Muse & Escort
by HeavenlySwirl
Silence.
More silence.
Groan.
Face-palmed, the usually hyperactive blond of the class asked, "So, what now?"
"I don't really know." Sakura muttered as her arm fell to her side. "The rules…"
"Troublesome," Shikamaru said.
Sasuke rolled his eyes and the rest of the class waited patiently. They had been at it for a whole hour. Selecting, arguing and just dealing with the fact that they couldn't win. No, not in this scenario… not in everything.
Ino mumbled through gritted teeth, "Really, this is personal. I should've been the President of the Fashion Guru Club. That Karin is such a-"Preventing herself from uttering the curse word, she slammed her fists on her wooden desk. "Vice President? Ugh. I deserve more credit than her!"
"We get that. We all know that. You've been saying that for hours. " Naruto said, "But the problem is still there…"
"For once Naruto is thinking right, we still need a candidate." Kiba muttered.
"Heh!" He glared at Kiba before shifting his eyes to Sasuke. "Oy Teme! We wouldn't be this desperate if you happen to win last year!" He shouted at his face. "You had it all! You had those fan girls for support but you lost because you can't do a folk dance! Sakura-chan could pull it off, why can't you? Korean dances are so easy!"
A death glare came his way. "Dobe!"
"Teme!"
"Dobe!"
…and the shouting ensued.
It was already October and the annual United Nations celebration and pageant was set on the second week. It was currently the last week of September and still, they didn't have the muse and escort for the pageant, unlike most of the other sections that had been preparing for days.
Unfortunately for them, the pageant compromised 100% of their whole project and most candidates for the honor roll couldn't lose that. Plus, as Ino had kept muttering… it was personal.
The rules set up by the President, Karin, they believed, were created for them not to win. The previous year contenders were not allowed to be the contestants again—namely Ino and Kiba in Year 1 and Sasuke and Sakura in Year 2. So with only 4 girls in class, 2 of them were out.
They honestly couldn't rely at Hinata who would probably faint of stage fright. So, 3 were out. And the boys well, none of them could really compete at the Inuzuka's and Uchiha's levels.
The country they also got was China, and as easy it may be with their appearances… at the current scenario, it wasn't really helping.
"Cut it!" Sakura interjected.
The fighting duo turned to face the pink-haired female to start with the lame excuse of "It's your fault!"
Suddenly, laughing and footsteps broke all of them from their thoughts. Obviously, there were still some of their classmates who were still coming back from their lunch break. The two came to view and Ino, Sakura and Naruto all had light bulbs lit at a sudden idea. "Neji-san and Tenten-san!"
The two turned, surprised at the sudden attention. "Yeah?" Tenten asked them.
"Would you like to be the candidates?" At that, papers were shown to both of them and the whole class crowded over to them.
It seemed that they forgot one girl and a highly recognized male of the class. All in all, problem solved….
'Or so we thought,' Ino sighed as the brunette placed the mechanics for the pageant on the table and crossed her arms. "Neji and I, you can't possibly be serious."
However, Ino had a room for her trump cards. "We are serious. Look, if you won't do it… Hinata would be our muse." Ino told her. They all turned to the Hyuga heiress, face flushed and fidgeting with her fingers.
The blonde then turned to her cousin. "You can't possibly want her to be into this, right?" Hyuga Neji only stared back at her, an eyebrow raised in wonder.
Sakura interjected, "If you also won't do it. This guywill be her partner." She pointed to none other than Naruto, "You don't want that, do you?"
"You also have these Chinese roots so talents won't be a problem since you have a sustainable knowledge of the PRC." Shino suddenly muttered.
Neji glared at the knucklehead. Naruto ignored it, and compared him to Sasuke. "Yeah, unlike a certain someone who can't possibly dance for his life!" He screamed at his rival who only smacked the back of his head. Another set of fighting continued.
"Fine, I agree." He nodded.
"Eh, you agree?" Tenten turned to him, quite surprised.
"We all need this for a grade." He stared back at her. She then contemplated for a bit, "Okay, I'll do it… but I want all of you to be part of this. It's not just us, okay?"
"Yeah, you can count on it." Sakura assured her. "Even the expenses and costume design, we'd contribute for it."
"Good." Then she paused, "Though, we have another problem." She continued and her classmates listened intently. "I want to clear up something though…"
The raven-haired girl continued observing all the candidates as they practiced their turns. It was all part of what they had all agreed to.
She would be a proxy in rehearsals and the finals. Looking once again at her notebook, she took note of everything and then flipped the pages for the mechanics, rereading it.
