Las Vegas
Summary: Eight people meet up in Las Vegas one night only to be stuck with big consequences as the city gets to them and after that one night they may never go back. SasuXSaku, NaruXHina, NejiXTen, ShikaXIno…
Kate: Hey everyone! Just want to clear a few things up with this story! Oh, and I don't own Naruto!
Character Information:
Name: Sakura Haruno
Age: 27
Family: Half-brother Naruto Uzumaki; Mother Tsunade Haruno; Step-dad Jiraiya Uzumaki;
Bio: Sakura has completed college with her PhD and is now the head doctor at Konoha Metropolitan Hospital with her mother Tsunade who is not only a very successful doctor but is in charge of the entirety of the hospital. As a baby her father abandoned her and her half-brother and so Tsunade ended up falling back in love with Jiraiya. They've been a happy dysfunctional family ever since.
Name: Hinata Hyuga
Age: 27
Family: Cousin Neji; Sister Hanabi; Father Hiashi
Bio: Hinata is very shy and so her father's business, 'Hyuga Industries' was given to her cousin Neji because her father thought of him as more of a son than she his daughter. Hinata went to college and graduated with a PhD in Psychiatry and works at the Konoha Metropolitan Hospital with her close friend Sakura as head of the Psychiatry department. She enjoys helping others with their problems and hopes that her high position will prove to her father that she is worthy of the Hyuga name.
Name: Tenten Nara
Age: 28
Family: Cousin Shizune;Fraternal twin Shikamaru; Mother Yoshino; Father Shikaku
Bio: Tenten was trained in the art of martial arts and swords. She opened her own studio and has become one of the best known sword fighters in the world. She makes a very nice living off of her classes and competitions that she enters.
Name: Ino Yamanaka
Age: 28
Family: FatherInoichi
Bio: Although Ino is an only child and her mother is dead, it has only made her that much more driven & successful. She never went to college but has a wonderful career as a model in one of the top modeling agencies and is a professional hostess on the side. Many people admire her for her beauty and the amazing parties she can throw.
Name: Sasuke Uchiha
Age: 28
Family: Brother Itachi; Mother Mikoto; Father Fugaku
Bio: Sasuke graduated from college with a master's degree in business while becoming close friend's with the Hyuga which later helped both the 'Hyuga Industries' and 'Uchiha Corp.' Although Itachi was supposed to inherit the business, it was Sasuke that gained control of it after Itachi told their father that he wasn't interested in the business whatsoever and wished to be a director. So, Itachi went on to become a famous director and Fugaku gave the business over to Sasuke.
Name: Naruto Uzumaki
Age: 28
Family: Half-sister Sakura; Mother Tsunade; Father Jiraiya
Bio: Naruto went to culinary school and once out he opened his own fancy restaurant known as Uzumaki delights. The specialty for his high-class and well respected five-star restaurant just happens to be his favorite food: ramen.
Name: Neji Hyuga
Age: 28
Family: Cousins Hinata & Hanabi; Uncle Hiashi
Bio: His father Hizashi died when he was younger with his mother while on duty at the police department. He was then sent to live with his Uncle Hiashi and two cousins. He was honored to be considered like a son to Hiashi and took pride in the Hyuga business that was given to him. He is close with his cousin Hinata and knows that she never wanted the business to begin with. Neji graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Business.
Name: Shikamaru Nara
Age: 28
Family: Cousin Shizune; Fraternal twin Tenten; Mother Yoshino; Father Shikaku
Bio: Shikamaru graduated from college with a master's degree in English and is now an English professor. Much like his sister, he became famous world-wide. He is known for having an IQ of over 200 but is very lazy. He also does his own scientific research that some of his college students like to get involved in.
Chapter 1: Free Tickets
The hospital was booming with patients because of the car crash on Wadsworth. Over 13 cars collided and one semi in the midst of it all. The young pink haired doctor had been performing surgeries all day and had been at the hospital for a full 48 hours again. She hadn't left the hospital except for one day during the week and so it had begun to take a toll on her. It didn't help when her loudmouth brother came barging through the doors demanding that he see her.
"I want to see my sister Dr. Haruno, now!"
