A/N: Hoooooray! They're back together. ^_^ Honestly, I've been excited to write their high school days together cause this is where the fun and fluffiness begins. :D So happy right now! Gaaaaah!

Hi everyone! So I've found myself having a bit of time to write and post this for now. (School was suspended on account of a ... threat, shall we say :p). So yeah. :D I give you part II :D

Again, I would like to thank everyone for their support! To all those who favourite-d and followed! Thank you for reading my little baby :3 and to those who reviewed: I would like to express how thankful I am for your words. Lord knows I can be a bit insecure sometimes about my writing so knowing how you feel about the story means a lot to me :D

In response to The Roaming Shadow: Haha! I'll see what I can do. I can't go back to it now since I'm already at the high school portion TT~TT. I am so sorry! But maybe I can slip it in the future somehow (or just make a complete side story if I can't fit it in the story) Aheh. Yay for awkward teen years :D

Pretty sure there are a few written errors in there so I apologize in advance. Self-proofreading does that. :p

*DISCLAIMER APPLIES*

BEFORE THE WORST

Almost In-Love

Part II

Naruto tilted her head up and was greeted with the sight of a handsome fifteen-year-old Uchiha who was too surprised to even utter a word. The blonde gulped as she felt time slow its pace and her heart race. She took this time to finally straighten herself, all the while not breaking eye contact with Sasuke.

"H-h-hey, assho—"

"FUCK! Naruto! You're freaking back!" Trust Kiba, who could never read the moment, to rudely disturb the dramatic air about the group. He nothing short of pounced on Naruto and locked the blonde's head in a loose choke hold. "You're back, blondie! God damn it! I missed you! It got so fucking boring without you, dude! No one could ever keep up with me!" And apparently, during Naruto's absence, Kiba became too attached to colourful language.

"Ki-i-Ki-baa. A-ai-r!" Naruto was starting to have a hard time breathing by this point.

The dog lover, realizing what he was doing, let go of his hold on Naruto's neck. "Whoops. My bad."

As Naruto continued to catch her breath, everyone decided to happily circle around her. Suddenly everyone was talking at the same time. Some were asking how she was. Others were already keeping her up to speed with the things she had missed. All her friends were vying for her attention; all except for one raven-haired Uchiha who was still rooted in his spot. It would seem that he still hadn't come to terms with the fact that his best friends was back... Naruto was back? She's here? She looked different. She's ... what?

"Sasuke!" Someone calling out his name ended his inner musings.

"Come say hi to Naruto." Sakura called for him. Say hi to Naruto? So he wasn't hallucinating then. He walked towards the circle surrounding the blonde and pushed past the group until he was face to face with Naruto. The lugnut was taller but was somehow a lot shorter than Sasuke remembered. A year ago Naruto was about an inch or two shorter than he was. Now, there was probably a five inch gap.

The fourteen-year-old girl was quick to turn her attention to Sasuke. She went from laughing and joking with her peers to silent and doe-eyed as she stared at her best friend. "Hey, Sasuke. You look ... well.", she greeted and waited for the boy's response with bated breath.

"Hn. I could say the same to you but then I'd be lying. How are you so short?"

. . .

Gaara was wrong.

Absence didn't make the heart grow fonder.

Absence turned harmless jerks into mocking bastards, that's what it was.

Everyone immediately stepped back from the two as Naruto released killer aura.

"...I'll kill you. I know where you live, Uchiha." The girl began to crack her knuckles in a threatening manner. Sasuke didn't even seem the least bit scared. The young Uchiha smirked (which, to Naruto's great dismay, had her stomach fluttering) and scoffed at her. "You can try, dork. Don't get lost on the way there though." Naruto was about to let hell rain on Sasuke when the principal began to announce on the school PA system. "Hello, my dear student. This is Ms. Terumi. I would like the sophomores, juniors and seniors to proceed to the gymnasium. I repeat: all upperclassmen, please proceed to the gymnasium. You know the drill. Freshmen please wait for the faculty members to direct you to the venue. Until then, arrange yourselves orderly in your wing. Thank you!" Freshmen, being the good little newbies they were, followed immediately and accordingly. There was suddenly a hint of an organized crowd in the halls. Five minutes later, some of the faculty members arrived to escort the freshman to the gymnasium.

The freshmen entered the gym and what greeted them was the sound of their upperclassmen cheering them on as a welcome. It was tradition, apparently, that the freshies be paraded into the gym. As predicted, Kiba and Naruto loved the general noise and started to bask in the momentary limelight by being rowdy. The rest of the group had more modest means and simply waved at the older teenagers. Sasuke, in the first few seconds of getting in the assembly area, had managed to acquire screaming girls and catcalls (which he pointedly ignored). Not much of a shocker there. One by one, the freshmen assumed their seats. Sakura and Kiba immediately sat beside Naruto; everyone else sat around her. It was touching how everyone clearly missed her. Despite her joy, she was bothered by one single detail. Why was Sasuke sitting two seats away from her? She'd assumed the boy would have taken his place by her side.

