Ino and her friends were already at the dance.

The preps were all in a cluster, whispering, giggling, pointing, and drinking whatever was present, usually fruit punch. The music was playing, and the floors and walls were shaking with the volume. Sakura and Tenten were eagerly keeping an eye out for Sasuke, and Ino was looking for anyone else cute. The rest of the preps were gossiping and/or dancing-and Ino was part of the gossiping group.

And the gossip just got juicier.

Sasuke walked in, but he wasn't alone. He was accompanied by a tall, pretty girl with long black hair and dark eyes. Ino gaped. That was-!

"Kin!!"

Kin and Sasuke paused for a picture at the entrance, just for the record, and then proceeded into the dance. Two more couples followed, each stunning Ino more than the first. Temari and Shikamaru walked in, and then came Tayuya and Kabuto. She was almost as tall as him-with the three-inch heels, of course. The two walked in like nothing was unusual about them, and Tayuya gave Ino a goofy wave. Ino felt her jaw drop, and gestured blindly to her friends. The entire group stopped dancing, whispering, or whatever they were doing, and stared.

"That's…that's…"

"Whoa."

Kin and Sasuke walked into the room, hand in hand, and walked right up to Ino. "Hey!" Kin greeted, a huge grin on her face. "So, who're you here with?"
Ino motioned dumbly to Neji, who Kin recognized as a junior. "Ooooooooo, a junior! You slut, girl!" Kin grinned at Ino and walked away, followed by Sasuke, who offered a goofy salute and a mocking smirk. Sakura found herself, staring as well-too bad her date was Lee. He was the ditziest junior ever, but he had an insane crush on her, so she went to prom with him. Tenten had scored on a sophomore named Kankuro, but the two hardly knew each other. Tayuya passed Ino and stuck her tongue out, flashing a "V-for-victory" sign at the girl and breezing right on past. Kabuto gently, but firmly tugged her away, and the two headed over to the refreshments table. Temari and Shikamaru hit the dance floor right away, despite Shikamaru's complaints, and somehow, the dance passed quickly.

OOOOOOOOOO

"Alright, people, it is midnight, so we are here to announce the Spring Fling king and queen! The nominees are: for queen, Yamanaka Ino, Kin, Tenten, and Temari. For king: Uchiha Sasuke, Yakushi Kabuto, Uchiha Itachi, and Hyuuga Neji. Well, since Itachi got arrested, I don't think he's coming. Might want to count him out…"

There was a collective chuckle from the students at Sandaime's announcement, but the rest of Akatsuki wasn't too pleased. All the nominees clambered up onto the stage, boys on one side, girls on the other. Sandaime opened and envelope, pulled out a piece of paper, and read off the Spring Fling king and queen.

"Our Spring Fling king is Uchiha Sasuke, and his queen is Kin!"

Sasuke shrugged. It wasn't even his idea to be nominated, and here he was on the stage, with the plastic crown and all the fireworks. Kin grinned and wrapped her arms around him, and the two walked off the stage with a smirk and a grin for Ino. Ino looked miffed, but smiled at the crowd and left with a bit of dignity. The rest of the people left in relatively the same way, and the final song of the night came on. Kin recognized the song as Calling All Angels, by Train. Ah, perfect: this song usually came on in movies when the hero and the heroine finally realized their true love and kissed each other. If she was lucky, Kin could pull a nice one…

"Hey…Sasuke…okay if we kiss?"

Sasuke smiled, his arms wrapped around Kin's waist and pulling her closer. "If one asks, they kill the mood." But, despite his words, Sasuke lowered his head slightly to match Kin's, and offered her a soft, chaste kiss. Kin was surprised to say the least: was this fake, just to impress the preps? Or was it real, and Sasuke actually did like her? Either way, Sasuke was one damn good kisser…Kin leaned into the kiss, expressing her opinion to Sasuke before mutually parting.

"And no, that was not just for show. I think we can get over pretending to go out and get to the real thing."

Kin smiled. "I'd like that," she said, tossing her hair over her shoulder with a shake of her head. "So, first date is…?"

"Go for Friday after school," Sasuke said. "Just walk over to the mall and see a movie."

Kin nodded. "That sounds good," she said. "I'll just make sure I can get a ride, and we'll go from there."

A couple now. Could this get any better?!

OOOOOOOOOOO

"I'm a hell of a scandal, me, I'm a scene, I'm a drama queen, I'm the best damn thing that your eyes have ever seen!!"

Kin danced down the halls on Monday with her iPod, looking quite energetic and hyper. Temari slammed her locker and turned around, smirking.

"Happy?"

"Very."

Temari motioned to Kin to walk with her, and the dark-haired girl proceeded to dance the entire length of the hallway. Temari finally reached over and pulled one of the ear buds out of Kin's ear, momentarily getting her attention.

"Hi."

Temari laughed. "Sugar for breakfast?"

"The sugariest!"

Temari glanced off to the side, then a smile broke out over her face. "That's Shikamaru. Gotta go. Have fun!!"

Kin waved and stuck her iPod back in her ear, then continued to dance down the hallways. It was too good a day to not look stupid in her glee.

OOOOOOOOOOOO

Orochimaru was in a strangely good mood.

He laughed at the cow that someone in his first period class had left on the board, and actually left it up for the rest of his classes to see. He didn't throw chalk at Ryuu when he fell asleep in class, and he notified the class of a would-be pop quiz tomorrow. By the time eighth period rolled around, four people had asked Orochimaru if he had taken some of the drugs he had confiscated. Another three had asked if Orochimaru was feeling alright, and Kabuto had flat-out asked him if he was drunk. That earned him a marker thrown at his head, and Orochimaru dryly asked Kabuto what he thought. Kabuto shrugged and replied,

"Well, someone drunk couldn't throw a marker with that kind of accuracy, since you were clearly aiming for my forehead, so I'm going to say no."
Orochimaru smirked. "Correct. Now, how many muscles does it take for one to make a facial expression?"

