A/N and a disclaimage: And just when you think it's over, IT'S NOT! This is the much demanded SasuSaku and it's not terrifically in character (all of the characters are slowing getting out of character and as a result, I am slowly getting worried), but it's the best I could do. And I do realize the holidays are over, but really, who cares? Christmas in January, that's what I say!

Thank you tons for the feedback on last chapter. I'm glad so many people love this story. c: I hope I get feedback again (especially to tell me if Sasuke was anything close to the actual Sasuke). Thank you for all my readers. You guys are the bomb-diggity. So...read the chapter and enjoy.

Oh, and I do not own the song "Stoppin' the Love" by KT Tunstall. But I do love the song. Very, very much. Especially in this scene. For those of you that have the song, listen to it while reading. And for those of you that don't have the song...I feel very sorry for you.

Until next time...! (With a NaruHina, muahaha.)

.:a snickerdoodle add on.:
-five-

Sakura held her breath. Actually, her ears were ringing, so she didn't know if she really was holding her breath, but it sure didn't feel like she was breathing. All of this was so for two reasons:

1. Someone had finally turned down the music, which had been blaring for probably a full five minutes. This was a relief, as her ears were just beginning to feel like they would start bleeding from the loud noise. The ringing came from the leftover airwaves of the loud music, now turned down to a still audible, but more manageable volume.

2. A certain Uchiha (really keeps things vague) was looking for her, and she had crawled in behind the Christmas tree a few feet away from the door as a place of hiding. It was placed in a corner, so she was crouched in the space it made with the two walls coming together behind her.

She had been blasted with a gust of cold, cold air a few moments earlier, when Kiba had decided to open the stupid door. Stupid idiot. In walked a smiling Tenten and a (dare she say) smiling Neji. That was odd. And what was odder: they were holding hands.

Okay…

Something obviously happened between them.

And then, the big shocker: Ino and Shikamaru walked in. Okay, it wasn't a big shocker, but it made Sakura wonder what they had been doing outside…together. They were shouting at each other about one thing or the other while walking in, not at all as cute and cuddly as Tenten and Neji (she still couldn't get over the fact that Neji had smiled), but anyone with a half a brain could tell that they definitely liked each other.

And that sparks had ignited between them...finally.

And that left Sakura. Poor, lonely Sakura. Oh, of course, there was Hinata, but come on. Hinata? She was so shy that when any guy said hello, even a child, she'd blush and stammer. At least, that was Sakura's impression. So the fact that Hinata was the only other girl that was boyfriendless did not make Sakura feel any better.

True, over the years, the priority of getting a boyfriend had diminished to almost nothing. Being a ninja wasn't just a walk in the park, after all, and it didn't leave her copious amounts of spare time to flirt with attractive boys. No, every bit of spare time saw her training her ass off, which meant spare time was work time, which meant there was no spare time at all.

But it did help when the village hottie was on her team.

Sakura sighed involuntarily, her head leaning back against the corner the two walls made. Uchiha Sasuke, the untouchable. He was cold, at times colder than what Sakura had seen and heard of Neji (how the HELL did Tenten get him to smile??). He didn't give out smiles easily. He didn't give out praise at all. And he never stuck around with her when so-called "spare time" arose. He always disappeared, probably going elsewhere to train alone, leaving her stuck with annoying Naruto who begged and begged with all his might to train with her.

She had long ago given up flirting with him and had given up talking with him as well. He wasn't one of many words, unlike her other hyperactive teammate. The days when Sakura had desperately clung to Sasuke—hoping for a smile, a word, or even a sweeping glance—had melted into her embarrassing past. She was above that now. She had her own pride and her own ego (of course, it was nowhere near Sasuke's in magnitude). She had even caught herself recently downgrading Sasuke, insulting him viciously in her mind.

Because he was always the star, and she was always the stupid backup. Sasuke would always engage the enemy first, and then Sakura would be sent in if he failed. Which he never did. So she ever got sent in. And she never got to prove herself. Not even to herself.

That was her problem. She was never good enough. Naruto and Sasuke would go down in history, and she'd stay home and read about them.

