IV: Rumors and Gossip
"What's new with you, Sakura?" Ino asked as she sat down with her best friend at a local dango shop.
"Oh, nothing," Sakura replied, lazily pulling a hand through her hair. "Just the everyday business of running the medical corp. What about you? Must be hard to practically build up a whole division from scratch."
Ino sighed, leaning her head back and closing her eyes as she did so. "You can say that again. Kakashi-sensei sure is slave driver, I never thought that I'd have to build a whole new communications unit from the ground up."
A serving a dango was brought to them by a waitress. Sakura grabbed a few and took a bite. "Still, Shikamaru probably has the toughest job."
Ino opened her eyes and grabbed some dango. "Yeah, I never would have thought that he would go through with all that work."
"It's been a couple of months since they started, how's he doing over there?" Sakura asked.
"He says that they're going well, but not it so many words," Ino answered with a sigh before she suddenly perked up. "Though I do have some nice gossip."
"Oh?" Sakura asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh, yes," Ino said as she leaned in, that mischievous and sneaky look on her face that she got whenever she was gossiping. "Have you ever noticed Shikamaru and a certain Sand kunoichi eating out together?"
"I've seen them a few times," Sakura responded, "but it always seemed to me like they were just talking about work over lunch."
Ino sniggered as she got to the juiciest part of her gossip. "Oh no, they've been going to eat together almost everyday, sometimes by themselves and sometimes with others, but always together."
"Seriously?" Sakura asked, leaning forward slightly in anticipation before leaning back with a skeptical look on her face. "Wait, wait, how do you know?"
Ino turned her head to the side in mock indignation. "A girl can't tell all of her secrets, can she?"
Sakura sighed. "Fine, fine, just tell me."
Ino smiled and giggled. "Don't you see? They must be dating."
"Shikamaru and Temari…?" Sakura said in disbelief. "Come on, you can't really believe that."
"Why not?" Ino replied
"Well," Sakura said, "first off, she's from the Sand."
Ino shrugged her shoulders. "Hey, you find love where you find love."
"And besides, this is Shikamaru we're talking about," Sakura said. "Him and dating…well, let's just say he's not a personal commitments kind of guy."
"Oh, come on now," Ino replied, half laughing as she did, "you're underestimating him."
"Hm," Sakura said, "maybe. What about you Ino, you must have your eye on someone." She added with an evil gin, "I hope you're still not chasing hopelessly after Sasuke."
"Oh, please," Ino said, "I'm over him. I do, however, have my eyes set on another teammate of yours."
"Naruto?!" Sakura exclaimed, surprised and a little disgusted.
"No!" Ino exclaimed. "Sai, you foolish billboard brow!"
Sakura waved her clenched fist at Ino. "Watch it, Ino-pig!"
The two exchanged angry glares for moment before sitting back down and acting like nothing happened.
Ino giggled a little as a thought came to her. "You know, there used to be a time when nobody could stand Naruto. Now there's nobody in the village who's more popular with the ladies."
Sakura laughed at that. "Yeah, maybe, but he's not really sure what to do with them. As far as he can tell they're just a bunch of weird girls who chase him around."
"I know," Ino said, "how can someone be so clueless?"
Sakura's body language drastically as she spoke in a more serious tone. "Considering how he grew up, I don't think he ever really learned what love is."
"Oh, right," Ino replied. "Speaking of not recognizing love, what about Hinata?"
Sakura sighed. "The same old story. Even as close as they've grown to being, he's too oblivious to even think of approaching her and she's too shy to do it herself. I'm starting to think that someone needs to push them together."
"Are you going to do it?" Ino asked.
"Maybe," Sakura answered, "let's talk about something else."
"Pfft, fine," Ino said before she took a sip from her drink.
After a short moment of silence Sakura spoke up. "Are you thinking about taking the Jonin Exams?"
Ino placed a finger on her chin as she thought for a moment. "That's a few months after the Chunin Exams, right? Maybe. What about you?"
"Most likely," Sakura replied.
"You'll make it," Ino said with an almost dismissive wave. "You're too good to not make it."
"Thanks," Sakura responded, "you too."
"What?" Ino said. "What are you talking about, I'm way behind you. You, Shikamaru, Choji, you'll all make Jonin easily, and let's not even talk about Sasuke and Naruto. Speaking of which, are they going to be in the exams?"
Sakura shook her head. "I doubt it. Genin, chunin, jonin, it's not really relevant to them anymore. But Ino, you are more than skilled enough to be a jonin."
"Maybe," Into replied. "In any case, I'm too busy with the communications division to really try it this time around."
"Yeah, you're probably right," Sakura said before she started to giggle.
Ino eyed her friend curiously. "What's so funny?"
"Oh, nothing," Sakura replied, "its just that I was thinking that Shikamaru will be too lazy to enter the exams and Choji won't enter if his best friend doesn't."
Ino chuckled as she put her palm to her forehead. "Yeah, probably. No matter how grown up they become, in some ways they never change."
Sakura chuckled in response. "Yeah, that's true."
"What are Naruto and Sasuke doing these days?" Ino asked.
Sakura paused for a moment as she thought. "Well, Naruto's been out of the village on an extended training trip.."
"Training?" Ino said, genuinely confused, "someone as powerful as him? Train?"
Sakrua nodded. "Its partly to avoid his fangirls, but believe it or not, yeah. And Sasuke…I haven't told anybody else this, but I got a letter from him."
Ino's eyes widened in surprise. "Really? What did it say?"
Sakura leaned in and whispered. "It said that he's finishing his journeys in the Land of Fire and he'll be back in the village in about a week."
Ino started to bounce in her seat excitedly. "Ooh, ooh, we should have a big dinner with all of us!"
"All of who?" Sakura asked cautiously.
"The Hidden Leaf 12!" Ino exclaimed. "And Sai, ooh, yeah, probably bring Sai too!"
Sakura sighed, knowing that there was no way to stop Ino once she had this kind of idea in her head.
The Yamanaka Clan Head climbed out of her seat and started to leave the restaurant. "I'm going to make the reservations right now. Ooh, and I can make special invitation cards!"
As Ino started to leave the building Sakura just stared at her. "Wait…aren't you going to pay your part of the bill?" Ino wasn't paying attention as she stepped out onto the street. Sakura sighed as she got out of her seat. "Fine, I'll take the bill. But she's paying for lunch next time."
