A/N: Here you go!

Rich Boy, Poor Heart II

Chapter Nine

000

JULY 17

'Why? Why didn't he want to stay with me? Is he…is he getting…tired of me? I…I'm confused…'

Sakura sat on top of her bed in the morning for a good twenty minutes, just thinking about Sasuke.

Her pink hair was a mess and it was spread out in all places. Her eyes were unfocused and blurry, and her mouth was hanging slightly open.

There was a loud knock on the door, but she didn't feel like responding.

"Sakura! Are you there?" Ino's high pitched voice was heard from the other side of the door.

"Forehead! I know you're in there!" She continued with a frustrated sigh. Sakura merely sat on top of her pillows, looking lifeless.

"Okay! I'm opening the door now!" And with that, the blonde opened the door and was surprised to see Sakura just sitting down on the bed. She rushed to her and grabbed her shoulders.

"Hey? Are you okay? You look terrible," Ino asked with an extremely concerned tone. Sakura shook her head slowly.

"Look, I'm going to go and get Sasuke so he can comf"—

All senses came back to Sakura and she jumped up, yelling, "No!"

Ino froze in her spot, shocked.

"Did something happen?" The blonde asked her, frowning. The pink-haired girl sighed.

"I…I think Sasuke-kun doesn't like me anymore…" She said sadly. Ino rolled her eyes.

"Sakura, why would Sasuke stop liking you? If you think it's about Karin or Yumi, then it's not. He likes you," She explained to her. Sakura didn't reply and pouted.

"Anyway…" Ino said, putting her hands on her hips. "Come down to breakfast, okay?" She said before leaving.

After five long minutes, Sakura stood up and went to the bathroom to freshen herself up.

000

"Sasuke, did you do anything yesterday to set Sakura off?" That was the first thing that came out of Ino's mouth once she saw the Uchiha. He frowned.

"I suppose…" Sasuke replied, causing Ino to widen her bright blue eyes.

"Seriously? What the hell did you do?" She demanded.

"Nothing," He muttered. Ino sughed dramatically.

"You just admitted that you did something!" She pointed out. Then, Sakura came down the stairs and the blonde stopped talking.

"Good morning!" Sakura greeted cheerfully. Both Ino and Sasuke frowned at her.

"Sakura"— Sasuke started, but the said girl walked right passed him.

"Mikoto-san, do you need help cooking?" She asked, smiling. Mikoto, unaware of what was going on, shook her head with a grin.

"It's fine. Iko-chan and I just finished," She replied. Sakura nodded in understanding and went to go talk to Naruto. Sasuke watched her the whole time.

000

"These eggs are too salty, Iko!" Naruto complained before drinking some juice. Iko glared at him.

"If you don't like it, then don't eat it, Naruto!" She shot back angrily.

"Ah…don't fight…" Hinata said quite helplessly, but Naruto obeyed her.

Sasuke silently took a seat next to Sakura, who didn't spare him a glance.

She filled her plate with scrambled eggs, bacon, peas, a slice of toasted and buttered bread and sausage. To see what her reaction would be, Sasuke got the exact same thing. She didn't say anything, and didn't look at him.

As she was putting a spoonful of peas into her mouth, a pea fell and landed between her nude thighs. On impulse, Sasuke reached down to get the pea, but once his hand touched her warm thigh, he pulled back and looked away with pink cheeks.

She looked over to him, confused. Ino, who was sitting on the other side of Sakura, witnessed this, and understood now. She smiled coyly.

"Ah…Sakura, your thighs are so slim and smooth," Ino commented as she put a hand on one of Sakura's thighs. The girl blushed.

"W-why are you saying this all of a sudden?" Sakura asked, embarrassed. Sasuke refused to look her way. Naruto looked at his blushing face and grinned.

"Because it's true," The blonde continued as she stroked Sakura's thigh quickly. The pink-haired girl jumped up with a squeak.

"I-Ino-pig…!" She yelled out, her face now turning red. "Stop!" She whined.

