Author's Notes: To those of you who are only reading this story and not Laying Claim, sorry about the wait, I've been on Summer vacation (whoo-hoo!). Extra long chapter this time!
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Title: Dear Annie
Rating: T (or PG-13)
Summary: SasuSaku Sakura is excellent about giving others advice about their love life, but she is absolutely clueless when it comes to her own!
Pairings: SasuSaku, NaruHina, NejiTen, ShikaIno
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, but the plot is mine!
Chapter 11: A Thousand Words
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Dear Annie,
I've got a date this weekend. He's really nice and smart, not to mention good looking. Do you think I should dress to impress or go in jeans? It's just dinner and a movie, but what if he thinks I'm too casual, like I don't really care, or too formal, like I'm expecting too much? This is my first official date, and I'm getting a migraine thinking about it! I really don't want to give him the wrong idea, but I don't know what I should do!
Never Been Kissed
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Dear Kissed,
First of all, calm down. It's okay to be a little nervous, keeps you on your toes, but too much might scare him off. Second, if it's just dinner and a movie you should dress casually, but still nice. Put on a blouse instead of a t-shirt, nice jeans (without holes or rips), and some sandals instead of tennis shoes. Keep makeup light so he doesn't think you're taking things to all new extremes. Just relax and be yourself, that's probably why he asked you out in the first place.
Your Friend,
Annie
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"I'm coming!" Sakura called to the person behind the front door. She was running late and scrambled to get her clothes on and her teeth brushed in time. Today was the festival, after all, and no one wanted to be late. Temari had offered to help her get ready, but she denied it and told the three Sand siblings she would catch up with them later.
The medic shot out the front door with her key and locked it hurriedly.
"Come on Sakura, we're going to be late…" Ino gave a moment's pause. "You're not wearing that are you?"
Sakura looked down at her clothes. It was her usual attire, nothing wrong with that. Compared to Ino, she may have looked a bit underdressed, but a lot of women didn't dress up for this kind of thing.
Ino was decked out in a light blue halter dress that ended about two inches above her knees. She wore a light amount of make-up, which was just enough to get the point across. Silver chandelier earrings adorned her ears, and there was a silver bracelet on her left wrist. Sakura's eyes widened when she looked at Ino's strappy sky blue stilettos.
"Ino, you do realize we're going to be walking all day, right?"
The blonde looked down at her oh-so-lovely-but-painful shoes. "Well unlike some, I can handle my heels. Now, about your wardrobe…"
With that, she snatched the key from her friend's hand and dragged her back inside her house, up the stairs, and into her room. Ino threw open her closet and began digging. Within a few minutes time, Ino let out a surprised gasp. "Haruno Sakura….you never told me you had go go boots!"
Sakura mentally cursed.
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Sakura walked out the door twenty minutes later with a sickeningly sweet smile on her face. "Ino, did I ever tell you how much I hate you?"
"Only since twenty minutes ago." Ino said cheerily. "I'm sure that a certain Uchiha will be impressed."
"Who said I was trying to impress anyone?" Sakura spat. Despite her attitude, however, her cheeks flushed the tiniest bit. She hoped Ino didn't see it.
"You're blushing! I knew you two were meant for each other since the beginning of time! It's so cute! Uchiha Sakura doesn't sound that…" She got a glimpse of her friend's face. "…shutting up now."
"Thank you." Sakura gritted out. She was dressed in a white spaghetti-strap dress with a neckline that dipped in the middle, showing more skin than she would have liked. There were red strings on both sides that crisscrossed down the bodice until they ended in a lopsided bow. The dress began to flow beneath her belly button and it made her want to turn so it would swish. It came a few inches short of her knees. Meanwhile, she was sporting the aforementioned go go boots, lace-up and ending mid-calf. She wore dangly silver earrings and adamantly decided to wear no other jewelry. She preferred not to wear makeup most of the time, but Ino put on an extremely light coat of silver-white eye shadow on her. Top that off with a little lip gloss and she hardly recognized herself anymore.
They entered the hustle and bustle more than a block from the actual festival. People were driving around trying to find parking, honking at other drivers who moved into their spot. Sakura was glad that they walked. Not that either one of them had a car…but still. They walked inside and immediately bought a smoothie. Ino got something with a mango and banana in it, and Sakura chose a virgin strawberry daiquiri.
