Disclaimer - I do not own Naruto.

Word Count - 7,408

Just Another Hot Commodity

Fads are the kiss of death. When it goes away, you go away with it.

It was a normal afternoon, Sakura thought solemnly. Nothing special or interesting was going to happen today. Nothing special or interesting had happened for a while, actually. She deemed her life boring and normal. Everyone wanted a normal life of course. But those who had a normal life loathed it. They yearned for something, anything to happen because they didn't want to be normal. At least, that's what Sakura thought. There were no perks about being average. Nothing to grab attention with. But – Sakura pondered – could one be so normal, so average that they stood out? Could one be too normal?

I was strolling along the block, not really thinking about anything important when quite abruptly my phone rang.

I tried to ignore it. Key word being 'tried'.

You see, I was never one for phone call conversations. It is certainly not the best form of communication.

Honestly, people's voices don't even remotely sound like that in person! And then there's always that 'bad connection' which is just really an excuse for a guy to hang up on you as he's crumpling paper into the phone because he's just not interested in you, sorry.

And what about those really awkward moments where neither party knows what to say so you kinda just sit there and hope that they break the silence first but that never happens. Never. So yeah, you can pretty much say I abhor phone calls.

I sighed heavily and at the last moment decided to pick up the phone. My mother constantly reprimanded me for not picking up my phone. So I might as well.

"Hello?"

"Sakura! Listen, forehead. You have got to get…" I promptly held the phone away from my ear to preserve any damage from taking place.

It was Ino.

She was the worst to talk to on the phone. Her voice sounded like a shrill and you could hardly tell what she was saying.

You had to hold the phone a foot away from your face just so you didn't get permanent ear damage. "…right now! There's this really hot guy. I'm talking smoking. Like he's about to spontaneously combust just from being so gorgeous and hot. So you better get over here before he does. Don't worry I'll make sure he doesn't leave until you get here."

Despite my apparent lack of interest in said 'smoking piece of ass' it was somewhat amusing to hear her friend fawn over someone like this. He must be really hot.

"Relax, pig. Where are you?" I stated calmly.

"The café shop on 67th street! Get your ass over here, now."

The line went dead before I could reply. Seeing as I had nothing better to do with my Saturday afternoon, I decided to head there.

A small smirk graced my features at the thought of Ino finding such a hot guy at the café. I bet it was just another trick of Ino's to make me work with her on my (only) day off.

It seemed no matter how hard I tried, I could never stay away from that place for too long.

The old fashion bell rang with a resounding clunk as I entered the not so quaint café shop. Before I could walk two feet in the door, my arm was being dragged by a very impatient blonde.

"What took you so long?" she whispered violently.

She pulled me to the counter and faced me seriously. "Now don't look now. But he's sitting at the third table on the - I said don't look now! He's on the right." Ino exclaimed in a hurried tone. I held back a smile at the blonde's antics.

Then, I waited a few seconds before casually looking behind me. The boy sat at the table drinking coffee (ew) and reading the newspaper. Well he couldn't be all that great if he was alone, could he? But when he lowered the newspaper so that I was able to see his face I must admit I was mildly surprised. He was a hot smoking piece of ass. Even still, he shouldn't be anything to fawn over.

But for some reason, I couldn't take my eyes off him. He seemed to be amused. I laughed and turned to Ino.

"Ino, he totally knows that you've been checking him out this whole time." I stated matter-of-factly.

Ino's expression became horrified. "No he doesn't!"

I rolled my eyes and shrugged. "While I'm here, get me some tea." I leaned against the counter. Sure the dude was hot, but that was just his psychical appearance. I firmly believed that everyone was equal on some level. And that our strengths and weaknesses were spread out. So if someone was gorgeous – like this boy – he probably had a nasty attitude.

Or was stupid.

Or something like that.

No one was perfect. He looked up from his newspaper and locked eyes with me. His eyes were dark, almost black looking. But I was half way across the room so what did I know? I returned his gaze and smiled slightly. Ino returned with my tea seconds later and I sipped it thankfully. It was chilly outside after all. Fall sucked. The door opened and the bell rung and a fall breeze caused me to shiver slightly. I turned around to see Naruto.

I smiled and waved.

"Hey." From my peripheral vision I could see the boy looking up from his newspaper. (seriously what kind of teenager reads the newspaper anyway?) I ran up to Naruto and gave him a hug. He wrapped his arms around me tightly. I giggled and pulled away. "Seriously, you have the best hugs." I told him. Somewhere across the room I heard Ino snort.

