-RECAP-
"WHAT?" Sasuke roared but his brows furrowed in confusion as Sakura turned, facing him, felt her hands clutched the front of his shirt near his collar and pulled his face down to her—
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THE UCHIHA SWEETHEART
CHAPTER 26! Wunderbar!
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Eye-catch! SD-Sasuke was flapping his arms… "I WANT TO BE AN OSTRICH!"
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…face as she crashed her lips against Sasuke's half-parted mouth.
A volcano erupted in the background as Naruto shrieked, jaws hanging open. Chouji dropped his camcorder on top of Akamaru who howled (Awooooooo). Kakashi was struck by lightening (fzzzzzt) and Lee threw his fist in the air, accidentally hitting Ten-Ten in the forehead.
Everything went still. As if time had stopped.
But the show must GO ON! Everyone was gaping. And there was a high pitched scream.
"AHHHHHHHH—"
Somewhere… Hyuuga Neji looked up. "Huh?" the birds scattered everywhere, chirping in panic.
Back to the lake where every villager gaped—
Sasuke felt his cheeks torching literally. Soft plump lips pressed hard against his mouth. His eyes were wide and shocked… he could not believe his good luck. After all what happened (the Shino thing, the Tsunade thing, the Popsicle thing…every thing)… fate had been a good friend. It was really true that behind the clouds…
…was the other cloud!
That birds of the same feather were the same birds!
That the sun will set only to rise tomorrow…
Oh the glory.
He let his eyes drop close as he savored the moment. Steam poured out of his ears, making him looked like a human steam train. He had to bend his neck strategically since Sakura was short, she had to tiptoe and pull his shirt down to kiss him. He felt her hands tightened their hold onto his shirt. Her lips were pressed hard against his, making breathing difficult… but that's alright.
This was a promise of a lifetime…— a once in a lifetime… moment, one should say, so might as well enjoy it.
Sakura completely drown out the sound of her surrounding. She had to do this! That was what she thought. She had to save his Uchiha pride. She had to… she had to. That was why she was kissing him. Technically, it wasn't K-I-S-S-I-N-G. It was just her lips pressed against his. The only problem was… it was Sasuke's lips.
Not Neji's.
This wasn't what she had dreamed about.
She pulled away abruptly, green eyes wide and shocked. Sasuke's eyes were, of course, round as he stared down to her flushed face. She gulped, released his shirt and turned to flabbergasted Naruto.
"W-well t-there you have it Naruto A KISS!" she hollered, speaking too fast to cover her embarrassment.
Naruto blinked and sputtered carelessly. "I didn't say that a girl must kiss Sasuke. I said Sasuke must kiss a girl."
"BUT—" Sakura almost shriek when she felt Sasuke's bandaged hand on her chin, turning her face up to his.
"Sas—"
…and kissed her unceremoniously.
She gasped, eyes wide.
SNAP!
Naruto's brain could not handle it anymore. His brain shut down and he fainted. Sakura had to fight the urge to pass out as well but it was rather impolite to do so when someone was kissing you…
He gently sucked her lower lip, pressed his lips harder to hers before pulling back slowly. They stared at each other dumbfounded, unable to speak. Then Kakashi fell backward on the lake with a loud splash.
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6:00PM
Sasuke stood in the bridge broodingly, leaning against the railing with a sulking expression. With a glare, he looked at his left where Naruto was — still unconscious, his body bent over the railing. The Uchiha was tempted to kick his ass and send him flying to the water below the bridge. But he was a good boy. A good Konoha citizen. A good ninja storm. A good teletubby.
"Sasuke-kun…?"
He went rigid, his neck refused to move. It felt like he was paralyzed from neck down.
"Uh…"
Sasuke fixed his glare harder at Naruto. Should I kick his ass or his head?"
"Are… you angry?" Sakura's voice was soft with uncertainty. The odd question made his neck tingle and he turned his head to look at her.
"No." he cleared his throat. Damn… his voice sounded creepy. It was deep and throaty… Whoa! He's hitting puberty! "Why would I get angry?"
She dropped her gaze shyly, biting her lower lip. Sasuke stared at her bitten lower lip and he strongly remembered biting that lip. He put a hand on his face, his Uchiha nose inching to explode.
He forced his voice to work. "The question is…" he cleared his throat again. He sounded creepy. "Are you angry?"
She looked up. "With you? No! No…no…" she stammered.
"Then get over with it. No need to get overly embarrassed. It wasn't our fist."
Sakura's cheeks turned redder than tomatoes. "Hai…" Right. It wasn't their first… Though, the kiss they shared when they were younger was wet…
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SD-SASUKE barged into the scene: "it's wet because it rained, you idiot."
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Anyway, Sasuke lifted his hand and patted her head tenderly. "We're still friends?"
"Of course!" she said, looking up to him with a bright smile.
Suddenly, he hated her answer. Something inside of him hated that reply. Something inside of him had not wishfor that reply.
"No matter what happens, you and I will remain as friends!"
And he hated that answer even more.
"Aa." He said coldly, lowering his hand.
"Please always remember, Sasuke-kun…"
"I will."
