The weather was definitely getting milder, Sakura thought as she walked towards her car. Tonight she was finally going to see Ino and Shikamaru's new house; it was the grand unveiling, so to speak, after all the secrecy as Ino wouldn't tell her friends anything about her new home, just telling them to wait and see. She had only given them the address a few days before.
Although it was raining slightly, Sakura didn't feel the need to wear about six layers just to stay warm. And tonight, just to be daring she was wearing a skirt for the first time in ages.
Sakura hurried the last few steps to her car, eager to get in it and put the heating on to ward of the sudden cold snap as the winter weather tried to hold on. Although looking at the way her luck was going recently it would only be warm in the car once she'd arrived at Ino's.
Sakura frowned, hoping that soon, maybe some good luck would come her way, the last few days of work had been terrible, she seemed to have misplaced everything, and ended up embarrassing herself in front of one of her patients when she had the wrong file and told them that their pregnancy test had come back positive when they had come in complaining of a chest infection. She had finished that day completely mortified only to be teased mercilessly by both Temari and Tsunade who had, as usual, found her predicament very amusing.
She was already late for Ino's party; she should have been there five minutes ago but every pair of tights she owned seemed to have mysteriously gained hole in them. Sakura sighed in frustration, as she tapped her fingers on the steering wheel she glared at the red traffic light in front of her; the third she had encountered on her drive, hoping to change it by sheer will power.
After twenty minutes of furious driving Sakura found herself outside of Ino's new house, it was a small place but the garden looked like it was well kept by the previous owners and she wondered briefly if Ino or Shikamaru would continue to do the same, or if it would be too 'troublesome' for either of them to do so. Unless Ino bullied Shikamaru in to doing it to avoid having to tend to it herself, although Ino was surprisingly green fingered she had never attempted anything more ambitious than a potted plant so an entire garden was probably very daunting.
Sakura took a deep breath, mentally preparing herself for the verbal onslaught she was likely to receive by Ino for arriving so late after the weeks of asking Ino about her house.
"Sakura, where have you been?" Luckily it was Hinata who opened the door and greeted her "Ino been torn between fury at your disappearance and worry that something bad had happened." Sakura gave Hinata a reassuring smile.
"No. I started off late and the traffic was bad." The worry in Hinata's eyes vanished and she gave Sakura a warm smile.
"Ino will be glad. As far as she's concerned their house is overrun with Shikamaru's friends"
"Since when did Shikamaru turn into Mr Popularity?" Sakura asked knowing that he generally preferred to keep to himself, Hinata gave a slight laugh.
"I was under the impression that he invited everyone he knew so he wouldn't be overrun with Ino's friends. It seems to have worked." She explained and Sakura giggled.
"As Ino's friends are 'troublesome'." She said imitating Shikamaru, Sakura then dodged passed the masses of people in the crowded hallway and went to find her friend. She wondered if she could insist that she had been there all along but then decided that she probably wouldn't get away with it.
"Ino!" Sakura called once she saw her friend's blond hair.
"Sakura, where have you been?" Ino cried, lunging towards her and giving her a hug
"Sorry. I got stuck at practically every traffic light." Sakura tried to pull Ino's arm off her neck, so she could breathe again. "Can you give me a tour?" Ino nodded.
"Come on lets go through to the kitchen." After a brief tour of the house Sakura found Shikamaru amongst a group of friends. He gave her a slight smile and the group turned to look at her, out of all of them she only recognised a few of Shikamaru's friends including Chouji , a man of average height, who's interest in food had led him to pursue a career in cookery. However Chouji still insisted that the best part of cooking was getting to nibble on the ingredients along the way, and, like most people, he still enjoyed eating raw cake mix left over in the bowel. Sakura gave Chouji a polite smile, he was as close to Shikamaru as she was to Ino and although she barely knew him herself. Ino had always said he was good company except if he was invited over to a dinner party, where Ino had all her cooking criticised especially her lack of presentation.
"Hey." Sakura said nervously from all the attention she was receiving "Ino's just given me the grand tour, you two have found a great place. Did you have any part in deciding this place or did Ino force you into buying it?" Shikamaru looked embarrassed and Neji, who was standing next to him, smirked slightly.
"It's pointless to even try to argue with that woman." Shikamaru insisted, and Sakura laughed.