"I'm sorry sir but she's very busy."
"Can she really be so busy that she has no time whatsoever for her own brother?"
Sakura could here him easily through the doors of the emergency room and she knew that she had to take pity on the poor desk clerk and go out there. She quickly made the repairs to the pitiable man whom was lying on her operating table. She said her goodbye's to her fellow co-workers and rushed out to see her incorrigible brother.
"Naruto Uzumaki, how many times do I have to tell you not to disrupt me while I'm at work?!"
Naruto had turned with a big grin on his face, scratching the back of his head in nervousness, to see his sister Sakura covered in blood from the previous surgery. His face immediately dropped and he became pale at the sight of the blood. Before they knew it, Naruto was passed out on the hospital floors.
"What am I going to do with him?" Sighed Sakura as she looked at her supposed big brother. She doubted that they were related at all…even if the DNA tests came back positive. "I'm so sorry Dr. Haruno! I tried to tell him that you were in the middle of a heart bypass surgery!"
Sakura sighed in annoyance. "Shizune, you know what my brother is like, so don't apologize." The aforementioned desk clerk was a beautiful brunette with lovely dark chocolate almost charcoal eyes. Sakura thought of her as if she were a big sister at times. "Of course Dr. Haruno." Sakura couldn't help but roll her eyes at the title.
"Shizune, how many times have I told you to call me Sakura?"
"Many, but this is a work environment and until we are outside of the hospital, which is very little, I will call you Dr. Haruno."
Sakura rolled her eyes again. "Whatever, call in Idate to take Naruto to a room and call Hinata to come look after him. I've heard that she is having an especially slow day unlike the rest of us." Shizune nodded and then picked up the phone while Sakura walked back to the E.R.
~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!
He was sitting pleasantly in his office now that the dobe was gone. His blonde haired friend had always been an annoyance. Today he was just a little bit more annoying. He thought back to what the dobe had wanted and how he had agreed.
"Hey! Hey Sasuke-teme!" The raven haired man looked up with a bored look as he twitched at the aforementioned pet name. "What do you want dobe; can't you see I'm working?"
"Pfft. Whatever, but I've got great news!" Oh no. He braced himself for another one of the dobe's idiotic ideas. "I just received 8 free tickets to Las Vegas!" Ok, not as bad as he thought but he was still bracing himself for the rest of it. "What's the catch?"
"You're coming with me!" Ok, that was the bad news he was waiting for. The news that he would be stuck in a plane with his hyper-active blonde friend for a good 5 hours. "No."
"Oh, come on teme! You and my sister both need a vacation! All you do is work! I've already talked Neji and Shikamaru into it! Neji's bringing his cousin and Shikamaru's bringing his sister while I'm inviting my sis and you." He thought this over for a bit…Shikamaru and Neji would be there to suffer with him and he had met Shikamaru's sister, Tenten; she wasn't so bad and neither was Hinata. Then again, he had never met the dobe's sister and he could just imagine her being a loud, obnoxious blonde with the same stupid big blue eyes that he has. "That's only seven people; who's the last person?"
"So you're in?" Sasuke knew that he'd be stuck going no matter what and so he just nodded. "Awesome, this'll be fun! I'm giving the extra ticket to my Lil' sis so that she'll have a friend." Sasuke just gave his usual "Hn." And then continued with his paper work as the dobe ran off to go find his sister.
"This is going to be a pain."
Just then the door opened up and in walked his annoying assistant, Karin. She gave him the same sickly sweet smile that she always gives and placed his coffee on his desk. "What will?" He knew that she hovered around his office like a bee to honey and so he also knew that she had already heard the conversation between him and Naruto.
"I'm going to be taking a week off of work. Leave a memo on Mr. Hatake's desk that he will be performing all of my duties while I am away and that this is a lighter punishment than he should get for being late to work every day." She frowned at the way he ignored her question but bounced right back with a joyful "ok." She immediately left and went to do as she was told; maybe that was the reason he kept her around.
Another sigh escaped his lips as he went back to doing paper work. Today was going to be a long day and it was only 10am.
~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!
