"Naruto will need time to prepare his apartment for Rayne's stay; do you think your parents would protest to housing Rayne for at least one night?" The Hokage asked Sakura.

She bowed with a worried expression across her face. "N-no, Lord Hokage. We'll make her feel right at home."

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A few droplets of water followed the length of Rayne's bangs all the way down until they reached the end, where they departed, plopping down into the warm tub of water she sat in. Rayne sighed as she rest her chin between her knees, curled up in the Haruno household bathtub. She closed her eyes and propped her forehead on her knees when she heard the strong male voice she had been listening to since she had arrived.

"We have no idea who this girl is, and yet the Hokage thinks he can just order us to house her? This is ridiculous! If it weren't the Hokage, I'd march down there and give the man a piece of my mind!" roared the male.

"Now honey…it's only for one night. I don't find it too troublesome at all," replied the softer, quieter voice of a woman.

"How can we be expected to trust some stranger that isn't even from this village! What if she's a spy? What if she has ulterior motives? If so, then the Hokage is putting this family in danger, and I cannot respect that…"

Rayne's grip around her legs tightened as Sakura's father continued going off about the Hokage's decision to have Rayne stay at their house over night. Upon Rayne's arrival, the man had played Twenty Questions with her. Even as they sat eating dinner he continued questioning her and her life, and she only replied to those she was comfortable with, which utterly pissed the man off, for he called her disrespectful to authority.

A knock at the door shook Rayne from her thoughts.

"Rayne? I've brought you an extra comforter from downstairs. It's not too heavy, so I think it won't be too hot to sleep with," Sakura explained from the other side of the bathroom door.

Without waiting for a reply from Rayne, Sakura walked forward, down the hallway a few feet. She then turned into the open door on the left: her bedroom. She kneeled down to the floor and rest the comforter in front of her, spreading it out to further construct the bed she had made for Rayne. Considering it was the floor, Sakura wanted to make sure she had enough sheets for padding so that Rayne would be comfortable.

When Sakura heard footsteps behind her, she turned her head to see Rayne standing in the doorway, toothbrush in mouth as she ruffled her wet hair with the towel Sakura had provided her. She was wearing the same sleeping outfit she wore the previous night, her blue, grey, green boxers with a black tank top. Sakura, on a more girly note, wore fuzzy light blue booty shorts, that were a little too booty for her booty, and a skimpy white tank top that hung to her developing cleavage.

Rayne sighed as she thought about Sakura's father's words. Turning her head to the side, she yanked the toothbrush out of her mouth.

"I'm sorry if this is causing you any trouble…it isn't your fault, and your father shouldn't yell at you for it."

Sakura smiled, "I really don't mind. It'll blow over shortly…did you drain the water in the tub or did the drain stick?"

"Stuck." With Rayne's blunt reply, she twitched at the thought she couldn't overcome a simple bathtub drain. The damn thing was stuck, and even she, a female ninja, didn't have the strength to pull it out. Talk about embarrassing.

"That thing really is a pain in the ass." Sakura grumbled under her breathe as she got up and walked past Rayne, headed in the direction of the bathroom. Suddenly, she stopped.

"Toothbrush?"

"Hm?" Rayne turned in her direction. "Oh, thanks."

She handed Sakura the toothbrush, and with that, she walked off.

Rayne began looking at the first thing that had caught her eye when she stepped into Sakura's room, the kimono top that Sakura had placed on a mannequin. It had a high collar, the edges of the collar, sleeves, and the end of the shirt were designed with flames.

'I wonder when she wears that.'

She turned her head back toward the rest of the room. Sakura didn't have much in it; a dresser, a night stand, a full length mirror, the mannequin, a closet, and a bed, of course. Rayne stepped over to the makeshift bed that Sakura had constructed for her on the floor. A smirk came across her lips.

'For seeming so annoying, she really is a sweetheart. She means well.'

The ceiling light reflected off of something on Sakura's nightstand, shining right into Rayne's eye. She grimaced and closed her eyes. Once again, the light had proved to be the mortal enemy of her vision. She stepped forward to the nightstand, and the glare dissipated. What the light had been glaring off of, in fact, was a picture frame. In the frame was a picture of their team; Sakura herself, Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi Sensei.

