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.
{Chapter 3: Downtown Girl}
"I smell her sweet perfume, making rounds around the room 'cause she's a downtown girl. Her lips are red and those hips are turning heads 'cause she's a downtown girl."
-Downtown Girl, Hot Chelle Rae
x
"Sakura, wake up." Ino shook the slumbering girl, but to no avail. Ino huffed, scratching her bed head hair. It was already 11:17 and Ino had just crawled out of bed grudgingly. Her roommate was usually the one who got up first, but today was a different day. "Sakura!" she screeched, picking up her pillow and slamming it down on Sakura's head, earning a surprised yelp.
"Ow!" Sakura moaned underneath the pillow. The pinkette slowly pulled the pillow off her face and sat up. "What?" she growled and rubbed at her eyes.
"It's almost 11:30 and we cannot waste a single day just sleeping in. Hurry up and get ready because we're going to leave soon." As soon as Ino left the room, Sakura groaned and flopped back down onto the bed.
"GET UP!" Ino screeched and Sakura shot up, mumbling colorful words under her breath. Rubbing her eyes once more, Sakura slid off the bed and padded quietly over to the window, drawing open the curtains and cursing slightly as the bright sun blinded her on impact.
Ino was right, Sakura mused as she stared out the window and down at the tiny people already walking around. She couldn't just sleep away her embarrassment from yesterday's swimming incident. It wasn't like she would ever see the two boys again, right? Right. With that thought, Sakura called the concierge, asking them about what entertainment might be good for two tourists.
Scribbling down the information on the complimentary notepad and pen, Sakura hung up just as Ino walked out of the bathroom, glowing and refreshed. The blonde had managed to create beach-y waves with her hair (the washed-out blue dye seemed to really compliment well with her naturally blonde hair) as well as line her eyelids with eyeliner, create a smoky effect with a warm bronze eye shadow, and coat her usually pale and light eyelashes with mascara, making them voluminous and seductive. How she had managed to do all that within only fifteen minutes was surprising.
"So what are we doing today?" Ino asked as she closed the curtains and began to undress.
"I called the concierge when you were in the bathroom, and they said that Suna is hosting a street fair today." Sakura informed her as she grabbed her brush and ran it through her hair a few times.
"Sweet!" Ino shouted back while slipping into a white flowy camisole with black super skinnies. She pursed her glossy lips and decided that her wedges would look nice with her outfit.
Meanwhile, Sakura stared into the mirror. A girl with a too-large forehead, a Crest-worthy white smile, and freakishly pink hair stared back. Deep within her viridian eyes, Sakura could see the spunk and moxie blazing within her. She rummaged through her makeup bag and started with a face exfoliation and then began to do her makeup.
After lining her eyelids with kohl and using the mascara wand to lengthen her eyelashes, Sakura decided it was a simple day for her. Just eyeliner and mascara would do for the day. And possibly bright red lipstick because she was feeling feisty. She untwisted the tube and smeared some of her lips, liking the way the pigment stood out against her skin tone. Yes, Sakura thought. Blazing red definitely brought out the zeal in her, and that was exactly what she needed to start over and forget about yesterday's incident.
Sakura combed her hair and parted it in the middle before grabbing her short hair and tying it into a low, loose ponytail, leaving her parted bangs to frame her face. She grabbed a floral ribbon and tied it around her head to create a cute rockabilly hairstyle. Sakura pursed her lips and stared at herself once more in the mirror. In place of the tired-looking girl was now Sakura Haruno with her celebrity-worthy bright smile, brilliant green eyes that popped against her pencil-lined eyelids and lips so glossy and kissable that they were hard to resist.
Satisfied with her appearance, Sakura exited the bathroom to find Ino sprawled on her bed texting someone on her phone. The roseate unzipped her duffel bag and pulled out her Smile Kid! We The Kings concert tee and her skinnies from Levi's. Black combat boots on and she was ready to have some fun. Ino grinned and jumped off the bed, stuffing her Samsung Galaxy S2 into her ridiculously cute Gucci chain strap bag. Ino linked arms with Sakura and the two girls left their hotel room.
xx
8. Stop by every summer fair and festival in the cities we visit. (Stuffing our faces with popcorn, cotton candy, and candy apples… Sounds fattening, but yum!) (That is, if we ever even go on a road trip.) (The hell you talking about? I'm gonna do this even if you don't want to come with me!)
