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!
Show Me, Touch Me, Catch Me
By: ladygizarme
Beta: sasukeskyuubi
Summary: All Sakura wants for her birthday is a kiss from her crush. Things don’t quite go as planned, but change is not always a bad thing. InoSaku
Warnings (applies to whole story): Angst, AU/AR, Bi, F/F (shoujo-ai/yuri/same sex relationships), HJ, Oral, SoloF, WAFF, WIP
Chapter One:
Sakura Haruno woke bright and early that Saturday morning, a smile immediately blooming on her face as she sat up and stretched. It was a sunny spring morning, the first official day of spring break, and she just knew today would be the best day ever. It was March 28—her sixteenth birthday, and in just a few short hours her home would be filled with friends celebrating the day with her.
Throwing her pale pink and green covers off her legs, Sakura got out of bed to finish stretching, then made her bed before heading to the bathroom. After relieving her bladder and washing her hands, she brushed her teeth, flashing her brightest smile at her reflection after rinsing. She turned on the shower, adjusting the temperature exactly how she wanted it before stepping in and pulling the curtain closed behind her.
Normally Sakura was in and out of the shower quickly—she had short, chin-length hair and a slight figure, so washing didn’t really take much time. Today was her special day, though, so she decided to pamper herself a bit and enjoy the relaxing hot water and steam. She breathed deeply as she let the water pour down on her body, soaking her and turning her creamy skin a lovely shade of pink from the heat.
Taking a breath and closing her eyes, Sakura leaned her head back into the stream, soaking her hair and face, water running over her partially parted lips. She washed her face and hair, waiting the full thirty seconds before rinsing out her conditioner—a step she usually rushed through—then she shaved her legs and underarms before moving on to washing her body.
Grabbing her pink mesh pouf sponge, she poured her favorite, cherry-vanilla-scented bodywash onto it and lathered it up. The pouf glided over her skin, leaving luxurious suds in their wake as she washed her body. She ran it over her small, pert breasts, scrutinizing them as she did so. They were finally filling out more recently, but they still weren’t as big as her best friend, Ino’s. Testing her own, Sakura found that one breast barely filled her own hand. Ino’s had to be more than a handful already, and she was still growing, Sakura was sure. More than idly, she wondered if Ino’s breasts would fill Sasuke’s hands, which were much larger than her own since he was a boy. She quickly pushed the thought from her mind, feeling a strong surge of jealousy at the thought of Sasuke with Ino.
Thinking about Sasuke while holding her own breast, though, made a sharp tingle run through her body, like a tiny shockwave firing through her nerves. She felt the tingle the strongest in her nipples and between her legs, and ran a curious finger over one rosy bud to soothe the strange sensation, watching in fascination as her nipple hardened and perked up, intensifying the sensation rather than easing it. Experimentally, she repeated the action on her other breast, provoking the same reaction, heightening the need she felt between her legs to rub there as well.
Ignoring that desire for now, Sakura dropped her shower pouf so she could use both hands to continue to run the pads of her forefingers over her perked nipples. Sometimes she would squeeze her breasts a little while doing so, her fingers circling the pink buds. Green eyes slightly lidded from pleasure but attentive, Sakura bit her lip as she continued her simple caresses, watching her areola tighten and pucker, until she felt the urge to pinch her nipples in an attempt to relieve some of the pressure she felt building inside herself. A fine layer of goosebumps spread over her skin, despite the heat of the shower, and Sakura shivered, moaning softly through quickened breaths as she gave in to the urge to pinch and felt the tingle between her legs grow ever more demanding by the second.
Sakura was not stupid. She knew logically what she was doing right then. She knew what that feeling was between her legs, though she had only felt it a couple times before and had never indulged those desires with these sorts of actions before. She had nothing against masturbation in theory. She knew other girls did it—though Ino was the only one of her friends that spoke freely about it—but, personally, she’d never really been interested in the idea. Really, whenever she thought about it, she’d find herself blushing—both from embarrassment and naïveté with the subject.
All truth be told, Sakura had always thought she wouldn’t even know how to masturbate. How do you touch yourself in that way and provoke the same feelings that being physical with someone else was supposed to make you feel? It couldn’t really work, or so she thought. But now, standing in this steaming shower, fondling her own breasts, feeling that ache between her legs, Sakura was finally beginning to understand.
Slowly, one hand left her breast and trailed down her wet body. Her breath caught in her chest as her fingers ghosted past her lower belly, pausing nervously as they met shower-soaked, only slightly-coarse curly pink hair. It felt so strange touching herself this way; there was really no reason to be nervous—it was her own body, after all, and these were all places she’d touched all her life while washing; so why did she feel so timid?
