Disclaimer: the same as it was in the last chapter.
Once they were inside, Hinata asked what grade Ten-ten was in.
"9th. I could be in 10th but my dad doesn't want me to skip."
"Oh. I-I'm in 9th also. Who do you have f-for homeroom?"
"Hmm…I think his name is Gai?"
"M-my cousin has him."
"Cool. Well this is my locker. Is yours close?"
"Y-yes 3 lockers down."
"Okay." Ten-ten put her books in a plain gray locker.
"I'm gonna really have to jazz this thing up a bit."
"Ten-ten?"
"Oh, sorry Hinata. What were you saying?"
"I-I said. I c-could show you where your class is, a-and introduce you to m-my cousin Neji."
"Okay, sure." Ten-ten got her stuff and headed down the hall with Hinata.
As they were walking Hinata asked Ten-ten about homeschooling, what sports she liked, and things she likes to do.
Sooner than expected, they were in front of Ten-ten's homeroom, the door wide open.
"W-well this is it. We a-are a little early, s-so I can introduce you to Neji without having to be late for class."
After Hinata stepped into the room, Ten-ten scanned it with her eyes curiously.
"This is different." She whispered.
As her eyes glided over a few early students, she paused.
"It's him. The guy from before."
"Ten-ten? You c-coming."
She hadn't notice that Hinata had already started walking through the class.
"Oh! Sorry Hinata." She sped to catch up with her friend.
"N-Neji." Hinata said to her cousin.
The long-haired boy looked up from the book he was reading, and lifted an eyebrow in question.
Once they reached the windowsill he was sitting on, Hinata started talking.
"Th-this is Ten-ten. She has Gai also. C-can you hang out with h-her today? She was homeschooled a-and I have gymnastics during my free-period."
Hinata was messing with her hands, obviously nervous.
He looked at Ten-ten.
"Hn." Hinata had a small smile on her face.
She said thanks and rushed out of their homeroom so she could go to her own.
"Thanks." Ten-ten said.
A light blush tinted her cheeks.
"Sure."
--
More students were coming in and sitting in their seats.
Neji stood up and walked over to the desk closest to the window.
Ten-ten sat by him.
"So do you know what Gai-sensei is like?" She asked.
He smirked.
"You'll see."
Though very curious, Ten-ten decided to just wait.
"HELLO MY YOUTHFUL STUDENTS!"
Ten-ten jumped at the sudden sound.
She turned to look at the front of the class to see an amazingly scary sight.
"I, MY STUDENTS, AM GAI! AND I CAN JUST SEE THE YOUTHFULNESS FLOWING FROM ALL OF YOUR FACES!"
Right there, in front of the whole class was a tall man in a green spandex outfit and vest with orange legwarmers.
He had big black bushy eyebrows and a slightly disturbing bowl shaped haircut.
"Is that him?" Ten-ten asked Neji.
She turned only to find him smirking.
He gave a slight nod.
"Oh geez. Are all teachers like that?"
Again he turned to look at her.
"You'll see."
She gave him a your-no-help-at-all look.
"OK MY YOUTH FILLED STUDENTS, FOR TODAY WE WILL JUST GET TO KNOW EACH OTHER."
Ten-ten was trying so hard not to laugh at her "youthful" teacher's lively ways.
"WE WILL START AT THE FRONT, THEN THE PERSON BEHIND WILL GO AND WE WILL WORK OUR WAY DOWN THE
ROWS. STATE YOUR NAME, HOBBIES, AND FAVORITE SUBJECTS. NOW…BEGIN!!"
The first student stood up with much enthusiasm.
"CHA! THAT WAS EXTREMELY YOUTHFUL AND INSPIRING GAI-SENSEI! MY NAME IS ROCK LEE BUT EVERYONE
CALLS ME LEE. I AM HERE TO PROVE MY WORTH AND BECOME THE GREATEST STUDENT OF ALL TIME! MY
FAVORITE SUBJECT IS PHYSICAL EDUCATION! CHA!"
"THAT WAS YOUTHFULLY DONE, LEE!" Gai-sensei replied.
Most of the students were still recovering from their peer's introduction, when Neji stood.
With his hands in his pockets, he began.
"Neji Hyuuga. I have a black belt in taekwondo, karate, and Kung fu, I do kickboxing and I enjoy training in all of them. My favorite subject in school is science."
And with that he sat back down.
Half the girls in the class sighed and the other half squealed while Ten-ten just grinned at how stoic Neji was.
Behind Neji was where a pineapple haired kid sat.
He yawned as he stood up and, like Neji, stuffed his hands in his pockets.
"The name's Shikamaru Nara. I have a spot in the park where I lay and watch the clouds. That's what I do most of the day. I don't really have a favorite subject."
After that he sat down, took his hands out of his pockets and put his head on them.
Next was a chubby boy with a bag of chips in his hands.
