A/N: I have to get all the way to day 'July 30', since Naruto told Sakura that they're staying together for twenty days, and I can't just cut that short. I'm running out of ideas!
Rich Boy, Poor Heart II
Chapter Eleven
000
"Ehh? You guys went on the ferris wheel too?" Ino shouted when she saw Sakura and Sasuke getting out of their little stall.
Soon afterwards, Hinata and Naruto came out, followed by Ten Ten and Neji, then finally Rain and Itachi.
"We all went on the ferris wheel at the same time?" Ino asked, surprised and amused at the same time.
The group all looked at each other, confused, until they all burst out laughing happily.
END JULY 18
000
JULY 19
"Yumi-chan…?"
The blonde girl whipped around, and turned back with a scoff.
"Why the hell are you up so early?"
"Sometimes, I wake up really early…"
"Well, go back to sleep. The freaking sun isn't even up and I want to be alone."
"Ano…Yumi-chan…I want us to be friends," Sakura finally declared. Yumi gave her a look and glared.
"Do you think I can be friends with someone I don't even like?" The blonde asked, getting furious. Sakura frowned, but continued.
"If this is about Sasuke-kun…" The pink-haired girl drifted off. Yumi rolled her eyes dramatically.
"Of course this is about Sasuke-kun. We've been neighbors for years. I've known him longer. I saw him first. But then you came in and ruined everything…" She told her harshly.
"I didn't know…" Sakura replied back sadly. Yumi scoffed again.
"Of course you didn't. As if Sasuke-kun would tell you about someone like me," She said unhappily. Sakura walked closer to her.
"I…I'm not planning on giving Sasuke-kun up anytime soon, but…" Sakura started, and Yumi glanced over at her.
"I still want us to become friends during this vacation," The pink-haired girl told her honestly.
"Go away. Just get out. I don't need any sympathy, especially from some annoying girl like you. And drop the innocent-trying-to-make-me-feel-bad act. I don't care if you don't want to give him up. I'm not going to give him to someone that easily," Yumi answered back, pushing Sakura away lightly.
Sakura stepped back, but smiled at her. Yumi looked away with an annoyed look.
000
"Sakura! There's an emergency!" Ino yelled as the said girl was coming down the stairs.
"H-huh?" Sakura asked, both alerted and confused. Ino let out a deep breath.
"She's back. Karin's back," The blonde told her. Sakura frowned.
"Is she…is she still going to try and marry Sasuke-kun?" She asked.
"Most likely. There's no other reason she would come back," Ino replied. Naruto looked out the window and cursed.
"Can't she just chase after some other guy?" He asked, annoyed.
"Anyway," Naruto turned to Sakura.
"We told everyone else in the house already. Sasuke's up hiding in Hinata's room because Karin's not likely to look in there. And we're going to tell her that Sasuke went out on a short business trip thing and won't be back for another week, okay?" He told Sakura carefully.
The pink-haired girl nodded and looked quite anxiously out the window. Karin was stepping out of the car, looking beautiful as always.
"Open up! I know you guys are there!" She called out rudely by the door. Ino put on a fake smile as she reached for the door knob.
"Karin! What are you doing here?" Ino said in a false pleasant tone. Karin rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.
"Shut up and drop the act. You know why I'm here," The red head told her. Ino gritted her teeth.
"For your information, Sasuke's not even here. He's on a business trip and he won't be back for a week," The blonde replied. Sakura was surprised at how convincing Ino sounded.
"You think I'll believe something like that? Let me in and I'll search this whole place for him," Karin demanded. Ino smiled widely.
"Be my guest," She replied, stepping back to let the red head in.
Naruto grinned.
"Go ahead and search the whole house! Even check Hinata-chan's room, because he's definitely not in there!" He shouted.
Then, realizing what he had just said, he muttered, "Oops."
Ino looked at him in disbelief and resisted the growing urge to smack him. Karin smirked.
"Hinata's room? That'll be the first place I check," She said and Sakura widened her eyes in slight fear.
"Oh, it's you," Karin said when she glanced over at Sakura. The pink-haired girl said nothing.
"Well, you and Sasuke might as well break up now. I have something he can't refuse to. He'll have to marry me this time," The red head said, flipping her hair. Sakura felt her breath get caught in her throat.
Karin began going up the stairs, and Naruto, Ino and Sakura followed silently. They knew they couldn't do anything now.
"Oh, Sasuke-kun!" The girl called out as she knocked on the door of Hinata's room. A curse was heard from the other side.
The door opened to reveal an annoyed looking Sasuke. His eyes instantly darted to Naruto.
"I knew you would tell her," He told him and Naruto let out a nervous laugh. Then, Sasuke looked towards Sakura, who tensed slightly.
He motioned her to come over to him and she listened, walking to him.
The Uchiha put her in front of him and put his hands on her shoulders. He looked at Karin, who merely smiled.