"Seriously, just go out already!" she teased. I rolled my eyes and stuck my tongue out at her. She was always teasing Naruto and me because apparently two friends 'shouldn't be as close to each other as we are' but I always tell her to shove it where the sun don't shine.

I smiled brightly at Naruto and kissed his cheek, causing him to smile sheepishly. He glanced around the room and his eyes stopped at guess who? That's right! Mr. Smoking-Piece-Of-Ass.

"Teme, why didn't you tell me you were going to be here?" he shouted rushing over to the table where Mr. SPA (smoking piece of ass) sat. Oh, this was too good. I walked over to his table, where Naruto was shouting a colorful array of profanities. And that's when I heard his voice (enter angels singing euphorically).

"Because – dobe – I don't need to notify you about everywhere I go." His eyes remained intent on the newspaper but he had a playful smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. I giggled softly, causing Naruto to blush and to glance up at me. I dutifully attempted to ignore him. It would have worked out swell if Naruto hadn't intervened.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I guess you don't know each other. Teme, this is Sakura-chan. Sakura-chan this is teme. Or Sasuke rather." He smiled brightly. I offered Sasuke (still liked calling him better) a small smile.

"Hello." I said casually. He smirked at me.

"Hello." He drawled. His eyes never left mine. Then quite suddenly, he returned to his newspaper and took a sip of his coffee. Yeah he definitely heard Ino and me talking. That right there just sealed the deal. Oh well. It's not like he didn't already know he was hot.

Naruto – who was seemingly bored with Sasuke already – turned back to face me. Remembering I now had tea, I sipped it and smiled (seriously, it's the best drink of all time. And you can have it hot or cold. It just doesn't get any better than that).

"So Saku-chan, why are you here anyway? Isn't today your day off?" Naruto pondered. I smiled and turned back to Ino.

"There was an annoying insect that just wouldn't die. So I decided to stay and watch Ino try to kill it." I lied easily. Ino stuck her tongue out at me from behind the counter.

"Shove it, forehead."

I walked towards her mockingly. "Hey isn't that customer disrespect? I could have you fired for that, pig." I grinned evilly. Behind me, Naruto laughed.

"That's why I stay on her good side." He joked. I took another sip of my tea and smiled in satisfaction. Throughout this whole affair, Sasuke continued to read his damned newspaper (seriously what was so interesting in that anyway?) not once looking away.

"At least I'm not a suck up." Ino accused.

"At least I'm not stuck working." Naruto shot back.

"At least I'm not stupid!"

At least I'm not short!"

I sat down at Sasuke's table, enjoying the scene in front of me.

"At least I'm not ugly!"

"At least I'm not blonde!"

"But Naruto, you are blonde." I countered, giggling. He seemed to realize his mistake and smiled shyly.

"Oh right, I am." He allowed, scratching the back of his head lightly.

I laughed. Sasuke had (finally) looked up from his newspaper and was smirking at Naruto.

"Dobe, you just reached a new level of stupid."

I giggled a little too loudly. More people slowly began to enter the shop, due to a sudden downpour of rain. So random.

"Shit now I actually have to work." I heard Ino mutter.

Naruto came over and scooted in the booth next to me.

"Hey!" I retorted. He merely smiled. I turned my attention to the rain.

"Looks like we're going to be stuck here for a while." I heard Sasuke murmur to himself. I turned my gaze to him. What – other than his looks – was so special about him? He wasn't charismatic. He wasn't particularly funny (he was into that dry humor kind of thing. Ew.) and he certainly wasn't all that nice. He seemed somewhat arrogant and condescending actually. If it weren't for his looks he'd be nothing, I concluded.

"It's not nice to stare." Sasuke said, causing me to snap out of my thoughts. I blushed. Great now he was going to think that I was staring at him.

"Sorry, I was just spacing out…" I mumbled, embarrassed.

"Right." He said sarcastically, smirking faintly. He seriously needed to stop with that smirking business. It was not helping me make convince myself that he wasn't really all that hot.

Naruto took a sip of my tea. I grabbed it from him.

"You know better than to take my tea!" Seriously, that was like taking away my baby. And that would be wrong, on so many levels.

Naruto chuckled. He totally did it on purpose to get me angry. He was always doing that. "I honestly don't know why you find my anger so amusing." I told him seriously, sipping my tea gently. Mine.

