Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I do own the Indigo Café though D -is desperate-

We Were Made To Be

Chapter Eleven

What Not To Do In Neji's Presence

Sakura was once again sitting within the Uchiha limo, in which Sasuke was also seated.

Sakura had pondered and pondered until her brain hurt about the test that had happened beforehand. She had a funny feeling that those glasses and the fall had screwed up her eyes or something, because large blobs of colour sometimes scattered on to her vision. It gave her painful headaches.

But now, her mind was over that. She was pleased with herself for Sakura had done the right thing in getting changed in to more formal clothes, because Sasuke too had changed from the black sweater he bore this morning. Now, a trendy blue silken shirt and black jacket covered his arms.

Sakura was still looking over her red halter-minidress with jeans and wondered if she had overused the colour red or not.

Okay, so she had a matching red ribbon too... okay, okay, AND matching pumps... but co-ordination counts! It was one of the twelve rules of Proper Dress that her mother had so painstakingly revised with her.

Sasuke had even said, 'You look nice' when she walked out to greet him.

It was spoken in monotones, of course, and she was pretty sure that he was playing the part of the gentleman to prove his brother wrong... but still. It's a big deal when Uchiha Sasuke compliments you...

It really was - even if he does have outrageous chicken hair.

As a precaution, she let down her hair and played with it until it was not too flat and not too rebellious. Just right. She gave a satisfied giggle and turned to converse with Sasuke again, as she liked to do. Sasuke, surprisingly enough, did not like to talk to the peppy pink-haired girl. It annoyed him and her bright pink hair was very off-putting. How could you look away from her when her hair is so freaking vivid? It just draws you in like a child to candy.

But then again, it might not have anything to do with her hair at all. Sasuke was 'orally challenged,' as Itachi put it. And whenever he didn't want to speak, he had a habit of spilling everything in an act of 'verbal diarrhea.' This was, yet again, one of Itachi's creations.

The mere mention of this expression was enough to shut Sakura up for at least half an hour. Sasuke hid a smirk behind his closed eyes. He should say it more often. It would be stealing from his brother. Even more the reason to use it!

"Sasuke-kun, tell me!" Sakura leant forward cheerily. He opened a single eyelid, looking down on her. "What's this Indigo place like? I've never been to anywhere but Haruno's..."

Sasuke grumbled and crunched his eyes shut again. "You'll see when you get there!"

"...Tired, Sasuke-kun?"

"No!" He said, snappily. Sakura blushed an odd plum colour and looked tactfully out of the window.

Sasuke pretended not to care, but feebly apologized through grumbling a few minutes afterwards. He had to play this gentleman card if he was ever to prove Itachi wrong, and Itachi would know if he had played the part or not. As far as Sasuke was concerned, Itachi had eyes everywhere.

He never thought that Itachi of all people would have been the first to find out when he got his... unmentionable... caught in the zipper in the boy's changing-room after swim practice when he was twelve. He was sure that no one had seen... so if Itachi could do that, he'd have no trouble finding this out.

"Just be careful, okay? I don't want to have to go through all that again."

Sakura looked back at him, smiling.

Sasuke blinked. She wasn't wearing a ridiculous grin or even an annoying pout. It was almost if... she was about to burst in to tears. Sasuke began to open his mouth to speak, but she silenced him.

Her seatbelt was unbuckled and she had wobbled over to the other side of the limo where Sasuke was sitting, wrapping her arms around his middle and pulling herself towards his stomach muscles. Sasuke looked down, mouth still open, staring blankly at the top of her head. She was so close. He could almost count the hairs flowing down her neck. He could feel her chest rise and fall with every puff of breath. Wait, he inwardly pummeled himself. He could feel her chest-

"S-Sakura, you're heavy." He cleared his throat loudly.

And she lifted herself back up and clipped her belt shut again, humming as if nothing at happened. Sasuke sat still for a while before opening the window grouchily, fanning his face. Looking over to Sakura, he could see that she also had a red face… Stupid faulty air-conditioning…

"...Sasuke-kun, I can't do it. I'm scared."

