First of all, thank you so much for the fantastic reviews! It's always good to have feedback to know what worked in the chapter or not. They really help inspire me to write more and to try and improve. And if anyone wants to help beta-read, the spot is still open!
Once again, there's some cheerleading stuff so if you don't know the technical terms, do look them up. Youtube has some great cheerleading videos :)
This chapter is dedicated to sweetD87, my 40th reviewer!
Enjoy!
Chapter 7
..~**~..
Sakura walked to the school carpark and looked around at the few remaining cars. Naruto's orange car was nowhere to be seen.
Aaargh, crap!
She'd just have to walk back home. She knew she couldn't always count on Naruto for a ride, but from the look of the dark clouds ahead, it was going to rain soon.
"If you're looking for Naruto, he's already left," a deep voice spoke up beside her and Sakura flinched in surprise.
She scowled as she realised it was Sasuke. He was casually leaning against what Sakura assumed was his car, arms crossed over his chest. The air of confidence about him and his overall appearance didn't leave Sakura unphased.
The midnight blue sports car behind him looked fucking nice. It was a Nissan GT-R, a pretty powerful car and the only reason why Sakura recognised it was because Kankuro had wanted the exact same car for his birthday last year, but his father had refused.
"Get in."
Sakura suddenly realised Sasuke had been waiting for her. Naruto had probably asked him to take her home instead.
She groaned inwardly. Naruto was insane if he thought she'd get in a car with the Uchiha.
"It's okay, I'll walk home," she told him, readjusting the strap of her bag on her shoulder.
Her answer didn't seem to please him much. "Don't be stupid," he bit out, causing her to stop and glare at him. "It's going to rain soon. Get in."
He then stepped inside his car expecting her to come along. Sakura was silently seething with anger. There he went again, ordering her about as if he bloody owned her or something.
Glaring once more at the car, she turned her back on him and strode out of the school car park, ignoring the sound of an engine starting behind her. She had barely walked half a block before the sleek navy blue car appeared by her side.
God, why didn't I just accept the girls' invitation to go the mall? Sakura growled to herself as her Inner self sharply reminded her that being stalked by the Uchiha hottie wasn't a bad thing.
The tinted window lowered, revealing an annoyed Sasuke. "Why are you so stubborn about this?"
Sakura firmly kept her gaze ahead, refusing to look at him. "I am perfectly capable of walking home by myself, thank you."
Just as she finished speaking, she felt a raindrop touch her face. Oh please don't let it rain!
"It's starting to rain," he pointed out and the smug look on his face nearly caused her to scream out in frustration. "Just get in."
Sakura took a deep, calming breath. "Why do you even care?"
"You're being annoying," he stated simply and Sakura stopped dead and glared at him. She didn't miss the fact that he hadn't answered her question.
"Don't," she warned him in a low voice just as the raindrops began to increase. "I'm not being annoying and I'm not fucking stupid! I just can't get in the car with you, okay?"
She felt her pulse start to quicken and fought to keep her voice steady. "I had a bad car accident a few years ago and now I can't ride in a car with someone I don't know or trust."
His eyes narrowed at her words. "You don't trust me."
Sakura was slightly baffled by the accusation behind his words. What exactly did he expect after the way he had treated her for the first two days of school?
"I don't trust your driving," she admitted truthfully. "I don't like speed and I doubt you bought that car to respect speed limitations."
The rain was falling down steadily now and Sakura felt slightly embarassed to have just told Sasuke about her fear of cars. He was the last person she wanted to open up to.
"Just go home, Sasuke," she finally told him, starting to walk again as the cold raindrops slowly seeped through her thin army jacket.
The car slowly crept forward reaching her level again.
His voice spoke up again.
"Sakura."
And amazingly, she stopped. Not because he had called to her, but because it was the first time since she'd arrived in Konoha that he had actually said her name.
"I'll drive safely," he continued and when she turned to face him, the honest look on his face caught her by surprise.
"I – I don't think-"
"I promise." His tone had softened, if only very slightly and Sakura actually felt reassured.
Or perhaps it was the fact that she really didn't want to walk all the way home in the pouring rain.
