Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Show Me, Touch Me, Catch Me ❯ Chapter 4
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: ladygizarme 
Anime/Manga: Naruto Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Drama / Hentai / Romance / Angst / Shoujo | Type: Shoujo-ai | Uploaded On: 04.15.2009 | Updated On: 03.07.2010 | Pages: 6 | Words: 10.8K | Visits: 761 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: Naruto Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Drama / Hentai / Romance / Angst / Shoujo | Type: Shoujo-ai | Uploaded On: 04.15.2009 | Updated On: 03.07.2010 | Pages: 6 | Words: 10.8K | Visits: 761 | Status: Work In Progress
Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me. I make no money writing this story. I still enjoyed writing it, though, so I hope you enjoy reading it!
Additional Disclaimer: I do not own Redi-Med and I make no profit from it or its mention herein.
Show Me, Touch Me, Catch Me
By: ladygizarme
Beta: sasukeskyuubi
A/N: Happy Late Birthday, Sakura, and Happy Birthday, SMTMCM!! I had wanted to get this (and several other oneshots featuring Sakura) done in time for Sakura’s birthday, March 28, but real life and a trip back east to visit the family prevented me finishing in time. Oh well. So now, in observance of SMTMCM’s one year birthday/anniversary (April 14, 2009), here is chapter four! I hope you enjoy it, and thank you to everyone who leaves reviews and ratings!
Chapter Four:
That weekend, Ino was relieved of her responsibilities at the flower shop, due to her battered state and the fact that Mr. Yamanaka finally came home from his convention late Friday night, and was therefore able to take his daughter’s place in the store. Ino spent most of her time holed up in her room of their house hidden back behind their shop’s greenhouse. Sakura was usually with her, as well, wanting to escape all her parents’ questioning.
That Friday afternoon, when Mrs. Haruno had asked how the fight had started, was the first time Sakura’s mother had even heard about Sasuke leaving. Sakura had never told them, keeping her sadness and hurt mostly locked away except for around her closest friends. Ino wasn’t really sure why Sakura hadn’t told her parents, especially knowing how much they cared about Sakura and her emotional well-being, but she couldn’t really say it was surprising, either. Sakura had probably put off talking about it to anyone, just to avoid making it even more real.
Well, now Sakura was regretting that more than a little.
Due to her “secretiveness”, and the nature of the accusations made during their attack, Sakura’s mother was now overly-concerned about the truth that may lie under those crude and cruel remarks. Despite loving her daughter and wanting to trust in her virtue, Mrs. Haruno also knew how infatuated Sakura had been (still was) with Sasuke, adamantly believing she loved him, and worried there may be some truth to the rumors of an intimate relationship between the two. Perhaps that was why Sakura hadn’t wanted to tell them about his leaving, or her heartbreak over it, Mrs. Haruno had suggested in that kind-but-concerned, pragmatic motherly tone.
It had been pretty hard to deny her mother’s suggestion when Sakura had already burst into tears while telling all that had led up to the point of her being beaten–including the accusations of her carrying or killing Sasuke’s unborn child, which had slipped unheeded from her mouth in a stream of sobbing babble before Sakura could censor it. Now she was really growing weary of those looks her mother (and sometimes her father) kept giving her; those looks that begged questions be answered without having to explicitly ask them aloud. Those looks made her feel cold and more than a bit guilty–a feeling she didn’t even have reason for, since she wasn’t guilty of anything other than being an easy target when it came to close-emotional-proximity to Sasuke. Most of all, though, those looks made her feel lonely. She suddenly felt she couldn’t count on her parents’ undying trust anymore, and to suddenly have a feeling like that thrust upon you, when you’d been so secure in that warm cocoon for sixteen years, is quite alarming.
The only person who understood her completely, now, was Ino. So, Sakura spent every moment she could with her blonde friend. Not that it was strange to spend so much time with Ino–she was her best friend, after all. But the somber mood that often settled over the two girls as Sakura slipped into thoughts of the situation–both with the girls at school and with her parents–was something Ino found herself unsure how to deal with. Sakura had never had parental drama before. The worst things that had ever happened in her life, up until now, had most likely been her split with Ino late in fifth grade, and Sasuke leaving. Now there was this, and this was a whole other creature.
What should she do in this situation? What could either of them do?
Much of Ino’s weekend was spent soothing Sakura’s tears or holding her in her arms, running her fingers softly through Sakura’s hair as Ino uttered gentle assurances of her friend’s virtue and her parents’ love for her. Ino had been too preoccupied worrying about Sakura to even think about her own problems, even when those problems were lurking just beneath the surface, whispering of how nice it felt to hold Sakura in her arms for so long. Even the ache of Ino’s physical wounds practically disappeared in the face of Sakura’s heartache–a heartache completely different from that of losing Sasuke. It was deep and raw. It was not something that could simply heal with time. It would only fester, becoming even more painful.
Ino didn’t know what Sakura would do if this strange rift between her and her parents wasn’t fixed, and soon.
By Monday, the girls’ superficial wounds were already well on their way to being healed. Sakura’s eye and cheek were already tingeing green around the edges of the purplish-black, nearing the final stages of bruising, and Ino’s split lip finally closed enough that it no longer bled randomly when she wasn’t careful. The brace on Ino’s hand and finger would stay in place for another week, at least, making writing and a multitude of other actions she usually took for granted difficult on the verge of impossible, but as far as physical complaints went, she knew it could have been worse. She was glad it wasn’t.
Ms. Senju had given Ino and Sakura permission to stay home and take more time to heal, but after talking about it over the weekend, the girls decided to go to school still. Staying home would be like admitting defeat–or worse, guilt. So, that Monday, they walked in to school together with their heads held high–though Sakura had taken her mother up on the offer of wearing cover-up makeup just this once, to tone down the bruise around her eye. Ino’s bruises and scratches were also hidden beneath a slightly-heavier application of her usual makeup, though the pink of the just-healed split in her lip could still be seen beneath the sheen of her nearly-transparent lipgloss.
The eyes of many of their classmates followed the two girls in the hallways, the news of what had happened Friday having apparently spread through the usual circles. A few of the uninformed looked at them questioningly when they noticed Ino’s brace, or how Sakura tended to unconsciously hide the left side of her face behind the fall of her hair, despite the makeup she wore, but neither of them gave any answers to the silent questions. They simply walked together to their lockers, only separating once they reached the hallway with their lockers, as their lockers were across the hall from each other.
“Oi! Sakura! Ino!” a loud, familiar voice called out as it approached them.
The two girls both glanced behind themselves to the blond boy heading towards them down the middle of the hallway, one arm raised in greeting, a wide grin on his face.
Seeing this, Sakura frowned. “Why’s he so cheerful suddenly?” she muttered, making Ino frown in turn as she overheard the low complaint.
Sakura really must be out of sorts, Ino realized, if she was begrudging Naruto any cheerfulness. Especially when, despite his assurances that everything would be fine soon, he’d been looking more and more disheartened with each passing day since Sasuke had left. Despite her slight disappointment in Sakura’s reaction, Ino couldn’t help but be curious, as well. What had suddenly made Naruto so cheerful? With this question in mind, Ino grabbed the book she needed for first period and stuffed it in her backpack with her notebook before pushing her denim jacket back out of the way and closing her locker. Then she turned around to face Naruto, who had stopped near Sakura’s locker, waiting for her since they were in the same class first period. Slinging her backpack over one shoulder, Ino walked over to her two friends.
“So, what’s up? Did something happen?” she heard Sakura ask Naruto.
“Hmm? Whaddaya mean?” the blond boy asked, his smile changing to a look of confusion.
“You seem unusually cheerful today. Did something good happen over the weekend?” Sakura reiterated, a hint of jealousy obvious to Ino in her tone, though Naruto didn’t seem to notice.
“Oh, that,” Naruto replied in sudden understanding, a finger scratching his faintly-marked cheek. Ino noticed a pink tinge coming into his cheeks when his finger drew her attention there, but before a full blush blossomed, the finger moved to rub under his nose, his hand hiding the evidence on his cheeks. His grin, however, was too big and bright to hide as he said, “Actually, something did happen. Sasuke called me.”
“What?! But… I thought his phone was disconnected…” Sakura said with disappointment clear in her voice.
She’d tried to reach Sasuke many times herself since he left, but the only time he’d ever answered, he’d complained that it was four in the morning and could she call back at noon. The next time she’d called, she’d gotten a message that the wireless number was no longer in service. Not knowing at that time that Sasuke’s mother and brother were still here, Sakura had thought she had no way of finding out what had happened or if Sasuke had a new number. She figured her only option was to wait for Sasuke to call her, but he had yet to do that. When she heard the rumor of Sasuke’s mother and brother still living here, she’d planned to go over to Sasuke’s house and see for herself, planning to ask about a phone number for Sasuke if Mrs. Uchiha was there, but with all the craziness that had happened at school, she had forgotten for a bit. Now Naruto tells her that he’s been talking to Sasuke? What about her?!
“It was,” Naruto told her. “Well, actually, his father took his phone away and had the number changed… but Sasuke finally found the phone and called me!” The blond boy grinned as he retold the story Sasuke had told him the night before. Well… a shortened version of it.
Sakura frowned. “Why would his dad take away his phone? Did Sasuke get in trouble or something?”
Naruto’s smile dropped a bit. “Uh… yeah, I guess… I don’t know… but that’s not important, really. The important thing is, Sasuke’s going to call again today at lunch!”
“He is?! So… that means we can all talk to him!” Sakura exclaimed happily. “Oh! And you can give me his new number, too!”
Naruto’s half-dropped smile turned to a look of nervous unease as he answered slowly, “Well… no, I can’t, actually. Sasuke’s number came up private and he told me it’s best he doesn’t give it out right now…”
Both Ino and Sakura found this a bit odd, but they could understand a little, at least. If Sasuke didn’t want his father to know he’d found his phone, calls from his friends at inopportune times could give him away. It made sense logically, but Sakura was still disappointed. After all, Naruto got to talk to Sasuke first. Sure, Naruto was Sasuke’s best friend, but she was important to Sasuke, too… wasn’t she?
The five-minute warning bell rang for the start of the day, and Sakura distractedly walked to class with Naruto, making Ino frown, a cold feeling going through her as Sakura barely spared her a ‘see you later’ wave. Naruto’s farewell was louder and more exuberant, but was similarly brief as he soon turned around and encouraged Sakura to keep up with him as he jogged down the hallway to their class. With a soft sigh and a shake of her head at herself, Ino turned in the opposite direction to head for her own class. However, the two girls would soon see each other again as, in the midst of Ino cursing her finger brace and wishing Shikamaru would actually take notes in World History so she could borrow his, the voice of the school secretary came over the classroom’s PA asking Ino Yamanaka to come to the office. Seconds later, while Sakura was spending her quiet time in English Lit. wondering why Sasuke hadn’t called her as well, the secretary called her down to the office as well.
When Sakura got to the office, Ino was already waiting in one of the chairs in front of the secretary’s desk. Not used to being called down to the office, and feeling somehow guilty because of it, despite knowing she hadn’t done anything, Sakura silently sat beside her friend to await her fate–whatever it may be. Knowing Sakura was most likely nervous, Ino turned to give her a smile of encouragement, laying her hand over Sakura’s to give a squeeze of support, belatedly realizing she couldn’t do that as that was the hand in the brace. Ino bit her lip as she and Sakura both looked down at her hand, and Sakura looked back up at her with a regretful tilt in her smile and familiar concern in her eyes. Ino shook her head to dismiss the apology she knew Sakura wanted to utter for the millionth time, and Sakura turned her head away at the dismissal.
Both of them simply sat there staring at the secretary’s desk until, finally, his phone gave an odd ring and he picked it up immediately. After a brief conversation that mostly consisted of him giving short, concise answers, he hung up and looked at the girls.
“You can both go in now,” he told them.
