Standard Disclaimer Applied Powerful
You either shrink and hide or you throw your shoulders back and charge in. I learned that charging felt more comfortable for me.
-Minnie Driver
Chapter 4
"Waiter, can you bring me another margarita?" I called. The man raised his eyebrow. "Please?"
He grumbled something under his breath before walking back to the bar. Ino, who was sitting beside me, called after him, "Make that two!"
Hinata was the only other occupant of our little table. She had joined us after a few dances with Naruto. At the moment, she was twiddling her thumbs and eyeing my rather large stack of margarita glasses. I'm willing to bet 10,000 yen (not that I have any spare money like that) that she's about to ask us to stop drinking so much.
"Guys…don't y-you think you should slow d-down…"
Did I say 10,000? I meant 100,000…
"Nope," I answered, "I'm good."
"Me too," answered Ino.
You see, along with the expert medical training, I also picked up another habit from Tsunade-shishou. I can take in larges amounts of alcoholic drinks and stay perfectly fine. I've mastered this a bit better than her, actually. I can dissolve all the alcohol in my bloodstream using my chakra. As so, I never get drunk.
…Well, almost never…
The waiter then returned with our drinks; he, too, looked a bit worried. Oh well, it's not like that's going to stop me.
"So…" I drawled, "Hinata…where is your dear 'Naruto-kun'?"
"He went to go talk with the other guys," she answered.
I glanced over in their direction. Sure enough, Naruto had now joined them. They (Naruto, Neji, Sasuke, Shikamaru, Kiba, Lee, Chouji, Shino, Asuma, Kakashi, and Iruka) were all huddled in a dark corner with a supply of sake. They had been this way for almost an hour now. How not surprising…
I mean, some of them should want to dance with their girlfriends (that means you, Neji) or at least enjoy our company. Even Sasuke, the groom, had left the dance floor after the opening number. Ino had tried to get Shikamaru to dance with her, but had failed miserably.
Our dates had remained in this corner, leaving us girls bored out of our minds. We had no other option but to drink the night away. Wow…we must be really pathetic…
"I wonder who else is completely miserable right now…" Ino mumbled.
"I-I saw Anzu earlier," Hinata whispered, "She looked l-like she was about to cry."
"Yeah," I added, "Sasuke is completely ignoring her."
Ino said, "You mean, like how Neji is ignoring you?"
"And Shikamaru is avoiding you?" Ino looked like I had just stabbed her…or told her that her dress made her look fat. Oops.
"It's not that b-bad," said Hinata.
"Shut up," I answered. How rude of me…those drinks must be getting to me…
Ino sighed before mumbling, "How can we get them to come over here?"
"I don't know, Ino."
"…We could go streaking…" she suggested.
"I'd rather not."
"Why not?"
"…How drunk are you, Ino?"
"Just as drunk as you'll be as soon as you get another drink…Waiter!" She roughly grabbed a passing waiter. "Hit us up with a couple of shots. Make it your strongest!" The waiter, well, he sorta ran back to the bar. I think he's scared of Ino-pig. Truth be told, I know exactly where he's coming from.
I repeated myself, "I am not going streaking."
Neji had quietly left the group, hoping to get some peace and quiet. The tension between him and the Uchiha was so thick; he could barely breathe at times (not that he would ever admit it.) Unfortunately, he would not find his much-wanted peace at the bar either…
Not a moment after he sat down, Naruto sat down beside him. The bartender brought them both a bottle of sake and hurried off to tend to his other customers. The Hyuga prodigy observed the other ninja out of the corner of his eye. 'Is Naruto sulking?' he thought. Neji visibly raised an eyebrow. 'Naruto never sulks. Ever. It's so unlike him. He was fine just a minute ago. Is it the same thing that was bothering him that afternoon?' Neji popped the top of his sake and took a big swig. 'Only one way to find out…'
"Something on your mind, Naruto?"
Naruto slowly turned in his seat. His eyes were weary as he quickly glanced around. He was obviously on the lookout for someone. He gave a low grunt before muttering, "Guess it's about time I tell you."
