Ino
I paced back and forth across the mat, my long blonde hair swishing in the high ponytail that it was in. My face was red with heat and my breathing shallow. I have been trying to get Shikamaru off of my mind for a while now, but something, whether big or small, would eventually bring my thoughts back to his long brown hair or the way he quirks his mouth to the side to smirk. His broad chest and—
"Ino!" I looked up to Tenten, who was holding a punching bag in place. She was wearing an identical out-fit to mine, a sports bra and sweatpants, but hers was brown compared to my sky blue with pink trimming. She looked slightly annoyed and I gave her an apologetic grimace.
"Sorry," I said, giving the bag a solid kick that pushed her back a little. I landed a solid punch, then jab. I continued this combo for a few more minutes before Tenten was satisfied for our workout, and, after saying that she was going out with Neji tonight, took off. She had finally started officially dating him, and the news had been going on and on about it. First was HinaNaru, then Sasusaku, and now finally NejiTen. I was the last one who was single, as of last night after a fight with my now ex-boyfriend. I had been the one to break it off, which has never been the case before, since he always broke up with me instead. "It's because of that guy, isn't it? The one who answered the phone?!" He had yelled. "No!"I had retorted, "This is because I'm tired of this, of us. It has nothing to do with Shikamaru." But that had been a lie, and we both knew it. I had never second guessed my relationship before, not until Shikamaru. I hated it, because Shikamaru wasn't even in love, he was a heartbreaker. A jerk; who was way to smooth with the ladies. I heard Sasuke and Shikamaru talking about dating the other day. There's too many to only have one, he had said with a smirk, No woman is worth that much trouble.
"Oh," I looked up at the man who had been plaguing my thoughts for the past few days. His hair was up in its usual ponytail, but he was dressed in a pair of black track pants with no shirt, which showed off his chest. He turned to go, but I stopped him.
"It's fine, I'm done anyway." I let out a sigh and took a drink from my water bottle. "Honestly Shikamaru, you can be pissed all you want, but it's not fair when you don't even care about me that much. I've heard stories, about all the girls you've been with. You're a heartbreaker. It's some sick joke for you, isn't it? Get the girl; have her fall for you, then what? What would you do, Shikamaru?" I pointed a finger to his chest, "Tell me."
"I leave," He said finally, looking down at me from his height, which was a head taller than I. I looked down and smirked sadly.
"Exactly," I said my voice cracking. I know he could hear it in my voice, the sadness. I had fallen for him, despite whether he knew it or not, and it hurt to know that he didn't even care. It's only a game to guys like him. "I mean there are too many girls in this world to have only one; women aren't worth the trouble. Right? I mean, I see where you are coming from. After all, I was quite a heartbreaker myself." Recognition fell into his eyes as he remembered the news, the tabloids. It was true, before Kenji, I had dominated the dating scene. "I was blind, but now I see." I gave an evil smirk, "I'm back to my old self again."
"Ino…," But I didn't give him a chance to finish. Instead I brushed past him, his shoulder brushing against mine. I turned around on the mat, putting my hands up in the position for Tia-Jutsu. He looked at me, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion.
"Spar with me," I whispered as seductively as I could, my balance switching to my back foot. He looked at me again, this time cocking his head to the right and smirking.
"You're challenging me? To spar?" I nodded, the smirk still painted on my lips. He shook his head and smiled, "Do you know how ridiculous that is?"
"Why not?" He shrugged and backed up, bringing his leg up quickly to hit my side, but I caught it and twisted it around. He easily deflected the move by jumping out of it and went for a jab to my right. I dodged it, but barley. Giving a little laugh, I looked up and went for a punch to his face, but he moved and it landed on the upper part of his right arm. He jumped back and cocked his head again, pursing his lips.
"Not bad," He said, walking behind the punching bag that hung from the wall, "Who taught you?" I ran at the bag in an attempt to kick it, but when I brought my leg up for the kick, all I got was air and it caused me to trip, the ground hurtling towards my face. I closed my eyes, knowing the fall was probably going to hurt, but, after a few seconds, opened my eyes to see Shikamaru holing me with one hand as the other grabbed the chain of the punching bag, holding us up. I could feel the heat rush to my face as he looked at me, and, determined not to look like a fool, took my foot and hit the back of his knee, causing him to fall while I remained standing above him.
"Self taught," I spoke, straitening myself up, "you?" He rolled over and sat down on the mat and I did the same, watching him as he leaned back to stare at the ceiling. There was a small smile on his face.
"Same," He spoke, "When you're thrown out on the street young, you learn to fight." His words bored through me. "I ran away from a bad situation at home. Sasuke found me and took me in. I think I became a player because girls never really looked at me before, now they do. They're evil things, only like someone because of what they have, not who they are." I watched him raise his hand to the air, looking at it curiously. He was quiet for a few moments and I stood up in frustration.
