Author's Note: Ack! Sorry for the long update. But then I did say I take ages to update didn't I? Ladida. Now, ladies and gentlemen, Haruno Sakura now hits the spotlight! Thanks for the few reviews! And in reply to Chibified Eyes question, I mentioned the dog earlier as Kitsune, a new dog that Sasuke has now. But then, I didn't mention that Kitsune was a border terrier so ya….that probably confused you. It was Kitsune whom Sasuke was making out with :-P
Anyways…enjoy the long awaited chapter!
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Don't sue.
-----: A different scene/meanwhile
Bold sentences/paragraphs: Scenes from the diary
Italic sentences: Thoughts
A Cherry Blossom Diary
Chapter 2: Mismatched Couple
The waves lapse against the pier in the morning sun. Seagulls cried as they flew around masts, their beady eyes looking for their breakfast. Boats lined up at the port bobbed up and down with the movement of the waves, flags flapping gently in the wind. At the end of the dock was a cruise. And in one of the compartments sat four people.
"Aiyee! Don't Sakura and Lee fit well together?!"
"Of course! Opposites attract right? Lee is such a gentleman!"
"And Sakura! She has grown into a beautiful fine lady!"
Two women in their prime time squealed as they looked out of the window at the wharf and two figures walking down it. One of the figures was a woman, who wore a loose light pink dress with thin straps which flew gracefully along with the wind. The woman brushed her long pink hair away from her face with a frown. Her green eyes swept over the sea intelligently as they quickly thought of something. Then they travelled over to the man next to her. His green suit stood brightly in the morning sun and Sakura shuddered at its horrendous colour.
Lee turned his head at Sakura and smiled. She was such a beautiful young lady. His haired bobbed up and down in its weird haircut. He gestured to the sea, his teeth flashing out in the morning light,
"It is such a beautiful day; don't you think Sakura-san?"
Sakura merely snorted at the comment and looked away. She clearly didn't want to be with him. She looked around for something to distract her from this fiancé of hersShe desperately wanted to get rid of this green beast and his devotion for her.Then an idea started at the back of her intelligent head. She cleared her throat and started making gurgling sounds. Lee looked over at her, his thick eyebrows creasing in concern. Sakura looked at him in the corner of her green eyes, glinting with mischievousness. Then she spat into the sea. Lee's eyes widened a bit at this immaturity and he coughed a bit. He gave a nerous smile and it wavered as Sakura started scratching her eye.
"What's wrong, Sakura-san?" Lee gave one of his big eyed worried looks.
"Some sand has gotten into my eye…" She mumbled as she rubbed and poked.
Lee was horrified at the way she was treating her eye…without care. He moved closer to her, and reached out a helping hand. The bubble pink haired lady slapped it away and started picking her nose full-on. Lee was more than horrified now. He started stuttering, at the way this beautiful fine well-mannered lady was behaving. He got his cool together and asked her the inevitable question
"Why, may I ask Sakura-san, are you…err...picking your nose? Is your eye alright now?"
Sakura's inner-self started screaming at this but Sakura pushed her away. She just glared at Lee and started picking her nose harder. Lee reached out another helping hand, this time to remove Sakura's index finer from pushing her finger higher and damaging her airways. She slapped his hand away this time, her glare producing further.
"The nose is connected to the eye thus I can remove the sand there, stupid!"
Lee stepped back and raised his hands defensively and smiled nervously. After all, Sakura is smarter than him. Who knew that the nose was connected to the eye after all...
"Of-of course Sakura-san."
Sakura watched as he smiled sheepishly and she started walking again, hoping that he wouldn't follow her. Sadly, after a while of just standing there in shock, Lee ran up beside her and started walking in his happy manner, like the things that happened never happened. Sakura got annoyed and she stopped walking. Lee looked at her with an expression that showed a bit of fear. He gulped inwardly and offered a smile. It wavered as Sakura's face grimaced in pain and once again he asked her what was wrong.
"My foot feels very very uncomfortable. Like...it's really itchy!"
"Umm…where?"
Sakura smirked inwardly and took her left foot out of her thong. She held onto a pole and lifted up her leg, letting her foot rest on Lee's hands which automatically lifted themselves to help her.
"It's over there…no there…"
"Over here?"
"No! The gap between my third and fourth toes!"
