A/N: This is a one-shot that I just wrote when I should have been preparing for a test. Overlook any grammatical mistakes or stuff like that. I will go back and make any necessary edits later. Enjoy for now, leave me a review. Lots of Love.
Edit:
I have made the edits. Filled in all the blanks. And embarrassingly, the loopholes too. Thankfully, I passed my test. So yay.
BTW. I have read this so many times, I don't even know what words are anymore. So if this version has ruined it, let me know. I will replace it with the old version again. I hope I wont need it though?
Also, I split it into 3 chapters. Kind of a Three-shot? I D K.
Leave me a comment? Lots of love.
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"Let me go, Pig!", Sakura Haruno whined at her best friend. "It's already 11 pm. I have to fall asleep before midnight for this to work."
"Well, look who is excited to meet their soulmate," Ino teased. "So much for pretending all these years, Sak."
"I never pretended I wasn't looking forward to it," the pinkette crossed her hands and huffed. "I just kept it to myself. Now let me go," she said, trying to wiggle her handbag out of Ino's grasp.
"Well. Just confess it and I'll let you go," her blonde friend smirked, holding on to Sakura's handbag tighter.
"Arrghhh! Fine. I'm excited. There," Sakura rolled her eyes. And as a crimson blush started creeping on her face, she mumbled slowly. "How can I not be… Now let me go," she said, averting her eyes to meet the ground.
"Ha! Finally," Ino laughed. "Who would have thought you would give into desperation and spill the beans."
"Well, it's hardly spilling the beans- Wait.. desperate?" Sakura lips parted in surprise, and her hand stopped tugging on the black pouch.
"Well, you've been waiting on him since what, you were ten-"
"Twelve!"
"Yeah like that's any better… when you could have lived a little Forehead."
"Hey!" Sakura scowled. "Easy for you to say… Not all of us would be lucky to find that we have been sleeping with our soulmate for over a year!".
Yet, an unsaid truth remained. Ever since Sakura could understand what having soulmates meant at the tender age of twelve, she had imagined that that would be the only person she would pursue, and that would be the only person who would pursue her. After all, if the universe deemed someone your perfect match, where else would you go? So she would rather leave her chances of finding happiness to the universe, than be in a relationship with someone only to find out they were not her soulmate.
"My life is a breeze," Ino said dreamily. But a daunting thought suddenly seemed to have replaced the scowl her pink-haired friend wore on her face. "Hey! What's wrong?" Ino questioned.
"Huh? What?"
"What are you worrying about?" Ino pressed, concerned, letting go of the handbag she was clutching strongly. "Tell me."
Sakura hesitated. "What if… What if he thinks it's desperate too? Or… Or if he lives too far, or… or… or… can't figure out where I live? Or worse… What if he wakes up in my body and doesn't like me," she said looking up, her brow furrowing in agony and eyes welling up.
"Sak. I was just pulling your leg, honey," Ino said, shaking her out of the trance. Pushing her to sit down once more, she continued. "And look, you can't let those rare cases bother you this much."
"But it could happen right, Ino?" Sakura replied, shaking her head.
"Hey, just because it happened to someone in the world, doesn't mean it happens that commonly. Come on, shake it off". But when Sakura's brow smoothened out only a little, Ino smugly added another statement for good measure. "It could just mean that the Universe's programming is still on the beta version, Forehead," she said smiling.
Well, that damn beta seemed to work out in Ino's favor. The blonde was of the less common cases where the person you were already in a relationship with, or fuck buddies in Ino's case, turned out to be your perfect match.
Green eyes glistening with moisture bore into Ino's blue ones hesitantly. "I- Ino… Just because you and Sai were lucky enough to find each other beside you already, it doesn't mean it would be that easy for everyone."
"I never said it would be easy, darling. Just don't lose hope. Do your best to let them find you," came the reply and she handed the pinkette her handbag back.
Sakura nodded in acceptance. "I'll try."
"Now go. I don't want you to miss out on whatever handsome hunk life is tryna' throw at you. It's 11:20 already."
"Thanks, Pig," Sakura replied with a smile as she pulled her best friend into a hug, as she was half way out the door. "I'll tell you all about it tomorrow."
"Remember to invite him to the same club Hinata and the others will. It would be funnnn," the blond pressed.
