Tsukiko: Hi, guys! I'm almost finished with this fic (I've 25 chapters done so far, and there're approx. 27-28), so I want to know... what do you want to see next? Please vote! The fics that I'm ready to start writing are listed at the bottom of this chapter.
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♥ Chapter IX: Savior... again! ♥
---
"Back on track, ne, Sakura-chan?" Naruto winked teasingly as he elbowed her.
"Yup, you can bet", Sakura grinned back widely. "I actually managed to get well in just two days!"
"Maybe it was because Sasuke-kun visited you", Tenten whispered with a teasing wink in er ear, making Sakura's cheeks turn pink.
"TENTEN! STOP THAT!" she bellowed, making everyone stare at her.
"Stop what? Ooooh, she's embarrassed", Tenten laughed. "Calm it, Sakura, I was just kidding."
Sakura was fuming when she bumped into someone, muttered 'gomen' and heard a familiar voice say: "Why, isn't it my beautiful cherry blossom?"
Sakura quickly drew away, apologizing, and hoped she'd get to her locker unnoticed, but -
"Sakura-chan... I love you", James with a deep, romantic voice, taking up Sakura's hand and kissing it which sent a wave of nausea through Sakura's body. "Become my girl."
"Leave her alone, baka. She hates you", Sasuke commented coldly as he took his books out of his locker next to Sakura's. Sakura gave him a grateful look, but Sasuke pretended not to see it. Instead, he glared at James.
"Someone is jealous, eh?" James sneered. "Just because my Sakura-chan likes me better than she likes you."
A vein popped on the back of Sasuke's head. "I'M NOT JEALOUS, DAMMIT!" he yelled.
He's jealous, Tenten thought with a sweatdrop.
He's jealous, Hinata thought with a shy smile.
He's jealous, Naruto thought with a smirk.
He's jealous, Neji thought with a sneer.
Did I make Sasuke-kun mad? Sakura thought sadly, not getting it at all.
"And besides, she hates you", Sasuke snarled, giving him an icy glare (or rather, a fiery one XD).
"She doesn't. You don't, do you, Sakura?" James said, looking seductively into the poor pink-haired girl's eyes.
"Um... I've got to go", Sakura said nervously, and dashed off as she dragged her friends away.
"Look? She's afraid of you, Uchiha. You scare her", James taunted him. Sasuke clenched his fist angrily as James walking away, laughing maniacally. One day, I'll beat him into a bloody pulp…
---
The day passed normally, until lunch break. As usual, Sakura's friends would sit with Sasuke's friends. Somehow, ever since Sakura came, they had done that. Just as they were discussing whether or not The Da Vinci Code was a boring movie, James showed up.
"My cherry blossom", he said with a deep voice. "I love you. Become my girl – I'll show you what I mean, if you just let me date you once."
"Um... sorry, James, I'm in a hurry!" Sakura quickly excused herself, trying to lift her tray to go, but –
"Don't escape. Don't be afraid of what that Uchiha will think, you're not his property", he murmured as James leaned close to Sakura's face, making her go bright red. He leaned closer, and closer, until –
WHACK.
"WHAT THE HELL, BAKA, WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'WHAT THAT UCHIHA WILL THINK'!" Sasuke stood behind James with Tenten's abnormally thick notebook, looking like he was ready to kill. Which he practically was.
"You get jealous", James sneered. "But she's actually mine."
"Like she's your property anyway! She's herself!"
"Ah... someone is getting jealous, ne?" James laughed evilly.
"Um, James... I actually agree with Sasuke-kun. I'm not anyone's property", Sakura smiled nervously, making Sasuke smirk out of triumph, his face expression clearly telling James 'what-did-I-tell-you-bastard'.
"But you shall become mine, you'll understand if you just date me! Please, my darling cherry blossom!" James pleaded as he leaned in again – and this time got a real punch on his head.
"Don't try any weird stuff with her, can't you see she doesn't like you?" Sasuke hissed, looking ultimately PISSED OFF with capitals now.
James shot him a death glare, but knowing Sasuke was the stronger, he smiled at Sakura and said: "We'll talk some other time when he is not around, shall we?" And he left.
"What the hell... what a teme...", Sasuke muttered as he sat down in his seat again.
