Okaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay……..

Um, I have a confession to make….

I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHAT TO WRITE!!!!

Phew! That was easy. But seriously, this chapter is a bridge, because I couldn't just go right into the dinner. Hang in a little longer, and you'll read the dinner chapter. I guarantee you'll be surprised!!!!

I know I will be….

I don't blame you for being you
But you can't blame me for hating it
So say, what are you waiting for?
Kiss her, kiss her
I set my clocks early 'cause you know I'm always late

Sakura quickly snatched up her ringing phone. She was walking to school. Alone. For the first time in weeks.

"Hello?" she asked into the receiver.

"Sakura?" Sasuke's voice came from the other end, sounding strangely muffled.

"What is it?" she said a little more snappishly than she should have. "What's wrong?" she asked in a gentler voice.

"Sakura, I'm sorry I wasn't there today. I'm sick and I woke up late. I won't be in school today." Sasuke explained.

"Oh, Sasuke! Are you okay?" Sakura asked, genuinely concerned.

Sasuke laughed softly. "Relax, Sakura, I'm fine! This is probably just a 24-hour bug. I'll be good as new by tomorrow."

"Well…." Sakura had stopped in her tracks. She was now trying to resist the urge to dash to Sasuke's house and take care of him.

"Sakura." Sasuke said in a slightly stronger, and definitely threatening voice. "If you take one step onto this property during the time school is in session, I will have the guards knock you out and forcefully escort you to school. They will not let you within a one mile radius of me for the rest of the week. So go. To. School."

"Fine, if you hate me caring so much!" Sakura replied, surprised Sasuke knew her so well.

"I don't hate you caring. But I care about you just as much. and I would hate to see you knocked out by the guards." Sasuke responded. Sakura couldn't help it, she burst out laughing.

"That's better." Sasuke said. "Now you better hurry up, or you'll be late. I'll call you later, okay?"

"Okay. Bye Sasuke!" Sakura said a bit more cheerily. "Luv ya!"

"…."

Sakura closed the phone with such force she was afraid it was going to break.

"WHAT THE HELL DID I JUST DO?!?!?!?!?!?!!?" she screamed.

No no no. this can't be happening! her thoughts were panicky. Okay. Okay. Maybe this isn't as bad as I think it is.

Right, it's a billion times worse!

No, no. Maybe….maybe he didn't hear me!

And that's why there was that big, awkward silence on the other end.

Hey, it's possible.

No, it's not.

What am I going to do!?!?!?!

There's only one thing you CAN do!

WHAT????

Crawl into a hole in the ground and never come out.

……

What?

Thanks for the input, but I was being SERIOUS!!!!

So was I….

Should I call him back?

What? HELL NO! Are you crazy?!?!?! If you call him back now you'll look like a complete idiot!

And that is different from now how, exactly?

Good point.

Any other ideas?

Sorry. I'm fresh out. Peace!

NO! COME BACK!!!

………………………………….

Sasuke was frozen.

Completely and utterly in shock.

What. The. Hell. Just. Happened?

"Did Sakura just say…?" he muttered to himself. "Did she mean…?"

Sasuke had never had anything like this happen before. Well, not quite. He heard all his fangirls say I love you" to him abut a million times a day. But this was….different. This was Sakura.

So what if she said it? Maybe it was just, you know, one of those things that people say but don't mean!

Oh, that's a comforting thought! If she didn't mean it, why did she hang up so quickly?

When someone proclaims there love to a person who doesn't respond within the next 2 seconds, it can be a pretty awkward situation. And, as I recall, you just sat there like a complete moron and didn't say anything.

Shit! Why did I do that?

You didn't want to!

Says who?

You. Well, technically you didn't say anything, but you get the point.

……

What?

Maybe I wanted to say it.

So why didn't you?

She caught me off guard!

Hey man, that's life!

Oh shut up!

……………………

"Sakura, are you alright?" TenTen asked.

Sakura had finally made it to school, but she knew she must look terrible.

"Ohmygod! You're white as a ghost! What happened?" shrieked Ino.

"S-S-Sakura?" Hinata whispered worriedly.

"I….I…." Sakura began. The others leaned in excitedly.

"I don't know" Sakura finished helplessly.

"ARGH!" Ino screamed. "Sakura Haruno you tell us what happened THIS MINUTE!!!!"

Sakura flinched. "What?" she asked. "Why do I have to tell you?" she added defensively. The others looked positively shocked.

"Sakura, aren't we your friends?" asked TenTen quietly.

"Yes, but—." Sakura began.

"Don't you trust us?" Hinata demanded.

"Well, at times you can be—."

"No, no! Let's just forget it, Hinata, TenTen." Ino began dramatically. "If Sakura doesn't want to tell her best friends what is bothering her, then Sakura doesn't have to."

Sakura smacked her hand against her head. Leave it to me to have to deal with this along with everything else. But this was not a time for self pity. Well, actually, it was. But she needed to tell someone, and these three were the only people she trusted…. sort of.

"Fine! I'll tell you! But you—can—not—tell—anyone!" Sakura said harshly. Immediately the three others leaned in again.

"Well, Sasuke called to tell me he was sick," Sakura started. However, she was interrupted by a passing Sasuke fan-girl.

"Oh give me a BREAK!" the girl said. "Sasuke probably just couldn't take another day staring at that hideous thing you call a face!"

"Shove it, Karin." TenTen responded. "Unless you don't want to have a face anymore!" TenTen cracked her knuckles menacingly and glared daggers at Karin.

