Title: Love's Cursed
Author(s): Erika (Rikatro) & Mikka (Mikka-kun)
Pairing: Sakura?
Series: Naruto
Disclaimer: Okay. We. Do. Not. Own. Naruto.

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Naruto, Sasuke and even Kakashi were waiting for Sakura at the bridge a few days later. They had been waiting for two hours already, and the awkward silence and impatience in the group was about to make them all go insane. It was a few minutes or so before the males of team seven decided to go and look for their pink-haired teammate, when Sakura did arrive. Her hair was strangely drenched and flying around her head; there was bump on her forehead; and her clothes were in chaotic disorder. "Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, "What happened to you?!" She rubbed her forearm and said, "I'm sorry I'm late. My alarm didn't work for some reason, so I woke up really late... Then I ran into some pole that happened to be in the way as I was running, and I got this huge bump on my forehead!"

Naruto winced slightly, picturing the image of what Sakura had endured that morning. "Are you alright?" Kakashi asked with concern. Sakura nodded, sighing, "I've just been having a ton bad luck lately..." She then let out a groan. Within the past few days, she had received many bumps and bruises. Being a kunoichi, she didn't throw a huge fit about them, but it still felt odd why this was happening to her. Naruto gave an assuring smile, "I'm sure that the Haruno Sakura Festival will cheer you up, Sakura-chan! And, since all of us are here, we better get going!" Sakura returned the smile, though it was much less bright. She thought that maybe attending the festival dedicated to her would make her feel a little bit better. And as the team proceeded to the festival, Sasuke quietly observed Sakura, whose uneasy facial expression interested him... or would the proper word be 'worried?'

Well, believe it or not, he wanted to find out why all of these mishaps were happening to his team mate, for it seemed more than just coincidence... and he was definitely going to find out what was really happening.

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After a few minutes of walking, team seven came upon the Haruno Sakura festival's location. There were many food and game stalls, all decorated in Sakura's official colors: red, pink, and jade green. Banners and streamers hung from every corner as red lanterns were hurriedly being placed upon the stalls and several poles for night. At the heart of the festival sat a large, highly decorated stage with a large banner strung across the top, reading: Haruno Sakura Festival. Please enjoy! In Sakura's opinion, everything seemed pretty nice and her spirits were lifted quite a bit. But when workers began to bring in the merchandise for game and souvenir stalls, those spirits crashed back into the ground. Scattered throughout the festival, were Sakura's belongings: her clothes, her stuffed animals, her bed, you name it, all of them neatly organized within a certain booth.

"What... the heck...?" she asked aloud, completely stunned. The men of team seven looked at Sakura, then followed her gaze to the sight that gave her her strange expression. Naruto gaped as he spotted a ramen plushie he had given Sakura on a previous brithday being given to a fanboy who won it at a game of ring toss. "What's all of Sakura-chan's stuff doing here?!" he practically yelled as Sasuke studied the area. All of her belongings were there alright - right down to the toilet. How did it get there? We may never know.

Out of the corner of Sakura's eye, a familiar item was being carried past her, down toward the stage where other familiar items were being carried. Her head whipped around and to her surprise she found her diary. Yes, her very own diary in which she had just written an entry the very night before. Her eyes widened in shock and her body was frozen on the spot. While Naruto began to yell at a nearby worker, Kakashi looked down at Sakura as she began to mutter. She said quietly, "That was..." she gulped; "My..."

"Your...?" Kakashi asked with interest.

"My... MY DIARY!" she screamed loudly, taking off after the person who was putting her beloved diary in a glass display case upon the stage. She scrambled up onto the stage, and shuffled over to the case, thinking things like, "No, that can't be my diary." or "How did they get their hands on it in the first place!" Once recognizing the little pink book as her true diary, Sakura glared menacingly at the man who placed it there; "How the hell did you get my diary?!"

The man was completely ignorant of the angry kunoichi's question. Instead of responding with the proper answer, his eyes were shining brightly as he said, "What a surprise! Sakura-chan! You're here for your festival!" Sakura fumed slightly, but then covered her irritation and anger with a mask of tranquility... though it was all too believeable. "Can you please give me back my diary, please?" she asked through gritted teeth. The man shook his head and replied, "I'm sorry Sakura-chan, but this is the main prize for the auction!" Sakura's eyes widened.

"AN AUCTION?! No, no... This can't be happening..." she muttered to herself, slapping her hand on her forehead. She ran her hand through her hair as Sasuke and Kakashi arrived on the stage with Naruto behind them. "Sakura, why did you run off like that?" the silver-haired jounin asked her, "What happened?" Sakura grumbled a bit, and pointed at her diary that would be soon auctioned off to some weird person. "Is that...?" Naruto began.

"...Yeah."

