Heyyy! Im so happy with the response! I guess some of you were actually expecting Sasuke and Sakura to be a couple, but their not. I guess I may have implied that in my summary, so im sorry for the confusion! My horoscope (yeah, cause im just that legit) said that I would discover that I have awakened a new power that I must embrace! Lucky me, huh? Any-who, thanks for reading! As far as updating goes, im not the best at it... I will get better, though, because Im going to get a laptop soon! Yay! I have a lot planned for this story, so I hope you guys stick with me to the very end!
On a side note: I have never actually written a lemon before :/ but, im willing to give it a shot if you guys want me to write one. I'll just study-up on some storys, and do the best I can!
Oh, and any sentence with a + in front of it is a text message. Dont worry, you'll see what i mean.
BTW: This takes place about week and half or so before Halloween, so Naruto's birthday already passed.
Oh, and as I promised, this is going to be a long chapter! So, enjoy! (it really is long... sorry -_-)
Sorry for any spelling mistakes! Im terrible at grammar, and I dont have a beta. You've been warned!
After Ino left, Naruto walked over to the bike area. It was a secluded lot on the side of the school, with a metal fence all around, decorated by the school's all-natural dirt and starting-to-rust poles. It was pretty worn-down compared to the rest of the school. Naruto made his way over to the familiar black Whitton II bmx bike with orange accents. Yeah, so Naruto was seventeen, and yes, he didn't have a car. How is a teenage boy suppose to actually afford a car, when he can barely pay his rent? He has to stock-up on cup-of-noodles because they are so cheap!
Naruto unclasped the bike-lock, and hoped on. He started riding out of the school area, and made a sharp left on the sidewalk. It was a beautiful fall afternoon in Konoha. The trees were turning lovely warm colors of yellow and orange. So, naturally, Naruto loved fall. Plus, his birthday was in fall. It was as if Mother Nature turned the trees orange just for him. Most of the houses were well built, with perfectly groomed yards the color of an expensive emerald jewel, lined with eye-popping flowers (probably from Yamanaka Flower Shop). The air was fresh, the scenery was beautiful, and he townspeople were nice. Konoha was the place to be.
Naruto made another left turn, pulling up to his apartment complex. He lived upstairs, but Jiraiya let Naruto keep his bike down by his apartment. It would be too much of a hassle for Naruto to lug his bike up to his place.
Naruto stomped up the staircase, looking for room three-twenty-five. He smoothly inserted the key, and kicked open the door. He slammed it behind him as he entered, walls shaking from the impact. Naruto was loud, even unintentionally. He set his keys down on his counter, and kicked off his shoes. His apartment was pretty much a description of himself; colorful, warm, and a little messy. It was relatively small. Two rooms, one bath, a small living area attached to a kitchen and a balcony over-looking the down-town streets of Konoha. He had a brown couch up against the wall, facing a t.v. he got for his birthday, thanks to Granny Tsunade. He also had a messy 'study desk' that had seen better days. Not that he actually studied there. His dinosaur of a laptop sat proudly upon the messy desk. There were also some plants scattered-about in his house, because Naruto secretly had a 'green-thumb'.
Naruto snagged an orange soda out of the fridge, grabbed his laptop, and lazily sat on his couch. He clicked on the t.v. and booted up his computer. As he logged on, his phone buzzed, causing him to jump from being startled. "Shit..." He mumbled as he fished out his phone. The text was from an unknown number. He opened it.
+'Hey, this is Ino. I got your number from Shikamaru. Ive got some ideas.'
Ino? Texting him? Naruto Uzumaki? Ino is conceited and popular, why would she need his number? Oh yeah, shes was pretty much blackmailing him, duh.
+'Kay. Wat do u need 2 talk about?' He sent back. He got a surprisingly quick reply.
+'You, me, before school. We start there. Oh, and try to text in normal words. :('
Naruto grumbled, and saved her number to his contact as "Blonde Bitch". Tomorrow was going to be a long day.
"See this?" Ino asked, shoving a neatly folded piece of paper in Naruto's face. "These are my brilliant ideas!" She smiled proudly, as Naruto took the paper and read it over. They were sitting at a table in the back of the library at seven in the morning, before school. That was the earliest Naruto had ever been to Konoha High, and when he asked her why so early, she simply said, "Because no one will be there, so I wont be seen with you." Shes so considerate, isn't she?
