-0-My Sakura-0-

Thank you so much, my wonderful reviewers! (smiles) I will continue to do my best! Enjoy! This is an extremely long chapter! So please have fun!

P.S. I am extremely sorry for updating so late! I have been sick for the past week and have been having troubles with keeping up with school work! So I took some time to recover both mentally and physically! Sorry!


At exactly 7:00 pm, the doors to the school opened as students started going inside to the large gymnasium. Many marveled at the streamers on the ceilings, the coloured lights all around, and the nicely set dining tables all around. The round tables were placed around the gym's outer horizon, and a large empty space in the middle provided space for a dance floor.

Along the front of the gym were a line of large tables. On top of the tables were large dishes of food, still with lids on top of them. Some of the jounin teachers were helping with carrying large bottles of pop and cups to each dining table while others helped with carrying utensils and napkins.

The lights were dimmed in the gym and soft music was played on a stereo connected to the large speaker phones around the back of the gym.

Well, looks like everyone is coming, Tsunade thought, impressed with how nicely the gym had been arranged. She watched as young ninjas began to walk inside the large gymnasium through the now opened doors.


Ino and Shikamaru arrived the earliest out of everyone else from their group of friends. They stood outside the main entrance, people passing by them to go inside.

"Guess we arrived earlier than Forehead girl," Ino said as she looked around. They had not gone into the gym just yet, but were outside the school, near the swing set and the large tree. Shikamaru, dressed in a black suit with a black tie, looked around.

Secretly, he had to admit that Ino actually looked quite pretty today. She didn't act half as snobbish as she usually did, and for some unknown reason, she kept turning to and away from him every few minutes. Shikamaru sighed. Women . . . how troublesome . . .

Ino bit her lip as she tried to stop blushing. She kept staring at Shikamaru every few minutes, probably because he looked so handsome in a suit, and turning away from him every time he turned to look back at her. Her heart was pounding away like a drum.

I'm acting like an idiot! Why can't I just act normal around him tonight?

"Hey, look! There's Chouji, Kiba, and Shino," Shikamaru told her. "OY!" He waved to his friends. All three of them were dressed in suits and even Akamaru had a bow tie around his neck.

"Shikamaru!" Chouji ran over to him, while the other two walked towards him.

"Hey Ino! You look so nice," Chouji said cheerfully.

"Huh? Oh. Thank you."

"So where the heck are your partners?" Shikamaru asked them.

"Oh. We told our cousins that we were going to meet them here," Kiba answered, as Akamaru barked once in greeting. "And don't forget Shikamaru, that we're going to make you dance with you-know-who tonight," he whispered to Shikamaru when Ino had turned to look in a different direction. Shikamaru gulped. He had been hoping that Kiba had forgotten about that idea of him dancing with Ino, but it seemed like he had not.

Akamaru suddenly barked loudly and Kiba looked up to the dog sitting on top of his head. "What's up, Akamaru?" The dog barked back an answer and Kiba looked behind him.

"What do you know? It's Naruto with Hinata! Hey you two!" He waved towards the couple, who was still on the path outside the school entrance. Naruto looked around, then spotted the small group.

"HEY!" he yelled back as he and Hinata walked down the road to the school entrance. Hinata still had her hands around Naruto's elbow as they walked. Her cheeks were very VERY red, and she kept biting her bottom lip.

She had never been this close to Naruto before, nor had he ever let her stay by his side like this.

Could it be . . . that he doesn't hate me? She wondered to herself as they walked into the school grounds.

"Hey Shikamaru! Who's your partner?" Naruto asked loudly.

"You idiot! I'm his partner!" Ino exclaimed in a sharp voice, hooking her elbow around Shikamaru's elbow and pointing a thumb at herself. Shikamaru stared at her arm around his, but didn't question. Even Ino herself didn't quite understand what had come over her, but she pretended to be confident with what she was doing.

Kiba, Chouji, and Shino however, were chuckling to themselves and grinning at Shikamaru. Shikamaru finally realized that they were teasing him about him and Ino and turned red.

"Okay, okay!" Naruto said, trying to hide behind Hinata from Ino's piercing death glare. Hinata politely greeted Kiba, trying her best not to hint that she was embarrassed with the fact that Naruto was so close to her.

"Hello, Kiba-kun," she said shyly.

"Hey Hinata! Wow, you look very nice tonight in that dress," Kiba said, smiling.

"Thank you," she replied. Akamaru jumped off from Kiba's head and landed in Hinata's open arms. She had finally let go off Naruto's elbow earlier when Naruto had been hiding behind her.

"So where are your partners?" Naruto asked Kiba, Chouji and Shino.

"Oh. We're swapping cousins," Chouji answered. "They're meeting us inside the gym."

"We just have to pretend we're going with them as partners, but once we get inside, we'll get to roam around free," Kiba said, grinning widely. Shino nodded in agreement.

"Hey, look," Ino said suddenly, looking behind Naruto and Hinata. "It's Neji and Ten-Ten."

Turning around, Naruto spotted Neji and Ten-Ten, who had just entered into the school grounds.

"Hey Neji!" Naruto greeted him loudly. Neji nodded to him in greeting while Ten-Ten waved to Hinata, who waved back.

"So how come you guys haven't gone inside yet?" Neji asked the boys, as Ten-Ten went over to talk with Ino and Hinata. As usual, the girls gathered in a small group while the boys gathered in their small group for small conversations.

"We were just going to wait till more people came, that's all," Shikamaru said, shrugging.

"Besides," Shino said, putting his hands into his pockets. "Most of us just got here."

"Looks like you've managed to snag the girl of your dreams to be your partner, Hyuuga," Kiba said, nudging him with his elbow.

Neji glared at everyone's teasing and hinting face expressions before saying in a very tight voice, "She is just a friend, that's all." That response brought up even more comments added to the conversation.

"Or is she?"

"Ten-Ten and I are only friends. There's nothing going on—"

"Really, Hyuuga? Then why are you blushing?"

"I am not blushing-"

"See, he IS blushing!"

"If you really like her that much, then why don't you just tell her? It'll be more troublesome if you're too late and she gets taken by someone else."

"What the heck! For the last time, guys, I don't like her in that sense."

"Is it just me, or is Hyuuga losing his cool, here?"

Meanwhile, the girls were discussing about how nice it was to finally have a dance.

"I'm so glad we finally get to do something not ninja-like with each other," Ten-Ten said, smiling.

"If it weren't for the fifth Hokage, we'd probably never have events such as this," Ino said. Hinata nodded quietly while Ten-Ten looked around.

"So you two didn't manage to snag Sasuke?" she asked, turning to look at the group of boys just a few feet next to them. Hinata shook her head.

"You wouldn't believe who did," Ino said crossly. She was still depressed about the fact that Sakura had managed to get Sasuke as her partner.

"Sakura?" Ten-Ten asked. Ino nodded.

"I'm actually not that surprised though," Ten-Ten said as Ino raised her eyebrow. "I mean, the only fact I'm surprised with is that Sasuke himself is even going to this dance. But other than that, it would only seem logical for him to choose her, since they're all the same team. And he's been around with her more than any other girl, I guess."

