Even after Itachi got back from his conference, Sasuke still found himself going to the cafeteria for his meals at least a couple times a week, without his roommates. Unknowingly, he developed the habit of scanning the room for a head of pink hair every time he was in there. He'd yet to see her again, but it didn't stop him from looking.

Today, he went to the cafeteria alone again. He told himself it was because it was convenient - Sasuke had had to go oversee the renovations on their offices, and this cafeteria was the closest to the west gate. The fact that it happened to be the cafeteria that was most convenient for Sakura to grab lunch at... wasn't part of his calculations. At all.

Holding a couple of onigiri and a can of coffee, he scanned the bustling cafeteria. This time, he did spot her, sitting in the back corner of the cafeteria. She was eating a sandwich and smiling at the girl with long hair in front of her. Unconsciously, his feet turned him towards that part of the cafeteria.

Would it be awkward if I sit beside them? If the other girl is also a CS student, I could make the excuse of joining my juniors. That wouldn't be unheard of, right?

When he got closer though, just out of earshot, and just as he was rehearsing how to ask her if the seat beside her was taken, he got a good look at the face of the girl she was talking with. He paused. Because Sakura's seatmate wasn't a girl.

It was a guy.

Quite an attractive one, even though he had very long hair and pale eyes.

And then Sakura leaned over, dropped her voice, and whispered something in a low tone to her conversational partner. The scene looked oddly.... intimate.

I should probably go straight home and review those contracts. Sasuke's steps picked up. He purposely ignored Sakura as he walked by her table, right out the door behind her, and through the courtyard towards the professor's quarters.

He ignored the leaden feeling in his heart when she didn't even notice him, either.

(￣ヘ￣)

"Say that again?" Sakura fought hard to maintain her smile as she leaned forward and dropped her volume. Hinata's insufferable cousin elegantly wiped his mouth. She was so focused on the dumbass in front of her that she ignored the niggling part of her subconsciousness that told her she missed something important.

"I said," Neji obligingly repeated himself, "that I understand why you would do it."

Sakura gritted her teeth. This is what I get for trying to play nice with any of Hinata's bonkers family. She was seriously regretting her spur of the moment decision to sit across from this lunatic and mend bridges. Somehow, she'd thought anyone who helped Tenten get back to her dorms after she'd been injured couldn't be that bad. How naive. First, it'd been ten minutes of one-word answers to her desperately cheerful small-talk as she choked down her sandwich. Now, he came out with this idiocy! Her cheek muscles were hurting from so much fake smiling, dammit!

"Could you please be more specific as to what exactly I'm doing?" Sakura asked as politely as she could. She stuffed the last of her sandwich into her mouth to keep herself from screaming.

"Compensated dating," Neji replied calmly.

That. Is. IT. "Come with me," standing up, Sakura slammed her palms into the cafeteria table.

Neji looked up at her startled. His eyes widened even further when cracks spread from underneath her palms, reached his side of the table, and then the entire table broke apart. The bowl he'd been eating his noodles from dropped to the floor.

Without another word, he picked up his bowl, placed it on the seat beside him, and picked up his bag to follow her out. Too irritated to be polite, Sakura marched towards the courtyard outside the cafeteria, all the way out to one shady corner surrounded by high hedges. Looking left and right to make sure they were well and truly alone, she spun and glared at him before she let him have it.

He still looks as snotty and judgemental as ever. I'll never figure it out how he and Hinata-chan are cousins.

"Look, I don't need to explain myself to you, but I'm going to anyways for Hinata-chan's sake. I was tutoring a young kid with a psychopathic streak who doesn't like any authority figures, including me. His grandfather dropped me off after a particularly hard session one day, and the little shit hacked the convenience store footage to get so-called incriminating pictures, and posted it on the forums in a childish attempt to ruin my life. That's all."

"Prove it," Neji shot back.

Sakura wanted to pull her hair out, "What part of I don't need to explain myself to you do you not understand?"

"The part where I can convince Hinata's father to pull her out of the dorms if I find enough circumstantial evidence against you," Neji said icily.

Sakura really wanted to punch him, but she knew she had to be careful, so she gathered her patience again, "How do you want me to prove it then?"

"Paystubs or confirmation from your employer."

