Cheerleaders

Chapter Seven

"Shit. He's going to kill me." Sasuke cursed under his breath.

I frowned. He couldn't see the others, yet. I climbed up onto the deck, feeling the cold wind hit me as my body surface.

"What're you doing?" I heard the raven haired boy hiss at me.

"He doesn't know you're here." I told him before I was completely surrounded by air. I slowly walked from the deck to the sand, water dripping from me like a faucet. I turned to see him closer to me than I'd thought, and stopped. When he reached me, he was looking down at my shivering form.

"W-W-W…" I stuttered, teeth clattering.

"You're freezing," He stated, watching me as I rubbed my arms.

I moved the soaked hair from my face. "W-W-What are y-y-you d-doing here?" I asked.

He shrugged. "I could ask you the same thing." He said calmly.

"A-A-aha-ha-h-ha…" I attempted to laugh.

He looked over my shoulder, and I leaned sideways, trying to keep his attention on me. "Don't tell me you're all alone," He said loudly enough for the others to hear, expecting someone to emerge from the water. He took a step forward.

I tried to stop him, "O-Of-f course n-n-…"

I heard the movement in the water and froze. He side-stepped me to get a better look, and I turned as well. I would be lying if I said that I wasn't surprised to see Gaara emerge from the water.

"Ah…" He mumbled, smirking only slightly, "Am I interrupting something?" He asked me as he stepped back to his previous spot. My eyes went wide and my mouth hung open for a few seconds, stuttering something.

"Sakura-chan, who is that?" Gaara asked in a mildly dark tone.

I flinched when he slid his hand around my waist, but tried to calm myself. It's just an act. It's just an act, I repeated the mantra in my head.

I smiled the best I could to Gaara, leaning slightly into him.

It's just an act. It's just an act.

Before I could speak, Itachi spoke. "Obviously, I'm interrupting something here," He said, narrowing his eyes for just a second as he glanced back to the water. "Tell me if you see Sasuke, okay?" He then asked me.

I gulped and nodded my head, faking a smile as Gaara sent him a threatening glance and tightened his grip around my waist…

It's just an act. It's just an act.

… to which I blushed furiously. Once he'd turned his back, we both turned, still holding onto each other, afraid he'd look back, and slipped into the water. I shivered as my body went into temporary shock. I gulped and watched Itachi until he was out of sight. Who knew that Gaara was such a good actor? Itachi had seemed convinced.

"Coast is clear," I mumbled quietly, still blushing madly. I heard the girls begin giggling as they watch my face turn an even darker shade of red. I felt like ducking deep into the water. "Come on…" I begged them to stop, they only laughed, Hinata hardly stifling a giggle as she swam to join me.

She glanced at Gaara, and then back at me. "Sorry. We didn't want to send Kiba after you." She apologized, evident emphasis on the sharp toothed boy.

"Maybe someone a little less frightening?" I whispered back.

She giggled a little more and then smiled. "Gaara's a good guy. He wouldn't have done anything more than necessary. He's into acting, as you might have been able to tell." She told me, her voice low.

I smiled back and nodded my head.

"We should go home now," Sasuke muttered, obviously unpleased by his brother's appearance.

I was quick to agree, swimming right back to the deck and climbing out. Sasuke followed close behind, and the others did so as well, though less eagerly. I shivered as I followed closely behind Sasuke, afraid of losing myself in the woods if I didn't follow his trail. When we found Temari's Range Rover, there were two cars parked right behind it. I walked to the car and leaned against it, waiting for Temari to arrive and unlock the doors. God, they were walking slowly.

"Thanks," I heard the dark ebony haired boy mumble to me as he pulled out his clothes and a towel from the car I suspected to be his.

"O-Oh…" I gasped, "N-No prob-b-b-blem." I managed to say. He looked towards me, watching me shaking uncontrollably against Temari's car. He reached back into his car and grabbed a towel, passing me the one he'd been holding onto before. I struggled to keep my eyes from wandering to his chest, almost gaping at him.

"Don't just stare at it," He told me, smirking a little as I stuttered an incomprehensible response. I blushed and swung it onto my shoulders; he was already entering the outhouse when the others arrived. Temari gave me a strange look. I realized it was the towel. She was wondering how I'd gotten it from her car.

