Sorry it took so long to update this chapter! I was going to make it a little shorter, but you guys deserve a little extra :) A few of you had expressed concern that this was a Gaara Sakura fiction and not so much Sasuke. Trust me, it's a Sasuke fic! You'll see. I start college in a few weeks too, so I'm going to try to get in a few updates before I get swamped! I'm not too sure how long this will be...I figure around 20 chapters, maybe? And one last thing: Thank you SO much for all the reviews :) it makes me so happy to see all the feedback!

Why hadn't he been texting her back at all this weekend like he said he would? Maybe he dropped his phone in the toilet and had no way of contacting her? Yet if that were the case, he should have contacted her over Facebook or another social network. The last idea that would have crossed her mind was that he didn't want to talk to her anymore.

Instead, Sakura remained calm over the weekend and kept smiling a mile a minute, feeling like a true woman now. Her mother had even inquired about how upbeat her daughter was, to which Sakura said 'its just one of those weekends.' The Haruno and her mother were pretty close, but Sasuke had cautioned her about telling people of their adventure on Friday. He knew that she consulted Ino about it since they were best friends, and as far as he knew, she was the only other person who know.

But Sakura knew something that the Uchiha didn't - that a teacher, Kakashi, also knew. Gaara was getting very suspicious as well…so it was only a matter of time before more people would find out. Nevertheless, Sakura wanted to keep Sasuke's wishes at heart, so she told nobody. The man wanted his sex life kept private, and she didn't want her friends to know either; it might make the group of friends feel awkward since they were all so close.

None of this, unfortunately, explained why the Uchiha seemed to be ignoring her since having sex. It was now Monday, and the rosette had just stepped into the doors of their high school. Everybody carried on as they usually did, standing around talking to their friends in the morning, or buzzing to their lockers to gather things for the first class of the day. But Sakura felt different from everyone. She didn't know whether she should go find Sasuke right away, or maybe find Kakashi and talk to his about the Uchiha's lack of texting. Or maybe she should just go to her locker and avoid both of them?

Sasuke usually came in later anyways, so she decided to head down the Senior hallway of the school, passing many of the upperclassmen. Everyone whizzed around full of cheer and laugher around her, talking to their friends about their weekend. She could catch bits and pieces of conversations, though none of it really mattered to her. She took a left turn from here, and walked up the hall a little to the left bank of lockers. Sakura was hoping that maybe, just maybe, he would be standing there.

That wasn't the case.

Instead, she found Ino standing there. And the rosette couldn't seem to smile as big as she wanted to, knowing this wasn't the person she wanted to see. As she grew closer to her locker, Ino grew a smirk of her own, opening her mouth to speak. "Soooo, Sakura…" The Haruno couldn't help but roll her eyes and her hand met the lock, spinning it to the correct numbers to unlock it. Ino decided to stand to her left side against the wall.

After she had taken her book bag off did Sakura acknowledge her blonde friend. "Yes, Ino?"

As she began to take out her books and gather things for first period, Ino didn't waste her time diving right into the subject. "How big is he?"

Suddenly she lifted her jade eyes away from her school supplies, and into the blue pair, making a hushing noise. "Shh! I don't want people to hear us!"

"Oh, jumpy about it are we? He's small then, isn't he?"

The Haruno shook her head as she grabbed her few supplies and folders before shutting her locker. She also looked around in the hall to make sure nobody was listening in. "Ino, he's actually kind of…big. It was almost too much for me to handle…" Both of the girls had grown closer together, keeping their voices rather hushed. Besides, Ino wanted the juicy parts.

"Oohhhh! So what did you guys dooooo!" There was excitement behind Ino's voice, for she was probably dying for the answers.

And now, Sakura finally had her chance to tell someone of her first time. "Well, I was nervous at first…but we started making out on my couch…"

"Oh, Sakura!"

She continued, blushing, "then we carried into my room and he, you know…took my clothes off and stuff. Then I uhh…well I tired blowing him-"

"NO WAY! Get out of here!" Sakura hit her friend's shoulder, hushing her again. Again, she looked around at the people walking past them. "He was too big though…way too big. So I stopped doing that, and he…uhm, he fingered me…and then we had sex." She was being awfully blatant about details for a reason - telling anyone this, especially her best friend, was quite embarrassing! Ino just wanted the big parts…at first.

