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‘Finally!’ Sakura thought.
She, at last, had a break. She was so busy these days because of so many projects (both solo and with her group) but today she was finally let off.
She woke up in high spirits. She also had the house for herself today because her mom and dad have work and would be home late.
But before she could even go to the bathroom and freshen up, her door burst open and in came her best friend, Ino, with her fifteen months old son, Inojin.
“Ino!” Sakura uttered.
“Sakura, I’m sorry but you said you don’t have work today and I can’t really go to anyone else. Please take care of Inojin for today. We were supposed to go out with his dad but then my parents called and said they’d visit today and you know they don’t know and I have to warm up to dad before I introduce him.” She said all that while she passed her son to Sakura. “Everything he needs is in this bag. I’m sorry, Sakura-chan,” she pressed a kissed on her cheeks and on her son’s forehead. “Thank you.” And then she was gone.
Sakura was left staring at her door.
“Saka-chan!” Inojin’s voice broke her shocked state.
She didn’t really mind taking care of Inojin. He was very intelligent and very well-behaved. It just happened so fast her best friend looked like a blur.
“So I guess it’s just you and me today, Inojin.” She said beaming at her godson.
“Saka-chan!” he called again. He can’t really talk well yet so all he can say from ‘Sakura-chan’ was, ‘Saka-chan.’
He settled Inojin first in her bed while she took her postponed trip to the bathroom.
After that, she took Inojin and Inojin’s bag and went downstairs, to their living room.
Sakura noticed almost all of Inojin’s things were a shade of the color blue.
“Do you like blue?” she asked Inojin and he replied with a “Kyaa!”
They watched the television for a while. But then Sakura’s tummy started complaining. So she took Inojin and went to their kitchen.
She found out that they used up all their groceries.
She contemplated about it and decided she’ll just do their grocery.
‘Mom and Dad are busy recently, and besides I have free time today.’
She also liked doing normal things whenever she's not working. It was the best way to help her ground herself and keep her work strictly as just that: work. Some celebrities fail to delineate their public and private lives and they end up acting entitled and overall nasty, because they feel like they're better than other people just because they're popular. Sakura likes looking at fame as just part of her work requirements.
So she took Inojin to her room, settled him on her bed again and changed clothes.
She wore her cap & her scarf to hide her hair, and her sunglasses so that no one would recognize her face.
She also changed Inojin’s clothes and prepared his bag of essentials and then they set off.
“Seems like there’s an occasion here today, ne, Inojin?” Sakura said when she noticed the balloons and other decorations in the grocery store.
They ate first at the fast food then set off to buy the groceries.
Sakura placed Inojin on the cart.
They had fun doing the grocery.
Inojin would laugh whenever Sakura would speed the cart even just a bit.
When they got to the meat section, the vendor talked to Sakura, advertising their products.
Both didn’t see that Inojin was trying to get a hold of a blue balloon placed on the stand near where the cart was.
Sakura only noticed when Inojin was already half standing, but it was too late. Inojin lost his balance.
Inojin fell but someone caught him. A guy.
Sakura rushed to them.
“Oh my God, Inojin, are you okay?” she coddled. “Thank you so much,” she said to the boy. “Inojin, don’t scare me like that!” she went back to Inojin.
Inojin cried. He didn’t like the feeling of falling and now Sakura-chan’s angry with him.
“I’m sorry, Inojin. I’m not angry.” Sakura soothed.
“S-ka-chan!” He cried.
“Eeh?!” Sakura’s attention went to the guy.
And now that Sakura had a proper look at him, she realized that it was Uchiha. Uchiha Sasuke of the idol group, Shinobi, who is also her classmate in Horikoshi—a high school with a special class for celebrities like them.
“Uchiha-kun!” She gasped.
“Haruno-san,” he seemed to have recognized her earlier. “You—? You have a son?!”
Sakura didn’t know what he meant but then she remembered that Inojin called her ‘Ka-chan.’
“No!!!” She denied profusely.
“He’s my friend's! He doesn’t talk fluently yet so he could only say ‘Saka-chan’ instead of ‘Sakura-chan’!” she explained in one breath.
“Oh…” said Uchiha sounding strangely relieved.
