War
Ino and Sakura sat on the opposite sides of the table.
"Hi guys, how are you?" Ino asked them.
"Fine.." Sai answers with his plain smile.
"Alright like most days" Neji tells her.
"Even with your studies?" Sakura asked them.
"What kind of people do you think we are.." Neji said with a grin. "Like last year...we have the top grades in our class"
Neji
Age: 17
Class B-1
"Indeed..." Sai said in a cheery tone.
Sai
Age: 16
Class B-1
"Well there is a test coming up for us...but we probably will ace it too right, Sakura" Ino states with a grin.
"Ya, won't be too difficult" Sakura replies crossing her arms.
"So, Neji how's your kendo club?" Ino asked.
"Its fine...I became the leader of it this year from my senior who decided to leave and focus on getting into college" Neji answers her.
"Wow, so you have more responsibility now" Ino said with a slight smirk. "But you can handle it….being an overachiever and all"
"Hmhm..you should come by to one of our matches coming up soon" Neji said with a smile.
"Have to see if I have any time.."Ino replies thinking about her own club.
"Come on, Ino.." Sakura said giving her a nudge. "You have time...there is a match this friday, we all should go"
"Really.." Ino said surprised.
"It's better to have friends cheering him on" Sai states.
"He as a point" Sakura said with a nod.
Ino is conflicted trying to think of an answer. She planned to start up her club this week but now Neji asked her to come at one of his matches that is in three days. It's a tough decision but seeing how all her friends wants her to come, she had no choice.
"So, will you come?" Neji asked one more time.
"..Yes" Ino said with a smile.
"Yay!..so right after school on friday..we will meet up" Sakura tells everyone.
"Understood" Sai said smiling.
OOO
Meanwhile, Naruto reaches the last floor. He looks up at the last flight of stairs leading to the roof but he stopped before stepping foot on it. Looking at his left, he sees Sara coming out from the club room.
"Oh, hey there Naruto..surprised seeing you here" Sara said in a cheery tone. "Did you come to eat in our lunch room"
"No" Naruto said simply.
"Oh.." Sara replies and curious why he's up here then. "So what are you doing here?"
"What were you doing in the club room?" Naruto answered with another question not wanting Sara to know where he is going.
"Just left my notebook from yesterday…" Sara answers.
"Oh, your not going to eat in there?" Naruto asked.
"No reason too...don't like eating alone" Sara tells him. "Plus, I have friends waiting for me..which reminds me, I have to hurry!"
Sara begins running down the stairs while Naruto watches her go. Naruto shakes his head and walks up the stairs and opens the door to the roof. He drops down and leans his back against the wall. He pulls out his sandwich lunch. He can feel a cool breeze against his skin.
"I don't think it's lonely.." He said quietly and eats his lunch.
OOO
Lunch break comes to an end and everyone begins walking back to class. Ino and Sakura splits from Neji and Sai, going opposite directions to their class. Sara is seen walking up the stairs talking with Tenten then splitting up. Naruto was walking down the stairs and finds his way through the crowd of people to his class.
Once arriving to class, Naruto makes his way to his seat. Everyone else arrive along with the teacher. Ino pulls out her cellphone.
"Sara, we're going to have a meeting after school...something came up and I need everyone to be there" Ino types.
"Ok, so I'll get him to come this time..while you bring Naruto" Sara types back.
"Me.." Ino thought and shifts her eyes to Naruto who is tapping his pencil on his desk. It makes sense if she tells him that there is a meeting that he needs to go to so he doesn't ditch out which she thinks he mights. He is right next to her. However, it's difficult for her to speak to him normally. She finds it odd and uncomfortable. Even on the first day, it felt hard to talk to him.
"Naruto-" Ino whispers, putting her head near him.
The tapping stop, causing Ino to gulp feeling like she interrupted him from something. Naruto slowly shifts his eyes to Ino wondering why she called him. Ino is glad she grabs his attention but Naruto didn't seem to happy. "Geez, what kind of reaction is that!" she thought.
"We have a meeting after school at the club room...you have to be there" Ino whispers quietly.
"..what?" Naruto whispers not being able to hear her clearly.
"How can he not hear that!" Ino thought getting flustered.
"Meeting..club..room" Ino whispers again raising her tone.
"..meatroom?" Naruto whispers raising his eyebrow, confused.
