Disclaimer: Standard.

Chapter 17: Valentine's Day

"Woohoo! Party! I can't believe the math exam is over!" yelled a slightly overjoyed Naruto, then was immediately shushed by the others. There were still people still writing exams after all. "Sorry, sorry. Got caught up in the moment."

"If you're so excited why not just go somewhere to 'celebrate'? There's still time to kill anyway," Kiba reasoned, stuffing his hands into his winter coat that he was wearing.

"Alright, it's decided! Fire Country it is!" Naruto pumped his fist in the air, much to everyone's confusion. All the calculus exams finished roughly around the same time. So Sakura and the Hyuuga siblings, as well as Naruto and Kiba had some extra time.

The walk to the café was a long one. Normally it wouldn't have mattered, but being February, things had gotten chilly. They were glad for one thing, at least the place had heating. The place was relatively empty, so the five sat down in the middle.

Their peer came up to them; he was working today. "You didn't have an exam today, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked once he came up to them.

He shook his head, "I only have 2 exams this semester. Politics and literature. The lit exams were as you know, the first day, and my other class the second day. So I'm done for awhile."

"Lucky bastard," Naruto cursed under his breath, but brightened somewhat, remembering that they were here to celebrate. "Anyway, Sasuke, hurry up with the usuals. Grab something for yourself and come join us. It's a party to celebrate the passing of our math exams!"

"And who said you passed?" Kiba asked dryly, Neji thinking the same thing. Sasuke left without a word.

"Oh I passed," Naruto said without taking offense, "all thanks to Hinata. Math isn't all that difficult the way she explains it."

The Hyuuga female looked at her folded hands, "T-thank you, Naruto-kun."

Sakura smiled, suddenly deciding to change the topic. "So what are you guys doing for Valentine's Day?"

"What do you mean you guys? Aren't the girls supposed to give the guys stuff on Valentine's Day, and vise versa on White Day?" Kiba asked, but it was more pointing out a fact.

"I don't mean that, numbskull. Haven't you seen the posters around the school? I meant the dance." Everyone suddenly got rather quiet. "Oh please, you guys still get fidgety over stuff like that? Give me a break. It's not that big a deal is it?" There was one more couple in the restaurant, other then that, complete silence. "Okay…so maybe it is."

At that moment, the Uchiha returned with their orders, and pulled up a chair in between Sakura and Naruto. The discussion was previously forgotten. "Cheers," the blond raised his glass, which no one followed at first, until Kiba seconded the motion. Everyone sort of followed suit, even The Hyuugas and Sasuke.

"So anyway, getting back to what I was saying before, you guys had better all come. I don't want to go and be alone in there, and only after just less then a year of being here too. At my old school, everyone went just for the hell of it. You could just stand around for all I care just come!" Sakura sounded a lot like she was pleading. "You believe that, right, Sasuke-kun?"

She'd gotten awfully attached to him lately. "You're asking the wrong person," he replied coolly.

She sighed, like she'd get a good answer out of him. What had she been thinking? "Whatever you guys, but I'm sure you'll all reconsider."

"Please tell me you guys are going?" Sakura asked the next day at the Hyuuga estate. Tenten, Ino, and Hinata were also in the room.

"What are you talking about? That dance thing?" Ino asked, tossing a tennis ball in the air. The other nodded. "Well of course I mean who wouldn't?"

"Yup, I'm going too. Always do," Tenten added. The other remained silent. "Come on, Hinata. You always go!"

"Y-yes but…but…" she looked at the three pairs of eyes staring at her, "I guess…"

"But what about the rest? When I asked them yesterday they didn't say anything."

"You really shouldn't worry about them," the brunette replied twirling her pencil, "they'll come. You'll see, they always do." She flung the pencil at the door, where the other Hyuuga entered. He moved his head out of the way just in time. "Damn, missed again. You know, it isn't very nice to eavesdrop."

