6 Months with the Hyuuga Family
By: Whipped Coffee

Month One
Day Two & Four


Chapter 2—Hello

Day Two

School.

Everyone hated it.

No one liked it.

So why was it still here?

Tenten had yet to find out the answers, although one day, she would find it, and burn down all the schools. But of course, that was just her rash side talking. She wouldn't really burn down the schools—where would that put her then? It was too complicated to plan out, and even think about it, truthfully. Complication wasn't her thing.

So, without missing a beat, Hiashi had already transferred and enrolled her to the same school Hinata. It wasn't as bad as it seemed – she would finally have a friend in school, and she wouldn't have to deal with idiots from her old school. The only thing that she was rather peeved at was that the maid had to tell her that she was going to school at six in the morning when she was still half asleep.

And somehow she was able to get to school in one piece, freshly dressed and hair neatly combed, tied up in her two buns. How this happened without her knowing, she had no idea, but she'd rather not remember.

Ignorance was bliss.

She heard a cough from the teacher, which snapped her out of her thoughts. She cleared her throat as she smoothed down the uniform skirt.

"My name is Tenten."

That was as far as the introduction went. She wasn't in the mood to say what her likes were, her dislikes, her goals, her plans for the future and the likes. If she could, she wouldn't even have said anything at all, but the glare on the teacher's face told her to do otherwise.

She hated being put on the spot. She felt like she was a zoo animal, a painting, a sculpture, for an exhibition. It was even worse when people who she didn't know was staring at her. Not that she cared much about what they thought, but it felt like laser was coming out of everyone's eyes. There it was again – her paranoia. She really needed to get that checked out.

"Is that all?" Kihu-sensei asked, clearing not satisfied with the lacking introduction.

Tenten nodded, looking around the room. At least this room had mint walls. Mint was a lot better than white.

"Your seat will be next to Misaki-san. Misaki-san, would you please raise your hand?"

She spotted a hand raised in the air. She quickly walked towards the empty seat situated next to him, avoiding eye contact with the rest of her classmates. Her seat mate, Misaki greeted her with only a smile, his brown eyes crinkling up into a crescent shape. She smiled back at him, feeling a sense of comfort.

But that comfort was soon washed away when she felt that cold shiver up her spine.

It couldn't be.

Could it?

She turned her head to the side slowly, and she inwardly groaned when she caught sight of devil. Or rather, when she caught sight of the dragon.

She breathed out slowly, facing the front of the room. Practicing those techniques from the video she gave Maki (sure it was a gift – but it's not like Maki would ever find out that she used his gift before giving it to him), she calmed herself down.

He wouldn't be able to do anything to her in school. After all, there were too many people around. Someone would notice if she went missing.

She got this.


Tenten's stomach growled as she trudged through the crowd of students in front of the cafeteria. With each passing second, she could feel herself losing her patience as the line didn't even seem to be moving any closer near the front of the line. She couldn't take it – she had been hungry two periods ago, and she was hungry now.

She needed food. Fast.

She quickly maneuvered her way through the mass of students (a few protesting that she was cutting the line) and only stopped when she crashed into another student.

"S-Sorry!" A familiar meek voice cried out.

"Hinata," Tenten said, when she saw the girl's face. "Hey!" She cried out happily, feeling a sense of relief (although still hungry) when she saw a familiar face. "It was my fault. I wasn't paying attention."

A slight blush covered Hinata's face as she shook her head, indicating that Tenten didn't have to apologize for something like that. "W-Would you like to sit with my friends?" Hinata asked hesitantly, wondering if it was the right thing to do. After all, Tenten might have made some other friends – to that thought, Hinata slightly frowned to herself. "Y-You don't have to," Hinata quickly said when she saw the surprised look on Tenten's face. "I-I just thought that—"

"No, no," Tenten quickly cut in, seeing Hinata fumble with her words. "I would love to sit with your friends! I just need to get some food first though," she said, squinting into the sea of students who seemed to surge forward.

"I-I have an extra bento box," Hinata said, raising the two wrapped boxes in her hand. "You left before the maids could give you the lunch," she explained softly.