"Yeah. I'm actually kind of jealous about Sakura and Sasuke coming here as partners," Ino confessed. Ten-Ten nodded.

"You're not the only one," she murmured. "But I'm glad I'm going with Neji to the dance." She froze. Her heart pounded as she tried to correct herself. "I m-mean, I hardly know Sasuke himself, other than him being the most popular guy in school," she quickly added, trying her best not to sound like she liked Neji. Hinata tried not to giggle as she watched Ten-Ten's face turn pink.

"Say, Ino? Where's Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, as the group of boys merged with the group of girls once again.

"Sakura? Hm. I don't know. She should be coming soon. She told me herself that she was going to leave at 6:30."

"Hm. I wonder who Sakura-chan is going to the dance with?" Naruto wondered aloud.

"Actually—" Ino was about to say, but Naruto cut her off.

"Thick Brows was always giving her flowers and neat stuff," Naruto continued on. Shikamaru and Chouji exchanged glances, which read 'this-stupid-idiot-still-hasn't-figured-it-out-yet!'.

"And he's always chasing after her," Naruto rambled on, a very serious thinking expression on his face. Ten-Ten, Kiba, and Ino sighed at the same time exasperatedly. Naruto finally raised a fist in the air.

"That's it! Sakura-chan HAS to be going with Thick Brows!" (Everyone falls anime-style).

"Hey everyone!" Turning towards the direction of the sound, everyone spotted Sakura, dressed in her pink dress with a smile on her face.

"Sakura!" Ino exclaimed.

"Am I late?" she asked.

"No, you just made it," Ino answered, smiling.

"Phew. That's good. Hey Ten-Ten and Hinata," Sakura said. Ten-Ten and Hinata waved back.

"Um, Naruto, just to tell you," Neji said to Naruto. "If you were referring 'Thick Brows' to Lee, he's not Sakura's partner. He's going with one of Ten-Ten's friends."

"Huh! Wait," Naruto exclaimed. "If he's not Sakura's partner, then WHO is!"

"Yo, scaredy-cat," said a low but familiar voice from behind him.

Spinning around, Naruto found himself staring into Sasuke's dark onyx eyes. Sasuke blinked.

"WHAAAAAAAATTTTT!"

"NARUTO!" BAM! Sakura hit him right on the head, causing a huge bruise to surface on top of his head like an apartment building. Everyone quickly took a step away from Sakura.

"Geez!" Sakura said, annoyed. "You didn't have to yell so loud you know!"

"Argh! Why you freakin' snake-in-the-grass!" Naruto yelled loudly, pointing at Sasuke. Everyone stared at him.

"What?" Sasuke stated plainly.

"You – you – you!" Apparently, Naruto couldn't think of a word to describe him, so he stood there stuttering away, still pointing a trembling hand at his friend.

"What's going on out here?" Everyone turned in the direction of the voice. It was Kurenai, dressed in a beautiful and long dark purple dress with a low kimono styled collar.

"Sensei," Hinata said, bowing towards her Jounin instructor.

"Sensei," Kiba and Shino said right after Hinata.

"Hello, Hinata, Kiba and Shino. My, you all look so beautiful and handsome today," Kurenai said, as she glanced at the students.

Naruto took finally took his eyes off Sasuke, still fuming with rage, as Kurenai walked up to them. "You students should go inside now. The dinner is about to begin and you still have to find seats."

With that, she turned towards the large entrance door and held it open as the students entered the building. The girls walked in first, with the boys following them in afterward. Naruto managed to squish along side of Sasuke, hissing into his ear, "You bastard! All this time, you wanted to take Sakura-chan to the dance! That's why you wouldn't let me carry her, you –"

"First of all, Kakashi was the one who assigned me to carry her," he hissed back, shooting a glare at Naruto's direction. "Second of all, I'm only going with her as a friend because she asked me first and I didn't have a partner yet-"

"Yeah right, you selfish jerk! You wanted her all along, and you just didn't want me to have her as my partner!" Naruto insisted. Sasuke glared at him, unable to answer right away.

No . . . that's not true, Uchiha. It can't be true, right? . . .

Flinching, with his heard pounding away like a drum, he muttered to Naruto, "Well, like it or not, it's already too late."

"WHY YOU—"

"Naruto! Please lower your voice!" Kurenai said firmly. "Please, enter," she told the students as they approached the entrance to the gym. It seemed dark inside and laughter and music could be heard.

Naruto glared at Sasuke one more time, this time in defeat, and walked into the gym with Hinata right beside him. Sakura finally finished her conversation with Ino and joined Sasuke.

"Isn't this fun, Sasuke-kun?" she asked with excitement. Sasuke glanced at her sideways, trying not to stare into her eyes for too long, and shrugged.

"Whatever," he replied flatly. "It's still a stupid dance to me."

Neji and Ten-Ten walked in after Ino and Shikamaru. Chouji, Kiba, and Shino found a table with enough seats for them and waved to the group to come over. Obviously, they had already met with their cousins and had ditched them once they had met with each other.

Many other young ninjas were around the gym socializing. Most of the Jounins were already there, looking after all the food and decorations for the dance.

"I can't wait to eat!" Chouji and Naruto both yelled coincidentally at once, as soon as everyone sat down.

"Just make sure you two leave enough food for everyone else," Kiba chuckled as Akamaru glanced around the table. Naruto and Hinata were sitting right next to each other, with Neji and Ten-Ten sitting next to Hinata and Sasuke and Sakura sitting next to Naruto. Ino and Shikamaru sat next to Sakura while Chouji, Kiba, and Shino sat right next to Shikamaru.

Ino looked around. The gym was beautifully decorated with dark curtains, streamers, and coloured lights. Above the ceiling, she had noticed that a disco ball was put up, even though it was not turned on yet. Many of the tables in the gym were already taken by other ninjas and most of the Jounins were sitting in a larger table especially reserved for them. Since the gym was extremely big, it had enough room to fit in many people, along with tables and chairs.

"I still don't get why we have to attend this dance," Shikamaru grumbled as he folded his hands around his chest. "I mean, not everyone likes to go to troublesome dances."

"I agree," Neji said. "I think it's a complete waste of time. But I guess ONE dance wouldn't hurt."

"Just as long as they don't make us do this again," Kiba agreed.

The girls exchanged glances with each other. Obviously, they were the only ones who were really excited about the dance.

"Well, it's not THAT bad, is it?" Sakura asked out loud. "I mean . . . you're not going to die or anything right?"

"It could be worse," Naruto said. "But I still don't like this idea of forcing us to go to a dance. Especially when they said that we had to find partners. I'm only excited about coming here because of all the food—"

Hinata stayed quiet as he went on. Obviously, she'd taken this comment the wrong way.

Naruto-kun . . . do you . . . d-do you . . . do you hate me . . . ? Are you saying that you don't like m-me being here with you? . . .

"But if Hinata hadn't agreed to go the dance with me, then I probably wouldn't be as happy as I am now."

Huh? Hinata turned to look at Naruto, her face completely red. Naruto grinned at her.

Bah-bump! Bah-bump! Her heart thumped loudly as her face felt very warm.

"N-Naruto-kun . . ." she finally managed to whisper out.

