The night had only just begun, and already Kiba and Naruto were plotting to spike the punch bowl.
"Alright, Sakura. Think you could be a distraction for us?"
"Um, what? There's no way in hell I'm helping you guys get wasted during the dance!"
"Aww, Sakura-chan! Please?"
"No."
"Hn. Leave her alone, dobe."
"Shut up, teme! Who said you could infest the dance with your depressing emo presence, anyway!"
"Naruto, leave him alone. It's not like you're making this party any more pleasant than it is."
"Hn. Shouldn't you be fainting around this point?"
Sakura's cheeks heated up. "Oh, yeah. I forgot."
"STOP DEFENDING EACH OTHER!"
"Shit!"
"TEME, YOU'VE KILLED HER. AGAIN!"
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Fear of Falling
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The Man Complex
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Lovely. Just lovely. The dance floor is a mass of male bodies, each dancing to their own beat since only one girl is there, and she's being well guarded by her self-proclaimed date.
Who is that girl, you ask?
Why, that girl is none other than Sakura Haruno. Or, in other words, me.
Sighing, I took another drink of my spiked punch, hoping it would help my nerves wind down some. Sneaking a glance to my right, I watched as Gaara glared down a couple of sophomores who were coming a little too close for my own comfort. And possibly his.
"Hey, Gaara?" I started, looking him up and down. Scared as I was, that boy did things to his tux that should not be legal.
"Hm." Gaara grunted, a variation on Sasuke 'hn', I'm sure.
"We aren't going to dance, are we?"
He cast me a surprised look before rearranging his back into the apathetic pose they were in before. "Not if you don't want to."
"Oh thank Kami." I put a hand to my heart in relief.
"Hm."
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now let's talk about l o v e
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Gaara had left her.
The asshole who had forced her into coming here with her and up and left her.
THAT ASSHOLE.
Sakura glared at her cup of spiked punch (lime vodka, in case you were wondering) and contemplating how to not faint while stabbing the redhead repeatedly. Lord knows he deserved it.
BUT OH MY GAWD HOW COULD HE LEAVE HER?
Am I not pretty enough for him?
The thought shocked Sakura out of her rage for a moment. What an ordinary question...it brought heat to her cheeks. Why did she care, anyway? He was just a stupid guy and stupid guys always led to stupid things happening. It's not like she actually liked him or anything.
Yeah. Boys suck.
Again, Sakura's mind surprised her by bringing the image of her and Sasuke almost kissing to the front of her mind.
Okay, so maybe not all guys suck.
But Gaara did. Because he left her.
"SAKURA-CHAN! Why are yous alone?" Naruto screamed, coming up behind her. Sakura could tell by the slur on the word 'you' that he was drunk as a skunk. Sitting on a bunk. Chatting with a munk.
She raised a groomed eyebrow and got out of his reaching distance. "How'd you find me, doofus? I hid up on the stage behind the curtain for a reason."
Naruto grinned sloppily, coming up and slinging a tan arm around my shoulders. "You're too predictable, Sakura-chan. Hey, tell the teme he needs to lighten up and have a drink. Look, Sasuke, Sakura-chan is having a drink!"
Sakura smiled guiltily and held her cup up to the silent Uchiha. Sauske was standing a ways away looking irritatedly at the arm Naruto had slung around his girlfrie-friend who was a girl.
"Gaara left me. I was sad."
The two boys looked oddly relieved at that, to Sakura's confusion.
"Why'd he leave you?" Naruto asked casually after taking another long sip of his 'punch'.
Sakura shrugged. "I have know idea."
"Hn. How'd it happen?"
"Well..." Sakura, began, "it went like this."
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you make me nervous
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Gaara stood next to Sakura, doing dangerously sexy things to the black suit he was wearing. He had kept his promise and hadn't asked her to dance at all, which she was more than grateful for. Just the sight of the disgustingly male populated dance floor made her watch to escape through the emergency exit door.
"Sakura."
She turned to her red head date, silently giving the go-ahead to continue.
"You look...nice."
Sakura blinked. Then grinned.
"Thanks. I've never been to a dance before, so I was afraid I was overdressed."
He looked shocked. "You haven't?"
"No...see, I used to go to an all girls school, and the only dances we had there were co-ed with the boys school across from us."
Gaara raised a red brow at her. "Why didn't you go to those?"
Oh, shit.
Think of something quick, forehead!
"I, um, had no friends. Yeah. I had no friends to go with."
Gaara nodded as if this was plausible, not taking his green eyes off of her.
Kami, that was close. Sakura almost wept in relief. In fact, she was so busy patting herself on the back for such quick thinking, she didn't notice Gaara slip past her bubble and brush a hand to her forearm.
"Do you wanna dance?"
And just like that, a lock was clicked open in Sakura's mind.
"Sakura-chan, how was school today?"
Tiny Sakura grinned and waved her hand in the arm. Her mother laughed at the little girl's flailing. "It was awesome. In gym we learned how to dance!"
"That's wonderful, honey."
They had moved to a new, shittier apartment. Sakura had no idea why she and her mom left in the middle of the night, but had a hunch it had something to do with her father.
Both of them were surprised to see him kick the door down a moment later.
"Thought you could just leave me, huh, bitch?" He seethed, turning to Sakura's mother.
"R-Rinji! How did you find us!"
He smiled eerily. "That's a secret. You're coming with me."
Sakura's mother's eyes hardened considerably, and she pushed tiny Sakura behind her.
"No!"
He scowled, pointing out the open doorway.
"Go."
"No!"
"GO!"
"But Rinji, we can't just leave Sakura!"
"You get in that car now, woman, or so help me I will aim this gun at both your and Sakura's worthless heads!"
