FREYA: Next chapter now. I'm aware that Neji seems a little out of character. But hey he's a fucking art student…Can't have him angry all the time. How else is he going to appreciate beauty?
I so do not own Naruto. But man if I did…There would be room for two in every male ninja outfit…rawr! FREYA HAS SPOKEN!
CHAPTER 2: Fall Freshman Year-part 2
Three weeks had passed since Neji delivered the kimonos to the girls. He had photos taken of the clothing before he left and of their prospective wearers. The kanzashi he'd started on were almost completely finished. The fabric flower pins were perfect. As they should be. Neji never settled for anything less. But he was stuck on the last one.
"This shouldn't be so difficult…" he said to himself. He placed the other three in their respective boxes and put them away on his shelf. The ones marked Tenten, Hinata, and Temari were done. He stared defiantly at the last box marked Sakura.
October is the month for the Kiku kanzashi normally. Chrysanthemums. But already he'd given Hinata a white daffodil inspired kanzashi, Temari received a bright red cactus flower, and Tenten an orange lily. Neji was having a hard time with choosing a flower for Sakura.
"It would be so easy to make a cherry blossom or chrysanthemum kanzashi…but I don't want to…"Neji's face grew perturbed. She should have something prettier than a cherry blossom or kiku. Finally it hit him. Something a friend once told him sparked it. Neji went furiously to work on the last kanzashi.
Sakura sat glumly at her table starting on an English assignment. More like staring at it and hoping it would complete itself. Every time there was a knock at the door Sakura raced to answer it. And every time is was no one she wanted to see. Ino visited once or twice during the three weeks since Neji dropped off his kimonos. Sakura did her best to entertain her friend but just couldn't find enough energy to enjoy her company.
"So, fall track and field is almost done but winter track and field is going to start soon. And Sasuke and Lee are really excited about it. When Sasuke stretches for a run I can't help but stare at that sexy ass-"
"Ino!" Sakura exclaimed. "Curb your libido would you? Some of us actually have to do school work. Not like you Miss Cheerleader who gets to drool over athletes all day."
"Hey!" Ino objected. "I'm majoring in botany! It's hard work too!"
Sakura laughed. "Sure it is…Your parents are already great botanists. You hardly have to do any work at all…"
It was true. Everything she was learning in her classes was easy. She already knew it all. Ino was paying some girl to do her English and Government classes. Sure it was illegal but she'd rather 'drool over athletes' then fall asleep from boredom and drool over her assignments.
Ino looked at her watch and realized there was a practice for her squad in an hour. After gulping down her tea she said her good bye's and left. Sakura sighed and Temari and Tenten laughed around the corner.
"She's a handful isn't she?" giggled Temari. "She seems like such a brat. How did you ever become friends?"
Tenten interrupted. "She is a brat. Spoiled to the core. But she was Sakura's rival in high school. They were both vying for the attention of a certain…U-chi-ha…"
"Shut up!" laughed Sakura as she threw a pillow at them and missed. Drats. It incurred their giggling even more. "That's ancient history. He rejected me and I got over it. After then Ino stopped hating me and became my friend. She's not so bad."
The door knocked. "Hinata's home," said Tenten and she went to answer the door. "Hey Hinata. Oh Neji's here too!"
Sakura looked up suddenly and saw them come in. They all crowded around him aware of the reason for his visit. He cleared his throat before handing out his little boxes. Temari and Tenten received theirs first.
"Temari yours is a red desert flower in respect to your heritage and color scheme of your yellow and red trimmed kimono. And Tenten yours is an orange lily. They both have three strands of beads in the correct colors made of yellow tourmaline, for you Temari, and amber, for Tenten."
Both girls let out little squeals and ran off to the bathroom to put their hair in the do they chose for their kimonos so they could try them on. Sakura sighed and shook her head. They are way too excited about this.I say that but I can't wait to see mine.
"Cousin, yours is the white daffodil, like you asked for. Your strands are shorter and there are the white howlite beads you requested as well."
Hinata took the box and bowed a thank you. She went to her room to put it somewhere safe. The only one left was Sakura and now she could hear her pulse in her ears. Why am I so excited? A minute ago she was shaking her head in disappointment at her other two roommates for their excitement but now she was ready to explode herself.
"Yours Sakura was…the most difficult to make," he extended the box out to her and she took it. Here goes nothing. When she opened it she was wowed by its beauty.
"A lotus?" Sakura asked. He nodded. She pulled it out and remarked upon the detail. The pink lotus was as large as her hand when spread wide. The strings of pink oval beads and small spherical black beads rippling down from the flower were just dazzling.