He rolled his eyes. This was exactly what he needed. "Don't be."

"What if they attack me when I enter the door? You said it yourself..." She sung. "I don't do well under stress..."

"They wont attack you." He said irritably, ignoring the last statement. "They don't know you're coming. You owe me again by the way," He pointed out, folding his arms cockily. "The morons are probably going to whittle up some sick fantasy reason why I brought you with me and-" He droned off, forcing his hands in to his pockets grumpily.

Sakura gave a nervous laugh. "How about this then?" She whispered something in to his ear, trying to ignore the bitter look that spawned from it.

"What exactly will this achieve, other than making me look like a moron?"

"J-Just try it!

Sasuke walked in, ruffling his jacket in the newfound heat. The room was obviously coloured a dark blue with lots of tables scattered about the oak paneled floor. Each table had a single purple candle burning in the middle of it and the whole café was lit along the walls with blue-coloured lights. The room was very dim, but it was full of people. All the tables were full.

"Oi, jerk!"

Sasuke turned to see the five figures sitting against the wall on a curved bench seat. It stretched along the wall and out at the sides in a horseshoe shape. Sasuke walked towards the table where Naruto was waving overly-largely at him... what did he think he was? Blind? Moron.

Neji, Tenten, Hinata, Naruto and Kiba were already sitting around the table. It looked as if they had just arrived, because they hadn't ordered drinks yet. Sasuke eyed the seat. It was already pretty full, and didn't look as if-

"So, bastard!" Naruto punched the taller boy's arm jokingly. "You came after all! You managed to find a spot in your weird rituals for-" But Naruto stopped.

Sasuke's coat had just sneezed… a very high-pitched sneeze, in fact. Sasuke's expression didn't change, but he crossed his arms across his chest and tapped his foot impatiently.

Apparently no one had caught a glimpse of Sasuke's back to see that he had morphed in to the a hunchback overnight. There was a large bulge under Sasuke's long winter coat starting at the base of his neck and ending a few feet down. The whole table was now on its feet looking on, confused.

It moved. Hinata shrieked and bounced towards Naruto. The lump made a sniffling noise and a pair of legs pushed down from each side. Naruto cocked his head to the side in bewilderment. Even Neji looked somewhat shocked... but he pretended not to.

"Coming out yet?" Sasuke asked drearily, examining the expensive looking watch on his wrist.

Finally, the legs hopped down to the floor, landing with a tap, and out from the remaining bulk crawled Sakura. She sniffed, rubbing her nose sleepily. "Sasuke-kun, I think I'm allergic to the soap or cologne or whatever on you... or something. It's made me all tired..." But this was the least of her worries as she looked up to see five confused and disturbed faces look at her.

"Surprise!" Sasuke and Sakura both said in unison. Sakura's call was complete with jazz hands. Sasuke's was just a drone with him looking the other way, uninterested.

Tenten raised a finger. Sakura watched curiously as she filled her lungs with air and let out the loudest scream- She couldn't even describe it. She only flinched and blinked silently. The whole café did the same.

"I think I've lost sight in my left eye." Sasuke said, plainly, ignorant to the fact that now Tenten had lifted Sakura off the ground and was spinning her around in a mighty bear hug. Naruto and Kiba still looked too shocked to even mimic this act.

"OHHHHMYYYYGOOODDDD," Tenten screamed before putting her friend in to a headlock and furiously rubbing her skull with her knuckle. "IF YOU EVER, EVER, RUN AWAY AGAIN WITHOUT BRINGING ME ALONG WITH YOU-"

"Ow!! TENTEN!"

"IT'S CALLED A NOOGIE, SAKURA," The bun haired girl screeched in reply. "AND I SUGGEST YOU GET USED TO IT."

"Excuse me," Said a new voice. An angry looking waitress in her thirties had bustled over to the table. She had long, curly brown hair down her back and looked like she had eaten one too many velvet cakes. "Do you have a reason to be screaming like- like a herd of animals??"