Of course, she wasn't done prying her best friend of details yet. "How long did he last? Did you guys do all that sweet cuddling and stuff too?"

The Haruno nodded, "Yes, we cuddled…naked!" Ino giggled a bit, letting her friend continue. "And, I guess he lasted long enough…I don't know, I didn't keep track." She could hear Ino still giggling like a little school girl, but then a particular male caught her eye.

"Hey, Kakashi!" Sakura called out after her last year writing teacher, and he paused from walking to look at her. He had another book around his face again.

"Hmm?"

"Is it okay if I have lunch with you today? I want to talk about something."

The Hatake nodded, flipping a page in his book. "That's fine. I'll see you then."

With that quickly wrapped up, the rosette turned back to her friend to ask about something else. "By the way, did you see Sasuke yet today?"

The blonde nodded, "I did see him just as I left my locker to come see you. But he's left by now, I'm sure." Sakura sighed, shrugging her shoulders. There went that opportunity. They both did share a second period class together though, so there wasn't any missing him then. "What do you have to talk to about?"

Her friend always liked to ask about everything that was going on. And this time, she didn't want her friend to know what they were going to discuss. "Ino, don't worry about it. Maybe I can tell you later…" her jade eyes drifted to the clock on the wall, seeing they only had about 5 minutes until they had to get to class. "I'm going to class now - we can catch up in math."

"Ugh, fine." Ino was very unsatisfied with being shut out, more so with getting a very short version of her best friends first sex experience. But she would have to let it go for now, because he friend just parted ways with her. As the blonde headed away up the hall in the opposite direction.

Sakura was able to make her way to her first period English class with her teacher, Iruka, and classmate Naruto. Would he notice anything different about her? Had Sasuke told him? Sasuke and Naruto were awfully close, and coming between them was not a wise choice. If the blonde found out that his best friend screwed the girl he had been head over heels for…something nasty might erupt. She didn't want to be the reason for a split between the two boys. All she could hope for was that Naruto wouldn't ever find out, let alone Gaara. The Haruno hadn't put much thought into him at all since Friday. If anything, she felt a bit more snug on the inside for banging the Uchiha. She felt so much better about the whole Aoi thing, Sakura wished she could walk up to Gaara and say, 'oh, by the way, I slept with one of your closest friends. How does THAT taste?' It would feel so justified. The only problem was that she agreed to keep this affair quiet.

Sakura walked into the classroom, looking around at her classmates all talking to one another. None of them paid much attention as she walked in. "Hey, Naruto!" With a cheerful smile spread across her lips, she greeted the Uzumaki enthusiastically.

His head perked up from off his desk and he waved a hand up at her. "Morning, Sakura." From the slight trail of drool coming out of his mouth, she knew he had dozed off. If there was one thing Naruto loved more than ramen, it must have been sleeping whenever he could during class. Once he saw the rosette though, he seemed more interested in staying awake now.

Sakura put her things down and kept her purse on the desk, pulling out her phone to check for any text messages. She was hoping for one from Sasuke, only to find a message from Suigetsu. "What were you up to this weekend, Sakura?" Before she could open the message, she heard the blonde next to her ask this question, and upon hearing it, she felt her heart race a little faster.

The rosette dared not to look into his blue eyes, and instead pretended she was texting. "Oh, you know me…I just did homework and studied more. What did you do?"

"Oh, just hung out with Sasuke." This caught her attention. Now she did look to her left to meet eyes with the blonde. He didn't look upset or sad, so maybe Sasuke didn't say anything? She had to be sure. After all, she told her best friend, so wouldn't it be natural for Sasuke to tell at least one guy friend?

"Oh? And?" Sakura pressed on for details, hoping he was still oblivious to the hook-up.

Naruto shrugged his shoulders, "the usual; played some Xbox, watched stupid internet videos, worked out, talked."

"Talked?" Her voice went an octave higher than usual, due to nervousness. On the inside, Sakura was screaming at herself for giving away her anxiety. Naruto would notice something was up just because of her squeak.