"Because, it's cute. You get all like offended and crap. And sometimes you even start stomping your feet and cursing." He ruffled my hair, causing me to swat his hand away. How embarrassing. He's basically saying in front of Sasuke that I act like a five year old.

I sulked, continuing to stare out the window. That was not how I planned on the day going.

So despite the lack of conversation that Sasuke had contributed during our first encounter, before he left he did give me his phone number.

"Just don't harass me on a daily basis." He had said cockily. I had rolled my eyes.

"You wish." And I left.

And after that I had texted him a couple times. But I made sure to wait a few days first. Because I was certainly not desperate (really I wasn't, especially not for him). The conversations wouldn't last long at first. Until one night I was texting him until 4AM. We had talked normally, about random things. Getting to know each other. I found out that he absolutely loved tomatoes, he hated big concerts and preferred small venues, that he didn't really like sweets, and that his guilty pleasure was wanting to be a ninja. We had a contest to see who could stay up the latest. He won.

But I haven't really seen him since the café shop. My phone rang.

"Hey." I said casually.

"Sakura-channn!" I held the phone away from my ear in disgust. "Me and teme wanna know if you wanna come to the movies with us!" Naruto blared.

I sighed. Why did he always have to catch me when I wasn't busy?

"Sure…" I said unwillingly.

"Kay see ya!" Click.

I checked my wallet, making sure I had enough money before turning on my iPod blasting "Everything I ask for" by The Maine. I walked casually, enjoying the warm weather. At least it wasn't raining today.

When I got to the movies Sasuke and Naruto were waiting, tickets in hand.

"Here Sakura-chan! I made teme pay for us!" Naruto shouted excitedly. I smiled softly.

"Thank you Sasuke." I said gently. He nudged my forehead in response and turned to walk back into the movie theater. I swear I stared at his back for a good thirty seconds before proceeding to follow him.

We sat towards the middle of the theater (obtaining the best seats ever). Sasuke sat all the way on the left with me in the middle and Naruto on the right (Sasuke had blatantly refused to sit next to Naruto due to his obsessive chatter during movies).

"Aw we forgot to get popcorn!" Naruto whined.

"Then go get yourself some, dobe." Sasuke shot back, his eyes ahead on the screen. Naruto stuck his tongue out and got up.

"You want anything?" he asked me. Well actually I was starving.

I took money out of my wallet. "Yeah can you get me nachos and cheese? Oh and an iced tea please." I went to hand him the money but Sasuke had beaten me to it. I looked over at him in defiance and he smirked. Naruto sped off with the money.

Wow, this was awkward. What was I supposed to talk to Sasuke about? I hardly knew him.

I saw him pull out his iPod. How tempting… I wondered that the all mighty Sasuke Uchiha could possibly listen to. Ew, imagine if he listened to rap? Or country music? What a letdown that would be…

"Can I see?" I gestured. He handed me his iPod rather reluctantly. I smiled happily and began to scroll through his Artists.

Bands…

He listened to bands. My eyes widened in shock.

"Attack attack! Drop dead gorgeous! Chiodos! From First to Last, Escape the Fate…oh my god the list goes on!" I smiled with each new band that I saw, remembering my favorite songs from each band. "I think I'm in love with you right now." I told him jokingly. I got overly excited. "Emmure!" No one ever liked them! They always thought they were too hardcore or whatever. But they were wimps, I swear. They listened to things like…Green Day and thought that they were hardcore. Psh.

I looked over to see Sasuke smirking. "I never knew someone could get so excited over music." He shrugged but the smirk remained.

"Dude, music is life." I said as if it were the answer to everything in the world. He nodded in agreement.

I looked back to the screen, where the same five pictures were circulating around. Honestly, couldn't they ever do something new? "So uh, what movie are we seeing?" I asked sheepishly. I had agreed to come without even knowing what the heck we were seeing. Wow, smart Sakura.

He chuckled lightly. "Some stupid movie the dobe wanted to see." He answered. "Alice in Wonderland." My eyes widened in excitement.

"Really? Oh, it came out! I've been wanting to see this movie for the longest time!" I said with a rush of excitement, bouncing in my seat. He gave me a weird look then shook his head, smirking.

