It's 2 hours late but since the sun hasn't risen, I'm going to say that it's still Valentine's Day. So here's my slightly late but not really Valentine's Day present to all of you wonderful readers out there.

Enjoy the chapter!

Fancy Footwork

Chapter 12: Cupid is a Jerk

The week before Valentine's Day was filled with enough tension to make Sakura want to avoid school altogether. Nervous girls traveled in tight groups of two and three, eyeing the boys they liked with ferocity that sometimes made her afraid to enter the same bathroom as them. At one point, a group of girls claiming to be Sasuke's "favorites" cornered her in the bathroom.

"Who the hell do you think you are, trying to steal Sasuke-kun from us? He's the embodiment of Cupid!" one of the girls sneered, jabbing Sakura hard in the sternum. At this, Sakura burst out laughing.

"Oh you poor girls. You can have Sasuke-kun," Sakura giggled as she pushed past them and exited the bathroom. It was so easy to brush off the little things like that. The day to day irritations meant nothing because after school, she saw a face that always made her smile like an idiot.

The day that Sasori had figured out she and Itachi were dating, Deidara had suffered some sort of mild mental breakdown. He wept furiously, clinging to Kisame's arm. Kisame said nothing, simply held his head high as one or two tears escaped his dark eyes. Over Deidara's loud blubbering, Sasori chewed happily on his lollipop and began asking questions that only Sasori could ever ask.

"So, is he a good kisser, Sakura-chan?"

"Excuse me?" Sakura asked at the same time that Itachi flatly said, "What." Casually rolling his candy against his tongue, Sasori leaned in closer to Sakura. Lip jutting out in a thoughtful expression, he hooked his finger into the collar of her shirt and yanked it aside.

"Sasori-san!" Sakura squealed as she shoved his hands away and crossed her arms over her chest. At the same time, Itachi pushed Sasori away with his foot and proceeded to yank his sweatshirt over her head to shield her from further attacks.

"I see you haven't gotten very far. No hickeys. You must be a man of patience, Itachi," Sasori observed with a respectful nod in Itachi's direction. Sakura's face erupted in a violent shade of scarlet as she ducked her head under her arms to hide her face.

"I'm feeling very violated today. First the boobs and now this," she grumbled against her knee. Itachi heard her and he let out an exasperated laugh.

"Wait, what are you laughing for? We haven't had our say yet, you stinking thief, yeah!" Deidara suddenly piped up. At this, all eyes turned to Deidara and Kisame still hugging each other with tears glistening in their eyes. ("MANLY TEARS, DAMNIT!" Kisame growled even though nobody had said anything.) Roughly rubbing at his eyes with his sleeve, Deidara pointed a dramatic finger in Itachi's face.

"NOTHING HAPPENS UNTIL SHARK-FACE AND I SAY SO!" Deidara declared even as Kisame sat wiping his runny nose.

So they arrived at the restaurant with Sakura tucked under Itachi's arm. They both kept one wary eye on Sasori's serene expression each. Instead of the usual booth, Deidara demanded a table. Kisame, Deidara and Sasori sat on one side, forcing Itachi and Sakura to sit together across from them. After they ordered their food, Deidara folded his arms over his chest with an impressive scowl on his face. To his right, Kisame looked equally disapproving, an impressive feat with his nose still running a little.

"So," Deidara began.

"When did this happen?" Kisame demanded. Without looking at one another, Sakura and Itachi promptly replied, "Christmas." At this, Deidara's composed demeanor shattered. Eyes wide, he lunged across the table to grab both of Sakura's hands.

"My-chan, is that how you did it? You wrapped yourself up and when this bastard asked what his present was, you said, 'Me'? Is that what happened, yeah?" Deidara demanded, alternating between teary looks and some glares directed at Itachi. Frozen with horror, Sakura didn't do anything until Sasori calmly hooked his finger through the label in the back of Deidara's shirt and yanked him back into his seat. Deidara cleared his throat loudly before he took a deep breath and resumed his stern look of disapproval.

"No, Deidara-san. That's not what happened," Sakura ground out, resisting the strong urge to kick him under the table. As if sensing her urge, Kisame looked down at his feet and cautiously drew them to the side to keep his legs out of her line of fire.

"Okay then. My second question is this: Are you being safe, yeah?" Deidara asked in a low voice.

At this, Sakura promptly lost her patience. She drew her foot back, preparing to kick. But before she could, the table jerked as Deidara yelped in pain. She bit her lip to keep from laughing as she looked over at Itachi who had on the same smooth expression of indifference. When their eyes met, the corner of Itachi's mouth pulled up into a knowing smile. Eyes watering, Deidara sucked in a shaky breath through clenched teeth.

"Damn you, My-chan-stealing, kicking weasel," Deidara snarled, drawing his knee up to his chest. Tilting his head to the side, Sasori reached over and poked the exact spot Itachi's foot had made contact with. At this, Deidara let out a strangled howl of pain.

"Good kick," Sasori commented approvingly as he held his hand out to Itachi. The two men shook hands as Deidara turned purple with frustration.

"But seriously, wrap that up, Itachi. I mean I know Sakura-chan's boobs will get bigger if she gets pregn-" Deidara was interrupted when Kisame wisely stuffed his napkin into blonde's mouth. Smiling like nothing was happening, Kisame grabbed Deidara in a headlock, leaning in closer to Sakura.

