Author's Note: Hey again, guys! Ok, first of all, I apologize for not updating over a year. I had the writer's block syndrome and suddenly got lazy in writing and obsessed with Chinese and Korean dramas. But anyways, that's all in the past now, and this is the present. Here it is, at last, Chapter 6. Enjoy! :D

After a year, I think I need to renew this. So here:

Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Naruto, though I wish I do, but then, don't a lot of people?

Chapter 6

Monster Coaster

Sakura started voiding the items one by one as soon as she packed up the third and fourth boxes.

She couldn't concentrate, her mind stuck on Sasuke. 'He still remembers my number? I deleted his as soon as we broke up, useless though, since I know it like my own name.'

Her train of thought was lost as soon as Matsuri came back from the store room, Tobi at her heels. She had gone in not long ago to show Tobi where the stuff are and how they are stocked according to the codes.

"So how's it going, Sakura?" Matsuri asked.

"Nearly done, just last three...two...one." The cash register made a ringing sound and printed a receipt, Sakura tore it out and grinned, "Bingo, done at last."

"Well done," Matsuri told her. "We're heading to lunch in a bit, you can come with us."

"Sure, thanks. I'll just fix this up first."

Sakura, Tobi and Matsuri entered the cafeteria together with the rest of the crowd. It looked like everyone else has just been dismissed as well. Tobi saw some of his friends and told them that he'll go on first. Matsuri saw a couple of her friends last year, which Sakura recognized as the set of giggling girls in the bus, then left as well. Not long after, she felt an arm on her elbow and turned. "Ino," she acknowledged.

"Hey, Sak, I just got out. Have you seen Tenten and Hinata and the rest?" Ino said as she walked alongside her.

"Nope, maybe they're already in there." Sakura said, stepping in line with Ino behind her. Lunch had a lot of food to choose from as well. They picked out their orders and looked for a table to sit.

"Here! Over here! Hey, Ino, Sakura! Here!" A loud voice shouted from the far end of the room, which they recognized was Naruto's.

They headed the way Naruto is, and found themselves sitting in the same table as they had at breakfast. Hinata and Tenten sat beside each other, Neji beside Tenten, Shikamaru beside Neji, and Ino quickly took the chair beside him, patting the vacant seat beside her for Sakura to sit on. She took it gratefully, and looked around the table. Naruto, who currently sat on the other side of Hinata, was already munching on his ramen.

"Where did you get ramen? They weren't serving it here." Tenten asked.

"I work there, remember? Ichiraku's!" Naruto said, pumping his fist without looking up.

The rest of them started on their lunches as well when someone took the seat between Naruto and Sakura.

Sakura looked sideways and ignored him, though she tensed up inside. Naruto didn't see him at all. The rest muttered their hi's and hello's and went back to eating and chatting.

"So, how was your first sessions, guys?" Ino asked.

"Um, it's not bad, operating those little bump cars without the kids were good. Though switching it on and off for the next few hours is so totally boring." Tenten answered.

"Tell me about it," Shikamaru drawled. "I had to stock up books, since I got the bookstore job. All I did, was categorize, stock, categorize, stock, ring up a register, and yeah."

"Nonstop operating and test riding the Spin," Neji said.

"Is that a ride?" Hinata questioned.

"Yeah, some sort of circle ride with seats around it, it's sort of like a tube, then spins up slowly and pauses then plummets down spinning." Neji said.

"Oh, I was learning recipes awhile ago. I got Cafelicious." Hinata said.

"Cool! Mine wasn't really bad at all, they taught me how to cook ramen, and said I could eat whatever I cooked!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Hn, operate Monster Coaster, ride it, and walk around to check on the rest." Sasuke said in a bored voice.

"Well, I rang up a cash register, voided stuff, practiced on a credit card. That's pretty much it." Sakura said.

"Really now? I would have thought you went to eat some sweets during you're break or something." Sasuke said, looking at her at the corner of his eye.

Sakura pursed her lips. "Yeah, I went to eat Dippin Dots-" Sasuke snorted, which Sakura ignored, "-then saw Ino who told me some good news."

"Care to share?" Tenten asked.

"Well, I got the part!" Ino grinned widely.

"What part?"Shikamaru asked, leaning back on his chair and rocking it.

"You know, the lead role for performances!"

"Wow, congrats!" Hinata said.

"We should celebrate. I was thinking if you guys wanna go out for pizza tonight." Ino told them.