"It's Sasuke's," I mumbled when she checked if the car door was locked.

Suddenly she was gawking at me, and glancing back to the others, who hadn't heard. After checking if anyone was near, she leaned in toward me. "Seriously?" She asked in a whisper.

I frowned, not getting what the big deal was. "Yeah… why?" I asked hesitantly.

She looked worried for me yet was struggling not to laugh at the same time. "Oh, god. This is bad." I heard her mutter to herself, opening the door for me and shaking her head.

I reached in, grabbing my clothes. "Why?" I asked again, this time in a whisper.

Temari waited until we were standing in line in front of the outhouse. "What ever you do, do not tell anyone else that that's his towel, okay?" She told me.

I tilted my head to the side questionably but whispered back an, "Okay."

As soon as I turned back around, the door for the outhouse opened, and Sasuke emerged, staring at me for a moment before walking to his car. I heard Temari giggle behind me as I walked in and changed as well.

I yawned loudly as I closed the door behind me and locked it, walking to the living room to find my mother watching a re-run of NCIS. She turned to look at me as soon as I entered the room. "Hey, hon. Back from your swim?" She asked me.

I smiled back. "Yeah," I sighed in exhaustion.

"Don't forget about the dress, okay? The party is on Sunday." She reminded me.

Oh. Right… Wait- SUNDAY?

"That's in four days." I muttered to myself.

My mom nodded her head. "Good thing you're skilled in math," She joked. I rolled my eyes. She opened her mouth to continue, "So, uh… will there be a boy joining you?" She asked, smirking.

A boy? I blinked. "N-No!" I said.

She pursed her lips, slowly nodding her head. "Uh-huh."

"Mom!" I protested.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm embarrassing, and all that jazz." She sung.

I rolled my eyes. "I'm going to go… umm… call my friend." I said, wishing to leave the room before further prodding. She simply nodded her head and turned up the volume.

Once I'd made it upstairs, I logged onto MSN messenger, multiple friend requests popping up. Great. Naruto was passing my e-mail around.

Lady Lavender says: hey

I blinked. 'Lady Lavender'? Ah. Right.

Sakura says: hey

Sakura says: umm

Sakura says: could you come shopping with me tomorrow?

Sakura says: after school?

Lady Lavender says: k

Lady Lavender says: for what?

Sakura says: my dad's having this party

Sakura says: I need a dress

Lady Lavender says: sounds fun

Sakura says: lol

There was an awkward pause. Well, as awkward as you could get over the internet.

Lady Lavender says: Ino says she wants to come

Ino? When did Ino enter this?

Sakura says: k

Sakura says: so it's settled then?

Lady Lavender says: Temari wants 2 come 2

Lady Lavender says: is that ok?

Sakura says: uhh.

Sakura says: sure.

Sakura says: gtg now

Sakura says: bye

I let out a cold breath as I walked of the bus. It was getting colder by the day, and I had switched to the winter uniform. I literally ran into someone as I covered my eyes from the wind, some leaves flying along with it. I stumbled backwards; tripping over my own feet and falling onto my butt. I winced at the tingling pain in my tailbone and hesitantly opened my eyes. I had to squint to recognize the two tall, dark haired men in front of me.

"You should've caught her," one muttered. I later realized that it was Sasuke. The wind let up, and I allowed my eyes to open wider. Itachi was leaning over me, staring down...

"Sorry. I didn't think you'd fall." He apologized smoothly.

I scowled when I realized he was teasing me. He held out his hand for me, and for a second, I forgot about the pain in my backside as I took his hand. The pain shot back as soon as I was standing again. "Ow…" I whined quietly, trying not to embarrass myself further by touching it. I smiled as I stood crookedly, hitching my bag higher up on my shoulder. I felt like I'd tip over when he smirked at me, my legs melting right then and there. He grabbed my shoulder as I swooned, saving me from collapsing.

"Um…" I barely said, "Thanks."

Sasuke scoffed and walked ahead, while Itachi let go of me, waiting for me to follow. I hesitantly walked towards him, glancing towards Sasuke when I found the time. I began walking on the path, and he slowed to walk next to me. I kept my eyes on the ground.

