Sakura walked up to the front door and opened it apprehensively. Still, she was determined to not let this evening ruin her weekend. She wasn't going to think about anything her parents said (or more likely didn't say). None of it mattered anymore.
"Mom? Dad? I'm home." She called out, closing the front door behind her.
The lights were on in the kitchen, but it was empty.
"I'm in my office, Sakura!" She heard her mother say loudly. "Dinner is in the oven."
Sakura sighed and pulled the premade casserole out of the oven. She sat down at the table and took out her Physiology textbook. Might as well get her mind off all of it. Five minutes later, her father came out from his office and took out a plate for himself.
"Hi, Dad." She figured she might as well try, even though she knew what he would say. "How was the trip?"
"Hello, Sakura." Kizashi Haruno said, cutting himself a portion of casserole. "I'm sorry we can't have a real conversation, but I have a large project I'm working on. Only just got back but they want me back out on the job tomorrow morning. I'm just taking a short break for some food. Your mother insists."
"Right." Sakura said, turning a page of her Physiology textbook viciously.
"Large book you've got there." Her father was already walking out, back to his office.
"It's Physiology." Sakura said to his back. "The extra class I'm taking."
"I didn't know you were taking an extra class." He said, not sounding particularly interested.
Sakura could feel the anger (and hurt) rising from the pit of her stomach, but shut it down, as always.
"Yes, I am." She managed.
"Hm. I'm glad to see you're so involved in your schoolwork." He disappeared around the corner and back into his office without another word.
Sakura slammed her book shut and dropped her plate in the sink. She slung her backpack over her shoulder and went up to her bedroom, shutting the door firmly behind her. Then she just sat down on the floor for a minute.
He's been gone for three weeks. Not one question, not 'How's school going?' or 'Are you feeling okay?' Nothing. He doesn't even know what classes I'm taking.
She pushed it out of her mind. Should she have expected anything different? It had been like this for years.
Suddenly, Sakura just wanted to be at the gym. She hadn't been in over a week, and this was one of those times when she just wanted to box. A punching bag could take her feelings better than anyone. But the gym would be closed by now. Sometimes they'd let her in because they knew she wouldn't do any damage (except to the boxing equipment), but she was also tired and just so done.
She thought of Ino, who by now was back at her house with Shikamaru for their monthly dinner together with her parents (her father Inoichi had made it a mandatory monthly occasion).
Sometimes when she was at the Yamanaka house for dinner, Sakura couldn't help being envious of Ino. Unlike her own house, quiet except for the sound of typing and occasional quiet phone conversations (unless her father was particularly frustrated), the Yamanaka household was always filled with sound: Ino and her mother held conversations from opposite sides of the house, her father always had the radio on loud in his office, and though arguments were frequent (Ino had inherited her quick temper from her mother) they rarely lasted more than five minutes (except on a few more serious occasions). From the minute Sakura had stepped over the threshold of their house for the first time years ago, she had felt like an unofficial member of the family.
Sakura would've texted Ino, but she didn't want to bother her (no matter how much Ino complained about them, she liked the official dinners with Shikamaru).
She checked her phone, only to find a text from Ino herself.
Text me whenever.
It gave Sakura rush of warmth just to see those three words. She knew the deeper meaning Ino had put behind them, and even if she wasn't going to text her, just knowing Ino was there made her feel warmer inside.
The group had settled on a movie Saturday night, so Sakura spent her morning doing homework at the library (that way she didn't have to be at the house) and her afternoon at the gym destroying a punching bag and working on different techniques. Any pent up energy she had from the past week was released, and though she came out sweaty and aching she was in a better mood than she'd been in all week. Ino picked her up straight from the gym and the two of them picked up sandwiches before meeting everyone else at the movie theater. Sakura didn't know who was coming (meaning whether Sasuke was going to be there) and she didn't really care; she felt like nothing could ruin her mood.
"I love days like this." She said to Ino happily as they drove down Konoha's main street, Sakura's hand hanging out the window in the wind (it was warm outside, but cooler than the past week which had been blazingly hot for late September).
"You're in a good mood." Ino remarked. "Good massacre today?"
"What, does it show?"
"Well, I'd never dare go out looking like you do right now."
Sakura rolled her eyes. She'd checked her appearance in the bathroom mirror before leaving the gym and she'd looked fine. Her hair was in a ponytail that could've been neater, but her normal standards were nowhere near as ridiculous as Ino's.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Pig." Sakura said.
"Jesus, I can't affect your self-esteem, can I? It must come from you looking great all the time."
"You are such a hypocrite, and I don't look great all the time." Sakura said immediately. "And you're way too hard on yourself."
"Hey, just because I have standards…"
"Whatever. Make a right here, you're going to miss the place."
Ino shot her a glare and turned into the movie theater parking lot.