I stuck my tongue out at his 'I'm-too-cool-for-you' look. But honestly, I thought to myself, what did this boy have to offer other than looks? How random to think of that at this time. I knew that I was attracted to him, but I couldn't allow myself to do that. I couldn't allow myself to just like someone just because he was hot. And he liked the same music as me. And he was sexy. With a sexy smirk. No I just couldn't allow myself to stoop to that level. He was probably a player anyway. Or had a girlfriend already. What hot guy was single these days? None. So I'd better stop myself before it was too late. I nodded to myself, satisfied with my conclusion.

Naruto returned with my nachos and iced tea, and I thanked him properly. I took the first chip and doused it in cheese, plopping it into my mouth. Yum. I got more comfortable in my seat, watching as the lights dimmed. The previews then came on for upcoming movies that I'd probably never see. They all looked boring. A preview for "The Crazies" came on and I scoffed lightly as the crowd jumped at a particular scene. My grandpa could be scarier than that.

So anyway, the movie was pretty boring. Or maybe it was just that Naruto's reactions were more interesting.

I had never been a fan of Alice in Wonderland as a child. The little mermaid was always my top pick. And really, this wasn't at all like the Disney movie. IT was all action-ey. And Tim Burton-ish. Which I didn't mind. Tim Burton was a genius, but it didn't fit for Disney.

And what was with Tim Burton always putting Johnny Depp in his movies anyway? It was like they had some gay fling going on (not that I minded).

But I supposed it was alright.

Sasuke's analysis of the movie wasn't much better than mine. Half way through, he decided that his iPhone was more entertaining. It probably was. I admit, I was envious. I didn't charge my iPod before I left home before, not thinking I would need to. Thus, the battery died.

Once the movie was – predictably – over, I stretched in my seat and gathered all of my garbage.

"Well that was interesting." I commented brazenly.

Sasuke snorted.

I turned to him. "Do you even know what the movie was about?"

He feigned being offended. "Not really, your obnoxious pink hair kept distracting me."

What.

The.

Hell.

What a douche! I can't believe he just said that!

"I can't belive you just said that!" Naruto voiced, reading my thoughts. "Seriously, Saku-chan, I really love your hair. You know, love it."

Naruto was a smart boy.

Er, sometimes.

At least he knew when to kiss up to me when need be.

I cracked my knuckles and glared at the (sexy) Uchiha.

He smirked and started walking out of the theatre before I had time to properly respond.

Grumbling profanities under my breath, I reluctantly followed a cautious Naruto.

However, I had soon forgotten Sasuke's snide remark. He more than made up for it by lending me two dollars to play the grab machine. It was a play until you win sorta thing. So naturally, it took me five minutes to win what I wanted. But it was totally worth it.

Seriously.

I clutched my new beloved pink lemur to my chest and smiled; content.

"Alright, drive me home." I commanded in a childlike voice.

Naruto placed his hands on my shoulders and walked behind me as we headed towards the parking lot.

"So Saku-chan, there is one technicality." Naruto said, bypassing cars. I turned to look at him and gave him a questioning glance.

"We sorta walked over." I sighed. I wasn't looking forward to walking home. It was getting dark out.

"What losers…" I mumbled under my breath.

"But don't worry! We'll walk you home." Naruto said confidently.

"Speak for yourself, dobe. It's bad enough you dragged me to this movie. Now you're expecting me to tag along with you afterwords?"

Man he was such a prick. Sometimes. But it's okay, his good looks more than made up for his crappy personality.

"Well that's fine – you know – because really, no one wants you to come along." I added, smiling softly.

"Tch." Was his only reply.

Score.

Sasuke followed Naruto and me, trailing along quietly.

"Hey Saku-chan, you think the bastard can walk you home? You know my house is like…the opposite direction. He lives near you."

I looked over at Sasuke. "He does?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, same street."

Why have I never seen him before? How is that even possible?

"Dobe, I just moved there."

Oh. Right. That made much more sense.

"Right, well you two have fun!" Naruto said, giving me a quick hug and running off in the other direction. Honestly who runs home after a movie?

I glanced at Sasuke – who remained silent.

Oh yeah, this was going to be fun. Walking home with Mr. Conversation over here.

We walked in silence, his hands shoved in his pockets.

"So, Sasuke," I began, "how'd you meet Naruto?"

He gave me an incredulous look before replying. "We went to the same school before he moved here. He always tried being my friend. He was never deterred." He said through clenched teeth. I giggled.

"He's a good friend though." I said fondly. Sasuke shrugged.

