Our Lead Feet
We ambled on a summer day
I held your hand, "walk this way"
The pattern was irrational
Mind the curb, walk on the diagonal
Still the time we spent in senseless pace
Was worth the weird and absent grace
For overlooking the horizon
A thousand skies, and cast of diamond.
But as we went along our road
I felt your heart and hands grow cold
Our feet of lead and my fake smile
Betray, bluff, barefaced beguile
The wind became a rushing gale
Trees to ashes and rain to hail
The brazen sun beat down no more
The golden leaf of no restore
And when it seemed the storm would last
I knew this fated day would pass
Honest, candid, plain, we're not
But dangerous, dank, and set to rot.
Sakura almost couldn't process the amount of relief she felt as she left the lecture hall, having just completed her last exam, biochemistry, on her previously long list of finals for the semester.
She had officially finished her freshman year at Konoha University. After spending roughly two solid weeks preparing for, and panicking over, her exams, she had marked the last bubble on her last scantron with a glorious amount of confidence. She had breezed through, and resigned to have more faith in the faith that her friends had in her, seeing as they had done nothing but perpetually gawk at the amount of time she had spent cramming the weeks before.
As her thoughts drifted to said friends, she immediately felt a rush of excitement. They had lucked out this semester, big time. Every one of their exams ended the same week, give or take maybe only one day, so they could properly enjoy their first summer as ex-college freshman right after they completed their testing.
"They" being herself, Ino and Hinata. They had set the date for this trip for a while now, and planned to set out no later than tonight after they had said their goodbyes to the rest of their friends for the summer. The others had finished their last exams yesterday, so would be all packed and ready to go. That left Sakura to finish up any last minute obligations and meet the others back at the dorm by nightfall.
It would be quite a long trip to the area they planned to stay in; their university was located towards the outskirts, and Konoha was a big city. But after the subways and/or bus rides, the destination would be worth it.
The girls had booked a room in a five star hotel, located right in the middle of the best night life district that was thrumming with activity day and night. Sakura was positively thrilled to think about the amount of fun they would soon be having, free of responsibilities and school.
She just hoped it would turn out to be everything she had been expecting.
x
"I told you this would happen, Naruto."
"Yeah, you did, thanks for reminding me for the tenth time."
Sasuke just gave his best friend a look, managing to convey both his irritation and empathy for the situation.
Naruto groaned and flopped down onto his single bed on the far right of their dorm room. He tossed his phone somewhere next to him on the mattress, glaring at the ceiling.
"That old pervert can't keep it in his pants for more than a week, I don't know why I expected him to for a whole summer vacation." Naruto sighed heavily.
Jiraiya, Naruto's god father, had offered to let him and a few friends stay over the summer at his cabin that was situated beautifully in the woods, right off of a lake. Naruto and Sasuke had planned on taking up his invitation along with Shikamaru and Kiba.
And Jiraiya wasn't one you'd necessarily categorize as flaky, but as a writer, he was always seeking new "forms of inspiration."
"His words, not mine," Naruto would always clarify.
So not moments ago, when Naruto had attempted to reach his god father, he'd only been on the receiving end of a too-giddy and not remorseful enough prerecorded message that let him know the cabin would sadly be otherwise occupied. 'Out of commission, my boy.'
"I can't believe this." Naruto groaned and shook his legs against his bed like an angry toddler.
"Believe it."
Naruto hoisted himself up to glare at Sasuke for his underhanded jibe. Sasuke only returned his stare with the calmest of gazes, unaffected with his arms crossed lazily.
"You know this screws your plans too."
"I was prepared for disappointment."
"Ughhhhhh!" Naruto leapt up from the bed and ruffled his blonde hair in frustration. "What are we supposed to do now?"
"Hn." Sasuke was now swiveling side to side at a leisurely pace in the rolling desk chair where he sat. "Nothing."
"Nothing, he says." Naruto repeated, exasperated. "This is our first summer vacation as college students, and while you sit here and grow mold all of our friends are going off to-"
He broke off mid sentence, jerking his head towards Sasuke as if he shared the same revelation.
"Sakura!"
Sasuke recoiled slightly as Naruto invaded his personal space, and thrust his face forward to enunciate the exclamation.
