Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and do not profit from this fanfiction.
Enjoy!
Sugar Me Sweet
Chapter 2: Emotion.
Tenten set a brisk pace to her homeroom, eyes narrowed and cold. Eyes strayed to her form but as quickly as they came, they quickly left, hoping not to anger the brunette any further as her aura radiated anger and fury to all who would oppose her.
Tenten hissed as thoughts and memories clouded her mind. The girl she had seen in the courtyard, the familiarity that presented it to herself, the stalling moments. Those were all that stopped her from going into an all out fury at the courtyard upon seeing the indigo-haired girl, the girl that looked so familiar to her but she couldn't put her finger on it. Hyuuga Hinata.
Her so called friend. Her so called friend who had died along with their friendship.
Tears of frustration sprang to her eyes, disrupting her vision but overall of this, overall she had learned from the past and the present was to not cry, because crying never solved anything, because crying and anger had ruined her life.
Reaching for the golden knob to the door, with eyes focused up in front, she was suddenly thrashed to the side. Hitting the doorframe, she felt the shots of pain run through her body, letting out a hiss of agony; she turned her eyes to the cause. Hazelnut orbs connected with the waving brown hair that cascaded down the back of one of her fellow students. His head turned toward her to check if he had inflicted any pain. Eyes widened in shock as they came face to face with her hazelnut irises.
Tenten narrowed her eyes in anger and disbelief at the very familiar face of none other than Hyuuga Neji, the cousin of the heiress Hyuuga Hinata. She turned her head away from him, unable to look at his face.
"T-Tenten. Um…are you alright?" Neji asked, disbelief wiped from his face and replaced with the calm composure she had grown accustomed.
She nodded her head in confirmation, not willing to speak in his presence.
"Hey! Are you okay? I am so sorry; I didn't mean to hurt you. Well…I pushed Neji and I guess I wasn't really looking." The newcomer blond rambled.
"Shut up Naruto. She's fine." Neji stated, he quickly shot a glance at Tenten again before pushing the blond into the classroom.
"Ouch, itai! That hurt Neji. Open the door next time." Naruto grumbled.
"Well, that's why you look before you go." Neji said sarcastically.
"It's not my fault you pushed before looking…" The blond mumbled in response
Tenten rolled her eyes at the stupidity of the blond. Said blond muttered something under his breath about his friend before opening the door and stepping inside. Neji turned to look at Tenten.
"Coming?" He asked curtly, politely holding the door open for her.
Tenten nodded in response and murmured a quick thanks before walking inside, Neji following suite and closed the door behind him. Tenten walked to the very back of the classroom before setting her bag down beside her chair and taking her seat. She felt the eyes of the Hyuuga on her as she took out her books, looking up she met his steady gaze with fierce eyes. He glowered at her fury before turning away to take a seat two desks across from her. Tenten slumped into her seat, her hands trembling. Shakily she curled them into fists and hid them under her desk from view as more and more students walked into the door.
Keeping her head down, her eyes scanned the desks around her, watching as they slowly began to fill up but there was always the same constant variable in all of these situations. Nobody came to sit around her, it wasn't unusual, it was ordinary.
As class began, Tenten drowned out the voices around her, trying to fix the turmoil that was her mind. As minutes passed she felt the same pair of eyes darting to her every few moments as the class was coming to an end.
Turning her head towards the direction of the pair of eyes, she caught Neji watching her closely, synchronizing her. She shot an icy glare at him, daring him to challenge her temper any further.
The bell rang, the loud shrill sounding in everyone's ears as they trudged out the door.
"Wait." Neji called to Tenten, grasping her arm in a firm grip.
She turned to him, "What do you want?"
Neji paused, pondering over his decision to detain the already furious brunette.
"Why? Why are you like this?" Neji questioned
Tenten looked at him, eyebrow raised.
"What. Are you talking about?"
"That. I'm talking about that. Why are you so cold, distant, angry?" Neji questioned, his grip on her arm tighter with each word.
"Let go of me. There's nothing different. There's nothing wrong. Even if there was, it wouldn't be any of your business." Tenten countered while hurriedly prying his fingers off her arm, as she slipped through the door.
Neji said nothing as he watched after her form, his eyes narrowing in frustration.
...-...
Tenten rubbed her arm; as she walked to the courtyard, bag swinging in sync with her strides. She opened the glass door, feeling the fresh air blowing over her face, sweeping her bangs around her cheeks. She scanned the wooden tables for any other presence there except for her. Sighing in realization that she was alone, she collapsed in the corner she had previously occupied that morning, dropping her messenger bag in the piles of leaves beside her.
She could still hear Neji's words repeating themselves over and over again.
Why? Why are you like this? Why are you so cold, distant, angry?
She didn't know. Maybe it was because of what happened…the tragedy that spread them apart. Her body shuddered thinking about the horrid thing, the thing that had ruined and torn her life apart piece by piece, the very thing that haunted her every dream and nightmare.
She heard the eerie squeak of the glass door as it opened. Tenten's head shot up, eyes zoomed in the direction of the door. Nobody skipped second period, nobody even went outside if they had a free period. So the question was why someone was there now.
