Disclaimer: I don't own Jack or Naruto… lalala
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-Hinata-
I love my friends dearly, which is why I started to cry at the airport. Father stood a safe distance away, a look of utter distaste on his usually stoic features. Hanabi stood beside him, his perfect image save for the sadness in her eyes.
"We'll miss you!" Sakura wailed extra loudly, drawing the attention of bystanders. I barely catch the sly wink she gives me and I start to smile. She's doing this to make my Father angry and it's working. Ino joins in the wailing until it sounds like the time my old pet cat Cuddles got her shots at the vet.
Tenten is standing on the outskirts and laughing. She pushes Ino and Sakura aside like curtains to give me a hug. Her charm bracelet jingles and so does mine. I silently vow not to remove it until I see all my friends again.
"Take care okay? Kick ass at that stupid competition or whatever you're doing." She advises me, patting my shoulder.
"T-thank you… all of you… I love you g-"
"Hinata we need to leave now." My Father cuts in rudely. Ino makes a face at him and Sakura scowls.
I wish I were as brave as my friends. Maybe then I could show my irritation at his sudden interruption. Instead I bow my head meekly and say "Alright… see you girls soon… don't forget to text and email me o-okay?"
"I'll email you all the time!" Sakura promises.
"And I'll text you!" Ino interjects.
"Ah… I might remember to email… I won't make any promises though." Tenten says, shrugging her shoulder. She's pretty well known for her lazy and forgetful tendencies. It's a wonder she's made it through high school with such good grades.
I smile and wave before picking up my bag and following Father and Hanabi through the terminal. That was the last time I would see them for three months. My heart ached at the thought.
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My farewell to Father was anticlimactic. "Do well." Was all he said to me.
"Y-yes Father…" –bow-
Hanabi bravely gave me a long affectionate hug, whispering in my ear that she would miss me. I held her tight. I love my little sister so much. I am very jealous of her but she is still number one in my heart. Those two are the only family I have.
The plane ride was long. I jammed my headphones into my ear. Sakura had downloaded a lot of classical music for me to listen to. I decided to listen to Ino's playlist instead which consisted of a lot of hip hop and dance beats. Tenten's playlist was a mix of different cultures. There was Chinese music, Spanish love ballads, and a powerful song by an Italian woman named Gianni Nannini. I loved that song the most and listened to it about thirteen times on the trip.
The stewardess offered me some peanuts which I rejected. I had a bag of M&M's in my purse, courtesy of Ino. My seatmate was a woman in her late twenties with long wavy black hair and skin as ivory as mine. She spent the whole time writing in a notebook and typing information on her laptop. She seemed like a very busy person so I did my best not to bother her.
Finally the plane landed. I think I fell asleep once or twice, although both rests were very uncomfortable. Still I did not complain because I knew that the pilot was doing his best to take us to London.
The school, or camp, is held in Europe because of the introduction of staff notation there. I know I will enjoy the rich musical and world history that Europe has to offer. The school itself is held mainly in Germany but we will be touring.
At least I have something to look forward to. Father wanted me out of the house and this school is the perfect opportunity. It looks like we both win.
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The second plane is to Frankfurt Germany. I wait two hours in the airport terminal until then. I am listening to Ino's playlist and enjoying a song by Timbaland feat. SoShy. I bob my head along and try not to move any other part of my body. Dancing is forbidden, I remind myself although my body yearns to move to the familiar rhythm.
I remember the years of ballet class I took before Father snatched it away from me. I still found time to learn between my AP classes and my routine job at his office.
Someone sits beside me. I don't look up or bother. The odds are they can't speak English so they don't understand what I'm singing.
Am I the one and only, cause you're the only one"Will you please stop singing?" The person asks, sounding irate.
I picture Ino yelling "Ah HELL NO!" and pounding his head through the floor and I begin to laugh.
"What, does pissing me off amuse you or something?" he snaps. I lift my head up and nearly die right there. He's BEAUTIFUL. Ebony hair… dark dreamy eyes… looks that any angel would kill to acquire.
"N-n-n-n-n-no! I j-just… you… um… Ino!"
He looks at me like I'm crazy. Maybe he's right.
"Ah… I w-w-want…" I scan the terminal and see the familiar sign "Starbucks! B-b-ye!"
I race out of there like my tail is on fire.
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-Ino-
I'll miss my Hinata. Forehead girl left next. We hugged and cried and made a big fuss. We even waved at the airplane even though we knew they couldn't see us.
"And then there were two…" Tenten mused aloud as we walked back towards the love of my life, aka, my mustang.
"Wow…" I put my hands on my hips and stopped short. "This sucks."
"Or it's an awesome opportunity."
"Huh…"
My airplane didn't leave till the next day, which gave me a good 24 hours to say goodbye to my hometown. I wasn't sure what to do. Did I want to sneak into a club again? Maybe slash the tires of my ex-boyfriend's car? So many choices…
"Wanna sleep over?" Tenten asked as I dropped her off.
I stared at her small brick house. The yard was a complete mess. It looked like a tornado hit it and I knew her bedroom would be even worse. Then again, her next door neighbor is H.O.T.
"Okay."
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We both lay in her bed staring at the ceiling. The light from the TV flickered casting creepy shadows around her already creepy room. I could hear Mr. Darcy confess his love to Elizabeth once more. Boring.
"Now what?" Tenten sighed.
