DISCLAIMER: All Naruto-affiliated things do not belong to me. But Neji does. …Fine, he doesn't. Shut up.
Does anyone else find that the story's somehow going by unbearably slow? And we're still on the first day…in the, like, 13,000th word…
RECAP:
...After a few minutes, Sasuke and Naruto finally noticed they were arguing towards a blank audience. Both glaring at each other, they pushed and scrambled to the front door, Naruto leaving first as he got his flip-flops on faster.
Sasuke was giving a murderous glare at anything he could lay his eyes on, realizing something vaguely important...
"WHERE THE FUCK ARE MY GODDAMNED FLIP-FLOPS NOW?!"…
AKIMICHI YUKI?! :CHAPTER FIVE:
"Hmm…" the big man murmured, before grabbing another bag of potato chips having thrown the one he'd just finished aside. "So, let's get this straight…"
Suddenly, his hand stopped reaching into the bag and he opened his eyes to stare intently and intensely at his audience of two.
"You want to become a temporary Akimichi?"
One of the two heads in the shadows of the dark night sky nodded – a slight movement almost impossible to catch. "Yes, I would be extremely honored and grateful if you allowe—"
"Sure, I don't mind," he waved at her while interrupting, returning to munching on his chips and relaxing his eyes into a closed form once again.
Sakura blinked. "That's it?"
Chouji shrugged slightly, saying there was actually just a bit more, and he'd be right back. She turned to stare at Neji, who sat right beside her, as Chouji tottered down the hall crunching chips left and right to get something.
"Is he nice, or does he just not care?" she asked the Hyuuga who didn't seem fazed at all. He shrugged as well.
"He has been like that ever since I was introduced to him in elementary school by Shikamaru – they have been very good acquaintances since childhood, I believe," he explained, using a nonchalant tone.
"Oh," she muttered. Right. Like that explained a lot. Anyway, I should be happy he's like that, right?
The sound of heavy footsteps crashed behind them, signaling Chouji's return. He opened the door, to reveal himself actually not eating the half-empty bag of chips in his hand and instead talking into a sleek, green and white cell phone.
"No…Yeah, I'm fine…Dad, no way…Mm…" he continued answering and talking to what Sakura believed were his parents. All she could do was sit there and wait.
"No…NO…Look, there's a girl that needs our help…" Sakura tensed, Neji glancing at her out of the corner of his eye.
"She needs this chance, alright?...Sakura, it's Sakura…No, she's NOT my girlfriend…horrible, Dad…she's nice…wears a mask like Kakashi-sensei's, I know, right? … I dunno…pink—no, I'm not kidding…"
Sakura was starting to think things weren't that easy after all. And when did parents get so inquisitive? She groaned, raising a soft hand to smack her forehead with. Neji managed a small smile that she didn't catch before catching it in the midst of travel.
"Pointless injuries make one weak," he uttered. She stared at him incredulously – he knew, even if her mask was on, if only because he was a damned Hyuuga…to Sakura, of course.
"Talk? Sure…NO, for the LAST TIME…She's NOT "my girl"…what…yeah, yeah…wait a sec…" At this, Chouji shuffled forward to her and immediately resumed his heavy snacking. He stuck the phone out to Sakura, motioning for her to take it.
"It's just my dad, he wants to see if you're…nice," he said, shrugging and sitting down in front of her as soon as she took the phone from his outstretched hand. Sakura sighed. Neji smirked, moving his grip on her other hand's wrist up to gently encompass her cold hand with his own strangely warm one.
She took a deep breathe, calming her nerves before launching into what she hoped was a polite, very "nice" tone.
"Hello, Mr. Akimichi. I'm sorry to bother you so late in the day, and that I would ask of this bothersome request."
Neji snorted at the word "bothersome". One lazy genius tended to annoy him with that word.
"Oh, no worries…Sakura-chan? …If I heard my son correctly?"