These thoughts made her hate the world sometimes.

But then, the sound of his voice jerked her away from her thoughts. "Hey Kiba, have you seen Sakura around here?" He's looking for me. Uchiha Sasuke is looking for me.

That was a sobering thought, if anything. The question made Sakura smile. For such a long time, she'd been chasing after him, for both his heart and his amazing talent and technique. But now…look who was chasing whom?

"No, I don't think I saw her," Kiba replied, sounding like he was pondering the question very seriously. Sakura suppressed a giggle. She had been amazed when someone had had the audacity to hit her with a pillow going full speed. She had picked herself up and placed her hands on her hips, scanning the room for the culprit that was about to get the snot beat out of him. And then she had found Uchiha Sasuke, standing there on the other side of the room, looking very smug and looking right at her.

"Don't tell me you threw that," she had yelled at him through the din with a big smile, not daring to believe that he had. Stop kidding yourself, Sakura. It's too good to be true.

Sasuke had shrugged. "Maybe I did, maybe I didn't."

Sakura had sighed. Typical. "You'll regret it if you did," she called back and turned to walk away. Then another pillow hit her, right in the small of her back and she nearly toppled over. She managed to catch herself, a hand whipping out to grip the back of the couch to regain balance. Then she pivoted back around, this time her eyes snapping directly to Sasuke. He looked at her innocently.

"What?" he asked her. She shook her head, forcing down a smile, and turned again.

But she didn't turn all the way. And this time the attacker acted too hastily. A pillow hit her in the side and she whipped her head around to find Sasuke still retracting from the throw into his casual, nonchalant stance. He had looked and saw that she had seen and scowled. "You're dead meat," she yelled at him, scooping up the pillow he had just thrown at her.

Sasuke had grabbed another pillow from the couch in front of him. "You've got it backwards, Sakura," he had replied, starting to walk slowly toward her. "You're dead meat."

Then Sakura had promptly flung the pillow she was holding at him, and ran.

She hadn't thought he'd take the trouble to follow. But he had. And now they were here: her behind a Christmas tree and him asking Kiba for directions. From this scenario, one could clearly see who the smarter of the two was (psst, it's Sakura).

"You don't see her?" Sasuke's voice inquired in disbelief. "I do. My sharingan tells me she's hiding right there behind that Christmas tree."

Shit!

"She is?"

Sakura immediately straightened up, not caring if it shook the Christmas tree excessively. Then she started to remove herself from behind it quickly, lifting up one foot to clear it of the branches…

"Gotcha."

A warm hand close around her right wrist and she knew she was caught. She turned her head to see Sasuke smiling at her smugly. She frowned. "The sharingan can't see through solid objects," she said.

"Yeah, I was lying. But I could still see you. You chose a lousy hiding spot."

Sakura huffed. "Whatever."

Over the stereo system, a bass drum thumped to a slower beat than the previous loud guitar ridden song. It was soothing and helped Sakura to relax a little. Yeah, so Sasuke was talking to her, and he was chasing after her, and his hand was on her wrist. But she couldn't panic. She had to hold her nervousness down.

So you think it's funny
That you've been calling me
All of the time
Everyday

She had to do so even more when Sasuke squeezed in behind the Christmas tree next to her. She stared at him in shock and surprise. "What do you think you are doing?"

"What do you think you are doing?" he retorted, his signature smug look still in place. Now it was even more uncomfortable behind the Christmas tree, as they both were stuck behind it.

"I'm hiding from you," she pointed out. His slight, smug smile never wavered.

"Well, that's getting harder, isn't it?"

"Tell me about it," she said, rolling her eyes.

Oh, honey
Don't want to be following
Falling behind
If you're gonna be walking away

"I've got another thing you could be doing," Sasuke said smoothly. He had let go of her wrist, but she didn't know if that was good thing or a bad thing. For one, it made not being nervous a little easier.

Giving you the most passionate kiss of your life? "What could I be doing? Enlighten me," Sakura said calmly, despite her thoughts and emotions. Inner Sakura was practically going nuts right about now. Sasuke and Sakura's shoulders were stuck together due to the lack of space behind the Christmas tree. But Sakura wasn't complaining.

