Sakura's POV:
"Hmm. . . How about it then? Anyone disagree?"
Nobody raised their hands and I gave Kyoya a nod, a smile unconsciously tearing its way into my face. It caught the coolheaded four-eyes off-guard for a second but it was gone the moment I noticed it so I'm not sure if he really had any reaction.
"Sakura nee-chan!"
"Oof!"
Laughter filled my ears as my childish brothers and Lee pounced on me and held me in their tight embrace. I chuckled together with them, trying to get up. I heard Itachi scold them above me, "Get off her, already."
Tenten laughed. "They're so fond of you, Sakura. And Lee, I already told you not to jump her!" I sweat-dropped at her choice of words but I'm relieved my brothers took it in innocently.
"C'mon, Tenten. It's alright. They're just kids. . . Now, anyone gonna help me up?" I raised my arms and Itachi and Tenten took one and pulled me up after the twin hosts and Haruhi took the boys off of me. "Thanks," I told them gratefully.
Tenten linked our arms together and pulled me towards the female host, Fujioka, only to link her other arm with the younger girl. Fujioka was surprised but she wasn't able to utter a single protest when suddenly, Tenten pulled us towards our next ride. "Come on, boys!"
Whoops and laughter came from the childish boys while the more mature ones which included the grumpy Neji, walked calmly after our group.
We reached the Carousel Swings. It's like a carousel but instead of horses, there are swings connected to the mushroom like top. Tenten looked at me and Fujioka then grinned. I smiled back while the female host smiled awkwardly. "Let's go!"
We walked up to the controller guy and gave him our tickets. We took our seats on the swings, Tenten in between us. But then we heard crying from a child. I looked, curious and a bit worried about the kid when I saw that it was Sai who was crying.
I unbuckled my belt and ran over to him. I carried him up and he hugged me, his short, thin arms looped around my neck. I turned to the controller guy and asked him what happened. "I can't let this boy ride. He needs to be this tall to be able to get in," he said while pointing at the required height measuring board. And it showed that little Sai had to be 13 inches taller.
In a way, that is a legit reason. Can't help it.
I nodded to what Inner said.
And it means I won't be able to ride. Oh well. . . At least I can watch over little Sai. His cuteness is much better than the ride anyways.
Agreed.
"I understand. Umm. . . can one of these boys use my ticket? I have to stay by my brother." The controller guy apologized and nodded, letting Neji in without taking his ticket.
Naruto and Sasuke were looking up at me with worried faces. I smiled down at them and told them to have fun. They refused. I rolled my eyes and pushed them toward the small gate. Although full of protests, the twins were already seated by the controller. "Have fun, boys!"
"You're not riding, Sakura?"
I turned and saw Shino with Kiba behind him already looking better. "Oh! Shino, Kiba! You're here! Kiba, you're done puking?" Kiba glared and snapped, "Shut up." I laughed at his reply.
"I won't ride this time. Sai-chan here wasn't allowed to ride." At my statement, little Sai nodded while rubbing his eyes. "Kya!" I glomped him. "You're so cute, Sai-chan!"
Ignoring my sisterly doting, Shino and Kiba joined the others. I sat on a bench where I could see the others having fun with little Sai playing with his Sanbi innocently beside me. But one thing I was a bit bothered about was that Kyoya and Kaoru weren't going to ride the carousel. And both of them were sitting on each side of the bench little Sai and I were sitting on.
With a sweat-drop, I spoke with a curious tone. "I thought you wanted to ride?" At first, there was only silence but Kaoru answered first. "I don't like heights, Haruno-san. Hehe. . . So I opted on watching my brother have fun," he said. My eyes narrowed suspiciously.
I didn't think he would be one to be scared of heights.
Yeah. Me, too. I thought he was more like his brother, although it's obvious that this one is more mature.
Right? That's what I thought, too. But it seems he can't do everything together with his brother.
Mm-hmm.
"I see. Then, how about you, Kyoya-san?"
"I'm not like them. I like it better when I observe," Kyoya answered coolly. I nodded, looking away and at the swinging ride. Once, Naruto and Sasuke swung past. I waved at them to which they reciprocated.
"But you were the one who suggested it, Kyoya-san." I looked at him and waited for his reply. He just sighed like answering me was tiring. I raised a brow in annoyance. Before I could even say 'I take back my question,' he answered me with a straight face. "I was just giving you an option, Haruno-san."