Sakura happily licked her pomegranate raspberry yogurt off her blue spoon. Frozen yogurt was good, but it was even better when you ate it with an empty stomach on a hot day like today. She hid her smile behind her spoon as she spooned a cheesecake bite into her mouth. Yum!
"Man, this place is huge." Ino stared out the tiny yogurt shop they were currently in. She spooned her green tea yogurt into her mouth as her cornflower blue eyes darted from tent to tent across from them. Her wristwatch told her it was already 12:45 – almost 1, and true to the Suna brochures, the sun was already high up in the sky, beating down on the shoppers with intense heat.
The street fair was crowded with tons of people, whether it be tourists or the people that reside in Suna, which meant that there were barely any room you could call your own bubble. Ino had learned that it was nearly impossible to walk without having someone either breathing down your neck or bumping into you. Sakura had learned that you really had to watch where you were going or else you would be apologizing every few minutes for stepping on peoples' heels.
"It is," Sakura agreed and finished her last spoon of yogurt. She grabbed her cup of water and downed it in three gulps. She then proceeded to grab Ino's purse and look through the smaller compartments for a compact mirror and her red lipstick she had secretly stashed in there before leaving the hotel. "You shouldn't have brought your bag, Pig. I wouldn't be surprised if you either get pick-pocketed or get your purse jacked from you."
"Shush," Ino told her. "Don't jinx it!" Sakura made a face at Ino's back as she picked up their trash and threw it away in the already overflowing trashcan. "Besides, if I didn't bring my purse, you wouldn't even have been able to do a touchup like what you just did!" Ino shot her a look, which Sakura just smirked to.
"Okay, whatever. Which tent first?" Sakura asked and stood up. Ino followed, pursing her lips and thinking.
"Let's go for the boutique tent I saw earlier. It's the cute little pink tent that sells really cute jewelry." There was a smug smile on Ino's face as she led the way out. She couldn't wait to get some shopping done. Her credit card was just screaming her name!
xxx
Sasuke ground his teeth together as water splashed onto his face. Damn kids. Sasuke cursed in his mind while wiping the water droplets away from his face. Why was he stuck supervising the kiddie pool? Why was Naruto able to supervise the VIP section of pool? There was hardly ever anything dramatic that happened in the VIP section while screaming children wailing at the top of their lungs happened every few seconds at the kiddie pool.
"Tough luck," Sasuke muttered under his breath. The same two stupid words Naruto had told him while shaking with the silent laughter he was trying to suppress. Stupid idiot.
"Ah! There's the lifeguard! Get him!" A slightly pudgy boy with a floatie around his waist points at Sasuke. The Uchiha swallows the lump in his throat and takes a small step back as a hoard of kids begin to run towards him.
"Fuck my life," Sasuke cursed under his breath as he raised his whistle to his lips and got ready to toss stupid little kids into the deep end of the kiddie pool. But then again, the deepest was only three feet. "Fuck my life," he repeated as little girls clung to his legs and waist while the boys whacked him repeatedly in the chest and on the head with floaties and pool noodles.
All the way on the other side of the park, Naruto lounged lazily on the lifeguard post. He happily sipped his frozen lemonade as he leaned back, placing a hand behind his head. Ah, this was the life. As much as Naruto liked supervising the kiddie pool, he liked it even better here in the VIP section. Hardly anything happened that needed Naruto to bust his move and save someone from swallowing chlorine and water down their throats.
It truly was peaceful in this section of the park. Not to mention there were also some hot rich babes that sometimes rented this section. Like that one cutie who was discretely giving him looks. Or well, Naruto could easily tell she was looking at him by the way her pale lavender eyes ("So hawt, 'ttebayo!") kept flickering towards him. She also kept twiddling her index fingers and Naruto wondered if she was sun burnt by the way her cheeks flared red.
