Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
BONUS CHAPTER WINNERS,
PLEASE PRIVATE MESSAGE ME YOUR REQUESTS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!
The bonus chapter winners are the following:
Shy-Princess (Deadline: November 19th)
kawaii chibi sasuke luver (Deadline: November 26th)
silverdragon994 (Thanks:D Your plot idea was hilarious XD)
rebel-girl (Deadline: December 10th)
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT BONUS CHAPTER REQUESTS, SEE THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER!
BONUS CHAPTER 2!!!!
dedicated to...
HeartAngel, the 100th reviewer:D (And, haha, Denmark, another country in the North XD)
The couple(s) or character(s) it's dedicated to is/are: KakaKure
I was inspired by your talk about vacation, and therefore got this idea XDD It's a two-part chapter, next chapter featuring another couple requested by the 200th reviewer, Kaoru-chan PL.
Enjoy!
---
♥ Chapter XXVI: Fears and Confessions ♥
---
"Saaaaakuuuuraaa! WAKE UP!" Cecilia practically screeched as she flung open the door to her niece's bedroom.
"Just a minute, Aunt Cecilia…," Sakura muttered, and then sleepily opened one eye to squint at the digital clock on her bedside table. "It's five minutes left before I have to go… why do I've to go up now…?"
"There's somebody waiting for you," Cecilia grinned. "You don't want to keep people waiting, do you?"
"Somebody's waiting for me…?" Sakura blinked, and then gasped. "Oh no! Sasuke-kun said he'd pick me up today!" Getting up swiftly, she started digging in her wardrobe before finding some clothes she'd wear – a light blue turtleneck t-shirt and a navy, short skirt, which she quickly changed into and started dashing towards the door.
"Chotto matte, Sakura!" Cecilia shouted. "You've forgotten the luggage!"
"Nanda?" Sakura halted in her tracks, twirled around and looked at Cecilia. "Oh yes, the bag!" Running back to her bedroom, she quickly grabbed a bag which looked so stuffed with things that it looked as though it'd explode any minute. Darting towards the door again, she said a rushed 'Sayounara, aunt Cecilia!' as she exited.
SLAM.
Cecilia sighed and shook her head with a smile as she heard the door hurriedly getting slammed shut. "That child…," she chuckled for herself.
---
"Ohayou, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura called as she ran towards the black limousine. Sasuke smirked the infamous Uchiha smirk as she got into the car.
"Ohayou," he answered and kissed her before giving her time to fasten her seat belt. "Slept too long, huh?"
"You bet," she grinned. "Gomen, though."
He shrugged. "It's okay. I didn't wait for that long anyway. Just left Itachi at the airport. Your sister, too."
"They were going today? I thought they were going tomorrow!" A panicked expression appeared on Sakura's face. "I haven't even gotten them gifts yet!"
"Well, they had to go back today, because Itachi's exam results will be announced today instead of tomorrow, and he wants to get to know what they are the same day as they are announced. So it's not your fault anyway." Sasuke studied her still panicked face. "Take it easy. We'll have more opportunities seeing them."
"Yes… but…" Sakura hesitated. Maybe we won't see them together, because… you'll be in Paris, and I'll be in Tokyo…
"They'll come to Paris again," he said calmly as he gazed out of the window.
Sasuke-kun… Sakura stifled a sigh.
"What's up with you, anyway? You seem all gloomy." He turned his intense, obsidian eyes back to her, sending a shiver down Sakura's spine. He is damn hot. And this time, I admit that I love his hot looks and his entire self.
Good job, Outer Me! Oh my god, Inner Sasuke is soooo cool! He's way better than the Outer!
Shut up, he isn't!
He is!
Not!
Is!
Not!
Is!
No-
"Sakura? Are you talking to your Inner again?" Sasuke interrupted her. Sakura blinked at him in surprise.
"Nani? Ah… yeah… sorry about that."
"It's okay. But hey, what are you so gloomy about? Cindy's gone, Hikari's gone and the bastard James is gone, so what is it?" A sudden worried look appeared behind the calm façade of Sasuke's eyes, making Sakura giggle.