"Why not? I'll be there! You should come too Hinata-chan!" Naruto said, grinning, turning to Hinata and looking at her closely.

"S-sure?"Hinata squeaked and sank lower in her chair, her face beet red.

"Naruto."Neji growled.

"Oops. Sorry Neji." Naruto apologized, scratching the back of his head. "Hinata, are you alright, do you have a fever?" He asked as he placed the back of his hand on her forehead.

Hinata sank even lower in her chair. "F-f-fine." She stuttered.

Sakura and Ino groaned.

Tentenfacepalmed.

Shikamaru and Sasuke rolled their eyes.

Neji looked like he was about to explode.

"Get. . Her." Neji breathed out.

"Loosen up, Neji." Tenten said. "Why are you making such a big deal out of it?"

"He's quite protective when it comes to his family, you know, and having a big, dumb, blond idiot touching his cousin isn't very assuring." Sasuke snorted.

Naruto disregarded Neji's words and went even nearer to Hinata. Sakura panicked that she might faint, so she stood up and bent over Sasuke, pulled Naruto's shirt and strangled him.

"Idiot," She hissed, "Make her faint and say goodbye to all your ramen."

Naruto's eyes widened and he sat back down. "Sorry."

Sakura sat back down on her chair and exhaled. "Stupid idiot with a pea-sized brain."

A few minutes of silence later, when everybody finished eating, Ino asked, "Costumes! Let's go now! I don't wanna fall in line!"

"Do we have to?" Sakura groaned, remembering everybody's horror when they discovered she was assigned in Hansel and Gretel. She'd rather not know what it looked like.

"Oh, you definitely have to come, Sakura." Ino smirked, standing up from her seat and pulling Sakura to the exit. "Come, guys, let's go."

The rest stood up and followed her.

'Costume Room', it turns out, was a ballroom, with lots of 'stations' for the different jobs. They approached the front desk together.

"May I help you?" The girl asked, her nametag read KONAN.

"Um, we need our uniforms and costumes." Sakura said.

"Your nametags please." She asked, holding her hand out.

They all removed their nametags and placed it on her palm. She scanned them one by one.

"Hyuuga Neji, The Spin. Uchiha Sasuke, Monster Coaster. Ikeda Tenten, Kiddie Bump Cars. Station Two. Haruno Sakura, Hansel and Gretel's Gift Shop. Station Three. Nara Shikamaru, Old Yale Bookstore. Station Five. Yamanaka Ino, Performance. Station Four. Hyuuga Hinata, Cafelicious. Uzumaki Naruto, Ichiraku's Ramen. Station One." Konan said as she swiped their nametags under a scanner.

"Thanks," Ino said.

They each went to their respective stations.

To Sakura's utter dismay, the dressing room is just a tiny section with a curtain, and all the mirrors are outside. And because her section, though it served less people, their costumes are harder to wear. So by the time it was her turn to try her costume on, the rest of her friends were already done and there beside her.

Ino was grinning, "So Sak, your turn."

Sasuke smirked. Tenten laughed. Shikamaru looked bored. Naruto showed her a thumbs up. Neji nodded. Hinata gave her an encouraging smile.

Sakura pouted and said, "You guys are mean." As the woman who was giving them their costumes called out, "Next!"

Sakura approached the woman. "Hansel and Gretel's Gift Shop." She told her.

The woman peered at her over her glasses, then looked down at her clipboard. "Haruno Sakura, am I right?"

"Yes."

The woman took out a costume from the boxes beside her and handed it to Sakura. "Try it on."

Sakura took the package and proceeded to change. The outfit fit perfectly, she came out after putting on the shoes.

"Whooo!"Tenten whistled.

"Nice!" Ino exclaimed.

Sakura tried tugging down the skirt, suddenly feeling self-concious as the woman told her to step in front of the mirror. Her eyes widened as she saw herself.

She wore an off shoulder blouse with puffy sleeves and lots of ruffles. The blouse was tucked in to the high waist mini skirt which was also frilly, with green as the base layer and a tiny apron as the layer atop it. A brown corset-like vest was lacedup her torso with a pink ribbon and covered the bottom half of the blouse. She wore knee high white socks and a pair of black Mary Janes.

Sakura's eye twitched, "What the hell?"

The woman ignored her comment and looked around Sakura. "Is it too tight or too loose? Does it need adjustments?"