The theme was Spring, hence the Spring Festival, and the shops were selling things in bright colors. There was everything from blinding yellows to soft pinks. Lavenders and beiges. Pastel colors all around.
Ino walked up to a booth selling jewelry. Sakura took a good look at everything before deciding she didn't wear much jewelry anyway. She absentmindedly looked around before spotting a tent across the narrow street. Looking into the open flap, it didn't look like anyone was there. A small child tried to take a peek inside, but was roughly pulled along by the hand of his mother.
What in the world was all the fuss about?
The pink-haired girl ambled across the street and walked into the tent. Canvases were stacked up against the side, since there was no wall to display them on. A small table sat in the middle, unused except for a few papers. It was really rather dark.
"Please have a look around."
Sakura turned towards the voice. The man didn't even glance in her direction. He sat at a stool in front of a blank canvas with a small lamp and paint at his side. His hands didn't hold a brush; he just stared at the canvas in front of him.
Deciding he was finding a muse, Sakura went through the paintings. A lot of them were abstract, which she thought were nicely done, but not the greatest work she had ever seen. A few minutes later, she had gone through most of the work, and was about to leave before spotting a stack she hadn't gone through yet. There were only two pictures in there, so she may as well. Picking up the first one, she saw it was a landscape scene. It was pretty good, and she liked it a lot. She put that down and picked up the one behind it, only to have all the air whoosh out of her lungs.
It looked like a photograph, and she had to get up closer to see the brushstrokes. Not a single drop of stray oil paint lay anywhere. It was another landscape scene, with a towering mountain covered in snow in the background. A lake dominated the picture, and perfect green trees surrounded it. On the left hand side at the bottom was a cobblestone trail leading into a canopy of trees. Magnificent was an understatement. Sakura half wondered if it was done by a different artist.
"I take it you like that picture?"
"It's beautiful." Sakura breathed out. "But why is there only one?" She looked over at the artist, his back turned to her, still absently facing his canvas.
"There was a time when an artist's talents were truly admired. When they could paint things that took skill and mastery. Nowadays, art is just an object used to fill up space on a wall. Anyone can splash paint on a canvas and call themselves artists. I used to put my heart and soul into every piece, but now…" he sighed. "People will come along glance at it, and say 'that's pretty' and then walk off. Why should I put the effort into it if all it does is sit there?" It was at this point that he looked at Sakura, and the woman saw that his face was horribly disfigured. One eye was noticeably larger, and his nose was terribly crooked. There were scars of what she assumed were burns on one entire side of his face. "Thanks to my…appearance, people are too scared or disgusted to even look at my paintings, let alone buy them."
"Sir, I'm a medic nin. I could…"
"Thank you, but no. I don't think that people should buy my paintings because I'm normal. They should buy them because they'll cherish them always, not the way the artist looks. I need the money, but I don't want it if it's for the wrong reasons."
Sakura bit her lip, "I'd like to buy this painting. How much is it?"
His eyes widened and he gave her a price. Sakura was this close to setting the painting down, but she looked at it and realized that he worked too hard on it not to be given a pretty penny. A picture was worth a thousand words, after all. She paid the man in cash and asked him to sign it. He dipped a slim brush in black acrylic and elegantly, if a little messily, signed it at the bottom.
"I never did get your name."
"It's…"
"Sakura! There you are, I've been looking for you everywhere! I've got somewhere I need to be. Hinata called and she and Tenten are waiting for us. Let's go!"
Sakura yelled a "thank you!" over her shoulder to the man as she was being dragged out of the tent. The man looked back at his canvas, slowly picked up his brush and oil paints, and began a picture of a cherry blossom tree.
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As they ran, Sakura had to mind the way her dress was twisting, making sure that the wind didn't pick it up and accidentally show her underwear to everyone. Sakura had gotten a bag for her painting, and it was banging against her hip with every step. Once they reached Hinata, they were out of breath and she was looking at them half amused, half worried that they were dying.
Ino perked up, as if remembering something. "All right-y then, I've got somewhere to be!" She said hurriedly and gave Hinata the hand of Sakura's she had been pulling. "Your turn to baby-sit, Hinata. Bye!"
