Sakura POV
Again.
It happened again.
The next day in first period I had rushed to be in the classroom early, so I didn't have to make the decision of where to sit. So I could leave it up to you-know-who. And it happened again. It's not just me being totally delusional – Sasuke Uchiha is going out of his way to sit beside me.
…Not that I mind, of course, but still. It's confusing.
And out of that confusion spurred a plan to get me some answers.
"Naruto!" I called down the hall as the blonde headed towards the doors to the parking lot.
It was after school – after art class where Sasuke sat beside me, English where I schemed about my plan, lunch where I stayed almost virtually silent as Sasuke sat beside me again, Instrumental where I tried to talk to Naruto but had to work the whole period, and Biology where again, I was virtually silent as Sasuke sat beside me – and I had to catch Naruto before he left to wherever he was going. I had to set my plan into action.
I ran after him when he didn't hear me, calling his name again.
This time he turned around.
"Hey Sakura, what's up?" he asked when I caught up to him.
"I have a favor to ask of you." I replied, getting straight to the point.
Naruto looked at the clock on the cell phone in his hands, "Sure… but it has to be quick."
"So, about Sasuke-" I started.
"Hah, I knew it was about Sasuke," he interrupted. I glared.
"Yeah, well… I need help."
"Help?"
"I just… I don't know what to do, I mean he sits beside me but he doesn't really say anything. He ignores me when I get up the courage to talk to him. He acts-"
"Woah, you're looking at the wrong guy for relationship advice."
"But you can actually help me."
"Help you how? I'm telling you I'm no good at giving advice."
"I don't need advice I just need you to do something for me."
Naruto looked at the clock on his cell phone again then to the doors leading to the parking lot. "Okay, I'll help, just make it quick."
"Thanks," I replied, "What are you in such a hurry for anyways?"
"I have a date with Hinata, and I told her I'd meet her at my car."
"A date this early?"
"Well yeah, you of all people should know how controlling, and stuff, her dad is."
"Right, her dad… well, I don't need you to help me right now, it's just something to do later – at the opportune time."
"Opportu-wha?"
"Opportune- like the 'right' time."
"Oh… right."
"Yeah," we started walking down the hall towards the doors. We were both quiet as I re-gathered my confidence to continue the conversation.
"So I just need you to get some sort of info from Sasuke." I finally said. "It doesn't have to be a straight answer, just some sort of sign to let me know what he's actually thinking."
Naruto was hesitant in answering; he's not the best at serious conversations. The fact that he was trying and not making fun of me or making suggestive jokes showed just how much of an influence Hinata was.
"…And how do I do that?" he replied after momentary silence.
"Well, you could casually start up a conversation."
"Like 'hey do you think this chick is hot?'" Naruto answered, mimicking an earlier saying of mine from Christmas break. I glared at him again, trying to fight down the smile.
"No, just, I don't know, while your out somewhere or playing Xbox or something-"
"Xbox?"
"Yeah at his house, or just when you're with him in general, if you could-"
"Sorry Sakura, but Xbox is so last year."
"Whatever, just if you're ever with him could you…" I trailed off, realizing something. If Xbox is, according to Naruto, so last year, than what will I use as a conversation starter, or as an excuse to get close to Sasuke? "Wait – what about Xbox?" I asked, ignoring the fact that last year was only like, 10 or so days ago.
"Oh not much, just Sasuke and I don't play it any more. It's all about the PS3."
"PS3?"
"Yup we got it a while ago. Well, he got it a while ago."
A while ago – but didn't Sasuke just get back from a cruise? "What? I mean, why? When?"
"It was his birthday, so we got it. I even paid a bit, as my present." Naruto said, and I stopped in my tracks. Naruto stopped as well.
Hold up.
His birthday?
His birthday?!
"Naruto!" I cried, horrified that I didn't know – I mean, if I'm trying to, you know, be with Sasuke, then I should know these things.
"What? What did I say?"
"You never told me it was his birthday!"
"Uh, yeah, I did. Like three times over the break – don't you remember?"
I struggled to say something, my mouth opening and closing wordlessly. Now that I think about it, if I look back, there actually were times when Naruto told me – or rather, was about to tell me. Still, I fought to argue what was obviously my mistake. "You should of still said something!" I almost yelled, starting to panic.
"Calm down Sak, it's not a big deal." Naruto said casually, and started walking towards the doors again. I followed, still stupefied, until I realized what I had to do.
"You have to help me!" We have to go to the mall! Now!" I blurted when we reached the doors.
Naruto paused before going through them, "I can't; I have a date with Hina."