"I agree with you, and even if you do try and argue with her she always wins anyway." She sighed. Shikamaru gave a slight smile. "I'm sure Neji would have found the same thing with Tenten." Sakura continued.
"Not really." Neji muttered, looking uncomfortable now all the attention was focused on him "Tenten's always been very reasonable, especially compared to Ino."
"You wait until you start planning your wedding properly." Sakura said, amusement was evident in her voice "If anything Tenten is a perfectionist, you better be careful as everything will have to match perfectly, the clothes, the meal, flowers and so on, will all have some kind of theme or colour scheme running through them." Neji's already pale skin seemed to lose a bit more of its colour at the thought of his fiancée's obsession with all things matching, it was bad enough when he had helped her decorate her flat and the colour of the paint hadn't come out right. He had been forced to paint over the wall with different shades of green until she had found the right colour and she had insisted that the tester paint pots were different from the larger tins.
Sakura gave Neji an overly bright smile.
"I'm sure you'll have a great time" she said cheerily, as she turned to go, leaving behind her a stunned Neji, a still embarrassed Shikamaru and an amused Chouji.
"Hey, Sakura!" Sakura glanced in the direction of the voice and wandered over to join the speaker. Kiba gave her a broad smile, his dark eyes were warm and in the yellowing lighting of the room his hair took on a reddish tinge. "Haven't seen you around for a while." He said as she came over.
"No, well you know how it is with work and everything." Sakura muttered, wondering how time had passed so quickly when she had seemed so very busy doing nothing. "How have you been Kiba?" Sakura asked. The man smiled again and began to enthuse about his job which he was obviously enjoying. Kiba worked with animals and had recently moved jobs, considering how much he had disliked talking about his work before; Sakura assumed that this new place was a thousand times better.
"And you Shino, how are you then?" Sakura addressed Kiba's companion when Kiba paused for a moment. Kiba's dark haired companion turned to look at her.
"Good." Sakura gave and uneasy smile, she felt that this monotone syllable was all she was going to get from Shino.
"Sakura." It was Hinata again. "Isn't that your Sasuke?"
"He isn't mine." Sakura said automatically and then what Hinata had said sunk in properly, "Where?"
Hinata nodded towards a small group and Sakura saw Sasuke's dark hair and she recognised the blond next to him. Naruto was chatting animatedly amongst their group while Sasuke looked more withdrawn and quiet. Unlike Naruto whose arms were spread out as he was gesticulating while he was recounting a story, Sasuke's body language seemed colder, more defensive even. A faint smile made its way across Sakura's face when she saw then, she realised how uncomfortable Sasuke felt conversing with the almost-strangers at Ino and Shikamaru's housewarming party and felt privileged that his shy nature had let her into his life.
As Sakura and Hinata watched to group talk, Naruto seemed to notice the eyes on his back, he stopped talking and turned, his own blue eyes lit up as he saw Sakura and Hinata looking in his direction and he waved them over. Hinata's checks flushed as she and Sakura walked over to the groups thanks to Naruto everyone's attention seemed to be on the quiet girl and her companion. Hinata noticed that even Sakura looked slightly uneasy from all the attention but she held her head high and walked over to Naruto with a smile. Hinata followed her friend standing slightly behind her.
"Sakura!" Naruto greeted them with a smile, of course "And Hinata wasn't it?" The dark haired girl nodded, her eyes were wide and she looked slightly scared as Naruto grinned into her face until Sasuke forcibly grabbed the back of Naruto's head and dragged him backwards.
"Ouch," Naruto said loudly, "What was that for?"
"Give her room to breathe Naruto." Sasuke said dryly as Naruto turned back to stare at Hinata. They feel silent.
"I didn't know you knew Shikamaru." Sakura said to Naruto to try and divert his attention from Hinata, who he seemed to be stuck smiling at, Sasuke rolled his eyes at his obvious interest in the shy girl.
"We went to school together." Naruto said in way of an explanation.
"Huh, is that so? Small world then." Sakura said. Naruto gave them another smile and Hinata looked thoughtful.
"Its sure is!" Naruto's grin widened "And with luck there will be more happy coincidences and we'll run into each other again Sakura!" Sakura smiled at him optimism, but she was still glad when Naruto's attention switched to Sasuke who was conversing with Hinata.
