OMAKE TAIM TAIM XDDDDD!
I know you all want this so hear it is! XP
But SIGH, I can't believe people want to meet Mrs. Uchiha again! I thought you'd forget about her if I didn't mention her for a few chapters...I blame Itachi for talking about her on Christmas...punk xI
Oh well here it is! :p
+ The Crisis of a Cherry Blossom +
Chapter 26 - Omake - PART 1
Narrator: ...it is spring once again...the sight of cherry blossoms falling is really very beautiful...
"Okay guys listen up because it's finally here!" Ino shouted into the microphone on the stage. Her year below her covered their ears and groaned in pain.
"Ino you don't have to scream into the mike it already amplifies your voice." Hinata said on behalf of the students in pain.
"Oh be quiet Hinata! Ever since you got that makeover you've been acting so high and mighty lately!" the blonde spat back and Hinata sighed.
"Not like she needs a mike anyways..." Tenten commented.
"I heard that!" Ino snapped before turning back to the poor children that were forced to listen to the announcement.
"As I was SAYING. Now that we're no longer a group of freshmen, I have acquired some power within the student council." she started her speech boastfully.
"Get on with it your voice is annoying!" one of the guys shouted out and the students laughed before Ino roared at them to shut up.
"Moving right along, this spring break I am arranging for the school to have a spring break party before the holidays!"
"WOOOOOOOOO~!" the students cheered.
"And you're all going to help me do it!"
There was a silence as the cheers stopped instantly. After a few seconds of staring they realized Ino was serious and started to file out of the auditorium one by one.
"W-Wait! Um, if you help out you won't have to pay for a ticket to enter! It's going to be really exclusive and we'll have surprise guest musicians so it'll be like having VIP passes!"
Some of the students stopped but a lot of the others just fanned her off. Ino was looking like she was about to jump off stage and beg people to come back when she suddenly thought of something.
With a coy smile she opened her mouth, "Did I mention that this thing is not going to be chaperoned at all?"
At that moment everyone else froze in their place.
"Ha! Got them! I should've known. Those people leaving want to know no one's going to stop them from getting personal with each other. Sigh. Such typical children." Ino thought to herself confidently.
"Are you bribing-"
"SHATUP!" Ino silenced Tenten before she could finish. She then turned around with a wide smile that made the students shiver,
"Now, since you all seem to agree with my terms, we'll start preparations for this thing tomorrow and continue every afternoon. After all, spring break starts this weekend so we only have four more days to make this work! Please bring the following things. Any amount of any is fine but PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE make an effort to carry stuff." Ino asked nicely.
The students murmured 'yeah rights' and 'I'm not doing that too much trouble' and when Ino heard them a vein popped on her forehead and she grabbed the mike,
"Listen here you ungrateful little brats I'm doing this for you so you BETTER help out because if you don't help then there will BE no spring formal okay?"
The room was silent with fear.
"IS THAT CLEAR!" Ino screamed into the mike.
"YES MA'AM!" the guys shouted out with wet pants while the girls huddled together and screamed. Sakura sweat dropped, "Wow. So this is how she runs the student council so well. Well, I guess that's the only thing that'll work with these rich kids."
"Oh and I'm throwing a cool spring formal so there'll be no freshman unless you choose to invite one as your date."
"Date!" the student body shouted back at her.
"Oh I didn't tell you? You can bring a date along with you. But you'll have to pay for their ticket even if you go free."
The students groaned.
"YOU ALREADY SUBMITTED YOURSELF THERE'S NO BACKING AWAY NOW!"
"Yes ma'am!" the students replied.
"Good. Now, the student council will be going around and passing out handouts with the things you need to bring. We'll do it in each of your homerooms and have you sign a paper so we'll know what kind of punishment to give you if you don't bring the items tomorrow."
The students quivered at the word punishment.
"Don't worry guys. It's a long list and each person is only required to carry at least one item on the list."
The students sighed.
"BUT IF I FIND OUT YOU COULD CARRY MORE AND YOU DIDN'T THERE WILL BE CONSEQUENCES AM I CLEAR?"
"YES MA'AM!"
"Very well. You are dismissed." Ino said and the students scattered out of the auditorium's three exits.
"Doesn't she remind you of the principal in some ways?" Tenten whispered.
"Hmm? Tsunande-sama? Well, they do have the same hair colour...but the principal is way nicer." Hinata replied with a shy smile.
The two shivered on feeling an evil aura behind them.
"AH! We have class!" Tenten said to Hinata who nodded and ran after the brunette without looking back at Ino.
Sakura allowed the sea to sweep her out of the building and safely transport her into in front of her classroom. After one year and a term she had learned how to 'ride the wave' and safely exit when she needed to.
Unfortunately, as soon as she entered the classroom she heard a very loud voice that she remembered she just heard.
"Ah, Sakura you're finally here."
"Wa...didn't we abandon you on the other side of the school awhile ago?" Sakura said, unaware of how Ino managed to teleport.
"Oh just sit down now's not the time to admire me you can do that in your own free time." Ino said as she waved a paper around and pointed to Sakura's seat with it.
"Sheesh. So bossy." Sakura muttered before taking her seat. She sighed and turned to look out the window but when she saw Sasuke's head blocking it she quickly turned back to Ino, "Oh man I completely forgot about what happened yesterday! Well, at least what happened before Itachi basically rescued me...I can't believe this is happening! And I also can't believe I've gotten over Sasuke so fast..."
