Disclaimer: All standard disclaimer apply.
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Okay. Something new. Just popped out when Eris was watching a teen flick.
- - - - - -
"Forehead-girl, watch out!"
The 'forehead-girl' was supposed to turn to the one who called her with an irritated look on her face, but was suddenly got knocked down by screaming females running towards the other side of the corridor.
Haruno Sakura, eighteen years old, with long pink-hair and green-eyes, a junior, sat there, sprawled on the floor, hair gone undone and covering half of her face, books scattered around her, and her eyeglasses hanging on one ear. Three girls came rushing to her side, picked up her fallen books and helped her stand.
"Sakura-chan, are you alright?" a small voice asked as she was pulled off the floor.
Hyuuga Hinata, eighteen years old, with shoulder length blue-violet hair and eyes of pale white tinted with lavender, a junior, looked at Sakura with concern.
Sakura nodded, and smiled to her friends.
"Damn crazy fangirls, running around the corridors." An annoyed voice said, whose owner was looking at the direction those females run to.
Her name is Tenten, nineteen years of age, a brunette whose hair is neatly done in buns, with light brown eyes, a senior, added, "It's a good thing you're near the side of the wall, Sakura-chan, or you'd be flattened to death with their stampede."
"There's no need for all of them to flatten forehead-girl here," a high-pitched voice said, earning a glare from Sakura for the 'forehead-girl' insult. "Their leader could easily kill with one step. Hell, she weighs, like, more than a ton—that ugly, trying-hard, overweight bitch."
Yamanaka Ino, eighteen years of age, with blue eyes and blond hair fixed on a high ponytail, a junior, almost screeched with her definition of the leader of the running fangirls, and then turned back to Sakura. "Well, I wouldn't worry too much about damage, since your forehead's still intact, but you need to clean up, you look horrible, Sakura."
"Shut up, Ino-pig." In one moment Sakura furrowed her eyebrows then in the next she sighed. "But, yeah. Those girls are crazy. They should be looking at where they're walking—or in this case, running."
"They're always running, Sakura-chan." Tenten said, smiling now too.
They decided to go to the ladies' room to help Sakura change, her uniform got dirty when she collided with wall before falling to the floor. Their uniform is composed of a white long-sleeved blouse, a dark blue blazer with the school patch on the left chest, and a dark blue pleated short skirt. Hinata, Tenten and Ino each took two of Sakura's books to carry, so Sakura could at least fix her hair with her fingers while walking. As they stopped at the lockers to get Sakura's spare uniform, Ino started to whine about how heavy the books she was carrying—Ino was carrying only two, yes. But each of those books had almost a thousand pages, and it was hard-bounded. So indeed, it was heavy.
And to think Sakura was actually carrying all six of those books.
Hinata decided to ask, "Sakura-chan, what are these books for?"
Sakura answered, "I was going to return those to the library. I've borrowed them a week ago for...remember the long unit-end exam from Kakashi-sensei?"
Hinata nodded, and murmured as she looked at the items she was holding, "But these are not all for that subject..."
Tenten checked out the books she herself was holding. "Wait a minute. I am supposed to be the one using this book, not you, Sakura-chan. This one is a reference for...Advanced calculus. Wait," Tenten paused to pull out her course outline. "I am going to take that next trimester!"
Ino raised an elegant eyebrow and narrowed her azure eyes at Sakura. "With all these books...Don't tell me you've been studying again in advance—or worse, tutoring another student again!"
Sakura pushed her glasses up, bit her lip and smiled nervously. "Partly...I was, Ino-chan. But Kurenai-sensei asked me—"
She was cut off by Ino's screech, "I hate it when I hear our blockmates say this, but I believe it's slowly coming true," Ino paused, "You're becoming a real nerd, Sakura!"
Sakura only shook her head, chuckled, and entered the ladies' room, the three girls following after her. She placed her bag on the side of the sink and stared at the mirror. After combing it, it is still a mess. Her pink hair is slightly frizzy, so it was unmanageable. And with her eyeglasses, which was large with its D-shaped lens, she indeed looked like a nerd.
"Look closely at the mirror, Sakura-chan." Ino said as she placed the books near Sakura's bag, Tenten and Hinata doing the same as they too, glanced at their reflection.
"I'm tired of seeing this...this you!" Ino screeched again, and turned to the other two. Then she said in a non-gloating tone, "Tell me I'm right, girls. I know I am!"
"I think Ino-chan's right," Tenten started as she leaned her elbows on one of the higher marble counters, "We've been wondering for years anyway, since you never did tell us. So what's with this act-like-a-nerd stuff?"
"There's no act, Tenten-chan. This is me. You girls know I love to study, and—"
She got cut off again by Ino. "Yeah. But loving and obsessing are two different things," She paused, "Just like boys." She finished, earning light laughs from her companions. Ino was the fashion book, supermodel kind in their group, her every curve saying 'I'm prettier than you', and was the first one who had reacted—violently—when Sakura sported this...this look when they started high school. She may be sometimes be called a clueless blond, but at those times she was only acting, for she could get straight A's, if she wanted to.
"And I think it's about damn time the glamorous Sakura returned. And I know Ino and Hinata here anticipates it too." Tenten said as she pushed herself off the counter and stood a pose, all her weight placed on one of her heeled foot, a hand on her slightly tilted hip, making it look like she's the sassy one and not Ino. Well, this proves that all those girls who say that Tenten was a tomboy were wrong. And here's one tidbit that's hard to believe: She's the head of the Kendo Club. Faith, she's wearing heeled wedges in class!
Sakura only smiled at them and opened her bag, pulling out her spare uniform, completely ignoring Ino and Tenten's persistence. They were about to give up when Hinata decided to try and ask in her way.
"We've never known the reason behind this, Sakura-chan, and I believe we should know—not in a way we're invading your privacy, but as friends?" Hinata tried, in a slightly dramatic way, since the pink-haired girl always softens whenever Hinata uses that tone.
