Lucky Charm
by EikoDoll
Chapter Twelve
Prom: The Move In
Naruto choked on a ramen noodle and coughed violently as Shikamaru firmly swatted his back.
"You okay?"
"What did you just say!" Naruto knocked over his plastic bowl of ramen, surprising everyone around him.
Shikamaru blinked and leaned his head back. "I asked if you were okay-"
"No! Before that!" Naruto's body began to heat up considerably despite being in a cool, air conditioned gym.
Naruto, Kiba, and Shino reluctantly agreed to set up the decorations for prom while Kakashi went on his usual 'Icha Icha break'. Kiba stood at the top of the ladder, effortlessly and carelessly putting up white lights against the walls. When he heard Naruto's sudden outburst, he nearly fell off, grabbing the ladder with both hands and gasping for fear of his life.
"What the hell Naruto! I almost died!"
Ignoring Kiba's loud complaints, Naruto stared at Shikamaru with disbelief. "Sakura is...she's...him!" he didn't even have the sense to formulate full sentences.
"That's what I heard." Shikamaru was very sympathetic to how hard Naruto was taking the news. "The rumor is circulating the entire school."
Neji nodded with what could have been disappointment. "It's definitely true. I overhead Sakura and Sasuke discussing their plans during first period."
"So you were spying on them?" Shikamaru smirked.
"Of course not." Neji said a little too quickly.
Naruto's sullen gaze fell upon the shiny, gym floor and he lifelessly sat next to Chouji on the bleachers. "Sakura's going to prom with Sasuke." he grabbed a bunch of chips from Chouji's bag and stuffed them in his mouth.
"Hey!" Chouji was furious.
Kiba's narrowed his eyes and turned around with an irritated look on his face. "Sorry about Sakura and everything, but am I the only one who's doing all the work around here!"
Everyone watched Rock Lee sing and dance around the gym while blowing up balloons at the same time.
"Besides little miss prissy puss over there." he muttered.
Neji threw Kiba an amused look. "What's with your bad attitude?"
Shikamaru tsked and leaned smugly against the bleachers. "He's just pissed because he couldn't get Hinata to be his date."
Kiba looked absolutely mortified.
Neji made an odd noise and rolled his eyes.
"Well what about you!" the dog lover growled as he continued to struggle with the lights.
"What about me?" Shikamaru and Chouji exchanged smug grins, as if knowing something nobody else did.
Kiba snorted. "Prom is less than a week away and it looks like I'm not the only one without a date." he taunted with a toothy smirk.
Shikamaru shrugged and tried not to look so content.
"Actually, Kiba," Chouji started as he and Naruto continued to munch on the potato chips (much to Chouji's unwillingness to do so). "Shikamaru has a date."
Again, Kiba nearly fell off his ladder. "WHAT!"
"WHAT!" everyone else exclaimed...
except Naruto who only brooded silently to himself.
"Yup." Chouji glanced briefly at his stoic faced friend for permission. Shikamaru gave no indication that he wanted to keep it a secret, so Chouji continued. "Guess who it is - "
"Just say it." Kiba was rather annoyed.
"Ino Yamanaka."
...
"Blondie? Really?" Neji's eyebrow raised, quite surprised.
"What the fuck is this world coming to?" Kiba quietly complained to himself as he turned around and went back to putting up the lights.
The spiky haired boy tried not to look pleased, but anyone who had even the slightest view of his face knew otherwise. "She caught me by surprise and just straight out asked me. She didn't quite get my name right, but.." Shikamaru quickly turned to Naruto. "You don't mind, do you? I know she's your girlfriend and everything but...er...Naruto?" he waved a hand near the boy's face.
Naruto snapped out of his daze and turned to Shikamaru. "Huh?"
"Is it alright if I go to prom with Ino?"
"What? Oh, yeah, sure." he sighed deeply and sank in low spirits - the complete opposite of his usual self.
Even Kiba realized the demeaning aura of the gym and turned to glare at Shikamaru. "See what you did, Nara? You obviously hurt Naruto's feelings! Grow some balls and tell Ino 'no thanks!'"
