Disclaimer: Not mine D:

Chapter seventeen

Waiting

Hinata slammed the door of her hotel room closed with her foot. She walked towards the bed, making a face at the heavy weight she was carrying. With a long sigh, she put her several shopping bags on the bed. She stared at them for a long thoughtful moment, wondering why she had bought stuff she was probably not going to use. For example, that fifty-hundred-dollars purse: it was the cutest accessory she had ever seen, but she would never dare to go out with it – unless it was for an elegant event, but she didn't like to go to elegant events – so what was the point?

What had she been thinking?

She walked towards the window and raised the blinds. New York's sky was turning orange, and already she could see the faint shape of the moon at the distance. Some buildings had already turned on their lights, and the city was beginning to get that magical look it had during the night. It was probably the only thing Hinata would miss in the future about New York: how beautiful the city looked at night, with its colorful lights and its mysterious shadows.

She stared at the city below her for one more moment, and then turned around and frowned at the shopping bags lying on the king-sized bed. She remembered some of the clothes and accessories she had bought with the credit card her father had given her: the beautiful blue dress, prefect for a romantic evening; the cute scarf that matched those other red boots; the designer jeans that were ripped over the knees; the black-leathered jacket that made her look like a rock star.

Hinata sighed, suddenly wondering what her father's reaction would be when he found out about how much she spent, and sat down on the couch beside her, the one she had been laying on when she had last talked to Naruto. The one she had been laying on when Naruto had told her he loved her.

And remember that made her feel like crying. It reminded her how desperate she was to see him, to hug him, to kiss him and to thank him for feeling the same way she felt about him.

But no, she couldn't cry. Not now that she was in serious trouble and had to think of a way to get out of it.

Oh yeah, Hinata was in trouble. She had done something very bad – and on purpose. It was probably the first time she had done something to piss someone off on purpose. Not even when she was a kid she had made such actions. She had always been the good girl, the girl with the perfect grades and the perfect politeness, the girl any parent would've died to have.

Maybe that was the reason why she had decided to be a rebel for the first time ever. Maybe she was tired of being the good girl, the girl any parent would be proud of – well, any parent except her father. Her father was never proud of her, or at least he never showed it. No matter how perfect her grades were, or how nice other people would tell him she was, her dad would never smile at her and say, "I'm very proud of you," or even, "Good job, Hinata." He was too busy with the two most important things in his life: his fiancée and his job.

And maybe that was the second reason: maybe she was tired of her father never showing her love or even admiration. And maybe that was also the reason why she always tried so hard to be good: to someday have her father telling her how proud of her he was.

But Hinata had finally given up trying, because it was useless. She had given up trying hard to be the perfect daughter. She wanted to be herself and to show the people she wasn't a saint and to… to…

To piss her dad off. That was what she wanted and what she had been thinking when she had spent more than three thousand dollars in stuff she wasn't going to use. And she wanted to piss him off because she thought that maybe that way her dad would take a moment of his precious time to pay attention to his older daughter.

Suddenly, the phone rang. Hinata stood up from the couch and walked towards it. She answered at the third ring. "Hello?" she said in English, as she was lately used to.

"Hinata, it's me," a female Japanese voice said through the phone. Hinata recognized it instantly, even though she didn't remember the last time she had heard it.

"Mom?" she asked, her eyes widening, even though she was sure it couldn't be someone else.

"Yes, daughter. How are you?"

Hinata gulped, suddenly nervous and really, really confused. Many questions ran though her mind during the short pause she made. Why is she calling? How did she found out I am here, in America? Did she call because she suddenly started caring about me? Or does she only want something from me? In that case, what would she want from me?

"I'm fine, mom," she managed to say, trying to sound as dry as her mother always was towards her. "Thanks for asking. How are you?"

"I'm fine, too," her mom replied. "But I need to go straight to the point, daughter. I need to know if it's true that you're not happy where you are and if your father is forcing you to stay there."

Hinata was so shocked, that for a moment she couldn't speak. "What?" she finally said, sounding utterly confused. "Wait, how did you-?"

