Saying Sorry

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and make no profit from this story.

After our morning classes, Ino and I walked to the cafeteria for lunch. Sasuke was waiting for us at the door. Ino slapped her forehead, "Shoot! I forgot that I told you that you could have Karin all to yourself. I'll go sit with Hinata today."

"No!" I yelled before Ino could dash off. Ino and Sasuke looked at me puzzled. "I mean we should discuss the sleepover more."

Ino smiled, "Excuse us for a minute, Sasuke." Then she wrapped an arm around my shoulder and guided me away from Sasuke so he wouldn't be able to hear what we were discussing. "What's going on, Karin? Are you and Sasuke fighting?"

"No. Not really," I answered. Were we fighting? I feel bad about before, but I wasn't sure if he was still upset. There would be awkward moments and possibly silence which I absolutely hate. "Don't you want to talk about the sleepover?" I asked trying to give her a better reason to stay.

"We can talk about it tonight at the basketball game. I really think you should talk to Sasuke. How can you cheer for your boyfriend if you can't even talk to him?" With that said, Ino left us alone. "Have fun you two," she said as she left for the cafeteria.

"What basketball game?" I thought out loud.

Sasuke heard me and answered, "There's a basketball game tonight. I'll be playing. It would be cool if you could come." I turned to Sasuke; he was blushing a slight shade of pink. He really is cute when he blushes and did he just ask me to come watch him play? My stomach rumbled. Sasuke was still looking at me waiting for an answer.

"Let's get something to eat first. then we can talk about basketball."

Sasuke nodded. We got our lunches and found an empty seat. While we ate we discussed basketball. "I didn't know you played basketball."

"Really? I thought you did. Didn't I tell you why I couldn't give you a ride the other day?"

"No," I answered.

"Well, I had basketball practice," he said flatly.

"Oh. So are you any good? Or are you just well known because of your good looks?"

Sasuke raised his eyebrow and smirked. "You think I'm good looking?"

I could feel my face turn red from embarrassment. I quickly looked in a different direction trying to hide part of my face at least. "I didn't say that. I meant that's what your fan club thinks. Especially, that pink-haired bimbo you allow to flirt with you all the time."

Sasuke stopped smirking and put his fork down. "Yeah, about that." I looked at him curiously. "I'm still not used to having a girlfriend and having to worry about her feelings. "

"Well, that's nice, Sasuke! In case you forgot, you asked me out!" Okay, so I technically had him ask me out, but he doesn't know that!

"I know. I know," Sasuke said defensively. "If you would let me finish, I was going to say that I'm going to try harder to pay more attention to you. In fact, the next time I see Itachi, I'm going to tell him all about you. And I'm going to make him believe me. Also, I'm going to stop allowing Sakura to hold onto me."

I stared bewildered at what Sasuke just said. "Really?" I asked unsure if he was just saying these nice things so I would stop harassing him or because he meant them.

"Really."

I stared at him for a while. When I was certain he was telling the truth, I smiled at him. He smiled back, but only for a second before turning it into a smirk.

"So...are you going to the game tonight?" Sasuke asked.

"Depends. Do you want me to?" I smirked at his reaction. His face was turning slightly pink (he does that a lot) and he was avoiding eye contact.

"Why else would I ask if you're coming?" he mumbled.

I was still smirking. It is so cute how he gets embarrassed about asking me to watch him play. Not that I would ever admit that to anyone. "Well, it sounds like Ino wants me to go too. So I would probably go even if you didn't want me there." Sasuke's face was still pink and his expression was blank, but his eyes had a hint of a smile.

"So what's this sleepover I heard about?" he asked changing the subject.

"Oh, that. Well, Ino and some other girls thought a sleepover would be a good way for me to meet people. So they wanted me to throw one at my place on Friday."

"Oh."

The rest of the day went by fast. Ino invited me over to her place so we could make posters for the game tonight. "So are you and Sasuke still fighting?" Ino asked concerned. She was showing more worry now than she did at lunch.

"First of all we weren't fighting; it was a spat," I corrected. "Second of all, yes w talked it through. He's going to stop letting girls flirt with him endlessly, and let them know he's going out with me."

"A spat?" Ino giggled. "You sound like a married couple." I punched Ino's arm, but that only made her laugh more.

So she wouldn't laugh at me anymore, I changed the subject. "So are you making a poster for Shikamaru?"

Ino stopped laughing, but didn't stop smiling. I don't know if that's because we were talking about Shikamaru, or because she was still amused by my comment. "No. Shikamaru doesn't play basketball."

"Well, who are you making posters for?" I asked confused.