Swallowing harshly and reminding herself to breathe, she slipped her fingers through the pink curls and over her mound, the pads of her fingers barely parting her outer lips before she felt that same thrill from before crash through her, stronger than before. Moving her fingers around experimentally, she found the exact spot that sent those shocks through her and rubbed her fingers over it, slowly creating a pattern, rubbing in a small, circular motion as she teased that spot on herself.
That intense feeling was building in her; it was so strange and wonderful and excruciating, Sakura couldn’t even imagine how it was ever going to end. She found herself struggling not to moan aloud, her breath reduced to shallow pants as she tried to suppress any noises she longed to make. Finally, she felt something in her start to crest. This was it, she just knew it! In just a few more seconds she would finally understand what was so great about masturbation! She started rubbing faster, biting her lip harder as her other hand pinched her nipple in time with the circular pattern.
Suddenly, there was a loud banging on the bathroom door, followed by the door handle being rattled.
“Sakura, honey, are you done yet? You’ve been in there an awfully long time!”
The banging, rattling, and her mother’s voice startled Sakura so badly, she jumped, her hands leaving her body as she was suddenly sent spiraling down an abyss that left her completely unfulfilled and frustrated. She leaned against the shower wall, gasping for breath, lamenting her mother’s awful timing while at the same time wondering what the hell she’d been doing in the first place. She couldn’t believe she’d actually been masturbating, and with her parents in the house, no less!
Groaning under her breath, her hand clasped over her pounding heart, Sakura cleared her throat of the giant frog that had jumped up there from her belly, and answered her mother, “I’ll be out in a minute, mom!”
“Okay, honey. Well, hurry up, your breakfast will get cold.”
“Okay, mom,” Sakura replied, grabbing her mesh pouf from the shower floor and making quick work of washing the rest of her body, ignoring the tingle between her legs that begged her to finish her prior actions.
She rinsed off, turned off the water, grabbed her towel, dried off, and hung the towel back up in two minutes flat. Then she combed and lightly blow-dried her hair, moisturized her face and body, and put on her antiperspirant before slipping into her fluffy, pink, terrycloth robe and heading back to her room to dress.
As she caught her reflection in her dresser vanity, she realized what a panic-stricken look she still had. That just would not do—not for breakfast with her parents, and definitely not for a party with her friends. What if Sasuke noticed? No way could she tell her crush since second grade that she’d been interrupted masturbating in the shower. Even worse, what if Ino noticed? Sasuke asking, even if he did notice something off, was still an unlikely event, but Ino… oh, if Ino even had an inkling of something being up, Sakura would never hear the end of it! Her blonde best friend would torture her until she spilled the beans, then surely proceed to announce the occasion for celebration!
Sakura shook her head vehemently at the frightening thought. She had to calm down and get back to her normal self. Taking deep breaths, she closed her eyes and focused on the party later and all the plans she had, pushing her shower incident from her mind. Feeling better, she opened her eyes again and smiled brightly at her reflection. Today was still going to be the best day ever.
Today, she was going to get a birthday kiss from Sasuke!
Feeling giddy from the thought, she rifled through her drawer for her favorite bra and panty set—a pushup bra and bikini panties, both a pink so pale it was almost white, with two, bright red, stemmed cherries stitched in the front. Even if she was the only one to see them, she really liked how they looked on her. Plus, she loved the enhancement the bra gave her curves.
After getting into her undies, she went to her closet and pulled out the outfit she’d chosen weeks ago for today—a pretty, red, knee-length, sleeveless sundress with a flirty V-neck, slightly ruffled shoulders and skirt, and white, flowery stitching accents on the hems. She had a new pair of cute, white flip flops to wear with it, but her mom didn’t like shoes being worn in the house. She put on the silver necklace that held her half of a friendship locket she’d had since seventh grade—when she and Ino had finally made up after a two-year rivalry over Sasuke. Then she painted her lips with her lightly tinted strawberry lip gloss (the only makeup besides nail polish her mother allowed her to wear), smiled again in the mirror, and headed down to breakfast.
“There you are,” her mother greeted as Sakura sat down at the kitchen table. “I thought you might have drowned!”
Sakura couldn’t help but blush at the memory of exactly why she’d been in the shower so long, but luckily her mother had turned back towards the stove and didn’t see it. A moment later, her mother came to the table carrying a plate stacked with pancakes.
“Happy Birthday, honey,” her mom said, placing the plate and a bottle of syrup in front of her.
“Thanks, mom,” Sakura said happily, grabbing the syrup. This was so cheating on her diet, but it was her birthday, she could splurge!
As she put a bite of syrupy pancake in her mouth, her father walked into the kitchen, dressed for yard work.
“Good morning, pumpkin,” he said to his daughter. “How’s my birthday girl this morning?”
Sakura swallowed and took a drink of milk before chastising, “Dad, I’m sixteen now, do you have to keep calling me ‘pumpkin’?”
