Karin: Okay, here's my oneshot for the Sakura Oneshot Contest issued by Vesper Chan. Hope you enjoy.
NOTE: the melody the music box plays is the music box version of "Lilium" from Elfen Lied
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or the song "Breathe" by Michelle Branch or the Elfen Lied music box
Woes of Procrastination
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"Now here's an old song, maybe some of you remember: Breathe by Michelle Branch here on 93.7" the announcer on the radio said and only a few seconds later is when the music began. Sounds of a guitar reached her ears through the speakers.
"I've been driving for an hour. Just talking to the rain…" she made a turn onto a dirt path with the rain pitter pattering on the windows of her midnight blue SVU van. Her surroundings were nothing but fields of green normally beautiful to gaze at, but due to the current weather, there was nothing much to admire what with the constant concentration she needed for the road.
"So just give me one good reason. Tell me why I should stay. Cause I don't wanna waste another moment in saying things we never meant to say…" a hand reaches up to run through her pink tresses that went slightly past her shoulders along with a sigh escaping her lips—successfully breaking the silence barrier. Emerald eyes regarded the road tiredly as she once again made another turn leading up a hill.
"Listen up, Sakura." Her best friend and long time editor Yamanaka Ino said only an hour ago. "Lately you've been slacking off, but since you write such good stuff, the boss has been very lenient on you. However, you must meet your deadline by the end of the week this time. No pushing back. No delays. No exceptions. He means it."
Easy for him to say, the driver thought begrudgingly. There's a difference to saying being on time and actually doing it. Especially under my circumstances.
"You know, maybe you should move back to Japan. You were never late or caused any trouble when you lived in Tokyo. I mean, I have no problem with living here to be closer to you—cute English boys also, you know—but for the sake of your job, Tokyo was a better environment. Or maybe you just need a boyfriend…" Ino's words drifted in her head making the woman roll her eyes.
Oh please, having a boyfriend was the last thing she needed… If only Ino knew the truth then she'd know why her best friend was stressed ninety percent of the time.
…but then again, Ino was also a maniac and would probably squeal and beg to take her place.
She can have it! the twenty-one year old woman thought in distain.
"If I just bre—" she switched off the radio as she saw a gloomy mansion in the distance not wanting them to hear the radio less it alerted them of her arrival. Lord knows she never gets enough sleep or peace in general when they're around. With it being the daytime, she actually might have a chance to enter the house undetected and get some progress done for her latest novel.
Because as soon as they wake up, my dreams of getting any progress done for my deadline fly out the window. she thought miserably. Praying to all divine beings that they really were asleep and not awake and listening for any sounds approaching that would alert them like they sometimes did—their hearing was extraordinary, but then again anything about them was extraordinary to a normal person—she tried to drive as quietly as possible while the looming mansion drew closer in her sights.
Haruno Sakura was twenty-one years old and fresh out of college only nine months prior. Nevertheless, she has written—even during her college years—many articles along with some best selling novels. Not under her name of course; does it look like she wants crazy fans busting down her door for an autograph or to run all over Tokyo to evade fans?
But her writing career wasn't what landed her in the peaceful countryside of England. While she did enjoy the fresh air and scenery, it wasn't what attracted her to pack her bags and move out of her apartment in Tokyo.
Six months prior to the present time, Sakura had received a letter alerting her of her late grandfather's passing and that he had, evidently, left something for her in his will. This didn't really surprise Sakura as she was his last of kin—her being the only child of his only daughter whom had unfortunately passed on with her husband long before their time in a car crash when she was ten—but what did surprise her was that he was actually, willingly without prompting, leaving her something in the first place. She would've thought that that leaving her something out of obligation rather than desiring to. On the other hand, his lawyer had assured her over the phone that he was quite excited to give her all the contents he named in his will.
Now this in itself was even more mysterious. Wanting to give her something? She had—as weird as it sounded—never met her maternal grandfather in person nor had she spoken to him via letter or phone. All she knew about him was that he was a recluse living in the countryside of England with the weirdest hobbies and did not approve of her mother's marriage. Her father, bless his soul, was quite poor and her maternal grandfather was quite the entrepreneur in his time while he still lived in Tokyo with her mother. Sakura's mother being the only heir to his company deserting him for a quieter and happier life, he dropped all active business and moved to England where it was said he quietly continued his work for two decades and then retiring doing God knows what for the rest of his days.
It wasn't until later Sakura had discovered what her grandfather—curse the man—had been up to.
Now if only she had known then what she did now and then she would've never taken up the offer his lawyer had given her through her grandfather's will.
Upon his death, the crazy old man had given his only grandchild his estate in England along with his fortune. Anyone would be happy to receive that much despite never knowing the person, right? No catch involved whatsoever. That was pure gold.
Except there was a catch. She hoped the old man was rotting in Hell right now. He certainly deserved it.
Taking the key out of the ignition, Sakura crept quietly out of her car holding her grey hood over her head from her overcoat that reached a little past her mid thigh. Heading for the huge wooden doors leading into the mansion and her personal asylum, she unlocked the doors and slowly opened it as to prevent making much noise.
Please don't hear me. Please don't hear me. she begged in her mind. She couldn't deal with them right now. She had her novel to finish up by the end of the week or else she was fired. A normal person would say that Sakura didn't have anything to worry about if she was fired because of the amount of money left to her would set her and even her grandkids, if she has any that is because they would never let her date even if she wanted to, for life. Nonetheless, Sakura would scoff at that and go back to her writing. It wasn't only the fact that she hated depending on others for money, but she loved her job and writing. She always loved writing—as proof of her many awards throughout her educational years in writing competitions and praise from her many English teachers. To lose her job was something close to the world ending for her because she wouldn't able to publish her work anymore and share it with the world. It was enjoyable to see what people had to say about her writing, whether they liked it or not, it was interesting to see the world express various opinions over one common thing.
The entrance hall was quiet and dark while the faint sounds of the rain continued outside. Wincing at every soft step she took feeling like a single echo could send her to her doom—in this case, it could—Sakura hugged herself while traveling up the stairs and avoiding eyes with the gargoyle statues at the bottom of the stairs as well as the many other monstrous statues around the dark, gloomy, desolate, and massive mansion.
Crazy old man was right. Her grandfather was the paragon of insane.
Her grandfather, she found after shortly moving in, was an fervent occult manic. His lawyer informed her he was a collector of dark and sinister objects that were said in ancient times to hold some power, but the lawyer had told her her grandfather believed all that nonsense passionately to the point of decorating his house with the stuff. It was said her grandfather had even tried many dark rituals of summoning and other dark spells. All attempts ended in failure according to her lawful companion.
Oh yeah, he was crazy alright. And if she had ever found where his corpse was buried, she'd kick it thousands of times for his passion for the occult overriding his love of his kindred.
