Lucky Charm
by EikoDoll
Chapter Nine: Friends, Rivals, Enemies
Sakura had always been very much aware of the dangers of high school bathrooms. So aware, she would never dare to step foot in one. The pee on the floor was one thing, but the smell was just plain lethal. Unluckily, the bathrooms were the only location which provided a mirror...
and for some reason, Sakura seemed more aware of her looks than she did the smell and the wet floors.
What was the reason for this obsessive vanity?
Well she had to look good, right?
Normally, Sakura didn't have a care in the world how she looked to the public (mainly because she already knew she looked 'smokin' hot').
But now she has a 'boyfriend' to impress. And this isn't just some regular teenage boy...
This is Naruto.
Sakura wiped the lip gloss violently off her lips after realizing she hadn't applied it on right. Frustration consumed her as she looked at her appearance in the mirror.
She realized right then and there that she would never step foot in the girl's bathroom for Sasuke...
But for Naruto of all people!
She also realized how big her forehead was.
"I can't believe I want to look better for him." she muttered softly, still staring at her reflection.
"I can."
In a slightly frightened gasp, Sakura turned around and found Tenten standing firm with arms crossed.
Funny. She looked a little angry.
"Oh, hey, Tenten." Sakura turned to face mirror once again. "Do you think my forehead is a little big?" she slumped in discontent, continuously poking her forehead with a frown. "I don't want people thinking 'eww, what's Naruto doing with that freaky forehead girl?', you know what I mean?"
If Tenten wasn't so concerned with how angry she was, she would have been stupefied by Sakura's odd statement.
"I can't believe you lied." Tenten glared with annoyance in her voice. "How could you not tell us you and Naruto AREN'T really dating! What the hell is going on here!" she stomped in explosive rage. "And your forehead is fuckin' HUGE! I thought we dealt with this years ago! It's FREAKISHLY HUGE! It's HUGE ASS, alright!"
Sakura looked at her in aghast.
A long twenty seconds passed before the pink haired girl would begin to recuperate.
"Well, sheesh. You don't have to be so mean about it. I can't help being born with an abnormally large forehead." Sakura frowned, placing a firm hand on her waist.
Tenten blinked, almost forgetting her anger. "Seriously?"
Sakura looked into the mirror and her spirits fell...no, they died.
"YOU AND NARUTO AREN'T DATING!" Tenten roared furiously. "You lied to your best friends!"
Still staring at the mirror with intense focus on her forehead, she lightly brushed off Tenten's comment. "I'm sorry, but I was desperate."
"What the hell are you talking about? You were desperate to date Naruto?"
"Well, yeah." she slumped even more, frowning at her stupid forehead.
"WHY!"
Sakura wasn't so thrilled about Tenten's earsplitting screams, but it was well deserving. She really did feel bad...but her main concern was her dumb forehead.
"I needed to improve my grades."
Tenten wanted so hard to knock the sense out of Sakura. "How is pretending to date Naruto even relevant to improving your grades?"
"He's a lucky charm."
...
...
...
"Oh well. I guess he'll just have to accept me the way I am." shrugged the defiant pink haired girl. "Cause baby, I was born this way."
Lost. Tenten was so lost she forgot about her anger completely. She had no idea how to respond.
"His kiss brings me good grades." Sakura casually retorted.
"..."
"And it's easier to kiss him when people think we're dating...I mean, let me tell ya, it takes a lot more than one kiss a day to-"
"Are you fuckin' kidding me?" Tenten wasn't pleased by her friend's obvious and pathetic lie.
Sakura rolled her eyes, not expecting her brunette friend to believe her anyway. "How do you explain the straight A's on ALL my tests and quizzes, hmm?"
At that statement, Tenten believed Sakura 75%.
"But...Naruto's kiss?"
"Yup. I was devastated at first."
"Is it even possible?"
"Tenten. The proof are my straight A's."
The brunette still wasn't 100% sure she could believe her. "Well, you're smart, Sakura (or at least you used to be). I'm sure you studied-"
"Not even a little."