"Make him jealous, flaunt your stuff... Lock Sakura in a closet? Score the highest on the tests. Seduce him- Ino, this is horrible!" Naruto gapped, as he looked back up at her. "These are your 'brilliant ideas'?"
Ino huffed. "That's another reason why I needed you. Everyone knows your the best at pranking."
Naruto gave her a thoughtful look. "Why thank you." He said with his stupid grin. "Now," He asserted on a more serious note, "Have you seen the movies?"
"Movies?" Ino asked, confused. "Ive seen tons. It depends on what your talking about."
Naruto gave her a long look. "The parent trap? Election? Hm... You look like someone who watches Disney..." He nodded to himself.
"Naruto, what the hell are you going on about? Are you trying to tell me you like chick-flicks...?" Ino asked, confused.
"No, no! Never mind, I came prepared." Naruto dug into his bag under his seat, and tossed a granola bar to Ino. It was wrapped in shiney green aluminum, with foreign words printed all-over. She inspected the bar, and tried to read the title. "Huh? An Aw-mento dee... what?"
"Aumento di peso Nutrizione bar" Naruto corrected her. "I know this world-wide professional doctor." He explained. "Her name is Tsunade. Shes obsessed with herbs, and medical pills. That is a special bar she got from her trip to Italy, to treat an extremely sick child named Chi. Chi's parents were doctors as well, but they couldn't find out what was wrong with her. They heard about the old-bag Tsunade's medical reputation, and asked her to come out and help Chi. As a reward, they shared some of their medical research with her."
"Yeah, thats all well and great, Naruto, but how does this help?" Ino questioned, irritated.
"Aumento di peso Nutrizione bar is Italian for 'Weight gain nutrition bar'. Look, I spent a long time last night coming up with this plan, so you got to do everything perfectly, got it?" Naruto demanded, more than asked. Ino nodded.
"All right, your in student council. The Halloween festival is coming up, and class B4 has yet to choose their event. At the next meeting, your going to suggest that our class does a 'scare contest'. What that is, is a contest at school during the night." Naruto explained, rather quickly. "We will be separated into groups of two, by drawing our names out of a hat. I'll be in charge of the event, and I'll rig the drawing so you're with Sasuke. Then, whoever I'm teamed up with and I will try to scare you guys. You get really scared and hysertical and Sasuke will 'comfort you' if ya know what I mean." Naruto winked. Ino sat there blinking, analyzing all the information.
"You honestly think Sasuke would just comfort me like that?" Ino asked incredulously.
"Of course not! But, If theres one thing I remember about Sasuke, its that hes super competitive. If you make a big fuss, he'll do whatever he can to keep you quiet so he doesn't loose. You catch my drift?" Naruto inquired.
Ino nodded. "But what does this weight gaining bar have to do with this?"
"Simple. Take Sakura shopping for Halloween costumes today. Start giving her the bars, telling her it will help her loose weight. Eventually, she'll be too big for her costume the day of the contest, so she'll have to improvise."
"Ew, you'd still like Sakura, even if she was fat?" Ino probed.
"Yeah." Naruto replied with a small smile. "I guess I would." Ino was silent.
"Alright! Great plan! You're actually smart, aren't you?" Ino broke the silence, as she gathered her things, slipping them into her dark-purple Prada bag.
"Hey, don't sound so surprised!" Naruto yelled, insulted. The head librarian Mrs. Yuhi attempted to shush Naruto. "Besides, I got some help from Shikamaru..." Naruto reluctantly admitted, just above a whisper. Ino gave Naruto a knowing smile, before exiting the library. She had a lot to do.
"Sakura!" Ino called out, as she entered class B4. As usual, the bubble gum-haired girl was sitting next to Sasuke, trying to pry his attention away from his Dracula novel and pay attention to their 'conversation'. Ino strode over to the unusual pair, and took her seat in the row in front of them. She turned her chair towards their desk, sitting across from Sakura and Sasuke, forming a sort of triangle. "Halloweens coming up! We, like, totally need to go shopping! Today, after my meeting, okay?" Ino demanded, crossing her arms and legs.
