ALL FOR ONE
written for annie's contest. i own everything but the prompts used. and naruto, duh.
(and yea, this is olive embers, just my other account. lol.)
xxx
It's Valentine's Day!
It's Valentine's Day! And––and––ugh!
Sakura was marching down the street in stilettos. Her brand new awesomely wonderful stilettos. But that wasn't the point. The point was that her awesomely freakish boyfriend––goes by the name of 'That Guy Who Needs The Cheer Up Emo Kid t-shirt' in some circles––had not contacted her in any way whatsoever, and it was currently two pm.
And it was Valentine's Day.
Not that Sakura was particularly convinced Sasuke would try any romantic gestures––
(althoughshehadreallykindofsortofhoped)
––but some recognition of the day in general would have been nice.
Sakura didn't expect much (aside from typical girlish fairytales: being swept off her feet, ginormous weddings, pink-haired Uchiha children, etc) from Sasuke.
Hell, that was why she had agreed to this relationship thing in the first place.
The fact that she was head-over-stiletto-heels in love with the guy notwithstanding.
"Neji."
He sighed. "Yes?"
Tenten looked up from the magazine she was perusing, studying him closely. "Hmm…"
"What is it?" he frowned.
"Y'know what?"
"…what?"
The girl closed her magazine decisively. "I believe in reincarnation. I bet you used to be a butterfly."
Neji blinked at her.
Once.
Twice.
Then…
"What the hell?"
"No, no! If you really think about it––"
"Tenten. What do I have in common with a butterfly?"
"You're both, um, mammals?"
"…butterflies are not mammals."
"You both believe in destiny!"
"How the freakin' hell would you know a butterfly believed in destiny?"
"They'd have to, because they die in like seven days and all. 'It is my destiny to procreate and die' they would think. And that would make them less depressed! Except, well…" she paused, then looked up at him, beaming.
"There are obvious differences."
"You think?" he rolled his eyes.
"For one thing, butterflies would be a lot smarter than you."
Neji then debated running from the building.
(He knew inviting Tenten to lunch at the Hyuuga mansion for Valentine's Day was a bad idea. He just knew it. Although, he decided, she probably would have gone on a weapon rampage if he had neglected to show his affection…
Even if so far that 'affection' had consisted of her talking and him wondering how in the world he even liked someone like her, let alone lo––ahem, really cared.)
"…how so?"
"I don't know!" she chirped mischievously. (He was suspicious). Then she glanced at the table, at the remnants of the desserts they'd had. "Hey, Neji, d'you want a muffin?"
He relaxed. Obviously she wasn't going to try and force some strange logic on him today. "…okay."
"You want butter on it?"
"…okay…" he failed to see where she was going with this. Tenten never offered any food to him, or asked him if he wanted any. She just ate it and he was left with whatever she hadn't attacked.
"What was that, Neji?"
"I said okay."
"Okay what?"
He breathed out. It had been a long day. "Yes, I would like a buttered muffin."
One.
Two.
Three.
Tenten burst into hysterical laughter. "See, see! Butterflies are totally smarter than you!"
Neji reddened.
Ugh. Why was this my idea again?
"B-bubble wands?" Hinata asked blankly.
Naruto bobbed his head enthusiastically. "Yeah, you know, you blow on them and bubbles come out?"
"U-um, I don't think I…"
"Come on, Hina-chan! Can we buy some? Please? Pleeeease?"
Hinata looked from her boyfriend(ish) to the stall and back to him.
(It didn't really make much sense, but she was prepared to sacrifice comprehension for Naruto.)
"All, all right."
"Yeahh!" Naruto punched the air and raced off to purchase these so-called 'bubble wands'. Hinata had never heard of such a thing from her Hyuuga upbringing, but Naruto assured her that all the kids had had them. Not that she would know, of course, because she hadn't really liked to play with other kids––
But whatever.
Hinata was trying not to feel faint. It was proving to be difficult, but she managed it.