Sakura was amazed at what had just happened – just like everyone else. Then she beamed. "Arigatou, Sasuke-kun! That was so nice of you!"
Sasuke's cheeks turned slightly red. "Yeah, yeah... whatever..."
Everyone exchanged evil grins, except Kari, who seemed not particularly pleased...
---
That afternoon, they had PE as their last class, and Sakura had gotten a new outfit from her aunt as celebration for her quick recovery – a slightly tight (there was only one size left, and it was a bit smaller than Sakura's normal one) but pretty pastel-pink t-shirt and a pair of very short white shorts, and as she stepped out from the girls' dressing room, a couple of guys whistled. They were supposed to play tennis in teams of three and three, thus Sakura and her friends joined up with the guys (Kari had disappeared, weirdly enough).
"Nice clothing, Sakura", Neji commented with a grin.
"Yeah, nice clothing", Naruto agreed, also grinning.
Sakura beamed at them, and glanced from her eye's corner to see Sasuke's reaction, but apparently he just wore a blank expression as usual, to her disappointment.
Why do I care, anyway? she asked herself in her mind in frustration as they began to play.
---
"Ah, Tenten, Hinata?" Sakura grinned at them, as she stood before them in a short denim skirt and a white t-shirt. "I've some more stuff to do, can you go without me?"
Tenten looked up in surprise. "Okay, sure. See ya tomorrow!"
"Ja ne!" Tenten and Hinata shouted in unison as they disappeared.
Sakura went to the school's building and went to the school roof, where she had first met Kari. She took a deep breath, flopped down on the floor, and began to write another letter to her mother.
Kaa-san,
I'm having lots of fun here at Sakura Mankai High. I could never have been happier! I've lots of friends, like Tenten (she's a funny girl who loves teasing people), Hinata (a shy girl who's really kind), Naruto (a wild guy who loves playing pranks on people), Neji (Tenten's childhood friend and Hinata's cousin – he's pretty nice) and also, Sasuke-kun (one of the nicest guys I've ever met! And he's really handsome and cool, but don't tell aunt Cecilia that, okay? She'd probably tease me)!
I love Paris! But please respond my letters soon, kaa-san, you haven't replied to my previous letter yet! Is it because I'm writing too few letters? I'm sorry, kaa-san, so much things have happened, so it's just that I've forgotten… like, we went to Versailles to spend the night! It was really exciting...
Sakura continued writing a very long letter, when she suddenly saw a shadow dodge her vision. She looked up into two deep blue eyes. Naruto?
"Sakura-chan, my cherry blossom", the voice said seductively.
Nope. James.
"Um, James, I..."
Sakura arose to get away, but this time James pinned her to the fence with his face an inch away from hers.
"Don't. Escape. This. Time", he breathed before trying to kiss her.
Sakura dodged as much as she could, and tried to struggle free, without much success. His grip was hard. At last, his other hand got hold of her chin and he held her tight, pulling her into a violent kiss, almost sucking the breath out of her.
Tears began to stream down her cheeks because of the pain he caused her by kissing her like that, and because she didn't want to do this, and she felt his hands creep up her legs to lift her skirt, when -
WHAM.
Sakura panted for breath when James suddenly was sent flying towards the other end of the roof. She was sobbing as she looked up at her savior.
"S-S-Sasuke-kun", she stuttered through the tears, stunned to see him here.
Sasuke opened his mouth to say something, when James let out of a roar of rage and charged at him.
"No, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura gasped. "Get out of here, quick!"
But Sasuke didn't mind her. Instead, he dodged James' punch and instead delivered another nice kick in James' stomach, sending him flying again (but last time, he had kicked him from the side and not from the front).
"You little...!" James roared as he charged at Sasuke again.
"You never learn, do you?" Sasuke hissed angrily as he, after dodging James' punch and swiftly appearing behind James' back, kicking on him from behind so he fell with his face to the ground, and put his foot on the back, increasing the weight he put on his foot the more for every word he uttered. "You're an annoying idiot. You're not only an idiot, you're a freakin' psycho."
James let out a cry of pain as Sasuke's foot pinned him harder and harder to the ground. One of his back's bones had already been broken, so Sasuke picked him up from the ground and held him by the collar, punching him hard in the face, then throwing him down on the ground again and stepping on his stomach.
