Sorry for the long wait, but I really wanted to get this chapter right since it's finally Deidara's turn to get a little attention. And before anyone begs me, no this is not going to randomly turn into a Deisaku fic. However, since I really enjoyed doing a quick oneshot for the previous chapter's little prize, I've decided that I'll start a little Itasaku anthology. So, I'll write a oneshot each for the first 5 reviewers to suggest a theme. (One word or phrase should be nice. And please, nothing vulgar. There are children in these parts.)
Anyway, for everyone wondering why Deidara is such a ... ho in this story, here be your answers.
Thanks, as always, to my lovely reviewers and enjoy!
Fancy Footwork
Chapter 8: Coup
Four days after her unfortunate fall (Kisame called it "Little Squirrel-Chan's Tumble", earning a handful of rice to the face during dinner one day), Sakura's ankle was mostly healed, although Itachi had banned her from doing any strenuous dancing for a while. She refused to use crutches, earning a fair share of exasperated looks, but she was Sakura. Stubbornness was one of her specialties.
It was Thursday, which usually meant that there were some afterschool activities. Still, by the time she finished her work, most people had gone home. The empty corridors echoed with her uneven footsteps as she carried a stack of papers back to the student council office. When she managed to maneuver the door open with her elbow, she ran straight into Hyuuga Neji's chest.
"Sorry," she muttered as she slipped past him and deposited the huge pile on his desk. She didn't trust herself to act polite to the student council president today, especially with her ankle beginning to ache again. When she turned to leave, he was hovering in the doorway.
"Do you need something, Hyuuga-senpai?" Sakura asked, trying her best not to sound too annoyed. But she had just spent two hours recopying two month's worth of financial records and then typed up a proposal for the upcoming cultural festival to be submitted to the principal. Her neck was stiff from hunching over a desk all afternoon.
"Did you just finish all that?" Neji asked, sounding slightly less haughty than usual. Still, Sakura crossed her arms over her chest. Ever since being elected freshman year, she had listened to his criticisms and smiled while he insulted her social standing. But he had never complained about her work. Ever. And she had never given him reason to. She frowned when he crossed the room to flip through the neatly collated and bound financial records.
"You did this?" he demanded, holding up the neat packet filled with color-coded grids and numbers.
"Yes. I've been doing those since last year," she huffed, insulted that he looked so surprised.
"Contrary to what you may believe, I know how to add and subtract, senpai," Sakura added, her irritation leaking into her voice.
"But this is the treasurer's job," Neji said as he read through the messy first drafts she had tucked into the back. Shino's nearly illegible scrawl and sloppy addition made him probably the least suited for his position. Well, not that anyone would know since she had already spent a year and a half covering for him.
"Well, senpai, if Aburame-san actually attended half the meetings and knew how to use a calculator, I wouldn't be doing his job for him," Sakura replied, rubbing the back of her neck. She shifted her weight to her left foot as the right began to tire a little. Neji placed his hand on top of the thick stack, his eyebrows furrowing.
"Look, senpai. I know you don't like me. But there's no need to act so surprised. I'm not bragging, but this student council wouldn't be functioning without me," Sakura sighed, a little more than exasperated with this whole antagonistic dynamic. At this, Neji's usual arrogant smile reappeared on his face. Sakura's eyes narrowed. She really wanted to throw paint in his face or stick gum in his hair.
"I highly doubt that, Haruno," he sneered. Sakura felt her patience with him finally snap like a worn-out rubber band.
"Fine," she snapped. She flung her key ring at him along with the thick manila folder she had left on the desk.
"Here are the keys to the office and the supply room. And here are all the future activities and proposals we need to approve for the cultural festival next month. Enjoy yourself, Hyuuga-senpai," she coolly said before she strode out of the office. She stomped as best as her slightly tender ankle would let her back to the classroom. She sat on top of her desk and stared out the window, silently fuming.
Ten minutes later, the door slid open. She kept her shoulders stiff, refusing to turn. It was probably Hyuuga coming to rub a minor typo in her face or something. Instead, Itachi crossed the room to sit on top of the desk next to hers. The top buttons of his shirt were undone, exposing his collarbones. His sleeves were pushed up lopsidedly. His car keys jingled merrily when he shifted his leg. She felt her impressive scowl automatically soften into a frown. It looked like he had had a rougher day than she had.
"Are you alright?" he asked, genuinely concerned. She considered not saying anything, especially since he looked more worn out that she did. But she knew that not talking would lead to him worrying more and then eventually Sasori would pick up on it and he would start worrying too and then Kisame- It would become too complicated.
"The student council president told me he didn't need me. So I… I quit," she shortly said. Somehow, when she summarized the situation like that, she realized how childish she sounded. She had been so angry and tired when she had thrown her things at him.
"Was I … wrong?" Sakura inquired, looking up at Itachi. But he surprised her when he chuckled.
"Good for you. Though he'll probably be crawling back to you in a little bit," Itachi said. Sakura stared at him.
"But the cultural festival's coming up and the student council's going to be swamped. Am I being too selfish?"
Sakura's eyes widened when Uchiha Itachi, probably the most dignified and cool person she knew, snorted and rolled his eyes.
"Haruno Sakura, you are the least selfish person I know. So please, enjoy your moment of well-earned liberty," Itachi commanded her and Sakura found herself nodding. She gnawed on her lower lip as she took his words in. Maybe he was right. Sakura jumped a little when Itachi put his hand on top of her head.
"Don't worry so much," he said. A smile found its way across her mouth.
"Okay."
But the swell of happiness in her chest deflated as she noticed the stack of papers sitting next to Itachi.
