THANK YOU ALL SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH FOR YOUR REVIEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It is really nice when I learn people like my story, and it encourages me to get chapters up faster! Ha ha ha….

It looks like a lot of people want Itachi alive, so he is going to be. And Sasuke's parents too (helps with awkward moments

Chapter Note: Just as a warning, Sasuke is REALLY immature in this chapter. He won't stay like that, though, so don't worry.

Without any further ado, here is the latest installment:

The next day….

Sakura quietly shut the door to her house. There was really no need: no one else lived near her, and there were no other people living with her like there were at the orphanage. Still, Sakura always woke up early to trek the five miles to school, and it was often quiet outside. She did not feel compelled to break the silence-indeed she found it relaxing.

She thought about yesterday, how Sasuke had given her a ride, and how she had had her first real conversation with him. If it weren't for the fact that he was endlessly pursuing her, they might have become friends.

And yet….

Sakura could not deny that Sasuke had some sort of a spell over her, but she would never let him know that. No, she would just have to play it safe until she found out whether he liked her for her…or for other reasons.

Locking the door, Sakura turned towards the long stretch of concrete, expecting to find it deserted, as always. You can imagine how shocked she was to see none other than Sasuke Uchiha casually leaning against a pole, waiting for her.

"Sa-Sasuke?" Sakura stammered. He smirked. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Walking you to school." he replied, and walked over to her.

"But why would you want to?" Sakura countered. "I mean, you know how long the walk is, and you do have a car. So….why?" Sasuke sighed and tried to put his arm around her shoulders, but Sakura moved away, wanting an answer to her question.

"Sakura, I think you're missing the point." Sasuke replied. "I don't have to walk you to school. I want to."

For the first mile on their journey to school, nothing had been said between Sasuke and Sakura. Sasuke kept his cool demeanor, walking in a laid-back style with his hands in his pockets. Sakura was noticeably nervous, fiddling with the strap of her bag. After a while, the tension between the two was so strong, Sakura felt like she was going to burst. Gathering all the nerves she had in her, she decided to break this silence and ask a question she had been dying to ask ever since Sasuke told her he wanted to walk her to school.

"Why?" she said quietly. Sasuke turned and stared at her.

"Why what?"

"Why do you want to walk me to school?" This surprised Sasuke. He hadn't expected her to ask him that, and he didn't really want to answer. For once, he could hardly speak.

"Well…um…you know." he managed weakly, desperately praying she would not question any more. Sadly, his prayers were not answered.

"No, Sasuke, I don't know." Sakura said softly, raising her eyes to meet his. "That's why I am asking you."

Sasuke couldn't handle looking at Sakura's eyes, so he looked down instead. Sakura noticed he blushed ever so slightly. But when he gave his reply to her, he was all business and his attitude had returned.

"Because I like you, is that good enough?" he said. Sakura gave a small smile, but didn't reply. The silence was welcome now, and there was no more conversation between the two of them.

At the front steps of the school, Sakura turned to face Sasuke.

"Thanks for walking me to school Sasuke. It was, um, really nice of you." she said, trying her hardest to avoid blushing when she noticed people staring at them. But Sasuke wasn't listening. His eyes were turned to the top steps, where a dark haired, thin eyed, slouched over kid was descending and heading right towards them.

Sasuke moved slightly in front of Sakura, which puzzled the girl. The stranger had a friendly grin on his face and she wanted to meet him.

"Sasuke? What's going on?" she asked.

"Just stay back, Sakura. This guy's trouble." Sakura hardly believed this. And when he was close enough to them, she returned his smile with one of her own.

The boy roughly pushed Sasuke aside, and stood facing Sakura with a hand out.

"I'm Zaku." he said, grinning.

"Hi. I'm Sakura. Nice to meet you." she said kindly, shaking Zaku's hand.

"Can I walk you to class?" he asked politely and, after she accepted, took Sakura's bag and escorted her inside. Sasuke fumed.

Sakura was surprised to learn what a nice person Zaku was. He was always courteous; asking her questions about herself, something Sasuke hadn't done once. He also had a sense of humor, and made her laugh a few times. Sasuke was never this nice to me she thought. Granted, he walked me to school, but we barely even talked! Zaku has already been a nicer person to me than Sasuke ever was.

Though her mind felt this was true in theory, something didn't sit right with Sakura about Zaku. Why hadn't she noticed him before? And why was Sasuke so protective once he saw him? And why didn't she care how nice Zaku was, why did she still rather be with Sasuke?

These questions bothered her, but Sakura wouldn't let herself show it. She was convinced Zaku was just being a gentleman, and tried to enjoy his company. When they got to her classroom, he took her hand and kissed it softly. A chill ran up Sakura's spine, but strangely not in a good way.

She entered the room and everything went silent.

Sasuke was standing in the back, arms crossed and a mix of anger and concern in his eyes. If it was not for the fact that she knew he had been waiting for her, Sakura would have laughed out loud: he looked like a mother waiting for a child who had not met curfew.

Sakura walked calmly to her seat, knowing a confrontation was imminent.

"Are you okay?" Sasuke immediately asked.

"I'm fine." she said, sitting down. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Sasuke relax.

"Sakura," he started. She turned to face him, arms crossed.

"What?" she said. She was surprised by the irritation in her voice; she didn't mean to sound like that. "What is it?" she asked more softly. She could see Sasuke trying to find the right words, but at that moment the teacher walked in. Everyone took their seats and began chatting to each other. Sakura turned away from Sasuke and started to daydream.

