.Unwritten.
Everything she wrote in the book, came true.
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Chapter 4
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.To Have Hope.
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"I can't believe you managed to snag that pair of boots for forty!" Ino beamed, linking her arm with Karin's. Karin grinned, "Let's try that store next." She pointed with the hand that wasn't carrying her bags. "Maybe we'll find something for you." Behind the two girls, Sasuke scowled and Naruto groaned (Ino had given him the pleasure of holding all her bags). With a new shop in sight, Ino walked with an extra bounce to her step, happily pulling the red head along. "Let's go!" She charged forward, earning more mumbles from Naruto as he trudged behind.
It's a beautiful night, we're looking for something dumb to do. Ino halted, "Oh. Hold on." She said, skillfully digging through her purse for her phone. She stared at the screen. Hey baby, I think I wanna marry you. "Just a sec. It's Sakura." She explained before flipping the phone open. "Helloo love." Ino greeted. On the other line, Sakura grinned. "Wanna come over and have a movie marathon? I've got a bucket of Ben & Jerry's with our names on it." Ino paused for a second, feeling a bit awkward. "Sorry Sakura-head... I can't. I'm on a double date right now." She explained. Ino could imagine her friend arching an eyebrow. "A double date? With who?" Sakura asked. Ino lightly chewed her lower lip, giving Karin a brief glance. "...Karin and Sasuke..." She drawled.
The line went silent.
"Oh." Was the only thing Sakura said. Ino really, really didn't know what do to.
"Um... Well, it's okay then! Nevermind, maybe next time! Have fun!" With that, Sakura hung up the phone.
Ino knew that tone. Guilt washed through her as she closed her cell phone with a sigh.
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U N W R I T T E N
"Reaching for something in the distance."
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"Sorry about not telling you before Sakura... Naruto just invited—"
"It's okay." The two best friends sat in Sakura's living room, huddled in front of the television screen the next day. Silently they'd take turns scooping from the bucket of icecream between them, not really paying attention to the movie. "So... Sasuke and Karin are... You know, together?" Sakura asked, before eating a spoonful of Rocky Road. "I think I like Sasuke. I want to get to know him more, but I don't want to be pinning after someone who's already taken." She explained with a gloomy undertone evident in her voice. Ino frowned, "That's exactly it though, I don't know if he's taken." Sakura turned her head towards the blond in confusion, "You don't?" She asked. Ino shrugged and nodded, "During the date he didn't give off that 'boyfriend vibe'... He just kinda... I don't know, walked with us."
"Oh..." Sakura took in the information and a glimmer of hope resurfaced in her heart. Maybe, just maybe...
"But Karin definitely likes him." Ino added.
And all Sakura could muster out was another, "Oh..."
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For some odd reason even Sakura couldn't place, they somehow fell into a routine and formed some kind of pack or gang.
Ino, Sakura, Karin, Naruto, Sasuke and—A whistle.
"Whew! This table is smokin'!" Suigetsu stood next to the seated group with a toothy grin. Naruto wrinkled his nose in disgust. "I don't swing that way man." He said, wrapping his arm around Ino's shoulders. Suigetsu scowled, "Not you, idiot. Die for all I care."
Naruto gaped. "Harsh! That's harsh!" He exaggerated, palming his heart. "Sasuke, back me up here!" Naruto pleaded, looking across the table. With his arms crossed and eyes closed Sasuke muttered,"Hn. Please die." Earning a few more dramatic actions from Naruto. Sakura, who sat to the left of Sasuke, covered her mouth with her hands muffling a soft giggle. Karin rolled her eyes at the all too familiar bickering. "Anyways." She stated, gaining everyone's attention. "This is Suigetsu." She introduced, mentioning at the man beside her. "Suigetsu, Sakura and Ino." She pointed at the each of the girls when she said their names.
Ino stood up to shake his hand, but Naruto gently swatted her hand away, saying she shouldn't touch someone like him, followed by an immature act of sticking out his tongue at the white haired man. (Which in turn earned the same action from Suigetsu— real mature) Sakura shook her head at the blond's actions before offering her own hand out. "I'm Haruno Sakura. Nice to meet you." He took her hand. "Pleasure's all mine." Suigetsu winked.