But she was getting ahead of herself. Right now she needed to work on her novel and not curse her grandfather's grave.
Tip-toeing to her room through the long hallways, she shut the door quietly with a small click. Once inside, she gave off a sigh of relief at having making it this far and locked the door for good measure—what? You could never be sure with them when it comes to their persistence in wanting to see her. On the other hand, she reasoned that a locked door wouldn't be enough to stop them anyway. Oh well—The pink haired girl stripped off her coat tossing it on the nearby armchair in front of her personal fire place revealing a slim, long sleeve black shirt and navy slender jeans. Throwing her flat heeled boots to the side as well, she crossed the carpet and settled herself on her large canopy bed with dark red covers.
"Let's see…" she murmured when turning on her laptop. "I just started the second to last chapter so I should get that finished along with doing half of the last chapter today tops. Won't Ino be happy to see that I'll have it done before the end of the week." a childish grin made its way to her face in excitement. Sakura loved getting things done early. It made her feel so accomplished and refreshed. During their school years, she was the studious-Hermione-Granger-gets-everything-done-way-before-the-due-date as for Ino who was the I'm-more-concerned-with-having-fun-and-doing-what-I-wanna-do-like-shopping-and-gossping-instead-of-work. This often resulted in Sakura helping Ino with her work as the girl was a strong procrastinator. Even though it was annoying at times, Ino was Sakura's best friend through and through.
Even if the girl often made her do most of the work… stupid Ino…
The only sound made in the room was Sakura's dainty fingers typing away quickly while she swung her legs back and forth for she was lying on her stomach on her huge bed. She didn't know how much time has passed, but Sakura was yanked out of her writing zone when something grumbled. She paused and listened again. It wasn't long before an embarrassed flush of red came upon her facial features.
The sounds were coming from her stomach.
Looking at the clock, she concluded that it was indeed lunch time. Saving what she had done so far, the bubblegum haired girl jumped off her bed happily at the prospect of getting food. She had breakfast really early this morning so she could meet up with Ino and the tiny woman was looking forward to stuffing her stomach with the required food it so desired.
Like a sandwich. Yes, with ham, cheese, lettuce, tomato, and mustard. Mm-mmm
Grumble. Oh great, she was getting hungrier just thinking about it.
"Must. Get. Sandwich. Now" she whispered to herself and sped out of the room. All thoughts of being cautious were out the window as soon as the thoughts of obtaining a godly ham and cheese sandwich with lettuce, tomato, and mustard entered her mind. One has to wonder if they knew that in her mind, a sandwich was far more important than them?
No. If they did know, they would've glared at any sandwich they laid eyes on and annihilate it when the pink haired cutie wasn't looking.
Yes, they were that possessive to get jealous over a sandwich.
Skidding and almost hitting several walls on her way to the kitchen, Sakura raced towards the staircase leading into the entrance hall that would lead her to the kitchen.
Sandwich here I come! Sakura thought with an inward victory dance.
Unfortunately, too caught up in her mental victory dance and speed, the petite woman failed to notice that she practically jumped off the edge of the staircase making her seem suspended in midair for a second before she tumbled down.
"AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" she let out a scream at the top of her lungs and braced herself to tumble and bang against the hard stairs. Hitting her forehead the first time, one of her arms a second time and finally banging her bottom and hip the by the third tumble, the sounds making loud crashes as she did so.
Landing ungracefully flat on her face upon the marble floor, she let out a groan of pain muffle by her acquaintance called the floor whilst her body twitched and ached in agony. Placing her hands—awfully, unbearably painful she might add—to push herself up and separate herself from the floor, she let out another whimper as her body screeched in absolute soreness.
Was her grandfather getting back at her for insulting him earlier and thinking she wants to kick his corpse repeatedly?
Rubbing the unshed tears out of her eyes with the back of her sleeve whereas she was still on the floor, Sakura was too distracted with her pain to make a break for the nearest door.
Namely the front and her only escape.
All of a sudden, Sakura was yanked off the white marble floor only to be pressed up against something warm and breathing. What's worse was that the object had wrapped its arms around her insuring her no escape. Emerald eyes widened in pure horror.
The answer to her previous question is yes, her grandfather must be getting back at her with bad luck for insulting him earlier.
"Sakura," the low baritone breathed and she felt him nestle her neck and breathe in her scent. No! No! No! "Usually I don't enjoy being woken, but if it's you, I don't mind one bit." the male continued nuzzling her while Sakura was frozen with her mouth agape. Oh no, if he was up, that meant that…
"Sasuke, you bastard! Get away from my Sakura-chan!" another voice shouted angrily.
"Your Sakura? Who says she was yours, Kitsune?" a new voice asked seething at both the male that had his Sakura in his arms and the loud fox boy. White eyes narrowed even more when he saw the black haired male snuggling himself in the pink haired woman.
"Blah! She isn't yours either white-eyes! Sakura is mine, un!" a forth one said domineering.
While the three newcomers were still at the top of the staircase arguing, a male with spiky silver hair covering one of his eyes appeared behind the duo much to Sasuke's annoyance.
"Go away, Kakashi. Sakura is mine." The black haired male said possessively while all Sakura could think that soon all of them would be here and not only will she not be able to run away to the haven of her room to continue her work, but she won't be getting that sandwich any time soon either!
The only response to that that the silver haired male gave was lifting a finger and promptly flicking the younger male in the forehead sending him flying into the opposite wall and away from Sakura.
"E-eh?" Sakura voiced out dumbly at the sudden movement and then squeaked when she felt Kakashi embrace her from behind.
"Good evening, Sakura. Although to you I guess that would be 'good afternoon'." Kakashi greeted happy with the presence of the pink haired woman being in his arms.
"Kakashi! Off Sakura now!" shouted a brunette boy who was growling positively feral showing his fangs. A red tattoo was on each side of his face. Emerald eyes swirled dizzily as the other occupants vigorously joined in with the wild brunette boy.
"Make me." he teased like a five-year-old holding the most prized toy that none of his companions could have, which in this case was true—none of them could have his Sakura. Said pink haired woman sweat dropped at the silver haired male. Wasn't he the oldest of them? Jeez, she felt like she was a babysitter more than anything when they got into their "Sakura is MINE" tirade. Idiots…
"As much as Sakura looks cute being disoriented, I will have to take her from you, Kakashi." a voice whispered and the next moment, a shadow swiped the pink haired girl into the shadows before her kidnapper and her emerged from the darkness. Crimson eyes regarded them all blankly and long black hair hung in a low ponytail.
"Wha?" her brain was too frazzled at this point. Why did these arguments of possession always end up with her getting a headache, dizzy and disoriented, or wanting to jump out the nearest window?