"Well congrats to you two," Kisame said, tightening his grip when it sounded like Deidara would protest.

And just like that, everyone had been fine with it. Even though Deidara put on a big show of disapproving, he later whispered to her while Itachi was away that it was his job to. Placing a noisy kiss on the side of her head, Deidara congratulated her too but asked that she never tell Itachi that he secretly approved too. Hooking pinkies with him, she had promised only because it was Deidara.

Dance practice went on as usual. As time went on, her legs grew stronger and her moves changed, breaking out of the basic molds that everyone taught her. Kisame started teaching her how to pop and lock properly which was surprisingly easy. She trained flexing her muscles until she was able to tense them enough to pop. Her moves grew bolder, her body learning to stretch and exaggerate moves without her trying. One day, Sasori had pointed out that even the way she walked had changed. Although he had immediately received the usual strange looks for pointing out such a thing, Sakura realized that he was right. It was no longer shoulders hunched and head lowered in a soft look of apology whenever she went anywhere. Her shoulders were thrown back, head lifted proudly and hips swaying just a little with each step.

"It makes them look bigger," Deidara pointed out, cupping his hands to his chest. Sakura didn't deign him with a response as Kisame's tall shadow fell across the unsuspecting blonde.

And then, one day, after practice, Sakura wriggled her shoulders around, trying to figure out what was wrong with her shirt. She looked down at her stomach. She hadn't gained any weight and she was positive that the clothing hadn't shrunk in the wash. Puzzled, she turned to Sasori who was fresh from the shower. She didn't even need to ask him. He looked her over carefully and then a look of utter horror settled over his features.

"You… you… how dare you," Sasori whispered, not looking at her. Instead, his gaze was fixed firmly to her chest. Growing a little concerned, Sakura crossed her arms over her chest.

"What's wrong, Sasori-san?" she asked. Very slowly, Sasori's wide eyes shifted to her face.

"You went up a cup size. Now I have to redesign everything," he explained before he suddenly turned around and then began tearing through his things to find his sketchbook. He sat cross-legged in the corner, furiously adjusting his sketches with a pencil until she was positive that the writing implement would start a fire on the paper. When the others had joined them, first looking at Sasori and then at her for an explanation, Sakura pursed her lips and refused to speak. From then on, she often caught Sasori glaring at her chest whenever he thought she wasn't paying attention. More than once, she had heard Sasori mention "twin traitors" to Deidara and she knew exactly what he was talking about.

"Twin traitors of evil," Sasori insisted as Deidara looked at his friend with concern.

Haruno Kirie flew back to Japan a few weeks into January. When Sakura had helped carry her mother's bags into the apartment, she was aware of her mother's constant shifting, as if she couldn't decide where to stand. Fluttering about like a nervous butterfly, Kirie moved around, touching the trinkets on the bookshelves and straightening picture frames until Sakura had sent her to take a bath before dinner. Instead of sitting at the dining room table built for four, they curled up at the coffee table with bowls of steaming udon and watched whatever was on TV that night. After dinner, they stood at the sink, Kirie washing dishes while Sakura dried them and stacked them in the cupboards.

"You've gotten prettier," Kirie commented as she handed off a bowl. Sakura shrugged innocently, ignoring the sudden sharpness in her mother's gaze.

"They say love is the best beautician," Kirie added with an unconvincingly innocent expression. Rolling her eyes, Sakura wiped her hands dry on a clean towel.

"No, seriously. Come here," Kirie ordered, taking her daughter's shoulders. So, Sakura let her mother examine her. In fact, she did the exact same thing. Her mother had always been a very pretty woman. According to Mikoto, her mother had never been short of eager suitors when she was a college student. Nearly 20 years later, the bloom hadn't left Kirie's face. She had cut her hair into a short bob that framed her face along with thick, blunt bangs that cut across her forehead. If Sakura searched very hard, she could make out the beginnings of a few wrinkles around her mother's light brown eyes.

"You've gotten pretty too, mom," Sakura remarked and Kirie threw her head back to laugh.

"Thank you, sweetheart," Kirie said as she pressed a kiss to her daughter's forehead.

Somehow, the simple sound of that giggle was enough to make the apartment feel full again.

Exactly seven days before Valentine's Day, Sakura sat at her desk before first period. Just as she went to open up her notebook, her cell phone buzzed from inside her bag. She casted a quick glance in the direction of the door. Kakashi-sensei was always at least fifteen minutes late anyway.

"Hello?" she quietly said, cupping her hand around her mouth so her voice wouldn't travel too far. On the other end of the line, she heard Deidara's laugh over the sound of Itachi's "sorry to bother you".

"Somehow... hasn't Sakura-chan gotten prettier?" Naruto, who was visiting from the class next-door, wondered out loud and some of the guys in class perked up to follow his gaze to Sakura. She slowly turned in her seat to give Naruto a frown but the boys seemed unperturbed. She was holding her cell phone up to her ear while Hinata looked on with obvious interest.

"Yeah... now that you mention it-" Shikamaru began but the door slammed open and everyone's eyes were fixed on the thick black eyebrows that entered. It took another moment to realize that these eyebrows were in fact attached to a human being.

"My dear Haruno Sakura! I caught a glimpse of your shining presence this morning as you entered the building and I must say that you are most certainly a blooming beauty in the springtime of youth! I profess my love to you! Please be my girlfriend!" Rock Lee exclaimed as he fell to his knee in front of her.

