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Note: I know this story has way too many flashbacks within the flashback. I'm sorry but they're really necessary (or at least I think so.)

As you may have noticed, (6.4) did not end with a scene from the present.

Basically, we are still in the flashback.

/Giving you a heads up. There will be a "never before recalled" flashback/ within this flashback.

Warning: Flashback-/ception *But then again… it has always been.*/

(7.1)

XXXXX

"/If he hadn't been the boy that Ino like back then…"/

/Noir/

/./

/./

/./

"SASORI!"

Sasori turned around and saw Sakura running pass people to get to him.

He let out a sigh then smiled at her. "You came looking for me.", he told her as she was getting closer.

"Of course I looked for you!"Sakura stop to catch her breath as soon as she was in front of him."Don't go disappearing just like that!"

"That proves it. I really am a bad person." Sasori had his palm on his face. "It made me happy to know that my leaving had an effect on you."

Sakura moved closer to smack him on the chest. "Don't say something so sad!"

"Then allow me to say something else." Sasori held her hand to keep it planted on his chest.

Sakura nodded as she looked at him with sad eyes.

"But first…" Sasori let go of her hand. "…Close your eyes."

"Why.", questioned Sakura.

"Just do as I tell you."

Sakura scowled at him.

Sasori raised his hands. "I won't do anything funny I swear."

Sakura let out a sigh of defeat. She stood straight and closed her eyes.

…

She flinched as soon as she felt Sasori hugged her.

"No peeking.", murmured Sasori

Sakura stilled.

Sasori leaned and whispered in her ear.

"We've known each other since we were kids and… For as long as I can remember, I kept praising you and told you all the words that I knew you wanted to hear the most. That's why… I was really confident that when it comes to you, I would win. No matter what.

All I wanted was for you to see just how smart and beautiful you truly are. I wanted you to appreciate the good things about you that I love. And… that was really all I ever did. I focused on all the good things about you.

You've changed. /In a good way/. I saw it and I felt it. It's like… Little by little, you started to like even the parts of yourself that you use to hate. You've become braver and stronger and… /kinder/. You've become… far more beautiful than ever.

And… It all happened in just the short while since he became a part of your life. How can I possibly beat that?!"

Tears formed in Sakura's eyes.

"I will always be grateful to you for loving me. But… you can never love me the way I want you to… because… you were never in-love with me.", continued Sasori. "The only person you ever truly fell in love with… was Sasuke."

Sasori drew himself back and gently brushed his thumbs over her eyes. "Don't open them yet."

He then wiped her tears and said; "Now I need you to count to twenty before you open them okay?"

Sakura nodded.

Sasori then started smoothing down her hair.

…

…

…

Sakura sighed heavily before opening her eyes.

She looked around but Sasori was nowhere in sight.

She then looked down at her hair that Sasori had undone.

.

.

.

Sakura sighed.

"Wow Sakura. I swear, only when you're on mopping duty, does the floor sparkle like this."

Sakura looked away from the floor that she had been staring at and turned towards Karin.

Karin was getting the chairs off from the table on the side of the room that Sakura had already finished mopping.

"If you keep this up, Orochimaru-san is going to permanently assign the task of mopping the floor to you.", said Kin Tsuchi as she wiped the top of the tables that Karin has cleared.

"Ten minutes everyone before we turn the sign.", announced Tayuya as she walked in. She then looked at the floor. "Sakura, you must really like mopping huh?"

Sakura started scratching her cheek with her index finger. "I actually scrub floors a lot. My mom runs a bath house and one of my everyday chores is cleaning the woman's bath."

"Oh."

Tayuya returned to the kitchen as the three other girls - who were all wearing a white blouse shirt, a grey three pocket waist apron over a black mini skirt, and a pair of black clogs – returned to each of their own task.

.

.

.

Sakura approached the door to turn the sign.

Just as she unlocked the door, she noticed Naruto smiling at her as he was looking through the glass panels. He was wearing a black t-shirt, orange skinny jeans and a pair of black sneakers.

"Naruto?"

"Hey. Sakura-chan! How have you been? Haven't seen you since the fireworks show? That was about… two weeks ago.", said Naruto as he opened the door. "What happened by the way? You and erm… Sasori left early."

