I hate the new hyphens rule.
Disclaimer: I don't bloody well own anything that you can see in everyday life. In this badly-written story, anyways.
Near Town Square, 11:03 AM
From behind the bins, near the town square, but not too near Konoha's citizens and passing vermin, Sasuke and Karin crouched silently. They hadn't spoken much since Sasuke had picked Karin up from her hotel. Highlights of what Karin had said to him then were, "Nice hair," and "Ouch!" The rest of the conversation was "Hn" and "Shut up." Mostly on Sasuke's part.
They huddled behind one of the big bins and occasionally peeked upwards, checking if Naruto or Sakura had made it yet. Frequently, their hands raised upwards to beat up the flies and whatnot buzzing around their heads.
Sasuke consciously flicked his newly-dyed blonde hair back and continued peering towards the square. It had been styled to stick up like a scrub-brush and it was appalling to him. Appallingly annoying. It kept falling into his eyes and making him throw it back, which caused highly unwanted wannabe-emo female attention. Karin had remarked that the 'falling-into-eyes' thing was just like his old 'black-emo' hair but Sasuke had vehemently denied that confounded observation. His hair was better than Uzumaki's. And it was not emo!
Karin fared no better in the hair department as she donned blonde hair extensions and cerulean contacts. She blinked a couple of times but it still bothered her. Her eyesight was a perfect 20-20 so she had no use for contacts, no matter how fabulously coloured they were. The outfit especially bothered her. She was showing too much flesh. It made her feel exposed and vulnerable. The purple miniskirt only went up to mid-thigh at its longest and the tank top stopped half-way down her stomach. Sasuke made no comment but Karin saw him smirking smugly because all he had to wear were bright, loud, fun orange clothes that covered most of his skin.
She huffed in annoyance and continued swatting off the flies, cursing each one of them to oblivion.
Downtown Subway, 11:04 AM
Sakura checked her black watch again and grumbled inwardly. She was late. By four minutes. It might not have seemed much to any of her friends but to Sakura, it was a bad omen. Lateness was synonymous with stupidity. According to Sakura Haruno, anyway.
At the same time, while sitting with Gaara and Sakura on an entirely empty row, Choji was moping. Gaara's growling and never-ending angry expression had scared all the pretty teenage girls away and he was hungry. This sucks like homework…He slouched and read a newspaper that was lying on the ground. Male Pregnancy Shocks All. He made a mental note to ask Uncle Jiraiya about it when he got home.
Slouching next to him, Gaara watched Choji pout with an inquisitive expression. It was interesting to see his brother have so many emotions, so quickly. Gaara's primary emotions were: anger, reckless and apathetic. Not necessarily in that order.
TenTen's House, Same Time
On the same Saturday, TenTen lounged lazily on her bed, one leg over the edge, eating popcorn from a plastic bowl and checking her voice messages. Since she always kept her mobile off at night, the next morning, usually Saturday, she would sit at home, checking what she had missed. She thumbed over to the first one and it blared out:
"Ten, wanna check out the mall tomorrow? Me, Ino and Hinata are going, so call me back before 11:15 tomorrow, 'kay? If you do come, meet us at…mmm…Hinata, what time? Oh yes, 11:30. We'll be at the fountain. Bring lots of moolah! We plan to raid DKNY, Michael Kors and Fendi. 'Kay, 'bye."
By the sound of it, that was Temari and her not-so-polished grammar on Kankuro's mobile. Not even thinking about it, TenTen sent a text message saying, 'Sure, c ya there! BTW – Moolah will be stocked up. Have Daddy's credit card & blessing.'
She replayed the next voicemail:
"Oi, Violent Girl, uh…sorry but I cancelled the mature sleepover. Akamaru had a…uh…appointment with the vet-person. Sorry. 'Kay, see ya."
Obviously that was Kiba and his bad lying skills. She shook her head ruefully, thankful she didn't go to his house yesterday, because she was helping her grandmother, and quickly pressed 'play' on the last one:
"TenTen, um… I…uh…never mind. Uh…sorry for bothering you. Goodbye. See you…whenever."
TenTen sat up, sending the bowl losing to gravity and falling to the ground with popcorn splashing everywhere. That was Neji! And he didn't know what to say! For the first time ever! "Oh my God! Hell, yes! Finally!" TenTen jumped off her bed and bounced on the fluffy carpet. ( Her bed was a water-bed.) "Yes, yes, yes!"
She stopped jumping for joy when she remembered she had to examine his tone of voice carefully – Ino had taught her that . He sounded secretive or hesitant and Neji was just not like that. Maybe I could call him back…TenTen pondered. But that idea flew straight out of her short-attention spanned mind as she glanced at her mobile's clock. 11:08 AM.
