Reading Between the Lines
Chapter Three: Wet Clothes
Sakura felt bad about pushing Neji into the lake; even she had not known that she still had a reflex reaction to people insulting her forehead. So she scrambled to pull the seething Hyuuga out of the water, and then quickly closed her eyes in anticipation of whatever his reaction would be. When, after a minute, he did nothing, Sakura slowly opened her eyes and glanced at him quizzically, wondering why he was not mad.
For a moment, all that the now pride-less, dripping wet Hyuuga did was stare right back at Sakura. After that, Sakura was thoroughly confused, because she began to feel as if she was the wet one, and she started to shiver as the wind bit at her wet clothing. Of course, that was the moment that Sakura chose to look down and notice that now she was in the water, still standing in front of Neji. She did not bother to ponder how he had managed to get her into the water without her immediate notice, but instead sufficed to fix the annoying boy with a glare.
Neji stared back, except Sakura did not realize exactly why he was staring. She quietly pulled herself up onto the bank of the river, oblivious to the transparent quality her light pink shirt had taken. Neji followed her out of the water and took hold of her arm, leading her in the direction of the center of the village.
"What are you doing, Neji?" she asked, slightly annoyed that he felt he was allowed to drag her places.
"Saving you from being embarrassed when you arrive home," he replied.
"And how are you managing that? Why would I be embarrassed?"
"…Your shirt"
"What about it?"
Neji fought back several insulting comments about her ignorance, and finally told Sakura to look down.
Sakura's face promptly turned a light shade of pink as she finally understood what Neji meant.
"Oh," she said. "Well, I would not have been very embarrassed because no one else lives with me."
Neji raised an eyebrow, as he had not known that Sakura lived alone. But then, there was much he did not know about her, such as the fact that she was currently single. Not that he cared whether or not he was allowed to be staring at her shirt right now.
Neji shook his head clear of that somewhat pleasant image as the two reached a small shop that was farther away from the town center than those around it. Neji walked into the shop and pulled Sakura in right behind him. He released her arm, and she crossed her arms in front of her chest in order to preserve more of her dignity. All Sakura could think was that she was glad that she had chosen to wear black undergarments today.
"Hello?" Neji called towards the back of the store, craning his neck in an effort to see around a corner.
A short man with long, grey-flecked black tresses appeared, smiling when he saw Neji.
"Hyuuga-san, it is an honor to receive you here again," the man said in warm tones. "And might I ask who your lady friend is?"
"This is Haruno Sakura. She requires a dry clothes and a jacket, because, as you might have noticed, she is both cold and wet."
"Ah, right this way, Haruno-san," the man replied, leading Sakura into a back room and asking her to wait a few moments while he searched for suitable clothes in her size.
Sakura heard Neji thank the man before the man returned with a pale blue sweater and dark cotton pants. Sakura thanked the man herself and he walked back in the direction of Neji. Sakura could sense the man standing by the door, so she moved towards the corner and changed as quickly as she could, muttering the word "pervert" to herself a few times.
When Sakura walked out of the room, she found the elderly man waiting. The man handed her a jacket, and when Sakura asked how much she should pay for all of this, the man declined any payment, and instead winked at Sakura, saying that he had enough payment already.
If Neji was surprised by how quickly Sakura walked out of the store, he did not say anything, but merely chose to carry Sakura's wet clothes for her in silence.
"Why, exactly, did you feel the need to take me to that particular store?" Sakura asked Neji after a few moments of walking.
"There is nothing wrong with that store. Besides, do you know any other store that is open this early in the morning?"
"There was plenty wrong with that store. First of all, the owner is a pervert. Second of all, the man was a pervert. Third of all, the place smelled of vomit, and oh, did I mention that the owner was a pervert?" Sakura asked incredulously.
Neji's eyes showed faint amusement at the idea that the owner of that store was a pervert.
"Really? What makes you think that the man is a pervert?" Neji asked, his voice not betraying his slight amusement.
"He stood outside the door while I was changing. I swear that he was peeping."
"That is interesting," Neji said, but without the sarcasm that Sakura would expect of such a sentence.
"How is that interesting? Are you disappointed that you could not acquire a peek?"
"I have seen plenty of the female parts; do you forget the promiscuous fanatics that are often bothering me? And that is interesting because the owner is not interested in women, he happens to be gay."
Sakura muttered something barely audible.
"Excuse me?" Neji asked, unsure if she had said what he thought she said.
"I said 'You would know, Hyuuga.'"
"Are you implying that I am also interested in males?"
"Well I am certainly not denying it," Sakura quipped.
"What would lead you to such a conclusion?"
"Would you really like the whole list? There is your very feminine hairstyle, your type of friends, the fact that there are males that pursue you, the fact that you are not denying that you are gay, and that you show no attraction towards females," Sakura accused.
"My hair makes me look sexy, my choice in friends has nothing to do with my sexual orientation, I do not know of any males that interested in me sexually, and I show no attraction towards females because there are no females that are worth such an effort. But I assure you, Haruno, I am not gay," Neji said, almost as if he was reciting a list, which made Sakura wonder how many times he had been accused of being homosexual. "Besides," he continued. "If I was gay, then you would not be feeling so sexually attracted to me right now."
Sakura looked away as she felt the familiar slight burning sensation behind her cheeks that indicated she was blushing.
"You wish, Hyuuga."
"Maybe I do, Haruno," Neji replied, his face not giving away a single hint as to whether or not he was being serious.
:) Chapter three, finally. I am sorry it took so long; I have a lot of school work (high school is fun, but only when you do not have so much work). I will try to update at least weekly, though.