“I, I’ll take Inojin, then.” Sakura said.
They stood up. Uchiha passed Inojin to Sakura but Inojin wasn’t letting go of Uchiha.
“Inojin-kun? What’s wrong? Come with me now.” Sakura said.
But Inojin still didn’t let go.
About half an hour had passed but they were still in the same situation. Inojin just wouldn’t let go.
“I’m sorry about this Uchiha-kun.” Sakura said apologetically.
“It’s not really your fault.” Uchiha replied, still holding Inojin.
“I don’t understand why he’s like this today. He’s usually meek.”
Uchiha just smiled at Sakura.
“Come on, Inojin. Let go of Uchiha-kun.”
“Uchii!!” squealed Inojin.
“Yes, Inojin-kun. Let go of Uchii.”
Sakura didn’t noticed when Uchiha’s face turned red as she muttered that.
“Uchichi! Uchichi!” Inojin squeaked, bouncing.
And then Inojin went obediently to Sakura.
“Thank God.” Sakura said when she finally had Inojin in her arms.
“Uhmm, Haruno-san?” Uchiha called.
“Hai?” Sakura looked at Uchiha. He was pointing at his hand. Inojin was still grasping his hand.
They both sighed.
“I’m sorry, Uchiha-kun.” Sakura said once again.
“Maybe we should take a stroll around the mall first. Maybe he would fall asleep.” Uchiha recommended.
Sakura agreed. It was a good thing the grocery store was right next to the mall. They left their groceries first at the baggage counter and proceeded to the mall.
“Okay, Inojin. Where do you want to go first?” Sakura asked Inojin.
“Uchichi!” the little boy replied.
“You want Uchichi to carry you?” Sakura didn’t noticed she accidentally called Uchiha ‘Uchichi’ this time either, but Uchiha’s red face shows that he did.
“Kyaa!!!” squealed Inojin.
‘This little guy seems fond of squealing,’ thought Uchiha.
“Is it okay?” Sakura asked Uchiha.
“Sure.” He said, taking Inojin.
“Uchichi!!! Kyaaaa!”
‘Yup, definitely fond of squealing.’ Uchiha conclude.
They first went to the toy store. Inojin was pointing everywhere.
Sakura took Inojin again after awhile but Inojin still didn’t let go of Uchiha’s hand.
Uchiha started playing with Inojin. Sakura thought it was so cute when Uchiha would copy the expression and poses of the anime action figures that Inojin would point at.
They next went to the pet shop.
Uchiha took Inojin once again. Inojin loved the rabbits. He got to pet them.
Sakura started playing peek-a-boo with Inojin when they went by the fountains. She would hide at the back of Uchiha, peek at Inojin from the right and say ‘boo.’ Then she would do the same from the left.
That made Inojin laughed so hard.
That also made Uchiha smiled.
Especially when Sakura took Inojin again and rubbed her nose with Inojin’s.
‘She’s so natural with children.’
They hadn’t really talked a lot in school because of the rules and everything, and each of their managements' rules and warnings. This was his first time seeing this side of Haruno.
After two hours of wandering around the mall, Inojin finally fell asleep.
But then he still hadn’t let go of Uchiha’s hand. They tried to release his hand around Uchiha’s but his grip was strong. And the more they tried, the more he held more tightly.
“I’m sorry Haruno-san but I really need to go back now. My friends are coming over, you see.” Uchiha said quietly. He didn’t want to wake up the sleeping guy.
“I’m sorry, Uchiha-kun. I don’t know how to make him let go of you. He seems to really like you.” Sakura said.
“Do you have any appointment today?”
“No, I don’t have work today.”
“Then, if it’s okay with you, can you and Inojin maybe stay at my place in the mean time? I don’t think he’ll hold me forever. But I really do need to go back. I’m sorry.” Uchiha suggested.
“It’s no problem at all. Let’s do that. Uchiha-kun, I’m really sorry for the trouble.”
“No worries. I’ve grown quite fond of Inojin, too.” Uchiha said, pinching Inojin’s cheeks. And Sakura just had to smile.
They exited the mall and walk to the grocery store. It was hot outside so Sakura pulled her cap off and put it on Inojin’s head. She still have her scarf and they were on their way home, anyway, so hopefully no one would look too closely at her. They took their groceries from the baggage counter and then Uchiha called a cab.