"Lady Hinata." A sharp voice spoke and called for the attention of the black-haired beauty. "It is time to go back. Your father has an appointment with the President of Sunagakure."
Naruto watched as a boy with chocolate-brown hair emerged from the gazebo and walked down the small three steps to reach the edge of the pool. He too had the same pale lavender eyes. Hinata blinked and turned around.
"R-right," she stuttered and began to wade out of the pool. She held her hands close to her chests as she stepped out of the pool. Naruto watched the boy glare up at him. The blonde grimaced and quickly kept his eyes elsewhere. He could spare a pounding for today, especially after the recent pounding tantrum Sasuke had gave him after the Uchiha had found out he was working at the kiddie pool today.
Now that the family who had rented the VIP section was gone, Naruto was free to leave his shift early. It was nearing lunch, and today Sasuke and he worked for only the morning shift of the day.
Naruto climbed down from the lifeguard post and began to pick up the used towels and threw them down the laundry chute. After locking up the gate that section off the VIP Pool, Naruto began to trek towards the opposite end of the amusement park.
"Sasuke!" Naruto called out as he entered the overly-populated section. "Shift's almost over!" He muffled his laughter with his hand as he watched the scowling Uchiha climb down from the lifeguard post; the only place where no little kids was able to bother him. The stupid Teme even had his knees to his chest. Pft, what a coward.
"I hope you're happy," Sasuke snapped as he brushed past Naruto. The blonde rolled his eyes at Sasuke's sour attitude, but followed suit.
As the two clocked out and entered the employee's changing room, Naruto happily chattered to one of their co-worker about some "hot babe" he saw in the VIP section of the pool. That damn Dobe and his stupid dibs.
"Yo, Sasuke. I was thinking we could check out the street fair today."
"No."
"Aw, why not?" Naruto whined. Sasuke rolled his eyes and tugged on his grey tee.
"They have that every week and they always sell the same things. There's nothing to do there." His response was automatic, considering this happened every time Naruto tried to convince him to go.
"Oh come on, Teme. There are lots to do there!" Naruto grinned wolfishly as he grabbed Sasuke and draped his arm around his neck. "We can have ramen, go to the arcade, have more ramen, maybe eat some dango, hang out at the manga store, waste money at the arcade again, and have some cotton candy – plenty to do! And did I mention they have ramen there?"
"Yes. Twelve thousand times," Sasuke drawled and removed Naruto's arm from his shoulder. He then proceeded to tug on his Converse, lacing them up and tucking the shoe lace inside the shoe. Naruto laughed.
"Alright! It's settled! We're going to the street fair!" Naruto cheered loudly while punching his fist into the air. Sasuke sighed and rolled his eyes. He nonetheless followed his loud-mouthed friend out of the water park and stepped into the blazing hot sun.
After a quick lunch at the ramen stand and buying the Dobe frozen yogurt in order to shut him up, the two friends were currently browsing around the manga tent. Naruto immediately went to the action genre side, mumbling something about ninjas. On the other hand, Sasuke sighed and waited by the tent entrance. One of the bad things about street fairs in Suna had to be the intense heat that seemed to follow you everywhere you went.
"God damn, it's fucking hot!" Sasuke's obsidian eyes flickered away from his phone to the two girls who crowded around a wall of shojou manga.
"Tell me about it," the blonde snorted. Sasuke quirked a brow at their choice of clothing. Even with the tiny sundress on their bodies, it's a wonder how they don't feel drafts near their legs.
"C'mon, Teme. Let's go to the arcade. It's too hot." Even the humid air seemed to bring down Naruto's happy-go-lucky attitude. Thankfully for the two boys, there was an arcade right around the block, just far enough for the street fair to end and not far enough for them to collapse from heat stroke. They ran the rest of the way, both wanting to get out of the heat as soon as possible.
Upon opening the door, a burst of cold air wafted into their faces. Naruto even stuck his tongue out, eyes closed and blissfully enjoying the air-conditioned building.