"I wasn't. I just came in now, if that's alright with you, since it is my house," he said sitting next to her on the sofa. "Oh, and Ino, Shikamaru called. He was looking for you. He said he's at home."

"Thanks. Well later guys, before Shika does something stupid again."

"Hey, maybe he'll ask you to the dance, neh? Wouldn't that be cute…" Tenten smiled teasingly.

The blonde chuckled, "I doubt that. It'd be 'too troublesome' for him. I'll never understand him…" She left sighing.

"Speaking of dates, are you taking anyone, Neji-kun?" Sakura asked out of curiosity.

He wasn't too amused. "Why should I? I don't even plan on going."

"That's so mean, Neji. Won't you just come along for me? Try and pretend you're my date?" Tenten asked. She continued upon hearing silence. "Will you come if I pay for the entrance fee myself?"

"I don't need your charity," he answered smoothly, "I'm not poor you know."

"Will you go for your cousin? Just to make sure she's okay if guys ask her out?" Hinata blushed deeply while the brunette continued. "Won't you just come along for me?" she leaned right up to his face until their noses touched. Then narrowing her eyes, she added rather coldly, "Please?"

Neji pushed her head back. He thought about it for a second. "If I go will you leave me alone?" She nodded in response. He let out a small sigh of defeat.

Sakura giggled, then looked at the clock. "Sorry to skip out now, but I promised my mom I'd help her do her pre-spring cleaning today." She got up and left the room.

Tenten waited until she heard the front doors slam shut before speaking again. "I can't help but feel a little bad for her, you know? I mean it's like I took you away from her or something. That's what it feels like. She looked like she wanted someone to go with her, or something. I didn't really have the heart to tell her that most people that go to the dance are couples."

Hinata nodded slowly. "Y-yeah, I noticed."

"Such a nice girl too," the other sighed and paused, going into thought. Her eyes lit up, and her lips curved into a sort of mischievous smile. "I wonder if we can kill two birds with one stone…"

She chuckled evilly, scaring the siblings slightly. "Okay. I have a very interesting idea in mind. I'm going to need both of you to help out." Neji gave the 'why-should-I-help' look. "If it works out right, which it should, we could get some fun out of it too."

"Okay," he said mildly interested, "let's hear it then."

"Wow…I've never seen the gym look this way!" Sakura said as she entered alongside her three friends. "It's so…well, red!" The lights were off, but every time those rotating spotlights hit the wall, it was red.

"Well then you should have been at least year's prom if you think this is something," Ino started talking loudly as the music came on, "I wasn't there but I heard from this girl that the walls were all black. Then there was a power failure for about a minute and it was total chaos."

"Oh yeah! I remember hearing about that! Didn't someone like…trip over the refreshment table and then everything spilt on people who thought it was some sort of animal and went on a screaming rampage, knocking over some of the DJ's equipment which hit that teacher who had a leg brace for weeks after it?" Tenten recalled in one long run-on sentence. The four of them drifted off further in.

Meanwhile near the entrance, a few of the boys stood there with weird expressions. "Someone explain to we why it is exactly I'm here?" Kiba asked, leaning against the wall.

"I think it's because I sort of dragged you here, just because I always end up going anyway. Then I found out that Neji had been forced to go, but by that time you'd already agreed, and then I decided to get Sasuke to join us." Naruto counted the explanations on his fingers.

The Uchiha boy stood next to Kiba, a big frown set upon his face. On his free will he'd never had chosen to come. Somehow the others had ganged up on him, and threatened to expose the video of the grade 3 play to Sakura. The one where he'd been a talking flower in the elementary school version of Bambi. Yes…he was a bit too proud to show that to anyone.

"Oh lighten up Sasuke," Naruto said prying him from the wall, "it's not like we're dragging you through Hell or something." From the glare that Sasuke gave, Naruto assumed that it might as well had been Hell. Oh well…

"Ah…err anyway…look! There's Sakura-chan!" the blond said quickly and ran off before Sasuke managed to catch his throat. The four girls were off on the opposite side of the room, standing in a circle, chatting. "Sakura-chan!" he yelled over the music.

