Chapter 14
Sakura's POV
The whole time I was at Naruto's, I learned a lot about him. For example, he was, like Sasuke, adopted – though not officially.
Iruka Umino is Naruto's guardian. I don't know much about him, except that he was somehow involved with Naruto's childhood. I first saw him when Naruto and I went into the untouched part of the house for breakfast. I only caught a glimpse though, because I saw him when he was leaving the house to go to work.
It's actually amazing how little I really knew about Naruto until now. I guess that's another reason on why we would never work out as a couple.
But I'll settle for really good friends.
Except for now.
"Naruto!" I yelled angrily, and slammed my fists against the bathroom door. He was on the other side – in the bathroom – talking to someone on the phone.
Except it wasn't just someone. It was Sasuke.
"Get out here! Right now!" And I tried the doorknob again, though I knew it was locked.
The reason I was so angry with him wasn't the fact that he was talking to Sasuke – it was what he was saying to Sasuke.
And I could hear things like 'I slept with …', and 'I guess she got bored with you…we had a lot of fun actually.'
Now these could be perfectly innocent words if one knew what had really happened. I mean I did sleep with Naruto last night, though all we did was sleep. But the problem was that Naruto was putting this in a rather quirky perspective and he was talking to Sasuke – who is a guy. And guys (like Sasuke) tend to take these words and twist them into a sexual sort of context. Especially when it's Naruto who's talking.
"Naruto! I'm serious! Get out-" The door swung open swiftly, cutting me off.
"I'm out, I'm out already," He said, grinning and holding up his hands – one of them gripping a cell phone.
"What the hell did you do!?" I yelled, and resisted the urge of ripping the phone out of his hands.
"It was just a joke!" He laughed, "I just told him I slept with you, that was all-"
"WHAT!?"
"Jeez, I even told him I was-" Before he even finished speaking, I really did rip the phone out of his hands.
I started freaking out as I searched for the 'redial' button. "I have to call him back! I have to call him back! I have to tell him that we didn't sleep together! I have to call him-"
"You can't." I heard Naruto say.
"What?" I looked up to him with wide eyes, my actions ceasing.
"You can't." He stated simply.
"What do you mean I can't?" I asked him, my body frozen.
"Well, he's leaving for his cruise soon, and he won't have time to answer a call. He might have already left."
"He's leaving for a cruise." I repeated, the words processing in my head.
"Yup."
"He's leaving for a cruise!?" I yelled suddenly, causing him to take a step backwards.
"Uh, yeah. Well, I… you see-"
"What am I going to do now!?" My voice took on the edge of hysteria.
"It's gonna be fine Sakura-"
"It is so not going to be fine! He thinks we slept together! Now he's going to think that for – wait, how long is he even going for!?" Why didn't I know? Why wasn't I told? Sasuke was leaving for a cruise? I had just gotten through to him!
Well, at least I think I did.
But he thinks that I slept with Naruto! What's he going to do about that? Will he go and screw some other girl? Oh my god – there are going to be other girls on the cruise! I won't be there to defend my status! What if somebody takes him? What if he completely doesn't even think about me? What if he doesn't even remember what happened last night!? Because then all he'll have is Naruto's word, and Naruto's word is not a very good thing.
"Chill." Naruto said, and put both of his hands on my shoulders. "Now, breathe." I followed his orders and took a deep breath.
"Kay, Sasuke may be the biggest asshole in history, but when I was talking with him on the phone, he seemed real jealous when I said we slept together." Naruto's voice was actually calming – not its usual hyper character. He then took his phone out of my grasp, pocketed it, and then his voice turned suddenly happy again. "Kay? Don't worry about it; someone has got to teach you to relax or something."
Naruto's words worked through my mind, and though I became much calmer, the feeling of worry and anxiety did not leave – even when he mentioned that Sasuke sounded jealous.
"Ok, I'm good now," I half lied, and we went back to the kitchen.
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"Hey Sakura," Naruto said as he looked over towards me, "I'm really sorry about calling Sasuke earlier."
I turned to him, a small smile on my lips, "It's okay, I'll live…um… thanks for letting me spend the night…" I took off my seatbelt and went to open the door.
"No really, I feel really, really bad." He replied from the driver's seat, one hand tapping the steering wheel nervously.
"It's fine, really," I faked another smile, but I guess Naruto saw through it to the anxiety I was really experiencing. I mean, I think he'd have to be an actual total idiot to not pick up on the way I was completely somber on the whole ride to my place.
"Seriously," He rubbed the back of his head, "I really shouldn't have done it, it was really stupid, I was being an asshole."