Shikamaru was glad he had the will power to keep his mouth shut instead of haughtily shouting a well expected 'HELL NO!'.
Neji observed Naruto a bit further and realized the depression had nothing to do with the beautiful, blonde bombshell.
"I'm sure Haruno will go to prom with you if you just ask." Neji watched Naruto perk at the mention of Sakura's name.
The class prankster snorted and forcefully replaced his frown with a happy-go-lucky grin. "Why the hell would I wanna do that?" he leaned back and rested his hands behind his head. "If Sakura wants to go to prom with teme, then that's her weird ass decision." he tried to pull off the stoic look as easily as Shino...
and failed horrifically.
Naruto went back to the state of depression and sighed in misery.
The gang exchanged worried glances before changing the subject to how lame the football team was this year.
"Should I tell him, or you?"
"What, why do I have to tell him?"
"It's not a big deal. Just do it."
"If it's not a big deal, then you do it."
"Bitch, no. He's gonna freak."
"Did you just call me bitch?"
"Isn't that what kids these days are saying? Bitch, just tell him."
"Jiraiya!"
"Tsunade!"
The white haired man raised his arms to his face in defense to protect himself from Tsunade's continuous, life-threatening slaps.
"Uhhh. Should I come back later?"
The married couple immediately froze when they heard a familiar voice waiting by the door.
"Ahem." Tsunade straightened herself (not before giving Jiraiya one last slap in the face) and gestured the boy standing awkwardly to take a seat. "Come in, Naruto."
"Ow." Jiraiya glared and rubbed his freshly, hand marked face.
The three slowly made their way to the sofa; Naruto stared between the two, blinking in confusion. "What's Ero-sennin doing here?"
"Ahh, Naruto. Tsunade has something to tell you - OUUUCH." Jiraiya felt an immensely painful pinch on his arm and turned sharply at the principal's innocent face.
Tsunade picked up her cup of tea and sipped silently. She then graciously put her cup down on the coffee table and sighed in content. "Naruto, Jiraiya and I have some pretty big news to share with you."
Naruto distorted his face, giving Jiraiya a look. The man threw him a reassuring grin in return, but to no avail. Naruto now knew something horrible was about to happen.
"Is this about girl's bathroom on the second floor?" Naruto looked mildly nervous.
Tsunade's face darkened. "What about the girl's bathroom on the second floor?"
"Hehe. Nothing."
Jiraiya shook his head and stared deeply into Naruto's crystal blue eyes. "Don't worry so much, kid. This is good news."
"Then why are you guys making a big deal out of it?" Naruto stared back and forth between the two suspiciously.
Tsunade rolled her eyes. "It's not a big deal."
"Then why haven't you told me yet?"
Jiraiya glanced at the woman with a self-righteous smirk and said, "Yeah, why haven't you told him yet?"
"He's your godson! YOU TELL HIM, YA OLD, WHITE ASS."
Naruto watched the Tsunade-slaps-Jiraiya-around ritual in delight until he felt the vibration of his new phone in his pants pocket. He reached in and pulled it out to find the screen light up with Sakura's name on it. Sitting there in silence, while debating what to do, Naruto habitually rubbed the back of his neck and frowned.
"Bitch, don't make me call the authorities for domestic abuse - !"
"Stop reminding me of our marriage, AND STOP CALLING ME BITCH, BITCH!"
Finally deciding that staring at his phone all day wasn't going to solve anything, Naruto touched Sakura's name on the screen and was surprised to find ten messages left by her.
i'm bored. text me now
hey, I said text me!
naruuuutooooooo
HEY!
i'm gonna wait 5 minutes. if u don't answer me i'll ignore u forever
it's been 50 min. i am not pleased :(
naruto, u little fucker. answer ur goddamn phone!
i will literally tear ur face to shreds if u don't answer me now!
y r u ignoring me? I'LL KILL U IF UR NOT ALREADY DEAD.
meet me in the caf after school
Naruto gulped. If those angry messages were enough to cause him to shake in his shoes, just imagine how it'll be seeing her face-to-face. He did not want to risk having his face torn to shreds, and he knows she probably might actually do it! Naruto whimpered like a little girl deep inside.
