He Said, She Said
By Marshie-chan
Chapter Two: Roomies!
"Konnichiwa, Hyuuga-san! I'm Inuzuka Kiba! Nice to meet ya!" The brown-haired guy greeted happily while giving me a light pat on the shoulder. He was smiling so widely and he seems to be a nice and friendly person, but that's not the issue here…
"A-ah…h-hi?" I greeted back nervously with a lower voice. The sight of two men inside the dorm room made me want to run away. Not only I would be in close contact with guys, but I could be discovered as well! What am I going to do? All the trouble Neji-niisan and I have gone through will surely go to waste!
"Eh? What's wrong Neji-kun?" asked Kakashi. "You look pale. You don't mind sharing a room with them, do you?"
All right, I must calm down. Didn't I just promise to myself that I should try my best not to get discovered? "Uh…I… I don't mind at all, sempai! Ahem! After all, we're all boys!" I replied while forcing a smile as I reluctantly entered the room.
I took a glance around—it was a spacious room with a bunk bed on the right side and a single bed in the opposite, which I think is my bed. My luggage, which had been brought by earlier, was even there.
"Well, that's good to hear. I'll be on my way then," Kakashi declared and smiled back at me. "If you need something, just go to the main office of this building. Ja'ne!"
"See you around, sempai!" Kiba said, still smiling as Kakashi walked away from the room. The moment the brown-haired guy closed the door behind him, he quickly placed an arm around my shoulder and whispered something. "Hey new kid, why are you hanging out with that old man at this time of night?" He asked seriously. I was quite surprised to find that his earlier smile disappeared.
"Ah…Sempai just showed me around to get me acquainted with everything here. I don't really see any problem with that…" I whispered back as I tried my best to jerk his arm away without offending him. After all, this is normal for guys.
"Hmm… people like you could get molested just by hanging out with him, don't you know that?"
That startled me a lot. "What?!"
"You didn't hear that Kakashi-sempai has been rumored to be a homosexual? With that pretty face of yours, you could get—" His words were cut off when a pillow tossed from nowhere hit Kiba on the head. "Ow!" The brown-haired guy shot a hot glare at the culprit. "What the hell, Shino?! Why'd you do that?" He angrily yelled at the guy with the glasses, presumably 'Shino.' Kiba was obviously embarrassed.
"Don't scare him," The guy with the glasses spoke coldly. He was already reading the book again. "And why are you calling him 'kid'? He's a year older than us. You should learn to respect him."
"So what? He's shorter!"
Shorter? I must admit… Kiba's right. Come to think of it, even though I had cut my hair short and wear Niisan's clothes, our heights still make a difference. Aside from that, these guys seem to know of me before they even met me. Are we really that popular?
"A-and you are?" I asked. I had already heard his name was "Shino," but it was best to ask and make sure, plus it showed respect. I don't know, but for some reason it feels kind of awkward asking him. The way he speaks really creeps me out.
Shino's gaze shifted towards me. "I'm Aburame Shino." I still can't read any emotion in his face because of the glasses. Why is he wearing those at night anyway? "Just ignore this guy here, 'roommate-san.' His idiocy is incurable," He said steadily as he referred to Kiba before looking back to his book.
"Shut up, Shino!" Kiba shot back, his face red with anger.
I sweatdropped. 'They don't seem to get along well.' "That was nothing!" I said with a confident smile as I sat on the edge of the bed, "A guy like me doesn't fall for these things easily! Besides, even if Kakashi-sempai is gay, he wouldn't like it if he discovered I'm a g—" I covered my mouth when I realized what I almost said. Oh crap!
Kiba's eyebrows arched in confusion and he asked, "Eh? A 'what,' Hyuuga-san?" Even Shino paused from reading and turned his attention back on me.
I need to say something! I smiled nervously. "What I mean to say is that—I'm not usually the type that gays like!"
Kiba breathed a sigh of relief and patted me on the back. "Oh! Souka! For a moment there, I thought you were going to say that you're a homo, too. Heh, it can't be helped." I was quite startled to see him inching closer to me. "You do look like a girl anyway. And I must admit… you're pretty cute…"
Oh no… had I been discovered? My heart was pounding so fast at that moment as I met Kiba's stare. There was no sign of suspicion in his eyes—that means he hasn't figured it out yet. Also, I just noticed that this guy had red blotches on both sides of his face… I wonder what those are. Tattoos, maybe?