"Oh! I completely forgot to submit this!" she exclaimed, reaching around him to gather up the pile. But Itachi beat her to the punch and easily scooped them up. Her mouth automatically opened to protest but Itachi pointed to her ankle and her mouth snapped shut again. After a moment, she rethought her argument and opened her mouth again. Itachi again gestured to her ankle and she settled for crossing her arms over her chest.
"Sakura-san, please. I'm trying to spoil you," Itachi said. Sakura wrinkled her nose at him.
"You don't have an excuse, Itachi-san. The others do, but you already have your own little brother to spoil," she protested. But Itachi gave her a blank look.
"Sakura-san, my little brother is Sasuke. Please rethink your last statement," he flatly said. Sakura imagined Sasuke's disgusted expression if Itachi offered to carry his things for him. She reluctantly let her arms fall to her sides.
"Well…. Okay then… Thank you," she sighed as she picked up her bag and slung it over her right shoulder. They left the classroom and journeyed down the hallway to the faculty room. She hesitated for a moment as they stood outside the closed door.
"Sakura-san?"
Sakura took a deep breath before she slowly slid the door open and called out in a tiny voice, "Excuse me?" To her relief, the elderly principal, Sarutobi, was sitting at his desk in the middle of the room. He smiled pleasantly as he waved her over. Sakura approached him with Itachi following.
"I almost forgot to hand these in today, sir," Sakura explained as Itachi set the pile on the desk. Sarutobi raised grey eyebrows as he surveyed the pile. He let out a little sigh that sounded somewhat exasperated.
"Haruno-san…. You really do a lot of work around here," he helplessly said as he patted her arm. Behind her, Itachi let out a similar noise. At this, Sarutobi peered behind Sakura and finally noticed Itachi standing there.
"Ah! Itachi-kun! What are you doing here!" Sarutobi exclaimed, extending his hand to shake Itachi's. Itachi smiled politely in response. Sakura shot him a confused look and the corner of his mouth lifted. Sarutobi noticed the small interaction. His brow furrowed as he looked back and forth between them. A knowing grin spread across his face as he slapped Itachi on the back.
"Aha, Itachi-kun here has always been popular with women," Sarutobi chuckled. Sakura pursed her lips, trying her best not to laugh while Itachi cleared his throat.
"Um… Itachi-san's just the senpai in my dance crew, sir," Sakura quietly explained. At once, the old man's eyes grew very wide as he took them in again. He stroked at his gray goatee as he pondered something deeply.
"Dance crew?" he murmured to himself. Itachi's shoulders stiffened.
"Haruno-san, you know that enrollment to our school has declined in recent years, right?" Sarutobi began. Sakura nodded warily. She didn't like the smile on his face. It was the same expression Deidara gave her before he and Sasori sprang new clothes and make-up on her.
"Well, I've been trying to come up with ways to make our cultural festival much more appealing to potential students," Sarutobi explained and Sakura slowly nodded again. The old man abruptly stood, pointing his finger at her.
"Haruno-san, Itachi-kun, I'm inviting your crew to come perform at the cultural festival next month!" Sarutobi ordered. She felt all the blood drain from her face as she took in the prospect of dancing at school… in front of her classmates. Feeling a little panicky, she turned around to ask Itachi to do something but Itachi looked just as helpless at her.
"But sir-" began Sakura, turning back to the principal.
"And I'm expecting a special performance from you, Haruno-san. It'll be a good way to show off the talents of one of our precious students as well as our alumni," Sarutobi chuckled. Sakura heard Itachi smack his palm against his forehead. Horrified, all she could do was stare at the man who had just effectively destroyed all her plans for happiness.
"A SPECIAL PERFORMANCE AT YOUR SCHOOL?" Deidara and Kisame blurted out in synch. Sasori, who had been quietly enjoying a lollipop, abruptly crunched through it with his molars. Three pairs of wide eyes focused in on her. Sakura responded by sliding to the floor and pulling the hood of her sweatshirt over her head.
"It's hopeless. I should just go start digging my grave now," she groaned, rolling onto her back. Just the idea of having to face her classmates made her head throb. Sasori wedged himself between Kisame and Deidara who were standing over her, wordless with shock. He sat beside her and patted her head consolingly. When she peered up at him from under her hood, he silently offered her a cherry lollipop, his favorite flavor. Touched, she politely refused and then looked up at Itachi, silently praying that there was some way to get out of this.
"Itachi, do something, yeah! Sakura-chan's nowhere near ready for something like this!" Deidara protested, like he had read her mind.
"There's…. really nothing we can do. Sarutobi is a stubborn old man," Itachi sighed. Kisame, who seemed to have recovered from the initial shock, sat up straight.
"What if you found some girls to dance with you? Wouldn't that make things better?" Kisame spoke up, prodding Sakura in the shoulder. She glanced up at him glumly.
"Do you think that'd be okay?" she tentatively asked. Sarutobi had asked for her special performance. Not a girls' performance. But Deidara seemed to perk up at the idea.
"It should be fine as long as you're the one in the middle. I'll start calling up some girls to ask," he said, reaching for his cell phone. To everyone's disgust, he began happily reading off all the girls' names in his address book, starting with "Aiko-chan who has really nice legs" and earning a smack in the back of the head from Sasori. Sakura rolled her eyes as she looked away from him. Itachi crouched beside her, his expression apologetic.
"Maybe some girls in your school can help?" he suggested.
"Yes. Maybe Sasuke-kun can learn to do the Macarena with me," Sakura huffed and Itachi cracked a smile.
"Impossible. Sasuke strikes me as more of a chicken dance person," Itachi replied and despite all her fear and frustration, Sakura finally laughed.
The next day, Itachi dropped her off at school, even though the swelling in her ankle was mostly gone and it didn't really hurt to walk on it anymore. Shizune had told her that it hadn't even been sprained in the first place. But despite all her protest, Itachi had stubbornly escorted her to school. As she hopped out of the car a block away from the campus, she frowned at him.
