A Hundred Steps Ahead

Pretty Flowers

CHAPTER 4: "Pretty Flowers"

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"Sakura!" Yamanaka Ino yelled as she tried to drag the reading pinkette to a boutique shop. "There's a sale! We have to buy new clothes before it ends!" She yelled in excitement.

The pinkette cringed as she stumbled into the store full of people, "Ino, you know how I feel about crowds." She murmured as she tucked her book into her small pouch.

The blonde simply giggled as she checked the jackets on a nearby rack with a huge 'Thirty percent off!' sign. "Yeah, I'm your bestfriend, how could I forget? But that's no excuse for not buying cute clothes!"

Sakura sighed as she flipped through several sweaters beside her, "This is stupid. We're graduating in a few months, why do I have to buy civilian clothes when I'm going to be busy with training?"

"Sakura, my dear." Ino sighed in false exasperation despite the amusement in her eyes, "We have to be stylish a few times! With us practically rolling on the ground nearly every day, we deserve to pamper ourselves whenever we can!" She explained before she pulled out a cute red sweater in front of the pinkette, "Plus, you deserve it, little miss Rookie of The Year."

"That's not true yet. We still have the final exams and the practical exams by the end the semester before we get our final rankings." Sakura denied as she accepted the sweater and surveyed it with her meticulous eye for detail. "This is nice, should I get this?"

Ino nodded, "Absolutely!" She smiled before she moved to a rack full of dresses with the pinkette in tow. "But seriously though, the spot for Rookie of The Year is as good as yours!" She said.

"Hmm," Sakura hummed as she picked a cute white dress and gave it to Ino, "Sasuke – san seems adamant to get my rank. He's been studying like crazy from what Itachi – kun has told me."

Ino held onto the dress, "Girl, Sasuke – kun might have my heart, but even I'm not blind to his incapability to get to your level." She fixed her smart yet stupid bestfriend a stare, "If only we could get Shikamaru to take the practical exams seriously." She whined.

"Speaking of Shikamaru, Naruto mentioned that the boys and Hinata will be eating at Ichiraku by twelve noon. Should we go or are we still on for that new tea house that you mentioned last week?" Sakura asked as she handed Ino another lilac dress with a few embroidered designs.

"We can go to Ichiraku for lunch," Ino passed on a red dress to the pinkette, "Then, maybe we can invite them for tea after. I'm sure Hinata would like to try their chamomile tea, I heard that it's really good."

Sakura nodded in agreement, "Hey, get that white dress. That looks like Hinata's size." She pointed to a dress a few racks down.

Turning, Ino gasped in glee as she ran to the rack, "Nice eye, Forehead!"

"I do aim to please, Pig."

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"The world must be ending if Naruto's studying." Kiba barked a burst of laughter as he watched the frantic blond study while he slurped his ramen. "At least finish your food first, you dolt." He scolded as he saved a post – it from getting wet.

"I – Is Sakura – chan helping you study for the finals, N – Naruto – kun?" Beside the blond, Hinata asked as she ate her own bowl of beef ramen.

"Yeah!" Naruto nodded with a grin, "Sakura – chan's notes are way easier to understand than the teachers'. Plus, she made me my own version of notes, it's even color-coded and everything!" He gestured to the neatly made notes with orange and neon highlighters.