Neither teenagers exchanged words for a brief period of time.
Tenten couldn't believe what she was about to say.
"I'm actually..."
Sakura leaned in closer, expecting to be forgiven for lying.
"...failing biology."
What the-
The girl who selfishly kept all the luck for herself snapped her head back, already realizing Tenten's intentions. "No way!"
"Why not! You're not even really dating him!"
Sakura skittishly stumbled on her words. "I...that's not...but...SO!"
"SO I think you owe it to me to share." Tenten nervously played with the ends of her skirt, still blushing furiously.
"What are people going to say when they see you kissing MY boyfriend?"
"Weeeell..." Tenten's eyes sheepishly darted elsewhere. "...he could be my boyfriend too."
In Sakura's deepest thoughts, she knew inner Sakura was currently busy ripping inner Tenten's silly buns off her head. "But you're a lesbian."
"Bisexual." the brown eyed girl corrected. "You lied to us, Sakura. And I don't need your permission to get an A in biology."
"It's HOW you get the A I'm concerned about!"
The two so called 'best friends' stared heavily into each others eyes. Sakura imagined Tenten with her ridiculous, bisexual lips on Naruto; it was hard to miss the jealous outrageous emotion in Sakura's face.
Tenten didn't care. She also didn't know why she was giving into this lucky charm nonsense, but deep inside her heart she knew this was her only chance to get closer to blond-boy-wonder without being accused to stealing her best friend's supposed boyfriend.
She waited patiently for the verdict.
"Do you really expect us to believe this bullshit?"
"Lucky kiss? How is that even possible?"
Sakura casually picked a fork into the 'mystery meatloaf' and shrugged. "I'm not joking. If you don't believe me, then fine."
"Guys, let's have an open mind here. Did you really think she managed to get straight A's on EVERY single test in all these months?" Tenten defended.
That definitely got Hinata and Ino thinking.
Sakura eyed all of them, a little insulted. But eventually shrugged agreeably.
"After an entire year of failing nearly every class?"
Hmm. It was a tiny bit suspicious. Still...the thought of Naruto's kiss being lucky...
Hinata and Ino looked at each other.
...actually excited them.
"You know what? This is perfect timing. I'm failing horribly in Kakashi's history class!" Ino immediately beamed, eyes shining radiantly like the sun.
Initially looking pleasantly surprised, Sakura smiled. "Cool, so was I...hey, wait a minute, don't tell me you-!" Ino pressed a tight hand against Sakura's mouth as she struggled against her. Her muffled cry was ignored by all three of her fanatically, giddy friends.
"Oh! And did I tell you? I get to be Naruto's girlfriend, too! Sakura said I could!" Tenten squealed.
Sakura couldn't believe what she was forced to hear.
Hinata sighed dreamily in her palm. "I'm getting a B in AP psychology. I always wanted an A."
Removing Ino's hand, Sakura's face fell "Not my sweet, little, Hinata..."
The moment all four girls caught sight of a blond, blue-eyed boy walking towards them, they immediately ceased talking.
"Guess what? I helped the lunch lady unpack the frozen meatloaf earlier, and she gave me a entire chocolate cake!" Naruto grinned boyishly, placing the scrumptious cake onto the table. "Dig in!" he pulled out five forks out of nowhere.
No one seemed to be as excited as he was, and Naruto thought they were all insane.
Chocolate cake is awesome.
He noticed that their eyes were fixed on random objects and their faces were flustered with traces of what seemed to be excitement.
"What's going on?" Naruto especially had his eyes set on Sakura; she was the only one who looked downright frustrated.
For a while, she didn't seem to want to answer.
Ino nudged her, and she sighed heavily.
"They know."
Naruto gasped angrily. "You told them about my secret froggy-bear!"
Tenten, Hinata, and Ino threw Naruto an odd look.
"Erm, no."
Birds chirped.
"Oh." Naruto snorted, hiding his humiliation. "I was kidding! There's no froggy-bear."
