Chapter II
Summer Love
The sound of Tegan and Sara was disturbing Ino's thoughts yet she didn't want to interrupt Ritsuko as she worked out. By the end of the song Body Work, Ino had eliminated yet another three options for the location of the bachelorette party. Ino smiled feeling her phone buzz against her arm.
The week seemed to have passed so quickly. It was unbelievable how Ritsuko had only broken up with Gaara a week ago, or that Hinata got a sexy boss who Ino was sure would try to get into her pants by the end of the month. Ino on the other hand has been texting her club boy non-stop. She found out his name was Naruto Uzumaki after Ritsuko and Hinata kept pestering her to ask for it.
'wat r u up to' Ino laughed silently at how she knew Ritsuko would spaz if she saw his text - it peeved her when people didn't text in proper English.
'Planning a bachelorette party, you?' she replied.
Looking over at Ritsuko, Ino cringed. Ino thought of herself as healthy, but looking at Ritsuko always made her feel lazy and inactive. Nothing could disrupt her workout, not even the sudden sound of the doorbell. Ino answered the door with a sigh hoping it was Hinata returning from the grocery run.
There in the doorway stood Sakura with her arms open for a hug. Ino reluctantly accepted the warm gesture.
"Why are you so surprised? We planned a girls' day today." Sakura said, trying to speak over the music.
"Ino, who is it?" Ritsuko asked, beginning to do her Russian twists. At the sound of Ritsuko's voice, Sakura shoved her way into the apartment.
"What is she doing here?" Sakura hissed, pointing an accusing finger at the sweaty albino.
"You should go, Sakura." Ino said slowly. She was put in a difficult position as Sakura was her oldest friend, she couldn't just drop her.
"Yeah, hurry up and leave before I Russian twist your head 720 degrees." Ritsuko grunted.
Slipping on a pair of flip flops, Ino lead Sakura out and the two took Sakura's car to the Starbucks only three blocks away from the apartment complex. It was a quiet car ride, and it remained that way when they entered Starbucks.
Sakura sipped her lime refresher waiting for her chatterbox friend to start conversation like she always did. And she did, it just wasn't something Sakura hoped they'd speak about.
"So why'd you do it?" Sakura remained silent. "You knew it'd screw our friendship over, and yet you still went after him."
"I was really drunk." Sakura explained unconvincingly.
"Bullshit." Ino frowned. "And we both know it."
"Ritsuko and I were never really friends anyways, I have no obligation to her."
"Even if you guys never got along, you know she's mine and Hinata's friend. Isn't that why the two of you haven't killed each other yet?" Ino asked sadly. "Plus, you're not supposed to go after other girls' boyfriends in general, Kura."
"I had my eye on him first. You were supposed to wing for me, remember?" Sakura said, beginning to raise her voice. "I'm just taking back what's mine."
"Yeah, but he approached Ri on his own." Ino countered. "Gaara was never yours to take if he didn't want to be taken by you."
"And he was taken by me last week!" Sakura said venomously. "Ino, we've been friends for ten fucking years. How could you side with some girl you've known for less than half of that time?"
"That's not a fair comparison though." Ino said thoughtfully. "When I first became friends with Ri was when you began to pull away from me. She has probably provided more for me than you willingly have ever since we started high school."
"We were inseparable, Ino." Sakura argued. "Hinata was nothing but a quiet loser. If it wasn't for us, she'd still be the creepy loser in the back corner of every class. We changed her together. Ritsuko was never someone we could trust anyways! God knows how her deadbeat dad raised her and her brother. Don't you remember what your cousin Deidara told us about Hidan? We never needed either Hinata or Ritsuko, why do we need them now? Hinata was fine until Ritsuko turned her into another her! It's me or them, Ino."
Ino slammed her hands onto their table and pushed her chair back, getting up. "This girls' day is over. I'm not going to sit here and listen to you badmouth our, no, my friends." Grabbing her drink, Ino looked at Sakura one last time. "It hurts to think that you're forcing me to choose when you know what you mean to me, Kura. When did you begin to stoop this low?"
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"You should stop that." the blonde said to his friend. Gaara looked at him for a second and returned to looking at the different strip joints and brothels that filled the streets of the red light district. "It's okay to admit that you're still hurting from this whole thing, Gaara. Don't listen to Sasuke and Neji. It's find if you loved her, and you miss her."
"I thought you didn't approve of the P.Y.T. thing." Gaara stated monotonously.
"I don't for myself. It's cool if you're about that." Naruto said, scratching his chin. It never really surprised Gaara when Naruto had his intellectual thoughtful moments unlike their other friends who seemed to forget the blonde wasn't a total idiot. "A breakup is a breakup. It isn't easy. You should have seen Sasuke after Momoko left him."
"I'm over it man. I was tired of dealing with the age gap anyways." Gaara sighed. He still missed her. At least he was dressing himself properly now. "We were always really different aside from our tempers."
Naruto wasn't buying it, but he let it drop. Gaara would deal with things in his own way.
"What brings you big shots to the red light district?" asked an attractive redhead. The two men looked in the direction of the voice. Gaara frowned at the sight of the very familiar pimp.
"Naruto meet my cousin Sasori. Sasori, you know Naruto." Gaara grumbled. He never really liked Sasori. Sasori almost killed him when they were kids. Though it was an accident, and they were merely children at the time, Gaara never forgot how Sasori would find any excuse to bring up how he used to kick his ass when they were kids.
"We're planning a bachelor party!" Naruto fist pumped.
"You will of course choose Akatsuki, won't you?" Sasori asked. "We're the rulers of this and every district. Quality service guaranteed."
Without a second thought, Naruto threw his request into Sasori's face with his loud voice. "Great! We'll rent out your whole club for the night before the wedding! So the second Friday of July!"
"Come with me, you can arrange this with Leader." Sasori said, walking away.
The wedding was a little over a month away. Neji had planned the wedding already exactly how Tenten had described her dream wedding - she told him once before they even dated when she was drunk and complaining about how imperfect the men in the world were. He simply left all the decorating crap to her.
"Oh, and keep an eye out for Hidan." Sasori warned. "He knows about the breakup between you and his sister. He's not going to be so friendly around you anymore." If you could even call Hidan friendly ever. When asked about the reason behind the breakup, Naruto and Gaara looked at each other. Gaara explained the breakup vaguely, deciding that he would leave the infidelity out.
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Ino suddenly wished she was as active as Ritsuko. Perhaps she wouldn't have felt so worn out by the time she made it up the stairs to the apartment. Entering, she saw Hinata putting away groceries, and Ritsuko in uniform for work.
"My brother called just now and told me there's some crazy bastard who booked a whole Akatsuki strip joint for Hyuga." Ritsuko said, pulling her hair into a high ponytail. "It's so typical of men to book a strip club of all places for a bachelor party."
Ino slammed the door closed. Not in anger however. "I am BRILLIANT!"
She ran to the computer next to their moderate television and logged onto Skype completely relieved that Temari was online.
"Pick up, pick up, pick up!" Ino yelled at the screen. The moment Temari picked up, Ino began screaming.
"God dammit, calm down!" Temari hissed.
"Perfect plan for the bachelorette party!" she squealed. "Ri just got a call that someone booked a whole Akatsuki strip joint for Hyuga. We should totally surprise Neji and Tenten by setting up the bachelorette party so that we can put up a show with Tenten leading the show! Then neither Tenten or Neji would be cheating on each other during their parties!"
"That's great and all, but might I remind you that my brother would never let me go on stage regardless of whether I'm a background dancer or not." Ritsuko sighed. She loved Hidan dearly, and she was glad her importance level was equal to that of Jashin-sama's to her brother, but it's because she's so important to him that he takes so many precautions with her. Well, as many as a guy like Hidan would bother taking.
"Yeah, and my cousin will be there, so what?" Ino said. "Might I remind you that your brother is a pimp. He works in the brothels, not the strip joints, so chances are, he'll never be the wiser."
"I wonder who the bachelors are..." Hinata thought deeply. Something was telling her that this wouldn't go as well as Ino would hope.
