I'm ahead of schedule with this one. I can't believe I managed to get this done. I have NO idea when the next one will be up, but hopefully it won't be long.

one forth of you may love this chapter, but the other three forths of you will hate this, like myself. :|

give me your input at the end, so I can make it better!

-

-

RECAP:

"and well…because we've gotten closer, …I…I think…"

Come on Sakura…say it! this is the perfect opportunity! Don't lose your chance! Don't–

"I…think I've fallen in love with you again!"

Relief took over me as I finally said it. However, the look on Sasuke's face never looked so serious.

…OH KAMI-SAMA, DID I JUST SAY IT!? DID I!?

-

-

OH I DID SAY IT!

We both just stood there as a gentle breeze blew by. Sasuke was unmoving and just stared at me.

I suddenly began to feel uneasy. Embarrassment was filing up inside of me.

At this point, I could only think of two possible outcomes from my confession.

1. Sasuke would also feel the same way.

"I…think I've fallen in love with you again!" I spoke out. There was dead silence, the only noise being my heart's pounding. I looked down embarrassed.

He's going to reject me, he's going to reject me, he's–

Suddenly I was pulled into a hug. Sasuke had pulled me into his strong arms, holding me tightly.

"Don't leave me again." he spoke out in a low, husky voice that let me hormones run wild.

"I love you." I spoke. He pulled away looked down at me, slowly leaning in, to the point where we melt in each others arms in total bliss!

Of course, this is the least likely thing to happen.

2. Sasuke would reject me, leaving me to wallow in agony.

"I…think I've fallen in love with you again!"

I looked down at the ground, embarrassed at my actions. I had hope he'd reply back, and together we'd live happily ever after.

I was fooled.

I heard a low chuckle coming from Sasuke. I looked up at him to see a smirk on his face, a cocky attitude around him. "Hn. Like that wasn't already obvious."

My jaw dropped, "EEHH!?"

Sasuke turned his back on me and began heading back into his house, "if you think I'll accept you this time, you have another thing coming."

As I hear the door close, I stood on the grass like a stone statue, a tumble weed passing in front of me.

"Tha-That damn neighbor!!!"

This scenario was my biggest worry, as it was most likely to happen, however, Sasuke was still standing there, in front of me, unmoving.

What do I do now? Sasuke was staring at me, unwavering I didn't now what to do next, so I thought of a way to escape.

I tore my gaze from Sasuke and looked down at the ground. "Y-You don't have to answer me right away. I'll…wait."

Sasuke looked away from me and also down at the ground. "Aa."

I suddenly stunned by his words…well… his "Aa." He didn't accept me right away, but he didn't reject me either…is he actually thinking it over…?

Now what do I do? do I just leave? Do I say anything more? DO I RUN AWAY!?

And for once in a long time, I was thankful for Mikoto to interrupt us. The Uchiha's garage door opened and out came Mikoto, garbage bags in hand. "Oh, Sasu-chan, Sakura-chan!"

Both Sasuke and I turned to her. I bowed down out as usual to be polite, but more or less to hide the blush that had appeared over this whole debacle.

"What are you two doing out here?" she asked, a little bit of suspicion in her voice. I giggled nervously.

"N-Nothing! I was just about to go in actually!"

She looked somewhat disappointed. "ah, really? Well you can come in for some tea if you'd lik–"

"–N-No! …I mean, no thank you Mikoto-san. I have things to do." I said quickly, then bowing down, shaky.

" Ja Ne!" I said before I sped walked off up my steps to my door. I fidgeted with the key for a quick moment, and then slid the key in as fast as I could, before Mikoto could insist on it.

Because she WOULD have.

I waved quickly at her and Sasuke with a nervous smile, before I closed the door, locking it.

Oh Kami-sama, why did I confess? NANDE!?

Baka! You promised yourself you wouldn't fall in love with him again! and now look what you've done! your just going to end up with a broken heart again!

-

That Damn Neighbor!

Chapter Ten

That Damn Sasuke!

-

Tick.

Tock.

Tick.

Tock.

Tick.

ARRRGGHH!

An inbound pillow crashed against the hello kitty clock on the other end of the room.

I groaned in agony. For the past hour I've been pitting myself and feeling pathetic.