"It's okay, I was just over exaggerating," I said, though really it was only to appease him. "Thanks for giving me a ride home too." And I opened the car door, got out, and made my way towards my house.
"Hey, wait," I turned around to see Naruto unrolling the window, "Uh, Hina and I were going to go to the zoo today, want to join us?"
"The zoo?" I was a little thrown off by that random request.
"Well, yeah… Hina wanted to go," he gave a hopeful smile.
"I don't know…" Well, if Naruto felt that bad about calling Sasuke, then maybe I should go, just to pacify him. I was a little hesitant in answering though – I'd be the awkward third wheel.
"Please?" He called from the car.
"Uh….sure. Why not." I answered. "Just let me get changed and tell my parents."
Naruto immediately brightened, "Okay!"
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"I freakin' get it, mom, you don't have to say things a gazillion times over-"
"It seems I have to say things a 'gazillion' times over for you to get anything through your head. And don't you speak to me like that young lady."
"Everyone there was over the legal age, it's not like we were doing anything wrong-"
"Wrong? Of course something was wrong. Mrs. Archer brought the police over. The police. So don't tell me that you weren't doing anything wrong."
"So the party got a little out of hand-"
"A little?"
"- all the cops did was telling us to turn down the music down, no big."
"You could have gotten fined for disturbing the peace."
"Get real, mom. All we had to do was turn the music down. Other than that, I don't see a real reason to explode on me about the party."
"Oh, so you think I enjoy coming home to find my youngest child gone and my eldest hosting a party? Do think I enjoy finding strangers passed out on our furniture and beer bottles on every surface of the house? Do you think that I-"
"Ugh, dad wasn't spazzing out like you are when he found out."
"Do not compare me to your father!"
"See? A spaz."
"Go to your room."
"You can't order me around – I'm a legal adult."
"You certainly don't act like an adult-"
The front door closed behind me a little louder than I would have liked, catching my mother's and my sister's attention. I froze in place and prepared for my mom's wrath.
"And where were you?" She snapped at me.
"Um… I was at Hinata's…" I lied, and hoped she would believe it. My mom stared at me with suspicious eyes.
"Then why are you dressed like…" She gave me a once over and then continued bitterly, "Puriti?"
"Uh…" I wracked my brain for an answer as Puriti let out a 'hey!' "We had a karaoke night and we all dressed up as celebrities. I forgot my sleepover stuff so… yeah" I prayed she accepted that.
"Did you know about the party your very irresponsible sister had planned?" My mom asked, changing topic – I guess that means she thought I was telling the truth.
"Uh…" My eyes flashed to Puriti, who looked at me with warning eyes. "A party? Uh… kind of…um, no… I mean, well… you see… Naru – I mean Hinata is waiting for me in her car outside. We're going to the zoo, so I have to, uh, hurry." I answered.
"The zoo?" My sister cut in before my mom could speak. "Isn't that a little lame?" Puriti's interruption refocused my mom's attention to her.
"At least the zoo is responsible and doesn't involve the police." And as my mom and sister continued to argue, I ran up to my room to change.
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Hinata didn't mind me tagging along. I think she was actually happy that I was there for the moments when Naruto got a little inappropriate (it turns out the zoo can involve the police). For example, he'd yell things at the monkeys and I'd have to call him off so he'd stop embarrassing us.
I also realized why Naruto chose the zoo as a date. It was something that completely suited the couple that he and Hinata made: cute, random, and sort of cliché.
A perfect example of this was when we walked by the marine part of the zoo. As they walked passed some of the tanks, Naruto and Hinata would name some of the fish that inhabited them. I had to urge the two lovebirds along before they embarrassed all three of us.
"Oh!" Hinata suddenly gasped, and then pulled Naruto towards one of the pools. "Look at the dolphins!"
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Sasuke POV
"Look at the dolphins!" Sarah shouted, and pointed over the railing to the ocean below. The cruise was well on its way away from Jacksonville port and had already amazed Sarah three times over. The first was the sheer size of the boat they were on. The second was how everything was all inclusive, so she could ask a Shirley temple of any one of the staff that were placed around the cruise and not one could say 'you should ask your mother first' or 'wait for dinner' like the ones at home did. The third, the most recent, was the dolphins that constantly followed the boat at its bow.
"Sasuke! Are you looking? Are you seeing the dolphins?" she asked her brother who stood indifferently beside her.
"Hn." Was all Sasuke answered with.
So far, for Sasuke, the cruise had disappointed him three times over.
