This chapter is dedicated to golden doe, my 130th reviewer, who always leaves me long, insightful reviews! Thank you! :)
Also a massive shout-out to Sakura Meiko Uchiha, who betaread this chapter :)
Chapter 11
..~**~..
Sakura rolled over trying to drown out the two voices whispering beside her.
"… so then Yuusuke, that's the blond guy's name - "
"He was definitely the hottest thing on the dance floor last night by the way," Ino's voice interrupted.
"Right, so then Yuusuke and his friends, suddenly walk out of the nightclub behind us and call out to Neji. Yuusuke looked really pissed that I was leaving like that."
"I'm not surprised; you had him all hot and bothered when I left the club."
Sakura groaned, grabbing her pillow and squashing it over her head.
Oh my God, shut up! Go chat somewhere else, I need more sleep!
"… and he got right in Neji's face, telling him to get lost."
"No fucking way!" Ino exclaimed.
"Yeah I thought they were going to get into a fight then and there. It was pretty scary, but then Neji told him to 'walk away' in his typical 'don't fuck with me' voice and eventually Yuusuke's friends dragged him away."
"Damn Ten! You must have loved every second of it."
"What?!"
"Oh come on, when has Neji ever been in a fight?"
"Er… like every other week, Ino. The guys are always getting in trouble!"
"Yes, but when has Neji ever been the one to start it?"
Sakura relished the short silence that followed, shifting deeper inside her sleeping bag.
"See? And yet there he was last night, ready to get in a fight… over you," Ino finished.
"Whatever, doesn't mean anything happened between us. He just drove me here and barely said a word to me on the way," Tenten's voice spoke up again after a while, although it seemed softer. However, Sakura's peace was short-lived when the brunette's voice boomed loudly again. "Oh yeah and I totally forgot to tell you the most important thing! How we found Sakura in the toilets making out with a random stranger!"
Sakura immediately jolted upwards. "WHAT?!"
Ino and Tenten looked back at her in surprise before falling into peals of laughter.
"Oh my God, the look on your face!" Tenten exclaimed and Sakura immediately realised they had been toying with her. "Sorry, it was just too tempting! We knew you were listening."
"Ugh, you dumbass," Sakura said with a yawn, falling back onto her pillow.
"Oi, sleepyhead, wake up!" Ino yelled, throwing a pillow at Sakura. "Your mom called 20 minutes ago. She said she expects you home in an hour so you better get your ass in gear if you want a shower and breakfast before leaving."
Sakura opened her eyes again and groaned. Her head was killing her and her throat felt horribly dry.
You forgot to drink water last night before going to bed so now you feel like shit! Her Inner self lectured her.
Damn, this day is going to suck… but wait, how did I even get back last night?
Leaning up again from her sleeping bag, Sakura noticed she was in Ino's bedroom, sleeping on the floor whilst the two girls, laying on the bed, were already cleaned and dressed.
"Did we head back with Deidara's cars last night?" Sakura asked, her eyes squinting against the morning light shining through the large windows.
"Jeez Sakura, how much did you drink?" Ino teased her, handing her a water bottle and an aspirin. "Don't you remember heading home?"
Sakura shook her head. "Not really. Everything's pretty fuzzy after the guys arrived at the club." She popped the aspirin in her mouth and gulped down almost all the water. "Although I do remember having an awesome time and meeting a very cute-looking Inuzuka. I think his name was Kouga or something."
Ino and Tenten exchanged a look.
"Do you mean Kouta?" Ino asked and Sakura nodded.
"That's Kiba's cousin, Sakura!" Ino exclaimed, throwing her hands up dramatically and causing Tenten to roll her eyes as her friend's outburst. "Were you the one who told him about our night out? Cause that's how the guys found out we were at Amnesia."
Sakura was dumbstruck. "Yeah, I guess I'm the one who told him we were out in secret… but I never imagined he'd call Kiba!"
"Well duh!" Ino continued, seemingly pissed off. "Kiba's the clan heir. His cousin would never keep anything from him."
"That sounds insane," Sakura retorted, wondering what the hell was wrong with these clans. She didn't remember any similar situation with Kankuro, although that was probably because he had a rather small family.
Tenten laughed seeing Sakura's expression. "Don't worry about it," she reassured the pink-hired girl. "I didn't know these things either before becoming friends with these guys. You'll get used to it."
Sakura nodded once more in a daze, her mind still aching from the previous night. She really needed a shower and something to settle her stomach. Her mom would kill her if she found out she'd been drinking all night.
