The ground beneath erupted as clumps of soil and dirt flew in all directions. Wiping sweat from her brow, she couldn't deny the satisfaction that punch granted her.
Trudging over to rest under the cool shade of the nearest tree, she reached for her backpack that she had left there earlier to reach for the lunch she'd packed earlier before she headed over to the training grounds to let off some steam.
She wasn't particularly angry about anything, but owning an infamous temper and personality much like her master's, she knew things weren't going to get pretty if she were to walk around with an itch to punch something.
As she was about to taking a bite of her rice ball, the sound of a twig snapping rang out from behind the trees. Instantly, she swiftly produced a kunai and grasped it in front of her chest without making the slightest of noise, unlike the clumsy oaf who was trying to sneak up on her. But the sound of a twig snapping was a little too cliché for her taste, and she wondered if it was one of her friends trying to play a prank on her by raising her guard and then tease her about her hilarious expressions when she was serious.
Another snap.
The crunching sound when shoes make contact with the ground.
Clenching her teeth, Sakura's grip tightened on her kunai. She was all the more ready to fling the kunai from the source of disturbance when an annoying voice resonated from above her.
'HELLO SAKURA-CHAN!" Naruto shouted as his face appeared right in front of hers. The bits of rice that were in her mouth moments before were spat out from shock and surprise.
But then again, it was already a very normal thing for Sakura when Naruto intruded her daily activities. But instead of scaring her from behind or manifesting just an inch from her ear and screaming into it, he had his feet attached to a tree limb with chakra and was dangling upside down and staring into her emerald eyes with a mischievous grin plastered on his face.
However, his happiness of frightening her out of her wits did not last long as she delivered a slightly chakra enhanced slap on Naruto's left cheek. Even though she only allowed a very small amount of chakra into that blow, it was more than enough to send Naruto flying twenty feet away.
Congratulating herself on a job well done, Kakashi jumped out from the trees into the clearing with Sai not far behind, both rushing to Naruto's aid.
'What did you do this time?" Kakashi sighed while crouching over Naruto to check if the orange jumpsuit clad blonde beneath him suffered any fatal injuries.
"S…Sakura hit me… Hard… I was just kidding around with her…" Naruto cried silently.
"You should know better than doing that." Kakashi stood up, brushing the dirt away from his hands. "Anyways, we were coming over to invite you to Ichiraku Ramen. You in, Sakura?"
"In that case, sure I guess, I was getting hungry." Sakura gestured to her hastily put together lunch. In a way, she was glad they came to look for her. Sometimes she felt that she wasn't needed by anyone, or liked by anyone, especially with Sai's direct insults to her face. Yes, he was raised to suppress all his emotions and that he spoke without thinking or concerning about people's feelings, but it still hurt, even if she covered it up with her anger.
"Wow Sakura, you really growled. You're getting closer to becoming a dog." Sai remarked with what looked like a hint of playfulness in his voice.
"Do you want me to repeat that growl, accompanied by another chakra-laden punch straight to your face, Sai?" Sakura smiled sweetly to the boy standing next to her.
His response was blank as he moved back a couple of steps.
"Okay, shall we go?" Kakashi's voice interrupted their deadly conversation, much to Sai's relief.
The pink haired girl beneath him was surprisingly strong as
The four of them walked along the busy streets of Konoha in the direction of Ichiraku Ramen, with the occasional grumbling of Naruto's stomach and the giggles and snicker at Naruto's horrible attempts to crack jokes. Well, to be precise, Kakashi, Sakura and Naruto were the ones doing all the laughing while Sai regarded them with blank looks or puzzled looks.
"Poor boy, he's so clueless in everything. He doesn't even get jokes," Sakura thought to herself inwardly. Now that she thought of it, he was a lot like Sasuke. Not just Sai's looks, but the both of them lacked the ability to genuinely feel happiness, although Sasuke was a just little better than Sai at this feat. She made it a point never to get angry at Sai because of his lack of emotions.
She was snapped out of her trance by Naruto's shout of joy as they reached their destination.