"Poor thing. Dolls shouldn't be this messed up." a boy with red hair and amber eyes approached them quietly and began straightening her ruffled clothing—a possessive gleam in his eyes as he focused only on her and tried in vain to control the faint twitching at the fact that it was Itachi instead of him holding the pink haired woman.
"I smell blood." the final male entered at the top of the stairs and immediately stridden towards the cherry blossom. If Sakura wasn't in so much pain right now, she would roll her eyes—Gaara, no matter how far away, could without trouble tell if she was bleeding. She almost corrected him to say "I smell Sakura's blood" instead for she was positive that was what he was referring to. Somber jade eyes stared down at her in concern hinted in his eyes. "Your forehead's bleeding, Sakura. What happened?" his eyes then went to turn accusingly at the other males in the entrance hall silently demanding an explanation on why his beloved pink haired mate was injured.
Sakura would bet her laptop Gaara blamed the others for said injury as well.
Suddenly, unfortunately she might say, when those words left Gaara's lips about her being injured—they constantly had their ears perked whenever the words "Sakura" and "hurt" are right next to each other—they all crowded around her with worry and anger in their eyes.
"Are you okay, Sakura?!"
"Who hurt you? I'll kill him!"
"I knew I shouldn't have let you out of my sight!"
"Call—what do humans call it?—an ambience, un!"
"It's ambulance, stupid, not ambience! Do you need anything, Sakura?"
I need you all to leave me the hell alone! Sakura growled in her mind. Glancing at the gargoyle statures, she remembered reading that gargoyles were supposed to ward off evil monsters and demons—well, why the hell weren't they doing their job of being her tutelary saint like they do for Notre Dame, huh?! Her life would be a hell of a lot more peaceful if these morons would leave!
Nevertheless, no matter how much she wished or how many times she prayed—and believe me, she prayed about five times a day—they would not leave.
And it was all because of her dirty, rotten, occult-obsessed grandfather!
"I need you all to leave me the hell alone so I can fix myself a damn sandwich." she snarled out with gleaming bright green eyes in irritation. Her irritation only increased tenfold when she saw they weren't listening to her and had dreamy expressions on their faces. Taking the time with Itachi being distracted, she untangled herself from his arms and hopped over Sasuke's unconscious form with ease with the intent on heading towards the kitchen.
Meanwhile, the guys were still in their fantasy lands with their beloved pinkette. And what inspired the impromptu fantasy session of their beautiful maiden?
It seems when they heard the words, "I need you" they were too consumed with bliss to hear the rest of her sentence and went to their dreamlands filled with Sakura-goodness.
Well, they're now up and about, Sakura groaned mentally as she bit into her sandwich at the same time as proofreading on her laptop. She judged that she only had a short while before they would come in here and disturb her work as they daily did. It was like a job or some kind of contest to see who could annoy Sakura the most with their interruptions.
It was all her grandfather's fault. There were no ifs or whats about it. It was purely, entirely, obviously, irreversibly, knowingly his fault that these males were here to disrupt her normal life and delay her work forcing her to become a procrastinator!
You may recall that Sakura had mentioned earlier that her grandfather was rumored to attempt dark summonings and rituals yes? Turns out as the Kami-sama of irony would have it, his "failure" in the attempts were not failures at all—her grandfather had indeed succeeded in bringing dark creatures to their world in the privacy of his own home.
Who knew?
Well, Sakura didn't until she moved in and settled. Imagine her surprise when she found nine bishounen men inside her new house! Of course, Sakura being Sakura tried to kick them out for breaking and entering without her permission—she had a baseball bat and everything—and was livid at the fact that they acted as if they lived there.
"Ne, are you that nutjob's granddaughter, perhaps?"
Oh if only she never answered that question! But how was she supposed to know that revealing that she was undeniably her crazy grandfather's granddaughter would send her to the deepest circles of Hell?
"Yeah I'm Sakura Haruno! So what? This house is mine now and I say out with you!"
She recalled their perplexed expressions when she said that—as if they couldn't believe that 1) she was speaking to them in such a tone—it wasn't until later on she found out that they were very well desired by women and no one dared to disrespect them for their prowess frightened many in their realm—and 2) that she was actually the crazy old man's granddaughter.
You see, the ritual her grandfather preformed did summon very powerful and dark monsters into their world; however, her grandfather was foolish in the aspect that these creatures would sit down and behave like good dogs. Her housemates had told her soon after their claiming on her came into the open, that they were murderous and an inch away from ending her grandfather's life ("Why didn't you?" Sakura asked them in a tone that suggested they should've killed the bastard). They would've done it too… if it wasn't for her grandfather's cunning mind that is…
Again, damn that old man to the deepest pits of Hell. Had he no shame?
He had offered the powerful men a deal: stay in his house and be apart of his collection and he would give them a mate—his one and only granddaughter would be a sacrificial lamb to them.
Nonetheless, as her grandfather did not have any pictures of her to show them or any information besides the fact that he had a granddaughter, the monsters were skeptic and suspicious. What if he was lying? What if she was ugly? What if she was a stupid fangirl? So many unwanted possibilities put the offering in the back of their minds and they bargained for something more stable in the meantime—freedom to rein around his estate and they could do as they pleased.
It was just her bad and atrocious luck that when they saw her as her grandfather's grandchild—the one that he had offered them without hesitation whatsoever—her housemates had taken to her almost instantaneously and proclaimed her as theirs. She was just too cute and irresistible to them to pass up in their opinion, but she didn't know that.
It didn't help her situation any better that the agreement was documented in a blood contract between her grandfather and those annoyances. She can still remember every word that particular passage said about their ownership of her.
'In the decision that you all become a part of my collection and remain within the boundaries of my estate, I will offer you freedom to rein and do as you please here. You will not be ordered to do anything nor will you be used for malevolent purposes.
'In addition to the above reward, if you so shall please, my granddaughter Sakura Haruno will become apart of your collateral where you may do what you please with her. She's yours for the taking.'
Asshole. the writer bit into her sandwich harshly imagining her grandfather's face. Honestly, her mother would be ashamed to learn her own father gave up his flesh and blood for personal gain without a second thought.
Although one good thing came out of that meeting, she rationalized with herself wearing an evil smile. The young black haired one—whom she would later be known to call Sasuke—had tried to kiss her and bite her neck for she "smelled divine" causing her to beat the crap out of him with her baseball bat.
Please; just because she was given to them like cattle doesn't mean she'll sit down and take it. She had no interest in becoming someone's, or someones' in this sense she concluded, mate/doll/pet/wife/whatever-other-terms-they-use-when-talking-about-their-claim-on-her.
Remember readers—she's not Ino. She's Sakura. And Sakura does not go to men like a puppy whenever they want her to. Her passion was the written word—not sexy men living in her house!