They stood and walked to Ms. Senju’s door, Sakura opening it for Ino and walking in after her. Once they were inside, they both stopped short as they saw who else was in the room. Three of the girls that had been part of the mob on Friday–the only ones Sakura had been able to identify with total confidence–along with their mothers, one girl’s father, and Mrs. Yamanaka all sat in chairs or on the sofa in the principal’s office. Upon seeing Ino and Sakura, Mrs. Yamanaka stood and approached them, putting her arms around both girls and steering them closer to the desk.
“I’m sorry to have called you from class, girls, but this was the most convenient time for everyone to meet. Please, have a seat.”
Sakura looked at Ino, who looked back at her and gave a little shrug. They sat side-by-side in the chairs farthest away from their attackers, with Ino’s mother taking the buffer seat between the third girl’s parents and her own daughter.
“I’ve already spoken to everyone before you two were called down,” Ms. Tsunade Senju informed them. “I thought it prudent, however, that these girls’ parents hear the story in your own words and see the damage done to you for themselves before we go any further.”
What followed that statement was a long meeting, during which Ino and Sakura both recounted what had happened that previous Friday, and were asked to remove their makeup so the parents who doubted their story could see the injuries they’d covered. There were denials, both from the accused girls and the parents, raised voices and hostile words, and even accusations that Ino and Sakura had been the ones to start it. Ino found herself gritting her teeth against the feeling of tears pricking the back of her eyes, exercising amazing self-control in not attacking the girls here and now as she watched Sakura attempt to hide her own tears behind the fall of her hair again. One of the girls accused was less secretive about her own tears, clearly trying to garner sympathy in order for her parents and the principal to believe her denial of her actions. However, though her father seemed to buy it, her mother did not, and neither did Ms. Senju.
Once everything was said and done, the three girls were told they would be suspended for two weeks unless they gave up the names of the other girls. Two of the girls refused, but the third girl, under duress due to the situation and pressure from her father, agreed to rat out the others in exchange for a lesser punishment. Ms. Senju agreed to a one-week suspension for her, on the grounds that corroboration could be given. Sakura thought it was unlikely anyone would back up the squealer’s story, and Ino, reading the thoughts in Sakura’s eyes, had to agree. They both chose not to say anything about it, though, just wanting this to be over. It wasn’t to be so simple, however.
Before Tsunade could end the little trial, the squealer’s father and one of the other mothers asked what was going to be done about Ino and Sakura. After all, their daughters had also been injured during the fight. If the school really had a zero-tolerance policy, Ino and Sakura should be punished, as well. After some reasoning and compromising, Ms. Senju ended up having to give the girls two weeks of detention to match the girls’ suspension. Ino argued, asking if they were really supposed to just take the beating rather than defend themselves, but that question had been answered by the last girl’s father, saying that she or Sakura could have gotten a teacher during the times either of them had been outside of the fight, rather than joining in the fray.
At this, Ino made an instinctive decision, asking that the entire punishment be placed on her, rather than punishing Sakura for something she had no real control over. It had been Ino’s decision to join the fight when she saw her friend in trouble, but when Sakura had gotten back in, it had only been in order to pull Ino out. Reluctantly, all the parents agreed to Ino’s request, and everyone was dismissed except for the last girl who remained to give up her other friends in private. The other two girls left with their mothers, casting not-so-covert nasty glances over their shoulders at both Sakura and Ino and their traitorous friend.
“This won’t be the end of it,” Ino commented ominously in a hush as she and Sakura walked together to their lockers. First period had ended and it was now fifteen minutes into second period.
“I know,” Sakura agreed, a little shakily. “Everyone will blame us for getting them in trouble.”
“That’s why I didn’t want to tell to begin with,” Ino told her, some of her former irritation returning as she said it.
“I’m sorry!” Sakura said, the apology coming out more exasperated than any of her previous ones over the weekend. She’d known Ino hadn’t wanted to tell, but she’d thought it would be best. “What if I hadn’t told, though? They might have blamed the whole thing on us!” Sakura reasoned.
Ino sighed, knowing Sakura was right. “Yeah. Even with the blame properly on them, they still got us in trouble,” she said bitterly, closing her locker as Sakura leaned against the one beside it. She swung her bag up onto her shoulder and walked beside Sakura towards their next class.
“I can’t believe you got detention for helping me,” Sakura said in quiet anger, her eyes narrowed at some unseen culprit ahead of her.
“I know, it’s stupid,” Ino agreed. “At least you got out of it, though.”
“Only because you convinced them,” Sakura reminded her, glancing at her blonde friend. “I sort of would rather share detention with you, though.”
“You would? Why?” Ino tried not to sound too hopeful, but some odd part of her really liked the idea of she and Sakura alone in a quiet detention room every day for the next two weeks. But what good would that do, really? Besides, Sakura really didn’t deserve the punishment. Though Ino hated to admit any wrong, especially when it came to this particular situation, it was true that she technically could have gone and gotten a teacher rather than beating up the girls attacking Sakura. Even if that idea seemed ridiculous to her, Ino thought two weeks of detention was a mediocre price to pay for having been able to save Sakura.
“Well,” Sakura said, breaking into Ino’s thoughts. Ino looked up to see Sakura stopped in front of her, smiling a little bashfully behind the hair she’d left down to hide her face. “You’re my best friend, and you saved me. The least I could do is keep you company… right?”
Ino smiled at her. “Like I could have made any other choice. You’re my best friend, too, you know. Forehead-girl,” Ino teased, poking Sakura’s forehead gently with her left index finger. “What would you do without me?”
Sakura blushed, but smiled nonetheless, wincing a little as the movement of her face made her notice her sore eye and cheek again. Ino sighed sharply.
“Let’s go fix our makeup, huh?” she suggested, glad she and Sakura had similar skin tones so her makeup should still work on the pink haired girl. Sakura had used her mother’s makeup that morning; she didn’t have her own.
Putting her hand up unconsciously to hide the left side of her face, Sakura nodded and followed Ino to the nearest bathroom. Ino quickly pulled her makeup bag out of her backpack and set it on the tiny bit of counter between the sinks. Then, being the only one out of the two of them with experience applying makeup, Ino set to work on Sakura first. She had some extra bobby pins in her bag and, after gently pushing Sakura’s hair away from her face, used the pins to hold back her friend’s short, pink locks. Ino tenderly applied concealer to the bruising on Sakura’s face before starting on the foundation and then adding a light powder. When she was done, Ino raised her eyes to Sakura’s, only to find her staring back. As Ino’s eyes widened in surprise, so did Sakura’s, and they both diverted their eyes in opposite directions.
“Um… thanks,” Sakura said softly after a moment, blindly handing Ino the pins after pulling them from her hair. Ino nodded as she took them.
With a fleeting glance at Sakura, only to find her pink haired friend still looking away distractedly, Ino put the pins away and turned her gaze to the mirror to begin the task of fixing her own makeup. A few minutes later, Ino had put away her makeup bag and was tucking her lipgloss back in her pocket after reapplying it. Then, with one final nod at her reflection, she smiled at Sakura, glad to see her friend easily returning her gaze again, and the two of them left the bathroom.
They gave their notes from Ms. Senju to their teacher and took their seats in the middle of the classroom. Though murmurs erupted around them briefly, the teacher quickly hushed everyone up and continued the lesson. Sakura breathed a sigh of relief and quickly wrote a note to Ino, telling her she could borrow Sakura’s notes later. Ino nodded and mouthed, “Thank you,” in relief, glad to give her strained hand a rest for a bit.
The rest of the morning passed rather quickly and without much incident, though both Sakura and Ino kept getting approached by their classmates and interrogated on what had happened last Friday or in the office that morning. Now that the cat was a little more out of the bag, Ino decided it didn’t make much difference if she told people what had happened, except that maybe she could tell people the truth rather than letting them keep believing and spreading crazy rumors. Though she hadn’t discussed this with Sakura, the pink haired girl had the same thought. However, Sakura felt uncomfortable being put on the spot so often by her classmates, not wanting anyone’s eyes on her face for too long at the moment, so she used excuses of not wanting to be late for class, or needing to ask the teacher something, to get out of the questioning more often than not. During the times they had their thoughts to themselves, both girls had many worries whispering in the backs of their minds.
Before they knew it, it was noon–lunchtime–and the two girls met up with their usual group in the cafeteria. They joined Hinata and Kiba in the lunch line, Naruto already sitting at their usual table with Shikamaru.
“Hey, guys! I heard you two got called to the office today. Is it true you got some bitches expelled this morning?” Kiba asked as his greeting.
“K-Kiba…” Hinata tried to reprimand, blushing hotly both at his vulgar language and lack of tact.
Ino rolled her eyes.
“They weren’t expelled, just suspended,” Sakura answered as she pushed her tray along the counter, perusing her lunch options that day.
“Yeah, besides–oh, no thanks, I’m getting the salad bar,” Ino interrupted herself to answer one of the ladies behind the counter, trying to tone down her grimace as the woman offered Ino the hot ham and cheese.
“Um, me too,” Sakura said, not finding anything else behind the counter appetizing, either.
Following Sakura to the cashier to pay, Ino continued, “Besides, they deserved what they got for attacking me and Sakura.”
Ino’s eyes narrowed in memory.
“Is that how you hurt your hand, Ino?” Hinata asked softly, holding her tray of food tight against her body as she watched her two friends get their salads.
“Yeah,” Ino answered distractedly, most of her attention on using her left hand to put lettuce on the tray she held with her braced hand.
“We’ll talk more at the table, okay, Hinata?” Sakura suggested.
Hinata nodded, almost bumping into Kiba as she hurriedly turned to continue walking. Blushing hotly, she apologized and scooted around him, the wild-haired brunet boy following after her with an easy stride.
Ino and Sakura sat down at the table, Ino sitting in her usual spot beside Hinata, who sat beside Shikamaru. Chouji came up just behind them with his own tray of food, plus some extra bags of chips and a soda, and took the seat on the other side of Shika. Sakura sat beside Ino, with Naruto on her other side. Between them was the vacant seat that used to always be filled by Sasuke, and between Naruto and Chouji sat Kiba. As she settled at her seat, Sakura noticed the usual chill of sitting next to Sasuke’s empty seat. She shivered only slightly, noting with some regret that she was slowly becoming used to his seat being empty. Sighing softly to herself, she turned her attention to her tray, slowly mixing up her toppings with her fork.
“So, you hurt your hand in a fight, eh, Ino?” Kiba asked, waving a ketchup-laden fry around. “Who won?”
“Kiba,” Hinata reprimanded a little more sternly than she had before.
Kiba had the grace to look slightly sheepish, putting the fry in his mouth and looking away as if to let them off the hook of answering his question. However, the question brought the subject to everyone else’s attention. Naruto, already knowing most about what had happened, asked the next question.
“Oh yeah, how is your hand, anyway? Did you break your finger, after all?” he asked in concern.
“No, it’s not broken, only sprained,” Ino told him. “It’ll be fine in a week or so.”
“You sure cleaned up nicely. You guys looked completely banged up Friday.”
“Makeup is a girl’s best friend,” Ino half-joked, trying to keep things lighthearted and not draw attention to Sakura, who was again trying to hide behind her hair.
“Did you get a nice shiner, Sakura?” Naruto asked in earnest, apparently not realizing Sakura’s discomfort.
“Idiot!” Ino hissed lowly at him, unable to add a much-needed kick for emphasis due to the distance between them.
Naruto looked quickly at Ino, eyebrows raised, then to Sakura when Ino gestured to her with her eyes, causing concern laced with confusion to fill the blond boy’s eyes.
“What? What’d I–”
Before Naruto could finish voicing his question, a faint buzzing noise could be heard coming from beneath the table. Naruto’s eyes went wide, and in movements that appeared slightly-panicked, he fumbled to pull back the hem of his hoodie and the oversized t-shirt beneath it in order to reach into his jeans pocket and pull out his cell phone. The original black color of it was now covered by a bright orange, plastic cover, the back of it covered in worn and torn stickers. He pushed a button under the screen to stop the vibrating and read the text he’d received, a grin spreading across his face at once.