"Karin, this is the girl I've decided on. Nothing you do will change my mind. I'm not marrying you," Sasuke told her strictly. Karin sighed and flipped her red locks back.
"You're so stubborn Sasuke-kun. But you never really thought of what I could do to her, right?" She asked, pointing at Sakura. Sasuke was speechless for a few seconds.
"You can't," He merely said back. She rolled her eyes.
"Who do you think I am? I can do anything, Sasuke-kun. I can make nasty rumors about her. I can make her an outcast to the rest of Japan. I can make sure she never gets a job for the rest of her life," Karin explained coyly. Sasuke glared at her.
"Karin, that's going too low," He scoffed.
"I know," She answered back in a sugar coated tone.
"Karin, just go and get an actual life and leave Sasuke alone!" Ino yelled angrily.
"Shut up, this has nothing to do with you! I'll do whatever I want to get with Sasuke-kun," She said. Then, she looked back at Sakura.
"Imagine that girl getting hate mail from all of Japan. Imagine the hate sites. I can do so much and people will believe me. I can say that she ran off with most of the Uchiha's money, and people will still believe me," Karin told them.
"You can do whatever you want, Karin-san," Sakura told her, to everyone else's surprise.
"I can't take your word for that, dear. I'll give you until five days, July 4th, for you to really make up your mind. If you actually decide not to hand Sasuke-kun over, you'll see the results," Karin told her before leaving down the stairs.
The rest of the group waited until they heard the sound of the front door opening, and then closing.
"Sakura-chan…" Naruto started. Sakura sighed, but looked up and smiled at him. Hinata gave her a concerned look.
"I won't give Sasuke-kun away to anyone. Not ever," The pink-haired girl said. The Uchiha hugged her from behind and her eyes widened slightly.
"Sakura, I can't just let you go ruin your life like this. She's done this to so many girls. And all of those girls went into hiding and nobody ever heard from them anymore," Sasuke told her. Ino nodded.
"It's happened to one of my friends, Sakura," She said. Sakura frowned.
"Then you guys just want me to let Karin marry Sasuke-kun…?" She asked, confused. The rest of them were silent.
"It'll keep you safe," Naruto finally said. Sakura felt a weird feeling in her heart. She couldn't imagine Sasuke and Karin next to the altar. She couldn't imagine herself just sitting there on one of the benches, watching.
Before she knew it, tears had flooded her eyes. They all panicked and quickly tried to comfort her.
"S-Sakura-san, we'll find some way to get passed Karin," Hinata said quickly. Sakura shook her head and wiped the tears from her eyes.
"Sasuke-kun, don't marry her," She told him, her eyes getting teary again. Sasuke frowned.
"Hinata's right. We'll find a way around this," He told her and she began sobbing.
No one even told her that Sasuke definitely wasn't going to marry Karin.
000
"…And that's what happened…" Sasuke finished when he was finally done telling his dad about Karin. Fugaku frowned deeply.
"That girl never gives up," He stated. Ino nodded.
"You got that right," She huffed. Then, Fugaku turned to face Sakura.
"You are prepared for the worst, right? Karin can definitely ruin your life," Fugaku told her. Sakura looked surprised.
He understood. He understood that she wasn't prepared to give Sasuke away at any time.
"Yes," The pink-haired girl replied. Fugaku smirked lightly.
"Then if that's decided, we'll be alright," He stated and Sasuke frowned.
"I'm not letting Karin ruin her life," Sasuke interrupted.
"Sakura knows what she's doing," Fugaku replied strictly. Sasuke shook his head.
"She doesn't know," He said and Sakura felt a bit hurt. She took in a deep breath.
"Sasuke-kun, your Tou-san's right. I…I know what I'm doing," The pink-haired girl announced. Naruto and Ino exchanged looks of uncertainty.
"I…I know I'll have trouble at first…but I'll be okay. I have you guys," She told them, smiling. Naruto forced out a laugh.
"Sakura-chan…" He muttered.
"Sakura, I'm not let"—
"Sasuke," Fugaku cut him off. Sakura looked towards him gratefully.
"Sakura knows what she's doing. This is something I've learned from your mother," He said and Sasuke stayed silent, staring hard at the floor.
"Thank you, Uchiha-sama," Sakura said truthfully. Then, she looked over at Sasuke.
"Sasuke-kun…" She started. He glanced over at her and then grabbed her hand.
"Let's talk in private," He said quickly as he dragged her away from the small group. They went up the stairs and into his room.
"Sakura, I really don't want you to do this to yourself," Sasuke told her. She pouted.
"Don't worry about me anymore!" Sakura huffed. Sasuke shook his head.
"Of course I would worry," He pointed out. Finally, Sakura grabbed Sasuke's hands and looked him straight in the eye. He merely looked back at her with a slightly confused expression.
