A comment from Ino goes astray causing Sakura to take another look in the mirror.
"Hey, Forehead girl! Over here!" The name was well known around Konoha, though only one ever used it. Haruno Sakura looked up at the shout, a smirk crossing her features. "Ino-pig, I didn't expect to see you here today." The blonde girl gazed back coolly, wearing her own smirk. "I didn't expect to see you here either," She paused, glancing at the market place the buzzed with activity around them. "What, are you here to buy some bigger clothes? Can't fit in to your old ones anymore I suppose." The rivalry between the two girls was no secret wither, the two had once been good friends, before the coming of a certain Uchiha.
The bubblegum pink haired girl stared at the other, surprised, however she collected herself quickly, sneering back. "Hmph, you wish Ino-pig, I'm here to buy silk for my new dress." She replied haughtily, flipping her hair behind her shoulder. "I have to go now, goodbye." She turned sharply and walked calmly away, swinging her hips in what she considered an alluring fashion. The blonde girl watched her disappear into the crowds before she too stuck her nose into the air and marched away in the opposite direction.
A short distance from where the two girls had stood not a few moments before, Shikamaru and Chouji stared after either girl, more then slightly confused. "Wonder what that was all about," Chouji mused, inhaling yet another handful of potato chips. His friend shrugged and turned away. "I don't know. Tch' Women are too trouble some." And with that, the two puzzled boys trundled away, slowly moving down the street towards the new Barbecue stand Shikamaru had promised to take the other boy to.
Sakura wandered through the many stalls that lined the market streets, running her fingers over the fine silks and materials, determined to find the perfect texture for her new dress. Her mother had promised to make the dress if the cherry blossom girl agreed to buy to materials out of her own pocket money. Actually getting the money was not the hard part, in truth; it was very easy with the pay she received from becoming a Chuunin, no, that hard part was choosing what colour material she wanted. "Hmmm," She put a finger to her lips, trying to decide between two different silks. "Will Sasuke like the lavender or the light pink better?" She stood there for quite some time, trying to choose the better one before finally deciding upon a totally different coloured fabric. It was a deep reddish pink, not too different from her current dresses colour, but she liked it all the same.
Happy with her purchase, the cherry blossom girl skipped home to show her mother and help with dinner. However, the minute she stepped inside the house, her material was instantly forgotten as dinner was about to be served. Dumping the bag in her room, Sakura ran back down the stairs to join her family. She had always enjoyed dinner, being at home safely with her family and eating wonderful foods. Each family member discussed their days over the food and cleaned up the table together, though only the bubblegum haired girl and her mother who washed the dishes. "Did you buy the fabric you wanted, Sakura?" The older woman asked as they washed and dried the pots together. "Oh yeah! I forgot all about it! I'll show you after we're finished cleaning up." Being the person she was, Sakura really didn't want to get any of the dirty washing up water on her beloved silk, the very thing that would help her win a Sasuke's heart.
The woman smiled warmly at her daughter, "No, I'll finish up here, while you go and get the material and a tape measure so that we can find out how big you need it to be." With a nod and her own smile, Sakura dashed upstairs to do as she was bid. Returning to find her mother finished (it had taken awhile to find the tape measure) and ready to begin sewing the dress, the cherry blossom girl held the silk out before her expectantly. ""Ah! It's so beautiful! Its good to know my daughter has a fine sense of fashion!" The older female took the silk and placed it gently on the bench next to her before unraveling the tape measure slightly. "Come here then, I need to measure you." Excitedly, Sakura stepped forwards and raised her arms. Her mother wrapped the long coil of tape around various parts of her body before finishing with her waist. "My little Sakura is growing up to be a big girl!" She laughed. The younger girl rolled her eyes and groaned. "Mom." She sighed, exasperated and crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm going to my room to read, I'll see you in the morning." Kissing her mother and father good night, she patted upstairs to her room to change for bed.