"Don't forget, Hinata! I still owe you for being my wonderful partner! If it weren't for you, then I'll probably be stuck with some weird girl. Thanks once again!" He grinned again.

"I . . . uh . . ." She could feel Neji's eyes resting on her as Naruto stared at her once again. "You . . . you're w-w-welcome."

When Naruto turned around to talk to Sasuke (or more like argue with him again about the 'Sakura partner' issue), Hinata turned to her cousin, who was smiling at her. She smiled back, embarrassed that he had witnessed her like this once again.

"Hey look, the Hokage is standing in the front. I think she's going to make an announcement or something," Kiba told the group. Looking towards the front of the gym, where all the long tables were with trays of food on them, everyone could see that the Hokage had stood up and was now waiting for the gym to settle down.

Finally, the noise died down, and everyone's focus was on the Hokage. Tsunade cleared her voice and smiled.

"Good evening everyone! Welcome! We're happy to let you know that our chefs have done an excellent job today into preparing delicious dinner dishes for us tonight."

There was a round of applause and a few whoops among the clapping. Tsunade smiled at Shizune, who was standing nearby, and continued on.

"Tonight, we won't act like ninjas! Instead, we will act like ourselves and socialize with each other. Please, enjoy the rest of your evening with all your friends. And don't forget to thank all the Jounins for helping with this event."

Another loud round of applause filled the gymnasium. Tsunade stepped back and walked next to Shizune as one of the Jounins took her place in the front.

"We will be calling up a few tables at once in order to get food. A sushi platter will be put on each table momentarily. Please wait for the call for seconds if you would like more food." With that, the gym once again filled with the noises of chattering, the clattering of dishes, and the sound of soft but comfortable music.


30 minutes later, everyone was eating the delicious food that was cooked for them.

"Man, this is life!" Naruto said, as he held up a chicken drumstick in one hand and a fork with a fish ball in the other.

"Now they should do this more often," Chouji agreed, stuffing a forkful of noodles into his mouth.

"Ai. Is food the only thing you ever think about all day?" Ino sighed, taking a sip of pop.

"You know, the Hokage's really nice to let us do this type of thing," Ten-Ten piped up. "Normally, all we ever do are missions and other ninja-related things, but this is rather pleasant for a change."

Hinata nodded in agreement timidly.

"Heh. Is this dance actually that meaningful to you girls?" Kiba snorted as he gave Akamaru a piece of chicken.

"Well, YEAH!" Sakura, Ino, and Ten-Ten exclaimed at once. Hinata nodded quickly this time, with a firm look on her face.

"Well, may I ask for what reason is it so important?" Neji asked, glancing at the girls.

"Well . . . uh . . . I . . . uh . . ."

"Uh . . . actually . . . um . . ."

"W-ell . . . it's a-actually . . . hm . . ."

". . . . . ."

Secretly, each girl had been hoping to finally spend time with the one they loved. For many times, they had been daydreaming about the possible ways of possibly uniting with that one special person. And the dance seemed like the only and meaningful thing for such a thing to occur.

All the guys stared at the girls as their faces turned into deep shades of pink, just like Hinata's face. No one had given a straight answer to Neji's question and each one was still stuttering or daydreaming about their real answer to that question.

"Who knows," Shikamaru muttered as he ate a piece of sushi with crab meat and wasabi.

Sasuke didn't speak to Sakura through the whole dinner. In fact, he hardly spoke at all. The only time he had actually spoken was when Naruto had argued with him again about the whole 'Sakura-partner' issue.

"Just drop it," he had answered in annoyance when the two of them had come back first from getting their first dish of food. "I agreed to be Sakura's partner because she asked me to and that's final."

"Hm . . ." Naruto had observed him for a moment, and then with a sly grin on his face, had hissed at him, "Sasuke, could it be possible that you actually have a crush on Sakura-chan?"

BAM!

Needless to say, Naruto had ended up on the floor with a bruise on his head.

"I told you already! I am only going with Sakura as a friend!" he had snapped once he had sat down.

"Owww . . . okay . . . okay . . . I give up. . ."

Sasuke was actually pretty lucky that only he and Naruto were present at that moment when Naruto had questioned him about him liking Sakura. He tried to ignore what Naruto had questioned him for the rest of the dinner when the others had returned to eat.

But that question still pondered in his mind as he silently listened to the conversations of his friends and classmates.

"Sasuke, could it be possible that you actually have a crush on Sakura-chan?"

"Sasuke, you're in love with her, aren't you?"

No . . . that can't be truly possible . . . right?

He felt his heart flutter as he felt a bit uneasy. Looking sideways, he saw that Sakura was talking to Ino again, smiling. That dress fitted her very well, and it did make her appearance look more beautiful.

What the hell! Did I just admit to myself that Sakura looks pretty?

Dread filled his heart as he turned away from her and stared down at his now empty plate.

" . . . you're in love with her, aren't you . . ."

" . . . you actually have a crush on Sakura-chan . . ."

DAMMIT! I don't love her! I can't love her! She means NOTHING, I repeat, NOTHING to me!

Sasuke's hands clenched against his knees from below the table cloth. Then he heard a single voice within his mind.

But if you don't love her, then why do you keep thinking about her?

For a moment, the world around him stayed quiet. The music seemed to have faded and all the conversations around him seemed to have muted. The only thing he could hear was his heart beat.

I . . . don't love her . . . yet . . . I keep thinking . . . about her . . .? Why? Am I . . . am I just lying to myself?. . . Or is it something else?

He stood up. Sakura glanced at him.

"Sasuke-kun?" He didn't turn towards her.

"I'll be back," he muttered under his breath. He pushed in his chair and walked off.

"Wait, Sasuke-kun!" she tried to call him back again, but he didn't turn back.

"Wonder what's eating him," Naruto mumbled through a mouthful of cookie. Sakura looked at Naruto, then glanced back at the direction Sasuke had gone off.


Sasuke walked outside the gym and into the school hallway. Wandering through it, he walked down farther and farther until he was right in front of the front door, away from all the noise inside the gym.

Placing a hand against the door, he pushed it and opened it. Stepping outside of the school building, he walked slowly towards the large tree with the swing set in the school entrance.

It was pretty quiet outside. No one was in sight. Slowly walking up to the tree, he placed a hand on the old swing set, and leaned against the tree, sighing miserably.

Why . . . why am I still feeling like this? I've come to a decision and I will follow that decision. So, why am I so hesitant to go on? What is keeping me back?

He clenched his fist.

Could it possibly . . . be that I . . . I . . .

"What are you doing out here, Sasuke?" a voice suddenly said. Sasuke remained silent for a while before he answered the voice. Once again, he tried to act like he was not surprised, although this time he could not do it as calmly as he usually did.

". . . Why are you so late again?" he shot back. Kakashi stepped out from the shadows, dressed fully in a black and white suit with a dark blue tie. Sasuke didn't turn to face Kakashi, but rather turned his body slightly in the opposite direction of his teacher, frowning.

"Well, as you know, I was on my way here and then some a pretty girl asked me to go and rescue her cat from a tree," Kakashi said cheerfully. "But that doesn't explain why you are out here when everyone else is partying inside."