Sasuke quickly stood up from the table, muttering, "Excuse me,"

"Ino, why are you doing this?" Sakura questioned her best friend. Ino smirked. "I'll talk to you about it after breakfast," She whispered back, smiling happily.

000

Sakura sat down on the couch, wondering about everything now. Then, Ino flopped onto the couch beside her, smiling widely.

"Sakura, you shouldn't be that mad at Sasuke. I mean, he is a guy and all," She pointed out. Sakura frowned.

"I don't know what you're talking about…" The pink-haired girl stated. She looked over to see a red faced Sasuke talking to an entertained and laughing Naruto by the stairs.

"Tsk tsk," Ino shook her head.

"You see, Sasuke's attracted to you," Ino told the girl. Sakura looked even more confused.

"I know he likes me," She said. Ino sighed loudly.

"You're so slow! Because of you, Sasuke's thinking perverted thoughts," The blonde said, whispering the last sentence. Sakura's cheeks turned pink. "W…wha…? H-how?" She stuttered.

"The reason why he didn't get the pea that fell was because he touched your thigh. The reason why he acted weird towards you yesterday, was because he probably thought he was going to turn into a full out pervert. He's worried he might do… 'things' to you," Ino explained, but Sakura shook her head.

"I…I don't want to hear anymore of that…!" She said.

"Well…you should probably go talk to Sasuke either way. He thinks you hate him," Ino told her. Sakura nodded calmly and got up off the couch.

As she was walking towards Sasuke, Naruto saw her and quickly began nudging the Uchiha. Sasuke smacked him in annoyance, but turned around and quickly turned back, pushing Naruto away. Sakura smiled softly. He was acting like a little boy.

"Sasuke-kun?" Sakura said when she was finally standing in front of him. Sasuke looked embarrassed.

"Sakura, I'm sorr"—

"I'm sorry, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura interrupted, catching the Uchiha off guard. "Eh?" He asked.

"Ino's right. You're a guy and you have every right to think perverted thoughts," She blurted out. He blushed and looked away.

'Saying things like that so easily…the idiot…'

"That's…embarrassing," He mumbled. But he shook his head and put on a serious face.

"But now you know the reason why I didn't want to stay with you last night, right?" He asked. She nodded slowly.

"Because you were thinking perverted thoughts…?" She said. Sasuke nodded, though his face was turning red.

"I…I'm beginning to find that I can't control myself like before," He admitted.

"I thought you didn't like me anymore…" Sakura said honestly. Sasuke put a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't think that," He told her. She smiled up at him.

"Sakura-chan! Can I talk to you for a while?" Naruto called out to her. Sasuke eyed him suspiciously, but let her go.

"Ah…what is it, Naruto?" The pink-haired girl asked curiously. Naruto leaned closer to her to whisper into her ear.

"Well…I'm pretty sure Sasuke told you about 'that', right?" He asked. She blushed, and nodded. "Hai…" She murmured. He frowned.

"I just wanted to tell you to be careful from now on," Naruto told her. She tilted her head to the side, confused.

"Sasuke…teme is extremely perverted. I guess he's beginning to be a bit like Itachi. Anyway," Naruto continued and Sakura began to listen intently.

"If Sasuke makes any sort of move on you, push him away and say 'no'. That should stop him effectively, especially since it's you," Naruto said. Sakura nodded. Then, she began to worry.

"W…what if he decides to make a move on Yumi-chan or Karin…?" She asked. The blond grinned.

"That'll never happen!" He assured her. Sakura looked up at him hopefully. "I hope you're right…" She whispered.

"A…Ah, there you are, Naruto-kun," Hinata said as she walked towards the two. Sakura gave her a small smile.

"I-Ino-chan said that she would like to go to the ice cream parlor," The female Hyuuga told them.

Knock knock!

"Mou, what's up with uninvited people these days?" Ino whined grumpily as went to go open the door. The door opened to reveal a tall smiling man with flat, dark hair.

