered him: he'd killed so many people and each one had been wealthy, powerful, and he'd taken their heads. He had had a partner, some guy whose name which wasn't mentioned for some unknown reason, but that guy wasn't given a life sentence and had been discharged earlier this year. If you hadn't heard about Kakuzu, you lived under a rock.

"His eyes are like his. Black. But what's worse is Mangetsu's pupils are purple. Eugh, I hate them! It feels like he wants to kill you or something,"

Sasuke wondered if Sakura was exaggerating, but even if she wasn't, only a few people intimidated him anyway, so it wasn't like he would be scared. Sakura's words would just prepare him.

"Right,"

"Anyway, my mum's telling me to sleep," Sakura grunted, sounding annoyed. She cupped her hand over the mouthpiece and screamed "YES! I'M GOING TO SLEEP NOW!"

Sasuke held his mobile away from his ear.

"Okay, Sasuke, I got to go. Good night! See you at school tomorrow! Oh!" Sakura giggled a bit. "Say good night and sweet dreams to Itachi for me, too! Bye!"

And she hung up before she was overcome with the nervous giggles. She wondered if Sasuke was really going to wish Itachi sweet dreams, from Sakura. Either way, she would still have the butterflies in her stomach. She buried her face in her pillow and smiled stupidly to herself before remembering her laptop was still on and Kiba was still talking to her.

Kiba_Inu0413: So he's coming?

SakuraH: Yeah. And I'm going to bed. See ya!

Kiba_Inu0413: Fine. See you tomorrow, bitch=)

Sakura rolled her eyes and smiled. It was Kiba's pet name for her, and even though it was an offensive word, between them it was just a playful one. Even though she was close to Naruto, she had to admit that she and Kiba were a teensy bit closer, because they always planned the parties and the gatherings together. But that was all they were. Best friends.

Sakura unplugged her laptop from the wall and packed it all up before sliding under her blanket and going to sleep.

Deidara wanted to kick his radio.

All it plays are fucking love songs.

After today, Deidara had grown even more agitated around Sakura, and he didn't know why. He turned his radio off and buried his head in his hands. I'm going crazy, hmmm. I should really focus on the job.

He wondered who the new chef was; Sasori had returned looking as stony as ever, and when Deidara asked him about the chef, all he said in return was "he's coming in tomorrow,".

A woman or a man, I wonder, un.

The next morning

"Thanks, Deidara,"

Sai took the takeaway cup from his blonde co-worker and tucked his other hand in his pocket. It was deathly cold in the morning, and he had a giant brown scarf wrapped around his neck over his dark blue uniform. Deidara himself seemed oblivious to the cold and was wearing what he always did. Sai walked out of the café, taking a tentative sip, when he collided with Ino. Hot chocolate splashed all over his face, trickled down his scarf, soaking into his uniform. Ino squealed and jumped back in retaliation as some of the liquid plashed onto the pavement.

"Ohmygod! I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she bounced forward again, using her own hot pink and black patterned scarf to wipe him. They both knew it was kind of pointless, but Sai felt himself grow a little warm around the cheeks and there was a sort of tingling feeling inside him. He looked at Ino as she wiped.

"Are you alright?" she took him by the shoulders and looked him up and down and laughed nervously when she saw his face, and reached around to her backpack. She got the pack of Kleenex from her bag and patted his face softly. Sai gulped a little.

She is, indeed, beautifu—

Ino smiled shyly and handed him the used tissue.

"I am quite alright," Sai finally said. He got the tissue from her and wiped his lips.

Deidara, inside, watched the whole scene with much amusement.

"Thank you," Sai tucked the tissue in his pocket. Ino stood there awkwardly.

"So… you go to Danzo's School for Boys, right?"

SaI nodded. "Yes, I do,"

"I go to the girl's school across the road from you guys,"

Sai nodded again. "I know,"

"Well…um…do you want another drink? Since I made you drop yours, I'll treat you—,"

Sai held up a hand. "It was an accident. It is not your faul—,"

At that moment, the café door opened and Deidara emerged with two hot chocolates. He grinned knowingly and handed them over to Sai.

"For you, Romeo," he winked at Ino and walked back in. Ino didn't know why Sakura found the guy annoying, because she personally thought he was very nice.

"Uh…," Sai held the two hot cups in his hands, his palms growing red. "Here. I guess he made this for you,"

They both stood there in silence. Ino tried to take a sip of the hot chocolate, but it was too, well, hot.

"Um…I'll walk you to school?" she offered. Sai smiled behind his damp scarf.

"Okay,"