The Special Edition 16th Anniversary Vanity Makeup Kit

Characters: Ino & Sakura

Synapses: The race is on for the Perfect Christmas Gift, and Sakura and Ino know what the goal is... but which one of them will ultimately come out on top with the gift they want?!

A black unicorn with a beautiful white horn whinnied and pranced around in a dark storm, stamping at the ground and pawing before charging at her, horn lowered and poised to kill…

Sakura woke with a groan as her alarm buzzed angrily at her. Another whine sounded behind her and the arm that had been comfortably wrapped around her hip snatched at their sheets and tugged them up over his head. Sakura was fine with Kakashi being a cover hog, as she now simply needed to find the strength to crawl out of her bed now and get ready for the rush. The numbers on the clock blinked that it was 2 AM, and the buzzing of her alarm didn't desist until Sakura slapped it from her side of the bed. Taking a deep breath and glancing over at the pillowy lump that was Kakashi with furrowed brows. The ninny growled and spun over, taking the sheets with him. Cold air hit Sakura's thighs and pushed her out of bed with another grouchy huff.

She sauntered over to the bathroom and started the hot water for the shower, then leaned over the sink of her bathroom to view her tired face in the mirror, checking the dark circles and any zits that might have formed while she wasn't on zit defense. After around five minutes steam began to billow in the bathroom and she was satisfied with her face. Hopping into the shower, she numbly washed her hair, still blinking at the early hour, and managed to go through the motions of washing her body. She rinsed, stepped out of the shower and dried off with a single blue towel. Her hair was quickly pulled into short pony, and once the mirror cleared, her makeup went on flawlessly as she began to wake.

"I need coffee…" She mumbled to herself as she carefully lined her eyes. After all the primping was done, she hung the towel back on the towel rack and walked out of the bathroom to get dressed. A quick rifle through her drawers brought her a pair of bikini cut panties, faded bra, black tank top, warm weather black pants and socks tucked just so, and a pair of boots laced up to her calves. She sat carefully on the bed to keep Kakashi from getting any crankier as she put her boots on, then reached for the thermal sweater on her vanity and pulled it over her head. Sakura looked herself over once more before reaching into the top drawer of her delicates and pulling out fingerless gloves and a white headband to keep stray hairs out of her face. One more look over and she nodded her head, eyes no longer tired but fierce for the upcoming hunt.

Today was the day she was going to fight the crowds and get Ino the 16th Anniversary Collector's Edition Vanity Makeup Set. It included the finest primers, powders, and shadows, as well as a shade of red lipstick that was no longer on the market that Ino adored. Ino didn't know she was braving the raging storm of women and shopping that she hated so much, but by the Gods Sakura would get it for the pig and she would be a blubbering mess of a best friend before Sakura. Rushing out of the bedroom, through the living room and then grabbing her bag off the wall in the dining room and fastened it over one shoulder, resting comfortably on her hip.

"Let's do this."

Ino gave a scream when her alarm went off and tumbled out of bed, pulling the sheets with her. Swearing and flustering as she tried to dig herself out of her sheets she finally made it back to the surface and had to hit the damn thing three times before it would stop its infernal noise. She pulled herself off the ground and marched over to turn on her light. After a check in her mirror, she quickly tried to brush out her mess of long blonde hair, having taken a shower the night before. If it was not dealt with right away, it would curl up and frizz, which was exactly the nightmare she was left pawing through with her brush.

After another five minutes of harsh brushing and de-tangler, she finally managed to get her hair somewhat compliant and into a thick, manageable bun. She doused it in hairspray before headed for her bathroom and applying deodorant, perfume, and starting on her makeup. A quick base and powder, liner, then mascara and she was finished. She strode back to her drawers and pulled out thermal underpants and a long-sleeved shirt, pulled on some black yoga pants with JUICY written over the back, and pulled a vest over the long-sleeved shirt unzipping it a bit so her breasts had some room to breathe. She grabbed the matching blue gloves before winding a blue scarf around her neck and pulling a black headband on to keep her lone bang out of her face.

She spun once and her lips pursed. The yoga pants seemed slutty… Just to make sure she hadn't missed a good pair that didn't have wording, she dug through her drawers and found nothing else that seemed to speak. Ino frowned. Seemed she was stuck with that pair. She shrugged to herself and went to the bathroom to brush her teeth quickly, then headed for the living room, grabbing her purse and putting it over her shoulder.

