A/N: New chapter up. Hope ya'll enjoy. So long in coming... I know, I'm such a bad updater. This one is longer, though! Yay!
I've had it with school. I've only been here for five weeks, and I already want to leave forever. Never come back. Nevereverever. "Hmph."
"Is today everyone make funny noises day?" Shikamaru was suddenly beside me as I walked, looking at me with a curious expression on his face.
"No, why?" I asked as we passed a group of populars. That was Ino's crowd, but Shikamaru and I despised most of them. They acted like they were all that and a bag of chips. But we all knew that they really weren't. "Pfft."
"You keep on making them." He followed my gaze to the crowd of 'preppy' kids, and frowned. "God, what is with them? I remember back when we used to know all of them, and they actually used to talk to us. It's not like we have a disease or anything."
"Correction: I don't have a disease. They don't know bout you." I smiled as he elbowed me playfully, and laughed a little when he tripped over his own feet from lack of concentration. He gave me a small glare, and opened his mouth to say my name in that hateful tone.
"Sakura!"
Shikamaru and I both froze; that wasn't his voice. I spun around, and came face to face with Sasuke. "Oh, hey, Sasuke. What's up?" Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Shikamaru stand up, brush himself off, and give Sasuke a glare while he talked to me. Sasuke seemed unfazed... Either that, or he didn't notice/care. I wouldn't doubt if he got that enough to just ignore it.
"Nothing really. I was just talking to Karin, a good friend of mine. She's throwing this huge party in a few weeks, and she wants everyone to be there. I figured you were a part of everyone, so... you get an official invite from me, okay?" He stopped, and looked over at Shikamaru, who looked relatively surprised. I shot him a confused look, and then turned back to Sasuke. "Shikamaru can come, too. In fact, invite anyone you know. Her house is huge, so it's all good." I couldn't speak, so I just nodded in agreement. He smiled, and walked away. "I'll give you the details later! Just make sure to get the word out!" I nodded again.
Shikamaru moved in to fill the vacancy left by Sasuke. We both stood silently for a second, watching him walk away. My first real party, all from sitting with him at lunch. He really was an awesome friend.
"So." I turned my head slightly to look at Shikamaru as soon as I heard him speak. "You're not actually thinking of going to that, are you? I mean, a party like that..." He trailed off, looking up at the sky. It was a favorite pastime of his that I used to make fun of him for, but now it relaxes me as well. I turned my attention from him to some freshmen walking past, back to Shikamaru.
"I might go. I mean, it sounds okay to me. Sasuke's a pretty cool guy, and so are some of his friends. You?"
"If you go, I'll go. Doesn't sound like the worst way to spend a weekend night, especially if we can convince enough of our friends to go." He started walking again, unexpectedly, and I rushed in to follow him. I knew that the bell was going to ring for classes to start soon, and I wanted to show up to class with him in tow. We walked in silence some more, and then, out of know where, the genius spoke. "You don't like that Sasuke kid, do you? I mean, you sure acted like it."
I was taken aback by his question. What reason did he have to go around asking my something like that? It wasn't his business, in the first place. "Why do you care?"
"Just curious. Should I take that as a yes?"
"Take it as a no. I mean, I like Sasuke, but... he's just my friend. And most definitely not my type, ya know?" My head filled with the thought of 'my type'. Of course, he was walking right beside me, so I didn't have to think too hard to get a good visual. We were getting close to the classroom now.
"And what happens to be your type, hmmm?" Why he was so curious was beyond me. Could this mean...? No. Never.
"Oh, you know. Stuck up jock boys with chips on their shoulders." We both had a little laugh at my sarcastic tone, and Shikamaru opened his mouth to respond to my nasty little comment about our old friend.