The first was the total abundance of girls. They were everywhere and all of them had there sights on Sasuke- eyelash batting, giggling, pointing, and constant flirting were all in the package.
The second was the fact that his parents, or those who knew his parents, were constantly around- which lessened his time dedicated to either drinking or smoking.
The third, the most recent, was how, upon Sarah's request and on the fact that he had no reason to do otherwise, the majority of his time was spent with Sarah. Usually, at small doses, Sarah could be manageable or tolerable, but at excess amounts, he wished he could jump off of the stern.
Another thing that disappointed (and extremely annoyed) Sasuke (though he brought this one upon himself) was the lack of a certain pink-haired somebody.
For brief seconds, or out of the corner of his eye, he would see a flash of pink. And these flashes of pink appeared often enough to drive Sasuke insane. Every time he saw one, his head would turn to look for it, but there would be no pink in sight. Every time he saw one, this little thing inside of him would quietly and secretly hope and bring up the hope that Sakura was possibly on the cruise. He didn't even know why he had such high hopes of something that was impossible – more or less paper towel girl – and he didn't even know why he got so frustrated at himself for thinking such things – of paper towel girl.
What frustrated him even more than that was that almost every girl who flirted with him, he was and is able to hook up with. He'd be more than willing to and he's sure that the girl would be to. But he felt that he couldn't – or rather he didn't want to. And who would have ever thought that Sasuke would ever not want to get with a willing, attractive girl for no price, for no consequence at all?
The idea is absolutely insane, not to mention impossible.
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Sakura POV
The idea is absolutely insane, not to mention impossible.
The idea that I could somehow get on the cruise that Sasuke is on right now.
Do you know how many times I've wished that these passed few days? Do you know how many times I've fantasized about me and Sasuke and the cruise? It's crazy. I mean I should be thinking about Christmas coming up and all the presents I'd be getting. But every time I thought about Christmas or presents, my thoughts would somehow link back to Sasuke and the night of the party that my sister threw.
By the way, my sister got in so much trouble for that. If it weren't for my dad, I think she would have been kicked out of the house – not that she's spending much time in it anyways.
But back to Christmas and Sasuke. I think, in my own personal dream world, that the perfect present would be to wake up and be on the cruise that Sasuke is on and have him be there and maybe even liking me a lot. I mean, I wonder if he's even thinking of me at all – or if he even remembers or cares about what happened on the night of the party. So in reality, I guess my ideal Christmas would be for Sasuke to remember that night and maybe even think about it. That would be the best present ever.
That, and a car.
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Sasuke POV
Finally.
How long had he gone without any alcohol or drugs?
Six freakin days, though the real answer should be 'too long'.
And how is he getting these large amounts of alcohol on a cruise?
It's Christmas Eve and the cruise line has a 'youth lounge', currently housing a party for 'youths'.
And one would think that a youth lounge would forbid any alcohol – well they do – but someone spiked the punch. Actually, a lot of people spiked the punch. And the soda. And the water… yes, someone poured some rum in there too. Coconut flavored rum.
And who is supposed to be supervising this party? Surely the cruise staff is, because the party is made up of underage teenagers.
Except for the fact that the staff member supervising is a teenager, or close enough to one, and is too busy flirting up a blonde and trying to get her drunk.
So the youth lounge has now taken the look of a club, with mostly underage drinkers. And dancers. A lot of dancers. If you can call a bunch of people jumping around and grinding dancers.
And if people weren't dancing, they were drinking, trying to get someone else drunk, or making out with drunken people on one of the couches. And that's the lightest of the events that were happening in the room.
Sasuke was somewhere tangled in the crowd of this scene.
Obviously inebriate and shrugging off the many girls around him, he searched for that stupid flash of pink that had followed him to the party. Yes, it was there, and it wouldn't fucking leave him alone.
"Hey," a someone whispered in his ear. He would have ignored the invitation if it weren't for the fact that the thing he had been searching for, the flash of pink was sitting on top of her head. Actually, it was her hair.
Everything came together in a fuzzy 'ding!' inside of Sasuke's head. He hadn't been going crazy; the flash of pink was someone's hair.
Sasuke gave the pink-haired girl a once over. Deciding that she was worthy of his attention, he smirked back at her, silently accepting the invitation.
It was strange how every girl who hit on him was refused, except for this one, who happened to have pink hair. (a/n remember her?!)
Maybe because of his intoxicated state it seemed like this could be an exception, because she looked like…someone.
She walked around to his front, snaked her arms up his chest, and started to nibble on the side of his neck.
Sasuke's brows furrowed, and taking a hold of her hips, pressed her against him.
