Ren: Konnichi wa! Hey, you guys! I'm typing this before I even published the first chappie! So that I won't lose my train of thought...
Naruto: FLAME HER!!!
Ren: Okay, you know what? That's--
Naruto: What?
Ren: Ugh, that's getting annoying!
Sasuke: Dobe. -smirk-
Sakura: A-A-Annoying...?
Ren: Great, another sniffy moment, suck it up, you guys! Kakashi! Disclaimer! Now.
Kakashi: ? Why me?
Ren: I swear to God I'll burn your stupid perverted books. So help me, I will.
Kakashi: They aren't stupid--
Ren: -gets lighter-
Kakashi: -sigh- ~mumbles 'adults get beaten up by teenyboppers nowadays...~ Ren-chan doesn't own Naruto, or any of the songs she uses in this fanfiction, or in any other story she publishes.
Ren: Great! Get moving, people! Oh, yeah. And the ages of the girls now is 20, the boys are 21. Typical one-year age gap.
Legends sometimes necessary in each chapter:
Talking
Author notes enclosed in parentheses and starts with this: Ren:/Events, place, time
Inners/Lyrics centered
Outers/Flashbacks
SAKURA POV
Crying, I hurried on to Ino's house. I looked up with my teary eyes. Her lights were open, which means that the girls are here. I barged in through her window, sensing the shock that I gave them.
What a mess I am. I sat myself down a couch and buried my head in my hands as I sobbed silently. I heard a fast, but silent motion come around me. A little light was gone, so maybe my five gal pals were circling me. Ino went first with her question.
"What happened, Sakura?" I shook my head, refusing to give in. Tenten went next. "What happened, Sak?" I shook my head again. "What happened, Sakura?" Matsuri asked. I shook my head again. This had to be my most petty act to them, but my worst heartbreak.
"Wh-What h-h-happened, Saku-kura?" Hinata stuttered. I shook my head again. Temari went last. "What happened, Sakura?" In a swift motion, I hugged them all to me and cried my heart out.
"H-He... I--... C-confessed... He... r-rej-ject-ted... m-me!" That was all I managed to choke out in this state.
Even my loudmouth blond best friend was at a loss for words! How fascinating, but that's not how I should feel right now. With a heartbreaking grin, I looked up to them and said, "H-Hey guys, y-you think y-you can st-still make me l-look like a friggin' super m-model in this state?"
They all smiled at me and got started. Ino assigned Hinata for my hair, her and Temari for my kimono, Tenten for my hands, and Matsuri for my feet. I sat down on a chair in front of the mirror as they all started to work on me.
I closed my eyes and drifted to a small nap.
Flashback: Konoha Sakura Park, kids at play Ages Girls-7 Boys-8
A blond boy with bright cerulean eyes stumbled forward and touched the shoulder of the dark blue-haired girl. "YOU'RE IT, HINA-CHAN!" The blond shouted.
"N-No f-fair, Naruto-kun!" The girl stuttered. The blond named Naruto just kept on running like a madman, not wanting to be the it again. The dark blue-haired, white-eyed girl panted, sucking in air. "Here ya go, Imouto." A brunette with the same white eyes said, giving her a bottle of water.
Hinata gulped the water down and thanked her cousin. She ran off, catching up to the Uzumaki loudmouth.
Not that far from where Hinata and Naruto were playing, Yukino Matsuri and Subaku no Gaara were building sandcastles together.
"Whoa! This is so big, Gaara-kun! Thanks Shukaku!" Matsuri said, and patted Shukaku on the head, despite the largeness of it. The sandcastle was as big as a small cottage, and so, the two entered, with Gaara following behind Matsuri, not saying one word.
"NO FAIR, NEJI-KUN!!! YOU GOT A HEADSTART!!!" Tsukamoto Tenten shouted at him, her demon windmill shuriken trailing behind her. Ren: Guys, I know that her name is Ten Ten, get it? Just doesn't sound good to me when you call her, 'Hey, Ten!' Told ya,
Tenten whirled around the little sand cottage and 'sliced' it, leaving the place into rubble. "TENTEN!!! YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS!!!" The black-eyed brunette called out. "Sorry, Matsuri-chan! But I can't let Neji get away with this!!!" Gaara stood up beside Matsuri, his red head full of sand. He was scowling, but it may have appeared to be a pout.