Lee looked at her, utterly confused. Sakura gave a frustrated growl and pulled her foot roughly out of his hands, almost getting Lee to fall down on the floor as he was slightly dragged along with it. Sakura lifted her foot so that she had to bend slightly to reach the gaps between her toes and start scratching it. Lee looked on concerned; slightly disappointed that he couldn't relieve Sakura of her pain. He walked behind her, his round eyes drinking in the sight of her beautiful figure as she walked with her hands behind her back. Then, the pink haired lady turned around suddenly, almost causing Lee to walk right into her.
"I'm very rude, aren't I?"
Sakura gave a sheepish smile, her eyes dancing with mischief as she awaited the thick-eyebrow man answer.
"Not at all!"
Sakura's inner self practically fell down at those words and Sakura frowned.
"I believe that being able to make yourself comfortable, in any disgusting way that would include picking your nose or spitting out phlegm, is the way of the springtime of youth. That means, Sakura-san, that you shall be young forever!"
Lee struck his fist up into the air with an aura of dignity surrounding him. Sakura stared at him incredulously, eyes wides and mouth gaping. Closing both of them with a sigh emitting from her lips, the mental image of Inner Sakura screamed with fury with fire lashing out of her eyes. Opening them again, Sakura gave her sweetest smile to Lee. Lee practically melted at the warmth of the curve of her lips. He blushed and smiled back, closing his eyes in the process. Taking this as her opportunity, Sakura lifted her knee and kneed Lee in his lower region.
Ouch indeed.
Lee clutched his groin, large round eyes rolling back in pain, his breath becoming ragged as the pain affected his lungs and his mouth gaped open at the sudden attack. Sakura rolled her eyes at Lee's reaction, turned around swiftly and back-kicked the poor green beast off the pier and into the cold morning sea. Sakura stalked off, hands clasped behind her back with an air of authority.
Lee poked his head out of the sea, shaking his head to let his hair turn back to its normal bobbed hairstyle. The cold water had washed him out of his pain and now, all he wanted to do was to get out of the water. But he can't do that when the dock was so far above him…
"Sakura-san! Wait!"
And Sakura just walked off triumphantly.
-----
Sakura hummed to herself as she lifted the palette full of paint from the chair next to her. She picked a thin brush, standing on a brush stand and dipped the white bristle into deep pink. Lifting the brush out of the paint with ease and grace, she placed the tip of the brush onto the canvas in front of her and outlined some shadows on the visual petals on her painting.
The perspective of the painting was splendid yet what was missing was the sparkle of life. Sakura knew that and she lifted the brush off the canvas, emerald eyes glancing intelligently around the picture, taking pride in her work so far.
The artwork in front of her was huge. A blue and green river flowed in the middle, reaching to the top left corner of the painting, white foaming around it's bank to show how the water laps gently around its side. The sky was painted gold in the sunset of the painting, a hint of the disappearing rays peeking through cherry blossoms, petals and branches tinted with gold. The cherry blossoms covered both sides of the riverbank, golden tinted pink petals frozen in midair as the virtual wind blew them off their stem. Over the river was a traditional Japanese bridge, its beautiful arch giving a high impression to the river. Behind the bridge stood a traditional Japanese temple, its roof pointing high into the gold sky, its tip seemingly brushing the pink clouds above. Those weren't the only features of the painting.
A few small figures of lovers were painted here and there around the cherry blossoms, sitting on benches, standing on the bridge or on the winding path visible behind the trees. And amongst all these people sat a lone female on a red bench, jet black hair flown back to show a pale face. The face was blank, no features painted in yet.
Sakura sighed and dipped another brush into orange mixed with the pink for some other touches for the petals. Her ears perked as she heard her door unlock and she groaned. The only person who has the keys to her room was Tsunade and her father. And because she returned back to the cruise without her fiancé and he came back behind her, half an hour later dripping wet, she knew her father was there to lecture her. Though his lectures weren't as worse as Tsunade's…
Putting on a fake sweet smile, Sakura looked at her dad, the one who supported her throughout her whole life so far.
"Sakura, dear, I really wish you and Lee could get along. And it always seems like you're the one who isn't willing to. Can you please co-operate with him? His family is, after all, important clients to our business. And if you don't marry him, it's possible that we may never be able to live like this any more."
Sakura gave the cutest smile she could muster and fake tears started welling up into her eyes. She put down her brush and clasped her hands in front of her.