Hinata may look meek at first glance, but under that shy demeanor, is a slightly persuasive, spoiled I-get-what-I-want, stubborn female that's only known by her closest friends. Well, no surprise, for every rich kid possesses that characteristic in differing amounts anyway. And it's impossible to say that her cousin isn't rubbing off on her in some ways. And would one believe that she's the Deputy Prime Minister of the Debate Club?
Ino and Tenten glanced at Hinata. They almost smirked, knowing that the supposed-to-be-shy girl was using her soft tone to actually sway Sakura onto their wanting. That's why they didn't say anything after that. It was unbelievable, though, that the four of them had been together since they were children and Sakura still bites on Hinata's acts. Well, the two didn't mind, since sometimes it is useful—just like now.
Ah, how deceiving looks can be.
As expected, Sakura decided to tell them finally, but not before sighing deeply and removing her glasses. She had asked them if they had remembered her ex-boyfriend, which earned her worried looks from her friends, and told them that because of him she had learned a lesson. A lesson she should always keep in mind when it comes to men.
The said ex-boyfriend's name is Sabaku Gaara. They'd been together in their last year of junior high. She was not sporting that nerdy look yet at that time, and she was considered the prettiest girl in the campus. The boy was handsome, albeit frightening in some ways, his demeanor screaming 'bad boy' in every plane, and was known to be a playboy.
It was not much of a thought when he had asked her out.
Every girl wanted the boy, Sakura included. So she was ecstatic when she went out with him. They're together at lunches, after class hours, and sometimes even on weekends. This went on for months, and Sakura eventually fell more and more in love with him each moment.
A day came—the day after their graduation from junior high—and he told her that they should break up. Confused, Sakura demanded what his reasons are and what could have gone wrong and she had asked him, "Don't you love me? Why are you doing this?"
Gaara only gave her a what-are-you-talking-about look and said that she was being ridiculous. Sakura, tears already starting to fall, asked him why he had asked her out if he didn't love her.
He made her tears fall even more rapid by saying that he never said he loved her, and since he couldn't get anything more from her, he got bored of their relationship.
She slapped him soundly then, and he even had the gall to ask her why the devil she had done that. Her fury increased, and moved to slap him again when he had grabbed her wrist, and did the same to the other when she tried to slap him with the other hand. He told her that she should've known better, and he reminded her of what his reputation is.
That was then she remembered him being a playboy.
How foolish of her to forget that, to even think that Gaara would change just because he had declared to the whole school that Sakura is his official girlfriend. And now that she thought of it, he never did told her that he love her, not even a single time. When she stopped struggling from his grasp, he released her. And before he left, he said to her, "Don't blame me for this, Sakura. It was your fault for being beautiful."
So he wanted her only because she was beautiful, and nothing more? She cried and cried then, her three best friends comforting her. At least she doesn't have any more schoolmates to face after this tirade, for it was after their graduation day. Had he waited for this day, really, just to save her face and break up with her until school's over? How touching. But it was still her fault, in a way, that she had not listened to the warnings of Ino, Tenten and Hinata about Gaara.
As he said, she should've known better.
That was the day she decided to be a wallflower, at least she could be sure that the boy who would come to her would not want her for her looks.
Now, relaying again that moment to her friends, she had seen understanding from their expressions and she was glad at that. At least she was not wailing about that anymore.
But Ino was close to crying, and said, "You should've told us before, forehead-girl! We could've understood you sooner! And I wouldn't have fussed at you in our first day in High School!"
Ino had literally fussed at Sakura in their first day as freshmen. Ino, Tenten and Hinata—and some of their batch mates who had come to the same High School with them, including Gaara—were shocked at the sight of Haruno Sakura, the prettiest girl in junior high, was looking horribly nerdy with her large eyeglasses and messy hair. It took a full month for everyone who knows her to get used to this appearance. But of course, questions of why and what happened were still unanswered, even by Gaara.
As to Ino's statement, "Ah, quit your drama, I don't want to hear you snort, Ino-pig." Sakura said, smiling at her friend.
"Shut up, forehead girl!" Ino glared, then smiled back.
Tenten and Hinata both chuckled at the two. At least they know now, and they would stop now from forcing Sakura into Ino's fashion magic.
Hinata asked, "But Sakura-chan, what if you fall in love again? And he wouldn't notice you because you look like that? Are you going to revert to your old—"
"Nope," Sakura cut in. "Because I have learned my lesson. And learned I did. And I won't go for overly handsome, pig-headed jerks who only want one thing from a girl."
"Well, that settles it. Now, go change, Sakura-chan. We wouldn't want you to be ugly and dirty at the same time." Tenten playfully pushed her into one of the cubicles and laughed.
- - - - - -
It was noon, and the lunchroom was cramped, as usual. But the already noisy room got even noisier with squeals and screams from girls—those bloody fangirls again. And one voice stood out from the noise, shouting, "Ahhhhh! Here they come!"
And when the double doors opened, six figures emerged and the room suddenly went deathly quiet as the boys stopped at the doorway. Even the fangirls were silent, but were all standing in front of the boys with hearts in their eyes.
Sakura, Ino, Tenten and Hinata, seated on one of the corner tables, all rolled their eyes. It was like this everyday, in the morning, every after class, at lunchtime, and at the dismissal hour.
Uninterested people started to talk again, but still can be considered quiet, since almost everyone was interested at the six specimens standing there at the door. It was almost all of those girls were waiting for just even one of them to talk, even just a simple hn.
But they had almost fainted when a boy—who was holding his coat on one hand—from the group said, "Hi girls."
The rabid females squealed when they heard the boy's voice, whose owner was a blue-eyed, wild blond-haired, with whisker-like marks on the cheeks, named Uzumaki Naruto. Eighteen years old, and was named by the fangirls as the Killer Smile, as he is always smiling that boyish smile of his, making fangirls swoon. Although he is a junior, he's the head of the Hidden Leaf Battalion, the school's drum line, which had made females join the organization. He is loud, but the girls didn't seem to mind, and he's considered the friendliest of their group, and a shameless flirt, too.