"What about her…"
"That trip that her and the other girls have been planning, we can tag along!" Naruto grinned.
"Into the city?" Sasuke rested his chin in the palm of his hand. "Thought that was a girls only thing."
"Yeah but only cause they thought we already had plans at Jiraiya's. I'm sure they'll let us come with."
Sasuke's mind was already reeling with the idea that Naruto proposed.
He and any of his friends could attest to the fact that he wasn't much of a party animal, and the night life district of Konoha wasn't necessarily a place he frequented.
But he figured that these kinds of excursions were typical of college students, so he might as well try to assimilate himself into some form of normalcy, like he knew was best for him. What are friends for.
And he wasn't about to let a certain someone frequent said district without him if he could help it.
But wouldn't it be a little uncalled for to impose upon Sakura's plans?
"Sakura and the others might not want so many people coming along." Sasuke said, a little flatly.
"What?" Naruto was genuinely confused. "Just you, me, Shikamaru and Kiba," he counted off on his fingers.
"Like I said." Sasuke narrowed his eyes, impatient.
"No, no. Come on, all we gotta do is ask Sakura. It'll be like high school again, all of us sleeping over and stuff."
Sasuke said nothing but thought of all of the inconsistencies between high school sleepovers and what could potentially happen now.
Thinking again of Sakura, he gave in anyways.
"Well, they're leaving tonight, so we'd better find out soon." Sasuke stood up and headed for the door to their dormitory. He looked over his shoulder to find Naruto dazedly staring at him.
He frowned. "You coming or what?"
Naruto grinned and laughed, snapping out of his train of thought. Zipping past Sasuke, he nearly tumbled down the hall while Sasuke shook his head, wondering how he had managed a friendship with this idiot since grade school.
x
"Well, that should be everything." Sakura zipped up her smallish travel bag after throwing in her toothbrush.
"You sure? Did you pack sexy clothes?" Ino's voice sounded from within the bathroom of their dorm.
"Uh, what kind?" Sakura asked wearily, thinking of her modest shorts, sensible tank tops and summer dresses that were in her bag.
"The kind for clubbing." Ino emerged from the bathroom, carrying a clear plastic toiletries bag that was stuffed with shampoo and conditioner bottles, makeup, cotton swabs and hair scrunchies.
"I'm sure I'll be able to put together something if we end up going out." Sakura waved her hand dismissively.
"Oh we are going out." Ino smirked and deposited her plastic case into her own bag before turning back to Sakura. "And I know you're bluffing. Come on." She reached out and took Sakura by the arm, dragging her over to the chest of drawers situated beside the window. "It's a crime to not show off that body of yours, you know."
"I do show it off!" Sakura protested. "Just because I like a little less skin showing than some-
"If you've got it, flaunt it." Ino shrugged off Sakura's backhanded comment with a smile, tugging open the top drawer and reaching into its recesses before pulling out something shimmery and deep red.
Sakura barely glanced at it. "I don't want that."
"You've never even worn it, and I got it for you!" Ino held up the dress by its halter straps and then directed her gaze back to Sakura. "Please wear it. At least once." She eyed the dress clinically for a second. "It's not even slutty."
Sakura had to admit that it wasn't overly revealing. It was form fitting, cinched at the waist, but cut off mid thigh and was a dark enough ruby to not appear too flashy.
She just didn't like thinking about the attention she might draw to herself while in it. Who was she trying to impress, anyways?
"...I dunno, Ino."
"I know that Sasuke would want you to wear it." Ino grinned.
Sakura sputtered and felt her neck heat.
"Yeah well too bad he's not going to ever see me in it." She grabbed the dress out of Ino's hands, none too gently. "But I will wear it, because I don't like money going to waste."
"Oh you just want to look hot and you know it."
"Maybe." Sakura muttered, shoving the dress into her case and closing it once again.
There was a faint knock on their door, and Ino traipsed over, still smiling from her success with Sakura and the "sexy clothes." She swung open the door.
"Hinata, you don't have to knock, you live here," Ino tsked and ushered her inside. "You turn in your term paper?"
"Yes, I'm all ready to go." Hinata smiled. Then her eyes became downcast, a sure sign that she was nervous. "But I actually need to ask both of you something."
