Remember during the day of the play, I wasn't feeling the greatest? It kinda went away for a while, and I thought everything was just fine. When I woke up this morning though, I felt like absolute shit. My mom and Naruto told me I shouldn't go to school, but I really wanted to. They refused to listen to me though, and left without me. I sorta had a horrible flu, so I wasn't able to do much. I just slept, read books, surfed the internet, and thought about stuff.
During my thought process however, I came to realize something. I am a horrible person, who is extremely selfish.
I mean, I haven't really been helping my friends with any of their problems even though I promised them I would. I've been to busy thinking about Sasuke and Gaara for absolutely no reason. I mean, about Sasuke, I guess I kinda like him, but he has Hinata, so what am I thinking about him for? Thinking about Gaara makes more sense. Gaara and me are a lot alike, and we both have a lot in common, so him being constantly on my mind is natural. Though, there is this one thing about him that kinda makes me wanna stay friends with him.
As for the Akatsuki, I may be their latest target, but that doesn't mean the rest of my friends are not in danger. They did attack me yesterday, but they also got Hinata. WHICH MAKES MY MIND WANDER BACK TO SASUKE, UGH! I hate him for being so confusing. He still didn't give me or Hinata an answer about his actions that day. Anyways, moving on, I still have to find ways to protect my friends. Hearing about what they did to Temari and Ino before I came, I honestly don't want a repeat of that. And I don't wanna see Gaara go psycho, cause whenever someone brings that up, everyone gets a horrified look plastered onto their face.
That brings me to Itachi and Deidara. What's up with them? I mean, I don't know much about Itachi, but I thought he didn't like Sasuke. Deidara on the other hand, I knew he wasn't as horrible as the rest of them, but still, why would he interrupt Sasori and Kisame when they were doing what they were supposed to do? The Akatsuki is Itachi's organization too, and he stopped them as well. So what?
Now, about Shikamaru and Temari. I honestly have lost any and all clues about what their situation is. I mean, I know Shikamaru likes Temari, and Temari likes Shikamaru, but I never bothered telling Shika that Tem likes him. If I did, they could've been a couple by now! Ugh, but I got caught up in my own shit and I completely put them aside. God damnit!
Lastly, I have Lee to help out. He's apparently gay. Which explains a lot, because when all of us went out together, he never agreed with the girls that the guys found hot. Even Neji, Gaara, Shikamaru, Sasuke, and Shino (the most mature ones out of all of us) would agree, and he still wouldn't. I promised him that I'd help him come out to everyone, yet I haven't done jack.
If I don't solve all of this sooner or later, I'm pretty much fucked.
I sat up in my bed and took a sip of my water. I glanced at the time and smiled. It was 3:30, so everyone should be out of school by now. My eyes widened and I practically attacked my nightstand, grabbing for my cell phone. I unlocked it and quickly flipped through my contacts. I went all the way down to the "S" section.
Sakura.
No.
Sasuke.
No.
Shikamaru.
Bingo! I tapped the screen and put the device to my ear.
Ring, ring. Ring, ring.
Come on, pick up. Pick up, Shika!
"Hello?"
My lips broke out into a smile.
"Shikamaru!"
"Hi Juliet, I heard you were sick, are you fee-"
"Shikamaru, listen, I've been such a horrible friend."
"Um...why, did you do something?"
"No, I've done the exact opposite. I've been barely helping you with Temari!"
"Haha, that's fine Julie, everything between us has been going good."
"That's not the point, Temari actually likes you."
"Well duh, aren't people suppose to like their friends?"
"Shika! I mean she wants to be more than friends!"
"Really?", I heard the shock in his voice.
"Yes! And I've been too busy being selfish that I forgot to tell you, I'm sorry!"
"It's fine really. At least I know now. And don't be too hard on yourself, you're a great person. Besides, dealing with a sad woman is too troublesome."
"Ah, I've been waiting to here that.", I giggled.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a girl to ask out. I hope you feel better soon."
"Thanks, Shika."
"No problem. Talk to you later, bye."
"Bye.", I smiled and hung up the phone. Well that's one problem down.
I flipped up my contacts and found Lee's phone number. I decided not to call him because I sounded like a dying goose because of my flu. I opened up my messages and began to send him a text.
Hey Lee, do you think your ready to tell everybody about your sexuality? Because I know when's the right time to. :)
I hit the send button and just dropped my phone somewhere in the sea of blankets and comforters. I sighed and got out of my bed, about to go downstairs and pour myself some more water. Just then, I heard the front door open.