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Collecting all his files into his briefcase, Naruto sighed in relief. The work day was over, and he had Neji's bachelor party done. But one question remained unanswered. Naruto Namikaze always gets the answers he needs.
"Yo, Neji, who is Tenten's Maid of Honour?" the blonde asked. It was strange that he was planning a bachelor party at the same time as Ino was planning a bachelorette party.
"It's Gaara's sister, Temari. Why?" Neji asked.
"What about the bridesmaids?" Naruto probed, ignoring Neji's follow up question.
"All I know is my cousin is one of them, and that's it."
A loud vibration on the table draws Naruto out of his thoughts. Checking the text, it's from Ino asking about the bachelor party. He tells her he found a locations and asks in return whether or not she had her party planned already.
'I found a place too! Since we're both free, would you like to have dinner with me tonight?'
Naruto jumped up from his chair, fist pumping in victory. Noticing the raised brows of his friends, he quietly sits down and replied.
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'K ill pik u up tonite' Ino read aloud dejectedly. "Guys, I don't think he even really likes me."
"Why on earth would you say that, hun?" Ritsuko asked.
"Well look at his reply." Ino said, turning her phone towards her friends. "He's so...dry."
"Ino, he's a guy. Some guys just don't know how to text." Hinata explained. "Maybe he doesn't know what to say since you were so bold."
Ino, suddenly reenergized nods, heading to shower while Ritsuko got ready for work – she's a waitress at a five star restaurant, Ichiraku's.
Hinata yelled a farewell to Ino informing her that she was free to peruse through her belongings for the blonde's date tonight.
Ino yelled an okay in reply as she scrubbed her long thick hair. She loved her hair, but it was such a pain sometimes. Stepping out of the shower, she checked her phone and noticed Naruto texted her saying he was taking her somewhere nice. Worried that he might not like her if he found out about her financial situation, she replies and tells him to pick her up at the cute little bakery that was conveniently close to her apartment but far enough that he wouldn't notice she's living there.
Thinking deeply to herself, Ino thought about what she could wear, and then she remembered that she recently bought a dress from the Marciano warehouse store when it was on sale! She knew she'd have to wear it at some point. It was a long halter dress with a plunging neckline and a slit that went a little higher than mid-thigh, and was backless. She decided to put her hair up in a neat bun, leaving her signature bang out.
"Something's missing…" she muttered to herself. "Hinata!" she said, snapping her fingers.
Going into Hinata's room, she scavenged through her roommate's organized room, and found a tiara made of silver twigs and flowers. It went perfectly with her silver clutch, and contrasted nicely with the deep purple colour of her dress.
Double checking that she had everything — lipstick and eyeliner for touchup, breath mints, cellphone, her debit card, and house key — Ino left the house regretting her choice of almond toe platform pumps as she went down several flights of stairs wondering why no one had bothered repairing the god damn elevator. She briefly wondered how Hinata got all the groceries up the stairs on her own — maybe Ritsuko helped her.
She patiently waits for Naruto to pick her up, though she is a little early, she quickly uses her phone to check her appearance and sighs in approval.
Honk. Honk.
Ino looks up and gasps at the sight of the sleek orange Audi R8 Spyder pull up next to her. Orange wouldn't have been her first colour choice for a car, and it clashed with her dress, but boy did Naruto look good. He looked like he just got off work — something believable since their very first encounter was interrupted late night at a club by work. His black blazer over his charcoal grey button up and his orange skinny tie seemed to compliment his sunny appearance.
"Hey!" he greeted in an awkward but enthusiastic tone. "You look gorgeous tonight. I mean, you're gorgeous all the time. Like, not in a creepy way, but in a you're good looking regardless…okay, just you look amazing."
Ino laughed lightly and held her face with one hand so she wouldn't snort — she hated her laugh because of it. But she couldn't contain herself, he was too cute. She didn't have a doubt that he was older than her but he acted like he was a flustered teenager. She got into the car trying and failing to contain her laughter.
"I'm so sorry!" she giggled and snorted. "My laugh is so, ha, gross! But, haha, you're so adorable!"
"I'm not adorable, I'm a man." Naruto huffed. "But your laugh is adorable, not gross so laugh more around me, would ya?" Ino grinned at him, and they drove away.
"So do you work anywhere?" he asked. "I realize I know stuff about you, but basic information, I seem to be unaware of."
"Oh, uh…" Ino hesitated but decided to be honest with him. "I used to work at my parents' flower shop. A small place, successful but small. You'd be surprised how many people love the flowers there. I work as a receptionist for a small company now. I need it to pay for law school."
Not a lie. She was going to become a lawyer, and she didn't want to completely rely on her parents so yes she would be paying for law school…eventually. She had university coming up in September anyways.
"Law school, huh?" Naruto said with a smile. "Didn't take you for a law school type of gal. More like an 'I wanna be famous' type to be honest."
"I do want to be famous, but that seems unpractical." Ino explained. "Plus, I've been told I was born to be a lawyer by my parents with the way I argue with them all the time."
Naruto chuckled as he parked his car. "We're here." he said. "I love this place!"
Ino looked up to see the beautiful restaurant Ichiraku's.
Ritsuko's workplace, small world. Ino thought to herself with a smile.
Ino had never actually been inside Ichiraku's, but it was a fancy joint she had to admit.
"Reservation for Uzumaki." Naruto said, running his fingers through his hair in an attempt to tame it — it failed.
"Right this way." said a young woman with brown hair. "My name is Ayame, and I will be your waitress this evening."
Ayame lead the couple to the patio where they were placed by the fountain. As beautiful a sight as it was, the summer night was rather chilly. Noticing her restrained shivering, Naruto removed his blazer, got up, and put it over Ino's shoulders.
"Th-thanks." Ino said, flustered by the gentlemanly gesture. "So, I've never been here. What do you recommend?"
"I always order one of their ramen specials." Ichiraku's menu was divided into sections by countries — the countries included Japan, China, Italy, France, the United States of America, Thailand, Mexico, Greece, and India. The restaurant was famous for its multi-cultural menu. "The ramen here is amazing."
Ino bit her lip. Three was so much to choose from! She decided to go to the choose something from the French menu, deeming it the most weight friendly choice.
"I'll try the salade mesclun." she said in a posh French accent. Naruto bursted out laughing.
"You are hilarious, have I ever told you that?" Ino thought about his words. He had told her that countless times, at first she thought he was being nice, but she learned that Naruto was a very genuine guy.
After Ayame took their orders, Ino and Naruto immediately got into a deep conversation. They shared anecdotes about strange little things.
"…and then she literally used me to pay her bills." Naruto sighed. "It's hard to find a girl who's really in it for me. Just Naruto. I don't think you know how many women have come to me pretending to be big shots thinking that's what I want. I'm tired of all the lies, you know?"
Ino bit her lip in thought. She never really asked what he did for a living, but one could only assume he was a successful man by his clothes and cars — she had seen more than three by now. She was guilty of being one of those women. Not directly in particular, but close to one nonetheless.
"Confession time." Ino said nervously. "The reason I needed you to pick me up from the bakery was…I didn't want you to see how…troubled I am financially. I was afraid you wouldn't like me. I mean I don't know what you do, but you seem to just be this super successful business guy and I'm just…Ino. I didn't lie about anything I've said though. I really am working for law school, and I really do…really…really…really…like you."
Naruto chuckled a bit. Ino was…different, he had to admit. He saw her as a typical girl who loved the finer things of life, but he had already noticed her financial situation by the little things like how she subtly cringed at more elevated prices that he saw as normal, or the way the word sale always seemed to draw her attention. "Ino, even if you were bordering homeless, I'd probably still like you. You'd still be you, wouldn't you? Thank you though, for the honesty."
Dinner was nice, and Ino didn't even realize she had kept Naruto's jacket on the whole night. They spent at least an hour and a half at the restaurant even after they finished eating, just enjoying coffee, and little desserts. It was definitely the best date Ino had ever been on.
"Yeah, with the way he's been acting, he puts the fun in funeral." Naruto said about one of his associates. "It's scary how a relationship can just tear a guy down like that."
