Chapter 3
I Do NOT Look Like A Tomato
The room was noisy, and buzzing with excitement. All the students and teachers from both schools had gathered once again in the Auditorium. The volume was unbelievably high.
"Hey, did you hear? Even the girls have to reschedule their classes! So they'll have coed classes!"
"Sweet! This is gonna be awesome!"
"Yeah man! Bet I can score more numbers than you by the end of the day."
"Oh yeah? You're on!"
"Look at all the hot chicks over there,"
" You know, I'm think I'm gonna to like this place,"
oOo
"Look at that cute guy over there."
"The one with the dog?"
"Yeah! Isn't he hot?"
" Eeek! I know! Are we even allowed to have pets at school?"
"Who cares! I call dibs on the one with the spiky black hair."
"Hey! I wanted that one!"
"Too bad! He's mine."
"I like the one with the blonde hair."
"Are you kidding me? You mean the one that's being so loud? He looks like a complete idiot!"
"But hey, I mean, he's kinda cute! Gorgeous eyes, too, you can see them from here."
"Omigod! There are so many of them!"
"Yeah, I heard that there's practically twice as many of them as there are us."
"Ha ha, well, plenty to go around, I suppose,"
"Heh. Got that right."
oOo
"Hey, look," said Hinata to her friends over the din. "There's Neji-kun" She pointed to a boy with long black hair, whose back was turned to them.
"Who's that, Hinata?" asked Tenten.
"Isn't he like your god brother or something?" said Sakura.
"No, he's my cousin. But he'll be moving in with us in a couple days." replied Hinata.
"Really? Why?"
"Mm, Neji-kun lives by himself at the moment. But seeing as this school is farther away from his house, father offered to let him stay with us, so it'd be a shorter walk for him."
"Oh,"
"He probably also wanted someone to walk to school with you, especially now that it's co-ed," said Sakura, smirking playfully. Hinata blushed. It wasn't uncommon for maany of the girls to have been sent to the Girls' Academy because of overprotective fathers and other family members.
"Wow, it's so weird to see so many guys here!" exclaimed Tenten. "I bet the sports teams are gonna be a lot more fun,"
"Haha. That's for sure." agreed the pink haired girl, an evil smile slowly spreading across her face.
Tenten looked at her in mock alarm. "Oh my god, Hinata. Someone call the police. An evil demon has taken over Sakura, and is looking ready to wreak havoc. You really shouldn't take advantage of the guys' obliviousness to your demon strength like that, my dear." she said seriously. "Hinata, take note of that."
"Ok. Demon taking over. Wreaking havoc. Got it." said Hinata in her quiet, but teasing voice. She pulled out her cellphone, acting like she was going to make a call. "Should I alert the news reporters too? They might need to know."
"You dorks," Sakura laughed. "So when is this thing going to start?"
"And where's Ino, anyways?" asked Tenten.
"I think she went to the restrooms," answered Hinata.
"Probably making sure her makeup is just perfect," muttered their friend. "You know how she is." Hinata giggled.
"Ex-cuse me Forehead Girl?" said Ino coming from behind them. "I think I missed your little innuendo there. Would you like to explain exactly what you meant by, 'how she is'?"
"Hey Ino, love the skirt. Where'd you get it?" drawled Sakura.
"Thanks. It was on sale at '99 Grace', for like 10 dollars." replied Ino loftily as she plopped down next to them. "As if you weren't right next to me when I bought it. Or telling me that it looked good with the top last night at your house either."
"Of course not." Sakura grinned, remembering.
After several hours of giggling, listening to music, pigging out on Sakura's mother's delicious vegan cooking, and watching Spirited Away for the seven thousandth time (Tenten claimed that she STILL couldn't get over how amazing Haku was, the other girls teased her good naturedly about being in love with an animated character), and enjoying the fact that they had been given a respite from piles of homework they usually received, the four friends had finalized the outfits they were wearing now.