"Sakura!"
"Yes!" Sakura replied and jumped up.
"What will you be carrying for the spring formal?" Ino asked, already irritated at Sakura spacing out while she was talking.
"Oh um, what are the items again?" Sakura asked sweetly with a smile.
Ino groaned, "I JUST repeated them. I'm not doing it again you know! Listen carefully. ALL OF YOU." The blonde said before repeating the long list.
"I'll take...balloons and streamers. I bought a lot of those one time for-"
"Okay that's nice but we don't care. Hinata write Sakura down for those items." Ino said sharply before calling out the next person on the list.
"And come to think of it, even though she pays a lot more attention to me, hasn't Ino become...nicer? In a way? A really far-fetched over the hill way but still..." Sakura thought to herself with a smile.
As Hinata wrote down the last person the bell rang for the next class and everyone left the classroom.
"Ino!" Sakura called out as she ran towards the blonde who sighed on hearing the pink-haired girl's voice.
She turned around dramatically, "What do you want Sakura? I'm tired but I'm also pressed for time because I have to go to the other classes as well."
"Don't worry I won't take up much of your time. I was just wondering if you'd like to switch seats with me for all the classes I sit beside Sasuke in." Sakura replied chirpily.
Ino and Hinata stared at Sakura like statues.
"..Excuse me? I don't think I heard you properly awhile ago." Ino said while cleaning out an ear for a second.
"It's just that since that incident yesterday I just, you know, don't feel really comfortable beside the guy who dumped me in front of everyone." Sakura lied with a smile.
"Heh. That's true. Must suck to have to go through that. I usually wouldn't volunteer to do anything that makes your life easier..."
"Oh and this way you'll be on equal ground with Karin."
"Eh what the heck. It's a win-win situation." Ino said and held out her hand. Sakura gladly shook it and they went their separate ways.
"Hinata? Aren't you going to follow Ino?" Sakura asked the purple haired girl who was smiling very creepily.
"Well I just wanted to let you know that in all the classes you sat beside Sasuke-san I sat beside Ino-san so now we can sit together!"
"Oh that's awesome."
"Yup! See in you class Sakura-san!" Hinata called out as she ran after the blonde.
"Making friends. Yes, yes, very good." a voice said and Sakura turned around quickly with a smile.
"You're going to try and make me late for class again aren't you? Well it's not going to work I was already expecting you this time." Sakura said and walked past the boy with a confident smile.
"Oh I wasn't planning on any such thing. I just wanted to remind you that the spring formal is the last day of our little 'time period'." the Uchiha said with a smirk and Sakura froze mid step.
"I'm going to class!" Sakura called out and briskly walked down the corridor to her class. Itachi smirked before taking off in the other direction.
[FIRST DAY OF PREPARATION]
The evening was extremely busy. Students were running all over the place: back and forth under Ino's instruction. The blonde was standing on the stage at the podium once again,
"This is a very large auditorium and I want to see decorations everywhere so step it up people we have a lot to do if we want to finish by Friday!" Ino said into the mike.
"Yes ma'am!" the students responded like always.
Sakura and Hinata were putting up the balloons and streamers.
"This is hard without a third person to tell us if it's straight..." Sakura said to Hinata who responded with a tired nod. They'd been at the same spot for quite some time now and scolded for it by Ino at least twice now. But since there needed to be one person at each end to tape up the streamers, they had to tape and step back then go back to fix it.
"Sakura, raise your side a little bit more." a voice called out.
Sakura obeyed the instruction, "Like this?" "Finally someone noticed us!"
"Perfect." and the two girls taped the ends and let their arms fall with a sigh of relief.
"Finally!" Sakura said, wiping sweat from her forehead. Ino refused to turn on the fans until she saw progress from everyone.
"Thank you...! Itachi-san!" Hinata said in surprise.
Sakura jumped, "What are you doing here?"
"Trying to get a free ticket to the formal. What else? Ino allowed it for both years." Itachi replied grinning. "You guys look like you need some help."
"Well we've put up most of the streamers on this wall and now we're going to do the balloons so we don't need you at the moment why don't you go help your year?" Sakura replied stubbornly.
"Miss Haruno, are you trying to get rid of me?" Itachi asked as he walked slowly to the girl with a smirk. Sakura began to blush as she saw his smirk and looked away.
"N-No of course not! It's just that Hinata promised to help me out and right now she's all the help I-" Sakura continued to be stubborn as she tied a balloon but stopped when she felt Itachi's chest against her back as he held both her hands in his and rested his chin on her head.
"Wh-wh-what are y-"
"No don't mind me. Please continue. She's all the help you what?"
Itachi gave Hinata a look and a smile, and the girl instantly understood blushing, "Um, Sakura-san I think I see Naruto-kun over there and since you have Itachi-san...I don't want to intrude on anything!" Hinata shouted out and ran away with a face redder than Sakura's.
"Wait what? Hinata! Hinata no!" Sakura called out but the girl quickly ran across the highway of students to the orange spot on the other side of the large room.
Itachi let go of her and took a balloon out of the bag on the floor. "Where are you going to put up the balloons now?"
"I can't believe you did that!" Sakura exclaimed as she stomped over to him and grabbed the balloon out of his hand.
"Did what?" The Uchiha replied obliviously.
"You made Hinata leave us alone intentionally so you could-!" Sakura started but stopped herself.