"Not again!"
"Just think about it?", she called from behind.
"Bye now!" Sakura teased. And with that, the green eyed girl left in a hurry to reach home on time.
She had to make it before midnight, if not fall asleep, she told herself as she clutched her coat tighter against the chilly breeze. Because that would be when your soulmate's soul takes over your body and tries to find out about you.
And Sakura had read all about the phenomenon as much as she could. So if everything went according to plan and she got lucky, it might just mean that her soulmate might get a few extra minutes in her body.
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The world they lived in was a marvelous one. Everyone had soulmates for one, the person who would be their best match, and give them the most happiness in the world. And every year, people who turned 25 would find themself possessing the body of their soulmate for a few minutes on new year's night following it. If your soulmate was older than you, they could find you early. But then, you would have to wait for a year or a few to have it confirmed. But not everyone was entirely onboard with this scenario. And that had been happening more and more in recent years. While many people would wait for their soulmate to reveal themselves and then go to find them, there were also people who would just keep going on with their life and get into relationships without waiting for their soulmate. Then there were the rare groups, who sometimes woke up more than once in the body of their soulmate, or had hours and hours instead of mere minutes of possession. But those were not the ones Sakura was worried about. She was worried about the ones with language barriers, the ones on another continent, and the ones who already thought they were happy enough and did not want to pursue their soulmate. And the rarest of all, the ones without a soulmate at all, (many theories as to why that happens, yet no real answer). But Sakura only hoped she was not one of these rare ones. And boy did she hope she was lucky today.
Sakura reached her flat just in time. It was still quarter to midnight. And she needed to get everything ready, because she had devised a perfect plan. As she freshened up and got into her fluffy pink pajamas, Sakura ran her hand through her hair to tidy it up a little and clipped it to one side before she laid out everything she would need.
First of all, her driving license. That was the best way to layout her name, address, and photograph. Although she could just put up directions to the bathroom so that they can look up into the mirror, that seemed like a futile attempt to waste time on. And with this, he can find her sooner. Then, she left a note beside it.
'Hi, I'm Sakura. Really excited to meet you. Come find me soon!', it read, you know, just to get the message across. She would not invite him to a bar and throw him to the wolves directly, whatever Ino said.
Was it coming off as too desperate, she worried for a moment before deciding otherwise.
This is supposed to be the person who can make you the happiest if you go by the history books. He wouldn't think so. And now she had seven minutes to go and fall asleep.
But another stray thought suddenly crossed her mind. What if they don't understand English?
However rare that may be, she knew she did not want to take a chance there. It was something she could avoid. She had the perfect solution to that too. Hence, Sakura turned on her laptop and placed it by her bedside, opening google translate, and typing the same message there, along with the details on her license. That should do it. He would surely see it, right, the first thing when they open their eyes?
Five minutes left. Yes, she could go to sleep now. And once she fell asleep, pieces would fall into place. Sakura knew that the possession usually lasted for a few minutes, give or take. But she most certainly did not understand the complex nature of physics behind it, something whose manipulation was much in fashion to try and prolong the time one's soulmate could have. However, somewhere amidst the many online groups she scoured, people had theorized that being asleep gave their soulmate comparatively more time than when a person was awake. And this seemed more doable than the earth gravity mumbo-jumbo the physicists were trying to finesse. Now the only part of the plan that was left was making sure everything went right on the other side, that is, when she was in her soulmate's body. And her plan had two steps. One was to observe and identify where they lived. The other was to leave behind the same message she kept for him in her room over here so that they could find her, even if they missed all the clues she set up in her room.
And so began the longest countdown of her life. The pinkette relied on counting back from 100 to fall asleep sooner, something that worked for her every single time. As the soft and warm covers she had pulled over herself sent her into the perfect sleep, hopes of tomorrow began to shine through.
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Sakura opened her eyes and the strong scent of earth and wood hit her nostrils. As her eyes came into focus- Oh wait! Her soulmate's eyes! She realized instantly.
Oh yes, Yes, YES!
She woke up in her soulmate's body! YES! Thank god!
But wait, why was there nothing much she could see? Everything was so dark and everything smelled so musty. Where the hell does this person live?
Sakura walked a few steps in the direction her soulmate's body was already headed in as her eyes adjusted to the darkness around her. Within a few moments, she was able to make out shapes in the distance.