“What is it? Is it Sasuke?” Sakura asked eagerly, having watched Naruto in rapt attention ever since she realized it was his phone causing the ruckus.
Naruto quickly sent a reply and cradled the phone in his hands under the table, keeping it out of view from the teacher passing the table, making rounds of the lunch room as he monitored the students.
“Yeah,” Naruto answered once the teacher passed, his voice quieter than normal in order to not be overheard. “Making sure I’ll answer when he calls in a minute.”
“Sasuke’s calling? I thought you said his phone’s turned off,” Kiba commented.
“It was, but it’s not anymore. Or, actually, his dad just changed the number.”
Sakura noticed Naruto’s shoulders shaking a little, and realized he must be bouncing his leg in his usual antsy gesture.
“But if that’s all it was, then why–”
Kiba’s question was cut off as Naruto suddenly brought the phone up to his ear.
“Yeah? Sasuke?” Naruto asked into the phone, his voice still a bit hushed, but excited.
Sakura could barely hear a low murmur of assent over the phone before Naruto’s eyes lit up.
“Yeah, everyone’s here. Want to say hi?”
Naruto listened for a moment. “Well, yeah… but Sakura isn’t eating. You should at least… yeah, she looks a lot better now, but Ino said something about makeup… Ino’s hand’s in a…thingy. I don’t know! It’s not a cast, though…”
“It’s called a brace, Naruto,” Sakura giggled despite herself.
“Oh yeah, a brace… Yeah, and all scratched up… Yeah. Okay, here’s Sakura.”
Naruto handed the phone to her and Sakura quickly pulled the phone to her ear, turning in her seat so the lunch room monitor wouldn’t see the phone. Her hair fell over the top of it, and she put her elbow on the table to give the appearance that she was just leaning on her hand as she talked to Ino.
“Hi, Sasuke,” she said, a smile spreading across her face as butterflies of nervous excitement started fluttering in her stomach.
“Hi, Sakura,” his smooth, deep voice greeted, sending her stomach-butterflies into a frenzy.
“How are you?” she asked, her voice quivering faintly.
“…fine,” he answered, his pause telling her that he really wasn’t, but he didn’t want to talk about it.
Her mouth turned down a little at the thought that Sasuke didn’t want to tell her what was wrong. She would bet he’d tell Naruto. Before she could get too upset, though, Sasuke’s voice interrupted her thoughts.
“I heard about what happened Friday. I’m… glad you’re okay,” he told her, his words hesitant. “Those girls are psychotic,” he added, sounding more at ease as he did so.
“Ha, yeah…” Sakura agreed with a soft laugh, feeling both happy at his sweet concern yet empty and disappointed at the same time, for reasons she couldn’t quite put into words.
“What happened to Ino’s hand?”
“Oh, um… she dislocated her finger from punching someone’s face,” Sakura answered, feeling her face grow a bit hot, the back of her neck prickling as she felt all the eyes on the table on her, obviously listening intently to her conversation. Well, Shikamaru’s eyes weren’t on her, but she knew he was listening, too, nonetheless. She glanced at Ino, belatedly giving her a questioning look, asking if it was okay to talk about that.
Ino’s lips quirked into an amused smirk for a moment before giving Sakura a nod as she took a bite of her salad, chewing slowly as she continued listening to the conversation–or what she could hear of it.
“I hope she got her good,” Sasuke said through the phone, calling Sakura’s attention back to him.
“Yeah, she did,” Sakura said with pride in her voice for her friend. “But, today in the office, the parents of the girls argued that Ino shouldn’t have fought back, so now she has detention for two weeks while the other girls are suspended.”
“What was she supposed to do? Take the beating?” Sasuke growled, echoing Ino’s argument from earlier.
“They said she should have gotten a teacher when she saw them attacking me, instead of joining in the fight,” Sakura answered, again feeling the defeat she had felt earlier during the discussion in the office.
“Ridiculous.”
“I know,” Sakura agreed with a small nod.
There was a pause in the conversation as they both wondered what more they should say. Sakura couldn’t understand why she’d thought she would have so much to talk to Sasuke about after so long, and now her mind seemed completely empty. She racked her brain, searching for something meaningful to say. Something that would spark Sasuke’s interest in talking to her more. Something to make him think of her and remember her between now and the next time they spoke. Nothing came to her, though, and she felt that familiar disappointment that she seemed to so often connect to her feelings for Sasuke.
“Well…” Sasuke started, and Sakura felt a spark of hope that he had thought of something on his own. “I have to go soon, it’s already past one in the morning here. Let me talk to Naruto again.”
“Oh,” Sakura breathed. “Okay, sure.”
Hesitantly, she pulled the phone from her ear.
“Oh, Sakura…” she heard Sasuke call out, and quickly brought the phone back to her ear.
“Yes, Sasuke?” she asked expectantly.
“Tell Ino… ehh… good job. She did the right thing.”
Sakura nodded in agreement, feeling that pride in Ino again at Sasuke’s praise. Though, at the same time, Sakura felt a bit of jealousy because of it, she ignored it for the more pleasant feelings of pride and happiness that Ino had risked her physical well-being and even taken punishment in order to save her.
“Yes, she did. I will. Goodbye, Sasuke. Good luck! Here’s Naruto.”
Sakura handed the phone back to Naruto, who took it eagerly and started chattering away about how Ino had totally kicked those girls’ asses. Then the subject changed to something that had happened that morning in a class he and Sasuke used to share. The one-sided conversation became a buzz in the background for Sakura, though, as the warm feeling that had bubbled up in her at the recollection of what Ino had done for her suddenly preoccupied her. Her gaze on Ino, Sakura replayed the events in her mind, that warm feeling spreading through her body even as goosebumps rose suddenly along her arms and the back of her neck prickled again.
She didn’t quite understand this feeling. It was weird–different from anything she’d felt for her friend before, even back when they were younger and Ino was often defending her from other mean girls that had taken advantage of Sakura’s shy, unsure nature. Maybe that was it, though. This feeling… it was sort of like nostalgia; a mix of sadness and happiness that sometimes comes with memories of times long past; times that you associate with dear people, reminding you of the feelings you’d had in those precious moments.
As more memories of her childhood with Ino started playing through her mind, that feeling grew and Sakura’s stomach-butterflies started fluttering again, though their flight pattern was a bit different than it had been when she was talking with Sasuke. Yes, Sakura concluded, this feeling was sort of like nostalgia. It was a happy feeling, reminding her why she was so glad to have Ino as her friend for all these years–how lucky she was. Yet, there was that sad feeling there, as well, like she was missing something. She couldn’t really understand that part, though, because she still had Ino as a friend. Even if they were no longer really children, and couldn’t get those old times back, there were still plenty of new times to be had; new memories to be made together. That thought suddenly sent a new feeling rushing through her, mixing with the original one. This new feeling worried Sakura more than her contemplations of the sadness had.
The new feeling held a hint of panic, sending her stomach-butterflies crashing into each other as they attempted to rush up her throat all at once. Her stomach clenched against the feeling, keeping them swarming agitatedly inside her.
Ino looked up from her salad as she heard Sakura gasp, shocked to see the look of anguish on her friend’s face. Looking in Sakura’s eyes, Ino saw the green clouded over, as if lost in memory. Ino wondered if Sakura was thinking about the fight last Friday, or perhaps she was worrying again about the strain between her and her parents. Concerned with how lost Sakura looked, Ino put her hand on Sakura’s shoulder, hoping to pull her from whatever trance she was in.
“Sakura, you okay?” she asked, leaning in a bit so she could talk quieter to her friend, feeling that this moment should be a private one despite them being surrounded by their friends and other people in the cafeteria.
Sakura blinked, her body giving a little shiver as she suddenly came back to herself and her gaze focused on Ino in front of her. She gasped again–a deep, sharp breath, like she’d been underwater and just came up for air.
“Oh. Ino,” she breathed, her soft words almost sounding like another gasp. “Yeah, I’m… fine. I think. I mean… I’ll be alright.” Sakura gave Ino a smile, hoping to reassure her as Sakura had no real explanation for what had just come over her.
Ino could see that something was off, though, and her eyebrows furrowed as she wondered what it was. For some reason, she had the feeling there was more to it than what she’d been assuming. It seemed Sakura was confused about something, and Ino didn’t want to make her uncomfortable by pushing her to talk about it now, when Sakura had already been feeling put on the spot all morning.
“Have some salad,” Ino suggested firmly, noticing Sakura had yet to actually eat anything of her lunch. She hoped that would help her friend’s state a bit, and later, when they were alone, Ino would push for more answers if Sakura still seemed off.
Sakura turned towards her untouched food, as if Ino’s words had suddenly reminded her of it and commanded the movement. Picking up her fork, she started eating, focusing her attention completely on the task in order to ignore the strange sensations from before. As the food hit her stomach, the butterflies calmed a bit and Sakura suddenly realized how hungry she was. After that, her eating became much more natural, and she didn’t have to force anything for her attention to be completely occupied by it.
Happy to see Sakura visibly relax as she started eating, Ino let her concern fall away.
After that, lunch pretty much continued as normal. Naruto hung up with Sasuke and realized Kiba and Chouji had robbed him of his fries while he wasn’t paying attention. Hinata giggled and blushed as she watched Naruto chase Kiba around the lunch room, vowing to take payment for his fries out of Kiba with his fist or his foot. Chouji avoided the whole spectacle by politely offering to go buy another tray of fries, and Naruto calmed down and gave up on chasing Kiba just as the brown haired boy was about to jump on a table to get away from the blond.
As they all finally sat back down, Shikamaru pushed his tray out of the way so he could lay his head down on his arms, and tiredly remarked, “Do you guys have to do this every time we have fries? Troublesome…”
That comment earned him a ketchup-laden fry thrown into his spiked ponytail by a snickering Kiba, but Shikamaru merely shrugged and closed his eyes, not even bothering to take the fry out of his hair. Rolling her eyes, Ino took it out for him, and Kiba watched her expectantly, waiting for her to throw it back at him. Instead, Ino took the fry “hostage” on an empty part of her tray, and ignored Kiba’s shocked whine in favor of asking Hinata if she could borrow her notes from World History, since she had the same teacher.
Sakura giggled at Kiba’s disappointment, covertly stealing a fry from Naruto’s tray as the blond boy blissfully gulped down his milk. She was glad for the entertainment her friends’ playfulness provided, hoping her own participation would keep her mind distracted from her confused thoughts. Unfortunately, Kiba was destined to ruin that for her, at least partially.
“So, hey, Naruto, since you and Sakura hogged the phone the whole time, you gonna give us his new number, or what?”
“Um… I can’t,” Naruto answered. “He won’t even give it to me.”
Kiba’s face looked like he couldn’t decide whether to scowl or guffaw. “You dumb blond! Just look at your caller ID, duh!”
Naruto smacked Kiba upside the head. “I’m not that stupid, you know! He comes up as a private caller! And he’s not giving it to anyone else, either,” Naruto told him before Kiba could suggest it.
“What the hell? Why doesn’t he want anyone to know his new number? Is he breaking up with us?” Kiba asked, saying the last line dramatically with a huge, fake pout, his hands clasped under his chin.
Naruto huffed, scowling at Kiba’s dramatics. “He’s, technically, not supposed to have the phone anymore, so he erases the history and puts it back where his father hid it after he’s done. So he doesn’t want one of us calling when he doesn’t have the phone, and getting him in trouble,” Naruto explained.
Sakura frowned at his explanation, not only wondering what Sasuke had gotten in trouble for to warrant losing his phone and being cut off from his friends here, but because of something else that wasn’t sitting right with her.
“But what about just now, before he called? He texted you to tell you he was calling, didn’t he? You can’t text private, can you?”
