Chapter nine: Two and Two Hundred
Oh. My. Effing. GAWD, thought Sakura. Couldn't they wait a few minutes, or something?
"Huh," murmured Sasuke, rolling his eyes. "Here comes the tidal wave of childish dares and rock-paper-scissors. I'm outta here." He began walking toward the large double-doors.
Sakura followed, knowing he wouldn't have done this kind of thing anyways, but feeling stupid for having thought maybe he would've danced with her.
The outside night air was cool, but not to the point of being unpleasant. Sakura followed Sasuke around the side of the building until they reached the back. There was nothing there but an alley with a few benches. The mushy slow-dance music could be heard through the walls, filling the air with semi-muffled jazz.
"Sasuke-kun…why did you go back here?" she asked. "If you didn't want to dance, you could have just said so."
"I told you before, I didn't want to dance in front of other people…" he replied, turning to face her. She was surprised to see him smiling.
"But here aren't any people here, are there?"
Sakura blinked, then laughed. "You're mean, Sasuke-kun. You had me all worried."
"Well, then…?"
"You have to say it right."
"Huh?" he asked, looking confused.
Sakura giggled. "You have to do it right, you know…"
"Oh. Slave-driver," he said. He got down on one knee and kissed her hand, making her laugh.
"Sakura Haruno, will you share this dance with me?" he said with a perfectly straight face.
"I graciously accept," she managed between giggles.
He got up, and Sakura found herself pressed against his body, his arms wrapped around her torso. She draped her own arms across his neck, and together they moved to the slow melody permeating the air.
Sasuke didn't mind doing the goofy theatrics, if it meant nobody was watching. Valentine's Day had never really held any importance for him, but with Sakura it was more special then ever before. He hoped she didn't notice he had no idea how to dance, and was just copying what he'd seen other guys doing with their girlfriends…
Did Sakura count as a girlfriend? There was no question as to whether they liked each other or not by now, but the specific name for their relationship was undefined. Was there even a name for the awkward, hand-holding stage that came after confession? Somebody should make one up or something…
Sakura, still feeling the blissful effect of getting to dance with Sasuke, wondered what could be going through his mind at that moment. She'd probably never guess the answer. There were so many levels to him it would probably take a long time just to unravel the first.
The ends of his bangs brushed against her cheek. Eyes closed, she inhaled deeply, committing his scent to memory. He didn't need any assistance to completely blow her away every time they were together. Another gift of his.
She let out a little gasp when she felt his mouth on her face, then laughed.
"Sasuke-kun, that tickles," she said, pretending to push his head away.
"Mmm," he answered, finishing with her cheek and moving on to her lips.
What's that…? Lemon? She understands I hate sweet things, so she used lemon-flavored lip gloss? She knows me too well, thought Sasuke, referring to Sakura's taste that evening. Everything about her completely intoxicated him when they kissed. Even time itself slowed down, turning the seconds into millennia.
His right hand had found a place on her neck. His fingers played with her pink locks, twisting the ends around in a spiral.
It's longer than it used to be, he though absentmindedly. Only about a half-inch, but still. She must be growing it out again…
The light dusting of glitter leftover from the entranceway sparkled like falling stars as it fell to the ground from her hair. Sasuke realized he probably looked the same, shedding pink and silver sparks all over the paved ground. He probably would have been annoyed about that a month ago. But there were more important things to think about now. Like Sakura's lemon-flavored kisses, for instance…
After about four million years, they separated. A gust of chilly wind blew through the area, scattering a few leaves across the pavement.
"Hey…you wanna go back inside? It's getting cold…" suggested Sasuke.
"Yeah, sure…"
He put his arm around her, and smiled.
"You know…this whole dance thing wasn't so bad."
Sakura laughed. "Imagine that, the great Sasuke Uchiha actually enjoying himself. Be still my heart."
"Hey, I have an excuse this time." They were past the entrance, meaning a second coat of glitter was rewarded.
"Yeah…and apparently, so do they."
Sasuke followed the direction Sakura's finger was pointing to.
"Oh. My. God."