Without any warning, Kiba gave me a quick pat on the chest. "If you have boobs, wouldn't it be funny?" He said with a light chuckle.
"Aah!" I quickly bolted up from the bed, surprising both my new roommates. My God, what a complicated feeling! I could feel my cheeks starting to heat up.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Kiba asked, confused, unaware that it was actually the light contact between his hand and my chest that freaked me out so badly.
I reminded myself that these boys don't know that I'm a girl, and that it was really unusual for someone to react this way. I bowed my head in apology. "I'm sorry for acting in a weird way. I think I'm just exhausted from the trip."
When Kiba noticed the blush on my face, he burst out in laughter. "You're an interesting guy! I think I'm really gonna like you!"
Thank God I haven't been discovered yet. But deep down, I feel really bad. Are my breasts really that small that someone wouldn't feel anything upon touching them? Well, I'm wearing a vest; it really isn't noticeable. When I gained back my sanity, I spoke, although I didn't have the courage to look Kiba straight in the eyes. "Um… Inuzuka-san, right?"
"No need to be formal!" He grinned. "Just call me Kiba! In return, can I call you Neji instead?"
This time Shino tossed the book he was reading at Kiba's head, which made the brown-haired boy moan in pain. My eyes rounded when I noticed a huge lump starting to grow where the book had made contact.
"Why hit me again, you sadistic freak?! That hurts!" Kiba yelled furiously at Shino, whom remained calm. It seems like they're used to arguing with each other.
"Moron, didn't I tell you to respect him?"
"I'm gonna kill you!" The brown-haired boy quickly clenched his fist and attacked Shino.
I just remained sitting on the edge of the bed, flabbergasted. 'With these kind of guys as my roommates, am I really going to be okay?'
The next day, Hinata woke up early in the morning and left the Boys' Dorm. 'I must tell Neji-niisan about my roommates. He deserves to know,' She thought as she slowly snuck inside the back door of the Girls' Dorm. After all, she had already been told by Kakashi that boys weren't allowed to enter this territory. Still, she needed to see Neji and ask him to help her find a way to resolve the problem.
She was about to climb up the stairs heading to the bedrooms when she caught sight of someone heading in her direction. Without thinking, she quickly entered the nearest restroom to hide herself. Her head peeked out the slightly opened door to check if the coast was clear. Upon noticing that the person was nowhere in sight, she hurriedly went out of the door, but then her face accidentally collided with someone's chest. 'Oh no! Someone saw me!'
She quickly bowed her head and apologized to the person. "Gomen! I'm a transfer student! I got lost and—"
"H-Hinata-sama?"
Hinata's face brightened when she heard the familiar voice. She looked up and saw Neji standing there. Though he looked more like a woman because of the girl's uniform he was wearing, she could still see the manly emotion that was reflected in his white eyes.
"Neji-niisan!" She muttered in delight. "I…I came here to see you!"
"Idiot!" He blurted out angrily but kept his voice low. "You shouldn't be here! Someone could have—"
A girl who had just come out from one of the cubicles shouted, "Aah!! What are you doing here in the Ladies' restroom, you pervert?!"
Hinata looked behind and saw the girl glaring accusingly at her. "Eh? Is she referring to me?" Hinata said with a clueless look. She only realized what the girl meant when she remembered that she was wearing a boy's uniform.
Neji tilted her head to face him. "Don't show your face!" He grabbed her hand. "Come on, we have to get out of here!" The two of them hurriedly made their way out of the Girls' Dorm through the backdoor.
"Going to the Girls' Dorm recklessly in the morning… what were you thinking?" Ever since we had left the dorm and started toward the school, Neji-niisan hadn't stopped scolding me. "If somebody else caught you, who knows what would have happened?"
"Neji-niisan, it's just that—" I tried to speak out to him when I noticed how tight he had been holding my hand all this time.
"What?" He turned back and looked at me, expecting an answer.