Her classes had just gotten over and she was now on her way to go visit Hinata and Sakura at work. She knew that they would put some time aside for her like they usually do since she always came baring lunch. Since the studio was only 12 blocks away and the deli was in between the two she had decided to walk there because traffic was extremely bad after the wreck this morning. Police officers had been redirecting traffic all day because of the big pile up of cars.
It was right when she had reached the deli that her cell phone rang with the wonderful ringtone of womanizer by the long forgotten Brittany Spears. Her face went beat red as everyone in the deli looked over at her. She quickly answered it and scowled at the fact that it was her brother.
"Yes?!" She hissed while trying to make her embarrassment fade away. She listened to him sigh before he finally began to speak. "Troublesome; this is such a drag." She knew how her brother was about prolonging the details and so she couldn't help herself when she screamed "Out with it."
"Alright, alright. Sheesh, you remind me of the screaming banshee known as her mother. You both have that same tone." Now he was just trying her patience. "Shikamaru…" She growled in her dangerous tone. Another sigh came and then he spoke.
"Naruto called me up and told me that he had received 8 free tickets to go to Las Vegas. He told me that I had to go and that I could bring anyone I want. So, I called to tell you that you better take work off for a week because you're going. Oh, and Naruto's inviting Sakura of course, and Neji is inviting Hinata. So, don't think that you're going to be stranded with a bunch of guys." Tenten knew that she should be angry about not having a choice, but, she had been wanting to go on a vacation and this was her opportunity. She squealed into the phone and once again everyone turned to look at her. "WHAT?! CAN'T SOMEONE BE HAPPY WITHOUT EVERYONE STARING AT THEM?!" Everyone immediately looked away as she continued to squeal.
"So, when do we leave?!" She waited for his reply but just got the dial tone. Shikamaru must've hung up during her squealing fest. "That jerk! I'll just have to ask Hinata and Sakura, I'm sure they'll know."
~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!
She was enjoying her quiet day when her phone starting ringing. She was immediately awoken from her secret daydreams of Sakura's handsome brother and grabbed the phone as she knocked all of her papers into disarray. On the other line was none other than her dear cousin Neji.
"Hello Neji, is there anything that I can help you with?" She listened to his annoyed sigh before he spoke up. "I really wish that you wouldn't be so formal with me, and no, there is nothing that you can do to help me, besides taking this next week off of work." She was surprised by his last minute request because it meant that she would have to reschedule a lot of appointments. "I, uh, don't know if I can do that. My patients need me." There was another annoyed sigh; she was fairly used to this. "Hinata, you work too much. Take this next week off because you're going with me to Las Vegas. Naruto got free tickets and said I had to invite someone, so, that means you're going."
"But, what about Hanabi? She would probably enjoy Las Vegas."
"You know that Hanabi is finishing up her last year in college and there is no way that she can miss an entire week of classes." Hinata knew that there was no way out of this and so she gave a small "ok" and hung up.
It was only a few moments later that her phone rung again and she was once more snapped out of her daydreams of the blonde. "Yes?" She heard the woman on the other line say hello and then she straightened up in her chair. "How may I help you Shizune?"
"Dr. Haruno needs you to go to room 402 and take care of her brother. He fainted when he saw the blood on her jacket." Hinata's face went a tomato red and then tried to calm herself in order to reply in a steady voice that failed miserably. "O-oh, o-of c-course."
"Are you alright Dr. Hyuga?" Hinata calmed herself more and then sighed. "Yes, I'm fine; thank you."
As soon as she hung up the phone, she began fixing her appearance. She straightened her white lab coat and made sure that her long raven hair with blue highlights was tidy and then walked briskly, if not a bit clumsily out the door of her office and directly to room 402 where she found the sleeping blonde.
"N-Naruto?" She called once entering the room to see if he was awake yet or not. There was no reply and so Hinata made her way over to the bed. Naruto's brilliant blonde hair fell messily over his forehead and made him look much like a young sleeping boy. It reminded her of the first day that she met him…
It was her first year in college and her very first friend became Sakura Haruno who was also studying in the medical field. The two were quick to become friends and never went anywhere without the other. It wasn't long before Thanksgiving break came, where everyone went home to spend the wonderful feast of friendship and goodwill with their families. Hinata's own family wasn't going to be celebrating the holiday that year, because no one could make it. Her father had taken her younger sister off on a business trip with him, and, her cousin Neji, whom was really more like a brother, was stuck at college, where he was majoring in business, with a very important report coming up. There would be no one back at the manor and she so she believed that she was doomed to be stuck in her college dorm without even the company of her best friend and roommate, Sakura Haruno.