"Really?" Tenten was genuinely happy, much happier than she had been since the day started. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go meet your friends!" She linked arms with Hinata and managed to pull themselves out of the crowd.

They arrived shortly at a circular table, seated by two other girls: a brunette and a blonde. "Hey Hinata," the brunette greeted with a wave of her hand. She gazed curiously at the girl next to Hinata.

"This is Tenten," Hinata introduced.

"So you're the one Hinata was talking about," the blonde mused, playing around with her yogurt. "Yamanaka Ino," she introduced herself. She pointed to the other girl with her spork. "Akita Kairi."

"Howdy," Kairi greeted with a friendly smile before diving into her lunch.

"Don't mind her. She's a glutton," Ino said airily as she continued to snack on her yogurt.

Hinata sat down next to Kairi and Tenten followed the suit. She glanced at the other two and smiled to herself. She always wished she had a friend like that – one to argue with, one to laugh with, one to share secrets with. She was constantly moving around so she hadn't made any close friends – or rather, any friends at all.

"Glutton? A glutton? It's called eating healthy!" Kairi defended herself, sticking her spork in Ino's face. "Unlike someone who only eats yogurt for breakfast, lunch and dinner, I am getting my vitamins, proteins and carbohydrates. It might surprise you but eating is necessary for survival!"

Ino only scoffed.

"Do they always do this?" Tenten asked Hinata, who was unwrapping the bento boxes and handing one to Tenten.

She nodded timidly. "I-It takes a while for them to settle down after they argue..."

"Hey guys!" There was a sudden clang behind them. "Hey, watch where you're – oh. Sorry about that... uh, you uh, can have my lunch..."

Moments later, a sweaty blonde and a bored brunette came into view. Ino and Kairi took no notice of them and continued their banter while Hinata was staring at the sweaty blonde with a worried expression.

"N-Naruto-kun, are you okay?" She asked quietly.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Naruto answered, grinning at her to assure that he was fine. "I just didn't realize we had such... big guys in our grade level," he laughed sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head. When he realized that Tenten was sitting next to Hinata, he smiled happily once again. "A new friend Hinata-chan?" He asked curiously, taking the seat next to her while the other sat down next to Ino.

"I'm telling you, yogurt is healthier than that oil you're inhaling!"

"I don't inhale, I merely enjoy my food at a fast pace."

"If food disappears in the five seconds, you are inhaling it."

"You know what? I'll inhale you—"

"Oh so you're into cannibalism now? How is that healthy? See, unlike you and your carnivorous ways, I stick to my yogurt because—"

"You know where I would like to stick that yogurt? I would take it and stick it up—"

"K-Kairi-chan!" Hinata gasped.

"Only for Hinata I'll stop," Kairi glared at Ino.

Ino just glared back.

"N-Naruto-kun, this is Tenten," Hinata introduced. "T-Tenten, this is N-Naruto-kin and Shikamaru-kun."

Shikamaru only looked up at Tenten, nodding to her as a sign of his greeting. Naruto grinned happily at her, excited to make a new friend. Tenten smiled back at the two of them, feeling a bit lightheaded.

Too many people. Too many names.

Not that she was complaining. In fact, she liked the fact that Hinata was introducing her to all her friends. It was just that she hadn't really had friends in the first place, so it was a bit awkward for her to interact with everyone. That, and the fact that there was still that cold feeling lingering in the back of her brain.

Pushing that thought aside, she tuned back in to the conversations.

"...then he had the audacity to glare at me! At me! Can you believe it?" Ino complained, waving her spork all around her. Kairi had luckily ducked when the spork was aimed in her direction, causing her to glare at Ino. That, of course, went unnoticed by Ino as she continued to rage with all her might. "This is inhumanly possible. How can he possibly do that to me? I mean look at me!" She cried out loud, still waving her spork dangerously in the air. "I'm beautiful!"

Kairi snorted and rolled her eyes. "I think the Uchiha should've done more than just glare at you. If anything, he should've punched you in the mouth so you wouldn't be able to talk."