..~**~..
..~**~..
The weekend was rather uneventful for Sakura. She spent most of it sleeping off her hangover and then either doing homework or chatting with her friends on the phone. Sunday afternoon was spent at Ino's with Tenten rehearsing the dance routine in order to get it perfect and Sakura was glad she could flow through the steps a lot quicker and with more confidence than before. Deidara showed up at one point allowing Tenten and Sakura to thank him for the awesome night out before Ino got annoyed with his flirtatious attitude and literally pushed him out of the pool house.
By Monday, Sakura felt refreshed again although the thought of Friday's game and the squad's upcoming performance in their cheerleader outfits caused her stomach to do flip flops.
The junior hall was buzzing with rumours about everyone's weekends and Sakura laughed at the ridiculous rumours that floated around concerning the squad's night out. A brunette, who Sakura had never seen before, claimed that the squad had ended up being arrested for underage drinking, whilst another claimed the guys had been in a fight at the nightclub.
Sakura also heard another piece of gossip about Sasuke and had snorted rather loudly when she had heard an upset group of fangirls discussing it by her locker. Apparently someone had spread the rumour that Sasuke was gay over the weekend and somehow, by the end of first period, the whole school was talking about it.
Sakura found the whole thing hilarious but judging from the murderous look on Sasuke's face during Maths class, she suddenly felt sorry for the poor bastard who had spread the rumour if Sasuke ever found him.
Biology with Ryo was once again fun and Sakura spent most of the hour taking notes whilst telling him what had really happened on Friday night. He, in turn, told her about his team's first swim competition that weekend and how they had smashed Iwa High.
"You should come watch our next match in a couple of weeks," Ryo offered as the bell rang.
"I'd love to," Sakura answered with a smile, trying to hide the excitement bubbling up inside of her.
Her Inner was already drooling all over a version of Ryo wearing nothing but swim shorts.
The tanned swimmer walked with her to lunch before he left to sit at his team's table. Thankfully, the basketball team was nowhere to be found as Sakura wasn't sure how Naruto would react to seeing her hang around with "one of the swim team jerks". She joined Ino and Hinata in the lunch queue and the girls were quickly joined by Tenten as they sat down to eat.
"Where are the guys?" Sakura asked astounded by the fact that Naruto was skipping lunch.
"They have some meeting with Gai-sensei about the upcoming game on Friday," Tenten answered in a bored tone. "Looks like it will be just us ladies."
"Did you guys hear about all the gossip concerning Friday night?" Ino asked excitedly, digging into her food.
"Screw that, did you guys hear the rumour concerning Sasuke?" Tenten cut in, waving her sandwich around "It's crazy! Everyone's suddenly convinced that he's gay!"
"Poor Sasuke," Hinata added, looking genuinely sorry.
"What the hell is wrong with the girls in this school?" Ino asked out loud, looking around the cafeteria. "How can they all suddenly believe that he's gay?"
"I guess they heard it from a reliable source," Tenten added, unable to come up with any other explanation.
Sakura grinned in turn. "Maybe it was Naruto!"
The girls laughed at the idea but then quickly realised the blonde idiot would already be dead it he had been the culprit.
Then Okyo and Kaori appeared, greeting them quickly, before sitting down to eat with them.
"So girls, ready for today's practice?" Okyo asked them with a large smile.
"Are you here to bribe us for votes, Okyo-chan?" Tenten asked in a teasing voice.
"How about you buy us a muffin and we'll be sure to vote for you," Ino continued, an evil glint in her eyes.
Beside her, Kaori giggled. "You sure you want a muffin, Ino-chan? We can barely lift you up as it is."
Hinata immediately froze in her seat as Tenten groaned slightly.
"Did you just call me fat?" Ino suddenly shrieked, turning angrily to face Kaori, who seemed shocked by Ino's violent reaction.
Sakura rolled her eyes. "Ino, settle down," she told her friend, trying to diffuse the bomb. "Kaori was only joking, right?" She looked across at Kaori, who nodded quickly, a nervous smile on her lips. "Okyo, no need to worry, we'll all voting for you as team captain. Friday night was your idea after all and it was awesome."
Tenten and Hinata nodded in agreement as Ino continued to mutter insults at Kaori under her breath.
"Thanks, I really appreciate it girls and I won't let you down," Okyo told them, a sincere smile on her face. "Anyway that's not the only reason why we're here. Sakura, is it true about Sasuke? Is he really gay? Everyone's been talking about it non-stop this morning and I wanted to know for sure myself."
