Author: XxDreaming of RealityxX

Disclaimer and warnings can be found in Chapter 1

Comments & Author's Notes: Thank you for all your reviews! My life is complete! Uh huh…anyways, I've been in turmoil and arguing with myself over the correct spelling of the word 'blonde'. Some say that the English spelling is blonde and the American spelling is blond. Others say that the feminine term has an 'e' whereas the masculine term doesn't. I've always spelt it with an 'e'…oh well…it doesn't matter, right…?

-Silence-

Update: Thanks for the clarification about blond vs. blonde. My fics are actually undergoing a major editing process, so I might as well change that along the way! On chapter 11 I put chapter 12 as the title and didn't even notice until I went through and edited it! And I made a mistake in this chapter!

Thanks to all guest reviewers! I read your reviews and take all your thoughts into consideration, even if I can't reply!

I'm thinking that this fic will end in a few chapters, like around chapter 25 or so…*starts crying* WHY? WHY DOES IT HAVE TO END LIKE THIS?

Calm down, breathe, breathe…

Irish today! :)

Go raibh maith agat!

(Thank you!)

Let's Play a Game

Chapter 21: Making Amends

Sasuke and Naruto strolled into school, hand in hand, a look of content on their features as they headed towards the gang. They would cross their fingers and hope for the best reaction to their interesting piece of news; praying that rabid fangirls wouldn't cause an untimely death on school premises.

Sakura bit her lip, nervously fiddling with her fingers. When the two lovers spotted her, they stopped dead in their tracks. The raven scowled, all traces of happiness dissipating from his features; a frown marring them instead.

Naruto looked away awkwardly. He didn't know what to do, what to say. This girl had practically made his life Hell, and made him relive the past experiences he would much rather forget.

But he still couldn't hate her. They'd been together since childhood, made memories together, caused trouble together. Sakura was one of the few people Naruto could trust as a child. But since the day she threw everything away, it was hard to get that trust back.

And Naruto wasn't sure what he wanted. Did he want her friendship? Or did he want to let her go? Probably the latter. But then Sakura did something unexpected.

She fisted her hands together, walked up to Naruto…and hugged him.

The blonde shrugged awkwardly as she draped her arms around him, a single tear falling from her eyes. More tears cascaded down her cheeks, until her body wracked with sobs and she began to cry.

"…I-I'm…I'm…so…rry…"

Seeing their prideful pink haired friend break down in tears made everyone feel emotion. She was always strong – the leader of the pack, and seeing her lose it was saddening.

"I'm…sorry…I'm sorry…I-I…"

Before Naruto could react, she pulled away and untied her waist-long hair, tumbling down to her hips. She put her hand in her pocket and shakily pulled out a pair of scissors. She closed her eyes.

And then, with one single swipe, she brought the scissors to he hair.

And cut.

Pink locks tumbled to the ground. Sakura opened her eyelids, her hair reduced in length; now reaching just below her shoulders. Ino gasped. The pinkette had always took pride in her hair and when they were younger, they would compare and see who could get their hair to grow longer.

It was Sakura's pride and joy, what made her admire her beauty, what brought out her happiness. And she'd just let it go.

"I'm starting again." She spoke, her voice still hoarse and her eyes watery, "I hope…you can forgive me…I made a mistake. I let go of the ones I loved, I took away your happiness. And now I'm starting again. I'm going to let go of every past mistake. I need to understand…learn, be the same girl I used to be." She finished, her eyes filling with tears.

"That's the Sakura I know and love." Ino spoke up.

"New revelations? I like it." Kiba teased, making Hinata sniffle and Sakura choke a laugh.

"I forgive Sakura." Naruto said, everyone turning to face him. "What? Quit staring." Sasuke nodded in agreement, not liking everyone's eyes on his dobe. Possessive, perverted bastard. But Naruto loved it.

"Thanks, guys. I'm gonna start again; tell all those girls to stop bitching about others' lives and get on with their own. If only someone had told me that long ago, I would've woken up from my dreams and finally saw the reality."

Everyone smiled at this. "Why didn't you ask? If you had asked us to tell you that, I'm sure we wouldn't have hesitated." A raven spoke.

"Someone hit Sai."

They all laughed and then turned to Naruto and Sasuke, who were standing much too close for comfort. Wait, was Sasuke's hand on Naruto's ass? No, must've been a trick of the light…

"Naruto…are you and Sasuke…?"

The blond flushed, but Sasuke answered for him.

"Me and the dobe are together."

There were a few shocked gasps. "But I thought you two hated each other?" Kiba asked.

Ino squealed a little – deep inside she liked this fact, in her past life, she was definitely a yaoi fangirl. "You two aren't dating 'til I say you are."

"Hn?" Though Sasuke's question was ignored.

"Let's, all of us, go out to eat! Now that all this mess is cleared up, this afternoon we'll go to Ichiraku's ramen!"

Sasuke glanced at Naruto, who was already drooling at the thought.

"On second thought, maybe we should go somewhere else…"

That's when Kakashi walked by, holding his little book, suspiciously on time. "Maa, maa, going out to eat without inviting me? I'm hurt." Kakashi wiped away fake tears for emphasis.

"This afternoon then!" Everyone agreed.

"Consider it a date." Kakashi chuckled.

"Kakashi!"

A date it is.

To be continued…

Thank you for reading~! I kind of like the way this chapter ended. Don't ask what happened to Sakura's hair…I don't know myself…

A little bit short, but I hope it will suffice! I remember saying that before; can't quite put my finger on it though…As I said, this fic might not last much longer. Though I have ideas for the upcoming chapters, I don't want it to drag on. Next chapter is the date, maybe followed by a lemon or so after that...hehe~

Chapter 22 will be posted soon!