"But daddy…I really don't like Lee. All that green hurts my eyes!"
"Green doesn't hurt your eyes, madam. It soothes it. You probably have eyes problems if you say it hurts. Maybe you've been adding too much gold onto your painting?"
Trust Tsunade to butt in.
Sakura glared at her carer's direction and turned her eyes onto her picture. Well, what Tsunade said was right. Her painting was after all…pretty vibrant. Sakura scowled and turned her glare back to Tsunade.
"You stay out of this."
"Now, now, Sakura. That is no way to talk to someone who has looked after you for a long time. What Tsunade said is right. And for your future and mine included, you have to marry him."
Sakura crossed her arms in front of her chest and huffed.
"Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! STUPID! And I wanted to give this artwork to him too as a token of my love…"Sakura glared at both of the people who had looked after her and huffed again. Then, putting on the puppy look into her face and clasping her hands in front of her in a pleadingly way, she started her rebut.
"Daddy, I can't marry Lee. I've got a boyfriend remember?"
Her dad looked away, not willing to fall for the pleading look in her eyes.
"That boyfriend of yours isn't there for love. He's like any other guy. He'll only marry you for your money. Don't trust outsiders. They're all after you're money. Once you marry him, he'll divorce you and take the money too."
Sakura frowned and put her hands on her hips, eyes flashing with challenge.
"So then, what's his name?"
Her dad turned around and saw Sakura's challenging look. He frowned and thought for a bit.
"It started with a G. Uhmm…Gary? Gaylord? Ga-something…Garran?"
"It's Gaara, dad! How can you judge him like that when you don't even know his name?"
Inner Sakura screamed in fury inside Sakura's mind and Sakura smirked under her father's stern gaze. He shook his head at his daughter's shallowness and returned her glare.
"So? Even though his name may have some meaning to love, he is just like all those people. He only loves you for your money."
"I definitely know that he loves me and me only since he said he is willing to go and spend one night with me and give me the greatest pleasure of all times." Sakura said smugly.
"Now…by then, my daughter, it would be too late. You see, having claimed your body…"
Sakura's father faded off as his daughter's words sunk into him through his lectures. He shut his mouth and looked at Sakura, his eyes wide and fearful. And Sakura just looked elsewhere, humming a small happy tune.
"You didn't...err…sleep with him did you? Like… the two of you didn't play around…right?"
Inner Sakura grinned evilly as a scheme started playing in her mind. Sakura placed her hand on her throat and stated "I don't feel so well. I feel like I want to puke…"
Her dad looked at her, worried. Sakura "hmmed" at her statement and walked around the room, deep in thought, a goofy smile on her face. Her dad watched, horrified at the answer. When Sakura finished her cycle around the room, she stopped in front of her dad and placed her hands on his steady, yet slightly shaking shoulders. A serious look came over Sakura and in the most serious tone she could muster, she spoke the words:
"Daddy, would you like a grandson or a granddaughter?"
Her dad gaped at the words and Tsunade practically fell over anime-style.
"She's pregnant? With that Gary person? Impossible! I'm ruined!"
A smile came over Sakura face as she saw her dad's reaction.
"Oh, sweet revenge." Inner Sakura pumped her fist up into the air and agreed loudly. Shoving the other part of herself into the extra inner part of her mind, Sakura kept the serious look on her face.
Her dad watched her carefully, taking in every twitch if there was any for and he looked for any signs that could show him. He did find one. The mirth showing through her eyes. And then, he felt anger boiling inside of him. He shoved his daughter's hands away from his shoulders and gave a really stern calm yet furious look at Sakura. He walked towards the door to leave but stopped before he stepped out of his daughter's premises.
Sakura just walked calmly to her laptop, flopped herself onto her swivel chair and opened the portable technical device. She checked her email for anything new and she felt disappointed to find nothing new, especially from Gaara.
"Make sure that the young mistress does not leave her room at all except for meeting Lee or under my special permission. Do you understand?" Sakura's father gave the orders with such authority that even Sakura herself couldn't defy.
"Understood" Came the reply from Tsunade and Sakura slumped in her swivel chair in pure discontent. Tsunade reached to a hook where Sakura's keeps were hung, flung them into the air, caught them with a smirk in a haughty manner and put them safely into one of her many pockets. Sakura sighed. There was no escaping that woman…
-----
The night was quiet, save for a few rustling of the leaves in the evening wind. A big white mansion, encaged with black metal gates, loomed shadows over a neatly trimmed garden. On the west side of the mansion was a balcony. This isn't just a balcony. It belonged to a important person. But this night, the balcony was different.
