Shinha Dojinshi Presents

Maybe 1st place wasn't a bad idea…

A Sasu x saku fic

"…What will you do if Sasuke-teme doesn't…" He paused to look up at her concerned face. It was almost as if she knew what he was going to ask her, but she didn't think of it as a plausible option yet.

"If he doesn't what?"

Sakura's gaze intensified as if she were daring him to even finish his question.

Her glaring must've struck some fear into him since he thought better of it and reclined back into his chair.

"Er…nevermind. I forget."

Naruto turned away to avoid Sakura's cold eyes and swift mood change. He slumped back into his chair.

'Women are scary…' he thought as he shuddered violently.

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"Sasuke-koi!"

Anko's sickening voice could be heard echoing off the walls of her large manor. She skipped around gleefully as she kept her eyes open for her husband-to-be. A look of concern soon developed on her striking features as she discovered that Sasuke was nowhere to be found.

"Sa-Sasuke-koi…?"

She peered through ever door and twilit window trying to find a trace of him. A feeling of deep panic welled up inside of her as she covered more area of her mansion.

Anko began running at a breakneck speed once she was definitely sure that the Uchiha was no longer wandering any of the winding halls of the house. It was only until she finally retreated to her room did the explanation for Sasuke's absence hit her. He had revealed a vital piece of information to her during dinner that night…

F L A S H B A C K

Sasuke and Anko were seated at opposite sides of an old-fashioned dining table that was laden with numerous delicacies. Several candles were lit that emitted a bright light that illuminated the dank, dark, old-fashioned dining hall.

Anko looked up from her plate to vaguely peer at the Uchiha sitting across from her. Her eyes darted from his luscious raven locks to his deep obsidian eyes. Anko sighed as she took in the rather handsome features of the younger boy in front of her.

"Oh Sasuke-koi," she sighed, "you are the yummiest boy ever!"

She clutched at his leg under the table and squeezed his knee seductively. Unfortunately, Sasuke took it the wrong way and jumped as her hand suddenly climbed further up his leg.

"Dammit, woman!"

He spat at her as he sat up from the table and headed toward the nearest door. A look of pure hatred was arranged on his face as he started to storm away.

"Oh, Sasuke-koi!"

Although the determined woman knew that he was extremely pissed off at her, she followed suit behind him, occasionally stepping on his heels annoyingly.

It was only when they were nearing the main door did she finally realize that he was about to leave.

"Huh? Where are you going, my love?"

Anko looked up at his already pissed-off face and clutched onto his arm territorially. This only angered the Uchiha boy more as she swatted her away angrily.

"…I'm going to go book seats on an incoming flight."

Automatically, Anko had misinterpreted his sudden longing to travel somewhere distant as something sincere of him. It took her a while before she thought up some absurd excuse. She grinned as he slipped his shoes on and opened the door.

"Oh! I get it! You're going to book a trip for our honeymoon, right!"

A look of delight was on her face as her eyes gleamed with satisfaction. All Sasuke did was sigh as he paused before answering.

"…uh. Yeah. I am."

He turned around to look at the reaction of the girl in front of him. She gasped and clapped her hands gleefully.

"Bye, boo! I'll see you later! How's about you give me a goodbye kiss?"

Anko steadily advanced closer towards Sasuke's face; aiming directly for his lips. Her shoulders tensed up as she neared him slowly. Before she even got close enough to personally disturb his own personal space, he held up his hand and pushed her face further away from his. He looked at her annoyed and said flatly,

"I'd rather not."

He turned around without another word and began walking down the long, winding road leading to the estate's gates with Anko looking on after him.

"I'll see you later, Sasuke-koi!"

Unfortunately, that was the last time she had ever spoken to him…

E N D O F F L A S H B A C K

"Ugh! The nerve of that conniving little boy!"

She stood up from her sitting position on her bed and sped across the hall to his former room. Tears streaked her hot cheeks as her make-up began to run and stain her pale face.

When she slid open the old fashioned shoji door, she expected to see Sasuke's things spread out all over the room like they usually were, but instead, everything was in an organized manner and there was not one single trace of any of his possessions. She threw open the closet door and furiously pulled open all the drawers. But, no matter how many drawers she pulled open, she never found an article of clothing; and, in a fit of anger, she took a pocket knife and sliced one of the tatami mats down the middle, thinking that he might be hiding something underneath it.

But as she pried at the tatami mat and started ripping pieces and pieces of it off the floor, she had not taken notice of black ink on the opposite side of the tatami. It took her a while to figure out that the tatami had been streaked with ink on the other side.

This time, she carefully pried the tatami mat from the floor and flipped it over. She gasped as she saw something sprawled in a small corner on the back of it. A tear slid down her cheek as she continually read the message over and over,

"Anko-san,

I'd like to thank you for your hospitality. As you've probably heard, my stepfather is dead and since it was his part of his plan for us to be wed, I think it best that we just forget the whole ordeal now that he's deceased. May you have luck with finding another husband.

-Uchiha Sasuke"

Anko's sobs could be heard echoing through the whole estate as she slunk back against the wall and hugged her knees in anguish.

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"So, Naruto-kun, where do you want to head to first? Anko's house or a hotel?"

Sakura looked over at Naruto questioningly as he picked up their bags from the conveyer belt. He licked his lips as a thought of where to go came to mind.