The girl laughed seductively, and turned herself around in his hold. As the music changed to a fast-paced song, there embrace became more heated.
But as all of this was happening, Sasuke found his reality mixing with his subconscious – something that usually happened when he was drunk. The girl in his arms seemed to transform into someone else – into someone he might have secretly hoped was with him.
The girl pulled him down for a kiss, shaking his subconscious off, and making his reality a lot clearer – or as clear as it could get.
Sakura isn't here…
She boldly added tongue, and pressed their bodies even closer together.
Sakura would never do that…
Sasuke's actions became rougher as he developed a frustration at himself – and the girl giggled as he proceeded.
This isn't Sakura.
And then everything tumbled into place as one huge light bulb turned on in his head.
Even though this girl here was more voluptuous, even if she seemed confident to dance up against him, even though she was thoroughly skilled in what her mouth was doing now, and even though she wasn't afraid to get completely hammered (which he could tell by the taste of her breath), she wasn't Sakura.
She wasn't the lanky thing that couldn't compare to what the person in front of him had on her chest and ass. She wasn't the always embarrassed, always blushing girl who always stared at him. She wasn't the innocent, rambling person who didn't know when to shut up.
She wasn't Sakura.
And Sasuke realized he didn't want to be with this stranger. He didn't want to be with anyone…
Except Sakura.
And his revelation hit him like a punch in the face.
So did the fist that followed soon after.
"Whathafa…" Stumbling back and holding his jaw, Sasuke searched for his new enemy.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing!?" Yelled someone who separated himself from the crowd.
Sasuke sized him up with a glare. No way in hell is someone going to get away with punching him.
But he was interrupted just as he was about to punch the asshole back.
"Moji!" The pink haired girl rushed from beside Sasuke to the other guy.
"What the hell were you doing huh? What the fuck was that, Hana?!" The so called Moji replied, and turned to the so called Hana.
"It was-" she started but was cut off when Moji took a step towards Sasuke.
"You think you can fucking get with my girlfriend? Huh? Asshole," and he pushed Sasuke on his last word.
"Fucker," Sasuke muttered just before he swung his fist.
A circle in the crowd cleared as Sasuke continued his offence. The Moji guy had no chance, once Sasuke's fist connected with his jaw for the first time; it was obvious as to who would win.
Moji had fallen back into the crowd, and Sasuke was on him in a matter of seconds – and went all out – literally showing no mercy.
It was only when he was pulled off by a couple of other guys in the watching group that he finally ceased his actions, but not without struggling first.
He looked back to his victim and grunted a 'Hn.' Moji had a bleeding nose, two swollen eyes that would probably turn black by the next day, and multiple bruises and cuts all over his face and body – maybe, hopefully, a cracked rib or two. And all Sasuke had was a small bruise on his jaw.
"Pathetic," he spat as the people restraining him forcefully pushed him towards the exit of the lounge – under the orders of the supervisor who finally realized what was going on. Sasuke would have struggled, except for the fact that he had barely any energy left, and the world was very hazy from being jostled by those around him.
He was very unceremoniously thrown out of the youth lounge when they reached the doors. And that's when Sasuke finally realized he had been kicked out.
Hn. There's a first time for everything.
He stumbled over to the railing of the cruise deck and rested his forearms on the cool metal. Looking up at the night sky, Sasuke tried to regain a sense of calm – or regain as much as he could while not being sober.
"Fuck," he breathed when he had to suppress a wave of nausea. He lowered his head to rest with his arms on the rail. When the feeling passed, he straightened, and walked – or tried to walk.
"Fuck," he repeated, as he decided to take to walking around the ship. And then all of the curses he had in his vocabulary came flying out of his mouth. And then he said them all again, though 'fuck' seemed to be his favourite.
After all of his anger and frustration had been released, he found himself in the commercial section of the cruise. His mind must have been off somewhere for him to wander this far away from the lounge.
He looked at the stores around him, and then a sudden drunken impulse hit him.
I should get something for Sakura.
In his intoxicated state, this seemed like the most brilliant idea he had ever thought of.
I should get something for Sakura.
It then took him a while to figure out that it was very late at night and he couldn't get anything because he had no money on him, and all the stores were closed.
But by then he already had something picked out.
It was a bracelet, simple, yet expensive looking. He just had to pick what colour beads he wanted.
But he didn't pick what colour because it was late, he was drunk, and he should get back to his room before the cruise patrol find and question him.
So he had somehow made it back to his room, which was right next to the rest of his family, but the means of which were very foggy. So were the means of getting the room key into the lock and then getting into his bed.