Beside me on my right, I heard Kaoru laugh. "Don't worry, Haruno-san. Shadow King is always acting cool to keep his reputation. How about asking me about myself, Haruno-san?" Kaoru was looking at me expectantly with a wide grin.
"Umm. . . Okay. . . How about this, are you trying to flirt with me?" At first he didn't blink and he laughed so hard. My face blushed from embarrassment at having my question suddenly laughed at. "What's so funny?" I yelled at him, my composure breaking because of the embarrassment.
Was I too bold?
Yes.
He slowly stopped laughing and turned to me, a smirk on his face. I glared. "If I say yes, I wonder what your reaction would be, Haruno-san?" I looked away right then.
Then silence came over us again and Kaoru didn't speak anymore. Little Sai was trying to make me have a three-way conversation with him and his Sanbi and I happily joined in to make him happy. "So, Sakura-nee-chan, what is your favorite fruit?" I laughed earnestly. I tapped my chin, acting like I was thinking of what fruit I really liked.
"Grapes, Mr. Sanbi," I said. Little Sai turned Sanbi's head to him and asked himself, "Then what's your favorite fruit, Sai-kun?"
Just like me, little Sai acted like he was thinking hard. "I really like apples!" I laughed heartily, finding the way little Sai answer his own question so cute! Before I could say something, my phone rang in my pocket. It was so sudden that I jumped in surprise.
"Hello?"
"Ah! Sakura-chan? I'm sorry but I have to go," kaa-san's voice came. I raised an eyebrow. "Why?" I asked her.
"Well~ I just have to do something relating to work, dear," she replied hesitantly. Now both my eyebrows are raised. "But I thought you're going to stay with us for a few more days, you and to-san. Can't it wait until we've finished all our tickets?" I knew that it couldn't wait because, hey, it's work. I heard kaa-san sigh on the other end.
"I'm sorry, dear. But I can't delay it, it's very important. I'll just tell Ren-san to come here and get you when you're finsihed. Actually, I just finished talking to him and he's on his way here," I heard her say through the phone. With a slight sigh, I answered her softly, "Okay. Bye."
The moment I clicked End Call, little Sai asked who it was. I looked at him and said with a small smile, "Mom said she's going to work."
"Eeeh?" was little Sai's cute, whiney response. I chuckled. "Then who'll take us home?" he asked next. I was about to tell him that kaa-san called Rei-san to fetch us after we're done here in the park but Kaoru interrupted me. "We can take you guys home," he said enthusiastically whilst giving me a charismatic smile. I just raised an unamused brow.
"I'm sorry, Kaoru-san, but my brothers and I are going home with Rei-san, our butler," I told him politely. "But thank you for inviting us," I added quickly with a grateful smile. It's the least I can do. I noticed that they really wanted to recruit me into their club, even now that they know my secret.
I noticed Kaoru blush and I couldn't help thinking of it as a little bit, just a little, cute. He looked away immediately and said, "It's nothing, Haruno-san."
"So, Zabuza-san won't be taking us home?" Sai asked. I looked down at him and nodded. Then, he began to play with his Sanbi again and we were left in silence. It was a bit awkward because Sai didn't ask me any more questions using his Sanbi like a puppet, and the two teens with us were also quiet. Sai was too caught up with asking his Sanbi if he'd have a new baby brother to which I almost laughed at aloud.
"Oh? You're awfully quiet over there, Kyoya-san." We all looked to see Fujioka walking toward us with Haninozuka and Mori in tow. I saw Kyoya adjust his glasses, causing the lenses to glint from the light. Kaoru was already standing and awaiting their group with a mishievous grin to which I rolled my eyes on. "Ne, ne, Haruhi? Let's go to the Haunted House." Kaoru had his arms around Fujioka and the girl wasn't really amused.
"Then, let's wait for the others, Kaoru-kun. I bet they would wanna come along," she said with an ignorant smile.
It's obvious that she's being teased by this Kaoru guy but she doesn't look like she's even daunted by it. Nice girl.
I rolled my eyes.
Whatever, Inner. It's nice to say something from time to time but telling me the obvious won't let you off the idiots list.
Ugh! Whatever.