I followed him as he went outside. "You can't leave me alone! You have to help me! What do I get him?"
"You don't have to get him anything," Naruto said, waving to Hinata who was standing by his car. "He probably doesn't even care."
"But it was his birthday – this is something I should have known! I mean, you got him something," I replied as we made our way over to Hinata.
"Yeah 'cause I'm, like, his best friend. Plus, Sasuke doesn't do the whole receiving gifts thing."
"And I want to… well, you know; be his friend too."
Naruto grinned slyly, "Is that all you want to be Sakura?"
"Naruto – seriously. I need to get him a present. It was his birthday."
"Yeah, and he doesn't care. It doesn't matter."
"Naruto," I stopped our trek towards his car. Naruto paused too, noticing the difference in my tone. "Please, what do I get him? I mean, what do you get the guy who already has everything?"
"Fine," Naruto answered, giving in as we continued to walk. "Uhhh… I dunno… you could fuck him."
"Naruto! No!" I exclaimed, appalled, even though I shouldn't have been that surprised because it is Naruto.
"Well, you want to get the guy who already has everything something that he doesn't have. And you know what – or who – he hasn't had yet," he replied suggestively while elbowing me playfully.
I returned the elbow to his ribs (hard), which I seem to be doing a lot lately. "Naruto! Something… reasonable!" I tried to ignore the fact that Naruto said 'hasn't had yet.'
"What, fucking's reasonable."
"I'm not going to… you know." I blushed at the thought.
"Why not? He'd enjoy it. You'd enjoy it."
"No." My answer was firm, and my face became a deeper shade of red.
"Well, that's all I can think of." Naruto answered.
"Are you serious? All you can think of for a present is sex?"
"Well, it's the only thing I can think of that he'd like."
I was silent for a while. Is that all Sasuke was interested in? No – there had to be something else.
"You c-c-could um, get him s-something meaningful," a small voice piped up between me and Naruto.
"Say what?" I replied instantly – this idea was getting somewhere. I looked to the voice and saw an extremely red Hinata – I didn't even realize we had already made it to Naruto's car.
"Well, if there was anything, um, particular, that happened to the b-b-both of you, then you could get something t-to signify that." She replied.
Oh my god, Hinata just saved my life.
"Hinata! You're a genius!" I said, voicing my thoughts.
"Yeah, that's why I chose ya!" Naruto added, pulling her close to him, loving the blush that was her reaction.
"W-well, I j-j-just-" she struggled for a response. In the mean time I had already started booking it to my car to get to the mall as fast as I could. "Thanks guys! I'll see you tomorrow – and have a nice date!" I called over my shoulder.
It was later, walking through the mall that I realized that, sure, I had an idea, but I still had no clue what to get Sasuke.
I had done some shopping for myself and gotten a smoothie to drink, to help me relax and solve this situation (while really just procrastinating the whole gift buying thing), however, my thinking was leading to nowhere.
Something meaningful. Something significant. …Just a question, but when has something even remotely meaningful or significant ever happened for him that involves me?
I mean, if I wanted to seem like a total loser and stalker, than I'd get something totally relating to the first time he's ever kissed me. But that's not significant for him.
I could maybe get something that reminds him of when we first met… but that wasn't very important, and it was really embarrassing on my part (leaning on the stupid paper towels…).
Or maybe something related to art class because we both take that subject – but then that will probably remind him of the time where I completely ruined his sketchbook and then he came back to school after smoking up and flipped out at me…. So never mind about that idea.
Maybe I could give him something to do with his car, because I know he prizes it above almost everything else. But that would probably remind him of when he was driving me home and I threw up in front of him…. Super embarrassing…. And gross.
So I guess I could get him something that has to do with Sarah. Except then the present won't be about him… and it could also remind him of how a) Sarah broke her leg because we weren't watching her, b) when she had a tantrum on Halloween and I was embarrassingly dressed up as a fairy, or c) when he found me digging through the sheets on his bed because Sarah lost one of her mom's earring in it… so I guess I shouldn't do anything about Sarah.
Okay, I could get him something to do with Naruto, because then it could be related to him and it wouldn't have to be so personal. But then that may remind him of how I used to go out with Naruto and how there was a certain party that didn't go overly well between us.
Maybe I could get him a bottle of Calvin Klein's Contradiction – the cologne I spilled in his closet (the cologne that he wore the very next day). Wait – it seems that I'm getting a little too desperate here – I mean, giving him the bottle of cologne is totally saying that I've snooped around his closet. So that won't work.