"Most girls would be flattered to have a personal chauffeur," Itachi said in response to her disapproving expression as he handed over her bag.
"Itachi-san, unwillingly transporting someone is called kidnapping, not chauffeuring," she countered smartly. Itachi chuckled. Despite her rather prickly mood, he was good-humored and instead patted the top of her head.
"See you later," he said. Sakura nodded as she shut the passenger side door and watched him drive off in the direction of Konoha University.
"Haruno-chan?" a faraway voice called.
Sakura turned at the sound of her name. At the very end of the street, she recognized a glint of gold. Grinning broadly, Naruto ran up to her, his shoulder bag thumping against his leg. Somehow, the image of him energetically waving at her reminded her of their days in middle school together. Before everything had been ruined. A little smile quirked at her lips when Naruto hunched over to catch his breath.
"Hey, whose car was that?" Naruto asked, huffing just a little.
"Just a friend's. I tweaked my ankle the other day and now he's worried about me," she explained. Naruto's cerulean eyes widened as he looked down at her feet, as if one of her ankles would be grotesquely swollen. Sakura laughed.
"I'm fine, Naruto," she assured him when he narrowed his eyes and pursed his lips. He eyed her suspiciously for a moment.
"Hm… if you say so, Haruno-chan," Naruto muttered as they began walking in the direction of the school.
"Why are you here so early?" Sakura inquired.
"Me? Gai-sensei asked us all to come in early for a meeting. I think it's about the competition that's coming up," Naruto said with a shrug. He crossed his arms behind his head and Sakura was surprised by just how tall he was. In fact, Naruto stood several inches taller than her. It was odd since she remembered him whining about his height all throughout elementary and middle school. She giggled as she recalled the time he had tried to drink milk to grow taller without realizing that it had expired at least a week before.
"Sakura-chan?" Naruto said, confused. They both froze for a moment when they realized what he had just called her. He nervously scratched the side of his head.
"Oh, sorry about that, Haruno-chan. It just kind of slipped," he apologized. But Sakura shook her head.
"It's just been a while since anyone at school's called me that," she quietly said. In fact, no one at Konoha High had ever called her by that name. When she thought about it, only Deidara, Kisame and Sasori referred to her as "Sakura-chan". When had that started? And why didn't it bother her as much as it should?
"Yeah…. It's been a long time… 9 years?" Naruto murmured. Her eyebrows lifted.
"You remember that?" Sakura demanded, amazed. The usual cheerful smile slipped from Naruto's face for a moment. The corners of his mouth turned down as he looked over at her.
"Of course I do. You suddenly stopped talking as much, you didn't want to play during recess… And whenever I called your name…" Naruto trailed off. He put his hands over his ears, copying what she had done as a child.
"Don't call me that!"
"Sakura-chan?"
"Don't call me that! Stop calling me that!"
Sakura bowed her head. She could remember the hole that had opened up in her chest after her father had left. No letters. No phone calls. It was as if he had never even existed. And it hurt to hear herself being called "Sakura-chan", especially since that was what her father had once called her with his tender smiles and gentle hugs. The hole was still there. It wasn't as big and it didn't hurt as much, but she supposed that it would never go away completely.
"I'm sorry, by the way," Naruto said. Sakura lifted her head as they went through the school's opened front gates. The big tree in the schoolyard was beginning to turn from green gold at the tips of its wide branches. Naruto suddenly stopped walking and she copied him. He was being so unusually serious that it scared her a little.
"At that time… I didn't know what to say to you to make it better… so I just didn't say anything. I'm sorry that your dad was such a big asshole and that you had to get hurt like that, Haruno-chan," Naruto solemnly said as he met her eyes. Sakura bit her lip as she felt her eyes beginning to sting with the beginnings of tears. She hurriedly ran the back of her hand across her eyes before he could the few drops that had leaked out. She could see Naruto beginning to panic a little. He had never been good with dealing with girls crying.
"Naruto?" she quietly said, sniffing just once. His expression still concerned, Naruto nodded enthusiastically to tell her than he was listening. He lowered his head so that they were at eye-level. There was so much sincerity glowing in his eyes that it almost made her want to cry again.
"You're a good friend…. And thank you," Sakura whispered, wiping at her eyes once again. At this, the usual grin returned to Naruto's face.
"Anything for you, Haruno-chan," Naruto declared as he lightly patted her arm. And she couldn't help but smile too. Naruto's optimism was always contagious. He put his hand on her shoulder and led her to the stone steps leading up to the front entrance. With a little push, he made her sit. When he settled beside her, Sakura nudged his shoulder with hers, something she hadn't done since middle school.
"Hey, Naruto?"
"Yeah?" he replied, leaning back on his hands.
"Didn't you use to b-boy?" she asked and Naruto's head perked up.
"Uh… well, yeah. I quit last year. Why?" Naruto replied.
"Do you happen to know any girls in our school who dance?" Sakura nervously asked. The date of the upcoming cultural festival loomed in the back of her mind. She seriously needed to figure out what to do before then. Naruto hummed as he thought for a moment.
"There's… Tenten-senpai? You know the one in Class 3-A that Hyuuga hangs out with all the time?" he suggested. Sakura tilted her head to the side as she tried to remember. A skinny girl with brown hair came to mind.
"She's pretty chill if you need to talk to her. And Hyuuga tends to be nicer around her," Naruto added, stroking his chin.
"Thanks, Naruto," Sakura sighed with relief. Naruto made a noise of assent in the back of his throat before they lapsed back into silence. After a moment, he pointed to a passing cloud, saying that it looked like Sasuke with a flower growing from his head. They both laughed at the ridiculous thought.
"Why aren't we better friends?" Sakura inquired, giggling. Minus the fact that he asked her out on a date every week, it was nice talking to him. Naruto snorted once as he closed his eyes and soaked in the warm, autumn sun.
