Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto
Sakura
I love Christmas. It is my absolute favourite holiday. In the weeks leading up to Christmas, I was busy recording remakes of Christmas songs like 'All I Want for Christmas', 'Baby It's Cold Outside', 'Last Christmas' and 'Santa Baby'. It was pretty fun. The video came out and Karin, of course, had a fit and had to go get some sort of Swedish spa treatment or something. Well, anyway, the past couple months have been quite peaceful.
"You're in L-O-V-E." Ino whispered in my ear. "With Sasuke." Well it was peaceful until now. And please allow me to point out how inappropriate this comment is because we were in the middle of an intense battle scene in our Star Wars marathon that we do every year around this time. I chocked on my popcorn and spent three eye-watering minutes coughing and drinking ice cold water.
"Excuse me?" I said, when I could breathe without coughing. "Did I hear that correctly? I think you are wrong."
"You said you liked him a few months ago! What is wrong with you! You can't just dump him! Guys that look like that aren't in positions to be potential boyfriends for very long!" she said, standing up and putting the epic battle on pause.
"I didn't dump him. We were never going out, I just am not obsessing over him anymore." I said which was basically a lie. Ino was actually right, but I just didn't want to admit it. She looked at me doubtfully. "Look Ino, you can't just pause Star Wars in the middle of the most epic battle scene ever written. Now we have to start from the beginning to feel the full force of it. If you want to we can talk about this later." I said, distracting her. She would forget and then I would be able to brood in peace.
Actually, even as a guy, it was getting very difficult to keep away from Sasuke. It was like he was a giant polar magnet. I know it's a weird analogy, but I found myself coming up with stupid reasons to just be in the same room for a few seconds. Also, when he asked me to go with him and the rest of the people living in our house to the mountain to snowboard, I accepted almost too eagerly. I couldn't resist telling Ino and pointing out that were we're just friends and that this was proof. She paused the epic battle scene again.
"Yeah, but wouldn't it be better if you went as a girl? You are spending way too much time as a guy these days. I'm worried you're going over to the other side." She said, frowning. "By the way, who did you say was going?"
"All the guys that live in the house." I said, noting her too casual tone and getting a little squirmy. That voice usually meant she was plotting something.
"Oh, so Naruto and Kiba and them? And Shikamaru too?" she asked, reaching for the remote again to press play.
"Yeah, but he's so lazy he'll probably sleep the entire time." I laughed and went back to the movie. After a moment I realized that Ino had been very sly and that somehow I had just dragged myself into her plans. I said a silent prayer to anyone who was listening to my thought waves to help me and soon.
The next day Sasuke was nowhere to be found. I was sitting on the couch and reading a book, wrapped up in a blanket when the front door banged open. I looked up hopefully, but it was a tall man with long black hair, covered in rain and shivering. He swore violently and threw his coat in the closet.
"Hello." I said, choosing not to move. He looked round and looked rather astonished that there was someone else in the house.
"Hello." He was courteous. "Have you seen Sasuke?" but didn't think to introduce himself.
"Nope, sorry. You can use his shower though, if you want." I said, not feeling the need to divulge my name to him either.
"Ah, thank you." He said and went off. He seemed a little bit distracted, but nice enough. I stared at the space he had been for a few moments longer and then went back to my book. Elizabeth Bennet was in the middle of chewing Mr. Darcy out and I did not want to miss this.
Later on (after Elizabeth feels like slapping Mr. Darcy), I was rummaging around the kitchen looking for something suitable for dinner when Neji and the other guy came into my domain.
"Oh, hi Hikaru. You want help with anything?" Neji asked. I had gotten him into the habit of offering help whenever necessary.
"Sure. Could you chop the onions?" I said, adding a bit of butter and oil to a pan and getting it sizzling.
"Oh, Itachi, this is Hikaru, our newest tenet and one that can cook." Neji nodded in my direction. I waved with my spatula and stirred the butter until it melted. "This is Sasuke's older brother; he was on business in France for the last few months. Are you staying the night here?" he asked the tall man.