The whole table except Sakura pointed towards the tall, raven-haired boy and said simply "Uchiha Sasuke." Sasuke had not realised this, because he was now patting the side of his head harshly as if to push water out of his ears. Tenten's scream had been too high frequency for him, apparently.

The waitress opened her mouth to argue, but rethought it over and closed it again. She ran her eyes over the seven of them and then stalking away with her chin in the air.

"Did you hear her?" Kiba complained, stirring his tall glass of Mountain Dew heatedly. "A 'herd' she called us! I do not approve. We are a pack or a pride or something, but most definitely not a herd." He said it as if it was the devil's name or something, shuddering in disgust. "Fat bitch."

No one answered him. Tenten was too busy clinging on to Sakura's arm to see that she wouldn't escape again. Sakura was talking to Hinata. Naruto was trying to get Sakura's attention and Neji and Sasuke were trying their best to look bored without people noticing their efforts.

"This is boring!" Naruto announced as everyone else was drinking sodas and alcohol-free cocktails. Sakura narrowed her eyes at him and Neji full on groaned. They were going to make him do something 'FUN,' he KNEW it. "Let's play a game!"

The sound of palm on face resounded throughout the restaurant. Tenten, who was seated next to the tall boy, scooted away towards her pink-haired friend.

"Let's..." The blonde continued, pawing his face lightly for ideas. "Let's have a staring contest!"

"Yeah!" Kiba threw his arms up with Naruto. Hinata giggled and meekly raised her arms slightly, flushing. She had apparently gotten over her fear of Naruto by this point. As long as he didn't propose to her again, she was good. She was still a little iffy on physical contact as well, Sakura deduced after seeing her face after Sasuke had ordered them all to budge over.

Sasuke wrinkled his nose and set his well-crafted cheek on his hand. "Because that's fun."

"Shut up, Sasuke."

"Yeah. You can't play anyway. You glare too much to be able to play."

"Besides! We can't do your idea of fun." Kiba snapped, sourly.

"Yeah! Not a lot of people enjoy sacrificing small dogs at the full moon!"

Sasuke's frown only deepened. Hinata gasped and clasped her hands over her mouth. "Th-Those poor puppies!" She whispered before shuddering. Naruto hesitated before patting her shoulder carefully. For the next minute she held Sakura's reassuring hand from under the table, shivering slightly. Sakura coughed and made a mental note to not use gruesome imagery in front of Hinata.

A pause.

"Um, N-Neji!" Tenten said hurriedly, breaking the silence, laughing anxiously. "How about I go against you? You know? Staring contest...?"

He raised an eyebrow and drank some more of his soda in the most stoic manner possibly. "Hmph." He folded his arms. "You'd just using it as an excuse to look at me for a long period of time."

The red palm mark across Neji's brow just got darker. Sasuke was now very uncomfortable seeing as Tenten had just run her angry fist in to Neji's head, leaving him to fire backwards and land on the unlucky person who was sitting on his other side.

This, as luck just happened to have it, was Sasuke.

He gave an almighty growl and shoved Neji back, adjusting his jacket angrily. "I don't approve of this seating arrangement."

"Tough." Kiba sneered, taking a potato chip from the tray in the middle of the table. "I, for one, think that it works perfectly. You're both tall, dark and bastardly."

Both boys growled and attempted to kick him under the table. Tenten suddenly shrieked loudly... Let's just say they missed and Neji's earlobe would never be the same again. Tenten was fuming with rage by this point, glaring in to Neji's glazed eyes. He looked back coolly, slurping through a straw. It was almost as if he couldn't feel the pain she had inflicted on his face.

"Give up?" He drawled, drumming his fingers broadly on the table.

"N-No!!" Tenten roared forcefully, twisting her face in to a grimace until-

Blink.

She collapsed on to Sakura, moaning in defeat. Sakura wasn't too bothered though. She was now staring quite happily at Hinata who was, conversely, struggling. Hinata and Neji might have been related, but she hadn't had the glaring training that Neji had gone through. They had already gone through 3 battles and Sakura hadn't blinked once - not even in the spaces in between. Every time Hinata would break and slam her eyes shut, the boys to her left would roar in approval and congratulate the girls in there efforts.

