Real soon this time (: Sorry to admit that I don't have gameplay in this chapter. I was going too-but it got a little long and I didn't have room to include the segment I wanted too. Soo...it will be in the beginning of the next chapter :D This one isn't disappointing, though, and I'm sure you'll like it anyway.
Also-the funny will come back soon, I promise.
DISCLAIMER: I do not play Call of Duty or Halo. Forgive me if the references don't make sense. If you don't like it, let me know, and I'll just change it to some made-up game or something. I just don't like making things up for Fanfictions. It bothers me (in terms of characters, names, etc.)
The tension was so very, very thick, that I couldn't even come up with a good metaphor to describe it. It was just…so..silent. Sasori glanced in the rear view mirror then briefly over at me, then back out the front window.
"So…" I started, "What uh…what game were you and Itachi playing?" Honestly, I didn't care, but if it got some sentences flowing through the still air, I was up for anything.
"Call of Duty," He answered. For a moment, I thought that would be it and we would simply lapse back into stillness, but he continued, "not usually my speed, though. I'm more into the Halo franchise than I am CoD or Modern Warfare. I'm guessing," he looked over at me at this point, "that you believe all first person shooters are the same, am I right?"
It took me a moment to register that he had spoken to me, and then I realized that he was insulting me. Did I look like I wasn't a gamer? I glanced down at my skinny jeans and converse, then at my hoodie. None of that seems to stick out to much…it must be the pink hair. It's always the pink hair.
"Actually," I finally answered, "I spend way too much time on Halo. It'd be paused on my TV at my house right now, but then my team may think I'm still on and keep asking me to do things with them. Of course, if they do anything without me, I'm gonna be pissed…" I trailed off then, realizing that I hadn't been on in almost 3 whole days and who knows what they had done without me. What if they beat that cave? They'd probably leveled up past me, which would suck, because then I'd have to do a bunch of solo training which always involves spending way too much on healing items…
"A girl gamer, that's cool," Sasori remarked. I almost forgot we were having a conversation. At least the air feels fresher now. We pulled into the hospital parking lot, and he pulled the key out of the ignition.
"You should add me," he suggested, searching the car for a pen but quickly giving up on the endeavor after his eyes found nothing, "Puppet-master. Look me up, seriously."
I blinked. Puppet…is…wow. So I know everyone on the team. Great. So much for anonymity. It crossed my mind that we all just so happened to live in the same area, but I always figured the game's wi-fi only went so far anyway. I suppose that's why I recognized his voice. It does make sense, now that I really consider it—he does sound quite a bit like puppet.
"I don't have to look you up," I told him, "I already know you." He cocked his head to the side, confused. I started laughing at that point, getting out of the car as I did so. He did the same, his eyes pointed down the whole time, calculating who on earth I must be. He's gotta figure it out eventually, I'm sure it's not that hard.
Once we reached the edge of the parking lot and my laughter died down, his eyes lit up and he looked over at me.
"Cherry!" Sasori finally announced, grabbing my shoulders as he did so.
"I knew I recognized your voice! Ah—I just wished I'd pieced that together sooner. It makes perfect sense, really. Wow," he said, his shoulders relaxing. His lips curved into a smug smile, satisfied with his recent breakthrough. Suddenly, he started laughing hysterically.
This time, I was confused. I watched him laugh until we reached the small doors that lead to the main lobby of the hospital, at which point he started pointing at me and trying to say something. I stopped before we entered to give him time to spit it out.
"You realize," I said, taking a deep breath to calm his laughter, "that you're actually dating Tomato, right? Or have you two just been pulling one over on Destiny and I for a while now?"
My mouth hardened into an annoyed line while I tried to decide exactly how to approach what he had just said. So, I guess he knew Sasuke was Tomato. That's weird, though, playing X-box games with your friend's brother. Whatever, I don't really care. I'm more worried about the fact that they never told me they knew each other. Like, really? Just—oh, who cares. I still have to reply to his comment, anyway.
"We're not dating, Sasori," I replied bluntly, looking down at my hands afterwards. He shrugged.
"Besides, how come you never told me you knew each other? I mean, how hard is it to just be like, 'Oh hey so Tomato and I ran into each other today…' It just doesn't seem that hard," I ranted, throwing my arms up as I talked. He blinked at me, then started laughing.
"Chill, man. It's just a game. Besides, doesn't that seem awkward to bring up in the middle of a conversation? If you had asked, I would've mentioned it. But you didn't. You never told me you and Sasuke knew each other," he responded smoothly, stroking his cheeks with his hand when he finished talking. I jutted my lower lip out, frustrated.
"Oh. I see. And that's because we DON'T really. Well, obviously, we do, but he doesn't know we do. Well, he knows me as Cherry and Sakura, but not together. I mean, obviously I can't be both at the same time, but—ugh, you know what, never mind. Point is, he doesn't know I'm Cherry, and I'd like to keep it that way."
Sasori smirked at me before turning and walking into the doors. So…he's Puppet. I guess I can see it, yeah. And his roommate is…his grandma? Somehow I can't see a little old lady constantly ranting about exploding things.
"Puppet!" I shouted, invoking another turnaround from Sasori. It took the baffled look on his face to help me realize that I had indeed just called him Puppet, but I ignored the my brain's failure to differentiate between the game and reality.
He trotted back over to me, sighing as he came.
"Yes?"
"Just wondering. Why uh, why did you say you lived with a destructive roommate if you live with your grandma?" I scratched the back of my neck, motioning for us to walk into the hospital. He followed my hands to the door.
