A/N: This chapter has been edited! It is readable and understandable now!
Thank you for the reviews. Appreciate the effort.

Disclaimer: do not own Naruto.

That night Tenten couldn't sleep. She kept replaying the scene over and over and over again in her mind. The other's didn't know that happened and they never will, she didn't want them to make a huge fuss over it, plus she knew that Ino might sort of like Neji.

She was confused, "why the hell did he kiss me?" She frowned, "and what was rolling the dice all about?"

She rolled to the other side to face the wall, the stale, dull, dirty wall, "and I thought I liked Pein…" She clenched her fist and gritted her teeth, "and then Neji has to come making my life even harder. Dilemma, dilemma."

She looked around the room. Hinata had fallen asleep while drawing for the art exhibition, Ino had fallen asleep while making the final plans for the Homecoming dance, Sakura had fallen asleep while finishing up her trig revision and Temari, well she always falls asleep in the living room watching movies.

Tenten smiled at herself, "sometimes," she thought, "it's great to have friends who are always there for you."

That night, Tenten fell asleep and had a dream pertaining a round forest clearing, waist- high wheat fields and the two of them running around it.

"Hyuga Neji," she muttered in her sleep.

"SASUKE- KUN!" A crowd of girls cheered, "SAI- KUN! NEJI- KUN! SHINO- KUN! PLEASE TAKE ME TO THE HOMECOMING DANCE!"

The four boys shuddered at the huge crowd of girls charging for them, "we seriously need body guards."

Another limousine pulled up in front of the school, Shikamaru stepped out.

"THERE'S SHIKAMARU- KUN!" One of the girls from the chess club shouted.

All the girls in the top class from every level charged towards the wealthy genius, "SHIKAMARU- KUN, PLEASE TAKE ME TO THE HOMECOMING DANCE!"

"They came to school so early just to wait for me?" Shikamaru muttered, "what a drag, I hate fangirls."

Their next instinct: Run.

Soon, Shikamaru caught up with the four brothers, they seem pretty surprised that Nara Shikamaru was running.

"There's nothing more scary than a stampede of fangirls," Neji yelled.

Sasuke looked back at the crazy mob of girls chasing after them, "SASUKE- KUN! SAI- KUN! NEJI- KUN! SHINO- KUN! SHIKAMARU- KUN!"

"How do you even ask a girl out to one of these dances?" Sasuke asked.

They ran around the corner into the teacher's carpack and before them was Anko, sitting peaceful on one of the benches, eating her fourth stick of Dangos.

"Save us," Shino begged her, "those crazy girls…"

Anko got up and walked towards the direction Shino pointed to. A group of fangirls turned around the corner and stopped dead on their tracks when they saw Anko.

"Run!" one the girls in the front said, "Mitarashi Anko is here, she might murder us!"

Anko snickered, "yeah run, who knows what I might do to those perfect little faces of yours."

The whole group ran off.

Well that was easy.

But few remained.

"Hey, who do you think you are?"

Anko turned around to find one red headed pointing at her, "well let me guess, I was sure I'm Mitarashi Anko, am I not?"

"Hey Karin leave them alone," Ino came around the corner, "we saw so many girls running away, so we decided to check it out. So it was you, eh Anko?"

Temari took a step back went she saw that amongst the girls that remain was Shiho.

"So she's a hardcore Shikamaru fangirl," she thought, "that should explain her behavior."

When Tenten saw Neji, she cringed and felt all disgusted, "I can't believe I am a… a… fangirl!"

"So you're playing tough now, Pig?" Karin smirked, "well have you got a date for the homecoming dance?"

Ino felt like sinking into the ground, "I bet there is a long line of guys begging to bring Karin to the dance even if she got rejected by the four brothers," Ino thought, "and now that I think of it… I have no one."

"I… I…" Ino stammered, "I…"

"Hey Karin," Sai said calmly, everyone looked at him, "she does, if she'd let me bring her."

Karin stumbled back, "what? Sa… Sai- Kun, you're bringing this Pig to the dance?"

Sai smiled, "pigs are cute."

Both Karin and Ino fainted. No one caught Karin and she fell face flat on the ground. Whereas, Ino had her friends there to catch her when she fell.

"I seriously don't understand what's the big deal," Sakura said, helping Ino up, "they're just guys."

Ino looked as if she was drunk, Sakura and Tenten held her by the arms and tried to drag her to the school nurse, Hinata and Temari followed.

"Oh… my… fucking shit," Ino murmured, "Sai asked me out!"

She giggled as she watched Sai smile and wave goodbye to her. She blushed.

"Oh my god," Ino squealed, "he's so cute!"

"See you Ino," Sai waved at her.

"OH MY GOD," they heard Ino scream, "SAI'S SO CUTE!"

Sai looked at Sasuke and smiled, "and that's how you ask a girl out. You know the dance is tomorrow, you guys should at least try to get a date."