The adults now stood up, approaching their children. "How cute! Come on, Gaara-kun. You got sand in your hair!" Gaara's mother said, motioning Gaara to come forward. Ren: The people who are supposed to be dead here are still alive.
Near them, a pink-haired girl was still running around like a maniac, with a black-haired boy at her heels.
"AAAHH!!! GET AWAY, SASUKE-KUN!!!" She shouted as she crossed the dirty road, not wanting to let him catch up to her. Just then, a drunken man riding a very fast horse shouted, "Hey, you! Get out of the way!"
The young Haruno braced herself for the impact, closing her eyes as she flinched. But nothing came. Weird, she didn't remember moving but now she's on the other side of the road, with Sasuke on top of her, his hands on the dirty earth at each side of her head.
"Don't you -pant- scare me -pant- like -pant- that again... -pant-" The young Uchiha managed to say in between his panting. Uchiha Itachi approached them. "Come on, Sasuke. You're dirty now. I'll take you home." He said, helping both the kids up. Sasuke fell down on the dirty earth below him, wincing at the pain in his leg. "Uh-oh, you got a broken bone there. I'll fix that when we get home. Mom's gonna kill me!" Itachi said, carrying Sasuke piggyback style.
"Uhm... Sasuke-kun? Sorry..." Sakura said, lowering her head. 'July 23rd already? Shoot...' She thought. "Hn, it's fine." He said with a small smile. He looked up and caught a Cherry Blossom flowing with the wind. He climbed down Itachi's back and approached Sakura; limping.
"Here you go." He said, putting the small flower in her hair. Sakura looked up with a worried smile. "Err-- I forgot to give you my gift. It's back home. Happy birthday!" Sakura said, closing her eyes for the hurt. "No need, a kiss can be a gift." Sasuke said and pecked her quickly on the lips. He climbed fast on Itachi's back, winked at her and gave her a small smirk.
The audience whom Sasuke and Sakura didn't know were watching the whole time cooed. Naruto and Inuzuka Kiba wolf-whistled at the scene. Sakura blinked twice, shook her head and ran to her parents.
***
And then it happened the day after; Uchiha Itachi silencing the clan of the Uchihas forever, leaving Uchiha Sasuke alive to suffer the loss.
Flashback end
I wondered. Shouldn't I also be the one to hunt Itachi down back in the days? He's the one who altered Sasuke's personality, so he should be the one that suffered! That made my blood boil, but I had to constantly keep on reminding myself that the bloody bastard was dead. It took all my focus so that I wouldn't punch something or someone around me. I opened my eyes and saw a mysterious, but beautiful woman staring back at me through the mirror.
Who the hell was this person? I knew she looked exactly like me; the pink hair, the viridian eyes, but I didn't know who the heck this person is.
I shrugged the weird and melodramatic thoughts off and scrutinized this woman. She had beautiful hair! It was up, held by gold chopsticks with red beads. It had a gold bead, a nylon string attaching it to a red bead, and the pattern continued three times.
The kimono was great; it was the same design as the chopsticks. It was red, with swirls of gold on the red cloth, and printed Cherry Blossoms on them. The obi was gold, the center was a Cherry Blossom, with the center of the flower a red bead. The fan was of the same design, so as my sandals. A Cherry Blossom was in my hair, just to add a touch in the whole look.
I looked at the kimonos of my friends. They were of the same design. Ino's was blue, my Cherry Blossoms in her kimono were replaced by blue tulips. The gold swirls were still there, the obi, gold, the tulip in the center, and the fan and her sandals were the same design.
Tenten's was green, the flower pink roses. Hinata's was purple. The flower was now violet lotuses. Matsuri's was yellow; her flower was of white lilies. Temari's was white with red chrysanthemums. All of their hair was fixed in the same manner; their flowers in their hair.
All of us smiled at each other. How weird this night was, no one was making noise! I looked at my mental agenda. July 23rd, it was spring. We were celebrating the Spring festival, the Firefly festival no wonder we were dressed in flowers..., HIS birthday. Oh. So that's why. Oh. NO!!!
"Ino!!! There's a parade for the Firefly and Spring festival right?!" I asked her. Ino nodded, raising a finger at me. "I signed all of us up for the Firefly festival parade! It's gonna be in the Uchiha Compound! That place is big enough to fit all of Konoha!" Ino said cheerfully. I followed their façade; I already had my night ruined for myself, so why ruin theirs?