Her father looked to be contemplating this for a bit, then smiled at her, “Of course, you’ll always be my little pumpkin, Sakura.”
Sakura simply stuck her tongue out and continued eating. Even though she complained, she actually liked when her father called her by the cutesy names he’d used ever since she could remember.
“Are you ready for your party tonight?” he asked his daughter.
“Yes, I can’t wait! What time are you and mom leaving?”
“So anxious to get rid of us, I see,” her mother sighed dramatically as she sat down with her husband and daughter.
Sakura blushed. “It’s not that, mom! I just—”
Her mother smiled mischievously at her, “I was only kidding, Sakura. I knew what you meant. Your father and I have dinner reservations at 7, and then we’re going to see a movie. We’ll leave around 6:40 and should be back by midnight, if not before.”
“Don’t destroy the house,” her father piped in. “And no boys after 10. Your girlfriends can stay the night as long as everyone keeps it down after midnight.”
“Yes, daddy, I know,” Sakura replied before once more digging into her pancakes.
*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*
The time from morning to afternoon passed rather slowly for Sakura, who was anxious for the evening to get there already. Her party wasn’t until 6pm, which seemed like forever when you woke at 7am. She filled her time by listening to music, picking out a selection of CDs to play during her party, and then sitting out on the screened backyard porch to read a book. It was a nice day—sunny and not too chilly—so she slipped on her sandals and went to sit in the sun for a bit while she read. When her father came out of the garage with the lawnmower, though, she decided to head back inside. She didn’t want grass all over her dress.
After eating lunch with her parents, she helped her mother start to prepare the snack platters for later while her father returned to his yard work. She quickly grew bored of that, though—it was her birthday, she didn’t want to do stuff that felt like chores! So she found a new book and sat down on the living room sofa to read it. It didn’t help, though, as her mind was too busy with anticipation to concentrate on reading, and she soon gave up, instead staring into space and listening to her mother sing oldies while she worked in the kitchen.
Just when she thought she would grow crazy with boredom, the doorbell chimed through the house.
“I’ll get it!” Sakura called out, already halfway to the front door. “Ino!” she exclaimed happily as she opened the door to find her blonde friend standing there, dressed in a purple belly shirt, distressed blue denim mini-skirt, matching jacket, and tight, black boots that went up to her knees. She had a vase of flowers in her hands.
“Happy Birthday, Sakura,” Ino grinned as she held the vase out to her friend.
“Are these my present,” Sakura asked as she took them, trying to sound curious rather than disappointed. Flowers were lovely, but not exactly what she’d had in mind as a present she’d get from her best friend.
“What? Of course not! That comes later, forehead girl,” Ino answered, tapping her friend’s forehead with her index finger.
Sakura went a bit cross-eyed at that, but smiled at the answer, despite the insulting nickname. After being friends for so long, she was used to the tease.
“I’ll look forward to it, Ino-pig,” Sakura replied in kind, sticking her tongue out at her friend, to which Ino stuck her tongue out as well before they giggled and headed upstairs to Sakura’s room.
“So, can you believe you’re sixteen already?” Ino asked as she tossed her purse and jacket down and plopped down on Sakura’s pink and green gingham comforter.
Sakura set the flowers on her dresser and turned the radio on, the volume low enough that they could still talk to each other comfortably.
“What do you mean, ‘already’? It feels like it’s taken forever!” Sakura sighed dramatically as she fell down onto her bed next to her friend.
“Hey, don’t bitch. You’re sixteen before me, after all!”
Sakura stuck her tongue out again playfully. Ino raised an eyebrow at her.
“You better be careful who you stick that out at, forehead girl. It could get bitten off,” Ino teased.
Sakura’s tongue retreated back inside her mouth, but mischievous light still danced in her eyes as she provoked, “You going to bite my tongue off, Ino-pig?”
“Maybe.” Ino smirked, “Or something like that.”
Sakura giggled and grabbed her pillow to hit Ino playfully with it. Ino grabbed it off her face and threw it onto Sakura’s belly, promptly plopping herself onto it belly down, the two girls’ bodies making a sort of T as Ino looked sideways at her friend.
“Oof, get off me, fatty!” Sakura exclaimed.
Ino stuck her tongue out.
“Be careful who you stick that out at, Ino-pig,” Sakura mimicked.
Ino merely grinned. “I dare you to bite it off.”
Sakura couldn’t really understand why she blushed so hotly at that, so to distract herself (and Ino), she changed the subject. “So where is my present, anyway?”
“What, you mean I’m not enough?” Ino teased, batting her lashes.
“Pfft, yeah right. Come on, give it up.”
“You’re no fun,” Ino sighed. “Anyway, it’s in my purse.”