He looked over at the man, who was still there for some reason, and pointed angrily at him; "Hey you! Give that diary back to Sakura-chan or I'll kick your ass!" The man simply shook his head, and gave his negative response again. "That's invasion of privacy, you know." Kakashi chimed in thoughtfully in hopes of persuading him. The man brushed off Kakashi's comment, however. He grabbed the microphone that was on the podium and said, "Welcome to our very first Haruno Sakura festival! Now, to begin our festivities, let us start in the auction of our lovely cherry blossom's belongings!" With that, everybody in the festival gathered around the stage with interest. "Now, I will be auctioning the belongings throughout different time periods of the festival! And keep in mind that the last object will be the most prized possession that Haruno Sakura owns - her diary!" The crowd began to get excited and were talking with great enthusiasm amongst each other.

Sakura felt like she wanted to kill the man who was basically auctioning off all of her secrets inside the small book. But then she thought, why break the man who didn't have the diary when you could break the box that did? With that, she attempted to break the glass, but unfortunately, it was a lot more durable then she thought. "Shannarou!" Inner Sakura yelled in rage, hammering at the box, "Why the hell won't you break, you damn glass box?!?"

By the time she had finally given up on destroying it, her favorite doll, her lamp and her empty lead pencil were sold to happy buyers. Though, she thought, they wouldn't be so happy once she finally hunted them down... "And so concludes the first part of the auction! The auction will continue in another forty-five minutes, so please enjoy yourselves during the break!" the man said into the microphone and stepped down from the stage. "Ugh..." Sakura moaned, cupping her face with her hands; "This isn't fair... Why does it have to be me?!" Seeing her and her state of depression, Naruto said in a comforting tone, "Don't worry, Sakura-chan."

"Yeah. We'll solve all of this soon enough." Sasuke added as he pushed his hands into his pockets, "But while we're here... Let's try... to enjoy ourselves." Naruto, Kakashi and Sakura looked at him in surprise. Sasuke's eyes widened slightly and he looked in another direction; "... We've already taken this day off from training and missions. I really don't want to be wasting my time..."

Sakura gave a slight smile and agreed with a nod. Naruto whispered to Sakura and Kakashi, "I guess teme has a heart after all."

"I heard that, dobe." Sasuke said with a glare. The blond shinobi sweatdropped and quickly changed the subject; "Come on! You heard what Sasuke-teme said! Let's enjoy ourselves! So, where do you want to go first, Sakura-chan?"

Sakura pondered a bit, then said, "How about... the ferris wheel?" She pointed at the ferris wheel that was illuminated with lights. There was a pretty short line, so Sakura decided they should go there first. Kakashi gave a nod; "Yes! You three should enjoy yourselves! You know, get to spend more time as a group! I'll be over here!" He pointed at a bench and immediately sat there, whipping out his Icha Icha Paradise. Sakura mumbled, "Pervert..." and grabbed Sasuke and Naruto's hands, dragging them to the ferris wheel. When it was their turn to go inside, there was a small problem - only two people could fit in each box.

Sakura blinked for a second. She wanted to drag Sasuke in the box with her, but she didn't want to leave Naruto alone - she wasn't that mean. Sasuke and Naruto noticed this situation as well. Sasuke was about to say that he would skip the ride, but before he could say so, Naruto called out someone's name. "Hinata-chan! You're here, too?! Want to go ride with me on the ferris wheel!" he yelled out joyously. Hinata, who had just happened to be passing by, was startled a bit and her heart was beating quickly. "N-N-Naruto-kun...?" she stuttered, putting her hand over her heart, feeling it thumping in her chest.

He smiled at her, and asked again, "Want to go with me on the ferris wheel?" Hinata immediately blushed and poked her fingers together, looking down at the ground shyly; "A-Anou... O-Of course, Naruto-kun." When she looked up and noticed Sakura, she gave her a warm smile and greeted her with a happy, "Hi, S-Sakura-chan!" Sasuke gave a 'Hn' and said, "Come on, Sakura, we don't want the other people waiting."

"Okay, Sasuke-kun." Sakura replied with a smile as she and Sasuke were loaded into the compartment. The door was shut and locked in, the bar was lowered, and the large ferris wheel moved up for Naruto and Hinata. As Sakura settled herself against the end of the seat, Sasuke was at the other, crossing his arms and looking as bored as ever. Below them, Naruto and Hinata sat down comfortably in the compartment... though Hinata was incredibly red and fiddling with her fingers while Naruto only grinned, oblivious to Hinata's nervousness. And so the ride began, but then stopped so that Sasuke and Sakura were stuck at the top. "Wow! It's pretty up here, isn't it Sasuke-kun?" she exclaimed, looking out into the open, "But it would be a lot prettier at night when the fireworks are starting."