Sakura rubbed her temples in frustration, "I can't provide either. Chiyo-obaasan doesn't trust banks so she paid me in cash, and they fired me after I brought up the whole forum incident to protect Sasori-kun's reputation. They won't even confirm that I worked for them because of it. I'm technically risking my NDA to tell you this at all."

Neji sneered, "How convenient for you."

Sakura threw up her hands, "All you have is a picture and stupid brain bug that I'm a fucking prostitute!"

"Actually I have more than that," Neji opened his bag and pulled out a folder, stiffly holding it out to her. Sakura glowered at him, but reluctantly snatched the folder from his hand and opened it up to start reading.

Neji watched her face as Sakura read. As she flipped through the pages, her face turned paler and paler, until she reached the last page, and even her lips were bloodless. Closing the dossier with a decisive slap, she glared at Neji.

"I can't believe the nerve of you-," Sakura hissed, "You spied on me! And not just me, my parents as well! You have my academic record, my bank account details, testimonials from my teachers, and even the details of the mortgage on my parent's bakery! How dare you!?"

Neji watched her closely. She was nearly breathless with rage, but Neji could also see a trace of fear in her eyes. Her hands were balled into tight fists, and he could see her shoulders tremble.

Truly a guilty conscience if I ever saw one, Neji snorted to himself. "We are very serious when it comes to protecting the reputation of our clan, Haruno-san."

"What the hell does that have to do with my privacy and my family's privacy?" Sakura shot back.

"What's good for the goose is good for the gander," Neji replied, "If you had just explained yourself properly first instead of... doing what you did, we probably would have let this issue go. But now... well, at least you know that we also have means. Even if it isn't prostitution, we will find out exactly what you were trying to hide from us. If it's anything that might harm Hinata-sama, be sure we will deal with you and your family appropriately."

SHANNARO! Sakura lost it.

WHAP! She threw the dossier in Neji's face. Neji couldn't react in time. The dossier hit him straight in the face then blew open, and papers scattered everywhere, all over the cobblestone, under the hedges, and even caught on the opening of Neji's briefcase. As papers fell down in enormous white flakes around them, the two of them stared at each other in stony silence, like a pair of gunslingers waiting for the other to shoot first.

"Investigate all you fucking want, Hyuuga-san. There's nothing in your precious dossier that indicates I'm doing anything illegal or wrong," Sakura finally ground out, "But if you dare to come near my family or publicize these unfounded speculations, I'll pull Chiyo-obaasan, Ebizo-ojisan, and Tsunade-shishou to come and testify on my behalf, damn the non-disclosure penalty, and then I'll drag the Hyuugas through the mud in the media with a slander lawsuit. I bet the diplomatic corps of your family will love the publicity. In fact, I bet all the family's connections would love to know how far the Hyuugas will go to dig dirt for such a minor matter."

With that said, and knowing she couldn't afford any more property damage charges this term, Sakura turned around and left, her back straight and proud.

Neji watched her go, frozen stiff with shock at her last threat. It was effective, as far as these things went. It was one thing for diplomats to dig up dirt on each other in the dark, it was entirely another for the dirty laundry to be dragged through the courts. She was just a nobody from a backwards town like Ushiogakure. Still, she had invoked the Dean of the Computer Science faculty's name, and he still didn't know who'd hacked the Hyuuga private servers. Given that only files related to his investigation on Haruno were deleted, he suspected her, but nothing in the very extensive background check he'd done indicated she'd had any proclivity for hacking. Still, she could have established a connection to a top hacker somehow. He would just have to continue with his current line of investigation in the game... but very, very carefully.

He bent over to pick up the papers that that vulgar woman had scattered all over the place, still fuming at her audacity. When he was looking down, however, he caught the soft sound of footsteps leaving the small courtyard that he and Haruno-san had both thought was deserted,

"Who's there?" He barked out sharply.

No one answered him. Neji quickly shoved all the papers into the folder and shoved folder back into his briefcase, then did a quick circle of the courtyard to see if anyone was around. However, since he didn't see anything suspicious, he allayed his suspicions and left the courtyard, moving north towards the foreign studies buildings to get on with his very busy schedule.