"Feh, troublesome." The females squealed again, as they heard Nara Shikamaru, an eighteen year old senior—he was accelerated once in junior high, whose brown hair resembles a pineapple, and eyes the same shade as his hair, grumble his favorite phrase in a bored manner. He was known around the campus as the Effortless Genius, or Smartie, courtesy of their fanclub. Even though a straight A+ student, he isn't active on any extra-curricular activity or any sort of sport, he find those things troublesome, and would rather lie down and stare at the clouds. In short, he's a lazy-ass, as Naruto calls him.
Naruto grinned, and the squeals became louder. "Everything's troublesome for you, you lazy ass."
Giggles erupted from the girls, as they found Naruto's comment funny. Then a girl was suddenly pushed to the floor as one boy started to walk, for he found stopping there at the doorway meaningless. The girls stopped giggling started to give way to the rude boy.
Then Naruto called out to him, "Teme! Don't you go pushing girls like that! Tsk, tsk." He said, as he held out a hand to the poor girl and helped her up. It was a surprise that the girl didn't faint.
The rude boy turned his head to face Naruto, "She's in my way." Uchiha Sasuke, nineteen, a spiky raven-haired, onyx-eyed senior known as Dark Angel, for being a bastard while having an angelic face, or sometimes, Baby-Faced Assassin, (1) a name the fangirls gave him, as they said they feel like dying whenever he gives them even just one look—or glare, as he always do. He's the ace player and captain of the Konoha High School Basketball team. Silent, smart, handsome, rude, mysterious, has one hell of a temper, all in all, a definite girl-magnet.
In response to the Uchiha's remark, another said, "Yeah she is, but girls are like glass, that needs to be handled with care," the new voice turned to the girl, "Are you alright, cutie pie?"
Inuzuka Kiba, eighteen years old, a junior, with short, spiky dark brown hair and eyes, with red inverted triangle marks under his eyes, and is always seen with a small white puppy that's tucked on his chest the fangirls found cute. Also known as Pretty Boy, as he is a flirt, and loves to play Frisbee on the fields in the morning with Akamaru, his puppy, making the campus grounds already crowded early in the morning.
As to Kiba's question, of course, the girl nodded abruptly and blushed a thousand shades of red. How lucky she must've felt. Got pushed by the Uchiha Sasuke, helped up by the Uzumaki Naruto, and now, being called cutie pie by the Inuzuka Kiba. Oh, how she wanted to faint now! and maybe, one of them would catch her...
Another boy walked forward, following Sasuke suit. "We're wasting time." Aburame Shino, another quiet dude said, earning another round of squeals and heartless sighs from the female before them. An eighteen year old junior, with black hair, eyes always concealed with dark round sunglasses, and is the vice-president of the science club, and has this creepy—though fangirls find it awesome—fascination with bugs. And let's not forget, his all-too-sweet alias, Honey-bee.
"Time could never be considered wasted if it is spent on girls." A deep, smooth voice said, making the females squeal once again and some, to finally faint with the sight of the group's most-wanted hottie sporting his charm-the-ladies smirk.
His name, Hyuuga Neji. Nineteen years old, Hyuuga Hinata's cousin. His long brown hair tied in a low ponytail, and always has that heat in his pale, lavender tinted pupils that draw women of all ages into them. A defined ladies' man, known widely even outside the campus as the Handsome Devil, and oftentimes Heartbreaker, a name he got because of his notorious reputation as a playboy. He's the representative of his batch, the seniors—earned not because of his looks, but of his cunning intelligence that is always doubted at first because of his deceiving handsome features. This seemingly perfect dream boy is also the playing coach of the Konoha High School Soccer team, the league champion for three consecutive years.
"Damn right you are, Neji." Naruto agreed, his grin turning into a sensual smile as he eyed again the girls. He then said to their female audience, "But you'll have to excuse us, ladies. Sasuke-teme's in a bad mood today—" he was cut off by a snort.
"He's always in a bad mood, Naruto." Kiba said, grinning, and he turned to the girls too, "You wouldn't want us to get starved, don't you, girls?"
He was answered with another loud round of screams and swoons. They then walked into their usual table, the lunchroom assistant serving them their lunch for today, but not before greeting the group on the other table. Kiba and Naruto, flirts as they are, went to the table next to theirs.
"Ah, you girls seem to get more and more beautiful each passing day," Kiba greeted, "Especially you, Tenten, darling."
Tenten only rolled her eyes and continued eating her lunch. If she was supposed to be flattered, well, she wasn't. In fact, it irritated her and she found it annoying. Darling? Eew. That's just too cheesy.
Akamaru barked. Kiba looked at Tenten again, "See? Even Akamaru agrees with me."
And another thing, Tenten hates dogs. She's allergic to animals.
"What the hell, Kiba? Go find someone your age!" Naruto smacked Kiba behind his head playfully, "And, baby-face's gonna be assassinating you for hitting on his girl."
Kiba acted surprised. He turned to Naruto and said, shouted actually, "Eh? I didn't know that Sasuke's panting after Tenten!"
He was probably heard by the whole lunchroom since people were staring at them, mostly girls, surprised by his statement.
"Yeah, you're definitely gonna be turned to bird food, dog-boy." Naruto whispered, seeing the look of murder Sasuke—who was at their table, eating—was giving them.
"Nah," Kiba said, shrugging it off. "He wouldn't kill me. He's gonna miss me if he does."
Naruto laughed then turned to the girl who shares the same features as he did, "Well, a pleasure to see the raving beauty here," he paused to clear his throat, then gently grabbed the girl's hand, and planted a kiss on it. "Ino-chan."
Ino quickly snatched her hand back and scowled at him, making the boy chuckle and say, "You still look very pretty even if you scowl like that, you know. Makes me want to kiss you right here—"
"I don't want to hear it." Ino said, irritation lacing her tone.
"Heh, the stupid kitsune got toilet-flushed!" Kiba said, laughing, "Didn't realize she's too beautiful for your ugly face?"
Naruto's smile didn't falter. "Hah! At least I wasn't ignored. I got a reaction and a kiss!"
"That's not counted as a kiss, baka." Inuzuka retorted.