"Y-Yeah. W-Welcome to Sound Country~!"

Naruto rubbed the back of his head. "I'm not really here as a customer today though. I've got no money but Sasuke said I could hang around here since your boss is away on a business trip."

"Oh."

"I like the new uniform!", Naruto added. "That one looks good on you too."

"Oh. T-Thanks."

"But, what happened to the old one?"

"We have multiple sets of uniform. We change into another set every two weeks.", explained Sasuke as he suddenly appeared behind Naruto. "Now move Dobe. You're blocking the entrance."

Sakura's face turned red as he walked in.

"What are you getting uptight for, Teme? Weren't you gonna use the service door like all the other employees?"

"You told me that you saw someone turning the sign. You had me follow you."

"Not really. I just pointed out that she was opening the door."

She could only focused on Sasuke.

/"I will always be grateful to you for loving me. But… you can never love me the way I want you to… because… you were never in-love with me.

The only person you ever truly fell in love with… was Sasuke."/

"I… Uhm…", she mumbled. "I- I'm gonna head back now."

Sakura quickly made a move to leave them.

On her way to the break room, she could still hear Naruto talking to Sasuke;

("That felt oddly familiar. She seemed a little distant. Wasn't that how she acted towards me back in freshman year? Right before she started giving me the cold shoulder and then she just stopped hiding her dislike of me.")

Sakura halted as she suddenly felt a pang of guilt.

("She can't possibly be starting to… dislike me again? Is she?")

Sakura considered going back to clear things up.

("Hey, Teme. Answer me.")

She was about to go back but then she heard footsteps approaching. She then realized that Sasuke was also heading to the break room to change into his uniform.

Sakura started looking around for an escape. She moved towards the nearest door, opened the door, walked in and closed the door behind her.

.

.

.

/Noir/

…

/../

/./

Sometime during their freshman year;

Sakura and Ino walked out of the school building and along the covered path towards the other building.

"Hurry up, Forehead!", Ino quickened her pace. "We've kept Sasori waiting for almost half an hour."

"Yeah." Sakura matched Ino's pace. "Sorry about that."

Ino suddenly slowed down.

"Ino?", Sakura wondered. "What happened to 'hurry up'?"

Ino started tugging on the hem of Sakura's vest.

"That's him!", Ino whispered. She was blushing heavily as she was looking at a boy by the vending machine. . "The boy from my class that I've been telling you about."

"The one you have a crush on?", Sakura inquired as she glanced at none other than Uchiha Sasuke.

...

Sasuke noticed their presence because he turned to glance at the two girls moving along the covered walk.

...

"Don't let him catch you looking at him!", Ino instructed as she walked along Sakura stiffly.

Sakura looked onward to avoid eye contact.

Sasuke went back to picking out his drink and Ino held Sakura's hand and pulled her as she rushed towards the nearest pillar. Ino hid behind the pillar, holding Sakura close and out of Sasuke's view as well.

The two girls stood very close to one another, facing each other.

"He didn't catch you looking at him, did he?", asked Ino.

"I… I'm not sure.", answered Sakura.

"There you are!"

The two girls turned towards Sasori who saw them from the other building and is now headed towards them.

"I went out of my way to eat lunch with the two of you because you've been pestering me about spending time and hanging out like we used to and you stood me up to- to… do /this/.", said sasori as he approached them. "Wait. What are the two of you doing?"

"We were just-" Sakura stepped away from Ino and peeked at Sasuke again. "Ino, he's not looking."

...

Sasuke stepped away from the vending machine, with his drink in hand.

...

Ino sighed in relief. She then started pulling both Sasori and Sakura away. "Come on! Let's just get out of here."

"Wh-What's wrong? What's going on here?!" Sasori was confused.

"That was Ino's crush.", shared Sakura.

"Seriously?" Sasori looked back at Sasuke.

Sasuke was already walking towards the bench near the parking lot.

"I'm actually surprised.", commented Sasori. "I thought you were into Nara."

"Shikamaru?!", Ino retorted. "Ew! Gross! He's my childhood friend!"

"What's wrong with liking your childhood friend?!", Sasori argued.

Sakura blushed.

"Oh-ho!~", Ino grinned. "I get it now."

"Shut it!", Sasori warned her.

