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"Talking"
'Thinking'
RECAP:
"So what would we be looking at if we were to lose?" Sakura asked, almost regretting even uttering the words.
Suigetsu continued to smile at her interest, "Some time with you when you're not thinking of ways to brutally murder us in that pretty little head of yours."
Sasori, and most of the other males sitting around Sakura, glared at the male.
She wanted to gag, "And if you lose you never talk to me or stalk our practices again."
"Sounds fair enough," Kimimaro concluded as the next hand went to them.
"Well then I hope you're ready to lose," she told him with a smirk as Sasori played the first card.
Ch.5 Cheaters, Perverts, and Water Damage
It came down to the final hand, with Sakura and Sasori in the lead by one point.
It was Suigetsu's deal and he passed out the cards rather quickly with his pointed smile; which Sakura was used to at this point.
"Pass," Sasori spoke.
Kimimaro looked down at his cards then back up at his partners, noticing a glimpse of something in his lilac eyes, "Pass."
"I hope I'm not seeing any table talk boys," Sakura tisked as she organized her hand, "We wouldn't want you to get disqualified."
"Of course not Sakura," Kimimaro replied with a small smirk on his face as he glanced up at the pinkette, "We would never dream of it."
"Some how I find that hard to believe," the pinkette muttered as she looked down at her hand once more, "Pass."
"I'm going alone," Suigetsu called with a smirk.
'Shit.'
Trump was spades and looking down into Sakura's cards, she didn't have that strong of a hand. She could only hope that Sasori had a better selection than she did or they were screwed.
'Why did I have to make a fucking beat? Why?' she cursed to herself as Sasori played the first card.
Suigetsu took the first four hands with ease and now it was left at what the last cards played out as. If Sakura or Sasori could take the last hand then they would have one more round to try and win, if they couldn't take it; they would lose.
Losing. Sakura hated to lose. And if she were to lose this, she would suffer. She would probably have to sit between Suigetsu and Kimimaro and feed them grapes while constantly telling them how great and handsome they were. The thought made Sakura want to throw up.
'Please let us take this. Please let us take this,' she chanted to herself as Suigetsu laid down his last card.
It was the king of clubs. Not trump, but still a good last card to have. She looked down at her last card which happened to be the queen of hearts. It would get her no where.
Unless Sasori had trump, which she knew he didn't, or the ace of clubs; they were going to lose.
The red head looked across the table into his partner's green orbs and laid down his last card, "Sorry Sakura."
'Fuck my life.'
Sasori laid down a king of diamonds, and shot her a disappointed look.
"Fuck," she cursed under her breath as she tossed her pointless card onto the pile.
Suigetsu looked at it then back up at her with a smirk, "Looks like I win pinky."
"Pure luck, Suigetsu. Pure luck," she repeated as she felt Kimimaro's presence behind her.
The white haired male placed his hands on Sakura's shoulders and moved his head next to her ear, "I believe you owe us some of your time tomorrow, Sakura."
"And I believe that if you don't back away from my drum major in the next five seconds, I'll have to rip your arms off," a familiar voice spoke up from behind the sound band member.
Kimimaro stepped back and Sakura saw Pein walking towards her.
"Pein?" Sakura questioned before the pierced instructor pulled her up from her seat and held her gently against his side.
A light pink blush spread across her cheeks as she saw everyone looking at her in the arms of one of the instructors.
How completely inappropriate.
"Pein," she whispered harshly, "What are you doing?"
The orange haired male let a barely visible smirk appear across his pierced lips as he pulled her slightly closer before he returned his attention back to the crowd of awaiting bystanders, "I would like to announce that there is no real winner to this round."
"What?" Kimimaro questioned with a brow raised.
"Why do you say that Pein?" Sasori asked simply as he tried to keep the glare from showing up across his features.
"The dealer of the last round stacked the deck," Pein announced evenly as he looked over to Suigetsu, "No team will reap any benefits from this game."
Suigetsu snorted, "Do you even have any proof to hold up the accusation?"
Pein smirked as looked over at his partner who held a small video camera in his hands.
"Why yes I do," Zetsu answered with a smirk as he waved the camera back and forth, "You can't cheat out our poor cherry blossom and think you can get away with it."
Sakura let out a disbelieving laugh as she turned her head back over to Kimimaro, whose face held an unreadable expression.