For some reason, she was acting quite cool. Cooler than usual. She usually didn't have such a big arsenal of witty retorts as she did now. Maybe Sasuke brought out the best in her. Or the worst, depending on how you looked at it.

"You could be thinking up a plan…to steal Kiba's dog."

"What?"

And I don't know why I couldn't follow
Wouldn't follow
You got me looking up
Even when I'm falling down
You got me crawling out of my skin

Sasuke's smile widened a fraction of an inch. "Wouldn't it be funny to see that idiot's face?"

Sakura sighed. Normally she always thought of Sasuke as the mature one. That image of him had abruptly died. "What is the point of this, exactly?" she asked, getting irritated with her teammate.

"Getting even," he replied without thinking. Then his face seemed to blanch a little, his smile becoming frozen in place as he realized what he had said.

"Getting even?" she asked, curious. Now things were getting interesting. "What did he ever do to you?"

"Why do you care?" Sasuke snapped at her. Sakura flinched in spite of herself. Sasuke's tone had changed so quickly that it was frightening. "It'd be hilarious, don't you think?" he corrected himself quickly. Sakura turned to look at him with an eyebrow raised and started to question his sanity.

"Yeah, hilarious," she said flatly, obviously being sarcastic.

"And you know what?" Sasuke continued, "I've already got a plan."

"Well aren't you special?"

Sasuke ignored her little remark and leaned in closer to her, his breath brushing her cheek. She froze, feeling the nervousness creep up her body like little icy fingers that made her shiver. "Here's what we're going to do…"

You got me wondering why
I am underneath this big old sky
Stoppin' the loving getting in
Well, I'm stoppin' the loving getting in

"You're crazy," Sakura stated after Sasuke had finished whispering it to her. He shook his head and pushed her a little, as if it was the jumpstart she needed.

"Just do it," he whispered into her ear, causing Sakura to feel the nervousness climb a little higher in her body. She swallowed and made her way out from behind the Christmas tree. Sasuke did the same in the other direction and then left the area.

Sakura straightened out her red dress and brushed pine needles from her body. Then she combed her fingers through her beautiful pink hair and cleared her throat. Kiba was sitting on the floor, leaning against a wall, and playing with Akamaru who was growling happily at his master. He didn't even notice her standing there a little bit away from him. She cleared her throat again, a little louder this time and then looked away, as if she hadn't been doing it on purpose.

"Hey, Sakura," Kiba said, calling her to attention. She looked up at him, as if surprised he was there. "I thought you were hiding behind that Christmas tree there." From his face, it was obvious that he was trying very hard not to laugh at that idea. Sakura made a face at him.

"Yeah, I was, but then Sasuke invaded my hiding place."

Kiba finally couldn't hold it in any longer, laughing heartily. "But I thought you liked Sasuke," he said when he finished.

Sakura looked down at her feet. "Yeah, I did. But I think I kind of like somebody else now."

Now Kiba was interested. "Oh, yeah?" he asked, his attempt to mask the slight excitement in his voice not working. "And who would that be?"

Now you say it's easy
That you've been falling for
All of my charm
And getting lost in my smile

Sakura made a face at Kiba again, warming up to the task she was given. "I'm not telling you," she said, her voice getting playful.

"Why not?" Kiba prompted, smiling at her.

"Um…because…" she said, pretending to be a little flustered with the conversation. She looked at her feet again, as if she couldn't meet his eyes.

"That's not a reason. Tell me. I won't tell anyone else, I promise."

Sakura looked up at him, making sure to look like she was considering his offer. "Okay, I guess," she said slowly, as if the decision was a very hard one to make. "But I'm not going to yell it across the entryway."

"Then come over here then," Kiba said to her, obviously starting to flirt. Inner Sakura sighed and laughed at his pathetic attempt. Real Sakura smiled cutely.

"No. You have to come over here."

Kiba sighed, as if this was a tremendous task. "Fine," he said, getting up and picking up Akamaru from the floor.

"You have to leave Akamaru though."

"Why?" Kiba asked incredulously. "He's not going to tell anyone."