"Too hot today, eh boys?" The store manager grinned as he looked up from wiping the prize counter. Ever since Sasuke and Naruto were seven, they would always visit this arcade at least three times a week. This was the place where they could just relax and forget about stressful things happening at home or at school.
"Yo! Old man! How ya been?" Naruto grinned and leaned across the counter to give Kazuya a hug.
"Arcade's been lonely without the two of you brats hollering and yapping around!" Kazuya's laughter was loud and joyous. Sasuke smirked as Kazuya nodded towards Sasuke. "Sasuke! Still the same old quiet one, eh?" He left the counter and walked over towards Sasuke to stage whisper in his ear. "Keeping Naruto outta trouble?"
Sasuke scoffed, smirk still in place. "As if you can tame the idiot."
"Oi! Take that back!" Naruto raged at Sasuke even though there was a cheeky grin on his whiskered face as well.
"That's my boys!" Kazuya laughed and grabbed the two boys in a headlock. Naruto and Sasuke protested, but let the older man ruffle their hair.
"Ne, ne! How about a hundred free tokens?" Naruto grinned and swiped at his nose with his thumb.
"What? A hundred for what!"
"Just think of it as a present to us for coming to visit you," Sasuke drawled.
"Sasuke, my boy! You've been hanging around Naruto too much! He's infecting ya." Kazuya shook his head, but unlocked one of the familiar cabinets to retrieve a cup of tokens.
"Tch. The Dobe already infected me long before." Sasuke shook his head as well, but nodded thanks as he collected the cup of tokens. Sasuke vaguely remembered how Kazuya would keep a few cups of tokens in the same old cabinet just in case the Naruto and he stopped by.
"Shut up, Teme." Naruto grabbed the cup and walked over to one of the claw machines. "I'm going to beat your sorry ass later when we race!"
Kazuya chuckled and leaned on the counter. "Same old Naruto. You two have fun now. There ain't too many people right now, so Ima take my lunch break." With that, he disappeared into the employee's room. Sasuke stuffed his hands in his pocket and walked over to Naruto.
xxxx
"Oh, fuck!" Ino groaned and face palmed as her avatar was once again shot and killed. The big screen in front of her blacked out before the phrase "GAME OVER. CONTINUE?" flashed in loud letters. "Screw this game," she mumbled as she replaced the fake gun back into the holster. She shot the screen a look as the countdown to feed the machine more tokens taunted her.
"Face it, Pig. You suck at this game." Sakura laughed and grabbed the cup of tokens they had bought. "We have like only four dollars worth of tokens left. Wanna use it for DDR?" She smiled and shook the cup, the tokens jumping around.
Ino shrugged. "Sure. At least I know I can beat you at that."
"You're on!" Sakura scoffed and ran ahead to the Dance Dance Revolution machine.
The roseate fed the machine the remaining four dollars and began to set up the game. Sakura knew Ino was good at this game, and she sort of wanted to beat her in it. Of all the times the two had played at Ino's house, Sakura had always lost by barely ten points or less. She quickly scrolled through the song list and chose a fast, upbeat song. Then came the difficulty settings: hard for the both of them.
"Wait. Hit expert for me. I want to try this." Ino smirked as Sakura rolled her eyes and fixed the difficulty level for her.
xxxxx
"Oh damn! What the hell!" Naruto suddenly stopped walking, causing Sasuke to bump into him. The raven-haired boy scowled, taking a step back. "Sasuke, look at them go!" Naruto whistled lowly as he continued to watch the scene in front of him.
"Hn?" Curious as ever, Sasuke peaked behind his friend to find two girls dancing their asses off in a friendly game of DDR. Or well, not so friendly.
"Hah! I beat you! Again!" A familiar blonde screamed and jumped up and down as the song faded out. "I am Ino Yamanaka! The queen of DDR! No one can stop me!" Laughs escaped her as she stepped down from the platform and tugged her wedges back onto her feet.
"Shut up! I demand a rematch!" A roseate girl glowered at the machine as she adjusted the headband on her head. Sasuke quirked a brow as her fiery red lips caught his attention. The redness on her lips seemed to make her already pale skin glow even brighter than yesterday.
