SMILE
Disclaimer: I don't own anyone in Naruto. I don't own Naruto. I don't own Sasuke. But Neji is a PANCAKE EATER omfg.
Warnings: NaruSasu, yaoi/shounen-ai, strong language, SUS-PI-COUS!Neji, winking perverts, Bitchy!Sakura, and unconditional ranting. (As if that's new)
For the love of NaruSasu, review!
CHAPTER SEVEN: WINKING PERVERTS
Neji checked his watch for the fourth time in the past three minutes. He could not help his impatience. He was usually the person who sat calmly, staring at the scene before him with indifference, without a problem with waiting. Neji would be the one shaking his head at the others for being impatient. But this time was different. He could handle a reasonably long amount of time without becoming too annoyed, but a few hours was just a tad too long. Two certain people that were boyfriend and girlfriend with each other were extremely late and they were not answering their phones. He stuffed his hands back into the pockets of his pants, only to take them back out less than a minute later to check his watch again. Now this was becoming extremely vexing. Naruto and Sakura were nowhere to be found.
They had this outing planned for a few days and it unlike them to be so late. Neji did not mind being stuck there with Gaara and his mango ice cream, since Gaara was rather patient, absorbed in eating his succulent orange dessert. On the other hand, he supposed that Ino, driven by boredom and exasperation, was trying to entertain herself and getting ideas. Or perhaps she was just being her usual perverted, cheery self, Neji could not tell. He did admit that such a thing could be one of the possibilities for their absence, though it seemed less likely, and somewhat unreasonable. His two friends had all day yesterday to do whatever they pleased, since the three of them assumed that Sakura and Naruto had left the club together two nights ago. None of them could remember that well. Neji had been repelling horny girls at the bar, Ino had gotten incredibly drunk as usual, and Gaara had wandered to the third floor of the club. Neji was not completely certain, but they had not heard from either of them yesterday, and they had not cared, since they were preoccupied with dealing with their hangovers.
He stared at his watch again. Ten more minutes had passed. He sighed with exasperation, closed his eyes, crossed his arms tighter, and leaned against the wall behind him. He was no longer in the mood to spend time with his friends; he just wanted to return to his mansion and lock himself in his room before leaving for the night. Gaara finished his ice cream and tossed the cup somewhere over his head. He scanned his surroundings with his green eyes, trying to find something with which to occupy himself. Finally, Ino halted her chatting, sighed, and plopped down onto the bench, sitting beside Gaara.
"I'm sooo bored. Where are Naruto and Sakura?" She whined and stretched out her legs, earning a few stares from civilians as they passed by. Some of them looked like they were about to drool and others covered their children's eyes as they quickly walked away. Ino had never bothered to be decent. She yawned, looking from Neji's constant watch checking to Gaara's slow blinking, then slumped over, feeling her muscles relax. She frowned when no one answered her and waved a hand in front of Gaara's face. His cold gaze slowly turned in her direction.
"What?" Gaara asked, wondering what she could possibly want. Neji turned his attention to them and cocked an eyebrow at the two in question. Ino leaned over again and tried to contain a yawn, but she miserably failed.
"I said I was bored. Why don't we just go leave and do something fun?" The cheery blonde suggested with renewed energy, and sprang up, spreading her arms towards the sky. "Come on, we can't just sit here all day and wait for Naruto and Sakura," she continued on, firmly placing her hands on her hips. She rolled her periwinkle eyes, giving them a knowing look concerning how they felt. Neji did not miss the small, mischievous smile that slowly appeared on her features.
"I'm sure we don't want to interrupt all the fun they're having," Ino purred. She could not resist letting out a giggle. Neji almost felt like slapping his own face at this. He slowly blinked, keeping his creamy eyes hidden for some time. When he opened them again, he looked up, and a small smile settled onto his lips. Gaara turned his head towards Ino.
