Disclaimer - I do not own Naruto, & Yuki-chan was given to me, so that I could use her.
-XXX-
Sakura and the gang had been walking around the mall for only a half an hour, and Sakura's feet were already killing her. Either it was 'cause she had already been walking around with Hanna and Yuki-chan a few hours before now, or the fact that some of them, *coughNarutoandInocough*, walked faster than should be normally possible for anyone to do, and Sakura was just trying to keep up with them. As Sakura looked at the rest of the gang, she noticed that none of them seemed to have a problem keeping up with the pace that Ino and Naruto were going at. Probably 'cause they were used to the speed of the two of them.
Though Sakura noticed that Yuki-chan was trying to keep up a bit as well, but at least she was doing a better job than Sakura, who looked like she was almost to a run. Yuki-chan was probably only having some troubles 'cause she hadn't walked this fast in awhile, since she had been away and all.
"STOP!" Sakura heard a scream from behind them, and she did as the voice said, as did the rest of the gang. Sakura slowly turned on her heels, only to see her brother and the rest of the Akatsuki gang, standing there. Few bags in hand, and huge grins on each of their faces. "IN THE NAME OF LOOOOVE! BEFORE YOU BREAK MY HEART!" Sakura tried not to laugh at the sight of Deidara, singing as loud as possible, while keeping a straight face all the while. As Sakura looked back at her friends though, she noticed that every one of them was laughing, aside from Ino, who looked like she wanted to kill him, oh yeah, Sakura remembered, they're brother and sister, and then Sasuke, who never really laughed at anything in the first place.
"Shut up," Sasori said, hitting Deidara on the top of his head with a fist. Deidara cringed, obviously in pain, and as he rubbed his head, shot a glare at Sasori, who seemed unfazed by it. Speaking of pain.. there's Pein, Sakura noticed. He was standing right beside her brother, no bags in his hands, in fact, his hands were just in his pocket, and he looked seemingly bored. Though when he noticed Sakura, a tiny smile formed on his lips, and he gave her a two-finger quick wave. And Sakura returned it with a smile and a quick wave of her own.
"What are you guys doing here?" Sasuke asked all of a sudden, and Sakura turned her head to look back at him for a second, before turning back to the Akatsuki, waiting for their answer.
"What does it look like, little brother?" Itachi asked, as he lifted up the bag that was in his hand. "We're shopping. What about you?'
"Same."
"Really? 'Cause it doesn't look like you've bought fucking shit," Hidan pointed out.
"We've only been here for about half an hour," Ino explained, obviously already having gotten over her brother's embarrassing display of very loud singing.
"So? What's your fucking point?" Hidan asked, apparently not finding Ino's answer as a good enough excuse for why they had yet to buy anything.
"So... shut up!" Ino screamed, frustrated. Hidan smirked in triumph at her answer, and crossed his arms over his chest, seemingly satisfied with himself. Deidara on the other hand, glared at Hidan for pissing off his little sister. Sakura figured it was either 'cause he didn't like that Hidan was pissing her off, or 'cause that meant she would be pissy at home, and Deidara would have to deal with it.
"Hidan," Pein said, and Sakura realized that this would be one of the first times that she had actually heard him talk aloud, since every other time the secretary would shush them, "don't piss the girl," when he said that Ino glared, and Pein just sighed, and ran a hand through his spiky, orange hair, "sorry. Don't piss... Ino?... off." Ino nodded, and Pein just sighed again.
"Fine. But don't blame me because she couldn't come up with a better fucking excuse then the shit she said," Hidan replied, and with that being said he walked up to Sakura, and threw an arm around her, which didn't go unnoticed by anyone. "I guess we'll just hang with you then, sweet cheeks."
Sakura just shook her head and rolled her eyes at Hidan's attempt to flirt with her, but she didn't push him off, which seemed to surprise everyone, accept most of the Akatsuki. "Hidan," Sakura said, looking up at him, "you can hang with us, if you remove the arm." Hidan, finding this a good enough reason to take his arm off of her, did. "Thank you."
"Don't think I won't try fucking later though," Hidan warned with a smile, and just stood beside Sakura, looking down at her.
"Wouldn't dream of it," Sakura said sarcastically, rolling her eyes, and turned to see the rest of the Akatsuki walking up to join Sakura and her friends. None of them objected to the Akatsuki joining them, so Sakura took that as a good sign. 'Cause before, with Itachi and Sasuke, and Hidan and Ino, she was unsure if the two groups even got along that well. But it seemed that they at least would today, or for the latter of the time being.