Sakura wrinkled her nose. "I don't really like dogs."

"Oh, okay," Kiba said, and then turned to put Akamaru down, saying to him, "I'll be right back, okay?"

Sakura watched as Kiba grinned and then walked toward her. Inside, she was squirming with discomfort. Where Sasuke had come up with a plan like this really baffled her. It was common knowledge that Sakura had about the biggest crush in history on Sasuke, and he still had managed to force her to flirt with somebody else. Man, he was a world-class jerk-off.

Never ceases to amaze me
When I'm chancing my arm
That I still do it with style

"So, who is it?" Kiba asked when he was standing right in front of Sakura. She smiled indulgently, but really she was watching over Kiba's shoulder as Sasuke crept up and snatched Akamaru away, covering the dog's mouth to keep him from barking.

"Umm…" Sakura uttered, buying time. Sasuke had turned and was sneaking away with Akamaru. As soon as he was out of sight, she could stop this ridiculous game she was playing with Kiba. But he never did make it all the way out of sight. Akamaru opened his mouth and bit Sasuke's hand as hard as he could.

"OW, shit!" Sasuke swore loudly, letting go of the white dog. Akamaru yapped as loudly as he could, which made Kiba turn around and see Sasuke holding his hand that was throbbing in pain. Then he pieced all the puzzle pieces together.

"Sasuke, what do you think you are doing?" he said accusingly, quickly striding towards his prized dog companion.

"Getting even," Sasuke snapped back, examining the hand that been hurt.

"For what I said earlier?" Kiba countered with a grin almost as smug as Sasuke's. That was quite a feat.

Sasuke's face darkened and he flipped Kiba off while he stalked back over to where Sakura was leaning on the wall. Sakura was scowling at him, a reprimand waiting on her tongue.

And now I hope you'll be with me tomorrow
With me tomorrow
You got me looking up
Even when I'm falling down
You got me crawling out of my skin

"That wasn't very nice," she stated as soon as he got within hearing difference. Sasuke shrugged, continuing with the examination of his hand. "Here, let me see that," she said without thinking, reaching out and taking hold of his pale hand. She only realized what she was doing when she was looking at it. And then she tried very hard to keep her nervousness down, which had started building up again.

"You'll be fine. It's not life threatening," she teased as she gave Sasuke his hand back. "But I'm pretty sure your revenge mission failed."

He scowled and looked up at the ceiling. "Yep."

"What exactly did Kiba say to you to get you so riled up?"

And then a crazy thing happened.

Uchiha Sasuke blushed.

You got me wondering why
I am underneath this big old sky
Stoppin' the loving getting in

It wasn't a full out raging blush like the ones that Sakura was prone to give into. But it was there still. And she just had to remark on it, because it was just begging to be made fun of. "Are you blushing?"

"No," Sasuke said immediately. He looked around discreetly and saw that Kiba was still leering at them from a little ways away. "Come on," he muttered, grabbing Sakura's wrist again and pulling her away from her wall. They marched away from Kiba and Akamaru, going up the stairs to where, Sakura suddenly realized, no one else was. Everyone else was probably in the living room again, the pillow fight having finally died down.

And Sasuke was pulling them away from all that.

She was going to be alone. With him.

Stoppin' the loving getting in
Oh yes, I'm stoppin' the loving getting in

"What are you doing?" she demanded of Sasuke. The tone of her voice suggested that she didn't like this, when in fact she kind of did. But she was nervous about it.

"Getting away from that moron," Sasuke stated firmly, dragging her farther down the hallway until it dead-ended. Then he dropped her wrist and stopped, leaning against the wall.

"And what exactly did that moron do?" Sakura prompted, staying a respectable distance away from him. She liked him, of course, but she wasn't about to go back to her clingy ways.

"He…uh…" Now it was Sasuke that was flustered. And his flustering was real, unlike Sakura's acting with Kiba. He couldn't meet Sakura's eye and looked at the carpet below his feet instead. "He…found out who I had feelings for and then made fun of me for it."

Sakura's eyebrows shot way up. Now she was REALLY interested. "Well, that's rude," she said.