Why did I have to say it? Nande, NANDE!?

Now I totally ruined anything between me and Sasuke that there was. He probably thinks I've gone back to my fangirl ways but considers me a friend, so he is thinking of a nice way to let me down.

Or maybe he's thinking of a sinister plan for rejection?!

Or maybe he's thinking of actually accepting my liking him and may actually be feeling the same way.

I need advice!

Or someone to complain too.

I grabbed my cell phone on my table and went through my contacts, coming across Ino's name. hitting the call button, it took Ino four rings to pick up.

"Mooshi Mooshi? Sakura?"

"Oi Ino… where are you?"

"At the drive-in with Shikamaru."

"Well ditch him and get over here!"

"B-But why?"
I took a deep breath, "Ino, I did the deed."

I heard her gasp. "Oh no you didn't! …what deed?"

"baka! I…" I hesitated for a moment, then spoke, "I may have had a slip of the tongue and pretty much told Sasuke that I have feelings for him."

Ino gasped much louder this time, "Oh no you didn't!"

"Yes I did!"

"This is serious!" she stopped talking for a second and I could hear her talk to Shikamaru. I could hear him complain about things being troublesome.

I then heard her tell him that I told Sasuke I liked him, and he immediately went silent.

I hit myself in the forehead. Even Shikamaru knows I just did a major no-no.

"I'll be there in half an hour." She said. I agreed and hung up.

Ugh, I have half an hour to do what? …complain more?

I need some air. I got up from my bed and slipped on my slippers. I put my hand on the door handle, but stopped instantly. What if Sasuke was outside!?

I slid the door open quietly, and only enough so I could quickly stick my head out to look.

I slowly looked out towards his balcony, and saw no one there. I sighed in relief, yet I felt like an idiot.

This is pathetic!

I walked out and slid my door closed. I walked over to the chair on my balcony and sat down on it, gazing out at the beautifully lit up city. Looking out at the bright sky line of the Konoha, I felt nostalgic. It reminded me of that night I spent with Sasuke in downtown Konoha, just wasting time.

Sigh, I don't think I'll ever be able to do that with him again–EVER. I probably just ruined the speck of friendship we had with my slip of the tongue.

I mean, I don't think Sasuke would…go for someone like me. he's already turned me down how many times before in our childhood, so why change now? he probably thinks I'm still an obsessive fangirl and I've been deceiving him all along!

I pulled my legs up to my chest and hid my face in my arms, resting on my knees. Too many emotions were running through me.

I heard the sound of a door shutting, which alerted my senses. I looked up, first at my door, to see nothing. my next instinct was Sasuke's door.

I kept telling myself don't look, but it didn't stop me from doing so. I looked over at him and saw him looking out at the city.

"H-Hi!" I said stuttering, with a small wave, a little more excited then I intended. He nodded curtly and leaned against the banister of his balcony, a notepad in hand.

I suddenly felt really awkward. There were no words between us, although there were usually none anyway…but it felt different.

I got up and began heading to my door. "I-I'm gonna go–"

SMACK!

I bounced back as I ran into my glass door. I staggered back a few steps, holding my forehead.

"Itai…" I said quietly to myself, rubbing my forehead. good thing no one saw that–

…

I turned to Sasuke, who raised a brow at me.

Oh Kami-sama, I felt like crying. I smiled awkward and went back to my door, OPENED it, and then shut it, running into the bathroom. I switched on the light and stared at my reflection, and the soon-to-be goose egg on my forehead.

Aaaaaah, how embarrassing! I just ran into the door with Sasuke watching!

I pulled my hair in shrieked in embarrassment. This is so bad!

Ino, where are you!!?!?!?

-

-

When Ino came over, bringing Shikamaru with her, she found me curled up in the corner of the kitchen.

"Sakura, what are you–" as I slowly turned to her, Ino's eyes went to the big bump on my forehead, and laughed hysterically.

"Shut up Ino, it's not funny! You have no idea how embarrassed I am!" I said holding my face in my hands.

It wasn't my idea to make doors see-through! Of course I'd get mistaken on the odd chance!

From there, I explained to her and Shika what happened, and how I got this bump on my forehead.

Ino only continued to laugh, much to my dismay.

