Chapter Three
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Secret Haven
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Sakura's P.O.V.:
"Aruta, stop!" I giggled and thrashed in his arms. "Stop, that tickles!"
This confession only made him grin bigger as he continued to place soft, teasing kisses on my neck. "You know you love it." He chuckled and moved his lips from my neck. Almost immediately, I looked up at him, confused.
"What?" he grinned at my expression and gave a soft kiss on my lips. "You told me to stop!"
"Yeah, but you never listen!" I turned in his grasp and straddled him. "What's wrong?"
He grey-ish met my gaze and sighed. It was pointless for us to lie to each other; we just knew each other too well. I always knew when he was upset and he likewise. It was just a part of our relationship.
"Sakura…" I gave him an encouraging look and he continued. "I want you to move in with me."
'Move in?' I thought excitedly. 'Just me and him, in his house. All alone?
My veins burst with excitement, but there was also curiosity.
"What made you want to ask me so suddenly?" I noticed the small smile on his face as he turned me in his arms once again and rested his head on my shoulder.
I felt him shrug behind me. "I know how hard things are for you right now, with your mom and Jiraya and all. I just thought it'd be easier if we just lived together." I curled back into his embrace and watched his facial expressions. "You wouldn't have to sneak out to be with me; and you wouldn't have to deal with your family's drama either…"
That was when I jumped on his, literally. I held him in a tight hug and kissed him as passionately as I could. We both pulled back after what felt like hours later, our eyes twinkling with happiness.
"How was I so lucky to get such a great boyfriend?" I asked, not even giving him a chance to respond before I had attacked him with another feverish kiss. "I love you." I whispered against his lips and felt his heart beat faster.
"I love you, too."
I woke up to the annoying sound of Kin's voice echoing throughout the hallway. Grabbing my towel and clothes, I opened my bedroom door and groggily walked towards the bathroom.
As I neared Sasuke's room, I saw Kin knocking on his door.
"Sasuke, open up!" she called eagerly.
'She does know that it's 8am, right?' My inner shook her head and we continued to walk down the hall.
Just as we passed by, the door opened and a tired-looking Uchiha regarded my step-sister with annoyed eyes, though I doubt she noticed.
"Hey Sasuke, the twins and I are going to the beach. Wanna come with us?" His eyes ran over her form and I found myself rolling my eyes.
He was just like the typical guy: all they cared about were looks.
I squeezed past Kin and closed the bathroom door behind me. Even with the shower running, I could still hear her talking. Jeez, her voice was sooo annoying!
I scanned the shampoo bottles. Which one to choose? Aruta liked when my hair smelled like flowers, but he loved when it smelled like honey…
'Honey it is!' I figured that it would stand out more since they were going to be surrounded by plants and wildlife.
•
Sasuke's P.O.V.:
•
As soon as the pinkette's form disappeared behind the bathroom door, he pulled Kin into his room before quickly shutting the door. Said girl was overjoyed – for all the wrong reasons – and was trying to play it cool, even though she was alone with him in his room.
"Sasuke, this is so sudden." She said dramatically as she stepped closer to him with a shamelessly seductive smile, only to be turned down by his sudden question.
"What's Sakura's reputation around here?"
"Excuse me?" she said, trying to confirm whether or not her ears were playing tricks on her.
The Uchiha rolled his onyx eyes before turning back to Kin.
"Tell me about her. What's her status and story?" he clarified emotionlessly.
The dark haired girl before him crossed her arms and snorted. "It's not as if she's popular or anything." She huffed. "Sakura's a slut; everyone knows that she makes-out with different guys each day." Then, her eyes twinkled and she let out a short, vile chuckle. "In fact, she can't even keep a boyfriend!"
Sasuke just stood there, his face emotionless, though he knew that the pink haired girl could find a guy – if not many – that would be happy to be her boyfriend.
At the impending silence, Kin stepped closer. "You shouldn't affiliate yourself with her and her rebel friends, Sasuke. They're such bad influences." She walked past him, to his door, and gave one final warning before leaving the room.
"Stay away from her, Sasuke. She's a horrible person!"
'No,' he thought bluntly. 'She's still the same sweet, innocent girl that I knew years ago.'
•
Sakura's P.O.V.:
•
Feeling squeaky clean, I exited the bathroom to get my shoes from my room. I sat on the bed and was lacing my shoes when a movement near the door captured my attention.
I gave an annoyed sigh and glanced up to meet a familiarly dark head of hair. "Yes, Sasuke?" I asked curtly. He needed to talk fast so I could leave without having to confront my mother. "I'm kinda in a hurry, so can you speed it along?" I added when he stayed silent.
He rolled his eyes. "Where are you going?"
"Out." I replied coldly. Who did he think he was, asking me questions that were none of his concern?