A door? Okay, that's a fair start, she thought, rushing towards it, hoping she could find a doorbell or something. Suddenly, a bright light engulfed her, almost blinding her for a moment.
'Oh,' her voice piqued in recognition. An automatic light… and a full fledged house? But Sakura was not ready for what she viewed when she turned around to garner a better look at her surroundings. Because she was standing in the middle of what seemed to be some goddamn woods.
Shit! There is no way to identify where I am like this. I have to find an address quickly.
But she had another pressing matter at hand.
Night owl, she muttered, as she realized that her soulmate was awake until midnight. The time she had in his body would be shorter as compared to the amount of time her soulmate could possess hers. And she did everything after that twice as fast.
Sakura patted down over the pockets of her soulmate's clothes. Nothing in the left pocket or the right. Wow, a shirt with no pockets either.
Damn! Nice shirt. His hands look good too, with the sleeves rolled up to his elbow! Wait, is he not cold? she wondered before shelving the distracting thoughts.
Not now, Sakura! She scolded herself.
Just then, the pinkette steering her soulmate's body suddenly became aware of something in the back pocket.
A.. phone? She held it out.
Locked, ofcourse. There is no way she could guess the password.
And a generic, system generated wallpaper? Who is this dude? She rolled her eyes as she looked around.
Her eyes quickly fell on the small box beside her door. A fingerprint access!
Wow. This guy is… something.
Sakura quickly ran towards the door and punched her index finger on the reader. 'Sasuke U.' read the name that flashed over. Well, at least she now knows his name, if not his family name too. But right now she had to find an address first. And that was how Sakura pushed open the door that was now unlocked, only to be surprised by the cold gray interior where her soulmate supposedly lived.
So began the most alarming few minutes of her life when Sakura Haruno tried to wiggle open every door to find something to identify this man, or somewhere to leave behind a message, all the while being even more surprised by the dark interior and decor of his house. Just when she thought every door would reject her, luck striked about a minute into the possession and a door finally swung open. The only one that was not locked. His bedroom.
Sakura entered the room and the lights turned on by themself. Thankful that she did not have to waste her time fiddling around for switches, the pinkette quickly looked around the room and took in the view, for lack of a better word.
The entire decor here was gray too. Everything from the walls to the pillows to the bed sheets and covers, except for the bed-frame, which was of course, Black!
Does this guy even have one pop of color in his life?! Her room was pastel, for crying out loud. How is this supposed to make her happy? Dear god, what is happening.
But she did not have time to mull over these questions now. She had to find a paper or something quickly. At least she would be able to leave a message behind. Because so far the only things she knew about this guy were not helpful.
And the first one was the most problematic one. The fact that lived in the middle of some woods that she did not recognize in the middle of the night. Because there was no guessing how far he lived from her, or where he lived at all. But also, because there was nothing around him to help identify him anywhere. You'd think people would realize to leave an ID or something outside.
Then, the fact that the other things she knew about him were not helpful either. The fact that he seemed filthy rich, something she garnered by the size of the house, the paintings in his living room, the number of empty decorative vases, and probably also by the huge glass windows overlooking every side of the woods, did not help her find him one bit. The fact that he was well dressed but did not carry car keys or a wallet… weird.
But then maybe he spoke English, because the fingerprint reader was displaying in English? That gave her some hope.
Oh yeah, last but not the least… before she forgets, but she doubts she ever will, he loves black. And if she had to take a wild guess, she would wager that he loved to brood too. And boy, did she badly hope that he was not as cold hearted as his house looked.
With that, Sakura rolled her eyes and let out a huff as she hurried towards the nightstand that was closest to the door and pulled open the drawer in hopes of finding something to scribble on. Thankfully, fate was not cruel this time, and she did find a notepad to quickly write down her Name and Address. But there was also an unscratchable itch in the back of her mind. What if he actually lived far away? Like in the Land of Forests or something… So she used better judgment and scribbled down something else underneath.
'Hey, I think you might be living far away! So why don't we meet at Blue Bird Restaurant, Sunset street, Konoha, Country - Hi no Kuni, on 3rd January instead? 1 PM local time.'