"But Sakura, it is funny!" she said with a smirk on her face. I pouted, "I don't see how its funny."

She giggled for a second and then grabbed a handful of popcorn, "Because, it shows how much you really like him."

I blushed. Ino was about to put the popcorn in her mouth, but stopped. Her eyes went wide as she turned to me, an ear-to-ear grin on her face, "Sakura…you might actually love him."

I shook my head like crazy, "N-NO! Love is too strong a word. I'm just strongly attracted to him."

Ino rolled her eyes, "call it what you want Sakura, but that's what I believe." And with that, she stuffed her mouth full. She chewed and then swallowed, "I mean, you did say you thought you were falling in LOVE with him again." she winked at me. My face went red, "I-I didn't mean it really…it just slipped out and sounded good!"

Ino was about to reply back when Shikamaru put his hand over her mouth, "let it go Ino." I beamed at Shikamaru, happy with his kindness.

"Sakura's just in denial now. Let her collect her thoughts."

Ino burst out laughing while I glared hard at Shikamaru. "You're just as bad, but in fewer and kinder words."

Shikamaru shrugged and laid back down on the couch, "I'm being serious Sakura. You just need time to relax on your own… without Ino, without me, without Sasuke. You're just being shy about it. Sasuke will answer when he's ready."

Ino nodded all knowingly, arms folded, "Shikamaru truly is a genius."

I sighed and plopped down on the couch. Love is so complicated.

-

-

It had been TWO WEEKS, and I haven't heard a thing…with today being the last day before summer break, I am becoming frustrated.

We still walk to school in the morning, silence around us. With Sasuke, it seems like whatever I said never happened. He hasn't said a word and acts no different around me.

I on the other hand, do not know how to handle this. I haven't spoken much and its killing me. And I can't just ask him if he's thought about what I said. Well, I could, but I'm already embarrassed as it is.

The bell rings as the last day of school ends. At least something is going right in my life.

I walk to my shoe cubby to change my shoes, where everyone is happily leaving talking about their plans with everyone.

"Sakura…-san?" I hear someone say behind me. I turn around to see Gaara, the guy who helped me two weeks ago when I sprained my ankle.

I smiled and got up as I finished changing my shoes, "Ah, Gaara-kun!" I'm kind of surprised he came up to me, since I rarely ever see him around these days, "How are you?" I ask as I put my shoes in my cubby.

He shrugs and then motions to my leg, "how's your ankle?"
I smile, "much better. Just a silly little sprain, that's all."

He nods. "Good." He then turns, "see you around." he said as he began to walk off and outside. I was about to call him back, but stopped. He doesn't seem like the social type and I don't want to overwhelm him.

"You know him?" a new voice says behind me. I'm surprised to see that it's Sasuke. I jumped back, surprised at how close he was, "Y-Yeah."

Sasuke watched Gaara as we walked off and out of the school gate. He makes a little 'Hn' sound.

"Why, do you know him or something?" I ask Sasuke. Sasuke never answered, but asked me a new question, "What was he talking to you about?"

I began to feel confused by this, but answered honestly, "he just asked me about my ankle when I sprained it two weeks back. He helped me when I sprained it, so he was just wondering how I was."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, "I don't trust that guy." He simply stated. I just shrugged, "I like him, and he's nice."

Sasuke just shrugged and began to head out of the school, my self trailing a bit behind. It sucks when you live next door to the person you don't really want to be around right now–partly because you're nervous, but partly because you're angry we won't give you a freakin answer!

I kept my distance until we came up towards our houses, where we saw both our fathers packing my family's van.

"What's going on?" I asked Sasuke as we both stood at the foot of my driveway. He shrugged and began heading towards our fathers, myself right behind,

"Otousan, what are you guys doing?" I asked my dad as he put bags in the trunk. He smiled, "we're going on vacation together."

My jaw dropped, "N-Nani!?"

He nodded towards the house, "go talk to your mothers. They have it all planned out."

Without hesitating, both Sasuke and I entered into my house, finding out mothers sitting at the kitchen table, happily talking,

Sasuke looked at his mother, "what's going on?"

Our mothers smiled innocently, but it looked more mischievous then you'd think. "We're going up to Hokkaido for a small vacation together!"