"I don't know why you're telling me this." I said in irritation, "Apparently I'm one of those so-called girls you're talking about." I started to walk out, but Shikamaru grabbed my hand and stopped me.
"I'll be honest, that's what I thought when I first saw you. Someone who walks with her head up and likes to party, someone like you, is exactly what I thought I hated." I think he saw the hurt across my face, because he froze up. "No, that sounded wrong. What I meant is that, I was so wrong about you. You're pretty and smart, even though you don't let anyone see it. I should have fought harder for you, and I wish…" He looked down at me and cursed, "Can we just go to a movie or something?"
". …..NANI?!" I yelled. He blushed, "You're asking me out?" He scratched the back of his neck, which had turned red.
"Yeah?"
"Oh… okay then." He smiled and nodded. I turned around to leave and, once my back was to him, smiled like a mad woman.
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Sasuke
I looked at Sakura, who was wrapped up in blankets on my bed. She looked so beautiful and I didn't want to wake her, but I had to. I walked over and at on the bed at her side, gently shaking her shoulder. I expected her to wake up sweetly, but with Sakura, you never get what you expect.
"NANI!" She yelled, sitting up quickly and punching me across the face solidly, causing me to fly off the bed onto my butt. "Ah Sasuke, was that you? Sorry I was having a crazy dream."
"Go figure," I said rubbing my jaw with my hand. "Sheesh Godzilla." She smirked apologetically and got off the bed, kneeling down to look at my face, concern in her eyes.
"Why did you wake me this early anyway?" She asked, her hands inspecting the soon-to-be bruise.
"I'm taking you somewhere, get dressed in something comfortable." She looked at my with confusion, but nodded and complied to my command, dressing into a pair of black skinny jeans and a pink tank top that was tight at the top, but fell freely after the bust line. I watched her brush through her pink hair and applied her makeup. When she was finished, she went to the restroom to brush her teeth and came out looking beautiful.
"Where are we going Sasuke?" I shook my head and grabbed her hand as we went outside into the warm air. It was a perfect day, the sun covered a little by fluffy white clouds, making it so it was too hot. There was also a small breeze that played with our hair a little and made my deep blue v-neck flutter a little.
I opened the garage and looked at the dozen or so cars that rested there. "Pick one," I told her, "I can't decide which one we should take." Her eyes lit up and she smiled. She always liked to choose the car, I don't know why, but she seemed like a child in a candy shop whenever I let her choose.
"The mustang," She said, walking over to my dark nave blue 2010 Mustang GT convertible, "It's my favorite." I gave a small chuckle as I watched her get in the car and I twirled the keys a couple of times before opening my door and sitting in the driver's seat.
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Sakura
I don't know what Sasuke was up to, but I complied anyway, sitting down on the black leather seat of the Mustang. He sometimes did this though, woke me up to go somewhere, just us, usually a small café for coffee or a walk on the beach, somewhere where we would be alone with few people there. So, when Sasuke pulled into the parking lot of an amusement park, I was a little surprised. I loved amusement parks, but Sasuke hardly ever went. Not that he didn't like the rides, but rather, because there were so many people here, and, despite Sasuke being a rock star, he didn't like human interaction with strangers.
"Well?" I looked up at Sasuke, who had his hand held out for me to get out of the car. I grabbed it eagerly and we went to the gate, where many people pointed at us and screamed our names. We got through the admissions office quickly and, once we got out to where the rides were, I looked at Sasuke. He was looking at all of the rides too, a smile on his face, which was rare. "Shall, we ride that one? Or that one?" He said pointing to numerous contractions.
I smiled and looked at him, he was just as eager as I. "All of them!" I said.
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Neji
I sat down at the table of the small café, Tenten sitting across from me. She was pretty, dressed in her blue jeans and tight brown top. Her hair was up in just one bun today, a pair of chopsticks holding it up. She looked up and blushed when she noticed I was staring at her. "Nani?" She asked cocking her head to the side a little to look at me.
"Nothing," I said with a small smile,"Can I not look at you?"
"Do you ever get flustered?" She asked, "You're always so steady. Nothing ever seems to faze you. It's almost as if you know what's going to happen before it does. Are you like a time traveler or something?" She asked with a smirk, "Or do you just read minds?" I chuckled at her accusation, and looked out the window at the people walking down the street with their shopping bags or children.
"Neither," I said looking back at her, "You faze me." She blushed again, causing me to chuckle a little. "I am pretty good at reading people," I said looking at the menu, "but you are one of the most unpredictable person I have ever met. And that makes you fun to be around." She looked down, studying the table with a red face.