"OMG, yes!" Sakura squealed. "I have an idea of what Im going to be!" Sakura brushed her long pink hair off her shoulder, and flashed Sasuke a 'sexy' smile. "I thought of you in mind when I came up with the idea." Sakura tried to flirt with him, only it looked awkward and pathetic. Ino sighed.
The school bell rang, and Iruka walked calmly into the room, with his regular "Good morning class!"
The period was as it always was; announcements, Iruka's lecture, Naruto coming in late (even though he was super early to school), Shikamaru sleeping, Kiba attempting (and failing) to answer a question right, Hinata glancing and stuttering, Shino dozing out the window, Sasuke was brooding, and all seemed right in the world.
After the dismissing bell wrung, Ino excitedly bounced up out of her seat, and grabbed her things. "Sasuke, we have our student council meeting!" She announced, for all to hear. Sasuke grunted, as the two walked together to to meeting.
"So," Tenten began, glancing at her fellow student council members. There was Ino, Sasuke, Neji, Deidara, Sasori, Kankuro, Zaku, Kin, Tayuya, Sakon, and herself. "For the Halloween Festival, Class A2 is throwing a party, class B1 is producing a talent show, C5 is having an apple-bobbing compatition, A1 is having a costume contest, and what is class B4 doing?" She asked. Her suave chestnut eyes glanced over to Ino and Sasuke expectantly.
'Time to put the plan into action' Ino thought. "Actually, if its okay with Sasuke, our class will be having a scaring contest." Sasuke raised a brow, and looked questioningly at Ino.
"Scaring contest?" Neji asked, intrigued. "Please explain."
Ino cleared her throat. "Our class would like permission to have the school from eight to twelve o'clock at night. We will have a scavenger and scaring contest. That is, if its okay with Sasuke." She looked over at said boy pleadingly.
"Well?" Zaku asked impatiently. Zaku wasn't very fond of the raven. Sasuke had caused him to break his arms when he tried to prove he was better at skateboarding than him. Of course, Sasuke didn't actually break Zaku's arms, it was Zaku's own cockiness and laziness. Not that he would ever admit it.
"Hn." Came the cool response.
"Hn? What the hell does that mean?" Kankuro asked, agitated. "Its a yes or no question!"
"Allow me to translate." Deidara spoke up. "He says yes." The blond artist's friend Sasori rarely spoke, and often grunted a lot. Deidara had managed to crack the code after about two months, and could understand what he meant.
"Tch, so you speak bastard?" Tayuya snorted.
"Are you calling me a bastard?" Sasori seethed.
"Seemed like it to me!" Kin chided, fist-bumping Tayuya.
Ah, the Konoha's student council took dis-function to a whole new level. "So a scaring contest it is!" Tenten smiled, scribbling it down on her clip board.
'Yes.' Ino mentally high-fived herself. 'Phase one, down. Now for the shopping.'
"How about this?" Ino asked, stepping out of the dressing room. She was wearing a skanky Halloween nurses outfit that accentuated all her curves and hugged her in all the right places.
"So cute! What about me?" Sakura asked, dressed as a pink and red fairy, glitter and all. Ino shook her head. "Nuh-uh. Did you honestly think of Sasuke when you picked that out? Hold on, I'll be right back." Ino changed back into her pale purple summer dress and short white mini jacket, and searched for a new costume.
The girls were currently at "Snake cosplay", the biggest and best costume store in all of Konoha, rightr next to the "Snake Tattoo" shop. It was run by a women named Anko Mitarashi. The shop was a big warehouse full of racks, plastic bags of costumes, props hung up, wigs and masks lining one wall, special effects make-up opposite of the props. Ino made a mental note to get some make-up. She was skilled when it came to cosmetics.
Ino spotted a costume. "Perfect!" She smiled as she picked the costume off the rack. She made sure to get a size smaller than Sakura was. She came back to the dressing room, and shoved it at Sakura.
Once Sakura came out of the dressing room, Ino smiled. It was a light-pink, show-girl bunny costume. It fit Sakura to a T.
"Ino, your a genius! Only its a little tight..." Sakura added, tugging at the cloth over her lower abdomen.
"Don't worry! Here," Ino dug in her purse, handed Sakura the french bar. "It'll help you loose weight."
"What is it?" Sakura asked, inspecting the green packaging.
"Health bar. It... um... Helps curve hunger, boost metabolism, and keeps your colon clean!" Ino quickly made up. It sounded convincing to her.