"Are you afraid of…commitment?" Ino wasn't sure about asking. She didn't want to directly ask him to commit to her — they had only known each other for a few weeks after all.
"Don't get me wrong, I'd love to settle down and do all that family stuff. It's just a matter of finding the right one to settle down with." he smiled at Ino making her heart skip a beat. "So just up here, right? It's not so bad. A little shabby but not too too bad."
"You don't have to be nice about it, it's not a palace, but it has been pretty good to me so far." Ino laughed.
"It was really uh, great tonight." Naruto said awkwardly, reverting to his nervous adolescent mentality. "So, um…bye…"
They turned to look at each other just as Ino opened the door to leave. Biting her lip, she leaned out only to have a hand stop her and pull her back in. A whirlwind of emotions hits her and she doesn't know what to do as Naruto puts his face so close to hers, she can feel his warm breath against her lips. This was it, he would kiss her and…it was technically their first date, but she didn't even care. She closed her eyes readying herself for the kiss to come. And when she got it, she could literally only imagine what it was like to feel his lips on hers as he kissed her nose instead.
Her eyes shot open in surprise feeling his slightly chapped lips on her nose. It was a cute gesture, but not at all what she had been excepting.
"I'd like to leave that for next time, if you'd like to join me for a next time." he said, lowering his gaze from the top of her head to her eyes. Ino could only nod but a smile reached her eyes and mouth as she stealthily kissed his nose as well.
She stepped out and smoothed out her dress.
"Hey Ino!" she turned around to look at the luxurious vehicle she thought she could only dream of being in. "I really do…really…really…really…like you too." with that, he drove off with the window still rolled down, he stuck his arm out to give her the two finger peace sign.
Her eyes lingered in the direction where he drove off a little while after he was out of sight. Squealing in happiness, she jumped up and down almost hurting herself landing on her high heels. She grinned going back up the stairs, ignoring the possible blisters forming on her feet. It was definitely the best date ever.
Be My Baby(sitter)
"Dr. Oetker…Dr. Oetker…Nature Valley…where the hell is Special K?" Hinata scowled. She hated grocery day. And unfortunately for her, it was her turn to be the victim of the Saturday grocery run. The girls — previously two, now three — would gather together on flier Friday to see which sale item foods they wanted, so there was usually a lot of hopping from place to place.
Her current stop was Wal-Mart, and she was struggling greatly with finding the Special K bars. She had already stocked up on the cereal that rarely ever went on sale — she personally thought it tasted awfully bland, but Ino kept it for diet purposes and Ritsuko as well now — but the snack bars were nowhere to be found. She pulled her hood over her head in case someone recognized her. She was very sloppily dressed in Ino's blue pyjama shorts, a pair of knock off Ugg boots, a loose tank top that she should wear something underneath though she hasn't, and Neji's grey sleeveless hoodie from his teenage years. She was basically in her sleepwear. It was grocery shopping, she didn't need to be dressed to impress.
Feeling the need to give up, Hinata decided to zip up and go to the checkout.
"Shit." she hissed as the zipper got stuck halfway up. She held the old vest together and just when she thought luck wasn't on her side, she hit the jackpot finding the last few boxes of Special K bars that had been knocked over. Oh, and just her luck there were coupons for Special K items next to them to further reduce already low prices.
Passing by the clothes section on her way to the checkout counters, Hinata noticed a Sesame Street shirt and recalled Kei was a fan of Sesame Street. It wouldn't be anything fancy like his dad would get him, but it'd be a nice gift of friendship. She totally wasn't bribing him, but she loved the little guy so much already! Parking her cart on the side of the table, she reached for the shirt only to bump hands with someone else. Her hood gets in the way and she struggles to look up.
"Hinata?" Hinata roughly shoves the hood off — fumbling with it made her look like an idiot.
"Mr. Uchiha!" Hinata squeaked.
A heavy silence fell upon the two of them. Sasuke peered down at her, observing her outfit as well as the assets Hinata was so desperately trying to hide by clutching the front of the hoodie. He is a man after all, and when a woman is dressed in such a fashion before him, he can't help but look.
False. An Uchiha would never succumb to a scantily clad woman but he was sure Hinata hadn't meant to be dressed that way, and he didn't seem to mind her unintentional display of skin. In an attempt to break the silence, he spoke.
"Hinata, I've already told you to just call me Sasuke. I deal with enough people addressing me as Mr. Uchiha, so please." Hinata nodded but refused to speak. She was much too embarrassed and was surprised at herself for even maintaining eye contact without crying. "So why do you have so many Special K boxes in your cart?"
Hinata looked at the cart and back at him then at the cart then back at him again. "I buy i-in bulk when things really go on sale. It's grocery day and stuff…"
It was silent again. Frankly neither wanted to speak after what had occurred over the past week.
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Monday
Hinata was placing a plate of food on the table for Kei's after school snack when the little boy ran out of his dad's room waving what looked like…a condom.
"Look, Hinata! I found bawoons!" Kei cheered, waving around a row of condoms with an open one in his other hand. Hinata bent down and took the condoms from the innocent boy.
"Kei sweetie, these aren't balloons." Hinata said struggling to smile. "But I have a snack for you on the table!"
Kei looked up at the table. "Cheese cossants!" he yelled.
Hinata awkwardly made her way into Sasuke's room and found an open night table where she was sure Kei had found the rubbers. Looking down, she couldn't help but notice…
Magnum she read in her mind. She threw them in and scurried out, disposing of the open one in the garbage can in the kitchen.
Tuesday
"Hinata, can you hewp me find my tie?" Hinata recalled that Sasuke put all of Kei's spare ties in the very top drawer of his dresser. Going into his room, avoiding the night stand completely, she opened the first drawer and found neatly rolled…underwear. She slammed the drawer shut and covered her eyes. When she calmed her breathing, she dropped her hands and noticed a small drawer much thinner than the others above the big drawers — the very top drawer. She grabbed a tie, and ran out of the room.
Sasuke in fact wears Armani boxer briefs.
Wednesday
He had forewarned Hinata that he would be late that day and that he hoped she didn't mind staying a little later than usual. He wanted to workout a little — with work in the way, he began to lose time for the gym.
Reaching down to grab his keys which he was sure he had placed in his gym bag, he felt an oddly soft material he knew wasn't his. Retracting his arm, he pulled out the mystery object only to find a rather large navy lace bra. Curiosity got the best of him, and he sifted through the bag's contents briefly and found a pair of lace underwear to match.
This definitely wasn't his gym bag.
Thursday
Kei demanded he be tucked in by Hinata, and she did. She bent over and pulled the blankets over the little boy's chest right under his chin just the way he liked it — though she knew he'd kick the blankets to the floor an hour into his sleep.
Sasuke stared intensely at her rear, analyzing the shape, and calculating firmness as if it had a formula in his mind — math and anything he had once learned in school wouldn't help him here.
As the two exited Kei's room, bidding the little boy good night, they accidentally tried to leave at the same time. Sasuke begged to the heavens that his erection would go unnoticed and to his luck, he was sure it did.
Hinata blushed profusely as she was sure she felt something hard brush against her butt in their attempt to leave.
Friday
"Daddy, Hinata already left." Kei said, as Sasuke walked out the bathroom drying his hair with a towel.
"What do you mean, kiddo? Of course I know that already." Sasuke said, ruffling his son's hair with his left hand as he dried with his right.
"But you were calling for Hinata when you were in the shower." Kei remarked, looking up at his ever red father. "She already went home, daddy."
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The most recent event was fresh in Sasuke's mind as it was only the day before that it had happened. "So, why are you getting this shirt?" he asked in a strained voice.
"O-oh, I thought of Kei when I saw this and it's on sale anyways so I thought about getting a gift for the little guy." Hinata said thoughtfully. "I thought you'd only get his clothes at 5th Avenue worthy stores."
"I do that but those stores don't usually carry the graphics Kei might like so why not turn to good ole Wal-Mart?" Sasuke explained.
"Well here, you should get it for him then. It'll be quite out of the blue if I was the one to get it. Plus, I really must get going, I have another two stops to make."