Yeah, right.
"I told them our secret..." Sakura shifted uncomfortably. "...about how I magically started getting good grades."
0.0
"Oh...that." Naruto stared blankly into space, feeling four pairs of eyes fixated on him only. "Well," he shrugged. "at least we got that out of the way." he said, standing up and attempting to walk away with his cake in hopes of eating it by himself.
"Ohhh, not so fast, lucky charm." Ino and Tenten pushed him back down, each with a hand placed firmly on his shoulder.
Naruto inwardly gulped.
Sakura inwardly gaped.
"You're not getting away that easily." Ino eyed him seductively and ran a slick finger down his clothed chest. "I think it's time to show the world you don't belong to only one girl."
Naruto literally gulped.
Sakura literally gaped.
And there it was.
The entire Konoha High Cafeteria knew; Ino grabbed Naruto's collar by both hands and pulled him in for a 'lucky' kiss. It was deep and passionate, at least for Ino. For the first time since everyone saw Sakura, the goddess of Konoha high school, walking hand-in-hand with an unwanted outcast, the cafeteria fell into a deadly silence.
Naruto struggled against her, and when she finally let go, he nearly fell out of his seat...
in fact he did.
He stared up at the blonde vixen, thoroughly stupefied.
The moment Ino let go, everyone went into a frenzy! Constant whispers, shouts of wild excitement, looks of shock and wonder...
And then it was Tenten's turn.
Silence again.
Immediately after the brown eyed girl was done, Hinata eagerly went in for the next kis.
For the first time in his life, Naruto knew he had absolutely no chance of defending himself. They each attacked his lips with brutal force.
Was it always going to be like this?
He looked at Sakura and saw her picking at her food. Her expression was unreadable. It was like she didn't have a care in the world.
And that hurt him.
After the three knockouts had their turn with Naruto, they sat down a lot chipper than they had been in a very long time.
So...
four girlfriends, huh?
"DID YOU JUST SEE THAT!" Kiba had what felt like a heart attack, watching the four goddesses and Naruto leave the cafeteria immediately after the scene.
Shikamaru, Neji, and the gang couldn't speak.
They didn't think anything would surprise them after Sakura and Naruto started dating...
but wow.
This was too much for a normal teenage boy to mentally process.
"What the hell is Naruto doing right?" Kiba seemed to be the only one able to formulate words, as he usually was.
They listened in on the comments and conversations of others around them, not entirely able to conjure up one of their own.
"I think I hate him even more now...or, I don't know, I might just LOVE him." said a random boy, confused by his mixed feelings.
"The four most beautiful girls I've ever seen...making out with Naruto!" said another.
"You know what? I admire him. Naruto's not like Sasuke, a born lady-killer. He started an outcast. Average Joe. Like the rest of us!"
"And you know what this means: we still have hope!"
"Yeah!" everyone seemed to be in cahoots.
"It seems like Sasuke lost to an outcast."
"Sasuke who?" they laughed.
The gang sat quietly around the table (with the exception of Kiba, who was still freaking out).
"'Sasuke who?' indeed." Shikamaru's eyes reddened by widening it so much.
"Is Naruto the new Sasuke?" Chouji asked innocently.
Neji rubbed his chin. "No."
Everyone around the table looked at him.
"Naruto is even better." the white eyed boy watched everyone around him praise and cheer for the new, hot commodity.
He couldn't believe this was happening.
Was this some kind of weird, sick nightmare?
How could those she-devils agree to share him? Like a piece of meat!
He felt so used.
While Naruto patiently waited outside under a shady tree, a hand full of boys stopped by just to give him a congratulatory hi-five. He understood the sudden impact of admiration and respect,
but he still found his situation quite irritating.
"Dude."
Naruto jumped a little in surprise when he heard a familiar voice sneaking beside him. He turned his head to the side and blinked.
"Inuzuka?"
"Call me Kiba, your majesty." Kiba comically bowed down.