She waved to him, excusing herself from the group. "Naruto, what's up?"

"Nothing, just that Sasuke bastard is probably planning numerous ways to kill me for dragging him along…"

Sakura smiled, "So Sasuke-kun did show up. He's trying to kill you so you came crying to me? Just like Nobita-kun…" Naruto didn't seem to be too thrilled of the comparison. "Anyhow, I'm sure he won't try anything with all these people around."

"It's after school I'm worried about," he mumbled in reply. He turned his attention to the others for a minute. "Hey! Hinata! You liking the dance so far?"

The female Hyuuga looked up, the darkness hiding her blush. "Y-yes, it's nice."

"What? I didn't hear you there!" Naruto shouted back.

Tenten took the liberty of answering for her. "She said she loves you, Naruto!" The blond blushed, slightly taken by surprise, while Hinata on the other hand got a huge courage boost to hit her friend over the head with her hand. "Ow, jeez Hinata! That hurt!"

She instantly reverted back to her old self. She put her hands to her face. "O-oh, I'm so, so sorry. I didn't mean for it to be that hard. H-honest."

Naruto still slightly in a state of shock, walked slowly back to the others. He knew that Tenten was probably joking when she said it, but it was nice to hear that someone liked him. Forget even 'loving' him. (Even if it was pretend…) He looked back with those blue eyes, and watched Hinata apologize numerous times to her friend. It was weird. Before he never would have thought of her as more then a friend. Now…he was thinking strange thoughts.

"Woa, man, you look like you got hit by a bus or something," Kiba said, waking Naruto from his trance. "What, did Sakura punch you again?"

"Huh? Oh, maybe, I don't know," he said rubbing his head, "I was just thinking."

"Wow, thinking. That's shocking for you," he muttered dryly. Naruto was about to snap back but a blur rushed past the two, silencing them.

No doubt it was Rock Lee. "Sakura-san," he greeted with a signature smile, "it would give me great honor if you'd dance with me!"

Both the girls' and boys' side went quiet. (Everyone else was of course still bopping to the music.) "Okay," Sakura replied cheerfully, as like she hadn't a care in the world.

Naruto head a sound behind him. He turned to find the Uchiha on the floor. It looked as if he'd fallen off his feet, rather, tripped in place. "Ah! Sasuke? What happened to…"

"Shut up," he interrupted, picking himself up and dusting off his clothes. His head was far from clear though. Sakura had just agreed to 'dance' with that clod Lee. Okay, that was understandable…in a way. What was odd was that the response was enough to send him into a 2-second state of shock. His head hurt. He needed a painkiller, badly!

On the other side of the room, Sakura grabbed Lee's hands loosely, and she moved to the fast beat of the new song. "Uh…Sakura-san?"

"What? Come on Lee-san! You wanted to dance right?" she said smiling. She was oblivious to the fact that he probably meant slow dancing… "At my old school, everyone danced with everyone. It was really cool. But you probably don't care about that…"

"No, Sakura-san, if it's important, I care! Honestly!" he said truthfully, now just glad that he'd gotten Sakura for a short moment. That made her smile more. She was awfully friendly now.

In the meantime, Tenten looked across the room to find Neji. She spotted him along the wall, and made a simple nod with her head. "Sorry Ino, Hinata. I'd love to stay and watch this, but there's something I have to do." With that, she left and met him halfway. She took his hand as they made their way to the front. They looked like they were both talking to one of the DJs.

The song was quickly replaced by another, and Sakura and Lee parted. He was practically skipping off in glee that he and Sakura had shared four minutes together. She, on the other hand went back to the two girls. They didn't say anything about the dance. "Hey, Ino. I haven't seen Shikamaru-san since this afternoon. He didn't come along?"

"Nah," she waved her hand, "it's on afternoon's like these when he always skips. It's way too troublesome for him, like I said earlier."

