Once again, I present to you... A SHORT CHAPTER! Yay! -sarcasm- I know, my bad. This one is even shorter than the one before it. It was originally going to the same chapter, but it seemed more suspenseful to cut them in half x.x I should write dramatic Soap Opera scripts, hahah.

Also, I am going to start posting the title-credit now. I've been meaning to, but I just keep forgetting! ahh, woops. If you haven't noticed, all of the chapter titles are either song lyrics or song titles... or both! To make up for my past 8 chapters of not giving title credit (too lazy to fix it all, you know?) Imma post it all here.

Chapter 1: "It's An Adventure, Right?" - Hirano Aya's "Bouken Desho Desho?"
Chapter 2: "You Wanna Hold My Hand" - The Beatle's "I Want To Hold Your Hand"
Chapter 3: "You Always Get Hit Out Of Nowhere" - Brand New's "Play Crack The Sky"
Chapter 4: "The Best Damn Thing" - Avril Lavigne's "The Best Damn Thing"
Chapter 5: "Bring It! Sailor Fuku?" - Aya Hirano, Emiri Kato, Kaori Fukuhara, and Aya Endo's "Motteke! Sailor Fuku!"
Chapter 6: "Boys Don't Cry" - The Cure's "Boys Don't Cry"
Chapter 7: "This Was Never The Way I Planned" - Katy Perry's "I Kissed A Girl"
Chapter 8: "You Want Drama? Look No Further" - Relient K's "Mood Rings"

Now, I present to you Chapter 9!
"And I Will Keep You Company" - Bright Eyes' "Bowl of Oranges"

Enjoi~

"Naruto, I told you, leave me the fuck alone!" Lizzi turned around rapidly to meet eyes with the boy who kept following her off school grounds. It was a cloudy day, so everything looked a little less light, even at 8:30 in the morning.

"Lizzi-chan, why won't you talk to me? I thought we were best friends!" he asked. Anyone could notice the hurt in his voice when he said the words "best friends."

Lizzi looked sideways and then at the ground. "Naruto, you don't understand. You really don't. I'm just gonna call Gaara. Go back to school," she said in a hoarse voice. As she took out her phone, Naruto cried, "No!"

Closing her phone, Lizzi looked at Naruto. He was biting his lip and staring into her eyes with his watery blue ones.

"Why not?" Lizzi asked cautiously.

"Because…" Naruto began reluctantly, "Because I don't think you should be with him."

"And why do you think that, Naruto?"

"Because I think that you should be with me," he blurted out as the late bell rang across the school grounds.

"Shikamaru, wait up!" Chouji called out to his best friend. Shikamaru started to pick up his pace once Chouji came after him.

"I can't slow down, I'll be late for class," he muttered.

Chouji finally caught up to him. "Yeah, like you care about that," he tried to keep his pace with Shikamaru and continued, "Are you alright, dude?"

Shikamaru looked at him then glanced away. He merely shrugged.

"I know that she hurt you really bad. But, I'm sure Kari would never mean to do something so hurtful to anyone. I mean, yeah, I'm not the closest person to Kari, but I know enough about her to know that she isn't a bad-hearted person. I'm sorry to say it, but I think you have to give her the benefit of the doubt on this one."

Shikamaru was at first furious at his friend, but then, being the genius that he is, figured out that he was right. He knew that there was no point to still be mad at Kari. She kissed him first, so he wins, right? Whatever logic Shikamaru could find, he used. He used it to make himself feel better about Kari, and more importantly, him and Kari.

Chouji suddenly interrupted his thoughts. "When are you gonna ask her out?" he asked bluntly.

These words made Shikamaru shake and come to an abrupt stop. He had never asked anyone out before. Sure, he dated Ino in junior high, but she kind of forced him into it. The feelings that Shikamaru had towards Kari were legitimate. How was he going to pull it off?

Then, Shikamaru had realized how much of a jerk he was being when he could actually be being a wonderful person to Kari. He quickly turned around and ran towards the direction of the cafeteria bathrooms.

"Uh, Shikamaru?" Chouji, being very confused, asked as the late bell rang.

"Kari?" Yui called into the bathroom as she slowly opened the door. Standing in front of the mirror and sink, Kari was wiping her wet eyes and tried to fix her makeup. When she heard her name, Kari turned around and looked at Yui. The small girl was just standing there, gazing at Kari with a hopeful look.

"Yui…" Kari spoke the one syllable. She was shocked that Yui would actually care enough to follow her into the bathroom to make sure that she was alright.

Yui took a few steps forward. "I know you're really upset right now, Kari-chan, but you need to forget about it." She walked over to the sink next to an even more confused Kari and continued, "Lizzi should not have called you out like that; She had no right to. But, the two of you are best friends, so I'm sure everything will work out for the two of you."

Kari nodded. She felt a little better about what happened with Lizzi now—even the best of friends have their immature fights—but Shikamaru was still on her mind. "What about-"

"Shikamaru?" Yui finished.

Kari half-frowned, "Yeah."

Yui sighed and then thought for a moment. She bit her lip in thought, then released it and spoke. "All I can say, Kari-chan, is to be optimistic." Yui gave her a huge smile and a thumbs up. Kari couldn't help but laugh a little bit. The late bell rang throughout the school.

"Arigatou, Yui-chan," Kari said.

"No problem," Yui gave her a slight nod then walked outside the bathroom.

Lalalaa~ I don't have much to say here. I'll try to get the next one out asap! Maybe by tomorrow? You know me, though, so there's no guarentee. Please Review!