"Could what?" Itachi smirked but Sakura was at a loss for words. Well she wasn't really, but the word that came up in her mind was something Itachi wouldn't probably think of doing for at least another 30 chapters.
Instead of getting all flustered Sakura took a deep breath in and let it out slowly, "I'm not letting you get to me." she said as she walked to the wall and started to blow up the balloon.
Itachi sighed with a smile, "Aw, no fun. You didn't pout this time."
"You know I can't believe you find it so fun to tease me." she said as she tied the balloon. "But you know what? I'm going to make sure I have fun at the spring formal no matter how much you tease me."
She went on her toes to tape the balloon on the wall in the middle of the streamer, "I'm, going to find a nice guy in my year and ask him to go with me and then-" but a hand slammed against the wall, startling her.
"You are NOT going to that formal with another guy." Itachi said seriously. Sakura tensed but tried to play it off by continuing to tape the balloon.
"And what gives you a right to say anything? You're not my boyfriend." she replied and smiled to herself, "That's right Sakura. Stand your ground!"
"But if you'd just stop being so stubborn and take the frickin' time period off I would be!" Itachi said back in an angry tone.
"Why does he sound so angry?" Sakura thought to herself. "Well I'm not going to, and until it's done you're just my friend so get used to it. Pass the tape over there I took too small a piece."
There was a pause, then Sakura felt a draft as Itachi leant off the wall, "Why don't you ask your date to pass the tape instead?" Itachi snapped.
Sakura turned around, "What?" she questioned, concerned with his cold response but he had already started walking away. He didn't even walk to his group. Instead, he left the auditorium itself.
"Itachi!" Sakura called out but the guy slammed the door closed. The room was quiet for a minute. Everyone was looking at Sakura. Sakura looked around at them and, feeling insecure, turned around and started blowing a balloon. Murmurs were starting around the place, wondering what was going on between the two.
Eventually a female voice broke out above the rest, "Lost him already? That's two Uchihas in what, two days? I knew the Uchihas would never stoop so low as to date a commoner like you Sakura!" All the girls and some of the guys started to laugh at their comment.
"STOP WASTING TIME SLAVES!' Ino screamed into the mike and the laughter stopped instantly: people continuing their jobs while their ears throbbed.
Ino looked at Sakura, then took three steps towards the stage steps but stopped when she heard Hinata call out Sakura's name and run to her.
The blonde went back to her mike and commenced shouting our orders at lightning speed so no one would get the chance to see Sakura's expression and clarify if the rumour was true or not.
When Hinata reached the pink-haired girl she put a hand on the girl's shoulder, "What happened? Everything seemed to be going, um, fine when I left." the girl asked, her cheeks slightly pink from remembering the position the two were in.
"I...I don't know but...I feel like I just got dumped..." Sakura replied softly.
"Sakura...!" Hinata exclaimed in her soft voice when she stood in front of Sakura and saw tears streaming down her face. Hinata hugged her, "Shh. It's okay."
"I don't know why I'm crying!" Sakura said before sniffling. Naruto soon approached the two, "Sakura-chan what's wrong!"
"N-Naruto-kun! Wh-why don't y-you go get s-some hand towels for Sakura-s-san?" Hinata stuttered with pink cheeks. The blonde okay'd her and quickly sprinted off. He grinned as Ino scolded at him for stepping one of the banners being carried by a group of students.
"I'm sorry Hinata. You were with Naruto but here I am ruining your moments." Sakura apologized sorrowfully.
"Well, yeah you kind of ruined it but, you're my friend and I know you'll help me get him as a date for the formal right?"
Sakura looked up with a thankful face but felt so scared when she saw Hinata's evil smile, "D-definitely! That's what friends are for!" Sakura replied positively.
"Okay I'll help you blow up some balloons now. But you help too! If you sit there and sulk you'll get uglier." Hinata said as she put the bag in Sakura's lap. The girl smiled before blowing up a balloon of her own.
"Hinata's odd knowledge can really cheer me up sometimes."
[UCHIHA RESIDENCE]
As soon as the limo pulled up to the entrance of the mansion/palace/place/thing Itachi opened the door himself before the driver could reach it and stomped up the stairs. A lot of the staff apologized for their tardiness in making it to the stairs to greet him but he just ignored them and marched right inside before they could even join the line.
As he went through rooms he slammed all the doors and eventually crossed Sasuke's path in the dining room. Brooding made him hungry.
His mother arrived shortly after, and began to scold the worried maids who were standing with their backs to her as she walked upstairs.
Eventually she entered her own home and reached the kitchen door just in time to catch the conversation between her two sons.
Sasuke sighed, "What's wrong this time big brother? I finally gave Sakura to you what more do you want?" the boy asked with a face that showed he was tired of Itachi looking like that when it wasn't his fault.
Itachi glared at him but before he could reply the mother did, "Come again?" she said as her heels clacked on the floor. Her plastic smile was 'extra genuine' this time, showing she was not very pleased with what as said.
Itachi tensed. Sasuke was a bit thrown off at his mother's ninja entry but quickly composed himself.
"Am I hearing right? You GAVE Sakura to Itachi?"
"Thant's right mum." Sasuke said with a smug smile as Itachi glared at him. They both knew how this would end already.
"What did you do to my son Itachi? Did you threaten him? I'll bet you did! I can't believe you! The one time and by one time I really do mean THE ONE TIME that boy ACTUALLY finds a girl you go and take her away from him! How can you be so cruel?" the mother shouted out.