"Hinata, are you not going to visit your family for the holiday?"
Hinata hadn't noticed her pink haired friend waltz into the room and so she was surprised by the familiar voice. She turned back to her friend and gave her best smile as she tried to find the words to explain why she would be here for Thanksgiving.
"My family w-won't be home for the h-holiday and so there w-will be n-no reason f-for my return."
"That's horrible! I can't leave you to spend Thanksgiving alone! This is the time to spend with your friend's and family, and if you're not spending it with them, then you're just gonna' have to deal with spending it with me."
"Ah, Sakura, I c-couldn't possibly intrude on y-you and your f-family."
"Nonsense, I won't accept no for an answer. You're spending the holiday with me and my family whether you like it or not. I have extra frequent flier miles that are going to expire anyway if I don't use them. I'm going to go online and get you you're ticket right now."
"I-uh…" Hinata didn't know what to say. She had never had a real friend before and so it was an entirely new experience to be taken care of by someone else and to have them care so much about you when they don't have to. "Just say thank you because I can't get refunds on the tickets. Besides, you're like a sister to me anyway; you'll fit right in."
"Thank you…Sakura."
And so, only seven hours later, she and her best friend were on a plane to Konoha City, where she just happened to live also. The flight there usually bored her, but, with Sakura, it was unusually fun. The seven hour flight went by faster than expected and soon they had their luggage and were in a cab, headed towards Sakura's house.
Hinata was unsure of what to expect because she knew that Sakura's mother was a very well-known doctor and her step-father a notorious but famous author of the Icha Icha series; she also knew that Sakura had an older brother whom was studying at a school for culinary arts and was expected to be home as well. So, she wasn't sure what kind of place they lived in or how they would all act.
"Well, we're here!"
Hinata looked out the window of the cab at a beautiful two story white house with a large, luscious, green yard. A few cherry blossom trees were spaced around the house that would soon be budding with white and pink flowers as well as with a small garden with a variety of flowers on either side of a red oak stained door. The rose bushes that grew on the sides of the house were blooming with beautiful reds, pinks, and whites. Hinata was mesmerized by its Eden like appearance.
"S-Sakura, you h-have a v-very lovely home."
"Thank you Hinata, but I wouldn't judge the actual home by its outward appearance…wait until you get inside."
The ladies took their luggage and Hinata began the short trek up the walkway to the door while Sakura paid the cab driver for the ride. As soon as she reached the door a busty blonde woman had thrown the door open and ran over to her. Her immediate reaction was to shy away and duck her head down but that didn't stop the blonde from giving her a large hug.
"You must be Hinata; I've heard so much about you! You are just so adorable! Welcome to the family!"
'Welcome to the family' had a very nice ring to it. With only a few simple words, she felt right at home. Only a few moments later did Sakura come bounding up to the door with her bag at hand and gave the same busty woman a loving embrace.
"Well, I guess you've met Hinata?"
"Yes, I was just welcoming her to the family."
"Oh, great…I just hope that she'll still talk to me after this week of 'being part of the family'."
Hinata felt her cheeks go a luke warm as the two women continued to talk about her. "So, Hinata, this is my mother, Tsunade Uzumaki; my step-father and my brother are inside."
"It's a p-pleasure to meet you Mrs. Uzumaki." Spoke Hinata in her most formal manner as she gave a slight bow. The said woman only gave a minor chortle at the young raven's antics. "Please, call me mom. It's only right since you are a dear friend of my Sakura, and, besides, I've already welcomed you to the family."
"Umm, a-alright then…mom."
Before she knew what was happening, the older woman had squealed and embraced her in another hug. Her friend Sakura had taken it upon herself to grab her friend's bag and carry it into the house. "Hinata, you're room will be right next to mine; first door on the right."
