"What do you think, Ren? Should I go with 'Midnight Serenade' or 'Apple Blossom Waltz'? Ino asked from her seat in one of Ren's plush bean bag chairs as she held up two perfume bottles, frowning as she continued to glance at each in turn. Ren sat in a towel at her vanity, running a brush through her freshly washed and blow-dried hair, which was glowing like the soft embers of a fire as the light of the setting sun streamed in through her bedroom window. It was about six o'clock in the evening, about two hours before Naruto's party was set to begin. Her two friends had just arrived at her house to prepare and were currently unloading their outfits, accessories, make-up, and other necessary goods while Ren finished her after-shower routine.
"I would say 'Midnight Serenade.' It sounds sexy and mysterious," she replied. "I'll take that other one, though. That one sounds more my speed," she added as Ino set the purple glittery perfume bottle to the side and prepared to return the other apple-red and gold one to her purse; at Ren's prompting, she tossed the plastic bottle across the bedroom into her waiting hands, and she set the bottle aside on her vanity before once more teasing the knots out of her stubborn hair. In the reflection of the mirror, she could see Sakura sitting cross-legged on her bed, one leg drawn up as she painted her toenails with summery green nail polish.
"So, Ren, where are your parents this time?" the pink-haired girl inquired after pressing a spongey toe separator between her toes, wiggling them slightly as the polish slowly dried.
"Africa. They're helping to build clean water treatment facilities," she responded, setting down the brush and grabbing her curling iron. As she wound a strand of her hair around the iron and held it close to her head, feeling the heat radiate from its metal surface, she frowned slightly at her through the mirror. "They've been gone for a month now." Ren's parents were both missionaries and traveled the world to conduct service projects and preach their religion to others. When she was small, Ren was homeschooled and would accompany them on their trips, but when she became a teenager and expressed interest in attending college to have a professional career, they enrolled her in high school so that she could have a stable life and focus on her studies. Thus, for the last four years she had spent most of her time alone and learning how to be self-sustainable. Her parents sent her monthly allowances to pay the bills and purchase groceries, so she had not the need to acquire a job, but they were still useful life skills to know.
"Does it ever get lonely?" Ino asked while pulling her long, bleach-blonde hair into a ponytail. Ren pulled out her curl, watching it bounce just above her shoulder, before twirling another thick chunk around the iron. Ren talked to her parents frequently, but it was undeniable that a distance had grown between them.
"Sometimes," she admitted, then turned to face them with a smile. "But, I have you girls, so I'm all right."
"That's right!" Ino grinned brightly and jumped up to wrench off her shirt and toss it aside. "We're gonna have a good time tonight! It's time to get ourselves a date!" she howled with glee, her voice slightly muffled as she pulled a tube top over her head. When she straightened and out and turned toward the mirror, she jiggled her chest slightly. "Does this make my boobs look good? Or is it too slutty? I want to look available but not easy."
"I think it's fine, Ino," Sakura laughed as she painted the toes on her other foot. The other cheerleader peered in the reflective glass for a moment, then shrugged and slipped out of her skirt to exchange it for a pair of snugly-fitting skinny jeans. After her toes had successfully dried, Sakura changed into a white miniskirt and a green short-sleeved shirt with a plunging backline, complete with a pair of sandals to display her decorated feet. By this time, Ren had finished curling her hair, and she tossed it from side to side to admire the bouncing ringlets before changing into her own outfit. As she was spritzing herself with the flower-scented perfume, Ino glanced over at her.
"So, I heard that Rock Lee has taken a liking to you. Apparently he talks about how smart you are in Chemistry all the time," she smirked, and Ren grimaced at her, definitely not in the mood for her baiting. She turned back to her mirror, pursing her lips as she applied a thick smear of lip gloss. Part of her was immensely flattered that he thought so highly of her, but part of her was a bit annoyed, as it was probably such behavior that led to the incessant rumors flying around about their potential courtship. That irritation faded when she recalled the instance in the hallway, how blue he had seemed at the idea that Ren didn't like him. … I don't dislike him. I'm just not used to all the attention, she thought with a small sigh. She couldn't let feelings like that cloud her judgement of him. He's a nice guy, just… odd.
"Lee isn't very good at chemistry. I'm sure I would seem smart to him," she said as she powdered her face with foundation. "I don't really know why he's so hung up on me, though. I've hardly done anything to warrant his attention. I'm just nice to him."