She unraveled herself from Pein's grasp and began to walk over towards the sound duo.
"Now isn't it sad that you have to cheat to beat us," she spoke with a smirk across her perfect lips as she stopped in front of them with a hand on her hip, "Oh wait, you're used to doing that as it is."
The female drum major switched her gaze to Kimimaro and gave her brows a raise in his direction, "I hope you keep in mind that if I see you stalking my practice again, I'll go through with my promise."
The daring drum major let her eyes slide over to the sound director, knowing that he knew what she was talking about, before she turned to make her leave from the tournament area.
"Kidomaru," she called back before she turned to face the addressed man, "You owe me some of your time."
The sound member smirked before following her out the room.
Kimimaro smacked Suigetsu in the back of the head, "You idiot."
Sakura and Kidomaru sat in a near by lounge to discuss the information the sound member promised her.
Of course, she wasn't allowed to go by herself.
Itachi and Pein were sitting on either side of her on the couch she sat down on.
Sakura leaned back into the couch and crossed her arms across her chest, "Spill."
Kidomaru chuckled deeply and gave her a smirk, "You've got one hell of an attitude on you pinky, but I guess it's only fair."
Sakura raised a manicured brow towards the sound member, waiting for his answer.
"As you know, our band is trying to take some of your ideas. This is because we want to win but when Kimimaro was assigned to go spy, he became even more interested seeing that you were the drum major."
Sakura just rolled her eyes as Kidomaru continued.
"Of course he liked to watch your band for the ideas but also because you're quite the looker," he told her with a smirk as he looked her over.
Sakura wanted to gag. Itachi noticed this and sent the sound member an Uchiha glare.
"You should know though, this isn't all Kimimaro," Kidomaru continued with a small smirk, "He's not smart enough to get all this information by himself."
"And what exactly does that mean?" she question quietly.
He let out a short laugh and leaned back in her seat, "It means we have other sources, pinky."
"What other sources?" she bit out as she sent him a glare.
His smirked widened, "That bit of information pinky is something you'll have to figure out for yourself."
With that response, the sound member made his leave.
"Shit," she cursed as she leaned back and ran her hands through her pink locks, "This is so frustrating."
"Hn."
She took that as an agreement as she released a deep sigh.
"It's passed curfew," Pein's voice finally spoke as he tucked a strand of pink hair behind her ear, "You should get back to your room."
The pink haired drum major didn't think much of the sign of affection as she let out another breath, "Yeah I guess."
Both men stayed with Sakura until they got into the elevator and it finally reached her floor.
She turned to the older males and thanked them quietly before slowly making her way back to her room.
Once she changed her clothes and crawled into her bed, the thought occurred to her.
'Is the other source a member of our band?'
The next morning practice commenced as usual but Sakura was unusually quiet.
"Are you alright Sakura, yeah?" Deidara asked as he crouched in front of her leaning position against the tree.
The blank expression remained on her face as she didn't even look up to answer him, "I'm fine."
"We both find that hard to believe Sakura," Itachi commented from his position a few feet away from her.
She finally looked up at the pair as she stood from her spot in the grass, "Really guys, I'm fine."
"Don't think too much over what he said Sakura," Itachi told her from his still seated position, "It will just eat away at you."
Deidara nodded before he looked back up at her, "Like a parasite, yeah."
Then it clicked; a parasite.
"That's it!" she whispered quickly as she began to sprint towards the field.
'Why didn't I notice this sooner?'
The blonde looked towards Itachi, "Where's she going, yeah?"
"Hn."
"That doesn't help me you unemotional Uchiha, yeah."
The pinkette sprinted over to the practice field and stopped at the sideline to look for the target of her new rage.
Her apple eyes spotted who she was looking for and she marched over to where they were.
"Karin," she called harshly as se made her way to the front of the color guard.
"Well look who it is," the red head spoke in her unbearable voice, "Little miss slut."
"Karin! Don't speak to your drum major like that," Shizune scolded as she turned to face Sakura with a smile, "What can we help you with Sakura?"
"I need Karin for a couple minutes," she spoke in a sweet voice to the instructor as she kept a glare on Karin.
"Of course," Shizune answered as she signaled Karin to go with Sakura.
The red head tossed her flag to the side and made her way over to the female drum major with a sickening smirk on her lips, "What do you need me for?"