Naruto surveyed the Uchiha a bit more, noting how the latter looked quite a bit dazed.

"Don't worry about it too much, Naruto. He's really happy that you're back. Just a bit surprised is all." Sakura, knowing the cause of Naruto's worry, reassured the shorter girl. The blonde simply nodded and buried her insecurities for the time being.

About quarter of an hour later, when all the students had settled down somewhat, the assembly commenced. It began with Ms. Terumi saying her little welcome speech. She stated her expectations for the year and all the usual jazz about how it was going to be one heck of an Academic year and whatnot. Next, the new teachers were introduced to the student body. There were about four or five new teachers in the school. Naruto couldn't recall as she kept zoning in and out from time to time. One teacher managed to get her attention however. It wasn't because she was overly note worthy or anythi—actually she was. Mitarashi Anko, one of the new Phys. Ed. teachers, came in wearing a revealing mesh shirt under a lengthy button-down top and just threatened the whole student body with murder if they ever disrespected her in some way.

She was pretty damn cool.

Later, when had the mic in her possession, she announced what the next matter of the agenda was. "Alright, kids. I know this whole meeting is getting pretty boring. How can a bunch of adults talking be any fun, am I right? So now comes the fun bit. The Student Organizations will be presenting their video bids for you all, but first, how about a little something from Twist?"

At the sound of the famed name of the dance troupe, Naruto, Sakura and Ino were cheering at the top of their lungs. Kiba showed his excitement by making doe eyes at the stage. The screams didn't have the chance to die down when Twist began their dance. Naruto didn't think it was possible for the cheering to become even louder but apparently that was an easy feat. It was evident that through each generation of the dance group, they definitely did not lose their touch. The movements were as flawless as the day Naruto had first laid her eyes on the acclaimed group. Speaking of flawless, one girl caught Naruto's attention in particular. She was dancing at the centre and was one helluva mover! Probably the head of the group, Naruto inferred. The girl had long black hair that looked soft to the touch. Her bangs appeared to have a fly away look and framed the sides of her face. That little detail only seemed to add to the soft appearance of her tresses. From where Naruto sat, she could tell that the dancer had deep cobalt eyes. The blonde stared admiringly at her. She was tall, she was smooth, she was ... was soooo awesome! Two other individuals caught Naruto's attention as they could rival her new idol in terms of movement. One had jet black locks styled in a simple bob-cut while the other one had deep pink-bordering-on-red tresses that fell just to the middle of her back. These three girls took most of the spotlight. Naruto couldn't wait to meet them, and get to know and learn from them.

Judging from the music, the performance was about to come to an end. Naruto could also tell because the choreography and stunts were becoming more spectacular. And as the group made their final pose, the audience cheered. The blonde teen didn't think it was possible to become even more motivated to join the group. Soon afterwards, two student emcees emerged on stage and thanked the dance troupe.

Now that the crowd energy was at an all time high, the Org video bids began. Suffice to say, Leaf Twist wasn't the only student group that was interesting, that was for sure.

llllllllllllllllllll

"I didn't even know we had an Ikebana student org! How perfect is that?!" Ino couldn't stop raving about all the organizations (all forty-nine of them) the department had to offer. As of the moment, the group was taking their lunch break after having had a tour around campus for homeroom and after having met their first set of teachers. "What's more perfect is that we can join as many orgs as we like, dontcha think?" Ino continued. You know how people say that high school would be the best four years in year life? Well, so far, it was fairly accurate.

Sakura giggled at her long time 'frenemy' (a title they liked to call each other). She internally agreed with Ino. It was great that they were being offered such a vast array of club choices. The pinkette, aside from having her obvious sights on the school cheer-slash-dance troupe, had the Student Government in mind.

"You're actually thinking of joining more than one org? How troublesome. I don't even want to join one and you're thinking of registering for two." Shikamaru grumbled.

"Who asked you, lazy bum?!" Ino retorted with guns almost blazing. Chouji, sensing a tirade about to come from the pale blue-eyed girl, went in between the Ino and Shikamaru to avert the disaster waiting to happen. "Now, now, Ino. You know how Shikamaru is. Calm down." The chubby-ish teen said in a soothing manner. It apparently worked when the irritation on Ino's face slowly vanished.

Naruto giggled as she observed the dynamics of the trio. Continuing their conversation, she clarified one fact mentioned in the assembly earlier that day. "Hey, wait. So official org days are every second and fourth Friday of the month?"