Inojin was still sleeping soundly when they got to Uchiha’s house.
It wasn’t easy to get off the cab as Sakura was holding Inojin and Inojin was still holding Uchiha’s hand. Furthermore, both were trying not to wake Inojin up.
And Uchiha have to carry their groceries, too.
When they got in front of their door, Uchiha put their groceries down and his hand slipped from Inojin’s.
Inojin woke up.
“AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!” He cried.
Sakura tried to pacify him but he continued crying.
“Sorry, Inojin!” said Uchiha, hurriedly opening the door, and bringing the groceries in while he was free. Then he went right back to Sakura and Inojin.
“Saka-chan!! Uchichi!!” Inojin called not being able to see Sakura or Uchiha because of Sakura’s cap.
Uchiha, spotting the problem removed the cap. He then took hold of Inojin’s hand.
“Inojin, we’re here.” Uchiha said. Both he and Sakura brought their faces close to Inojin.
“...Ka-chan? Chichi?” He asked.
“That’s right, Inojin-kun. Ka-chan and Chichi are right here."
Inojin finally relaxed.
The three of them entered Uchiha’s house.
And inside they saw the whole Shinobi.
“Oh, you guys are here already. Mom let you in?” Uchiha said.
Only then did he notice that his friends were acting weird. They weren’t moving and were just staring at them.
“Guys?” Uchiha asked at large.
Naruto broke the silence.
He stood up and shouted, “Teme!” pointing at him.
Kiba stood up as well, “You!” he pointed at Sasuke, “and you?!?!” he pointed at Sakura, “h-how-when did this happen?!” he said disconcerted.
“What are you guys talking about?” But then Uchiha realized Inojin called them ‘Ka-chan’ (mom) and ‘Chichi’ (dad).
“NO!!!!” He said, going red. It seems Sakura caught on, too, because she was the same shade.
“This is my godson, he calls me ‘Saka-chan’ from ‘Sakura-chan’” Sakura said
“And he calls me ‘Uchichi’ from Uchiha!” Sasuke piped.
“He’s not mine! We-we’re not—!” Sakura continued. Sasuke and Sakura looked at each other and impossibly, turned redder.
. . .
“Oh…” Shinobi said as one.
Naruto scratched his head.
“Sorry… We just thought…” he smiled sheepishly at them.
“Jeez, Uchiha, you’ll give me a heart attack.” Neji said.
The Horikoshi students introduced Sakura to the rest of the band. After that, Sakura and Sasuke explained their situation.
“Ah, so this little guy doesn’t want to part from his Chichi.” Shikamaru said ruffling Inojin’s hair. Inojin laughed.
“Yeah… I’m really sorry to barge in like this.” Sakura said to the room.
“No problem. We could still hang out and besides, the more, the merrier.” Gaara said.
Shinobi still tried to go on with their plans but they had to make many changes.
Like their movie. They were supposed to watch Final Destination 4 but instead they watched Peter Pan.
It was still fun. Actually, maybe it was more fun. The whole Shinobi was no match for Inojin’s cuteness. He had them wrapped around his little fingers. He played with them, but still, he wouldn’t let go of Sakura or Sasuke.
Sakura thought it was a good thing that they went there. Inojin was having so much fun.
Akimichi-san also played peek-a-boo with Inojin. But instead of saying ‘peek-a-boo’. Inojin-kun started calling him ‘Boo!’
Lee-san seemed to really like kids. He would always go to Inojin and make weird faces to make Inojin laugh.
Hyuuga-san was teaching Inojin some English even though Sakura explained that he can’t really talk yet.
Aburame-san and Inuzuka-san took so many pictures of and with Inojin. They even took a photo of just Sakura, Uchiha and Inojin.
And Uzumaki-kun and Gaara-san blended fruits for Inojin to eat. (Naruto-kun wanted to blend ramen first, but was stopped by both Gaara-san and Uchiha-kun.)
But then after eating his blended fruits, Inojin pooped. So Sakura had to change his diapers.
It wasn’t easy for he still wouldn’t let go of Uchiha’s hand.