He wanted to hate her.
"…we will protect our friendship no matter what. I would not risk our friendship." She said softly, her throat tightening as she continued.
The wind blew his bangs over his eyes.
"…our friendship… is what matters most to me." Sakura finished.
"I see." Came his cold flat reply.
She looked up. His voice sounded… strange. "Sasuke-kun, are you alright?"
Sasuke swallowed first before replying. "Aa." He raised his chin and turned his back to her. "Let's go to the festival."
She grinned. "HAI! How about Naruto?" Sasuke kicked Naruto in the butt. The blonde jumped awake, shrieked, and flapped his arms in panic as his body slid forward and backward to the water.
"AHHHHHH!" he was about to fall over but Sasuke grabbed his right ankle.
"OH SASUKE!" Naruto became starry eyed as he whirled his head around to look at Sasuke. "YOU'RE A GODSENT! I LOVE Y—AHHHHHH!" Annoyed, Sasuke shoved his ankle forward and Naruto fell over the lake headfirst with a loud splash.
"Idiot." He grumbled, stomping down the bridge with his bandaged fists inside his pockets.
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Everyone felt stupid.
The teenage ninjas, the respectable honorable Tsunade-sama ("I DON'T LOOKED RESPECTABLE!"), Anko, Shizune, Asuma, Kurenai, Ebisu, Iruka (who was glaring daggers at Sasuke), Ibiki and even the great Pervert Jiraiya-sama all wore multicolored bunny ears headband. (Ibiki was blushing, he was wearing a pink bunny ears headband)
The villagers attending the festival stared at them oddly; some go as far as taking pictures (which was burned into crisp by Tsunade by spitting acid from her mouth). Even visitors from neighboring countries/villages looked at them with this expression of what-the-fuck? Sasuke's eyebrow twitched dangerously while Naruto grinned cheekily as Gaara with his older siblings passed.
"Hey, Gaara! Do you want a pink bunny hat?" Naruto called, waving. The redhead blinked at him, looked at scowling Sasuke who was close to exploding then at Sakura who smiled at him.
"KAKASHI, JUST WHAT THE HELL IS THE MEANING OF THIS?" Tsunade thundered, her bright purple bunny ears wagging. "THESE EARS ARE RUINING MY IMAGE!"
"Relax, Hokage-sama and enjoy the evening."
"YOU BETTER MAKE SURE I ENJOY THIS OR I'LL PERSONALLY CLAW YOUR EYES OUT!"
As expected, the "parlor games" as Kakashi gently put, was fun— that is, if you're…
The first game was "Bring me". It sounded easy, as a matter of fact, it was frigging easy. Kakashi had said: "Bring me… a yellow polka dot BRIEF!" the announcement was met by a stunned silence. And to think that he was using a microphone that was connected to the loudspeakers situated everywhere. As in EVRYWHERE. And when you say LOUDspeakers… they were really really loud.
Moreover, who on earth would wear such thing? Men wear briefs, alright but NOT polka dot. No man on island will wear such a degrading under—
Suddenly, Shino stepped forward and said: "Do I have to take IT off?"
Sasuke had to put his hands on Sakura's face to protect her virgin eyes while Naruto's hair turned green in shock. The rest groaned and covered their eyes so as not to get their eyes burned. After all, eyes were essential to the life of a ninja.
"OKAY! Here's you prize, bug boy." Kakashi handed Shino the latest Icha Icha Paradise: When Dogs fall in love with Cats book Seven.
Kiba was enraged. "I DON'T FALL IN LOVE WITH A CAT!" everyone looked at him in shock.
After that traumatizing game of "bring me", Kakashi said they had to play tag.
"That sounds normal." Sasuke said.
"—but once you were tagged, you have to dance tango—"
Everyone raised their brows.
"…without a partner."
"Hey, it takes two to tango!" Ino protested. Well, Neji got tagged and he refused to dance tango.
"Okay, you don't want to dance solo? Fine. If you want a partner, it has to be Chouji—"
He gave Kakashi a Byakugan glare.
"…or Akamaru."
Kakashi was evil. Kakashi was crazy. And an idiot. A hot momma. No wonder Team 7 was a bunch of freakzoids: a boy possessed with a demon, an asshole who can change into a super saiyan 4 with wings made of gigantic human hands and a pink-haired fragile girl who can punch like a T-Rex.
Since Kakashi specified that they have to participate to keep their ranks, as much as Neji hated it, he danced with Akamaru (since Akamaru was NOT an ordinary dog, meaning he was bigger than a normal doggie, it was a miracle that Neji wasn't squashed to death…) He loved his rank more than he loved his combs so better dance with this massive ugly hairy brute—
BAM!
"Ow!" Akamaru had punched him with his paw. Oh yes, a paw— a punch with a paw. Strange but it seemed like Akamaru had READ his thoughts. Jeez, he smelt like dung—
BAM!
Akamaru lashed him with his HUGE tail. Oh, it hurt. Akamaru was big. And so was his tail.
Sakura was crying big fat tears. "NEJI-KUN WAS DANCING WITH A DOG!"