"Jiraiya, man up and just tell him he's moving in with me and Sakura!" Tsunade waved a threatening fist at the man.
Naruto's eyes widened and he choked on air. Tsunade's blinked frantically as she firmly patted his back. "WHAT! I'm moving in with you and Sakura?" he looked shockingly horrified as he continued to choke.
"Aww, look what you did, Tsunade." Jiraiya shook his head disappointedly.
Tsunade shrugged, still patting the choking boy's back. "I thought he would be happy to move in with his girlfriend."
"Obviously he was, until you ruined a perfectly good surprise." said Jiraiya as he successfully avoided another blow to his face.
Naruto finally composed himself with much difficulty and stumbled out of his seat. "No. NO WAY. I'm not moving in with her."
Tsunade blinked. "You two aren't broken up, are you?"
Jiraiya looked disappointed. "I knew it was too good to be true."
"No! We're not broken up!"
"So what's the problem?" Tsunade made an irritated noise and rolled her eyes.
Naruto's mouth fell open. "She wants to tear my face off, baa-chan. TEAR MY FACE OFF!"
Jiraiya waved him off and laughed loudly. "Ahhh, all chicks say that! It doesn't mean they're actually gonna do it!" he continued to laugh. All of a sudden, he stopped and remembered the scorching pain and red marks on his face. Glancing at Tsunade from the corner of his eye, his facial expression immediately changed. "Forget everything I ever say."
"I always do." muttered Naruto.
Tsunade ignored Jiraiya and focused intensely on Naruto. "What did you do? Why is she angry?"
"Because I didn't answer her texts right away? I don't know! I was busy all day in the girl's bathroom on the second floor!" Naruto exclaimed, thrashing his arms about.
Tsunade glared. "What the hell were you doing all day in the girl's bathroom during class?"
A pause.
"Noothiiiinng."
The white haired godfather gave Naruto a hard pat on the shoulder. "Oh, lay off the kid, Tsunade. He's got women problems. And don't we all." he playfully elbowed Naruto and winked as if they were sharing something special just between the two of them.
Naruto didn't understand the old geezer at all.
"Okay. Well, I'm gonna go now." he turned around and headed for the door.
"Wait!" Tsunade exclaimed. "What do you think about the moving situation?"
Naruto looked at the big-breasted woman and shrugged. "Nothing. Because there isn't going to be a moving situation. I'm staying in my apartment where I'll be safe and pain-free. Thanks for wasting my time, I'll be in the girl's bathroom on the second floor." he quickly walked away.
"Wai - NARUTO!" Tsunade belted.
As soon as the blond boy was out of sight, Tsunade and Jiraiya slouched on the sofa and sighed.
"Should we tell him we already moved all his junk into your house?" Jiraiya suggested. "And that his apartment is being torn down as we speak."
"I think you could still catch him if you run fast enough." said Tsunade, sipping on the rest of her tea.
"Nah. He'll find out eventually."
"Lazy ass."
Jiraiya laid his hands beneath his head. "Ah, well. It's better than being an old, white ass." he smirked as Tsunade chuckled softly.
It was quite obvious the pink headed girl standing alone by the doors of the cafeteria was not going to move any time soon. She released a vehement, don't-get-close-to-me-or-I'll-slaughter-you vibe to anyone who walked within a ten foot radius around her; it was not a pretty sight for those who stepped into her cone of death.
"You wanna take a fuckin' picture?" Sakura spat at the small crowd who briefly glanced her way.
The crowd stumbled over each other, fearing their lives.
Sasuke' raised a dubious eyebrow. He WAS going to buy an after school snack, but now all he wanted to do was get as far away as possible from this furious, spree-killing, little demon.
No, actually, he really wanted to know what the hell was up with her.
"Sakura - "
"WHAT!"
"..."
The pink haired girl realized whom she was about to kill and made an effort to calm herself. "Sorry, Sasuke." she murmured and crossed her arms in frustration.
Sasuke gave her a courteous nod and stood by her shoulder-to-shoulder. "Is this about Naruto?"
