Have you ever wondered what it would feel like to be in a relationship with your best friend? The person that you share all of your deepest, darkest secrets with? Someone who keeps you around, for everything that you are? Not just accepting your "flaws", but loving them too?

Sakura Haruno hadn't.

In fact it had never even crossed her mind. At least not until the opportunity came and went, slipping through her fingers before she even realized what she was holding.

"Oi, Sakura." A low, monotone voice called.

It was a Wednesday. And like every other Wednesday, Sakura had entered the cafeteria of her high school at 12:05 for lunch. Wednesday was a special day because it was the one day of the week where the senior student wasn't busy with extracurriculars, or TOEFL prep, or college applications, or sports. The one day of the week where she could just sit with her friends, recline in her seat and relax for a bit before it was back to studying, classes and stress. But like every other Wednesday, her childhood friend Sasuke Uchiha was waiting by the vending machine for her. His shoulder rested against the drink machine as he stared at her expectantly.

"Lend me some money, I'm broke." It was more like he was sharing a fact rather than asking for a favor.

Sakura rolled her eyes. Every Wednesday, her only day of freedom, and this smug little jerk had to go out of his way and pester her from the moment she walked in. "Why don't you bring your own damn money, Uchiha?" She chided playfully.

"I forgot." He stated matter-of-factly.

"You always forget." She countered. "And you never pay me back!"

Sasuke looked at her cooley. "I pay you back with my friendship."

"Oh? And what exactly does that get me?" Sakura quirked a brow.

He thought about this for a minute before answering, "Secrecy." When her face looked confused, Sasuke continued with a straight face. "I just mean.. arm-pit hair, training bra, diarrhea at Don Quixote, that day you ate bad sushi and then threw up all over–mmph!"

Sakura clapped her hand over his mouth, her face turning red. "Shhh!" She hissed, looking around to see if anyone was listening. "I get it."

"Mmmph mmmn mm?" The annoying thing about Sasuke is that he could mess with you in the most embarrassing ways possible. And he would do it as if he were watching paint dry. But the infuriating part was, there would always be a mischievous glimmer in his eyes that told you, he knew that he had won. And right now, his dark onyx eyes were sparkling.

"You play a dirty game, Uchiha." Sakura muttered, fishing into her sweater pocket for two 1 dollar bills. She shoved them into Sasuke's hands and squinted her eyes at him. "With interest if you don't pay me back by tomorrow."

There was a little tug at the corner of his lips. "Sure."

Sakura knew he wasn't going to pay her back. She didn't really care though. The pair had been friends for as long as she could remember. Their moms were close to each other, or something like that. And then the Uchiha parents passed away before Sasuke turned nine. Although he never complained about it, from then on, Sasuke didn't have many people to look out for him. No mother or father, an estranged brother, and an empty house to come home to every single day. He had his school friends, sure. But none of them truly knew the loneliness he suffered. Even Sakura couldn't really empathize. She could, however, be a friend, a source of support, and sure, ok, a wallet on occasion.

"Jeez. Why do you always give him what he wants?" An arm draped around Sakura's shoulders from behind. Two brown eyes stared straight ahead at Sasuke's retreating figure. "I get that he's hot, but he's such a mooch!"

"It's fine, Tenten." Sakura said. "It's only two dollars. And one of them has a tear on the corner. Good luck getting the vending machine to take that."

Tenten grinned. "Oh that's evil!"

Sakura grinned back. "Serves him right."

The two girls giggled as they grabbed some food and made their way from the food court to an open table in the corner of the room. They put their trays down, and began to casually chat amongst themselves about last night's episode of the Bachelor Japan.

"I cannot believe he held her hand! I screamed!"

"Ohmigosh I know right? How bold! It's like, only the second night!"

They had been so engrossed in their conversation that neither had noticed when a tall, blonde girl approached their table and sat down across from Sakura.

"Hi there." The two girls' snapped out of their conversation to look up and see the most beautiful girl in school making eye contact with them. She had glossy pink lips, the smoothest skin ever, and clear blue eyes that stood out like jewels against black winged eyeliner. "My name is Ino. Ino Yamanaka."

Sakura and Tenten were stunned. They knew who she was. They just didn't know why she was talking to them. It's not like they were outcasts, but Ino ran with an elite crowd of rich and popular people. Neither of which they were.

"Uh.. Hey Ino. What's up?" Tenten was the first to address the blonde bombshell.

Ino smiled sweetly. "Well, you see, I just happened to notice that Sakura here seems to be good friends with Sasuke Uchiha. Am I right?"

Sakura started "Why–"

"Yeah! Best friends," Tenten cut in. Sakura shot her an annoyed look. "What? You are!"