"Y-y-es. That's correct, N-n-aruto. And we're not re-r-required to wear uniforms those days." Hinata answered since the Ino-Shika-Cho trio (mainly Ino) was still unstable. Hinata had grown exceptionally pretty in the year Naruto was away. She would make a fine lady some day, Naruto thought. The Hyuuga just needed to work on her stuttering and her timidity. But in Hinata's defense, the stutters were significantly lesser in comparison to those of her younger years. Hopefully Neji could help her out with that.

Speaking of Neji...

"Hmm. Tenten informed us that you were back. Not getting into trouble yet I hope?" Heh. Good ol' serious and protective Neji. Through Naruto's friendship with Hinata, the blonde somehow managed to win the elder Hyuuga's approval. Of course, his approval meant she was somewhat responsible of keeping Hinata out of trouble (especially now that she was back and they were all older).

"HELLO, MS. UZUMAKI! May I just say that the past year has been good to you!" Ahh. And who could forget this particular sophomore. Rock Lee approached them with high energy. Not much had changed with this one, Naruto was sure. Of course, where Neji and Lee were, Tenten would surely be around.

"Hi, Naruto. Good to see you." The pretty brunette arrived just as Naruto predicted.

"Hey Tenten." Naruto greeted back. She mused to herself as to why she hadn't seen the older girl this morning. As if reading the blonde's thoughts, Tenten supplied her answer. "Sorry I wasn't there for the welcoming committee. I was running a bit late." The brunette cutely stuck her tongue out and winked in apology.

The group carried on with the usual pageantry. They were all joking about and telling stories. Truly, so much had happened in a year! Naruto was getting a bit overwhelmed with all the stories. When she was finally updated with her friends' tales, it was her turn to talk about her time at Iwa. She told about her school, about her neighbourhood, about Gaara. She was halfway through her narrative when Kiba and Shino arrived.

"Yo! We couldn't find Sasuke anywhere. Asshole's probably bailing out." Kiba whispered to Sakura, hoping that Naruto wouldn't hear.

"What?! Seriously? Are you sure you checked everywhere? But Naruto's here! He can't be avoiding her, can he?" Sakura irritatingly probed the other in hushed tones. Naruto could have ... no, actually, she should have pretended not to hear. Now the Uzumaki was stuck with a heavy feeling in her chest and slight foul look on her face. Sakura and Kiba were only trying to make her happy after all. She should have given more effort to look entirely un-upset.

"Kiba, Sakura. Not here." Shino warned the two whispering individuals. Too late. Shino saw the moderately sour look on Naruto's face and called on it. Sakura and Kiba turned their heads and saw why Shino asked them to hush up. The two realize at once that they hadn't been as quiet as they initially thought. "Sorry, Naruto." The two simultaneously lower their head in embarrassment.

Naruto was quick to smile and brush the matter off. "Nah! Don't worry about it. Ain't your fault Sasuke's being an annoying dick." Just as she said this, the bell rang which indicated that break was over. As the students dispersed to their respective rooms to recommence their classes, Naruto was left to ponder on her own.

Why was Sasuke doing this? Just a few days ago, they had been conversing via email and there were no signs that there was something wrong with their relationship. So what was the deal? The lass decided to move from her place and proceed to class. Like thinking out here would change anything. As she walked down the halls, she decided that she would confront her jerk of a best friend after class. The sooner they sort this out, the better.

llllllllllllllllllll

"Bye, Sasuke! Save me a walk home tomorrow!" A random girl called out to him as he exited the room. Sasuke ignored the blushing female as he was too relieved that the day was over. His walking pace was fast and quick so he could avoid any further delays (annoying girls asking him to walk them home). Who did these girls think they were? He didn't even know them and they expected him to walk them home? Tch. Bunch of half-bred mongrels, these girls were.

While he was walking across part of the campus lawn that had significantly less people, someone called him out. "So you've been avoiding me, jerk." He turned to look at the person and saw a particular blue-eyed female leaning against a tree. She looked displeased judging from the little angry face she was sporting on. Honestly though, Naruto's angry face was in no way threatening. She merely furrowed her brows downward, crinkled her nose and pouted. It was more adorable than anything actually... Sasuke would rather trip and fall flat on his face in public rather than admit that out loud.

Naruto removed herself against the tree and made her way to her supposed best friend. "What's up with you? Aren't you happy to see me?" She placed her hands on her hips as she disapprovingly eyed the raven.

Sasuke rolled his eyes at her. Trust Naruto to treat everything like a cheap television drama. "Don't be melodramatic, idiot. Just haven't come to terms with the fact that you're back." The Uchiha began to resume his walk towards the gates; but Naruto wouldn't have any of it. She cut the boy's path and stood there waiting for answers.