My family and the Uchiha's, together on VACATION?!

I don't think I can accept this.

Well, I can accept our parents having a jolly good time, but there's another problem I will not address.

"When and how long?" I asked, my mother, who was drinking her tea put it down and smiled, "we're only testing this place out, so for about 3 days, but if it's good, we'll go again before the summers done. And since your exams are done, we're leaving tomorrow, so start packing up your bags!"

T-TOMORROW!? It's far too soon! I can't possibly be away in Hokkaido with Sasuke! Well, I'm sure I'd like it, but the situation between us is far too tense.

It's completely out of the question at this point.

Wait…what if Sasuke confesses that he likes me!? This vacation could be a big hit!

But…what if he rejects me? This would make the vacation suck and I wouldn't be able to enjoy it!

Why Sakura!? Why did you have to open your big fat mouth!

I needed to quickly find an excuse for not going…maybe I could become sick…or say I need to take summer school that starts tomorrow! But that wouldn't work since I have a shift at the temple tomorrow and I haven't failed a class.

The light bulb in my head went off. I have work tomorrow!

"Okaasan, I can't go." I stated. My mother and Mikoto looked alarmed, "Nande?"

"I have work at the temple these next few days, and I don't think I can get out of it."

My mom shook her head, "That's nonsense. Call in and tell them you can't make it."

I shrugged, "well my boss isn't a push over…I mean, she hates it when I'm even a minute late, so telling her I cant make it in on such short notice may be a prob–"

"Sakura, your going." My mother firmly stated. I took a step back, surprised by her sudden seriousness.

Even Sasuke looked alarmed.

She put her hand out, "give me the phone and I'll talk to your boss. I don't even know why you're working anyway! We have enough money for you." To this, I quickly glare at Sasuke. His stupid agreement for me to pay for his bike. Luckily, I'm very close to having enough to cover the costs!

I fish out my phone from my pocket and giggle nervously as I hand it to her, the number already dialed. I'm positive I'm going to lose my job.

My mother began talking to my boss, myself PRAYING that my mother will accept the fact I have work.

And she does, to my bewilderment.

I could hear my boss's firm voice though the phone as my mother looked blankly at me, surprised by the resilience of my boss. My mother's swift negotiation skills couldn't do the trick. When my mother was about to lose her temper, I had to quickly plead for her not to do it.

Eventually she gave up and grumbled. "That lady is–! Is insufferable!" she groaned, crossing her arms. Mikoto looked sadly at me, "I guess we won't go then."

I began shaking my head and making an 'x' with my hands, "No! You all should go without me! I don't want to ruin it all for you!"

"But it won't be the same without you Sakura-chan!"

I smiled uneasily, "well, you said earlier you guys were testing it out to see how good it is. If it's great, I'll make sure I can go next time!"

Both our mothers looked at each other and sighed, "Alright," my mother began, "I trust you to stay here by yourself. Do you think you can handle it?"

I nod, "of course!"

"Alright, we'll we have more packing to do!" Mikoto says as she gets up to leave. I turn to Sasuke to see if he follows after his mother, but only to see that he already left.

What was that all about?

-

-

Around seven, I got a text message from Sasuke. It took me awhile before I could open it… after all, it could be rejection. It could be acceptance.

"We need to talk. – Sasuke."

I gulped. It was now or never. I could hear Sasuke strumming his guitar from outside, so I figured we'd talk out there.

I got my emotions in tack, ready to face rejection, or acceptance. I would either walk back in extremely happy, or extremely depressed. I had to make sure my emotions weren't going to do some crazy things.

I stood in front of the door and took a deep breath. I made sure my hair was neat and my clothes weren't a mess. I confidently opened the door and stepped out.

Sasuke was sitting on the banister, his back to me, strumming a simple, soft tune. He wasn't strumming hard, so it was easy to overpower the noise coming from it.

"You wanted to talk?" I said to him. His strumming stopped and he got down and turned to me. He nodded; "about what you said awhile back…" he began. He leaned against the wall and looked out at his backyard, avoiding my eyes. From his simple body language, I knew this was going to end badly.

"…as much as you've changed, I still don't see you like that Sakura."

…

…

…

"Gomen."