Also that doesn't mean she likes them because she admits they're sexy! You'd have to be blind or something not to see that! Nope. No attracting attachment to them whatsoever. Not at all. Zero. Nada. Zip.
Finishing off her sandwich, the woman continued to begrudgingly type while trying in vain to tune out the constant—and annoying—background noise of her housemates engaging in their usual banters and tomfoolery. It seems they had come out of their stupor at last.
Bangs and crashes sounded and absentmindedly Sakura saved the work she had so far on her laptop—it was always good to save your work once in a while as you go along.
"Sakura!" BAM!! Her door was now slammed open and there stood the moronic Sasuke. His black eyes looked at her as if she had denied him a piece of candy. "Why did you run off like that?" he whined.
"Why did you have to become conscious again?" Sakura snapped back with an eyebrow twitching. Damnit! She was making a lot of progress with her story!
Sasuke approached her bed with a smirk that he was sure to seduce her, but the pinkette just looked at him with her usual expression of impatience. He sighed and moved onto the bed with her enjoying the tantalizing smell her blood—and her in general—was giving off. It angered him a bit that Sakura would beat the crap out of him every time he tried to bite her—and thereby marking her as his—but her fiery personality was something he loved too. It was very complex.
Loving Sakura in universal terms was complex. Eight other supernatural males could testify to that with him.
"Sasuke," she said warningly and saved her program once again. A habit she had when any of them were around. It was like she was expecting their mere presence to delete all of her work. "Remember that talk we had about my personal bubble?"
"What personal bubble?" he asked her even as he began to nuzzle her with his cheek to her neck. The twitching Sakura had previously been doing increased tenfold.
"The one you are not allowed in and are currently violating." five more seconds of this and she swore she was going to punch him. She was most certainly NOT in the mood for his "Sakura-needs".
"But Sakura—"BAM!!! "Sasuke! Stop hogging Sakura, un!"
And now her twitching had surpassed standard twitching speed.
Sasuke hugged the pink haired woman to himself possessively meanwhile glaring at Deidara. A vampire was much more superior than a shape-shifter and yet this lower being was opposing him? The nerve of some of these creatures! They absolutely had no respect for his authority in their realm!
Here's a chibi Sakura in the background saying "You ain't in your realm anymore, dumbass. And believe me, I would've sent you back there a long time ago if I had the chance!"
When blue eyes—err, eye since his blonde hair covered one of them—spotted his favorite person in the world, it became all sparkly and star like.
"SAKURA!!!" with that the shape-shifter jumped on her bed swiftly causing the two to make an "uff!" sound, then Sasuke felt his arms being rather empty. Looking at the spot Sakura had once been and then to the trail of smoke that Deidara left behind in his haste, the vampire put two and two together.
"Deidara! Come back here with Sakura!"
Meanwhile Sakura was practically sobbing that she will not be able to get work done yet again.
"Deidara, please." Sakura begged as the blonde carried her in his arms bridal-style. "Can't you bug me another time? I have work to do!" she exclaimed waving her arms frantically. Deidara pouted.
"But you always have work, Sakura, un. You never have time for us ever." The shape-shifter whined.
"I beg to differ with that statement. I've been dragged, carried, and yanked around this house one too many times when instead I should've been doing my work." Sakura stated bluntly, but the blonde chose to ignore that comment.
Arriving at their destination, Deidara plopped her on his bed and grinned excitedly like a child on Christmas morning.
"I've been practicing a lot, Sakura, and I really wanted to show you." he said gesturing to himself. She knew what he was talking about—Deidara could transform himself into many things but lately he's been trying to do multiple transformations without having to change back into his original self first. Also, there was another fascination he was practicing with concerning his transforming…
"Alright," she sighed out in defeat knowing he worked really hard and couldn't wait to show her. "Go ahead, Deidara."
Seeing her approval, he grinned impishly and transformed himself into a common garden gnome for a few seconds. Then he transformed into a Venus Fly Trap telling her "I need to start with small things before I move to big." But still the Haruno female couldn't help but be impressed. He really was getting a lot better. Shape-shifters normally couldn't do constant transformations without returning to their original form so this in itself was a great feat for the blonde.
After a few more shifts, Deidara had finally changed into a giant white bird. Emerald eyes widened when she caught on what he was going to do. Ducking for cover quickly, she saved herself from being hit by his other fascination—making explosions.
She didn't know why he was so obsessed with blowing himself up and coming out perfectly fine, but she did recall that Deidara said it was a form of art and making a shape-shifter copy explosions was near impossible. It took him years to actually get around to successfully doing it, or so he told her.
In fact, she was often the peacemaker in Sasori and Deidara's debates on what true art is. Sasori, being a Puppeteer that allows himself to manipulate others whether they be alive, dead, or wooden into being his puppets, believed that art was a constant stand still that would last forever while Deidara on the other hand, believed that art was fleeting and only lasts for an instant.
Personally, Sakura didn't care. Art was art. There was no certainty about it. Art was a form of expressing oneself in different and various ways/methods. Art couldn't be one thing. It was many things. She told them that once and secretly they admired her view of the subject. Sakura was insightful on these things. Yet another trait that drew them to her—not that she knew that of course.
"Ta-da!" Deidara cheered when he was done with his multiple explosion display. However, he blinked when he saw no Sakura there anymore. Registering that she snuck out during his mega explosion fest, he chuckled.
"Well, beautiful works of art are always fleeting after all, un."
Hoping that Sasuke had moved out of her room, the novelist crept down the hall where her laptop rested inside her bedroom. She had work to do and would no longer tolerate procrastination on her part. It was becoming rather headache-inducing really.
Passing by one of the doors, the woman was caused to stop when she heard a faint melody coming from one of the rooms. Turning her head to the direction of the sound, she figured it was coming from Itachi's room. Curious, she stepped towards the door and slowly opened it to peer inside.
The curtains were closed as usual as he nor Sasuke were not too fond of the daylight more than anyone due to the fact that they were vampires—a part of her mind bleated that they should burn up instead of just feeling weak and cranky in the daytime—and Sakura could make out the shadow silhouette of Itachi lying on his bed probably sleeping.
What caught her eye though was the object on his dresser. A small, rectangular brown music box with a red and gold interior. Memorized like a child seeing the world for the first time, she walked silently to the object. Childish innocence shining in her emerald eyes while staring at the music box in wonder. The song it played evoked many emotions in her: sadness, love, longing, contentment, nostalgia. It felt as if she was recalling a memory from long ago that she dearly missed.
"You like it?" to say Sakura nearly died of a heart attack when she heard Itachi speak right behind her would be the biggest understatement of the year.
