Posted: May 28 2008

I really need to write something to get my writing mojo back. I haven't written anything in awhile, so hopefully this can bring back my writing touch.

It's a bit cliche, and if you know me, you'll know I am against most cliche's, but hey, that's how all writers start out.

Enjoy!

Summary: For as long as I remember, the Uchiha's had been my neighbors. They're son, and I rarely seen eye to eye with each other, but why is he looking at me so…strangely lately? Is Sasuke, no don't tell me…is he falling in love with me?

Well, in about half an hour my plane will be landing back in Konoha international airport. It's been a whole year, I'm now seventeen, and I'm heading home. For the past year, I've been studying abroad all over the world. I took a 'study abroad around the world' trip for a whole year, touring the world and studying all at once, and yes, such a thing does exist! I've gone to the rainy land of England, the sunny skies of Australia, the ancient streets of Italy and so much more!

My reasoning's for studying abroad were simple – go on this once in a lifetime trip around the world, and keep away from Uchiha Sasuke for a year.

Ergh, that name brings chills! I have never met a bigger jerk in my life…an incredibly hot jerk…

Yes, he's downright gorgeous, and he's my next door neighbor.

Oh lord, help me!

That Damn Neighbor!

Chapter One

That Whole Damn Year

.

For as long as I remember, I've lived next door to the Uchiha's. From the moment I was born, the Uchiha's were destined to be my neighbors. The Uchiha's are a nice family, I'll admit. My family has always been good friends with them, and we have dinner on the odd occasion with each other.

And I cannot deny the face the Uchiha family is beautiful. They are like a race of beautiful people, I swear! The mother, Uchiha Mikoto is like a second mother to me, and I am the daughter she'll never have. Did I mention she is incredibly beautiful? She's like a goddess!

I'm jealous, honestly.

Then there's ol' grumpy Uchiha Fukagu. I swear, the man NEVER SMILES! And to be perfectly honest, I'm rather frightened by him. Even so, I managed to keep my calm, cool, collective demeanor around him, and we get along quite nicely.

Then there is Uchiha Itachi, sweet, sexy Uchiha Itachi. My lord, he is a God sent from the heavens! His long, dark hair, sexy onyx eyes, soft, smooth skin…

But I'm going off track here! Itachi is the oldest son at twenty-three, yet he's disowned from the family. Itachi doesn't like the way his family lives, and revolted against, causing him to be disowned. He currently travels around the world with his girlfriend. When I was in Madrid Spain for a week during my abroad travels, I ran into them and had a nice chat over dinner. Itachi hasn't picked a career choice as of yet, but he's working as a part time model. It's about time he picks a job he'll be amazing at! And it's not like I keep clippings of his pictures from magazines…

During dinner, he asked me to "take care of Sasuke. Win his heart." Pah, win his heart? Haven't I tried already like a million times? And why would I want to take care of that little fu–

Uchiha Sasuke…hm, how do I put this? From the moment we were able to feel emotions like love, I have always had feelings for Sasuke. His raven locks stick up like a chicken's derrière, but it's hard not to agree, it's very, VERY sexy. Sasuke's usually a quiet one. He's usually seen with my childhood friend, Uzumaki Naruto. Naruto's the person it's hard not to be friends with. His dorky smile can make anyone smile. It's contagious, I swear.

But back to Sasuke… the two of us…just don't get along. Back when I was young, when I was head over heels in love with him, he would always reject me, and say heart shattering things to me. As we got older, we argued over a lot of things, and family dinners usually turned into glaring competitions. He always had a thing for pulling pranks on me. We both have bedrooms out back with balconies, with a cherry tree in-between. On the occasion, he would climb his way over and pull some kind prank on me. I guess it's his way of telling me to leave him alone…or that's what the notes he usually leaves say.

You're annoying. Leave me alone.

Yup, that's what they always said. But whatever, I'm over it. I can admit, growing up, I wasn't the most attractive kid. You could place a billboard on my forehead, and my hair sticks up like a sore thumb – literally. I mean, come on, PINK HAIR? No matter where I went in the world, people stared. Sometime's I put on a brunette wig just to stop the stares.

