40 Kinds of Sadness - a NejiSaku fic.
Chapter threeeeee! Hell yeah!
I'm glad a few of you people liked this..although to me, this is just a pile of crap. Anyway, thanks to all who reviewed! I love you guys! (hugs)
Shino sure is OOC.. Gomen for that. It was supposedly Shikamaru, but I wanna preserve his 'bored' face.
I wish Naruto was mine.. Kishimoto-sama, I'll pay you a billion dollars! Please let Sakura reside in Neji's arms forever.. Oh, please.. (kneels and attempts to slit own throat)
Disclaimer: NARUTO © Masashi Kishimoto. Studio Pierrot. All characters belong to their respective owners.
Chapter 3
Almost There
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Sakura didn't know what to do. Should I talk to him..?
Neji, who was unsure himself, sat still and listened to his friends' conversation.
"Like the one we did last summer..! Gawd Shino! You're very cool!" Naruto laughed.
"I was supposed to sit next Kurenai-sensei, when Asuma-sensei pulled me." Shino shook his head. "They should get married soon.."
"He WAS jealous! Kurenai-sensei's face was priceless when he kissed her!" Naruto exclaimed.
"Naruto, Asuma-sensei was drunk."
"Drunk me whatever. He kissed her. Period." Naruto pushed.
"No! Asuma-sensei was out of his mind. He WAS DRUNK, dobe!"
"Meheh. I bet fifty bucks. He wasn't drunk."
"Prove it." Shino's left eyebrow raised at one end.
"You want proof, eh? Kurenai-sensei didn't smell a trace of alcohol when he kissed her."
"Wha-!" Shino was shocked. Naruto grinned.
"See? I told you! Gyahahahahah!" Naruto laughed.
Neji, on the other side of the table, expressed a blank face. I shouldn't have come here..
Wait. Sakura seemed to be bored too.
Should I talk to her..? No. She'd definitely reject because she already has Shino to be her date..
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Sakura sighed. She was bored. Even though she wanted to talk to him, she couldn't. She knew she had to focus more on Shino tonight, but his presence was bothering her..a lot.
She had longed for him.. She wanted to touch him, like what they used to do before they got into this mess.
They were so young, so innocent, so unmindful of the world they were living in.
Sakura was 13, and Neji was 14.
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Naruto and Shino were laughing. They never had a conversation like that before, and Shino surprisingly enjoyed it.
The Aburame completely forgot Sakura. He looked at his side and found Sakura sitting quietly while eating her bowl of ramen. The bowl has gone cold, but still, Sakura silently sipped the broth.
He looked at the far left, and saw Neji sitting, eyes closed and legs crossed. He's meditating.
Shino sighed. He patted Sakura's hand, which was resting beside the bowl. He smiled and said, "It's getting late. Wanna go home?"
Sakura stared blankly at him. "Shino, what are you saying? It's past an hour since we came, so it's still 8. Not late."
"So, you wanna stay longer? Uhh..gomen.. I kinda enjoyed Naruto's stories."
"It's okay. This is your first time to talk like that. I know.. You used to be quiet..and now I'm glad. I never knew you can be very talkative." Sakura smiled.
Shino smiled back. "It feels a little lighter.."
"Doesn't it? See? Just be yourself.." She messed Shino's hair.
"Hey! What was that for!" Shino protested. She was the only woman who touched his hair like that, of course, except for his family.
"Don't worry. I'll fix it." Sakura reached for a comb inside her pocket and started to comb Shino's hair.
The two of them seemed to be enjoying each other's company. Unknown to them, a man with silver eyes had been trying to hide his emotions. He was deeply hurt as the two laughed at each other.
XXXXX
Naruto was actually sleeping inside Ichiraku. Neji finally opened his eyes. The giggling sounds had stopped. Sakura was still sitting between him and Shino. They were talking about the prom.
Neji stood up, which caught Sakura's attention. She looked at him as he walked towards Naruto.
"Oi, Uzumaki. I don't wanna carry you home." Neji shook Naruto's shoulders. The blonde boy was still sleeping. This time Neji took a deep breath, leaned in towards Naruto's left ear, and shouted. "DOBE!"
"H-aaah! What the-! Argh! Hyuuga! What was that for!" Naruto was mad. Sakura was surprised by what Neji did. Did he..actually shout..?
"You were sleeping. I'd rather pull the whole village with my own strength than to carry you home." Neji pulled Naruto's ear. "Stupid fox."
"AAH! That hurt!"
"Whatever. Wanna go home?" Neji asked, although he didn't really want to. But the pain Shino and Sakura was causing made his heart ache. He wanted to go away..away from them.
"Aa. I have to meet Hinata-chan tomorrow."
"At least we're not drunk. Get up."
