Day 18

Friday. Game Day.

It wasn't like Ino had never seen a football game before. She had, actually, plenty of times seen them on TV. She watched with her father from time to time, when she was bored and all. She'd always watch on Thanksgiving, because the entire family got together and she had nothing better to do since her cousins were all younger than her by at least five years, and her mother and aunts had never seemed interesting enough. But this time it was different, because it was live at her school and she was watching with her friends.

By some miracle, Ino and Sakura had been able to coax Shikamaru into giving them a ride (since neither of them had a car themselves), and they arrived in the school parking lot at about 6:45. Ino stepped into the car and grinned.

"Hey Sakura," she asked as they approached the ticket booth, "Why isn't Naruto here?"

"He said he'd meet up," Sakura shrugged, handing over her ticket and walking past the gates, "I guess he'll call when he shows."

Shikamaru and Ino turned in their tickets as well and followed Sakura past the gates and onto the track. She claimed she wanted to try and wish Sasuke good luck before the game: the team was just now finishing warm-ups.

"Do you see him?" She asked, a little worried, scanning the field.

"Give it up, Sakura," Ino sighed, "He doesn't like you. Be happy that you've got someone else who does."

"I know, but-" Sakura was cut off as she turned around…

…and got a face full of mascot hug.

"What the crap!? Get off me!" She shoved the Konoha mascot away, dusting herself off, "What do you want!?"

"Awww, Sakura…" The mascot said, voice muffled, and bent over to pull his helmet off. He set it down and stood straight again, shaking his head, "Why are you so cold, 'ttebayo?"

"Naruto! What are you… what happened to Johnny!?"

"Johnny was in a car wreck."

"The should Dave be filling in?"

"Dave was the one he crashed into."

"And Chad?"

"Chad was hit by the ambulance that picked up Dave and Johnny, all right!?" Naruto growled, "You're making it seem like I planned this!"

"Well, Naruto…" Shikamaru mumbled from the side, scratching his head, "I'm not saying you're not capable of it… but…"

"Shut up."

"Right. Okay, girls, I think we should head up to the stands now," He looked over to the football team, now heading into the field house, "it'll be starting soon. Besides, I think it's best that we leave the Konoha Kyuubi," he suppressed a laugh, "alone to get ready."

"I would so flick you off it I weren't wearing these giant gloves, dattebayo."

"All right, then." Shikamaru said, still trying not to laugh. Ino, on the other hand, couldn't help but let a few giggles out. He placed a hand on her shoulder and they both left the track, eventually laughing so hard once they were out of earshot. But before they made it all the way out, Ino thought she saw a familiar face across the field, at the visitor's side.

"Shikamaru," she tugged at his sleeve, pointing across the field, "Isn't that… Temari?"

"Yeah, guess it is," he raised his eyebrows, only somewhat surprised, "We are playing her old school, Suna, after all. I guess she rather support them."

Temari must have noticed them, because Ino swore she was glaring right at her from the visiting side. Behind her was her younger brother, Gaara, and another boy she didn't recognize.

"Whose that?" She said, pointing at the boy behind her.

"Who, Gaara?"

"No, the other one!"

"Oh," Shikamaru nodded, "That's Kankurou, her older brother. He graduated last year."

Sakura soon caught up, after having said goodbye to Naruto and taking one last, failed, look for Sasuke. They climbed up the stands until they found Tenten and Neji sitting up near the top in the Students' section, surrounded by empty seats.

"Hey! Mind if we join you two!?"

"No problem!" Tenten grinned and waved. Neji nodded and motioned beside them.

"Leave a few open, though, there will be others joining us shortly."

Shikamaru sat down beside Neji, proceeding to point out Naruto down on the track with the cheerleaders, warming up the crowd. He was running around like a maniac.

"Leave it to Naruto to try a stunt like that," Neji shook his head, "Though I don't know how he could possibly think this one will score him points with Uchiha."

"Sakura!"

Oh crap, Ino groaned inwardly, you're not serious?

"Sakura!" Lee yelled, running up the stairs with his well known speed that had won him so many gold medals in Cross country, "Sakura, you're here!"

He hopped past all the others sitting on the same row as them, and eventually landed himself a seat right behind the Haruno. Sakura smiled, although weakly.

"Lee… hi! How have you been since I last saw you at… er… 2:15?"

"Wonderful!" He cheered, clenching a fist before him, "As I knew I would soon meet you and your amazing beauty again tonight at this game!"

"That's flattering, Lee."

"I told myself earlier: 'If Sakura Haruno is not there at the game tonight, I will do one thousand sit ups!' And, finally, I was right!"

While Lee chatted away with… or rather, at Sakura, Ino turned her head over to Tenten and rolled her eyes.

"I see now why he's so fit."

"Oh, don't be so mean," She waved a hand, "Lee's been inflicting that kind of training upon himself since he was little: it was a sort of thing he picked up from Gai."

