Chapter Two - Game Plan
When Naruto had first brought up the idea for a party, Sakura had thought it ill-conceived. There was very little to feel celebratory about these days, as everyone had suffered greatly during the recent fights with Akatsuki and Orochimaru. But Naruto insisted it would be a good morale booster for 'old Team 7,' and realizing that he was right Sakura had quickly given in. The party wouldn't be just for their sake, either. After all, 'old Team 10' needed this just as badly.
So Sakura had stopped by the Yamanaka flower shop that morning to talk to Ino about the party. Happily, her best friend had immediately agreed, and Sakura looked forward to planning out the details with her – Ino had a knack for these things – but then she made the mistake of mentioning Ino's teammates.
That was twenty minutes ago, and Ino still hadn't shut up.
"– and I can't believe that… that stubborn idiot. He won't stop smoking! I think he's almost up to a pack a day now. I know his mother's been after him about it – not that it ever helps. Geez, I never used to think much about his constant fighting with his mother, but now I'm always wondering how that woman ever put up with him. Sakura, I swear he's making it a personal mission to tick us off!"
Sakura sighed, trying to look sympathetic but really hoping for a lull so that she could break in and steer the conversation elsewhere. It wasn't solely because she had heard this all before. Ino complaining about telling off her teammates wasn't exactly news, and besides, Sakura could often commiserate. However, Sakura noticed that lately the arguments between Ino and Shikamaru in particular had grown a lot more… frequent. And serious. It was worrisome watching Ino fly off the handle every time Nara's name came up.
"And he also doesn't care how disgusting and unattractive a habit it is. I mean, how does he ever expect to catch a girl if he doesn't shape up?"
Sakura laughed, trying to lighten up the mood. "Oh, come on, Ino! Shikamaru's all right, isn't he? I mean, I'm sure he'll find someone… eventually…"
"Ha! Not at this rate. No girl in her right mind is going to want to put up with that obnoxious attitude of his for long." Ino shook her head in helpless disgust and sank down onto the stool. Her voice turned unexpectedly anxious. "What am I going to do with them, Sakura? Even though Asuma told me to take care of them, I think I'm going to be an old woman before they ever get their personal lives together!"
Sakura blinked in surprise. Although she could sympathize, she still marveled at how seriously Ino had taken Asuma's final words to her. Even so, Sakura also felt that Ino had taken it too far. "Well, watching out for them during a mission is one thing. But surely… Asuma didn't mean for you to worry about something like this?"
Ino fired up again. She jumped up from the stool and slammed a hand against the counter.
"Especially for something like this! Look, Choji's a nice guy, but he has no self control and never listens when I tell him not to make a pig of himself. And Shikamaru – well, he's such a sexist that I have no idea if there's ever been a girl that he could stand for long. They make absolutely no effort at self-improvement; they're both so clueless when it comes to attracting the opposite sex!"
"But they'll figure it out eventually, right? I mean, they've both grown a lot just as shinobi over the last few years. So it's really just a matter of time for them to, well, wise up a bit about girls."
"You don't understand. They're not like me, Sakura. They're both the type who need a regular kick in the pants to get moving, whereas I know where I'm going – and I can take care of myself! Plus unlike them, I already know what guy I want…"
Ino's face, which had been dark and stormy throughout her tirade, suddenly grew light and coquettish. She looked slyly over at her best friend.
"So… Sai's going to be at the party, right?"
Sakura sighed again. She couldn't for the life of her understand what Ino saw in Sai – beyond his face, that is. Then again, it wasn't like Ino had an upfront seat to witness all of Sai's many social blunders as she and Naruto had. It also didn't help that he continued calling Ino "Gorgeous" every time they met (which still pissed Sakura off), and did nothing to discourage Ino's flirting. She couldn't really blame Ino for having the wrong impression of him.
"Yeah. It'll be good for him to socialize a little bit more. And maybe knock off a few of those rough edges."
Sakura sincerely hoped so; humanizing Sai was a pet project of hers. She couldn't help being deeply affected by his clumsy efforts at friendship. Still, there were many times she longed to pound him into the ground. But that was Sai. He was an acquired taste.
"Good!" beamed Ino, her good humor completely restored. She closed her eyes and smiled dreamily, lost in a happy fantasy. "Hey, do you think he likes me?"
"Er… maybe." Sakura honestly had no idea. "He's kind of hard to read, you know."
Ino's smile faltered slightly as she seemed to reluctantly agree. "Yeah, I know… I wish there was a way I could find out for sure."