Ino had gone sophisticated-chic (or that's what she said, anyway), and was wearing a ruffled black skirt and a purple blouse with a flounced neck and back. Her blonde hair was up in the usual high ponytail, silver bangles around her wrists and ankles. She was wearing a pair of ridiculously small strappy heels showing off her perfectly pedicured toes. Tenten didn't know how she could stand wearing the shoes for more than five minutes, let alone walk around in them the entire day, and not complain of blisters. She didn't see the point either. It wasn't as though it actually was the first day of school. Well, not really, anyways. And they couldn't very well dress up like this everyday. People would see them in normal clothes eventually.
With that thought in mind, Tenten herself was wearing her usual pair of black capris with a pink, mock-Chinese styled tank top, with flower designs printed on it. Her brown hair was in its usual two buns at the top of her head. Compared to Ino's tiny heels, Tenten was wearing a very practical pair of pink and brown skate shoes. Nothing special, just what she normally wore.
(What she didn't notice was the quick side glances she was receiving from some guys anyway, drawn by her tanned, slim, and toned body. Sakura and Hinata, on the other hand did happen to catch an admiring glance tossed in the direction of their friend, and shared a secret smirk).
Hinata had very conservative clothes because of her strict parents, but Ino had coaxed her into wearing a soft (albeit slightly long) white skirt, and a light blue wide neck shirt with words written and pictures faded across it in silver, grays, and blues.
Sakura, too, had taken extra care with her outfit this morning, though wasn't wearing anything as fancy or excessive as Ino-pig. She had a faded pink baby-t that hugged her curves, with a red skirt over a pair of mid-calf leggings. On her feet were red and white polka-dotted keds (that she loved to the ends of the earth) and several bright yellow strings of beads around her neck, matching yellow earrings in her ears. Her bright pink hair was, as usual, smooth and glossy, and hung perfectly over her shoulders. Just to add that extra spark to her appearance, she had lined her eyes with a shocking, lightly shimery pink eyeliner over her usual makeup that morning, making her green eyes pop with a new intensity. (1)
"It's so exciting isn't it, with so many guys around. Three of them just passing by in the halls have already asked if I had a boyfriend." Chattered Ino happily.
Tenten rolled her eyes. "And you said…?"
"I said not yet, but probably pretty soon," said Ino mischievously. Sakura laughed.
"See, this is what I meant when I said, 'you know how Ino is'."
"Shh, you guys," said Hinata, smiling. "Tsunade-sama is here!"
oOo
As Tsunade walked onto the stage, there were a lot of immediate "shhhhhhh!"s going around, and she didn't have to roar "SILENCE!" this time like she did at the boys school. When she got to the microphone, she looked at all of them, then smiled.
"Good morning ladies and gentlemen. I trust you have noticed the many new faces in our school?"
"No shit," muttered Sasuke grumpily, and Naruto elbowed him to be quiet.
"Though it seems to be on rather short notice, we are, nonetheless, very pleased to have all these new students with us from now on. First off, I'd like to make some announcements and review school rules to those of you new to here. You all should've gotten you're schedules now. If not, come down to the office when our assembly is over. Today will be a pretty laid back day, so you can get to know your new classmates, new teachers, and for some of you, the new building. Get to all your classes, and talk to your teachers, and we'll start the real learning tomorrow. Now, I'd like for all of the student council members from KoNAB to please come up…"
oOo
After the assembly, Tenten bid her friends goodbye for now, and made her way down to the office to get her schedule, being the only one of her friends who hadn't received hers yet. As she turned around, not watching where she was going, she collided into someone, stumbled, and slammed into a locker.
"Oww," muttered Tenten, as she rubbed her shoulder. "Sorry. I was spacing out."
"I think I'm getting a sense of déjà vu here." A quiet musical voice announced. "Your hair looks rather familiar. Aren't you that girl from yesterday?"
Tenten looked up into pearly, pupil-less eyes that looked strangely familiar (2). Though he wasn't knocked onto the ground this time, being crashed into by another person had made him drop all his books and binders. The boy with long dark hair, rubbing his chin where her forehead had crashed into, eyeing both their stuff scattered all over the place. He met her gaze for a second, then quickly turned away towards the ground to pick up their scattered belongings. Tenten tilted her head to the side, confused. Wait. Had she met him before?
"Ahh! Look out!" a voice shrieked behind him. Before Neji could so much as turn around, something smashed into him, and he hit the ground. Hard.