"SAKURA!" This, once again, was not Shikamaru's voice. I looked around, and too my horror saw someone I would have rather not seen at the moment. But, you know what they say, right? Speak of the devil, and the devil shall appear. Coming toward me, trying to look cool surrounded by his friends, was Kiba. Nooooooo. "Hey, I'm glad I found you. I just got an invite to a party at Karin's place. Big stuff, you probably haven't heard of it. Wondered if you wanted to go. You know, with me." His friend nodded in agreement. Apparently, anything he said was good enough for a cult following.
"Sorry to burst your bubble, Kiba-kunnn," I said with a sickeningly sweet voice. Shikamaru flashed a grin at my obvious fakeness. "I heard it from my good friend Sasuke," I let the news that I was friends with someone more popular than him sink in, "and I got asked to go with someone a little after I got the invite from him. If only you had asked sooner, maybe..." I bit my lip in order to look innocent and vulnerable. I just loved playing with him like this.
"Aw, that's too bad. Who's the lucky guy?"
Shit.Shitshitshit. I hadn't thought of a guy. Nononono. I need a cover up. A believable cover up. "Well, actually, it's Shikamaru-kun. He asked me and I didn't think I'd get any other offers, so I accepted. I'm so sorry." The sorry actually extended to Shikamaru as well, as it was my fault he was being dragged headfirst into something like this. Poor kid. Kiba nodded, and beckoned for his 'crew' to leave with him.
"Me. Out of all the people you could have pretended, you picked me?" Shikamaru was looking at me as though I had done him a great disservice. Mean kid. At least he has a date to the party now.
"Well, you were the closest to me," I said, waving off the issue with my hand as I stepped into the room.
"And you made it sound like I was a last resort, too. Thanks," He added meanly. He didn't seem too happy with me. I just smiled as a way of saying I'm sorry, get over it, and turned to start a new day of being completely and everlastingly bored with the stupid subject. Yay.
The class dragged on and on. And on. And then some. And finally we reached where we only have an hour left in an hour and thirty minute class. Yes, I really was that tired of biology already. "So Sakura," a girlish voice said as I started to fall asleep. I turned a bit to see some random chick I never really talked to, Yuki. She looked very, very interested in something. "I heard from a friend who has a friend with a sister who knows this guy who heard it from his girlfriend's cousin who got a text that said that someone said that he knew that she said that Kiba himself said that you were going to a party with Shikamaru."
News travels fast and through a lot of people. "Yeah, I am."
"Are you two a couple now? I mean, it was a long time in coming. There's a lot of speculation; pity dates, secret affairs... Kiba says he just asked first, but a lot of people are guessing otherwise. And I wanted to know from the girl herself: Why?" She leaned toward me a bit more, and I was afraid she was going to fall out of her seat.
I looked around the room nervously. Anything was welcome to take my mind off of this question. Yet, I found nothing. "It's just a friend thing. Kiba's right, he asked first. Nothing more, nothing less." I shrugged it off, going back to trying to listen to zombie teacher talk.
"So would you have gone with Kiba if he had asked first?"
"I don't know, I guess so. Why?" She was getting annoying. Good reason never to talk to her.
"Oh, no reason." Bt she had her cell out, texting away to all the unknowns connected to her. Soon, the entire school would be buzzing of Kiba and I. I turned back to the teacher only to see Shikamaru out of the corner of my eye. It was all I could do not to stare at him sleeping at his desk... My head was jerked up once the bell rang. I quickly pulled the pen off of my face, and looked around confusedly. Wait... I had just...
It took me a second to realize that I had fallen asleep at my desk for about an hour. Oh, joy. What if the teacher actually said something interesting? Wouldn't that be ironic.
I waited for a second for a second for the group of kids to walk by and Shikamaru to emerge from the back of their group. He walked up to me, smirked, and then licked his finger. "What are you doing, you crazy weirdo?" I asked as he moved the wet finger close to my face.
