Well, I've never done this before but I do not own these characters and I make not claim that I do.
"INO, GET YOUR BUTT OUT HERE OR WE ARE GOING TO BE LATE!"
Ino's eyebrow twitched in irritation as the high-pitched shrieking continued to penetrate her dorm's "solid" wooden door, interspersed with incessant fist-banging. As if that voice wasn't giving her enough of a headache.
Her old friend, Hinata, perched upon her own pale blue bed spread with her hands covering her mouth in a half-hearted attempt to stifle her giggles- and was only half succeeding. Still, Ino couldn't complain, there was way worse roommates she could be saddled with.
"I'll be out in a second, Sakura!" Ino called back as her fingers continued to glide across her laptop's keyboard. Really, Ino loved her to death, but that girl needed to learn some patience.
Within seconds, she hit the save button with a resounding click and demurely shut the cover. Ino drummed her fingers against the shiny purple surface of her most prized possession as she took a beat for mental inventory; nope, she hadn't forgotten anything.
Ino pushed back from her desk at last, allowing her chair swivel an extra few times. "WHEEEE!"
And Hinata finally lost her battle with the giggles, now laughing outright.
Laughing as well, Ino rose from her seat and stretched her arms above her head to work out the kinks that accompany being fixated at a desk for more than an hour, her white T-shirt also rising to expose her tan, flat stomach.
"You know, you really should hurry about before she bursts a blood vessel or something," Hinata reasoned, finally regaining some of her composure.
This time it was Ino's turn to crack up and she reflected on just how much her friend had changed. When they were younger, Hinata had always been such a shy thing, turning quite alarming shades of red and passing out at inconvenient times. And her horrendous speech impediment! She couldn't make it through 'please pass the salt' without violently stuttering a good half dozen times.
Ino had found a certain degree of cuteness within her stuttering, unlike certain others she could name, who had tortured her in merciless (though original, Ino had to admit, albeit grudgingly) ways.
In response, Hinata had tirelessly committed herself to working the stutter out of her speech until she could call (if she so desiered, which she never did, thank God) a high priest a useless, old cow cursed with unfortunate face and natural odor, without breaking eye contact or stumbling over her words.
Ino decided it was one hundred percent worth it to see the look on the face of Hinata's cousin when she marched up to him and promptly called him every bad 's' word she could think of, plus those contributed by Google.
"Maybe the blood would deplete from her forehead and reduce its massive size," Ino said in reply to Hinata's early comment, "but I'll still be ready in a second, I just need to find something to put my hair up with."
Ino began rummaging around her already somewhat cluttered desk, despite it only being the first week of university- they'd barely even finished orientation week! Ino paused as she came across her acceptance letter to this very school.
Sakura had been baffled as to why she had been so insistent on displaying it as prominently as it was, after it was "just a piece of paper" in her words. To Ino however, it was so much more than just a symbol of another dead tree. More than anyone even realized.
"INO-PIG, YOU BETTER HAVE A GOOD EXPLANATION FOR THIS!"
Shaken from her thoughts, she immediately began rummaging around the shiny wooden surface once more, letting out a small taa-daa once she finally found an elastic. Ino threw her long blonde hair up in a messy ponytail, not bothering to secure her bangs, leaving them to fall across one eye.
Ino gave Hinata a small smile to signify her readiness and Hinata too shoved off the bed to standing.
"INO, YOU PIG, I SWEAR IF YOU AREN'T THROUGH THIS DOOR IN TWO SECONDS AND MAKE ME LATE FOR OUR VERY FIRST CLASS OF OUR VERY FIRST YEAR OF UNIVERSITY-"
"Oh," said Sakura as Ino happened to open the door in mid-bang, causing Sakura to freeze with her fist suspended and her mouth still hanging open to scream.
"Really, is this a flashback to your previous hair style or something, Ino?" Sakura asked in a tone completely different from the near-banshee decibel of seconds before. "Feeling nostalgic, I take it?"
"Actually, I didn't have time to properly fix it, you see, seeing as how someone thought it would be wise to inform the entire building of their location and intentions for the day in a method reminiscent of the Neanderthals."
"Huh, would you imagine that. Speaking of which- imagination… it's a funny thing, isn't it? I personally imagine there was a reason alarm clocks were invented. Possibly in order to be conscious long enough to do what you need to do before you have to be somewhere!"
