What's the point of Homeroom, again? [open]

[¡El Bandito!]

No, really, someone needed to explain this to him. What was the point of sitting in this class, doing nothing but talking about stupid school crap? at least in a real class they learned something, but this was all school news and PSAs made by the video club.

And seriously, who cared?

Lamenting the loss of an extra forty-five minutes of sleep for the benefit of things he really couldn't give less of a damn about, Naruto's bright blue eyes searched the room for something interesting to keep him from falling asleep and drooling on his desk again.

So, while the teacher droned on in the front of the class about the details of running for class president and the price changes in school lunch, Naruto's eyes latched onto a certain pink-haired girl a few chairs in front of him.

Haruno Sakura... a good friend of his, and unfortunately someone far more likely to be interested in the school goings-on than he. Maybe he should be paying more attention, listening in for some stupid school dance or something that he could ask her to... Chicks dug that sort of thing, right?

But really... school dances were really boring. And who'd want to get dressed up in all that fancy, stuffy clothing? Maybe he could just convince her to let him take her out on a date.

...Despite the fact that she had never agreed before.

He shot an evil glance over at a certain Uchiha, who every single girl in this damn school seemed to be 'saving themselves' for. Damn, couldn't he just pick one, and open up the rest of the population for everyone else?

Sighing, Naruto ripped a sheet of paper out of the back of a notebook without even bothering to look at the subject it was supposed to be for. Not that it really mattered much - Naruto's notebooks tended to be full of sketches and doodles far more often than actual notes.

Pulling a pen from his bag, he decided to scrawl a hasty note to the pinkette. Maybe, by some miracle, she would change her mind this year.

[Elle]

Homeroom was definitely, without a doubt, the most trivial part of the entire day, at least in Sakura's opinion. While she did care about who was running for class president, the pink-haired girl couldn't bring herself to actually pay close attention to the words flowing out of her teacher's mouth in a low monotone. A soft sigh escaped her mouth, the warm breath hitting the tops of her teeth and tickling the sensitive skin on her lips.

Why couldn't they just announce this sort of thing over the PA during class?

Because then it'd take away from class, thus giving whichever sensei permission to assign more homework, her mind informed her, a rather haughty and snobby tone to her voice. Sakura only rolled her jade-colored orbs, cheek coming to rest on the surface where her palm dipped. She slightly perked up once a back to school dance was mentioned, only to falter upon the realization that it was weeks off.

Talk about a tease.

In a bored manner, Sakura drummed her slim, pale fingers against the top of her desk, the intimation wood cold and smooth thanks to the air conditioner blaring from the back of the room, creating a tiny rattling noise that half drowned out her teacher and fellow classmates. Inside of her head the pinkette counted down the seconds until this torture classroom would be dismissed, only to be disheartened upon realizing that it had only just started.

It was official; the world hated her.

Maybe after homeroom she'd check with Ino to see if the blond had been paying attention in the slightest. Regardless if the information was entertaining or not, the bubblegum haired girl was almost positive they'd announce something about theater, one--if not the only--extracurricular activity that tickled her fancy. Sure there were sports and the yearbook staff, but the former consumed too much time and the latter had been a nightmare last year when she had decided to join.

A scowl crossed her lips at the memory, recalling how people squabbled and bickered over the tiniest little nothings. Being in an environment with those kind of people often allowed her temper to break free, which was a bad thing indeed. Hell hath no fury than a Haruno Sakura scorned, that was for sure.

[yøsh]

If it some how didn’t create some type if impossible time paradox, Hinata would rather the school just skipped the whole first idea of term idea. Well, to be fair, she mentally amended, it wasn’t all bad. Seeing friends that she has not seen since the spring and new school supplies on top of the fact that part of her was always a little happy to be back in the classroom (the complaints of being stuffed in the classroom momentarily forgotten over the vacation) made parts of the first day back pleasant. It was the fact that, aside from the brief minutes spent shuffling from class to class, the entire day was spent reminding the student body of the obvious. And that was, quite frankly, a rather ridiculous waste of time.