"That would be Sasuke-teme's fault, right?" he retorted. Nodding a little sadly, she looked down at her lap. Naruto surprised her by slinging his arm over her shoulder and squeezing her close to his side. There was still nobody in the schoolyard, so she didn't feel too self-conscious about the close contact, but she was still rather confused about the sudden show of affection. Sakura looked over her shoulder and was met with Naruto's bright grin right by her face.
"Naruto, what are you doing?" she squealed as she felt her cheeks turn a little warmer.
"Sakura-chan, when did you become so nice?" Naruto laughed as she squirmed in his grip.
"I was always nice! What are you talking about?" Sakura snapped back irritably and Naruto released her, still chuckling.
"Tell you what, Sakura-chan," Naruto said, still grinning brightly. Sakura was still frowning, but she turned to look at him. He was holding his hand out towards her. When she looked at it questioningly, Naruto shook his hand up and down. A little less confused, Sakura took his hand and lightly shook it.
"Okay. From now on, we'll be even better friends than before," Naruto firmly declared, as if they had just signed an official agreement. He didn't even give her time to react. Without another word, he released her hand, got to his feet and headed into the school. Bewildered, Sakura looked down at her hand still hanging in the air.
After a while, Sakura remembered that since Naruto was… well… Naruto, there really was no point in trying to figure out what he had meant. A few students began filtering in through the front gate so she decided it was time to stop obstructing the stairs. She brushed off the back of her skirt before slowly making her way up to the second floor where her classroom was. When she slid the white door open, she let out a little yelp of surprise and dropped her bag. Sasuke was standing on the opposite side of the doorway, his hand held out, like he had been about to open the door himself.
"Sasuke-kun," she said, startled. Sasuke simply arched an eyebrow at her before he looked down at the bag she had just dropped on his foot.
"Sorry," Sakura quietly apologized as she bent to retrieve her book bag. When Sasuke's expression made it clear that he wasn't going to be the one to move, Sakura moved to the side to allow him to pass. She heard him let out a quiet snort as he shoved his hands in his pockets and strode out into the hallway. But when she reached up to brush back a stray lock of hair, he froze. Without warning, he took a step back and grabbed her arm.
"Hey! Let go of me!" she protested, struggling against his strong grip. But Sasuke paid no attention to her. His eyes were glued to the mother of pearl bracelet with emerald beads held together with black string.
"Where did you get this?" Sasuke demanded, finally looking into her face. She took a deep breath as she stared into his dark eyes.
"Let go," Sakura ordered in such a calm voice that he felt goosebumps rise on his arms. After a moment, Sasuke's fingers slackened. Sakura scowled as she ripped free of his tight grasp.
"I bought it at the beach. Now if you'll excuse me," Sakura tersely said before she shouldered past him and into the classroom. She could feel his eyes on her back as she made her way to her desk.
"What happened to your right leg?" Sasuke's voice inquired. As Sakura turned to sit in her chair, she saw Sasuke leaning against the doorframe.
"Nothing. Don't you have a meeting with Gai-sensei now, Sasuke-kun?" she retorted. Sasuke blinked a few times, like he couldn't believe what she was saying to him. But when she turned her head away to look out the window, he quietly left.
The rest of the day was pretty normal. Hinata gave her a quiet "good morning" and then gave her a recap of what had happened during their favorite drama last night. Sakura had discovered that both she and Hinata loved sappy, cheesy Japanese dramas. But ever since she had started dancing again, she had no time to sit down and watch TV. So Hinata had taken it upon herself to summarize everything Sakura missed.
In between classes, Sakura mostly chatted with Hinata, although Ino occasionally tried to start conversations that usually ended up fizzling out. It wasn't that Sakura disliked talking to Ino. It was just that they didn't have much to discuss together other than the usual gossip Ino loved to spread.
It was just after a particularly boring history class with Asuma-sensei that something unusual happened.
"Oi!" Naruto called out, loudly announcing himself. No one flinched. Naruto's intrusions were so frequent that they were becoming expected.
"I thought you said you weren't talking to me, you moron," Sasuke flatly drawled as Naruto made his way through the classroom.
"I'm not, you jerk. I'm here to see my best friend!" Naruto declared as he plopped down on top of Sakura's desk. Sakura, who had been busy talking to Hinata, turned when she noticed Hinata suddenly flush. Naruto grinned down at her, pausing to wave at Hinata who returned the gesture with a dazed expression.
"Hey Haruno-chan! Let's go eat at Ichiraku Ramen today! I've got coupons!" Naruto declared. Sakura glanced back unsurely at Hinata. She had just been explaining how she had stormed out on her friend's older cousin and effectively resigned from student council. To celebrate, Hinata had suggested that they hang out after school. Hinata looked a little downcast.
"Sorry, Naruto. I have plans with Hinata-chan today," Sakura explained. Naruto crossed his arms over his chest and nodded gravely.
"Hmm…. True. You can't break a promise," he mused, mostly to himself. Hinata looked surprised that Sakura would choose her over a childhood friend. Sakura looked over her shoulder to give her a quick smile.
"Okay! I'll text you later then. See you, Haruno-chan!" Naruto brightly said, hopping off her desk. But he froze after taking one step.
"I don't have your number," Naruto sheepishly said as he reached into his back pocket and handed Sakura his cell phone. She laughed a little at Naruto's forgetfulness as she flipped it open and went to add herself as a new contact. But when she went to type in 'Haruno-chan', she hesitated. She took a moment to glance up at Naruto, who was having a nice chat with a bright red Hinata. After some thought, she deleted the characters and wrote in 'Sakura-chan'.