"No, I have to get on a flight over to Kyoto. It's a quick flight, so I should be able to get to the house." He said. They started talking stock markets and I started humming a little tune in my head to block it out. I was timing on the kitchen clock and sure enough, Kiba and Naruto wandered through the kitchen door, following their noses. Five minutes exactly. Bingo.
"You two." I said to them before they had gone two steps. "I have a new kitchen policy. It goes like this: if you want to eat you help make the food." I grinned, ignoring their weak protests. My goal was to get them all to learn how to cook. It looked like I would succeed, and that made me very happy.
"Uh, guys?" Shikamaru came into the kitchen looking slightly worried.
"What's up?" Kiba abandon his dish washing and looked around.
"Well, Sasuke's back."
"Yeah, so?" Naruto said rolling his eyes.
"He's not alone." Shikamaru said, flinching. Just then a loud high pitched laugh echoed through the empty hall. Sasuke walked through the door and paused, seeing us all looking at him.
"Hi. I thought you might be down here." He said, not even sparing his brother a look. I saw his eyes sweep over him and he clenched his fist, but there was no other sign of recognition. "This is Ino, I thought she could join us for dinner, if there's enough made." He said, looking hopefully at me. I stared at Ino. She winked and waltzed into the kitchen and shook everyone's hand, including mine.
"Snap out of it." She hissed as she squeezed my hand extra hard. I winced and then went back to the stove.
"So, Ino, what kind of spice do you like?" I asked, knowing full well she liked extra spicy.
"Um, spicy please." She said, pulling out a chair and sitting down. I chanced a glance back and saw her out fit and nearly dropped the chilli powder bottle. She was wearing a tight pair of white jeans, pewter heels and the tightest, lowest, most revealing top I had ever seen. I was thankful for the leather motorcycle jacket she was wearing (borrowed from my closet I might add). "So, you guys go to Konoha Boys, right?" she asked, starting a general conversation about schools. Naruto and Neji seemed to know Ino a bit, and then I remembered that they were in relationships with Hinata and Tenten.
"Someone crack a window for me?" I said. Sasuke came over and opened the window nearest me. His arm brushed my sleeve and I nearly flung pasta everywhere.
"Ino says you can't come to the mountain because of a business meeting. She said that you didn't know about it until recently. Were you going to tell me?" he asked, keeping his voice low. I was thrown for a second, knowing that no matter what I said, Ino was going to get me and her on the mountain and in Sasuke's house there.
"Uh, yeah. She's right. She's my cousin, so I was talking to her earlier I was going to tell you when you got back, but I guess I didn't need to." I said, equally as softly. I didn't look at him, just in case I lost control for a second. Pasta could have actually ended up on the ceiling.
"That's too bad." He murmured.
"Yeah." I whispered as he moved away. What was wrong with Ino? Why was she screwing up my plans? I didn't ask her to meddle in my life. Keeping my temper under control was a job, so when I saw the huge grin Ino gave me when I dropped a plate in front of her, I actually had to physically turn away to keep from slapping her. My anger was over the top and extremely ridiculous, but I couldn't help but think that Ino was purposely sabotaging me.
There was little conversation over dinner. Normally I would have been concerned because no talking means the food isn't good, but I was too preoccupied with trying to keep my temper in check. It was a task that required all my self control and even more concentration than I could spare. Twice Naruto spoke to me and I didn't answer. Twice Ino had to start a new conversation, but my mood seemed to spread over the room and kill any happy emotion. Once I had cleared my plate, I headed for my room, using my homework as my excuse for my sudden disappearance. I locked my bedroom door and then slammed my math textbook down with so much force that the desk lamp rattled two inches to the left. Swearing in two languages I flung open the patio doors and stormed out. Finally I let a growl escape me. I stayed outside as the winter rain gentle and soft, dropped on my head, face and shoulders. The coldness slowly froze my rage, and I felt my skin start to take on the qualities of ice. The rain was no longer soft either, it was hard and fast, pouring over my head. I headed back inside, my mind settling and closed the doors gently.