“Eh?” Naruto said, scratching his cheek in thought. “Oh. Um… he didn’t text, he e-mailed me. I set up my account to SMS me when he e-mails.”
“Oh,” Sakura said, disappointed.
“Jeez, what did that guy do, anyway? It’s like his dad took him all the way to Japan and cut him off from us completely as punishment for something heinous!”
When Naruto grew red in the face, Sakura knew Naruto knew something–probably a significant amount, if not all, of what had happened to cause all this. However, before she could call him on it, the bell rang to end lunch, and everyone at the table scrambled to get rid of their trays and leave the cafeteria. Even Shikamaru was moved into action, though he did it at his own leisurely pace, as usual. He had a free period after lunch, after all, so it didn’t matter too much except that it was troublesome to deal with the lunch room monitor when they complained about him still hanging around when the next lunch period started.
By the time Sakura got rid of her tray, Naruto had already vanished, no doubt heading off to his Japanese class. Sakura had to go in the opposite direction for her Spanish class, so she made a mental note to ask Naruto about it later. Suddenly she wished she had her phone so she could text him, but she actually followed school rules about digital devices on the premises, so her phone was at home.
As she sat down next to the empty seat in the front row of her Spanish class–a seat that would, no doubt, remain empty for the rest of the school year–Sakura suddenly wondered why she hadn’t thought about e-mailing Sasuke before now. Too bad she didn’t have any more classes today with computers that had an internet connection. She would have to wait until she got home.
Unfortunately, between Spanish class and home, Sakura managed to forget again.
Additional Disclaimer: I do not own Redi-Med and I make no profit from it or its mention herein.
Show Me, Touch Me, Catch Me
By: ladygizarme
Beta: sasukeskyuubi
A/N: Happy Late Birthday, Sakura, and Happy Birthday, SMTMCM!! I had wanted to get this (and several other oneshots featuring Sakura) done in time for Sakura’s birthday, March 28, but real life and a trip back east to visit the family prevented me finishing in time. Oh well. So now, in observance of SMTMCM’s one year birthday/anniversary (April 14, 2009), here is chapter four! I hope you enjoy it, and thank you to everyone who leaves reviews and ratings!
Chapter Four:
That weekend, Ino was relieved of her responsibilities at the flower shop, due to her battered state and the fact that Mr. Yamanaka finally came home from his convention late Friday night, and was therefore able to take his daughter’s place in the store. Ino spent most of her time holed up in her room of their house hidden back behind their shop’s greenhouse. Sakura was usually with her, as well, wanting to escape all her parents’ questioning.
That Friday afternoon, when Mrs. Haruno had asked how the fight had started, was the first time Sakura’s mother had even heard about Sasuke leaving. Sakura had never told them, keeping her sadness and hurt mostly locked away except for around her closest friends. Ino wasn’t really sure why Sakura hadn’t told her parents, especially knowing how much they cared about Sakura and her emotional well-being, but she couldn’t really say it was surprising, either. Sakura had probably put off talking about it to anyone, just to avoid making it even more real.
Well, now Sakura was regretting that more than a little.
Due to her “secretiveness”, and the nature of the accusations made during their attack, Sakura’s mother was now overly-concerned about the truth that may lie under those crude and cruel remarks. Despite loving her daughter and wanting to trust in her virtue, Mrs. Haruno also knew how infatuated Sakura had been (still was) with Sasuke, adamantly believing she loved him, and worried there may be some truth to the rumors of an intimate relationship between the two. Perhaps that was why Sakura hadn’t wanted to tell them about his leaving, or her heartbreak over it, Mrs. Haruno had suggested in that kind-but-concerned, pragmatic motherly tone.
It had been pretty hard to deny her mother’s suggestion when Sakura had already burst into tears while telling all that had led up to the point of her being beaten–including the accusations of her carrying or killing Sasuke’s unborn child, which had slipped unheeded from her mouth in a stream of sobbing babble before Sakura could censor it. Now she was really growing weary of those looks her mother (and sometimes her father) kept giving her; those looks that begged questions be answered without having to explicitly ask them aloud. Those looks made her feel cold and more than a bit guilty–a feeling she didn’t even have reason for, since she wasn’t guilty of anything other than being an easy target when it came to close-emotional-proximity to Sasuke. Most of all, though, those looks made her feel lonely. She suddenly felt she couldn’t count on her parents’ undying trust anymore, and to suddenly have a feeling like that thrust upon you, when you’d been so secure in that warm cocoon for sixteen years, is quite alarming.
The only person who understood her completely, now, was Ino. So, Sakura spent every moment she could with her blonde friend. Not that it was strange to spend so much time with Ino–she was her best friend, after all. But the somber mood that often settled over the two girls as Sakura slipped into thoughts of the situation–both with the girls at school and with her parents–was something Ino found herself unsure how to deal with. Sakura had never had parental drama before. The worst things that had ever happened in her life, up until now, had most likely been her split with Ino late in fifth grade, and Sasuke leaving. Now there was this, and this was a whole other creature.
What should she do in this situation? What could either of them do?
Much of Ino’s weekend was spent soothing Sakura’s tears or holding her in her arms, running her fingers softly through Sakura’s hair as Ino uttered gentle assurances of her friend’s virtue and her parents’ love for her. Ino had been too preoccupied worrying about Sakura to even think about her own problems, even when those problems were lurking just beneath the surface, whispering of how nice it felt to hold Sakura in her arms for so long. Even the ache of Ino’s physical wounds practically disappeared in the face of Sakura’s heartache–a heartache completely different from that of losing Sasuke. It was deep and raw. It was not something that could simply heal with time. It would only fester, becoming even more painful.
Ino didn’t know what Sakura would do if this strange rift between her and her parents wasn’t fixed, and soon.
By Monday, the girls’ superficial wounds were already well on their way to being healed. Sakura’s eye and cheek were already tingeing green around the edges of the purplish-black, nearing the final stages of bruising, and Ino’s split lip finally closed enough that it no longer bled randomly when she wasn’t careful. The brace on Ino’s hand and finger would stay in place for another week, at least, making writing and a multitude of other actions she usually took for granted difficult on the verge of impossible, but as far as physical complaints went, she knew it could have been worse. She was glad it wasn’t.
Ms. Senju had given Ino and Sakura permission to stay home and take more time to heal, but after talking about it over the weekend, the girls decided to go to school still. Staying home would be like admitting defeat–or worse, guilt. So, that Monday, they walked in to school together with their heads held high–though Sakura had taken her mother up on the offer of wearing cover-up makeup just this once, to tone down the bruise around her eye. Ino’s bruises and scratches were also hidden beneath a slightly-heavier application of her usual makeup, though the pink of the just-healed split in her lip could still be seen beneath the sheen of her nearly-transparent lipgloss.
The eyes of many of their classmates followed the two girls in the hallways, the news of what had happened Friday having apparently spread through the usual circles. A few of the uninformed looked at them questioningly when they noticed Ino’s brace, or how Sakura tended to unconsciously hide the left side of her face behind the fall of her hair, despite the makeup she wore, but neither of them gave any answers to the silent questions. They simply walked together to their lockers, only separating once they reached the hallway with their lockers, as their lockers were across the hall from each other.
“Oi! Sakura! Ino!” a loud, familiar voice called out as it approached them.
The two girls both glanced behind themselves to the blond boy heading towards them down the middle of the hallway, one arm raised in greeting, a wide grin on his face.
Seeing this, Sakura frowned. “Why’s he so cheerful suddenly?” she muttered, making Ino frown in turn as she overheard the low complaint.
Sakura really must be out of sorts, Ino realized, if she was begrudging Naruto any cheerfulness. Especially when, despite his assurances that everything would be fine soon, he’d been looking more and more disheartened with each passing day since Sasuke had left. Despite her slight disappointment in Sakura’s reaction, Ino couldn’t help but be curious, as well. What had suddenly made Naruto so cheerful? With this question in mind, Ino grabbed the book she needed for first period and stuffed it in her backpack with her notebook before pushing her denim jacket back out of the way and closing her locker. Then she turned around to face Naruto, who had stopped near Sakura’s locker, waiting for her since they were in the same class first period. Slinging her backpack over one shoulder, Ino walked over to her two friends.
“So, what’s up? Did something happen?” she heard Sakura ask Naruto.
“Hmm? Whaddaya mean?” the blond boy asked, his smile changing to a look of confusion.
“You seem unusually cheerful today. Did something good happen over the weekend?” Sakura reiterated, a hint of jealousy obvious to Ino in her tone, though Naruto didn’t seem to notice.
“Oh, that,” Naruto replied in sudden understanding, a finger scratching his faintly-marked cheek. Ino noticed a pink tinge coming into his cheeks when his finger drew her attention there, but before a full blush blossomed, the finger moved to rub under his nose, his hand hiding the evidence on his cheeks. His grin, however, was too big and bright to hide as he said, “Actually, something did happen. Sasuke called me.”
“What?! But… I thought his phone was disconnected…” Sakura said with disappointment clear in her voice.
She’d tried to reach Sasuke many times herself since he left, but the only time he’d ever answered, he’d complained that it was four in the morning and could she call back at noon. The next time she’d called, she’d gotten a message that the wireless number was no longer in service. Not knowing at that time that Sasuke’s mother and brother were still here, Sakura had thought she had no way of finding out what had happened or if Sasuke had a new number. She figured her only option was to wait for Sasuke to call her, but he had yet to do that. When she heard the rumor of Sasuke’s mother and brother still living here, she’d planned to go over to Sasuke’s house and see for herself, planning to ask about a phone number for Sasuke if Mrs. Uchiha was there, but with all the craziness that had happened at school, she had forgotten for a bit. Now Naruto tells her that he’s been talking to Sasuke? What about her?!
“It was,” Naruto told her. “Well, actually, his father took his phone away and had the number changed… but Sasuke finally found the phone and called me!” The blond boy grinned as he retold the story Sasuke had told him the night before. Well… a shortened version of it.
Sakura frowned. “Why would his dad take away his phone? Did Sasuke get in trouble or something?”
Naruto’s smile dropped a bit. “Uh… yeah, I guess… I don’t know… but that’s not important, really. The important thing is, Sasuke’s going to call again today at lunch!”
“He is?! So… that means we can all talk to him!” Sakura exclaimed happily. “Oh! And you can give me his new number, too!”
Naruto’s half-dropped smile turned to a look of nervous unease as he answered slowly, “Well… no, I can’t, actually. Sasuke’s number came up private and he told me it’s best he doesn’t give it out right now…”
Both Ino and Sakura found this a bit odd, but they could understand a little, at least. If Sasuke didn’t want his father to know he’d found his phone, calls from his friends at inopportune times could give him away. It made sense logically, but Sakura was still disappointed. After all, Naruto got to talk to Sasuke first. Sure, Naruto was Sasuke’s best friend, but she was important to Sasuke, too… wasn’t she?
The five-minute warning bell rang for the start of the day, and Sakura distractedly walked to class with Naruto, making Ino frown, a cold feeling going through her as Sakura barely spared her a ‘see you later’ wave. Naruto’s farewell was louder and more exuberant, but was similarly brief as he soon turned around and encouraged Sakura to keep up with him as he jogged down the hallway to their class. With a soft sigh and a shake of her head at herself, Ino turned in the opposite direction to head for her own class. However, the two girls would soon see each other again as, in the midst of Ino cursing her finger brace and wishing Shikamaru would actually take notes in World History so she could borrow his, the voice of the school secretary came over the classroom’s PA asking Ino Yamanaka to come to the office. Seconds later, while Sakura was spending her quiet time in English Lit. wondering why Sasuke hadn’t called her as well, the secretary called her down to the office as well.