"Haruno Sakura, I'll have you know I was up plenty early. Speaking of which- NEED CAFFEINE!" Ino declared, waving the laptop still clutched in her hands for dramatic emphasis
For the third time that morning, outright laughter ensued and Ino linked arms with her two best friends was they went in search of coffee before class.
"…and then Neji shoved Tenten through the nearest door, not realizing it was the stairwell to the basement instead of the closet he thought it was," Hinata concluded as Ino and Sakura continued to howl with laughter as they learned the lengths her cousin would go to in order to keep his relatives from meeting his girlfriend.
"You mean he still hasn't told them?" Ino managed to gasp out. "But they've been dating for, what, like a year now?" Unfortunately, Ino had her head turned toward Hinata, leaving her obstructed eye to be her only outlook to her surroundings.
As such, it was not that much of a shocker when Ino abruptly collided with another object, to be more specific- a person, and even more specifically-a redhead who appeared relatively close to their own age. His green, green eyes clearly showed irritation, in case you hadn't already gotten the message from the firm line of his otherwise quite nice-looking mouth.
Not that it slowed no down in the slightest; she was used to attitude, actually preferring a guy who could take her own attitude and then give it right back.
Ino, now on the black and white tiled floor, along with all her belongings and what was once her latte, looked up to assess the damage that had been inflicted. Her own tailbone was definitely bruised but her fellow impactee seemed to have fared better, as he had managed to grab hold of the coffee shop's door knob and thus remained vertical.
"I was planning on drinking that, not wearing it," he spoke, his voice low and rough, not to mention totally sexy. Ino felt a slight tingle run up her spine.
"Sorry, I can totally buy you a new one, 'cause I feel your pain, I'm probably wearing mine too-" Ino's eyes widened in horror. "Oh no! Oh no, oh no, oh no, no, no." Ino began to frantically scramble around in search of her precious laptop; until she finally located it.
On the plus side, it had sustained no physical damage from being dropped. On the minus side, it was now thoroughly soaked through with the product of one of Ethiopia's main exports.
"That would be the polite course of action, seeing as how you completely mowed me down," his voice even more irritated now, laced with sarcasm and disdain.
This immediately got Ino on the offensive. "Hey, listen- it was an accident; I apologized and I offered to buy you a new drink and when you think about it, you got the better end of the deal because you only lost your coffee and your shirt whereas my laptop is totally and completely trashed! So why don't you go take your bad attitude and your pretty eyes and shove it-"
"Once again, we're really sorry about this," Sakura cut in with her hand over Ino's mouth. "Maybe we'll see you around campus though…"
He snorted at this idea; obviously it didn't appeal to him.
Hinata gave a small smile and a polite good-bye nevertheless, the practiced etiquette that had been drummed into her since childhood shining through. Sakura's farewell was much more enthusiastic and she ground her heel into Ino's toe to get her to do the same. Ino rolled her eyes and gave a dainty finger wave with Sakura's hand still over her mouth.
Hinata waited a full three seconds after he was out the door and disappearing around the corner before bursting into laughter. Sakura released Ino and joined in, her body shaking with laughter.
Ino rolled her eyes again but even she could see the humor in the situation- that is, until she remembered the loss of her computer, her eyes downcast with disappointment.
Noticing this, Sakura gave her a one-armed hug. "Cheer up, Ino. At least you're the first one of us to meet a guy on campus," she consoled.
Ino pulled a face, but then smiled. "True, he was definitely cute. And he looked good in those jeans. I'll just swing by Shino's later, see if he can salvage anything off of this wreck."
The trio made it halfway down the block before Ino made an abrupt stop and said, "Hey, wait! Hinata's already taken so she doesn't count."
Hinata giggled and Sakura shook her head. "It's times like these that force me to remind myself you're not actually a dumb blonde," Sakura observed, earning herself a shot to the shoulder in the process.
Ino plunked herself in the seat to left of Hinata and leaned forward past Sakura to greet her best friend's boyfriend. Naruto smiled back but before he could say anything, the door at the front of the room banged open, signifying the entrance of the person who could only be their professor.