"That's your first mistake right there!" Ino cried, and Ren jumped as her form suddenly appeared in the mirror to throw an arm around her shoulders. "You should never be nice to a guy you don't know! They start getting ideas, like you like them or something!" she scolded as she picked up the brush for Ren's blush and began dabbing it across her cheeks. "Besides, Ren, you're a lot prettier than you realize. You're probably the first pretty girl who's given him the time of day! Of course, how could you know? You're naïve about these kinds of things," she sighed with a click of her tongue and handed the brush back to the slightly perplexed girl. Though others may find Ino's lack of tact and borderline abrasiveness undesirable or even insulting, Ren often found that it complimented her own insecure and sometimes clueless nature. Ren knew little about the ways of men, having grown up closed off from forming any meaningful relationships with others, and though the delivery was a bit coarse Ino frequently knew what she was talking about. As she dusted her face with the rosy powder, she frowned thoughtfully.
Could Lee be into me? We've only known each other a week, though. Still, he had ended up on top of her once and saved her from a few thugs in that little time. The strangest part was that Ren wasn't particularly bothered by the idea.
It made her happy.
By the time the girls rolled up to Naruto's house, the party was already in full-swing. Ino squeezed into a small space between another convertible and a massive truck, while Ren frowned uncertainly at the unassuming two-story building; the festivities were spilling out into the front yard, with partygoers lounging about with red plastic cups in their hands as they shouted at each other over the garishly loud hip-hop music blasting from the structure. Ren could nearly understand every word despite all the windows and doors being closed, and she couldn't imagine how deafening it was within. She considered for a moment abandoning the endeavor to take shelter in Ino's car for the night, but before she could voice her misgivings her friends dragged her into the chaos of thumping music and bodies.
If the music was thunderous before, inside, it sounded as if the lightning gods themselves had descended to Earth to wage their terrible, deafening battle. Ren clamped her hands over her ears to protect her fragile eardrums from bursting at the force of the sound waves. Ino grinned and shouted something at her, but it was lost amongst the rap music and raised voices, and so Ren just looked at her quizzically.
"I said, let's go find some drinks!" she shouted once again, pulling on of Ren's hands from her ears to bring her mouth close enough for the startled girl to hear. Before she could even consent, her friend grabbed her firmly by the wrist to spirit her further into the energized household. In the living room, standing on the couch with two plastic cups of beer in his hands and pink cheeks, was their host.
"Heyyyyyy! Ladies, you made it!" He hopped down from the couch, the brown liquid sloshing about at the rim of the cups and running down the sides onto his fingers; he seemed not to notice. "Booze is in the kitchen! Help yourselves."
"Do you have anything besides alcohol?" Ren asked, and when he pointed at his ear and shook his head with a confused expression, she screamed it at him.
"Oh, yeah! There's some sodas, too! Have whatever you want!" he beamed and proceeded to drain the dregs of his cups in rapid succession before grinning at them with beer foam coating his lips. He opened his mouth to speak but a loud, deep burp only came out. "Whoops, sorry!" he snickered as Ren wrinkled up her nose in disgust at the vulgar display. "What is it, Ren, do ya not drink?"
"You're too much of a goody-two-shoes!" Ino scolded and grabbed her by the shoulders to twirl her around and steer her toward the small kitchen. "You're at a party, damn it! Act like it!"
"One of us has to be sober enough to drive home, you know!"
"Don't worry! Sakura has it covered! She has a Calculus quiz on Monday and has already said she isn't drinking! See?" Ino pressed while gesturing to the aforementioned girl, who popped the tab of a soda can and sipped it femininely before sidling over to Sasuke, who was leaning against the refrigerator looking as cool as ever as he watched the party with disinterest and occasionally took a swig of his beer. She's gotta be sober to shoot her shot is what it is, Ren thought with a sigh and looked uncertainly at the various alcohol bottles littered across the tiled counters and in ice chests. Vodka, beers, rum, even bottles of wine were strewn about in various levels of consumption. Ino prodded her in the ribs repeatedly, bleating at her to loosen up and try something, and so she gingerly reached out to grasp a can of beer from the ice chest at her feet, recoiling slightly at how frigidly cold it was; then, before she could talk sense into herself, she popped it open and took a large drink of it.
"Ugh!" she gasped as the bitter liquid hit her tongue and throat, and by some grace of God she managed to swallow the vile stuff. "It's disgusting!" Ino laughed heartily and plucked herself one from the ice, opening it and drinking it without so much as a grimace. "It's an acquired taste. Keep sipping on it! It'll grow on you!" she said while clapping her on the shoulder before she turned to descend into the crowd, hips swaying seductively in the hopes of attractive herself some attention. Ren frowned deeply but obediently continued taking small sips of the beer, shuddering and making faces all the while.
Now that I'm alone, I should find Lee and should apologize to him. Timidly, she edged out of the kitchen and into the heart of the party, squeezing through the horde of people with bright red cheeks and muttered "excuse me's." Most of them didn't even give her a passing glance, but some glanced at her with raised eyebrows, and a few passed rather unsettling glances her way before elbowing their friends with snickers. Ren could only imagine what kind of lewd thoughts were passing through the drunk boys' minds, and so she just focused on moving as quickly as possible before they could decide to harass her in some way or another. She paused occasionally to stand on her tip-toes and peer around heads and over shoulders with no luck. Though one would think it easy to find a man with a bowl cut and large eyebrows, Rock Lee eluded her.