The Hyuga leaned a bit closer and asked "Tell me what?"
Naruto took one more gulp of sake before setting the bottle down. "About your Uncle Hiashi's plans."
"…What?..."
Yeah, well, wouldn't you know it: Ten minutes later, Ino, Hinata, and I were all outside the reception hall, huddled in the dark. "Ready?" asked Ino, anticipation evident in her eyes.
"Y-you're not s-serious, a-are you?"
"Ye—"
Ino was a cut off by another voice, a new one. "What are you three doing out here? I thought I was alone." It was Tenten. But what was she doing outside…and with a rather large half-empty bottle of sake?
"We're going streaking!" squealed Ino, "Would you like to join us?"
Hinata muttered to Tenten, "T-they're drunk out of their m-minds, Tenten. They're n-not thinking straight. Could you please t-talk some s-sense into them? They're not listening t-to me!"
Tenten glanced back at the reception hall before turning to us and giving a small smile. "Sure, I'll join you."
I stumbled over to Tenten and slung an arm around her shoulders. "Looks like we're not the only ones stoned tonight…"
"Y-you're insane!" gasped Hinata. "Why w-would you ever w-want to do something s-so stupid?"
"Don't worry," replied Ino, "all you have to do is hold our clothes."
"Now," I said, "all that's left to decide is the location."
"Location, location, location…" Ino slurred.
Neji had now finished his bottle of sake and was waiting on the next. He and Naruto had been sitting at the bar for the last ten minutes, talking in hushed voices. Shock was still rolling in waves in Neji's mind, and with it came fury. How could Hiashi do this?!! The Hyuga took a deep, claming breath before asking, "Have you told Hinata yet?"
"…No…I will, just not tonight…When are you gonna tell Sakura-chan?" said Naruto. One of his eyebrows rose up with his last question.
"Another time…For now, I don't want you to mention this to another soul."
"Wasn't planning to…" Naruto mumbled before taking another swig from the new bottle of sake the bartender had just brought him. "What are we going to do?"
"…Whatever we can do…"
"Well, I hope you think of something. I'm stumped. I mean, I can think of one thing, but it's just too…It might not work."
"Tell me, Naruto, how did you find out about this?"
"Hinata's mother told me just this morning. She was trying to warn me."
"So, Hiashi doesn't know that you know."
"Nope."
"Maybe we can work this to our advantage…" Neji hurriedly looked around the room. He then activated his Bakuyan ; the veins in his eyes looked like they were about to pop out of his skin. Giving a low grunt, he hastily stood up out of his barstool and consequently knocked it over.
"Something wrong?" asked Naruto.
"You wouldn't happen to know were Sakura and Hinata are, would you?"
"…No…"
…
…
…
We decided on Second Street. It was a busy street at night, but almost no ninja hung out there. We were hiding in an alley at the moment. We (Ino, Tenten, and I) were untying our obis so we could take off our kimonos in a hurry. We would cast them off and run as fast as we could. Hinata would grab our clothes and teleport to the women's bathhouse at the end of Second Street. And there she would wait for us. We would get there, redress, have a laugh, and then return to the reception and get even more stoned (as if that were possible).
We gathered at the opening of the alley. I could feel the butterflies in my stomach fluttering around. Still, I was set on this. I could not back out now. Ino whispered, "Alright, everyone ready?"
"Hai," we answered.
"On the count of three: One…" My heart was pounding furiously. And I felt something…strange. If I hadn't been so intoxicated, I might have realized it someone's chakra. Someone's familiar chakra.
"Two…" Alright Sakura, you can do this…
"Th—"
"What are you all doing out here?"
…
…
"Naruto?" I asked, afraid of the answer.
"Um, yeah?" he answered. Sure enough, it was Naruto. He was panting a little and his yukata was a bit dirty. I heard a 'thump!' behind me. It turns out Hinata couldn't hold it any longer and fainted. Poor girl, she gets such jitters.
"But seriously," he continued, unaware of his girlfriend lying on the ground, "what are ya'll doing out here? We've been looking all over for you!"
