And so began my newfound friendship with Sasuke.
I have to admit, things were still different between us than they had once been, but I had also had eight years to build a relationship with him - not a few months. So I would say, for the amount that he had gotten to know me, that we were close enough for now.
Being friends with Sasuke meant that he would sit at our lunch table permanently now (one of the main reasons, of course, was that he no longer had a girlfriend to make him sit with her friends - but I didn't think about that), and was more willing to talk to me (even though he wasn't very talkative, he still answered my questions at least).
There was also a new development in who sat with us at lunch - Neji Hyuga began to sit with us as well (being one of Sasuke's friends, of course). This seemed to really irritate Tenten, for some reason - I guess she had a secret grudge against him for some reason? I would have to ask her about that later.
"Be nice," I said, the day that we discovered Neji sitting next to Sasuke.
She grumbled, but compromised by saying nothing at all to him.
"So I'm having a Christmas party," Ino said to me that day after lunch, "and you're invited of course. I'm only inviting a few people - only the ones I like this time, you see." She grinned.
"That sounds great." I said. It looked like I was slowly getting back into the inner circle of my old friends, and that felt fantastic.
"So I heard Sasuke broke up with Karin," said Ino suggestively. "Do you think you're going to make a move?"
"Honestly, I'm mostly just interested in being his friend right now." I admitted. That was sort of true. I mean, I did want to build up a friendship with Sasuke before doing anything about the feelings I had about him. That was mostly because I figured that if we were best friends again he might start getting feelings for me of his own (like before).
"Riiiight," Ino teased. "Well, it's your decision, Sakura. But you know how many girls are going to be trying to get into his pants now that he's single again. I mean, they were already trying to when he had a girlfriend." That was also true, but I was sure that Sasuke wasn't interested in any of them. At least, I thought I was.
I only shrugged, trying to act nonchalant. "We'll see," I said.
I thought about what we talked about for the rest of the day. I was pretty sure that Sasuke didn't want to date anyone that I knew of. But then again, he had surprised me with Karin, how could I be sure that he wouldn't do something like that again? It would be hard to get him to fall in love with my by the time we graduated if he kept dating other girls.
I sighed. It was hard trying to date your best friend. Especially since they didn't remember you were even best friends in the first place! Ugh, why did Sasuke have to date other people?
The rest of the week passed by without anything really happening. Karin seemed to be more out to get me than ever - she was now trying to trip me whenever she got the chance, making rude comments to me in the hallway, and spreading as many rumors about me as she could. Luckily for me, I wasn't popular like I was before, so most people didn't know who she was talking about when she said things like "Sakura Haruno is a boyfriend-stealing whore." It was kind of amusing, actually, watching her struggle to bring me down. Idiot.
The most interesting thing that happened all week was probably the weekly Yearbook Club meeting with Tenten. Since she had become editor-in-chief of the school newspaper, it had turned in to a joint Yearbook/School Newspaper meeting. It was kind of funny to realize that most of the Yearbook Club was part of the newspaper anyway.
Despite my escalating social life, I had still found time to take pictures during school - and after sometimes, when there was an event going on. That day, Tenten had me going through the photos that the freshmen members had taken.
"This is really well-done," I complimented a girl whose name I had a hard time remembering - I think it was Matsuri. She had taken some pictures from the banquet a few weeks ago, and had gotten some great pictures of the team receiving awards, and members with their dates. "I think a lot of these will definitely make the yearbook."
"Really?" She sounded ecstatic.
"Yeah!" I smiled.
I did that for the rest of the meeting, at the same time listening to Tenten's report on how she thought the newspaper was going ("There needs to be more action, people!"), and still thinking about Sasuke (but was that really a surprise?).
Once the meeting was over, and I had picked out pictures to go in the school newspaper and some potential ones for the yearbook, I waited for Tenten to gather her things so I could talk to her.
"So I was thinking," I said, "sleepover at my house this Friday with Hinata?" Some people might say that we were too old for sleepovers, but I wanted to hang out with Hinata and Tenten alone for the first time in awhile. Although I was overjoyed to have my old friends back, I still wanted to maintain the relationship between my new friends too - something that I feared that I had been neglecting.
Tenten had been grumpy that day, so I was surprised to see that she perked up immediately when I asked. "I think I can make time for it," she said, which I took as a yes. Hinata had been really excited for the sleepover when I told her about my idea during English (Kakashi was getting to class later and later as the year progressed, giving everyone at least five to fifteen minutes to talk).
I didn't expect to run into Sasuke and Naruto when I was walking to my car.
