SakuraslashIno – Because I Can
Disclaimer: All Naruto characters property of Masashi Kishimoto. I will try to return them relatively undamaged.
Authors Note:When I first heard about this pairing, I thought NOOOOOO. Then I was just shocked and disbelieving. Then, strangely intrigued. After that…
. As well as being my first fanfic for five years, it's also the first story I've tried to introduce romance into. So if you're looking for explicit scenes, look somewhere else. And don't expect this to be all about romance, either. Hehehe./Authors Note End.
Sasuke trudged along the lonely earth track, kicking stones. There were voices in his head. His family, singing …
Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you…
Well, his mother would have been singing anyway. He could remember his father standing at the table, not granting a smile even on his son's seventh birthday. And Itachi, feet up on the table, smiling slightly mockingly. Of course, Itachi had been a Chuunin by then…
A bird sang in one of the trees that clustered round the edges of the pathway, and Sasuke was tempted to kick it too. He hated his stupid birthday: all the painful memories it brought back, all the Sasuke Fangirls that tore Konoha apart to shower him with dumb gifts he didn't want, need or care about. This year they would have trampled him down if he hadn't decided to skip school altogether and come here instead. A quiet place, where he could just escape from everything and be alone.
"Oi, Sakura-san. Don't you think you're going slightly over the top this year?" yelled Ino's dad from the counter of the flower store. He had to yell, because Sakura's pink-haired head and, in fact, most of her upper half were eclipsed by what seemed to be a rosebush. There was earth trickling through her fingers and scratches decorated the parts of her face that were actually visible.
"3000 … yen … right?" she puffed, dumping the bundle on the counter and fumbling in her belt for notes.
"Uh … do you want a bag for this?" asked Yamanaka-san, his worried face appearing over the top of the flower heap.
"Nah, I'll be fine. Thanks very much for letting me help myself from your garden."
"Oh, it's nothing. I'm surprised there's that many left, to be honest. I though our Ino had cleared us out of roses this morning."
"Ino took some too?" A look of panic flew across Sakura's face, swiftly elbowed aside by one of anger. "Did she say who they were for? No, wait, you don't need to tell me. What time did she leave?"
"'Bout ten minutes ago," replied the shopkeeper, looking slightly confused. "Here's your ch-" he started, then discovered he was speaking to empty air. Sighing, Mr. Yamanaka started to sweep earth from the floor.
i Damn Ino/i thought Sakura, leaping from tree to tree on the outskirts of the village. This was going to be the best birthday present for Sasuke ever. It would surely convince him that she was the only one, that her love for him was true and undying. And no-one was going to mess it up, especially not that pig Ino.
"Crap! Owww!" yelled Sakura, as she hit a low-hanging tree branch and roses sprayed everywhere. She picked them up hurriedly and rushed on, wiping blood out of her eyes. Shame she hadn't had time to remove the prickles.
Sakura had spent weeks planning this, following Sasuke wherever he went. Nothing could ruin it, not now, when she was so close. She must get there before Ino. Must prove total devotion. The girl crashed onwards through the undergrowth.
A couple of hundred yards away, a similar trail of destruction was being torn through the innocent forest as Ino raced forward, both girls rapidly converging on the same spot. Their target: the unsuspecting Uchiha Sasuke.
Lost in thought, Sasuke's ninja senses didn't even register it when a single, pink rose drifted softly onto the stony ground in front of him. However, the next two caught his eye. He looked up, puzzled. There didn't seem to be any rose bushes around. Was this just another cheesy special effect the animators had crammed in, thinking it would make the moment more poignant?
A shower of dusty earth drifted on to his hair and Sasuke brushed it off, annoyed. He had spent HOURS gelling it his morning! Although looking back, he wondered why he'd bothered. i Maybe if I put less effort into my appearance, girls would quit stalking me/i he mused.
Sadly, what may have been a life-changing (or at least image-changing) train of thought was derailed by two spikey dark spheres – one pink, one red – hitting each other at high speed about two inches above his carefully groomed hair. The mountain of roses descended, and Sasuke was enveloped by prickled, sweet-smelling darkness.
