I kind of expected no reviews… but at least I got 1! Thanks stranger!

Chapter Dedication: Guest who reviewed & Drea-Kat for the story alert.

Disclaimer: Naruto and all its characters used in this story do not belong to me. The song used below, Toumei no Kagi, also belongs to WAKESHIMA KANON.

Enter: The Lolita Handbook

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(CHAPTER 4)

(OF FALLING)

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WELCOME!

Of Jumper Skirts, Tea Parties, and Lace

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[透明の鍵]

While I slept, my heart
Was stolen
Must hurry and get it back
Or tomorrow will be here

[分島花音]

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"This cute Loli is our newest friend, Sakura-chan. She'll be watching us practice today, so make sure you give her a great performance."

Naruto then raised his drumsticks up and crossed them to form an 'X' shape. He then grinned goofily and yelled, "We are X."

Sakura giggled at his silliness. The rest of the guys were so serious but Naruto was just trying to lighten up the mood. He introduced themselves as one of the most famous visual kei bands in Japan, X Japan. Unlike the rest, she found Naruto's little joke to be funny.

Gaara turned around to glare at the idiot behind him. Naruto tensed up and then cleared his throat.

Sasuke sighed, "Let's just start already, dobe." Naruto chuckled as he turned slightly red, embarrassed that the other members were far from amused with his behavior.

"Sorry about that Sakura-chan. We'll begin seriously now." The pinkette just giggled in reply.

Naruto shouted, "We are Shinobi! The first song we'll be playing is called Reila."

Sasuke looked back and nodded toward the blonde that they were ready to go. Naruto smirked. "A one, two, three, four…." Naruto shouted as he simultaneously hit his drumsticks together.

The song began with the haunting notes of a piano. She instantly knew the song was going to be tragically beautiful.

The guitars started strumming along with those haunting notes, and she was lost.

She didn't even notice when they ended. She was so absorbed with their playing that the whole time her eyes were closed, just listening. After finally realizing how quiet it got, she opened her eyes to see that they were all staring at her.

Naruto chuckled nervously as he scratched the back of his head. "Were we that bad that we put you to sleep?"

A dark blush covered Sakura's face. She shook her head and replied, "No! I didn't fall asleep… I just got so entranced with your playing that all I could focus on was the music. I tend to close my eyes when I'm listening to something… Less distractions, if that makes any sense…"

Naruto nodded his head thoughtfully. He hesitantly asked, "So what'd you think?"

She sighed and gave him a small smile, "It was really beautiful… yet really sad."

Naruto smirked, "Hear that guys? She loved it!" Sasuke rolled his eyes and started strumming some chords.

"I do have a question though…" Sakura trailed off.

"Sure, what's up?"

"How'd you guys do the piano part?" She fidgeted in her seat a bit. For some reason, she felt like she was asking them a stupid question. Since she rarely asked questions in class, because she was so bright, she felt timid whenever she did. Not to mention that all of them were extremely good looking as well.

"We play with a pre-recording," Sasuke replied as if it was something she should know by common sense. He looked utterly bored and uninterested all of a sudden. This was exactly the side of Sasuke she saw at school. This type of attitude really frustrated her. Where did the teasing and the smirks go? It puzzled her how quickly he could change behaviors.

"I'm sorry for asking, I didn't know," she quietly apologized.

"You don't have to apologize to that jerk Sakura-chan. That's no way to speak to our guest, Sasuke," Naruto said in a warningly tone. Sasuke shrugged his shoulders and continued strumming some chords.

"Hey! Don't you ignore me, you teme!" Naruto stood up from his seat, waving his left drumstick around in the air.

"And here starts the ongoing arguments between dickless and emo duck," Sai smiled politely, albeit creepily, at Sakura.

Sakura laughed nervously and just nodded. Even though he sort of looked like Sasuke, he was totally different. Just from that one sentence and those fake smiles, Sakura concluded that he was kind of weird. Dickless? Emo Duck? What kind of nicknames were those?

Gaara sighed and massaged the sides of his forehead with his hands. The redhead ducked his head under the guitar strap and put his guitar on the guitar stand. He reached into the pocket of his blazer and took out a pack of Mild Sevens and a lighter.

