Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Girls Like it When... ❯ Ch 2 - You Buy Them Clothes ( Chapter 2 )

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Girls Like it When…

The Ultimate Guide to Becoming More Than Friends

 

Chapter 2: … Girls Like it When You Buy Them Clothes

 

Buying clothes for a girl can put you on the fast track to her heart. Clothes are a useful resource due to their easy accessibility, the ever constant change in seasonal and popular trends, and the many different styles. There is always some new or different type of clothing that you can use to your advantage.

Understanding a girl's lifestyle is key when making clothing choices. A girl who's lifestyle signifies somewhat expensive and lavish clothing will certainly not welcome a gift of cheap or poor quality; whereas a girl who's clothing is more plain and low-cost may be uncomfortable being presented with high-class clothing.

Also, you must take into consideration how and where the clothing will be used. A girl who is indoors much of the time, with no strenuous work of any kind, is more keen to lighter, flowing clothes; whereas a girl whose life or occupation has her outdoors most of the time will need more durable wear. The clothes must match the girl.

WARNING: When it comes to clothes, money can NEVER be a factor.

 

“The clothes must match the girl. The clothes must match the girl.” Sai repeated the last line of the chapter as he closed the book and pictured Sakura in his mind. “What kind of girl is she?” he thought out loud. As different images ran through his head he realized that Sakura's clothes, like most ninja, never changed much. The short red dress that hung down to her black shorts were the only two pieces of clothing that Sai's mind could remember.

He searched his memory in vain for some other form of clothing, but other than the Konoha headband there what nothing else. He knew that, of course, she couldn't wear the same exact clothes everyday; she must have numerous copies of the dress and the shorts. That would mean that the store that she buys them at must be in the village. He would have to search for the store, `but,' he thought, `would she really want another set if she has so many?'

Then it struck Sai. He again closed his eyes and let the images of Sakura run through his mind, slower this time. In every image he could easily spot rips in the fabric or stains, even a few spots of blood. Being a ninja puts a lot of wear and tear on your clothes. The last image of Sakura was the last time he had seen her; as he left her picking up pieces of paper covered in food and dirt. He winced as he figured that it was probably his fault that that set of clothes had been ruined.

Sai searched the village for the store that Sakura bought her clothes from. His keen eyes found the store quickly where Sakura's dress hung in the display window. “Sensible Clothing” was a somewhat low-budget clothing store that was positioned in a very tough spot. Across the street from the store was “K-Spot Fashion,” the only store in the village that even came close to an upscale fashion store; and, as Sai noticed, was occupied by at least 5 times the amount of people as “Sensible Clothing.”

Sai walked into the store and directly to the rack of red dresses that matched the one in the window. As he looked at the different sizes he closed his eyes and tried to picture which was the correct one for Sakura. He picked up one of each size. “She's too small for the large,” he told the over sized dress as he placed it back on the rack, “and she's not a petite.” He placed the almost child sized dress back.

Sai was stuck between the medium and the small. He held both dresses up side by side and tried to decide. “The small,” he finally chose. As he lowered the medium dress back to the rack a flash of light caught his attention from across the street. He squinted through the window at the source of the flash; it was from a dress in the window of “K-Spot Fashion.”

Sai placed the small dress back on the rack and ran across the street and into the upscale fashion store. A suffocating feeling gripped him as he entered. He was closely surrounded by hordes of shopping girls and could sense that most of the eyes that had previously been on clothes were now on him. He was the only guy in the whole store. Luckily, the flash from the dress caught his attention again, allowing him to overcome the fearful feeling as he walked to the window.

In the display window was a blue dress that looked almost identical to the one Sakura always wore, but the designs of red and green that encircled the dress made it look stunning. It was as if he had just found the strikingly gorgeous sister of Sakura's, now very plain, dress. As his eyes traced the designs he realized what had caught his attention: the price tag hanging down.

`WARNING: When it comes to clothes, money can NEVER be a factor.' The words rang through his head like a large-deep bell. Sai's mouth started to quiver as he looked at the number written on the tag; it was about 15 times the price of the red dress. Buying this dress meant he would most likely have to catch his own food until his next mission. His hand trembled as he forced himself to pick up the dress and take it to the clerk. Sai thought he might be experiencing sorrow for the first time as he emptied the contents of his money pouch onto the counter. The clerk wrapped the clothes as he replaced the little remaining money he had left into his pouch.

“Hey Sai,” a woman's voice sounded very close. Sai turned to see Ino standing next to him looking down at the blue dress being folded and wrapped in paper. “It's beautiful. Who's it for?” Her voice sounded hopeful.

Sai hesitated, “Um… it's for…” For some reason his usually sharp wits failed him and he could think of nothing. “it's for… Sakura.” The words seemed to want to come out.

He knew he made a mistake as Ino's draw dropped and her eyes lit up before turning into a very large smile, “For Sakura? But why?” The word `why' had been stretched out so long that even Sai knew that she may suspect his true motives, but suddenly her smile disappeared. “Oh, it's probably because of what happened with all that food getting on the village gate logs. I heard the Hokage was really upset.” The smile seemed to reappear on her face as she spoke and she let out a little laugh, “I mean who could really like a girl with a forehead the size of a house anyways?” Her laugh became louder, almost evil.

Sai was relieved; Ino had thought that the dress was an apology. Sai's relief was short lived. Ino's loud cackles suddenly came to a halt as her eyes spotted something. The clerk had removed the price tag and had placed it on top of wrapped dress. As Ino's eyes read the price her eyes seemed to expand and cover her entire face. “Wha…” her large eyes turned to him again, “Sai, you…”

Sai did not hear the rest of Ino's slow words as he had grabbed the package and ran from the store. He ran back into “Sensible Clothing” and hid behind a shelf of long pants. He knew that his quick escape was as good as a confession, but he knew Ino had realized the truth already.

When he peaked his head out to the street he could see no sign of Ino. Wanting to give the gift to Sakura before Ino told her about what had just happened, Sai turned to leave the store. He passed a bin of black shorts and suddenly remembered the second part of Sakura's attire. He sifted through the mix of different sizes. With no time to waste, and without noticing the sign that showed the 10 different sizes of shorts, he quickly pulled out a size-small as he had with the dress. He didn't bother to examine the extremely tiny shorts in his hand before purchasing them and running towards Sakura's house.

Holding the two packages in one hand Sai knocked on the door. He could hear loud steps coming towards him before the door swung open; Sakura stood in the doorway. Eyeing Sai, her expression turned sour, angry; but upon seeing the packages in his hand her face became curious. “What's that?” was her greeting.

“For you,” Sai held the packages towards Sakura, “for the other day.” As Sai had been running through the streets he had realized that his encounter with Ino had produced one good outcome: it had givin him a believable motive for the gifts. He hoped that if Ino had believed it, Sakura would too. She did.

Sakura's face turned to a slight shade of pink as she took the large package. “Sai,” her voice was much lighter and kinder now and she was visibly embarrassed, “you didn't have to…” She was already tearing apart the paper wrapping. “SAI…” She had pulled out the dress and it unfolded to its full length and beauty. Speechless, Sakura held in up and traced the designs with her now large eyes. “Sai… you really didn't have to…” but her words broke off as she pressed the dress against her body and looked down at it, elated.

Sai felt like this idea from the book was working out exactly as he had hoped. Still holding the other package in his hands he held it out with confidence, “This is for you too.”

Sakura's eyed the package with an almost greedy smile. She draped the dress around her arm and grabbed the smaller package. Turning around, she quickly tore the paper off. She was speechless again; Sai expected a similar reaction. He was dead wrong.

“What is this?” Sakura held the shorts in front of her. Sai couldn't see her face as she had not turned back around.

“They're your shorts,” Sai responded, unable to pinpoint the change in her tone. He thought that the answer had been obvious.

There was a bit of silence as Sakura looked down at the shorts. “Sai…” her tone remained as it had since she opened the second package, “Aren't they kind of… small?”

Sai still couldn't see the shorts in her hands, but he thought about it. The shorts were the same size as the dress so they must fit. Sakura must be mistaken; there has to be a logical reason for why she would think they were small. The answer hit Sai and he spoke out, “No, maybe you've just put on some weight.” He quickly thought of a way to fix her problem, “You know, maybe you should train more so that you stay in shape and don't need to get larger shorts.” He was lucky that she was turned away.

Sakura's face started to turn red and her eyes had become two little slits on her face; she was breathing very hard. “Put on weight…” Sai could definitely sense a change in her tone; he didn't like it. “Stay in shape…” He couldn't figure out why she sounded so angry. Sakura slowly turned around; Sai knew that something was definitely wrong when they were face to face. Her eyes were still on the tiny shorts in her hands. Sai's eyebrows rose; the small shorts were obviously way too small for Sakura, or anyone over the age of 8.

Sai's mouth opened as he tried to explain the grave error, but Sakura cut him off. “Leave…” Her voice was soft, almost inaudible. Sai knew that it was best to head her words but he tried again to explain. “Leave…” her voice was still soft. She looked up from the shorts to Sai. He could see the slits that were her eyes fierce with anger; he had never seen her this angry before. “Leave… before I kill you…” Sai, overcome with sudden dread, disappeared. Sakura, red faced and breathing heavy, was left with the dress still draped over her shoulder and the tiny shorts in her hands.

That night, Sai sat up in bed looking at the cover of the book that had failed him twice. “What am I doing wrong?” he asked the book. He wanted to give up, but as he closed his eyes Sakura appeared again. He knew that he couldn't stop trying. `Tomorrow is another day,' he thought as he placed the book on his bedside table and lay down. Already dreaming of Sakura, he could not hear the footsteps on the road just outside his window. Sakura had gone for a midnight run.