COUNTRY ROADS

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Hello there once again! I'm back with yet another story…In this story, Sakura and the others are all in high school, except for Eriol that is… You'll know why in the story… Well anyway, here's the summary of the story…

SUMMARY: Traveling for almost half of his life, Eriol finds the perfect place to bring his friends after they graduate from high school. 2 weeks in Rome was his gift to them. What can happen in the city of Rome for 2 whole weeks? Will Sakura and Syaoran fall in love with each other after being best friends for who knows how long? Or will their friendship tear apart and they would finally decide to move on in separate paths… Surely, the country roads of Rome will change everything…

And so, there's the summary of the story… I hope you guys would like it… Anyway, on we go…

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Card Captor Sakura… Only the story at this point is mine…

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CHAPTER ONE: COUNTRY ROADS… WHERE!

"Get back here!" a hazelnut haired teenager, high school student to be exact, was yelling while running around chasing a guy, who was his best friend, around town. Somehow, he managed to get her bag without her knowing that she wasn't even wearing it on her back when they were on their way to the supermarket to do some errands. She only noticed it when she was looking for her wallet. They ended up buying nothing from the supermarket due to the fact that he didn't want to give her wallet back.

The guy, who was also a teenager and in high school, had chestnut colored hair, turned around, ran backwards while he was sticking his tongue out to the girl.

Tired of running around, the girl stopped and yelled once again, "Li Syaoran, if you don't give that back I'm going to call your mother and tell her all about this!" Being best friends for as long as they can remember, she is so much close to his family like she was already a part of it.

Afraid of his mother scolding him, he stopped and walked towards the girl who was a few meters away. "I'm sorry Sakura… I was just kidding around…" he said as he gave her back her backpack.

Sakura then grabbed her backpack, smooched Syaoran in the cheek and ran for her life with a smirk in her face. They had been like that since they were little kids but Syaoran had never learned his lesson from Sakura's threats. After returning the stuff that he got from her, she would kiss him in the cheek, run for her life while he chased her. But, for them, it didn't mean anything.

Syaoran kept on chasing Sakura until they were too tired to continue. They stopped by the bridge and leaned on the railings, laughing. "You never learn, Syaoran…" Sakura managed to say in between her giggles.

He looked at her after calming down and pinched her in her right cheek as she was still laughing herself out. But that move made her stop laughing and glare at him. She hated it when he did that. She doesn't know the reason why, but since Syaoran knew that she hated it, he kept on doing it.

"You know I hate it when you do that so stop it…" Sakura said.

"But, tell me the reason why you hate it. I don't even understand, Sakura… I let you kiss me in the cheek but you hate it when I pinch you in the cheek…" Syaoran asked her.

Sakura was staring at the river under them. She really didn't know why she kept on kissing him. Why she even started it in the first place. But he pinching her was a big deal for her. "I don't know, Syaoran… I too can't find the reason why I hate it…" she explained.

"Oh there they are!" a girl yelled from the other side of the bridge. She was Daidouji Tomoyo, Sakura's middle school best friend and still is until now.

Sakura and Syaoran looked her way and saw her with a guy who seemed to have a navy blue hair and had glasses. At first, since they were a bit far from them, they can't make out who the guy was. But as Tomoyo and the guy walked towards them, they finally saw who it was. "Eriol! When did you arrive!" Sakura yelled as she ran towards Eriol not waiting for them to reach their position.

Syaoran on the other hand walked towards them. "Yo… When did you arrive…? I hope you didn't though…" he said sarcastically.

"Yeah…" Eriol said as he broke Sakura's hug. "I just arrived today. Tomoyo picked me up from the airport. Anyway, I have news for you guys!"

Sakura, who didn't seem to hear his last sentence, asked him, "So, how was your last trip? Where was it again? Italy?"

Eriol had constantly been traveling around the world. He's done with school since he was too much accelerated from year to year, much like his father. His last trip was around the continent of Europe and his last stop was the Italy before he went back home. "Yeah… It went well… It was really nice there… So anyway, like I said, I have news for you guys…" he said again.

"It is still the same there? I mean, I went there before when we took the trip around this continent." Syaoran said, pretending this time on not hearing his last sentence, irritating him.

"OH FOR PITT SAKE…! Can you guys listen to me for just one minute!" Eriol said. He was already irritated for being interrupted for 2 times. He doesn't have that much patience as Tomoyo would say if you would ask her what was the matter with him.

Syaoran smirked at this cause he knew what irritates his cousin so much. Meanwhile, Sakura didn't know about it so she was showering Eriol with apologies. "I'm really sorry Eriol… I didn't hear your last sentence when I asked you those questions. I'm really, really sorry… I was just too excited for my own good… And that may have caused me to ask you…I –" she said. But before she could continue on, before she knew it, Syaoran had his right arm around her and was covering her mouth with his palm.

"So, what was it you were about to say dear cousin?" Syaoran asked. "I think it would be better hearing that than hearing infinite apologies from this woman here…" Syaoran said.