Naruto shrugged then smiled at Sakura. "Ah, Sakura, the most beautiful blossom. How fetching you look today."
Sakura raised an eyebrow. Is this idiot insulting her? She didn't know if he was mocking her or he was just being nice to not ignore her though it was obvious that she doesn't look fetching as he had said.
"Don't try to act nice, Uzumaki. It's not working." Sakura said, displeasure clearly heard from her voice. "And you sound like Rock Lee."
"I'm hurt, Sakura-chan," Naruto placed his hand above his heart. "Not because you said I sounded like fuzzy-brows but because you don't find my words sincere."
"Because it's not." Sakura continued her eating, and ignored him. She, having heard so many compliments when she was in junior high, knew all too well when a boy is sincere or not, or thinks he's sincere.
"I pity you, Naruto. Even Sakura-chan doesn't want you." Then Kiba suddenly rounded the table to speak to Hinata, and was going to start his string of compliments when he was stopped by Neji's playful half-threat, "Paws off, Kiba. No hitting on my cousin."
"Aw, man," Kiba placed his hands behind his head and said, "Such a kill joy, Neji, that you are."
"You'd want to die in my hands, rather than her father's, Kiba, believe me." Neji paused, then added in a whisper, "Or worse, Hinata's hands herself."
The three chuckled, but it was true, Hyuuga Hiashi isn't someone you can call nice, and Hinata is a Hyuuga after all, and their clan is not known to be made up of nice people.
"Forgive these idiots for disturbing your meal, ladies," Neji started, eyeing the four girls as he both bonked the two boys in the head. "But I believe all they'd said was the truth."
"Oh? You're actually agreeing with us, Neji?" Naruto asked, "How surprised I am."
"You shouldn't be," Neji said, and smirked at the ladies, "They indeed represent exquisite beauty, as you both said."
He nodded at them and turned back to return to their table, Naruto and Kiba following behind.
- - - - - -
"Odious men." Tenten said, as soon as the three young lads left. She really isn't fond of them, and their flirting, because she found it vastly irritating, and such a waste of her time.
"I'll have to agree with you there," Ino said, frowning, but was smiling coyly in the next moment, "But what're you gonna say about what we've recently discovered?"
Hinata bit her lip, she was fast with picking up topics, and she definitely picked this one real quick. She was trying to stifle a giggle, but failed, as small sounds came from her, and she covered her mouth with her hand and gave Ino a knowing look.
Tenten looked at her, confused, "What's funny, Hinata-chan?"
Sakura seemed to pick it up too. And she rolled her eyes. She didn't think that Ino would actually remember that and tease Tenten about it. They were actually pretending not to hear it. Well, it was surprising, to say the least, that Uchiha Sasuke, the emotionless, coldhearted, conceited bastard was actually human and has hormones. Well, he really has a damn fine taste in women since he has his eyes on Tenten. It's not proven true yet, but it was definitely interesting.
Speaking of interesting, Sakura's eyes did catch something, or someone very interesting. She had been staring at him the moment they had entered the room. He was there, looking all too handsome, and when he spoke, she couldn't take her eyes off of him. But what sane woman could? What a fine example of the male specie he was, and so charming, too.
Wait, she said she's not going for overly handsome playboys, right? So why's she staring at Hyuuga Neji moments ago? Damn traitorous eyes.
Feh, who was she fooling? Yeah, she did say she's not falling for those types of guys, but she never did say that she doesn't like those types of guys. It was impossible to ignore him, with his distinct features, that heat in his eyes, that sexy smirk—No, no, no!
And the feeling palpitated when he had come up their table to fetch his two friends and said, "They indeed represent exquisite beauty, as you both said."
She felt her cheeks go hot with his words, but quickly reminded herself that she's in school, wearing her horrid glasses, and the same description goes for her hair. It was impossible that Neji had included her with the 'they' in his sentence. Her musing was interrupted by Ino's whiny voice. She remembered they're talking about Sasuke and Tenten here. She better pay attention.
"Oh, don't play pretend with us, darling," Ino cooed, "C'mon, tell us."
Tenten still looked confused. What on earth is she talking about? "I don't understand, Ino-chan, really. What is it?"
"It's not like you to have a short attention span, Tenten-chan," Ino rolled her eyes. "You've heard the fox-boy and the dog-boy say it,"
Fox-boy? Dog-boy? She must be referring to Naruto and Kiba then. But what did they say again? Hmm...
"And, baby-face's gonna be assassinating you for hitting on his girl."
"Eh? I didn't know that Sasuke's panting after Tenten!"
Tenten thought about it for a moment, and then gasped and her eyes went wide as realization dawned itself upon her.
"Ino! What the bloody hell are you...argh, taking their words seriously! All and sundry know that those guys are never serious!" She said with narrowed eyes, but her blush betrayed her angry hiss.
Hinata's giggling stopped, and was replaced by a smile—a smile too sly, a foreign sight to see when it's Hinata we're talking about. "But they don't seem to be joking to me, Tenten-chan."
Tenten swished her head in Hinata's direction, and gave her a look of disbelief. "I can't believe it! Even you, Hinata?"
"Well, I do too." Sakura said, smiling now too. It was a rare sight to see Tenten so embarrassed and so agitated all at the same time, and agreeing with Ino and Hinata may cost her her head, but she thought it was worth it.
Tenten shook her head and slumped back in her seat. "Well, for that matter, I think I don't have anything to say other than I think it's ridiculous." She said, trying to sound calm, hoping her friends would close the topic.
But Ino wasn't going to back down. "Oh? And did it not occur to you that it is possible? Seeing you're both in the same class?"
Sakura couldn't believe it herself. Ino was actually probing it! And Hinata, well, she was going to say something too, but Tenten began to rant, "Oh yeah? But did it occur to you that I am three or four rows away from him, that it is possible that he doesn't know me? And please, I have never talked to him, all those years we've been stuck in the same block, and I do not want to talk to him anyway in the first place since there's no reason for me to and you know I don't like that type of guy and—" she was cut off.