"You're such a loser, Naruto."
"Shut up, Sasuke! I am not a loser you bastard!"
"Naruto, cut it out!"
"Sakura, why do you always blame it on me, huh? Sasuke's the one who started it!"
I walked down the staircase and saw all three of them, arguing about nothing.
"Jeez, guys, calm down.", I coughed and smiled at them. They all turned to me with confused looks on their faces. Then they all smiled when they saw it was me who was talking. Well, Sasuke just smirked, but still.
"Juliet!", Sakura squealed and jumped on me. "I missed you so much, I don't even know how I spent the day alone with these two, oh my God, how do you feel? Are you alright?", she bombarded me with a barrage of comments and questions. Naruto walked up to us and practically peeled Sakura off of me.
"Sakura, give her some space.", Naruto commanded her. Sakura took a deep breath and nodded.
"Haha, I'm fine Sakura. I actually feel a lot better.", I informed her.
"Yeah, but you still sound like a dying duck.", Naruto teased.
"I thought it was more of a goose, but pretty much, yeah.", I laughed.
"You gonna be able to go to school tomorrow?", Sasuke asked me. I looked at him.
"I think so. Even if I'm not feeling the best, it's someone's birthday and I have something to give him so..."
"Oh yeah! It's Gaara's birthday tomorrow, isn't it?!", Sakura exclaimed.
"Precisely." I smiled and nodded.
"Of course.", Sasuke rolled his eyes. Naruto glared at Sasuke, which really wasn't that effective on Sasuke. Though, he still got the message and loosened up a bit.
"Did I miss much at school?", I asked them, walking over to Sasuke with my arms open, obviously indicating I wanted a hug.
"No, not really.", Naruto said.
"You just missed Kakashi choke on a mint.", Sakura giggled.
"Seriously?", I began to laugh as I fell into Sasuke's arms.
"Yeah.", Sasuke added. "For someone so smart, he sure is a dumbass."
The next day, I was finally allowed to go to school, which was great. It being January 19th, it's Gaara's birthday. We were all in study hall, in our usually spots. Though, today Kankuro and Temari joined us.
"Happy Birthday Gaara!", TenTen smiled, handing him a gift. Gaara smirked and took it from her.
"Thank you TenTen, I really appreciate it.", he said, half smiling.
"Open it, open it!", she chanted. Gaara laughed.
"Alright, alright.", he began to unwrap the gift. I just continued doodling in my notebook and smiled when I heard Gaara thank TenTen again for her gift. It was a Panic! At the Disco album, which is one of my favorite bands. Looks like I'm gonna have to borrow it from Gaara sometime. I began drawing silly faces all over my notebook when Shikamaru came up to me.
"She said she'll think about it."
I looked up at him and smiled.
"You did it?!", I squealed, causing everyone to look at us.
"SHUSH!", Shikamaru ordered me. Everyone gave us questioning looks and returned to what they were doing.
"Sorry 'bout that.", I apologized. Shikamaru just chuckled.
"It's fine, and yeah, I asked her."
"And she said she'll think about it?"
"Mhmm."
"That most probably means yes. The only reason girls say they'll "think about it", is so they don't seem so desperate when they say yes so quickly.", I told him.
"Why can't you girls be straight forward? Just get to the point, there's no reason to be playing all these games.", Shikamaru huffed.
"Oh well, some of us are straight forward. I am, for example.", I hopped off the teacher's desk, reaching for my backpack.
"True.", Shika admitted. I put my notebook away and pulled out Gaara's birthday presents. Yes, presents, as in more than one. I couldn't decide on what to get him, so I just bought him whatever I thought he might like. "What did you get for Gaara?", Shikamaru asked, curiously.
"You'll see.", I just smirked. I walked over to where Gaara was sitting and sat in one of the the empty chairs.
"Thanks Ino!", Gaara half smiled and stood up to hug her.
"No problem.", Ino giggled as she hugged him. Gaara sat back down and placed his gift with a stack of his other gifts.
"Gaara.", I smiled. Gaara turned to me and smiled. I pushed his gifts in his direction.
"Thank you, Juliet.", he graciously said, taking the gifts from my hand.
"Open it! Open it!", TenTen chanted. I looked at her and laughed.
"Why are you so eager about this?", I asked her. She just shrugged. Garra looked into the gift bag and pulled out each of his presents one by one.
"A Panic! At the Disco t-shirt, nice. This should go well with TenTen's gift.", he nodded and put the shirt back into the bag, reaching for the next thing.