In any case, she finally relented, nodding her head once before walking over to the passenger seat. Sasuke opened the door for her from inside and she climbed in, holding her bag in her lap and quickly slipping her seatbelt on.
He waited for her to be finished before heading off. She gave him her address along with a general direction and he nodded, keeping his eyes on the road.
She swallowed, realising she was in his car. In Uchiha Sasuke's car, which smelled of his cologne and cigarettes. They remained silent for a while. Sakura kept her gaze firmly outside her window, trying not to freak out everytime Sasuke accelerated. He must have sensed her fear and gave her an annoyed look.
"I'm keeping my word," he told her, indicating the speed meter.
"I know, I'm sorry," she immediately apologised, taking a deep breath to try and relax.
"If you're so afraid of cars then how do you manage with Naruto?" he asked her amused.
Sakura smiled at Sasuke's teasing remark. It was common knowledge that Naruto was a terrible driver.
"He knows about the accident and is always really careful when he gives me a ride," Sakura explained simply.
Although I probably shouldn't rely on him to drive me around so much.
"What happened?" he asked her, taking a left as they neared her street.
Sakura froze at the question, trying to ignore the sudden memories flooding to the front of her mind.
"I'd rather not talk about it," she answered quickly, turning her head to stare out the window again.
Sasuke said nothing.
As he reached her home, he pulled up along the sidewalk and Sakura quickly jumped out of the car, pulling her bag up on her shoulder again.
She stopped as she turned around to face him. "Thanks for the ride. I'll see you tomorrow?"
"Hn." He nodded and as she closed the passenger door shut, the car sped back onto the road.
Sakura stared after it, watching it disappear around the block. Slowly, she let out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding.
The rain had stopped, although dark clouds still hung over the village threateningly. Sakura quickly ran up the stairs towards her flat and let herself in. Her mom wasn't home yet from the hospital, but her cat was waiting for her behind the door, anxiously rubbing itself around her legs.
"Yes, yes, food, I know," she said with a laugh, turning towards the kitchen whilst dropping her bag along the way.
Opening the top cupboard, she quickly opened the tin of cat food, emptying its content on a plate.
When she turned around she was surprised to see the tabby cat hadn't yet followed her into the kitchen.
Setting the plate down, she called out to him. "Itachi, come here, Itachi… food's ready..."
The hungry cat quickly appeared through the doorway, making a beeline towards its meal.
..~**~..
The next day, Sakura sat beside Naruto in homeroom, trying to finish off her Maths homework as she listened to Kiba and Naruto try and make sense of Pride and Prejudice.
"Did you get that question about Darcy's pride?" Naruto asked his friend, desperately trying to copy off him.
"Don't bother, man," Kiba answered, leaning back on his chair. "I don't understand half the words of that book. Too bad I couldn't get hold of Hinata to help me out."
"I think it's because he's rich or something," Naruto continued flipping through the book until he spotted Shikamaru asleep behind him. "Hey, how 'bout we just copy Shika's answers."
"Not a chance," Shikamaru warned them instantly, although his eyes remained closed. "Do your own homework, idiots."
Naruto then turned to face Sakura. "Ne, Sakura-chan, can't you help us out? We usually have the cheerleaders do our homework and since you're one of them now…"
"There's no way in hell I'm doing your homework, Naruto," Sakura spoke up, still preoccupied with Maths. "Just read the chapters again and figure it out yourself."
"But this is your favourite book," Naruto continued with a bright smile, trying to butter her up, "and I really, really need your help here."
"No way! This is your favourite book?" Kiba spoke up behind them, turning the book over in his hands as if it held some kind of secret. "Why?"
"Because it's like the ultimate love story," Sakura tried to explain, turning around in her seat to face them. "Forget Romeo and Juliet, in Pride and Prejudice the main characters don't even realise they're in love until halfway throughout the book. Actually Elizabeth even hates Darcy for most of it. It's the leading anticipation until the point when they admit their feelings to each other that's thrilling."
Realising Naruto and Kiba were looking at her as if she'd grown a second head, Sakura's enthusiasm abruptly died.
"Forget it, you guys aren't even the least bit romantic," she added, turning back to her homework.