The vocalist turned to Sai, "I'll be back." Sai smiled and nodded. As Gaara passed her, Sakura looked up and made eye contact with the boy as he left the room.

She froze in her seat. His stare frightened her a bit. He seemed really angry and just from that one look, she could tell he was annoyed. She sighed after the door closed to the studio. The pinkette began to wonder how such different people were able to get together to play as a band. Naruto was so loud, outgoing, and kind. Sasuke was cold and egocentric. Sai… well, he was weird and smiled way too much. Gaara, on the other hand, always looked angry and didn't seem very approachable.

"Great, now Gaara is taking a cig break! You know what they'll do to his vocals?"

"Just shut up already dobe." Sasuke was clearly annoyed now. Like he needed something else to add to things he was annoyed with right now.

Naruto faked a hurt expression, "You can't talk to me like that."

Sai decided to add in to the conversation and smiled. "Yet he always does."

"Sai, stay out of this."

As uncomfortable as the atmosphere was, this argument was getting them nowhere. So, being the great person she was, Sakura tried to settle things down. "Um… guys?"

"Don't tell him what to do."

"You're so annoying."

"Um… excuse me? Guys?"

The dark haired bassist turned to the pinkette and glared, "Not now pinky."

"What did I say about talking to Sakura-chan like that?"

"I think you told Sasuke-kun not t—

Naruto rolled his eyes. "That was a rhetorical question Sai."

"… Guys?"

"I'm surprised you even know what the word rhetorical is dobe."

Sakura started counting to three in her head. She was now getting frustrated along with them. "Are you implying that I'm dumb?"

"That's enough!"

The room became silent as the three band members looked at the frustrated ama-loli.

Sakura sighed and turned to the bright blonde. "Uzumaki-san, thank you for inviting me to see your practice, but it's obvious that my presence is too much of a distraction. I think it would be best if I just leave so you can continue on with your rehearsal, peacefully."

She stood up from her seat, grabbed her purse and parasol, and made her way out of the studio. On her way out, she could hear Naruto calling after her.

She sighed as she exited the building. On the right side she saw Gaara exhale some smoke as he was looking out at the night sky. The green-eyed girl didn't know whether she should go over to him or not. It would be rude if she left without letting him know, she did have manners by the way. So the Lolita took a deep breath in and walked over to the redhead who was smoking his cigs.

"Gaara-san, sorry to disturb you but I'll be taking my leave. Thank you for letting me watch your practice, I hope the rest of your rehearsal goes well." She bowed to the redhead as he looked down and nodded at her. The pinkette didn't know whether to stay and wait for a response or to just take that as a hint that she should leave.

The vocalist took in another breath from the cig and exhaled out some smoke. He then dropped it on the floor and stubbed it out using his shoe.

"You should come see us perform." Sakura's eyes widened as she was taken by surprise. She didn't expect him to say anything, but yet again, she was wrong. She had to stop judging people before getting to know them. It was starting to become a very bad habit. For all she knew, Sai really wasn't as weird as he appeared to be.

"That would be wonderful." Gaara nodded before walking away. As she watched him enter back into KRH Studios, she noted that he paused at the doorway. Curious, Sakura decided to see what was up before she continued on her way back home. Apparently, he was talking to someone, but she couldn't see whom it was. The door was blocking the person from her view so all she saw was the back of Gaara's head and him holding the door partially open. After he nodded to the person, the door closed.

"Well, that was anticlimactic," Sakura giggled and then she turned around to leave.

"Pinky." The pinkette scrunched her eyebrows together. So many surprises were happening in just this one-day. She turned around to find Sasuke standing there.

"What is it? I really have to go… it's getting late."

"I'll walk you to the station." He swiftly walked past her as she stood in place. He sighed as he turned around to ask, "Are you coming?"

Sakura only stared blankly up ahead and nodded. He chuckled in response as she walked towards him.

"Don't tell me you've really fallen for me?"

The ama-loli scoffed, "In your dreams, Uchiha-san."

They walked side by side as they made their way towards Meijijingumae Station. Since it was nighttime, less people were out.

Gathering a bit of courage, Sakura decided to be frank and asked him, "So, why are you really here?"

"Hn?"