Resisting the urge to slouch in her seat, Hinata half absentmindedly doodled in top corner one a random page in the middle of her classic literature notebook. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she was somewhat aware that she was being slightly rude to nearly openly ignore the teacher as he droned on about the usual beginning of the year topics,but she neatly pushed the thought away. It was the same speech each year since she entered middle school; give or take a few words, but the same idea was there. Besides, the teacher himself seemed bored by his own lecture so she doubted that he would mind overly much... if he noticed, she thought with a wry glance at her peers stuck in various comatose stages.

Just another slow first day...

Or rather it was till the mentioning of a dance. It wasn’t an odd announcement, really. After all, she had gone to Konoha l long enough to recognize the trend of there beginning school dance a month or so into fall term. But she still wasn’t able to help the fact that her eyes glanced up from her doodle to momentarily latch on the teacher’s face before looking back down.

Blah, the (in)famous high school dance. They were, in all actuality the best, or worst, form of a cliche coming to life. From the gossip to the dresses to the under the sea/magic under the stars/a night to remember theme, it played out almost like clock work. Boy asked girl (with the optional overtone of a girlfriend threatening to go with another guy if boyfriend does not take her), they get dolled up, they go. There will be at least two groups of girls crowding in the bathroom comforting someone because of some sort of ‘travesty’, typically some unwitting date said something careless of fell for a girl trap, Someone will spike the punch not knowing that four people before him have done so already and someone will ‘lose’ his shirt. The, sometime around midnight, the dance will end and half the attending student body would go off for pancakes at a twenty-four hour diner while the other half went off to... It was a cliche and stupid and...

... And who was she kidding? She wanted to go.

Feeling the beginnings of a faint flush of color rising to her face, Hinata ducked her head, fidgeting slightly in her seat. Somewhat hidden behind her bangs, she let a small smile flit across her face as she entertained ideas of Naruto asking her to go with him. But as quickly as the idea of Naruto, dressed up in a suit, entered her mind, so did a graceful pinkette in a green gown, hanging on his arm. Admittedly, this was a less attractive mid class day dream, even if it was more realistic. After all, his crush on Haruno Sakura was not exactly a secret.

Slinking further in her seat, Hinata found herself unconsciously staring at the back of her (unintentional) rival in love’s head. She couldn’t really blame him, when she thought about it. Sakura was smart, friendly and pretty, the absolute trifecta of perfection that attracted boys. And Hinata? Well.. She was quiet and weird. Letting out a sigh, she forced herself to focus on her doodle. Yes, the first day speeches sucked.

[Amaya]

Homeroom, while is happened to be the most boring class ever it at times had it uses. Well actually it was only like the first week or so of school that it was good for anything other than homework and writing notes. Today though Ino was more or less paying attention. While student council and all the jib jab was unimportant and boring, there were a few key points that Ino made sure to listen too.

First was sports, as a now varsity cheer-leader football and basketball would be something she should keep an ear on. Oh and she needed to tell Sakura that she had made varsity! She had been so excited that she had forgotten to tell everyone. The other sport thing was her Volleyball, she should be able to make the varsity team there. That would be so cool! This year was going to be so busy, the blonde could all ready tell. Varsity Cheer, Varsity Volleyball, Dance, and Piano along with whatever else she could find.

As she was busy doodling notes to herself in her open notebook a particular word caught her ear, the school dance. Well to be specific there was a lot more than one dance. Ino's blue eyes lit up, now that was something she could really get behind. Looking around she was glad to have several of her good friends in class she would have to make note to begin plans to keep the dances from sucking this year. After all they were upperclassmen now, and that meant they had a lot more power now and what good is power if you don't use it.

After the short comment on dances the teacher went on about something else, but Ino had heard all that was important. She had a few key dates scribbled onto her page. Ripping the bottom of the page off Ino glanced at the teacher who was now writing something or another on the board. Seizing her opportunity Ino wrote a note Sakura, you and me need to get together and chat about school and stuff! I have so much to tell you!!! <3 Ino. Writing Hanuro in the outside of the folded paper she glanced at the one row over where her pink-haired friend sat tapping her fingers on the desk.