"Just answer me, Hinata," her mother interrupted.

"Yes," Hinata said without hesitation, "it's all true. I'm not happy here in America and my dad is actually forcing me to stay. I want to go back to Japan, back to my friends, but he won't let me unless I pretend to like someone I kind of hate."

"Are you talking about his fiancée? That American woman?"

She nodded, even though her mom couldn't see her. "Yes, mom. You have to know it's nothing personal, like being jealous or afraid of having someone replacing you. I just don't like that woman. I can see through her façade, and I know she doesn't love my father; she just wants his money. And I utterly dislike her. But my dad won't take my opinion. He wants me to change my mind because I seem to make his fiancée uncomfortable with my attitude, and he thinks the only way to do that is forcing me to spend time with her, here in New York. And I'm having the worst time ever." She was getting angrier and angrier as she talked about that woman, but she tried to keep her voice neutral.

"I see," her mom muttered after a pause. "But tell me, why did he take only you and not your young sister?"

"Hanabi dislikes her too, mom," Hinata replied. "But she tries to pretend she doesn't, and my dad thinks she's okay. I know that's exactly what I should do too, but I hate to be a hypocrite. Hanabi is being very reasonable, but I really cannot stand it. I want my dad to realize he's making a huge mistake… but he would never listen to me."

Her mom sighed. "Okay, Hinata. I understand and believe you. You'll be coming back to Japan tomorrow. I'm already buying the ticket."

Hinata's eyes widened. "What? Wait, what are you saying? Can you do that? Does my dad know?"

"He will when your plane has taken off. And yes, I can do that. Though I'm divorced to your father, I'm still your mother, and I want you to come back to Japan. Your dad can't keep doing this to you anymore. Besides, you're not going to school, are you?"

"No, I'm not," Hinata replied.

"Exactly, and that's not okay. So you're coming back tomorrow to keep going to school. It's the best for you and your dad and his lawyers won't be able to do something about it."

They stayed quiet for a moment. Hinata was gripping the phone tightly against her ear as she listened to the clicking noises her mom made as she bought her plane ticket through internet. Finally, Hinata said, "Thank you, mom."

"I just want the best for you, Hinata, even when I'm not going to be there with you," she replied lowly, suddenly not sounding as dry as ever.

"Would you tell me something?" Hinata asked her. "How did you find out about this? Who told you?"

"Your sister gave my phone number to a young man who claims to be in love with you. He called me and told me what was going on. I got really pissed at what your father is doing to you, so I decided to act. Besides, I was moved by how much he misses you, daughter."

Hinata bit her lip as tears started to run down her cheeks. She sat on the edge of her bed and started sobbing quietly. Thank you, Naruto, she thought, realizing that it was impossible to love him more than she already did.

Sasori parked the car in front of Sakura's house. Sakura, sitting on the co-driver seat, glanced over Sasori's head at her house and saw a movement in one of the windows. She sighed deeply. Her parents were probably watching them right now, so she would have to be discreet and not make out with Sasori – no matter how much she wanted to – here, in his car, at the end of their date. She couldn't risk her jealous father witnessing such scene.

She turned to Sasori, and the smile he gave her made her feel better. When she looked into those hazel eyes, she knew he wouldn't dare to give her more than a peck on the lips, not because he probably knew her parents were (or expected them to be) watching, but because that was just the kind of guy he was. She knew that in spite of his sexy half bad-boy, half hippie-artist look, Sasori was a gentleman.

"Thank you for tonight," she said, smiling. "I had a really good time."

"I am the one supposed to be grateful, Sakura," he replied. "It was an honor to spend an evening with you."

She giggled at his cheesiness, though she wasn't sure if he was joking or not. "You're welcome, then. I just hope we can do it again sometime soon."

"I hope so too." He smirked sexily and got out of the car. Sakura was about to do the same, but then she remembered she was supposed to wait for her date to open the door for her, as the lady she was. Besides, it was the kind of thing she already knew to expect from Sasori.