"I-Itachi? I thought you were sleeping!" Sakura exclaimed surprised at how she didn't notice him sneak up on her.
"I was, but I woke up when I heard you walk in." he said making Sakura sweat drop. He made it sound like hearing her silent steps was like hearing any other loud noise to her.
"I-I'm sorry…" she trailed off the sweat drop still in place.
"Don't be. I don't mind if it's you. So, you like the music box?" he asked her pointing to the brown object. Sakura nodded bashfully, embarrassed by being caught admiring something with childish wonder when she was twenty-one.
"The song is very pretty." she said still gazing thoughtfully at the object.
"I found in awhile back in your grandfather's attic. He said it belonged to someone special to him once, but he was glad that I seemed to enjoy the melody. It helps me sleep." Itachi told her not at all ashamed to be telling her that. He liked sharing things with Sakura in moments like this. Though he didn't open up much, the pink haired girl was someone pleasant and dear to spend his time with and come to an understanding between them when he and the others weren't arguing over her.
"Really? I didn't know you had trouble sleeping." Sakura mentioned and picked up the music box to examine it closely. "You didn't seem like you had a difficult time falling asleep."
"When one is in a different place other than their home, one always finds it difficult to fall asleep." Itachi said and wrapped his arms around her petite shoulders. "It's been like that ever since I arrived here."
Sakura's eyes darkened when he said that. Again, something to blame her grandfather for: taking nine beings away from their home without their consent and no way to return. Even if Sakura found them annoying, she still felt a sense of compassion and sympathy when that factor makes itself known in her mind. At least she could go back to Japan if she wanted—they couldn't leave to return to their world ever.
"You can have it if you want, Sakura." Itachi's voice brought her back out of her world. She gave him a confused expression. "The music box—you can have it." this made Sakura's eyes widen.
"What? No, I can't take this! It helps you sleep!"
"I would be able to sleep much better if you accept this gift from me." he told her seriously making her flush despite herself. "Please Sakura?" he rarely begged or pleaded. In fact, she was the only one he ever pleaded to. She was the only one any of them had ever pleaded to. If only her grandfather could see how reduced to puddy these powerful creatures were when it came to his granddaughter. Man, he'd have a field day.
"Well…" she murmured. She really did like the song and felt a calming sensation whenever she listened to it, but it was Itachi's… on the other hand, he did want her to have it… but it helped him sleep… although he did say he would sleep better if she took it… "I guess, but if you have even more trouble sleeping, tell me right away and I'll give it back to you, okay?" she told him not taking a "no" for an answer. Itachi felt a corner of his lips move up at her business-like proposition.
"Fine. You win, Sakura. I'll tell you right away."
"That's great. Now can you do me a favor?"
"What's that?"
"Can you let go of me now? You're violating the rules of the personal bubble thing."
"No."
"You have to let me go sometime, Itachi."
"Sakura, I'm never letting you go."
"That… was incredibly cheesy. That's something I'd expect to hear from Sasuke, Naruto, Kiba, or Deidara."
"Well, Sasuke is my younger brother."
"Okay, you let me go now, Itachi. I have to get back and do my work. I'll see you later."
Knowing that she hated being delayed from her work, he let her go without a fuss—inwardly though he wished he hadn't because he missed her being in his arms—and watched her walk out the room with the music box under her arm.
"By the way, thank you for the present." she turned and smiled at him leaving him in a state of euphoria as she departed from his room.
The novelist was eager to get back to her room and type up more of her novel. The song on the music box inspired her to write and she planned to listen to it while writing. The female Haruno could hardly contain herself for she wanted to get back to her room right away to continue working.
She should've known however that things in this house often don't go her way. For when Sakura reached her room—Sasuke absent, she noted with glee—there was one thing amiss.
Her laptop was gone. Kiba had hidden it again.
Yes, she said "again" for this was indeed a regular occurrence. The stinkin' werewolf had a bad habit of taking her laptop and hiding it somewhere, which did not please the young woman one bit.
When she found that dog, rest assured she would murder him.
Sasori looked around for his precious doll having discovered she wasn't in her room. No doubt one of the others got her—to which a possessive gleam came into his eyes—or Kiba had taken her laptop again and she was searching for it. Honestly in his opinion, the dog had the weirdest way of showing his affections for her in this game. It was like a twisted game of fetch.
Oh well, like he was one to talk. Each of them had a little quirk when it came to showing Sakura their affections besides the nuzzling, cuddling, glomping, and trying to kiss her—and sadly ending up failing on most occasions because she beats the crap out of them before they can do it—he supposed it was because in their realm, their kind showed affections through their "weirdo habits" as Sakura puts it whenever they try to show their affections through their traditional ways.
Speaking of his lovely mate and showing his affections to her, he found her throwing pots and pans out of one of the cabinets while kneeling on the tiled floor. It didn't take long for Sasori to conclude that Kiba had stolen her laptop after all.
She didn't seem to take any notice of him as she let out a small growl and ran a hand through her hair in frustration. Pots and pans continued to make clangs all over the kitchen floor.
"Damnit, why does everything have to be so wrong today? First I have to get up early, then I have to listen to Ino telling me I'll lose my job because my boss is getting tired of my procrastination, then I have to drive home for an hour in the pouring rain, then I fall down the stairs with my body aching like hell, and now I can't even go back to my room when no one's bothering me because my laptop isn't there to begin with!" Sasori's eyes couldn't help but widen at her statement. Sakura was getting in trouble with her boss? She was going to lose her job? Procrastination? Her boss must have a screw lose because Sakura was against any type of procrastination. She liked getting things done really early and hated delaying. Was her boss on something?
In his mind he cursed Kiba because it seemed like Sakura was NOT in the mood for any type of shenanigans today if her job was on the line. If she lost her job, she would be unhappy, and an unhappy Sakura made him unhappy. He never liked it when she was upset or sad. It made his chest ache excruciatingly for some reason.
Deciding that he was going to need help in locating the dog, Sasori ran a hand through his red hair peeved that he couldn't get the laptop back on his own and hog all the glory from his Sakura. Nevertheless, he did not know where Kiba was so he could not manipulate him with his puppet strings.
He needed Kakashi and Neji.
Gaara heard Sakura's whining noises in the entertainment room. Walking inside, he saw all the pillows turned over and the table on its side. The couch cushions were scattered and the television was turned the other way.
"Gah! Where is it? Stupid dog has gotten smarter at the worst possible time!" she screeched and run her hands through her short pink locks feeling like she was about to go insane.
"Your laptop?" Gaara ventured a guess with his jade eyes narrowing. He was going to get that dog for this. Even Naruto never does anything like this to Sakura—no, Naruto would never to something like this to distress his precious Sakura-chan—and it was quite annoying to have to track the dog down. Sakura only nodded in a huff crossing her arms against her chest.
