-Chapter Thirteen-

-Your Irresistible Charm-

Nara Shikamaru walked into school the Monday after his amazing evening with Ino. He had a large smile on his face, and nothing could remove it. He had never thought he could be this lucky. Sure, he'd liked Ino, but he didn't believe she would ever agree to go out with him; he'd hoped, he'd prayed, but he'd never believed.

"Hey man!" Chouji called to Shikamaru, "you must have had a good weekend." Chouji had no idea.

"It was the best weekend of my life, bar none," Shikamaru responded, turning to his locker and spinning the lock. He could tell Chouji was waiting for Shikamaru to explain, but he wanted the anticipation to build a little longer.

"You gonna tell me what happened?" Chouji asked after a minute or two. Shikamaru smiled to himself.

"Ino and I spent Friday night together," Shikamaru offered, trying to drag out his explanation for as long as possible, enjoying seeing Chouji squirm.

"You suck at sharing," Chouji finally responded, getting obviously frustrated with his friend.

"Fine, I'll tell you everything. I picked her up at midnight and we walked around her neighborhood for about an hour and a half. Then I took her home and kissed her goodnight. That's twice she's kissed me!" Shikamaru's smile increased as he relayed the information to his friend. He would never have guessed his year would turn out like this. When he had arrived at the new school, he had planned to stay in the shadows. He was glad now that he hadn't.

Ryuu Tenten sat on the front hood of Sakura's car as they gazed out at the city stretched out before them. The two often came to this lookout atop a large hill just on the outskirts of town. Tenten and Sakura would skip a class or two and come here to talk.

It was at that spot where Sakura had told Tenten about her mom and what it had felt like to go through that. Tenten had told Sakura about her uncaring, driven family and her brother's friend while over-looking the city. Its seclusion allowed for in depth, extremely personal conversations.

"And then she just left. So I'm standing there, wondering where the hell I'm supposed to go!" Tenten spoke, explaining to Sakura about her Thursday evening dinner with Neji. Tenten had been much too tired, and hung over, Friday morning to go to school. As a result, she'd been sitting on her story all weekend and was about to burst. The minute Sakura had arrived at her house Monday morning Tenten had insisted they have a girl-talk day.

"Well, she is a Hyuuga maid. She was probably told to act like a bitch to the undeserving," Sakura commented. They both chuckled to themselves.

"True. But then Neji came and he was a total gentleman the entire night. It was fantastic, and I was freaking out for nothing. I know, you were right!" Tenten could see the smile building on her friend's face at that last comment.

"I usually am," Sakura stated simply.

"Oh, so humble. How was your weekend? I heard through the grapevine that your father reamed you out."

"Would the 'grapevine' happen to have long brown hair and enjoy the color black?"

"Maybe, but you're avoiding the question. You're in awful good spirits if he did and I know you didn't rant to me to get over it. What happened?"

"My dad did ream me out. After I left Algebra the office called him and informed him of everything. And, because I walked out of class in the middle of it, and in front of a teacher, he flipped shit! I wanted to talk to you about it, but you were with Neji, so I called… Sasuke."

"You did, did you? Out of everyone else you could have called to rant at, you picked him?" Tenten goaded.

"Yes, I called him. And he invited me out to laser tag. He's a terrible cheat by the way. Then he kissed me, and I came back home, no longer pissed at my dad." Sakura stated the fact so simply Tenten had almost missed it. Almost.

"HE KISSED YOU!" Tenten exclaimed. She was so excited she jumped off the hood of the car and started dancing around like a crazy person.

"It's not that big of a deal," Sakura spoke, attempting to calm her friend down.

"Oh no, Sakura, being kissed by the boy you're crazy about is a huge deal!"

"Not really," Sakura tried again, though Tenten could tell her friend wasn't really being entirely honest. Sakura was just as excited about the kiss as Tenten was.

Inchiki Sai scanned the crowd of girls in tight t-shirts and short shorts looking for a particular blonde. He hadn't seen her in the two weeks since his party, but he refused to believe she was avoiding him. He was perfection; no one chose not to spend time with him. They clamored to spend time with him. She must have just been busy.

He had expected her to be excited to see him, especially since he had specially sought her out. He'd thought she would squeal with delight, jump up and down, smile widely, and be the embodiment of excited. He had never sought out a girl like this; they usually came to him. He was expecting a special reaction because of the extra effort he had put in.