"It did occur to us, Tenten-chan. But I'm thinking you're being a little defensive." Hinata cut in, showing an I-got-you-now-you're-in-trouble smile on her face.
Sakura and Ino stared at the one who had cut Tenten off. Hinata wasn't herself today. Well, that's great in a way, for her to get out of that shy demeanor. But now, they're having thoughts that Hinata was just actually acting shy, and were more like, devious and bitchy which is not their sweet Hinata-chan. But hey, that's only their thoughts.
Tenten's already widened eyes widened even more, if that was possible. D-defensive? She's not being defensive! "Hinata-chan! I am not being defensive! I'm just saying that we should drop this topic right now because if we don't, we're just going to walk around in circles, because it's bloody ridiculous to even think about it!"
The three didn't listen to her.
But what Hinata said was true. Indeed, Tenten was being a tad too defensive. Seems she's gotten so worked up with the mere thought of the Uchiha taking a liking to her. Maybe their paths collided before in a not-so-good way, but she said they'd never talked before...
Or...
"Well... I have a little conclusion here, girls, regarding Hinata's statement," Sakura paused, then smirked evilly at Tenten who then had a horrified look on her face as she saw Sakura's smirk, "I believe Tenten-chan here likes our Dark Angel Uchiha Sasuke."
Ino's excited blue eyes looked at Sakura's smirking face and then at Tenten's blushing one. She wanted to squeal. And squeal she did. "Kami-sama! Tenten, why on earth did we not hear about this?"
Cornered, Tenten spluttered, "I don't like him!" she tried to sound defiant, but she couldn't stop herself from blushing.
The three didn't believe her.
"You were never good at lying, Tenten-chan." Hinata smiled at her again.
"Your face betrayed it all. It is red as a tomato." Sakura added, and gave her a knowing smile.
"Well, that's good news for you, since I've heard Uchiha loves tomatoes." Ino suggested.
Tenten's blush turned into a deeper shade of red. "Shut up, Ino." Damn Sakura for being so smart! And damn those two idiots, Naruto and Kiba, for letting all the people in the lunchroom hear! But she was surprised, actually, when she heard Naruto's comment about her being the Teme's girl. Can he be possibly telling the truth? Argh, damn that Uchiha for being so sinfully handsome!
"Ooh...now, she's not denying anything!" Ino squealed, and then added in a singsong voice, "Tenten's got a little crush on Uchiha Sasuke!"
Tenten was not a very patient person. Like Sasuke, she was hot-tempered, and she exploded, standing up, "Damn it, Ino! I said I don't like the bloody Uchiha! So drop it!"
She realized she was shouting, and probably the boys heard her. She glanced at them—they're actually looking at her, and knew then that unfortunately, they did.
Oh shit...
Tenten stomped out of the lunchroom. Then after smiling at each other, Sakura, Ino and Hinata followed suit.
- - - - - -
"Damn it, Ino! I said I don't like the bloody Uchiha! So drop it!"
As soon as those words left Tenten's lips, the boys paused in their eating and looked at the girls' table, then at Sasuke, who was surprised himself, for the fork he was holding was paused halfway to his mouth. He realized his friends were looking at him, and he glared at them all, earning him snickers and smirks and a, "Troublesome."
Naruto placed his arm around Sasuke, "That's gotta be a total ouch, teme. Considering you've not asked her yet, and she already said she doesn't like you."
Sasuke glared at him, removing Naruto's arm on his shoulder. "Shut up, dobe."
"Ah, we understand how getting dumped hurts, Sasuke-teme, though none of us have been dumped before. For that, we'll be very nice and tolerate the many string of curses you're planning to say."
"I said shut up. And you've been dumped once, idiot."
Naruto twitched at that memory, but smiled again. "Just let it all out, we understand."
Sasuke was mad, really. But not in the way Naruto was saying. He was mad, at Naruto. And his friends seem to know that, but weren't doing anything to shut the damn dobe up. The steel fork he was holding had gone bent against his palm, and his friends looked like they're amused, when they were supposed to be afraid, now that Uchiha Sasuke's about to explode.
"Look at that poor fork, suffering under Sasuke's wrath," Kiba said, turning to Neji, "Don't you know anything about that lovely Tenten-chan and Sasuke there? You're in the same class as they are."
Neji shrugged. "They're rows away from each other."
"Oh? Where's she seated then?" Naruto asked.
"Near the window, front row," Shikamaru answered, "You do know that the three of us are seated at the last row."
Naruto nodded. And had quickly deducted that since the Uchiha was at the back, he had every chance of looking at the girl without getting caught. But too bad it was only her back. "I'm thinking that Sasuke always glances at her from behind," Naruto mused, "I didn't know you were into gaze-from-afar types of romances, Sasuke-teme."
"What? Sasuke always glances at her behind?" Kiba said, looking up from his food, hearing Naruto's words wrong.
"That's not what Naruto said, Kiba," Neji answered calmly, then smirked, "But the idea is accepted."
Their table erupted with laughter with that last remark. Hell, even Shino was smiling.
Sasuke glared at them again. Just what are these fools getting at?
"We all know how Sasuke looks like whenever his eyes focus on a girl when he's pretending to be interested, and..." Naruto trailed off, as he exchanged glances with Kiba, who nodded, as he caught what Naruto is trying to say.
"The reason they called Sasuke an assassin was because he kills girls with his eyes," Kiba paused, tsking, and turned to the Uchiha, "But I didn't know that you can actually strip girls using them."
Again, laughter came, more loudly this time, as Kiba and Naruto blatantly made fun of Sasuke's alias and implied that the boy was a pervert. But Sasuke did not find it the least bit funny. As if he found anything amusing.
Maybe the idea did struck them funny, since Shikamaru was also laughing—he thinks everything, including laughing out loud was troublesome.
The bent steel fork snapped to two pieces, a sign that Sasuke isn't amused. The group was aware of it, but still the laughter didn't stop. Neji raised a hand as if to tell his friends to calm themselves. When the boys' laughter ceased to a smile, Neji looked at the center of their ridicule.
"It's just for fun, Sasuke, nothing serious."
