Author's Note:
I fell off the face of the Earth. I know.
This is probably the suckiest chapter I'm ever going to put up, ever.
I actually wrote this a LONG time ago, but then the complications came in.
I just got home from a sleepover(in which I didn't actually sleep at all) so if I sound like a freak, you know why. In fact, I probably always sound like a freak.
The pressures of parents who want a popular daughter...
Sigh.
Disclaimer:
I don't own Naruto, or anything else.
Dedication:
To my Mom, who has more problems than I can count.
The sun was setting a beautiful medley of purples, reds, oranges, and fading blue. I tried my hardest not to glare too harshly at it through the glass doors to the deck. My mother peered at me sheepishly over her full plate of chicken and seasoning. She was picking at it nervously, trying to think of something to say. The awkward silence could bother me less. My only goal at the moment was to convince my mother to let me go on that camping trip tomorrow.
"So...Mom, how was your day?" I asked. A simple ice-breaker.
"Uh, fine. How about you? Are you feeling better?" She replied, re-situating herself on the wooden chair. Her silent sigh of relief didn't go unheard by me.
"I'm fine," I replied casually, looking down, "But I wanna ask you something."
"Shoot." I heard her say through a full mouth. I withheld a grimace.
"Uh, tomorrow, my friends are heading down to the beach since we don't have school and they invited me. They might camp over. So..." I paused for an inhale, "I was wondering if I could go with them?"
Another awkward silence engulfed the kitchen.
"Will there be boys?"
I bit my lip. Lying was not good, especially to my mother. She wouldn't care, though. Right?
"Yeah." I muttered under my breath.
"What?"
"Yeah," I repeated louder, "I think Naruto and Sasuke will be there."
Mom sighed. I found myself twiddling my fingers under the table, awaiting her answer.
"Sakura, I don't know if it would be the responsible thing to send you on this trip..."
For some reason, I was completely irked by the fact that my mother didn't trust me. It was bad enough that she wasn't even around during my childhood so she had no right to push me around like this.
"It's not like we're going to do anything bad!" I realized my voice was cracking, "Why don't you trust me?"
It was her turn to bite her lip.
"I trust you, I really do. It's just that I want you to be safe," she looked me in the eyes before averting her gazed to the silverware, "It's my responsibility as your parent."
"Some parent you were," I grumbled low enough so that I was sure she didn't hear me, "never there when I grew up."
My reflexes pulled me to jump when I heard the screeching sound of breaking glass. A wave of fear washed about my insides. Instantly, my hands rushed to shield my ears. A chill worked its way down my spine. I hated the sound of glass breaking. Slowly, I shifted my gaze on my mother. She wasn't looking at me, from what I could tell. Her pink hair shadowed her face as she seemingly glared at the table. It took a moment of panic to realize she was freaking out because she had heard what I had inconsiderately said. Oh gosh.
"Oh, no! I didn't mean it like that. I'm so sorry, it was stupid to say," I ranted while getting up to go comfort her, "Please don't listen to me, I'm stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid." I hunched over her to give her a half-hug. She returned it slackly. I felt like killing myself right about now. It was a stupid thing for me to have said.
"It's okay, Sakura," She waved me away. I sat down tentatively on the chair, just in case I hurt her feelings too, "I suppose you are right. I'm sorry. Is there any possible way I could talk to the people involved in this trip?" Her sigh punctuated her sentence.
"Uh, yeah," Still dazed, I reached into my pocket for my cell phone.
As if on cue, it vibrated. Some miraculous force decided to grace me with its presence as I checked the caller ID. Ino's name appeared on the screen.
I felt another chill creep down my insides. It was just too coincidental.
"Hey Ino," I exclaimed into the phone, slightly louder than necessary, "I was just about to call you."
Ino giggled from the other side, "Haha, that's funny. I just wanted so call and see if you were coming tomorrow."
"Yeah," I muttered before locking eyes with my mother, a silent plead, "I probably can. My mom just wants to know if there will be supervision."
"OF COURSE!" Ino seemingly screamed so quickly that it took me a second to decipher what she had said, "Yeah, Kakashi. He's the adult of our house! We're not that irresponsible, silly."
Something about her voice made me feel guilty. It was silly for me to not think that they'd do the right thing, "Haha, silly me. Of course you'd have that covered. I'll be ready at seven tomorrow." I reassured her to make amends.
"Cool, see you then!"
The line went dead.
"Okay Sakura, you can go." Mom said thoughtfully, "but you'll have to have your own tent. I have a spare one. I'll make sure it's out for you tomorrow because I'm leaving early for a business trip."
"Thanks Mom," I said while getting up to head upstairs, "I love you. Good night."
I paused for a moment, waiting for the common response of 'I love you' back. I figured she didn't hear me because I never heard her.
The morning arrived in a whirling frenzy. Instead of waking up on time, I woke up half-an-hour late, giving me barely enough time to get ready. Luckily, I was ready by six forty-five. Ino, with her impeccable timing showed up right when I was hauling my stuff to the door.
"Here, let me help you with that!" she sang, snatching my stuff and skipping out to the car. I followed with a tired sigh-Ino was too much to handle this early in the morning.
I stepped out of my door, closing and locking it, and followed Ino down the paved walk way to the drive way were I saw a Mini Van parked. It looked brand new, with its shiny new paint and windows.