Yet again Ino was glad of who she was, she had made it a point over the last two years to get to know as many of her classmates as possible, she was able to catch just the right eyes, all of which were in a similarly bored out almost asleep type of look. It seemed she was in luck and as she quietly handed the note to the first person and it was passed along till landing on pinkette's desk. Catching her friends eye the blonde smiled and after a quick wink went back to pretending to care about whatever the teacher was saying.

Thinking back Ino came to the realization that it probably would have been easier to text her friend seeing as how no one, including the teacher, seemed to care about what was being said. There was just something about passing a hand written note that was so much more entertaining, and besides you never could tell if someone had forgot to turn the ringer to silent. Like herself, she had a terrible habit of leaving her phone on and getting a text or call from whomever causing her phone to go off and get her butt in trouble. While she was on that train of thought she quietly pulled her phone out from where she had hidden it, and low and behold it was indeed on ring. Hitting the buttons she quickly turned the volume to slient and retuend the phone to it's original place.

[¡El Bandito!]

At first, he scrawled.

Then, he realized that he was probably doing himself no favors by sending the immaculate girl of his dreams some hastily scribbled crap she wouldn't even be able to read. Didn't chicks care about handwriting or some shit, too? God...

Rolling his eyes and ripping the page of paper in half, he crumpled up the first piece and shoved it into his pocket, slowly scribing each character of each sentence. It may not look typewriter good or whatever, but fuck it it was good enough.

The note was simple enough. Hey, meet me after school at Ichiraku - You Know you wanna! - N And he had even used that awesome orange pen someone had gotten him for his birthday last year. Of course, it was so bright (and, as some of the other students claimed, tacky, but that the hell did they know?) he had been banned from using it in class by the teachers, but... That didn't really stop him. It was either that or crayon, which he was not above doing if push came to shove.

...Maybe that was part of the reason no one took him seriously when it came to school... hmmm.

Pondering this, he tapped the shoulder of the kid in front of him and passed the boy -some kid he didn't know- and handed the note to him, jerking his head towards the pinkette three rows in front.

Now, all he had to do was kick back and wait for the end of the day, and see if she would actually decide to show up or not. Of course, there was always the chance that she was busy with some silly club activity or something, but... hell, he had to give it a shot, right?

...As long as he didn't get in detention again, and so early in the year, too... Sighing, he resigned himself to half-paying attention to the monotonous man up in the front of the class, deciding that just once, trying to pay attention to the mind-numbing drone was worth it.

[Elle]

By the time their teacher had gotten to the part of varsity tryouts, Sakura had tuned out his voice entirely, falling into a daydream created by her bored mind. What was the school play going to be about this year? Hopefully it would be something mildly interesting and not a complete and utter disappointment like last spring. At that faint memory, the pink-haired girl exhaled, tapping her slim fingers against her broad forehead. The production had ended in a disaster due to lack of communication from student-director to actors and Miss Haruno was not willing to put herself through another five months of torture.

Because there is only so many times one can sing a line over and over before getting royally pissed off.

Snapping her out of her train of thoughts was her classmate's finger gently poking into the blades of her shoulders. Tilting her head over her shoulder, Sakura's eyes looked at the girl curiously before glancing down to the note, an understanding smile on her face. Passing notes on the first day of school? It wasn't something she was known for, but she had two guesses as to who had penned her last name on the outside of the neatly pressed square.

'Thank-you,' she mouthed, flashing the girl a gentle smile, spinning around with her note pinched between her thumb and index finger. Slowly she opened up the folded piece of paper, mentally wincing each time a rather loud crinkling noise was heard. After the delicate process, Sakura could only stare at the note with a small grin.

She should have figured it would be Ino. Quickly scanning over the note, the pinkette processed its content for a split second, hand diving into her light pink back pack for a pen. She ripped off the cap with her teeth, tucking her bangs back as she quickly replied to the blonde bombshell.

We really do, Ino-pig! Haha, I'm still never going to let that nickname go. What are you doing on Friday? Maybe we can catch a movie and then swing by my house or something like that. Love ya, Boar!

