"I can't believe it! I don't believe you!" Ino whined in a high pitch voice. It sounded like an upset cry really…and it would have been a comical sound had the news causing her response not shocked the rest of the table.
"Really?" Tenten said, somewhat in awe. Hinata looked at the news bearer, excited and anxious.
"Congratulations." Was Hinata's sweet and honest response, to which the girl in question tucked a pink curl behind an ear, blushing.
"Thanks guys…I mean. I still can't believe it myself, you know." Suddenly, a wide smile broke across her face, "He said yes! Oh my god!" She was laughing, almost crying really—and despite Ino's constant 'No's' and 'Why you and not me', the table knew she was proud of her friend.
Ino's usual pale face and pastel eye turned to electricity—the colors of rose flushed her cheeks and the skin around her eyes. They all knew it was coming.
Ino's inevitable proposal.
"Fine then! If forehead can get a boyfriend, then so can I!" This earned her a laugh from Tenten. Ino shot blue daggers at her. Hinata's chin sunk into her turtleneck at the heat of Ino's glare.
"What's so funny tomboy?"
Tenten shrugged, still a little jittery from the giggling.
"I don't know. Just seems silly to 'find' a boyfriend. That's supposed to be a natural thing…right?" She looked to her blushing friend who smiled, but Ino scoffed.
"What do you know? You think Sakura's proposal to Sasuke was natural? Guys ask girls out—not the other way around!"
"Not really," Tenten countered, "this is a new generation. Girls have the right to rule anything now. Traditions included."
Ino scrunched her nose in response…but then her features softened from 'offended' to 'slightly-bored.'
"Well. If that's how you all feel…then I'll just 'ask' for a boyfriend." And before anyone at the table could retort, Ino had hopped off her stool and was making her way around the cafeteria. Sakura shook her head.
"She's just upset because I beat her at something for once." And then Sakura tucked another loose hair behind her ear. She looked tired.
"Should we. Stop her?" Hinata stuttered, looking from Ino's traveling form to Sakura's sunken expression. Sakura gave Ino's form a look—absorbing her friend's blond ponytail and swoop bang as it bobbed about her head as she chatted up a boy. She watched as the shoulder-cut top flopped around Ino's waist. She watched as her black leggings strutted along the tile. Finally, Sakura sighed. She waved a lazy hand at Hinata, "Let her be. She needs to know that her looks aren't everything."
Tenten blinked at Sakura. She was still surprised. Curious really. In a way, she saw Sakura in another light. Almost with admiration—almost with nervousness.
"Hey…can I ask you something?"
Sakura perked up. She liked being asked questions—only because she was a really bright student and always had an answer. The right answer. But that was usually.
"Sure. What is it?"
Tenten tucked her hands into her hoody pockets.
"Hasn't Sasuke…you know…kind of been your friend since middle school?"
"Well," Sakura folded her hands together, a bit anxious. She bit her lip. Opened it, and then closed it again. She tilted her head.
"He just…happened to be in all my classes…during middle school. So technically, no he wasn't my friend."
"Okay…well. Isn't it awkward between you guys?"
Sakura smiled warmly, "Now that we're dating it kind of is. But he walked me to Calculus today…and held my hand. It was so weird, but in a good way. Maybe all things are strange in the beginning you know?"
Slowly, Tenten nodded her head, but not in agreement. She'd have to have experienced what Sakura was talking about to agree or disagree. She was nodding in acknowledgement of the information—to which she tucked into a filing cabinet drawer labeled 'interesting' in her brain.
"You guys..." was Hinata's warning words as she pointed a small finger to an angry Ino, who was marching back to their table.
Throwing herself down, she threw her hands up, huffing, "Shikamaru, that jerk! I'm sweet-talking him and he's listening, but the moment I ask him if he's seeing someone, he's like, 'Yeah? What. You like me or something gross like that?'" Quickly, she threw her head back in the direction she had come from—to which the other girls followed her gaze. She was glaring at the genius who smoked Lucky Strikes on the roof. Shikamaru. Who in turn, was talking to a sturdy-built guy named Chouji.
She huffed again, whispering, "Asshole. Already has a girl. Like! Who would want him? He's not that cute!" With a 'Hmph!', Ino was back to her comically pouty self, and the other girls teased.
Even though Tenten was laughing, she was still in wonderment about Sakura's luck.
She couldn't help thinking, "Great for you Sakura." with a tinge of spite.