Naruto came back with the wands. They were facing the park, and apparently Naruto's idea of a 'romantic Valentine's day' was engaging in a variety of childish activities that he had not been able to do with anyone else, on account of being a loner and––
Yes. Down that road lay angst. Hinata carefully plucked one of the wands from Naruto's hand.
"So you…use the mixture, and blow on it, and bubbles come out?"
"Sure!"
They were the only teenagers in the park, but Hinata wasn't particularly worried about this. What she was worried about was that when she attempted to blow on the bubble wand, the layer of mixture popped and no bubbles came out. She frowned. One of the kids nearby pointed and laughed.
She flushed.
"N-naruto-kun, they're all…laughing…"
"So what, Hina-chan?"
"I don't really like them…"
"Aw," Naruto pouted. "I like little boys."
Hinata blinked at him dazedly.
(umthatkindofsoundedwrong)
She blushed an even darker shade of red.
"Hina? You kinda look like a tomato…"
Thump.
"Crap. Not again."
Shikamaru checked his watch lazily. It was nearing two thirty, and Ino hadn't shown up yet. He had invited her over for a late lunch, because he'd just finished his Bio-genetic Engineering of Molecular Compounds lecture that Tsunade had insisted he attend for his upcoming mission, which involved impersonating a famous scientist. Shikamaru hadn't really been worried. After all, he was a genius… lectures such as that were beneath him.
He checked his watch again. Two thirty one. The room was still sans Ino.
Troublesome woman…
Knock. Knock.
"Oooh, Shika! It's she-who-is-your-lovely-girlfriend here!"
Yes, troublesome…
He had baked a cake––or rather, the eternally single Choji had baked a cake for him––in light of Valentine's Day, and had wanted to share it with Ino along with lunch. He was too lazy to participate in the mass consumerism of the day, and with that thought in mind, crossed to the door.
He opened it, and Ino latched herself unto his arm.
"Happy Valentine's Day, Shika-kun! How are you?"
He stared at her.
"What is it? Something on my face?" she beamed at him.
"…since when do you wear glasses?" he enunciated slowly.
"Ohh, these?" she tapped them lightly. "I need reading glasses. And I just finished reading this very insightful paper on, um, a science debate they've been having…yeah."
He continued to stare.
Since when does Ino read about science debates? And since when was she short-sighted?
"…are you feeling okay?"
"Me? I'm feeling fine!"
"Well, come on. We have pineapple cake for dessert."
"Pineapple cake as in a tribute to your hair?"
"My hair does not look like a pineapple, woman."
"Don't you 'woman' me. It does so."
…apparently Ino only retains her pseudo-intelligence when she's not 'debating' about pineapples.
"Why are you wearing glasses all of a sudden?" he asked tiredly.
"Here you are, trying to change the subject away from the fact you have a really bad haircut."
"And here you are trying to change the subject away from the fact you recently embarked on an acid trip."
"Very funny. See me laugh. Not! Just because you don't pay attention––"
"You don't need glasses, Ino."
"Uh-huh, and you know how?"
"…because those are ordinary lenses," he rolled his eyes (what had he done to deserve this?) and tapped them. "They don't magnify or focus your sight. They're fakes."
Ino grouched. "Ugh! Why do you have to be so smart? Seriously!"
Blink. "Wha?"
"You're so smart, going to these lectures and beating everyone at any type of game imaginable, being a top jounin, holding debates with that loser-ish Temari––um, everything! And me? I am stupid."
I'm not going to disagree, Shikamaru stared at her. She was so troublesome, trying to make a big scene on Valentine's Day, when he just really wanted her to sit down and eat some cake.
"You don't need glasses, Ino."
"Whatever!"
Valentine's Day was supposed to be about expressing love, right? Shikamaru felt that a compliment was in order. So he tried.
He pulled her closer. "…I quite enjoy being smarter than you, anyway."
That was about as close to a compliment as he would come. (Cue a sigh from the romantics here.)