Anko looked at them, "do you guys even need to try? You can just pick anyone from the lot."

"It's not that easy, I'm not like Sai, who doesn't mind a crazy fan girl screaming into his ear," Sasuke said, "I want a quiet one, who couldn't care less about how I look, but still acknowledge my existence."

Karin got up.

"I'm not picking just any girl from the lot," Sai said, "I'm picking one I actually like."

Karin fainted, again.

They started walking back to class, all six of them.

Then Shikamaru realized that Shiho was still there, he took this chance to show that he wasn't going to go to the dance with her even if it was the end of the world.

"Hey guys," Shikamaru said, "I'm going to the dance with Temari."

They all stopped, "so it's true?" Neji asked, "that the two of you are going out?"

There was the rustle of dried leaves and Shiho was gone.

"No," Shikamaru said, "I was just joking."

There was a knock on the door.

Kakashi stood up from his desk and walked over to it, "Shikamaru, what are you doing here?"

Shikamaru sighed, "can I go back to your class?"

Kakashi thought for a while, "why? Could it be? You miss someone?"

Shikamaru's eyebrows twitched, "what are you talking about… I see her everyday after school… how could I miss Temari?"

Kakashi grinned evily, "ah so you do, I didn't even say that I was referring to Temari… you said it yourself, looks like our little genius made a mistake…"

"No," Shikamaru said, "I wanted to change classes cause there's this girls that's been following me around and she kind of threatened Temari."

"Threatened?" Kakashi asked, "what kind of threat?"

Shikamaru looked at Kakashi with a hint of seriousness in his eyes, "a death threat."

"Do you really want to die?" Shiho barged into the classroom with a Katana in her hands, "do you really want to be killed, by me?"

She charged towards Temari with the Katana straight out aiming for her. Temari got up from her seat and back up to the wall.

"What the fuck?" She muttered, "you're insane."

The Katana was aimed for her waist, but Temari shifted to the side. Shiho pulled back and aimed for her again. Temari kept moving and Shiho kept missing.

Kiba and Lee backed away. Hinata, Ino and Tenten were shouting for Shiho to stop. Sakura had ran out of the classroom to get a teacher.

Although the Katana was made out off bamboo slats, it was strong enough to internally injure anyone if not careful.

Shiho had Temari cornered at the front of the classroom, "sayonara, kon ama (good bye you bitch)!"

"Kichigai (you're crazy)!" Temari said.

"Die," Shiho pulled back the Katana and aimed it straight for Temari.

Temari closed her eyes and hoped that it was all just a horrible dream.

"Clack!"

It was the sound of a fallen bamboo stick.

Temari opened her eyes to find Shiho surrounded by Gaara and Kankuro. She was unconscious, as Gaara had his middle and index finger against her throat and Kakanku had his middle and index finger on Shiho's upper arm.

"Don't mess," Gaara whispered into Shiho's ears, "with our sister."

Temari's eyes widened, "sister? What is he talking about?" She thought.

"We'll bring her to the councillor," Kankuro said dragging Shiho's lifeless body on the floor, "mean while, be careful, onii- chan (elder sister) ."

She watched as Gaara and Kankuro effortlessly pulled Shiho away. Partially recovering from the shock of what Shiho did and from the shock of what Gaara and Kankuro said.

Sakura must have got Kakashi, as she heard him greet Gaara and Kankuro along the hallway and thank them for their evasiveness.

Sakura rushed into the class and the rest of the girls came to her.

"What happened?" Hinata asked, "why did that girl attack you all of a sudden?"

She looked at the door way and there stood Shikamaru, disgusted with himself, "maybe saying that I was going with Temari wasn't such a good idea after all. What kind of genius am I?"

"What did you tell her?" Temari walked towards him, "what did you say that made her so fucking angry?"

"I said that I was going to the dance with you," Shikamaru said, "I know I was a bad idea."

"A bad idea?" Temari repeated, "what were you thinking? You know that she hates me, but you still had to agitate her?"

"What are you guys talking about?" Sakura asked.

"It's nothing," Temari said.

There was a moment of silence.

"Hey Shikamaru," Temari said, he looked at her, "I think we shouldn't be friends."

"Hey Temari," Shikamaru tried to stop whatever thought that was running through her mind, "I can-"

"Enough Shikamaru," Temari said monotonously, "I am tired from trying to hide from that girl. I want to sleep at night with the peace of mind that no one would try to kill me in my sleep. So I guess it is better for us to keep our distance until that she devil is satisfied."

"And when will that be?" Shikamaru asked.

Temari opened her mouth to answer but she was interrupted by the four brothers and Anko.

"What happened here?" Neji asked, "I saw a girl being pulled away by Kakashi sen- sei."

He noticed Shikamaru, "hey talking to your date?" He grinned.

Shikamaru smiled at him, "I was just leaving."