"But-"
"NO BUTS, BITCH!"
Sakura's dad stalked towards the pair, stopping in front of his wife. He pulled his arm back and swung, and didn't stop until Sakura's mother lie in a pool of blood on the dirty wood floor. Sakura hovered above her, tears pooling in her eyes.
Just as Sakura's dad was advancing on her, the cops arrived on the scene and cuffed the deranged man.
One of the male cops told her it would be alright, that she was going to be safe now and not have to worry about her scary father anymore.
But Sakura cringed away from him, thinking that he was too late, too late. Far too late.
Her mother was lying in a pool of her own blood. She had long since stopped breathing.
And it was all because of one of the monsters standing before her.
It was all the fault of a man.
When Sakura snapped out of her memory, she saw that Gaara was now soaked in red juice.
"Did I throw that on you?"
Gaara nodded. She cringed apologetically.
"I'm sorry. You kind of made me remember something bad."
He nodded, as if this was easy to understand.
And then the weirdest thing happened.
Kiba and Suigetsu (who were sweaty and gross from dancing) make their way over to wear Sakura was hiding in the corner and, totally ignoring Gaara, proceeded to annoy the hell out of her.
"Yo, Sakura-chan. Would you rather dance with me or with this doofus?"
Suigetsu hid his friend on the arm. "I'm not a doofus, doofus. Sakura-chan, do you really wanna dance with the guy who called me a doofus?"
Kiba grinned, running a hand through his hair. "She totally does. After all, she likes me more than you."
"She does not!"
In between the two boys bickering and Sakura's blushing, Gaara had stood up and walked out the emergency exit, just like she had been hoping to do a few minutes prior. Kiba and Suigetsu stopped their fighting for a moment to watch the door close behind his (very fine) rear.
"What's his problem?"
"Don't worry, Sakura-chan. I'll be your date for the rest of the dance!"
But Sakura, still dumbfounded, had already used the chance to escape.
The two boys looked at each other in wonder.
"She's like a fucking ninja, only hot as hell."
"Yeah..."
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but she's lovely to you
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"So yeah, that's what happened." Sakura finished, cringing at the memory of Gaara with punch all over his suit.
"Hn. Is the dobe alright?"
Sakura looked over to find that Naruto was no longer using her shoulder as an armrest, but was instead sprawled on the dark wood floor with his mouth wide open and his eyes closed. She giggled at the ridiculous sight he made.
"Looks like Naruto drank too much spiked punch. How are we going to get him back to the dorms?" Sakura pondered, looking at Sasuke for help. He smirked.
"We aren't."
And that's how Naruto ended up awakening backstage the theater with a major hangover and a strong urge to beat the crap out of Sasuke.
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her eyes shine like stars
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From: sexysagewoman24
To: sakuraharuno
So I heard you went to a dance with a boy.
From: sakuraharuno
To: sexysagewoman24
You need a more professional email address.
And how the hell did you find that out?
From: sexysagewoman24
To: sakuraharuno
I have my sources. So how'd it go?
From: sakuraharuno
To: sexysagewoman24
I threw punch on him and hid behind the stage the rest of the dance.
From: sexysagewoman24
To: sakuraharuno
Did you at least look good?
From: sakuraharuno
To: sexysagewoman24
Um. I guess.
From: sexysagewoman24
To: sakuraharuno
My gosh Sakura. Are we going to have to take drastic measures with you?
From: sakuraharuno
To: sexysagewoman24
I THOUGHT THIS WAS 'DRASTIC MEASURES'?
From: sexysagewoman24
To: sakuraharuno
Oh, Sakura. You have no idea what I have hidden up my sleeves. Or, in my case, what I have hidden between my boobs.
From: sakuraharuno
To: sexysagewoman24
I'm not talking to you anymore.
From: sexysagewoman24
To: sakuraharuno
Oh, Sakura. Don't be that way. This is for your own good.
From: sexysagewoman24
To: sakuraharuno
SAKURA. I DEMAND YOU EMAIL ME BACK RIGHT THIS SECOND.
From: sexysagewoman24
To: sakuraharuno
I AM CALLING SHIZUNE.
From: sakuraharuno
To: sexysagewoman24
We are sorry to inform you that sakuraharuno has logged out of her account.
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and her voice is just like music
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"So what do you think Naruto is going to do once he wakes up?"
"Hn. Hopefully shower."
Sakura laughed, laying back on her bed. Her and Sasuke were chilling in her dorm room, and she had finally been able to change out of that uncomfortable dress and into her jammies. In that moment, everything was perfect. Sakura wished she could save it.
"Sakura..."
The pinkette opened her eyes to find Sasuke's face hovering over hers. She was shocked at how calm she was with him this close.
And then the asshole did something unforgivable.
"You look like a mess." He smirked, indicating her smudged makeup and messy hair.
Everyone's a critic.
"Oh, get out of my room. Dork." She stuck her tongue out at him.
Sasuke chuckled and started towards the door, but not before flicking Sakura on the forehead; his special way of saying goodnight.
As the door closed behind him, Sakura wondered if maybe it was possible for her to get over her fear of men, starting with her two boys - Naruto and Sasuke.
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YESSS I KNOW IT TOOK ME SUPER LONG TO UPDATE!
I'M SOSOSOSOSOSO SORRY!
Buuut, you did learn why Sakura's afraid of men, so that should make up for some of it :P I'll try to make my update faster. And also, I discovered that you can have book covers now to go with your fanfiction using image manager :O if anyone has a good book cover for this story, please leave the link in a review or pm it to me. Thanks in advance if you do this!
And, as always, please REVIEW!
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