The only sounds he could hear were his only steady breathing and the light clink from when his weights were released and knocked against the rest. Finishing his rep he slowly let the bar of the shoulder press go above his head where he took a few seconds to finish his breathing. Menma was exhausted, he always was when he worked out. More emotionally than anything. This was his escape from his team. He wasn't responsible for anyone but himself when he came here and he liked it that way. If he tried to hide at his house from them either his parents would try to drag him out or they would only find away in. The steep membership fee was enough to keep them away along with the strict no visitors' policy. Finally standing he took a glance in the mirror, smirked then made his way to the locker room to clean up. He was of the firm belief that soon by being more physically fit he would be the one on their team that was swamped with girls, oblivious to the fact that the biggest reason he wasn't approached as often was his cold demeanor and that he always had the look of a grump on his face.
Once he was showered clean he pulled his street clothes back on which only consisted of baggy shorts, a worn shirt, and a pair of geta Jiraiya had gotten for him years ago. Clacking away he gave a small wave to the girl behind the counter whose name he still didn't know after a year. Menma was barely out the door when he was nearly trampled by his on again off again girl thing as he liked to put it.
"I get that you might have missed me but there are more appropriate ways to show it." He groaned out under her weight. Hinata let out a fake laugh that ended in a short then pinched his nose. "Or you could try stopping by when you get back into town instead of spending time in ally's when your horse's ass of a teammate and going to the gym!" She wasn't really yelling, it's just that he voice was always raised which had a lot to do with their off again situation. Pushing her off just to help her stand he dusted himself off. "You act like I wanted to spend time with him. Plus, we weren't hanging out in an ally. I was just having a talk with him about how he needed to get his shit together then left." He was lying and Hinata knew it but didn't press the matter. While she wasn't aware what they were doing in the ally last night it couldn't have been that much of a big deal. He probably was actually lecturing Sasuke in a way, he always was in one way or another.
"Whatever. I don't care anyway. It's just nice that you're home." She patted his chest like she was smoothing out a crease on his shirt that didn't exist. "Now, take me on a fucking date before a strangle you." She leaned in while she spoke and kissed his sweetly, a high contrast to the way her hands were finding his throat to prove that she would strangle him. Menma believed her too as she actually had before. "Fine. Food only then I get to go home."
"Food and cuddling."
"Nice food and no cuddling."
"Cheap food, sex, and light cuddling."
Menma rolled his eyes. She was always trying to bargain to get what she actually wanted instead of just coming out with it to begin with. "If you had just wanted sushi and sex you could have said that from the beginning." He started to walk away while giving her a gentle slap to her ass. "Now c'mon before I change my mind." She wrapped her arm around his while to mark her territory while they walked to a sushi place that should have been shut down years ago with its numerous health code violations. It didn't bother them really, they could nearly get away with eating rotten food at this point without getting sick and believed that was what an acquired immune system was for.
They had to squeeze through a few allies and under stairways of the village's nearly seedy underbelly to get to their destination. While they were making their way there it was like they were a real couple. She was actually funny when she wasn't trying to be domineering and Menma could actually smile when he wasn't trying to put up a show of being the best at everything. Both of them would say that if it was always like this they could make it work but unfortunately it was only like this while she were alone and doing things they probably shouldn't. At the sushi restaurant they find a corner booth to squeeze into together, ordering enough food and beer for 12 people.
The sated and now full couple reclined and sipped at the last of their beer, Menma buzzed while Hinata took it like a champ and wasn't even tingling. "You keep eating and drinking like that and you'll get fat. No amount of exercising will fix you." She chuckled to herself and nuzzled her face in his neck to bite him. "Well I can't be like you and let all my food go to my tits." Menma laughed quietly in a way that only inebriated people do, gulping down the rest of his beer. "Now take me home before I become useless too you. You know I'm not a big drinking."
"You're a medium sized anything, sober or not."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?!" He cocked an eyebrow up and tried to remove her from his neck to get an answer but didn't get very far.
"Shut up and take me home already. We're either having sex in your room or right here for everyone to see. I don't care which." She actually did. Climbing into his lap she pulled on his shirt, kissing him hard in an attempt to persuade him to hurry up and get them out of there.
"Your carriage, m'lady." He chuckled again and snapped his fingers and teleporting them out of there with one of the few tricks he had enough of an attention span to pick up from his father. But with him drunk he wasn't as good with his aim, landing them on the floor next to his bed instead.