The 16th Anniversary Collector's Edition Vanity Makeup Set wasn't going to buy itself and walk its way into Sakura's door! Primers, powders, shadows and a limited edition shade of Fire Me Up Baby red lipstick made this a must have for her. Ino flipped through her wallet, stopping at a photo of herself and Sakura, sitting together and enjoying the summer with smiles that went from ear to ear. She thumbed it fondly, good memories flashing through her mind.

They'd experimented with makeup and loved all of Vanity's makeup, and Fire Me Up Baby was the first lipstick they'd shared when they were girls messing with makeup. Ino huffed. It was why this was such a perilous mission. Doors opened in one hour, and at 0400 hours, she was going to grab the gift that was going to turn that bilboard into a squealing geek!

"Lets go!"

Sakura was stuck in a ridiculous line at White Tea and Things trying to order her usual black tea, milk and sugar. Women were lined up to the door, and she was stuck keeping it open for more crazy women trying to get in the door. The cold wind was breezing through the door, and Sakura's boots weren't doing a whole hell of a lot to keep her toes from freezing. As the line crawled she kept repeating her order in her head, already having the change to pay for her tea and her thermos ready. Minutes crawled by, but Sakura got to the front line and faced the smiling yet somehow eerily psychotic looking barista, who's blonde pigtails were unusually perfect for the chaotic nature of the store.

"What can we get for you?" She asked, cheer and a dash of sarcasm ringing in her voice.

"Black tea, splash of whole milk and three sugars in a thermos." Sakura answered in one swift shot. The girl snatched the thermos out of Sakura's hand and called the drink before turning back to Sakura with her creepy grin.

"That'll be two hundred six yen." The Barista said quickly, snatching the money from Sakura. Sakura then went to the waiting corner where several other women stood. Just watching the traffic put an anxious edge on Sakura – Several more women ahead of hear that had prepped and gotten to the coffee shop in time before she had. If there were several here, there must be triple the number waiting for the Vanity shop to open, Sakura projected. Though she'd just been sent to the corner, she found her foot tapping uncontrollably as she tried to pass the time.

Ino had finally gotten to her coffee shop and knocked on the back door. It was bustling and busy from the front, but Sae was one of the baristas there and had bid her to come to the back door early in the morning.

"Trust me, Ino, it'll be a fuckin' nightmare trying to get your coffee in the front. Just come in the back, and make yours, then get out of there before those crazy bitches catch you behind the counter making your own coffee. Setsun is cool with it, just for you." Sae'd said.

The moment she opened the back door, the chaos hit her full force. Two of the four baristas were scrambling in the stock room filling their arms with all manner of teas, syrups and coffee beans to keep up with the demand of clientele. She peeked around the corner and saw Sae standing at the front counter and called to her. The blond jerked her head around, saw Ino, and nodded, waving for her to use the back bar where one black haired young man was desperately trying to pour coffee and put his new stock just so. She patted the boy's shoulder, who blinked at her, then sighed in resignation.

"Hurry up."

Ino poured a shot from the loud machine, grabbed some of the already steamed milk and poured it into a paper cup. She'd forgotten to grab her geared thermos for bumpy traveling, so jumping the rooftops wasn't an option – but as soon as she topped her coffee off with vanilla and chocolate, stirred it together and took a sip, she didn't give a damn.

"Good luck – you need it more than I do." She teased as the other boy quickly maneuvered back to the bar, starting over on his drinks.

Ino opened the back door and as soon as she stepped out a girl rushed in with an apron in hand, slamming into her and dumping her coffee all over the floor.

"DAMMIT!" She shrieked. "ARE YOU SERIOUS? WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING!"

The girl was small and mouse with short brown hair and looked like she was about to cry, too stunned to move.

"For fuck's sake, get in there and help your coworkers, don't just stand here!" Ino raged, snatching paper towels from the nearest rack to mop the mess up with. She turned to the kid working the back bar, who had taken a moment to give the brown haired girl a hug and comforting word before grabbing a large paper cup and making exactly what Ino had made herself. He finished the drink in half the time Ino did and placed it on the desk for her to take with her before she left once she was finished cleaning up the spill.

