a/n: Thank you, 'fanofthisfiction' for reviewing Part 1! *HUGS*

Editor says, "Hi! It's me again, Aky, Akyura, Yura... no? Okay. Did you know that Pineapples are called Ananas everywhere else in the world except the US, UK, and PH? These 2 seriously need a Pina Colada! Hope you enjoy this chapter!"


Vocabulary:

1. Kuya-literally means big brother. Sometimes when we talk to a male stranger or acquaintance that is older than you, we call them kuya as a sign of respect.

2. Yaya- caregiver; nanny.

3. Sampaguita-national flower of the Philippines

4. Ganern-jargon for 'Something like that.'

5. Charot-jargon for 'I'm kidding!'

6. Pucha (naman)-(bad word) mostly uttered when something came out the way one didn't expect, or as an expression of regret. It could be the closest english translation for "Dammit!"

7. Putangina-(bad word) "Puta" is the Spanish word for whore, and "ina" is the Tagalog word for mother; maybe used to express extreme anger, frustration, shock, or—surprisingly—joy.

8. Gago-(bad word) it originally meant to describe someone who stutters, especially when nervous, but later evolved to refer to someone who does foolish acts.


Sakura Haruno rubbed her sweaty hands on her dress.

After Kuya Jose had dropped her off a couple of blocks away from the chapel, she rushed to the nearest fast food restaurant that caught her eye. She ordered some large fries and a serving of hot fudge sundae. She took her time eating, treating it as a hearty lunch. In fact, she managed to finish her food in half an hour, ignoring the fact that she only had another half to change and primp her face.

'Well, I just came from a 5 hour bus ride with no pee breaks, I deserve this!' She reasoned to herself as she charged to the comfort room. 'Besiiides, I can change outfits as fast as a Sims character.'

And so in 'locks, lights, action.' she had warped into her verdant (*cough*taylorswift*cough*) halter dress (which, to her surprise, was creaseless) and had styled her tresses to a waterfall braid. On putting the final touches to her makeup, she kept it light and simple, not wanting to look like the unrealistic dolls you see on TV.

She faced the mirror, nodding at what she was seeing: a fine young woman with an enthralling lush forest in her eyes, and a flowing pink river for her hair. She was a walking piece of paradise. She did a small turn, the dress swaying gracefully with her.

"Y-you can do this." She directed conviction to her eyes. "J-just act like the Sakura they all know!"

She gave the young woman a weak smile, which the reflection returned (although it seemed to be smiling more, as if it was wishing her luck; but perhaps it was but a trick of light).

She made haste to the chapel, making heads turn along the way, and the sighs of both men and women filled the air, with the wind as their messenger of distraught at the thought of not having the chance to ask this fair maiden's name.

There was only about five minutes left till the wedding bells rang. Sakura was regretting her stalling.

No, the reason wasn't the fact that she had to take fifty heavy steps from the front gates to arrive at the grand doors of her home town's chapel. She can relay herself there even with her killer heels and extra baggage weight.

No, no, it wasn't because she forgot to bring a gift. Her dorm mate made sure she had packed a generic one.

What made her falter was the countless Sampaguita flowers that were scattered on the pavement.

Each footstep ground a handful of silky white petals, releasing its rich fragrance. Each inhale stimulated Sakura's brain, yet again plaguing her gathered courage and taunting her, 'what are you doing here?'

"Is everybody here?!" A woman's voice, sounding hoarse and tired, bellowed from the entrance of the chapel. Sakura squinted her eyes and recognized the bride's mother, barking orders at the characters for today's holy matrimony.

"The bride is almost here! Where are the… What's this? Butler? Maid? Can someone please phone these people?!"

Sakura snorted. 'Oh that's right… I was part of the entourage.'

She took a step forward. "C'mon. You can do this."

A gust of odorous wind ghosted on her face, caressing her rosy cheeks and stinging her glassy eyes.

'Are you sure that you should be here?'

"I received a fucking invitation. Yes, I should be here." She attempted another step, her knees buckling with difficulty. She bit her lip. The wind suddenly got stronger, casting dizzy spells upon her. She felt her stomach flip, attempting to push the fries and hot fudge sundae up her esophagus.

'Can you do it?'

"You can do this." She tried again. This time, her legs gave up. She maneuvered her fall and landed beside the nearest Sampaguita bush. While doing some breathing exercises, she silently thanked God that everyone was hitching a ride today.

"Pucha naman." She roughly bumped her forehead on her knee. She patted her pockets for her emergency mints-for-motion-sickness. But instead of fishing out a can, she scored a velvety, scented envelope.

Sakura blankly stared at the wedding invitation that had been tormenting her for months. She gingerly flipped it open with shaky hands and pulled out two pieces of paper.

The first one states the occasion and was decorated with line drawings of Sampaguita flowers.

Whereas the second was just a piece of yellowing bond paper creased in quads. Sakura returned the former inside the envelope.

"This." She unfolded the latter, pressed Sampaguita flowers fell on her lap. She scrunched her brows as its fermented scent punched her nostrils. "This is the reason why you came back, Sakura. Go ahead. Read it out loud and remind yourself!"

Dear Ino, (parang Dear Charo lang ah)

So, graduation is upon us. Of course you're on my priority list of people I'd write to, so that you'll have a cheesy memento to remember me by, ganern.

Well, even if the whole class begged for my autograph, ikaw lang naman talaga ang gusto kong sulatan. Charot!