Sakura nodded, barely catching herself in time to realize there wasn't any way Chouji's dad could have known. She faintly heard Neji sniggering, before kicking him soundly with her foot – the sniggering stopped.
"Yes. If, um, my request is too much to ask for, it's quite alright for you to decline, and…"
"It's fine, it's fine!" She could almost imagine him waving his hand just like Chouji. "I don't see anything wrong with helping you out, as long as you don't end up killing anyone!" He laughed this jolly, raucous laughter that reminded her of Santa Claus.
And also of someone from her memories as a child. Sakura narrowed her eyes at that.
"I'm really grateful, Mr. Akimichi – you don't know how much this means to me, really. Thank you so much," she gushed, in what she hoped would get him to laugh again so that she could try to pinpoint just where she'd heard it before.
"Oh, well, you're welcome, dear. Just make sure you try to stay out of trouble – don't want that now, do we? – and also…"
"Also…?" Chouji stopped eating for a second, fixing the phone Sakura was holding with a horrified stare as if it was a bomb about to explode.
"Our Chouji is a fine young man, and I'd be glad if you guys should get along really well…"
"DAD!" Chouji groaned, causing his father to laugh uproariously again. Sakura felt that laugh on the tip of her tongue, frustrating her that she wasn't able to remember where it came from. She didn't notice Neji start sniggering again at Mr. Akimichi's implications.
"Hahaha…well, it would help if you could be friends with our son. Sometimes I worry about him…and it wouldn't hurt to have a woman around to keep things in check, right?" Sakura chuckled, voicing her agreement. She swore she was sure he had just winked.
"Well, you'll just pose as Chouji's cousin – my "deceased" brother's daughter – who I have recently taken in because her family died of a…car crash, most unfortunate, yes."
"That's fine, sir. Thank you so much…oh, and I'm adopting the name Yuki as my first name along with the Akimichi surname. Really," she said earnestly, "thank you a lot."
"That's nothing, haha… I would like to know something about you though, Sakura-chan. I'm sorry – but natural human suspiciousness and curiosity exists in me too."
"Of course, I understand. Ask, and I'll see if I can provide an answer."
"I want to know your real surname."
Sakura stilled and then frowned at that. The question, even though she was used to it, still made her squirm a bit in something close to dissatisfaction.
"It's…well, I'm an orphan and some memories of my past aren't quite remembered. I was found at the age of five, with no memories except for my first name – my caretaker saw fit to hold off the last name until I could make my own decision," she said, looking at anything but Neji's piercing gaze as she rambled it off her tongue.
There was a slight pause on the other side. "Alright, that's fine. I won't press this any further. You said your name will be Yuki?"
"Hai," she said, voice betraying the relief of having thrown that topic out the window.
"Then that's pretty much all that needs to be done, Sak—oops, I mean, Yuki-kun…"
"Thank you so much, Mr. Akimichi, I'm really, really grateful…"
"That's 'Uncle' to you!" he laughed. She chuckled as well.
"Well, then, I'll see you sometime soon – I hope. Enjoy your stay, and make sure to get along well with my son!"
"I will, Uncle. Thanks so much…goodbye!"
And with that, the phone clicked – signaling the hanging up of both sides.
Sakura let out a breath she'd been holding unconsciously – when had she even taken it?
"I take it everything's alright then," Neji said, not even bothering to put it into question form. Arrogant bastard… Sakura's eyebrow twitched.
"Yes, Mr. I-Know-Everything," she said childishly, then ignoring him completely to turn to Chouji instead.
"Hey, Chouji, thanks a lot too," she smiled, though not knowing if he could catch it or not under her mask. He smiled in return, shrugging and snacking.
"It's nothing, like I said. You're Shikamaru's friend, so you're my friend as well," he said easily. Sakura didn't bother correcting him on one part.
Someone might want to tell me who told him I was Shikamaru's friend, even though we've only known each other for less than a day…?