"Hey, that's not true! I can be romantic," Naruto tried to defend himself. "Last night, I totally paid for Ayumi-chan's ramen and movie ticket."
Sakura's face fell slightly as she realised Naruto had been on a date the previous night. What the hell, Naruto was on a date last night and he didn't even tell me? I guess that's the reason why he left so quickly after practice…
"So you finally scored a date with that hot senior?" Kiba asked, winking at him. "Anything happen?"
Sakura tried to act normal as her pencil suddenly snapped in her hand.
Naruto glanced at her sideways before answering. "No, not really. I guess we'll see how things go."
Sakura felt relieved to hear nothing had happened between them.
Woah, back up! Why am I acting like some jealous girlfriend? Why do I even care if Naruto's dating a girl?
But as the sudden thought of Naruto making out with some random girl made her seriously cringe, Sakura realised without a doubt that maybe her feelings towards her idiot best friend weren't so platonic.
..~**~..
The girls sat apart from the boys again at lunch and Sakura felt rather relieved. She had spent all morning thinking about Naruto's date and wondering why it bothered her so much. Had she really fallen for her best friend? Or was it simply that she was jealous of Naruto paying attention to other girls?
They'd spent two weeks together in Konoha over the summer and had been out quite a few times clubbing. They'd had a good laugh, dancing together, getting drunk and sometimes hooking up with random strangers, but nothing had ever happened beyond the club – they had always gone home together. And yet Sakura had never felt any kind of physical attraction to him. Sure, he was hot! Hell she had seen him quite a few times in boxers only and had resisted the urge to openly stare at his large, tanned chest, but her feelings for him had never gone beyond friendship.
So why now? What was bothering her so much about Naruto dating some girl? Was she really so insecure as to think Naruto would forget about her if he got a girlfriend?
Or maybe she was just looking out for him. After all, she knew him better than anyone else in school, she'd known him all his life and now that she knew about his parents' murder, perhaps she was feeling even more protective of him. Nobody wants their best friend's heart getting crushed.
Naruto isn't looking for love, you idiot, he just wants to get laid like every other guy in this school! Inner Sakura retorted, mocking her.
Blowing out a deep breath, Sakura threw down her fork, having only eaten half her pasta. She really had to stop thinking of Naruto or she was going to do or say something stupid.
"Sakura, you alright?" Ino suddenly asked her.
Sakura realised she hadn't been paying attention to the table discussion at all and had rather rudely cut them off with her sigh.
"Yeah, sorry," she apologised quickly. "I was just thinking about Maths' homework."
"Or rather some hot guy," Tenten cut in. She was back to her usual self that morning, although she had decided to ignore Neji completely now and had refused to eat with the guys again.
Sakura felt her stomach clench. Oh my God, they know about Naruto! Trying to act coolly, she reached for her water bottle to take a sip. "What do you mean?"
"I meant Ryo, silly," Tenten explained, looking at her strangely. "Why, has someone else caught your eye? You know, a little birdie told us Sasuke took you home yesterday -"
Sakura suddenly choked on her water, spraying half of it across the table. "Sasuke? What? No way! There is nothing going on!"
"Sorry," Tenten laughed at her. "I kinda did that on purpose."
"Although the lady doth protest too much, methinks," Ino added slyly.
They laughed out loud as Sakura glared back at them. "I'd rather go out with Gai-sensei."
"Ewww!" Ino groaned in distate as the others scowled from the nasty mental images.
"You can't be serious?" Tenten exclaimed, looking at the boys' table out of the corner of her eye. "Sasuke is gorgeous! He's the school heart throb, you know."
Hinata nodded in agreement. "He has his own personal fanclub."
Sakura finally cracked a smile. "That's ridiculous! Are you serious? I mean I get the looks and all, but he has no personality. He never seems to show any emotion. Talking to him is like talking to a wall!"
No emotions, huh? Inner Sakura teased sarcastically. But wasn't that concern he showed for you yesterday when he took you home?
Sakura chose to ignore the small voice at the back of her head. Yesterday hadn't meant anything. So he had given her a ride home… big deal!
"Neji's the same," Hinata admitted, finishing her meal. "Although reading their emotions becomes easier the more you know them."