"Oh. Shoot, who's my partner?!" I silently prayed it would be him. It won't hurt. It's my last time to see him anyway, right? "Uchiha Sasuke." Ino said, worry a thin layer in her voice. I just nodded and smiled a fake smile. "It's okay, pig. But you'll have to deal with your partner! He might fall asleep in the middle of everything!" I grinned, but inside, I was somehow jealous of Shikamaru. He's able to escape reality at least for seconds... minutes... hours... Ino snorted at me.
"Hahahaha, come on, girls! We don't wanna miss our own parade, don't we?" I asked. "Shannaro!!!" I shouted. The others made a cheer of their own.
***
SASUKE POV same time Sakura went to Ino's
I sighed. Another problem on my shoulders. This may be her worst heartbreak from me yet. Or her worst heartbreak ever. I didn't and I don't know if she ever loved someone else. Not like I'd care in the first place.
Yeah, right.
What now? I'm having a moment here.
Tch, just go to that Uchiha Compound hellhole and get dressed for the party.
Festival, there are two festivals and my stupid birthday being celebrated. I didn't know they liked my existence.
Ask our fangirls,
-shudder-
I hurried on to my house can't call it a home anymore and jumped through my window. I saw my former friends sitting on the bed. They looked like they were waiting for me.
"SASUKE-TEME!!!" The ever moronic moron jumped at me. What the heck? Was he straight? I thought he already had a girlfriend... Jumping to conclusions again, what was wrong with me? Of course Naruto wasn't straight! "Get off me, dobe. I'm starting to doubt if you're really straight." I muttered to him. In the corner of my eye, I saw Hyuuga smirking at my comment.
Gaara, still as ever, just stared at nothing but space. Shikamaru, sleeping soundly in my bed, Naruto, still the ramen-eating freak that he always was, and still is, Neji, still the narcissistic jerk that I didn't know why Tenten loved.
I sighed and went inside the bathroom. There were clothes in there. Ren: Uhmm... I need help here! What do you call the male version of a kimono? Yukata? Yokata? Something like that, but whatever. If you know, please tell meeeeee.... It was red, with gold swirls. The Uchiha necklace is there, with a Cherry Blossom attached to it. I got a weird feeling about this, but shrugged it off.
The towels, as usual, were hung over a silver metal attached to the wall. I took a hot shower. It helped me clear my thoughts a bit. I decided that I'd talk to Sakura before the night ends, or at least before this festival ends.
I got out of the shower and dressed slowly. I don't wanna face anything yet, and I don't pass this off as cowardice either. After I was done, I went out of the bathroom and saw all of my friends looking at me. I sighed and said, "Great. Yamanaka signed us up for the parade, didn't she?"
"Yeah, the troublesome woman did." Shikamaru answered sleepily. "Which festival, then?" I asked, bored. What else was there to do? "Fire-gulp-fly... I bet Hinata-chan will look pretty, dattebayo!!!" Naruto said as he pumped the air with his fist. "Tch, once I found out what you've been doing to my cousin, I am going to kick your ass." Neji said.
"Hn." Gaara just grunted and crossed his arms. "I'm going to Suna tomorrow." "How 'bout Matsuri-chan?" Naruto asked, almost spitting out the noodles he had in his mouth to Gaara.
"She's going to stay here with the girls and hangout." Then a bunch of Hn's and Aa's followed.
Parade time, 12:00 in the morning NO POV
It was already the start of the parade, and the girls and the boys agreed that they won't see each other till the parade. They were going in the same colors. Sasuke sighed, waiting for the girls to arrive. They were in the middle of the compound, a big leafy tree in the center.
Ren: I got tired of too much Cherry Blossoms so I just used a normal tree.
After five minutes, the girls arrived. The first parade was on the Spring festival, so they got plenty of time. Sakura jumped on a big thick branch of the tree and sat on it, singing to herself. The other girls were spending time with their boyfriends which made the 'two' out of place.
With Matsuri and Gaara...
"Hey, Gaara-kun!" Matsuri said, propping herself down on the earth. "Hn." Gaara said as he observed her appearance. "Nice." Gaara complimented her. Matsuri scowled. "No, you look great." She smiled and hugged Gaara by the neck. "What's the matter with Uchiha?" Gaara asked, looking at the Uchiha who jumped on top of the tree.
