Sendicard
patreon
Chapter 33 - Melody of Hearts PT 2
🕑 Added 2024-05-12 21:37:31 +0000 UTCNothing is quite as embarrassing as Sakura trying to go on a date, it appears.
I loved this chapter, just wish I was in a better place. It turns out sometimes you just shut down for a few days, who knew.
This is Friday's chapter, I still owe today's.
I imagine today's gets out Monday, and Monday's probably gets out like Tuesday or Wednesday, and then I should be back on track Friday assuming that's not the final chapter of this arc I'm not sure yet.
Anyway, sorry for the unorthodox update schedule I just got hit with the whammy.
As long as I get the same amount of content out in relatively the same period, it's fine. At least by my standards, which are technically the only ones I care about.
I hope you have fun reading!
----------------------------------------------------------
The clothing store surprises her on entry. Not because it’s got clothes - obviously - or because it’s nice, but because it’s too nice. She’d gone to a ninja store for her main outfits, and now standing here in a fashion department she’s so far out of her depth she’d rather try to sprout wings and fly away than actually talk to someone and ask for help.
Unfortunately, the alternative is possibly losing a ton of charm, even more if one considers the loss from not getting Ino’s bonus as a part of the net loss. “I hate this, I hate this, I hate this so much-” She begins to whine under her breath while walking around, feeling more and more out of her depth the more blindingly overpriced and strangely nice clothes she passes.
She doesn’t have a lot of money, unfortunately after Haku’s streaming setup, Haku’s rent, the Wave contributions, not getting paid for Wave, and the money she had to set aside for Higurashi for when he inevitably asks for money, she’s barely got enough left to buy a pair of bra and panties from this place. Why does a bra even need to be stylish, it’s under her clothes!
She’s just about to leave and go find good clothes at some discount store when she hears a snooty voice give her an ‘ahem’ from behind her. Turning towards him, she can already tell he doesn’t like her. Maybe wearing her ninja outfit and headband here wasn’t the smartest decision, but she didn’t think the place where you get fancy clothes would have a fancy clothes dress code - as then how would you get the clothes for the dress code - but she’s the only one here looking like this and people have noticed. “You don’t belong here.” He says, scoffing at her.
She takes a deep breath, reaches into the pack at her side, uses her money inventory to pull out everything she has minus a tiny bit since she’s probably going to have to pay for something at the festival, and throws it at him as slow as her jittering body will allow her. “I know it’s not a lot but make me as pretty as you can with this!”
The cash explodes off of his chest, flutters to the floor, some gets in his hair, and he stares at her with no small amount of awkward disdain and boiling contempt, his lips twitching upwards as if he’s found the best joke he’s ever seen. She expected him to catch it, why didn’t he catch it? Why is it freaking everywhere when she had it all bundled up so that it was easy to catch! “I don’t work here.” Her face pales, and she lifts a finger to ask a question, before thinking better of it.
For a moment, before her nerves get the best of her and she asks anyway. “Can you… still make me look pretty?” She asks, finding her mouth dryer than it has any right to be.
“Even if I did work here, which I don’t.” The well dressed man in a suit that likely costs a month’s stipend glares at her, “even I can’t make that, look pretty.” He points at her, as if he’s talking about a turd on the ground.
“Ah, sorry to bother you.” She begins picking up her money, holding back tears.
Why did she even come here!? She shoulda hit up a discount store in the first place!
-----------------------------
Looking a little prettier in a long red dress she got from a hand-me-down thrift store, she can’t help but feel a little confidence enter her blood. It’s not the top-of-the-line threading she would find at that previous place, but she’d rather die than go back there so it’ll have to do until she’s rich enough she can pay someone else to shop for her. Of course, before that happens she needs to be rich enough to buy her parents an adoption, get Haku better equipment, get herself better equipment, fix up Wave to a standard where it can operate in the positive entirely on its own, impress Kakashi, become a jonin, do- when did this become her life goals?
She finds herself blinking in surprise and shaking her head to clear her mind, directly in front of her destined destination. The Yamanaka clan, Ino’s home. There’s a large part of her unsure if she wants to go in there. She’s sure to be recognized, and dressing like this, she can’t help but imagine the stares. She even did her hair back and found herself a black flower to put in it, the stem going behind her ear to hold it in place. It’s a bit much, she feels awkward and out of place, but Ino’s probably going to overdo it and she can’t have her ability denying that she went on a date because she was too underdressed in comparison. Ino loves events like this, she probably already has an outfit picked and everything.
She sighs to herself, looking down at polished nails with heart symbols drawn on them in pink, and reaching up to feel the earrings dangling from her ears. They’re clip-on, she’s not about to introduce holes in her ears for some jerky enemy to stick an object in and rip… Or worse, go through that entire process only to find out her sleeping ability undoes piercings.