"The whole team of course! I'll make one for Naruto and Rock Lee. They're good friends after all and a couple of our best players along with Sasuke. You will obviously cover Sasuke's poster."

"Sure," I said. Then we made our posters and went to the game. It was my first game since I moved. Sasuke was playing for the varsity team as center. I think that's the one that calls the plays and starts with the ball. Ino and I sat by the band. Tayuya and Kin were in their band uniforms smiling in between songs. A pale man with long black hair was conducting the band. His eyes were squinted and something about him reminded me of a snake.

"There you are Ino," a bored voice said as the band finished another song. Ino and I turned toward the voice. Shikamaru was standing a few feet away with hands in his pockets and his shoulders slouched.

"Oh, hey, Shikamaru!" Ino said happily. I guess she wasn't mad at him anymore. "Good timing. I forgot to get water. Could you buy me a bottle?"

Shikamaru sighed, "What a drag." Then sauntered off to the concession stand.

"Thanks Sweetie!" Ino hollered at him, which caused him to flinch. Ino turned to me, "He hates it when I use pet names."

"I can tell," I smirked. "So you two are talking to each other again I see."

"Huh? Oh, that. Yeah. We just needed to cool off."

"I see. So you didn't even apologize?"

"Well, no. It was his fault." I looked at her skeptically. "Okay, mostly his fault and partially mine. It doesn't' matter, we both knew the other person was upset and felt regret. That rhymes! So we just use that knowledge as an apology."

"Really?" I asked in wonder.

"This fight was minor. We save the apologies for serious things," Ino explained.

"Like what?" I asked.

"I dunno," Ino shrugged as Shikamaru sat next to her and handed her a water bottle.

"Thanks Sweetie," Ino said before taking a gulp. Shikamaru cringed, but said nothing.

I wonder if Sasuke and I would ever be like Ino and Shikamaru? Impossible! What am I thinking?! We're not even going out for real. I watched Sasuke do a lay up. The crowd cheered. I held my poster in the air and joined them. What if we were an actual couple? Would things be this nice or would they be better? I frowned. It would probably be worse. That's the kind of luck I have after all. Something good comes into life and gets taken away from me horribly.

The buzzer woke me from my reverie. As the teams disappeared to the locker rooms, the cheerleaders walked to the center floor. "Ready! Okay!" a pink haired girl shouted. I can't believe it. Sakura is the head cheerleader?!

Someone tapped my shoulder. I turned to find Tayuya sitting next to me with Kin sitting behind her. "Hey!" she greeted. I smiled as best I could, but it didn't last long. I was still surprised to discover that Sakura was the captain of the cheerleaders.

"Hi!" Ino chimed in. "I thought the band was playing?"

"We will once the cheerleaders are done," Kin explained.

"So we get a short break," Tayuya added. "I wanted to show you who Sari and Matsuri are." Tayuya then pointed to a girl on the bottom of the pyramid with short brown hair. "That's Matsuri. The girl next to her with the bandanna is Sari."

"I see them," Ino said excitedly. "I think I have chemistry class with Sari."

I stared at the two girls at the base of the pyramid. Then I moved my gaze to the top. Sakura was, of course, standing and cheering for the basketball team. Oh, how I would love for Sari and Matsuri to lose balance or to sneeze. Then I could watch Sakura fall. Instead, Sakura purposely fell backwards and was caught by two of her teammates. I sighed with disappointment.

Eventually, the cheers ended and the band started again as the basketball players returned and did warm ups. I watched Sasuke practice. His body was already glistening with sweat. He had already scored more than half of our points. I couldn't help, but feel pride towards him.

The buzzer buzzed and the game started again. Sasuke played hard and scored twenty-two more points. I again raised my poster and whooped and hollered for Sasuke's success. This time he noticed me and we made eye contact. I blushed but kept cheering. Our team easily beat the opposing team: 110 to 72. I felt happy again.

"Let's meet Sasuke in the parking lot," Ino suggested.

"Yeah," I agreed. I couldn't wait to congratulate Sasuke on the game and how well he played. When we got outside, there were only fans and students. So we chatted about the game while we waited for the players to leave the building.

Shikamaru was just starting to complain about how annoying the topic was when there was a sudden burst of applause. We turned towards the school and saw the basketball team exiting the building. I smiled and motioned for my friend and her boyfriend to follow me. "Come on," I said. I was smiling widely. From the corner of my eye I could see Ino smirking, but at this moment I didn't care. As we pushed through the crowd, I heard the voice I've learned to dread, "Oh, Sasuke! You were so amazing!"

I started to push the crowd harder afraid of what I would find. I stopped when I reached the center. Sakura was clinging to Sasuke's arm. Feeling hurt and furious, I turned away and started to shove my way through the crowd again. Only this time I was trying to get away.