Ugh – Why is it that the only gift ideas I can think about revolve around complete disasters?
Wait.
Disasters.
Disasters are significant, right? And important? And maybe even memorable?
Like, getting a gift that almost signifies something bad is kind of like making a joke of it, right? And by making a joke of it, the disaster doesn't seem so serious, and then it doesn't even seem like a disaster but just something that's personally happened between us.
Like a sort of inside joke.
The idea made me so excited I gave myself a brain freeze from drinking my smoothie too quickly.
And I had to drink it so quickly because I had to throw it out, because, see, they don't allow drinks in the Calvin Klein store.
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I was so excited.
So excited about the gifts I had bought for Sasuke.
So excited that on the way home in my car, at every stoplight that I had to brake at, I pulled out each part of the gift and looked at it until the light turned green.
The first part was obviously the bottle of cologne, as the first store I went to when I thought of my brilliant idea was the Calvin Klein store.
The second part of the gift was a sketchbook – because Sasuke is the most amazing artist – and I know that I completely ruined his.
The third was something a little less disaster related and more of an excuse to be near Sasuke – and also to fix the whole Xbox vs. PS3 problem.
I went to a videogame store and asked about the PS3 and heard that the system can connect up to seven controllers. And knowing Sasuke as well as I think I know him, he probably wouldn't have all seven – probably only 2 – one for him, and one for Naruto.
So getting another controller could innocently be a gift that relates to what interests Sasuke – and also kind of have the double meaning of inviting myself to play the PS3 with them… with Sasuke.
Anyways, I was so excited about the presents that I took a full 10 minutes of just looking at them in my car just after I pulled into my driveway – failing to recognize the extra car parked in front of my house.
That's why when I entered through the door I saw an unexpected scene.
In my living room was my dad sitting on the couch with piles of papers and folders and files on the coffee table in front of him.
On the other side of the table was Mrs. Carter, helping him work through the large stack in front of them and signing multiple sheets of paper. They both had glasses of wine out in front of them as well. On the floor beside them were even more stacks of paper, and Sarah, contentedly colouring in a book with some crayons.
What was going on?
"Hey Sakura," My dad welcomed me warmly with a smile. The way he smiled, the tone of his voice – I don't think I've seen him this happy since… well, since a long time.
Mrs. Carter turned from her spot to also welcome me while Sarah jumped from her spot on the floor and ran over, yelling 'Sakura!' Within moments her arms were wrapped around my waist in a quick hug, and then she was jumping up and down telling me about some sort of story involving colouring.
"Hi Sarah," I greeted her, and looked up to the adults in the living room, "Hi Dad, Mrs, Carter." I heard a 'please, call me Marie' before I asked, "Um, what's going on?" And I slightly hid the bags containing Sasuke's presents behind me.
Marie answered my question, "Well, your father has been working exceedingly well at the Corporation, and I thought he deserved a promotion."
"A promotion? Dad, that's great!" I replied – and my dad turned a light shade of red. Well, now I know where the gene for blushing embarrassing colours comes from.
"I shouldn't really have it, there wasn't anything important-" he started modestly.
"Nonsense," Marie politely cut in, she turned to me, "There was an issue in the department of the Corporation he was working in, and I was very impressed by the way he handled it." My dad turned an even deeper shade of red.
So the wine was for congratulations, but I was still confused by the mass amounts of paper. "And the massive amounts of paper are for…?" I prompted.
"Well, there were some issues still needing to be dealt with after the faculty's problem, which covers some of the papers here. The others concern your father's new office, the building he'll now be working in, his new contract and payroll, the contracts of others he's in charge of, the contracts of those beneath him, etcetera, etcetera." Marie answered (in detail).
"Wow, that sounds like a lot – what's your job now, dad?" I asked; surprised at how much he's receiving.
"Head of the Faculty of the Department of Business and National Relations." He answered, and I could hear the small amount of conflicting pride and disbelief in his voice.
"Uh…" I hesitated – what the hell did that mean?
"It means I'm head of all of the business that Atlantic Beach has with other companies or other branches across the country." He replied, and I could tell how happy he was with himself.
"Dad, that's huge – Oh my god, congratulations! Mrs. Carter, thanks!" I replied with over enthusiasm – I still didn't know quite what my father meant in his job description.
"There's no need to thank me, it was all your father," She answered, "However I do believe that it deserves congratulations."