"Are you here to apologize from earlier? Naruto probably sent you. Look, it's fine. I was just burdening your practice by being there. You really don't have to walk me all the way to the station just for that."

"Che. Pinky and her assumptions."

The pinkette stopped in her tracks and stared at him incredulously. What other motive would he have other than that? She decided to give him a hard stare. He could be lying. This was way too suspicious.

"Oh really now?"

Sasuke sighed and stopped walking. "Okay, Naruto sent me."

Sakura pouted and pointed at him accusingly, "I knew it! You're too prideful to come apologize to me on your own."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "Again, you and your stupid assumptions. He sent me here to give you this." He took out a ripped out piece of paper with some words scribbled on it. The dark-headed boy handed it to the girl as she went to read what it said.

Sakura-chan,

Sorry for earlier! Really, it's not your fault, we always argue about something during practice. So don't blame yourself. Anyway, I just wanted to invite you to our upcoming performance. It's gonna be next Saturday night at 10pm at Bar Cafe Snootyfox. Invite Hinata-chan too! Just e-mail Karin if you have any questions. Hope to see you there!

~Uzumaki Naruto

"Oh, tell Uzumaki-san thank you. I'll definitely try to make it."

Sasuke nodded and continued walking. Sakura raised an eyebrow at his act, and then ran to catch up to him.

"You're still walking me to the station?"

"A girl shouldn't be walking by herself at night," Sasuke glanced down at the cute Lolita.

Sakura pouted, "I can take care of myself, thank you very much."

"Hey, I'm trying to be polite. Don't I get any credit for that?"

Sakura giggled in response, "I suppose so."

The walk was short since the station was close by. Sasuke went to sit at one of the benches that were in the waiting areas between the train tracks.

"I think I'll be alright now, you don't have to wait until the train comes."

"Hn."

The pinkette giggled again and decided to sit next to him on the bench.

"I had a lot of fun today. It was nice making so many new friends, it makes me happy," Sakura sighed in contentment. Even though it was a crazy day, with so many things happening, she was happy. She got to meet many people and experience new things. She didn't really expect it to be this way. Honestly, it was supposed to be a normal meet-up at Harajauku. But fate takes things into it's own hands and you never know what's really going to happen. Even though there were a lot of ups and downs, she could proudly say that she didn't regret any of it.

As Sakura smiled and thought to herself, the visual kei boy took this time to observe her. Even he had to admit that she was cute. It was strange seeing her like this, but somehow, it suited her. At school he would only see her in their school uniform with her normal black hair and black eyes. Sakura from school and this Sakura seemed completely different. Like he mentioned earlier, she wasn't what he expected. She was the absolute model student back at Shibuya Kyoiku Gakuen. Always listened to the teachers, never broke the rules, and she was even elected to be student council president, even though ultimately, she turned down the position. She was always in the top 5 positions during exam time as well. She always had one of the highest, if not the highest, grades too. Not to say he was dumb or anything as he too placed just as high as her. She never caused any drama or was a part of any gossip as well, always so polite to everyone.

He should have expected it though. She was Yamanka Ino's best friend. When he first found out they were friends, he thought it was strange. Ino was not scared to break the rules and showed everyone that she was a gyaru and proud. It was considered bad at school to have dyed hair, but Ino bleached it anyway. Sasuke shook his head. Teacher's pet Haruno ended up being just as rebellious though in a different way. Only difference was Sakura only revealed her true self in Harajuku. But the Lolita style definitely suited the petite girl. The pink hair complemented her flawless pale face and the green circle lenses made her eyes look bigger and overall made her look cuter.

Even though it was quite a surprise, somehow, he was glad to know her little secret. That meant that he wasn't the only one who did it. At school, although he wasn't completely dressed proper, allowing some buttons to be undone, pants to sag a bit, and tie to be done loosely, he wasn't like Ino. Like Sakura, he only let his true self out at Harajuku. No one knew he was a visual kei boy who played gigs in a band. It wasn't like he didn't have friends at school; he was just a bit anti social. He didn't like talking and most of the girls annoyed him. He'd rather be by himself at peace than surrounded by talkative baboons that only chased after his looks. He didn't understand how girls still had crushes on him. Sure he was a pretty face but it wasn't like he was kind to them. Maybe since he was so quiet people thought he was mysterious? Sasuke scoffed at this. People were so ridiculous at times.

