Uh.
Just.
No.
"Get another seat," she hissed at him. He glanced at her with indifference and turned back to his book before addressing her.
"What page we on?"
Sakura huffed.
"Shikamaru," she said, and he looked up.
"What's up?"
God, she was reminded of how many times she'd wanted to strangle him in the past.
"You need to get another seat," she stated.
"Why's that?"
She had to strangle him. She had to.
"Because you have to."
Apparently Shikamaru didn't think her reason was much legit because he leaned ahead and tapped the shoulder of a girl sitting ahead of him. "What page?"
Sakura did not think he was funny.
Okay, that was wrong. He was funny in a dark humor sort of way. But right now, that only served to piss her off.
"Shikamaru," she tried again.
"Cut it out," he said strangely.
Sakura sighed. "Cut what out?"
"You don't call me Shikamaru."
She gritted her teeth. He could not possibly want to go there.
"Fuck, almost no one calls me Shikamaru. You know that. Cut that shit out."
Oh, she remembered. She always called him Shika. Everyone did. Everyone still did.
Except for Ino now, of course. And her best friends who were doing their best friend duty by ignoring him.
She didn't know about Hinata, but this was already hard for Sakura. She had been good friends with him last year. He'd been paired with her for AP Chemistry, and she liked having a ridiculously smart partner for once. They became good friends, and Sakura was all for it when Shikamaru and Ino became a thing. It was all good.
And then the last day of junior year ended with a bang. They broke up. It was messy. It was bad. And since then, Sakura vowed to sever all ties with Shikamaru for Ino.
But he wasn't making this any easier.
"No, Shikamaru, I won't cut it out. We were actually friends back then." She snapped at him.
He narrowed his eyes at her. "Sakura, what happened between me and Ino is between me and Ino. I don't ask for opinions and I don't drag other people into it. She does, that's on her. Bottom line is, it's done. Finished. Nothing requires you to pretend to hate me."
Oh, fucker.
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me," he said.
This guy cannot be believed, she groused to herself.
Kurenai rounded their table as she handed out worksheets to the table behind them and Sakura was forced to lower her voice to reply.
"I get what you're saying. The shit between you and Ino stays between you and Ino." Sakura whispered. "But she's my best friend. Which means that even though it is done, freezing you out is my job."
His head jerked up, eyebrows raised, surprise evident in his eyes. "Just like that?"
"Just like that."
He stared at her. Then suddenly, his lips quirked up at the side in a grin and he shook his head before turning to his book. "Then isn't AP Chem gonna be a scream?"
Fucker.
"In fact," he went on. "I have a feeling the whole year's going to be a real somethin'."
Then he grabbed the worksheets passed to him by the guy behind them and passed her one before passing the bunch ahead. He pulled out a pen and started with the questions on the sheet.
Great. Just great.
Sakura didn't think he had any intentions of leaving anytime soon.
Fucker.
Kiba slammed the laptop firmly shut.
He wasn't feeling Lunch. As soon as the bell for Lunch rang, he stopped by at the computer lab for something to do.
No, this wasn't weird. He was fucking good with a computer. So naturally, he'd find shit to do.
So he grabbed a seat, a laptop and opened his email for the first time in centuries. Then he came across another surprise.
She'd emailed him about roughly about a million times. None of which he made the mistake of opening after the text message incident, thank God.
Again, what a bitch.
She knew, hell, everyone knew he checked his email like never. But she still emailed him anyway.
What was he supposed to make of that?
And not to mention, the fact that he did not want any sort of contact with her, not now or ever?
Everyone told him she was a bitch. Of course, they kept their tongues when he dated her.
But then again, he should have fucking listened.
He liked to think he was a good person. He didn't have enemies. He was well-liked. He was generally happy most of the time. He wasn't bad.
Well, he swore a lot.
But that was it.
He hadn't even ever hated anyone his whole life. Not even Ami, The Bitch Who Screwed Him Over. He felt strong dislike for her, naturally, but that was it.
He didn't hate her.
He just strongly disliked her.
She was just another one of his many mistakes. And like all his mistakes, he didn't bother giving her much mind after all that went down. But of course, his mind wandered, and sometimes he wondered why she did what she did.
He was curious.
And he had the right to be, considering she never gave him any answers.
But that was all she was going to get from him. The same old mindless, silent question every once in a while when his mind strayed down that road. Not his constant attention, not his never-ending confusion and definitely not hatred. She wasn't worth that.
But these emails?
What was she trying to pull with all this?
This stunt only added to his curiosity.
He heard the sound of the chair next to him scrape on the floor and he looked to find Shikamaru drop next to him.
"What are you doin' here?" Kiba asked him. "Shouldn't you be at lunch?"
"Had some shit to research for AP Chem." Shikamaru said. His lazy eyes strayed over to the shut laptop and came back a fuck of a lot more calculating towards Kiba. "Don't tell me. Let me guess. Ami?"
Christ. The guy should have his own fucking agency.
He was good.
But then again, Kiba was an open book.
"Yeah," Kiba grunted.
"Right."
Silence.
The guys had learned this; how to act in front of each other after last year. They learned to ignore all the shit they went through and act normal. Dodge the subject. Or better yet, steer the topic of conversation to something less complicated and more undemanding.
It was easy. They met up almost every day in the summer to relax and throw a ball around. They didn't talk about Kiba's shit, Naruto's or Shikamaru's. They didn't have to. It was all ancient history.
It was like Kiba didn't need to answer. Shikamaru continued anyway.
"You know, it's not like I would know because apparently she's gonna shut me out, but I don't think Sakura talks to him."
Bam. There it was. Shikamaru didn't talk much but when he did, he seemed to have all the right words.
