A/N: Just so you'll know, this is not music themed. Furthermore, please consider any history accounts in the story with a grain of salt.
For tabine and gracie-sketchy-cat, who volunteered themselves to the torture.
Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto
Yura Yura © Hearts Grow
Chapter 1: The Singer
"Who is she?"
"I dunno, she looks weird,"
A seven-year-old Neji watched two girls snigger behind their hands. His perceptive eyes caught on to the object of their entertainment.
On the corner-most part of the classroom was a mousy-looking brunette. She had buns on her hair and flowers tucked into it. A ragged doll lay in her hands, its clothes were in tatters and it was missing one of its eyes. She was smiling slightly as she played with her doll, oblivious to the mocking whispers almost half of the class made at her expense.
Neji looked again at the two girls and furrowed his brows, taking in their hair in pig tails and the standard uniform wrinkled in some places. Expensive looking Barbie dolls were clutched on their hands.
His bright mind cannot understand why they were picking on that girl. More than anything, she didn't look different at all.
Nonetheless, he decided to stay out of it. He didn't want any trouble. So as his classmates kept talking behind her back, all Neji did was watch.
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The "Will of Fire Museum" was unsurprisingly boring, Neji grumbled under his breath, as they followed the happy looking curator.
"Compress here everyone!" His teacher, Iruka-sensei, called out. "Curator-san is going to tell us about the artifacts from the Five Great Nations!"
Almost immediately, the thirty-something students huddled around the display cases the happy curator was in front of.
From what he could see from the far back was that it was a funny-looking knife and a throwing star. A kunai and a shuriken, Neji remembered from Iruka-sensei's classes.
"Now people from the Samurai-era called these weapons the 'kunai' and 'shuriken.'"
'Knew it,' He thought, giving himself a mental pat on the back. The curator was still explaining something when a hand shot up in the air, making her stop.
"Samurais?" It was the mousy girl from before, Neji noted. Her voice was squeaky and high-pitched as she asked her question. "But my papa told me that kunai and shuriken were used by ninjas, not samurai!"
A round of laughter echoed in the museum as soon as the girl finished her sentence.
"Idiot."
"Ninjas don't exist!"
"They're only folktales. Baka!"
"Quiet down!" Iruka sensei's voice boomed above everyone else's and the chattering and insults died down to surreptitious whispers.
The curator held an awkward smile on her face as the teacher glared at his students to settle down.
"Curator-san, if you would please explain to these youngsters what I have probably already discussed in class." Iruka silenced the giggles that dared to erupt with a sharp look.
"Right," the curator said, uncomfortable with Iruka's quick change in behavior.
"Anyways, yes. It's a popular notion that ninjas are merely folk lore and legends since historical accounts are scarce. However," a smile bloomed on the curator's face as the students around her listened, enthralled. Admittedly, even Neji was inclined to listen. "Some say this is due to the fact that ninjas are very secretive."
Continuing on, the woman gestured towards the display case containing the rusting kunai and shuriken. "As a matter of fact, it is arguable as to whether or not these weapons were actually used by the Samurai, since they were often associated with the use of katanas."
"Since ninjas were considered as mercenaries,"
"Mercenaries?" The mousy girl squeaked again. Neji saw his other classmates glare at her from the corner of their eyes for having interrupted the curator.
"Uhuh," the curator continued. "You probably know them as secret agents and spies right?"
A series of Ooh's and Ahh's at the mention of spies.
"Yes and as spies, they needed light-weighted weapons such as the kunai and shuriken to attack from a distance, as opposed to the Samurai's katana."
The curator started to lead the class towards the other parts of the museum whilst further talking about the events of the Edo period.
Neji tailed behind the class as always, reverting back to his disinterested seven-year-old self.
He stared blankly at the displays, the curator's voice going in one ear and out the next. With the collective murmurs arising from his classmates, he could see that he was not the only one bored as hell. Just as they were about to leave the exhibit, he heard someone hum.
His classmates were chattering in a group a few steps ahead of them, ignorant of other sounds other than their own voices. Iruka-sensei as well, who was too busy hushing and reprimanding them, did not seem to notice.
Curious, Neji lingered and slowed his steps. He kept an eye on Iruka-sensei as he slowly inched towards a rather tall display case. As soon as the teacher turned his back, Neji ducked behind what looked to be encased ancient scrolls and once Iruka-sensei was intent on not looking over his shoulder every minute, Neji ran as fast as his short legs could carry him.
The humming grew louder and louder as he neared the Samurai Exhibit. Quickly, he took refuge behind a whole Samurai body armour.
It was unsurprising to say the least, that it was the mousy girl from before who was jumping from one display to another whilst humming in an off-key tune.
She wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary. The girl was simply looking at the swords with a maniacal gleam in her eye. Which was oddly still not surprising.
Shoulders slumped, Neji moved to sneak away again and catch up to their classmates.
"Let them fly to you
Through the wavering, distorted sky
These two loves
That feel so close together..."