"Do you want a ride?" Sasuke mentally slapped himself for staring at the visible valley of her fair breasts.
"No thank you, I already have my car here so I'm good." she denies him politely and speed walks to the cash register hoping he doesn't notice how uncomfortable she is — not completely in a bad way either…
Sasuke watches her leave and can't help but notice…it looks like she isn't wearing any pants…inner Sauske punches himself in the brain again.
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After the terribly awkward encounter with Hinata, Sasuke was just glad he'd be able to rest the rest of the weekend. He wasn't particularly excited for work with Gaara sulking, Tenten nagging Neji to help her pick decorations for the wedding, and Naruto giggling over his phone like a school girl.
The sudden vibrations of his phone on his thigh jolted him out of his thoughts as he threw his jacket and briefcase onto the couch.
"Sasuke Uchiha speaking." Sasuke said monotonously.
"Sasuke, loosen up when you answer the phone, would you? You're going to scare away anyone who dares try to call you!" His mother's voice scolded jokingly on the other end.
"Hello mother." Sasuke relaxed.
"Hello to you too. I'm just calling to tell you that we won't be taking care of Kei this weekend since Itachi is taking us on a four day trip to the Caribbean! Take this time to bond with my grandbaby, Sasuke. You can't keep neglecting him for work." His mother was really scolding him now. Sasuke sighed and counted to ten as his mother began listing off different ways Kei would rebel against him in the future.
"Got it, mom." Sasuke grumbled.
"Sasuke, I'm telling you this for yours and Kei's sakes, okay? Have fun you two!"
Frankly speaking, Sasuke was rather glad that he would be able to spend time with his son. It had been a while since they had a real father son day and he knew just where to take him.
"Kei, you aren't going to your grandma's today!" Sasuke called out to his son. Kei peaked his head out of his bedroom door and looked at his father.
"Why, daddy?"
"She's going out this weekend with uncle Itachi." Sasuke explained. "We're going to go to the zoo instead, how about it kiddo?"
"Yay, zoo!" Kei cheered. He jumped up and down and ran to tackle his father who picked him up and swung him in the air. "But daddy, I want Hinata to go to zoo too."
"Aw come on, Kei. It'll be a boys' day, just the two of us. Hinata might be busy anyways since she has a lot of stuff to do too." Sasuke tried to reason with his son, but he could see that Kei was as stubborn as any Uchiha.
"I don't want to go with no Hinata." Kei pouted. Oh no. He was doing it. And he knew exactly what he was doing. The little boy was evil, and an Uchiha, but for some reason Sasuke looked into his eyes. One does not simply look into an Uchiha's eyes — not even if you're another Uchiha. His adorable charcoal grey eyes that pleaded for him to ask Hinata to come.
"Alright, Alright. You win." Sasuke sighed.
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"P-pardon?" Hinata was taken aback by the request.
"He's not going to go without you. I'm sorry for dragging you out like this on your day off. I'll be sure to pay you extra for today." Sasuke said.
"No, it's alright Mr. Uch…I mean Sasuke. I'd be glad to spend the day with Kei. I have nothing to do anyways." Hinata insisted.
"I will see you in half an hour then, Hinata. Thanks again." Hinata's face flushed red thinking of her situation. She was essentially going to be on a mini date…with her boss…an attractive bachelor CEO with an adorable son.
Running into her room, Hinata stripped out of her messy attire and threw it onto her bed. Putting on a white tank top, she fished out her cream and pink floral skirt, and wore it high so it was shorter than its original length but did wonders for her figure. She grabbed a cream knit cardigan that fell a few inches below the length of her skirt. Her light pink wristlet was conveniently placed on her nightstand thank the heavens, as was her phone. She shoved it into her wristlet, and bolted out her room.
"Come on, Ri. I'll drive you to work." Hinata said, grabbing the car keys. "Ino, I'm going to have to go first! Something came up with Kei, and I'm going to give Ritsuko a ride! Borrow anything you'd like!"
"Okay!" she heard Ino yell through the door.
"Lace Toms, or Ballet flats?" Hinata asked.
"Ballet flats. They're pink and go nicely with your skirt and wristlet. You're already wearing so much cream and white." Ritsuko said, sliding her feet into her work shoes.
The car ride was silent for the first five minutes, until Hinata broke the silence. "So, how are you holding up? And please, Ri. Don't bullshit about being perfectly fine, you aren't basic like that."
"I still wonder what he's up to, and how he's doing." Ritsuko admitted, leaning against the passenger door window. "I wonder if he has been eating properly instead of burying himself in work. I care about him, Nata. More than I should considering what he did, but I love him. I really do, but I'd have no self-respect if I went back to him. If he wants me back, he has to work for it. But really, I don't think he'll even try anymore."
"It's perfectly normal for you to feel this way. You've been with him for two years, Ri." Hinata said.
Ritsuko just nodded and remained silent. Hinata almost regretted bringing it up, but she really didn't want her friend to bottle it up and beat herself up over it alone.
"Thanks for the ride, Nata." Ritsuko saluted and stepped out of the car, heading into the fancy restaurant.
Finally making it to her destination, Hinata knocked and waited. She was allowed a key only when she was taking Kei to and from school. She wasn't allowed to take it home with her.
When Sasuke opened the door, it felt like the first time they met all over again. Hinata's face flushed pink seeing Sasuke in his casual clothes. He was absolutely stunning with his dark slim fit jeans accentuating his long legs, and white Yves Saint Laurent graphic T-shirt under his beige blazer. The sleeves of his blazer were neatly rolled up revealing his strong forearms that Hinata wanted nothing more than to hold and feel.
Sasuke let her in, finding her colour palette rather cute. If he could, he'd tell her how adorable she was when she blushed. If he could, he'd find himself waking up nuzzled in her plush breasts. Sasuke, you've become a pedophile. He thought gravely to himself.
"Hinata!" Kei beamed, sprinting out of his room to leap into her arms. "You look real pretty today!"
"Why thank you, Kei!" she smiled gently at the little boy in her arms. He was dressed in khaki shorts, a white V-neck, and a navy and white striped cardigan. "You look very handsome yourself!"
Hinata put Kei down and he ran to his room, returning to the living room with his Finn snapback on and green backpack that held his cookies and water bottle.
Kei dragged Hinata to the car park where he chose his favourite car. "This car is the best!" Kei exclaimed. He didn't know much about cars, but he thought his father's Audi RX8 looked the coolest.
"Kei, we can't take this one. There aren't enough seats for all of us." Sasuke said, rubbing his son's covered head. Sasuke as a parent shouldn't have been letting his four year old sit with him in his dangerous sports cars — especially not when he obeyed his child's demands of going faster on the highway — but it was one of the few things he had that kept his bond with Kei intact. Sasuke lead them to his Audi RS5 instead because Kei's carseat was already in the back.
He picked up his son and strapped him into the abnormally luxurious car seat. Hinata didn't even know they made car seats like that. Sasuke opened the door and closed the door for Hinata before finally entering himself.
At the zoo, Kei insisted on holding both Hinata's and his father's hands — one on each side of the beaming boy. The two swung him in the air as he squealed in joy. Passersby stared in awe at the pretty family. They looked like the ideal family though the parents looked rather young, no one seemed to mind it. They could only admire how nice they looked.
"Lions, let's go see lions!" Sasuke picked up his hyper son so he could have a better look of the lions and leaned against the rail with them. "Let's take a picture with the lions, daddy!"
"Here, I'll take the picture for you." Sasuke grabbed his phone from his back pocket and handed it to Hinata who stepped away.
"No, I want Hinata in the picture too!" Kei demanded. Hinata's face became a bright red. "Please, please, please!" Hinata sighed and smiled at the pouting boy.
She reversed the camera and held the camera out, positioning the camera out to fit all of them including the lions into the picture — Sasuke was too tall for the poor girl who was barely 5'2". Tapping the screen, she was satisfied with the result. It was a nice picture, and Kei had given her bunny ears.
"Would you like us to help you with that?" asked someone from the side.
