A Tiny Smirk is Devastating

Chapter 10: Plotting and Planning

"Urgh, this sucks," Kin complained. There it was again! Kiba held in his snort. She just never, ever, shut up about Sasuke. He should be used to it after living with that asshole for three years, but for some reason, after Sasuke got married last week, Kiba just kind of assumed this would all go away. That delusion lasted a whole five days.

He looked sideways at Chouji, who gave him a rather helpless shrug as he ate another mouthful of chips.

"He must have been busy," Ino shrugged, not looking the least bit peeved or put out. Instead, she kept checking her phone every few minutes.

That's the confidence of the Campus Beauty, for sure. Kiba almost admired her arrogance. Her roommate on the other hand...

"Pff, you're the campus beauty. Come on. He can make time," Kin scowled, tapping a finger on her desk in disapproval. The sound wanted to make him scratch her eyes out.

"Sasuke just got married." Chouji offered.

"WHAT?!" Both girls snapped their heads around to look at him, glaring at him so intently that he nearly choked on his mouthful of chips.

"In a game," Kiba finished Chouji's sentence for him, "He's been playing a lot with his in-game wife these days. Plus school and work and stuff. We're getting ready to graduate, y'know."

"What?! He's not here because he's playing a stupid game?" The roommateblew her top shrilly. God, her voice is awful. She turned to Ino and said, "You should play that game and grab his attention."

"No way!" Ino exclaimed reflexively.

"Oh come on, Ino-chan, it's a perfect plan!" She turned back to Chouji and Kiba, "Kita-kun, what game is he playing?"

Oi, my name is Kiba, dammit!

"It's Way of the Ninja," Chouji answered. Kiba was focused on snapping in the new RAM, so he didn't see the look that passed between Chouji and Ino. Neither did the roommate, since she was burbling with idiotic plans.

"... So you should just find him, ask for help and get close to him that way, and then like reveal your identity so you can date in real life!" Ino's roommate continued to burble enthusiastically, "It's a fool-proof plan! Then that wretch, Haruno, can't get in the way."

"Just because she placed second in the poll and also admires Uchiha-senpai, doesn't mean we're in competition or anything," Ino said helplessly, looking aside at Chouji and Kiba, slightly embarrassed, "A hot, single guy is everyone's fantasy. You haven't even met her, Kin-chan."

"You are so naive and trusting," Kin snorted, "I know her type. Acts like a good girl, but with that body? Vixen. Tooootal Vixen."

Ino was about to open her mouth to reply, when an alert beeped on her phone. "Oh, that's the email I've been waiting for. Looks like I passed the resume stage."

"Of that gaming internship? Yay, congrats Ino-chan! When is it?" The roommate with the attitude bounced up from the bed and squealed.

"Congratulations, Yamanaka-san," Chouji smiled, looking genuinely happy for her.

"Thank you, Kin-chan, Akimichi-san," Ino beamed back bouncing a bit on the balls of her feet, "It'll be Thursday morning."

"Gaming internship?" Kiba looked up from testing his fixes to ask quizzically, "Aren't you a business major, Yamanaka-san?"

"It's a project management position with ROOT Corp. I'm hoping to develop a reputation as a human resources expert for tech companies by the time I graduate," Ino explained.