"No, it's fine this way." She answered.

"Good. Go change back."

Sakura came out a few minutes later. The woman took the clothes from her hands and placed them in a plastic bag. "I'll have these brought to the shop later. You have to wear this everyday. Change in and out of it in the shop so that we could have it washed. Also, don't forget, you'll have to braid your hair in pigtails while in the costume."

"What? Braids?"

"Yes, braids. Move along now, there are still a lot waiting behind you."

As soon as they exited the place, Sasuke walked beside her, "Not bad, Pinky. Not bad at all."

Sakura raised her brow, "I look like a slut in it. But then, of course it's good for you. Aren't bimbos your type?"

"You're calling yourself a bimbo?"

Sakura blushed then looked away.

"Whatever. I still say that costume sucks." She said.

Sakura was leaving the gift shop at four, when she received a text from Ino telling her to go to the Monster Coaster to meet them. She decided to go there to check it out.

As soon as she stepped in Ino's line of vision, she called, "Sakura! Here!"Ino waved her arms frantically.

Sakura approached the group. "So, what's up?"

"Well, we were thinking of heading out to that pizza party now, but then Sasuke here isn't done with his shift yet, and has to test ride it once more, so we were thinking of riding it with him. So let's go."

"What? I never signed up for this you know." Sakura shook her head.

Ino pulled her to the roller coaster and sat her in the first seat of the first car. "Let's start now. Get in." She buckled her up before taking the seat behind Sakura. Shikamaru sat beside her. Naruto and Hinata, Neji and Tenten, sat behind them respectively. They all put on their seat belts.

Sasuke sat beside Sakura and buckled up, 'Oh no, no god no.' She thought, 'I can't let him know that I'm scared of roller coasters. I don't want to make him notice it. Hopefully I won't vomit or anything.'

"Start it, Ebisu." Sasuke told the guy operating the Monster Coaster.

The roller coaster started and Sakura closed her eyes, wishing for it to end.

They went up slowly and after a while, they came to a stop before suddenly heading down. They screamed, well, the girls and Naruto did. Shikamaru leaned back and just closed his eyes. Neji and Sasuke were as stoic faced as ever.

A few more of those hoops and turnings and going upside downs later, Sakura's stomach was churning and she felt like vomiting. 'Shit.' She thought. 'Please not on the ride, not when I'm high up and Sasuke's beside me. Not here please.'

She coughed and her stomach ached, Sasuke saw her screaming and her eyes tearing up. He wanted to comfort her, but was afraid of hurting Sakura more by nearing her so he decided to just sit still.

When they climbed out of the ride a few minutes later, Ino, Naruto and Tenten were talking about how great the ride was, Hinata, Shikamaru, Sasuke and Neji just stayed silent. Sakura, on the other hand, just walked slowly and coughed, she could feel the bile rising up her throat. Naruto noticed her wiping her tears and loudly asked, "Sakura-chan, are you crying?"

The rest, hearing what Naruto said, snapped their heads to Sakura's direction. Sakura felt their gazes on her and straightened her back and foced her tears back. Ino, Tenten and Hinata rushed to her.

"Oh my gosh! What happened? Why are you crying?" Tenten gushed.

"Sakura-chan, did someone hurt you?" Hinata asked.

"Did Sasuke hurt you?" Ino asked her.

"No, nothing, it's fine. He didn't hurt me." Sakura said.

"Really? Why are you crying then? You know you can tell us anything." Naruto informed her.

"No, It's fine."

"C'mon, Sakura, you can tell us."

Sasuke noticed that Sakura was annoyed and didn't want the attention by the way she didn't look at them in the eye. As far as he can remember, Sakura never mentioned to him about her fear of heights, or roller coasters, but from what he can guess, that is exactly the reason why she's like this now. Besides, putting two and two together isn't that hard, and seeing as Sakura started crying on the roller coaster, it's obvious that she was afraid.

The girls and Naruto continued pestering her, Sakura looked like she was about to burst, when Sasuke decided to step in.

"Just drop it." He said coldly.

Everyone turned to look at him. There was an awkward silence before Ino said, "So…why don't just party at the beach house instead?"

They looked at each other and nodded. Sasuke noticed Sakura's look of relief. "Hn."

"Why not? It could turn out fun. What'chathink, Sak?" Tenten said.

"Sure."