Sakura flushed at the comment.
"Tenten is inside."
Hinata let go of her friend's hand and they went inside a larger, circus-like tent. Hinata went up to the first row and sat beside Tenten, and Sakura sat beside Hinata. It looked like some sort of eating contest.
Sakura squinted at the stage. "Is that…Naruto?"
"It's his second time entering. Reigning champ and all that." Tenten commented.
"Where does he put it all?"
"Men have high metabolisms." Hinata said. And then they all breathed a unanimous "not fair…"
"Where's the rest of Naruto's posse?"
Tenten casually pointed with her thumb to Neji and Sasuke standing at the entrance, talking. "Come to think of it…where's Ino?"
"She ran off pretty fast. Said she had somewhere to be."
"That's funny," Tenten remarked. "I saw Shikamaru run off just as soon as you came in..."
Realization dawned on them as they gave each other sly looks. Hinata looked a bit confused.
"You don't think…?"
"I do think." Tenten half smirked, half grinned.
"Think what?" Hinata asked. They stared at her a moment before her face turned a shade of red as she finally got it. "Oh…oh…"
"No wonder she didn't tell us. Now we will have to blackmail her."
"How right you are Tenten. What shall we do this time?"
"I don't know, she keeps walking into these things."
"Hmm…" The two hummed in unison.
"We…um…we could make her steal his underwear and hang it on the flagpole at school…" Hinata twiddled her thumbs.
Sakura and Tenten stared at her, mouths agape.
"Hinata…that's so…devious…" Tenten thought for a moment. "It's perfect."
Sakura hugged Hinata. "Oh Tenten, we have corrupted Hinata with our vile ways. She has become a true mastermind!" She sniffled. "I'm so proud."
"Our baby bird is leaving the nest." Tenten was sniffling too. Then, with perfect timing, the two girls wailed and fake cried into Hinata.
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"Why are we here again?" Neji asked. "And where's Shikamaru?"
"We're waiting for Naruto to finish his…barbarism." Sasuke looked with no small amount of disgust towards the stage where Naruto was holding another first place trophy, looking a bit green around the gills. "And Shikamaru said he had somewhere to be."
"That's funny," Neji said. "That blonde girl ran off pretty quickly as well."
"You don't think…?"
"I do think." Neji smirked.
"We shall have to conspire against him now."
"Indeed." He looked up front where he saw his cousin, Sakura, and Tenten talking with evil smirks on their faces. "It looks like your woman has figured it out already."
Sasuke looked up front, where he saw Sakura talking to Tenten and Hinata. "She's not my woman."
Neji snorted. "You never were good at lying."
"And is Tenten not your woman?" Sasuke smirked. "Although if she isn't, I'd love to have two…"
"Don't talk about her like that." Neji spat. He glared into his friend's mischievous eyes and cursed.
"Hook, line, and sinker Neji. You like her."
"I do not."
"I think you do." Sasuke crossed his arms as he casually leaned against a post. "This is the perfect place to make your move."
"I could say the same for you. Let's split up."
Sasuke arched an elegant brow. "What is this, Scooby-Doo?"
Neji rolled his eyes. "You go with your woman, I'll go with…" he hesitated. "…mine. And, though it pains me to say it, it's clear Hinata-chan likes the dobe."—he then winced.
"I smell a bet coming on."
"Fifty bucks says that you can't have Haruno eating out of the palm of your hand by the end of the day."
Sasuke smirked. "Deal."
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"I haven't wasted so much time since I don't know when." Sakura groaned as they walked out.
"Tell me about it. I think I'm the one who's going to puke."
Hinata's nose twitched. "Where do they put it all?"
"Tch." Sakura crossed her arms. "Men are gluttons."
Hands slipped around her waist and pulled her into someone. "Glad you think so."
She turned around in his arms. "I'm surprised you even know a two-syllable word like glutton."
"Oh Haruno, you wound me." Sasuke said while pressing a hand to his chest and keeping the other arm firmly around her waist.
Sakura gave him the prettiest smile she could muster at that point. "I think you should bite me." She said sweetly.
He returned the other arm to her waist and proceeded to pull her even closer to him as he gave her a wolfish grin. "That can be arranged." He told her as he bent down towards her neck. The girl in his arms gave a small squeak at his actions.
