“Hey guys,” Ino greeted her friends as she walked up to them
with her books in her arms. It was Monday, and the message that Sai sent of Ino
topless underneath Sasuke had passed around a good number of people in school.
Her five
friends looked up from Hinata’s phone and they stared at Ino with shock and
worry.
“What are
you guys looking at?” Ino asked, suddenly growing uneasy.
The group
around Hinata’s phone disbanded and Hinata looked at Ino sadly, “You should
come over here and see this Ino,” Hinata somberly spoke.
Ino looked
around her group of friends and she moved to see the phone. Ino put a hand over
her mouth, trying to cover a gasp or a scream. Sure enough, Sai had sent Hinata
the picture of Ino shirtless underneath Sasuke, making out.
“Who sent
this?” Ino shakily spoke, trying to hold in her anger.
The five
cheerleaders looked at each other unsure of who would tell her. Finally, Tenten
stepped forward, “It was Sai,” she blurted out.
Ino gave
Tenten a hurt gasp and Tenten stepped back and stared at her shoes, ashamed of
the hurt that she inflicted on her friend.
Ino shook
with angry tears and all was silent in the group for a while. Ino looked up at
her friends with angry tears and spoke, “Why would he do this?” she demanded
through clenched teeth.
“He’s
probably still mad about you rejecting him last year,” Karin offered, trying to
help make sense of his actions.
Ino shook
her head and stared at her feet once more, trying to hide her angry tears with
her long blonde hair, which was down today and worn straight.
Temari
gulped and stepped forward, “I don’t know what the big deal is,” she began, all
eyes were on her now. “I’ve had pictures like this go around about me, and if
anything it helped my reputation rather than hurt it,” Temari announced.
Hinata
sheepishly looked at Temari and spoke, “But you have a reputation for being a
bad girl, Ino has the girl next door reputation…” Hinata told everyone.
Temari
scrunched her nose in annoyance and she moved to stand by Tenten and Sakura.
“I have an
idea!” Sakura beamed as she smiled at her blonde friend. All five of them gave
her their undivided attention.
“How about
we never leave Ino alone today? Because we all know how nasty these rumors can
get, and if anything, people will be giving her crap about it. The least we can
do is help her deal with these bullies,” Sakura resolved. She slammed a fist
into her open palm as a gesture of resolution.
“Sounds
like a good idea, I’m in,” Karin agreed, nodding her head and taking a liking
to the new idea.
“Alright,
it’s settled then,” Temari announced. She put her hands on her hips and she
looked to all of her friends before pointing at Ino. “You won’t be left alone
today!” Temari yelled. All of the other girls cheered, liking the idea of
helping their dear friend Ino.
Ino was
grateful for their kindness, but was still troubled at the thought of Sai doing
something like this, all because she rejected him last year.
“Are you
okay to go on from here?” Tenten asked Ino. Tenten was escorting Ino to her Algebra
2 class, but she had to go to her Chemistry class, which was in a totally
different hall than the hall that they were in. Ino nodded sadly and slowly and
Tenten gave her friend a big hug.
“You’re
strong, you can do this,” Tenten encouraged. Ino nodded again and Tenten said
goodbye and rushed off to go to her class.
As Ino
started to drag her feet to Algebra 2, she was greeted by a bunch of laughs
from a group of guys. Ino turned her head sadly and looked at the group of
boys. It was Kiba, Shikamaru, Naruto, Neji, Kankuro and worst of all, Sasuke.
“Hey Ino,”
Kiba called. Ino made the mistake of turning her head in his direction. Kiba
held up his phone, with the picture clearly shown on the screen. “Will you pose
for me like that? I want a better picture!” Kiba cackled.
The group
of boys cracked up, well everyone except for Neji. Neji gave Ino a regretful
and sorry stare as she started walking to class.
Good to know that Tenten’s boyfriend is
decent at least, Ino thought.
Ino
shuffled through the door and took a seat on the opposite side of the room,
farthest away from Sasuke. She took out her textbook and her notebook and set
up her notebook page for notes, just like Lee taught her to. After Ino finished
setting up her notes, she just stared at her notebook blankly.
The class
started to fill up with students and pretty soon every seat was taken, except
for the one next to Ino. To much of Ino’s surprise, Rock Lee came in late. He
looked around to try to find his seat, but to his chagrin it was taken, and he
had to sit next to Ino.
“Hi Lee,”
Ino smiled as he slipped into the desk next to her. Lee ignored her and took
out his materials for class.
“Please do
not talk to me Ino,” Rock Lee replied. Ino looked at him hurt until she finally
nodded and turned to her notebook as the teacher began class.
Even though
Ino had all of her best friends on her side, this was the first time that she
felt so totally alone.
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