Not surprisingly, Sakura enjoyed reading. It was a past time of hers that she took part in most nights before bed when she wasn't on missions and the like. It was relaxing to just sit and read scrolls and books until she could no longer keep her eyes open and drifted off to sleep. She planned to do that now. Searching through her chest of drawers for her night clothes, she caught a glanced of her reflection in the mirror suddenly. The girl noticed how tightly her clothing clung to her body now, rather then the way it had fitted comfortably only a few months ago. Ino's words from ealier that day suddenly popped into her mind, 'Are you here to buy some bigger clothes? Can't fit in to your old ones anymore I suppose.' Frowning, she poked her stomach. Her finger sunk slightly into soft skin before hitting hard muscle caused by her ninja training. Despite the fact that she was of a perfectly normal weight, Sakura grimaced at the small amount of pudgy fat that he finger had first encountered before the muscle. Again, she poked her stomach.
She repeated this act quite a few times, each time resulting exactly the same was a the first, before she stopped and took another look at herself in the mirror.
A reversed image of herself frowned back at her disapprovingly. As it did, she began to notice small details about her body that she had not before. Like the way her hips seemed a little too wide, or how her thighs appeared slightly pudgier then they should. Casting a harsh glance over herself, she began to pick out yet more 'imperfect' things about her physical appearance. Her stomach was not flat enough, her calves were no where near as shapely as they could have been, her hands were too big, he wrists too thick, he face to round… the list began to grow until nearly every part of her appearance had become in some way…wrong. She didn't understand how, but it had.
Staring into the mirror and at her reflection, or really, past her reflection, she began to drown herself in thought.
How could Sasuke ever love her if she looked like this? Perhaps Ino-pig was right, perhaps she was just too ugly. Perhaps she just wasn't enough…
A sudden sorrow hit the girl like a ton of bricks. She wanted to sink down and cry on the floor for hours and not stop. It felt like too much, but she really didn't know why she felt this way. She was ugly, it wasn't fair. Ino was pretty, Ino was beautiful next to her, Sasuke would surely like the blonde better…
A sob broke from her throat. Why couldn't she just for once be the one with something more then this-this second class life she lead? Why did she have to have this ugly body without and charm and class to it? She continued to sob alone in her room, clothed only in her underwear and sleeping shirt. She did not hear the knock on the door, only did she look up when the door opened and a blonde head poked around the door. "Sakura? You mom said you'd be up here…" The voice died when the other girl spotted her long time friend and rival curled up on the floor, face wet with tears.
"Sakura? What's wrong?" Ino quickly closed the door behind her and knelt down on the floor beside the cherry blossom girl. "Are you hurt?" Sakura shook her head, wiping away tears. "N-no." She mumbled, forcing her tears to stop. "I-I'm fine, it's just that…" Yet another sob escaped her lips, unwanted and unwelcome. "It's just that I'm not pretty like you are! No one will ever like me!" She burst out suddenly. Shocked, the blonde girl drew back slightly before an expression of…of something similar to sympathy and sorrow, though without pity. It was a strange thing. She sighed softly.
Sakura started when she felt an arm wrap around her shoulders. "Sakura…you don't need to feel this way. It's isn't true either, you are pretty. So many people like you, you have friends, family and admirers. You have a goal and are a strong ninja with a powerful team. You have so much, don't let yourself be dragged down just because of a tiny part of you that says you're not pretty." She smiled warmly. "That part is wrong. Like I said, you have already bloomed into a beautiful flower."
Wide green eyes stared back at the blonde girl in surprised, but soon softened and smiled back happily. Wrapping her own arms around the other girls neck, she buried her head in Ino's shoulder and whispered,
"Thank you, Ino."
Authors notes: Well that was weird. I'm not really sure if I liked it or not, it's sweet, but it seems a little sickly, if you get what I mean. You know how things can be too sweet sometimes? Well I feel that this is one of those things. Anyway, please review and tell me what you think! Reveiwers get chocolate chip muffins!