"Die, bastard", Sasuke growled as he aimed another punch, this time at James' throat, as he picked him up by the collar again, when he heard Sakura sob:
"Please!... Sasuke-kun... no... more..."
He looked at her, and seeing her tears, he snorted at the almost unconscious James and said: "You're lucky, bastard." Then he threw James back to the ground, and went to the crying Sakura, who was sobbing hard.
"A... Ari... gatou... Sasuke-kun...", she sobbed.
Sasuke tilted his head a little, before bending down and picking her up, bridal-style. Sakura looked up at him in surprise, while he just smirked back, carrying her down from the school-roof with her things to his car.
"Home", he said to the driver, and put Sakura safely on the seat.
---
"Where... where are we?" Sakura asked as Sasuke carried her out of the car and into a huge mansion.
"My place", he simply replied. Sakura then realized (late discovery XD) that he was still carrying her.
"Um, Sasuke-kun", she blushed. "You can put me down now, I'm a bit heavy."
"Nope. I like carrying you around", he smirked back.
"Why... have you brought me... here?" Then suddenly realizing the situation, she tried to struggle out of Sasuke's grip. "Ne, Sasuke-kun! Kari-chan will not like it if she sees –"
"I don't care", Sasuke breathed in her face as he leaned close, "What she cares about or not."
Then he put her down on a couch in a room, leaving the totally stunned Sakura there, before relaxing himself in an armchair opposite the couch. Suddenly, a maid arrived.
"Sasuke-sama, what would you like to eat?"
"Whatever. Just bring in the usual stuff", Sasuke yawned. "Hey, Sakura."
"U-u-u-uh y-y-yes?" she stuttered, her eyes two twirls. (A/N: I don't know how to explain it, you know, the way Naruto's eyes are sometimes after Sakura has hit him in the anime and stuff.)
"You don't happen to..."
"...e-e-eh?"
"... have your copy of the maths project with you? I forgot mine in my locker."
"Oh." Sakura's face became a deep shade of magenta. "Um... yes, I do. It's in my... bag. By the way, where's my bag?"
"I handed it to one of my servants." Sasuke reached for his mobile phone in his pocket, and dialed a number before saying: "Oy, Henry, come up with the bag. Don't touch the stuff inside."
Then he ended the conversation again. Sakura just stared.
"Hey, isn't that a waste of money?" she asked in disbelief.
"Whatever." Sasuke shrugged. "I already have 1000 euro on my mobile phone, so why bother?"
"U-u-um, I just thought that it'd be a waste of money for you to go and just ask for my bag. I could've asked for it myself", she blushed.
"Oh, really?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "You didn't even know where the bag was, and you wouldn't have found Henry. This mansion is huge, I tell you. Maybe it's not Versailles, but it's still large enough to get lost in."
Sakura fell in silence, ashamed of herself. Sasuke, noticing her change of mood, decided to ask: "What the hell were you doing with that moron, anyway?"
"E-e-eh?"
"I asked you what you were doing with that moron?"
"W-who?"
"Who do you think?" Sasuke sighed. "That goddamned bastard James, of course. Who else?"
"Oh… g-g-g-gomen", Sakura apologized. "I-I-I was just s-s-sitting on t-the r-r-roof w-w-when…" Tears started to trickle down her face again, as she broke off. Sasuke, seeing her tears, went towards her, bent down to her eye-level, and wiped them away.
"Don't cry, OK?" he smiled – yes, smiled, not smirked! "I hate it when you cry. Did I make you cry?"
"N-n-no!" Sakura stammered. "I-I-I'm really g-gr-grateful that you r-r-rescued me… a-a-arigatou, Sasuke-kun."
More tears rolled down, and Sasuke wiped them away too. "Stop crying, ne? If it's my fault, I won't be able to forgi-"
"Sasuke-sama!" a voice interrupted them as someone knocked on the door. "I've come with the bag!"
"Aa." Sasuke moved away from Sakura, arose again, and went to the door, opening it. "Arigatou, Henry." He took the bag, closed the door again, and went back to his armchair. "Ne, you have a lot of stuff in this…"
"Yeah", Sakura smiled weakly. "I'm like that. Everyone always says my bag weighs a ton, at least it was lighter today…"
"Loads of books", Sasuke muttered. "Do you read all of them?"
