Author's notes: Hi guys! How are you? Hey, nobody reviewed last time except for one. Thank you, hoshino820. I mean, I'm thankful to all those who decided that they like the story so much that they subscribed for story alert or author alert or went on and chose my story for a favorite. Still, I would like to read your reviews about the story. Is it dragging? Should I quicken the pace? What do you want to happen? Sorry, this is me being stubborn and bossy.

Anyway, here's another chapter. Read and enjoy.

Chapter 20 – New Student

Thursday morning. Sasuke woke up even before his alarm went off, and proceeded to turn it off altogether. On his way to the bathroom, he noticed that Naruto's bed was empty again.

'Where did he run off to now?' he thought. Naruto was already up when he woke yesterday, too. Now that he thought about it, he was unusually quiet since Sunday night. Deciding that he must be in one of his Naruto-tantrums again, he pushed the flicker of worry to the back of his mind and went to shower.

"Just tell me, Sakura," Ino whined as she and Sakura made their way to their building. "I'm your best friend, aren't I?"

Sakura rolled her eyes, still not looking at Ino. "If you're my best friend , you should've known I don't wear skimpy clothes like you do."

"Are you kidding me?" Ino said, stopping in front of Sakura, hands on her hips. "You're still mad about that?"

"Yeah." Sakura walked around her but Ino went in front of her again.

"Okay, okay," Ino conceded. "I'm sorry, my bad. Won't happen again." She bowed her head and clapped her hands together above her head. She peaked at Sakura's reaction and smiled sheepishly. "Forgive me?"

Sakura wasn't really mad at Ino, just a little annoyed. But still, she found it fun to tease her. "On one condition," Sakura said, holding her index finger up. Ino straightened up and nodded. "Drop the subject."

Ino whined again. "Oh come on, Sakura. Anything but that! I really want to know where you've gone off to last weekend."

Ino has been bugging Sakura to tell her why she needed luggage packed for her out of the blue. Apparently, Tsunade sent for Shizune to tell her that it was important. At first, Ino panicked and thought she was going to be confined again but Shizune assured her Sakura was okay. And now, Ino was still being a pain to deal with.

"You know, Ino, I-" but Sakura didn't get to finish when she heard someone calling for her. The girls looked behind Sakura to see Naruto running toward them.

"Saki," Naruto breathed out when he stopped in front of her. "I've got… something t-to… tell you." Naruto was still out of breath.

"What's up, Naruto? Everything okay?" Sakura noticed that Naruto has been aloof and quiet since they got home from Sasuke's house. She tried talking to him to ask what was wrong but she couldn't seem to catch up with him until now, when he's the one who caught up with her. Once Naruto finally got his breathing back to normal, he looked straight to her eyes and Sakura felt strange. It was kind of unnerving when the usually carefree Naruto turns so serious like he is now.

After a few moments of holding his gaze, Sakura blurted out, "What is it?"

Hearing her voice, Naruto blinked twice and slowly grinned. "Oh, um," he began, then he fidgeted and scratched the back of his head. "I wanted to say sorry."

Sakura tilted her head to the side, confused. "For what?"

"Well, I was kind of awkward with you lately and now I feel guilty about it." Naruto looked at her and sighed. "You see, when I heard that you and that bastard, Sasuke, were engaged, I just " then a hand clasped his mouth, tight. Naruto saw Sakura's eyes were as big as saucers.

Sakura laughed awkwardly. "Naruto! What nonsense are you spouting? Have you been eating spoiled ramen or something? Really, what am I supposed to do with you?" Sakura was practically shouting and some students were either turning their heads or stopping in their tracks to see what the commotion was about. "Let's get you to the clinic, then." And Sakura dragged him away from the growing crowd.

Ino was left alone with her mouth slightly open. As the students began to disperse, though, she saw a figure just coming out from the dorm - with his usual stoic demeanor. Ino turned around, closed her mouth and slowly smirked as she resumed finding her way to class.

Sakura dragged Naruto just behind the clinic. Confirming they were alone, she released him.

"Saki, what - Ow!" Sakura smacked him at the back of his head.

"You idiot!" Sakura was about to whack him again but Naruto ran. She chased. "Get back here!"

"What did I do?"

"What did you do? How could you so casually talk about that damned engagement?" Now, Sakura's voice was an angry hiss. "What if people heard you?"

"I'm sorry, okay?" Naruto stopped, turned around and looked at Sakura. "I don't know. I just… I just feel so frustrated about it because neither you nor him - my best friends - bothered to tell me about it, about something as important as this! I got really pissed off!" It was Naruto's turn to shout now. Sakura also stopped and lowered her fists at her sides. Her anger slowly dissipated as she saw the look on Naruto's face. "I mean I'm your friend, right?"

"I'm sorry," Sakura said. Feeling the need to explain, however, she continued. "I didn't mean to make you feel that way. Sasuke and I talked it over and agreed that we'll find a way to get out of it. And since that was the plan, we didn't think it's necessary to tell you or other people about it." Sakura sighed. "I'm really sorry, Naruto."

Looking at her, Naruto remembered all those times he's seen those shining green orbs. Usually filled with happiness, it was now brimming with regret. Right then, he decided he prefers to see the former and he grinned as he remembered what he proclaimed to Tsunade last night.

He laughed. "Sorry, Saki. I got carried away. I was just playing with you. Didn't think you'd take it that seriously." Sakura's brows furrowed. She was about to hit him again but he held her wrists. "It's fine, though, right? I'll just help you think of a way out of it."

Sakura just looked at the laughing Naruto. She didn't think he was just joking about what he said earlier but if he says he's fine, then he must be. Right?