"What's wrong?" Sakura asked from across the room on her bed.
"Oh, nothing's wrong," Hinata fidgeted with her jacket zipper. "I just, um…Well I ran into Naruto, on the way back here. And Sasuke."
Sakura immediately tensed. Instinct upon hearing his name.
"Their plans with Jiraiya were cancelled."
"Let me guess, he's got some bimbo with him at the cabin so he can't have guests." Ino sighed, pacing in front of Hinata and feeling like she knew where the conversation was headed.
Hinata laughed nervously at her choice of words but nodded her assent.
"So now they have nothing to do…" Hinata shifted her eyes around, scared for Ino's potential frustration at the proposal. "-and they wanted to know if they could maybe…"
Ino and Sakura looked at their roommate expectantly, waiting for her to finish her sentence. After another moment of silence, Ino laughed.
"Hinata I'm not going to bite your head off."
"So you wouldn't mind, then?" Hinata looked up, relieved.
"Well it would be pretty suckish to just let them rot here over the summer, don't you think? I'm ok with it if you are, Sakura," Ino turned around to appraise her.
"Sakura?"
Sakura's mind was going on overdrive. She was both terrified and nervous with anticipation for the possibility of Sasuke coming with them. What to do? Feign nonchalance.
"Sure, I don't mind. Might be fun."
Ino narrowed her eyes at her best friend, trying not to smirk. She saw right through her little noncommittal shrug.
"Oh, and Shikamaru and Kiba…they would come too. If that's ok." Hinata added softly.
Ino barely flinched but Sakura saw her change in expression regardless. Ino entertained a relationship with Kiba not unlike her own with Sasuke; an obvious attraction that they overlooked but everyone else was completely aware of. Only Ino was in far more an extreme of denial than Sakura believed herself to be. And while Sakura was nearly five hundred percent certain that Kiba was head over heels, she knew she couldn't say the same about Sasuke in relation to herself. She honestly never knew with that boy.
"Sounds good." Ino replied, checking her phone for the time and tapping her foot from jitters. "So are they gonna be ready to go?"
Hinata pulled out her phone and nodded. "I'll just let Naruto know." She tapped at the keys, sending a text. "We can meet them at the east entrance of campus?" She looked from Ino to Sakura for approval.
"In no less than one hour." Ino placed her hands on her hips. "No delays."
"Sure thing," Hinata smiled brightly, no doubt thrilled on the inside that the boys, namely Naruto, would be accompanying them. Sliding her phone back into her pocket, she crossed the room to pull her already packed bag from its place under her bed. "This is going to be just like high school, isn't it?"
Ino plopped down next to Sakura, sighing. "Ah, high school. A time of sexual tension and standardized tests. I can't believe we're already out and done with our first year at college."
"This will be good then," Sakura smiled, "Just like old times. Too bad Shino and Choji already had plans."
"Yeah, that's all we need. They could have left a trail of bugs and potato chips so we can find our way back to the university."
"Ino! Those are your friends you're talking about," Sakura flicked her on the nose, though she could agree that her summation of the two boys was somewhat accurate.
"Shino does love entomology," Hinata smiled in a mix of wistfulness and second hand embarrassment for her long time friend.
"Don't we know." Ino scoffed. "And I've loved Choji my whole life, but seriously, he goes through maybe twenty bags a day."
"We all have our vices." Sakura said a little sarcastically, standing up and stretching her arms.
"Right, and yours comes in the form of brooding, dark haired pretty boys."
Sakura groaned and almost made a jab right back at her about Kiba, but decided against it. Delicate territory, that subject.
Hinata's phone went off then, signaling a message.
"Naruto says they're waiting in the courtyard by the gates." She read the message out loud, surprised.
"That was fast." Sakura commented and raised her eyebrows. "Guess they aren't messing around." She tried to go for lighthearted, but ended up sounding a little foreboding. She was getting more and more wired by the minute, unable to expel the butterflies from her stomach and quivering in her hands.
"And we aren't either!" Ino jumped up, grabbing her bag from off the floor. "Let's head out, girls!"
Hinata followed Ino into the hall with Sakura not far behind, closing the door on their dorm room and setting out to face what seemed like it would be a lot more than a simple vacation.