Sasuke didn't answer him, but sighed. Kakashi looked into the now darkening sky, his back towards Sasuke.

"Have you considered your decision yet, Sasuke?" he asked after a moment of silence, staring up into the sky. "You must have realized by now that whatever you do now can greatly affect your future."

Sasuke glanced sideways at his teacher, who was now staring at the sky.

"What do you-" he started to say, but Kakashi cut him off.

"Stop pretending Sasuke," Kakashi murmured. "I know you well, and what you're doing right now is totally pointless. Stop lying to yourself. You know you've fallen for Sakura-"

"SHUT UP! Just shut up!" Sasuke shouted. "I am NOT in love with her! So stop acting like you know me and just shut up!"

"Sasuke," Kakashi said calmly, ignoring his pupil's deadly stare. "Calm down. Ai, you get riled up so easily." Kakashi averted his stare to the swing set as Sasuke panted, breathless from yelling.

He could feel his face grow warm as he panted. What's wrong with you, Uchiha? Why are you so tensed up today?

Leaning back onto the tree once more, he lowered his head, frustrated. After a few minutes of pure silence, Kakashi sighed.

"You're planning on leaving Konoha, aren't you, Sasuke?"

Awkward silence once again filled the atmosphere. Kakashi spoke up again after another minute of silence.

"If you are still planning to kill Itachi, Sasuke, then I must tell you this: revenge won't reward you in anyway. Those who seek revenge are of the worse kind. I've seen many incidents which resulted from revenge, and believe me, it wasn't a pretty sight."

Sasuke's head drooped down as he stared onto the ground.

"I know. But that's the only reason I exist here. I was born to be an avenger, and nothing can ever stop me. That's why I'm leaving."

Sasuke looked at his Jounin instructor, who looked back at him. Kakashi shook his head.

"Sasuke, are you that afraid of falling in love?" he asked. Sasuke's eyes darkened. "Is that the real reason why you've decided to go with that choice of revenge and leave Konoha?"

". . . . . . ."

The wind blew, whisking back Sasuke's black hair and blowing it to one side. He allowed his hair to sway in the wind, before he turned his head to one side and back to the other, his hair settling back in to place and away from the front of his eyes.

He felt his pulse quicken. He turned away from his instructor.

Curse you, Kakashi. Always interfering with my problems . . . Wait. What the hell am I saying? Sakura means nothing to me! Nothing! So why am I scared of falling in l

"I can't force you to choose a path, Sasuke," Kakashi murmured. "But whatever path you choose, make sure it's the one you really want to go down. Not all paths are pleasant." With that, he walked past Sasuke slowly and headed towards the door.

Sasuke remained silent, deep in thought.

I am making the right choice, aren't I? But if so, then why am I still regretting it? Am I this weak!

"Well, might as well go in," Kakashi said cheerfully once again as he stood in front of the front entrance. "The Hokage's probably going to scream at me for being late, but it's better than not showing up at all."

Sasuke watched as his teacher walked towards the door and open it. Kakashi turned back to his pupil and nodded his head towards Sasuke, motioning him to go inside.

Sasuke frowned, then finally sighed and walked into the school with Kakashi right behind him.


"Wow. Look at all the girls dancing," Kiba chuckled as loud music rang through the speakers.

After the last dishes were collected, the long tables which were holding the food were put away and a DJ arrived. As soon as the mikes and equipment were set up, the DJ had immediately put on a fast song. 30 minutes later, half of the students were dancing on the dance floor. The other half were either just sitting in their seats chatting to each other or they were just listening to the music.

"Come on," Sakura and Ino had said. "Let's go!" The two girls then dragged Ten-Ten and Hinata up to the dance floor with them. Then they jumped around, dancing and laughing at the same time.

The guys however, were all sitting together at the same table, and were only observing the dancers or talking with each other.

"Hinata seems to be having a great time," Naruto said, as he glanced at the smiling Hyuuga girl. Neji smiled at that. But what Naruto had said was true indeed. For the first time, he had actually seen Hinata enjoying herself in such a social event.

"Say, Naruto?"

"Yeah, Shikamaru?"

"What happened to Uchiha?"

"Sasuke? Hm . . . I really don't know." Naruto looked around for a bit, then spotted his friend. "There he is! OY! SASUKE!"

Sasuke looked up, a bit annoyed at being called from across the room.

"Where did you go?" Naruto asked as soon as Sasuke sat down.

". . . . . ." Sasuke didn't answer him, but turned to look at the bunch of people dancing. He immediately spotted Sakura, along with Ino, Ten-Ten and Hinata.

"Yo! Naruto!"

"Eh! Kakashi-Sensei! You actually came!" Naruto exclaimed, as Sasuke quickly adverted his eyes away from Sakura.

"Enjoying yourselves so far?" Kakashi asked the boys at the table. A few shrugged while the others half-nodded.

"Well, it could be worse," Neji murmured as Kakashi walked away cheerfully. "They could be forcing us to dance or something-"

"NEJI!"

"Huh?" Neji was shocked to find Gai Sensei right behind him, with his usual sparkling smile and super shiny bobbed hair. Almost everyone at the table immediately anime-sweatdropped as Gai did another 'nice-guy-pose'.

Neji sighed. Now what?

"Neji!"

"What . . . ?"

"Why are you not enjoying yourself! This is the time where you young people should experience the joys of youth—"

"I didn't even want to come here in the first place," Neji grumbled, shaking his head.

Gai observed him for a moment, then suddenly noticed that the DJ had switched on the slow song, "First Love" by Utadu Hikaru (one of my favourite songs by the way). The sparkle on his smile gleamed once again as an idea suddenly struck him. Neji noticed the extra sparkle that had appeared on his sensei's smile and stared at him with a raised eyebrow.

Hm?

". . . !"

Before Neji could react, Gai had taken him by the shoulders and was now pushing him onto the dance floor.

"Gai! What are you doing!" Neji exclaimed, still shocked at what was happening. The guys all gawked at him as Gai pushed him onto the dance floor.

"I see that you still haven't experience the true joys of youth," Gai said, continually pushing his stubborn student across the dance floor. "Therefore, I will force you to do one of the great pleasures of youth: you will dance with a girl!"

"What!"

"Holey! Is he actually forcing Neji to dance!" Naruto said, completely astounded as he watched Neji from the table, just like everyone else.

"Looks like it," Shino murmured.

Back on the dance floor, Gai looked around, then spotted his target and pushed Neji across to the dance floor.

"I am NOT going to do something so ridiculous!" Neji snapped at Gai.

"Nonsense! You're mature enough to handle something as youthful and as joyful as this," Gai said, flashing another brilliant smile.

Before Neji could snap at his instructor again, he suddenly spotted a familiar person a little bit ahead of him. He felt his face flush suddenly.

"Wait a minute! You don't mean –"

"Don't worry Neji! This is youth!"


Ten-Ten giggled. She had been jumping around, dancing with Ino, Sakura, and Hinata for almost half an hour now.

"Wow! I can't believe this is so fun," Ino replied, laughing. "And the guys are probably still moping about why they had come here in the first place."

"You want to go back to sit down for a little bit before we come back?" Sakura suggested.