"Let's go to class," Naruto said, pulling Sakura behind him.

They just got inside the room when the bell rang. They sat in their respective seats. As soon as Sakura settled in hers, she could hear a hissing sound beside her. Knowing it was Ino, she opted to ignore it. When she thought Ino finally got tired of trying to get her attention, a small piece of paper landed on her desk.

She looked beside her and sure enough, it was from Ino. Sakura was about to throw it back when the Iruka came inside and began class. When Sakura was sure he couldn't see her, she looked at Ino again.

"Open it," Ino mouthed, pointing to the piece of paper.

Sakura had an inkling of what it was about and didn't want to discuss it with Ino. Again, she resorted to ignoring her. But Ino was not a girl who tolerates being ignored. Soon, another piece of paper landed on Sakura's desk. And another. And another.

Sakura glared at Ino who only mouthed, "Open it or I'll use up all the pages of my notebook," pointing at said notebook.

"Fine. Just cut it out," Sakura mouthed back. She slowly unfolded the first piece of paper and she was right. It was about that.

So you're engaged with Uchiha Sasuke, huh? I got you, forehead. So if you wanna make me shut up about it, tell me EVERYTHING!

Sakura sighed in defeat. Having Ino hear about it was much, much worse than actually having the world know about it.

At lunch, Sasuke decided Naruto was back to his usual loud and obnoxious self as he watched him wolf down his food to see who, between him and Kiba, can eat faster. After a minute, they both yelled, "Done!" at the same time and started arguing about the other being a cheater.

Sasuke scoffed. "Morons," he whispered.

But it was loud enough for Naruto, who sat beside him, to hear. Naruto looked at him and sat back down. Kiba, thinking Naruto must have conceded, turned to challenge Chouji, instead, who agreed.

Sensing Naruto still looking at him, Sasuke asked, "What's your problem?"

Naruto was about to say something but he looked around and just settled with, "Nothing." Sasuke didn't buy it, but he'd rather Naruto shut up for the remainder of lunch.

Ten minutes before the bell rang, Sasuke stood up and went to their room. Naruto followed suit. When they were inside, Sasuke spoke up while looking for a change of clothes. "Don't you have class?"

Naruto chose not to answer him and, instead, said, "Don't you have something to tell me? Aren't you going to explain yourself?"

Finally pulling his shirt over his head, Sasuke shot him a look and said, "What are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb with me," Naruto said, walking towards him and shoving him.

Sasuke was getting pissed off but he simply slapped Naruto's hand away. "I don't speak 'idiot', idiot, so I don't understand what you're saying."

"Why didn't you tell me you got engaged with Sakura?"

Sasuke was surprised though it didn't register on his face. 'So that's what was bugging him all along?' he thought. "You already knew about it without me telling you anyway."

"I wouldn't know it like this, though."

"What, did you prefer me to tell you about it?" Sasuke saw a glint in Naruto's eyes that seemed like he, himself, didn't know if he wanted to hear it from Sasuke. "It's none of your business. It's no big deal, we can handle it."

Naruto crossed his arms in front of his chest and pouted. "Sheesh, you and Saki even say the same things." Naruto sat on his bed. "So what's the plan?" Sasuke just looked at him, eyebrows slightly raised. "You know. The plan to break the engagement."

'So the idiot's being nosy again,' Sasuke thought bitterly. "No plan yet." He shrugged. "Why are you so caught up in it anyway?"

"Because it's Sakura we're talking about here and I-" Naruto stopped midsentence and Sasuke saw his eyes widen for a moment, then he looked away. "I just want to help." The bell rang and Naruto immediately stood up and went out the door. As soon as the door closed, Sasuke plopped on his bed.

'Idiot,' he thought.

After lunch, Tenten went to her classroom and sat beside a boy with a bowl-shaped haircut.

"Tenten, how was lunch? I hope you ate good and healthy food. It keeps you fit and smart, you know."

"It was fine, Lee," Tenten said with a small smile. Leave it to Lee to talk about the most mundane things. She looked behind Lee and saw a long haired boy, arms crossed, looking solemnly in front. "Hey, Neji." Said boy's head turned slightly to her and nodded in acknowledgment. A man of few words, indeed. Tenten has gotten accustomed to the company of these two since they've been grouped together last year.

Lee was chatting away with Tenten about things like the power of youth - his favorite phrase - and how one should preserve it. Tenten sufficiently nodded or shook her head accordingly every now and then while she inwardly prayed for the teacher to come in already.

When she saw a man with the same haircut as Lee enter the room, her prayers were answered and all of Lee's focus was suddenly on this man - Maito Gai, or Mighty Guy as some students call him, or was it him who initiated this title on himself? She really didn't know. He taught first year military students 'Leadership.' Apparently, it was so important it had to be a separate class altogether.

Lee looked up to this man, his godfather, who took care of him after his parents died when he was seven, Tenten recalled Lee telling her as she watched his eyes ridiculously shine with excitement for another lesson. Suddenly, Lee's thick brows furrowed and Tenten followed his gaze. Behind Gai was a boy around their age, with pale skin and black hair and eyes.

"Alright class," the teacher bellowed. "Today, we welcome a new addition to our excellent class." He ended with a pose Tenten doesn't even know how to describe. "Introduce yourself, young lad," he told the boy.

The boy stepped forward and smiled. "Good day. My name is Sumi Sai. Nice to meet you." He bowed. Somehow, something about that smile makes Tenten uneasy and somehow she didn't like this boy. At all.

Author's notes: 10 reviews = next chapter. Thanks!