"I'm Choji (crunch) Akimichi. (Crunch) I like to eat. And my favorite (crunch) subject is lunch. (Crunch)"
Ten-ten giggled a little.
Neji glanced at her and chuckled.
Next to go was a somewhat scary kid with red hair and dark bags under his eyes.
He didn't even stand up.
"Gaara. I don't have hobbies and I don't like any subjects."
After that was silence.
"WELL, THAT WASN'T VERY YOUTHFUL GAARA! NEXT!" Gai-sensei yelled.
At the beginning of the next row sat a blond haired, blue eyed boy.
"HAHA! MY NAME IS NARUTO UZUMAKI! I PLAN TO BE HOKAGE, THE STRONGEST AND MOST RESPECTED PERSON
IN THIS VILLAGE! BELIEVE IT! MY FAVORITE SUBJECT-THING IS ALSO PHYSICAL ED."
Ten-ten giggled again.
"Haha. This gonna be one heck of a year." She thought.
Then Ten-ten stood up.
"Umm…hey. I'm Ten-ten. Just Tenten. I was adopted when I was 11, and I've been homeschooled my whole life so this is my first year at a real school. I am a weapons specialist and I like target practice. I own weapons like kunai, shuriken, katana and weapon scrolls. Hmm…Oh! And my favorite subjects are math and science."
She smiled and sat back down.
For a while Ten-ten was completely oblivious to the stares she was getting from everyone, including Neji.
"BEAUTIFUL TEN-TEN!!" Gai yelled.
"I'm Ino Yamanaka." Said the next girl.
"I love to shop, I work at my parents flower shop on the weekends and my favorite subject is art."
BRRIIIINNNGGG!!
"OH! WELL THAT'S THE BELL! WE WILLCONTINUE THIS LATER! GOOD LUCK MY STUDENTS!" Gai-sensei yelled.
Gradually the class was filled with the sound of students conversing.
"I have the feeling that I'm really gonna like this place." Ten-ten said as she exited with Neji.
He chuckled.
"What's your next class?" He asked her. "Umm…Let me check."
Ten-ten pulled out a piece of paper from her jean pocket.
"My next class is science with Asuma Sarutobi. How about you?"
"Same."
She smiled at him.
"Okay then. Well I have to go and get my books so let's meet back hear k?"
"Hn."
She laughed.
"See you in a minute."
"Hn." Ten-ten turned around and started walking towards her locker.
Once she reached her destination Ten-ten got her books and headed back to the meeting place.
As the once crowded hallway cleared, she saw Neji waiting there.
He was leaning against a locker reading his book.
"Ready?" he asked, eyes not leaving the book.
"Mmm-hmm."
As they were walking, she couldn't help but glance at him.
"So this is your first year in a real school?" He asked.
She slightly jumped, and answered.
"Yeah. I was homeschooled at the orphanage I grew up in and then when I was adopted my foster mom continued homeschooling me."
"Oh. When I was little I was also homeschooled but only for a couple years."
"Really?! Interesting…I didn't think anyone here had ever been homeschooled."
He smirked. "All Hyuugas are homeschooled for their first four years of school."
Ten-ten giggled. "Cool."
As they were turning the corner, Ten-ten's head collided with a speeding student's.
She swayed a bit before supporting herself on the wall.
She didn't really trust her feet at the moment.
"Ah…. ow. A-are you ok?" She asked eyes closed.
"AH! I'M SO SORRY YOUTHFUL FLOWER! I'm fine! ARE YOU HURT?! Oh, I SHALL NEVER FORGIVE MYSELF FOR THIS!"
Tenten opened her eyes to see Lee with his face in his hands.
"Lee, I'm fine. Just a little dizzy." She said with a smile.
"No harm done okay? Only…go a little slower on the corners."
"YES! OF COURSE! I'M REALLY REALLY SORRY, FLOWER!" He replied and slowly, very slowly, walked away.
"You handled that fairly well." Neji said, though there wasn't much, if any, emotion in his voice.
"Well, there weren't many other ways to handle it without breaking the poor guy's heart." She laughed.
"Though, I think the experience itself got that covered."
He chuckled. Neji noticed how carefree and different Tenten was.
Even if he only knew her for a couple of hours, he could tell that they were gonna be really close.
"I hope so." He (unwillingly) thought.
Neji was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't notice the oncoming librarian with stacks of books in her hands.
"Neji?!"
When Tenten pulled him out of the way, Neji narrowly missed the stumbling librarian.
He sighed.
"Great reflexes, Neji."
She gave him a smirk, sarcasm lingering in her voice.
He glared at her and she laughed.
"I'm just saying you kinda zoned out there."
"Hn. We're here." He said.
"Well, wasn't that an eventful little walk." She replied.
Ten-ten laughed as she peered inside the classroom.
"Wow. This is SO much better than my living room."
Neji laughed a little and followed her into the room.