-XXX-
As they began to walk around again, Sakura resided herself to walking beside Pein, with her brother on the other side of her. She noticed Naruto walking on the other side of Pein, with his arm around Hanna who was walking right beside him. Sasuke and Ino were in front of them, and Itachi was right beside him, and Yuki-chan was beside Itachi, and right in front of Sasori. The rest of the Akatsuki were behind Sakura and them, and the rest of the gang: Hinata and Kiba, Neji and Tenten, and Temari and Shikamaru, were around them all, just walking beside each other.
It was already fifteen minutes later, and with the Akatsuki now with them, the gang had actually finally bought some stuff, aside from Sakura, and Pein was still the only one of the Akatsuki to not buy anything as well.
"So," Pein spoke, and it took Sakura a second to realize he was speaking to her. She quickly looked up at him with questioning eyes. "Why haven't you bought anything yet?"
"Hanna, Yuki-chan and I already were here about two hours or so ago, shopping," she answered, and Pein nodded at her answer. "Why haven't you bought anything?" Sakura countered.
Pein shrugged. "Nothing has caught my eyes."
"Except for a fucking girl," Hidan coughed, and Pein and Sakura looked back at him quickly, Sakura with confused eyes, and Pein with a glare. Hidan held up his hands in defense, "Just saying."
Sakura looked back over at Pein, who was still glaring at Hidan. "Do you like a girl, Pein?" she asked, and when she did, Pein quickly looked back at her with an emotionless face.
"No," Pein simply replied.
"Bullshit!" Hidan accused. Pein looked back to give him another glare, and Hidan actually shrunk back a little at the intensness this time. "Okay.. never fucking mind."
"That's what I thought," Pein replied, and turned back. Sakura noticed that Pein was now smirking in victory, which made herself smile.
"You know," Sakura started, and Pein looked at her from the corner of his eyes, "it's okay to admit that you like a girl. It won't make you any less of a man to us."
"He was talking about you," Pein replied, and Sakura stopped in her tracks.
"Oh.. then nevermind," she said, taking it back as she walked quickly to catch up with Pein. "Wait.. does that mean...?
"No," Pein answered, knowing what she was going to ask. "It doesn't mean I like you. He just assumes this, 'cause the only time I've actually smiled today, is when I saw you. And I smiled," he began, as he looked down at Sakura, giving her another smile, "is 'cause now we finally can get to know each other."
"Yeah," Sakura acknowledged, with her own smile, "and no secretary is there to shush us." Pein nodded in agreement.
"God I fucking hate that secretary," Sakura heard Hidan say from right behind her, and she turned to give him a smile. "The last time I was in detention, my shitty ass chair squeaked, and she fucking yelled at me. It's not my fault that the chairs are old and fucking rusty as fuck!" Sakura giggled at that.
"I think I broke that chair," Sakura heard her brother say from beside her, and she, Pein, Hidan and Sasori all began to laugh. Everyone else, not having heard the conversation, turned to look at them weirdly, which only made them laugh more.
"Oh god," Sakura said, as she wiped a tear that was hanging from the corner of her eye, "that just made my day." Sakura finally calmed down on the laughing, as did the other three, and she smiled as they all walked into Hot Topic. "This is going to be a great day."
-XXX-
"I spoke too soon," Sakura said, frowning as she noticed Karin and the rest of the 'bitch crew' looking through the racks in Deb, which Ino decided they would go into after they were done in Hot Topic.
They didn't seem to notice Sakura, so she took that as a sign to leave. She slowly, and quietly, turned on her heels, and began quickly tip-toeing out of the store. "Well, well, well," Sakura heard from behind her. She stopped in her tracks and looked back over her shoulder, to see Karin standing there, hands on her hips. She tried not to laugh as she saw the huge bruise on Ami's cheek, who was standing right beside Karin. Sakura's work. "If it isn't Sakura Haruno."
"Yeah..." Sakura trailed off. "Hi?"
"Hi?" Karin sneered, looking to each of her friends, before looking back at Sakura. "That's all you can say? Hi? You fucking beat Ami almost to death! She was unconsious! Remember? And all you can say, is hi?"
"Yeah..." Sakura trailed off again.
"You're a fucking bitch!" she screamed, and Sakura was very thankful that it was just Karin's friends, and Sakura's friends that were also in the store with them. The workers didn't even seem to care all that much, probably 'cause this wasn't the only time that people starting yelling at each other in their store.
"I've been told worse," Sakura admitted, and that only made Karin fume more.
"Look," Karin said, handing the very tiny, slutty shirt she was holding to Ami, then walking up to stand in front of Sakura. "You may think you're some tough, bad ass, punk chick, that can do whatever she wants, but let me tell you something. I'm more bad ass then you, and let me tell you why. It's 'cause, I've beat up more girls than you have. No one knows that though because most are in the hospital still."