"Oh, you also got me Tomb Raider for my PlayStation. Thank you, I've been wanting to play this.", he studied the video game and put it back into the bag. He then pulled out the last item and started to laugh a little and shook his head.
"Oh my God", Temari said as she and Kankuro started cracking up.
"Sleeping pills", Gaara started. "I should've guessed. Though it's still very thoughtful, Thank you, Juliet."
"You're welcome.", I smiled and stood up to hug him. Once we broke our hug, I walked over to Lee.
"Juliet, I think I am ready.", Lee told me.
"Great!", I smiled and led him to the front of the room. "Hey guys! Our friend Lee has something to tell you!", I said loud enough for everyone to hear. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at us. "Okay Lee, go on.", I whispered into his ear.
"Okay...uh...um...how do I say this...", Lee stuttered.
"Go on Lee, tell us!", TenTen encouraged him with a smile.
"Okay...well...I am gay. I am gay. I am a homosexual. I like males. I not very fond of boobs. I am gay.", Lee just stated. Everyone got dead quiet. I began to hear someone clap and saw that it was TenTen. I began clapping too. Then Naruto, Kiba, and Sakura started clapping. Soon enough, everyone was applauding Lee.
"Woooooo!", TenTen cheered.
"I'm so proud of you, Lee!", Sakura exclaimed. I noticed something. Gaara, Neji, Sasuke, and Shikamaru all had knowingly smirks on their faces. THOSE SMUG BASTARDS KNEW IT THE WHOLE TIME. I plastered on a smirk of my own and walked over to Neji.
"So, Neji...", I began, wrapping my arms over his shoulders.
"Yes?", he said ever so innocently. I leaned in so my mouth was right next to his ear.
"How long did you know?", I asked him.
"Know what?", he tried to play dumb.
"Know about Lee's sexuality you smug little fucker."
"Oh, since last Summer."
"Are you serious?"
"Yeah. I noticed the way he stares at me, and the way he looks at a girl. So I kinda figured it out.", Neji shrugged.
"And you didn't bother helping him out because...?"
"I really didn't care."
"But he's your best friend!"
"Well maybe I wanted it to be our little secret!"
"But he didn't know you knew!"
"Okay, my little secret."
"But, why?"
"Stop asking questions."
"Unless...you were scared, weren't you?"
"Scared about what?"
"Scared that if he came out, some guy would get with him and steal your precious little Lee away! You didn't want to be stuck with just TenTen!"
"That's preposterous!"
"Ah, but it's true."
"...You're one clever girl, Rodriguez."
"You're not too shabby yourself, Hyuga.", I complimented him and walked away, heading towards Temari. She pulled my down in a seat next to her before I even had the chance to greet her.
"He asked me out.", she plainly stated.
"Shikamaru?", I asked, even though I sure as hell knew who she was talking about.
"Yes, dumb shit. I think I'm gonna say yes.", she smiled. BOOM! What did I tell you, ShikaBitch?
"Go ahead, you guys would make a really cute couple.", I smiled back at her.
"You think so?"
"I know so, now go!"
"Okay, okay, jeez."
And with that, she got out of her chair and went over to Shikamaru. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but I felt a warm tingle start in my stomach when Shikamaru broke into a smile and they hugged. I'm guessing Gaara and Kankuro knew because they also smiled. Well, Gaara half smiled, but still. My gazed then moved to Lee, who seemed extremely happy. Neji, TenTen, Sakura, Ino, and Naruto were all laughing with him. The warm sensation grew stronger and my lips began to move on their own, making me smile. I continued to look around the room. I saw Sai and Haku drawing something on a piece of paper. Sai was a really artistic person, so I'm guessing he was teaching Haku how to draw. I saw Kiba and Shino talking, Kiba laughing at something Shino said every now and then. I saw Choji talking with Shikamaru and Temari. That warm feeling grew stronger with each scene. Then, I saw Sasuke and Hinata. But they didn't seem too happy.
Uh oh. I guess everything can't be perfect.
A/N: Oh my god, I'm finally done with this chapter. That only took...forever. Anyways, yeah, this story is coming to a close soon, sadly. But there is totally gonna be a squeal! And it's gonna be BAD ASS. I kinda missed them not being all actiony and stuff, so I have an idea where they could fight. :) But that's for the sequel! Speaking of the squeal, I would LOVE it if any one has any tittle suggestions for it! I'm also on winter break, which means I can update much quicker for the time being. Other than that, there is nothing left to be said. Keep updated, reviews are appreciated, and bye, I love you. :)