"I don't know..."
'Damn, shes still not convinced...' Ino shrugged. "Well, ya know, Sasuke likes the skinny girls." Ino pushed. Although, she had absolutely no idea how wrong she was.
"Really? How do you know?" Sakura questioned.
"He also likes girls with short hair." Ino added, effectively dodging the question. "You might wanna take-care of that." She said, pointing to Sakura's long pink hair. Sakura looked offended.
"You should have told me earlier!" Sakura quickly opened the package and began to wolf down the nutrition bar. "Got any more? Im gonna need lots."
"Don't worry." Ino smiled. "Theres a lot more where that came from."
'Halloween is stupid' Sasuke deducted as he sat in his room. He was planning on moving out of this hell-hole once he was old enough to leave. He certainly had the money to do it. He only had to endure one more year, or so.
Sasuke was sitting at his futuristic glass desk, doing homework. He got bored, and swiveled his chair around to turn on his flat-screen t.v. To his utmost dismay, he found that most of the commercials were for Halloween, and pretty much every channel had some form of a "Halloween special" on.
School had been hectic because everyone was excited for the festival tonight. Sasuke contemplated not going, but because he was in student council, it was required. There was a soft knock on his bedroom door. Sasuke sighed. "Come in."
The door opened softly, and revealed his mother. "Sasuke, you need to get ready. Your class's festivel event is in a few hours." Sasuke grunted. "Sasuke, what are you going as?" Sasuke didn't reply. Mikoto sighed, and left the room, entering the bedroom across the hall. This caught Sasuke's attention, because that was his older brother Itachi's old room. Before he moved out, that is.
His mom hobbled into the room, carrying a big, teal-colored bin. "This is a bunch of Itachi's old costumes." She explained as she dropped the box. Sasuke groaned. 'Great, just another way to follow Itachi's foot-steps...'
"Your father might not have know this, but Itachi just loved to cosplay!" She squealed, unlatching the plastic top. She rummaged through the tub, pulling out wigs, nail-polish, capes, make-up, cloaks, pretty much everything you needed for a costume. "Gee, I remember, Itachi loved dressing you and your little blonde friend up! What was his name, again... Haruto?"
Sasuke flinched. "Naruto..." He mumbled.
You could practically see the light-bulb go off over Mikoto's head. "Naruto Uzumaki! That's right! Kushina's son! What ever happened to him? He was such a nice fellow. I'm sure I still have some of our old pictures of the two of you in Itachi's costumes..."
"Mom?" Sasuke asked, iritatted.
"Hm?" She glanced back at her son.
"Your making a mess."
"Oops! Sorry!" She said, embarrassed. "Well, I'll leave you to get ready! Sorry for the intrusion, Sasuke." Mikoto bowed before closing the door. Sasuke returned to his work. Or at least, he tried to before he hit his desk in anger.
He just couldn't concentrate anymore.
"This is amazing!" Naruto yelled, throwing his hands in the air. Him and almost everyone else from class B4 were gathered around the lunch table just outside of the school's door, next to the big oak-tree. Ino told everyone that they all needed to be here by seven-thirty so they had time to explain the rules, and what-not.
"Looks like were missing some people..." Shikamaru droned. He was laying on the grass next to Chouji and Kiba. Chouji was dressed up as a chef, Kiba was in a dog costume, and Shikamaru was sporting a traditional sheet-ghost. He said it was to troublesome to actually dress-up.
"Sasuke, Ino, and Sakura." Temari replied, crossing her legs. As if on-cue, Ino came jogging up to the group in her nurse-attire. She grabbed ahold of Naruto's arm, and yanked him off the lunch table.
"Since your running the event tonight for extra-credit points" Ino said, barley winking at Naruto. "I need to discuss some things with you." She dragged him away, around the corner of the school. Ino glanced back around the building to make sure they were out of an earshot. "Alright, moron. How do you plan on getting me grouped with Sasuke?"
Naruto sighed at his new-found nickname. "See this?" He held out two shiny, black, plastic hats. "This one has everyone's names, except for Sasukes and yours. They other hat only has your two names. I bring around this one," Naruto gestured towards the plastic hat with everyone's name within. "Then I'll pretend to trip like the klutz I am, and I'll need you distract everyone. Ten seconds is all I need. I'll switch the hat I'm holding for the hat with your guy's names in it, which will be hiding under the desk that I trip by."