"Sorry about that! I'm in a hurry!" the voice called, and all Neji saw was a flash of brown hair in two buns, and a pink shirt before the person who knocked him over disappeared, leaving behind a trail of dust.
"Oh!" exclaimed Tenten. "You're that guy who I almost ran over yesterday!" The boy smirked. Almost?
"I thought it was you," he remarked, as he handed a stack of papers he knew weren't his. She flushed a little and immediately got on her knees next to him, helping to gather the school supplies rolling around the middle of the hall. When they both straightened, he held out his hand again.
"Neji Hyuga." He said.
"Ohhh, that's right, your Hinata's cousin aren't you?" asked Tenten. He blinked.
"Yes. You know her?"
"Oh yeah, Hinata's one of my best friends," she replied. "Name's Tenten." She said taking his hand. When their hands touched, Tenten felt a tingling shiver like electricity race up her arm. From the way Neji quickly let go of her hand, she guessed he felt it too. Hmm. Probably just like static electricity or something. She told herself. To distract herself from thinking too much about how soft and cool Neji's hand felt, she asked,
"So, where ya going?"
"To the office. I still haven't gotten my schedule yet. Could you tell me where it is?"
"Oh, hey, I'm going too. Come on and I'll show you." she said, beckoning to him.
"Thank you," he murmured, as he followed her. Tenten couldn't help but notice how he kept a safe distance from her, so their skin didn't accidentally brush each other anymore.
"So what do you think of the schools just coming together out of nowhere like this?" Asked Tenten, trying to make conversation. Neji frowned slightly.
"I do think that they should have given us a bit more notice before hand," he replied, rolling his eyes a little.
Tenten grinned in reply. "Seriously. I mean, you have to admit, it is a bit strange to all of a sudden have four hundred new students move to a completely different school overnight. I can't believe that they planned all this in such a short time." She shook her head.
"Well, I think that the teachers have probably known for several weeks now, and just didn't bother telling the students. It really caught us off guard. Nobody was expecting the 'big announcement' to be anything like this." He shook his head. Tenten laughed.
"So that's how they told you too, huh?"
"Pardon?"
"We got a big assembly with some "big news" promised to be revealed too," she explained. "We were asked to get there early yesterday. That's why I was in such a hurry," Tenten said with a sheepish expression on her face. Neji looked at her, and a small "Heh," escaped his lips. Tenten caught this, and said in a teasing angry tone,
"Hey! You laughin' at me? You think being in a hurry is any laughing matter? How dare you, so rude! And we've only just met too!"
"Well, not technically," muttered Neji to himself. This was also heard by Tenten. She laughed again.
"Yeah, but only 'cos I was in a hurry, remember?" This drew a crooked smile to Neji's face.
"Yes. Well then in that case, I'm very happy that you were in a hurry and practically ran over me in the middle of the street. At least now I have someone to get directions from." A corner of his mouth twitched up.
Tenten's heart melted at his smile. She mentally slapped herself.
Jeez. Get yourself together girl! You're not someone like Ino, you shouldn't let yourself get all mushy over a guy! Besides, he's Hinata's cousin.
So?
So what do you mean "so"? and- wait, who are you anyways?
What a dumb question to ask. Aren't you supposed to be smart?
Nobody ever said I was smart.
You're good at English. And writing. Hell, you're even pretty good at science.
Yeah, but I suck at math. And how would you know all this anyways? I mean, I talk to myself all the time, but this is the first time anyone's ever answered BACK.
Err, never mind. The point is, you're falling for Neji, and you know it.
Uhm, hate to burst your bubble, but no, actually. I barely even know Neji. I'm not some twit like Ino who falls in and out of "love" at a moment's notice.
Heh. You called Ino a twit. Isn't she supposed to be one of your best friends?
She IS. That doesn't mean she's not a- oh never mind.
Whatever. Anyways, even if YOU don't know you like Neji, I do.
You don't know anything. Argh, I can't believe I'm arguing with a voice in my head. Now I'm really going crazy.
Too late. You're already there. And I'm not just any voice in your head either. I'm your-
Yea yea, conscience or whatever. I think there was a movie about that. Something to do with like a puppet or something.