Sakura managed to claw her way out of the tea shop, and thanks to her awesome field thermos, she bounded along the rooftops toward Vanity. The coffee shope had taken so long that she had a mere fifteen minutes to get there before the store opened, and waiting in a line for the Special Edition makeup kit terrified her. The quick route took her another five and she landed just a block from the storefront with another ten minutes to spare. At first she felt good – then the line outside of Vanity made her fumble her mug. She stared, stupefied, at the throng of women brewing outside the popular cosmetics shop and wanted to cry. It was still early and she had not woken early enough to beat the masses. Her inner self chose that moment to step in and knock her on her ass, reminding her the she would get that damn special edition kit if it KILLED her!

Murmurs went up among the ladies, and she could see the lines starting to waver as the shop keeper and their employees began to set things out, turn on lights and cash registers, and began the usual routine of opening. Some of the employees took a moment to stare out at the throng of crazy women waiting to get into the shop. Her heart began to pound as she mentally prepped herself, trying to keep deadly calm as all the other women seemed to do the same. Each woman seemed to mentally steel herself for the pounding they were about to take.

A hush fell over the group as they heard locks beginnning to turn and clatter open. In one shining moment everything was silent - and then the door opened smoothely. All the shit hit the fan, hell broke loose, and the end of the world was coming as a crowd of screaming women surged foward through the door and took Sakura with it. It took a minute or so, but she clawed her way again through the door, noticing the number of shinobi women using their techniques and skill to get into the door, leaping silently above and over the women that were just there for the shits and giggles.

Sakura darted here and there, managing to keep from knocking anyone over and sliding over other ladies' bodies to get to her goal which had been centered in the middle of the store in a gleaming and beautiful display that was now being torn to pieces as grabby hands went for the Anniversary Kit. They kept disappearing everytime she ducked down to avoid being smacked by a waving hand or jumping women and she desperately tried to lunge as she made the last ten feet through the crowd as two were left on the golden table. She struggled between a skinny woman compacted by a larger woman and managed to pop herself out between them, her hand grabbing the last silver box as another hand grabbed for it.

She glared at the offending hand and followed its arm back to the owner...

And found herself looking at Ino, who was glaring right back at her.

She blinked at Ino, who returned her stare of shock and narrowed her eyes.

"Let it go, Pig."

"Go to hell, Bilboard Baggins."

Both girls' hands tightened on their respective corners and both of them tugged gently on the other's side until it became a tug of war.

"Let it go you fat lazy pig! I've been up since two this morning just for this stupid thing and you are NOT going to take away my prize!" Sakura shouted.

"Shut up, Sakura, I've been through just as much shit to get here and by the gods you'll give me what I came here to buy!" Ino shot back.

"I should let you have it just to cover up your fugly eyeliner!" Sakura sniped.

"But then I'd feel bad because then there would be nothing to keep you from needing a paper bag!" Ino quipped, hand still on the box.

Sweat was beading on Sakura's forehead. Battling Ino in this store would level it, and she knew neither of them were going to give. She looked for other options and just as she spotted one, Ino cocked her fist back and took a hard swing at her, screaming "LET GO!"

Sakura's eyes widened and she took a hard hit right in the jaw, her grip loosening but not letting go. Rolling with the punch she was pushed back into a cushion of other patrons raiding the store. An angry shout went up among the group and Sakura quickly got up from the punch trying not to let herself get dizzy. Another kunoichi pounced on Ino, and grabbed the bottom corner Ino had the top corner of. Ino had her fist ready to fire another one her way, but Sakura managed to let go and let the crowd take her to the mercy she was looking at as the group as a whole pushed her towards the counter. On display, just below another kit, was the Anniversary kit in a gold box. Nobody had noticed the poor box, as it didn't match the silver that had been displayed. She snatched the box up and looked over it carefully, praying her bruised jaw and sacrificed kit was not in vain. She looked back to where the other two kunoichi were fighting and it looked like Ino had pitted herself against a Black Ops agent - Now Ino was just fighting air and the other woman was triumphantly cradling the last 16th Anniversary set.

Sakura smirked, smug and self satisfied with her superiour intellect and shopping skills - this one deserved bragging rights, and when it was presented to Ino with a big red bow, she was going to tell the story of how she got it. Sakura managed to make it to the front counter without any further incident, even with her jaw swelling painfully. Sneaking out with her bag, she bolted back home not wanting to brave any more fights with the crowd (particularly those black friday Black Ops shoppers). When she got home, she stashed her treasure in the closet, disrobed, and fell back into bed where Kakashi was laying half awake, staring at the large black and blue bruise Ino had walloped her for.

"What the..."

"Don't ask Kakashi... Women are fucking insane."