Summer at Port Honju

Chapter Four

The first ten minutes of the car ride was chaos. Somehow, Mizuki, Aunt Sophie, Naruto, Uncle Takaraka, Sakura and all her heavy luggage squeezed into the van. It was worse than the car trip home all those months ago. Just thinking about Konoha made her heart twist painfully…luckily, she had two very, very loud distractions.

"So, Sakura, glad to be back?"

Sakura beamed, the familiar scenery of Port Honju seeping back in. She tilted her head and nodded.

"Yup! And—"

"Didja miss us, huh? Didja?" Naruto interrupted, blue eyes flashing wildly. Having visitors always excited the blonde teen and Sakura was not an exception. "We're gonna have so much fun!"

"Naru—"

"Yeah, and I've already planned something for today! Mizu will be there, and me, and, and the Teme…"

"Yup! I helped plan it too, remember!" Mizu's elbow length black hair flowed freely with the wind blowing into the van. Her green eyes twinkled, much like the teen next to her. "First we're going to go down to the rock pools—hey, you remember them, right Saku?"

"Yes, I remem—"

"And then," At this point, even Mizuki shut up, noticing Naruto's face turning a bit pink as he spoke. Sakura frowned, stunned speechless (not that she could've said anything anyway with her friends yammering away). "…and then you will meet Hinata-chan."

"Hinata-chan…?"

Mizu giggled, winking at the blushing blonde and pushed away some of the luggage before continuing in a hushed voice.

"Hinata Hyuuga…Naru-kun's girlfriend."

At this, Sakura smiled, watching as Naruto's face turned even redder and as he shoved Mizu when she finally cackled out loud. She recalled a conversation with Mizu that circled Naruto and his lover. Ever since her cousin had mentioned the mystery woman, Sakura had leapt at every chance to wheedle information out of the blonde. Surprisingly stubborn, Naruto had kept his mouth shut, as did Mizu who clapped her hands in happiness at Sakura's ignorance.

Unfortunately, knowing a Hinata Hyuuga did nothing to quench her thirst for more information. What did she look like? How did they meet? When? Those questions had to wait however, as Sakura finally gave in to the little voice at the back of her head, flinching at the attention it was screaming for.

"Umm…so," Hopefully, her nonchalant tone disguised her erratically beating heart. "W-Where's Sasuke?"

Turning slightly red at her cracking voice, the pinkette kept her betraying eyes from Mizu's suggestive gaze. Naruto however, didn't notice anything out of the ordinary and replied quite cheerfully,

"Ah—the Teme? He's with—uh…he's busy…on the beach." The blonde scratched the back of his, stuttering slightly and shrinking at Sakura's fierce stare. "D-Don't worry though, he'll be meeting us later at the rock pools."

"Oh," Trying to keep the disappointment away from her voice and face, Sakura turned to the window, green eyes wide. Why was she so upset? It's not like Sasuke had to be there. "Okay."

"Sakura, it's just that he's busy, don't—" Mizuki bit her bottom lip, a concerned look in her expression.

"I know that. He's busy, it doesn't matter…" Somehow managing a chuckle, Sakura turned back, letting the familiar feel of a grin tug at her lips. "Look, at least he's not like, out having fun with his other friends or something…"

"Yeah…while we're squashed together on a tiny car." Mizu swallowed when her father sent her a frown via the front mirror. "Sorry, I mean, a tiny van."

The rest of the trip continued in a comfortable silence, with the occasional call out of the scenery and honking of cars. When parked in front of the large, blue house, Takaraka finally unbuckled his seatbelt, turning around to find a sleeping Sakura and a furious Naruto trying to defeat his daughter in thumb war. Smiling fondly at the trio, he turned to an equally amused Sophie.

"I'll go get the mango juice." Opening the van door, Sophie strolled over to the front door, remembering to add a little purple umbrella in the juice for their new guest.

Sakura turned on her laptop, the desktop picture lighting up the screen, making her smile. It had been an autumn day when the photo was taken: Ino, Temari and Tenten had forced them all into a pose, legs stretched out and arms out, each hand linking with the next person. The photograph was taken with Sakura's new camera, by a kind old woman walking behind them in the small park. All four of the girls had goofy grins on their faces and despite looking too stupid for words, Sakura just had to use the photograph.

Signing in to her email, she checked the time, noting there was only ten minutes before either Naruto or Mizuki would come in to drag her to the rock pools. Remembering that she was to meet the blonde's girlfriend (and Sasuke), the pinkette quickly sent a message to all her friends, telling them she had arrived.

Taking one last sip of her nearly empty glass of mango juice (Aunt Sophie had even added a mini umbrella!), Sakura closed her laptop and pushed back her chair. Glancing around the room, the pink-haired teen grinned, glad that the bright yellow bed sheets hadn't changed since her last visit. Besides the fact that it was folded neatly.

"Sakura! C'mon! Time to go—oh yeah, make sure you don't wear too much clothing, it's really hot outside!" Mizu called from her position at the foot of the stairs.

Changing from her shirt to a light blue tank top, Sakura ruffled her shoulder-length hair before starting down the steps. Mizu had opted for a green singlet that went with her eyes and white shorts. Naruto was no where to be seen.

"Where's—"

"Ready to go?"

The blonde male appeared from the kitchen, smacking his lips happily. Raising her eyebrow, Sakura laughed as the blonde wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Best juice ever!"

"Tell me about it." Sakura walked to the door, swinging it open and letting the salty air hit her again. She sighed happily. 'So, where to?"

"Thatta way!"

And the three happily wandered down the familiar path, to their left, a dark, blue ocean, sparkling under the afternoon sun and to their right, a variety of shops and homes, bunched together cosily. It wasn't long before the teens arrived at a small thrift shop next to the never-ending vastness of the sea. Just before that was a small bed of—

"Rock pools." Sakura's eyes were bright as she whispered the words, a smile automatically lighting her face.