"Hello, beautiful," He greeted the blonde kindly, but it seemed a bit fake. Sakura titlted her head to the side, curiously. He was quite adorable. Ino rolled her eyes.

"Stop calling me that. I know what you mean, Sai," She replied disdainfully.

"Ah! Sai-kun, how'd you know we were here?" Mikoto asked as she came out of the kitchen. Sai smiled sweetly at her.

"I heard from Karin-san. I just thought it'd be nice to spend a few days with you all," Sai said as he showed them his luggage. Mikoto nodded.

"Yes, yes! Iko-chan! Can you guide Sai-kun to an empty room?" She called out. In a few seconds, Iko rushed towards them and bowed down respectively.

"Hello, Sai-san! This way, please," She said as she picked up his luggage.

Sai looked over towards Sakura and looked at her in wonderment. Sakura's eyes slightly widened and she avoided eye contact with him, fidgeting awkwardly.

"Ah…Iko-chan? Can I get a room next to her?" He asked simply, pointing at the pink-haired girl. Ino and Sasuke glared at him. Sakura looked surprised and confused.

"Iko-chan, can you put him in a room as far away as possible from Sakura?" Ino questioned rudely. Iko looked around, not knowing exactly what to do.

"No. It's fine, Iko-chan. Listen to whatever he requests," Sasuke told her calmly. Ino looked at him in disbelief, but said nothing. Iko nodded slowly. "Hai…this way, Sai-san,"

When the two were both out of ear shot, Ino turned to the Uchiha and poked his chest.

"Are you insane? You're seriously putting Sakura in danger now. Sai's a total freak!" She yelled out. Sasuke rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"She'll be fine. Sai won't even be able to enter her room as long as I'm around,"

000

"Ah, hello!" Sai said cheerfully as he entered Sakura's room without knocking. The girl jumped up from her chair and quickly hid the diary she was currently writing in.

"Hm…so girls still write to let out their feelings?" He questioned as he walked closer to her. She seemed confused and maybe even scared.

"I…I suppose…" The pink-haired girl trailed off. Then, Sai smiled warmly at her.

"I'm Sai. What's your name?" He suddenly asked. She blinked in honest confusion, but answered, nonetheless.

"Sakura," She replied quietly. He nodded.

"You're quite interesting," Sai stated simply. Sakura fidgeted awkwardly in her seat, having no idea what to say.

"You're…ugly," He continued and she looked up at him, but tried her best to hide her offense.

"Ano…" Sakura started. But the door was thrown open and Sasuke stood there, glaring at Sai.

"You know, I never thought you'd be so annoying, Sai," The Uchiha said, annoyed. Sakura felt relieved.

"Hm? I was just here to introduce myself. And I was just telling Sakura how ugly she is," The other man said calmly. Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

"Sakura is not ugly. No where near that," He replied with clenched fists. Sai smiled and Sakura felt chills run up her spine.

"Whatever you say. Well, I'm going to go sleep now. Good night," When the sound of the door closing was heard, Sakura realized what situation she was in. She looked awkwardly towards Sasuke, who was glaring at the door.

"That bastard. Don't listen to what he says," He told her. Sakura nodded slowly. He sighed and sat down on the bed.

"Relax," He said simply, looking at her with slightly sad eyes. "This is why I was afraid of telling you. You look at me differently now," Sasuke pointed out. She blinked.

"I…" She trailed off, unsure of what to say.

"If there's one thing I never want, it's that I don't want you looking at me in fear," The Uchiha spoke honestly. Sakura suddenly felt guilty.

'That's right…Sasuke won't do anything. I have to trust him,'

Slowly, the pink-haired girl stood up, walked over to him, and hugged him tightly. He rested his chin on her shoulder and closed his eyes calmly.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke-kun," Sakura told him. He nodded.

"Sakura," He said quietly. She pulled back to look at him. "Yes?"

"I'll think I'll stay here tonight," Sasuke said. She smiled happily.

"Hai, Sasuke-kun,"

END JULY 17

A/N: Sweet enough for you? More like cheesy, haha.