" We're finally at Ichiraku Ramen! You don't know how much I've missed those bowls of ramen, Mister! A large salted pork ramen for me please!" Naruto grinned at Teuchi and Ayame.
After the four of them ordered, they settled down on the stools at their favorite restaurant to enjoy a bowl of much craved ramen.
Naruto was the first to break the silence between them. " Say, Sakura-chan, the kite festival's coming up tonight. We're all going, how about you?"
The kite festival was a festival that she loved as a child. She still did, but festivals and fiestas hadn't come to mind for a long time. Balancing her medical training, offense training and going on countless missions with Team Kakashi had left her very little time and energy to worry over special occasions like this.
Going to the kite festival would require her to wear a kimono, and she would need a lot of help putting it on. She would probably ask Ino-pig to help her, since Ino was the specialist when it came to fashion. Besides, she really needed a good night out with fireworks, good food and good company.
"Yeah, I guess I'll be going. I'll see you guys tonight!" she waved goodbye to her teammates as she left the money for her finished meal on the table to head home.
It was already 4 in the afternoon when she got home. Throwing her keys onto the dining table, she flopped herself on her couch, relishing in the comfort of her own little apartment. Her parents had been strongly against the idea of her living alone at first, and it took much reasoning and , but they finally agreed to let her move into her own place, provided that she live next to a friend that they approved of. She was glad that friend turned out to be Ino Yamanaka, even if she never showed it. Ino was still her best friend, aside from their love hate relationship. But Sakura figured that relationship leaned to the former side more than the latter.
Sakura didn't realize that she had been zoning out on her couch for 30 minutes. Snapping out of her reverie, she dashed into the bathroom in a flurry of towels and bubbles, and she was out of the shower in 5 minutes, feeling much rejuvenated. Now she just had to put on her kimono and makeup. But being a failure at both, she decided to call for Ino's help if she didn't want to show up to the festival looking like a clown in overflowing silk towels.
Ino took only a few seconds to bang on her door. Sakura smiled at the fact at how excited her best friend could be over these occasions where girls like them dress up to. She didn't blame Ino. Living their lives as female ninjas, there was very little time, close to none to worry over such trivial matters such as dressing up to a festival.
"Hey, Sakuraaaa!" Ino called while banging her fists on Sakura's door.
"Are you going to pay for my door?"
"Don't be a spoilsport."
"Don't spoil my door."
"Unless you want to wear your kimono without my help?"
"Get in here."
Towel still wrapped around her body, Sakura strode over to her wardrobe and pulled her only kimono out. It was one of the typical cherry blossom patterned ones, but her parents thought it suited her pink hair and name so it was a gift before she moved out herself. She sighed as she touched the flowers adorning the silk, she wasn't going to forget the moment when they attempted to suppress their tears while she tried it on.
Securing the obi behind Sakura, Ino placed her deft hands on Sakura's shoulders, congratulating herself on a fine job well done. She stepped back to admire her masterpiece.
Sakura's eyes were lined with black eyeliner, with a beautiful combination of soft hues of pink and white rimming her eyes. Ino applied minimal blush around her cheekbones and finished off with a nude colored lip gloss to plump out Sakura's thinner lips.
Rotating her body little by little to glimpse her body, she couldn't believe that the goddess-like girl standing in the mirror was actually herself. Grinning, she thanked Ino as she started to help tie Ino's blue obi around her best friend.
She knew Ino didn't need any help with her makeup, even though she knew she wouldn't be of much help even if Ino needed it.
By the time Ino was done applying her makeup, Sakura eyes had widened to the size of oranges, according to Ino.
Just like Sakura, Ino's eyes were lined black, but she opted for shades of blue and white rimming her already azure eyes, which made Ino look even more like a water goddess.
"Instead of forehead, would you like me to add orange eyes to your everlasting list of embarrassing nicknames?" Ino chuckled as Sakura stared at her.
"Shut it, pig. Don't eat too much at the festival. You'll just add more pounds to that bottomless pit you call your stomach." Sakura merely smiled innocently at Ino.
Chuckling, Ino hooked her arm around Sakura as the duo walked out of the house with a determination to enjoy their night.