"Hn." was his only reply. Sakura looked at him, slightly hurt by his silence, but continued on with her happy speech, "Let's come back here tonight, okay?"

Her head lowered as she sighed in dissappointment, knowing it would be hopeless to actually make a conversation to the human ice cube himself. But what happened next surprised her.

"Fine."

Her head jerked up, and her eyes were wide. She couldn't believe it - Sasuke actually replied to her without his usual 'Hn.' She grinned widely at this - maybe she could be more of a friend to Sasuke now, instead of just his team mate. It was better than nothing, she supposed. While she and Sasuke had their small moment, Naruto looked at the blushing Hinata, confused as to why she was red; "Hinata-chan, are you sick? If you want, I can ask the guy to put us down." Hinata, turning even redder, replied, "N-no, Naruto-kun, I-I'm fine." He blinked at her, and asked, "Are you sure?" She nodded, and looked away, casting glances his way every once in a while. With that, both pairs enjoyed the ride until it was finished.

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The ferris wheel came to a slow halt, and passengers were let out two at a time. Sasuke and Sakura were let out first, and were followed by Naruto and Hinata, who were talking about, for some reason, different types of ramen available at the Ichiraku ramen bar. "I like the miso ramen especially with extra egg, but I also like barbecue pork ramen, and maybe some shoyu ramen sometimes..." Naruto said with a grin as his companion nodded from time to time, agreeing with his favorite ramen types. Despite herself, Sakura interrupted the two's conversation by asking them whether or not they wanted to return to the ferris wheel later on that night for the fireworks. Naruto grinned and agreed to it, as did Hinata. However, she wasn't as sure if she could since she promised she'd meet up with Shino and Kiba later that day.

"Oh, is that so, Hinata-san?" Sakura asked with a hint of disappoint in her voice; "It's alright if you can't make it, but just know that you're always welcome to join us on the ferris wheel!" She smiled at Hinata, who shyly returned it, saying, "A-Arigatou, Sakura-chan. Y-You're really nice; it's no wonder... y-you're so popular..." Hinata's fellow kunoichi sweatdropped at the compliment, but continued to beam anyway.

"Thank you... Anou, well, Hinata-san, do you want to hang out with us still? We have a lot more time before the next auction."

Naruto smiled at Hinata as well, and encouraged her to join in on their fun; "Yeah, Hinata-chan! It'll be great!" With her white eyes, she looked around for a moment as to catch a glimpse of either her sensei or her team mates. When she saw that there was no sign of them, she gave another sheepish nod and smile; "O-okay..." Naruto let out a loud "Yosha!" and turned to Sakura, asking, "Okay! Sakura-chan, where to next?!" Sakura put a finger to her lips, and thought for a moment before saying, "I was thinking that we let someone else choose this time." Sasuke, who was looking off in another direction in an indifferent manner, suddenly said, "It's your festival. It's only your right to choose where we go next."

"Oh, um..." she said quietly, but her voice eventually became louder, "Alright, I guess. How about we go on the swings? Those look fun, right?"

"Yeah!"

"H-Hai..."

"Hn."

The four walked to the swing ride only to encounter a very long line. Sakura sighed, and asked, "Do you guys want to wait?" Naruto and Hinata merely shrugged while Sasuke gave a blank look. Then a voice was heard from the line; "Hey look! It's Sakura-chan!" Another voice piped in; "Let Sakura-chan and her friends through!" The queue looked at Sakura and parted like the Red Sea. The pink-haired kunoichi sweatdropped; "Err.. Nevermind, let's go!" She went through the line as she thanked people as the three followed behind her. When they were individually seated in one of the swings, the ride started. Naruto was having a great time in the swings, until...

"U-ugh.. I-I think I'm going to be s-sick."

(Hearing this statement, Sasuke replied in slight aggravation, "Kakashi and I told you not to eat that much ramen for lunch, dobe.")

Naruto's face turned green, but he was determined to hold in whatever was threatening to escape his mouth. And after what seemed like forever, for him at least, the swing ride finally ceased. He swiftly rushed to the restroom, pushing the numerous people that were in his way. Hinata gave a worried expression at the running Naruto, but Sakura smiled at Hinata, saying, "Don't worry Hinata-san! He'll be fine." The other girl flashed a small smile; "Y-You're always th-thinking of others S-Sakura-chan!"

Sakura shook her head modestly, her smile never fading away from her lips. She glanced back down at the restroom door, and, along with Sasuke and Hinata, waited for Naruto to return. Five minutes had passed when their blond friend returned from his 'mission,' mouth rubbing his stomach pitifully; "Ugh... That was horrible. Remind me to never go on those swings again!"