"Not this again. I don't know why you think like that," he said in a dismissive tone, indicating that he had no desire to hear any more of it. Neji did not move from his leaning position against the wall. He sensed that soon Gaara would become irritated. Knowing Ino, she would press on for that very reason. Neji was uncertain if he should stay out of it and watch, or if he should stop it before anything happened. For now, he decided that he would just let things unravel.
"I don't know how you don't think like that. It's only logical, Gaara-kun!" She said happily, placed her arm around his shoulders, and leaned her head on his chest. Gaara froze, his gaze narrowing, and he attempted peel Ino off of him. Ino just sprawled over him further and she started to laugh at his efforts. Gaara gave Neji a look that could communicate his message of 'fucking help me now!' to a complete idiot. Neji rolled his cloudy eyes and he did not move an inch.
"Get off of him, Ino," he said blatantly. She flicked her white-blonde ponytail, responded with a pout, and reluctantly crawled off Gaara. Ino exploded into a fit of laughter and she clutched her shaking body. Once her laughter died down, she was met by Gaara's fierce green eyes.
"Of course it's always fun to bother me," he said and tightly crossed his arms. The intimidation that he radiated was destroyed when he had to yawn. Ino sat back down on the bench again and sighed, remembering that they were still waiting for Sakura and Naruto to appear. Neji stood his ground and refused to sit on the bench with his two friends. He had enough of waiting for the couple. He turned to face Gaara and Ino.
"Why don't we go out and get pancakes or something? We've been waiting so long that we skipped breakfast," Neji suggested, since they had nothing else to do. Two pairs of eyes stared back at him. Gaara looked like he was considering the idea, but he was not that hungry since he had eaten his mango ice cream not long ago. Ino, though, started laugh at his suggestion. The two boys stared at her weirdly, wondering how she managed to find that statement amusing. Expect Ino to be the one to turn a very sane suggestion into something hilarious. Eventually, she caught her breath and quieted down, then let out a content sigh. Neji narrowed his gaze and Gaara just seemed to lose interest.
"What's so funny?" Neji asked, staring at her with his impervious eyes. Ino noticed him, met his gaze, and started to giggle. He frowned and his brows furrowed slightly. Neji looked directly into her periwinkle eyes until she said something.
"Jesus, Nej. Don't get all evil-eyes on me," Ino snorted, then began to lightly giggle. "I just never knew that you liked pancakes so much. I didn't see you as they pancake-eater type." She ended her sentence with a scoff and barely contained laughter. She toppled over and her head landed with a thud onto Gaara's lap. He stiffened, and his gaze darted down to stare at her ominously. Neji was ready to actually slap himself, skipping the mental part of the entire self-slapping process. He checked his watch again and sighed in frustration. Ino must have been extremely bored laugh at him for suggesting pancakes. What the hell.
"Get off of me," Gaara demanded. He let his glower do the rest of the talking. Ino was oblivious, refusing to budge. It went on like that for a few more minutes. Gaara restrained himself from pushing her away throughout the time he spent glaring at her. Ino began to make comments about Neji being a pancake-eater, and of course, Neji wanted to get the hell out of there. He sighed and surrendered.
"Fine, whatever. We'll go eat waffles. Is that any better?" He spoke in all seriousness, without words dipped in sarcasm or an eye roll of annoyance. Ino curiously raised her head and looked at him with thought evident in her periwinkle eyes. Gaara took the chance to push her off him, and then he stood up without wasting any time. Ino became so strange when she was bored.
"Ouch, Gaara!" She whined, standing up. She brushed imaginary dirt off of her miniskirt and she smoothed the wrinkles on her tight shirt. Ino balanced herself on her heels, and then sent a glare at Gaara. He met her gaze and she swore that he almost smirked at her. Ino sighed and turned her attention to Neji. "So, waffles, is it? I'm for that," she said. She placed her hands on her hips and cocked a thin blonde eyebrow, waiting for their responses.