Neji, Shikamaru, Chouji, Lee, and Shino grinned simultaneously.
"Came here to give me a hi-five?" Naruto raised his hand.
"And more!" Kiba slapped it.
"Uzumaki..." said Neji with a shiny glint of reverence in his eye. "...at this point, you're cooler than Sasuke Uchiha."
So far, Naruto liked what he was hearing.
"A hundred times cooler!" Chouji exclaimed with admiration.
"We've been waiting years for a guy like you to show that ass up." Shikamaru also hi five'd Naruto.
"You are the chosen one." said Shino.
Naruto laughed and rubbed the back of his neck. "That's kinda extreme, isn't it?"
Shino stared seriously at the blond mischief.
"Naruto-kun! Please accept our invitation to hang out with us." Lee did a nice-guy thumbs up.
Wow.
Taken back, Naruto stared surprisingly at the bushy browed boy.
This was the first time he's ever been invited...anywhere.
"Are you serious?"
Shikamaru gave him a firm pat on the shoulder. "Why would we joke around? We like you, Uzumaki."
Naruto studied their faces and realized this was no joke. They honestly wanted to be his friend.
He shrugged and pretended not to look so touched. "Yeah, sure."
They grinned.
"When and where?"
Kiba was the first to respond. "Now. We're heading to the bowling alley."
"Now?" Naruto sighed, looking elsewhere. "I can't." he said guiltily, seeing the clear disappointment in their faces. "Sakura and I walk home everyday after school...there she is now." he said, nodding toward a beautiful pink haired girl having a last minute conversation with the other three goddesses by the school entrance.
The dog lover laughed, nudging Naruto with his elbow. "We understand."
"I'd drop everything to walk Sakura-san home, too." said Lee, staring at the girl with a gaping mouth. He and Chouji admired the way the sunlight bounced off of Sakura's cotton candy pink hair.
"Alright. Next time for sure." said Shikamaru.
"See you later, Uzumaki." said Neji with a nod.
Naruto returned the nod.
The moment they were out of sight, he smiled softly to himself.
On their way home, Sakura noticed how unusually silent her loud mouth pretend-boyfriend was. He was clearly not speaking to her, and even more surprising, he refused to look at her.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothin'"
"Are you mad?"
"No."
Sakura raised an amused eyebrow. "I'm sorry I ate the last piece of your cake."
"It's not about that!" Naruto steamed.
Although deep down inside, he was a little mad about that.
"Then what is it?" she slyly slipped her arm around his.
He shrugged her off, only slightly agitated this time. "Are you really okay with...sharing me?"
Sakura walked silently along the sidewalk. She observed the faint flush on his face, his body was stiff, and he rubbed the back of his neck subconsciously.
Of course she wasn't okay with it! She was plain livid!
"Why wouldn't I be?" she pretended to be indifferent. "It's not like we're really going out."
Although for a while, it felt like they were really together. For a while, both considered themselves a real couple.
They felt their hearts sink.
"And like you said before, I'm selfish. I need to change, and who better to share the luck with than my best friends?" she shrugged lightly.
Naruto nodded his head, pretending to enjoy his situation. "That's right. I get to date the four most beautiful girls in school."
"Right." Sakura secretly glared at him.
"I've always wondered what it would be like to kiss Ino." Naruto said thoughtfully. "She's a bit feisty."
Sakura loudly cleared her throat.
"Hinata, too. That surprised me-"
"Okay, whatever!" Sakura quickly walked in front of him.
Naruto stared after her and blinked. "What?" he quickly caught up, grinning and laughing.
"Shut your face."
"You're not jealous, are you?"
"That's it, we're not friends anymore."
"Aw, come on!"
"Get away!"
"Saaaakuuuuraaaa!"
"Hey, Naruto, what's that?" Sakura pointed a finger above Naruto's head.
The instant he looked up, he felt someone yanking his blond hair.
"OW-!"
His winced painfully in response and saw the slender girl in uniform running away, laughing evilly from afar.