"Yeah…" Sakura smiled for herself, and Sasuke looked up at her dreamy tone. "My mother loves to read books. My father too. Kaa-san and tou-san always read books together, back when… they were still together." Her smile became sad. "Then tou-san moved to the States with onee-chan… I didn't want to admit it. I wanted my family to stay together, so I lied to everyone about how tou-san traveled everywhere and that was why he was never at home, but when he came back home he was a really good tou-san, and onee-chan had left to study in the States. That was how my lie went. But I knew I couldn't lie to myself. Especially when kaa-san began meeting him…"
Sakura bit her lip. Sasuke looked at her with a blank stare. So she knows about loneliness too…
"You must be happy", she smiled towards Sasuke. "You've a whole family. Your brother, your parents. You've money, you've friends, you're popular and –" She blushed. "- you're handsome."
Sasuke felt something stir in his icy heart.
"Not to mention you're good at sports."
More stirring in the ice.
"And… yeah. You're cool." She tilted her head to one side and wore a bright smile on her face. "Sasuke-kun, you're really kind too. You're… perfect. Almost. Just that nobody can be entirely perfect, ne? Though… to me…" Sakura's smile became warm. "… you are. Maybe you're an exception…"
Sasuke didn't realize her eyelids had closed and she was sleeping before he awoke from his trance after hearing those words. He stood up from his chair, and carried her to the bed, before looking around in her bag for the maths project and at last finding it. Then he walked to her sleeping figure, bent down beside it, and whispered:
"Sakura… you don't know how perfect you are…"
---
"Mm…?"
Sakura's eyelids slowly opened when he noticed someone sat on her bed. Aunt Cecilia? No, the person had spiky black hair and onyx eyes…
"Sasuke-kun!" she exclaimed as she sat up in her bed. "But…"
She fell in silence again, remembering everything that had happened. The rescue, the carrying, and then she had fallen asleep. But she wasn't on the couch – he must've carried her to the bed just a meter away.
"Awake now?" he smirked.
"Yeah… how long have I been sleeping?" she asked.
"Four hours, almost." He gestured to the dark window. "It's 7:00 PM now."
" 7:00 PM! Oh my god, I promised aunt Cecilia I'd be back at 4:00 PM…", she said, trying to get out of the bed, but Sasuke stopped her, holding down her wrist.
"Calm it. I told Cecilia that you'd be staying here for the night, since I didn't know when you'd awake", he said, her emerald orbs drowning in his pitch black ones…
… until, suddenly, a mobile phone began ringing.
"Wait a sec", Sasuke said, pulling up his mobile phone and answering it. "Hello?"
Even Sakura could hear Tenten's voice yell: "WHAT THE HELL UCHIHA HAVE YOU DONE TO SAKURA I HEARD FROM HER AUNT THAT SHE IS STAYING AT YOUR PLACE DON'T EVEN TRY TO DO SOMETHING TO HER GET IT!"
"Ow, that hurt as hell, Tenten", Sasuke commented, rubbing the ear he was holding the mobile phone to. "I'm not gonna 'do' anything with her, James the pervert tried to 'do' something with her and I jumped in and saved the day – you should actually be thanking me! – and then I took her home to my place and then she has been sleeping until now."
"Oh", Tenten's astounded voice said. "But, eh, Sasuke? Is she awake now, then?"
"Yeah." Sasuke handed the mobile phone to Sakura. "Talk."
Sakura gave him a grateful nod, before answering. "Hello?"
"SAKURA! OH MY GOD IT'S YOU! I ALMOST THOUGHT YOUR AUNT WAS KIDDING OR SOMETHING WHEN SHE SAID YOU WERE AT SASUKE'S PLACE! I MEAN, HE NEVER LETS ANY GIRL IN THERE!"
Sakura's cheeks flushed. "Tenten, no need to overdo it all. He just… invited me to his place, it's not such a big deal." She decided to leave out the 'carrying' part, knowing that Tenten would tease her for the rest of her life if she admitted that Sasuke had been carrying her home. As she glanced at Sasuke, Sasuke raised his eyebrow, which made her blush even more and turn away.