"So… who was that boy you were with last night?" He asked. There was something edgy to his voice; strained, maybe. I saw Sasuke flinch in front of me.

I sucked in a cold breath as my cheeks burned. "Ah… um… Well…" I mumbled, looking up at him. My eyes quickly darted away from his stare.

"Hm?" He asked.

"H-He… He was a friend." I told him.

"Was?" He asked.

"Is!" I quickly corrected.

He narrowed his eyes, but only slightly. "I could doubt that." He told me.

I shrunk a little under his gaze. "Friend. Really…" I said quietly.

He looked away, to his brother, specifically. "Sorry, but I can't have that." He said, sighing.

I blanked. "… Have what?" I asked.

"You can't have a boyfriend." He said.

I felt my whole face heating up now. "W-What-"

He raised an eyebrow, immediately realising what I'd thought. "No, no. Sakura-san, Sakura-san…" He said, shaking his head, "Remember what we discussed with the principal? About Naruto? Remember?" He asked me.

I only felt my face flame in embarrassment. "O-Oh… right. But he was just a friend. Honestly…" I said. My voice was louder. I heard Sasuke snicker.

"Better be," he answered, "Or you can say bye-bye to the soccer team."

Sasuke's snicker immediately stopped.

I groaned.

It was later that day that I learned that Itachi was in charge of the cheerleading squad. He wasn't so much the leader, but the one in charge of… equipment. He ambushed me at the end of our lunch break to hand me my uniform. I had cringed at the sight of it. It was gold, white and green and had the Konoha symbol on it – as well as my full name. I was in the middle of stretching with the girls when Karin brought up Naruto's fight. "I heard he fought with some guy called Deidara." She said, her eyes passing along all of the girls sitting on the grass with her, creating a circle.

Hinata leaned backwards, her arms holding her up from behind – hands planted firmly on the ground. "Isn't he in your gym class, Temari?" She asked, turned to the blonde.

She nodded her head. They were in the same grade, along with Itachi. I felt my face redden in embarrassment as I recalled the incident that morning. I didn't actually like Itachi – even though he was one of the hottest guys I'd ever seen. But it would've been flattering if he…

"Hey, Sakura's getting all red!" Hana laughed, pointing at me.

I frowned and looked away.

"I can't believe they suspended Naruto from the team." Hinata said with a voice more faint than usual.

Karin shrugged. "He'll be back in a matter of weeks, it's not like we'll be losing the whole team for it." She said.

Tenten snorted. "Naruto is, like, the life of the team. I bet you we lose the next match." She said.

Hana grinned mischieviously at her. "How much?" She asked.

"Stop it, guys," I said. They turned to look at me and I flinched. "I-I-I think they'll b-be fine since they-" I stopped as soon as I read the look Karin was giving me.

"Sakura," She said, "Do you know something?"

I gulped. "Well, I-I heard they're getting a tem-temporary replacement." I said, stretching forwards and touching my toes.

Everyone paused, processing this.

Finally, Hana said, "Replacement?"

"Are they insane?" Ino hissed.

I blanked. "What do you mean? Wouldn't the team be more stable with a proper amount of players?" I asked.

Temari shook her head. "Can you hear yourself talking, right now?" She asked me. I just stared at her. She closed her eyes and explained. "Our soccer team has never, I repeat, never been changed since the first day of tryouts back in junior-high– that's since seventh grade." She informed me.

Our high school was connected with another school by the same name, but a junior-high school. Those who had attended the junior-high school were directly accepted into the high school, but those coming from other schools had to take the admittance exam to enter.

"… Seriously?" I slowly asked.

"Yes..." Hinata sighed.

"They won't be so ready to accept a newcomer, no matter who it is. They're really close-knit, I guess." Tenten said, shrugging.

"I… I understand." I said, still staring.

Karin scowled at me as she pushed her glasses farther up her nose. "Hey," She said, "Don't apologize, it's not anyone's fault… Well, technically, its Naruto's…" She stopped, glancing at Hinata.

I smiled at the way the dark haired girl blushed and looked away, biting her lip.

"Okay," Karin sighed dramatically, rolling her eyes, "It's no one's fault."