When Sakura got to the office, Ino was already waiting in one of the chairs in front of the secretary’s desk. Not used to being called down to the office, and feeling somehow guilty because of it, despite knowing she hadn’t done anything, Sakura silently sat beside her friend to await her fate–whatever it may be. Knowing Sakura was most likely nervous, Ino turned to give her a smile of encouragement, laying her hand over Sakura’s to give a squeeze of support, belatedly realizing she couldn’t do that as that was the hand in the brace. Ino bit her lip as she and Sakura both looked down at her hand, and Sakura looked back up at her with a regretful tilt in her smile and familiar concern in her eyes. Ino shook her head to dismiss the apology she knew Sakura wanted to utter for the millionth time, and Sakura turned her head away at the dismissal.
Both of them simply sat there staring at the secretary’s desk until, finally, his phone gave an odd ring and he picked it up immediately. After a brief conversation that mostly consisted of him giving short, concise answers, he hung up and looked at the girls.
“You can both go in now,” he told them.
They stood and walked to Ms. Senju’s door, Sakura opening it for Ino and walking in after her. Once they were inside, they both stopped short as they saw who else was in the room. Three of the girls that had been part of the mob on Friday–the only ones Sakura had been able to identify with total confidence–along with their mothers, one girl’s father, and Mrs. Yamanaka all sat in chairs or on the sofa in the principal’s office. Upon seeing Ino and Sakura, Mrs. Yamanaka stood and approached them, putting her arms around both girls and steering them closer to the desk.
“I’m sorry to have called you from class, girls, but this was the most convenient time for everyone to meet. Please, have a seat.”
Sakura looked at Ino, who looked back at her and gave a little shrug. They sat side-by-side in the chairs farthest away from their attackers, with Ino’s mother taking the buffer seat between the third girl’s parents and her own daughter.
“I’ve already spoken to everyone before you two were called down,” Ms. Tsunade Senju informed them. “I thought it prudent, however, that these girls’ parents hear the story in your own words and see the damage done to you for themselves before we go any further.”
What followed that statement was a long meeting, during which Ino and Sakura both recounted what had happened that previous Friday, and were asked to remove their makeup so the parents who doubted their story could see the injuries they’d covered. There were denials, both from the accused girls and the parents, raised voices and hostile words, and even accusations that Ino and Sakura had been the ones to start it. Ino found herself gritting her teeth against the feeling of tears pricking the back of her eyes, exercising amazing self-control in not attacking the girls here and now as she watched Sakura attempt to hide her own tears behind the fall of her hair again. One of the girls accused was less secretive about her own tears, clearly trying to garner sympathy in order for her parents and the principal to believe her denial of her actions. However, though her father seemed to buy it, her mother did not, and neither did Ms. Senju.
Once everything was said and done, the three girls were told they would be suspended for two weeks unless they gave up the names of the other girls. Two of the girls refused, but the third girl, under duress due to the situation and pressure from her father, agreed to rat out the others in exchange for a lesser punishment. Ms. Senju agreed to a one-week suspension for her, on the grounds that corroboration could be given. Sakura thought it was unlikely anyone would back up the squealer’s story, and Ino, reading the thoughts in Sakura’s eyes, had to agree. They both chose not to say anything about it, though, just wanting this to be over. It wasn’t to be so simple, however.
Before Tsunade could end the little trial, the squealer’s father and one of the other mothers asked what was going to be done about Ino and Sakura. After all, their daughters had also been injured during the fight. If the school really had a zero-tolerance policy, Ino and Sakura should be punished, as well. After some reasoning and compromising, Ms. Senju ended up having to give the girls two weeks of detention to match the girls’ suspension. Ino argued, asking if they were really supposed to just take the beating rather than defend themselves, but that question had been answered by the last girl’s father, saying that she or Sakura could have gotten a teacher during the times either of them had been outside of the fight, rather than joining in the fray.
At this, Ino made an instinctive decision, asking that the entire punishment be placed on her, rather than punishing Sakura for something she had no real control over. It had been Ino’s decision to join the fight when she saw her friend in trouble, but when Sakura had gotten back in, it had only been in order to pull Ino out. Reluctantly, all the parents agreed to Ino’s request, and everyone was dismissed except for the last girl who remained to give up her other friends in private. The other two girls left with their mothers, casting not-so-covert nasty glances over their shoulders at both Sakura and Ino and their traitorous friend.
“This won’t be the end of it,” Ino commented ominously in a hush as she and Sakura walked together to their lockers. First period had ended and it was now fifteen minutes into second period.
“I know,” Sakura agreed, a little shakily. “Everyone will blame us for getting them in trouble.”
“That’s why I didn’t want to tell to begin with,” Ino told her, some of her former irritation returning as she said it.
“I’m sorry!” Sakura said, the apology coming out more exasperated than any of her previous ones over the weekend. She’d known Ino hadn’t wanted to tell, but she’d thought it would be best. “What if I hadn’t told, though? They might have blamed the whole thing on us!” Sakura reasoned.
Ino sighed, knowing Sakura was right. “Yeah. Even with the blame properly on them, they still got us in trouble,” she said bitterly, closing her locker as Sakura leaned against the one beside it. She swung her bag up onto her shoulder and walked beside Sakura towards their next class.
“I can’t believe you got detention for helping me,” Sakura said in quiet anger, her eyes narrowed at some unseen culprit ahead of her.
“I know, it’s stupid,” Ino agreed. “At least you got out of it, though.”
“Only because you convinced them,” Sakura reminded her, glancing at her blonde friend. “I sort of would rather share detention with you, though.”
“You would? Why?” Ino tried not to sound too hopeful, but some odd part of her really liked the idea of she and Sakura alone in a quiet detention room every day for the next two weeks. But what good would that do, really? Besides, Sakura really didn’t deserve the punishment. Though Ino hated to admit any wrong, especially when it came to this particular situation, it was true that she technically could have gone and gotten a teacher rather than beating up the girls attacking Sakura. Even if that idea seemed ridiculous to her, Ino thought two weeks of detention was a mediocre price to pay for having been able to save Sakura.
“Well,” Sakura said, breaking into Ino’s thoughts. Ino looked up to see Sakura stopped in front of her, smiling a little bashfully behind the hair she’d left down to hide her face. “You’re my best friend, and you saved me. The least I could do is keep you company… right?”
Ino smiled at her. “Like I could have made any other choice. You’re my best friend, too, you know. Forehead-girl,” Ino teased, poking Sakura’s forehead gently with her left index finger. “What would you do without me?”
Sakura blushed, but smiled nonetheless, wincing a little as the movement of her face made her notice her sore eye and cheek again. Ino sighed sharply.
“Let’s go fix our makeup, huh?” she suggested, glad she and Sakura had similar skin tones so her makeup should still work on the pink haired girl. Sakura had used her mother’s makeup that morning; she didn’t have her own.
Putting her hand up unconsciously to hide the left side of her face, Sakura nodded and followed Ino to the nearest bathroom. Ino quickly pulled her makeup bag out of her backpack and set it on the tiny bit of counter between the sinks. Then, being the only one out of the two of them with experience applying makeup, Ino set to work on Sakura first. She had some extra bobby pins in her bag and, after gently pushing Sakura’s hair away from her face, used the pins to hold back her friend’s short, pink locks. Ino tenderly applied concealer to the bruising on Sakura’s face before starting on the foundation and then adding a light powder. When she was done, Ino raised her eyes to Sakura’s, only to find her staring back. As Ino’s eyes widened in surprise, so did Sakura’s, and they both diverted their eyes in opposite directions.
“Um… thanks,” Sakura said softly after a moment, blindly handing Ino the pins after pulling them from her hair. Ino nodded as she took them.
With a fleeting glance at Sakura, only to find her pink haired friend still looking away distractedly, Ino put the pins away and turned her gaze to the mirror to begin the task of fixing her own makeup. A few minutes later, Ino had put away her makeup bag and was tucking her lipgloss back in her pocket after reapplying it. Then, with one final nod at her reflection, she smiled at Sakura, glad to see her friend easily returning her gaze again, and the two of them left the bathroom.
They gave their notes from Ms. Senju to their teacher and took their seats in the middle of the classroom. Though murmurs erupted around them briefly, the teacher quickly hushed everyone up and continued the lesson. Sakura breathed a sigh of relief and quickly wrote a note to Ino, telling her she could borrow Sakura’s notes later. Ino nodded and mouthed, “Thank you,” in relief, glad to give her strained hand a rest for a bit.
The rest of the morning passed rather quickly and without much incident, though both Sakura and Ino kept getting approached by their classmates and interrogated on what had happened last Friday or in the office that morning. Now that the cat was a little more out of the bag, Ino decided it didn’t make much difference if she told people what had happened, except that maybe she could tell people the truth rather than letting them keep believing and spreading crazy rumors. Though she hadn’t discussed this with Sakura, the pink haired girl had the same thought. However, Sakura felt uncomfortable being put on the spot so often by her classmates, not wanting anyone’s eyes on her face for too long at the moment, so she used excuses of not wanting to be late for class, or needing to ask the teacher something, to get out of the questioning more often than not. During the times they had their thoughts to themselves, both girls had many worries whispering in the backs of their minds.
Before they knew it, it was noon–lunchtime–and the two girls met up with their usual group in the cafeteria. They joined Hinata and Kiba in the lunch line, Naruto already sitting at their usual table with Shikamaru.
“Hey, guys! I heard you two got called to the office today. Is it true you got some bitches expelled this morning?” Kiba asked as his greeting.
“K-Kiba…” Hinata tried to reprimand, blushing hotly both at his vulgar language and lack of tact.
Ino rolled her eyes.
“They weren’t expelled, just suspended,” Sakura answered as she pushed her tray along the counter, perusing her lunch options that day.
“Yeah, besides–oh, no thanks, I’m getting the salad bar,” Ino interrupted herself to answer one of the ladies behind the counter, trying to tone down her grimace as the woman offered Ino the hot ham and cheese.
“Um, me too,” Sakura said, not finding anything else behind the counter appetizing, either.
Following Sakura to the cashier to pay, Ino continued, “Besides, they deserved what they got for attacking me and Sakura.”
Ino’s eyes narrowed in memory.
“Is that how you hurt your hand, Ino?” Hinata asked softly, holding her tray of food tight against her body as she watched her two friends get their salads.
“Yeah,” Ino answered distractedly, most of her attention on using her left hand to put lettuce on the tray she held with her braced hand.
“We’ll talk more at the table, okay, Hinata?” Sakura suggested.
Hinata nodded, almost bumping into Kiba as she hurriedly turned to continue walking. Blushing hotly, she apologized and scooted around him, the wild-haired brunet boy following after her with an easy stride.
Ino and Sakura sat down at the table, Ino sitting in her usual spot beside Hinata, who sat beside Shikamaru. Chouji came up just behind them with his own tray of food, plus some extra bags of chips and a soda, and took the seat on the other side of Shika. Sakura sat beside Ino, with Naruto on her other side. Between them was the vacant seat that used to always be filled by Sasuke, and between Naruto and Chouji sat Kiba. As she settled at her seat, Sakura noticed the usual chill of sitting next to Sasuke’s empty seat. She shivered only slightly, noting with some regret that she was slowly becoming used to his seat being empty. Sighing softly to herself, she turned her attention to her tray, slowly mixing up her toppings with her fork.
“So, you hurt your hand in a fight, eh, Ino?” Kiba asked, waving a ketchup-laden fry around. “Who won?”
“Kiba,” Hinata reprimanded a little more sternly than she had before.
Kiba had the grace to look slightly sheepish, putting the fry in his mouth and looking away as if to let them off the hook of answering his question. However, the question brought the subject to everyone else’s attention. Naruto, already knowing most about what had happened, asked the next question.
“Oh yeah, how is your hand, anyway? Did you break your finger, after all?” he asked in concern.
“No, it’s not broken, only sprained,” Ino told him. “It’ll be fine in a week or so.”
“You sure cleaned up nicely. You guys looked completely banged up Friday.”
“Makeup is a girl’s best friend,” Ino half-joked, trying to keep things lighthearted and not draw attention to Sakura, who was again trying to hide behind her hair.
