Disclaimer: Ummm . . . I don't own? Yeah, I think that will work.
Note: This author is a babbling Looney who spends too much time on the computer. Please forgive her insanity.
To Anyone That Cares: This Saturday is my birthday! September 6! I love the fall (all da pretty leaves!) I'll be 13, can you believe it?! Well, you probably can, but I'm still happy. Time flys big time. I remember when I was turning 12! It seemed like yesterday. My mom was right; we do grow up fast 0.o how depressing. But that doesn't matter. In my mind, I'll be 7 forever! Muwyahahahaha!
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Sweat glistened off of Sakura's forehead as she delivered another blow to Kakashi. He was sent flying and into a tree. His lifeless eyes stared into nothing as her knee made solid contact into his stomach. Then there was an elbow drop from above and he was split in half. Sakura grinned as his insides went everywhere.
Victory was hers.
She had just beaten the Kakashi doll.
Sakura picked up the cloth remains and the cotton stuffing of the doll and headed back to where her teammates were. Naruto was hanging from a tree doing stomach crunches. Sakura watched as he slowly brought his head up to his stomach with a grunt. He was red in the face. Sakura heard him mutter "238 . . . 239 . . . 240 . . ."
"Wow," Sakura whispered to herself. "Naruto is pretty tough."
Sakura looked around for Sasuke. She finally found him doing push ups with only his left hand. He had no shirt on. Sweat dripped off his incredibly muscular body. Sakura had to turn to prevent him from seeing her turn crimson. What was she thinking? She was way too old to still be blushing around him.
With a final grunt, Naruto put his arms around the branch and unwrapped his legs from the branch, letting him fall safely to the ground. He walked up to Sakura and gazed down at the completely annihilated Kakashi toy.
"Wow, you sure did a number on that thing," he grinned, giving her a thumbs up.
"I know. Sorry, that it's all beat up and stuff. You told me that it was new," Sakura said.
"It's ok. I go through atleast 2 of these a week," he reassured her with a fox like grin.
"Hey Naruto, Sasuke-kun, I have to go now. My parents told me that we had to have an urgent meeting," Sakura told them. She wasn't sure if Sasuke was listening to her or not.
Naruto frowned. "Is it a family emergency?" he sounded worried.
"I don't know, but they didn't sound too happy. It sounded serious," Sakura explained.
"Ok then. See you around, Sakura-chan," Naruto waved goodbye.
He watched her walk past the horizon. It was close to dinnertime already. Sakura was lucky to have a family to eat dinner with. But in a way, she was part of his family, like an adopted sister. He knew that his love for her wasn't in a sister kind of way, but as a loverly way. Naruto sighed a smiled as he watched that girl.
"I love Sakura-chan," Naruto said quietly. "Don't you, Sasuke?" he asked the dark haired boy who was doing push-ups.
"No," he stated flatly.
"Yeah, right," Naruto said sarcastically. "If you don't get her soon, someone else will come and take her. Like me for example . . ." he trailed off. He was in his own La-la land now, imagining sweet images of them together.
'Baka-yarro. I don't "love" anything. Sakura will never be taken by anyone.' Sasuke thought. ((RL: do we sense some hostility, Sasu-chan?))
--
Sakura pushed open the front door. Her nose was greeted with the delicious smell of meat cooking. She entered the kitchen and saw a middle-aged women with pink hair. She was cooking small meat strips in a frying pan. She turned them over every now and then and prodded them with a spatula.
"Konichiwa Oka-san," Sakura smiled at her mother.
Her mom, however, was silent. She stared into the pan and turned another meet strip over on its side. She was paler than usual, like she was that morning. She refused to make eye contact with the girl. It was as if she was having trouble saying something and was ashamed of it.
Finally, the older women broke the silence. "Sakura, go help your Oto-san set the table," she said blandly.
"Um, ok," Sakura began to worry. What was up with her mom?
Sakura pulled out three pairs of chopsticks from the drawer than held the silverware and placed one pair at next to each of the little food mats on the table. She went to get drinks when she bumped into a taller man with blond hair and eyes the color of spring grass.
"Oi Oto-san," Sakura said, looking hopefully up at her dad.