But whatever. I'm more confident now, and people can stare at my hair as much as they want. I used to have it long, down to my mid back. I thought Sasuke liked longhair, seeing as his mom was the only person he really connected with that was a female, so naturally, we all tried to be like Mikoto… and when I mean by 'we,' it was the whole girl population at school. That boy could make any girls heart speed up and every girl wanted a piece of him, if not the whole thing.

But anyhow, now my hair is cut short. I like it this way… it has more edge to it. I've grown too, so I'm now…about five feet, six inches. I've also worked out a lot as we've gone from place to place, and man, do I have some monstrous strength or what? My arm muscles have never felt better!

I guess everyone can expect a new me when we land. I've grown out of my ugly duckling state. I still wouldn't say I'm Marilyn Monroe beautiful, but I'm no longer a billboard brow!

"Hey Sakura, wake up! We're starting to land!"

Man I hate being woken up. I could feel Ino shake my arm, trying to wake me. Ino has been my best friend since… well forever. She helped me gain confidence and become more independent. We both planned to take this abroad trip together so we wouldn't be alone. I don't think I would have enjoyed this studying aboard thing without her. My camera is clogged with 743 pictures of us around the world. Wait till the film developer gets a hold of these prints.

"Ah, alright Ino." I said as I sat up from my slouched positioned and straightened out my clothes. My skinny jeans were sliding down my ass. I seriously need to get a belt. My ballet flats were hiding under my plane seat. I felt around with my neon green toenail painted feet, trying to find them, finally I came across them. Slipping them back on, I straightened out my red v-neck shirt with sleeves that went to my elbows. I pulled up my white undershirt up as I felt too exposed. I also readjusted my white Big Bang scarf I got at one of their concerts during our stay in Korea. Ah man, if you want hot, look them up. Ino and I screamed so much at that concert, we couldn't talk for four days.

I'm so sorry but I love you,
da geo-jis-mar
I-ya mor-rass-eo i-je-ya
ar-ass-eo ne-ga pir-yo-hae

I don't even speak Korean, but hell does that song have a catchy beat.

All in all, BEST CONCERT OF MY LIFE.

Within minutes, the plane has landed safely on the ground and we all began to leave in an orderly fashion. I slung my backpack on and headed towards the exit. My parents said they would come and pick me and Ino up…the thing is, I don't know if they'll recognize me much. Last time they saw me, my hair was rather long and I had barely hit puberty. Luckily I grew into my womanly body, and I can't complain. Also while in Italy, I had come across this stylist who gave me a new do. I think it looks much better.

"Sakura-chan, Ino!"

We had gone out into the main terminal to look for my rents. Turning at the sound of our names, we recognized my parents immediately, but an unexpected guest appeared.

"Naruto?" Ino and I chorused out at the same time. There, running towards us was that kid Naruto I told you about earlier. He had his usual ear-to-ear grin flashing. God, it was enchanting.

Naruto came up to us and hugged the air out of me. It was getting so hard to breathe, I did the only thing I could do,

Sock him one good!

"Ow! Sakura-chan that hurt!"

I dusted off my hands, "well next time don't hug me so hard! I couldn't breathe!"

Naruto grumbled. "Sorry Sakura-chan."

"Is that really my daughter?" I heard my father say. Turning to my parents, I could see a look of approval of my new look. I'm now just as tall as my mother, while my father still towers over. I hugged and kissed both my parents, as did Ino. Ino was like my sister, and a second child to my parents.

Yeah, we're just that close.

"Look at you two girls! You've both grown up so much!" My mother said circling us. Naruto put his arms behind his head.

"Yeah, you girls look hot!"

We both turned to Naruto and glared at the 'hardly complimentary' word. Seriously a girl does not want to hear she's hot. She wants to hear she's beautiful. Is that really so hard for guys to understand?

We all headed towards the duffle bag dispenser thing…you know, that thing that your bags go on and you pick them up? Yeah, I should know what their called by now, but I really don't care much. As we waited for our bags, I turned to Naruto.

