Author's Note: Yo. I'm posting... AGAIN!

Damn the fuzzy plot balls...

I'm sorry if I'm rushing things here, but this freaking idea just attacked me in the middle of the night and I couldn't sleep... -.-

Anywhos...enjoy!! XD


Come on everybody stand up
Agero kyou ichiban no jikan da
Me ni mo tomoran no speed wo handa
Dare mo nobinattori ko kanba yeah

Come on everybody hands up
Mata ashita no heroes wa comeback
Tsuujou kazoe hibi wo countdown
Let's go, 3-2-1 make some noise!!


The days seemed to pass by agonizingly slow, and as days sluggishly turned to weeks, Sakura began to feel the weight of the first task on her shoulders.

She knew nuts on how to fight with a wand, much less attack without blowing her cover. The thing she was supposed to be facing a few days from now was supposedly something unusual and very rare to find. It really didn't take Shikamaru to figure that out, since the Tournament was only held once every century or so.

'Kyaa! We're screwed!' whined Inner Sakura. Sakura banged her forehead onto the Potions essay which was due tomorrow.

"Problems, Haruno?" said a deep voice from the portrait hole. Sakura grudgingly looked up, to see the impressive form of the Hyuuga prodigy towering over her slouching form. She rubbed her eyes tiredly.

"Look, Neji. If you're not going to help me complete this pathetic essay, I suggest you leave me alone. I have an inner self, a potions essay and a freaking tournament I didn't even sign up for to deal with," said Sakura wearily. Neji chuckled softly and sat down on the couch which Sakura was sitting in front of.

"Why haven't you done your potions assignment? It was given a week ago…"

"Gee, Neji. I wonder why."

"Hey. What's wrong?" asked Neji, concern etched onto his handsome features as he peered at the kunoichi. Sakura rubbed her eyes again.

"I-I…," she sighed. "I just have a lot going on. Practically the entire school hates me and Harry. Trelawney's been screaming about my death over and over again. I don't know what the hell I'll be facing on November the 22nd. I don't know how to fight using a wand, and without blowing our cover as undercover ninjas. I'm scared that something will go wrong with this mission. Kaka-sensei still hasn't replied to our letter. We haven't had contact with the village for weeks, Neji. And then this load of crap gets dumped on me in the midst of everything."

Embarrassingly enough, Sakura realized that as she continued talking, tears were beginning to well up at the corners of her eyes, and her voice moved from loud to a wavering whisper. Sakura roughly rubbed her eyes with the back of her hands.

Neji gazed at her with unreadable pearl orbs. Sakura stared right back, trying to decipher what he was thinking.

"You shouldn't be thinking too much, Sakura," Neji said finally after a long time of silence. Sakura sighed irritably and ran a hand through her pink tresses, bringing her head back down onto the table.

"Look, Sakura. Everything's going to be okay - "

"That's what Sasuke told me the last time," Sakura snapped, lifting her head off the table. Inner Sakura gasped at the venom in her voice as she spoke those words to the Hyuuga. Apparently, Neji was just as taken aback as both outer and Inner Sakura because his wonderful eyes widened slightly. Sakura's emerald eyes immediately softened.

"O-oh. Damn it! I'm so sorry Neji! I didn't mean it!" apologized Sakura sincerely. Neji looked at her, before closing his eyes and standing up. Sakura could only watch his retreating back as he walked towards the spiraling stairs going up to the Boys' Dormitory.

Just as he reached the landing, he spoke to Sakura over his shoulder, "I understand, Sakura."

And then he disappeared up the stairs.

He does?


Harry tried to ignore the jeers and glares thrown his way as he made his way to Potions class. He had caught sight of Ron with Dean and Seamus earlier on. He hadn't been part of the jeer fest, nor did he make any signs of noticing him.

'Forget it. I'm not chasing around after him to make him grow up.'

Harry quickly climbed down the stairs towards the dungeons, almost flying down the flight of stairs. He rounded the corner and nearly ran into the other Hogwarts Champion.

"Oh. Sakura. Hey," said Harry, sounding slightly alarmed. Sakura shot him a small smile. Behind her, Naruto waved elatedly and Sasuke simply nod his head in his direction.

The group of four then marched towards the classroom, and quickly took their seats; Sasuke and Sakura next to Naruto and Harry.

Potions class seemed drag longer than normal as Snape rambled on and on about some random potion and its uses which the ninjas and Harry weren't paying attention to. Naruto was flicking small paper balls at Sasuke, miraculously going unnoticed by Snape. Sasuke was glowering at Naruto while playing HangMan on Sakura's worksheet. Harry tried not to be distracted by the paper balls zooming in and out of his vision. Sakura was so bored that she started stabbing the desk with a shuriken, which, somehow, Snape also didn't notice.

The overwhelming boredom was broken when a knock on the dungeon door echoed throughout the room.

It was Colin Creevey. He edged into the room, beaming at both Harry and Sakura; Sakura suddenly would rather suffer another day and a half of pure boredom then hear what was coming next. Colin walked up to Snape's desk at the front of the room.

"Yes?" said Snape curtly.

"Please, sir, I'm supposed to take Harry Potter and Haruno Sakura upstairs."

Snape stared down his hooked nose at the small boy, whose smile faded from his eager face.

"Potter and Haruno have another hour of Potions to complete," replied Snape coldly. "They will come upstairs when this class is finished."

Colin went pink, and Sakura suddenly had the urge to pummel Snape to the ground.