Hinata wasn't listening to their new conversation. She was looking at her cousin talk they're little scheme over with Tenten. It was almost ShowTime. They were drifting back towards their respected sides. Moving one side of the plan would be a breeze, but Neji had the hardest job.

"Uzumaki," the Hyuuga called once back in his place. Naruto looked over. It was rare when Neji addressed him. "A word for a sec."

"Sakura," Tenten said with a smile when she got back, "I didn't show you the art work that I made, did I? It's on display just outside in the hall. Personally I'm quite proud of it."

Naruto's eyebrows furrowed up and down for a minute. "Uh, alright…" he said. He walked away. Of all people Neji had to have asked him. Couldn't Kiba be killed instead? Just like the damn Hyuuga to not interact with Sasuke.

"Eh? Now? I was actually enjoying this for awhile. Can it wait until after it's over?" Sakura asked.

"Hey, Sasuke," Naruto shouted in front of his face, just to make sure the point went across, "there's something I have to ask you. Can we go over there? So that these people don't eavesdrop or anything. It's important."

"No, please! It'll only take 2 minutes tops!" Tenten pleaded. In fact, the other could almost swear it was a fake plead. "Come on!" she began to push her forward.

"And who says I want to talk with you?" Sasuke replied monotone. "If you need to say something, say it here, and make it fast."

"But then it'll take two minutes after it's over!" she tried to reason, resisting the pushes she was getting.

"Ah, come on Sasuke. Just move," Naruto said, pushing him in the direction he wanted.

"You're not missing anything, trust me," the other replied, continuing to move her forward.

"What in the world do you think you're doing, idiot?" he asked, resisting slightly. Naruto had definitely gotten stronger.

"Aww, but…" she protested again, looking back at her friend, rather then in front of her.

"Naruto…" Sasuke growled again when he didn't answer. He looked back with those extremely murderous eyes. Then he noticed the Hyuuga from the corner of his eye moving closer.

Sakura watched Hinata move closer. Finally! Someone who'd save her. Hinata looked up apologetically. "Sorry," Sakura could hear her mutter. With strength the other was unaware of, she gave her one forceful shove forward.

Neji was right alongside the blond now. "Uzumaki, that's far enough," he said. Sasuke didn't exactly know what was going on between the two of them. But he didn't like it at all. "Uchiha," he said, attention to the other now, "don't you dare hurt her." Sasuke was about to ask him what in hells was he talking about, but received a forceful kick. He stumbled forward.

And Sakura stumbled forward.

Guess what happened next? They braced the person closest to break their falls. And they both looked in the eyes of that person for the first time this afternoon. It was emerald versus onyx. And the two stood there, both speechless, both with their arms around each other.

"S-Sasuke-kun! I'm so sorry," she said over the music that was fading. She glared back to see Tenten next to Neji. She was smirking wickedly. Hinata was smiling innocently.

"Yeah…" he said, also turning to see Naruto waving with a cheeky grin plastered to his face. Sasuke just wanted to punch him right about now. But his hands were a little…tied up at the moment.

"We're going to slow things down for a song," the DJ said in the microphone, "this song was requested by two who don't wish to be named. So grab that special someone this Valentine's and here we go!"

'So that's what those two were doing!' Sakura thought, scowling, 'those…those…they planned this!'

"What's wrong, Sakura?" Tenten asked her, as she casually strode over when the music began to play. "I thought everyone danced with everyone at your old school. Why is this any different?" she fed the words right back to her.

"Sasuke, don't tell me you're scared of 'getting close' to a girl like that?" taunted Naruto. They all left the two standing there.

"They aren't going to leave us alone, are they?" Sakura sighed, while she felt Sasuke shake his head once. "Listen, Sasuke-kun. You, don't have to…dance I mean…if you don't want to."

"No," he said too quickly, which earned him an odd glance from the girl in his arms. "No, because if I don't, I'm sure they'll think of something worse." He'd just made that up.

"Oh…kay…" she said, slowly reaching up to his neck. He was stiff for a bit. He reluctantly tightened his grip around her waist.

