In celebration of me getting a new computer and my brithday, I am uploading another chapter of each story!
Yes I am STILL writing the novel with my friend, so far around 2-3 chapters a week are working for us but we're currently working veeeeeerrrrryyyy slow. We're going to send it ASAP to publishers. Thank you for reading this story J.
Yo! Cherished will be ending soon…I think…
A sequel is coming to mind and boy do I love myself. It's a great idea I hope.
Cherished Chapter 12
Sakura moaned as she rubbed her head. A pain was felt inside her brain and she was almost over the edge of breaking open her skull and getting rid of it. She rolled over, to come face to face with a face (A/N: A tad confusing eh?). She opened her mouth to scream but was blocked by Sasuke's rough hand clamping it over her mouth. His eyes weren't open and he grunted.
"Sakura, be quiet. You said enough yesterday." Sasuke mumbled, turning over. Sakura leant over him, poking his face jokingly. Her headache seemed to have disappeared along with her worries as soon as she saw Sasuke's face.
"Wait a second…" Sakura flicked the covers off, forcing Sasuke to suffer from the sudden disappearance of warmth. "What…am…I…doing…in…your…BED?!" Sakura's scream shattered Sasuke's eardrum.
"You don't remember? I shouldn't have dropped you on the way upstairs then…" He grumbled, reaching for the blanket blindly. Sakura fumed.
"You…DROPPED ME!?!!?" She shouted again, shaking him furiously. Sasuke groaned and shook her arms off, and dropped back into the bed. He was only wearing a pair of boxer shorts and his chest was bare. Sakura blushed at the sight of this but ignored the urge and shook the thought from her mind. She sighed and went out of bed; walking into the bathroom she knew so much like as though it was on the back of her hand.
She swung the door open and reached to the glass cabinet and pulled out a glass. She filled it up and washed her mouth with mouthwash and rinsed it with water. As Sakura placed the glass back, she caught sight of the necklace Sasuke wore at the dance. It hung from a hook hanging on the bathroom tiles that decorated the room. She pulled out her own, which she always wore from then on and joined the two broken pendants together. As she gazed at them, twinkling in the light, she felt Sasuke's arms wrap around her. She allowed him and both of them watched as Sakura broke apart the two pendants.
---
Tenten shook her head wearily, as she headed towards the bathroom. She stripped off her clothes and walked into the shower, allowing the feel of the cool water wash her woes away. She leant against the wall, her long brown hair soaking in all the hot water.
Once she was done, she grabbed a towel and began drying herself. She wrapped the cloth around her body and was ready to open the door.
WITH NEJI…
Neji entered Tenten's house, slipping his boots off at the doorway. It was a lovely day outside, and he decided to go for a walk with his girlfriend. He heard the sound of water trickling, which only meant Tenten was taking a long shower. He sighed and began to walk towards the room where Tenten slept. He opened the door and found Tenten, only wearing a towel. She looked down at herself, then at Neji, then at herself again. It took her moments of turning back and forth to find that she was only wearing a towel. She screamed her lungs out.
"NEJI! GET OUT!" She threw a rock at him. He didn't know where the hell THAT came from but STUFF THAT, HE NEEDED TO RUN FOR HIS LIFE. He ran, and slammed the door shut behind him. He panted heavily, the look of Tenten pierced into his mind with every second of thinking.
'Calm down Neji… At least it's not as bad like yesterday when she was dancing half naked in front of men… Wait… that IS BAD!' His thoughts were interrupted when Tenten opened the door, drying her hair with a dry towel. She took a glimpse at him, blinked a couple of times before heading to the kitchen, to pour herself a glass of milk. Neji sighed and followed her.
'Shikamaru's right, women are troublesome…'
---
WEEKS LATER…
"Eh? You want us to go where?" Sakura said into the phone, a look of confusion forming across her face. Sasuke sighed and repeated the same line he had told her three minutes and twenty eight seconds ago.
"WE-ARE-ALL-GOING-TO-THE-BEACH!" Sasuke almost broke the phone apart. Sakura had to hold the receiver end fifteen meters away from her ear. She came back from her long and perilous journey and cautiously picked the phone up again.
"Ok chilax, don't need to yell your insides out!" Sakura shouted back.
"Oi! Lovebirds! You forgot we're here too! Sasuke-teme, who knew you, could scream like that?" Naruto's voice came through and received at each of the seven people's end.