That should make things easier. Even if he was out in another country, this should be ample heads up if he needs time to find her. And this would be easy to identify, being a famed restaurant in her city and all… somewhere easy to reach even if there was a language barrier. Finding someone in a public place at a previously decided time, that would be as convenient as it could get. And even if he was close by, he could still come and find her at her home. No big deal. Right? Anyway, he would leave her a message too, some way or another. And it will all run smoothly.
With that, Sakura put the notepad down on his bed and looked around the room properly, you know for anything else she could find out about him. Only, apart from the upholstered furniture, and extremely boring monochrome paintings that adorned the walls here as well, there was nothing much to look at. However, on the other side of the bed was another nightstand. With a drawer.
Maybe there could be an ID there?
So with the last couple of minutes she had left, she hurried over to the other side and pulled it open. And something more interesting caught her eye.
A black foldable photo frame. Wasn't this type of thing usually placed on the nightstand?
Sakura found herself quickly reaching for it and opened it wide. Inside it were two photographs, one on each side. On the left, there was one of two children looking eerily alike, with jet black hair and coal black eyes. Brothers probably. One of them was much younger than the other and was piggybacking on the older one, and both of them had the most brilliant smile plastered on their faces. On the right side of the frame was another picture. Two kids. The one with black hair who looked like the younger kid from the first frame, only a little grown up, and standing beside him was the other, who seemed to be the most color in this room. A blond boy, with blue eyes, standing in front of white cake in an orange outfit and birthday hat, holding what seemed to be a Red Panda stuff toy, being given by the former dark haired boy.
Something warm fizzed in Sakura's heart at that sight. Maybe her soulmate was not so broody after all. Given these pictures hidden away in his night stand, she could only garner that there were people he cared about, and seemingly cherished ever since he was very young. Maybe he was not cold hearted either. Maybe he was just private… or an introvert, or… shy? Or maybe he pretended to be strong on the outside while being a little fluff ball on the inside… not wanting to let anyone know he had bonds he cherished and valued. A chuckle escaped her lips upon that thought. Maybe monochrome gray and her might just …work.
Sakura finally kept the photo frame aside, as she decided to look deeper into the drawer. Maybe in the last few seconds she might have, she would just be able to find an ID in here, however futile of an attempt that seemed like.
But as she pulled on that drawer harder, she came across two black irises reflecting back at her through a small mirror. A sight that took her breath away.
Only trouble? That was not the way she wanted her possession of her soulmate's body to end. Because there was no way she could ever forget those eyes, especially after the way she had begun to feel, if the man who they belonged to did not come to find her.
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Sakura was lying face down on her best friend's bed the next morning. Having taken leave from the hospital today after what transpired, this seemed like the perfect way to sulk through the worst day of her life. The only thing missing was a tub of Ben and Jerry's, but she knew better than to find it with Ino.
"Ugh! What am I going to do Pig! I don't know anything about him but his name," Sakura cried, and then screamed into a pillow. "This was not how it was supposed to be!"
"Well, if you tell me his name, maybe I can find him," said the Blonde sipping her Kale smoothie.
"I already tried that. And if I can't find him, neither can you," she said, rolling over. "And I'm not telling you the last thing I know about him,"
"Fine, don't tell me, Forehead! But I still think you just hit the jackpot. So stop worrying."
"No," Sakura said as she sat up. "I didn't 'hit the jackpot'," she quoted in the air. "In case you did not hear me the first time, he left me no note! What am I supposed to make of that? Except that… he-"
"No, Stop that." Ino ordered. Sakura fell silent. "Did you check your entire flat well?"
"Yes!", the pinkette replied sadly. "And don't say that maybe he didn't possess my body at all. I am damn sure he did."
"How can you be so sure?!" Ino asked. "At least tell me that. Now!"
There was no other way but to pour her heart out right now. Even if she cried by the end of it.
"Well, I- I might have opened google translate for him before I went to sleep. You know, just in case we spoke a different language or something," Sakura said meekly, only to find Ino smiling at that. But her emotions took over once more and she continued. "But when I woke up this morning, that window was closed, and my laptop was turned off too. I am damn sure it was him, Ino. It can't be anyone else", she said as tears threatened to spill from her eyes.
"Hey, that could still mean that he did not get enough time to write it down. In spite of you sleeping early. Stop overthinking it. He would still get your message."