Sakura just nodded as she continued to speak, and when Karin finally stopped, Sakura finally spoke up. "If I didn't know any better.. I'd say you were lying."
"That's it!" Karin screamed, and lunged at Sakura.
Sakura's eyes widened, and she was able to move a bit, before Karin was on top of her, trying to punch her face. Sakura moved her head in time to avoid each punch Karin tried to throw at her. "Stop! Moving!" Karin screamed in frustration, as she continued to punch at Sakura. Sakura, starting to get pissed, kneed Karin's stomach, and pushed her off.
"Think you're so tough Karin? You couldn't even land one punch on me!"
Karin stood up, cracked her neck, and glared at Sakura. "That's because I was going easy on you. I won't this time!" And then Karin ran at Sakura again, her fist flying in the air. Sakura side-stepped and grabbed hold of Karin's wrist, and twisted it behind her back. Karin gasped in pain, and Sakura twisted it a little more, before pushing her to the ground.
"You little bitch!" Sakura heard from behind, and turned to see Ami about to jump on her, only to be stopped by Temari as she kicked her in the stomach.
"Back off, my friend!" she screamed, and turned to Sakura to give her a smile and a thumbs up. "Yuki-chan!" Temari screamed, and Yuki-chan looked over at her from where she had been standing. "Go get security!" Yuki-chan nodded, and Sakura watched as she quickly ran out of the store to go find them. "And Ino, get Hinata out of here," she added to Ino, who nodded and escorted Hinata out of the store.
Now it was just Sakura, Temari, Hanna and Tenten, and Karin, Ami and they're other two friends, whoever they were. Sakura could care less about who they were. "You know.." Sakura heard Tenten say from a little bit behind her. She turned back and looked at her. "I haven't been in a fight, for a long time."
"My last one," Hanna started, "was with Karin. And she kicked me in the face."
"I remember that," Sakura said, and she walked over to Karin, who was kneeling on the floor. "Guess it's time to make it even," and with that said, Sakura kicked Karin in the face. "That was for you, Hanna."
"Thank you."
"I suggest you girls get out fo here," one of the workers said as she walked up to them. Sakura looked over at the girl, and she gave her a little smile. "I'll explain that they came after you girls and it was defense."
"What about those two?" Tenten asked, and looked over to Karin and Ami's other two friends. They looked slightly frightened, though at least they didn't look like they had gotten their asses handed to them.
"We won't say anything," one with curly red hair said.
"Just don't hurt us," the other one with teased brown hair said.
"See," the worker said, drawing Sakura's attention back to her, "now go."
Sakura nodded, and then her, Temari, Tenten, and Hanna left, just as Yuki-chan came back with the security. "What happened?" she asked as they all turned to watch the 'mall cops' go into Deb.
"C'mon. We'll tell you at the food courts," Hanna said as she slung an arm around Yuki-chan's shoulder. Then they all walked to the food courts, where everyone else was waiting for them.
-XXX-
"And that's what happened," Hanna finished, and everyone took a minute to take it all in, before everyone either burst into laughter, or just smiled as the scene played out in their minds.
"Sounds like it was awesome," Kiba said, a huge grin on his face.
"I was there for most of it," Hinata added, as she smiled over at her boyfriend, then looked back over at Sakura. "It was." Sakura smiled back, and looked over at her brother who had a proud look on his face. Sakura blushed, then looked over at Sasuke who was sitting with Ino, his arm around her shoulders. She had her eyes closed as she leaned her head on his shoulder.
Sasuke noticed sakura staring, and he stared back. Thank you, Sakura noticed him mouth to her, and it caught her by surprise, but then she just gave a tiny smile and nodded, before looking over at Pein, who was watching her.
"Well," Pein began, "you must be hungry then. How about I go buy you some food? My treat," he added, and Sakura smiled and nodded. They both got up and walked over to the ramen shop. "So.. what would you like?"
"Umm..." Sakura trailed off as she peered at all the choices. "The roast chicken looks good today."
"It tastes good," Pein said, and sakura looekd up at him. "It's my favorite," he added.
Sakura nodded in understanding and stood up. "Then I'll get that."
Pein nodded, and ordered the food. They stood off to the side so others could order as they waited for the food to be cooked. "So.. is that your favorite food overall, or just your favorite ramen?" Sakura asked curiously.
Pein shook his head. "Grilled fish and stew is my favorite. What's your's?
"Umm," Sakura began as she tapped her chin in thought, "Syrup-coated anko dumplings."
"Ahh, those are good," Pein acknowledged, and Sakura nodded her head in obvious agreement.
"Yeah. So, what are your hobbies?"
"Playing trivia games," Sakura replied instantly, and Pein's eyes widened. You could say he was shocked none the less. "What?"