"Oh... oh my," Hinata managed to squeak out as she looked up at Sakura. And Sakura, wide-eyed and blushing, whirled around to look at Naruto pleadingly.

"Uh, hey Bushy-Brows-senpai! That was actually me! I was wearing a wig! I lost weight over break. Don't I look pretty sexy now?" Naruto blabbered as he stumbled over and seized Lee by the arms. Ignoring Lee's loud protests, Naruto dragged him out of the room. Sakura remained completely frozen as she stared at the spot Lee had been occupying.

"What... just happened?" Sakura finally breathed.

There was a moment of utter silence before raucous laughter exploded from her cell phone.

"HEY BLOOMING BEAUTY-CHAN! ARE YOU BLUSHING, YEAH?" a voice shouted from the other end of the line.

"Not helping!" Sakura growled.

"MY APOLOGIES, SHINING PRESENCE!"

She slid her phone shut and stuffed it into her pocket, ignoring the hot blush flooding her cheeks.

For the rest of the week, she was forced to have Naruto scout out hallways and classrooms to make sure that Rock Lee wasn't waiting to ambush her with flowers or chocolates. As soon as class ended, she half-ran to the student council office, slamming the door shut behind her. While the other members of the student council eyed her with concern, she met Neji's eyes and he offered her a sympathetic nod.

"I would offer my help if it would change anything. But Lee's as easy to deal with as Tenten during her monthly menstruation," Neji said as Sakura stood at his desk, sorting through papers. At this, the entire room went entirely silent.

"Was that… meant to be a joke, Kaichou?" Sakura cautiously asked after a long minute. Looking a little insulted, Neji fixed her with one of his pointed looks that often reduced freshmen to tears.

"Of course not. Do you think I would risk my life to make light of Tenten's premenstrual syndrome?" Neji retorted. Everyone stifled their laughs as they turned back to their work. Grinning broadly, Sakura handed over her stack of finished forms along with the neatly collated and bound financial records that she had revised from Shino's version. The sight of the color-coordinated graphs and immaculate math made Neji's severe expression soften.

"It's….." Neji paused to clear his throat, "It's very convenient to have you back, Haruno-san." Smiling sweetly, Sakura picked up her bag.

"Well thank you, Kaichou. I'll see you all tomorrow," Sakura replied, addressing her second sentence to the rest of the people in the room. A chorus of greetings followed her as she exited the room. When she had explained to Neji that she needed to leave earlier for another club, he had agreed with little protest. Something told her that it had to do with the mountain of paperwork on his desk that had been neatly reduced to a few short stacks within a week of her return. Ever since Sakura had started again, Neji had been more than tolerable to her. In fact, there were times when they actually held full conversations that made her wonder if they would be considered friends. Pondering this, Sakura wandered out to the front gates to where Itachi's car sat idling. As she lifted her hand to wave, a voice pierced the tranquil quiet of the schoolyard.

"MY BLOOMING FLOWER IN THE SPRINGTIME OF YOUTH!" Lee hollered from the other end of the schoolyard. Eyes wide, she quickly looked in his direction before she took off to Itachi's car in a run, her bag banging frantically against her hip. As her hand closed around the handle of the door, she heard Lee's voice right behind her.

"Are my declarations of love not moving enough for a beauty such as yourself? Should I do 1000 push-ups right here to prove the extent of my affection for you?" Lee inquired. Horrified, Sakura stared into the window at Itachi. Itachi, however, looked like he was trying his best not to smile. But when Lee's hand touched her arm, Sakura watched with some satisfaction as the smile slid straight off Itachi's face. The passenger's side window rolled down and the noise made Lee freeze. He probably hadn't noticed the car at all, probably too wrapped up in the springtime of youth that he was always raving about.

"Itachi-san," Sakura greeted him with a wide smile, eyes round with panic. Ignoring Lee altogether, Itachi leaned across the seat towards her.

"You're early," he greeted her. His hand reached out to touch the bottom of her chin, coaxing her towards him. Although it wasn't unusual for him to greet her this way, somehow, the chaste kiss in front of Lee felt a million times more thrilling and embarrassing than usual. Acting like he had just noticed Lee, Itachi tilted his head to look past her shoulder.

"Your friend?" Itachi asked with the confident smirk on his face that always made Sakura remember that he was three years older than her.

"Sakura-san… is this…. Can this be? Have all my youth-filled dreams been for nothing?" Lee asked in a whisper. Trying her best not to seem too relieved, Sakura finally turned to face him. Tears were furiously streaming down Lee's cheeks. Clenching his hands into fists, Lee took a deep breath. He lifted his hand in a dramatic salute to Itachi.

"Then I have lost with honor. May your relationship be filled with the ever-blossoming lotus of youthful joy! Have a nice day!" Lee exclaimed before he turned on his heel and ran off. Sakura stood watching Lee stumble blindly across the grass before he disappeared back into the school.

"Was that what we heard over the phone the other day?" Itachi slowly asked. Sakura nodded grimly as she opened the door and slipped into the seat. She turned around to toss her bag onto the backseat before she fastened her seatbelt.

"That poor boy. I think you broke him," Itachi commented. Incredulous, Sakura poked him in the arm.

