Jump Then Fall

The Konoha gym was decked out like a dream.

Silver and gold streamers lined the walls and ceilings, looped around the basketball hoops and dangled over the doorways like shimmery curtains. A red carpet had been laid out from the main entrance all the way to the dance floor. The massive gym was lit with a few strategically-placed lowlights and bright white twinkle bulbs that cast the entire space in a romantic glow.

The Homecoming dance was one of the events the Konoha student body anticipated most in the year, after Prom. It was open exclusively to the junior and senior classes, featured an impressive assortment of food, and was held long into the wee morning hours with a free deejay and limited teacher supervision. Sakura had had an amazing time last year with Kiba, but thoughts of her unfaithful ex-boyfriend couldn't have been further from her mind when she stepped inside the gym with her friends that evening.

Surprisingly, thoughts of Ami couldn't have been further from her mind, either. She had sort of compartmentalized her hatred of the girl Kiba had completely ruined their relationship with, and even if there was something undeniably empowering about defeating her in what was essentially a popularity contest, now was not the time to dwell on things that made her unhappy.

Tonight was a celebration, however shallow.

The football team had won. It was a narrow victory; for some reason, Sasuke just didn't seem to be on his game that night, but he pulled out an impressive final quarter throw to Kiba that clinched their sixth consecutive win, and put them directly on pace to make the division playoffs. The thrill of victory heightened the excitement at the dance afterwards, and everywhere she looked, Sakura saw smiling faces. This was a night out of someone else's life, it felt; a perfect night, a flawless night.

And then he walked in, and added entirely new dimensions to 'perfect.'

He was freshly showered, like the rest of the football players in attendance, wearing his varsity jacket and jeans and a confident, arrogant smirk, because even with his sub-par performance, he was still the high school hero. People just sort of parted the way for him; it was one of the things she admired most about Sasuke, how his presence was so authoritative that people moved out of his way without him needing to ask. He cut an impressive figure that night, the lowlights bouncing off the sharp angles of his face and bringing out the smoky silver in his eyes as they rested directly on her.

"So, so unfair how you win the crown and the sexiest escort," Ino grumbled in her ear, making her giggle and blush. "I'm getting some punch. It's time to reevaluate my life."

With that she took off for the snack table, and Sasuke immediately took her place at Sakura's side. Before he could protest, she seized his hand and dragged him to the dance floor; to her shock, he settled only for an unhappy glare rather than push her off of him. He even swayed along slightly when she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. The song was slow and pretty, and when he rested his hands lazily on her waist, her heart soared.

"That was a lucky win tonight and you know it," she said, at his arrogant expression.

"I could say the same for you," he countered without missing a beat.

"Oh, please. You acted like it was some foregone conclusion that I was gonna win."

"Tch. The only one who didn't know already was you. Naïve as ever. No way you can handle college."

"Well I'll have you to help me out, won't I?" she teased, in what was rather a bold move on her part, implying that this tenuous bond that existed between them right now would carry on next year and beyond. But there was something about the atmosphere in the gym that evening, something about the darkness and the shimmery lights and the music and the people and the thrill of being 16 and invincible, something about Sasuke holding her with that loose, lazy grip of his that lent her a backbone she might never have had otherwise.

She was rewarded with Sasuke's slow smirk, as good a response as she was ever going to get, and decided to just bite the bullet. This conversation had to happen sometime, and since she was feeling pretty confident tonight, now was as good a time as any.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" she asked.

His eyebrow raised slightly. "We are talking."

She rolled her eyes.

"Obviously. I mean, like…alone. Just us. I think…we should."

Understanding dawned in his eyes, and he sighed,removing his hands from her waist and shoving them into his pockets. "Yeah, I guess we should."

She wasn't remotely encouraged by that response; a few minutes ago, she'd been fairly certain that at least on some level, Sasuke's feelings were similar to hers. He'd certainly kissed her like that was the case, and judging by the lack of incredible awkwardness afterwards, she'd gone ahead and trusted her gut instinct: that things were changing between them, and for the better.

Now, though, she wasn't so sure. His heavy sigh, the way he was looking at this conversation like an obligation…maybe she'd misunderstood. Maybe Sasuke had only wanted to kiss her, and wasn't interested in anything else with her. Didn't want to have this annoying discussion about feelings.

This was marginally horrifying, but she decided to do it anyway. She was Homecoming Queen; her first act couldn't be some cowardly cop-out of what could potentially be the most important conversation she'd ever had.

"Um. Okay. The, uh…most of the school's roped off and it's freezing outside, but the girls' locker room should be empty by now."

He nodded curtly and headed out of the gym. Sakura ignored the curious stares thrown their way as they left together after just a few dances, her heart racing as she watched Sasuke's strong back and broad shoulders lead the way.

Is this a mistake? She thought wildly. Oh my God, he really could just be in this for sex or something…he might be about to let me down. Downplay what happened between us, write it off like it was nothing. Shit. SHIT. I can't do this. I can't let him do this. Not again.

She was working herself into a frenzy by now, and barely noticed that she had passed through the hallway and was inside the girls' locker room until Sasuke shut the door behind her. She blinked and looked up at him, suddenly terrified, but he moved away from her, checking to see that they were completely alone. When he was through, he reached behind her and flicked the lock shut, then looked at her expectantly.

It was completely quiet, with only the thunderous bass from the gym next door and the muffled lyrics of party songs echoing softly in the room. Sakura was sure he had to hear her heart pounding; her head suddenly hurt. The crown resting on her hair felt prickly and uncomfortable. With a hand she told herself wasn't shaking, she reached up and removed it, set it down on the wooden bench in front of the lockers before returning her gaze to his face.

"If it…" she began, her voice squeaky, "I mean…you know. What happened between us yesterday. In my room."