"Yeah sure," Ten-Ten answered. She actually wanted to dance some more, but sitting down for a little bit wouldn't hurt much.

Hinata walked next to her as Sakura and Ino walked ahead of them. They passed through a very packed group of dancers and walked through the parts of the dance floor where there were less people. Sakura and Ino had already gone ahead of them.

Suddenly, Hinata tapped on Ten-Ten's arm. Turning her head to the right, she was extremely surprised to see Neji, being pushed behind from Gai Sensei. He looked extremely annoyed and embarrassed.

"N-Neji?" she stuttered.

"Um . . . I uh . . ." he murmured.

"Ten-Ten, I shall leave this gentleman here with you," Gai said smiling again. With that, he gave Neji a firm-push and he stumbled forward towards Ten-Ten.

Ten-Ten, surprised to suddenly see Neji come towards her, quickly held up her hands and 'caught' him by the shoulders before he crashed into her. Hinata watched with interest as Neji murmured an apology and absentmindedly place his hand on Ten-Ten's wrist, her hands still on his shoulders.

"Sorry," Neji had murmured to her as he placed a hand around her left wrist.

"It's okay," she answered as he straightened up. She stared into his eyes, as he stared back into hers.

An image of her dancing with him suddenly flashed through her mind.

She suddenly realized that her hands were still on his shoulders and that they were still staring at each other, in the same position they had been five seconds ago.

Neji suddenly became aware of this fact too. He carefully took his hand of Ten-Ten's wrist as she took her hands of his shoulders.

"Sorry," they said at the same time. Ten-Ten smiled at that, trying to hold back her giggling as Neji's face turned red. He suddenly became aware of the fact that Gai and Hinata were still watching them. He knew that Gai wasn't going to leave them alone until he had asked her that one question.

He sighed and took a deep breath. Still can't believe I'm actually doing this . . . but what the heck? Here goes –

Determined to ignore Gai's stare and Hinata's eyes, he firmly stared into Ten-Ten's eyes, trying very hard not to look away.

"Ten-Ten," he said nervously.

"Yes?" she answered, staring innocently into his eyes. Her face was starting to glow pink.

He cleared his throat. "W-Would you . . . would you l-l-like to dance with m-me?" he said.

Ten-Ten's eyes blinked once as her mind almost exploded.

She felt her heart thumping against her throat.

Is this a dream! IS THIS REAL! Could this really be HAPPENING!

She quickly snapped out of her thinking. Neji now looked at her with a slightly awkward expression.

I have to say something quick, even if this IS a dream, otherwise he'll think that I'm rejecting him! Quick! Say something!

"Y-yes," she said, her voice slightly quiet. She decided to repeat herself again, so that Neji would know that she was serious about her answer. "Yes, I would like to dance with you."

Neji looked at her, relieved at her answer. He suddenly felt as if a huge weight was lifted off his heart. He smiled at her, shyly. Ten-Ten smiled back, a new sense of hope in her eyes.

Quickly glancing sideways, Neji caught the sight of two people dancing. The boy had his arms around the girl's waist while the girl had her arms around his neck. He knew that they couldn't go into something like that so quickly, so he turned back to Ten-Ten and very carefully, placed both hands around her waist. Ten-Ten fidgeted at first, uncomfortable and awkward with this sudden new motion, but very slowly, adjusted to it with a new feeling of comfort. She placed her hands onto Neji's shoulders, very close to his neck, but not around them just yet, so that he wouldn't get the idea that she was wishing for so long to dance with him. I'll just have to play it cool, so that he wouldn't get uncomfortable around me. If I speed things too much, I might scare him off, she thought as they looked into each other's eyes again. She could feel herself warming up and her cheeks growing hotter and hotter.

Finally, Ten-Ten moved forwards with her feet, allowing Neji to move back. Then Neji moved forwards again, while Ten-Ten moved back. Pretty soon, the two moved in time slowly with the music, as they slowly circled around each other.

Gai flashed a thumbs-up from the side and slowly faded away as he left the two alone. Hinata smiled, happy for her cousin and nodded towards him.

Neji caught Hinata's eye and nodded back. With that, she turned around and left the pair alone to enjoy themselves.

Neji's mind filled with peace as he looked into Ten-Ten's eyes. I can't believe it . . . I . . . I'm actually dancing with a GIRL for the first time! And that girl is Ten-Ten . . . His heart was still pounding as loud as a drum, but now, he felt a bit less awkward dancing, as they continued dancing to the slow song.

Neither one spoke for at least twenty seconds until Ten-Ten finally broke the spell.

"Have you ever done this before?" Ten-Ten asked shyly, as she let her hands move a bit closer to his neck.

"Heck no," he answered. "Have you?"

"No." Neji felt his face grow even hotter as she leaned close to him. She didn't stop leaning forwards until her mouth was next to his ear. "But I'm so glad that you're the first boy I have ever danced with," she whispered into his ear. Neji's eyes grew wide as he felt Ten-Ten rest her head onto his shoulder, her arms now wrapping around his neck.

Why . . . why am I feeling this . . . this feeling? Is this what love feels like?. . .

He gently closed his arms around her waist. As the love song continued to play, each one felt as if they were in heaven.


At that same moment, Sakura, Ino, and Hinata had arrived back at the table.

It wasn't long before the whole group could see that Neji had asked Ten-Ten to dance and was dancing with her.

"I can't believe Neji would be the first one to make a move," Naruto blurted out as he watched Neji dance with Ten-Ten.

"I never even thought he would even dance at all," Ino sighed as she thought of how lucky Ten-Ten was to dance with the guy of her dreams.

"Speaking of dance," Kiba said loudly as he elbowed Shikamaru in the ribs.

"Huh?" Shikamaru had been praying with all his heart that Kiba would have forgotten about him dancing with Ino, but it turned out that no one did. Chouji and Shino now stared at him as well. Shikamaru gulped.

"It's YOUR turn, lazy bum!" Kiba exclaimed as he stood up, his shadow hovering over Shikamaru.

"My turn for what?"

"YOUR TURN TO DANCE, you idiot!"

"Shikamaru, come on! Stop pretending you don't know anything when really you've been thinking about it all this time," Chouji chuckled.

"But dance with who?"

"Who else?" Shino answered him. Shikamaru sighed. The answer was that obvious, wasn't it?

He quickly looked around for an escape route, but Kiba had his hands clamped tightly onto his shoulders. Shikamaru gulped once again as he looked up.

"You're not going anywhere, until you've danced with Ino," Kiba growled. Shikamaru sighed in defeat.

How troublesome . . .

"Now, you'd better start moving Romeo, unless you want to see some blood-"

"Okay, okay!" Shikamaru piped up in defeat. With Chouji and Kiba on both his sides, and Shino right behind him, a very nervous and rather freaked out Shikamaru walked over and approached Ino, who happened to be talking to Sakura. She had sat down onto the other side of the table and had just finished her glass of pop.

Ino looked up from her conversation with Sakura as Shikamaru walked towards her, with Kiba, Chouji, and Shino all surrounding him.

Huh? What is he doing? Is he going to ask me to –

"I know this is troublesome for you, but do you want to dance?" he asked, in his usual lazy voice.

