A/N: I'm sorry guys, I had some major schoolwork to do and I had to prioritize, but here it is! I hope you'll like this chappie!
Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own Naruto.
Chapter 14 - The bet and the topic
It was yet another day of Naruto hopelessly trying to get to school on time. He grabbed a cookie from the table and rushed off like he was being chased by dogs.
Naruto promised to help out in the preparations but his friends told him to just focus on his work but it's Naruto and Naruto will always be Naruto so he insisted that he would help even just a little and his friends were persuaded by his determination.
After a few minutes of running, Naruto reached his classroom, but instead of barging in like an angry mob, he peeked at the windows to check if the teacher is inside, and to his dismay, Sir Iruka was inside, looking at some papers.
Naruto crawled to the back door of the room [A/N: In some Japanese schools, the classrooms have two sliding doors, right? The same is with Konoha High School's classrooms.]. He carefully slid the door open, slowly and silently. He opened the door at just the right width for him to pass through. Just when he was getting closer to his seat, he heard Sir Iruka call him.
"Naruto, will you stand up? Quit crawling, you'll get your uniform dirty." Sir Iruka put down his papers.
"Geez, I really can't get past you…" Naruto stood up. His classmates chuckled and the girls giggled because he got caught again.
"Of course, now get to your seat before I give you detention." Sir Iruka smiled.
"Hmph…." Naruto grumbled and sat down. Iruka just shook his head and got back to his papers.
"Hey, you should've waited for Sir Iruka to leave instead of entering just like that." Kiba, who sits beside Naruto whispered to him.
"Yeah, but I'd be in more trouble if I didn't attend homeroom again." Naruto whispered back.
"True…" Kiba agreed.
"Alright, goodbye class." Sir Iruka stood up. "Oh, and one more thing, Naruto Uzumaki, I'd like to talk to you later, before lunch time." And with that he left the room.
"Geez, Sir Iruka won't let me off easily…" Naruto sighed.
"It was your fault, always being late and all." Shikamaru emphasized the word always.
"Alright, I get it…I'll do something about it, I guess…" Naruto rolled his eyes.
"I hardly believe that. You? Waking up early? Impossible." Sasuke said sarcastically.
"So you want to bet on it?" Naruto dared.
"Sure, but you have to get to school on time for three days in a row. If you can't do that, you'll have to treat me and all our friends to some ramen." Sasuke was having fun playing around with Naruto.
"What! All of them? That's…" Naruto started counting with his fingers.
"10. Namely: Me, Neji, Sai, Kiba, Shikamaru, Gaara, Lee, Kankuro, Choji and Shino. I don't like girls to tag along. Okay, so you'll treat us on Friday." Sasuke interrupted Naruto's thoughts.
"Hey, why are you making plans when the bet hasn't started yet! And Choji will probably eat 7 bowls of ramen at minimum! Man, you are such a pain in the butt!" Naruto grumbled.
"That's not my problem." Sasuke's smirk grew.
"Hmph! If I win, You will treat me and our friends, including the girls to some ramen! What do you say about that?" This time, it was Naruto who was smirking.
Sasuke's smirk faded. He thought about it for a few seconds.
"Are you in, or not? Don't tell me that you are chickening on our bet." Naruto's smirk grew bigger.
"Fine, it's a deal." Sasuke also smirked. "I have nothing to lose, anyway."
"Oh, it's your I'm-so-rich attitude again." Naruto pouted.
"Yeah, and what about it? I heard that you have some money yourself. You've been saving your salaries all this time so it's no wonder if you've got loads of money in your bank account." Sasuke pointed out.
"Yeah, so what? I still don't want to spend my money, which I've worked hard for." Naruto crossed his arms.
"Well, whatever, a deal's a deal. And I will be the winner." Sasuke teased.
"No way!" Naruto retorted.
While the two were arguing whether who will win their bet, their friends were just watching them, chuckling or laughing at some point. It is true that Naruto has some savings with him. Even though his savings can sustain him for a whole year, he still insists on working because he doesn't want to be broke. And he is used to working that he'll miss the feeling and his co-workers are very nice fellows. His friends admire his industriousness.
After a few minutes of friendly bickering between Sasuke and Naruto, Miss Kurenai opened the door and the class was quiet. She put down her stuff and greeted the students. The students greeted her back.
"Okay, class. Today, we'll talk about something that, I believe, most of you have encountered already." Miss Kurenai started. The class just looked at her, waiting for her to continue.
"Our topic for today is, what we call 'puppy love'". We won't be having a lesson about "real love" yet. But I'm sure that we'll be able to encounter it soon." Miss Kurenai smiled as the students reacted to the topic. Some were blushing, others were giggling and some were embarrassed.
"I believe that most of you here, specially girls, have some crushes, am I right?" Some girls were really blushing now. The boys doesn't seem to care much, but some of them are reacting slightly, including Naruto.
"I've been through that phase already, so it's okay to open up to me, I know how you all feel about this topic. And boys, I know that you have some feelings for some of the girls here, you don't have to hide it." Miss Kurenai giggled when most of the boys shifted their position, as if feeling uncomfortable with what their teacher just said. Some girls giggled as well. But to the dismay of others, Sasuke, Neji, Gaara, Shikamaru, Shino, and a few boys didn't react at all. Maybe they don't have any 'crushes', or maybe, they are just good at hiding their feelings? No one else knows but themselves.
"Hmmm, how about you Naruto? Do you have someone in mind?" Miss Kurenai called out.
"Uhm…well…I…" Naruto didn't know what to say. He was too embarrassed to say anything. He just gave a nod. The teacher giggled.
"Alright, you don't have to tell me the name of the person." Miss Kurenai smiled. "Hmm…how about you, Kiba?"
"Oh, well, I…yeah." Kiba was able to answer properly, unlike Naruto.
"And you, Sasuke. Anyone in mind?" Miss Kurenai was still smiling.
"…" Silence. Most of the girls were waiting for his answer. "None." And with that, the girls waiting nearly fainted.
"Are you sure, Sasuke?" Miss Kurenai is trying to urge Sasuke into admitting his feelings.
"Fine, I have no one in mind yet. Maybe next time. Happy now, miss Kurenai?" Sasuke rolled his eyes.
"Good enough. How about…oh, Hinata!" Miss Kurenai's smile returned.
"Oh, uhm…I'm not really sure yet, miss Kurenai. I don't think I have time for these things. But…well, I'll tell you if I have somebody in mind." Hinata was playing with her fingers again, the thing she does when she's nervous, embarrassed or shy.
"Alright." Miss Kurenai and the class continued until everyone was called. Time passed quickly and it was already lunch time.
"Hey guys, go ahead and I'll meet you at the rooftop. I still have to talk to Sir Iruka." Naruto said to his friends.
"Alright, but be careful, I'm sure that Sir Iruka won't let you off the hook so easily." Kiba teased.
"Yeah, I know. Okay, better get going, or else Sir Iruka will get mad. Later!" Naruto ran off and headed to the faculty room. His friends waved and walked toward the cafeteria.
Short much? I was in a hurry to finish this but I'll make sure that the next chapter would be much enjoyable.
Hope you enjoyed reading this! Please read and review! Thanks for all the support you've been giving me all this time! ^_^