He finally found Ino holding court amongst her friends as they stretched their muscles. Ino looked absolutely stunning in her small, tight gym outfit; Sai couldn't take his eyes off her. He set his face in his sexiest expression and began advancing towards Ino. She didn't see him until he was almost right beside her.

"Oh, hey," she stated simply, continuing to stretch. Her friends all began shifting and looking at the pair, obviously excited for their less-than-enthused friend. Sai was definitely upset about Ino's lack-luster greeting, but he couldn't express his dissatisfaction. He was courting her, attempting to get with her, he could not upset her in any way. He needed to act like she could do no wrong and was always right.

"Haven't seen you around lately," Sai offered, hoping she could explain her mysterious absence.

"Yeah sorry. I was just really busy with school and whatnot," she responded, avoiding direct eye contact. For a fraction of a second, Sai wondered if she could possibly be upset with him but decided that couldn't be it. He had been very careful not to upset her. Plus, he was too awesome; even if he had upset her, she couldn't possibly stay mad at him.

"So, it's almost winter formal time," he tried again to engage Ino in conversation.

"Oh, I know! It's all we've talking about for the past week. What will our dresses look like? What color are they? Are we doing our nails? How are we doing our hair? How are we doing our makeup? What shoes are we wearing? There have been a lot of decisions that need to be made."

"I notice you didn't say anything about who you're going with. Which is surprising because it is obviously going to be me. I'll pick you up at 8:00?"

For a moment, Ino simply stared at him, obviously rendered speechless by her good fortune. Sai smirked at the effect he obviously had on the fairer sex.

"Yeah, 8:00 works for me," she responded after a few moments. She then turned back to her friends and continued to stretch. Sai was perturbed by her dismissal, but decided he'd gotten all he needed out of this interaction. He walked away feeling satisfied; the winter formal would be the last step in his plan to get Ino.

Sarutobi Sakura walked into school three hours after the first bell had rung. She had spent the morning observing the city and catching up on the weekend's events with Tenten. It was definitely preferable to sitting through boring class after boring class attempting not to fall asleep.

She reached her locker without incident. Normally, arriving this late meant running into the principal or one of her lackeys and having to sit through an hour-long lecture about the importance of attending school on a regular basis and that if she continued with her absences she may not graduate. Sakura had head it so many times that she could recite it back to Tsunade.

So, as Sakura walked into school, she was on the lookout for Tsunade and her shrill voice. She got to her locker without incident, but as she was grabbing her books for her afternoon classes, she heard footsteps coming towards her. She stiffened, preparing for the onslaught.

"You're extra late, today," a voice sounded behind her. However, unlike the shrill tones of Tsunade's voice, this voice was deep.

"You're one to talk," Sakura responded, closing her locker door and revealing Sasuke standing there.

"All I try is to be nice and yet you're always so mean," Sasuke jested, fake hurt racing through his tone. Sakura laughed at him and began heading towards her class. Sasuke jogged slightly to catch up with her and then fell into step beside the rosette.

"I wanted to ask you," Sasuke began after a few seconds of silence, "Are you planning on going to the winter formal? I know it's probably not your usual scene, but I think it could be halfway decent if we went together."

"Not gonna happen Uchiha," Sakura stated simply before turning into the girls' bathroom to escape from him. As much as she enjoyed spending time with him, she would never go to a school dance. It was the last thing she would ever want to do, no matter who it was with.

Nara Shikamaru quickly weaved throughout the throngs of students heading out for the day. He hadn't seen Ino all day and desperately wanted to ask her about the winter formal. He would have asked her earlier, except he had only heard about it that morning. Now he was racing through the crowded school entryway, attempting to catch Ino before she got on the bus and he lost his resolve. As confident as Shikamaru was in this new relationship, he still had difficulties asking Ino out. Fear of rejection was always in the back of his mind.

"Ino!" he called once he had cleared the mass of teens and spotted the blonde sitting on a fence, engrossed in a book. She looked up from her book and a smile crossed her face.

"Hey, Shikamaru! How are you? I haven't seen you all day," she spoke, closing her book.

"I'm good. Have you heard about the winter formal? Who am I kidding? Of course, you have! You're better connected than I am. Plus you've been going to this school for years; you would know about major events like this. Anyway, wouldyouwantogowithme?" Shikamaru had spoken his little speech all in one breath, some of his words blurring and blending together as a result. Ino stared at him for a minute, obviously attempting to decipher what he had just said. After a few painful seconds, she spoke.