"Oh great! I thought so! Cause, you see… I really want to ask him out, but I'm worried he isn't interested in me." Ino told them. She leaned in a little bit, which made Sakura and Tenten lean in as well. "Crazy right? But listen, I just wanted to see if you, Sakura, could put in a good word for me?"

Sakura didn't know what to say. Ino was perfect. Everyone at school thought so. She was pretty, rich, nice enough, and on top of everything, incredibly intelligent. No one else gave Sakura a run for her money like Ino did. It seemed like no matter how many after school activities Sakura signed up for, Ino was always signed up for one more. They were on all the same sports teams together, and even attended the same TOEFL prep classes so that they could attend Ivy Leagues in the States. If Sakura placed second in her class, Ino placed first. If Sakura hosted a fundraiser for charity, Ino hosted an auction. It was like an unspoken rivalry that has been going on since freshman year of high school. But despite this, they never spoke or interacted on a social level. Hell, this might be the longest conversation they've ever had! So Ino, sitting here, asking for a favor so casually, made it hard for Sakura to know how to react.

Which is probably why Sakura replied with, "U-uhh yeah! Sure, I guess I could do that?"

Ino's smile widened into a full on grin. "Oh my gosh, thaaaanks! You're such a nice person, Sakura!" Her expression quickly shifted into a more serious one. "You know, honestly I was hesitant to ask you because I thought you two were a thing, but…" Sakura coughed uncomfortably. The smile immediately returned to Ino's lips. "I see that I was wrong! OMG thank god for that, right? Hahaha!"

"Yeah, ahaha…" Sakura laughed nervously. The sudden shifts in energy were giving her whiplash.

After an awkward moment of silence, Ino stood up from the cafeteria table and gave the seated girls a wave. "Well that's all I wanted to ask! Thanks again! I guess I'll see you around!"

"Ahaha ok, bye!" Sakura called after the blonde as she sauntered away to rejoin her friends at their own table.

Once Ino was out of hearing range, Tenten turned to her friend with wide eyes. "Why would you do that?"

Sakura, still trying to figure out what just happened, replied "Do what?"

"Uh, hello? You just pimped out Sasuke to that gorgeous, flouncy, bimbo!" Tenten stated, almost a bit too loud.

Sakura sputtered at her friend's blatancy, "Shhh! Tenten, quiet, people will hear you!"

"What? No one cares what I have to say!" The brown haired girl shrugged. "Besides, Miss Perfect asking you to set her up with your man is very bimbo-behavior."

"He's not my man!" Sakura harshly whispered at her friend.

Tenten rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean." She paused and leaned in a bit secretively. "So… you gonna do it?"

"Do what?" Sakura said again.

Tenten threw up her hands. "Earth to Sakura? Were you at that conversation we had just now? Are you at this conversation we are having right now? I'm asking whether you are going to set up Sasuke and Ino or not?" Again, she said it a bit too loudly.

Sakura shushed her friend and gestured for her to lower her voice. "I don't know!" She answered honestly. The girl really didn't know. She hadn't given a moment's thought to the actual request itself, until right now. "I guess I should, right?"

"Well, I mean you could if you really don't mind it." Tenten offered.

Sakura scrunched her brow in confusion. "Mind what?"

With a sigh, Tenten laid it out for her friend. "If Sasuke and Ino date, all of his focus will shift to his girlfriend. You won't be the most important woman in his life. And you'll be losing him to Ino Yamanaka of all people. You two have some weird, smart person contest or something going on, and I just think you might regret losing this one to her, that's all."

"No we don't! We're just both really hard workers." Sakura defended. "Besides, Sasuke isn't a contest to be won. And even if he was, he might not even like Ino that way!"

Tenten gave a sarcastic laugh "What man wouldn't like Ino that way?"

Sakura frowned and shoved her friend gently. "Ok, well even if he did, Sasuke is not a competition I'm competing in, ok?"

Tenten snorted in disbelief. "Ok, if you say so."

"I do say so. Can we just drop it?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Drop what?" Once again, the two friends were so engrossed in their own topic of conversation, that it caught them off guard when they were ultimately joined by their other two friends at the lunch table.

"Heyyy Hinata, Temari!" Tenten addressed them. "Nothing, don't worry about it!"

The two intruding girls looked at each other quizzically, before shrugging it off and sitting down in their respective seats. The conversation quickly redirected to The Bachelor Japan, and how scandalous last night's episode had been. Like, seriously! Who holds hands on the second night?

(A/N: If you have ever watched The Bachelor Japan, I hope you understood the joke lol. If not, I will leave an explanation at the end of the story).

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The walk home that night was a particularly nice one. The sun was just beginning to disappear for the day, leaving just enough light so that the world was glowing. The weather was dry, but not too hot, and the air smelled like water and budding spring flowers. Sakura was deep in her own thoughts as Sasuke was casually talking about soccer practice. Whatever he was saying to her was falling completely on deaf ears, because the things Tenten had said earlier at lunch were really bothering her.