I avoided meeting his eyes and spoke softly. "Um… I guess you can let go of my hand now."
Neji's eyes widened in realization. He immediately let my hand go and looked away. I noticed then that he stopped scolding me and just continued walking with me through the school halls.
Geez… why can't I just let him hold my hand for awhile? It's just a hand holding another hand, and it's not like we never held hands before… but this time, it really felt awkward, though it was probably because the students we walked by were giving us odd looks.
When I wasn't able to stand the silence, I decided to ask him something. "So how was your sleep last night? Was it peaceful?"
He paused for a moment then asked, "Do I look like I had a peaceful night?"
When I turned to look at him very closely, I gasped in surprise upon noticing the dark marks below his eyelids. It looked like he hadn't been able to sleep at all! "Niisan, you have panda-eyes! Does that mean you have roommates, too?"
"No," He replied. "It was like Anko-sempai said; I was given a room to myself. The girls next door are just noisy. They kept me up all night." He looked at me suspiciously. "By 'too,' do you mean you're sharing a room with someone?"
"Well, actually—" I bit my lip. Is this the right time to tell him? For some reason, I was having doubts. He would get mad if he knew that I spent a night with two male roommates. But I still have to tell him! Is that or isn't that the sole purpose of sneaking out into the Girls' Dorm early in the morning? "Um… you see—"
"Allow me introduce our new students, Hyuuga Neji-kun and Hyuuga Hinata-chan," A teacher announced the moment we stepped inside the classroom. With that, I wasn't able to tell Niisan about it. We entered the room quietly and went back to paying more attention to hiding our true genders.
The teacher continued. "They were previously enrolled in a posh academy, so I think there will be some things they don't understand, so…everyone should try to help them out, all right?"
"HAI, SENSEI!!" The whole class chorused in agreement. We were then directed by the teacher to our seats and I was quite thankful that I sat behind Niisan.
"Are those the rumored transferees from the Hyuuga clan?"
"Unbelievable. The guy really is a shrimp… but still, he's cute."
"Never mind the guy. The girl looks like a model. I wonder if she has a boyfriend?"
I tried my best to ignore the students gossiping about us and focused my attention to Niisan, whom was sitting quietly in front of me. He seemed to be completely unaffected by the environment—the environment being a class where he's a year older than everyone else. Why isn't he showing any emotions? Doesn't he feel bad for being held back as a Junior?
More importantly, he could have done a few alterations in his personal records and enrolled in a Senior class. Why had he forced himself to enroll in the same class as me? Aah! I don't know! I can't understand what he's thinking at all!
'Even though I am happy that Neji-niisan and I are close, I think he still doesn't completely trust me, or think that I trust him. After all, he used to hate me—' I sighed in disappointment and tried to rid my mind of the memories. 'I hope a time comes when he will be able to tell me how he truly feels.'
When our classes ended, Neji-niisan and I proceeded to go back to our own dorms. I didn't know what possessed me, but I had decided not to tell Niisan about the roommate issue. It was then that I realized that I wanted to solve this problem by myself without being a burden to Niisan. This whole time I've been depending solely on him and it's not fair. I need to take on a few burdens for myself.
I was on my way to the main office to check if there were now private rooms available when I heard someone calling to me from behind.
"Hey, Neji! Wait up!"
No doubt about it; that was Kiba's voice. I turned around and replied, "Oh, it's you, Ki—"
I wasn't able to finish because a huge white dog had bounded from apparently no where and pounced on me. "WAAHHH!!" I screeched in surprise. The dog was still licking my face when I saw Kiba rushing towards me.
"W-WHAT'S WITH THIS DOG?!" I asked him in astonishment as I tried to push the large canine off of me.
Kiba's eyebrows arched in confusion as he observed us closely. "Whoa! That's pretty rare! He's a dog I found a year ago, Akamaru. We've been close ever since the school approved of him living around the dorms, but I know that aside from me… he doesn't like anyone but women."
My face paled. "Eh?" I gulped in nervousness. Kiba would surely figure out that I'm a girl!
"Sorry, maybe he thinks you're a girl. It's natural that he made a mistake; he's just a dog ya know!" Kiba chuckled as he pulled Akamaru's leash and tied him to a nearby post. "By the way, why didn't you wait for us this morning? We could've gone to school together."