Knowing Sakura went through the same thing and it helped that when he saw her heading out of her World History class when he was heading in, the girl looked good (hell, she not only looked good, she looked her usual good). She looked okay. More than okay. Not like she was thinking about last year, but like she was looking forward to this year.
And there it was.
Because if she could do it, so could he.
Ami was old news. Ancient history. Done. Finished.
He had a life to get on with.
He grunted in reply.
"Maybe you should talk to her about it or somethin'." Shikamaru shrugged. "She went through the same shit."
Okay, no. His friend's right words had ended when the wrong ones came out.
"I'm not gonna talk feelings, dude," Kiba ground out, instantly nauseated.
Shikamaru held up his hands. "I get that, I do. Just sayin', might help."
Right.
Moving on.
"Lunch?" Kiba questioned.
Shikamaru stared at him a quiet moment before nodding. "Let's go."
And so they did.
"Yo, Sasuke!"
Naruto was strutting towards Sasuke near his locker at lunch with his shit-eating grin in place.
Sasuke raised his eyebrows at him slightly, not giving him much of an answer.
So he spoke first.
"You see Sak?"
"What?" Sasuke bit off.
Naruto sighed. Sasuke never really had much patience for puzzles. Not the verbal kind and definitely not the kiddie kind where you could put together pieces of a puzzle and he knows that because he remembers his SpongeBob Squarepants puzzle shredded and in the bin because it was the one puzzle seven year-old Sasuke had encountered that he couldn't clinch.
Naruto still figured Sasuke owed him a SpongeBob puzzle, but since he wasn't a kid anymore, he'd settle for a SpongeBob T-shirt.
He decided not to tell him this at the moment.
He powered through with another grin. "Sakura, man. Sakura Haruno. Pink hair. Remember her?"
Naruto watched as faint recognition flickered in Sasuke's eyes. Of course he'd remember her. There wasn't a person on earth, especially male with a functioning dick who'd come across Sakura Haruno and not remember her.
Granted, Sasuke had been in middle school last time he saw her.
But then again, he was pretty sure he still had one back then, so Naruto supposed his point was still valid.
"What about her?" Naruto heard a voice from behind him call out. He whirled to see Kiba heading for them, with a slow Shikamaru in tow.
Naruto shifted, allowing them to fall in step next to himself and Sasuke. "Just that. You seen her?"
Kiba simply whistled in response. Shikamaru chuckled.
"Right?" Naruto's eyes went to them. "Seriously. She gets more gorgeous every fuckin' day."
"I get you, man. Didn't think it was possible last year, but it is and she looks even better." Kiba replied with a shake of his head.
"Yeah." Naruto agreed, shoving his hands in the pocket of his Levis. Then he turned back to Sasuke. "You were close with her in junior high. Tell if there's an angle I can work."
The way Sasuke looked at him then was almost equivalent to the way he'd look at him if he'd sprouted three heads. "Wasn't close. Just partners."
Naruto sighed. That was a dead bust.
"Wait, wait, wait," Kiba piped up as he stared at Naruto. "You wanna get in there? You fuckin' with me?"
Naruto shook his head quickly. "No, man. Just wanted to hang. We used to be friends back in middle school."
"Yeah, what happened with that?" Shikamaru asked, seeming genuinely interested.
Naruto shrugged. "Fuck, I don't know. Drifted apart or somethin'? All I know is I came to school freshman year looking at a fuckin' model."
"I hear you," Kiba's lips tipped up. "Been tryin' to get in there for ages. Since freshman year. She didn't give me anything, though, so had to throw in the towel and give up."
"And she won't," Naruto declared knowingly. "Good you gave up with that 'cause she won't give you shit. Sorry dude, but she ain't stupid. Never was."
"You would know." Kiba grunted. "Been in love with her since junior high, haven't you?"
Naruto raised his hands in front of him defensively. "Hey. That was middle school. And she was the prettiest in the class."
"You got that right." Kiba nodded. "Her blonde friend's pretty hot too."
"Whatever," Shikamaru muttered. "They got nothin' to do with us."
Kiba pressed his lips together, knowing he'd fucked up. Naruto tensed. It was because this was dangerous territory. Anything Ino Yamanaka or Ino Yamanaka related was off limits to discussion. It was something they skirted ever since the Shikamaru and Ino ship set sail and promptly crashed and burned. And now Kiba had opened his big mouth and slipped up.
Either way, Shikamaru's statement held true. They didn't have the same social circles. Ino and her friends stuck with their cheerleaders and the guys stuck with the football players. Unless there were girlfriends involved or they were making moves on them, they never had reason to initiate contact.
It was just the way things were. And probably how they would remain. Especially after last year.
"I know it's the first day and all but do not, do not, under any circumstance give the meat loaf a second look. That shit just ain't right," Naruto warned Sasuke in an effort to change the subject. He then noticed Sasuke examining Shikamaru carefully and Naruto just shook his head, amused. Nothing got by Sasuke.
"Yeah?" Naruto prompted.
Sasuke focused back on him, a mild scowl in place but surprised him by actually bothering to answer. "Yeah."
Naruto took that in stride as they entered the cafeteria and headed towards the line. Much to his pleasure, no one looked at the meat loaf twice.
He left them and headed straight for the burgers. As he walked, he passed by that Sai guy and Ino standing together speaking in hushed voices by the counter. She looked concerned, while Sai's face was set, almost resigned and a good amount disappointed.
Naruto made it past them quickly. His lips quirked up. It really didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what was going on.
The Sai guy was being jilted.
As much as he'd love to set up cameras on the spot and document the whole thing for eternity, he didn't think Shikamaru would take to that too kindly.
But it was still fucking hilarious.
He turned to his right to see Kiba had joined him and was grinning uncontrollably. Their eyes met and Naruto shook his head at him. Kiba was being way too obvious.