Ino stopped talking as Sakura slowly turned to face Okyo.
"Okyo, why are you asking Sakura about Sasuke?" Tenten asked confused.
The girls looked intently at the seniors, clearly confused.
"Because Chiaki said she heard it from Sakura," Okyo replied casually.
Sakura felt her heart rate suddenly speed up.
"That's what you told the rest of the squad Friday night, at Amnesia."
All eyes turned to face Sakura, who looked utterly surprised.
"Don't you remember?"
What the hell is talking about? Sakura thought desperately, although Okyo's words seemed to stir something within her. Her mind raced through her memories of Friday night. The loud music, the bright lights, the dance floor, Tenten and that guy, the guys showing up, her confession to Naruto, the girls talking about Sasuke… annoying her and then that sudden idea.
That sudden lie!
Her mouth sagged open in shock as her eyes went wide.
"Sakura, is it true?" she heard Ino ask as they all looked at her in surprise.
Holy shit, I'm sooo dead!
She shot up from her seat, snatching her school bag from the ground.
"Hey wait, Sakura, where are you going?" Tenten asked beside her.
"I have to go," Sakura answered hurriedly, scrambling from her seat. "I have to find Sasuke!"
Leaving her confused friends behind, she ran out of the cafeteria, heading for the halls where she hoped she could find Sasuke before he bell rang.
Why? Why the hell did I say that? I'm such an idiot! He's going to kill me!
Sasuke was bound to hate her even more now. She had started the damn rumour, she had spread that awful lie that everyone was talking about now. Sasuke was furious and he had every right to be. Rumour and gossip in high school could make or break a person's reputation. She had experienced it first hand in Suna. How could she ever inflict that on another person?
She felt so angry with herself that she almost slammed her fist in the lockers as she reached the junior hall and still saw no sign of the Uchiha. Not giving up yet, she sprinted towards the basketball court on the other side of school, rushing past students lazily walking about as lunch break wasn't over yet. Losing her way she rushed past an empty corridor, stopping to see a senior, Sakura recognised from the swim team, talking in hushed tones with a girl. His arm was wrapped around her shoulders affectionately and the gesture suddenly made her remember Friday night outside the club with Naruto.
Recognising that she was intruding on an intimate moment, Sakura rushed past the couple but not before realising that someone had also intruded on her private conversation with Naruto… namely Sasuke.
So that's why I was so mad! Sakura understood, remembering how furious and embarrassed she'd been when she'd found out Sasuke had eavesdropped on their conversation. That would explain why she had said such an outrageous thing about him to the girls afterwards Although she probably would have kept her stupid mouth shut if she hadn't been so drunk!
Sakura sighed, putting a hand up to her head. What a mess! She had told a blatant lie about a guy who already disliked her as a joke except the squad apparently believed her and now everyone knew.
This is exactly the type of crap that happened to me in Suna. Why would I do that to someone else? I should apologise before it's too late.
Sakura was so lost in thought that she barely noticed the shadow catching up behind her or the strong hand that grasped her upper arm.
"Hey -!"
She was pushed forward suddenly and before she knew what was happening she stumbled towards the closest door, leading her outside on a stairwell. She immediately recognised it as the emergency stairwell forbidden to students.
The hand abruptly released Sakura and she reeled around to face her attacker –
– meeting Uchiha Sasuke's intense glare.
Shit.
He took a step forward and she immediately took a step back, her back hitting the cool exterior wall behind.
She was trapped.
The murderous look in his eyes knocked the breath out of her and she fought down her feelings of panic. He was furious as she knew he would be, but still… dragging her out into the stairwell and then pinning her up against the wall with his cold stare as if she was some criminal… just who the hell did he think he was?
She had been ready to apologise to him if he had approached her like a normal person but bullying her around instead was crossing a line.
As if to prove her point, Sakura started massaging the abused skin of her arm and raised her chin defiantly.
"Can I help you?" she finally asked when the Uchiha made no move to speak. She refused to show any weakness before him. If he thought she could just push her around like this, he had another thing coming.
"You started the rumour," he spoke, his voice low and fierce and sending shivers down her spine, making it clear that she had better explain herself to him. And fast.
"Yeah I did," Sakura admitted with a sly smile. "And you're welcome."
Her words took him aback before anger emerged again.
"You're welcome?" he hissed.
