A/N: To answer Thor94, it's not just the dōjutsu which makes them interesting, but their conflicting, completely opposite personalities. Opposites are fun to write, and SasuHina is hard, so it's basically a challenge I've issued to my ownself. Regarding Naruto, while I personally love NarutoxSakura, I don't intend to go in that direction. You'll find out why soon enough. Sakura does have her hands full at the moment.

To answer Guest, I guess you've missed the memo; I have mentioned quite clearly the crackships I mean to explore in this story since the beginning, as well as the description. Don't like, don't read. It may surprise you, but I actually don't care what you think.

Sakura

Avoiding Kiba had been hard, even though he had been away. There were his references everywhere, and people talked about him. Everyone bestowed judgmental glances her way. Her heart had pained to hear that he had gone away, and she knew it was because of her. He was actively avoiding her. But ever since he was back, he was the one who had been avoiding eye contact and taking the opposite direction whenever he saw her, as seen now when he didn't waste an opportunity to rush away with Hinata, leaving Neji and her behind.

She knew it would be virtually impossible to go back to being just friends. She didn't like that one bit. Just because she said she needed space, it didn't mean she wanted to stop being friends. Nor did she know if she could let go of all the intimate moments they had shared. She didn't know if she had the guts to break up, not even after what she had done. She felt disgusted with herself. She had cheated; hurt not only Kiba if he ever found out but his sister as well. It had all been for naught, as she had then been rejected flatly as well. There was no future that way, and she had not completely moved on.

But Kiba deserved to know what had transpired before she could get back together with him. She didn't know where to start. Was it even right to give him hope or to lead him on? She was being incredibly selfish, she knew that. But she had to show Kakashi she was happy without him.

She couldn't discuss this situation with any of her friends either. Only Neji knew about her crush, but since Kiba got back, he sat with Hinata and Hinata sat with him. And also, his fiancée happened to be Kiba's best friend. She doubted he'd be able to keep anything from her. She feared Hinata already didn't know. Maybe that was why she always looked at her like that?

She had lost her friends, she felt. She had to endure judgmental gazes everywhere she went. She didn't always like third-wheeling Ino and Shikamaru but she had no choice. Hinata and Tenten weren't interested in talking with her or hanging out. Tenten had straightaway told her that she and Lee liked to be alone, even though whenever she spotted them, they were usually just quietly sitting and doing their own thing.

But she didn't get why Tenten felt threatened; Lee had stopped pursuing her a long while ago. Now that she thought about it, he had actually stopped around the time she had hooked up with Kiba. Maybe she deserved the animosity. Tenten and Lee had just walked past them outside, without caring much. Lee apparently had a thousand pushups to do before lunch ended as a part of losing a bet regarding the Sasuke-Neji encounter, she overheard.

Only Neji from Team Guy remained her friend, and ever since he got engaged in a very private, family-only event with a few nobles invited, he had very little time to spare. Break was almost about to be over, and Neji was finally alone with her as they walked till the next class together. She thought about asking him this.

"I feel like Tenten hates me," she asked Neji.

"Huh. She doesn't hate you. But yes, you're not her most favourite person," Neji admitted.

"But... But why?"

"Ever since the war, she has grown increasingly possessive of our team," Neji revealed. "She doesn't want to see any one of us get hurt. And Lee had always been hopelessly in love with and constantly getting rejected by you."

"What of her relationship with Lee now? They aren't doing anything publicly of the sort nor have I seen them talking much."

"She's just aromantic. But I do not know if Lee has the same inclinations. Lee, on the other hand does like being romantic, so that gets a bit out of hand sometimes," Neji replied.

"We thought she liked you," Sakura said, exasperated. "But I know for a fact that you were always in love with Hinata. Then why did you guys go out even, when you both clearly had such different interests?"

Neji's guard went up at once. She felt that he chose his words very carefully.