Sitting up, she grabbed the large, black drawstring bag she’d tossed on the floor by the bed when they first came in the room. Opening the drawstring, she rummaged inside a bit before pulling out a pink, plushie pig. It had a purple cheerleader outfit on, purple and white poms poms in its hands, and “Ino” stitched across the front in white.
“Heeee, cute!” Sakura exclaimed, grabbing the plushie and cuddling it.
Ino smiled, “I thought you’d like it.”
“It’s too cute! I love it!”
“I’m glad.”
Sakura’s joyous squeals got the attention of her mother, who had come upstairs to gather laundry for the wash. She came into her daughter’s room to see her squealing over a stuffed cheerleader pig, and smiled.
“Ino, I didn’t know you were here. Was that you at the door earlier?”
“Yep, that was me.”
Sakura’s mother saw the vase on Sakura’s dresser. “Oh, flowers! Did you bring those, also, Ino?”
Ino nodded.
“They’re just lovely, that was sweet of you,” Mrs. Haruno said.
Ino shrugged, “Every girl should get flowers on her birthday, especially on her Sweet 16. Besides, it’s not like it was a hassle to get them—my parents own the flower shop, after all.” She chose not to mention that the vase and bouquet was costing her an extra day of helping out at said shop during her spring break.
“Well, I still say it was sweet. What all is in here?” Mrs. Haruno asked, moving closer to smell them.
“The white and lavender ones are Cosmos, and the pinkish-tinged ones are Apple Blossom Roses, in partial bloom,” Ino answered attentively, smiling nostalgically at Sakura as the pink haired girl gave a small gasp of understanding.
Sakura smiled warmly in return.
“Well, what are you girls doing for the rest of the afternoon?” her mother asked.
They both shrugged.
“Up to doing some decorating? There are a couple bags full of balloons and streamers down in the basement. I know it’s strange to have you decorate for your own party, Sakura, but your father and I still have a lot to get done.”
“I don’t mind decorating,” Sakura shrugged.
“Sounds fun, actually. We can go all out on it,” Ino agreed.
So, with that decided, the two girls were soon set to work decorating the first floor and basement of Sakura’s house. Streamers were strung all over, cascading down doorways and climbing ceilings in web-like patterns. Balloons were blown up and pinned, and the ceiling was filled with helium balloons once the girls figured out how to use the tank Sakura’s father had rented without bursting the balloons. A big, white banner with “Happy Sweet 16, Sakura!” printed in glittery pink script was hung in the archway between the living room and dining room. Another one with red glittery script was hung from the eaves of the porch awning.
Between the time it took to decorate as extravagantly as they wished, plus the horsing around that took place amidst the decorating, the two girls managed to kill most of the afternoon. They were just finishing off the last of the streamer, wrapping it around the banisters of the porch, when Sakura’s father drove up into the driveway. Apparently he’d been sent on an errand, and was now returning with the cake.
Somehow he managed to avoid her getting to see the cake, largely due to Ino running interference as Mr. Haruno entered the house through the garage.
“So, what do you think everyone’s getting you for your birthday?” the blonde asked, distracting her pink haired friend.
Sakura thought seriously a moment. “Hmm… I don’t know. Naruto will probably do his usual…”
“Gift certificate to Ichiraku,” Ino finished the thought fluidly.
Sakura giggled.
“Honestly, that guy has no imagination.” Ino rolled her eyes.
“His heart’s in the right place, though,” Sakura smiled softly. “Anyway, it’s not his present I’m looking forward to.”
“Oh? Do tell.”
“It’s Sasuke’s gift I can’t wait for, of course!”
“Sasuke? But that guy has worse gift-giving sense than Naruto!” Ino exclaimed, knowing she was fighting a losing battle. Even though she had gotten over her crush on the raven haired boy long ago, her best friend had not.
“Not this time,” Sakura argued, shaking her head. “This time, he’s giving the perfect gift. And I know you already know it, so you don’t have to pretend.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I overheard you guys that day after school last week,” Sakura explained, remembering that time clearly.
She’d had something to finish up in the library, so she’d been late meeting her friends after school. By the time she caught up to them at their usual meeting spot on the small set of steps behind the school that led into the gym, most of her group of friends had left to catch their buses already, and it was just Ino, Sasuke, and Naruto left. They hadn’t seen Sakura yet, because she’d come out the front entrance and was still around the corner of the building when she heard them talking.
“So, you guys coming to Sakura’s party Saturday?” Ino had asked.
“You know I’ll be there!” Naruto had exclaimed.
“Sakura’s party? Hn,” Sasuke had replied, and Sakura had bit her lip at his indifferent tone.
“Oh, come on, it’ll be fun,” Ino had insisted. “Besides, it’s not good to snub one of the few people you consider a friend, is it, Mr. Antisocial?”
There were a few moments of silence, during which Sakura held her breath, before Sasuke finally spoke again. “…I don’t know what to get her. I never know.”