Sakura was starting to suspect the waitress of spiking Naruto's drink, because he seemed to get more and more high every time he sipped his cola. He was hiccupping and everything, which resulted in a group war against hiccups.

"Try holding your breath until you fall unconscious!" Sasuke said in mock-happiness. It must have been one of the few times that Sakura had seen a genuine looking smile on his face that wasn't some sort of snaky smirk.

Naruto threw cold looks at him for his suggestion and turned to little Hinata for hers. "Try d-drinking seven sips of water, Naruto-kun..." She prodded her fingers together timidly. Naruto did so and paused a second. Everyone leaned in, only to recoil when a particularly monstrous hiccup came. "S-Sorry..." She stuttered afterwards, looking heart-broken.

"N-No! Hinata! Don't be-"

Naruto felt the atmosphere go cold when glossy tears appeared on her eyelids. Twitching, he turned round to see a shadowy Neji cracking his knuckles and giving a haunted glower.

"N-Neji, I-"

"You made Miss. Hinata cry."

"N-Now for the final stare-off!! S-Sakura-chan vs. Shadow king!"

"Oi, oi, Naruto. I thought that Sasuke was 'Shadow King!'"

"No, no… wait... was Sasuke-bastard the Shadow King? I thought he was the Princess of Darkness... We really have to write this stuff down..."

Sasuke snarled.

"This is stupid." Neji said, as he watched Sakura, huffing. "But, Sakura, I'll have you know that I have no intention of losing." Sakura only smiled back and stared even more intently in to his white eyes.

This guy sure is a mystery, she thought, sighing in to her hands. I think I understand Sasuke more than I do him! One moment he's being mocking and teasing Tenten, purposely getting smacked, and the next he's all vengeful... And why does he talk so politely to his cousin? I know he's a gentleman, but "Miss Hinata?"

A minute passed and both Neji and Sakura's eyes were starting to prickle. Sakura snickered and leant in closer. Neji did the same - narrowing his eyes even more. He could see the tears developing. She watched as his became glassy. All this not blinking was affecting her eyes... she could see colors engulf Neji's face. A pale misty green-

"Sakura!"

Sakura had shot backwards, ricocheting in to the cushioned backing of the sofa. It took a second for her to realize what was happening, but when she did snap back she looked around hurriedly. Tenten was practically on her lap, slapping her face gently. Hinata was quivering again and had backed in to Naruto - he, who was gripping Sakura's left hand tensely. She sighed and took her hand back from Naruto, chuckling anxiously.

"Ahaha..." She giggled unsurely. "I guess I got too in to that..."

But looking at Neji, he looked confused and even furious. "Sakura, a word, if you please." He growled, as if trying to contain something within him as he stood. Sakura suspiciously followed but keeled back as soon as she got within a meter of him. He snatched her wrist and dragged her to the deserted corridor that led to the kitchens. He forcefully pushed her in against a wall, standing before her.

"Neji!" Sakura tore her arm out of his grasp, rubbing it softly. The intensity emitted from the boy didn't cease though - in fact it tensed as he gripped her shoulders tight. Sakura blushed out of anger and frowned back. "What the hell?"

"From left and right, through thick and thin, as the colour black fades to grey we will remain to paint the world white." He recited slowly, not loosening his grip.

"W-What??"

Neji paused for a second, his face falling again. He repeated the statement, but let go as she shook her head in distrust. "Nothing," He growled, turning to walk back to the table again. "I forgot, you're not in my English class - so it doesn't matter. Just forget it."

Sakura frowned and pointed an accusing finger in his direction. "You're lying, Hyuuga Neji! You're lying!"

Yet he didn't even acknowledge this statement by looking at her.

Sakura waited a few minutes before returning to the table, both shaken and stirred. Neji was already seated again with an expression that denied anything that just happened between them. Sakura frowned again before shuffling past Kiba and Naruto and landing on the seat with a 'plunk.' She glared at her pale comrade and wiggled out of the arm that Tenten tried to thread through her own.


Honestly. If Sasuke isn't making us mad, then this guy is.