Contestants must attend constant rehearsals every Monday and Friday after classes in the University Hall. Failure to do so would result to deduction of points.
Talents and costumes of the contestants must portray the culture of the country they had picked. An exception this year is through the Modern Talent portion which would portray only Japanese culture and not the country they had gotten.
The pageant would be held at the culminating activity. All 8 pairs of the Seniors would be considered as finalists and here would they be showing their talents, costumes, and their intelligence at raising national awareness on our current theme in the Question and Answer portion.
Hinata turned the other page and checked the criteria for judging. She smiled at the thought, "Neji-niisan and Tenten-san can do this."
"So, you guys really believe they can pull it off?" Kiba asked his friends on their way home.
"Of course they can!" Ino cheered. "Those two look so great together,"
"A little," Sighing, Sakura looked at her friends. Ino wondered and turned to her, eyes filled with curiosity. "I'm sure Neji-san can do great. The Talent portion is a little bit of problem for him though. Tenten-san meanwhile got that covered because she can sing but well… the confidence, the poise- this is her first time, right?"
Sakura was right; they had no doubt about that.
"Ah," They muttered dejectedly.
For the sake of the grade, they had to do this. "Please Tenten-san, come on…. We need to teach you!" Ino said as she continued pulling the brunette's arm.
"No, it's fine. Neji and I got that covered, don't worry about that!" She said as she continuously held to the pole of the soccer goal as she tried to regain her control over her hands and right leg.
"Please!" Sakura pleaded. "Let us help you."
Due to her annoyance, she spat at the two girls. "Can't you trust us? We can do it. All you have to do is believe in us, okay?"
"But…" The best friends let go of her limbs.
"We can do it. You know us; we both don't want to disappoint anyone." She smiled at them. "I'll leave you with everything else, okay? Just don't worry about Neji and me. "She waved to them, "I need to practice more, alright? Bye!"
Several days had passed and successfully turning to weeks, the rest of the class had no idea if their candidates were even ready for the finals. They could be trusted; they were reliable… but…
They still had the doubts. Their rival, Class 3-2 had been constantly practicing and they had always been of great threat.
"So, Neji and Hinata are your candidates?" Kin, the muse of section 2 asked her batch mates when she saw the tarpaulin flag of the Sleeping Red Giant on their wall. "How great, incest!"
Ino rolled her eyes, "Be nice or you just might wash off that brain of yours from crying when you lose. If you have any… but that doesn't really make a great difference."
At this, Kin smirked. "There's no logic to that,"
"Yeah well…" Naruto shut the door right at her face. "Sorry, I'm eating."
The black-haired girl scrunched up her nose through the glass pane of the door. Ino clapped her hand. "Incest? Yeah right, stupid. As if we'd do that… "
Naruto then burst out laughing, "Awesome! They fell for it!"
"Tarpaulin, check," Ino who was evaluating the class activity (other than the fact that her Fashion Guru Club also needed the attention) turned to everyone who did their assignments. Sai nodded. "Check!"
"Chinese sound effects," Shino also nodded, "Done."
"Costumes," She turned to Hinata, "Hai, Ino-chan… these are the designs…"
"Great!" Ino said before turning to the two, "Two red dragons and the dance, " Kiba and Naruto raised the dragon heads and practiced their short routine again.
"Golden gong prop!" Chouji smiled at her, "It was hard to make… but here it is Ino!"
"Calendar check and confetti?" Shikamaru, rolled his eyes at his pathetic and bothersome assignment—really, this wasn't necessary. "Exactly a day before the pageant…and yes, I'm cutting the red strips."
"…and we're ready!" She cheered.
Balloons and streamers decorated the u-hall, as it was already the day. Claps echoed through the hall and the hosts fully clad in their gowns made their way to the stage and started the program. "Welcome to the Fashion Guru Event of the Year! Mr. and Ms. Earth 2011!"
They paused as the cheers and claps died down.
"Well, isn't this great Ino, the Social Studies department had given us the permission to hold this event annually now!"
"Yeah, I'm so glad, Karin." She hid her disgust in a plastered smile temporarily. "Well, let's get it going. We can't make them wait."
The crowd cheered. "I guess not," She laughed through her high pitch voice. "But first, let's all welcome the Fashion Guru Officers for their introduction number!"
The music started and out with it, twenty officers danced on stage.
Meanwhile, the Class 3-1 was in quite a pandemonium. "Well, have you seen them?" Sakura who was staying at their designated row, shook Naruto at her question.
