Beating the Odds

Chapter 9

Naruto was surprised to see Sasuke in the gym at their normal training time, although it looked like he’d been training for a lot longer than he normally did. “Uchiha,” Naruto called, officially entering the designated workout area. Sasuke didn’t respond, finishing his last few minutes on the treadmill while Naruto stretched. “How long have you been here for?” The blonde asked, grunting when he felt the pleasant warmth throughout his muscles, signalling that he was ready to go.

“Long enough.” Sasuke commented, wiping his face down with a rag he’d bought, before slinging his backpack over his shoulder. He was still moping about their fight, apparently.

“I got your message.” Naruto attempted, wanting to try and get things back to normal. He hadn’t had many friends, so he didn’t know what it felt like to lose one, or how that was established in the first place. He was a little fearful that he was being thick headed again, and Sasuke had ended the friendship with their previous fight, and Naruto just hadn’t been able to pick up the signals.

“Good.” Sasuke approached the exit, but Naruto said something that made him pause.

“Sasuke, are we still friends?” The Uchiha thought about it for a second, going over their fight once more; evaluating it. Were they even friends to begin with? They constantly fought, and insulted each other. If anything, Naruto and himself simply tolerated each other’s presence because one was useful to the other, and vice versa. So, Sasuke merely grunted before pushing open the door and fleeing the building.

The same thoughts ran through Naruto’s mind as he approached another treadmill, pressing the power button to start his workout. Were they actually friends? It was hard to say, considering how they were constantly at each other’s throats. Naruto wondered if this was normal behaviour, for he’d observed that Sasuke wasn’t the most social, and perhaps he was lacking the communication skills that the blonde, himself, was lacking.

The Uzumaki shook his head, trying to shake the thoughts off. His race with Itachi was the very next day, and he couldn’t get side-tracked from his very last workout. He had to make this count, even if he only ran for a total of five minutes. He was absolutely determined to come out victorious in the race with the Uchiha’s older brother, to prove to everyone that he was worth something, and that he wasn’t as useless as he first seemed.

~*~*~*~*~

Hinata swallowed, her chest thumping as she tried not to think about the arm slung around her shoulders. Instead, she tried to focus on the conversation within those of her table. She soon realised there was a problem with that plan, unfortunately. Nobody was talking.

The tension in the air was stunning, and everyone seemed stiff as they ate in silence. Hinata knew this wasn’t healthy, for this used to happen before almost all of her competitions. It ruins your mood, and then you don’t perform to the best of your abilities. The younger Hyuuga was determined to lift everybody’s spirits, but she wasn’t sure if she had the confidence, let alone a topic to talk about.

“Hinata, no need to be so worried.” Naruto grinned down at the girl as he picked up on her anxiety, and she flushed a deep shade of red. Neji glanced up, still not liking the idea of the idiot and her precious cousin dating. His eyes bore into the blonde, trying to make his head explode by just a stare. By the way Tenten stomped on his foot, she had an idea of what he was trying to do, and she wasn’t happy about it.

“Hm?” Lee glanced up from his sandwich, opting to stare at the couple instead. “Are you fretting about the race, Hinata?” Said female quickly shook her head, not wanting to admit her own fears. Sakura, on the other hand, was open to expressing her opinion to the topic.