Apparently they weren't the only unexpected couple. Naruto Uzumaki was attempting a strange combination of square-dance, Macarena, and flamenco with a bewildered Hinata Hyuga. Everyone else who wasn't half-hung over by now was staring openmouthed at this new development.
"Naruto…what on earth or any other planet for that matter do you think you're doing?!" demanded Sakura.
"What? You two are allowed to show up all chummy-like, so why can't I get a little pleasure out of this snore-fest?" he shot back.
"You look like you're attempting an elephant's mating dance," observed Sasuke.
"Shaddap, Emo Boy. And where were you for the last ten minutes? Hiding behind a Dumpster, 'cause you were so afraid of dancing with a girl?"
The two boys rattled off onto one of their insult fests, giving Sakura some time to ask Hinata what was going on. As usual, she stuttered the whole way.
"Oh,…well, um, N-Naruto-kun couldn't find a partner, and um…well, he, uh… asked me and well…I said, I said ok and then…" she trailed off, obviously uncomfortable with confrontation.
"Ok, thanks. I'll leave you two back to it then. Come on, Sasuke-kun," she said.
Sasuke allowed himself to be pulled off somewhere else, but shot Naruto a look that said "This isn't over."
"Ooh, look! They have pictures!" squealed Sakura. From her tone it was obvious this was something she'd anticipated.
Sasuke raised one eyebrow. "You want a photo? A two thousand-yen photo with a cheesy fake Romeo-and-Juliet balcony background that'll probably leave you blinded by the camera flash for the next ten minutes?"
"Oh, come on, Sasuke-kun. It's free, there's no fake background, only a fake ivy-covered archway. As for the camera flash, it won't kill you, will it? Pretty please, do it for me please?"
Sasuke twitched. She was doing the face. The face with the quivering lip and watery eyes. Curse her ability to do that face.
"Oh…fine," he mumbled.
"Yay! Thanks so much!"
Ino and the posse of fangirls watched Sakura pull their quarry into line for the date-photos. Some seethed, while others looked ready to burst into tears. But through their mixed emotions, they all felt the same anger towards the pink-haired one.
"If she gets a picture with him, they might start going out," one whined. That comment caused a new wave of misery to claim their minds.
"Look, we need to think of something. How could that picture be, say… modified?" Ino suggested.
Several of the group nodded their heads in agreement. The slower ones took a moment, but eventually caught on and grinned. Anyone seeing their expressions of greedy desire would have been thankful they weren't the target.
"Now," said Ino, "where shall we begin?"
Finally, thought Sakura. It's our turn. Yay!
She looked up at Sasuke who, having nothing else to do, was following Naruto and Hinata's 'dance.' Sakura tugged at his hand.
"Come on Sasuke-kun, we're next."
"Good for us."
"Oh, come on. Will you at least smile for the picture?"
"Maybe."
Sakura pulled him in front of the white plastic archway and its plastic ivy. She clearly knew how she wanted the picture to look.
"Come on, hold my hand like this," she directed. They ended up with something like a waltz, where they each had one arm around the other's waist and were holding hands on the side that faced the camera.
"How dare she?" mumbled Ino. If anyone was going to manipulate Sasuke into doing romantic camera poses, it should be her. "Are you guys ready with the mustard yet?"
"Ready," whispered the short one with the black pigtails. "Everything's in place. I've gotta admit, this plan of yours was genius, Ino."
"Yes, I know. Just tell everyone not to screw up."
"Gotcha."
"We dump on three, exactly one second before the flash. Are you all set?"
"Standing by," they answered in turn. The cooler of mustard would be overturned above the camera set by a thread pulley system. Sasuke might get splattered a little, that couldn't be helped, but Sakura would take full damage. That should teach her to mess with the fangirl gang.
"On three," muttered Ino, excited that her plan was coming into action.
"One one-thousand."
"One one-thousand," they repeated.
"Two one-thousand."
"Two one-thousand."