"I looked in the usual places he hides it in so now I'm looking in the places he's never tried." Sakura explained solemnly, but he could see the clear panic in her emerald green eyes. It was so easy to tell what she was feeling through her eyes—something that he found appealing about his beloved mate.
"I'll help you then." he told her looking at anything but her with a red blush on his face when he saw her grateful yet tired smile.
"Okay then. To the basement!" she was just about to step forward when Gaara stopped her. What shocked her more was when he got down and gestured her to get on his back like for a piggyback ride. Before she could inquire as to why he wanted her to get on his back, he spoke.
"You look really tired. Get on so you can rest a bit." he commanded gently although firmly. Sakura only gazed at him in silence before nodding with a yawn and getting on his back feeling reminiscence at the fact that her father used to do this with her.
"Now to the basement."
Sasuke paced back and forth in his room thinking. He was so into his thinking that he didn't even care that the dobe Kitsune was napping on his bed. Usually Sasuke would kick him out whenever Naruto decided to snooze in his room—they have been friends for a long time so the Kitsune liked to annoy him with things like these—but since the dobe was not bothering him with his questions, noise, idiocy, etc. he felt that this was much better than what Naruto would do if he was awake.
Well, at least he's not snoozing on Sakura's bed, the vampire thought with both relief and distain. Relief because Naruto wasn't as cunning as them therefore he didn't think of such a thing to get close to Sakura and distain at the mental image of Naruto napping on his Sakura's bed. If anyone napped on Sakura's bed, it would be him. Although it would be even better if Sakura was in the bed too…
The vampire mentally slapped himself and told himself to focus at the matter at hand. But it was about Sakura, so focusing was really hard to do. The pink haired girl was just too lovable to daydream about.
"If you keep doing that, you'll make a hole in your floor, Sasuke." Itachi's voice brought him out of his musings. The younger vampire glared at his older brother and rival for Sakura's affections.
"Sakura won't like a hole in the floor, un!" Deidara chimed in appearing behind Itachi. When he caught sight of the shape-shifter, Sasuke couldn't help but growl in fury.
"You! Where did you take Sakura?" Sasuke demanded harshly. Besides the dobe, Deidara was the second person that easily got on his nerves… then again, he was sure Deidara didn't do it on purpose like Naruto did.
The shape-shifter had the nerve to shrug.
"Sakura was watching my show of explosions, but she ran off when I didn't notice, un!" he gave off a look of sadness and longing when he thought about the pink haired girl who wasn't beside him presently. "I haven't seen Gaara, Kiba, Kakashi, Neji, or Sasori either." he added.
"No doubt the werewolf took Sakura's laptop again." Itachi stated. Both awake occupants turned their attention to him with raised eyebrows. "I heard Sasori asking Kakashi and Neji for assistance."
"Well, I guess since Kakashi has the all-Seeing Eye that can locate anyone of us and Neji is the only one who can scare the pants off of Kiba with his glare, they were the best choices." Itachi observed. Being a Tracker—beings who specialize in hunting and silent kills—with only glimpses into the present, Kakashi could locate any of his fellow monsters at the current time—that was how he knew if any of them were trying to sneak one with Sakura, whom he cannot locate if she wasn't with any of them, most of the time. In addition, if one gazed into his Crimson eye that was normally obscured by his silver hair, he could create illusions.
"Tch, why would he only ask the Veela and the Tracker to do his dirty work? With all of us, it would be so much easier to control Kiba." Sasuke said huffing. But they all sadly knew why that was.
To have more of the Sakura-induced glory. The sneaky bastard.
"Well then, let's go find that dog before they do, un!" and the three awake monsters left in search of Kiba leaving the snoozing Naruto behind.
Ah well, more glory from Sakura for them.
Kiba sat bored while looking through Sakura's junk mail. He didn't think it would take this long for any of them to find him. Hell, even Kakashi was taking really long.
On the other hand, he supposed that his brilliant plan of hiding with the laptop in the one place no one would ever look did have the perks. Another bonus was that he got to browse through Sakura's stuff in the meantime. It was entertaining for him to read what kind of junk mail she received. Seriously, Sakura never has time to clean the spam off her computer—he's doing her a favor in his own warped way of making her look all over the place for it.
But he loved their little game of fetch. Among his kind, if a mate takes something valuable from the other, they are showing affection and trust through action. This was how relationships were build—the hiding mate is able to gauge the determination and passion of the other mate to see just how important finding them and their missing item is. It's like saying "I trust you to find me so show me how serious you are about it." It depends on how determined the searching mate is if the hiding mate wants to pursue more with them. His parents were very passionate about each other from this game of hide and seek. That's how they knew that the other was trustworthy to take care of and love them.
Sakura was very passionate about finding her things. While he did wish that she was passionate about finding him as well like in the traditional way of his custom, she has never once given up about finding her missing item.
Here's chibi Sakura in the background saying: "Of course I can't give up! I can't give up even if I wanted to because all my work and progress is saved on there! I'm screwed without that laptop!"
Ah, if only Sakura could figure it out that he was just showing his affections for her by measuring her determination. This hide and seek activity was a trial among his people. And each time Sakura passes with flying colors.
His ears perked up when he heard a set of steps behind him. Grinning to himself, he turned expecting to see Sakura there—she was always the one to find him or come get him when Kakashi located him—but was very surprised when he saw not just his favorite pink haired pup, but the Tanuki as well.
And the Tanuki was giving her a piggyback ride.
"You have five seconds," Gaara spoke. "To give the laptop." he ended menacingly. Kiba's eyes narrowed in jealousy at Gaara holding his pink haired pup and the fact that Gaara spoiled his little game/tradition with just Sakura finding him.
"Please Kiba," Sakura peeked over Gaara's shoulder with puppy dog eyes. "Please can I have my laptop back?" her emerald eyes became dewy and big—as if she was about to cry.
Oh crap. Not the eyes. He was always reduced to a puddle of goo when it came to the puppy dog eyes. His pup was just too adorable.
Calm down Kiba. As long as she doesn't pout her lip—oh damn.
"Sorry Sakura. Here's your laptop back."
All monsters beware of the puppy dog eyes for you will submit without struggle mercilessly.
Or more accurately—Sakura's puppy dog eyes.
Sakura hopped down from Gaara's back and glanced up at the other monsters—minus Naruto—who were blinking in confusion when she, Gaara, and Kiba came out of the basement. They continued to blink when they caught Sakura patting Kiba on the head for she had accepted his apology.
The pink haired novelist then turned her attention to the rest of them with a smile bursting on her face. She looked absolutely blissful at getting her laptop back—more so than usual.