"Ya, ya. Oi, Shino, Sakura, goodnight!" Naruto waved goodbye to his friends.
"Enjoy the rest of the night." Neji commented. "Good evening."
And Neji walked off.
Sakura followed him with her eyes. See, you really didn't care..
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Neji walked with Naruto outside. The blonde, being aware of Neji's feelings, understood why he did that. He decided to talk to the Hyuuga about it.
"Neji, it hurt, didn't it?"
Neji didn't answer.
"Don't hide your emotions."
"I am not." Neji replied.
"Yes, you do. Look, if you keep mumbling about it you won't even touch a single strand of Sakura-chan's hair. Can't you just tell her?"
"I already dealt with that. I told you, I just can't."
Naruto didn't know what to answer. He scratched the back of his head.
"I'm going home," Neji said. "I have to train."
"Whatever." Naruto and Neji parted ways.
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Meanwhile, at Ichiraku..
"Ne, Shino, I think we should go home." Sakura said.
"You're right. We really should." Shino got up, and helped Sakura.
"Arigato, Shino.."
"Ahahah! It's nothing. Anything for my prom date.."
Sakura smiled.
They headed towards the door, and went outside to go home.
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A week later..
Neji was walking home when his friends jumped on him.
"Oi, Neji!" Naruto exclaimed.
"Hn-What!" Neji was surprised.
"The prom will be next week. Got yourself a date yet?" That was Chouji, who was happily munching his potato chips.
Neji halted.
"Argh! Look at what you did!" Kiba yelled.
"I'm sorry! I was trying to be straightforward! Gomen, Neji.." Chouji apologized.
"Ah? Iia.. It's okay. I'm not planning for the prom. I'm not going." he said sadly.
There was silence.
"Hey!" That was Naruto. "I have a brilliant plan!"
There was silence again.
"What? You don't like it?" Naruto asked.
"Baka! We're waiting for you to say it!" Everybody yelled in unison.
"You guys know how to play instruments? Like, musical instruments?" The blonde asked.
"Yeah, I do." Kiba replied. "I can play bass and drums."
"You go for the drum set." Naruto said.
"Okay!" Kiba yelled with joy.
"What about the rest of you guys?"
"I can play the keyboards." That was Chouji.
"Okay. The keyboard is yours. Who else?"
"I can play the bass and the guitar." Shikamaru said. "Hand me the bass."
"Okay. Neji, do you play?" Naruto asked.
"I can play the guitar and the violin."
"What kind of guitar?"
"Both acoustic and electric." Neji answered.
"Good."
After minutes of debating ang discussing, they finally made a conclusion. They will perform for the upcoming prom. Neji will be on the lead guitar, Kiba on drums, Shikamaru on bass, Chouji on keyboards and Naruto on vocals and guitars.
"What is our band name again?" Kiba asked.
"We will be known as.." Naruto took a deep breath. "Shinobi no Go."
"Sounds great." Shikamaru said. At last, he found something untroublesome to do.
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Neji found comfort with his friends. He was missing Sakura badly, but he found something that would calm him, a bit.
"Oi, Chouji! G minor!" Naruto yelled.
"But..I'm still hungry!"
"Argh! Okay. I'll treat you at Ichiraku!"
"Okay! Kiba, please plug in the keyboards!"
"Okay!"
After long hours of practice, they finally made great music.
"Yatta! We're ready! Now, to Iruka-sensei!" Naruto exclaimed.
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Thursday. 2 days before the prom.
"Ok, boys." Iruka-sensei called Naruto and the rest.
"So, did they approve it?"
"They did."
"Hell YEAH!"
"Gee.. I never knew you guys can play."
"Of course, we can! Uh, sensei, we gotta go practice."
"Okay. Good luck." Iruka-sensei vanished.
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Friday. A day before the prom.
Sakura was walking down the street to meet Shino. No matter how she hoped to forget Neji, she couldn't. It's not like she hates him or anything, it's because she couldn't stand seeing him being flirted by other girls.
She looked up the blue sky. Her inner-self was right. She IS in love. Although she didn't want to, she agreed to be Shino's date. She knew she'd regret, but just the thought of Neji dancing with another girl tore her apart, so she thought being with Shino would make her forget the Hyuuga prodigy.
How could you be so mean? Her inner-self was protesting regarding her decision. You are obviously using Shino!
Sorry..for using you, Shino..
She stopped at the pole where she found Shino a week ago.
"Sakura-chan,"
"Shino.."
"Sorry for being late. How long have you been waiting?" Shino asked with a worried voice.
"Ah? Iie.. I didn't wait too long. I came a couple of minutes ago." Sakura smiled.
"Oh, okay. Come let's go to the academy."
"Yah.."