Temari walked back to her seat and placed her head on the table.

"Did I say something wrong?" Neji asked.

"Damn right you did," Tenten punched his arm, "idiot."

Sakura remembered those thick glasses and those two pig tails, "oh my god."

She turned to Sasuke, he seemed to get what she had meant. She watched him mouth the words, 'stalker'.

"Urghhh!" Naruto stomped into the class, "NOO!"

He went to Temari's table and shook it, "how could you not be friends with Shikamaru anymore?"

"Calm down Naruto," Kiba said, "sorry Temari, he's just going crazy about the fanfic he read just now."

Temari shook her head, "no, but they were true."

"I'm sorry principal Tsunade," Caroline apologized for the last time, "I didn't known how she could have gotten in and stole the Katana. The lock on the door is automated, it locks itself immediately went to door meets the door frame, you have to enter a code to go in, I am the only student who knows the code."

"Then how could she have gotten in?" Tsunade asked, "she couldn't have magically appeared inside."

Caroline thought about it for a while, "I don't know."

Kakashi entered the office, "she's in the sick bay, I have just scheduled for a councillor to meet her every Monday, Wednesday and Friday after school."

Tsunade nodded, "Kakashi, you auditioned this girl for the ingenuity class?"

Kakashi nodded.

"What does she do?" Tsunade asked, "what is she good at?"

Kakashi thought for a while, trying to remember what that girl said, "oh yes, code breaking."

Asuma came into the office, "yes did you call for me Principal?"

Tsunade beckoned for Asuma to sit down, "one of the students in your form class has attempted murder on another student, she goes by the name of Shiho, do you know her?"

Asuma thought for a while, "yes, very vividly, she keeps harassing my star student, Nara Shikamaru. He seems to be bothered by it."

Tsunade nodded, "go on."

"And she is very good at her mathematics," Asuma added, "oh yes, and her English teacher did remark that she had incredible writing skills, she can conjure up brilliant stories in less than a minute."

Temari stood in front of Naruto, "was it the same person you told us about the other time?"

Naruto nodded, "yes it is her."

Sakura and Sasuke came up to them.

"We are positively sure that she is the girl the one that hired Matsuri to do all her dirty jobs," Sakura said, "Sasuke and I caught her red handed."

"TEMARI!" Kakashi called from the doorway, "the Principal wants to see you."

Temari sighed and went to the Principal's office with Kakashi.

"Come in," Tsunade said.

Kakashi and Temari entered the Principal's office. There was Asuma sen- sei, Caroline the captain of the fencing team and Principal Tsunade.

"Sit down Temari," Tsunade said, "do you know why I called you here?"

Temari nodded.

"Ok then," Tsunade laid back on her chair, "we can skip that, so tell me, do you know why Shiho tried to murder you with a Katana?"

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in."

Shikamaru entered, he saw Temari but he tried not to react too much, "yes Principal Tsunade, you called for me?"

"Good timing Shikamaru," Tsunade gestured for him to sit down next to Temari, "I was just asking Temari if she knew the reason behind Shiho's behavior," she looked at Temari, "do you?"

"I guess she didn't like the fact that I was hanging around Shikamaru a little too much," Temari muttered.

"And what about you?" Tsunade asked Shikamaru, "what do you think?"

Shikamaru looked at Temari before answering, "I think she's jealous, Principal."

Temari looked at Shikamaru.

"I think that she was jealous cause Temari is the only female friend I hang out with," Shikamaru said, "she's jealous became she thinks that we're dating."

Tsunade nodded, "ok, what makes her think that you two are going out?"

"Because we spend most of the after school hours together," Shikamaru muttered.

"And," Temari added, "we have a pet."

"And you don't expect people to think you guys are going out?" Tsunade scoffed, "if I were them I would think the same way, aren't you guys a little too comfortable with each other?"

They were quiet.

"But their friends Principal," Kakashi said, "friends are supposed to be comfortable with each other."

Tsunade sighed, "if that's how every fangirl would react to some girl hanging with their idol, then I have no choice."

She took a mic out from her drawer and switched on a button, "attention all students," she said through the PA system.

At that moment, each and every student in the school stopped what they were doing. They knew it was something important, if it wasn't, the Principal would have sent one of the teachers to do the job for her.

"This is you Principal," she said, "I would like the following students to report to the principal's office immediately. From the freshman level: Uchiha Sasuke, Sai, Hyuga Neji, Aburame Shino. From the Senoir level: Pein, Itachi, Kisame, Zetsu, Tobi, Kakuzu, Hidan, Deidara and Sasori. Please report immediately."

When Tsunade switched off the button, she took a sip of sake and waited for the students to come.

"What do you plan to do Principal?" Asuma asked.

"You're calling all the boys holding a high status in the school," Kakashi said, "I'm I right?"