"What?" Sasuke frowned.
"No, nothing. You're just… you're just too cute," she giggled. Sasuke put on a sulky face.
"I'm not cute," he protested.
"Oh yes, you are," she said in a teasing tone.
"I am not, and I don't want to be."
"Aw, why not? You're so cute when you say you aren't!"
"Guys don't want to be cute, Sakura."
"Why not?"
"Girls are cute. Guys are not"
"Oh, you mean I am cute?" Sakura winked at him teasingly. A faint blush appeared on Sasuke's cheeks as he turned away.
"No, I don't," he muttered.
"Naw, you're blushing!" She burst into giggles again.
"We're here," the driver announced, and gratefully, Sasuke stepped out of the limousine together with Sakura, the driver carrying their luggage, relieved to leave the conversation there. Just as expected, the SUFC had lined up at the parking lot just to see him, but as soon as they saw the giggling Sakura beside him, they began whispering and gasping.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" the Ino-like girl from before demanded, pointing accusingly at Sakura. "Are you trying to steal our Sasuke-kun, huh?! HUH?!"
Satisfied, she sneered, waiting for Sakura to blush and stammer how she didn't want to, and then walk off. Unfortunately for her, she was rewarded with a calm smile.
"I don't need to," she retorted. "I think Sasuke-kun has stolen me." (A/N: Whoa, talk about sudden change of attitude… o.O;)
"Why, you…!" The Ino-like girl attempted to punch Sakura, but Sasuke had already appeared in front of her, catching the punch with the palm of his hand.
"You leave my girlfriend alone," he remarked with a voice cold as ice as he glared at her. "If you as much as touch her, I'll beat you to a bloody pulp."
The Ino-look-alike look terrified at this comment, and starting to sob uncontrollably, she ran off towards the school building, followed by pitiful fellow SUFC members. Sakura grinned embarrassedly at Sasuke.
"Sasuke-kun… you didn't have to defend me like that," she said. "Arigatou anyway."
"Hn," he merely uttered and started to walk towards the school building as well, followed by Sakura who started babbling about how beautiful the weather would be today and how she was looking forward towards the trip…
---
I honestly don't know what Tsunade is thinking, Kakashi thought sourly as he leaned back in the chair of the airplane. The memories came flooding back to him as though it was yesterday… well, it had been yesterday…
Flashback.
Ring, ring.
Kakashi groaned as he turned around in his bed. Not morning already? He had hardly slept!
Ring, ring.
Covering his ears with his pillow didn't work either. At last, he got up with a sigh and turned off his alarm clock… just to see that it wasn't the alarm clock that was ringing.
Ring, ring.
Groaning again, he dragged his feet miserably towards the living room and picked up the receiver.
"Moshi, moshi," he muttered sleepily into it.
"Yo, Kakashi," he heard Tsunade's familiar voice say as she crunched on… chips? "How did things go today? With the matchmaking, that is."
"Oh, that." Kakashi felt aggressive just as he thought of it. "Well, it went pretty fine."
"Really?" Tsunade sounded doubtful. "When Kurenai came to my desk today, she was in an odd mood. Has something happened?"
"No," Kakashi replied shortly.
"You're bizarre too. Have you rowed?"
"Not exactly."
"Really." She paused. "How about this… a trip to Copenhagen with your class?"
"What?" Kakashi said, surprised. Talk about change of a subject…
"They'll be thrilled, I guess. For once they'll be able to go out of France. A trip to Tivoli, all expenses paid, and staying at a pretty… decent hotel."
"Er… right."
"So you promise you'll take the class there?"
"Uh, yeah."
"If you don't, I'll get you fired."
"Huh."
"But there's one condition…"
"What?"
"You've to bring Kurenai AND Asuma with you."
"WHAT?!"
"Good luck, and have fun in Copenhagen tomorrow. I'll give you the tickets and everything. Have a nice night." CLICK.
Kakashi only stared at the receiver in his hand in disbelief.
End Flashback.
What is the woman thinking?! Kakashi spat furiously in his thoughts. Is she trying to play matchmaking with me and Kurenai?
"Kakashi? Yo, Kakashi!"
