Title: Summer's Tangled In Your Hair
Summary: AU. "Ino, I think I'll take you up on the summer road trip offer."
In which Sakura and Ino take a road trip and complete their list of things to do without a care in the world.
Rating: T/PG-13
Pairing(s): sasusaku, very minor naruino
Disclaimer: Disclaimer: Naruto and associated characters are not a property of mine. I just merely own the plot of this story. I also do not own Levi's, Nike, Gilly Hicks or Aquamarine.
{Chapter 1: Can't Be Tamed}
"I wanna fly, I wanna drive, I wanna go; I wanna be a part of something I don't know. And if you try to hold me back I might explode! Baby, by now you should know: I can't be tamed!"
-Can't Be Tamed, Miley Cyrus
x
"So tell me," Ino's mother drawled, "what happened last night that caused you to be so careless that you got some kind of drink spilled on my graduation dress?" Mrs. Yamanaka sniffed the soiled dress and scrunched her nose. Ino froze, and her cornflower eyes flickered towards Sakura. Sakura bit her bottom lip and shrugged; they were caught. "And why does it smell suspiciously like rum?"
"Okay, you caught us!" Ino sighed dramatically, and the roseate almost bit her tongue in amusement as she chewed her macaroni and cheese. She had to cover her laugh by coughing. Deidara quirked an eyebrow at his younger sister's friend, but said nothing otherwise as he stood up to get another helping of macaroni and cheese.
"Excuse me?" Mrs. Yamanaka questioned her daughter. Even Mr. Yamanaka who had been reading the afternoon newspaper stopped to stare at his daughter. It wasn't every day where Ino would admit wrong to something.
"So you know how there was the graduation after party?" she began. Sakura shrunk back in her chair and pushed around the beans on her plate with her fork. Where was Ino going with this? After a nod to indicate that her mother was following along with the story, Ino continued.
"Those idiots in the Student Council booked our after party in a club. A club! Now what's a club without alcohol right? Well, some idiot decided to spike the innocent punch with some kind of alcohol –" "Rum, like what your mother said," Sakura mumbled and Ino nodded ferociously before continuing. "Right, rum! They mixed the punch with the stupid rum and how the heck am I supposed to know it was alcohol if I never even tried it before?" By ending her explanation, Ino slammed her fists on the table, causing silverware to jump.
"Oh please. Are you seriously going to listen to your daughter, yeah?" Deidara rolled his eyes and took a sip of lemonade. Ino practically glared daggers at Deidara, who didn't seem fazed at all. He just gave her an evil grin-smirk.
"It's so obvious that your dear little daughter ha–" Deidara let out a shout and bowed his head down onto the table in pain. Sakura mused over the fact that he had barely managed to push his plate away before dropping his head down onto the table. Ino smirked, satisfied that her kick to her brother's shin had shut him up. It probably didn't help with the fact that she was wearing heels.
"Deidara?" Mr. Yamanaka questioned his son's antic. Deidara let out a breath of colorful words before sitting back up straight.
"Please, Ino, don't kick Deidara when we're eating. And I wouldn't have believed your little lie either. I would ground you for a month, but since it's summer and you're finally a graduate of high school with a 4.0 GPA, I'll let it slide." Before Ino could let out a shout in joy, her mother continued, "You are grounded for one week. And the same goes for you, Sakura. I'm sure your father would like to hear about this?" Sakura could almost groan, but instead, she nodded numbly with all due respect towards Mrs. Yamanaka.
xx
"Honestly! What was Deidara thinking?" Ino hissed and gripped her steering wheel tightly in her hand. Sakura nervously watched the road in front of her.
"Calm down, Pig. You're gonna get us killed with the way you're gripping the wheel!" Ino slackened her grip and sighed, groaning.
"What the hell," the blonde moaned. "I freakin' hate my brother."
"It's just one week, Ino. At least our parents didn't take away our phones." The roseate shrugged and pulled out her iPhone for evidence. Sure, they were stripped of their freedom to go wherever for one week besides each other's houses, but at least the girls still had their phones. Sakura knew for a fact that she wouldn't be able to survive without her phone.
"I guess," Ino mumbled miserably before sliding into a vacant parking space in Wal-Mart's parking lot. The girls were on a shopping run for supplies. Ino's mother had requested them to buy a new bottle of aspirin and some tea while Ino's father requested a new bag of coffee grounds. Sakura also remembered Deidara shouting for Ino to purchase him a new set of paint and paintbrushes.