Once we got to my house, I stood awkwardly by the door. "You wanna come in?" I offered hesitantly.

Sasuke smirked. "Alone in a room with you? What so you could call your friend over and rape me? No thanks."

Inwardly, I deflated. That was just a polite rejection.

"You wish." I covered, feigning indifference. "Thank you though. For walking me home."

He nodded, poking my forehead – which I was pretty self conscious about.

I bit my lip. "Goodnight." I said, heading in the door and turning around to face him. He turned and waved from behind, murmuring, "Night."

I shut the door behind me and sunk to the floor, wondering why my heart was fluttering so quickly.

I was running. Cause that's what I always did on Saturdays. But I never expected to run into Sasuke. I should've thought of that, after all he was my new neighbor. But I never guessed he'd be up at seven in the morning on a Saturday.

I unplugged my iPod from my ears and jogged to catch up to him, aware that I was wearing my short shorts and a tank top. Sasuke was walking on the sidewalk in a tee shirt and shorts.

"Hey, didn't expect to see you up this early." I commented, once he noticed me. He smirked.

"I could say the same."

I fell in step beside him. "I jog in the morning. It helps me clear my mind." I explained. He nodded and murmured,

"Ah, I see."

Not wanting the conversation to die out there and become awkward I said,

"So what have you been up to?"

I hadn't seen him since the movies, which was a couple weeks ago. Funny.

He shrugged. "Nothing."

Wow, what an amazing answer.

"I see your conversational skills haven't improved. I'm gunna have to work on that with you." I teased.

That earned me a glare.

"So where are you headed?"

I got the feeling that he didn't want to be bothered with me, but didn't exactly want to tell me to go away either.

"Store." Was his curt reply.

"Can I come?" I asked. He looked at me and shrugged.

Wait, was that a yes or a no? He was so vague. I made the decision for him.

"So…"

Awkward silence.

"You talk too much." Sasuke said. "It's annoying."

I narrowed my eyes. "Well excuse me."

More awkward silence.

We reached the store quickly, and I watched as he picked up a handful of tomatoes.

"Preparing for a tomato famine, are we?"

Another glare.

"You're not really a morning person, are you?" I accused.

"Whatever gave you that idea?" he was such a sarcastic bastard.

I huffed, crossing my arms. I didn't have to stand for this. Or sit for this, for that matter.

"Yeah, I'll just come back when you're in a better mood." I commented brazenly. Now he ticked me off. "But I won't hold my breath waiting for that to happen." I added, smiling to myself.

"You know what, Sasuke? You're nothing special. There's nothing so great about you. I don't know why so many girls like you. All you are is the newest fad. A commodity. That's all. There's nothing to you." I sneered.

"Fuck you." He replied.

"No, you asshole. All I'm trying to do is be your friend. And trust me, it's hard, since you're such a bastard. But forget it. You're definitely not worth it."

I know I probably said a lot of stuff out of anger, but I couldn't help it. I had a bad temper. And I knew it.

I heard him mutter, "Annoying." Under his breath again.

Yeah, well he was annoying too.

Sasuke – as I had learned – was socially awkward. He never tried to put himself into social gatherings, but Naruto always dragged him along. I supposed he didn't have much experience with people. But I had to wonder if there was some underlying reason that he refused to get close to people.

I didn't dwell on it though, because it was none of my business.

Sasuke seemed to have moved past our fight. Well, he ignored it really. And I was never one to hold a grudge, so we both just moved along and acted as if it never happened. We didn't bring it up, or apologize to each other or anything.

Even still, I hadn't gotten all that much closer to Sasuke since, and I didn't really care all that much. Sure he was gorgeous. But he was only one person in the world. One person. But we were on friendly terms. I texted him occasionally. He never texted me, so if I wanted to talk, I had to initiate it. But that didn't deter me in the slightest.

Sasuke was like, an acquired taste.

Personality wise, that is.

Visually, all the girls swooned over him.

He didn't seem to like it much.

Something Naruto had replied saying, "Dude if that were me, I'd take advantage of that. I'd have girls all over me, believe it!"

I had rolled my eyes and listened while Sasuke rebutted saying, "Dobe, girls wouldn't want to be in a room with you after they figured out how dimwitted you are."

I giggled at their brotherly quarrel.

Naruto knew that I thought he was hot.

How? Well let's take a look:

"Ne, Saku-chan. It's so obvious that you like Sasuke."