Ino pursed her lips and glared at Kairi, who this time ignored the glare. "Sasuke-kun wouldn't dare hurt me. Besides, I was doing him a favor! I should have gotten a thank you instead of a glare. That ungrateful—"

Somewhat bored with the conversation since she didn't know who they were talking about, Tenten glanced at Naruto speaking over her with Hinata.

"Hinata-chan, are you going to eat that?"

"N-No, Naruto-kun, you can have it."

"Wah! Hinata-chan thank you so much! You're the best!"

Boring.

Tenten glanced over at Shikamaru, who seemed to be napping peacefully amidst the noise that everyone was making. She raised an eyebrow, wondering how that was even possible.

She needed to learn that technique, too.

"Shikamaru, stop sleeping," Ino commanded.

To her surprise, Shikamaru actually woke up.

He yawned, cracking an eye open. "What do you want?" He asked lazily, looking as if he would fall asleep at any second.

"We have to go," was all Ino said. "See you later guys!" She said, dragging Shikamaru with her against his will (or so it seemed).

"Thank god she's gone," Kairi said, letting out a breath of relief. "So Tenten. You haven't said a word since you came here," she said. Before Tenten could come up with a reply however, Kairi cut in. "I'll walk you to your next class! See you two later!" She grabbed Tenten, quickly speeding out of the cafeteria with Hinata stuttering behind them and Naruto's laughter echoing the cafeteria.

"What was that for?" Tenten asked, rubbing her wrist.

Kairi had a hard grip.

"Those lovebirds need some alone time," Kairi explained, standing on her tiptoes and peeking at the two. Hinata was blushing and Naruto was laughing. Awesome.

"Lovebirds? They're together?" Tenten wondered out loud, standing on her toes as well.

"Oh no," Kairi said. "No way in hell would that anal cousin of hers let that happen. But it's totally obvious that they like each other. I mean look at them!"

Tenten didn't understand – they didn't look like they liked each other. Hinata acted like she always did; blushiing profusely with the occasional twirl of the fingers. She didn't know how Naruto acted, but he seemed to be acting friendly.

Or was her definition of like different from Kairi's?

"Who's the anal cousin?" Tenten suddenly asked. If she was talking about anal then that must mean...

"Hyuuga Neji."

The fire breathing maiden eating dragon.


Cooking wasn't her forte.

And she had to find that out the hard way, with the brownies bursting into flames right in front of her eyes. It wasn't such a bad experience; in fact, it was somewhat exhilarating. Anko-sensei barely noticed that there was a fire going on in the middle of the room before she went crazy trying to put out the flames.

Tenten thought that Anko secretly enjoyed the experience as well.

"T-Tenten," Hinata greeted her afterschool. "Did you enjoy your first day?" She asked as she climbed into the car that came to pick them up.

Tenten followed her into the car while she thought of an answer. "It was... good," she managed to say, slightly unsatisfied. "Much better than my old school though," she said truthfully as she stretched out her arms. "But I can do without this much homework. How do you do this every day?" Tenten complained.

Hinata giggled. "I-It's only because you came in the middle of the semester," she said. "Y-You have to catch up to where everyone else is."

"That's true," Tenten said, looking around them. "So why isn't the car moving? What are we waiting for?"

"O-Oh, you don't know? We're w-waiting for—"

The door that Tenten had previously slammed shut was opened, interrupting Hinata. Tenten looked over curiously, and felt her stomach drop.

It couldn't be.

But it was.

"N-Neji-niisan," Hinata greeted, and he replied back with a nod. He however, refused to make eye contact with Tenten as he got into the car, seating himself next to her.

Not that there was much of a choice.

The car was silent once it started moving. It was painfully awkward for Tenten, seeing as though she was stuck between two options: either to talk, or not to talk.

Talking would mean that only Hinata would reply back. They would be the ones having the conversation in the car, and no matter how much better that seemed than not talking in the car, it still made her feel awkward. After all, she was the one intruding on their usual routine of going back home in the car. It would be rude to exclude one from a conversation.

Not that she wasn't one to be rude. In fact, she was the epitome of rude.

She just couldn't stand the silence.

"So Hinata tells me that you're her cousin," she started off brightly.