"So what brings you to the airport? I didn't expect you to be here."

Naruto's cheeks were going red. For as long as I remember, he's had a crush on me…I just don't acknowledge it.

"Come on Sakura-chan! I haven't seen you in a year! The e-mails you sent were nice and all, but I missed you!"

"Hey, what about me!" Ino butted in. Naruto groaned. "And you too Ino…" he muttered out. Ino put on a smile and proceeded to look for her bag. I followed suit, looking for my pink bags. Yeah, I like pink.

Naruto followed behind, whistling, trying to act all calm, cool, collective. I turned to him with a questioning look.

"Okay, what are you hiding?" it was kind of obvious he wanted to tell me something.

He smirked. "Oh nothing much…"

"Naruto…"

He sighed and leaned against the crazy conveyer belt machine…thing.

"Well…it's nothing too important. Things have been kind of lonely and boring without you around. I mean you can't get into a conversation with the teme since he doesn't say anything beside's 'Hn' and 'Aa.' Seriously, I think he missed you."

As I reached for my bag when I saw it, I froze at Naruto's words.

"Huh? S-Sasuke, miss me?"

Naruto shrugged. "Well yeah. He seemed more bored then usual and spaced out a lot, looking out the window. I mean yeah, he normally does that, but it seemed …different, you know?"

I narrowed my eyes at the luggage passing by, waiting for mine to come around again. I don't know why, but I felt…somewhat angry. "No I don't know Naruto…and I don't get what you mean. And there's no way Sasuke would have missed me. He always calls me annoying, so that makes no sense."

Naruto sighed. "Well that's teme's way of communicating. Why can't you accept he may have missed you?"

I laughed half-heartedly as I pulled my luggage off the conveyer thing as it came around again. "Because I know him. I've gone though his ridicule all my life. I've gotten his message – he hates me. He–"

"Sakura, hurry up, let's go!" my father said interrupting my sentence. He, my mother and Ino were waving us over to come. I sighed.

"Come on Naruto, let's go. I want to get home to sleep." I said walking away. Naruto took a second to follow. Before he followed, he muttered something, and I'm pretty sure I heard it.

"He's not who you think he is."

So by special request, we went out to dinner – at Ichiraku ramen. I swear, this has to be tradition. Any special occasion HAS to be celebrated at Ichiraku Ramen…well, that's if Naruto's around. And it's not really a request, it's more of a thing you're forced into. Ah it didn't matter to me. To be perfectly honest, I actually missed ramen for a year.

I know, freaky.

Since the last time I was there, the place expanded. It's like a mini restaurant. They still have their front table, but they added in a small wing with three booth tables. We all sat down and ate happily… well, Ino, myself and Naruto. My parents weren't really 'dazzled' by the idea of Ichiraku Ramen as a place to eat to celebrate our home coming.

My parents…I would say they're normal. My dad works for a small business and makes a more then average salary. Nothing plastic surgeon money, but a nice amount. My mother works at the hospital as a nurse. I guess that's where I get the motivation to be a doctor. I've always wanted to do something big to help society…like saving lives. That's why I feel being a doctor would be a fitting job for me.

And as much as my parents support and inspire me, they're never home…they're jobs are really demanding, so I don't see them too often. Most weekends I do, but my weeks are spent alone until about nine or ten. A lot of teens would love my situation, but it gets lonely.

After we ate our Pièce de résistance, we headed home. Apparently Naruto left his shovel at our place. My father claims Naruto was doing yard work for us, but I know Naruto better, and I know he is incapable of yard work.

Something's up, I can tell.

We pull up in the driveway of my lovely abode. Oh, how I missed it. It's a 'mini-mansion' as I like to call it. It's not a total mansion, yet it's not a regular house. It's in-between. All the houses on our block are like that, including the Uchiha's.

Ah yes, the Uchiha abode. It doesn't differ too much from mine. They have a swimming pool, we have a hot tub. They have three garage doors, we have a better yard and garden…which makes me think again…why would we hire Naruto to do yard work when our garden is already gold?

Seriously, something's up.