"Mommy, it's Kei!" cheered a little girl. Kei cringed at the sound of her classmate Mariko Abumi's voice.
"Thank you." Sasuke says, handing them his iPhone.
"Kin honey, why don't you take the photo?" said the father. He and Hinata made eye contact. It was only then that Hinata recognized him to be her homeroom teacher, Zaku Abumi, from the previous year. Hinata began stepping out of the picture only to be pulled back by Sasuke who completely acted on impulse. Zaku raised a brow at his former student, looking from the child back to her again.
Sasuke picked up Kei, and wrapped an arm around Hinata's shoulder almost as if to hold her in place.
"Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Mariko's mommy and daddy." Kei said with a bow, retrieving his father's phone.
"Oh darling, isn't he simply darling?" Kin gushed over Kei. "It's the boy our Mariko likes at school!"
Zaku only nods wondering why an eighteen year old was at the zoo with a child who clung to her like a mother. From his knowledge, Hinata didn't have any children…
After a long day out, Kei had fallen asleep in the strong arms of his capable father. Placing his son carefully in the comfy car seat, Sasuke got in and started driving.
"So, Hinata. What are your plans for University?" Sasuke asked.
"I want to get my English degree, and my Bachelor of Education." Hinata replied. "I want to become a Kindergarten, but I also want to go overseas to teach in other countries."
"Really? What made you want to become a Kindergarten teacher?" He was really just throwing out questions to keep conversation going.
"Well, I just really love kids." Hinata said with a gentle smile.
"I can see that." Sasuke chuckled. "Why don't you join us for dinner? I know a place with a kids' menu that Kei absolutely loves." He didn't really ask so much as he demanded she join them for dinner by the tone of his voice, so Hinata just nodded and smiled.
She couldn't help but notice the street was rather familiar, and smiled when she realized they were headed to Ichiraku's.
The hostess at the front looked like she couldn't contain herself upon seeing Sasuke enter the facility. He was a very handsome man after all, and his child was simply adorable, still rubbing the sleep out of his pretty eyes. Hinata however felt very out of place at the restaurant and sighed in relief when she saw Ritsuko walk up to their booth with a girl she didn't recognize.
"Hello, my name is Ri, and I will be your server this evening." Ritsuko didn't even notice it was Hinata at the table as she handed out the menus. The other girl introduced herself as Masuyo the new waitress. "Oh, what the hell? Oh shoot, I'm sorry about that. Nata, what are you doing here?"
"Having dinner with Sasuke and Kei." Hinata said kindly. "Kei, Sasuke, this is my friend Ritsuko."
"Ah yes, I've heard much about you." Sasuke said, his deep velvety voice could have swept Ritsuko off her feet right then and there. "From one of my associates." Ritsuko visibly frowned at the mention of associate knowing he meant Gaara.
"Ah, well your associate and I have nothing to do with each other any longer so I expect you'll be hearing of me from Hinata from now on." Ritsuko said with a forced smile. She almost died at the face the little boy gave the new waitress.
"Excuse me." Hinata excused herself, and headed towards the bathroom only to tackle Ritsuko in a secluded staff area.
"Oh my god, that's your boss?" Ritsuko gushed. "He is fucking flawless. I mean just look at him! A man does not just take his kid's babysitter out to Ichiraku's no matter how rich he is. Are you guys shagging?"
"Ri!" Hinata gasped, slapping her friend's arm. "He just feels bad for dragging me out during my day off. He's just my boss."
"I don't care what you say, there's a spark between you two." Ritsuko said, crossing her arms over her chest. "Even his brat likes you."
"Ri, Kei is adorable more than he is a brat." Hinata countered.
"Whatever. I have work, and you have a hot date who's going to think you're taking a shit if you don't get back to the table now." Ritsuko hip bumped Hinata. "I'm going to be late tonight. I have a few appointments to attend."
"What appointments?" Hinata immediately asked. Worry laced in every word. "Don't do anything stupid, Ri."
Ritsuko waved her off. "Don't worry, Nata."
That girl is always up to something funny. Hinata thought with a smile. Hinata returned to the table to see Kei colouring the kids' menu.
"Hinata can you guess what I ordered?" Kei asked, looking up from his work. Hinata took the menu gently from him and looked at the options.
"Mini mushroom melt burgers, with tomato bisque on the side instead of salad?" Kei clapped happily at her accurate guess. Sasuke could only observe with a small smile as he hadn't seen his son so genuinely happy in a while.
Ritsuko came around and took their orders. The wait time was spent listening to Kei tell stories about school and how he hates all the girls there because they're icky.
"Here are your orders, enjoy!" Ritsuko winked at Hinata.
"Your waitress will be with you in a moment." said one of the hostesses. Hinata and Sasuke looked up as Kei dug into his food.
A deep growl erupted from the quiet Hyuga. Sasuke looked at Hinata and then the couple who seemed to be frozen in front of them. He rose a brow at Gaara and gave him a look of warning, his eyes telling him this was a terrible idea. Sasuke had no idea who this pink haired girl was, but even the biggest idiot would know it's stupid to go on a date at the restaurant where your recently ex-girlfriend works at.
Openly seething, Hinata clutches the end of the table, which doesn't go unnoticed by either Uchiha. Kei tugged at Hinata's cardigan sleeve. She turned to look down at the little boy with a smile, and excused herself. Stepping out of the booth, Hinata purposely shoved Sakura's shoulder with her own.
"Oops." Hinata hissed menacingly. "Listen slut, I know you know Ri works here, and that's the only reason you chose this place. Do anything stupid and I will hurt you." she whispered harshly.
"Is that a threat, Hyuga? Go back to your little game of house over there." Sakura retorted lowly.
The two women straightened themselves out. Hinata tried to look for Ritsuko on her way to the restrooms but couldn't find her. More than anything, she hoped her best friend was going to be alright. Returning to the table, she glared at the two rosettes sitting right behind her booth.
After dinner, Kei had fallen asleep once again. Back at the apartment, Hinata changed the dead tired boy out of his outing wear and into his pyjamas. She tucked him in, and exited the room, quietly shutting the door behind her.
In the living room, she found Sasuke choosing a movie on Netflix.
"Care to join me?" He asked. "I've prepared tea if you'd like."
Well, he did prepare the tea already. It'd be rude if I didn't join him now. She tried to reason with her conscience.
"Could you grab the tea? I'll go get you a blanket, you might get cold." Sasuke jogged into his room to retrieve his comforter from his bed.
Breathe, Hinata. This is just like watching movies with Ino or Ri. Only this time, Ino slash Ri is your gorgeous boss. Hinata couldn't even remember the last time she had a boyfriend. Thus, she can't remember the last time she interacted with a male who isn't family.
Setting a cup on each side table, Hinata sat with her hands on her knees, enjoying the feel of the soft leather against her thighs. When Sasuke returned they tried to decide on a movie.
"I'm fine with one of the girly romances, I swear." Sasuke insisted.
"Yeah, well I'm fine with a hardcore action packed movie." Hinata replied. "How about a horror movie then?"
"Fine by me." They settled on I Spit on your Grave which turned out to be pretty fucked up.
As the movie progresses, Hinata begins feeling sleepy, the warmth of the comforter and the smell of Sasuke were lulling her to sleep — just as Jennifer severed Johnny's genitals from his body. Sasuke even winced at this being a man and all. He turned and saw Hinata had already fallen asleep with her head resting on his shoulder, and her body curled up in the warmth of his dark blue blanket. Eventually, he began to doze off as well. Horror movies never really moved him being an Uchiha and all, he didn't get scared.
A sudden cry of terror from Kei's room jolted Sasuke up. The screams of the movie must have woken the poor little guy. Hinata also woke from the sudden shift in position when Sasuke moved. Both of them run to Kei's room to find him sitting up and crying.
"Mommy! Mommy!" he wails, scrambling out of bed and running to Hinata. She picked him up and strokes his hair as he continues to cry on her shoulder, completely disregarding the fact that he called her mommy — now was not the time to tell a crying child 'no you may not call me mommy'. He incoherently tells of a nightmare he had but neither Sasuke nor Hinata could hear him properly. They could only catch the bits about Sasuke abandoning him for work, and then feeding him to the lions at the zoo.