"Che. Like I care if it's otherwise."
Sasuke clearly isn't the person one could make fun of without getting hurt. But of course, his best friends are not afraid of him, especially Naruto, and so they can ridicule him anytime they want, whether Sasuke likes it or not.
"Aww. Fine, fine. Let's not worsen Sasuke's already decomposing mood, guys," Naruto started, grinning madly, "We should in fact make him happy because he got dumped—by a girl he didn't ask out yet."
That's it!
Screaming was heard as Naruto sprinted out the lunchroom, Sasuke on the chase. The guys who were left at the table all shook their heads and decided that they too, should go out the stuffy room.
As they were walking on the fields, Kiba went beside Neji. "Oy, Neji."
The Hyuuga turned to him, that serving as a cue for Kiba to say whatever it is that he wanted to. They reached a grassy part of the field, a raised terrain with a large cherry blossom tree shading two stone benches. It was their favorite place in the school, for it was quiet here as Neji and Sasuke wanted, though it was impossible for the peaceful environment to stay since they have Naruto and Kiba on their group. It was the perfect place for cloud gazing for Shikamaru, since the ground had soft grass and the large tree blocks the direct glare of the sunlight. This is also where Shino sometimes catch bugs.
Kiba plopped himself onto one of the benches, hands under his head, and one leg dangling on the side, Akamaru sitting on his stomach. Shikamaru lay on the ground, yawning, while Shino sat beside him, reading a book. Neji preferred to stand, leaning on the tree with hands on his pockets.
"Oy, Neji." Kiba repeated.
Neji looked at him. "...What."
The Inuzuka started snickering, making Akamaru bounce on his abdomen. The puppy then jumped off, walking to Shikamaru and Shino.
Kiba had seen Sakura staring at Neji in the lunchroom, despite her large eyeglasses. At least she was subtle with it, just staring at the Hyuuga and not swooning, but he swore he saw her cheeks turn pink for a split second, gone as it came, when Neji had come up their table and spoke to them.
It seems that even the pink-haired nerd was affected with Neji's charms. Well, she's still a girl, anyway, so it was not surprising. But he thought that girl was not the least interested in men, as Naruto had told him once.
"D'you know that cherry-chan's been looking at you?"
"Haruno?"
Kiba nodded, sitting up, "Yeah. Oh, let me rephrase, staring at you."
"Really." He too, thought that his cousin's childhood friend was not that interested in boys, something he had overheard in one of the girls' conversations when they'd had those sleepovers in the Hyuuga mansion. If he's correct, that girl looks differently when they were in junior high, but he wasn't sure how different. He'd never talked to his cousin's friends before, and could care less if they looked different. He's a playboy, yes, but he wasn't going to prance around with Hinata's friends, it could cost him his head. Either from Hinata or her father, since Hiashi was surprisingly nice to his daughter's friends.
"Yes, really." Kiba said, now seated with his legs crossed. "That's a surprise. I thought that girl was a snob."
"Surprised? It's me she's staring at." Neji all but sneered.
Kiba laughed at that and shook his head. The Hyuuga's self-confidence is astounding. He really thinks of himself as one hell of a heartthrob, that not even one female could ignore him, single or not. He's not sure how Neji had ingrained that in his head. Well, maybe being able to fool around with more than a hundred gullible women without being forced into accidental commitment did that to him. The phrase 'pick of the week'™, courtesy of Uzumaki Naruto, refers to Neji's new girlfriend—maximum of seven days—even made his head inflate.
"Are we missing any fun?"
The four turned to the voice, and Inuzuka's laughter went louder as he saw Naruto's busted lips and swell closed left eye. Shikamaru and Shino turned to the new arrivals, and Shikamaru snorted.
"Seems like Sasuke leashed out on him." Shino stated, amused.
"...I have every reason to do so." Sasuke said, then sat on the stone bench next to the one Kiba's sitting on, an elbow on the backrest.
Neji chuckled. Sasuke really is in a very rotten mood today, worse than his usual grumpy one, for it looked like a mallet had been smashed onto Naruto's face. The blond boy never looked this bad, even when he and Sasuke had their mock fights. Maybe the Tenten issue is a sensitive one...
"Tsk, tsk, Sasuke. You should've pitied him. You've made him even more uglier!" Kiba exclaimed, still laughing.
Naruto sat on the grass, facing Kiba and Neji. He tried to scowl, but it turned into a wince. It was hard to even grin widely. He opted to stick out his tongue instead. "The girls would be very glad to patch me up later, they'd be missing my killer smile."
"Too bad Yamanaka's not one of them."
"Gah, Shino! You really didn't have to rub that in!" Naruto exclaimed.
The blond boy isn't really attracted to that equally blond female before. But of course, it was like a law to their group—except Shino and Shikamaru—to try and snatch every beautiful lady that walks in their path. Naruto had tried to woo Ino first, since he's really into supermodel-skinny bodied girls, and Ino is definitely shaped as that. And he thinks that they would look cute together since they both have the same shade of hair and eyes.
To their surprise, the girl only ignored him, and even shouted at him to get lost. Initially, that was not counted as being dumped, since it was only just for fun. But as months passed, Ino's feisty attitude got to him. And he's been picking on her for two years now, a thing they both got used to, as if it was a routine. He's not in love with her, he's just thrilled with the fact that this particular girl could ignore him.
"If you got her to be your girlfriend, make sure you wouldn't make her cry." Shikamaru said, surprising his friends. There was silence, and he got curious so he opened one eye and saw the group staring at him. He sighed, and sat up. "Her father will have my head."
Oh.
They forgot that Yamanaka Inoshi and Nara Shikato—Ino and Shikamaru's dads respectively—are best buds. So, if ever Naruto got her to be his girlfriend, and in any instance made her cry, Shikamaru's gonna be in trouble, since Naruto and him are friends.
"Whew. Damn you, lazy-ass, I got worried for a moment there!" Naruto said, trying to grin to show his relief—something that's hard to tell if he's serious or not—but failed, as he felt the pain from his wounded lip.