She was in a gorgeous red gown in an amazing garden. It was night, and the moon was full. The stars glittered above her as she waited on a bench for her mysterious date to arrive.

"Sakura." The voice was familiar; smooth and deep. She turned slowly. It was Zaku.

"I've been waiting for you." she said as he sat down. They leaned towards each other, but something was happening to Zaku's face.

It was changing. The eyes became dark and intense, and the hair turned raven-colored. Sakura was now facing Sasuke and about to kiss him.

"Sakura." he said.

"Yes, Sasuke?"

"Sakura."

"What?"

"SAKURA!!!!"

Sakura sat straight up. She looked up and saw Sasuke staring at her.

"The bell just rang; it's time for 1st period."

"Oh, thanks." Sakura hastily stood up and started to walk forward, but tripped as a result of her haste. She fell forward, but was caught by Sasuke. She looked up and blushed: their faces were almost touching. Sasuke smirked as a flustered Sakura stood up and apologized for falling on him. She tried to push past him, but he stopped her.

"Can I walk you to class?"

Sakura froze. That was what Zaku had said. She looked to see if he was joking, but she found only sincerity on his face. He must be trying to apologize for overreacting about Zaku she thought. So she smiled and nodded.

"Sakura listen to me!" Sasuke commanded, grabbing her shoulders and spinning her around. Their walk to class had come to this disastrous point, and Sakura felt close to tears.

It had started out fine; Sakura and Sasuke both went to their lockers, then had continued on towards Chemistry. Sakura had waved to Zaku in the hall, and he and Sasuke had exchanged glares.

"Honestly, Sasuke, I don't know what your problem is!" she had stated once they had passed him. "He really is nice. And funny, too!" Sasuke had stiffened at this.

"Sakura." Sasuke said in a slightly warning tone. Sakura couldn't take it.

"What, Sasuke? What? What is so wrong with Zaku?" she asked him furiously.

"Everything! You don't get it, do you? He's trouble, and if you get involved with him then--."

"You know what? I don't care!" Sakura was blazing mad. "I don't care if he's a mass murderer or a criminal or anything! But you think you are the most important person in the world and can have anything you want! Well, you're not, Sasuke Uchiha, you're NOT!"

"Sakura listen to me!"

Thus the current point in the story has been reached.

Sakura stared up at Sasuke and their eyes met. Sasuke saw the tears welling up in Sakura's eyes and wanted right then to kiss her. It would have been easy: she couldn't get away. But something told him that that would just push her farther away.

Sakura knew Sasuke would kiss her then and there. She wanted him to. But she didn't. She wanted to teach him a lesson; that just because he says someone is trouble, doesn't mean they are. She didn't like Zaku (thus him changing to Sasuke in her fantasy), but she thought they could become friends. Either way, she braced herself for the struggle that would surly ensue between the two of them.

She waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Sasuke was struggling with himself. He wanted so much to protect Sakura, but that would mean kissing her, possibly against her will. But he also wanted to make sure she was happy, which would require letting her go. Sasuke knew, though, that Zaku wouldn't make Sakura happy; she was just being stubborn. Nevertheless, she would have to find out on her own.

Sasuke released Sakura from his grasp. Sakura's eyes went wide.

"We better get to class." Sasuke said before walking away.

Sakura looked sadly at Sasuke. He was "reading" his Chemistry book, like the teacher had told them to do. But Sakura wouldn't even pretend. After the incident in the hall, Sasuke had barely talked to her. She didn't know why, but she felt as though Sasuke wasn't being stubborn. She thought he was trying to help her.

"Um, Sasuke?" she asked him.

"Hm?"

"I…I'm sorry." Sasuke looked at her. Sakura was blushing and he could see regret in her eyes. Sighing, Sasuke felt he should apologize as well. What he had done was completely unacceptable.

"Yeah, me too. Let's just forget about it, okay?" Sakura smiled as the bell rang. The walked to the door and were surprised to see Zaku waiting there.

"Hey Sakura." he said.

"Uh, hi." Sakura replied, glancing a Sasuke. His face was emotionless.

"Since I'm in your next couple of classes, I figured you could use some company getting there."

Sakura hadn't even noticed he was in her classes, and began to see him in a different light. His uniform was even messier than Sasuke's, and not in a way that was attractive at all. He had no bag, which meant he didn't really care about school at all. His grin even frightened Sakura a bit, as though he was always plotting something.

As scared as she was of him, Sakura didn't want to risk his wrath by refusing. She managed a small nod in his direction.

"Good. Now, could you wait up there for a minute." he said in a falsely polite tone. He gave her a light shove on the back to move her and then faced Sasuke.

"Watch your step, Uchiha." Zaku snarled. "You wouldn't want anything happening to your girlfriend, would you?" Sasuke glared. "Oh, you haven't kissed her yet? Even better." He turned to Sakura and the two walked away. Sakura looked back at Sasuke with a desperate look, but he could do nothing as the pair was lost behind the sea of students rushing to their next class.

A little different from the other chapters, right? Sasuke was so not suave or all-attitude like in the other ones. He will be though….

Next chapter: Sakura's friends try to talk some sense into her, which she knows she needs. Sasuke contemplates a way to kiss Sakura first, but with her consent.

Up as soon as I can manage!