I Don't Have Time to Play Dating Games with You! Please Vote!!!

Sakura Haruno's expression changed.

"Naruto punched me in front of everyone, and Hinata stood in front of him, stopping me from hitting him back!"

"How is that not wrong?"

Ino couldn't help saying, "Don't you often hit and kick Naruto in front of everyone?"

"As for Hinata..."

"When you were about to hit Naruto, she did step in front of you."

"How is that any different from when you stepped in front of Naruto to stop him from hitting Sasuke?"

Sakura Haruno couldn't help but freeze.

"You like Sasuke, so you want to protect him."

"Hinata just likes Naruto, too..."

"If that's wrong, then what you did wasn't any different..."

Sakura Haruno blurted out, "That's different!"

Ino frowned. "How?"

Sakura Haruno was at a loss for words.

"Anyway..."

"If you were really my best friend, you'd stand firmly on my side instead of arguing with me about what's right and wrong."

"I was wrong about you."

With that, Sakura Haruno stomped off in a huff.

Ino stood rooted to the spot, stunned.

She had started to reach out to stop Sakura, but her hand froze in midair.

Sakura...

It seemed she had forgotten how, back when people mocked her for her broad forehead, Ino had given her a red ribbon to tie back her hair. She'd encouraged Sakura to show her forehead without shame and told her she looked cute that way...

That was how the two of them had become friends.

And Sakura Haruno had grown more confident because of it.

Later, because they both liked Sasuke, Sakura chose to go their separate ways.

Though they both knew in their hearts that they were still best friends...

But now...

Ino watched Sakura Haruno's retreating figure grow smaller and smaller. Her vision blurred, and she didn't know if they could ever go back to the way things had been.

Maybe they never could...

Chapter 36: I Don't Have Time to Play Dating Games with You! Please Vote!!!

At that moment, Sakura Haruno was just as full of hurt.

She couldn't understand why even her best friend wasn't on her side.

She could barely communicate with her parents, her friend had betrayed her, and even Naruto, whom she'd once found annoying, seemed to have given up on her completely...

As expected, Sasuke was the only one who shone in her heart.

Sasuke's face appeared in Sakura Haruno's mind, and it was as if she could finally see a ray of light.

And at that very moment, the image of Sasuke in her mind suddenly overlapped with the real Sasuke standing before her.

"Sa... Sasuke-kun!"

Sakura Haruno's expression changed at once. She stared at Sasuke's back ahead of her, as if she had found hope again.

Sakura Haruno wasn't the only one there. Sasuke was already surrounded by a group of girls.

As usual, they chattered and fluttered around him like birds.

Sakura Haruno pushed her way forcefully through the crowd, rushing to the spot closest to Sasuke. She plastered on a smile.

"Good morning, Sasuke-kun!"

"You're as handsome as ever today..."

Sasuke had his hands in his pockets, but his face looked tired and worn. His expression was even colder and gloomier than usual.

He was still immersed in yesterday's battle with Naruto.

Unable to pull himself out of it.

If the Third hadn't arrived, who would have won that fierce battle...

The unanswered question pierced his heart like a thorn.

He'd barely slept all night, training himself to the limit.

Even now, his hands still hurt.

The place where Naruto's Leaf Whirlwind had struck him no longer throbbed, but the pain had left a lasting mark on his heart.

Right now, Sasuke could think of nothing but defeating Naruto once and for all and overcoming his inner demon. Nothing else could get through to him.

As for these silly, lovesick girls...

To him, they were nothing but an irritating burden!

The blood feud of his entire clan weighed on his shoulders!

"Get lost."

Faced with Sakura Haruno's enthusiasm, Sasuke uttered only those two icy words.

Sakura Haruno froze.

Why was Sasuke-kun looking at her so frighteningly...

But she didn't back down.

It wasn't the first time she'd heard Sasuke say that.

If she gave up just because of that, she'd never stand out among all his admirers or earn the right to stay by his side...

Sakura Haruno forced a smile back onto her face.

"Don't be so cold, Sasuke-kun..."

Sasuke suddenly stopped.

On any other day, he would have tossed out a cold insult and kept walking.

But today was different.

His heart was burning with anger, and his mind was too troubled to deal with them.

"Sakura Haruno, listen carefully."

"Stop wasting your time on this nonsense."

"And stop crowding around me."

"I don't have time to play stupid dating games with you—or any of you."

"You don't have to like me, and I have no reason to like you."

Sakura Haruno and the other girls stood there, dumbfounded.

"And one more thing..."

Sasuke's icy voice stabbed into Sakura Haruno's heart again.

"You're really annoying."

With that, Sasuke continued striding away.

Sakura Haruno and the other lovestruck girls were left standing there, stunned and lifeless, as if their souls had abandoned them.

In that instant...

It felt as though something had shattered completely.

Sakura Haruno didn't feel sorrow or pain.

She felt an inexplicable emptiness.

Hollow and utterly empty.

As if her very existence had been denied...

"Sasuke... kun..."

His retreating figure grew farther away, blurring more and more.

Watching all this, Ino was shocked by Sasuke's ruthless attitude, but couldn't help feeling sorry for Sakura Haruno, too.

The crowd of lovestruck girls slowly dispersed.

Only Sakura Haruno remained standing there, motionless.

In the end, Ino couldn't bear to leave her like that and went over again.

"Sakura, are... are you okay?"

She gently reached out, wanting to comfort Sakura Haruno.

But...

"Don't touch me."

Sakura Haruno shook Ino's hand away again.

"Sakura, you..."

Tears silently streamed down Sakura Haruno's face.

Yet her expression grew even more resolute.

"Are you here to laugh at me?"

"Do you think Sasuke insulting me a few times will make me give up on him and stay away from him forever?"

"You all underestimate me, Sakura Haruno!"

"I'm telling you, Ino—and all of you..."

"I will never give up on Sasuke-kun!"

She shouted through her tears, stubbornly, as if making a declaration to everyone.

Then, amid the confused stares of the others, she ran off.

"Sakura..."

Ino didn't know what to do.

She liked Sasuke, too.

But she wouldn't make that feeling the only thing that mattered in her life.

Family, friendship...

To Ino, they were all indispensable, and none mattered more than the others.

Though she and Sakura seemed to fight fiercely over Sasuke, neither willing to yield, deep down Ino had never thought Sasuke mattered more than Sakura.

There was no way to compare the two.

She didn't want to lose either one.

But Sakura's feelings for Sasuke seemed to have become an obsession...

"P-perhaps this is the choice Sakura's made..."

Ino heard Hinata's voice from behind her.