I look at the Uchiha driveway, and I see a nice new Suzuki Hayabusa, which probably belonged to Sasuke. For years, I remember him constantly flipping through motorcycle magazines, looking for the right bike. He had collected little figurines for awhile. It's not surprising he got himself a life sized one.

It was pretty late when we pulled up into the driveway. My mother ran inside, saying she had to go to the bathroom. Ino and I grabbed our luggage, aided by Naruto. The three of us headed inside to the dark house, while my dad parked the car in the garage.

The house was pitch black so I couldn't see anything. I asked Naruto to hit the light switch.

"Surprise!"

Once my eyes adjusted to the light, I could see what I was suspecting. A 'surprise' welcome home party. School friends popped out of closets, couches and wherever else they could hide. A big banner hung from the staircase saying "Welcome Home Sakura and Ino!" a chorus of clapping echoed through the house. Ino stood their in total awe, while I smiled. I'm not to sure if I was fake smiling, or really smiling. Part of me was happy by the party, but another part of me just wanted to go upstairs and sleep. I'm still not used to the time difference.

Music started playing in the background and people scrambled to the table of food. A few of our old classmates came up and hugged us and stared pointless conversations that lasted a minute. My father who has just reappeared took our luggage and went upstairs with it. As Ino stared fifteen different conversations, I went to the dinning table to grab myself a drink. I was rather parched.

Deciding I didn't want anything carbonated, I grabbed a bottle of water. As soon as I picked it up, I felt a presence behind me.

"Someone's grown up rather fast."

Turning around, I was greeted with a face I missed a lot.

"Kakashi-sensei!"

Okay, so you're probably thinking, "ew, you're excited to see your teacher? And you missed him?"

Well you know what? Kakashi is pimp. This is the kind of teacher you learn something from, and isn't a total bore. Sure, he's reading his crazy porn all the time in class, but he's the craziest multitasker ever. He can read, and teach a lesson at the same thing. He also has eagle eyesight, I swear. He see's EVERYTHING.

But otherwise, Kakashi's cool. He's one of those teachers you don't care if you see out of school. He's one of those teachers who don't live in the back closet in the classroom.

I thought they were urban legends too, but they exist.

I fought the urge to hug my teacher. It would be weird…I just put on an angelic smile.

"How are you Kakashi-sensei?" I asked, twisting the top off my bottle. Kakashi sighed and opened up his infamous book, Icha Icha Paradise.

"Fine I suppose. Will I be seeing you in school come Monday morning? Or are you going to study abroad in outer space?"

I laughed at Kakashi's corny joke. "No, I'll be in school! The last month of our trip was more of an extended vacation, so we're being forced back."

"Ah, then I'll see you in English." He said smiling. I nodded back in response. I have about eight classes a day, and Kakashi teaches English. He's been my English teacher since…well, the beginning in high school. He teaches every grade level and I always get stuck with him. I guess I'm so accustomed to being in his English class, I just expect it.

"Well then, I'll be going. I was only stopping by really to welcome you home. I'll see you in school." he said to me as he turned his back and began leaving. Man, I cannot believe he was here on time! The man has a tendency to come in late, making some kind of excuse.

"Alright, bye Kaka-sensei!"

As he disappeared into the crowd, I felt someone's hand grab my arm. Turning to the source, my mother began pulling me towards the main hallway.

"Sakura, someone's here to see you!" she said happily. I rolled my eyes…wasn't everyone here to see me?

As we headed through the crowd of people towards the door, I could see two distinct faces at the door. My father was chatting and laughing with said people at the door. My father turned to the crowd and saw me, and gestured towards me. They both turned around and smiled.

"Sakura-chan, is that really you!" Mikoto shrieked at the sight of me. I blushed in embarrassment at how loud she shrieked.

"Yes, look at my daughter! Hasn't she grown up quiet nicely?" my mother bragged back. Mikoto nodded and winked at me.

"I'm sure you won't be single for too long! Wait till Sasuke see's you!"

I blushed again out of embarrassment. "Eh?"