The petite raven just nodded her head as she was ushered inside the house. The house wasn't as bad as Sakura had made it seem. The décor was stunning and could leave you breathless. It was styled old-fashioned like and there were chairs and an old couch placed around the fireplace. That's when she saw HIM.
No one was around and so she decided to go sit in one of the chairs near the fire. Her eyes continued to drift over to the blonde haired boy that was asleep on the couch. He had boyish good looks and she could only assume that this was Sakura's older brother. Her cheeks tinted to the smallest shade of pink as she neared the boy. It was an unnerving attraction. Her short coal colored locks brushed her chin as she leaned over the boys face. He had whisker like scars and soft vanilla like skin. His breathing was soft and she couldn't help but feel the warmth that built up inside of her as she stared down at him.
She was so caught up in her daze that she didn't realize that she was petting his head and pushing the hair away from his face. Her hand slowly drifted down his face and while within her own little world the most beautiful cerulean blue eyes had open to see her dreamy face. She didn't even jump until she felt a rough yet soft hand on her own.
"You must be Hinata?"
"I-I…" Her face had gone a tomato red and no matter how she tried, she couldn't come up with an excuse for what she had previously been doing.
"It's funny; my sister said that you were cute but not exceedingly gorgeous. I have to say, waking up to see an angel's face like yours is something I could get used to."
The blonde boy had sat up and a crooked smile, that looked adorable on him, had appeared on his face. "I'm Naruto, by the way."
"H-Hinata…I'm Hinata H-Hyuga." She couldn't help but feel embarrassed by how hard it was to complete even a single sentence around the boy.
"Well, it's very nice to meet you Hinata. Welcome to the Uzumaki household."
There it was again…that welcoming attitude to a total stranger. She could now see why Sakura was so nice and carefree; she grew up in a carefree lifestyle. But then something else clicked too… "Uzumaki?"
"Oh, you're wondering why Sakura's last name is Haruno, right?" She just nodded her head dumbly in hopes to not embarrass herself further. The boy gave a long sigh as her ran his hand threw his blonde hair. "So, Sakura never told you?"
"Told me what?"
"I'm only her half-brother. Her father left her at a young age and that's when my mother returned to my father. She doesn't like to bring it up, so, I guess that I'm not really all that surprised that she hasn't told you. It's a sore topic for her."
"Oh, I understand; families are not always as perfect as they seem."
"You know, Sakura was right though."
"Huh, about what?"
"You are pretty cute."
Yeah, that was one of her favorite memories. She had not only gotten to know the young blonde, but, also found out more about Sakura. They'd been close friends for about nine years now; time had sure flown by.
She got up and went to the bathroom where she grabbed a rag and doused it in warm water. After wringing the water out a bit, she returned to the sleeping boy. She began to run the wet clothe across his face as if cleaning invisible dirt. It was a gentle, soothing, motion that Naruto had always liked about her.
"I have to say, waking up to see an angel's face like yours is something I could get used to."
That same line…she looked down to see those same big blue eyes that she had fallen in love with that very first day that she had met him.
"N-Naruto, you're awake!"
That same crooked, goofy, smile that looked absolutely adorable on only him was now present on his face. She felt her heart leap as his eyes radiated with an emotion that she had felt since she first layed eyes upon him. His head slowly rose up and hers began to lean down; she could feel his warm, caressing breath on her skin as their faces neared one another's.
"Looks like you're awake!"
The two quickly broke apart with bright red faces as Sakura burst through the door. She quickly noticed their faces and became curious. "Did I interrupt something?"
"No!" Came the immediate response from both the blonde and the raven; a smile made its way onto Sakura's face as she walked over to Naruto in her now, completely white, doctor garments. "How are you feeling?"
"Eh, I'm fine Sakura."
Naruto began to scratch the back of his head with a goofy grin plastered on his face. After all the years of their mother being a doctor, you'd think that he'd be used to the sight of blood by now. "Well, I doubt it, but, I hoped that taught you a lesson to not interrupt me while I'm at work. I'm here to save lives Naruto, and, I can't do that when you're causing a ruckus in the hospital."
"Well, when can I find you outside the hospital? You never leave!"
"I…I do too!"
"Really, when?"