"It's fine." She was saying "I'll be able to get a lift home with Neji probably."
"What?" Naruto burst noisily into their peaceful conversation, "You can't get a lift home with Neji he's so grumpy." Sasuke raised his eyebrows.
"And why not Naruto, I'm sure Neji wouldn't object to taking his cousin home."
"You're his cousin?" Naruto exclaimed looking shocked and Sakura heard Sasuke sigh.
"It's fine." Hinata said again, "Really." She insisted as Naruto's bright eye's pierced hers.
"It can't be helped." Naruto declared "I'll give you a lift home."
"Eh?" Sakura looked at her companions; at least Hinata looked as bemused as she felt trying to follow the path of Naruto's insane logic. Sasuke, however, just looked amused.
"If you wanted some time alone with her I'm sure you could have asked nicely instead of insulting her cousin." He said archly and Naruto's face turned pink, he turned round, folding his arms crossly.
"That has nothing to do with it." He muttered and Sakura suppressed a smile, he sounded like a child.
"Well I'm sure having a lift from you Naruto will be better for my nerves than being with Neji and Tenten." Hinata said trying to make Naruto feel better "They argue about anything and that tends to make Neji drive recklessly, he was too busy arguing one time and skipped a few red lights."
Sakura stared at her.
"Really? Neji was shouting, usually he can brush off any insults." She said and Hinata shrugged.
"I think Tenten knows just how to get under his skin. They've known each other for so long after all." She said, Sakura nodded slightly.
"Then it's settled." Naruto gave them a bright smile and slung his arm around Hinata's shoulders "You're coming home with me!"
"I see." Another voice joined then "Naruto you've finally found a girlfriend then." Hinata was already blushing due to Naruto's arm and now she was steadily getting even more red.
Naruto stared blankly at the speaker and Sasuke rolled his eyes in disgust and walked away, Sakura turned and was, as usual, shocked to see Neji and Tenten's long time friend behind her.
"Lee?" She said in surprise taking in his all green outfit.
"In that case I cannot lose out." An insane fire lit up Lee's eyes and Sakura had the feeling that wherever this was going it wasn't going to be anywhere good. "Sakura, I heard from Tenten that you're single, so now I may have a chance." He grasped Sakura's hands in his, and Sakura got the same uneasy feeling she did when Naruto had done the same weeks ago, that this wasn't good. "I have always admired you." He continued "Please will out go out with me?" This declaration was loud enough so that the whole room turned and had their attention focused on Sakura and Lee.
"Ah, well." Sakura stared to say wondering desperately how to get out of this one. "I'm already seeing someone Lee." She looked around the room to find someone who wouldn't mind pretending to be her boyfriend for a bit. "Ah, that person over there." She indicated the direction with her head, as Lee was still passionately holding onto her hands. "Kiba." She said finally and Lee slumped looking dejected.
Sakura left the group as Hinata tries unsuccessfully to comfort Lee while Naruto still had his arm round her.
"I hope you don't mind if I don't take my pretend girlfriend home." A voice said behind her, and she turned.
"Kiba," Sakura looked sheepish "You heard that?"
"I think most people did, don't worry about it." Kiba shrugged "But I'm heading home now and I hope you don't expect a goodbye kiss." Sakura blushed ad looked at her feet.
"Goodbye Kiba." She said softly and he gave her a smile before going to find Ino and Shikamaru to say he was leaving. Noticing that people were still watching her Sakura slipped out into the garden that she hadn't been able to see on her tour with Ino as her friend thought it was just a garden, they're all the same really aren't they, Ino had said.
Sakura walked down the stone path towards the end of the garden, even though it was dark she could still see the beauty of the garden from small lights that had been evenly spaced down the path. At the end of the garden she could see a dark shape and a small smile crossed her face when she recognised the outline.
"You're making it a habit, going out in the cold without a jacket Sasuke." The figure turned and gave her a slight smile. Sakura came up beside him and put her hand on his bare arm, it was freezing. "Jeez, Sasuke anyone would think you want to catch pneumonia." she muttered rubbing her hand up and down his arm trying to get the blood flowing.