"S-so, Neji," Tenten waved her hands in front of his face. He looked at her uninterestedly. "What did you have to say to Sakura, anyway? Cause you were gone for a little while..."

Neji paused and then grinned. "Why? Are you jealous?"

Crack.

Tenten watched happily a short streak of blood ran from her comrade's nose. Hinata screamed and hid her face in Naruto's orange jacket. Naruto was trying to coax Hinata out of it, whilst Kiba shouted abuse at Neji. Neji, however, didn't care, because he had been flung backwards on to an irritated looking Sasuke and was now arguing heatedly with Tenten who was wiping the blood from her knuckles.

Sakura, who happened to be in the midst of all this hurly-burly, was sparking with rage and so far only Sasuke had noticed. She bit her lip and all the muscles in her body were tense. Sasuke watched tautly as he could see her eyes become glossy and full of tears. Was she going to cry?

Oh shit, she was. She had just taken a big breath, and-

"WILL YOU ALL JUST SHUT UP?" She roared, bringing her palms on to the table with a potent smack. It creaked uneasily and looked as if it was going to double over any second. All the drinks had been spilled and two glasses smashed entirely. "YOU'RE ALL SO FREAKING NOISY, SHAAANNAROOO!!"

She stomped her feet on the ground in rage before gradually calming down. Large pants of fury became heavy breathing and then just sniffs of irritation. The whole restaurant was looked at her confusedly. Tenten had leaned away from her in to Neji's stomach but he too was two shocked to comment on this. Hinata was looking up to her, tears falling from her eyes. Naruto's bright orange shirt was stained with tears.

Sasuke, however, didn't look too impressed. Neji was still balancing on his head from before. He sighed before saying, "Well, I have quite effectively wasted..." He checked his watch again, "73 minutes of my life. Thanks a lot. Let's go, Sakura."

"Gladly." Sakura growled, jumping on to the table and hopping off again. Sasuke slipped from under Neji, causing both him and Tenten to fall on to the cushioned seat. Sakura, still red in the face with pure anger, snatched Sasuke's arm in one hand and her unfinished milkshake in the other. With that, she stomped furiously out of the building, dragging an indifferent looking Sasuke behind her.

Though Sakura couldn't say that the last incident hadn't irritated her enough to spoil the outing completely, she supposed it had been sort of fun. She had enjoyed it, but now she walked next to Sasuke, frowning, her hands still crushing down on his wrist.

Sasuke observed her carefully. She looked even more ill tempered than he did - she didn't look this angry even when they had fought. This was serious, but Sasuke knew better. He was not an Itachi, and he was not going to twist himself in to other people's business.

He hadn't seen what had happened in that corridor that was out of view, but it didn't concern him. Neji wouldn't have tried to do anything disgraceful - he was too noble for that. It wasn't in his character, plus Sakura would have screamed or made herself known or something. No way she would allow that. He mumbled again. He was concerning himself in it all again... though, if she talked, as she so loved to do, she might calm herself down.

Ow. She was really hurting him now. He did a un-Uchiha-like flinch and tried to twist his hand out of his wrist. It didn't budge. Sasuke mumbled to himself about 'Stupidity,' 'Itachi,' and 'How he could be eating tomatoes.' Well, talking could be risky... It was worth a shot, but it was certainly not worth his arm.

"You doing okay?" He murmured, only barely audible - half hoping that Sakura hadn't heard.

He didn't flinch again when she shot a vengeful stare at him before huffing.

"...No, then?"

"What gave you that idea?" She snapped and threw his arm down before folding her own across her chest. The colour from her face had not faded still. Sasuke saw this as a good time to roll his eyes and discreetly nurse his arm better under his coat.

"Sakura, you're acting like Naruto."

"What's that supposed to mean?" She spat.

He watched her, frustration growing on his brow. "It means that you're acting like you have the mental tendencies of a four-year-old and have swallowed one too many Prozac tablets along the way. Now are you going to listen to me or not?"

