"This is where you planned to take me?" Sasuke asked, his blank expression remaining on his face.
"Well, no. I wanted to take you to this wonderful place, however, we can't go there since it's snowing," Ino frowned.
"So we have to do this?"
"Oh, stop complaining, Sasuke-kun. Let's get to work!"
Sasuke groaned inwardly as he looked at Ino's backyard. There was a lot of snow. She thought that they should dig up all the snow that was in the backyard and afterwards, drink some hot chocolate. A perfect day for friends.
Ino sighed. "Man, there sure is a lot of snow. Plenty of work, huh?"
She sniffled and adjusted her earmuffs.
Making a 'hyah' noise Ino tried digging up the biggest pile of snow. Her first attempt at trying to dig it up failed. Her shovel was now stuck in the snow and the more force she used to pull it out, the more her face grew red. Placing a foot on the blade while the other foot sat in the snow, Ino put all her strength into getting the damn thing out, forgetting all about Sasuke.
While Ino was busy taking out the shovel, Sasuke found all this too amusing. Seeing Ino making a fool out of herself in front of him made him want to laugh. But his entertainment soon stopped when something hit his forehead.
"Oh, crap!" Ino bit her lip, falling to the snow, kneeling beside Sasuke.
He was on the ground, unconscious, a cut on his forehead. Ino watched as the blood trickled down. She tried to take out the shovel, and with all her force, she took it out. But instead of gripping onto the base of the shovel she let go and it flew to Sasuke and hit his forehead.
"Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. What am I going to do? What am I going to do? Dad left to another damn meeting so he can't possibly help me now! Uh, um—I know!" Ino smiled brightly.
She went back into the house to fetch the first aid box.
Sasuke groaned. He opened his eyes to find Ino staring down at him intently. Her curtain of hair that covered half her face was tickling his cheek. He realized that he was on her couch and she was kneeling on the floor, looking down at him.
"You're awake. That's good. I was waiting for you to wake up. I thought you, like, died or something! You've been asleep for the past five hours!" she exclaimed.
"Hn," was his reply as he positioned himself to a sitting position.
"Oi, Sasuke… I'm sorry for, you know, accidentally hitting you with the shovel. Just to let you know, it wasn't my fault. Okay, maybe it was, but that is because my grip on the shovel just—I just let go! And then the shovel flew to you and hit you."
"…It's not much of a problem so be quiet already," he said, feeling the large lump on his forehead.
"Well, I still have to put this ointment on you," she sighed, holding up the small tube.
He slapped her hand away softly. "I don't need that crap."
"But Sasuke-kun! That wound will never heal unless I put this ointment on you! I mean, of course it'll heal but it'll take much longer, you know."
"That's fine with me."
Ino made an odd noise at the back of her throat, but Sasuke didn't hear. It sounded much like a whining noise.
"I guess I'll be leaving now," Sasuke mumbled, putting on his coat.
Sasuke ignored what Ino had told him; he did not know it was something very important he should've heard, and continued walking toward the door.
"Sasuke-kun, wait!" she called out.
He should've listened to her.
Snow poured all over the young Uchiha, throwing him to the ground, also letting snow enters the house. It was unbelievable. Snow covered mostly Ino's entire door. Who would've known that so much snow in such little time could cover mostly an entire door? Actually, that's not what really happened. A group of little boys—maybe three or four—decided to cover the Ino's door with snow, since they really don't like her. Every morning they would do something to annoy her: poke her, slap her butt, or say how ugly she looks in the morning. And today is the perfect day to annoy her even more—covering snow in front of her house.
Sasuke groaned, staring at the snow on top of his torso.
Ino couldn't help but to turn around and giggle slightly. It was true that Sasuke looked like an idiot under all that snow. But she soon noticed that Sasuke was in 'desperate help' and decided to go help him. But by the time she turned back around Sasuke was standing up, wiping snow from his body.
"Eheheh. Yeah, those brats that live near decided to annoy me even more by covering my whole door with snow! Ha, can you believe that? Sasuke-kun, if you're thinking of going home, you can't! It's snowing like crazy outside, and you might get sick!" Ino said with a worried expression, clutching onto his jacket.
"I can take care of myself, Ino," he said simply.
"Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey," she said, grabbing his arm. "Isn't it good to know that someone cares for you so much that she's willing to beg you to stay because you might get sick in the blizzard outside? Please, Sasuke! Don't go out there! " she whined, closing the door.
Sasuke cursed under his breath and he walked past Ino.
He turned back to face her. "Then what the hell do you expect me to do then?"
She gasped—an idea came to her.
"Kyaa! I have an idea, Sasuke-kun!" she squealed, throwing herself at him.
"What now?" he said, letting an exasperated sigh out.
"You can sleep over!"
"WHAT?"
"Oh, come on, it'd be great! I mean, you can sleep in the guest room if you want, and I'll sleep in my room, of course." She grinned, giving him thumbs up.
"I'd rather not stay here."
Ino's bright expression turned into a grim one. This always seems to happen. Ino would say something wonderful and when she asks Sasuke what he thinks it, he doesn't find it too wonderful. It doesn't happen all the time, just since him and her became friends and when she tried to make him her friend.
Before opening her mouth, Ino chuckled inwardly. She knew a way for him to stay here, she just forgotten all about it.
"Oh ho ho, Sasuke-kun," she took a step toward him, an evil smirk making its way to her lips.
He knew that look—the look of 'if-you-don't-agree-to-what-I-say-I'm-showing-this-tape'.
Before she continued he blurted out, "Fine, I'll stay."
"Yay! This'll be so fun!" Ino grinned goofily, trying to ignore the huge pain she felt.
"Hmph."
"All right, everyone. Dismissed," Tsunade smirked slightly, shooing away all the jounin in the room.
Everyone looked at one another, hoping that their Hokage would say something encouraging to them after such a boring meeting—probably something like, "I'm so glad to have you protecting our village. You are doing a fine job. I might even think of giving you a break tomorrow!"
"What do you want?" Tsunade sighed. "It's not as if you expect me to say something encouraging and ending it up with, 'I might even think of giving you a break tomorrow,' do you?"
Sighing in defeat, everyone left out the doors.
"So how's life treating you, eh, Inoichi?" Shikato smirked.
"Hmph. Fine. Hokage-sama seems to be loading me with more missions."
"I know how you feel. Hey, wanna go get a beer or something?"
"No thanks. I have to get home to my precious daughter Ino. She's with that Uchiha. I like him, he's interesting," Inoichi smiled.
"Oh, really? Haven't you ever thought about it, Inoichi?" Shikato raised an eyebrow at him.
"Think about what?"
"What usually happens when a boy and girl are home alone?" Shikato asked, making sure he emphasized 'alone'.
"What the hell are you talking about?"
Shikato sighed and placed a hand on his friend's shoulder, tapping it. "I know you'll find out." And with that, he walked away.
"Pssh, what the hell was he talking about? Pfft…"
……
"Oh, damn! Ino is alone with him—a boy! UCHIHA SASUKE! Don't worry, baby! Daddy's coming to save you!" he ran out of the building, into the blistering cold.
Ino sat in the kitchen, eating sweet rice. Sasuke was in the guest room, doing whatever he was doing. For some reason… Ino kept feeling this pain, though she was trying her best to ignore it. Though, she had no idea what it was. It wasn't a pain in which she got hurt or anything, but some sort of feeling. She didn't want to say 'pain' because it sounded so stupid, so she decided to call it a normal feeling.
A feeling in which she felt stupid, an idiot. Every time she brought out the 'tape' in order to make Sasuke do what she says she feels as if Sasuke is her slave rather than her friend. And no way did Ino want to think about that. She doesn't want to think of herself as the type of person who's forcing someone to do what he or she wants, and using something against them—a weakness. And surprisingly, this tape was a huge weakness for Uchiha Sasuke.
"He probably hates me…" she sighed. "But I really want him to like me, and being friends seem to be a good start, ne?"
"I'm going to go bring him something… maybe he'll think of me as nicer then?" she limped to the counter since her right leg was asleep, and grabbed the jar of cookies.
"Yeah, I don't know. He probably likes cookies!" she grinned.
"Here ya go, Sasuke-kun!" Ino smiled, handing him the tray of cookies.Sasuke stared at the tray of cookies she held out before him. He looked up to see her smiling face. Ino had her hair down this time; it was up to her hips. And she was wearing purple PJs. What a surprise. Sasuke, on the other hand, was wearing his usual clothing since Ino didn't have any PJs for him.