"Oh you and I are going to have a nice little talk right about now," she answered in a sickly sweet tone as she lead Karin off the field and to a less crowded area.
Once they got to a better place Karin stopped with her arms crossed and hip cocked waiting for Sakura to speak.
"You've got a lot of nerve Karin," Sakura began trying to keep her voice even, "First, being the biggest slut I've ever had the displeasure of knowing, and second; freely giving information to a rival band. You really are the lowest of the low."
"I give them information because they have more to offer me than this band ever could."
"Yeah because sex from someone in sound is really a great reward," Sakura spat back with dripping sarcasm, "This is high school for kami's sake Karin. That's just the reward of being a slut."
"And you've got nerve calling me a slut Haruno," she squealed back, "I see the way all the guys follow you. I wonder what you had to do for that to happen you little tramp."
"It's simple," she told the trashy female in front of her with a smirk, "I'm just not as easy as you."
Karin screeched in frustration at the pink haired drum major, "You bitch! I'm ten times hotter than you and any other whore in this band. Those guys should be chasing me, not you!"
Sakura just let out a short laugh and turned to walk back to the field, "God, you're such a waste of breath. It's absolutely pathetic."
The color guard leader let out a scream of pure dissatisfaction as she watched the drum major walk away.
"I'll make that bitch wish she never crossed my path. Mark my words."
By the time Sakura made her way back to her fellow drum major's, the whole band had stopped to watch the exchange between her and Karin; most of them with smiles on their faces.
"I take it that went well?" Itachi asked her with a smirk as he saw her smug expression.
A smile of her own tugged at her lips as she sat back down next to the two males, "I would have to say it did. And I found the other source that I was looking for."
"When I said parasite you thought of Karin, yeah?" Deidara asked with a small smirk.
"Why yes I did," she answered as they both let out a laugh.
Itachi just smirked as he noticed Kakashi wrapping up practice, "Good work Sakura."
She smiled at the older Uchiha, "All in a days work."
"And it's still only morning, yeah."
"I'm just that good."
By the time sectionals rolled around, Sakura was still in a good mood from her little spat with Karin earlier that morning; and people took notice.
"Sakura," a voice called out as she placed her things by the drum major tree.
"No way Uchiha," she answered back, trying to ignore the younger brother, "There's no way I'm letting you ruin my good mood."
"I just wanted to apologize for my comment yesterday," he spoke up as he stood in front of the shorter band leader, "I was out of line."
She turned to face him with a brow raised, "I'm actually surprised that you're admitting this to me right now."
He looked at her blankly, "And why is that?"
"Can you really blame me?" the drum major questioned as she cocked her hips to one side, "You and I haven never really been on the best of terms. It's not like you to apologize and pretty much admit defeat."
At this moment, Sasuke Uchiha didn't look like his usual prick self. He looked like he genuinely meant what he said; which was not something Sakura saw often.
A cooler breeze blew past the duo letting Sakura's hair whip across her face.
Sasuke took the opportunity to move closer and brush it behind her ear and out of her face, letting his knuckles brush against her cheek.
"A-apology accepted I guess," she told him as she took a step back and looked up at the sky.
"It looks like it's going to rain," a voice from behind them spoke.
The two of the turned to the person and found Kakashi walking towards them while still looking up at the darker sky.
"It does," Sakura replied as she looked back up at the sky then to her director, "What should we do?"
"Gather everyone up and tell them we're going to have indoor music rehearsal," Kakashi answered as he went to go tell the instructors.
Sakura took the whistle that was around her neck and placed it against her lips before blowing into it loudly, successfully getting everyone's attention.
The band started to make their way over to Sakura when she felt the first couple rain drops begin to hit her skin.
'It's about to pour.'
"If I could have your attention," Sakura called loudly enough for everyone to hear as the rain started to fall, "We will be having indoor music rehearsal due to the weather. I suggest you hurry inside before it starts to get any worse. Practice will begin in ten minutes."
The band started to walk inside; some even sprinted to miss the majority of the rain.
"Try to keep your instruments and music as dry as possible!" she called after them as she tried to catch up with her friends.
The rain had begun falling harder and the band members began running faster.
The cold rain soaked into her hair and clothes as she looked up into the now storming sky.
"My hair!" Ino complained as she tried to cover it with her music, "It's going to frizz!"
The platinum blonde began to run to the destination followed by the rest of the girls and their boy friends. That left Sakura with all of the single men of her friend group and the seniors.