She might as well befriend the dragon. Who knows – maybe the dragon would turn into a... harmless lizard.

"Y-You haven't met?" Hinata asked curiously. "I-I thought you two were already acquainted by the way y-you two were acting during last night's dinner..."

"No, Hinata-sama. I would never be acquainted to someone of this caliber," was all that came in an icy tone.

Someone of this caliber?

Tenten frowned at that, and glared at him from the corner of her eyes. She wouldn't start anything – oh no, she couldn't start anything since they were in the car and there would be witnesses. She silently fumed to herself when the conversation stopped (Hinata knew when to drop a subject – Neji hadn't sounded too happy when she inquired about their relationship). It wasn't like the guy was a God. He had no right to talk about her like that, especially when she was sitting right next to him. In full earshot of the conversation. She was just trying to make amends to their off start!

And then he goes and insults her.

Someone of this caliber.

She silently fumed as she narrowed her eyes in front of her.

You should be honored to meet someone like me.

Hinata bit her lip as she watched Tenten silently fume to herself. She wondered what happened. Neji usually wasn't one to start something with someone, especially someone who her father had brought in. He was usually a bit kinder and polite.

She wondered what happened between the two of them.

She found her answer that night when Tenten suddenly barged into her room without knocking. Hinata had been putting away her finished homework and was getting ready for bed when the unannounced visitor groaned in annoyance.

"That good for nothing son of a—"

"T-Tenten!" Hinata interrupted, knowing fully well what word was going to come after that. No matter how often she had heard those types of words, she was already uncomfortable when someone around her said them. She was taught to never say those types of words, and now it was as if it was in her system to stop others from doing the same thing.

"Sorry Hinata," Tenten apologized as she slumped down beside the bed on the floor. "It's just that that dragon is so infuriating! I mean, I've been thinking about it ever since I got to my room, but someone of this caliber? Is he usually this judgmental?"

"A-Are you talking about Neji-niisan...?" Hinata asked, utterly confused by Tenten's use of the word dragon.

"Yeah, him," Tenten frowned to herself as she stared at the ceiling. "We did meet before, actually. That lying fire breathing dragon pretended we didn't. He found me in his room the other day when I was exploring," Tenten explained as she played with Hinata's bed sheets. "I mean, you can't get that angry if you find someone you don't know in your room..."

"You were in his room?" Hinata asked, surprised. "N-Neji-niisan doesn't let anyone into his room," she quietly explained. "T-The maids aren't even allowed to be in there."

Tenten frowned. "Well that was probably why he was so angry then," she muttered to herself. "I don't understand. Why is he so secretive about it?"

"I-It's a long story," Hinata said in an even softer voice. They were approaching dangerous waters now – Neji wouldn't have liked it if she talked about his past without his permission, especially to someone he obviously disliked. "I-It's getting late, we should get to bed..."

"I mean, did he have a horrible past where his girlfriend broke his heart and then fled the country? So in the end he decides to shut himself out and off from everybody else because he is mourning for her to return? So he goes and starves himself for years and years thinking that if he hurts himself physically the emotional pain wouldn't hurt that much? Is that what happened?" Tenten asked. When Hinata didn't answer, she laughed. "Yeah right. That only happens in books."

Hinata bit her lip. Tenten was oddly perceptive, even though she was just joking.

"Her name is Haruno Sakura," Hinata said.

Sorry, Neji-niisan. Maybe telling Tenten would be a good thing. After all, you did acknowledge her by showing your dislike for her.

"She used to go to the same school as we do," Hinata continued.

"W-Wait," Tenten interrupted, her eyes widening. "So I was right? There really is an ex-girlfriend who broke his heart and now he's cold and antisocial?"

"W-Well he was always antisocial," Hinata said. "I-It's just that it got worse after she left." Hinata paused, not knowing how to continue the story. "T-They were happy. And in love. But she just suddenly disappeared one day..."

Tenten frowned, almost feeling sorry for the poor dragon. Maybe the reason why he breathes fire and bares his fangs every time was just to protect himself. She mentally scoffed at that. Now that was something to be sorry for – he couldn't even get over his ex-girlfriend. What kind of man was he? If he was going to sulk all this time after their breakup then so be it. She had nothing to do with it. Although.. she narrowed her eyes. She might be the puppet that he was taking out his anger on.

