sticks and stones
x: take a deep breath,

"That asshole!" Ino managed to say through a chocolate donut. "He can't just invade your personal space and kiss you!"

"Yeah, well…" Sakura fidgeted with her bed sheets. "I don't know if I liked it or not…"

Her blonde friend paused. "Don't tell me you actually like him back."

"I…might. I don't know." Sakura felt ashamed. She had promised Naruto not to let anyone know that she was aware of Sasuke's past, but she had just blurted it out to him. Her stomach was spinning with a flurry of emotions, and she felt damn near miserable.

Ino shrugged, looking a lot more laid-back about this than Sakura would've liked. "Well, at least, now you have a reason to dump Lee."

"But I can't dump Lee!" Every time she thought about it, she felt a little sick. The thought of breaking up with someone and just letting him down—that frightened her more than anything.

"Face it, Forehead. If he can't win over someone as ugly as you, he can't win over anyone. It's high time you told him that, 'cause it's true." Ino scowled at her laptop. "What the hell! Kiba's profile says he's in a relationship with Hyuuga Hinata! That's so gross!"

She rolled her eyes. "Get off Facebook, Pig. It's not worth it."

"Kiba and Hinata? I'm not going to accept that!"

"He doesn't care if you accept it or not."

The blonde narrowed her eyes are her. "Your boy advice isn't very good, y'know."

"Right back at you."

Bickering was their way of comforting each other. And, a lot of the time, it worked for the both of them. Sakura wasn't sure if she could make Ino feel better about Kiba—but this time, she couldn't feel better about Lee and Sasuke.

She looked over to her desk, where a fishbowl sat, with a goldfish in it.

That damn thing wasn't helping, either.

"I think this has gone a bit too far." Naruto watched Ino tap her bottom lip with her pen.

He raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

"Sasuke and Sakura. D'you think they're really going to get together?"

Confusion swept his mind. "If they're going to get together, teme would've at least told me." After all, they had only kissed that time he and Ino spiked their drinks, right? Sakura didn't remember it (it was kind of funny, really), and Sasuke hadn't mentioned it since.

The other blonde rolled her eyes. "Well, I don't suppose Sasuke would tell you anything minor. He kissed her again—did you know that?"

Silence.

He choked on his own spit.

"What?" Oh, he was going to give Sasuke hell. Just because he told Sakura and Ino that Itachi died didn't give him the right to not let him in on his near non-existent love life! What a loser.

"Yeah. And I honestly think he feels something towards her."

Naruto thought about it. "But that's a good thing! It means she finally has a reason to dump Lee!" Just the thought of his two close friends hooking up made him near ecstatic.

"But can't you see the potential disaster?"

He blinked. "No." Sasuke and Sakura were, now that he thought about it, made for each other. Sasuke was a stiff little prick, and Sakura was a down-to-earth, real girl who didn't take interest in stupid things. They evened each other out.

"Sasuke's way too hot for Sakura, and she'd only cling to him—"

He rolled his eyes. "Ino, if I didn't know better, I'd think you were jealous," he said sarcastically. "Just face it—you hate that every relationship you have ends up horribly, and yet, Sakura's relationship with Lee right now is going smoothly even though the feelings aren't mutual. And now, Sasuke might like her, and you're mad because you know they'd make a good combination."

It was silent for a long moment.

"It isn't fair," the other blonde finally said, quiet. "It's never fair. Why do I attract all the jerks?"

"I'm not a jerk," he said innocently. She turned, and narrowed her eyes at him. The cafeteria was beginning to fill up for lunch, but he didn't notice all too much.

Well, he was a happy-go-lucky guy from the start. He'll just go with the flow.

"But you're stupid," she told him, lips curving into a smirk.

"Hey!" He kicked her under the table, and managed to pull a laugh out of her. She deserved some happiness, he thought. Well, at least, as far as her love life went, anyway.

She smiled at him, and he got the sudden temptation to squeeze her nose.

So he did.

"What was that for?" She frowned, lightly punching his arm. He laughed, and shifted himself a little closer to her. She felt nice being beside him like that.

He grinned. "That night, you said we could do it again. Can we, right now?" That earned him a frustrated glare.

"No."

But she let him peck her on the cheek, anyway.

The atmosphere was tense. Sasuke was able to tell that much.

"It's almost winter break," Sakura tried to chirp lightly. "You guys looking forward to seeing Lee?" It was a rhetorical question, he knew, but he had to answer anyway.

"No."

This would make all of them smile, he knew—that's why he did it. Okay, so he was Sasuke—but that didn't mean that he was heartless. Seeing their lips curve upwards made the grip around his heart loosen a little.