Sasuke glanced at the clock on the bedside table before falling into a heavy slumber.
It read 2:23.
Fuck Christmas.
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Sakura POV
Oh my god I love Christmas!!
So I just looked at the clock on my bedside table, and it read 2:23 am! Merry Christmas!
I'm so excited for tomorrow…errr today – this morning… I know I really should be sleeping right now, but I heard my dad leave the house at like, midnight – with no car, and he came back driving a car – do I smell Sakura is getting a car for Christmas? I think so!
And then when my dad came back into the house, he walked up the stairs, and the first thing he did was check to see if I was sleeping – and I was, to him – because when I heard him walking up the stairs, I shut off the lights and jumped into bed and pretended to be asleep.
So I'm under the covers now, and trying to conceal my squeals of joy, and I can't get to sleep. Sam's not even here to help calm me. And I know I really should, because I don't want to be like, dead tomorrow. And I also know that I shouldn't really be getting my hopes up on this car thing, but the damage is already done. Now if only I could get to sleep…
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When I walked down the stairs (more like trudged in a zombie – I ended up getting no sleep last night) and into the living room, I almost became completely wide awake…. Almost.
There were presents everywhere. I mean everywhere. Most of them were wrapped in red wrapping paper, and only, like, three in green.
I ran into the living room, realized Puriti wasn't there, ran back up stairs, woke her up, grabbed Sam in one arm and with the other dragged her down stairs, and sat on the couch anxiously awaiting the gifts to come.
As tradition, we had our parents open their gifts first.
My dad got a couple of books from my mom, golf club socks from my sister, and a mini putting set for his office from me.
My mom got perfume from my dad, a scarf apparently imported from Spain from my sister, and wallet from me.
We also got a couple of presents for Sam- a new little bed, 2 chew/play toys, and a package of treats- because maybe he'd eat something that would look more appetizing.
That's not exciting though, the presents for my sister and I are.
But after they finished opening their presents, my mom and dad – who actually worked together to do Puriti's and my presents – said something very surprising.
"All the red ones are Puriti's, and all the green ones are Sakura's."
Wait. What?
I only get three presents? Puriti gets like 20! That's so not fair!
I kept my mouth shut though and hoped that the three presents had something good in them. I mean, good things come in small packages, right?
But I couldn't help but be overcome by anxiety as I watched Puriti open her bagillion gifts. Did I do something wrong? Was I a bad girl – on the naughty list?
Whoa whoa whoa. Definitely shouldn't have said naughty. Do you know what the first thing was that popped into my mind when I said that?
Sasuke.
And I'm not going to describe to you the state he was in…
"Sakura?" My dad brought me out of my… erm… thoughts.
"Hm?" I answered, a blush on my cheeks from the images I just had in my head.
"Are you going to open your gifts?" He asked, and the thing that brightened my mood when he said that was the excited gleam in his eyes. That meant something good.
"Okay…" I answered slowly.
The first present I opened had a pretty nice t-shirt – a little plain though.
The second one I opened up was a necklace with a cherry blossom pendant.
"Cherry blossom," I said to that, "now why would you think of that?"
The third one, the last one, was in a small box.
I think it was pretty obvious as to what it was. I mean – the sounds I heard last night, the fact that I only got three presents – and you can't forget the already mentioned gleam in my dad's eye.
It literally took me 3 seconds to open the present, realize I was right, and then run outside to match the newly gained keys to the newly gained car.
It was too bad that I was really tired, making me trip on the doorframe and hit my head really hard on the ground.
First reactions
Mom: Oh my god!
Dad: Oh, honey…
Sister: (laughs)
Yes, my sister laughed at me – isn't she nice?
But then they realized that I was crying, so my parents carefully helped me up and Puriti, by my dad's order, went to go get something frozen for my head.
They brought me back to the living room where Puriti brought me a bag of frozen vegetables.
After a half hour of them asking if I was okay, and me always answering with a 'yes', they finally let me see my car.
And it was awesome – my new Honda Civic.
So it may not be a Maserati Diablo, but it's not a big ford or a lemon – so I was happy. Very happy. Even if that meant there would be no more car rides from Sasuke. At least I'll have less from Naruto.
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The rest of my Christmas was… interesting. Crazy could be another word for it too.
So remember how I didn't get like, any sleep last night? And how I hit my head?
Well those played major parts in the rest of my day.
We had gone to some random relative's house for dinner where all my random extended family went to as well, and we all pretended to be a happy family (even my mom and dad). We were all set up around the dinner table when I felt my eyes start to droop. And it wasn't long before I found myself face planted in my dinner.
