Chapter 1) Two Blondes Meet
Ino Yamanaka, best friend of Sakura Haruno, and number eleven on Konoha's Boarding School for Girls grade list, was applying pineapple lip balm to her lips when she felt a gust of air dash right by her. Ino sighed, placed the lip balm back into her locker, and grabbed her best friend. Noticing a stack of books in the pink haired girl's arms, Ino sighed again.
"Sakura, what are you doing?" Ino asked, closing her locker.
"I'm getting these textbooks to Miss Anko's class." Sakura answered, trying to break free from Ino's hold on her shoulder.
"Here, let me help you." Ino offered, thinking that Sakura would take the time to fix her hair.
"Thanks Ino!" Sakura said cheerfully. She handed the textbooks to Ino, and was about to head over to the library when Ino caught her with another sigh.
"Sakura, that's the wrong way to your locker." Ino said.
"Oh! Is it? Heh, I must be a little sleepy." Sakura said, sweat dropping.
"You mean a LOT sleepy. Were you up all night working at the hospital?" Ino asked, noticing the bags under Sakura's eyes.
"Y-yeah… but don't worry about it!" Sakura assured the blonde.
Ino sighed. "Sakura, you know what you have to do." Ino said, and Sakura nodded shamefully. She then walked to Ino's locker as Ino told some other girl to give the textbook copies to Anko.
Running a comb through Sakura's pink hair strands, Ino said: "You stress yourself too much, Sakura." She finished combing her hair, and started applying cherry lip balm on Sakura's soft lips.
"No, I-I'm not! Okay, maybe I am, but I'm only stressing myself a little." Sakura replied.
Ino finished applying the lip balm to Sakura, and started re applying her pineapple scented one on her own lips. Once she was done, she sighed and closed her locker again. "Sakura, you never go out after class with us, you never go on any dates, and you're always working in the hospital or studying on some test. Face it, billboard brow, you're stressed!" Ino said with a worried tone.
"That's not true, Ino pig! I went to that café with you guys!" Sakura retorted.
The two started walking to homeroom together. "Yeah, that's because you had to get some cake your mother ordered. Then you left once that man put that cake on the counter!" Ino argued.
"W-well, maybe I did that…. But I went on a date with that one guy!" Sakura argued back, trying to defend herself.
"That date was with Sai, and it only lasted thirty minutes! Plus, Sai didn't even remember your name for the whole date!" Ino said.
"Hey! How did you know that Sai couldn't remember my name and that it only lasted thirty minutes?! Were you…" Sakura said suspiciously.
"I-I was on a date with Shikamaru!!" Ino lied, remembering how she, Hinata, and TenTen spied on her while she was on that date. "Anyway, you're always working at the hospital or studying!" Ino said, changing the subject.
"Well, I'm off today!" Sakura blurted out. Ino grinned.
"You're off today, huh?" Ino repeated, smiling evilly.
Shit, she's going to make me go with her and the others to that café! Sakura thought. The bell rang, and Sakura sighed with relief.
"Sorry, Ino, I can't go with you and the others today… I-I have to study on some test!" Sakura cried, and ran into homeroom, thankful for the bell schedule.
Ino kept smiling. I'm not going to make you go out with us; I'm going to make you go on a date! Ino thought, and entered her homeroom which was right across from Sakura's.
The school right across from Konoha's Boarding School for Girls was Konoha's Boarding School for Boys. The two buildings use to be one huge school, but a certain troublemaker was caught in the girl's locker rooms, thus splitting the schools in half after many arguments. The Hyuuga clan also forbid one of their own to never see the troublemaker who was trying to sneak a peek at her. This was why the two visited eachother in a secret underground place with the help of their own homeroom teachers.
Since it was lunch for both schools, the troublemaker, or Naruto Uzumaki, was making his way to his homeroom classroom. Opening the door, he was surprised to see Sasuke Uchiha, a smart student with a bitter attitude, eating lunch by himself. Sasuke was his best friend, and since he was his best friend, he also knew that Sasuke would generally eat alone on the rooftop during lunch. Sasuke, on the other hand, didn't know that Naruto would always go to homeroom during lunch.