"I'm almost eighteen! I demand freedom!" Ino shouted angrily and grabbed a nearby cart. Her angry shout earned a few glances towards the girl, which Ino ignored. Sakura just gave the bystanders an innocent smile and ran to catch up with the fuming blonde.
"Our parents are only doing what's best for us. I mean, come on, Ino. We're barely seventeen and eighteen, and we're drinking alcohol already. We're not even the legal age to consume it."
"You sound like my father," Ino grumbled and headed towards the medication aisle.
"Hey, if it helps, at least your dad didn't arrest us," the roseate chirped. She earned a punch to the arm by her seething companion.
"Just help me find the stuff," grumbled Ino. Sakura just sighed and glanced down the aisle for any sign of Tylenol. Sakura was still looking for the white bottle when Ino called out to Sakura to let her know she had found it. Throwing it into the cart, Ino sighed and began to walk towards the arts and craft section. The two friends decided that they would get whatever was needed and meet up at the checkout area in fifteen minutes. Agreeing, Sakura headed off towards the grocery section.
xxx
When Ino had finally shown up running towards Sakura, she let out a grin. It wasn't just a grin though; it was an evil kind of grin. A grin that made Sakura shiver and almost drop her supplies. It was the I-got-a-splendid-and-rebellious-and-evil-idea that Ino always wore whenever she was about to launch something that could get them in trouble. Before Sakura could open her mouth and question her crazy friend, Ino picked up a box of hair dye and shoved it into Sakura's face.
"Royal Blue Hair Dye," Sakura read off the box. Her emerald eyes widened and she dropped her groceries and whatnot into the cart. Grabbing the dye box in her hand she gave Ino a look.
"Are you crazy? Your mother just grounded us! What do you think is going to happen if you leave your house with normal hair and come back with highlights? And not to mention the color blue!" Ino sighed and reached into her purse to pull out a rolled up poster paper.
"The list, Sakura. We already made a promise that we would do all these before college starts, so why not start now? Come on! We're going to be in college next year! Summer isn't going to last forever, so we might as well have a little fun! Besides, we only live life once!" Ino pleads.
"I.. I don't know Ino," Sakura mumbled and ran a hand through her back-length hair.
"Live a little! Don't you want an adventure?" Ino demanded. Sakura sighed. She had caught her there. All her life, Sakura wished to do something fun; to live life to the fullest because it could end before she even saw it coming. This list was her only chance before she attends college and focus on getting her medical degree. And Ino was right, as much as the roseate hated to admit. We only live life once.
"Fine. We'll do it." Ino smirked smugly at her friend before latching her arms around Sakura's shoulders.
"Good! Now let's head back to the food section, 'cause we're gonna need all we need for our road trip!" Sakura let out a laugh and followed her insane friend back to the place she had just come from.
xxxx
I would love to at least bleach my hair or dye it! Squee! (Ino! How cute would it be to like bleach your hair a royal blue? But not all your hair, just a few strands like highlights? It would go well with your blonde hair.) (Dude! That would be such a cute color! Nice idea Forehead!)
"Ow!" There was a muffled thump and Sasori paused the game to look up from his TV. Stupid girls.
"What the hell is going on up there, yeah?" Deidara glanced up from the game the two friends were playing to stare at the ceiling above them. Unpausing the game, Sasori shrugged.
"My little sister and your sister came home earlier with bags from Wal-Mart. They disappeared into my little sister's room shortly after."
"Die, yeah!" Deidara let out a whoop and grinned in delight when the two friends had won the completed the stage in a shooting game. Although his eyes were trained on the TV in front of him, Deidara paid just as much attention to his red-haired friend.
"Mother grounded them just this afternoon. She found out Ino and Sakura had alcohol at the party last night."
"Aa, yes. I remember father telling my little sister that he was disappointed in her." The redhead smirked as his character in the game headshot three people down. If only their father had realized Sasori had already began consuming alcohol when he was barely fifteen and smoking since he was seventeen. There was another shriek and thump from upstairs and a series of curse words flowing out of the Yamanaka's voice. Quirking an eyebrow, Sasori paid little attention afterwards while Deidara paid no attention to the stream of curses flowing out of his sister's mouth from up above.
Upstairs in Sakura's restroom, Ino blindly grabbed a nearby towel and rubbed her burning eyes with them. Sakura watched with an amused smirk on her face. The blonde had opened the box and eagerly began to mix the dye to create a royal blue color. Ino had forgotten that her hands were covered with dye when she reached up to rub her itchy eyes. The dye seeped into her eyes and began to create a burning irritation.