("Teme!")

Sakura, without stopping, quickly turned to look towards the bench where Sasuke was now seated.

She saw Naruto approaching Sasuke.

['No way. Those two can't possibly be…']

("You're already eating. Why didn't you wait for me?!")

['perhaps it's just a coincidence.']

"Sakura?" Sasori called her attention. "Something the matter?"

"Huh?!" Sakura turned to Sasori.

"You were looking at those two so intently.", Sasori noted.

"Oh. It's… him."

...

("And here I was feeling guilty and worrying about you starving as you wait for me.")

Sakura motioned for the blonde boy. "Naruto! He's in my class. He's the reason why Ino had to wait outside my classroom for twenty minutes. Iruka-sensei was mad at him for disrupting his lecture. And since most of the students found his talking back to our teacher hilarious, our teacher felt the need to keep the entire class inside the classroom even after the bell as punishment. He then gave us a pop quiz."

"I see." Sasori gave the two boys one last look before leading the girls into the building. "Anyway, let's hurry before the cafeteria runs out of food."

.

.

.

One afternoon;

Sakura was sitting on the bench near the school gate, going over her lessons.

Naruto was on his way to the other bench when he noticed Sakura. "S-Sakura-chan?", he called to her.

Sakura looked away from her book, raising her eyebrows.

['Oh. This guy. What does he want from me?']

"Naruto… right?"

"Yep. You're not heading home yet?", wondered Naruto as he reluctantly approached her.

"Nope. I'm waiting for someone."

"One of your friends?", he inquired.

"Yes."

"Uh…"

"I- Yamanaka from class B."

"Oh. The girl.", Naruto smiled.

Sakura wrinkled her forehead.

"T-The blonde girl you're always with outside the class.", continued Naruto.

"Yes." Sakura answered matter of fact.

"Let me guess. She is the class rep and she's attending a meeting right now?"

Sakura nodded uninterestingly.

"I thought so. She seemed the type.", Naruto noted.

…

For a moment Naruto debated whether to return to the other bench or stay. He eventually chose the latter. "I'm actually waiting on someone as well." Naruto shared. "Do you mind if I wait for them with you?"

['I do. Actually.']

"No. Not at all."

"Okay.", Naruto grinned.

…

"Err…" Naruto considered for a moment. "Can I… sit here with you… while we wait?"

"Oh!"

['Seriously?!']

Sakura moved her bag and scooted further to the left to give Naruto space. "S-sure."

"Thanks." Naruto took his seat beside her.

Sakura went back to reading her book.

"So~", Naruto started.

['Of course, he wants to talk.']

"Is it just me or… is that math homework gonna be painful to deal with later tonight?"

"Uhm…" Sakura looked away from her book again. "I actually finished it during the break."

"Seriously?!" Naruto was amazed. "All fifteen problems?"

"Yep."

"Whoah! You're just as smart as Shikamaru."

"Do you really think so?", Sakura suddenly seemed more interested to listen to Naruto.

"Y-Yeah! Sure! Probably even smarter!" Naruto kept the compliment going.

"I… could teach you if you're having any problems with the lessons?", she offered.

"Really?!" Naruto beamed.

"Yeah!"

"Wow! Kinder too! Shikamaru would be too lazy to teach me. He'd just let me copy it."

"So you're waiting for Shikamaru. He's in the meeting too right?"

"Oh, no. I'm actually waiting for Sasuke. He's been called by one of the teachers. The literature club advisor, I think."

"Sasuke? Who's that?"

"You don't know him? Sasuke? Uchiha Sasuke?! You- Err…" Naruto studied Sakura's facial expression carefully. "You seriously never heard of him?"

Sakura shook her head. "No. Sorry. Is he supposed to be well known?"

"He- He's very popular among the girls. Tall. Dark hair. Beautiful eyes. Really handsome… /According to the girls/!" Naruto cleared his throat.

Sakura then remembered the boy Ino was crushing on. The same guy he saw Naruto talking to some time ago.

['That person?']

"He's in your friend's class.", Naruto continued.

"Oh. /Him/."

"So you have heard of him? And what do you know? … Here he comes."

Sakura turned to look at the direction Naruto gestured at.

"Teme!", Naruto yelled.

