Epicene

iii

3.

Sakura looked at the Shikamaru and Chouji warily, making sure to keep herself from trembling. Thank kami, the adults weren't here because Sakura didn't want to know how her face looked right now. As much as she tried to shrug the memories off and focus, Sakura couldn't quite how the two screamed as they gasped out-

"Do I really need to be here, Ino-san?" She asked hesitantly, her hands tightening into fists behind her back. "I don't want to intrude."

Sakura just arrived from the place and her parents just left her with Ino to interact with the other parents and adults their age. Apparently, the Akimichi were having an impromptu party tonight and since Inoichi didn't want to be rude and cancel, decided to invite them too. Her parents, who weren't too enthused in coming in the first place, was about to decline when Ino-

It was all Ino's fault, really.

"What a drag." Shikamaru began abruptly, looking at Sakura seriously. "Haruno, right? It's okay. It's just an excuse for the clan heads and matrons to gossip anyway. Just eat."

"Shika!" Ino protested.

Shikamaru snorted. "It's true."

"Yeah." Chouji supported hesitantly. "Our food's pretty yummy, Haruno-san."

Sakura tried to smile but she had a feeling it looked more like a grimace by the way her cheeks were aching from the strain. "You can call me Yuuto, Nara-san. Akimichi-san. It's alright."

Shikamaru grunted.

Ino sighed. "Yuuto-kun. Sorry for this bakas, ne? I..I'm sorry too. I didn't know that Ami was just thanking you for saving her from tripping the other day and-"

So that's what happened. "It's no problem. This isn't really needed. I could-" Sakura interrupted eagerly.

"You can leave if you want, you know." Shikamaru muttered drolly, shaking his head. He turned to Ino blankly. "Why did you even invite her, Ino? It's obvious she doesn't like being here." He sighed exasperatedly. "Women. They're always a drag."

Ino slapped Shikamaru at the back of his head.

"Was that really necessary?" Shikamaru whined.

"Yes, you baka." Ino rolled her eyes. "Yuuto's a guy."

"Oh." Shikamaru looked at Sakura from head to toe. "You don't look like one. I thought your parents just bad at naming kids. Still a drag though."

Sakura strongly suspected Shikamaru's pulling her leg for reasons unknown to her at the moment, but the boy had a point. She really had appeared quite rude. She opened her mouth to apologize but Ino beat her to it.

"That's really rude of you Shikamaru." Ino scolded, shooting Sakura an apologetic look. "What's wrong with you today?"

"Shikamaru's bummed out because he couldn't find a shogi partner." Chouji offered hesitantly. "He lost to his tou-san earlier and he needed the practice." He twiddled his thumbs. "I'm not really good at shogi so I'm not-"

Ino huffed. "That's not enough reason to be rude to a guest." She moved closer to Sakura. "Don't listen to him Yuuto. He's just jealous because he's not as pretty- er handsome as you are. You're really good-looking! I mean, you're eyes are really green and-" She squeaked, her cheeks turning red. "You know what I mean, right?"

Sakura smiled at the blonde-haired girl fondly. "Yeah. I think you're really pretty too, Ino. Your eyes are beautiful." She turned at the three of them in the eye. "I'm sorry if I have appeared rude earlier. I just didn't want to inconvenience anyone." She took a deep breath and smiled as sincerely as she could. "Let's start again. My name's Haruno Yuuto. You can call me, Yuuto. It's nice to meet all of you."

When the three didn't respond and just looked at her strangely, Sakura wondered if she did anything wrong. Her social skills weren't that rusty, weren't they? Granted, Sakura hadn't managed to talk to others aside from the occasional order and abrupt planning but...she's not that bad right?

Kami. Please don't tell her she became as socially retarded as Kakashi-sensei.

To Sakura's dismay, all was silent before Chouji, bless his heart, smiled shyly. "I'm Akimichi Chouji. You can call me Chouji, Yuuto-kun."

"Uh...right." Ino cleared her throat. "I'm Yamanaka Ino, Yuuto-kun. You can call me Ino."

When Shikamaru didn't say anything, all of them turned to him expectantly. "What a drag." He sighed. "Call me Shikamaru."

Sakura didn't know if it was pressure or guilt but she found herself impulsively blurting out, "To make amends, I could play with you Shikamaru-san. If you want."

The three looked at her dubiously.

"I'm a fast learner." Sakura reasoned, going with it because hell, why not?

It's not like anything bad would happen, right?