"Sakura, we should get heading back. The sky is darkening even more so," Neji commanded. They stood up simultaneously, Sakura waving at Chouji – who waved back – before stopping as if to contemplate something.
"What is it?" Neji asked, watching her curiously. Sakura was a rather weird and spontaneous being, after all.
"Well…I was thinking since it'd be nice to get to know everyone better and all…" she trailed off, feeling a bit guilty for a second. "And we totally ditched Sasuke and Naruto-kun back there…"
At that Neji smirked, recalling the talented use of his amazing physical prowess…
"It was quiet while it lasted," Sakura sighed, eyeing the approaching storm clouds that signaled the arrival of Naruto and Sasuke.
She and Neji had been walking in comfortable and peaceful silence – still hand in hand – since ditching the two arguing boys back at the dorm. And after Neji stole Sasuke's flip-flops…
She'd cracked up when Sasuke's roar reached her ears.
"TEMEEEE," screamed Naruto, lagging behind Sasuke by a bit even though he had a head start.
"DOBE, YOU CAN'T BEAT ME," Sasuke yelled back, a smirk growing on his face as they raced to catch up to Sakura and Neji.
His smirk grew wider once they came into view, and being determined not to lose to Naruto TWICE in one day, he speeded up and got to them first.
Huffing and panting at having run so fast and so far, he leaned his head on one of Sakura's shoulders comfortably, reveling in how her neck held him perfectly.
Neji coughed. He was still holding Sakura's hand.
"Sakura, come here for a second," he muttered, motioning her closer with a finger. Curious, she gently nudged Sasuke off (He grumbled at that) and leaned in to listen to what Neji was whispering.
Within seconds, two conniving grins had twisted their way onto both faces as they cackled with glee inside.
Sasuke was too busy narrowing his eyes and looking for the dobe – who somehow disappeared.
"Hey, Sasuke…" Sakura sidled up to him, letting go of Neji's hand to have it slide gently down Sasuke's arm instead. He stiffened a bit.
"Oh, look – there's Naruto-kun!" she grinned, pointing into the distance. He almost groaned and struggled to contain his anger at Naruto for probably ruining something nice AGAIN.
Neji, as much as seeing Sakura sort of hitting on someone was discomforting, took his turn in stride, and poked Sasuke on the shoulder.
"What?" Sasuke growled, annoyed at the entire world…except maybe Sakura.
"I thought it would be a nice…challenge…to finally prove who's better by racing and seeing who can tackle Naruto first," he said smoothly, willing his face to remain stoic with practiced ease.
Sasuke looked taken aback at first, but smirked quickly. "Heh, you're on, Hyuuga."
Sakura counted down from three, dropping her raised hand at the end of "one" and trying not to laugh outrageously as they both raced off.
Confident in his ability to pull out this plan, Neji – not surprised he had to struggle against beating the Uchiha – finally pulled ahead by a bit as they reached a sprinting Naruto.
Sasuke growled and upped his pace, but Neji had already gained the lead. So Sasuke did the only thing he could do – he lunged for Naruto.
Neji was practically screaming glee off his body, and he didn't bother stopping Sasuke, even if he knew Sasuke would beat him like that. Instead, because he was close enough, he lunged for Naruto on the other side, effectively slamming Naruto and Sasuke together.
They both moaned and clutched their spinning heads, dropping onto their knees.
As Neji sauntered with glory back to Sakura, they ran off laughing and then finally cracking up once showing at Chouji's doorstep.
"What the hell…is that Hyuuga I see laughing?" asked Chouji, who'd just opened his front door.
Sakura bit her lip to hold back bubbling laughter.
"Putting aside I have no idea where the hell they are now, I was thinking it'd be nice to have a sort of…sleepover?" She suggested, tilting her head in question.
Neji shrugged, while Chouji looked thoughtful.
"It is as much your dorm as it is mine, so if you want one, then I see no problem with it," Neji said.
Chouji shrugged, reaching for more chips. "Sure, why not? I haven't seen Shikamaru in a while either."