"… Still looking, I can't find them!"
This wasn't happening. Of all the days, why at the day of the pageant should they choose to go missing? "Contact them!" She said and then turned to her other rushing classmates. "Guys, have you seen them?"
"Neji-kun and Tenten-san are nowhere in sight, my youthful blossom!" The bowl-cut haired Lee said. "But, worry not, I will find them with all my might."
"Well, get Hinata for the meantime."
"Jeez, she better come or I will kill her. I went in such trouble just to bring her costume here in Japan." They all turned to a petite blond in her twenty's. "Uhmm, excuse me, who are you?"
She nodded to them and shook Sakura's hands, "Subaku no Temari, Tenten's cousin."
"Well, for this pageant… here are the criteria for judging!" Karin announced. "National Costume is 30 %, Talent is 15%, Personality: Confidence, Delivery and Impact are 20%, Relevance to the Answer in the Q&A portion is 25% and lastly, Poise and Chemistry is 10%.-a total of 100%!"
"So, shall we make them wait any longer?" Ino asked her partner. The crowd cheered. "I guess not," Karin replied.
"So guys, let's all welcome our candidates for our Mr. and Ms. Earth 2011!"
The music started and pairs of male and female made their way to the stage in their national costumes.
First one up was from Class 3-8.
"A pleasant evening to all of you," before the female contestant translated it to the native Indian. "My name is Karui of Class 3-8, representing the incredible country of India!"
"Hello everyone, I'm Omoi of Class 3-8 representing the beautiful country of India!"
…and it went on from there.
Class 3-1 was now preparing themselves for their parts—well Naruto, Lee, Kiba and Sai mostly—since they were backstage. At the seats, Lee and Sakura almost had their heads spin at the nervousness. Sasuke just shook his head as he anticipated what would happen. Shikamaru and the others hardly even cared; it wasn't such a big deal. Plus, they could count on those two.
But then, they weren't as grade-conscious as Lee, Sakura, Ino and Sasuke were. They would come, they saw clasped her hands together.
Temari just observed her cousin's classmates with amusement.
Moments later, "Hey Sakura-chan! Neji and Tenten are here and…"- Naruto snickered through his phone. -"You're in for a surprise."
"Oh okay, thank goodness." She sighed in relief and shut her phone off.
Ino then announced, "And now last but not the least, Class 3-1!"
Sakura turned and their chosen background music played. The gong was struck playfully as another sound effect mashed, the confetti and the dragon dance of their four boy classmates started…
She and the rest of her classmates gaped at the second sight when the dragons cleared the view.
There stood, their muse and escort…
"You know they think the Talent portion is a big thing…." She pondered. "Hn," Her partner nodded and turned to her, "Well, we got it and the other criteria covered, don't we?"
"Especially the last one, you mean?" He smirked at her.
She playfully hit him, "I don't know about that." She then rose up and held his hand. "Come on, we have to practice our routine again." She took another peek at Hinata's illustration and notes.
"You want to win this?" He raised a brow.
"Well, there are perks if we win…"
"I get the feeling that you have another reason for joining."
"You got that, Hyuga." She smiled slyly at him and tiptoed to whisper to his ear.
He shook his head, as he listened intently. "I see."
"Well, are we in on it or not?" Tenten asked her best friend as they started their practice in one of the Hyuga function halls.
Neji smirked as she watched her gracefully made her way, with him by her side.
Clad in their national costumes, they made their way to the center of the stage. Tenten wore her costume elegantly. Various dark dragon patterns decorated her silken crimson kimono, styled much alike with that of an empress of a certain kingdom. It was complete with a headdress of gold and red flowers. She wore a light make-up and her brown locks were unmistakably down for this occasion.
Neji, even though he was simpler, also wore a kimono- black one in its glory with golden dragon prints on it and a headdress of gold. His hair which was usually down had remained the same. Still, he was not of any exception at the regality of his partner.
The crowd erupted in a surprise at the candidates. Murmurs and shouts of "Tenten?!" "Woah," "S-She's… she's…" and many more.
"Is that really, Tenten-san?" Sakura murmured in disbelief.
"Yosh! Tenten-chan and Neji-kun are blossoming in their youthful costumes!"
Temari smirked at the sight of the two. "Knew she would look good, "
Ino, at the sight, couldn't stop herself. "They… look amazing!" She screeched out through the microphone. The crowd turned to her and she made an apologetic smile.
