Konoha High

Chapter 11

        The next few days were crazy busy with school work and with all the stuff going on in personal lives. Hazuki was starting to understand why the adults pushed not to get into a relationship and she didn’t even have one. However, that didn’t mean she didn’t deal with the bull that goes in that department. Sakura finally noticed the things Karin was pulling and they were now in a ‘war of wits’ as Sakura called it. To Hazuki it was a nice way of saying they were pull stupid pranks like you would see in a mean girl’s type of movie. Hazuki cared about Sakura but once it got to that point she tried to stay out of it. That type of stuff didn’t fly with her but if it came down to it she would still back Sakura. The rest if the girl’s had the same feelings besides Ino. She was all for it and at times seemed to instigate it. The boys from Karin’s group, along with Karin, were still pulling their creepy starting at lunch. Then on top of that Reika was still waiting on a moment to talk to Kiba and Hazuki was once again trying to figure out how to be towards Shikamaru.

        One day during lunch the group met in 3C to have lunch. Since the weather was starting to get cold this was their new spot. They pushed a few desks together and gathered around them. Hazuki sighted as she thought of everything that was going on while Sakura and Ino bitched about Karin. Kiba, Naruto and now Lee and Sasuke were glaring at the trio that was seated a few rows away from them. It just seemed like things were really getting negative within the group. Everyone was always so miserable, stressed and drained. All the school work didn’t help either. Hazuki was lost in thought thinking all this when Shikamaru nudged her making her jump. He asked why she was so spacey. As she went to answer an idea popped in her head out of nowhere.

        “Why don’t we all go to a bathhouse or a hot spring!” It was more of a statement than a question. 

        “That was random.” Shikamaru and the others were looking at her odd due to her sudden outburst.

        “Sorry I didn’t mean it to sound so random,” She looked around at her friends. “We’re all just sitting here bitching or moping. Plus its getting cold out and we haven’t done something together in a while.

Everyone seemed really into the idea so they made plans to go after school. Sakura called and made a reservation for a room for a few hours so they could have dinner before heading home. The atmosphere around the group lightens as lunch ends, they clean up and they head back to class.

        It didn’t take the girls long to get cleaned up and head out to the natural hot spring. They could still here the boys bickering over this and that.

        “They’re going to get kicked out if they down knock it off,” Sakura wrapped a towel around herself.

The others agreed and laughed as they all stopped to listen to the boys. After a few moments of enjoyment they headed outside to the hot spring. Through the sliding doors was a wooden fence surrounding the area with lanterns and bushes lining it. The hot spring sat in the back of the yard in front of the rock mountain face. There was a row of small rocks surrounding the water and steam was streaming into the cold air. There was a little wooden deck the girls were standing on as soon as you made your way out the door but it was soon replaced with cold smooth rock flooring. The girls quickly made their way to the water to get off the freezing floor. The water was hot but inviting from the coldness outside. It made Hazuki’s skin tinkle as each girl found a place to sit and relax while they chatted.

        Ino leaned her head back and placed her wash cloth over her eyes.  “It’s so nice and quiet.”

        “Enjoy it now because it won’t be like this once the boys get out into theirs,” Sakura followed Ino in suit.