"Is there room from one more?"
Was he implying that he wanted to come along? I let out a strangled chuckle.
"Yeah, why?" I replied in an amused tone.
His sigh was barely audible before he stepped into my room and propped his foot on the wall. "I am not staying here while everyone else goes out."
I felt a small smile curl on my face. "First of all, get your foot off my wall; and secondly, Kin offered to keep you company." His responding growl had me laughing outright. "Fine, fine," I choked out. "We're leaving in 10, and bring swimming trunks."
Sasuke gave me a blank look before walking away.
'Now, to tell Hinata…'
•
Normal P.O.V.:
•
The ride there was silent. Sakura, Hinata and Sasuke each simply laid back and enjoyed the music – or in Hinata's case, texted. Her phone went off every few seconds, and she'd blush slightly as she read each message.
Finally, Sakura broke the silence. "Is Naruto sending you love letters again?" she teased, laughing softly as the other girl turned red.
"N-no!" she insisted. "I… It's j-just Ino!"
"Oh really?"
"Y-yeah."
"Liar," the pinkette exclaimed playfully. "If it's just Ino, then why are you blushing?"
"I'm not!" her sister blushed heavily.
"Hina, just admit that you like him, already." she said eagerly. "If you wait too long, another girl's gonna swoop in and take him!"
"But I don't!"
"Yes you do!" she shrieked. "Sasuke, tell her that it's so obvious that she likes him."
Hinata turned in her seat and Sakura regarded him through the rear-view mirror. The Uchiha had been calmly and quietly watching their playful argument in amusement. Even though he'd only been at the house for one day, he could tell that they only acted this way when they were alone. He and Itachi would do the same, before he'd moved out.
Snapping out of his reverie, he noticed that they were both waiting for his verdict. "Hn."
Confusion dawned on the dark haired girl's face as she glanced at her sister. "W-what does that mean, exactly?" she asked.
"Oh, I told ya!" Sakura grinned widely. "That's totally a 'yes', right Sasuke?"
"Hn." He repeated in an amused tone. She was still the happy, playful and eager pink haired girl that she'd been when they were younger.
"What does that mean?" Hinata cried out, giggling softly at her sister's antics.
•
Sasuke's P.O.V.:
•
Twenty taunt-filled minutes later, we pulled up to what looked like the entrance to a forest. I tentatively stepped out of the car. I mean, why the fuck are we going into the forest? I hadn't realized that I was still staring at the small opening between the trees until Sakura called out to me.
"Hey, city-boy!" she said tauntingly. "Are you scared? You wanna hold my hand?"
'Me, scared? Yeah, right.' I thought, yet, somehow, I still found my hand encased in hers as Hinata led the way through the trees. A tinge of heat spread to my cheeks as a tingle resided on our touching skin.
Suddenly, she looked back at me and gave a grin.
"You okay?" I nodded and she turned back to the front, but I noticed how she tugged me a tad bit closer and smirked. Maybe she was the one who was really scared.
"HINATA!" a sudden voice boomed, causing the dark haired girl to jump slightly before she was engulfed into what looked to be a bone-crushing hug. "Hey Sakura!" he said with just as much enthusiasm.
He pulled her towards him and her grasp on my hand disappeared. I looked down at the still-tingling flesh before glancing up and finding a piercing blue gaze locked on me.
"Who are you?" the guy asked, his eyes twinkling keenly with interest.
"That's Sasuke," my eyes moved to the familiar emerald orbs as she continued to introduce us. "Apparently, he's living with us for… a while?"
I shrugged and turned back to the guys, sizing him up. I guess he was cool to hang out with… Ha had that Islander look, but I don't think he's a native. He had bright blue eyes, blond hair, tanned skin, and was slightly shorter than me but we had similar body types; though his was a little bulkier whereas mine was more subtly muscled.
"Aloha, I'm Naruto!" he shouted and stuck his hand out with a really big, childish grin.
'This is the kid that Hinata likes?' I spared her a glance before turning back to him, yet again. I recognized him as the guy that I saw the dark haired girl talking to when we went to the beach.
"Idiot." I muttered and stepped around him, smirking.
3…
2…
1…
"HEY, GET BACK OVER HERE YOU BASTARD!"
•
Normal P.O.V.:
•
Their group retreated deeper into the forest as they waited for their remaining members to arrive. The sun was shining its scorching heat onto them as they hiked up a trail of boulders and gravel.
Every now and then, Sakura and Hinata would glance back at the shirtless and sweating Uchiha. The pinkette shook her head as she watched him sluggishly trek along the trail.
"I'll catch up later." She said to the group before waiting for the tired boy to catch up; he'd been quite a distance behind the rest of them, which made sense.