Everything around us was still and silent. I had yet to react to his words. I didn't know how to react to his words. Do I break down crying? Do I hold it in? Do I yell at him? When I was younger, I'd cry, but I'm no longer like that. I'm stronger then that.

I had to quickly come up with something to do, before I became an emotional wreck.

So… I burst out laughing. Sasuke turned to me, confused. My laughing lasted a good five seconds before I stopped. I turned back to him, a smirk on my face, "You actually took my words seriously? I was joking, couldn't you tell?"

Sasuke just stared at me, his look turning more into a glare as time passed. I giggled again, "sorry to fool around like that. I won't do it again. I just wanted to see how you'd react."

There was a silence between us as Sasuke glared at me, his eyebrows furrowed while the smirk on my face was slowly fading.

"Hn," was all Sasuke said. I turned to my door and opened it, "well, see you later. Have fun with everyone tomorrow." I said as I went inside. Once my door closed, I slid down it, feeling my emotions take over. I couldn't help but feel depressed as tears fell from my eyes.

All my efforts wasted. My plan not to fall in love with Sasuke again failed, and I couldn't even get him to like me back.

I'm a failure.

As I whipped the tears from my eyes, I could hear Sasuke playing his guitar again, only this time much more aggressive and louder with a lot more feeling into it. From his strumming, I could feel annoyance and rage. It wasn't the soft, pretty strumming noise I heard earlier, but something much more violent.

I didn't pay too much attention to it and just went to run a bath and wallow in my sadness. As much as I believed Sasuke changed and I had a chance with him, it all failed.

I was rejected.

-

-

Everyone left early in the morning, around eight, considering how they had a long drive ahead of them. I didn't look at Sasuke once this morning as he got in the van with the fam. His presence didn't even register in my mind.

"Be safe honey." My mother said as she kissed my cheek. My dad ruffled my hair as they climbed in the van and drove off, myself waving from a distance.

Home all alone. Every kids dream at some point… but right now I didn't want to be left alone.

Especially considering it was the beginning of summer break.

Up until Sasuke dropped the bomb last night I actually considered going on the trip…I mean, Hokkaido has some amazing hot springs, and I had thought a strategy to ease the tension between us. I was just going to tell him to forget what I said and pretend it never happened– that it was just my inner fangirl from long ago popping out and I didn't mean anything I said. I would rather us still be friends, then be this awkward.

I even thought of a plan to get out of work and was about to put it into place! …but my dreams shattered.

I dragged myself to work at the temple, sulking while sweeping, cleaning and restocking charms. I put on my best façade whenever I had to interact with anyone.

Tenten however could see something was wrong.

"What's up Sakura? You seem down." she said, leaning against the counter at the information booth we were both at now. I shrugged. May as well tell her what happened, even though she won't be able to give me much advice.

So I explained how I liked this guy who I've known for a long time, and how we got closer and how I dropped the 'L' bomb on him and how he rejected me. Tenten rubbed my shoulder. "Awh Sakura. I'm sorry it didn't turn out the way you wanted it to."

I shook my head as a tear fell, "Its okay. I had my hopes to high I guess."

Tenten sighed, "You should go out back for a bit."

I turned to her, confusion on my face, "eh?"

"Go out back and cry for a bit. Release your pain. You'll feel better after." She smiled. I shook my head, "but my shift–"

"Don't worry. If Chiyo-sama comes looking for you, I'll cover for you. Just go release yourself. Don't take too long though." She winked. I slowly nodded and left the building, walking down one of the paths into the forest surrounding the shrine. The shrine had a beautiful forest all around it, with paths spread all around with beautiful gardens and area's of worship.

After going far enough in, where no one was around, I plopped down next to a broken down building that used to be standing in this forest. It used to be a place where meditations used to take place, but burned down years ago. I guess the fact that it was a wreck lead me to it. We could wallow in pain together.

I sat next to it, thinking about it all, and like Tenten said, cried hard. I know I'm stronger then this, but I needed a release. I needed to get this out of my system. I did like him–a lot, and rejection hurt more then I thought it would. I guess I had gotten rejected so many times as a kid that I thought I'd be used facing rejection.

"Baka…" I whispered to myself. I guess I was rushing things too much. Maybe Sasuke wasn't ready.