"Sakura-chan… Got… Dumped… Again," Matsuri paused and tried to swallow the string of profanities that she wanted to throw at the said Uchiha. She pulled away as she felt the urge to punch the closest thing to her. "UGH!!! Doesn't he realize the pain he's putting HER through, and not the other way around?!" Matsuri asked in blind fury.
"Ranting isn't going to help, Matsuri." Gaara said, grabbing her by the waist. Matsuri just huffed and turned her head away from him.
With Shikamaru and Ino...
"Shika-kun!!!" Ino greeted, launching herself to him, she hugged him by the neck. "Troublesome woman calling me troublesome nicknames," The lazy genius said, hugging her back -lazily- by her waist. "WHAT." Ino asked in a fake-sweet voice. "Nothing," Shikamaru muttered as he sweatdropped.
Ino unlatched herself off of her 'Shika-kun' and had one of her very rare 'serious' moments. "Shikamaru..." Weird, she never called me that unless this is an important situation... Shikamaru thought, sensing something strange going on. "I need you to help me with Sakura-chan and Sasuke-kun... You can already imagine what happened, right?"
Shikamaru looked above; Sakura was singing a sad song to herself, her usually bright eyes dull. He sighed and replied, "He dumped her?" Ino nodded. "So, what's the plan?" Shikamaru asked, not usually interested in anything, but this was an exception. His girlfriend... Yamanaka Ino, one of the beauty queens, a loudmouth, and a blonde... Suddenly SMART?
"Don't ask me, you're the genius here, lazy ass! And here I thought you actually had a plan," Ino said, tilting her head to the side. Shikamaru sighed a long one.
This is going to be more troublesome than any troublesome problems I've troublesomely had. Shikamaru said and rested his head on the trunk of the tree.
With Hinata and Naruto...
"Hinata-chan!!!" Naruto greeted his ever-so-shy girlfriend who approached him in a slow pace. He did one of his bear hugs to her, but not to bear-y to make Hinata suffocated. "H-Hello, N-N-Naruto-kun." Hinata said and smiled lightly.
"Something wrong?" Naruto asked, his azure gaze to her appearing angelic in the morning. "S-Sakura-chan got r-r-refused by S-Sasuke-kun... Again..." Hinata said gently, her fingers fumbling; her usual habit. "Teme! Does he ever learn?!" Naruto shouted in pure rage. He knew his best friend was a bastard, but he didn't know that he was this much of one.
He knew that he has his pride, he knew Uchiha Sasuke is a gentleman. He knew Uchiha Sasuke LOVES Haruno Sakura, but is still in the stage of denial. He knew Uchiha Sasuke is a true genius, but then he changed into a total idiot. Uzumaki Naruto wasn't the idiot we thought he was. "I'll take care of this, Hinata-chan." Naruto said, leaving Hinata sitting on a tree branch.
***
"Sasuke-teme, you're coming with me." Naruto said in a cold, serious voice. He looks like Naruto, but is this Naruto? Sasuke thought as he raised his eyebrow. He felt himself being dragged by the upper arm by his best friend.
"Dobe, where are we going?" This time, the normally loud blonde didn't answer.
Ren: Man, that was quite long,
Sakura: -sniff- Stupid jerk!
Itachi: Ren, I'm the bloody bastard now, eh?
Sasuke: Great, Ren. You made me the asshole of the story.
Naruto: He got that right,
Kakashi: And where's my place in the story? You promised me one.
Ren: -sweatdrop- Guys, guys, take it easy! I'll explain one by one...
Ino: Take what easy?! My best friend is being hurt by that ass!
Ren: Again, let me explain. For Sasuke's case, that's how it's supposed to go. Itachi, you know I love you as one of my favorite characters, right?
Itachi: -smirks then nods-
Sasuke: Egocentric moron...
Sakura: Great job on describing yourself, Sasuke-kun! -smirk-
Ren: Sakura was just really angry that time. Oh well, it will really be interesting in the next chapter, and sorry for not updating in what, a MONTH?! Hate myself! :D Chappie three's coming in a bit. Here's a sneak peak:
"Sasuke-teme!!! Who the hell are you?! You're not the Sasuke I knew!" Naruto bellowed, creating a clone beside him.
"Dobe, you're not my parents, so you don't as hell have the right to make decisions for me. What's done is done." Sasuke said, kusanagi in hand.
"Not when Sakura-chan is the case! Rasengan!!!" And blue sparks met.
Ren: Teehee, see ya!