Ino didn't bother to ask how Lee and Gai knew each other before his high school years, she wasn't that interested. Soon, Hinata and Kiba joined them in their spot in the stands, and she talked with them.

She knew the event was really getting underway when she heard the band play a somewhat familiar song: one she had heard only a few times in pep rallies but had come to recognize as their fight song. Immediately following the first beat, the football team ran out onto the field. The entire crowd cheered madly, as it should be. Naruto could be seen in his Kyuubi fashion, running up and down their side of the track with the team.

The girls in the crowd seemed to cheer even louder as the team captains of each school approached center field and shook hands, screaming and crying for the junior captain, Sasuke Uchiha. And as much as it surprised Ino, Sakura wasn't nearly the worst of them. She was actually… very calm compared to them.

She just clapped, cheered, pumped her fists, and was done with it.

Maybe she doesn't like him as much as I thought…

"Are you ready, fans, for the game of the year!?"

The home side cheered loudly, loud enough that Ino couldn't tell the mood of their opponent's crowd. Ino cheered, laughing as well as she recognized the announcer's voice as that of Coach Gai.

"Welcome to the big Homecoming night, kids! Remember, at half time we'll be crowning our king and queen!" The crowd cheered more, though not nearly as loudly as they had earlier at the pep rally that morning. Ino thought she would have gone deaf, they were so loud. Why? They announced the court that morning: the lord and lady for the freshmen, duke and duchess of the sophomores, and prince and princess of the juniors. Everything was fine, up until they announced the prince. Then the world went mad.

Because, obviously, no one other than Sasuke Uchiha would have possibly won; and he did.

"It's time for the big kickoff, the Suna Shukakus against your Konoha Kyuubis!"

The game ensued.

The game ended 24-0 in Konoha's favor.

The large group that Ino had found her self in (surprisingly, she had told herself), ended up staying in the stands a while and chatting while the rest of the crowd cleared out and the traffic went from okay, to bad, to worse, to dreadful, back to bad, and then okay again.

They were also waiting for Naruto, but traffic was a nice excuse too.

Soon they filed out, down the steps and into the concessions area and toward the track. Before they even reached the gate, however, Naruto sprang out from it with a large duffle hanging from his shoulder. He was sweating, yes, probably from all of the excitement of the game.

"Guys, did you see me!?" He grinned widely, "I was awesome, dattebayo! Wasn't I!?"

"Your mascot fight with Suna's Shukaku was definitely amusing," Shikamaru mused.

"I owned that thing, dattebayo."

"You sure did, Uzumaki." Kiba patted a hand on Naruto's shoulder, trying, yet failing, to keep his laughs contained.

"What's so funny, 'ttebayo?"

"Oh… nothing."

The entire posse there couldn't forget that hilarious battle off on the sidelines of the game that day. Naruto had picked the fight, that was given. He had marched right over to Suna's side of the field and shoved their mascot over. The Shukaku mascot just looked at him (obviously we don't know how due to his mask), and Naruto made up "you want some of this!?" gesture. The fight ensued…

…and somehow Naruto ended up winning, the Shukaku mascot laid out on the ground, held down by the Kyuubi's foot. Konoha's side cheered like mad, while Suna shot him glares.

Temari and Gaara were probably going to beat him up in gym come Monday, but it was worth it.

"You thought I was good, right Sakura?" Naruto asked the pink-haired girl with a pleading look.

Sakura opened her mouth to say one thing, then immediately shut it. She seemed to mull it over a bit, before she finally beamed and said "You did just fine, Naruto."

Ino smiled. Naruto may not be the brightest in the bunch, but it was great that Sakura was bring nice to him this way.

"Well guys," Kiba said, extending an arm around Hinata's shoulders, "I gotta take this one home. See ya tomorrow!"

"Tomorrow at the dance, 'ttebayo!! See ya!"

Kiba and Hinata waved and walked out to his car, climbing in. The amazingly loud stereo kicked in, and the souped-up engine roared to life, and Kiba sped out of there in a flash. Neji and Tenten followed suit, giving their goodbyes before climbing into Neji's Mercedes and driving away. Naruto followed Ino, Shikamaru, and Sakura out into the parking lot.

"Hey, Sakura," Naruto spoke up, almost quietly, "I'll give you a ride home, if you want. We could stop and get some food or a drink, too." He looked up her with the most adorable, sheepish grin imaginable. Sakura smiled, obviously impressed, and looked to Ino and Shikamaru.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" She stated, more than asked.

"All right, 'ttebayo! Let's go!" Naruto grabbed Sakura by the shoulders and directed her over towards his pick-up. Sakura laughed and waved at them, and they climbed in and drove away. Ino and Shikamaru never even got a chance to squeeze a word in edgewise.

"All right, there's the car." Shikamaru pointed ahead of them, "I told you we parked here."