They were all used to such hot weather and brutally physical activities. They went hiking and rock-climbing every other day, and swimming or surfing the days they didn't. They were in top condition, and while Sasuke was also pretty healthy, he still had a way to go before he was as muscular as the other guys in their group.
"Getting tired, city-boy?" she taunted when he finally reached her. His forehead and chest were covered in beads of sweat. She could even see that his skin was beginning to tan slightly.
Sasuke smirked wryly at her. "It's pretty hot out here." He said simply.
Sakura nodded. "Don't worry, you'll get used to it." Then she pulled out a bottle of water and handed it to him. "You need to stay hydrated; I hear guys from the city wilt like flowers in this kind of heat."
Taking the bottle, he tilted his head back and let its contents pour onto his face and hair.
The pinkette watched, tantalized, as some of the water trailed down his neck and onto his bare chest. 'I should probably stop staring…' She blushed and looked away, but Sasuke didn't miss it.
He saw her cheeks redden slightly and raised an eyebrow. She didn't see it, though. She was already walking forward.
"We should hurry before the others start to worry."
"Hn."
•
Sakura's P.O.V.:
•
The rest of our hike was awkward at first, but we fell back into our playful banter after a few minutes of uncomfortable silence. It was worth it, too. Sasuke's expression was absolutely priceless.
As soon as we pulled ourselves over the last boulder, his eye bulged and his mouth slightly gaped. He didn't look like such an emotionless blob then. I couldn't blame him, though; it was absolutely beautiful!
From the top of the trail, you could see their hideout. There was a cavern that was through the medium-sized waterfall, and created a small tunnel that connected to an underwater cavern. There was a cave on the other side of the large rock. It almost looked like a smaller volcano surrounded by crystal clear water.
"Wow…" the wide-eyed boy beside her murmured in awe.
"I know." I grabbed his forearm and led him down the boulder. "This place is our secret haven." I saw him nodding from the corner of my eye and made sure to capture his gaze. "No one outside of our group can know about this place."
Sensing my seriousness, Sasuke nodded again before looking towards the cliff. Following his gaze, I saw Naruto and Tenten getting ready to jump in while Hinata set up blankets and towels near the waterfall's bank.
"C'mon," I walked a little bit ahead of him and headed towards my sister. "Everyone else should be here soon."
•
Sasuke's P.O.V.:
•
Naruto and I were rough housing in the water within seconds of my arrival with Sakura. Even that Tenten girl was joining in, and she was pretty cool; a real tomboy, but still cool to hang out with. Naruto continually tried to get Sakura and Hinata into the water, and the shy girl complied, but the pinkette refused.
"I'm gonna wait on the others, first." She insisted each time he asked, until I had intervened.
"Aw, is Pinky afraid to get her hair wet?" I teased, smirking when she tensed and shot me a glare.
With her nose in the air, she crossed her arms over her covered chest. "Shut up, Uchiha. I just don't wanna get in yet."
Just as I opened my mouth to retort, the blond beside me beat me to it.
"You mean you don't wanna get in without Aruta!" he exclaimed, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. The girl blushed as he and Tenten began laughing at the statement and Hinata smiled at the three. Her reaction alone had me curious.
Who was Aruta? Surely he couldn't be one of the hook-ups that Kin had suggested the pinkette had.
A loud sound of chatter sounded from the forest and our small group of five soon escalated. The first people to come into view were a blonde girl with deep blue eyes and a guy with black – dark brown? – Pineapple-shaped hair and a lazy expression. The girl was talking nonstop while the guy gazed up at the sky. How he didn't stumble on the trail was beyond me.
Next was a trio of two guys and a large, white dog. One of them had spiky brown hair that was half hidden beneath a fur-lined jacked – how was he not burning up in that? – and red ink in the shape of slightly curved triangles on his face. The man beside him had spiky hair, too and was clad in a black pair of shades, a deep red shirt and khaki shorts.
The next few people varied from a creepy-looking kid with bushy eyebrows and a bowl-cut to a serious-looking one with pale eyes, like Hinata's, and long, flowing, dark brown hair. Then there were these two guys and yet another blond girl with four spiky pigtails. One of the guys had aquamarine eyes that were darkly rimmed from an obvious lack of sleep and a forehead adorning a tattoo that symbolized Love in Japanese (then again, Hawaiians were just Asians that mated with Indians). The other man had brown hair that was disarrayed into spikes and purple paint decorating his face.
I noticed that most of their outfits for the guys consisted of khaki and floral-printed outfits for the girls.
At first, everyone just said their 'Hello's and set down their things while offering friendly chatter – mostly on the girls' behalves. Then, they noticed me leaning on the bank near Sakura and all movement and conversation halted, leading to complete silence… Until two figures that I hadn't seen approached the group and stared down at me.
"Who the hell is this?" the taller of the two asked vehemently.