summary Do it yourself
"Man, can't believe the school year's almost over. We should go on a trip during the break," Shikamaru declared, crossing his arms behind his head. He flopped onto his back, stretching his legs out.
"Where were you thinking, Nara-sensei?" asked Itachi, looking up from his sketchbook. Kiba lowered his phone to peek at them, listening in on the conversation.
"Dunno... maybe Hakone? An onsen sounds nice," mused Shikamaru. Kiba grimaced. He aimed a kick at Shikamaru's thigh.
"We've got a million hot springs around here. Yufuin is like... 40 minutes away. Why would I go all the way up to Hakone?" retorted Kiba. Itachi wasn't as violent in his protest, but he nodded as Kiba spoke.
"I bet Haruno would want to go," grumbled Shikamaru.
"I bet she'd call you an idiot too," snorted Kiba.
And then, at the same time, they turned in the direction of the door to yell: "HARUNO!"
Sakura appeared in the doorway, a cardboard box on her hip.
"Either way, I can't go. I'm busy during spring break," she told them.
Kiba and Shikamaru snuck glances at Itachi, hopeful smiles stretching their mouths. But their expressions fell when they saw the bewilderment in his face. Shikamaru very carefully nudged Itachi's back with his foot.
"What are your plans, Haruno-sensei?" Itachi questioned. Sakura reached into the box to pull out a poster. It was light blue with glittering snowflakes creating a frame. In the middle was a bejeweled ice skate.
"Stars on Ice Japan Tour 2018," Itachi read the English, squinting a little without his glasses.
"I'll be in Osaka and then Yokohama," she added.
"You weren't going to tell us?" asked Shikamaru, reading the dates. She would be gone for all of spring break. Sakura lowered the poster, eyebrows rising.
"I just did," she replied. "Weirdo."
Kiba made a face at her back as she turned around to head back into the house.
"She's always doing this," sighed Shikamaru.
"Yeah. One day she was all-" Kiba raised his phone to his ear. "Hey. I'm getting married. Lol." He mocked her in a high-pitched voice.
"I can hear you!" Sakura called from inside.
"Good! I hate you!" Kiba shouted in response. Kiba and Shikamaru exchanged a long look. Then, sighing, Kiba sat up to clap his hand on Itachi's shoulder.
"Alright, Uchiha-sensei. We're in crisis mode," he whispered.
"Crisis mode?" repeated Itachi. Kiba shushed him. Itachi looked to Shikamaru. But Shikamaru was sitting up too, his expression weary as he nodded along.
"You gotta pick up the pace, man. Especially if she's going to be seeing all those skaters," Kiba hissed. When Itachi gave him a blank look, Kiba huffed. He typed something into his phone before throwing it at him.
Itachi barely managed to catch it by the tips of his fingers. It was open to an image search.
"Look! Look at how buff all those skaters are! And it's, like, statistically improbable how good-looking each one is!" Kiba whispered loudly, casting nervous looks over his shoulder. Like Sakura would be hovering over him, listening in. Itachi lowered the phone. Shikamaru was nodding.
"They're all hot," he agreed in a low voice. He flexed his arm, giving Itachi a pointed look. Itachi glanced at his own arm, then at the phone. Then back up at Shikamaru and Kiba. Who were staring holes into him.
"Um."
Itachi typed a few words into Kiba's phone. He looked up the website. And then he held it up for his friends to see.
"All the tickets are sold out. For every show," he told them.
"Guess I'll die, then," declared Shikamaru, falling onto his back again.
Yoshino held out a paper bag. Sakura peered inside. There were pocket warmers and energy drinks.
"Take care of yourself, Sakura-chan. I wish you weren't going alone," Yoshino fretted.
"Let me give you some spending money. Buy yourself a nice dinner," Shikaku declared, digging in his back pocket for his wallet. Shikamaru grabbed his father's arm.
"Mom, Dad, you don't have to do this every time. She's not a kid," sighed Shikamaru. Yoshino reached out to rub her hands up and down Sakura's arms.
"I know. I know. It's just... well, you understand me, right, Sakura-chan?" Yoshino said. Sakura smiled.