“Did you get a nice shiner, Sakura?” Naruto asked in earnest, apparently not realizing Sakura’s discomfort.
“Idiot!” Ino hissed lowly at him, unable to add a much-needed kick for emphasis due to the distance between them.
Naruto looked quickly at Ino, eyebrows raised, then to Sakura when Ino gestured to her with her eyes, causing concern laced with confusion to fill the blond boy’s eyes.
“What? What’d I–”
Before Naruto could finish voicing his question, a faint buzzing noise could be heard coming from beneath the table. Naruto’s eyes went wide, and in movements that appeared slightly-panicked, he fumbled to pull back the hem of his hoodie and the oversized t-shirt beneath it in order to reach into his jeans pocket and pull out his cell phone. The original black color of it was now covered by a bright orange, plastic cover, the back of it covered in worn and torn stickers. He pushed a button under the screen to stop the vibrating and read the text he’d received, a grin spreading across his face at once.
“What is it? Is it Sasuke?” Sakura asked eagerly, having watched Naruto in rapt attention ever since she realized it was his phone causing the ruckus.
Naruto quickly sent a reply and cradled the phone in his hands under the table, keeping it out of view from the teacher passing the table, making rounds of the lunch room as he monitored the students.
“Yeah,” Naruto answered once the teacher passed, his voice quieter than normal in order to not be overheard. “Making sure I’ll answer when he calls in a minute.”
“Sasuke’s calling? I thought you said his phone’s turned off,” Kiba commented.
“It was, but it’s not anymore. Or, actually, his dad just changed the number.”
Sakura noticed Naruto’s shoulders shaking a little, and realized he must be bouncing his leg in his usual antsy gesture.
“But if that’s all it was, then why–”
Kiba’s question was cut off as Naruto suddenly brought the phone up to his ear.
“Yeah? Sasuke?” Naruto asked into the phone, his voice still a bit hushed, but excited.
Sakura could barely hear a low murmur of assent over the phone before Naruto’s eyes lit up.
“Yeah, everyone’s here. Want to say hi?”
Naruto listened for a moment. “Well, yeah… but Sakura isn’t eating. You should at least… yeah, she looks a lot better now, but Ino said something about makeup… Ino’s hand’s in a…thingy. I don’t know! It’s not a cast, though…”
“It’s called a brace, Naruto,” Sakura giggled despite herself.
“Oh yeah, a brace… Yeah, and all scratched up… Yeah. Okay, here’s Sakura.”
Naruto handed the phone to her and Sakura quickly pulled the phone to her ear, turning in her seat so the lunch room monitor wouldn’t see the phone. Her hair fell over the top of it, and she put her elbow on the table to give the appearance that she was just leaning on her hand as she talked to Ino.
“Hi, Sasuke,” she said, a smile spreading across her face as butterflies of nervous excitement started fluttering in her stomach.
“Hi, Sakura,” his smooth, deep voice greeted, sending her stomach-butterflies into a frenzy.
“How are you?” she asked, her voice quivering faintly.
“…fine,” he answered, his pause telling her that he really wasn’t, but he didn’t want to talk about it.
Her mouth turned down a little at the thought that Sasuke didn’t want to tell her what was wrong. She would bet he’d tell Naruto. Before she could get too upset, though, Sasuke’s voice interrupted her thoughts.
“I heard about what happened Friday. I’m… glad you’re okay,” he told her, his words hesitant. “Those girls are psychotic,” he added, sounding more at ease as he did so.
“Ha, yeah…” Sakura agreed with a soft laugh, feeling both happy at his sweet concern yet empty and disappointed at the same time, for reasons she couldn’t quite put into words.
“What happened to Ino’s hand?”
“Oh, um… she dislocated her finger from punching someone’s face,” Sakura answered, feeling her face grow a bit hot, the back of her neck prickling as she felt all the eyes on the table on her, obviously listening intently to her conversation. Well, Shikamaru’s eyes weren’t on her, but she knew he was listening, too, nonetheless. She glanced at Ino, belatedly giving her a questioning look, asking if it was okay to talk about that.
Ino’s lips quirked into an amused smirk for a moment before giving Sakura a nod as she took a bite of her salad, chewing slowly as she continued listening to the conversation–or what she could hear of it.
“I hope she got her good,” Sasuke said through the phone, calling Sakura’s attention back to him.
“Yeah, she did,” Sakura said with pride in her voice for her friend. “But, today in the office, the parents of the girls argued that Ino shouldn’t have fought back, so now she has detention for two weeks while the other girls are suspended.”
“What was she supposed to do? Take the beating?” Sasuke growled, echoing Ino’s argument from earlier.
“They said she should have gotten a teacher when she saw them attacking me, instead of joining in the fight,” Sakura answered, again feeling the defeat she had felt earlier during the discussion in the office.
“Ridiculous.”
“I know,” Sakura agreed with a small nod.
There was a pause in the conversation as they both wondered what more they should say. Sakura couldn’t understand why she’d thought she would have so much to talk to Sasuke about after so long, and now her mind seemed completely empty. She racked her brain, searching for something meaningful to say. Something that would spark Sasuke’s interest in talking to her more. Something to make him think of her and remember her between now and the next time they spoke. Nothing came to her, though, and she felt that familiar disappointment that she seemed to so often connect to her feelings for Sasuke.
“Well…” Sasuke started, and Sakura felt a spark of hope that he had thought of something on his own. “I have to go soon, it’s already past one in the morning here. Let me talk to Naruto again.”
“Oh,” Sakura breathed. “Okay, sure.”
Hesitantly, she pulled the phone from her ear.
“Oh, Sakura…” she heard Sasuke call out, and quickly brought the phone back to her ear.
“Yes, Sasuke?” she asked expectantly.
“Tell Ino… ehh… good job. She did the right thing.”
Sakura nodded in agreement, feeling that pride in Ino again at Sasuke’s praise. Though, at the same time, Sakura felt a bit of jealousy because of it, she ignored it for the more pleasant feelings of pride and happiness that Ino had risked her physical well-being and even taken punishment in order to save her.
“Yes, she did. I will. Goodbye, Sasuke. Good luck! Here’s Naruto.”
Sakura handed the phone back to Naruto, who took it eagerly and started chattering away about how Ino had totally kicked those girls’ asses. Then the subject changed to something that had happened that morning in a class he and Sasuke used to share. The one-sided conversation became a buzz in the background for Sakura, though, as the warm feeling that had bubbled up in her at the recollection of what Ino had done for her suddenly preoccupied her. Her gaze on Ino, Sakura replayed the events in her mind, that warm feeling spreading through her body even as goosebumps rose suddenly along her arms and the back of her neck prickled again.
She didn’t quite understand this feeling. It was weird–different from anything she’d felt for her friend before, even back when they were younger and Ino was often defending her from other mean girls that had taken advantage of Sakura’s shy, unsure nature. Maybe that was it, though. This feeling… it was sort of like nostalgia; a mix of sadness and happiness that sometimes comes with memories of times long past; times that you associate with dear people, reminding you of the feelings you’d had in those precious moments.
As more memories of her childhood with Ino started playing through her mind, that feeling grew and Sakura’s stomach-butterflies started fluttering again, though their flight pattern was a bit different than it had been when she was talking with Sasuke. Yes, Sakura concluded, this feeling was sort of like nostalgia. It was a happy feeling, reminding her why she was so glad to have Ino as her friend for all these years–how lucky she was. Yet, there was that sad feeling there, as well, like she was missing something. She couldn’t really understand that part, though, because she still had Ino as a friend. Even if they were no longer really children, and couldn’t get those old times back, there were still plenty of new times to be had; new memories to be made together. That thought suddenly sent a new feeling rushing through her, mixing with the original one. This new feeling worried Sakura more than her contemplations of the sadness had.
The new feeling held a hint of panic, sending her stomach-butterflies crashing into each other as they attempted to rush up her throat all at once. Her stomach clenched against the feeling, keeping them swarming agitatedly inside her.
Ino looked up from her salad as she heard Sakura gasp, shocked to see the look of anguish on her friend’s face. Looking in Sakura’s eyes, Ino saw the green clouded over, as if lost in memory. Ino wondered if Sakura was thinking about the fight last Friday, or perhaps she was worrying again about the strain between her and her parents. Concerned with how lost Sakura looked, Ino put her hand on Sakura’s shoulder, hoping to pull her from whatever trance she was in.
“Sakura, you okay?” she asked, leaning in a bit so she could talk quieter to her friend, feeling that this moment should be a private one despite them being surrounded by their friends and other people in the cafeteria.
Sakura blinked, her body giving a little shiver as she suddenly came back to herself and her gaze focused on Ino in front of her. She gasped again–a deep, sharp breath, like she’d been underwater and just came up for air.
“Oh. Ino,” she breathed, her soft words almost sounding like another gasp. “Yeah, I’m… fine. I think. I mean… I’ll be alright.” Sakura gave Ino a smile, hoping to reassure her as Sakura had no real explanation for what had just come over her.
Ino could see that something was off, though, and her eyebrows furrowed as she wondered what it was. For some reason, she had the feeling there was more to it than what she’d been assuming. It seemed Sakura was confused about something, and Ino didn’t want to make her uncomfortable by pushing her to talk about it now, when Sakura had already been feeling put on the spot all morning.
“Have some salad,” Ino suggested firmly, noticing Sakura had yet to actually eat anything of her lunch. She hoped that would help her friend’s state a bit, and later, when they were alone, Ino would push for more answers if Sakura still seemed off.
Sakura turned towards her untouched food, as if Ino’s words had suddenly reminded her of it and commanded the movement. Picking up her fork, she started eating, focusing her attention completely on the task in order to ignore the strange sensations from before. As the food hit her stomach, the butterflies calmed a bit and Sakura suddenly realized how hungry she was. After that, her eating became much more natural, and she didn’t have to force anything for her attention to be completely occupied by it.
Happy to see Sakura visibly relax as she started eating, Ino let her concern fall away.
After that, lunch pretty much continued as normal. Naruto hung up with Sasuke and realized Kiba and Chouji had robbed him of his fries while he wasn’t paying attention. Hinata giggled and blushed as she watched Naruto chase Kiba around the lunch room, vowing to take payment for his fries out of Kiba with his fist or his foot. Chouji avoided the whole spectacle by politely offering to go buy another tray of fries, and Naruto calmed down and gave up on chasing Kiba just as the brown haired boy was about to jump on a table to get away from the blond.
As they all finally sat back down, Shikamaru pushed his tray out of the way so he could lay his head down on his arms, and tiredly remarked, “Do you guys have to do this every time we have fries? Troublesome…”
That comment earned him a ketchup-laden fry thrown into his spiked ponytail by a snickering Kiba, but Shikamaru merely shrugged and closed his eyes, not even bothering to take the fry out of his hair. Rolling her eyes, Ino took it out for him, and Kiba watched her expectantly, waiting for her to throw it back at him. Instead, Ino took the fry “hostage” on an empty part of her tray, and ignored Kiba’s shocked whine in favor of asking Hinata if she could borrow her notes from World History, since she had the same teacher.
Sakura giggled at Kiba’s disappointment, covertly stealing a fry from Naruto’s tray as the blond boy blissfully gulped down his milk. She was glad for the entertainment her friends’ playfulness provided, hoping her own participation would keep her mind distracted from her confused thoughts. Unfortunately, Kiba was destined to ruin that for her, at least partially.
“So, hey, Naruto, since you and Sakura hogged the phone the whole time, you gonna give us his new number, or what?”
“Um… I can’t,” Naruto answered. “He won’t even give it to me.”
Kiba’s face looked like he couldn’t decide whether to scowl or guffaw. “You dumb blond! Just look at your caller ID, duh!”
Naruto smacked Kiba upside the head. “I’m not that stupid, you know! He comes up as a private caller! And he’s not giving it to anyone else, either,” Naruto told him before Kiba could suggest it.