The seven-year old boy stood rooted at his spot behind the samurai armour. Her voice was,
"Pretty."
As soon as the word left his lips, her singing slowed down and Neji immediately ducked behind the armoury.
When her singing returned to the normal tempo, Neji safely assumed that she was no longer looking at his direction.
Gulping, he could not resist taking a peek one more time at the mousy girl.
She was back to humming and gazing at the kunai and shuriken. He saw her raise a hand to trace the weapons through the panes of glass and -
"There you are you two!"
"Eep!" With a squeal, she lost her balance and fell on her butt.
"Iruka-sensei!" She exclaimed but Iruka merely shook his head at her and helped her up.
On the other hand, Neji was tip toeing towards the other side of the display case, hoping to be unseen but it looks as if nothing could get past Iruka's sharp eyes.
"Don't even try Mr. Hyuga, I already saw you." Came his teacher's voice. His face flamed in embarrassment at having been caught red-handed.
"Who?" Her small voice turned to face him and he felt heat creep up his face as she raised her eyebrows at him in surprise.
"I wasn't doing anything," he mumbled half-heartedly and headed towards the end of the exhibit without further instructions.
"You kids," he heard Iruka said, exasperated.
oOo
"Heya."
Neji looked up to see her looking at the seat beside him in interest. He raised both his eyebrows in inquiry.
Her smile was gone and bit her lip, she looked down and wrung her wrists in nervousness. "Uhm, is this-uh. A-are you, uhm."
His brows furrowed, he was getting annoyed. She reminded her of his stuttering cousin and he hated her.
Seeing him look displeased, Tenten shut her eyes and spoke really fast that Neji failed to understand what she was trying to say.
Tenten seemed to have noticed his state of confusion and thus, she took a deep breath, puffing out her cheeks that almost made her look... cute, like a puppy.
She just opened her mouth and due to his musings, he completely missed what she just said.
"What?" He asked, dumbly.
Oh, now she's annoyed? Neji frowned at the narrowed space between her eyebrows and the pout in her lips. She stopped fumbling with her hands and instead settled them on her hips.
Then her mouth opened to repeat her words, obnoxiously, he may add. "I said," he gave her a light glare. He hated that bossy, know-it-all tone all girls in his class possessed.
She continued like he wasn't shooting lasers at her with his eyes and he hated it. Most of them would stay clear of his mean look. But this girl, he wanted to shake his head. He didn't like her one bit.
"Can I seat next to you?"
Okay uhm, what?
Nobody really sat next to him during field trips, most of them dubbed him as boring to talk to. Well, it's their loss. His father told him he was a great listener. But still, his classmates didn't quite agree with that. So, imagine his surprise when someone actually wanted to sit next to him.
A light dusting of pink covered his chubby cheeks. He honestly didn't know how to respond.
She was waiting for him, he realized. Her hands now lay limp at her sides and he just noticed that her eyes were huge.
The both of them look dumbstruck at eachother. Neither were exactly the most adept in socializing in class.
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These two. Iruka shook his head at them, exasperated, from two seats ahead on the opposite aisle.
He truly was worried about them. They were always alone when doing free class work. With Neji, it was a matter of preference. The boy disliked his unruly classmates. He would frown at them and drive them away with a glare. The other students just learned to stay away from him.
Tenten on the other hand, Iruka sighed. Tenten's a sweetheart, to be honest. She was just...new. She tries her best to make friends but the class wasn't accustomed to her quite yet. They would poke fun at her, saying her accent was weird. Oftentimes, he would reprimand the class for bullying but that didn't really help the case of the child. It only served to give her more unnecessary attention, he learned early on.
"Ne, Iruka-sensei." Iruka looked down to see her tugging at his pants to catch his attention. He just lectured the class on the gravity of bullying and he was still a bit hot-headed but the genuine smile on her face melted his heart in a blink of an eye.
"It's okay, you shouldn't get mad at them just because they don't like me. I'm sure, someday they'll come around. That's what my mama told me!"
He sighed.
Iruka scratched at the back of his head. Those two would benefit to have friends. So he decided to help them.
Leaving his seat and moving to stand in the middle isle, he called the attention of the otherwise chaotic young passengers of the bus.
"Settle down everyone," his voice rose above the noise.
As children were prone to do, they scrambled to get into their seats, bumping and hitting one another in the process. When the exclamations of "Ow!"s and "Hey!"s finally subsided, he opened his mouth to announce their departure, only to close it abruptly before he got to speak a word.
Neji and Tenten were still staring each other down and he didn't know how it escalated but it looked as if a fight was ready to break out between them.
Neji was glaring at her and scowling whilst Tenten was already curling her hands in a fist, glaring as well.
The other students were beginning to notice and murmurs were circulating.
Before a student could even chant the first "Fight!", he silenced them with a sharp, almost murderous, look. Guilty, the student looked down at the hands in his lap and avoided his eyes.