"They were from yesterday," Sasuke confirmed to himself. However, Naruto had heard him.
"Yeah! Let's go hang out with them!" Before Sasuke could protest, his hyper friend had dragged him over to the two girls. "Hiya! Do you girls remember us? We were the lifeguards from yesterday!" Naruto beamed as he laid his eyes on the blonde. She seemed even prettier than yesterday.
Sasuke sighed inwardly as he watched the two girls turn to face them. The blonde's eyes widened in excitement while her friend's eyes seemed to tell a different story. Her apple green eyes darted from Naruto to him, and if it was even possible, her eyes seemed to widen even more. Sasuke quirked a brow at her, and she seemed to cower behind her friend.
"I'm Naruto Uzumaki! And emotard over there is my best friend, Sasuke Uchiha. What are your names?"
"Ino Yamanaka. She's Sakura Haruno." Sasuke couldn't help but notice the evil glint in her eyes. "You were the one who saved Sakura yesterday, right?" Ino began to trek over to Sasuke. She tilted her head and pursed her lips. If anything, she seemed to be running a scan on him to see if he was worthy enough to talk to. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at her. It might've been the heat from earlier, but he could've sworn he saw her lick her lips at him.
"Sasuke Uchiha," he muttered. Obsidian locked with baby blue. Neither of them seemed to want to back down first. There was something about this Yamanaka that he didn't like. Maybe it was the annoyance that seemed to radiate from her. Or maybe it was the fact that she was friends with this Sakura girl. Or maybe it was the evil glint that definitely screamed 'I-have-an-evil-and-wicked-plan'.
"Hey, Naruto. You dance? Let's dance." Ino grabbed Naruto's arm (who stared at her like she was insane for making such a bold statement) and dragged him over to the DDR machine. She grabbed his cup of coins and began to insert them into the machine. "Hey Sak! Go hang out with Uchiha! Uzumaki and I are busy here!"
Oh, it was definitely the evil glint in her eyes that Sasuke hated.
xxxxxx
"So how about that outside heat, huh?" Sakura laughed nervously as she kept her eyes on the screen in front of her. They were currently sitting on one of the car games in the arcade, both silent and awkward.
"Hn." Sasuke kept his eyes on the screen in front of him as well. Sakura sighed and dug her hand into her pants pocket and pulled out a crumbled dollar bill.
"Wanna race?" she smiled warmly and showed the bill to her silent companion. Sasuke glanced at the money in her hand and stood up. He reached into his own pants pocket and sported four coin tokens. Sakura watched silently as he fed his machine two coins and then Sakura's with the remaining coins. "Thanks," she mumbled.
"Hn." Gosh, was there anything else this kid said besides grunting? Sakura discreetly rolled her eyes as she got ready to race him. A few seconds into the game and she found out how good Sasuke was at this game. She, on the other hand, wasn't that great and was in seventh place at the moment.
"So, do you live here?" Sakura asked awkwardly. She glanced at Sasuke out of the corner of her eyes. He was concentrated on the game, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration.
"Aa," he murmured in response as he changed the position with his stick shift. Sakura focused her attention back to her screen, not knowing what else to say. How on earth was she supposed to reply to one word replies?
"You like We The Kings?" This question surprised her.
"Um, yeah. I do. They're actually my favorite band. I got this shirt when Ino and I went to see them last summer."
"What's your favorite song?"
"…Pardon?" So she was actually having a conversation with Sasuke. Okay, this was sort of weird. First he was giving her one answer replies, and now they were actually conversing?
"What's your favorite WTK song?" The race finished with Sasuke in first place (big surprise! Not really) and Sakura in fourth place (okay, this really was a surprise to her).
"Oh. I like We'll Be A Dream." Her lips curled into a small smile. She remembered when Ino and she had been so obsessed with the song.
"Hn." Sasuke grunted softly. He too, had been a fan of that song. Sakura leaned back in her chair as she took in the scene surrounding her. Her eyes then caught sight of a claw machine that had stuffed penguins in it.
"Hey, Sasuke?"