"Yeah…Sasuke and I talk about a lot of things."

"Well, like what?"

His brows furrowed slightly in confusion, wondering why she suddenly cared so much what he and his friend talked about. "About some Senior he's trying to hook up with. Sakura, is there something I should know about?"

After the first sentence came out of Naruto's mouth, she tuned out the rest. She didn't even shake her head or act edgy anymore. He's trying to get with an…upperclassman? No, that can't be right…he's with me…

Maybe, in a way, he was talking to Naruto about Sakura without saying it was her? Maybe he said he was trying to get with an upperclassman to make sure his friend couldn't guess who it really was? But Sasuke didn't have time before he and Sakura screwed to hang out with Naruto. In that case, if Sasuke were really referring to Sakura, he would be using past tense saying how he did hook up with a girl this weekend. Her heart dropped in her chest, as did her green eyes from Naruto's. Is there really someone else already…?

A familiar pain was rising in her chest. One she had felt over a month ago, though caused from a different male. The rosette hoped that somehow this was just a misunderstanding. But now she would have to sit impatiently through English before she could zip upstairs and unload her questions on Sasuke. Why haven't you really texted me all weekend? What is this nonsense about you trying to hook up with an upperclassman?

"Sakura? Are you ok?"

After hearing that from her friend, she simply shook her head, wishing to no longer talk about it. "I'm fine." What a lie that was. But Naruto bought it and went to go put his head back down on the desk. Sakura, on the other hand, decided to shove the sadness aside to read the text Suigetsu had sent her. Usually he wanted help with Med Tech homework, and if not that he was shooting off dirty jokes or being a pervert. Under all of that though, Sakura really liked how he was deep down. He was a silly fellow, much like Naruto, and quite care-free. Past being a pervert and attempting to grope her, he was quite the character to hang out with. Next to his care-free attitude, the guy was also tough as steel. He had moved here from a bad city beforehand where he had been caught up in devious acts. There had been gang issues and constant threats against him, but he always stood alone and refused to join. There had been a few times he hand his ass handed to him, but growing up in a tough city only made you stronger. He was a badass loner who jumped on the opportunity to kick someone's ass if they said or did anything wrong.

He was 18 now, but a year behind and a Junior in this high school. There were some issues when he came here at first as a second-year, but he proved to people he wasn't one to be messed with. And Sasuke being Sasuke, he liked the guy. Sasuke befriended Suigetsu, helping him cool off and showing him a good time, also introducing him to the friend group. Everyone got to know him over the summer before this year. He was a bit of a woman chaser, but it was part of who he was. He liked to party now - mostly to meet ladies, and he also liked to ride his motorcycle. The medical field caught his interest though, and Sakura agreed to help him out with the course if he didn't try any of those perverted things on her. Of course, he still tried, and Sakura didn't see much harm in his actions anymore.

This text message, however, wasn't asking for the answers on the previous homework assignment. Damn Sakura, I thought I had you all figured out. And of all people, Sasuke? When do I get my turn? ;)

She wasn't too sure what to feel after reading that text. She didn't know what to say back, or if she should even reply. Of all people to find out, why did it have to be Suigetsu?

Wishing she would have never read it in the first place, the Haruno folded her phone shut and put it away, not even giving back a reply. It would only fuel the fire. The bell rang for classes to begin, but Sakura knew she wouldn't be paying any attention today. How could she? Everything was beginning to fall into a very suspicious notion, one that she wanted to deny fully. They had sex once, and he said they would still be friends. They weren't very romantic, though he did seem so kind and trusting up until he was able to get extra touchy. He didn't text her afterwards, and he told her to keep this quiet. Now he was already supposedly chasing someone else. Not to mention the rather perverted and lady-loving Suigetsu wanted to pick her up, jokingly or not.

Sakura blurred out whatever discussion was going on about the latest reading to stare off into her desk, musing. She was a smart girl, but could she really deny that things were looking really bad for her right now? Sasuke had a reason for all of these though, right? Why he told Naruto there was another girl interest, and WHY he told Suigetsu? Why there wasn't a message sent to her?