"Don't just stand there!" Ino whined. Sakura sighed and jumped off her bathroom counter to turn on the tap water. The sink filled with cold water in a few seconds, and the roseate dragged her friend to the sink. Ino squeezed her eyes shut and bent down to splash water into her eyes. After a few more splashes, she could finally open her eyes without feeling any stinging. Whipping around to glare at the laughing roseate, Ino shouted angrily while throwing the towel at Sakura, "You suck! Why did you just stand there?"
Calming her giggles, Sakura flipped her glossy hair over her shoulder. "Oh shut up! You're not going to die just by getting dye in your eyes. The worst possible is just you becoming blind, but not dead."
"Whatever," the blonde grumbled. Her mood quickly changing, Ino held up the mixed concoction. "It's finished! Let's test it out!" Sakura nodded and draped a towel across her friend's shoulders. Using a hair clip, Sakura grabbed half of Ino's thick hair and clipped it up.
"I'm going to start by doing the back strands of your hair, so even if I mess up – which I won't – it won't stand out and make people look at you like you grew three heads." Sakura smirked amused as Ino let out a bitter laugh.
"Just shut up and get started already."
"Whatever, Piggy."
"Oink oink," Ino drawled whilst rolling her eyes.
Grabbing the mixed bleach powder and 40 Volume Developer, Sakura began to rub the concoction into the selected strands. Then, Sakura wrapped the bleached strips with foil paper. After waiting for the bleach to seep in, she unwrapped the foil and blew dry the strands.
"Wait, I'm already blonde though. Are you sure you need to freaking bleach my hair still?"
"What's the worst that could happen?"
"Right…"
Sakura then colored the strands with the royal blue dye, making sure to rub in the dye so the color would come out pigmented. After repeating the foil and drying process, Sakura grabbed a brush and smoothed out Ino's thick mane.
"Um, Ino? I think we have a problem." The blonde stiffened, and she quickly looked up from her fashion magazine. Her baby blue eyes widened as her breath hitched in her throat.
"What the hell?" She screeched. Sakura grimaced and tossed Ino's hair around.
"W-well, it isn't that bad. It's a cute color!" Sakura tried to console her friend. "You look like the mermaid from Aquamarine!"
"Hey Sakura."
"Yeah?"
"Shut up." Ino sniffed as she ran a hand through her highlighted hair. Instead of the color turning out to a royal blue, the dye had faded and became an aquamarine color. "I thought you said you wouldn't mess up!"
"I also said that I would stop sending so many texts, but that never happened. Look, I'm sorry, but it doesn't even look that bad. Honestly!" Sakura flashed Ino a confident grin.
"Whatever," Ino sighed and began to clean up the messy bathroom. "On the bright side, this completes number one on our list! But –"
"Oh no…"
"But! Sakura, sweetheart, I think it's time for you to go out and get a real haircut." Ino gave a devious smile as she played with a strand of Sakura's hair.
"What's wrong with trimming my own hair at home?" Sakura pouted and tugged on her overgrown side bangs.
"You have split ends again and your layers don't even look like layers. Not to mention your side bangs aren't even side bangs anymore; they're almost as long as your hair."
"I'm kind of offended," Sakura mumbled as she ran a hand through her hair. "But why can't I just leave my hair like this? I think it looks rather nice."
Ino sighed and placed her hands on Sakura's shoulder, shocking light blue locking into surprised viridian eyes. "Forehead, your hair is cute. But–" Ino raised a finger before Sakura could interrupt her, "But it's little kid cute, not sexy, tousled hot." Sakura's eyes narrowed.
"Are you implying that I'm not sexy material, Pig?"
"Obviously your hair isn't. You have the movie star look, Sakura. You have flawless skin, wonderful captivating eyes, and paper white teeth that can blind someone. But your hair tells me something else." The devious Yamanaka could tell she was angering the roseate in front of her. Sakura's nose scrunched as she ground her teeth together. Ino could also see at the corner of her peripheral vision that her friend's hands clenched into fists. 'Wonderful taunting, Ino my dear,' Ino smirked to herself.
Before Sakura could actually think it through, she pulled away from Ino and rummaged through her drawers. Finding what she was looking for, Sakura pulled it out and showed it to Ino, opening and closing the scissors in front of the blonde's face. Ino let out a gasp as she helplessly watched Sakura grab a fistful of her hair and poised the cutting instrument just three fingers below her jaw line.