"Karin?" Ino asked. When I didn't stop she yelled, "Karin, wait! Where are you going?!"

How dare he tell me one thing at lunch and do another later! All in the same day! I can't break up with him though because Sakura would win.

"Karin!" a voice called. It sounded a lot like Sasuke's voice. I stopped and waited for the person to catch up. They were now standing in front of me. I looked up and saw Sasuke. I glared at him.

"Shouldn't you be with Sakura?" I sneered.

He glared at me now, "No. I want to be with my girlfriend." I looked at him unconvinced. He continued, "Sakura had just latched onto me when you showed up. I swear! And if you would've waited you would have seen me yell at her."

I stared at him unsure. "Ask anyone. They'll tell you that I'm telling the truth."

"Alright, I will," I said. I started to walk towards the crowd again. They were whispering and watching us. I glanced around looking for someone I knew. I found Sakura with some other cheerleaders. She was glaring at me. I smirked at her.

"You will what?" Sasuke asked after he caught up with me again.

"Will ask if you're telling the truth. Aha! There's Ino." I walked over to Ino. She looked relieved, probably because Sasuke was with me.

"Oh, good! I'm so glad he caught up to you. I was afraid you had left." Ino smiled.

I ignored her and asked bluntly, "Did Sasuke yell at Sakura?" I repeated.

Ino looked at the two of us. Sasuke nodded his head to encourage her to talk. "Y-yeah he did. He told her, 'I don't appreciate you constantly clinging to me. I have a girlfriend now and she's not you! It's Karin!'"

I could feel my face flush, "He said that?" I whispered.

"Yes I said that," Sasuke said irritated. "I told you I would try harder to be a better boyfriend. Did you think I was kidding?" Sasuke folded his arms and stared at me.

I stared back at him and my face got redder. "No. Not until I saw that thing holding onto you. I thought she was doing that for awhile." I bowed my head in embarrassment and shame. "Sorry."

He turned his head acting nonchalant and said, "It's okay." I looked at him and saw some pink on his face I smirked.

"Sasuke could you give me a ride home please?"

"Sure," he said. I waved good bye to Ino as I followed him to his car. On our way to my house I told Sasuke how cool he looked playing the game. His face turned more pink with each compliment.

"Do you blush every time you receive a compliment or is it only when I compliment you?" I teased.

He lit up like a stoplight. "What?! I don't blush."

"Yes you do," I laughed. "It's okay. I think it's cute." My face lit up to match his. I can't believe I just said that out loud. Maybe he didn't hear that? I glanced at him; the red was fading and was replaced with a smirk.

"You think I'm cute," he teased the same way I had done earlier.

"Don't get cocky. It's only when you blush." I started to look out the window the rest of the ride. Actually, I was staring at Sasuke's reflection. He was still smirking that cocky jerk! Still, I found myself smiling at his reaction.

Finally, we got to my place. The rest of the drive had been silent and I was just going to start talking. I turned to Sasuke to thank him, but he looked so serious and I found myself silent.

"Look, Karin," he started. He clenched the steering wheel tighter. "I'm really sorry about Sakura. I should have said something sooner."

I was surprised. I thought we resolved this issue already. I felt guilty. "It's really not your fault. I'm sure Sakura would have done something anyway. She's such a leech!"

Sasuke still looked as if he was mentally beating himself up. I touched his arm for reassurance and smiled at him. He looked at me and smiled back. It was a genuine smile too. I must be the luckiest girl in the world to have seen him smile in such a way more than once. "Good night Sasuke. Thanks for the ride," I said. I got out of the car and walked through the front door. Mason and Linda were watching the news.

"How was the game, Karin?" Mason asked.

"We won," I smiled. In more ways than one I thought. "110 to 72."

Mason smiled, "That's good to hear."

"Who was that boy?" Linda asked. "From this morning?"

I sighed. I forgot that she saw him this morning. I guess I can't hide it anymore. "His name is Sasuke Uchiha and he's my boyfriend."

"Oh my," Linda said surprised. "How long have you been going out?"

"For a week now."

"You've only been at school for a week," Linda reminded me.

"Yeah I know. I'll let you meet him. Can we talk about this later I'm really tired."

Mason and Linda looked at each other before nodding their heads. I went upstairs feeling suddenly stressed. I was so exhausted though, that I went right to sleep.

A/N: I want to thank everyone who's been reviewing my story. Sorry about the wait, but I hope it was worth it. Also, I'm sorry about any spelling errors I may have typed. Thanks for the ideas and comments. I will take them into consideration. Although, I already have an idea for the play. I also realize the basketball thing came out of nowhere. Sorry.