Ino grinned, recognizing the figure, despite the fact that he had exchanged his casual, yet still classy, shirt for a long-sleeved thermal one; the brilliantly red hair was a dead-giveaway. His eyes scanned over the room and locked briefly on Ino, eliciting a frown. Ino's grin just widened- there was nothing she loved more than a challenge.
"I apologize for my lateness and informal dress; it appears not everyone understands the common courtesy of watching where they are going. As of this moment, I am your professor and I expect you to address me as such."
Ino immediately raised her hand. His eyebrow twitched but he nodded for her to continue anyways.
"So, is this a case of 'do as I say, not as I do', or are you going to be like, the coolest teacher ever, letting us waltz in and out of class, donning informal dress?" Ino's grin widened even more. "-or even no dress at all, which I am totally okay with by the way."
The sounds of laughter rippled through the lecture hall.
"You are all young adults now, I expect more than this childish behavior from you," he warned, implying already that he intended to make this semester an up-hill battle for Ino.
"This is a university class; you should behave like university students, not highschoolers. Wisdom with age!" he thundered.
"Time may be a great teacher, but it killed the students," Ino sing-songed back, thereby eliciting another peal of laughter from the room. "Or something like that."
Their professor smacked his forehead on the palm of his hand.
"Oh, and another thing- I may find it hard to refer to you as Professor being that you look my age, not to mention totally cute."
"Yes, I graduated early, but I can assure you I am fully qualified to be standing at the front of this room, Miss-?"
"Ino," she supplied smiling deviously.
"Your full name, if you please," he prompted, now dangerously irritated.
"Oh, that's easy; just take Ino and put whatever your last name is on the end of it," Ino said, twirling the tip of her ponytail. "Come to me with a hard one next time."
"My office- now!" he growled, pointing stiff-armed to the door he had entered through just minutes previously.
Success; breaking point- now established.
"Sure, as long as you're coming with me," Ino teased him further (just for good measure) as she sauntered down the aisle.
His eyebrow was now twitching uncontrollably; he had never lost control of a class before and now because of this one insolent blonde, the entire room was at a loss of composure.
After dismissing the class at the end of his lecture, he planned his method of dealing with the renegade blonde. Deciding on his favorite tactic- the intimidating stare- he marched across the room and banged open his door, rattling the window panes in the process.
Said blonde was sitting in one of the two chairs opposite his desk, staring into nothingness. Taking his own, considerably more comfortable chair, he proceeded to give Ino the stone-cold glare that often traumatized small children.
Ino however, simply looked confused for a second before dawning recognition spread across her face.
"Oh, I get it- staring contest! I love these!" Ino declared, settling further into the straight, wood backed chair and placing her elbow on his mahogany desk to give her chin a place to rest on. She stared back, gleefully and defiantly.
Gaara narrowed his eyes; Ino smiled.
Gaara's eyes narrowed even further.
Ino smiled even wider.
He groaned and fell back in his chair with his hand thrown across his face in the universal "I give up" fashion. Unbelievable!
"Yo, Gaara! What's this I hear about you harassing a student? She your girlfriend or something?" his brother Kankuro burst through the door, neglecting to knock as usual. He claimed the other guest chair without shooting even a fleeting glance at Ino.
"Is she doable?" Simply and crass, yet still highly efficient.
Ino rolled her eyes but Gaara simply put his forehead into his palm again, accustomed to his brother's straight-forward, blunt nature.
"Come on, baby bro. I just wanna hear about your girlfriend!"
"Gaara has a girlfriend?" probed his sister, Temari, as she also barged in.
"Oh, is this her?" Temari said as she turned her gaze on Ino's chair. "She's pretty."
Kankuro finally noticed Ino as well and put on a feral grin. "Whaddaya know, she is doable!"
Ino did an even bigger eye roll.
"Whoops, I'll just let you two get back to whatever you were doing," Temari smiled knowingly as she back out of his office.
"Sorry for interrupting!" she called after herself.
"I'm not," Kankuro said, still leering at Ino in a fashion startlingly similar to that of tiger as it stalks its prey.
Temari marched back into the room and grabbed Kankuro by the ear and proceeded to drag him out of her youngest brother's office, knocking the chair over in the process.
A hollow silence filled the office in the wake of the crash.