"Don't be hard on him, guys. Look! My laptop is back safe and sound!" to show she had proof, she held it up like it was the greatest treasure in the world.
"That's good that you got your laptop back." Sasori was the first to speak. He patted her on the head admiring the way her silky locks slid through his fingers. The others glared at him evilly wishing to rip that hand off.
"I hope you apologized, Kiba." Neji glared at the werewolf. He was not at all pleased when he found out that the dog yet again had stolen Sakura's laptop. Kiba ducked his head trying to hide his gaze from Neji. White-eyes always gave him the creeps.
"Just let him be, Neji. He apologized and gave it back to me without a fuss." Sakura reprimanded the Veela. Normally Sakura would probably punch the werewolf at least once or lecture him, but today she was on a tight schedule with her desire to not procrastinate so she let it slide. And Kiba did apologize.
Neji looked hurt that she would admonish him, but that was how it went. He was enchanted by Sakura, not the other way around no matter how much he dreamed that was so.
Seeing his hurt look, Sakura's gaze turned apologetic. She walked towards the male and hugged him. After all, that was what her mother did when she was hurt or upset. It did feel weird though since this is the first time she was the one to initiate the hug and not the other way around.
"Sorry Neji—I know you were just looking out for me. But Kiba already is repentant so don't be so hard on him, kay?" Sakura asked looking up at him with her beautiful emerald eyes. Neji felt spellbound at the same time as nodding to her. This caused her to smile at him in gratitude while the others flamed in the background at Neji. Stupid Sakura-hogger…
"Oh!" she exclaimed suddenly releasing the Veela therefore unknowingly crushing his moment of ecstasy. She then turned to Gaara smiling huge. "Thank you so much Gaara for helping me find Kiba. And the piggyback ride was really fun!" this statement caused the males to stiffen.
Gaara gave Sakura a piggyback ride? Sakura let Gaara do that?
The red haired Tanuki demon smiled softy at the pink haired woman. She was the only one who could get him to smile.
"You're welcome Sakura. Glad you enjoyed it." she also gave him a huge hug making their jaws drop. Now there were TWO Sakura-hoggers!
"Sakuraaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" whined Deidara. "Why don't we get hugs, un?" Sakura rolled her eyes at him thinking he was just being silly; nonetheless, they were dead severe.
"Oh fine. Honestly, you guys are so… immature…" she trailed off as the world slightly spun and then it went black causing her to fall on Kiba.
"Sakura?!"
She takes back every single nice thought she had about those morons today. She really, very much did. Crossing her arms, she set a glare at Kakashi who placed her beloved laptop on the other side of the room while Sasuke fluffed her pillows.
Consequently, the glare was only as fierce as a kitten's. Maybe even less fierce.
First falling down the staircase and now fainting from fatigue and stress? When will the chaos end so she can finish her work?!
The eight monsters had agreed that Sakura must rest and must not be allowed to do any work. They were actually going to confiscate her laptop but Sakura would have none of that. Begrudgingly promising not to do any work, they had decided to all go to sleep since Sakura needed her own rest. They repeatedly assured her, nevertheless, that if she did need anything at all, just call and they would hear her despite their slumber. The pink haired girl only glared in response but that didn't dissuade their decision.
"There you go, Sakura." Sasuke said tucking her in. Kakashi came over and bid her a good night—even though it was six in the evening—and both Vampire and Tracker kissed her on the head tenderly. She would've yanked their hair as punishment but they moved away before she could murder them.
Once leaving them room, Sakura lied there on her bed staring at the ceiling wide awake and reflecting on the events of today. So she hadn't filled her quota like she had planned and now she had to deal with eight overprotective males on her back because she fainted in front of them—and Naruto as well when he found out. Gaara wasn't kidding she supposed when he said she looked tired earlier.
Letting out a soft groan, she pictured what the rest of the week would be like. If this kept up—which it would because their overbearingness was common and often interfered with her work—she would never finish her quota and Ino would indeed have a fit. This thought caused Sakura's eyes to glare at the ceiling. Look at the positive things, she told herself.
What positive things? A voice in her head countered. Good point. There was nothing positive going on right now!
So what if she lost her job? It's not like it's the end of the world, right? Right?
…oh screw it, she's doing some more work.
Waiting for another thirty minutes, she clambered out of bed quietly now that she was sure that her housemates were all sleeping and retrieved her laptop. Turning it on, she looked through her documents—noting that Kiba had cleaned out a lot of her spam. She reluctantly told herself to say "thank you" to him—and resuming her work.
Typing as quietly as she could like she expected them to hear her fingers against the keyboard—okay, so she's being paranoid, but they might confiscate her laptop if they found out she had lied—Sakura was able to get a lot of progress done she noted happily.
Sitting in her bed with the pillows propped up, emerald eyes were focused entirely on the screen and not hearing the little click of her bedroom door opening and closing nor the footsteps of someone until she felt someone else's body heat beside her own and a furry object brushing up against her arm to alert her of their arrival and not startle her.
"Hey Naruto." Sakura said not bothering to look up at the fox demon. She didn't have to look to see that it was indeed Naruto who was in her room. He was the only one of them with a tail and fox ears.
The blonde grinned and resumed nuzzling her neck knowing she wouldn't make a fuss. As long as she could do her work and it wasn't perverted, he was in the clear. It was a silent agreement they came up with three months ago when he first came into her room.
"You work too much, Sakura-chan." he teased as he continued to cosset her. "Every time I come in here, you're always typing away on your laptop."
"I have a deadline. It's my job to type away on a computer." she replied saving her progress so far and then going back to typing again. The novelist heard the Kitsune chuckle and hugged her tighter. His arms were around her shoulders and his cheek was pressed up against her right cheek as to not get in the way of her arms and eyes.
"So I heard that Kiba took your laptop again?" he asked her grinning. At this Sakura let out a frustrated sigh confirming his suspicions.
"I wasn't aware the others tell you these things since you nap a lot." Sakura drawled.
"They don't. I just happen to wake up at times and hear what's going on. Sasuke-teme didn't kick me out of his room today so I heard that the dog stole your laptop and the others wanted to go find it for you." he explained grinning. "After all, who would think that I sleep a lot these days so that I can spend time with Sakura-chan when they aren't looking."
"You sure like throwing people off, don't you? If it wasn't for your natural naiveté at things, I would say you were a complete and total mastermind." Sakura bluntly stated with a blank expression. "And don't make it sound like I'm willingly apart of your rendezvous fantasy. You're only here because you don't do anything inappropriate and you behave when I ask you to."
"And you know I'll just keep coming back whether you like it or not."
"That too. If it wasn't for the fact that I've gotten used to you coming in here, I would have told the others about your stupid high jinks." Sakura told him. Naruto mock pouted but then it turned into a smug smirk.