She mimicked him childishly using her hands as mouths - flicking her long pink hair out of her face. It seemed to glow red like she did, until Sasuke realized that it was the neon sign next to them. He cursed himself for getting in to something so troublesome, and now he was going insane.

"Sakura, you freaked out a little back there..." He started, more calmly. A different approach might work, he had thought. "I know you don't like loud noises, but that was overkill..."

Sakura only watched him irately. Although he did see her eyes soften slightly... "How do you know I don't like loud noises anyway, Sasuke-kun."

"It's obvious, Sakura. It's one of the few obvious things about you."

Sasuke walked on, wondering if he had said too much, because Sakura had now begun to suck her knuckle carefully - a sign that she was in deep thought. Sasuke was somewhat relieved to see her face return to its usual colour, but her cheeks were unnaturally rosy. Sasuke blew this off quickly, thinking that it was make-up as it was bound to be.

And for a while she was silent. They walked down the street and out of the courtyard. He saw her hesitate a bit when she saw the fountain in the market square where he had made her sit after... he didn't want to speak of it. He shook it from his memory.

Only when the Uchiha limo slowly moved in to sight at the end of the street did she speak.

"Thank you for bringing me, Sasuke." Sakura said from his side. He looked down on her again, only to see that sincere face that he was so... He couldn't say anything against it... He couldn't bring himself to do it. She gripped his arm out of gratitude and sauntered off towards the limo again, leaving the Uchiha to his inward ranting and confusion. He was sure that she had done that to annoy him - he was sure of it. Stupid girl and her stupid hormones... Wait a minute, what was he thinking. He slapped his cheek grumpily for good measure before trailing after her.

But Sasuke was pleased with himself. He had done what he said he would do. He was somewhat polite, and had acted like a gentleman, just like Itachi said he couldn't do. Hah. Uchiha Sasuke - defying logic and kicking ass.

The journey back was pretty nice in Sakura's opinion. Talking to Sasuke helped get her mind of Neji, and she was grateful to Sasuke for it... although she wasn't going to admit it. She already owed him so much already - it would be okay to let this one slide, at least.

"So, Sasuke-kun, what is that stuff you're wearing? Is it light cologne or not?" Sakura asked happily, gripping Sasuke's winter coat that she liked so much around her shoulders. It had been a fight to get her to wear it. ("Sasuke-kun, are you sure? Are you really, really sure??") She eventually agreed to take it.

So what? She didn't like to admit that her skin was sensitive in the cold. Plus, Sasuke's coat was really nice. It was soft and warm and Sakura was tempted to just fall asleep under it. Also the fact that Sasuke told her that last time she wore it, it 'smelt of girl' was a nice thing to know.

"Haruno, stop with the small talk, okay?"

She pouted. He raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

"Oh nothing," She cooed, sweetly, bringing the jacket closer in to her. "It's just that I'm disappointed. You've been calling me 'Sakura' all night, and it was so nice... but now I'm 'Haruno' again, huh?"

Sasuke folded his arms and 'Hn-ed' in response and decided not to answer the question. Instead, he switched the topic to that of, "And I don't wear cologne. It's soap. Unlike Naruto, I actually take baths and don't need man-perfume to make me smell good."

The streetlights flashed past the window quickly, illuminating her giggling face. Sasuke sighed and started to curse himself under his breath again. He had willingly taken this girl somewhere just so he could prove his jerk of a brother wrong. He really deserved to be slapped.

"...Sasuke-kun, did you just slap yourself?"

Sasuke grunted and directed his eyes in to the obscurity that was the darkness behind them.

Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura were obviously very different. Even the inner workings of their mind were not the same.

Sakura was always so bored during the night, though. It was when she had to calm down and she was no longer allowed to bother the housemaids who were dismissed to their quarters after 8:00pm. The morning was much nicer, even if getting up was a pain in the neck. It was the mark of a new day and an excuse… an excuse to run outside barefoot and topple in to a garden of flowers.

Instead, Sasuke loved the night... as much as he could possibly allow himself to 'love' something. It was quiet and tranquil. And he could drift in to a well-needed sleep as drowsiness took him in its arms and wrapped him in a velvet blanket... That was probably the gayest thing he had ever thought. He shuddered, trying to dispel it from his brain.