"Roughly forty, but it depends on the expression."

"Good. Now, continuing with the class…"

"Can we not?"

"Shut up, Kenshin. Or I give homework."

"You weren't going to give homework? Who are you and what have you done with Orochimaru-sensei?"

"I had a triple Espresso this morning, and semi-adequate sleep. Now shut up before it wears off."

Kabuto grinned and leaned back in his chair. Nothing like sleep. That sounded nice right about now…Kabuto leaned forward again and began copying down a few of the notes from the board. Diagrams, for the most part. Orochimaru was going easy on them today. The second the bell rang, Kabuto shoved his things in his backpack and stood up, making for the door. Next period was study, and he needed to catch up on homework.

"Kabuto, a word?"

Kabuto turned around at Orochimaru's call, taking several steps towards Orochimaru. "Yes?" he asked, stopping a few feet away. Orochimaru handed him a paper, his own neat handwriting spelling out: 98 percent. Kabuto smiled and glanced at Orochimaru, a question on his face.

"I think you and I both know you're at a college level in an AP course. I would like to recommend you be moved up an entire year in college, wherever you go. All of your teachers have been talking about it, and I figured it was only fair to let you know. Sandaime will probably speak to you about it at some point this week. Again, thought you should know." Orochimaru offered a smile, and nodded to Kabuto. "Think about it."

Kabuto nodded and thanked Orochimaru, then exited the room and made his way to his next class. Skip an entire year…that was something huge. And depending on where he went, even bigger. He had already gotten offers from many competitive colleges, and so many had names. University of Konoha. University of Suna. University of Oto-! There was such a difference between them all, and yet they were all such prestigious colleges. He had gotten scholarships offering to cover most of his four years, and even grad schools. Kabuto was still in shock from the last one he had received! And now, skipping a grade? It was definitely something to think over long and hard.

"Hey…"

Kabuto snapped out of his daydream and glanced at the redhead that had just stepped up next to him. "Oh, hi," he said. "Guess what?"

Tayuya grinned. "What?" she asked, shifting her backpack's weight back a bit.

"Orochimaru-sensei told me my teachers are considering having me skip a grade."

Tayuya's eyes widened. "Wow…can someone say genius child?"

Kabuto smiled. "A bit," he said. "I've been offered mainly scholarships to medical schools, but I've also seen language and math."

Tayuya shook her head. "You're too smart for your own good."

Kabuto sighed and stopped at his locker, twisting the lock back and forth until it clicked. He pulled it out of the lock, opened his locker, and dropped the lock on the top shelf. "I think I'm going to medical school. Oto, probably. Either that, or Kono. Both have excellent courses, and I can take a few electives that appeal to me. Neurosurgeon, maybe. Or something like that."

Tayuya grinned. "Smart kid," she said, leaning against another locker as Kabuto began exchanging books. "I can't wait to see what you end up doing. You've got a ton of opportunities; you could do anything you wanted, and it wouldn't even cost you too much."

Kabuto shrugged. "But it's a question of whether or not I would be happy." He closed his locker, put the combination lock back on, and jammed it shut. "But like I said, I'm pretty happy with the looks of things."

Tayuya nodded, and the two walked away, heading for the cafeteria. They both had the same lunch period. "Tuna."

"Turkey."

"Trade?"

"Hell no!"

OOOOOOOOO

Kisame had cut gym. Again.

He and the rest of the Akatsuki were standing behind the school, plotting. Again. They weren't happy about Itachi getting arrested (again) and were trying to figure out a way to get him out. Again.

"What did he have on him when he got arrested?" Kakuza questioned. "He might be able to get himself out."

Kisame shook his head. "Anything that might have helped him would have been found in the strip search. They're too thorough for that, and he didn't get arrested for speeding."

Hidan gave a hum of affirmation. "Yeah, they're going to be extra careful with him, given what he's done and can do. He's going in maximum security, no doubt. Now, if he can get his hands on something that transmits electricity and salsa, then it's a different story…"

Sasori thumped Hidan on the back of the head. "You moron! How is salsa and electricity going to help anyone?!"

Hidan grinned. "It was on Mythbusters. Salsa transmits electricity beautifully, and you electrocute the bars on the doors. The salsa transmits that electricity and melts the bars."

Kisame shrugged. "Sounds likely, but how the hell is Itachi going to get his hands on salsa and electricity without killing himself?"

Hidan gave Kisame a "duh" face. "Lights? And the cafeteria?"

Kisame rolled his eyes. "Moving past Hidan's brainmush…I say toss the kid a gun and have him shoot out the locks."

"How are we going to get him a gun?"

Kisame shrugged. "Easy. Either we sneak in and toss it to him, or we visit and do this under the table."

"Easier said than done," Deidara grimaced. "Don't forget, they aren't going to be careless."

Sasori rolled his eyes. "Itachi looked like a prostitute when he got arrested. Do you honestly think they're going to be worried about what his friends are doing as long as they're not making noise?"

Deidara sighed. "But we don't look like prostitutes, and so we have a problem."

Kisame sighed and sat up against the wall. "Which one of us looks the most like a girl and could pass himself off as Itachi's girlfriend?"

Deidara flushed. "Not again…."

A/N: Let's face it, Dei-chan looks like a girl. Get him a skirt and something to stuff his shirt with, and ta-da! : ) Review, please?