"I don't think it was the swing ride, Naruto." Sasuke said suddenly; "As I said on the ride, you ate too much ramen before coming here." Naruto looked over at him and opened his mouth as if to say something, but his hand immediately clamped over his mouth. A small gurgle escaped Naruto's throat - and within a few seconds he took off back toward the restroom, shoving more people out of his way. Sakura sweatdropped, then turned to Sasuke. He looked back at her questioningly. "You, Naruto and Kakashi-sensei went to eat without me?" she asked him.

"...We couldn't wait for you that long, so we ate quickly at the Ichiraku and came back to wait for you." he replied simply, spotting Naruto as he exited the restroom. "Oh, well, it's alright, I guess." Sakura said with a shrug; "It was my fault for being so late, anyway." She then looked up and smiled at Naruto as he walked back to the group; "Welcome back, Naruto. Are you okay now?" He nodded, but his mouth was formed into a slight frown; "Yeah, but I'm still a little queasy though, Sakura-chan... Ugh..." Hinata looked around the stalls, and saw a highly decorated area designated (from what Hinata could see) for food and drink that could not be carried around the festival. "H-How about we g-go get some tea o-over there?" she said as she pointed over at a stall conveniently located near the place. Turning her head to face Naruto, she added, "M-Maybe the tea will be g-good for your stomach, N-Naruto-kun."

Naruto smiled warmly at her; "You're so nice, Hinata-chan!" This caused another blush to form in the said-girl's cheeks. "Alright! Come on, let's go!" Sakura smiled, deciding that she would like to see the two together more often. When the group went to the conveniently placed tea booth, a man came up to Sakura. But out of instinct, her two team mates stepped in front of her, Naruto trying to control his nauseated stomach. The man smiled, ignoring the two boys who had just made a protective wall against him; "Sakura-chan! Would you do me a favor?"

"And that would be..." Sakura said cautiously, staring at the stranger with a look of uncertainty in her eyes. "Could you please take a picture with me!?" he asked excitedly, holding out his camera. She twitched - this weird guy wanted to take a picture with her? Ew! Holding down her temper, she stammered, "Um, well... I couldn't possibly..." He pressed on, saying, "Please? I want to show it to my brother and make him jealous!" ... And he wanted to take a picture with her because he wanted to make his own weird brother jealous. Good lord.

"That's a stupid reason to want a picture with her." Sasuke grumbled, crossing his arms as Naruto swallowed and added, "Yeah! Get lost, you pervert." The man frowned slightly, and gave the two boys another so-called 'good reason' for a picture with Sakura; "But if I get a picture with Sakura-chan, I'll be able to make millions of copies to sell to my friends!

Ouch, that was the wrong thing to say.

Now this weird guy is going to sell pictures to his friends, whom she assumed would be as strange as him! Sakura was uncontrollably twitching with anger, her eyes flaring with the very flames of the deepest depth of Hell. She shared these frightening flames of Hell with Sasuke and Naruto, who were just about to unleash a large can of whoop-ass. And why wouldn't these two be angry? This weird man walks up to their teammate and practically says that he wants to take a picture with her to sell them to the pedophiles of Konoha. The two boys' hands clenched into fists, and simultaneously, they shouted, "There's no way in hell I'm going to allow that!"

Well... Sasuke shouted, "I'm," while Naruto shouted, "We're."

Hinata, Sakura and Naruto all glanced at Sasuke, who suddenly realized his out of character outburst. He looked at them from the side, quickly went back to glaring at the man in order to direct their attention away from himself. He then growled in a low voice, "Get the hell out of here before we kill you."

"B-But --"

"NOW."

"O-Okay! Bye Sakura-chan!" With that, the scary weird man sprinted - he knew well about the powerful Uchiha clan, and he really didn't want to gain a first hand experience in how strong they were. Sakura huffed, and muttered to herself repeatedly, "Enjoy the night, enjoy the night, enjoy the night." Suddenly, a little girl tugged on her clothing. "Sakura-nee-chan! Can I have your autograph please?" the adorably cute girl asked, holding up a pen and a paper. Sakura gave a small smile and nodded, taking the piece of paper and pen to write her signature for the girl.

Meanwhile, Naruto and Hinata went to the booth and bought tea for all four of the group, while Sasuke remained behind with Sakura. They took the tea and sat down at an empty table, watching Sakura finish up her autograph. Once Sakura was finished, she and Sasuke joined Naruto and Hinata to relax for a bit - after all, they were going to need it.

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Authors' Note:
Erika: So, here's our chapter 6!
Mikka: It took a long while to update, ne? O.o
Erika: We're very sorry it took so long! U.U;;;
Mikka: Seriously! Well, I hope you enjoyed this long, LONG awaited chapter! n.n
Erika: And there will be a Part 2 for this Festival! Poor Sakura, her diary being auctioned off! D;
Mikka: That's it... So, um, see you guys later! XD
Erika: Yup yup! Bye! Please Review!