"Here you go," she casually said as she handed him his phone. Naruto thanked her as he opened it to check. After a small search, his finger froze and his eyes went wide. She could see his lips mouth out 'Sakura-chan'.
"See you later, Naruto," Sakura quietly greeted him and he seemed to come out of a reverie. Grinning so widely that it looked like his mouth might rip, Naruto nodded.
"Bye, Hinata-chan… Sakura-chan," he replied before heading back to his own classroom. Sakura didn't notice Ino and Sasuke exchange identical looks of confusion behind her.
'Sakura-chan?' Sasuke mouthed to the blonde. Ino shrugged.
During the short break between chemistry and literature, Sakura slipped out of her classroom. She traveled to the opposite end of the second floor where the seniors' homerooms were located. Class 3-A's door was left ajar and she cautiously pushed it open just enough to poke her head in.
"Um…" she began, immediately spotting Rock Lee enthusiastically saying something to Hyuuga Neji. Neji, however, was bent over his desk, busy filling out some forms that Sakura guessed were probably for student council. Like Naruto had said, Tenten was nearby. In fact, she was sitting at the desk next to Neji, calmly watching him work. At the sound of Sakura's voice, Neji's pearly eyes glanced up at her. Almost instantly, a frown appeared on his face.
"I'm not giving you back your job even if you've come to beg, Haruno," he stated in such a condescending tone that Sakura was tempted to throw her shoe at him. But she managed to tone that urge down into a scowl as she stared straight back at him.
"First of all, you don't have the authority to do such a thing. And secondly, I'm not here to speak with you, Kaichou*," she replied with a smile. Neji suddenly turned oddly white and Tenten threw her head back as she laughed.
"You're Sakura, right? Naruto sent me a text before. What do you need?" Tenten said as she stood. She crossed the room to stand in front of Sakura. Tenten had brown hair pulled up into buns on either side of her head and a disarming smile. Although Sakura had heard rumors about her beastly strength from the judo club, Tenten looked like an overall pleasant person. This was why Sakura had no qualms about getting on her knees in front of her upperclassmen and pleading.
"Help me, please, senpai."
"Uh… ok…. Just… you don't have to bow to me…"
Eventually, Tenten agreed to stop by KU after judo practice was over on Saturday, possibly saving Sakura a couple of grey hairs. A little less worried, Sakura had a pleasant time walking around the city with Hinata before they split a slice of cake at a café and parted ways. Sakura headed back to the high school just as Itachi pulled up in front with his black sedan.
"Any luck today?" he asked as Sakura handed him her bag, which he promptly deposited in the back. Sakura nodded enthusiastically as she settled in her seat and buckled the seatbelt.
"I found one senpai who's willing to help. I don't think just the two of us can pull it off though," Sakura said with a little sigh. Itachi nodded sympathetically as he merged into traffic.
"Well… everyone else is going to hate me for telling you this, Sakura-san. But Konan-senpai is a very talented dancer," Itachi slowly said. Sakura's nose wrinkled as she thought back to the woman with blue hair. The man she had been with didn't exactly give off the friendliest aura. Itachi seemed to read her mind because he chuckled.
"Nagato-senpai is … intense, but Konan-senpai isn't such a bad person," Itachi assured her. Sakura squirmed in her seat. She was torn between her fear of looking like an idiot in front of her classmates and possibly being murdered by the older woman. After a moment, her stupid pride decided to rear its ugly head. Letting out a sigh of defeat, she let her head slump back against the seat.
"Do you know where I can find her, Itachi-san?" she reluctantly asked.
"She's usually at the art studio. Why don't you stop by before rehearsal?" Itachi suggested. Sakura couldn't decide whether to be thankful or not for his help.
When they arrived on KU's familiar campus, Itachi pointed to the tall gray building at the far end of the campus before heading up to the dance studio first. So, willing her knees not to shake, Sakura hurried down the concrete path to the art building. She ran before she could change her mind. When she asked some of the college students hanging around the stairwell, they all directed her to a room on the second floor. She received a few utterances of "good luck" and some pats on the arm, like she was walking to her death. But when she knocked on the white door and slid it open, Konan was standing in the middle of the room, staring down a block of stone. The upper half resembled the head and shoulders of an angel while the bottom half remained untouched.
"Um… excuse me. I'm Haruno Sakura-"
"Does her face look strange to you?" Konan interrupted without looking away from her sculpture. Baffled, Sakura turned her attention to the block of stone. She tilted her head to the side as she observed the carved lines.
"Her… her eyes are uneven," Sakura observed. Konan stalked around the sculpture in a slow circle. After a moment, she nodded her head.
"You're right," she mused. With another nod, Konan turned to face her. Somehow, she looked like a completely different person. Her dark blue hair was pulled back with a bright yellow clip and covered in a fine layer of dust. There were smudges on her face and the front of her dark apron. The sleeves of her beige sweater were hastily rolled up and the exposed skin of her arms was coated with dark powder. Konan's grey eyes flickered from Sakura's face and down to her leg.
"You're that girl," Konan finally said with a blank expression. Sakura mutely nodded.
"Did Deidara send you? Tell him I'm not interested," Konan firmly said as she turned back to her work.
"That's… not it, Konan-san. I need your help," Sakura said in a near-whisper. Konan's eyebrows lifted as she looked over her shoulder.
"My help?" Konan repeated and Sakura nodded again. After a few seconds of silence, Konan wiped her palms off on the front of her apron. A cloud of dust rose into the air that Konan easily waved away. The silver piercing under her lower lip glinted as her mouth pulled up into a faint smile.
"What did you say your name was again?" Konan inquired.
"I'm Haruno Sakura," replied Sakura, extending her hand. Konan eyed her for another moment before she reached out and firmly grasped Sakura's hand and shook it.