"What about a ramen stand, Sakura-chan? I'm dying to eat something."

She bopped him on the head and grinned as he rubbed the back of his head where her fist came in contact with his noggin.

"Hey! What was th-"

"Look. I don't think that there are any ramen vendors scattered all over the place like in Japan. We're in America now, dummy!"

Sakura glanced around curiously as they proceeded with exiting the airport. It seemed as if it would take forever before they would figure out exactly where they were going. But her panic seemed to subside when they neared the exit of the airport, but Naruto held onto her arm to stop her as she was about to push open the glass doors. Sakura turned to him curiously.

"Huh? What is it Naruto-kun?"

Naruto's eyes were fixed on a woman at the front desk with his mouth wide open.

"Sh-she!"

Sakura's brow furrowed as she tried to make sense of the few words sloppily falling out of his mouth.

"She's what, Naruto-kun?"

She tapped her foot impatiently as Naruto started to stare at the woman relentlessly. When she had finally had enough of Naruto ogling this strange woman, she raised a hand and struck the side of his face with her hand. It didn't seem to affect him as he finally opened his mouth to speak.

"She! She's a BABE!"

"What…?"

Sakura stared at Naruto in disbelief as he continued to grasp her arm firmly and gape at this 'babe' of a woman at the front desk. Suddenly, she turned around and her sheet of beautiful dark hair whipped around to reveal a woman with striking features. Although her face was beautiful, it held a look of sadness and contempt.

"Ack! She's looking in our direction!"

Naruto reacted in the best way he could think of – he pulled Sakura towards him and caught her lips in a tender kiss. Naruto slowly wrapped his arms around her waist as Sakura stood there in complete shock.

When they finally parted, the woman was gone and Naruto was ready to reach in to steal another kiss when Sakura stopped him halfway.

"N-Naruto-kun…"

He nuzzled her neck affectionately as he held her tightly.

"What is it, Sakura?"

Naruto started planting tender kisses on her collarbone as she stood frozen on the spot. She glanced around anxiously as people started glancing in their direction and staring at them oddly.

"N-Naruto-kun…?"

He ignored her words and continued the lip service on her neck as she gradually regained all common sense.

She pushed him off and ran her palm across his cheek. He stood there stunned as he gingerly brought a hand to his face as he recoiled. Her fist was raised for another strike as she grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him toward her. Their noses were centimetres away as she glared at him through her emerald green eyes.

"Look, Naruto-kun. I didn't ask you to come with me, so you might as well leave."

It seemed as if Naruto had finally come to his senses. He blushed profusely as he put his hand on Sakura's and carefully got her to unlatch her balled up fist from his shirt. He hung his head in shame as he held onto her hand.

"N-ne…gomen nasai, Sakura-chan. That was really stupid of me…"

Naruto's brow furrowed as his blue eyes quickly brought them up to look at her directly in the eye. As he spoke, his voice was filled with guilt and hurt as he tried to get her to forgive him.

"I know that your heart already belongs to someone else. I was just being…"

"Stupid?"

Sakura raised an eyebrow at him as she yanked her hand away. He slowly turned around and walked down the path that they had just come from as she shoved the glass doors open and stormed through the vicinity, leaving any thoughts of Naruto behind.

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As she sped through the winding streets of New Jersey, she felt a soft patter of rain fall onto the crown of her head. She sighed as she decided to trek on through the packed streets.

"Stupid rain…"

She tried to forget that the luggage was left behind with Naruto; and after what she said, she doubted that he would give it back so freely.

'He'd probably want to have sex with me just to get back my luggage,' she thought sarcastically.

Sakura had all the right reasons to be mad with the blonde haired boy. Why had he just attacked her out of nowhere? She knew that he was forever jealous of Sasuke for beating him to the punch when they were younger, but did he really have to act so irrationally?

She sat down under a small awning as the rain started to come down in larger droplets. She stared out at the people who passed her by without a second glance or look of concern.

"Sasuke-koi…where are you?" she whispered under her breath. But her question fell upon deaf ears.

Suddenly, a weird notion struck her. Why had she even come here on a whim just to see him?

'No…no. I don't regret coming here at all!" she tried to tell herself. But instead of believing it, she found herself trying to convince herself to believe it.

'Oh gosh Sakura…you're falling apart!'

She suddenly realized how cold and hungry she was as she sat on the cold pavement beneath her. But as she sat there, her mind was definitely elsewhere. As her mind ceased to co-operate with her heart, she abruptly came to the conclusion that she was lost and that she had no money at all without her luggage.

The next thing she did was break down and cried. It took her a while to finally realize that she was completely alone in a country that she had basically entered illegally. She hugged her knees pensively as she felt another batch of hot tears well up in her eyes.

'What the heck am I doing here? I could be at home trying to get over him…' she began thinking as she held her face in her hands and sobbed quietly. Her pink hair fell over her face to shield all people from view as they just continued to pass her by. It seemed as if no one would pay her any attention as she continued sitting on the damp pavement as the rainwater soaked her to her very core. Sakura could no longer tell the difference between the cruelty of the rain falling from the sky and her very own tears. Her eyes turned blurry yet again as she looked up at a hand that had been shoved in front of her face. She stared up at the owner of the hand in disbelief.

"Having a horrible day, are we?"