She fell quiet, staring down thoughtfully at the counter. Just as Sakura thought at last they could get back to discussing party matters, Ino's head snapped up and she excitedly grabbed her best friend's arm.
"Listen, Sakura – you've got to help me! I want to do something to get Sai's attention and your party will be the perfect chance. I want to find out what he really thinks about me."
"You could just ask him," replied Sakura shortly. Now she was growing irritated.
"I know. I've thought about it before. But… I don't know… a guy ought to be bold enough to do some things on his own, too…"
It was hard to fully explain her feelings on the matter and Ino wondered if she was being a hypocrite. After all, she had no problem with flirting; she certainly wasn't afraid of approaching a boy or making it obvious that she was interested. So was it silly and old-fashioned of her to be silently waiting for the object of her affection to take the next step and tell her how he felt, much less ask her out? But then why should she have to do everything herself? After all, even as much as she'd liked him and with all her blatant flirting, she'd never once asked Sasuke outright what he thought of her. Before her crush began in earnest – before her friendship with Sakura exploded – Ino had been reluctant to admit that she even liked him. (What was his deal, acting so stuck up all the time anyway?) Afterwards, when any bit of leverage in their battle would have been good, Ino still wouldn't ask him. In retrospect, she didn't know if it was fear holding her back or if it was just preferable not to know.
In the end it didn't matter. After Sasuke had run away, Ino had moved on to other crushes – but the pattern was eerily always the same. She would smile, and tease, and flirt outrageously. They in turn would enjoy the attention, perhaps flirt a little back… and do nothing more. Sai was merely the most recent in a long string of disappointments. But at least he seemed to be genuinely interested… probably.
Why were boys so difficult?
"Yeah, I know what you mean," mumbled Sakura, thinking back sadly on her own troubles with Sasuke. His problems were complex, however, whereas Sai was altogether a completely different story. "But even so, there are certain guys who need a little more, ah, encouragement just to make that first move," she said as tactfully as she could.
"I guess that's true," murmured Ino softly. "It's ultimately about finding the right encouragement…"
"I'm sure Sai will come around eventually," said Sakura kindly as she gave Ino a reassuring pat. In reality, she highly doubted it… but one never knew. What was a little white lie between friends?
"Hey, don't go acting as if you need to cheer me up!" cried Ino suddenly, brushing Sakura's hand aside as she recollected herself. "Don't forget that I'm going to beat you at love, too, you know!" she added with a hint of the old rivalry.
"Yeah, right – in your dreams, Ino!" growled Sakura, feeling her blood stir. But she didn't want to waste time indulging in silly bickering now, even for old time's sake. "Anyway, forget about all that for a moment. Focus, Ino! The party – help me think of something to do for fun. No matter what he says, I know Naruto is probably planning on doing something perverted and I want to do something nice before everything completely degenerates!"
At last ready to get down to business, Ino scoffed good-naturedly. "Oh, come on, what do you honestly think he'll end up doing? Even if he wants to try something, it's not like we're going to let him, right? Besides, knowing Naruto he'll probably stick to an old party standby, so it won't be anything worse than Truth or Dare or Spin the Bottle – even a freak like him can't mess those up!"
"You won't think so after Naruto handles it, Ino."
Just then the jingle of a bell alerted Ino and Sakura to the entrance of a customer. They looked up to see Hinata approaching the counter, a shy smile on her face as she politely greeted them.
"I b-brought this by to show you, Ino," she said, carefully pulling out a small framed picture from a bag and setting it on the counter. "I just finished it last night."
"Ah, it's oshibana," remarked Sakura from over Ino's shoulder as she leaned in to inspect the pressed flower arrangement. "I didn't know you could do this!"
"Hinata's been coming here to get the more exotic flowers for quite awhile now, and my mother thinks she could perhaps use some in the store," explained Ino, looking up from the picture. "Wow, that's really good, Hinata! I think my mother will definitely want this one. Do you mind if I keep it to show her later?"
"D-do you really think so?" Hinata turned pink and ducked her head slightly, but her smile was radiant. "I'm so glad. Yes, please take it."
As Ino carried off the artwork, Sakura turned towards Hinata curiously. "How do you make your oshibana pieces?"
"After the flowers are pressed, I lay them out on a canvas and arrange them how I want. But it's hard… s-sometimes I've torn the petals by accident. So now I try to use pictures of flowers first. I can move them until I'm happy, use them as a model to guide me… it's not really p-proper, though…"
"Hey, as long as that method works for you, what does it matter?" said Ino as she rejoined them. "Sakura, you should tell her now."