"H-Hey!" Naruto sputtered, running after her.
The couple walked the rest of the way home trying to out-annoy one another. They were in much higher spirits despite all the trouble to come.
That night, Sakura lay restless on her bed, staring up at the blank ceiling.
Oh, how she'll hate tomorrow...
She couldn't stop thinking about what happened today in the cafeteria. She clenched her teeth, replaying the scene over and over in her head. All she could think of was her three best friends laying their lips on Naruto! For the first time in her life, she really hated them.
No. She could never hate them.
Unfortunately, she loved them too much.
This was all her fault anyway.
Sakura heard something vibrating on her bed and she looked on her side to see her cell phone light up.
Speaking of the one of the devils...
"Hey, Tenten."
"Hey, girly. Watcha up to?"
"Oh, nothing. I'm ready to fall asleep." she lied, faking a yawn.
"It's only seven. Oh, by the way, you're on speaker phone."
"Hi, Sakura."
"Hey, hey, hey, girlfriend!"
She heard an excellent Fat Albert impression.
She also heard Ino and Hinata giggling on the other line.
"We're having a sleep over. I called to force you to get off your butt and come over."
"Sorry. I'm kinda tired and I really don't feel like walking to your house."
"Come on, lazy-ass! We don't need another Shikamaru in this world." Ino shouted.
"You sure like to degrade Shikamaru a lot, don't you?" Sakura raised a rather poignant statement.
"Well, Shikamaru is Shikamaru. His laziness irritates me. Now are you coming over or not?"
"I'll paint your nails, Sakura." offered Hinata in a sweet, inviting voice.
The pink haired girl smiled softly. "No, thanks."
All three complained.
"Fine. But we need to talk about a few things before you go to sleep." said Tenten.
"Alright. Hit me."
"About the lucky kiss." she started. "I can't believe it actually worked! I convinced Ebisu-sensei to grade the quiz I took today, and I aced it!"
Sakura rolled her eyes. "That's not surprising. Ebisu does teach Health education. The easiest class ever."
"Still..."
"Oh, I can't wait to take a test!" Sakura glared dully at the ceiling when she heard Ino's voice.
More like she couldn't wait to kiss HER boyfriend!
"Why do you always get tested, Sakura!" she felt Ino's frustration.
"I guess I'm just lucky." Sakura sarcastically remarked.
"Okay, now comes the really important question." said Tenten.
There was a pause. Sakura sat up and anxiously waited, sensing the importance in her friend's voice.
"Is there a chance...that you might..." Tenten paused again.
"What? That I might what?"
Even Hinata and Ino stopped their giggling; there was only silence.
"That you might like Naruto?"
Sakura shifted uncomfortably. "Of course I like Naruto. He's my friend."
"You know what I mean."
Now it was Sakura's turn to pause. Although that pause said it all; she could almost hear Tenten, Hinata, and Ino sighing on the other side.
"A little." she lied.
"Sakura..."
"Okay, a lot!" the pink haired girl collapsed entirely on her bed in frustration. "And now I can assume all three of you like him a lot, too. Am I right?"
"Yeah, we do." they sounded guilty.
Sakura wanted to hit something.
"So what are we going to do about it?"
She heard Hinata's voice. "We've been thinking about it and..."
"Yes?"
"We think we should compete for him." Ino's uneasy voice replied.
Sakura tapped her fingers against her stomach. "Compete?"
"Yeah." said Tenten. "Just like Sasuke. A friendly, clean competition. No dirty tricks."
"Just like Sasuke." Sakura repeated softly.
Why did she have a feeling this competition wasn't going to be 'just like Sasuke'. Sakura always felt her three best friends never truly tried hard enough to win Sasuke's affection. The win was easy. For some odd reason, in the pit of her stomach, she knew this was going to be different, and in their minds as well.
They were going to have to play dirty...
This is Naruto they're talking about.
"Fine with me."
Bring it on.
A/N: I really, really, really like reviews :D