"Well, his past has nothing to do with me right?" Tenten said, suddenly bright and happy as she got off the floor. "At least now I know why he's so grouchy all the time. Thanks for telling me, Hinata." She headed towards the door but suddenly stopped. "Oh and if you're worried, I won't say a thing to him. Goodnight Hinata!" And with that, she walked out of the room, knowing that Hinata was probably staring after her back.

She quietly walked to her own room, lost in her thoughts. This really didn't have anything to do with her, and she knew not to intrude on his affairs.

Or intrude on anyone's affairs, actually.

It was better than getting emotionally involved with things that weren't meant for her to get involved in. She could see him being the type of guy who would glare and sneer and curse at with all his might (well, not literally) if she involved herself with his personal matters. She wasn't a saint. She wasn't even that nice actually. In fact, she wasn't nice at all, so she shouldn't (and wouldn't) involve herself with people like him.

Because people like him wouldn't be able to appreciate the kindness of others. She already knew that without befriending him (not that she ever would).

That's right.

Getting involved would only be trouble.


Day Four

The silence was driving her crazy.

If she thought that white walls were bad, then she hadn't lived long enough to realize that there were worse things than white walls. For example, silence. Tenten knew that the Hyuugas were quiet people—heck, everyone knew that they were quiet people. It was rather ironic, since their presence was anything but quiet.

In any case, the silence was driving her to insanity.

"Tenten-san, you have a phone call," a maid called, knocking on the bedroom door.

Finally.

Noise.

She took the phone from the maid, wondering who it could be. She hadn't given the number out to anyone. She herself didn't even know the number to the Hyuuga Manor. "Hello?" Tenten said cautiously, wondering if it was some kind of prank call from a random dork she shoved on the first day of school.

It was totally an accident.

"Tenten? Tenten! I knew this was the right number."

"Kairi?" Tenten said, letting out a breath she didn't know that she was holding. "Did you need something?" She jumped back on her bed, feeling a bit happy that she had a friend to talk to on the phone.

Yes.

She was quite pathetic.

"I need your help. I'm throwing a surprise party for my brother."

"...Good to know?" Tenten was unsure as to how that concerned her. If Kairi wanted her to plan the whole thing... well, Kairi was going to regret that choice. Tenten wasn't a great planner.

"Ah, I would roll my eyes at you, but you can't see it. My brother is Misaki. He told me that he met you today."

"Misaki?" Tenten rubbed her chin as she pondered on the name. A friendly, boyish face with a boyish smile popped up in her head. "Oh! Misaki! He's your brother? I don't see the similarity..."

"I know. I'm much prettier."

Tenten laughed. "So what do you need me to do?"

"The party will be next week. We'll talk about it later with the others. Remember, not a word to him! I want to make this special for him, since you know, maybe he can finally treasure me and not annoy the fuck our of me like the other times and since you're coming and we all know that he has a huge crush on you, it'll make things even better! So remember—"

"What? What was that?"

"...What?"

"You just said something about Misaki—"

"What? What was that? I can't hear you that well Tenten. Maybe we'll talk later when this phone isn't acting up."

"You said that Misaki—"

"What mom? You need me to wash the dishes? Okay I'm coming! Sorry Tenten, the dishes to be washed. By me. I need to wash the dishes. ...yeah, see you!"

And all that was left was the dial tone.


Compared to when she first arrived to the Manor, Tenten had gotten relatively comfortable. Sure, there were instances where she got lost multiple times, but other than that, she got the hang of the twists and turns and stairs.

Tenten hummed to herself as she got a cup. She poured herself some water, and headed for the stairs. She still had multiple homework assignments left unfinished, and she really didn't want to stay up till one in the morning finishing it, like she used to do.

However, it seemed like fate decided to play with her.

She stopped abruptly when she saw someone standing in front of her. She felt that cold chill up her spine, that same cold chill that would always appear whenever she saw him.

"...Hey, what's up dragon?"