“Well, I could tell you right now the perfect gift she could get from you,” Ino offered. “A kiss.”
“A kiss?” Sasuke asked incredulously.
“Yeah, a kiss. You know she’s liked you since second grade. A kiss from you would be her number one birthday wish.”
“Hn… I guess…” Sasuke had agreed.
“What?! Sasuke—” Naruto had screeched.
“Relax, dobe.”
“But, Sasuke, you know I like—I mean! You bastard, if you kiss Sakura—”
Before Naruto could ruin her chances at getting a kiss from Sasuke, just because of his silly crush on her, Sakura had chosen that moment to walk around the corner and greet her friends. The subject had immediately been changed, but Sakura hadn’t forgotten what she’d heard. She couldn’t wait to get her present from Sasuke!
“Oh, you heard that, huh?” Ino said, bringing Sakura back to the present time.
Sakura nodded, smiling dreamily from the memory as Ino taped the last bit of streamer to the porch banister.
Ino had her doubts about the whole kiss situation. She had a feeling that Sasuke had only been agreeing about knowing how long Sakura had liked him, not about actually giving her a kiss for her birthday. Now that she knew Sakura had heard everything, Ino wished she had never brought it up. She would hate for her friend’s heart to be broken if things didn’t go as she’d imagined.
Not wanting to voice her negative thoughts, though, Ino said, “Well, I hope you get exactly what you want.”
*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*
Sakura’s friends began arriving for the party just before six. By 6:15, nearly everyone was there, and by 6:30 the only person missing was Sasuke Uchiha. Sakura was lingering by the door, biting her lip, when her mother found her and informed her that they needed to do her cake now so her mother and father wouldn’t be late for their dinner reservations. Reluctantly, Sakura agreed, allowing herself to be led to the dining room even as she glanced back sadly at the closed and silent front door.
Everyone gathered around in the bright dining room, Sakura seated at the head of the table as her friends lined the walls of the room. The lights were dimmed just before Sakura’s father walked into the room from the kitchen, carrying a cake with sixteen lit candles on it. The teenagers made a path for him as he walked to the table and set the cake in front of his daughter. Then the singing started.
Sakura sat there, quietly waiting, listening to her friends and parents sing “Happy Birthday” to her, all eyes upon her. It was both thrilling and a little unnerving to be the center of attention in this way, everyone singing to her and watching her, waiting for her to blow out these candles, and she felt herself blush a little bit. She wondered if Sasuke would have sung to her, if he’d been here. She wondered and worried where he was, why wasn’t he here?!
Finally, the song ended, and Sakura closed her eyes and made a wish.
‘I wish Sasuke would come and kiss me for my birthday,’ she thought to herself, repeating it in her mind as she took a breath and blew her candles out.
As the flames went out and the room was cast in near-darkness, Kiba and Naruto threw an arm over each other’s shoulders and sang loudly, “And many mooore!”
Their antics brought on chuckles as the lights were turned back up, making the room bright again as Sakura removed the candles and cut her cake. Her parents each wished her happy birthday again and kissed the top of her head before leaving for their evening out. Then Sakura opened her presents.
She wasn’t really surprised by any of her gifts, though she was by no means ungrateful, either. As predicted, Naruto had given her a gift certificate to his favorite authentic ramen shop, Ichiraku’s. Kiba had given her a scented candle (which Hinata had helped him pick out, as he’d been clueless about what to get her). Hinata had given her a spa basket filled with body wash, bath beads, facial masques, and numerous other things to pamper herself with. Shino had given her a book on butterflies. Chouji had given her a giftcard to his favorite barbecue place. Shikamaru had given her a giftcard to the mall, “Because it was too troublesome to figure out what store you’d rather shop at.” TenTen had given her a really cute Chinese-styled top, along with bright red lacquered chopsticks for her hair. Lee had given her a bright green leotard and long, 80s-style orange sweat socks, along with an aerobics video to help “increase her youthful energy”. And, finally, Neji gave her a CD of nature sounds, featuring forest birds.
The party progressed in the usual teen manner after that: music, dancing, socializing, joking around. Pizza was ordered for dinner, using money Sakura’s parents had left for it. Several people had brought over games to play on Sakura’s PS2. Soul Caliber III quickly became the most popular game, and an impromptu tournament began. After a couple hours, regular gaming was growing boring, so Ino pulled out the DDR pad and a new tournament began. As it neared 10pm, people were starting to lose their steam.
Well, normal people, that is. Naruto, Kiba, and Lee still seemed to be fully energized.
