Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, but then you already knew that. : )
Guess what? I worked really hard on Chapter 28.

(Like super, super hard. The only one that was even nearly as difficult to write was Chapter 25.)

So thanks to all the people who reviewed. They meant the world, really. Sure there were over TWO HUNDRED HITS on the FIRST DAY ALONE, but I'm seriously grateful for every review I get.

Before I start Chapter 29, though, I'd like to explain Itachi's plan with the Math homework (this is a huge spoiler for Chapter 28, so if you're just skipping to the end, please read Chapter 28 first). It would've been very possible for Naruto to have not said anything to Sasuke about finding "Sakura's" homework; or say it to someone else. But I did it to show just how cunning Itachi is—analyzing Naruto's behaviour and personality; and knowing that he would definitely say it to Sasuke, waiting to see how he would interpret it.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed Chapter 28; enjoy Chapter 29!

(.s.)
Baby it's you I want so
Stop wasting my time!
And baby it's you I need so
Please make up your mind!
It's time to choose…
(.s.)

Sasuke hadn't come to school for two days.

Tenten didn't have to ask how Sakura felt about that: she could see the worry plain on the pink-haired girl's face.

"Come ON Sakura!" Ino pouted. "What happened after we snuck you out of school that day? It wasn't something big, wasn't it? Something between you and Sasuke? Are you guys fighting?"

"No," Sakura said, burying her head in her arms. Only a few minutes until classes started; and Sakura just couldn't wait—it'd mean a reprieve from Ino's constant questions.

Tenten frowned at the blonde. Ino just couldn't tell that Sakura didn't want to—and wouldn't—tell them about what had happened that day.

"I-I…" Hinata started. "I wonder where Sasuke disappeared to… have you talked to him?"

"No," Sakura said, her voice muffled.

"WHAT?" Ino yelled, slapping her hand down in front of the pink-haired girl's head. Sakura glared at her as she sat up; but Ino ignored her. "Sakura, isn't Sasuke your boyfriend?"

Sakura blinked. "Yes?"

"See, that's exactly what I'm talking about!" Ino said indignantly. "Why do you always answer that like a question? You either are or you're not. And anyway, you're supposed to be, so you should at least know where he is! Why are you so afraid to just talk to him?!"

Tenten, Hinata and Sakura stared at Ino as if she were an alien life form. Loud, frank Ino had never made so much sense. Never.

"And besides, Sasuke's hot, so after you talk you can make out."

Yet underneath it all, she was still regular Ino.

Sakura inhaled, somewhat relieved that Ino was still Ino; but still taking what she said to heart. "I should call Sasuke," she thought. "We really need to talk." She fingered the small bandage on her neck worriedly.

The bell rang, saving her from thinking about the effects Itachi's appearance would have on Sasuke's personality.

"What class do we have now?" Tenten mused, trying to recall her schedule.

"Y-You and I have French," Hinata said. "S-Sakura has Math with I-Ino."

"Right," Sakura said, sitting down and pulling out her Math book. "Anko's substituting for Kurenai today, right?"

"Yeah, that's what she said last class," Ino replied. "Anko's our P.E. teacher, so it might be kinda weird."

Sakura shrugged. "Maybe."

"Well," Tenten and Hinata waved, "later, then."

"Bye," Sakura and Ino waved back, and Anko walked into the room.

"Alright, guys!" she yelled as she dumped her books on the teacher's desk, "Settle down!"

The students stopped talking and went to their seats, all looking at her eagerly. Anko put a hand on her hip and smoothed down her black hair, licking her lips. "If Kurenai were here, what would you be doing now?"

"Getting notes," someone said.

"Well, I'd totally give you notes," Anko said with a grin, "but when it comes to Math I'm totally clueless!"

A bead of sweat ran down the student's faces. "Does that mean this is a free session?" a girl called eagerly.

"I guess," Anko shrugged. "You can't leave though! Just do quiet work or talk or something; I don't care."

The students immediately continued chatting and playing. Sakura pulled her Math book out of her bag, and Ino swatted her on the head.

"Nerd," she said with a smile. Sakura made a face at her. "Oh yeah! I forgot to tell you. I've searched my whole room and I still can't find my damn phone—heck, Hinata helped me clean my room, and we still can't find it, and you know what a neat freak she is."