"Oh, what are you doing here? I didn't see Kakashi-sensei give you any sort of detention today." Sasuke said, taking a bite of his rice ball.
"He told me to meet me here at lunch today, for some reason. I think it was something about my grades… anyway, have you seen him?" Naruto lied, sweat dropping from his forehead.
As a smart student, Sasuke noticed the small sweat drop and could tell Naruto was lying without having to read his chakra level. "Hn." Sasuke grunted, as usual. "So tell me, Naruto, what are you really doing here?" Sasuke asked.
"How was your date with that red head girl? Wasn't her name Karin or something?" Naruto asked, changing the subject.
"I walked into that cafe, and walked straight out. She looked like she was already having a date with her imaginary friend." Sasuke said, rolling his eyes.
"You know what, Sasuke? You need to cut loose sometime. You should have at least given her five minutes." Naruto sighed.
Sasuke pinched Naruto's nose. "So what are you really doing here? I want my answer, so don't try to change the subject again."
Naruto sighed. He knew Sasuke would find out sooner or later, so he figured that he should just tell him now. Pushing the teacher's desk to the side, a handle in the floor appeared. Sasuke watched him pull the handle, and his onyx eyes spotted the many copies of Icha Icha Paradise!
"You go here to read th-"Sasuke's shout was muffled from Naruto's hand.
"Shut up, teme!" Naruto whispered. "This is just to distract anyone who would find this handle!"
Naruto shoved the books out of the way, and a he then pulled another handle in the dirt. There was a bright light in the hole, and Sasuke could easily see a ladder and a tunnel.
"I see, so you go meet that Hyuuga." Sasuke said, leaning back in his chair.
"Yes, could you please keep it a secret? I like her a lot, and if anyone finds out, especially Neji, he will tell and we will both be expelled! I won't ever see her again!" Naruto said in a worried tone.
"Whatever." Sasuke simply said.
Naruto grinned, and started to climb the ladder when he paused.
"Oh, and could you also put down the handle, put back the books, and push the teacher's desk back?" Naruto asked. Sasuke answered with his usual grunt signature (the famous "Hn"), and quickly did the procedure once Naruto was climbing in the tunnel.
When Naruto reached his destination underground, he was surprised again to find Ino, instead of Hinata.
"What are you doing here?! Where is Hinata, was her secret found out or something?!" Naruto panicked. Ino bonked his head, causing him to stop.
"No, Hinata's secret wasn't found out yet! She had to leave early today because she had to intend some Hyuuga clan crap. Anyway, she just wanted me to tell you so you wouldn't freak out." Ino replied.
"Oh… okay then!" Naruto said with a smile. Ino sighed.
"At least you two have each other." Ino mumbled.
"What are you talking about?" Naruto asked. "Aren't you going out with Shikamaru?"
"It's not my love life that's having problems! It's my best friend, Sakura!" Ino retorted.
"Sakura Haruno?! I've heard about her. They say she's really sweet and smart. Isn't she number one on your school's grade list?" Naruto asked.
"Yeah…. But she's just too damn stressed! She needs to cut loose, you know?" Ino complained.
"I know how you feel… My best friend, Sasuke, is also having problems with just relaxing. He also studies all the time!" Naruto complained.
An idea popped into their heads. They stared at eachother, with evil grins on their faces.
"Where should we drag them?" Ino asked, excitedly.
"Not anywhere with sweets, Sasuke hates sweets." Naruto replied.
"Sakura has a sweet tooth though… I wonder where they could both be happy…" Ino said.
The two blondes thought, and the perfect place then popped into both of their minds. With pointing fingers, they exclaimed:
"The new restaurant!"
High-fiving, the two congratulated each other. Naruto was heading back to his classroom, when Ino yelled at him:
"Make sure he's there by 5!"
Naruto nodded, and the two headed back to their schools.