She couldn't decide whether to help Ino like she said she would, or just pretend like the whole thing never happened in the first place. But what was bothering her even more, was something Tenten specifically pointed out to her. Even if it wasn't with Ino, Sasuke would one day have a girlfriend. It's only natural that he would. He's an exceptionally good looking guy, Sakura could admit that. She wasn't blind to his popularity with the other girls at school. So why was it just now hitting her that he'd one day find someone who was just as interested in him as he was in them? It's literal human nature. She knew she shouldn't be feeling as thrown as she did, but there was just this unsettling pit in her stomach that she couldn't shake off.

"-So then I punched Naruto in the gut so hard that his stomach fell out of his butt, and then I took off all my clothes and ran around the field completely naked."

Sakura tuned in to that. "I'm sorry what?"

"Oh good, so you can still hear me." Sasuke said nonchalantly.

Sakura sighed, "Sorry. I'm just thinking about the upcoming TOEFL exams." She felt a little guilty for lying to him. But no way could she tell Sasuke about her conversation with Ino and Tenten.

"Hmmm.." Sasuke made a sound of understanding. "You'll do fine. I don't know why you worry so much."

"I worry, because it's my whole future." Sakura stated firmly, a pout on her lips. "I can't just do 'fine', I have to do above and beyond if I want to study at a school like Yale. Being a doctor is my dream, and Yale is the best school for me to pursue that dream. And if I don't get into Yale, then I'll feel like I've failed. Like all my hard work was for nothing. Or that, I don't know, I've lost something really important in my life and then what am I supposed to do then?" She took a deep breath, not realizing she hadn't taken in any air during that sentence.

Sasuke let that sink in for a moment. Then he nodded his head. "I see."

A brief silence fell upon the pair. Then, suddenly, Sasuke looped his arm around Sakura's and began to steer her in the opposite direction of home. Confused about the situation and sudden shift in Sasuke's mood, the girl began to make sounds of protest.

"Uh, Sasuke? Hey, slow down! Where are we going?" She asked, tripping over her own feet to keep up with him. "Our home is that way! What's gotten into you?"

Sasuke ignored her. He seemed determined to bring her somewhere. And when it was clear he wouldn't be giving any hint or explanation, Sakura just gave up and stopped protesting. She knew there was no point when his mind was made up on something. So she just held on to his arm as he tugged her along to some unknown destination.

It felt like an hour had passed when Sasuke had finally come to an abrupt stop. Caught off guard, Sakura gave a little squeak as her whole body collided into his back. He was facing forward, in front of what appeared to be a traditional looking shop. Unsure where they were, Sakura stood on her tiptoes to peer over his shoulder and get a look at what he was standing in front of. All she could make out was the corner of a colorful poster pasted on the surface of a sliding door.

"Now can you tell me where we are?" The girl asked.

Sasuke turned to look at her, then stepped aside. The poster was an advertisement for a specialty flavor of Dango that would only last until the end of spring. There was an A-frame sign to the right of his feet that read "Welcome, We Are Open!" She shot him a questioning look.

"You looked hungry." He said.

Sakura opened her mouth to argue, but then her tummy growled as if on command. She looked at her feet in embarrassment. "I never said I was hungry."

Sasuke shrugged. "I said you looked hungry. And clearly I was right."

The famished girl's lower lip jutted into a pout. "Well I am hungry. Because a greedy demon boy always robs me of my snack money!" Sakura huffed, and then smiled. She always found it amazing how Sasuke knew what she needed before even she knew it herself.

"You can have that dollar back, by the way." Sasuke squinted at her. Sakura feigned a look of innocence. He scoffed. "Oh, don't pretend you didn't know what you were doing."

"No idea what you're talking about." She flashed him a shit-eating grin, to which he smirked.

"Yeah. Sure." Sasuke said unconvinced. "Now let go of my arm, stupid."

Sakura blushed when she realized that her hands were still firmly gripped to her friend's bicep. For some reason, she had never noticed how strong his arms felt before right this very moment. Or how warm his body was to her touch. Her heart jumped in her chest. She immediately relinquished it, and took a step away from him, mortified at herself. "Sorry."

"It's fine." Sasuke raised a brow in suspicion, but didn't push it any further. "Anyway, let's go inside."

Sakura nodded in agreement. Without another word, she followed the boy into the shop where they placed their orders and then took a seat at one of the small cafe tables by a window. As the girl shrugged out of her school sweater, Sasuke put his face in his palm and sighed. He took a long look outside that window, and that's when Sakura noticed something off about his expression. He looked kind of… sad?

