A/N: Aggh! I suck at writing chapter stories because I don't have the attention span to update the chapters! But, alas, this is a story that I enjoy writing/reading over, so, hopefully, I'll be able to finish it. I got this inspiration from James Patterson's Maximum Ride series and 3VAD127's fic The Angel Experiment. So, while the idea of flying, mutant bird-kids does not belong to me, the plot line does, I assure you. Sorry this chapter's pretty short, but I'm lazy and this is pretty much the intro. Yeah, it's getting the ball rolling, so please... stay with me here.
Disclaimer: All Naruto characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto and the bird-kid thing was inspired by the aforementioned literature of James Patterson.
This one goes to both of my sisters and to maikoxshipper. Because she basically is like a sister to me.
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You know how some kids get excited about the first day of school and have an outfit all picked out and a new lunchbox and stuff? Well, they're bleeping idiots.
-Max in School's Out— Forever
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Solstice
Chapter 1: Of Winged Girls and New Schools
Mitarashi Tenten walked slowly down the squishy road, dreading the prospect of having to start school as a new student in the middle of the year. Again. She adjusted the strap on her backpack and sighed up at the oppressive cloud cover. She was sooo tired of rain. Usually, Konoha was all smiles and sunshine, but lately, it had been raining.
A lot.
And she hated it.
A lot.
But, being raised up with her sister's philosophy of "shut up or suck it up," Tenten just sighed once more and headed sown the path to Konoha High, her new school.
She lived with her sister Anko because both of her parents (or should she say adoptive parents) had died. They had served valiantly in the military for years, taking turns caring for the kids and had been killed side-by-side in a mission to the Sound. A twenty-year-old Anko had saved her from the horrors of the foster system and had been her caretaker ever since that day three years ago.
Now a junior in high school, Tenten had been moved so many times that she'd never really had any real friends. Her sister worked in the military just like her parents, but all she was allowed to know is that Anko worked from home and didn't have to be sent anywhere. The little family was always on the move and this time, they had settled into the single largest city of Konoha.
A soft complaint tainted the girl's lips as her ginormous new school came into view.
She would not be enjoying this.
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As soon as Tenten had stepped foot in the school, she'd been whisked away by a polite secretary who then dumped her in the principal's office for a debriefing. After said debriefing, the principal (Tsunade, was it?) directed her to her Spanish class (she'd missed Homeroom because man, that woman could talk).
She huffed and brushed the chocolate brown locks out of her face, not looking forward to going into class late. Ugh, it was so humiliating to stand up and introduce herself like that! And if there was one thing that Tenten absolutely hated it was being stared at like a freak of nature. Because... well, because she actually was a complete freak of nature.
Seriously.
…She had wings growing out of her back.
If that didn't count for the freak of nature category, she didn't know what would.
Of course, Tenten hid them carefully. She always wore an overly-large backpack that she folded her wings into through a hole in the back, she never went to sleep-overs, never swam with anyone but her sister, and basically... never got to live a normal life.
So, yeah, she had a right to be squeamish about being stared at.
The Mitarashi felt her entire body tense up automatically as she begrudgingly stepped foot into the dreaded classroom. And, as expected, immediately all eyes were on her. The girl shuddered at the gawking look on all of their faces. And she was sure that there was something akin to "Ooh, fresh meat..." going on in their little brains.
"Oh," the beautiful female that was at the front of the class started, "You must be the new student, Tenten. Welcome, my name is Kurenai and I'm the Spanish teacher."
The teen wanted to spit something like the obvious fact that she was the Spanish teacher seeing as though she was standing in front of a classroom with Spanish posters everywhere, but she refrained, instead biting her tongue and giving a grimacing sort of smile. The smile Kurenai gave reached up to her red eyes, which was always a must if Tenten was going to even remotely trust a new person. The girl had learned early in her Hell of a childhood that people with fake smiles were not to be trusted.
Not waiting for permission, the brunette sped to the back of the class and sat carefully next to a blue-eyed, blonde-haired, over-the-top gorgeous girl. She sighed in relief, glad to be out from under the scrutiny of her fellow classmates.
"Hey, Tenten!" the girl beside her practically oozed excitement, "My name's Ino and I'm really glad that you came to our school this year!"
Tenten shifted nervously. Ino's smile was definitely not fake, in fact, it lit up her whole face, but she just didn't feel comfortable with new people in new situations.
So she gave the bubbly girl a forced smile and listened to her yammer about her boyfriend for the rest of the remaining period.
This... was going to be a long year.
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Two weeks into her school year and Tenten was finding, to her infinite surprise, that she was actually enjoying school. Not the classes and homework of course, because... just ick. She was finding the company of her new friends quite... fun. And fun was something that she didn't really associate with her life.
And, yes, she did have multiple friends now because Ino had dragged her to meet her faithful posse, Temari, Sakura, and Hinata.
Tenten had also met a hyperactive, green-clad boy in gym that she had liked instantly. It was certainly strange to her because she'd never felt such an instant connection to anyone in her whole life. Lee made her feel like she was normal, and like she wasn't a complete freak of nature... and sometimes, he seemed to almost... relate to her.