When Saturday morning finally rolled around, Sakura found herself drumming her fingers impatiently against her thigh. She noticed the strange looks Deidara kept shooting her. This was understandable since she was usually lethargic and immobile until after lunch, especially on a Saturday. But she nervously twitched and sighed and paced until Sasori took hold of her shoulders and sat her down on the floor.
"Stay," he sternly said as he pushed a lollipop into her hand. Beside her, Kisame stifled a snort, earning a dirty look from her.
"I'm not a dog, Sasori-san!" Sakura complained but Sasori simply patted the top of her head before wandering off. She silently glowered at his back for a second before she unwrapped the candy and stuck it in her mouth. Crossing her arms over her chest, she ground the lollipop between her back molars, making Kisame cringe against the noise. But ten minutes later, Tenten arrived, sparing everyone from Sakura crushing through her fifth candy.
"Senpai!" Sakura exclaimed, relief flooding her face. Tenten waved as she walked through the door. Her usual buns were pulled back into a tight ponytail. After a quick round of introductions, Tenten and Sakura retreated to a corner to chat. Sakura was delighted to discover that Tenten had a great sense of humor and Tenten poured out embarrassing stories about Hyuuga Neji, calling them "ammunition against his prince-complex". It wasn't until 10 am that the third member of their trio showed up.
Konan was greeted with cold stares of horror from the men. Itachi subtly hid his face behind his book so that he wouldn't have to meet Deidara's eyes. Luckily, Tenten's cheerful introduction helped offset most of the awkwardness. Konan introduced herself in a deeper, mature voice that fit her appearance well. She was dressed in a plain white t-shirt and jeans with her soft hair tied up in a loose bun. Tenten, who had come straight from judo club, wore a pink sweatshirt over jogging shorts.
"Dance," Konan suddenly ordered, pointing a finger in-between Sakura's eyes. Sakura stared at her.
"Dance what?" she inquired. Konan shrugged.
"Anything," was the extremely unhelpful reply. At a loss, Sakura turned to Tenten, but the other girl shrugged too. Without warning, music blasted from the speakers on the other side of the room. Sakura whirled around and found Kisame leaning against the stereo. He flashed a toothy grin. Sitting on the floor beside him was Deidara who didn't look too happy. In fact, he looked downright sick to his stomach. He briefly glanced up at her and gave her a weak impression of a smile. Itachi and Sasori stood in the doorway, the latter patiently peeling off the wrapper of an orange lollipop.
"Something else, Kisame. Electronic…er…." Konan ordered. Kisame tossed her a dark look but skipped to the next song.
Sakura moved to the middle of the room and took a moment to feel the beat. It tingled up the soles of her feet, spreading up through her legs and stomach. Sasori and Itachi had roughly worked out the choreography for this song only a few days earlier. And her part started with a series of chest pops, like she was "a robot receiving electric jolts", as Sasori had put it. She fell into the fast-paced steps, letting her feet twist across the wooden floor. Just as she started on the main chorus, the song abruptly stopped.
"What the hell, Konan? She was fine!" Kisame protested as Sakura looked up. Tenten's hands were on her hips, a frown tugging at her mouth. Konan shoved the stereo's power cord at Kisame before she crossed the room to join Tenten. She leaned over to whisper into the younger girl's ear. Tenten nodded vigorously.
"You dance like a guy," Konan finally announced.
"Huh?" Sakura replied, confused. Tenten made an exasperated noise as she took a few steps forward. She put her hands on either side of Sakura's waist.
"This area is your most lethal weapon, Sakura," Tenten said, completely serious. Sakura looked down at herself, still baffled.
"When girls dance, we flow. We're naturally much more flexible than boys," Konan explained as she crouched on the floor. As Sakura watched, Konan first lifted her rear into the air, letting her upper body follow in a sinuous curve. Deidara made a strangled noise in the back of his throat and buried his face in his arms. His expression grim with sympathy, Kisame patted the top of Deidara's head. Sakura blushed. She was embarrassed to watch someone else do such a thing, much less perform it herself.
"Hips. Your hips are your best friend," Konan firmly stated and Tenten nodded.
So for the next month, Konan and Tenten taught her a different way to dance. Well, it was more like drilling than anything else. And they had been telling the truth. Everything they did was fluid, more rolling and less harsh edges. Most of the time, they used the smaller practice room across the hall from the regular room. Somehow, it was much easier to practice rolling her hips without four guys staring at her.
Despite her looks, Konan was just as brutal an instructor as Itachi was. She demanded nothing less than perfection and had no problem forcing Sakura to repeat things countless times before she deemed them acceptable. But on the other hand, Konan was also extraordinarily patient and willing to break things down to explain. Tenten was a lot more easygoing but not less helpful. She spent countless hours trying to teach Sakura what to do with her arms and hands as she danced. It was surprising to see just how a few extra movements changed the overall mood from cute to sultry. Every day after school was filled with obsessive rehearsal and hours spent planning out the choreography. On the weekends, Sakura rejoined the boys who were always glad to see her. It did bother her that Deidara was acting a lot more distant than usual, but she didn't have the time to ask him about it, although she suspected that Konan's presence had something to do with it.
But the only thing that really... truly bothered her was Konan's one suggestion for the choreography of one song.
"During the tempo change, we should mix things up too. Like we could take off our sweatshirts or something," Konan suggested. As she spoke, she grabbed at the bottom of her shirt and lifted it up halfway, exposing her flat tummy and hipbones. Even though it was a girl, Sakura squeaked as she covered her eyes. And poor Deidara who had just sneaked into the practice room to retrieve his cell phone turned completely white as a sheet. He exploded with curse words as he grabbed his phone and ran out, eyes glued to the floor.
"Konan-senpai, that's actually not a bad idea," Tenten mused, stroking her chin like she had a beard. And so the discussion continued although Sakura couldn't help but wonder about Deidara's reaction.