What the hell? Do you have a death wish? Inner Sakura suddenly yelled loudly in the back of her mind at the sound of Sasuke's voice. Why the fuck are we taunting him?
Sakura ignored her, however, and merely answered. "I got rid of your fangirls for you, didn't I? Isn't that what you wanted?"
He gave her an annoyed look and leaned closer to her, his raven bangs falling into his eyes. "Sakura…"
The way he growled her name sent more shivers down her back, although these had nothing to do with fear.
The sudden close proximity between them made her squirm uncomfortably, making her forget her resolve. She noted he was looking particularly good dressed in black cargo pants, a white wife beater and open high-collared navy shirt and when his strong masculine scent hit her nose, she immediately recognised the well-known men's fragrance that made her weak in the knees.
God, how was she supposed to even think when he was standing so close to her and looking at her like that?
"Alright, I'm sorry," Sakura blurted out before she could stop herself, looking anywhere but at his penetrating stare. "I was drunk and the girls wouldn't shut up about you, so I told them you were gay. It just kinda slipped out but I never thought they'd actually believe it! I really am sorry but it was also your fault for making me angry in the first place!"
Her eyes flicked tentatively back to his face and noticed the anger was gone leaving a slightly pissed expression instead.
"Explain."
"I saw you listening in on my conversation with Naruto outside the club," she began, trying to keep her voice strong. "It was pretty private and you were totally eavesdropping on us, don't bother denying it."
"Hn."
His flippant attitude was starting to irritate her. "Is that all you have to say?"
He ignored her question. "How are you going to fix it?"
"Fix what?" Sakura snapped, feeling her anger rising again.
Sasuke stared her down.
Oh right, the rumour…
"Well isn't that the easy part?" she said, lifting a brow at him. "Just go make-out with one of your fangirls Friday after the game and the whole school will know you're straight."
As soon as Sakura finished, she nearly yelped in surprise as Sasuke leaned even closer and rested his hands against the wall.
On either side of her head.
His dark eyes were set on her firmly, holding her gaze and preventing her to look anywhere else.
"No."
Sakura's heart was beating so loudly, she was sure he would hear it.
"What do you mean 'no'?"
He paused, cocking his head to one side before adding. "Not a fangirl… just you."
Sakura felt her eyes go wide. "What?"
She was even more surprised by his expression. The arrogant bastard was actually smirking at her! "You got me into this mess; you're getting me out of it."
His voice low and husky was sending shivers down her back again.
"You want me to kiss you?" Sakura finally managed to let out, hating the way her voice suddenly sounded weird. She silently prayed she wasn't blushing as well.
"Hn."
"In front of the whole school?" She tried not to sound as panicked as she felt.
She swore she could see a glint of amusement behind those pitch black eyes. "After the game, at the party."
She paused, thinking at least at a party less people would be around and alcohol would certainly be involved. Kissing him in front of the whole school in that large gymnasium would have been impossible, no matter how much he glared at her.
Still, having to kiss him… in front of all my friends… in front of Naruto…
"I don't know if that's a good idea –" she stopped when she abruptly felt his fingers caressing the side of her face. They stopped underneath her chin, tilting it upwards and forcing her to look at him once more.
The warmth of his hand sent a soft tingling throughout her body.
"If you're really sorry, then prove it."
His eyes flicked back and forth as he scanned her face, obviously challenging her to play his game. And for some unknown reason, Sakura was foolish enough to accept.
She blamed her stupid pride.
"Fine."
Instantly, his hand was dropped and he pushed himself off the wall, taking a step back. Sakura felt as if she could breathe again.
"No one can know," Sasuke added over his shoulder as he headed for the door. "And make it good. The last thing I need is for you to fuck up… again."
For a few seconds, Sakura was rendered speechless before she screamed in frustration, cursing loudly at him on the exterior staircase by herself.
..~**~..
..~**~..
Sakura made her way to her History class in a daze.
What the hell did I just get myself into?
However, she barely had any time to herself before Ino jumped on her and demanded to know all the details of what had happened with Sasuke. Apparently Naruto had told them that the Uchiha had been looking for her too after hearing that she had started the rumour and Ino had rightly assumed that he had found her.
Thankfully the bell rang, saving her from answering her blonde friend's incessant questioning.
"Don't think you're off the hook yet, Sakura," Ino warned her as she walked off to another class. "I'll get you during Gym."
History with Kiba was pretty fun and the cute Inuzuka had outright declared she was "officially the most awesome chick" he knew for spreading the rumour about Sasuke in the first place.