'I guess…they've already taken their team photos,' Rayne thought as her fingers wrapped around the frame, gently lifting it to her so she could get a better view. Instantly she saw what Sakura had added to the picture. It was outlined in black marker on the glass; it was a heart next to Sasuke's head.

"What are you doing?"

The sudden sound of Sakura's voice scared the daylights out of Rayne, causing her to jump a foot or two in the air as her heart rate increased.

"What are you holding in your hands?"

Rayne whipped her body around, nearly giving herself whiplash. "I'M SO SORRY SAKURA! PLEASE DON'T THINK I WAS SPYING OR ANYTHING BUT I WAS JUST LOOKING AROUND YOUR ROOM AND THIS CAUGHT MY EYE SO I PICKED IT UP TO SEE WHAT IT WAS AND-"

"AHHHHHHHHH!" Sakura squealed as she dashed forward, lunging herself at Rayne as she wrapped her arms around her waist, pulling her down to the floor. After she had taken her down, Sakura quickly grabbed the picture frame and hopped away from Rayne, sitting on her bed, hugging the frame tight to her chest.

A confused Rayne cautiously sat up, crossing her legs Indian style as she looked up at Sakura's back. Was Sakura worried about Rayne finding out that she had a crush on Sasuke? Why the hell would it matter?

"Sakura…I'm sorry that I was spying…I MEAN! I WASN'T SPYING! I was just-"

She shook her head, and Rayne stopped talking.

"It isn't that," Sakura began to speak as her body relaxed, detaching herself from the beloved frame, "I just…" she rapidly turned around to Rayne, "I didn't want your feelings to get hurt if you saw a picture of us as a team without you!"

Rayne frowned. Yeah, as if.

"Sakura, that really doesn't bother me at all…well, not really…I just don't want you to feel that I'm intruding on your team," she smirked, "Or Sasuke."

That hit a nerve. Rayne could tell that Sakura twitched slightly at the mention of the Uchiha.

"So you're in love with Sasuke, eh, Sakura?" Rayne said as she folded her hands behind her head as she lay on her back.

Sakura rapidly shook her head.

"Oh come on, its way obvious dude."

She turned slightly, "I…is it really?"

"AHA! SO YOU DO LIKE HIM!" Rayne shouted as she sat back up, pointing her finger at Sakura, who sat there fuming.

"WHAT?! YOU TRICKED ME YOU JERK!"

"Well I wouldn't have to try and trick you if you'd just admit it, duh!" Rayne said with a wink.

Sakura fully turned around, revealing her bright red face to Rayne.

"Fine…if you want to hear it that badly…I…I like Sasuke!"

Rayne smirked evily as she placed a finger behind her ear, pushing it forward. "I can't heaaaaar youuuuu~"

"I SAID I LIKE SASUKE!" Sakura yelled, commencing to cover her mouth after she said that; she didn't want her dad yelling at her for making so much noise at night.

"I so knew it!" Rayne laughed as she stuck her tongue out at Sakura. "Last night you were hugging your pillow as you dreamed about him; calling his name and all that shit."

Sakura blushed even more, if that was humanly possible. "Y-you heard?!"

"You're asking me if I heard? …I COULDN'T SLEEP BECAUSE OF IT!" Rayne yelled as she waved her arms up and down in the air.

"O-oh…I'm sorry…" Sakura quietly apologized, "I just…when it comes to Sasuke…"

Rayne raised an eyebrow. 'Oh would you just spit it out already?' She was what you would call…impatient.

"When it comes to Sasuke…I just can't help myself."

Finally. Rayne sighed, "What's so special about him anyway? The first day we met, you just went on and on about "the great Sasuke." It was Sasuke this, and Sasuke that…Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke. I don't get it."

Sakura chuckled. "It's because you've just met him, Rayne! You see…Sasuke…he's really something special."

Rayne crossed her arms as she listened intently. "And how's that?"

"He was the top in our Academy. Best marks…best looks…every girl has been in love with him ever since we started the Academy when we were younger! For all these years…ever since the day I first saw him, I've been in love with Sasuke. He's just so perfect! He's calm, he takes his training and everything else seriously…he's so dark and mysterious…and he's just so HOT."

She went off into fangirl squealing before she could finish her explanation of why she was in love with the guy. Rayne sat there in horror as she watched the giggling ensue before her. She thought for a moment.

"How does he feel about you, Sakura?"

The giggling stopped.