“What the hell? Why doesn’t he want anyone to know his new number? Is he breaking up with us?” Kiba asked, saying the last line dramatically with a huge, fake pout, his hands clasped under his chin.
Naruto huffed, scowling at Kiba’s dramatics. “He’s, technically, not supposed to have the phone anymore, so he erases the history and puts it back where his father hid it after he’s done. So he doesn’t want one of us calling when he doesn’t have the phone, and getting him in trouble,” Naruto explained.
Sakura frowned at his explanation, not only wondering what Sasuke had gotten in trouble for to warrant losing his phone and being cut off from his friends here, but because of something else that wasn’t sitting right with her.
“But what about just now, before he called? He texted you to tell you he was calling, didn’t he? You can’t text private, can you?”
“Eh?” Naruto said, scratching his cheek in thought. “Oh. Um… he didn’t text, he e-mailed me. I set up my account to SMS me when he e-mails.”
“Oh,” Sakura said, disappointed.
“Jeez, what did that guy do, anyway? It’s like his dad took him all the way to Japan and cut him off from us completely as punishment for something heinous!”
When Naruto grew red in the face, Sakura knew Naruto knew something–probably a significant amount, if not all, of what had happened to cause all this. However, before she could call him on it, the bell rang to end lunch, and everyone at the table scrambled to get rid of their trays and leave the cafeteria. Even Shikamaru was moved into action, though he did it at his own leisurely pace, as usual. He had a free period after lunch, after all, so it didn’t matter too much except that it was troublesome to deal with the lunch room monitor when they complained about him still hanging around when the next lunch period started.
By the time Sakura got rid of her tray, Naruto had already vanished, no doubt heading off to his Japanese class. Sakura had to go in the opposite direction for her Spanish class, so she made a mental note to ask Naruto about it later. Suddenly she wished she had her phone so she could text him, but she actually followed school rules about digital devices on the premises, so her phone was at home.
As she sat down next to the empty seat in the front row of her Spanish class–a seat that would, no doubt, remain empty for the rest of the school year–Sakura suddenly wondered why she hadn’t thought about e-mailing Sasuke before now. Too bad she didn’t have any more classes today with computers that had an internet connection. She would have to wait until she got home.
Unfortunately, between Spanish class and home, Sakura managed to forget again.
*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~ ~~~~~~*
Since Ino’s mother had been in the meeting that morning, and already knew about Ino’s detention, Ms. Senju had informed her that the punishment would start that day. Ino didn’t mind too much, since the sooner she started, the sooner it would be over. Besides, this way she would be done with her detentions at the same time the other girls were done with their suspension, rather than a day or two later–which would have no doubt enticed them to hassle and taunt Ino. She really didn’t need that crap, so she hadn’t complained about starting to serve her detention already.
So now Ino sat in the detention room, reading through the class notes Sakura and Hinata had given her after class ended for the day, and trying to decipher the ones she’d written herself. The detention teacher sat at his desk grading papers, content to ignore her as long as she wasn’t causing trouble. Ino was fine with that. Half an hour after she’d come into the room, the bell rang throughout the school, announcing the end of her sentence for the day.
“You are free to go, Miss Yamanaka,” the teacher said, barely sparing a glance at her as he began gathering up his papers to leave himself.
Ino stacked her papers and zippered them into her binder, shoving it into her backpack before putting her jacket on, the button at the cuff of the right arm undone so it could fit over her brace. Slinging her pack over her shoulder, she happily left the room behind and headed towards the front entrance, as she knew the gym was in use at the moment for cheerleading practice. She didn’t want to walk in on it, feeling the only real regret she’d had about this detention punishment, as it also affected her after-school activities. Namely, she’d been suspended from her cheerleading squad for the duration of her detention sentence. Not that she could have done too much, considering her hand injury, but she still could have participated in spirit and lent her voice to the cheers.
It was strange leaving school by herself. She almost always left with a group of people, and if no one else, Sakura was always with her. She would have to walk home by herself, too, because her mother couldn’t leave the shop to pick her up. Resigned to this fact, Ino rounded the school building, heading for the usual route she took home.
“Ino! Wait up!”
Ino stopped just before crossing the street, turning to see Sakura running towards her, the back gym door some distance behind her not even closed yet due to how fast and forcefully Sakura had apparently opened it. She was still in her cheerleading uniform, her heather grey spring coat open and barely clinging to her shoulders. Sakura slowed her steps as she got to Ino, stopping and panting a little from her sprint.
“Wait for me,” Sakura said with a smile.
“Did practice end early?” Ino asked doubtfully, having watched Sakura stuff her regular clothes into her backpack, which was now haphazardly thrown over her shoulder.
“Um… no,” Sakura admitted, the pink darkening in her already-flushed cheeks. “But I didn’t really feel up to it, and then I heard the detention bell and decided to walk home with you. You don’t mind, do you?” Sakura asked, though she doubted Ino would.
“Of course not, but you better not be skipping out like this all the time. You need to make up for my not being there,” Ino reminded her as they crossed the street together.
“Yeah, right,” Sakura sighed. “Half the squad is already mad at me. Not only did I get their friends in trouble, but now it’s my fault their star sophomore is suspended for two weeks.”
A chill ran through Ino at that comment. She hadn’t been thinking of it before, but some of the girls in their squad could have been involved in the attack on Sakura. Most of them were obsessed with Sasuke, after all, and more than half of them were friends with the girls that had been suspended that morning. Add to this that Ino was Co-Captain of the sophomore squad, and there was a big game coming up that she was going to have to miss, and Ino was really worried about Sakura’s safety in the squad without her there.
“They didn’t do anything to you, did they?” Ino asked, a threat to anyone that dared hurt Sakura clear in her voice.
“No, they wouldn’t do anything with Ms. Mitarashi there,” Sakura told her.
She decided not to mention all the taunting and insults she’d endured in the locker room, or how the squad captain had put Sakura on the bottom of the pyramid with the heaviest girl in the squad standing on her shoulder. What good would it do now? She would just sound whiny, and Sakura had already been doing a lot of whining to Ino lately. Besides, Sakura wasn’t the only one that had had to endure that heavy girl, and she’d done an okay job of it until Ms. Mitarashi had come in and asked what the hell they were doing putting skinny Sakura on the bottom.
“They’d better not,” Ino almost growled.
Sakura looked over at Ino as the two of them stopped at the corner of a busy street. Ino pushed the button for the crosswalk light, then turned back to Sakura, noticing her thoughtful expression.
“What?”
Sakura shook her head with a small smile. “It’s nothing… I was just… thinking…”
Sakura didn’t say anything more, and when the pedestrian symbol lit up, the two of them crossed the street. They walked down the next sidewalk, and turned a corner, heading for the next street they needed to cross.
“I’ve been thinking about it a lot and… thank you for saving me, Ino,” Sakura said softly.
Ino glanced at Sakura, but Sakura was looking at her feet as she walked, her hair again falling around her face to hide the bruising still hidden by makeup.
“Haven’t I told you enough already? You don’t have to thank me, just like you don’t have to apologize.”
Sakura stopped suddenly, then, and turned to Ino. Ino was startled to see tears forming in her friend’s bright, green eyes.
“No, Ino, really. Thank you. Sasuke told me to tell you that you did a good job and it was the right thing, and… it made me realize… I don’t know what I would have done if you weren’t there. And all the times before… you’re always saving me, and now you’ve gotten in trouble for it. I’m so pathetic, and I cause you so much trouble. Why are you still friends with me?!”
Ino was so shocked by Sakura’s sudden outburst that it took her a moment to realize that Sakura had flung her arms around her and was now leaning her forehead into the crook of Ino’s shoulder. Ino could feel Sakura’s tears as they dropped onto the skin exposed above the V-neck of her shirt, and that brought her back to herself. Ino wrapped her arms around her friend instantly, pulling her firmly against her. Sakura adjusted for the movement, moving her head up so that her chin now rested in the crook of Ino’s shoulder and tightening her arms around Ino.
“Stupid,” Ino said softly. “You’ve been my best friend forever. What kind of best friend would I be if I abandoned you over something like this? Jeez, Sakura!” Ino held Sakura a little tighter. “Don’t ever call yourself pathetic again. If you really believe that about yourself, then do something to change it!”
Ino felt Sakura gasp in her grasp and loosened her hold on the pink haired girl. Sakura pulled back to look at her, looking chastised but somehow happy despite it.
“Okay. You’re right. I should,” Sakura told her, nodding. “I will.”
Sakura grinned at Ino, having come to some sort of decision, though she knew it wouldn’t be as simple as that. This was just the first step. Ino smiled back, happy that this strange episode had been resolved.
“Good,” Ino said. Then, after a moment of thought, she added, “You’d better not change too much, though. You’d better still be my Sakura.”
Ino belatedly realized just what she’d said, but by that time it was too late to do anything about it. She had a small moment of panic, wondering if Sakura would misinterpret her meaning–even if the misinterpretation could also be labeled as true in Ino’s heart. However, Sakura’s grin merely grew as she cocked her head a little at Ino.
“Of course I will!”
As Ino’s panic was soothed by Sakura’s innocent, exuberant reply, Sakura noticed that strange feeling from earlier welling up again. Though this time it wasn’t as painful as before, it still concerned her. What was this feeling making her stomach clench and her heart ache in such a strange way? Why, when Ino said, ‘my Sakura,’ did that feeling ease for a moment, only to return when she gave her carefree response?
So now Ino sat in the detention room, reading through the class notes Sakura and Hinata had given her after class ended for the day, and trying to decipher the ones she’d written herself. The detention teacher sat at his desk grading papers, content to ignore her as long as she wasn’t causing trouble. Ino was fine with that. Half an hour after she’d come into the room, the bell rang throughout the school, announcing the end of her sentence for the day.
“You are free to go, Miss Yamanaka,” the teacher said, barely sparing a glance at her as he began gathering up his papers to leave himself.
Ino stacked her papers and zippered them into her binder, shoving it into her backpack before putting her jacket on, the button at the cuff of the right arm undone so it could fit over her brace. Slinging her pack over her shoulder, she happily left the room behind and headed towards the front entrance, as she knew the gym was in use at the moment for cheerleading practice. She didn’t want to walk in on it, feeling the only real regret she’d had about this detention punishment, as it also affected her after-school activities. Namely, she’d been suspended from her cheerleading squad for the duration of her detention sentence. Not that she could have done too much, considering her hand injury, but she still could have participated in spirit and lent her voice to the cheers.
It was strange leaving school by herself. She almost always left with a group of people, and if no one else, Sakura was always with her. She would have to walk home by herself, too, because her mother couldn’t leave the shop to pick her up. Resigned to this fact, Ino rounded the school building, heading for the usual route she took home.
“Ino! Wait up!”
Ino stopped just before crossing the street, turning to see Sakura running towards her, the back gym door some distance behind her not even closed yet due to how fast and forcefully Sakura had apparently opened it. She was still in her cheerleading uniform, her heather grey spring coat open and barely clinging to her shoulders. Sakura slowed her steps as she got to Ino, stopping and panting a little from her sprint.
“Wait for me,” Sakura said with a smile.
“Did practice end early?” Ino asked doubtfully, having watched Sakura stuff her regular clothes into her backpack, which was now haphazardly thrown over her shoulder.
“Um… no,” Sakura admitted, the pink darkening in her already-flushed cheeks. “But I didn’t really feel up to it, and then I heard the detention bell and decided to walk home with you. You don’t mind, do you?” Sakura asked, though she doubted Ino would.
“Of course not, but you better not be skipping out like this all the time. You need to make up for my not being there,” Ino reminded her as they crossed the street together.
“Yeah, right,” Sakura sighed. “Half the squad is already mad at me. Not only did I get their friends in trouble, but now it’s my fault their star sophomore is suspended for two weeks.”
