In 9 Days

chapter 1

They were both drunk when they made the bet.

"Forehead, he's been back for two years—two freaking years, and you still haven't done anything. Not a single thing. If I didn't have my Shikamaru already, I would be on him in a minute. Why aren't you doing anything?"

There was a hiccup, as the blond-haired, blue-eyed, sexy kunoichi took another gulp of her sake, and turned to her long-time best friend (and yes, one-time rival). She eyed the girl beside her critically.

"Oh, my Kami...are you still in love with him?"

The pink-haired, green eyed, slender kunoichi (she wasn't as sexy as the other, but she had subtle curves, nevertheless) looked alarmed at the statement, giving out a hiccup in turn. She shook her head emphatically.

"No—of course not!"

"Then prove it!" the blond yelled, challenge vibrating in her drunken voice. "Prove it to me in nine days!"

"I will!"

"Okay, then—make out with him! Make him want you! Need you—even love you!"

"How the hell does that prove that I'm not in love with him, Pig?"

Silence. Then...

"Because you will have to leave him in the end."

A stupid bet. A stupid, stupid bet.

And Haruno Sakura knew she wasn't going to back out of it.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

It wasn't pride. She knew it wasn't pride. It was just that when she had finally become sober, Ino had come to her door, demanding that she uphold her honor and not back out of the bet—because if she so much as dared, the punishment would be that she run around Konoha for one whole day.

Naked.

And then, to top it all off, she had to scream at the top of her lungs that she was a loser, too.

She remembered Gai challenging Kakashi the same thing one year ago, and fortunately, Kakashi had won that. But the image of a losing Gai running around naked was still fresh in her mind, and it kind of...well, made her sick. Ugh.

She was so not going to do that.

Maybe there was a way to talk her way out of this.

"Listen, Ino," Sakura started, after having drunk her first cup of coffee for the day (it was her only cure for hangovers), "About last night...maybe we—uh—you know...overdid it...the bet, I mean..."

Ino remained silent—a rare occurrence which had Sakura rambling.

"I mean, it's not like it's that big a deal...my word is good enough, right? And it's a stupid bet, anyway, it's childish and immature and I'm sure we're both too grown up to even bother dwelling in stuff like that, if you know what I mean. And I swear—"

"I'll sleep with Lee if I lose, Forehead. Or Gai-sensei. Or Jiraiya."

It was too surprising to even process.

Sakura stared at Ino, a look of shock on her face. Ino looked determined, and a bit shocked at what she'd just said, too—it was obvious she had blurted the whole thing out, probably without thinking first.

Ha. Typical Ino.

But however tempting it was, it really wasn't enough. Sakura sighed.

"Sorry, Ino, but—"

"And I will run around naked, too. For two days. With the sign 'pervert' painted all over me. And screaming 'Sakura is the best' at the top of my lungs."