"I get it. Thank you, Oba-san, Oji-san."
Sighing, Yoshino pulled Sakura in for a hug, stroking Sakura's back. "Why couldn't we have had a beautiful, sweet daughter like you instead of that rude son?"
"Hey!"
The flight to Osaka was short. By the time the attendants served drinks, it was time to begin the descent into Itami Airport. Haku met her at arrivals, bouncing from foot to foot as she dragged her suitcase behind her. He pulled his black mask down to reveal his grin.
"Hey," Sakura greeted him, throwing her arms around him. He squeezed back just as hard. But she felt something hard against his chest. She pulled away, already glaring at him.
"Are you-?"
She didn't even get a chance to finish the question. Because Haku reached into the front of his jacket. He hooked his thumb into the ribbon and pulled out the gold medal he had won at Worlds. He waved it back and forth like a pendulum.
"You seriously wore that all the way here?" she demanded.
Haku nodded. He let it drop back under his shirt. Sighing, she reached out to ruffle his hair.
"You're unbelievable," she declared.
"Yeah, I know," he retorted.
They had lunch together, Haku talking a mile a minute as he caught her up on everything. She had missed the first couple days of rehearsal because of work. Sakura knew that Tsunade would have excused her without hesitation. But it felt wrong to be missing so many days, especially since it would be the last few days she would see the seniors. So she had stuck around until the last day of the spring semester and even attended graduation before taking the next flight up to Osaka.
"I can't believe Karin-chan's retiring. I feel old!" Haku groaned, reaching for her plate. Sakura pushed it over to him so that he could steal the last of her salad. She slapped his fingers away when he began reaching for her cookie, though.
"Okay. Anyone I should keep an eye out for?" she asked. Haku gave her puppy dog eyes when she opened the plastic and tore off a hunk of her cookie. She didn't offer him a crumb. He made a face. Crossing his arms, he rested his elbows on the plastic table.
"Nah, not really. Everyone seems pretty cool," he replied.
They hung out for a little while longer. They made a little detour to visit Kobe Harborland. They took a couple selfies in front of the ferris wheel, which Haku spent the taxi ride editing and filtering to look just right.
When they arrived at the arena they ran into one of the other skaters in the parking lot. She hugged Sakura, chattering nonstop about how nice it was to see her. This continued on as they entered the lobby. They flashed their ID at security, who pointed them in the direction of the locker room. Sakura waved at Haku as they parted between the men's and women's locker rooms.
The one-sided conversation stopped short when Karin spotted them. She pounced, grabbing Sakura in a hug. She kissed each of Sakura's cheeks, leaving lipstick marks.
"Прости," Karin apologized as she rubbed at the red with the edge of her sleeve.
"That's okay, Karin-chan. It's good to see you too," laughed Sakura.
Stars on Ice had reached out to Sakura many times throughout her career. It had surprised her when they had contacted her again this year. After all, there were dozens of young skaters who were in the spotlight now. Why reach out to someone who had retired? And rejected them dozens of times before?
But they had been thrilled to have her. And as one of the staff members gave her the rundown, Sakura was surprised by the amount of freedom she was given with her programs. As soon as the meeting was over, someone dashed across the rink toward her. She barely recognized Mangetsu before he collided with her.
"Hi!" she exclaimed as he squeezed her in one arm and Haku in the other.
"Get off me, you old fart!" Haku snapped, shoving him away. And then he struggled to pry his arm off of Sakura.
"Relax, Shimizu. We were friends first, right?" Mangetsu goaded him.
"Hi, Hozuki-kun," Sakura laughed. She threw her arms around Haku, squeezing him against her chest.
"Don't be jealous, little Haku-chan," she teased in a baby voice.
"The both of you suck. Lemme go!" snarled Haku, flailing his arms around. But Sakura held tight. And Mangetsu held onto the both of them, cackling as Haku began spewing profanities.
Sakura showed off the new choreography to Karin. But as she did a triple-salchow, she miscalculated the distance and botched her landing. She skidded on the ice, giggling as she rolled onto her side.
"You okay, Haruno?" called Karin.
"My butt!" groaned Sakura, still laughing.