"Tenten knew I was in love with Hinata-sama before even you or I did. But regarding non-platonically, as we grew up, she revealed to me that she was starting to develop what she called 'strange feelings' for Lee; she didn't understand them herself. She informed me about this before we decided to... We did what we did because she's asexual and the physical act of love doesn't mean much to her and she needed me as a vessel at the moment. And I... Well I am a man. But how on earth do you even know we… engaged?"

Sakura shrugged. "Doesn't everyone?"

"How much do you know?" Neji demanded. She couldn't know, could she?

Sakura wasn't exactly in the mood for one of her artifices. She let him have it straight.

"We know you went out," she said. "And she said she'd never date someone hopelessly in love with another. Ino and I knew she meant you. Hinata was the only one who thought she meant in general. She was so clueless about you."

"Yes, Hinata-sama is right, because we didn't date," Neji said shortly. "Those are her principles; she doesn't just date anyone. Like I said, she doesn't process romantic bonds well. We both just needed a... release of sorts. We both knew what we were getting into, and we both liked someone else. We wanted to rid ourselves off of the feelings and we thought it was just a carnal need, like eating and drinking."

"So you guys really thought it's just that easy to move on? To hook up with someone else?"

"Well, it was worth a try," he said shortly. "And our subjects of affection were blindly chasing after someone else. You'd know how it felt. What other choice did we have then to attempt?"

With a jolt, she realised that Kakashi had done the same to her as well. So what did that mean; did he do it so that she'd stop feeling sexually frustrated, which of course she was not, or should she dare believe he did it because he was himself feeling something akin to the matter?

But no, he had made it abundantly clear that he did not have any feelings for her.

She looked at him strangely, understanding dawning upon her because of the astounding similarity in her case; pretending the person she was making love to was someone else.

"Did you guys... pretend to be... Did you imagine she was Hinata and she imagined you were Lee?"

"Yes," he replied shortly.

"And you guys also... Engaged in role-play."

It wasn't a question, rather a statement. And his silence confirmed it, as well as the fact that he looked away in embarrassment.

"Oh, wow," she could only comment. It was a harmless fetish, not worse than what she had done herself, which was cheating as her partner was not involved in her fantasy mix.

"Needless to say," he finally answered after a few moments. "It didn't work out."

"Of course it didn't," she said absently.

Now Neji looked at her strangely.

"You're experienced," he said, this time it was a statement coming from him in place of a question. "With Kakashi-sensei, when you spent your nights with Kiba."

"Yes," she replied, her voice squeaky.

"I can't say I didn't expect. And... this is the reason you're on a break with Kiba at the moment," he continued. "He doesn't know he was used like that."

She nodded. "This... and that."

Neji nodded in understanding. "It goes further, doesn't it?"

She stayed silent. But, like he said, he had always known she crushed on Kakashi.

"Did you know he's pursuing your boyfriend's own sister?" He asked.

She shook her head. "If I had known, I'd never, ever have done what I did. I..."

She broke off, choking up. She swallowed. "I never wanted to cheat on Kiba. But I had been unintentionally doing it every night, if... if imagining someone else during lovemaking also counts."

"It does count," Neji informed her flatly. "But... did it help, after you vented off the sexual frustration? Were you able to shed off your feelings?"

She shook her head and looked at him helplessly. "Please, please don't tell Hinata. I fully intend to confess to Kiba myself when the time is right."

"I won't," Neji said, studying her. "But you haven't answered my question."

She didn't answer his question, because she didn't have an answer. Tears filled her eyes.

"I'm moving on," she told him, trying to blink the tears away. "He told me he feels nothing for me."

"Wow," Neji said, reaching the door of his next class - empty at the moment - and resting his arm on the door. "You… actually went ahead - or rather behind as it is your boyfriend's back you stabbed - and fornicated with Kakashi-sensei? And he in turn indulged? Here I thought what I did was messed up."

She looked at him tiredly. "Don't you dare judge me, Hyūga Neji. You were at one point just as lost as me and did the same."

"It wasn't the same, both of us agreed to the fantasy, messed up as it is," Neji admitted. "We had agreed since the beginning that our relationship would come to an end if either one of us developed a chance to be with the person we fantasized to be with, and that we could also sleep with them if ever presented the chance and end our relationship then and there."

