Disclaimer: (ok, I'm just going to start saying "standard").

Chapter 14: The First Sleepover of the New Year

It was an odd sort of first snow of the year that ever-so faithful January day. Hadn't school just started? Hadn't they just been counting down the days until it was winter break? Yes, indeed most had. Now, school would be starting again in a few days.

Sasuke walked along the road, listening to the snow churn under his feet. The snow was falling lightly, and some white flakes stayed in his dark hair, displaying them all the more. He was working again today. Usually he'd have taken his motorcycle, but upon discovering that it had been extremely cold last night, the whole thing was covered in a thin layer of ice. He hadn't had the patience to chip every single piece off, so decided to take a walking route instead.

Had he been in a better mood then we currently was in, he'd probably have turned at the second pair of footsteps heading towards him. "Sasuke-kun!" and then before he exactly knew what had hit him, he was face down in the snow, a rather heavy weight sitting on him. "Sasuke-kun! Sasuke-kun! Did you miss me?"

Sasuke shook the snow from his hair, and plastered on his very, very annoyed glare. Not that she could see it, as she was sitting on him. "Not the slightest," he replied coolly.

"Ah…that isn't very nice. At least seem somewhat happy I'm back safe and sound. Does the cool weather make you act cold as well?" Sakura had spoken without many breaks in between.

"Perhaps I'd be a bit cheerier if you'd get off of me."

"Oops." She immediately jumped up, and brushed the snow from her clothes. Sasuke followed suit, and took a look at the girl he hadn't seen in a couple of weeks. She'd changed a bit. For one, her hair was now shorter then it was. "So did you miss me?"

"And what makes you think my answer is going to change?" though it was more of a statement then a question. Sakura looked at him with saddened eyes, which he didn't notice, since he wasn't looking at her anyway. "Don't you have you boyfriend to go see anyway?"

"Neji-kun…isn't my boyfriend! I thought we were over this. But yes, I was going to see him. I thought I'd be nice and say hello to you though. Sorry for bothering you." She walked briskly past him. Great, he was screwing up again.

She stopped walking, upon getting whacked with a snowball at the back of the head. Emerald eyes glared back to the Uchiha, as he threw another ball up and down. "Ever since you went out with the Hyuuga, you've been wound up. It's not right for you." He caught up to her, and cast aside the snowball, "I'll walk you halfway. I need to get to work anyway." She was shocked at first; was Sasuke really offering such a thing? Deciding not to argue, she followed silently.

"Uh…thanks, Sasuke-kun," she said quietly once they reached the entrance to the village.

He gazed at her through the corner of his onyx eyes, "Sure, now get out of here." He pushed her head in an almost playful manner. Then he disappeared.

Sakura swallowed the lump in her throat and continued on her way. It wasn't that much further, thankfully. When she reached the gate, she saw a very familiar figure. "I…Ino!"

Her blond friend, who was bundled up as tightly as she was, smiled. "Hey, welcome back, Sakura. I wondered if you'd came back or not."

"Yeah…so what were you doing here anyway, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Nah, I just came over to talk to Hinata about a sleepover I'm having. She said she's busy though. But now that you're home, you can gladly come in her place."

"I feel so loved…" Sakura said dryly at being used as a replacement, "but sure, I'll come. When, where, and who?"

"Tomorrow, my place at 7. Who's coming? I guess whoever shows up…but really, you, me, and a few girls from school."

"Alright…I'll work it out somehow or another with my parents." She entered the gated property, "see you then, I suppose." They both bade farewell and parted. She knew, of course, the real reason why Hinata was busy (she'd experienced it with her own eyes). Bounding up the front steps and into the unlocked house, she removed her wet shoes and hung her coat. Now was the hard part; finding out where he exactly was in the house.

Luckily, she ran into one of the butlers, Walters. After being at the house on several occasions, she recognized some of the estate staff, and vice versa. "Welcome back, Mistress Sakura."