"See? This was well worth it!" Tenten told the Hyuuga siblings. "That took a huge burden off my shoulders too. I felt guilty before, but it's alright now. Plus, now we have something else to blackmail him with."

Sakura looked up at Sasuke. He wasn't looking back, just staring into the distance. Figures, he didn't really want to do this. Neither did she, but…she felt sort of…happy. She relaxed and rested her head lightly against his chest.

He felt her shift in his arms, and looked down. She looked like she was sleeping, yet moving her feet. He sighed and looked up at the ceiling again. There was a pit in his stomach, and the sappy music wasn't helping either.

Kiba had joined Naruto and Hinata (because the other two had disappeared somewhere) and began to laugh at the situation.

The song was nearing its end. Sakura decided to be the first to break the silence between them. "Sasuke-kun…" He looked back down. "I…um, well…" she removed her hands from around him, then he immediately did the same.

"Sakura…" he continued at her loss for words, "your face is red." Her hands instantly shot up to her face. Her next thought was how he could tell that in the dark. Maybe it was when the light passed over them. "Are you feeling sick?"

She felt faint. "Um, yes, I'm not feeling the greatest. I think I'll go home down." She turned and ran towards the exit. She could feel her heart racing, and it wasn't because she was running either.

Sasuke saw some of his friends starting to come towards him. That was the last thing he needed. "Sakura, hold on a second," he called, running after her. Walking her home was better then sticking around in this hellhole anyway.

Ino had watched from afar, the scene that unfolded. They were just causally talking, in each other's arms no less! It made her sick. It was rather hard to breathe. Not wanting to see what kind of situation arose from the given setting, she slipped out without anyone noticing. Not that they were paying any attention, since all the amusement seemed to be coming from those two.

She went upstairs to her locker and grabbed her jacket. She just wanted to go home and talk to someone. However no one in the gym would do this time around. There was only one person that would be perfect this time, and she was sure he was still around.

The outside of the school was deserted, like it should have been. It was crisp, and there was a slight breeze. Looking around, Ino didn't see any signs that people were still on the grounds. But he had to be here. He'd never leave without telling her, since they walked home together most days.

"Shikamaru!" she yelled, listening to it echo twice. The snow was falling lightly over head. "Shikamaru!" she tried again, with no response. The snow crunched beneath her feet, as she walked along the grounds. After a good five minutes, she'd covered it all. Except for one place.

'Great,' she thought miserably, 'why is he there again?' She bounded off towards the back of the school.

He inhaled deeply, but the fresh sent of snow was drowned out by smoke. Not only that, but Ino sounded like she was coming to look for him, as his name was called earlier. But he really didn't want to deal with her right now. He'd have too eventually though. She'd know where he was hidden.

"Shikamaru!" Ino's head appeared from around the corner. She frowned. "Why didn't you answer? And what the hell do you have with you this time?" He was sitting on the ground near the outskirts of the schoolyard. It was known to the school as 'the Drug Alley'.

He didn't respond, just exhaled. A large cloud of smoke rose up straight into her face. She coughed once. "What are you smoking this time? Crack again?"

"No, just a regular cigarette," he replied, putting the white stick to his lips again.

Ino slumped to her knees in front of him with a sigh. "Well anyway, I came here to find you because I wanted to talk." Shikamaru looked at her lazily, dropping the small cigarette into the ground and smothering it with his foot. "It's about…well point is that it made me feel weird that Sasuke-kun and Sakura were…together almost."

"Forget him," he replied instantly.

"What?" she asked, like she didn't hear correctly.

"I said forget him. He's obviously chosen someone else and you can't help that."

"Yes…but…I've liked Sasuke-kun forever…" she looked at the ground sadly, while her companion pulled out another stick and lit it. Smoke rose once again towards her. "Shika…" Ino coughed, "why do you smoke? You're always doing weird and stupid things like this…"

The corners of his mouth curved up slightly. "Don't you know? It's because of you, baby." He went back to inhaling the cigarette.