"Yeah," Sakura nodded, and Ino continued. "So I bribed Daddy and I got a new one!" Ino said brightly, holding up a slim, purple phone. "My new number is 555-0185."

Sakura took out her own phone and saved Ino's number in it. "Thanks," she said, and the other girl nodded. "Seriously though, Sakura, I love this phone. It can save videos, music and—"

"Excuse me, girls," Anko interrupted. Sakura and Ino turned to her. "Can I speak to you for a minute, Sakura?"

"Okay," the pink-haired girl said, and she walked out of the room with Anko. Ino turned to the girl behind her and showed off her phone.

Anko closed the door behind them and looked up and down the hallway. Sakura wondered absently what the teacher wanted to see her for, and then realized that the day she had snuck out of school, she had missed her P.E. class. "Forge a note," Inner Sakura said.

"I'm sorry, Anko," she started, "if you give me until tomorrow, I can bring a note for the class I missed—"

"Not that," Anko said, still looking around, "Ino told me you were having really bad period cramps."

Sakura's mouth dropped. "Ino, later, I'm going to throttle you."

"I wanted to talk to you about Sasuke."

Sakura was surprised. "Actually, I haven't spoken to him because—"

"He's been absent for two days, I know," Anko said. "I don't think anyone's been warning you about how serious Sasuke's situation is right now, but I will: if he makes the wrong decision, he'll be in very, very big trouble."

"How do you know that?" Sakura questioned.

"Orochimaru makes it pretty clear what he wants, Sakura," Anko hissed. "You do not want Sasuke going off with him. Orochimaru is scum. Even you students can see how creepy he is."

Sakura nodded. "Why let him work here, then?"

Anko crossed her arms. "Principal Sarutobi is far too kind. He figured since it was only a temporary position, Orochimaru couldn't do any harm. But he was wrong."

Sakura looked down to the ground. "Kakashi tried to talk to Sasuke, but it ended up pushing him even closer to Orochimaru. He recommended that I speak to you since he doesn't have class with you today and he knew I was substituting for Kurenai—she's ill."

Sakura blinked, processing all of this new information. Suddenly there was an eruption of noise from the classroom and paper balls and airplanes flew out of the door.

"Dammit!" Anko swore under her breath and rushed back into the classroom yelling.

Sakura pulled her phone out of her pocket and scrolled through her contact list to Sasuke's number. Gathering her confidence, she pressed Call, but it went straight to voicemail.

"His phone is off," she muttered. "How am I supposed to get to him now?"

"Ah, youthful cherry blossom Sakura! What a pleasure to greet you on this youthful day!"

Sakura didn't have to turn around to know that it was Lee behind her. "Hi Lee," she said as she put her phone back into her pocket. "How are you?"

"Feeling the brilliant surge of the power of youth!" Lee clenched his fist as he looked at her. "Are you in the class youthful teacher Anko is teaching for equally youthful Kurenai now?"

"Well, she's not really teaching," Sakura said as she glanced over to the classroom where Anko's loud, angry voice was booming. "But yeah, I guess."

"My supremely youthful teacher Gai has sent me on a mission to attain a piece of chalk from Anko, and I will complete it with my very heart and soul in the task!"

"Oh, Lee, my youthful apprentice," Gai appeared out of nowhere, "your eyes shine with the brilliance of a young lad who has come to the height of his youthgul light!"

"It is a total honour to be your youthful student, Gai!"

"LEE!"

"GAI!"

"LEE!"

"Enough!" Sakura interrupted their hugging and shining teeth. "I need to concentrate!"

"On what, youthful cherry blossom?" Lee asked with a smile.

"Sasuke," she said, and Lee's smile dissipated. "I need to find a way to get to Sasuke…"

Gai watched for Lee's reaction, and was surprised when he saw Lee flex his arm and grin. Gai knew Lee loved Sakura very much, and that it must have killed him that she loved Sasuke, yet he was kind anyway: his youthful student was maturing.

"I would suggest that you go to his classroom and request to speak with him."

"He's not at school," Sakura said, and wondered if she could get a ride from someone on the road again. "But look what happened last time…" she shuddered.

"I could easily give you a youthful ride there."

Sakura blinked at Lee. "You drive?"

