Here I sit, eating sunflower seeds and FINALLY getting to typing up the next chapter. Yep! I'm back again! And this time I have a goal: a chapter a week. It won't be the same story each week, but there could be some overlap. And multiple chapters may come! Weeeeeee~~
Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I'll probably start replying specifically to the next few chapters.
X.x.X.x.X
Tenten
Tenten relaxed on her couch (her couch!) and heaved a contented sigh. It was so great to have her own place, but she knew she would have to start worrying about rent soon and that meant a job. She should probably start looking for one of those. But first: food.
Tenten walked into her kitchen and set the oven to 450, planning to cook up a frozen pizza that she had bought since she moved in almost a week ago. So far so good: she hadn't seen or heard from that 'mother' of hers, and she sincerely hope it stayed that way. Because seriously? She did not need that drama. Besides, Tenten was an adult now, so there was no reason for anyone to declare her missing.
Her mind wandered to the man on the train, and the fool she had made of herself when they had gotten off the train. God, she'd gotten distracted and followed him. More than once he had turned around and scowled at her, and more than once she had told herself that she was going to turn around and go in the opposite direction. She didn't. She had followed him here, and instead of being a good little girl, she saw the for rent sign in the window and took the place, no questions asked. She was lucky enough that it was furnished and the utilities were covered in the rent. She just hoped and prayed that this was in a good area.
After an hour or so her oven was still cool to the touch. Which kinda really sucked. One week in and she needed something repaired. Wasn't there supposed to be an in-house repairman? She looked at the list of phone numbers and room numbers that her super had given her and located the name. Kankuro. He was in 3B. Since her phone wouldn't be set up until tomorrow, she slipped on some flip flops and went up the stairs to the next floor and knocked on 3B.
"Hold on, hold on!" she heard a voice call, followed by some rustling and then, after a long moment, some locks turning. "What can I help you with?" he said as he opened the door. It was obvious that he had just gotten out of the shower. His hair was still wet and he had a towel around his neck that obscured only part of his bare chest.
Tenten felt a slight blush creep to her face as she said "Well, my oven won't heat, and…" she trailed off, trying not to stare at the guy before her.
"Anything for such a pretty girl," a slight smirk was on his face as he spoke, causing Tenten to blush a little more. "Let me get a shirt real quick, and You can show me what's wrong.
-.-Later-.-
If there was one thing that could be said about Kankuro it was, in Tenten's own opinion, that he was funny. He worked diligently as she sat on her counter, and they talked the whole time. It was a freaking crime for someone to look like that and have a sense of humor too.
"Hey, Tenten?" Kankuro said, coming out of the oven after having declared it fixed, "I was wondering: are you free tomorrow? I'd kinda like to take you out to eat, maybe we can go to a movie?" Hope was in his voice, and in spite of herself, Tenten found herself smiling. She hadn't been much one to date in high school, and she wasn't sure that dating someone she just met was the safest bet; then again, he did live in her building, and thus couldn't sneak a girl up.
"Sure," she said
"Great! I know just the place."
O.o.O.o.O
Ino
Ino sighed as she set down her book for what seemed like the millionth time. She just didn't see how people could spend hours doing this. Shakespeare was just so… Complicated. She couldn't even get through Romeo and Juliet, and that was supposed to be a classic! She couldn't understand half of what was being said here. And the library was just so quiet!
In frustration, Ino pulled up the internet. She'd have to find something better if this were to work for her. Something easier. She scrolled through a list of titles that were on reading lists that were meant for middle schoolers and copied down a few of the titles, hoping there would be at least something on this list that she could get through.
Ino looked around at the shelves. This was only the first story of books. There were two others that she could look through, and maybe she would find something. She left her computer station and began wandering, not able to even begin to figure out where she was supposed to find these books. The library was not on her list of likes, that was for sure.
She looked down at the outfit she was wearing, and it just seemed so odd to her: jeans and a teeshirt. It was so unlike her usual short skirts and belly shirts that she felt a little restricted. But hey, at least her boots were cute.
When she looked up she spotted him: he was with another blonde, this one with short hair and glasses; they looked like they were arguing in hushed tones, but neither was angry. There was a book open between them and occasionally there would be pointing and the flipping of pages as they discussed a topic that Ino was too far to hear.