"Shut up dobe. We'll be going to the beach resort down on the other side of Konoha city, so strap yourselves for a long journey!" With that said, he hung off, disconnecting everyone since he was the one that called. Sakura sighed and placed the phone down. She went over to her aunty, who was desperately trying to read the instructions on the blender.
"Aunt Shiikure, are you going anywhere this weekend?" Sakura asked her aunty, snatching the sheet of paper off her. Shiikure sighed and nodded.
"Business trip to Sunagakure. I'll be gone for a week or two so I'm leaving Gaara here to take care of you." Sakura sighed once again and stared out the window. It was raining again, and it just began hailing.
"No need, I'm going with Sasuke-kun and friends to the beach that weekend." That made Shiikure drop the paper and she whistled.
"Oooooooohhhh Sakura and Sasuuuuke! Meow!" Shiikure imitated a cat which made Sakura roll her eyes. She swore her aunty was childish sometimes.
---
THE WEEKEND….ALREADY?
"Sasuke! I swear SHUT THAT THING UP!" Sakura screamed from the back. She was having her ummm…-cough cough- time of the month. Just kidding. She just had a headache thanks to stupid radio repeating the same song for the last half an hour. Sasuke smirked at the driver's wheel while Neji was on the front passenger seat. Sakura and Tenten front row, Shikamaru and Ino second and Naruto and Hinata last. Why Naruto and Hinata at the back? What do you think? Just kidding, Naruto was TRYING to be the macho man again but he vomited once he stepped foot into the van.
Sasuke snaked his fingers around the volume knob and turned it full blast. Sakura got pissed that very instant and took out a rock from nowhere.
"SASUKE! PREPARE TO DIIIIIE!" Neji and Tenten watched interestingly with popcorn shoved into their mouths.
"We're here." Sakura dropped the rock and looked outside the window. A HUUGE pretty beach resort, hanging the edge of the cliff, looking down on the beach, a nice greenhouse looking thing was beside it.
"Wow…" Hinata breathed, Naruto vomiting behind her.
'I shouldn't have eaten all that ramen…' He thought.
---
Everyone lugged their luggage inside. The kitchen was neat and tidy and the floorboards creaked with every step. No dust was seen and there was a fireplace on the very end of the room. A bear skin rug lay in the center of four squishy couches, complete with lamp stands and a coffee table. The kitchen, covered with cupboards everywhere, was soon filled up with ramen for Naruto. A kettle, microwave, oven, stove, fridge and all your everyday needed appliances were there, ready to be used. Close to the kitchen doorway, was a long corridor with many doors.
"Here are the rooms. Choose any you like. Enjoy." Sasuke said shortly. He was piling wood into the fireplace and began lighting them with a match. Sakura watched him while everyone else went to go pick their rooms.
"What about swimming?" Sakura asked, looking outside the window to see a storm approaching. It thundered loudly, causing her to jump into Sasuke's arms. He chuckled and put her down.
"Don't worry. There's a pool in the green house. We'll be going there tomorrow." Sakura nodded and went off to find a room. Sasuke stared after her, his mind swimming with plans.
---
Sakura mumbled in her sleep as she felt someone nudging her.
"Wake up sleepy head, it's 11:30." Sakura, with her eyes still closed, threw her comfortable pillow at her loud blonde female friend. She was longing for another word to appear to her but it hadn't come in weeks.
"Inooooooo it's a holiday! Go wake up Tenten or something…" Sakura muttered under her breath as she stood up to retrieve her pillow which had barely reached the doorway. Ino was standing at the door, her hands on her hips and fully dressed in a brown bikini and a towel.
"Tenten's awake and already making out with Neji. So IT'S YOUR TURN!" Sakura 'meh'ed at her and continued sleeping.
Ino huffed and grabbed Sakura's leg. She heaved and pulled, and even Tenten who specially came away from her darling Neji, to drag Sakura out of her room.
Sasuke and Shikamaru, who were at the end of the corridor, could hear Sakura's cries of help and Ino's shrieks of victory. Everyone in the house was awake and could hear from miles away, even Hinata who was at the beach, picking shells with Naruto.
---
Sakura ruffled her vibrant hair in front of the mirror as she changed into her bathers. Everyone else was at the pool house and Sasuke said there was also a sauna too.