Determining that she said everything and needed to be covered--in a note, at least--Sakura angled her body to face the same girl who had handed her the note previously. Whispering Ino's name and muttering a small thanks, the pinkette turned back around in her seat and sighed. Honestly, she felt bad about the girl behind her playing messenger pigeon, but obviously this homeroom teacher had a brain since he hadn't allowed Ino and herself to sit next to each other. Hell, she had even been denied the right to sit next to Naruto, although she could understand that one.

Her (other) blond friend was quite the chatterbox.

[yøsh]

Notes were to homeroom what letters were to modern society. They were, in a way, going extinct and it was almost a pity. However, it was also understandable when one stood back and looked at the technologically advanced alternative, namely the cellphone. The wave of the future, or present, depending on how you looked at it, and Konoha High School, while not the most advanced of schools in Tokyo, was not behind on this trend. It probably had something to do with the fact that it was a lot harder for text messages to be intercepted by nosy peers and that it was a lot harder for a hawk eyed teacher to catch a student reading a quick text off a cellphone in their lap compared to the production of a note being passed across the classroom. And, there was always the risk of said note, and it’s possibly private contents, making it to into the wrong hands completely by accident. The whole note passing system was well on it’s way to being outdated; the whole system somewhat flawed.

And yet... Hinata was a fan of notes. There was just something about them that was just that much more then a simple text message. The same with letters, actually. They were personal, and special in the fact that a person took the time to actually write a message down and send it to her. It was a completely romantic idea to her, even if Hinata was well aware that she was probably reading into it more then she should, and wearing rose colored glasses while she was at it. However, being aware of it did not stop her from keeping her personal correspondents in a box beneath her bed.

Still, even with her somewhat random love of notes, it was a surprise when the student behind her poked her in the back. Barely resisting the urge to jump in surprise, it took her a moment before she realized that he was trying to pass her a note. Letting her hand dangle slightly at her side, she reached back slightly, fingers gently gasping around the edges of the folded paper, before moving to drop it in her lap, glancing up at the teacher, who had not moved from his position at the front of the room.

Tilting her head down, she turned the paper over, looking for a name, only to find there was, in fact, no ‘address label’. Shooting a chance glance at the student who passed her the note, she mouthed “Who is this for?”

“You,” he mouthed back before returning to his own notebook doodle.

Unfolding it, Hinata was slightly surprised. Most of the notes she received were passed to her in the hallways or slipped through the vents of her locker rather then passed through the classroom. On top of that, she could easily see the few people she normally exchanged notes in front of her, rather then behind her.

The note itself was short and sweet, getting right to the point in a straight forward manner followed with a simple initial that cause color to rise high on Hinata’s cheeks. N. There was only one person in that class period that she could think of who that could apply too. Uzumaki Naruto, the blonde star of her school girl crush, sitting some two or three chairs behind her, fan of all things orange including (possibly) orange pens.....

Gulp. Forcing herself to swallow, she blinked at the paper half expecting the letters to rearrange themselves to mean something other then what she read. But they didn’t, the invitation remained, bright against the white lined paper. Meaning it had to be real, even if she was half aware that Naruto was asking her for completely platonic reasons (not that those reasons would be the fantasies that she was doomed to entertain the rest of the school day).

Printing a neat Yes beneath his messily scrawled letters, Hinata sent the note back, her entire body tingling in a pleasant way that half made her fear she was going to float away.

[Elena]

Homeroom was a very useful class. It would be where the classes would plan out the cultural festival and various other events. It was where the teacher would get everything out of the way that they needed to know. It was also a time for a social battle, if you will, as all around him everyone was scheming beneath the teacher’s nose. Beside him two girls were giggling discreetly and throwing him not-so-discreet glances. Even he could pick up they were talking about him. Then, the more bolder of the two leaned in sort of, trying to reduce the gap between rows.

“Hey Sai, are you planning to go to the dance?” She whispered. She quickly bolted upright in her seat though, to avoid the attention of the speaker.

“Umm…” He thought about it for a moment. “I was considering it earlier. Why?”

She had a sly grin. “You should take someone, you know? A girl or someone you fancy… ”

He did not know these two girls very well, aside from the fact that they were his classmates. They were average looking, by standards. Did they want to go with him? It was confusing to say. However, what they said stuck with him. Despite his teasing, Naruto was not a girl. He was thinking that if he would by chance go, it would be with him. He looked around the room.