Tsunade nodded. Sasuke, Sai, Neji and Shino entered. After a while Pein, Itachi, Kisame, Zetsu, Tobi, Kakuzu, Hidan, Deidara and Sasori came in.

"You called for us?" Pein said when the Senoirs entered.

"Yes," Tsunade said, "I want to impose a new rule for all the male students in this room. Due to unexpected events, I have decided to forbid any of you students to be involved in a romantic relationship until you have graduated, understand?"

"What?" Pein muttered, "we can't be involved in a romantic relationship until we graduate?"

"Yes Pein," Tsunade said, "I know you're in overly good terms with Konan, I've also heard about your private life, but I have decided that this is the best thing to do at the moment. So Pein you have to break off from Konan, so does Itachi, Zetsu, Tobi, Deidara and Sasori, you all have to break up with them."

"That's not fair, un" Deidara argued, "what if I say no, un?"

Tsunade stood up, "first suspension, second I'll inform your parents and my last and final resort I'll have to expel you."

She turned to the four brothers, "since you guys are not romantically involved, you might as well leave."

"So what about the homecoming dance?" Itachi asked, "I've already promised Yui that I'd bring her."

"And after the dance, there will be no more you and Yui," Tsunade said.

"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND," Itachi shouted, "YUI, SHE'S TERMINALLY ILL AND SHE… SHE MIGHT… DIE SOON."

"You can still be her friend-" Tsunade said.

"NO," Itachi punched his fist on Tsunade's table, "YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT IT MEANS TO LOSE SOMEONE YOU LOVE, YOU NEVER LOST ANYONE, YOU'RE JUST STUCK HERE DRINK YOUR FREAKING SAKE AND MAKING UP STUPID RULES FOR US TO FOLLOW, I DON'T GIVE A DAMN TO ANY OF YOU SHIT, I WOULD NEVER-"

"Uchiha Itachi," Tsunade cut him off, "get out of here."

Pein eyed Tsunade with his rippling red eyes, "lets go."

The whole of the Akatsuki left the room, leaving the four brothers, Shikamaru and Temari behind.

Once their footsteps could no longer be heard, Tsunade heaved a sigh of relief, "it could have gotten worse. I might consider expelling some of them."

"Why?" Sai asked, "they didn't do anything wrong."

"They did," Tsunade said, "I suspect Pein, Konan and Itachi for under aged sex, the whole group for the procession of illegal drugs and… and…"

"And?" Shikamaru asked.

"Attempt at murder."

"We have arranged for your parents to send body guards for you, just in case Shiho come threatening or harming you again."

Just like she said, when Shikamaru came back to his class, there at his desk waited two big, strong men in a black suit and a tie. Shino seemed freaked out by this.

When he took his seat next to Shino, he immediately sank his head into his arms to prevent Shino from asking any questions pertaining the two thugs behind them.

When Temari and the four brothers went back to their class, everyone started asking them about what the principal wanted to see them for.

"Hey Temari," Sakura asked, "what did the principal want?"

"Me. Nara. Stay away. Four Brothers. Akatsuki. No girlfriends. Sakura. Shut. Up," Temari said.

Sakura seemed a little hurt by Temari's comment. She pouted and her eyes watered. Temari noticed this and groaned.

"What?" She snapped.

"I just wanted to tell you that the Codebreaker is the Stalker and is also Shiho," Sakura whimpered, "and I wanted to ask if you were going to the dance tomorrow."

Temari looked at Sakura as if she was the stupidest thing, "do I look like I'd go to a dance? Do I look like a cheerful, 'omg I love dances' kind of girl?"

"No…" Sakura replied slowly, "you don't need to be so harsh on me."

Temari ran her fingers through her hair and sighed, "I'm sorry, okay. I didn't mean for my anger to go that far. It's just that… I don't know what I did to deserve misery, I mean, now it all seems like my fault that the whole Akatsuki are sent out of the office weeping and mourning their fate. In a way, I kind of hate myself."

Sakura laid back on her seat and laughed, "well you're not the only one. When we finally found out the one person who had been casually ruining our lives for a reason I don't know," she paused, "I don't even know what are we going to do with the knowledge. It's like all our hardwork we placed into find this one person is all thrown out the window. But you know what Temari? One door closes and another one opens."

Temari looked up at Sakura, "what do you mean?"

"I'm going to the dance tomorrow," Sakura said with much confidence, "the biggest nerd you'll ever know is going to the dance tomorrow with a partner or not, cause she knows that that is the one place she would not find the person who casually ruined their lives, cause she is stuck in that sick hospital room downtown while, Haruno Sakura is having fun. That's why I'm must go tomorrow."

Temari laughed, "you and your psycho theories."

"Well all thanks to my 'pyscho theories' I got the highest for the recent Biology test," Sakura gleamed, "so are you still going?"

Temari thought for a while, "well it depends, but if you follow me to the toilet, I will."