She then turned around and went to go hug her son, "Don't worry my son everything will work out I'm sure Itachi will give her back to you. RIGHT SON?" the mother said and glared at Itachi.
"N...No!"
"What was that?" the mother said in a very serious tone.
"I refuse to give him to her! He had her and he made her cry!"
"Well every relationship has it's ups and downs Itachi you can't expect a happy ending all the time."
"Yes I can! She'll get a happy ending because of me! The reason she cried is because HE, that boy over there, YOUR SON, told her off and DUMPED HER in the harshest way possible in front of everyone at school in the middle of the hallway. I was the one who rescued her and we now have a mutual love for each other! He never even loved her!" Itachi shouted back at her.
"Geez you don't have to shout. Is this true son?" the mother asked Sasuke sweetly.
"Yes mum. She just wasn't the one." Sasuke said with the same plastic smile and sincerity he inherited from her.
"Aww. Poor thing. Well, there's always more fish in the sea. I'll try and set you up with someone better in the future don't worry. I have work to do now so I'll see you boys when I see you!" the mother sang as she kissed Sasuke on the forehead and glided out of the room.
Itachi was dumbfounded. He couldn't believe what just happened. Sasuke smirked at him, "What's wrong big brother?" he asked innocently.
Itachi turned to the door his mother was leaving through, "Did you not just hear me say that he dumped her in the WORST WAY BY PUBLICLY HUMILIATING HER!"
The mother stopped for a moment then turned around, "Well I'm sure he had to do it. Sakura does look like one of those clingy fangirl types. But I guess since Sasuke's not unhappy with you two together then I'm not!" the woman beamed, "So, what kind of family is she from? Medicine? Business?" the mother asked.
"Uh, about that..." Itachi started.
"She's a poor commoner with no wealth to her name." Sasuke stated bluntly.
"Ahaha, you're joking right? Boy you guys sure can tell a joke. Well if you'll excuse me...!" the mother said and laughed all the way to her room on the umpteenth floor. Her laughter echoed throughout the house until she closed her room door.
There was a silence in the kitchen.
"How am I going to tell that woman the truth later on?...! That's if there even IS a later on...sigh..." Itachi thought.
"You're screwed." Sasuke snickered.
"Shut up. The point is, you're 'happy'. Now stay happy and stay away from Sakura's life." Itachi commanded before leaving the room.
"My pleasure." Sasuke said as he downed the last of the water in his glass.
[THE NEXT DAY OF PREPARATION]
Due to Sakura and Itachi's little quarrel, the work done on the first day was half of what was expected. So Ino pleaded with the teachers and principal and managed to have them agree to having a half day of school instead of the normal six and a half hours.
Itachi spent the day helping out the guys in his year move around the heavy columns. He ignored Sakura completely, even though he glanced at her almost every second and looked away when he saw her look his direction. This of course bothered Sakura to another level.
"Why doesn't he look at me at all? He doesn't even look in this direction!" Sakura complained as she and Hinata grouped together little clusters of balloons and connected them with colourful ribbon to the walls with tape.
"Sakura. If you're this bummed about it why don't you go talk to him about it?" Hinata asked, slightly irritated at Sakura complaining the entire day and not doing a thing about it.
"Then why don't you talk to Naruto?" Sakura retaliated, although Hinata was right and she was really hating her attitude at the moment.
"W-what? B-but I'm not in any fight with N-Naruto-kun! Besides, someone needs to stay here and watch the things while you talk to Itachi-san!" Hinata said in excuse.
"But don't you want to go with him to the party thing? There's only two more days you know. I'll go if you go." Sakura bargained.
"...Fine!"
"Huh?"
"I will!" Hinata said and stood up, filled with confidence, "I'll go talk to Naruto-kun if you talk to Itachi-san!"
"Are you really going to go!" Sakura asked. She never believed Hinata would do it without her beside her.
"Of course I am! I'm sick of hearing you whine about something you don't even know is true when you could easily find out the truth for yourself right now!" Hinata reprimanded and Sakura hung her head in shame, "You're right I'm sorry." she apologized.
"Good. Now go!" Hinata said and pointed out into the distance.
"You're right! I will!" Sakura said as she jumped up, ready to go. The two girls shook hands before walking separate ways.
Hidan looked up and saw Sakura walking over towards them, "Yo Itachi! Your girl's coming!" He called out, then looked at Kakuzu, and back to his work before the latter could catch his gaze.
"Guys! Plan E!" Itachi called out and the boys ran around getting into positions. Two guys ran forward to stall Sakura with random questions while five guys formed a straight line with their backs towards Sakura. They held Itachi horizontally and stepped sideways behind them as they made their way towards the exit.
Sakura looked around for Itachi while the two boys talked to her.
"Hey, where's Itachi?" she asked while looking amongst the boys running from place to place and randomly jumping in the air for high fives which Sakura sweat dropped on seeing.
"Itachi? Oh maybe he's in the bathroom? I dunno. Diarrhea can be a ninja sometimes. You know just the other day-"
"OOOOOOOOOOOOOKAY THEN!" Sakura interrupted and walked past him quickly.
"Why did that boy think I was interested in hearing about his bowel movements! Weirdos!"
[OUTSIDE AUDITORIUM]
"Okay Itachi you're safe now!" a boy with an orange mask said chirpily.
"Now tell us what's up with you and Sakura." Kisame said seriously.
"Huh? What are you talking about? Nothing's wrong we're practically Cinderella and Prince Charming." Itachi said fanning off Kisame with a bluff.