Ino's eye twitch. She leans her head closer to Naruto who leans away from her since she is getting into his space. He hits the window.
"We have a meeting in the club room" Ino whispers gritting her teeth, staring into his eyes.
A loud cough makes its way to the back of the classroom causing Ino to turn her head to the one who made it. Surprisingly, it was Iruka who coughed. He had a serious expression directed at her and Naruto. Along with most of the students. They all were confused seeing Ino a few inches from Naruto who can feel his heart, beat fast. He turns to the window, not wanting to look at anyones gaze. Ino retracts herself with embarrassment on her face and looks down at her desk.
"Ino, do you have something to say to the class that you had to interrupt me?" Iruka asked, hiding his surprised seeing her talk to Naruto.
"N-no sir" Ino replies feeling nervous.
"I see…" Iruka said shifting his eyes to Naruto. "Well then, let's get back to today's lesson.."
Everyone's eyes soon left Ino and Naruto. Ino breathes out and lays her head on the desk. She never felt that embarrassed until today. Well, there is nothing she can do now except hope that Naruto heard her. Her embarrassment better pay off. She feels her pocket buzz. She pulls her cell phone out and notice a message from Sakura.
"What was that?" Sakura texted.
Ino tried thinking of an answer. She can't tell her about her club and she doesn't want to give her the wrong idea. She hears the tapping again and looks at the pencil. That's when an idea came to mind.
"He dropped a pencil so I was giving it to him" Ino texts.
"It didn't seem like you were just giving him a pencil...you looked pissed" Sakura texts back moment after.
"More like ready to strangle the guy" she thought imagining the thought but shakes it away. Tapping her fingers on the desk, Ino rest her head on her hand and looks at the board.
OOO
The last bell rings causing everyone to cheer for joy. The class slowly empties. Ino gets up from her seat and sees Sakura walking to her, shifting her eyes at her and Naruto with curiosity.
"Tell me.." Sakura whisper in her ear. "Did he do anything to you?"
"No, what gave you that idea" Ino said shock with that question.
"You looked like he stole your precious doll" Sakura states.
"Heh..well, no.." Ino said moving away from her desk. "..just didn't get the thanks for giving his pencil back"
Ino moves past Sakura and heads to the second exit.
"But don't worry about it Sakura...you will get wrinkles faster that way-" Ino states until hearing Sakura talk a distance away causing her to turn around.
"Hey!..apologize to Ino!" Sakura spoke to Naruto.
Snapping out of Naruto's silence, he turns his head to Sakura surprised and confused. He can tell she is angry at him, for what reason he doesn't know. However, shifting his eyes to Ino then to Sakura, it probably involved Ino. First, she made him embarrassed and now he is getting a glare from the pink haired girl. Naruto gets up from his seat.
"h-hey...I-im talking to you" Sakura said shifting back a bit, not realizing that Naruto was taller than her.
"The best way to avoid, conflict...is too" Naruto thought and picks up his back. "Walk away" he finishes and walks past Sakura, moving toward the first exit of the classroom since, Ino was blocking his usual exit. Ino's eyes follows him, wondering what was on his mind. Sakura didn't like being ignored. She clenches her hand and turns to him, but he wasn't there anymore. Ino slowly walks to her.
"What does that guy think he is" Sakura spoke, feeling herself about to erupt.
"now you understand why I look so..pissed" Ino sighs patting her back.
"..ya, he really gets you under your skin...and yet" Sakura said looking at the ceiling.
Ino blinks a few times wondering what is going through her pinks friends head. She didn't see any anger in her expression. A buzz came from her phone causing her to remember the meeting.
"Sakura...sorry, I have to go now...see you tomorrow" Ino tells her, running out of the classroom.
"A-alright" Sakura replies still in her thoughts.
Sakura couldn't shake that image from her mind. "Those blue eyes" she thought.
OOO
Ino reaches the club room and opens the door.
"your here Ino" Sara said in a cheerful tone.
"Ya, sorry that i came here late" Ino said bowing her head.
"Its fine" A new face said in the club room with spirals on each of his cheek.
"You finally showed up...Choji" Ino said with a smile.
Choji
Age:16
Class C-1
"ya, sorry that I didn't make it yesterday...had plans" Choji states putting his hand in the bag of chips.
"Its fine...but don't forget about our meetings" Ino said in a serious tone.