"I dunno. Its so weird not having forehead and my poor baby here."
"Hinata will be fine."
"I hope so. She's so shy…"
"At least she's fluent in three languages, how many girls can say that?"
I nodded. "Tomorrow I leave."
"Yup."
"Wanna sneak into a club?" I suggested, shifting across her Mermaid bed sheets.
"Okay."
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I couldn't help but feel disappointed at my small farewell party. My Mom, my Dad, and Tenten all stood watching me with morose expressions on their faces. "Are you sure this is the right thing to do?" Dad whispers loudly to Mom "What if she hurts those poor kids?"
"I can HEAR you!" I stamp my foot angrily. AARRGGHHH! That sounds JUST like my stupid Dad. He always thinks I can't take care of myself! Well I'll show him… I'll take care of the kids AND myself. Then they'll leave me alone and let me inherit the stupid shop.
Tenten snickered behind her hand. I glared at her. "It's nice to know you guys have such faith in me." I said tartly.
"Oh honey…" Mom made her 'sad face'. "We're just concerned."
I rolled my eyes dramatically. A couple passing people eyed me strangely. I snapped my teeth at them like a shark, earning their horrified glances. Ha-ha. That ought to teach them. I flip my ponytail impatiently. Airports are freakin COLD! I swear the thermostat must've been set to 10 degrees. I hug myself and keep my legs close together to generate heat.
"You wouldn't be so cold if you didn't dress like a hooker." Tenten pointed out. She smiled smugly because she was wearing a giant pink sweatshirt… which was starting to look veeerryyy comfy.
"Oh Tenten…" I said in my sweet voice, trying to forgive her trespasses "Can I have your sweatshirt?"
"Nope." She popped her lips for extra emphasis.
"Please?" I tried to initiate my 'puppy dog eyes of doom' "We're best friends! We share stuff all the time!"
Tenten shook her head sharply. I was surprised the buns in her hair didn't fall out "You mean I share. Where are my black shorts, or those capris, and what happened to my lucky sweater? Huh?" she threw accusation after accusation until I shriveled into a quivering pile of goo "And I'm STILL looking for my ipod! You wouldn't happen to know who stole it do you? While you're at it maybe you could locate the diamond earrings I got for my Bar-Mitzvah!"
See, that's the thing about Tenten. She's a classic beauty and a classic tomboy. She's the ONLY girl I know to throw her own Bar-Mitzvah. Trust me, it was WEIRD, especially when we did the little chair dance and her drunk Dad accidentally dropped his leg of the chair. The Jewish Ambulance drivers actually considered leaving her on the floor with a broken arm once we described the situation.
Ah good times…
Back to the situation at hand "You WILL give me the sweatshirt!" I wave my fingers in her face.
Tenten stares at me for a long, blank moment. "You are not a jedi and I am not a moron."
"Please? I'm about to leave and I swear I will cry and then my mascara will run! Remember the last time that happened?"
"You looked like a drowned raccoon."
I pointed to her "EXACTLY! You don't want me to look like a drowned raccoon and scare the kids do you?"
Tenten huffed out a sigh as my flight number was called over the intercom. "Fine." She unzipped it and threw it at me violently. I screamed a little as I thought of the damage it would do to my perfect ponytail.
"Your sweatshirt smells weird." I complained as I slipped it over my extremely naked arms.
"That's because I JOG in it." Tenten scowled.
"Oh. Ew." I tried to remember her heroic sacrifice "Thanks I love you guys!" I gave everyone a last minute hug and kiss before running off, dragging my seven bags behind me.
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One word to describe planes: Obnoxious.
First the stupid stewardess offered me peanuts! PEANUTS! Hello, who in the hell wants peanuts? I want some chocolate and I want it now dammit! Then she decides to get all huffy with me when I demand real food (but under 200 calories of course).
Then when I FINALLY fell asleep we hit turbulence. I nearly got whiplash with one bump. I decided it was time to address the pilot. I dropped my computer bag on my seat partners lap (hello it's a plane, where could that idiot go?) and stormed up towards the cockpit.
The uppity stewardess demanded that I sit down, and that was when I demanded that she throw herself out the window along with the sewage.
It was around that time they jumped me.
I was literally confined to my chair and warned not to leave my chair under pain of arrest. I'm not sure if they can actually arrest you or not but the male stewardess looked pretty serious.
Damn airplanes.
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We landed in the only place worth landing a plane, Chicago. Ah beautiful, violent Chicago semi-home of Senator Obama. I inhaled the sweet city air and retrieved my baggage from the baggage claim.
Waiting for me was Aunt Yori. She looked healthy and happy she also looked pretty fat. "Wow Aunt Yori," were my first words to her "have you been hitting the potato chips or what?"
She threw back her head and laughed "No my dear I'm pregnant, Eight months in fact."
"So you mean…" I hesitated to say, "You could pop at any minute."
She laughed again. Wow the people of Chicago sure are jolly. "I guess you can say that. I won't be at the day care as much which is why I requested your help. Don't worry, my new assistant will show you around."
"If you say so…" I said, following her to the van with my train of bags close behind me.
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End Chapter
Wow that was really fun to write. I actually am feeling the joy of writing once more. Let me know what you think. I've already got the pairings planned, and I can only hope that you are open minded enough to forget your prejudices and enjoy the story.
Don't forget to review! Next chapter is Sakura and Tenten!