Both mothers began laughing. I seriously didn't get what was so funny. I looked towards the other face I noticed, which belonged to Fukagu. I nodded towards the Uchiha and greeted him. He nodded back and said I looked more grown up. I thanked him for the compliment as he turned back to my father. Mitoko and my mother turned back to me.

"Sakura hunny, tomorrow night we're invited to the Uchiha's for dinner as a celebration for your homecoming!" my mother said with a smile on her face. I smiled back to please both mothers. To be honest, I don't know if I was ready for those neighborly dinners just yet. I had just got home from my world wide trip! Can't I just relax for a bit?
"Yeah, sounds great!" I said back to both mothers. They seemed rather happy.

"Have you seen Sasuke yet?" Mikoto asked me. I shook my head. She gave a questionable look.

"Really? Well he's here somewhere. He was sure lonely without you around." She told me. Again with this 'Sasuke-missing-you-Sakura' stuff. Seriously, Sasuke DID NOT miss me. That boy wouldn't even miss his own father if he died.

Maybe Mikoto though. The boys a total momma's boy.

"Really?" I asked back, taking a sip of the water bottle I still had in hand. I had already drunken half the bottle and I haven't gone to the bathroom in nine hours. I should slow down.

"Yes, that boy seemed different without you around. More quiet then usual."

Ha, was that even possible? Sasuke could be a mime; he just doesn't talk, unless it's something harsh to say.

"Oh, I see." I said thinking. All of a sudden though, my bladder felt like it was going to erupt. Those nine hours of no bathroom break were finally catching up to me.

"Uh, excuse me for a moment, I need to use the washroom." I told both women as I began maneuvering through the crowd. Along the way, a few people from school tried to make conversation with me, which I had to end fast to get to the bathroom. Oh Kami, how hard is it to go to the bathroom?

Finally I managed to get to the empty hallway in where the bathroom resided. I went up to the door and turned the knob, but noticed it was locked. I could see the light from under the door, indicating someone was in there. I knocked politely and said,

"Excuse me, can you hurry up? This is an emergency."

After a moment, I got the rudest response back.

"Wait your turn. We all need the bathroom."

The urge to yell back at that ass was there, but I have to be a good hostess.

"Alright, fine, but please hurry."

"Hmpf." I heard the person reply back. I could tell it was a male's voice, because it was low. I leaned against the wall next to the bathroom door, patiently waiting,

But that waiting turned into to a good five minutes of waiting. Dying to pee, I knocked back on the door.

"Are you still in there? I really need to go!"

"Stop your whining and wait."

"But you've been in there for five minutes!" I retorted back. I swear, I was ready to pee my pants!

"There's another two bathroom's upstairs, and one in the basement. Go there if you need to go so bad."

As much as this person was right, I was not ready to back into that crowd of people. I didn't need another six people stopping me and trying to make conversation with me.

Whoa wait a minute…how did this person know I had three more bathrooms in this house and where they were?

Whoa, weird.

"Dude, please hurry up! This is the closest one!" I said pounding the door. I continued pounding the door. The more I annoy this person, the sooner they'd get out, guaranteed.

SWOOSH!

The person inside must have been pretty pissed at me, cause he opened the door so violently it smacked me right in the forehead and knocked me down.

"Ow!" I said as I landed on the ground, pain rushing to my head. Sure, I annoyed that person, but getting smacked in the head was totally uncalled for. I don't care if I'm supposed to be a good hostess, I was pissed!

"What the hell's your problem!" I said as I sat up, rubbing my head. Looking ahead, I could only see the guy's legs. The guy owned a nice pair of white and black DC's, and had a nice pair of jeans. Slowly I looked up at the person.

Oh my God.

It was that damn neighbor! …and why is he staring at me like I'm some kind of ghost?

First chapter, complete!

Hopefully it wasn't a let down. This just came to me one night and I had nothing better to do, so I wrote.

Anyone a Big Bang fan out there? xD I'm white, and I love them and their crazy Korean music. honestly, their music is more western then it is Korean.

Anyhow, reviews would be wonderful. Just don't "Alert" it, review it. give me some kind of feedback on it! :D

Shellzonfire