"It looks like you fell asleep on your pen. Do you want me to get the ink off or not?" I nodded, and he moved closer to me, placing his hand on my cheek to get a better angle at the ink spot. Despite trying desperately to hide my feelings, I turned slightly red. Slowly, I nodded. He licked his finger again, and leaned in close to my face. I closed my eyes quickly as he wiped the ink off my cheek, trying not to breathe in his scent or look at his face. I know, I have a problem.
And in an instant, he was gone. "Hey, Sakura, what's wrong with you? You look weird standing there with your eyes closed, not breathing and all."
"I'm feeling a little sick," I lied quickly. "I didn't want to breathe on you or anything, and closing my eyes helped me hold my breath." He shot me a strange glance, as though he could tell I was lying.
"And I just touched you? Ew, I hope I don't get sick," he said as he made a much more humorous face, and I laughed as we walked out the door. I waved goodbye to him, and moved on to my next class. He didn't wave back.
The hours flew by as lunch approached. I know I said that I didn't like Sasuke, I know I did. But I still couldn't wait to see him. It was like what happened with Shikamaru, only I wouldn't end up liking Sasuke... that much. Right? Right?
I always sucked at lying to myself.
Finally, lunch came. I grabbed my bag, and made a quickwalk for the door. Over the past few weeks, I found out that if I rush a little faster than normal, I can catch up to Sasuke and walk with him to lunch. So that's exactly what I did, slowing down just before I reached him. "Hey, Sasuke!" I said enthusiastically as I appeared beside him.
"Hey, Sakura," he said with a little smile.
"What's up?" This was a little game that we played on our way to lunch. Well, I thought of it as a game. He might just think of it as annoying. I fretted for a second over whether he might think of my as annoying, then caught myself. I don't like him. He's only a friend. Only a friend.
"Nothing really. So I heard you were going to Karin's party with Shikamaru. Are my sources correct?" He seemed genuinely interested, just like always.
I played nervously with the edges of my shirt. I had no idea why I was so nervous. Sasuke shouldn't have this power over me.
"Hello? Sakura?"
"Oh, yeah. Sorry, the question. Yeah... It was more or less a last minute thing. I didn't want to go with Kiba, and Shikamaru was right there... Now it's like the biggest piece of news in a while. Who knew, right? Not that I mind going with Shikamaru," I added quickly, because I didn't want to give the wrong impression. Shikamaru was a great date. A really, really great date. "It's just weird to go on a date with him. Why?"
"No reason. Karin wanted me to take you, but if you're going with Shikamaru, that can't happen."
"Karin wanted you to take me?" I asked.
"Don't get the wrong impression here; I would love to take you. But she wanted to meet you. Apparently, I've said enough about you to get her interested. I'll just have to steal you away from him and let you meet her yourself."
Sasuke was going to ask me? Why didn't he ask sooner? "Yeah, that would be fun," I said nonchalantly as we arrived in the cafeteria. He jut smiled as we took our seats, and our lunch began.
It felt like just as soo as it had begun, my break time during the day was over. The nice thing about the lunch I was in was that I only has one class left until my day was over, and I was pretty good at it. So it's not like I was busting my brain for the last bit of my day.
Luckily, we had a test, and we were supposed to be reading, but the teacher had stepped out for a moment. Only a second, I swear. So, of course, everyone starts to talk. Normally, I'm the good student that doesn't say a word, but today, in Ms. Yuhi's absence, I felt I just had to talk to someone. Or, more or less, someone had to talk to me.
"I don't know why you'd want to go with him."
"Kiba, what are you talking about?" The annoying voice beside me was talking to me. I could see him looking at me, his wolfish eyes staring as a grin alighted his face.
"You seem angry; have you heard, then?" I turned to face him completely. I guess he could tell from the shocked look on my face that I hadn't heard.
"Kiba, what are you talking about?"