"Random."

They didn't talk to each other, it was too plainly awkward. Tenten was desperately trying to think of a topic, a sensible topic of discussion, so she would converse well with Neji. Apparently, the two of them had really nothing much in common.

"Are you going to the dance tomorrow?" Neji asked.

Tenten quietly squealed inside, "is he going to ask me out? Is he? Is he?" She silently thought.

"Depends," Tenten muttered, "no one has asked me out yet."

"I wonder why," Neji added sarcastically.

She smacked his arm, "what did you say?"

Neji rubbed his arm, "black looks good on you."

Tenten snorted, "you've never seen me in black before, how'd you know?"

"Imagination," Neji pointed to his head, "something that you, unfortunately, do not possess."

"Then you could have imagined kissing me instead of actually doing it," Tenten said, "I was traumatized for the whole night."

"I have my personal reasons," Neji blushing.

"And what might that be?"

"It's personal, I can't tell."

"Whatever," Tenten went back to doing her trig homework.

She felt Neji's gaze still on her, a chill went down her spine. She decided to ignore it, but she couldn't, she was staring too hard. She tried to sink herself deeper into the homework.

"Ok, Cosine of an angle is Adjacent side over the…" she slowly inched her headed to his side, "what the hell?" She snapped, "is there like something you want to ask me?"

Cause frankly speaking, she was rather disappointed that he didn't ask her to the dance, she could almost imagine Karin's face.

"Errr…" Neji trailed off.

He heard Sai laughing away with his little itsy bitsy date. It was like Sai was mocking him in the most unconventional way, pathetic.

"Dickhead," he muttered.

"What?" Tenten said, "what did you just say?"

Neji sighed, "oh for heaven's sake, will you go to the dance with me?"

Sai shrugged and faced Sasuke's direction, "pay up," he mouthed, "he asked a girl out to the dance."

Sasuke walked over to Sai's desk and fished out a bill for Sai, "here."

Sai smiled and took the note from Sasuke, "good to do business with you."

But before Sai could keep the note, Sasuke held out his hand.

Sai gave him the what- the- hell expression.

"You forgot the second part of the bet?" Sasuke asked, "she agreed, I won, we're even."

"Fuck."

Temari left the toilet leaving Sakura inside because Sakura had some 'business' to do.

"Really?" Temari shouted in the empty toilet, "you sure?"

"Yup," Sakura said, "just tell Kakashi sen- sei that I'm here, in a way in which he'll understand, but don't plainly say what I'm doing."

Temari scoffed, "I'm not an idiot Sakura, I know."

Now, Sakura regretted insisting that Temari left without her, the toilet was quiet and dim and spooky.

Just then someone entered, there was a loud thud of the door knocking on to the ceramic wall and heavy footsteps thumping towards what sounded like the sinks.

"I am so pissed," an irritated voice said, "I mean, I was suppose to be the one Sai- kun asked out to the dance."

"But I thought you liked Sasuke- Kun more?" another voice added, "calm down."

There was deep, heavy breathing, "I totally need to touch up my make- up. My blusher is running off."

It was followed by several ransacking through a make- up pouch.

"I didn't bring mine," the other voice said, "why don't I run back to class and grab yours for you?"

"Hurry," the voice was now sobbing, "I don't want Panda eyes."

Sakura flushed the toilet and unlocked the door. She had walked through what she would do when she walked out of the toilet stall. Wash her hands, dry them up and get out of here.

"Wash. Dry. Run," she repeated before stepping out.

She recognized that blaring red hair in front of the mirror and the large, black eyes staring at her from the reflection.

"Wash. Dry. Run. Sakura," she mentally told herself.

Karin was still looking at her.

Sakura walked towards the sink, but before she could even reach it, Karin turned around and stopped her.

"I remember you," Karin said, "yeah, I do, I saw you before."

"Er…," Sakura really didn't know what to say to someone Ino totally despised, "hi?"

"Please don't hit me cause I'm Ino's friend," Sakura quietly prayed in her heart, "please don't hit me."

"You're that girl from the video," Karin said.

Sakura's hands dropped to her sides, "what?"

"The one that…" Karin's face turned into a sheer shade of red, "kissed my Sasuke."

Sakura really wanted to laugh out loud.

Really.

Now she clearly understood why Ino felt so much remorse for her.

"It was mouth to mouth," she decided to go against her cravings, "he would never be your Sasuke if I hadn't helped him."

She didn't mean to sound like she was bragging, or like she was claiming all credit to Sasuke's survival.

Karin smirked, "he wasn't even on the brink of death dearie, just a shortage of air."

Now she was furious.

"Sakura's taking awfully long," Kakashi said looking at his watch, "Sasuke, go check up on her."

Sasuke sat up from his sleeping position, "what? I'm a guy."

"All the more you should go," Kakashi said, "she'll feel insecure and hurry up."