"I'm not that hungry, but whatever. As long as it's food," Gaara stated. He started to walk in the direction of the nearest place that served waffles. Ino practically cheered and she chased after him, something that Neji found impressive in her heels. He sighed, started to follow his friends, and he eventually caught up with them. The three friends formed a wall as they walked, forcing passers-by to move out of their path. They had nearly arrived at the diner when Neji thought that he saw a familiar flash of golden hair.
Neji thought correct. Naruto was running up to them rather quickly, his sunny whipping about wildly with his speed. He did not bother to brush his hair away from his face as he ran. His favorite orange jacket fluttered in the wind behind him. Neji stopped walking and it took a few moments for Gaara and Ino to notice that he did so. They halted, followed the direction of his gaze, and found themselves looking at Naruto. He waved frantically at his friends to make sure that they took notice of him. He only began to slow when he was nearly directly in front of his three friends. Neji, Ino, and Gaara stepped closer, forming a semi-circle around him.
"Naruto!" Ino squealed happily. She was always the first to speak up and greet someone, aside from Naruto, of course. He grinned at her and opened his arms his arms for the girl to jump into them. She gave him a quick peck on the cheek and a small hug before releasing him. After they had separated, Naruto noticed the mischievous sparkle in her eyes and the suspicious smile that she wore. He glanced speedily at Neji, giving him a confused look. Neji just shrugged in response.
"Hey everyone…and uh…" Naruto greeted his friends, and then looked at Ino with his eyebrows knit. "Um...I just have to ask, what are you smiling at, exactly?" He queried.
His cerulean eyes widened slightly as her smile grew larger. She titled her head to the side, seeming to be inspecting him, which only left him more confused. She circled him once and her brow furrowed; Naruto figured that she could not find whatever she was looking for. Ino frowned, scanned her surroundings, and could not find a pink head in sight. She plastered a grin on her face and turned to face Naruto.
"Well, where is she? I mean, you two did spend all day yesterday together, right?" She questioned, her silly smile still present. Naruto just stared at her. He had no idea of what she was talking about. Sasuke was the only person he had been with yesterday. He looked at his friends' faces, searching for more information in their expressions, but blank stares were all that he received.
He inwardly sighed and settled for asking the typical, "Um…What?"
"She means Sakura. We figured that she would be with you," Gaara said nonchalantly. Now that they mentioned it, Naruto noticed that the pink-haired girl was absent today. That was somewhat odd, since she was always punctual. He considered that something may have happened to her or that she was avoiding seeing him. It appeared that Sakura had not even contacted anyone after they split. He was just about ready to slap himself. Naruto remembered that he had not yet told his friends what had happened between himself and his former girlfriend. Uncertain of how to word it, he decided to be direct as possible.
"Oh...yeah, about Sakura…" Naruto murmured. He glanced downward and scratched the back of his neck. Neji perceived his sudden drop in attitude and he eyed his friend skeptically. Naruto lifted his head and his over-grown bangs flopped over his eyes. He forced a grin onto his face and his friends looked at him with concern.
"We...broke up..." Naruto said, keeping the grin on his face, but it was obviously faltering. Neji noticed that he was not making eye contact with them; Naruto averted his gaze whenever it crossed paths with the regards of his friends. Neji was unsurprised, for the most part. He had sensed this coming and he had noticed the gradual change of behavior between the two, signifying that they were growing further apart. He knew that it would have happened sooner or later, but he could not say the same for his friends. Gaara's eyes became wider than his usual narrow gaze and his arms fell out of their crossed position. Ino stood there dumbly, her expression filled with shock.
"What?" Ino screeched, looking at Naruto with worry. He tried to wear a smile but he forfeited when he realized it was not working. He looked at his friends and nodded in conformation of his previous statement.
"That can't be true! Oh, Naruto, are you okay? When did this happen? Why didn't you tell us?" A slew of questions poured out of her mouth. Ino immediately flew to his side, touching his arm in consolation, without knowing that someone else had beaten her to it. Before Naruto had a chance to speak, Gaara interrupted.