Right beside him was probably the most attractive girl, by both Japanese and western standards. Dark styled in a hime-cut, which suited her personality very well, he thought. She was quiet, and seemed like a very nice girl. Someone who wouldn’t reject him outright nor would boss him around should she accept; it was a good deal. Also, those breasts were at least a D cup. That was good, yes?

There was Sakura’s friend too, who he met maybe twice before. Apparently she found him attractive, and he had won points with her before (“points” and “scoring” were words he picked up from Naruto. Getting women seemed to be some sort of a sport) so she should agree to go, right? She was definitely western in attractiveness. Curvy, though not so much like the ‘hime’ beside him, long blonde hair and a very outgoing personality; this would be a good ‘catch’ too.

Of course, there was Sakura herself… At least she was skinny, which appealed to the average Japanese male (though hentai seemed to differ). The least attractive, by standards, out of the three, yet she was probably the one he’d be most comfortable with going. She’d be bossy, she might reject him quite cruelly, but she’d understand his mess ups more than the other two would, and correct him. This was a learning opportunity. Each date would be a teacher, all with different styles, so who would it be?

…He could always ask them all. One out of the three had to accept his offer, right? Yes, that was surely a good idea.

“So, we were thinking…”

“Excuse me for a moment.” He smiled, as he pulled out some stationary he kept. In neat calligraphy, he wrote two notes.

First, he tapped the person in front of him, quietly telling him that the note was for Ino specifically—“Yes, the blond one.”—and watched it go off.

To Ino:
I would be honoured if you would go to the school dance with me. I think you would look lovely all dressed up—especially in comparison to Sakura.
--Sai

Then, he tapped the Hyuuga girl on the shoulder. “Excuse me, Hinata-hime?” He didn’t even realize he called her princess, smiling without a shred of awkwardness. “There is a dance coming up. I realize we are both people who such an event should probably not appeal to, but it is a valued social experience. I’d be honoured if you would go with me, so we could experience it together.” He whispered.

He glanced over at the teacher. “Please consider it.” He then raised his hand.

“May I be excused to go to the restroom?” When the teacher gave a nod, he stood up, and as he walked passed Sakura’s desk, he stealthily dropped a note right in front of her on her desk.

Follow me out.

[¡El Bandito!]

Naruto took a deep breath, closing his eyes to quell his nerves that couldn't help but get a little jittery when he thought about the note he had just passed forward, and all that it entailed. Would she say yes? Probably, he supposed; he had worded it so broadly that it was entirely possible to take as just a friendly excursion rather than an explicit date. In fact, he almost hoped she took it that way, considering if she did she'd be more likely to say yes..

Well, worrying about it would get him nowhere; either it was going to happen or it wasn't. he folded his arms behind his head, leaning back on the hind legs of his chair and kicking his own legs up on the desk. Having to maintain the precarious balancing point on the chair meant concentration, keeping him more awake than just putting his head down on the desk and chasing those precious few minutes of sleep that had been taken from him by this stupid class. He didn't need to wake up in a puddle of drool again, really.

Rubbing his eyes, he stifled a yawn, deciding just then that Homeroom was a class to be avoided and skipped as much as humanly possible this year... not that this status was anything particularly new.

In his half-awake and wholly preoccupied state, however, he failed to watch the note he had sent on its way carefully, to ensure the right girl sitting on front of him actually got it. When the boy sitting in front of him dutifully slipped the note back under his foot, he nearly fell over in his enthusiasm to read the answer, ruckus be damned. Hell, he wouldn't mind getting kicked out of this class at this point; maybe he could sleep. But first, he had to read his answer.

There it was, printed in very obviously girl's handwriting (he had never seen a man with handwriting that nice, outside of the Sabakuno family and neither Gaara nor Kankuro were anywhere nearby to sabotage his plans, not that Gaara would in the first place...). She had agreed.

Uzumaki Naruto had a date.

"YES!" Doing an internal celebratory cheer that turned out to not be so internal, he clapped a hand over his mouth and sunk down in his seat, hoping that by some grace of god the origin of the random outburst wasn't obvious to the teacher.

