Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Author's Note: This is probably the last chapter of the Table, as it's too difficult to keep up with it and my friends now that we're all in college. Maybe someday I'll come back to it and play with it again, which would make it mostly fiction, but for now I'm going to wrap things up. Thanks for the support!
Chapter 7: College
Ino tapped her pencil against the notebook steadily, wishing the connection would hurry up already. She pretended not to notice how her roommate would glance over at her, the noise was clearly bothering her. However, it bothered Ino that it was seemingly impossible for her to keep the Ethernet plugged in so that the unfortunate blond could also get online to do her homework. Or to keep in touch with her friends, such as was the case now.
Finally, the little bubble at the bottom of the screen appeared to confirm that Ino was online. She set her notebook aside and scooted the laptop closer to herself and logged into messenger. This time she waited a little more patiently, hoping to see one of her friends on. The room was silent, apart from the frenzied typing of her roommate, whom soon left to use the restroom.
Logged in, no contacts online.
She sighed in defeat. Tenten wasn't on, Sakura was impossible to contact unless you were a WoW player, Shino was busy with whichever girl he was now dating, Naruko was probably working and Temari was estranged in somewhere in the middle of nowhere. Ino logged into Myspace and checked her messages hopefully, only to be disappointed again. Sasuke hadn't updated any more than the two times he'd messaged her to say he'd seen their old German teacher and that he was going to be a father. Ino was rather disappointed that it seemed so hard to keep in touch with people. Seriously, what happened?
She sighed again and closed her laptop, getting up to leave her room only to be totally startled by running into Reno in the doorway. He grinned at her, that little cocky smile he seemed to always wear. It would be another four or six months before she realized it was a smile that he on used around her. "I was wondering how long before you'd notice."
"Nice one, gege," Ino retorted with the Chinese nickname she'd given him, catching her breath again. She only called him gege, big brother, when she was a little annoyed with him. It was also negated some of the awkward tension between them, at least on her end. "What's up?"
"Just stopping by," he answered, though he lived only two doors away so he 'stopped by' frequently. "Market run?" She grinned and nodded, grabbing a jacket as they both walked out of the room.
XXX
Ino was able to—occasionally—at least keep up with what happened back home. By sophomore year, it was clear who her real friends were. Ino was an RA, though was not re-hired for the following year and started hunting for a job again. With plans of studying abroad in China senior year, it was getting to the point where money was a big deal. Spring, as seemed to be tradition, was hard for her again with the seven year anniversary of her father moving out and then Reno appearing in the middle of the street on the second Friday the 13th of the year. She found it hard enough not having him living only two doors away, but then when a thousand miles becomes ten feet it suddenly hit a lot harder.
Shino dated a few Asian girls throughout his first couple of years in college, and was constantly asked Ino via messenger how to say some words in Chinese or what something meant. It was handy that she'd started taking a language so useful to him; otherwise he might not talk to her so often. Sakura sounded jealous every time the subject came up, and though Shino and Sakura had stopped talking for a few months they managed to set aside their differences so that the whole group could be together again for Christmas.
Sakura, for her part, also had found a boyfriend. Though he was of the long distance, World of Warcraft interested, Canadian variety. This relationship eventually ended when he wanted to marry her and she was very aware that she was not ready for such a step. Temari had also found a boyfriend, who later came home with her when she returned after being away for nearly a year. Tenten also found her way back home due to the cost of school, but after a year at the local community college she got into another University and will be on the other side of the state next year.
Times change, we all grow up and sometimes apart. But at least we've always got each other. Here's to holding on to each other even when all of our directions in life try to pull us apart.