So, a short-ish chapter.

My apologies.

I got stuck, got an idea, wrote it really fast.

What else is new?

So. . . Yeah.

NEW NARUTO CHAPTER TOMORROW!!!!

Finally, the greatest secrets will be revealed!!!!

. . . Naruto eats Trix cereal.

XD

TwilightRaver: Yes! Dramatic imagery! Cha! ;D I wasn't going to put the ADD thing in, but I had to give Naru-dear a funny line. :) New chapter? :?

munky5: Summer's over?!? :( I'm dreadfully sorry. Hopefully, that won't hinder you from this fic. When does he ever make good impressions? :D

DR43N4T0R: :D Exactly.

StrawberrySmoothie99: Yeah. Great way to get on a person's bad side. . . As you'll see this chapter. :D Ew. . . outdated milk. Chunky. XD

Alright, kids.

READ!

Disclaimer: Kishimoto owns. But everyone knows that I really own it. I do. Kishimoto stole my idea. . . when I was eight years old. . . Yeah.


Three.

Waking up early for me was like waking a zombie up from death.

Unpleasant and annoying as hell.

-

I met Ino in the lobby at eight as she had requested.

She was bothering the girl at the front desk, clearly for sport.

I stopped at her side, flatly saying her name.

Ino startled, throwing a squinted eye in my direction.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, straightening. "There you are, Sakura. Well, we shouldn't dawdle; let's go."

Nickette threw a lingering glare at us as Ino led me down a hallway, blabbering about something or other as we went.

"Okay," Ino began importantly once we reached a small room with a box mounted on the wall. "This is the awesome little machine that pays us. What you do is take one of these little cards and print your name, your employee number, and then you sign your name on this line here. Then, when you get done and are about to clock on to work, you insert it into this slit on the top here and wait for it to eject the card again. The card will keep a record of your hours worked and then our accountant will total up all the hours, apply it to the minimum wage, and get your money at the bank!"(1)

Ino gave me an empty card and a pen to fill it out.

I set to work, completing the card a few seconds later.

I slid the card into the opening at the top as Ino had instructed, and retrieved it once the machine had popped it back out again.

Ino placed it in a rack where other numerous cards resided.

She led me back out, leaving the lobby to enter outside.

I really liked summer mornings at the beach.

It hadn't yet gotten hot, and a breeze was blowing nice cool air around.

I smiled a bit.

TenTen was assessing her pool, picking out scattered leaves.

She smiled at us when we passed, and Ino waved friendly.

I followed Ino right up to the snack bar, through the door at the end, and into the small space.

"Jeez," I said at the cramped quarters.

"Yeah. I've tried to persuade Shikamaru to get the boss man to get us a bigger place, but Shika just refused. Stubborn ass."

Ino unlatched the window to the counter, pushing it up and open, getting me to help her place the pegs under it so it wouldn't fall.

Light flooded the small space, which made sense why the snack bar didn't house a lightbulb.

Ino began divulging all of the details of the snack bar, from dos and don'ts to the art of selling needless crap that the essential customer did not particularly want.

Which meant my brain was killing me before we'd even had a customer.

I didn't know how in hell I was going to remember it all.

But Ino reassured me.

"Don't worry about it! When Shikamaru trained me, it took me weeks to master all of this stuff. You'll get the hang of it."

I nodded, not exactly believing her.

Shikamaru showed up two minutes after he was supposed to be there, which was apparently normal by the way Ino acted.

"Morning," he muttered to me, attempting politeness.

Ino beamed at me, like this was a compliment that I should be excited about.

"Ino tell you everything you need to know?" Shikamaru inquired, going over to the soda machine and filling a cup.

I nodded, ignoring the looks Ino continued to send me.

Shikamaru nodded approvingly as he fiddled with the machine.

An awkward silence filled in, and I crossed my arms, watching as some five-year-olds splashed in the shallow end of the pool.

Ino must've noticed because then she said, "So, Sakura, are you enjoying vacation?"

I shrugged.

"I guess."

"Well. . . don't you miss your friends?" she prompted politely.

I shrugged again.

"Not really. . ." I replied honestly.

Ino made a face that read 'I seriously doubt your humanity', and turned away from me, fingering the register.

-

It was an awkward rest of the afternoon.

My first customer had been some obnoxious twelve-year-old who kept changing his mind about what he wanted, leaving me pissed off.

By the time the sun started to sink, I was sitting next to the pool, dipping my legs into the water.

We'd closed the snack bar a few minutes prior, leaving me to myself.

I didn't want to go upstairs yet; my stomach was clenching disagreeably.

The pool had been cleared out, TenTen quickly ushering lingering families and kids out of the gates.

She'd gone inside to clock off, which I'd already done.

Not a second later, my head jerked up, hearing a loud, boisterous voice.

"Oh, my God," I said to myself, peering cautiously past the lifeguard chair.

It was him.

I shook my head in disbelief, staring at the boy with blonde hair.

There was another boy behind him, a little older, with long, dark hair and pale skin.

He was without his skateboard today, walking with his hands shoved in his pockets.

When he reached the gate, instead of just opening it, Naruto jumped over it.

The dark haired guy raised his eyebrows, staying outside of the gate.

I was just getting up when Naruto saw me.

He raised a hand in greeting.

I crossed my arms and continued to stare.

Naruto frowned slightly.

"Aw, Sakura-chan, you're not still mad about yesterday, are you??" he called, walking closer.

I glared to disprove this point.

Naruto kindly grasped my shoulder, smiling.

"Okay, let's try this," he began. "Breathe deep, then out. Release all of that dark energy you're carrying."

I studied him, clearly thinking he was crazy.

Naruto mistook my disapproval for embarrassment.

"Oh, don't be embarrassed, Sakura-chan! Nobody's watching! Well, Neji is, but he's seen this before so don't be shy. Again, breathe deep. . ."

Naruto closed his eyes and demonstrated his point.

I made a split-second decision and grasped Naruto's elbow.

"That's it!" he encouraged. "Release it, let it go!"

I gritted my teeth, tightened my grip, and pushed.

I watched with a slight smile on my face as Naruto fell into the pool, fully clothed and screaming all the way.

I turned and charged up the stairs, not even waiting for the dramatics to start.

However, before I could return to our condo, I heard a girl's voice.

"What the hell just happened?"

I grinned.


(1) At least, that's how it goes at my workplace. I don't know about anyone else.

That was TenTen speaking, by the way. :D

Ah, pushing in pools. . . The epitome of summer.

Naruto'll get her back, by the way. Just be patient.

:D

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