Oh crud! I'm gonna be late! I have to go get ready! TenTen quickly bounded into her bathroom, which was attached to her bedroom, and took a short shower. Deciding to forgo the bun-look, TenTen left her wet hair loose and chose a simple outfit. A small T-shirt and baggy, cut-off cargos. Perfect. She quickly towel-dried her hair and smiled at her reflection; Neji would have never approved of showing that much skin.
She waved goodbye to her grandmother and father, called to let them know where she was going and hurriedly caught the bus to Konoha Mall. There was no seat available so she had to stand amidst the crowd all the while glaring at every young individual. They shifted in their seats uncomfortably while TenTen cheered herself on inside. She intensified the glare until a brunette quickly got up and brushed past her, climbing up the stair to the upper compartment. TenTen almost flew to the seat.
Town Square, 11:13 AM
Sakura, holding tightly to her brothers' small hands, climbed up the subway's stairs, humming tunelessly. She sat the boys down at a nearby bench and stood, looking impassive. Gaara amused himself by jumping off the bench every so often and scaring pigeons. Choji just sat there, deadpanned. Her cell phone started ringing and Sakura quickly pulled it out of her bag.
"'Lo, Sakura speaking." Her mother had forced her to say this line whenever anyone called after the 'Gaara-Phone' incident. He had pretended to be Sakura and had listened to Ino ranting about how someone wanted to sexually harass her.
"'Kura? Hey!"
Sakura smiled slightly; it was Ino. "Hey, Ino. What's up?" Sakura quickly got up and paced around, something she liked to when she was on the phone. Some people, Ino in particular, liked to sit in one place but Sakura liked to walk around. Just a habit from her mother, is all.
"Temari, Hina, Ten and I are meeting at the mall in, like, twenty minutes. You wanna come with? We plan to raid DKNY, BCBG and anything with initials," Ino giggled.
Sakura's smile became wider but she regretfully told Ino that she had to meet someone and might not come. Ino sounded genuinely sad but said 'kay, that's fine and hung up on good terms.
Stuffing the phone back into her overflowing leather bag, Sakura thought about Ino. Sure as hell is weird talking to her so casually…She hadn't forgotten their year long feud and how mean they were to each other. Her Inner Sakura thought it was time to double-cross Ino but Sakura was through listening to her. She agreed with her other Inner Sakura that it was a good time to forget the past and beat up Naruto for living.
Gaara and Choji watched their sister laugh maniacally and wondered what had they done to deserve a madwoman for a sister.
Near Town Square, 11:14 AM
Karin gave a small noise of surprise and immediately got pushed out of the way as Sasuke went to see what had gotten her freaked out.
He saw Sakura ruffle her one of her brothers' hair and laugh almost instantly as soon as Choji sulked. Her features lit up, her eyes brightened, her smile made a little redhead boy grin slightly and she looked beautiful.
But, if you asked Sasuke, she looked like dead meat. He got up, shoved his bag into Karin's arms and smirked, "Show time."
He adjusted his orange sweatshirt and baggy jeans to look exactly like his friend's and sauntered over to Sakura, Naruto Uzumaki style. His hands were at his back, though. To give the signal to Karin.
"Hi Sakura!" His veryexpensive contacts were almost cracking as Sasuke put on his best I'm-Naruto-The-Idiot grin. With exaggeration.
Sakura whirled around, almost dropping the bag in her lap in surprise. "Oh…uh…hi, Naruto…!" Clearly, she was embarrassed by meeting Naruto in public with her brothers. She started fiddling with one of her short pink strands that hung in the front and stood up.
"So…why're you here, anyway? See, I…" Naruto continued speaking but Sakura had stopped listening, "What?!"
Naruto wasn't finished though, "…I came 'cause Ino asked me to meet her here. And then I gotta see Hinata somewhere…so, what about you?"
Sakura squinted at him and then took a step forward, coming nose-to-nose to Naruto. Sasuke, behind the Naruto make-up, inwardly smirked. "You asked me to meet you, Naruto."
Sasuke shook his head, "No…no, I don't think so…" Behind his back, he gave the signal to Karin and she came running over to stand next to him. Or…at least, she tried to run, but it was hard for her, especially in three-inch stilettos.
"Hi, baby!" Karin winced behind the cosmetic products. She looped her arm around Sasuke's shoulders and practically squished herself next to him, much to his distaste.