"Excuse me? You make it sound like you had no part in it," Sakura protested. Itachi's expression suddenly sobered. With both his hands hanging loosely from the steering wheel, Itachi turned to look at her. The crooked smile pulling at his lips made her heart stop for a moment.

"You make it sound like you didn't like it," Itachi smoothly replied. Blushing, she sunk down into her seat and pulled her scarf up to cover the lower half of her face.

"Just drive, please."

He laughed.

When Valentine's Day finally did roll around, Sakura made a point of talking to Sasuke as little as possible. Her recently renewed friendship with him had earned her a fair share of evil glares from the other girls in school and she was not planning on becoming the target of bullying. So, ignoring the high-pitched giggles of the girls and the disappointed groans of the boys without chocolate, Sakura wiggled her way through the hallway. She was currently hugging a thick stack of files to her chest that she had just photocopied. The papers were still warm from the printer, smelling faintly of coffee.

"Morning, "someone greeted her in a gruff voice. Barely paying attention, she distractedly replied, "morning" back. When the stranger fell into step beside her, Sakura glanced up from her folders. With the hood of his jacket yanked over his head and dark sunglasses blocking his face, she nearly mistook him for Shino. But when she recognized the gloves she had gotten for him, she gave him a sympathetic look.

"I'm sorry," she simply said as they looked on at the hoard of girls surrounding his locker. He let out a barely audible groan in response.

"Well, you know the teachers won't put up with that during class so you just need to be careful outside the classroom," Sakura pointed out as they walked down the empty hallway. This seemed to cheer Sasuke up. Pulling his hands out of his pockets, he reached over to take half her files from her. When she let out an exasperated sigh, Sasuke snorted quietly.

"What? "

"Mikoto-san taught you pretty well, Sasuke-kun," Sakura remarked with smile.

When they entered the classroom, Hinata was already sitting at her desk, back completely straight. There was a white box clutched in her shaking hands. Sighing, Sakura took her files back from Sasuke and placed the stack down on her desk before she sat and turned to face Hinata.

"He's not here yet, Hinata-chan," Sakura said. Nodding slowly, Hinata slowly relinquished her tight grip on the box. Curious, Sakura lifted the lid to peer at the heart-shaped chocolate inside. There was even a little caricature of Naruto drawn on the top with white frosting.

"I'm so nervous, Sakura-chan," Hinata whispered with frantic eyes. Grimacing sympathetically, Sakura squeezed her friend's hands and then placed the box back between her palms. And at that exact moment, Naruto popped his head into the room.

"You!" he exclaimed dramatically as he pointed at Sakura and bounded over. Waving cheerfully at Hinata, Naruto nudged Sakura's files over and seated himself comfortably on top of her desk.

"So, I guess you ran into Bushy-Brow-senpai," Naruto began with a grin that looked strangely sinister. Still, Sakura nodded. She heard the empty seat next to her scrape back and found Sasuke had removed his sunglasses and jacket and settled in the chair with eyebrows raised.

"He said something about his youth-filled dreams being useless and then wished me a nice day while he cried," Sakura replied, frowning as she tried to wrap her head around the oddness of the entire situation. Naruto held his belly as he laughed hysterically. Sasuke cracked a smile that he promptly tried to hide. Even Hinata momentarily forgot her panic as she tittered behind her hand.

"Oh man, that was a great ab workout. I'll see you guys later. Chouji's mom made a whole bunch of onigiri and I called dibs on the ones with pork," Naruto said, sliding off the desk. He punched Sasuke in the arm, earning a steady glare. Still laughing to himself, Naruto ran out of the room to rejoin his classmates.

"Sakura-chan is that what really happened?" Hinata asked, touching her friend's shoulder. Sakura turned around in her seat to nod. Remembering that Sasuke was right there, Sakura leaned in close to Hinata to explain the details that Naruto had missed out on. Eyes widening and face flushing, Hinata pressed her hands to her open mouth.

"K-ki-ki"

"Shhh!" Sakura interrupted, waving her hands in front of Hinata's face. When she felt Sasuke's curious stare on the side of her face, Sakura glanced his way to shrug innocently.

At the end of the day, at Sakura's insistence, Sasuke texted Naruto, claiming that he had to tell him something important. So when the last bell of the day rang, the blonde promptly rocketed into the room.

"What's the news, Grumpy?" Naruto asked as he walked up to Sasuke. The rest of the class had quickly exited to go check for presents hidden in their lockers or to meet up with their significant others for dates. At this, Sasuke stood without speaking, grabbed Sakura's arm and pulled her out of the room, leaving just Hinata and Naruto standing in the middle of the classroom. They quickly shut the door behind them. Naruto stood scratching his head while Hinata frantically took big breaths.

"Quit spying on them," Sasuke grumbled. He stood with his back pressed to the wall, bag dangling idly from his fingers. Ignoring him, Sakura peered in through the rectangular window in the door. She had to stop herself from cheering when she watched Hinata thrust her chocolate into Naruto's hands. Although she couldn't hear anything, she knew when Hinata had confessed because Naruto turned pink.

"You're such a creep, Sakura," Sasuke scoffed. At this, Sakura turned on her heel and jabbed Sasuke sharply in the rib, making him flinch.

"You're one to talk, Sasuke-kun. You should be more grateful for all those presents those girls give you," Sakura snapped, suddenly remembering the pink paper bag that had held her chocolate for him a few years earlier. But it wasn't sadness or regret that made her grit her teeth. Instead, it was anger at Sasuke's apathetic expression.