Sasuke had just walked out of the main entrance of the school building.

Sakura suddenly felt uneasy when he made his way towards them.

"So? What was that all about?", Naruto stood up and questioned Sasuke as soon as he was within earshot. "Did you get in trouble?"

Sasuke shook his head.

Sakura kept her eyes away from Sasuke as she started playing with her braid.

…

"Right!" Naruto realized. "Sakura-chan."

"Yes!", Sakura quickly turned to Naruto.

"Let me introduce my best friend. Uchiha Sasuke."

Sakura had no choice but to stand up and look at him.

Sasuke just stared at her.

She felt her heart skip a beat.

"And Sasuke." Naruto turned to him with a smile. "This is/ my/ classmate, Haruno Sakura-chan."

"N-Nice to meet you.", she told him.

Sasuke looked at Naruto's facial expression once over before looking at Sakura. He nodded at her.

Inspite of her bashfulness, Sakura manage to smile.

An image of Ino blushing suddenly flashed through her mind and then the smile on her face faded.

"I… I have to go!", she suddenly blurted out.

"Your friend's not here yet though.", said Naruto.

"Y-Yeah but… I just remembered something that I had to do." Sakura gathered her things and made a move to leave.

She sidestepped Sasuke and walked towards the school building.

"Oh, Okay. We'll see you around… I guess?", Naruto yelled to her.

Sakura carefully look back and reluctantly nodded before walking away faster.

.

.

.

Once inside, Sakura ran towards the shoe locker to hide from their sight.

['No. No. No. No! NO!'

Sakura's free hand went over her mouth. She then started feeling her cheeks go warm.

/Oh no/. Me too? Seriously?!

Her hand moved over to her eyes.

I can't possibly be interested in the same guy.

Sakura pulled her hand away from her face and started moving it like a fan.

It's probably because that guy was really attractive. Yeah that's it! Naruto did say he was popular with the girls. Uchiha Sasuke was it now. He was undeniably handsome so it's only natural that I-']

"Forehead!"

Sakura was startled.

"S-Sorry!" Ino was snickering despite her apology. "I thought you'd wait for me by the gate. Why are you here? And… What were you doing just now looking all flushed?"

"I uhm…"

"Is Sasori somewhere nearby?" Ino started looking around. "You know I'm starting to think he likes you too."

Sakura blushed. "Oh, Stop it!"

Ino giggled.

"Just hurry up and change your shoes so we can go now.", Sakura demanded.

"Hai. Hai."

Sakura watched on as Ino changed her shoes.

['Finding an obviously gorgeous guy… /gorgeous/, doesn't mean that I like him.

She reached for her hairclips.

Besides, I've had a crush on Sasori for a while now.']

.

.

.

"Hey, Sakura-chan!", Naruto greeted her as he met her in the hallway.

Sakura was about to smile at him when she noticed Sasuke following behind him. She then quickly lowered her head and quickened her pace.

"Err… Sakura-chan?"

"Sorry. I'm in a hurry.", she muttered, keeping her head lowered as she passed by them.

.

.

.

Naruto approached Sakura as soon as the teacher left the classroom. "Any chance I can take you up on your offer to teach me?", he told her.

"I…"

"Naruto.", Choji called him from the door. "Someone's asking for you."

Sakura saw Sasuke outside their classroom.

"I can't… today… actually. Maybe another time.", said Sakura before picking up her things and leaving the room in a hurry.

.

.

.

One afternoon while their class was in the library;

Lee sat in front of Sakura during the activity.

A blushing Lee mustered the courage to start a conversation. "Uhm. Sakura-san?"

"Yeah." Sakura looked up from her work.

"Could you help me with this problem? I seem to be having a great difficulty solving it."

Sakura was about to help Lee when she caught a glimpse of Naruto looking at them.

['If I entertain Lee, it will be obvious to Naruto that I'm only avoiding him. I'm not prepared to give him an explanation as to why so…']

"I… I-If you can't understand how it arrived to that answer with an /open book/, then… I doubt I can do anything to help you.", she shut him down.

"Oh… I understand.", Lee lowered his head in disappointment. "Y-You have a point. I'll go over it again and try harder to learn it this time."

['Sorry. Hang in there.']

.

.

.