"Sakura!" Ino screeched loudly as she watched, mortified that Sakura's silky strands slowly fell to the bathroom floor. Upon hearing Ino's terrified scream, the bathroom door burst open to reveal Sasori and Deidara, their eyes scanning the bathroom vacant of threats. Deidara's eyes followed the remaining strands of bubblegum hair falling to the floor as he whistled long and low.
"Foolish girl," Sasori sighed. "You have destroyed what used to be a wonderful work of art that you had cherished so much."
"I hope you're satisfied," Ino mumbled dejectedly.
"Oh, I am." Sakura smirked triumphantly as she continued to clean up the choppy ends of her new chin length bob.
xxxxx
"Skirts?"
"Yup."
"Your ridiculously cute jeggings from Gilly Hicks?"
"Two pairs of jeggings, three pairs of Levi's supper skinny jeans, one pair of grey sweats, one pair of black leggings, and two pairs of denim shorts."
Sakura smiled lightly as she folded her leggings and stuffed it inside her already full duffel bag. Besides the many pairs of pants, her Nike duffel bag was already filled with two summer dresses, a bathing suit, five different T-shirts, three tank tops, one off the shoulder knit sweater, flip flops, and of course, bathroom necessities and daily uses.
"I think I'm ready for our trip," Sakura murmured. She placed a delicate finger on her pursed lips, thinking for a bit.
"Awesome! Let's grab our food from your fridge and drive back to my house so I can pack as well. Then we can make our greatest escape ever!"
"Erm. Let's not get out of hand here, Pig." Sakura grabbed her bag and purse before walking down the stairs and into the kitchen.
"Going somewhere?" Sakura's breath hitched in her throat as she turned around, her newly chopped hair swishing in sync.
"Mr. Haruno!"
"Dad! What are you doing home? I thought you were on a business trip!" Sakura inwardly squeaked, her terrified viridian eyes flickering between her father and Ino, who seemed caught up in the moment with surprise. Mr. Haruno quirked a brow, his eyes narrowing at her daughter and her friend's nervous antics.
"I left my camera at home so I came back to get it."
"Y-you came back just for the camera? Couldn't you have bought another one?"
"You know that I love my baby more than anything," Mr. Haruno grinned as he held up his most prized camera in his hands. Sakura inwardly groaned as Ino rolled her eyes discreetly. "But the question is where do you think you are going, young lady?" His grey storm eyes narrowed at the duffel bag on Sakura's shoulder.
Sakura opened her mouth, but Ino beat her to it. "Mr. Haruno, Sakura is going on a summer road trip with me and my brother. I can promise you that your daughter will be safe in the hands of us." Sakura nervously nibbled on her lip as she prayed for her father to buy the lie.
"Sakura, I'm disappointed to hear that you were going to leave without my permission. But as long as there is someone older than eighteen going on the trip, I trust you girls. Have fun," he murmured and pecked Sakura on her forehead and lightly tugged on her short locks teasingly, "and be safe, you two."
As her father left the room, Sakura felt the breath of air she had been unconsciously holding in out. "Crap. So close to getting caught," she murmured and smacked her forehead with her palm.
"Shh! Let's go before he questions us some more!" Ino grabbed Sakura and the groceries before dragging her friend out the mansion.
"Father, you do realize that Sakura is lying, right?" Sasori stood behind his father as Mr. Haruno stared out the window and watched Sakura and Ino giggle and climb into Sakura's convertible.
"She's eighteen, Sasori. She deserves a little bit of freedom, don't you think? After all, she can't stay my little girl forever. Don't you agree, Sasori?"
"Hn. You're right, father. Art is only beautiful when break free from the cages that keep you from spreading your wings and flying."
xxxxxx
7. GO ON A SUMMER ROAD TRIP! OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG. (Yes! With my car! We can drive with the convertible top down!) (Ilyyyyyyyy)
Deidara stared at the note taped to the kitchen counter as he re-read the note over and over again. "Tch. That darn Ino." However, the blonde let out a laugh and shook his head. "She finally learns the true meaning of rebelling. Wait until mother and father find out."
"She's dead when she comes home." Deidara's visible eye widened as he froze. 'Good luck Ino, yeah!'
And thus the summer road trip begins! Sasuke and Naruto will be coming on soon.
Thanks for checking out this story. To those who review, thank you so much, and to those who read but don't review, thank you as well. (: