S.H
"Morning, Sakura."
She woke up from a husky voice to see the sleepy face of Sasuke right next to her. She blushed, vividly remembering last night when she fell asleep on him. Apparently, they had stayed like that for the whole night. "Hey, Sasuke. We should get ready, hm?"
"Yeah."
They had woken up quite late at one o'clock on an afternoon. The two had agreed to meet the others downstairs at the buffet place at two o'clock, so they took their time to get ready.
Surprisingly it wasn't as awkward as Sakura thought it would be. They both were in a good mood, and Sakura couldn't help but relish in the fact that she could trust Sasuke.
"Ready to go?" Sasuke asked her, as Sakura pinned the final piece of hair into place. He wore a navy polo shirt with beige shorts.
"Mhm," she hummed before twirling around. "How do I look?"
She wore a white shirt tucked into a pastel pink plaid skirt. On her feet were white Air Forces and a golden necklace was looped around her neck. She only had mascara on and her hair was pinned up in a messy bun.
"Cute," he smirked. "Now let's go, the others are waiting for us."
"Alright!"
The two exited their room after getting ready, only to get a surprise that Sai and Ino were out in the corridor too.
"Ino-pig!" Sakura exclaimed, running up and linking arms with the blonde. The boys simply nodded at each other.
"Forehead! You can tell me all about what happened last night over break-fast," winked Ino as the four of them walked into the elevator.
"Nothing happen," Sakura waved it off nervously. "How was your night Ino?"
"Sakura, you fell asleep before you heard it," Sasuke smirked.
"Heard what?"
"The sound effects that made it so obvious that both Sai and Ino were feeling ecstatic-"
"Sasuke!"
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Paris was beautiful.
Sakura could see the tip of the Eiffel Tower everywhere, but Paris' beauty when deeper than just its' landmark.
The old, detailed buildings contrasting to new high rises that made up the city centre were lined by lush trees. The colour of vibrant nature stood out amongst the plain white walls of the buildings. Exquisite food could be smelt at every corner, making all passerby's mouth water.
A curving river cut through the city centre, several boats docked. The sun setting only added to the charm of the city, and Sakura couldn't help but want to live in Paris for the rest of her life.
Paris was indeed beautiful.
She especially liked how even one tiny café in Paris could match the city so perfectly well. It was small and quiet, but all of its walls had beauty in the paintings and layouts. Her and her friends could've afforded a fancy restaurant, but they were all still full from their breakfast at three o'clock. Besides, Sakura liked small and quiet.
As they entered the café, Sakura noticed it was completely empty except for the staff, who didn't seem to recognise or care who they were, despite all of their odd hair or eye colours.
"Over there," Neji pointed to a table for ten placed in the corner. Five minutes after the group picked up their menus a waitress came over.
She seemed to recognise them, and was taken aback in shock, but then she composed herself and continued on with her work professionally. Sakura liked that about her, unlike that Hallie girl from the Indian restaurant. "Welcome to Café Aroma, what would all of you like this evening?"
"Just a ham and lettuce sandwich with a latte please," Sakura smiled. Her friends continued to place their orders, and at the corner of her eye Sakura saw a group of people enter.
This was a group bigger than theirs, maybe seventeen people all with varying ages. But they were all girls. An odd collection.
Then another person entered, this time a man about fifty with a walking stick. His face were lined with wrinkles, set in a permanent scowl. He sat and surveyed the room in a very judging manner. As he saw Sakura, his scowled only deepened.
"You okay?" Sasuke suddenly asked from besides her. "You seem unsettled."
"I'm fine," Sakura brushed it off. "That man just seems to dislike me for some reason. I'm not one to judge others by their appearance, but he just seems so...old-fashioned and strict, you know?"
"I suppose," Temari pondered this.
"Well," Tenten stretched her arms. "Not all old people can be like Tsunade-sama. Can you believe she left us to go gambling in the casinos?"
"And poor Shizune had to be dragged along!" Naruto laughed. "Tonton, too!"
Shikamaru chuckled. "She wasn't joking when she said she was leaving this entire week just for Sasuke and Sakura to get together."
"Which is going very well, by the way," Sai smiled at the two.
Sakura blushed indignantly. "Not as good as your relationship with Ino. I wouldn't be surprise if the whole hallway heard you two making love to each other last night."
Ino rolled her eyes, blushing too. "Oh, shut up!"
Everyone laughed at this, and Naruto banged his fist on the table as tears came to his eyes. Hinata lightly smacked him. "Naruto-kun, don't be so rude."
"Oh, alright, Hina-chan," he smiled and kissed her nose. Being the hopeless romantics that they were, Ino, Tenten and Sakura couldn't help but sigh dreamily at this.
"Teenagers these days."
The whole group turned to see the elder man tutting in disapproval. Ino clenched her fists and was about to retort something when the waitress came with their food. As the group tucked in to their meal, Ino couldn't help but complain in whispers. "So rude, we're not even teenagers!"
Naruto nodded. "We're adults, just like he is!"
"Jeez, who does this old man think he is?" Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Just ignore him, everyone."
"Mhm!"
The next few minutes were just filled with eating contentedly in silence. Sakura downed her glass of water just as she swallowed her last piece of sandwich. Then she felt a harsh tap on her shoulder. To her shock, the man had poked her with his walking stick. He glowered, "You're Sakura Haruno, aren't you?"
"Why do you need to know?" she scoffed.