"I'm not hungry," he replied, turning his head away from her.
She frowned. "But I bet you haven't eaten all day, Sasuke-kun! I mean, you were unconscious for a very long time, you know."
"Hn…"
Putting a cookie in her mouth, she sat next to him, and this time she didn't sit that close. Instead, she kept a good distance between them; she figured he wanted his own space. If she wants him to actually like her, she has to do nothing to upset him. Maybe he'll figure that she's being serious and just doesn't want him to be her slave. Otherwise, he would just forget about the tape and won't care if she shows it, if he has had enough of her forcing him to do what she wants. But if he knows that she really does want to be her friend and is actually acting like one instead of bringing out the tape every five minutes, he'll reconsider. Maybe he'll think she's not that bad after all.
"Are you sure you don't want one?" she asked again, holding out a cookie out to him. She really didn't want to eat any sweets; she's on a diet. But having a sleepover involves some types of sweets, doesn't it?
"No thanks." He said.
"O-okay, if you insist," she grinned, biting the cookie she offered to him.
"My baby, my baby, home alone with UCHIHA SASUKE! What-what if he does something to her?!?!?! Damn it, Uchiha, like I said, lay one finger on her and you're dead!" he yelled, pushing his way through the strong wind blowing toward him.
"Do you hear that, Sasuke-kun?" Ino whispered, putting her ear against the wall.
"Hear what?"
"I don't know. I hear some loud thumping! Oh, my God, what if it's, like, some huge animal trying to attack us!" she said fearfully, grabbing a bat.
"Hn, there's no animal outside," Sasuke simply said.
"Y-you don't know about that! C'mon, let's go check it out!" she grabbed his elbow and him and her both went outside the guest room to the door that lead outside, which was in the living room.
Both teens heard muffled voices. Well, one actually. The person, or something, was banging against the door, trying to say something. Ino was terribly terrified—so terrified she hid behind Sasuke, her bat in her hand.
"I'm going to open the door, I don't want you to do or say anything got it?" he stopped to sigh. "Hn, just let me take care of whoever is outside."
Ino managed to stutter a yes while clutching onto her steel bat.
"And," he turned around to face. "You BETTER not swing that bat and hit ME. I don't want anything to happen like this morning."
"Oh, don't worry! That won't happen again. Promise!"
The banging continued, with muffled voices being heard. Sasuke grabbed the doorknob and turned it slightly. He pushed Ino away from him before opening the door. After a full minute of tension, Sasuke finally opened the door, only to see something jump toward him.
"Okay, you guys are complete idiots," Ino sighed, shaking her head.
She stared at the grown man and young man sitting next to each other on the couch, each looking beaten up. After Sasuke had opened the door, Ino's dad came rushing in and when his eye caught Sasuke, he lunged himself at him. Ino watched as both fought for dominance. But she had no idea why her dad attacked Sasuke in the first place. All she heard within the punches and kicks were,
"How dare you touch my daughter, Uchiha!"
"What?! I didn't touch her, damn it!"
"I thought I trusted you, Uchiha!"
"I thought you wouldn't kill me even if I hung out with your daughter!"
"Dad…why did you attack Sasuke?" Ino asked.
"The pervert, I thought he was going to touch you!" Inoichi sighed in misery.
"Sasuke-kun…why did you attach daddy with such force? I mean, he is older than you and you should respect that."
"How the hell should I NOT fight back? The idiot almost killed me."
"I say you both should apologize and get over this crap," Ino sighed.
"Hmph. I'm not apologizing to this pervert," Inoichi folded his arms, looking the other way.
"Hn. I'm not apologizing to this idiot," Sasuke muttered, turning his head the other way.
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" Inoichi stood up, clutching onto the Uchiha's collar.
"Okay, both of you stop!" Ino yelled, throwing a cookie at their heads. "Dad… to bring you even more bad news… Sasuke is sleeping over. And before you choke him I just want to let you know you'd make your precious daughter very happy if you let him stay or else he will get sick in this harsh weather."
"SO?! I just ran through that so-called harsh weather and you don't see me getting sick, do you?!" after his terrifying yell Inoichi paused to cough a several times.