That's when Puriti yelled something about how I hit my head, and it could be serious, and that's when everyone freaked out that I had a really bad concussion from when I fell.
It was on the way to the hospital when I woke up in my dad's car. Everyone was like, 'Oh my god, are you okay? Stay calm! Relax! It's going to be fine!'
I had to very embarrassedly explain how the sleeping wasn't from me falling, but from me staying up late last night.
And that's when my parents decided it would be best if we just went home – not to the hospital, and definitely not back to my relative's house.
Well, at least that gave me a chance that night to drive my awesome new car!
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Sasuke POV
Sasuke longed for his car. Yes, he longed – that's how desperate the situation was.
He had awoken to Sarah jumping on his bed and yelling 'Merry Christmas!' over and over again.
The first thing that hit him was his hang over. The second was that it was Christmas. The third was that he was still on the damned cruise. And these were not pleasing thoughts.
After very tiredly following Sarah through the connecting door to his parent's room, he had to wait until Marie and Phillip set up the presents while Sarah clutched his shirt and bounced up and down anxiously.
The presents were very scarce this year, two envelopes: one with Sasuke's name, and one with Sarah's name.
That's when Sarah turned to Sasuke, with a worried look in her eyes.
"How come there's no more presents Sasuke?"
If Sasuke joked, he would have teased Sarah about how she was on the naughty list.
…
…
Naughty…
Never should that word be thought of in a male teenagers mind. Especially one who has had… experience. Especially not one who… might be… thinking of someone. A certain girl…
In a Santa costume…
Not that it's unappealing...
"Sasuke? Was I a… bad girl this year?"
Sasuke looked down at the younger girl clinging onto his shirt – who was unconsciously giving him… questionably virtuous thoughts – if Sasuke cared for virtue – about a certain someone.
"Hn."
Sarah looked down at the envelope in her hands, and then looked up at Sasuke again.
Her bottom lips trembled once, and then twice, and then just as it seemed she was about cry, Sasuke sighed and said, "Just open it."
Mr. and Mrs. Carter exchanged smiles at this and waited patiently.
Sarah took a deep breath, turned back to the envelope, and then slowly opened it, carefully taking out the glittery card inside. Her eyes widened at the picture on the front – a large white castle on a blue background – and then she flipped the card open to find fancy words in calligraphy.
Sarah then tried to read out the text, her brows furrowing, "You… you are c…cor…d…cord…corda-"
"Cordially." Sasuke finished, looking over at the card.
"Cordially… You are cordially in… inv-"
"Invited."
"Invited… You are cordially invited to C… Cin… Cinder…"
"Cinderella's."
"Cinderella's!" Sarah looked up to Sasuke excitedly, and forgetting about sounding out the words herself, she shoved the card into his hands. "What does it say!? What does it say!?"
Sasuke sighed heavily, looked down at the sparkly card, and said in his usually monotone voice, "You are cordially invited to Cinderella's castle in Disney World for a day of magic and fun, along with a special tea party with your favourite characters. Dreams really do come true. Signed Cinderella, Prince Charming, and the Fairy godmother."
It took a couple of seconds for Sarah too process all of the information, but when she did, she grabbed the card from Sasuke's hand, and even though she couldn't read all of the words, her eyes scanned over the text. Then, she screamed.
"I'm going to the castle! I'm going to the castle! Sasuke! Guess what! I'm going to Cinderella's castle! In Disney world! I'm gonna see Cinderella! Isn't that superfantabulous!?"
Sasuke smirked and then gave a 'Hn.' He then pocketed his own card, and walked back to his own room while Sarah gushed to her mother.
"Uh, Sasuke?" Phillip glance at Marie, got up from his chair and made his way towards Sasuke.
Sasuke stopped midway to his room and turned to his adoptive father.
"You… I… I heard there was some trouble last night at the youth lounge…" Phillip started. Sasuke shrugged one shoulder and looked towards the connecting door.
"The, uh, one of the crew members came by this morning and told us about the incident…." Sasuke shrugged again, and then looked at Mr. Carter when he placed an arm on his shoulder, "…They also told us that you are under room arrest for the day… I'm very sorry, but it's the rules of the cruise."
Sasuke, since his shoulder was occupied by Mr. Carter's arm, gave a 'Hn.'
Phillip started his next sentence a little awkwardly, "As punishment… I, er, ban you from the youth lounge for the rest of the cruise. It was the only compromise we could make with the cruise line's staff."