I shot Naruto a look. "I don't like him. I just am able to appreciate his redeeming psychical attributes."

Naruto gave me a confused look.

Sigh.

"It means I'm able to admit he's good-looking."

Naruto nodded, mouthing an 'oh'.

"You want me to talk to him for you?" he supplied helpfully.

"No way! I'm not interested in him. He's just like a prize that everyone wants to win. He's just a person, I don't understand why everyone obsesses over him. If they got to know him, they'd realize what jerk he was."

Naruto looked somewhat hurt. "Saku, he's not a jerk. You don't understand…" he looked away. "He just, doesn't like getting close to people."

"Why not?" I asked, suddenly feeling guilty for saying that. After all, he had walked me home. He just needed to think before he spoke sometimes. His rude comments hurt people.

"Ever since his parents died…" he looked away.

"His parents died?" Sasuke was an orphan…

Wow. I was such a bitch.

I can't believe I said that.

Naruto nodded. "They were murdered. But that's all I'm going to say. It's not my story to tell."

I bit my lip and nodded. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean…"

"I know Saku-chan. Just don't give up on him, he's trying. He does things in his own subtle way."

I thought about our fight a little bit, and came to realize something. Maybe he was just having a bad day. A really bad day. Even if it was only morning. But maybe he had a bad day before that day.

Like maybe, his dream was to become like the next American Idol or something, and he got voted off because Simon didn't like his chicken butt hair. Maybe they even made him sing 'Bad Day' before he left. Maybe that's why he was in such a bad mood when I saw him.

Yeah, that was totally possible.

I'd be pretty pissed too if my dreams of becoming an amazingly talented singer were ruined.

So anyway, we were all at this party. And I didn't really know anyone there, so I kinda stuck by Naruto and Sasuke. After all, it was Naruto's idea that I even come in the first place.

I'd learned that with Sasuke, less is more.

So I didn't constantly talk to fill the silence.

In fact – compared to the blaring loud music in the other room – Sasuke's silence was pleasant.

We sat on the couch, my drink in my left hand and a bowl of chips in the other. Yeah, I was set for the night. Naruto had left to go socialize and left Sasuke to take care of me. Tch, as if I needed to be taking care of.

I closed my eyes and leaned back against the couch. I didn't want to sit here all night. That would be such a waste.

I opened my eyes and placed my drink on the table (without a coaster. Ohh, I'm bad).

"Do you want to dance?" I offered.

Sasuke shook his head gruffly. I shrugged. Oh well.

"Headache?" I asked. He nodded.

I didn't think that was the reason he wouldn't dance though. I dug through my purse and took out Tylenol, handing him two pills.

"Thanks." He responded, taking the pills immediately.

"Sure. Hey, can you watch my purse? I'll be back."

"Hn." Whatever. Just don't get lost.

"Don't worry, I won't get lost." I smiled and skipped to the other room.

There were plenty of guys to dance with. My eyes scanned the area.

"Hey there." Someone called. I turned around.

"Hi." I smiled. He was cute.

"The name's Suigetsu." He smirked, giving me a Cheshire Grin.

"Sakura." I replied, trying to act suave.

"Wanna dance?"

I nodded as he took my hand and led me closer to the music.

He placed his hands at my waist and I began to sway my hips, feeling his hands lower a bit.

I turned around, so that my back was facing him. I smirked to myself. I guess Ino's lessons on bumping and grinding were about to pay off.

I blushed when I felt him press against me, but I kept dancing.

Eventually I got lost in the music. My head began to feel heavy.

Did I drink too much?

Suddenly, I felt dizzy. The room spun.

I distantly heard the song end and felt him still.

I turned around. "Let's go upstairs." He said, whispering in my ear. He took my hand, as I stumbled along.

Wait, I wanted to say.

He led me to a room and sat me down on the bed. Once I was sitting I felt a little better. Suigetsu climbed over me, pressing me back against the mattress. He began kissing my neck.

"Hey," I protested weakly. It felt like an effort just to speak.

"What is it, princess?" he asked, sucking on my neck.

I struggled to push him away, or kick him or punch him or anything –

"Sakura."

Suigetsu leapt up upon hearing another male voice.

My body froze.

Sasuke.

He walked towards me with a menacing glare.

"Sasuke…" I whispered.

I used Suigetsu's shock to my advantage, pushing him off of me. He toppled over onto the floor and rubbed his head. "What was that for princess?" he asked surly.