"Smooth."
Menma chuckled more and wrapped his arms around her. "Go fuck yourself you soul sucking harpy." His words were reversed of his actions as he kissed her temples, feeling that they weren't going to make it to the sex part of their deal. "Sorry babe, this is it for me." He was mumbling at this point, feeling himself starting to drift off into a beer induced sleep.
With a pissed off groan she removed herself from his tangled drunk grasp, picking him up just to dump in him the bed and leave a note by his night stand. "Some days, you're just good for nothing Men. Grow the fuck out of it quick." She stroked his hair before she left him to sleep it off.
Into the next day when Menma finally woke up to blink in the afternoon sun he was aware by his clothing that he had again passed out before they could have sex. Sometimes he did this just to get her off his case, knowing if she always gave into her demands, whether they benefited him or not, then she would always get what she wanted and he would be stuck with her forever. It's not that he didn't like her, she could be fun but it wasn't enough of the time that he enjoyed her company to keep her around. If she could just ease the fuck up and stop screeching at him all the time he would be much more receptive to her come-ons.
Giving a finally lazy stretch he reached for the note he knew she would have left just to toss it in the trash, he never read them. Menma was shit at relationships and he was willing to just accept that instead of looking inward and finding the part of him that he needing to work on. This was just easier at his age. His clock made him groan and finally jump out of bed. He was late to meet up with his team and train, meaning if he didn't get ready soon he was about to be 'youthfully' tackled by his over enthusiastic teacher.
A barrage of the word fuck came from his mouth while he was trying to quickly change out of his street cloth into his pants and bandage his hands for training. Walking out of his room was when Kakashi finally struck, kicking Menma in the center of his chest and throwing him out his open window onto the street below.
"Menma-kun! You were foolish to think I would let you sleep in so late! You are wasting away in that bed of yours when you're energy should be used to enhance the bond of teamwork that you need so badly!" Kakashi threw himself out the window as well but landed on his feet, unlike Menma who was laying in the dirt and regretting. Kakashi did however show a little bit of kindness and drop Menma's shoes on the ground next to him. "Now finish up and meet us by the center gate, I have something very important for you all today. You have three minutes." With that his teacher was gone and left Menma wondering how far away he would be able to get from them in three minutes. Taking his time instead Menma pulled his shoes on and just flashed to the gate instead of running like he knew Kakashi had wanted him too. The whole village would be appalled if they actually knew how many scroll tabs Menma had hidden in places he thought were useful. In his defense he wanted to be sneaky like he was always told ninja were.
When he took in his new surroundings it was nice to see he wasn't the only one that Kakashi had literally kicked out of bed, just the last. Sasuke had leaves in his hair and a few scuffs on his clothes that gave him reason to believe he had actually run here and maybe even had been chased over to the gate. Sakura wasn't all that bad. It was just clear that she hadn't done her hair this morning and she was wearing her flak jacket over his pajama top which could have just been a bold fashion statement. He really did seem the most put together, only because he wasn't aware of how much dirt was stuck to his back from his earlier landing. The three of them looked a hot mess.
"Now that you're all hear you can know the important news!" Kakashi posed dramatically. "Yours truly has overcome Gai-sensei in a fierce battle and is now ahead of him in their lifetime rivalry!" The three of them froze for a moment, hoping that Kakashi was just being playful and saving the real news for after this but that wasn't the case. Sasuke nearly fell over from shock, Sakura was already in the process of hitting their teacher for making her come out in public looking the way she did while Menma was already walking away as he lacked the ability to deal with this shit.
"I'll see you guys later." He muttered out, completely embarrassed by his teacher. He didn't manage to get very far before Sakura was chasing him down, linking her arm with his and walking together. "So now that all that nonsense is out of the way are we still all training together?" She looked up at his hopefully, attempting to guilt him into it. "Do I really have to? Sasuke isn't even here so what's the point?"
"Are you saying you don't want to spend time with me anymore?" She stuck out her lower lip in a pout and kept looking up at him but with giant puppy dog eyes this time. "It's not like we need him to spar anyway. It could be just the two of us like old times." She bounced around to stand in front of him. "Pleeeeeeease!"
"Fine!" His head hung back as he belted out his answer. "But keep it to yourself or Hinata is going to try to kick your ass again. You know how she gets when we hang out."