Then he had shifted the conversation to Friday's upcoming game against Tani and Sakura felt the colour drain from her face.
Friday was turning out to be the most dreaded day of her life. Not only was it her first performance with the squad in front of the entire auditorium…. It was now also the day she'd have to follow through her bet with the Uchiha.
That's it, I'm going to get wasted Friday night and maybe, if the gods allow it, I'll end up throwing up on him instead! She thought gleefully to herself, although she knew she'd rarely ever been sick from alcohol before.
Seeing Sasuke's face again in English class was hell.
The arrogant bastard ignored her completely, looking straight ahead at Kakashi the whole time even though under the table she kept feeling his leg casually brush up against hers all through class. Everytime he did, she'd either jump on the seat or shift uncomfortably and when she finally turned to face him in anger, he merely raised an eyebrow in demand, causing her to get all flustered and look away.
He had successfully managed turning her into a jittery, blubbering idiot and she couldn't even help herself since their previous encounter kept replaying in her mind.
Every small detail was still painfully vivid. His face, his scent, his hair.
The way his obsidian eyes seemed to stare right through her.
The way his fingers traced the contour of her face.
God, what is wrong with me? Sakura thought, resting her head in her hand as she barely listened to Kakashi-sensei talking at the front of the class. I shouldn't be letting him affect me like this!
However, it was all her fault after all. She had unwittingly provoked the Uchiha first with the rumour and now he was going to make damned sure she'd regret it. And probably find some way to humiliate her Friday night with the kiss.
By the time cheerleading practice began, Sakura was exhausted. Between ignoring Sasuke, explaining everything to the girls (minus the deal) and reassuring Naruto every five minutes that she was fine, whilst pretending to play badminton, she thought she deserved some kind of medal.
Of course, practice was even worse as Yuugao-sensei pushed them even harder the whole time, running through the first half of the routine several times before teaching them the rest.
The second half of the routine was even trickier as the girls were split up in several groups between dancing and tumbling. Sakura found herself having a complicated tumbling sequence but was glad to know Yuugao-sensei was making use of her skills. She certainly didn't envy Tenten and Kagura showcased upfront, doing some freestyle dance moves during the bridge part of the song. They were then switched with Ino and Chiaki who added more sensual dance moves during Fergie's part. Sakura tried to keep up with it all but she was having a hard time catching her breath after all the tumbling.
And that's when their coach decided to add a final round of stunts to end the routine.
"Girls, for this last bit, I want to go all out even though we haven't learned many stunts yet," Yuugao-sensei explained as she adjusted the routine so each foursome would naturally stand next to each other by the end of the bridge. "I want to see a succession of full-up and liberty cradles and we might even add in a scorpion if you can nail it before the end of the week."
Sakura sighed at her coach's words. The woman was relentless. Tenten and Hinata smiled encouragingly at their pink-haired friend as Kagura laughed at the pained expression on her face.
"Come on, we can do this, Sakura," Tenten tried to motivate her as she stood behind. "Friday is going to kick ass!"
Friday is going to suck balls! Sakura thought to herself, but complied none the less and got into position.
..~**~..
An hour later, practice was over and Yuugao-sensei gathered the girls around her as the squad captainship was put to vote. Naturally Okyo won, hands down. Nanako didn't seem to mind at all, whereas Chiaki looked rather upset.
Sakura was glad Okyo got the position and was ready to change and finally head home, but before she left there was still something she knew she had to do.
Rapidly changing back in her jeans and white jersey T-shirt, she made her way towards the seniors, who were chatting loudly as they took their time to change.
"Hey, I need to tell you guys something," Sakura spoke up, effectively silencing them as they turned to face her.
"Is this about the rumour concerning Sasuke?" Okyo asked, neatly folding her cheer uniform.
"Yeah, um… about that," Sakura began, unsure how they would react to the truth. "He's not really gay. I lied back in the club. I was drunk and I was angry with him about something and just started saying drunken things I guess. It was supposed to be a joke… I didn't think you guys would actually believe me and I certainly didn't think the rumour would spread through the whole school like that. Anyway, I'm really sorry about the whole thing and I just wanted you guys to know the truth."
She had spotted Ino, Tenten and Hinata standing up ahead by the door, no doubt waiting for her and also wanting to be supportive.
It was a new thing for Sakura to have girl friends she could actually count on and once again she felt lucky to have found such awesome friends. She just hoped the seniors wouldn't bite her head off for essentially lying to them.