"You don't even know the names of the girls who worked so hard for you, do you?" Sakura suddenly asked. Shrugging noncommittally, Sasuke shoved his hands into his pockets.

"Whatever. I don't even like sweet stuff. I just gave all of it away to the rest of the guys to eat," Sasuke replied.

The words flew out before she could control them.

"You're a real jerk."

As she stormed off, Sasuke stood in the same spot, looking as if she had just slapped him.

Uchiha Sasuke looked up as the door to his bedroom creaked open. He tore his eyes away from his homework to find his older brother standing in the doorway.

"Nii-san? What are you doing home on a Monday? Don't you have work today?" Sasuke asked, leaning back in his seat.

"I took a day off today. You mind if I borrow a couple of your books?" Itachi said, pointing at the bookcase by the bed.

"Go ahead," Sasuke replied as he turned back to his work.

"Sorry to intrude, Oba-san," a loud voice said as footsteps stamped up the stairs. Immediately recognizing the tone, Sasuke swiveled his chair around to look at his brother accusingly. But Itachi seemed to be completely engrossed in a certain book, oblivious to all.

"Oh look! It's Baby Sasu-chan's room! Look at his widdle desk and his widdle chair doing his big-boy homework," Kisame cooed as he entered the room. Deidara followed close behind, an evil grin stretching his mouth.

"Hey, Baby Sasu-chan knows big words like calculator, yeah," Deidara added, throwing his arm over Sasuke's shoulder. Teeth clenching, Sasuke looked over his shoulder at his brother, trying his best to ignore Kisame and Deidara huddled over him, their sickly sweet baby voices making the hairs on his arms stand up straight.

"Nii-san," Sasuke called and Itachi finally looked up from his book.

"Why are they here?"

"Because," Kisame interrupted, grabbing Sasuke's head and forcing the younger boy to look at him, "of something you did or said, you happened to make one of your little friends very unhappy."

"What did I do?" Sasuke demanded in a half-shout as Deidara's arm tightened, trapping him into a headlock. Itachi didn't say anything as he calmly went back to flipping through the book.

"Think very carefully, kid," Kisame growled.

"He obviously doesn't know. Leave him alone. Thanks for the book, Sasuke" Itachi calmly said as he picked up a novel and tucked it under his arm. Although they looked reluctant, Deidara released him and Kisame took a few steps back. Glaring fiercely, Kisame and Deidara backed out of the room. As he left, Deidara mouthed what looked like 'Keep one eye open'.

The next morning, still irritated and perplexed by the encounter, Sasuke went to school early to sleep in the classroom. But as he pushed open the glass door, he heard footsteps echoing down the hall. It was nearly half an hour before classes would begin so the schoolyard was empty. Nobody would ever willingly come to school so ahead of time. Stepping inside as quietly as he could, he switched into his indoor shoes and followed the direction of the noise. A shadow briefly fell across the hallway before the door to the copy room swung partially shut. The ghostly sliver of a wavering shadow still danced across the tiles. He glanced around to make sure no one else was around. As he drew closer to the room, music could be heard through the crack in the door. When he peered past the door, he was met with a sight that made his jaw drop.

The copy machine was happily spitting out papers. But over the mechanical whir of the machine, there was a song playing, one with heavy bass and electric noise that made anyone who listened want to tap his foot to the beat. There was no one watching over the machine though. Instead, Sakura was in the middle of the room, holding onto her phone that was the source of the music. Her eyes were closed as she spun around, happily oblivious to the world. But when Sasuke raised his hand to knock, she held her arm out in front of her and jolted, like someone had yanked on a string attached to it. She repeated it for her other arm and then her legs, moving in time to the beat. If he remembered correctly, his brother had explained that it was called popping, a dance move that Sasuke had struggled to figure out in the past but had never really understood.

When she jerked her hips forward in a pelvic thrust, Sasuke suddenly remembered the girl who had performed at the cultural festival along with his brother and his brother's friends. He lifted his hand to block out Sakura's face, looking at just her body. It was a little harder to tell with her winter uniform on. She was wearing the standard navy blazer over her immaculate blouse that was tucked neatly into her skirt. Even her red neckerchief was neatly tied and laid smooth against her chest. But when Sasuke's gaze traveled down to her legs, he was surprised. She had always worn her skirt knee-length with tall white socks, a safe look that attracted little attention. But now, the hem brushed against her thigh, revealing her pale skin before her knee-high black socks took over.

Had her legs always looked so long?

Quickly shaking his head to center his thoughts, Sasuke tried to mentally compare the girl's proportions to Sakura's. It was difficult to determine anything just by looking; it had been months since the cultural festival. Still, he couldn't quite shake his suspicions. He took another long moment to watch her before he quietly closed the door all the way and headed to homeroom to take the nap he had promised himself.

When classes finally started, Sakura greeted everybody with her usual smile. But when her eyes landed on him, some of the warmth left her expression. Still, she kept on her cheerful expression when she said, "Good morning, Sasuke-kun."

"Morning," he replied, propping his chin up in his hand. He kept his eyes on her throughout the day. Sometimes when she was writing, she would suddenly put down her pencil and stretch her legs out in front of her. Or when she was thinking, she would tap against her notebook with her pencil in rhythms that he couldn't quite discern. A few times, like she could feel his eyes on her, she glanced over her shoulder. But she always seemed to find nothing wrong and went back to work.