And she was right. He opened the door for her, bowing respectfully at her, and she giggled again as she got out of the car as graciously as she could, suddenly feeling nervous. She knew what part was next. He was going to walk her to the door and right after the good-night part, they were going to kiss. It was going to be a small, quick kiss, but it was still going to be a kiss and their very first one, and that made her stomach turn into a knot of anxiety.

The walk from the car to the door seemed to last an eternity. When they finally stopped in front of the door, they stood face to face and only a step away from each other, close enough for Sakura to feel his body heat and to smell his fresh cologne.

"Well, I guess this is the end of our date," Sasori said, and Sakura noticed he was as nervous as her… and that he looked even cuter when he was nervous.

"Yeah," she said, smiling. "It seems like it."

And then, just like that, the nervousness disappeared, because Sasori took her face in his hands and leaned closer. Sakura closed her eyes and put her hands on his elbows, readying herself. When their lips finally met, Sakura's stomach knot disappeared and was replaced by thousands of butterflies.

As their lips were connected, Sakura couldn't help but compare his lips to the last ones she had kissed. Sasuke's were softer, and way full, she thought. Also, his kisses weren't so stiff; they were gentle, but also very passionate…

God, I miss to kiss him.

She broke the kiss abruptly. "Sorry," she murmured, bowing her head to not look at him. She pulled the key out of her purse and opened the door as she felt Sasori's heavy and confused stare on her. She looked up at him only when she was at the other side of the door. "I… I'll see you later," she said nervously. "Good night, Sasori." And then, she closed the door.

She leaned her back against the door and sighed deeply. What the hell had that been? Did she really wish she was kissing Sasuke, her stupid ex-boyfriend, instead of her sweet, cool and sexy possible-new-boyfriend?

"I can't believe it," she muttered, covering her face with her hands and wondering if there was something wrong with her brain.

The next day in school, Temari was sitting on the grass and under the shade of a tree. It was lunch time, and she was waiting for her best friends to arrive. They usually ate lunch at the cafeteria, but today Temari had told them to meet her where she was waiting right now. Luckily, they didn't question her and just accepted, because if they had asked why she wanted to change their lunch spot so suddenly, she would've had to say those seven ugly, scary words: I have something important to tell you.

She sighed deeply. She hadn't needed to say those seven words yet, but in a few moments, when her three friends were there, she would have to finally say them. She didn't want to (they sounded so dramatic!) but she couldn't think of another way to start her confession.

I want to wait, she thought, I don't want to tell them so soon. But it wasn't that soon; it was actually late, because she had decided to wait too many times. She always told herself she'd do it, but she never did it because she never thought it was the "right moment." But if she continued like this, it would never be the right moment. So she had to make her right moment. And she was making it now.

"Hey, babe. Why so lonely?" TenTen teased as she approached Temari. She grinned at her as she sat, crossed-legged, beside her.

"I'm just waiting for you guys. You know? It sucks that I'm a year older than you and two older than the others, because I don't have any class with you girls," Temari said.

"I know, remember it's the same with me. I have other friends of my grade, of course, but if all of us were together it would totally rock." TenTen opened the plastic bag she had been holding and took out a red apple. She took a bite of it and asked, full-mouthed, "So why did you want to lunch here?"

Temari gulped nervously. "Uh, I'll tell you when the others arrive."

TenTen gave her a suspicious look, but whatever she planned to say, was interrupted by Ino, who was walking towards them as she exclaimed, "God, I hate my life!"

"Hi there, too," Temari said as Ino sat in front of her.

"What's happened, Ino?" TenTen asked, frowning.

"I just texted my soon-to-be-boyfriend asking him when we're going to have a real date," Ino replied, "and he told me he was busy, so he wasn't sure he would have time for it. That means he doesn't care about me! He doesn't want to see me!" She then took a bite of her granola bar and munched angrily.

TenTen rolled her brown eyes. "You're so dramatic. Chill out! Maybe he really is busy. Don't be so pushy. You barely know each other, anyways."