Konan liked to give her missions every few days. The first had been to practice walking with her back straight, shoulders back and hips swaying side to side. The next day at school, Sakura obliged, although she was slightly mortified and uneasy about the whole idea. And it was difficult to constantly remind herself to walk properly. But Tenten liked to pop in every so often to offer encouragement and encouraged Sakura to visit her whenever she liked. After Sakura's first few visits to class 3-A, the upperclassmen stopped being surprised whenever they saw her. While Rock Lee quickly warmed up to her, offering his "undying chivalry", Neji remained as cold as ever, only ever looking up to glare at her.
"Why does Hyuuga-senpai hate me so much, Tenten-senpai?" Sakura asked one day after school. The two stood watching Neji proudly stride down the hall. Tenten snorted.
"Neji's… He hates being looked down on so he tries to put himself above others. It doesn't help that he feels threatened by your work ethic," Tenten sighed, shaking her head. Sakura's lower lip jutted out in a frown.
"My work ethic?" she echoed unsurely.
"You plow through all that work in the student council like a machine, Sakura. Neji won't admit it, but he's really struggling to fill in your spot," Tenten explained with a knowing smile. But Sakura huffed a little as she turned her head away, unaffected by the flattery.
"He's really not a bad guy once you get to know him….. And I think he's not sure how to handle you after that verbal beating you gave him the other day," Tenten added with a grin.
Before Sakura even realized, it was the middle of October, just two weeks before the cultural festival. It was Sunday, which had somehow come to mean that Sakura was once again spending her day with the Uchiha household. In fact, she didn't feel nervous at all when Itachi opened the front door for her and she slipped inside. As she eased out of her boots in the foyer, she heard the dry rustle of the newspaper.
"Good morning, Fugaku-san," Sakura called as she craned her neck to peer into the living room. As she had expected, the Uchiha patriarch was sitting in his favorite armchair and scanning the latest news. A low grunt of acknowledgement left his mouth while his eyes barely wavered from the newspaper. But after a moment, he looked up at her. He didn't smile. But that was to be expected since he was ever-grumpy-Sasuke's father. But he did give her a polite nod of acknowledgement.
"Good morning, Mikoto-san!" Sakura practically sang as she moved on to the kitchen. Instead of the usual smile and warm hug, Mikoto's face looked incredibly pale.
"Oh Sakura-chan, I have horrible news!" Mikoto said. Sakura immediately rushed to her side and helped Mikoto settle on one of the bar stools by the island. She held onto the older woman's hands, trying to give her some support. Itachi's forehead creased as he sat on the stool beside his mother.
"I made the eggs sunny-side up," said Mikoto with a horrified expression. Sakura and Itachi glanced over at each other. Itachi's lips were pressed into a tight line, like he was trying to try his best not to laugh at his mother's dilemma.
"Oh… is that bad, Mikoto-san?" Sakura inquired, trying her best to understand.
"But you like them scrambled," Mikoto explained earnestly. After a beat, a laugh escaped Sakura. She patted Mikoto's soft hands reassuringly.
"I like anything you make, Mikoto-san. Please don't worry," Sakura said and Mikoto's face looked relieved. With the small crisis averted, Sakura pulled on the spare apron that Mikoto always set aside for her. It was yellow with cute white frills and a picture of a chick holding a spatula on the front. When she reached around to tie the back, Itachi stood and took the ties into his own hands.
"Oh Itachi-kun, you'll make such a good husband," Mikoto sighed with a little giggle. Sakura felt the back of her neck grow hot when Mikoto eyed her with a mischievous smile. Itachi loudly cleared his throat as he took a step back.
"Thank you," Sakura whispered, unable to look into his eyes. There was a pregnant pause, save for Mikoto who was still laughing.
"I'll… go wash my hands," Sakura finally blurted out, unable to stand the awkward air. As she scurried out of the kitchen and down the hall, she heard Itachi sigh again.
"Mom… do you have to tease her like that?"
Mikoto just giggled again.
Excluding Mikoto's penchant for odd jokes, the day at the Uchiha household was pleasant. Sakura chatted happily with Mikoto while they tenderized beef, chopped vegetables for a salad and tested out a new recipe for chocolate chip cookies that Sakura had found while they waited for the beef to marinate. At first, Sakura had found it odd that Mikoto seemed delighted whenever Sakura offered to do the smallest things like take out the garbage or do the dishes.
But when Mikoto had one day confessed, 'We were sure Sasu-chan was going to be a girl. I've always wanted a daughter…' Sakura understood.
After a delicious dinner, Sakura was shooed out of the kitchen so she settled on the back porch again. The loud chirruping of the cicadas was gone. Instead, the steady click of the bamboo fountain in the koi pond filled the quiet night. She curled her legs up to her chest. The weather had been warm enough during the day so she had left the house wearing jeans and a t-shirt. But the chill of the night had settled over Konoha and goosebumps were popping up on her arms. She rubbed her hands over her arms, trying to warm them up. Despite the cooler weather, the dark night sky glittering with clear stars was more than enough to lift her spirits. The door slid open behind her and a warm, familiar weight dropped on top of her head.
"Thank you!" Sakura cheered as she pulled her arms through the sleeves of Itachi's white sweatshirt. It was so soft and big and she secretly loved the scent of his cologne that clung to the fabric. When she pulled it over the top of her head, she was met with a cold carton of ice cream touching her forehead. Itachi settled on the edge of the porch beside her. Wordlessly, he handed her the lid and her face lit up.
"It amazes me that you've somehow managed to lose weight with the way you eat ice cream, Sakura-san," Itachi commented as he handed her a spoon. As Sakura happily carved out a chunk of ice cream, he tucked his right leg up against his chest and rested his chin on top of his knee. Sakura cheered quietly as she transferred a block of ice cream to the carton lid and happily dug in.