With another sigh, Iruka lightly pinched the bridge of his nose before gently calling out, "Tenten?"
Both Neji and Tenten snapped their heads toward his direction, wide eyed and somehow flushed from anger.
He paid it no heed and instead inclined his head at Neji's direction. "If you would please take your seat beside Neji-kun, please." Though his tone was kind, he left no room for arguments.
He saw Neji biting his lip as if thinking of protesting but one "Obey or else" look from Iruka and the next thing he knew, Tenten was sitted at the window seat beside Neji and said boy was pouting, indignant and had his arms crossed, looking away from the girl.
Iruka was starting to feel his head throb. He sighed again. Really, those two.
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"Hey, hey."
Tenten felt her head shake uncontrollably. Rather, her head was being shook awake.
"Get off me."
Frown on her face, Tenten groggily sat up straight in her seat and rubbed her eyes awake.
From beside her, Neji was glaring at his seat mate, hands coming to rub his sore shoulder where he woke up to find the girl sleeping on it.
"That was mean," the girl, Tenten, whined at him whilst rubbing her eyes.
Mean? Neji bristled with anger. His shoulder was now sore because of her heavy head! He probably got infected with her cooties now too!
But when he opened his mouth to refute, Iruka-sensei called their attention to the front.
"Okay everyone! We'll be arriving back to the school in just a few minutes so if you please, collect your belongings as well as your trash for disposal."
Begrudgingly, Neji grabbed his small backpack under his seat and slipped on his back, ignoring all about the annoying girl beside him.
But, she decides to talk. Again.
"So who's coming to pick you up?"
He turned his head to look at her but she was looking out the window to the familiar streets leading to their school. The question caught him off-guard, and just the tiny bit pleasantly surprised.
"My father," he said.
There must be something wrong about what he said because she snapped her head towards him, a funny look on her face.
Suddenly self-conscious, he leaned away from her but did not turn away.
"What," he quipped. She was concentrating on him so hard, it was getting on his nerves. Unbek.
"Nothing, nothing." She answered, a secret smile on her face. Leaning her elbow on the ledge of the window, she cast her eyes back outside.
"What do you mean, 'nothing'?" Neji asked, curious and somewhat annoyed that he was being ignored.
"It's just, you really love your tou-san, don't you? You looked a little funny when you answered a while ago." She said, matter-of-factly, looking at him sideways.
He decided to stay silent then. He did love his father very much. He didn't know that it was THAT obvious. It angered him that someone, and a girl, could say something like that about him!
"You don't know what you're talking about," he said, arms crossed and looking away from her.
He heard her giggle beside him. It only served to feed his anger.
"Don't be embarrassed," she said.
He scoffed (he blushed), he was not (he was). Who was she to say that? No, he was angry.
"I am not," he grumbled under his breath but she heard him all the same.
"You are"
"I am not."
"You are!"
"Am not!"
"Are too!"
"Am not!"
"Are to-" Someone cleared their throat from above them.
Neji looked up to see Iruka-sensei right on their aisle and frowning upon them and the rest of the class looking at them as well.
Heat climbed its way up his face.
At the corner of his eye, he saw Tenten wide eyed at having been caught as well.
Iruka-sensei cleared his throat again.
"As I was saying," he directed a set of narrowed eyes at the two of them, but for some reason, Neji could see a slight upturn of his lips, like he was preventing a smile. "We should all proceed to the lobby after arrival and no one is to go home without someone picking them up, understood everyone?"
After the chorus of "Yes, Iruka-sensei," the bus halted to a stop.
As instructed, the students went inside the school as soon as they got out of the vehicle, the old security guard held the door open for them as always.
Neji himself was walking, unlike the running-stumbling-running his classmates were doing, towards the building. That is, until be realized that his seat mate wasn't with his annoying classmates.
He turned around and he saw her near the bus, looking up at the sun-set. This prompted him to look at the sky as well. They were a mix of reds, oranges and pinks.
Annoyed (again) at her sluggishness, he placed his two hands by his mouth and yelled at her.
"Oi! You look stupid standing there, let's go!"
She looked surprised at first, and then she frowned, having realized that she was just insulted. He smiled at that.
When she reached him, she was frowning. "You're mean."
"And you move like a snail."
"And you look like a lobster."
"At least I don't look like a mouse." He sneered at her hair.
She gasped, hands coming up to her buns. "My mama tied this up for me!"
"They're stupid."
"No they're not!"
"Yeah, they are."
Pace slow, they made their way towards the school building, shouting insults at each other.
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The last one to get off the bus was Iruka, and when he spotted two lonely children walk together, well. He couldn't help but smile. Never mind that they were hurling insults at each other like second nature.
He shook his head. 'Those two.'
A/n: This was written way back in January, when I had a shoujo binge that i definitely did not regret. I've only written upto chapter two, but who knows. This might become a college fic sometime in the future.
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Chapter Two: The Dancer
"My name is Rock Lee! Please take care of me!"
He hated him. Hate hate hate him.