Sasuke just rolled his eyes.
"Now, I don't want you to get into any more trouble, so I want you to follow the ship's rules for today, and Marie and I will bring your meals."
"Whatever." Sasuke said, and when Phillip took his arm off of his shoulder, he continued his walk towards his room.
"Oh, and when we get back to Jacksonville, I'll help you with your present." Mr. Carter said with a smile as he walked back to the still very excited Sarah.
"Hn."
When he got safely back to his room – his cell for the day – he opened his envelope.
Sasuke was never usually comfortable with receiving gifts, when he did it was usually very awkward. So, like now, he waited until no one was around to open his gift.
Inside the envelope was a simple piece of paper – actually a receipt. The receipt was for a V12 engine – the one that would be perfect for his car. (a/n so for those who don't know wut a V12 engine is, it's an engine for a car and 12 is how many pistons in the engine it has, so that means how much power/speed. Most cars have like V6 or V8- so a V12 is real good. oh, and I had no idea about engines until I was like 'hey dad if u could have any engine in the world, wut would it be'… so yeah. Sorry for the long note.)
Sasuke just stared at it for a while, not sure how to react. This was another reason why he opened presents alone – the reaction. It's not like he could say, "Oh golly! Daddy this is the best Christmas ever! Thank you so much!" Because that, in all extremities, is the exact opposite of Sasuke. And even "Thanks, I really like it," is a little over the top for him.
So alone he sat, on his bed, and after a couple of minutes, he put the envelope away in his suitcase, lay down on his bed, and turned on the TV.
Only to be a bombarded by a hyper active Sarah 10 minutes later.
"Sasuke! Sasuke! I need help! Please, please, please!"
Sasuke didn't move from his position on the bed, instead, he closed his eyes.
"Sasuke! Wake up! I know you're not sleeping! Wake up, wake up!"
Sasuke didn't reply. But he did crack on eye open when he heard silence and a creak of bed springs.
And then, "Sasuke!"
All of the air was knocked out of his lungs when Sarah landed on his chest.
He opened both eyes to see her staring back at him, a slightly scared of his reaction but still very innocent look.
"I need help. Really really badly."
Sasuke closed his eyes, took a deep, deep breath, and opening his eyes again, he answered with a very annoyed 'what?'
"I gotta draw pictures for Cinderella and all of her friends. I got to."
In the end, Sasuke did help Sarah except he did most of the drawing while Sarah did most of the… well Sarah didn't do much at all. But it wasn't Sasuke's fault – it's just when it comes to art, he is a perfectionist. A huge perfectionist.
And Sarah didn't mind. To her, it seemed as if she did all of the work, and was proud to show it to her parents. Mrs. Carter gave a smile and said, "Wow… they are…(clears throat) beautiful Sarah…" while Mr. Carter took one look at the pictures, and then eyed Sasuke – who shrugged his shoulders and looked away.
So what if they look like pin-ups.
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The cruise's path was a simple one. After leaving Jacksonville Port, it would slowly make its way downwards to Orlando, where it would stop for some to get off and others to get on. Then it would continue its travel all the way down to Miami Beach, stopping at certain checkpoints on the way. After hitting Miami Beach, the cruise would turn around and go all the way back up to Jacksonville Port.
Mr. and Mrs. Carter had planned that when the cruise stopped at Orlando, they would get off and drive down to Disney World for the day, where Sarah would have her Christmas present.
And the cruise had stopped at Orlando, and the Carter's drove down to Disney World, and they all had their magic and fun.
Except for Sasuke.
As the day went on he found that he got easily frustrated. And frustration led to headaches. Large headaches.
"Okay everybody, now it's time for the tea party," Cinderella, or the person dressed up as Cinderella, said, and the Carter family as well as the rest of the Disney crew followed her to a patio just outside of the castle. Just the set up of the patio gave him a migraine.
"Here we are! Now let's have Princess Sarah sit at the very head of the table," and she curtsied as the ecstatic Sarah passed by her.
Sarah had worn a princess dress that Mrs. Carter bought especially for Disney World. The Disney crew had given her a tiara to wear and she was treated like royalty for the whole day – which really isn't that much different from her everyday life. Sasuke, unfortunately, had to follow along the whole time, and partake in some of the activities – well, they tried to get him to partake in some of the activities. He just kind of walked to the destination and stood there while everybody 'did their thing.'
And now at the tea party, while everyone was 'doing their thing', he just sat at one of the seats and glared. A lot.
He didn't think it was possible to glare so much at one person, only to have them smile and wave back. That frustrated him.