"Yeeeaaaah right", Tenten said sarcastically.
"Just don't tell the others, OK? Especially not Kari-chan!"
"Why not?"
"You know how she'd react."
"Hmm… but you're fine, then? The Uchiha pervert didn't do anything to you?"
"HEY! I'M NO PERVERT!" Sasuke burst out beside Sakura, making her giggle.
"No, he didn't. Right, Sasuke-kun?"
"DUH! I'M NO PERVERT LIKE THAT JAMES BASTARD, DAMMIT!"
"There you go", Sakura giggled in the mobile phone.
"Good", Tenten replied, satisfied. "But you owe me one."
"Nani?"
"If you want me to keep quiet about this little… thing", Tenten said evilly in the phone, "you must do something for me."
"And that something is what?" Sakura asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Hmm… let me think. You're at Sasuke's place, ne? You must… steal his breakfast."
"EH? What a weird demand, Tenten…"
"Just kidding. You must… hmm… wake him up with a bucket of ice-cold water."
"Forget it."
"WHAT! YOU OWE ME ONE, SAKURA!"
"Can't I do something normal instead?"
"Okay, then." Tenten sighed. "Help me play a prank on Neji. Convince Sasuke to do it, too."
"That sounds fun…", Sasuke replied with an evil sparkle in his eye beside her. Sakura sweatdropped at this.
"Um, OK. What kind of prank?"
"We must all pretend that we're mad with him because we saw him with a…" Tenten thought for a while. "No, wait. You know Freya, right? Vice president of Sasuke's fanclub?"
"Uh-huh. She's with Ino all the time."
"OK, I'll phone her later and tell her that she must pretend she went on a date with Neji and they kissed, and we're all shocked because he has told us she's the…" Tenten lowered her voice. "… ugliest girl in the world, similar to a witch."
"Eh, fine by me, but why?"
"Because he'd hate do to that." Tenten giggled. "C'mon, it won't hurt, right?"
"It's a good plan. How come I've never thought of it before?" Sasuke asked.
"Because you're stupid", Tenten replied matter-of-factly.
"HEY!"
"Um… calm it, guys", Sakura sweatdropped.
"OK, I'm off now, gotta tell Freya about this." Tenten giggled some more. "See ya tomorrow then. Ja!"
Sakura handed the mobile phone back to Sasuke as she ended the conversation, when Sasuke asked: "Yo, Sakura."
"Eh?"
"Don't you have a mobile?"
"Um… no."
"Why?"
"Just because."
"Can't afford one?"
"Ah? No! It's just that… kaa-san won't let me use one." Sakura lowered her head. "Since the thing with Don, because I broke my mobile back then out of anger, because he and Alisa kept phoning me all the time. Since then I've not had one."
"But you're not with Don anymore."
"Yeah…" She smiled sadly. "But still, it gives me memories. It… hurts."
He nodded slowly. "Hey, you hungry?" he asked.
"Uh… no…" Just then, Sakura's stomach groaned loudly. "Or maybe, yes." She smiled sheepishly as Sasuke raised an eyebrow in amusement.
"C'mon, then", he said, grabbing her hand and dragging her out of the room.
---
"Ah, Sasuke-kun?"
Sasuke looked up from his bowl of ramen, the dish Sakura had wanted to eat. "Hn?"
"Why did you go up to the school roof?"
Reminiscing, missing Cindy, he thought, but was unsure what to answer. "I just… wanted to take a walk", he lied.
Sakura furrowed her eyebrows. "Sasuke-kun, you're lying. I can see it in your face."
"I'm not", he lied again.
"You are."
"Not."
"Are."
"Not."
"Are."
"Not."
Sakura giggled. "Sasuke-kun, you're stubborn!"
Sasuke shrugged. "So are you."
"Arigatou?"
"Hn."
Sakura smiled as she returned to eating her ramen, before asking again: "Ne, Sasuke-kun, you looked in my bag, right?"
"Hn."
"Did you find any book you wanted to read?"
"No. I don't read that much", he replied. Not since Cindy stole my will to do it.
"Aha. I see." She looked disappointed. "Did you find anything else that was interesting, then?"
"No. Why wonder?"
"Ne… I just thought I could give it to you as thanks then, because, well…" She blushed. "You've rescued me twice."