Sakura walked out of the classroom and found Naruto and Sasuke hanging around in the hallway.

Naruto noticed her and both boy's attention turned to her.

Coincidentally, Sakura saw Sasori as he just descended the stairs.

"Sasori!", she called to him.

Sasori stopped and turned around to look her way.

Sakura ran towards him. "Are you heading to the cafeteria?"

"Yeah."

"Can I join you?"

"S-Sure. But… where's Ino?"

"Absent. It's just you and me today. Hope that's okay with you?"

"Of course." Sasori seemed happy. He then noticed the two boys looking at them.

Naruto quickly looked away while Sasuke only rolled his eyes.

"Come on then." Sakura grab his arm and pulled him forward.

Sasori turned to Sakura again, blushing slightly. "O-Okay.", said Sasori as he let her lead the way.

.

..

…

Two years later;

/"Since you've been a student of Konoha high school for two years now, I'm sure you've heard about me and this method of 'pairing' I implement on all of the classes I've handled in all my years of teaching here in this school…

I will group you into pairs…

…Whose ever name is written above yours, will be your assigned partner…

…

/"That's all of you. So~ Are you guys ready for the reveal?"/

…

…

…

/"Sakura's the one who really got it easy."/

'Uchiha Sasuke'

…

/"Uhm, Naruto?"/

/"Huh?! Sakura-chan?! … What is it? It's unusual for you to be the one to come to me for anything."

/"It's about Uchiha Sasuke."/

/"Oh."/

/"You're friends with him right?"/

/"Sorry Sakura-chan! … That was a long time ago. We don't get to talk much anymore."/

…

/"… You're just gonna have to suck it up forehead."/

/"So, what's with Uchiha? … What's with him and Naruto? … Did he and Naruto fight or something?

/"…Naruto has gotten so popular and everyone who's important in school is his friend, they're obviously siding with him. Everyone's assuming that Naruto's still upset with him so everyone just stayed away from Sasuke."/

/"Wait! I'm not exactly tolerant of Naruto either. I'm not getting the same treatment."

/"Uh, Forehead, you probably didn't know this but, a lot of people actually hate you because of how you treat Naruto."/

/"But, do you think, if those two were in good terms, Naruto could've helped me?"/

/"Oh, Sakura. If those two were in good terms, Sasuke would hate you for treating Naruto like shit!"/

(Sakura scowled…)

/"So, you know a lot about Uchiha huh?"/

/"I-I used to have a little crush on him."/

/"What about Sakura? Did you think he was cute back then?"/

/"Nah! She's been in love with our childhood friend for as long I can remember."/

(Sakura kept her position and did not join the conversation again. Not even when she became their topic.)

.

.

.

['If he hadn't been the boy that Ino like back then,

If I didn't go through all that effort to avoid him just because he made my heart skipped a beat that one time,

Would I have fallen in love with Sasuke-kun way back then?

...

/That/ doesn't even matter anymore!

The problem is that I'm in love with him /now/. /I'm in love with Sasuke-kun./

And even after all that I've been through to… to… contain my… /feelings/, to… to… hold myself back. After. Everything. I-I did to keep Sasori-

Sasori. He's… /gone/! And I'm… I'm…

I'm available?']

.

.

.

"What the hell does that entail?!" Sakura grumbled frustratingly. "What the hell am I supposed to do? What is the 'right thing' to do? What… do I want to do?"

Sakura was suddenly startled when Suigetsu opened the door, illuminating the small space she was hiding in.

"Seriously?!", came Karin's voice. "You're checking the broom closet? There's no way she'd be in th- Oh."

Karin appeared behind Suigetsu and was taken aback by Sakura's presence inside the closet.

…

"We… have… customers." Karin glanced at Suigetsu and then turned back to Sakura. "You are needed at the bar."

"I'm on my way.", Sakura tried to be casual.

"O~kay." Karin walked away.

Sakura and Suigetsu lingered a while longer before moving from their respective positions.

Suigetsu looked around the small space. "Who were you talking to?"

"I-I… I'm just gonna..." Sakura desperately pleaded to be let go.

Suigetsu moved back to give way to her as she stepped out of the closet.

Sakura straightened herself before leaving a confused Suigetsu in the hallway.

.

.

.