There has to be a reason why this is going on…maybe I'm acting too jealous or suspecting him too much? Sasuke isn't a bad guy…he's been so good to me…

As much as she wanted to think badly of this situation, Sakura did her best to reassure herself. She began to look at the recent past and all of the positives before last week. They always had flirted a little, but they had been rather close this whole time as well. A faint smile found its way to her face, thinking after the Gaara incident. It's fine Sakura. Don't get worked up until you've talked to him next period.

Putting the questions, anger and frustration behind her for now, the rosette bumped Naruto with her arm, asking what page they were on so she had a chance of paying attention, and possibly distracting herself from overreacting.

There he was. Sasuke was sitting at his desk, riffling through his notes for something. Sakura took in a deep breath and walked into the classroom, keeping her green eyes concentrated on the Uchiha. He didn't look up once as she slowly approached. It almost seemed like he was ignoring her, which rather pissed Sakura off.

So in an exaggerated manor, the Haruno loudly set her books down on her desk, watching Sasuke jerk up and look over at her. "Oh, hey Sakura." It was so casual and nonchalant. He only greeted her from where she stood, about to shift his attention back to his paper shuffling. Sakura wasn't going to let him get away with this now. Instantly, she got pissed.

"Hey? That's it?" There was anger under her breath as she glared at the male, taking the few steps to linger over his desk.

He nodded, looking back up at her, "yeah, hey. Hi. What else am I supposed to say?"

Her hands came down a bit rougher on his desk than intended, but he didn't flinch this time. She didn't feel like bullshitting with him. "How does Suigetsu know? Because he has the impression that I'm his next dinner!" The Uchiha swore under his breath, looking away for a moment. Oh yeah, he had been busted. "Oh, so you did tell him huh? You said to not-!"

"He guessed."

Guessed? GUESSED? How could Suigetsu just GUESS that Sasuke took her virginity this past weekend? He looked back at Sakura, seeing the anger and confusion. "I was hanging out with him Friday…and he could smell it on me. The perfume is what really gave it away."

Her anger still lingered, though not nearly as bad. She wasn't done. "So you confirmed it then?"

He shook his head, "no, Sakura. He kept guessing at some girls he had seen me with, and it only dawned upon the dumbass this morning when he saw you walk into school. He could tell by my reaction when he said you name…" He looked away again, muttering, "…I told him to keep his trap shut. Guess he thought it was funny to text you. Sorry."

So one of her questions were answered. There were still more, and a new one. Sasuke just slipped - he said Suigetsu had seen him with other girls. Was he after more than just her? She brushed off the apology, now standing up with her arms folded in a defensive manor. "You never texted me this weekend either, and you said you would."

Sakura watched his brow raise somewhat, looking right into her green eyes. "If I recall, you didn't try to text me either. I didn't want to seem like I was pushing more conversation on you so soon."

Her suspicions were crumbling before her. Actually, Sakura felt pretty stupid for being so mad. There was a reason so far. However, there was one more matter she needed to sort out. "Alright, then what's this I hear about you trying to get with some upperclassman already?" The rosette watched his expression carefully, and it didn't change once. He remained calm and unmoved.

"I'm just talking to her as a friend. Whoever you heard it from, they must have took it the wrong way." Sakura really wanted to believe him at this point. Naruto wasn't exactly the brightest crayon in the box…maybe he was trying to get her upset because he did actually know about her and Sasuke? But there were those few warnings she had ignored, like the one from Gaara. If she recalled correctly, he called Sasuke a womanizer. Perhaps Gaara just wanted one of his best guy friends not to get involved with someone like her? There was just way too many directions this could go into, and she really wanted to believe Sasuke. Maybe all of her guy friends were just jealous or angry about their blooming romance.

The Haruno sighed, tired from all of her thoughts. "Sasuke, I have heard from more than one person that you're someone I shouldn't get involved with. That you talk to a lot of girls and…"

When she trailed off, he picked back up. Before he did though, she felt his hand graze her back, rubbing it in reassurance. "You have a lot of guy friends that you like to have fun with, rather it be talking or telling dirty jokes. I do the same with girls. What's the big deal?" He was doing it again; being caring and comforting.