"What about going home?"

"No."

"Um…How about relaxing?"

"Hn."

She rolled her eyes. "You're such a sore-ass, Sasuke. Learn to smile."

"You're the one who says I have a stick shoved up there," he retorted, shifting his attention back to his lunch. At this, he heard Naruto laugh, and the tension surrounding them lessened, just a little.

The rest of them began chatting again. Sasuke fished his phone out of his pocket, and checked his texts. Half of them were from girls he didn't even know. Perhaps he should change his number. Again.

He sighed inaudibly. Itachi's funeral was this Friday; he'd need to leave school one day early. Who was there to attend it, anyway? Maybe a couple of other Uchihas, and a friend or two.

At this thought, he scowled at the screen of his phone. Humanity was so goddamn stupid.

Hey Sasuke, its Ayame! Do u want to hang out 2nite?

Who the hell was Ayame?

This time, he really was all alone. There was no more family—not even his druggie of a brother. He had known that Itachi did ecstasy, and from time to time, marijuana—but who was Sasuke to tell him off? Maybe he'd move in with Naruto, and sell the house. Yeah. That might be a plan. He didn't want to see his home anymore.

He'd bring it up when he webt over Itachi's will with his lawyer…

He looked over at Sakura, who was laughing at a joke Naruto made. He liked it when she smiled. It looked so bright; so real.

After briefly asking himself why he had to make such a huge mess out of a girl who wasn't even interested in him, he distracted himself before he got even sulkier. Naruto was always telling him how unhealthy it was—maybe he was right. For once.

He got another text from that Fukuzawa girl. Seriously, she needed to take the hint. He didn't like her.

Can u meet me at the library later? I need some help with psych.

He clenched his phone, perhaps a little tighter than necessary, as he pressed reply. Honestly, she was such a waste of texts, but, if he didn't respond, she'd bother him in class, and that was even worse.

I'm busy. Sorry.

As if he really meant the apology. Hah. In her face. The only girl he had eyes for was Sakura.

Wait.

He backtracked.

That wasn't right, Sasuke. Even in your mind, you weren't supposed to acknowledge girls. He didn't like Sakura. That kiss before—he just wanted to make her feel better. And he was really good at making girls feel better.

Yeah. He didn't like Sakura.

…God, what was she doing to him?

"Sasuke!" He turned around to see Sakura chasing him. He waited until she reached him, panting. He quirked an eyebrow; he was just about to return to his dorm and pack. He had to leave tomorrow.

He watched her tuck a lock of hair behind her hair. "What do you want?" She wasn't exactly someone he was thrilled to see right now.

For you to fall in love with me, she said with a faint smile. He snorted mentally to himself.

Yeah, right.

"Can you help me with that World Lit. project? I'm kind of stuck."

Did he really have the time? Naruto was the only one who knew he was leaving a day early, and he didn't plan to change that. She did get pretty ticked off the last time he didn't tell her something, but this was small. She probably wouldn't get mad.

But still, he couldn't say no to her. She was the only girl he couldn't say no to.

He rolled his eyes. "Fine."

They made their way back to Sakura's dorm in silence. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence, though. One of the reasons why he liked being with Sakura was because she didn't chatter incessantly about pointless things all of the time.

The snow crunched under their feet; their breaths were visible in the cold air. "Why are you doing that project now, when it's due after break?"

"I have some free time, anyway, and I don't want to spend Christmas cooped up at home, doing homework."

He was glad she wasn't acting funny—he didn't like it when girls acted funny around him. She was still his Sakura—er, just Sakura—no matter what boundaries he had stepped over. Thank God she was mature.

He dropped his bag unceremoniously to the floor when he entered her dorm, and sat down in his usual spot. She followed suit. Naruto and Ino were nowhere to be seen.

"Which play did you pick?" Sakura asked, pulling out her notes and a book.

"Julius Caesar. You?"

She showed him the cover of her book. Romeo and Juliet. Well, that should've been obvious. Nearly all of the girls chose Romeo and Juliet.

"What is it that you need help on?" He took out his own notes and copy of Julius Caesar. They were supposed to analyze their chosen play, find symbols and connections, and recite a chosen soliloquy of choice. Really, Shakespeare was so middle school.

"I'm not too sure of how to analyze it. What did Kakashi-sensei mean by that?"

"You finished reading it already?"

She shrugged. "I studied it back in tenth grade."

"You should've chosen another play, then." She could've done just as well with a play she hadn't read before. Although, he shouldn't be talking, he supposed; he had read Julius Caesar before as well.

"I was lazy, okay? He didn't say it had to be one we haven't read before."