Ino blinked. She didn't know why, but suddenly her heart seemed to have picked up its beating and she felt very shy. She felt her cheeks heat up like the speed of light as she stared at Shikamaru.

Why am I . . .? What's going on! This is only Shikamaru, not Sasuke-kun! But why . . . why am I reacting this way!

"Um, s-sure." She got up from her seat and together with Shikamaru, walked towards the dance floor. She could feel everyone's eyes on them and she could hear from behind that Kiba was whooping while Naruto was cheering.

Get a grip on yourself girl! She told herself as she and Shikamaru stopped and faced each other. This is just a dance with Shikamaru. It's nothing personal. That's it!

But the moment Shikamaru placed one hand on her waist, she jumped.

"What?" he asked when she moved away from him after he had attempted to place a hand on her waist.

"Oh! Nothing! I'm sorry," she murmured as she walked back to him. She tried not to feel awkward as she felt his hands around her waist. Quickly, she placed her hands around his neck without thinking. She didn't look at him until they finally moved to the beat.

The moment their eyes met, neither one could break out of the eye contact they held. Ino was so shocked at herself when she found that she could not stop staring into Shikamaru's eyes.

She looked away finally when Shikamaru shifted his gaze away from her for just a moment. But as they danced, Ino found herself staring into his eyes and turning away from them every time they made eye contact for even three seconds.

"Are you trying to avoid me or something?" Shikamaru asked a little while later after they moved to the beat. He had noticed her looking away. Ino blushed a shade deeper.

"No, I'm not. It's just that . . . It's not like that at all!" she said, with feeling in her voice. Shikamaru blinked at that.

Ino quickly looked down as she felt her face flush again.

"It's just that . . . well . . . I never thought I'd be dancing with you, that's all," she said softly. Shikamaru however took this the wrong way.

"Hm. Well, I'm sorry I'm not your Sasuke-kun, Ino. I only asked to dance with you because you looked like you wanted to dance with someone. You didn't have to agree to this," he murmured. He backed a little away from her. "I can always transform myself to look like Uchiha—"

"No. It's nothing like that. Sasuke-kun is Sasuke-kun, but you are you."

Shikamaru stayed quiet for a while. Ino immediately realized that she had said something wrong.

"I'm sorry, but that didn't come out right," she said. "What I meant to say was that, well . . . um . . . lately, I've been thinking about Sasuke-kun and . . . well . . . you. And I've found myself comparing you to Sasuke-kun. Even though Sasuke-kun may be a genius, or the hottest guy in school, or even the dream guy I had always wished for, I have come to realize one thing."

"And that would be?" Shikamaru asked.

"It was you who treated me like a friend, not him."

"Really? Like how?" he asked, as they moved a bit closer together unconsciously.

"You always believed in me," she answered gently. She looked into his eyes again, and for once, Shikamaru could see sincerity in those eyes. "You always trusted me and you were always nice to me, even though I was always acting like a jerk to you. I was always insulting you and saying how you weren't like Sasuke-kun when really, all this time, you were the one who was nice to me. Not Sasuke-kun."

They stayed quiet for moment as they listened to the slow song, not looking at each other.

Why did I just say those things! Is it . . . no . . . but why do I feel this way towards Shikamaru?

Finally, Shikamaru chuckled. Ino looked at him, curious.

"Ino, no matter what I do, I'll always be a lazy bum. I never even thought you would think of me as someone who would trust you." Ino flushed at that, then felt her heart go at ease when Shikamaru said, "Thank you."

Ino smiled. She moved closer to him, and this time he didn't move away. "You lazy ass!" she joked.

"Hey, I'll always be troublesome for someone as pretty as you," he laughed. Then he realized that he had just said that she was pretty and immediately blushed. Ino's cheeks were now as red as Hinata's own cheeks.

He said I was pretty! Could it be that he doesn't hate me?

She laughed as she rested her chin onto Shikamaru's shoulder. Somehow, they ended up dancing like a couple, even though they were always arguing.


"Wow, Shikamaru looks so . . . different now when he's dancing with a girl," Kiba said, scratching his head.

"It looks really funny seeing him dance in the first place," Chouji laughed. "But I have to admit that he actually looks okay dancing with Ino. If it were someone he was dancing with, then that would have been a totally different story."

Sakura, who happened to be sitting next to Naruto at that moment when Ino left, noticed that Hinata, who was sitting right beside Naruto, was staring down on the floor nervously. Sasuke, who was sitting right next to Sakura, was silent.

Sakura nudged at Naruto.

"What?" he asked her when he turned towards her.

"Why don't you ask Hinata to dance?" she whispered into his ear.

"Hm? Me dance with her? Well," he said as he scratched the back of his neck. "I would like to, but I don't know how to dance. And if I make a fool of myself in front of her, then she might hate me-"

"You idiot! You'd better ask her quick, otherwise she'll think that you don't want to dance with her. Oh my goodness, you're so slow! Why would she hate you? Well, you DO want to dance with her, don't you?"

"W-ell, um . . . yeah. She's so nice to me all the time, I feel like I should do something back for her."

"Then ask her to dance!"

"But I don't know how to dance!"

"Just look at what Shikamaru and Neji are doing, and just follow them," Sakura hissed back. "Hurry up!"

"Um . . ." Naruto stared at his friends dancing for a few seconds, then finally smiled. "Okay then."

Sakura smiled back.

Naruto turned towards Hinata, who turned to glance at him when she noticed that he had turned towards her.

"Hinata, you want to dance too?" he asked excitedly. Hinata felt her heart pound against her throat as words ran through her mind like the speed of light.

He wants to dance with me . . . .! He wants to dance with me . . . .! Oh my goodness! Wh-what should I d-do?

"W-w-w-w-ell, I – I – I . . . um . . . I . . . uh . . ." Naruto stared at her innocently as she stuttered with her answer. Hinata squeezed her eyes tight as she felt her entire face change colour.

"Y-y . . . y-y-y-e-s-s-s-s-s ," she finally managed to sputter out.

"Yay!" Naruto grinned as he stood up. "I'm so glad you didn't turn me down." With that he grabbed her hand, and dragged her out of the chair before she could react. Hinata found herself following him quickly from behind as he pulled her hand.

They finally stopped after they walked through the dance floor. They were close to Neji and Ten-Ten, and Ino and Shikamaru.

"Okay," Naruto said as he turned towards Hinata, who felt her stomach swirl. "I'm sorry if I'm a bad dancer, because this is my first time dancing with a girl, so I will do my best."

"Naruto-kun . . ." Before she could react, Naruto had put his hands around her waist and was holding her close to him. Hinata put her hands near his neck as he smiled at her.

She felt a bit dizzy, due to the stuff atmosphere, but she could not stop staring into Naruto's eyes.

They slowly moved to the song, Naruto trying to avoid stepping on her feet.

"I'm sorry," Naruto said for the third time, when he had accidentally stepped on her feet.

"It's o-okay," she said nervously, trying to smile. Naruto grinned back at her. After a little while, they were actually dancing smoothly, as they moved in time with the music.

"I can't believe it: I'm actually dancing with you!" he said softly as Hinata stared at him again. "I never thought you would be so nice as to not reject me. All the girls seem to hate me, but you're always so nice to me. It makes me very happy."