"So what if I become… predictable?" She asked quietly.
"That," I spoke meeting her eyes, "Is impossible." She smiled and leaned over to kiss me, a small brush of her lips.
"I love you Neji-kun."
"As do I Tenten."
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Karin
I don't know what happened. Suigetsu was… not the type of guy I would go for, yet was everything I could ever hope for. He was cute as hell, with pale skin and pretty colored eyes, and he even rocked the whole 'blue hair' thing. He had good fashion sense too, but I never really looked at him. And now that I was, I didn't want to stop.
I looked out over the railing to the beach. There were quite a few people here, some playing in the ocean, others tanning in the sun. I felt Suigetsu walk behind me and I turned away from the beach to face him, letting my back lean against the wall. He was wearing a pair of black swimsuit shorts that sagged low on him, two bright orange surfboards tucked in under his arms. "You know I've never done this before…" I spoke, "Surf, I mean." He smiled, his sharpened teeth showing.
"That's why I'm going to teach you," we walked down into the sand at to the shoreline. The water was nice, perfectly warm I noticed as the waves lapped at my heels. "It's easy once you get the basics." He bent over, setting one board across a small lunch table before waxing it. I watched him for a few moments in silence before speaking.
"When did you learn to surf?" I asked him, watching his hand glide over the first board. He seemed deep in thought and didn't answer for a while.
"Since I was little," He said with a smirk, "actually, I don't remember not being able to surf. When I was young," he said twisting so he settled the bench, "I loved the water. I still do. There's something about being at the mercy of water. It's like I can communicate with it, sense it within me." He looked at me and blushed a little, turning away from me, "Never mind, that doesn't make much sense, does it?"
"No," I said to him, leaning over his shoulder to take the rag out of his hand, "It makes perfect sense. Will you teach me what you're doing?" He cocked his head and smiled again, making my heart race.
"Of course." He said, his lips brushing mine, making me blush. There was no doubt about it. I Kairn, was definitely in love.
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Hinata
I watched as everyone sat down at the long table for the dinner that Sasuke and Sakura made. Everyone seemed so happy; I just wonder how long it will last. This peace; this love, will it work?
I looked over at Naruto, who was talking excitedly to Neji, who couldn't seem to care less. He turned to look at me, and caught me staring at him. He flashed me a smile, and I blushed from his attention. I was so lucky. He was mine and I was his. I felt my heart speed up and my hand grabbed my chest, the pounding obvious. Is this what love felt like? If it is, I don't want any of it to end, for anyone.
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Sakura
Soft music played through the radio in the kitchen and the end of my pink dress swished as I gently swayed to the music, while pulling out the ham from the stove and setting down on the counter. Sasuke came up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist and tucking his chin into the back of my neck as I began to cut it.
"Are you happy?" He whispered into my ear, causing a shiver to go down my spine. I looked at my hand and smiled.
"More than happy." I replied, backing up and grabbing a few trays to carry to the table. Sasuke grabbed the main dish and followed me out into the dining room where the others were sitting and talking. Sasuke pulled out my chair for me to sit down, and when he did, he walked to the head of the table, which was next to me, and raised a glass.
"I have an announcement to make," He spoke and I smiled.
"Can we ride that one last?" Sasuke asked, pointing to the ferris wheel, "The sky looks beautiful tonight." I nodded and let him guide me as we bought the tickets for it and loaded onto the cart. Today had been so much fun, Sasuke even smiled a lot more than usual. I didn't want the night to end. Not ever.
His hand reached for mine and I leaned against him as the ride jolted to a start, rising up above to the dark sky. When we reached the top, I gasped at the city. The lights were bright, beautiful against the navy colored sky. "It' so beautiful," I whispered. Sasuke smirked before letting my hand go and I watched as he kneeled down onto the tiny platform of the cart. "Nani? Sasuke are you okay?"
"More than okay," He said smirking at my cluelessness. I didn't understand until he pulled out a small black case and opened it, a small emerald diamond ring showing.
"You got me a ring," I said smiling, "It's gorgeous." He stared at me for a moment and then laughed. Like seriously laughed, this was very rare. "Oi, Sasuke are you all right?"
"I'm proposing to you, baka." He said, "I want you to marry me." A few moments passed as I let it sink in.
"OMG!" I screamed, causing people to look up at us. I hugged him and laughed at my own sillyness, "Yes! Of course!"
"Sakura has agreed to marry me," He said to our friends, causing a sudden uproar of applause and exclamations from our friends. I looked over at him from across the huge oak table, past our friends who were enjoying the meal and talking excitedly. This was it, we were all happy. I was happy.