I scrambled to my feet and ran to Sasuke's side. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder protectively and led me out of the room.

"What were you thinking?" he hissed once we had gotten back downstairs.

My head was still dizzy. I rubbed my temples. "I wasn't." was my reply.

"I can see that." He said levelly. Although he noticed that I was staggering. "You're drunk." He stated obviously.

"And you're not watching my purse." I rebuffed.

Sasuke shook his head and brought us back to the room we were first sitting in. I plopped on the couch, a wave of vertigo rushing through my body.

"You are a lightweight." He accused teasingly.

I nodded, unable to fight him on that one. "Thank you."

"You're lucky I came to find you." He stated seriously.

"I know."

The rest of the night I stayed glued to his side. Drunk or not, I remember burying my head against his chest, taking advantage of the moment.

And I remember him letting me.

"Sasuke!" I smiled, jumping on his back.

Ever since that night at the party, something sparked. We grew closer. I was grateful that he saved me from God knows what could have happened, but also, it seemed that he felt as though I needed protecting. And of course, with his ego and pride, he had to be the one doing the protecting.

It's been like six months since we met. Not like I was counting or anything.

But he began texting me first. And actually asking – demanding rather – to hang out. It'd be like:

The park. Four o' clock. Be there.

I had to admit, there was this certain sex appeal thing he had going. He was all dominating and demanding. It was pretty hot.

However! I did not like being told what to do. Probably because I was childish and immature but that is so totally beside the matter.

But I knew that I'd never reject him. I didn't want to risk whatever bond I had grown with him to dissipate.

Sasuke didn't seem surprised to see me; in fact it was as if he expected it. He turned and smiled as I jumped off his back, just in time for me to wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him softly. He pressed me against him and leaned into the kiss and –

Okay, I lied.

So he didn't kiss me.

Or smile.

But he did turn! And state in a sexy voice, "Sakura." Man what he could do to me just by saying his name.

Was I shallow? Probably. Did I care? Certainly not.

So I jumped off his back and resumed to walk next to him. I grinned, "That's my name, don't wear it out." Sasuke merely rolled his eyes. I liked how relaxed he seemed to be around me now. As if he let his guard down or something. That made me happy.

So, I think he knows that I think he's hot.

Yeah, that probably seems random but the other day I heard Naruto talking to him and I think they were talking about me and my feelings toward Sasuke. Pretty embarrassing. But then again, he knew since day one that I thought he was hot. I mean, that whole stunt that I pulled with Ino in the café was pretty hard not to notice.

Which reminds me.

Yeah, Sasuke makes it part of his like routine to stop by the café.

But only when I'm working. That's gotta say something, right? Something?

And no – I did not find it creepy at all that he knew my work schedule. Even if he didn't ask me. He could be like, psychic for all I knew.

"Are you a psychic?" I blurted out. Sorry, the curiosity was killing me.

He looked at me as if I had five heads before responding drying, "No."

I snapped my fingers, "Darn. That rules out a lot."

He shook his head. "What in the world goes on in that head of yours?" he mumbled. I smiled sheepishly.

"Didn't you know? I'm completely insane. Mad. Crazy. It's part of my charm."

"Charm? Is that was it is? I thought it was just mental retardation."

"Mou, that was not nice at all Sasuke-kun." I pouted.

"I'm sorry, I just thought that the dobe might have rubbed off on you." He smirked cockily. Heh, cock. Yeah, I'm that immature.

"No, but I think he's rubbing off on you. You've been strangely social lately. Are you sick or something?" I asked with concern. He flicked my forehead.

"Annoying."

You see, even though he called me annoying, it had grown to this weird term of endearment sort of thing. Yeah, he was fond of me.

Inwardly, I did a victory dance. Then I reminded myself that I didn't know how to dance. So I probably looked ridiculous.

Then I reminded myself that I was only dancing in my head, thus having no chance of looking ridiculous.

But then I reminded myself that I had stopped walking to process all this information and was staring into space thus looking ridiculous.

"What are you doing?" he asked, trying to look into the distance and see what I was looking at.

"Nothing, nothing." I brushed off.

I bit my lip. "Hey Sasuke-kun?"

He looked down at me. I rocked back and forth on my heels. "You love me right?"

He rolled his eyes.

"How much do you love me?" I asked.

"What do you want?" was his retort.