Lunch was a tense affair.

Apparently Sakura hadn't told anybody about yesterday, leading everyone to wonder why a frigid quiet had settled over their group. Ino, who had left behind her group of friends to join them, looked angrily from face to face, as if blaming everyone there. From the other side of the room, Ino's friends snorted loudly, commenting on how much fun Ino must be having.

"Sasuke, what did you do?" Shikamaru finally asked after a few minutes of Naruto trying to awkwardly initiate conversation.

"So it was you! Apologize to Sakura-chan, you butthole!" Naruto exclaimed, jabbing his chopsticks towards Sasuke's face. Sasuke swatted Naruto's hand away, irritably digging into his rice like he couldn't hear.

"Wait, why does Sasuke have to apologize to Haruno-chan?" Chouji asked, tearing himself away from his lunch with great difficulty. His confusion was mirrored in Hinata's face as she looked over at Sakura's nonchalant expression.

"Clearly, Sasuke here has said something to offend Ugly over here. Now as Naruto explained to me, this usually happens when someone acts like a thing that Naruto lacks," Sai patiently explained with his usual smile. When he said the word "Ugly", Ino smiled triumphantly into her food, clearly gloating over her victory of being called "Miss beautiful" and "Miss lovely" every time she spoke to Sai. Everyone else, however, was preoccupied with trying to untangle Sai's words. Shikamaru was the first to understand, snorting as he pillowed his head on his arms and went back to sleep. And of course poor Naruto was last, screwing up his face as he mouthed Sai's words again and again. When he understood, he immediately flushed.

"You- Wait." The color faded from Naruto's face as he turned to Sasuke.

"What did you do?" Naruto demanded. All eyes were fixed on Sasuke. When nobody looked ready to let the subject drop, scowled.

"I just told Sakura how I gave away all those stupid Valentine's chocolates yesterday. I hate sweet food," Sasuke snapped. When he finished speaking, he folded his arms over his chest and settled back in his chair, silently daring anyone to challenge his innocence. It was then that Sai spoke up, his eyebrows raised in genuine confusion.

"How is it that even I understand what he's done wrong but he doesn't?"

"Because everyone here knows the story except Sasuke-kun," Ino butted in, eyes glittering the way they did whenever she had gossip to spread. As Ino took a breath, obviously preparing to speak again, Chouji reached across the desks to clamp his hand over her mouth. He exchanged a worried look with Hinata.

"Um… Sakura-chan… would it be alright if we told Uchiha-kun? I mean… if you don't want us to…" Hinata inquired, her voice growing softer and softer as Sakura's neutral expression slowly hardened. Lips pulling into a grim line, Sakura nodded. But her face made it clear that she would play no role in the actual telling. When she saw this, Ino yanked Chouji's hand off and poked Sasuke hard in the shoulder.

"Okay, so in the 7th grade, Sakura was getting all worried or whatever right before Valentine's Day. I thought she was having problems with her mom or something because you know, Sakura's mom's never around-"

"Ino, too much information," Sakura interrupted, her expression growing tight. Shrugging, Ino went on.

"Anyway, a few days before Valentine's, she tells me that she has a crush on you but that she wouldn't make you anything because you hate sugar or something. But that day, she comes to school with this chocolate she made for you and said it was sour-"

"Bitter," Sakura interjected again.

"Yeah. Bitter. It was bitter so you wouldn't hate it. And then she gave it to you and you threw it in the incinerator. I think it's your fault Sakura hasn't been able to find a boyfriend, you know. I read in this magazine that girls with daddy issues and childhood scarring have commitment problems," Ino blathered on and on, oblivious to Naruto's horrified expression and Sakura's cheeks turning redder and redder. It was only when Sakura slapped her hand down and stood, chair legs scraping loudly against the floor, that Ino stopped talking.

"Thanks, Ino-chan. Just what I wanted everyone in the class to hear. Thank you so much for telling everyone such private information that I trusted you with," Sakura snapped. Face and neck flushed, she stormed out of the room with Hinata and Naruto trailing close after her. Clearly baffled, Ino turned to look at Chouji.

"What? It's the truth," Ino said. Shikamaru lifted his head to fix her with a look.

"Ino, you're a shitty friend sometimes," Shikamaru flatly said.

And Sasuke sat between them as Ino and Shikamaru bickered, feeling like the biggest asshole in the universe.

Hinata covered for her, telling the teachers that Sakura had a stomach ache and was resting at the nurse's office. Although Hinata and Naruto followed her to try to calm her down, Sakura sent them off. Despite her bad mood, she couldn't help but smile a little when she watched the newly-formed couple walk down the hall together.

After a little silent fuming, Sakura patted the pocket of her blazer and found that she had remembered to take her phone and a set of keys. Deciding that it was better to be productive and angry than moping and angry, she let herself into the student council office and sat at the large desk normally reserved for the president. Since Neji was in class, she didn't see the harm in occupying his chair as she reviewed proposals and signed paperwork. After about an hour, she heard another set of keys jingling at the door. Finding the door already opened, the other person cautiously pushed it open.

"Haruno-san?" Neji said with obvious surprise as he stepped inside. She gave him a distracted wave as she scanned through a recent request for money submitted by the pottery club. After some thought, she lifted the paper for him to see too.