Not as into the DDR as the girls seemed to be, Naruto and Kiba had started pulling balloons down from the ceiling and sucking helium to change their voices. Soon, most of the other kids there had done it at least once. Even Hinata, who normally shied away from the limelight, had given into the peer pressure that was a helium balloon held in her face by the two boys. They even managed to convince her to sing a shortened version of “Happy Birthday” to Sakura, during which Hinata blushed so red they were surprised she didn’t faint from the sudden rush of blood to her head.
Neji was the only person that hadn’t done it. Surprisingly, Shino had, but all he’d said was, “I like bugs.” Naruto had done it the most, with the most creative uses. The hysterical laughter that ensued from his chipmunk rendition of The Smashing Pumpkins’ “Bullet With Butterfly Wings” had people gasping, rolling on the floor, tears streaming down their face from the force and longevity of their laughter. Some even tried to join in, which only made it more of a spectacle.
All through this, though Sakura was having fun with her friends, she couldn’t help but feel that small, cold feeling of emptiness; that feeling of something—or someone—missing. That feeling that kept making her stop and look towards the door or out the window. That feeling that made her strain her ears listening for a knock or the doorbell every time a song ended and a new one hadn’t started yet. That feeling that made her check both her house and cell phone constantly for a dial tone and/or messages.
10 o’clock came, and the boys started getting ready to leave. Neji, being one of the few upperclassmen at the party (and therefore, a licensed driver already), and the only one with a car, took TenTen, Lee, Shino, and Shikamaru home since they lived near him. Hinata was staying the night, along with Ino. Chouji was picked up by his father. Naruto was just going to walk home, since he lived just around the corner, but Kiba was still waiting on his older sister to pick him up, so Naruto decided to keep him company on the porch.
Being the good hostess she was, Sakura also waited with them on the porch, Ino and Hinata following her. The five friends talked about school and what they were going to do over spring break as they awaited Hana’s arrival. A few minutes into their wait, a black SUV drove down the street, stopping in front of Sakura’s house.
“I didn’t know your sister had the same car as Sasuke’s dad,” Naruto remarked, looking at the car curiously as it sat there idling, the headlights still on.
“She doesn’t,” Kiba replied, a little bewildered.
Almost a full minute after the SUV had pulled up, the back passenger side door finally opened. Sakura’s heart dropped into her stomach even as her stomach attempted to jump into her throat, resulting in a weird, queasily giddy feeling that made her head spin as she saw that familiar spiky, black hair appear from behind the door. Sasuke was finally here! And, damn, he was gorgeous dressed in black jeans, a black polo with thin, white stripes every couple of inches, black and white Converse, and a black, leather jacket. Sakura tried not to squeal in joy.
“Sasuke!” she called out to him, standing from her seat between Ino and Hinata on the porch glider as he approached the house.
At the same time, Naruto called out his name as well, charging to the bottom of the porch because Sasuke’s casual gait was taking too long. “Where the hell have you been, bastard? You missed the whole party!”
The look of remorse on his face made Sakura happy at first, until she noticed the hint of sadness in it that seemed to speak of more than just sorrow for missing her party.
Ignoring Naruto for the moment, Sasuke turned his attention to Sakura, who had followed Naruto off the porch.
“Sakura, happy birthday,” he said simply as he handed her a small, flat gift wrapped in simple, blue paper with “Happy Birthday” printed all over it in different fonts.
“Th-thank you,” she said softly, wondering so many things she didn’t know where to start. “There’s… still some cake if you want. Or pizza…” she offered, remembering Sasuke didn’t like sweets much.
“No, thank you. I have to go,” he declined.
“But… you just got here!” Sakura insisted. “My parents aren’t here to enforce the ‘no boys after 10’ rule. Besides, I’m sure they’d make an exception for you.”
Sasuke shook his head. “My father’s waiting for me. I have a flight to catch.”
“Goin’somewhere for spring break, Uchiha?” Kiba hollered from the porch.
A tick of irritation developed in Sasuke’s eye for a moment at the grating noise.
“You are?” Naruto questioned. “You didn’t tell me that.”
Narrowing his eyes, Sasuke answered, “No, it’s not for spring break.”
“What’s going on, Sasuke?” Naruto asked with concern.
Something about the tone of Naruto’s voice and the bright blue of his eyes in the porch-lit semi-darkness gave Sakura ominous goosebumps. She looked back at Sasuke quickly as he started to speak.
“My father… is going to Tokyo as translator for a team from his office helping to set up the new branch in Japan. He’s taking me with him. …I’m being transferred to school there.”
“At the end of the school year?!” Sakura and Ino exclaimed at once.
“The new school year in Japan starts April 6th,” Sasuke answered simply. “I’ll have to take an entrance exam to get into high school, but father expects me to pass with flying colors.” He scowled at that.
“This is bullshit!” Naruto exclaimed vehemently. “He can’t do this!”
Sasuke pinned Naruto with his dark eyes, demanding silence. “He has done it. Our flight leaves at midnight.”