"Please, don't call me that, Walters-san. It makes me feel weird. Have you seen Neji-kun at all lately?"

"I believe the Young Master is in the lounge."

"Thanks," and then she ran off into the house. Sure enough, he was sitting on his favorite spot on the couch, some homework placed on the floor. He noticed her standing at the doorway, yet they both said nothing. Sakura just smiled, and waited for him to make the first move.

"Welcome home, Sakura."

Sakura had promised her mother she'd do her holidays' worth of homework all day tomorrow, because she wanted to meet her friends again. She'd finally persuaded her mom to let her go to Ino's place for the night. But since it was pretty far away, and the weather was rather cold to walk in, her mother reluctantly drove her.

"But didn't you have plenty of fun back home for vacation? Seeing Temari-san, and Gaara-kun and them?" her mother had asked on the way there.

"Sure I did. But I'm only a kid once, right? I can have fun still before the real work starts."

"You're hardly a kid anymore," commented her mother, as she watched her daughter step out of the car, and hop into the house.

Sakura was greeted by Ino's mother, who was closing up the family business, the flower shop. "Why hello, Sakura dear. Ino and her friends are already up in her room."

With a nod, the pink haired girl went up the stairs, and into the noisy room. She was greeted with a chorus of "Sakura-chan!" from most of them. There were about 6 of them, excluding her. And sitting in the corner, was none other then a girl with a head of buns.

"Hi guys," she responded cheerily, setting down her stuff, and joined in the conversation they were having. While doing so, she was thinking of something different. Wasn't Tenten usually the center of attention, or at least the one making all the conversation? Yet here she was sitting in a corner by herself.

Come to think of it, she'd been distancing herself a lot lately. Well, the last few weeks of school anyway. It was weird actually. She was especially cold towards certain people, and was often very snappy. Perhaps tonight she'd talk to her about it. She couldn't think about things any longer, as the bombardment with questions started. "So Sakura, where'd you go?"

"Who'd you see?"

"Was it warmer then here?" and so on.

Sakura held up her hands. "One at a time people! Okay, here's my two-week vacation cut into a few seconds. Went to see old friends who live south of here. Very nice seeing them, did stuff, blah, blah, blah. Yes, that's about it."

They all looked somewhat disappointed. "That's it? There must be something more! Like where'd you stay?"

"What are these friends like? Are they cooler then us?"

"Were any of them guys? Are they free?"

"Did you get laid?" everyone turned to the girl who had asked that. They all gave her a strange look. "What? It was an innocent question!" then they all ignored that.

"Chill! It isn't that exciting! I stayed with some family friends. But I usually slept over at my friends' homes."

They all continued chatting, while still in a corner, Tenten sat, holding a glass of ginger ale. She wasn't following the conversation at all. She was too busy thinking about other things. Everything was great those past two weeks. Mainly because there was no pink haired someone around. Yes, it was distressing her, this feeling of jealousy. Before that, they were becoming such good friends too. Wait a sec…she knew whose fault it really was! Yes, no doubt, it was his.

"Hey Ino!" a girl with dyed, bright, red hair called to her, "bring us something to do, eh? It's getting boring here. We need like…a good poker game."

"You and your cards, Mitchi," the blond sighed, and went to fetch a deck from her desk drawer. She tossed them to the girl, who caught them with ease, and immediately began shuffling them.

"You have a problem with that? Who's up for a game?"

Most people slowly agreed, seeing nothing better to do. Sakura and Ino eventually caved, but Tenten refused, saying that she was never any good at the game. "Draw poker, only one. Whoever has the best hand wins."

"We need a twist though! Like, what happens if you loose?" inquired a girl with light brown hair, Saki.

They all thought about it. "Okay," Ino smiled, "whoever looses tells everyone one thing about they like about their crush…or boyfriend." Hint, hint, and Sakura received a wink. Everyone shrugged, seeing how it was hardly a punishment, unless everyone managed to guess who it was, and then rub it in your face. Or something along those lines.

