A/N Hey! So this was originally a oneshot, but I gave my reviewers the option to either tell me to continue or leave it as 'twas. Surprise! People said it should be a multi-chartered fic, so here it is. For those of you who first gave me your opinion, I truly hope it is everything you had wished for. Well, that goes out to everyone. I want you all to like it. Feel free to review! AU (FYI I made some changes so even if you've read it... Read it again.)

Sakura tied back her pink tresses and picked up her sunglasses from the table beside her. After a long winter it was finally warm enough again to go to the pool. And on her day off, with no pressing matters to take care of, it was the perfect day for some alone time. The perfect day for relaxing, no worries, no one to bother her. Of coarse, she should have known it was too good to be true.

Her wide smile faltered the moment she saw her best girlfriend, Ino, racing up to meet her. She would have just continued down the street as if she hadn't seen her, but, seeing the excited expression on her friend's face, she couldn't quite bring herself to do it. And besides, Ino would have caught up to her anyway.

It was so different from how it used to be. Back when they were to focused on their rivalry to be close friends.

"Sakura! You'll never guess what just happened!" She watched Sakura expectantly and waited for her reply.

Sakura sighed. "What happened?"

"Shikamaru asked me on a date!" She was practically jumping up and down with glee, wanting Sakura to be just as excited. She wasn't. Well, scratch that. She was happy for her, but she didn't understand why she couldn't be excited over the phone.

"And you couldn't tell me over the phone because..."

Ino laughed. "Well I need you to help me pick out an outfit, silly! I think I've got it narrowed down, but I need a second opinion." She then grabbed Sakura's hand and proceeded to drag her in the opposite direction she was headed.

"Can we do it later? I was going to go to the pool and-"

"It'll only take a second! The pool's not going anywhere, you know. "

Sakura sighed, but followed willingly. After all, it would only be a few minutes, right? And it was true, the pool wasn't going anywhere, so...

"Okay, okay, but I can walk on my own." She extracted her arm from Ino's grasp and trailed after her, listening to her friend babble about how excited she was.

XxX

It wasn't until nearly an hour later that Sakura was able to walk out the front door of Ino's house. It was now almost 2:00 in the afternoon, and she couldn't help but be irritated at her best friend, even though she had been thanked profusely. Now she walked down the street, once again headed toward the pool.

Suddenly, unexpectedly, a dark haired boy stepped directly in her path. She sighed.

"Sai. "

He smiled that fake smile of his. "Hello, Ugly. I was wondering if you could explain something to me. I have a question about something I read in here." He held up a familiar orange book, and, upon seeing it, her eyes widened.

"And you immediately thought of me? If it's about that book, you should know that I am not the person to ask. I've never even looked in one of those books." Not entirely truthful, but she probably wasn't the best to explain that kind of thing to him anyways...

"I don't know where Dickless is, so you are actually second choice. "

She smirked. Of coarse. It wouldn't even cross his mind that someone could be offended by being referred to as "second choice". She shook her head, knowing not to take it personally. "What do you need, Sai?"

"It mentioned something that I found particularly interesting, but didn't really get into specifics. I believe it is-" He flipped to a marked page. "-something called S and M?"

OH BOY

XxX

Well. That had been thoroughly disturbing. She would definetely not have chosen to spend thirty minutes of her free time explaining a form a kinky sex to her friend.

But now she was walking through the front gate of the pool, feeling triumphant that she had maintained the patience necessary to help both Ino and Sai. Just as she set her things down at a table, a certain blond fox decided to invade her space.

"Hey, Sakura-chan! I've been looking for you everywhere! Ino told me you'd be here though so I ran right over. I wanted to catch you before you got in or anything-"

"What do you need, Naruto?"

He gave her a somewhat sheepish smile and proceeded to tell her in a voice that was only a little quieter than his usual microphone-loud voice. "Well... I was wondering if you could give me some advice. I've been thinking. I want to ask Hinata on a date, but I'm not sure exactly- you know... How-"

"You want my opinion on how. Is that right?" She raised her eyebrows and tried to smile in a friendly way, although she most wanted him to go away at the moment. He nodded in response, and with a sigh she sat up straight to talk to him face to face. "First of all, I highly doubt she will want to go to Ichiraku..."

XxX

After eventually convincing Naruto that it he would not blow it and that she was fairly sure Hinata would in fact say yes, she was left more or less alone, save for the other people lounging at the pool. For about five minutes, at least. Her contentment shattered when she heard a familiar, equally annoying voice penetrated her bubble of peace.

"Sakura! My most beautiful flower!" She groaned aloud as Lee blocked her light. Still though, she couldn't seem to bring herself to be rude to one of her friends; she was not yet angry enough. Even though her eye twitched as she turned to look at him.

"Hello, Lee. Is there... Is there something you wanted to talk about?" She hesitated to speak the words, for fear that he WOULD in fact want to talk.

"I've come to prove my love to you, of coarse! I will attempt to become worthy of such beauty by doing one hundred laps in the pool! Just watch Sakura!" He began walking backwards, toward the pool. "If I cannot do one hundred laps, I will-" his proclamation was cut short as he slipped, grabbed onto something to stabilize himself- which just happened to be someone's towel, and pulled it along with him into the pool. She watched to make sure he hadn't cracked his head, and, upon seeing his head pop back up, let him get on with his laps. Finally. Some peace and-

A shadow once again blocked her sun. She grit her teeth, trying not to lose her temper. Without opening her eyes, she ground out "Who is it, and what do you want?"

"I need a towel."

Still keeping her eyes closed, she growled, "And you're telling me because..."

"Because it was your friend that decided to take mine into the pool with him. "

At this, she opened her eyes and saw that it was in fact the same guy. She smirked apologetically. "That sucks, but it's still not my problem. "

The guy narrowed his eyes. "You owe me a towel. "

"No I don't. " She glared. "And you know what, I think you'll be fine air drying. "

"Hn. " He sat down next to her, stretching out comfortably on the lounge chair.

She glared at home through her sunglasses. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Well, since you seem so adamant about me air drying, you wouldn't mind me sitting right here to do it, would you?"

She looked away from him, trying desperately to relax. He was so damn annoying. Itwas just something about him... No, it was everything about him. His hair, his voice, that stupid 'hn' sound. What was with that irritating noise, anyways? It all reminded her of-

"Hey, I didn't catch your name. "

"Hn. I didn't give it."

Sakura turned to fully face the boy next to her with eyes wide as saucers. She stared, disbelieving. It couldn't possibly...

Her voice came out in a strangled gasp. "Sasuke? Is that the infamous Uchiha Sauke?"

He remained absolutely still, only bothering to crack open one eye to see the shocked expression on her face. "Took you long enough."

A/N So any-who, hopefully I will get the next chapter up soon, but you may rest assured that it will happen eventually. And reviews are beloved! You should know this! I want to know what goes on in your head.

; )