The group hit it off: "Wow, you're a doctor Haruno? Much better than Miss Starbucks Cashier over here." "Shut up Sui!"
But as the conversations went on, Sakura couldn't help but feel a little bit of hidden malice behind Karin's words.
"Ino told me you haven't dated for a long time, why's that?" Sakura let out a nervous laugh, seems like Karin was playing interrogate the pink haired doctor today. Sakura stole a passing glance at the man seated beside her. "I'm... Waiting for Mr. Right to come." She answered, and Karin's eyes narrowed.
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Still, Sakura said nothing and pretended not to notice, maybe I'm just thinking things.
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The next day, Sakura looked around the shop, trying to spot the familiar spiked up hairstyle in the store. A smile was plastered on her face when she pinpointed him, sitting near the back of the store. She quickly made two orders and walked towards his table, he was seated with his back facing her.
"If I ever need to find you, I think this will be the first place I look." Sakura greeted with a cheeky grin. Sasuke looked up from his table and stared at the girl who held two cups of coffee in her hands. "For you." She says, pushing the steaming cup towards him before taking a seat across from him. She placed her own Skinny Hazelnut Latte on the table, cupped her chin with one hand and smiled at him. Sasuke examined the cup before accepting it, stirring with the coffee stick she bought along before taking a sip. "An espresso, right? I never got to thank you properly for listening to my sob story a while back." Sakura explained. Sasuke looked into her eyes with a playful glint and smirked, "Hardly. You screamed it halfway down the store."
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"Yeah, lately she's been doing a lot better." Sakura grinned, updating him on Tsunade's status. "How about you? How's your job going?" She asked. He leaned forward, propping his elbow on the table to link his hands, creating a small bridge. He lightly rested his chin on top of his hands (the position, Sakura noticed, was something like his signature pose) "Alright." He answered. "I've been working on the same case for a few weeks now." "How's that going?— If!" Sakura interrupted herself, "If you're allowed telling me, that is. I know the whole police thing is confidential, I can relate, cause information on our patients are like that too." She babbled. The corners of his mouth twitched into a ghost of a smile. "Karin." He said, the sound of her name made Sakura's heart sink. "I met her because of this case. Her past is connected with the main suspect." He explains.
"She's a witness?" Sakura questioned. He nodded. "So. That means ... it's strictly a professional relationship?" She meekly asked, holding onto the thin thread of hope she had left. He quirked an eyebrow at her question but answered anyways, "Yes." "Yes!" She shouted in victory, fighting back a smile that was threatening to fly off her face as her heart happily tightened in her chest. She blinked a few times, noticing her mistake, "I mean..."
"Che." He shook his head in an amused manner.
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"Not a couple! Not a couple! Not a couple!" She skipped down the streets towards her building.
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Not a couple! Not a couple! Not a couple! She grinned, spamming the same three words over and over again in the red book.
(When had it become her diary? She wasn't sure herself.)
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"Not a couple! Not a couple!" She shouted into her phone.
"Sakura?" Ino questioned on the other line.
"NOT A COUPLE, INO! N.A.C!" Sakura sang, feeling light and fluffy inside. "NAC!~" Sakura then hung-up the phone.
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After taking the night to calm down, Sakura invited Ino over to her apartment and explained the situation, earning a few 'ahh's, 'aw's' and 'I see's from Ino. "He's single Ino. Single! I can like him without feeling any guilt that he's a taken man because he's single!" Sakura gushed, hugging herself before rolling around the floor in a happy manner. Ino laughed at the sight. "I'm sure you would've liked him even if he was married Sakura-head." She teased. "Would not~" Sakura childishly whined, still feeling giddy. Ino eyed the red book that rested on the living room table. "Are you going to use the book on him?" She asked causally. Sakura stopped rolling with a frown, laying flat on her back, staring up at the ceiling. "No..." She said after a moment of thought. "It'd mean more if you actually fell in love?" Ino completed her friend's thoughts. And Sakura couldn't help but nod with a soft smile; imagining a fairytale like ending: a happily ever after for herself even though she knew. Ino scoffed and leaned over to grab the book, "Fairytales and life are different things." She lectured, flipping through the pages to find the latest entry. Ino rolled her eyes and bit back an amused smile when she saw the repeated 'Not a couple!' words scribbled over and over again in Sakura's writing. She dug through her purse and found a pen. "If you're not going to make him fall in love with you," She said, taking the cap off the pen, "At least let me help you two awkward turtles."