"Sir – sir, Mr Bagman wants them," he said nervously. "All the champions have got to go, I think they want photographs…"

And then again, Sakura would have given anything to stop Colin saying those few words. She glanced at Harry, who looked like he was thinking the same thing, face slightly pink.

"Very well, very well," Snape snapped. "Potter, Haruno, leave your things here, I want you back down here later to test your antidote."

Antidote? What antidote?

"Please, sir – they've got to take their things with them," squeaked Colin. "All the champions - "

"Very well!" said Snape, incensed. "Potter, Haruno! Take your bags and get out of my sight!"

Sasuke gave Sakura a reassuring pat on the thigh as she stood up. Both she and Harry swung their bags over their shoulders and headed for the door.

"It's amazing, isn't it, Harry, Sakura?" said Colin, starting to speak the moment Harry had closed the dungeon door behind them. "Isn't it though? You both being champions?"

"Yeah, really amazing," said Harry heavily, and he exchanged looks with Sakura. She sighed and narrowed her eyes as she stared straight ahead.

This was not going to be pretty.


"Mr Potter, your wand, if you please…?" said Mr Ollivander. Harry got to his feet and walked past Krum to Mr Ollivander. He handed over his wand.

"Aaaaah, yes," he said, pales eyes suddenly gleaming. "Yes, yes, yes. How well I remember…"

"Eleven inches… holly… a single feather from the tail of a phoenix…"

He spent quite some time examining his wand from the previous two, but eventually made a fountain of wine shoot out of it, and handed it back to Harry, announcing that it was still in perfect condition.

"Miss Haruno…?"


Naruto sighed contently when his back hit the soft mattress of his four-poster. He rolled over to his stomach and looked at Neji, who was brushing his hair, again.

"Ne, Neji, where's Sasuke-teme?" questioned the blonde kitsune. Neji shrugged.

Right at that moment, the dormitory door opened, to reveal a collected-looking Sasuke.

When he spoke, however, anxiety leaked from his voice. Neji and Naruto couldn't really blame him, though.

"The first task is tomorrow."


"Okay. Okay. I'm cool. Damn it. I can do this. Hell yeah. Totally can do this," chanted the pink-haired medic-nin anxiously, pacing back and forth in the tent. Viktor Krum and Fleur Delacour were on the other side of the tent, while Harry was nowhere to be seen.

The flap of the tent whipped open and emerged a panting Harry.

"Harry - !" exclaimed Sakura, running over to his side.

"D-dragons! The first task is dragons!" rasped Harry, bending over. He said it in a way that only Sakura could hear.

"Dragons? Well, that's a piece of cake - " began Sakura, before Inner Sakura interrupted her.

'Ignoring the fact that you can't use your ninja abilities…?'

Oh. Crap. She forgot about that.

"D-dragons?! Oh, shit! Ugh! Come here, Harry!"

Sakura's hands glowed green, and she placed it over Harry's erratically beating heart. The effect was almost instantaneous; Harry suddenly felt his energy replenished, and his breathing rate back to a healthy pace.

"Sakura-chan!" someone called out from the other side of the wall of the tent. "Sakura-chan!"

Sakura raised an eyebrow.

"Naruto? What're you doing here?" Sakura whispered into the wall.

"I don't know. To get my butt kicked by the dragons, I guess," said Naruto nonchalantly. There was a low growl and Naruto quickly launched into his speech. "I came here to say good luck 'cause really those dragons are huge I mean they could possibly cook my ramen in under a minu – OW! Dang it, bastard; that hurt!!"

By the tone of his voice, Sakura did not want to find out where he was hit.

"Whatever. Sakura?" said another voice; a deeper one.

"Sasuke?"

"Good luck."

Tears sprang to her eyes. Her fingers brushed against an opening in the tent wall, and without hesitation, ripped it open and lunged herself at her team mates, embracing them in a group hug.

"Thank you," she whispered into the hug. Naruto grinned broadly and hugged her back. Sasuke awkwardly patted her back.

When she finally released them, Harry called for Sakura from inside the tent.

"Sakura! Bagman's here!" he whispered urgently. Sakura looked back at her team mates.

"I guess we should get going. Kick some dragon ass, Sakura-chan," said Naruto, winking before running off.

It was only Sasuke and Sakura left. Alone.

"So... Yeah… Uh… I-I need to go," stuttered Sakura, making wild hand motions towards the tent. The close proximity between them was freaking her out. And Sasuke smelling damn good didn't help.

"Sakura!" called Harry again.

"See you later, Sasuke," Sakura said, turning around.

"Sakura."

"Huh?"

That look on Sasuke's face was beginning to disturb her.

"Stay safe, okay?"

And then he leaned down, and kissed her cheek.

'Oh… my god…'

Sasuke.

Kissed.

Me.

On.

The.

Cheek.

Me.

Sasuke.

A kiss.

On the cheek.

A kiss.

By Uchiha Sasuke.

A kiss on the cheek by Uchiha Sasuke.

Right then, as Sakura stared at the trail of leaves in Sasuke's wake, stunned, she knew, that nothing was impossible.

Everything felt right. Felt perfect.

Everything's going to be okay, just like Neji said.

-

Watch out.

Haruno Sakura's out to kick some dragon butt.


Author's Note: Once again... I apologise for the lack of plot and fluff and crap...

I found the ...er... last scene the most interesting scene I've done in this chapter... Duh...

Well... review if you wanna. :)

Till next chapter!