Naruto frowned. “Will you be back once the new office is set up?”
“I don’t know,” Sasuke answered, sounding defeated.
The cell phone in Sasuke’s pants pocket sounded the text alert, so he pulled it out to read it. Frowning at the screen, he snapped it shut and glared back at the SUV as he returned the phone to his pocket.
“I have to go,” he said solemnly, a touch of anger in his voice as he turned around to walk back to the car.
“Sasuke, wait!” Sakura shouted, running after him, not noticing Naruto attempting to do the same as she pushed roughly past the blond. She reached the raven just as he reached his door.
He looked at her quizzically.
“What about my birthday present?”
He raised an eyebrow at her. “I gave it to you,” he answered, pointing to the forgotten gift in her hand.
She blushed lightly, but pushed forward. “No, I mean… the kiss, what about my birthday kiss?”
“I wasn’t going to—” he started, but she didn’t hear as she quickly pulled up her bravado and leaned in to kiss his lips.
As her lips puckered and her eyes closed, his eyes widened. Sasuke turned his head just in time for Sakura’s kiss to miss and land on his cheek.
“I’m sorry, Sakura,” he said softly as she pulled away, her eyes now wide, blushing hotly. “I can’t.”
Then he pressed his lips chastely to the top of her head, just as her father had done earlier that night. Her eyes filled with tears she refused to shed at the gesture as he turned and opened his door.
As Sasuke got in the car, Sakura could hear the angry voice of Sasuke’s father speaking sternly to him in Japanese. Though she’d learned a fair amount of Japanese words growing up with the Japanese-American boy, Sakura only recognized a few words of Mr. Uchiha’s tirade: the word for “you” that Sakura often heard him call Sasuke, “disappointment” (another one she’d learned from asking Sasuke what it meant after hearing Mr. Uchiha say it to Sasuke often), “what”, “kiss” (one Sasuke had reluctantly taught her a few versions of after she had asked him hundreds of times in middle school), and “girl”.
The apparent verbal discipline was cut off as the door slammed shut and the tires squealed as the SUV sped away. Sakura stared, lost, bewildered and heartbroken as Naruto ran after the black vehicle, screaming Sasuke’s name and for them to stop.
Sakura didn’t really understand what had just happened; the shock of Sasuke leaving so suddenly like that had disconnected her mind from her body, leaving just a shell that moved as if on autopilot. She watched the red lights on the back of the SUV disappear into the night, then turned around, walked up to her porch, went up the steps, and into her house. She sat on the sofa in her living room, her dumbstruck friends watching her cautiously, for several minutes. Still she sat there, saying nothing, doing nothing, showing no sign of emotion concerning what had just happened.
Finally, Naruto returned from his fruitless chase, looking forlorn, his head hanging and eyes sad. That’s when it hit Sakura: Sasuke was gone; he was leaving the country. The tears from before returned, and she broke down, right there in front of all her friends. Naruto sank to his knees in front of the sofa as Ino sat down beside Sakura, not even waiting for her pink haired friend to cry on her shoulder before wrapping her arms around Sakura and cradling her sobbing form against her own.
Moments later, Hana showed up, and an unsure and uncomfortable Kiba awkwardly excused himself with a hesitant pat on the sobbing girl’s head and worried glance at the silent, blond boy on the floor. Feeling a bit useless at the moment, being nowhere near brave enough to embrace Naruto comfortingly, Hinata decided to take over Sakura’s role as hostess, seeing as she was indisposed. So, Hinata followed Kiba out to his sister’s car to bid him goodnight.
They bade each other the usual pleasantries, Kiba’s more on the flirting side, and then the wild, brown haired boy was gone. As she turned to go back inside, something on the ground near the curb caught her eye. Getting a closer look, she immediately picked it up and headed into Sakura’s house.
When she came back in, she pensively surveyed the scene. Not much had changed from when she’d left just minutes before, except that Sakura had calmed down a little and was now just gasping sobbingly to catch her breath, but without tears, as Ino shushed her in a quiet rhythm. Naruto seemed vacant, and Hinata worried her bottom lip trying to decide if she should approach either of them. It was a very uncomfortable atmosphere, feeling that she had no real comfort to offer.
Gripping the object in her hand tightly, Hinata hesitantly approached the two girls on the couch. Sakura’s breathing had evened out and the tear streaks on her face were beginning to dry.
“S-Sakura, y-you dropped this outside…” Hinata said softly, hoping speaking now wasn’t taboo.
Sakura, Ino, and Naruto all looked up at those words, and Hinata steeled herself against the nervousness that caused, holding out the blue wrapped present Sakura had apparently dropped on the curb in her shock.