I won't lengthen this letter so you'll be forced to recall these memories *evil laughter* and eventually, me! Charot again. I wish you all the best in this dreadful world, and I hope our paths may one day cross again.

This is not bi, it's a good bi. Oh, sorry, I misspelled 'bye.' (I don't want to sully this letter with erasures so I'll just keep it that way.)

Sakura chuckled bitterly to herself. "See? Remember this, Sakura? Continue reading!"

Thank you. Thank you for drawing those wings on my back that day, telling me to chase my dreams, even if it meant aeronautically crashing into the moon (the journey will be bloody arduous, I know. If only we could donate hypothetical blood...) but nothing's gonna stop me from reaching that dream! (I bet Sai can draw even better wings though, teehee~)

Oh and please be kind to mother even though you witnessed the grand spectacle of her making my wardrobe fly into the vastness of the provincial sky. I hope you don't forget me when you've fulfilled your dreams, kase kundi man ako maging doktor, aabutin ko na lang kamay mo, tutal pangarap din naman kita.

Tangina. Ang cheesy ko nanaman. Haha!

Anyway labyu lats, ingat ka palagi!

I'll see you… When college allows it.

Love always,

Haruno Sakura

"Oh wait, there's more!" She unconsciously wiped the guilty tears that had fallen from her eyes, "P.S. I've almost reached my dreams and I want you to give this letter back to me by showing up, got it?! -Ino"

"You're not here to face your mother, Sakura. You will only stay for a day. You came for them. You came to see them get married and you-"

"YOU. WILL. BE. HAPPY. ABOUT. IT." Sakura simultaneously punched her chest for every word. "For four and a half years! Ever since high school ended, you neither attempted to contact nor show your pathetic self to her… to him and they still want you to be a part of their wedding!"

'Are you even welcome here?'

She gasped for air, "Come on! Stand up!"

'Didn't you sever your ties with them after you left?'

For some courage… "You can do this!"

'Then why are you here?'

Some… help.

'Are you going to confess?'

"SHUT UP!" She struck her chest again.

"You can do this…" She craned her neck up to prevent more tears from falling. "You have to do this… As her best friend…"

But all that Sakura Haruno could taste was the sickly smell of the Sampaguita.

.

.

.

Sasuke Uchiha unplugged Yaya Maine's cell phone from the charger booth.

'The wedding starts at 10 am.' He thought anxiously.

The last time he checked the clock, it was 8:53. That was the time Yaya Maine's cell phone decided to run out of battery, leaving Sasuke mapless, clueless and disconnected from the world.

So instead of driving around aimlessly, wasting fuel and time, he made the wise move of stopping by the nearest convenience store that caught his eye. After a minute of contemplating how a seven-eleven charger dispenser worked and a couple of sacrificial five peso coins (it took him several tries to make it work; pardon him, he's just your stereotypical rich-kid who knows nothing about commoner rituals), he left (trusting its safety to the nice lady at the cashier booth *wink wink*) to change into his designer barong and wax back his hair.

He had the feeling that by the time Yaya Maine's cell phone was brought back to life, he would scamper his late ass to the chapel.

Sasuke held down the cell phone's power button and waited in uneasiness (thank God he wasn't a profuse sweater).

'I wonder how far I still am…' He pondered. 'Maybe I should've asked the cashier for the time-'

Yaya Maine's cell phone vibrated, startling him. He checked the caller's name, which was, on his tenterhooks, Fox Boy.

He gave it a glare before answering, "Naruto. How did you get my family's head maid's number?"

"Sumagot din ang gago! I seriously thought that you crashed or something!" The Fox Boy's obnoxious voice boomed through Sasuke's ears. "Your brother just told me about your masochistic pilgrimage! Where are you now? Are you there yet?"

Sasuke lightly massaged his throbbing forehead. "No. Phone died. I had no Waze to guide me. What do you want Naruto?"

"I-is that so…" Naruto laughed nervously. "S-so where are y-you?"

Sasuke made a confused sound at his best friend's stuttering. Did he get infected by Hinata? "I just told you, the phone died-look, state your business. I'm already running a little late."

"S-so you're using Yaya Maine's c-cell phone right?"

"Hn?"

"When I went to your house this morning, you know, because you seemed to ignore our offer of an alternative trip to console you-I mean, you did say approximately two years ago that when Ino gets married you'll follow your mom and even though I'm pretty sure that was just a joke-"

"Naruto." Sasuke snapped at him as he ran a clammy hand through his hair. "Just. Get to the point."

"YayaMainetoldmethatherphone'sclockisthirtyminuteslate. Solikeyoushouldhurrynowbecause-"

Naruto's rambles drowned in Sasuke's pocket as the latter reflexively rushed to the counter, ignoring the growing line to ask, "Ma'am, may I ask what time is it?"

The nice lady who guarded Yaya Maine's cell phone blushed deeply. With a giggle, she replied, "Why it's now 9:26, hand-"

But Sasuke Uchiha didn't get to hear the rest of her words as he scampered his way to Ino's wedding.


Sentence Translations:

1. "ikaw lang naman talaga ang gusto kong sulatan. Charot!"- "You're the only one that I plan on giving a letter. Just kidding!"

2. "kase kundi man ako maging doktor, aabutin ko na lang kamay mo, tutal pangarap din naman kita."-Because if ever I didn't become a doctor, I'll just reach for your hand, after all, you are one of my dreams.

3. "ingat ka palagi!"-"Take care always!"

4. "Sumagot din ang gago!"-"The bastard finally answered (the phone)!"


a/n: Thank you for reading Part 2! Please review if you can!