"Kaichou, why is the pottery club asking for a snack budget?" she asked. Scoffing, he looped around the desk to open a drawer filled with stamps. He picked up one and handed it to her. It was one that had the word 'REJECTED' molded into the bottom in bold letters. Gesturing to the ink pad on the desk, Neji waited. Sakura couldn't suppress her little laugh as she rolled the stamp liberally in the red ink and then firmly pounded it into the top of the application.

"That feels…. Surprisingly refreshing," Sakura remarked as she handed the paper over to him. Neji surprised her by smiling too. He tossed the form onto the pile for completed work.

"One of the few perks of being president. It's rather cathartic," Neji admitted. He then picked up a thick stack of paper that had been set aside on top of a file cabinet. He placed the pile next to Sakura's hand and it landed with a satisfying thud.

"These are all the things that I have to reject. I save them so I can crush foolish hopes all at once," he explained, digging another stamp out of his drawer. Simultaneously worried and in awe of his capacity for cruelty, Sakura didn't say anything, instead halving the pile and pushing half towards him. Neji pulled up a chair and began scanning through the papers before stamping his firm rejection across the words in crimson.

But he was right. There was a certain stress-relieving quality to the process. Usually when she worked, she either signed off her approval or discarded the form altogether. It was a testament to Neji's sadism that he actually sent his rejections back to the clubs, mocking them. Maybe at another time she would have found him incredibly rude. But at that moment, still angry at Sasuke and at Ino, the process was actually fun.

"I have study hall. But are you skipping class, Vice President?" Neji casually asked while they worked. Together, they quickly finished up the rejections. Next, they tackled the proposal for next year's school-wide events that needed to be submitted before Neji officially stepped down from his position to graduate.

"Yes. My friend made a fool out of me so now I'm avoiding everyone like a big coward," Sakura snapped, signing her name in quick, angry strokes.

"That Yamanaka girl?" Neji asked, surprising her. She had no idea that he kept tabs on her social circles. So she nodded, looking up from her work.

"I don't like people like her. Loud-mouthed but thoughtless. They always end up doing more harm than good. I've always wondered why you were friends with someone like that," Neji frankly said with his usual condescending sneer. But this time it was directed at someone else. And though he didn't add it, she caught the underlying complement in his tone. He was calling Ino different from her, telling her that she was better.

"Why do you look so shocked? It's my job to know the people in school, Haruno-san," Neji added when he caught her staring at him.

"I told her some really private things and she blurted them in front of everyone like it didn't matter at all," Sakura told him, allowing herself to sulk a little longer.

"Most people are foolish, Haruno-san. They'll forget soon," he replied. At this, her pen froze.

"Are you trying to comfort me, Kaichou?"

"Is it working? Tenten tells me I have the social skills of a potato, which I don't understand because potatoes aren't sentient beings," Neji said with a completely serious face. Sakura coughed to hide her little snort of laughter.

"Yes. You're very comforting, Kaichou. Thank you," she assured him. They exchanged brief smiles before they went back to work. By the time the final bell rang, they had conquered such a huge chunk of work that when Udon and Moegi came in, their eyes popped wide open. Shino was absent, happy to truly neglect all his duties now that Sakura was back. She didn't really mind. It saved her from having to wait for him to finish his work before she ended up doing it all over again anyway. As Sakura helped Udon sort through the receipts and notes various clubs and sports teams had submitted, there was a knock at the door.

"Come in," Neji said without looking up from his computer.

"Sakura?"

Sakura froze mid-sentence. When she lifted her head, Sasuke was standing in the doorway, her bag dangling from his hand. She bit her lower lip, trying to decide if she was still mad at him. And to her surprise, she found that most of her irritation was now directed at Ino. Still, the fact that Sasuke had decided to come in person meant that he wanted to talk to her. Quietly excusing herself, Sakura followed Sasuke into the hallway. Sasuke set her bag down at her feet before he jammed his hands into his pockets. He was wearing a white t-shirt and dark blue shorts along with sneakers, clearly on his way to basketball practice. Sakura clasped her hands in front of her before she pressed her back against the wall.

"So… I just wanted to tell you that I didn't know back then… I didn't know you had made that chocolate," Sasuke finally said, averting his eyes. Sakura didn't say anything.

"I thought some girl had chickened out and asked you to give hers to me instead. So…I'm sorry, Sakura." Even though his words were quiet and struggled to sound nonchalant, Sakura knew that Sasuke never apologized for anything. Still, she wasn't completely satisfied.

"But that's still not fair to those other girls. They worked up so much courage to give you their chocolates, you know. Back then and yesterday too," Sakura explained. At this, Sasuke let out an exasperated sigh.

"Sakura, I don't care about them. They never talk to me, always skulking around corners and giggling like hyenas whenever I walk past. And then they expect me to suddenly fall head over heels for them over some shitty store-bought chocolate?" Sasuke snapped.

"You sound like an ass right now, Sasuke-kun," Sakura pointed out and he simply rolled his eyes at her.

"Look, even though sometimes I call you annoying, you're actually my friend so I kind of give a crap about what you think about me," he gruffly said.

And suddenly, Sakura understood Sasuke a lot better. She suddenly felt a little sorry for him too. Uchiha Sasuke, probably the most sought-after boyfriend in their grade, probably the boy who hated loud girls the most: constantly surrounded by squealing pseudo-stalkers.