Tenten smiled at everyone before in her adorable voice spoke in Chinese, "Hello! Good evening everyone! I'm Hanwa Tenten from 3-1! And I'm proud to represent my wonderful home country, People's Republic of China!"
She moved to the side and Neji also removed his mask. Speaking in a baritone voice, he introduced himself. "Good evening everyone. The Sleeping Red Giant is what its known and I, Hyuga Neji, proudly represent the country of China!" He sent a smile and numerous fan girls swooned on the spot.
Karin turned to her partner a look of disbelief was on her face. 'Wasn't Hinata the muse and not Tenten?'
The candidates on the other hand, made their way to the other side. They spun on their heel and met at the center. They posed for a second before they made their way the back.
The flag of China as Lee and Shino held it up and Kiba and Naruto with their Dragon dance made their exit. Shino played the music again and the gong sound effect, ending their introduction.
"When you said you would take care of it, you really would!" Ino hugged their Muse as the program took a 20 minute break.
"Well, yeah, of course." Tenten smiled sheepishly and from the corner of her eyes, looked at her escort.
"And the chemistry is there! As always! We're going to win!" Ino cheered.
Sakura and Hinata also hugged Tenten. "Thank you! Thank you!" They kept muttering in unison.
"Well, Neji my man never thought you would do anything like that." Naruto put his arm around his classmate. Neji glared at the boy. "Definitely, you're better than Teme. Hope you can dance, though."
Sasuke ignored it and smirked at his death-glare rival. "Nice one Hyuga. Will do anything for the girl, right?"
"Hn,"
"You two were so youthful out there! It was so, so youthful!" Lee cried in joy. "Neji-kun and Tenten-chan look great in their spring time of youth!"
"For once, I agree." Kiba pumped his arm in the air.
"Nice way to fool me," A sick voice suddenly caught their attention. "Hinata was only for show and rehearsals and switching the registration form on the last minute, huh?" She showed the paper at them.
Karin. Ino smiled slyly at her, "I'm your vice-president…what are the perks if I am, right?" She rolled her eyes, "If you're thinking of disqualifying them… well, you'll have to deal with our club adviser, Kurenai-san." Karin was about to reprimand but then, "Who by the way, knew about Neji-san and Tenten-san's busy schedule and agreed for Hinata to come and watch."
She stomped her foot and tore the paper into pieces.
Ino smiled, "Bleh. Got 10 photocopies in my bag just in case,"
Shocked, Karin spun on her heel and made her way inside. The classmates laughed at the scene that just unfolded then.
The program started once again, and their contestants changed into their costumes for the talent portion. The previous props men went to their seats and watched candidate after candidate present their talents related to their country.
Most of the others danced to a folk song and only one sang, but their contenders were different.
After all, martial arts were part of Chinese culture… and these two just happen to be both sporty as they were soccer players and black belters of Karate.
A Chinese theme and a battle-like scene were created by the two on stage. The audience and judges watched intently.
"Hai, hai!" Tenten screamed as she continued to lunge forward to his partner who successfully blocked all her attacks. Neji managed to hold the brunette by the arm and let her collide to the ground. She rose to her feet and pound on his arms with her leg.
They finished their routine with Neji holding her by the neck and Tenten's open palm close to jabbing to his stomach area.
Everyone swallowed in fear; they could easily hear their limbs making contact with the others' body but both of them seemed… vulnerable to it.
Not to mention it was quite real. Naruto just let his lips part, "Note to self, never mess with those two."
"Aha," They all nodded their heads, agreeing with the blond.
"We're not going to practice for the talent portion?" The Hyuga asked as their soccer practice ended.
"Nope, it's better that way." She said as she fixed her hair.
"Keep things real, then?" He crossed his arms.
"Of course," She smiled at him, "That way if you lose…for real it'd be that embarrassing."
Rolling his eyes, he commented. "Hn, I doubt that."
"Doubt all you can," She glared at him.
"I always win, just in case you're forgetting…"
"Next up is the Modern Talent Portion! Now, each team has to perform something relevant to the modern day culture of our country, Japan…."
"Uh, hey guys… do you have any idea what are they going to do?" Naruto asked them.
"No," Everyone shook their heads.
"We didn't help them on that, right?"
His classmates nodded again and nodded, "…..We're dead."
She bit her apple as she continued to scan the rules imprinted on the papers. "There's a Japanese talent thing…And, you're the problem." She tapped her foot.
"Hn,"
"So what are we going to do?"
"Act?"
"Hell no, how about singing or dancing?" She suggested with a smile.