"I know!" Sasuke immediately agreed with her. "That jerk-off. He kept on making fun of me for not doing anything about it, as if he was going around asking out every single girl he saw on a daily basis." Sakura giggled at Sasuke's words and Sasuke started to smile as well. "That moron," he scoffed, his smugness coming back to him.

Sakura kept smiling at him, but she was really hoping that he would say more. Like…oh, say whom he had feelings for. But no such luck. Instead, Sasuke turned the whole thing around on her. Typical.

"So, I heard Kiba say you liked me when you were trying to seduce him," he said casually. Sakura's face instantly fell into a frown.

"I'm sure you did and I'm sure you already knew that. I still do like you, jerk," she said, glaring at him. Might as well admit it; it wasn't that big of a secret anymore.

And it was nice to admit it too. Because suddenly Sakura didn't feel nervous anymore. She'd confessed and now had nothing to hide. All she could do now was wait to see where things took her.

You got me looking up
Even when I'm falling down
You got me crawling out of my skin

"Whoa, hostility," Sasuke commented, his smug (Sakura was starting to hate that adjective) smile widening slightly. "You were pretty flirtatious with him though. It was kind of funny to watch."

"Funny? It was funny?" Sakura said, pretending to be insulted. "Oh, now I'm leaving you." She turned to walk away, but Sasuke's voice called her back. She hadn't been planning on leaving anyway, not when she had him all to herself.

"That's not the right word for it. How about…interesting?" Sakura turned around slowly to face him, watching his black, black eyes roam from her feet up to her face, taking her in slowly. She could feel a tingling warmth wash through her.

"What was so interesting about it?" she said softly.

"That's what I'd like to find out," Sasuke said with a suave grin. "Come here."

You got me wondering why
I am underneath this big old sky
Stoppin' the loving getting in

As soon as she got within range, he reached out and took her hand, pulling her toward him. They didn't waste time with anymore words. As if that was the intended target all along, their lips found each other and started to relieve all the tension they had been feeling all party long. They didn't even notice the sprig of mistletoe above their heads, where Neji and Tenten had stood awkwardly just minutes before. They were honoring the tradition without even knowing it.

And they were honoring it passionately. When they broke apart, Sasuke's lips traveling down to kiss Sakura's neck, Sakura was breathing heavily. She closed her eyes and sighed happily. He was what she had been waiting for since forever ago. And she had finally gotten it, gotten him. It felt so good.

Sasuke's kisses moved from her neck to her cheekbone to her smooth cheek and back to her soft lips. He was smirking inwardly the whole time. Take that, Kiba, he thought in satisfaction, finally getting his revenge, take that.

(kiss)

"Where's Sakura and Sasuke?" Ino asked no one in particular. She was curled up on a couch in the living room right up against Shikamaru's muscular body. One of his arms was lying casually on the back of the couch, barely brushing her shoulders.

"Who cares?" Shikamaru replied nonchalantly. He still couldn't believe his luck in getting Yamanaka Ino. Although her constantly asking where Sasuke was worried him a little. He decided to reclaim her attention. "Hey, Ino," he said.

"Yeah?" she asked, turning to face him. He leaned toward her and captured her lips in his, not really caring anymore who saw them. She made a little noise of surprise but soon enough she was content with the whole business.

Tenten and Neji, who were curled up together on the other couch didn't notice them at all. Neji was busy taunting Tenten with a chocolate truffle. He kept on letting it get near her mouth and then jerking it away when she tried to eat it. "Neji," she whined cutely, "stop it. You know I love chocolate."

"Your point?" Neji asked, smirking.

"Ugh," Tenten complained, leaning into Neji and placing her head on his chest. "I give up."

After that, of course, Neji had to give her the chocolate. He placed it into her mouth carefully, getting a happy smile as a reward and looked around contentedly. It was getting late and soon they'd all probably have to get going. Still, he really didn't want to leave. Not now.

Then, with his practiced ninja observational skills, he noticed someone was missing. Actually, two someones that should definitely be around here because he highly doubted they would sneak off to somewhere else, as he and Tenten had…

"Where's Naruto and Hinata?"