Pinnochio?
The one with the little singing cricket? Yeah, that's the one. We're almost to the office now. So shut up, and go away.
…
Wow, that actually worked?
No. I am simply so appalled that I've likened to a BUG in a CHILDREN'S CARTOON that I seem to have lost my ability of coherent speech.
Whatever. Works for me.
oOo
Meanwhile, Neji was looking at the girl next to him rather oddly, especially after she all of a sudden stopped her laughing and talking, and looked like she was concentrating really hard on something.
Uhm… ok then…
Sigh. She's so cute when she's trying to think.
I guess…what a weird girl. Wait, who the hell are you?
Oh don't mind me. I'm just some random bum off the streets the author of the story hired to talk to you in your head for her own little crazy amusement. (3)
Pardon?
Oh, such lovely, pretty manners. But never you mind. All the other characters get one too, so don't go thinking that just because you're Hyuga prodigy, means that you're getting special treatment. Actually, while I'd like to carp some more about how spoiled and arrogant and stuck up you are, the author is starting to get pissed at me, so for the purpose of continuing the story, I have to stop now.
What? Ok…I don't get it but… whatever.
So. Moving on. Lot's of hot chicks around now huh?
Not really. To be honest, I really couldn't care less. I don't need useless, noisy giggling girls to distract me in my education.
Not even Tenten?
No. She's weird. And she laughs too much.
Pshhh, self denial doesn't work on someone livin' in your head dude. Your face looks like a tomato right now You thought she was cute.. ADMIT IT.
What the hell is your problem? Girls are not cute. And-and besides, we just met. It would not be proper for a man to…towards a young lady…-I DO NOT LOOK LIKE A TOMATO.
Jeez, loosen up a little will ya? Besides, I just felt your heart rate go up….evil grin
Well, you see, I-
That's ok, kid. No need to explain to me, I get it. You got the hots for her don't 'cha?
Such crude language. You sound like Naruto or Kiba.
Such refined language. Not working as a defense mechanism, Well?
What? NO.
Aww, how cute. C'mon boy, you're not gonna get anywhere if you even deny it to yourself.
I'd really appreciate it if you'd get out of my head now.
Trust me kid, if I had a choice, I wouldn't have even come in the first place. This place is MESSED. UP.
Then go away.
Can't. Violating contracts is bad for the business, you know.
What business?
You're getting off topic.
You're getting out of my head.
Make me.
…
Oho, going on the silent treatment eh?
…
You know you like her. Just look at her. You've known her name for 5 minutes, and already you want to know everything about her. You want to know what she likes, what she dislikes, why she always laughs, her favorite color, her favorite sports, her hobbies, her family. You want to know why she's friends with Hinata, what kind of relationship she has with her, what kind of relationship she wants with you... You want to know every inch of her, mentally, emotionally, physically-
Ok, STOP right there. You were totally making the last part up.
Oh, so the first parts were true?
No.
You want to know what that tasty little body would look like without her-
OK FINE! IT WAS! God, stop sounding like such a perverted, pedophile.
Aww, you're blushing. Grow up. You're almost 17 and you've never even seen-
I DON'T WANT TO HEAR WHATEVER YOU HAVE TO SAY! So STOP. Jesus, how old are you anyways?
Sorry, classified information. Why?
You act like Jiraya.
Ero-sennin?
Yeah.
No I don't. I have waay more... class. Style.
ohhh, noo. touché.
Exactly.
I was being sarcastic. You're exactly like him.
Am not.
Are too.
Am not.
You're stupid.
Oh, so we've resorted to the insult vocabulary of a two year old now, have we?
Why you-
"Neji?" asked Tenten, waving her hands in his face. He blinked, surprised.
We'll finish this later.
Looking forward to it.
"Sorry," he said. She gave a bright smile.
"Ah, S'ok. Anyways, it's here." They both walked into the office, where a woman with short dark hair was sitting.
"Hey Shizune-san," called Tenten. "We're here for our schedules." Shizune smiled, and looked through a pile of papers on her desk.
"Ok! Let's see, Tenten, Tenten… ah! Here you are!" She took out a sheet of paper, and handed it to the girl, then turned to Neji.