Taken aback by his son's confession, Sasuke takes Kei from Hinata's arms. Forcing the little boy to look at him, he asks, "Do you really think I would just abandon you, Kei? I'm your daddy. I love you more than I love anything and anyone in the whole wide world. Don't you ever forget that."
"B-but d-d-daddy, you, you lo-love work mo-mo-more!" Kei sobbed, clutching his father's shirt tightly.
Hinata smiled softly. "Kei, your dad would rather abandon work than abandon you. He works because he loves you." She rubbed his back affectionately.
"Hina-t-ta, I don't w-wa-wa-want you to go!" Kei cried. "St-stay and make the b-bad dreams go aw-w-w-way."
"I have to go home now, Kei." Hinata said, kissing his head. She didn't know what made her do it, but seeing him cry for her to stay broke her heart knowing she couldn't. Not because she had to go home, but because it would be wrong for her to get any closer to her boss than she already has. "You and your daddy have a lot of talking to do."
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'If we're going to pay this much for crab, it better sing and dance, and introduce us to the Little Mermaid.' was the first thing Hinata heard when she got home. Of course, after a date Ino would be watching Date Night.
"So I take it went well since you're watching Tina Fey." Hinata said, taking off her shoes. "Otherwise, I think I'd be seeing Rachel McAdams making out with Ryan Gosling under the rain."
"You're damn right it went well!" Ino said with her mouth full of cookie. "Macaron?" she offered.
"I'll join you after I get changed." Hinata changed into what she was wearing that morning, and sat next to Ino, taking a green macaron from its pretty box.
More than Ino loved Mark Wahlberg, she loved Tina Fey. "You know, he really isn't that great looking." Hinata commented on Mark Wahlberg as he appeared.
"He is such a hottie! Take it back!" Ino gasped, throwing an Oreo at her friend. Hinata only shrugs, and eats the cookie. Their creaky front door draws them away from Tina Fey and Steve Carell.
"Oh my god…" The girls gasp when they see Ritsuko step in.
Final Farewell
…17, 18, 19, 20. that was her final set and rep of her workout, and about the hundredth time she imagined Sakura getting hit by a bus. Laying on the floor spread out like a starfish, she shut her eyes and took deep breaths. Yes…good bus driver…reverse, nice touch. Okay, time to shower.
Getting up, she went to the bathroom throwing her sweaty sports bra and shorts into the purple hamper that took up too much room in the tiny bathroom. Idly touching the Jashinist symbol tattooed on the right side of her neck, she resolved that she would just do whatever she wanted. She no longer needed to worry about what Gaara might think. She no longer needed his approval — she never did, but she always felt the need to have it.
When she finished, she wrapped herself up in a fluffy towel. Outside, she found Hinata storing away a bunch of Special K boxes.
"Here, let me help." she offered. Hinata looked up and nodded with a smile. "So…Sakura came over for Ino."
"Oh?" Hinata didn't know what to say. Sakura was one of her closest friends but she couldn't forgive her for what she did. More than Hinata considered Sakura a friend, she considered Ino and Ritsuko her sisters.
"Despite the fact that you're friends with her, I despise her more than ever now." Ritsuko said darkly.
"You have every right to be too." Hinata said, not even looking up from putting away the boxes of cereal. "She may be my friend but that doesn't mean I'm not utterly disgusted by her." Sakura had always seemed distant as if she only trusted Ino. That hurt Hinata a bit, but she didn't let it bother her too much.
'And we'll never be royals (royals) it don't run in our blood, that kind—'
"Queen Ri speaking." Ritsuko said sassily. She knew it was her brother, but she insisted on answering that way because he thought it was stupid — his voicemail is stupid to be fair.
"You're so fucking stupid." Not even three words in, and he was already cursing. "Don't you have that fucking friend with the big tits whose name is Hyuga or some shit?"
Ritsuko looked at Hinata as she got up and straightened herself out. Her breasts were indeed rather large. "Yes."
"'Kay, well some crazy fucker booked out one of our strip joints for some gay ass bachelor party under the name Hyuga." Ritsuko couldn't hold back her laughter. Hidan sounded so ridiculous sometimes.
"Well my friend obviously has nothing to do with the party since she is female and bachelor parties are usually just sausage fests with hookers." Ritsuko laughed.
"Well I know that she's a chick, she has huge fucking tits. I was just asking you little shit."
"Why can't you just admit you miss me, and wanted to talk to me?" He could be so stubborn sometimes.
"Sure whatever. I have whores to pimp. Go back to your little girl shit." And he hung up.
"Yeah, bye to you too." Ritsuko sighed. Hidan had taken care of her since always, and there was no one in the world she loved more or as much as him. Gaara was somewhere up there once upon a time, but now…he remained up there still actually. As much as she hated to admit it, she loved the cheating fucker more than she'd like to believe. "Nata, I'm going to go get ready for work."
After grabbing her uniform, she went to the bathroom. Looking at herself in the mirror, she turned around, observing her appearance. She wasn't ugly. In fact, she thought she was pretty damn attractive though she could definitely use a tan — she cursed her strange albino-like genes. Looking one last time before putting on her underwear and uniform, she decided…it's time for change.
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He wasn't sure how long Sasori had been talking for, but it was starting to annoy him. His cousin had been lecturing him about going after younger girls let alone younger girls who had psychopathic brothers like Hidan who cares about his silly God as much as he does his sister.
"You know, it doesn't matter that she is fantastic in bed. She's still barely legal — in fact, she wasn't even legal when you got together. In the end, her brother will chop your balls off with that weird tri-blade scythe of his." Sasori continued relatively emotionlessly.
In an attempt to tune him out, Gaara could only re-direct his thoughts to Ritsuko. He wondered how she was doing and what she was up to.
You will never find a girl who loves you as much as I do. Her words rang in his head. It pissed him off, and he didn't even know why. Perhaps it was because of the arrogance in her words. But then he knew there wasn't a single hint of arrogance in her voice, and he knew every word of it was true. Maybe that's what pissed him off.
Prove her wrong, Gaara. There are plenty of bitches out there for you. A dark voice overtook his thoughts. He hadn't heard this voice in a while, and he hoped he wouldn't because he would always succumb to it. As if it possessed him, he picked up his phone and made a call to a certain pink haired girl.
"Who's Sakura?" Naruto asked after Gaara got off the phone.
"It's the girl I slept with the night before Ritsuko and I broke up." He was surprised Naruto didn't remember he had been pursuing the pinkette not too long ago.
Naruto shook his head in disapproval, a frown etched into his usually bright features. "This isn't a good idea, man. If it wasn't right the first time, the next times are still going to be mistakes. I'm saying this as a bro. Don't take it the wrong way, but you're only going to hurt yourself."
"Okay, is this Sakura bitch at least hot?" Sasori pops in. Gaara took a moment to compare his ex with his current whatever Sakura was to him.
Ritsuko's breasts weren't particularly large and were just almost average, but Sakura was relatively flatter despite what her heavily padded bra showed. He always did love Ritsuko's butt more than any other of her physical features — he never tried to hide the fact either — and Sakura didn't have much of an ass at all. The pink hair was weird, but silver hair wasn't any less weird. Sakura's wide jade eyes surrounded by thick lashes were nothing short of stunning, but Ritsuko's interesting purplish eyes were unique, mischievous, and all in all, he loved the slight slant they had — despite their moderately large size, it made her look more exotic than she already looked. Sakura's face was more mature looking than Ritsuko's which was saying something since Ritsuko already looked mature for her age. Sakura had a nicely curved nose with elegant thin lips, and flawless lightly tanned skin. Ritsuko's button nose was slightly flatter at the bridge, but her lips were full and always soft to the touch. She had a small scar on the apple of her left cheek, and her skin was too pale in some light but it never bothered him. Sakura was tall and slim with toned legs that went for miles, always teasing in her short enticing feminine attire. Ritsuko although short was fit, and toned everywhere with a strange style that was unique and attractive.
