It was a draughty day at the end of February. The pellety snow was striking down to the ground and the outside was swarming with a tranquil white. And as Sakura, Naruto and Ino were trudging to school in their knee-high boots and 5-centimeter-thick outfits, the wind was also whizzing and snow blinding, causing them to wail everytime a gust of wind lashed their faces and their thoroughly cladded bodies, bellow hatefully when snow came crashing into their faces.
"Winter's never been this god damned cold! And the snow too! I can't see shit! Ouch!" - Naruto exclaimed, hitting something that quite resembled a lamppost, or maybe an utility pole, one could never be so sure. He then proceeded to mutter incoherent profanities and raised a fist at the object, kicking it to ease his ire.
"Let it go Naruto. If we don't hurry, we won't be able to catch breakfast." Sakura sighed, her eyes rolling as she took the male blond of the group by the collar, dragging him along. The kid crossed his arms and let out an irritated "huff". Ino just shook her head - "baby".
After another 5 minutes of st hardship, they finally reached the school premises. And as much as the threesome loathed the school for not letting them have the day off, they still had to offer all their gratitude for it was basking them in such warmth and protecting them from the horror that was the spilling snow and abhorred chill. And so after taking off their coats and scarves, settling only for their light uniform and slipping on their indoor shoes, they went into the cafeteria and broke the fast as part of their ritual.
They all sat down on their usual seats in the corner of the crowded room, contented with their warm respective dish.
"Seriously, this Baka...bal...bakl...oh forget it. This pastry looks so good!" Naruto started sniffing his choice of breakfast under the dismayed gaze of his very own two best friends. "Oh my god! This is heaven! I'm drooling." And he was chomping on it.
"Naruto, please!" Sakura spat while Ino patted her chest, possibly preventing a vomit. "Now this-" She gestured the whole spectacle of him devouring his poor treat. "-is why you have no friends."
Naruto immediately looked up from the pastry and offered his best puppy dog eyes. "But yo…yo…you guys are my friends right." He stuttered, eyes popping out of their sockets.
"Only under obligation. We feel sorry for your parents." Ino nodded approvingly.
"Because we are the childhood friends of an idiot, we feel a sense of responsibility towards you in this big bad world." Ino stated matter-of-factly. "And for that we are pretty much your whole friend list, only added by-"
"Hey guys."
"-this little shit right here." Gestured Ino at a girl adorned with a pair of china-esque hairbuns. "Ew, what are you doing here Tenten. Go away" The blond made a face.
"Yeah Ten - ten. We don't welcome you here get out." Sakura flicked her wrist, nose sticking up in the opposite direction.
"Boo you whore." Tenten stuck out her tongue, dropped her bag and joined them at the table. She was the only one in the group the others had not known since infantry. In middle school, Sakura had gone to a different school while Naruto and Ino worked their way up academically together. There, she had met and befriended a good-spirited half-Chinese, half-Japanese girl who also had gotten on really quickly with the rest of their boisterous little club. They had been friends since middle school and together were determined on attending the same high school. And now, here they were, indulging in their well-earned breakfast, chatting along about whatever that was under the sun.
Her gaze then was caught at the very unsightly image of a pigging out Naruto. "Dude, civility." She scolded, holding out her arm, the palm faced disapprovingly at the group buffoon.
"Yes 'mam." Naruto looked down, guilty as charged, putting the pastry gently down on the plate. The other three snickered.
"Man I'm freezing." Tenten complained as she lifted her hands up to her mouth, blowing puffs of breath and rubbing her hands together, trying to create some heat with the friction. "I mean, whose idea was it to make us come to school in this kind of weather. I couldn't see nothing but white out there. I ran into the bloody school gate and now there's a new bun on my head." She rubbed the swell on her forehead and winced from the pain.
"I feel ya sister." Naruto sympathetically offered his hand for a high-five, only for the girl to raise a brow at him. "Okay." The poor guy lowered his head and started sobbing.
"There there." Sakura patted his back, softening her stroke to seem compassionate.
"Oh hey!" Naruto suddenly shot up, taking Sakura by surprise, making her jump back at least a whole meter. "Have you guys heard?"
"Heard what?" The girls looked at each other questioningly.
"They broke up." His simple hushed statement had the females choking on their respective food or drink. "Supposedly." He later added.
Their eyes were widened with shock (and maybe from lack of oxygen). "Nuh uh. No freaking way. You sure you're not bluffing Naruto." Tenten spoke up as she was the first to recover from her choke. Luckily for her, it was only a small piece of soft bun. But for Ino, it was a larger than average slice of pie (she was still banging on her chest), and for Sakura, it was her tea. The girl spurted out most of her earlier consumption in her own disgust. ("Ugh." She slightly shivered as she hurriedly grabbed a napkin.)
"This is totally legitimate." Naruto crossed his arm, his eyes closed, nodding affirmatively with a smug look. "Just got the news yesterday. Mind you, no one except the two involved knows." He sounded important. "Well okay maybe also a few of their close friends." He shrugged dismissively. "And their parents."