Eriol and Tomoyo both giggled at this. Tomoyo, as usual, had her trusty video cam with her just in time to tape the moment. Sakura bit Syaoran's hand which made him yell a bit, moving his hands up and down continuously. "FYI Li Syaoran, I really didn't know that he was that fast to annoy… Maybe he wouldn't have been annoyed if you didn't give a follow-up question." Sakura said as she snobs Syaoran after saying those words.

Syaoran once again got the chance to pinch her on her cheeks. But this time, both cheeks. This caused Sakura to run after him again. Knowing that they won't have this conversation at this time, Eriol and Tomoyo retreated to Eriol's house and had some tea.

After a while, as if they knew that they were there, Sakura and Syaoran showed up in Eriol's house with Eriol and Tomoyo in the middle of a "happy" talk cause they sure were laughing hard.

Sakura and Syaoran sat beside each other as they waited for Eriol and Tomoyo to calm down before asking what happened. But, they got no answer from them. "Anyway, like I said before, I have news for you guys…" Eriol said. But, before he could even continued, he first stopped for a minute or two to wait for them to react of maybe they would like to say something first before he tells his news. After, and no one said anything, he finally sighed and is telling the news, "Since I really loved it so much in Rome, and I got free accommodations in the best Hotel there and said that I could bring 3 guests, maybe it's time for you guys to take your graduation trip. Not my treat cause it'll also be like mine since I didn't have one…"

Graduation trip… Yeah… Sakura, Syaoran and Tomoyo are graduating a week later. They planned to go on a trip out of town but they never expected it to be out of the country. "Uh… Eriol… Where will we get the money to go there? I mean, it's not like it's just 100 yen to go there, right?" Sakura said.

"That one's mine. Not only did I get free accommodations, I also got free passes. My dad sorta got this job there that offered him these because he was doing so well." Eriol explained. Yeah… He lives in Japan only with his older sister, Nakuru. His parents are in England working.

All he could get at first was an "oh" from the three of them. But after a few more seconds, they all started to jump as high as they could and started hugging and thanking Eriol. They all seemed to need this vacation, except for Eriol that is. They had gone through a tough year because of all the paper works that were assigned to them.

"So, when to we leave?" Tomoyo asked. Syaoran had no problem with this since he lived alone. His parents finally allowed him to stay in Japan. They promised that they would never disturb him again cause they have another heir to their business there.

Sakura on the other hand, has some problems with her oh-so-protective brother. But her father would be alright with it, she guesses… and hopes.

Tomoyo, she would just have to ask her mom about it. And she also hopes that it'll be alright as long as Sakura's with her.

"As soon as you guys are ready. As you can see, I haven't even unpacked yet…" Eriol said as he pointed to his baggage on the foyer.

Sakura was the first one to stand up saying, "Oh… so I have to go home then… I still have to argue this, you know… Touya…" having a 'you-know' look in her face before turning around to leave the house.

Syaoran stood up slowly and said, "I'll to go pack then." Turned around and left, running over to Sakura before she could even walk further.

Tomoyo was the next to leave saying that she still had to pack and tell her mother about all this.

Eriol was once again left in his house. Nakuru was out to work as a nurse and is taking the night shift now so he'll be alone for a couple of days.

o-o-o-o-o- SAKURA -o-o-o-o-o

Sakura had a big smile plastered on her face. Syaoran noticed this. "So excited about the trip, huh?" he said.

"Who wouldn't be? I mean, I get to travel! WE get to travel together! Oh, I'm so excited!" Sakura said with an over excited voice emphasizing the word 'we'.

"Geez… Can't you at least hide your excitement for just one minute?" Syaoran asked.

Sakura looked at him and said after a few seconds of thinking, "No…" then she gave him a smile.

'She looks cute…' he though… 'WHAT! What the hell are you talking about!' he yelled back.

Sakura noticed that his expression was like he was thinking so hard and yet he can't find the answer to what he was thinking. "Syaoran, are you okay?" she asked.

Moving out of his river of thoughts, Syaoran answered her, "Yeah…. Why wouldn't I be?"

"I don't know… Too excited, perhaps?" Sakura said.

"Yeah right… Come on… I have to take you home…" Syaoran said which surprised Sakura.

'Since when did he have to take me home?' Sakura asked herself but she let it pass. She was already way too happy to not let this pass. 'Oh well…' Sakura thought once again which made her smile.

Syaoran noticed this. "Oh my… Someone's gone crazy here… Better get outta here and fast!" he said jokingly. But, he did try to walk fast than Sakura.

She then looked up to Syaoran before he can even go faster. "Hey! I resent being called crazy!" she yelled then running after him, again. And once again, they were chasing each other.

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AUTHOR'S NOTES: And so there it is… I hope you guys liked it and I hope that you could leave a review… Flames are accepted… just please review this story for me to know if any really liked the plot… I have more in store actually… So, I really, really hope that you'd like it…

For future updates of the story of you are interested, you can visit my blog and see if I have some progress in it…

Anyway, that's it for now… I've got to sleep cause it had been a rough day for me…

Oh and by the way, I forgot to greet you guys a MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR in my last chapter of "That Little Notebook"… hehe… anyway, so there it is… :D