As an afterthought, he added, "Oh, and we can think about your issue together too. We have to make sure you can pass as a guy…"
Sakura gulped. That was one thing she wasn't looking forward to…mainly because of her hair.
"Whatever you're about to say, I'm not going to cut my hair – end of story," she muttered mutinously, glaring at Shikamaru who had his mouth open about to talk.
He sighed.
"Women are so troublesome…"
"Good," she huffed, "That way you might learn something eventually."
They were all sitting or lying down in the living room – Sasuke and Neji lounging on the couches, Naruto already conked out on the floor where Neji dumped him nearby, Shikamaru sitting in his thinking position on the plush carpet with Chouji right next to him munching away, Sakura herself having grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around herself as she sat nearby Neji on the couch.
Once she'd gotten back and laughed all she wanted at Sasuke and Naruto – who were bright red and looking furious at each other – Shikamaru had realized, upon sigh of Chouji tagging with them, that they were probably in for a long night.
And because Sakura didn't know anyone well yet, he'd asked her personally if she could just trust another person with her secret – one that deserved to know, because she'd actually kicked him out of the little top four group.
Of course she said yes – how could she say no when feeling so guilty?
So Aburame Shino was now also sitting idly on the table, hands in his pockets and face covered by sunglasses. Sakura didn't find it queer at all for him to hide his face under the collar of his coat or the fact he wore sunglasses indoors at night. After all, who was she to talk when she herself was wearing a face mask?
"Well, fine then. Just…we need to obviously get that pink color out," Shikamaru muttered, sighing deeply and running his fingers through his now let-down hair. Sakura had tugged his ponytail out, irritated at how it was so spiky. But his hair had been surprisingly soft to touch, and once you let it out, there wasn't a pulled-back line at the forehead like always. There were almost bang-like hair wisps floating there – like Naruto's.
"I have hair dye at home, Sakura-san," Shino said softly, surprising her with his gentle, deep tone. He hadn't said much during the night, only opting to watch her a bit curiously.
They were all relaxing, already dressed in pajamas. Which, for the men (except for Chouji), consisted of only thin undershirts and boxers. Sakura swore she was going to go crazy soon at the many times she caught herself staring at rippling muscles. …Except for Chouji. He was a relief for her over-exposed eyes, seriously.
Unbeknownst to her, the men were having similar reactions. Of course they would… After all, she was sitting on the couch, with her knees pulled to her chin, revealing the vast expanse of creamy skin on her legs from her ever-so-convenient red short-shorts and the little black tank top that still held her mask in place.
That goddamned mask. Sasuke then realized he was getting really ticked off at an inanimate piece of cloth. He mentally punched himself…hard.
"That'd be a great help, Shino. Oh…and just drop the formalities – you can call me Sakura if you'd like," she offered, giving him a nod and a tiny smile Shino barely recognized. The only way to really know if she was grinning was from the small crinkling of her eyes…just like Kakashi.
"You know, I've really been wondering, but are you SURE you're not related to Kakashi?" Chouji asked bluntly, setting his chips aside and leaning in eagerly for her answer.
Sakura stared. Then she remembered how Kakashi had the same mask as her. And then she put up a finger to think, shutting her eyes in concentration. All the boys widened their eyes, and leaned in to hear…
"No, I'm not sure at all," she shrugged, finally opening her eyes and not knowing why the boys seemed to have fallen in their seats.
"Well, great, more troublesome mask-wearing, odd-shade-of-hair-color-holding people," Shikamaru drawled, rolling his eyes.
"Hey, in defense, there are people here who've seen me with my mask off. And I only wore it when coming to the school," she finished muttering, crossing her arms indignantly.
Neji wondered if she was as adorable as he remembered.
Sasuke frowned. "Wait, who's seen your face here?"
Sakura uncrossed her arms and stuck both her thumbs towards two different directions behind her – one landed on Neji, and the other on the snoring and drooling Naruto on the floor.