[Elle]

Twirling her pencil to-and-fro against her open, blank notebook, Sakura continued to half-listen to her homeroom teacher up front. How long did announcements even take? If she had to go through this every single day, the rosette didn't believe she could handle it. Never had she done anything like skipping class, and her junior year wasn't a smart time to start any of that.

....Even if it meant an extra forty-five minutes of sleep during the morning.

Suddenly a loud, boisterous noise erupted from behind her, causing Sakura and several other students to turn around and find out who was causing the noise. Of course it was Naruto; when wasn't it? Doing her best to not roll back her eyes at her blond-haired friend, the pinkette turned back around, getting comfortable in the wooden desk, before her jade-colored eyes fell upon the note with a single line written upon it.

Curiously Sakura unfolded the small piece of paper, eyebrows knitting together as she read and re-read over the simple line tossed upon her desk. Who wrote it? Glancing behind her, she did her best to figure out who was missing until it finally hit her. Didn't Sai leave the classroom? Turning back to the note, Sakura instantly recognized his handwriting and exhaled deeply. What was so important that it couldn't wait until after homeroom?

"Sensei?" Sakura lifted her hand and then placed it back down on her desk, shifting as her homeroom teacher's attention landed upon her, "Can I use the restroom?" Once she got the okay, Sakura slipped from out of her seat and followed the path that Sai had previously walked. Closing the thick door behind her, the pink-haired girl looked around, eyes trying to seek out her rather awkward friend. Was he okay, or was this just another experiment of his that he read somewhere?

Stepping further out into the hallway, the pinkette sighed and tried again, "Sai? Is something wrong?" He better have a great explanation for dragging her out into the hall with him. Sure, Sakura didn't have to follow him out, but half of her was concerned that there was truly a problem at hand. If not, then she would always hit him for this later on.

[yøsh]

If listening to the teacher's speech was some what difficult before, it was nothing if not down right impossible now. Propping her chin lightly on the palm of her hand, and ignoring wayward thoughts about how slouching was a slippery path to bad posture, Hinata couldn't help but officially give up the good student charade entirely. Staring dreamily out the window, Hinata continued her absentminded doodling; the majority of her scribbling now in the form of swirls in tiny ten armed stars, as subtle about her romantic emotions as she ever was. But, she couldn't seem to help it.

A date. She had a date... kind of, her realistic side argued, making itself barely heard over the amorous chaos that dominated her thoughts. It didn't take Nara Shikamaru to figure out that there was a hand full of more likely options for his invitation. Naruto could just need some homework help, or wanted someone to hang out with or simply wanted to take her out on a date....

A small grin plucked up the corners of her lips. Yep, she most definitely couldn't seem to help it, threats and thoughts of crashing and burning being pushed away almost as quickly as they came. Pessimism was no stranger with her, but she was not willing to entertain at the moment, a fact that became doubly true as a loud exclamation rang out from her blonded haired crush. With positive reinforcement like that, and from a single word reply, she was surprised that she wasn't floating out of her chair as the bell rang instead of merely standing. A date with Naruto.

Oh... Oh dear... A date with Naruto.

Fairly bursting with a sudden onslaught of nerves tinging her excitement, Hinata gathered up her books, carefully placing them in the messenger bag with ocd precision. She had to talk to Sakura; hopefully the pinkette won't be upset. Boys weren't worth ruining a friendship over, not even if it was one that she had liked for years. And while Sakura professed to not having any romantic interest in Naruto did not meant hat she would not be upset if she lost his interest. And then there was Ino... Ino was a master at making things look prettier then they were (not that that was commentary on the blondes own looks, but simply a fact). Maybe she could help Hinata fix herself up a bit before dashing off to Ichiraku's as she wouldn't have time to run home and change into something more appropriate then her school uniform. Oh, she should probably ask...

Trying to cement plans in her head, Hinata's attempt to escape from homeroom into the hall was interrupted by a dark haired, and pale young man. "Um.. hello?" she greeted, her cheeks flushing bright red in seconds at his informal greeting, the color deepening as he continued with his unexpected invitation. "Er..." she replied, clearly in her most eloquent form, trying to think of a tactful way to tell him she couldn't even think of a single time they had actually talked.. well, before now. However, before the words could come, he finished his whispered declaration and was off to parts unknown. Leaving a slightly stunned Hinata behind.