Ino snorted. "…well, I enjoy having pretty hair. Loser," she sighed. "But I'm now kind of craving pineapple."
Sakura remembered where the spare key was. Sasuke, being the social loser that he was, always kept it in the same place. Under the mat. Considering there were quite a lot of people wanting to kill him, it wasn't smart, but––
Sakura didn't care right now. Swaying unsteadily on her awesomely-massive-but-slightly-hard-to-walk-in stilettos, she unlocked the door and stomped inside, tripping every few steps. (She just had to wear them in, okay?)
Sasuke was at his desk, studying some papers. He looked up.
"You!" she pointed at him.
"Ever heard of knocking?" he responded sarcastically. "Hello to you, too."
"Sasuke-kun, don't be such a retard! Do you know what day it is?"
"…Thursday."
She groaned. This is what I get for agreeing to date him…
"WRONG ANSWER!"
"…it is Thursday."
"Ahem. And the date?"
"…the fourteenth."
"Of?"
"…February…"
"YEAH? AND WHAT DAY IS THAT?"
Sasuke's eyes unfocused, then focused again. "…hn."
"DON'T 'HN' ME! IT'S VALENTINE'S DAY AND YOU FORGOT! WHY, I SHOULD JUST––"
"Sakura."
"––GO AND MARRY SOME OTHER RICH MAN, OR SOMETHING, ONE WHO IS NOT COMPLETELY SOCIALLY INEPT BECAUSE––"
"Sakura."
"––I WOULD STILL BE RICH AND I WOULD HAVE A DUTIFUL HUSBAND AND I WOULD ACTUALLY FEEL LOVED AND STUFF..."
"Sakura!"
"SO THEN I WOULD NOT FEEL––what?"
"I did not forget Valentine's Day."
She was silenced.
He came closer. "I didn't forget. I just…" he paused. "…didn't have the time to come see you yet."
Sakura was too caught up with his previous sentence to notice the 'didn't have the time' part, and leaned in to kiss him. He pulled away, cheeks tinged pink.
She furrowed her brow.
"Sasuke-kun…do you have mono?"
"What? No!"
"Then why won't you kiss me?" she paused, then frowned. "It's because I'm ugly, right? Well, I can tell you tha––"
"Wait here, Sakura."
He turned on his heel and exited the room.
Sakura was confused.
Oh-kay… he just left. Why did he just leave? Was it something I said? Oh my gosh, what if he's gone to get a shotgun? But he's a ninja … so he doesn't really need one. In fact, I don't think he even owns a shotgun. But what if he's gone to get kunai, and is going to stab me to death or, or something? Because he's secretly obsessed with killing! Which would explain the whole fratricide thing, really, and––
Her internal monologue was cut off when a bunch of roses were shoved under her nose.
"Um…what are those?" she stared at them.
"Roses."
"For…what…?"
"Valentine's Day, Sakura. What do you think? I'm sorry I didn't see you earlier."
It took Sakura a total of two seconds to glomp him shamelessly, kissing him soundly on the lips. This time he was (mostly) unresisting, trying to balance the roses and her at the same time. Not an easy feat, but he was an Uchiha, after all. Sakura pulled back after awhile, giggling at him.
He raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"Y'know…" she shrugged. "…I actually prefer daisies."
(Then she tried to saunter flirtatiously into the kitchen to see if there was any alcohol, but fell flat on her face after one of her stilettos betrayed her.
"Hn," was Sasuke's response to that.)
FIN.
A/N: I have no idea where the inspiration for this story came from. Seriously. Okay, the prompts used:
Butterflies
Stilettos
Bubble wands
Pineapple
"Yes, I would like a buttered muffin."
"Since when do you wear glasses?"
"I like little boys."
"I believe in reincarnation. I bet you used to be..."
"Sasuke-kun...do you have mono?"
"Ever heard of knocking?"
"I actually prefer daisies."
I think that's it, anyway. So there you go.