"Ino is right. Why didn't you tell us?" The red-head queried, narrowing his eyes. He was not trying to sound angry with Naruto. Neji nodded in agreement and the three of them looked to the blond, waiting for him to explain. Naruto sighed and sat down on a nearby bench.
"I'm still not really all that sure how it happened but…it was the night that we were at Krave. I ran off because I had…something important to do early in the morning, she got mad, and then...I don't know. I went surfing…woke up, and Sasuke really helped me out…" Naruto trailed off and he smiled lightly when he remembered his friend. Sasuke probably had no idea how thankful Naruto was that he was there when he had awaken on that gloomy morning. He had actually done well in comforting him. Naruto straightened his posture, feeling an improvement in his mood, and a real smile appeared on his face. He did not seem to notice the three pairs of eyes staring at him.
Neji was taken aback by the sudden mood swing and slowly cocked one eyebrow. Though he had predicted the separation, he had not expected Naruto to be smiling soon after he had left the person he had been with for the past two years. Neji was no doubt suspicious, wondering what part the Uchiha played in all of this.
Naruto met the eyes of his friends and grinned. "It's okay guys," he said, leaning back into the bench. "I'm fine. Like I said, Sasuke really helped me out."
Ino just stared from her current spot next to Gaara. She did not understand what was happening, especially after the mention of Sasuke. She dismissed the thought and sat next to Naruto on the bench, looking ahead in contemplation. Screw eating waffles, after this she had to search for her best friend, Sakura. Ino admitted to herself that she was slightly bothered over the fact that he went to Sasuke instead of them, but not enough to voice it. She was too worried about Sakura.
Though, it showed that Gaara was bothered by it. His arms were crossed again and his green eyes were more narrowed than usual. He looked at Naruto, who was now speaking with Ino, and wondered how someone like the blond could seem to recover so quickly. At least, he appeared fine on the outside. Gaara could not help but wonder what exactly Sasuke had done. It perturbed him because he knew that he would not obtain an answer.
"Alright, everyone, so let's go do something. We're all here to hang out, aren't we?" Naruto said as he halted his conversation with Ino and faced his friends with his distinctive fox grin. He stood up from the bench and Ino followed after him. "What were you guys doing before I even got here, anyway? It's not like you did nothing the whole time." He said and crossed his arms, observing his friends' faces. Ino and Gaara quickly exchanged glances.
"We were going out for waffles. Care to join us?" Neji asked with a small smirk.
"Of course, lead the way, Nej." Naruto smiled and bowed slightly, gesturing for his friend to guide them. Neji walked ahead, closely followed by Gaara, who was incoherently mumbling something about his hunger. Ino followed, but somewhat reluctantly, since her thoughts still lingered on Sakura. Naruto was the last to start walking towards the diner. For a moment, he remained behind, looking at his friends with a pleasant expression. He was so glad to have them, and he was glad to have Sasuke as well. He pursued his friends, who had already disappeared inside the diner. They already sat in a booth near the window, deciding on which waffles to order. Naruto opened the door with a jingle of a bell and he strolled over to the booth to join his friends. Sakura never came.
Naruto sauntered into his class and took his seat at the front. He collapsed into the chair and yawned, his cerulean eyes scanning the class. He noticed that he was the last one to arrive, as always. Professor Hatake was writing on the enormous dry-erase board and some of the perfectionists began to take notes. Naruto decided to do the same, but he checked on a friend first. He twisted his body and looked behind himself to the far left corner of the class. There Sasuke sat, looking down and taking notes. Naruto continued to stare at Sasuke until he noticed his eyes on him. Sasuke lifted his gaze and he became aware of Naruto's stare. The blond smiled, lifting his hand in a small wave, and Sasuke subtly returned the smile.
Professor Hatake tapped his new meter stick on the board to gain everyone's attention. Naruto was forced to turn around and face the front of the class, but not before he felt an angry pair of emerald eyes boring a hole through him.
