A/N: Sorry for the late update. I've been busy with school yet again. Anyway, I hope you'd be able to enjoy this chapter. ^_^
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Chapter 18 – The Plan
After the gang finished their lunch, it was their physical education class with Sir Gai. Everyone went to the gym for another 'youthful' class.
"Okay, everyone! Let's play basketball!" Sir Gai announced with his usual cheerful voice. Some cheered and some sighed.
"Man, basketball? This is gonna be easy!" Naruto was confident of his skills.
"We'll see about that." Kiba challenged. They looked at each other as if saying 'it's on!'.
They were all wearing their jerseys. The girls finally entered the room. Naruto looked at the girls, specifically at Sakura. He went over to their direction to give them a couple of compliments. The guys just smiled at his enthusiasm. When Naruto was far enough, it was Sasuke's chance to declare something to the guys. Meanwhile, Sir Gai was still explaining the game mechanics.
"Hey, I have a plan." Sasuke murmured. They looked at him, curious on what he has to say.
"What is it about?" Shikamaru inquired. Sasuke smirked.
"A plan which would make Naruto lose the bet." The guys suddenly had mischievous looks on their faces. Sasuke's smirk only widened.
"Hmmm…we're listening." Neji smirked. Sasuke glanced at Naruto, making sure he isn't listening.
"I'll explain all the details later during our break time. Someone will have to distract Naruto while we're talking about it." Sasuke said.
"How about we ask one of the girls to do that for us?" Sai suggested.
"Good idea. But who will do it?" Neji asked.
"I guess I could ask Ino to do it." Sai answered.
"That'd be great. Okay, Sai, you tell her that. Make sure that he won't know that we're scheming." Sasuke ordered. Sai nodded.
"Naruto's coming back! Act normal." Choji warned. They immediately acted as if nothing happened, yet the mischievous look on their faces still remains.
"Hey! Sakura said that I'm so kind! Isn't that great?" Naruto laughed.
"Yeah, good for you!" Kiba grinned.
"Even the other girls said that I'm such a gentleman." Naruto was flattered.
"Hn. Laugh all you want, you'll lose our bet anyway." Sasuke smirked. And the other guys smirked as well. Meanwhile, Sai is already talking to Ino. Sasuke saw Ino nod and his smirk widened.
"Hmmm? What's up with you guys?" Naruto was starting to get suspicious.
"Oh, nothing, nothing." Kiba smiled. Naruto eyed him."
"You'll know soon enough so just shut it." Sasuke glared.
"Hmph! Jerk!" Naruto pouted and sat on the chair as they listened to the groupings.
"We'll be having a one on one today." Sir Gai said. "Here are the pairings: Shikamaru vs. Neji, Sai vs. Shino, Kiba vs. Choji, Gaara vs. Lee, Sasuke vs. Naruto, Sakura vs. Hinata, Tenten vs. Ino, etc. Now let's start with Shikamaru and Neji."
"What a drag!" Shikamaru sighed as he and Neji both stood up.
"So I'm up against this jerk, huh?" Naruto sighed, glancing at Sasuke.
"Why? Are you scared already? The game hasn't started yet and you're chickening out." Sasuke commented, full of sarcasm in his tone of voice.
"Nah. It's just that this'll be too easy. I'm not even gonna break a sweat." Naruto chuckled which irritated Sasuke.
"Hn. We'll see…idiot." Sasuke smirked, turning his attention to the two playing in the court.
"Why you, jerk!" Naruto hissed, looking at his friends at the court: Shikamaru and Neji.
Shikamaru isn't even showing any effort. He didn't really care if he loses the match, or even if he fails that class. He just wanted to sit back and relax. After a few more minutes, Neji was declared winner. With a score of 0-24, in favor of Neji, of course. Then the other matches proceeded rather quickly. The results are: Sai vs. Shino = Sai wins, Kiba vs. Choji = Kiba wins, Gaara vs. Lee = Lee wins. The next match is between Naruto and Sasuke who are already heated up just from their earlier conversation.
