Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Tsukiko: And btw, is being weird for me. I can't upload documents, instead I'll have to export current chapters and edit them by inserting the new chapter in them instead. e.e Besides, I can't even use the add-ruler-thing.
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♥ Chapter XIV: Plans! ♥
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"Ohayou, Temari", Sakura greeted tiredly as she saw the blonde at her locker.
"Ohayou, Sakura", responded Temari, stressed. "Um… how's it going?"
"Pretty fine, I guess", Sakura replied, but just then Gaara passed.
"Oh, there's my bro! Um… ja ne, Sakura!" Temari quickly said as she ran off. Sakura frowned.
"What's with her…?" she mumbled as she opened her locker and pulled out some books.
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"Oh my god, there's Sakura coming… and we haven't even made up a plan yet…", Ino murmured to the others where they sat.
"And Tenten is over there… what the hell are we supposed to do?" muttered Naruto. "C'mon, Shika, think, think, think!"
"Why am I the only one who's supposed to think?" Shikamaru hissed. "Hinata, you go and distract her."
"O-okay", stuttered Hinata and walked over to Sakura. "E-e-eh… o-ohay-you, S-S-Sakura!"
"Ohayou…?" Sakura answered, raising an eyebrow. "C'mon, let's walk over to the others!"
"Um, no!" Hinata exclaimed, making Sakura stop and raise her eyebrow even more. "Eh… I mean… uh… let's go and sit with Tenten! Eh he he…"
"Okay…" Sakura suddenly caught sight of some familiar black chicken hair among the others. "Yeah, let's go and sit with Tenten."
Sighing out of relief, Hinata led her to the reading fighting mistress who looked very much displeased, stealing glances now and then from the rest of the gang where Gabrielle was clinging tightly to the blushing Neji's arm.
"I think I just came up with something", Sasuke mumbled to the others. He told them the idea. "Ino, you do it."
"Why me?" Ino whined. "Why can't Shika-chan do it?"
"I'm not Shika-chan!" Shikamaru protested, his cheeks slightly red.
"Oh, but you're my Shika-chan", Ino grinned.
"Shika-chan…", Sasuke smirked.
"Uchiha, you better shut up if you don't want me to –"
"Do what? Beat me up?" Sasuke smirked even more.
" – stop co-working with you."
"OK, fine", Sasuke muttered, knowing all too well that Shikamaru's brain was the best of them all. "Temari must go and eat lunch with her boyfriend today, and Hinata isn't all too convincing –"
"Hey, don't insult Hinata!" Naruto said hotly.
" – so you do the job, Ino."
"Hikari can do it", Ino said stubbornly.
"I don't intend to leave such important matters in that girl's hands."
"Hey! Kari-chan is our friend!" Naruto answered. "Besides, it was me who came up with this great idea, so you should listen to me!"
"Whatever." Sasuke rolled his eyes. "She's so busy with that bastard anyway, so you do it, Ino. And yeah, for being a total usuratonkachi, you're pretty smart, dobe, but that still doesn't change the fact that I'm smarter than you. And more popular."
"More popular? Says who?" replied Naruto and crossed his arms.
"Well, do you've a fanclub?" Sasuke asked sarcastically. Naruto just sulked, but the others just grinned.
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During the rest of the day, Sakura spent her time with Tenten – the others were acting weird, she noticed – they kept running away, urging her to go and sit with Tenten. Since Sakura didn't have anything against being with Tenten, she did so, but she still wondered what they were up to.
"Hey, Sakura… don't you think the others are acting weird?" Tenten muttered as they sat down by a table in the cafeteria.
"Yeah…" Sakura raised an eyebrow. "I wonder if they're not planning something…"
"Like making me stay", Tenten sighed. "Don't you guys ever give up on that kind of stuff? I'm going, and that's final."
"But, Tenten…!" Sakura looked distressed. "We'll miss you so much! Can't you stay? Please?"
"Sakura…" Tenten heaved another sigh. "You know I can't."
"But why?"
"Well…"
"Is it because of us?"
"No…"
"Is it because of Neji? Tenten, we all know you and Neji are the best of friends, but you've been so… cold to him lately… has something happened?"
Tenten felt the urge to say yes, but resisted it. "No. He's just a big bastard. And pervert."
"Oh, it's because of Gabrielle, right?"
"No, it's not!" Tenten's voice arose, but she calmed it again. "How about you, Sakura? You seem pretty down too."
"Well… it's because of your… departure", Sakura responded, but Tenten saw in her eyes that she was lying.
"It's because of Sasuke, isn't it?" Tenten asked gravely.
"No, it's not."
"Then why –"
They were unexpectedly interrupted by Ino's arrival. The blonde wore a broad grin on her face.
"Hi, guys!" she greeted them joyfully as she sat down by their table too.
"Hi, Ino", Tenten replied emotionlessly.
"Hi", Sakura chimed in, trying to smile.
"Are you two free tomorrow evening?" Ino chirped. "I've got two unused movies tickets, see – Freya and Tara couldn't go. But actually, I don't want to go with them anyway, since I'm no longer president of SUFC." She shrugged. "So what do you think?"
"Yeah, I'm not up to anything anyway. But Neji and the others won't be there, right?" Tenten asked suspiciously.
"'Course not! They're planning to go to Gabrielle's party or something like that. Anyway, I said I just had two unused tickets, didn't I?"
"Okay, then I'll come." Tenten strained her lips to smile.
"How 'bout you, Sakura? Busy?" Ino tilted her head innocently.