"Yup," Mizu expected this reaction from her cousin. It wasn't that long ago that Sakura had tried to camp out at night on the rock pools. At least not so long ago she had forgotten. "The best rock pools you'll ever see: right next door to us!"

Naruto didn't notice either of the girls' happy memories of the rock pools filter through the air as he began to jump from pool to pool, inspecting each one hurriedly before leaping for the next. Suddenly, the blonde jumped up with a tiny white crab clipped onto his leg, howling with rage.

Sakura frowned. Mizu laughed her black-haired head off.

"Naruto, are you okay?"

"HINATA-CHAN!"

"Huh? No…Naruto, I'm Sakura, Sa-ku-"

Sakura never finished her sentence as the bleeding blonde didn't even register her presence. Instead, he bulldozed his way through her and launched into an incredibly impossible sprint. Mizuki only just caught the pinkette when Naruto was back at their side, grinning from ear to ear.

"Naruto, never, ever, ever do that again! You are a danger to all—"

Mizu cut off Sakura, pinching her hard enough to make tears erupt. Glaring at said pincher, Sakura was about to punch her back when a soft voice spoke up.

"H-Hello Sakura-chan, Mizuki-chan…"

Green eyes flashing in annoyance when Mizu managed to pinch her (painfully) again, Sakura made sure the murderous look was vacant before spinning to her right to face the new teen.

She was a small female, a head and a half shorter than her boyfriend (who was practically laughing at their silence). Dark hair falling to the middle of her back, Hinata was a beautiful person. Meeting her eyes, Sakura's green ones shone with surprise. Pale lavender irises stared back, outlined by dark lashes. Only one thought ran through her mind: how did Naruto find such a sweet girl?

"Hi Hinata!" Mizu broke her train of thought, jumping to Hinata's side and giving her a big hug, much like the one Sakura had received in the airport that morning. "Glad you made it!" Remembering her surprised cousin, the green-eyed teen gestured her over. "Sakura, you remember hearing about Naruto's girlfriend right?"

At this, the pale-eyed girl blushed. Beside her, Naruto puffed out his chest, pride etched on his cat-like features.

"Uh…yeah…" Blinking rapidly, Sakura held out her hand, a proper smile now in place of her stunned expression. "Hi Hinata!"

The shy teen grasped Sakura's palm lightly, pleased smile on her fading red face. Both teens had a good feeling about their blossoming friendship.

"Where is that Teme? We've been waiting forever!"

Naruto had his hand over Hinata's, the two of them sitting opposite Sakura and Mizu on the picnic table. After strolling along the rock pools for a few hours, the four of them had tired out. And Sasuke hadn't come at all. The pinkette pushed down the sick that felt like coming up. Why hadn't he come? Weren't they friends…? The fact that the Uchiha male had not appeared to welcome her on her first day was a bit of a…disappointment.

"M-Maybe he was busy…?" Hinata comforted her exasperated boyfriend. "I-I mean, h-he was going to spend the d-day with—"

"That's it!" Naruto cut off his quieter girlfriend, voice shaking over the soft waves to their left. "Let's go! I'm not waiting any longer for a person who can't even be bothered to say hi to Sakura-chan."

Mizu patted the pinkette on her shoulder as she winced. Did Naruto have to say that so loud?

"I'm walking you home Hinata-chan…Sakura, I hope you've had a great day."

"Yeah, today was great…thanks Naruto."

Both smiling, Naruto interrupted again.

"Well…see ya guys—we'll meet up tomorrow or something right?"

"Mhhm…nice to meet you too Hinata…see you!"

"Goodbye Sakura-chan, Mizuki-chan."

"Bye!"

The sun was setting by the time Mizuki had pulled open the front door. Everything was orange and the blue waved shone gold with the bright light. Sakura loved moment like these.

"Mizu, I'm going to stay out here for a while, you go in first."

"Okay."

When the door banged closed, Sakura slipped off her sandals and began to jog down to the beach. The sand was still warm, though not hot enough to burn off her butt. Settling down, the pinkette let her legs roll around in the sand whilst spreading out her fingers in the softness. There was no wind but the temperature was nice, tempting her to just close her eyes and sleep.

But she couldn't; especially not while there was a happy couple strolling along the water's edge. A sad smile let itself into her features. Green eyes narrowed, Sakura continued to follow the couple's path, her mind conjuring up a picture of herself and a mysterious lover; her head on his chest and the two of them watching the sunset together. It was beautiful.

Suddenly, the pink-haired teen sat straight up, green yes wide with concern. Something wrong with her. Because when the image appeared in her mind, like the countless other times it had, instead of the 'mysterious lover', she recognized the man. She knew him very, very well…

By now, the sun was almost gone, sitting just above the horizon. It was almost as if it was part of the water—or was the water a part of the sky? Sakura looked around for the couple, wondering whether they were snuggling together like she had imagined. She found them alright. The man had his lover in his arms, left hand cupping her cheek lovingly. Sakura smiled slightly when the girl jumped up to place a soft kiss on said male. But all of a sudden, the smile was gone because Sakura had suddenly realized…

She recognized this man. She knew him very well. Very, very well…and this man whom she knew very, very well was kissing an unknown female. And this female had her back to the stunned pink-haired girl so she had no idea who she was. Sakura was almost done with her mind-rambling when one last thing hit her. This man whom she knew very, very well and was kissing a very lucky, very unknown woman had been the exact same person in her romantic daydream.

A/N: I am so terribly sorry to those who have been waiting for this story…just had a major writer's block. I could never make my fingers type out this story and just get it over and done with! Well…here it is. Hope you enjoyed!