"It just... doesn't seem like you," Pein explained, and Sakura shurgged.
"I used to play those type of games all the time with my parents, but when they died, there wasn't really anyone to play with."
"What about Sasori?"
"He was always too busy hanging with you guys to play with me"
"Oh.. I guess I should say I'm sorry for that," Pein apologized.
Sakura just shook her head. "Don't be. In that time I learned how to take care of myself. Also I learned how to play the flute, guitar, piano, and some drums, that why I could play the loneliness away. I've learned to cook too."
"Still. I guess it's partly our fault for keeping your brother away from you," Pein pushed.
"No. It was his decision. Plus, it helped him get over the pain. Pein?" Sakura all of a sudden asked, and he looekd down at her, mentally telling her to continue. "Why were you named Pein?"
Pein sighed. "My dad says that he named me Pein because my mother died during childbirth, and that I was the pain that did it to her. You could say my father and I don't get along very well."
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," Sakura said, frowning.
"It's fine," and with that said, the bell rang to signal that they're food was done. "C'mon," Pein said as he grabbed Sakura's bowl of ramen and handed it to her. "Let's head back to the others."
-XXX-
"Naruto," Sakura whined as Naruto tried, once again, to get a spoonful of ramen from Sasuka's bowl.
"We should have warned you," Neji spoke, and Sakura looked over at him. "He really likes ramen."
"Yeah.. thanks for the heads up," Sakura said sarcastically as she picked up her bowl, and with her foot, she put it against his chest so he couldn't get to her as she ate. Everyone else just watched Naruto's display of eagerness to get some of it. Once there was only a bit left, Sakura sighed, and handed Naruto the bowl, who ate it up hungrily.
"Troublesome," Sakura heard Shikamaru mutter, and looked over at him at Temari, who just rolled her eyes at her boyfriend's rudeness.
"Tank yoo Sak'ra," Naruto said through the last mouthful of ramen. Sakura, looking slightly disgusted, just put up her hand and nodded, obviously not wanting to hear him speak again until he was fully done eating.
"Don't mention. Really, don't," Sakura said, and Naruto, looking slightly confused, just nodded.
"So," Sasuke said, and Sakura looked over at him. Ino had gone to the bathroom, and without her hanging all over him, he looked slightly more normal. "Do you girls want to go anywhere else?" As he asked, he kept his eyes on Sakura.
Sakura smirked. "Oh, how sweet. Sasuke's asking us politely. It's as if he really cares," sakura teased.
Sasuke just rolled his eyes and pushed Sakura's chair back slightly. "Hey! Stop that! What if I fell?"
"Then you fall," Sasuke answered, as he continued to push on the front of her chair. To anyone else, it would either look like he really was trying to push her done, or that they were flirting. To Sakura, she really couldn't tell.
"Can't if you fall first," Sakura pointed out as she began to push on the front of his chair as well.
They did this for a minute or two, both very determined in seeing the other one possibly falling backwards. They only stopped when they heard a cough, and turned to see Ino standing, arms crossed over her chest, and foot tapping. She didn't look that happy. "Hey Sakura, can I talk to you?" Sakura, not knowing what to do, just nodded and got up. As she passed Sasuke, he gently kicked her knee, and Sakura turned quickly to hit his arm before walking quickly to catch up with Ino.
"Yes Ino?" Sakura asked as soon as they were out of ear shot.
"Back off," Ino said, as she quickly turned on her heels to look sternly at Sakura. "I've liked Sasuke for months, and he's finally asked me out, after he broke up with that bitch, Karin. And yeah, I should be thankful, 'cause if it wasn't for you, that proabbly wouldn't have happened. But now, I see you looking at him, and flirting with him."
"Hey," Sakura said, defensively, "he started that back there."
"I don't care who did. He's my boyfriend, and you need to back off of him. Even when you were gone with Pein to get your stupid ramen, I could see him discreetly looking after you. And whether, it's 'cause he's thankful that you've helped his sister, or 'cause he's starting to like you back, 'cause yeah, I know you like him, you need to stop. He's mine, and I plan on keeping him."
With that being said, Ino walked back to the tables, leaving a very confused, and stunned Sakura, to stand all by herself, rewinding and replaying that last minute or two in her head. Damn... I'm so screwed.
-XXX-
Hey! I hope you enjoyed it! That may have been my longest chapter yet I'm pretty sure! And it's all 'cause I feel bad for not giving it to you earlier! Again, I do apologize. & I did remember another excuse: my best friend texts me waaaayyyy too much. He's a very distractful person. :/ But yeah, I hoped you enjoyed this long-waiting chapter.
So yeah, review, review, review. & I promise, to start making a better effort on getting these chapters up more often. So buh-bye! :DD