"You should, because if ever Shikamaru does like her, you could kiss your fantasies about her goodbye, fox-boy." Kiba said, with the intention of annoying Naruto. And he succeeded.
"Oh yeah? How bout you, trying to woo Tenten back there in the lunchroom! Hah! Of course, she would prefer Sasuke than you, dog-boy!" Naruto retorted, then added, "On second thought, she might not. Because she did say she didn't like teme."
Cracking sounds were heard as the group turned to a twitching Sasuke who was crackling his fists. Naruto went to hide behind Neji, and the boys laughed again.
"...Idiot." Sasuke said, then leaned back on the bench.
Shikamaru started, "It look like those troublesome girls are giving you guys a hard time, eh?"
"Speaking of girls, and that group in particular. I was talking to Neji here about someone who's been melting him with a stare." Kiba said, reverting the topic back to what he was talking about before the two boys arrived.
"Who?" Surprisingly, Sasuke asked.
Surprising, indeed. Kiba grinned. "Don'tcha worry, you bloody Uchiha, it's not Tenten."
Laughter was heard again. Sasuke glared at him. That was what Tenten had called Sasuke before she went out the lunchroom.
"Bloody...Uchiha!" Naruto said between laughs. He couldn't stop laughing, even though it was painful. But if it isn't Tenten, then...
"Yamanaka." Shino and Sasuke said, at the same time. Naruto added a, "Though it pains me to say so, yes, I think it's her."
Kiba was about to tell them they were wrong when Shikamaru uttered, "Haruno."
Four pairs of eyes looked at him.
"What!"
"Impossible."
"Bingo!" Kiba exclaimed, standing up from his seat. He pulled Shikamaru to stand, and asked, "You really are a genius, you ass. How'd you find out?"
Shikamaru whined, "Do I really need to explain?" And he was answered with nods. "Troublesome."
He sat down again at the grass and told them, but not after telling them that they should use their heads and not leave the thinking and explaining always to him. He got a, "Just get on with it, lazy ass, stop whining!"
"Fine, fine. Troublesome." He paused. "It can't be Ino because she'll only get envious of Neji's hair, and I'm sure she would prefer Sasuke. It can't be Tenten because by the tone of her voice and her blush, she was being defensive and hiding that she likes Sasuke, though she said otherwise. And it can't be Hinata, for obvious reasons of course."
"But I thought that Sakura-chan's not interested in guys?"
"Don't ask that again, Naruto. I don't want to hear Neji's bragging again." Kiba said, as he picked up Akamaru from the ground, remembering what Neji said when he himself stated what Naruto asked.
"Oh well," Naruto said, placing his hands behind his head. Then he thought of something. "Why're we experiencing so much bad luck with those girls? First me, then Sasuke. Now, Neji's next."
Kiba thought of that too. Why's it that he and Naruto tend to share the same thoughts? Must be their hound senses.
Neji snarled. Him? Having girl problems? Nah. Impossible. If he is, with who? Haruno Sakura? That pink haired nerd? Sasuke must've hit Naruto's head too hard.
- - - - - -
Tenten was fuming as she went to their usual place for hanging out inside the school, the org building's rooftop. Students don't hang out on this part of the school, since the building was too high at ten floors, and it didn't have high balustrades, one could fall off if not careful. Since they were the only ones who go there and everyday too, the janitor gladly gave them each a key to the rooftop door. It was like they have their own patio in the school.
As Tenten sat on one of the chairs they had brought there, she sighed.
Damn it. First, those girls she call friends had known her little secret, then the group her crush belongs to heard her say she doesn't like him. What if Naruto and Kiba were telling the truth? Neji did say so, that those idiots were telling the truth, but he was referring to their beauty, right? But Neji told them, all they've said. What if Sasuke really had his eyes on her? With what she had shouted, she ruined her chance with him. She had indirectly dumped him, of course! Why, oh why does this have to happen? She wanted to pull on her hair. Oops, no, that's going to make it messy, and the buns would come off.
"Tenten-chan?"
She looked up to see her three friends staring at her, and she glared at the three of them.
"Look, we're sorry," Ino said, "But we could've avoided that if you just told us all about it before."
Is she apologizing or blaming her? Tenten shook her head. Ino really is hard to understand sometimes.
"Are you still mad at us, Tenten-chan?" Hinata asked.
Tenten sighed again. "No. I was just embarrassed." She was afraid that the other table would hear them saying she likes that baby-faced bastard, so she went out the room so that the three would stop discussing it on open air.
"So you forgive us now?" Sakura asked, smiling at her.
Tenten looked at Sakura and she remembered something. Sakura was the one who had led her into this predicament! Sakura was the one who had concluded she likes Sasuke! She even told her that she's red as a tomato! She's the one to talk, when she was blushing herself while staring at—Tenten blinked. Wait a minute...
She smirked.
"I forgive you both, Ino, Hinata." She said, smiling at Sakura. "But as for you, Sakura-chan, you're going to spill something before I forgive you."
Tenten's mischievous smile made Sakura shudder inwardly. Spill something? What? She isn't keeping anything from them!
The three sat down, pulled their seats near Tenten. Sakura still is confused. What is Tenten talking about? Didn't Sakura already tell them everything?
"What are you talking about, Tenten? I don't understand."
Tenten smirked wider as she eyed Sakura. It was like when they were in the lunchroom! Just that she and Sakura had switched places. She'll surely deny it. But of course, Tenten's not going to let Sakura get away with it. Hah. Revenge!
"Oh, come on, Sakura-chan, don't play innocent with us, we're your friends!" Tenten said, "That's what you girls said when you're forcing me to admit I like Sasuke-kun."
"So you're in the Sasuke-kun terms now, eh?" Ino asked, smiling.
"Well, you've busted out my secret. So no need for me to keep my endearment for him. It's just the four of us here, anyway." Tenten shrugged, and turned again to Sakura. "Oh, don't think I've forgotten you, Sakura-chan, dear. Now, spill."
Sakura still didn't get what she was saying. "I really don't know what you're talking about. Really, no pretending."