BANG! Someone, strong and urgent, was knocking on my door. I walked to it slowly, and opened it carefully. Sasuke was mid-knock when I swung the door back, and nearly fell into me.
"Hi." I said. He gave me a furious stare.
"'Hi'? That's it? 'Hi'? You've been in here for three hours and you're soaking wet. What the hell are you doing?"
"Um, just hanging out." I said back. He gave a loud 'HA!' and turned and walked away. I stepped out the door. "Whoa, wait a second. Did you just 'ha' at me?" I asked him, not really sure what I was doing.
"Yes, I did." He snapped. I thought I saw something flash in his dark eyes.
"Are you having a temper tantrum?" I asked. I didn't see the problem with standing on my balcony in my room for three hours, it was my life after all. He came striding back over and put his face centimetres from mine.
"No, I am not." Each word was measured, but I could see something like excited rage snapping in his eyes. He was so close I could feel his hot breath on my cheek and I almost had to go cross-eyed to see him properly.
"Just asking." I muttered, uncomfortable. I had to bend my neck back to look at his face even though he was leaning down. He sneered elegantly and stalked away. "Didn't mean to ruffle your feathers." I said quietly. I didn't want him back in my face again; it was just too intense for me. I shivered. Time to go put some dry clothes on.
I was sitting on my bed trying to mediate like it said on my yoga/relaxation tape when my cell phone rang. I leapt up and dove for it automatically. I flicked it open and hauled myself off the floor and into a chair before answering.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Sakura? It's Sasuke." I dropped my phone. Where the hell had he gotten my number?
"Oh, hi." I said, once I had picked my phone up again. I prayed he wouldn't say anything about the odd thumping noise it had made against the carpet. Wouldn't it be awkward if he walked in here right now? "What's up?" I asked, trying to keep my cool.
"Ino gave me your number." Ah HA! I thought. "I wanted to ask you something."
"Shoot." I said, mentally noting to throttle Ino within an inch of her life when I next saw her.
"Are you free next week." He asked, slightly hesitant.
"Uh, which days?" I asked, knowing full well I had emptied my schedule to go to the mountain with the guys earlier. Since I wasn't going anymore, my schedule was petty empty.
"The whole week."
"Why?"
"I wanted to know if you wanted to come up to the mountain with me and they guys in my house. Hikaru can't come because of business meetings, so we've got a free room. I just thought I'd offer." He said. I was silent for a moment. "You can bring a friend if you want." He added.
"Um, hang on a second, I've got another call." I said, getting annoyed with Ino. I knew she had something to do with this and now someone else was calling me during this crucial moment. "What?" I asked, sounding as annoyed as possible.
"Hey sweetie! It's me!" Ino trilled. Suddenly I knew the full extent of her plan.
"Ino, you wouldn't happen to be free all of next week would you?" I asked ironically.
"How did you guess?" she feinted surprise.
"Hold on." I said and pressed the call waiting button. "Sasuke?"
"Yeah?"
"Can I bring Ino?" I asked, tentative.
"I guess so." He sounded less than thrilled. I was personally a little ticked myself.
"Okay. Email me the details later, okay?"
"Yeah, okay."
"Thanks. Um, I'll see you on Monday then?"
"Yeah. See you Monday."
"Ino?"
"Yuppers?"
"Pack your bags. We're going to the mountain with six hot guys for a week."
"YES!"
"Bye."
"See you in the next life! Don't be late!"
Okay, so I lied about the whole plot twist thing. I had this whole dramatic thing planned, but I got lazy, so I think I will stretch it out over two more chapters or so. Anyway, a BIG thank you to every single person who read, or read AND reviewed!!!!! You guys make my life!
My happy song of the century: Haven't Met You yet – Michael Bublé. (Seriously. It is excellent.)
I don't know when I will manage to post next, so please be patient with me. I will try and make up for my bad updating skills with a more exciting chapter next time. And please ignore any spelling errors, I am way too lazy to edit. Ha ha ha. Okay, I'm going to post this now.
WLA