"He's been avoiding me all day, and he hasn't answered any of my texts." Sakura sighed and chose to stare intently on her shoes. "Is it that obvious?"
Sasuke made a 'hn' noise. "You only act like a frantic bitch when it comes to him."
The two looked at each other with tense eyes. The intensity broke and they smiled at each other (or what came close to a smile in Sasuke's case).
"I was never like this with you." Sakura leaned her shoulder against his.
As much as it was slowly killing the raven haired boy inside, he pretended to be indifferent. Unlike Naruto, he was very good at it. "True. I could go days without answering your texts and you wouldn't care." Sakura discovered the hint of tease in his voice.
She playfully slapped his arm.
"I'll call you tonight." said Sasuke as he slowly retracted himself out the door. "About prom."
"Okay." Sakura smiled.
As soon as the 'god of Konoha high' was out of sight, Sakura's mood lightened significantly. The idea of being Sasuke's friend is what she really needed...especially since she's already lost three...
"Err...hi...Sakura..."
Sakura blinked and looked up to see a very nervous blond, ready to jump at the sound of her screeching voice at any given moment.
How amusing.
"Well, at least you bothered to read my last message." she tapped her foot against the ground and placed both hands on her hips. She threw him an 'explain yourself' look and narrowed her dark, emerald eyes at him. "Mind telling my why you've been avoiding me all day?"
"I wasn't avoiding you." he lied.
Sakura glared at him. "You always answer my calls and texts right away."
"I was busy pulling a prank."
"So? You always call and text me back anyway."
"But this was a really elaborate prank that needed...uh...special...care..."
"Special care?"
"Uh huh."
"So what kind of prank were you trying to pull?"
"..."
"I'm waiting, Naruto."
"Well, you didn't tell me you asked Sasuke to prom!" Naruto quickly fired, forgetting Sakura's tendency to 'torture' him, replacing his anxiety with fierce jealousy.
Sakura was taken aback. Her eyes fluttered rapidly and her breath shortened. "What...how did...who told you!"
Naruto looked her up and down with judging eyes, crossed his arms, and sneered. "It's circulating the school, Sakura. CIRCULATING. Everyone knows!"
"I was going to tell you!"
"Oh yeah? When?"
"I don't know! Soon!"
"More like never! You think I wasn't going to find out about this? I'm not stupid ya know!" Naruto and Sakura flared their eyes wildly at each other. "I can't believe you asked that asshole - "
"He's not an asshole, alright." Sakura defended her newfound friendship with the infamous Uchiha.
Naruto snorted loudly. "So what does this mean? Are we done?"
The cafeteria was completely empty at this time and it fell in dead silence. Sakura somehow managed to keep her face from crumbling apart. "What are you talking about?"
"If you and Uchiha are going together, then - "
"We're only going to prom together!" she shouted, unaware that she had dropped everything in her possession. "Wait, are you..." she scoffed and turned away. Within five seconds she composed herself and turned to face the anger-ridden blond once more. "Are you breaking up with me?"
Naruto's body immediately slumped. He clutched his bag tightly and his finger's twitched around the strap. "We were never going out in the first place, Sakura." his eyes softened when he saw how grief stricken her face was.
Sakura couldn't bear to look into his eyes at this point, so she turned away again. "I thought...we..." she subconsciously bit the inside of her cheek.
Naruto stared deeply into her emeralds and tried to catch her eye. "Did you really think we were-"
The pink haired girl snapped her head to face him with ferocity and her fury escalated. "FINE! Maybe for a while I did believe you were my real boyfriend. I like you, Naruto! But now that I know how you feel, I guess it really is over." with haste, she bent over to pick up her things. Before storming out of the cafeteria, she stopped, not even bothering to turn around.
In a complete state of shock, Naruto could only stare silently at her back.
She turned her head half way without bringing herself to look at him. "I don't need you anymore. Give your luck to someone else." and with that, she fled the building.
Naruto stood silently by himself for many minutes after her departure. 'So that's it. It's over. We'll never be together again.' he thought sullenly as he pulled himself together and made his way home.
Little do they know, they'll be seeing a lot more of each other from now on...