"Naruto's seen your face?!" Chouji blanched.
"Well, yeah. We've known each other for a pretty long time. I see him a lot…actually, we just saw each other a week ago, I think."
Some of them hadn't known that surprising piece of info.
"Oh, and I've said this before to Sasuke and Shikamaru, but I've known Neji for a long time too. But that was waaay long ago, and I doubt he can still remember my 6-year-old face," she smirked wryly.
Neji let himself give a small smirk as well. You are wrong, for once, Sakura.
"Interesting," Shino murmured, eyes lighting up as they trailed a small fruit fly landing on top of Sakura's head.
"You mean the bug flying on top of my head?" She asked incredulously. Sakura had no problems with bugs – except maybe some with really big cockroaches. But fruit flies were just downright cute…when you compare them to those huge, disgustingly big cockroaches.
Sheesh, Sakura, just stop the denial and acknowledge you're deathly afraid of cockroaches, she muttered.
"Don't even start," Sasuke interrupted, holding up a hand for silence when Shino started looking excited. "If you start him on bugs, he'll never finish talking 'til we're long gone and dead."
"Oh…uh…that's nice," she offered lamely.
"Can we just get back to the trouble on hand?" Shikamaru sighed, running his hands through his hair again. "What a drag…"
"Woops…sorry, Shikamaru!" She grinned apologetically, crawling over to his side and starting to absentmindedly play with his brown hair. Shikamaru leaned into her touch slightly, a lazy ghost of a smirk flitting over his features at Sasuke's fist clenching in the background.
"Anyway, what kind of color do you think my hair should be?" she asked everyone. Shikamaru said nothing – only calming in the way her fingers gently soothed the tangles out of his messy hair.
"Something a bit more…normal, perhaps," Neji smirked. Sakura stared.
"Alright, you smartass…putting aside the fact that I think this pompous Hyuuga just made a joke – and about MY HAIR no less – who doesn't agree with Neji-who-made-a-bad-joke here?" she huffed. He looked miffed at the joke comments, and the smartass – pompous thing.
"Actually, I was thinking of a rather different color," Sasuke admitted.
Sakura shrugged, swatting her free hand. "Go ahead, say it. Unless you attempt to crack a really bad joke about my hair – which I might kill Neji later for in implying my hair color's weird, so don't do it – then we won't laugh at you…much."
They all laughed, except for Neji. He just turned his head away from the conversation, disgruntled.
"Well…" Sasuke muttered. "I was thinking that since your name's Yuki, you might as well just go with the whole package and give yourself white hair…"
Awkward silence.
Sasuke now looked pissed. "Look, I'm just saying a random idea, you could at least respond, it doesn't even MATTER if you don't WANT to use it because it's not like it actu—"
"Whoa there, Sasuke. Back up. I never said I didn't like it," Sakura interrupted, holding out her hands. Shikamaru tsked at the loss of it in his hair.
"In fact…I think I love it," she finished, smiling with an extra-cheerful eye crinkle. Sasuke grinned, and the caught himself fast – surely the great Uchiha did not just grin from appraisal like he had long ago with his older brother? Just by some praises?
"So, Shino…got any white dye?"
He nodded. "Of course."
"Then that's settled. I don't have to cut my hair too, do I?" she asked Shikamaru anxiously. He shook his head. He'd considered it before, but Neji had long hair, so why not?
"I think you have to wear it differently though, especially because of your bangs," he added at her sigh of relief. She frowned.
"Well, I didn't want to cut it because…uh…reasons. But wearing it differently…anything's fine, really," she said.
"I'd suggest Hyuuga's girly hairstyle, but you might continuously try to crack bad jokes if you wore it that way," Sasuke drawled, smirking and looking at a pissed off Neji through the corner of his eyes.
"Sakura-chan," Neji retaliated, making sure to emphasis the 'chan' and turning to observe Sasuke, "I think it would be best to just let it down like me – you surely wouldn't want a chicken's posterior for the back of your head."