Sasuke, swearing incessantly inside, swooped in for a passionate kiss. As soon as they broke free, with a plunger sound following, Sasuke said, "Yo, babe. Remember Sakura?"
But Sakura was gone.
Gaara and Choji watched her leave with shocked expressions and then slowly turned to Karin and Sasuke also known as Ino and Naruto. They had, with their sharp minds and keen intellect, realized what had happened.
Chiefly because Choji and Gaara had read Sakura's diary and knew all about Sakura's kiss with Naruto and how he had kissed Hinata too.
Gaara got off a pigeon, the half-strangled bird flew off immediately, and walked slowly towards Karin.
Suddenly, as though someone pressed 'on', he kicked her in the shin, tugged her blonde extensions until they came loose and punched her in the stomach. She screamed throughout the entire time. Gaara chased her around the bench, yelling childlike-cuss words.
Choji, having a not-so-substantial size, followed Gaara's violent way of handling things, stepped onto Sasuke's foot and, reasons unknown to anyone, somehow got rid off his contacts. They floated into Choji's chubby hands and he gaped at them.
He quickly stuffed them into his pockets, gave unable-to-fight-back-'cause-who-on-earth-would-hurt-a-kid-in-public Sasuke a quick kick to his crown jewels, grabbed Gaara's hands and ran towards Sakura's apparent direction, leaving Sakura's bag for random thieves, who should've considered themselves lucky because the bag was owned by a Haruno.
Sasuke, wincing slightly, and Karin, crying softly, were left to handle angry women, who kept shoving and shouting at them. One woman kept screeching, "Don't you dare to ever hit children again, you monsters!" Sasuke kept getting hit on the head with handbags and Karin was forced to cry seriously, to show regret. Even though her only regret was not killing Gaara while she had the chance.
Downtown Subway, 11:19 AM
Cursing himself for appearing late for his own meeting-not-date, Naruto stomped up the subway's stairs. The sunlight hit him squarely in the eyes and he staggered a bit before standing upright on the brick ground.
A protest-mob caught his eye and he ambled towards it, his meeting-not-date with Sakura, currently forgotten.
He abruptly started swearing, shocking a few seniors, as he saw what was making the crowd. A clone of himself and, oddly, Ino getting reprimanded by women!
But…hey, wait a minute…his clone had black eyes…and Naruto's own were…light blue…not black…oh shi-!
Naruto's eyes widened and he realized that if the black-eyed clone was Sasuke, 'cause who else could it be, then the girl could not be Ino, the real Ino wasn't that stupid to join an emo. He quickly reached for his mobile, called Sakura's number and walked away from the female-infested mob. In seconds, he had figured out that Sasuke and the Ino-clone had done something wrong to Sakura.
He, still holding the ringing phone, walked around for a bit until he reached the same bench Sakura sat on. There was a black bag there and it was ringing incessantly. Naruto remembered the tone from Sakura's phone and immediately pounced on the bag. It was Sakura's phone. He hung up both of the mobiles and covered his face with his hands, not wanting Sasuke to see.
So her bag was left here…yet another reason to go to her house…
Naruto got up from the bench, taking care to cover his head with the bag and made his way to Shikamaru's house. Hopefully someone would listen to him…like Hitachi…or Shikamaru, Naruto yawned and continued ambling towards the subway.
Konoha Mall, 11:46 AM
TenTen waved insolently at the bus passengers, who glared and flipped her off, and quickly bounded into the enormous shopping center. Pushing the enormous gilt gate-that-went-round-and-round, also known as, the revolving door, she saw her friends sitting on the rim of the central fountain, huddling around someone. She walked towards them, a small smile on her face. Hopefully it was a prank on Neji.
The idea and smile quickly faded as she saw Ino, Temari, Hinata, Choji and Gaara, Sakura's little brothers, crowding around a crying figure. It was obvious that the crying person was Sakura and, after seeing her fashionable outfit, TenTen quickly assumed it was because of a guy. And then, assuming again, she knew it was Naruto and not Sasuke. Sakura would never dress like that if she had went to meet with Sasuke; who would want to look like their boyfriend's twin? TenTen wondered absently.
Sitting next to Pinky was Ino who kept rubbing Sakura's back in circular motions. Temari was massaging Gaara's shoulders with quiet intensity, apparently Gaara didn't mind her touch. Hinata was looking intensely guilty and angry, an odd mixture, and Choji was poking his finger in the fountain and making little ripples, occasionally taking and flipping nickels into the water.
TenTen inwardly sighed, her shopping plans were ruined, but still asked concernedly, she did care after all, "What's wrong, 'Kura? Naruto? Sasuke?"