Looking at them, Shikamaru thought they could really pass as a family. Inojin has the wrong colors, but his eyes were similar to Haruno-san's, and Inojin has similar expressions on his face as Sasuke.
And Haruno-san and unexpectedly, Sasuke was really good at taking care of their charge.
After a little while, Inojin started crying. Sakura started cradling him.
“He’s sleepy.” Sakura said to Sasuke.
They sat on the couch (Inojin was still holding Sasuke) and Sakura started singing a lullaby.
Sasuke thought Sakura really deserved to be a popular singer.
Sakura stopped her singing and smiled when Hyuuga-san started playing the piano. It lulled Inojin more.
After awhile, Inojin fell asleep. Hyuuga-san stopped playing and left them.
Sasuke was about to tell Sakura but then he realized that she was asleep, too.
Sasuke smiled at Sakura’s sleeping face.
But then something pulled him. Inojin stretched, pulling Sasuke’s hand as well and resulting to Sasuke landing on Sakura.
To be more specific: his lips landing on Sakura’s.
He pulled back at once. Going red (again), he was relieved to see that he didn’t wake Sakura up. He stood up.
“Sasuke!” Neji and Shikamaru whispered/called from the doorway.
Sasuke moved closer to them.
“Neji said they fell asleep. I didn’t let them all come here cause you know how quiet they are” Shikamaru said. “But we’ll be going now, it’s getting late.”
Sasuke was relieved, he thought for a while that they saw what happened.
“Oh, okay then.” Sasuke said.
“Say goodbye to Haruno-san and Inojin-kun for us.” Neji said.
“Sure, let me accompany you to the door.” Sasuke said.
“Bye.” The rest of Shinobi waved at Sasuke.
When he got back, Sakura was already stirring.
“Sorry, I dozed off.”
“You didn’t even sleep for ten minutes, I’m sure you’re tired.” Sasuke said.
“I’m fine.” Sakura smiled at him. “Everyone already left?”
“Just now.”
“Oh, Inojin let go of you!” Sakura said only realizing now.
“Yeah.”
“We can go home now.” She said, already deftly arranging Inojin’s things.
“Thanks for having us.” Sakura said. “And I’m sorry again for the bother.”
“Actually, I had a great time.” Sasuke said helping Sakura gather their things.
“That’s good to hear.” She beamed at him.
After they put everything in Inojin’s bag, Sakura carefully carried Inojin.
“I’ll escort you home.” Sasuke said.
“No need, I’ve already bugged you enough.”
“Don’t be silly. You have to carry Inojin and the groceries. I’ll help.”
Sakura still looked uncertain.
“I’m not letting you leave if I’m not with you.” Sasuke pushed.
Sakura smiled, he was just very thoughtful and considerate.
“Fine then, if you insist.”
They went out and took a cab. When they got to Sakura’s home, Sasuke got off the cab and carried Sakura’s groceries to their front porch.
“Thank you, Uchichi,” Sakura went red when she realized what she said.
“I mean, Uchiha-kun. Jeez, I’m already used to calling you that.” She giggled then looked at the sleeping Inojin in her arms.
“It’s fine if you call me that.” Sasuke said.
“Are you sure?” she said, raising an eyebrow.
“Yeah. I’d like a new nickname.”
She laughed, “but please don’t call me ‘Ka-chan’” Sakura said. “But Sakura-chan is fine.”
“Eh? But I got used to calling you ‘Ka-chan,’ too.”
“Please don’t” Sakura deadpanned. Sasuke laughed.
Sakura joined him after a while.
“But Chichi,” Sakura said and Sasuke smiled, “get going now. It’s getting late.”
“Oh yeah. Bye then, Ka-chan.” Sasuke teased.
Sakura pouted. And as if that was a silent cue, Sasuke leaned in and dip his lips to hers.
The kiss was gentle and uncertain. His mouth only rested against hers, and he made no move to deepen the kiss, as if waiting for Sakura to push him away.
Sakura scold herself for not reacting at once but that was out of shock.
Before Sasuke could pull away, she responded to the kiss.
Inojin smiled. But he wouldn’t move. He would continue pretending to sleep. He didn’t want to disturb his ‘Ka-chan’ and ‘Chichi.’
END