I watched the four, rowdy hostclub members interact animatedly with a small amount of amusement and a hint of interest. Kaoru kept on teasing Haruhi, who stayed unimpressed with the older twin's playful taunts, while Mori, who was blank-faced, kept Haninozuka from falling to the ground as the shota boy played with his stuffed rabbit on his broad shoulders. And while the four, good-looking hostclub members continued on their merry and loud business, I noticed more people staring at us.
Must be the pheromones. They're practically oozing it with how they interact with each other. I mean, LOOK at them!
But, despite what Inner said, she had a look of appreciation on her face as she watched Kaoru make his smooth moves on Haruhi through my eyes. I shook my head in disgust.
Your comment, I can prove true. But please stop ogling.
Inside my head, Inner folded her arms on her chest and ignored my thoughts, continuing to ogle at the four beauties.
But you must admit, Sakura. They are all very good-looking, even that Haruhi girl crossdresser.
I nodded in response.
That is true, but I won't give them my trust so easily just because of that.
My mental conversation with Inner ended at that. But she still kept on ogling. I rolled my eyes. I will never let Inner take over my body, be it alive or dead.
"Are you alright, Haruno-san?" I heard Kyoya ask from beside me and I turned my head at him with a confused expression. "What do you mean?" I asked in return. He sighed before replying with a matter-of-fact tone, "Well, you were starting to make an odd face, Haruno-san. And I'm worried that there might be something bothering you."
'Well, there is something bothering me and I call it Inner,' I thought. "Thank you for worrying, Kyoya-san. But I don't need it," I said with a brisk nod. He raised an eyebrow and was about to speak when his eyes looked up my head. I tried to follow where he was looking but a pair of masculine hands placed themselves on my eyes.
My eyebrows furrowed in puzzlement. I touched the hands that covered my eyes and asked, "Whose hands are these?"
And I only heard muffled laughter. I crossed my arms with an amused smile. "Is this you, Naru-chan?" I said loudly. "Nope~" I heard little Sai answer from my right, giggling secretively. "Then, is it Deidara?" I asked again, thinking that he and Hinata were with us. Another negative reply came from an amused Kaoru's voice.
I thought hard. 'Who else could it be?' I asked myself in my mind.
Try Itachi!
But he never does this kind of thing. I'M always the one who does it.
Hmm. . . Good point. He's too cool and "mature" to do it. But it's not Deidara nor is it Naruto.
Yeah, who else would do this kind of game?
Uuh. . . Maybe, Kiba? But I don't remember him doing this to us before.
Hmm, worth a shot.
"Kiba, is that you?" I asked, trying to feel the hands. They were pretty smooth for a guy's. "Tenten?" I suddenly questioned. "Nope!" It was Tenten's voice that answered which came from in front of me. Now, I can totally hear them laughing. I frowned.
"Ready to give up, Haruno-san?" I heard Haruhi ask, trying to stifle her giggling which was still loud enough for me to hear. 'Who else can it be?' I thought. Shino doesn't play this Who Am I game (I don't know what it's called) and neither does Sasuke. Sai's hands are too small. The hostclub members don't have the guts to do such a thing to me.
Or do they?
Please, Inner. . .
What?
"You can just say, 'I give up,' you know, Sakura," I heard Kiba say. I can practically hear his smirk when he said them. With a sigh, I gave up. "Who is it?" I dejectedly asked aloud. And instantly, the hands that covered my eyes before were gone. I looked behind me and saw a smirking Hikaru.
Of course, it would be one of the scandalous twins.
See? You really should trust me in doubting things.
Whatever.
Before I could say a word, Naruto spoke up with his loud voice. "Sakura-nee-chan! Let's ride the Pirates next!" Naruto jumped as he exclaimed those words excitedly. I shrugged with a smile.
"Are you guys up for it?" I heard Tenten ask the others. Everybody agreed enthusiastically. I stood up with a sigh, ignoring the twin hosts to their 'Forbidden Love' act, and took Sai's small hand.
"Let's go, then," I said with a small smile. The loud ones, specifically Naruto, cheered as they ran all the way to the large, swinging ship ride. I walked at a slow pace despite little Sai's effort to make me go faster, I stayed in a slow progress. Sai looked up at me and pouted while saying, "Hurry up!"
My heart couldn't help skipping a beat at the supreme cuteness of the boy. "You are too cute, Sai-chan! Geez!" I mumbled with a fond smile. He smiled back, probably thinking that he's done it again.
