Cheerleaders
Chapter Eight
Temari, Ino, Hinata and I slid into the mall that afternoon – Ino having tagged along once she'd head of our plans. I pulled out my wallet from the deep pocket of my coat as Ino squealed, scurrying excitedly to the first store she saw. I sighed. It would be a long day. Hinata and Temari followed silently beside me as we entered a bridal store. "Ino," Temari called, her eyes searching for the blond behind the many aisles filled with dresses.
Hinata pulled me into one, having spotting a protruding blonde ponytail, and pointed.
"Ino," I said, once we neared her, "It's a cocktail party, not a wedding."
She turned to me, grinning. "Sorry. Wedding fetish." She said, looking sadly at the dresses as Temari dragged her along. "So," She began, "I'm guessing you need a cocktail dress?" She asked me.
I blinked. "Sure. Whatever that is." I answered.
As soon as we were out, Ino pointed straight towards another store. "There," She said, "I'm sure you'll find the perfect dress there." She told me.
I smiled as we followed. "You make it sound like my first date or something Ino. I'm not worrying about finding the perfect dress-" She was already running in, scrolling though a long rack of dresses. We hurried to catch up to her.
She pulled one out and held it in front of me. "What'd you think?" She asked.
I blushed and heard Temari gagging behind me. "I-Ino, I am not wearing a tube dress." I told her. She frowned. "You want my father to see me in that?" I asked.
She bit her lip. "Okay, okay - just trying to widen the horizons here." She said, throwing it towards me.
Hinata giggled as I pulled it from my face, narrowing my eyes at the tiny dress. "Ino…" I started.
She turned to me, a wicked grin already in place. "Hey," She said, one hand up beside her face, palm facing me, "We'll just try it on with the rest, okay? Oh! Cocktail dress!" She announced, throwing it, along with another few, into my face.
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We walked to the cash register with something one might call a pile of clothes. I sighed and shook my head, the tall and thin middle aged shop owner widening her eyes a bit at our stash. Ino was still grinning, having found more than her own share of clothing, as well as some things for Hinata. Ino wouldn't dare pick out clothes for Temari, who enjoyed doing this herself. I took ages for the woman to pass all of the price tags under the sensor, Hinata and I both watching the numbers rising at alarming speed with nervous stares. Temari only laughed in the background.
"That'll be 371,54." The woman told us.
I felt my brain blank for a second. I almost fell over from standing so stiffly when Ino pat my back. "Keep your panties on, Sakura, it's on me." She said. The brain cells seemed to slowly come back to me.
"Oh," Was all I could say.
Ino smiled as she flashed her credit card shamelessly and punched in her pin number. "See? All done. You can thank me later." She said. Temari rolled her eyes. She re-arranged the contents of the four bags once we exited, giving everyone their own things. One hour of shopping with Ino had been enough to wear me out.
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It was when I arrived home that I realized the trick Ino had pulled. To my relief, my cocktail dress was still there, as long as a cute sweater I'd picked out, but Ino had… added. My eyes widened.
"I should've known she'd put the tube dress in here." I muttered to myself. There were also a pair of kitten heels I had not chosen but that I liked nonetheless and… a short skirt? What was she thinking? I pulled it out of the bag and held it in front of me, examining. Too short, I deadpanned.
"That is so cute!"
I whipped around to find my mother staring at me all googly eyed, like I was a little girl caught doing something adorable. I gasped and hid the skirt behind me. My mother instantly narrowed her eyes, though her expression was childish.
"Let me see it," She ordered.
I ducked my head a bit, letting out a measly "No."
She grinned. "Try it on!" She said excitedly.
I shuddered when Ino's same expression entered my mind. "N-No!" I protested, turning to stuff it back into the bag, "I didn't even want this–"
"You stole it?"
I turned to give her a 'seriously?' look. "I did not steal this. My friend snuck it into my bag when I wasn't looking. Among other things…"
"There's more?" She asked, perking up, "Oh, but it's so adorable, honey! You never wear things like that, why?"
I frowned, my back turned to her as I pulled out the shoes and dress. "It's not a matter of being adorable or not, mom. I still have some self-respect, you know." I mumbled, rolling my eyes.
"Oh, come on. It's not like you're going to be prouncing around in it, bending down every other minute." She said, hands on her hips.
I had to laugh a bit at this. "You know me, tripping over things that aren't there, walking into walls – people." I reminded her.
She pouted. "Please? For me?" She begged, "I want to be the first-"
"You sound like an eager boyfriend." I cut in.
She slapped me upside the head. "I was going to say the first to see you in it." She sneered.
Right. You don't say those kinds of things to your parents. Or something. God, she was insane. I rubbed the back of my head. "Not today," I finally answered.
She grinned a somewhat sadistic grin.
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I sighed, still not ready for the hectic week-end, just hours away. There was always something that made me hate Fridays. I yawned, still living within the morning hours, though the lunch break had just begun.
"Sakura-chan!" I heard someone call after me. I turned and smiled when I saw Sai slowing from his jog to walk beside me.
"Got your lunch?" I asked as I turned back around, though I could see it clearly in his hands. He nodded his head. As I looked ahead, I spotted a familiar bobbing ponytail. I narrowed my eyes. I grabbed Sai's hand and began pulling him forward. "Come," I said, though he was already easily following me through the crowd.
I stopped right behind the girl and tapped her shoulder. Ino turned around almost fearfully, and let her guard down as she realised it was only me. Hah. Only me.
"Hey, Sakura!" She said, her eye twitching as she plastered on a smile.