"The pink beads are rose quartz and the black small ones are onyx to match the branches on your kimono," he elaborated.
"This is amazing Neji…" she whispered.
Amazing? Neji gulped. "I uh, well, yes. It took a lot of thought to find the right one," he admitted while trying very hard to keep a blush from his face. She makes me feel like writing poetry… "A lotus is a symbol of purity and eloquence. I was thinking that it suited you."
Sakura blushed fervently. What a thing to say! "I'm not sure about that…Purity and eloquence? I'm not sure I can live up to this flower's expectations," she laughed. Was he hitting on me?
There was a long pause between the two. Sakura stared down at her kanzashi and Neji stared down at the floor. Finally Sakura worked up the courage to say something.
"So…You made these with all of us in mind huh? That's pretty cool Neji. Hinata says you're an art student."
A sudden new wave of embarrassment washed over Neji. She knows. I was hoping she'd assume that they were bought. He had not intended to let anyone know about his objectives in college. It was the reason he chose to go to a prestigious out-of-the-way school, so that he wouldn't see his high school classmates.
"Yes, I am majoring in art and fashion design…" he admitted. "It's not something that I'm proud to tell many yet…"
"Why not? Art's pretty cool and you're amazing at this. Not many people can make such beautiful things. I can barely sew a button on a shirt so I admire your ability to create such beauty." Neji stared at her with new eyes; eyes that were caught off guard by her little speech. Sakura clamped her mouth shut. She didn't realize how silly she sounded. "Sorry, got a little carried away."
"No, it's alright. Thanks for the compliment. I don't get many, with the exception of my instructors," he sighed in disappointment but his heart did feel a little uplifted. It is nice to feel appreciated. Now I really want to be poetic. "But you're wrong, Sakura. I don't create beauty I just complement existing beauty."
Sakura let his words sink in. He doesn't think his kimonos were spectacular by themselves. They had to be worn by someone beautiful for them to look gorgeous. Did that mean he considers me beautiful as well? That thought was enough to make her flutter on the inside. He realized the consequences of his words too late and found himself in a hurry to leave before he could say something else. Time to leave before I make a bigger fool of myself.
"I uh, I have to leave now. I still have to prepare for some of my art classes. The photo shoot is in five days so I'll see you again then," he stammered as he left out the door. Sakura only stood there with her mouth open.
"Yeah, see you then…" she mumbled as she glanced down at the lotus hair accessory.
Today was the day. Sakura couldn't help but be nervous. She'd just finished a test in her chemistry class and was running to the shuttle. She had to hurry or else she'd be late. Go! Go! Go! The pre-med student just barely made it onto the shuttle as it was preparing to leave. When she took her seat she still couldn't calm the rushing feeling in her body.
"Can't it go any faster?" she grumbled. It would start in about an hour and she still had yet to wash up and put on fresh makeup. She kept repeating 'hurry, hurry, hurry' as her mantra.
When the bus finally made it to the apartment complex she jumped off and nearly tripped on her way up the stairs to the fourth floor. Waiting for the elevator would take too long. By the time she entered the door she was panting heavily and throwing her bag off as she ran to her bathroom.
"Sakura! Where have you been? There's less than an hour left before we need to be there!" Temari wailed. "Everyone else is ready except you! You need any help in there?"
"No. I got it. If you want go on ahead and I'll catch up to you," Sakura yelled through the door. The water could be heard going and scrubbing already in progress.
"You don't have a car Sakura…" Temari sighed. She pointed at Tenten and signaled her to throw the phone over. She did so and Temari caught it with ease. She dialed in the number for Neji and it rang a few times before he answered.
"Yeah, Neji. It's Temari, Hinata's roommate. Listen, we're all ready and heading out there but, can you come and pick up Sakura? She's not even close to ready. I'll leave you a key under the mat."
After hanging up Tenten came to Sakura's bathroom door. "Sakura! Neji will pick you up okay? We'll see you there!"
Sakura gave an inaudible response which they took for a yes. And all left without her as the hairdryer was going.
Neji drove quickly. By his watch she had about ten minute to be ready because driving to the shoot would take another fifteen. He hoped all she had left to do was some makeup and pin her kanzashi in.
He was there and headed up the elevator to her floor. Under the welcome mat was the key as Temari promised it would be and Neji let himself in.
Sakura heard a door open. And she was just finishing with her hair. The only thing left was to actually put on the kimono and tie the obi. That and the kanzashi. Oh and put makeup on in the car.