It helped ease her mind and heart, so Sakura cracked a smile, unfolding her arms. "You're right. I'm sorry for jumping you like that…" After receiving a smile back from Sasuke, she took her seat right after the bell rang. Everything was just fine. Her and the Uchiha could continue to carry on, as friends, with some more flirting. Maybe he would finally understand how much she liked him and that she wanted to be his girlfriend. Or maybe he was like most typical guys who were oblivious to hints, so he would actually need to hear it out right. Sakura would have to confess how she felt. She wasn't anywhere near ready for that unfortunately - she just needed some more time with him. Time to hang out and talk…and maybe have some cute, romantic moments together.

Or maybe everything wasn't going to be alright. "One more thing, Sakura…" She glanced over to her left to look Sasuke right in his eyes. They were stern, as was his tone. "…Gaara has a good idea about us, and he's pretty upset. Whatever he tells you…don't listen to him."

It was a warning, and a pretty serious one at that. The Haruno simply nodded before looking back at her notes. It's not like her and Gaara were getting along at the moment anyways - the last verbal exchange between them was his warning about Sasuke. It seemed like both of them were looking out for her, but the question swarming in her head was who to believe.

Class ended, and Sakura found herself joining the Uchiha's side as they departed together. She had to head off to her Med Tech class and possibly confront Suigetsu, while Sasuke had to go downstairs to his locker as usual. However, she wanted to stay on track with this one to peruse him. "You promise to text me tonight? It's okay, because I don't feel like your pushing anything on me, really…"

He looked over at her and nodded with that crooked smile. It made a tingling sensation run up and down her back. "I will. We should set something up for this weekend."

Suddenly, she began to deeply blush. "You mean…again?" Of course, she was referring to having sex again. Not that she would tell him no, but it seemed a bit soon.

"Sorry to get your hopes up, but not like that. I mean hang out." Even though he meant just hanging out, the redness in her face remained.

"Oh, that sounds quite nice…" The Haruno drifted into thought about what they could possibly do or talk about, or where they would go. Maybe even a date? She was working herself up again.

Sasuke chirped up before she could think too much about it though. "Hey, I have to go talk to someone, so we can catch up later." Again, she nodded, finding herself descending the stairs alone. Sakura did, however, turn around to see who he had to go talk to. What she saw was another girl, with red-brown hair. She couldn't help but glance downward at the girls chest. Her rather giant, bubbly chest.

Sasuke was smiling at her, probably greeting her.

It's just a friend of his Sakura's…just a friend with gigantic knockers…

Sakura found herself covering up her chest a bit in shame once descending the stairs.

As Sasuke walked down the hall with the pink haired girl making small talk, not much paying attention to what she said, his eyes fell upon a girl he had been talking to over the weekend. She had red-brown hair, a cute smile, brown eyes…and a lovely pair of twins on her chest. She had quite some nice curves to her.

After catching the girls' eye, he paused and looked at Sakura. "Hey, I have to go talk to someone, so we can catch up later." No sooner than when the Haruno nodded and turned away, he backtracked slightly to approach the cute girl leaning against some lockers, waiting for him. He had been texting her in his last class, telling her to meet him here so they could talk.

"Hey there you sexy thing." She purred under her voice as she greeted Sasuke, making him grin a bit.

"Well hey to you too Himiko." He got rather close to her, looking right into those big brown eyes. By now, Sakura must have went down the stairs, so he felt rather assured that he wouldn't get busted. Just to make sure though, he glanced toward the stairs, and didn't see her. "So, how was Senior Government?"

The rusty haired girl shrugged her shoulders, "same shit, different day…" Quickly, her expression changed to a rather fierce one, which Sasuke liked. "I want to know when we're going to get together to…'study'" She winked at him, grinning a sexy smile.

He returned the same look. "Soon, soon. That pink haired girl, Sakura, the one I mentioned…" Himiko nodded, paying attention, "…she's a bit hung up on me still. I need to find a way to gently let her down. She seems to think that I want to date her."

The large-breasted girl laughed rather loudly, "what a joke! I don't even know what you saw in her to start with, but I'm glad your ending it!"

Sasuke shrugged, keeping a straight face, "let me take care of her first, and we can have our fun." The girl winked at him and blew a kiss, only making him grin as he walked away.