A chill ran through Ino at that comment. She hadn’t been thinking of it before, but some of the girls in their squad could have been involved in the attack on Sakura. Most of them were obsessed with Sasuke, after all, and more than half of them were friends with the girls that had been suspended that morning. Add to this that Ino was Co-Captain of the sophomore squad, and there was a big game coming up that she was going to have to miss, and Ino was really worried about Sakura’s safety in the squad without her there.
“They didn’t do anything to you, did they?” Ino asked, a threat to anyone that dared hurt Sakura clear in her voice.
“No, they wouldn’t do anything with Ms. Mitarashi there,” Sakura told her.
She decided not to mention all the taunting and insults she’d endured in the locker room, or how the squad captain had put Sakura on the bottom of the pyramid with the heaviest girl in the squad standing on her shoulder. What good would it do now? She would just sound whiny, and Sakura had already been doing a lot of whining to Ino lately. Besides, Sakura wasn’t the only one that had had to endure that heavy girl, and she’d done an okay job of it until Ms. Mitarashi had come in and asked what the hell they were doing putting skinny Sakura on the bottom.
“They’d better not,” Ino almost growled.
Sakura looked over at Ino as the two of them stopped at the corner of a busy street. Ino pushed the button for the crosswalk light, then turned back to Sakura, noticing her thoughtful expression.
“What?”
Sakura shook her head with a small smile. “It’s nothing… I was just… thinking…”
Sakura didn’t say anything more, and when the pedestrian symbol lit up, the two of them crossed the street. They walked down the next sidewalk, and turned a corner, heading for the next street they needed to cross.
“I’ve been thinking about it a lot and… thank you for saving me, Ino,” Sakura said softly.
Ino glanced at Sakura, but Sakura was looking at her feet as she walked, her hair again falling around her face to hide the bruising still hidden by makeup.
“Haven’t I told you enough already? You don’t have to thank me, just like you don’t have to apologize.”
Sakura stopped suddenly, then, and turned to Ino. Ino was startled to see tears forming in her friend’s bright, green eyes.
“No, Ino, really. Thank you. Sasuke told me to tell you that you did a good job and it was the right thing, and… it made me realize… I don’t know what I would have done if you weren’t there. And all the times before… you’re always saving me, and now you’ve gotten in trouble for it. I’m so pathetic, and I cause you so much trouble. Why are you still friends with me?!”
Ino was so shocked by Sakura’s sudden outburst that it took her a moment to realize that Sakura had flung her arms around her and was now leaning her forehead into the crook of Ino’s shoulder. Ino could feel Sakura’s tears as they dropped onto the skin exposed above the V-neck of her shirt, and that brought her back to herself. Ino wrapped her arms around her friend instantly, pulling her firmly against her. Sakura adjusted for the movement, moving her head up so that her chin now rested in the crook of Ino’s shoulder and tightening her arms around Ino.
“Stupid,” Ino said softly. “You’ve been my best friend forever. What kind of best friend would I be if I abandoned you over something like this? Jeez, Sakura!” Ino held Sakura a little tighter. “Don’t ever call yourself pathetic again. If you really believe that about yourself, then do something to change it!”
Ino felt Sakura gasp in her grasp and loosened her hold on the pink haired girl. Sakura pulled back to look at her, looking chastised but somehow happy despite it.
“Okay. You’re right. I should,” Sakura told her, nodding. “I will.”
Sakura grinned at Ino, having come to some sort of decision, though she knew it wouldn’t be as simple as that. This was just the first step. Ino smiled back, happy that this strange episode had been resolved.
“Good,” Ino said. Then, after a moment of thought, she added, “You’d better not change too much, though. You’d better still be my Sakura.”
Ino belatedly realized just what she’d said, but by that time it was too late to do anything about it. She had a small moment of panic, wondering if Sakura would misinterpret her meaning–even if the misinterpretation could also be labeled as true in Ino’s heart. However, Sakura’s grin merely grew as she cocked her head a little at Ino.
“Of course I will!”
As Ino’s panic was soothed by Sakura’s innocent, exuberant reply, Sakura noticed that strange feeling from earlier welling up again. Though this time it wasn’t as painful as before, it still concerned her. What was this feeling making her stomach clench and her heart ache in such a strange way? Why, when Ino said, ‘my Sakura,’ did that feeling ease for a moment, only to return when she gave her carefree response?
*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~ ~~~~~~*
Long after Ino and Sakura had separated to go to their own homes, Sakura lay on her bed, having given up on her Spanish homework for the moment. She just didn’t seem to be able to concentrate on it. The radio was on in her room, but she wasn’t really listening to it and had turned the volume down, leaving it as background noise. Both her parents were still at work, but she didn’t mind that either at the moment. She’d been avoiding them as much as she could since Friday.
Just as she thought about this, though, she heard the garage door open downstairs. Her heart sped up a little at the realization that one of her parents was home, hoping she would be left alone but knowing it was unlikely. Her parents were the type to always be concerned about their child’s life and well-being, and Sakura was their only child, so there was no one to distract them from their interest in her daily life once they were home.
Sure enough, after listening to the sounds of someone moving through the house, and determining from those sounds that it was her mother home first, Sakura heard footsteps coming up the stairs and stopping in front of her room. She quickly snatched her Spanish book off her desk and opened it as she sat back down on her bed just before a knock sounded on her closed door. Without waiting for Sakura to reply, her mother walked in, still dressed in her dress suit from work.
“Oh, good, Sakura, you’re home,” her mother greeted with a smile, coming over to sit in the chair at Sakura’s desk beside her bed.
‘Where else would I be?’ Sakura thought sarcastically, but didn’t voice it aloud. Instead, she quietly closed the book she’d been pretending to read and laid it on her lap as she looked over at her mother.
“You’ve been over at Ino’s so much, I wondered if you might be over there again today,” her mother answered her thoughts unknowingly. “How are you feeling?”
“Fine,” Sakura replied, not in the mood for a conversation about her injuries or how the bruises on her face were still tender.
“How was school? Any more incidents?” Mrs. Haruno asked as she leaned forward and gently pushed the hair away from Sakura’s covered bruises.
Sakura resisted the urge to flinch. “No, it was fine.”
Mrs. Haruno sat back, satisfied that she could now see her daughter’s whole face. “I heard from Ms. Senju that the girls that attacked you were suspended today.”
Sakura nodded, not really knowing what else she could say about the subject. If Ms. Senju had called her mother, she knew everything, didn’t she? Then again…
“Ino got detention, too,” Sakura told her mother, still feeling angry about that part.
“I know. It was awfully noble of her to take all the blame, though, don’t you think?”
“Yeah,” Sakura had to agree.
“Well, I’m glad you’re okay, at least. You’ve been out of sorts the past few days,” Sakura’s mother remarked.
Sakura really didn’t want to continue this conversation or the direction it was heading, so she said nothing. She suddenly felt really tired, and looked down at her Spanish workbook, hoping it could provide some sort of distraction or excuse. Thankfully, her mother seemed to get the hint.
“Well, I can see that you have homework to do, so I’ll let you do that while I go start dinner.”
Sakura couldn’t help her sigh of relief as her mother stood and walked towards the door. She paused as she opened it, though, turning back to look at Sakura.
“Oh, by the way, dear, you have an appointment with the family doctor tomorrow during my lunch hour. I’ll pick you up from school at 12:30 sharp, so make sure you wait by the entrance for me.”
Sakura’s whole head suddenly felt hot, from her scalp to her ears and all the way down her neck. She felt like she’d just received an electric shock. Even the roots of her hair felt electrified.
“Why do I have an appointment with the doctor?” she asked her mother. Redi-med hadn’t suggested a follow-up visit for her, and even though she knew it was technically time for her annual physical, her mom always waited until the summer for that, so that Sakura wouldn’t miss school.
“Just a checkup, honey, don’t sound so worried!” her mother answered in a laughing, nonchalant tone, waving away Sakura’s concern. “I just want our own doctor to have a look at your injuries.” After saying this, Sakura’s mother ended the discussion by finally leaving the room, closing the door behind her.
Despite her mother’s brush-off, though, Sakura just couldn’t shake the sense of foreboding that had suddenly overcome her.
TBC
Just as she thought about this, though, she heard the garage door open downstairs. Her heart sped up a little at the realization that one of her parents was home, hoping she would be left alone but knowing it was unlikely. Her parents were the type to always be concerned about their child’s life and well-being, and Sakura was their only child, so there was no one to distract them from their interest in her daily life once they were home.
Sure enough, after listening to the sounds of someone moving through the house, and determining from those sounds that it was her mother home first, Sakura heard footsteps coming up the stairs and stopping in front of her room. She quickly snatched her Spanish book off her desk and opened it as she sat back down on her bed just before a knock sounded on her closed door. Without waiting for Sakura to reply, her mother walked in, still dressed in her dress suit from work.
“Oh, good, Sakura, you’re home,” her mother greeted with a smile, coming over to sit in the chair at Sakura’s desk beside her bed.
‘Where else would I be?’ Sakura thought sarcastically, but didn’t voice it aloud. Instead, she quietly closed the book she’d been pretending to read and laid it on her lap as she looked over at her mother.
“You’ve been over at Ino’s so much, I wondered if you might be over there again today,” her mother answered her thoughts unknowingly. “How are you feeling?”
“Fine,” Sakura replied, not in the mood for a conversation about her injuries or how the bruises on her face were still tender.
“How was school? Any more incidents?” Mrs. Haruno asked as she leaned forward and gently pushed the hair away from Sakura’s covered bruises.
Sakura resisted the urge to flinch. “No, it was fine.”
Mrs. Haruno sat back, satisfied that she could now see her daughter’s whole face. “I heard from Ms. Senju that the girls that attacked you were suspended today.”
Sakura nodded, not really knowing what else she could say about the subject. If Ms. Senju had called her mother, she knew everything, didn’t she? Then again…
“Ino got detention, too,” Sakura told her mother, still feeling angry about that part.
“I know. It was awfully noble of her to take all the blame, though, don’t you think?”
“Yeah,” Sakura had to agree.
“Well, I’m glad you’re okay, at least. You’ve been out of sorts the past few days,” Sakura’s mother remarked.
Sakura really didn’t want to continue this conversation or the direction it was heading, so she said nothing. She suddenly felt really tired, and looked down at her Spanish workbook, hoping it could provide some sort of distraction or excuse. Thankfully, her mother seemed to get the hint.
“Well, I can see that you have homework to do, so I’ll let you do that while I go start dinner.”
Sakura couldn’t help her sigh of relief as her mother stood and walked towards the door. She paused as she opened it, though, turning back to look at Sakura.
“Oh, by the way, dear, you have an appointment with the family doctor tomorrow during my lunch hour. I’ll pick you up from school at 12:30 sharp, so make sure you wait by the entrance for me.”
Sakura’s whole head suddenly felt hot, from her scalp to her ears and all the way down her neck. She felt like she’d just received an electric shock. Even the roots of her hair felt electrified.
“Why do I have an appointment with the doctor?” she asked her mother. Redi-med hadn’t suggested a follow-up visit for her, and even though she knew it was technically time for her annual physical, her mom always waited until the summer for that, so that Sakura wouldn’t miss school.
“Just a checkup, honey, don’t sound so worried!” her mother answered in a laughing, nonchalant tone, waving away Sakura’s concern. “I just want our own doctor to have a look at your injuries.” After saying this, Sakura’s mother ended the discussion by finally leaving the room, closing the door behind her.
Despite her mother’s brush-off, though, Sakura just couldn’t shake the sense of foreboding that had suddenly overcome her.
TBC
*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~ ~~~~~~*
A/N: So ends chapter four. What’ll happen next? Only time will tell…
Please leave reviews to tell me your thoughts! And if anyone wants me to e-mail them when this fic (or any others of mine) are updated, just tell me and leave your e-mail addy in a review.
*heart*
~ lg
Please leave reviews to tell me your thoughts! And if anyone wants me to e-mail them when this fic (or any others of mine) are updated, just tell me and leave your e-mail addy in a review.
*heart*
~ lg