"I'm a little upset though. Since my phone broke, I wasn't able to get Uzumaki-san's contact information, and now I lost Karin-san's and Konan-san's info."

"Just get a new one."

"I know, but I'm not sure when I'll be able to get it. I'm a little short on money and my parents would be so pissed off once they find out." Sakura sighed as slumped down on her seat. She had so much fun today she almost forgot about her broken cell phone. She saved up a lot of money to buy a really cute phone, but now it was gone.

"Hn."

Sakura giggled, "You don't have a wide range of vocabulary, do you?"

"Is that supposed to be a joke?"

Sakura smiled teasingly, "No, just an observation."

"You are so annoying, Pinky."

"No matter how many times you tell that to me, it's not like it's gonna change anything," Sakura said nonchalantly.

"Hn."

He just kept quiet looking down at the train tracks. Soon enough, they could hear the tracks rumble signaling that the train was arriving. Sakura got up and grabbed her stuff, preparing to board.

"Thank you again for walking me here. It was nice getting to know you," the ama-loli bowed to the visual kei boy before she entered through the doors of the train.

Sasuke just watched as she boarded the train. After getting inside, she turned around and smiled at him as she waved goodbye.

"Sakura."

The pinkette gave him a questioning stare. She couldn't tell what he was thinking as his bangs covered his eyes. When he looked up, he gave her his infamous smirk that made her knees jiggle and her stomach flutter. A blush spread across her pale cheeks at his handsome face.

"I'll see you at school."

Sakura's face lit up as she nodded, "Hai."

The train doors closed and through the glass window she waved goodbye to the handsome boy again. He waved back as the train slowly started leaving. Once he was out of sight, Sakura let out a breath she didn't know she was holding in. The pinkette walked to an empty seat and plopped down. She pressed her hands against her cheeks feeling the warmth that radiated from it. The green-eyed girl then placed her hand near her heart as it was beating so erratically.

What was this feeling swelling up in her chest? Sakura wasn't so sure she wanted to find out. She was too afraid to know what the results could end up to be. The Lolita girl was getting way over her head with this. This was Uchiha-san she was thinking about. She never thought twice about him before, and once she finally talked to the boy, everything changed? It shouldn't be this way, yet she had no control of where her emotions were headed. So for now, she'll lock these feelings deep down until she wanted to figure them out.

For now, she was safe.

"What?! How come you didn't tell this to me earlier?"

Sakura gave a sigh as she went over to her desk to clean up, "We were in school Ino, we're there to learn not socialize."

Ino stood up from the bed and walked to where Sakura was. "Oh come on girl, I had to find out from Ami that this happened? Seriously? Ami? What kind of best friend are you? We're supposed to tell each other everything!"

"I was going to tell you… eventually." Sakura gave a sheepish smile as she then turned to her pile of clothes that she needed to put away.

Ino gave her friend a glare and then walked over to the bed to face her. "Yeah? Like when? A thousand years from now when we're dead?"

The ama-loli stopped folding clothes to look up at her best friend. "Oh come on Ino, you know it's not like that."

"Are you joking right now?"

"Ah… what?"

The blonde stared at the Lolita suspiciously, "You have to be kidding. You can't be serious right now."

"Ino."

"He gave you a freakin' phone!" Ino yelled out as she jumped from off the bed, waving her arms in the air.

Sakura just brushed if off, trying to make it sound like it wasn't a big deal. "It was an old phone that he didn't need anymore. Besides, I'm going to pay him back."

"Yeah, with what? Your body?"

Sakura stared at the gyaru, "Ino."

The blue-eyed girl proceeded on with her rant, "Oh come on. First of all, Sasuke-kun doesn't speak to anyone. Anyone! And then all of a sudden, at school you two are acting like you're best friends. Not only did he have a conversation with you, he showed actual emotions on his face, and he gave you a freakin' phone!"

"I don't know why you're making such a big deal out of this."

The gyaru gave her friend an incredulous look, her mouth wide open. "Because it is! What in the world happened in Harajuku that you're not telling me?"

"I told you already, I met Uchiha-san and we hung out with his friends."