"Devious..." Ino whispered. "I like, no, I love it! Who knew you were so smart?"
"Ino, your calling Naruto smart?" A very high-pitched voice spoke from behind Ino. The two whirled around quickly, looking as guilty as can be.
"Sakura!" Naruto said with a forced smile. Then he got a long look at her. "What happened to you? What are you supposed to be?" Naruto asked, examining Sakura's... costume?
"I'm suppost to be a Doctor!" Sakura replied, angrily. She was wearing blue, plastic scubs that belonged to her mother. "And what the hell are you supposed to be, Naruto?"
Naruto growled. "Im supposed to be a ninja, duh!" Naruto almost yelled. He was wearing all-black. He even had a ski mask that he wasn't wearing at the moment. Naruto, though it so happens, can actually make a 'ninja' look pretty damn hot.
"Whatever, it doesn't matter. What matters is the fact that someone is out to get me!" Sakura shrieked. "Im gaining weight, like, crazy fast! I try to work it off, but nothings working, and the fatigue is starting to get to me! I'm loosing sleep, I couldn't find my make-up... Everything is wrong!" She cried.
Naruto gave her a sympathetic look. Ino laced her arms with Sakura. "Don't worry, I'll help fix you up, a bit. Naruto will explain everything." Ino grabbed the hats out of Naruto's hands. "I'll drop these off in the class on our way to the restroom." And the two left.
When Naruto returned to the lunch table, he realized that Sasuke was there. He was also wearing a black costume - go figure. Naruto scoffed as he sauntered up to the boy. "And what are you supposed to be, emo?" Naruto teased. Sasuke gave him a death-glare.
"No, I'm Zorro, dumb-ass." He replied, unphased. It was true, too. Sasuke was wearing the shirt, cape, mask, and everything. It certainly complimented his thin figure, and muscular body. Naruto huffed, and took everyone to the classroom. The school was creepy at night. There was darkness around every corner, and scary posters and decorations were hung everywhere. Naruto sighed in relief as he finally found class B4.
"Alright!" Naruto spoke, loud and proud. "Everyone take a piece of paper from this hat!" He ordered, bouncing around from person to person. They all silently agreed, taking their slip of paper. Just as planned, Naruto tripped in front of Ino. Ino screamed, and pointed in the opposite direction from them. "I could have sworn I just saw something move!" She cried.
"Ino, are you bull-shiting me? You just trying to get everyone scared..." Kiba scowled, but couldn't help looking over his shoulder, slightly paranoid. Naruto had snatched the other hat, and finished up his 'passing-out' job.
"Okay!" Naruto yelled, uncapping the orange white-board marker. He was going to write who everyone was paired with, so there were no mistakes. Everyone opened their slips, one at a time. Just so there were no cheaters. Most people were satisfied, until it was Sasuke's turn, of course.
"Whose on your paper?" Naruto asked, turning to the whiteboard expectantly. He was prepared to write down Ino's name, until he heard what Sasuke read.
"Naruto."
Said boy dropped his marker, and look at Sasuke. "What?"
"Naruto. My slip says Naruto. Are you hard of hearing, or something?" Sasuke mocked. Naruto growled, and looked at the slip. 'This is not good.' Naruto thought. 'Not good at all...'
"Who did you get, Ino?"
"Sai." She mumbled, clearly irritated at the kink in their plan.
"Alright, then!" Temari grinned. "If that's that, then lets get started!" She reached into the duffel-bag, and pulled out flash-lights. She tossed one to one person in each pair. "Remember, If your caught, meet in front of the school."
Murmurs of 'okays' and 'get on with it, already!' could be heard through-out the room. "Okay. Ino, We'll have your group find first."
"Remember, try to scare each-other!" Kiba added. It was going to be hard to hide such a loud mouth like him, but Hinata will probably manage.
"Well, if thats it, then... Go!"
Everyone fled the room as if their life depended on it. Ino ran by Naruto, glaring at him. She would definitely talk to Naruto about this later. Naruto would have gotten trampled, if it weren't for Sasuke, who had a death-grip on Naruto's arm, dragging him down the hall.