"Itachi-san, you're never supposed to mention a girl's weight in front of her," Sakura solemnly said as she pointed at him with her spoon.
"Why? Are you accusing me of calling you fat?" he teased. Sakura wrinkled her nose at him.
"Mean," she grumbled around a spoonful of ice cream. They lapsed back into their usual easy silence. Itachi sighed as he lifted his head and instead flopped onto his back to look up at the sky. They could hear the sounds of running water from the kitchen as Mikoto washed the dishes. As Sakura finished up her portion of ice cream, she paused to take a deep breath through her nose. The cool air filled her lungs with a pleasant tingling.
"It smells like autumn," Sakura observed. Itachi tucked his hands under his head as he glanced over at her.
"What does autumn smell like?" he inquired.
"Um… like cold… and burning leaves and…. I don't know how to explain it," Sakura mused with a bashful smile. Itachi simply nodded and they resumed looking up at the stars until a sudden thought crossed her mind.
"Is it later now, Itachi-san?" Sakura demanded.
"Later?"
"…About Konan-senpai…" she clarified and Itachi's eyes widened a little. He seemed to wilt as he processed her words. Sakura hugged her legs to her chest and rested her cheek on top of her knees so she could look over at him. After a moment, Itachi closed his eyes.
"Deidara and Kisame and I were best friends in high school and middle school," he began.
"Really?" Sakura interrupted, genuinely surprised. But when an amused huff left Itachi, she put her hand over her mouth.
I'm not quite sure how it happened, but before I realized, we were always together. Kisame hasn't changed much, but back then, Deidara used to be a lot less…
"Horny?" Sakura suggested and Itachi snorted.
Yes. Deidara was a lot less horny. But more than that, he was a good kid. He and Kisame ran around pulling pranks on teachers and getting detention. But when you were in trouble, he was definitely someone you could depend on. Back then, he was one of the good-looking guys at school, so a lot of girls would confess to him. But Deidara politely turned them all down. Deidara was one of those naively pure kids who believed in 'first love' and 'destiny'. When we were younger, he said he wanted to become a hairdresser so he could help people feel more confident.
So we all came to Konoha High to study together. When we were freshmen, there was a senior named Konan.
Sakura's eyes widened and Itachi paused his storytelling to nod at her.
Konan was known as our school's angel. She was really beautiful and had this mysterious aura around her. And Deidara, like an idiot, fell completely in love with her. He followed her around like a stray puppy, buying her lunch and telling his stupid jokes.
"So Konan-san rejected Deidara-san?" Sakura blurted out, her hands tightly clenched together. But Itachi shook his head.
Konan-senpai started flirting back. In fact, she was his first kiss… and his first time. You have no idea how crazy Deidara was about her. And then…
Itachi trailed off, his eyes suddenly growing hard.
Nagato-senpai came looking for the underclassmen that had slept with his girlfriend.
Sakura's jaw dropped.
Nagato-senpai and his friends beat up Deidara. He had to be taken to the hospital and missed school for a week. When he came back, he pretended like he didn't even know Konan-senpai. And he started playing around with all the girls that liked him.
"But he loved Konan-san, right?" Sakura demanded. A humorless laugh left Itachi as he turned his head to look at her.
"Sakura-san, when Nagato-senpai asked Konan-senpai who Deidara was, right in front of him, she said 'a toy'. It didn't matter if he loved her. She never loved him. And I think it broke him," Itachi explained, looking back up at the sky. But his head whipped around again when Sakura's sniffle reached his ears. Sakura rubbed at the tears that had started to run down her face.
"Poor Deidara-san," she said as Itachi sat up to pat the top of her head. But instead of calming her, his gentleness only made her break into full-on sobs. It should have been Deidara being comforted like this instead of her. So she cried into Itachi's shoulder because no one else would.
The next day after school, Sakura had convinced herself that she could keep her cool. Itachi had warned her that Deidara wouldn't be too happy to know that she had found out his secret. So she smiled brightly when he picked her up a block away from the high school so that no one would catch her running around on the back of a motorcycle. She forced herself to chat idly like she always did and to laugh at his mock-flirting. But inside, it broke her heart to know that because of her, Deidara had been forced to see Konan for two weeks. She hugged her arms around him just a little tighter and rested her head between his shoulder blades, still feeling horribly guilty. If he noticed, Deidara didn't say anything about her strange behavior.
But when they arrived at the practice studio, Sakura took one look at Itachi's face and she felt the tears stinging at her eyes again. Without warning, she turned around and threw herself at Deidara, knocking them both to the floor. With the tears flowing freely, she wrapped her arms around him.
"I'm sorry!" she sobbed while a very bewildered Deidara looked around the room at his friends. While Kisame looked absolutely panicked about Sakura's sudden mood swing and Sasori seemed to be busy trying to decide which lollipop to give her, when Deidara met Itachi's gaze, something clicked inside his head. Sakura barely registered when Deidara pressed his forehead against hers. And Deidara, her beautiful, kind, cheerful Deidara, closed his eyes with a faint smile.
"Thanks, Sakura-chan," he quietly said. She felt a few of his tears wet the side of her neck. And Sakura clung to him desperately, wailing and carrying on until she felt like maybe she had taken on just a little of his pain.
*Kaichou means Student Council President. Somehow it sounds slightly better than calling Neji SCP all the time.
Dun-dun-dun! Why is Sauce so worked up over Sakura's bracelet? Why is Konan such a butt? And how will the cultural festival performance go? Find out in the next chapter!
Oh and I'm sorry that this chapter is a little less fun than usual, but I swear the next one will be extra... lol-tacular... lol-errific? Er, yeah, amusing.
And please review because reviewers are awesome people made of sunshine and cookies.