"Sakuraaaaa!" Naruto shouted from the other end of the hallway.
"Hey guys," I said, "what are you still doing here?"
"Sasuke had a student council meeting," said Naruto happily, "and he's my ride."
"You don't have to talk for me," Sasuke said. "We had to have an extra meeting today because our Vice President resigned." Our Class VP was a guy named Suigetsu Hozuki. He was pretty smart, but he got really stressed out and had to resign from his position. He was also one of Karin's best friends (which was weird, because I actually liked Suigetsu back when I got to talk to him).
"Have you found a replacement yet?" I asked him, genuinely curious. Maybe Tenten would want to apply for it - she seemed power-crazy as it was sometimes, but she was a good leader nonetheless.
He shook his head. "We're going to make nominations on Monday and vote on Wednesday. There's going to be a debate and everything."
"Wow," I said, "that's intense."
"It's something," he agreed.
I walked with them until we got to the parking lot, and Naruto said, "We're going to get ramen for dinner Sakura, you should come with us!"
"First of all," Sasuke said, "I never said I was taking you to get ramen..." But I could tell that he was about to break. It might seem like it, but Sasuke usually gave in to Naruto. He used to do the same for me when we were best friends, actually.
"I'm in," I said, "I'm hungry anyway." Plus, my parents were out again on a date night, so I would have to fend for myself for dinner.
"Then let's go!" Naruto said, grinning, "I'll ride with Sakura so she's not lonely!"
Sasuke looked at me, and then shrugged. I just laughed. "My car's over here," I told Naruto.
Once we were in the car, Naruto carried most of the conversation. "Thanks for introducing me to Hinata," was the first thing that he said, "she's sooo much better than Ami." Naruto could be blunt sometimes, but at least he told the truth.
"You don't have to thank me," I said, but I still felt smug. I was like a matchmaker for my friends - and it was awesome. "All I did was tell you to ask her to dance, so you pretty much did all the work."
He grinned. "If you put it that way..."
We talked the whole way to the restaurant. I was actually really excited, because it would be like old times again when I used to hang out with Sasuke and Naruto. It was kind of funny, actually, because Naruto had hated me when I first became friends with Sasuke. Later on, he told me it was because he was afraid I was going to take Sasuke away from him. I understood why he was so insecure about it - he had lost his parents, and Sasuke had been his only friend in elementary school, before he met me of course. Once Naruto realized that I wasn't there to steal his best friend, he warmed up to me pretty fast.
Dinner was fun too - Naruto kept up enough energy to keep the conversation going, and Sasuke really seemed to open up (for Sasuke, I mean). It was the first time since I had to start over that I saw him laugh a little (Naruto was telling a story about how he was trying to copy a girl's biology notes in class, and she had thought he was actually staring at her chest and punched him).
"Why would she think that about me, Sasuke?" Naruto said, his mouth full of ramen. I forgot how much he loved that stuff.
"Who knows?" Sasuke said.
"What are you doing for Christmas break?" I asked them. My parents were actually going out of town to visit some of their old college friends. They had invited me, but I declined. I didn't want to miss any time with my friends over the holidays. They would be back for Christmas, of course, but I would be on my own for five days.
"Nothing, really." Sasuke said boredly. "I think Itachi's probably going to be here for Christmas, but after that he'll probably take off a week to go on vacation with his work friends." He sounded a little bitter, but not too much. Itachi and Sasuke didn't have the closest relationship before their parents died - with Sasuke being five years younger than his brother, and Itachi always having to be out of town for business now that he was the heir to their father's company. I knew that Itachi loved his little brother though, especially since I couldn't stop thinking about his face in the emergency room...
I had to stop thinking about that.
"I'll be hanging out with Sasuke!" Naruto declared. "What are you doing?"
I told them about how my parents were going out of town, and how I was probably going to stay home most of the time.
"You should come hang out with us, Sakura!" Naruto said. He said this so loudly that the couple sitting at a table nearby turned around to look at us. "Wouldn't that be fun Sasuke?!"
Sasuke shrugged. "Sure," he said dully. I knew him enough to tell that he meant it.
Once we were done eating, we said goodbye and I drove back home (alone this time). So I would get to see Sasuke during break. This made me extremely happy. We weren't as close as we used to be, but that would only take time, and I was sure that I could win him over. It was comforting, actually.
On Friday night, at the sleepover I was having, a lot happened. It started with me giving Tenten and Hinata makeup lessons (not that they needed it, but I wanted them to know, just in case I wasn't always there to help them). Once I was done giving them makeovers (and they had successfully learned how to apply the right amount of makeup to their faces), I did their hair too.