"Yeah, actually. I've got some plans for tomorrow", Sakura replied. "Gomen, Ino."
"What?" Ino dropped her jaw. "You're… busy? But you must come, Sakura! It's a super-great movie!"
"Gomen nasai, Ino… but I've a date with James."
Ino stared at her as though she was an alien.
Tsukiko: AND... -drumroll- THE PLAN... -drumroll- FAILED! –drumroll dies-
Sasuke: You're just as lame as Naruto.
Tsukiko: Do you want your plan to succeed, Sasuke-kun?
Sasuke: Hn... whatever.
Tsukiko: -smiles "innocently"- Well, anyway, the next chapter is published August 20th (oh noes, a day before school starts! -runs around in circles, panicking-), so see you then! And sorry for the short chapter... but the next chapter is coming soon, so eh... don't worry, be happy? XD;
Reviews Corner (Oh my god, 61 reviews left! Then we're at 200 reviews! HUZZAH!)
Shy-Princess: I agree with you, even though I'm a Sasuke fan... well, not this much in this fanfic, but still... XD Thanks, anyway :D
dontconfuseme: Thanks :)
rebel-girl: Yeah, idiotic Sasuke... hmm, maybe, maybe not. Cindy is a common name, ne?
starlight lily: Thanks:D I love cliffhangers... well, not in other stories, but to write cliffhangers because I'm just plain evil XDD I'm a cliffhanger-ish person XP
silverkage-chan: Yeah, sorry about that ;.; But I was afraid the chapter would get a bit too long... yup, hopefully Naruto's plan will work. XD If he can come up with a new one, that is. XP
nickygirl: Thanks :D
Zuan: Thanks ;P Sorry to hear about that... o.x Actually this event was based on one of the things I fear the most, but I think that fear has been blown away now, because "my" "Sasuke" wasn't that much of a jerk as the "real" Sasuke is in this story... ;P
Blackeismybaby: Heheh XP Thanks ;)
hushhushyou: I'm glad that you liked it ;P Nah, originally the "Ino-lookalike" was Ino herself, but then I decided to change my plans and make ShikaIno happen a bit earlier than expected (because at first, ShikaIno was supposed to just have some minor fluff and then actually become real later on), so it ended up being an OC of mine, so no, I don't think she'll reappear... or maybe she will, come to think of it XD But she's just a tiny minor character so she isn't that important.
Crazy Gal42: Ugh, I know exactly how that feels o.x I hate going to school again... and besides, I'm going to have one of the infamous teachers in cooking classes, and I suck at cooking, so I'm NOT looking forward to begin with cooking classes, like all my other friends x.x But my friends are all very nice so I'm longing to see them again :)
frienz4ever: Yeah, Sasuke is being really stupid for being a genius. XD And I will :D
HeartAngel: Yay for victory dances! XD -cough- Anyway... it's okay, you've lots of time anyway XD I'm going to get started on your request as soon as I'm done with the current chapter... :D Yeah, poor Sakura-chan... :( And you've problems with your friends? I'm sorry to hear that... and oh, if Naruto's plan works, then I bet Tenten and Sakura will be much happier ;) And thanks for the request! x3
everlasting memories: Oops, yeah, I mean August 17th... wish it was July 17th, though. XD Haha, I'm glad that you like it XP Let's just hope Naruto's idea works...
Green Animelover: Thanks ;)
Thanks for all the reviews! THANKS THANKS THAAAANKS! You don't know how glad I am each time when I see a new one, sometimes I just feel so tired and so stressed (ugh, school is beginning, y'know?) and then I just see all the new reviews and feel happy again :D So keep on reviewing!
Sneak Preview of Next Chapter: The Date Disaster
Sakura snuggled on James' shoulder, making him smirk. So now would be the moment, eh? He removed her head from his shoulder, cupped it with his hands, and leaned closer… and closer…
Fanfiction News!
This Is Not My First Time: ARGH, I'm STILL working on the twenty-fifth chapter, but I've written about two more sentences now... this is damn frustrating, I know what to write but I don't know how to write it without sounding uninteresting o.x And oh, I'm also planning the chapter that's HeartAngel's request, and what it's about and which couple it's dedicated to is a secret :3
Don't Forget Me: Um... major Writer's Block STILL.
Forbidden Memories: Working on second chapter.
Dance with Me: Going pretty fine... but I still need to learn more about dance styles..
Princess Sakura: I'm stuck. Nuff said.
My Catastrophic Birthday: ... Still working on the fourth chapter. XD Orochi going shopping... LMAO.
The Curse of OOCness: First chapter is getting longer and longer... x.x And the plot needs to be edited.
Another Me: Working on the second chapter, prologue released soon :)
Miscellaneous fanfics: Due to a request by my friend who has recently started fanfics (and whom refuses to tell me his name, TELL ME NOW GODDAMMIT! XD And yes, I haven't forgotten we're penpals) I've started with a new fanfic which is actually an InoShikaTema (yeah, I'm being evil, I know you requested ShikaTema but I love ShikaIno X3) fic, with Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" in it :P But I want to write some fic with Shino in it... T.T
(A/N: If you find errors such as words pasted together likethis, sentences that are in bold or italics when they shouldn't be or sentences that are repeated even though they're not supposed to, please tell me. This happens a lot out of some unknown reason, and it isn't because it was like that from the beginning - no, when I edit the chapters after uploading them, they get like that. I don't know why, maybe it's my dad's computer being weird. And also, do the symbols ' and ... look weird? Because on dad's computer, it does.)