"We?" I asked. Oh no…I had reached to retie my obi as soon as I recognized Naruto, but now it seemed my fingers had been struck dumb as I continued to fumble with the bow. Ino had swiftly retied hers already and as for Tenten, she was standing behind me so I couldn't tell.
"Yeah, Neji and me."
I figure my fingers went perfectly still because the next thing I know Tenten tugs the obi from my fingers and quickly ties it. I really have to thank her later. In my current situation, I don't think I could have ever done it myself. I felt like I was about to pull a classic Hinata move and faint on the spot. Naruto was bad enough, but Neji…Hello! Bakuyan!
"Hey Neji," Naruto called, "I found them!"
Hinata must have woken up just then because the next thing I know, she's sitting and groaning. She rubbed her eyes groggily and stood up. I felt kinda bad. In the whole whirlwind of happenings, we'd forgotten about poor, unconscious Hinata. Not even Naruto noticed, though it's probably because it's too dark to see in this small alley.
In a flash Neji is standing just beside Naruto with a confused expression on his face. "What were you doing in an alley?"
Although he didn't mention any names, I knew the question was directed at me. Apparently, Ino didn't. "Well, I just had to get the girls here to go down to this bar near here to try this awesome drink I had the other night."
"Okay," said Naruto, "that explains why you're downtown, but what were you guys doing in an alley?"
I answered this time. "We were walking down the street when we spotted some of Ino's fanboys. Ino got really scared, and we all had to hide in an alley with her until they passed by."
This is actually quite plausible. Ino is probably the prettiest woman in Konohoa. I mean, I have fanboys too, just not as many as her. Ino just stands out. If you call me beautiful, then Ino would be called gorgeous or perfect or something. As so, Ino has an outrageous number of fanboys registered in the Ino Yamanaka Fan club.
"In fact, why don't you go check to see if they're gone yet, Ino-pig?" I continued.
Ino slowly peered around the alley corner, looking but not really "looking" for some fanboys of hers. "They're gone!" she chirped and returned to us.
"Okay, then we have to return to the reception," muttered Neji.
"Yeah, before they cut the cake!" added Naruto.
"Not before we go get our drinks," said Tenten sternly.
"Whatever," Neji grunted.
"Ja!" called Naruto, who disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Neji was about to do the same when I called "Save me a dance, Neji!" I swear I saw him blush before he vanished as well.
There was a pregnant pause (I've always wanted to say that!) as we all considered the situation. Hinata was the first to break the silence, "You're not still gonna do it, are you?"
"I'm not so sure anymore," answered Tenten.
"Are you kidding me?" screeched Ino.
And I—wait, where did I go? Oh yeah, I had already stripped off my garments and ran into the street, calling "Last one there has to start a food fight when we get back!"
Seconds later, I heard Ino yell after me "You're goin' down, Fore-head girl!" She and Tenten were running after me. Hinata almost fainted, but caught herself. She shook her head, gathered up the kimonos, and "poofed" off to the women's bathhouse. We weren't about to let a couple of interruptions stop us, now were we?
This was just one of those chapters, that...well...I swore I would never write something as crazy as this. But I just had to. Besides, I've always imagined from the very beginning of this fic that sakura would get wasted at Sasuke's wedding reception. It's just a bit plausible to me (maybe not to you).
As for the next chapter, well, I haven't written it yet. You see, I wrote this one chapter that was supposed to go next, but I have to move it over so now it's Chapter 6. Don't worry, I'm working on 5 at this very moment.
Oh, and I loved all your reviews!!!!!!!!! Doesn't everybody love reviews? Well, except flames. Everybody hates flames. Including me. Oh, and you can still tell me who you want Sakura to end up with. I just won't be counting the votes yet, not till I get farther in. Don't worry, I plan on this fic being pretty long. There will be sasusaku in later chapters. How could I not sneak some sasusaku in? I'm still a diehard sasusaku fan. (stares at rabid nejisaku fans about to pounce on her) But I do love nejisaku too, otherwise, why would I be writing this?
MERRY CHRISTMAS!/ HAPPY HOLIDAYS!