"First,"
"Ehhh? You can sing?" She stared at him, bewildered.
"No," He said and went elsewhere to get something. A minute came and he came to view with an instrument in hand, "But I can play the electric guitar. You're the one who can sing, right?"
It wasn't as smooth as they expected but they did it. She sang one of Akatsuki's hits, Yura Yura.
Yura yura to yuganda sora e
Kimi no moto e tonde yuke
Konna ni mo chikaku ni kanjiteru
Futatsu no omoi
"Well, at least that's a relief." Kiba said.
"I guess that one flaw wouldn't hurt," Sakura muttered. The rest nodded agreeing with her, except for Sasuke who thumped his best friend's head for the fifth time of the day.
The question and answer portion went off easily. You could give any question to them, especially to Hyuga Neji and he would answer dead on in full sentences with correct usage of grammar whatsoever, be it in Japanese, English or in this case, Chinese…
He first translated his answer in Chinese before answering in native tongue, Japanese at the question of "What are the two most important traits do you think you should posses in order for you to raise national awareness?"
"Integrity. In this word, it embodies honor and reliability. No one would be able to follow in your footsteps if you yourself do not value your honor and not lead a frugal life…."
Tenten clapped her hands as he finished, "Indeed, most of us have this so we, in our own way can raise national awareness."
His classmates shouted and cheered at his answer. As expected from Hyuga Neji, the handsome and one of the geniuses of Year 3.
The same question was also given to Tenten. "Discipline, because if there's no discipline… there would be any restriction for any of us. We'd just end up wasting and wasting the resources…"
She then ended her answer, "We must take care of what our Mother Earth had given us."
It was an average answer but nonetheless, her classmates started cheering. She waved and smiled at all of them. 'Thanks for the support guys.' She mouthed to them.
"Okay, I am losing my voice from too much screaming." Sakura said her voice hoarse.
"But it is worth it for our youthful candidates!" Lee proclaimed.
"So I guess, we have to end the night now, right Ino?" Karin said as she adlib. Ino nodded and stared at her program guide. "It's time to end the night! To announce the winners of tonight's show, here is our club adviser, Kurenai-sensei!"
The said teacher made her way upstairs. Everyone clapped and she gently replaced the two hosts at the stand. "Well, I hope you enjoyed everything. Great job every one," She commended on the candidates and then at the rest of the seniors, "On behalf of the Fashion Guru club, I thank every one of you for unwinding support at making this event successful."
She then opened the envelope, "Well then, it's time to announce the winners."
"Hmm…we shouldn't be that overconfident, Neji." She sat next to him as they ended their pageant practice. He just nodded but then she said. "Oh what am I talking about, you're bound to win!"
He then smirked at her, "Then do whatever it take for you to win as well."
"Yeah, I'm fully aware of that."
"Good, because I want you to still be my Muse when both of us win."
It was highly expected by everyone. "The second runner up is Mister and Miss India! Congratulations!"
"The first runner up is Miss Malaysia and Mister Thailand! Congratulations!" Kurenai continued, "And lastly, the champion…Mister and Miss China! Congratulations you two! You are our Mr. and Ms. Earth of 2011!"
The two of real Chinese descent easily won the hearts of the crowd (well, Neji had always won his fan girls hearts even if he didn't try).
They bagged the awards as Champion and Special Awards for the National Costume. Everything was great, even if the Miss Congeniality award was won by Shiho of Class 3-5 but all of them knew she deserved it too.
"Time to celebrate!" Naruto cheered as everyone gathered at their favorite barbeque restaurant. "Congratulations guys!"
"H-Hai! Congratulations Tenten-chan and Neji-niisan." The two nodded at the meek Hinata.
Temari flicked Tenten's forehead. "Thank me for bringing that costume here. Jeez, I had to go from China and then Japan."
"Oww, I just won didn't I?" Everyone laughed and started eating their meat while conversing –either thanking or congratulating the two.
"Your muse, huh?" Tenten turned to his partner as she whispered to him, making their way out of the barbecue restaurant. "Well, you're still my escort."
He smiled, "Hn. Well, we both know what that truly meant for us."
"Right," She rolled his eyes and felt his hand held hers. "I'm surprised they didn't pick us for that cause."
"Well, they took note of the chemistry criteria for the muse and escort…"
"And yet, no one still wonders why…" She muttered, smilingly as she kissed him. He put her arms around his neck and returned her kiss.
So that's why...their classmates thought. She was his muse and he was her escort, not just for show but in real life.