Maybe Ino was right, or maybe she wasn't. But these what if's were keeping her hopeful. And Sakura would hang on to it.
Soon, the doorbell alerted them both to the arrival of their other friends, Hinata and Tenten. Who most certainly came bearing the news about their soulmates.
As the four sat down with a pen and paper to help each other figure out about their soulmate, Tenten was the first to break silence.
"Actually, I don't think I need any help girls," she said, her brow furrowed in both confusion and happiness. "I think I know him."
The girls gasped together.
"I- I think he is Hinata's cousin, Neji", she said, meekly looking up at her gray eyed friend. Hinata's eyes went wide in shock as she squealed.
"Eeeeeee! Oh my god. Oh my god! I am going to introduce you two TODAY!" she said, as she hugged Tenten, who laughed in delight thanking her profusely.
"And here I thought my news would be the oddest," Hinata smiled, settling down again, blushing this time.
The girls went silent suddenly. It was known that Hinata was a year older than just like Ino, even though that barely counted since she was born on 31st December the year before the rest of them, she had possessed the body of her soulmate last year. Unfortunately, she was miserable the whole time.
Whoever her soulmate was, lived in a mess. Hinata recalled the entire ordeal last year teary eyed that the boy's room was in complete disarray. There were apparently take out containers strewn on the table, laundry thrown around everywhere, and when she tried to leave him a note, which took her forever as she tried to find a functioning pen, she tripped and fell over some boxes that were lying carelessly in the middle of the room. But most of all, the fact that there was no note left behind for her was what hurt the most.
"What! Speak up, Lavender," Ino bellowed. She was the only one brave enough to deal with this situation anyway.
"Umm… I… I-woke-up-in-his-body-again," Hinata squealed, reddening even more so.
A chorus of shrieks erupted from the girls this time, as Hinata continued. "And things were different this time," she said as a shy smile spread on her lips.
"Different how?", the brunette Tenten asked.
"What are you waiting for, tell us!" Sakura pushed too, momentarily forgetting her own melancholy.
"Well… For starters, everything was very clean, and there were no more boxes around, and no more takeout containers. And he lives in this city. I could see out of the window and recognize the Konoha University Buildings on the skyline. And…" she bit her lip before continuing, "I could actually leave him a proper and detailed note this time. It seems like he figured out something since the last time," she said, flushed from the recollection.
Ino however, crossed her arms and spoke up again. "There is something else you are not telling us."
"Hey! I'm not hiding anything," Hinata blushed again. "I wasn't finished just yet."
Sakura bent forward with excitement, as did others.
"I- He.. left a message this time," Hinata flushed, hiding her face in her hands momentarily and then resumed to fish out a note from her pocket.
'You are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen. I know where you are. I'll come find you.'
Sakura laughed in delight and Ino squealed. "Didn't I tell you that he would find you, Lavender? Besides, you know what this means don't you? That he is younger than you."
Hinata nodded giggling yet Sakura could not help but feel like there was more behind the redness on her face than the things that were revealed.
"Hinata, you are not hiding anything else are you?" she questioned smirking.
Hinata's eyes widened and she looked away from Sakura immediately.
"Hinata…" prodded Tenten.
"Okay. Okay… There is. But it's just so embarrassing," Hinata said shyly. "He… I saw his face this time. He's really handsome. And so hot!" she cried.
"Tell. Us. More." Ino banged her hand on the coffee table between them with the widest grin ever. "Oh wait. Does he still have that plushie you told us about last time?"
"Yes, he does. But I… I'm not gonna say anything else," resisted Hinata. "I want this feeling to be mine for a little longer, until you all meet him," she finished shyly. Everyone understood, having been feeling the same sense of possessiveness towards their experience and memories of their soulmate.
Ino laughed out loud. "Ofcourse, Lavender. You deserve this, after how miserable he made you last time." But then, Ino continued. "Okay okay… Just one more thing. The last one I swear. Tell me. Was I right? Did he break his nose after you fell face first last year?" she laughed.
"What? No!" Hinata replied in alarm. "No. He didn't. He didn't break anything. I saw him clearly… he was fine."
"You couldn't have seen- Oh my god! Hin- You saw him naked!" Tenten shot up hysterically with amusement. "That's why you are so red", she laughed accusingly.