"I am seventeen years old and in possession of a youthful driver's license and my mother's car. So are Neji and Tenten, but Neji has his own car and Tenten is a learner."

Sakura felt like banging her head against a wall. "So instead of being kidnapped, I could have asked Neji or Lee for a ride!"

"Halt, youthful students!" Gai shouted, and pulled out a pad of passes and a pen. "If you are both leaving campus, you will require these!" He handed a paper to Lee and Sakura, and turned to her. "I will tell youthful Anko that you are on a mission!"

"Thanks?" Sakura said, but it sounded more like a question.

"GO, LEE, AND MAKE YOUR YOUTHFUL TEACHER PROUD ON YOUR QUEST!"

"YES, GAI! I PROMISE TO ENSURE ITS COMPLETE SUCCESS!"

"LEE!"

"GAI!"

"LEE!"

And they would have hugged again if Sakura hadn't dragged Lee away by the collar.


Sakura gulped as she looked through the windshield of the car and into the seemingly never-ending fields of flowers in the Uchiha mansion. The scene was calm and serene, and she was taken aback once again by how beautiful Sasuke's home was.

Suddenly the white, wrought-iron gate in front of them opened.

"Youthful Sakura," Lee said from the driver's seat of the green Honda, "are you sure you would not like me to accompany you inside?"

"Thanks, Lee, but I'll be okay," Sakura hopped out of the passenger seat and walked up to the opening gate of Sasuke's mansion. "You need to get back to school—thank you so much!"

"I was happy to be of service, cherry blossom! I wish you youth and prosperity on your quest!" Lee called as he drove off.

When Sakura walked through the gate, it closed behind her. Her blue uniform skirt swished between the flowers as she walked, and she nervously clenched the matching blue tie with her right hand. She'd just arrived at his house unannounced: why was she being so impulsive when it came to Sasuke?

It seemed like she had been walking forever when she finally reached the door, slightly out of breath, and it opened for her without her knocking. Kadtsu was looking at her with a menacing smile. "Sasuke's girlfriend. I knew it was you," he said.

"How did you know it was me?"

"Pink hair doesn't make you hard to spot in a crowd," he sneered, "much less in a wide open space. You could thank me for letting you in, you know."

Sakura ignored that. "Does Sasuke know I'm here?"

"No," Kadtsu gave a wry smile, "I thought it would be more interesting if he were surprised."

Sakura walked inside and he closed the door behind her. "Sasuke?" she called. She swore the house was so big that it echoed. Making a guess at where he was, she walked up the stairs and to his room.

"Sasuke?" she called more tentatively once outside the door. She heard a rustle from inside, and suddenly the door flew open.

"Sakura?" the black-haired boy was shocked. "What are you doing here?" He was wearing jeans and a faded black shirt: it didn't look like he had been planning on going to school at all.

"Why haven't you been at school?" Sakura asked. "Are you sick?" she thought randomly, thinking that maybe he had the same cold Kurenai had.

"I'm fine," Sasuke said, still feeling shocked at the sight of her at his house. Sakura reached for the doorknob and pulled open the door to his room. Same navy blue walls, same darkness, desk and chair in the same place; but it was a complete mess—paper and clothes were strewn all over.

"Sasuke, we have to talk," Sakura said, still clutching her tie. "You're not fine. And neither am I. But we can sort this out, as long as we're together, okay? I need to know, I honestly need to know—are we… are we serious about each other?"

"Sakura," he said slowly, "I'm not going back to Konoha High."


That's Chapter 29! The song used was 'I Don't Wanna Wait' by The Veronicas. (THEY ARE TOTALLY MY FAVOURITE BAND!)

So, let's establish some form of update schedule for this story, because it seems to be pretty random. I'll update once every month from now on. That's the schedule I've decided on, and sorry it's infrequent but that's largely due to school and other factors, but I will try to stick to it and make every chapter around the length of Chapter 28. Maybe—if I'm feeling especially creative or something—I'll update twice in a month, but I will try my hardest not to let a month go by without a chapter.

Thank you all for being so patient. :)

So Sasuke says he isn't coming back to their school anymore! Can Sakura persuade him out of it somehow? What will she say, how will he react, and what the heck is going to happen next?!

All this and more in Chapter 30—after you review. :)