Sasuke covered her hand with his stopping the motion. He said nothing and when Sakura looked at his face he was staring at the sky. Sakura tilted her head up and almost gasped. The night was clear and unlike where she lived many stars were clear in the sky, she could even spots parts of the few constellations she knew. Still looking heavenward she shuffled closer to Sasuke hugging his arm closer to him in an attempt to give him some of her warmth.
They stood in silence for a long time looking up at the stars until Sasuke finally spoke.
"You'll get cold if you stay out here too long." He said and Sakura snorted.
"And this is coming from you." He was right though, she was cold especially her legs, she had just been wishing that she'd worn a thicker pair of tights before he had spoken.
"So Sasuke." She said, putting the cold to the back of her mind "Do you know any stories about stars?"
"Stories?" He sounded surprised.
"Well you knew one about winter." Sasuke frowned slightly and Sakura glanced at his face which looked white in the moonlight.
"I can think of one, that my mother used to tell me when I was little." He said eventually.
"Well?" Sakura prompted, leaning her head on his shoulder.
"It's a long story I don't know if I can remember it all."
"Tell me what you do remember then" Sasuke sighed and was silent for a while as he gathered his thoughts.
"There was a young, and beautiful of course," He added and Sakura smiled "girl who was a skilled weaver and her father loved the cloth she used to make she worked very hard by the river and eventually became sad that she'd never meet anyone. So her doting father arranged for a cow herder to meet her who worked on the other side of the river and they instantly fell in love".
"As in all fairy stories." Sakura said and Sasuke glanced down at her before looking back up at the sky again.
"Of course." He said dryly before continuing "Then they married and never did any work anymore so she never did any weaving and cows escaped everywhere." Sakura gasped and pretended to look shocked.
"How dare they." She said and a small smile flitted across Sasuke's face.
"And this made her father very angry as he loved the cloth she wove and he was upset." Sasuke said.
"Oh no, what happens now?" Sakura asked tugging Sasuke's arm slightly.
"He separates them." Sasuke said "With each of them on the other side of the river, or in this case in opposite ends of the sky." Sasuke said indicating the stars above them and Sakura turned her head up to look at them again.
"So they can't see each other anymore." She asked and Sasuke nodded.
"Except the father takes pity on his own daughter who is understandably upset by being separated from the person she loves and tells her that he'll let them meet up for one day on the 7th day of the 7th month but only if she finishes her weaving."
"And does she?" Sakura asked wondering if his story had a happy ending.
"She does but remember their on opposite sides of the river and when they are allowed to meet up there isn't a bridge for the weaver to cross, but luckily some magpies hear their distress and form a bridge allowing them to cross and see each other. However this can't happen if it rains so they can't always be together every year."
"At least it sort of ends well." Sakura said gazing up at the stars.
"Although I don't think you could call it that much of a happy ending." Sasuke mused.
"You know the weirdest stories from your childhood." Sakura said and Sasuke glanced at her. "Really?" He said "I was under the impression that they were just standard fairy stories that my mum knew."
"Maybe," Sakura said "I was only ever told the ones like Cinderella and Rapunzel." Sasuke gave her a blank look and Sakura shook her head slightly "never mind" she said smiling slightly as she turned her attention back to the sky "maybe if you're lucky I'll tell you them sometime."
They stayed together for a moment longer enjoying the silence when suddenly a shriek came from the house behind them. They both turned, and Sakura laughed slightly.
"That sounded like Ino, I wonder what happened." After she spoke there was a giant crash and both Sasuke and Sakura flinched slightly.
"I think we should just make our excuses and go now." Sasuke said slowly.
"Yeah, in case it gets any worse." Sakura said hastily not wanting to see Ino's wrath.
They made their way slowly back to the house and got their coats, said their goodbyes to Shikamaru, having decided to avoid Ino who was ranting at some unfortunate person in the kitchen. Outside the house Sakura breathed a sigh of relief as Ino's shouts we muffled by the thick wood of the door. She exchanged a smile with Sasuke.
"We both got out alive then." He nodded slightly. "Can you get home alright of do you want a lift?" She asked, reluctant to leave him.
"Its fine Sakura, don't worry about it." She nodded, and turned to leave. "I'll see you in a few days." Sasuke said softly and Sakura turned to face him again. Their eyes met, his as dark as the sky they had been admiring and hers looked an olive green in the night. Sakura gave him a broad smile, one he couldn't help returning with a small one of his own.
"I look forward to it."