Sakura and Ino's faces twisted in shock too, as the entire group burst out howling with laughter.
"Almost," Hinata whispered finally, after everyone settled once more. "He was wearing fox-print boxers. Tch," Hinata finished uncharacteristically boldly, as she fell back on the sofa clutching his note.
"Hinata!" squealed the remaining girls, erupting into laughter again.
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As the evening of New Year's day came, Sakura found herself in the same club Ino and Sai decided to hit, the very one Hinata and Tenten all had invited their soulmates to. Everyone except Sakura ofcourse, who still struggled with the fact that her soulmate did not leave her a message. And however much she tried, she could not shake this ridiculous feeling that maybe… maybe he didn't like her.
However, she was somehow finally convinced by Ino to not sulk until her soulmate finds a way to reach her. And in those scattered moments of hope, the pinkette found herself donning her best dress and favorite heels to join their party and have a fun time instead. But just as she was about to wash away her frown by having some drinks with her blond best friend, her eyes fell on a certain person, and widened for the most surprising reason ever. Because tagging along with Hinata, hand in hand was the blond boy in the photograph with none other than her soulmate.
Sakura blinked a couple of times to check if she had just begun seeing things out of misery. Nope, definitely him. Wearing an orange sweater, black pants and black jacket, the blue eyed blonde had the same face as the boy in the picture that rested on Sasuke's bedside table. Small world.
Wait. It could still mean he lives somewhere else. They are only friends. But… maybe he knows about him? Should she… try to find out?
"What's the matter?" Ino asked, downing her shot, frowning at Sakura's untouched one. "Why aren't you drinking?"
"He…" Sakura trailed away as soon as she began, and Ino turned to look.
"That's Naruto. Hinata's soulmate," Ino replied curiously. "What's wrong? Why are you so shocked?"
Sakura gulped. "I… I think he is that guy who was standing with Sasuke," she whispered.
"Sasuke?" Ino's eyes narrowed before widening in shock. "WHAT!?" she choked on her words. "You are telling me this now?"
Sakura remained silent however, still unable to believe her eyes.
"Come on, let's go find out. He'll tell us about Sasuke."
"Wait, No. Ino…" Sakura came to her senses immediately as she stopped her blonde friend. "We can't directly say that to him, what will he think of me?" she pleaded.
"Well, who cares? You are his soulmate. Sasuke's soulmate. We'll just ask him to tell us-"
"No, Ino," Sakura held on to her arm tighter. "Please… I- I'm not even 100% sure. A-and I don't wanna make a fool of myself if…" If Sasuke doesn't want to meet me. "If… he is the wrong guy and we began pestering him with some unknown name," she finished instead.
Ino sighed. "Alright, Forehead. But there are other ways. And before you interrupt me, I promise I won't tell him the name of your Sasuke."
Sakura's green eyes bore into Ino's as she gave that matter a thought. However straightforward Ino was, she kept her promises. So Sakura nodded along and accepted the offer.
"Okay, let's try to find out without raising suspicion. Okay?" said Sakura as she tried to follow Ino.
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"And then, my friends knocked some sense into me, y'know. Only this time I finally understood." Naruto laughed. "Because I was used to the mess in my room, but my soulmate would not be. So I couldn't live like that anymore," the blond boy who was Hinata's soulmate, finished his story.
Hinata giggled in response as all the girls around her smiled. Sakura listened intently as well, with a smile plastered on her face because she knew damn well how terrified Hinata was the whole year, not knowing who her soulmate was, or why he didn't reach out to her yet.
"But… I only found your note three months ago, Hinata. It was lost under the bed. I'm sorry for taking this long." The girls around him aww-ed once more.
"That's okay, Naruto-kun. I forgive you," Hinata blushed.
"I'm just glad I found the address of this place in my room this morning. I never thought that my.. my soulmate would be among the rarer ones who can take over my body again. But I knew I would find you," he grinned and held her hand tighter and pulled her closer.
Sakura suddenly felt as if her heart was stabbed, as she looked away not wanting to intrude on a private moment. It was so not fair that she was here today, alone, when everyone else was busy making their way to their soulmate. It was just not fair that she did not have this beautiful bond everyone else had.
