Clandestine by The Loser Lord
Secret 2: "A" New Friend
Got a secret, can you keep it?
Swear this one you'll save,
Better lock it in your pocket,
Taking this one to the grave;
If I show you,
Then I know you won't tell what I said;
Because two can keep a secret,
if one of them is dead
"Tenten, we're gonna be late for homeroom. We said we were gonna meet Sakura and Ino," Hinata Hyuuga reasoned gently.
"Yeah, hold on!" Tenten shouted over her shoulder; the brunette held her basketball tightly in her hands and, without hesitation, flung the orange ball into the net. It passed through the rim with an airy 'whoosh.'
"Nothin' but net," she bragged. Hinata rolled her eyes, readjusting her backpack hanging off her shoulder.
"Yes, yes, very nice. Now, can we get going?"
"Sure."
The two girls exited the gym, entering the crowded main hall. Students were already gathered in front of the main bulletin board, no doubt finding their class assignments for the year. Tenten, one year older than Hinata, Sakura, and Ino, remained with her same class from last year; it was school procedure that second year classes stay the same for third year.
It was a lot less messy when the first day of the semester came and today was definitive proof of that belief, seeing that many third years were leisurely passing frantic underclassmen to their normal homeroom class.
"All three of us are in the same class," Hinata announced, delighted that she checked the board earlier.
"That's great!" Tenten pulled out her cell phone to text Sakura and Ino the news; they'd meet them later in homeroom since Kakashi never showed up on time to chase out students not assigned to 2-C.
A sudden division of the crowd of students brought Tenten and Hinata's attention to the front door; Naruto Uzumaki, bright and boisterous as ever, strutted down the hallway, completely ignoring the scowls he received from his fellow classmates.
"Great, he's back," the girls heard from a few hostile students.
"Hey, Uzumaki! The looney-bin in Sunagakure didn't cut it for you?" shouted one instigator; Naruto snorted at the stranger, but said nothing else.
"When'd Naruto get back?" Tenten asked, horrified. Hinata shrugged, trying her hardest to fight back the heated blush blossoming on her pale cheeks.
"I…I do…don't know. M…Maybe last n…night?" Hinata pathetically tried to hide her anxiety, but it painfully showed; it didn't do the girl much good since Naruto was headed right in her and Tenten's direction. Tenten took an incredulous glance at her friend, surprised by the girl's sweating face and trembling body; both delicate hands were held defensively in front of Hinata.
"Don't tell me you're still crushing on him?" Tenten nonchalantly asked.
"N…No!" Hinata snapped, her flustered blush darkening when greeted with Tenten's answering expression.
"It's just b…been a while, t…that's all," Hinata mumbled dejectedly. Tenten snorted and threw an arm around Hinata's shoulders.
"It's alright if you do like him, Hinata," Tenten said soothingly, "You had nothing to do with that night."
"And I wish I had!" Hinata interrupted, almost angrily, "If I had been there, Karin wouldn't have gotten what she wanted and…and," Hinata stopped.
"My stupid brother's on his way to Sunagakure," Karin proudly announced in her living room. Hinata carefully set down her carton of Chinese takeout, eyeing her friend warily.
"What do you mean, Karin?"
"Mom and Dad decided that Naruto's a loon and that they're going to send him to the penitentiary in Sunagakure. It's about time, too."
Karin seemed awfully pleased, a small smirk present on her face. It took all of ten seconds for Hinata to understand what Karin was talking about. The petite girl abruptly stood to her feet, her fury too much to control.
"Karin, you know that Naruto didn't do anything!" Hinata shouted, "He had nothing to do with –," she couldn't finish. She was too angry.
"Calm down, Hinata. He's not being sent to death or anything," Karin replied, unconcerned with Hinata's fit, "He'll be back soon enough."
"You framed him, Karin! Your own brother!"
Karin's scarlet gaze met the challenging lavender of Hinata's; she scoffed.
"Please, Hinata. And you didn't help us?"Karin responded coldly, effectively flooring Hinata. She quickly sat back down, inching closer to Karin. The Uzumaki house was silent, dark and empty, save for the dripping of the leaky, unrepaired pipes and the strips of afternoon sunlight trickling in through the translucent curtains. Minato and Kushina, Karin and Naruto's parents, were long gone, having left early that morning to take Naruto to the Sunagakure Penitentiary.
Memories of the night in question flooded Hinata's memory; did she really have nothing to do with it?
"No," Hinata answered evenly, "I did not."
Karin laughed cruelly, "You tell yourself that, Hinata. But, if I remember correctly, you were the one who gave me the blueprints of the Hokage's Tower. Even if you didn't have a hand in the deed, you were the catalyst that started this whole misadventure."
"You didn't have to steal that scroll," Hinata deadpanned, "You didn't have to involve us or your brother."
"I didn't have to," Karin admitted, "but I did. And you all served your purposes beautifully. Especially Naruto. I'm sure he'll enjoy his stay in Suna; I hear they have warmer weather than Konoha."
Hinata didn't know how to answer her friend.
Because Karin was right. Hinata did have a part in Naruto's demise and it was because of Hinata that he was now taken away from Konoha; hot tears pooled in Hinata's eyes. Angrily, she swiped away the treacherous moisture.
"Aw, don't cry, Hinata," Karin cooed patronizingly. The redhead gently pulled the weeping girl into her arms, maternally stroking her dark locks, "I'm sure Naruto will still like you. He didn't say anything otherwise when he was towed off this morning."