They were dealt their five cards. Sakura was in trouble already. There was nothing possible out of these cards. When it was her turn to draw, she kept the two best cards, and discarded the rest. The chances she got something high or even matching were slim…

However she'd done it, she'd managed to scrape up a two pair. Thankfully, it wasn't the lowest hand. It happened to be Mitchi. She sighed, "Well, this guy, he's the best guitar player ever!" Oh well, that only cut down about…1/2 the guesses possible.

As the rounds progressed, Sakura had found herself incredibly lucky. So far, they'd heard from everyone, some even more then once, except for her. But Lady Luck always moved on to another person after a long streak. Yes, when your high card was a jack, well, tough cookies there. "Ah ha! Sakura, your turn. Now, spill!"

All eyes upon her made Sakura quite uncomfortable. "Um…" what to say? And was she really going to talk about him? Wait…was there another person. "W-well…what I like best…I like their smile."

"Aww. That's so sweet!" gushed a girl called Lily.

"You're so lucky, Sakura-chan! Neji-kun is such a catch!" Ino chuckled.

"What? You and Neji are together?"

"Huh? I didn't know that!"

"No way! That's insane! So what's happened?"

"Spill everything!"

"Yes, Sakura-chan! What has happened?"

"You know, I heard that a weird psychic person once said that the first person he liked, he'd end up marrying!"

"Really? Now that's something…"

"Yes, can we start planing the invitations already?"

"Oh! I want to choose out the dresses! Invite me, won't you, Sakura?"

"And me!"

"And me! Don't forget me!"

"Can you imagine how Neji-kun would look in a tux? I'm drooling already."

"Guys, stop it! It's Sakura-chan's wedding after all! Let her decide!"

"Is there going to be good food there?"

They all stopped at that last comment, not only because it was a stupid question, but the sound of breaking glass had startled them. It had come from the corner where Tenten was sitting, her glass no longer in her hands. The liquid began to sink into the carpet. "Ah, shit. I'm sorry, Ino. I'll clean this up right away." She picked up the five big shards of glass, and hurried out of the room and into the kitchen.

"She's been wound pretty tight lately," Sakura remarked absentmindedly, gathering the discarded cards into a neat pile. The others began to giggle quietly. "What? I miss something funny?"

"I guess…"

"Well, she's still new, so she wouldn't have known…"

"Known what?"

"Why she's mad. She's mad because she lost."

"Lost big time."

"Huh? Lost what?"

"She lost to you, obviously. And she isn't the type to take loosing very well."

Sakura was dumbfounded. Lost to her? What kind of nonsense was that? "Lost to me?"

Everyone hushed again as the brown haired girl reentered the room with some paper towels, cleaning as much as the spill as possible. With a sigh, she whisked out again to throw the dirty cloths out. "Well, she has got the right to know," Ino said once she couldn't hear them. The others nodded, but it was Ino who was going to tell her. "Okay listen. Ever since…ever, Tenten has had this thing for Neji. I wouldn't be surprised if he knew it too, because everyone else sure did. Anyway, ever since you two started going out, she's been upset. You beat her to it in 10 times less time. I can see why she's stinking mad at you."

"Oh yes, definitely," a cold feminine voice spoke up from behind them. Tenten leaned against the wall, arms crossed with a scary sort of grin plastered on her face. "Congrats, Sakura-chan. You must really be something special, catching his attention so fast. Want to let me in on your secret?" They all looked at the ground; so she had heard the whole conversation the whole time. "What? Do you think I'm stupid? Think I'm oblivious to what's going on?"

"Wait a second…Tenten! It isn't her fault, okay? She didn't know about the "Hands Off" rule!" Mitchi said, defending the other.

