Ignorance Is Bliss
A/N: Dedicated to a Miss Aerith, who got me to stop being lazy and write something. Props to you. And Ren? I stole your prompt. Readers? Don't forget to enjoy and review!
Disclaimer: I own nothing. It's one of the problems with being under eighteen.
Song choice: It's totally irrelevant to the story, but you should definitely listen to "Love and Memories" by O.A.R. (Of A Revolution)
... ignorance is bliss...
They say ignorance is bliss. They're not lying.
Now, whoever 'they' are is still questionable, but they were dead on right. It's definitely much better to be ignorant than to be in the know. When I was just a little kid, it was all butterflies and bubble wands, playing with Ino and giggling about Sasuke, just living it up, little-kid style.
I had no idea about the goings on outside of my little girl, Ninja Academy life, and it was great. Blissful, as 'they' would say.
But I swear, the minute I stopped having to say, "Can you tie this for me?" or "I don't know how." my parents, friends, and the rest of the world decided I was old enough to know the truth.
The truth may set you free- I'm not all that positive- but a lot of the time, it just makes everyone upset.
Take this time, when I was fourteen. I was calmly waiting for my mother to make me breakfast- "Hai, Reidou, I would like a buttered muffin."- when my father struts in with the paper and glasses on his face.
"Konichiwa, Daifu," I smiled brightly at him, "Since when do you wear glasses?"
My father shot a glance at my mother who promptly burst into tears and dropped my buttered muffin. As it turns out, the glasses were attempting to slow down the process of my father going blind. Afterwards, eating just didn't seem all that appealing. Neither did anything else. My father, my Daifu, the best ninja I knew, was losing all sight. I left my muffin on the table, went up to my room, and cried big, wet, pubescent tears.
... Or when I was eating ramen with Kakashi, a few years ago. I think I was about eighteen and I had been really excited about finally eating out with him alone, the first time since he had come back from his trip. I had been hoping for a fun time catching up, even if I had to deal with his tales of Icha Icha.
We had been slurping up noodles,- well, he had. Of course I had been very dignified and ladylike- when he turned to me suddenly.
"Sakura," he said to me quietly, "I have something I need to tell you."
He sounded concerned so I gave him my best "Tell-me-what-you-really-think" expression. "What is it, Kakashi-sensei?"
He sighed this really huge sigh. "Sakura... I like little boys."
I stared. There was no way this was happening. A nightmare. But, of course, I couldn't let him know how freaked out I was. So I tried to take calming breaths. But I guess it came off more as hyperventilating, because a moment later, Kakashi, in an anxious tone, told me to, "Count to ten."
As if I could even think of the numbers involved in counting that high at the moment.
But I let myself paste a huge, almost ridiculous grin on my face. "Well, Sensei," I began, "I actually prefer daisies. But, um, to each his own."
He looked up at me. "Now, Sakura, I don't want things to be weird between us. I'm still your ex-sensei, after all."
I stood up quickly and forced myself to keep grinning at him. "Erm, sensei, I should actually be going." I threw some bills down on the table and gave him a nervous smile, "And sensei?"
Kakashi turned to me and did his famous eye crinkle. "What is it, Sakura?"
I felt my blush crawling up to the roots of my hair. "Could you, um, please stay away from my little brother?"
I then turned around lightning fast, trying to pretend I didn't hear Kakashi say, "Your bother has the hots for me, I'm telling you!" in the distance.
I haven't seen him since. Maybe he found himself a "younger guy" but I sure as hell don't want to know about it.
The worst time, though, was That Time. Sasuke had been very flirty- this was, of course, after he finally came back to Konoha- with me, and I wasn't sure why, but I was enjoying it. Unfortunately, Inner Sakura had been trying to use her medic knowledge to figure out what kind of disease Sasuke-kun had contracted.
And, as Inner Sakura is Inner-Me, I asked him, "Sasuke… do you have mono?"
He laughed- I swear to Kami-sama it happened- and he gave me that famous Uchiha smirk. "Of course not, Sakura. I've got a clean bill of health. But what about you? You look a little flushed. Maybe you should come back to my place...?"
Well, I would've really had to have been sick to turn down that offer, so I happily agreed that maybe I should accompany him home. And, well, after we got there, we had lots of "fun". So much "fun", in fact, that I was not at all surprised when my monthly visitor did not come in one... two... three... weeks. A few days after deciding I had to be carrying the Uchiha heir or I had spontaneously hit menopause- at twenty-three-, I told Naruto, who freaked out.
Freaked out enough, as it turns out, to grab my wrist and high tail it to Sasuke's, where he, more or less, dragged me up the stairs, burst through Sasuke's bedroom door, and pointed accusingly at Sasuke-kun while screaming, "Tell it to me straight – is Sakura pregnant?"
Of course, once I took my gaze off of my crazy blond friend, I took notice of the petite brunette in Sasuke's bed... she was naked.
Said brunette glared at Naruto and me. "Ever heard of knocking?" she complained.
Sasuke chose that moment to walk out of the bathroom, wearing a towel and brushing his hair. He turned to the Brunette, about to say something, when he noticed he had company. His jaw clamped tightly shut. Which was good, because I wasn't about to let him get a word in edgewise.
"Uchiha," I started, "I believe in reincarnation. I bet you used to be the lowest of the low... a rat." And I smacked him.
With that done, I grabbed Naruto's hand and we walked out the door.
That was the day "Sasuke-kun" became "That Uchiha-Rat."
And those aren't even the tip of the iceberg of all the times knowledge has gone around and come back to get me where it hurts.
Now, some of my older-and-wiser knowledge has paid off. For example, I now know that wearing stilettos on a mission because they make your legs look slimmer is NOT a good idea. Also, I never order pineapples with my ramen at Ichiraku's. It's a combination that will just not agree with my lower intestine, causing a lot of bowing down to the porcelain god.
But overall, knowing about every, single, freaking problem with your family, friends, economy, society, race, gender, size, profession, country, etceteras, is not all that great. Yeah, you heard me. It actually sucks a whole lot of ass.
So if you want to be knowledgeable, you go right on ahead. I've tried it your way, and, frankly, it hasn't worked out all that well for me. After all the problems being in the know caused, ignorance has got to be the way to live...
... hasn't it?
...ignorance is bliss......ignorance is bliss......ignorance is bliss......ignorance is bliss......ignorance is bliss......ignorance is bliss......ignorance is bliss......ignorance is bliss......ignorance is bliss...
A/N: Click the purple-blue button and tell me what you thought, because you're awesome? Alright, peoples. Hope you enjoyed. Don't forget to check out Miss Aerith!
-SakuraDouble