"Well…whenever I ask him to do something with me, like a date or something like that…any alone time…he just shoots it down and denies me. He never wants to spend time with me…and worst of all…he called me annoying once."

'Gee, I wonder why that was.' Rayne ignored her mean inner thoughts. Sakura suddenly turned around on her bed and set the picture frame back on her nightstand. She then sat, her legs dangling off the edge of the bed as she peered at Rayne.

"And what about you? What do you think of Sasuke?"

Trick question. If Rayne were to tell her that she thought he was the hottest guy she had ever laid eyes on, not that she did, Sakura would probably pick her up and throw her out the window. Rayne had seen her in her state of blind rage once, and it wasn't pretty.

"Well, I really don't know much about him. I really don't know much about any of you guys really."

"His looks…what do you think of his looks."

Rayne turned her head to the right and looked at Sasuke in the picture. He had quite a pestered expression on his face, which didn't surprise her at all. He seemed to be bothered most of the time. Rayne slightly shut her eyes as she thought back to last night, well, technically this morning, when they were in the tree together…when he had pinned her down to the limb, she had gotten a good look at his face.

Suddenly she shrugged. "He's alright."

Sakura felt as though an anvil had been dropped on her head. "That's IT?!" She jumped off the bed and sat in front of Rayne. "That's ALL you have to say about him? That's he's ALRIGHT?! RAYNE! He's the HOTTEST GUY in Konoha!"

Rayne raised her eyebrow, "What do you want to hear from me then? That he's hot? Do you want to hate me for being attracted to the wonderful Sasuke; is that what you want, Sakura?"

She backed away. "No…I already lost a friend because we both were, and still are, in love with Sasuke…her name was Ino. She was my first friend, the first person that recognized me…I wanted to be like her; she was perfect! Beautiful, sense of style, everyone liked her…and then when it was revealed that we both liked Sasuke…our friendship turned into rivalry."

Rayne scoffed. "Well that's just stupid! No one should come between a good friendship, especially not some stupid guy!"

Sakura slammed her hands to the floor. "SASUKE ISN'T JUST SOME STUPID GUY! HE'S…he's special..."

"In the head," Rayne muttered. She could feel Sakura's rising blood pressure before her. "Oopsie…did I say that out loud?"

Sakura calmed herself. "You'll see. Soon enough, you'll see what I mean…you'll like him too…just like all the others."

"I really don't want to be thrown in the same category as the other girls in the village. I too am different. I'm not just some girl, Sakura."

She could tell that Sakura withdrew herself slightly when Rayne started speaking with a stern tone. Nonetheless, Rayne backed down.

"Besides, even if you do turn out to be right…even if I do turn out liking Sasuke…"

Rayne reached out and placed her hand on Sakura's arm, causing her to raise her head, her fearful eyes staring into Rayne's serene orbs.

"Even if that happens…I promise you that I'm not going to let a dick come between us…and when I say dick, I don't mean his attitude."

The two instantly started laughing with each other. Sakura lunged forward, wrapping her arms around Rayne's neck. The sudden weight of Sakura had caught Rayne off guard, causing her to fall backward to the floor. This caused them to laugh even more, until Sakura suppressed her laughing.

"Rayne?"

Rayne stopped her laughing as well when Sakura spoke.

"…thank you." Sakura's grip around Rayne's neck had tightened as she uttered those two words, and Rayne smiled as she wrapped her arms around Sakura's back.

"It'll be nice to actually have a true girl friend for once."

Rayne gave a loud "HA" to that. "I've never been friends with a girl before; too bitchy."

"Tell me about it," Sakura said, rolling her eyes and laughing a little more. They pulled away from each other and sat facing one another once more. Rayne suddenly let out a yawn she had been suppressing for quite a while.

"Well, I think that means it's time to go to bed!" Sakura said with a smile as she stood up. She climbed into her bed and pulled her sheets over her. "Are you comfortable?"

Rayne snuggled down into her makeshift bed, pulling the comforter over herself as well. She smiled up at Sakura in approval. Once she did, Sakura leaned over to her light switch and flicked it off. Rayne wiggled around for a moment and then shut her eyes, fully prepared for sleep.

"So…" Sakura began. "When will you admit it?"

Silence.

Sakura giggled.

"You know he's more than alright, Rayne."

There was an even longer period of silence between the two.

"…shut up, Sakura."