"Wait, wait, Tenten-chan," Sakura held out her hands in defense, "you…everyone has the wrong idea here…"

"Wrong idea?" then she started to laugh…a very scary laugh at that, "you have to be kidding me! What's not to understand? Weren't the signs obvious enough for you? Don't women usually have intuition about these kind of things? What a joke. This is all a joke…"

Was this healthy for her friend to be acting in such a way? She watched her sink to the floor with a sigh. "Ten…ten. Please don't get me wrong. We aren't…he…" Sakura struggled for words, as she placed a hand on her shoulder. It was shaking. Was she…crying? "Tenten-chan…"

"Save it!" she snapped, tears threatening to leak out the corner of her eyes, "just…save it. I'm not in the mood now. Sorry that I yelled at you earlier. It's just…I'm just…so damn stupid." Sakura gave her a hug, which she reluctantly returned, now letting the salty liquid run down her face. This was big. Tenten never cried. "My mom once said, if a guy makes you cry, then he isn't worthy enough for you. I guess I should give up, huh?"

"No!" she protested just a bit to loud, startling everyone, "w-well, what I meant to say earlier was…well, Neji-kun and I, aren't really a couple. Sure we've been seeing each other a lot, and going places and such. But…we aren't boyfriend and girlfriend. I just want you to know that. He doesn't see me as that. It's…sort of complicated."

"Wow…" Tenten said, breaking free from the friendly embrace, "I really am an idiot, aren't I? Just a stupid, hung-up idiot." She rubbed the stains off her face, but her brown eyes were still a tinge red and puffy. "Thanks, Sakura-chan."

Then the quiet bunch on the other side of the room instantly began to come alive again. "So…you aren't going out?" the other shook her head, "damn, oh well. It was cool while it lasted. But at least I can say now, I have seen macho-lady Tenten cry."

Her eye twitched, "Say a word about that and I'll send you through the roof. That goes for all of you." Yes, good old Tenten was back and ready to send someone flying, if her buttons were pressed. "Now," she said joining the circle, "I didn't get my share of sleepover fun yet. I say we continue the poker game. Chop, chop! Let's go!"

Everyone gathered around as Mitchi dealt the cards, and they proceeded from there. Ino served them all drinks, and they all crowded the tiny tray, taking one. "Just, no spilling anything else on my carpet, alright?"

It turns out that that hand, Tenten had lost, badly. "Well, what I like about this guy…is that he's of X and Y chromosomes." Everyone rolled their eyes, all thinking of the same old expression: No shit Sherlock. "Haha. I know, I know," she continued when receiving glares, "what I like about him, is that he's just so him." Again, that said much.

"And I'll leave it at that."

AN: Omg! I haven't updated in over 2 weeks! -starts crying- ah! I'm sorry! Don't hate me! Hate school, that's right! It's driving me insane…and it's only September! Let me enlighten you on something, for those of you who don't take Canadian history, which I'm assuming is most of you: nothing happened. Plain and simple. (Or maybe things did happen...just I'm not the hugest fan of history...as you can tell). I'm sooo not surviving this semester!

Ahem, now that I have finished my rant on why this chapter was so late…all I can say is this. It looked so much better in my head. But then again if I went over to re-write it, this update would have most likely taken me yet another 2 weeks. Such and evil, evil chapter this was to write. Anyway, Tenten was OOC, the fault on me, but she at least got her feelings across, no? which was the main point of the part. Hmm. This was quite a self-explanatory chapter. (On a random note here...I'm not quite sure what makes Tenten OOC anymore. Did anyone see ep 152? What was with that face she gave Tsunade? Funniest thing EVER!)

Hopefully next update won't take as long. You reviewers keep me going on working on this! (I sound like the Energizer Bunny…) So, up next: Who's been waiting for the "big breakup"? Neji and Sakura decide it's best if they drifted slightly more apart. She's cool with that…sort of. But then she finds comfort (in a way) in the least likely person. Time for Sasuke to voice his opinions!