"But why me?" Sasuke argued.

"Cause you're the nearest to the door."

He knocked the door, he'd be lucky if there wasn't a stampede of girls inside, preparing to rush up upon him when the door swings open.

"Hello? Sakura?" He called.

Nobody answered.

"Hello Sa-" he was cut off by an excessively loud yelling that pierced his ears.

"JUST A SHORTAGE OF AIR?" He could recognize Sakura's voice, "JUST A SHORTAGE OF AIR? HEY MISSY, DO YOU KNOW WHAT A SHORTAGE OF AIR CAN DO TO YOU IF YOU'RE LEFT THERE FOR TOO LONG? IT CAN KILL YOU! FUCKING, LITERALLY KILL YOU, BITCH. THANK GOD, HE SURVIVED OKAY? CAUSE WITH MY LACK OF EXPERIENCE I COULDN'T HAVE HELPED ALOT WITH THE AIR FLOW, AND THANK GOD HE MADE IT. SASUKE MIGHT HAVE DIED IF IT WERE YOU ON THE SCENE. I DON'T FEEL HONOURED THAT I TOUCHED SASUKE'S DAMN FUCKING LIPS WITH MINE, I FEEL HONOURED THAT I SAVED HIS LIFE AND THAT HE'LL LIVE HIS LONG AND HAPPY LIFE BECAUSE I TRIED. PLEASE DO NOT SAY A SHORTAGE OF AIR IS NOTHING, SASUKE COULD HAVE DIED."

"I don't really care about whatever shit you just told me," Sasuke heard Karin mutter, "anyone who touched Sasuke is my enemy and all my enemies deserved to be punished."

There was a 'plak' sound, the sound that sounded like two chunks of meat colliding with one another, it sounded like slapping.

Then there was a pause, which was followed by quick footsteps, coming nearer and nearer and…

The squeak of the hinges, the cutting of air, the sniffles of a cry, the flash of movement and the warmth of a girl.

"Oh my," Sakura looked up at the person she accidentally knocked into, "Sasuke?" Her mind raced, "wh… what… are you doing here?"

"Kakashi sen- sei told me to come check up on you," he said, "are… are you crying?"

Sakura quickly wiped off her tears and sniff the liquid dripping from her nose, "no, I'm not. I… I just her a flu, that's all," she was still wiping her tears away, disrupting the straight tear tracks on her face, "let… lets get back to class, before Kar-, before Kakashi scolds us for being late."

He looked at her, not with sympathy but with the look of uncertainty scribbled all over it, "what?"

She tried to laugh, tried to.

"Strange, isn't it?" She was trying to lead him away from the toilet, she didn't want any more slapping and bitching to take place, "he's always late and he's probably going lecture us for the same reason."

Sasuke stopped, Sakura followed him. They heard a clacking sound coming for the toilet, Karin was coming out.

"Sasuke," Sakura said with much urgency, "we should go, Kakashi might sc-"

He grabbed her by the wrist before she could leave, she turned to look at him and their eyes were in complete parallelism "why are you so afraid of her?"

She gasped. It had suddenly occurred to her that he might have heard the conversation between Karin and herself. But she wondered how long could he have been standing, outside the toilet door, listening to their bitching and arguing.

"I…" she opened her mouth to reply, hopefully she could construct a completely rational reason behind everything, "I…"

"SASUKE- KUN!" Karin's voice rang in the air, she ran over to him with her arms wide open, "WHAT A-," she realized Sakura was there, "hey there Sakura!" She smiled.

Two faced freak.

"Tell your friend Ino that she did a really good job with the decorations," Karin smiled, "I mean, when we saw the lay out, it was marvelous, but when it was actually set up, I couldn't take my eyes off it, she's really talented," she sighed, "too bad she is taken, it would be great for someone equally great to ask her out, but… alas, all my model club girls are all taken up…"

Sakura raised an eyebrow, "what the hell is she trying to say? What has Ino's availability got to do with her? And how in the world is Ino's greatness linked to the model club girls?" Sakura pondered.

"…well, except for me," Karin said, seductively eyeing Sasuke.

Sasuke kept a straight face and nodded, "in that case… would you like to go to the dance with me?"

Karin's eyes widened, her face grew into an unimaginable shade, it almost blended with her hair, "YES, YES, YES, OH FUCKING YES! OH, TAKE ME AWAY GOD, SWEEP ME OFF ME FEET AND TAKE ME AWAY, I THINK I'M IN HEAVEN!"

Ino: Are you free after school?

Temari: Er… yes, why?

Ino: Great, we're gonna go on a SHOPPING SPREE!

Temari passed the note to Tenten. She read it and scribbled her reply.

Tenten: For?

Ino wanted to smack her face and slap it all red, seriously, is Tenten a guy disguised as a girl?

Ino: Prom! You faggot!