Following Ino's example, I walked around to the back and tossed the sleeping and duffle bag into the trunk.
"Hey Sakura!" Naruto said, popping out from behind the back row. I jumped a full foot into the air, startled by Naruto's sudden appearance, "Oops, sorry." He laughed.
"Ah, it's okay." I giggled, "Hey to you too."
The Van's side door opened. I turned around and was met with Hinata's timid wave. She stood there, looking unsure under the shade of the Van's truck door.
"Hello Sakura," she greeted quietly, "Need any help?"
"Nope, I think I've got it covered." I grinned.
"All aboard children." An unfamiliar voice called. Suddenly, Ino pulled my hand and dragged my to the driver's side, all the way to the door. The man behind the wheel had grey hair that was combed lop-sided. He wore a mask over his face, like he was sick, and had a scar straight down the middle of his left eye. Despite his hair color and scar, he only looked about 28 years old.
"Sakura, this is Kakashi, our guardian," Ino gestured respectively, "Kakashi, this is Sakura Haruno, our new friend."
"It'snice to meet you Sakura." He said and extended his had through the rolled down window for me to shake.
I took it and replied, "Nice to meet you, too."
Kakashi's gazed averted to Ino, "I think it's about time we go."
I was becoming accustomed to Ino dragging me around. It was no surprise when she grasped my hand and pulled me into the car.
"Hey Sakura." Kiba greeted me when I climbed in. I smiled and said a simple 'hi' back.
"Sakura, sit back here with Hinata and I!" Naruto practically screamed. I supressed a laugh and went to join Naruto and Hinata in the farthest row back. Naruto scooted over and made room so that I could sit in the middle, between them.
Once situated, I couldn't help but ask if anyone else was coming, specifically Sasuke.
"Shikamaru's in the passenger's seat, sleeping no doubt. Tenten and Sasuke are riding in Neji's sports car. Apparently Sasuke and Neji are too cool for a Mini Van." Ino explained from the right seat in the middle row while poking Kiba, who looked like he was sulking.
"And Tenten?" I asked mischievously.
Ino giggled and Kakashi spoke for everyone, "We just sent her so the two wouldn't kill each other. You wouldn't believe how similar Sasuke and Neji's personalities are."
"Haha," I laughed uncertain what to say. Noticing Ino was still poking the sullen Kiba, I attempted to change the subject, "Kiba are you okay?"
"Yeah," he sighed, "I'm just upset."
"Why?" my voice was hopefully full of concern, I was just happy that the subject wasn't on Sasuke any more.
"Had to leave his loud-mouth dog at home." Naruto explained, rolling his eyes.
"Hey! Don't insult Akamaru!" Kiba growled.
"Why'd you have to leave him behind?" I asked.
"In case you didn't like dogs." Came Kiba's voice.
I blushed, embarrassed by their consideration of me, "No, no. I love animals of all kinds. You didn't have to sacrifice anything for me."
"It's okay." Kiba said, considerably happier, "We'll just have to remember that for next time."
"Okay." I answered quietly.
--
The ride progressed in a comfortable silence. I passed the time by watching the scenery. To my right, Hinata was fidgeting her fingers and staying silent. To my left, on the other hand, Naruto was chatting away happily. Occasionally he would say something so stupid that the whole van -minus the sleeping Shikamaru- would break into a chorus of laughter.
After a while of driving I began to notice the darkening sky. Big, scary clouds loomed over us, blocking the sun's life-giving rays.
"It doesn't look like a good day to go to the beach," I protested, "Do you guys wanna do something else."
"Nah," I heard Shikamaru's voice come from the passenger's seat, "I've calculated our arrival so that we'll completely miss the rain at the beach that we're going to. There'll just be some overcast."
Shikamaru the Super Genius?
"Oh, okay." I said, slouching back into my seat.
The rest of the way continued in silence. I guesstimated that we were only in the car fifteen more minutes. Kakashi drove faster than a maniac.
Finally, we turned off of the main road onto a dirt road formed by former cars. The scarce light from the already blocked sun was filtered even more by the canopy of trees. Further into the trail we bore. We emerged on a sandy beach side. A blazing red convertible was situated right were the grass met sand. We pulled up next to it and parked.
"We're here." Ino sang, throwing the door open and leaping out. Everyone around me was out so fast that by the time I joined them, they were almost done unloading the trunk.
Feeling unhelpful, I dragged my already unloaded bags to a pit in the sand surrounded by four logs.
A hand grabbed my own, "Grab your swimsuit. We'll change in the woods."
I unzipped my bag, grabbed my bathing suit, and managed to regain my footing as Ino dragged me deep into the growth.
"Ready to have fun?" She asked perkily when we were alone.
I let myself break into a grin; her attitude was so contagious, "Yeah."
She emerged from behind her tree, clad in an extremely cute dark violet bikini. It was too skimpy for me but still looked fabulous on her. A part of me felt envious and out of place in my red tankini.
"Looking sexy." She said, inspecting my swimsuit.
I rolled my eyes, "Sure," the sarcasm was evident, "but not as great as you."
She laughed in modesty.
"Let's go." I exclaimed while attempting to maneuver my way through the forest in, unfortunately, thin flip flops.
Ino giggled at me as she passed, "Here, take my hand," I complied and let her assist me over the countless roots and sticks, "Let's go show off!"