Ino soon shifts her eyes to Naruto who sits near the window at the back of the room with boredom written on his face. She wanted to say something but its better if she moves on. She takes her seat and pulls out her violet notebook.
"Alright...thank you for coming, As you all know this club is a card club...it may not sound fun now but...I promise you...it will" Ino said with confidence in her expression. "Now, for the next few days...we will be deciding what kind of game we will focus on"
"That's all" Naruto mumbles not seeing the joy.
"yes.." Ino said giving him a glare. "so Sara..why not hand them the cards"
In a flash, a card slides in front of Naruto and Choji. They both pick their cards up.
Naruto's hand
2 of spades
Choji's hand
Ace of clubs
"The number or letter represents the order you are in to present your game idea" Ino said crossing her arms.
"You could have just assign us numbers other than this" Naruto notes not really seeing the point of getting a card.
"That's a boring way of doing it..this way is more creative" Ino exclaims with a smile. "Which is what I'm expecting you to be…"
"Creative.." Naruto said softly, moving the card with his fingers left to right.
"I'll give an example on how you will present your idea to us..Sara-" Ino said, putting her right hand out.
"Here you go" Sara replies with a smile, placing the deck of cards in her hand.
Ino closes her eyes and begins to shuffle. The three were watching her do the bridge. Ino opens her eyes and begins sliding the cards to everyone, swiftly. Until giving everyone, including herself the right amount of cards for her game. Ino notice Choji was about to look at his hand.
"Choji stop!" Ino yells to him.
"What!?" Choji replies, startled.
"No one is suppose to look at their cards" Ino states.
"How are we supposed to know what cards we have then?" Choji asked.
"That's the point.." Ino said with a grin. "This game is called...War where the winner is the one with the most card and losers are the ones with no cards"
"How do you play?" Sara asked, getting excited.
"Without looking, put the top card from your hand down in the middle….the card with the highest value wins and takes all four cards" Ino answers.
"Sounds familiar" Naruto states, placing his pile of cards in front of him.
"...oh, so you have played your fair share of card games" Ino said with a smirk. "Thought you found them boring"
"I do...but they don't interest me anymore" Naruto said, grabbing the bottom of the top card with the tips of his fingers. "Are we going to start or what?"
"Hmph.." Ino said, looking at the middle of the table and gets ready. "Ok, 1,2...3"
The sound of cards slapping against the table echoes in the room.
OOO
A half an hour as past, and the final slap of cards were played.
Choji
King of hearts
Sara
Jack of diamonds
Naruto
Ace of spades
Ino
2 of diamond
"Another one…" Sara said surprised to see Ino's last card.
Ino looks at Sara's hand noticing she had almost the whole deck then to Choji's which is similar to Sara's but slightly less then at Naruto's that is a quarter to Sara's hand while for her, had nothing. She felt like the odd one out. At the beginning, she had high cards until the end where 2s and 4s she kept on pulling.
"I guess we're done here" Naruto states, standing up from his seat.
"What makes you say that..you could have a chance to win" Sara said, looking at him.
"It's not a fun game...if it relies on chance" Naruto tells her.
"It was a fun game...even though…" Ino said, with a pout. "I lost and all...Didn't everyone enjoy the game?
"ya..I thought i had a chance to catch up to Sara" Choji states with a grin.
"Haha...be careful..the cards I collected were high ones…" Sara said with a grin.
"See…" Ino tells Naruto.
"Let me restate that...not a fun game for me" Naruto replies.
"Hmph...what card games are fun for you-"
"None"
"None?...seriously..there must be one that-"
"Nope"
"How about the one you said it was similar to this one?"
"Oh ya.." Naruto said looking up at the ceiling then to her. "..not fun but I can say..it's entertaining"
"Entertaining how?" Ino asked, raising her eyebrow.
"You don't want to know" Naruto said with a slight smirk and chuckle, picking up his bag.
"What is with that look?..what kind of cards games did he play?" Ino thought curious. She notice Sara is thinking about it too seeing the side of her index finger against her lips.
"Probably something..perverted" Sara mumbles which Ino hears and turns bright red.
Naruto puts his bag on and notice a red faced Ino. He tilts his head, confused what is going through her mind. "Why do I get the feeling its about me" he thought with a sigh. He begins walking to the door.
