Girl Next Door

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Chapter 10: Never Been Asked

"Swim ten laps," Miss Kurenai ordered. Ino who was applying sun block on her legs, groaned when she heard the young teacher uttering the words she had been dreading since the beginning of the lesson. She didn't want to enter the water that everyone had been swimming in, how unhygienic. And the cold water made her shiver, she might fall sick. Hmm… what trick could she pull this time?

Sakura completed some stretches before jumping into the refreshing water. Nothing better on a hot day. She dived deep into the pool and began doing her laps. She found it strange that the water suddenly became darker than usual, it seemed liked there was a dark cloud above her.

She held a hand to her forehead and gazed through the water, catching sight of Naruto making a grinning face right above her submerged figure. She couldn't stop herself from laughing and found herself gasping for air. She struggled towards the surface, as she made a face at the troublemaker.

She panted furiously, hitting her chest to allow some circulation back into her lungs, "… Why do you have to do that… every lesson…?"

Naruto winked at Sasuke who was approaching them and then glanced back at her, "Hmm… the swimsuit Sasuke bought for you seems to fit you perfectly…"

She looked down at her new, wet swimsuit. That's right, she was wearing the swimsuit. No wonder everyone was giving her the strange stares. Sasuke reluctantly trotted over and glanced at Naruto in an almost threatening way, but then again he always held that sort of expression.

"Hey look, that prince charming of yours…" Naruto laughed and indicated with his chin. Sakura slowly turned to look behind her and narrowed her eyebrows.

"Hey… Sasuke, what are you doing here…?" Naruto asked casually as he looked at Sasuke, his sky-blue eyes doing most of the talking as he kept directing his gaze at the black-swim-suit-clad Sakura.

Sasuke shrugged, looking listless as he ran a hand through his raven hair. Seeing nothing of interest occurring, Naruto decided to come into action. The goofy blonde cleared his throat and proclaimed excitedly, "Sakura-chan, Sasuke wants to ask you out on a date!"

Sakura almost choked as she began hitting her chest again, throwing out some of the water in hysteria. She shouted, "WHAT!" Sasuke had yelled almost the same time and Sakura instantly glared daggers at him, if only it were literal because the raven-haired boy remained unaffected.

Naruto sighed, enjoying this little charade he had formulated himself. "Sasuke, you keep asking me to ask Sakura on your behalf." The blonde began acting all innocent and played with his fingers, grinning widely.

"I do?" He questioned dully.

"You do?" Sakura asked, then she realized what she had just said. She looked around, embarrassed, trying to hide the fact that she was blushing radiantly. It felt like the water wasn't even going to cool her cheeks down, so she decided to occupy herself by climbing out of the pool.

"Neji and Gaara are perfect witnesses," He said knowingly and pointed at the two who were surrounded by a group of squealing girls. They saw Naruto's hint and smiled happily, exposing their perfect white teeth as they raised their hands to catch Sasuke's attention.

Sasuke showed them his infamous death glare and this caused Neji and Gaara to immediately dive into the swarm of girls, avoiding their friend's piercing eyes. Too bad for Sasuke.

The pink-haired teenager stood up to Naruto, dripping wet. "As if I would believe you Naruto. You are always doing and saying things that aren't true. You are the real jinx!" Sakura yelled, she was completely fed up and gave Naruto one last death glare before saying, "Excuse me, I'm going back to the pool."

But before she could retreat any further, Sasuke unexpectedly held her back by her wrist. He stared down into her emerald orbs but didn't open his mouth to speak. Sakura rolled her eyes but was very nervous over the fact that Sasuke was looking deep into her, prying open her metal heart with his ice-cold eyes.

"Say it, Sasuke," Naruto said, giving his friend useless encouragement. It looked like he was prepared to throw confetti all over them like they were the newly weds.

Sasuke closed his eyes and thought his daring words over. He couldn't register the fact that he was really doing this. He then opened his eyes unwillingly, avoiding the stare of Sakura and mumbled, "D-do you want… to go out with me tonight?"

Sakura's mouth gaped open but instantly clamped it shut. "YIPEE!" Naruto shouted, bursting balloons, throwing confetti and opening a bottle of champagne. Hmm… where'd he get all those party items from in a split second?

Ino who was busy checking out hot guys, glanced over at the commotion and muttered under her breath, "Sakura with them again… she's going to get it from me…"

Sakura maintaining her surprise, looked at Sasuke and let out a big laugh, "I don't do dates."

Naruto who was mid-way in his solo celebration was caught by surprise and came up to Sakura, waving a hand in front of her face, "What? The ice prince finally asks you out and you rejected it flat down? Are you running a fever?" Naruto felt her forehead but she yanked his unwanted hand immediately.

"Look at her, she's just afraid of doing dates. And that's because she hasn't gone on one before, look at her, never been asked out," Sasuke said indignantly and scowled.

Sakura pushed Naruto away and looked at Sasuke like she wanted to beat the living hell out of him, "What? I've been asked out… a couple of times… I just don't like these kinds of boring stuff…"

"Really? Asked by who? Your preps?" Sasuke smirked.

"What? N-no… well, it's none of your business…" Sakura mumbled and concentrated on a different view other than him and Naruto.

"Yes, it's mine," He said slowly, "Whether you like it or not, I'm going to wait at the beach café till 10pm. Let me show you the thrills of the first date, virgin." Then he walked away, dragging Naruto with him.

Sakura clenched her fist and shouted, "No one calls me a virgin, you bastard!"

Ino lowered her sunglasses to the bridge of her nose and scoffed at the mad woman, "Sakura? Calling Sasuke a bastard who say she's a virgin. Well, I'm a virgin too, why doesn't he say that to me… damn Sakura…"

Miss Kurenai, unnoticed by the blonde, came up from behind, casting a shadow over the magazine Ino was reading, "I see, you are feeling much better…"

"What? No…" She put back her sunglasses and said, "Ouch… my sore eye…"

-

Tick tock, Sakura had just finished bathing. It was 9pm. Time was passing slowly. Hmm… should I go? And let him laugh at me some more? Too bad, I can't ask Kiba and Shino for advice. They joined the stupid fitness club and now they are camping in a deserted forest and hunting for wild animals.

Sakura paced up and down her bedroom, contemplating, running possible humiliating events that would most probably happen to her tonight. Yes, it's true. I never have been asked out before. I want to know the feeling of it… what's this I'm feeling? I mean for a normal girl, she definitely wouldn't turn down a guy like Sasuke right?

Ino was about to open Sakura's door when she saw the door slowly opening. The blonde immediately hid herself as she saw her maid rushing out, slamming the door behind her. Ino stared hard at her, Sakura was dressed in clothes that you would never see her wear in a million years.

"I bet there's something fishy going on…" She whispered, but dismissed this suspicion and entered her room. Ino examined Sakura's belongings that were strewn all over the floor and grinned, "Goodbye to you… haha…"

A/n: Review!