"We haven't done a plan E in forever man what's up." the blue man asked again.
Itachi sighed, "I got pissed because she wants to take someone else to prom and I'm still a little pissed at the idea so I don't think I should talk to her right now, even if I'm in the wrong."
"Ouch." Kisame and the other guys replied.
"But, why don't you just invite another girl to go with you to prom too then Itachi?" Tobi asked naively.
There was a silence in the group. "You're a genius Tobi!" Kisame shouted out and the guys lifted him up and started spinning him around and cheering. Itachi put a hand to his chin and pondered on the idea while Tobi was praised.
"But I can't do that to her I mean, that'd feel like cheating. And I don't know her real motive for telling me something like that in the first place..." he muttered aloud.
The guys stopped and dropped Tobi instantly, "Yeah you're right Itachi Tobi how can you be so stupid?" the schitzo's said as they walked back over to Itachi.
"What if she's just teasing me? As pay back or something?"
"Well you have two options: one, you can get a date. Two, go solo. We have to go back inside before lion lady Ino catches us outside. Come on Uchiha, think about it inside." Kisame said.
As the group re-entered the building Ino screamed into the mike, "WHERE HAVE YOU RUFFIANS BEEN! BACK TO WORK THIS INSTANT! ITACHI REPORT TO MY PODIUM! I WANT A WORD WITH YOU!"
the guys cringed at the outburst and groaned as they went back to their stations. Itachi walked to the stage, hoping Sakura wasn't around to see him. But unfortunately, she was sitting on the edge of the stage beside Ino and her podium.
"You two. Talk. I'm heading into the field." Ino said and saluted before jumping off the stage with a white fan like the one from SSBB to whack delinquents who were trying to hide from her in groups.
Sakura and Itachi looked away from each other and there was silence except for the sound of Ino's fan above the hum of students murmuring.
"Um,-" Sakura was going to ask why Itachi got angry but he cut her off.
"I'm sorry!" Itachi said with a deep breath out.
The sudden apology however, threw her off completely, "You're sorry?"
"Yeah I am. It's true that the time period isn't over yet and you want to have some fun before you settle down, like a bachelorette party before your wedding right?"
Sakura was dumbfounded. That was definitely one of the reasons she came up with the time period, not rushing into things. But not the main reason of course. Itachi continued,
"It's perfectly understandable, in fact, I'm going to have my own date for prom too! I'll carry one of the girls in my year who's been dying to go out with me somewhere for awhile now. Ha, funny thing is I was always blowing her off telling her I was basically taken. But I didn't know you were thinking like this. So I guess if you're okay with having another guy as your date then I can do the same with her right?" Itachi bluffed perfectly.
He had practiced his lines before he reached the stage and everything was going perfectly. Sakura, on the other hand, didn't plan for the conversation to go this way and literally speechless.
"How...how can he say this...!" She thought and felt a pain in her chest. Her eyes widened in realization. She now understood why Itachi was angry yesterday.
The boy nodded, "I'll take your silence as consent then-" Itachi said more to himself that to her as he started back towards his group but Sakura instinctively pulled his sleeve so hard he fell back.
He turned as he was being pulled and stopped himself from falling onto Sakura by putting his hands on the stage on either side of her. The two looked into each others eyes. Sakura's were half-lidded and her expression was sad.
"Sakura...what's wrong?" Itachi asked softly, concerned.
She blinked three times and sat up straight, "Huh? What? Oh I'm sorry! I made you somehow fall didn't I? Sorry I wasn't thinking awhile ago. I do that sometimes hahaha" Sakura ranted and ranted but stopped when she felt a hand brushing back the hair on the side of her face.
Itachi cupped her now bare cheek and with eyes also half-close whispered, "Can I kiss you just this once?"
Sakura took in air sharply. She really wanted to kiss him too and the way he was looking at her wasn't helping her keep her time period. Her bottom lip quivered and Itachi leaned in slowly, noticing her lips open slightly.
Just a few centimetres away from contact, a whack was made on the back of Itachi's head and the Uchiha jumped away, holding it.
"What the hell!" he shouted out in pain. Sakura opened her eyes on hearing the whack and saw Ino standing with her fan closed in hand.
"I said talk not make-out. So I guess it looks like the chit chats over and everything's back to normal? Good now back to your posts slaves!" Ino commanded before either of the two could answer her question.
They looked at each other, and reluctantly parted from the stage. Sakura walked back to Hinata who was extremely cheerful. She spun on her heels and ran to Sakura.
"Sakura-chan! Sakura-chan! Guess what? He said yes! He said yes!" the purple-haired diva jumped up and down while holding onto Sakura's hands.
"What? Who did?" Sakura asked hollowly. She was currently feeling a 'draft' on her lips.
"Naruto-kun Sakura! Duh." Hinata answered back, not liking the mood Sakura had, "So what about you? From my perspective it looked like you guys were making out~" Hinata teased.
"But we weren't..." Sakura mumbled as she looked at the balloon bags on the floor. She sighed and walked over to them, taking one out to blow.
"What? I'm not following. What exactly happened over there now?" Hinata asked as she watched the pink-haired girl sulk over the balloons and try in vain to blow one up.
Sakura sighed again as she jumped up and turned around to face Hinata, "Basically Itachi's perfectly okay with not going to the formal together!" Sakura said with a smile before turning back to the wall and blowing as hard as possible.
