Chapter Eighteen: The Cherry Blossom Festival Part Two: Jealousy

Sakura seemed to be turning many heads at the Cherry Blossom Festival. When her date, Kiba, saw her, he was shocked. But as the night wore on, he began to realize that he was lucky to have Sakura as his date, considering she was the best looking girl at the festival.

"So Sakura, what do you want to do first?"

"Well, Tsunade's got me doing this Princess thing. I still don't understand what the big deal is."

"You mean you haven't heard the story?"

"No, what story?"

"Well it's a pretty corny one, but if you really want to know…

"A long time ago on this very night, a beautiful girl was walking in a dull, dark forest. The forest seemed to be dead, with no hopes of any new life coming to it. The young girl saw this and vowed to herself that she would find a way to bring new life to it.

So every year, on the same date, the girl would walk through the forest, singing a soft, beautiful song.

"One year, when the girl was sixteen, she came through the forest like she did every year, singing her heart out. She really wanted to bring the forest to life. She had been trying to do so for the past eight years, but to no avail. But on that particular night, a group of woodland fairies appeared in front of her.

'We have watched you young child, and have seen how you've brought this place to life. We thank you.'

'Wise woodland fairies, you must be mistaken. The forest is still dark and lifeless. I haven't done anything to help it."

"Child, open your eyes. Truly open them, and you shall see the beauty.'

"The girl blinked her eyes a few times and when she opened them, she saw that the trees had these beautiful pink flowers on their limbs and the grass was a wonderful shade of green.

"I did this?"

"Yes you did. With your voice, imagination, and love you brought this place to life. Tell us, what are you going to call these flowers?"

"They shall be called Cherry Blossoms, or Sakuras, for they show true beauty."

"Then from this day forward, you'll be known as our Cherry Blossom Princess."

"And so, every year on this night we celebrate the gift the Cherry Blossom Princess left us with all those years ago. They say that the Princess's spirit is watching over her flowers and bringing true beauty to other dead forests. And that's the story of the Cherry Blossom Princess," said Kiba.

"Wow, that's quite a story, I won "

"Haruno Sakura, you're now needed," said Tsunade.

"Oh okay. Kiba, I'll meet up with you after the ceremony okay? Then you can show me what you do for fun at this festival."

"Alright, can't wait."

Sakura followed Tsunade to this float that had the set of the story Kiba had told her. Tsunade told her what she had to do. She then gave her the song that the original Cherry Blossom Princess sang and left Sakura to memorize it. It was right after Tsunade left that Sasuke showed up.

"Sakura."

"What do you want bastard? I don't want to deal with you right now."

"I just wanted to say that…well, you look amazing tonight."

"What…whatever, I don't need your compliments. That's why I have Kiba-kun. You know he's the perfect date."

"Really?"

"Yeah and he's great. He's not like you at all. And that's a good thing because I have zero interests in guys like you."

"Look, I don't want to fight with you. Just tell me what I did wrong. I thought that we were becoming good acquaintances."

"Oh don't give me that bullshit! You know what you did. I've got to go and do this Princess thing, so you need to leave and don't talk to me again."

Sakura then walked away and left Sasuke by himself. Did he really think he could get Sakura to like him again with just a compliment? No way! She was too upset with him for something he never did.

"Think back Sasuke to that night and those text messages," said his inner.

"I am. I just don't know!"

"C'mon, yes you do. Really think."

"She did mention something about my fangirls kidnapping me and she not caring."

"DING! DING! DING! We have an answer! Took you long enough. Your fangirls have something to do with this."

"Yeah, but which ones?"

"You just HAD to be good-looking didn't you?"

"Hey, it's not my fault! I'm just blessed."

"Yeah and while you're being all cocky, Sakura hates your guts and is out on a date with Kiba, while you, Mr. 'I'm SO HOT' had to borrow another guys' girlfriend for the festival. Now isn't that a shame?"

"Shut-up."

"Oh, is someone a little jealous of Kiba and Sakura? They do make a cute couple. Now, if it was you and Sakura, that would be a HOT couple. Too bad you lost your chance."

"But I didn't do anything wrong! How many times do I have to say that?"

"Then prove it to her then!"

Meanwhile with Naruto, Neji, and Shikamaru, they clearly weren't having that great of a time at the festival. So far all they've heard from their dates were them whining about this and that. 'How come they didn't hold their hand?' 'Does this kimono make me look fat?' 'Oh! Win me that pretty please!' It was getting on their last nerves!

"Hey girls, why don't we just go and watch the Cherry Blossom Princess Ceremony?" asked Naruto.

"Okay," they chimed.

Sakura was positioned on the float, ready for the ceremony. She knew that everyone was going to be looking at her and that she couldn't mess this up. She took one deep breath, and the float began to move. The story teller on the float with her, narrated the story, while she reenacted it. Finally, it came to the part where she had to belt out the song and the cherry blossoms start to appear. With one last deep breath, she began.

Ino, Tenten, and Hinata were amazed that Sakura was such a great Cherry Blossom Princess. Thus type of stuff was something she would never be caught dead doing, unless she was forced to. But by the looks of it, she was enjoying herself. Meanwhile, they were having a terrible time. Their dates were totally disgusting. Hinata's date wanted to make out all the time. Ino's wanted to get a room in a hotel. Tenten's was just ready to take it all off at a drop of a needle.

"Ugh, I can't believe that we're stuck with these idiots! Why are we with them again?" asked Ino.

"Because Neji, Naruto, and Shikamaru broke the truce and lied to us," said Hinata.