"Oh, shut up, you have no idea what I'm going through," Ino said, glaring. "None of you, actually. You guys are perfectly happy with your boyfriends, and you have nothing to mourn about. I, on the other side, am trying to get over the love of my life, but the guy I'm trying to replace him with doesn't seem to be so interested. Do you know what that means? That I'll have to get another replacement! And sexy, close-to-perfection replacements like Itachi are very hard to find, you know?"

Temari sighed as she raised an eyebrow at Ino. Really, the girl was shallow. Or well, at least sometimes. She was a good friend, but that kind of things she sometimes did were unbelievable. Like that thing she was doing with Sasuke's hot, older brother now. First of all, what if the guy was really into her? She was going to break his heart, because she just wanted him to forget about Sai. And second, calling him a "replacement" was not very nice.

Temari wanted to explain this to Ino, to tell her she wasn't doing the right thing, but she knew arguing with Ino, someone who hated to be corrected, was impossible. It wasn't hard to win, but the girl always ended up crying or getting mad at you, which made you end up apologizing. And Temari didn't feel like arguing with Ino, anyways, because she was too stressed out about what she was going to tell her friends when Sakura arrived.

And right then, Sakura arrived, as if Temari had invoked her with the mind. She looked sad, and was walking slowly and heavily, as if she was very tired, and Temari frowned at her, thinking: Ah hell, now what?

Sakura sat down beside Ino, who forgot about her frustration with Itachi and looked at her with wide, worry-filled eyes. "Sakura, what happened?" she asked. "Don't tell us that stupid Sasuke did something to you, because I'm going to-"

"Ino, it's nothing," Sakura interrupted. "I mean, it is something, but nothing you can take care of."

"Is it about the guy you met on Tuesday?" TenTen asked. "The one you were so happy about?"

"That reminds me!" Temari exclaimed as if she had had a great idea. "How was your date with him yesterday?"

"That's exactly why I'm like this," Sakura said. "Something awful happened at the end of the date – in which, by the way, I had a really good time."

"If it the date was okay, then what went wrong?" Ino asked.

"Don't tell us that he tried to take advantage of you, like by trying to grope you or something like that," TenTen said angrily.

"No, no," Sakura shook her head, "not at all. Sasori is a gentleman. But I'm the one who ruined it all. Not the date, but this whole illusion about having someone who could make me get over Sasuke."

"Why?" Temari asked.

"Because, when we kissed goodbye, I thought about Sasuke," Sakura replied, bowing her head. "Instead of thinking about Sasori's lips against mine, I wished I was kissing Sasuke instead. Because... I miss him." Her pretty green eyes started to look teary, and Temari gave her pitiful look as Ino gently rubbed Sakura's back.

"Hey, Saks," TenTen said softly, "don't worry. It's only been a few days since you guys broke up, so it's totally normal. It's impossible to fall out of love so quickly, so don't lose hope. You just need some more time for your heart to heal."

"That's right, I need some more time," Sakura said, sniffing, and looking up at TenTen. "That's exactly what I'm going to tell him. I'll be honest and explain him about Sasuke. That's the best thing I can do."

"Are you sure you want to do that?" Ino asked unsurely.

"Yeah, I am. He'll understand. And if he really likes me, then he'll wait and come back when I'm ready, right?"

Temari smiled at her friend. "Right. If he's worth it, he will wait."

Sakura smiled back and sniffed. "Still, it sucks I'm still in love with my ex, you know?"

"I understand you," Ino sighed. "I'm in the exact same situation. I got to accept it: I'm still not over Sai. As strong as I may appear, I still cry when I think a lot about him. And I feel so pathetic."

"We are pathetic, my friend," Sakura said, putting an arm around the blonde.

"God, this is so depressing I am getting sad," TenTen said, pouting.

"Ditto," Temari lied. She was getting sad, yeah, but not because she was sad for her friend's heart-breaking situations, but because she had realized she wasn't able to make the "right moment" she had wanted. She couldn't make them sadder than they already were right now, could she? It would be too cruel.

So she was going to have to wait some more.