"Sasuke-kun?"

He frowned in to her small doll-like face. Her face had that stupid 'I'm so innocent, I'm going to ask you to do something' smile on. What's more, her hands were clasped under her chin. His anger faded as the car swerved in to Haruno drive.

He managed to delay his answer as long as he could, but by this time they had exited the car in front of the front door. "What?" He asked, finally.

Her face beamed. He groaned as she opened her mouth to speak. Her eyes were big and lovingly looking at him. He didn't like this. She was going to make him do something... "Sasuke..." She started, lacing her hands behind her back, kicking the limo door shut.

He winced. Here it comes... He thought.

She gave an anxious chuckle that faded softly in to nothingness. "Well... Do you think...?" She searched mentally, tapping her foot nervously before spurting out loudly, "CanIpleasehaveaveryreallyquickhugplease?"

Sasuke blinked. "A hug?"

She nodded, her eyes gleaming in the light that was protruding from between the drawn curtains of the mansion.

He folded his arms. "No." He closed his eyes, fully ignoring the way her face fell.

"But why not?" She whined. "It's no big deal! I did it before... and I said please! I even said it twice!" He shook his head in a 'final-word' kind of way that only caused her to hop up and down in rejected sourness. "But why not? Friends hug friends! Are we friends or not?? WHY NOT?"

Sasuke brought a gloved finger to his lips, pretending to think. This only made her frown even more, which he was pleased to see. It didn't take a while for him to think of the perfect rebuttal, though. "Because you're annoying."

Sakura ranted angrily to him as they walked up to the front steps. Sasuke had put his fingers in his arms. They had the door opened to them by a very confused looking Iwao who immediately shuffled off to get Sakura a mug of hot chocolate. When she came back, they were still arguing.

"Sasuke-kun, would it really be that painful to hug me?"

"Yes."

"Am I really that bad?"

"Yes."

"Worse than UME??"

"Yes."

"SERIOUSLY?"

"No."

Iwao turned on her heel and walked off the other way; afraid of getting tangled up in the mess that was the hormones of teenagers. And Sakura was apparently on hormone-high. She had resorted to pouting and looking at him with large doe-eyes. His eyelid twitched for a second but he eventually broke apart, finishing the notion with a loud "Hn." He paused. "Give me back my coat."

She looked down at the long coat around her. It reached her knees and hung loosely past her fingertips. Yes, it made her look even smaller than she already was, but it was comfy. Sakura gripped it around her, smirking cattily. "No hug, no coat."

"No coat, no hug." He pointed out smarmily. SHE was the one asking for something here. Unsurely, she stripped it off her shoulders and handed to him. He took it back, slung it over his shoulder and headed for the door again.

"EH?" Sakura stomped angrily around him. "You're such a liar! I hate you Sasuke-kun! If you walk out that door and leave me hug-less, I'll... I'll..."

But she didn't get a chance to finish her sentence, because the tall boy was already outside. Sakura glared at his face that was steadily disappearing behind the closing door. "Goodnight, Haruno," He sneered and closed the door before she could get a word in edgeways.

Sakura growled and gradually managed to pull it open again. By this time, Sasuke was halfway down the path. "NO GOODNIGHT TO YOU! I HOPE YOUR CHICKEN HAIR GETS LICE." She hollered after him. "AND YOU OWE ME A HUG, MISTER! A REALLY, REALLY NICE ONE!!"

After repeatedly apologizing to everything about her 'ridiculous behavior' the night before, the weight of guilt was finally lifted from Sakura's shoulders, and for the whole day Sakura was inseparable from Tenten and Hinata. If one of them had a separate lesson, the other two would have to drop her off at her room and then pick her up again at the end of it.

In fact, they were pretty much like that throughout the month of February. The month in most people's opinion was very boring. Even Tenten hardly got in trouble at all. Sasuke's suitors seemed to calm down momentarily, though he was convinced that they were going to strike back soon enough.