"Woah, slow down!" Naruto yelled. He was a quick runner, but he was never able to out-run Sasuke. Sasuke seemed to be content with ignoring Naruto, and kept running. The blonde boy fumbled with the flash-light until he was able to click it on, and Sasuke came to a sudden stop.
"What are you doing?" He asked, staring at Naruto.
Naruto faltered under his harsh gaze. "I'm turning on the flash-light, jerk. What does it look like I'm doing?" Naruto thought that what he was doing was pretty obvious.
"No, your not." Sasuke stated, snatching the light out of Naruto's hands. "If someone were to see that, we would be caught. Only morons use flash-lights."
"Then how the hell are we supposed to see?" Naruto yelled, getting angry. Jeez, just being around Sasuke made his blood boil.
"Just trust me." Sasuke sighed, grabbing Naruto and trudging down the long, dark hallway. Their footsteps echoed, and shadows seemed to move and expand. Naruto was getting really freaked out, when he heard a blood-curdling scream, he jumped and shivered involuntarily. Sasuke cast him a worried look, then shoved him in an abandoned class room. There was another scream, that sounded louder.
"Their getting closer." Sasuke whispered. "Stay on the look-out. I'll check for a good hiding place." Sasuke turned around, and started checking the desks, the cabinets, anywhere there could be a hiding spot. Naruto peered out the door, but all he saw was foggy darkness. He thought he heard footsteps, but he couldn't see anyone... "Sasuke, I think someones coming!" Naruto whispered. The other boy just ignored him.
Sasuke came across a closet. He walked inside. It was relativly small, but there was a carboard box that they could use to block the entrence. "Sasuke, seriously!" Naruto whispered. Sasuke just kept searching. He inspected the door. It squeaked a bit when you pushed it. He also noticed something else. 'That could be dangerous...'
Naruto heard louder footsteps, and panicked. He was terrible when it came to getting scared. He was obviously an easy target. One more increasingly loud footstep, and Naruto knew someone was there.
"Screw it!" Naruto hissed under his breath. He ran towards Sasuke and pushed him into the closet.
"Naruto!" Sasuke growled, but it was too late. Naruto slammed the door behind him, allowing the darkness to envelope the pair. Naruto held his breath, as he heard footsteps pacing through the room. 'Are we caught already?' Naruto's mind raced. After a few minutes, the footsteps disapeared, and Naruto sighed in relief.
He then tried opening the door - Only to find it was stuck. "Naruto, you idiot!" Sasuke all but yelled. "The door had a safety lock on it! Now we can't get out!"
"Safety-lock, my ass! I'll get us out of here, you'll see!" Naruto was always one for keeping his word, but this he could not follow through with. He banged on the door, kicked it, even threw all his weight on it. "Damn door won't budge."
"No shit." Sasuke mumbled from behind him.
The weight of the situation was finally sinking in. "I need to call someone! Anyone!" Naruto flipped open his phone, hysterically. He scrolled through his phone-book, going down to "Blonde Bitch". She'd come get them, right? Sasuke swiftly snapped Naruto's phone shut, and took it away. "Bastard, what the hell are you doing?"
"I'll tell you what Im not doing." Sasuke said. Naruto couldn't see Sasuke through the darkness, but he could practically feel Sasuke's dark, boring eyes glaring into his soul. "Im not letting you call anyone, and Im definaltly not loosing. I dressed up and came here to win, Naruto. For all they know, were still hiding. Just wait until the game is over, and we'll be the last un-found group. Then, we win."
"Sasuke..." Naruto whispered. "Are you telling me that I have to spend the next four hours locked in this closet with... well, you?"
"Hn."
This was going to be the longest four hours of his life.
Ah, and so the awkwardness begins! What do you think will happen? Sorry for sucha long chapter. I just fealt that this chapter needed to end somewhere around here.
Am I the only one who could picture Sasuke dressed up as Zorro, and reading "Dracula" the novel? Or Itachi cosplaying? :P
Next Chapter:
Four hours in hell!
Being trapped inside a small closet with your ex-best friend can be real awkward! Especially when you end up in uncomfortable positions! Old feelings arise, and the truth comes out! Sasuke and Naruto's friendship unfolds! To add onto that, Ino suggests her new plan, and things start to get complicated.
BTW the nutrition bar is completely made-up
Anways, thanks for reading, and please review! It causes insperation!
-Soruka-chan