"Are you ok?" Sakura asked her friend.

Sasuke's shoulders fell a little. "Itachi used to bring me here."

"Oh." She stiffened, her eyes fell to her lap.

Itachi Uchiha, Sasuke's older brother. They had a complicated relationship ever since their parents passed away. It was a car accident, to be exact, that had taken their lives. Sasuke was home with a sitter at the time. Itachi had been in the car, and only he survived. Ever since then, the older man had become like a shell of himself. A distance opened up between the two brothers, and their once close relationship was never the same. Sasuke hides it well, but moments like these are when Sakura can see how much pain he is really in. Without thinking, she reached for his hand and held it in hers. Her fingers instinctively rubbing soothing circles against his skin.

Sasuke's eyes widened in surprise. He turned his head to look at her. "What are you doing?"

Sakura pulled back and covered her blush with her hands. She had no idea why she had done that. "Sorry, you just... looked really sad. And I guess I just wanted to comfort you."

"Oh, ok." He reclined in his chair, and then smiled a little. "Thanks."

"I get that he's hot, but he's such a mooch." Tenten's words from this afternoon suddenly popped into Sakura's head. She looked back down at her hands in attempts to shield the blood creeping to her cheeks from view. When she looked back up, Sasuke had resumed his gaze out the window in thought. That was when she decided to really look at him. Not as a friend, but as a man.

"I know that Sasuke's handsome. I've always known that, but he's just Sasuke, right?" Sakura began her thought. "He fits into all types of beauty standards, and he's exceptionally tall. He's ridiculously smart, generous when he wants to be, and thoughtful when it counts. Someone like Ino Yamanaka would be a perfect match for someone like him. And just because he gets a girlfriend, it doesn't mean that we won't still see each other. It's not like I want to date him or anything. It's not like he wants to date me or anything either. I mean he knows all my embarrassing, gross and unfeminine secrets, there's no way that I haven't completely turned him off. We've known each other for too long. We know too much about each other. It would never work. So who am I to stand in his way for a chance at a good relationship?"

"Two specialty dango, a strawberry matcha latte and one cold brew iced coffee." The cafe server interrupted Sakura's mental tangent. The gentle looking old man bowed politely as he set down their respective orders. The two thoughtful teens bowed their heads in reply and courteously thanked him. But even after he had left them to enjoy their snacks, neither of them showed interest in eating.

Even though it was based on half baked conclusions, Sakura felt like she had come to a decision. "Um, hey Sasuke?" The male turned to make eye contact. The girl hesitated for a moment, Sasuke raised a brow, waiting for her to continue. "I have a question for you."

The boy nodded, growing more curious. "Go on."

Sakura pursed her lips, looking for the right way to phrase her next sentence. She had made her choice on what to do. It was the right thing to do. At least that was what she was telling herself as she struggled to follow up her words. "Well you see, I was wondering if you'd maybe, well.. If you would consider… Well ok, how would you feel about… I don't know, maybe… Like would you want to…um…"

"Sakura, I have no idea where you're going with this. Can you just say it, please?" Sasuke was clearly growing a little impatient. Taking a deep breath, Sakura prepared herself to just say it openly, calmly and with no pressure.

Instead, she blurted out. "Ino Yamanaka really likes you, and I think you should go out with her cause you'd make a good couple, and I just want you to be happy so I think that you should do it, and you have my full and utter support, because you're my best friend, and I want what's best for you and clearly this is what's best for you! So will you do it?" Again, Sakura had to gulp down air after spewing so many words in one short breath.

Sasuke sat there frozen, clearly not expecting that to be her question, if it could even be called a question. After a moment of awkward silence, his expression shifted to a pretty unreadable one. Sakura couldn't tell if he was elated or angry, but she was growing more desperate to find out.

"Um? Sasuke?" She pushed.

Sasuke blinked. "Ok."

"What?" Sakura was just making sure she heard him correctly.

"I said yes. I'll do it."

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AND THAT IS THE END OF THIS CHAPTER! HE HE HE! Originally this story was a One-Shot, but I decided to divide it into two chapters. I hope you like it. I may come back to edit later this week, but I think it's in good shape for now!

Please let me know what you think, and make sure to leave a Favorite & REVIEW! It really means a lot!

PS. The joke about the Bachelor Japan is that the drama is so mild compared to the US Bachelor. So much so that hand holding is seen as super scandalous. Don't even MENTION kissing. I remember watching it with my friends while living in Japan and they would get so worked up about things like finger brushing and hand holding! And I was like, BRO YOU GUYS HAVE NOT SEEN ANYTHING YET!

Again, please make sure to Save, Fav and Review if you enjoyed this story so far! It really helps me out and inspires me to keep writing! Thanks so much!