White cloths were tied together tightly, letting a long chain of them reach from one of the balcony's pillars to the floor. Suitcases were tied to the end of the cloths, making them stretch and straighten in the air. A dark figure in the night on the balcony tugged at the cloths to make sure they were secure. Nodding in approval to the secure cloths, the figure climbed down, using the knots as a foot hold.
Sakura jumped down, hair tied up into a ponytail. She wore black clothes and a mask so that no one would recognise her. She jumped down with a soft thud and glanced around the mansion. No one seemed to be patrolling around and no dogs seemed to be out. She let out the breath she was holding as she started to untie her luggage from the cloths. She glanced around, making sure there was no one in sight as she struggled with untying the cloths.
After an eternity to the pink-haired female, she picked up her luggage and started running towards the large gate that blocks intruders from the mansion of the Harunos. To be precise, she wasn't really running. She limped from the weight of her huge canvas, suitcase of clothes, laptop and many other essentials a girl needs. She scrambled to the gate, eyes directly placed on the black metal fence….
And she screamed.
Two ugly drooling growling hairy beasts with their yellow teeth bared jumped in front of the poor pink female. They pounced on her and Sakura fell. She tried to scramble away, dragging her luggage with her, an arm held out in front of her to protect herself. She closed her eyes as she awaited putrid smells and sharp teeth to sink into her arms and consume her. But, nothing happened. Sakura slowly opened one eye as nothing happened and found out why as she opened her other eye.
Tsunade grunted as she held on the leashes to the beasts as they strained to get to the pink-haired "intruder". Thank god for her somewhat not so normal strength as she held the beastly dogs at bay. Sakura was relieved yet at the same time, her fear for the dogs would never be diminished so the scared look on the pretty face of the female stayed in place. Tsunade glanced at the girl as she leaned back to pull the leash as the dogs pulled on the leash harder. She felt sorry for her as she suffered a lot from her fear of dogs.
Sakura couldn't take it anymore as the dogs kept barking. Not only was she really scared of them, but the more they barked, the more people will know she's escaping. And she wanted to go before her dad gives her a worse punishment than what she already has. She stood up on shaky legs, aware of the barking doogs as she as fast and as quietly as she could, picked up her luggage that fell from her grasp.
"Please…please Tsunade. Let me go…please? I beg you!" she pleaded, eyes darting around for an escape route in case the answer was negative. Hearing no answer from the woman, Sakura started on her excuse…
"Please, Tsunade. I always let you bully me around. You know…when I was small, you'd always get me to do the housework whenever dad's gone away. You always said you had back pain. But I was kind enough to do all the housework for you, even though you were the one who was meant to do it. And even now, at this age of 23, I'm still doing the chores for you. Please, Tsunade, PLEASE let me go. Otherwise…I'll tell dad what you did to me…"
"Alright, alright. Go now before the guards come. GO!"
Sakura was slightly surprised that it worked, but nevertheless, she ran for the gate. She screamed as the dogs tried to lunge at her, only to be yanked back by Tsunade's strength. The pink-haired woman walked around the dogs and ran towards the gate.
"Hurry up, Sakura!"
Tsunade's voice was strained as she kept the dogs at bay. She gritted her teeth as she felt her energy drain away from her. She glanced over to her mistress and was glad to find that she had already got the metal gate open. And she froze as she her shouting, voices and flashes of lights. She let go of the dogs and they bounded towards the closing gate as Sakura went through. Tsunade hoped that the girl she had come to love as a daughter would be alright.
And her heart felt heavy as the gates closed shut, the dogs whining and pawing at the metal bars, the guards shouting out commands and the lithe form of a beautiful female running off into the darkness.
Author's Notes: Ehehe…..finally finished XP I'll probably be able to update more as my exams are finished and I'm not that busy…yet :-P So….maybe expect another update…sometime 4 months later from now. Eheheh….sorry . I update slow. I'll start working on the 3rd chapter now. So don't go away XD I was planning to finish writing the 3rd chapter before I posted this chapter but…you obviously waited a long time so I'll post this instead and let you wait again for the 3rd chapter. So ya…See you next time. And please review. Might make me work faster… :-P