They sat on the couch, watching their third movie. The first one was Titanic, that made the girls tear up and gush about how they wish they had boyfriends Leonardo di Carpio, followed by Paranormal Activity III, which the guys picked that had the girls scream their asses off. They just finished watching The Hunger Games, a movie both male and female agreed on, when Ino suddenly stood up.

She said, "I propose that we play a game, I Never game to be specific."

Everyone raised their brows.

"What's that supposed to be?" Neji asked.

"Well, everyone sits around a table, or on the floor, it depends on the players' choice. One person goes first by making a true statement that begins with "I never..." An example would be, "I've never been to Disneyland." Then, if any other player has done what the person said, they simply drink. The game only works when people are honest. However, if somebody drinks on an "I never," no explanation is necessary. For example, if someone says, "I've never eaten mice," and someone ends up drinking to it, there is no explanation needed, and the game just continues." Ino explained. "And I suggest let's get those beers now, so we can begin."

The guys opened a cupboard and took out six cans of beer, packed together.

"So, where are we gonna play this game?" Tenten asked Ino.

"Living room?"Hinata suggested.

"Sure." Sakura said.

They took a seat on the floor, forming a circle.

"Okay, let's start with Naruto."

"I've never gone a day without ramen." He said.

Everyone drank.

Tenten said, "I've never had a perm."

The girls plus Neji drank.

They all raised a brow at Neji, but since no questions were to be asked, they continued on.

"I've never kissed a guy." Hinata confessed.

Ino and Sakura drank.

"I've never been beaten at chess." Shikamaru said.

Everyone but Sakura drank.

"I've never smoked." Sakura said.

No one drank.

"I've never failed an exam before." Sasuke said.

Naruto, Ino, and Tenten drank.

The game continued on and on into the night, getting more and more personal and explicit as they got more drunk.

"I never went commando before." Ino said.

Shikamaru drank.

Naruto laughs, and accidentally kicks an open can of beer which spilled on Neji's hair.

"Who-whoopsy daisy!"Naruto said.

Neji got pissed off and charged head on at Naruto. Tenten jumped on Neji and pulled him back, which resulted to them falling on the couch, with Neji on top of her.

Sasuke sighed. 'It's gonna be a long night.' Then he stood up, and walked out the room, heading to the veranda.

Sasuke stood there, leaning over the railing, looking down, deep in thought, when he heard the door behind him open.

He didn't look behind him, but he heard light footsteps that ended beside him.

Sakura didn't noticed where she ended up at, so deep in thought, all she noticed was that Sasuke stood beside her.

She was thinking about nothing and everything, about how thankful she was to have met great friends at the carnival in just two days, about it looked like she could survive the summer, despite having Sasuke so near her at all times.

She thought about her parents that were at home, if they already missed her, about how Kiba was, about what she should do with him, seeing as she's never really liked him, and keeping up their relationship would just be a lie to him, and would hurt him in the future.

She thought about Sasuke, about how he turned out better than she thought he would.

He was never really mean to her, in fact he was kinda okay to her, like they didn't have a past together. That part hurt her, but then it was for the best as well, she thought, that maybe they could still be friends. She remembered what happened awhile ago, at the roller coaster. Honestly, she was pissed already, wanting to tell them off, but then it would be mean to tell someone who's just worried to back off. Technically, she just rode that roller coaster despite her fears as she didn't want to be weak, to be someone people look down at, she didn't want Sasuke to know as well, since she knew it would just catch his attention and she was afraid he might hurt her or tease her with it.

But then, it was a relief actually, when she knew than he knew and still didn't tease her. In fact, she was actually thankful to him for telling her friends to drop the topic. She decided then, that maybe, just maybe, he wasn't so bad at all, maybe there's still a seed of goodness left inside him. She'll just have to see, there's still two months, maybe he can see him as a different person, or the one she used to know him as.

She looked up, the stars were shining brightly, and then she took a deep breath.

"Sasuke," she said softly.

"Mm?" He said absently.

"Thank you."

Author's Note: Whooo! I'm tired, typed this the entire day. Hihihi. So how was it? Please review guys! I tried to make this longer than the past chapters, and I hope you guys like it. I'll try my best to upload the next chapter in a week or less. How soon it is will depend on how many reviews I get. Please make me happy guys :) Review!

Daemonic Maid: Hey! Thank you soooooo much for proofreading this chappie! Like always, you put with me being annoying and my constant ever-changing plots. Again, thank you!

And again, to everyone, please review!