"You've gotten used to me? Aw, that's so cute Sakura-chan."
"Don't push it, Naruto. It's not like I enjoy it so don't get delusional." But the smirk wouldn't leave his face. She knew, without looking at him, that it was still there. Letting out a sigh, she just typed away knowing that he was delusional already.
At first, she was exceedingly miffed at the fact that Naruto kept coming into her room. She remembered punching the living daylights out of him several times, but he just kept coming back inside. He spent more time in her room than his own.
Sakura supposed that after a while, seeing that he wasn't going to quit and that he was harmless—all he did was cuddle or hold her while she worked; not even in an inappropriate way too—she gave in and let him come and go as he pleased. When they were alone, he wasn't the loud mouth like he was around the others. He saw she needed her peace and that if he made a racket, the others would come and she would never get her work done. It was their unspoken agreement: If Naruto didn't disturb her then he was free to come in her bedroom whenever he wanted. This way he had gotten her to warm up to him and she knew he enjoyed being in here. Why take away a dog's bone when they have done nothing wrong? Sakura didn't believe in animal cruelty and it didn't help the opposing voice in her brain that Naruto had red fox ears and a red fox tail.
"What chapter are you on?" he asked her after a while of silence.
"Last. Just finished the second to last when you came in." Sakura told him eyes glued to the screen.
"Good, cause I really want to read it. You left it hanging you know. I want to see what happens." The spiky blonde haired male explained his tail swaying back and forth leisurely.
"Relax. You'll be the first to get a copy, okay?" Sakura pacified the demon by always making sure he got the first copy of her books. It turned out that, unexpectedly and completely ironically, that Naruto was an avid fan of her novels long before he met her. When he had discovered that Sakura was one of his favorite authors who has written a good deal of his favorite books—everyone else in the house made him start reading to desperately keep him quiet when they first arrived in the human world—he had glomped, nuzzled, and spun her around senseless. It was like a dream come true for him. Almost as good as ramen, he told her. And ramen was on Naruto's highest pedestal—besides Sakura of course. She was the exception to his "ramen is the best in the whole wide world" belief—so that made it a super big deal.
To be truthful, when he had told her that, the novelist couldn't help but feel a surge of pity for the demon. While the others couldn't go outside into the world, Naruto definitely could not leave the manor due to his… extra assets that would have people wanting to put him in a lab to study.
"But that's not until the end of the month when the book's ready." he complained quietly. He knew better than to shout less the others interrupt his Sakura-time.
"Well then, you'll just have to deal with it. Then again, I think you shouldn't even get a copy at all due to your recent… trouble." the young writer clicked her tongue simultaneously thinking back to the fiasco Naruto had caused two weeks ago. She was famous so therefore she got lots of fan mail even if it's under a penname. And even though no one's ever seen her, Ino had sure told the public a hoot of how attractive she was and her age.
This in turn caused fanboys as well as fangirls to write to her. And one fanboy stupidly wrote to her that he wanted her to have his babies—there's always the crazy fan once in a blue moon—in great detail along with some other things.
Naruto, who found reading her fan mail with her entertaining, unfortunately saw it and without her knowledge until Ino's call screeching at her why she was not informed about Sakura's "beau" as she quoted, wrote to the fanboy angrily saying that Sakura was his and that she would not be shared nor have anyone's children except his own. He didn't leave a name, but the morbid threats and jealous outrage was enough to get the fanboy telling the public that the renowned author Sophia Hallow had a boyfriend. After explaining to the hysteric Ino for four hours that she did not have a beau and that someone must've tapped into her email to write that, the public found the rumor was just that.
She didn't talk to Naruto or allow him in her room for three days. Those were the worst three days of his life and it was solely when he promised to never do something like that again, she started talking to him once more.
Letting out a yawn, Naruto saw that it was time for Sakura to get some sleep. She was hesitant to his hand going towards the mouse, but seeing as he was just saving her work, she let him do what he wanted to get accomplished. Upon saving, he shut the laptop and got out of bed to leave the computer on the charger. Saving her work once again, as he did not want a repeat of the last time he had accidentally erased her chapters and then had to deal with Sakura on a nervous break down because her deadline was exceedingly near, the demon then walked over to Sakura's large kind sized bed and got under the covers with her. Fixing her pillows and moving her into a lying position, he held her petite form to him.
"You saved it again?" she asked sleepily for she too recalled the horrible incident with her work being gone forever. Even though the pink haired woman was still a little upset with him, she was more so eternally grateful at what he had done to solve the problem. The male had stayed up all night and typed up all the chapters she had lost—just the way she wanted it and planned for it to be. She was relatively baffled at how Naruto knew that was what she had wanted when he was recovering her novel without even seeing the original. Accordingly though, the Kitsune had told her that he didn't have to see the original copy to know what she had wanted. Being one of his favorite authors and having read so many of her books, he understood the complexity of her novels and while her ideas to the regular public were always unexpected, he could guess right away how her mind was working when she was planning her chapters out. That didn't stop her from surprising him when he actually read the final copy though to which he was happy for. Sakura was fresh and imaginative with her writing. A trait he was affirmative that would never die.
Secretly this novel was actually dedicated to him—she made sure that Ino would put the passage "This is for a great friend of mine. Even if he annoys me, he's still got a great heart and I'm grateful despite the handful he is." on the front page before the table of contents—because that novel he had repaired was made a best seller and she, not telling him of course, felt that it was even better than the first copy she had written. A voice in her head wondered if Naruto would get that she was talking about him and that the protagonist was actually based off of him…
No, he's still an idiot no matter how level headed he could be. That's a good thing too because if he did see the connection, he'd glomp her senseless with one of his bear hugs.
She liked her bones not crushed thank you very much.
"Yup, it's on the charger and everything, Sakura-chan. You can start up right away tomorrow, ne?" he promised. The fox demon saw her sit up for a second to open a music box that played a soft melody before settling back into the blankets. She yawned again and snuggled into the blanket.
"Good. And Naruto?"
"Hmm? What Sakura-chan?"
"If you are still here in the morning, I'll punch you." She always said that before they were claimed by slumber.
"Don't worry, Sakura-chan. I'll be gone before you wake up." With that, the blonde turned off the lights and both settled for sleep. Respecting her personal bubble, he didn't completely snuggle her like he would like to, but still had her in his arms with a grin on his three whiskered on each cheek face. Quietly humming the music box's tune to her all the while.
Contrary to Sasuke's belief, Naruto was actually very cunning.
Karin: Okay, that probably sucked, but I hope you all enjoyed reading it anyway. This is dedicated to Vesper Chan and chocolvr69 A.K.A Roro-chan. I really hope you guys liked it especially. Reviews are highly appreciated everyone. Thank you very much.
See ya Next time!