"No need to bother. I don't like gifts that much anyway." Then he came to think of his childhood memory. "Except…"
"Except?" she repeated hopefully.
"Tomatoes", he responded, before starting to eat ramen again.
"Tomatoes? I never thought you liked that, Sasuke-kun! I do that, too!" she laughed. He hid a smile. Her laugh is so beautiful…
He held back a sigh; he had lied again. He had found something interesting, but it wasn't anything he wanted to... keep...
Flashback.
As Sasuke looked at Sakura's sleeping figure, he went to her bag and left the maths project when he saw a piece of paper ripped off from her notebook. Curious, he picked it up and began to read.
Kaa-san,
I'm having lots of fun here at Sakura Mankai High. I could never have been happier! I've lots of friends, like Tenten (she's a funny girl who loves teasing people), Hinata-chan (a shy girl who's really kind), Naruto (a wild guy who loves playing pranks on people), Neji (Tenten's childhood friend and Hinata's cousin – he's pretty nice), Kari-chan (a really sweet girl who has a crush on Sasuke-kun) and also, Sasuke-kun (one of the nicest guys I've ever met! And he's really handsome and cool, but don't tell aunt Cecilia that, okay? She'd probably tease me)!
I love Paris! But please respond my letters soon, kaa-san, you haven't replied to my previous letter yet! Is it because I'm writing too few letters? I'm sorry, kaa-san, so much things have happened, so it's just that I've forgotten… like, we went to Versailles to spend the night! It was really exciting! But we had to spend the night with someone of opposite gender (don't worry, nothing happened).
I was a bit nervous at first, because I didn't know how it'd be with Sasuke-kun. Lately, I had been acting weird around him without knowing why, so I felt kind of nervous about doing it again. Besides, it thundered that night. So he told me I could climb up on the bed if I was afraid! He's so kind. I've never met a kinder guy in my entire life.
Then we talked until I fell asleep! I never knew Sasuke-kun could talk that much. He's a really wonderful guy. Besides, he saved me once from a pervert.
Now you might wonder how my other friends are, too. Tenten, Hinata and Kari are those I normally are with. Tenten can be a bit wild at times (even violent when it comes to Neji), but Hinata is her absolute opposite. Kari is something between. Naruto is kind of like Tenten, just lesser violent, and Neji… well, I don't know. He's not all that wild, since he doesn't like to fight with Tenten even though I know that if he would, he'd win, but he just runs away. He teases her a lot, making her hit him the more. Sasuke-kun is the only one who's not being wild at all.
Next time I'll add photos too. Everyone is pretty of them, but Sasuke-kun is the handsomest! Don't tease me now, but it's true – he has his own fanclub, even (they attack me a little sometimes because out of a coincidence we always end up together in events and stuff).
Kaa-san, I really wish you were here and could see him. I bet that if you saw him, you'd probably hug him to death as you do with all cute guys in my age you see. But Sasuke-kun is different, he's both cute to his personality and to his looks!
Love,
Your Sakura-chan
Sasuke blinked a couple of times. Half of the letter was about him – if it had been one of his fangirls, he wouldn't have been surprised, but this was Sakura! Did Sakura really think that way about him? Was he really so perfect in her eyes?
"Then you don't know me", he whispered to himself. "If you had done so, you'd probably not have liked me half as much…"
End Flashback.
"Ne, Sasuke-kun?"
"Hn."
"You're very quiet."
"Aa."
"Do you ever say anything else but 'hn' and 'aa' when you're not being asked a question?" Sakura teased, sticking out her tongue at him.
"Aa."
"Really?"
"Hn."
Sakura giggled, as she put her chopsticks down on the table again, done with her ramen as Sasuke was. "Sasuke-kun, what to do now?" she asked after another moment's silence.
He shrugged and eyed his wristwatch. It showed 8:00 PM. "You like video games?"
"I… don't know, really. Have never played any."
Sasuke's eyes widened before he grinned mischievously. Never played, eh? He was going to change that…
---
"OH MY GOD I DIED AGAIN!" Sakura slapped her forehead. "Seems like I can't stay alive for longer than ten seconds."
"You're a beginner, that's why", Sasuke explained as he himself knocked down another boss with his character.