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"Hell yeah!" Naruto yelled. "We finished another song!"
"Yea. Oi, dobe," That was Neji, taking off the guitar strap from his shoulder. "How many songs are we supposed to play?"
"Five?"
"Five songs? We already rehearsed two." Kiba walked away from the drum set.
"Which leaves three more songs to practice," Shikamaru placed the bass guitar on top of the table. "I think we should finish them all today."
"We really should. Chouji, can you think of another song? We're running out of them." Naruto unplugged the electric guitar.
"Hmm.. I don't know.. What about a slow song?"
"Something slow.. Something slow.." Naruto placed his fist on his open palm. "I got it!"
"Hn?" The rest of the boys looked at him skeptically.
"We need two more.." Naruto grinned.
"I thought we sh-"
"Two. Period."
"But you said we need five! Why two?"
"The last song is reserved."
"Reserved? What do you mean?"
Naruto walked out of the room with a huge grin occupying his face.
"Care to have some ramen before we resume practicing?"
XXXXX
"Hey, Shino, what are you doing?" Sakura dusted the dirt off of her blouse.
"I was assinged to look for a certain scroll."
"Darn Iruka-sensei! Can't he find it himself?"
"Don't worry, Sakura, it was my fault." Shino smiled.
"Why? What did you do?" Sakura asked.
"I forgot to do my assignment yesterday."
Aburame Shino forgot to do his homework.
Hey! That doesn't sound right!
"Y-you..forgot to do your homework!"
"Hyeahh.." Shino scratched the back of his head.
"Aren't you the 3rd smartest of all chuunin? Why did you forget?"
"Hn.. I don't know. I just did."
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"There! We're done!"
"Done already? Know what, fox-boy, the last song is REALLY intriguing me." Kiba said.
"Dog-boy, don't worry about it. I've got it hiding under my sleeve.."
"There you go again."
"Do you really wanna know?" Naruto teased.
"WE DO!" All the boys yelled, except Shikamaru.
"I knew there is a troublesome part here.. Sheesh. What is it? Spit it out before I force it out of you."
"Ahahah! You'll find out tomorrow night!" Naruto grinned again. "Whatever it is, I know we'll all like how it'll turn out."
"Whatever."
XXXXX
"Arigato, Sakura-chan."
"No problem, Shino! Ahahah!"
"If you didn't happen to find that old briefcase I'd probably be dead tomorrow morning.."
"Don't say that! Iruka-sensei punished you because you didn't do your part as a student. Don't worry, though. After the prom, we'll all be fully-pledged chuunin." Sakura smiled.
"And we'll get to work close to the Hokage!" Shino continued.
"Right on!"
"Uhh, Sakura-chan..?" Shino held her hand.
Sakura blushed lightly. "S-shino..?"
Shino leaned closer. He placed his face near her left ear. "Arigato.." Then he let go of her hands and faced her.
"It's nothing, Shino.." Sakura smiled.
"It's already 5. Let's get you home." Shino grinned. This time, he took his glasses off.
Sakura took a deep breath. Shino is so handsome..
"Okay.."
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"Shikamaru, what're you thinking?" Chouji asked.
"That dobe.. What is he up to again?"
"Whatever it is, he said he'll make sure that we'll like it." Chouji opened his pack of chips.
"But still..I wonder.." Shikamaru stood up. "Come on, Chouji, let's go home."
"We'll be back at 7, right?"
"Yes. I'll just take a good nap."
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"Hey, Naruto." Neji called him.
"At last, you called me by my name. What?"
"What are you planning to do?" Neji's voice became serious.
"Alright. I'll tell everybody anyway.. The last song is reserved..for you."
"F-for me?" Neji was surprised.
"I want you to serenade Sakura. Got it?"
"You want me to what! But Uzu-"
"Take it, or leave it. This may be your last chance. If you really wanna be with Sakura, this is the only way. You want the whole village to know, right? Why don't you just take the opportunity and do it?" Naruto's face became serious. He really wanted Neji to be with Sakura.
"Uzumaki.."
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A/N: AAAHH.. (dips into a nice, hot bath) Very soothing..
Thanks for your new reviews, and sorry if this chapter sucked. (bleayuk)
And, I apologize for the wrong summary. I SUCK. That was supposed to be 7 years of waiting, because Sakura was 12 when she first saw Sasuke. They were 8 and 7 when they first met, right? Neji fell in love at such a young age.
Anyway, if you have some ideas, please feel free to share them! I'm SO having a hard time..
I have many ideas, but putting those ideas together will be pain in the coconut and in the booty.
Oops, I almost forgot. I wanna inform you guys..
..that I update every eleven(11) days.
You happy? Nah. Because my story sucks.
Again, thanks!