"Well Sasuke's constant glaring is pretty easy to decipher," Sakura commented with a hint of sarcasm. "I think I should start count of the number of times he's called me 'annoying'."
"Wrong, that's just his way of showing he cares," Tenten continued to tease. "You should go for it!"
"Yeah and if the constant glaring bothers you too much just put a paper bag over his head and focus on the hot body instead," Ino added jokingly.
The girls stopped and stared at Ino in disbelief for a few seconds before dissolving into peals of laughter.
..~**~..
The rest of the afternoon went a lot faster than Sakura thought it would. Her first class had been English again with Sasuke but the two-hour period went a lot faster this time around since Kakashi-sensei had made them study a different text from Jane Austen to compare it with Pride and Prejudice. Sakura had spent the whole time daydreaming, trying not to fall asleep as Kakashi droned on and on about Jane Austen's writing style and characters. It was interesting, but following classes after lunch was just so damn hard. She sneaked a few glances towards Sasuke wondering if he was actually taking notes and realised he was merely doodling on his notepad. She finally stopped when his dark eyes suddenly staring back at her instead.
Art was a blast. It was the only class besides homeroom and P.E. where the students could talk freely and Sakura spent the whole time chatting away with Ino. They were studying surrealism and Kurenai-sensei asked them to sketch an animal, which they would then paint the following week. Sakura tried to draw a surrealist cat, but didn't get very far as Ino kept distracting her with gossip. It had already been decided that the girls would go to Ino's place after practice to try on the new cheerleading outfits and Sakura, after much convincing, agreed to go. The class ended with Naruto proudly exhibiting his surrealist fox, which had nine tails. Although only a sketch, Sakura was actually impressed - it was a hell of a lot better than the furry blob she'd drawn.
Finally it was practice time and the girls met up in the dojo again. Yuugao-sensei made them go through the same warm-up exercises before practicing tumbling again, especially roundoffs, backflips, whips and tucks.
Those who continued having trouble tumbling practiced over and over again as Yuugao-sensei made the rest of the girls, including Sakura, practice a synchronised tumbling routine.
"Next Friday's performance will include a lot of tumbling, mostly synchronised, so you must always keep count in your head," she informed them, watching distastefully as Ino and Kaori were out of sync. "Once again! No one wants to see a bunch of idiots tumbling at different speeds! Kaori, you need to keep up with the rhythm – Ino, you're starting too early."
After several more attempts, their coach seemed somewhat satisfied and they quickly moved on to the cheers, which went rather smoothly. Sakura remembered most of the words along with the routine of jumping and clapping.
When it came to the dance routine, Sakura was lost again. She could dance, but her memory was terrible and so she couldn't anticipate the movements at all. The worst part was when she caught sight of herself in the mirror, trying to catch up with the rest of the group. She looked like a klutz.
And the complete opposite of sexy, she thought in despair as Yuugao-sensei suddenly paused the music.
"Sakura, what the hell are you doing?" she stated sharply, her purple eyes looking quite fiercesome. "You look like an uncoordinated monkey!"
Sakura's face turned red as several other girls including Karin snickered none-so-subtly.
"Ino, Tenten!" Yuugao-sensei called out, catching the girls' attention. "Since you girls don't seem to have any trouble following my simple routine, I'll ask you to help out your less fortunate teammate and make sure she gets it right before the end of the week. I want the first part of the routine to be flawless for everyone by Monday!"
Since Sakura had failed pretty badly at the dance routine, she tried to do her best for stunts. As the previous day, the girls practiced in groups of four, one after the other, except this time, only a handful of girls switched to being flyer, including Sakura. As her turn came, she was once again with Tenten, Hinata and Kagura. They seemed to work well together and unlike other groups, they already had the position they initially wanted: Tenten as spotter and Hinata and Kagura as bases. This time around, Sakura kept her body tight, used her arms to keep her balance and managed a full up extension on her first try.
She kept her arms up, looked straight ahead and as a final touch - she smiled.
"Excellent, Sakura," Yuugao-sensei exclaimed, assessing her full up. "It seems we got ourselves a foursome. Now let's see if you guys can handle a full up liberty."