Uuu. . . Sakura. . . Can we resist him if he says he wants to conquer the world?
No, Inner. No, we can't. . . I don't think anyone can resist Sai if he says it with that pout.
Yeah, I think so, too. . . We have to be careful.
I let out a soft chuckle as my group of calm people walked after the more rumbunctious ones. For some reason, I wanted to be a little calmer now. Maybe because kaa-san's gone and I can't exactly depend on my cousins if ever we'd have a problem, even if one of them is Itachi. The reason is because I have my own pride.
We reached the ride a few more minutes later and once again, little Sai wasn't allowed to ride it, so were the other young ones. Haninozuka had a slight problem with the controller guy because the worker thought that he was also young because of his cutesy features and short stature. Fortunately for him, he had Mori as back up. It turned out to be an amusing sight, seeing Mori stand tall over the nervous controller guy. And with a dejected look, the controller guy let the short loli-boy in.
Tenten and I volunteered in watching after the young boys while the older ones and Haruhi rode it (Even Kyoya was forced into riding it because of the hosts' and Kiba's pestering). While we waited, Tenten and I decided to let the young boys ride the Carousel, the one with horses, as a way to spend the time.
Neji, although a bit embarrassed that he would ride "such a childish thing" as he called it, had fun sitting on one of the biggest horses. Tenten kept Lee away from me (he tried to get away from his fierce sister to no avail) and made him sit quietly on one of the bigger horses with a glare. "This is for your own protection, Sakura. Anything can happen when it's my brother we're talking about," Tenten explained with a 'huff'. I laughed for a bit because of that.
I can't say that I'm comfortable with Lee's sudden advances on me but I'm used to it and even though he's got an extreme personality, he's a cute, growing young boy at the age of 8, a year older than the fraternal twins. I'm fond of this energetic, weird Lee and I see him as a little brother. Neji, too.
With Tenten, Sai and I sitting in a childish replica of a carriage behind Lee's and Neji's horse rides, we could watch over the boys without a problem and make sure that they're safe. The twins, Naruto and Sasuke, rode on the smaller horses in front of Lee's and Neji's bigger ones. And from what I could see, as much as they were having fun with the ride, they'd started another one of their amusing brotherly squabbles. The five of us, including little Sai, laughed as we watched the duo try to exchange fists whilst the Carousel moved and fail at it.
The fun at the amusement park ended when we finished all our tickets and and used up all the young ones' play coins. And we were all heading towards the gates. But two were missing.
"Hey! Hinata nee-sama is still not here!" Neji complained, stomping his foot to make himself look fiercer. I turned and so did the others. "Ah! We forgot! Deidara!" I scratched my head in embarrassment.
Deidara would flip if he found out we forgot about him and left without him.
Haha! Don't worry, Sakura. . . I'm sure he wouldn't care if Hinata's by his side! It's young love! Young LOVE!
I sweat-dropped. I heard a phone flipping open and turned to see Itachi pressing numbers into his phone before he placed the screen in front of his ear. We all watched him, waiting. In a few moments, Itachi's call reached Deidara's and the blonde answered.
"We're going home," Itachi said briskly into the phone. I could hear Deidara speak from the other line but the volume's too low for me to understand what he was saying. Itachi just nodded while replying, "Yeah. . . We're waiting." After those words, Itachi ended the call and turned to us to say, "He's coming with Hinata." I nodded in understanding.
"You guys should go home," I told Kiba and the others. "But what about Hinata? We used one van to get here," Kiba said worriedly.
"We can take her and Neji-chan home no problem, Kiba. Don't worry," I said reassuringly. They smiled, except for Shino who just nodded. After a short exchange of words and hugs, Tenten and the guys except Neji went to their van, waving goobye at us.
I turned next to the hosts who were oddly quiet the whole exchange and asked them the question. "Aren't you going, too?" It was Haninozuka who answered me with his bubbly voice, "We~ll, we just wanted to stay a little longer." I just raised a doubtful eyebrow. But I shrugged, deciding not to ask any more questions. For a whole fifteen minutes, we waited for the duo in peace. As much as we could. The rambunctious hosts combined with my similarly playful and energetic brothers never allowed me to keep to myself in silence. Surprisingly, or not surprisingly, Neji was pushed into the fray because of the twin hosts' teasing. And anyways, I noticed that I can't stop commenting sarcastically at the hosts' comical antics.