"Nice outfit Sakura-Chan."
"I'm so glad I chose today of all days to wear a white shirt," Sakura mumbled as she casually walked along the now puddle covered sidewalks.
"I am too," Kiba told her with a smile and his brown hair matted to his scalp.
"I think we all are," Kankuro answered for the group and it started to rain harder, making more water soak into Sakura's shirt allowing the fabric to cling like a second skin.
"I love the fucking rain," Hidan spoke up as he looked over Sakura's figure, "Seriously."
Sakura just rolled her eyes and pushed her soaked bangs out over her face and continued to walk to the building.
"Nice green bra, yeah," Deidara spoke from behind her as he snapped the strap.
"I'm going to kill you!" Sakura yelled as she chased the blonde all the way to the building.
Sakura's group was the last to arrive at the large practice room, but still arrived on time.
They each were dripping with water, but Sakura looked to be the most soaked.
That was most likely because Kisame thought it would be funny to shake a drenched tree branch over her smaller figure, and let all the water dump onto her already wet form.
She was not happy with the group to say the least since they just laughed and let it happen then couldn't take their eyes off her body.
She sighed deeply, 'I'm friends with a bunch of perverts.'
The indoor practice room was set up in concert formation providing all the band members with seats except the drum majors and percussion section.
Indoor practices were also only used for music rehearsal and since the drummers didn't have concert style instruments, they just hung around with the drum majors.
Kakashi passed out rolls of paper towel so the band members could dry off their instruments. It was easy for the brass sections since they were just wet along the surface but it was harder for those with woodwind instruments. Since they were wood, the water soaked into the instruments.
Sucks for them.
All of the brass sections were finished in a matter of five minutes while the woodwinds needed and extra ten.
Sakura, Itachi, and Deidara went over to the smaller practice room next door where the drum line was drying their instruments.
"Nice of you to join us Sakura," Pein spoke from his spot against the wall.
She waved him off silently as she pulled up a chair near the back of the room.
"Thanks to Kisame it looks like I just jumped into a pond before my arrival," she spoke sarcastically as she rung out the edge of her shirt onto the tile floor.
"Well hey there Sakura," a new voice spoke as they entered the room, "I didn't know we were having a wet t-short contest here."
The pinkette rolled her eyes as the male. His normal behavior really didn't bother her all that much.
The male? Shisui Uchiha; Itachi and Sasuke's cousin. Yes, he was an Uchiha but he really didn't act like one. He was the exact opposite of Itachi and Sasuke; in the sense of being loud. He was still a ladies man, but he had reason too be.
Just like his cousins, he was blessed with the good looking Uchiha features. Short dark hair, deep blackish red eyes, and flawless pale skin.
Yes, Shisui Uchiha was a looker and one of the biggest flirts she knew.
"Didn't know they still allowed creeps into this camp," she retorted as she rung out the hem of her shorts, "Oh wait, they let you and your cousins in."
Deidara snickered as he rung out some of his blonde locks.
"Aw Sakura," he cooed as he came closer to her spot, "You're just too adorable."
She raised a brow at his closing form as she stood up, "Come any closer and I'll ring out my clothes right over your bass drum."
The Uchiha drummer smirked and kept moving closer until he backed her into the nearest wall, "So feisty, Sakura-Chan."
Drops of water dripped from the Uchiha's shorter hair and landed on her nose; their close proximity caused the drum major to blush.
"Shisui," Pein called out to the male that was too close to his pinkette, "I believe Sakura would like to regain her space."
Shisui smiled down on Sakura once more before he made his way back over to his drum.
"Asshole," Sakura cursed under her breath as she continued to ring the water out of her shirt.
"Drum line, dry off your instruments then report to Zetsu once you finish," Pein instructed as he threw Sasori some paper towel to pass out.
"Sakura, you seem to be shivering," Itachi commented as he looked over at the slightly shaking pinkette.
"That's probably because I'm standing here in soaking wet clothes with no chance of getting dry any time soon," she said through chattering teeth as she moved her hands up and down her arms in an attempt to create friction.
Before Deidara or Itachi could make a move to go warm up their favorite pinkette, someone else beat them to it.
Sakura felt a warm body move behind her and strong arms wrap around her front.
She glanced behind her and was met with the familiar jade eyes of Gaara.