She smiled and something in his stomach just twisted.
"Trust me, Sasuke-kun. Everything will be okay," Sakura told him. With that smile on her face, he looked away guiltily. He still couldn't trust her to the fullest.
"Hn…" He replied, nonetheless. He squeezed her small hands and sighed.
"No more sighing until this is all over," Sakura said playfully. Sasuke merely smirked and sighed again.
000
Sai was sitting out in the back garden, admiring the flowers and vegetables Mikoto and Iko had put so much effort into growing.
On his lap was a large, blank sketchbook and a black pen. He had been sitting there since early morning, and had no plans to go inside any time soon.
"Sai-san!" A voice called out when he heard the door sliding open. The man turned around to see Sakura, clad in a little white dress, walking up to him with a pleasant smile on her face.
"I was wondering where you were," She told him. She stood right next to him, and he looked up at her curiously. She fidgeted.
"Ano…is it okay if I sit next to you?" The pink-haired girl finally asked. Sai stared at her for a few seconds and she looked nervous for a while.
"Yes," He replied simply. It seemed as if she let out a sigh of relief while she sat down. Sai glanced over at her.
She was too lazy to actually get dressed since she was still in her little white sleeping gown. Her long pink hair that was usually cascading down her back was now pulled up into a large, messy bun. The sun happened to bounce off of her skin the right way, making her complexion look white and perfectly clear. The way that the small pond below them reflected into her green eyes made her seem even prettier.
Sai had come to the conclusion that she was indeed beautiful.
"Um…Sai-san?" He heard her say. "Yes?" He asked. Sakura giggled lightly.
"I asked you something…but I guess you didn't hear it," She told him.
"What was it…?" Sai asked. Sakura smiled at him and pointed at his notebook.
"I asked why you have a notebook with you," She said. He looked down and hadn't realized the notebook on his lap was still empty and blank.
"I was supposed to draw something…" He started. "But I suppose I'm not sure what to draw anymore," He replied. Then, he looked over at Sakura.
"Can I draw you?" Sai asked. She blinked, surprised. She quickly tucked some hair behind her ear, embarrassed.
"Ano…why?" She asked. He looked down at the pond of koi fish before looking back at her.
"You're beautiful," He told her quite bluntly, and she blushed pink. But she quickly shook her head.
"Sai-san, that's"—
"I don't have a crush on you or anything," Sai interrupted her. She glanced up at him. "I just think you're beautiful," He finished bluntly, once again.
"You're…becoming better at this," Sakura told him.
"At…?" Sai was confused. She giggled.
"Showing your feelings. You're still a bit…blunt. But at least you're not using exact opposites now," She explained.
He couldn't help it. The corner of his lips turned up and Sakura stared at him in slight awe.
"How do you know I'm still not using exact opposites?" He asked her, smirking. This time, she beamed at him.
Before she knew it, Sai was drawing her. She looked down at the pond, too embarrassed to look straight at him for a long time.
Sai spent ten minutes at most, looking up at her, drawing, and repeating the process. Finally, he set the pen down and Sakura turned to face him.
"You're finished? That fast?" She asked him. He nodded and silently handed the notebook over to her.
Sakura took it from his hands gingerly and looked at the notebook. Her green eyes filled with awe and she opened her mouth. With every line, every detail and every shade, it almost seemed real.
"Sai-san…this is amazing…" She told him. He smiled, but it wasn't as genuine as the other one.
"Thank you. I'd like to keep it," He replied.
"Oh, right," Sakura said, handing him back the notebook.
"Are you sure you didn't exaggerate it though? I don't really look that dazzling," The pink-haired said, getting embarrassed again. He shook his head.
"I only draw what I see. I can't imagine," Sai answered back. She said nothing to this.
"I heard about Karin," Sai said suddenly, and she whipped her head around to look at him.
"Everyone was talking about it. I can hear a lot from out here," He explained before she could ask. Sakura sighed and brought her knees up to her chest. She wrapped her arms around her legs and rested her head on her knees.
"She's…annoying," She said quietly.
"She's stubborn. She doesn't like to hand things over easily," Sai told her. Sakura frowned.
"Yeah…we probably have that in common…" Then, she instantly lifted her head up and Sai looked at her curiously.
Quickly, the pink-haired girl stood up.
"Thank you, Sai-san!" She told him before bowing down and running back inside the house. He looked down at the drawing and smiled lightly.
000
"Mikoto-san, what's Karin's address? I'm going to go visit her," Sakura declared.
Iko, who was standing next to Mikoto, dropped her mixing spoon and looked at Sakura in shock.
"What?" Both Iko and Mikoto said together.
A/N: Little Sakura and Sai moment! But I'm just trying to develop Sai's character faster, haha. There won't be a huge love triangle or anything. At least I think so. Anyway, Sakura's going to go visit Karin! What will happen?
Thanks for reading!