"Really? Wow, you really suck at explaining yourself don't you Sakura." Hinata concluded.
"What? No I can explain myself fine! It's just that he started speaking first and then I couldn't respond and things escalated and he ended our one-sided convo himself and I REEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAALLY feel like I got dumped as he was walking away form me." Sakura ended softly.
Hinata sighed, "Okay you know what? Itachi said he was okay with you going to prom with another guy right? So let's make him regret it." Hinata said and smiled devilishly at Sakura, who tried to smile back, "What do you mean?"
"We're gonna find you a really hot guy for your date and make Itachi regret agreeing to giving you up for that day." Hinata explained.
"But he didn't want to originally..."
"But he changed his mind. He was indecisive and so he will be punished."
"You sound like Ino now." Sakura said wryly as she added tape to one of the balloons.
"I AM Ino." the voice said and Sakura looked up to see the blonde standing there with an unamused face.
"Wh-why are you here instead of your pedestal-I mean podium?" Sakura asked incredulously.
"I overheard your conversation as I walked around. I can't after all the effort I put into it: calling you to the podium, and scanning the crowds for Itachi while making sure the slaves were doing their jobs, even though the punk was outside! Then catching him as soon as he entered and giving you people time to work things out, and the problem gets worse instead of better? We're are SO going to make him eat those words." Ino ranted.
"...you care so much about my problems I'd say you were a friend Ino." Sakura said with a smile, bringing up the irony of Ino's intervention. The blonde began to stutter "Wa-! Well that's because- and the reason's simple really, I just- you know, and so, yeah. All I know is we can definitely make this work. We meet tomorrow to discuss." Ino said and flashed her hair as she walked away from the two, reprimanding slackers as she saw them.
Sakura and Hinata exchanged glances, before going back to balloons and streamers.
"Itachi's back!" one of the guys called out and the entire class of Math II ran to him.
"So how'd it go?" Kisame asked. The boys huddled around eagerly.
Itachi took a deep breath, "So I need a girl for the spring formal coming up." he said really quickly. Some of the guys shouted out 'yes!' and others groaned. They groups then exchanged money from one party to the other while saying thing like, 'told you I'd win' and 'I can't believe it I was sure they'd go together'.
Kisame patted Itachi's shoulder and the two exchanged glances and in that instant Kisame completely understood and saw everything that happened between his friend and Sakura, even the almost kiss part [they're on the same wavelength yo XD].
"Any suggestions guys?" Itachi asked. "Why don't you just go to the mike and make the announcement?" Hidan said out loud crankily. "Cuz I'm not you Hidan." Itachi said but just as he finished his sentence a voice much lower than Ino's was heard on the mike.
"Hey ladies! Itachi's free for spring formal so if any of you beauties want a chance at him before he gets whipped for good this is your final chance!"
Itachi spun around to see Deidara giving him a thumbs up. Kisame patted his shoulder, "Brace yourself for the response."
The girls all screamed and shrieked and shrilled for about an hour. During this time they ran around searching for Itachi then started chasing him when they found him.
"PLAN E! PLAN E!" Itachi shouted out.
"We can't! We don't have enough manpower for this many women!" Kisame shotued back.
"Use Tobi then!" Itachi shouted out. Kisame apologized as he grabbed Tobi and faced the girls. He pulled off Tobi's mask with another dramatic apology.
Suddenly a bright light shone from Tobi's face and all the girls stopped dead in their tracks. With pink cheeks they stared in awe.
"He's so...so...HOT OMG I WANT HIM!" one of the girls shouted and they all began to chase Tobi instead. Tobi flailed as he ran away in panic, screaming for his life.
The rest of Math II cried manly tears as they retreated in the opposite direction.
"Such a brave man!"
"He took one for the team!"
"Tobi we'll always remember you!" were the shouts made as the class ran away.
[THE NEXT DAY]
Tobi absent from school that day. In fact, no one heard from him since yesterday. The guys were worried but also relieved. By missing school Tobi also allowed the girls time to forget about him and remember that it's Itachi who wants a date not Tobi.
Between every single session of the day, Itachi could be seen talking to a girl. It was like every single female student was trying to be his date. Well, except for Sakura, Hinata and Ino.
Sakura was completely ticked off at all the attention Itachi was getting from the female student body that she called the meeting of discussion herself.
"Okay what are we doing to retaliate this? If we make an announcement I'll sound desperate because I'm a girl, which is really sexist but also true so we can't do it." Sakura explained.
"I have in my hand a list of all the guys in our year, " Ino said, "We can go through the list and rule out people with not chance, then those with a little chance, and those you would definitely want to go to the formal with." Ino said.
"Awesome let's get started then!" Sakura fist pumped the air.
"I'll go get us all lunch while you guys work that out then." Hinata stated and the two girls nodded in agreement.
"Rock Lee?"
"Too eccentric. I'd probably spend the entire night dancing with him and not get one bite of the refreshments."
"Chouji?"
"Complete opposite. He'd pay more attention to the food than to me."
"Neji?"
"Isn't he going with Tenten?"
"Things can happen Sakura just say the word."
"Well I don't know him that well but he looks like a really strict guy. I also heard he talks about fate and destiny a lot so no."
"How about Gaara?"
"That foreign exchange kid who wears emo clothes and glares at everybody? No thank you. I don't think he could talk about anything other than who he wants to kill at the formal." *shivers*
"Kankuro? His brother?"
"Kankuro's more social, but still a bit weird with his puppets. I think he might dress one up as his date."