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What Mrs. Carter meant by 'congratulations' was taking me and my dad out to dinner. Originally she invited my mom as well, but there was an awkward silence after she asked, and my dad and I just looked at each other and I went into the other room and called her on the phone. When my mom answered she replied with underlying rudeness on the topic of my dad's promotion and said she was 'busy' and couldn't make it to dinner – however she wouldn't expand on what 'busy' meant.
Mrs. Carter, on the other hand, easily contacted her spouse, who wasn't being mysterious, and could join us for dinner – as opposed to my stupid mom.
And also, while she was on the phone to her husband, she asked to speak with Sasuke. Here's where my heart raced. My probably not healthy hopes and prayers that Sasuke would be invited to dinner as well were answered.
Mrs. Carter asked if he'd like to join us as it should be a family celebration – for my dad would now be working very closely with Marie – and that it would be enjoyable since I was there. She even specifically mentioned me as follows: "And you know Mr. Haruno's daughter, Sakura. It seems you have become friends over your science project. It would be lovely if you would join us."
Unfortunately, these wrongly elevated hopes and prayers were shattered with Sasuke's firm "no" that I could hear through the speaker of Mrs. Carter's phone and my pounding heart.
I sighed.
I guess it's just me and his little sister.
And speaking of which… where did she run off to? Oh no – losing track of Sarah is never a good thing. And…
Where is Samuel?
"Uh, I'm just going to put my shopping bags up in my room – um, when are we leaving for dinner?" I asked, and hastily made my way towards the stairs – thoughts of Sarah meeting Samuel terrorized my mind.
But when I burst into my room anticipating the worse, I found Samuel alone on my bed, minding his own business.
Thank god (or Buddha?).
I set my shopping bags down near my desk and walked over to Sam, picking him up and petting him in relief that he was safe from harm.
Except, that's when Sarah peaked into my room. The instant she saw Samuel, I knew it was going to be impossible to hide him.
"He's perfect." She stated in awe, and before I could think about what Sarah meant by perfect, and what Sam would be perfect for, she was running full speed at me and my defenseless cat, arms open to probably snatch him from my arms and squeeze and coddle him to death.
And I wasn't going to let that happen.
"Sarah! Wait! Stop!" I yelled frantically. She halted almost instantly at my words, though the eagerness to touch the fluffy thing in my arms remained in her expression and posture.
"Oh its so cute – pleeeease can I hold it?" She pleaded, still not taking a step forward from where I had stopped her.
"Uh, see, well…"
"Oh please? Oh pretty pretty pretty please? I promise I'll be careful! Please!?"
"Sarah, I don't know, Samuel he-" But she had already ignored my previous statement.
"Here kitty kitty," she called, holding her arm towards Sam and rubbing her thumb and fore-finger together.
Here I thought Sam would recoil, try and scratch his way out of my arms and dive for under the bed.
But the exact opposite happened.
Squinting his eyes in what could be a suspicious expression (if cats can be suspicious at all); Samuel extended his neck, and brought his nose very close to Sarah's still moving fingers. And then his front leg followed suit, except instead of going towards her hand, it reached past her arm and tried to paw at the necklace around her neck.
Sarah squealed in delight – and this time I was too slow to say or do anything as she snatched Sam from my hands, ran over to my bed and proceeded to cuddle him to death. The weird part was that Sam didn't mind.
So I left them both on my bed as I went through my closet looking for a nice dress to wear for the dinner Marie was taking us all to.
I decided on a small, black, simple dress, because it was versatile in that it would be appropriate for almost any restaurant – I didn't know whether it was going to be super fancy or not.
I even checked what Sarah was wearing to gauge the fanciness of where we were going, however I realized that Sarah, even for a six year old, is always dressed nicely. Actually, my true intention, when I peaked out of my closet to look at Sarah wasn't to check her outfit, but to check on Sam.
From where I was standing, I couldn't see him, but every couple of minutes I would hear a very annoyed sort of 'brrooww' – which isn't quite a meow – meaning for Samuel, that something is annoying him.
So I peaked out when I heard the sound for the fourth time. Apparently, Sarah and Sam were playing a game with her necklace. While Sam sat one her lap, she was swinging her necklace back and forth and Sam was trying to catch it. But when Sam did manage to catch the necklace, Sarah would get this face that basically expressed something like 'Awwwww, you are SO CUTE!' despite the fact that her necklace was getting partially destroyed. The 'brrooww' sound came after said face, where Sarah would pick him up off her lap and squeeze him with all her strength – which Sam didn't like very much.
"Lightly Sarah," I mentioned, trying to resist the urge to run over there, grab Sam, and run away. "Sam is very, erm, fragile."