Kagura rolled her eyes at her before picking up her shoulder bag. "Jeez, no need to fret so much Sak. Seeing how drunk you were, I didn't really believe it in the first place."
Kaori and Okyo merely smiled at her in turn but Chiaki and Matsumi, however, didn't seem so forgiving.
"You didn't think calling Uchiha Sasuke gay would be such a big deal?" Chiaki exclaimed, slamming her locker shut in frustration. "Seriously, just how much of an idiot are you?"
"Chiaki..." Okyo whispered in surprise as Matsumi remained silent, watching Sakura closely, a frown on her face.
"You think you can just easily mess around with an Uchiha?" Chiaki continued to rant, casting an icy glance towards Sakura. "Don't you know anything about Konoha and its clans? Did you seriously think Inuzuka Kouta would not warn Kiba about our presence in the club? Just how dumb are you?"
A deep sense of failure began to envelop Sakura as Chiaki's words hit their target. Hearing one of the prettiest girls in school basically calling her a noob was already embarrassing and hurtful, but knowing the whole cheer squad had heard it too just made it worse.
"I didn't know about Kouta," Sakura tried to explain, realising she really had no excuse apart the fact that she was drunk.
Chiaki merely scowled in return.
"Things were different in Suna," Sakura painfully elaborated. "Clans are much smaller there -"
"It doesn't excuse your behaviour," Chiaki cut her off coldly, looking at her in disdain. "These things are common knowledge here in Konoha High, but I guess the school's level really is slipping if they're starting to let in poor, worthless, outsiders like you."
Are you really going to let her talk to you like that? Inner Sakura yelled in the back of her mind but Sakura was frozen on the spot. Something about this whole situation reminded her of her last days at Suna High.
You're just worthless trash... you cheap slut… scum like you shouldn't be allowed in our school…
"Chiaki, that's enough," Ino intervened, standing by Sakura's side and looking angry. "Shut the fuck up before I make you."
Sakura watched on stunned as the blond defended her.
"You shouldn't talk about Sakura that way," a small voice spoke up from Sakura's other side and she was surprised to see Hinata standing there with Tenten, who glared at the senior.
Chiaki frowned slightly at the juniors before gathering her belongings quickly. "Whatever," she muttered, packing up her bag. "I don't know why the guys still allow her around. I'm surprised Sasuke hasn't made her life a living hell yet, but I'm sure if he doesn't, then his fangirls probably will when they find out what she did."
Flicking her long wavy black hair over her shoulder, Chiaki grabbed her bag tightly and walked out of the changing rooms, a grim smile on her red lips.
"Forget Chiaki, she's just mad I got captainship," Okyo spoke up, effectively breaking the awkward silence.
"She's just being a snobby bitch," Ino exclaimed before turning to face Sakura. "Why didn't you say anything?"
Sakura merely stared at her unsure how to respond.
Because what she said is true. I fucked up when talking to Kouta because I don't know anything about Konoha's clans.
But you could have told her about Tsunade! Inner Sakura retorted angrily. You could have shut that bitch up by telling her your aunt is the Hokage instead of letting her insult you!
However, her Inner's reasoning seemed petty and unappealing even though there was a time Sakura would have given anything to be able to say that.
"I guess it was probably best to just let her rant, right?" Sakura finished lamely, gripping her shoulder bag tightly.
The seniors quickly said their goodbyes and Sakura followed her friends out and down the halls towards the entrance. Naruto was supposed to take her home but he still hadn't come out by the time they reached the school car park.
"See you tomorrow, Sakura," Ino said, waving briefly as she headed for her car. Hinata had already run off to the car waiting for her.
Sakura waved back as Tenten approached her.
"I know how you feel," she told the pinkette, putting a comforting hand on her arm. "But don't let that bitch get to you. Besides you're our friend now and we won't let her treat you like that. And the guys certainly won't either."
Sakura nodded, giving her friend a quick smile before she left. Naruto arrived briefly after and she followed him to his orange car, all smiles and banter, although inside all she wanted was to curl up in a ball and cry.
..~**~..
Yep, things might get a little ugly for Sakura in the next chapter... you'll also learn a bit more about what happened in Suna.
For chapter updates, be sure to check my profile. I also have a little request to ask from my wonderful readers... last chapter I had a ton of people favourite or follow the fic (which is awesome) and I would be ever so grateful if you could also leave a review. Tell me what you like or don't like, for example. And what did you think of Sasuke?
So please review! Thank you so much :)))