The difficulty with the next stunt, Sakura realised as their coach began to explain it, was that this time she was held only by one ankle. She had seen Ino just before struggling to hold that position with her group for at least five seconds. The foursome practiced holding Sakura by a single ankle a couple of times until she was able to hold a liberty.
"Good," their sensei encouraged them. "Tomorrow, I'll let you guys practice by yourselves since you seem comfortable enough handling these stunts."
The next group had more trouble since both Karin and another junior named Fuki, who was in a few of Sakura's classes, were competing to be flyer. Fuki, who was petite and already had experience seemed the obvious choice, but Karin was being stubborn.
"Karin, I think it works best with you as spotter and Fuki, flyer," Yuugao-sensei eventually decided, hands on her hips. "You're simply too tall to fly, which is why you have trouble keeping your balance. You'll be perfect as a spotter to help steady or balance the stunt."
Karin looked anything but pleased, but didn't dare contradict the fiercesome coach in public.
As soon as practice was over, the excitement within the dojo seemed to reach a whole new level as Yuugao-sensei made her way over to the desk where stacks of boxes were piled, containing the new cheerleader outifts.
"Alright, ladies, this is the moment you've all been waiting for," she exclaimed loudly, gesturing for them to approach the table. "I'm going to hand out uniforms to all of you today and I expect you to try them on tonight and bring them back with you for tomorrow's practice. There will be a seamstress with me tomorrow to fix any alterations that need to be done. Now let's do this by alphabetical order."
Sakura let out a small sigh before stepping in line with fourteen overexcited girls.
..~**~..
As they walked towards the school car park later on, Sakura followed at a slower pace, watching with dread as they approached Ino's white Toyota sports car.
"See ya tomorrow, girls!" Okyo exclaimed, waving them off as she continued to walk with Kaori through the car park.
Sakura waved quickly before stopping in front of Ino's car, her chest suddenly tightening with every breath.
"Sakura?" Tenten spoke up, noticing her discomfort. "Are you alright?"
The other girls stopped as well, turning to face her.
"I'm okay," she told them quickly, fidgeting with her bag.
Wow, that sounded convincing, she thought to herself wondering how to mention her fear of cars to her new friends without sounding like a freak.
"Don't worry, Ino's a good driver, you know," Hinata added, as if reading her mind.
Sakura answered with a smile, feeling slightly better. "I'm sorry, I'm not comfortable in cars and I need to feel safe before getting a ride from someone."
Great, now you do sound like a freak!
To her surprise, however, Ino merely waved at her words. "Don't ever get in a car with Tenten driving then!"
To which Tenten protested with a 'hey!' and swatted Ino's arm.
Twenty minutes later, the girls had reached the 'rich', upper class side of town where most clans lived in vast properties. Sakura had driven through this particular part of town a few times but had not seen what lay beyond the tall gates before. As Ino turned into the Yamanaka compound, Sakura felt her jaw drop as they drove through a large park with several houses bordering the central lane. They eventually crossed a small river beyond which the park turned into a large traditional Japanese garden, with green and red-leafed trees, stone basins and lanterns and a lotus pond surrounded by rocks. Sakura couldn't help but stare at the beautiful garden until they arrived at a large modern-style mansion. Ino quickly parked the car and ordered the others to follow her.
"Ino, your home is gorgeous," Sakura breathed, as she stepped out of the car. "I think I want to live in your garden."
Ino beamed in return. "The Yamanaka were known as the best florists and gardeners within Fire country before my grand-parents branched out to other businesses. It's a matter of pride in my family to have the most beautiful gardens of Konoha. Wait until you see the rest!"
They stepped through the front door, Sakura staring around her in awe as Hinata and Tenten quietly followed, already familiar with their surroundings. Stepping through the house, Ino slid a French door open, entering the back garden, which was no longer the traditional japanese garden, but rather a landscape design with all sorts of flowers and bushes growing along carefully designed grass paths. Sakura's eyes, however, were drawn towards a large natural swimming pool surrounded by green plants, complete with a waterfall and jacuzzi.
She spotted someone inside the clear water lazily leaning against the waterfall rocks.
As Ino noticed the man inside the pool as well, she stomped her foot in annoyance. "Dei, don't you have your own pool in your own house?" she yelled at him, clearly irritated by his presence.