"Sakura, are you ready?" he asked the apartment. And he got a response from the bathroom.
"I've got my kimono in here and I'm putting it on. I'll be out in a sec!"
Sakura slipped her arms through the sleeves and criss-crossed the opening. Then realized with horror that the obi was still in the bedroom. Not that she could tie it herself anyway. She popped her pink head out of the bathroom only to have Neji's face right there looking down at her.
"What are you doing? Are you done?" he asked.
She shook her head. "Uh, do you know how to tie an obi? Cause…I don't…"
He brought a hand to his temple as if trying to think. I can believe this. They would miss the shoot if they didn't hurry. He signaled her to come out of the bathroom to see what she had so far. She stepped out holding the kimono shut.
She already had the tabi socks and juban undergarment on. Along with the kimono itself wrapping left over right. So far she was fine. He noticed that she looked nervous but he dismissed that the cause might be him.
"Come here. Where are the obi belts?" he asked and she pointed at her bed.
Neji went and grabbed the first belt, the koshi-himo, and got started by having her pull up the excess fabric so that the kimono stopped at her ankles. Neji tied the first tie around her waist and made sure it was secure. Sakura made a move to straighten out the wrinkles but he whapped her hand and did it himself. What a perfectionist…Then he grabbed the date-jima belt and started to wrap it too.
"I'm sorry," said Sakura. "I had a test and it took longer than I thought."
"It's alright, we still have enough time as long as you can put makeup on in the car," he said as he tied the sash and left the long excess to trail down her waist to her ankles in what looked like two long tails. As soon as he was done tying the knot that went across the obi he stood back and made sure it looked alright.
Sakura had her hair pulled back into a low ponytail, except for her bangs which framed her face. It was then clipped up so that her hair was not touching her collar. He watched her go put her sandals on and noticed that even without makeup she looked fabulous.
"My kanzashi! It's on the shelf in my room. Still in the box," she said. She couldn't reach it without a chair and she wasn't about to get on one while in a kimono. He reached up and grabbed it with ease and pulled it from the box.
"Hold still," he said as he lightly pushed the hair piece into place while holding her head steady with the other hand. She held her breath while his hand was touching her face. "There."
He took a step back and looked at her again. She was the epitome of beauty. He hardly had any words to say. Neji could almost venture to say that she didn't need makeup at all.
"Well, how do I look?" she asked nervously when he didn't say anything. "Do I look good?"
"No," he said and her heart dropped. "You look perfect. We should go before we're late."
She punched him in the arm. "Geez, you scared me! Saying 'no' like that. You jerk!" She nearly lost her balance but he caught her hand in time. She laughed nervously, "Not used to these high sandals. Heh."
She clung to his arm all the way to the elevator and going down it. Even though it was exceptionally hot in the elevator she held tight. The last thing she wanted to do was fall and ruin the kimono he worked so hard on. It would break his heart. And mine.
He helped her into the car and got in quickly himself. She hadn't noticed until now but he was wearing a black suit and his hair was tied back into professional ponytail. He looked particularly handsome today. The suit and tie complimented his serious face perfectly.
"Your suit…" she started.
"I know, it looks a little strange but I have to represent myself properly."
"No no no. I think it looks great on you," she said and he blushed a tiny smidge. "Not that you'd need a suit to look handsome…"
They were stopped at a red light. And the pause between them couldn't have been more awkward. Was that a compliment aimed at me? Sakura and Neji looked over at each other at the same time and quickly looked away. Neji found himself exceedingly nervous now. She called me handsome. He looked at her again but this time she wasn't paying attention. I should compliment her as well.
"Well, Sakura. You don't need my kimono to look beautiful," he answered back. He did it. He said it. All that was left was to see how she would take it.
Sakura looked over in disbelief at what she'd heard. He just told me that I was…beautiful. They both stared at one another's face. Without realizing it they were leaning closer and closer to each other. Their lips an inch apart. Sakura's eyes were half-lidded as were Neji's.
HONK!
Both woke from their stupor and Neji proceeded to hit the accelerator. The light was green and a dozen cars were waiting for him to move. He started questioning what he was about to do. I barely even know her and I was leaning in for a kiss. Sakura brought a hand to her mouth unsure why they had almost kissed and stared out her window. Why did I do that? I mean, almost do that…
In ten more minutes they would be at the festival grounds and this incident would have to be put behind them.
FREYA: So…not bad right? Not enough saucy-ness for you? Well just you wait! They'll be some saucy-ness coming up soon don't you worry. I like it when this couple is hot and heavy…Rawr…Freya has spoken.