"Well, it's time you got over the shock, princess, because I am not appreciating the cold treatment." Naruto growled as she harshly poked Sasuke's chest.

"Can you move? I want to go home now."

"Screw you, Uchiha. There's so much space around us. If you want to go home so badly then move around me."

"Hn. So we're cursing now? Whatever happened to avoiding bad words?" Sasuke smugly smirked at the girl.

"No." The short and straight to the point reply had Sasuke confused. Wasn't this what Naruto wanted? To be teasing each other like old times?

"No, Sasuke." She answered as if knowing his thoughts. "You don't get to joke around until we settle this."

Sasuke groaned and moved around Naruto. "Can we talk about this tomorrow? I'm tired, Naruto." The fifteen-year-old was only greeted with silence. This was bad. It was one thing for Naruto to be ranting her head off; it was another if she was quiet. She must've been really pissed then.

Sasuke, finally realizing that there was no other option than for them to talk it out, sighed and pulled Naruto to a more isolated area. The older teen looked around to see whether anyone was within earshot. Once he confirmed that no one would be hearing their conversation, he started to explain.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay? It's just that you were here all of a sudden after a year of not seeing you. I didn't know how to react so I avoided you. Happy?" This explanation somehow did more damage than good if the glare Naruto was shooting Sasuke was anything to go by. Sigh. Sasuke knew that look and knew exactly what he had to do. Reconstruct explanation, redeliver sentences in an adjusted tone, and apologize more properly. Otherwise things would not bode well for him tomorrow. Or the day after that. Or the day after that.

"Hey, I'm really sorry. Honestly though, Naruto, I was just too surprised to see you. I didn't know how to react this morning so I kind of just... acted like a jerk." Sasuke admitted in all truthfulness. It wasn't that he was just being cold to Naruto. It was more because he didn't know what to do in that situation.

The blonde raised an eyebrow in incredulity. "Couldn't you just have given me a hug and welcomed me back like any normal person would?"

"You know how I am. You know how socially awkward I can be. Especially since..." Sasuke trailed off his sentence. That's right. How could Naruto have forgotten? He had always been a socially stiff kind of guy. Added with the fact that Sasuke had shut a bit of himself off ever since that day. She felt like smacking herself on the head. Guess she was too damn excited to be back (coupled with her worry that Sasuke had moved on from being her best friend) that she forgot about the issue of breaking Sasuke's walls.

Naruto sighed as she attempted to rectify the wrong start of the confrontation. "Look. Obviously we had a bit of a bad reunion. So how's about we start over, hm?" Naruto gave Sasuke a meek smile which he, in kind, returned.

"Sounds good." At the prompt, Naruto sprinted a couple of metres back. Sasuke furrowed his brows out of utter confusion. What was this idiot doing?

Naruto stopped running for a couple of seconds to catch her breath and skipped backwards. About halfway through, she shouted "Sasuke! I'm baaaaaaaack!". This had Sasuke chuckling and shaking his head at the blonde. Naruto was such a complete goof... and, my God, had he missed her.

Once Naruto was back in her place, Sasuke smiled. "Welcome home, stupid."

"Language, jerk. And good to be back." She winked and gave him a lopsided smile. The lass put her arms behind her back and turned on her heels. "Now, that wasn't so hard, right S'uke? K. I'll see you tomorrow then!" She took a step forward. Naruto, however, didn't have a chance to complete her leave as Sasuke decided he had missed his best friend too much. He reached for her elbow and pulled her back.

"Sasuke! Wha-?" Naruto was rendered speechless once she realized that Sasuke had just tightly enveloped her in his arms.

"Glad you're back, Sunshine." He whispered as he buried his head on her shoulder.

Was it even possible for her heart to stop beating and still be standing?

The hug had lasted not more than five seconds (but felt almost like an eternity to Naruto). Sasuke let go and stepped past her like nothing had happened.

"Come on, Sunny. I'll walk you home." He said as he lightly pulled on one of her pigtails before completely walking away. Sasuke smirked at nothing in particular. Only Naruto. Only Naruto could bring out this side of him.

"Uh—er- yeah... Yeah! Wait up!"

Maybe Gaara was right after all. Absence wasn't solely a bad thing. Sometime absence was just the right ingredient to strengthen a bond and chip fragments off of built walls. It truly made hearts grow fonder judging from Sasuke's response to her return just now. Heh. Not even twenty-four hours back and Naruto had already made changes in Sasuke's new lifestyle. Maybe she was just that important. Ha!

She didn't realize it that time but it was possible that Naruto wasn't the only one who was almost in-love.