"Uchiha Sas—!"
"I'll take over babysitting now, okay Hinata?"
Sakura spluttered on the last syllables of his name. Why did everyone think she needed to be babysat?
"Okey-dokey! Have fun Sakura!" Tenten grabbed Hinata's arm as they went skipping off merrily. Sakura turned back around in her captor's arms.
"You traitors! Tenten I'm gonna…!" She cut herself off as she felt the Uchiha nuzzle her neck.
He whispered "karma" into her ear and she watched as her brunette friend was intercepted by Neji, and Naruto came out calling for Hinata.
She looked at him from over her shoulder. "Something makes me think this was all planned."
He gave an all too innocent look and shrugged. "I guess you'll never find out."
She gave him a suspicious look before biting her lip. "Now where to?"
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"Uchiha Sasuke, I would have never pegged you for a funnel cake person."
They were sharing a funnel cake, deciding that this and two milkshakes would be considered lunch. It was their day off. They weren't going to waste it on crappy good food. Sakura just about got sick as they passed the ramen stand.
They were sitting inside a small café that had been set up for festival purposes. This place had once been a pastry shop, but it had been turned into festival-central, with funnel cakes, ice cream, the whole shebang. It was air conditioned, luckily, and they had gotten a two-person table next to a window. The waitress that had taken their orders was hardly paying attention to Sakura, but then again Sasuke was hardly paying attention to the waitress.
"Well I would have never pegged you for a dress and boots kind of person. You've got powdered sugar on your nose." He smudged it off with his thumb, and then sucked his finger clean while looking at her thoughtfully.
"Ino forced me into the dress. The boots were something that should have been shut in a vault, never to be gazed upon again."
Sasuke had a sip of his milkshake and smirked. "I think they're sexy."
It was then that Sakura learned the hard way not to inhale powdered sugar. She was about to eat another scrumptious bite of funnel cake and then he had to go and say something like that! The medic coughed, all the while glaring at her "date", until the substance was dislodged from her lungs.
"What?" She asked, sounding a little strangled.
"The. Boots. Are. Sexy." He smirked further and leaned back in his chair. "Though they'd be sexier if you wore your nurse…"
Her eyes widened as she realized where he was headed, and she had a suspicion that she didn't want to hear the rest of it. Abruptly, she stood up, milkshake in hand, and was getting ready to pour the remaining contents on his head before she blinked and he was gone…just gone.
Hands from behind her entwined around the hand that held her drink, and took it from her. "You would have regretted that, Sakura." He purred in her ear.
She bit her lip, a little afraid that he was mad, but she turned around to see his face. It was clear he was a little cocky and his dominant expression was pure, unadulterated arrogance.
An idea came to her head, and she smiled evilly, taking her target clearly by surprise. "Don't get too cocky, Sasuke." She told him seductively right before taking the empty funnel cake basket and dumping the remaining powdered sugar—to which there were at least two handfuls—over his head.
He blinked, sugar stuck on his lashes…and his hair…and his shoulders. He looked like he either had bad dandruff or was straight out of a Tim Allen movie. Sakura bit her lip. Had she taken it too far? Probably. Oh well, she had already dug her grave.
"You've got powdered sugar on your cheek, Sasuke." She didn't know what possessed her to do it, but she stood on her tiptoes and let her tongue flick out against his cheek. With that, she high-tailed it maybe two steps when a hand caught her around the waist.
Her eyes widened as she looked at him again, and the Sharingan wielder gave her the cruelest smile she had ever seen. He then proceeded to pick up her bag, which held her painting, and then ducked down so that he could pick her up as well! Sakura shrieked as she was thrown over his shoulder…and then all the way down the road.
That is, until, he picked up a considerable amount of speed and she shut her eyes and held on to the back of his jacket for dear life.
It was only when they were long gone that the waitress that was so smitten with him before realized that the dark-haired hottie had forgotten to pay.
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The first thing that Sakura registered once they had stopped was a roaring noise. There was a crackle as Sasuke but her bag down, and he carefully hoisted her down from his shoulder. She felt solid ground under her feet before she was pushed into a chiseled body.
"Open your eyes, Sakura."
