One Vanilla Shot

By: purplebaer

AN: Thank you to my lovely reviewers! I'm glad that so many of you liked my one shot. So as thanks I decided to write a follow up. I'm not sure if I want to turn it into a full out fic, but that itself has a low chance of happening. Anyways, thanks for reading! I hope you like it~ (note that I didn't have a beta reader for this, so I apologize for the overlooked grammar mistakes!)

Disclaimer: None of the characters belong to me. I'm just borrowing them for my little non-profit fantasies.

italics – thoughts

italics bold– Inner Sakura

Chapter Two: Vanilla Shot

The sun was rising, and Sakura was sleeping soundly, until there was a soft knock on the door. She stirred at the sound.

"Sakura?" a voice called out, along with soft knocks on the door. "Sakura dear, are you awake?"

Sakura grumbled, annoyed that she was woken up. "Yes, I'm am mother."

The door creaked open, and a woman with light brown hair poked out from the crack. "Breakfast is ready. Hurry up and get washed up for your meal."

"Okay, now get out. I was still sleeping." Sakura said with irritation, as she turned her head away from her mother.

"Don't you use that tone with me young lady!" Angry at her daughter's behaviour, her mother retaliated. "I don't know what was wrong with you last night, but you could've at least brought the groceries downstairs into the kitchen! You're lucky I found them before they spoiled."

"Okay, okay! I get it! Just get out!"

"So ungrateful" muttered her mother. "You better be downstairs in 10 minutes, or else."

With that, the fight temporarily ended. Sakura groaned in annoyance and flopped face down onto her pillow. Just great. Just when I thought I could just relax after that emotional breakdown, I have to deal with this.

As the thought of yesterday, Sakura's anger simmered down, and is now feeling down casted. Oh, right Sasuke.. Not wanting to think of it anymore, she sighed and went to follow her mother's orders.

Once she entered her washroom, the first thing she saw was her swollen eyes. Sighing, she splashed her face with cold water and brushed her teeth.

After taking a quick shower and changing into clean clothing, Sakura went to the kitchen. Her mother was placing fresh bowls of rice on the table, and her father was reading the paper. "Good morning father…. Mother."

The man Sakura called father smiled warmly. He was the one who gave Sakura her bright pink hair. Although his hair is now grey, you can still see a tint of pink in his strange cherry blossom shaped hair style. "Ah, good morning Sakura! I hope you slept well."

"I did," she muttered. "Until mother woke me up."

With good ears, Sakura's mom caught her words. "Well excuuuuuuuuse me."

Her father chuckled at their banter and waved a hand to lighten the mood. "Okay, okay. Sakura, Mebuki-dear, calm down and let's not start the day with such a negative mood. It'll just ruin the rest of your day."

In silent agreement, the women sat down and began to eat. Doing as her father said, Sakura muttered an apology and her mother grunted in response. Despite the argument, it didn't take long before they all began to laugh at their child-like behaviour and return to being a happy family.

After a few other conversations, Mebuki changed the topic. "I'm glad that you're being yourself again."

Sakura looked over to her mom in surprise. "What do you mean..?"

Sakura's dad coughed. "You didn't think we wouldn't notice, would you?"

"Your eyes looked so empty, and you were.. just different. Not our regular cherry blossom."

Sakura looked down, ashamed at herself and was a bit embarrassed that she couldn't completely fool her parents. "I don't know what you're talking about, but can we do this later? I have to get going."

Her parents looked back from each other and their only daughter.

She continued as she got up to leave the table. "I have to go train and do some errands at the hospital."

After a pause, her mother let her go. "Alright Sakura.. Be safe, and try to come home earlier, alright?"

Sakura smiled reassuringly. "I'll try to. I'll see you later mom, dad." With that, Sakura was out of her home and she ran towards to an empty field.

The pinkette ran towards the far end of the village, where it was usually deserted. She hoped she could clear her mind from the emotional turmoil. There she trained for hours, until she was so exhausted, she collapsed on top a patch of grass and daisies. That was a good workout. I feel so refreshed and relaxed. I wish I could stay like this forever.

Won't be happening. Someone's here.

Right on Inner Sakura's cue, someone appeared in front of her. Great, there goes my good mood.

"I thought last night was enough to keep you away… Sasuke."

As usual, there goes his "Hn."

Unlike the usual talkative Sakura, she stayed silent. She was too tired to respond anyways, and too worn-out to even hide her surprise as Sasuke sat down next to her. What got her next, was that he was the one that started the conversation; if you could even consider that 'starting a conversation'.

To Sasuke's surprise, Sakura laughed. He looked down beside him to see her chuckling. "What?" he asked, annoyed to find her laughing at him.

"Sorry," she said between her laughter, "You should seriously get some pointers from someone about your anti-social problems. Maybe you should go to Sai."

He scoffed and looked away in annoyance but, he was glad that she's in a better mood.

They continued to sit (in Sakura's case, lay) in silence. They didn't talk, but they understood. It's better to start off slow. Sakura knew she couldn't continue being so 'soulless'. If she did, she'd eventually snap, like the night before. Sasuke knew he couldn't continue avoiding his other teammate. She was always there to support him, and now it's his turn to support her. But she won't start without a push. He frowned at his thought. It was right, and it's pretty much telling him that he has to be the one to give her that push. It's not his area of expertise, but he'll try. For Sakura's sake.

He coughed, awkwardly grabbing the pink girl's attention. "Tell me about your parents."

Sakura stared at the boy next to her, wondering about the sudden interest. Shoving her suspicions down, she decided he was only curious. After all, he never tried to get to know her. Until now.

She smiled at his attempt, and went along with him. "Well, okay.. Let's start off with my father. He's kind, warm and loves to joke around. Though at times, he can be a little... intense. What I mean is that he enjoys puns a little too much."

Sakura chuckled at the thought of her father in one of his 'intense' moments but as seeing no reaction from her listener, she took the silence as a sign to continue and kept talking. "He's the one who gave me my pink hair."

The pinkette chuckled at Sasuke's expression as he imagined a grown adult man with bright pink hair. "Well, he had more of an intense red, rather than pink. You can't really tell now, since it's fading into grey."

"What about your mother?"

Frowning, Sakura said "Well, she's always trying out new styles. She's caring, independent and the annoying one. Maybe it's because she's quite a serious person. Father usually tires her out with his silly antics. Her past time is probably picking fights with me while ordering me around."

Sasuke frowned at her description of her mother, but was quickly washed away by the next few things Sakura said.

"Even though she does all these things to upset me, I love her. Like I said, she's caring and I'm glad to have her as my mother. Without her, the house would be chaotic, and I wouldn't have become who I am today."

Sasuke continued to look at her.

Sakura turned to smile. "Despite what happened the last time I talked to you about my parents, I still feel the same way, but I'm much more grateful to them now. If you didn't tell me I was annoying and stupid then, I wouldn't have changed for the better. Thanks for that, Sasuke. Thank you for being blunt."

The teenaged boy sat there, staring at Sakura. He wasn't sure if she was complimenting him, or insulting him. But that was the smile he was looking for. Not quite the genuine one just yet, but it's getting there. He felt warmth spreading in his chest, and realized he was happy. Happy for her.

He gave her a smirk, and simply gave her another "Hn."

And just with that, things were going for the better, and Sakura's smile grew a little wider.

THE END.