Chapter 21- A Good Deed's Reward
Rain fell lightly on Konoha, showering the city with its watery droplets. Sakura loved the rain but got bored after staring out her window for hours. She already did everything that can be done in her house that morning, including cleaning it from head to toe.
She had nothing left to do, so she phoned Sasuke to come over and keep her company. Sasuke had nothing to do in his mansion so he agreed and came by car instead of his motorcycle. They talked while playing games, but even with each other's company they got eventually bored again.
"Lets do something fun, Sasuke." Said Sakura.
"Hn, you think of something." He replied lazily and closed his eyes as Sakura stroked through his spiky, raven hair.
"I have an idea but before I tell you, you must agree to it."
"I'll have to say no. What if you decide to go to the beauty parlor? I don't want to watch you getting your nails done." He rejected.
"But I won't make you go to the beauty parlor, I promise! Please say yes..." she pleaded.
"No way," He refused.
"Please oh please? Pretty please?" She pleaded even more.
"No."
"I promise I won't make you go shopping or the beauty parlor." Sakura vowed. Sasuke eyed her closely and decided that she was telling the truth so he sighed and finally gave in.
"Alright, what do you want to do?"
"You promise you'll do it?"
"Yes just as long as its not shopping and make-overs."
"HELL YEAH! Ok, Sasuke lets go WINDOW SHOPPING!" Sakura shouted excitedly.
"W-Window shopping! But you said we wouldn't go shopping!" He exclaimed angrily.
"Its not! This is WINDOW shopping." She said slyly.
"Why the heck would you want to go and shop for windows? Is that even possible?" Sasuke said with a confused and angry tone.
"Silly, window shopping means shopping without actually buying. Ha, so technically it's not shopping!" she cried triumphantly.
"I'm not going."
"But you promised! And I won't go and look at the clothes!" she wined.
"It's raining in case you haven't forgotten."
"I have an umbrella! It will be fun! Please?" she pleaded again.
"..."
Well it's not exactly shopping so I guess going wouldn't hurt. Sasuke thought to himself. But little does he know it; it was going to be one of the worst decision he will ever make in his entire life.
They walked closely together, huddling under Sakura's medium-sized green umbrella. Sasuke pulled her closer to his body as a car passes by, splashing water onto the sidewalk. He was actually quite glad to have agreed with Sakura for going window shopping with her.
For one reason, there were fewer people shopping on a rainy day so the place wasn't as crowded. For another, it was nice spending some quiet time with Sakura outside in the open.
"Oh look Sasuke! Isn't that puppy adorable?" Sakura cried in delight as they stopped in front of the pet shop.
"Hn."
Sasuke looked at the little collie as he pawed the window showing them his round blue eyes as if begging them to take him home.
"Sorry little puppy, but we already have pets." Sakura said sadly to the collie behind the window. The puppy just sat down and cocked his little head innocently.
"Let's go Sasuke, or else I might be attempted to buy him." Sakura said quickly and they moved on to the next shop. This time they stopped at a shop which sold teddy bears.
"Sakura, could we go someplace else now? Shopping for clothing is one thing but looking at teddy bears? Give me a break." Sasuke complained, while frowning at the over-stuffed teddy bears.
"Well okay them, um...let's go over to that café and drink something." She suggested.
Sasuke nodded silently and they went over to the café.
Meanwhile...
"Hey Hinata-chan!" Naruto called, standing in front of Hinata's door.
"H-Hi Naruto-kun." Hinata greeted as she opened the door.
"I heard your parents are away for the day so I thought I drop by and keep you company." Naruto said with a friendly grin. Hinata smiled and invited him into her house. Naruto shook his umbrella outside to get rid of the extra water and took off his boots and coat carefully, trying not to make a mess on Hinata's floor.
She smiled even wider while observing Naruto; he could be such a gentleman sometimes.
"Look what I brought Hinata-chan!" he said proudly taking two cups of ramen from under his jacket, "It's almost lunch time and you must be hungry."
They both went into the kitchen to add hot water in their ramen.
"T-Thank-you Naruto-kun for bring the ramen." She thanked him and shyly hugged him. Naruto smiled and hugged her back making her blush. When the ramen was cooked they brought it over to the living room to eat it.
There they talked about stuff that other people wouldn't even imagine talking about. From vikings to people running naked down the street, yup they basically covered every topic there ever was in the whole world.