"Sorry!" She exclaimed, seeming suddenly distressed. It was then that I realized why Sarah is so spoiled at home – she is just way too cute. I mean, the look on her face in that instant made me want to either laugh out loud, or burst out an 'Awwww!'
So my reply to her suddenly distressed answer was to just say, "Oh, it's okay, just… be careful next time."
She nodded vehemently as I had my own 'You can never say no to Sarah' moment – I wonder if this is how Sasuke must feel.
I let my thoughts momentarily linger on that dreamy topic before I moved into the bathroom to brush my hair and freshen up my makeup, still keeping an eye on Sarah just in case (not that I could say no to her if she did do anything in a 'just in case' situation).
My dad called up the stairs to both of us as I finished up my makeup, telling us that we were leaving for the restaurant. I walked out of the bathroom to find Sarah leaving as well, except she was carrying Samuel, intention of bringing him with her set on her face.
"Sarah…" I started, "You can't bring Samuel with you to the restaurant."
"What? But…" she was immediately crestfallen.
"They don't allow cats in the restaurant," I explained, knowing that if it was possible for her to bring a cat there, I would have it done – just because she looked so adorable right then.
"Oh. Right," she replied, saddened understanding in her expression, "I forgot…" she continued, and placed Sam on my bed, who was just happy to laze where he was put down.
"It's okay. Come on – let's go to dinner." I answered, and on this topic change she immediately started chattering about the restaurants he mom took her to and which one they might go to. Vaguely listening to her, I let my thoughts trail off to Sasuke again, now almost knowing how he feels when he deals with Sarah.
As I ushered Sarah out of my room, still pretending to listen to her and still thinking about Sasuke, I caught my reflection in my bedroom mirror.
Looking at my fancied-up self in my reflection made me release a slightly depressed sigh – only in my dreams would I be dressing up like this to go out on a date with Sasuke.
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This morning was not going well. It seemed that the world just didn't want things to go my way.
Yesterday was fine, I mean the dinner went well, although it was a little awkward having it with Sasuke's parents at a super fancy restaurant. It was also a little awkward having my dad, Mr. Laid-back, be the centre of attention. But overall it was fine – maybe even a little fun (except it would have been even more fun if you-know-who was there).
But today just didn't want to work out.
I entered the school, hoping to have some sort of interaction with Sasuke, hoping that maybe today he wouldn't just walk beside me everywhere but actually speak to me.
However, I ended up watching him interact with someone else.
And it wasn't just any sort of interaction, nor was it just anyone – he was side-by-side, leaning against the lockers, and leaning in towards Karin.
From a distance it looked an awful lot like flirting.
Sasuke Uchiha flirting with Karin.
Yes, Karin, the thought-to-be-disliked-by-Sasuke Karin, the head-of-the-Sasuke-Uchiha-fanclub Karin. The annoying one who always follows him around and glares daggers at me when I'm within a ten meter radius of him.
At first I stopped in my tracks out of shock, and then I tried to act inconspicuous while observing the two on the other side of the hall. When shock wore off I kept moving, unconsciously clenching the hand that held Sasuke's concealed present, and slowing my pace so I could still watch whatever the hell Karin was doing with him.
As soon as I got closer though, Sasuke noticed my presence. He looked over his shoulder, his eyes giving me a once over as if to size me up, and a small smirk appeared on his lips. Lips that I caught myself staring at for too long.
It was Karin's carnivorous glare that made me stop staring, and it was Naruto's sudden approach behind me that made me keep walking.
"So… what's in the bag?" Naruto asked although he obviously knew from our conversation yesterday.
"Nothing." I answered, and pulled said bag away as Naruto reached for it.
"Oh come on, show me," he pleaded, making another grab for it.
"No, you wouldn't help me yesterday, so I'm not gonna tell you." I replied, acting as childish as he was.
"But what if it's really bad and he hates it, but if you show me now, I could stop you from total embarrassment." He answered.
Crap. I hate it when Naruto uses the little amount of logic he has.
Because, what if he is right? What if my whole 'significant moment' thing was way off and he does completely hate it?
I sighed, admitting defeat. "Fine. But only if you're the one to give it to him. And say it was from me – and that I actually knew it was his birthday but you just forgot to give-"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa – I'm not gonna give it to him – that'd be so gay!"
"You have to – I can't do it," I argued back – I mean, what would I even do? What would Sasuke do?
"But it's your present. Why can't you?"
"Well…" I sighed in defeat for the second time and leaned back against the nearby lockers. My gaze found its way to Sasuke and Karin who were flirting up a storm. Naruto's also followed.