"Well now, don't you seem surprised. I guess you would be; the one who is being talked about is usually the last to find out." He stopped as though he was going to make me beg, but I gave him such a death glare I think I might have scared him into telling me. "Okay. Well, I heard that someone was talking about you recently. Apparently, you're untrustworthy, clingy, and you're a bad friend that this person hangs out with because they feel sorry for you."
"And that has to do with Shikamaru how?" I asked, even though I had a sinking feeling I knew the connection.
"Come on, Sakura. You're a smart girl. It's part of what makes you cute," he said in an attempt to flirt, but stopped talking when the sad look hit my face.
"He'd never... not me. Not Shikamaru..." I shifted my glance toward the ground, reassuring myself that Shikamaru would never say that stuff about me. Maybe about someone else, but not me. Not his best friend. There was no reason, no reason at all! It's not like he'd been ignoring me or I'd been annoying him... Right? I could feel the doubt try and plant itself in me. "Not true at all..."
Kiba looked quite unamused by my ramblings. "Sakura, listen to yourself. You know for a fact this is something he'd say. Even about his closest friends." A flashback of why Shikamaru and Kiba hated each other now hit me. Shikamaru had told another kid on the block something, and it got around to Kiba. They fought for days, and now they hardly ever look at each other. God, no... "You know it's possible. Don't even try to deny it."
"You're lying, Kiba. You're just jealous that he's going with me. That you aren't."
"Even for me, this is low, Sakura." The grin has long since left his face.
"You're lying, Kiba. I won't believe you. He's my best friend."
"Fine, don't believe me. It's not me he's talking about. It's you who's going to be hurt."
"This isn't true. You're lying."
"You can keep saying that, you know. Eventually you'll either believe me or forget it. This isn't something I'd really bother lying about. It's low."
That statement left me empty on the inside. He was right. This was low, even for him. To try and make me hate my best friend... And the fact he recognized that? I needed to talk to Shikamaru. Now. But I was in class... And for the rest of that class period, I was in shock. As soon as the bell rang, I was out of there, dashing through the halls. I cringed every time I heard a "I'm so sorry, Sakura," or "Shhh... That's her." It stung my heart like a bee stings someone's skin. And it felt as though I was allergic to this type of sting.
Soon, I was outside, looking around for that familiar face.
"Well, kiddo, this seems familiar," Shikamaru said, the grin apparent in his voice. But he immediately knew something was up. His face was suddenly serious. "Sakura, what's wrong? You look upset. What happened?" Just seeing him was calming my nerves. There was no way he'd do something like that. What was I thinking, believing Kiba? Aha, I could be so gullible.
"It's nothing. It's just something Kiba told me that you said."
"What are you talking about?"
"Well, he said that you said I was a bad friend that you only hang out with because you feel sorry for me, I'm untrustworthy, and clingy. But I know you wouldn't say anything like that about me."
He looked away quickly, not saying a word. My confidence dropped a bit, and I moved my head to try to catch his eye again. "Shikamaru?"
"So you heard..." Suddenly, I felt sick. Very, very sick. He was saying something, but I couldn't hear him. How could I listen to him?
"You aren't saying... You didn't say..."I was looking at the ground. He was trying to tell me something. But I didn't want to hear anything more, so I ran.
"SAKURA! Where are you going? I told you, I didn't say a word!"
But I couldn't hear him over the roar of the students. His words were lost. And I was still under the impression my best friend wasn't my friend at all.
The feeling was the worst.
A/N: Don't kill me! I know, they're best friends... how could this happen? But it's possible. Yep! So yeah. Another chapter coming. Originally, there was only going to be one chapter to express all that happens in the next one or two chapters, but it works a whole lot better in small doses, so I can explain things more fully and let you all experience things like Sakura (in my story) would experience. Toward the end, Shikamaru does try to tell her he didn't say that stuff, but she ignored him, a fact which will be pointed out later. Hope you enjoyed!
REVIEW, PLEASE? And sorry for any mistakes; no beta and I'm not looking... =
Rai Lockhart