Hesitantly, she cracked one eye open, and then both. She was standing on a rock next to a small lake, and the roaring sound explained the waterfall. Another thing she noticed was that there was forest in every direction, and they were likely nowhere near the festival at all.
"This is beaut—" She stopped as she got a glimpse of revenge in his eyes, took stock of her situation, and gasped.
Water plus white clothing equals big no no.
"Sasuke don't you da—" she broke off with a scream as he dipped her over his arm, and her head was hanging precariously close to the water. Sakura crossed her arms over her chest—in case he did drop her—and glared up at him.
He was smiling pretty cockily at this point, and she wanted to smack it right off of him. He looked as if he was in complete control of the situation, which, in reality, he was. Not a leaf would come close to them that he wouldn't know about, and she knew he was strong enough so that his muscles wouldn't begin to hurt and he'd drop her accidentally.
Purposely, however…
"I don't see what you're so ticked about, it's just a little sug…!" She squeaked as he dipped her closer towards the water.
Sasuke cocked her an eyebrow as if to say "You're making your bed, now will you lie in it?"
"Fine, fine! I shouldn't have dumped powdered sugar in your hair! It was stupid and I'm sorry. Happy now?"
The cocky look faded to 'arrogantly satisfied' and he lifted her back into a fully vertical position. He laughed lightly when her hands fisted on the front of his jacket. "I wouldn't have dropped you, you know."
"What? So this was all for revenge?" Her shocked eyes looked into his.
"Basically."
Her forehead hit his chest. "I don't know what I'm going to do with you, Uchiha."
"We could start by getting all of this sugar out of my hair, for one."
Sakura looked up and smiled at him before dusting off his shoulders and ruffling his hair, only to have a big cloud of sugar puff out of it. She laughed when he shook his head and the stuff went everywhere.
"I really am sorry about this. My temper got the best of me."
He shrugged. "Meh. I probably deserved it."
She stared at him for a moment, mouth slightly open, before he picked her up again. This time was bridal style, and he held her close to him. Once she saw he was headed back towards the water, all thoughts of him being a decent human being flew out the window. He really was going to throw her in!
"Hey wait a minute! I said I was sorry!" Sakura protested.
Sasuke laughed, but kept walking.
The roseate haired girl tensed, buried her face in his chest, and wrapped her arms around his neck for precaution. "If I fall, I'm dragging you down with me!"
"Relax, I'm not going to drop you. Just trust me, okay?"
If his tone had been anything other than completely honest sounding and sincere, Sakura would have run for the hills by this point. As it was, he didn't sound at all like the person who had plotted revenge against her if she didn't ask forgiveness. Biting her lip, she tensed slightly when he gently set her legs down, and he managed to situate her feet directly on top of his.
It was only then that she opened her eyes and saw that he was standing in the center on top of the rippling lake.
Her arms around his neck tightened a little bit, and his arms instinctively went around her waist. Her breathing quickened slightly. "Sa…Sasuke?" She stuttered. Whatever he was planning…
"Trust me."
Who exactly was Uchiha Sasuke? He was an enigma. One moment he was carting her off on his shoulder, vengeful as a bull, and the next he's acting like a complete gentleman and nuzzling her neck. The sensation caused her to get goose bumps on her arms, and she hoped he didn't see them.
"I'd never drop you, Sakura."
Then, without moving his head from its spot from her neck, his feet began to move, taking hers along with them. It took the pink-haired medic a minute to figure out that he was dancing. Actual ballroom dancing. It was an odd sensation—here, on top of a secluded lake—yet it was sweet. Suspiciously sweet.
"I didn't know you could dance."
"Parents forced me to take lessons." He said.
Sakura's nose wrinkled. "That must have sucked."
He pulled away to look her in the eyes. "It did then."
She wanted to ask, "Does it now?" but she kept her mouth shut. Instead, she laid one side of her face against his chest in almost a relaxed position. "Uchiha Sasuke, why are you so complex?"
She didn't see it, but the dark haired teen smiled. He then laid his chin on her head, and they continued dancing. The waterfall and sounds of nature were the only song they had playing. They found comforted silence within each other. Without music, without words.
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"I hope you're happy now." Sasuke said, walking out of a tent.
"Much." She smiled toothily up at him.