"I know that girl, I'm talking about the details. Tell me the details!"

"I can't believe you're making me do this."

"Hey, nothing else exciting is happening in your life right now. This is the first interesting thing that's ever happened to you so far," Ino sighed as she plopped back down on Sakura's bed.

"Jeez, thanks Ino, I'm glad that my life is now up to your standards."

"Quit trying to avoid the subject and spill."

Sakura gave a deep sigh. "If I must."

After Ino left, of course after telling her all the details, Sakura decided to call Hinata to invite her to Shinobi's performance. The girl opened the black flip phone and dialed the gothloli's number. She brought the phone up to her ear and waited as she listened to the ringing on the other line.

"Moshi moshi?"

"Hinata-chan? It's Sakura."

"Ah, h-hello Sakura-chan. H-How are y-you?"

Sakura smiled to herself, "I'm doing well, thank you for asking me."

"S-so what do y-you need?"

"Well, you know how Uzumaki-san and Uchiha-san are in a band?" The ama-loli asked.

"Hai."

"Well, they invited us to go watch them perform this Saturday night and I was wondering if you wanted to join me. I also invited Ino and Tenten to come and Karin and Konan are going to be there as well."

"O-Of course. It s-sounds fun!" Hinata sounded really happy. Sakura was relieved.

"Great! So I'll just e-mail you the details for Saturday and that'll be all."

"Alright!"

"Okay, I'll see you Saturday. Bye!" Sakura said, relieved.

"Bye!"

Sakura sighed as she plopped down onto her bed.

The weekend was almost here and that meant the performance was soon. She didn't understand why she was so nervous yet excited at the same time. There were too many conflicting emotions going on inside her head.

Sakura let out a frustrated screech into her pillow. She turned on her side to stare out her window. It was really pretty outside. The stars were shining brightly and the crescent moon was out. The nighttime really reminded her of… well, you know who. An embarrassed blush spread across her cheeks just remembering what happened at school.

"Sakura."

The said girl turned around and smiled, "Ah, Uchiha-san, hello."

"Hn."

The two stood in silence, Sasuke staring the girl down and Sakura fidgeting nervously in place. Somehow it seemed even more awkward talking with him at school. She then felt him lift up a strand of her black hair. She looked up to question his actions.

"Pink hair suits you more."

Sakura flushed, "A-Ah, t-thank you."

He gave her a crooked smirk and leaned in closer. Sakura took a step back afraid of how close he was getting. She could now see how dark his eyes were. They resembled the night sky. But he was getting too close for comfort. He was so close that she could feel his breath upon her cheek. And now all she could do was stare at his lips. God knows what would happened if he got any closer.

"Have you fallen for me yet?"

Sakura jumped back a little. "Excuse me?"

The dark haired boy chuckled as he combed back his hair with his fingers. He looked at the girl again waiting for a better answer. Sakura opened her mouth to curse him off, but was interrupted by the screaming of her best friend, Ino.

"Sakura!"

Sakura huffed, "Not now Ino, I'm busy."

"Stop flirting with Sasuke-kun and get over here!" Everyone that was close by started staring at the pair. Sakura groaned mentally. Leave it to Ino to cause a scene in front of everyone.

All eyes were on her as Sakura pouted and grabbed her bag. She gave Uchiha a final glare then went off to go to the loudmouth gyaru. Sasuke, who was seen in the background, left smirking as he walked back to class.

Sakura screamed again into her pillow. Just thinking about it made her feel weird. Only this unexplainable feeling would occur with him. Why him? Why now? She still couldn't get over the fact that just a week ago, he was just a classmate and nothing more. Now, they were on a talking basis and they even acted like they knew each other for years! How could he even do that?

She never allowed anyone to become so comfortable with her so quickly. Yet he was the exception. The Lolita girl didn't like the fact that he was being set a part from everyone else. He wasn't anything special, not at all.

She sighed again as she looked at the moon. Who was she kidding? She could no longer deny what was so plainly obvious. It wasn't like she loved him, she barely even knew the boy. But that didn't mean she wasn't allowed to become infatuated. And clearly, it seemed like she was beginning to be.

She was falling hard.

UNTIL NEXT TIME!

Close: Chapter 4 Completed

Review please.

~七転八起