Story Sixteen: Popsicles and Lemonade

It was a very hot, humid, muggy day.

Of course, this was not new knowledge considering it was summertime in Sound, but still, it was a very hot, humid, muggy day.

For innocent child-like Sakura, she didn't mind the heat so much. After all, Daddy Orochimaru made sure she had plenty of decent, lightweight clothes for her to wear (and accessories to match) and she spent most of her time in a chilled pool of water he set up for her.

Outside of the pool, however...

"Porn! Too young for porn!"

"Jeez, Sakura...can you ever be quiet? It's too damn hot to yell," Kabuto said with a glare.

Sakura wasn't expecting to see the others (the only exception being Daddy Orochimaru, luckily for her) to be in a state of near undress. Boxers and two-piece swimsuits were not what the child-woman wanted to see.

"I know it's hot, but why is everyone running around like centerfolds in pornography magazines! It's wrong!"

"This is just harmless fanservice more than anything," Suigetsu said, sipping on his glass of water, "If you want real porn—ow! Karin, that freaking hurt!"

"You deserved it," the redhead replied, sitting down her chair before taking her place in it again, rapidly fanning herself again.

Even the stoic Sasuke Uchiha, usually always training despite the conditions, was instead sitting around trying to keep cool (and trying his best to ignore the others around him) due to the oppressive heatwave.

"Well, even though it's hot, let's at least do something fun! Come on, Daddy Orochimaru set up a pool and hose and stuff for us to play with!"

The four of them groaned, "It's too hot to move..."

Sakura pouted and grumbled most of the day, walking around the compound despite the heat that kept everyone else down. Yeah, she understood it was hot, but still, she was bored and wanted to play.

She sighed, "Well, not everyone can take the heat. On days like this, I guess it's best to just stay inside where it's cool, eating popsicles and drinking lemonade and stuff like-"

Suddenly she got the right idea. "That's it! I'll look for the coolest spot in Sound, then I'll go to the nearest market and buy popsicles and lemonade, carry them back in a cooler of ice and share them with everyone! It'll be perfect! I can't wait!"

Running straight up to her room, she grabbed the widest-rimmed hat she had that matched her dress (of course, it had to be purple), rubbed some sunscreen onto her arms and face, and her small purse with some money she earned from Orochimaru, quickly wrote a note of her plan in case someone was to look for her, and then started her quest.

"Has anyone seen Sakura?" Orochimaru asked, "I found this note in her room, but the scribble is so bad that I can't tell what it's trying to say."

Still in their chairs, the foursome groaned, "Too hot to go searching for her..."

The snake Sannin sweatdropped, "Okay then."

It was nearly sunset, but still just as hot, by the time Sakura came back home with a condensing cooler of half-melted cooler of ice, two boxes of variety flavor popsicles, two gallons of lemonade, and a plastic bag of paper cups. She set herself up in the coolest spot she found: the basement level of Sound close to Kabuto's library.

"Okay! Now let's go and get everyone!" she said gleefully, running upstairs to where the others were still sitting in their chairs.

"Kabuto-chan, Karin-chan, Sui-chan, Sasuke-chan! Come downstairs with me! I got a surprise for you guys!" she exclaimed, jumping around in front of them.

"It's too hot to move..." they groaned in unison.

"But I found a place that's a lot cooler! I promise!" she said, pulling at Karin and Sasuke's wrists, "Come on, please? I spent all day getting everything ready!"

They all sighed, getting up with another groan – the pain from skin pulling back from plastic chairs was just as bad as the heat.

"Surprise, ta-da!" the rosette exclaimed, extending her arm to the cooler with ready-cups of lemonades and popsicles on top, "The perfect summertime treat!"

"We didn't have these in the kitchen," Kabuto remarked, lifting one of the cups off of the cooler.

"I walked to the market and bought them."

"You went out in this heat and bought these!" Karin exclaimed, a popsicle already at her lips, "Oh wow."

"Yeah. Was that a bad thing?"

"Well, it's something that a normal person wouldn't do, but you're not exactly a normal person," Suigetsu remarked with a smirk, already drinking down his lemonade.

"I love you guys, that's why I did it!"

"Thank you Sakura," Sasuke said, "Now sit down and enjoy one yourself."

More sweet than funny, but the foursome needs a break sometime! And besides, Sakura is just so cute! Anyway, ja ne!