"You see! You're already getting a cold. C'mon, let's get you to bed, dad. Sasuke, you can go to your room now," Ino smiled at Sasuke.
Sasuke groaned quietly and rubbed his throbbing head. Today was a bad day to come to the Yamanaka's house.
"Man, the snow is really crazy outside!" Ino shivered, clutching onto her blanket. The wind was very strong and made eerie noises. Ino grew terrified. Truth is, Ino hated to sleep all by herself. She wished she had a sibling to share in the same room as her. Even when it was raining or snowing and the wind was howling or the thunder was too loud, she grew even more scared. When she was a little kid she would go to her dad's room and sleep with her, and she still does. But she always makes sure to keep some distance away from them because her dad moves a lot in the night…and he might kick her out of the bed.
Today she really wanted to go to her dad's room but he's sick and she doesn't want to catch it. Most importantly, he needs all the space in the bed to relax and she doesn't want to bother him.
She had only one option left…Sasuke.
Maybe he won't mind.
"Sasuke-kun?" she knocked on the open door and stepped in the room.
No answer.
"Sasuke, I get real scared when there are eerie noises and such. Please let me sleep here."
He sat up when he heard her last sentence. "Why don't you just ignore the noises?"
"I-I can't…" she whimpered.
"Sorry, but, uh," he paused to think of a good excuse. "The bed is small so it can't fit both of us."
"What are you saying? This is a perfect size for two people, you know," Ino pouted and folded her arms.
He groaned. "Ino, go to sleep with the lights on or something."
Sasuke waited for her to leave and when he heard her footsteps, the noise was coming toward him not away from him. He continued looking at the wall and waited for what Ino was going to do. He was surprised when Ino sat on the bed but did not lie next to him. Well, she couldn't. He had his whole body stretched out on the bed.
"I'm not leaving until you let me lie next to you!" she whispered, rocking herself.
"Hmph." Yeah, I bet she'd be leaving any minute now 'cuz I won't let her sleep with me, he thought.
After an hour or so, he heard something fall to the ground. He was just having a good sleep, for goodness sakes. Quickly he sat up and saw what was on the floor. Ino.
He was surprised that she didn't even feel a damn thing! But what surprised him the most was that she didn't leave.
"Damn…" he hissed. Quietly, Sasuke got off the bed and placed the cover on Ino. He then picked her up and placed her on the bed.
Maybe I should sleep on the couch or something, he thought. But before he could move a single step, Ino grabbed onto his shirt. Sasuke looked down at her face. She was asleep even though she was grabbing onto his shirt. Weird, he thought.
"I hate myself," he said aloud, lying next to her, but made sure he was FAR away from her. He figured that even if he did go to the couch to sleep Ino would wake up and go to him.
While trying to go to sleep he felt something warm against his back. Once again, Ino. She snuggled her head against his back, making Sasuke stiffen.
At least she's not wrapping her arms around me, he thought, sighing in relief. And this is when Sasuke really wanted to leave already, probably sneak out. But she has…the tape…the tape that'll surely give him nightmares. And even if he did leave, she'll probably yell at him the next morning, saying how angry she was because he left her. Then… she'll take out the tape… and show it to everyone just because he snuck out last night to stay away from her! He surely doesn't want that, so he has to stay here.
He never knew that a tape would be his biggest weakness. But if it was any ordinary tape, then it won't be much of a problem, but this damn tape contained one of his horrible nightmares: him and Ino. Shivering at the remembrance of what happened, Sasuke tried his best to go to sleep.
When he closed his eyes, he felt warm breathing on his ear. His eyes widened in surprise.
"Thanks, Sasuke-kun," Ino whispered against his ear.
"Yeah, yeah," he replied, now feeling her back warmly against his.
He growled silently before drifting off to sleep.
A/n: Yay, chapter four is done! Yippee-day-do. Anyways, sorry I haven't updated in a long time. I was very busy. But I hope you're happy now that I updated this chapter! Ahem, I want to thank my beta-reader Muu. –glomps Muu- I couldn't have done this without her! And don't flame me 'cuz Sasuke seems somewhat OOC. Actually, go ahead and flame, but don't flame the pairing. If you don't like the pairing, why waste your precious time reading this story?