I huffed. "You do not know how much trouble you got me into for what you did yesterday." I told her. Sai watched me quizzically.
Her eyes widened for a second, but she let her gaze calm before speaking. "They didn't approve?" She asked me, her head turned to me as she walked through the open cafeteria doors in front of her.
I threw an arm up in the arm. "No, exactly the opposite." I told her, shaking my head.
She held in her grin until she found her table, letting out a serene and almost hypnotic laughter. "And you're in trouble because they liked it?" She asked, gasping slightly.
I pouted. "Yes." I said. "Not only it, but them."
Ino burst out into laughter again, catching a few stares again.
I let out a deep breath and turned to see Naruto and Shikamaru sitting at their table. "Well, enjoy your lunch." I mumbled. I was about to turn around when she grabbed my arm, her expression suddenly serious.
"Where do you think you're going, huh?" She asked me.
I blinked, turning my head slightly to point to the table.
She struggled to keep from gaping at me. Her mouth opening and closing. "Sakura, you're not a soccer player. You're a cheerleader." She told me as-a-matter-of-fact-ly.
The emphasised word made me shudder.
"You sit here, with us." She told me, her face clearly stating that anything done otherwise was completely ridiculous.
I was about to sit down when I realized I was still holding onto Sai's hand. I quickly let go, blushing, and looked up at him, and back at Ino.
She rolled her eyes. "Okay, Barbie Doll can stay with you, if you want." She said.
I suddenly felt something horrible burning within me – What was that supposed to mean? What was he to her? My doll? – when I realized she was joking. What was that? I'd felt like saying something back. Something rude. I looked at Ino, who was waiting for me to sit; wondering why I was just staring at her. I snapped back to reality, pulling out a chair and sitting down.
I heard Sai chuckled beside me. "Barbie Doll…?" He murmured to himself.
Ino and I burst out laughing.
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"I… didn't steal… cinnamon roll… mom…" I mumbled groggily as my eyes slowly opened, light bestowing upon then mercilessly. I groaned and rubbed my eyes, vision still slightly blurred by the intense light. What where these ceilings?
"… Sakura-chan…"
Someone was calling me? I turned my head to the noise, rubbing my eyes again. Some dark-haired, handsome, angelic man stared down at me. The blurriness was irritating.
"... Guardian angel?" I snorted questionably to myself.
"Sakura-chan."
The voice snapped me out of my half-concious daze. I shook my head and leaned in to take a closer look at the angel. My face must have turned the darkest shade of red when I realized my face of inches away from that of Sasuke Uchiha. I was in math class.
"Aah. Awake."
I gasped and quickly pulled away from him, my chair nearly tipped over at the sudden jerk of my body. "Ah…. Uh… Sorry… Um…" I stuttered. He just stared at me.
What was he looking at?
I instinctively covered my large forehead; my weak spot. I paled when I realized what I'd just done.
"What are you doing?" He slowly asked me.
"N-Nothing!" I quickly said, incapable of removing my hand.
He stared at me for a while longer. "Why are you covering your forehead like that?" He asked me.
My hand quickly retreated, as if finally realizing the mistake.
The end of his lip suddenly curled up. "That's what it is?" He asked.
I shook my head frantically.
"It is!"
"No!"
"Your forehead, it's your forehead."
"No, it's not!"
"You're shy because of your forehead?"
"…"
"Your forehead?"
"… stop it…"
His smirked widened. I bit my lip and looked away.
"Leave her alone, Sasuke-teme!" I heard Naruto growl behind us. I squeezed my eyes shut and took a deep breath. "Your forehead is fine, Sakura-chan!" Naruto said.
I turned to look at him. Sasuke was giving him a look. I turned back around, biting my lip again. "No, it's not. It's huge and it's distracting and I hate it." I rambled. Putting a fist against it.
Sasuke rolled his eyes. "It's not huge… It's not distracting." He said slowly.
I released my bruised lip and sighed. "I know, I know." I said. I quickly glanced to and away from him. "But… It's a long story - A really long, miserable, pathetic story."
"So, long story short; you had a messed up childhood and are now self-conscious of your apparently huge, distracting forehead." He said shrugged.
"Messed up childhoods are kind of popular at Konoha, you know." Naruto mumbled.
I turned to look at him. "I really doubt that. Everyone here is filthy rich, Naruto-kun. They've all grown up like princes and princesses." I said, not as quiet.
Suddenly his eyes darkened. "It's not like you've been here long enough to know." He said, his voice clearly edgy.
I flinched and shrunk a bit in my seat.
His eyes only darkened at my reaction. "How'd you end up here? Family suddenly owns some big corporation? Won the lottery?" He challenged.
I blinked, staring blankly at him. "… M-My father just got moved up a lot at the company he works at… He got promoted again last week. This year has just been a good one for him, I guess." I said quietly, still cowering a bit in my chair. "He worked really hard for it…"
Naruto chuckled a bitter laugh, shaking his head. "Sorry about that. I just…"
"No, I'm sorry. I said something I shouldn't have." I interrupted him.
He eyes softened completely, a grin dying to spread across his cheeks. He held it back only for a few seconds. "I just had to defend… my friends. Not all of us have wonderful accepting parents who would love nothing better than to love us. Just 'cause we're rich, doesn't mean we've got it all easy." He said.
I nodded my head. "Sorry," I said again, and when I turned to Sasuke he was looking away. "Sasuke-kun?" I whispered. I then realized that he'd moved the farthest away from me as possible, at the edge of our join desks. He leaned forward on his chair, one fist clenched tightly on the dark seat.
Okay. I'd really said something I shouldn't have.