"Ah, that's—" Gosh, due to my fear of being discovered, I woke up an hour earlier than them. But what could I use as an excuse? I was unprepared for the questioning. "B-because…" Oh no, I really hate it when I'm stammering like this; Kiba seems to be expecting an answer. "I went outside for exercise!" I finally exclaimed, happy that inspiration had struck. "Young boys like us need to maintain our muscles, you know!"
Kiba let out a loud laugh. "Maintain? You obviously don't have abs, or any muscle mass to speak of. I guess you're just trying hard to get some, huh?" I pursed my lips in annoyance. "Speaking of which, Neji!" He placed an arm around me and whispered, "I know you just transferred here, but… how were the girls at your previous school?"
Don't ask a girl about something like that! I swallowed with my cheeks reddening. "I… well…I t-think that it depends on the person, but…?" Oh goodness, it's a secret that I'm a girl anyway.
The brown-haired guy pouted. "I see you haven't done it yet either, huh?"
My blush was getting worse and I backed away from him. 'Please stop it already!' Ah, how badly I wanted to say that, but I can't!
"Well, anyway..." Kiba continued and flashed a naughty grin. "When you're around other guys your own age, these things are important, right? Now's the time—"
"HYUUGA NEJI-KUN, I FINALLY FOUND YOU!" Kiba's words were cut off by a loud voice a few feet away from us. Deep down, I was thankful that someone interrupted us. I could have exploded thanks to the 'weird things' Kiba was telling me.
Kiba looked back, obviously annoyed at the person. "Hey, you! Don't you know that shouting in the dorms is strictly prohibited?!"
I sweatdropped. 'Kiba-kun, you're shouting, too…'
"Tut-tut! Temper, temper, Kiba-kun! Your flame of youth won't burn bright if you keep on frowning like that!" The boy approached us and I freaked out when I noticed his appearance in a closer proximity—Wah! He had a weird haircut and thick eyebrows! First, my roommates… and now… this guy? Is there an end to all this weirdness?
"Oh, it's you, Lee-sempai," Kiba muttered in surprise.
I whispered to Kiba, "You know him?"
"Of course, he's the Captain of a club I'm in… the Karate Club."
What? This guy is already a Senior? I tried my best to force a smile and faced this 'Lee' guy. "Ah, you called… Sempai?"
He shook his head in disappointment. "Not good! Not good at all! Young people shouldn't answer with such small voices!"
I choked. This is really getting weird… is this a punishment for cross-dressing and entering a local school?
"I'm Rock Lee, also known as the School Karate Club's Biggest Talent; they call me 'Konoha's Green Beast!'" He said proudly and showed off a weird pose. "I've heard that the Hyuuga clan had its own dojo. I guess you're great in karate skills, right? Maybe you should join our club!"
Kiba's eyes widened in amazement and he looked at me. "What? All this time, you knew something about Martial arts and you didn't even tell me?"
I pursed my lips again out of bitterness. 'You're both wrong, Kiba kun, Lee-sempai. In our clan, I'm the only one who doesn't possess that talent.' "I'm sorry but…"
I wasn't able to deny anything before both of them quickly grabbed my arms and forcefully dragged me away. "Come on! Don't be shy! Show us your talent!" Lee exclaimed excitedly as they both led me out of the dorm.
"I thought you were just another wimp, Neji!" Kiba said. "Sorry I underestimated you! All right! I'll test your skills by being your first opponent!"
"WAIT! Where are you guys taking me?! Let me go!" I tried my best to free myself but to no avail. They're really strong. Well, they're men anyway, and my strength as a woman was useless in this situation. Perhaps all I can do is yell my heart out? "LET ME GO!!"
TBC
A/N: Sorry, this chapter's a bit rushed. I was busy studying with my exams. Is the story okay so far? Thanks again to DesertRoseTemari for beta-reading, sorry for all the trouble -huggles online sis- And for the lovely reviews, ice creams for DesertRoseTemari, mshinata, salote, Mila and kawaiiS. Hope you guys stay tuned for the next chap!