"Wait Naruto" Sara spoke. "Ino still has one more thing to say to us..right?"
"U-uh?" Ino said, snapping out of her thoughts. "Oh ya...um...this friday, we won't have a meeting"
"Oh, why not?" Choji asked.
"Well...my friend has a kendo match and invited me and my other friends to cheer for him" Ino answers.
Naruto narrows his eyes at the back of Ino then turning to the door where his hair shadows his eyes.
"Already ditching us.." Naruto mumbles.
Ino turns her head, thought that she heard something from Naruto but sees him opening the door.
"Well that's good..I don't have to come here after school on friday" Naruto states.
"Hmmph" Ino said, getting up from her seat. "One more thing before you go"
"Heh?" Naruto said, turning to her and notice her phone is out.
"I think it's best..for the both of us, if we exchange numbers..so I don't have to face that embarrassment again" Ino said, can't forget how she acted in her class.
"ooh...I understand" Naruto said, with his eye twitching, taking her phone and begins typing his phone number. "Talking to me must have affected your status"
"Wait..what?-" Ino said confused, soon getting her phone back.
"See you later...queen of hearts" Naruto leaves the room.
"Uh..queen of-" Ino said looking at her phone then the door, not sure what happened. "Hold on!"
Ino dashes out the door but sees Naruto already walking down the stairs.
"Ouch..that must have hurt" Choji said, taking a bite of his chip.
"Hmm...surprised he showed emotion" Sara said, leaning against her chair.
"What are you guys talking about?" Ino asked.
"Replay what you said in your head..slowly.." Sara said, spinning her index finger counter clockwise. "You tend to think faster about things"
Ino tries to understand what Sara is trying to say. Adding from what Choji had said, she must have said something to offend Naruto. However, she is the one that was humiliated. Acting like a fool. She bets the whole class thinks she was making a move on Naruto. If she only texted him maybe she could have avoided it. She stares at the empty hallway. "Hmm...did he also feel embarrassed...but why would he, I was the one embarrassing myself not the other way around-...wait" Ino thought until remembering those words she told him.
Time was ticken, and Sara couldn't help but feels eager to help her friend understand why Naruto left pissed.
"Ino.." Sara spoke, catching her attention. "You told him that you never want to face that embarrassment again...the way we see it..he was the cause of your embarrassment"
"..well part of it.." Ino mumbles but understands what she is telling her.
Ino begins running down the stairs.
OOO
Naruto reaches the first floor. He had his hands in his pockets. "A card game...here I thought I finished playing those type of games" he thought until hearing footsteps behind him. He looks over his shoulder noticing Ino, running down the stairs. His eyes slightly widen seeing her foot going in front of the other mid way down the stairs.
"Woah,,woah.!" Ino said feeling herself trip.
However, Ino reached out and grabs the railing quickly, slipping only two steps down then falling backwards on her butt. She grunts after, hurting her arm from stretching it. She massages her shoulder and looks back at Naruto. She saw a glimpse of his foot leave the first step at the bottom of the staircase.
"Hmm...are you ok?" Naruto asked looking away from her.
"Hmhm..my arm is sore but it will heal" Ino responds, slowly getting up.
"Maybe next time..you shouldn't go running down stairs like a crazy person" Naruto said, walking to the exit.
"Ya..guess your right" Ino said with her eye twitching but remembers what Sara told her. "Just so you know…"
Naruto continues to walk away.
"About the embarrassment thing I said-" Ino said, feeling a little nervous.
"Don't worry..I know what you meant...you acted like an idiot" Naruto tells her.
"Yes..and it wasn't because of you-..wait!?" Ino said looking surprised. "You didn't misunderstand me?"
"Of course.." Naruto states, stopping and turning around with a serious expression. "So next time...don't risk yourself because of me.."
Ino couldn't understand him. He looks angry but could there be more behind that expression. She's sees Naruto walking to the exit then leaving the building. "Was he worried" she thought with a uneasy feeling.
OOO
Naruto makes it to his floor and notice a square box in front of his door. He picks it up and unlocks the door. He enters and brings the box to the second bedroom. He goes to his room and starts changing out of his clothes. He changes to his pjs and turns on the tv to the weather channel. He yawns and takes a seat on the couch.
"Tomorrow's forecast is grey skies with a chance of rain, don't forget to bring your umbrella when you go out" said the news lady in the screen.