Roommates

Chapter 12: The News

Ino finished preparing her dinner, a chicken salad with avocado on top. It was already eight in the evening, and she could still hear the living room TV on. As usual, Fu was in the apartment watching TV. But this time was different. Gaara had to leave to see his sister, and instead of leaving, Fu had decided to stay and Ino wasn't sure on how to tell the girl to leave. Sitting on the dining table, the blonde nurse decided to pretend that the girl wasn't there and eat her dinner in peace.
She had called a couple of bridal stores and set an appointment with each of them for all of them to try on dresses for Sakura's wedding. And while Ino took care of the dresses and flowers, Tenten took care of preparing the wedding invitations and Hinata ordered new colors of nail polish. Temari took care of reserving an appointment for hair and makeup. Sakura had texted all of them this morning, letting them know that the date had been set, and the wedding would be exactly four months from today.
"Hey Ino,"
Ino's hand paused, just as she was about to take another bite, as Fu appeared in front of her. The girl grabbed a chair and sat down across from her, a nervous smile on her face.
"...Hi," Ino replied, her stomach becoming uneasy as the girl across from her looked at her.
"S-Sorry! I know this is weird... and we don't really speak..."
"OK," Ino said simply, her foot tapping on the floor impatiently. What did this girl want?
Fu giggled nervously. "Ino...I...would really like to get to know you. I hear so many cool things about you...and I would like to spend some girl time with you and get to know you!"
Ino's chest tightened, and she bit her inner cheek in order to stop herself from saying something not too nice. "And who's been saying cool things about me?"
"Why Gaara, of course! He talks very highly of you!"
Ino felt her heart beat faster, feeling conflicted over what she just said. Why was Gaara talking about her?
"I see," Ino said.
Fu nodded, letting an awkward silence fall between them before speaking up again. "If you don't mind me asking...but...are you going to live with Gaara again? After your lease is over?"
Ino thought about her question, mentally counting down the number of months left in the lease, which was about four and a half. But in two months, they had to let the office know whether they would continue leasing the same apartment or not. It was something she and Gaara hadn't discussed yet, but knew that they would have to soon.
"I haven't thought about it," she replied, "Why do you ask?"
Fu scratched the back of her head nervously. "...Well...I was just...wondering if Gaara would live alone. Or if he wanted to move out and still need another roommate, I-I could be it."
Ino felt her heart skip a beat as she tried to keep her breathing leveled. She already knew what Fu was trying to do. But instead of cursing the girl out for trying to wiggle herself into her personal life, Ino used this time to ask more questions.
"Have you spoken to Gaara about it? About what he wants to do?"
"Yeah, I did. But he didn't really say much, as usual. I don't know," Fu added, this time sounding a little frustrated, "He doesn't really say much to me. Sometimes, I feel as if he either doesn't listen to me or... Oh, I don't know. Does he ever talk to you? I mean, in a non-roommate way? Does he tell you things?"
Ino thought about the past conversations she always had with Gaara, and she knew almost everything about him except for two things: how his mother died and how that affected him while growing up.
"Well...sometimes...I guess... But Gaara is naturally a quiet person."
Fu laughed, "Well, I can definitely agree with you on that. But I just don't feel...connected to him. You know, I went through his phone once," Ino's eyes widened at the revelation, and Fu waved her hands nervously in front of her, "I-I didn't do anything bad! I just looked through it quickly. He was working on his laptop and had left it unlocked. I just looked through it for like a minute or two..."
"...And...what did you find?"
"Not much," Fu said, pressing her lips tightly together, "Text to his brother and sister... I didn't even know he had siblings. I also checked his pictures and he didn't really have much... and... I did find a picture of you."
Ino raised an eyebrow, wondering why Gaara had a picture of her. "Really?"
"Yeah! Not a lot of them, but about five."
Ino quickly remembered one of the times he had taken a picture of her - it was on the same day Marylin had died. But it wasn't that picture that surprised her, considering she was aware of when he had taken it. It was the fact that there had been more than one, and now she had a million questions...
"I'm not sure what to say," Ino said, finishing up her dinner, "But if it makes you feel better, just know that Gaara and I are just roommates."
Fu smiled and grabbed her hand. "Thanks. I feel so much better now!"