'A warm pool, a cold pool, a sauna, completed with a spa! Whoever owns the damn place lives a life of luxury…' Sakura thought as she tied her hair up with the green hair tie Hinata lent her. She left the house with her towel and entered the glass house, to find everyone crowded around a wooden door. Sakura approached them cautiously. Naruto was first to answer her curiosity.
"We locked Ino and Shikamaru in there." –insert Sakura's skeptical look- "Her idea." He pointed at Tenten who was grinning triumphantly. Neji sweat dropped beside her and Sasuke examined the temperature knob carefully. Hinata came up next to him, peering over his shoulder. Sakura looked inside the little window to find Ino and Shikamaru sitting across each other, Ino's face was as red as a tomato while Shikamaru was calm.
"It's 23 degrees in there. Do you think they'll survive?" Sasuke asked. Hinata put on an evil look and turned the knob to 28.
"Hinata! You vixen!" Tenten called out. Hinata blushed a deep red before returning beside her friend to continue their evil plans. Sakura sighed.
"What do you want them to do though?" Tenten cackled menacingly.
"It's obvious! SOME CHEMISTRY!" Everyone sweat dropped.
WITH INO AND SHIKAMARU…
"Damnit! I can't believe they did this to us!"
"Hn."
"You need to widen your vocabulary you know Shika."
"Hn."
"Are you listening to me?"
"Hn."
"Man… it's getting too hot in here."
"Hn."
"Is it okay if I take my top off?"
"Hn. WHAT?!"
"Just kidding. That was a change…"
MINUTES LATER…
THUD! Ino fell on the floor, face down. Everyone outside gasped, thinking she had died.
"INO!" Shikamaru rushed to his fiancé's aid. He began doing CPR procedures.
"OH MY KAMI! LOOK! THEY'RE FINALLY DOING IT! YES! GENIUS ME!" Tenten did her success dance. Neji ran to the door and opened it, Naruto with a camera in hand.
SNAP! A perfect snapshot of red faced Shikamaru locking lips with an unconscious Ino.
"BWAHAHAHAAHAH!" Tenten laughed herself silly, before falling into the pool. Neji followed after her. Sasuke took this moment to grab Sakura in his arms and jump into the pool.
"Wah. Sasuke…Sasuke….SASUKE!!" It was too late; she had already submerged into the water with Sasuke. She rose to the surface, Sasuke right behind her.
"Wah! Sasuke you baka!" Sakura splashed him and they began a water fight. The rest came in, Ino returning conscious again and Naruto hiding the camera in the ramen cupboard.
More than once, Sasuke had managed to dive deep below and pull Sakura down by the ankle. They then began the piggy back fight, with everyone on their pair's shoulders. Neji and Tenten were victorious the first round but were quickly defeated by Hinata and Naruto. Sasuke and Sakura were squabbling like the old couple and Ino and Shikamaru were too busy paying attention to each other.
---
Sakura came out of the bathroom, a towel sprawled over her wet hair. She advanced to the lounge room where the fireplace was lit and marshmallows were roasting. Neji was asleep in Tenten's arms while she read a book. Naruto and Hinata were spiking the sweet soft sugary sweets through skewers while Ino and Shikamaru had received a phone call from their parents. Sasuke was still taking a shower.
Sakura slouched onto one of the comfy couches, massaging her head. Tenten smiled lightly at her and continued reading. It was 'The Art of War' by Sun Tzu and Sakura didn't even know what the hell that is. (A/N: -gasp- Noooooo!) Suddenly, Sasuke came out of the bathroom, his chicken styled hair back in place and wearing black sweatpants and a navy shirt. He sat beside Sakura and swung his arm casually over her shoulder. She accepted and lay against his chest.
"Ugh get a room you two!" Naruto called over from the fireplace with Hinata giggling. Tenten smirked while Neji kept on sleeping.
"Argh Sakura you're getting my shirt wet!" Sasuke cried out, examining his soaked shirt. Sakura laughed evilly and everyone started getting suspicious looks.
At that moment, Ino and Shikamaru came in, holding Shikamaru's cell phone. Their faces were ones of disbelief and confusion.
"Eh? What's up?" Tenten asked them.
Ino was the first to answer.
"My father…he said we're getting married next year…on my birthday!"
-EVEN BIGGER GASP THAN THE ONE BEFORE!- Oh dear… Ino's daddy has had a change of plans –wink wink-
Ah well, hope you enjoyed this chappy!
And sorry, for not uploading sooner!
Ja!
JunsuiFushichou