[Elena]

Sai stood outside; waiting in patience, knowing it would only be a matter of time until he’d see her. In the meantime his thoughts ran around how to properly introduce him. Sakura was a fickle, easily distressed woman, from what he had gathered of her, and she could turn to any extreme depending on what he’d say or even just how he said it. She could also be kind and understanding. She could smile and laugh, tell him this was silly.

She was his friend.

He took all that into consideration as he waited, leaning against the door, dark eyes staring out onto the tile. He heard her approach and turned his eyes toward her, greeting her with a small smile. “No, nothing is wrong. I wanted to ask you something.”

He moved away from the wall, standing in front of her. ”Ah, well, how to start…” His fist moved in front of his face, with one knuckle resting against his lower lip, his gaze to the side. "I always go to these social events with Naruto, see, but I realize there is some things you can’t do with a person of the same sex in society's eyes. Going to a school dance is one of them.” His hand dropped and he looked up at her again, managing eye contact.

”Aside from Naruto, you’re the only other person who can…” He didn’t know how to phrase that. ‘Only person to understand him?’ He didn’t think they really understood. This was the hard part about asking Sakura. He’d have to explain things. He’d have to get his feelings and thoughts across, but he’d have to choose carefully what it was he said. With any other people besides his two friends, he could just ask and insert something he’d think they’d want to hear.

”The point is, I want to be your date for the dance. I would like to learn how to belong in such a social event that’s so normal for everyone else. There is was, a smile, a real one. ”Is that okay for me to ask?

[¡El Bandito!]

And finally, the damn bell rang. Now he had seven minutes to try and remember which class he had next, how to get there, and high-tail it to the classroom. He watched as Sai made his way out, followed by Sakura, then booked it out the door before the teacher could give him any kind of punishment for his momentary outburst seconds before.

What did he have first, again? Oh, yeah... gym. It was a class that was a cross between fun and a drag; it seemed lame until he actually got there and suited up, and then he had a good time. That seemed to be the general consensus among all his friends, as gym seemed to be the most commonly cut class short of maybe math but once they were out on the field, all that disdain seemed to melt away. Funny how that happens.

And, well... today he actually felt like going.

Even in his 'enthusiasm' (or, rather, lack of wanting to get a detention for being late) for getting to the next class, he couldn't help but notice Sai and Sakura standing off to the side of the hallway, whatever they were saying quickly becoming inaudible over the din of the students rushing out of their classrooms. Naruto didn't really consider himself a nosy person, perse... but he did like to know what was going on with the people around him, particularly the people he considered close friends. While Sai was kind of a jerkass, Naruto had finally gotten used to the kid's bizarre brand of humor, and Sakura, well... there was no question how he felt about her.

He sidled up quietly to them, turning their discussion into a small circle even as they got jeers about being stupid freshmen crowding up the hallway. Whatever, assholes could say whatever they wanted; these were his friends and his friends were important.

"Hey guys, what's up?" he said, a touch concerned considering apparently it was so important that it couldn't be spoken of inside class.

[Amaya]

Ino had finally lost interest in the teachers long, boring, unending, now pointless, lecture. So she sat drawing swirls on her note paper, seeing as how that was about the only thing she could draw. She was just waiting to get her note from Sakura back, and knowing the pink haired girl it wouldn't take long. Waiting was terribly boring though, this was the down side to school. There were some classes that just seemed like a waste of time, not that those were the classes you could chose not to take. Oh no the boring classes were required, how dumb.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a small piece of paper that was slyly placed on her desk by the person sitting next to her. A smirk on her face she recognized the hand writing immediately, it was Sakura's. About time she thought as she opened the paper and skimmed the note. Rolling her eyes at the joke that had once been an insult, Boar, a boar is not a pig. Well not exactly at least, but it was just a joke now versus on of the insults when her and Sakura had fought.