Hinata murmured to her what had happened with Naruto and Ino. TenTen stopped her continuous-swearing and glanced at Sakura and Ino. Going deeper into the circle, she tapped Ino on the shoulder.
"Ino. Where were you at around, let's say…twenty minutes ago?"
Ino looked up quizzically. "With Temari in DKNY. Why?"
"Then how could you have kissed Naruto?!" TenTen shook Sakura's shoulder in emphasis, grinning at herself for being so damn smart.
Sakura abruptly stopped crying and stared up at TenTen. Sakura looked at her in a new light and got up slowly. "You're right…that means…"
"That the guy who kissed the Ino-look alike wasn't Naruto and that he's probably wondering where you are right now?" Hinata piped up, her eyes focused on the marble floor.
Sakura, momentarily forgetting the fact that Hinata had made lip-contact with her next boyfriend, Naruto, hugged her spontaneously and nodded excitedly. "Genius! I have to call Uzumaki!" Sakura reached around her for her bag but then stopped turning, the blood draining out of her face. "I left my bag at the square!"
Choji and Gaara exchanged a look. Oops… Temari saw the 'look' but, wisely, said nothing. Instead she said, with utter seriousness, "Call your number."
Sakura hit her forehead with her wrist. "Oh, right! Thanks, Tem! Can I borrow a phone?"
Ino took out hers and passed it to Sakura who took it with recognition. Ino had kept the same phone since they were friends. They had bought it together and had shared it, for a time, together. Dialing her number, Sakura waited until the female voice came up and told her some junk about how the phone couldn't be reached right now.
She swore angrily, surprising Ino and the rest with her unusual lack of modesty, and shoved the phone back to Ino. "S'not picking up…someone stole it…" she grumbled.
"S'not like you can't afford a new one, right?" TenTen asked nonchalantly.
"Well…no…but I had all your numbers in there…and my Mom had gotten me that…so…" Sakura looked lost in thought. She suddenly brightened. "At least I have my credit card and some change with me!" She patted her pocket just to make sure and brightened even more when the pocket made shingling noises.
Hinata giggled and said shyly, her usual composure and meekness returning, "Can we go shopping now?"
Sakura wiped her eyes with her hands, forgetting about Sasuke and Ino-clone and Naruto for the moment, and said, "'Kay. I'll just tell my Mom later,"
Ino got up, shot a concerned look to Temari, because no one could forget something that fast other than Sakura Haruno, and reached for her shoulder bag. "'Kay."
Choji and Gaara got dragged after them and for the next five hours, forced to hold their belongings while they tried on new things. Gaara would've retaliated but Temari had given him a small lecture about 'helping other people' and he liked her, so he didn't hit anyone. For now.
Choji hated the whole idea of buying useless fabric and would've fought back too, if Sakura hadn't promised a trip to EYCE'S later. He loved their Korean barbeque flavoured ice-cream.
When the shopping spree and trip to EYCE was over, Sakura borrowed ten dollars off TenTen and took the subway home, tired but satisfied as she carried ten bag's worth of clothes that would make Uzumaki drool like…Choji in South Korea.
Shikamaru's House, 5:47 PM
As soon as Naruto had arrived at Shikamaru's house, Mr. and Mrs. Nara had forced him to join in their Saturday photo op. He had to smile for ten minutes while the Naras' had a little 'argument' about where the 'on-off' button was on the camera. Shikamaru expertly ignored them and continued to play with Hitachi, who was getting to look like Shikamaru,
As soon as the roll of film was finished, Naruto and Shikamaru, Hitachi in tow, escaped. They ran up the stairs and hid in Hitachi's room. Four hours, six games of poker and three rounds of Candyland later, Naruto escaped broke and Shikamaru escaped rich.
They sat in Shikamaru's room, Naruto on the bed, Shikamaru on his chaise by the window, and Naruto told Shikamaru about what happened. Shikamaru listened didn't interrupt until Naruto was done.
Finally, leaning on the cool window, Shikamaru said, "Where's her bag?"
"Hitachi's room," Naruto absently traced Shikamaru's bedspread, duckies and bears, and hummed the old Fall Out Boy song, Sakura and he had hummed together.
Shikamaru got it, came back, threw a pillow at Naruto for sounding so damn stupid and sat down on his comfy, leather chaise. "I've seen this one before…"
Naruto, still angry about the pillow, snapped, "So? S'not like I care!"
Shikamaru barely looked up and said to Sakura's mobile, "It's nice, her mobile."
Naruto threw the bag at him.
Two chapters. Nice, Lex. Nice.