"THR-"
Unfortunately, Ino never did make it to three. Tsunade, drunk from too much sake, had entered the stage of violent delirium. At that exact moment, a swing of her fist connected with the wall. Because of her superhuman strength, a circular section of the wall crumbled like dried dirt. This was enough to cause a small tremor, meaning everyone and everything not firmly attached the floor ended up sprawled across the hardwood. Ino and her fangirl friends ended up scattered, while the cooler of mustard landed on one's stomach and rolled away.
Sakura's eyes fluttered open. What had happened? There had been a blasting noise, and then-
She realized she was on the floor, underneath something blue and heavy. She blushed in surprise to discover the heavy thing was Sasuke. The blast from whatever it was had made him land on top of her. There was no serious damage, only a scattering of plaster and dust everywhere. People were sitting up and wondering whether that was an earthquake.
Sasuke's obsidian eyes opened slowly, then widened when he realized just how close to Sakura he was. Sakura noticed a red tinge cover his face.
Somebody wolf-whistled in the background. Red as a tomato, Sasuke scrambled off of Sakura, who was also a deep shade of crimson. Sakura paused when she noticed the whistles weren't directed at them. They both stared in disbelief at what the target was.
The vibration had affected many people. Naruto and Hinata had been unfortunate enough to be standing near the wall when it happened. Hinata's head had banged against the wall, rendering her unconscious. Naruto had fallen over backwards, as gravity pulled Hinata down on top of him. What some of the less-than-mature partygoers were mentioning was Hinata's head had landed on top of Naruto's, with her lips planted directly onto his. She was unconsciously living her dream of being his first kiss. Good thing she was unconscious.
Naruto, still in shock from the whole event, was doing nothing to remove her. However, after a few moments he realized just what was happening and pushed her body onto the floor next to him, spluttering. Everyone watching laughed hysterically.
"He'll never live this down," mumbled Sasuke.
"Poor Naruto," said Sakura.
Kurenai-sensei's voice crackled over the microphone. "May I have your attention please. Due to technical difficulties, this event is officially over. Sorry to disappoint you kids. Next year this won't happen again. Thank you."
Sakura was visibly upset. "Aww…we have to go home just 'cause of a gaping hole in the wall? No fair. We've been through worse. Well, maybe the cold air coming in would disrupt a few things…"
Sasuke shook his head, letting fly a wave of glitter and plaster dust. "Nah, it's late anyways. People would already be leaving in another few minutes."
"Well…ok, fine…" pouted Sakura. Sasuke took her hand and led her out the front entrance. By now, most of the excess sparkles from the entrance had been swept away by the wind, leaving the stars in the sky the only things shining. Sakura thought it was a strange, but perfect end to the perfect Valentine's Day.
When they reached the steps of her house, Sasuke took her hands in his, just like the first-date scenes of just about every romance movie she'd ever seen.
"Well…did you have fun?" he asked casually.
"Are you kidding? It was amazing, a little weird but still amazing, and then you were there and…" she trailed off, her indirect meaning received.
"Well, that's good," he answered. He moved a little closer, just enough to kiss her forehead, the same one she'd obsessed about for years but at that moment didn't seem like such a big deal. Sakura's face turned an even brighter red. After a few seconds, he released her hands and said, "I'll see ya 'round."
In her mind, she spouted every expression of thanks she knew. However, she merely squeaked, "Bye, Sasuke-kun!" before watching him vanish behind another building.
She realized he had left something in her hands, a crumpled piece of plastic-textured paper. Smoothing it out, she saw it was a picture. In it, a dark-haired boy was lifting a pink-haired girl bridal-style out of the way of a falling plastic archway. Their expressions were roughly the same, though hers was more surprised and his more determined. The flash had gone off after all.
She turned around in a daze, and fumbled with the front door handle before drifting inside and to her room, oblivious of her parent's probing about how the dance went. She stuffed the photo into her special box after flopping down onto her bed, scattering her own layer of dust and sparkles.
That's two in just a few weeks, she thought before closing her eyes. It'll probably be overflowing by next month…all thanks to him…
Awwww...more fluff! Sorry Saku, but I'm gonna have to roll in the angst next chapter to keep the story going.
Squee! Angst is FUN!