I smiled. "What makes you think I want something?"

"Because you do."

"You lied!" I accused. He arched an eyebrow. "You are psychic!"

He sighed heavily, as if he was exhausted with the conversation. "No, I'm not. What do you want?"

"Fine, fine," I allowed, "will you please be my date to the end of the year dance?"

He looked into the distance.

"Please?" I prod.

"Pretty please? With tomatoes on top?"

Oh yeah, I was good.

"I don't dance." He stated somewhat awkwardly. I shook my head.

"Trifles. Neither do I. If you want, you can consider it like an escort or something. We don't have to dance." I clarified.

He shrugged. "This isn't some weird plan you devised to rape me or something, is it?"

"Oh darn, you got me." I said sarcastically. He chuckled lowly.

"Alright." He agreed.

Yeah, that's how you score a man.

We were at the dance. I was wearing this really pretty green dress that Ino said complimented my eyes nicely. Ino decided to go with a friend of hers, Shikamaru, while Naruto went with my friend Hinata.

I noticed that when we got there, a lot of girls were glaring at me. This just fueled my happiness.

"You know what," I whispered to Sasuke, "I find it funny how many girls are pissed at me right now."

I giggled.

"Might as well play up the role." Sasuke said, his arm wrapping around my shoulder.

"Have I told you that I love you?" I smiled, laughing to myself at the girl's reaction.

"Something like that." He murmured as we took our seats.

As promised, I didn't make Sasuke dance with me. I however, didn't care if I made a fool of myself. So I went to the dance floor with Ino and Hinata for a girl's only dance.

It was pretty obvious that I had no idea what I was doing. But I really didn't care. I smiled and had a good time. Once the song was over, I went back to my seat.

"Nice dance moves." Sasuke commented.

"Let's see you try and top that." I challenged.

Sasuke merely shook his head and took a sip of his iced tea (I think I was rubbing off on him, cause he stopped drinking soda).

I watched as couples gathered to the floor for a slow song.

I kinda wanted to dance with Sasuke, but I didn't want to push him.

"Teme, why don't you dance with Saku-chan? After all she is your date." Naruto called from the dance floor.

"Dobe, butt out." Sasuke said through clenched teeth.

"Seriously, get your butts over here." Ino shouted.

I glanced over at Sasuke, only to find him looking at me. There was the silent question.

Do you want to dance? My eyes asked him.

Apparently, he didn't get the signal.

"Do you want to…?" he trailed off. I shrugged, trying to act indifferent.

"Only if you do."

He didn't say anything, but he stood and held his out for me to take. Smiling brightly, I accepted and allowed him to lead me on to the dance floor. And I noticed how dashing he looked in a suit. Even if he took the top jacked off and he only had a collared shirt on now. Still, the tie added major sex appeal.

"Sasuke does things in his own subtle way."

I remembered Naruto's words and smiled to myself.

Once we reached the dance floor, Sasuke placed his hands at my waist and I wrapped my arms around his neck, as we began to sway to the music, trying to find the rhythm.

"This isn't so bad." I commented.

"Yeah."

"You know, you look really hot right now. The tie defiantly gives you points." I giggled, loving how bold I had become with him recently.

He leaned closer to me. "You better not rape me." he whispered against the shell of my ear.

"Can't rape the willing." I quipped.

He smirked, "You're right."

And then he did something that I never would have thought that Sasuke Uchiha would ever do. He bent down and pressed his lips to mine softly, hesitantly. I could feel my heart pounding and my eyes widen and I swear I heard a gasp from someone (probably Ino). But my body acted as if it was waiting for this to happen all along and maybe it was.

My hands wound themselves in his dark and silky locks, and I pressed myself closer to him. His hands moved to my lower back, holding me in place. I stood on my tippy toes, leaning in to the kiss, prolonging it.

When we finally parted, I was panting.

I pressed my forehead to his. "Wow."

"Don't be annoying." He warned, closing his eyes.

I smiled. "You may be just another hot commodity," he opened his eyes at this, remembering our fight, "but you're my hot commodity."

He smirked. "I thought I told you not to be annoying."

My hand on the back of his neck pulled his head towards mine so I could kiss him again.

A/N – This was just a random idea that I had out of nowhere. It all started with me coming up with the title, and then wanting to write a one shot about it because I liked how the title sounded.

This was just like a crack fic to fill my readers until my next update. Hope you enjoyed.

Review please!