Sakura and Sasuke was sitting in Sasuke's bedroom and was playing a game that Sasuke himself had designed (of course, he had not made the game, only told the gamemakers what he had wanted to have in the game), Dancing Petals. Of course, Sasuke hadn't made up the girly title, but the gamemakers had said that if he wanted the game at all, he'd let them choose the title themselves. (A/N: This game does not exist in real life. I made it up XD)
It was an RPG game, and like any other RPG you had to go and knock out opponents. Sakura, who had just begun playing, kept dying after every single opponent she fought against. While the number above Sasuke's life meter showed '213', the total amount of all opponents he had defeated, Sakura's only showed '3'.
"It's so hard!" Sakura sighed. "I can't believe you knocked out 213 fiends just like that."
"It's easy", he smirked, "Once you get the game, you can do it."
Even though it did take me five months, he thought for himself.
"We've played it for two hours now, and I still can't get the game!" Sakura protested. "This is damn frustrating!"
"Dancing Petals is supposed to be difficult", he grinned as the next world was opened before them, showing a beautiful 3D scene of cherry blossom trees in full bloom and a low bridge across a river where sakura petals were floating. "And hey, you live again."
Sakura got hold of her control pad as her figure, a pink-haired fighter wearing a casual Japanese uniform came into view. Sasuke's character looked exactly like himself, not much to Sakura's surprise, since he had explained he had 'designed' the game himself.
Suddenly, a woman with long, green hair and red eyes jumped out of the water and attempted to punch Sakura's character. Sakura tried to dodge the attack, but ended up being knocked out by another character from behind.
"I DIED AGAIN!" she yelled.
"I know", Sasuke replied, amused, as he himself defeated the two opponents with one blow of his Blue Magic Orb.
After getting through all the traps and opponents, Sasuke's character finally arrived at a huge, dark castle, and a witch wearing a black outfit suddenly appeared, laughing a hideous laugh. Sakura giggled.
"Is that what Neji meant with Freya-san being a witch?" she joked.
"Guess so", Sasuke smirked, but his smirk disappeared as the witch cloned itself and shot his character in the back with a blast of red light. GAME OVER, a dark voice declared.
"NO! I DIED TOO!" Sasuke uttered a cry as a startled eagle, and Sakura just laughed.
"I'm getting tired of this game, I think I'm going to bed", she yawned as she eyed the clock. 10:30 PM. "I got up too early today, I think I'll fall asleep soon."
"OK", Sasuke shrugged. "I'm going to bed too. Good night."
He switched off the TV and the game machine, as he proceeded out of the door.
"Good night", Sakura smiled back and found her way to the room Sasuke had carried her to at first, changed into her PE clothes, went to the bed, and fell asleep.
Tsukiko: Next chapter will be published August 5th. Oh no, the summer holidays are coming to an end... T.T
Inner Tsukiko: Damn James-teme! I hate him! Kill kill kill...
Tsukiko: That was off-topic o.O
James: What the...! What wrong deeds have I committed?
Inner Tsukiko: -strangles him- You bastard pervert! You... you defiled poor Sakura-chan! But... -purrs- Sasuke-kun was such a hero...
Sasuke: Hn.
Tsukiko: Uh, anyway... (James in the background: -struggles to breathe- L-l-let me g-go you m... madwoman!) I promise there'll be more NejiTen soon... and ShikaIno:D
Reviews Corner
silverkage-chan: Hmm... sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not quite sure Sasuke-kun has realized the love he feels within (yay for SasuSaku! Sasuke-looove... -makes a weird dance-) just yet... XD But there's more SasuSaku to come, so don't worry:) Yeah, I agree... he should realize the strong feelings he harbors deep down in the anime. e.e And the manga! Damn, I hate when he's being so... so... unemotional! ;.;
MistressBlossom: Thanks, I will :D
ohmgeeits cindee: Thanks for voting n.n
nickygirl: Thanks, I'm glad that you appreciate it so much :D
sasusaku4eva101: I'll eventually publish all those stories, but currently I've somewhat of a Writer's Block and need to focus on one XD But thanks for voting (and reviewing!):D
HeartAngel: Thanks :D
frienz4ever: Thanks:D
hushhushyou: Thanks :) Now if he only showed that sweet side in the anime/manga... x.x
amylovestakuya: Thanks :)
Zuan: Yay! Cookies, awesome! n.n Arigatou!