"Oh." Was his simple reply. "Well, just because he's flirting with other girls doesn't mean he likes them. I mean, come on," for the second time this morning I received a once-over, this time from Naruto, "Nah, she's got nothing on you – Ino's the kind of girl Sasuke would only talk to… to make… someone…" He paused in his speech, "Hey, Sak, did I say anything wrong?"
The reason for the aforementioned questioning to his use of vocabulary is due to the fact that I have no colour in my face whatsoever – and I don't think I can breathe either.
"That's – that's Ino!?" I gasped, and looked past Naruto to where I had last seen Sasuke.
And there was Ino, talking very closely to Sasuke. And Sasuke was talking back.
I spluttered what was basically nonsense. I was trying to vocalize my thoughts on how he's freaking flirting with Ino – my supposed best friend Ino – when two seconds before he was flirting with Karin! And he hasn't even said anything to me yet!
"Oh man," Naruto said when he realized why I was so distressed. "Oh man," he repeated, traces of laughter now in his voice. And then he burst out laughing. "Oh he is so bad!" He exclaimed, continuing to laugh, completely forgetting me and my anxious state.
"What? Why? How is he bad?" I asked frantically.
"You don't see what he's doing?" He answered, his laughter calming slightly.
"No, what's he doing?" My voice increased an octave in my nervousness.
"He's trying to make you jealous, Sak. Oh man, is it working!" And he burst out laughing again.
Oh.
Now I felt like an idiot.
A stupid, dumb, idiotic idiot who has a stupid crush on a stupid player. With a present in her hands for him, too.
Is it pathetic that I'm having trouble deciding whether to let my lip tremble because I'm that depressed about my stupidness and how Ino is flirting with Sasuke, or to be exuberant because Sasuke is trying to make me jealous?
I chose the spot in between.
"What… what do I do now?" I asked, and this time I knew, for once, that Naruto would have the right answer – after all, wasn't he, three months prior, as much of a player as Sasuke is now?
"Don't let it phase you." Naruto answered plainly.
"How?" I asked trying not to sound like a whining little girl.
"Simple. Give him the present yourself."
And that's how I found myself walking bravely (or feigning bravery) towards Sasuke in the parking lot after school, present clutched in hand, Naruto walking confidently beside me.
It was all Naruto's idea – he would invite me along with him to Sasuke's, since he was already going there in the first place. That would give me a good opportunity to give Sasuke his gift out of the public eye. I noted to myself that if this works, than I actually have to start giving Naruto credit, maybe even listening to his ideas more often.
"Remember, Sasuke's not the kind of guy who likes presents." He murmured as we approached the Maserati, Sasuke himself leaning carefully against it.
"I know," I answered just as quietly, even though I actually didn't.
"Okay, just giving you a warning," he said and then louder to Sasuke, "Yo."
Sasuke tilted his chin upward just a tiny bit in acknowledgment – his silence was probably due to the fact of my being there. I was proven right when his eyes flickered from Naruto, to me, and then back again.
"Oh right, I was thinking Sakura could tag along, you know she's never played the PS3 – we should show her how it's done." Naruto explained. I lifted my hand in a small wave, feeling more than awkward.
Sasuke played everything off nonchalantly. "Whatever," he answered and got in his car, acting like he didn't care.
However it seemed as if he was acting a little too much. Almost over-acting, if you know what I mean.
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As I silently followed the two to Sasuke's room, I was still clueless as to what I was going to do.
It was a good thing, though, that Naruto knew.
The second we all sat down on the couch and Sasuke started setting up the PS3, Naruto said, "I'm gonna go raid your kitchen for food, anyone want anything?"
I shook my head and Sasuke answered with a "Hn." I had no idea what he meant by that.
As Naruto made his way out of the room, with his back turned to Sasuke, he mouthed "Now" to me. I guess he expected that I would give Sasuke his present (which was still glued to my hand) in the little alone time he gave us.
"I…" I started to say when Sasuke sat down on the couch after setting up the game system.
I realized it was a lot more nerve wracking and awkward for me when we're alone than when we're in public. I mean, I had almost gotten used to Sasuke appearing out of nowhere to walk me to class or to my locker; it was starting to feel comfortable.
But now, even though he's just as silent as he is in school, I'm having trouble forming coherent words. Maybe it's because I'm just as silent as he is at school as well…
Sasuke looked at me when I didn't continue.
"I…" I started again, but couldn't finish the sentence. Instead, I forced my hand to let go of the present it was clutching, and push it across the couch to where Sasuke was sitting. I could feel my cheeks burning at my bold action, and couldn't help but to stare at my lap and hide my face with a curtain of hair. "Happy Birthday." I mumbled, embarrassed.