"Okay then. I forgive you," Sakura declared, looking up at him. And she thought maybe for a moment, he looked relieved. But then his eyes narrowed as he looked her over.

"Do you still like me?" he suddenly demanded. Mouth drawing down in a frown, Sakura put her hands on her hips.

"Don't flatter yourself, Sasuke-kun. It lasted maybe a month," she tartly replied. At this, his lips pulled up into one of his signature smirks.

"Good."

When Sakura got into Itachi's car half an hour later, there was such a wide smile on her face that he eyed her with suspicion. She knew that it was a completely 180 from the day before when her entire expression had been twisted into a sour frown. Even though it had been their first Valentine's Day together, she had barely mustered a smile as she had presented him with the slice of triple-chocolate cake she had baked the night before. While the cake had been ridiculously delicious, Sakura's obvious irritation had unsettled Itachi greatly.

In fact, Sakura was so elated that she leaned over to kiss his cheek. A soft blush bloomed across her cheeks as she realized her audacity. But the smile that stretched his mouth filled her with fluttering confidence. She turned on the radio and sang along to the songs while Itachi occasionally glanced over at her with a mixture of confusion and affection.

"I'm guessing you worked things out with your friends?" Itachi ventured as he pulled into the parking lot at Konoha University. At this, Sakura shook her head.

"Oh no. I'm furious with Ino right now," she happily told him.

"Oh," he simply said, obviously confused.

"But I told Sasuke-kun that he was an ass and he apologized," Sakura explained. But as she spoke, her eyes zeroed in on Itachi's extremely convincing look of pleasant surprise. He pretended not to feel her probing gaze as he parked the car and turned off the engine. She leaned towards him to scrutinize his innocent expression.

Yes?" he said, turning to her. As usual, color rose to her cheeks when she realized how close their faces were. Still, she was determined to get an answer.

"Did you do something, Itachi-san?" She found that it was extremely difficult to focus on asking questions when Itachi looked at her like that. He placed his hand on the back of her head, tilting her face up towards his.

"If I did?" he asked back in a low voice that made her shiver.

"Thank you," Sakura managed to whisper before their lips met.

"HEY LOVEBIRDS! NEED ONE OF THESE?" Kisame's familiar voice pierced the quiet. Sakura's head whipped around in time to see Kisame slap a square onto the windshield. When she squinted to read the letters, she felt herself flush from her neck all the way up to the roots of her hair. Seeing her reaction, Kisame fell onto the hood of the car, laughing loudly to himself. Sakura peeked out from between her fingers when she heard Itachi's long, heavy sigh. He looked in her direction before he leaned on the steering wheel. The car's loud horn sounded straight in Kisame's face. Startled, Kisame rolled off the car, landing in an undignified heap on the asphalt.

"I think we both need some new friends," Itachi remarked. Sakura didn't hesitate to nod as they watched Kisame spring to his feet with a scowl.

After her two week vacation, Haruno Kirie packed her suitcases. This time, she was scheduled to stay in London to work out a deal between her company and a long-time rival. Although she hadn't said an exact date, Sakura knew from her mother's excited chatter that she would be gone for a while. Sakura sat cross-legged on her mother's bed, eating strawberry ice cream straight from the carton. As Kirie dropped a stack of folded t-shirts into her bag, she paused to look up at her daughter. Sakura blinked innocently at her as she shoveled a gigantic spoonful into her deceptively small mouth.

"Honey, I love you but where does all that ice cream go to?" Kirie inquired, shaking her head incredulously. Sakura thought for a moment. After some consideration, she pointed at her hair, making Kirie laugh. It was the curse of Haruno women: hair that was pink and grew very fast.

"Do you need anything before I leave? Should I transfer more money to your account?" Kirie asked, tearing up her room looking for something. Coming up empty-handed, Kirie straightened to see Sakura calmly reach under a pillow to extract a stray shoe.

"Looking for this?" Sakura asked. Kirie sighed as she accepted the pump and threw it onto the other clothes.

"I don't know how you do that. It's like magic," Kirie remarked. Sakura scraped her spoon along the sides of the carton to gather up the last stray hunks of ice cream.

"I don't need any money. What time's your flight?"

Kirie looked around for her itinerary, throwing her hands up in frustration. Sakura scanned the room once before she pointed to something wedged between the hair dryer and pair of jeans resting on top of the dresser. Shaking her head, Kirie extracted the paper and handed it to her.

"Magic," she muttered to herself. Sakura laughed as she smoothed the sheet against her thigh before reading it over.

"I'll be in school when this leaves. Do you want me to come with you to the airport?" Sakura offered, already knowing that her mother would refuse.

"That's alright, sweetie," Kirie said. Sakura nodded absently, watching her mother tear through her room for a little while longer in search of her favorite gold earrings.

"What do you want for dinner, Mom?" Sakura inquired as she got to her feet. She carefully navigated her way around open suitcases and haphazard piles of clothes as she made her way to the door. Kirie stopped packing for a moment to think.

"Something spicy."

"I hate spicy food, mom."

"Too bad. You asked me what I wanted. You can have all the sweet food you want after I leave."

"….Fine."

"I love you, honey."

"Your earrings are over there on your nightstand."

"….Definitely magic."

Can you tell that Ino's getting on my nerves? Biased author is biased.

Thank you to all my reviewers! And thank you to all you people who are about to review because you're all amazing like that, right?