"Oh, right. Hinata, we're going to have a party a few days from now. Will you come? You can tell Kiba and Shino that they're invited, too."
Hinata gave Sakura a startled look, perhaps surprised at being invited to such an event. "A party? F-for who?"
"Oh, nothing like that; it's just a little 'morale booster,' as Naruto likes to call it. It's going to be at his place, by the way. So do you think you could make it?"
To Sakura's astonishment, Hinata's face suddenly turned crimson and she became highly agitated. "Na… Naruto's p-place?" she whispered.
"Yeah, I know what you're thinking," answered Sakura with a knowing smile. "It's really small and dumpy, but other than that it's perfect because we won't have to worry about any adults breathing down our backs. Not that, you know, we're planning on getting too wild or anything," she amended hastily. At least not if she could contain Naruto.
"Yes… yes, I'd like that very much," said Hinata, her smile somehow shining even brighter than before. Then her eyes clouded over with uncertainty. "B-but… can my cousin come along, too?"
Ino and Sakura immediately understood. When not off on a mission or training with his teammates, Neji often served as her personal bodyguard – especially if she was going to be out late at night in Konoha.
"Sure, if he wants to," said Sakura readily. "But if Neji is coming, I guess we should invite Tenten and Lee along, too."
"The more the merrier," agreed Ino. "Well, Sakura, that probably takes care of the invitation list. Now if we could just come up with a fun ice breaker…"
For the next fifteen minutes as Hinata listened in patient silence, they threw out ideas that were all rejected as being too dull, too stupid, or just too complicated. Finally throwing up her hands in disgust, Sakura jumped off her stool and began to pace.
"You know, I think planning stuff like this used to be a lot easier when we were little. And it was just for us girls."
"Yeah, we could have everyone do crafts. I'm sure they'd be thrilled," muttered Ino.
Missing the sarcasm, Hinata broke in helpfully: "I c-could show them my oshibana."
"Er… maybe not this time," said Sakura with a weak laugh. Geez, what the hell is she thinking? "I don't think the boys are going to be very interested in moving pictures of flowers around."
"Hmm… there's an idea…" murmured Ino softly from behind her.
Twisting around sharply, Sakura stared at her best friend as if she'd gone mad. Catching her expression, Ino hastened to explain.
"Do you know what would be really fun? If we had a game that could secretly find out what a guy thinks about you without him realizing it…"
Sakura rolled her eyes. Not this again…
"So why don't we take Hinata's idea but change it around a little. Say, use pictures of our bodies instead of flowers and make the boys puzzle it out?"
"B-bodies?" squeaked Hinata, looking paler than usual. Sakura raised a skeptical brow.
"Ew, Ino, that sounds kind of weird…"
"No, it's not! Just hear me out!" insisted Ino, clasping her hands together in excitement. "Look, we've all been on the same teams with those silly boys for years now. So haven't you two wondered if any of them have ever noticed basic things about us like, oh, hair styles and eye color? Wouldn't it be great to find out?"
"Yeah, maybe – but I don't want to watch Naruto try to reassemble a naked picture of me!" protested Sakura angrily. Somehow that idea frightened her deeply.
Hinata whimpered.
"Honestly, Sakura, don't be stupid. We're not doing anything kinky. As if I'd want Naruto or the rest of those perverts to see that! All we're going to do is take some individual pictures of different body parts: ears, feet, hands, that kind of thing. Then we mix them all together and let the boys try to pick us out."
Sakura had to admit that the idea had possibilities. "I see. It won't be that hard for us to put together, either."
"That's right. And more importantly, we can see just who's been paying attention to what – and it'll be so much fun to see them sweat!"
Ino grinned triumphantly. Judging from the looks on both Sakura's and Hinata's faces, they were just as interested in watching the outcome as she was.
"Okay, you've convinced me. What about you, Hinata?"
"Y-yes, I think it's a good idea…"
"Great! And since my family has a really good camera, why don't you all come over to my house after lunch and we'll take the pictures in my room," said Ino. "We'll be done in no time."
"Oh, let's go find Tenten now," said Sakura eagerly as she grabbed Hinata by the arm and headed out the door. "She's definitely got to come, too."
The door bell rang merrily, and once again perching herself behind the counter, Ino began to hum. She was looking forward to the party. It would be the perfect opportunity to covertly gauge Sai's reaction… and, if everything went well, maybe do something more.