"And Naruto's out cuz Hinata's a 'friend' right?"
"YES INO. Naruto's off limits."
"I'm glad Sakura explained it to you Ino. Now I don't have to worry about any competition right girls?" Hinata said and smiled creepily as she held their lunches on a tray with hers. They gulped and nodded humbly in agreement, afraid she might've poisoned their meals.
"We've gone through practically the entire list you sure are picky Sakura." Ino commented.
"No she just knows what she wants~ Even if she won't admit it." Hinata said as she nudged Sakura.
"Hinata!" Sakura shouted out and blushed. A girl laughed loudly and the group turned around to see her cling onto Itachi's arm. He smiled with her, although one could see he was a bit uncomfortable. His eyes met Sakura's and she turned around to face Ino and Hinata and sighed.
Hinata spoke up, "Hey what about Shino or Kiba? I've known those two since elementary school! They're both really nice people!"
"Shino? Bug boy? Eww no Sakura don't do it." Ino spoke up.
"Hey that's mean" Hinata pouted.
"But Kiba..." Ino thought aloud. "He's cute. Has a nice hairstyle. He's ripped: I saw him in swimming class one day. Nice personality. Really sporty. Typical guy. Single. Eats a lot but because of his puppy personality, I think it can really work if you can make it to his heart!" Ino summarized.
Sakura stared blankly at Ino. The blonde really did know about everybody in her year.
"Ino's right Sakura. Kiba is a very loyal person. And he's gentle, and sweet. He'll even bring flowers for you at the spring formal if you tell him you like them!" Hinata added.
"Okay then it's settled! I'll ask Kiba to the spring formal!" Sakura decided and the two girls nodded in agreement.
[LAST DAY BEFORE THE SPRING FORMAL]
Sakura arrived at school early for a first. By early I mean one hour before school starts early. She yawned as she walked down the everlasting pathway to the main building.
The reason Sakura was at school so early was because Hinata told her that Kiba was in many sports and most of his teams had training early in the morning.
"Okay so according to my schedule, Kiba should be having...swimming right now! To the pool it is!" Sakura said to herself and headed over to the pool room.
On entering the building, a surge of emotions ran through her as she remembered all the things that happened with Itachi at this pool. The sound of a cannonball snapped her out of her thoughts and she looked around for brown spiky hair.
"WOO! GO KIBA!" one of the guy shouted out and Sakura looked in his direction to see the water being split in two by some amazing force coming for her. She flinched when the force reached her. Kiba's sudden stop caused a LOT OF WATER to leave the pool, unfortunately in her direction.
"YES! NEW RECORD!" the boy shouted out and his friends cheered with him but most of them were snickering at the wet girl behind him. Kiba turned around and gasped.
"Oh snap! I'm so sorry I didn't mean to splash you!" he said as he leaped out of the water gracefully. "Let me get you a towel." he said as he ran to one of the nearby walls of the room where towels were kept.
Of course, running by the pool side was prohibited and Sakura watched him hard, praying he would slip. And he did. But as he fell forward he tucked and rolled back to a standing position and continued running towards the towel. Sakura gaped.
"Are you serious! What is he, some kind of ninja or something?" she thought as he came jogged back to her with a smile.
"That's Kiba-kun for you," one of the freshmen said, "Perfect at anything physical."
"Does that include sex?" one of the guys said and the group laughed. Sakura felt awkward around them and decided to meet Kiba halfway.
"Sorry about that!"
"It-" Sakura started but a towel began to suffocate her.
Kiba was drying her hair extremely fast like you would a dog, literally. She was feeling dizzy and just as abrupt as he started he finished, parting the towel to see her face.
"Better?" he asked with a grin.
Sakura blushed slightly. First it was darkness and dizziness, then after the storm was the bright cheerful smile of a charming young man.
"This could work." she thought to herself.
"Hey wait a minute. You're in my year, Haruno...?"
"Sakura." she finished with a smile that he at least knew of her.
"Right. Pretty name." he said and grinned again.
"I have an extra shirt if you want to borrow it. I wear a bigger size than yours so it'll be really warm and soft. How bout it?" he asked with another grin.
"That sounds really good right now." Sakura agreed and Kiba gave her a thumbs up before running and gliding a good distance before he landed in the pool and free styled to the other end.
He emerged about 2 seconds later at the other end and turned to her with another grin, "It's faster. Heheh." before jumping out and heading into the changing room.
"...I feel like I'm in a shoujo manga right now he is like, the perfect male main character omg. Itachi will definitely be jealous!" Sakura thought with an evil smile to herself.
"Sooooooo, what brings a girl like you here this early to school?" one of the boy asked smoothly.
"I'm here to talk to Kiba." Sakura replied honestly with a smile.
"You were really here for him? Aww man. SHE'S TAKEN GUYS!" the boy shouted across the pool. The boys groaned in disappointment and went back to their aquatic activities.
Sakura sweat dropped, "Wow those are some pretty desperate guys. But then again, who am I to talk?"
Kiba emerged from the changing room and called out to Sakura, "Hey what are you waiting for? You plan on changing out there or something?"
All the boys looked at her with pink cheeks and wishful expression that she tried her best to ignore as she walked briskly towards the boy that called out to her feeling embarrassed.
She grabbed the shirt from him with said thank you curtly. A few moments later she emerged in a men's large "NUMBA 1" shirt that was blue with the words in white.