There were a few seconds of silence when I was afraid I'd have to dash from the room and to my car in embarrassment, totally ruining my chances with Sasuke forever. But after those seconds of silence, Sasuke pushed something my way.
It was a PS3 controller.
Half of me was glad that he played it off coolly, and I didn't have to run for my life, but the other half was strangely depressed that he didn't take the time to even open my present.
So it was then, when the two halves of me were battling out, that my mouth moved before my brain could stop it.
"You're not… going to open it?" I asked, sounding distressed, and almost died of embarrassment. Seriously, I'm totally gaining confidence in the wrong way. How could I be so bold as to ask the Sasuke Uchiha to do something for me?
There was more silence that followed.
And it was the sound of a bag rustling which halted my internal freakout. I peaked at what he was doing through the corner of my eye.
Sasuke had used one hand to open the top of the bag, and I watched as he took a quick look at the contents of it. And then he went back to setting up the game for the PS3. That was it.
There wasn't a reaction, or even a word. I doubt he even actually saw what was inside. But if he did see what was there, then did he like it? Or hate it? Was he indifferent or did he think I was just plain weird? I didn't know because he didn't give any reaction.
What am I supposed to do now?
In my confusion, I panicked. And panicking usually, for me, leads to rambling.
"It's okay if you don't like it, I mean I just thought of some ideas and Hinata said something about significance, and disaster are significant and I wanted to apologize for some of the things I've done, and I know they're not really good gifts, I tried my hardest and Naruto warned me and said that you don't like gifts for some reason, but I thought I had to get you one because it was your birthday and I am so sorry, by the way, for not knowing that it was your birthday, so here is your present now for it and I already told you I don't mind if you don't like it I mean, they're not good gifts anyways, so you can return it if you want – see here – I've got the receipts in my purse, just let me grab them, you can take all of them back, it will be easy since I just got them all at the mall, just hold on while I get them from my wallet – see here, they are, um, you can just-"
"Sakura." His voice stopped my rambling. However it didn't stop my panicking.
I looked down, blushing at his incredibly sexy voice and my extreme stupidness, and realized that in my rambling I had actually gone into my purse, took my wallet, and had taken out the receipts to his gifts (among others from that day of shopping) and had set them down on the space between us, half crumpled from my panicky attempts at swiftness.
Surprisingly though, Sasuke's dark eyes just observed me, and he didn't look at me as if I was a complete idiot.
However, Naruto did.
"Whoa, Sak. See? I knew you were a spaz." Naruto stood at the door, holding a bowl of instant ramen (of course) in each hand, with a 'wtf?' type of expression on his face. I stayed silent, as there really wasn't any other way to make the situation better for myself.
"Anyways," Naruto continued walking towards us on the couch, "Sasuke you gotta whip your kitchen staff into shape, I mean there's hardly anything to eat down there." He paused at Sasuke and gave him one of the bowls before he made room for himself on the couch, between me and Sasuke, by pushing the present aside – not even bothering to move the receipts.
Just a quick side note, but does this mean that 'Hn' means yes? Because Naruto asked if Sasuke wanted anything to eat and Sasuke said 'Hn,' and now Naruto brought him a bowl of instant ramen? Or maybe it was the tone of his voice that meant 'yes'?
I'm so confused…
"Wait, Sasuke, is this a present? Did Sak buy it for you? Aww, Sasuke I think that's the nicest thing anyone's ever done for you." Naruto joked, setting his own food on the ground before reaching for the gift. I was frozen in embarrassment, not able to move even to stop Naruto from getting the gift – I mean, how would Sasuke react if I acted like that in front of him?
Naruto started going through the gift as Sasuke stayed silent and almost angrily ate his food.
And then Naruto proceeded to embarrass me further by providing each part of the gift he pulled out with his own comment.
To the PS3 controller: A PS3 controller? Sak, he already has all the controllers he needs – who do u think we are, buying a game system and not every single accessory it has? Puh-lease.
The Sketchbook: Lame-o.
The Cologne: Ooh, planning to get cozy with someone Sak?
On the last comment, I elbowed him. He winced. Sasuke remained silent.
Again I felt like an idiot. My plan, if there even was one in the first place, totally backfired (mostly because of Naruto), and I was left totally embarrassed – could I get any more stupid? So when we actually got to playing the PS3, I just said that I'd watch; making myself as unnoticeable as possible until there was a good chance to escape.