Jiraiya rolled his eyes and half-heartedly lifted himself off the couch, peering at the door. When he heard loud, continuous banging on the front door, he immediately knew he should have been prepared long ago for a verbally exhausting battle. Before he could twist the knob, he slapped on big, goofy smile and built up all the energy he could muster for a fifty-something year old man.
"Hey, Naruto!" he bellowed with arms wide open. "Welcome home."
The blond boy was not amused. He stood firm and angry with arms crossed strictly across his chest. "So after school, I go back to the apartment and find it completely pummeled." he leaned on the frame of the door and watched his godfather laugh nervously.
"Oh? Wow, that's just... weeeird." his eyes darted on everything other than Naruto.
Naruto's threw him a condemned look. "I thought so too. So then I go up to my landlord, all freaked out thinking my stuff was completely destroyed, and he said the 'old pervert' and 'big boobs' moved all my things out hours ago. I asked 'where?'. He said 'who the hell knows.' Oh but i knew...I knew!" Naruto pointed an accusing finger at the old man.
"Okay, okay!" Jiraiya backed away and put up his hands in defense. "I know it'll be awkward for you-"
"Awkward is an understatement! Sakura and I broke up today; we're not even speaking to each other!"
Jiraiya made an "O" shape with his mouth and shrugged. "Well, she was too hot for you anyway."
"We're gonna be living together you old nutcase! Let's find another apartment before it's too late-"
Jiraiya coughed loudly into his fist and cleared his throat. "It's too late. I like it here and I'm married sooo..."
Naruto's face disfigured openly. "What do you mean you like it here? How long have you been living here?"
"Er, well, about two hours."
"Why would baa-chan do that? She hates you!"
"She actually loves me. She just doesn't know it yet. But I think she's gettin' there. She gave me a half eaten grapefruit she didn't want the other day...my therapist said it's a huge improvement in our relationship."
Naruto made an odd-looking face and shook his head, trying to make sense out of this confusing situation. "Okay, listen Ero-sennin, I REFUSE to live in the same house as-"
"What the hell are you doing here?"
A petite, pink haired girl in school uniform was seen staring angrily at the blond boy at the top of the staircase.
"It was implied I never want to see your face again, asshole." Sakura spat.
There was an icy silence.
Jiraiya snapped his head toward Naruto and mouthed 'Ohoho' and continually looked back and forth between the teenage lovers.
"I don't want to be here." he tried to explain reasonably. "I just-"
"So go." Sakura threw him a cold glare.
Naruto sighed heavily in frustration and returned the glare. "Come on, Ero-sennin, let's get outta here."
"Don't let the door hit your bony ass on the way out." she sarcastically replied as he turned to go.
Naruto froze.
Nobody mentions his bony ass without suffering the consequences.
He immediately turned around with a mischievous smirk and patted his godfather on the back. "Thanks for the warm welcome, Ero-sennin. I think I'll like living here for the REST OF MY LIFE after all." his eyes searched the inside of the house with approval.
Sakura's face fell. "Whoa, what? I thought Tsunade was kidding about you living here."
Naruto ignored her. "So which way is my room?" he turned to Jiraiya.
"Uh..."
Sakura gaped. "No, you can't-!"
"Is it upstairs?" he walked briskly up the stairs and purposely brushed passed Sakura's shoulder. "This place is pretty awesome."
"You've been here before, jackass. Don't pretend like this is your first time! And what do you mean you're-!"
"I think I'll explore a little before I get settled in." Naruto faked a loud laugh.
"Haha! That's the spirit!" Jiraiya exclaimed.
"Wait!" Sakura roared, frozen on the spot. She couldn't bring herself to move and was helpless to put a stop to all the madness.
Guess fate doesn't want to keep them apart just yet...
A/N: Sorry for such a long wait! Fanfiction was sort of nonexistent after school started, but again, my apologies! SORRYSORRYSORRY
I unexpectedly added a lot more to the prom series, so instead of being split into two, it'll be split into THREE. Next chapter is the last of prom - such a stressful event.
AND HAPPY HALLOWEEN!