Everyone in the room cracked up, including Sakura.
Her inner personality sat glumly on the floor in her mind. I guess plan "Don't let anyone close" just totally failed like that time we tried to make Jiraiya stop being perverted…
"Whatever, I'll let it down and get rid of my bangs by using a headband like Neji-kun's."
Chouji grunted. "If you're going to have white hair while wearing that mask, why didn't we just ask Kakashi-sensei for his last name?"
Shikamaru stopped mid-yawn, narrowing his eyes.
"Hey…you're right. Why didn't I think of that?"
Awkward silence ensued.
As soon as they all got over the shock, they started laughing uproariously at a sheepish Shikamaru, who was creeping nearer and nearer to Sakura in order to hide.
"C'mon, the person who's got my troublesome first chair is here, and I don't see her thinking of it either," he protested.
Sakura laughed, patting his head gently. "I'm not laughing at you, at least. Can't say the same for the rest of these girls here…" She smirked as Neji and Sasuke threw pillows at her in synchronization.
"Anyway, before we start a pillow fight, Shino – I need to ask you to go get your dye," she interrupted, still holding up a pillow for protection. He nodded, grabbing a jacket with another overlaying high collar and sweeping out the door.
"Shikamaru…you need to brief me on…stuff," she muttered, raising an eyebrow while looking the men over. "Including how I'll somehow have to procure a load of men's clothes."
"I can do that," Sasuke shrugged, smug that he'd voiced it out before an annoyed Neji could. Sakura flashed him a small eye-crinkle.
"Alright thanks, Sasuke. Neji-kun, give me one of your awesome headband things…" she motioned to the white band running a circle around his head with a grin. (A/N: Neji looks hotter. His hair is different. THe band is farther back and at a 45 degree angle from portrait view, so some of his hair hangs in front of his face over the band. It's...hot.)
"I'll get you a black one," he agreed.
"And, this is awkward…but could one of you go to the nurse for me?" She asked hesitantly. "Uh…to ask her for several…rolls of bandages."
Sasuke blushed and looked away.
"Yeah, I would definitely need those…" she continued.
"I'll get them," Chouji volunteered. "Iruka-sensei sees me all the time for stomach problems, we're on good terms. And he won't ask questions either as long as you promise it's not causing trouble."
"Then that's great!" Sakura exclaimed tiredly. "We're pretty much done…"
The clock read out 2:50 A.M.
"Shikamaru, hurry and feed me with info on you manly girls before Shino gets back so then we can all go sleep earlier. I'm tired," she yawned.
There was a whole new chapter opening in her life…
And I won't be facing it alone…not anymore, she sighed contentedly.
TO BE CONTINUED…
A/N: 08.16.08 (treeshie) (um…big delay, yeah.)
I'm really homesick now. But Shanghai and Hangzhou are pretty fun…at least, they would be if it wasn't so DAMN HOTTT… Grr. And there's no internet here, so when I'm typing this you'll actually see it a few days later. Time delay!
Sorry. I haven't updated in roughly a month, I think. I really have issues with attention spans. And you know…watching the Olympics 24/7! (PHEEELPS YOU GO MAN, ALL EIGHT! And GUO JINGJING. Woman, you are getting old and not relinquishing any gold medals one bit…Ouch.)
Ah. Total domination of the diving court. Too bad I didn't get to see any of it…those tickets were hell to get. Anyway, the Olympic Green was cool. That was somehow part of my inspiration in starting to write again – I have no idea how that worked.
I hope you think this chapter's okay – it's still SO SLOW! I don't know what I'm doing, really. I'm just going along with what my fingers type out, and half the time I'm unconscious or sleeping. …Really.
Reviews messages of love, yeah. Of course, if you don't send one, I still love you for reading! (…just maybe not as much…jk!) Thanks for reading, reviewing, or whatever it is that has to do with lil' old me.
Have a nice day!