"Hm? Oh, er . . . oi Sakura," he seemed distracted by something. Whatever had her mom nervous was making him too. "Go sit down. I'll get the drinks."
Sakura pulled out a chair and sat down. She sifted uneasily in her seat. Something was wrong. What was it? A death in the family? Or was her mom, gasp, pregnant?! No, no, no, that was not the case. Her mom was too old. Sakura herself was sixteen, almost seventeen. So she knew that wasn't the case.
The rest of her family sat down. They snapped their chopsticks and ate in silence. Her mom had made her favorite dish, pickled sour plums with fruit salad and dumplings. It was a rare occasion, so she cherished the delicious flavor. However, she could help but feel that the meal was like a sign of apology, since they didn't eat it often because her dad hated the taste of pickled plums. ((RL: I don't blame the man, it sounds awful. But I'll give it a try one-day.))
Her mother laid her chopsticks down beside her half-finished plate. She did some little signal with her eyes to Sakura's father and he did the same. Sakura slipped lightly on her tea. Sakura had a sinking feeling that her life as she knew it would come to a screeching halt and start all over again in a new direction, much to her dismay.
"You might want to put that down, Sakura," her mom motioned with her hands for Sakura to put the tiny teacup down. She did as told and set it down carefully, watching the brownish green liquid swirl slightly in its beautifully designed container.
There was an uncomfortable pause before the pink haired woman continued. "Yesterday your father and I lost our jobs at the plante. The whole building was shut down and won't be back up until the end of Christmas this year. That is six months from now. Do you see what I'm getting at Sakura?" she calmly explained to her daughter. Sakura just starred at them. She had no clue what they were talking about.
"No." her mother sighed and laced her fingers together as if she was praying.
"Sakura, this is June. All of the bills come in June and we just lost our jobs. All of our money is gone, except for the money we need for food. There are no openings for regular jobs. Your father has decided to work as a waiter and I'm going to be a gardener. But even with money we make then won't equal up to the minimum we need to pay off our bills. We need you . . . to get a job."
Sakura's mouth dropped open. She was already bringing in money that she earned as a Chuunin, and her parents always took what she made. Wasn't that enough? What other job could she do?
"You've got to be kidding me. Please tell me you are joking," Sakura said in dissbelief.
"This isn't a joke Sakura! Your father and I are financially screwed as of today and we need your help!" Her mother screamed. She rose from the table and glared Sakura in the eye.
"But what can I do?! I already bring in about 23,000 yen a week! And you always take it! I never get to spend my own money. What more do you want?!" Sakura yelled back at her mom.
"Get a job. I don't care how you do it, just get a self-respecting job that doesn't involve strip dancing or drug dealing!" Her mom was up in her face now. Literally, they had their noses pressed to each other. They went cross eyed due to how near they were to each other.
"But I'm only good at house work!" Sakura sat down with a huff and crossed her arms defiantly.
Her mother leaned forward and said in a hoarse unnatural voice, "You know . . . you can always become a maid."
--
Sakura screamed into her pillow as she flopped down on her bed. She started pounding down on the mattress and kicked her face. A maid? How was serving other people for money self-respecting? There was no way she would become a maid, wear a stupid uniform, and call some person 'sir.' No way.
Tears slowly dripped off her face and onto the pillow. It was no fair. It was her parents fault that they were in this mess. They didn't make much but didn't mind spending too much money on things they didn't need. They took all her money to help pay off bills. But it didn't matter what she brought home, they still had problems. Some of them were severe enough to declare bankruptcy.
"Its not fair!" Sakura screamed into her pillow again. "How dare they! They can't do this! They-"
A knock on the door stopped her unheard ranting. Sakura sniffed and whipped her tears away. She managed to get out a soft "come in." Her mom entered the room.
"Honey?" No answer. The plump little lady sat down on the bed next to Sakura. She smoothed out the sheets a bit and leaned over Sakura.
"Sakura darling, I'm sorry for this. I really am. But your father and I really need your help. If you find the right person to work for, then you can make plenty of money. You won't be supporting us alone because your father and I will be working too. Please do this for us Sakura," her mom pleaded. It was an unusual sight to see a parent asking their daughter for financial help, but it was happening to her. It made Sakura feel uneasy.