'How do I look?" Sakura asked shyly.
"Like my girlfriend." Kiba joked with a grin and everyone laughed.
"Wh-You have a girlfriend already? Oh my god I'm so sorry-" Sakura said as she started taking off his shirt instinctively, forgetting where she was.
"Woah! Hey! Hey!" Kiba called out and pulled the shirt back down. Their faces were so close Sakura blushed again.
"No worries. It was just a joke. I said that because girls usually wear their boyfriends' clothes sometimes right?" he explained with an grin.
"Oh...right. Haha, good one." Sakura said and cleared her throat out of embarrassment again as she fixed the shirt properly.
The guys in the pool room groaned again, "The show ended before it could even start aw man." one of the guys groaned. He dived into the pool when he felt Sakura's glare on him.
"So what brings you to the school pool this early Sakura-chan?" Kiba asked, unaware of the same conversation she just had with everyone else in the room.
"Oh well, um, "Sakura started, feeling shy all of a sudden, "I actually came here to ask you to be my date to the spring formal this year..." Sakura said while pulling the bottom of the shirt down to try and cover her legs. She looked up at him after her sentence.
Kiba's eyes widened for a seconds. "Wow!" he said after awhile and turned to look at the pool. The guys in it were grinning at him and showing thumbs ups.
"Well, I don't really know you that well..." he said awkwardly.
"No he's turning me down I can't let this happen!"
"Oh I know that! We can just go as friends! You know? It's not like I'm asking you to be my boyfriend or anything." she said looking away and pretending to not be desperate.
"Oh well if it's just as friends then sure! We can get to know each other better at the prom too and who knows! Right? Hahaha" He said and laughed awkwardly and loudly. Sakura joined in with her own version of awkward laughter.
"Well uh, it's settled then! I'll wash your shirt and return it tomorrow okay?" Sakura said as she walked slowly to the exit.
"Oh wait! Uh, we should exchange numbers so we can uh, get clothes that match right? Your dress is supposed to match my tie or something right?" the boy asked and Sakura turned around in slow motion shoujo style.
"Oh he is just SO perfect!"
"Sure!" she said with a beaming smile that made everyone in the room get a nosebleed. Kiba scratched the back of his head and laughed again. After exchanging numbers Sakura left the pool room in her comfortable shirt with a smile on her face.
"Mission Accomplished! Chya!"
[SCHOOL FINALLY STARTS]
"Sakura come on, what happened to your fashion sense?" Ino said in disgust as she looked at the large shirt on Sakura's person.
"Oh but it's not mine. It's my date's~" Sakura sang with a playful smile and Hinata and Ino gasped before squealing.
"Oh my god he said yes!" Ino screamed out while jumping up and down.
"Yup!" Sakura replied cheerfully.
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Hinata and Ino screamed and Sakura covered her ears, as did everyone else in the corridor.
"You guys squealing because you saw my hot face as I strolled down the corridor?" Itachi said as he ran a hand through his hair and smirked.
"Yeah it was so ugly." Ino muttered under her breath and stuck her tongue out at him when he glared at her. Sakura giggled.
"No Itachi-san. Sakura has also gotten a date for the prom!" Hinata said happily and Sakura and Ino glared at her.
"What? I wasn't supposed to say it? How was I supposed to know it was a secret?" Hinata defended.
Itachi's expression quickly became more serious. After a pause he spoke up, "Really?" he said more than asked.
"You heard right. I'm going to the formal with someone and it's not you." Sakura siad and smiled bitterly at him.
He nodded his head slowly, "That's great! Cuz I mean, the thing's tomorrow and I was going to tell you that if you that time was running out but you seem to be able to handle yourself fine without me." he said, giving her back a bitter smile of his own.
"That's right. I'm wearing his shirt right now in fact. Doesn't it fit me?" Sakura continued to show off. She was determined to win.
Itachi moved his hand to her and she caught her breath silently. He felt rubbed the sleeve material between the fingers of his right hand with a serious expression for a second, before smirking.
"Why is he smirking I'm winning stop smirking now!" Sakura thought in her head.
In a swift motion he grabbed the arm hidden by the sleeve and pulled her towards him, his other hand holding her chin, "I think you look better naked." he said with a bigger smirk as her face turned completely red, remembering all the way back to chapter 8 [in case you want to go back and lol]. She pushed him away, flustered at how he won the argument with charm.
"I can't believe you said that!" she shouted out embarrassed. Hinata's cheeks were also pink from dirty thoughts appearing in her head. Ino had an amused expression on her face.
"Not one word from you about what he just said." Sakura said seriously as she pointed a finger at the blonde who was giving her a look.
"My lips are sealed~" Ino teased and just as she finished her sentence the bell rang for classes to start.
"One more day and you won't have anymore excuses, so you better enjoy tomorrow night Sakura-chan" Itachi said as he looked at her like she was prey.
"Oh you bet I will." Sakura replied defiantly as she stared back hard at her predator, her heart racing. He smirked as he walked past her, "Sigh, so stubborn." he thought to himself with a smile.
ABLAH! I'm writing part 2 right now guys don't worry calm down it's not like I'd avoid doing this till summer...cuz I'm gonna do that with another sotry in the future so no worries right XD? lol Iknow all you people who put this story on alert were waiting for this so I hope you've enjoyed the lover's quarrel so far! Here comes the happy ending! And fluff! And slight shounen ai ness? Idk if you're oblivious/naive enough you JUST might miss it ;D