"I'm sorry that I thought it was just a row or two over!"

"Ino, you thought it was on the other side of the lot."

She blushed, mumbled something and waited for him to unlock the car before quickly climbing in. He got in a few seconds after her, taking his time to start up the car, back out of his parking space and drive out of the lot. Keeping his eyes on her, he started up conversation again.

"When do I need to pick you up? The dance is at 8, right?"

"Umm… 7:45 maybe?"

"So really, 7:55." He laughed, "Or maybe 8:45? I can't trust you'll be ready on time."

"Oh please!" She slapped him lightly, "I wasn't late getting ready when you picked me up last time! In fact, I was early!"

"On your birthday, yes," he gave her a sideways glance, mockingly, "But today…"

"Five minutes, tops."

"Try ten."

"You…!" Ino slapped her face, but laughed. She stayed that way for a short moment, letting Shikamaru have his little laugh at her before she slid her hand off her face and looked at him once more.

"So are you actually going to dance tomorrow or will I be bored?"

"Meh," He relaxed back into a lazy stare, "Probably a little of both."

"Shika!" She whined, "Please? I've never been to a dance before!"

"Neither have I! Please, you think you're the only one trying something new tomorrow? You almost conned me into it, too!"

"Shika!" She dropped her jaw, almost surprised by his statement but still knew it was true, "I said I'd pay for your ticket and teach you to dance. Which, by the way, I didn't do."

"I know how to dance, my mother taught me."

"Oooh, I'm excited now." She smirked, "Mrs. Nara taught little Shika to dance?"

"Shut up, it was for… some party. I don't remember, even if it was only a year or two ago." He drove into Ino's apartment complex and parked, draping an elbow on his already-open window and looking over her way, "Get out."

Ino threw him an amused look and climbed out of the car, but ran over to the window and poked her head through, resting her arms in the window by his elbow. She poked her face close to his and smiled, "So 7:45?"

"Yeah." He blinked, not moving.

"See you tomorrow," She said, but didn't move. After a brief pause, Shikamaru raising an eyebrow in question, and Ino just staring ahead, she spoke again, "Awww, Shika."

"What!?" He half griped, half laughed, "Haven't I done enough for you tonight?"

"No good night kiss?" She frowned, but smiled a second later, "Hahaha, all right. Now I'm really going. G'night!"

She stood up and stretched her arms before turning around and heading for the door. However, Shikamaru suddenly grabbed her arm and pulled her back, and down to his level in the car.

Before she knew it, he had kissed her. Her head and been pulled through the window, and he had reached a hand behind her neck to hold her there. She closed her eyes, and kissed back.

After a short moment, Shikamaru let her go and started the car. She stared at him, surprised, amazed, and happy all at the same time.

"See you tomorrow," he said, dully. Ino snapped back into reality and pulled her head back out of the window.

"See you… tomorrow," she replied, a smile slowly creeping onto her face. She backed away from the car, onto the curb by her door and waved. He waved back; pulled out of the parking space he was in, drove out of the lot… and was gone.

Ino couldn't help but raise her arms to the heavens and scream in joy. She spun around on her heal and ran inside, past her parents sitting on the couch, formerly quietly watching TV, and into her room. She jumped onto her bed and hugged a pillow to her chest, grinning wildly.

"I can't wait for tomorrow!"

YES, WAHAHA. WHAT'S THAT, NOW!? I FINISHED A CHAPTER AGAIN!!!!!

All right, that one was fun. But a few points to be made:

a) I know I mentioned Kankurou in an earlier chapter being in their gym class, but I went back and changed it. When I was writing that chapter, I was really just hurrying and trying to get out it, and I was totally not thinking about age differences and classes and blah, blah, blah. So instead of just pretending that Kankurou got held back, I CHANGED IT and said he graduated already :D. Now, I also have no idea whether he or Temari are older…. But… oh well. He's older in this story :D.

b) haha silly mascots :D

c) yes, I did rip off a joke from an episode of The Suite Life of Zack and Cody in this chapter. If you noticed… well, you get a cookie.

d) HAHA FILLER I JUST OWNED YOU KIDS :D

Anyway, you get the ALL! IMPORTANT! DANCE! NEXT! YAY WOO EXCITEMENT!!!

BUT, if you want it to be here anytime soon, you need to REVIEW. Seriously, guys, for every chapter I dish out I get less and less reviews. So if you really want me to continue and finish this story, you NEED TO REVIEW!! I'd love to finish this, I have quite a few more ideas for this story I would love to write, but I won't if you don't review.

SO REMEMBER….

EVERY TIME YOU READ WITHOUT REVIEWING, A LION CHASES DOWN SOME DEER BUT THEY ALL GET AWAY SO HE DOESN'T GET ANY FOOD AND SOON DIES OF STARVATIONS!

Save the lions, kids :(