"I'm sorry. I didn't catch that last part. What did you ask?"

Shikamaru took a deep breath, mentally reminded himself to go slowly, and asked again.

"Would you like to go to the winter formal with me?"

Sarutobi Sakura walked in to her room Thursday afternoon, looking forward to collapsing onto her bed and surfing the web for a few hours. She'd had a very difficult week with teachers being exceptionally boring, school work being more difficult than normal, and Uchiha Sasuke continually asking her to the dance. All she wanted was to let it all slip away and loose herself in the vast Internet.

She pried open her laptop and heard the telltale sounds of her instant messenger. Knowing she'd regret it the moment she opened it, Sakura clicked the blinking icon anyway. Five separate message boxes instantly sprung open. Each one held the exact same words. They were the very same words she'd heard each day that week from a certain raven-haired male.

Will you go to the winter formal with me?

Sakura sighed in annoyance, rolled her eyes and angrily typed her response.

Why do you want to go with me so badly? The formal doesn't exactly seem like something you'd enjoy…

Sakura then closed her messenger window, opened the Internet window, and began frying her brain cells with stupid videos and idiotic memes and pictures. She'd only been aimlessly perusing the web for five minutes when her messenger pinged once more.

I enjoy spending time with you. Plus, I have decided that with this being my last year. I want to experience high school so I can adequately oppose it and make fun of it.

Sakura had to admit that made sense. She had been actively avoiding stereotypical high school activities to the best of her ability since she'd entered the ninth grade. She had mercilessly mocked every single one, but maybe she had been missing something. By not going to any, she didn't have any firsthand knowledge on them. She had simply been going off accounts of those who had been there, and Hollywood depictions of them. Perhaps actually going to some would give her more information to adequately mock, like Sasuke suggested.

Sakura took a deep breath, positioned her fingers over the keys and began typing her reply. She couldn't believe what she was about to do.

You have a point. I guess I'll go to the dance with you.

Ryuu Tenten stood at the end of the long winding driveway. The last time she had stood there, she had to force herself to walk up it. Now, she was trying to persuade herself out of storming up it. When Sakura had texted her twenty minutes ago to relay her good news, rage had almost instantly consumed her. She had fled her house and marched straight to the end of the driveway.

She had a moment of clarity when she'd arrived and took a moment to try and talk herself out of what she was about to do. However, she found no motivation to turn around, so she ascended the winding driveway and angrily rapt on the door. After angrily yelling at a maid to let her in and direct her to Neji's bedroom, she stormed down the Hyuuga manor hallways.

"Neji! Open the door! I need to talk to you!" she shouted as she banged on his door. It opened seconds later, revealing a very surprised Neji.

"Tenten? What are you doing here? Why are you shouting?"

"I'm shouting because I'm mad at you!" Neji looked down the hallway, obviously seeing if her volume was attracting a crowd.

"How about we discuss this in my room, where there are less gossipy ears to overhear," he spoke hesitantly as he placed his hand on her elbow and led her in to his immaculate room. "Now why are you mad at me?"

"I am mad because I thought there was something between us. I thought I felt it at you uncle's dinner; I thought there were feelings developing between us. I guess I was mistaken though. My bad. I'll leave you alone now." Having finished all she wanted to say, Tenten turned to leave. At that moment, she was still far too angry to feel the sorrow, depression, or heartache that would inevitably hit her.

"You weren't mistaken," Neji spoke quietly. Tenten froze in her retreat. "There is something between us; there are feelings developing and growing. Why would you assume different?"

"Because you didn't ask me out to the dance. I know that's stupid, and supremely girly, but it's how I feel. At first, I didn't care really; the dance is most likely not your scene. But Sasuke has been bugging Sakura to go all week. If Sasuke wants to go, you shouldn't have as many objections. Plus, going with me would make it extra fun. Yet, you haven't so much as hinted at it!"

A silence fell between the two. Tenten couldn't believe she'd said what she had. She was not usually the express-your-feelings type. She usually repressed everything, pushed it down as far as humanly possible.

The silence stretched on so long that Tenten was beginning to wonder if Neji was ever going to say anything. Maybe she'd been too forward, put him on the spot, and now he was trying to come up with an excuse. She was just about to save him the effort and leave when he finally spoke.

"I'm sorry I didn't ask you. I just assumed that because Sakura was so against it, you would be to. I shouldn't have assumed anything and just asked. So, with that being said, do you want to go to the winter formal with me?"

To be continued