"Whatever, bunhead." Karin rolled her eyes. "Sasuke doesn't give a shit about Sakura, you know that as well as I do!"

"You're just jealous because every time a boy glances in your direction, they have this urge to grab the sharpest thing they can find and poke their eyes out." Ino retorted.

"At least people don't call me a slut!" Karin yelled.

"Maybe not to your face!" Hinata sneered.

Karin blinked. She expected this from TenTen and Ino, but to hear something like this from Hinata was a surprise. Something was up.

Karin took another look at Sakura. She supposed she was "pretty". But she could not see what made Sasuke take such a liking to her. Was bright pink hair really his style? she fingered her own flaming hair tentatively. Maybe….

"Hey! Are you going to leave or do we have to make you?" Ino's harsh voice cut through Karin's reverie like a knife.

"If I stand here much longer, I might start to look like you, so I'd better go." Karin said to the three girls.

"Yeah, and we wouldn't want to jeopardize your chances at getting the part of the monster in your next horror movie." Sakura mumbled. Karin froze.

"What did you say to me?" she asked in a low voice.

"You heard me." Sakura said a little loudly. "Or were my words a bit to complicated for you to understand?"

"You little bitch!"

"Takes one to know one!" (A/N. Okay, a lame comeback, but one that is just soooo effective, am I right?)

Karin's eyed narrowed until they were slits. "Watch your step, pinky." she growled. she stalked by Sakura, making sure to knock into her with her shoulder as she passed. The girls turned to watch her until she was out of earshot.

"Ignore her." TenTen said when they were sure Karin was gone.

"Yeah, she's like, she schools biggest slut. no one likes her, they're just afraid of her." Ino added.

Sakura shuddered. With good reason she thought.

"Now," Ino continued in a businesslike manner, "what were you going to tell us?"

………………….

"Hey! Zaku!"

Zaku was leaning against one of the brick walls of the school. He looked up when he heard his name being called, not at all thrilled by who was calling it.

"What, Karin?"

Karin scowled at Zaku. "You're in a good mood."

Zaku stood straighter. "You want me to be all happy that you're here?" he asked.

"You could at least be a bit more grateful." Karin answered.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Zaku demanded.

"We both have a common goal here, Zaku." Karin replied.

"Cut the cryptic crap and tell me what the fuck you're talking about!" Zaku yelled. Karin didn't flinch.

"Nasty tempers won't get you anywhere." she said in a falsely sweet voice.

"Whatever." Zaku started to walk away. He went a foot past her when she called to him.

"It concerns Sakura and Sasuke."

Zaku stopped in his tracks. "I'm listening."

"Say please." Karin said.

Zaku gritted his teeth. "Please." he spat the word out so quickly that, if Karin hadn't known what he was trying to say, she never would have recognized it.

"Now that wasn't so hard was it?" Karin cooed evilly.

Zaku shuddered. I really hate that bitch.

"Are you going to tell me now?" he asked.

"Well, I don't know ALL the details, so I'm going to need your help. But Sakura was about to tell her three idiotic friends something big, so big Hinata was even riled up." Karin explained.

"Hinata? The quiet one?"

"Yeah. So I was thinking we could do a little….investigating." Karin smiled wickedly.

Zaku nodded. "I'll get on it. Those girls talk so loud you could hear them a mile away. And poor little Sakura thinks I forgot about her."

……………………..

"…and when I was saying goodbye I said…." Sakura was in the middle of her story, with all the other girls hypnotized by it. not one of them noticed the shadowy figure lurking just within earshot of them.

"I…..said….that….thatIlovedhim!" Sakura finished quickly.

Silence.

More silence.

Okay, this is getting awkward.

"WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!" Ino's voice rang loud and clear throughout the schoolyard. At once, every head swiveled to look at the commotion.

"N-nothing t-to s-s-see here." Hinata stuttered, waving her arms frantically. TenTen's mouth hung open.

"Oh, Sakura! How could you do that?" Ino moaned. "do you realize what this has done?"

"Why are you upset?" Sakura asked, utterly lost. "You're not the one that told your boyfriend you loved him!"

"Are you not seeing the chain of events this will lead to?" Ino asked. Sakura blinked.

"Well, Sasuke will obviously tell Shikamaru, Naruto, and Neji this information. Then they will start thinking that maybe we talked it over and all decided to tell them we loved them. Then they'll act awkward, become distant, and ultimately end up breaking up with us because they are afraid that if we tell them we love them they won't return our feelings!" Ino explained. "You are so selfish!"

Sakura was so stunned at this, she didn't even bother contradicting her friend.

"It's okay, S-Sakura. We'll get you th-through th-th-this." Hinata patted Sakura on the shoulder. TenTen was still frozen.

"I don't think you guys get it." Sakura said.

"What are you talking about?" Ino demanded.

"I….I think I meant it."

…………………….

"Hm, well this is quite interesting." Zaku chuckled softly.

"What is?" Karin asked sharply.

"It seems as though Sakura thinks she loves Sasuke." Zaku answered.

Karin's face broke out into an evil grin.

"Oh, this should be fun."

YAY! INSPIRATION!!!

I'm happy to say I now know what I'm going to write and what is going to happen. I'm so proud of myself!!!!

By the way, that song was from Fall Out Boy's "A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More Touch Me"

Next time:

What would happen if Ino, TenTen, and Hinata told their men they loved them? Would the feeling be mutual? Or would their relationships be ruined? And poor Sakura has to face Sasuke. What will she say? Is it over between them? And what are Karin and Zaku up to? All coming up!

Ciao!