"Oh, fine then. I'll just tell them myself." Tenten chirped, still smiling at Sakura.
Hinata, as fast as she is in picking up, didn't get what Tenten was saying. "I'm confused."
Tenten patted Hinata's hand. She wondered how Hinata would react..."Oh, you wouldn't be. You'll even be delighted once you know who Sakura was gawking at just moments ago in the lunchroom."
Sakura blushed and panicked. Oh no. So Tenten saw her. Oh my goodness. So she's taking revenge on her for saying that Tenten likes Sasuke... Ohhh... what would Hinata say?!
"Who? Who?" Ino exclaimed excitedly, then frowned the next, "Don't tell me it's Naruto!"
Sakura's eyes widened. "What! I would never..." she paused, "Wait—so what if I'm staring at Naruto? Don't tell us you like him!"
Hinata and Tenten looked at the blond. "Don't worry girls, I don't. I just don't want Sakura to end up liking an idiot." They believed her. When Ino said she doesn't like a guy, she doesn't. When she does like a guy, she would not hesitate to tell the four of them. Ino then added, "And don't try to change the subject, forehead-girl."
"I'm not! It's in the...course of the conversation." Sakura defended. So much for trying to change the subject.
The three exchanged glances and nodded at each other. Sakura is hiding something. And they're going to know it. Even if Hinata and Ino fail, Tenten would get it out of her. Even if she had to use brute force. Bwahaha.
"Who is it, Sakura-chan?" Hinata asked, voice all too sweet they felt ants crawling on their legs.
Sakura stayed silent. She is not going to tell them. No freaking way. They'll only tell her that she likes another Gaara. A guy worse than Gaara. Hell, Neji has a week expiration date on his girlfriends!
"She's not going to talk," Hinata turned to Tenten. "You tell us."
"Gladly." Tenten said, seeing the look of horror Sakura has on her face. It really was like déja vu! But they've switched places. "I swear, Hinata, you're going to love this."
"Wait...I'll try to guess..." Ino brought a hand up and thought about it for a moment. Hinata's going to love it? Hmm. Why would she? Not unless the guy was pestering her, or it could be someone close to the girl. Well, the second one's more plausible...hmm. Someone close...But Hinata isn't really that friendly with boys so...
She gasped.
"Oh. My. God!" She turned to Hinata and squealed. "Oh my god! Oh my god!" She hugged the girl, "Hinata-chan!"
Tenten shrugged at Sakura as if saying, "Don't blame me, she figured it out on her own without me telling her."
Sakura scowled. What? So Ino's happy about it? And Tenten seemed to be, too. But what about Hinata? Oh what the hell, she doesn't like him that much. He's just plain handsome, and attracted her on every level. He's smart, has a very deep voice that's really smooth to the ears, a nice body build too. She wondered how it would feel being wrapped in his embrace, and...wait a second! Darn it, here she goes again!
Ino was still squealing and hugging Hinata who has a questioning look on her face. Tenten chuckled at the sight of them. "Ino-chan, you're choking her."
The blond then let go at that. "Sorry. I got too excited." She stuck her tongue out. "Finally! A discussion about Sakura and a guy! It's just been too long since Sakura had an interest in men! And I should tell you, forehead, a damn fine choice you have there."
"But who is it?" Hinata asked, she didn't hear Tenten say she's going to love the idea.
"Take a guess, Hinata-chan." Tenten smiled. "I think it's easy to figure out, actually. Sakura really has this bad habit of liking these types of guys. And Ino and I think you'd love it."
Hinata sat back on her chair to think while staring straight at nervous-looking and blushing Sakura. Think. Think. Bad habit of liking a certain type? A playboy then. Naruto? He's annoying. Shikamaru? Nah, too lazy. Shino? She shuddered. No way. Sasuke? No, she knows Tenten likes the chap. Kiba? Impossible. Neji-nii-san? Nope, he's just like Gaa—Wait, too much like Gaara!
As she figured it out, she perked up, and like Ino, she muttered, "Oh my god..."
"Yeah. Oh my god," Ino said. "But he's like, worse than Gaara, as I see it."
"Neji-nii-san's not that much of a bastard," Hinata said, surprising her friends with her language. "But in terms of relationships, he's...kind of."
Ino nodded. Then remembered that Tenten said Sakura was staring at the Hyuuga boy before, "Damn you forehead-girl! You even made me cry at the washroom, then we'll discover you're starting all over again?" she laughed.
Sakura's blush is still in place. The pink-haired girl looked down and pushed her glasses. But she was startled as her glasses were pulled away from her face. It was Hinata who did. "You never did need this, Sakura-chan."
Sakura snatched it back. She knows where this conversation is headed. Nuh-uh. She's not going to ditch this get-up just for that guy. She's not that foolish to allow herself to be tricked twice by those men who cannot keep their hands to themselves, and to one woman even!
"Yes I did. And I admit I'm attracted to your cousin, Hinata-chan. But who isn't?" As she said that, she got stares from her friends as if answering her with, "Who isn't? No duh, us three!"
"Fine. But it was just physical attraction. Nothing serious, really." Sakura slumped back in her seat.
Tenten smiled. "That's it. Nothing serious."
Three pairs of eyes stared at Tenten as she said that. What she was saying was that since Sakura is just attracted to his charms, and she's not in love with him, then why shouldn't she have a non-serious tie-up with Neji? One week isn't enough for Sakura to fall in love with Neji, she supposed.
"I said, that's it. Nothing serious," Tenten paused. "Since you're not crazy in love with him, then a fling would do, just to satisfy your physical attraction to him, as you've said you have."
"What, you want me to turn into someone I'm trying to avoid?" What Sakura meant was, she hates playboys, now they wanted her to turn as the counterpart? She doesn't think so.
Despite what she said, she'd thought of what Tenten had suggested.
- - - - - -
Baby-faced assassin - Mexican Professional Boxer Marco Antonio Barrera's alias, given by boxing enthusiasts.
Me and Eris are in a war. He's not helping me out with this fic. Damn brother. He said he's having problems with his story. So please, excuse my grammar. Thank you.
-Freyr