"Just let me!" I begged, when Tenten refused to let me touch the two buns she usually put her hair in. "I'm trying to help you!"
"Fine!" She snapped. Ignoring her, I proceeded to pull her hair out of the buns, until her hair was down. Tenten's hair was actually really beautiful, I thought, she just needed to learn how to utilize it.
"See?" I said. "It looks better already."
Hinata, who seemed to get nervous when our voices were raised - we weren't actually mad at each other, that's just how Tenten and I talked sometimes. Watched quietly as I tampered with Tenten's hair. I didn't do anything crazy - I just brushed it out, and used a flat-iron to straighten it. Combined with the makeup I put on her - it really accentuated her eyes, which were a deep brown - she looked beautiful.
"Look at this," I said, and handed her a mirror.
Tenten started at herself for a second, as if she was in disbelief, and then shook her head. "I look completely different!" She complained.
"True," I said, "but you look really good!"
Hinata nodded. "I really like your hair like that, Tenten." It wasn't like the buns were terrible - they really weren't - I just wanted to see how she would look like with her hair down, and she looked... really good actually.
"Tenten," I said, "don't take this the wrong way but... you look hot."
"That," Tenten said grumpily, "is not the goal."
"Why not?" I pretended to pout. "Come on, just wear your hair like this to school next Monday and tell me it doesn't make you feel more confident!"
"I'm confident enough," said Tenten stubbornly. That was true, I thought, she was certainly stubborn enough to refuse a cute new hairdo from me! She should be grateful! In fact, when I was a sophomore I was so good at doing hair that upperclassmen girls would pay me to do their hair for prom. It was a really good way to make money, actually. But that wasn't the point.
"How about we play a game?" I said slyly.
I had her attention then. "What kind of game?" If there was one thing I knew about Tenten, it was how competitive she was.
"Sakura," said Hinata, catching on to what I was trying to do, "I don't think that's a good idea-"
"What kind of game, Sakura?" Tenten had a strange gleam in her eye that I usually saw when she was talking about becoming the new editor-in-chief or something. It was kind of scary, but I pressed on.
"A card game," I said, looking around my room for my deck of cards. Aha! I found it in my desk drawer. "It's easy to learn." I explained the rules, and Tenten listened intensely. Hinata only shook her head from where she was sitting on the floor.
"Okay," I said, laying the cards down on the floor, "we're going to play. But if I win, you have to wear your hair like that to school Monday." I knew she would do it too, because I had seen Tenten get this way before with some of the freshmen in the Yearbook Club with a board game.
"Fine," Tenten said, "but if I win you have to let me do your makeup for school on Monday... anything I want."
"Fine," I agreed, "let's do this. Hinata, would you mind being the dealer?"
Hinata, happy to be left out of the competition, but still being included, nodded. I explained how to deal, and then the game started.
I had to give it to Tenten - she really gave it her all, and I even thought that she might win for a second, but ultimately I ended up winning.
"I'll see you on Monday," I said, "with your hair down, my friend."
Tenten only glowered at me, but I had won the game.
We watched a movie after that, and it wasn't until we were ready to go to sleep that we started talking. To sleep, we had put as many blankets on the floor as we could find and used them as make-shift bed. I ended up between Tenten and Hinata.
"So Tenten," I said, breaking the temporary silence that happened when Hinata turned off the lights. For a second, the only light I could see was the blue one cast from my cell phone charger. Then, my eyes adjusted and I could see the faint outline of everything in my room. "Do you like anyone yet?" I had asked her that question at the beginning of the year, only to have her scoff at me and not answer. Now I figured that we were close enough for her to spill.
Tenten snorted. "If you think I have time to be dating-"
"I'm not asking that," I said simply, "I'm just wondering if anyone's caught your eye."
She was silent for a second. "No," she said then. But I could tell.
"Fine," I said, "but I'll figure it out. I always do... How are things with Naruto, Hinata? Did you know that he thanked me for introducing you guys the other day?" I changed the subject so Tenten didn't think I was attacking her or anything. She could be a bit abrasive sometimes, but I could tell that she had a sensitive side.
We talked like that for a while, until we reached the point where everyone was falling asleep.
Before I completely passed out, Tenten mumbled something.
"Huh?" I said, groggily.
"I do like someone," she said, quietly enough that if I hadn't been listening I wouldn't have heard it at all.
"Who is it?" I said, feeling like I was slowly falling asleep while I talked.
"I'm not telling you," Tenten said, "you're going to have to figure it out for yourself."
"Deal," I mumbled, before completely passing out.