Maybe it just can't happen between us. Maybe Sasuke can't see who I am as much as I hoped.

He doesn't see how great I am. How strong I am, how much I've changed.

Anger suddenly filled within me. That Uchiha Sasuke…that damn neighbor…that damn JERK!

I got up and kicked a plank of wood that was lying next to the decaying building. I felt like grabbing that plank and smashing it against this burnt down building in a fit of rage.

He doesn't deserve me! I'm so much better then him!

"Shannaro!" I say kicking a charred bell that used to hang in front of this building. My kick had broken the bell in half, one half flying into a tree and exploding upon contact.

And even though all this felt good, and I was feeling better, tears fell from my eyes again. I fell to my knees and curled into a ball. No more tears fell, but I felt horrible.

"Are you…okay?"

I froze as I heard a voice from behind. I quickly whipped my face clear of any remaining tears and slowly turned, seeing a familiar face.

"Gaara-kun?"

Gaara stood behind me, a sketch pad in hand and a small pack at his side. He had black pants on, a white tee and a leather jacket over top, which did him justice.

I didn't pay attention to what he looked like too much, but rather what he was doing here.

"What a-are you doing here?" I said quickly getting up. He shrugged and went into his pocket, pulling out a handkerchief and handed it to me.

"Crying doesn't suit you." He said with his arm outstretched with the hanky. I was stunned by his words, and slowly took the handkerchief, "Arigatou."

Gaara nodded and turned around, walking down the path, until he was out of sight. I held his hanky in my hands, my tears and sorrow gone. His words rang though my head,

"Crying doesn't suit you."

I smiled and quickly whipped my cheeks of any tears. Gaara always seems to leave a good impression on me.

-

-

The next day, I yet again had work. This time however, I felt much better. Tenten kept boasting about how her advice really worked, and even though it didn't really, I let her believe it.

Seeing Gaara yesterday really made me feel better. I can't figure out why his words left such a great impression on me, but I'm glad I saw him.

When my shift ended, I decided to go down the path I was at yesterday, hoping to run into him. Because of his notepad, I figured he might be drawing something within that path, and I may just run into him.

Sure enough, I found him, his back against a tree, sketching that burnt down building. It was around four in the afternoon and he was whole-heartedly drawing.

"Konnichiwa!" I greeted happily. Gaara looked up to see myself in front of him, surprised. He nodded in acknowledgement of my presence.

I pulled out that handkerchief from the day before, and handed it back to him, washed. "Here. Thanks for letting me use your handkerchief."

Gaara shrugged and took it, "It's not mine. I found it on the ground."

I froze into a stone statue, thrown off. I thought that was his own personal handkerchief that he let me borrow! It held such sentimental value!

I shook it off and shrugged, "Oh, well, thanks anyway."

He nodded and turned back to the building, lightly sketching. I went behind him, only to look at a beautiful picture of the burnt down building.

"Sugoi…" I said in a low voice as I watched him draw every detail. He seemed so into it.

"Why are you drawing this burnt down building?" I asked, plopping down next to him. He talked, not looking away from its drawing, "Because it tells a story."

"Hm? How so?"

Gaara stopped and looked at the building. We sat in silence for a moment, until he turned back to his drawing and spoke, "it used to be a grand structure, but something happened to make it burn down. Because we don't know what happened, we sometimes make stories up to give this burnt down building meaning."

I nodded slowly, taking in his words and combining it with the building. Just like he said, I could make up many different stories about this building – maybe two star crossed lovers got caught in it, or some incredible ninja fight took place here. Okay, those stories are lame and redundant, but Gaara's right about it.

"what's your story for this place?" I asked Gaara shrugged, "still thinking about it."

From there, we made little small talk about school, art and my job. Although he spoke little, his words were really strong. I liked his company. He was quite and calm, but the atmosphere didn't feel awkward. It felt relaxing and calming.

An hour had passed and we were still sitting there. Gaara had finally finished his picture, which looked great.

It suddenly began to rain, and we both ran under a bridge father down the path. We both leaned against the wall of the bridge, catching our breaths as were lightly covered in water.

"Ne Gaara-kun, do you have any friends? I mean, I always see you alone…"

He was silent for a moment, then closed his eyes and shrugged, "I'd rather be alone."