"Ok," Sakura agreed.
Her mom wrapped her arms around her daughter's neck and hugged her tightly. "Thank you Saku-chan!"
"Yeah . . . no problem."
--
It was a kite flyer's dream that day. Ice cold winds rushing in from the north and blowing strong. People were wearing long jackets to keep the cold from seeping in. Like that helped any. Sakura most have been wearing five different layers of clothes and she still felt the wind's chill. This is why she was glad for fall because the sudden drop of temperature was shocking to her body. The summer's heat had been extreme that year and she was used to frying in the sun. Today, however, there was grey storm clouds gathering in the sky and the temperature was dropping quickly.
Sakura shuddered as another gust of wind somehow found its way through the muti layers of fabric. She ran her hand over a few planks of the smooth wooden fence separating the road from a private lane. She grasped her hand painted sign in her both hands and gazed at it with a loathing glare. She wished she had an axe, because then she could scream bloody murder and charge at the awful thing at full speed and chop it to splitters. Sakura pushed the stake into the sandy rain deprived soil. It went in as smooth as glass. Unfortunately the soil was so loose that the sign sunk and started to stand at an angle.
Sakura growled and flung it out of the ground. She swore at it, kicked it, and ordered it to stand up straight. But as you and I know, stupid billboards will never listen to what you have to say. Sakura picked it up once more and jammed it hard into the dirt. The ground made a satisfying squish sound and Sakura made a little victory sign. Now the sign had no where to go.
Suddenly a gust of wind came sweeping down on her. Sakura had to grab onto the nearest tree to stop her from loosing her footing. The gale pressed hard against her sign and pushing it into the air. Sakura shouted at it to stop, but as luck turns out, wind won't listen to you either. The sign went flying over the fence and far beyond her reach.
The wind stopped and Sakura few to her knees, angry and confused. Where the hells did it go? Sakura's eyebrow twitch. Something snapped inside of her.
"WHAT THE HELL?! DAMN YOU! I SPEND 5 HOURS ON THAT SIGN!" she screeched.
Then a thought hit Sakura. A deviously evil thought. Hey, no sign, no work! Sakura smiled and walked home. All that frustration for nothing. She thought.
--
Sakura walked into the kitchen where her mom was washing dishes.
"Hey Saku-chan! Did you take care of the ad?" she ask.
"Oh yeah," she answered back as she collapsed down on the sofa in the living room. "Its done."
"Now all we have left to do is wait for a call!" Her mother said cheerfully. ((RL: don't kill me for that. The story plot requires SOME modern technology in it for this.))
"Yep. We'll just wait here," Sakura said with a mischievous little grin her mom didn't see.
--
Neji was walking home from training. He took the private lane to his house. He was almost to the front gate when something smacked him from behind. He was knocked to the ground by the force of the flying object.
Neji spat out dirt and recovered quickly, prepared to attack the thing that dared push him down. He pulled out a kunai and got in a pose to kill it.
You must imagine his embarrassment when he found out that it was merely a poster.
Neji gritted his teeth and picked the sign up and place it on his shoulder. He continued to walk home.
When he got in, his mother was waiting for him. She gasped when she saw him. "Neji, your head it bleeding! What happened?"
"I got hit with a billboard," Neji grumbled and threw the ad down on the couch.
His mother looked down on the square shaped object Neji had laid down. "This is an add for a maid!" she exclaimer. "We could use someone to help around here!"
"You've got to be kidding me," Neji rolled his eyes.
"Yes!" she giggled and picked up the phone and dialed the number. Neji groaned and went into the bathroom to bandage the back of his head.
--
The phone rang in the Haruno residence. Sakura picked it up off the counter and talked into the speaker. "Hello?"
"Is this Haruno Sakura? I would like to hire you as a maid."
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Hello peeps! I hope you liked this! Next chapter Sakura goes to the Hyuuga residence and finds out how much of a pain Neji is. 3 There will be mayhem and madness. Sakura should prepare to take allot of Ibprophen.
Remember to review!