Kakashi woke up from his daydreams, staring at Asuma. Somehow, an intent feeling appeared in his chest, remembering Kurenai's words from the day before… he's handsome and cool and smart and all that… "Nanda?" he said somewhat shortly.
Asuma raised an eyebrow. "No, nothing, except that the students said that we should have some karaoke in the entertainment room, since we're all alone on this ship. Everybody's going there. You wanna come?"
I've nothing better to do, anyway, he thought and shrugged. "Sure."
---
"Who wants to sing?" Temari shouted in the microphone. (A/N: Yes, I know that she's in another class, but let's just say that she's in Asuma's class.) She looked out over the crowd, but nobody reacted. "Aw, c'mon! Anybody?"
Still no reaction.
"Okay, I'm randomly picking out people to sing if you don't do it yourselves," Temari warned. This caused a stir in the crowd, worried whispers and hesitant glances, but still, nobody raised their hand.
Suddenly, she noticed something. Tenten was waving at her and gesturing somewhat clearly at Kakashi, Kurenai and Asuma in front of her and Neji. Smiling smugly, Temari showed her the thumbs-up as discreetly as possible and then shouted in the microphone: "Fine, first up: Kurenai-sensei with Shakira's Hips Don't Lie!"
Kurenai looked up in surprise. "What? But I don't know the song that well –"
"I warned you," Temari winked. "So get up here now!"
The crowd watched in amusement – several boys from Temari's class, including Kankorou, whistled – as Kurenai stepped onto the scene, wearing a tight red top, a white jacket on top of it and a white, short skirt with a shiny copper-colored belt and black high-heels. Inspecting her closely, Temari grinned mischievously.
"I think you might want to get more into the mood of the song, Kurenai-sensei, if you know what I mean?" she giggled and took off Kurenai's white jacket. Raising an eyebrow, Kurenai mouthed: "What are you doing?" But Temari only winked back.
"And now –", she announced, putting the music on, "Give a mighty applause for Kurenai-sensei!"
The giant screen in front of Kurenai – and facing the audience's back – was suddenly lit up and showed a flowing text as the song came to life.
Ladies up in here tonight
No fighting, no fighting
We got the refugees up in here
No fighting, no fighting
"Shakira, Shakira," Kurenai threw in.
I never really knew that she could dance like this
She makes a man want to speak Spanish
como se llama (si), bonita (si), mi casa (si), su casa
"Shakira, Shakira," Kurenai sang again. Her pupils looked at her in awe as they heard her voice sounding exactly like Shakira's.
Then she took a breath, looked out at the crowd enthusiastically and began swaying her hips in rhythm with the music as she sang:
"Oh baby when you talk like that
You make a woman go mad
So be wise and keep on
Reading the signs of my body
And I'm on tonight
You know my hips don't lie
And I'm starting to feel it's right
All the attraction, the tension
Don't you see baby, this is perfection."
Temari glanced at Kakashi, seeing him stare at Kurenai like he had never seen her before… or rather, seen her sing and sway her hips sexily in rhythm to the music before. Grinning towards Neji and Tenten, she mouthed: "Project matchmaking succeeded."
---
Finally night, Kakashi thought with a groan. The students had been so ecstatic to come to Denmark that they had been practically running off the moment they arrived in Copenhagen. Thankfully, he had and Asuma had stopped a few wild students in time from trying to enter Tivoli from the wrong direction (do we even have to mention Naruto was one of them?). Now they were finally safely inside the walls of the hotel and couldn't go out because the doorman would stop them, and the teachers could finally rest peacefully.
Okay, so maybe not peacefully. As soon as the students had packed up the belongings they had been taking along, they had started to enter each other's room, talking quite loudly ("SASUKE-TEME! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING WITH MY TOOTHBRUSH? HEY – NO – NEJI!!! DO YOU ALL WANT TO DIE?!") and wailing each other's names ("Why noooot, Shika-chan? C'mon, all romantic couples go to the Ferris wheel!") and hitting each other ("Ow! Ow! Ow! I was just kidding, Tenten, I didn't actually mean to eat that sushi of yours – OW! No kisses for you tonight – OW! I SWEAR I AM GOING TO TAKE THAT NOTEBOOK OF YOURS SOMEDAY… OW!!!") and teasing each other ("N-n-no, S-Sakura-chan and T-Temari-chan, I'm… I'm… I'm NOT checking out N-N-N-Naruto-kun!") and… oh, we should just stop there. Just the thought of the fuss the pupils had made the last few hours made Kakashi even more exhausted than he was.