Her blue eyes widened in confusion. "But I haven't done anything to you! I don't understand you…"

"Maybe someday you will," he replied, looking at the falling snow.

Silence hung between them, before the blonde broke it. "Hey," her voice was low, "can I have one?" The boy looked up to see her face. She looked serious. Shrugging, he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a new stick and a lighter. She took it, and mimicked his actions of cupping her hand right before the flame, so the wind wouldn't blow it out. Nervously, she brought it up to her parted lips and inhaled.

She was sent into coughing fits a nanosecond later. When she regained her breath, she spoke, "How do you stand this stuff? It's awful!" She threw it onto the ground and squished it underneath her shoe.

"You aren't supposed to inhale on your first time…" he said, standing up. He threw his stick away too. Ino was busy growling and mumbling about how she couldn't have possibly known that because she was a good little girl and had never smoked before. She stopped when an extended hand came into view. "Come, I'll take you home."

She paused for a moment, then took his offer. As they stood there in silence for a second, everything seemed…strange to her. Her hand felt warm, loosely intertwined with his. A crunch in the snow behind them shook both of them out from the trance. It looked like another one of the big 'druggies' had come from inside, coming to get high or something.

"Let's go home, Shika. Boy, do you ever need a shower. You smell like smoke. That really is disgusting. What will your mom say? What will I tell her? Mister, if I ever see you with a pack of those again I'm seriously going to ring your neck…" she went on and on, dragging him along by the hand that he hadn't yet let go of.

"Yeah, yeah," he replied sighing. But it was a rather happy sigh. Some day, Ino would find out. Some day, she'd know. He was a genius, and he knew that it probably took one to tell, but some day, she'd learn what he'd been hiding from behind the smoke all these years.

Perhaps it was a word called feelings?

AN: Truthfully, I actually had some fun writing this chapter out. Okay, so it was a bit of a messed-up dance plot, but hey. A little OOC, but I can live with it this time. Hints of all pairings this chapter, a personal best if I do say so myself. (Can you tell I'm in a really good mood right now? I don't know why…just am!) For a rather long-ish chapter, two weeks isn't a bad time. But most likely next chapter won't be up for another three, since midterms are like…now…and I'm getting awfully busy. I'm going to post my new story up most likely some time tomorrow, so please check that out. It's yet another SasuSaku story, AU, and nothing at all like this one. Title? The Basics. (Yup, I suck at coming up with titles...)

I'm happy to say most of the reviews are positive yet again:
anime-obsessedP: sheesh, that was a bit harsh. That's ok though, I know you love me deep down. And I totally mentioned you this time around (first too! you should feel special.)
Sakura-Girl 2005: oops. My bad. Well…10 miles isn't that far. -glances sideways- But thanks a lot. I could always use more friends!
inuyashafangirl333: I totally agree with you. I never did watch POT but I play. No one should make fun of any sport, since they're difficult in their own way. I just needed Gai to act like that last chapter for some comedy.
Zhuhiechee-chan: more fans always make me happy, especially when they really like it. Thanks so much!
psychedelic aya: I don't usually update what people would call 'fast', but two weeks is fast for me. Yeah, I don't really want this fic to end, but alas. I've planned out the last chapter, though I'm not sure at which number it shall be ending at.
pink22sakura: I actually think you were the only one who said anything about the dance. I hope that scene satisfied you.
Kookie315: funny because no one's asked me about the ShikaIno pairing especially other then you. That part was totally dedicated to you!
Idiotic Owl: No, you aren't the first to say that. And yeah, I do read a lot of xxxholic. I really like CLAMP series.
Charl: AU means alternate universe. It's used when the story doesn't follow the timeline or plot line or whatever to the real story. If that made sense to you.

Right. Next chapter should also be fun to write: It's a flashback to chapter 11. Sakura could have sworn she'd lived through this exact situation before, except, with different people. Who knew such a 'cursed' secret could bring people so close together? Prepare for yet another advanced bloodline.