"You don't need to paint a fucking picture," he muttered somewhat harshly, his expression twisting into one of deepest annoyance. "I know."

She frowned a bit, irritated with his sudden irritation, and snapped, "Well, shit, Sasuke. You acted like nothing happened, so I thought maybe it really meant nothing to you. Jesus."

"And it meant something to you?" he asked her, challenging.

She replied before she could think, a classic Sakura mistake, but right now, honesty was the only card she had to play.

"Yeah, actually it did! It meant a lot, Sasuke! But if it was just something to do for you, tell me now, so I can stop building up this one-sided fantasy world where…"

But that was as far as she got, because he grabbed her corsage-covered wrist, slammed her up against her own gym locker, and kissed her with all his strength.

Any preconceived notions she had about Sasuke's disinterest in her flew right out the window, along with her sanity.

Her dress was satiny and smooth under his hands, but at that moment, he wanted nothing more than to peel it off of her. Leave the shiny silver material in shreds and tatters on the floor.

Slow down, you idiot, he told himself, but his body betrayed him as he deepened the kiss. Sakura was clearly shocked by his bold move, but she responded just as she had the night before. With immediate, urgent, almost violent reciprocity.

Still, this was happening way too fast. Could he be blamed, though? How long had he waited to hold Sakura in his arms? How many months had he spent watching her through guarded eyes, waiting for an opportunity that might never present itself? How many nights had he tossed and turned in the frustrating moments before sleep, picturing what satin pink would look like on his dark cotton sheets, the sounds she might make as he…

"Sasuke," she whispered against his lips, jerking him back into the moment. "Sasuke…wait."

His hopes came crashing down around him. She was going to let him down, he knew. Tell him some crap about only liking him as a friend, about still having feelings for Kiba…how yesterday meant nothing, and…

"We have to slow down," she went on, pulling back a little and looking up at him with starlight in her eyes. "Just…let's just talk about this. Before it goes any further."

Suddenly, he was tired. Tired of trying to fill in the blanks on his own, without a cheat sheet. He needed to be honest with her, and he needed her to be honest with him. Sakura Haruno did not come with an instruction manual, so she would have to tell him what was what herself. He was done guessing.

"What do you want from me?" he finally asked, his voice strained. His hands hadn't loosened from her waist, but she didn't seem to mind.

"This is all happening so quickly, Sasuke," she murmured. "And…And I feel like I don't have time to catch up, but I also feel like…this was always gonna happen. Like it's too fast but a long time coming. And I know it doesn't make any sense, but I really do like you, Sasuke. And not just as a friend."

There they were. The words he always wanted to hear from her, even before realizing that he did. The words he'd been hoping she might say, even when she was with Kiba and lightyears out of his reach. The words he never thought he'd actually hear.

But now that he was hearing them, was he ready for them? Ready for what they represented?

He swallowed hard and just stared at her. She looked more beautiful than ever with that painfully honest expression on her face, chest heaving, lips red and slightly swollen from kissing him. And she liked him back…maybe his feelings were still deeper than hers, but she'd said the magic words.

"I understand, you know," she said quietly, her hand rising to stroke his hair. "If you don't feel the same way. If what happened yesterday was…was a fluke."

A fluke?

She had no idea. Not one earthly clue.

"That's not what I'm looking for, though," Sakura went on. "Just a hook-up. That's not for me. So just tell me, Sasuke. Tell me that's all it was, and we can leave it where it is, we don't have to talk about it ever again. It can just be something stupid we did and now it's over. But I won't kiss you again unless this is for real. So tell me now."

He didn't have the words. Sakura was a girl who deserved Shakespeare and sonnets, and he was a silly, stupid boy who was harsh when he meant to be gentle. He didn't know how to articulate properly what was inside of him, even to the one person in the world who deserved to hear it most.

But for her, he would try.

"I want…whatever you'll let me have," he said softly.

Her eyes widened.

"Just…tell me what I should do. I've never done this before."

It stung to admit a weakness, a shortcoming, and Sasuke, even though he'd now made out twice with the most popular girl at Konoha High School, was woefully lacking in experience in the romantic department. He didn't know how this was supposed to go, had never had a girlfriend before to know what it was like; he really hoped, though, that it would be similar to his friendship with Sakura, but with the added benefits of kissing her whenever he felt like it, and knowing no other guy would encroach on his territory.

Tears welled in stormy green eyes, and an incredulous smile lit her up from the inside until she was absolutely radiant against the dull gray backdrop of the girls' locker room.

"I think…" she said quietly, with a gentle kiss to the corner of his mouth, "we should head back to the dance before they send a search party."

He smirked.

"And tomorrow night, I think you should pick me up at eight."

"Hn. For what."

She smiled beautifully up at him, and replied, "For our first date, stupid. Don't be late."

note.. hey, booboos. i'm in for the weekend with the flu, so while all my friends and my husband are out enjoying friday night, i am here. with my tissues and my sorrow. UGH. (get your flu shots, people.)

anyway. kind of a short little jawn, but this will set up some things i think you might enjoy. :) by think, i mean 'hope.' my neuroses will never let me feel confident in how anything i write is received by y'alls. let me know what you think, okay?

oh. and for the record. i love taylor swift's music (it's the girl in me, you know?) but i have found lately that i can't stand her as a person. what's wrong, t-swizzle. you're spreading it around all over hollywood and wondering why shit's not working out? BITCH IT'S NOT THEM IT'S YOU. tits, girl. just write some fucking songs so i can make some more fucking chapters. AND YOU'RE FROM WYOMISSING PENNSYLVANIA. bitch i know where that's at. you're about as country as i am. and i'm from PHILLY.

lolz. love you guys.

xoxo,

sicky.