Chapter Nine

Sakura's POV

I took a deep breath, braced myself, and rang the door bell. I pulled at my purse straps. I heard someone moving inside the house. My heart began to race. I'm so not ready to for this, I thought as Sasuke opened the door. He gave me his signature smirk. Usually, I would have gone weak at the knees, but I was way too scared for that to happen.

Sasuke grabbed my wrist and pulled me into the house. He slammed the door shut as he aggressively went after my lips. I responded to his kiss reluctantly. Just a week ago this would have thrilled me. Funny how fast things can change.

"So where do you wanna go? The couch or the bedroom?" he asked.

"Uh, the kitchen…I'm super hungry," I said pushing him away slightly.

"Ha, ok," he snickered.

We made our way to the kitchen. I went to his fridge. I busied myself searching for food. I grabbed a loaf of bread and slices of cheddar. "Grilled cheese," I smiled. "Yum." That'll take sometime to make.

"I don't want to kiss a cheddar breath," Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Well, we won't kiss then," I said hoping he would catch on.

He didn't. That or he was way too determined to have sex.

"Or, we don't have to eat."

"But talking is so much more important," I was starting to feel tense. "I mean, there's so much interesting stuff about you."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. He leaned on the kitchen's doorframe. "Look, we both know why I wanted you here." He took a few steps toward me.

I gulped. I'm sure he could hear how fast my heart was beating. But not in a good way. "I know," I tried to keep m voice even. "But-"

"But what?" Sasuke had me backed up on the counter.

If you want this relationship to work out you'll have to be honest, I thought. "I'm not ready," I said looking him in the eyes.

Sasuke smirked. "That's ok. No one thinks they're ready," he tried to kiss my neck. I avoided his lips. "Until they have their go with me."

"Sasuke, stop," I pleaded. "Sasuke."

It started to get scary. I was afraid I was going to be one of those rape cases. In a moment of panic I hit Sasuke with the closest thing I could grab, the loaf of bread. This must have thrown him off, because he let go of me and I managed to slip away.

I ran out the front door at top speed. I left my purse in the house, but I didn't care. I just wanted to get away. I wasn't sure if he was chasing me or not. I ran half way down the street. I would have run further, but I'm so not athletic (like, it's not even funny.) I had to stop and take a breath.

I was about to call Ino, when I heard someone say, "Sakura?"

My first instinct was to jump. I let out a little yelp, scared it was Sasuke. I turned around to see Naruto sticking his head out of a van. "Naruto?"

"Hey," he said getting out of the van.

"Why are you here?" I asked, still trying to steady my breath.

"I live in this neighborhood," he stated plainly. "Why are you here?"

"I was with Sasuke, but I left."

"Were you gonna walk all the way home?"

"Uh…" I had to think about that one. I honestly had no idea what I was doing.

"Haha, it's cool, I can give you a ride home if you need," he smiled and gave me a thumbs up.

"Oh thanks, but…" I paused as something occurred to me. "Don't we have rehearsal to get to?"

"We?"

"Yeah, I've had a change of plans."

"Oh cool," Naruto nearly jumped. "We can go straight to my house, Granny-" the car honked and an older looking lady cursed out the window. "And me just came back from the grocery store with food."

"That sounds great," I smiled up at Naruto. I followed the blonde back into the van. I crawled into the back seat.

"Sakura, this is Granny Tsunade," Naruto gestured to the blonde woman driving the van. Tsunade seemed upset at Naruto calling her "granny." "She's basically my mother."

"Oh, Sakura, eh," Tsunade grinned at me through the mirror. "Yes, I've heard about you. You are rather-"

"Come on Granny, lets get driving already!" Naruto cut off.

I smiled as the two of them bickered all the way to Naruto's house. They clearly loved each other very much; otherwise they wouldn't poke at each other so much. I was about to join in on their banter when I got a text. It was from Sasuke.

wow. way to run away slut

thats what u get for not listening

wtf. y did u even come if we werent gonna do it?

i thought u might wanna see me

ha yeah right. ur a bitch

fuck you. dont talk to me again. ever.

I angerly shut my phone off. I was beyond done with Sasuke. I thought about every second I pined over him, everything I let him do to me; my stomach churned. I felt disgusting for ever wanting him. I felt stupid for ever thinking he cared. I knew he was a player, why would I change anything? My anger must have been obvious, because Naruto asked "You ok Sakura?"

"Yeah," I forced a smile. "I was just thinking about something that made me angry."

"I see," Naruto nodded.

We pulled into Naruto's driveway. I helped bring in the soda and chips for the cast. We carried them down to Naruto's basement. I sat on one of his couches, Naruto sat next to me.

"So," he started. "Things with Sasuke didn't go as you planned?"

I shook my head. "Nope."

"You wanna talk about it? I get if you don't."

I shrugged. "He just didn't care about me. At least, not like I thought he did."

Naruto pulled me into a hug. "I'm sorry."

"It's ok," I said into his shoulder. Normally, I'd only want a friend to hug me like this, but there was something comforting about Naruto. Partly because he smelled surprisingly good. Also, because he had very good timing- that is, he clearly knew when someone needed a hug.

The door bell rang, ending our hug. I sat in silence while Naruto answered the door. I heard some loud banging upstairs and a couple of unrecognizable voices. As the banging grew louder, I realized whoever was hear was coming down the stairs. The voices became clear as Tenten, Kiba, and Hinata. Tenten stopped laughing when she saw me. Why do you hate me, I thought. She and Hinata took a seat on a loveseat across from where I was.

"Oh, hi Sakura," Kiba nodded at me. "What's up?"

"Nothing much, just, hanging out."

He nodded. And sat down with Naruto on my couch.

I was starting to hope that staying here wasn't a bad idea.

Naruto's POV

I couldn't believe that Sakura actually came to the line through. It was a little weird at first- with Tenten glaring at me, and awkward conversation being exchanged. But as soon as Shikamaru came with Ino (who apparently lived near Shika) and Temari, all was good. Soon the rest of the cast showed up and we did a quick line through. Then the fun began.

"Alright," I announced to the cast. "Everyone is free to migle, eat, drink, and do as they please, now."

I sat down with Kiba, Sakura, and Temari. They were all getting along surprisingly well. As were Tenten, Ino, Hinata, and Shikamaru. I smiled to myself. We were better mingle-ers than we thought.

"-and that's why I am no longer aloud in Petco," Kiba finished his infamous Petco story.

"Why did you set all those dogs loose?" Sakura questioned.

"I was five. They looked sad."

"You know Kiba," Temari smirked at him. "I think you would have done that even if you were older than five."

"That's…actually, who am I kidding, I probably would. Petco's cruel man."We all laughed at Kiba.

For most of the time, I watched Sakura from the corner of my eye. She seemed so down. Even when she laughed, it seemed so forced. If only I could make her feel better, I thought. Once everyone had left, I went to my room and began to scheme what I could do to make her feel better when I saw her on Monday.

I could bake her something. No, Tsunade won't let me do that ever again. Hmm…what should I do? I could buy her an obnoxious Saturday card…I got it!

I knew what I could do to make her feel better. Now all I hadmake sure it happened.

A/N: Oh my, it's been awhile. You all probably deserve more for your wait. Sorry. Life has just been crazy. But I'm back. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed it, and that the chapter was climactic enough. Just to make something clear, the Saturday cards Naruto mentioned are the one with the little pink and green guys, the cards that make noise and that are really funny. Thanks for all the lovely reviews you all leave (they keep me going) and please check out my blog: .com/ I'm putting my novel on it, so yeah, fun stuff.

L. Pendragon