A graceful blond danced into the courtyard. Her neat ponytail whipping through the opposing wind, her arms were held around her form as she danced around and around. A smile graced her features as she spun, the exhilaration and happiness glowing from her body.
Tenten dropped her head, avoiding any possible situation in which she would have to look eye to eye, face to face with the lithe dancer. Familiarity. A word she herself was familiar with, but dreaded as well. She heard the dance steps falter, the stumbling silence that followed, the crunch of the leaves faded away as Tenten felt eyes bore into her form. Slowly raising her eyes and looking through her thin bangs, she watched as the blond stared at the paint that was splattered on the wall in seemingly intricate patterns and designs, the art piece she herself had created, long ago; when they were still...friends.
Finally noticing that the blond had not paid any attention to her presence, Tenten quietly slipped her messenger bag onto her shoulder and stood straight up, bag swing side to side. She took slow steps toward the clear glass door, silently hoping for no acknowledgement from the familiar stranger.
"You. You did this, didn't you? It's really…amazing." The blond said, amazement evident in her clear, high soprano voice.
Tenten froze, but fortunately she was quick enough to recompose her stature.
"Yeah. Yeah I did. Thanks...Ino" Tenten replied back, her words a bit forced as they rushed between clenched teeth. The blond looked over at her stiff form, shocked at hearing her name uttered in a tone so unfamiliar but so similar to the one she had heard directed to strangers but now herself.
They both could feel the tension set in between themselves; the icy silence that they had forever endured from all those years.
Without another word, Tenten strode out through the glass doors; her hands trembled at her sides as she walked, her bag swinging, tick tock, tick tock; like the hands of the clock passing through time. A time that was pushed aside but never forgotten.
...-...
Ino stood in place as if her feet were frozen to the ground, her face contorted into a state of shock, a half smile winding its way onto her pale porcelain face, as her eyes softened; a thought came to pass through her mind.
Maybe it's starting to change. Maybe we can be what we were before, maybe we can change everything.
But maybe it was hope that caused Ino to think such thoughts, it was always the lingering of the word that plagued and ruined her every dream. Maybe.
Ino had been like that, always would be. She was a believer who believed in anything to make something right. She had been caring, compasisonate, a drama queen, a diva, the girl all others envied; and she still was, but her loyalty was always questioned when it came to certain things.
Take her boyfriends for example, she was head over heels for all of them and even went low enough to ditch her friends and lie to them, to be with him, him who was a conniving idiot who thought it would be fun to mess around with her...
...-...
Tenten clenched her fists at her sides, her hazelnut orbs stinging with tears that threatened to fall. She would be strong, she wouldn't break down now; after all that she'd gone through, she wouldn't let her composure crash down. She hurriedly wiped her wrist across her eyes and walked to the parking lot.
Seconds later with her keys in hand and the door unlocked;she slipped inside and stuck the key into the ignition and let it hang, the slow side to side movement calmed Tenten down as she sat, watching quietly.
She sniffled and hurriedly wiped the moisture away from her eyes; revving her precious Prius up and driving out of the school parking lot.
She drove downtown, no destination in mind but one to avoid. School. It meant nothing to her, it was something to take her mind off things but it no longer served a purpose if they always somehow surfaced up.
She drove through downtown, her roommate's words flowing into her head.
...-...
Boutiques. Convenience stores. Malls. Supermarkets. Sport centres. Movie theatres.
All of them whizzed pass Tenten as she drove, none appealing to her, none defining her. Slowing to a stop, she stepped out of the warm leather comfort zone of her car; throwing her blazer off and into the back of the car she slipped her black hoodie over her head. She walked the block and a half to her favourite coffee shop, cell phone carefully tucked into the pocket of her hoodie. She hadn't exactly taken her roommates recommendation(word-by-word) in mind, she wouldn't exactly get the job, more like look for any better options.
She pushed open the clear glass door of the shop and sniffed, the bittersweet roasted coffee bean aroma wafted in the air around her and she slipped in. The walls were painted a charming deep purple, brown lining the tops and the bottoms of the walls. Windows were left wide open letting the cool breeze drift in, the oak wooden floors gleamed a soft brown as the hustle of the customers went on. Tenten walked on, her Puma clad feet gently stepping onto the floor as she made her way to the counter where the coffee machines were set up. Quickly getting in line, she ordered a peppermint mocha and stood to the side as she waited for her caffeine, the sun shone dimly behind clouds; casting looming shadows through the open windows.
Grabbing her cup, Tenten strode out the door and turned left; in front of her stood the sweets shop her roommate had recommended her to work at, the words "Sugar Me Sweet" were scrawled across the headboard in perfect, black calligraphy. Tenten sighed at the fuschia girly background, she slumped her shoulders in surrender and pushed the glass door open.
...-...
And that was the second chapter of Sugar Me Sweet.
I am so sorry for the late update! My new summer resolution is to stop procrastinating (which isn't likely) so if you see a new chapter by the end of July then it worked...if not then I'm definitely a lost cause.
Review!
Sincerely,
Just Lovely.