As they were almost finished with their ramen, Hinata suddenly did something which surprised Naruto and ever herself. She leaned over the table and before she knew it, she had kissed Naruto shyly on the lips.
Why? Well she didn't know. Guess she was just feeling happy. Looks like Naruto got his reward for bringing ramen...
"Oh yeah! I won, in your face Hyuuga Neji!" Tenten yelled with happiness.
"I was just going easy on you." Neji stated calmly.
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah!"
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah!"
"Fine then, let's have another go! And this time try what you call it your best!" she challenged.
"I will." He said even more calmly, and accepted her challenge. They quickly hopped back on to the computer, but before they started the game Tenten suddenly cam up with an idea and grinned.
"Neji-kun, if you lose this round you will have to wash the dishes that we ate from lunch. And if I lose I would have to do the dishes. So how about it?"
"Fine with me, just don't sulk when you lose." He warned.
"Don't worry, I won't." she replied coolly and then they started playing bomber man on the computer. It was Tenten's idea to play bomber man in the first place since they were so bored, and since then on she had managed to win every single game.
Just as she guided her blue bomber man that looked like a snowman to Neji's white one, a bomb suddenly went off. Luckily she got out of the way just in time.
"Ha, that was a close one. But you have to do better than that!" she declared triumphantly. Neji just smirked and said nothing for he had just gotten himself a-super-rare-indestructible-stink-bomb-thingymijigy-that-is-shaped-like-poo.
It was said to be the most powerful bomb in the bomber man world and now that it was in his hands, there was no way Tenten could win. Secretly he quickly planted the bomb behind Tenten and waited.
3...2...1...BOOM!
GAME OVER!
NEJI WON!
"WHAT! No way! How could you have gotten a-super-rare-indestructible-stink-bomb-thingymijigy-that-is-shaped-like-poo! NO FAIR!" She exclaimed disbelievingly.
"Because that was my best and now you have to wash the dishes." He replied with a smirk.
"NOOOOO!" She cried and sulkily went over to the sink and started scrubbing the dishes. Neji couldn't help but smirk wider. Seeing this, Tenten sprayed him with water and a water fight had started.
Yup, Neji had won a water fight for winning the game as a reward.
Sakura took a bite out of her chocolate cake and looked at Sasuke as he drank his lemon soda. There were a lot of people in the café so they had to sit in the very corner to avoid attention. It was a good thing that the waitress didn't recognize them.
"See, Sasuke! This isn't like shopping at all! Now you'll believe me when I say we're not going shopping next time." She said in a quiet voice.
"Not necessary, you just got away this time but ne-"
Sakura had just accidentally knocked over her glass of ice tea on the floor interrupting Sasuke and a dozen others with a loud SMASH.
Uh-oh...
Everybody looked at them, and since they're not wearing any disguises or caps everybody recognized them.
Silence...
"Ahh! Its Sasuke-kun and his pretty-yet-hateful-girlfriend!" A girl screamed in a high-pitched voice. It was like a déjà vu where everything that happened in the mall was happening here. Fan girls swarmed over them by the minute, multiplying more and more.
Sakura managed to crawl out of the crazy crowd but couldn't find Sasuke anywhere. Everything was chaos. Just then she heard a desperate cry from outside the café for help. Not wasting a second to think, she darted outside and into the rain searching for the person who made the cry.
She will find Sasuke later, and he will have to wait. She ran down the street and turned sharply to the right before she arrived to a humongous tree that seemed to be at least five floors high.
People were gathering around the tree shouting frantically to a little boy who must've climbed all the way to the top.
Inner Sakura: What the heck is he doing up there! The boy must be crazy! But he sure can climb...Oh no, he might get hurt!
Sakura scanned around searching for a way to help the boy until her eyes rested upon a window that was near the branch where the boy was sitting on. Wasting no time, she dashed into the building and up the stairs to where she believed she could reach the boy.
She arrived to an empty room which looked like a meeting room for business people; he hastily opened the window and leaned out by the window sill.
The little boy was crying loudly, shaking with fear under the cold rain.
"Don't cry little boy. What's your name? I'm here to help you." Sakura cooed gently trying to calm him down.
"M-My n-name is Konohamaru, I want to go down to my mommy!" he wailed.
"Sh...sh...don't cry. I'll take you to your mommy, now slowly hold out your hand so I could reach you." She coaxed and gave him a little compliment for every little step he takes. She could hear shouts from down below but paid no heed to them.