Quickly, Sakura snatched it from her hand, desperate to see what Sasuke could have possibly given her as his goodbye present. The three friends surrounding her watched with rapt attention as she carefully, almost reverently, opened the paper—though it was slightly scuffed from its unexpected fall to the ground.
When she saw what was inside, Sakura almost cried again. It was a picture; a photo taken of Sakura, Sasuke, Ino, Naruto, Hinata, and Kiba during a water fight the previous summer. The glass had cracked from the fall, but the frame was still intact. Sakura stared down at it for several seconds before pulling it to her chest, biting her lip so she wouldn’t cry again. She wasn’t exactly sure what the significance of the photo was—why he had chosen that particular picture to be the memento that would express his feelings about their abrupt parting the best—but Sakura knew she would treasure it always.
As she lifted the frame to her chest, a piece of paper stuck to the back fell to the floor.
“What’s that?” Ino asked curiously, leaning down to pick it up.
It turned out to be a small, white envelope, with the words, “Sakura, please give this to Naruto,” written on it.
“It’s for you, Naruto,” the blonde girl said, handing the envelope to the boy.
Naruto took it, staring at it for several moments before he stood and went to sit in a nearby armchair. He opened the letter, reading it silently to himself. The girls watched as a small smile bloomed on his face.
“What’s it say?” Sakura asked inquisitively.
“Huh?” Naruto asked intelligently, looking up distractedly.
Ino rolled her eyes. “The letter, what’s it say?”
“Oh. Nothing.”
Ino and Sakura frowned at his answer.
Oblivious to their disapproval of his secretiveness, Naruto put the letter back in the envelope and stood to put the envelope in his pocket.
“Well, it was a nice party, Sakura,” he said to her, to which she nodded absently. “Sorry the end was a bummer. But don’t worry! I’m positive Sasuke will be back in no time! How long could it take to set up the Japanese office?” he grinned at her.
She gave him a watery smile, wanting to believe him. With a nod, Naruto left to walk home, and Sakura’s gaze returned to contemplating the picture in her hands. Yes, she wanted to believe him, but at the moment it was hard to see that far into the future. Feeling overwhelmed and exhausted, she leaned back onto Ino, taking comfort in her best friend’s arms.
“Should… should I leave?” Hinata asked hesitantly, feeling she was imposing; eavesdropping on something private.
“No, no, it’s okay, Hinata,” Sakura assured her.
Hinata was skeptical, but didn’t want to seem like she didn’t want to be there, so she just smiled and excused herself to get ready for bed. Ino decided bed was a good idea after such an eventful day, but things needed cleaned up a bit first. Sakura agreed, not wanting to be left to brood alone on the couch.
After going through the first floor of the house with trash bags, tossing out gift wrap, paper plates, plastic cups, partially-eaten pizza, napkins, and used balloons, Hinata came back down—dressed in her pajamas—to help. They made sure all the bottles of soda were closed, and combined what was left of the pizzas into one box and put it in the fridge. While Sakura and Hinata put away the game systems that had been set up, Ino put games back into their proper cases and organized them back into the entertainment center’s gaming shelf. Once they were done, Sakura turned off all the lights and the three girls headed upstairs to bed.
While Ino and Sakura changed and got ready for bed, Hinata laid her sleeping bag out in her usual spot on Sakura’s bedroom floor, between her bed and her desk. Since there wasn’t enough room on the floor for another sleeping bag, Ino took a spot on Sakura’s full size bed, next to the window. It was the same way they’d slept for sleepovers since grade school; Ino hardly ever actually slept on the floor.
Once they’d all settled into their bedding, Hinata fell asleep rather quickly, but Ino and Sakura were still awake talking softly an hour later as the time neared midnight.
“Well,” Sakura sighed softly, watching the numbers on her digital alarm change from 11:57 to 11:58. “So much for getting my birthday wish. Somehow a kiss on the head just isn’t the kiss I’d wished for.” She smiled sheepishly at Ino, feeling more than a little selfish thinking about her birthday wish after all that had happened tonight.
Ino leaned up on her elbow to look down at the pink haired girl. “Your birthday wish was for a kiss?” she asked.
Sakura nodded wordlessly, closing her eyes.
Ino bit her lip slightly, staring into the darkness of the room for a moment before looking over at the alarm, watching the minutes change again. She looked down at Sakura. The birthday girl still had her eyes closed. With just one minute left of the day, Ino leaned down over Sakura and pressed their lips together.
After all, every girl should get her birthday wish.
*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*
A/N: So, for awhile now I’ve been complaining to friends about the need for more InoSaku fics. I’ve had the vague idea for this one plaguing me for a long time, but kept putting it off because of other fics. I just couldn’t put it off anymore, though.
Thanks for reading. Please, please, please let me know what you think of this with ratings and reviews. I have a few more plans for this story, but if no one’s interested, I’ll direct my attention back on my other projects.
b29;
~ lg
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