Friday? What was she doing Friday, she was not exactly sure. She had dance Thursday so she might actually have that night off. Even if she did have something she was sure that they could plan around it. Pulling out a pen and a fresh peace of paper she began her reply note Oh Forehead, some nicknames are not meant to go away. We will have to do something! A movie and your house sounds like a plan! We can work out the details at lunch or something.! If she had been planning on writing anything else on that note it was interrupted by a rather loud outburst from none other than Naruto. If that had not been enough to not allow her to finish her first note, the addition of another note on her desk was almost a complete shock.

Who in the world could this be from she thought picking it up and opening it. At first glance she didn't even know the handwriting, which didn't happen very often. What was almost more shocking was discovering who it was from and why it was written. Sai? She searched her brain for a moment trying to remember how she knew him. Thankfully he reminded her as she saw him leave the room, his face sparking the memory. He was one of Sakura's friends. That would explain why he compared her to the pinkette.

Why would he ask her to the dance? She barely knew him, and while he was not unattractive. He just didn't seem quite her type, she would have to ask Sakura about him. Looking over she saw that Sakura had also left the room, now that was strange. Deciding that it would be easier to reply to Sai's note later she folded it up and suck it in her bag. She also folded her not to Sakura and after putting her name on it she had just enough time to shove her note book in her bag before the bell rang.

Standing she made her way out of the class looking around for her friend. Not that she was hard to find, her hair stood out like there was no tomorrow. She was standing not far from the door, with both Sai and Naruto, looked like the start to a party. Raising an eyebrow she made her way over to the group “Looks like I'm missing something important.” she said when she arrived, sadly she didn't have much time to talk, her class was on the like complete other side of the school. “Sakura, this is for you.” she said handing her the note “We have lots to talk about so you and me need to have lunch today! Okay? I would stay and chat now, but my class is like at the other end of the world.” She had a moment now so she would wait for a bit to see where Forehead wanted to meet for lunch, then she would head off to class.

[Elle]

Blinking up at Sai in surprise, Sakura folded her sweater-covered arms against her chest, frown lines marring the area around her mouth, "Sai, you asked me to leave the classroom to ask me something? I swear--" She stopped mid-sentence, however, as the dark-haired teen picked up his explanation, struggling to word it properly. Sakura lifted a thin, pink eyebrow at his reaction, mentally going over the possible things that he wanted to discuss. Did it have something to do with Naruto? Deciding not to ask anymore questions until Sai was finished, the pinkette only exhaled, warm air tickling her lips, before urging him to continue.

As he continued on, the pinkette couldn't help but feel her temper rise to a slow simmer, threatening to boil over the edge. He had dragged her out of homeroom to ask her to the dance? For the love of Kami; Sakura was ready to beat him black and blue for dragging her out for since a nonsense reason. Even if she had left on her own will, it was underneath the pretense that something was wrong with her socially awkward friend, "Sai, you--"

And then he smiled a her, the corners of his mouth turned up wards in something true, something completely genuine. Suddenly, as quickly as it seeped into her blood, Sakura's temper melted away and she found herself smiling in reply to Sai's questioning. When put like that, it became rather hard to remember why she had wanted to throttle him in the first place. She sighed again, fingers gently massaging her temples, before she nodding, "It's fine for you to ask, Sai. I don't mind going with you and helping you out with things, so I'll go with you. Besides you're right. This is definitely something you can't drag Naruto to."

The loud shrill of the bell rang overhead, signaling that the torture known as 'homeroom' was finally over and it was time to begin the day of education. Recalling that her first class was AP History, the pinkette only smiled more at her friend before another voice rang out, causing her to turn around and exhale. "Morning Naruto. Sai and I," she motioned to the boy standing across from her, "were just discussing the dance. Since he can't exactly take you, I'm going to spare him and take him myself, although I do expect him to drive me." She glanced up at Sai, a coy grin tilting on her mouth for a split moment or two.

A moment or two passed before her bombshell of a best friend appeared in front of her, pressing a small, folded note into her hands. At the mentioning of lunch, Sakura perked up tremendously and playfully poked her nose, "Of course, Ino. We'll talk then, okay? And don't get in trouble with your teacher for being late, Pig! If you get lunch detention, we can't discuss this weekend."