"Yeah. She's pretty hot." Gaara finally said.
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Ritsuko frowned. The new waitress fucked up again. Who in the world said she had work experience waiting tables? Training the new girl was a pain in the ass and made her want to kick a puppy. She couldn't wait to get off work, but business as usual was booming so she would be stuck there with the newbie for a while.
"Okay, don't screw up again or I swear I will set you on fire." Ritsuko went to the table and went wide eyed seeing Hinata with an exceptionally handsome man. After handing out the menus and greeting the guests, Ritsuko walked away only to be hunted down by Hinata.
Ritsuko was proud to say she was like a semi-matchmaker since she basically hooked Hinata up with a hot single man. But then she remembered he was Gaara's partner, and bitterly thought about how it was the night they fought that everything really happened. It was funny how everything was just falling apart and together at the same time.
Looking over at Hinata's table, she notices how they really do look like a family but only recalls how she once wished that she and Gaara could have that as well. Purple eyed redheaded brats running around, giving her a headache, and all of that girly nonsense. Tears began to form in her eyes, blurring her vision. She grabbed a round tray, and covered her face, running to the staff bathroom.
She threw the tray to the ground and looked in the mirror, gripping the edge of the sink. For the first time since the actual breakup, Ritsuko broke down.
I told you so. Sakura's words made the tears fall harder. It made her feel pathetic how she undoubtedly loved him even after he went and slept with the one girl he knew she wanted buried six feet underground. She clutched the back of her neck where she had permanently marked herself with something that would forever remind her of him. She scolded herself for being one of the stupid girls who would tattoo something of their boyfriend's onto themselves. It seemed reasonable at the time…it was rather pretty.
Drying her eyes, she took a deep breath and left the bathroom.
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Gaara left the bathroom after splashing water on his face. He was neverous for his first date since his breakup with Ritsuko — a date with Sakura no less. He began to regret his impulsive decision but reasoned that it was just his way of coping after the end of a two year relationship.
You don't need her, kiddo. The dark voice said lowly. She was just a brat with no future, you deserve better than that.
Ritsuko didn't have any real future aspirations, and if she did, she never shared them with Gaara. She was never the smartest girl in school, and she didn't excel in much aside from keeping herself healthy. What would the future have held for them if he had decided to marry her?
He drove to a fancy apartment building with a beautiful front garden. Outside stood Sakura, waiting already dressed and dressed rather nicely in comparison to what he first encountered her in. She wore a pale pink lace mini dress that had sleeves to her elbows, and a boat neckline. She didn't seem to notice him, and when she turned looking around, he noticed the deep y-cut back of the dress. It was flattering for her slim figure. He would have liked it if she had more of an ass and immediately imagined Ritsuko in the dress. Shaking the thought, he appreciated the neatness of her appearance with her short hair pinned back, and small red shoulder bag that rested on her hip matching her shiny red platform heels.
He had to admit that when she wasn't in hooker clothes at the club, she cleaned up well.
Noticing the bright red Mercedes AMG, Sakura smiled and waved at Gaara who got out and opened the door for her. She stepped in carefully minding the car — which Gaara appreciated but it only further reminded him of how Ritsuko cared for his cars just as much as he did.
"Where do you want to go?" Gaara asked.
"Anywhere you want to go." Gaara disliked indecisive people.
"No, it should be the lady's choice."
Sakura giggled and paused in thought. Where did she want to go? She looked at Gaara in his khaki sit, white button up, and burgundy tie. He was dressed rather nicely so she figured, why not choose a fancy place? He's rich so there shouldn't be a problem.
"How about Ichiraku's?" she suggested.
Gaara hesitated and wondered if she knew that Ritsuko worked there. Did she purposely choose to go there knowing she might be working? He wasn't sure of Ritsuko's shifts. Against his better judgement, he agreed and sped off.
"Can I turn the radio on?" Sakura asked.
"Yeah, go ahead."
"Oh my god, I love Rihanna!" the rosette squealed. "You're a shooting star I see, a vision of ecstasy. When you hold me, I'm alive. We're like diamonds in the sky…"
As Sakura sang her nicest trying to obviously impress Gaara, his thoughts went back to a certain silver haired girl. He missed having Ritsuko purposely sing terribly — she wasn't good to begin with, but when she tried to sound worse, she was hilarious — to radio songs to mock mainstream media. He commended Sakura for her efforts but they were in vain because he didn't listen to the same kind of music as her. It wasn't as if he and Ritsuko shared similar tastes in music, but she introduced him to a lot of the bands that he currently really liked.
Then it hit him. A big reason why he liked Ritsuko was that she didn't do what she thought he liked, but instead was just who she was which made her that much more interesting because just when he thought he had her figured out…she surprised him with something new.
He wanted nothing more than to be at home watching some weird hipster movie that he couldn't fully decipher with Ritsuko who was so into them that she was reciting lines from them as if she had seem them countless times. She probably had, and maybe she did tell him once but he…he really did pay more attention to work than he did to her.
Turning to the pretty girl next to him, he sighed.
You've chosen this path, and only you can direct where your life is headed. He didn't understand why his mind was sending him down memory lane now of all times — probably his conscience telling him this was an awful idea and that it was too late to turn back.
He carefully parked next to an oddly familiar black Audi RS5, and helped his date out of the car.
The hostess lead them to their table — Sakura specifically wanted a booth saying many people had said the booths at Ichiraku's were extremely comfortable. On the way to the table, Gaara noticed Sasuke and the girl who barged into the office mistaking Naruto for him not too long ago. He didn't go unnoticed either and visibly frowned at how amused Sasuke seemed to appear.
The indigo haired girl got up and purposely shoved his date. Inaudible words were exchanged between the two but Sakura regained her posture seemingly unbothered by the rough encounter. They were seated right behind the malicious girl's booth. Gaara sighed quietly — the date was already starting off on a bad foot.
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"Don't be late next time or you won't need to come in ever again." Ritsuko said flatly to Masuyo who nodded nervously. It was better that she was headed home now, she was only slowing Ritsuko down. She grabbed two menus and headed to the next table.
"Hello, my name is Ri, and I will…" Ritsuko faltered when she saw who the couple was. "…your server tonight." She couldn't help but notice how they seemed to suit each other nicely — something she always thought she and Gaara lacked because of how different they appeared.
Gaara could immediately read the hurt in Ritsuko's eyes. He wanted nothing more than to just grab her and tell her he wanted to see her more than anyone else for the past two weeks. But instead he asked for two wine glasses and a bottle of Chardonnay.
Ritsuko made sure she was away from the table before running to the bathroom again and clutching the area above her heart. She clenched her eyes shut so that no tears would fall. It felt like she was being punished for something, and she didn't even know what. Putting her poker face on, she went out and grabbed two wine glasses, and an ice bucket for the white wine.
When she arrived at the table again, Gaara was confused by her sudden lack of emotion. But then he wondered, did he want her to hurt in front of him? Did he want her to run back to him? He ordered the atlantic salmon while Sakura ordered the oysters — another expensive choice on her part.
After dinner, Gaara took Sakura straight home and thanked her for accompanying him that night. Nothing more. He drove off straight for his condo, and parked in his spot. He slammed his hand onto the dashboard. He wanted her back. He needed her to sleep next to him and ward away the night demons that attacked him. He needed her to argue sense into him. He needed her there so that they could perfect each others' imperfections. And with every thought, he realized he shouldn't have taken Sakura out that night.
Gaara touched his face, slightly surprised to feel wetness beneath his fingers. For the first time in a while, Gaara cried. He cried for Ritsuko to return for him. He didn't want to show it to his friends, or anyone for that matter. He hit his head against his steering wheel.
Get a grip. You can do it. You can live without her. He chanted to himself.
Naruto was right. Crying somewhat helped him…
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"Night guys!" Ritsuko yelled behind her as she pushed passed the door, running to the bus stop. Getting on the bus, she counted her tips and paycheque — she asked to be paid in cash that night. Her first stop was the salon.
"Hey Yoko!" She greeted her good friend.