Time seemed to slow down. Everything after happened in slow motion in Sakura's eyes. Ino's perfectly manicured hand holding the pen slowly (agonizingly) slowly darted towards the next empty lines of the page. While Sakura (slowly) opened her mouth, her lips taking form of some ungraceful stretched shape as she mustered a low, "Noooo!" and made a (slow) jump towards the blond. Ino, who seemed to be unaffected by the sudden sluggish time change, lightly hummed a musical tune as she wrote the words: Sakura confesses.
Sakura landed on Ino's lap, fumbling to grab the book from her friend's hand; but it was too late. "Ino!" She screeched. Sakura was about to unleash a verbal lashing but suddenly stood straight up. She blinked, trying to make sense of her slowly losing control of her body. The book dropped from her hands.
"Ino?" Sakura asked, slightly afraid. She started walking towards the door; her legs moving left then right, left then right. "Ino!" Sakura repeated again, this time louder. "—Wait!" She shouted, her legs still walking (left then right, left then right) as she flung her arms around the room desperately trying to grab the couch, the wall, anything. "I can't control my body!" Sakura panicked as her hands desperately fought a losing battle, loosing grip of the wall. "Stop walking dammit!" She shouted at her betraying legs (those were the part of her body she was proud of!). "Ino!" Sakura screamed as she struggled before walking through her doors. "Ino!" Echoes were heard down the hall as Ino sat, unmoving, dumbfounded. She wasn't sure whether or not she should be scared or laugh.
"Inooooooo!" Sakura screamed in despair from the streets, outside the window.
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Ino let out the wickedest laugh.
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This was not happening. This was not happening. Sakura chanted inside her head as she continued walking towards the familiar coffee shop. Every step she took towards the shop felt like she was slowly walking towards her death. She was about to confess to the hot stranger she had just managed to befriend days ago. She was going to walk up to him and confess. Walk into the Starbucks shop she regulated in, into the shop where people saw her as a respectable doctor, and confess. (Not happening, not happening!) She was going to confess in nothing but a pair of dirty gray sweatpants and a skimpy red tanktop that barely grazed her bellybutton. "C-cold!" She bit out through chattering teeth as she rubbed her arms in a desperate attempt to create friction. She was going to walk into her coffee shop wearing her pj's, of all things, and confess. (Ino! Kill her! Kill her!) Her hand reached for the door handle. "Someone shoot me." She said, pulling the door open. "Shoot me now!" Still her feet walked onwards, making a beeline towards the back of the shop.
She stopped at his table, feet stomping against the floor in her last attempt to stop her traitorous body from doing something stupid—"I like you!" Oh good god.
His head slowly turned to her direction, arching a perfect brow at her sudden presence. She was beet red and breathing hard, trying to calm herself down from her flustered state. As soon as the words passed through her lips, the spell was broken. Sakura felt herself gradually regain total control of her body (minus her flushed face, that is) and blinked a few times. Her hands then shot up to cover her mouth, as if not believing the words that had just come out of it. "Hi! I um—" She started, feeling as if every word she said were all the wrong ones. "I didn't mean that!— I mean. I do mean— I wasn't supposed to— Gahh!" She cried, scratching her scalp like a manic. He sat there, watching her ramble on and on in a panicked state.
Sakura huffed, "Okay. It's a long story, but—"
"I know." He said, looking directly at her for a moment, then going back to sip on his caffeine.
She blinked, caught off guard. "You... know?" She questioned. "Know what?"
"You like me." He oh so bluntly answered.
And like a love-sick highschooler hearing the words for the first time, a wave of red washed through her cheeks. "O-oh." Was the only audible thing she could manage to mumble out.