"I'm not a robot Naruto; I do go home to sleep."
"Yeah, but when was the last time you took a day off?"
Sakura really had nothing to say then; she couldn't remember the last time she took a day off or if she ever had. Her vacation days had totaled to almost three months of paid vacation time. She knew that Naruto had won the argument. "Fine, what do you want me to do about it? This is my job."
"Yeah, your job, not your life; go on a date sometime sis, hang out with friends. It's not healthy to have a life that revolves around work entirely."
"Whatever, I'll take some time off if that'll make you happy."
"It will, because I've got free tickets for an all-paid vacation to Las Vegas baby!"
Sakura knew that it had to be something like this for him to be such a spazz over her work hours. She sighed and tried to bottle up whatever restraint was left in her to use for later. "When are we going?"
His smile only seemed to broaden and he looked like a Cheshire cat; his already feline looks growing more distinct by the second. Great, this was exactly what she was not looking forward too. "Well, it's not only us! Shikamaru, Tenten, Neji, Hinata, of course-" He looked towards Hinata, "-Neji already informed you, right?" He was answered with her usual silent nod. "Good, then we have me, you, Sasuke-teme, whom I've wanted you to meet since we were in high school but you were always too busy, and a friend of your choice, who will be coming."
"Fine, I'll call up Ino later, now, when?"
"We'll be leaving Monday, so it's best that you tell mom that you're taking all week off."
"But-but…THAT'S TOMORROW!"
"Yeah…well, you see…the tickets were very unexpected. I was at my restaurant and some guy walked in saying that he'd never had such amazing food in his life and that he wanted to repay me for it. I tried telling him that he already did by paying for the food but he refused to believe that, that was enough…so he gave me the tickets and an all expense paid vacation to Las Vegas."
Another long sigh escaped Sakura's throat as she glared at her brother. Go figure, it's always him that puts an edge to her life. After brushing a hand through her bangs, she gave her gruff reply, "Alright, I'll go, but from now on, there will be no more surprises!"
"You got it Sakura! No more surprises! Not a problem! We leave tomorrow at 7am!"
That's when Hinata, who had remained silent throughout the entire argument had decided to speak up. "N-Naruto, that's very early for Sakura to be getting on a plane. She's been at the hospital for 48 hours straight already and had only left the hospital once this week. With so little sleep, it will be hard for her to go home and pack, then go directly to the airport."
Naruto hadn't noticed the dark circles that were appearing under his sister's eyes. She was beginning to look like that insomniac, Gaara, from the teme's office. He didn't want to stress his sister out so last minute and so an idea formulated in his head.
"How about you ask Ino to pack your things for you? She'd probably enjoy doing that anyway. That way you won't have to worry about packing any of your things when you get home."
"Okay, I'll call her up once you get out of the here and leave my co-workers at peace."
"Yeah, yeah, sure, sure! See you at the airport tomorrow!"
"Whatever…"
Naruto winked at Hinata as he strode out of the room and down the hall cheering at how he had bested his sister. Hinata couldn't help but giggle at his behavior, or, at least, she couldn't until she met the ferocious glare of her friend…then it just became more amusing.
"Oh, Sakura, you know you need the vacation anyway. Call Ino up and tell her to meet us for lunch in your office. Tenten should be here soon anyway."
As if on queue, Tenten had barged into the room unannounced with a dorky smile on her face. "Someone say my name?"
"How'd you know where we were?"
Tenten looked at Sakura as if she had been insulted by such a question. "I'm a magician, what more can I say? You never question a magician's tricks on how they do something…it ruins the magic behind them."
"You asked Shizune, didn't you?"
"Hina, why'd you have to go and ruin it?!" A pout became evident on Tenten's previously ecstatic face as she trudged her way over to the empty hospital bed where everyone was sitting. Sakura was the first one to smell the food and her attention was immediately drawn to the bag. Her stomach made a loud growl and the girls began to look at her funny. A smile reappeared on Tenten's face. "Well, someone's hungry."
"Oh, shut it! I haven't had the opportunity to eat since yesterday's lunch."
"S-Sakura, y-you know that that isn't good for you!"
"I know…you don't have to lecture me…I've just been really busy with the recent accident on Wadsworth this morning."