This chance came when Naruto announced that he was going to search for more food. Now I know that this would have given me and Sasuke more alone time together, but really, since I am still embarrassed and confused, I have more of a chance at somehow impressing him when I actually know how to deal with the situation. So as he got up asking if anyone wanted anything like he did last time, I answered.
"Actually, it's probably best if I go now, erm, my dad's expecting me…" I lied, and gathered up my wallet and purse.
"Aw, Sak, you barely even got to play." Naruto said in a whiny voice.
"Yeah, well, maybe next time…" I answered, flicking my eyes nervously between the two boys, and then they settled on Sasuke for a couple of seconds, "Um, thanks for having me over, and, uh, yeah…" I trailed off lamely, mentally hitting myself in the head because apparently it was possible: I got even more stupid than I was before.
"Well, okay," Naruto replied, and then he walked up to me, his arms opening, "See you tomorrow," and the arms closed around me, encircling my shoulders and then my waist. I awkwardly hugged him back, not sure of what he was doing until he whispered in my ear, "Sasuke's not the only one who can make people jealous."
My eyes flickered to Sasuke, and saw him staring, no, glaring at us. He was angry – or, as Naruto had planned, jealous.
I smiled to myself, and pulled away from Naruto. "Yeah, see you tomorrow."
"Actually, I'll walk ya to the door, I'm heading downstairs to the kitchen anyways, come." The blonde added, and he pulled me out the door.
My smile widened – Sasuke was getting so jealous (or at least I hoped he was).
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Sasuke's POV
The door closed behind the two as they made there way down the hall. He could hear them laughing. Sasuke was left sitting on the couch, his now empty bowl on the ground beside him, his eyes still glaring at the spot where they were- where they hugged.
What the fuck?
Why was he feeling suddenly hot, why could he hear the blood pounding in his ears, why could he feel his heart hammering in his chest? Why did he suddenly feel like tearing something to shreds or beating the shit out of someone?
Why did he suddenly, endlessly, start calling her 'Sak'? Was that a nickname? A pet name?
She can't have another nick name- her only nick name is paper towel girl. That's all it is. That's all it can be.
And then why did he hug here? Why did she let him? Why did she- Wait…
Was he…?
Fucking shit.
No- he wasn't jealous. Sasuke Uchiha does not get jealous. Especially over some girl.
Because he doesn't really care all that much. No, he doesn't care that she now has a pet name, and that Naruto hugs her, and that she holds hands, skips down the hall and laughs with that fucking blonde. Probably laughing at him.
His hands balled into fists, unconsciously around one of the many receipts that were left behind. The sound of paper crinkling caught his attention, and he uncurled his fingers. Now he would have just thrown the piece of paper away, but the first three letters of the slightly crinkled title caught his attention.
Vic…
He started to flatten out the receipt, telling himself he wasn't curious, he just wanted to see whether Sakura was that type of girl…
Holy shit.
Sasuke didn't think he had a very big imagination. To him, things were what they were and he really never thought otherwise. But as he looked at the title of the receipt, at what the receipt said she bought…
Victoria's Secret. 'Second Skin Satin' bra, 34 B, pink. 'Sexy little things' panties, small, pink. 'Sexy little things' panties, small, green.
Hundreds of images flashed through his mind. He could only imagine what a second skin satin bra would look like. What it would look like on Sakura…
And he was so enraptured with what was going on through his head, he almost forgot about the blonde-who-just-entered-his-room's existence.
Quickly banishing the thoughts in his head (or trying to), Sasuke crumpled the receipt back up in his hand again, so Naruto wouldn't see what he'd been doing the whole time he was alone.
"It's too bad Sak didn't get to play the PS3 today," Naruto said, striking up some conversation as they started the game again.
"Hn." Sasuke replied, hardly seeming to care.
"Oh well, maybe I'll go over to her place tomorrow and we can play there. Or maybe I can go this weekend," the blonde mused out loud, giving a side-long glance to Sasuke, measuring his reaction.
"Hn." Sasuke replied again with the same attitude.
Now Naruto was a little taken off guard by Sasuke's manner- wasn't this the same guy who was just moments before glaring hatefully at him? He was disregarding everything Naruto was saying, even when he went off on a desperate tangent talking about how they might go into her hot tub on Friday as well.
Yeah, well…
Sasuke smirked to himself.
You don't know "Sak's" bra size.
A/N.
Finally. Here it is. Sorry for the long wait, but a longer wait means a longer chapter (keep that in mind).
Oh, and a quick disclaimer: I don't own Victoria's Secret, lol.