Kiba, Shino, Shikamaru, Choji, and Sai were all waiting at the lobby.
"We got you guys tickets," Kiba said, holding them up.
"How gentlemanly," Ino said, taking their and handing one to Sakura. "Who else are we waiting for?"
"Hinata, Naruto, and Sasuke, I think." Kiba said. "They're coming together, but knowing Naruto he'll be late."
They waited ten minutes before Naruto and Hinata came in, followed by Sasuke.
"We're not late, are we?" Naruto asked them.
Shikamaru sighed.
"Jesus, Naruto. Let's just go in." Ino said, pulling Shikamaru's hand and leading them toward the theater.
The theater was only about half-full. Sakura sat down between Sai and Hinata; Sasuke was sitting next to Kiba on the end, looking bored. Sai turned to her immediately and launched into an explanation of his latest painting (art was his favorite hobby, and was probably going to be his focus in college).
Sakura had always liked watching Sai paint (when they had dated junior year she'd gone to the art room sometimes after school to keep him company); his brush always flew across the canvas like magic, and he was always in his own little world when he was painting. Sai was the only one of their group who had started hanging out with them in high school (he had moved to Konoha only a few months before the start of freshman year).
Though his conversations about painting tended to be very long-winded, she listened with interest for his benefit.
Then the lights dimmed. "I suppose I should stop talking now." Sai said, looking around.
"Yeah...I'll definitely come look at it this week, though." Sakura said.
"Great. Thanks, Sakura!"
They turned their attention to the screen. Apparently it was some sort of action movie (Sakura hadn't been paying attention when Naruto had suggested it) because the previews were increasingly explosion-filled (and increasingly stupid). Sakura didn't mind action movies if they had an actual plot, but muscular guys and sports-bra-clad girls didn't do it for her.
Unfortunately the movie they were seeing was exactly that. Sakura watched, bored, and occasionally checked to make sure Hinata was okay (the dark-haired girl would occasionally wince at the louder explosions and the blood splatters, and watched most of the movie from between her fingers. Naruto, on the other hand, was fully absorbed). The majority of the group was also completely engrossed, except Shikamaru (of course) who was lounging back in his seat half asleep. At the end of the row, Sasuke was watching with his typical scowl. Sakura crossed her arms and settled back in her seat, watching skeptically. Towards the end it got slightly better, but overall it was forgettable (after all, Naruto had picked it. He always tended to go for the awful movies).
"Great movie, Naruto. Thanks for making me waste my Saturday night." Ino said as they were all walking out.
"Hey, come on! It was awesome!" Naruto said enthusiastically.
"Oh, Jesus." Sakura said, rolling her eyes.
"Yeah…I like action and even I thought that was pretty bad." Kiba said.
"Come on, teme, back me up on this one!" Naruto said to Sasuke.
Sakura's eyes immediately turned to Sasuke. "Hn. It was terrible." Sasuke said.
"Well, you're coming from actual experience, too." Naruto said.
Actual experience? Sasuke had definitely not been flipping cars and shooting people in the head from the top of a ten story building while he was in Oto.
Sasuke shrugged in typical cocky Sasuke fashion. "Hn."
Sakura closed her eyes for a second and led the way out of the theater.
They reached the parking lot and separated to their individual cars. Sasuke had turned off quickly with barely a goodbye to any of them, followed by Naruto and Hinata. Shikamaru and Choji were the last ones left with Ino and Sakura.
"Oh, happy early birthday, Shikamaru," Sakura said, remembering.
"Thanks, Sakura." Shikamaru said. He stretched and yawned. "Alright, we should get going."
"Are you going to be up later or should I not bother texting you?" Ino asked him.
"Eh, I'm gonna go to bed when I get home. But I'll have my phone." He said.
"Good." The two of them kissed briefly. "See you tomorrow." Ino said with a smile and a quick wave.
The two girls drove back to Sakura's house in relative silence until Ino pulled into her driveway. "Sure you don't want to sleep over at my house?" Ino asked Sakura.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Good luck with your fancy birthday dinner tomorrow night." Sakura said with a grin.
"Thanks, Forehead. Text me tomorrow?"
"Yep. See you Monday."
Sakura waved to Ino and then walked up the dark porch steps to unlock the door. Her father had been at his office in town all day and left from there to go to Suna (or somewhere near Suna) without coming back home. Her mother was at some dinner benefit, and so the house was dark. Even after Sakura turned on the kitchen and hallway lights, and the TV, it still felt too quiet. And empty, as always.
A/N: Two milestones: 10 chapters and over 20k words! I was kind of stuck working on chapter 9, but over the past few days I've been planning out a lot of stuff coming up in this that I'm really excited about writing.
Oh also I posted a ShikaIno one-shot that takes place a year before this story starts. It's their first kiss, so if you're looking for some fluff...