"Oh, yeah! The police were redirecting traffic and had the yellow barriers set up this morning when I was on my way to the deli!"
While Tenten went on to talk about her day, Sakura had pulled out her cell phone. She supposed that it was too late to invite Ino for lunch but she still needed to inform her about the trip.
~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!
Cameras flashed all around her, trying to capture her goddess-like appearance and beautiful smile. Blonde hair twirled as she spun in circles and blue eyes sparkled in delight. This was where she had always belonged, in the center, where everyone knew who she was. Her long, satin gown twirled around her ankles but hugged her hips comfortably.
"Good, that's great Ino! That's enough for today! Amazing work everyone!"
The guy who just spoke, that was her boss, Sai. He was a young inspiring artist when he first found her, but, when he saw her, he couldn't let her go. He drew pictures of her, painted paintings, took pictures, and eventually, his father had seen his genius and allowed Sai to take over the company. Ino, who was his muse, had just followed him like a lost puppy. Wherever he had gone, she had; nothing too hard to comprehend about that. She had even began dating him for awhile but then things had become complicated.
"Sai, sweetheart, are you done working for today? I thought we could go out for a romantic dinner tonight."
That woman, with the long black hair…was Sai's fiancée. Yes, Ino had been duped into believing that he loved her only to find out that he had been cheating on her with another one of his models, Kin. Of course, Ino put on an understanding façade and turned their love relationship into a platonic one that was merely made up of friendship. Naturally, Ino had become very popular by then and so the company couldn't just drop her. She was now just the face within the business, no connection at all to the people that worked there.
She heard her cell vibrate and gracefully picked it up and answered it. She wasn't surprised to here her best friend on the other line. They had known each other since pre-k and they were even roommates now with two other girls who had taken their own place in Ino's life.
"Yes darling?" She could only imagine that Sakura was stressed about work again. Ino had barely seen her at all this week and when she had, the girl was asleep. "Ino, take the week off of work; we leave on a plane tomorrow morning at 7am for Las Vegas. Naruto received eight free plane tickets and an all expenses paid v-ca. If you could, I'd appreciate it if you packed my bags for me."
"We're going to Las Vegas?! Really?! This is AWESOME!" It didn't take long for her to turn to Sai, who was cuddled up with his 'beloved Kin', and tell him, "Sai, I'm taking the week off. My friend needs me to go to Las Vegas with her and I will not disappoint!"
"Ino, it's a little sudden to be taking off from work, don't you think?"
"Nope, you're constantly scheduling me for last minute photo shoots and appearances; I think it's just a kind of way of repaying the favor. Oh, and don't try to call me, I never answer work related calls while on vacation."
"So, Sakura, I think I'm just gonna' go buy us a new wardrobe for the event. I'll have everything packed before you get home. Oh, and make sure you get some sleep tonight. If we have to be at the airport at 3am, you'll need it." A tired sigh was heard and Ino knew that Sakura had been over-exerting herself again. "Sakura, when was the last time you slept?"
"Friday…"
"Sakura, that was two days ago! What about eating?! Don't think I haven't noticed that you lost weight!"
"Just now." Ino began to massage the bridge of her nose and she shut her eyes. She let herself count to ten before replying in a calm manner. "And before Tenten brought you lunch, when had you last ate?" Another pause of silence, "Yesterday afternoon, when Tenten brought lunch."
"And you call yourself a doctor?! You can't even take care of yourself?!"
"I know Ino…I already got the lecture from Hinata, but with that accident on Wadsworth, I was kept very busy today."
Once again Ino closed her eyes and counted to ten; Sakura was always trying her patience. "When do you plan on getting home tonight?" There was another short pause which Ino knew immediately what it meant. "I'll only be able to make it home in enough time to grab my luggage."
"Saki, this isn't good for you. You'll end up killing yourself if you keep this up."
"I know, that's why I agreed to take the week off to go on this vacation."
"Well, I suppose that that is all I can ask for. I'll see you in the morning."
~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!
Kate: Hey guys! Hope you liked it! If you thought it was boring, well, beginnings usually are. Please R&R! I'll try to post the next chappie by next week!