"Did Tenten develop feelings for you after you guys started sleeping with each other? Did you?"

He looked at her sympathetically. "No Sakura, I'm afraid we did not. The heart wants what it wants. But it did help us move on and act rationally after. If Kakashi-sensei never felt that way for you before indulging, chances are high he still won't even after as it doesn't work like that with men. It's not you I blame. It's him. He's the older one. He should know better. Despite all the reading he does, he still doesn't know how fickle the female heart is? Everyone knows most women develop feelings of attachment after intercourse."

"He... he said he just... got me off because I was beginning to get very obvious... And he felt that the physical act was all I wanted. He made it sound like I just wasn't being satisfied in that department and was just sexually curious. He told me he thought I was smart enough to understand that nothing can ever happen between us because of our positions, and he did what he did purely based on my need, so that I can go back to being happy with Kiba."

"Wasn't a physical encounter all you wanted? To be honest, I thought the same," Neji remarked. "What were you thinking, getting confused with these feelings? Not to mention, the astounding age difference and yes, your dynamics."

She went quiet for a while, not understanding her own conflicted emotions. Was sex really all she had desired? Her attraction had had no basis, that was true. It was just raw, primal desire.

"I understand it's a chemical reaction in the brain and the hormones taking effect after the act happened," she admitted. "To be honest, the deed did help me put things further into perspective. Maybe it was just the sex I wanted. Because as a man, I don't find anything appealing about him. He's disgusting, he makes very lame puns, he always has his head in the gutter because of that trash he's always reading, and he doesn't respect women."

Neji nodded. "You've obviously been thinking about this a lot. So tell me, where do things now stand with Kiba? I ask only because he's a good lad. He didn't deserve any of it. He's also becoming a fast friend of mine, quite like you. He has been spending quite some time with me and my bird."

Sakura smiled at the nickname they had given each other. Birds, how typical. "I just... I'm... I haven't technically broken up with him. I just need to put things further into perspective. I don't think I can get back with him till I've confessed my betrayal."

"Should I offer you a piece of advice though?" Neji asked.

"Sure," she replied.

"I say this only because I know Kiba, and it's also better for the Hokage that things not spread, and that you keep this secret buried."

"What? Why?" Sakura asked, shocked.

"You can't expect your boyfriend to keep quiet about such an ordeal when his own sister is also involved. Not only would it break him, hurt his sister, and tarnish our good Hokage's reputation in the process amidst all the gossip magazines of the country, but no one will never trust you again. You will also most likely develop a reputation of a harlot. Because, let's face it, the Hokage is in a position of power, and he is also a man. Even if the publications, not to mention the right wing opposition tear him apart, it's still always the women who get the sharper end of the blade and brought out to be the true villain."

She blinked. Why had she been so dumb not to think of that? It was getting too much for her. She had to process.

"Think about it," Neji called out from behind her as the bell rang and she made her way to the restroom.

"Sakura," She heard Kiba call out. She instinctively turned to look at him. He was standing there, hands in his pocket, unsure why he was there. Being an Inuzuka, these insecurities were a reason his mother was always trying to toughen him up. Inuzukas were supposed to be confident, strong, and territorial – owning any room they walked in – the opposite of acting like they didn't belong.

Her mind flashed back to memories of his skin, his words, his touch as he held her close. How she used to reassure him that his mother just wanted the best of him when he couldn't sleep at night, sharing his insecurities. She had cuddled closer and told him she'll always be there for him, if not in person, then in here, resting her palm on his chest over his rapidly beating heart.

Her throat closed and her heart ached, and she felt tears prickling her eyes. She panicked, holding back a sob. Pretending not to have heard him even though she had looked, she dashed into the nearby toilets.

Sakura closed the bathroom door behind her and checked for any poopers; there weren't. She took a deep breath and finally let loose the sob she had been holding back. It rattled her body in its intensity. Rushing here was a good decision.