"How do you even get your hands on this kind of info, ramen." Ino asked doubtfully, her eyes squinting.
"Puh-lease woman. An Uzumaki, okay half, and even if I don't carry the last name, but still Uzumaki, knows all about other Uzumakis' biz. Us clan is tight bro."
"So you eavesdropped on your mother."
"I eavesdropped on my mother."
"My point still stands either way. This piece of gossip right here is invaluable, precious, but lethal, kinda like a cat holding a newly-sharpened kitchen knife. Once it gets out that the item went their separate ways, this school'll be a hot ass wreck."
"Yeah. Karin's the head bitch in charge and Sasuke's like... the dude. The Dude." Tenten emphasized while shaking her head in mild confusion. "Imagine the fangirls. There are gonna be the "OMGNO" fangirls and those who are like "Hell to the yeah". Not to mention the fanboys. Are they gonna be ecstatic Karin's available again." She casually sucked on her straw. "People will be either fighting for their favorite couple to reunite or simply for their crush. Since this is like, a once in a lifetime opportunity for them. Who knows how long they are gonna be single for."
"I sure gonna miss updating about them." Sakura's elbow leaned against the tabletop, now clean from her own saliva and almost-swallowed tea, her palm pressing on her cheek, supporting her head. She looked up wistfully. "It sure was nice knowing everything they did. You know like where they met up for dates, when they kissed, their presents for each other and a "reliable" source even kept us up-to-date with their sex life…" There was a small pause. "Must be hard being celebrities." She nibbled on her bread understandingly.
The others just nodded.
"Hey!" Naruto hollered. "You know what's grand? Me and Sasuke, as best bros."
"Now that was spontaneous." The girls chimed and Sakura leaned forward to check on Naruto's temperature. "Nope. Still pretty much cool."
"No seriously, we'd be like these two guys who are poles apart but mash together nicely."
"That sounds gay, even for you Naruto." Ino flat out. "And no, I reckon Sasuke's not going to engage in another relationship that soon."
"C'mon. I just think we'd be like the Hot-Cool duo that are always present you know." Naruto sure was exhilarated about this new idea.
"Dude, did you just sneak up on my shoujo shelf again? No wonder I found several volumes missing." Sakura squinted her viridian eyes at her friend, throwing optical daggers at the poor fool. "But yeah, maybe you guys would match." She shrugged lightly.
"See!" He pointed at Ino and Tenten, who were still unimpressed.
"But Sasuke tops. And it will only be a quick fling since Sasuke graduates this year and will probably go to college abroad. And that will definitely hurt your itty-bitty wittle heart."
The girls laughed while a certain half-Uzumaki sulked. "I hate you guys." He whispered. "Like why am I even friends with you?"
"Because we're fabulous an we love you too." Drawing out the last vowel, the three girls pressed their hands on their respective chest in awe at him. The little fool was too precious.
"But in all seriousness," Ino queried, "I don't get why you two are not even acquaintances." The three girls all turned their head at Naruto. "He was dating your cousin, and I remember you and Karin to be quite close in kinder-garden and grade-school."
"She lives with her grandparents in the Uzumaki compound so we would meet each-other at the weekend when my family came to visit." Naruto casually responded. "But well, school happened and she couldn't possibly be not busy with her study and there were also her friends. So she was almost never home when we came to visit. We just grew apart like that. I guess it was for the best since we see things rather differently and our personalities kinda clash. Though I did meet Uchiha several times when he came to pick her up on their dates. Never got to talk with guy still."
Then they heard the bell ringing, signaling they'd only five minutes left till the first period. People in the cafeteria started to gather their stuff and scurry off.
"Damn I gotta hurry up and finish up these scones." Sakura ungracefully talked with her mouth full of the delicious pastry.
"I still can't believe you got me dragged into that stupid psychology club Sakura." Tenten glared, picking up her bag. "And why aren't these two in it." With index finger pointed at the two blonds, she interrogated indignantly.
"Well Ino's got her cheer-leading practice-" Sakura said nonchalantly. Ino did a V-sign. "-and Naruto has his football practice-" "I love football." Naruto stupidly added. "-both of which I just realized are dismissed today due to the bad weather." She turned her head to smirk sheepishly at the blondes. The mentioned two shot up their heads and widened their eyes. Tenten just decided to do the dougie.
"Now come on. It will be fun." The pinkhead beamed. "You don't even have to participate in it since you don't really attend that club. But Tenten and I, we need company." Her pout was exaggerated. The two in the question looked at each other hesitantly. "There will be games." She said hopefully. "The teacher in-charge is Kakashi, also Sai and Haku go to that club so there will be gaggles of twittering girls... and boys, and it will be entertaining to watch. Are you with me or what?" Now she was just desperate. But she sure got them on a grip as Ino and Naruto's eyes widened. They held each other's hands tightly and started jumping up harmoniously, cheering and giggling. "Fanatics." Said Sakura under her breath, shaking her heads at the two friends, wondering if they were really there to watch the overly excited fans or be them themselves.