I puffed, "Everyone needs a friend."

He shrugged not caring too much. I smiled, "I'll be your friend…okay?"

He turned to me, surprised I'd declare that. "You want to be my friend?"

I nodded, "why, is that weird or something?"

He folded his arms. "A bit."

I huffed, "well, it shouldn't be." I then turned to him and smiled. This was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

-

-

The next day I again had work, and during my break I went down the path I found Gaara before, only to find he's not there.

I sighed. I guess he had better things to do, since he finished his drawing. I had forgotten to ask for his cell number, but I guess I'll ask that next time.

I walked back to find Ino, who had come to visit me. I told her what happened between me and Sasuke, and she looked beyond surprised at the outcome.

"I can't believe him! I mean, I thought for sure that he clearly liked you!"

I sighed and held my face in my hands, "Heh, I'm over it anyway. These few days without anyone around I guess helped me. Plus Gaara-kun made me feel better."

"Gaara? Sabaku no Gaara, the red haired kid?"
I nodded, "he's really nice. Quite, but surprisingly nice."

Ino who was eating onigiri took a bite and frowned, "well I heard he got kicked out of his old school. For what, I don't know, but I'll surely find out." She then swallowed, "be careful around him Sakura. I don't trust him too much."

What's with everyone not trusting him? Ino doesn't and neither does Sasuke. I don't see anything wrong with him.

"Well whatever, I like him." I huffed, "and I'm done with Sasuke. I just want to move past this."

Ino sighed. "Whatever you say Sakura, but its not going to be that easy."

I scoffed. Not going to be easy? I just won't give a damn about Sasuke! "Don't worry Ino; I know what I have to do to set myself free."

-

-

When I got home from work that day, everyone was back home. My mother and Mikoto couldn't stop talking about how great the whole trip was and how 'we' definitely need to go again before summers end.

I didn't see Sasuke when I got back. Only his parents were over, happily talking over tea.

I went upstairs to my room and pulled out an envelope. Inside I placed the exact amount of money I owed to Sasuke. I had finally saved up enough to pay for the repairs of his bike.

I could hear music coming from outside and I knew Sasuke was there. I sealed the envelope and sighed. The only thing really holding me to Sasuke was the repair costs for his bike, which I could finally seal away and give to him.

I put my hand on my screen handle and sighed. I confidently opened the door and stepped out, seeing Sasuke sitting on a chair on his balcony and a table with a notepad and pencil on it.

"Konnbawa Sasuke." I said plainly. He looked up at me. "Hn."

I clutched the envelope tightly for a moment, suddenly unsure of myself. I had become conflicted. I wanted to move on, but this little part of me wanted to keep holding on.

The only way I can get past this is to give it to him. I need to do this!

I sucked it up and held the envelope out, "This is for you. It's the money for the repair costs for your bike. I finally saved up enough."

Sasuke looked at me surprised, as if he didn't think I was actually going to do it.

I waved it to him, "take it."

He didn't advance to take it, so I flung it like a frisbee to him, which he caught with ease. I smiled, "hope your bike gets fixed soon." And with that, I advanced back for my door.

"Sakura." Sasuke said so softly, it stopped me in stride. His voice was so hypnotic, as much as I hated it.

I turned back to him, to which he flung it back at me. I caught it and looked at him confused.

"Keep it." he said as he got up, his guitar and book in hand. With that, he went back into his room, closing the door behind him. I stood there unsure of what to do. I spend a LONG time saving up that money for his bike, only to receive it back!?

I grimaced and stomped back in my room. That–that damn neighbor! This was my way to send off my feelings, and he gives it back!? ARGH!

I open that floorboard that I hide my stuff in, and threw it down there in annoyance. I should keep that money to spend on myself, but right now I don't want to even look at that dirty cash.

I flopped onto my bed and screamed into my pillow. What does it take to get over Uchiha Sasuke!?

-

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NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE FULLY IN SASUKE'S POV. Not his POV of the pervious chapters, but about what's happening after this point. It'll be fun :P

I'm sure GaaSaku fans are happy. don't worry my loyal SasuSaku fans. just wait a biiiiitttt longer ;P

good? bad? not what you were expecting? hehe, let me know. Tell me your wish ;)

Shelly