Claud-kun: Thanks for voting and reviewing:D You do? Aaagh, it was supposed to be a secret! XD
Crazy Gal42: Sorry, no kiss, but it might come one soon ;) Well... actually I dislike Cindy because of the way she is, I didn't dislike her from the beginning. At first, I wanted togive her an, ahem, more angelic personality, but err... I just trashed the idea and now I dislike her. But whether or not she's bitchy is up to you to decide when you see her ;P
yankeesfan726: Thanks, I will! ;D
I love you all, guys! 80 friggin' reviews! You know, I could almost dance! I thought I'd receive much lesser reviews than that... omg, I'm so happy! n.n Luuuv ya! -showers you with love- Keep on reviewing!
Sneak Preview of Next Chapter: Lies
"DON'T MAKE ME…"
"Make you do what?" she smirked. "Take my book? Oh, what a threat, Neji!"
Then, a devilish sparkle appeared in Neji's eyes. "… kiss you…"
Fanfictions Coming Up!
Hi guys:D I'm glad that you like This Is (Not) My First Time so much, and I'm grateful for all the reviews I've gotten :) Anyway, to the topic... I want to ask you guys of a favor; can you please vote on which fanfic you want to see written next? I've a couple of ideas, but I don't know which one I should begin with...
Replacement - Obito asked Kakashi to take care of Rin in his place, and to grant his best friend's death wish, he obeyed. But what happens when Rin runs away because she thinks Kakashi's protectiveness is only for Obito's sake? And what happens when they meet, seven years later, both successful and skilled jounins and teachers of two teams, both called Team 7? KakaRin Minor SasuSaku
Genre: Romance
Don't Forget Me - During their last year in high school, we meet funny, kind and always late for class Haruno Sakura with her four friends, Naruto, Tenten, Neji and Ino. Then a new student arrives, ice prince Uchiha Sasuke, who Sakura's friend Ino immediately claims to be 'hers', and warns them not to try to 'steal' Sasuke. Then, to everybody's horror and surprise, something throws (well, roughly expressed) Sasuke and Sakura together, and just as suddenly as they're announced to be a couple, just as suddenly they're torn apart.. and once again thrown back together, in a cruel game of Hide-and-Seek, guessing and tag. Based on the Korean TV series, Dong Ji Lian Qu (I don't know its original title, tho, only the Chinese translation), which can be translated into something like 'Winter's Romance Tale' or 'Winter's Romantic Tragedy' or something similar (I suck at Chinese). NaruSakuSasuIno Slight NejiTen
Genre: Romance/Drama
Forbidden Memories - In order to free Sasuke from his curse, Sakura finds Orochimaru's henchmen who possess the power to granta wish for a high price... your memories that you must regain in order to make the wish come true, but you have a time limit... thus, Sakura becomes Orochimaru's test for Sasuke (who is forced to take care of her) to prove his loyalty and the fact that he has broken all bonds. But will Sasuke be able to pass the test? SasuSaku
Genre: Romance (mostly, it's slightly angsty here and there but it's mainly romance)
NEW! Dance With Me - When tough guy and hiphopdancer Uchiha Sasuke and bittersweet ballerina Haruno Sakura were thrown into a wild dancing tournament where they were forced to cooperate, they never knew what awaited them. SasuSaku, minor NejiTen, NaruHina and ShikaIno
Genre: Romance(maybe angsty?)
NEW! Princess Sakura - She's a princess who has just run away from the castle. He's a normal guy who looks like any girl's dream prince. She's cheerful and talkative. He's cold and quiet.So how the hell did things get like this? SasuSaku
Genre: Romance (mostly, a little bit humor here and there, but..)
(A/N: If you find errors such as words pasted together likethis, sentences that are in bold or italics when they shouldn't be or sentences that are repeated even though they're not supposed to, please tell me. This happens a lot out of some unknown reason, and it isn't because it was like that from the beginning - no, when I edit the chapters after uploading them, they get like that. I don't know why, maybe it's my dad's computer being weird. And also, do the symbols ' and ... look weird? Because on dad's computer, it does.)