On Monday, I was pleased to see that Tenten had followed through on her side of the bet. Her hair, as promised, was down - and she had even done extra and put on makeup like I showed her to at the sleepover on Friday! It was like I was looking at a whole new person, honestly (again, it wasn't like she wasn't pretty without the different hair and makeup, it was just a different kind of pretty).
"I hope you're happy," she told me before first period, "one of the members of the school newspaper didn't even recognize me!"
"I told you," I said smugly, "you look hot!"
She only rolled her eyes, and walked away - probably off to do something for the Yearbook during her off-period.
Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), I didn't know how much my makeover on Tenten would affect the balance of the school. I had heard rumors about a bossy new girl all day, and it was only until lunch when Naruto invited Tenten to sit with us that I realized they had been talking about her.
"Naruto," I said, trying not to laugh, "it's Tenten."
"Who's that?" He said, looking clueless. Naruto wasn't the most observant sometimes.
I just shook my head. "Forget it," I said, still feeling like I could laugh.
"It's weird," Tenten said, "everyone's been looking at me different all day. They think I'm a new girl, but even when they do notice it's me they treat me different. I feel like I have... more power." I saw the same gleam in her eye like I had on Friday night. It was kind of scary, actually, but I was happy to see that she seemed pleased by everyone's reactions.
"Who's the new girl?" I could hear Neji say to Sasuke.
"I'm not new!" Tenten snapped at him. "It's me, Tenten!" Suddenly, I realized something. How could I be so stupid? I thought. Of course, it would make sense given Tenten's personality. It was suddenly obvious to me that the person she liked was Neji Hyuga.
I smirked at her, and she glared at me. I don't think she knew, though. And to think I was considering setting them up anyway - how clever was I!?
Besides everyone's reactions to Tenten, nothing new happened that day, besides Ino inviting more people to her Christmas party, which was going to be the Friday that school ended for the semester. Everything except something surprising that happened during last period.
I was sitting in Calculus, talking to Sasuke while we did a worksheet (we were both pretty good at math, and could do it quickly while we talked - also, it helped that I had technically taken this class before, I guess), when the announcements came on.
"Good afternoon everyone," I heard the voice of Principle Tsunade over the intercom, "now is the time to announce the nominations for Student Body Vice President." I heard a shuffling of papers, and wondered why she hadn't gotten the sheet out before starting the announcements - although she was a great Principle, Tsunade wasn't the most organized. "Alright," she said, "the nominations are as follows: Sakura Haruno,"- I gasped, what!? -"Shikamaru Nara, and Ami Watanabe. There will be a debate on Wednesday during first and second period, and there will be voting after that. Choose wisely," said Tsunade dryly, "the candidate you ultimately select will be your new Vice President for half a year. Thank you for your attention." The announcements cut off, and I suddenly felt everyone in the room staring at me.
"Do you know who nominated me?" I asked Sasuke. He was the President, after all.
"Naruto," he said, "and I think Hinata seconded it." Of course she did, I thought.
"And I'm running against Shikamaru," I said, "and Ami..." They were both way more popular than me, so of course one of them would win. Should I even bother making speech? Typically, the "debate" was more of a speech and then an interview - the candidate for each position would make a speech about what they hope to accomplish, and then the student body would ask them questions. Simple enough, I thought, it wasn't like I had stage fright or anything. "Is it even worth it?"
Sasuke didn't get the change to answer, because Asuma, our calculus teacher, decided to go over one of the problems on the worksheet she had handed out. Oh well, I thought, I would just ask him later.
After school ended, most of my friends found me to talk about the nomination.
"I'm sorry," Hinata said bashfully, "but Naruto talked me into it."
"Hey!" Naruto said playfully. "It was just as much your idea as it was mine!"
"So," Ino had come to find me too, "I guess you and my boyfriend are rivals." She had an amused grin on her face. "I think you should go for it, of course, if you want to."
"You should do it, Sakura," Tenten, who had been passing by, stopped to make a comment. "It'll be good for the school."
"Yeah," Hinata said, "I think you should do it too."
Of course they all did, I thought. They didn't have to write a speech in day! But then again, it did sound kind of fun to be Vice President. Maybe if I got the position I could make a difference in the school before I left. Plus, if I did get the chance to go to college, it would look good on an application. Plus, I would get more time with Sasuke.
"Fine," I said, "I'll do it."
And that was how I, Sakura Haruno, started running for Vice President of the student body.
Author's Note: Thank you all so much for your awesome reviews! :) I don't really have anything to say, besides please let me know what you think of the new chapter! Thank you all so much for reading!