“The worst that can happen is rumors start.” Sakura chides herself through grit teeth, the high heels she’d found just for this, feel incredibly uncomfortable on her feet and only make this worse. “I feel like standing out here awkwardly is already starting some rumors, I’d be better off going in!”
It’s hard though, the man’s words from earlier ring in her ears. What if she’s not pretty?
What if her attempt to dress up for this only made her look worse somehow, out of depth and not-
“Sakura?” Her thoughts are interrupted by the girl standing in the doorway to her compound. Always at the best time, Ino knows how to interrupt her doubts and make her smile. “You look incredible, what’s the occasion?” She can already see a faint pink arrive on her friend’s nose and start to spread across her cheeks. She’d probably feel pretty awkward complimenting another girl too, so she doesn’t make much note of it.
“You,” Sakura explains as best she can with jittery lips and a jumbled tongue trying to tie itself mid word, “I’d like to take you on a date, to the festival.” She manages to steel herself to say it correctly. “You know, as friends?”
“Uh-huh…” Ino stares her up and down, making her feel seen in ways she really doesn’t want to. “Right, this is how you dress up for a friend date.”
“Well, um, it’s you, so it’s special?” Sakura tries, reaching up to feel her own burning cheek. “I didn’t want to make you look bad, coming with me looking all scraggly and half dead.”
“Sure.” Ino visibly holds back a laugh, Sakura’s surprised to note she sees it, which means it’s very poorly hidden. “Let’s go inside, I have to get ready.”
“So you’ll go with me?” Sakura asks, immediately rushing to her side, only to feel her feet give out beneath her. She watches in mild fascination as the ground gets closer, unable to stop herself before her nose digs into the dirt below.
“Did you just…” Ino trails.
“I fucking, hate, heels,” Sakura explains from the ground below.
“I guess we’ll redo your make-up inside.” Ino giggles to herself. Sakura can’t help but notice that when she lifts her head, it’s to the sight of Ino offering out her hand to her, with the brightest smile imaginable. She wishes she could keep that smile on her forever, it’s so pure, and makes all the bad feelings from earlier turn to bubbles.
-----------------------------
“Oh, ho, ho, Sakura! Looking cute!” Being told that by an older man would normally make her feel a little gross, but hearing it from Inoichi feels nice. It tingles her toes, makes her hair feel a little alive. She holds back a wiggle because that’d be awkward.
Inoichi’s always been very kind to her. In the hundreds of times she’s visited Ino over the years, he’s never made her feel bad, even when she’s down he’s found a way to uplift her. She’d call him like a third parental figure, but that’s probably not true, it’s likely she just doesn’t have a lot of adult role models in her life and she’s latched onto one that’s nice.
The important part here is that he sees hundreds if not thousands of other Yamanaka all the time, so a compliment from him feels good. And he’s got a gorgeous wife, truly, ridiculously good looking, so-
What she’s trying to say is that the complement feels uplifting from the blond man with the heart warming grin, not creepy. It shouldn’t be that hard to convey that to herself but she’s a bundle of nerves right now and earlier today someone made her cry soooo!
“Thank you, Inoichi!” She jumps in for a hug, her turn to make him feel a little awkward. Unfortunately he’s so used to having a daughter who’s super giving with affection he doesn’t pause for a moment before patting her back.
“So, you’re finally taking Ino out on a date?” He asks, “can’t imagine another reason why you’d be here.” He’s so earnest, it makes Sakura’s cheeks alight at the very idea.
“F-finally?” She asks. “Why finally?”
“No reason.” Inoichi chuckles to himself. “I just imagine you wouldn’t dress up like this for a casual meeting, I’ve seen you show up with leaves in your hair before.”
“I was tree climbing.” She pouts at the thought, before melting into the hug for a moment.
She hasn’t been hugging her own parents enough recently, she’s been too mad at them. She should fix that, hugs feel good, and who knows when Kakashi’s gonna scoop them up for the next mission.
“You should go check on Ino.” He says, “if she caught onto what this is, which she did, I imagine she’s going to be getting ready for hours if you don’t help her.”
“Ah-r-right!” It’s that thought which causes her to leave the warmth, and sprint to Ino’s room. She has to clean her face in her bathroom anyway.
Comments
Christopher Cummins
Glad you liked it.
Dopplerdee
This entire chapter was like looking into the Ark of the Covenant. Glorious but it also melted my face off. Also yeah sometimes brains just fuck off into the middle distance, you just kinda gotta ride it out, unless it goes for too long at which point see a doctor.
Damon Fitzgerald
Yeah this is just as embarrassing to read as I thought it was going to be and it has just started! Now lets see how long until Sakura realises Ino likes her. She will probably realise at the moment when it will give her peak embarrassment.