Tenten: Freak, we have to buy a dress? I thought this was, like a free and easy kind of thing.

Temari: -_- I don't know what to say…

Ino: Tell Sakura this. Quick.

Temari: Are you freaking blind? You can see she's not at her desk now!

Ino: Then tell Hinata.

Temari passed the message to Hinata.

Hinata: But I have no one to go with.

Temari: Me too, Ino used force.

Hinata: LOL. Ok, I'll tag along.

Sasuke laughed.

A genuine laugh.

Sakura had never heard it before, she never expected someone like Uchiha Sasuke to have such a laugh. It rang in her ears, echoing itself, replaying over and over again.

Then again, Uchiha Sasuke had changed. He was friendlier and kinder towards the people he was comfortable with. He wasn't a loner like before and he actually talks to people other than his brothers. But yet, even though he had changed, the grace of the air around him stayed the same. He was serious and calm, he thought before he leapt, he remained as cool and slick as ever. In a way, Uchiha Sasuke was different in a similar kind of way.

"I wasn't talking to you," Sasuke said calmly, carefully enough not to seriously puncture the height of Karin's excitement, "I was talking to Sakura."

He looked down at her and grinned, "like to go to the dance with me?"

She smiled at him, he wasn't all that bad like she thought he was before.

Yes, Uchiha Sasuke had changed, in a different yet similar kind of way.

"Temari," Genma Sen-sei called, "come over."

They were all supposed to research on a new topic they were going to film about, The Greatest Thing Ever. Whoa, big shocker there isn't it? After The Worst Thing Ever, who'd ever expect the following topic to be The Greatest Thing Ever?

"Yeah," Temari asked praying it wasn't about the project.

"It's about the project," Genma said flipping through a few papers, "you handed yours in late. Very late."

Temari cursed herself, "I'm sorry, it won't happen again."

Normally it would, but that was just to keep the teacher entertained.

Genma nodded, "ok then, I watched it and yours is very unlike the others."

"How so?"

"Well," Genma flexed his fingers, "you're writing about a living thing you hate. Normally, my students write about non- living things, like make- up, milk, phobias blah blah blah, yours on the other hand it about a human."

"And your concern?"

"Wouldn't it hurt the person's feelings," Genma asked softly, making it sound serious, "what if it were you and some-"

Temari didn't want to hear the 'what if it was you, how would you feel?' crap, "Nara doesn't mind."

"So you hate him so much that you were able to stand the immense annoyance to film this motion picture?" Genma asked.

That was a good question. She didn't know how to answer.

At the beginning, yes it was. In the middle, not really. In the end…

Hey Shikamaru, I think we shouldn't be friends.

She knew that she sounded as if she hated him to the bitter core, but truth be told, he was a great friend. One that annoyed you in a tolerable way. One that actually had the time to spare you and one that wasn't afraid to show that he cared. She wasn't saying that Sakura, Ino, Tenten and Hinata are all senseless friends. But whenever she was with them, she felt as if they were put first.

When she was with Sakura, she would never have the chance to talk about movies and filming and photography. Sakura was always jabbering about school work and academics and universities, she hardly had the time for dribble drabble.

When she was with Ino, all that Ino can talk about was clothes and boys and money and beauty and stuff that she wasn't really interested in. They would go to the cinema together and watch a pretty cool movie, but she would never really catch the essence of it.

When she was with Tenten, they wouldn't do much since they were mostly together since Tenten was born, there was nothing new to do together. But if they were together, Tenten would bring them to a place she thinks that Temari would like too. Like the arcade, or a football match, but truth is, Temari was a totally different person then what Tenten thought she was. Although they were sisters (even though she might have doubts on their blood relations) they were never quite the same.

And when she was with Hinata, she could talk all she wanted, because Hinata always had her mouth shut, but when she actually looks at Hinata, observe how she was reacting to Temari's each and every statement, she would realize that Hinata wasn't listening. She would either be staring at a cute dress in the display window or staring at this painting in the art gallery, but never did Hinata listen.

So when she was with Shikamaru, she felt like she was the one put first, as in he would let her do the stuff she wanted and enjoy even though he didn't really appreciate it. He listens to what she has to say, she didn't know it if was out of boredom or if he was afraid she might strangle him, but he listened and that was what friends do for each other. She knew that it was hard enough for him to have a friend like her, so bothersome and not to forget… troublesome. He had left a fragment of himself etched in her memory and forever and always it will never disappear. Sometimes she would think that it was kind of cool to have a genius be your friend, to have someone serious people look up to. And no matter how famous he was, or how rich he got, he would always, always, have that time of the day to go bother her. Truth be told, she kind of liked it.

At least that was what she knew.

"Yes… No… Er… maybe…I guess…" she sighed, she didn't want to admit it, "I… I… don't know."