"Hn." He pulled out some paper, and got writing.

The silence didn't last very long. "So? Can you help? I didn't invite you over so you could just sit there."

Aside from Ino, she might be one of the rudest girls he'd ever come to know. It was something respectable, if he said so himself. After jotting two points down, he looked at her, quite seriously. "Just do an outline of it."

"That's what I thought, too, but after knowing Kakashi-sensei for a while, I really doubt that's all we have to do."

"What's the lowest mark you've ever gotten from him? Ninety?"

She punched his arm lightly. "Well, I want to get the best I can! If I'm not able to be a neurosurgeon, I'm going to move into literature!" He shot her a glare, because there weren't many girls who dared touch him, let alone hit—and there was no way he was letting his pride go down the drain.

Goddamn. She looked really pretty right now.

He shrugged. "You'd do just fine without me."

"Are you going to do an outline?" She peered over at his paper, quite obviously, as he scribbled down orchard soliloquy.

"I'm not sure yet. Probably." She needed to move away from him. Hadn't she even heard of the term personal space? She's practically breathing the same air as him. Ew. He didn't like sharing his air.

Well, he didn't really mind sharing with Sakura—but now was definitely not the time to let go of his denial.

"Stop avoiding the question!"

"I'm not," he said flatly. "You're just annoying."

"And you've got a stick shoved up your ass!"

He looked at her, eyes only faintly reflecting his humor. "That's getting old. Find something new."

She puffed out her cheeks angrily, like the way a child would if she didn't get her way. "With the minimal interest you have in me right now, I can't believe you actually kissed me." Did he mention how cute she looked when she made that expression?

"I only kissed you because it'd shut you up." She started it, anyway. If she never kissed him that night Ino spiked their coffee, he probably wouldn't be in this mess—

"Hey!" She punched him. (Again.)

"Stop hitting me, Sakura."

"I'll stop when you stop being so rude! I have a boyfriend, and you have no right to touch me that way—" For how long was she going to continue talking like that? She was barring herself behind these stupid excuses because she was too afraid to face him herself—

"You're the one who started it," he retorted, scribbling furiously on his paper. God, women these days.

There was a pause. "Excuse me? You call me barging into your room starting it?"

Right. Well, she didn't remember, since she obviously couldn't hold her alcohol very well. That didn't give her an excuse, though. Sasuke, you started this—you couldn't back down now. "You like me. Admit it."

"Wh—what made you think that?" she spluttered, seemingly forgetting about Romeo and Juliet. He couldn't decide if it was a good thing or not.

"When you were drunk, you made a move on me," he said flatly.

Oh, that expression on her face was priceless.

"…What?"

He could die happy. Seriously. He looked at her pointedly. "Technically speaking, it's your fault we're even here right now."

"Why…" Her face flushed. He felt smug. "Why didn't you tell me?"

His shoulders rose and fell slightly in a faint shrug. "I didn't see a reason to." Something told him that they saw things in completely different perspectives. Didn't girls take these things really seriously, or something?

Well, he should know, considering how he had more than half of the female population drooling over him.

"You're…You're crazy." She shook her head disbelievingly, looking away. "I can't believe—oh, my God…"

He raised an eyebrow.

"I…I cheated on Lee. That's like going against my morals. It's…" She promptly took her copy of Romeo and Juliet and began bashing it against her forehead. "He's going to kill me!"

Sasuke feigned sighing heavily. "You were drunk."

"That doesn't change the fact that I kissed you, and not the other way around!"

"Whatever." After ruffling the back of his hair a little, he gathered his papers and books, and placed them all back into his bag. "Think it over yourself. I have things to do." The look on her face clearly said, As a man, you need to take responsibility, but he kept his eyes straight ahead and stalked out the door.

Because he knew that if he looked back, he probably would've stayed.

Sakura looked around the table, the aroma of coffee wafting around the cafeteria. "Where's Sasuke?"

Naruto looked up from his breakfast. "Didn't he tell you? He's at his brother's funeral."

She nearly choked on her own spit.

"What?"

A/N: Wow, thanks so much for all of the feedback for the last chapter! I'm overwhelmed! The two most common points that people said they liked about this fic was how it was realistic and not clichéd, and how it was in character. Which makes me think—what about this is not cliché? Doesn't it follow every one out there? (I honestly don't like this fic. I wrote it ages ago. But I don't like not finishing things up, and you guys ask for it…so yeah.)

But thanks for all of your input. Some people even bothered to PM me—I replied to those people. :)

And a shout-out to Un!sawr, who always gives such awesome reviews—but I always forget to mention her. (Her? Him? It! Hah. Dino.) Thanks so much!