I'd give anything for a nice glass of sake now, he sighed inwardly tiredly. But I don't even know if they have sake in Denmark… but oh well, just any drink will do. Wasn't there a bar downstairs…?
---
"Oh my god, I'm so tired," Kurenai mumbled for herself as she put the glass of beer down. Suddenly, she noticed a too familiar silver-haired man approaching her. Her face expression darkening, she spat: "Oh, it's you."
Kakashi merely blinked. "Good evening to you too."
Uttering an annoyed grunt, she filled her glass with more beer. Kakashi ordered for beer too as he watched her drink abruptly. "Are the students in bed already?"
"How should I know?" she snarled. "You are supposed to watch them."
"Apparently, I am not. I guess Asuma is doing the job," Kakashi shrugged, realizing that Kurenai already was drunk. Draining his glass of beer rapidly, he refilled it again and repeated the act, already starting to feel the tiniest bit dizzy. "It's not like they've anywhere to go, anyway."
"See!" Kurenai burst out, doing a gesture at Kakashi. "This is just showing how irresponsible you are. That's what I hate about you, always so irresponsible and immature."
"You're just saying I'm worse than Asuma," Kakashi snorted as he drained his glass of beer again. Kurenai did the same.
"I haven't, but yes you are!" Kurenai said hotly. "You're so goddamned childish, why can't you just grow up for a change? You'd fit pretty well in the class, you know!"
"So would you have done! All with your foolish shaking of the hips and singing this afternoon, one would think you're just eighteen, stupid and irresponsible!"
"Che! Don't talk about it as a bad thing; I could totally see you staring. What, were you tempted to pounce on me or something? That just shows how immature and stupid you are, reading those Icha Icha series."
"Hey! Don't drag the Icha Icha series into this, okay?!"
---
"Aaah," Sakura yawned. "I wonder what the senseis are up to?"
"Probably snoring in their beds," Tenten giggled. "They must've been exhausted after all this work today."
"Yeah, some people just had to run off the moment they set foot in a new city, huh?" Temari laughed, nudging Naruto with her elbow.
"I just got excited, okay?" Naruto grinned. "Copenhagen seems like a cool capital. I mean, sure, Paris is great and all, but Copenhagen… it's new. Anyone wanna try sneak out of the hotel?"
"I'm so tired, all I want to do is to sit here and talk with you guys," Ino sighed. Then she gave Shikamaru a loving smile. "And be with Shika, of course."
Shikamaru rolled his eyes, but a faint tint of pink appeared on his cheeks. "Ino," he muttered, but Ino just giggled.
"Well, I'd prefer to just relax tonight. We've an entire day in Copenhagen tomorrow, right?" Tenten shrugged. "Even though we'll be in Tivoli the entire day, it's still Copenhagen, isn't it… and Tivoli is huge. Speaking of Tivoli, who are you going to be with?"
"Sasuke-kun," Sakura said right away.
"Shika!" Ino giggled.
"You," Neji grinned back at Tenten.
"My brothers," Temari shrugged.
"You guys," Naruto and Hinata said at the same time. Then Naruto stared at them and gaped.
"WE AREN'T GOING TOGETHER?!?!?!??! NANDE?!"
"Dobe, don't make us just deaf yet," Sasuke remarked. "Anyhow, don't you remember last time when we were dragged off to the shopping mall and ended up in Ichiraku because you only went on and on about it all the time and everybody wanted to go to different places? It's much easier to decide where to go if we're two, or three people in a group."
"So it seems like you two have to go," Sakura smiled teasingly as she poked Hinata, who was sitting beside her. Hinata's face turned a deep shade of scarlet.
"O-o-oh! Um… I hope it's… a-alright, Naruto-kun."