Maybe he's avoiding me. As the thought creeped in her mind, she leaned up against one of the walls and dismally drank her beer. It was quite likely that Lee had already seen her, and, to avoid an awkward conversation, had gone and hidden himself. Ino would probably say just to let him sulk, that it's better for her anyway, but Ren could not simply ignore it. I want to make things right! She took another large swig of her beer, finding that it had in fact grown on her a bit, and descended back into the madness.
Six beers and two hours later, Ren was still empty-handed and now hopelessly drunk. She wasn't a heavy consumer of alcohol like many of her peers, and thus lacked any kind of tolerance. She was currently slumped over in a chair, her head bobbing up and down slightly as she watched the colors and light swirl around her in a confusing puddle, like soap upon the surface of water. I… I feel strange. She raised a hand and wiggled her fingers, but though the digits obeyed her command, she could not feel the muscles tensing at all. She was going numb. Her hand flopped back down to her side, and when she looked up, she was surprised to see a pair of bright blue eyes and yellow hair had appeared in the shifting painting of her vision.
"Ren? You okay? Where are Ino and Sakura?" His voice sounded strange, like she was listening to it through water. She blinked slowly as she took a moment to comprehend his words.
"I think I'm drunk…" Her words were as unfocused as her mind, sloshing like the alcohol in Naruto's cups. "I don't know where they are." She sunk back into the plush fabric of the chair, running her fingers across the soft fabric. "This feels really nice…" she mumbled and leaned down to rub her cheek over the divine surface. When she looked back up, Naruto was staring at her with a mixture of amusement and pity.
"All right, let's get you some water and get you a place to lie down. I can't leave you out here like this," he sighed and took her by the hand to pull her to her feet. For a moment, she felt as if she were flying, and held her arms out to flutter them gently like a bird; this disrupted her already poor balance, and she wobbled unsteadily on jelly-like legs before falling against Naruto's broad chest.
"Whoa… You're really muscular, you know?" she gawked and ran her hand back and forth across his tee-shirt, which did little to hide the sculpted body. "No wonder the girls like you so much!"
"Thanks, Ren," he snorted and gently pulled her hand away, holding his arm firmly around her small shoulders as he guided her towards the stairs. She stumbled over her feet as they refused to obey her mind's muddled commands, and her head swiveled about as her hazy eyes drank in the chaotic atmosphere. The blurry forms of people shifted back and forth, their raucous laughter echoing in her ears as the once-loud music barely hummed in the background. A few partygoers were already passed out on the couches, arms and legs slung about as they breathed loudly through their mouths. A few still had half-empty bottles clutched in their hands. A few times Ren would whip around, feeling someone touching her, and it would turn out to be only her limp arm brushing against her leg. When the reached the stairs, Ren grasped the railing and went to step up, but due to her poor depth perception she placed her weight in empty air and went falling forward. Naruto grabbed her by the hips to steady her as her world reeled, and she knitted her eyebrows together as the steps seemed to start moving back and forth like a flag in the wind.
"I can't," she stammered quietly. "I'm falling!"
"It's all right. I've got you. Can I carry you?" Ren nodded as vigorously as she could without making herself nauseous, clutching onto the rail with both hands now as her legs seemed to melt to butter beneath her. Gently, he scooped her into his arms, and she exhaled sharply as her head flopped limply against his chest and her unresponsive limbs dangled. As her vision whirled like a spinning globe, Naruto brought her up the stairs and down the hall into a spare bedroom. He gently laid her on the bed, and it felt like a cloud was embracing her, making her release a soft sigh. She poked at the spongey mattress with a smile, while Naruto watched her uncomfortably.
"Man, I can't believe Ino just let you loose knowin' you've never drank before. I'm gonna give her a piece of my mind!" he fumed and stamped his foot as Ren continued to look around the room like a baby seeing the world for the first time. "Ren!" he barked and snapped his fingers in front of her face a few times.
"Huh?"
"I'm gonna have someone come up here and sit with you, okay, and bring you some water. Are you going to be all right?" he asked worriedly.
"You're so sweet," she smiled brightly as her head flopped back into the pillow, and she reached up with a hand to clumsily stroke the side of his face that was leaned over hers. "You're gonna make a fine husband to somebody, ya know?" He snorted with laughter and patted her on the head as he straightened up.
"Hang tight." When he left the room, Ren turned her head skyward to watch the ceiling fan rotate, her head moving in a circle as she followed the wooden blades with childlike wonder. When the door opened again, she turned her head and strangled gasp escaped her.
There in the threshold clutching a bottle of water was the man she had been looking for all night.
"Lee!"