Near the south exit of the courtyard, Kin quickly looked around to see if the famous Hyuuga Neji from the Foreign Languages department had spotted her. When she realized she was safe, she took out a crumpled sheet of paper that she'd "accidentally" picked up and started scanning it. I just thought it was a good angle for people-watching the path from the West gate. Who knew the real show would happen in the courtyard! And it was Hyuuga-senpai and that Haruno girl!

A smirk curved her lips as she read through Haruno's bank statements. There were unexplained deposits of cash every two weeks, to the tune of a couple tens of thousands ryos. Sure, it could be tutoring wages (although that was four times what any other tutor could've made), but it could also be from compensated dating (a bit low, probably just right for how unattractive Haruno was).

Either way, Kin carefully tucked away the bank records. She'd deploy it at just the right moment for maximum effect, especially if Haruno was getting in the way of Ino-chan and Uchiha-senpai. If Haruno went to settle accounts, she could just then push the blame onto Hyuuga-senpai. Besides, between the two of them, she'd rather believe Hyuuga-senpai.

Kin smirked. How could she let such a moral stain continue in Konoha U and compete with Ino-chan for the campus beauty? She was doing it for the greater good. With that in mind, she skipped back towards her dorm room, smiling like the cat who stole the cream.

┬┴┬┴┤( ͡° ͜ʖ├┬┴┬┴

Chouji wanted to clobber whoever suggested they play pickup basketball. Not that he was playing, but he had somehow been roped in to sit on the bench to keep score. That would normally be fine, but it was still early March, which meant it was cold. Chouji scowled at the half court, where Kiba was trying to shoulder past Naruto, and Sasuke covered Shikamaru so he couldn't make a breakaway, and resentfully shoved another handful of chips into his mouth.

"Oi, Kiba, my grandaunty moves faster than you!"

"Fuck off Naruto!"

"Right there."

"Watch it, Shikamaru!"

"Troublesome..."

Chouji continued to snack as he watched, unimpressed, as the other guys struggled hard against each other on the court. The ball bounced, the sweat flew, and for all the damn twisting they did, no one moved more than a foot from where they started. He was just about to grab another bag of chips when Naruto finally snatched the ball from Kiba and took advantage of Shikamaru's inattention for just a second. That second was all Sasuke needed.

Finally, Chouji sighed in relief. In that moment when Shikamaru was looking the wrong way, Sasuke had already taken his shot from the three pointer line. All they could do was helplessly watch as the ball curved through the air in a perfect arc, not even touching the rim as they scored.

"Whoohoo!" Naruto pumped both arms in the air. He grabbed Sasuke's hand to pull him for some enthusiastic back thumps.

"Get off me, idiot," Sasuke shoved him off after a couple of pats. Naruto only laughed harder.

"Good game," Shikamaru came over.

"Next time I want to guard Sasuke. Naruto's too much of a pain in the ass," Kiba complained as he grabbed his towel and water bottle off the bench where Chouji was sitting.

"Don't hate me cause you can't beat me," Naruto grinned, taking a huge swig of his drink. Kiba elbowed him in the ribs, making Naruto spit the water he was drinking right onto Shikamaru. Sasuke dodged out of the way just in time.

"You guys are so troublesome." Shikamaru complained,

"You're dripping with sweat anyways," Kiba snickered, "Naruto just gave you a shower free of charge."

"Kiba!" Naruto started chasing him around the court with his towel.

"Here," Sasuke passed Shikamaru his extra towel. Shikamaru nodded in thanks, but grimaced at his state.

"Are you guys going to call it now?" Chouji asked, "I'm almost out of chips."

Sasuke was about to agree when a loud voice interrupted all of them, including Naruto chasing Kiba around the court.

"Yo, yo, yo! Is that the CompSci men's basketball team I see there?" A tall fourth year student with dark skin and long dreadlocks yelled at them. He was standing with two other stone faced guys, one with a burly appearance and the other looking aloof and elegant. The loudmouth made a striking contrast to his two friends. "The fools that didn't even make it to the game against the Chemistry department."

"Killer B! Gyuki!" Naruto cheered, walking over to greet them, "Hey guys!"

"Naruto my man," Killer B offered him a fist pump, which Naruto took him up on, "What were you doing, missing out on that game?"

"Company stuff," Naruto shrugged, "Hey Gyuki, what's up?"