"Family?" Ino guessed, more to break the silence than anything else. Still resting her chin in her palm, she blinked her brilliantly blue eyes twice to prompt a response.
Gaara nodded stiffly, his tousled red hair shifting in response to his movement. Ino couldn't help but admire its shine, how it reflected the subdued lighting of his formal office. She couldn't wait to run her fingers through it…
"Well, if that's everything-" Ino began to rise from her chair.
"Not so fast- you still have today's assignment to catch up on."
Ino fell dejectedly back into her wooden seat. Gaara winced inwardly; that had to hurt, especially given the tumble she took this morning. Shaking those thoughts from his head, he handed her a sizeable sheaf of papers.
"To be printed and double-spaced," he said in lieu of a formal explanation.
"Small problem- my laptop is trashed. 'Not everyone understands the common courtesy of watching where they are going'," Ino mimicked his early words.
Once again, Gaara leveled his forehead into his palm, only this time with a considerably more resounding thud.
"You know-"
"…and so I said, 'If you keep doing face palms like that, you're going to shake something lose!'" Ino filled in her friends was they made their way back to their dorms. She was glad that Sakura and Hinata had opted to wait for her after class while she was detained.
"Please, this coming from the girl who based her final Bio paper on the improbability of causing irreparable damage through repeated eye rolling," Hinata reminded her.
"Hey, in my defense, your boyfriend dared me to," Ino said, giving Hinata a playful shove as they walked along the flagstone path toward their building. "Anyways, I have to go back around four every day until I finish that assignment because, God forbid, it's done in ink."
The trio walked in silence until they reached Ino and Hinata's dorm. Ino began rummaging through all her pockets, her search in vain.
"Hinata, please tell me you remembered our key. Otherwise, we aren't going to be able to get into our room." Ino said sheepishly- this was not exactly the time this had happened.
"She's not going in there anyways," a new voice claimed. "I have big plans for tonight."
Kiba wrapped his arm around Hinata's waist, drawing her close to his side to lead her down the poorly-lit hallway toward his room.
"Wait, you can't leave me stranded!" Ino hollered after the couple, not at all eager to spend yet another night sans a proper bed.
Kiba fished the chain that Hinata's baby blue key hung from out of her cleavage and tossed it toward Ino, never breaking stride.
Ino caught the key but didn't insert it into the lock quite yet, preferring instead to watch the scene in front of her unfold. She knew that face; Kiba was up to something.
Kiba opened his own door and nudged his girlfriend inside with a quickly murmured, "See you in just a sec."
He then proceeded to quickly pound on the door of the adjacent room. Kiba stepped back from arms length as Neji, Tenten, and Lee stuck there heads out of the opening, one over the top of the other, ala Friends.
"What?" Neji growled, not appreciating being interrupted in the middle of a social sciences project. At least that is what he referred to it as; the average nineteen-year-old would say 'hanging out'.
"Oh, nothing I just wanted to make sure you were home…" Kiba began slowly, then blurted out, "so you can hear what I'm doing to your cousin."
With that Kiba darted away and slammed his door shut, leaving behind a dumbfounded Neji, a giggling Tenten, and a rather confused Lee.
Ino fiddled with the key dangling from her fingers as she turned back to Sakura. "So, do you want to come in, have some girl talk about our first day and rate all the boys in our classes?"
"No can do, Ino, I have plans. Naruto mentioned something about a ramen shop on campus so we're probably going to go check that out. Care to join us?" Sakura offered, feeling guilty about leaving her best friend to spend the night by herself.
Ino shook her head. "I'll just catch up with you tomorrow."
Sakura shrugged. "Suit yourself." And with that she disappeared around the corner.
Ino watched her for a few seconds before turning the key and slipping through the door. She dropped her bag and ruined laptop on her desk, making a mental note to go track down Shino later. Most likely, he would not be returning to his room with Kiba tonight.
Ino threw herself face down on her bed, inhaling the lingering scent of lavender of her pillow from home. The image of eyes greener than the sea flashed through her mind as her baby blue eyes fluttered closed.
Two seconds, and then she would go find Shino…
I would like to point out that there is a very fine line between constructive criticism and being just plain mean. Therefore, I request you be conscious of your position in reference to this line and keep your comments productive.
That being said, I would love to hear your opinions.