"I-I'm afraid! I can't go m-much further...I wanna go back to mommy!" the boy cried even louder and stopped advancing towards her.
Having no over choice, Sakura did the only thing that was left to do...she climbed out of the window and onto the tree.
Where the hell is Sakura! Sasuke thought frantically and searched through the crazy fan girls. Finding no pink-haired girl, he pushed away the screaming girls and ran out the streets.
The fan girls were too crazy to notice that Sasuke had already escaped, so they kept pushing themselves towards the corner hoping to find him there.
Sasuke ran up and down the streets finding no Sakura. He was already soaking wet from head to toe. Just then he heard shouts, so he tried following the shouts and arrived to a huge tree besides a building. A lot of people were gathering around it, and he followed their gaze upwards.
He could make out 2 figures on top of the tree, and as he focused more closely he saw Sakura! Shit! What the hell is she doing there! He swore in his mind and analyzed the situation. He saw an open window beside the branch that Sakura and a little boy was on, and guessed that Sakura must've crawled through there to help the boy. Everybody was yelling so he couldn't hear what they were saying.
He raced up the building and into the room, finding Sakura holding tightly onto the branch and the boy.
"Sakura!" He shouted out the window. Thunder roared suddenly and the boy screamed.
"Sasuke, get the little boy!" She yelled trying to hand over Konohamaru to him.
CRACK!
The tree branch made a loud cracking side as Sakura tried to move.
"Don't move!" Sasuke ordered and made the movement to crawl out the window.
"Sasuke stop! If you come here, we'll surely fall!" She shouted over the thunder, as fear rushed through her body.
Sasuke cussed at their situation and retreated back.
CRACK!
"Sasuke, the boy!" Sakura cried out, this time there were tears in her eyes as she made another movement to hand the wailing Konohamaru over to Sasuke.
"The tree branch is snapping!" a person shouted from below.
"They're going to fall!" Another one said.
"Sasuke!" she pleaded under the gloomy rain.
"On the count of two, throw him to me!" he commanded quickly, trying not to think of the worst. Sakura nodded and got ready.
"Okay, 1...2...NOW!"
Sakura summoned all her energy and threw Konohamaru to Sasuke. He successfully caught the boy and heaved him inside.
CRACK!
The branch couldn't stand all the movements that were being made and broke.
"SASUKE!" Sakura screamed falling with the branch, shutting her eyes preparing for hell. Thunder roared as if it was a welcoming sign for her to the underworld.
Falling...
"SAKURA!" He shouted and leaped down the window and caught a hold of Sakura's arm while holding onto the window sill with his other hand. He grunted as he tried to keep a hold on the window sill. Damn the rain for making everything so slippery!
He was slipping and he knew it, Sakura seemed to have sensed this too.
"Sasuke let go of me!" She shouted.
"No, dummy! Don't be stupid! Are you out of your mind?" He shouted back angry with her for thinking that he would do such a thing.
"But-"
"I said no!" he cut her off, not wanting to hear anymore.
Thunder
Rain
Slipping
SHIT! Sasuke's hand was slipping, and he had to act fast. Sakura wasn't heavy but it was the rain that was making it hard for him to move. Taking the risk, he used almost all his energy to slowly lift Sakura's hand to the window sill.
"Somebody help them!" A person screamed.
"The firefighters are coming right now!" Another one screamed.
Thunder
Rain
Slipping
They could hear sirens and thunder.
"Don't worry Sakura; everything is going to be alright. Grab hold of the window sill." He said to her.
"Sasuke..." she said in faint voice. She knew he was losing his energy fast, but he still wasn't giving up on him. Why?
Thunder
Rain
Slipping
Her fingers touched the window sill and everything was going to be alright. She used the last bit of energy and heaved herself up. Sasuke followed after her. They were safe. Sakura collapsed on the floor and cried while Sasuke cradled her and then the firefighters came...
Hehe, and then they will have a happy ending and live happily ever after.
WRONG.
Way wrong....
That's what Sasuke and Sakura would've liked to have happened, but this is reality. Sakura did not use the last bit of the energy to heave herself up nor did the firefighters came in time to save them.
Her fingers touched the window sill and they thought everything was going to be alright. Sasuke's energy hadn't failed him, his grip did. The rain did. God did. Her hands slipped through his hands and Sakura went down, down, down...
Thunder
Rain
Slipping
Falling
Screaming
Horror
Silence
Sakura fell from a five-floor high tree as a reward for saving a little boy.