"Naruto," The burly-looking guy nodded to him, and then to Kiba who wandered over as well, "Inuzuka."

Kiba nodded back, then nodded at the unfamiliar guy, "Who's this?" From where he was sitting, Shikamaru was wondering that as well - something about his long hair tied back in a ponytail and pale eyes prodded as his memory.

"Buddy of mine," Killer B grinned. The other guy nodded at them, "Thought he was looking too pasty so we decided to drag him out onto the court to get some sun. You guys down for a 3v3, first to five?"

"Probably," Naruto shrugged, then turned and shouted at the bench where the other three friends were sitting, "Shika! Sasuke! Do either of you want to play a 3v3 with the guys from the Foreign Languages team?"

"No," Shikamaru groaned. His butt remained firmly planted on the bench.

Chouji wasn't at all surprised by Shikamaru's reaction. He also expected Sasuke to just ignore Naruto since he'd already started changing his shoes, but Chouji was wrong.

Sasuke actually changed his shoes back and then stood up, water bottle in hand, to join the quintet on the side of the court. His eyes were focused on the one guy in the group that didn't play intramural basketball. "I will."

"Great!" Naruto cheered.

Shikamaru and Chouji glanced at each other, confused. What the heck is Sasuke doing?

More than a bit puzzled, Shikamaru watched closely as the guys picked up the ball and started playing again. Naruto and Killer B guarded each other with the true viciousness of close friends, flying elbows and all, while Kiba and Gyuki reminded Shikamaru of a sheep dog herding a bull. That left Sasuke with the new guy. The new guy wasn't from the Foreign Languages intramural team, but something about him made Shikamaru think he'd seen him before.

But Sasuke...

Sasuke was being.... nice?

Neither Naruto nor Kiba would notice in the heat of the game, and Killer B and Gyuuki wouldn't notice it either since they weren't all that familiar with Sasuke's play style. I bet Chouji's noticed something's off, even if he can't say exactly what, Shikamaru glanced at his childhood friend. He noticed that Chouji had slowed his chip-eating speed considerably.

Shikamaru was nearly sure of it though, when the new guy ducked under Sasuke's arm and nearly scored a basket before he passed it to Gyuki, who charged forward through Kiba for a layup that he couldn't block. Shikamaru frowned - The foreign languages guys scored a point?

"Haha, what were you saying earlier, Neji? You're pretty good at Basketball," Killer B high-fived him.

"Sasuke, what the hell man?" Kiba demanded.

"Worry about yourself before you worry about me," Sasuke muttered, wiping the sweat off his face with his shirt. The motion exposed his abs. A couple of girls who had gathered on the other side of the fence to watch and record exploded in twitters. Shikamaru ignored them. He was used to this troublesome scene.

He focused on the game instead. He watched as Sasuke stepped up and played to his usual calibre. But still...

1-1. Naruto scored the first point for the CS team by taking advantage of Killer B's split second of distraction when he had a spurt of inspiration for a new rap verse.

2-1. Kiba got his revenge on Gyuki with a well-timed intercept and passed it to Sasuke, who immediately passed it to Naruto, who took the shot from the three point line before Killer B turned around. Killer B cocked his head in confusion before he shook it off. Shikarmaru could tell that he'd expected Sasuke to go for a breakaway, just like he had.

2-2. 3-2. 3-3. 3-4. 4-4. Shikamaru watched in disbelief as the 3v3 match was drawn out to the very last point. Considering Sasuke, Naruto, and Kiba are all-stars in the intramural league, and while Killer B and Gyuki are good, but the last dude's no where near their level. How did this get to 4-4? What's going on with Sasuke? Sensing a puzzle he didn't necessarily want to solve, Shikamaru closed his eyes. The answer's probably a pain in the ass.

For this all important last point, the random dude took the ball, facing off with Sasuke. Shikamaru watched with half-lidded eyes, wondering what exactly Sasuke was playing at. Based on his actions, he'd probably let the dude at least get past him, but...

Shikamaru's prediction proved wrong. As soon as the guy started dribbling, Sasuke finally moved like they all knew he could. He intercepted the ball before the new guy even realized it was gone, brought it back to the end of the court to change sides, then threw it long as if he was going for a half-court shot. Naruto knew this move