Genma sat there, nodding and shifting his eyes everywhere, "alright, alright," he bent down and pulled open a drawer, he took out a cassette and held it out for Temari, "why don't you figure it out?"

"Figure it out?" She repeated.

"Yes," Genma passed her the cassette, "continue the project and by the end of it, tell me whether hate him to the extent that you were able to stand the immense annoyance to film this motion picture."

"Why?" she received the cassette from him, "why continue?"

"Maybe, just maybe you might be able to kill two birds with one stone."

She had tried on 15 different dresses and still counting… They were bored, they had randomly picked the simplest looking dress they could find and afford, but Ino has been at it for three hours and they don't think they can stand it any longer.

"Ino," Sakura moaned, "I think you should go with the black dress, it suits you well."

Ino frowned," I don't want to enter to school hall looking like a crow."

"Why would you look like a crow?" Tenten asked.

"Because the theme is Secret Garden and the only thing black in the garden are crows," Ino pouted, "so I'm not going as one."

They sighed and gazed at the pile of dresses Ino had rejected.

"I admire your persistence," Temari said sarcastically, "it's very inspiring."

"You mean tiring," Sakura added.

Ino rolled her eyes and when to the rack to pick up another dress, "if you want me to hurry up, why don't you guys at least try helping, instead of sitting down there complaining."

They sighed loudly and stood up, dragging their feet and their dresses along with them. They each went to different areas in the store to maximize efficiency.

"I think I like this," a voice came from a corner, "it's nice."

"Yeah," another voice said, "suits your hair, don't you think Caroline?"

Temari went round the corner and immediately recognize the blaring green in front of her, apparently, it's owner did too.

"Hey," the one she remembered to be named Aki said, "you're that girl from the toilet, I remember you," she looked around as if she was searching for something, "your boyfriend's not here?"

"Boyfriend?" she said it like it was a word totally new to her.

"That Shikamaru kid," the other girl she recognized said, "the one that-"

"Let me get this straight woman," Temari interrupted, "I am NOT his girlfriend, I will NEVER be his girlfriend, I don't have ANYTHING to do with him, so PLEASE STOP ASSOCIATING THE TWO OF US LIKE WE'RE A PACKAGE!"

The five girls started laughing. She didn't know why it was so funny but she just stood there looking like a fool.

"It's alright," Caroline said in between laughs, "couples fight a lot, not need to feel stressed out. If you wait long enough, he'll apologize, that's for sure."

"I-" she stopped, "why do I even bother."

One of the girls handed Temari a dress, "here, this suits you better."

It was a nice purple dress that was slightly gathered at one waist and had a pink ribbon tied to it. Wasn't very revealing, it was spaghetti striped and yes, it did fit her well.

"Thanks…" she was waiting for the girls name.

"Yui, Angela Yui," she said.

"Oh, I'm Shijiko Fumiko," te other girl she recognized said, "and I guess you already know she's Aki, she has a long surname, you wouldn't want to hear it."

"Oh fuck up," Aki smacked Fumiko, "it's Amaterasu Ni Aki. She's Kurosaki Milla and the other one is Tshushi Caroline."

"I'm Temari," she offered, "and my friends are here, but they're like searching for this dress for Ino. You guys better get out of here, seeing all the dresses you've picked are brilliantly stunning, she might steal them."

The other girls grinned and walked to the cashier.

"Well," Aki tuned back before leaving, "see you around Temari."

So the girls had chosen their dresses and bought their shoes. They had a manicure and bought pretty much all the make- up they could afford.

It was only around 11pm that the girls arrived home, worn and restless. There wasn't school tomorrow to allow them to prepare for homecoming.

But who knew that homecoming was going to spark off an event so life changing and maybe, life threatening, that they would never be able to go by a day without thinking about it.

"DAMN IT," Neji had cut his finger while trying to open a can of baked beans, "FUCK!"

The drops of blood trickled down his finger and dripped on to the floor. He washed off his wound to prevent any infection before attending to his mess.

Apparently, the blood had conveniently dripped on to an English worksheet he left lying there. He could always reprint it, but he stared closely at the paper and noticed something an ordinary person wouldn't.

Coincidentally, the blood drops had dripped upon a few alphabets on the worksheet.

"B… R…U…" he slowly read out the alphabets, "T… A… L… I… .T… Y…"

It ended.

"Brutality."

A/N: You got to be curious what kind of dress each one of them is going to wear, I mean, if you're not, there must be something wrong- or maybe it's just me. Oh, I don't know, understanding the way the human mind works is just too taxing for me to comprehend. But anyways, I finished chapter 11 and I'm happy. Long chapter with tons of nonsense. So… yes, nothing else…

Next Episode: Secret Garden

It's the day of the homecoming dance, happy and jolly and filled with love. But what happens when the whole thing suddenly turns into a remake of 'Prom Night'? What horrors this bring? Find out.

REVIEW! OR YOU'LL BE SORRY.