"R-r-really?"

"Yup. I like that about you. You don't hate me. And even though I'm always so annoying, you never treat me as if I'm an annoying person."

"O-oh. Th-t-thank you, N-N-Naruto-kun," she said shyly as she looked down, flattered.

Naruto suddenly stepped forward and wrapped his arms all around her waist. They were so close that Hinata could actually rest her head on his shoulder. Her eyes were glimmering as her cheeks kept changing different shades of red and pink.

"N-Naruto-kun?"

"Hm?"

"I . . . I . . ."

"What's wrong?" he asked, his breath against her neck.

Hinata bit down on her lip and sighed. "Oh . . . it's nothing."

She had almost told him that she liked him.


"Hey! Tsunade!"

"Hm?" Tsunade looked up at the call of her voice. "Jiraiya! You actually came!"

"Heck yeah," he said, dressed in his usual clothes. "Couldn't miss seeing all the pretty ladies here." Tsunade anime-sweatdropped as she thought in her head, Pervert!

"So um . . . you enjoying yourself so far?" she asked.

"Yeah. It's so nice to finally see the young students here have some time to interact with each other," he said smiling, as he spotted Hinata and Naruto dancing.

"I agree," Tsunade replied as she took a sip of sake. "I though I'd give them a break. They've been working pretty hard for Konoha. That goes for all the Jounins too."

"Yeah. So . . . um . . . you want to dance?"

Tsunade pretended to be surprised, even though secretly, she had been expecting this question from him.

"Sure. Why not? It's been a while since a woman like me has had the chance to dance with anyone," she smiled, as she and Jiraiya joined hands onto the dance floor.

They danced to the music for a bit, before Jiraiya said, "Do you still remember the first time I asked you to dance?"

"Hmph! Oh yeah. You kept stepping all over my feet and I ended up having to ice my feet that whole night," Tsunade laughed in remembrance of the memory.

Behind them, Jounin instructors Kurenai and Asuma, and Genma and Shizune were dancing.


Sakura sighed. Everyone seemed to be having a great time dancing, while she was just sitting in her chair. Kiba, Chouji, and Shino had left the table to go wander about in the gym, so that she was now alone with Sasuke at the table.

She was debating with herself whether or not she should ask Sasuke to dance with her. But since she had said that they were going to the dance as friends, she was expecting that he would probably turn her down. Besides, he wasn't the type to do this type of thing.

Sakura looked down at the floor as she listened to Utadu Hikaru's song. The words of the song played itself over and over again in her head.

(this is the first chorus in the real song)

"You are always gonna be my love
Itsuka dareka to mata koi ni ochitemo
I'll remember to love
You taught me how
You are always gonna be the one
Ima wa mada kanashii love song
Atarashi uta utaeru made"

Ai . . . if only that would be the same for me, she thought, slightly depressed. Hm . . . maybe I should just give it a try, even though he's probably going to turn me down.

She glanced sideways at Sasuke, who happened to be staring at the floor. He looked as if he was deep in thought again. Sakura cleared her throat and turned towards him.

"Say, Sasuke-kun?"

He looked up at that.

"I . . . um . . . well, actually I was just wondering." She nervously tugged at her dress as Sasuke stared at her.

"What?" he murmured.

"Well, uh . . . you don't have to say yes, but I was just wondering if you would like to dance with me."

Sakura felt herself regretting what she had just asked him the moment he looked at her, eyebrows slightly narrowed.

I guess that's a no . . . why did I ask him in the first place? It would have been better if I didn't ask him at all!

Sasuke meanwhile, knew that he should refuse. But Sakura's innocent eyes stopped him from answering her right away.

His heart pulled at him and he felt his hands tremble slightly.

Uchiha, do what you're supposed to do. Don't let yourself be pulled into it. You don't have an option.

He sighed after a few seconds. Sakura stared at him questionably.

Sasuke was about to shake his head when suddenly a voice said, "Sakura-san!"

Turning his head towards the voice, Sasuke saw that it was Lee who was standing in front of them. He immediately felt his eyes narrow, for no reason.

"Lee!" Sakura said, smiling.

"Sakura-san, I see that your ankle seems to have healed," Lee said, smiling. He was dressed in a black suit with a black tie.

"Yes, it recovered so much today compared to when I first hurt it," she answered. "Thank you for your concern."

"Say, Sakura-san," Lee said, taking a step towards Sakura. "Would you like to dance?"

" ? " Sasuke immediately felt his heart shudder. He watched in horror as Sakura smile shyly, completely flattered about being asked to dance. She seemed to be reconsidering her decision, and she glanced sideways with a concerned look to him, as if to ask him, "Do you mind?"

His heart beat increased as his jaw clenched. He could feel his fists tightening, for some unknown reason.

What's . . . what's happening to me? Why am I acting like this?

Without knowing how, he felt his body stand up and face Lee.

Lee and Sakura stared at him in surprise. Sasuke stared at Lee.

"Sorry, Lee," he muttered. "But Sakura's my partner. I can't let you dance with her."

"S-Sasuke-kun?" Sakura blurted out, completely surprised with his reaction. Lee seemed to be a bit taken back by his response. No one would have thought that Sasuke would have said something like that. Even Sasuke himself was surprised by his own reaction. He glared at Lee for a little bit, before Lee finally came back to his senses and got the picture.

"O-oh. I'm sorry. Please forgive my rudeness, Sasuke. Sorry, Sakura-san, but it seems that I will not be able to dance with you."

"Huh? O-oh." Sakura seemed a bit embarrassed by Lee's response. Lee smiled at her.

"I'll see you later then, Sakura-san!" he said as he walked away, a bit disappointed. Sakura was still too shocked to respond and watched Lee disappear into the crowd of dancing people.

She then remembered that Sasuke was still standing next to her, glaring at the direction Lee had just gone off.

"Sasuke-kun?" she said softly. He was looking down. Concerned, Sakura turned her head so that she could see his face. He seemed to be still clenching his teeth. Sakura stared at him worriedly. "Sasuke-kun?"

Finally, he squeezed his eyes shut once and looked up to Sakura. His jaw was no longer clenched, and his piercing onyx eyes stared into her green ones.

"You said . . . you wanted to . . . dance . . . right?" he said, his voice slightly hoarse.

" . . . . . . Yeah. But if you don't want to, then it—"

"No. I've changed my mind." He looked away from her for two seconds before he turned his head back to her, and held up a hand, extended towards her. His cheeks were slightly pink, and he seemed to look nervous.

Sakura looked down at his hand, speechless. Soon, her eyes widened in realization as a smile slowly broke across her face. Very carefully, she placed her hand into Sasuke's extended one, and they walked to the dance floor together.

What the hell are you doing, Uchiha!

Sasuke felt extremely uneasy as he found himself stopping at the dance floor and turning to Sakura, who still couldn't believe what was happening.

Sakura waited for Sasuke to move first, as she stared at him, her green eyes shimmering brightly.

Slowly and rather reluctantly, Sasuke reached out with his right hand and placed it around Sakura's waist. He could feel his heart leaping into his throat, and he almost felt queasy.

