Roommates

Chapter 9: Unanswered Text

The ladies sat around Ino's coffee table, small bottles of different colored nail polish scattered around them. It had been a while since Ino had her nails done, and out all of them, Hinata was the best at doing nails. The girl was gifted. She was perfect at making different symmetrical designs.
Ino made a fanning movement with both of her hands in order to get the paint to dry as Hinata sat next to Tenten to do hers next.
"How's that court case going with the hospital?" Tenten asked while keeping her hands still as Hinata began to paint her nails.
"Actually, tomorrow is the court date," Sakura replied, "Dr Tsunade will be there.... Some medical experts outside of our hospital will be there."
"They haven't told us much also," Ino added, "But that man seems very unstable. Even with extra security, he still managed to get in and yell at everybody."
"Why hasn't he been arrested yet?" Tenten asked, "He's harassing the hospital at this point. Has he hurt anybody?""He pushed one of the front desk secretaries the day before yesterday," answered Sakura, "But then he ran away. He's very...unstable. I'm wondering what crazy stunt he'll pull if he loses the case tomorrow."
Ino nodded while looking at the time in her clock. It was Wednesday night, almost close to ten, and so far her roommate hadn't come home from work. Considering she has been living with him for many months now, she already knew his schedule. It mostly consisted of work, gym, and sometimes hanging out with Naruto or Kankuro. But even on those days, he would be back before eight.
Using her index finger, she carefully unlocked her phone and began to text him.
"Hey, you OK? Just making sure you didn't get kidnap by someone and need my rescue ;)"
"Who are you texting with that smile?" Sakura asked with a smirk, and Ino rolled her eyes at her. Nosy Sakura.
"I was just texting Gaara to see if he was OK. He's usually home by now."
"Well, maybe he's on a date?" Tenten suggested and Ino rolled her eyes again.
"Pfft, as if..."
"Well, that could be a possibility," Sakura said, causing the blonde girl to glare at her. "He could be out on a date with that girl from the club."
"What girl from the club?" Tenten asked, accidentally moving her hand and causing Hinata to paint her finger. "Oops, sorry Hinata! I promise I'll stay still this time."
"I-It's OK!" Hinata said, grabbing a piece of cotton and nail polish remover and removing the paint from Tenten's finger.
"When we went to the club this past Friday, Gaara actually met a girl... Her name is Fu,"
"Really? I never imagined Gaara to be the type of guy to be searching for girls at a club. I wonder if Neji knows about this..." Tenten added, considering that both men worked at the same company and were in the same team.
"Well, it's not like he went searching for girls," Ino added, mentally telling herself to keep her cool, "She approached him and decided to dance on him. And if you had seen him that night, you would've thought that he was some statue or something! He was barely moving!"
Tenten and Sakura looked at each other and smirked, and Ino furrowed her eyebrows. "What are you two plotting against now?"
"You like him, Ino Yamanaka."
"I said the same thing!" Sakura pointed at Tenten.
"I do not like him! He's my roommate! That would be weird!"
"Oh, cut the bullshit!" Tenten said, "I remember the day I came here to pick up my dog and you two looked like you were about to make out."
"I-It's OK!" Hinata said, grabbing a piece of cotton and nail polish remover and removing the paint from Tenten's finger.
"When we went to the club this past Friday, Gaara actually met a girl... Her name is Fu,"
"Really? I never imagined Gaara to be the type of guy to be searching for girls at a club. I wonder if Neji knows about this..." Tenten added, considering that both men worked at the same company and were in the same team.
"Well, it's not like he went searching for girls," Ino added, mentally telling herself to keep her cool, "She approached him and decided to dance on him. And if you had seen him that night, you would've thought that he was some statue or something! He was barely moving!"
Tenten and Sakura looked at each other and smirked, and Ino furrowed her eyebrows. "What are you two plotting against now?"
"You like him, Ino Yamanaka."
"I said the same thing!" Sakura pointed at Tenten.
"I do not like him! He's my roommate! That would be weird!"
"Oh, cut the bullshit!" Tenten said, "I remember the day I came here to pick up my dog and you two looked like you were about to make out."

Hinata and Sakura gasped, both of their heads turning towards the blue-eyed girl.
"Wait, you and Gaara were kissing?"
"No, Forehead! We did not kiss! We just...I just tripped and he caught me. That's all! But there's nothing going on between me and roomie!"
"...B-But you still l-like him, right?" Hinata asked with a shy smile.
Ino shook her head while taking a deep breath. "I will say this one last time... I do not have a crush on Gaara. I like him as a friend, but that's it!"
"...So, you wouldn't be jealous if he went on a date...?" Tenten asked with a raised eyebrow and Ino shook her head.
"...How about a date with Fu....?"
Ino groaned at the pink-haired girl. "Alright, can we switch topics?! No more Gaara questions! Anyone here have something else to talk about?"
The ladies looked at each other in silence. With all of them working full time, there was barely any room for gossiping and knowing who was doing what nowadays. It was easier to gossip in high school and college. But now that majority of the people they knew moved out of the state, it was harder to know what was going on with them.
Sakura cleared her throat while placing a strand of hair behind her ear. "W-Well, I do have...some news... I took a test yesterday...and...I'm pregnant."
The room went quiet for a couple of seconds before Tenten and Ino squealed in delight and Hinata turned towards the pink-haired girl.
"Wait, seriously Forehead?!"
"Yes, Ino-pig, I am serious."
"Wh-When did you f-find out?"
"Two days ago... I took a test and it came back positive. I took another one this morning just to make sure it wasn't a false positive and it came positive."
"That is great! How did Sasuke react to the news?" Tenten asked.
"He's happy," Sakura replied, "We both agreed that we would wait a little longer before telling either of our families. So... I would appreciate it if we kept this a secret,"
"Don't worry, we will." Ino said.
The ladies continued chatting about the pregnancy, asking the pink-haired girl what she hoped it would be: boy or girl. Sakura said that she didn't care what gender the baby would be, but that Sasuke hoped that it would be a girl. The rest of the ladies awed at that fact, all of them finding it adorable that someone like Sasuke would want a girl.
They continued chatting and drying their newly painted nails for another fifteen minutes before the sound of the door unlocking and opening grabbed their attention. Turning their heads towards the door, they watched as a nicely-dressed Gaara stepped inside the apartment. He wore black trousers with a gray button-down shirt and his black leather jacket on top. His hair, usually a mixture of spiky and messy, was gelled nicely back. Upon noticing their glances, Gaara faced them with a confused look. "What?"
Tenten, Sakura, and Hinata looked at each other as Ino gave a nervous giggle. "H-Hey, you're back! I texted you a while ago... I thought you had been kidnapped.... Or something..."
Damn, he looks good...
Gaara stared at her for a few seconds before replying while heading towards his room. "Oh... No, I was out with someone."
Out with someone. Ino wanted to ask him with whom but quickly stopped herself, remembering that he was her roommate, not her boyfriend. It wasn't her business to question him about such manners.
"Oh, he was definitely on a date," Tenten muttered the moment he disappeared into his room and closed the door.
"I agree,"
"Me too," added Hinata right after Sakura.
Ino sighed and turned her focus towards her phone. "Pfft, whatever,"
The other three ladies gave each other a worrying look as Ino unlocked her phone and opened her text messaging app. Almost immediately her finger pressed on the text she sent Gaara earlier, her heart beating fast as she noticed that he had read her message, but never responded.