The blond man exhaled a long trail of smoke, smiling cockily in return. "I prefer yours, Ino-chan," he told her with a wink. "And besides, it's always a pleasure to see your friends again."
He suddenly hoisted himself out of the pool and Sakura noticed Hinata turn red as he approached them wearing nothing but a dark green swimsuit. The man was slightly older than them, probably a university student. He was medium-sized, barely taller than Tenten but well-built. His blond hair was as long as Sakura's and his eyes a pale blue. He was definitely a Yamanaka – his resemblance to Ino was striking.
Ino grabbed the nearest towel from the lounge chair and threw it at him. "Put some damn clothes on, idiot!"
"Whatever you say, Ino-chan," he answered with a bright smile, slowly proceeding to wipe his toned chest. His light-natured, teasing tone seemed to annoy Ino even more and Sakura bit back a smile.
"Come on, girls, let's go grab a soda or something," Ino huffed before stomping off towards some sort of pool house in the middle of the garden.
Sakura followed on, wondering where they were headed until Tenten explained to her that the pool house had been renovated last summer into a small private apartment for Ino. Her parents finally grew fed up of their daughter and her friends trashing their house every time she hosted a party.
They eventually all settled down on the garden chairs by the pool house sipping their various sodas.
"Ino, it's pretty awesome that you get your own private space," Sakura exclaimed.
Ino merely shrugged. "It'd be better if the idiot you just met, Deidara, realised it was private too."
"Who is he?" Sakura asked.
"My cousin," Ino explained hastily, swinging the drink in her hand around. "He's supposed to be the next head of the clan, but chose to be an art student instead. Sculpting is apparently much more interesting to him, although he spends most of his time partying and getting high."
"Sounds like a good plan," Tenten chimed in, getting a laugh out of Sakura whilst Ino scowled at them.
"He's acting like a spoiled brat," Ino continued annoyed. "He needs to grow up and stop relying on my dad to bail him out of all the shit he gets into."
"He's not all that bad," Tenten retorted, still grinning. "He gets us in all the good clubs."
Sensing Ino's anger, Sakura quickly added. "Besides, aren't all clan heirs the same? More interested in partying, getting drunk, doing drugs, getting laid…"
Ino merely shrugged, taking a sip of her drink. "Sasuke's brother isn't like that." Her lips slowly curved into a smile. "He's a lot more responsible and serious about his future than Dei."
Hinata nodded in agreement and Sakura suddenly noticed both girls had far-away, dreamy looks.
Sasuke's brother, huh?
Tenten rolled her eyes at them. "Dear God, must I remind you all that he slept with Karin?"
Hinata immediately froze and Tenten realised her mistake as she remembered Sakura's presence.
"Don't worry, I already knew," Sakura reassured them, leaning back on her chair. "Naruto told me about Sasuke and Karin last weekend."
They visibly relaxed hearing her words.
"I bet that conniving bitch blackmailed him or something," Ino continued as if nothing had happened.
"Ino's had a crush on Sasuke's brother since she was a kid," Hinata whispered to Sakura, leaning closer.
Ino barely noticed them. "I still don't understand why he would ever be friends with my idiotic cousin."
"One of the great mysteries of life," Tenten teased her, toying with the straw in her glass.
"Like Naruto and Sasuke," Sakura pitched in, pondering Ino's words. "Those two are just nothing alike."
The girls all hummed in agreement.
They spent the next half-hour lounging on the garden chairs, talking amongst themselves. Sakura was glad to spend some time with her new friends and learn more about them. She found out that Ino, Hinata and the boys had known each other practically all their lives. Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji's parents were pretty close so Ino knew the boys very well whereas Hinata was closer to Kiba and Shino. The group had really come together at the start of middle school and Sasuke had always been the natural leader. They talked about boyfriends as well and Sakura learned that Ino had dated Sai, a junior on the soccer team, all of last year. Tenten had dated boys outside of Konoha High but had always had a crush on Neji whilst Hinata had never had a boyfriend. Eventually Sakura told them about Kankuro in Suna.
"Ooh, do you have any photos?" Ino immediately asked.