"Ah, yeah! It'll be lots of fun, won't it?" Naruto grinned at her. "Now, who wants to go spy on the senseis?"
---
"YOU SAID THAT YOU LIKED ASUMA BETTER THAN ME -"
"NO, I DIDN'T!" Kurenai interrupted him just as loudly and drained her glass of beer, putting it back on the table's surface forcefully. "SO SHUT THE HELL UP, IDIOT! I JUST SAID IT'D BE WEIRD!"
"And why would it be weird?" He glared at her intensely, then mimicked her by draining his glass of beer and slamming it back on the table.
"It'd just be... I dun' know, WEIRD!" she yelled. "It'd be just as weird as you kissin' me or somethin' -"
He leaned over to her seat swiftly, and caught her lips in an abrupt and forceful kiss, then gazing into her shocked eyes with his. "Now, that wasn't weird, was it?" he asked in a low voice.
Kurenai just stared back. She was dizzier than ever, and she couldn't think straight. The only thought in her mind was that… Kakashi had kissed her. Kakashi had kissed her. And without another thought, she leaned to his seat and kissed him passionately, and when she felt him answering with total eagerness, they kept on kissing… and kissing…
---
Naruto only stared. Then he smirked mischievously and trotted back to Sakura's room where everybody was gathered, talking about matchmaking with the senseis and whether they should try making Kakashi and Kurenai a couple. If they only had known what he had seen…
But he wouldn't spoil the surprise. Not just yet.
---
They kissed all the way to the corridor, where they had their rooms opposite each other. They kissed again, and again, and again, and Kurenai started to throw away her worry of being seen. At last, she gave him a flirtatious look.
"I'll see you tomorrow," she whispered, and got into her room, closing her door nonchalantly. Then she flopped down on the bed out of tiredness and fell asleep.
Ooooh, finally the KakaKure kiss you've all been waiting for! XD Now, I wonder what reaction they'll get when they awaken...? -giggle-
Okay, just so you all know... I don't know if I can upload the chapter in time this week x.x; I'm hugely busy, having a bunch of homework and tests dumped on me AGAIN, but fortunately I've only ONE horrible test the week after, so I can take it easy and concentrate more on my brand-new (okay, not so brand-new, but it's Zed's x3) PS2 and FF X game and writing fanfics...
Also, I'm planning more fanfics! This time not as many Naruto fanfics since I'm tired of the slow development of the anime/manga, nothing interesting (IMO) has been happening lately, so I'm more focusing on FF X/Fruits Basket/Chrono Trigger-themed fanfics, mostly the first-mentioned even though I don't know so much about the couple I support since I haven't been playing so much, but I've read about them and they're sooo kawaii X3
And oooh, I've found a new inspiration source... music! Yes, I know it isn't new, but mostly I get my inspiration from RnB, hiphop, ballads, that kind of music, but now I've this totally new one - kyle556, best musician EVER on YouTube, I tell you guys:D He's awesome, you should totally listen to his piano performances. And his composition with Leela is just fabulous. I totally recommend him if you need any inspiration, believe me, his piano music - especially if you're a fan of the music from the animes/games he plays music from - will get you addicted. I don't know how many times I've listened to "To Zanarkand" from FF X now. XD
Reviews Corner
Arigatou gozaimasu, minna! And thank you...
Kawaii IceCream (Yeah, for being a great team, Ino and Shika sure were useless there XD And hmm, I don't think Tsunade is supposed to have super-strength in this story since there's no existence of chakra o.O; And of course I'm obsessed with iPods! XD I've a pink one and I looove it. x3 Ye shalt worshippeth the godly iPods! X3 And the new couple? Heh, that's a secret :P)
iamNOTafangirl3221
rainingblood666 (Well, I live in Sweden, the country far away from all places I want to go to, except maybe France or England. XD; And still, that's several hours away.)
littlechineseazngirl (Yes, they're sooo cute :D Even though I sometimes get a bit mad with Hiro because of his attitude, but then again, I can understand why he's like that. Btw, did he confess his feelings or not in the end? o.O I don't remember.)