He ignored her. "You had plastic surgery, and now you're standing at the top of the world? Unbelievable."
"What does plastic surgery have to do with this?" Sasuke demanded.
The man's gaze turned to Sasuke, before moving around to look at all the ten of them. "Models. All of you. Disgusting."
"What did you say, jerk?" Naruto growled, and Neji grabbed onto his arm to stop Naruto from getting up.
The man scoffed. "I said disgusting. Nobody should be out there with their whole body on display. Especially the women. They need to cover up, otherwise there are people out there that will rape-"
"Oh, shut up." Blood pounded in Sakura's head as she stood up. "The way we dress shouldn't have to influence our safety. If we get raped, it is their fault, not mine, and certainly not because of something as stupid as the way I dressed."
"This is the problem with women nowadays," the man glowered. "They think they have so much power to decide whatever they want, but in reality they should be at home taking care of the chores and their children. Seeing a woman working outside of house is just so wrong."
Sakura rarely got mad. Most of the time she was angry, just letting out a punch before returning to her normal self. But this man was pushing her buttons, and if he didn't shut up, he soon might end up in a hospital. She tried to contain herself as the man kept on talking.
"You belong in the kitchen, not an office," he was saying. Sasuke swung a punch at him, but Sai restrained him. The man only laughed and mocked Sasuke's attempt. That did it. Her face turned scarlet with anger.
"Well, I think you belong in hell, not on Earth!" she shouted, her hands balled into fists. The entire café went dead silent, all the attention focused on them. Even the staff stopped what they were doing to look at the commotion.
He only glared at her. "Only so-called 'powerful' women belong there."
"Then if your 'so-called powerful women' belong in hell, I guess it makes sense as to why you're here."
"Yes, Sakura!" Ino punched the air.
The collection of women all looked in awe, and one even clapped, saying, "Hear, hear."
The man took a second to get the insult. His face twitched and his lips quivered. "How very rude of you!" He took a glance around the room to see any backup, but he was only met with glares. He backed away. "I'm getting out of this stingy café!"
When he finally left, the room erupted into cheers and hurrahs, even by the people who were complete strangers to Sakura.
"Thank you," bowed the manager. "I was worried when I came from the back and heard shouting, but you had it all under control, Ms. Haruno. I'm very grateful."
"Don't be," she laughed. "I'm sure you would've done the exact same thing."
"Sakura, that was awesome!" Tenten exclaimed, her eyes sparkling.
Naruto nodded enthusiastically. "Your comebacks are great! Remind me never to get into a serious argument with you."
"Thanks, you two," Sakura smiled as Shikamaru clapped her on the back. I really do have such great friends.
Her thoughts were cut short when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around to see a girl around seventeen years of age with auburn hair braided neatly into two French braids. She wore a green trench jacket with a white t-shirt and black tights tucked into Dr. Martens. Her blue eyes sparkled and her lips quirked upwards into a grin. "I'm Camille, and it was so cool how you drove that man off."
"Thank you!" smiled Sakura politely.
"You must be all for equality," Camille said seriously. "I can tell by how passionate your words were. "
"I..." Sakura trailed off. She never considered herself a feminist. But considering this situation that just happened, she guessed she was. "I am a feminist. Of course, I'm all for equality."
"Camille."
A girl around Camille's age walked up to the two and tugged on Camille's sleeve. This new girl had blonde hair twisted into a side pony-tail, and chocolate eyes. She wore a plain yellow button-up crop top with mom jeans and black boots. She whispered into Camille's sleeve, "Cami, don't be so rude talking to her like that. She's a freaking celebrity!"
Camille frowned. "I don't think I'm being rude."
"Of course you are, Sakura Haruno is like a queen! And you're talking to her as if she's a mere human." The girl turned towards the pinkette and blushed embarrassedly, bowing her head. "I-I'm so sorry for my friend's pitiful actions, Ms. Haruno."
"It's alright," Sakura restrained a laugh at the way she was being talked to. It truly was as if she was a queen. "And I would much rather if you just called me Sakura."
"See, Eloise?" Camille said stubbornly. "It's alright. Just because she's a celebrity doesn't mean that that's all there is to her. Don't you think they would be like to be seen as humans, equal in every to us?"
Sakura thought that Camille's words sounded much more mature than her age was.
Eloise turned to the side, her cheeks pink and flustered. "I-I suppose you're right, Cami. Ms. Haru- Sakura, I'm sorry."
"No need to apologize, Eloise," Sakura smiled gently.
Eloise promptly turned a bright shade of red and ran off, screaming, "Sakura Haruno knows my name!"
Camille and Sakura shared some giggles, and Camille apologized, "Sorry about that. My friend, Eloise, just thinks you're the greatest person ever. She absolutely loves how vocal you are about your opinions, and to her, you're the definition of an empowered women. She wants to prove to the world that women are strong. " Camille stepped sideways, and Sakura caught a proper view of their whole group. "We all do. And, I would like to talk to you about that. Would you mind if we went outside?"
"No, not at all," Sakura nodded, and the two stepped outside to the chilly air of Paris. The sun had already gone down, and Sakura took note of how beautiful the city looked in the dark, the shadows and bright lights working together to craft something magical.
"You saw my group back in the restaurant, right?" Camille asked, and Sakura nodded again in reply. "You must've noticed how we all are women, and I think you've already guessed what we've gathered for. And I wanted to ask you..."
Camille took a deep breath and looked up to Sakura with hopeful eyes. "Will you be our leader?"
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