Sakura blew out a raspberry before she started walking beside him again. "You act like I can't keep up with her or something." She hated hearing about Menma's dysfunctional relationship, especially the part that involved Hinata. They hadn't completely gotten along since they were children as Hinata was far too confrontational and competitive for her taste. "If she tries to get between me and my lovely teammate who is like a distant brother to me I'll make sure she takes those oversized tits back to whore island." While Sakura spoke she was clutching harder and harder onto Menma's arm, cause him the pain of her words.
"You keep that up and I won't be able to spar, I can't heal that fast you know." Having to pry her off he rubbed his bicep until he regained feeling in it.
"I can heal faster than you can so try to keep up. I'd hate to have to trade you in for Sasuke. Not like he ever gives a shit about this stuff anyway. He'll just grab my ass and say he slipped again."
"He's gotten better about that, hasn't he?" Menma had little to no faith in their team being able to ever travel on anything other than C rank missions anymore and was starting to feel like they were holding him back. Maybe he was just an asshole or he was really the only one improving.
"Not at all. If anything the more I tell him no the more interested he seems. Why can't guys just ever take a no for an answer? Why has there got to be something wrong with me for me to not want to date him! It's him!" Sakura's frustration was noted but Menma still rolled his eyes as it wasn't anything he was used to hearing. A lot of guys around the village would fawn over Sakura but she was beautiful so he expected it. She was also a hero's daughter and part of that made him almost want to bone her as well but she was too much for him.
"I'd say give him a chance but if it means that I have to as well then I'm out." With a shrug Menma gave up. Maybe just the two of them could work on their coordination before the three of them could. A chain with one broken links was more useful then all broken links. "We can give it a bit of a go today but we'll try for all of us together again later this week. I could use the time off from him."
"Kakashi-sensei or Sasuke?" Sakura wisely asked.
"I have to choose?"
Deeper in the woods than he would have liked Menma was hiding in the Earth. Sakura had landed one punch on him strong enough to knock his ass back and dislocate his shoulder, but he didn't let her know that and instead was hiding now. She would just assume it was a part of their sparring but in reality he was just waiting for the sting to go away otherwise he would be no match against her as much as he hated to admit that to just himself even.
"Menma! I know you're cheating!"
He could feel her starting to get closer which meant he wasn't hidden as well as he had been. She would never sense as well as he could but the disrupted ground would give him away. Moving closer to the surface he emerged and fled to the trees, placing traps to test his shoulder and giving it the yellow light of good enough. With a few more steps Sakura was within his sight, kunai in hand and ready for his attack. Luckily he was faster than her. The tags he placed where just a space holder so he could be able to use his father's flying thunder god technique to vanish before she would be able to hit him again. With a drop to the ground they both transformed into a fury. She was quick and much stronger than him with her chakra forced attacks but Menma was much much faster than her, always working on his speed and brute strength with he could. While he wasn't able to overcome her completely he was able to unclip her belt as well as her weapon bags and her reflex to catch them before they fell was the opening he needed. With a hand at her neck they froze then dropped their guard as he had won this round.
"I said no cheating."
"That's not cheating. It was your bags and not your skirt like last time. Just stop caring so much about your stuff." They were both a small amount out of breath and gave it a second before claiming their items and making their way back to the village gates.
"I'll get you one day. I just need to get faster and wear less."
"I couldn't give you better advice if I tried." He chuckled and gave her a gentle shove. With a smile of her own and gave him a one armed shrug.
"I'm glad you're stuck with me Menma. You're almost my best friend."
"That's really sad you know."
Sakura let out a faux gasp of distraught. "It is a compliment you swine!" She gave him a much harder shove than he had given her but it was all from a place of love. "I mean I know Ino is my best friend but she's so tiny and frail that I feel like when we talk about important things it will just wear her out. I can be my true honest self with you. You're important to me." Menma let out a groan like he didn't care what she was saying but he understood what she meant. He could actually talk to Sakura like she was a person and if she had been able to keep up with him his whole like maybe he could see her differently on their team but their past was what it was and because of that Menma also thought of Sakura as someone who was so tiny and frail.
"You're important to me too. Just keep working on your everything and we can finally be best friends for real."
"For realsies?!" She replied in her most sarcastic tone possible.
"Yeah, totes realsies."