citygirl1693
A Broken Cherry Blossom
everlasting memories
Uchiha Botan
Freedomstar999
Denied Love (Lol, whether it'll be long or not I can't tell just yet. XD It depends on the bonus chapters, actually, but I think they'll be quite long seeing how the bonus chapters turn out to be much longer than the actual normal ones. o.O; However, after the bonus chapters we've a couple of normal - though short ones - and then it's time to work on the sequel. XD But if you mean lengthening the time of the fanfiction, I can guarantee it might take some time before the entire fic is done, because now at the end of the term they're piling homework and tests on us like never before.)
rebel-girl
Uchiha Rose (It's 'whoa'. :))
Yukiru a.ka. ninja (Well, I guess Naruto became unsure of himself for a change. XD Love really can create miracles, huh... :P)
Green Animelover
physcho-muffin (Actually, I've forbidden the use of SasuSaku as main couple in the requested bonus chapters because there's going to be lots of it soon, and it's only allowed to be used if it's one of the lesser important couples :P So don't expect too much SasuSaku to come just yet.)
P-Prince
frienz4ever (Well, no, I've been thinking about this and I've come to the conclusion that I'm not going to use that particular story plot :P But what the story'll be about... well, that's a secret until this story has come to an end XD)
MidnightMoon93 (Lawl. XD My Inner, unlike me who's stuck at the school for +8 hours T.T, plays PS2 - Final Fantasy X or Tekken 5 - 24/7 when she's not sleeping or listening to her iPod. So typical her. XDDD Ye shalt love those games X3)
nickygirl
Crazy Gal42 (Yeah, I know :/ But lately, nothing has been happening so much, so I'm kind of getting tired of waiting and waiting for Sasuke's appearance or the beginning of Part II in the anime, the fillers are driving me crazy. As they say, too much sweets won't do no good.)
Merridaine (Secret. :P)
hushhushyou (Great to know that somebody shares my opinion XD)
Ur2tRoUbLeSoMe90
Blackeismybaby
silverdragon994 (You little... xD No, I'm just kidding, but da mindreader of doom Silver actually found out what I was THINKING of doing at first! Okay, so not exactly like that but kind of :P But I've changed my plans, it was supposed to be an action/romance/humor/drama at first, but now it's more like... humor/romance and some drama. XD)
Jaciie
AnimatedAlchemy
une see
silverkage-chan
bunnyandpuppylover
Yin's Crescent
Pale Moonlit Nightsky
pilar-ayesha
MELCAR16 (Lol, don't worry, I'm gonna XD I was asking what kind of sequel you guys wanted, but I've definitely scheduled to write one. :D)
ShiokuXRose (Yes, when I first started reading the series I had a really a hard time deciding which was better, Yuki/Tohru or Kyou/Tohru. When I then read Yuki only saw her as his MOTHER - which I just think is weird, he could've at least said sister or something - I totally lost my hopes. XD; But Kyou/Tohru is actually just as good, IMO. :) And Hiro/Kisa! Oh my god, that couple is sooo kawaii. But right now, I'm focusing more on FF X. XD Do you play FF X? If you don't, you HAVE to!)
iyoku-ishi
HeartAngel (Swedish weather is so unpredictable these days. -.-; You'd think up here in the North of Europe, it'd be frickin' cold all the time, but actually, during the last few years the weather has changed drastically. I mean, just take these two weeks - one day, it's bright and sunny as though it's summer, but as soon as you walk out you realize you're going to freeze to death without your winter jacket - the other day it's this snow-rain mix that makes you wet from head to toe but only makes you freeze half as much as during the sunny day. And it's winter, but it feels more like a cold fall...)
CrAzY-SiLLy-Me
Cunning Angel (Sakura is going back because her parents are expecting her to come back already, and no, Naruto and Hinata aren't going out, but maybe they will soon ;))
nagoto
Thanks so much EVERYONE:D I'm so glad for every review I get, so keep on reviewing! Also, sorry for the delay. And next chapter MIGHT be delayed, I don't know, I've a huge test the day after tomorrow and on Friday, meaning I'll be hugely busy, and the 27th chapter is not done yet, sorry. :(