Karin was satisfied when she only received grief-stricken hiccups as an answer. She continued.
"If you keep this conversation a secret, I'm sure that you and Naruto will be just okay when he comes back," she whispered into Hinata's ear, "I promise you that. Promise me you'll keep this a secret."
"Promise me," Karin said again, "…or else I'll tell Naruto the truth."
When Hinata agreed to keep the conversation between them, she made a promise in her heart to never forgive Karin for treating her friends and her brother this way.
"Hinata?" Tenten's hand waved tentatively in front of the girl's face, effectively drawing her out from her thoughts. Hinata shook her head, "I'm not even going to talk about it anymore."
"Hey, Hinata!"
Hinata's head snapped almost at lightspeed, greeted with the bright azure eyes of Naruto Uzumaki. She squeaked, slapping her hands to her blushing cheeks. Onlookers watched the scene unfold with distaste; Hinata Hyuuga still had a crush on Naruto Uzumaki, which was still unfathomable to many. Tenten, completely used to this reaction, quietly excused herself to go meet with Sakura and Ino.
"H…Hi, N...Naruto," Hinata stammered. "I…It's been a while."
"Sure has!" Naruto replied, his wide grin still as bright as Hinata had remembered, "I noticed we're both in the same class, isn't that great?"
"Y…Yeah."
'I thought I fixed this speech impediment a long time ago,' Hinata thought to herself exasperatedly. Naruto didn't seem to mind her inability to speak properly; however, he seemed have stopped smiling, his face suddenly grave.
"Hey, it's been a while since I've been here, so do you wanna walk to class together?" Naruto asked. When Naruto surreptitiously glanced around him, his face fell ever so slightly when he saw the disgusted expressions of his classmates.
He quickly amended his offer, swiftly self-conscious.
"But only if you want to. I know what everyone's saying about me, and I wouldn't want to cause any trou –"
"I'd love to," Hinata interrupted quickly and without hesitation. Her light eyes snapped to the shocked face of every single interloper in their proximity and they immediately shoved off, realizing that Hinata Hyuuga was just as hopelessly in love with Naruto as ever before.
That much was obvious.
The only thing that tore Hinata's gaze from Naruto's face was the ringing of her cell phone. A new text message and it read:
You don't suppose Naruto would be willing to walk with you to class if he knew it was your fault he went to crazy camp in the first place? 'fess up, bitch. -A
On the other side of the school, in classroom 2-C, Sakura and Ino were already settled in their desks.
"Tenten and Hinata said they'd meet us here; it's a good thing Hinata already checked the board for us," Ino said; she slouched into her seat, already beginning to drift off.
"Do not tell me you're falling asleep already," Sakura tried, but it was too late. Ino snored delicately in the corner of the classroom, leaving her best friend to stare at newcomers to the classroom.
After five minutes with no one else entering Kakashi's classroom, Sakura dug in her schoolbag until she produced a small, black leather-bound book; it was worn, probably from frequent opening and closing. The pages inside were wrinkled and yellowed, scribbled on in various handwritings.
Sakura flipped to the next fresh page available to her disposal and unleashed her pent-up frustrations via verse.
When she heard the unmistakable thumping of the school shoes entering the classroom, she looked up from her hastily-written poem and nearly groaned in horror. Of course he would be in the same class as her. The universe just worked against Sakura like that.
"Just fucking fantastic," Sasuke muttered to himself. Sakura could feel the snark coming, and she was more than ready for it.
It was only a matter of time before Sasuke, being as Sasuke as ever, would say something utterly inappropriate and Sakura, being Sakura, would angrily reply with something equally unnecessary. Though she didn't mean half the things she said, Sakura decided that she wasn't going to allow herself to be bullied by Sasuke Uchiha, regardless if she was in love with him or not.
No, she would fight until her passion burned out.
"Animals aren't allowed in the building," Sasuke spat.
"Then get the fuck out, you tool."
She still had a lot of gas in the tank.
He didn't spare Sakura another passing glance as he chose his seat, conveniently far away from Sakura and her slumbering friend.
Sasuke's apparent hatred for Sakura didn't seem to lessen during the previous year following Karin's disappearance. As a matter of fact, Sasuke went out of his way to let Sakura know that he hated her and very much wished that it was Sakura who went missing rather than his secretive girlfriend.
'Ex-girlfriend,' Sakura amended. Without anymore regard to her hostile classmate, Sakura turned back to her poetry book with the intention of releasing more of her Sasuke-induced anxiety and frustration.
That is, until she spotted an unfamiliar piece of paper folded up and sticking out of the book's binding. Carefully, Sakura extracted the note and unfolded it, reading its contents.
You just couldn't wait to get rid of her, couldn't you? Don't worry, I won't tell anyone.
Love, A
"Sakura?" Ino's groggy voice called; the blonde had momentarily woken up. Her blue eyes focused on the offending note, "What's that?" she inquired curiously.
Sakura shook her head and folded the note away.
"It's nothing," she said, rather unconvincingly. Ino, still wrought with fatigue, accepted Sakura's nearly pathetic lie and went back to sleep.
Sakura felt sick for the remainder of the school day.
Notes: Thanks for those who read, reviewed, followed, and favorited (: I am pleasantly surprised at the reviews from readers admitting that they too are not familiar with Pretty Little Liars. Well, hang on tight kids.
I know it's a bit slow, so please bear with me.
Thanks again for reading!