"Hyuga," he answered before prompted. She looked through the pile again.
"Neji?"
"Yes,"
"Alright, here you go," she said smiling. "Have a nice day you two!" They both thanked her, and left the office.
"So what do you have first period?" asked Tenten.
"Hn," Neji looked down at his paper, memorizing it and held it low enough for her to see over his arm.
1A English with Kakashi,
1B Physics I
2A World Languages
2B PE with Gai-sensei
Lunch 1
3A Calculus BC
3B European History
4A Study Hall/Homeroom
4B Home EC
5A Biology II
5B Calculus BC
6A Art
6B Famous Literature with Jiraya
He made a face at the last one, having experience with Jiraya and what he considered, "literature". (4)
"What about you?" He asked, curious in spite of himself as he turned his pale gaze to her. Tenten looked over at his schedule, then at her own again.
"I think we actually have mostly the same schedule, just with a few different classes," she replied. "Let's see, I have, uh, English, Earth science, Spanish, then PE, Lunch 1, Algebra… Euro, Homeroom, Home Ec, Bio, Financial Literacy, Art, then Famous Lit," read Tenten, her voice trailing up slightly in confusion at that last class. Neji peered over her shoulder to look at her schedule. Algebra I. He looked at her with an amused expression on his face. She stared back, and turned slightly pink. Neji shook his head with a sigh of exasperation.
"Shut up," laughed Tenten before he could say anything. "Math isn't my strong suit."
"Wow," chuckled Neji. "You're in advanced English, Biology, Spanish IV, and yet for math, you're still in…" Tenten socked him playfully.
"Well not everyone can be good at everything like Mr. Genius over here." she joked. "I mean, they have to have people fill up the stoopid classes too ya know." She looked over to find Neji still smirking at her.
"You're not that stupid."
"Yeah, wait 'til you get to know me better."
"Valid point. But until then-" He was interrupted by a group of girls prancing by, throwing him flirtatious looks, and giggling a lot louder than necessary.
"Heey," said one of them, batting her eyelashes furiously, so that it looked like she had something in her eye she was trying to get out. Her friends all tittered loudly, and daintily wiggled their fingers as they passed by. "See you around,"
Neji refused to so much as throw them a glance.
Once they're high-pitched giggles disappeared and the halls were once again silent, Tenten busted into laughter.
"Oh...my god," she gasped, trying to control her breath. "Did you see them? 'heeeey'" she stopped her rolling laughter long enough to do an imitation of the girl, blinking as fast as she could. "'Bye bye, Neji-kuun'" She burst into another peel of hysterics.
"I'm glad somebody's amused." he said dryly. Looking up to see his barely suppressed expression of disgust only made her cackle harder.
"See? Compared to them, you're obviously the very epitome of genius." Neji muttered. The girl next to him grinned cheekily.
"Has anyone ever told you that you laugh too much?" he asked reprochfully.
"Heh heh. Probably," She replied with an innocent shrug. "But then again, all my friends are like that. Is that a bad thing? Happy! Now c'mon! We gotta get to ALL our classes for today, what time is it anyway? Oh shit! Neji hurry up! English, English…" she sang slightly off key, snips of her laughter echoing through the halls. Neji watched her in confused amusement as she continued, "I'll show you I'm not such a complete dunce after all!" She skipped off, motioning him to follow her.
As she went, she thought she heard Neji quietly mutter to himself,
"I do NOT look like a tomato,"
(1) Lol, really sorry about that whole long winded paragraph guys. I just have a slight obsession with what my characters…er…kishimoto's characters are wearing in my little AU haha
(2)They look familiar because they're just like Hinata's, but Tenten isn't exactly the brightest, most observant of the bunch, haha
(3) Its true XD
(4) ok, so I totally just made the last class up. sorry, I just couldn't resist
Eh… that chapter was a little….idk. Sorry if I overdid Tenten's hyperness a little too much. Tell me what you think. PLEASE! I need to know if it sucks crap, or if its ok…bc seeing as I'm the one who wrote it, I totally can't tell. So…opinions and feedback please! :D
THANKS FOR READING