"What?"
"You don't happen to have any more tokens on you, do you?" Sasuke stared at Sakura, and she stared back with what she hoped was a cute and innocent face. He sighed.
xxxxxxx
Sasuke didn't quite understand how he got stuck with treating the girls and Naruto to dinner. Maybe he wouldn't have mind treating the girls, but why Naruto? Why was he stuck paying for Naruto'smeal as well? And just his luck that Naruto had suggested going to a stupid fancy and expensive sushi restaurant as well. Sasuke glared at the menu in front of him.
"Oh lighten up, Teme. You're looking at the menu like it hit you in the balls or something." Naruto rolled his eyes.
"You're not the one paying for four fifty dollar meals," Sasuke snapped back. Ino covered her snort by taking a sip of her water.
"I'll pay for half," Sakura offered. Naruto and Sasuke turned to look at her. She blinked. "What?"
"Hn. You don't have to pay," Sasuke muttered and took a sip of water. Naruto snorted.
"Yeah, yeah. Make me pay you back while you treat a pretty girl. I get it." His expression was sour, but deep within those cerulean eyes was a wicked gleam. He shut up when Sasuke oh-so-subtly kicked him underneath the table. Behind Sakura's water glass was a hidden smile.
"So you boys live here?" Ino asked, changing the subject.
"You bet! Our parents are friends, believe it or not, so we sorta moved to Suna together."
"Where did you guys used to live then?"
"Konoha," Sasuke answered.
"Hey! We're from Konoha!" Ino grinned and smacked the palms of her hands on the table, earning a few disapproving looks from dining neighbors.
"Seriously? That's amazing! But what are two pretty girls doing here in Suna all alone?" Naruto scratched his head and waved over a nearby waiter.
"We're on a mission," Ino said rather seriously. Naruto's azure eyes widened while Sasuke quirked a brow and Sakura sighed. "We're on a mission to complete a list of things to do before summer break ends. Forehead and I are going to attend Konohaversity*."
"We're going there too," Sasuke murmured.
"That's awesome!" Sakura commented with a delicate smile. Maybe this Sasuke guy wasn't so bad after all. "Hey, wouldn't it be great if we all took like the same classes or something?"
"I'll pass," Sasuke scoffed. Okay, so maybe Sakura will take back what she said. She discreetly made a face when he wasn't looking. Ino saw and choked back a snort.
"So where are you two headed next?" Ino and Sakura shared a smile.
"Wherever our heart takes us," Sakura responded before bursting into laughter along with Ino. Naruto and Sasuke quirked a brow at their actions.
"Just kidding. We're going to go in a circle. Most likely Amegakure next. I heard their clubs are exclusive." Ino smirked.
"They're also outdoor clubs, which means you'll be dancing out in the open. If you ever even been to Ame, you'd know that it rains even in the summertime." Sasuke informed the two girls, keeping his eyes on his phone.
"Someone's got a stick shoved up their ass," Ino muttered under her breath. Sasuke's left eye twitched.
"Ne, Sasuke. Wouldn't it be fun if we joined them?" Naruto nudged his friend. Sakura and Ino cast a glance at each other. Boys? On their summer road trip? Before Sakura could open her mouth to deject Naruto's idea, Ino beat her to it.
"Hey, I'm game." Sakura glared at Ino who responded with a shrug. "If it means more company, I'm all game."
"Alright!"
"What..?" Sasuke and Sakura flashed each other looks as the same word came out of their mouths at the same time.
"We can't. We have jobs," Sasuke hissed.
"No problem, Teme! We get out of work in like two days! Can you wait for us then?" Naruto grinned and grabbed Sasuke in a headlock.
"Sorry, we can't. We don't wait for people, even if they are cute boys." Ino shrugged and smiled innocently. Naruto pouted.
"Laaaaame," he commented with a huff. He was like a little kid, Sakura thought with a small smile. Fun to hang around with as well. He was like a ball of sunshine. Maybe summer might not be this bad if there were someone as fun as Naruto or as mysterious but genuine as Sasuke.
*Failed attempt at naming a University. /shot