As if he felt her stare, Shikamaru looked up and directly at her, a puzzled look on his face. The look twisted into a condescending smile as his eyes twinkled with recognition: she'd been caught. He winked at her, and the blonde turned in her seat and met eyes with Ino before turning back around to answer an inevidable question: Who's she?
The next words Ino caught clearly, even though she was too far to hear: No one. He looked down at the book again, and, after one last glance back, so did the girl.
As she left, Ino cursed the power he still had over her.
O.o.O.o.O
Temari
Temari looked up at the sky as she was taking her walk in the cool air. It was starting to cool down, and she'd need to start wearing a jacket soon. She scowled slightly: she never did like the cold. It was such a pain.
The walks, in Temari's opinion, were the best part of the day; no obligations, no annoying brothers, no calculating what her profit was this month (if she had a profit this month)… It was all very relaxing.
"Akamaru!" a shout came from down the way from a guy chasing his dog, interrupting her thoughts. They were coming her way, so she crouched low, prepared to catch the small white dog.
"Gotcha!" she said, grabbing it and picking it up, holding the squirming dog to her chest. The guy ran the rest of the way to them, clipping on Akamaru's leash before taking him and setting him down.
"Thanks a lot, He's pretty fast for such a slow dog," he smiled at her, petting the dog before standing up again, allowing her to get a good look at him. He… Was pretty cute, actually… She mentally shook her head. She did not need to get involved with a guy right now. She had too much that she had to do.
"It's no problem, really," she said with a smile.
"Can I treat you to ice cream?" he asked, and she couldn't help but notice the way he looked at her before blushing. "Ah, I mean, My name's Kiba. I want to thank you for helping with Akamaru, so how does ice cream sound?"
One time getting thank you ice cream will not mean anything. Anything. Right? Temari thought to herself as she nodded, letting him (or, rather, Akamaru) lead the way.
O.o.O.o.O
Sakura
Sakura sighed as she cleaned up her work station at the end of a long day. She had sent Lee home already, making a million promises that she was not, under any circumstances, going to stay late today. Period. And she was sticking to her promise, give or take an hour or so.
As she was leaving the office, she caught a glimpse of the Uchihas standing outside, having a quick chat before the older one walked away into the night. Sasuke inclined his head in her direction, one of his smirks touching his face for a moment. He gave her a nod and walked off to his own car and Sakura sighed. Those two were enough to make her heart melt.
She got into her car and drove down to the coffee place down the street; she always felt so restless after work: she wondered if she wasn't developing insomnia or something. She was sleeping less and less, and she seemed to be consuming more an more caffine (maybe that was part of her problem; all the caffine)
The waitress nodded to her, a pretty girl with cropped hair and pale eyes. Sakura wondered if she shouldn't ask for the girl's name: she was here often enough that she was recognized, but not enough that they knew her name.
As she settled in with her coffee, her mind was all Uchiha.
O.o.O.o.O
Hinata
Hinata was on cloud nine today: she had gotten the blonde's name: Naruto. On top of that, her cousin hadn't come and bugged her today, and no date with Gaara. So what if she had the last shift of the day and would have to clean up? That was just fine with her!
At the end of her shift Hinata shooed out the pink-haired girl (who she learned today was named Sakura) and began to buss the tables and generally clean up. The other workers had already left, claiming to owe a favor that she knew would never be repaid.
Just as she was finishing sweeping up, she heard a bang on the door and jumped. She turned to look, cursing the fact that her pepper spray (an obligatory item in her purse, as per Neji's insistant instructions) was all the way in the back. Maybe if she ran she—
Looking out the window, she saw Naruto, asking to be let in. Which was against the rules.
Screw the rules.
Hinata unlocked the door and let him in. Immediately he began to search frantically. "Can I… Help you find something?" she asked.
The blonde sighed "It's not here, I guess," and walked to the door.
"If you'll wait a minute, I'll go look for it with you!" she said hurriedly, then clamped her mouth shut. Did she seriously just say that? "I mean I-I… Well—"
"Really? That would be great!" Naruto smiled a big, childish grin and they set out together.
X.x.X.x.X
Yeah, sorry about that wait. And the crappy ones for the last two. Hopefully they'll get better, but this time I stopped in the middle of a couple and kinda forgot where I was going with it all.
Thanks for reading, and don't forget to review!