"Hey yourself! Follow Chou, she'll wash your hair for you." The rainbow haired girl said, looking up from her iPad.
While Chou washed her hair, Ritsuko contemplated whether this would be a good idea. Hair grows back… She thought of how nice Gaara and Sakura looked together that night. The way even their hair and eye colour seemed to match so well. Their image was so coordinated and…perfect. It made her want to pull even further away from that than she already was.
"You sure you want to do this?" Yoko asked, once Ritsuko was finished and seated. She touched Ritsuko's long silver hair and began combing through it. "I happen to really love your hair so…"
"I'm sure. Just do it. The whole right side." Ritsuko held her breath as she watched chunks of her hair begin to fall. Yuko clipped and cut her hair, finally bringing out the razor to finish the job.
Shutting off the razor, and doing the final touches on her hair, Yuko put down her supplies and spun Ritsuko to face the mirror. Ritsuko gasped and touched her hair. "Not yet." Yuko said, as she began to blow dry her hair and style it.
"It looks…good." Ritsuko smiled. She admired the nice fade that she had, and the way it contrasted with her long hair on the other side. She really did it. She shaved the side of her head. She counted the money she owed and handed it to Yuko. "Thanks again!"
When she arrived at her final appointment, she was greeted by more familiar faces — faces of the people that helped her brother raise her. Pleasure is Pein was her go to place when she needed a discounted tattoo or piercing — in this case, both.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Nagato asked, sterilizing his equipment.
"Why does everyone keep asking me that? Yes, I'm sure." Ritsuko sat down and faced the skinny red head. It worried her how skinny Nagato was, but he was apparently a great leader — must be if her brother even listened to him…reluctantly and rudely, but listened nonetheless.
"I just don't want Hidan bitching at me for ruining his baby sister's face." Nagato shrugged, taking out a clamp. The needle stung and god did she want to at least yelp, but nothing came out. The second sting, and she was done. "Alright, it's done."
Ritsuko ran to the mirror and smiled at Nagato's handiwork. Two studs on either side of her bottom lip shone.
"Snake bites? Aren't those too mainstream for you, Ms. Hipster?" asked a woman from behind her. "Are we doing this thing or not?"
"Konan!" Ritsuko gasped. "You're back from wherever you disappeared to?"
"Yup, and you've got the honour of being my first victim." Konan's station was prepared, and Ritsuko stripped down to her underwear and tank top behind the curtain where Konan had set up. "Your brother is going to kill me. Or call me vulgar things more than he usually does."
"Or offer you to Jashin." Konan pointed at her and nodded.
"Ready?" Ritsuko clenched her eyes shut and let Konan work her magic.
Hours later, Konan had finished the outlining of her progressing tattoo sleeve, and finished the simple tattoo around the middle of her thigh "The Hunger for Revenge Gives me Strength to Stand". Her inner right elbow had her surname "Satsuriku" — which literally means "slaughter" — and underneath it were two detailed origami roses. Three swords stood vertically trailing the length of her forearm — one on the inner right forearm, one on the left side of it, and one on the right. She really couldn't feel her arm and it was killing her. She always wanted a sleeve, but damn this was a lot more painful than her small ones.
"Come on, kid. I'll take you home." Ritsuko nodded weakly and gave Konan the session's payment.
The car ride was a silent one. Konan was never one for conversation anyways. "Is this the place? Kinda small looking."
"It's a place I can call home." Ritsuko said, getting out of Akatsuki's customized Ford Mustang.
"You know there's always a place for you to stay with Akatsuki if you decide to move out of your friends' place." Ritsuko smiled and nodded before closing the door.
Her thigh throbbed as she travelled up the steep stairs. Opening the door to the apartment with the ugly smiley face key Ino gave her, she found her friends throwing things at each other. She grinned sheepishly as they looked at her in shock.
"So this was your appointment?" Hinata said with a giggle.
SO I know what you're thinking. "OH MY GEE TEVIN. YOU'RE ALIVE." No, I'm dying 'cause I'm sick. But HEY I'M SICK WITH LOTS OF SCHOOLWORK THAT I'M BORDERLINE FAILING, BUT I UPDATED :D
No, but really I'll try to update more and shit since I'm trying to cut back on my Leaguing...League + School + Fanfiction + School + Gym + School x School = no life. But really. I'll do my best for you guys, AND I WILL UPDATE MY OTHER STORIES TOO EVENTUALLY. This just takes a long time to update because I have three separate story lines to interconnect and shit LOL so yeah. It took me like, a week and a half to do this with all the planning and crap if you cut out the school work and all that other stuff in the equation that isn't fanfiction.
FOR ALL OF YOU WHO ARE WONDERING WHY GAARA IS BEING SUCH A SCUMBAG. It's really only temporarily. Gaara is made out to be this workaholic who's in serious need of anger management or something but he's too immersed in work to get it. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE GAARA, HE'S MY BBG. But I don't want him to simply just regret his actions. I need to have conflict, and what better than to have an internally conflicted guy paired with an overall messed up hipster queen bitch? They're the perfect imperfect couple!
On another note, I do dislike Sakura very much, and if you don't like that. I'm #sorrynotsorry because that's my opinion so suck it. But on a less rude note (I apologize for my brashness), I refuse to make her the absolute awful worst person ever. Yes she's a horrible bitch slut cuntwaffle whatever. But that doesn't mean she has to be ugly and stupid and shit. Just as characters can't be absolutely perfect, they can't be absolutely imperfect either. So for all of you who are expecting me to be outright "oh mah gawd shi es sew ooglay end stewped end shi es guna dai et duh ind ov duh storie" #sorrynotsorry that you can't read that, or if you were expecting it.
ISN'T KEI JUST ADORBS? I love him.
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HOKAY NOW TEVIN WILL ANSWER SOME INTERESTING THINGS FROM THE REVIEWS (I don't think you guys know how much you warm my heart with your reviews whether I reply to them or not your short reviews and long reviews make my life complete, no lie. Because I have no friends and my best friend and only friend is like, my home girl insomniasucks and on that note, go read her shit. If you like my work, she is absolutely fantabulicious):
ChainSawGooche: Hello my fanfiction spouse! You make me erupt with feels too ;) Hug away at the screen!
Lady Whistledown: I knooow omg Summer Love was so short but I'm building it slower because this plot line revolves so much around misunderstandings. Not only because Naruto isn't the brightest crayon in the box, but because despite the fact that Ino is very smart, she is still a girl who overthinks everything so MISUNDERSTANDINGS GALORE! I'm glad you like Ritsuko! I frankly dislike the whole "OH WORLD PITY MY SORROWS BECAUSE MY MAN CHEATED ON ME" And I don't want her to be this "OH MY GOD I'M SO OVER HIM I'M JUST GONNA HOP ON SOME OTHER GUY'S D NOW BECAUSE I DON'T NEED HIM." It only makes sense for her to be pathetically wallowing in her love for him all the while being reckless because she's young and she's human, and her brother's a thug pimp swag bitch mother fucker. But a cool one LOL
Akumakisses: Oh hey, comment as much as you'd like, I love reading them LOL Yeah I think Neji should just settle the fuck down. I mean he's getting old! I don't personally love NejiTen as much as I used to, but I'm too lazy to create another important OC so I'm like, no. And yeah there are too many mini bitches running around if I make another PYT ;) Lots of love, girlfraaan.
Cha (Guest): I don't even know if you're reading this LOL but HEY! YEAH! SASUHINA LOVER ALERT. HEEEEY WHUDDUP GIRL (or guy...)! Yes Gaara may or may NOT mend his relationship, we don't know that because there needs to be some angst within this all, and y'know, if Sasuke's not gonna be our angsty bitch, Gaara will be 'cause Naruto sure as hell isn't going to be the angsty bitch.
Alrighty then. That concludes chapter two of PYT. I apologize if it was shit but I did my best...I think. Anyways, if you have anything you want me to comment on in the author's note - which I apologize for 'cause it's so fucking long (like my dick hurhurhur) - drop a review! Follow, Favourite, and shit! Okay the shitting is optional.
-Bye xoxogossipbitch (lolno. just xtvnx)-