Naruto slunk down into his seat, reminded that Sakura was sitting somewhere behind him and she would be glowering at him for the entire hour. At that moment, all that he desired was to escape from the room. He straightened himself, remembering that it was she who left him. He resolved that he would not allow Sakura's new attitude towards him to affect him. More so, he would not let it show until he became accustomed to it. Naruto had a secret talent of being a capable actor. Sasuke had not failed to detect Sakura's livid stare at his friends back. He narrowed his gaze at her.
Their silver-haired professor tapped the board once more. Sakura halted her seething and turned her attention to Professor Hatake, which mean that Sasuke could halt his glaring. Temporarily, at least. Naruto looked ahead and he noticed that a brunette girl stood in the front of the class. She chomped quite visibly on some chewing gum and wore an icy face that could kill. Everyone in the room stared at the new girl, but she did not seem to be phased. She stood with indifference and blew a large bubble with her gum. Professor Hatake's eyes formed into happy curves and he placed a hand on the girls shoulder.
"This is Shinkei Mesuinu, everyone. Due to some complications, she just transferred here." He failed to mention why, though. It could not be for any good reason. "Please welcome Mesuinu-chan to Konoha College," he addressed his students in a content tone.
"Mesuinu-san, you mean." She faced the rows of people in the large room with a cold stare and popped a bubble. Their professor looked at her and raised a silver eyebrow. He had used honorifics to be polite, not because he was obligated to. He disregarded it and scanned the room, looking for a suitable place to seat her. In the far back corner of the class, a space was available beside Sasuke. Kakashi glanced at a bored-looking Naruto and smiled, deciding he would have a little fun.
"Mesuinu-san, you can take that seat over there." He pointed to where Naruto was sitting, or more accurately, slumping. "Naruto, move to the empty seat besides Sasuke," Professor Hatake said in a jolly tone. Sasuke tried to hide his slight surprise. He was suspicious of Kakashi's motives. Shinkei left in the direction of Naruto's seat with a curt 'whatever' and a pop of her gum. Naruto seemed to suddenly come alive and he stared at his professor with a confused expression. Shinkei arrived at his seat and crossed her arms, impatiently waiting for him to move.
"Professor Hatake, why of all people are you moving me?" Naruto asked, staring at him with large blue eyes. As soon as a certain smile appeared on his professor's face, he immediately regretted asking. Everyone who had Kakashi as a professor knew that was the smile that he had on his face whenever he read his 'exotic' books.
"No reason, really. I just happened to notice how much time you two have been spending together as of late, so I thought that I'd do you two a favor," he said smoothly and he smiled like there was nothing wrong with what he was doing. Naruto asked himself if there actually was anything wrong with it. He remained uncertain until his pervert-professor confirmed it by winking at him. Far in the back of the room, Sasuke tried not to blush, very aware of what his professor was implying. "Now please, move to your new seat besides Sasuke before Mesuinu-san gets impatient." Kakashi smiled and leaned on his new meter stick. A few people in front of the class ducked just in case.
Naruto's brows knit and he mumbled a few things before deciding that he had no choice. It was not as if he did not want to sit beside Sasuke, though. Shuffling noises of people turning around at once filled the room, and Sasuke could feel many pairs of eyes on him. He wanted to bang his head against his desk because he had to try very hard not to blush. The stare he felt the most was that of Sakura; he could feel the anger radiating from her body. Naruto walked towards his new seat with a weird expression on his face as Shinkei sat down in his old seat. Everyone in the room looked at Sasuke Uchiha like it was the first time they had ever seen him, and in a way, it was.
(A/n): Eww, my shortest chapter yet. I'm soo sorry about the shortness. I think its cause I decided to take out a scene or something. To me, this chapter worked better without it. And about the Neji pancake-eater thing…I was watching that helio commercial…so I hope that explains the randomness.