What . . . what's wrong with me? I still can't believe why the hell I'm doing this . . . but . . .

Forcing himself to move, Sasuke placed his left hand around the other side of Sakura's waist and moved in closer. Sakura, seeing that Sasuke had placed both hands around her waist reached up and placed her arms near his neck on the shoulders.

Still looking into each other's eyes, Sakura stepped forward and Sasuke moved back. It all seemed like a dream.

I don't believe it! I'm dancing with Sasuke-kun! It's just like . . . Sakura thought as she danced with Sasuke.

. . . the dream, Sasuke realized as he danced with Sakura.

The world around them seemed distant, and the music seemed to fill their ears. Everyone near them grew blurry as Sasuke and Sakura's eyes locked on with each other.

I . . . don't understand. Why can't I stop staring at her? She means nothing to me! NOTHING! So . . . why am I reacting like this? And why am I doing this?

Sakura could only blink as their eyes locked gazes.

Is . . . is this real? Or is this yet another dream . . .? Dream . . .

" ! " A sudden image of the Sharingan in her nightmare suddenly flashed through her mind like a bolt of lightning. She shuddered. Sasuke eyed at her as she broke away her eye contact, for the first time since they danced.

Uchiha Itachi . . .That's right, Sakura remembered. Sasuke-kun . . . he still wants to kill him . . .

The flashback of Sasuke first telling Team 7 his goals in his life replayed itself in her head.

"I have an ambition: the resurrection of my clan and to kill a certain man."

She knew very well that he would stop at nothing to kill the man he hated so much. But –

What if he never comes back . . . alive?

The image of Itachi plunging a kunai into Sasuke's head in her nightmare haunted her once again.

Sasuke-kun . . . I don't want to lose him . . . No . . . I don't. Not like this. I don't want to lose him . . . he means everything to me . . . I must convince him to stop pursuing his ambition of killing Itachi . . . I don't want to see him get hurt anymore . . . I don't want him to be alone any more . . . I just wish that . . . I can tell him that . . .that I care about him. But how can I tell him? . . .

"Sakura?"

"Hm?" Sakura turned back towards Sasuke, who was once again staring at her weirdly.

"Are you . . . are you okay?" he asked, eying at her.

"Yeah. I'm . . . I'm okay." She fought back a sudden emotion running through her, and bit her lip. Instead, she wrapped her arms tighter around his neck now, and stepped closer to him. He didn't move away.

Sasuke observed her for a moment, as they continued dancing to the love song. She looked distracted and in a way, timid. He looked away from her for a few seconds.

She's got that strange look in her eyes again . . . just like earlier, when I went to pick her up . . . Is she lying?

"Sasuke-kun . . ."

"Huh?" Sasuke looked down to see Sakura staring at him. Her eyes seemed to be brimming with tears. Sasuke could only stare at her.

Sakura . . .

The moment they locked gazes, it felt like they were in the dream again. That one dream where they were both dancing under the romantic moonlight, with their arms around each other.

Sakura stared into his raven eyes. Those handsome black raven eyes . . .

The world stood still around them. The Sharingan image disappeared from her mind, as well as the nightmare. Her heart pounded as her cheeks began to fill with colour.

Sasuke-kun . . . I don't want to lose you, ever! You mean so much to me. That's why . . . I want to tell you . . . that I care about you. I want to tell you to stop pursuing Itachi so that you will be able to live in peace . . . . I want . . . I want to tell you that I love you. I love you oh so much. Should I . . . should I tell you now? . . .

As she stared into Sasuke's eyes, she felt warmer again. Her heart pounded loudly as their eyes stayed locked on with each other's. Only the words of "First Love" could be heard at that moment.

"You will always be inside my heart
Itsumo anata dake no basho ga aru kara
I hope that I have a place in your heart too
Now and forever you are still the one
Ima wa mada kanashii love song
Atarashii uta utaeru made

You are always gonna be my love
Itsuka dareka to mata koi ni ochitemo
I'll remember to love
You taught me how
You are always gonna be the one
Mada kanashii love song
Now & forever..."

Sasuke-kun . . . you will always be inside my heart . . . you are always gonna my love . . . and you are always gonna be the one . . .

She took a deep breath as her heart pounded like crazy. She felt a little dizzy from all the pressure.

I do want you to know that I love you . . . is now the time?

"Sasuke-kun . . . I . . . I . . ."

"Sa-Sakura . . ." Sasuke felt his own face flushing as he stared deeper into her eyes.

They were so close to each other now.

I . . . . . I don't know why . . . but I can't stop myself from . . . looking at her . . . Why? Does she actually mean something to me? Is that why?

Slowly, rather unconsciously, Sasuke leaned forwards towards Sakura as they looked even deeper into each other's eyes. He didn't know why, nor could he stop himself from doing so. It felt as if a magnet was slowly pulling them into each other. Their faces were soon only a few inches away from each other, and neither one could do anything but just stare, mesmerized. Their shadows now covered each other's faces and everyone around them seemed to have disappeared from their minds.

The only thing each one could hear now was the heart beat running through their body. The distance between them began to diminish, inch by inch.

Sakura could feel Sasuke's breath on her face.

"Sa-Sasuke-kun . . ." Sakura managed to breathe out, her face completely red. "I . . . I . . .—" She couldn't continue on anymore. She could only watch as they drew closer and closer to each other.

Just as their faces were only centimeters away from each other and their lips met, there was a brilliant flash.

Panicking, both Sakura and Sasuke quickly backed away from each other. They were back in reality.

"What was that?" Sakura shrieked as she rubbed her eyes. Sasuke rubbed his eyes also, then looked around, his vision covered with black blurs now. He finally spotted the culprit.

"Kakashi!" he growled. Kakashi stood a few meters away from them, waving.

"Yo! I'd just thought I would take some pictures of some our love bugs dancing here," he said, as he started to back away from the dance floor.

"Why that—" Sakura rambled on, holding a fist at Kakashi, who waved and disappeared. The entire mood was smashed apart by just that one flash.

"Ai. He must have some nerve, sneaking up on people like that," Sakura said, after she had calmed down. The slow song had now ended and was replaced by some fast song. Sasuke half-nodded. Both of them were still thinking about what had almost happened between them just a few minutes ago. Sakura finally snapped back into reality, and turned to Sasuke.

"Well, uh . . . thank you for dancing with me, Sasuke-kun. I hope you didn't mind too much," she murmured, face completely pink. She was still slightly dazed by what had happened just moments ago. "Let's go back to the table." Sasuke nodded, silent.

The only thing that was on his mind right now was what had happened to both him and Sakura, just a few minutes ago.

It was like . . . the dream.

No . . . this was more than just like that . . . dream . . . this was beyond what was the dream . . .

The scene of him and Sakura dancing, and that moment they had just then replayed itself over and over again in his head like a movie.

He was too dazed to feel angry, confused, or frustrated. He could only realize the one thing that had just happened to him: he had almost kissed Sakura.


Well, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Please forgive me if it was confusing, or too sappy! And I am extremely sorry if anyone was out-of-character! Next update will be late, due to a lot of tests and a project coming up in school! I will do my best! Please review and tell me what you thought! )