.
.
Two days left.
Two days and she had absolutely nothing. No Sasuke, no ideas…and now, her mother's necklace was gone.
Slowly, she dragged her way to the scattered boxes where her notebook was previously left, and after some digging, pulled it out.
"Straight and single…" she wrote, reflecting herself onto the notepad. "Hello, my name is heartbreaking bitch."
She slowly made a list of ideas, but none of them were funny, and had no competition with what she began with. Two days ago, it seemed like she was great at this. Now she was nobody. Frustrated, she crumpled up the page and threw it across the room.
"Damn! Maybe I should just write down one of my old ones and mail it in…the chloroform shirt was funny…"
She searched for her wallet and found that she had a mere twenty dollars in it, and her previous paycheck had yet to be delivered. She sighed.
"This is my only hope…"
So, she put the twenty dollars in her back pocket and made her way to the nearest supermarket, not bothering to shower or get out of her nightclothes. The five dollar white shirts would be fine. She had just enough black ink, too.
She made her way to the register, and looked up to see a familiar face.
"Ino?"
Ino smiled and nodded. "Hey Sakura…never imagined that a supermarket would pay less than waitressing at a barely above broke café..."
She let out a nervous laugh. Sakura looked down. "Hell, at least you found a job. I'm broke and fading. The last of my savings go towards that shirt contest."
The blonde stared at her, trying to comprehend what she had just heard. Sakura was unemployed? And being unwise with money?
After a moment of silence, Sakura handed her a five. Ino took it, and bagged the shirt. Then, she reopened the register, and pulled out a five.
"Here's your change."
"Wh-what? I could have sworn I paid with a five…"
"Well, you didn't. It was a ten. Have a nice day, Sakura…Save your money for food."
Sakura touched her shoulder and nodded, to say thanks, and grabbed her shirt.
"Hey, Sakura…where's your man?"
"My…man?"
"You know, the sauce."
"The sa-oh…well, he's gone."
"Gone?"
"Gone."
.
.
As Sakura made her way home, she saw a woman standing at her door, looking curiously at the window. She looked around for a blunt object and found a pipe laying conveniently on the street. She took it, and headed towards her room.
"Can I help you?" she asked, tightening her grip. The woman turned around, and then widened her eyes.
"O-oh, I'm sorry, I must have the w-wrong house…do you happen to know where Sakura Haru…Haruno is?"
After a long glare-off, she realized that she also knew this woman. Hinata Hyuga, the girl who was soon to marry Naruto. What was she doing here?
"Oh…I'm sorry, ma'am," she said, releasing the pipe. "I was robbed last night and didn't realize…"
Hinata looked around. "I believe that…"
Sakura opened her door and welcomed the woman in. "So, uh, what can I do for you, Hinata? That's your name, right?"
"Oh, so you remember me from high school? Lovely," She said with a smile. "I'm actually here on business…you applied at a boutique I work at and I was coming to give you an interview. We actually didn't need any workers, but since I recognized your name…"
Sakura nodded, and she stopped rambling.
"I'm sorry. So…uh…you know, I don't think I really need to ask you several of these questions…" Hinata said, looking at her clipboard. "I think I will just talk to you and figure it out from there."
"Okay."
"Sakura, you were top of the class in high school. My fiancé, he said he met you working at that café, Lunar's…but it got closed down. But what I don't understand is how someone like you got a job like that? You were so smart."
"I'm still smart, Hinata, I just didn't plan ahead and thought I'd be welcomed as a fashion designer right off the bat."
"So it failed you?"
She wanted to argue against that, but the way things had been going, she couldn't. "Yeah."
"Are you still working on becoming one?"
"I am…I just entered a contest for it, but it doesn't look like I'm doing too well."
"Don't put yourself down, Sakura…I'm sure you'll make it…so, why do you live in a place like this?"
"Well," Sakura replied, "I didn't make a lot of money at my last job, and living here is really expensive, but I couldn't leave the city. There's a lot of opportunity here."
"Opportunity doesn't mean much when you've been murdered. You were robbed?"
"…Yeah."
Hinata looked at her, and grew a look of sympathy. She put her hand on Sakura's knee, when a buzzing sound came from her pocket. She looked down and pulled out a cell phone, and answered it, holding up a finger to the pink haired girl.
"Hello?"
Sakura looked at her, but decided to leave the room and give Hinata some phone time. It didn't last very long, though, so soon afterwards, she was able to return.
"Sakura?"
"Hm?"
"I just got a call from the boutique, and one of our cashiers has just been taken to the hospital. She's having a baby…well…I was thinking that…this interview has gone fairly well. Maybe you would like to take her place?"
"Wh-what? Really? How soon?"
"Starting tomorrow, around ten in the morning? You'll have a full shift."
Sakura blushed, and shook her head up and down almost spastically. "O-of course! I'd love to!"
.
.
Hinata drove off in her luxury car – apparently, she owned the boutique – and Sakura watched out the window. She quickly decided that it was time to get her act together, and to take a bath.
She laid down in the water, allowing it to be hot enough for steam. She sighed, and looked up.
"Where are you, Sasuke?"
.
.
It was dark, but that didn't make a difference. He followed the man, trench coat and hat keeping him camouflaged with the black of night.
Tonight would be a night for revenge.
.
.
End of Chapter Notes. It's been a long time since I've written this story, but now that I'm on an inspiration streak, I plan on finishing it quickly. Stay tuned.