"Oh! The hosts are here?" Deidara's voice cut through the varying loudmouths of Naruto and the others and caused us to look in his direction. Immediately, Neji ran toward his older cousin and pushed Deidara away from her like a he had a virus. The boy pointed an accusing finger at Deidara and shouted out, "You haven't done anything perverted to her like feeling her up, have you?!"
Hinata blushed a deep red, Deidara had the same reaction, I facepalmed, and the others just gaped, wide-eyed. I walked over to Neji and pinched his ear. "Ow! What was that for?!" He asked irately. But one glare from me and he became submissive and quiet.
"Hinata," I started, still staring at the sulking boy. "Y-Yes?" came her usual stuttering. "The guys left you and Neji to us. We'll take you home, is that alright?" I turned to her after asking that. She gave me a small smile, nodding her head in response. But her blush was still there, although now, it faded a bit to a lighter hue. I gave her a smile, too, before turning back my glare on Neji.
"Come on, Neji. What are you going to say to Deidara?" I prompted. He huffed, pouting sulkily. 'Sooo CUUUTTEE,' I couldn't help thinking. I resisted the urge to smother him with a bear hug. I cleared my throat to keep myself controlled and prompted him with another, "Come on."
"Sorry," Neji mumbled. But Deidara decided to mess with the boy and Neji started to have one of those tantrums. My irritation spun towards Deidara and I bonked him on the head hard. If he upsets Neji so much that the boy would have a tantrum, we'd have a hard time in getting the boy into the van.
"Itachi, can you call Rei-san for me?" I tossed him my phone and he nodded mutely, turning his attention to calling the family butler. I then looked down at Neji who was now sniffling and hugging his cousin's thighs.
T-Too cute. . .
I shook my head and focused on helping Hinata calm her cousin down. Haruhi and Suoh also tried to help. It was when Rei-san arrived that we managed to at least calm Neji down. But he still wouldn't let go of his cousin, much to Deidara's irritation.
I rolled my eyes. "Come on, boys. We're going home," I said, walking towards Rei-san and our van with little Sai and Naruto holding my hands. But I paused when I noticed the hosts watching me. I turned to them and remembering manners, I bowed formally. Albeit confused, my brothers followed my example. When I straightened myself, I spared the hosts one of my rare smiles and said, "I want to thank you for being with us the whole day. And also, for not turning out to be a pain."
I could see them sweat-drop at my last words but they responded with enthusiastic "You're welcome"s in the end. I waved them bye and followed my brothers and the others to the van. When I checked if the hosts were still watching us, I found that they were walking away as well.
I sighed tiredly as I tried to get comfortable in the van. Hinata, Neji, Itachi, and I sat in the second row while my brothers sat in the very back of the van. Amusingly, Deidara complained about why he was the one in the passenger's seat. "Because I don't want you near my Hinata nee-sama!" Neji exclaimed sulkily, childishly hugging his older cousin around the torso. I shrugged at Deidara when he sent me a look for help.
"Why?!" Deidara asked furiously as Rei-san started to drive towards Hinata and Neji's home.
"It's your fault for making Neji-chan cry," I told him matter-of-factly. He bit his lip and tried to make a pouty face but I looked away. I heard him groan in disapointment. I laughed then turned to Hinata who was also laughing softly at my loud cousin's antics.
"So? How was your day with my cousin? Had fun?" I whispered in her ear. She blushed once again and nodded mutely. Maybe because she couldn't trust herself to speak. "What did you guys do? Did you hold hands? Did he try to make a move?" I asked her. But Neji suddenly yelled, probably overhearing my question and making a misunderstanding to satisfy himself, "Did the idiot with the girly hair do anything to you, Hinata nee-sama?!"
I glared at Neji which was unnoticed by the young boy because his attention was merely on his beloved cousin's face. "Tell me, Hinata nee-sama!" He said, tears starting to well up in his eyes as he made another one of those cute pouts. In prospect, Hinata and I are useless against a cute, pouting boy named Neji.
Deidara thrashed in front, my brothers thrashed behind us, and Hinata and I are busy trying to stop Neji from crying totally. And Itachi? Well. . . He was asleep. Typical, no?
Let's just say the ride to Hinata and Neji's house was eventful, at the least.
~Chapter Thirteen ends here~