"But guys come on, do you think that if all this stuff didn't happen we'd be their dates to this thing?" asked Tenten.

"Well, I know that I would've been Naruto-kun's. After all I was dating him. We broke up when we stopped talking to the guys. It was our one month anniversary," said Hinata.

"Oh Hina-chan, I'm so sorry. I didn't know you were dating him," said Ino.

"Well no one did but us. I was planning on telling you that day."

"So what are we gonna do?" asked Tenten.

"Well we could try ditching them," suggested Hinata.

"Nah, they'd just find us," said Ino.

"I know! We'll just 'get sick' and go home!" said Tenten.

"It's worth a shot," agreed Ino and Hinata.

After finishing the ceremony, Sakura was able to find Kiba again. He had this playful smirk on his face that Sakura didn't like.

"You were great. Babe," he said.

"Don't call me 'Babe' if you plan on living. And wipe that smirk off your face because nothing else is happening tonight except for us hanging out and mess with Uchiha's head, " said Sakura.

"Ah, so that's what's happening. Why are we doing this exactly?"

"Because he pissed me off, so I am getting back at him. A little revenge is good for the soul."

"Okay, I'm in."

"Good, now take my hand and let's go."

Sasuke and Temari were walking over to the bumper cars when he spotted Sakura holding hands with Kiba. There was this fire-burning feeling at the pit of his stomach. It made him want to go and rip off Kiba's arm and take Sakura away from him.

"Jealous Sasuke?" asked Temari.

"What? No, I got nothing to be jealous of," said Sasuke.

"Oh come one! It's so obvious that you like Sakura. You may not have intended to, but you do. And right now she's looking pretty cozy with another guy."

"Oh shut-up."

"You boys are all the same. Haru was jealous of me hanging out with my best guy friend before we got together too. But all he had to do was come up to me and talk. Now we've been together for two years."

"Yeah, well it's not that easy with Sakura. She hates me."

"Then make her not hate you."

Neji, Naruto, and Shikamaru finally dumped their dates at the cotton candy booth. They just got sick of their voices. They were now walking around, when they ran into Ino, Hinata, and Tenten, struggling to beat the crap out of three guys.

"We told you already. We're going home. We don't like you guys. Now don't make us get violent," said Ino.

"Ah, c'mon baby. We've just started having fun."

"We said NO!" screamed Hinata as the girls punched their dates in the face, causing them to stumble back.

"You bitches! Boy's let's teach them a lesson."

"I don't think so," said Neji as he, Naruto and Shikamaru tackled the three boys from behind.

"Now I suggest that you boys leave these girls alone or there will be hell to pay," said Shikamaru.

'And if you ever touch my girlfriend again, you'll be dead, got it?" asked Naruto. The boys then kicked the three boys out and faced the girls.

"No one said that you could come and take over our fight," yelled Tenten.

"We were trying to help," responded Neji.

"We didn't ask for your help," said Ino.

"Yeah, and who says I'm still your girlfriend Naruto?"

"Look, we know that we were stupid in the past, and we're sorry about that. It's just that we couldn't stand seeing you with them," said Shikamaru.

"Yeah and we never broke our truce," said Neji.

"Face it girls, we really like you. A LOT. You're the most down to earth girls we know. So please, forgive us and let's go get some ramen," said Naruto.

"You weren't supposed to tell them that baka," said Neji.

"What? We all know that you want Tenten and Shikamaru wants Ino. I just want my Hina-chan back. Everyone can so tell," he replied. Before Neji could reply back all three girls had jumped them and started to make out with them.

"So I guess this means that you like us again," said Shikamaru.

"Oh just shut-up and kiss me," responded Ino.

Sasuke took Temari's advice to heart. Yes, he had to make Sakura not hate him. He had to prove that he hadn't betrayed her trust, without actually doing so. How he was going to do so, Sasuke had no idea. Sasuke ended up following Kiba and Sakura around the festival. Temari just smiled when he told her his plan.

"Just be careful Sasuke, If Sakura catches you, I can promise that she will kill you. Okay, well maybe not kill but she'll hurt you pretty badly."

O here he was spying on them, and let's just say that he wasn't liking how Kiba was all nice and comfy with Sakura. He didn't think that anyone, besides himself, should be that close to Sakura. Kiba didn't know Sakura like he does, so why was he getting to be so intimate with her?

"Hey Kiba-kun, I'm having such a great time with you. You're the perfect date," said Sakura.

"Thanks, but just you wait until AFTER the festival, then we'll have a lot of fun," replied Kiba.

"Oh you sly dog. We won't go that far…yet."

When Sasuke heard that line, he became furious. If Kiba even thought that he was getting that far with her, he had another thing coming. His dirty paws weren't getting anywhere near her.

"Possessive much?" asked Inner Sasuke.

"Shut-up you feel the same way as I do."

"Have you ever thought of the possibility that she's just trying to mess with your head?"

"No."

"Well you might want to. But really, maybe you should back off for tonight. Let things cool down some and then go and talk to Sakura."

"How did you get to be so smart?"

"Idiot, I've always been the smart be. I just don't show it to you that often because you're usually able to figure things out on your own. But since you're being this stupid…"

"Oh…wait, HEY! I'm not stupid!"

"Right, and the dobe hates ramen. I'll see you later."

Sasuke took a seat at an empty bench to think things over. Maybe letting things cool down was best for himself and Sakura. Maybe that was the only way he'd be able to tell her what really happened. But until then, he'd just have to let her go and wait.