Mangetsu did a wide loop around her, waiting for her to get to her feet. But when Sakura held out her hand, he drew closer. He grasped her outstretched hand and pulled her to her feet. Once she was steady, he swung her in a circle around him. She released his hand, grabbing the opposite one as she completed the loop.
Mangetsu pulled her in closer, but she pushed off his chest, rolling her eyes at him.
"Maybe we should've done pairs," he suggested, releasing her hand.
"No way. We would've killed each other," she pointed out.
"You're right," he conceded, chuckling. "But you're tiny. I bet I could lift you easy."
A look crossed Sakura's face as she considered that. She tilted her head a little. Skates slowing, she looked in Karin's direction. The redhead was by the edge of the rink, chatting with Suigetsu and one of the Chinese skaters. She had mentioned on more than one occasion that sometimes Suigetsu would lift her. And then they would joke about having her replace his ice dance partner.
"Wait, let's try it," Sakura suggested. She held out her hands. Mangetsu grabbed them, lacing their fingers together.
"Alright. On the count of three," he told her.
Everyone turned to watch as Mangetsu lifted Sakura into the air, his arms shaking a little. But as her elbows locked, Sakura found herself held rather securely in a press lift.
"Am I heavy?" she called down to him, core and back muscles tight as she tried to keep steady.
"Not really," Mangetsu replied.
"Wait, how do I get down?" Sakura then wondered, realizing that the rink was suddenly a couple meters away from her feet. She began giggling, and so did Mangetsu. Their arms began shaking from the movement.
"Help!" she laughed.
Haku and Suigetsu glided over. Suigetsu said something to his older brother while Haku approached Sakura. As Mangetsu began easing his arms down, Haku wrapped his arms around Sakura's legs. She tried to stop laughing at how ridiculous the situation had become. She sagged against Haku when her blades finally touched the ice.
"This is like how cats climb up into trees and can't get down," Haku remarked.
Sakura turned, already lunging from him. But Haku had read her body language and began skating away. She hurried after him, arms pumping at her sides. When she finally seized his shoulders from behind, he kept going, dragging her along after him.
"Conga line!" Sakura announced. Karin caught up to them, grasping Sakura's shoulders. When a fourth skater joined in, he threw them off balance, sending them tumbling onto the ice. Sakura sat there, laughing and laughing until her stomach hurt. Haku laughed right along with her, barely protesting when she slapped his arm a couple times.
"Feeling nervous?" Karin asked as she fixed the buttons of Sakura's costume that Saturday afternoon.
"A little. But also no," replied Sakura.
"I heard the tickets sold out right away when people found out that you were joining the line-up," Karin teased just a little. And Sakura looked over her shoulder at her. Karin stuck out her tongue before she gave Sakura a light slap on her back. Her costume was all secured.
They could hear string music playing as the introduction video played on the big screens. She and Karin made their way into the tunnel. It led straight out onto the ice. And in the darkness, she could make out the packed stands. Black silhouettes crowding together.
One by one, they played a short clip for each performer. And then they would do a short lap around the rink before heading back out, just to whet the appetites of the audience.
A staff member with a clipboard tapped her on the arm, urging her forward.
The ice was dark as she skated out of the tunnel. She could hear the whispers and rustles of paper as she glided out. And when the purple and white spotlights flickered on, screams erupted all around her. Sakura threw her arms up, beaming.
People had brought along signs with her name on them. They shook them, waving their hands as she moved past them. She did a lap all around the rink. It was smaller than what she was used to, but it was nice that the seats were so close. She could finally see the faces of all the people in the audience.
Including Itachi, who sat in one of the VIP seats at the very front. Her eyes widened as their gazes met. And she wondered whether she had just been seeing things. But when she glanced over her shoulder, he was still sitting there. Shaking her head a little, she forced the smile back onto her face.
"Oh, Itachi-kun, she looked right at me!" Mikoto said, shaking Itachi's arm a little. It took a second for his mother's voice to process in his brain. Itachi looked over at her, at the way Mikoto held the pamphlet in front of her mouth as she spoke. Her sparkling eyes. And he laughed a little.
"Yeah, Mom. She did," he agreed with her.