The most interesting thing that happened was that a rather nasty cold came in to the school and a lot of the students donned cough masks. Tenten, however, wore one for the entertainment purposes it provided. If anyone did her wrong, she's simply remove the mask and cough on the perpetrator. Her immune system had always been pretty strong, she told Sakura once.

Neji had been the most entertaining prospect; everyone was quite shocked to see. Neji, it seemed, was near terrified of germs. Sasuke found this incredibly amusing, it seemed. Neji had always been unnaturally sanitary, but after Tenten had convinced him that she had a particularly nasty virus the true nature of his dislike for bacteria came in to play. Seeing Neji being chased by Tenten was a common thing. Seeing Neji being chased by Tenten while he strings off a rather un-Hyuuga-like line of abuse, however, is extremely rare. What made it better is that Naruto had caught the whole thing on his phone.

But then, of course, Tenten actually caught the cold, ironically enough. From that day on she dedicated her school life to infecting Neji.

Neji, to everyone's delight, had a very high-pitched scream if you got him flustered enough. But to do this, you needed to corner him, add a small bun-haired girl with a bad cold and no real chance of escape. That ought to do it.

He could only really breathe safely when Tenten got so ill that she had to break her perfect attendance and take time off school.

Sakura felt sorry for Tenten, so she and Hinata teamed up to make the most dangerous looking cake ever created and took it to her after school one day. It was covered in neon green icing but Tenten thought it was perfect. It was the exact opposite of her. It looked dangerous, but actually tasted very nice. Tenten liked the satire that came with it and they all ate it happily whilst watching cheesy Baywatch reruns.

"Oh, Tenten!" Sakura said through a mouth full of cake. "You've been continuing your efforts to make Neji sick, right?"

"Sure have." Tenten smiled, sucking her fingers clean of all chocolate.

Sakura giggled and took her friend's sticky hands in her own. She sighed, happily. "Well, you'll be pleased to know that the tainted rice balls that you told Hanabi to give to him worked."

"YAY!" She squealed, hugging the two of them.

Hinata giggled a bit. "He said that he never thought you were so evil as to use his little cousin to do your dirty work for him."

Tenten shrugged and dug her hands in to the cake again. "It's his fault. Plus, no offence Hinata, but your sister is one sinister little girl. Have you seen her room? I climbed through her window to give her the rice balls, and I swear, I've been mentally disturbed ever since." She folded her arms, nodding to herself. "She and you are like me and this cake. Total opposites of each other."

And with that, Tenten shoved a handful of cake in to her mouth. Hinata blushed and poked her fingers together anxiously. "B-But that's not all that Neji-Nii-san said... But you might get angry, Tenten-ch-"

"Just tell me." Tenten chewed.

Sakura smiled as she was critically examining her nails. "He said that the only reason you wanted to get him sick was because you wanted picture him looking vulnerable in a bed."

Tenten choked and began to slam her fist against her ribs.

Other than that, nothing really happened in February, the month went pretty quickly and Sakura felt accustomed to her new school life. Sure, there were things that she didn't understand the point of at all no matter how smart she was (Such as dodge ball, school lunches and homework) but she was doing quite well.

She was doing well until about a week past the cake incident. She and Tenten were walking to the classroom until the brunette had taken her to the notice board to check times for the Martial Art club. To their surprise, they could not see the notice board because a ring of chirping girls surrounded it. Curiously, they pushed though the crowd when Sakura saw it.

It was a big sign that took up half of the notice board itself. Soon both Sakura and Tenten knew why they couldn't see the board to start with.

And Sakura felt her stomach sink to her shoes.

..

This chapter was also hard to write... but I'll be able to have fun soon enough! Look out for the next chapter, everyone! Thanks to all my reviewers and please continue to do so!!

We recently broke 50 reviews! I am so happy!! It just totally makes me squeal to know that you guys like my work... an amateur like me XD -is pathetic- Thank you for supporting my first real series. I promise you that there will be more tension soon - stuff never before seen in a high school fic! Ahaha -twirls a non-existent moustache- I've got it all planned out...

Thanks for reading my fic! Please tell me what you think of it!