Sakura laughed and pulled out her phone. "Here he is," she told them, handing her phone around. "I'm not sure why I still keep photos of him, I should probably delete everything."
"Are you kidding? He's gorgeous!" Tenten exclaimed as Ino nodded fervently.
"Do you mind me asking what happened?" Hinata asked, handing Sakura's phone back.
"He's the heir of his clan," Sakura replied with a shrug. "So you can already guess what he's like. Besides his dad was opposed to us dating since I wasn't a clan member. Kankuro could never really stand up to him so he eventually broke it off with me."
And then school turned into hell, Sakura thought to herself, but preferred not to say anything to her new friends.
"Damn, that sucks," Tenten answered, looking sympathetic. Sakura knew she was suddenly thinking about her own situation with Neji and how things could turn out the exact same way.
"Right, enough talking about guys," Ino exclaimed, getting up to her feet. "How about we all get changed and then help Sakura go through the dance routine?"
Sakura groaned, she'd completely forgotten about Ino and Tenten helping her out.
"Hey, no whining," Ino scolded her, hands on her hips. "We're here to help you so you don't look like a complete ass during next week's game. Trust me, the whole school's opinion of us will depend on that first performance. Now come on!"
"Fine," Sakura answered, rolling her eyes. "But I'll try my outfit on after the tutoring session."
Ino and Tenten both left to try on their uniforms, leaving Sakura and Hinata alone. Sakura found out that Hinata's father was pretty strict but had allowed Hinata to join the cheerleader squad because he apparently knew Yuugao-sensei from business and trusted her.
Sakura found it strange that Hinata's father would trust their coach, who was clearly teaching them inappropriate dance moves for high school students. She suddenly wondered what her own dad would have said about her joining the cheerleading squad, but quickly dismissed the thought.
Hearing a door slide open behind, she turned around to see Ino and Tenten emerge from the pool house.
Hinata's jaw dropped open as Sakura gave a low whistle.
Ino and Tenten came out giggling and striking poses.
Sakura applauded, laughing. "Ladies, next Friday every guy at school will be at your feet."
Hinata still looked stunned. "What on earth was Yuugao-sensei thinking?"
Sakura stared at the cheerleader outfits and smiled. "I think she wants us to win."
"Now Sakura," Ino spoke up, pulling her friend up to her feet. "We are going to rehearse this damn routine until you get it right and then you're getting changed. No buts!"
Almost an hour later, Sakura was inside Ino's bedroom, staring at herself in the mirror, dumbstruck. The uniform fit perfectly, it almost seemed as if it were designed for her.
It sported Konoha's colours – red, black and white. The top was sleeveless and midriff-baring. It stopped roughly about an inch above Sakura's belly button. It was mostly red with some white on the sides and red, black and white braids along the V-shaped neckline and bottom. Large black letters outlined in white spelled out the word 'KUNOICHI' across the chest. The short pleated skirt was also red, with black inside the pleats and the same tri-coloured braid along the bottom.
The outfit exposed a lot of skin and Sakura cringed as she realised that she would have to wear it in front of the whole school soon and perform in it. She suddenly understood why the uniform came with low-rise red briefs – with all the tumbling and stunting and the fact that the skirt was pleated, she would be showing off her butt. A lot.
Don't be such a prude! Her Inner self teased mercilessly. You should be thanking gymnastics for giving you that toned stomach! You'll be reaping the benefits once guys see you in this.
Sakura growled, looking away from the mirror. Next Friday was going to be a nightmare. She briefly considered changing back to her regular clothes but remembered her promise to show the girls. It was only fair since she had seen Ino and Tenten in theirs earlier and then Hinata had changed into hers while Sakura praticed the routine.
Taking a deep, stabilising breath, Sakura crossed the bedroom, pulled open the door -
And walked smack into Uchiha Sasuke.
..~**~..
Sorry about the cliff hanger, couldn't help myself! So yes, Sakura's cat is called Itachi... the others will find out later. Deidara is Ino's cousin cause I thought that was a fitting way to slide him into the story and he'll be around next chapter. And if you're wondering about the uniforms, just imagine the Hellcat uniforms slightly less revealing and in red, black and white.
Reviews are more than welcome! :)