"So, Naruto," Ino interrupted. "What do you do for fun?" she posed, leaving no room for anything else. Sakura pulled on her hand as she braced herself.
"Oh. Well, me and my friends usually go to Tanzaku," he replied casually, "There is this amazing club there, the Ramen is just awesome, and their bowling arcade, one of the best in the country. And there is a fox reserve nearby in the woods. You guys should totally see it someday."
"The woods?" Sakura almost whispered a question, but Hinata's squeal immediately grabbed his attention.
"Like the plush you have," the girl in Lavender said. Ino breathed trying to be patient, surely at how the man became distracted so soon. Not like it would take her a long time to bring up the topic again. Her interrogation tactics were superior. In another universe, perhaps she would have been a spy.
"Oh! You saw that? That's Kurama, he is a fox too," Naruto said in an obvious manner as if it was a common thing for a grown man to have plushies, and Sakura's heart skipped a beat.
It was a Fox plush toy! Not a Red Panda.
"Where did you get it?" Hinata asked.
"Oh, my best friend gave it to me." And Sakura's eyes opened wide in both recognition and alert as the blond continued.
"You see, when I was really young, my parents used to take me to my grandpa's during summer break from the boarding school. He lived near Hi no Tera monastery. And he always used to take me to the wildlife reserve near it… it has these beautiful foxes… he had even given them names. And the foxes were regal too, mind you. With big black puppy eyes. And my grandpa used to teach me how to draw them too y'know."
The blond continued. "But after my grandpa died, we stopped going there. And as I missed my grandpa, and those foxes he showed me. But then bam! On my birthday, the bastard… he came to me and gave me this beautiful plush toy. I could not believe it. And for so long I didn't know how he found out. But he cared. And he has been my best friend ever since."
Sakura was spellbound. That boy in that photo was definitely Naruto, however much she denied it in front of Ino. And the thing the blond was holding, which she thought was a red panda, that was the orange-fox plushie Hinata saw and Naruto was recounting about. Sasuke is really…Naruto's best friend?
"But how did he know?" Hinata asked the obvious question, and Naruto's laugh broke the trance she was in.
"Haha... Yeah. That asshole. I knew he always pretended he did not want to talk to me or be around me. But I knew that just like I missed home, and my grandpa, and he did too… Coz just like I was awake and crying on the lower bunk, he was awake on the upper one. And he saw me trying to draw the foxes one day, crying for my grandpa to come and correct the drawings. Next think you know - he called his brother to our school the very next day to give him the drawing and can you believe it, he asked him to find me that fox for my birthday. How stupid was that? Anyway, Itachi came around a few days later and he brought him that plushie to give me instead. And since that day, he has never let it down, being my friend."
A smile broke out on Sakura's face while Naruto was barely half way through, and it remained there. This was certainly the boy in the photo with Sasuke. Older brother he was piggybacking on, probably Itachi. But that only confirmed what she had figured out about him. The guy who lived that lifestyle, did brood, but he also had a heart of gold. She was right about that.
"Well, well. Now that you've told us all about your fox and your friend, why don't you introduce us to him," Ino asked slyly. "I mean, it would be nice to know such a person, right Sakura?" she suggested as the pinkette held her breath.
"I know… I even tried to drag his anti-social ass here today but he wouldn't budge. Neither would he tell me why."
"So he lives in this city, huh?" Sakura gulped and continued, "And he still didn't come over?", she said, mostly to herself looking away.
"Exactly. You'd think he could spare a couple of hours for his best friend. I don't know. It's like he had a stick up his ass since morning," the blond boy huffed.
Ino and Hinata laughed.
Sakura however stilled right away, her heart thumping madly in her chest. Sasuke knew the city and surroundings. But he didn't leave her a message. And he was in a bad mood? Sakura's eyes moistened as she could draw only one conclusion. That Sasuke did not want to meet her. She quickly ran a finger under her eyes to wipe any tears that might form and resorted to leaving the club to find some quiet and calm. Or maybe cry out. She didn't know.
But as soon as she rose from her seat and looked up, her eyes became transfixed on two black irises looking directly at her and her eyes widened in surprise. Only this time, she was not staring at them through a mirror. He was standing right in front of her.
"Found you," a husky voice left the lips beneath those eyes, slowly curving into a smirk.
.
.
A/N : *giggles in evil*