She stood there for a minute, just standing in front of his table wearing a pair of ugly sweats, not minding the looks of customers and employees that looked her way. He tilted his head up to look at her again, she felt his heavy stare on her. "Sit." He commanded, mentioning with a little tilt of his head to the empty seat in front of him. Automatically she lowered herself onto the chair all while avoiding his gaze. "You of all people should know better than to go out in the cold in a tanktop." He mentioned, and she suddenly felt more exposed. She meekly looked up at the coat hanging off the back of his chair and managed a weak smile, "May I?" She pointed. He silently passed her his black jacket. As she shrugged the material over her shoulder, she gathered what was left of her courage and voiced one last question. "You knew that I like you... And you're okay with it?— I mean. Can I?..." His answer would either shoot her down and put her out of her misery (so she could live the rest of her pathetic life as some lonely cat lady) or have her clinging to some kind of sick hope that maybe, just maybe he liked her too.
"Do whatever you want."
Sasuke's hand went towards the side of the table, fingers circling around a second cup of coffee that had been sitting there, waiting. He pushed the drink towards her while she stared at the cup, confused. Had he been expecting her? "For yesterday." He vaguely explains. And those two words, those simple two words put the biggest smile on her face. All while presenting herself with tangled, uncombed hair, wearing a pair of gray sweats, a skimpy tanktop and awkwardly having his jacket slung over her shoulder, she smiled her biggest smile and cupped the Skinny Hazelnut Latte in her two hands.
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"Thank you."
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Karin's red eye's stared at the object lying on the table suspiciously.
"What's this?" She asked, picking up the book.
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CHAPTER 4 END
(AN) Okay. Before I say anything, I like Karin. I have no problems with her. But for the sake of the story she had to be the villain that causes unnecessary grief to our beloved couple. Her motives will be explained later, and yes, I believe they are justifiable reasons. So NO HATIN' ON KARIN, KAY?
I was sad because the first time I had everything done and written, I pressed the pretty 'SAVE' button to the left corner only to be redirected to a page that literally told me: LULZ. YOU WERE UNACTIVE FOR BLAH BLAH TIME. SO YOU CAN'T VIEW THIS PAGE. PROCESS LOST. LOSERFACE. I think a little part of me died.
Apart from my BAWWing, Orochimaru is the main suspect to Sasuke's case. (Surprise, surprise!) Not that he's any importance to the story, I just wanted to add him in cause Sasuke needed a suspect for his case and I felt good that him and Karin linked to him in the actual manga.
Made the chapter a bit fluffy, cause it's Christmas time and everyone can use a bit of SS fluff. I hope you don't think Sasuke and Sakura are developing too fast ;-; She likes him, but she still wants to get to know him, you know? And Sasuke? I don't know about him, "Do what you want." Haha.
I wanted to thank all the people who were kind enough to leave a review for the past chapters and would be grateful if you continued your support and leave one for this chapter!
I recently turned 17 on Dec 15th hehe c: So thats partly the reason why this update was delayed a bit.
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and Happy Holidays to everyone!
Ready set, we're entering 2011!
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Sasuke ordering scene for the lulz :)
"The usual?" The cashier asked when he was the first in line. He nodded and she automatically punched in the price for an espresso. "That'll be—" "And." He cut her off, "A grande Hazelnut Latte... I mean. A Skinny Hazelnut Latte..." The cashier cocked an eyebrow, never did she expect a guy like Sasuke to order one of those. It was kind of odd, in a way. "For a friend? Whipped cream or no?" She playfully questioned while writing down the order on the cup with a black marker. "... Yes." Same answer for both her questions.
After a moment of waiting Sasuke took the two cups. He recalled Sakura's drink having some cinnamon powder sprinkled on the top, but found none in the cup he was holding. "Uh. Could I get some cinnamon sprinkled ontop?" He called pass the counter. "Over there newbie." Another employee pointed at the side table where all the condiments sat. Sasuke grumbled, how was he supposed to know where all this girly stuff was. "Che, whipped cream, cinnamon sprinkles." He said to no one in particular as he grabbed the small shaker and lightly frosted the drink.
"So annoying."