Kiba was literally glowing with pride.
The third game (after watching Neji's performance, Sasuke refused to play another game of tag, fearing that once tagged, Kakashi will make him dance with Pakkun or worst with GamaBunta) was dodge ball.
Sakura cheered. "FINALLY a NORMAL game!" Knowing Kakashi's sick humor, Sasuke and Naruto didn't dare cheer.
It turned out that once you were hit by the ball, that person should obey whatever things the hitter wanted him to do. Too bad, it was Gai who threw the ball and it hit — well, it hit a tree.
Fed up with Kakashi's irritating SICK sense of humor, Tsunade shouted that she had had enough, whirled around and stomped her way to the booths.
"I expected that reaction." Kakashi sighed. "I knew she would not appreciate because only the young and the beautiful appreciate the—"
"GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY PRESENCE OR I'LL RIP YOUR ASS CHEEKS APART!"
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Sasuke and Sakura waited for Naruto to come back from the bathroom in a bridge where the Ferris wheel can be seen. Sakura was eating her 3rd cotton candy, gazing up to the beautifully colored Ferris wheel that glowed prettily in the dark. Sasuke was leaning on the railing, looking nonchalant, and a cotton candy stick was between his teeth. He glanced at Sakura and she looked at him too, smiling slightly.
He narrowed his eyes. "Why are you smiling like that?"
"I was thinking about my future marriage…"
"You're only fifteen." He said, scowling.
"So? I got to plan ahead, you know."
Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Whatever."
…
…
Silence passed between them. Fireworks burst out in the night sky, illuminating the village. Sasuke whirled around to stare up in the sky. Pretty colors glittered in the night sky, mostly dazzling pink that reminded him of Sakura and her smiles. A long moment of silence passed as fireworks display continued to lighten up the night. Sasuke was confused. Sakura was such a talkative person… but tonight, she seemed too silent for her own good.
"Sasuke-kun, let's make a promise to each other." She said suddenly.
"What?"
She smiled up to the glittering sky and faced him. "When we turn 30, let's marry each other."
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Do you believe in my love?
An endless promise of care
Like the clouds that are forever there
A will to live
A will to love
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He looked at her, the wind blowing softly, bringing his bangs to the side.
"Are you serious?"
She smiled.
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I will bring Heaven to you
I will take heaven to earth
If I have to tear my wings
I'll do to bring Heaven to you
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"Yes." She said. "When I turn 30 and still single, I will marry you. When we marry and take our vows, I will promise not to leave your side. You will never get lonely because you're not going to be alone."
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…
"People get lonely because there was no one to turn to. A person gets hurt because he thinks he's alone."
"But it's better to be alone than to get hurt from trying to get close to the person he likes." Sasuke said.
"Sasuke-kun, I will never leave you. We will be happy— you and me. I will be at your side, never to leave you." she smiled again.
"Sakura."
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Kiss me luck
Because angels will rock
I will bring Heaven to you
Complete with rainbow colored clouds
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"What if… you fall in love with someone?" he asked. Yet, he knew she was already in love with Hyuuga.
She smiled. "Even though I'm in love with someone… I will stay with you."
…
…
Her smile softened.
"Just be there when I turn 30."
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Do you believe?
I will bring Heaven
I will bring Heaven…
To you
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"What if I turn 31 and fell in love with someone?" Sasuke asked. Above them, the fireworks formed the word 'love'.
She stared.
"I'll let you go. Marry Naruto." She answered, grinning slightly.
…
…
She looked up to him. "Fifteen years from now, Naruto will be handsomer than you, less idiotic, manlier, and stronger and who knows he might become a Hokage."
…
"Our children will be pretty. But I wonder whose hair genes will dominate. Blonde or pink? Both are unusual, eh?" she looked away then gazed up to him. "But I bet our children will be drop dead gorgeous blue-eyed pinkheads." She grinned.
…
"Blue eyes will definitely look good with pink curls."
His eyes remained passive.
"Sasuke-kun?"
"What if we fall in love with each other?"
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I love you
I love you
Please catch me if I fall
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For some unknown reason, she felt lonely.
It was only an "if".
"…" Sasuke looked down to her big green eyes.
"I'll be happier."
She finally replied to his question.
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Kiss me and I'll be in Heaven again…
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"But we made a promise." He said after a long moment of uncomfortable silence.
"Yes." Sakura giggled. "Besides, I'm not your type."
"…"
She frowned at his cold silence. "Sasuke-kun… I… I'm really serious. You think I'm joking?"
"… aa."
"…"
"I'm just your "other" option."
She stared silently.
"You want me to be around. The "second" choice when the first was unavailable."
"Sasuke-kun—"
"But I will marry you when you turn 30. I will marry you when you reach the point where you will become tired from waiting." He said, not looking at her but up to the fireworks.
"Sasuke-kun…"
"I'll wait."
"…and maybe, somewhere along the way, you might end up falling in love with me!" she laughed giddily. He scowled at her statement. "Hey, it was a joke…"
"Aa."
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Look at me
I'll bring Heaven
To you.