"I never said I live with my Grandma, Cherry. Just that I'm picking her up." He patted the top of my head and walked down a hallway, simply glancing at the nurse and nodding. I strode over to her, reminded her of me, then went through the entire process of signing in again because apparently, she sees 'many people a day.' Really? How do you forget pink hair? Stupid Sasori and his stupid connections.
I followed the nurse's direction to the room, although I pretty much remembered it from the night before. It had been less than 24 hours, things don't leave my brain that quickly. Anyway, I found Naruto staring at the wall behind his sleeping mother. His father spoke softly to the doctor, explaining something about the way his leg felt. Naruto looked up at me as he entered, and his eyes seemed to relax. I noticed the bags, though.
In retrospect, I wonder why he even has bags under his eyes—we got the same amount of sleep, and from the same place. I guess it's just exhausting worrying about someone for hours on end. His mom looked like she had just fallen asleep. I guessed she passed out when her husband woke up—as far as I know, she had been awake all night long. Her uncomfortable position revealed how worn-out she really was.
"They think they found him," Naruto said suddenly, ripping me from my observations. I took a seat next to him, wincing at the cold metal of the bumpy chair. He leaned back and crossed his arms.
"The guy my mom described. They'll have to do a line-up, of course, but they seem pretty confident." I nodded, not sure what else to say.
"That's good," was all I had to offer. He nodded as well.
"Yeah." Silence filled the next few minutes. I glanced occasionally over at Naruto, trying desperately not to listen to the conversation Minato and the doctor were having. It just seemed—intrusive. The acoustics in the room didn't allow me to hear much anyway. On another glance over at Naruto, I noticed his head bobbing up and down in a falling asleep motion, so I mentioned to a nurse outside to retrieve a blanket. She came back a few minutes later to drop it off.
"Thanks," I said quietly as she exited the room. I threw it over Naruto, which surprised him. His eyes widened, then shut slowly.
"No, I'm not tired. We slept the same amount of time, I'm fine, really." He struggled to free himself from the blanket I was now pinning to his body. Eventually, he deemed the fight futile and relaxed into the thin cotton. Successful, I sat back into my chair.
"I saw you nodding off. Seriously, sleep," I commanded, pulling the blanket back up to his shoulders when he tried pushing it off to the ground. He grumbled something and accepted defeat, tightening the blanket around his arms and resting his head against the wall. A few googled 'logo quiz' answers later (what? You can't expect me to know that 2 weird black waves is billabong. I'm a gamer, not a surfer!), I noticed his soft, constant breathing and guessed he was asleep.
"Naruto?" I whispered, waving my hand in front of his face. No response (good).
So…I guess I'll just sit here awkwardly. I attempted a few more answers on logo quiz, only to be denied and grow tired of the level. I scrolled through facebook, but remembered that I had no real friends other than Naruto, and the only people that bothered friending me were out doing something (or someone) else on a Saturday night.
Instead, I sat in silence, again trying not to listen to Minato's conversation. How long had the doctor been in here? I've probably been here for a good half an hour now, pretending not to listen to what they're saying. Why am I still here? What am I waiting for?
"Thanks for coming by, Sakura." The voice was the governor's. The doctor had finally left the room, though I had spaced out long enough not to know why.
"Uh..yeah. It's not a big deal, I wasn't doing much," I lied. It's really just a fancy your welcome anyway, right? Besides, the homework could wait. Naruto's dad was in the hospital for Pete's sake.
"You know, Kushina told me that you stayed the night for him. Thanks for that, really." I thought he was going to launch into some form of 'The Bird's and the Bee's', but thankfully, he did not.
"You ran home, right?" I nodded. "Yeah, Naruto told me about that. Although Naruto wouldn't admit it, Kushina said he felt so guilty about making you run all the way home that he drove to your house about 30 minutes later, but your mom said you'd come and gone," He looked thoughtfully down at his pudding cup when he finished talking. For a moment, I thought I was being called out on a lie, but the ghost of a smile on his lips proved me wrong.
Silence filled the air between us for a few moments, which I was about to utilize and leave before he said something that made me feel guilty.
"He really cares about you, you know," too late. "And I'm glad you don't take advantage of that. Truly, I'm grateful that he hangs around with you more than he does Kiba. I don't think I could've picked a better friend for my son. I don't know how you feel about him, but thanks for not manipulating him or anything."
Cliché compliments aside, I still felt guilty. His father basically just spelled out that Naruto was in love with me, when I had never really looked at him as more than a friend. I mean—parents always think you're in love with someone of the opposite gender the moment they walk through the door, or that they're in love with you—but for some reason, coming from Minato, it sounded sincere.
But the whole friend-zone thing isn't what made me feel guilty. Sure, I wasn't using him or anything—it's just that I had been lying to him about the whole Sasuke/Tomato situation—or just Sasuke in general. And I felt the sudden realization that I hadn't spent enough time with him lately. I pretended to check my phone, feigning that I'd gotten a text that demanded my presence at home. I wished Naruto's dad a speedy recovery and asked for a bus schedule while I walked by the front desk.
Okay, so, boring chapter. More Sasori though, yay :D buut no Sasuke. Sorry chillens. Next chapter, I promise, will include Sasuke. Lots o Sasuke. And lots o plot, but good plot. And answers. You'll get what you want!
So... R&R (:
((You're lucky my scanner's broken, or I probably wouldn't be writing. Just...be grateful.))