Sasuke's curiosity had been peaked when she picked up her belongings to come back to the festivities. She pulled the painting out for him to see, and his eyes widened. After they got back to a populous area, she took him to see the artist. Sakura decided to wait outside while he haggled prices of about ten paintings he wanted done for the Uchiha Mansion.
"Come on Sasuke, the fireworks are going to start soon."
It had grown late, and the street lamps were lit to the max. It wasn't at all hard to see, however. Vendors had whatever lights they could get their hands on blazing, so that anyone could see what they had to sell. For this couple, at least, it worked. Something caught Sakura's eye and she walked over towards it. Sasuke, noticing she had stopped walking, went over to see what had caught her attention.
It was a marbled blue-green shell in the shape of a seahorse. The seahorse itself was done in silver, and only the belly—from the end of the neck to the beginning of the tail, leaving a small portion of silver as a backbone and fin—was done in the marbled shell. The medic didn't normally wear much jewelry, since it got in the way too often, and she probably wouldn't buy this necklace even as beautiful as it was. She had spent most of her money on the painting, and it was only because of the onyx-eyed Uchiha standing beside her that she had gotten to eat at all today.
"Ah, that is the Paua Shell Collection. It is imported directly from New Zealand. One of the prettiest pieces, if you ask me." The vendor told her. He sounded nice, but there was a certain quality to his voice that told her that he clearly only wanted to make a sale.
Sasuke looked down at her. "You like it?" He gestured to the seahorse necklace.
She sighed dejectedly. "Yes, but it's way too expensive."
"How much is it?" Sasuke asked. The man behind the counter quoted a ridiculous price, and Sasuke didn't hesitate as he pulled his wallet from his back pocket.
Meanwhile, Sakura's voice rose to a panic. "What are you doing?"
"Buying you something nice." The necklace was in his hands. "Now turn around."
She opened her mouth to protest, but she knew that he was just as stubborn as she was, so she complied. He hooked the clasp in less time than she would have thought. He looked back into her eyes.
"Come on, we've got to go see fireworks, don't we?" He took her hand and began to walk towards the open field.
As for Sakura, she had almost enough fireworks for one day.
A few minutes later, they were lying on Sasuke's jacket in the middle of an open field, with hundreds of other families and couples around them. Sakura was lying her head on Sasuke's shoulder, and he laughed as she jumped when the first firework went off in shades of red.
About ten feet away, the Uchiha prodigy saw Neji and Tenten talking and laughing like old friends. Looks like the bet was off, neither of them quite cared anymore. Still…
He looked down at the girl whose viridian eyes were filled with wonder and amazement. When she saw him looking at her, however, she seemed to sober up slightly. "What is it?" She asked.
"Nothing." He answered, and went back to watching the fireworks.
It was times like this when they could forget about home, about school, about everyone else. They forgot that Sakura had snapped and destroyed everything in her path just last night, and that Sasuke had almost been a victim. They forgot how they couldn't stand the other a few weeks ago. The merciless pranks of eight teenagers.
It was here that they could relax for a moment. Just for tonight. For everything tomorrow would be thrown back into the chaos of everyday lives. The hustle and bustle of school. That was tomorrow. For now they could forget about tomorrow and what it brought. They had each other.
Even if it was only for one night.
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Author's Notes: Well, you all wanted an extra long chapter of Dear Annie. Fourteen pages of typing, I hope you're happy. Well, I originally didn't plan for this chapter to be like this, but one thing led to another and they're dancing on top of a lake. I didn't mind, and I figured that my readers wouldn't mind all the fluff either. Oh by the way, the "even if it was only for one night" thing, I meant that to have an actual meaning behind it…but you'll have to wait until next chapter to figure it out (ha, ha. I'm so evil). Please tell me what you think. Constructive criticism is always appreciated. By the way, as an extra side note, there will be more of the other couples in the coming chapters. Neji and Tenten will be the focus of a long portion of the next chapter, and I'll work in the other couples later. Ino and Shikamaru had a small spot in this chapter, but I'll go into depth about them later. Remember though, this story is primarily Sasuke and Sakura, so don't get antsy if the other couples aren't in every chapter.
P.S. Sasuke was probably a little bit out of character in this chapter, but don't hurt me! Even angst-y little avengers have a sweet, gentlemanly side!