He also didn't think it would be possible for the Disney characters to flirt with him. That frustrated him even more.
Cinderella blushed when he stared at her. Belle couldn't take her eyes off of him. Mulan attempted conversation. Sleeping Beauty giggled at every word he said – even if it was a simple 'Hn.' Snow White constantly smiled at him, and Jasmine winked from across the room. Sasuke might have… brushed her bottom at one point. Mini Mouse had 'bumped' into him a couple of times, and Daisy Duck seemed to walk either beside him or behind him. He's not even going to mention what Ariel attempted.
Right now, at the tea party, Tinkerbell took the seat beside him. Sasuke ignored her presence. Tinkerbell gave him a smile. Sasuke glared straight ahead of him. Tinkerbell put a hand on his leg. Sasuke twitched. Tinkerbell slowly moved the hand upwards. Sasuke twitched again. Tinkerbell said, "Hey Prince Charming." Sasuke turned and gave her a once over.
A sparkly tube dress fit snuggly on her – starting just at the cleavage line to barely covering her thighs.
Don't tempt me.
When Tinkerbell's hand moved again, Sasuke brushed it off and breathed a 'fuck off.' Tinkerbell, rejected, huffed and shifted her chair in the other direction.
Then another hand rested on his other leg. And it started moving up in the same direction as Tinkerbell's was.
Fucking-
Wait a minute. The hand, the one that is moving up his leg, is gloved. There is the white Disney glove on this person's hand.
Sasuke quickly looked up to its owner.
And found the big comical face of Goofy staring back at him.
Fucking shit.
Sasuke abruptly stood up, catching the attention of the rest of the guests. He was frustrated and tired (and disturbed from Goofy) of the whole Disney World thing – Sasuke should never be in Disney World in the first place let alone at a tea party.
So he walked away. Not really sure where he was walking to, but just away.
He didn't see Mrs. Carter urging her husband to follow.
"Sasuke," He heard Phillip call. Sasuke didn't stop walking, but acknowledged his presence by slowing down his pace.
Mr. Carter caught up to him and for a minute or two, walked beside Sasuke silently. Then he broke the ice – rather awkwardly – "Not your cup of tea?"
Sasuke gave him a bored look in return.
"Well… I can't say it's mine either… but uh…" And he trailed off not knowing what else to say.
A couple of moments later he spoke up again, "So I see you're not enjoying the cruise that much…"
"…Hn."
"Well, I've been thinking… I noticed that the cruise has a work out centre, and I went down there to check it out… Would you enjoy maybe a personal trainer? I signed one up for myself, but, I think you'd enjoy it more…"
Sasuke flickered his eyes to Mr. Carter and then away.
Seeing as he caught Sasuke's interest, Phillip continued.
"How about it? We get back to the cruise, I sign you up, and you can even spend all of your time at the centre, as long as you're with the family for dinner."
"…sure."
"That's good then, you'll have something to do, and something to look forward to." Mr. Carter started to steer Sasuke back towards the tea party, knowing he had cooled him down.
"A personal trainer could do you good," Phillip continued, talking to break the silence. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the comment.
"Not that you wouldn't be able to train yourself, it's just, with a personal trainer, you can go back to school a whole lot more muscular than when you left."
Sasuke could feel Mr. Carter hinting at something slowly.
"I bet you will improve a lot faster with your own trainer…"
He was definitely trying to make a point. Either that or he was setting himself up for some sort of joke.
"And I bet you will have learned some pretty good training techniques."
Somehow, a joke seemed to be the more reasonable probability.
"Those muscles will be mighty large when we get back..."
When they reached the tea party, Sasuke slowed to a stop, waiting for the point his adoptive father was trying to make.
But Mr. Carter continued to walk back to his seat though he called back.
"It'll give Sakura something to blush about."
Sasuke just glared.
For those who don't know, a pin up girl is… uh… look it up on google images. Basically, in Sasuke's pictures, the princesses all have huge boobs and butts and a tiny waist- probably wearing lots of makeup and little clothes.
Okay, so Moji is Sakura's old boyfriend from elementary school. He is first mentioned in chapter 1, and then is later seen in chapter 3 along with Hana, his new girlfriend. Sakura was a little jealous when she saw him because his new girlfriend was 'practically a reincarnation' of her as she put it.
ALSO:You can add me on MSN/hotmail at serenity "underscore" jem "at" hotmail "dot" com (except forget the spaces in between the address and the "words" instead of the actual symbol- those are only there or else it won't show when I post this chapter) You can send me ur ideas, comments, criticism, more ideas, etc.