"G-Gaara," she chattered as gazed back down at his arms then to her face again, "What are you doing?"
"You're cold," was his simple reply as he brought her closer against his firm chest.
The assistant drum major sighed and turned around in his arms and buried her face into the new space heater she was just provided with.
In reality, with Gaara's slightly colder personality, Sakura expected him to be cold; but his skin was surprisingly warm and she was quite comfortable with staying wrapped in his embrace for a while.
Little did she realize, she probably could have found heat from the glares the other members of the room were sending Gaara's way.
Even if she did notice it, she probably couldn't find it in her to care.
After the rained in indoor practice, they were given a short break for dinner before they had to report back for the last rehearsal.
Luckily, the rain had let up about an hour before so they could have practice outdoors. The only problem: muddy fields.
Some members found it fun to slide around and cover their shoes in mud; others were not amused.
"Couldn't we have canceled practice on account of possible shoe damage or something?" Ino questioned as she sidestepped around a smaller mud puddle.
Sakura let out a laugh, "Well most people don't bring their designer tennis shoes to band camp."
Tenten then let out a chuckle of her own before giving Ino a funny look, "Some of us don't even have designer tennis shoes."
"Well whose fault is that?" Ino asked rhetorically as she began to make her way to her spot on the field.
Temari just rolled her eyes before following suit.
Once everyone was in place, Kakashi stated with drill rehearsal while Deidara, Itachi, and Sakura went over to their spot to practice their dance.
Itachi stayed near the tree next to the boom box he brought while Deidara and Sakura stood across from each other slightly farther away.
"If you try and touch my ass again, I will personally burry you six feet under the ground," Sakura warned as she raised a brow in the blonde's direction.
He responded with a nervous laugh before Itachi started the 'Sing, Sing, Sing' CD.
The moved along to the sway of the swinging beat and started out doing separate moves. Midway through the song they began to commence their partner portion of the dance.
Deidara's hands remained on her waist for most of the dance beside an occasional spin or dip.
The song was almost over and Deidara had to quickly lift Sakura into the hair. Once she was up, his hand began to slide off her hip. Before she could register what had happened she began to fall out of his grip.
She grabbed onto Deidara's shirt and braced herself to hit the ground, but was pulled on top of Deidara before she could hit the grass.
A whoosh of breathe escaped her lips when they impacted the ground and her face was conveniently placed in the crook of the blonde's neck.
"Always knew you'd fall for me Sakura-Chan," Deidara joked as he looked at Sakura's slightly disheveled appearance above him.
Sending a mild glare in his direction, she punched him in the shoulder before removing herself from him and brushing of her clothing.
Once practice came to a close, Kakashi only had one important announcement.
"During our afternoon practice tomorrow, we are fortunate enough to be having the director of bands here at Konoha State University hold a clinic for our own improvement," the masked director explained.
"That means you all need to be on your best behavior," he spoke again before shooting a serious glance towards certain members of the band, "No funny business."
"Kakashi-Sensei!" Naruto complained from his spot in the crowd, "Why'd you look at me when you said that?"
Sakura let a smile appear across her lips before looking over towards Kakashi.
"Drum majors, any announcements?" the gray haired male questioned with a crinkle of his mask.
Sakura moved forward, "As you all know, tomorrow night is our Konoha band party. The juniors and seniors will be putting on skits and there will be food and a DJ."
"You attendance is mandatory," Itachi added as he gazed plainly through the band members.
"Juniors and seniors will be having their last skit rehearsal during dinner break tomorrow, yeah," Deidara explained.
"Band dismissed."
The members scattered off quickly and Sakura met up with her friends.
"Make sure you bring all the needed props to skit rehearsal tomorrow," Neji told the group as they walked towards the dorms.
"Our skit is going to be awesome!" Kiba declared with a goofy smile.
"I can't wait to get a chance to cross dress for it!" Naruto declared with his own cheeky smile.
"For some reason, your enthusiasm to cross dress worries me," Sakura told him with a brow raised at his smile.
"I think it's his mental stability we need to be more concerned with," Temari commented as she looked over the ecstatic blonde.
"I would have to agree," Tenten replied with a small smirk.
"He's too troublesome."
I apologize for the wait. I had major writers block about halfway through the chapter. Just a reminder that I am now BETA reading, I have a new poll out, and have just added a new story. I highly suggest you check out these things if you haven't already!
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