...Which was completely ludicrous, by the way...
The Mitarashi had just finished packing her books into her locker for lunch when a green blur caught her attention.
"Hello, my youthful flower!" He spouted out his wonderful nickname for her.
"Hey, Lee!" she grinned back at him, relishing the feeling of... normalness that he always brought about.
"So, Tennie," Lee began as they walked toward the lunchroom, "I was actually wondering if you would like to sit with us today at lunch!"
The girl's eyebrows drew together as she analyzed that sentence. "What do you mean, us?"
"Well, my best friend and I... well, mostly I have been wanting you to meet him."
"I don't know, Lee, I... don't like new people..."
"Oh, oh!" he grinned as a joyous light came to his eyes, "Neither does he! You guys will get along perfectly!"
The boy clapped his hands together and then rushed off to a table, lunch box in hand, leaving her to the horrors of the school lunch line.
Finally through the line (or should I say mob) of people, Tenten emerged from the kitchen area and tried to find her best friend.
And find him she did.
Yup, she found him grinning away while sitting next to a certain male.
The certain male that she'd recently heard stories about from Hinata. The certain male that had Ino and every other girl in the whole school drooling. The certain male that happened to be one of the richest/handsomest/most popular guys in the entire freaking school.
Hyuuga Neji.
Lee was sitting next to Hyuuga Neji.
Lee was expecting her to interact with Hyuuga Neji.
Dear Lord, somebody kill her.
The brunette almost tried to escape, but her idiot of a best friend that she was going to murder later had already spotted her and was waving her toward their table. She gave a weak smile and sat cautiously on the bench across from Lee. And then she promptly received the patented Hyuuga Neji death glare. She shivered.
Yeah, there was a reason that nobody would sit within twenty feet of them.
"Tenten!" the raven-haired student grinned even wider if that was possible. "I am so elated that you decided to accompany us!"
Lee would occasionally go on these random spats where he used big words because it "made him sound more youthful." Whatever.
"Hello, Lee..." she trailed off, wincing at the Hyuuga's stare. "This must be... your friend..."
"Yosh! This is Hyuuga Neji! We have known each other since-"Swiftly, Neji shot him a disapproving scowl. "...since... forever." The boy's smile faltered slightly which sent Tenten's system into high-alert.
"Nice to meet you," she muttered suspiciously.
He nodded back briskly and turned his attention to his lunch, not once looking back up.
Meeting the infamous Hyuuga had not been as bad as she originally had thought. Sure, his glare was off-putting and there was something that both Lee and Neji were hiding, but she didn't feel like she needed to be overly weird with them either. The brunette had even found that she didn't mind the cold boy's company and the feeling of comfort started to seep into the little group.
Maybe Neji wasn't so... untrustworthy after all...
Maybe.
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Later that day, when Tenten was innocently walking to her English class, the poor girl was ambushed and thoroughly glomped in the hallway.
"OMG, Tenten!" a squeal that could only belong to Yamanaka Ino resonated through the space and threatened to shatter Tenten's eardrums.
And then she suddenly found herself surrounded by two blondes, a rosette, and... a blackette? (Seriously, though, do black-haired people even have a name?)
"We heard that you totally sat with THE Hyuuga Neji at lunch today!" Sakura looked beyond excited.
Temari placed her hands on her hips and rolled her eyes. "Aren't you into Uchiha?"
The girl blushed furiously at the mention of her crush. "Well... yeah, but really, they're both hot!"
The sandy blonde grinned, teal eyes sparkling as she turned on Hinata. "Yeah, but Uzumaki's pretty hot too, right, Hinata?"
Immediately, the girl's eyes widened and her cheeks turned a bright red shade. The other girls started laughing at her stuttering when Ino butted in again, subject not forgotten.
"So, Tenten," Ino said, stopping the brunette from making an escape attempt. "Was he really cute close up? What about his hair? Is he mean like everyone says?"
The girl being questioned took a step back as all eyes locked on her. A shiver rolled down her spine and she suppressed the urge to run. "Uhh... sort of, it's really long and shiny, and no, he's definitely quiet and cold, but not that mean." She murmured, answering every question in turn.
"Oooh!" The Yamanaka sighed dreamily.
"Um, I-Ino," Hinata stuttered, still not over the mention of Naruto, "don't you have a b-boyfriend?"
"Well, yeah," Ino looked slightly sheepish, "But he can be such a drag sometimes."
"He must not be that bad if you're using his word all the time," Temari gave the other blonde a jealous you-had-better-keep-an-eye-on-your-boyfriend look.
She just stuck out her tongue.
Tenten sweat-dropped, making her way out of the cat fight in progress.
"See ya later, Tens!" Sakura waved before turning reluctantly back to the fight that little Hyuuga Hinata was doing her best to break up.
The brown-haired teen shook her head. She had the weirdest friends ever.
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Thanks for reading! Review please!