"Now, this'll be a good match." Kiba commented.
"Yeah, judging from their normal arguments, they're awesome rivals." Shikamaru agreed.
"Hn. Also rivals in love." Neji added. They looked at him and nodded.
Naruto and Sasuke stepped on the court and they're eager to win.
"You'll lose, Sasuke. Count on it!" Naruto smirked.
"As I said earlier, We'll see, idiot." Sasuke smirked back. The moment the ball was tossed up in the air, they jumped as high as possible, Naruto was only a millimeter away from touching the ball, but Sasuke beat him to it. The game proceeded smoothly. At the end, they tied. It's because Sasuke is a natural genius and Naruto never gives up no matter how hard things may seem.
"Hey, nice game there!" Kiba said as he gave Naruto a high-five. Naruto and Sasuke are still sweaty from the intense match they just had.
"Hn. I was just being nice and I didn't give it my all." Sasuke teased.
"Yeah right, as if!" Naruto responded.
"Oh, c'mon, that was awesome! Now it's the girls' turn." Sai mentioned and the two stopped arguing and focused on the match. It was Sakura vs. Hinata. They're doing well on the court, even the guys are amazed. Sakura won by just a point. And then, it was Tenten vs. Ino. These two are also quite fierce that's why the match between them was also exciting. Tenten won but the gap isn't that big. After the game, they congratulated each other. They really had so much fun. They rested for a couple more minutes then it was break time.
As planned, Ino took Naruto away from the guys for some 'bonding' time with the girls. Naruto, being a gentleman humbly took the offer to talk to the girls, specially Sakura. Meanwhile the guys stayed at the classroom to discuss their plan.
"Okay, now let's start our meeting. Go ahead, Sasuke." Neji motioned for Sasuke to speak and everyone listened intently.
"So here's the plan. We'll have to make sure that Naruto won't be on school early tomorrow, or else I'll have to pay for your meals and Choji will eat a ton." Sasuke smiled.
"I think we should initiate this plan tomorrow morning." Lee suggested.
"Perhaps, but we'll have to set traps." Sasuke considered Lee's suggestion.
"Hmm…how about tying him on his bed, or turning off his alarm clock?" Sai pondered.
"Yeah, I think that's a great idea. But won't he wake up if we do that?" Neji inquired.
"Nah, he's a heavy sleeper. Once he drifts off to his dreamland, he won't even budge." Shikamaru reassured.
"Hey, hey. What if he discovers our plan and he'll get mad at us?" Kiba asked. The others thought for a moment.
"It'll be fun." Sasuke had a devilish smile on his face.
"Yes, I agree. Besides, it's been a while since we messed around with Naruto. I think it was back in junior high, during a sleepover. Man, brings back some memories.." Shikamaru chuckled a bit.
"Yeah, I remember that one. Naruto looked so funny with whipped cream on his face. He looked like Santa Claus." Kiba laughed, remembering those times back in Junior High.
"Alright, back to the matter at hand. Let's think of ways on how we can delay his arrival on school." Sasuke told them. Then, everyone started to think of several ways to complete their 'mission'.
Meanwhile, Naruto is still with the girls when suddenly the bell rang, signaling that it's time for classes once more. So they went up to their classroom only to find the boys in their usual seats, doing their usual activities like reading books, daydreaming, talking to friends and other usual stuff. Naruto found it a bit suspicious for some reason…
After the class, they were ready to go home.
"Alright, 10pm, okay? Make sure to bring the things we need." Sasuke murmured quietly to his accomplices. They nodded with smirks on their faces. Then, they returned to fixing their stuff.
Naruto was preparing his stuff because he has to go to his part-time job. It's the winery today and he has to stay there until 9pm. He's so excited for tomorrow because it's the final day of the bet. But what he doesn't know, is that his friends has a plan that could make him lose the bet. He bid goodbye to his buddies and he went off to work.
I hope this one is interesting. Please tell me if you like it or not so I can make it even better in the next chapter. ^_^
Please review!