Instinct took over. "AAAAAAAAAAH!" yelled Sasuke, quickly forming animal signs with his hands. The blossoms were slowly suffocating him. Taking a deep breath, he thought, i Fire style! Fireball no Jutsu/i
From opposite sides of the pathway, Ino and Sakura watched the dark pile of flowers explode outwards, and dived for cover as the air filled with smoke, sparks and sharp things. They were both thinking silently, i Oops… /i
As the smog cleared, Sasuke became aware of two figures staring at him. Two girls. Panting, he frowned darkly. The one day he was entitled to be alone with his dark thoughts had been disturbed. This was Not On.
"INO! SAKURA! I KNOW IT WAS YOU TWO WHO DID THIS! GET OUT HERE!"
Unable to resist the summons of their mutual crush, Ino and Sakura dragged themselves onto the path to face him. All three of the ninja's faces and arms were cut and smudged with earth and soot. Ino was the first to speak.
"I'm sorry Sasuke. But it was all Sakura's fault you see. If she hadn't-"
"You bitch! These are from your stupid flower shop, you little-"
"SHUT THE HELL UP, BOTH OF YOU!" Sasuke's shout cut them both short and they stared at him. They'd never heard him raise his voice before, and it was not a nice experience. He glared at them both, then started talking fast. They listened with growing dismay.
"Now listen, both of you, cos I'm only going to say this once. I hate you. I hate both of you. Actually, I don't like anyone much, but you two I hate most of all. Call this a birthday present?" He gestured at the surrounding forest. "You might've at least removed the prickles! You two are stupid, clueless kids and I have only one thing left to say to you. I'll never go out with either of you, so stay the hell away from me. Or – or – I'll kill you!"
And Sasuke was gone, leaving behind the remains of two large bouquets and two shell-shocked girls, staring at each other across dark earth and a pile of ashes. Typically, it started raining.
Neither of them considered calling after Sasuke. They were too dazed by what he'd just said.
"That … bastard …" whispered Sakura slowly, staring at the charred blossoms. "That was my entire month's allowance."
"What did you call Sasuke-kun?" screamed Ino, out of habit. "You idiot, if it hadn't been for your bouquet, he would've-"
"-sworn his undying love to you?" said Sakura in the same quiet voice, searching Ino's face. "Yes, that's what I thought about mine too, but now-" her gaze drifted back to the ground, hopelessly. Ino watched her greatest rival getting soaked and realised for the first time that they were sharing the same emotion: bitter disappointment.
"He really hates us, doesn't he?" she said, flicking raindrops off her hair.
"Yes," replied Sakura glumly. "Y'know … maybe … we should just … give up."
"What, you mean stop stalking him?" yelled Ino incredulously.
"Mm-hm."
"Like, forever?"
Sakura wiped some blood and soil from her face. "Hell no. But maybe we should cool off a bit. And try a different tactic, cos the whole 'in your face' thing isn't working so well right now, is it?"
"A different tactic, huh? What exactly do you have in mind, Sakura-chan?" asked Ino, yanking prickles from her blonde ponytail.
Gazing at her best friend/arch-enemy, currently covered in rose petals, Sakura thought. She had been stalking Sasuke for so long it had become a hard habit to break. Was that all this crush had become? Some sort of habit. No way! She would do ANYTHING to win him back. Anything...
Then the idea happened. It was so simple, so classic, so blatantly obvious.
"Sakura, why are you looking at me like that?"
"Like what?"
"Like you're sizing me up for something."
The smile that spread across Sakura's face could've been described as sneaky. It could even have been evil.
"Make him jealous," she stated.
"Whaddya mean?"
"That's what we'll do. Make him so jealous he'll repent."
"How will we ...? Wait a second. You mean - get boyfriends."
They both pictured mentally the boys they knew. Ino spoke first:
"Nah, won't work. They're way too scared of me."
"And him...EWWW! No, there's only two people in Konoha who will co-operate totally with our plan."
"And who's that?"
"Us."